all Antiquity that as S. Hierome noted the Villain Porphyrius censur'd S. Paul of sawcinesse and pride for checking S. Peter his Superiour The fourth Demonstration Page 17. 46. The next demonstration is taken also out of the Epistle to the Galatians 2. 9. where S. Paul gives an account how by Divine revelation he went up to Ierusalem to communicate his Gospel with the chief Apostles Peter Iames and Iohn because some were apt to mistrust his Doctrine as not having lived with Christ nor conferr'd with the Apostles Schollars of Christ. And that the said Apostles when they saw the grace that was given to Paul gave him and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that is received them into their society of Preaching upon agreement that we saith S. Paul should goe unto the Gentiles and they unto the Circumcision Hence is hewed out the following demonstration 47. Whosoever receiveth into the fellowship of Preaching one sent unto him by Gods appointment to conferre his Doctrine that he may not Preach in vain is either inferiour to the party sent and received or at most his equal But S. Peter did so receive S. Paul Therefore S. Peter was either inferiour to Saint Paul or at most his equal And reason good for S. Peter was one amongst the three prime Apostles sent to the Iews as Christ himself was and S. Paul to the Gentiles who though in regard of their number they were to the Iewes but as the Ocean to a River yet in many other respects being the chosen people of God had as S. Paul said to the Romans Rom. 3. 3. much advantage every way above the Gentiles and chiefly because unto them were committed the Oracles of God and therefore S. Paul himself Act. 13. 46. profess'd to the Iewes It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing you put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life Lo we turn to the Gentiles Otherwise S. Paul by calling Christ Minister Circumcisionis and himself Doctour of the Gentiles should according to you Mr. Pierce signifie some advantage of honour above Christ in the extent of his Diocesse 48. To reinforce this demonstration you may adde that since fellowship argues equality not onely all Fellowes of a Colledge are equall to their head that governs them who is likewise a Fellow but which is more we are all equal to Christ our Lord being called by God unto the fellowship of his Son Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 9. much more then was S. Paul equal with S. Peter was he not think ye especially if we add to this that S. Paul fourteen years before went up to Ierusalem to see and pay his respects to S. Peter because saith S. Ambrose 't was fit that Paul should desire to see Peter to whom our Saviour had committed the charge of the Churches And Theodoret upon the first to the Galathians He went to yield to S. Peter as to the Prince of the Apostles that honour which was fitting And S. Chrysostome He went to see him above others because he was the mouth and Prince of the Apostles and the Head of the whole Company And elsewhere He went to him as to one greater then himself and that not in a vulgar manner but to behold and admire him as a Personâ—…ge of great Excellency and Majesty as men goe to behold great and famous Cities The fifth Demonstration Page 17. 49. No man can have spiritual jurisdiction and a fatherly power over the Church but he must of necessity Lord it over Gods heritage and fleece the flock of Chrtst. But S. Peter was never known to Lord it over Gods heritage or fleece the flock of Christ. Therefore he had no spiritual jurisdiction or fatherly power over the Church for he rather forbids to domineer in the Clergy The Minor is granted on both sides the Major is clear of it self without proofe for if spiritual jurisdiction could stand without Lording and fleecing S. Peter might be Head of the Church though he did not Lord it over Gods heritage or fleece the flock 'T is also confirmed by instances Christ our Saviour had no jurisdiction forsooth over the Apostles because he came not to Lord it but to serve Non veni ministrari sed ministrare The Apostles had no jurisdiction over their respective Churches for the same reason Nay there is no Hierarchie in the Church as the Presbyterians contend against your Episcopal Protestants because Primates may not Lord it over Arch-Bishops nor these over Bishops nor Bishops over Curats nor Parish Priests over the People for whosoever will be great among you shall be your Minister and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be the Servant of all And if you confesse that for the good government of a Nationall Church a Hierarchy is necessary then take the judgement of Mr. Cartwright in Mr. Whitgift's defence If it be necessary for the keeping of unity in the Church that one Arch-Bishop should be Primat over all why not as meet that for the keeping of the whole Universall Church there should be one Arch-Bishop over all Hearken to your Doctor Covell saâ—…ing to the Puritans How can they think that equality would keep all the Pastours in the world in peace and unity c. For in all Societies authority which cannot be where all are equall must procure unity and obedience Oâ—…serve Melancthon's judgement As there are some Bishops that govern divers Churches the Bishop of Rome governs all Bishops And this Canonicall policy I think no wise man doth disallow For the Monarchy of the Bishops of Rome in my judgement is profitable to this end that unity in Doctrine be preserved Wherefore we would easily assent to this Article of the Pope's Supreamacy if we did agree in other matters The sixth Demonstration Page 18. 