ascribed to this Churche of Englande by these libellers and therfore it hath as God wil the first note of the true Church of Chryst that is puritie of doctrine Admonition These and a great many other abuses are in the ministerie remaining which vnlesse they be remoued and the truth broughte in not onely Gods iustice shal be poured forth but also gods Churche in this realme shall neuer be buylded For if they whiche seeme to be workemen are no workemen in deed but in name or else work not so diligently and in such order as the workmaister commaundeth it is not onely vnlikely that the building shall goe forwarde but altogether impossible that euer it shall bee perfited The way therfore to auoyde these inconueniences and to refourme these deformities is this Your wisedomes haue to remoue Aduousons Patronages Impropriations and Bishops authoritie claiming to themselues therby right to ordeyn ministers and to bring in that old and true election whiche was accustomed to bee made by the congregation You muste displace those ignoraunt and vnable ministers alreadye placed and in their roomes appoynt suche as bothe can and will by Gods assistance feed the flocke You muste plucke downe and vtterly ouerthrow without hope of restitution the court of Faculties from whence not only licences to enioy many benefices are obteyned as Pluralities Trialities Totquots c. but all things for the most part as in the courte of Rome are set on sale licences to marye to eate fleshe in tymes prohibited to lie from benefices and charges and a great number besyde of suche lyke abhominations Appoint to euery congregation a learned diligente preacher Remoue Homilies articles iniunctions a prescript order of Seruice made oute of the Masse booke Take away the Lordshippe the loytering the pompe the idlenesse and liuings of Bishops but yet employ them to such ends as they were in the olde Churche appoynted for Let a lauful and a godly Seigniorie loke that they preach not quarterly or monthly but continually not for filthy lucre sake but of a readie mynde So God shal be glorified your consciences discharged and the flocke of Chryst purchased wyth his owne bloud edified Answere What these great abuses by you hitherto alledged be I trust you doe now fully vnderstand Surely except such factious libellers such stirrers vp of schismes such disturbers of the peace of the Church such contemners of those that be in authoritie be not only remoued but repressed God wil not only of his iustice punish the magistrates of this realme for their carelesnesse in this behalfe but also Gods gospel wil therin be as much defaced with factiōs schismes and heresies as euer it was in the Popes tyme with superstition idolatrie For surely these men that would be compted suche perfect buylders be but vndermyners and destroyers and instruments of some gréedy guts and lusty roysters who to maynteyne their pryde and ioylitie séeke for the spoyle of the Churche and in déede the vtter ouerthrowe bothe of learning and Religion For take from Bishoppes their landes and their authoritie let euery parishe elect theyr owne minister remoue Homilies Articles Iniunctions appoynte no prescript order of seruice that is to say let there be no order prescribed to any man no lawe to directe him or controle him but lette euerye minister doe what he liste speake what he list alter what he list and so oft as him list to be short let euery minister be king and Pope in his own paryshe and exempted from all controlement of Bishop Magistrate and Prince and you shall haue as manye kyndes of Relygion as there is parishes as many sectes as ministers and a Churche miserably torne in péeces wyth mutabilitie and diuersitie of opinions Doe you not sée what they shoote at Woulde they not bée frée from all Magistracie Doe they not moste ambitiouslye desyre that them selues whyche they condemne in others that is Lordeshippe and superioritie For who thinke you shoulde bée chéefe in euerye Parrishe and directe the reste Surely euen the minister The Pope neuer required greater authoritie ouer all Christendome tkan they seeke to haue ouer their parish The Pope and hys Clergie didde neuer more earnestly séeke and desyre to be exempted from the iurisdiction of Ciuile Magistrates than these menne doe bothe from Ecclesiasticall and Ciuile Princes nobles and Magistrates were neuer brought into greater seruitude and bondage than these men séeke to laye vppon them Wherefore you that bée in authoritie if you loue the peace and prosperitie of the Churche of Christe if you desire the good successe of the Gospell if you wyll preserue the state of thys realme if you thinke it necessarie to haue good Magistrates to haue good lawes and orders in a common wealth if you estéeme learning and séeke to preferre it if you hate anarchian confusion anabaptisme if you allowe of your owne condition and lyke of a kingdome better than of a popular state Then prouide betyme some spéedie remedie for these and suche like kinde of men and if the religion you haue established be good if the orders and lawes you haue made be conuenient let them not be written agaynst spoken against nay openly contemned and broken without sharpe and seuere punishment suffer not suche as execute them to be contemned hated discouraged and oftentymes frumped by some superiours Eyther let your lawes be mainteyned as lawes or else deliuer vs from our dutie in executing and obeying of them Touching the Courte of Faculties I can not say much for I haue no great experience of it and lesse knowledge in the lawe notwithstanding bycause by lawfull authoritie it is allowed in this realme I can not but reuerently iudge of it for in suche matters I thinke it a poynte of modestie to suppose the beste and to absteyne from condemnyng of that gouernement whyche is allowed as conuenient If there be faultes in the officers they maye be corrected The places of Scripture quoted in this margent be answered before except that of the .20 of the Actes which proueth nothing in controuersie at this tyme. Admonition Nowe to the seconde poynte whiche concerneth ministration of sacramentes In the olde tyme the worde was preached before they were ministred nowe it is supposed to be sufficient if it be read Then they were ministred in publique assemblies nowe in priuate houses Then by ministers onely nowe by midwiues and deacons equally But bicause intreating of both the sacraments together we should deale confusedly we will therfore speake of them seuerally And fyrst for the Lordes Supper or holie Communion Answere The seconde externall note of the true Churche of Christe is ministring of the Sacramentes sincerely you would proue that this Churche of England hath not the Sacramentes sincerely ministred First by thrée generall reasons pertaining to both the Sacramentes then by certain abuses whiche you fynde seuerally in eyther of them The first generall reason is this In olde time the worde was preached
this reason is alledged among other euen in the boke of Common prayers And that it is not to make baptisme perfect the boke of common prayers it selfe declareth in these words And that no man shall thinke any detriment shall come to children by deferring of their confirmation he shall know for truth that it is certaine by Gods vvorde that children being baptised haue all things necessarie for their saluation and be vndoubtedly saued You adde as though the Byshop coulde giue the holy Ghost the Byshop may vse the ceremonie vsed by the Apostles that is imposition of handes may safely say this godly prayer conteyned in the boke Defend O Lord this child vvith thy heauenly grace that he may continue thine for euer and dayly encrease in thy holy spirite more and more vntill he come vnto thy euerlasting kingdome Amen And other such godly praiers ther conteyned Of any other kinde of giuing the holy ghost there is no mention in that booke and therefore these additions myght very wel haue bene left out of your libell But of the Bishops benedictiō by laying on of his hands heare Master Caluines iudgement in his Instit. cap. 19. secti 4. Talem manuum impositionem quae simpliciter loco benedictionis fiat lando et restitutam hodie in purum vsum vilim Such imposition of handes as is simplie made in the steade of blessing I do commend and vvish that it vvere restored at this day to the pure vse There shall you also reade the very self same for me manner of confirmation allowed which is now vsed in this Church of England To the ende of the eleuenth reason these wordes be added and open our eyes that we may see what that good and acceptable will of God is and be more earnest to prouoke his glorie to the which I only answere Amen In the ende of the twelfth there is something left out which they haue placed in the 13. reason but it is answered before Fol. 6. There is nothing added or altered worth the noting only in the fiftenth reason where they sayde before that we honored Byshoppes by the titles of Kings nowe they haue recanted that and condemned themselues of an vntruth for they haue left out that title In the ende of that fiftéenth article or reason this is added and whiche of them haue not preached against the Popes two swords nowe whether they vse them not thēselues Touching the Popes two swords we are of the same minde stil for the Pope contrary to the worde of God taketh from Princes vnto him selfe that authoritie whiche is due vnto them by the worde of God and woulde haue them to receiue that authoritie from him whiche he hath no power to gyue the Pope also requireth the full authoritie of a ciuill magistrate and exempteth him selfe from all subiectiō which is flat contrary to the word of God our Byshops in this Church do not challenge as of their owne right any such ciuill authoritie but only according to their duty execute that that by the Prince lawes of this Realme for iust considerations is layde vpō them Neither do they medle in all ciuill causes or exercise all ciuill iurisdiction but such only as helpeth to discipline and to the good gouernment of this church and state Wherefore we may safely preache against the Popes two swords and yet lawfully defende that iurisdiction and authoritie that any bishop hath in this Church for any thing that I knowe Fol. 7. Wheras before it was thus in the margent and. 19. reason to proue that the regiment of the church shoulde be spirituall reade Eph. 1.23 1. Thess. 5.13.1 Ti. 5.2 Heb. 10.30 now it is thus altered to proue that the regiment of the church should be spirituall read Caluine in his cōmentaries vpon these places Eph. 1.23 1. Thes. 5. 13.1 Ti. 5.2 Heb. 10.30 Belike bicause the scriptures thēselues do not sufficiētly proue your assertiō therfore you would haue vs to leaue them to reast vpon Caluines interpretation which is nothing else but to prefer mans iudgemēt before the word of god or to giue master Caluine authoritie to conclude that which is not determined by the scripture If this be not your meaning why flye you frō those places themselues to master Caluines interpretatiō vpon them But what if you now abuse master Caluines cōmentaries vpon these places as you did before the places themselues In his commentaries vpon Ephe. 1. vse 23. This is all that he sayth touching this matter Nam vtcunque Christus omnia perficiat nutu virtuteque sua tamē specialiter loquitur hic Paulus de spirituali ecclesiae gubernatione Quanquam nihil interea impedit quo minus de vniuersali mundi gubernatione accipias For howsoeuer Christ maketh perfecte all things with his becke and by his power yet Paule speaketh here especially of the spiritual gouernemēt of the church Although that in the meane time it is no hinderance why thou mayest not also vnderstād it of the vniuersall gouernement of the world These words serue litle for your purpose There is no man that doubteth but that Christe doth spiritually gouerne his Churche and raigne in the hartes of the faithfull by hys sprite But your meaning is that the gouernement of the Churche is only spirituall which you can no more gather of these wordes of Caluine than you may that the gouernemente of the whole world ought only to be spirituall The same Caluine writing vppon .1 Thessa. 5 vers 12. for the which you haue noted the .13 saith on this sorte Hoc additum videtur ad notandum spirituale regimen tametsi enim Reges quoque magistratus Dei ordinatione prosunt quia tamen ecclesiae gubernationem dominus peculiariter vult suam agnosci ideo nominatim praeesse in Domino dicuntur qui Christi nomine mandato ecclesiam gubernant This seemes to be added to note the spirituall regiment For although kings also and Magistrates do gouerne by the ordinance of God yet bycause the Lorde would haue the gouernemente of the Churche knowne peculierly to be his therefore namely they are saide to rule in the Lorde whiche gouerne the Churche in the name of Christe and by hys commaundemente Hitherto Caluine also affirmeth that whiche no man denieth that God doth by the ministerie of his worde spiritually gouerne his Church But this taketh not away the ciuill Magistrate neyther yet ciuill lawes made by the Magistrate externally also to gouerne the Churche In his Commentaries 1. Ti. 5. verse 2. he speaketh not one word of this matter for any thing that I can perceiue Vppon the place to the Hebrewes he onely sheweth that God dothe gouerne hys Churche the whiche I thinke no man is so wicked as to denye You muste more plainly sette it downe what your meaning in this matter is before you can be fully aunswered For to proue that God dothe spiritually gouerne his Churche is néedlesse being denied of none either Papiste or Protestant
