The Works of W. Chillingworth : Containing His Book, Entitled the Religion of Protestants a Safe Way to Salvation ; Nine Sermons Preached Before the King

The Works Of W. Chillingworth : Containing His Book, Entitled The Religion Of Protestants A Safe Way To Salvation ; Nine Sermons Preached Before The King by William Chillingworth is a 17th-century Catholic polemic defending the Roman Church as the true, visible Church and rebuking Protestant separations as schismatic or in need of reform. The work engages patristic and medieval authorities—Augustine, Cyprian, Irenaeus, Optatus, Donatists, Vincent Ferrer, Aquinas, Jerome— to argue that unity under Rome is essential, while allowing that a visible church may be corrupt in parts yet remain the true body. It distinguishes between causeless schism and justified departure for doctrinal reform, defends episcopal governance and apostolic succession, and questions claims of certainty and universal church infallibility. The treatise also critically assesses Dr. Potter and Protestant figures such as Luther and Calvin, framing Creedal faith within a broader authority of tradition and Scripture. It culminates in preparing groundwork for defining heresy and schism and for a broader defense of Catholic ecclesiology.