beleue one holy catholike and Apostolike churche therefore I saye it hath nede of one prince and ruler to be kepte and holden in If it be other wise vnitie must nedes forthwith be sparkled and brokē a sunder And therefore it behoued that the rule and gouernement of the churche shuld be committed to one And whereas these Gospellers saye that Christ is the gouernour of the churche and that he being one kepeth the churche in vnitie we answere that although the churche be first and principally gouerned by Christ as all other thinges are yet gods high goodnes hath so ordeined as eche thing may be prouided for according to his owne condition and nature Therefore whereas mankynde dependeth most of sense and receiueth all learnīg and institutiō of sensible thinges therefor it hath nede of a man to be a gouernour and ruler whom it maye perceiue by outward sense And euen so the Sacramentes by which the grace of God is geuen vnto vs in consideration of mannes nature being so made of God as it is are ordeined in thinges sensible Therefor it was behoofull this gouernement of the churche to be committed to one man which at the first was Peter and afterward eche successour of Peter for his tyme as is afore declared Neither can this one man haue this power of any consent or companie of men but it is necessary he haue it of God For to ordeine and appointe the vicare of Christ it perteineth to none other then to Christ For where as the churche and all that is of the chuch is Christes as well for other causes as specially for that we are bought with a great price euen with his bloude as S. Paul sayeth 1. Cor. 3. how can it perteine to any other then to him to institute and appoint to him selfe a vicare that is one to doe his steede Wherefore to cōclude excepte we would wickedly graunt that gods prouidence hath lacked or doth lacke to his churche for loue of which he hath geuen his onely begotten sonne and which he hath promised neuer to forgete so as the woman can not forgete the chylde she bare in her wombe Reason may sone enduce vs to beleue that to one man one bishop the chiefe and highest of all bishops the successour of Peter the rule and gouernement of the church by God hath ben deferred For elles if God had ordeyned that in in the church shuld be sundry heades and rulers and none constituted to be ouer other but all of equall power ech one among their people then he shuld seme to haue set vp so many churches as he hath appointed gouernours And so he shall appeare to haue brought in among his faithfull people that vnruly confusion the destruction of all common weales so much abhorred of princes which the grekes call Anarchian which is a state for lacke of order in gouernours without any gouernement at all Which thing sith that the wise and politike men of this worlde doo shunne and detest in the gouernemēt of these earthly kingdomes as most perniciouse and hurtfull to attribute to the high wisdome of God and to our lord Christ who is the auctor of the most ordinate disposition of all thinges in earth and in heauen it were heynous and prophane impietie Wherefore if the state of a kingdome can not continew safe onlesse one haue power to rule how shall not the church spredde so farre abroade be in danger of great disorders corruption and vtter destruction if as occasion shal be geuen among so great strifes and debates of men among so many fyerbrandes of discord tossed to and fro by the deuils enemies of vnitie there be not one head and ruler of all to be consulted of all to be hearde of all to be folowed and obeied If strife and contentiō be stirred about matters of faith if controuersie happen to rise about the sense of the scriptures shall it not be necessary there be one supreme iudge to whose sentence the parties may stande If nede require as it hath ben often sene that generall councelles be kepte how can the bishops to whom that matter belongeth be brought together but by commaundement of one head gouernour whom they owe their obediēce vnto For elles being summoned perhappes they will not come Finally how shall the contumacie and pertinacie of mischeuous persones be repressed specially if the bishops be at discension with in them selues if there be not a supreme power who towardes some may vse the rodde towardes other some the spirite of lenitie with such discrete temperament as malice be vanquished right defended and concorde procured least if the small sparkes of strife be not quenched by auctoritie at the beginning at length a great flame of schismes and heresies flashe abrode to the great dāger of a multitude Therefore as there is one body of Christ one flocke one church euen so is there one head of that his mysticall body one shepeherd and one chiefe seruant made steward ouerseer and ruler ouer Christes householde in his absence vntill his comming againe The 6. proufe practise of the churche syxfolde But here perhappes some will saie it can not appeare by the euente of thinges and practise of the church that the Pope had this supreme power and auctoritie ouer all bishops and ouer all Christes flocke in matters touching faith and in causes ecclesiasticall Verely who so euer peruseth the ecclesiasticall stories and vieweth the state of the church of all tymes and ages cā not but cōfesse this to be most euident And here I might alleage first certaine places of the newe testament declaring that Peter practised this preeminence among the disciples at the beginning and that they yelded the same as of right apperteining vnto him Act. 1. As when he first and onely moued them to choose one in the stede of Iudas and demeaned him selfe as the chiefe autctor of all that was done therein when he made answere for all Act. 2. at what time they were gased and wondered at and of some mockte as being dronken with newe wine for that in the fistith day thei spake with tonges of so many nations when he vsed that dredfull seueritie in punishing the falshed Act. 5. and hypocrisie of Ananias and Saphira his wife Act. 15. when variāce being risen about the obseruation of certaine pointes of Moyses lawe he as chiefe and head of the rest saide his mynde before all others Among many other places lefte out for breuitie that is not of least weight that Paul being retourned to Damasco out of Arabia Galat. 1. after three yeres went to Ierusalem to see Peter and abode with him fiften dayes But because our aduersaries doo wreath and wreste the scriptures be they neuer so plaine by there priuate and straunge constructions to an vnderstanding quite contrary to the sense of the catholike church I will referre the reader for further proufe of this matter to the stories bearing faithfull witnes of the
tamen domus eius dicitur cuius hodie rector est Damasus Where as the whole world is gods yet the churche is called his howse ▪ the ruler whereof at these daies is Damasus I would not weery and trouble the reader with such a number of allegations were not that M. Iuell beareth the world in hande we haue not one sentence nor clause for vs to proue either this or any other of all his Articles But perhappes some one will replye and saye yet I heare not the B. of Rome called Head of the vniuersall churche What forceth it whether that very terme be founde in any auncient writer or no Other termes of the same vertue and power be oftentymes founde Is it not one to saie Head of the vniuersall churche and to saie ruler of gods house which Ambrose sayeth whereof this argument may be made The church yea the vniuersall church is the house of God but Damasus B. of Rome is ruler of the house of God after Ambrose ergo Damasus is ruler of the vniuersall church and by like right and title is the Pope who is B. of Rome now also ruler of the same What other is it to call the church of Rome the principall churche respecte had to the bishop there and not otherwise wherein a figure of speach is vsed as Ireneus and Cyprian doo and president or set in auctoritie ouer the whole world as Leo doth then to call the bishop of Rome In locum Ioā 21 homil 87. ex ponēs illud sequere me In Matth. homil 55. Heade of the vniuersall church what meaneth Chrysostome calling Peter totius orbis magistrum the Maister and teacher of all the worlde and saying in an other place that Christ made Peter not ruler ouer one nation