his word cherished nourished vp in the faith and she at the first giuing vs sucke and afterwards more fast and strong meate through the Communion of Christ his bodye in the Supper we are more and more vnited to him and by this meane inuested into that heauenly inheritance It followeth then that she is the pure Church and true mother who bringeth foorth vs her children through Baptisme regenerateth norisheth vs through the worde knitteth vs to Christ and so a-amongst our selues one to another through the Sacrament of his Supper that is to saye shee is the true mother in which the worde of God is purely preached and the Sacraments according to the same worde duely administred In the Church of Iuda and Israel Circumcision occupied the place of Baptisme the Passeouer of the Supper the worde of God alwayes keeping his place as the ordinarie nourishment of the children of God and therefore we see that after their entrie into the land of Canaan Iosue being admonished by the Lord to repaire those faults committed in the desert made the people to be circumcised and bound them by an othe if they would be his people to keepe the word of God that is to saye if they would bee his Church Likewise Iosias after so great confusions and mingle mangles when he would reforme the Church in which there was not so much as that visible marke which circumcision had left in the flesh we see that he began there first digging vp as it were the law which had bene buried published the same and made the people to sweare solemnly vnto it And cōsequently he caused a Passeouer to be proclaymed in these woordes Celebrate the passeouer of the Lord your God as it is written in the booke of this couenant that is to say according to the ordināce of the Lord your god Esdras also after he was returned frō Babylon for to reedifie the temple and to restore the Church he began at these foundations he expoundeth the lawe vnto the people and maketh thē to sweare in the forme of that couenant and after to nourish and fortifie them in the hope of their saluation to come he restoreth againe the true vse of the Paschall according to those things sayeth he which were written in the booke of Moses To be short al the true seruants of God after that there came any great scattering of the Church being willing to redresse it they haue alwaies before al other things restored these markes no otherwise then a good Captaine who after a great slaughter confusion raungeth his men into an aray and planteth his standerds in some high place to the end they may shew them selues to all sides Iesus Christ who is the true husband hath giuen vs no other markes to knowe his espouse by For this cause that he calleth the Church his wife he teacheth her her duety which is to obey his worde and not to hearken to the voyce of a straunger not to lose the tokens nor to defile the Iewels and pledges of her mariage but marke how he speaketh in expresse wordes He that is of the trueth heareth my voice And againe My sheepe heare my voice and I knowe them and they followe me and in another place Ye heare not because you are not of god The pure wife and Church then of the trueth is onely she which heareth the voyce of Christ Not a voyce in the ayre or an imaginatiue voyce but that voyce which hath it Echo out of the scriptures and which will resound vntill the end to witte the same that is pronounced by the mouth of his Prophets Apostles vpon which Saint Paul teacheth vs that the Church is founded Christ Iesus being the chiefe corner stone This is the cause why sending foorth his Apostles to erecte the Christian Churches he saith vnto thē Goe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father c. and teaching them to keepe all that I haue commanded you And in the Actes we reade that the faithfull continued in the doctrine of the Apostles in the Communion breaking of bread in prayers which is no other thing but a briefe description of the true Church of Christ instructed by the worde in true faith and knit together in true charitie through the Communion that is in him The which thing S. Ambrose teacheth vs saying that the Catholique Church is that where God speaketh with his seruāts and S. Augustine also whē he placeth the ministerie of ministers pastors of the Church in the word of God Sacramēts Let vs yet adde hereunto the third mark of this church albeit it be not of the substance but outward to wit the lawful vocation of pastors ministers of the Church which haue the administration of the things aforesaid For seeing that there is question of preaching be it by the word or by the Sacraments which are vnto vs as a word that may be felt and that to preach it behoueth that the ministers be sent it is very necessary that the Church of God haue an order to send forth their pastors But more shal be seene of this point in another place We wil call then the true pure Churches all those wherein we finde the worde of God and Sacraments purely and lawfully administred that is to