but of deacons which were appointed to make prouision for the poore only as you say neither did the multitude of the disciples for so they be called electe them before they were willed so to do by the twelue Apostles It may be that some vse to run and ryde and by vnlawfull sute and buying preuent others and it may be that you haue experience hereof all doe not so this is the faulte of the man not of the callyng you may not ascribe mens infirmities to a lawfull order The rule may be good though it be by some broken The sixth Then no minister placed in any congregation but by the consente of the people nowe that authoritie is giuen into the handes of the Bishop alone who by his sole authoritie thrusteth vpon them suche as they many tymes as wel for vnhonest life as also for lack of learning may and do iustly dislyke To proue that no minister was placed in any congregation but by coÌ„sent of the people you alledge the. 14. of the Acts and of the. 2. to the Corinth the. 8. chapter In the 14. of the Acts vers 23. for the which you haue quoted the 13. it is thus written when they that is Paule and Barnabas had ordeyned them elders by election for so is some traÌ„slatioÌ„ in euery church prayed fasted c. The text is plain that Paule Barnabas did ordeyn them elders the gréek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although it signify to elect by putting vp of hands yet it is the common opinion almost of al ecclesiastical writers that this word in scripture is vsed for the solemn maner of ordring mynisters by the imposition of hands Surely howsoeuer the word is taken yet here is no generall rule prescribed of electing ministers You may as well conclude that al thinges ought to be common among Christians bycause wée reade Acts. 2. that all those whiche beléeued had all things coÌ„mon among them and that those whiche be conuerted to the Gospell oughte to sell their goodes and landes to bée distributed at the discretion of the mynisters bicause they did so Art. 2. 3. In the. 2. to the Corinthians 8. The Apostle declareth how the Churches had chosen Luke or as some thynke Barnabas to bée his companion in his iourney â–ª But what makes thys for electing of Mynisters Howe followeth this argument The Churches had chosen Luke or Barnabas to bée Paules companyon in hys iourney therfore ministers of the woorde muste be elected by the people These thrée last reasons are all one the places of scripture which I haue set downe answered be alledged of you to proue that the election of ministers was then made by the coÌ„mon consent of the people and that euery coÌ„gregation had authoritie to cal their ministerie I doe not denye but in the apostles tyme and after euen to Cyprians tyme the peoples consent was in many places required in the appointing of ministers But I saye that in the whole Scripture there is no commaundement that it should so be nor any example that maketh therein any necessarie or generall rule but that it may be altered as tyme and occasion serueth For in suche matters not commaunded or prohibited in Scripture touching ceremonies discipline and gouernement the Churche hath authoritie from tyme to tyme to appoynte that whiche is moste conuenient for the presente state as I haue before declared And I adde that howesoeuer in the Apostles tyme that kinde of electing and calling ministers was conuenient and profitable now in this state of the Church it were most pernicious and hurtfull First bicause in the apostles time the church was vnder the crosse and therfore very few in comparison was there that embraced the gospel and commonly they kept together or at the least met oftentimes so that one of them was thorowly knowne to another and they themselues could best iudge who amoÌ„g them was the â—ittest to teach and instruct hauing always diuers fit for that function Now the church is in prosperitie and therfore the number that professeth great and dispersed into dyuers places and in moste parishes not one fit for the ministerie among them or knowne vnto them so that they should call they knowe not whome Secondly in the Apostles tyme all or the moste that were Christians were vertuous and godly and such as did sincerely professe the worde and therefore the election of their pastour might safely be committed to them nowe the churche is ful of hypocrites dissemblers drunkardes whoore mongers c. so that if any election were committed to them they would be sure to take one like to themselues Thirdly in the Apostles time al that professed Christ had knowledge and were able to iudge who were méetes to be their pastour Now the most be ignorant and without iudgement in suche matters Fourthly in the Apostles tyme there was in the Churche no Idolaters no superstitious persons no Papistes nowe the Churche is full of Papists Atheistes and suche lyke Who séeth not therfore what straunge ministers we should haue if the election of them were committed to their seuerall parishes Fifthly in the Apostles time there was no Churche established béeing then no christian Magistrates and therefore the state of the Churche was popular nowe there is christian Magistrates and a Church established and subiect to rulers c. Therefore this diuersitie of the state of the Churche requireth a diuers kinde of gouernement and an other kinde of ordeyning Ministers For this cause in Concilio Laodicensi which was Anno. 334. it was decréed that the election of Ministers should not be permitted to the people This alteration of gouernement and orders in the Churche of Chryst is well set out by Ambrose in the. 4. to the Ephe. vpon these words Et ipse dedit c. where he saith on this sorte That the nuÌ„ber of Christians might encrease and be multiplied in the beginning it vvas permitted to euery one to preache the Gospel to baptise and to expounde the Scriptures but vvhen the Churche vvas enlarged there vvere certaine parishes appoynted and gouernours and other officers ordeined in the Churche c. Therfore the vvritings of the Apostles do not in al things agree vvith the orders that are now in the Church Thus farre Ambrose Musculus also in his coÌ„mon places answering to this question why that ministers of the word are not chosen nowe by the ministers and the people as they were in the primatiue Church but appointed by the Magistrate sayth thus Talis tum Ecclesiarum erat statiu vt aliter non essent eligendi ministri quia Christiano magistratu destituebantur Sireuocas temporum illorum mores primum conditiones statum quoque illorum reuoca Such vvas then the state of Churches that they coulde choose their Ministers no othervvise bicause they had no christian Magistrates If thou vvouldest haue the maners and customes of those times obserued then must thou call backe their condition and
be subiect to Deacons Deacons to Prestes prestes to Bishops the Bishop to Christ. And again Let no man do any thing vvhiche perteyneth to the Churche vvithout the consente of the Bishop And againe He that attempteth to do any thing vvithout the Bishop breaketh peace and confoundeth good order The like saying he hath in his epistle ad Magnesianos These thre epistles doth Eusebius make mentioÌ„ of Li. 3. ca. 35. .36 and hiero de viris illustribus Iustinus Martir one of the most aunciente writers of the Grékes in his second Apologie ad Anthonium Pium alloweth this superioritie and calleth him that bare rule ouer the other ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyrillus calleth hym 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoretus li. 5. ca. 28. writeth that Chrisostome béeing the Bishop of Constantinople did not only rule that Church but the Churches also in Thracia in Asia and in Pontus Theodoretus Episcopus Ciri in an epistle that he writ to Leo saith of him selfe that he had gouernement ouer 800. Churches But what shall I néede to vse such proues in a matter so plaine and euident to all such as haue redde any thyng of antiquitie The best learned men of our dayes and diligentest preferrers of the Gospell of Christ do with one consente one or two of the latest writers excepted acknowledge and confesse that this distinction of degrées and superioritie in the gouernement of the Church is a thing most conuenient and necessarie Caluine in his institutions saith on this sorte That euerie prouince had among their Bishops an Archbishop and that the councell of Nice did appointe Patriarches vvhiche should be in order and dignitie aboue Archbishops it was for the preseruation of discipline Therefore for this cause especially vvere those degrees appointed that if any thyng shoulde happen in any particuler Churche vvhich coulde not there be decided it might be remoued to a prouinciall Synode If the greatnesse or difficultie of the cause required greater consultation then vvas there added Patriarches togither vvith the synodes from vvhome there vvas no appeale but vnto a generall counsell This kinde of gouernement some called Hierarchiam an improper name and not vsed in the Scriptures For the spirite of God vvill not haue vs to dreame of dominion and rule in the gouernement of the Church But if omitting the name vve shall consider the thing it selfe vve shall finde that these old Bishops dyd not frame any other kinde of gouernmente in the Church from that vvhich the Lorde hath prescribed in his vvorde Caluine here misliketh this name Hierarchia but he alloweth the names authoritie of Patriarks and Archbishops and thinketh the gouernement of the Church then vsed not to differ from that which God in hys word prescribeth Hemingius in his Enchirid. sheweth that these degrées in the Church be necessarie and that discipline cannot be kepte without them And he addeth that their Churche kepeth this forme nec mouetur saith he anabaptist ar â—m ac libertinorum effrenilibidine qui ecclesiam Christi barbaricum quendam hominum coetum sine ordine fingunt cum habeat nostra ecclesia non solum exemplum Apostolicae purioris ecclesiae verum etiam mandatum spiritus sancti omnia ordinatè decenter ad aedificationem faciendi Neither is our Church moued vvith the licentious libertie of Anabaptists and Libertines vvhich faine the Church of Christe to be a barbarous confused societie vvithout order seing that our Church hath not only the example of the Apostolicall and most pure Church but also the commaundemente of the spirite of God to do all things orderly and decently to edifie Wherefore thus I conclude with the very words of that worthy man who hath so well deserued of thys Church of Englande master Foxe In the ecclesiasticall estate vve take not avvay the distinction of ordinarie degrees such as by the scripture be appointed or by the Primitiue Churche allovved as Patriarches or Archbishops Bishops Ministers DeacoÌ„s for of these foure we especially read as chiefe In vvhich foure degrees as vve grauÌ„t diuersitie of office so vve admitte in the same also diuersitie of dignitie neither denyeng that vvhich is due to each degre neyther yet mainteining the ambition of any singuler person For as we giue to the minister place aboue the Deacon to the Bishop aboue the Minister to the Archbishop aboue the Bishop so vve see no cause of inequalitie vvhy one minister shold be aboue another minister one Byshop in his degree aboue another Bishop to deale in his dioces or one Archbishop aboue another Archbishop And this is to keepe an order duely truly in the Churche according to the true nature and definition of order by the authoritie of Augustine libro de ciui Ordo est parium dispariumque rerum sua cuique loca tribueÌ„s dispositio Hitherto master Foxe Now let the indiffereÌ„t reader iudge whether these offices be strange vnherd of in the church of Christ or no. Concerning the offices of an high commissioner Iustice of peace how necessarily they be committed to some of the best and wisest of the Clergye what vice by them is brideled what inconuenience met with what necessarie discipline vsed those knowe that be wise and haue experience in publique affaires and gouernement There is no worde of God to proue why these offices may not concurre in one man But it is the commisson that troubleth these men as for peace they are at defiance with it To be shorte they say that all these offices be playnly in Gods word forbiddeÌ„ and they alledge Mat. 23. Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 4. 1. Pet. 5. The places of Mathewe and Luke be aunswered before Christe beateth downe ambition and pride and desire of bearing rule as he did before when he saide be ye not called Rabbi and call no man father be not called doctors he doth not condemne the names but the ambition of the minde In the 1. Cor. 4. it is thus written Let a man thus thinke of vs as of the ministers of Christ. c. The ministers of the worde in déed are not to be estéemed as Gods but as the ministers of god Some among the Corinthians gloried in their ministers and attributed to much vnto them hereof came these factioÌ„s I holde of Paule I of Apollo c. This teacheth your adhereÌ„ts and disciples not to attribute to much to you and such as you are or any other minister of Gods worde It maketh nothing against the names or authorities either of Archbishop Lord Bishop or any other that you haue named who be the ministers of Christ and ought so to be estéemed The place of S. Peter ca. 5. is thys Feede the flocke of god c. not as though you vvere lords ouer the flocke c. Peter here condemneth hautinesse contempt and tyrannie of pastours towards their flockes he doth not take away lawfull gouernment The pastor hath rule and superioritie ouer his flocke but it must not be tyrannicall These
not wasted vpon loyterers and idle vagabounds Nowe it is the first steppe to the ministerie nay rather a mere order of priesthoode Answere In the whole .xij. chapiter of the Epistle to the Romanes there is not one worde to proue the office of a Deacon to consist in gathering almes and distributing the same neither yet dothe he speake there of the office of a Deacon no more dothe he in the thirde Chapiter of the seconde Epistle to the Thessalo Lorde God what meane you thus to play with the scriptures It is true that in the primatiue Churche the office of a Deacon was to collecte and prouide for the poore but not onely for it was also their office to preache and to baptise for Stephen and Philippe béeing Deacons dyd preache the Gospell Act. 6.7.8 And Philip dyd baptyse the Eunuche Act. 8. Iustinus Martyr one of the moste auncient writers in his seconde Apologie sayth that in the administration of the Supper deacons did distribute the bread and the wine to the people The same doth master Caluine affirme of deacons in his Instit. ca. 19. It may well be compted the first steppe to the ministerie as it hath bene from the Apostles time and S. Paule ioyneth them togither 1. Tim. 3. Admonition For they may baptise in the presence of a Bishop or priest or in their absence if necessitie so require minister the other sacrament likewise reade the holy scriptures and homilies in the congregation instruct the youth in the Cathechisme and also preache if he be commaunded by the Byshop Answere I know not what you meane by your Ponti tit in the margent of your booke but if you meane the booke entituled the forme and maner of making and consecrating Byshops c. now allowed in this Church of Englande then do you vntruely reporte it for there is no mention of baptising in the presence of a Byshop or Priest neither yet of ministring the other sacrament in their absence if necessitie require onely the booke sayth that a deacon may baptise or preach if he be thervnto admitted by the Byshop and that he may so do by the worde of God I haue proued before As for reading the holy scriptures and Homilies in the congregation also for instructing the youth in the Cathechisme who doubteth but that a deacon may do them Admonition Agayne in the olde Churche euery congregation had their Deacons Answere O how aptely you haue alledged the Scriptures to proue that euery congregation had their deacons In the first to the Philip. these be the words Paule and Timotheus c. to all the Saincts which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Paule and Timotheus salute the Byshops Deacons which were at Philippi Therfore in those dayes euery congregation had their Deacons a straunge kind of reasoning you might well haue thus concluded Ergo at Philippi there was Deacons But surely this argument is too muche out of square there was Deacons at Philippi therfore euery congregation had their Deacons In the .13 of S. Iohn verse .27 these be the wordes And after the soppe Sathan entred into him then sayde Iesus vnto him that thou doste do quickly After supper Sathan entred into Iudas and Iesus sayde vnto him that thou doste do quickly Therefore euery congregation had their Deacons No maruell though your margent be pestred with Scriptures when you take libertie to make ex quolibet quidlibet Peraduēture you meane that Iudas was a Deacon as he was not but an Apostle bicause he carried the bagge and that some of the Apostles thought that Christ had bid him giue somwhat to the poore belike whosoeuer giueth a peny to the poore at his masters commaundement is with you a Deacon In the sixt of the Acts we learne that there were chosen seauen Deacons but there is not one worde to proue that euery congregation had their Deacons In the third of the first to Timothie S. Paule sheweth what qualities and conditions a Deacon ought to haue but not one worde of deacons béeing in euery congregation This is great audacitie thus manifestly to wring the scriptures without all colour or shew of reason Admonition Now they are tyed to Cathedrall Churches only what do they there gather the almes and distribute it to the poore nay that is the least peece or rather no parte of their function What then to sing a Gospell when the Bishop ministreth the Communion If this be not a peruerting of this office and charge let euery one iudge Answere I am sure you are not offended that there be Deacons in Cathedrall Churches For if they ought to be in euery congregatiō they ought to be there also and yet I know no such order now in Cathedrall Churches that they be more bounde to Deacons in the respecte of reading the Gospell thā other Churches be But admitte they were it is no peruerting of the office of a Deacon being incident to his office aswell to reade the Scriptures in the congregation and to exhorte as to giue almes and distribute to the poore For the state of the Churche is not nowe as it was in the Apostles tyme neyther is that parte of the office of a Deacon so necessary nowe as it was then being lawes and orders otherwise to prouide for the poore than there either was then or coulde haue bene Admonition And yet least the reformers of our time shold seeme vtterly to take out of gods Church thys necessarie function they appointe something to it concerning the pore and that is to search for the sicke needy and impotent people of the parrish and to intimate their estates names and places where they dwell to the Curate that by his exhortation they may be releeued by the parrish or other conuenient almes And thys you see is the nighest parte of his office and yet you must vnderstande it to be in suche places where there is a Curate and Deacō euery parrishe cannot be at that cost to haue both nay no parrish so farre as can be gathered at thys present hath Answere And what faulte can you finde herewith is not thys greatly to be commended If euery parrishs cannot be at the cost to haue both Curate and Deacon why do you require them both in euery parrish Why do you not thinke well of suche lawes as appoint collectours for the poore which may aswell prouide for them and better too than could the Deacon who must be susteyned himselfe with that which the poore should haue Admonition Now then ▪ if you will restore the Churche to his ancient officers this you must do In stead of an Archbyshop or Lorde Byshop you must make equalitie of ministers Answere I haue proued before that aswell the name as office of an Archbishop is both most auncient and also most necessarie in the Church of Christ and that this equalitie of ministers which you require is both flatly against the scriptures and all aunciente authoritie of councells and learned