as the father made Ieremie ouer the Iewes but ouer the whole worlde what other I saie meaneth he thereby then that he is head of the whole worlde and therefore of the vniuersall church But to satisfie these men and to take awaye occasion of cauille I wil alleage a fewe places where the expresse terme Head is attributed to Peter the first B. of Rome and by like right to his successours Peter and his successour called head of the churche expressely and to the See Apostolike Chrysostome speaking of the vertue and power of Peter and of the stedfastnes of the church in the 55. Homilie vpon Mathewe hath these wordes among other Cuius Pastor caput homo piscator atque ignobilis c. By which wordes he affirmeth that the pastour and head of the church being but a fisher a man and one of base parentage passeth in firmnes the nature of the diamant Againe in an homilie of the praises of Paul he sayeth thus Neither was this man onely such a one but he also which was the head of the Apostles who oftentymes sayde he was ready to bestowe his life for Christ and yet was full sore afrayed of death If he were head of the Apostles then was he head of the inferiour people and so Head of the vniuersall churche Hierome writing against Iouinian sayeth propterea inter duodecim vnus eligitur vt capite constituto schismatis tollatur occasio for that cause among the twelue on is specially chosen out that the Head being ordeined occasion of schisme may be taken awaye Whereby it appeareth that Peter was constituted head for auoiding of diuision and schisme Now the danger of the inconuenience remaining still yea more then at that tyme for the greater multitude of the churche and for sundry other imperfections the same remedy must be thought to continewe onlesse we would saye that Christ hath lesse care of his church now that it is so much encreaced then he had at the beginning when his flocke was smal For this cause excepte we denye Gods prouidēce toward his church there is one Head for auoiding of schisme also now as well as in the Apostles tyme. Which head is the successour of him that was head by Christes appointment then the B. of Rome sitting in the seate that Peter sate in Cyrillus sayeth Petrus vt princeps caputque caeterorū primus exclamauit tu es Christus filius Dei viui Peter as prince and Head of the reste first cryed out thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God Serm. 124. de tēpore Augustine also in a sermon to the people calleth him head of the church saying Totius corporis membrum in ipso capite curat ecclesiae in ipso vertice componit omnium membrorum sanitatem He healeth the member of the whole body in the Head it selfe of the church and in the toppe it selfe he ordereth the helth of all the members And in an other place Li. quaest vet no. testam q. 75. Saluator quando pro se Petro exolui iubet pro omnibus exoluisse videtur Quia sicut in saluatore erant omnes causa magisterij ita post saluatorem in Petro omnes continentur ipsum enim constituit Caput omnium Our sauiour sayeth Augustine when as he cōmaundeth paimēt for the Emperoure to be made for him selfe and for Peter he semeth to haue payde for all Because as all were in our sauiour for cause of teaching so after our sauiour all are conteined in Peter for he ordeined him Head of all Here haue these men the plaine and expresse terme Head of the rest Head of the church Head of all and therefore of the vniuersall church What will they haue more Neither here can they saie that although this auctoritie and title of the Head be geuen to Peter yet it is not deriued and transferred from him to his successours For this is manifest that Christ instituted his churche so as it shuld continewe to the worldes ende Cap. 9. according to the saying of Esaie the prophete Super solium Dauid c. Vpon the seat of Dauid and vpon his kingdome shall Messias sitte to strengthen it and to establish it in iudgement and righteousnes from this daye for euermore And thereof it is euidēt that he ordeined those who then were in ministerie so as their auctoritie and power shuld be deriued vnto their aftercommers for the vtilitie of the church for euer specially where as he sayde Matt vlt. beholde I am with you vntill the ende of the worlde And therefore as Victor writeth in his storie of the persecutiō of the Vandales Eugenius B. of Carthago Lib. 2. conuented of Obadus a great capitaine of Hunerike king of the Vandales about a councell to be kepte in Aphrica for matters of the faith betwixte the Arians supported by the king and the catholikes sayde in this wise Si nostram fidem c. If the kinges power desyre to knowe our faith which is one and the true let him sende to his frendes I will write also to my brethren that my fellowebishops come who may declare the faith that is cōmon to you and vs there he hath these wordes
affirmeth the Catholikes to haue nothing for their parte ouer peartly as to sober wittes it semeth egging and prouoking them to bring somewhat in their defence O Mercifull God Iuell In the sermon folio 43. vvho vvould thinke there could be so muche vvilfulnes in the heart of man O Gregorie O Augustine O Hierome O Chrysostome O Leo O Dionise O Anacletus O Sistus O Paule O Christ If vve be deceiued herein ye are they that haue deceiued vs. You haue taught vs those schismes and diuisions ye haue taught vs these heresies Thus ye ordred the holy communion in your tyme the same vve receiued at your hand and haue faithfully delyuered it vnto the people And that ye maye the more meruel at the vvilfulnes of such men they stand this daye against so many old fathers so many Doctoures so many examples of the primitiue churche so manifest and so plaine vvordes of the holy scriptures and yet haue they here in not one father not one Doctour not one allovved example of the primitiue churche to make for them And vvhen I saye not one I speake not this in vehemencie of spirite or heate of talke but euen as before God by the vvaye of simplicitie and truth least any of you should happely be deceiued and thinke there is more vveight in the other syde then in conclusion there shall be fovvnde And therefore once againe I saye of all the vvordes of the holy scriptures of all the examples of the primitiue churche of all the old fathers of all the auncient Doctoures in these causes they haue not one Here the matter it self that I haue novv in hand putteth me in remembraunce of certaine thinges that I vttered vnto you to the same purpose at my last being in this place I remember I layed oâ—â— then here before you a number of things that are nâ—vv in controuerâ—â—e vvhere vnto our aduersaries vvil not yelde And I sayd perhaps boldly as it might then seeme to summe man but as I my self and the learned of our aduersaries theÌ„ selues do vvel knovve syncerely and truly that none of all them that this daye stand against vs are hable or shal euer be hable to proue against vs any one of all these points eyther by the scriptures or by example of the primitiue churche or by the old â—oâ—â—â—â—res or by the auncient generall councelâ—â— Synâ—â— that tyme it hath ben reported in places that I spake then more then I vvas hable to iustifie and make good Hovv be it these reportes vvere onely made in corners and therfore ought the lesse to trouble me Bâ—â— if my sayinges had ben so vveake and might so easely haue than reproued I maruaile that the paâ—ieâ— neuer come to the light to take the aduauntage For my promise vvas and that openly here before you all that if any man vvere able to proue the contrarye I vvould yelde and subscribe to him and he shuld depart vvith the victorieâ— Loth I am to trouble you vvith rehersall of such thinges as I haue spoken afore and yet because the case so requyreth I shall desyre you that haue all ready heard me to beare the more vvith me in this behalf Better it vvere to trouble your eares vvith tvvise hearing of one thing then to betray the truth of God The vvordes that I then spake as neare as I can call them to mynde vvere these If any learned man of all our aduersaries or if all the learned men that be alyue be hable to bring any one sufficient senteÌ„ce out of any olde catholike Doctour or father out of any olde generall councell out of the holy scriptures of God or any one example of the primitiue church