say as Cyprian saith according to the institution of the Lorde And we nothing doubt to communicate with them that God is there president howsoeuer in some certaine pointes of doctrine there haue bene some errour and in the outward policie some abuse and corruption and impuritie in maners for it behooueth that alwayes we resort thither when the chiefe pointes of the foundation of our saluation be there truly taught seeing we are men the Churches are compounded of men as speache and language consist of syllables and letters of the qualities of which men as long as the Church is in this world she is alwayes a partaker As concerning the false and impure Churches they are not so easely to be defined Trueth soundnes and right are but of one sort but errors diseases crookednesses are without nomber Againe there are many kindes degrees of impure Churches notwithstanding we can say in one worde that al those Churches are impure in which the word of the Lord and his Sacraments are impurely ministred that is are administred both against the honor of God and the saluation of our neighbour and because that the whole Gospel is nothing else but faith and charitie and whole Christ nothing but head and body we may make two principall kindes thereof calling those Heretikes which erre in the faith doctrine of Christ those schismatikes which sunder themselues from charitie and from the communion of his body which is the Church yea although they agree otherwise to the trueth of doctrine in all pointes Nowe as there are many pointes in the
by the Scriptures which were giuen vnto vs by the holie Ghost reiecting whatsoeuer is not agreeable to them as enemie to our saluation And against all heretikes he demaundeth that onely the Scripture be vmpire Chrysostom calleth it the most exact balaunce the squire the rule and iudge of all doctrine And in a certayne other place the same sayeth that the Scripture is the accomplishment of the holie Ghost as Christ is of the lawe and that without it we may not alledge the spirite Irence calleth it the foundation and pillar of our faith Tertullian sayeth Take from heretikes the bookes of Ethnikes and winne so much of them that they will rest vpon the Scriptures and they can not stande Also let the shoppe of Hermogenes shewe that it is written if they cannot let them feare the curse which is appoynted for them that adde to or diminishe To bee short they all dryue to this poynt that to examine all doctrine to maintayne the true to vanquishe the false we must haue no other touchstone no other Buckler or sworde but this And this was the cause in the thirde Councill of Carthage it was forbidden to read any thing in the Church but the Canonicall Scriptures And the Imperiall lawe distinguisheth Catholikes from heretikes by the Apostolicall and Euangelicall doctrine and Constantine the great the first Christian Emperour hauing assembled that famous Councill of Nicee wherein there were three hundreth and eyghtene Fathers to dispute agaynst the heresie of Arrius he prescribed them this rule We haue sayeth he the bookes of the Euangelistes Apostles and Prophetes which instruct vs in the holie lawe By these bookes then it behooueth vs to resolue all doubtes and questions And this rule also was there so exactly kept that one Minister alone Paphnutius by name alleadging the Scripture made all the rest to chaunge their opinion who without any grounde of the Scripture for certayne politike and humane considerations were readie to haue abolished the marriage of Ministers To be shorte Gerson and Panormitane euen when the Popes thunderbolts and lyghtning excommunications were most hotte durst yet say and write that one poore lay man alleadging a text of the olde or newe Testament ought to be preferred before the Pope yea and before a generall Councill erring through ignorance or of malice against the text of Gods worde which ought to bee thought no more straunge then if they had sayde that the worde of God alone hath more wayght then all the Doctors of the worlde together who are nothing else with all their knowledge but ignorance and vanitie I haue bene long in this poynt because nowe a dayes they alwayes speake vnto vs of the fathers and I pray the readers to take a little payne to reade the places themselues because they shall finde them yet more playne and full then the desire that I haue to be short suffereth me to write at large With Isaie the Prophete therefore we call our aduersaries to the Lawe with Abraham to Moses and the Prophetes with Christ to the Scriptures with all the fathers and Christian Doctors to the olde and newe Testament If this Iudge then which heretofore hath decyded all cōtrouersies which hath bene so reuerently accepted euen of the greatest parte of heretikes themselues can not please thē either they must alledge great causes of refusall against it or else all the worlde will holde their doctrine more suspect then the doctrine of al the heretiks that euer were Their first