no one man can discharge suche a cure and therfore he hath appoynted in his Churche diuers Byshops diuers Princes many Gouernours But one Prince may suffise to gouerne one kingdome and one Archebyshoppe one Prouince as chéefe and principall ouer the rest one Byshop one Dioces one Pastor one parishe neither doth the Apostle speake any thing to the contrarie In the .xij. to the Romanes it is thus written he that ruleth with diligence What maketh this for your purpose or how can you wring it to your assertion In the .5 of the .1 to Timothie The Elders that rule well are worthy of double honour c. Paule sheweth in these words that suche are worthy their stipende and rewarde which rule well in the Churche and do their dueties diligently But what is that to your assertion The places alledged out of the fiftenth of the Actes bée of the like sorte Wheresoeuer mention is made in the Scriptures of gouernours or Elders that you alledge to improue the gouernement of one man wherein you shewe a greate wante of iudgement And yet there is no one person in this Realme the Prince onely excepted which hath suche absolute iurisdiction as you woulde make youre disciples beléeue But youre meaning is that Chryste lefte the whole gouernement of hys Churche to the Pastor and to some foure or fyue of the Parishe besides whiche you are not able to proue and your places of Scripture alledged signifie no such matter In déede as Ambrose saith writing vppon the .5 of the .1 to Timothie The Sinagoge and after the Church had seniors without whose counsell nothing was done in the Churche but that was before his time and before there was any Christian Magistrates or any Churche established neyther is there any authoritie in the whole Bible that enforceth or prescribeth that kynde of gouernement as necessarie or conueniente for all tymes no more than there is to proue that in the Churche there muste be alwayes suche as haue power to worke miracles or that haue the gift of healing and such lyke whiche offices notwithstanding are mencioned as well as gouernours in the first to the Corinth 12. Well sayth Musculus in his common places Tit. de magistratis Si reuocas temporum illorum mores primum conditiones statum quoque illorum reuoca If thou vvilt vse the manners of that tyme firste call againe the condition and state of that tyme That is let vs be withoute christian Magistrates as they were let vs be vnder tyrantes and persecutors as they were c. You say it is more easie for the wicked by brybing to peruerte corrupt one man thā to peruert ouerthrow the faith and pietie of a zealous godly cōpanie And therfore better the gouernment of the Church to bée committed to many than to one If this reason be good thē the more there be that rule the better is the gouernement and so popularis status erit optimus reipublicae status against all both diuinitie and Philosophie For we sée that God himselfe in his common weale of Israell did alwayes allowe the gouernement and superioritie of one ouer the rest bothe in the tyme of Iudges and after in the tyme of the kings And in the new Testament we may also sée that kynde of gouernement moste allowed of .1 Peter .2 But I will not here reason with you in this matter and call that into question whiche hath ben by so many learned menne determined and by the examples of all good common weales confirmed You that woulde haue all brought to suche a popularitie I pray you tell me in how many parishes in Englande coulde you fynde suche Pastors and suche Seniors as you say should be In those places that be gouerned by many doe you not sée what contention there is what enimitie what factions what partes taking what confusion what little good order obserued what carelesnesse and dissolutenesse in all manner of behauiour I coulde make this manifest by examples if I were disposed In the .18 of Exodus which place you quote to proue that Seniors ought to be zelous and godly Iethro giueth Moyses counsell not to wearie himselfe in hearing all matters that be brought vnto him but rather to commit the hearing determining of smaller matters to others And therefore verse .21 he sayth Prouide thou among all the people men of courage fearing God men dealyng truly hating couetousnesse and appoint such ouer them to be rulers ouer thousandes rulers ouer hundredes rulers ouer fifties and rulers ouer tennes c. This maketh nothing for Seniors Moses here was chiefe these were but his vnder officers placed by himselfe This place serueth well for the gouernement of one Prince ouer one whole realme and giueth him good counsell what vnder officers he ought to choose To the same effecte and purpose is that spoken and written which you cite out of the fyrst of Deuteron vse .13 Admonition Then it was sayd tell the Churche nowe it is spoken complayne to my Lordes grace Primate and Metropolitane of all England or to hys inferioure my Lorde Bishoppe of the Diocesse if not to him shewe the Chancelloure or Officiall or Commissarie or Doctoure Answere As it was said thē so ought you and may you say now In priuate offences if priuate admonitiōs will not serue then must you declare them to the Churche either by reprehending of them publiquely before the whole cōgregation if you be called therevnto for that is one kinde of telling the Churche or else by complayning to suche as haue authoritie in the Church for in that place of Matthew as all learned interpreters both old and new doe determine the Church signifieth such as haue authoritie in the Churche Therefore when you complaine to my Lords grace Lord Byshop of the dioces or their Chauncelloures Commissaries c you tell the Church that is suche as be appointed to be publique Magistrates in the Church according to the very true sense and interpretation of that place Admonition Agayne whereas the excommunicate were neuer receyued tyll they had publiquely confessed their offence Now for paying the fees of the Courte they shall by mayster Officiall or Chauncelloure easyly be absolued in some priuate place Then the congregation by the wickednesse of the offendoure greeued was by publique penaunce satisfied Nowe absolution shall be pronounced though that be not accomplished Then the partie offending shuld in his owne person heare the sentence of absolution pronounced Nowe Bishops Archdeacons Chauncellours Officials Commissaries and suche like absolue one man for an other And this is that order of ecclesiasticall discipline which all godly wishe to be restored to the ende that euery one by the same may bee kept within the limittes of his vocation and a greate number be broughte to liue in godly conuersation Answere If Chauncellors Cōmissaries c. do as you here charge them they do that whiche by Gods lawe they can not iustifie But I acknowledge my
in the Churche or common weale But where read you that Eugenius did first inuent them Admonition The sixtenth In that the Lorde byshoppes their suffraganes Archdeacons Chauncelors officials proctors doctors summers and suche rauening rablers take vpon theÌ„ which is most horrible the rule of Gods Church spoyling the pastor of his lawfull iurisdiction ouer hys own flock giuen by the word thrusting away most sacrilegiously that order which Christe hath left to his Church and which the primatiue church hath vsed they shew they hold the doctrine with vs but in vnrighteousnesse with an outwarde shew of godlinesse but hauing denied the power therof entring not in by christ but by a Popishe and vnlawfull vocation We speake not how they make ministers by them selues alone and of their sole authoritie and that in secret places of their election and probation that it is of him to whom by no righte it belongeth And that when they haue made them either they may carry in their Colledge and lead the liues of loytring losels as long as they liue or else gad abroad with the Byshops buls like to Circumceâ—ions to preach in other mens charges where they list or else get benefices by friendship or money or flattery where they can catch theÌ„ or to coÌ„clude if al these faile that they may go vp down like beggers and fal to many follies or else as many haue done set vp billes at Paules or at the Royall exchaunge in such publike places to see if they can heare of some good masters to entertayne them into seruice Surely by the Cannon law by which the byshops reigne rule they ought to keepe those ministers which they make as loÌ„g as they haue no liuings places We know three or foure byshops in this Realme would haue kepte suche houses as neuer none did in this land if this rule had bene obserued They clapt theÌ„ out so fast by hundreds they made them pay well for their orders and surely to speak truth they were worthy for the bishops what oddes soever there were of their giftes yet in their letters gaue them all a like commeÌ„dation They put on their surplesses or else subscribed like honest men Fye vpon these stinking abominations Answere In all these wordes there is not one thing touched which is conteyned in the Communion booke therfore I might passe this parte ouer with silence noting onely your vnorderly and vndiscrete dealing who going about to deface the booke of Common prayer wander you know not whither and spende your labour in writing agaynst such things as be not in that booke once meÌ„tioned But yet something I must say to certayne things by you in this parte written without al modestie discretion or reason And first you shewe your selfe greatly offended that the pastor is spoyled of his lawful iurisdiction ouer his stocke and therfore you burst out into these wordes of heate rauening rablers horrible sacrilegiously and suche like It had bene well if you had tolde vs what that lawfull iurisdiction of the pastor ouer his stock giuen by the word had bene for the places of scripture which you quote for that purpose doe not playnly inough set out that matter In the 18. of Mathewe vse 17. after certaine admonitions in priuate offences Christ sayth Dic ecclesiae tell the Churche In which place as I tolde you before the Churche doth signifie suche as haue authoritie in the Churche or else publike reprehension in the open congregation by suche as be called thervnto It giueth not any pecâ—lier iurisdiction to the pastor for any thing that I can learne And in the same cha 18. vse where christ saith VVhat soeuer ye binde on earth shall be bound in heauen c. according to your iudgement vttered before it is mente of the whole Church not of the pastor only You haue before denied that one man can excommunicate and therefore this place maketh nothing for your assertion In the .11 of the Actes vse 30. mention is made howe the Disciples which were at Antiochia dyd according to their abilitie sende succoure to their brethren which dwelte in Iudea and that they sente it to the elders by the handes of Barnabas and Saule But what is this to the iurisdiction of the pastour This declareth that the disciples of Antiochia trusted the elders whiche were in Iudea with the distribution of their almes The .15 of the Actes in the places by you noted sheweth how Paule and Barnabas were sente to the Apostles and Elders which were at Ierusalem about the deciding of a certain question moued by certain of the sect of the Phariseys touching circumcision This declareth the vse of Councels and openeth the next and readyest way to determine controuersies but it speaketh nothing of the iurisdiction of the pastour The .xii. to the Rom. vse 7.8 hath bene sundry tymes by you alledged to no purpose at all euen as it is nowe in lyke manner The Apostle there willeth euery man that hath an office to attende vpon his office c. But he speaketh not of any peculiar iurisdiction of the pastor ouer his flocke In the first to the Phil. vs. 1. Paule and Timothie salute the Bishops and Deacons which be at Philippi How gather you therof any iurisdiction perteyning to the pastor The .1 Cor. 12. vse 28. The Apostle sayth that God hath placed in his Churche first Apostles secondely Prophetes thirdly teachers c. What is this to youre purpose or what iurisdiction of Pastors doe you gather hereof you may here learn that there is in the church diuers degrées of persons 1. Thessa. 5. Paule exhorteth them to knowe and loue suche as laboure among them he describeth no peculiar kynde of iurisdiction 1. Timo. 4. vse 14. Saint Paule willeth Timothie not to despise the gifte giuen vnto him by prophecie with the laying on of the hands of the companie of the eldership in the .1 Timo. 5. vse 17. he sayth The elders that rule well are worthie of double honour c. Which place commeth the nearest to youre purpose for here is mention made of ruling and of ministers but yet it is not declared what kind of rule this was except you will expounde it by the wordes following specially they whiche labour in worde and doctrine And this kinde of rule remayneth to the pastor still Thus you see with how little discretion lesse learning you heape vp scriptures in your margent only to deceyue the simple and ignorante who are by you too muche deluded beléeuyng what so euer you speake or wryte without any further examination If they would marke these words of yours wel they might soone vnderstand that you séek as great iurisdiction ouer them as any of those persons whome you haue here named You saye they hold the doctrine with you but in vnrighteousnesse with an outward shew of godlinesse but hauing denyed the power thereof entryng not in by Christ but by a Popish and vnlaufull