vvhereby it may be clearely and plainely proued â–ª Article 1 That there vvas any priuate Masse in the vvorld at that tyme for the space of syxe hundred yeares after Christ Article 2 Or that there vvas then any CoÌ„munion ministred vnto the people vnder one kinde Article 3 Or that the people had theire common prayers then in a straunge tonge that they vnderstoode not Article 4 Or that the Bisshop of Rome vvas then called an vniuersall Bisshop or the head of the vniuersall churche Article 5 Or that the people vvas then taught to beleue that Christes body is really substantially corporalli carnally or-naturally in the Sacrament Article 6 Or that his body is or may be in a thousand places or mo at one tyme Article 7 Or that the priest dyd then hold vp the Sacrament ouer his head Article 8 Or that the people dyd then fall dovvne and vvorship it vvith godly honour Article 9 Or that the Sacrament vvas then or novv ought to be hanged vp vnder a canopie Article 10 Or that in the Sacrament after the vvordes of CoÌ„secration there remayneth onely the accidentes and shevves vvith out the substaunce of bread and vvine Article 11 Or that the priest then diuyded the Sacrament in three partes and aftervvarde receiued him self all alone Article 12 Or that vvho so euer had sayde the Sacrament is a figure a pledge a token or a remembraunce of Christes bodye had therefore been iudged for an heretike Article 13 Or that it vvas lavvfull then to haue xxx xx.xv.x or v. Masses sayd in one churche in one daye Article 14 Or that Images vvere then set vp in the churches to the entent the people might vvorship them Article 15 Or that the laye people vvas then forbydden to reade the vvorde of God in their ovvne tonge If any man a lyue vvere hable to proue any of these Articles by any one cleare or plaine clause or sentence eyther of the scriptures or of the old doctoures or of any old generall councell or by any example of the primitiue churche I promysed then that I vvould geue ouer and subscribe vnto him These vvordes or the very like I remember I spake here openly before you all And these be the thinges that summe men saye I haue spoken and can not iustifie But I for my part vvill not onely not call in any thing that I then sayde being vvell assuted of the truth there in but also vvill laye more matter to the same That if they that seeke occasion haue any thing to the contrary they may haue the larger scope to replye against me VVherefor besyde all that I haue sayde allready I vvil saye farther and yet nothing so much as might be sayde If any one of all our aduersaries be hable clearely and plainely to proue by such authoritie of the scriptures the olde Doctoures and councelles as I sayde before Article 16 That it vvas then lavvfull for the priest to pronounce the vvordes of consecration closely and in silence to him self Article 17 Or that the priest had auctoritie to offer vp Christ vnto his father Article 18 Or to communicat and receiue the Sacrament for an other as they doo Article 19 Or to applye the vertue of Christes death and passion to any man by the meane of the Masse Article 20
churche Or the priest rather for companies sake then of deuotion shuld receiue that holy meate after that he had serued his stomake with coÌ„mon meates which likewise is against the auncieÌ„t decrees of the churche Euen so the priest that receiueth alone at Masse doth communicate with all them that doo the like in other places and countries Now if either the priest Necessitie of many coÌ„municants together contrarie to the libertie of the gospell or euery other christen man or woman might at no tyme receiue this blessed Sacrament but with mo together in one place then for the enioying of this great and necessary benefite we were bounde to condition of a place And so the churche delyuered from all bondage by christ and set at libertie shuld yet for all that be in seruitute and subiection vnder those outward thinges which S. Paul calleth infirma egena elementa Galat. 4. weake and beggarly ceremonies after the English Bibles translation Then where S. Paul blamyng the Galathians sayeth Ye obserue dayes and monethes and tymes For this bondage he might likewise blame vs and saye ye obserue places But S. Paul would not we shuld retourne againe to these which he calleth elemeÌ„tes for that were Iewishe And to the Colossians he sayeth we be dead with Christ from the elementes of this worlde Colos 2. Now if we excepte those thinges which be necessaryly requyred to this Sacrament by Christes institution either declared by writteÌ„ scriptures or taught by the holy ghost Similiter calicem misceÌ„s ex vino aqua sanctificaÌ„s tradidit eis diceÌ„s bibite etc. ClemeÌ„s in Canone Liturgiae lib. 8. apostol coÌ„sti c. 17 1. Cor. 3. as bread and wyne mingled with water for the matter the due wordes of Consecration for the forme and the priest rightely ordered hauing intention to doo as the churche doth for the ministerie all these elementes and all outward thinges be subiecte to vs and serue vs being members of Christes churche In consideration whereof S. Paul saveth to the Corinthians Omnia enim vestra sunt etc. All thinges are yours whether it be Paul either Apollo either Cephas whether it be the worlde either lyfe either death whether they be present thinges or thinges to come all are yours and ye Christes and Christ is Gods Againe where as the auncient and great learned Bishop Cyrillus teacheth plainely and at large the meruelouse vniting and ioyning together of vs with Christ and of our selues in to one bodie by this sacrament seing that all so vnited and made one body be not for all that brought together in to one place for they be dispersed abroade in all the worlde thereof we may well conclude that to this effecte the being together of communicantes in one place is not of necessitie His wordes be these much agreable to Dionysius Areopagita a fore mentioned In Ioan. lib. 11. c. 16 Vt igitur inter nos Deum singulos vniret quanuis corpore simul anima distemus modum tamen adinuenit consilio patris sapientiae suae conuenieÌ„tem Suo enim corpore credentes per communionem mysticam benedicens secum inter nos vnum nos corpus efficit Quis enim eos qui vnius sancti corporis vnione in vno Christo vniti sunt ab hac naturali vnione alienos putabit Nam si omnes vnum panem manducamus vnum omnes corpus efficimur diuidi enim atque seiungi Christus non patitur That Christ might vnite euery one of vs within our selues and with God although we be distant both in body and also in soule yet he hath deuised a meane conuenable to the counsell of the father and to his own wisedom For in that he blesseth them that beleue with his own body through the mysticall Communion he maketh vs one body both with him selfe and also betwen our selues For who will thinke them not to be of this natural vnion which with the vnion of that one holy body be vnited in one Christ For if we eate all of one bread then are we made all one body for Christ may not be diuided nor done asunder Thus we see after this auncient fathers learning grounded vpon the scriptures that all the faithfulles blessed with the body of Christ through the mysticall communion bee made one body with Christ and one body betwen them selues Which good blessing of Christ is of more vertue and also of more necessitie then that it may be made frustrate by condition of place specially where as is no wylfull breache nor contempte of most semely and conuenable order Many maye coÌ„municate together not being in one place together Sermon fol. 51. And therefore that one may communicate with an other though they be not together in one place which M. Iuell denyeth with as peeuish an argument of the vse of excommunication as any of all those ys that he scoffeth at some catholike writers for and that it was thought lawfull and godly by the fathers of the auncient churche neare to the Apostles tyme it may be well proued by diuerse good auctorities Irenaeus writing to Victor Bishop of Rome concerning the keping of Easter Ecclesias hist lib. 5. cap. 24. As Eusebius Caesariensis reciteth to the intent Victor shuld not refrayne from their coÌ„munioÌ„ which kepte Easter after the custome of the churches in Asia fownded by S. Iohn th'Euangeliste sheweth that when bishoppes came from forreine parties to Rome the bishoppes of that see vsed to send to them if they had ben of the catholike faith the Sacrament to receiue whereby mutuall communion betwen them was declared Irenaeus his wordes be these Graeca sic habeÌ„t aliter quà m Rufini versio vulgata Qui fuerunt ante te presbyteri etiam cum non ita obseruarent presbyteris ecclesiarum cum Romam accâ—derent Eucharistiam mittebant The priestes by which name in this place bishoppes are vnderstanded that were a fore thy tyme though they kepte not Easter as they of Asia dyd yet when the bishoppes of the churches there came to Rome dyd sende them the sacrament Thus those bishoppes dyd communicate together before their meeting in one place Iustinus the Martyr likewise describing the maner and â—â—der of christen Religion of his tyme touching the vse of the Sacrament sayeth thus Finitis ab eo Apolog. 