50. If the Apostles were pari consortio praediti honoris potestatis equall not onely in the substance of Apostleship as power of Preaching founding Churches remitting Sins administration of Sacraments and the like but also in jurisdiction and right to govern the whole Church And if Bishops be all ejusdem meriti Sacerdotii not onely of the same merit in order to Priesthood but also of the same degree of authority over others Then S. Peter was not Head of the Church nor the Bishop of Rome his Successour in that Office But S. Cyprian sayes the first and S. Hierome the second Therefore S. Peter was not Head of the Church nor the Bishop of Rome his Successour in that Office Now whether your interpretation of these ancient holy Doctors be or be not their true meaning the Reader may evidently deduce first by what S. Cyprian addes immediately to the very words above cited and you very unhandsomely not to say maliciously conceale Sed exordium ab unitate proficiscitur Primatus Petro datur ut una Christi Ecclesia
wit that when there is no Pope at all the Catholick Church hath then no Head Therefore c. What! no Head at all At least it retaineth an invisible head which is as much as Protestants allow the Church It follows only good Sir that in the interval the Church as Universal hath no visible head a thing nothing strange in Politick Bodies Elective Princes as the German Emperour and the King of Polonia be they not in Civil Government Heads of their Princedomes If they de the Princedome wants a Head till another be chosen Is this a mystery God govern'd his Church three hundred yeares without a Generall Council may he not govern it a short space without a Pope especially all other Bishops and inferiour Pastors remaining still in full possâ—…ssion of their authority over their severall Flocks and knowing their duty by former definitions of Popes and Councils interpreting the word of God Yea but when there are many Popes the Church is a monster with many heads True if with many Popes acknowledged and accepted of by the Universall Church or declared by a Generall Council which is impossible Otherwise in order to the Faithfull many Popes no Pope In the interim 't is enough for them to stick to their known Doctrine believing in generall him to be Pope who is Canonically chosen without determining any in particular But what if the Pope be hereticall hath not the Catholick Church such a Head which makes her deserve to be beheaded A dainty conceit Are not the Bishops of England in your opinion the immediate Heads of their respective Diocesses what if one amongst them should turn Arian would not the crime lie upon the Diocesse and make her deserve to be beheaded no doubt if you may be believed And to come nearer your example you once made Henry the 8th supreame head of the Church of England If holding the Primacy he had faln into Heresie durst you have said that the glish Church had such a Head as made her deserve to be beheaded Doe not you see whether this poysonous Doctrine leads The tenth Demonstration Page 21. 55. Some Popes even by the confession of Papists have err'd as private Doctors onely not as Universall Pastours of the Church never defining heresie or commanding hereticall doctrine to be submitted unto as to Divine truths Therefore no Pope is Head of the Church Nay the most zealous and partiall asserters of their Supreamacy confesse that Popes have been Hereticks and Heathens too either by denying the Godhead of the Son as Liberius or lifting him above the other two Persons as Iohn the 22. or sacrificing to Idols as Marcellinus or being rejected by the Church for the crime of Heresie as Anastasius the second Therefore in the opinion of those zealous asserters of the Pope's Supreamacy the Pope is not supreame Head of the Church For to what end are those mens authorities alledged if not to knock down the Pope's Headship with our own Clubs 56. Good God what a heap of subtilties are here mass'd up with much more craft if not malice then ingenuity One onely Pope subscribed to S. Athanasius's banishment communicated outwardly with the Arians for fear of torments but never subscribed to the Heresie it self never taught maintained or defined it Insomuch that not onely Soorates Sozomen and Theodoret but also S. Athanasius himself in his two Apologies expressely say he was no Heretick Therefore Popes have denied the Divinity of Christ. One onely Pope is without any ground accused by Stella as holding the Son greater then the Father and the Holy Ghost No other Writer in the world besides