be decided by their owne reasons but who shall be the iudge betwixt them it must not be the determination of any particular man for that is as subiect to errour as they are and besides this question being concerning the spirit of God it cannot be decided by any authority lesse then diuine least otherwise the true spirit were reiected for false as possibly it might be by any inferiour authority Shall it be decided by force of armes That is soe absurde that it needeth noe refuting although perhaps Ioannes de Zischa was of that opinion for what absurdity will not an haeretike mainteine How then shall they be tryed bring them to the Church and see whether they will heare it But they will not be soe tryed How then there is now noe other way left to try them by They must then goe without any tryal at all to say what they list and soe they shall both prooue false spirits as being contrary to S. Iohn that sendeth vs to try our spirits and as being contrary to the scriptures which commande vs to heare the Church Maâ—t 8. Therefor the spirit of God is allwais with obedience to the Church and the final resolution of faith is reduced to the word of God speaking to our harts and interpreted by the Church For there is noe way to try spirits and to declare certainely who are rightly inspired but by the authority of God speaking by it and by submitting our selues to the obedience of it Luâ— 10. as to the voice of God He that heareth you heareth mee and he that despiseth you despiseth mee Saith Christ to the Pastors of the Church who haue the authority of the whole Church Mat. 18. And in another place If he will not heare the Church let him be to thee as the Heathen and the Publican Aug. tract 109. in Io S. Augustine the word of faith and the word of the Apostles to beleeue God and to beleeue the Church is the very same thinge Secondly the true faith hath bene often prooued and false doctrines confuted by miracles and these miracles haue planely conuinced for the obedience to that Church whose faith was soe confirmed Elias prooued by miracles the true faith of the Israëlits and confounded the Idolatrous Gentils Soe did Christ and his Apostles by many miracles prooue the christian faith against both Iewes and Gentils And these miracles obliged all whom inuincible ignorance excused not vnto the obedience of the Church of Christ and shewed planely that the spirit of God was to the obedience of that Church but noe miracle was euer wrought to shew that men should obey noe Church but that they might liue after their owne liking and beleeue what they would without obedience to any authority vpon earth Neither can there be any miracles wrought for any such manner of liuing for miracles being done in confirmation of the true faith oblige others to imbrace that faith which is soe confirmed by miracles and soe men come to an vnity of faith and make a Church that is to say a people vnited together in faith and religion But if men might for all those miracles which they see still follow their owne priuate spirits and not vnite themselues in obedience to that company whose faith is soe confirmed by miracles but might disobey it in matters of faith then they might disobey the authority of God and miracles were to noe purpose Therefor the very being of true miracles in confirmation of faith prooueth the being of a Church to which our spirits must allwais obey Moreouer if euery man were to be guided by his owne priuate spirit without obeying any Church there should be noe neede at all of miracles for the spirit is an inward and miracles are an outward testimony of the truth of any thinge to draw others vnto it but if all were to follow the inward testimony of their owne spirit without submitting vnto any external power then were they not to regard the outward testimony nor to be drawne by it And indeede to say that euery one is to follow his owne priuate spirit without being bounde to the obedience of any external power is as much as to say that euery one hath the true spirit of God and then what neede were there of miracles All which is contrary to the words of Christ and of the Apostles and contrary to the examples of the scriptures and to reason and experience by which we see soe many spirits of errors and of sinne in prowde and euill men Miracles may be and haue bene wrought to prooue the true faith but such miracles prooue that the spirit of God is to the obedience of the Church therefor the spirit of God is to the obedience of the Church Thirdly God hath ordained an orderly gouernment in his diuine worship and all order includeth subordination of inferiours to superiour powers and leaueth vs not to ourselues alone subiect to noe authority in points of religion and the same natural reason that bringeth vs to rely vpon the diuine autority in matters of faith telleth vs also that it is a more reasonable way for God to inspire vs to the obedience of the Church and to guide it with his sure and infallible assistance then to guide euery man by himselfe and his owne priuate spirit without being subiect to any autority or acknowledging of any superiour for this were to take away all order and to bring such a confusion into the world by making euery man his owne iudge as would by consequence destroy the world which without order can not subsist For if there were not allwais vpon earth some power authorized of God to prooue and approoue of the spirits of men what errors would be broched and what villanys committed and mainteined by wicked men vnder pretence of diuine inspiration God inspireth men to an orderly gouernment in his diuine worship therefor the diuine light and inspiration of faith in allwais to the obedience of the Church Soe that we may well say that faith is a supernatural light and gift of God by which we beleeue and firmely adhaere to the doctrine of the Church God giueth vs supernatural light to enlighten our vnderstandings and by his holy inspiration moueth our wills to submitte ourselues and to beleeue in all thinges according to the doctrine of the Church we cooperating with that light and inspiration of God submitte ourselues to the obedience of the true Church and then we haue actually true faith And whosoeuer he be that pretendeth himselfe to haue the spirit of God yet will not submitte himselfe to any Church but beginneth a new religion contrary to all the Churches then in the world or will mainteine a religion which soe beganne certainely that man hath not the true faith nor is the spirit of God in him But he sayth that he hath prayed to God for his spirit and Christ hath said that our father will giue the good spirit to those that
was strucken of God with a suddaine leprosy which then in the sight of all broke forth of his forhead soe that for his prowde aspiring to the dignity and office of Priests he was then for his leprosy to be excluded euen from the people And Saul for offering of holocaust being a king onely and noe Priest although compelled as he thought by necessity vnto it lost notwithstanding his kingdome from himselfe and from his posterity for euer Some times Emperours and Prince are present at General Councells to grace and protect them from turbulent men but they giue not their voices in any thinge Soe Constantine the first christian Emperour was present in the first General Councell of Nyce but how he came in the last of all and hauing a litle low seate sette for him he satte not downe vntill the bishops made him a signe to sitt downe And as for the decrees of the Councell we reade that three hundred and eightteene bishops subscribed to them but not that Constantine euer subscribed Soe also men of more sanctity of life and eminent in abilitys although not bishops are sometimes called to assist in General Councels but not to giue sentence or to subscribe to the decrees by their owne authority The gouernment therefor which Christ ordained in his Church was by S. Peter and the Apostles that is to say by one head or cheife bishop and by inferiour bishops vnder him And their authority is most full and obliging when it speaketh by a General Councell Then the head of the Church exercizeth more fully his supreme authority calling together the pastors of the world and assigning to them the place of their meeting The bishops and others who for sanctity wisdome and learning are in reason to be thought the best deseruing of the whole world are present at them Being come together solemne dayes of prayer are instituted for the inuocation of the Holy Ghost Euery one of this absolute company hath then liberty to speake his minde freely and by the grounds of his owne religion is bounde not to dissemble but to speake the truth according to his conscience they being for the most part meere strangers to one another All things being well examined they subscribe in order first the head bishop and then the rest after him according to their dignity This is the harmony which Christ hath composed in his Church of people concording with their pastors and of pastors with their supreme head Now what more satisfaction can our soules desire then from such an assembly of soe many holy and learned men who haue the voyce of the whole Catholike Church and the assistance of Christ and of the Holy Ghost Let any christian speake truely and he must needes confesse that it would be a horrour to his conscience and that his owne thoughts would condemne him of errour if he were condemned by such an authority And therfor S. Paul might well say that the haretical man is condemned by his owne iudgment Tit. 3. Because he seeing his doctrine to be publikely condemned by the general sentence of the whole Catholike Church that then is in the world can not but see his owne peruersed obstinacy in still mainteining it and that he breaketh the concord of people with their pastors confoundeth all order of gouernment in the Church destroyeth the certaine ground of all diuine veritys and maketh the Creede scriptures and all principles of faith to become subiect to the censure of euery priuate man Wherefor the Apostle biddeth vs to take heed of such men and our blessed Sauiour himselfe hath commanded vs to regard them noe otherwise then as Heathens and Publicans Victor an auncient and graue authour Vis l. 2. de pâ—rses Vandal who liued in the age of S. Augustine about twelue hundred yeares since relateth a passage worthy to be remembred to shew the comfort and confidence which Catholikes haue in General Councells and how that haeretiks are affrayed and dare not stande to them Hunnericus king of the Vandals persecuting the Church summoned the Catholiks of his dominions to come to Carthage to a publike disputation with his Arian bishops Bishop Eugenius in the name of the Catholikes answered in this manner Let the kingknow that trusting in God we are ready and very glad to haue a publike triall of our cause but we desire that all the world may be present at it for we will not take vpon vs to decide the generall cause by our particular votes Let therfor all those beyond the seas know that the vniuersall cause is here to be treated and not onely the cause of the Affrican Prouinces for we will be tryed by the vniuersal authority and consent of all And when the king returned answere by his Prefident that he would grant him his desire if he would bring all the world vnder his power Eugenius replyed againe Thou shouldest not desire that request of mee which is not in my power to performe That which I say to the king is that if his maiesty desire indeede to be sdtisfyed in our religion which onely hath the true faith let him sende vnto his friends and I will sende vnto my fellow bishops and especially to the Romane Church which is the head of all Churches The bishop suspecting the intention of the king denyed to come to his city and wisely appealed to the generall authority and especially to the bishop of Rome but noe haeretike will euery yeeld to that appeale where the question is to be tryed by the vniuersal authority of the whole Church but as owles and battes fly from the sunshine soe doe they from such a glorious tryall and as they beganne in the disobedience of a few obstinate persons or of some one silly man soe they are affrayed to be tryed by the vniuersal Church which is at all times and was then when their disobedience beganne Disp Lyps Luther was contented to haue a tryall of his doctrine by single disputation and when that worthy man Dâ— Eckius the glory of Swedland publikely confuted and shamed him he broke forth into blasphemous words vnworthy to be repeated But he durst not come to the Councell of Trent which he needed not to hâ—ue feared if he would haue submitted to the authority of the vniuersall Church as all good Christians ought to doe Now let vs see WHICH IS THE CATHOLIKE Church Quest Giue mee a difference betwixt the true and all salse Churches Ans The true Charch continueth allwais in vnion and obedience to its head pastors all false Churches beginne in dissentions and disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church Thus S. Cyprian S. Hierome and others alleadged S. Peter being constituted of Christ as the head and supreme pastour of the Church as I haue shewed and is confirmed by all that which I haue to say of his successour the Bishop of Rome and that authority being necessary to remaine allwais after him we must see at all times and in all
against the deuils power Sixtly the corporal life of man as he is ordained to the society of other men requireth a superiour authority to be in some for the gouerning of others and soe an orderly gouernment is necessary for vs in the Church of God and for this we haue the Sacrament of orders in which power is giuen to some in spiritual things Seauenthly for the continuance and conseruation of humane nature a continuall succession and propagation of mankind is necessary in the world and for this the spiritual life of man requireth that it be done by a Sacrament for the orderly propagation of men and the increase of soules to the worship of God This is by the Sacrament of Matrimony which as it is a duety of nature is onely for corporal generation but as it is a Sacrament it giueth grace for the increase of soules in the diuine worship The number of the Sacraments shall appeare furthermore out of the scriptures in that which I haue to say of euery Sacrament in particular The same is declared by diuerse Councels And although the fathers haue had noe occasion in their writings to name them alltogether yet they haue made mention of them all as occasion serued Neither is it necessary that we should assigne the time when euery Sacrament in particular was instituted of Christ We know the times of the institution of some of them and we know that for forcy dayes betwixt his resurrection and his Ascension he frequently appeared vnto his Apostles and taught them many things which they were to obserue in the Church which are not mentioned in the scriptures and we know that the Sacraments of the Church must be of Christs teaching and ordaining We haue for the number of the Sacraments the same authority that we haue for any of the scriptures to wit the authority of the Church which although it declare not the time when the scriptures were written yet it assureth vs of all their verity and soe it doth of the number of the Sacraments ad Casulan S. Augustine giueth vs this rule that for those thinges which are generally receiued by the Church if their beginnings be not knowne they are to be taken for Apostolical traditions but such is the number of seauen Sacraments therefor they are of Apostolical tradition Thus much of the Sacraments in general let vs now come to their particular declarations OF BAPTISME OF THE NECESSITY OF baptisme BAptisme is commonly called the doore of the Sacraments because it is the entrance to the rest necessary to be had before them For vntill we be christened we are not christians and vntill we be made christians we can not receiue the Sacraments of the people of Christ Baptisme is our first spiritual generation and before generation we haue noe operation because we are not soe before baptisme we haue noe spiritual being in grace and therefor it is to be supposed before the rest of the Sacraments be receiued the words of S. Iohn being then verifyed he gaue them power to be made the sonnes of God Io. 1. For as we are borne the children of Adam and of wrath in our corporal births soe in baptisme we are borne the sonnes of God by grace through the merits of Iesus Christ As necessary then as generation is to the corporal being of all men soe necessary is baptisme to the being of all soules in the diuine grace and fauour and as necessary as birth is to the perfection of man in this world soe necessary is baptisme to come to the perfect state of glory Vnles a man be borne againe of water and the spirit he can not enter into the kingdome of God Iâ— 3. By which words it appeareth that Baptisme is a Sacrament that is to say an outward rite or signe that causeth grace in vs. Baptisme a Sacrament We haue a rite and outward signe in the water and we haue the effect of grace in that the kingdome of heauen is obtained by it Heretiks that would confounde all things in the Church of God haue gone about to take away our christendome from vs affirming quite contrary to the words of Christ that a man not borne of water may enter into the kindome of heauen pretending that children are sanctifyed by their parents faith and therefor will not baptize them But this as I haue said is directly contrary to the words alleadged and in it selfe most absurde in that it maketh the kingdome of heauen to come to children not by grace but by inheritance from faithfull parents and supernaturall glory to be obtained by natural and corporal meanes Children are not absolutly holy in that they come of holy parents good parents are indeede a meanes to thee sanctification of their children by procuring for them that which God hath ordained for their sanctification but the goodnes of the parent can not merit grace for the child nor sanctify him This must be done by applying the merits of Christs passion to children in some Sacrament And soe the children of the Iewes in the law of Moyses were saued by the faith of their parents in this sense that they hauing the true faith applyed vnto their children those meanes of sanctification which God then ordained for them but neither in the law of Moyses nor of nature were children euer sanctifyed by onely being borne of good parents but somethinge was allwais done to them as Circumcision or some other outward signe for their sanctification which although it were farre inferiour to our baptisme yet it was necessarily required there being noe proportion betwixt kinred in blood and the diuine grace and glory S. Augustin Doe not beleeue Aug. l. 3. de anima eâ—â—s origineâ— 9. doe not say that children before baptisme can haue their original sinne forgiuen them if thou wilt be a Catholike OF THE EFFECT OF BAPTISME THE propper and particular effect of Baptisme is to make him that receiueth it to become a member of the body of Christ as being admitted into his Church by it and to dispose and prepare him for the rest of the Sacraments after it The general effect of Baptisme which it hath commune with all the Sacraments is to giue grace to the sanctification of soules and this it doth after soe full and plentifull a manner that it remitteth all sinne whatsoeuer original and actual great and litle and forgiueth all punishment due to it in the next world Rom. 6. We are buried saith the Apostle together with him by Baptisme vnto death That is to the death and destruction of sinne and of all punishment after it We haue a figure of this in Naaman the leptose Prince of Syria who washing himselfe in the waters of Iordan Reg. 4 5. as the Prophet had praescribed to him he came forth soe cleane and perfectly cured that the Holy Ghost saith his flesh was restored as the flesh of a litle child Ezechiel prophecyed of this saying I will powre out
hands he blessed them and was carried into heauen Luc. 24. And it is most likely that he then blessed them with the signe of the Crosse for now that the mystery of the Crosse was accomplished it was a most conuenient forme of blessing Ezech. 9. and was vsed also by the Apostles in their benedictions as Saint Denis hath recorded who liued with them and it shall be set as a marke of Gods blessing in the foreheads of his elect in latter times Lastly Saint Iohns Ghospell is said as the Planest and highest expression of the mystery of the Incarnation Thus much for the ceremonys commonly vsed in the Church Christ was the first that said Masse To wit at the last supper when he consecrated and offered his sacred body as our continuall Sacrifice instituting the same manner of consecration and offering to be vsed afterwards by the Apostles They said the very same Masse that is to say offered the very same Sacrifice which he then offered adding the Pater Noster and other holy prayers and rites of reuerence to it which are not of the substance and essence of the Masse but were left to the Church to be ordeined and practised according to conuenient circumstances and are therfore to be obserued diligently and minded at Masse as the memorials of holy mysterys Saint Iames Bishop of Hierusalem commonly called the brother of our Lord said Masse adding many things of deuotion to it so did Saint Peter say Masse at Rome Saint Mathew in Aethiopia Saint Barnaby at Milan adding also more prayers and holy ceremonys to it and other holy Saints as Saint Basil Saint Ambrose Saint Iohn Chrysostome composed certaine deuout formes of prayer and rites which were vsed at Masse with approbatiō of the Church and now the Church of God saith the same Masse which Christ and they said with such prayers rites and ceremonys as you haue seene declared in which the mystery of the Incarnation and the whole life and death of Christ is deuoutly and decently represented We ought therefore with great reuerence Meditations vpon the Masse and deuotion to be present at Masse and to attend diligently and to meditate vpon those mysterys as though wee were as wee are indeede in the presence of Christ himselfe and that we saw him visibly in all those passages which are then celebrated that we may be astonished with admiration and burne with the loue of him who did and suffered those things for vs. Vntill the Gloria in excelsis we will imagine that we saw the Saints who were before Christ reioycing in the hopes of him and that we heard their cryes and prayers for his comming At the Gloria in excelsis we will awaken our selues with the Angels voyces to a higher ioy imagining that we heard the Angell tell the newse of his birth to the Sheepheards and the multitude of the celestiall army singing those words with the Priest and we will offer our selues then to Christ to be his seruants all the dayes of our life Vntill the Ghospell we will thinke that we were following him and our blessed Lady behauing our selues as his seruants ravished with the sanctity of his conuersation At the Ghospell and Creede we will imagine that we heard him preach and saw the power of God drawing the harts of others to him At the Praeface that we were at his glorious entrance into Hierusalem and we will sing with his disciples and with the people Blessed is he that commeth in the name of our Lord. Hosanna in the Highest Before the eleuation we will consider his praying in the Garden sweating that violent and strange sweat of blood and water for vs and how he was presently apprehended and carryed to his Passion what bitter reproches and stinging blowes they gaue him what shame and paine they deuised to putt him to more then can he imagined At the cōsecration and eleuation we will thinke that we were present at his death heard the cry which he gaue and saw him hang downe his head and dy and that we heard the toppe of the temple and rooks about Hierusalem to rent in pieces and perceiued the earthquake and the rising of dead bodys a formidable darknes then couering all things and we may thinke how greeuous our sins were that were the cause of all this After the consecration we will make acts of the loue of God and purposes to serue him and to mende our life and some greater falts in particular And we will prepare our selues to receiue the blessed Sacrament if not corporally at least spiritually by an ardent desire of it At the Postcommunion we will giue thanks with the Priest and calling to minde the resurrection of Christ wee will rise with alacrity to a better life At the ite Missa est and the Priests benediction we will imagine our selues present at Christs Ascension and hauing with his disciples receiued his blessing that we saw him ascende in glory to giue vs a scantling and litle sight of our future happinesse to animate vs with that sight to the exercize of vertues to suffer for Christ and to contemne the pleasures and glory of this world It is an auncient custome of the Catholike Church aboue a thousand and foure hundred yeares standing Holy Water to hallow water mixt with salt Which is commonly done on Sundayes before Masse to sanctify holy things to expell the power of our ghostly enemy and to purge from venial sinnes as euery good worke doth which increaseth the diuine grace in vs. The declaration of the Church is sufficient for the lawfullnes of it Yet as I haue said of ceremonys man being a corporall creature must honour God according to his nature and vse corporall creatures in his diuine worship and although God regardeth most the inward worship of our harts and the acts of our mindes he will haue vs notwithstanding to vse corporall things to our sanctification Ia. 5. as the water in Baptisme and the oyle in Extreme Vnction which according to saint Iames is vsed to the remission of sinnes and he hath commanded diuerse corporall things vnto supernaturall ends and effects Exod. 12. as the blood of a Lambe to be sprinkled on the doore posts of the Israelits Nu. 19. to saue them from the destroying plague as the ashes of a red cow mixt with water to be sprinkled for the purging of legall vncleannesse Tob. 8. as yong Toby was commanded to vse the liuer of a fish to expell the deuill as Elisaeus vsed salt with waters Reg. 4.2 to giue them spiritually sweetnesse and fruitfullnesse by all which wee see that corporall things may be vsed for spirituall effects And if any obiect that God can commande those things but the Church can not I answere first that it is true God onely appointeth the Sacraments which we are to vse But the Church can ordaine holy ceremonys rites and deuout obseruations which are noe Sacraments God inspireth the Church in
the vse of this as he did vnto them the vse of the former and so they are both of God see disc 4. art 9. disc 11. of the authority of the Church The Church vseth such like obseruations and rites not as Sacraments to restore vs to the diuine grace when we haue lost it but as holy actions to advance vs further in the diuine grace which wee haue and consequently to remitte lesser sinnes which are compatible with grace sanctifying vs more in the sight of God Holy bread or disposing vs to more sanctity Soe the Catechumens in the primitiue Church that receiued not the blessed Sacrament receiued the holy bread of which Saint Augustine That which the Catechumens receiue although it be not the body of Christ yet it is a holy thing and holier then other meates which we eate Theodorit who liued about 1300. yeares since Theod. cap. 21. relateth a passage admirable to this purpose Marcellus Bishop of Apamaea hauing in that citty a temple of Iupiter much offensiue to the honour of God vsed all meanes possible to demolish it but the structure of it was soâ— strong and firmely compacted with stone and iron that two Captaines who passed that way with their souldiers about two thousand in number could not all dissolue it At last a simple and ignorant man promiseth to effect what he desired if that he will but allow him the assistance of two onely which being granted they vndermined the pillars and applying timber and fewell to the foundation of them sett fire on it But there appeared a blacke and terrible fiend that put out the fire as fast as they enkindled it Then Marcellus hallowing water with the signe of the Crosse and throwing it into the fire it made it to burne and flame as though oyle had bene throwne into it One would thinke it strange that water should increase the flame of fire but it is not strange that holy water should suppresse the deuills power Thus much by the way of holy water Now let vs see WHY THE MASSE IS SAID in Latine THE Masse is said in Latine for diuerse reasons First for that the Church is Catholike that is to say vniuersall not of one nation but of all and therefore it is most conuenient that she should prayse God and haue her seruice in a language which is most generall and vniuersally vnderstoode and esteemed of by all nations and this is the Latine tongue An English Catholike may go into Italy France Spaine or into any place of the Catholike world euen into the furthest Indys and as he is vnited in the same faith and doctrine and obeyeth the same authority of the Church with them Gen. 11. so he shall see the very selfe same seruice of God and heare the very same words which he heareth in his owne countrey and vnderstande them if he vnderstandeth the Latine tongue This is the comfort of Catholiks that they are the people of one tongue and one speech not onely in faith and doctrine but also in manner of vtterance as neere as can be Neither was it euer the practise of the Church to haue her seruice in the vulgar languages of euery nation In the easterne parts of the world Masse was aunciently said in Greeke because the Greeke tongue was most vniuersally vnderstoode and esteemed of in those parts although the common sort of people in all those places generally vnderstoode it not In the Westerne parts of the world it was said in Latine as Saint Augustine sayeth that the Scriptures were vsed in Affrica in Latine Bed 1. hist Ang. cap. 1. and Saint Bede saith that there being in England in S. Augustines time fower seuerall languages by his preaching and saying seruice in the Latine tongue it came commune to them all For this reason the Masse is said all ouer in Latine except perhaps in some places of Greece or where the Latine tongue is but litle studied Secondly a higher and more esteemed language giueth more maiesty and reuerence to the misterys of God then a vulgar tongue and therfore the holy Ghost speaking by the Scriptures would vse a most high and maiesticall manner of speech for the most part aboue vulgar capacitys and the Catholike Church speaking in the person of the holy Ghost it is meete that she should vse his manner of speech Thirdly if the Church seruice were to be said in euery vulgar tongue it would be subiect to continuall misconstructions abused by the prowd and contentious who being for the most part of the ignorant sort as regarding more the shew of knowledge then the substance and good vse of it would pretende to vnderstande all things and contend without end As now we see in England where euery old wife to use S. Hieromes words presumeth to teach that which she neuer learned and thinketh that she hath braines enough to looke downe into that great depth of the Scriptures which the Doctours of the Church haue so much admired and which S. Augustine was so affraid to looke into Confess l. 12. c. 14. that he cryed out O wonderfull profoundnesse of thy words wondefull profâ—undnesse my God wonderfull profoundnesse it maketh a man quake to looke into it Handy craft men and silly women amongst the Protestants of Eagland haue none of this feare they can vnderstande and interprete the holy Scriptures they can correct their common prayer and controling their Ministers when they list they will steppe vp into the pulpit before them The Protestants Miuisters may now see and I know where some of them haue confessed the originall cause of this confusion amongst them to haue bene the vnlimitated reading of the Scriptures and the hauing of their common seruice in the vulgar tongue and that it was an errour in their predecessors to put such kniues into childrens hands that could not vse them The Catholike Church as a carefull mother her selfe carueth for her children instructing them in that which is necessary for them not trusting them to their owne caruings and misconstructions S. Dion eccl hier cap. 1. Basil de Spirit S. cap. 27. Denis and S. Basil therefore declare that the sacred mysterys in their times were kept of purpose from the vulgar Fourthly if the Church Lyturgy were to be said in euery vulgar tongue few Priests could exercise their functions out of their countreys An Italian Priest could not say Masse in Spaine nor a Spaniard in Italy And this is the reason why so few Protestant Ministers euer trauaile out of their countreys Although it be thither where their owne Religion as they prerende is professed for their seruice being in a different language which that people vnderstandeth not they must either be silent abroade or stay at home If they will say seruice Where as Catholike Priests may serue God after the same manner in all places and all people may serue God by them Fiftly if the publike seruice of the Church were said in euery vulgar tongue
wee will minde their behauiour and learne of them how to behaue our selues at Masse And it were good to gette a custome allways when we heare Masse to make a purpose of amending some particular falt or imperfection which we know in ourselues and to remember that purpose at the beginning and at the end of euery Masse which we heare THE ELEAVENTH DISCOVRSE OF THE PRAECEPTS OF THE CHVRCH I Intende now to declare the Praecepts of the Church but first we will craue our blessed Ladys intercession Haile Mary c. Quest Say the fiue cheife Praecepts of the Church Answer To fast fasting dayes To keepe holy dayes To confesse our sinnes to our ordinary Pastour or to another with his leaue ot least once a yeare To receiue the Eucharist at Easter time To pay tithes There are diuerse other Praecepts of the Church as the prohibiting to celebrate marriage from the beginning of Aduent vntil after Twelfth day and from the beginning of Lent vntill after Low Sunday Also many things in seuerall generall councells commanded some in respect of the Clergy and some of the laiâ—y â—or of particular states and conditions of men which wee omitte as not of this place and declare onely the fiue aboue mentioned which Authors commonly deliuer as the cheife and most necessary for the people to be instructed in But before wce come to their particular declaration we will say somethinge OF THE AVTHORITY OF THE Church and of the obligation of her Praecepts Quest How doe the Praeceps of the Church oblige Ans The Praecepts of the Church oblige vnder a mortall sinne The authority of the Church is declared in many places of holy Scriptures Apoc. 1. Saint Iohn saw in a vision the Church descending downe from Heauen like to a glorious bride setforth with all her ornaments to meete her bridegroome God is the Bridegroome the Church is the bride the Praecepts of the Church are her ornaments for by the keeping of them the soules of the faithfull are adorned graciously in the sight of God and in the end become glorious in Heauen and those that breake the Praecepts of the Church breake teare and abuse the ornaments of the coelestiall bride and therefore commit a mortall sinne Christ hath compared the disobedient to the Church to Heathens Mat. 18 and Publicans saying If he will not heare the Church let him be to thee as the Heathen and the Publican but the eternall word of God and his infinite wisedome neither would nor could haue soe compared them as to put them in the ranke of the most odious and infamous of all men if they had not bene guilty of mortall sinne Nay the authority of God in many places of the Scriptures is in plaine words attributed to the Church A question arising concerning the necessity of Circumcision Saint Peter with some others mette at Hierusalem about it and hauing decided the controuersy they imposed some praecepts to be obserued by the Church and that in the name and authority of the Holy Ghost saying Act. 15. it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to vs to lay noe further burthen vpon you then these necessary things c. And S. Paul who had bene an earnest aemulatour of the law of Moyses went vp to Hierusalem to them and without any murmuring at all was contented with that which was there decreed and which S. Peter then declared submitting willingly all those rites which he had bene brought vp in and which he had aemulated before to the censure Lawes and Praecepts of the Church of Christ and not onely himselfe obeyed them but also as in the same chapter is declared He walked through Syria and Cilicia confirming the Churches and commanding them to keepe the Praecepts of the Apostles and Auncients Ananias sold a piece of land and defrauded of the price of it bringing only part of it to the feet of the Apostles Saint Peter who by reuelation vnderstood his deceit rebuked him saying Act. 5. Ananias why hath sathan tempted thy hart that thou shouldest ly to the holy Ghost c. Thou hast not lyed to men but to God And it cost him his life forth with falling downe dead in the place And his wife Saphira who was priuy to his fraude comming in about three houres after and mainteining her husbands ly Behold said Saint Peter their seete that haue buried thy husband at the doore and they shall beare thee forth And she fell downe presently and dying was carried out of doores and buried with her husband See here the diuine authority attributed to the Church Saint Peter declaring that Ananias then lyed to the holy Ghost and not to men but to God in that he lyed to those who as the Praelats of the Church had the authority of God and a terrible example of the diuine Iustice ensuing to teach vs reuerence and obedience to that authority Our blessed Sauiour speaking to his Apostles said Luc. 10. He that heareth you heareth mee and he that despiseth you despiseth mee and Saint Paul writing to the Thessalonians concerning the Praecepts which he had deliuered to them Thess 14. saith He that despiseth these things despiseth not man but God who also hath giuen his holy Spirit in vs. By all which places we see that the Church hath diuine authority that to heare it is to heare God and to be vnheare to it is to be vnheare to him to dissemble with the Prelates of the Church is to dissemble with God and to dispise them is to despise him The reason of this is Order because the Superiours of the Church being ordained of God to gouerne the world in his diuine seruice their authority is to be obeyed as the ordinance of God and as the supreme authority vpon earth aboue all temporall power in that immediatly and directly it tendeth not the temporall but to spirituall peace and order and therefore those that deny obedience to it and resist it resist the diuine ordinance and the supreme authority that is amongst men If a father should set a Schoole Master ouer his children and commande them to obey him they denying obedience to him and refusing to be taught by him disobey their father as well as their master God setteth the Pastors of the Church as Masters ouer vs to instruct and commande vs in the diuine worship Mal. 2. The lips of the Priest shall preserue knowledge and the law thou shalt require from his mouth and the Apostle saith Heb. 13. Obey your Prelates and be subiect to them for they watch as being to render account for your soules The greatest Duke King or Emperour if he hath a soule to be saued he hath a Priest and a Prelate to obey as well as the meanest of his subiects he is his master in spirituall things and if he disobey him in the doctrine and Praecepts of the Church hee disobeyeth God who ordained him in that authority he doth contrary to the