cause of refusing the holie Scriptures is for that they are imperfect But I demaunde of them if they will require any other perfection then a doctrine sufficient to saluation If they content themselues to be saued Saint Iohn hath tolde vs that that which he hath written is sufficient to beleeue in Christ and to haue lyfe in his name and as concerning the things which are omitted S. Augustine pronounceth that he is rash which presumeth to ghesse what they are Saint Paul also sayth that the holy Scriptures are sufficient to make the man of God perfect and wise to saluation That they comprehende sufficiently the rule of faith and whatsoeuer belongeth to the seruice of god Beholde then sufficiently wherewithall to saue them If they wil not cōtent thēselues with saluation but call the Scriptures imperfect because they finde not there the determination of certaine curious questions which they handle in their schooles and yet they doe the Scriptures wrong for there they shall finde their condemnation Moreouer I demaunde of them from whence this imperfection can come Is this of Christ nay rather he is perfection it selfe And seeyng he came to accomplishe our saluation it must needes bee he of whome the Church must wayte for the reuelation of all things He then coulde beyng perfectly wise and woulde beyng perfectly good teache his Church whatsoeuer myght belong vnto her saluation Or is this imperfection of the Apostles but they receyued this woorde of lyfe from his mouth and after hee sent vnto them his holie Spirite to recorde it and to put them in minde thereof in such sorte that they preached saluation to all nations and as Ireneus sayeth that which they preached by mouth they haue left vnto vs by wryting to be the pillar and foundation of our fayth The whole faulte then commeth not that wayes it remayneth then that the whole imperfection bee in men who not fynding in the Scriptures their imperfections they esteeme it imperfect as they that haue swilled in the snowe waters from the mountaynes call those imperfect which haue not wyde and hanging throtes like themselues for that they haue not their superfluous imperfection We finde in the Scriptures the inuocation of one God alone by meanes of Iesus Christ alone but they would find there the inuocation of Saints We there finde that purgatorie cleansing is in the onely blood of Iesus Christ they woulde finde there that purgatorie which they haue taken out of Virgill and Plato We there finde one onely Mediator but they would finde as manie there as there are saints in their kalender They call these things imperfections in the Scripture which are rather so manie infections in their Church Furthermore I demaunde be it that a man thinke that there wanteth something who shall be so hardie after such a workeman to put to his hande to make it perfect If a man saye the Doctors why then quite contrarie finde it onely perfect in it as in a glasse they acknowledge the imperfections both of others and of themselues If they will bryng in the Church through her traditions why it is shee that hath taught vs to cut of by the bookes of this Canon all that we finde not therein and further shee is forbidden to serue God according to her traditions and commaunded to be a scholer of this word and we knowe that this is not the parte of a scholer to vsurpe aboue
both the name the person the which our text plainely sheweth vs the which he would neuer haue done if it ought to haue bene vnderstoode of Peter not of the confession of Peter Againe I leaue it to the iudgement of euery Christiā whether it be more agreeable to the faith more healthful for the Church either that the Church be founded vpon Christ or vpon Peter vpon the Sonne of the liuing God whom Peter cōfessed or vpon Peter who a litle while after denyed the sonne of the liuing God vpon him that vanquished Satan or vpon him whom Christ himselfe in the very same Chapter calleth Satan himselfe vpon him who is called the chiefe corner stone of the building or vpon him who was an offēce vnto him that is to say a stone of great stumbling None sayth S. Paul can laye any other foundation but that which is layde which is Christ Also S. Peter saith You are as liuing stones built vpon the chiefe corner stone in whom whosoeuer beleeueth he shal not be confounded that is to saye in that confession of Christ which he called the rocke and foundation of his Church It appeareth then by this place that Christ hath builded it vpon himselfe not vpon Simon Peter and vpon the confession of fayth which Peter made and not vpon the fayth of Peter which was too much wauering and vnstedfast And in very deede where Saint Iohn recyteth this story he resteth wholly vpon Peters confession But to the ende they abuse not the people vnder the visard of antiquitie we must see what the auncient Doctors haue taught vpon this place Chrysostome vpon Saynt Matthewe Vpon this stone that is to saye vpon the fayth of this confession Also he hath sette our feete