Stella ever charging him with such an errour no not Calvin himself though he wanted not spleen enough to impose upon him most wrongfully the mortality of the Soule Therefore Popes have lifted up the Son above the Father and the Holy Ghost One onely Pope not for want of faith but feaâ—…ing the cruell Emperours indignation let fall a gram or two of Incense to the Idols as S. Peter denied Christ for fear of the Jâ—…wes but soon after repenting with Peter died a glorious Martyr Therefore Popes have been Heathens by sacrificing to Idols and a totall Apostacy from Faith One sole Pope was grievously slandered by the Schismaticks adhering to Laurence the Antipopâ—… as if he had communicated with Photinus an Arian Deacon and would have reinserted the namâ—… of Acacius a furious Arian amongst the holy Bishops commemorated in the sacâ—…ed Mysteries And these slanders once blown abroad by those Schismaticks were too inconsiderately saith Baronius registred in the Popes lives Therefore Popes have been rejected by the Church for heresie Did ever Stella Platâ—…ina or Onuphrius say so Do they inferre out of the supposed fall of these few Popes amongst 234. others that either the Popes were not supream Governours of the Church or that therefore the Roman Church erred in Faith Do they not expressely assert the contrary And that those Popes err'd as private persons only and not as Heads of the Church Doth not Stella in the very same place adde immediately Sed in quantâ—… est câ—…put Ecclesia nullâ—…s errare potest But as he the Pope is Head of the Church he can in no wise erre and that the Churches of Alexandria Antioch and Constantinople have often fallen from their faith â—…t the Church of Rome never 57. As for S. Hilary he was not so desperately rash as to judge the whole Church except France to be really turn'd Arian For neither Liberius nor S. Servatins with sundry other Bishops did ever subscribe to the heretical Confession of the Arians made at Arimini though many of the Orthodox Bishops did partly compelled by fear of torments partly deluded by the Arians perswading them that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was omitted because it was not in Scripture Hence it is that S. Basil coetanean to S. Hilary in his 293. Epistle writes thus 'T was fitting you should understand that by the grace of God there be very many that maintain the Orthodox Faith delivered by the Nicene Fathers according to the rule of piety and that you are not left alone in the East For truly the whole West conspires unanimously with you Nay your Doctor Boughen in his Answer to T. B. confesses that when Arianisme prevailed ' at Rome the Catholick Church was visible at Alexandria in Sardinia in France and other places Wherefore S. Hilary by those words à caeteris extra Gallias from the rest out of France and inter nos tantùm amongst us alone intended only to extoll the constant Faith of his Country for not communicating with the Arians who were spread over many other parts of Europe Otherwise he saying expressely in the same Treatise Episcopos Orientales stare sanos that the Bishops of the East stood sound would have expressely contradicted himself 58. For the rest of this your Instance I can only say in your words that whosoever shall read at large the many
stickler in that Schismaticall Council at Wormes died a while after in despaire roaring out that he was damn'd for adhering to Henry the King against Pope Gregory and that the rest of those Schismaticall Bishops upon repentance both writ to the Pope for pardon and went themselves after the King into Italy to be absolv'd from their Schisme He addes that after the Pope had absolv'd the King he said Masse and before Communion taking the sacred Hoste in his hand in presence of the King and the whole assembly protested that he received it as the judgement of the crimes objected against him by the Schismaticks that if he were innocent he might be free'd from all suspition if guilty be suddenly struck dead upon the place That then the Pope received very confidently half the holy Hoste and after the Peoples loud congratulation of his innocency he turn'd to the King inviting him to receive the other half of the Hoste as a Canonicall clearing himself from the crimes objected also against him but that the King pretending an excuse declined the triall But if all were true that you cite out of Goldastus whom Gretser charges with three hundred lyes 't would onely prove the misgovernment of one Pope and nothing at all against the Roman Church or Supreamacy of Saint Peter's Chayre 122. In the last part of your work where you should have proved the power of particular Nations to reforme the Church in matters of Faith or alter what is ordered by the universall Church for the common good and that by separating from the whole world as Luther did you name not one Nation City Family or Orthodox man that ever did it atempted it or thought of it To sooth your Auditours you rake out of the Channell of sixteen hundred yeares a few examples in matter of fact wherein Princes either intrenching