before in the confutation of the first Admonition spoken sufficiently of al these matters therfore I will only note one or two things in this parte to let you vnderstand that these platformers builde not vppon that foundation that they woulde haue others so strictly bounde vnto For let them tell me vppon what scripture this is grouÌ„ded Let no one minister medle in any cure saue his owne but as he is appointed by common consente of the nexte conference or counsells prouinciall or nationall or further if it may fall out so generall of all Churches reformed Or this That the ministers muste be equall and that some must be gouerned by all and not al by some Or that the pastor or teacher in euery congregation ought to be the principall of the consistorie of their congregation Or that Many parishes may be ioyned in one and haue one pastor and yet that it is vnlawfull for one pastor to haue many parishes Or that In the meane whyle till preachers increase to furnishe the places vnfurnished vpon coÌ„ference among the learned some discrete man be appoynted to make some entiet prayer c. Or that it is euill so ofte to repeate Glory be to the father c. Lorde haue mercy vpon vs c. or the Lordes prayer For the text which they alledge for the same Math. 6. is wickedly wrested and corruptly alledged for the words of Christe be not as they translate them When you pray 〈…〉 that is many words without fayth and the inwarde affection of the minde is forbidden Paule 1. Thessa. 5. saith Pray continually And Christ Math. 6. sayth Pray on this maner Our father c. So that of necessitie we muste oftentimes repeate the Lordes prayer if we will beléeue Christe and his Apostle Paule But Lorde what strange doctrine is this to call Glory bee to the father c. Lorde haue mercy vpon vs c. Our father c popishe Surely these men as I suppose be not well in their wittes These and a number of other phansies they haue in this booke which they can not grounde vpon any scripâ—ures but by wringing and wresting of them and in déede their séeeking is to haue all thinges framed according to their fansies that they may be accompted planters and platformers of Churches I omitte this that the Author boasteth that he and many others will set them selues agaynst vs as the professed enimies of the church of Christ For the matter is not great neither shall theâ— in that poynt deale any otherwise with vs than 〈◊〉 Anabaptistes Arrianâ— and other Heretikes haue 〈◊〉 with other Churches This shall be sufficient for an answere to that booke bicause all other matters of substaunce are by me answered before in the former confutation Articles collected out of the former Admonition and vntruely sayd of the fautors of that Admonition to be falsified TO the end of the second AdmonitioÌ„ there is ioyned A reprofe of certen Articles collected as it is thought by the byshops for so they say out of a little booke entituled An admonition to the Parliament c. But as I think it may rather be termed a recantation or if you will a reformatioÌ„ or mitigation of certen articles in that first admonition rashly set downe and without learning or discretion printed 1. Fol. 3. li. 1. pa. 2. First they holde and affirme that we in EnglaÌ„d are not yet come to the outward face of a Church agreable to gods word Here you find fault that this word scarce is left out In déede this worde scarce was written in the margent of diuers copies of the first admonition whether it were so in al or no I know not no more do I whether any suche collection as you pretend was made But what néed you so much sticke in words when the thing is manyfest For in effect they denie as much as that propositioÌ„ importeth they wholly coÌ„demne the ministerie the ceremonies and the gouernement of this Church They say the sacrameÌ„ts be ful of corruptioÌ„s and in their second AdmonitioÌ„ fol. 42. they say that the sacraments are wickedly mangled prophaned they vtterly condemne our order maner of coÌ„mon prayer yea in effect our doctrine also for in their secoÌ„d AdmonitioÌ„ fol. 7. they say that although some truth be taught by some preachers yet no precher may with out daÌ„ger of the lawes vtter all truth coÌ„prised in the booke of god What can be spoken more sleÌ„derly of the doctrine preached in this church A man may truly speake as much of the Romish church for some truthe is taught by some Papistes yea some truth is taught by some Iew and Turke When therfore you say that in this Churche neither the worde is truely preached nor the Sacraments sincerely ministred nor yet Ecclesiasticall discipline which thrée in the first Admonition Fol. 3. is sayde to be the outwarde markes wherby a true christian Churche is knowne and also condemne our ministerie as Popish and vnlawfull with the whole gouernement of our Church as you do in playne termes may it not be truely sayde that you affirme vs in Englande as yet not to be come to the outwarde face of a Churche agreable to Gods worde Furthermore what doth this word scarce helpe the matter doth it not import as muche It is a rule in Philosophie quod vix fit non fit that vvhich is scarâ—e done is not done 2 They will haue the ministers to be called allowed and placed by the people You say that this article is falsified and yet their words in that place of their admonitioÌ„ be these Then election was made by the common consent of the whole Churche And a little after Then no minister placed in any congregation without the coÌ„sent of the people Wherfore the collection is very true and they belike ashamed of their doings and therfore they haue corrected these assertions in their second edition of their first admonitioÌ„ on this sort Then election was made by the elders with the common consent of the whole Churche Surely these men be past shame else would they not denie their owne written assertions 4. Lin. 9. They holde that a byshop at no hand hath authoritie to ordeyne ministers This article you confesse to be truely gathered but now you make this glose not alone and yet in their Admonition it is in flat termes that the ordering of ministers doth at no hande appertaine to bishops 6. Lin. 28. They wil haue the ministers at their owne pleasure to preache without licence This is true by your owne coÌ„fession for you will haue no other licence but your calling to the ministerie which must bee as you say by the congregation Here you shut out both the Princes licence and the Bishops 7. Lin. 13 fol. 17. lin 6. pa. 1. Whatsoeuer is set downe in this article is manyfestly affirmed in the Admonition and your Answere to it is friuolous and nothing to the purpose For in the first parte of the Admonition fol. 2.
be And it is the common opinion of all writers that these words of Chryst do not condemne superioritie Lordeshippe or any suche lyke authoritie but the ambitious desire of the same and the tyrānical vsage thereof Musculus expounding these places sayth in this sorte VVhosoeuer vvill be great among you c. He sayth not no man ought to be chiefe among you vvhich he shoulde haue said if it had not ben lawful in the kingdome of God for some to be great and chiefe or if it had ben necessarie that all shoulde haue bene in all things equall the Celestiall spirits are not equal the stars be not equal the Apostles them selues vvere not equall Peter is found in many places to haue ben chiefe amōg the rest vvhich vve do not denie Therfore this is not Christes meaning to haue none great or chiefe among Christians seeing the very necessitie of our state requireth that some be superiours and betters so far is it from beeing repugnaunt to charitie In a common vveale it is necessarie that some should excell other so is it in a vvell ordered familie In like maner there must be in the Churche gouernours presidents rulers of vvhome Paule maketh mention Ro. 12. 1. Cor. 12. Heb. 13. As there is also in the body some principall mēbers some inferiour c. Therfore Christ doth not require that in his kingdome all should be equall but this he doth require that none should desire to be great or to be thought and counted chiefe Hitherto Musculus Which interpretation muste néedes be true else we may say that Christe in this place reiecteth and disalloweth the Princes and Magistrates of the Gentiles and also forbiddeth the same among Christians which is false and Anabaptisticall Likewise the same Musculus sayth that Chryste teacheth in this place what he ought to be in déede that desireth to beare rule ouer other to wit that he ought to be a seruaunt to other that is as he dothe interprete it to profite other and to serue for the cōmoditie of other for though the name of a prince and of a lorde be a name of honor and dignitie yet is it the office of a prince lorde to serue those which be vnder thē in gouerning of them carefully and in prouiding for their wealth and peace Moreouer the Greke wordes that Chryste vseth in all these places as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe signifie to rule with oppression and to rule as a man list Furthermore Christe doth not say that no man shall be great among them or beare rule but he sayth Quicunque voluerit inter vos magnus fieri c. He that desireth to be great among you c. To conclude it is manyfest that in Matthewe and Marke he reproueth the ambition of the sonnes of Zebedie who ambitiously desired the one to sitte on hys right hande the other on his lefte And in Luke the ambition of the rest of the Apostles who contended among themselues which of them should be greatest So that it is playne that these places suppresse ambition and desire of rule in all kinde of men and not superioritie not magistracie not iurisdiction in any kinde of persons Touching the place in the .23 of Mat. where Chryste said vnto his disciples Be not you called Rabbi call no man father be not called maisters Who is so ignorant to thinke that Christ forbiddeth by these wordes one Christen man to call another lorde maister father shal not children call their parents father shall not scholers call their teacher maister And shall not seruauntes call him master vnder whose gouernement they are Is it not lawfull for one to call an other maister doctour father lorde c Paule notwithstanding these wordes of Christ 1. Cor. 4. calleth himself their father and. 1. Ti. 2. he calleth himself the doctour of the Gētiles Wherfore it is manifest that these names be not here prohibited muche lesse the offices but only the pharisaicall ambitious and arrogant affection of superioritie As it is also manifest by this that foloweth VVho so euer exalteth himselfe c. And surely as Christe condemneth here the ambitious affectiō of such as ambitiously desire these names of superioritie so doth he in like maner cōdemne those who be so puffed vp with pride and arrogācie that they contemne and disdayne to call men in authoritie by the titles of their offices For pride contempt and arrogancie is as well in refusing to giue honoure and reuerence as it is in ambitious desiring the same But the chiefe purpose of Christe in this place is to teache vs not so to depende vpon men as though it were not lawfull to breake their decrées or to decline from their authoritie For there is one only Father Lorde and maister to whome wée are so bounde that by no meanes wée maye declyne at any tyme from hys preceptes These places therfore may be aptly alledged against the pride tyrannie and ambitiō of the Bishop of Rome whiche séeketh tyrannically to rule and not to profite But it maketh nothing at all against the lawfull authoritie of any other in any state or condition of men Howe aptly that place of the .24 of Mathew But if the euill seruaunt shall say in his heart c. is alleaged let all men iudge I thinke it forbiddeth not to punishe suche as breake good lawes But Lorde how these men are beaten which do as they liste say what they liste and that with reioycing thereto that is if they be no otherwise beaten than hitherto they haue bene they will not only with schismes and factions teare in sunder this Churche of Englande but in time ouerthrow the whole state of the common wealth To proue that either we muste haue a righte ministerie of God and a righte gouernement of his Church according to the Scriptures set vp c. or else there can be no right religion c. is alleaged the ninth of Matth. the fourth to the Ephe. and the eightenth of Math. In the ninth of Mat. the place they alleage is this Surely the haruest is great but the labourers be fevve vvherefore c. In the fourth to the Ephe. He therefore gaue some to be Apostle c. In the eightenth of Mathew If thy brother trespasse agaynst thee c. The first place declareth that Ministers of the words are necessarie in Christes Churche The seconde that there is diuers kindes and degrées of them And the thirde sheweth an order of correcting secrete sinnes and priuate offences and medleth not with those that be open and knowne to other Nowe therefore consider to what purpose those places be noted in the margente and howe little they proue that which is concluded As for all the rest of the places of Scripture that followeth noted in the margent of this preface I knowe not to what purpose they be alleaged but onely for vayneglorie to bleare the eyes of the ignorant people and to make them beléeue that all
state That Bishoppes haue authoritie to admit ministers which is here denyed it is playne by that whiche is written 1. Timo. 5. Manus cito ne cus imponas Lay thy hands rashly on none These words Ambrose Chrisostome and al learned writers for the moste part do say to be an admonitioÌ„ to Timothie that he ought to be circumspect in appoynting of ministers And to Titus ca. 1. Paule sayth that he left him at Creta vt constitnat oppidatim presbiteros that he should appoynt ministers in euery tovvne This Hierome and others do expounde of the authoritie that Titus had in placing ministers in euery Churche It is the generall consent of all the learned fathers that it perteineth to the office of a Bishop to order and elect ministers of the word In this saith Hierome in Epist. ad EuagriuÌ„ A Bishop doth excel al other ministers in that the ordring and appoynting of ministers doth properly pertayne vnto him And yet these men say that the right of ordring ministers doth at no hand apperteyne to a byshop But for the order and maner of making ministers peruse the booke made for that purpose and as I sayd before so I say agayne if thou hast any iudgement thou canst not but like it and allowe of it The seuenth Then none admitted to the ministerie but a place was voyde aforehande to which he should be called but nowe byshops to whome the righte of ordering Ministers doth at no hande appertayne doe make 60.80 or 100. at a clap and sende them abroade into the countrey like masterlesse men To proue this you cite in the margent the first of the Actes where it is declared howe Mathias was chosen into the place of Iudas to make vp the number of the twelue Apostles Surely this is but a slender reason Mathias was chosen into the place of Iudas Ergo no man muste bée admitted into the ministerie excepte a place beforehande be voyde to the which he shoulde be called Euery meane Sophister will laughe at the childishnesse of this argument Mathias was chosen to be an Apostle and not to any certayne cure and therefore this example proueth nothing If you had used mo reasons I woulde haue answered them What certayne cure had Paule Barnabas Philippe Epaphroditus Andronicus Iunius and yet they were not of the twelue Apostles It is a straunge doctrine to teache that a man may not preache oute of hys owne cure It is more straunge to say that it is not lawfull for him to preache excepte he haue some Pastorall cure béeyng of hym selfe able to lyue and not mynding to bée burdensome to the Churche If you séeke for any texte in Scripture to confirme this doctrine you can fynde none if you séeke for examples to the contrarie you shall fynde plentie That the ordering of Ministers dothe appertayne to Byshops properly which you here vtterly denie I haue proued before they be best able to iudge of mens abilitie to that function It is their especiall charge to sée that there be méete ministers in the Churche and therefore good reason that they should haue the chiefe stroke in ordering of them and yet in that businesse they trust not them selues alone they haue other godly and learned ministers to assist them in examining suche as are to be admitted they also require a testimoniall of life and conuersation from that place wherein those that are to be Ministers haue bene latest and longest remayning If suche numbers as you say be admitted at one time and sent abroade like masterlesse men that is the faulte of the person not of the lawe neither is it a sufficient cause to debarre any learned godly and méete man from