vpon the rocke that is to saye vpon fayth For fayth in Christe by good right is called a rocke that cannot be broken and therefore when Saint Peter had confessed Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God Christ added Thou art Peter vpon this rocke that is to say vpon this fayth which thou hast cōfessed c. Saint Ambrose Iesus Christ hath sayd vnto Peter and vpon this rocke c. that is to say vpon the confessiō of the Catholike faith I will establish the faythfull vnto euerlasting life Saynt Augustine Peter was founded vpon the rocke to the ende he should suffer death for the loue of him whom through feare he had thrise denyed Also the Church likewise is founded vpon the rocke whereof also Peter had his name For a rocke or stone commeth not of Peter but rather Peter of the rocke as Christian commeth of Christ and not Christ of Christian And because Peter had sayde Thou art Christ c. Our Sauiour added vpon this rocke which thou hast confessed will I build my Church Christ then is the rocke vpon which S. Peter himselfe was founded builded For none can lay any other foundatiō then that which is already layd to wit Christ Againe he wil not say vpō this Peter I wil build my Church but vpon this faith vpon that which he had saide Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God c. Here vpon this rocke saith he I wil found my Church Also Vpon this rocke which thou hast cōfessed vpō this stone which thou hast acknowledged wil I build my church I wil build my Church vpō me not vpō thee but thee vpō me The mē that will build vpō men they wil say I hold of Cephas that is to say of Peter of Paul and of Apollo but they who wil not be builded vpon Peter but vpon the rocke they wil say I holde of Christ This is the interpretatiō of S. Augustine repeated in many places of his bookes of the citie of God euery where where he handleth this matter Saint Hierome vpon this place By the rocke we vnderstande Christe whom Peter confessed For if we take Peter for a stone of the foundation all the Apostles shall be alike according to that which we see in the Apocalypse And this is the verie opinion of Cardinall Cusan in his booke of the Catholike Concorde presented to the counsell of Constance who proueth it euen by the Canon lawe it selfe and maintaineth it against the Pope Saint Bernard The rocke is in heauen In the same is stedfastnesse and assurance And in deede where else can it be but in our Sauiour The world roareth the flesh oppresseth me the world doggeth and hangeth vpon me and yet for all this I fall not for I am founded vpon a sure rocke To be short let them reade their owne common glose Super hanc Petram vpon this rocke that is to say vpon Christ in whom thou beleeuest and the interlineall glose Thou art Peter but frō me which am the rocke and alwaies in such sort as I reserue to my selfe the dignitie of the foundation of the Church Beholde then that by the interpretation of the auncient fathers none neede to dashe against this stone Nowe if our aduersaries reply that some of the auncient fathers interpret it as they doe and namely Saint Augustine in some place I aunswere that if a man reade those places he shall finde that it was but by the way and as it were in handlying another thing And in deede Saint Augustine in his booke of retractations hath retracted it in these wordes It fell out that I sayd in a certaine place that in the Apostle Saint Peter the Church was buyled as vpon a rocke but for the most part I haue expounded it of him whome Peter confessed I was abused by an Hymne of Saint Ambrose common ynough where he saith that at the crowing of the Cocke the rocke wept This is a Poeticall maner of speaking and therefore Christ saide not vnto hym Tu es Petra but Tu es Petrus For the rocke is Christe whome Simon had confessed Besides he is so farre of from taking Peter for the foundation of the Church that in another place he sayeth that Iames Peter and Iohn seemed to be the pillars of the Church but that in trueth they were not And Saint Hierome sayth that the Apostles are pillars of the Church principally Peter Iames and Iohn but that all they which ouercome the Deuill by fayth may be so aswell as they But here they run to their ordinary distinction That it is certayne that Christ is the essentiall head of the Church but yet that Peter is the Ministeriall head that is to say that he is likewise called so by reason of his ministerie But we demaunde in what place either of the Scriptures or of the fathers them selues they finde this And we haue alreadie proued that there can be had no ministeriall head which is the selfe same thing But againe let them answere vs whether Peter had any other Ministerie besides his Apostleshippe If he had any other let them take it and shewe