diuine word breaketh his lawes and taketh away all order and gouernment quite out of the world for all order includeth subordination that is to say subiection of inferiors to superiour powers but take once away the authority of the Church and absolue men in conscience from the obedience of it to beginne new doctrines beleeuing teaching and doeing what they list themselues and you take away all subordination of inferiors to superiors in the diuine worship therfore take away obedience to the Church and you take away all order and gouernment in Religion quite out of the world by making men subiect to no authority and consequently you destroy the world which without order in Religion can not consist The ground therefore foundation and first principle of all order is the divine authority of the continuall Church to beleeue as the Church teacheth and to obey it The Apostles haue commanded obedience to temporall superiors who then were infidels and could haue no authority in spirituall affaires Petr. 1.2 Let euery soule be subiect to higher powers for there is noe power but of God Rom. 13. Therefore he that resisteth the poâ—er resisteth the ordinance of God If infidell masters Magistrates and Powers be to be obeyed in temporall things as ordained of God how much more are we to obey the higher powers of the Catholike Church God hath ordeined the Superiors of the Church to gouerne the world in his diuine seruice therefore they haue the authority of God Aug. coÌ„t adu leg lib. 1. c. 17. and their Praecepts oblige vnder a mortall sinne There is no chaine of iron or adamant saith S. Augustine that can binde so hard as the Praecepts of the Church The like may be said of Ecclesiasticall customes which by long continuance haue obtained the force of lawes Ecclesiastical customes Therfor S. Paul commendeth the Corinthians for keeping the Praecepts which he had giuen them and alleadging the custome of the Church he thought it sufficient to stoppe the mouths of the contentious to say we have noe such custome nor the Church of God Cor. 1.11 And if those customs of the Church could gaine that authority soe soone within twenty or thirty yeares that Christ founded it certainely they shall haue as much now when it hath the addition of about sixteene hundreds of yeares S. Augustine hath these words for customes In those things of which the scriptures determine nothing for certaine Aug. ad Caâ—ulan the custome of the people is the custome of God and the institutions of our auncestors are to be kept as lawes and as praeuaricators against diuine lawes soe the infringers of Ecclesiasticall customes are to be restrained because the Church seeing those customes and not forbidding them by silence consenteth and alloweth of them and God declareth by the practise of the Church that in those times and places such customes oblige as necessary then to be kept Now let vs declare the Praecepts of the Church in particular THE FIRST PRAECEPT TO fast fasting dayes Soe great is the benefit of fasting that the Catholike Church would haue none of her people to be depriued of it and therefor would oblige all to diuerse fasts which I shall presently declare but first we will say somethinge of fasting in generall Fasting is commended first in the old Testament sometimes by examples of the Prophets and holy men and sometimes by the admirable effects of it Fasting was the first Praecept that was commanded to man and all our miserys beganne first by the vnhappy breaking of that Praecept God might haue chosen any other Commandement to haue exercized our obedience in but he would commende fasting to vs. After that in the Law of nature it was commanded againe some meates being then prohibited to be eaten as vncleane Nu. 6. Iud. 13. Hiere 35. In the Law of Moyses he himselfe fasted at the receiuing of it The Nazareits and Rechabeits who were particularly dedicated to the seruice of God were strict and austere in fasting Holy Iudith armed with fasting went forth against all the Assyrian forces accompanyed onely with one maide seruant and full of zeale and heauenly fortitude with her owne hands slew their Prince and put them all to slight The sentence of death was giuen against all the Israelits and a day appointed for their generall massacre Esther the Queene must venture her life for them by going to the King to aske their pardon She fasted and the people fasted for her good successe and she became soe beautifull and gracious that the hart of the King being enamoured with her the liues of thousands were granted at her request The Niniuers for their sinnes had deserued destruction and God sent his Prophet to declare against them and to cry as yet forty dayes and Niniue shall be subverted Ion. 3. The King hearing of it commanded a solemne fast and the city obseruing it God was pacifyed the sentence was suspended and Niniue stoode firme repaired by the force of fasting The three children armed with this vertue entred into the furnace of Babylon and walked in the raging fire as in a pleasant fresh ayre Daniel by fasting was too strong for Lyons and greedy hungar vrging them to deuoure God stopped their mouths that they did him noe hurt Graue Eleazarus contemned death to defende that fast which God had then commanded in the Church And the seauen brethren in the Machabees with their Mother aboue measure maruelous passed through cruell torments in defence of the same fast In the New Testament we haue fasting much more commended vnto vs by the example of Christ himselfe who blessedly beganne the Law of grace with his owne fast of forty dayes We haue also that Anne the Prophetisse fasted that S. Iohn Baptist fasted that the Apostles fasted and that Christ did not onely commende fasting by his example but in plane words and by miracle He would haue a possessed person to be brought to the Apostles that they labouring in vaine to despossesse him he might performe it himselfe and then declare for fasting saying this kind can goe out by nothing but by prayer and fasting Marc. 9. Is it not now a shame for the enemys of the Catholike Church to pretende Scriptures and yet to stande against the whole current both of tho old and new Testament for some aequivocall sentence which they picke out to obiect against fasting Christ to reprooue the hypocrysy of the Pharisys who vsed often to fast and to wash themselues that they might seeme holy before men said Mat. 15. not that which entreth into the mouth defileth a man meaning that the end intention and circumstances of eating and not the corporall meate was either good or hurtfull to the soule of man and they obiect this saying against fasting in generall or against the fasts of the Church Gal. 4. and call them the obseruations of men and not of God What more could an haeretike say to deny the doctrine of
repeateth and inculcateth ouer againe the necessity of instruction also in that particular point that it is a thinge very remarkeable to see the great zeale of this holy Councell in soe often commending and recommending to Pastors the instruction of their people In the explication of the Sacraments beginning to speake of Baptisme it sayth that Pastors should neuer thinke that they had said enough in declaration of that Sacrament and exhorteth them that not onely on the Eues of Easter and whitsunday when it is administred with greater solemnity but also at other times that they take occasion when they see a good number of people together at the baptizing of any to say something if not of all the cheife parts of it at least of some one or other point of it as opportunity shall permitte And in another place as I remember it exhorteth them to haue certaine commune places in their memory for the explicating of any part of the Christian doctrine as neede shall requite This was the first thinge which I could not but obserue in the Romane Catechisme and which ought to be a great incitement especially to the Pastoral Clergy to whom it was directed and who haue by office the charge of soules to attende earnestly to doctrine And indeede he that before God hath vndertaken this charge and considereth on one side the dignity and necessity of the Christian Doctrine in it selfe and on the other side the ignorance of many and the stupid neglect of their soules which is caused by it will easily see what obligation he hath to vse his vtmost endeauours by all methods and wayes possible to attende to it but especially in that which by the sanctity wisdome and autority of a Generall Councell is commended I will not here omitte to propose the Clergy of France for an example and especially those about Paris in all Ecclesiasticall perfections the glory of Christendome who considering the Christian Doctrine to be the first ground of spirituality haue sett themselues soe earnestly to instruct in it as though the words of the Apostle were allwais in their eares Attende to thy selfe and to doctrine be earnest in them c. Tim. 1.4 And the sentence of God menacing Ezec. 34. Woe to the pastors of Israel which fedd themselues c. But my flocke you fedd not How many seuerall institutions haue of late yeares bene there erected for this purpose How many congregations of Priests are now established in the Parish Churches of the citty for education of the Pastoral Clergy and with speciall care to the Christian doctrine What methods haue they deuised what a number of books haue they settforth How many litle papers haue they dispersed amongst the people and what extreme and continuall paines doe they take to inculcate that by word of mouth which they deliuer in writing It is an admirable thinge and full of aedification to see the sweat and toile which I haue seene in those graue and excellent men Nay that nothing might be left vnessayed by them they haue caused the cheife points of the Christian doctrine to be put into verse for the easyer learning of it without booke But that which is yet of more moment and most worthy to be practised all ouer the Catholike Church is an exercise confirmed by authority as I perceiue all ouer France which they call the Prone or Pronaum as being deliuered in the Naue or open of the Church in which euery Sunday at High Masse the Creede being ended the Celebrant or some other for him ascendeth the pulpit and ioyning prayer with the people for the necessitys of the Catholike Church for the Popes Holinesse the soules in Purgatory and particular affaires that occurre the Christian doctrine is then read to them and a speech or Sermon is commonly made vpon some part of it Is not this a zeale worthy of Catholike Priests of the soules of Christians which they must answere for of the dignity of that doctrine which they professe Why doe not all then imitate this zeale in them That which they doe in this Prone is but in prosecution of the Councell of Trents desire and that which I here labour for For what is my Summe of the Christian doctrine but the Creede Sacraments Praecepts of the Church and the other most necessary points which first they reade and what my Discourses but as theirs vpon some of them Truely it was noe small satisfaction to mee when comming into France I saw that which for some yeares I had practised in priuate to be see publikely and generally there professed allthough vnknowne to mee And besides the profit which I had experienced in it and the authority of the Romane Catechisme their example did not a litle encourage mee to publish it and to commende the like practise to our countrey which standeth much more neede of it then they And yet for all this care and paines which they take I haue heard them sometimes complaine to their people that many of them were ignorant euen in the first principles and most necessary points of doctrine and I know by some experience that it was not alltogether without cause But if in France and about Paris where such care is taken and where the common people generally are to be thought more knowing then in any place of the Christian world there was reason to complaine what shall we say of other places where that care is wanting and where those methods of Catechizing are not soe much as thought of By all which we may see the dignity and necessity of Catechizing in the iudgment of the wise and how great a falt it is in some of the weaker sort of Christians who sleight it as a thinge for children onely and when themselues perhaps remaine in damnable ignorance The Christian doctrine is the ground and foundation of religion and the Catholike Church continueth allwais in the world by continuall instructing in it Christ the Sonne of God laid that foundation the Apostles after him buildded vpon it the Fathers and Doctors of the Catholike Church from time to time haue raised vp the structure and by their preachings and writings mainteined it and for all that they haue said and written there will still remaine for others to write vntill it come to that perfection to which God hath ordained it in this world This is that doctrine which plane humble and outwardly despicable but grounded vpon the promises of Iesus-Christ auncient Philosophy could not withstande it This doctrine deliuereth the principles of diuinity it hath beaten downe infidelity dispersed haeresys like smoke it abolisheth sinne and inflameth vnto vertue the harts of those that faithfully imbrace it Finally this is the knowledge of saluation in which the Orient from on high hath visited vs. And it should suffize to say that it is the knowledge of saluation What esteeme then ought all to haue of it with what dilligēce to study it and to be perfect in it And therefor
that there might be seuerall sorts of Christians all of them beleeuing in Iesus Christ yet all could not haue the true faith of Christ as being opposite in doctrine and disobedient to each others Churches therefor it was further necessary that the Apostles should declare which of all Christian Churches that were then or might be afterwards was the true Church of Christ This they did in the ninth article when hauing professed the cheife things that concerned the B. Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation in the next place they added I beleeue the Catholike Church Here noy all controuersys of faith should haue an end we being allwais bounde to beleeue the Church and in all points to referre our selues with obedience to it And if this article had bene allwais truely obserued there neuer could haue bene any haeresys nor false Churches of Christians in the world For if all Christians had allwais kept themselues constant to the doctrine of the Church and continued obedient submitting allwais to it noe false Churches of Christians could at first haue risen all of them first rising in the breach of this atticle for that they will not beleeue the Catholike Church which is then and must be at all times extant for the gouernment of the world in the true worship of God but will follow the conceipts of some priuate men and beginne new Churches which then are not in any place And if we rightly consider this article we shall finde it sufficient to destinguish amongst all Christian people that now are which of them is for the present the true Church of Christ For as at first the true Church of Christ was planted Catholike that is to say a people all ouer and vniuersally agreeing in the same faith and doctrine and those that beganne false Churches of Christians were first of it and went forth to beginne a new Church in disobedience to it soe if amongst all the Churches of Christians that are now in the world we finde one out of which they haue all gone forth all the rest that haue gone forth of it are false Churches and that out of which they haue all gone forth must haue the true faith of Christ and be that first Church which the Apostles planted and called The Catholike Church This argument of the Apostles take to prosecute and to prooue more at large that which they in the Creede haue but briefly professed First in the first article against atheists that there is a God Secondly in the same article against Pagans that there is but one God Thirdly in the second article against Iewes and Turks and all that deny Christ I prooue the Christian faith Fourthly in the ninth article I shew how that amongst all the Christian Churches that are in the world there is none but the Romane which is commonly called Catholike that is indeede the true Catholike Church for that all other Christian Churches that are in the world went first out of it and beganne at some time in disobedience to that Church And to shew this I willingly vse the Popes autority that the enemys of the Catholike Church may see the truth and lay a side their auersion from that holy seate which to the ruine of their soules they labour to disgrace This manner of inducing the verity of the Romane Catholike faith is as you see both according to the Apostles method and by it the verity of all and euery particular point of that faith is inferred For that being once prooued to be the true Church there needeth noe further proofe of any particular point which it teacheth the true Church not being subiect to teach falsehood in particular doctrines but all whatsoeuer is taught by it is to be receiued for the authority of God soe speaking and we are allwais to say I beleeue the Catholike Church Yet in the other parts of the Christian doctrine when any points of controuersy in religion occurre I giue satisfaction briefly in them also as the Romane Catechisme doth but that which I desire most to satisfy in is the authority of the Romane Catholike Church prooued out of the first second and ninth article of the Creede and which may be vnderstoode by reading the ninth onely The third thinge which I labour for in Catechizing is edificatioÌ„ to good life Esa 27. for this is the end and fruite of all to take away sinne We lay the foundation when we instruct in the Christian doctrine and we build vpon it when we exhort to good life this being the hight and perfection of our labors Wherefor that you may not onely know speculatiuely what to beleeue but also how to apply practically that knowledge to the honour of God and your aduancement in his grace I haue annexed many things both out of the Romane Catechisme and other authors as also some examples of my owne certaine knowledge which tende onely to deuotion Thus I follow that methode which the Councell of Trent hath giuen vs to follow in the Discourses of the Romane Catechisme adding onely the Haile Mary in the beginning of euery Discourse as a pious deuotion to implore the assistance of our B. Lady before any good exercise But because the Discourses of the Romane Catechisme were but few as treating onely of fower subiects besides the praeamble which it hath of faith to wit of the Creede of the Sacraments of the Commandements and of the Pater Noster and those also somethinge obscure as not being intended by the Councell of Trent as a Catechisme immediatly to the people but to pastors to giue them examples how to Catechize and were therefor deliuered as intire speeches without titles vntill Andreas Fabritius for more cleernesse added titles vnto them therefor I haue treated of more subiects as first of the Obligation which all haue to learne the Christian Doctrine of the Signe of the Cros of the Masse of the Aue Maria of the Rosary of the Praecepts of the Church and of Sinne. And I haue destinguished the points which are treated in them by titles sufficiently connecting the former sense with that which followeth soe that I hope you will haue here the substance of the Romane Catechisme with that cleernes which Fabritius added vnto it and also some other subiects in the same manner handled soe requisite for all to know that this will appeare not onely a good but a necessary booke As for the stile of Catechizing if it be plane and easy it is propper and as it ought to be and for this I haue laboured all that I could euen to the repearing of the same words often ouer of purpose for more cleernesse That which I feare most is a weake and cold spirit which will appeare in many places of this booke but this must be supplyed by your more feruerous desire and endeauour of profiting your selfe by it yet the iudicious will coÌ„sider that tendernes of deuotion is not much obe expected where instruction is deliuered much â—sse where controuersys
These words are commonly applyed by authors to this purpose Honey is pleasant to the tast and necessary for many vses but it must be caten with moderation onely what is sufficient many by eating too much honey haue hurt themselues for our stomacks are not capable of much honey As honey is to our bodys soe is knowledge to our soules both pleasant and profitable What more pleasant to the vnderstanding then the knowledge of truth and some knowledge is necessary euen of the points of faith but many haue receiued hurt by too much desire and greedinesse of knowledge by seeking too curiously without humility into the mysterys of faith for our vnderstandings are too weake and of themselues vncapable of those glorious mysterys He that is a searcher of the maiesty shall be oppressed of the glory saith the same chapter of holy prouerbes This weakenesse I humbly acknowledge in my selfe and feare that I shall speake obscurely of this subiect and therefor I will craue the intercession of our blessed Lady Haile Mary c. Quest What is faith Answ Faith is à supernatural light and gift of God by which we beleeue and firmely adhere to the doctrine of the Church God giueth vs his diuine light and holy inspiration to beleeue the Catholike Church we by that superuatural light and gift of inspiration beleeuing it haue then the true faith Vnder three titles I wil comprehende all that is necessary to be said of this In the first place I will shew how that faith is à supernatural light and gift of God In the second I will shew how that this supernatural light and gift of God is all wais with obedience to the Church And although by these two titles the nature of faith be sufficiently declared and in all points we shall rest satisfyed with the authority of the Church yet I will adde one title more for the good of those that are out of the Catholike Church in which I will shew how this supernatural light and gift of God directing to the true Church is to be sought for and obtained by them THAT FAITH IS A SVPERNAtural light and gift of God ALthough such be the condition of mans vnderstanding that by the visible thinges which he seeeth made he may discouer something of the maker of them as is the omnipotent power and eternal diuinity of him that made them yet it cannot be thought that either man or any other creature can by its owne natural light onely attaine to glory which is supernatural but he must be eleuated by à supernatural power to produce such acts as haue proportion to the obtaining of it The apostle hath said this in plane termes Eph. 2. By grace you are saued through faith and that not of your selues for it is the gifâ— of God That which is natural is with in the sphaâ—e of nature but supernatural thinges are in a higher sphaere and therefor the state of glory which is supernatural can not be attained vnto but by à supernatural light of faith as being without the sphaere of nature God hauing ordained all creatures to his scruice serues himselfe of them according to their nature He appointeth vnto euery one its propper office and setteth it within the limits of its owne sphaere out of which of it selfe it can not passe Now the most blessed vision of God in glory which is obtained by true faith and the loue of him is supernatural to vs and therefor is not to be attained vnto by the light of natural reason as being out of that sphaere Seeing hearing and feeling are in different sphaeres and therefor they can not reach into nor medle with each others offices The sight tends to colours the hearing to soundes the feeling to palpable thinges and they keepe themselues within their owne sphaeres We see not voices we heare not the light nor colours nor doe we feele either of them Children and fooles catch at shaddowes and hearing the Eccoès which their voyces make they looke about to see them But wisemen know that this is foolish Why because they are in different sphaeres Euen soe it is à childish and foolish thing for men to study by natural reason to comprehende the mysterys of faith and to thinke by the natural light of humane faith to attaine to supernatural glory there being à farre gâ—eater distance betwixt natural and supernatural thinges then there is betwixt the sphaeres of hearing and seeing both of which are within the compasse of nature Therefor the state of glory which is supernatural can not be attained vnto by faith which is à natural light of reason but by faith which is a supernatural light and gift of God Secondly we see that there are many natural thinges which we can not vnderstande much lesse then should we thinke to comprehende the mysterys of diuine faith Who can vnderstande how the loadstone and Iett draw to themselues iron or litle sticks without either corporally touching them or hauing any spiritual influence in to them who can vnderstande the nature of the Remora à litle fish which yet is reported to stoppe the mighty force of a shippe vnder saile by onely cleauing vnto it Who can vnderstande the cause of those vast mountaines of water which mariners call Gusts and say they see in their Indian voyages to fly in the ayre and sometimes happen to fall vpon their shippes and to breake them into peeces Who can vnderstande the tydes of the flowing and ebbing of the sea depending as they say vpon the course of the moone yet soe different in seueral harbors All which thinges and many more hath God concealed from vs to keepe vs in humility and shall we thinke to make the mysterys of faith to be subiect to our vnderstandings We know not how the parts of a litle chippe or straw are continuated together and the best Philosophers acknowledge their ignorance in it and blesse God that hath humbled them in those obuious thinges and shall we presume vpon the mysterys of faith Those wise disputers that held disputation soe long with holy Iob prooued in the end to haue spoken vnwisely and our Lord appearing in à whirlwinde rebuked them saying Who is this that wrappeth in sentences with vnskillfull words Iob. 38. Gird thy loynes like à man I will aske thee answere thou mee And then he putteth seueral hard questions which he continueth in the 38.39.40 and 41. Chapters of Iob admirable to reade and which indeede noe man can sufficiently answere although they were but of natural thinges Now if man with all his witt can not vnderstande many thinges which are obuious in nature what proportion hath he in himselfe to the mysteries of diuine faith and if God will haue vs to see and to confesse our weakenesse in these lower and lesser thinges will he haue vs to rely vpon our owne reason in the mysterys of faith vpon which our saluation dependeth Eccl. 3. Seeke not thinges higher then thy selfe and search
confiding in the iustice and truth of his cause which giueth aduantage enough against all infidelity riseth vp against him At which some laughing others fearing his weaknes at length giuing him leaue to speake he beganne In the name of Iesus Christ attende O Philosopher what I say to thee There is one God the Creatour of heauen and earth and of all thinges â—isible and inuisible He made all by vertue of his Word and by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost he established them This Word which we call the Sonne of God taking pitty vpon mankind would be borne of a virgin conuerse amongst men and dy for them and he shall come againe and shall giue sentence vpon euery one according to their work That this is true we dispute not but we beleeue it Doe not therefore loose thy labour curiously to refute that which by faith onely is to be vnderstâ—ode Seeke not hâ—w this or that can be true in faith but if thou doest be leeue tell mee At which the Philosopher answered presently Credo I doe beleeue And giuing thanks to the bishop he perswaded the rest to beleeue with him protestâ—ng by oth that it was the power of God that had changed him and that by an inward and secret vertue he felt himselfe conuerted to the Christian faith Here this Philosopher confirmed what the bishop said and what we are saying that to dispute with curisity of matters of faith is to destroy faith which to be certaine must be grounded vpon the autority of God and not vpon the witts and disputations of men Out of all that which hath bene said we may gather two principal thinges Scruples of faith are but obscuritys of reason The first is for Catholikes that they cannot with reason trouble themselues with any scruples and doubts of faith for that those are but obscuritys and vncertaintys of our owne reason and not of the thinge it selfe which is beleued which is infallibly and infinitly certaine as proceeding from a supernatural light and gift of God by which we beleue the diuine authoritority And therefor if we perceiue our selues at any time to be ledde by the weaknesse of our reason into scruples and feares concerning any point of faith all of which haue the very same certainty let vs presently checke our selues and bring backe our thoughts to God againe to rely vpon him My soule what are we doeing whither doe we goe this is not the way to the blessed sight of God We must not thinke but beleeue we must not goe by thoughts but by certaintys noe wise man durst euer goe by this way which we are in we shall confounde and loose ourselues Let vs keepe the plane and common tracke which all haue gone which God hath commanded which our blessed Sauiour hath taught which his Apostles haue followed and all true beleeuers after them and that was to beleue by faith which is a supernatural light If thou doest beleeue in God rely vpon him and vpon the Catholike Church guided by him and not vpon thy owne witts And presently in all temptations let vs professe this beleefe saying I beleeue the holy Catholike Church and that not for my owne reason but for the authority of God Hoâ— 2. de Symb. Euseb Emissenus The faith of the Catholike religion is the light of the soule the doore of life the foundation of eternal saluation Whosoeuer shall forsake it followeth the euill guide of his owne vnderstanding Whosoeuer thinketh by his owne wisdome to attaine to the secrets of heauenly mysterys doth as one that will build without à foundation or that wil not enter at the doore but at the toppe of the house if in the night time he goe on without light he falleth downe to the bottome The second is for those that are not in the Catholike Church that they following a religion which beganne in priuate mens witts haue not the true faith nor shall euer come to haue it as long as they seeke it by their owne witts onely and by euidence of reason which some of them seeme to expect and stay for for this is to stande watching for larcks when the sky falls which shall neuer be yet shall as soone come to passe as that they shall come to haue the true faith without supernatural light and diuine inspiration therefor they ought to seeke for this and to haue recourse vnto God humbly beseeching him that he will enlighten and inspire them to the true faith And this by Gods grace I shall shew them how to haue recourse vnto God for soe as to obtaine it All points of faith according to reason But we are here to obserue that although faith be supernatural and natural reason be not sufficient to resolue vs finally in matters of faith nor to be relyed vpon in them yet all which we beleeue is according to reason and although all the mysterys of faith be not to be comprehended by vs yet we haue allwais reason soe to beleeue For God gouerneth this world wisely and sweetly according to the natures of his creatures and hauing giuen vnto man a reasonable nature by reason he bringeth him to that faith which he will haue him to beleeue giuing him rational and prudential motius to thinke in reason that that is the true faith First because as by reason we are brought to beleeue in God soe also for the certainty of all which we beleeue by reason we ground ourselues vpon the diuine autority Secondly reason also telleth vs that God gouerneth vs not by ourselues without dependâ—nce of and submission vnto any superiour authority vpon earth in points of religion but that he allwais inspireth vs to the obedience of the Church as in the next title I shall shew Thirdly we haue motiues credible enough to induce an vnderstanding and prudent man to beleeue that which is indeede thâ— true Church and to be gouerned by it and soe we haue all the reason in the world to beleeue the christian faith and the Romane Catholike Church the ignorant because they see in it all that they can desire to see or can see in the true Church to wit externally a most holy and wise gouernement learned men giuing their liues and holy men working of miracles and those as plane as miracles can be and soe frequent that euery ignorant man may either see them or heare of them soe certainely that he cannot in reason doubt of them all Then for the learneder sort they see that the faith of Christ by the most authentical writings that are in all the world is deduced euer from the beginning of the world vntil the comming of Christ and euer since his comming it is deduced vnto vs in none but in the Church of Rome and all other Churches of christians hauing goneforth of it they must either be haeretical or schismatical Churches or els there can be noe haeretical nor schismatical Churches in the world These are sufficient motius to an vnderstanding
man to thinke by reason that the Romane Church hath the true faith which God will haue him to belseue and is the true Church which he will haue him to obey Yet if we had not the supernatural light and inspiration of God mouing vs to that faith but that we were to goeby our owne thoughts onely then were it not a supernatural faith of absolute and infallible certainty as not proceeding from the authority of God nor had it proportion to supernatural glory But when reason dictateth somethinge to be true and God confirmeth it by the declaration of the Church which is as his voyce and hath his authority I being illuminated and inspired of him to beleeue the Church then whatsoeuer I soe beleeue I beleeue it for the diuine autority and although vnto reason it haue some obscurity and be not absolutely certaine as it is in reason onely yet as it is beleeued by faith it is absolutly and infinitly certaine because then it hath the testimony and authority of God And soe wisdome reacheth from end to end mihtily and disposeth all thinges sweetly Mightily Sap. 8. in that God assureth vs with his owne diuine word of the truth of our faith Sweetly in that he draweth vs euen by our owne reason soe to beleeue in him By reason we are brought to beleeue the true Church God illuminateth and inspireth vs to beleeue him speaking by that Church and by that supernatural light and gift of inspiration we produce acts of faith Now we will shew THAT THE SVPERNATVRAL light and gift of faith is all wais to the obedience of the Church BY that which hath bene said it doth appeare that faith is not a natural but a supernatural light and gift of God now we will shew that by it we are allwais to adhaere and firmely to beleeue the doctrine of the Church which is the second part of that which you haue answered to the question of faith The ennemy of mankind enuying at our felicity that we should haue and cooperate with that light of faith which he reiected and should by it attaine to that blessed state of glory which he must neuer obtaine cometh in the night time to sow in our harts many darke fallaces against faith and by false illusions and conterfeit inspirations often deceiueth vs and therefor we must haue some anes to try this deceiuing spirit and to discouer his false inspirations from the true and some power to allow or to disallow of particular mens spirits and by this we may see how necessary it is that there should allwais be in the world a continual Church infallibly assisted of God for the trying of spirits and discerning of them and that the diuine inspiration should allwais be with obedience to that Church I referre the reader to the ninth article of the Creede and to the eleauenth discourse of the Praecepts of the Church where I declare more fully the necessity and authority of such a continual Church where he may see how that we could neither know which were the true scriptures nor which were the true sense of them nor certainely destinguish betwixt true and false reason nor beleeue any thinge as certaine by faith but that all order and gouernment in religion were quite destroyed if we had not a continual visible Church with assurance from God of his diuine assistance with it and we were bounde to obey it in the deciding of all controuersys in religion which by proude and contentius men might be raised of any point though neuer soe cleere Here now I speake onely of the diuine light and inspiration vpon which we depende in all points of faith and I shew that being that this necessary light and inspiration may be counterfeited by our enemy we must of necessity acknowledge some external vniuersal power vpon earth authorized of God to try and to destinguish the seueral spirits of all men And this external power must either be assured by the diuine assistance of the verity of that which it declareth or els it were also deceiuing as the false spirit is and we should haue noe meanes to discerne the true spirit of God from the false but euery man might teach what he list vnder pretence of diuine inspiration Inspiration to faith must betryed by the Church There was neuer yet any man that labored to set abrode any errors in religion but as he pretended his doctrine to be of God soe he pretended the spirit of God to be after some sort with him but he will come to noe tryal of his spirit but would haue all to beleeue him vpon his owne bare word that he hath the spirit of God Soe the Archhaeretike that beginneth new doctrines in disobedience to the whole Church would haue men to take his word against all the world that then is that he hath the spirit of God and to prooue it he alleageth many reasons of his owne but he will not be tryed by any authority and soe his spirit being brought to be subiect to his priuate reason and all things being as you see finally resolued by it the controuersy coms in the end to that which in the former title is refuted and by which he is conuinced to wit that we are not to be resolued in matters of faith by our owne vnderstandings and priuate reasons onely but by the testimony of God inwardly in ourharts and externally as now I shew by the authority of the Church Tim 1.4 S. Paul saith that certaine shall depart from the faith attending to the spirits of error and doctrines of deuils Io. 1.4 By which we see that men may haue false spirits And S. Iohn sayeth beleeue not euery spirit but prooue the spirits if they be of God By which we see the same and also that we must haue some meanes for the tryal of false spirits Now what way can be thought more reasonable for the tryall of spirits then by the sentence of the whole Church which is giuen without partiality or respect of persons in generall to all alike Suppose two men going forth of the Church obstinatly manteining some new and contrary opinions to the doctrine of the whole Church and to each other Both of them pretende that they haue the spirit of God and yet they mainteine contrary doctrines to the whole world and to one another First it is certaine that both of them haue not the spirit of God for the spirit of God is the spirit of truth which can not be thus diuided Which then of them hath the true spirit how shall they be tryed The one of them alloweth of such and such scriptures and of such a sense of scriptures and the other denyeth all that he sayeth and yet pretendeth that he hath the spirit of God First this can not be decided by their spirits for as long as they hold contrary doctrines their spirits can neuer agree for the one of them to be tryed by the other Shall it