the ministerie able to liue of him selfe or hauing any other Ecclesiasticall liuing as Prebende fellowship in some colledge of either Uniuersitie or such lyke though he haue no pastorall charge and cure neither shall you euer be able to proue but that a man disposed and able to â—o good in the Churche of Chryst may be admitted into the ministerie although he haue no Ecclesiasticall liuing at all I mislike runnagates and masterlesse men and suche as are compelled to séeke vp and downe to get them seruices aswell as you and I hope the redresse thereof is already determined The eyght Then after iust triall and vocation they were admitted to their functioÌ„ by laying on of the hands of the company of the eldership onely Nowe there is neither of these being looked vnto required an Albe a surplesse a vestiment a pastorall staffe beside that ridiculous and as they vse it to their newe creatures blasphemous saying receyue the holy Ghost Of triall vocation I haue spoken before To proue laying on of hands c. is alledged the first of Timothie the fourth chapter this is but a ceremonie and it is now vsed For the Byshop and other learned and graue ministers there present do lay their hands vpon suche as are admitted into the mynisterie Nowe if you would knowe what is here mente by Seniors you may learne if you please of Oecumenius a learned and olde writer who expoundeth this place of Timothie on this sort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By Seniors he meaneth Byshops and so sayth Chrysostome in like maner In the booke nowe allowed of making Deacons and Ministers and consecrating of Byshops there is neither required Albe Surplesse Uestiment nor pastorall staffe reade the Booke from the begynning to the ending And therefore this is a false and vntrue reporte To vse these wordes receiue the holy ghost in ordering of ministers which Chryst him selfe vsed in appoynting his Apostles is no more ridiculous and blasphemous than it is to vse the words that he vsed in the supper But it is blasphemie thus outragiously to speake of the words of Chryst. The Byshop by speaking these wordes dothe not take vpon him to giue the holy ghost no more than he dothe to remitte synnes when he pronounceth the remyssion of synnes but by speaking these wordes of Chryst receyue the holy ghost whose sinnes soeuer ye remitte they are remitted c. he doth shewe the principall duetie of a minister and assureth him of the assistaunce of Gods holy spirite if he labour in the same accordingly You call them his new creatures these be but words of scurrilitie to be hissed at not to be answered The ninth Then euery pastor had his flock euery flock his shepherd or else shepherds Now they do not onely runne fisking froÌ„ place to place a miserable disorder in Gods church but courtously ioyne liuing to liuing making shipwracke of their owne consciences and beeing but one shepherde nay would to God they were shepheards and not wolues haue many flocks To proue this you alledge the twentith of the Actes the .4 to the Ephe. the .1 to Titus the .5 chapter of the .1 of Peter which places declare that there were Pastors which had flocks but they proue not that euery Pastor had a
Epistles whiche he writ to Nicholas the first in the defence of the mariage of Priests sayth that Dionysius Areopagita Saint Paules scholer was by S. Paule made Archbishop of Athens Erasmus in his argument of the epistle to Titus sayth that Paule made Titus Archebishop of Creta but Antichryste was not in Paules tyme Ergo the name of an Archbishop was not inuented by Antichrist I omit Anacletus a godlie bishop Martir who liued Anno domini 85. which in his Epistle â—om 1. conci diuers times maketh meÌ„tion of Archbishops Patriarks Primates Metropolitans and sayth that S. Iames which was called Iustus was the first Archbishop of Ierusalem I omitte also Anicetus who liued An. domini 155 which like wyse in his epistle maketh mention of Archbishops bicause these epistles ar not without iust cause suspected eyther to be none of theirs or else in diuerse poyntes corrupted But that notable and famous Councell of Nice must be and is of all wise and learned men nexte vnto the Scriptures them selues reuerenced estéemed and embraced that Councell celebrated Anno Domini 330. when as the Bishoppes of Rome were as yet learned and godlye men dothe not onely allowe of the name but also of the office of Metropolitane Archebishoppe Archdeacon c. In the sixth Canon of that Councell it is thus written This Councell doth determine him to be no Bishop vvhiche is made vvithout the consent Metropolitant Episcopi of the Metropolitane In the .13 Can. mention is made of a Patriarke and of an Archdeacon diuers tymes and his office there in diuers poyntes declared as it is also in the seuenth Canon of the same Councell In the .25 Canon is named bothe Patriarke and Archbishop and declared what authoritie they had in their prouinces and in admitting of Bishops So is it likewyse in the .26 and .27 Cannons of the same Councell Ambrose also that olde and learned father both alloweth the name and office of an Archbishop Lib. De dig Sacerde cap. 5. Sozomenus likewise Lib. 2. of his Ecclesiasticall historie Cap. 8. calleth Symeon Archbishoppe of Seleucia and Basile the greate Metropolitane of Cappadocia Lib. 3. Cap. 16. Damasus calleth Stephen an Archedeacon Hierome in his Epistle Ad Euagrium hath this name Archdeacon Sextus in his decrées sayth that Laurence the martyr was an Archedeacon Sozomenus lib. 7. cap. 19. maketh mention of an Archdeacon reading the Scriptures Socrates in the seuenth booke of his Ecclesiasticall historie speaketh of one Timothie an Archdeacon Augustine in his first booke De moribus Ecclesiae Catholica maketh mention of Deanes and their offices Hythertoo Antichriste had not inuaded the Churche of Rome But what shoulde I trouble you with anye mo authorities Those that bée learned maye easyly vnderstande that these names Metropolitane Archbishop Archdeacon Primate Patriarke and suche like be most auncient and approued of the Eldest best and worthiest councels fathers and writers And forasmuch as the originall and beginning of these names suche is their antiquitie can not be found so farre as I haue read it is to be supposed that they haue their originall from the Apostles them selues For as I remember Saincte Augustine hathe this rule in his 118. Epistle Ad Ianua Those things that be not expressed in the scripture and yet by tradition obserued of the vvhole Churche come either from the Apostles or from generall Councels as the obseruing of Easter the celebrating of the day of the Ascention and of the coÌ„ming of the holie Ghost and such like very vnlearned therfore and ignorant be those whiche so boldly affirme that these names vsed in the purest tyme of the Churche be Antichristian Whether that the name of Prelate of the garter Erle Countie Palatine Honour high Commissioner Iustice of peace and Quorum béeing necessarie offices in this Common weale partely for the honour of the Prince and Realme but especially for the good gouernement of all states and degrées of persones bée Antichrystian lette those consyder to whome GOD hathe commytted the sworde of gouernemente Suche insolent audacitie against states and lawfull regiment is rather to be corrected with due punishment than confuted by argument Lordes grace lorde Bishop honour c. be names of reuerence teaching vs to acknowledge our dutie towardes oure superiours and their authoritie ouer vs and it is muche more to bée reprehended not to gyue honour to whome honour is due than to receyue honoure when it is due You may and you please in verie auncient histories and in greate learned fathers see as honourable and reuerente titles giuen vnto Bishoppes as these bée And surely it is not Antichristian to be called by names and titles not ambitiously soughte for but orderly and lawfully giuen according to the condition and state of the place wherein a man is But it is Antichristian that is proude presumptuous disdaynful arrogant and contemptuous to refuse to giue to euerye one that name and title that by lawe ciuilitie and duetie of vs is requyred and expresseth oure reuerence duetie and obedience You woulde speake as muche of names of honoure and reuerence in other persons if you durste bée so bolde with them as you thinke you may bée with some Nowe it followeth to proue that the offices signified by these names are not strange and vnheard of in Christes churche neyther yet plainely in Gods word forbidden that they are not to be remoued but as most necessarie to be reteyned It is without all doubte that bothe these names and offices haue bene in Chrystes Churche long before Nicene Councell and that they haue hadde in the same continuaunce euen to thys daye as partely it maye bée gathered by that whyche I haue spoken before and moste manyfestlye by all Hystories and learned wryters from béefore that Councell of Nice to this instant houre and therefore they little considered what they writte when they set it downe that these names and offices were straunge and vnheard of in the Churche of Chryste These men contemning auncient writers neuer read them and that is the cause of such vnlearned assertions Cyprianus Li. 1. Epis. 3. ad CorneliuÌ„ speaking of the office of an Archbishop saith on this fort Neque enim aliunde haereses abortae sunt aut nata sohismata quam inde quod Sacerdoti dei non obtemperatur nec onus in Ecclesia ad tempus Sacerdos ad tempus index vice Christi cogitatur cui si secundum magisteria diuina obtemporaret fraternitas vniuersa nemo aduersus Sacerdotum Collegium quicquam moueret Neither haue heresies or schismes risen of any other occasion thaÌ„ of that that the priest of God is not obeyed neither one priest for the time in the Churche and one iudge for the time in steade of Chryst thought vpon to vvhom if the vvhole brotherhoode vvoulde be obedient according to Gods teaching no man vvoulde moue any thing agaynst the Colledge of Priests Cornelius béeing Byshop of Rome and hauing excommunicated certayne notorious wicked men and afterwarde béeyng
threatned and yll vsed at their hands began to faynt and to be wéery of his office Cyprian hearing therof wrote comfortably vnto him and willed him in any wise to procéede shewing further what sectes and schismes ensueth in any prouince or diocesse wheras the Byshops authoritie is despised for in these words he speaketh not of the vsurped authoritie of the Byshop of Rome ouer all Churches but agaynst the insolencie of some which despising their Metropolitane or Archebyshop did with their factiousnesse trouble the Churche For he would haue an Archebyshop in euery prouince which should beare the chéefe rule ouer the rest of the Cleargie and so doe the godlyest and best learned expounde Cyprian The same Cyprian wryting to one Florentius Pupianus speaking in his owne behalfe béeing Byshoppe of Carthage sayth on this sorte Vnde schismata haereses obortae sunt oriuntur nisi dum Episcopus qui vnus est Ecclesiae praest superba quorundam praesumptione contemnitur homo dignatione dei honoratus ab hominibus indignis iudicatur From vvheÌ„ce haue heresies and schismes sprong heretofore and vvherof spring they novv but that the Byshop vvhich is one and gouerneth the church by the presumptuous disdayne of certen is despised and a man preferred by Gods allovvaunce is examined and iudged by vnvvorthy men For it is the chéefe and principal office of an Archebishop to kéepe vnitie in the Church to compound conteÌ„tions to redresse heresies schismes factions to sée that Byshops and all other of the Clergie whiche be vnder him doe their duetie c. And therefore Hierome writing vppon the first to Titus sayth that in the beginning a Byshop and a Priest was all one but after that there began to arise factions in religion some said they held of Apollo some of Paule some of Cephas and some of Chryst it was decréed that one shoulde be chosen to beare rule ouer the rest to whom the chéefe care of the Churche should appertayne and by whom sectes and schismes should be cut off Here a man may reason thus the distinction of degrées began in the Churche when men began to say I holde of Paule I holde of Apollo c. But this was in the Apostles time .1 Cor. 1. Therefore these distinctions of degrees began in the Apostles time The same Hierome in his Epistle ad Euagrium teacheth that the cause why one was chosen among the bishops to rule ouer the rest was in schismatis remedium ne vnusquisque ad se trahens Christi Ecclesiam rumpereâ— to meete vvith schismes lest euery one according to his ovvn fansie shoulde teare in peeces the Churche of Christe And sayth further that in Alexandria from S. Marke vnto Heracla and Dyonisius Byshoppes the ministers vsed to electe one among them selues whome they placing in a higher degrée called a Byshoppe euen as an armie shoulde choose their Capitayne or Deacons shoulde choose one of them selues whome they knewe to bée paynefull and call hym an Archedeacon Haec Hierom. In all these places Hierome dothe not maynteyne the authoritie of one man ouer the whole Churche but thinketh it necessarie that in euery Prouince there bée one to bée chéefe ouer the reste for vnitie sake and for rooting oute of contentions and sectes And therfore contra Luciferanos he sayth that onlesse this superioritie vvere there vvould be as many schismes in the Church as there be Priests Chrysostome writing vppon the twentith of Matthew sayth that the rebellious nature of man caused these distinctions of degrees that one shoulde be an Apostle another a Byshoppe another a Minister another a lay man And that onlesse there vvere suche distinctions of persons there could be no discipline And vpon the. 13. to the Romanes he sayth that bicause equalitie engendreth strife and contention therfore superioritie and degrees of persons vvere appoynted It is not to be denied but that there is an equalitie of all ministers of Gods worde quoad ministerium touching the ministerie for they haue al like power to preach the worde to minister the sacraments that is to say the worde preached or the Sacraments ministred is as effectuall in one in respecte of the ministerie as it is in another But quoad ordinem politiam touching order and gouernement there alwayes hathe bene and muste be degrées and superioritie among them For the Churche of God is not a confused congregation but ruled and directed as well by discipline pollicie in matters of regiment as by the worde of God in matters of fayth And therefore well sayth master Caluine in hys Institutions Cap. 8. That the twelue Apostles had one among them to gouerne the rest it vvas no maruell for nature requireth it and the disposition of man vvil so haue it that in euery company although they be all equall in povver yet that there be one as gouernour by vvhom the rest may be directed there is no court without a Consul no Senate without a Pretor no Colledge vvithout a President no societie vvithout a Master Haec Caluin Paule was superiour bothe to Timothie and Titus as it may easily be gathered out of his Epistles written vnto them Titus had superioritie ouer all the other pastours and Ministers which were in Creta for he had Potestatem constituendi oppidatim presbyteros ad Tit. 1. The which place master Caluine expounding sayth on thys sorte Discimus ex hoc loco c. We learne of this place sayth he that there was not suche equalitie among the ministers of the Churche but that one both in authoritie and councell dyd rule ouer an other Timothie bare rule ouer all the other Ministers of the Churche of Ephesus For Paule sayth vnto him 1. Tim. 5. Aduersus Presbyterum accusationem c. agaynst a Minister receyue no accusation onlesse there be tvvo or three witnesses In which words Paule maketh him a Iudge ouer the rest of the Ministers and Epiphanius Lib. 3. Tom. 1 contra heresim Aerij proueth Titus superioritie ouer the rest by this selfe same place That this worde Presbyter in this place of the Apostle signifieth a Minister of the word both Ambrose Caluin and other learned wryters declare Ignatius who was S. Iohn his scholer and lyued in Christes time in his epistle ad Tâ—rallianos speaketh thus of the authoritie of a Byshop ouer the rest Quid aliud est Episcopus quam quidam obtinens principatum potestatem supra omnes VVhat is a Bishop but one hauing povver and rule ouer all And in his epistle ad Smirnenses he writeth on this sorte Honora quidem Deum vt authorem vniuersorum Dominum Episcopum autem vt Sacordotum Principem imaginem Dei ferentem Dei quideÌ„ per principatum Christi vero per sacerdotium Honor God as the author and Lord of al things a Bishop as the chiefe of Preestes bearing the Image of God of God bicause of his superioritie of Christ by reason of his preesthod And a litle after Let lay men