time to time howe they are groūded vpon mans lawe and that which wee call positiue They holde that S. Peter was crucified vnder Nero in the yeere of our Lorde 69 and that Clement succeeded him Others say that Linus succeeded him then Saint Iohn yea and Iames himselfe If we beleeue those bookes supposed to bee Clements they shoulde haue obeyed Clement as head of the Church for he succeeded as they saye in Peters Authoritie he ought to haue no lesse authoritie then the popes at this daye who can dispense with Paules epistles A wonderfull case that the primitiue Church when they made the Canon of those bookes that should haue authoritie in the Church that they should rather put in those bookes of Iames and Iohn then of Clement the principall heire and successour of the holy ghost by the vertue of Saint Peters chaire A wonderfull matter further that this Clemēt made so smal accompt of succession so necessary in the Church seeing that in his epistle which he writeth to Iames Bishop of Ierusalem he calleth him our Lordes brother the Bishoppe of Bishops and gouernour of the Church of Ierusalem and of all others throughout all the worlde But yet a more wonderfull matter that they shoulde bee found so impudent in the light of good learning that at this day shineth as to foūd the papacie vpon those gaye bookes of Clement in which there are so many falsehoodes Clement writeth to Saynt Iames after Peters death and teacheth him the institution of our Lorde when as the Scripture witnesseth that S. Iames was martyred long before in Ierusalem and that as long as hee liued he was to teach Clement such matters and not to learne them of him And yet this is one of the notablest authors that they can alledge But let vs proceede We holde the Apostles Creede from the beginning of the Christian Church And we there finde the Catholike church But this article of the faith that pope Boniface the eight made is not therein That if we will be saued we must acknovvledge the pope to be the soueraigne Lord. Saint Cyprian saith That there is but one Bishoppricke of vvhich euery Bishop holdeth his parte vvholy vvithout any diuision Also that none of his time either called or made him selfe Bishoppe of Bishops eyther made through tyrannie his companions subiect to his obedience Also he complaineth that certaine prophane men and Schismatikes vvith drevve them selues to the bish of Rome who saith he hath none but certaine desperate wicked fellovves that stay vpon him making thē selues beleeue that the Bishops of Affricke haue lesse povver then the Bishops of Rome And in very deede he calleth not Stephen Cornelius bishops of Rome other thē brethren cōpanions handleth Stephen rudely enough in manye places To be short a litle after his death the church of Affricke decreed in the councill of Carthage that none should be called the prince or chiefe of ministers or the first Bishoppe but onely according to the dignitie of Cities the Bishoppe of the first See. Irenee very liuely reproueth Victor the Bishop of Rome who through a certaine shamelesse ambition had excommunicated the Churches of Asia for disagreeing about the Passeouer The Ministers saith he vvhich haue helde the eldershippe of the Church ouer vvhich thou novv doest gouerne Anicetus Pius Higinus c. haue not done as thou hast done neither they also vvhich vvere vvith them Tertullian who otherwise is wont to attribute verye much to Saint Peter scorneth the Bishop of Rome his great ambition which then began to shew it selfe albeit in a certaine place he maketh a long narration of the praises of the Church of Rome yet he teacheth not neither neere nor farre of that which is the principall to wit that it was the infallible seat of the holy Ghost by Peters successiō And yet these are for all that the very firste of all antiquitie and in whose time the Church of Christ more florished then at any time In the time of Constātine as the church had more liberty so it had also more ambition then Bishops begā first to think on miters that before time thought nothing els but to be martyrs That same famous Council of Nice was then called together by Constantine the Emperour to the ende to decide the matter of Arrius The B. of Romes deputies were there but they sate onely in the fourth place Yea one decree was there made by which certaine limits were attributed to euerie patriarke ouer which the Canon gaue them equall authority which the Bishop of Rome was wont to haue ouer the neighbour Churches of his citie They went about by infinite meanes to corrupt the canons of this councill as the histories do witnesse vnto vs But Cusan the Cardinal alledging this Councill acknowledgeth the trueth in these words By this we see saith he how much authoritie the Pope hath gotten in our time against the sacred auncient constitutions and altogether through the lēgth of time and custome of a slauish subiectionall obedience And yet in meane time Iulius with standeth it not neither doe his Legates alledge to the fathers of the Councill their Tibi dabo I will giue vnto thee nor their Pasce oues meas Feed my sheep for as yet they were not studyed so deeply therin but they rested onely in the ordinance of the Councill which