2. qui praefâ—ctus est gratijs orationibus ab vniuerso populo facta â—cclâ—matione Diaconi quoâ— ita vocamus vnicuique tum temporis prasenti paâ—is et aquae vini coÌ„secrati daÌ„t participationem adeos qui non adsunt deferunt When the priest hath made an lende of thankes and prayers and all the people therto haue sayde amen They which we call deacons geue to euery one then present bread and water and wyne consecrated to take parte of it for their housell and for those that be not present they beare it home to them Thus in that tyme they
praecipuè ecclesia Romana quae Caput est omnium ecclesiarum and specially the church of Rome which is the Head of all the churches Naming the church of Rome he meaneth the bishop there or his legates to be sent in his stede Thus it is proued by good and auncient auctorities that the name and title of the Head ruler president chiefe and principall gouernour of the church is of the fathers attributed not onely to Peter but also to his successours bishops of the See Apostolike And therefore M. Iuell may thinke him selfe by this charitably admonished to remember his promise of yelding and subscribing I will adde to all that hath ben hytherto sayde of this matter a saying of Martin Luther that such as doo litle regarde the grauitie of auncient fathers of the olde church may yet somewhat be moued with the lightnes of the young father Luther Patriarke and fownder of their newe churche Lightnes I may well call it for in this saying which I shall here rehearse he doth not so soberly allowe the Popes Primacie The popes primacie acknovvleged by Martin Luther as in sundry other treatises he doth rashly and furiousely inueigh against the same In a litle treatise intituled Resolutio Lutheriana super propositione sua 13. de potestate papae his wordes be these Primum quod me mouet Romanum pontificem esse alijs omnibus quos saltem nouerimus se pontifices gerere superiorem est ipsa voluntas Dei quam in ipso facto videmus Neque enim sine voluntate Dei in hanc monarchiam vnquam venire potuisset Rom. Pontifex At voluntas Dei quoquo modo nota fuerit cum reuerentia suscipienda est ideoque non licet temerè Romano pontifici in suo primatu resistere Haec autem ratio tanta est vt si etiam nulla scriptura nulla alia causa esset haec tamen satis esset ad compescendam temeritatem resistentium Et hac sola ratione gloriosissimus martyr Cyprianus per multas epistolas confidentissimè gloriatur contrà omnes episcoporum quorumcunque aduersarios sicut 3. Regum legimus quòd decē tribus Israel discesserunt à Roboam filio Salomonis tamen quia voluntate Dei siue auctoritate factum est ratum apud Deum fuit Nam apud theologos omnes voluntas signi quam vocant operationem Dei non minus quà m alia signa voluntatis Dei vt praecepta prohibitiua etc. metuenda est Ideo non video quomodo sint excusati à schismatis reatu qui huic voluntati contraueniētes sese à Romani pontificis auctoritate subtrahunt Ecce haec est vna prima mihi insuperabilis ratio quae me subijcit Romano pontifici Primatū eius confiteri cogit The first thing that moueth me to thinke the B. of Rome to be ouer all other that we knowe to be bisshops is the very will of God which we see in the facte or dede it selfe for without the will of God the B. of Rome could neuer haue commen vnto this monarchie But the will of God by what meane so euer it be knowen is to be receiued reuerently And therefore it is not lawfull rashly to resiste the B. of Rome in his primacie And this is so great a reason for the same that if there were no scripture at all nor other reason yet this were ynough to stay the rashnes of them that resiste And through this onely reason the most gloriouse martyr Cyprian in many of his epistles vaunteth him selfe very boldly against all the aduersaries of Bishops what soeuer they were As in the thirde booke of the kinges we read that the ten tribes of Israel departed from Roboam Salomons sōne Yeat because it was done by the will or auctoritie of God it stoode in effecte with God For among all the diuines the will of the signe which they call the working of God is to be feared no lesse then other signes of Gods will as commaundemētes prohibitiue etc. Therefore I see not how they may be excused of the gilte of schisme which going against this will withdrawe them selues from the auctoritie of the B. of Rome Lo this is one chiefe inuincible reason that maketh me to be vnder the bisshop of Rome and compelleth me to confesse his Primacie This farre Luther Thus I haue briefly touched some deale of the scriptures of the canons and councells of the edictes of Emperours of the fathers sayinges of the reasons and of the manifolde practises of the church which are wonte to be alleaged for the Popes Primacie and supreme auctoritie With all I haue proued that which M. Iuell denyeth that the B. of Rome within sixe hundred yeres after Christ hath ben called the vniuersall bishop of no small number of men of great credite and very oftentymes Head of the vniuersall church both in termes equiualent and also expressely Now to the nexte article Or that the people was then taught to beleue Iuell that Christes body is really substantially corporally carnally or naturally in the Sacrament Of the termes really substantially corporally carnally naturally fovvnde in the Doctours treating of the true being of Christes body in the blessed Sacrament ARTICLE V. CHristen people hath euer ben taught that the body and bloud of Iesus Christ by the vnspeakeable working of the grace of God and vertue of the holy Ghoste is present in this most holy Sacrament and that verely and in dede This doctrine is fownded vppon the plaine wordes of Christ which he vttered in the institution of this sacrament expressed by the Euangelistes and by S. Paul As they were at supper sayeth Matthewe Iesus tooke breade and blessed it and brake it Matth. 26 and gaue it to his disciples and sayeth Take ye eate ye this is my body And takyng the cuppe he gaue thankes and gaue it to them saying Drynke ye all of this For this is my bloude of the newe testament which shall be shedde for many in remission of synnes With like wordes almost Marke Luke and Paul Marc. 14. Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 11. doo describe this diuine institution Neither sayde our lord onely This is my body but least some shuld doubte how his wordes are to be vnderstanded for a playne declaration of them he addeth this further Wich ys geuen for you Luc. 22. Likewise of the cuppe he sayeth not onely This is my bloude But also as it were to putte it out of all doubte Which shall be shed for many Now as faithful people doo beleue that Christ gaue not a figure of his body but his owne true and very body in substance and like wise not a figure of his bloude but his very pretiouse bloude it selfe at his passion and death on the crosse for our Redemption so they beleue also that the wordes of the institution of this Sacrament admitte no other vnderstāding but that he geueth vnto vs in these holy mysteries his selfe same body and his selfe same bloude in truth of