any other religion nor doubt of their owne as long as they adhaere vnto it but must sticke fast to that pillar and sure ground of truth and beleeue that the spirit of God and assistance of Christ is allwais with the Church and that obeying it they obey the holy Ghost and Christ They by these grounds can not as you see pray to God to inspire them to the true faith but must pray to God that they may allwais continue in the spirit of obedience to the Church as hitherto they haue done And soe this point hath onely soe farre relation to Catholiks as that they may gather by it that as hitherto God hath giuen them his holy light and spirit to reiect all priuate inuentions both of their owne and of others to obey the autority of the whole Church and to adhaere to it soe they ought still to doe and to pray to God that they may allwais doe soe and neuer forsake it But all those who haue goneforth of the Church and followed the priuate inuentions of some particular men as all others but Romane Catholikes haue done beginning new Churches which then were not teaching That it behoueth Protestants and those that are out of the Catholike Church to if examin the state of their owne Church nor gouerning of people in any place but were prohibited by the auncient Church as soone as they beganne and would haue bene prohibited sooner if they had begunne sooner with their new doctrines to oppose it all these and those that follow them of necessity mainteining that the true Church had then failed and that there was then noe true Church in the world which they might submitte vnto but that God sent them to reforme the Church and to restore it to its truth againe as Protestants say that when Luther beganne to oppose the Romane Catholike Church the true faith was perished wholy extinct destroyed not one iot of the ghospel had bene knowne but by his labour and study and the like sayings which may be seene in the booke called THE AVTHOVR OF THE PROTESTANT RELIGION l. â— c. 1. and commonly in authors This they saying as they needes must by consequence to their new reformation they ought in all reason if they will haue any care of their soules to be continually feareful and in doubt concerning their faith and being that the true Church may and did as they say faile and was quite decayed out of the world they ought to pray to God to enlighten them to see whether it be not decayed againe as then they say it was and stande not neede of a new reformation as then they say it did and if it doe that he will bring them to the true faith Or els if they will be out of doubt and free from feares they must beleeue as we doe that the Church could not stande neede of any reformation at all in doctrines of faith and soe to betake themselues againe to the obedience of it and to rest secure and contented with the Apostles Creede I beleeue the Catholike Church without troubling themselues about reforming it But being that they can neuer be certaine in their faith as long as they hold it lawfull to change their religion by reforming of errors in the Church they ought to haue often recourse vnto God to know when they should change their religion and to what religion they should change And this by Gods grace I will now shew them how they shall haue recourse to God for This question therefor I adde here for Cods sake and for those that are out of the Catholike Church that being as I haue shewed in the former title saying their prayers they obtaine not the diuine grace because they pray amisse they may know how to pray And because I conceiue it the most necessary of all points and that on which the conuersion of those that are in a false religion cheifly dependeth that they haue true recourse vnto God and also because it was commended to mee by a very graue and experienced person to procure of such that they will commende the state of their soules to God whose grace worketh much more efficaciously in them then our words can doe and because it is a meanes which none by reason can except against therefor I would adde this whole title for their satisfaction and final good that seeking rightly to God they may obtaine the pretious iewel of true faith in obedience to the true Catholike Church necessary to saluation But that the Protestant or any such reader may receiue that benefit by â—his which I wish him and may haue some feeling of that which we are now treating of I desire him first to take into serious consideration the state of his soule and of religion and that he goe not coldly about this busines which of all thinges in the world concerneth him most and is as important vnto him as his entrance into that happy and blessed state were he shall enioy the glorious sight of God or his entrance into hell where he shall neuer see the diuine face but most irefull and full of rage against him to the extreme horrour of his soule and to thinke truely that in this I aske nothing but that which is both according to his owne grounds and also reasonable in it selfe For his predecessors hauing forsaken the common religion of christians which was then vniuersally professed by that which had the name of the Catholike Church for a religion which had then noe name nor being in any place of the world he may with great reason feare himselfe and with much more reason forsake his new religion for some other that was then extant and especially to that which both is now and was then the most famous of all christendome But that which I now aske of him is not to change but onely to haue recourse to God and to pray vnto him that if his Church doe erre as he sayth that it may and once did that by his diuine light and inspiration he will bring him into the true Church He that were trauailing in a vast wildernes vncertaine of his way and saw the darke night comming on and heard the wild beasts sallying out of their dennes roaring and seeking for their pray in what feare and anguish of minde would he be what would he giue for a guide that could sett him into à safe way free from dangers much more fearefull is the condition of euery man that is out of the Catholike Church this world is the wildernes in which he wandereth heauen is his home obedience to the Catholike Church is the onely way to it death is the night that draweth on and the infernal spirits as wild beasts surrounde him Poore soule thou confessest thy selfe to be in an vncertaine Church which may lead thee to hell and why dost thou not tremble for feare and cry vnto God betake thy selfe vnto him call vpon him beseech him earnestly to guide thee and
that by his holy light and inspiration he will bring thee to see whether thy Church erre or noe and if it doe to forsake it and to obey the true Church And this I will shew thee how thou shalt require it of him I said before that the spirit of God is denyed to none that rightly aske it To obtaine then the diuine inspiration inspiring vs to the obedience of the true Church we neede noe more but rightly to aske it He therefor that beleening in a Church which may erre is resolued with himselfe to vse all possible meanes to know whether it erre or noe and to be inspired vnto the true Church let him take a time of purpose to thinke of this important businesse and to commende it seriously to God and then the first thinge which he must doe is to prepare himselfe with a calme and quiet minde and ready promptitude to performe that which God shall inspire him firmely purposing that nothing in the world shall hinder him to follow that which he shall thinke to be the true way of saluation Prou. 16. soe that he may truely say My hart is ready ô Lord my hart is ready It perteineth to man saith the holy proue be to prepare his hart and againe the hart of man disposeth his way Hauing thus prepared his hart with an earnest desire of the diuine inspiration and with à full purpose of obeying it then let him make his prayer to God not in extrauagant words as some doe with the Pharisee but with all the humility and feruour of minde that he can possibly stirre vp in himselfe beseeching his diuine and infinite goodnes that he will not permitte his soule to perish in a false religion but that he will enlighten him to see which is the true Church and efficaciously inspire him to the obedience of it Hauing made his prayer let him then consider quietly with himselfe some grounds of religion as for example the necessity of a continual visible Church declared by holy scriptures and by natural reason for the gouernment of the world in the true worship of God and therefor that must be the true Church of Christ which hath continued at all times for the saluation of soules and that all those Churches which haue begunne at any time to oppose the setled Church of Christ which was then in the world are false Churches as being in their beginning guilty of the greeuous sinne of disobedience to the continual Church which God hath ordained at all times for the gouernment of the world in his true worship And if he be a Protestant he may thinke with himselfe how that at that time when Luther begâ—nne to oppose the Romane Catholike Church he submitted himselfe to noe Church then extant in all the world but beganne to teach a doctrine which all people in the world reiected for false and did many thinges which noe Church that was then would iustify for lawfull but gotte onely some priuate men to ioyne with him against all Churches that then were pretending that there was noe Church which they could lawfully ioyne themselues vnto and that he was sent of God to reforme the errors of the Church Buecer Ep. ad Episc Hâ—reford termeth him the first Epistle of the reformed doctrine Fox act pag. 400 416. that God sent Luther and gaue him his mighty spirit to reforme religion and that he was à conductour and chariot of Israel to be reuerenced next vnto Christ and S. Paul aboue all the saints VVâ—iâ—â—k resp ad Edmund Camp ration 8. we reuerence Luther as a father and imbrace the Lutherans and Zuinglâ—ans is very deere brethren Thus Protestants themselues confesse that Luther was the beginner of the reformed doctrine which they professe And thus did all the seueral Churches of Christians but the Romane Catholike Church beginne disobeying of it and obeying and vniting themselues to noe Church then extant in the world Hauing quietly with himselfe considered some such reason noe doubt but God will illuminate him to thinke and to see that this is not the Catholike Church and inspire him with pious affections of his will to the obedience of the Romane Catholike Church out of which all others went-forth and had their beginnings in disobedience to it And being thus moued and inspired of God to the obedience of that Church which he then thinketh in his hart to be the true Church that inspiration must be followed as the will of God and presently without delay he must gette himselfe vnited to that Church He is therfor first to prepare his hart with an indifferency and willingnes to doe that which God shall inspire to him secondly to pray earnestly and humbly to God to inspire him to the true Church thirdly with a quiet and calme minde to weigh with himselfe some reasons and grounds of religion according to his capacity and lastly to choose and to resolue with himselfe according to that which God then speaketh to his conscience and to goe about presently to performe it This is a thinge easy to be done by them and a thinge which as I haue shewed all those that are not Catholiks euen according to their owne grounds ought in all reason to doe if they will haue à care of their saluation And hauing done all this on their parts they haue done what in nature they could doe and relying for the rest vpon God for his helpe it is then most congruous and agreeable to the diuine goodnes to enlighten them and to shew them the truth which they desire and pray for And if afterwards they follow it not it is not for any defect of his assistance who by reasons sufficiently conuincing drew them at that time vnto him and offered them his diuine grace to become actually members of the true Church but it is of their owne wills and stubborne mindes that will not make vse of those helps and good motions which were abundantly sufficient for their conuersion This is the way which I direct vnto all such trauelers as are out of their way or vncertaine of their way as all those confesse themselues to be who beleeue in a fallible Church Let them haue recourse vnto God and see what he speaketh to their harts let them open their vnderstandings to his diuine light and let them prepare their wills to receiue those inspirations with which he moueth them to acknowledge his autority in the true Church and they shall finde comfort in him By this light and inspiration of God to obey his Church all are conuerted that are truely conuerted in this consisteth the security of all constant Catholiks who not by their owne reasons but by the diuine autority and inspiration are resolued in all points of faith and that inspiration finally tryed not by their owne iudgments but approoued of by the continual Church by which the true faith and worship of God is allwais conserued in the world and beleeuing and adhaering vnto that Church
they adhaere vnto the diuine autority and are grounded vpon a sure and immoueable rocke I haue said now all that I haue to say of faith I haue shewed in the first title that it is a supernatural light and gift of God and therfor it is most vaine and dangerous to seeke by natural reason into the mysterys of faith euen as though one should thinke to fly and should steppe downe from some high precipice or from the toppe of a house Secondly I haue shewed that the inspiracion of God to the true faith is allwais to the obedience of the Church And lastly I haue shewed how this diuine inspiration is to be sought for and obtained by those that haue it not In the following discourses I shall declace the particular mysterys of faith and points of the christian doctrine I wil adde onely a word or two to apply all to the greater honour of God and your profit that Christ hauing giuen sentence saying Marc. 16. Heb. 11. He that beleeueth not shall be condemned and the Apostle hauing declared that without faith it is impossible to please God those that feare the damnation of their soules and desire to please God wil aboue all things in the world esteeme of the true Catholike faith as a pretious iewell and rich treasure vpon which the loue of God and their saluation dependeth and will not permitte themselues for any hopes or ioyes of this passing life to be depriued of it It is a supernaturall light and gift of God intrusted to thee that art a Catholike by thy obedience at all times to the continuall Church of Christ and they haue miserably lost that treasure that through pride and peruersednes haue inuented singularitys of their owne or mainteined the singularitys of others against that authority O wicked pride O diabolicall peruersednes Lucifer was an archhaeretike amongst the Angells by not standing in verity but resisting the power of God And archhaeretiks are Lucifers amongst men by defending new doctrines against the authority of the Church which is the supreme power of God vpon earth Lucifer beganne the disorder of the damned and confusion of hell where noe order but eternall horrour dwells they beginne a disorder in the Church by drawing others into contempt of their superiours to mainteine their obstinacy against all authority How highly doe these wretches displease God without faith How deepely are these misbeleeuers condemned charged with the losse of soe many soules as follow them This is all that can be said for their comfort that the disorder wich they make and confusion amongst men is but a hell vpon earth out of which they may be freed if they will forsake those singularitys which without authority they defended and defende that authority which at first they forsooke And this is the comfort which now I would giue them that they seeke againe for the treasure which they haue lost Consider then the state that you are in the greeuousnesse of your sinne and the losse which you susteine soe much to be deplored It is God which you haue lost not a God of syluar as that which Michas ranne weeping and wailing for Iudg 18. but it is the foundation of all true Godlinesse the Catholike faith which Iesus Christ preached and established in his Church and that Church neuer to be interrupted at any time nor to stande in neede of reformation from errors That Church you must seeke for there you shall finde the faith which you desire if you desire indeede the true Catholike faith and with syncere harts pray to God for it But you preferre perhaps the temporall goods of this world before the blesse of heauen you feare the losse of riches of pleasures of dignitys and perhaps of life and you feare nor to offende him in whose onely power these things are and besides all that can destroy both soule and body into hell How many are there in the Catholike Church rich enough Matt. 10. honorable enough and healthfull enough allthough they hazard all this to defende the faith of Christ This aduātage we haue of thee that our sufferings for Christs sake shall be rewarded in heauen and for that which thou sufferest thou shalt haue noe reward Were it not better allthough with hazard of persecution to saue thy soule then to loose thy soule and to be in danger of miserys here also Christ gaue his life for the loue of thee when he needed not and dost thou repine to giue thy life for thy owne soule God can giue comfort in the midst of persecution that noe threats of our enemys shall affright vs but that we shall be contented with them and reioyce in his grace and diuine assistance which then he wil giue and which we must rely vpon before hand and then we shall not feare We deceiue ourselues in that naturall feare For nature hath noe power in that conflict but supernaturall grace which God will then giue to those that desire it But you ô Catholike souldiers that defende this treasure how honorable is the cause which you defende in it how powerfull and ready is your captaine to defende you and how rich and liberall to rewarde you in the end you defende that faith which Christ deposited with his Apostles which they deliuered to their successors and which descended from them by Pastors to Pastors and from people to people through all ages and times into your hands Keepe faithfully the depositum thus giuen to you and auoide all those noueltys which men take vp of themselues and are not giuen by authority to them Trust in Iesus Christ and he will comfort you soe that neither shame nor paine shall trouble your mindes in time of persecution Tim. 1.6 Fight the good fight of faith apprehende eternall life where in you are called by patience to possesse your soules There are noe greater riches noe more ample possessions Serm. de verbis Dom. cap. 4. nor honours more excellent saith S. Augustine then the Catholike faith in defence of which three hundred thousand martyrs by computation of authors haue suffered onely at Rome twenty seauen of them hauing bene without interruption the bishops of that place Blessed be God that enabled them to it Cor. 1.10 and who will make with temptation issue in vs with constancy to follow their glorious example Matt 10. He that shall perseuer vnto the end shall be saued Grant vs ô Lord perseueran◠in faith and good life to the saluation of our soules Amen THE THIRD DISCOVRSE OF THE SIGNE OF THE CROS I INTENDE now to declare vnto you the signe of the Cros. Which as it is a deuotion vpon all occasions soe much frequented in the Catholike Church it is very fitting that all Catholiks should vnderstande it and know the mysterys that are conteined in it But first we will salute the blessed virgin and require her intercession Haile Mary c. HOVV THE SIGNE OF THE Cros is to be made Quest Let
thinke will the deuill doe to see the sword with which Christ disarmed him and cut of his head be not thou then ashamed of soe great a good least Christ be ashamed of thee when he commeth in his maiesty Thou shalt see then this signe borne before Christ as bright as the sunne The Cros shall goe before him and shall speake with a lowde voice for him to shew that there was nothing wanting on his part This signe both now and of old doth open the doores that are shutt is hath extinguished poyson it hath tamed wild beasts it hath cured the mortall stings of serpents The Cros hath conuerted the world it hath put away feare and brought the truth it hath turned earth into heauen men into Angells death into sleepe it hath brought all our enemys downe to the ground If a gentill shall say to thee adore not him that was Crucifyed be not affraid with a cleere voyce and countenance to say I adore him and will adore him for euer And if he shall lauhg at thee weepe thou with many teares to see his madnes Giue thankes vnto our Lord by whom we haue these things which none without the diuine grace can say We wiâ—h a lowde and cleere voyce and with speciall confidence will cry out The Cros is our glory our freedome our crowne the head and fountaine of our happines I would I could say with S. Paul the world is Crucifyed to mee and I to the world But my Passions hinder mee that I can not say soe Whâ—efore I admonish you and much more my selfe that we be Crucifyed to the world that we haue nothing to doe with he earth but that our wh le mindes be inslaâ—â—â— with the desire of heauenly glory Thus S Iohn Chrysostome and there remaineth nothing for mee to adde to his words words worthy of his holy zeale and eloquence I would I had an Angells voice to sing them as they deserue I would repeato that saying ouer and ouer againe Th Cros is our glory our freedome our crâ—wne the head and fountaine of our happinesse Make it not onely with the fingars on the body but with confidence on the soule and make it as a profession of this faith as an incitement vnto all vertues as an armour against all temptations as a defence against all dangers as a comfort in all afflictions It is the beginning of our awaking of our sleeping of our prayers of our studies of our preaching of our Catechizing of our eating of our drinking of our walking of our riding of our working and of our leauing of from worke all our actions shall beginne and end with this blessed signe and words In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost Amen THE FOVRTH DISCOVRSE OF THE CREEDE OF THE AVTHORITY AND VSE of the Creede I INTENDE now to declare the Creede vnto you in which not onely the cheife mysterys of the christian faith but all whatsoeuer the christian doctrine teacheth in some sort is conteined But first we will haue recourse vnto God and craue his assistance by our blessed Ladys intercession Haile Mary c. Before we declare the articles of the Creede in particular we will say somethinge of the authority and vse of the whole Creede to shew how authentical and pious it is Although the Creede be not deliuered in any part of the scriptures yet it is of equall authority with them to vs neither they nor it being receiued by vs but for the testimony of the Church which both of them haue and which in all thinges we are bounde to beleeue the same autority of the Catholike Church which hath deliuered the scriptures to vs deliuering also the Creede to be beleeued in the same manner by diuine faith the one by writing the other by word of mouth from time to time both of which traditions being in themselues by humane meanes onely a like fallible and by the power of God a like infallible S Pauls writings are receiued by vs as the word of God and he himselfe hath said of his preaching although not written that it was to be receiued not as the word of man but as the word of God Thes 1.2 And againe he planely commandeth them to receiue the like traditions which are deliuered by word of mouth as well as those that are written saying Breth en stande and hold the traditions which you haue learned whether it be by word or by our Epistle Thes 2.2 These are as plane words as S. Paul could speake or write to let vs vnderstande that the words of the Church are to be receiued as the writings which it deliuereth and the holy fathers by these words vnderstande the same autority to be for all the mysterys of faith and for the lawfullnes of all the ceremonys generally practised and allowed of by the Church although not mentioned expresly in the scriptures as is for the scriptures themselues L. 3. c. 3. S. Irenaeus biddeth vs in all questions of controuersy to haue recourse vnto the Apostolicall traditions and to try them by the Apostolicall succession of bishops and in particular by the chayre of Rome and saith that there are many nations of barbarous people simple for their learning but most wise in the constancy of their faith who neuer had the scriptures S. Clement the disciple of S. Peter and the adiutor of S. Paul speaking of the Creede saith that the Apostles before that they separated themselues into seueral countreys to preach the ghospell conferred together and by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost made the Creede as a rule to direct them and others in the faith which they were to preach and therfor saith he it is called the Symbole which is a Greeke word signifying a collection or a conference for that it was made by the general assembly and conference of the Apostles S. Ambrose hath these words Ep. 81. The Apostles like a company of skillfull workmen conserring together made the Symbole as a kea to locke vp the Diabolical darknes and to let in the light of Christ and we must deliuer this kea to ourbrethren that the Disciples of Peter may vse it to locke the gates of hell and open the gates of heauen to themselues S. Augustine speaketh thus of it Serm 80. de temp The Apostles haue deliuered a sure rule of faith comprehended according to the Apostolicall number in twelue sentences They called it a Symbole by which Catholike vnion might be conserued and haeretical pranity conuinced It is a Symbole breife in words but large in mysterys for whatsoeuer is praefigured in the Patriarks whatsoeuer is declared in the scriptures anâ— whatsoeuer is foretold by the Prophets either of God the Father of God the Sonne or of the Holy Ghost or of the receiuing of the Sacraments or of the death and resurrection of our Lord is conteined and breifly confessed in it Let therefor euery one learne that Apostolical faith when
he comes to yeares of vnderstanding which he professed in baptisme by the months of those that then carried him And in another place he saith that christians should vse it as à looking glasse morning and night to examine themselues in their faith by it L 1 dosymb 1. By all which it doth appeare first that the Creede is of diuine autority as made by the Apostles and deliuered by word of mouth from them to posterity as the written word of the new Testament was from hand to hand to be beleeued with diuine faith Secondly out of S Ambrose and S. Augustine that it being a kea and a looking glasse which the Apostles made for vs we ought with great reuerence to keepe it and to vse it as such often frequenting it to locke vp the infernal darknes from vs and to open the diuine light vnto our soules and to examine ourselues in faith by it as by a looking glasse that soe we may allwais keepe constant to the Catholike Church Quest Say the Creede Answ I beleeue in God the Father almighty maker of heauen and earth And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our Lord. Who was conceiued by the Holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary Suffered vnder Pontius Pilate was Crucifyed dead and buried He descended into hell the third day he arose againe from death He ascended into heauen sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty From thence he shall come to iudge vs all both the quicke and the dead I beleeue in the Holy Ghost The holy Catholike Church the Communion of Saints The forgiuenesse of sinnes The Resurrection of the flesh Life euerlasting Amen THE FIRST ARTICLE I Beleeue in God the Father almighty maker of heauen and earth In this article the Apostles professe their beleefe in the first person of the blessed Trinity in the following articles they professe the second person and the third But we are not here to vnderstande that God the Father without the Sonne and the Holy Ghost made the world for euery external worke which God doth is done by all the Persons of the blessed Trinity the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost hauing all the same vndiuided power all equally concurring to the making of the world and of euery thinge that is conteined in it The Father is named first and the creation of the world is here particularly attributed to him because he is the first Person from whom the Sonne and the Holy Ghost eternally proceede God is rightly termed a father to signify his power loue and care ouer vs. God a father For as fathers beginne the generation that commeth of them and gouerne their children and prouide for them soe is God the beginner of this world he gouerneth it with his power and by his prouidence conserueth it Deut. 32. Is not he thy father that hath possessed thee and made and created thee By heauen and earth are vnderstoode all creatures heauenly and earthly that is both spirituall and corporal creatures And in this the power of God is expressed by his external works soe as is sufficient to destinguish him as the supreme power and to putt vs in minde of our duety to him and dependance of him as giuing vs our being and still conseruing vs in the being which we haue and which all creatures should presently and in an instant loose if he should withdraw his diuine helpe from them and there would be noe creatures at all but as there was once nothing but God God is the most perfect of all thinges and therefor a spirit all ouer by his power and his power is himselfe He is not conteined in any place now noe more then he was before the creation of the world He was all wais the same power the same goodnes and those infinite He euer had a decree to create the world and that eternall decree he performed in time making the Angels onely spirits men both spiritual in their soules and corporall in their bodys and other creatures as we see onely corporall He made heauen a place of glory for the good and hell a place of punishment for the wicked He desireth the saluation of all and giueth sufficient meanes of saluation to all that being the end for which he made vs. In this article we doe not say I beleeue in Gods makers c. but I beleeue in God the maker c. In which we haue two thinges professed Atheâ—sts First the essence and existence of God against prophane and wicked atheists and secondly against Pagans the being of one onely God This is here but breisly professed for the Apostles made the Creede but onely as an abbreuiated profession and rule of faith to ground and guide vs in the articles which we were to beleeue they prooued them in their preaching as neede required yet that there is a God as in the Creede they suppose it soe also they might doe in their preaching and needed not to prooue it to Iewes or Gentils who were then onely in the world and were neuer likely to deny it But now in these times of soe many heresys I doe not see that any point of faith whatsoeuer is more necessary to be prooued For heresy as it is a corruption of the true faith soe it corrupteth and destroyeth by litle and litle the very hart and roote of all faith and as it annulleth the authority of the Church it taketh away the foundation of all certainty and openeth a gappe to euery mans errors to say what he listeth and for shamelesse atheisme to enter in by it For make it once lawfull to disobey the Church which is the onely authority of God externally vpon earth as all archhaeretiks doe who beginne their new doctrines with obedience to noe Church then extant in all the world and then it followeth that euery man without controle may beleeue and teach what he will himselfe for there is noe authority vpon earth to controle him and soe he may as well teach atheisme as heresy Secondly those that are of God are ordained saith the Apostle that is to say they are with order Rom. 13. and he requireth there that we be subiect to higher powers not onely of necessity but for conscience sake now order importeth subiection and subordination of inferiors to superiour powers if then you take away this subiection and subordination of inferiors to superiours as haeretiks doe by disobeying the Church you take away all order in religion and by consequence you take away God and bring in atheisme and a worse disorder then is in hell How hateful then is heresy to God which is opposite to all religion and how dangerous is atheisme In Collar Patrum and necessary to be preuented in haeretical times Cassianus relateth an example of this in which he sheweth by experience that heresy leadeth into atheisme He sayth that there was a certaine religious man who beginning first of indiscretion to make comparisons betwixt the Saints and
being reprehended by his superiour for it he tooke in such euill part his reprehension that he fell to say that the Saints were noe better then other men and when he was reprooued for his temeratious speech he fled to the scriptures demanding the contrary to be shewed by them and when the scriptures were produced against him he interpreted them after his owne sense and liking and when the interpretations of holy fathers were alleadged against him he scorned all saying that they were men and might erre Lastly the authority of the Church guided of God for the orderly gouernment of the world is obiected against him and when he saw that he must either sticke to the autority of God gouerning vs by the Church and deny his owne singularity or sticke to his owne singularity and deny allorder and gouernment of God he stucke like an haeretike to his owne singularity and rather then he would submitte vnto the Church he denyed God and fell to atheisme The end of this obtinate brute was at last to become madde and to dy roaring like a beast Now his last proposition was but consequence to the former for he that in matter of faith will beginne a nouelty by which he separateth himselfe from all religions and will obstinatly mainteine it against all Churches why may he not as well deny that there is a God seeing that he hath but his owne opinion for both The same experience we haue now a dayes of too many who by long continuance in heresy and disobedience to the true Church seeme to haue lost the very beleefe of God and all feare and feeling of him out of their harts and in this haeretical kingdome it is long since come to that that euery man in religion might in a manner hold what opinious he liked soe that he were not a Romane Catholike and as an enemy of the Catholike Church would but goe to their Churches A neighbour yet liuing not farre from this place mainteined publikly against the mystery of the blessed Trinity and the diuinity of our Sauiour and being many yeares since apprehended for it when he was brought to his tryall he was cleered and by publique authority set at liberty to teach his blasphemys as now he doth to all that will heare and learne them the Foreman of the sury who was a knight of the best ranke in this countrey of what religion I know not declaring as I haue heard that he would rather take the lines of twenty Papists then to haue the blood of one such man vpon him Tell one of our libertines that he is an atheist which a Romane Catholike presently would abhorre to heare most English Protestants make but a iest of it and many there are who seeme as though they would gladly be soe indeede that they might let goe the bridle to all liberty and follow their sensuality without restraint They seeing the wicked sometimes to prosper in their liues and in the end to dy life other men doe what they can to perswade themselues that there is neither heauen nor hell and to say in their harts that there is noe God This is now the plane case of many amongst vs and I could rehearse the prophane sayings of some of our great ones which I haue heard of to this purpose many yeares since but they are not worth the repeating He that will reade The Authour of the Protestant Religion l. 1. c. 4. may see more particularly how the doctrine of Protestants tendeth to atheisme and the vnworthy and atheisticall speeches of their authors and in The Suruey of the new Religion l. 8. almost all ouer but especially c. 3. he may see the same This is easy to be seene in all heresys that they beginning allwais in the contempt of the Church assume to themselues liberty of doctrine and that liberty of doctrine bringeth liberty of life now who doth not see the next and last consequence which liberty of life and doctrine runneth into It is therefor very necessary in these times to say somethinge for haeretiks in proofe of this first article of the Creede to preserue it as the hart roote and foundation of faith from their corruption and to let those libertines see their extreme folly that labour to beate out of their harts the feare of God But Catholiks who beleeue it as a point of the Catholike and Apostolike faith neede noe proofe of it because they haue it as they haue all other points of faith by the testimony of God manifesting himselfe to them who can not deceiue vs as we may doe our selues by our owne reason God is true Rom. 3. and euery man a lyer faith the Apostle and therefor we may mistrust ourselues but we can not mistrust God nor contradict the Church by which he speaketh to vs and gouerneth vs. If it be an irreuerence to stande in contradiction with a graue and reuerent person how much more must it be to contradict God were he not a madman that should oppose his physitian and denying that to be poyson which he affirmeth to be soe should take it and kill himselfe or if a man seeing a caldron full of melted led prepared by some workeman and were warned by him to take heed of it yet would not regard his words but because he saw not the fire vnder it nor any smoke in it should deny it to be hot and throw himselfe into it would not you thinke that he were worse then madde we ought to beleeue God the workman of the world and not like atheists who because they see not the fire of hell will not beleeue it but throw themselues into it and damne themselues And we must not onely beleeue in God and receiue for his authority all points of faith but we must also with our mouths Confesse our beleefe and defende it with our liues when neede requires Rom. 10. With the hart we beleeue vnto iustice but with the mouth Confession is made to saluation Saith the Apostle And the holy king saith I beleeued for which cause I spake And as S. Peter Psal 115. and S. Iohn answered to the high Priests and Princes of the Iewes we can not but speake the thinges which we haue seene and heard soe ought we in the like occasion to speake resolutly the thinges which we see Act. 4. and heare in the Catholike faith and say with S. Paul I am not ashamed of the ghospell And in all temptations both publike and priuate stande to our Creede Rom. 1.8 and professe I beleeue in God and the Catholike Church This I wish that all the world could truely say and I will bring all that I can to say soe and to beginne with the atheists of these times who in words say I beleeue in God but not in hart he shall see first that all the Angels and all nations of men giue testimony against him Secondly he shall see God and feele him by experience in himselfe Thirdly he