afterwardes was confirmed by the Councils of Antioche and of Constantinople And this was about the time that they woulde deuise the donation of Constantine to pope Syluester confuted by so many learned men so long time agoe that none but such as are ignorant will beleeue it But if they will beleeue the original which is kept in Vaticā in the popes library in goldē letters let thē also beleeue these words which are written added in the end Quam fabulā longi tēporis mēdacia finxit that is to say in the proper words of ill latine This is a fable which an old lye hath forged Or if they wil therin beleeue the legend of Pope Syluester then let them also beleeue that which it sayeth that then was hearde a voyce from heauen saying Hodie effusum est venenum in Ecclesiam that is to say At this day poyson is shedde into the middest of the Church In the first and seconde Councill of Ephesus Cyrillus and Dioscorus Patriarches of Alexandria did gouerne there though the Bishoppe of Rome there had his deputies And it forceth not to saye that the seconde was not lawfull For this can not be knowen but by the yssue but it sufficeth that in the beginning and then when men thought that it was verye lawfull and that in such a time as the ceremonies were kept there Leo the Bishoppe of Rome neyther his deputies did not there striue for the chiefe place because they thought it to haue no good grounde In the Councill of Chalcedon
were so impudent as to falsifie a decree of the council of Nice bringing foorth in steade thereof the articles of the councill of Sardes yet corrupted and falsified pretending that from all parts men might appeale to the bishop of Rome But the fathers of the councill had learned well to saye that they would not beleeue those productions and therfore sent to the originalls and they being seene they pronounced the quite contrary Leo the first receiued Eutyches condemned by Flauianus the bishop of Constantinople for a time mainteyned him against him whereupon his heresie first tooke footing and grewe which might then at once haue bene quenched But none approued this vsurpation To be short in the time of Chrysostome this ambition was so great amongest them that he complained that to obteine supremacie the bishops of Rome had filled the Churches with blood had defiled the Supper of the Lord with murthers vntill they had vtterly for it destroyed whole cities And he that will see the ciuil warres for they likewise name them which were at Rome betweene Damasus and Vrsicius in the time of Saint Hierome whether of them should be bishop and afterwards betweene Laurence and Symmachus he maye reade them in Ruffinus Amian Marcellin and their owne Pontificall it selfe And howsoeuer it were all the contentions that were made by the bishops of Rome in the auncient Church yea till the time of the murthering of Phocas for the supremacie looke how many they were they were alwaies arguments from age to age and as determined sentences against them in so much that they alwayes lost their cause whatsoeuer instāce they made or whatsoeuer diligence they vsed in pleading of it But they will obiecte vnto me that neuerthelesse the bishop of Rome hath helde the chiefe place amongst the Patriarches I agree thereto but yet I deuie that it was to commaunde others And in deede it is expressely said that he shall not be called vniuersall bishop but onely the bishop of the first See. I say moreouer that this is not in respect that he was the successour of S. Peter and lesse by vertue of those places alledged out of the holy Scripture But because that in seates there must be a first a second place according to humame order I say that this was ordeyned in consideration of that order wherby the citie of Rome was set aboue others If it had bene by the Scriptures it should haue bene a wonderfull thing that for 600. yeeres together these mysteries should haue bene hidden from the Church If in respecte of the founder why not rather at Antioche and at Alexandria after Gregorie or to all other bishopricks after Cusan who saith that all bishops are Peters successors equall in the essentiall dignitie although they differ in the administration and gouernment as the bishops of Spaine themselues haue disputed in the last councill of Trent Moreouer that Hierusalem should be the first and not the fourth seeing the Saluation of the world did there gouerne Or why is Antioche whereof Saint Peter was bishop put after Alexandria which can alledge nothing but the succession of Saint Marke his disciple To be short what hurt hath Saint Iohn the welbeloued disciple of our Lord done vnto them who so long time preached in Ephesus which notwithstanding is not nombred amongst the patriarchall cities Or what newe Apostle hath founded Constantinople three hundred yeres after the death of our Lord to attribute vnto it the second See But there is none that hath but a litle iudgement that doth not well enough marke that all the preeminences of these Sees rather proceede