upon the immunities of the Church or asserting a pretended right have sometimes clasht â—…ith the Roman Bishops or medled de facto in Church affaires but have they therefore in their severall Kingdomes made themselves absolute Heads of the Church immediately under Christ as Henry the eighth did ordering Laymen Vicar generals in spirituality As Cromwell was and sate in the Convocation House amongst the Bishops as Head over them all Did they deny or renounce the Supreamacy of Popes in the spirituall government of the Church Have they challenged as born and in-bred to their Crowns Supreame power in all causes both Spirituall and Civill Did they part from the Pope the Papacy the Roman Church and all ancient Christian Churches in the world or ever made Lawes to reverse the Decrees of Generall Councils in matters of Faith and not upon that very score been accounted Hereticks This you shall neither find in Iustinian's Code nor in Zeno's Henoticon nor in Charles the great 's Capitulars 123. The Code was compil'd a nefandissimis hominibus by most wicked men saith Spondanus And that unhappy Emperour by medling too much against his own rule in Ecclesiasticall affaires ruin'd his Empire fell into open Heresie persecuted Orthodox Bishops and died suddenly Yet Baronius and others very probably judge that his Lawes concerning the Church were drawn up by Epiphanius and Menas Patriarchs of Constantinople but publisht in the Emperour's name for the better observance For first he often professeth that in Ecclesiasticall affaires he decreed nothing but according to the holy Canons Secondly Iohn the second Pope in a Letter to him confirmes those Lawes as being informed by two Bishops Hypathius and Demetrius his Legats that they were made by the consent of Bishops in conformity to the See Apostolick and Decreâ—… of the Fathers Thirdly because the Emperouâ—… in the Code Tit. 1. lege 8. sayes he will 〈◊〉 suffer any thing to passe concerning the affaires of the Church which shall not be referr'd 〈◊〉 his Blessednesse the Pope because he is Heâ—… of all the holy Prelates Zeno was a profess'â—… Eutychian who put out a profession of Faith call'd Henoticon in which embracing the Faiâ—… of the three first Generall Councils he left out the Council of Chalcedon He was in fine buâ—…ied alive 124. Charles the Great 's respect to the See Apostolick is most renowned in the Christian world Of devotion to the Church he caused the Ecclesiastical Laws to be drawn out of the sacred Councils and Decrees of Popes into 168. Capitula or Chapters where with much modâ—…sty he excuseth himself saying that he does not prescribe Lawes to Bishops but only minds them to see the Decrees of their fore-â—…athers observed There even as they are in Goldastus his thiâ—…d Tome he sayes The Ecclesiastical and Canonical authority teacheth that Councils must not be held without leave of the Roman Bishop there that by the incitement of the See Apostolick and the Council of Bishops he forbid Church-men to bear Armes there Ordering that according to the Council of Nice suits arising between the Clergy and the Layety be decided in Provincial Councils He addes Yet without prejudice of the Roman Church to whom in all causes reverence ought to be kept Constantine the Great openly profest that he could not judge of Bishops The designes of the two late Emperours Ferdinand the first and Maximilian the second were ever pious and full of devotion to the Roman Church nor can you show that at any time that most Catholick House of Austria had the least thought of reforming the Church in points of Faith by their own authority However they might perhaps by the advice of learned men propose to the Pope what they thought fit in present circumstances for quieting the Empire Of twenty Kings of Iuda some were severely punish't for intermedling in Priestly functions Others as Kings and Prophets too might by Divine instinct reform even in matters of Religion Others not without the consent and aid of Priests destroying Idolatry restored discipline But which of them ever undertook a Reformation against the whole Iewish Clergy or by disowning the High Priests authority Of Cooks fraudulent allegations for our Kings of England see a solid Refutation in Persâ—…s against Cook 's fifth part of Reports where you shall find all Antiquity speaking the great respect of the British and English Kings to the Roman Church See also my Lord of Chalcedon in the Protestants Schisme Page 36. and the pages following 125. In a word Sir by the whole rapsody of your Marginal Transcripts you shew only what was done but quo jure with what right not a tittle If from matter of fact you conclude a power tell me your sense of this illation The long Parliament outed Ministers put down Bishops dissolv'd your Church Therefore they had right to doe it If you abjure this consequence to what end such a crowd in the margin quoting Histories of what was done but proving nothing of the right and power to do it 126. Doe the examples of some few secular Princes unduly handling Church affairs or actually opposing