the table of Christ and doo take of his body and bloud but they doo adore onely and be not also fylled for as much as they doo not folowe him Likewise in his exposition vpon that Psalme In Psal 2◠All the riche also sayeth he there of the earth haue eaten the body of the humblenes of their lord neither haue they ben fylled as the poore vntill the folowing But yet they haue adored and worshipped it that is by adoration they haue acknowleged Christ their lord there present Furthermore writing against Faustus the heretike of the Maniches secte amongest other thinges he sheweth how the Ethnikes thought that christē people for the honour they dyd before the blessed Sacramēt that is of the bread and wyne consecrated dyd honor Bacchus and Ceres which were false goddes honoured of the Gentiles for the inuention of wyne and corne Whereof may iustly be gathered an argument that in those dayes faithfull people worshipped the body and bloud of Christ in the Sacramēt vnder the formes of bread and wyne For elles the infidelles could not haue suspected them of doing idolatrie to Bacchus and Ceres One other most euident place touching this honour and adoration we fynde in him rehearsed by Gratian. lib. Sent. Prosperi De consecrat dist 2 can Nos autem we doo honour sayeth he in forme of bread and wyne which we see thinges inuisible that is to faye fleshe and bloud Neither take we likewise these two formes as we tooke them before consecration Sith that we doo faithfully graunt that before cōsecration it is bread and wyne which nature hath shapte but after cōsecration fleshe and bloud of Christ which the blessing of the priest hath consecrated Leauing a number of places that might be alleaged out of the auncient fathers for the confirmation of this matter to auoyde tediousnes I will conclude with that most plaine place of Theodoritus Who speaking of the outward signes of the Sacrament sayeth that notwithstanding they remaine after the mysticall blessing in the proprietie of their former nature as those that may be sene and felte nolesse then before yet they are vnderstanded and beleued to be the thinges which they are made by vertue of cōsecratiō and are worshipped with godly honour His wordes be these Intelligūtur ea esse quae facta sunt Dialogo 2 creduntur adorātur vt quae illa sint quae credūtur These mysticall signes sayeth he are vnderstāded to be those thinges which they are made and so they are beleued and are adored as being the thīges which they are beleued to be With which wordes Theodoritus affirmeth bothe the reall presence and also the adoration The reall presence in that he sayeth these outward signes or tokens after consecration to be made thinges which are not sene but vnderstanded and beleued whereby he signifieth the inuisible thing of this Sacrament the body and bloud of Christ Adoratiō he teacheth with expresse termes and that because through power of the mysticall blessing the signes be in existence and in dede the thinges which they are beleued to be soothly the body and bloud of Christ For otherwise god forbydde that christen people shuld be taught to adore and worship the insensible creatures bread and wyne Of which he sayeth that they are adored not as signes not so in no wise but as being the thinges which they are beleued to be Now I reporte me to the Christen reader whether this Adoratiō of the Sacrament whereby we meane the godly worship of Christes body in the Sacrament be a newe deuise or no brought into the church but lately about three hūdred yeres past Fol. 20. as M. Iuell maketh him selfe sure of it in his sermon And whereas vtterly to abolishe this adoration Fol. 26. he alleageth great danger of idolatrie in case the priest do not truly cōsecrate thereto may be answered Gen. 29. that Iacob stoode in no danger of conscience for that by the procurement of Laban he laye with Lya in stede of Rachel neither for the same was he to be charged with aduowtrie because he meāt good faith and thought him selfe to haue had the companie of his wyfe Rachel So idolatrie is not to be imputed vnto him that worshippeth Christ with godly honour in the bread not cōsecrate which of good faith he thinketh to be consecrate Touching this case S. Augustine hath this notable saying Inchi 60 We haue nede sayeth he to put a difference in oure iudgemēt and to knowe good from euyll for as much as Sathan chaunging his shape sheweth him selfe as an angell of light least through deceite he leade vs a syde to some perniciouse thinges For when he deceiueth the senses of the bodye and remoueth not the mynde from true and right meaning wherein ech man leadeth a faithfull lyfe there is no perill in religion Or if whē he fayneth him selfe good and doth or sayeth those thinges that of congruence perteine to good angels although he be thought to be good this is not a perilouse or sickely errour of Christian faith But when as by these thinges he begynneth to bring vs to thinges quite contrarie then to knowe him from the good Spirite and not to go after him it standeth vs much vpon diligently to watche and take heede Thus S. Augustine This much for th'adoration of the Sacrament or rather of Christ in the Sacrament maye suffise Or that the Sacrament was then or now ought Iuell to be hanged vp vnder a Canopie Of the reuerent hanging vp of the Sacrament vnder a Canopie ARTICLE IX IF M. Iuell would in plaine termes denye the reseruatiō and keping of the blessed Sacrament for which purpose the Pyxe and Canopie serued in the Churches of England as of the professours of this newe gospell it is bothe in word and also in dede denyed it were easy to proue the same by no small number of auctorities such as him selfe can not but allowe for good and sufficient But he knowing that right well guilefully refrayneth from mētion of that principall matter and the better to make vp his heape of Articles for some shewe against the Sacrament by denyall reproueth the hanging vp of it vnder the Canopie thereby shewing him selfe like to Momus who espying nothing reproueable in fayer Venus fownde faulte with her slypper Whereto we saye that if he with the rest of the Sacramentaries would agree to the keping of the Sacramēt thē would we demaunde why that maner of keping were not to be liked And here vpon proufes made of defaulte in this behalfe and a better waye shewed in so small a matter conformitie to the better would sone be persuaded Diuerse maners of keping the blessed Sacrament In other christen countries we graunt it is kepte otherwise vnder locke and keye in some places at the one ende or syde of the aulter in some places in a chappell buylded for that purpose in some places in the vestrie or in some inward
the begynning vntill the fourth daye was not in any subiecte but susteined by the power of God as him lyked For that first light and the sunne were as whitenesse and a body withed sayeth S. Basile Neither then was Wiclef yet borne who might teache them that the power of God can not put an accidēt without a subiect Lib. 2. histor hussitarum For so he sayeth in his booke de apostasia cap. 5. as Cochlaeus reporteth Hereof it appeareth out of what roote the Gospellers of our countrie spring Who smatching of the sape of that wicked tree and hereby shewing theire kinde appoint bowndes and borders to the power of God that is infinite and incomprehēsible And thus by those fathers we maye conclude that if God can susteine and kepe accidentes with substance he can so doo without substance Or that the priest then diuided the Sacrament in three partes and afterward receiued him selfe all alone Iuell Of diuiding the Sacrament in three partes ARTICLE XI OF the priestes receiuing the Sacrament him selfe alone ynough hath ben sayde before This terme All here smatcheth of spite For if any deuout person require to be partetaker with the priest being worthely disposed and examined he is not tourned of but with all gentlenes admitted And in this case the priest is not to be charged with receiuing all alone Albeit respecte had to the thing receiued how many so euer receiue it is all of all and all of euery one receiued Concerning the breaking of the Sacrament and the diuiding of it in three partes first it is broken by the priest that we may knowe our lord in fractione panis in the breaking of the breade as the two disciples acknowleged him to whom Iesus appeared in the daye of his Resurrection Luc. 24. as they were going to Emaus And also that thereby the passion of Christ may be represented to our remembraunce at which his pretiouse body was for our synnes broken rent and torne on the crosse And this maner was vsed at the