from the rancke and places which their cities holde then from the establishment of Christian religion Rome was then the seat of the Empire and the glorie of all the world good learning there flourished it was the chiefe of all the peoples of the earth and therefore when all the bishops were gathered together they gaue the bishop of Rome the first place for ciuilitie and courtesies sake Likewise wee reade in the histories that Alexandria and Antioch were after Rome the most famous cities and according to that degree which their gouernours helde they also helde their bishopprickes And concerning Ierusalem that was so greatly accompted of for the first originall of true Religion and therefore likewise was not reckoned in the least place for Plinie calleth it the head of all the East but yet her place was ill kept after she had lost her first glorie Afterwards Constantinople came to be builded which was called the second Rome And then also we see the councill of Constantinople where there were sixe hundreth bishops who gaue vnto it the second place which had not bene done if they had had regard to the degree of the founder and not to the degree of the citie by reason of whose might also this dignitie was confirmed vnto it by the Emperour Iustinian Aquila in Italie was called the second Rome Also there was a Patriarchship there established yea Rauenna it selfe was a long time holden not to be subiecte to Rome and it had her owne Cardinalls apart and by themselues and as Venice beganne to growe great so it had the Patriarchship of Grado for it To be short he that shall marke from countrey to countrey the erection of patriarchships and archbishopricks he shal finde no other consideration then this the same that Pope Lucinus saith alledged by Gratian That at the first they instituted Primates of the Church according to temporall policie Also Pope Clement himselfe saith That where there were chiefe Priests of the Painims there they established Primats of Christians the which is repeated in the same wordes by Peter Lombard in his fourth booke of Sentences The councill of Chalcedon wherein notwithstanding the earnest requests of Pope Leo the first the second See was giuen to the Citie Constantinople vseth also the same woordes The fathers vpon good righte with one consent agreed that the priuiledge of the first See should belong vnto olde Rome because of the Empire there and wee also moued with the same consideration agree that the second shal be at new Rome And in the 12. Act of the same council the reasoning betwixt the bishop of Nice of Basianopolis is grounded vpon the dignitie of the cities And to cut of all such controuersies this Canon was there passed That these Cities onely shoulde be holden for Metropolitans to which Kings and Princes had done this honor by their statutes And the Council of Thurin there addeth That if the earthly superioritie were translated from one Citie to another that then the right of the Archbishoprick should be translated likewise To be short when the seate of the Empire was translated to newe Rome that is to say to Constantinople we see that the Bishop of that place by by tooke vnto himselfe the primacie whereof they held euen as much as they coulde and when that
they who haue nothyng but theyr boasting and vaunting although they haue the greatest titles honors in the world to be on theyr side If therefore our aduersaries aske vs what was the calling of our first Ministers which refourmed the Church in these last times we answere that it was the same vocation and succession whereof they themselues doe bragge but the same vocation which they abused our men haue endeuoured to vse will and to that vaine succession wherewith they decked themselues they haue added the succession of true doctrine which they had corrupted without which all succession is nothing els but a continuing of abuse and error Wickleife Iohn Hus Luther Zwinglius Decolompadius Bucer and others of that schoole from whence the Ministers which haue gathered Churches from vnder Antichrist are descended were Priests as they cal them and doctors in diuinitie As Priests Pastors they had charge to preach the trueth vnto the people to minister the Sacraments vnto them according to the institutiō of our lord As doctors they were called to expound diuinitie in their readings in theyr bookes and they were bounde by the ordinary othe of al vniuersities to declare the trueth vnto the Church to confute al doctrines repugnant against the word of God and what then might to expell it Now in their time they found that the word of God was hid vnto the people that the honor which was due to God alone was turned to men to Images that the blood of Christ was troden vnder foote that the sacrament of the supper was partly turned into Idolatry partly denyed to the poore people To be short that all the holy scripture was prophaned poysoned with the Popes gloses popish interpretations And when they shewed these thinges to the Bishops