worde béeing as you saye distincte offices will you thus dallie with the Scripture and make it a nose of waxe as the Papistes terme it to wrest and writhe it whiche waye you liste Here you muste néedes confesse eyther contradiction in your selues or falsification In the .1 Cor. 12. Sainct Paule sayeth that God hath ordeyned in the Churche firste Apostles then Prophetes thirdly teachers then them that doe miracles after that the giftes of teaching helpers gouernours diuersities of toungs here is not one worde of the office of Seniors neyther yet of their names For this worde gouernours teacheth vs that Christe hath ordeyned in his Churche some to beare rule and to gouerne but whether one in euery congregation or mo whether ministers of the worde or other whether magistrates or Seniors it is not here expressed howsoeuer it is it maketh nothing for your purpose I knowe that in the primatiue Churche they had in euery Churche certaine Seniors to whom the gouernement of the Congregation was committed but that was before there was any christian Prince or magistrate that openly professed the Gospell and before there was anye any Churche by publique authoritie established or vnder ciuile gouernement both the names and offices of Seniors was extinguished before Ambrose tyme as hée himselfe dothe testifie writing vpon the fift of the first to Timo. I tolde you before that the diuersitie of tyme and state of the Churche requireth diuersitie of gouernement in the same It can not be gouerned in tyme of prosperitie as it is in tyme of persecution It maye not be gouerned vnder a christian Prince which doth nourish and maynteyne it as it maye bée vnder a tyrant when it is constrayned to flée and séeke corners It can not bée gouerned in a whole Realme as it may be in one little Citie or towne it can not be gouerned when it is dispersed thorough many places as it maye be when it is collected into some one narrow and certaine place To bée shorte it can not be gouerned when it is full of hypocrites Papists Atheists and other wicked persons as when it hath very fewe or none suche As commonly it hathe not in tyme of persecution when the golde is as it were by fyre tryed from the drosse He that according to thys diuersitie of the forme state and tyme of the Churche doothe not allowe a diuersite of gouernemente dothe confounde and not edifye I praye you what Seniors coulde you haue in moste parishes in Englande fitte for that office But wyse not wilfull men haue to consider this God hath giuen the chiefe gouernement of his Churche to the Christian Magistrate who hath to consider what is moste conuenient and wée must therwith be content so that nothing be doone agaynst faythe and the commaundement of God. Admonition In steade of these Seniors in euery Church the Pope hath brought in and yet we maintein the lordship of one man ouer sundry Churches yea ouer many shires Answere You alledge in the margent in these words in the .12 to the Ro. he that exhorteth let him wayte on exhortation he that distributeth let him doe it with simplicitie hee that ruleth with diligence hee that sheweth mercye with cheerefulnesse To proue that in steade of these Seniors in euery Churche the Pope hath broughte in and wée yet maynteyne the Lordship of one man ouer many Churches c I knowe not howe this geare hangeth together or to what purpose you shoulde alledge that place It neyther proueth that in euery Churche there was Elders neyther that in place of them the pope hathe broughte in the Lordship of one man ouer many Churches I haue proued before in my aunswere to youre thirtéenth and fourtéenth reason that this Lordshippe of one man as you terme it but in deede lawfull iurisdiction ouer sundrye Churches was not the inuention of anye Pope but of great antiquitie in the Churche of Christe allowed by that famous Councell of Nice and practised since of moste godly and learned fathers In the nynth Cannon Concil Anno. it is thus written Per singulas regiones Episcopos conuenit nosse Metropolitanum Episcopum solicitudinem totius Prouinciae gerere propter quod ad Metropolim omnes vndique qui negotia videntur habere concurrant vnde placuit eum honore praecellere nihil amplius praeter eum caeteros Episcopos agere secundum antiquam à patribus nostris regulam constitutam nisi ea tantum quae ad suam Dioecesim pertinent c. It behoueth the Bishoppes in euery countrey to knowe theyr Metropolitane Bishop to haue care ouer the vvhole Prouince and therefore all suche as haue any businesse must come to their Metropolitane Citie vvherfore it pleaseth this Councell that hee also excell in honoure and that the other Bishoppes doe nothing vvithout him according to the aunciente rule prescribed by our forefathers but those thinges onely vvhiche perteyne to his owne Dioces c. Thys Councell was aboute the yeare of our Lorde 345. Admonition These Seniors then bicause their charge was not ouer muche did execute their office in their owne persons without substitutes Our Lorde Byshops haue their vnder officers as suffraganes Chauncelors Archdeacons Officials Commissaries and such like Answere You barely affirme without any proofe that these Seniors then did execute their offices in their owne persons without substitutes But your bare worde is not of sufficient credite although I thinke you wyll make a great difference betwixt Seniors and Byshops For they whome you call Seniors had no authoritie to preach or to minister the sacraments as Byshops haue That Byshops might haue substitutes and had so it is manyfest in the .13 Cannon Ancâ—rani concilij whiche was about the yere of our Lorde thrée hundred and eight and before Nicene councell where we reade on this sorte Vicarijs Episcoporum quos graeci coepiscopos vocant non licet vel presbyteros vel diacâ—nos ordinare sed nec presbyteris Ciuitatis sine Episcopi praecepto amplius aliquid ordinare nec sine authoritate literarum eiâ—â— in vnaquaque parochia aliquid agere It is not lawfull for Byshops substitutes whom the Gretians do call felow Byshops or coadiutors to order either priests or deacons neither is it lawfull to the priests of the Citie without the Byshops authoritie to commaunde any thing else or without the authoritie of his letters to do any thing in any parishe It is manyfest hereby that Byshops then had Deputies whether you will call them Chauncellors Commissaries c. the matter is not great To contend for the name when the thing is certayne is a note of a contentious person Admonition Touching Deacons though their names be remaining yet is the office fouly peruerted and turned vpside downe for their duetie in the primatiue Church was to gather the almes diligently and to distribute it faythfully also for the sicke impotent persons to prouide painfully hauing euer a diligent care that the charitie of godly men were
vntrustye dispensers of Gods secretes euil deuiders of the word weake to withstand the aduersarie not able to confute And to conclude so farre from making the man of God perfecte to all good workes that rather the quite contrary may be confirmed Answere Of the prescript forme of seruice and of such corruptions as hitherto you haue found in it I haue spoken before sufficiently so haue I also done of the ministerie and of reading so that I muste referre you to the former treatise for these matters lest I should be too tedious and offende as ofte in diuers tymes iterating the same thing as you doe This I must néedes say that you make here a childish digression farre from the purpose that you haue taken in hande for the communion booke medleth not with the ordering of ministers although somtimes the Booke of ordering ministers be bounde with the same neyther are these thinges that you here speake of there to be founde And therfore no cause why you should absteyn from subscribing to that booke But now to your painted margent You say by the word of God the ministerie is an office of preaching we make it an office of reding To proue it to be an office of preaching you note in youre margente Matth. 26. But I thinke your meaning is the .28 and Marke 16. Where Chryste sayeth to hys Disciples Go therfore and teache all nations c. What if a man shoulde say vnto you that this commission was giuen onely to the Apostles For he sayeth Go into the whole worlde where as you teache nowe that no man may come into the ministerie except he first haue a flocke and then muste he kéepe him with his flocke and goe no further If this doctrine be true then can not this place serue your turne For as the office of Apostle is ceased by your doctrine so is this commission also except you will haue the one part to stand that is Goe and preach and this to be abrogated In vniuersum mundum into the whole worlde But wher doth the booke make the ministerie an office of reading only or what contrarietie is there betwixte reading and preaching nay what difference is there betwixte them if a man shoulde write his sermon and reade it in the booke to his flocke dothe he not preache Is ther no Sermons but such as be sayd without booke I thinke to preache the Gospell is to teache and instructe the people in faithe and good manners be it by writing reading or speaking without book And I am sure the spirite of God doth worke as effectually by the one of these wayes as it doth by the other Did not Sainâ—te Paule preache to the Romaynes when he writte to them was not the reading of Deuteronomie to the people a preaching 2. Reg. 23. Will you so scornefullye and so contemptuously speake of the Reading of Scripture being a thing so fruitfull and necessarie But to come to the Booke not of Common prayer mentioned in the Article but of ordering Deacons and Ministers wherevnto this dothe appertayne whyche you fynde faulte with the saying of the Bishop to him that is to be made minister is this Take thou authoritie to preache the word of God and to minister the holy Sacramentes in the congregation where thou shalte be so appoynted What faulte fynde you in these wordes Doth he giue him authoritie to reade or to preache I take vpon me the defence of the booke not of euery mans doings But this you say is spoken in mockerie bicause they may not preache excepte they haue newe licences Surely I thinke no man is admitted into the ministerie but he is permitted to preache in his owne cure without further licence excepte it be vpon some euill vsage of himselfe afterwardes eyther in lyfe or doctrine It maye be that a man be admitted minister and afterward fall into errour or heresies as did Iudas and Nicolaus the Deacon it is méete that suche should be restrained from preaching notwithstanding their former licence In all reformed Churches I am sure this order is obserued That none ought publiquely to preache withoute licence in a Church established and hauing Christian magistrates I haue shewed before In the Scriptures you say there is attributed vnto the ministers of God the knowledge of the heauenly misteries and for proofe hereof you cite the .1 Cor. 4. which is néedelesse for it is manyfeste And yet all haue not knowledge of them alike no there is greate diuersitie among them touchyng knowledge of these mysteries and yet he that knoweth least may be profitable in the churche according to his talent You goe on and say that therfore as the greatest token of their loue they are enioyned to feede Gods lambes and you alledge the .21 of Iohn the wordes of Christ to Peter Feede my lambes c. al this is true and féeding is not onely publique preaching but reading also of the Scriptures and priuately exhorting and that according to the gifte and grace giuen of God to euery man. And yet you say with these suche are admitted and accepted as onely are bare readers that is onely able to saye Seruice and to minister a Sacrament I saye this is the faulte of the man not of the booke for the Booke alloweth none suche But what is this to your purpose what kynde of reason is this Some Byshoppes admit some vnméete ministers therfore you wil not subscribe to the Communion booke or there be some ministers that can not preache therfore there is some thing in the Communion booke repugnant to the worde of god It appeareth you had but small regarde to that whiche you tooke in hande to proue or that you can fynde little matter in the booke of seruice to carpe at when you fall into suche friuolous digressions For reading Ministers you bidde vs viewe these places Mala. 2.7 Esay 56.10 Zacha. 11.15 Math. 15.14 1. Timoth. 3.3 The Prophet Malachie in the second Chapter and seuenth vse sayeth on this sorte For the Preestes lippes should preserue knowledge and they should seeke the law at his mouthe for hee is the messenger of the Lorde of hostes In whiche wordes the Prophete dothe signifye that the Préestes ought to bée learned in the lawe and able to instruct whiche no man denyeth and if there be any crepte into the ministerie whiche are not able so to doe it is to be ascribed either to the negligence of the Bishoppe and suche as haue to doe therein or to the necessitie of the tyme But here is nothing spoken agaynste reading for any thing that I can gather and if any man shoulde come vnto mée and demaunde of me any question touching the lawe of God I thinke I should better satisfie him if I did reade the wordes of the lawe vnto him than if I shoulde make a long tedious discourse of myne owne to little or no purpose It is the word it selfe that perceth and moueth the conscience I speake not this