Sacrifice in the Apostles tyme as it is witnessed by Dionysius S. Paules scoler Ecclesias hierarch cap. 3. Opertum panem Pontifex aperit in frusta concidens etc. The bishop sayeth he openeth the couered breade diuiding it in pieces etc. Now touching the diuiding of the Sacramēt in three partes The diuiding of the Sac. in three partes a tradition of the Apostles it may appeare to be a Tradition of the Apostles or otherwise a custome very auncient for as much as Sergius the bishop of Rome who lyued within lxxx yeres of the syx hundred yeres after Christ that M. Iuell referreth vs vnto wrote of the mysterie of that breaking or diuiding the outward forme of bread and declared the signification of the same It is no small argument of the antiquitie of this obseruation that S. Basile as Amphilochius writeth of him diuided the Sacramēt in three partes at his Masse as is aboue rehearsed De consecrat dist 2 can Triforme And where as Sergius sayeth that the portion of the hoste which is put in to the chalice betokeneth the body of Christ that is now risen againe and the portion which is receiued and eaten sheweth his body yet walking on the earth and that other portion remayning on the aulter signifieth his body in the sepulchre what I praye you is there herein that any man shuld be offended with all I acknowledge that the mysterie hereof is otherwise of some declared and of all to this ende to put vs in mynde of the benefites purchaced to vs by Christ in his bodye Now that this custom or mysticall ceremonie was not first ordeined by Sergius for ought that can be gathered but of him expounded onely touching the mysterie of it as vsed before his tyme from the beginning of the churche no one auncient councell or authour fownde vppon whom it may be fathered of good reason sith it hath generally ben obserued we may referre the first institution of it to the Apostles and that according to the mynde of S. Augustine whose notable saying for that behalfe is this Quod vniuersa tenet Ecclesia nec in concilijs constitutum sed semper retentum est non nisi auctoritate Apostolica traditū rectissimè creditur What sayeth he the vniuersall churche kepeth neither hath ben ordeined in councelles but hath alwaies ben obserued of good right we beleeue it hath ben delyuered to the church as a Tradition by the auctoritie of the Apostles To conclude if any sparke of godlynes remaine in our deceiued countrie men and brethren they will not scorne and dispyse this auncient ceremonie of diuiding the Sacrament in three partes at the blessed Sacrifice of the Masse whereof any occasion of euill is not onely not ministred but rather contrarywise whereby we are admonished and stirred to tender our owne soule helth and to rendre thākes to God for the great benefite of our redemption Or that who so euer had sayed the Sacrament is a figure Iuell a pledge a token or a remembraunce of Christes bodye had therefor ben iudged for an heretike Of the termes figure figne token etc. by the fathers applyed to the Sacrament ARTICLE XII IN this article we doo agree with M. Iuell in some respecte For we confesse it can not be auouched by scripture auncient councell doctour or example of the primitiue church that who so euer had sayde the Sacrament is a figure a pledge a token or a remēbraunce of Christes body had therefore ben iudged for an heretike No man of any learning euer wrote so vnlearnedly Much lesse to impute heresie to any man for saying thus hath ben any of the highest mysteries or greatest keyes of our Religion with which vntruth M. Iuell goeth abowt to deface the truth Wherefore this article semeth to haue ben put in either of malice toward the church or of ignorance or onely to fill vp the heape for lacke of better stuffe Perusing the workes of the auncient and learned fathers we fynde that oftentymes they call the Sacrament a figure a signe a token a mysterie a sampler The wordes of them vsed to this purpose in their learned tonges are these Figura Signum Symbolum Mysteriū Exemplar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imago etc. By which they meane not to diminish the truth of Cristes body in the Sacrament but to signifie the secrete maner of his being in the same For the better vnderstāding of such places where these termes are vsed in the matter of the Sacramēt the doctrine of S. Augustine in sententijs Prosperi may serue very well De consecrat dist 2 can hoc est quod dicimus Which is thus Hoc est quod dicimus quod omnibus modis approbare contendimus sacrificium Ecclesiae duobus confici duobus constare visibili elementorum specie inuisibili Domini nostri Iesu Christi carne sangnine Sacramento id est externo sacro signo et re sacramenti id
Iuell requireth or no it shall not greatly force The credite of the catholike faith dependeth not of olde proufes of a fewe newe cōtrouersed pointes that ben of lesse importaunce As for the people they were taught the truth plainely when no heretike had assaulted their faith craftely The doctrine of the churche The doctrine of the churche is this The body of Christ after due consecration remayneth so long in the Sacrament as the Sacrament endureth The Sacrament endureth so long as the formes of breade and wine continewe Those formes continewe in their integritie vntill the other accidentes be corrupted ad perishe As if the colour weight sauour taste smell and other qualities of bread and wine be corrupted and quite altered then is the forme also of the same annichilated and vndone And to speake of this more particularly sith that the substance of bread and wine is tourned into the substance of the body and bloud of Christ as the scriptures auncient doctours the necessary consequent of truth and determination of holy churche leadeth vs to beleue if such chaunge of the accidentes be made which shuld not haue suffised to the corruption of bread and wine in case of their remaindre for such a chaunge the body and bloud of Christ ceaseth not to be in this Sacrament whether the chaunge be in qualitie as if the colour sauour and smell of bread and wine be a litle altered or in quantitie as if thereof diuision be made into such portions in which the nature of bread and wine might be reserued But if there be made so great a chaunge as the nature of bread and wine shuld be corrupted if they were present then the body and bloud of Christ doo not remaine in this Sacrament as when the colour and sauour and other qualities of bread and wine are so farre chaunged as the nature of bread and wine might not bear it or on the quātities syde as if the bread be so small crōmed into dust and the wine dispersed into so small portiōs as their formes remaine no lenger thē remaineth no more the body and bloud in this Sacramēt Thus the body and bloud of Christ remayneth in this sacrament so long as the formes of bread and wine remaine And when they faile and cease to be any more then also ceaseth the body and bloud of Christ to be in the Sacrament For there must be a conuenience and resemblaunce betwen the Sacraments and the thinges whereof they be sacraments which done awaie and loste at the corruption of the formes and accidents the sacraments also be vndone and perishe and consequently the inward thing and the heauenly thing in them conteined leaueth to be in them Here because many of them which haue cutte them selues from the churche condemne the reseruation of the Sacrament Of reseruation of the Sacrament and affirme that the body of Christ remayneth not in the same no longer then during the tyme whiles it is receiued alleaging against reseruation the example of the Paschall lambe in the olde lawe Exod. 12. wherein nothing ought to haue remained vntill the morning and likewise of manna I will rehearse that notable and knowen place of Cyrillus Alexandrinus Ad Colosyriū Arsenoiten Episcopū citat Thomas parte 3. q. 76. his wordes be these Audio quòd dicant mysticam benedictionem si ex ea remonserint in sequentem diem reliquiae ad sanctificationem inutilem esse Sed insaniunt haec dicentes Non enim alius fit Christus neque sanctum eius corpus immutabitur Sed virtus benedictionis viuifica gratia manet in illo It is tolde me they saye that the mysticall blessing so he calleth the blessed Sacrament in case portions of it be kepte vntill the nexte daie is of no