long as they liue soe the damned are setled in that state of desperation rage and horrible torment to endure it and to endure it still and can neuer change or alter from it In all thy works remember thy latter ends Eccli 7. and thou wilt not sinne for euer This is the last thinge which the Apostles would mention of Christ in the Creede and which ought to leaue a great feare and vehement horrour in the mindes of the wicked to whom he shall come as to his enemys that can expect noe fauour from him And therfor this day is called the day of our Lord. Because Christ shall come as a terrible Lord to them and shall call them to a strict account for the neglect of their seruice to him and they hauing receiued good thinges in this life but wickedly imployed them haue then euill to receiue but the iust who haue serued God duely and haue not sought after the pleasures and goods of this world but haue then good thinges to receiue haue reason to reioyce and to be comforted at the thought of this day and therefor at the departure of Christ in his Ascension from the Apostles the Angels were sent to comfort them with the remembrace of his second comming saying Ye men of Galilee why doe you stande looking into heauen Act. 1. this Iesus which is assumpted from you into heauen shall soe come as you haue seene him going into heauen He commeth as a spouse full of ioy to the iust and blesseth them with euerlasting blessings because they haue prouided the light of good works Let vs doe soe and we shall be admitted into his ioyfull nuptials and receiue blessings of him Thus you vnderstande what is meant by the quicke and the dead to wit the state of the good and of the euill the one of them liuing spiritually with the life of grace the other being dead in sinne But perhaps it may be vnderstoode also of corporal life with which some shall be then liuing on earth when Christ shall come and shall be iudged with those that were dead before that day And who knoweth but he himselfe may liue to see the terrible appearence of Christ comming to iudge him and that presently dying he shall rize againe to receiue the sentence of his iudgment for Christ himselfe hath said that of that day or hower noe man knoweth Mar. 13. neither the Angels in heauen How much then ought we to feare and preuent it and not to remaine one day noe nor one hower in mortall sinne THE EIGHT ARTICLE I Beleeue in the Holy Ghost Hitherto the Apostles in all the former articles haue deliuered those thinges which concerne the first and second person of the B. Trinity the Father and the Sonne now they professe the third Person in the Holy Ghost S. Act. 19. Paul comming to Ephesus found certaine disciples soe ignorant that asking them if they had receiued the Holy Ghost they answered that they had not soe much as heard that there was a Holy Ghost This had bene indeede a very great ignorance in them if they had bene Christians which they were not and the mystery of the blessed Trinity was to be but obscurely deliuered to the Iewes as I haue shewed in another place treating of it They were the Disciples of S. Iohn Baptist baptized by his baptisme which could not giue the Holy Ghost and were not as yet baptized with christian baptisme in which the Holy Ghost is giuen and therfor it was a lesse ignorance in them But for any of vs not to know what the Holy Ghost is were an extreame ignorance And therefor we will first declare who the Holy Ghost is and why he is soe called The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the B. Trinity and is as much as to say The holy spirit And although the Father and the Sonne and the holy Angels are holy spirits yet they are not The Holy Ghost of whom we are speaking When therefor we say the Holy Ghost we meane the diuine Person of the Holy Ghost as when Christ commanded baptisme in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost The first Person of the blessed Trinity is called The Father because the Sonne and the Holy Ghost proceede from him The second Person is called The Sonne because he proceedeth as sonne from the Father The third Person is called the Holy Ghost or holy spirit because he proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne by way of mutuall inspiration The Holy Ghost is true God omnipotent eternall and infinite in all perfections the very same in essence and nature with the Father and the Sonne And therefor S. Peter threatening Ananias for his deceit and ly which he had told said Ananias why hath Satan tempted thy hart Act. 5. that thou shouldst ly to the Holy Ghost tâ—ou hast lyed to God And therefor in the words of baptisme he is commanded to be named as the same in Godhead with the Father and the Sonne and S. Iohn saith There be three which giue testimony in heauen the Father the Word Io. 1.5 and the Holy Ghost And these three be one Three in destinction of Persons one in the vnity of nature and essence And because the Holy Ghost proceedeth both from the Father and the Sonne therefor he is sometimes said in the Scriptures to be the spirit of the Father and sometimes the spirit of the Sonne THE NINTH ARTICLE THe holy Catholike Church the Communion of Saints The Apostles hauing professed their beleefe in God the Father almighty maker of heauen and earth and in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our Lord borne and crucifyed in the nature of man and their beleefe in the Holy Ghost they had giuen vs in breife the mysterys of the B. Trinity and of the Incarnation The next thinge which they minded was to make an article of beleeuing the Catholike Church Which article was noe lesse necessary then any of the former nay in this it was the most necessary of all that by beleeuing the Church we come to haue the truth of the former and to vnderstande rightly all the articles of the christian faith And therefor as S. Augustine hath obserued the Prophets haue spoken planelyer of the Church then they haue done of Christ himselfe Aug. in Is 30. because the authority of the Church is the rule and guide by which we are to be directed in all thinges which we beleeue of him and all true beleeuers are kept in the vnity of true faith and that faith which was founded by him continueth allwais inuiolated by continuall obedience to the Church This then being the end and intention of this article let vs now come to the declaration of it Quest What is the Catholike Church Answ The Catholike Church is the congregation of all faithfull Pastors and people vnited together as a body with its head S. Augustine defineth the Church to be the congregation of all
the faithfull dispersed ouer the world Which is in substance the same that is here answered for euery one that hath the true faith and is in vnion with the head and Pastors of the Church by obeying them is a member of the true Châ—â—ch and all these put together make the whole Church But because Schismatiks although they beleeue in all points yet are out of the Church as diuiding themselues from it by disobedience to the head and Pastors theirof therefor to be a member of the Church we require vnion with the rest of the members vnder one head to wit the Pope who is for the time the successor of S. Peter the Vicar of Christ and the Head of the Church Now for the explication of this article In the first place the Church is said to be holy Holy It is holy in diuerse respects First in respect of the eminent holines of Iesus Christ the cheife head of it Secondly for the holy gouernment which Christ instituted and allwais conserueth in it Thirdly it is holy in respect of the holy sacrifice which it hath of his most sacred body and in respect of the holy Sacraments and obseruances that are in it Fourthly in respect of the Vicarhead Pastors and people whose holinesse it includeth Christ ascending into heauen made S. Peter the head of all the Apostles and of the whole Church to remaine as Vicar to himselfe vpon earth commending particularly to him the charge of his sheepe that is of all faithfull christians that are in the Church as in his sheepfold This charge was performed by him whilst he liued and after his death by men of great holines who succeeded him ioyning their blood vnto his as it were in a continuall streame of martyrdome for almost three hundred yeares after the Ascension of Christ After them those who haue succeeded in that chaire and office haue bene for the most part men of great holinesse as they haue great meanes to be and as it is fitting they should be in that holy office The Church is also holy in many other inferiour Pastors and people of all sorts and callings of Martyrs Confessors and Virgins who haue illustrated it with their holy liues and haue rendred it a deere and amiable spouse to Christ Lastly the Church is holy as being by its authority the ground of all holines there being none at all but in it For there can be noe holinesse in this world if not grounded vpon true faith Heb. 11. without which it is impossible to please God And being there can be noe faith that can please God but in the Catholike Church all holinesse that is amongst men is in the holy Catholike Church The Church is called by the Apostles Catholike Catholike which is as much as to say vniuersal to destinguish the true Church of Christ from all false Churches of christians which they saw might rize vp in following times and did euen then beginne to rize in their times None of which can be said to be Catholike or vniuersal but priuate and particular Churches which beginne by opposing of the Catholike and vniuersal Church then extant when those new sects beginne First the Church is vniuersal in doctrine for that it teacheth all ouer the same doctrine and yeeldeth obedience to the same gouernment vnder one head and soe the Church of Rome is Catholike and the Church of Protestants is not Catholike for that protestants agree in name onely and nor in doctrine and also because some of them acknowledging a head vpon earth as the English Protestants did and some of them acknowledging noe head vpon earth they haue not all obedience to the same authority which obedience must necessarily be had to be the same Church and to be the true Catholike Church For the Apostles made this article to keepe vs allwais in the odedience of the true Church and that those might be knowne to haue the true faith of Christ who retaining the doctrine which is professed by the whole Church which then is and obeying the authority of it submitte in all controuersys to that which it teacheth and say with the Apostles I beleeue the Catholike Church and therefor two Churches that obey two different authoritys can not both of them be vniuersal and Catholike Secondly the true Church is vniuersall in times for that it must be at all times and neuer soe vanished out of the world that there should neede any to restore it againe for God doth not soe vnequally destribute his graces as to leaue the the world at any time without meanes of saluation which cannot be without a true and lawfull Church Besides the Apostles Creede is to be said at all times and soe we are allwais to say I beleeue the Catholike Church which we could not allwais say if at some time there were noe true Catholike Church in the world Thirdly the Church is vniuersal in place for if S. Paul could with truth apply those words of the psalme their sounde hath gone forth vnto all the earth Ps 18. and vnto the ends of the â—ound world the words of them to the Church of Christ in the Apostles times when it was nothing soe much dilated as now God be thanked it is we may now with good reason call it Catholike in respect of all places when the sounde of the Apostles doctrine is soe much enlarged that there is hardly any place of the world whither the Catholike Church doth not send her subiects to preach Out of this vniuersality of the Church it followeth One that there is but one true Church in which saluation may be had for vniuersality importeth vnity and if there be vnity in the Church and that this vnity be necessarily required and included in the word Catholike or vniuersal which signifye hâ— many agreeing in the same thinge then two Churches which are not vnited in the same Communion and obedience to the same authority can not both of them haue meanes of saluation for if they could both haue meanes of saluatioÌ„ and yet might lawfully disobey each others authority then we should not be bounde to obey it nor could it lawfully require obedience to it which is contrary to the words of Christ binding vs to the obedience of the Church and contrary to this article and to all reason and gouernment S. Augustine There is nothing which a christian ought soe much to feare as to be separated from the body of Christ Aug. tract 27. which is for certaine the one Catholike Church For if he be separated from the body of Christ he is not a member of him If he be not a member of him he is not nourished with his spirit By which it is plane in the doctrine of this saint that it can not be a true Church which is separated from the true Church and by consequence two Churches which separate from each other can not both be true Therefor let those take head that hearken
to that bold persuasion of some who perswade themselues that saluation may be had in any religion or in either of some two religions or in any faith soe that they beleeue in Christ for they shall finde one day that disobedience to the true Church is a sinne which deserueth damnation S. Augustine againe in another place Epist. 104. Being out of the Church and diuided from the heape of vnity and the bond of charity thou shouldst be punished with eternal fire although thou shouldst be burned aliue for the name of Christ The Church is honored in the scriptures with many noble and glorious titles The titles of Church It is called the kingdome of God the house of God his spouse his faire one his onely one and the very body of Christ He gouerneth it as his kingdome he prouideth for it as his household and loueth it as his deere spouse and as his owne body pleasing and delighting himselfe in the soules of good Catholikes that serue him It is compared to the holy city of Hierusalem in which the true worship of God flourished and in which diuine sacrifice was duely offered It is compared to the arke of Noë out of which there was noe saluation but a general death and destruction Infidels that haue not the faith of Christ are out of the Church Haeretiks Schismatiks and excommunicated persons although they beleeue in Christ yet because they heare not the Church that is obey it not they are also our of it as heathens that participate not the benefits of it The Catholike Church hath two parts The triumphans and militant Church the one Triumphant the other Militant The Triumphant Church is the company of blessed soules in heauen who hauing gotten victory ouer their spirituall enemys in this life are now triumphing in euerlasting glory The Militant Church is the company of the faithfull vpon earth liuing as it were in a warrfare where we are allwais fighting with the enemys of our soules and by perseuering vnto the end in the seruice of God we shall be crowned like good and faithfull souldiers The Militant Church conteineth both good and euill liuers Mat. 3. and therefor it is compared to a field that beareth both good corne and cockle to a nette that gathereth together both good and euill fish The good are kept Mat. 13. but the bad are throwne away It is compared to tenne virgins fiue of which were wise and had prepared the light of good works against the comming of Christ to reward them Mat. 25. and therefor they were admitted into his heauenly nuptials but the other fiue came like fooles and although they had the faith of Christ and were christians yet wanting the oile of the loue of God and the light of good works they were excluded from his blessed ioyes By these and the like places we are giuen to vnderstande that it is not enough to haue the true faith and to be Catholikes if our liues be dissonant from our profession that we liue not like good Catholikes for there are many euill liuers in the Catholike Church who as bundles of cockle shall be throwne into the fire The Communion of Saints Communion of Saints S. Iohn Euangelist writing to the faithfull giueth them as the cause of his writing that you also may haue society with vs Io. 1.1 and our society may be with the father and with his sonne Iesus Christ That is that you may keepe in the society and Communion of the Church and be partakers of those good works and meanes of saluation which are to be had in it For there in is the Catholike Church such a participation of good works that all Catholikes that are in the state of grace participate with one another in them and receiue benefit by the good works of others The reason is because the Catholike Church is as it were one body and all the members of it liue by the same spirit of the Holy Ghost and of Iesus Christ who keepe them in that holy vnion and Communion together And as all the members of the body concurre and helpe to the good of each other soe euery member of the Catholike Church helpeth to the good of the rest and receiueth good by the rest participating of their good works Ps 118. â—am partaker of all that seare thee Saith he holy psalme And in the Pâ—ter nester our Sauiour hath taught vs soe to pray that euery one should aske in the name of all saying giue vs forgiue vs c. Those who are guilty of mortall sinne as they haue noe reward of grace for any worke of their owne which is done in that state soe they loose the benefit which they should receiue by the good works of others For although they be members of the Catholike Church yet wanting the life of grace they are as dead and rotten members into which the rest haue noe spirituall influence The benefit which is reaped by the good works of others is participated by euery one in measure and proportion to the disposition which he hath for it and according to the intention of him that performeth the worke for as we are more or lesse in his intention soe doe we participate more or lesse benefit by the worke which he doth For this it is enough to say that our good works are offerings which we make to God and are therfor receiued and applyed by him according to the offerers intention By all which we may see what a happinesse it is to be in the Catholike Church Ps 83. and in the state of grace Blessed are they who dwell in thy house ô Lord. Now let vs speake OF THE AVTHORITY of the Church BY these words of the Creede it appeareth that the Catholike Church is of diuine authority for euery article of the Creede being of diuine authority and we being by this article bound to beleeue the Church it followeth that the Church hath diuine authority and that we are bounde to beleeue and to obey it as hauing the authority of God And therefor this article was most profitably and necessarily made by the Apostles as the ground and foundation of diuine faith and worship For although in the scriptures it be plane and by reason must needes be true that we are allwais to be gouerned by the authority of the Church yet this article being soe commonly and often professed it is agreat curbe to the rizing of new sects and haeresys all which beginne in the disobedience of some priuate men to the authority of the whole Church and it can not but be a horrour to their mindes and a greeuous wounde to their owne consciences to see how they contradict the common Creede of the Apostles And therefor S. Paul might well say that a man that is an haeretike is subuerted and sinneth Tit. 3. being condemned by his owne iudgment The authority of the Church is diuine in that it is declared also by the
scriptures and that in innumerable places which for breuity I omitte and will mention onely the words of our Sauiour which he spoke to his disciples at his last farewell from them Christ in his Ascension being to leaue his Apostles with a hard taske and difficult worke which they were to performe in founding of the Catholike Church amongst soe many enemys he told them for their comfort Mat. 2â— Behold I am with you aâ—l dayes euen to the consummation of the world He spoke then to the Apostles and would not onely comfort them but all others who were to haue the gouernment of the Church for euer after promising to be with them as long as the world should endure As long then as Christ was to be with them their doctrine was for euer to be true and their authority diuine and he being to be with them vnto the consummation of the world their doctrine was to be true and their authority diuine vnto the consummation of the world as the doctrine and authority of Christ who promised allwais to assist them in their worke and soe their worke was his worke and their doctrine and authority were his Christ therfor is allwais with the Pastors of the Church when they represent and haue the authority of the whole Church not with euery one of them particularly but with all of them together and therefor although any one particular bishop as he is onely a particular member of the Church may erre yet all bishops cannot possibly erre at any time because Christ hath promised to be with them all dayes It is not needfull to produce the sentences of fathers for the diuine authority of the Church both because these words of the Creede made by the Apostles and at all times consented vnto by the fathers I beleeue the Catholike Church may stande for their sentences and also because their sentences to this purpose will frequently occurre in that which I haue to say of the Church Scriptures and fathers are easily misconstrued by haeretiks who make them to speake as they will vnderstande them or if they be too plane against them they discarde the sentence or the whole booke For those that are soe bold as to contradict the whole Church haue lost their shame and neede regard noe authority at all But because they pretende reason as building all their doctrines vpon their owne witts and because this point is soe necessary for the deciding of all controuersys and to the true and lawfull condemnation of all haeresys we will make it euident by plane and easy reasons which all may vnderstande To thinke to haue religion without the diuine authority of an infallible Church is to thinke to build without a foundation or as we commonly say to build castles in the ayre the foundation of all true religion being the authority of the Church which professeth it Grant once that a Church may erre as it may if it be not supported by the diuine authority and we can not be certaine of any doctrine which it teacheth and being vncertaine of the truth of its doctrine we are not bound to beleeue vncertaintys and it can not be the true religion if it be professed by a Church which we are not bounde to beleeue And therefor the first thinge which is to be established as the foundation of true religion is the infallible and consequently diuine authority of the Church that professeth it Take once away the authority of the Church and absolue men from the obedience of it and you make euery man his owne master and leauing him to himselfe to beleeue what he listeth all is brought into vncertainty and confusion for there is noe point of faith soe certaine nor any thinge soe cleere but by prowde and contentious men it might be brought into question This is declared by particular instances If the Church of Christ were not of diuine authority and infallible certainty in all which it teacheth we could not be certaine either of the Creede or of the scriptures or of the sense of either of them or of any article of faith whatsoeuer nay the very foundation of all religion would be destroyed the diuine existence becomming also vncertaine to vs and insteede of gouernment vnion and order in the worship of God we should haue noe diuine worship nor God at all but a horrible confusion and more then hellish disorder would dwell vpon earth First the Creede is not receiued but for the authority of the Church We beleeue that euery article of the Creede was made by diuine inspiration and authority and as such we will defende them with our liues yet this we know not but by the Church for of our selues we could not certainely know it nor should we beleeue it of the Creede more then of other writings which we receiue not as of faith but that the Church commandeth vs soe to beleeue of it and not of them Againe we doe not know the sense of any article of the Creede but by the authority of the Church take away this and we had the sense of them to seeke we knew not where euery one might follow his owne sense and we should be certaine of nothing but of vncertainty and confusion Take away the diuine and infallible authority of the Church in the Apostles times and you bring all into vncertainty whatsoeuer they taught and ruine the foundation of the whole christian faith and it had bene noe matter what they had deliuered in the Creede or whether they had made any Creede at all Take away that authority from the Church of Christ that is at all times and it is noe matter what Creede it deliuer or what sense of the Creede seeing it may erre in that which it sayeth and those thinges may be false which it deliuereth for true The same appeareth in the scriptures We beleeue that such and such scriptures were written by some that had the spirit of God to write nothing but truth in them that all those bookes which we receiue were written with that spirit and that all those bookes passing through soe many hands and handwritings as must necessarily haue bene before printing was inuented haue remained vncorrupted vntill our times How doe we know all this to be soe but by the authority of the Church deny this as all haeretiks doe to follow their owne phansys and you may admitte of what Scriptures you will or if you will you may deny all scriptures And this we see by experience to be true that haeretiks reiecting the authority of the Church and disobeying it reiect also the scriptures and receiue but what they will The Carpocratites Seuerians and Manichees reiected all the old Testament and all the foure ghospels of the new except that of S. Luke Cerdon and Cerinthus reiected S. Luke The Seuerians reiected the acts of the Apostles and all the Epistles of S. Paul Luther and some Protestants reiect the Epistle of S. Iames. The Alogians and some Protestants reiect
the Apocalypse And Suencfeldius seeing such a strife about the scriptures cleered himselfe readily in a word reiecting all Soe that if we might contradict the Church and follow either our owne or the conceits of any priuate men we might reiect the true scriptures as these haue done and receiue false scriptures as the Apocryphi did or deny all scriptures as Suencfeldius Quintinus the Libertines and other haeretiks haue done The authority of the Church bindeth vs to receiue scriptures and appointeth what scriptures we should receiue and for that authority we receiue the ghospell which S. Marke wrote who was noe Apostle and not that of S. Thomas who was an Apostle and we reiect the ghospell of Nicodemus who had seene Christ and receiue the ghospell of S. Luke who neuer saw him Therfor we must ground our selues vpon the authority of the Church and obey it or els we should not know what scriptures to receiue S. Augustine hath said this in plane termes Epis fund c. 5. when he said that he would not beleeue the ghospell but for the authority of the Church And addeth that for the same authority he would not beleeue Manichaeus the haereticke Further more the word of the scriptures is not profitable to vs but in its true sense and that true sense can not be knowne but by a true interpretour which euery priuate man as we see is not for although there be a great disparity in the abilitys of men excelling one another yet noe man of himselfe is free from errour and can but by his owne reason probably affirme that which another may probably deny and therfor all priuate opinions must be referred vnto some certaine authority which must decide all controuersys in the sense of the scriptures Besides the scriptures in themselues are soe hard to be vnderstoode and full of difficultys that it were against reason to leaue euery man to his owne sense and construction of them They haue beside the litteral sense many kindes of allegorys in which if we should follow the letter it would kill vs. The deuill alleadged the letter and word of holy scriptures but in a false sense to tempt Christ and Christ refuted him by the words of scripture in their true sense but if we had not at all times the like authority of Christ in the Church the deuill would easily peruert the scriptures to vs and we should be subiect to continuall errors S. Peter saith that in the Epistles of S. Paul there are certaine thinges hard to be vnderstoode which the vnlearned and vnstable depraue as also the rest of the scriptures to their owne perdition and S. Augustine Pet. 2.3 Epis 119. who was one of the learnedest sort of men confesseth that there were more places of the scriptures which he vnderstoode not then that he vnde stoode The sense of the scriptures is soe depraued by haeretiks that Luther called the scriptures the booke of haeretiks euery haeretike alleâ—dging scriptures and all of them deprauing them to their owne perdition and in this they are knowne to depraue them that they follow their owne interpretations and priuate conceipts against the whole Church Simon Magus would giue soe much honour to the Angels that he would haue them our mediators aboue Christ and he alleadged scriptures and reason for this doctrine Protestants honour them soe litle that they will not grant them any mediation at all neither vâ—der Christ and they also alleadge scriptures and reasons for their doctrine The Manichees forbadde some meates as in themselues vnlawfull to be eaten and alleadged scriptures and reason for this doctrine Protestants allow of all meates to be eaten at all times although it be against the praecepâ— of the Church and alleadge also scriptures and reason for their doctrine The Marcionists Encratites and other haeretiks forbadde marriage as vnlawfull and alleadged scriptures and reasons for this doctrine Protestants esteeme soe highly of marriage that they make it lawfull for virgins and religious persons that haue dedicated and vowed their chastity to God and alleadge also scriptures and reasons for it Pelagius attributeth our good works to our owne natural forces and to freewill more then to grace and hath more shew of scriptures then most haeretiks haue for their doctrines Protestants on the contrary grant noe freewill at all and will not want scriptures nor reasons for themselues Thus you haue two contrary doctrines both of them alleadging scriptures and both of them in a false sense the truth being betwixt them both saith a learned authour as Christ was betwixt two theeues Mald in Io. 6. But how doe we know that neither of them hath the true sense of the scriptures We know it by the authority of the whole Church which at first declared against those doctrines and therefor whosoeuer shall obstinatly mainteine them are haeretiks because they deny the ninth article of the Creede not beleeuing the Catholike Church but standing obstinate against all authority that was then in the world Which if at any time it were lawfull to doe then were there none to interprete the scriptures and to destinguish betwixt sense and sense and reason and reason and we might as well haue noe scriptures at all as haue noe meanes to know the true sense of them Lastly if there were not at all times some authority amongst men infallibly assisted of God to gouerne and direct in his worship and to determine the verity of all propositions that were to be beleeued with diuine faith then might euery man beleeue and say what he liked and all order and gouernment were taken away and vtmost disorder would reigne amongst vs euen to the denying of God For although natural reason doth declare the diuine existence and a demonstration may be made by a good Philosopher to prooue it yet liberty would induce to that which is against reason and would draw into atheisme as it doth to other vices which by the reason and nature of all men are abhorred Besides not one man among a thousand can make that demonstration and what then should become of those that can not if they were to forsake the authority of the Church and follow onely their owne reasons should he onely be saued that can make it noe nor he neither by that which were but a natural knowledge and humane faith in him Out of all which it followeth that the Catholike Church hath diuine authority to determine all veritys and to decide all controuersys of faith and to direct vs infallibly in that which we are to beleeue and to doe in relation to the honour of God or els the Creede had bene in vaine as also the scriptures all proofe of reason had bene vncertaine all vnion and orderly gouernment and the very foundation of all religion were vtterly destroyed and therfor one may as well say I will haue noe Creede nor religion at all as to say I will haue or beleeue noe Church and those onely remaine sure and