vocation This is but your veyne of rayling and your vsuall manner of extolling your selues and condemning other But as I sayde before your wordes be no sclaunder neyther will I in words contend with you but therin giue you the vpper hande only I must still let you vnderstand of your foolish applying of scriptures For wherfore haue you here quoted the tenth of Iohn vse 1. Belike bycause Christ sayth there That he whiche doth not enter in by the dore into the sheepfolde but climbeth vp an other way is a theefe and a robber therfore all such as bée placed in this Churche of England your selues excepted enter in by a popish and vnlauful vocation You had gone orderly to worke if you had firste proued that we haue not come into the shéepfold by christ If you thus omitte the proofe of your minor you may conclude what you wil and quote scriptures at your pleasure But wyse and lerned men will lament your follie and laughe at your vnskilfulnesse Of making of ministers I haue spoken before and answered the places Actes 6.14 20. sufficiently As for the other two places Ro. 12. vse 6.7.8 and .1 Cor. 9. vse 16.17 I muse why you note them they nothing at all perteyning to the making of ministers they something touche their office yet not that directly But you must be borne with least you shoulde haue séemed to youre disciples to haue sayd nothing Some of those ministers you say may tarie in their Colledge and leade the liues of loytering losels as long as they liue If you knew any suche loytering losels in any Colledge I trust you would make them knowne to other also If you knowe none suche then are you a slaunderer of Colledges and suche as be in them It were to be wished in my opinion that there were many preachers in Colledges of greater continuance than I knowe any Then should not yong factious vnruly and vndiscrete persons so greately trouble with their contentions and sects bothe vniuersities and the whole realme also I knowe no Bishops that giue out Bulles but if such preachers as remayne in Colledges or elsewhere béeing thervnto licenced by the Bishop or other that haue authoritie doe take paynes to preach where they sée occasion they are greatly to be commended and I pray God encrease the nūber of such Circumcetiōs But since this your opinion hath bene broched it hath not only driuen many frō the ministerie but also caused diuers to loyter and cease from preaching And certainely if it be not in tyme prouided for that one braunch of your doctrine wil spoyle this Churche of England bothe of preachers and preachings The rest that you write in this parte I hope is more slaunderously of you spoken than truely notwithstanding I thinke there hathe bene some ouersighte in some men whiche I trust is and will be amended if not then I wishe that Cannon of the lawe to be put in practise that suche as admit them should also prouyde for them When you say that the Bishoppes of thys Realme reigne and rule by the Canon lawe you forgette your selfe you know it is otherwise Their chiefe authoritie they haue by Gods lawe the reste by the lawes of the Realme and of the Prince but these wordes are but wordes of course with you Admonition The seuentéenth We should be too long to tell youre honoures of Cathedrall Churches the dennes aforsayd of al loytering lubbers where master Deane master Vicedeane master Canons or master Prebendaries the greater master Petie canons or Canons the lesser master Chauncelor of the Churche master Treasorer otherwyse called Iudas the purse bearer the chief Chaunter Singing men speciall fauourers of religion squeaking Queristers Organ players Gospellers Pistellers Pentioners Readers Vergers c. liue in greate idlenesse and haue their abiding If you woulde knowe whence all these came we can easyly answere you that they came from the Pope as oute of the Troian horses belly to the distruction of Gods kingdome The Churche of God neuer knewe them neither doth any reformed church in the worlde know them Answere Here you speak both without the book of Cōmon prayers and scriptures also for neither are cathedral churches conteyned in that booke neyther haue you any scripture to proue that which you so impudently affirme God be thanked it is well knowne to those that be not with malice blinded that Cathedrall Churches be furnished with godly zelous and learned men And that they be the chiefe and principall ornaments of this Realme and next to the vniuersities chiefest mainteyners of godlinesse religion and learning there be some desire the spoyle of them whose instrumentes you be But I hope both their mouthes and yours also shal be firste stopped with earth Master Deane master vicedeane master Cānons c. as much as they loyter may thinke themselues fitte to be compared with such as you are in any respects The rest of your rayling words I leaue to the Authoure You say all these come from the Pope c. It is not materiall frō whence they come so they be good profitable and necessarie for the mainteyning of religion lerning wise and learned men But I pray you from what Pope came they or in what time did the Pope inuent them I told you before that such places and Colledges were in Augustines time and that he both hath the name of master Deane and alloweth of his office If you had redde any aunciente learned authours as your writings declare you haue not then shoulde you finde that Collegiate Churches be of great antiquitie euen since the yeare of our Lorde .235 But what can you speake against Cathedrall Churches which you may not aswell speake against the Colledges in the vniuersities They were not in the Apostles time neyther yet in the primatiue Church must they therefore nowe be dissolued your meaning is belike to bring al to cōfusion and barbarisme You say no reformed church in the worlde knoweth them wherin I thinke you speak more than you knowe Can you name any reformed Church that hath plucked them downe Peraduenture in dyuers places where the Gospell is now preached they had neuer suche rewardes for learning But what haue we to do in suche cases with other reformed Churches we haue to consider what is most méete for this Churche and state and not to follow other as though we were children I sée no cause why other reformed Churches should not rather followe vs than we them seing in no respecte we be inferior to them Well to conclude your wordes be but vayne and your proofes none at all And therefore I doubte not but Cathedrall churches shall be able to withstand both your opprobrious speaches and the gréedinesse of all their aduersaries so long as it shall please God to blesse thys land with so vertuous and learned a Quéene and so wise and discréete counsellours Admonition The eightéenth And birds of the same fether are couetous patrones of benefices persons vicars
obedience in vsing it There is no order in it but confusion no comlynesse but deformitie no obedience but disobedience both agaynst God and the Prince We maruell that they coulde espye in their laste Synode that a graye Amyse which is but a garment of dignitie shoulde be a garmente as they saye defiled with superstition and yet that copes caps surplesses tippets and suche lyke baggage the preaching signes of Popish priesthood the Popes creatures kepte in the same forme to this ende to bring dignitie and reuerence to the ministers and sacraments should be reteined still not abolished But they are as the garments of the idol to which we should say auaunt and get thee hence They are as the garmentes of Balaamites of popish priestes enimies to God all christiās They serue not to edificatiō they haue the shew of euil seing the popish priesthod is euil they work discord they hinder the preaching of the gospel they kepe the memory of Egipt stil amōgst vs put vs in mind of that abhomination wherevnto they in times past haue serued they bring the ministery into contēpt they offende the weak they encorage the obstinate Answere To all this also I haue answered before I meane to al the reasons here alledged as for bare words they preuaile with none but suche as haue respect to the persons and not to the matter And therefore I omitte these wordes of pleasure which you vse when you say that in this apparel there is no order but confusion no comelinesse but deformitie no obediēce but disobedience both agaynst God the Prince It is not euery priuate mans part to define what is order comelinesse in external matters béeing indifferent but it is proper to thē onely to whō God hath committed the gouernement of his Church whose orders and lawes not béeing agaynst the worde of God whosoeuer dothe disobey disobeyeth both God and the Prince as you do in disobeying the Princes lawes in these matters It is wel that you séeme to iustifie the gray Amyse bycause the Byshops haue disalowed of it in their Synode Truely this is your conscience and religion to be alwayes ad oppositum and to disallowe that which lawe and authoritie alloweth and allowe that which they disallowe The next way as I thinke to driue you vnto conformitie in apparell were to make a streight lawe that no man should weare such kinde of apparell bicause you loue to be contrary to lawes and good orders But you say they are as the garments of the Idoll to the which we should say auaunt and get thee hence they are as the garmentes of Balaamites of Popish priests enimies to God and all Christians Be it so so were all thinges in Hierico accursed and an abhomination to the Lord neither was it lawfull for the Israelites to touch any thing thereof and yet was the golde and the siluer and the brasen and yron vessels carried into the treasure house of the Lorde and consecrated vnto him Iosua 6. Gedeon was commaunded to take and sacrifice that Oxe of his fathers to God which his father had fedde and brought vp to be sacrificed to Baall yea and to burne that oxe with the selfe same wood that was consecrated and dedicated to the Idoll Baal Iudic. 6. Our forefathers tooke the temples dedicated wholy to ydols yea to diuels and most abhominably defiled with diuelish and abhominable seruice and turned them into holy Churches where Christ should be worshipped To be short no diuell no idoll no Pope can so defile the nature or forme not béeing cōtrary to the scriptures of any of Gods creatures that the libertie of a Christian man should be takē away in vsing or not vsing of them And I say agayne with master Bucer that for any thing to be a note of Antichrist is not in the nature of any creature in it selfe for to that ende nothing vvas made of God but it hangeth altogither of consenting to Antichristes religion and the professing thereof The vvhiche consent and profession beeing chaunged into the consent and profession of Christianitie there can sticke in the things them selues no note or marke of Antichristes religion The vse of belles vvas a marke of Antichristianitie in our Churches vvhen the people by them vvere called to Masses and vvhen they vvere roong agaynst tempestes novv they are a token of Christianitie vvhen the people by them are gathered togither to the Gospell of Christe and other holy actions c. You say also that they doe not edifie If you say that they doe not edifie of them selues you say truly for only the holy ghost on this sort doth edifie by the ministerie of the worde But if you say they edifie not at all that is that they do not tende to edifying as other ceremonies things vsed in the church as pulpit church knéeling singing and such like which be appointed for order decencie do then speake you that which you are not able by sound arguments to iustifie Peter Martyr in his Epistle written to master Hooper thinketh that they doe edifie after a sorte as other ceremonies doe And so dothe master Bucer also in his Epistle written to master Alasco Furthermore that they do edifie it is manyfest first bicause they are by a lawfull Magistrate by lawfull authoritie for order and decencie appoynted in the Church without any maner of superstition or suspition of the same Secondly bicause we are by due proofe and experience taught that suche as haue worns this apparell and do weare it by the ministerie of the worde haue greatly edified and doe daily Thirdly bicause also by experience we daily vnderstande that suche as consente in wearing this apparell consent also in all other poyntes of doctrine and kéepe the peace of the Churche which is one of the principall causes of edifying contrariwise suche as refuse the same apparell not onely dissente and disagrée among them selues but fall into diuers and straunge opinions without stay and slaunder the Gospell with their contentiousnesse and teare in péeces the Churche of Christ with their factions and schismes and be the cause why bothe the worde of God and christian magistrates be almost generally contemned I here omit that which I might as iustly bring for this kinde of apparel as you do for sitting at the communion I meane a fit and profitable signification wherof master Martir speaketh in the Epistle before mentioned on this sort I wil not here say that they which stād to the defence of this matter may pretende some honest and iust signification of the apparell and that not dissenting from the worde of God which is this the ministers of the Churche as the prophet Malachie witnesseth be angels and Gods messengers but angels for the most part appeared beeing clothed in white garmēts I pray you how shal we debarre the Churche of this libertie that it can not signifie some good thing in setting foorth their rytes and ceremonies especially beeing so done
but thereuppon to conclude that the ciuill magistrate is secluded from the gouernement of the Churche or that there néedeth no externall regiment is dangerous and sauoreth Anabaptisme In the same leafe and .19 reason these wordes be lefte out baÌ„ners and belles whiche argueth that they were before vntruly sayde to be vsed in gang wéeke But to lye is a small matter with these men Fol. 8. For Lords grace of Yorke there is the Archebishop of Yorke The cause of thys alteration I know not In the margent ouer against the 21. reason there is this note It conteyneth manifest blasphemy as may appeare Eâ—â—e 1.17 meaning this saying of the Byshop to those that are admitted ministers Receiue the holy Ghost The place in that Chapiter of the Epistle to the Ephesians proueth no suche thing these be the wordes I cease not to giue thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lorde Iesus Christ the father of glory mighte giue vnto you the spirite of vvisedome and reuelation thorough the knovvledge of hym What sequele is there in this argument Saincte Paule prayed that God would giue to the Ephesians the spirite of wisedome and reuelation thorough the knowledge of him Ergo this saying of the Bishop Receiue the holy Ghost to those that are admitted into the ministerie conteyneth manifest blasphemy Such is your vsuall maÌ„ner of reasoning Fol. 9. and second article All this is added Neither is the controuersie betwixte them and vs as they woulde beare the worlde in hand as for a cap a tippet or a surplesse but for greater matters concerning a true ministerie and regimeÌ„t of the Church according to the word Which things once established the other melte away of them selues and yet consider I pray you whether their owne argumente doth not choke themselues for euen the very name of triftes doth playnly declare that they ought not to be mainteyned in Christes church and what shall our Bishops win by it Forsoth that they bee mainteyners of triftes and trifling Bishops consuming the greatest parte of theyr time in those trifles whereas they shoulde bee better occupied We striue for true religion and gouernement of the Churche and shew you the righte way to throw out Antichrist both head and taile and that we will not so much as communicate with the taile of the beast But they after they haue thrust out Antichriste by the head goe aboute to pull hym in againe by the tayle cunningly coulouring it least any manne should espye his foot steps as Cacus did when he stole the oxen What other men haue done I knowe not but for my parte I alwayes suspected and partely knewe that some of you had greater matters in hand and of more importance than cappe tippet and surplesse whiche surely was one of the first causes that moued me to be more earnest agaynst you than I was accustomed For I did vnderstand that you wer hatching opinions tending not only to Anabaptisme but to the ouerthrowe of the Gospel and disturbing the quiet state of this Churche And yet who knoweth not that you haue made the cap and Surplesse your pretence hitherto vntill nowe of late when you sée almost all men condemne your follie You say we choake our selues with our owne argumente for euen the very name of trifles doth playnly declare that they ought not to be maynteyned in Christes Church Surely of them selues they be but trifles as all other externall ceremonies and indifferent things bée It is the circumstaunces that maketh them no trifles but matters of weight For things indifferent béeing commaunded thus or so to bée vsed by the Magistrate not as necessarie to saluation iustificatioÌ„ but as conuenient and necessarie for order decencie bée not nowe trifles And who soeuer without a lawfull vrgente cause or in a case of necessitie dothe breake the law made of theÌ„ sheweth himselfe a disordered person disobediente a contemner of lawfull authoritie and a wounder of his weake brothers conscience And if any man shall saye that this is to bring vs agayne in bondage of the lawe and to depriue vs of our libertie I answere no for it is not a matter of Iustification but of order And to be vnder a lawe is no taking awaye of Christian libertie for the Christian libertie is not a licence to doe what thou list but to serue God in newnesse of mynde and that for loue not for seruile feare Of them selues therefore they