vertue to sanctification But they be madde that thus saye For Christ becōmeth not an other neither his holy body is chaunged but the vertue of the consecration and the quickening or lyfe geuing grace abydeth still in it By this saying of Cyrillus we see that he accompteth the errour of our aduersaries in this Article no other then a mere madnes The body of Christ sayeth he which he termeth the mysticall blessing because it is a most holy mysterie done by consecration once consecrated is not chaunged but the vertue of the consecration and the grace that geueth lyfe whereby he meaneth that fleshe assumpted of the word remayneth in this sacrament also when it is kepte verely euen so long as the outward formes continewe not corrupte Or that a Mouse or any other worme or beaste maye eate the body of Christ Iuell for so some of our aduersaries haue sayd and taught What is that the Mouse or vvorme eateth ARTICLE XXIII VVhereas M. Iuell imputeth this vile asseueratiō but to some of the aduersaries of his syde he semeth to acknowledge Iuell cōtrarieth him selfe that it is not a doctrine vniuersally taught and receiued The like may be sayde for his nexte Article And if it hath ben sayd of some onely and not taught vniuersally of all as a true doctrine for Christen people to beleue how agreeth he with him selfe saying after the rehearsall of his number of Articles the same none excepted to be the highest mysteries and greatest keyes of our religion For if that were true as it is not true for the greatest parte then shuld this Article haue ben affirmed and taught of all For the highest and greatest pointes of the catholike Religion be not of particular but of vniuersall teaching Concerning the matter of this Article what so euer a mouse worme or beaste eateth the body of Christ now being impassible and immortall susteineth no violence iniurie no villanie As for that which is gnawen bytten or eaten of worme or beaste whether it be the substaunce of bread as appeareth to sense which is denyed because it ceaseth through vertue of consecration or the outward forme onely of the Sacrament as many holde opinion which also onely is broken and chawed of the receiuer the accidentes by miracle remayning without substance In such cases happening contrary to the intent and ende the sacrament is ordeined and kepte for it ought not to seme vnto vs incredible the power of God consydered that God taketh awaie his body from those outward formes and permitteth either the nature of breade to retourne as before consecration or the accidentes to supplye the effectes of the substance of breade As he commaunded the nature of the rodde which became a serpēt to retourne to that it was before when God would haue it serue no more to the vses it was by him appointed vnto The graue autoritie of S. Cyprian addeth great weight to the balance for this iudgemēt in weighing this matter who in his sermon de lapsis by the reporte of certaine miracles sheweth that our lordes body made it selfe awaye from some that being defyled with the sacrifices of idols presumed to come to the communion er they
To conclude the being of Christes body in the Sacrament is to vs certaine the maner of his being there to vs vncertaine and to God onely certaine Iuell Or that Ignoraunce is the mother and cause of true deuotion and obedience MAister Iuell had great nede of Articles for some shewe to be made against the catholike churche when he aduised him selfe to put this in for an Article Verely this is none of the highest mysteries nor none of the greatest keyes of our Religion as he sayeth it is but vntruly and knoweth that for an vntruth For him selfe imputeth it to D. Cole Fol. 77. in his replyes to him as a straunge saying by him vttered in the disputation at Westminster to the wondering of the most parte of the honorable and worshipfull of this realme If it were one of the highest mysteries and greatest keyes of the catholike religion I trust the most parte of the honorable and worshipfull of the realme would not wonder at it Concerning the matter it selfe I leaue it to D. Cole He is of age to answere for him selfe Whether he sayde it or no I knowe not As he is learned wise and godly so I doubte not but if he sayde it therein he had a good meaning and can shewe good reason for the same if he may be admitted to declare his saying as wise men would the lawes to be declared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so as the mynde be taken and the word spoken not alwayes rigorously exacted August de Trinit lib. 1. cap. 4. Haec mea fides est quoniam haec est catholica fides This is my faith for as much as this is the catholike faith THE CONCLVSION EXHORting M. Iuell to stande to his promise THus your Chalenge M. Iuell is answered Thus your negatiues be auouched Thus the pointes you went about to improue by good auctoritie be proued and many others by you ouer rashely affirmed clearly improued Thus the catholike Religion with all your forces layd at and impugned is sufficiently defended The places of prouses which we haue here vsed are such as your selfe allowe for good and lawfull The scriptures examples of the Primitiue church aunciēt Councelles and the fathers of syx hundred yeres after Christ You might and ought likewise to haue allowed Reason Traditiō Custome and auctoritie of the Church without limitation of tyme. The maner of this dealing with you is gentle sober and charitable Put awaye all mystes of blynde selfe loue you shall perceiue the same to be so The purpose and intent towardes you right good and louing in regard of the truth no lesse then due for behoofe of Christen people no lesse then necessary That you hereby might be enduced to bethinke your selfe of that wherein you haue done vnaduisedly and stayde from hasty running forth prickte with vaine fauour and praise of the world to euerlasting damnation appointed to be the reward at the ende of your game that truth might thus be tryed set forth and defended and that our brethren be leadde as it were by the hāde from perilous erroures and dāger of their soules to a right sense and to suertie Now it remaineth that you performe your promise Which is that if any one cleare sentēce or clause be brought for proufe of any one of all your negatiue Articles you would yelde and subscribe What hath ben brought euery one that wilfully will not blindefold him selfe may plainely see If some happely who will seme to haue both eyes and eares and to be right learned will saye hereof they seene heare nothing no marueill The fauour of the parte whereto they cleaue hauing cutte of them selues from the body the dispite of the catholike religion and hatred of the church hath so blinded their hartes as places alleaged to the disproufe of their false doctrine being neuer so euident they see not ne heare not or rather they seing see not Matt. 13. ne hearing heare not Verely you must either refuse the balance which your selfe haue offred and required for triall of these Articles which be the scriptures examples councelles and doctours of antiquitie or the better weight of auctoritie sweaing to our syde that is the truth founde in the auncient doctrine of the catholike church and not in the mangled dissensions of the Gospellers aduisedly retourne frō whence vnaduisedly you haue departed humbly yelde to that you haue stubbernly kickte against and imbrace holesomly that which you haue hated damnably Touching the daily Sacrifice of the Church commaunded by Christ to be done in remembrance of his death that it hath ben and may be well and godly celebrated without a number of communicantes with the priest together in one place which you call priuate Masse within the compasse of your syx hundred yeres after Christ That the communion was then sometymes as now also it is and may be ministred vnder one kynde Of the publike Seruice of the church or commō prayers in a tonge not knowen to all the people That the Bishop of Rome was sometyme called vniuersall bishop and both called and holden for head of the vniuersall church That by auncient doctoures it hath ben taught Christes body to be really substantially corporally carnally or naturally in the blessed Sacramēt of the aulter Of the wonderous but true being of Christes body in mo places at one tyme and of the