secute from errour that at all times in all controuersys follow the sentence of the Church and adhaere to it And therfor the Apostles by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost made this important article that we might neuer forgett our obedience to the Church but that in all doubts and difficultys we might haue recourse to it and say I beleeue the Catholike Church And that those who will stande against it may be knowne to be infringers of the law and Creede of the Apostles From hence is the beginning of all heresys that some priuate men will contradict the authority of the whole Church and obiecting against some particular point or points of faith they make themselues the iudges and determine as they will themselues They contende allwais about some particular point or points of faith and wrangle about them but if you aske them vpon what authority they contradict the Catholike Church and all the Churches in the world separating from them they are then out of their witts and know not what to say knowing that if they pretende the word of God the same question confoundeth them againe demanding vpon what authority they dare interprete the word of God against the Catholike Church and against all the Churches in the world besides that the word of God is against them commanding both in the Creede and scriptures to beleeue the Church If we will giue them satisfaction in those particular points and difficultys it is but of curtesy for we confesse that there are many points of faith which by our owne reason we cannot comprehende the most reasonable and best satisfaction is because the Catholike Church soe teacheth otherwise as I haue shewed we should neither haue Creede nor scriptures nor God Contende not then with haeretiks about particular points but aske them vpon what authority they dare question them what Church will they follow If they will fall from the Catholike Church to some company of haeretiks that beganne at some time against all Churches or if themselues will beginne such a company they are here condemned in this article The authority of the Church is the rule the guide the sure anker to which we must all wais hold It is a rocke which dasheth in peeces all temptations of faith and obiections of haeretiks and keepeth vs free from doubts and feares as in a quiet and safe harbour Let vs now speake OF THE GOVERNMENT of the Church THe Church in holy scriptures is compared to a well ordered citty such an one as Hierusalem was when the seruice of God slourished in it But the gouernment of the Church of Christ doth farre excell that For it is a gouernment which God hath taken a neerer charge of as hauing in his owne person instituted it first and engaged himselfe by promise allwais to protect and defende it and therfor he must at all times prouide such gouernors for it as shall carefully mainteine his diuine seruice in it Esa 62. Vpon thy walls Hierusalem I haue appointed watchmen all the night for euer they shall not hold their peace It is compared to the army of a campe set in array Cant. 6. glorious in it selfe and terrible to its enemys for the order which it hath The order and good gouernment of the Church consisteth in the dew subordination of subiects to their superiors As in our bodys seueral offices are giuen to seueral parts and all of them constituted vnder one head And as in a common wealth some beare offices and others without offices obey them and all are finally reduced vnto some head and supreme power and that supreme power subordinate lastly to God that impowred it soe in the gouernment of the Church some haue authority ouer others and one head is placed ouer all These are the pastors whom God hath appointed and disposed into that order Rom. 13. Those thinges that are of God are ordained Saith the Apostle that is to say they are with order and to be with order is to be not all alike but with subordination of inferiors to superiour powers and soe the order of the Church consisteth in people subordinate to their pastors and of pastors subordinate vnto one supreme head vpon earth And the head and pastors of the Church exercizing their power most fully in a General Councell it will be sufficient for the gouernment of the Church to speake of the head and of General Councels Christ chose out of all the world some to be his disciples Of the head of the Church out of his disciples he tooke some to be Apostles and out of his Apostles he chose one to be the head and to haue authority ouer his whole Church These vnderstanding by the disciples all those that were vnder the Apostles were then the whole Church of Christ S. Peter was chosen by him as the head and supreme pastour ouer all both pastors and people Him and his successors we call the vicars of Christ that is to say he that beareth vpon earth the person and place of Christ who is in heauen the cheife head of the Church Neither can it in reason offende any that we call S. Peter and his successors in that office the Vicars of Christ For if S. Paul might authorize what he did in punishing and pardoning of the Corinthian with the authority of Christ and could lawfully say that he did it in the name vertue Cor. 1.5 Cor. 2.2 and person of Christ he being but a subiect of the head pastour of the Church with much more reason the cheife pastour and head of the Church may be called the Vicat of Christ he performing and executing that office after a more eminent manner in the name vertue and person of Christ Christ first promised this authority when asking his disciples whom they thought him to be Peter answered Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Then â—esus answering said to him Mat. 16. Blessed art thou Simon 〈…〉 I say to thee thou art Peter that is to say a rocke and vpon this rocke I will build my Church and the gaâ—es of hell shall not preuaile against it And I will giue to thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen And whatsoeuer thou shalt binde vpon earth shall be bounde also in the heauens and what soeuer thou shalt loose in earth it shall be loosed also in the heauens By which it is most euident that some greater dignity and preeminonce was intended to Peter then to the rest of the Apostles First it was a most singular high mystery that which Christ asked and Peter then professed and which before then perhaps was neuer reuealed to any of the Apostles and which flesh and blood could not reueale that is by humane meanes could not be vnderstoode Moreouer Christ then blessed him and spoke vnto him after a most particular and energious manner of speech calling him a rocke which was not his name nor had ary relation to him more then to the rest of his
Apostles but in respect of some mystery to wit as he was to be the prime foundation of the Church amongst them Then the keyes of the kingdome of heauen were particularly promised to him hauing first called him a rocke and promised to build his Church vpon that rocke Which can not be vnderstoode of Christ for Christ spoke not then to himselfe but to Simon besides the Church was then all ready builded vpon Christ but here he speaketh for the future and promiseth that it should be builded vpon Simon whom he called Peter and said thou art a rocke and vpon this rocke I will build my Church and therefor he must not be vnderstoode then to say that he would build it vpon another rocke and not vpon that For although the Church were builded cheefly vpon Christ yet then he spoke of Simon and therefor it must be builded vpon him also to whom he then also said I will giue to thee By all which it is manifest to any that hath not the spirit of contradiction and wrangling about any thinge that Christ did not say here that he would build his Church vpon himselfe but vpon Simon whom therefor he called a rocke And vnto this all the holy fathers agree that he founded his Church vpon S. Peter although they grant also that which is true to wit that the Church was founded vpon Christ and also vpon Peters Confession as a meanes and preparation for the building of it upon his person That which Christ here promised he afterwards performed when before his Ascension he spoke to Peter and gaue vnto him the care of his flocke asking him first Io. 21. Simon of Iâ—hn louest thou mee more then these and Peter answered yea Lord thou knowest that I loue thee Then he bad him feede his lambes And againe he asked him Simon of Iohn louest thou mee and Peter answered againe Yea Lord thou knowest that I loue thee Christ not contented with all this asked him againe the third time louest thou mee and Peter answering Lord thou knowest all thinges thou knowest that I loue thee Then he badde him feede his sheepe Now what could all this signify that Christ should soe often aske of Peter if he loued him and if he loued him more then the rest and that Peter should againe and againe professe his loue to him and that he should haue the care of Christs lambes and sheepe but that as Peter had professed before the rest his faith in him when he promised the supreme authority to him soe he should professe his loue especially aboue the rest when he gaue him that authority And this authority being ouer the lambes and sheepe it is general ouer all the whole flocke great and litle pastors and people all being conteined in the denomination of lambes and sheepe Eusebius Emissenus Ser. de net Io. Enang he first committed his lambes and then his sheepe to him because he made him not onely a pastour but the pastour of pastors He is therefor the pastour of all for beside lambes and sheepe there is nothing in the Church And S. Bernard If thou louest mee Peter seede my sheepe What sheepe the people of this or that city Ber. l. 2. de consid ad Eugen. c. 8. countrey or kingdome to whom is it not plane that he assigned in particular none but all Tâ—ere is nothing excepted where noe destinction is made S. Gregory It is plane to all those that reade the ghâ—spell that from our Lords mouth the charge of the whole Church was deliuered to Peter Prince of the Apostles Greg l. 4. Ep. 76. It is indeede soe plane in the ghospell that for all the senses which most places of the scriptures admitte and in which the holy fathers haue diuersely vnderstoode them yet as Maldonat hath obserued vpon this place of S Iohn 21. there was neuer any father either of the Latine or Greeke Church that vnderstoode this place contrary to that sense yet Luther and Caluin are soe bold as not onely to question it but also to contradict it and to stande in this contradiction against them all and against the whole Church S. Denis calleth S. Peter the supreme glory and most auncient tuteur and safeguard of dinines De din. nem c 3. And hauing bene present when he and S. Paul were martyred at Rome he writeth to Timothee who was his fellow disciple to S. Paul the manner how they saluted one another before martyrdome ad Tim. When saith he the two pillars of the world were separated Paul said to Peter Peace be with thee foundation of Churches shepheard of the ewes and lambes of Christ Peter said to Paul Goe in peace preacher of the good mediatour and captaine of the health of the iust Thus did S. Paul salute S. Peter with that which was his prime and propper title of the shepheard of Christs flocke The holy fathers also speake in such termes of S. Peter and giue him such titles as planely expresse an eminency of power and authority ouer the rest of the Apostles Hyp. deconsamma mundâ— Tert. prascrip c. 22. Cyp. ep 40. aliâ—s lib. 1. ep â— Pet. Alex ser de poenit Amb. in c. 2. ad Gal. Opt l 2. cont Donat. Cyr. Catech. 2. 1. 17. Greg N.Z. or 7 â—piph haer 51. Chrysosâ—ora 5. in Iudaos Damesus ep 2. Hiero. in psal 13. Hyppolitus Peter the Prince of the Apostles Tertul. The Rocke of the Church Cyprian One God one Christ one Church one chaire founded vpon Peter by our Lords voice Pet. Alex. Peter the Prince of tâ—e Apostles S. Ambrose To Peter alone the grace of the primateship amongst the Apostles was giuen S. Optatus In the citty of Rome the Episcâ—pal chaire was first giuen to Peter in which Peter the head of all the Apostles satte S. Cyril Hieros calleth him the Prince of the Apostles S. Greg. Naz. The safety of the Church S. Epiphan The captaine of the disciples S. Chrysos The Prince of the Apostles S. Damasus The onely Prince of the Apostles S. Hierome Peter the head of the Church S. August Who knoweth not most blessed Peter to be the Prince of the Apostles The primacy amongst the Apostles by speciall grace is praeeminent in Peter S. Leo Peter alone is chosen of all the world to be set ouer the vocation of all nations Aug. tract 56. in lo. l. 2. dâ— bap cont Donat. c. 1. Lee ser 3. de anniuers Assumpt and all the Apostles and all the fathers of the Church Neither doth the supremacy of Christ ouer the Church hinder the supremacy of S Peter in spiritual affaires any more then his supremacy in temporal power hindereth the supreme authority of temporal Princes in temporal affaires Christ of himselfe was the head of all authority both spiritual and temporall but after his ascension into heauen he being visibly absent from vs as he left kings with supreme authority in the temporal gouernment of their kingdomes soe
also he left one head to haue supreme authority vnder him in the gouernment of the Church which is his cheife kingdome conteining all the kingdomes of the world and therefor stoode much more neede of a head to gouerne and keepe vnity in it This as I haue shewed could be none but S. Peter whilst he liued for that Christ founded the Church on him gaue vnto him the keyes of heauen and made him the pastour of all his sheepe in such circumstances as are most euident for it Moreouer he is first named in the catalogue of the Apostles Mat 10. and said to be the first not for that he first followed Christ Amb. in Co. 2.12 for as S. Ambrose sayth Andrew first followed Christ before Peter and yet the primacy Andrew receiued not To him the Apostles had recourse as to their superiour he tooke vpon him cheifly to decide controuersys in General Councells to speake before the rest to worke miracles before the rest and was neuer murmured at by any of the Apostles as taking vpon him more then his due The auncient and holy fathers of the Church acknowledge as you haue seene his supreme authority And if all this be not sufficient let it suffize that it is the doctrine of the Catholike Church what vpstart teacher will beginne to contradict it or who will beleeue and follow him It was very necessary that Christ should ordaine one head and supreme power in the Church for the keeping of vnity and concord in it and that in all difficultys which should arize the Pastors of the Church might be called together by the cheife head the place of their meeting might be assigned by him and they be kept in vnity by obeying his authority S. Cyprian considered this as the onely meanes for the suppression of haeresys Cyp. defimplâ—â—t praeatorum siuâ— de vnit Eccles which the enemy of God laboreth soe much to raise and deliuereth it as the meanes instituted of Christ to keepe vnity in the Church The enemy saith this saint perceiuing his idols to be forsakâ—n and his temples to be deserted by the multitude of beleeuers inuented a new deceit to deceiue the vnwary by the name of a Christian raizing heresys and schismes to corrupt verity and to subuert faith This is ô brethren because we haue not recourse unto the origen nor seeke to the head Which if we would examine and consider there would neede noe long treatise nor many arguments to finde out the truth Our Lord said to Peter Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will build my Church c. and againe after his resurrection Feede my sheepe Vpon him alone he buildeth the Church and commendeth to him the feeding of his sheepe And although he gaue equall authority to all the Apostles after his resurrection saying as my father sent mee All the Apostles equal in Apostle ship Yet Veteronely had the primacy Hiero. l. 1. aduers Iouin c. 14. soe I send you receiue the Holy Ghost whose sinnes c. Yet to manifest vnity be constituteth one chaire and by his authority he disposed the origen of that vnity to beginne from one The rest of the Apostles were that which Peter was The primacy was giuen to Peter that the Church of Christ might appeare to be one and one chaire S. Hierome Although all the Apostles in Apostleship were alike yet Christ for the better keeping of vnity and truth would haue one to be the head of them all that a head being once constituted occasion of schisme might be taken away By which we see how necessary it was in the opinion of these saints that one should be established as the supreme pastour and head of the Church and that although all the Apostles had the same power as bishops and had their authority immediatly from Christ himselfe and soe the Church was also founded vpon them that is vpon their necessary functions yet it was cheifly founded vpon S. Peter as the Primate and supreme pastour ouer all who had also from Christ himselfe the lawfull execution of that authority Now if one supreme head was constituted of Christ as necessary to keepe vnity and preuent schismes in the Church of God the gouernment of the Church required euer after that supreme power to remaine in successors to him and it was not to continue onely for thirty six or thirty seauen yeares as long as S. Peter liued there being afterwards as much if not more neede of it schismes and heresys being as likely to rize in the Church after the Apostles dayes when it was destitute of their presence as when it had their helpe and assistance and S. Cyprian as you see maketh this to be the origen of all schismes and heresys because they seeke not to the head And therefor as I shall shew in the next title it is a sufficient destinction to discerne all false Churches by that they beginne allwais in disobedience to the head of the Church and the Pastors of his Communion But hauing spoken of the head of the Church in the next place we will speake of Generall Councels Christ hauing chosen Apostles to gouerne the Church General Councells and amongst the Apostles one to be the head these then had the authority of the whole Church and all were bounde to obey them When therefor the general necessity of the Church requireth for the preuenting of schismes or heresys or the deciding of any controuersys that a Generall Councell should be called the head of the Church exercizeth his supreme authority summoning the Pastors together and appointing a place of meeting for them who consulting and resoluing vpon those questions their resolutions are to be imbraced by all as hauing authority from Christ himselfe who made him the lawfull head and them the lawfull Pastors of his Communion in place of S. Peter and the Apostles to whom the Holy Ghost was sent for their assistance and whom Christ promised to be with vnto the consummation of the world Thus did S. Peter with some other pastors of the Church that could conueniently be present meete at Hierusalem and hauing ended their consultation they rehearsed their decrees and doubted not to call them the decrees of the Holy Ghost Act. 15. saying It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to vs. Such decrees as these are receiued by all as hauing indeede the authority voyce and consent of all true beleeuers that are in the world For euery true and faithfull christian giuing his voice as he ought to that assembly it hath the authority of the whole Catholike Church and of all the faithfull in the world Soe S. Athasius calleth the Councell of Nyce Ath. de gest Conc. Arim. an assembly of the whole world S. Leo calleth also the decrees of that Councell the deâ—rees of the whole world S. Augustine The sentence of a plenary Aug. l. de bâ—p cont Donat. l. 2. c. 4. or Generall Councell is the sentence of the whole
Church And speaking of the validity of baptisme done by haeretiks which validity S. Cyprian and some others of that time denyed he hath these words Neither durst we affirme any such thinge to wit as that the baptisme of haeretiks is valid were we not well grounded vpon the most vniforme authority of the whole Church vnto which vndoubtedly S. Cyprian would haue yeelded if in his time the truth of this question had bene cleered and by a General Councell established Greg in registro l. 1. c. 24. S. Gregory that he esteemed of the foure Generall Councells of Nyce Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon as of the foure ghospels of Mathew Marke Luke and Iohn Blessed Theodosius before S. Gregorys time went vp into the pulpit as Metaphrastes declareth in his life and pronounced publikly Let him be accursed that esteemeth not the foure holy Councels equal with the foure ghospells An edict was setforth by the Emperour Valentinian and Martian his collegue in which the decrees of the Councel of Chalcedon are commanded to be obserued in these words Let now all prophane strife be laid aside for verily he is impious and sacrilegious that after the sentences of soe many Priests shall thinke that there remaineth any thinge by his opinion to be handled Another decree is extant of the Emperour Martian to the people of Constantinople in which he sayth We haue forbidden all to dispute of religion for one or two can not finde out those secrets especially when soe many venerable Priests with extreme labour and much prayer could not discouer the truth but by the diuine authority It is indeede a most vaine thinge to dispute of the truth of those thinges which a Generall Councell hath declared to be true because all such thinges haue bene already sufficiently disputed by the best authority of the world That therefor which by a General Councell is established as of faith remaineth allwais firme and certaine in its truth for God is not changed nor can his words euer be but true and the words of a General Councell are the words of God Christ and the Holy Ghost teaching them all truth Mat. 28. Io. 14 16. That which by some former Councell hath bene but obuiously and sleightly handled as being then out of question may be more illustrated by a following Councell and such orders and constitutions as are agreeable to some times may be repealed as not conuenient for other times and soe S. Augustine saith that the former are sometimes amended by the following but noe General Councell signed vnto by the head and Pastors of the Church can euer be declared for false nor any thinge which is declared by such a Councell Some conuenticles of haeretiks as that of the Arians at Ariminum and of Nestorians at Ephesus haue bene declared for false because they were not general of the whole world nor called and ratifyed by the bishop of Rome as all General Councels vsed and ought to be But those which were true Councels and were truely authorized by him were neuer questioned afterwards nor any thinge in them But although a General Councell includeth the authority of the whole Church yet it is not necessary that euery member of the Church be present at it it is sufficient that the voice and assent of euery member of the Church be with the Pastors of the Church for as it is not required that euery member of a kingdome be personally present at the Councell table of the king but onely the king and Peeres of the realme who haue authority ouer all and as the superiors onely and magistrates of the Commune Wealth which are present in consultation make lawes for the good of all and all are bounde to obey them as the lawes of that nation and commune wealth which they defende with their liues and are guilty of death if they breake them because they proceede from the general and lawfull authority soe the head of the Church and pastors that are in Communion with him being placed by Christ and the Holy Ghost to gouerne the Church haue lawfull authority to determine for all and all are bounde to obey their decrees for that they are the decrees of all and that assembly is the whole Church in authority Thus an assembly of the cheife of the â—raëlits is called in holy scripture all Israël Reg. 3. â— and as I haue shewed the holy fathers haue called General Councels assemblys of the whole Church and of the whole world Neither is it necessary that all the bishops of the Church be personally present at them For that is morally impossible and very inconuenient some being necessary to remaine for the performing of Episcopal functions All the Apostles were not present with S. Peter at the Councell of Hierusalem but onely those which could be spared from their places which all at once can not be General Councels consist onely of bishops Neither can Councels enely of bishops or euer did any other but bishops take place by their owne authority in them And therfor S. Leo in his Epistles and S. Augustin commonly call them Councels of bishops In the acts of the Councell of Chalcedon these words are some times repeated Synodus Episcoporum est non Clericorum Superfluos mitte foras The Councell is of bishops not of Clerks Those that are supersluous let them be put forth The Abbot Auxentius being inuited to the Councell answered It is not for Monks to teach others but to be taught This is due onely to the dignity of bishops As for temporal Princes as such they neuer had any spiritual iurisdiction in the Church of Christ for that was giuen to Peter and the Apostles The Emperour Theodosius writing to the Councell of Ephesus sayeth It is not lawfull for mee that am noe bishop to intermedle in Ecclesiastical affaires The Emperour Valentinian being sollicited by some bishops to cause a Councell to be called for the deciding of certaine questions then in controuersy answered It is not for mee that am but in the ranke of the people to medle with those thinges Let the Priests to whom they belong agree among themselues to meete where they like These Emperours spoke like wise men and good Christians Cor. 1.7 Euery one in the vocation that he was called in it â—et him abide saith the Apostle Bishops are called to gouerne in spiritual temporal Princes in temporal thinges and they must not goe forth of their propper callings Bishops made not themselues bishops God gaue that authority to them and whosoeuer haue it must haue it of God I will giue Pastors saith God by his Prophet and they shall feede you with knowledge and doctrine Hier. 3. And S. Heb 5. Par. 2.26 Paul speaking of priesthood sayth neither doth any man take the honour to himselfe but he that is called of God as Aaron Ozias king of Iuda resisting the Priests and comming boldly to the altare to vsurpe without calling their authority and office
controneâ—sys what the successour of S. Peter and the pastors that ioyne with him determine and we must adhaere to them as to the true and lawfull authority of the Church This as I shall â—hew is the bishop of Rome and the pastors of his Communion and therefor those that obey him and them obey the lawfull authority and are the true Church and they are all false Churches that disobey them Because the authority of the whole Church residing in the head and Pastors of it disobedience to them is disobedience to the whole Church and all false Churches of christians being either of Schismatiks or haeretiks and they beginning allwais in disobedience to the Church it followeth that those who continue allwais obedient to him that is then the head of the Church and to the pastors of his Communion are the true Church and the company of them altogether is the whole Catholike Church and those that refuse to obey their authority are false Churches of Scismatiks or haeretiks And this disobedience is not onely the original cause of all false Churches and a destinctiue signe to discerne them by but it is the very essential forme which constituteth them in the nature of false Churches and maketh them to be such For noe man can be a member of a false Church for false doctrine onely except it be ioyned with obstinacy and disobedience to the Church A good Catholike may hold or reach false doctrine of ignorance or mindelesnesse but he is not a Catholike if he mainteine any thinge obstinatly against the authority of the Church In points which are disputed by Philosophers and Catholike diuines affirmed by some and denyed by others a falsehood is taught on one side but noe errour in faith is committed nor the sinne of schisme or haeresy is incurred because the head and pastors of the Church hauing declared nothing in those points there is noe disobedience to the Church by them S. Cyprian and the bishops of Affrica erred in doctrine and opinion when they thought that the baptisme of haeretiks was not valid but they erred not in faith because the Church had then declared nothing of it and therefor it was noe formal errour or heresy because there was noe disobedience to the Church I may erre say the fathers commonly alleadged but I will neuer be an haeretike Errour is of the minde and vnderstanding but heresy is the defect of the will to be allwais free from errour we can not but from schisme and heresy we may if we will It is then willfull disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church that constituteth all false Churches and it is obedience to the head and pastors of the Church that conserueth vs in the true Church The true Church is a congregation of people vnited together with his lâ—wfull head and pastors all false Churches are congregations of people diuided from and disobedient to the head and pastors of the Church S. Paul warneth the Romanes to remember this marke saying Rom. 16. I desire you brethren to marke them that make dissentions and scandals contrary to the doctrine which you haue learned and anoide them If all christians had remembred these words and at all times had obserued them there had neuer bene any false Church of christians And if all would here after obserue them in the beginning of heresys the arch haeretike might despaire of his worke and would not gett soe much as one follower after him he would discouer himselfe by the propper marke of an haeretike which is not onely to hold false doctrines but also to make dissension in the Church by teaching new doctrines and by standing obstinate in them If therefor you see any one to beginne some singularity of doctrine contrary to that which is taught in the Church suspect presently such a man as tainted at least with a dangerous humour of pride if not with inward heresy but iudge him not an haeretike vntill his errour be made manifest by the authority of the Church and he stande obâ—â—inate against that authority Which if he doe then he maketh dissention and scandall and we may then and must iudge him to be an haeretike and auoide him We should pitty such a man with all our harts and pray for him as for our brother but we ought to auoide his conuersation as the breath of one infected with the plague But if you see that he gette followers to ioyne with him and to mainteine his disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church you haue then in them a false Church and those that mainteine their disobedience though neuer soe long after are all members of the same false Church and those that keepe in vnion and obedience to their head and pastors are the true Catholike Church Now christians you haue for ener a preuention against all schismes and heresys that may hereafter arize you shall presently destinguish the true Church from the false by this noble cognizant to wit obedience to the head and pastors of the Church and the false you shall discerne it by the infamous brand of pride and disobedience to them Keepe your selues in vnion and obedience to that authority which is and allwais must be in the Church of God and you are grounded vpon a sure rocke I would that these words were written in the doores of euery Church and engrauen in the walls in stones of flint THE TRVE CHVRCH CONTINVETH ALLWAIS IN VNION AND OBEDIENCE TO ITS HEAD AND PASTORS ALL FALSE CHVRCHES BEGINNE BY DISOBâ— DIENCE TO THE HEAD AND PASTORS OF THE CHVRCH that all by often beholding them might remember their due obedience to the Catholike Church And this marke is not onely sufficient to discouer for the future and to preuent the rizing of false Churches here after but also to shew which of all christian Churches that are now extant in the world is the true Catholike Church for Christ hauing instituted the gouernment of his Church to be by one head and supreme pastour and by other bishops as inferiour pastors in Communion with him and the gouernment which Christ instituted being allwais to be obserued and obeyed by vs there needeth noe more to shew which is the true Church but to shew who is the true head of the Church by succession from S. Peter and by the lawfull possession of his chaire and power For he and the pastors of his Communion are to be obeyed as deriuing their authority from Christ himselfe and as hauing from him the authority of the whole Church This argument is often vsed by S. Cyprian who biddeth vs in the beginning of all heresys and for the deciding of all controuersys allwais to looke vp to the head of the Church and to seeke to him and tractatu de simplicitate praelatorum siue de vnit Eccles he maketh this the cause of all heresys as you haue heard Because saith he we haue not recourse vnto the ormen nor seeke vnto the head and then he
beginneth to deriue that authority from Christ vnto S. Peter that by one head and supreme pastour vnity might be preserued in the Church And sayth againe that Heresys haue sprung and Schismes haue bene bred by noe other cause Cyp. l. 1. ep 13. 55. but for that the Priest of God is not obeyed nor one iudge considered to be for the time in the Church of God Soe that to shew who is the true head of the Church will sufficiently destinguish the true Church for the pastors that communicate with him are the true pastors and the people of that Communion are the true people of God and that whole congregation of pastors and people being taken alltogether is the whole Catholike Church Now to shew who is the true head of the Church we must secke into antiquity and see what bishop did aunciently in the first Church of the Apostles and in the primitiue times after them beare that authority and was then acknowledged for the head and supreme pastour of the Church For as truth which was eternally in God was before falsehood which came afterwards by creatures and as true and lawfull power was first in the true Church of Christ and false vsurped power was afterwards begunne by disobeving it soe he that was first acknowledged in the primitiue times of the Church as the head and supreme pastour he and his successors are all wais to be acknowledged after him and they are false Churches that haue begunne at any time in disobedience to him and to the pastors of his Communion Now let vs see what bishop was acknowledged in the primitiue times and was first obeyed as the head and supreme pastour and which of all Churches that how are retaine still their obedience to him These are either all or the cheife christian Churches that are now in the world The Romane Church which is truely Catholike and Vniuersal ouer the whole world the Greeke Churches which are not Catholike nor vniuersall in the world although some of them be much spred The Church of the Georgians of the Armenians of the Aethiopians of the Arians of the Nestorians of the Waldenses of the Lutherans of the Zuinglians if any of them be yet extant destinct from the Caluinists the Church of the Caluinists and the Church of England which is the latest and newest of them all If there be any more besides these as we see petty sects daily to arize out of the later and to beginne in disobedience to them as all of them once did to the Romane Church both they and all the rest beside the Romane Church shall appeare to be false Churches and it onely to be the true Catholike Church for that it onely is in vnion and holdeth obedience to the true and lawfull head of the vniuersall Church and to the pastors of his Communion all the rest disobeying that authority But first it is to be obserued that the word Church being a word of Communion siguifying a company of people communicating together in the same faith and vnder the same authority it can not be the same Church and a lawfull Church if it haue not the same and that a lawfull authority Secondly some of these acknowledge a head and supreme pastour of the Church vpon earth and others of them will acknowledge none The Romane Church all ouer the world acknowledgeth the bishop of Rome to be vpon earth the head and supreme pastour of the Church The Graecians Armenians Georgians Aethiopians and Churches of the east haue some of them the Parriarke of Constanâ—inople others the Patriarke of Alexandria or a parricular and propper pastour to themselues whom they acknowledge for the supreme head of their Church and the Church of England vntill within these tenne or dozen yeares acknowledged their temporal prince man woman or child that was for the time to be the head of that Church Others there are who are headlesse acknowledging noe supreme head vpon earth in any spirituall power as the Lutherans Caluinists c. these are but few and inconsiderable in comparison of those that submitte vnto a head and supreme authority And I shall shew that both they and all others beside the Romane Church are false Churches for that they stande disobedient to him and to the pastors of his Communion who is indeede the true head of the Church I haue shewed before that the gouernment which Christ instituted in his Church was by S. Peter as the head and cheife pastour of it Now I shew that that supreme authority of S. Peter was acknowledged by the primitiue Church to descende vpon the bishop of Rome as successour to him and that there is none but he that can with reason pretende to haue had that authority This is prooued first by the manifest testimonys of those auncient writers that then liued Secondly by the practise of those times for that the bishop of Rome exercized in fact that supreme authority and the faithfull of those times obeyed it Thirdly for that there is none els that can pretende to haue bene at any time aboue all other bishops as the cheife pastour and gouernour of the Church First then I produce soe many The Bishop of Rome is acknowledged by the primitiue fathers to be the head of the Church and such testimonys of auncient writers as shall be sufficient to satisfy him that regardeth the safety of his soule And to beginne euen from the Apostles times the scriptures which they wrote declare soe farre for the supremacy of the bishops of Rome that they are alleadged to that purpose by holy and auncient authors as will appeare by their following citations who seeing the supreme pastorship to haue bene promised by Christ vnto S. Peter Mat. 16. and to haue bene giuen him Io. 21. when he commended soe particularly the feeding of his sheepe to him and considering him to haue died at Rome bishop of that place and a successour in his authority to be allwais necessary for the gouernment of the Church without any more argument they grounded themselues vpon these scriptures and commonly alleadged them for the supremacy not onely of S. Peter but also of the bishop of Rome The same they inferre out of S. Paul to the Romanes where he sayth your faith is renowmed in the whole world Rom. 1. gathering by these words the supremacy of the Romane chaire S. Epis 55. Cyprian speaking against some of those times sayeth They are soe bold as to carry letters from prophane schismatiks to the Chaire of Peter Nu. 6. and the principall Church whence priestly vnity arose not considering the Romanes to be them whose faith the Apostle being the commender was praised to whom misbelcefe can not haue accesse And S. Hierome know ye that the faith of the Romanes will receiue noe such deceits Adner Ruffin l. 3. c. 4. to 2. nor can possibly be changed though an Angell taught otherwise being fensed by S. Cyp. ep 52. and Anronian Amb