vs but trifles but béeing commaunded by the Magistrate to be vsed or not to be vsed they are no trifles no more than it was for women to come into the Churche bareheaded or a man to praye hauing his cappe on his heade after that Saint Paule had made an order to the contrarie And therfore these scoffes and stoutes and what shall oute Bishoppes win by it forsoth that they bée maynteyners of trifles and triâ—ling Bishops consuming the greatest part of their tyme in these trifles where as they shoulde be better occupied myght with more commendation of youre modestie haue bene well forborne They see your doings tend not only to contention but to confusion not only to disobedience towardes the lawes of the Prince but also to daungerous errours yea to the ouerthrowe of religion and therfore they are neyther maynteyners of tryfles nor trifling Bishops but wyse discréete vigilant and learned fathers whyche séeke to mayntayne peace preserue good order defende the authoritie of lawfull lawes and in tyme suppresse erronious doctrine You rather spend the tyme in trifles when you might be better occupied for you omitting al other necessary pointes of doctrine and profitable exhortations to good lyfe stuffe your sermons and furnishe your table talke with nothing else but with bitter inuectiues agaynst those rytes as though they were matters of damnation and agaynst those learned and discréete ministers of the word who according to their dutie vsing of them séeke in déed to beate downe Antichriste to plante necessarie poyntes of religion in mennes heartes and to teache repentance with newnesse of life which your vnfrutefull froward and coÌ„tentious dealing reioyceth the Papist discrediteth the sound and lerned preacher offendeth the godlie wouÌ„deth the weake worketh contempte of Magistrates and superiors in the hearts of the hearers destroyeth that which other men buylde finally doth good to none For what frute can there come to the hearers by inueying continually against cappe tippet surplesse ring in mariage womens white kerchers bagpypes funerall sermons mourning apparel c. Bishops Preachers Magistrates Prince These and suche lyke be only the common places you entreate of When you saye that you stryue for true Religion and gouernemente of the Churche c. You saye â–ª that you dooe that â–ª whyche is to bée wyshed you shoulde doo But youre doings tende to the defacing of true Religion and ouerthrowe of the righte gouernement of the Churche and although you be not the head of Antichrist yet are you his taile
obijciunt obstacula atque remorae ab illis quoque exortae qui maximè Euangelici volunt videri Verum per initia reformationis Ecclesiae nostrae eadem nos exercuit molestia Erant enim quibus nihil in reformando satis purum videbatur vnde ab Ecclesia sese segregabant conuenticula peculiaria constituehant quae mox consequibantur schismata sectae variae quae iucnudum spectaculum exhibebant hostibus nostris papistiois Sed innotuit tandem ipsorum Hypocrisis ataxta suaque sponte diffluxêre Liberabit hac molestia vos haud dubie clemens misericors Dominus c. The same in Englishe FIrst of all we reioyce with you for the wonderfull felicitie of your moste gracious Queene in quieting of troubles in ouerthrowing of hir enimies in keeping of hir subiects in obedience and for hir wyse and couragious sifting out of the mischeeuously vvrapped practizes of traytors And vve do earnestly pray vnto God that he wil not only continue these so great graces in hir but also increase them and that he will defende hir from all euill This virgin Prince beloued of God in the iudgement of all good men excelleth all the men Princes that novv reigne in the vvorlde in vvisedome in modestie in mercy in iustice in dexteritie and maruellous happinesse in all hir affayres so that vndoubtedly the godly of al nations do comfort them selues and are confirmed in the true religion for that they do euidently see Christe the Lorde so mightily to fauour his seruaunt and to preserue hir in glory and all maner vertue before Heroicall and diuine Princes But vve are not a lyttle sory that in your spreading of the truthe and enlarging of the limittes of Christes church so many stops and stayes are cast agaynst you and they springing from them that vvill seeme moste Euangelicall For in the beginning of the reformation of our Churche the same grieues occupied vs for there vvere some vnto vvhom in reforming nothing might seeme sufficiently pure in so muche that they separated them selues from the churche and appoynted priuate conuenticles the vvhich there did presently follovv schismes and diuers sectes and they were a pleasaunt spectacle to our enimies the Papistes But at the length their hypocrisie and disorder dyd appeare and they vanished of their ovvne accorde The mercifull and gracious Lorde shall deliuer you also no doubt from this trouble c. A briefe answere to certain Pamphlets spred abroade of late I HAVE of late receyued thre litle Pamphlets the first as it were a preface to the other two the seconde entituled An exhortation to the Bishops to deale brotherly with their brethren The thirde An exhortation to the Bishops and theyr cleargie to answere a little Booke that came foorth the last Parliament and to other brethren to iudge of it by Gods worde vntill they see it aunswered and not be caried awaye with any respect of men The Preface consisteth of these poynts especially first by diuers examples it is there declared that the wicked and vngodly of this world coulde neuer away with such as woulde reproue them for their manyfest sinnes and vngodlynesse Secondly that this is the cause why these two Treatises which wer lately written and imprinted in the last Parliament time c. were of so many mysliked and the authors thereof so cruelly entreated and straightly imprisoned c. Thirdly it rayleth on the Bishops and suche as be in authoritie comparing them to false prophets and to Phariseys c. Laste of all it concludeth wyth threatenyng that if they goe forewarde in their sinnes their doings shall bée with more bitternesse of woordes and playnenesse of speache throwne into their faces The first is néedlesse for who knoweth not that from tyme to tyme it hath ben the maner of such as wer desperatly wicked not to suffer their sins opeÌ„ly to be reproued The seconde is false vncharitable and slaunderous for the cause why the bookes bée not estéemed especially of the wise and learned is the vntrue doctrine conteyned in them maynteyned with vntrue and vnapt allegations of the Scriptures and interlaced with opprobrious termes and rayling speaches tendyng to the disquietnesse of the Churche and ouerthrow of true religion The authors therof to be imprisoned not for telling any man of his sinnes but for writing Libels agaynste this whole Churche of Englande agaynst the booke of Common-prayers agaynste the ministerie agaynst the Sacramentes fynally agaynst the whole forme and gouernement of the Churche by the whole consent of this realme established according to the rule of Gods word And with what face can you say that they be imprisoned for telling men of their sins â–ª where euer read you or herd you that any of the Prophets or apostles told meÌ„ of their sins by liâ—els Surely that kinde of dealing is not for the Apostles of Christ but for the ministers of Sathan The thirde commeth of the same spirite that the seconde dothe that is of the spirite of arrogancie and malice for it compareth godly wyse zealous and learned Bishops to idolatrous Priests and â—o Phariseys but in déede the conditions and qualities of the Phariseys doo moste aptely agrée wyth the authours of these Libelles and theyr adherentes for the Phariseyes didde all that they did to bée séene of men and soughte the commendation of the common people as appeareth Matthew 6. and .23 and so doo they The Phariseys when they fasted disfygured theyr faces and these walkyng in the streates hang downe their heades looke austerely and in companie sighe muche and seldome or neuer laughe the Phariseys strayned out a gnat and swallowed down a Camell And these men thinke it an heynous offence to weare a cap or a surplesse but in slaundring and back-biting their brethren in rayling on them by Libelles in contemning of superiors and discrediting suche as be in authoritie to be shorte in disquieting the Churche and state they haue no conscience The Phariseys separated themselues from the common sorte of men as more holy and contemned the poore Publicanes as sinners And therfore some learned interpreters thinke that they bée called Pharisaei quasi segregati quod vitae sanctimonia a vielgi moribus vita separati essent noÌ„ aliter atque monachi quos Chartusianos vocant They be called Phariseis as separated and deuided from the coÌ„mon sort in holynesse of lyfe muche like vnto the Monks which be called Carthusians And Iosephus sayth that they were called Phariseys bycause they séemed to bée more holy than other and more cunnyngly to expounde the lawe Also hée sayeth this to bée one propertie of theirs that what so euer theyr owne reason persuadeth them Id sequuntur pertinaciter that they stubbornely followe Agayne hée sayth that they bée astutum hominum genus arrogans interdum Regibus quoquâ— infestum c. A suttle kynde of men arrogante and sometymes ennimies to Kinges and rulers These men separate them selues also from the congregation
men and the example of all Churches euen from Christes time as more plainly apereth by these words of Master Bucer in his book de regno Christi Iam ex perpetua ecclesiaruÌ„ obseruatione ab ipsis iam Apostolis videmus visum hoc esse spiritui sancto vt inter presbiteros quibus ecclesiaruÌ„ procuratio potissimum est commissa vnâ—â— ecclesiarum totius sacri ministerij curam gerat singularem eaque cura solicitudine cunctis praeeat alijs Qua de causa Episcopi nomen huiusmodi summis ecclesiarum câ—ratoribus est peculiariter attributum c. Nowe we see by the perpetuall obseruation of the Churches euen from the Apostles them selues that it hath pleased the holy ghost that amongst the ministers to whome the gouernement of the Churche especially is committed one should haue the chiefe care both of the Churches and of the whole ministerie and that he should go before all other in that care and diligence for the which cause the name of a Bishop is peculiarly giuen to suche chiefe gouernours of Churches c. Furthermore I haue declared that it engendreth schismes factioÌ„s and contentions in the Churche and bringeth in a méere confusion and is a braunch of Anabaptisme And now I adde that you desire this equalitie not bycause you would not rule for it is manifest that you séeke it most ambitiously in your manner but bycause you contemne and disdayne to be ruled and to be in subiection In déede your meaning is as I saide before to rule and not to be ruled to do what you liste in your seuerall cures wythoute controlemente of Prince Byshoppe or any other And therefore pretending equalitie most disorderly you séeke dominion I speake that I know by experience in some of you Your places quoted in the margent to proue that there ought to be an equalitie of ministers sounde nothing that way 2. Cor. 10. vers 7. These be the words of the Aposâ—le Looke ye on things after the appearaunce If any trust in him selfe that he is Christes let him consider this agayne of him selfe that as he is Christes euen so are we Christes How conclude you of these words your equalitie I promise you it passeth my cunning to wring out of them any such sense rather the contrarie may be gathered out of the words following which be these For though I shoulde boast somewhat more of our authoritie which the Lorde c. I should haue no shame Master Caluin expounding these words saith on this sorte It vvas for modestie that he ioyned himselfe to their number vvhome he did farre excell and yet he vvold not be so modest but that he would kepe his authoritie safe therefore he addeth that he spake lesse than of right he might haue done For he vvas not of the commoÌ„ sorte of ministers but one of the chefe among the Apostles And therefore he saith if I bost more I neede not be ashamed for I haue good cause And a litle after Quamuis enim commune sit omnibus verbi ministris idemque officium sunt tamen honoris gradus Although the selfe same office be common to all the ministers of the vvorde yet there is degrees of honor Thus you sée Caluine farre otherwise to gather of this place than you do The place in the first to the Coloss. vers 1. is this Paule an Apostle of Iesus Christ by the vvill of God and Timotheus our brother Surely your mynd was not of equalitie I thinke when you quoted these places to proue it But it is your vsuall manner without all discretion and iudgement to dally and play with the scriptures For what sequele is there in this reason Paule calleth Timothie brother Ergo in all respects there must be equalitie as though there were not distinction of degrées euen among brethren Admonition In stead of Chauncelors Archdeacons Officialles Commissaries Proctors Doctors Summoners Churchwardens and such like you haue to place in euery congregation a lawfull and godly Seigniorie Answere That is in stead of learned wise and discréete men you must place to gouerne the Churche in euerie congregation vnlearned ignoraunte and men most vnapte to gouerne for suche of necessitie you must haue in most coÌ„gregations But I pray you do thus much for me firste proue that there was in euery congregation such as you call seniors When you haue done that then shewe me that that office and kinde of regiment ought to be perpetuall and not rather to be altered according to the state and condition of the Church Last of all that these seniors were lay men as we call them and not rather ministers of the worde and Bishops When you haue satisfied my request in these thrée points then will I procéede further in this matter In the meane time I do not defende any Chaunceller Archdeacon c. which abuse their office I wish such reformed with all my harte But wherein haue Churchewardens offended you I perceiue nothing that is nowe in the Church can please you Admonition The deaconship must not be confouÌ„ded with the ministerie nor the Collectours for the pore may not vsurpe the Deacons office but he that hath an office must loke to his office and euery man must kepe him selfe within the bonds and limits of his owne vocation Answere Neyther do we confounde them and yet Paule in the place by you quoted in the margente speaketh not one worde of confounding or not confounding these offices So the poore be prouided for it forceth not whether prouision be made by Deacons or by collectours by the one it may be well done by the other it cannot be done in all places as the state is nowe But shewe any scripture to proue that the poore must only be prouided for by Deacons else not Admonition And to these three ioyntly that is the ministers seniors and Deacons is the whole regiment of the Church to be committed Answere This is only by you set downe without proofe therefore I will heare your reasons before I make you aunswere In the meane time I pray you what authoritie in these matters do you giue to the ciuill magistrate me thinke I heare you whisper that the Prince hath no authoritie in ecclesiasticall matters I know it is a receiued opinion among some of you and therin you shake hands also with the Papists and Anabaptists Admonition This regiment consisteth especially in ecclesiasticall discipline whiche is an order lefte by God vnto his Church whereby men learne to frame their willes and doings according to the lawe of God by instructing and admonishing one another yea and by correcting and puinshing all wilfull persons and contemners of the same Of thys discipline there is two kinds one priuate wherwith we wil not deale bycause it is impertinent to our purpose â–ª another publike which although it hath ben long banished yet if it might now at the length bee restored wold be very necessary and profitable for the building vp of Gods