Adoration of the Sacrament or rather of the body of Christ in the Sacrament we haue brought good and sufficient proufes alleaging for the more parte of these Articles the scriptures and for all right good euidence out of auncient examples councelles or fathers Concerning Eleuation Reseruatiō Remayning of the Accidentes without substance Diuiding the hoste in three partes the termes of figure signe token etc. applyed to the Sacrament many Masses in one church in one daye the reuerent vse of Images the scriptures to be had in vulgar tonges for the common people to reade which are matters not specially treated of in the scriptures by expresse termes all these haue ben sufficiently auouched and proued either by proufes by your selfe allowed or by the doctrine and common sense of the churche As for your twelue last Articles which you put in by addition to the former for shewe of your courage and confidence of the cause and to seme to the ignorāt to haue much matter to charge vs withall as it appeareth they reporte matter certaine excepted of lesse importance Some of them conteine doctrine true I graunt but ouer curiouse and not most necessary for the simple people Some others be through the maner of your vtterance peruerted and in termes drawen from the sense they haue ben vttered in by the church Which by you being denyed might of vs also be denyed in regard of the termes they be expressed in were not a sleight of falsehed which might redounde to the preiudice of the truth therein worthely suspected Verely to them all we haue sayde so much as to sober quiet and godly
wittes may seme sufficient Now this being so what you mynde to doo I knowe not what you ought to doo I knowe right well I wishe you to doo that which may be to your owne and to the peoples soule helth that being by you and your felowes deceiued depende of you to the setting forth of the truth to the procuring of a godly concorde in Christes church and finally to the glory of God This may you doo by forsaking that which perhappes semeth to you truth and is not that which semeth to you learning and is but a floorishe or vernishe of learnig that which semeth to you cleare light and is profounde darknes and by retourning to the church where concerning the faith of a christē man is all truth and no deceite right learning Ioan. 1. and the very light euen that which lightneth euery man coming into this worlde which is there to be fownde onely and not elles where for as much as the head is not separated from the body O that you would once mynde this seriously M. Iuell As for me if either speaking writing or expending might further you therto I shuld not spare tonge nor penne nor any portion of my necessary thinges were it neuer so dere I would gladly powre out all together to helpe you to atteine that felicitie But ô lord what lettes see I whereby you are kepte from that good Shame welth of your estate your worldly acquaintance besyde many others But Syr touching shame which alwayes irketh those that be of any generositie of nature if you call your better philosophie to counsell you shall be taught not to accōpte it shamefull to forsake errour for loue of truth but rather willfully to dwell in errour after that it is plainely detected As for the welth of your estate which some assure you of so long as you maineteine that parte I can not iudge so euill of you but that you thinke how fickle and fraile these worldly thinges bee and how litle to be estemed in respecte of the heauenly estate which remaineth to the obedient children of the church as the contrarie to the rebelles Apostates and renegates Touching your acquaintance what shall the familiaritie of a fewe deceiued persons staye you from that felicitie which you shall acheue with the loue and frendship of all good men of whose good opinion onely ryseth fame and renome Luc. 15. and also with the reioising of the Angels in heauen This your happy chaunge the better and wiser sorte of men will impute to grace mightely by gods power in you wrought Genes 1. 2. Cor. 4. which sundreth light from darknes and maketh light shyne out of darknes Neither shall they iudge that inconstancie where is no chaunge in will but onely in vnderstanding Where the will remaining one alwayes bent to the glorie of God the deceiued vnderstanding is by better instruction corrected and righted there is not inconstancie to be noted but amendment to be praysed Neither shall you in this godly enterprise be alone Many both of olde tyme and of our dayes haue gone this waye and haue broken the yse before you Eusebius of Caesarea in Palaestina Beryllus of Bostra in Arabia and Theodoritus of Cyrus in Persie who forsooke haynouse heresies against Christ and by grace retourned to the catholike faith againe So haue done in our tyme Georgius wicelius Fridericus Staphylus Franciscus Balduinus and many mo Thus hauing called to my mynde the consyderations that are like to withholde you from yelding to the catholike faith frō retourning to the church and from performing your promise I fynde no bandes so strong to kepe you fast in the chayer of pestilence which this long tyme you haue sitten in that through Gods grace working humilitie and denyall of your selfe in your hart whereof I spake in my preface you shuld not easely loose and be in libertie where you might clearly see the light spredde abroad ouer the whole Church and espie the darknes of the particuler sectes of your newe gospell which you lyued in before But all this notwithstanding peraduenture your hart serueth you to stande stowtly according to the purport of your chalenge in the defence of the doctrine you haue professed and for which you haue obteined a bishoprike thinking great skorne to be remoued frō the same by any such meanes as these to you may seme And now perhappes you enter into meditation with your selfe and conferēce with your brethren to frame an answere to this treatise and by contrary writing to fortifie your negatiues Well may you so doo But to what purpose I praye you Well may you make a smoke and a smooder to darken the light for a tyme as men of warre are wont to doo to worke a feate secretly against their enemies But that can not long continewe The smoke will sone vanishe awaye the light of the truth will eftesones appeare Well may you shutte the light out of a fewe houses by closing dores and windowes but to kepe awaye the bright sunne frō that great Citie which is set on high vpon a hill doo what ye can Matt. 5. therein all your trauaill your deuises and endeuours shall be vaine and frustrate As iron by scowring is not onely not consumed but kepte frō ruste and canker and is made brighter so the church by the armures and hostilitie of heretikes is not wounded but through occasiō strengthened styrred to defence and made inuincible When it is opressed then it ryseth when it is inuaded then it ouercometh When by the aduersaries obiections it is chekte and controlled then it is acquitted and preuaileth Wherefore talke preache and write against the doctrine of the church whiles ye will ye shall but spurne against the stone where at ye may breake your shynnes and be crushed to pieces Matt. 21. Act. 9. the same not moued Ye shall but kicke against the pricke Ye shall but torment youre owne conscience condemned in your owne iudgement Tit. 3. as witting that ye resist the church and for the lyfe to come encreace the heape of euerlasting damnation All the reward ye shall wynne hereby is the vaine fauour of a fewe light and vnstable persons by you deceiued Whom the blastes of your mutable doctrine shall moue and blowe awaye from Gods floore the church Matt. 3. like chaffe the good and constant people remaining still like weighty and sownde wheate The argumētes and reasons you shall make against the doctrine of the church may happely persuade some of the worldly wise who be fooles in Gods iudgement as the reasons of them that haue commended infamouse matters Phauorinus Synesius Glaucus apud Platonem Cornelius Agrippa Erasmus haue persuaded some Of whom one praised the feuer quartane an other drōkennes an other baldnes an other vnrighteousnes and in our tyme one ignorance and an other foolishnes Which by the authours hath ben done onely for an exercise of wittes and rather to the wondering then corrupting of