de obitu fratris Pauls authority And S. Cyprian and S. Ambrose signify that it is all one to say the Romane faith and the Catholike faith All which they would neuer haue said if they had not thought the Romane chaire to haue had preeminence and authority aboue all and vnderstoode the words of S. Paul in that sense that the faith of the Romanes was renowmed in the supreme authority of that sea and therefor we may rightly alleadge those scriptures according to the auncient fathers interpretations for the supremacy of the bishop of Rome But we will produce their plane testimonys immediatly from the Apostles times Anacletus who liued with the Apostles hath these words Ep. 3. ad omnes Epis This holy and Apostolicall Romane Church not onely from the Apostles but euen from our Lord and Sauiour himselfe hath obtained the principality and eminency of power ouer all Churches and ouer the whole flocke of the people of Christ he himselfe saying to S. Peter Mat. 16. Thou art Peter c. And they also themselues consented vnto it that he should be aboue all the rest of the Apostles and should be Cephas that is to say the head and beginning of the Apostle ship who deliuered the same forme to his successors and the rest of the Apostles to bishops to be held by them If any difficult causes arize amongst you referre them to this head that by the apostolicall iudgment they may be ended for such is the will of our Lord who hath soe determined as by the foresaid places is declared Therfor this Apostolical seate is constituted of none other but of our Lord himselfe to be the hinge and the head as is said before of all Churches That as the doore is guided by the hinges soe by the disposition of our Lord all Churches should be gouerned by this holy seate S. L. 3. c. 3. Irenaeus who liued in the next age after the Apostles reckoneth vp all the bishops of Rome vnto Eleutherius who then gouerned to shew the succession of that supreme authority from S. Peter and saith that in all cases of controuersy we should haue recourse vnto the Apostolical traditions and try them by the Church of Rome Tertullian L. depudicitia who liued in the same age with him calleth the bishop of Rome Pontificem Maximum Episcopum Episcoporum The highest Priest the Bishop of bishops S. Cyprian De vnitate Eccles who liued in the next age after them speaking of the beginning of heresys saith in substance all which I am saying to wit that all schismes and heresys haue begunne by disobedience to the head of the Church and particularly specifyeth to what head to wit to the successour of S. Peter that is for the time and saith that if we would seeke to that iudge all controuersys would soone be at an end And speaking of the bishops of Rome L. 4. ep 9. from hence saith he all heresys haue rizen and still arize because that bishop who is but one and presideth ouer the Whole Church is despised by the prowde presumption of certaine men and he whom God hath dignifyed is iudged by men as vnworthy of dignity In the next age liued S. Athanasius a glorious Confessour and for forty yeares and more in which he was bishop the prime pillar of the Catholike Church in the easterne parts against the Arian haeretiks Apud Theoâ—â—et â— 4. c. 3. He reckoneth vp the Churches of the seueral parts of the world and saith that they and the whole world consented to the Councell of Nyce in which the primacy of S. Syluester then bishop of Rome was acknowledged and declared And it is here to be obserued that the Arians who are the auncientest of all sects now extant out of the Catholike Church beganne but in these times when the Romane bishop had bene honored for about three hundred yeares as the Vicar of Christ vpon earth And the same saint together with the fathers of the Councell of Alexandria wrote vnto Felix 2. then bishop of Rome after this manner To the honorable holy father Felix Pope of the Apostolical seate of the city of Rome Athanasius and all the bishops of the Aegyptians Thebaians and Lybians by the grace of God assembled in the holy Councell of Alexandria We suggest vnto your holy Apostleship that you would vouchsafe to vs of your wounted care ouer vs c. Because most holy father our praedecessors and we haue receiued helpe of your Apostolical scate We implore that Apostolicall and according to the canons the cheife seate that we may haue helpe from thence from whence our auncestors haue had their doctrines orders and relcefe Vnto that we haue recourse as to our mother that we may be nourished at her breasts And as the mother own not forgett her child soe doe not you forgette vs committed to your charge For our enemys haue inuolued vs in noe small troubles apprehending and threatening vs with irons vnles we will yeeld to their errors Which without your knowledge we will not presume vpon the canons hauing decreed that in cases of moment nothing should be done without the Romane bishop Therfor God hath placed you and your praedecessors the bishops of Rome in the toppe of all that you might haue a care of all Churches hauing the iudgment of all bishops committed to you For we know that in the great Councell of Nyce of three hundred and eighteene bishops it was established by all that without the sentence of the Romane bishop noe Councell should be called nor any bishops condemned although these and many other necessary thinges be taken away from vs and burnt by turbulent haeretiks c. Likewise it was agreeably defined by the foresaid fathers that if any of the bishops shall haue in suspicion the Metropolitan Comprouinciales or Judges let him appeale to your holy seate of Rome to whom the power of binding and loosing was giuen by speciall priuilege by our Lord himselfe c. Thou art the deposer of prophane haeresys inuaders and infesters as the Head and Doctour and Prince of orthodoxe doctrine and vnspotted faith After S. Athanasius in the next age liued S. Optatus bishop of Mileuetum in Affricke who made a catalogue of all the Popes from S. Peter to Siricius who then gouerned and writing against the haeretike Parmention he telleth him that in setting vp a chaire contrary to the Chaire of Rome he could not pleade ignorance knowing that the first was giuen to S. Peter to be at Rome and particular chaires to the other Apostles L. 1. conc Parm. that he might be knowne for a schismatike and praeuaricatour that should set vp a chaire in opposition to it Amb. in 3. ad Tim. S. Ambrose speaking of Damasus then bishop of Rome saith that all the world being Gods yet the Church onely is hit house whose Rectour or Ruler at this time is Dumasus S. Hierome also liued in the time of this
Pope and there being then in Antioch three seuerall factions all of them pretending to haue the Pope on their side he thus declareth himselfe writing to Damasus ad Damas I cry for him that ioynes with Peters chayre Meletius Vitalis and Paulinus say they adhaere to thee I could beleeue it if onely one of them affirmed it but now either two of them ly or they all three ly I know not Vitalis Meletius nor Paulinus he that gathereth not with thee scattereth he that is not of Christ is of Antichrist I ioyne my selfe vnto thy holinesse That is the chayre of S. Peter Vpon that rocke I know the Church was built S. Augustine made a catalogue of all the Bishops of Rome from S. Peter to Anastasius who then liued and saith that the succession of those bishops kept him in the Catholike Church Ep. 165. and that the principality of the Apostolical chayre allwais flourished in the Church of Rome S. Leo Pope writing to the Emperour stileth himselfe Bishop of the Vniuersal Church although he refused the title of Vniuersal Patriaâ—ke or Bishop of the Church when the Councell of Chalcedon gaue it to him Lâ—â— ep 52. because it was a title more subiect to misconstruction Theodoret writing to this Pope saith your sea praesideth ouer the whole world that holy sea holdeth the sterne of gouernment ouer all the Churches in the world S. Gregory the great who for the aforesaid reason refused the title of Vniuersal Patriarke often calleth the Church of Rome Caput omnium Ecclesiarum L. 7. c. 26. The head of all Churches And saith that if a falt be committed by a bishop he knoweth none but he is subiect to the Apostolical seate And againe who doubteth but the bishop of Constantinople is subiect to the Apostolical seate which also the most pious Emperour and Eutichius our brother the bishop of that city doe allwais confesse and yet the bishop of Constantinople then tooke place of all other bishops but the Bishop of Rome Thus you see by euident testimonys of auncient writers that in the primitiue times of the faith of Christ the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged as the prime pastour and head of the Church The same I shew also by the practise of those times The B. of Rome aunciently exercized in fact the supreme authority for that the Bishop of Rome then exercized in fact the supreme authority deporting himselfe in all thinges as the head of the Church He or his legates for him praesided allwais in General Councells confirmed them and was obeyed by them as the superiour ouer all bishops and all people as giuing bishoppricks to the worthy as depriuing the vnworthy as giuing lawes vnto all and hearing the causes of all of whatsoeuer Diocese and of the cheife bishops and cheife princes of the world in spirituall affaires All which will appeare by that which followeth As soone as the Church of God had gotten a Christian Emperour that bishops from all places could safely meete together a General Councell of the whole world was assembled at Nyce to decide the controuersys of those times Hosius Vitus and Vincentius presided in that first General Councell of the whole world as the legates of S. Syluester then Pope and subscribed in the first place And the primacy of the Romane Bishop was in that Councell expresly and of purpose declared as you haue seene in the words of S. Athanasius and the bishops of Aegypt Thebais and Libya written to Pope Felix The second General Concell was held at Constantinople and the fathers of that Councell wrote vnto Damasus Pope confessing themselues to be members of him In the third General Councell which was held at Ephesus S. Cyril Patriarke of Alexandria praesided in place of Pope Celestine and in condemning of Nestorius the Councell vseth this forme that they were forced by the Canons and by the authority of bishop Celestine to proceede with weeping teares to that heauy sentence against him The fourth General Councell was â—eld at Chalcedon where Paschasius Lucentius and Bonifacius praesided in place of S. Leo Pope and subscribed first And the fathers of this Councell wrote vnto Leo to desire his immediate approbation of their canons stiling him The Head and vniuersal Patriarke of the Church And his approbation being sent and read in the Councell the fathers cryed out Soe doe we all beleeue Pope Leo soe beleeueth let him be accursed that doth separate and diuide This is the faith of Leo cheife bishop Peter hath spoken by Leo's mouth and the Apostles haue taught soe Leo hath taught truely we all beleeue as Leo beleeues In the fift General Councell which was held at Constantinople Menas praesided who had bene thrusten out of that seate but was restored to it againe by the authority of Pope Agapetus In the sixt General Councell which was held also at Constantinople Theodore George and Iohn praesided as the legates of Pope Agatho whose letters being read the fathers of the Councell cryed out as those of Chalcedon had done almost three hundred yeaâ—es before to Pope Leo that Peter spoke by Agathós mouth c In the seauenth General Councell which was held at Nyce two Peters were the legates of Pope Adrian and had the first place and when his letters were read the fathers answered The whole Synode doth soe beleeue and teach The eight General Councell was held at Constantinople where Donatus and Stephanus Praesided as the legates of Pope Adrian and subscribed in this forme I Donatus by the grace of God bishop of Ostia hauing the place of my Lord Adrian high Priest and vniuersal Pope and praesiding ouer this General Councell according to his will haue promulged all that is here read and haue subscribed with mine owne hand I adde here that the very word and title of POPE is soe holy honorable and authentical that it is a sufficient proofe of his primacy and eminent authority aboue all For where as it signifyeth in it selfe a Great or Grane Father and was first of all giuen to Patriarks and more venerable pastors and higher dignitys it was decreed by an assembly of more then sifty bithops aboue a thousand yeares sinne that it should be giuen to none but to the bishop of Rome as to the Vniuersal Father of all faithfull christians Bishops Emperours Princes haue obeyed this decree the custome of nations hath consented vnto it and the very enemys of the Catholike Church now after the praescription of a thousand yeares giuing him that honorable title vertually confesse the supreme authority which then he had The bishops of Rome exercised authority ouer other dioceses and ouer the cheife persons of the world both of the Clergy and Laity S. Athanasius Patriarke of Alexandria who then tooke place of all but the bishop of Rome Asclepas of Gaza Marcellus of Ancyra and Lucius of Adrianopolis being expelled out of their bishoppricks by those of the Arian faction repairing to Pope Iulius were by his
authority restored to their seates againe Theod. l. 2. c. 4. and the Arians hauing by letters misinformed the Pope against Athanasius he commanded both him and them to come to Rome to answere for themselues S Iohn Chrysostome fled vnto Pope Innocentius who restored him to his sea againe and the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius for that they were slow in effecting his restitution and Arsatius and Atticus for intruding into his place and Theophilus Patriarke of Alexandria for deposing of him although the prime men of the world both of the Ecclessiasticall and Laity were all excommunicated by the Pope Menas Patriarke of Constantinople being thrust out of his seate by Anthimus an haeretike the Emperour fauouring him appealed to S. Agapetus Pope who not dreading the Emperours power opposed himselfe as a good and valiant Pastour in defence of the people of Constantinople as vnder his generall charge against Anthimus the wolfe that was comed amongst them And when the Emperour with terrible threatenings menaced him the blessed Pope bared presently his necke before him and told him that he was ready to loose his head for that cause which he must and would defende as long as he liued And Vigilius who succeeded in the Popedome next but one to him being earnestly sollicited to restore Anthimus would neuer yeeld to it although he were apprehended and suffered much for that cause but stoode still constant to his charge and excommunicated Theodora the Empresse as the cheife instigatour of those cuills Thirdly the same is prooued for that there is none other but the bishop of Rome None other but the Roman◠Bishop cantustly pretende to supremacy in the Church that can pretende euer to haue had that supreme authority in the primitiue Church for if any other could haue any iust pretence to it it should be the Patriarke of Antioch for that was the first Episcopal seate of S. Peter but he can not pretende euer to haue had that supreme authority after S. Peter for the Patriarke of Alexandria was aboue him although vnder the bishop of Rome Antioch was indeede the first seate of S. Peter the chaire of Alexandria was founded by S. Marke in S. Peters name and S. Peter liued at Rome most part of the time of his primacy and dyed there bishop of that place His successour must be vnderstoode of his last seate which he died possessed of as all antiquity with good reason vnderstoode it and therefor although all these three in reuerence to S. Peter were made Patriarchical seates yet Rome was esteemed allwais as the cheife it had the first place Alexandria the second and Antioch but the third The Patriarke of Constantinople cannot pretende to the primacy for that he was not soe much as a Patriarke long after the former nor for some hundreds of yeares after Christ there being noe Constantinople before Constantine but an obscure Bythinium of noe such name or note The Patriarke of Hierusalem cannot pretende vnto it for he was vnder the bishop of Caesarea as his Metropolitan and gaue place to all the former These were the prime of the world in Ecclesiasticall dignity and the bishop of Rome was the prime of them and exercized authority as you haue seene ouer them therefor there is none but he that can pretende to haue bene the head and supreme pastour in the Church of Christ To talke of any saecular Prince being the head of the Church is not worth mentioning for he as such hath noe calling to that office The head of the Church is the successour of S. Peter who gouerned the Church as his successors also did many yeares after him vnder heathen Princes who could not be the head of the Church of Christ Neither was any Christian Emperour euer permitted soe much as to haue a voyce in General Councels Out of all which hath here bene said it doth appeare soe manifestly that at first the supreme authority ouer the Church of Christ was acknowledged to reside in the Bishops of Rome as the successors of S. Peter that to deny it is to deny any thinge of antiquity and to confounde all traditions of writings and of thinges past And hence it followeth that the primitiue Church acknowledging the supreme authority ouer the Church to descende by the institution of Christ vpon the bishops of Rome as vpon the successors of S. Peter we ought to acknowledge the same and that that bishop hath the prime authority and that he and the pastors that ioyne with him haue the whole lawfull authority of the true Church And therefor all those Churches that haue begunne at any time in disobedience to that authority and continue still disobedient to it were then and are still false Churches for that they haue the Marke which we haue assigned of disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church and which S. Cyprian hath giuen of despising that one iudge and priest that is for the time the Vicar of Christ It is not now much needfull to examine the beginnings of other Churches and to shew them to haue begunne in disobedience to the bishop of Rome and his pastors because that hauing bene the gouernment of the primitiue Church the rest must at some time haue gone forth of it Yet for more cleernesse and satisfaction of all I will say somethinge of the particular beginnings either of all or of the more notable sects that are now extant to shew how and when they went out of the Romane Church First the Arians who are the auncientest of all those that are now extant beganne in the disobedience of Arius a Priest of Alexandria about three hundred yeares after the first establishing of the faith of Christ who separating himselfe from the head and pastors that then were to wit of S. Syluester Pope and the fathers of the Councell of Nyce who were ioyned in Communion with him beganne a new Church without successiō of head and pastors from Christ The Nestorian Church beganne in the disobedience of Nestorius bishop of Constantinople aboue foure hundred yeares after the first establishing of the Church of Christ who separating himselfe from the head and pastors that then were to wit from S. Celestine Pope and the fathers of the Ephesin Councell in Communion with him beganne a new Church which had noe succession of head and pastors from Christ The seueral Churches of the Graecians and easterne people beganne first in the disobedience of Photius aboue eight hundreds yeares after that the faith of Christ was receiued by the world who hauing inuaded and vsurped the chaire of Constantinople was by the authority of Pope Adrian and of the Councell of Constantinople deposed and Ignatius whom he had thrust out was againe restored But Photius raising new dissentions and seditions in the Church of God drew the Graecians from their dew obedience to the head and pastors of the Church and soe beganne diuerse schismaticall Churches seuerall bishops assuming to themselues absolute authority and submitting to
none mainteined in schisme their owne Churches which had noe succession of head and pastors from Christ except they were as all false Churches are of a succession inuisible The Waldenses beganne in the disobedience of Iohn Waldo an ignorant lay man in the city of Lyons aboue eleauen hundred yeares after that the faith of Christ had flourished in the world who disobeying the authority of Alexander 3. Pope and of the fathers of a General Councell held at Rome beganne a new Church against all saying we must obey God rather then men And Iohn Hus was proceeded against as an haeretike for mainteining with obstinacy his doctrine The Church of the Lutherans beganne in the disobedience of Martin Luther a Fryar of the holy order of S. Augustine about fifteene hundred yeares after the first establishing of the Church of Christ who disobeying the authority of the head and pastors of the Church that then were to wit of Pope Leo and the pastors of his Communion broke his vowes of pouerty chastity and obedience and hauing gotten some to follow him he beganne with them a new Church which had noe succession of head and pastors from Christ nor from any Church except it were a succession inuisible The Zinglians beganne in the disobedience of Vlricus Zuinglius a Canon of Constance who seeing the people of Germany soe greedily to swallow downe the liberty of Luthers doctrine and noueltys disobeying the authority of Pope Clement and of the pastors of his Communion would beginne also a new Church contrary both to the Church of Rome and of Luther denying the reall presence of the body of our Lord in the holy Eucharist The Church of the Caluinists beganne in the disobedience of Iohn Caluin Priest of Noyon who following the example of Luther and Zuinglius brokeforth after them out of the sheepefold of Christ and disobeying the authority of Paulus 3. then Bishop of Rome and of the pastors of his Communion beganne a new Church according to his owne words separating themselues from the whole world Resp ad versip The Church of England which is the newest of them all beganne in the disobedience of king Henry the eight who hauing first obtained of Pope Leo the glorious title of Defendour of the faith for his good seruice done to the Church of God especially in oppugning of Luthers heresy became afterwards soe blinded with carnality that desiring of Pope Clement a diuorcement from his lawfull wife and not obtaining it he denyed his authority forbadde in his dominions all commerce with the court of Rome and caused himselfe to be proclaimed The supreme head of the English Church vpon earth putting to death Bishop Fisher Sr Thomas Moore and others for denying his supremacy By all which it appeareth that the words of S. Iohn may well be applyed to all these sects when to discouer the false Churches of schismatiks and heretiks which he speaketh of by the name of Antichrist he giueth them this marke They went out from vs. Io. 1.2 Soe may we say of all the sects of schismes and haeretiks that are in the world they beganne at some time in disobedience to the Romane Church the beginners of them were once Romane Catholiks but they were the chaffe of the Catholike Church which being puffed vp with pride and obstinacy went out from vs and beganne new Churches which were not then at all in the world You haue seene now the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome to haue bene first acknowledged and obeyed by the primitiue Church and consequently all other Churches of christians whatsoeuer without naming of any haue at some time goneforth of that Church and begunne in disobedience to that Bishop and to the pastors of his Communion and you haue seene also in particular the cheife and most notable and one may say all other Churches for that the rest of the petty sects haue begunne indisobedience to some of these and goneforth of them you haue seene I say in particular the rest of the Churches that now are to haue begunne in disobedience to that authority which was first obeyed by the primitiue Church of Christ and was then obeyed in the world and euen by themselues vntill they tooke vpon them to disobey it Wherefor I conclude with this that the true Church is that which continueth allwais obedient to the true head of the Church and pastors of his Communion and they are all false Churches that haue begunne in disobedience to the true head of the Church and pastors of his Communion but there is none but the bishop of Rome that can with any reason pretende to be the true head of the Church nor any pastors that can pretende to be in Communion with the true head of the Church but those that are in Communion with him therefore that is the true Church which hath continued all wais in obedience to the Bishop of Rome and his pastors and they are all false Churches that haue begunne at any time and continue still in disobedience to him and them There remaineth now onely to see what they can say for themselues and to shew the vanity of their pretences First if they deny that the Romane Bishop had supreme authority in the primitiue Church it is to confound as I haue said the knowledge of all thinges past I haue shewed that the holy fathers of those times haue interpreted the scriptures for the Bishop of Rome his supremacy and I haue shewed by their plane sentences and expresse words that the Romane Church hath obtained from our Lord and Sauiour himselfe the principality and eminency of power ouer all Churches that holy seate being the hinge and head of all Churches that in all controuersys we ought to haue recourse vnto it that the Bishop of Rome is the highest Priest and Bishop of bishops that all schismes and heresys haue sprung from the disobedience to that chaire that they are Schismatiks and Praeuaricators that set vp another chaire contrary to it that they belong to Antichrist that are not of that Communion I haue shewed also that the Bishop of Rome his supremacy was acknowledged by Generall Councels that his legates praesided in them that he protected the good and corrected the â—ad both of the Clergy and of the Laity of other Dioceses euen the cheife persons of the world as vnder his charge and that there is noe other bishop that by any title can iustly pretende to haue had that authority in the primitiue times And therfor it is most senselesse to deny his supremacy which the world hath soe long confessed And if they shall still oppose it Sap. 5. the round world shall fight with him against the senslesse who are soe bold as to hazard their soules against the whole world and against soe many worlds as I haue shewed gathered together in General Councels who haue submitted to the Bishop of Rome as to their supreme pastour They will grant then perhaps that the Bishop of
Rome was once the head of the Church and that he and his pastors had the authority of the whole Church but will say that he and they were fallen into errors and therfor they were bounde to disobey them But this is not a good answere for it is authority which now we inquire after and which we require obedience vnto All doctrines must be tryed by lawfull authority but lawfull authority must not be questioned in doctrine for that there is none to question it For subiects to examine the authority of the Church and the doctrine which it teacheth is to set the feete aboue the head and to subuert all order and gouernment in the Church of God Christ hath giuen Apostles Pastors Eph. 4. and Doctors vnto the edifying of his body that is to the building vp and preseruing of his Church and these must either be obeyed or els they were in vaine and to noe purpose It is therfor preposterous and haereticall to disobey the authority of the Church vnder pretence of errors Neither is there any thinge by which haeretiks discouer and condemne themselues more then by talking of errors in the Church for by that one sheweth that he hath somethinge to say against the doctrine of the Church which is to be an haeretike The head of the Church and pastors of his Communion haue the authority of the whole Church and can not teach false doctrine for if they could we should haue noe certainty of the scriptures or of the sense of them or of the Creede or of any point of faith and this article were in vaine when we say I beleeue the Catholike Church Which being made by the Apostles to be said at all times the Church can neuer teach false doctrine but in all doctrines whatsoeuer and in all controuersys we must cleaue to the authority of the Church as to a firme and sure rocke and allwais say I beleeue the Catholike Church Ep. 48. S. Augustine it is impossible that we should haue iust cause to depart from and to impugne the whole Church They must first shew that the gouernment of the Church was taken from the bishop of Rome and his pastors and was giuen to some others whom they obeyed or els they could not lawfully disobey them vnder any pretence whatsoeuer Authority must gouerne the Church we shew our authority to be the same which the primitiue Church obeyed and we aske them vpon what authority they disobeyed it what head and what pastors deliuered their doctrine to them by continual succession from Christ and from S. Peter This they must shew or els they open a gappe to all haeretiks to disobey the Church when they will themselues vnder pretence of false doctrine If they say they haue authority from an inuisible head and inuisible pastors it is a ridiculous saying As though a company of souldiers who were brought before a Councell of warre for deserting their colours should pretende licence from inuisible officers or as rebels who being accused for resisting of lawfull authority should pretende a commission for what they did and being required to shew it should say that it were inuisible soe we aske them vpon what authority they disobeyed that authority which the primitiue Church obeyed and they say by the authority of a Church inuisible We bid them shew their commission they say it is inuisible Is not this Ridiculous for this it is enough to say that men are men that is to say a corporal and visible creature and therefor if the Church which gaue them authority were a congregation of men it was visible and if it were the true Church it was most eminently visible as a candle not hidden but set in a glorious candlesticke that all might see it and see by it what they were to beleeue for true and as a city on a hill conspicuous to all teaching preaching administring sacraments and gouerning of people after a glorious and eminent manner that all might haue recourse vnto it To alleadge onely an inuisible authority is to shew noe authority and shewing noe authority they are noe true Church If they say that they disobeyed not and went not out from the Communion of the Bishop of Rome and his pastors but were thrusten out of it whether they would or noe as a later authour who would seeme wiser then the rest hath vrged it is the weakest of all answeres For if they had kept themselues in obedience to their lawfull gouernors as they ought they could neuer haue bene out of the Communion of the Church They were thrusten out of the Church of Rome as Ozias king of Iuda was thrusten out of the holy temple of Hierusalem a plague of leprosy appearing suddainly in his forehead in punishment of his pride and disobediēce to the high Priest and priests that were with him soe they obstinatly disobeying the head and pastors of the Church that then were departed of their owne accord from the inward Communion of the Church and were thrusten out onely from externall Communion with it least they should infect others with the plague of heresy or schisme which appeared in them Seeing therfor all these answeres to be vaine and groundlesse and that they can shew noe head and pastors in all the world that gaue them authority to teach their doctrine in disobedience to those whom the primitiue Church obeyed they will pretende authority not by succession of pastors from pastors which is the ordinary way but after an extraordinary manner immediatly from God himselfe to disobey the first and to beginne a new gouernment contrary to it and hauing for this an extraordinary calling and commission immediatly from God they needed noe authority from any pastors vpon earth and therefor they will act according to their commission and will be tryed by none nor be subiect to any but God This is the onely answere which an haeretike can make who reiecting indeede the authority of all men that then are must of necessity pretende a particular and extraordinary commission immediatly from God But neither is this a good answere First for that there can be noe such extraordinary commission as to disobey the lawfull authority of the Church of Christ it being builded vpon sure promises of his perpetuall assistance that it can not faile in doctrine but hauing ordained pastors for the gouernment of it he will haue them allwais to be obeyed and therefor that Church that hath not allwais a continual succession of lawfull pastors is not the Church of Christ Secondly if they haue any such commission from God they must shew it or els they open a gappe for all disobedient persons to runne out of the Church disobeying their lawfull pastors when they list themselues vnder pretence of commission from God And this commission not comming to them after the ordinary manner from pastors to pastors but after an extraordinary sort immediatly as they pretende from God himselfe they haue noe ordinary meanes to shew it but
must prooue it by extraordinary fignes and miracles such as are propper to God onely and proportionable to that kind of commission Soe did Moyses prooue by miracles that he was sent of God soe did Christ prooue his authority by miracles But if they haue neither miracles to prooue extraordinary nor succession of lawfull pastors for ordinary commission but vpon their owne bare word onely will draw men from obedience to their lawfull pastors we must take them for such as Core Dathan and Abiron were who disobeying their pastors and hauing noe commission from God to shew for it they and their followers sunke downe visibly into hell Now for miracles to iustify their disobedience to the Church they neither haue nor can possibly haue for that God will not approoue of any such disobedience but hauing ordained the gouernment of the Church to be by S. Peter as supreme head and by 〈◊〉 Apostles as pastors vnder him and Christ â—auing promised to be with them all dayes to the consummation of the world we must at all times looke vnto the successors of S. Peter and his pastors as to the lawfull authority of the Church of Christ and allwais obey them and we must take those for false Churches that disobey their authority And therfor S. Cyprian solidly rebuketh Nouatus the â—aeretike for separating himselfe from the Communion of Cornelius then Bishop of Rome and concludeth that the Church of Christ being but one and not conteining both those that are with in and those that are out of it those onely saith he are in the Church Cyp. l. 4. op c. who are in the COmmunion of Cornelius successour to Fabianus But that they may not thinke to excuse their disobedience by any pretences I stoppe all pretences whatsoeuer and preuent all answeres that can possibly be deuised by that which followeth They can not deny but there haue bene and are false Churches of christians in the world but there neuer was nor now is any false Church of christians but it might haue if it would the same pretences and haue the same ground for them that any of these haue they being commune to all disobedient and obstinate persons that will stande out against the Church therefor all which any of them can pretende for themselues are but vaine pretences and if euer there were any false Church of christians in the world they are all false Churches As for the first S. Paul saith that there must be heresys Cor. 1.11 Which being held by a Communion of many there is then a false Church He that readeth D Prateolus of the beginnings of heresys and seeeth the absurditys which they haue obstinatly mainteined will easily grant that there haue bene false Churches of Christians in the world He shall finde some against the whole B. Trinity some against one of the Persons some against another some against the diuinity some against the humanity of Iesus Christ some against the blessed Virgin some against the Angels some against the Saints one saith that Christ is the sunne which we see to shine another saith that himselfe is Christ another maketh himselfe to be the Holy Ghost some will haue all to marry some will haue none to marry some soe affected to sobriety that they held wine vnlawfull to be drunke euen to the consecrating of water insteede of it some are running naked others are foming quaking and changing gastly countenances as a signe and point of perfection another cryeth downe learning and will haue noe triall of the truth but by force of armes commanding for that purpose his disciples at his death to make a drumme of his skinne All which I mention in relation to the Apostles words and to my first proposition that there haue bene false Churches in the world and withall to obserue what absurde errors men would runne into if there were not at all times an authority of visible pastors guided by the Holy Ghost to gouerne the Church and all were bounde to be gouerned by them Now if any of these were a false Church it was for their obstinacy in those errors and for their disobedience to those pastors which the primitiue Church acknowledged to haue by succession from S. Peter the supreme authority and to the pastors of their Communion as hauing at all times the lawfull authority of the whole Church And these were as I haue shewed the Bishops of Rome and the pastors that were in Communion with them none els hauing any pretence vnto that succession Then for the second proposition I aske any one of those sects that are now out of the Catholike Romane Church what pretence can they haue which is not common to all the rest and which all the false Churches that are or euer were and which they confesse to be false Churches might not if they would haue alleadged for themselues as well as they to excuse there disobedience If they pretende errors in the doctrine of their pastors or if they alleadge priuate spirit or if they pretende authority from the true Church but inuisible or if they say that they were thrusten out of the Church against their wills or if they pretende immediat commission from God to disobey all authority vpon earth in religion who doth not see that all these are but vaine pretences common to all that will vse them and which if they were to be allowed of a gappe were opened for all turbulent and disobedient persons to runne out of the Church vnder some of these pretences at any time when they would themselues Neither is there any thinge which any of them can pretende but that which all the rest may as well take for pretence and all the false Churches that euer were whom they confesse to be false Churches may as well pretende as they And if this be not soe I desire and challenge any wise and learned man of whatsoeuer sect out of the Romane Church to study and to thinke with himselfe of any lawfull pretence and excuse for their disobedience to the Romane Church and then to take some other which he holdeth to be a false Church and conferring them together to propose to his owne conscience whether that pretence agree not as well to the other as to his owne And if he can deuise none which is propper to his owne Church more then to false Churches then I warne and charge him to returne againe to the obedience of that authority which the primitiue Church first obeyed and which the Romane Church hath allwais obeyed and which his Church and all others haue at some time goneforth of and disobeyed and this was as I haue shewed the authority of the bishop of Rome and his pastors All those Churches that are now extant out of the Romane Church went first out of it by disobedience to the head and pastors of the Romane Church and as for Protestants they confesse that they went forth and separated themselues from it Aug. l. 2. cont Crescon c.