and Metropolitans according to the order of their Church they made no rekoning of thē they were the first that persecuted thē because they themselues were the infected parte of the Church I aske therefore if theyr vocation commaunded them not to goe farther to witte to preach the trueth vnto the people and purely to administer the holy Sacraments And if they had done otherwyse whether they had not bin forsakers of theyr calling contenmers of theyr othe made vnto God and abusers of the people Both two therefore say I both our aduersaries and our first ministers had one and the same ordinarie outward calling But herein is the difference that that which ours haue followed the other haue forsaken that which ours haue done of duetie by reason of their charge the other haue cōcealed Ours haue ledde their sheepe vpon the mountaines of Israel into good pastures the others haue deuoured them or els left them for a pray to the beastes of the field or els driuen them to the fennes and marishes where they haue starued A magistrate shall be called to the gouernment of a common wealth where he shall finde the good lawes corrupted by the negligence or malice of those that went before his Courts full of iniustice the offices subiect to factions briberies and corruptions and he would reforme all this and bring it to the censure of the lawes He that will further nowe aske him by what right he doth this should he not make him self a laughing stocke because he followeth steppe by steppe his calling He hath not sworne to mainteyne abuses but rather to mainteyne the lawes and to prouide euery way that he can for the good and preseruation of the Common wealth Nowe contrarywise if he wincke at that which is euil he should doe directly contrary to his calling Euen so likewise haue our first Ministers done first requiring reformation and afterwards putting to their handes according to their duetie And if we could aske of the Apostles who are their true successors they would not tel vs Such as haue a triple crowne or such a cope or such a miter but those that preach the word of God after our example For so had they learned of the true master That he which doth the wil of God his father is his mother his sister and his brother At the preaching of these first men the pastors of the Churches were awakened in England in Bohemia in Germanie in Scotland in Denmarke in Swedenland and afterwardes many in Fraunce in Spaine and in Italie it selfe and these were sent to bethinke them of their duetie Consequently some whole Realmes were reformed the bishops themselues that there had preached lyes preached the trueth in the selfe same Church pulpit Of these for the most part if our aduersaries will demaund succession it is on their side for they haue succeeded from bishop to bishop frō the first which preached there the Gospell If they aske a vocation why it is euen their owne for they were called to be bishopps and pastors and they haue performed the office which they had forsaken The difference therefore as we haue said is in this onely point that they feede the people with pescod shales and the others in the pasture of life they defile their flockes with the filthinesses of Antichrist and these wash them in the blood of Iesus Christ Beholde then concerning the calling of our first Ministers which hath whatsoeuer may be good in the pretended calling of our aduersaries and this point further That our men lawfully exercise it and the other do but withhold it in vnrighteousnesse And although some of our men as in so corrupt a state of the Church as we haue seene it in our time without wayting for their calling or allowance of them that vnder the title of pastors oppressed the Lords flocke were called by those Churches to which they vowed their ministery yet this ought no more to be thought straunge then in a free common wealth where the people without wayting either for the consent or voyces of those that playe the tyrants shal haue chosen according to the lawes good and lawful magistrates Concerning the vocation of Ministers which were sent by the former and since by vs we haue herein obserued the example of the Apostles and the canons of the primitiue Church If the question be of their persons we haue lawfully examined both their doctrine and maners And this is the rule of Saint Paul That a bishop must be apt to teach and blamelesse If of the persons which make this examination why it was not one man alone but many ministers bishops and elders duely called before to this Church that is to say the Presbyterie or eldershippe as Saint Paul calleth it or as Saint Cyprian calleth it the ecclesiasticall Senate During this examination whereupon dependeth the election the Church continueth in prayer and fasting as we reade in the ordeining of elders in the Acts. Being found meet they are published to the people to the end that if any man hath ought to say against their election he might repaire before the assemblie as we reade was practised