33. l. 3. c. 43.44 l 2. cont Gauden c. 3 l. de vntco bap â—â—s c 15. ep 48. L. 2. cont Petâ—lâ— c. 19. as may be seene in The Authour of the Protestant Religion l. 2. c. 11. They must therefor shew some iust cause why they went forth and separated themselues For as S. Augustine alluding to the holy Prouerbe c. 30. often obiecteth against the Donatists The euill child calleth himselfe iust but he can not excuse his going forth And in another place You must come and giue an account of your separation But none of them haue a iuster cause nor can giue a better account of their separation then those whom they confesse to be false Churches therefor they are all false Churches I haue now sufficiently performed one thinge which I promised in the title of this booke The verity of the Roma â—e Cathelike faith is demonstrated by industion from aâ—l other religions to wit to demonstrate by induction from all the religions that are in the world the verity of the Romane Catholike faith As for the atheist he ought indeede to be excluded from all speech of religion for that he hath none yet his prophanesse is disprooued in the first article of the Creede in which the Apostles laid the foundation of religion saying I beleeue in God The Pagans religion is disprooued in the same article in that he beleeueth not in one God the maker of heauen and eaâ—th The Iewish and Turkish sects are disprooued in the second article for that they beleeue not in Iesus Christ the onely Sonne of God All sects of Christians that are out of the Romane Church are disprooued in that they haue broken this ninth article of the Creede I beleeue the Cathâ—like Church disobeying its authority in the lawfull head and pastors of it Let them harken to the words of the Holy Ghost Deut 17. If thou perceiue that the iudgment with thee be hard and doubtfull c. Thou shalt come to the Priests of the Leuitical stocke and to the iudge that shall be at that time and thou shalt doe whatsoeuer they that are presidents of the place which our Lord shall choose shall say and teach thee according to his law and thou shalt follow their sentence neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand But he that shall be prowde refusing to obey the commandement of the priest which at that time ministreth to our Lord thy God and the decree of the iudge that man shall dy Here now I cry to all those christians that are out of the Romane Church Graecians Arians c. and to all the seueral Churches of Protestants and especially to you my very deere Countreymen for whose soules I haue long hazarded my corporall life You haue contemned this great authority or rather a greater then it was You haue refused to obey the commandement of the priest and priests not of the Leuitical stocke but of the institution of Christ to wit the Successour of S. Peter and his pastors that is to say the Bishop of Rome and his pastors who gouerned the primitiue Church of Christ and were then actually gouerning it when your Churches beganne These you know you haue disobeyed and stande still disobedient vnto General Councels haue declared against you all and especially against the seueral sects of Protestants the Councell of Trent consisting of two hundred and fifty fiue fathers besides the most eminent doctors of the Catholike Church All Romane Catholiks obey this Councell in all points of faith and you disobey it Disobedience to the Leuitical priest and priests by the law of Moyses was punished with death and your disobedience I am sorry with all my hart but I haue noe scruple to speake it shall without doubt if you repent not be punished with eternal death Therefor I coniure you by the sweet merites of Iesus Christ in whom you beleeue and whom you expect to be your iudge to reflect ypon your soules and vpon true religion Call to minde how your Churches beganne and how schismes and heresys beginne and if you finde as you shall easily finde that you haue begunne after the very same manner as they in disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church and to all but your owne wills your beginners were as Core Nu. 16. Dathan and Abiron that beganne diuisions in the Church of God their followers that liued with them were as the followers of the former whom God destroyed also with them and you rising vp to mainteine their disobedience when they are dead and gone are like to those who after their deaths rose vp to iustify their cause and were therefor by the iudgment of God consumed with fire Forsake their company desert that vnlawfull cause and returne againe into the sheepfold of Christ if you desire to be saued THE TENTH ARTICLE FOrgiuenesse of sinnes None can rightly consider these words as made by the Apostles to be an article of the Creede but he must needs conceiue some greater mystery to be conteined in them them onely to professe that God can or doth forgiue sinnes Neither can he in reason vnderstande any other thinge then that there is power of forgiuing sinnes in that Church which they had newly professed This was indeede a gift and priueledge worthy to be mentioned in the publike Creede Christ after his resurrection before he ascended into heauen appeared to his Apostles and breathing vpon them said Io. 20. Receiue ye the Holy Ghost whose sinnes you shall forgiue they are forgiuen and whose you shall retaine they are retained This was a mystery which the Church of God had great reason to remember and often to inculcate vnto her people and therefor the Apostles hauing professed their beleefe in the Catholike Church in the next place would commemorate this gift and power which the Catholike Church hath of the forgiuenesse of sinnes that with gratitude we might remember it and make good vse of it It is a greater worke saith S. Aug. tract 52. Augustine to make an euill man good then to make the world of nothing Yet it is giuen vnto man to doe this great worke It is giuen I say vnto man for it is not of his owne power but of the gift of God God onely of his owne natural power can forgiue sinnes Esa 43. I am he that taketh cleane away thine iniquitys but he can if he will giue that power vnto men The Apostles had that power by the gift of God as they had of him to worke many miracles which were as hard and vnpossible to nature as to forgiue sinnes Iudges of themselues haue not power to iudge but when the king maketh them iudges and giueth them power then they haue power and may exercize it and the exercize of it is good and valid because the king who gaue them that power setteth them in his owne place giueth them to represent his owne person and ratifyeth the
is the body and blood of Christ according to the words of our Lord. and although thy sense doth suggest this faith doth confirme thee Iudge not by tast but beleeue by faith for most certaine without doubt Hil. l. 8. de Trin. that the body and blood is then giuen to thee S. Hilarius Of the verity of flesh and blood there is noe place of doubt left By the profession of our Lord himselfe and by our faith it is flesh and blood indeede Amb. l. 4. c. 4. Is nothis the truth let it be vntrue to them who deny Iesus Christ to be true God S. Ambrose This is bread before the sacramental words but the consecration being done of bread it is made the flesh of Christ S. Chrysostome Chrysos ho. 24. in cor 1. l. 3. de Sacerd ho. 2. ad pop Antioch We adore him on the altare as the sages did in the manger and againe O miracle he that sitteth with the father in heauen at the very same time is handled of men beneath Christ ascending to heauen both hath his flesh with him and left it beneath Elias left his cloke to his disciple Aug. inps 33. but the sonne of man ascending left his owne flesh S. Augustine vpon the 33. Psalme admiring how Dauid could carry himselfe in his owne hands concludeth that it is to be vnderstoode of Christ when at the last supper he tooke himselfe literally into his owne hands Thus did the fathers of the primitiue Church beleeue of the Eucharist acknowledging allwais the omnipotent power of God to be miraculous in it This beleefe continued in the world for a thousand yeares or there abouts before any haeretike opposed it and when it beganne to be opposed the Church in seueral general Councels declared the truth of it and condemned the contrary as heresy Conc. Lateran sub Innocen 5. Conc. Rom. ex Cocleo l. 1. hist Hussit Conc. Constantien sess 8. Conc. Trid. sess 13. cap. 1. can 1. Berengarius was the first that publikly denyed the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist who reiecting the commune and receiued doctrine of the Church denyed that to be the body of Christ which Christ affirmed to be his body interpreting his words as he liked himselfe contrary to all authority in an illiteral and vnpropper sense That which he gott for his paines was to haue his doctrine condemned in seueral Councels But at last being touched inwardly with remorse of conscience he recanted And although he fell into heresys againe yet he had soe much feeling of the auctority of the Church and of a General Councel as that he recanted againe and which is very rare in such men he remained repentant vnto his death and being then affrighted at the thought of his former errors he is recorded to haue confessed the horrour of his conscience saying for my repentance I hope for glory but because I haue seduced others I feare torments Zuinglius and Caluin haue lately renewed his doctrine againe but we haue for the Catholike faith the words of Christ in the Scriptures the scriptures interpreted by the holy fathers and their interpretations approued of by the authority of the whole Church in general Councels Now that the Eucharist is a Sacrament I doe not perceiue that any haeretike doth deny it who alloweth of Sacraments Io. 6. for those that hold but two or three Sacramēts haue the Eucharist for one of them And it appeareth to be an outward signe which causeth grace in vs in that Christ promised if anyman eate of this bread he shall liue for euer OF TRANSVBSTANTIATION Quaest Is there any bread or wine in the Eucharist ANS Noe it seemeth but soe The bread and wine are conuerted by the words of consecration in to the true body and blood of our Lord. AFTER that Berengarius had recanted his first errour in which he denyed the true and real presence of Christ in the Eucharist he fell into a second in which he affirmed that the substance of bread and wine still remaine after consecration soe that there was noe transubstantiation that is to say conuersion or change of one substance into another but this was also condemned as an heresy and he in the end abiured it We beleeue then that in the consecration the substance of bread and wine are destroyed and changed by the power of God into another substance The holy fathers haue allwais acknowledged this conuersion of substance to be in the Eucharist and haue applyed diuerse figures out of the old testament and other similitudes to declare the Catholike doctrine in this The rodd of Moyses was transubstantiated that is conuerted into the substance of a Serpent The waters of Aegypt were turned into blood Water at the feast of Cana was changed by our sauiour into very good wine Soe by the omnipotency of God the substance of bread and wine is conuerted into the body of our Lord. And these very similitudes are vsed by the fathers to this purpose Iren. l 3. cont haereses c. 2. Amb. l. 4. de Sacram. c. 4. lib. de his qui initiantur myst S. Irenaeus declareth it by the water turned into wine S. Ambrose by the rod of Moyses and the waters of Aegypt Moyses his rod saith he was turned into a serpent and from a serpent into a rod againe The riuers of Aegypt were running with water and their fountaines on a suddaine brokeforth with blood and at the prayers of the Prophet the blood is turned into water againe If humane blessing haue such power what shall we say of the diuine consecration where the words of our Lord and Sauiour doe operate If at the words of Elias fire descended from heauen shall not the words of Christ haue power to change the kinds of elements Thou hast read of the creation of the world he said and it was done And could the word of Christ create of nothing that which before was not and could he not change that which was into another thinge which was also What more could we haue desired S. Ambrose to say All things are possible and easy to God and nothing more easy then another to him Yet to our vnderstandings it is easier to conuert somethinge that is all ready into some other thinge that is also then to create some thinge of iust nothing What difficulty is there then that God who with a word of his power created heauen and earth and made all things of nothing should change the substances of bread and wine into the substance of his sacred body which he would leaue with vs It is a miracle which God would worke and the fathers of the Catholike Church haue allwaies acknowledged it soe and that there is here a change of natures but if there were onely a change in the signification as the Zuinglians and Caluinists say or onely in the real presence as the Lutherans say then there were noe miraculous change of that which were
pleasure which we tooke in it The first euill of the losse of God is repaired by our conuersion to him in confession by which we are restored to his fauour againe But the punishment of our senses is not allwais quite taken away but as our auersion from God and conuersion to the creature for sensible pleasure was more earnest and intense then our conuersion is to God againe soe it is fitting that some sensible paine should remaine to be susteined These are the grounds of the Catholike doctrine of Satisfaction and of Purgatory of both which we wil say somethinge here as in their propper place If I said noe more in proofe of this doctrine but onely that the Bishop of Rome and Pastors of his communion deliuered it I had in reason said enough For he being the head of the Church as the true and lawfull successour in S. Peters primacy as I haue shewed him to be he and the Pastors of his communion haue the lawfull authority of the whole Church and are the whole Catholike Church in authority and being that we must alwais say I beleeue the Catholike Church we must allwais beleeue and obey the succession of that authority But I will say somethinge in particular of them That which the Catholike Church teacheth of Satisfaction is that although the conuersion of a sinner to God may be soe intense and perfect sometimes that he may obtaine a full remission of all punishment and be as it were new borne to God in baptisme yet this doth not allwais happen Our conuersion to God is not allwais soe intense and perfect but that there may and commonly doth remaine some punishment to be suffered after it This we shew first by holy Scriptures When the children of Israel sinned by murmuring against God and their Pastors Moyset praying obtained the remission of their sinne But yet saith God all the men that haue seene my Maicsty Nu. 14. c. And haue tempted mee c. they shall not see the land for the which I sware to their fathers Here their sinne was forgiuen them yet it was punished afterwards those that had sinned neuer entring into the land of promise Nu. 20. Moyses and Aaron sinned at the waters of contradiction and when their sinne was forgiuen there remained a penalty to be endured by them and they endured it not bringing the people into the holy land Dauid had sinned by murder and adultery and Nathan being sent to reprooue him and bring him to repentance Reg. 2.12 he repented and deserued to heare from the Prophet our Lord hath taken away thy sinne thou shalt not dy But his sinne being taken away it was not withstanding punished with the death of his sonne the Prophet declaring the sonne which is borne to thee dying shall dy And for all king Dauids earnest praying fasting and lying on the ground he could not obtaine the life of the child By all which we see that punishment of sinne may remaine to be suffered when the sinne is forgiuen It Was therfor the custome of the Catholike Church aunciently as now it is to impose penaltys vpon sinners at their repentance as by auncient Canons doth appeare Ep 3. 14. can 38. S. Basil ep 3. 14. can 38. He that hath committed adultery shall not communicate in the Sacraments for fifteene yeares S. Augustine Let vs seeke confession with a pure hart and performe the pennance which is giuen by priests It is against reason that he that commeth to confession with many mortal sinnes should thinke to haue noe more puishment then he that hath but one onely if they be disposed with equal deuotion Yet they were both alike if they had noe more punihment but onely to confesse and that then all sinne and punishment were taken away Sinne therfor and punishment are onely soe farre correlatiues that punishment allwais supposeth sinne to haue bene but doth not require that there be then actually sinne Neither is it worth any thinge that which haeretiks obiect against this That Christ satysfyed for vs therefor we neede not to satisfy for our selues noe more then it is to say Christ did good works for vs therefor wee neede nor to doe good works for our selues Our good works derogate not from the good works of Christ nor our Satisfaction from his Satisfactions our good works haue their value from his and soe hath our satisfaction but neither of them is hindered by him Thus much for Satisfaction and for the enioyning of pennance after the remiffion of sinnes As for Purgatory it followeth hence that those who dy with their sinnes forgiuen them but haue not that intense sorrow and perfect repentance which is necessary for the remission of all punishment due to their sinnes must haue their punishment in some place in the next world where they must be purged from that guilt of punishment as also of their lesser sinnes before that they can enter into heauen Aërius was one of the first that denyed Purgatory and that which he gott for it was to be recorded as an haeretike euer from the times of the primitiue Church and to haue his doctrine in thelist of those whom S. Epiphanius haer 75. And S. Augustine haer 83. haue branded with the marke of haeresy Luther at first although he denyed indulgences yet was soe resolute in the mainteining of Purgatory that in his disputation with Eckius he would needs make publike profession of it saying I firmely beleeue and dare boldly say I know there is a Purgatory whatsoeuer haeretiks raile against it Disp lips But hauing once fallen from the Catholike Church he was constant to nothing but vnconstancy and came in the end to deny Purgatory also But the Catholike Church hath allwais acknowledged that there is a place for the soules of those to be purged in who dy in venial sinne or haue not made full satisfaction for their mortal which place therfor may aptly be called Purgatory That there is such a place it appeareth in all those sentences of Scriptures where prayer for the dead is commended Teh 4. For those who are in heauen or in hell are not to be prayed for Set thy bread and thy wine saith holy Toby vpon the burial of a iust man Not as the Gentils vainely did to delight the dead with corporal viands but to be giuen to the poore to pray for them Hence saith S. Chrysostome who liued aboue twelue hundred yeares since came the custome of calling together the poore to receiue almes to pray for the dead Thus did Iudas Machabaeus make a gathering and sent a great summe of syluar to be bestowed in sacrifice for the dead Where vpon the Scriptures make this inference Mach. 2.12 It is therfor a holy and healthfull cogitation to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sinnes And if any deny these Scriptures to be canonical because the Iewes deny them S. L. 18. de ciu Det. Augustine will
alleadge against them the authority of the Church of Christ and will tell them Not the Iewes but the Church holdeth the books of Machabees to be canonical And his owne reason will tell him that to deny the authority of the Church is to deny all Scriptures and to confounde the order of the whole world Tertul. Tert. l. de coron militi◠c. 3. Amb. orat pro Theod. Aug. l. 8. de Genes con Manichaeos Oblationes pro defunctis facimus We make offerings for the dead S. Ambrose in his speech of the Emperour Theodosius prayeth for him Thou o Lord giue rest vnto thy seruant Theodosius S. August speaking of him that dyeth in sinne saith after this life he shall haue either the fire of Purgatory or eternal fire And in Psal 87. In this life purge mee and make mee soe that I may not neede the purging fire The doctrine of Purgatory is soe planely deliuered by the auncient fathers of the Church that Caluin could not deny or conceale it but l. 3. Instit c. 5. § 10. calleth it a most auncient obseruation of the Church and saith that the fathers as humane were deceiued But who can endure this saying in him were the auncient fathers of the Church and both the Church which was aunciently and which was when Caluin came into the world deceided and Caluin not deceiued shall Caluin take vpon him to correct the auncient fathers and present obseruations of the Church And shall any hazard his soule with Caluin against them He asketh what authority of Scriptures they had Must the whole Church be examined by him in the Scriptures And shall not he be thought an haeretike for this and to abuse the Scriptures in condemning of the Church S. Augustine shall answere him Aug. l. de cura pro mortuis Jn the books of the Machabees we read that sacrifice was offered for the dead but although in the auncient Scriptures it were not at all to be read the authority of the vniuersal Church is noe small matter which is cleere for this custome where in the prayers of the priest which to our Lord God are powered forth at his altare the commendation of the dead hath its place S. Augustins argument was good in which he prooued Purgatory both hy the Scriptures and the Church But if this be not enough for Caluin to whom nothing will serue but his owne will and word We will also produce his owne words against him l. 4. Instit c. 2. num 3. he saith that without controuersy nothing from the beginning untill that age was changed in doctrine To wit vntill the times of Tertullian Origen and Augustine of whom he was speaking If therfor this were the doctrine of the Church in those times it was the doctrine of Christ and of the Apostles euer from the beginning And soe Caluin is condemned by Scriptures fathers Church and by his owne words and Purgatory is prooued to be the true Catholike Apostolike doctrine There for pennances are rightly enioyned prayers may be said almes deeds giuen indulgences granted and many voluntary afflictions haue bene vndergone by the Saints and faithfull of the Catholike Church to escape the paines of Purgatory which although they be but temporal yet they are most greeuous and vehement more then can be spoken And because the Catholike doctrine of Indulgences by many is not vnderstoode I wil say somethinge of them in this which is also their propper place An Indulgence is as much as to say a fauourable remission or pardoning of some due punishment Such are the indulgences of the Church either absolute remissions without exchange or imposing of any other taske or exchanges of a greater into a lesser penalty The power of granting indulgences or absoluing from punishment which is all one was granted by Christ vnto his Apostles and especially to S. Peter to whom he promised the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Mat. 16. and told him whatsoeuer thou shalt loose vpon earth shall be loosed in heauen What can be vnderstoode by the keyes of heauen and the words following but power soe to open heauen gates as to take away all that hindereth for entring in at them to wit sinne and punishment He gave also the like authority to the rest of the Apostles saying whatsoeuer you shall loose vpon earth shal be loosed in heauen Mat. 18. If whatsoeuer they loose be loosed then punishment loosed by them on earth is loosed also in the sight of God in heauen Neither is there any good connexion in those words if they be not vnderstoode of absoluing as well from punishment as from sinne Now if any aske how it can be that sinnes of which the diuine iustice requireth soe much satisfaction should be satisfyed for with soe litle as some indulgences require and some indulgences require nothing at all to be done for the gaining of them he may vnderstande that indulgence or pardon of punishment is neuer granted but full satisfaction is made to God for the sinne For there is in the Church a treasury of Satisfactions soe great that it can neuer be exhausted by satisfying for sinnes There are in this treasury the satisfactions of Christ infinitly more then all the sinnes in the world can require There are also the good works of our B. Lady that had nothing of her owne to satisfy for There are the good works of S. Iohn Baptist of the Apostles and of many others whose works were much more satisfactory then their owne sinnes needed and may be applyed by the pastors of the Church to those that stande neede of them For the Church is a body and all the members of it haue a Communication and participation of good works with one another as we professe in the Creede saying I beleeue the Communion of Saints And the psalmist sayeth Ps 118. Col. 1. I am partaker of all that feare thee And S. Paul I now reioyce in suffering for you and doe accomplish those thinges that want of the passions of Christ in my flesh for his body which is the Church He did not fullfill the passions of Christ for any defect or want which was in them but that by his sufferings the passion of Christ was applyed actually to the Colossians as it is by the suffrages and good works which are done in the Church for others and by them their punishments are fully satisfyed for If any aske why the Pope onely and bishops giue indulgences I answere that the words of Christ before alleadged were spoken onely to S. Peter who was to be the Pope and to the Apostles who were at first the onely bishops of the Church And the practise of the vniuersal Church which ought to be our rule in all things hath bene allwais for the Pope and bishops and not for priests to grant Indulgences S. Augustine speaking of the obseruations of the Church saith If the Church through out the World frequent any of these things to dispute of
the lawes of God Lastly we pray for all people euen our enemys the conuersion of Infidels Iewes Turks and haeretiks to the Catholike faith And we pray not onely for the liuing but also for the dead of which I haue spoken in the Sacrament of Pennance as a deuotion both charitable to them and profitable to ourselues It is a deed of charity to pray for them because they can not pray for themselues and it is profitable to vs because beside the reward of our owne good worke we shall be sure to haue their intercession both now in purgatory and afterwards when they come to heauen For they are not like the cupbearer of Pharao who prosperous things succeeding to him forgotte his friend of whom in prison he had receiued comfort Now let vs see TO WHOM WE ARE TO PRAY WE pray to God as to the supreme power and first authour of all benefits acknowledging all goodnes to proceede from him And therefor prayer in the Apocalypse is assimilated vnto incense and is called a sacrifice because it respecteth God as the source and first authour of goodnes We pray also to our blessed Lady and to the Angels and Saints as the freinds of God for their prayers and intercession to him But an haeretike will presently obiect that if prayer be a kind of sacrifice how doe we pray to the Saints all sacrifice being to be offered to God Our prayers indeede may be called and are a kind of sacrifice because we either expresly confesse the supreme power of God or implicitly acknowledge it by all prayers The prayers which we make immediatly to God are a kind of Sacrifice because by them immediatly and directly we acknowledge his supreme and diuine power The prayers which we make by the mediation of the Saints are also sacrifices in their kind because mediatly and indirectly they acknowledge the same in that finally they tende vnto God by the Saints praying to him as we desire The prayers which we make to Saints are a kind of sacrifice as they tende vnto God as they tēde vnto the Saints they are not sacrifices because they acknowledge not the supreme and diuine power to be in them It was an auncient heresy in the primitiue Church to deny the inuocation of Saints mainteined by vigilantius and other haeretiks Hier. cont vigil and of purpose refuted by S. Hierome and others of the holy fathers but time which is the abolisher of all heresys had abolished this and the Catholike Church which suruiued all times had suruiued this heresy and buried it in the obliuion of men vntill some vnruly spirits of these later yeares who would be ruled by noe Church in the world raked vp this heresy out of the dirt and set it on foote againe But you shall see the inuocation of Saints breifly made good by scriptures Councels the authority of the auncient Church and by reason Turne to the 48. Chapter of Genesis and you shall finde there the Patriarke Iacob blessing the children of Ioseph and inuoking the Angels and Saints vpon them in these words Gen. 48. The Angell that deliuereth mee from all euills blesse these childrën and be my name called vpon them the names also of my fathers Abraham and Isaac Here this holy Patriarke after that he had twice called vpon God then inuoked his Angell and the Saints Abraham and Isaac who as yet were not in perfect glory And if they onely departing as holy men in the fauour of God might be prayed vnto before that they had the perfect glory of heauen with much more reason the Saints of God may now be prayed vnto when they are in that perfect state And he that shall vnderstande the Angell whom he there called on to be any other then his owne Angell guardian shall contradict the common interpretation of the fathers who prooue by this place that we haue euery one an Angell Guardian deputed to defende vs and shall shew but litle reuerence to the holy scriptures which he dareth to delude with such vaine glosses of his owne head But to be breife I will say noe more but that S. Paul prayed to the liuing for their prayers therefor with more reason we may pray to the Saints for their prayers when they are in glory But of this afterwards The second Councell of Nyce which is receiued by our enemys declareth expresly for the inuocation of Saints The fathers of the Councell of Chalcedon cryed out to blessed Flauianus martyr act 11. Flauianus that is dead is yet liuing a martyr let him pray for vs. The practise of the primitiue Church ought to be sufficient for this The auncient lyturgys of the Church seruice the Romane which S. Peter made that of Hierusalem which S. Iames made that of the Aethiopians which S. Mathew made that of Milan which S. Barnaby and S. Ambrose made and that which S. Iohn Chrysostome made all of them making a deuout commemoration of our blessed Lady and imploring her intercession As for the sentences of these and other holy fathers they are as plane as my words now are for the inuocation of Saints and they haue as earnestly defended it as we now doe S. Athanasius ser de Deipara Speaking of our B. Lady saieth all the quires of Angels are incessantly singing that glorious hymne Aue gratia plena Dominus tecum c. And we the terrestrial hierarchy of men salute thee saying Haile full of grace pray for vs O Lady O Mistres O Queene O Mother of God What more could any Catholike haue said or desired of S. Athanasius then to heare him praise our blessed Lady and pray to her in the very same termes which himselfe now vseth in the Catholike Church Ser. 1. de S. Steph. S. Augustine if Steuan were heard when he prayed for those that stoned him how much more shall he be heard when he prayeth for those that pray deuoutly to him If S. Athanasius and S. Augustine should appeare now to the world to decide this controuersy and should say noe more but these words ouer againe who would not thinke that the controuersy were ended and sentence giuen for the inuocation of Saints but their testimonys will not satisfy our obstinate enemys who confesse that the auncient fathers teach inuocation of Saints but accuse them of errour for it O haeretical pride shall one single man disobey all the Churches that are then in the world and stand also at defyance with the holy and auncient fathers and shall any man shew that contempt of his owne soule as to follow Luther who came but in the last age or Caluin who came after him rather then the whole world that then was when they came and also rather then those learned Saints whom the christian world hath held in reuerence for these many hundreds of yeares Finally this is also manifest by natural reason which dictateth that the intercession of the freinds and fauorits of Princes may with prudence be desired for
it must of necessity be subiect to all those alterations and corruptions which all vulgar tongues are subiect vnto and which the Latine tongue was subiect vnto as long as it was vulgarly spoken vntill in the end it banished it selfe quite out of the world and was left as the common speech of noe place and then was kept in its integrity and auncient purity by being kept from the vulgar and cheifly as we may well thinke by hauing the Masse soe continually said in Laaine Where as our aduersarys obiect the authority of S. Paul Cor. 1.14 who seemeth as they pretende to require that the Church seruice be in euery commune tongue that all the people vnderstanding it may answere Amen the Apostle neuer soe much as mentioneth the Church seruice in that place nor medleth with the language of it but speaketh there of quite another thinge to wit the gift of strange tongues and of the interpreting of them which interpretation was a different gift and which the speaker himselfe sometimes had not These and other like graces being giuen to some in those times the people mette together to heare them exercised But by litle and litle they beganne to be abused and fell into disorders in soe much that some would speake that which could be interpreted by none soe that it had noe sense that could require Amen to be answered to but was as not spoken at all none being inspired to interprete it Now what connexion hath this with the publike seruice of the Church which is without any disorder at all and in noe such strange tongue but in a knowne and the most honored of all tongues which is intelligible in it selfe and most vniuersally vnderstood and interpreted by thousands and which hath not onely the authority of the Church allowing of it but also commanding it and therfor with all reason shall be answered with Amen Which the other being fallen into disorders could not in reason be answered with it being to the edification of none as being vnderstoode by none when the miracle should haue consisted in vnderstanding and interpreting of it I haue heard of some who haue bene soe bold as to say that the Priest praying in a tongue which the people vnderstande not may curse them for any thinge they know as well as blesse them But this is a bold and irreuerent speech For if it were an irreuerence to the Law and to lawyers to talke of their cursing of their ignorant clients when they pleade for them in termes which they vnderstande not much more is it an irreuerence to the Law of God and to Priests that haue the keeping of it to talke of their cursing of the people when they pray for them in the language of the Church Besides it is a very weake speech and vnworthy of a wise man for it is impossible to accommodate euery word to the vnderstanding of all men And what should they say when they vnderstoode not and what should deafe men say that heard nor it were to banish all order quite out of the world and the being of a Church to make it subiect to euery particular mans censure The Priest if he change nothing but sayeth what the Church commandeth can enrse none and we cannot in reason and charity suspect him of changing any thinge except he be such an one as Luther or Caluin that durst take vpon them to change what they listed in the Church and to beginne new Churches Besiâ—â—â—s it is not such a rare thinge in Catholike countreys as it is here for lay people to vnderstande Latine I remember that I haue mette with a plowman holding his plow who directed mee in my way describing it in very elegant Latine and with poore beggars who haue bene very ready in the Latine tongue Mechanike men in some places vnderstande it soe frequently that Masse can hardly be said amongst an indifferent number of people but some that are present will vnderstande Latine Finally experience will answere all obiections in that the Masse being as it is in a high and honorable language and with those deuout caeremonys is full of edification and much more mouing to deuotion then any thinge which our enemys haue This those that are conuerted to the Catholike faith doe presently finde in themselues and those that are peruerted from it commonly shew in the loosnesse of their liues that there is noe comparison betwixt the deuotion and edification of the Masse and the prayers of Protestants but onely such as is betwixt true and painted fire the one of which warmeth indeede the other warmeth not at all but rather cooleth as one should grow colder by holding his hands to a painted fire Now it is fitting that we speake a word or two OF THE FRVITS AND BENEFITS which are gained by the denout hearing of Masse THERE is not any meanes in the world soe efficacious for the obtaining of benefits at the hands of God as the Masse is both as it is a Sacrifice the highest act of worship that can be giuen to God and also as it is a Sacrifice soe eminent and excelling all other Sacrifices that the dignity efficacy and value of it can not be expressed all benefits being infinitly more worthy to be granted for it then for any thinge that we can doe But to speake more in particular first our faith is confirmed and our mindes are eleuated to a feruerous zeale of that which all Christians professe when we commemorate the Passion of Christ in that deuout and mysterious manner as by the principall and most expresse commemoration which the Church hath of it And we are excited to a firme and constant beleefe of that sacred verity which the Catholike Church hath allwais beleeued of the true reall and substantiall presence of the sacred body and blood of our Lord and of his whole humane nature vnited to the diuine word in the B. Sacrament of Eucharist Which as it is a mystery aboue the vnderstanding of man and not effected by any power of nature but by the omnipotency of God soe by it we yeeld our vnderstandings captius as we ought vnto the diuine power to the word of God and to the doctrine of the Church And by hearing of Masse we are not onely confirmed in this mystery but in all other points of the Christian faith For what is the whole Masse but a daily exercizing and training vp of christians in the mysterys of Christ and in all those things which he did and suffered for vs there is nothing there to be seene or heard but the cheife mysterys of our faith represented the diuine praises celebrated his benefits acknowledged and his goodnes and mercy deuoutly implored all with relation to some passage of his life or death Secondly at Masse we are comforted and encouraged to hope confiding in God that hauing left vnto the world soe deere a pledge as his onely Sonne he will grant vs the remission of our sinnes and will giue vs in
the whole world and what more could theeues robbers and all wicked malefactors desire to exempt themselues from all humane lawes and obligation of conscience then to deny all obseruations as of the autority of man and to referre all to the tribunal of God which they know that they can not escape but must stande to whether they will or noe You may see what reuerence is here to the word of God and how easily that sacred word is abused by those that will stande against the whole Church First therefor I tell them that they cannot but see those words to haue the same force against fasting in generall which commonly they allow of as against the fasts of the Church which now they reiect but that is indeede noe force at all the circumstances being altered in which Christ spoke them to reprooue the fasts of vaine and hypocryticall men who fasted without order and humility for shew onely Secondly I tell them that the authority of the Church is the authority of God as I haue sufficiently prooued and therefor the Praecepts of the Church are not onely the obseruations of men but the Commandements of God Thirdly I tell them that God by his Church commanded fasting in the Law of Moyses and in the Law of grace euen in the Apostles times the Councell of Hierusalem prohibiting some meates Act. 15. as is specifyed in the fifteenth of the acts Fourthly I tell them that fasting as it is a Praecept of the Church is vsed as a corporall affliction to subdue the euill inclinations of our flesh and corporall afflictions vsed with order as the Church praescribeth them are pleasing to God therefor fasting as it is a Praecept of the Church is pleasing to God Cor. 1.9 S. Paul saith I chastize my body and bring it into seruitude least perhaps when I haue preached to others my selfe become reprobate Fiftly I tell them that Aërius was condemned as an haeretike many hundreds of yeares since Haer. 53. and S. Augustine hath taken the paines to put him into his catalogue of haeretiks for this very doctrine for that allowing of fasting in generall he disallowed of it as a Praecept of the Church and would haue none to fast but as they liked themselues He that should reade the second booke of S. Hierome against Iouinian the haeretike that denied fasting should finde there much more then I haue said or can say in commendation of it And it is admirable to reade the sentences of Scriptures and the erudition which this holy Doctour hath drawne there together for this purpose shewing by seuerall authors how much this vertue was esteemed of euen by heathens in the best ages of the world who saw by reason and founde by experience the force of fasting in the tempering of our bodys in refreshing and quickening of our vnderstandings and by consequence in disposing vs vnto Morall vertues And writing to the Virgin Demetrias he hath this high expression that fasting is not onely in it selfe a perfect vertue but the foundation sanctification purity and Prudence of the rest without which none shall see God Now for the particular fasts or abstinences which the holy Church commandeth There are the forty dayes fast of Lent the fast of Ember dayes of Rogation dayes of Vigils of Frydayes of S. Marke Lent and of Saturdayes We haue for the forty dayes fast of Lent the examples of Moyses of Elias and of Christ himselfe Moyses fasted forty dayes and receiued the Law enioying in that time the familiar conuersation of God Elias fasted forty dayes and then wrought miracles reuiuing the dead Christ fasted forty dayes in the beginning of his miraculous preaching soe preparing himselfe to deliuer his ghospell and to redeeme the world And although we can not fast soe strictly and perfectly as our blessed Sauiour did eating nothing all that time yet it is fitting that we should doe our endeauour in honour and imitation of him And it is not vnlikely that Christ commended the fast of Lent as well by word and expresse commande as by example to his Apostles in those forty dayes space betwixt his Resurrection and Ascension in which he often appeared to them and taught them concerning the Church and therefor the auncient and holy fathers commonly call it the institution of the Apostles by the Commandement of Christ S. Ambrose that it was not inuented by any earthly cogitation but commanded by the heauenly maiesty Amb. de quadrag ser 36. Igna. ep 5. Aug. ser 69. de temp S. Ignatius who was the Disciple of S. Iohn Euangelist saith contemne not Lent for it conteineth the imitation of our Lords conuersation and S. Augustine saith that by the due obseruation their of the wicked are separated from the good Infidels from Christians haeretiks from faithfull Catholikes He then that honoreth the name of a Catholike and Christian will honour Lent and obserue it It is instituted to be kept against the Passion of Christ that we who professe ourselues his seruants and souldiers may in some sort suffer with our master and captaine It were a preposterous mirth and absurde in a seruant to laugh and make merry when he saw his master full of paine or for a souldier to take his ease in bedd when his captaine were enduring hardnesse in the field Good Vrias comming out of the campe to the court the King badd him to goe home and rest himselfe but he refused to doe soe Reg. 2.11 saying the arke of God c. And my Lord Ioah abide vpon the face of the earth and shall I enter into my house to eate and drinke I will not doe this thinge Neither did he it but went out and slept before the gates of the Kings house with the other seruants of his Lord because he would not pamper himselfe and ly within doores when the arke and his Lord laid without Our blessed Lord the King of heauen and earth the Sauiour of the world is suffering many blowes he is bleeding vpon the Crosse his meate and drinke is vinagre and gall and is it then a time for vs to make merry and to feast our selues is this like a seruant and souldier of Christ or is it not rather most vnseasonable preposterous and spirefull vnworthy of the name and profession of a Christian how preposterous then is the malice of those who choose the time of Lent of all the times of the yeare and Good Friday of all the dayes in lent to make their feasts on is this a good preparation to receiue the benefit of Christs Passion and Resurrection if they were Iewes or professed enemyes of Christ they might doe soe indeed in despite of him but being Christians they should be ashamed of it Saint Augustine commendeth the fast of Lent as a preparation for Easter and saith as you haue heard that the breaking of it is wicked and proper to Infidels and Haeretiks This they may glosse with some pretence and finde some thing to say
the Church hath not forbidden to drinke but it hath forbidden to eate all kind of meate and therefore apleâ— and fruit are not to be eaten out of mailes Fasting dayes beginne at twelue a clocke in the morning and end at twelue a clocke at night conteining fower and twenty houres Aunciently they fasted from supper time on the day before till supper time againe on the next day without eating of any thing but mens complexions growing weaker and weaker and perhaps their deuotions also they beganne to take their suppers sooner on fasting dayes vntill by litle and litle they brought supper to noone time and custome hath now preuailed to take a litle collation at night as is obserued in the Church So that the maile which we haue on fasting dayes is not properly a dinner but a supper and therfore it may lawfully be differred as late as we will but it may not be taken before the time allowed of by custome Which is at soonest about noone time Finally Scandall for the manner of fasting the customes of places are to be obscrued and we must be very carefull that we giue noe scandall to others especially to the enemys of the Catholike Church who make allways the worst of our actions and therefore many things which are lawfull are not allways expedient to be done It was in it selfe lawfull for saint Paul to eate flesh and of that flesh which was immolated to Idols for the flesh was no worse yet he would rather neuer eate flesh at all Cor. 1. â— then scandalize any by â—ating of it If meale saith he scandalize my brother It ill neuer eate flesh least I scandalize my brother THE SECOND PRAECEPT TO keepe Holy dayes In the Law of Moyses diuerse holy dayes were commanded to be kept Ioan. 10. and were then obserued by praecept of the Church Apoc. 1. and our blessed Sauiour hath allowed of them honoâ—ing their solemnitys by his owne presence at them as he did the feast of the Dedication of the Temple instituted by the Church in the time of Iudas Machabaeus The Scriptures make mention of the Domâ—nicall day that is to say our Lords day or our Sunday to haue bene kept in the Apostles times The Church then tooke away the Saturday Sabaoth which God first commanded in remembrance of the creation of the world and instituted Sundays Sabaoth or rather transferred Saturdays Sabâ—oth vnto Sundayes Sabaoth in honour of the Redemption of the world as à greater mystery and I doe not heare of any Heretiks now in the world that refuse to keepe Sunday for Sabaoth with what consequence then can they refuse to keepe the other holy dayes or any other praecept of the Church they all hauing the same authority that Sundayihath and the same obligation Yet Protestants allow the obligation of Sundayes solemnity and durst neuer attempt to alter it or to deny the obligation of it hauing no other warrant for it but the authority of the Church which then gouerned the Christian world and hauing the same for other holy dayes they reiect them The truth is that they haue forsaken the Church that was allayes in the world to beginne a Church which then was not at all in the world and therefore the holy Ghost hath forsaken them and left them to such inconsequences of their owne wits Clem. l. 8. Apost constit Saint Clement who liued in the Apostles times and was disciple vnto Saint Peter and Coadiutor to Saint Paul and who wrote as an eyewitnesse of those things which were then obserued in the Catholike Church deliuereth that the Apostles gaue order for the obseruing of the Feasts of their fellow Apostles and in particular of Saint Steuen as also of some other Martyrs Epiph. haer 75. Saint Epiphanius denounceth Aërius for an Haeretike in that he reiected the holy dayes of the Church By all which it appeareth how weake that obiection of Protestants is which Aërius also obiected out of the Apostles words Gal. 4. Yoü obserue dayes months times and yeares Where the Apostle speaketh against the superstitious obseruations of Heathens from which yong Christians at their first conuersions were hardly weaned in those times and therefore he rebuketh them but I haue said enough for this and all other Praecepts of the Church when I shewed that they are the Precepts of God and haue divine authority This Praecept includeth two things to wit to absteine from seruil works and to heate Masse for it is not sufficient not to worke corporall works on holy dayes but we must also sanctify them with some speciall good works as dayes particularly dedicated to the seruice and honour of God and Masse being the cheife highest and most eminent worship which can be giuen to him as his onely true Sacrifice therefore the Church hath commanded that euery one be present to offer vp at least one Masse euery holy day And this is as great an obligation as to obserue Lent or any other Praecept of the Church obliging vnder a mortall sinne S. 2. Par. Chron. tit 9. c. 10 §. 2. Anthony Archbishop of Florence relateth of two men who going out to fowle vpon a holy day they heard a voice that cryed strike him strike him and the one of them that had not heard Masse was presently strucke dead with a thunder bolt and his astonished companion hearing the voyce to continue still was comforted with another which answered I can not strike him for that he hath heard Verbum caro factum est intimating that he had heard an intire Masse to the end Amongst Holydayes those are obserued as most solemne in the Church that haue more immediate relation to God himselfe We keepe also the feasts of our blessed Lady and of the Angels and Saints to honour God by them that as they help vs and reioyce at our good soe we may praise their vertues and reioyce in their glory Besides by celebrating their feasts we are incited to the imitation of their liues and to aspire to that state of blesse which they enioy THE THIRD PRAECEPT TO Confesse our sinnes to our ordinary Pastour or to another with his leaue at least once a yeare By Praecept of the Church we are boundnoe oftener to confession then once in the yeare but many circumstances may occurre in which by diuine Praecept we are bounde to confesse oftener First in all dangers of life as when we are dangerously siâ—ke and as those that are condemned to dy Souldiers also tradesmen and trauelers when they are to goe vpon any dangerous attempt or iourneys finally in all perils of life we are bounde to prepare our selues for death and if â—e be conscious of any mortal sinne in such dangers we are bounde to goe to confession as the ordinary meanes which God hath instituted for the remissioÌ„ of sinnes We are bound also to goe to coÌ„fession allwais before we receiue any of theseauen SacrameÌ„ts if we be guilty of mortal sinne because
they are as due to them as wages are to workemen And we may speake by experience to them that know not the truth that our labour is without comparison greater then the labour of day tale workmen I haue no more to say of the Praecepts of the Church You haue seene first the authority of the Church to be diuine and her Praecepts to oblige vnder amortall sin Secondly you haue in particular the declaration of them Let vs keep them with deuotion and zeale of the honour of the Church that coÌ„mandeth them She is the immaculate spouse and glorious Bride of God She is our mother and neuer was there any mother so disirous of her childreÌ„s good nor so efficaciously procuring their true prefermeÌ„t as the Catholik Church doth ours The mother of the Zebedoes was sollicitous for her sonnes with Christ asking to haue them neere him in his Kingdome but she knew not what she asked The Catholike Church asketh nothing for her children but that which God will haue her to aske and which he inspireth her how to procure and which they if they will obey her are sure to obtaine and that is the highest honour and greatest felicity of all honours and felicitys to be made indeede the courtiers and fauorits of Christ in his euerlasting Kingdome Let vs then obey her Eccli 3. As he that gathereth treasure soe he that honoreth his mother And then a little after he is cursed of God that doth exasperate his mother How much then ought we to honour the whole Catholike Church and with what reuerence to receiue her Precepts THE TVVELFTH DISCOVRSE OF SINNE I Haue now a most hidous and fearefull monster to set before your eyes I meane to describe vnto you the euill of sinne which is indeede the most hideous monster of the world so deformed that neither men nor Angels can comprehende the deformity of it none but God can rightly vnderstande it and he vnderstanding it is moued with infinite detestation and auersion from it as from that which is most opposite of all things to his goodnesse and most hurtfull to his creatures I would stire vp in your hearts a vehement abhorring and vtter renouncing of sinne This is all the fruite saith the Prophet that sinne be taken away Esa 27. and this is all the fruit which I desire and labour for in you and which you ought to labour for in your selues to haue your sinnes taken away fot this we preach catechise and exhort that we may detest all sinne and fly it as the most dreadfull monster in the world We may conceiue somethinge of the power and malice of sinne by the vision which Saint Iohn had in the twelfth of the Apocalipse Apoc. 12. First he saw a very glorious woman soe glorious that she was clothed with the Sunne and had the Moone vnder her feete and vpon her head a crowne of twelue starres Then there appeared another signe in the Heauens a great dragon with seauen heads and tenne hornes and seauen diademes on his head And this dragon was soe strong and powerfull that he drew downe from Heauen the third part of the starres and cast them to the earth and assalting the glorious woman for all her glory he put her to flight and although she had giuen her the wings of an Eagle to fly into the desert yet the dragon sending forth of his mouth a flood of waters ouertooke her with them and had swallowed her vp if she had not gotten helpe By this dragon we may vnderstande something of the power and malice of sinne Sinne is the enemy of all glory it ascended into the Heauens and threw downe from thence the celestiall Angels and made them who were as the starres of Heauen in naturall beauty to wander now vpon the earth and vnder it full of shame and paine The Church farre more glorious in the sanctity of soules then the Sunne is in corporall brightnesse and which may well be signifyed by the glorious woman iâ— sometimes so persecuted by the sinnes of Infidels and euill Catholiks that although the true worship of God be neuer quite banished out of the world yet in some places it is so obscured that the Church in those places is driuen into corners as it were into the desert Sinne is that monster which brought the flood of all humane miserys and a reall flood of waters vpon the Church in the deluge and had quite swallowed her vp if God had not miraculously saued her Sinne hath brought plagues vpon houses citys and Kingdomes and taged in the end so violently destroying of soules that the Sonne of God was incarnated to destroy it It made the Sunne to be eclipsed with a horrible darkenesse the roofe of the Temple of Hierusalem and the rocks there abouts to be rent in peeces the ground to tremble graues to open and dead bodys to rise againe at the destruction of it It made our Saviour to weepe vpon Hierusalem and it made HierusaleÌ„ within a while to be as a stinking graue that swelled vp to an incredible hight with the multitude of dead carcases which were in it It made thousands of that people to languish away with famine and hundreds of thousands to come into their enemys hands and to become subiect to their slauery and torments Sinne hath brought haeresys into the Church of Christ and by them cruell blood â—hed amongst ChristiaÌ„s It is the cause of all dissentions and all the euills that euer were were caused by sinne It maketh the prowde to be contemned the enuious to be enuyed the contentious to be killed the couetous to be full of perplexity the luxurious to dispaire and all sinners to detest that in the end which once they loved and to be full of horrour when they come to dy Wise and holy men haue liued hard and austere liues to keepe themselues cleare from sinne and haue chosen to submitte themselues rather to the cruellest deaths that sinners could devise to inflict then to be sinners with them These are the effects of sinne what monster could euer doe the like if those tall and strong men that terrifyed the Israelites were called monsters for their extraordinary strength and tallnesse why may not we call sinne a monster which hath such power Num. 13. and if excesse or defects or disorders of members make monsters How monstruous is sinne that is the originall cause of all the excesses defects and disorders that euer were it peruerteth the order of all our actions it corrupteth our nature and euen as poyson put into wine intoxicateth it quite and changeth it all into poyson so sinne corrupteth all that is good in our soules and all our good workes being poysoned with one mortall sinne goe downe with it into hell What reason then haue we to abhorre and to fly from sinne If we looked behinde vs and saw a Lyon Beere or terrible Serpent pursueing vs at our heeles our harts would faint presently our whole bodys would
freely cooperate with it For as God would make vse of Moyses his rodde to the working of miracles saying Exod. 4. What is it that thou holdest in thy hand and then beganne to worke miracles by it and as Elizeus asked the widdow what hast that in thy house Reg. 4.4 and vsed her oile to the enriching of her Io. 1. and as Christ would vse water to the procuring of wine soe God vseth vs as instruments to the effecting of good works and therefor in the Scriptures they are attributed sometimes to God and sometimes to ourselues To God as to the principall and cheife cause to vs as to an inferiour and instrumentall cause Exod. 31. As I am the Lord that sanctify you To wit cheefly and principally and man also is said to sanctify himselfe as in S. Io. 1. Iohn euery one that hath this hope sanctifyeth himselfe That is instrumentally and after an inferiour manner by cooperating with Gods grace Ezech 36 Ezech 8 Cor. 1.5 Soe also Ezech. I will giue you a new hart And in another place make to your selues a new hart And therefor S. Paul saith we are Gods Coadiutors but if we had not freewill the goodnes of the worke were by noe meanes to be attributed to vs and we could not be said to sanctify ourselues nor to make to ourselues new harts Furthermore we see that we can deliberate and consult of our actioÌ„s but we can deliberate and coÌ„sult of nothing but that which we haue freedome to doe or not to doe therefor our actions are free in vs. When an enemy pursueth vs we deliberate not whether we shall fly in the ayre or noe because it is not in our freedome Lawes are commanded vs rewards and punishments are proposed to vs we exhort to good works and praise and honour those that doe well which we would not doe if they did soe of necessity and had not freedome to the contrary Clem. Alex. l. 1. strom Neither praise nor dispraise nor honours nor punishments were iust if man had not freewill And this which is soe manifest to reason is as planely declared in the Scriptures Eccli 15. God from the beginning made man and left him in the hands of his owne counsaile Holy Iosue at his death exhorting the Israelites and drawing neere to the end of his speech to engage them the more to the seruice of God he biddeth them to choose what they would doe Ios 24. Now therefor feare our Lord and serue him with a perfect and very true hart But if it like you not to serue our Lord choice is giuen you Choose this day that which pleaseth you Soe that it is in our choice to doe well or ill But I end this and all controuersys of religion in this booke with the authority of the Church This was the doctrine of the Catholike Church aboue a thousand and foure hundred yeares since when Manes beganne to oppose it and he was then and hath euer since bene esteemed an haeretike for opposing it there being then noe Church of Christians in all the world that denyed it therefor this is the true Catholike doctrine This was the doctrine of the Church a few yeares since when Luther beganne to oppose it Ses 7. c. 16. can 14. and the Councell of Trent of aboue two hundred and fifty prelates with the authority of the supreme pastour that then was of the Church declared for this doctrine therefor this is the true Catholike doctrine Let now the enemys of the Catholike Church obiect what they can either out of Scriptures or reason against it all is in vaine the Church is to iudge of the sense of Scriptures and of reason and not euery priuate man to vnderstande them as he will and to get followers to himselfe against the Church Whatsoeuer is obiected contrary to the authority of the vniuersall Church allthough it seeme neuer soe plane is wrong and falsly applyed and we must take them for haeretikes that will stande obstinate in any such doctrine S. Augustine must that which is cleere be denyed Aug. l. de nat grat c. 38 because that which is done can not be vnderstoode and what is soe cleere as that which is once declared by all the Doctors of the Catholike Church We may dispute about the sense of Scriptures or any point of doctrine vntill the Church haue declared concerning it as Lawyers dispute about applying the sense of the Law to particular cases vntill the iudge giue sentence in it but when that is done then all argument must cease because then it is cleere and soe cleere that it can be noe cleerer then to be declared viua voce with the liuely voice of the iudge who hath lawfull authority Soe that which the Church hath once declared is soe cleere that it can be noe cleerer because it is declared by the liuely voice of all the Pastors of the Church all who must either haue lawfull authority to decide all controuersys concerning Scriptures and all other points of faith or els there is noe lawfull authority in the world to decide them but euery man might hold and teach what he listed which were to destroy the world Therefore we neede noe more for the proofe of freewill but the authority of the Church and all arguments that can be obiected against it are but delusions Yet the true sense of those places which they obiect may be vnderstoode by that which hath bene said I know Lord that mans way is not his owne Ier. 10. neither is it in a man to walke and to direct his stepps It is not in man by himselfe without the grace of God But with it it is Io. 6. Noe man can come to mee vnles the father that sent mee draw him God draweth not by force necessitating whether we will or noe but as the spouse said draw mee Can. 1. we will runne after thee in the odour of thine ointments that is sweetly and by faire meanes mouing and exciting our wills Nay although he had said vnles my father compell them we might haue vnderstoode it of a sweet kind of violence by which God inuiteth vs to him as the master in the ghospell seeing the slownes of those that were inuited in comming to him sent to bid others saying Compell them to enter which was noe more Luc. 14. but earnestly to intreat and inuite them Such is the loue of God to vs and his desire of our saluation and soe powerfull is the grace by which he inuiteth and exciteth vs to vertue that he may very well be said to draw vs as a very louing father doth his children vnto goodnes Will you see this planely Apoc. 3. Behold I stande at the doore and knock If any man shall heare my voice and open the gate I will enâ—er into him and suppe with him and he with mee See here O Christian the loue of God towards thee what he doth for
subiecteth vs as lyable to some punishment soe euery good worke which we doe in the state of grace aduanceth vs in the diuine grace and taketh away some of our due punishment But allthough Veniall sinnes depriue vs noâ— of the diuine grace nor make vs as the enemys of God guilty of eternall damnation yet we ought to beware of them and to be carefull especially that we gett noe euill habite nor affection to any Veniall sinne for that is very dangerous and if we gett not also a habit of repenting presently for it it will without doubt draw vs in the end into some Mortall sinne And in this sense we may say of Veniall sinnes that they depriue vs of Gods grace and euen kill our soules dispositiuely that is they dispose vs to Mortall sinnes bâ— which our soules are immediatly killed euen as a litle hole or leck in a shippe neglected causeth a greater breach by which she is suddenly ouer charged and sinketh downe to the bottome soe litle falts neglected bring great sinnes and are sometimes bewailed with euerlasting teares in hell And therfor to preuent great sinnes we must haue an eye ouer our lesser falts to mende them by times Besides a good and louing seruant will feare to offende in any thinge least by committing that by which his masters affection should bellessened towards him he might come in the end quite to loose his fauour This is that saith S. Hiero to 7. instrueÌ„s amicum quemdam Hierome which the Apocalypse reprooueth in the bishop of Ephesus who is called an Angell for that he had in his conscience the merits of many good works much labour and sufferings for Christs sake But because the edge of his former piety was somethinge dulled and the heate of his loue beganne to abate he is called and stirred vp to repentance Apoc. 2. I know thy works and labour and patience that thou canst not beare euill men and hast tryed them that say themselues to be Apostles and are not and hast found them lyars And thou hast borne for my name and hast not sainted But I haue against thee a few things because thou hast left thy first charity Be mindfull therefor from whence thou art fallen and doe pennance And what pennance may we read that the Saints of God haue done euen for litle Veniaâ—â— sinnes because they knew that by all such sinnes the grace of God was endangered and that the least degree of his grace was better to them and in it selfe more pretious then all this world S. Theresa conceiued soe greatly against the least oâ— her sinnes that she spoke of them as heinous offences and if it happened that in singing in the quire she missed in any thinge presently in the sighâ— of all she prostrated her selfe to the ground with such true shame and sorrow that the rest of thâ— Nunnes were interrupted from singing and could not goe on for teares Grant vs O Lord by the merits of thy Passion and by the prayers of thy blessed Mother and of the whole court of heauen that we may neuer loose thy grace by mortall sinne and may allwais feare to offende by veniall I haue done now my deere Reader that which I intended in this booke I haue giuen thee for thy instruction a breife Summe of the whole Christian Doctrine in a few short answeres to be gotten without booke and the declaration of them at large in their propper places I haue sett before thee in the Apostles Creede one supreme eternall and omnipotent Power God the beginner and conseruer of all creatures to be worshipped by thee And for thy comfort and Confirmation in the Catholike faith I haue shewed that there is noe true worship of God but in the Catholike Church of Christ The Catholike Church reacheth that an eternall retribution ofteward or punishment remaineth according to our works good or euill Good works by Gods grace are in our owne hands if we will What now remaineth but to excite our wills This also I haue done according to my ability exhorting thee to vertue and holinesse of life And now at last I intreate and coniure thee by the omnipotent power and infinite goodnesse of God that made thee by his iustice and mercy which one day thou must try by the torments of the damned and ioyes of the blessed soules by all which thou canst imagine to be feared or desired that thou feare 〈…〉 loue him Looke downe to hell and feare him in that horrible eternity Looke vp to heauen and loue him seeke him and enioy him in that happy state Resolue from this very instant vpon a vertuous life Beginne now a new and perseuer to the gaining of that euerlasting life which is the end of the Creede and of all Instruction Live sweet Iesu King of eternall glory Liue Liue and reigne in our soules here and in heauen for euer and euer Amen Laus Deo Dei genitrici Virgini Maria. A TABLE A ACTVALL sinne 715 Altare 603. Altares towards the east 603. Almes deeds 473 Amen 505 Angell Gabriel 510. 532. The time and place of the Angell Gabriel his apparition to the blessed Virgin 533. c. Anger 415. Remedys against anger 420 The Apostles preaching 137 The Ascension of our Sauiour 164 Atheisme and Atheists 78. 79. 80. c. Attributes of the diuine Persons in the Blessed Trinity 142 B BAptisme The necessity of Baptisme 283. Baptisme a Sacrament 284 The effect of Baptisme 285. The Baptisme of S. Iohn 286. The caeremonys of Baptisme 287 Beades 555. blessings of Beades 572 Aue Mary Bell. 564 Bloody sinnes horrible to nature 416 C CArnall sinnes 412. seuerely punished of God 422. the causes and rootes of Carnality 428. Remedys against Carnall sinnes 428 The Catholike Church prooued by induction from all other religions that are in the world 250. Catholikes according to their grounds can not with reason seeke vnto any other Church not doubt of their faith but all other Churches euen according to their owne grounds ought to doubt allwais and can neuer be satisfyed till they come to the Catholike Church 35. Character Vide Sacraments 275 Charity towards God and our neighbour 409.491 amongst the primitiue Christians 418 Ceremonys 287.598 Two kinds of Ceremonys 290. Childrens education 1 Christ 109. The faith of Christ euer from the beginning of the world 113. Christ the Messias was to be true God 120. Iesus Christ our Sauiour was the true Messias foretold by the Prophets 122. Christianity demonstrated by holy Scriptures and miracles 113. vnto 140. Christ was more sensible of paine then others 151. Christ prophecyed of his Passion 153. Christs Passion was voluntary 154. Christ the annointed as he was Prophet Priest and King 112. Christmas day 148 Church The Church must try the priuate spirits of all men 24.184.641 Noe order in religion but by the authority of the Church ibid. The Church can not erre 35. The authority of the Church 184.641 The Church is holy 177. It
vnto vs by ourselues 155.156 c. 593 Messias 111 Christ the Messias true God 116.121 c. Iesus Christ the true Messias 122. c. Miracles prooue obedience to that Church in which they are wrought 28. The faith of Christ confirmed by miracles 130 Moderate affection of parents towards their children 411 Mortall sinne 717 N NAme The Name of God 398. Phantasticall Names reprooued in baptisme 295 Neighbour Who is our Neighbour 409. Charity towards our Neighbour v. Charity O OYle vsed in the consecration of holy things 291.603 Order 30.79.644.609 Orders a Sacrament 663 Seuerall degrees of orders in the Church 364 Originall sinne 715 Oths require three conditions to be lawfull 398 Oths imposed vpon Catholikes by Haereticks or any Infidels are allwais to be suspected 399 P PAganisme refuted 117. The Pagan Philosophers confounded themselues 15. They were replenished with sinne 697 Parents to be honored and obeyed 409. Parents must loue their children and prouide for them yet with discretion and moderation 411. c. Superiors are Parents 410. The good example of parents to their children 414. Parents haue a double obligation to instruct their children 2 Pastour The Pastours of the Church gathered together haue the authority of the whole Church and all false Churches beginne by disobedience to them 205.215 Patience the proper vertue of Christians 418 Pennance a Sacrament 322. The essentiall parts of Pennance 328. The effect of Pennance 328 Pleasure in sinne is false base and short 690 Poore The Poore to be releeued 473 Prayer The fruit and force of prayer 450. Preparation to prayer 455. What we are to pray for 457. Prayer to Saints 459. c. Prayer to particular Saints for particular benefits 470. Hinderances of obtaining our prayers 471. Attention in prayer 473. Prayer and good life must goe together 479. Sentences of holy Scriptures vertually Prayers 567. Perseuerance in Prayer 569 Praecepts of the Church 640. They oblige vnder a mortall sinne 641 Praesumption of Gods mercy 699 Pretences All Pretences of haeretiks obstructed 247. c. Priests must be called of God 210.367 Seuerall degrees of Priests 366. Chastity annexed to Priesthood 367. Priests Iudges 254. And they doe not onely declare sinnes to be forgiuen but doe truely forgiue sinnes 324. Priests must be able to giue satisfaction to the people in things necessary for them to know 54. The office of Priests to instruct and to see that the Commandements of God be kept 378 Purgatory 349. c. R REcreation Lawfull and modest Recreations are to be allowed of in seasonable times 406. Reliques and holy things to be worshipped 396 Remission of sinnes in confession 253.323 c. Remorse of conscience 495.695 Restitution 430.432 Resurrection of Christ 131. c. 162. The Resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soule were aunciently vnderstoode as the same 257 Reuerence to the Sacraments 277. to holy thinges vide Images Rogation dayes 654 Romane The Romane Church prooued by induction from all other religions in the world 250 Rosary vid. Beades S SAbaoth vide Holydayes Sacrament What a Sacrament is 266. The difference betwixt our Sacraments in the Law of grace and all former Sacraments 267. The necessity of Sacraments 271. The authour of the Sacraments 272. The Matter and forme of the Sacraments 272. The minister of the Sacraments 274. The Character of the Sacraments 275. Reuerence to the Sacraments 277 The number of the Sacraments 280 Sacrifice v. Masse Saints to be prayed vnto 459. c. Saints are present in spirit at our prayers 467.568 Satisfaction 346 Scandall 658 Sinne. The euills of sinne 495.675 c. None free from sinne 490. Sinne a monster 669. Sinnes by ignorance and sinnes against conscience 674. The miserable condition of sinners as slaues 679. Sinne the cause of temporall afflictions 684. Sinne punished in the freinds and allyance of sinners 688. The authour and cause of sinne 704. Diuerse kindes of sinne 715. Sinne by thought 441 Scruples in faith proceede from the weakenes of our reason 20 Soule two powers Superiour and Inferiour 152 Spirit The Spirit of God inspiring to the true faith is allwais with obedience to the Church 24.25 c. Not euery spirit is to be beleeued 25.26.27 c. Not euery one that prayeth hath the true spirit 31. How the good spirit is to be prayed for 34.35 c. 40 Superstition Noe Superstition to obserue a certaine number of prayers in relation to some pious mystery 571 Sweare vid. Oth. T TEmporall prosperity proceedeth from God and is lost by sinne 414.684 Temptations commune to all 497. How God is said to Tempt 498 Theft Diuerse kindes of Theft 430 Thought Sinne by Thought 441 Traditions 73.74 c. Transubstantiation 305 Trinity The blessed Trinity 53.142.174 The B. Trinity hath appeared in corporall shapes 144. V VEniall sinne 721 Vertue yeeldeth satiety of true pleasures and of temporall felicitys 480 Some prayers aske nothing expresly but they aske Vertually and in effect 567 Vigils 654 Vyande or Voyage bread the Eucharist 664 W WAges 4â—1 Will. Our owne Wills are our greatest enemys 483. Conformity to the Will of God 484 Witnesse False Witnesse 434 Worldly care in excesse 444.