REASONS OF A CHALLENGE SENT TO THE Universities of ENGLAND IN Matters of Religion By Edmund Campion Priest of the Society of Jesus Faithfully Translated into English Permissu Superiorum LONDON Printed for Mat. Turner at the Sign of the Holy Lamb in High-Holbourn MDCLXXXVII To the most Pregnant Wits of the two Famous Universities of Oxford and Cambridge LAst year being come in a Mission to this Isle according to my imployment Renowned Champions I found waves more Tempestuous a great deal on the English Shore than I left in the Britannick Ocean By and by when I had pressed farther into England I saw nothing more common than unaccustomed Tortures nothing more certain than unexpected Dangers I recollected my self as well as I could mindful of the Justice of my cause and not forgetful of the times and lest I should by chance be taken up before I was heard I reduced the intentions of my mind into writing I thought fit to declare to the World what I came for what I zealously endeavour'd for what kind of War I wag'd and against whom I Proclaimed it I had the Original Copy with me which I was resolv'd should be taken with me if I was taken I intrusted a friend with a Copy of it who contrary to my knowledge communicated it to a great many more my Adversaries Rudely seized the Book as soon as it was Published passing their most malicious Censures upon it That one man should Challenge them all in matters of Religion although I should not stand alone in the Field in case I was ingaged for the Publick Faith Hanmer and Charke answered my Challenges and what then disingenously all for they made no material answer but one which will never be approved of We embrace your Proposals the Queen Espouses them make your application to her In the interim they cry our your Society your Seditions your Arrogance a Traytor without doubt a Traytor O Ridiculous Why do Wise Men thus lose their labour and credit But of these two one for his fancies sake made Incursions into my Book the last did more maliciously weigh the whole cause The Book was published lately being very plain treating of our Society of the injuries we sustained and of the Province we now undertake what remains therefore since our Adversaries prepare Torments for me and not the Schools but to prove the matter of Fact to you which Created so much Confidence in me as to demonstratively show the sources of things I would also exhort you whom it concerns above all men to take that care which Christ the Church your Country and Salvation requires of you had I trusted in my Parts Learning Subtilty Reading Memory and Challeng'd such a croud of Adversaries I had been Vain and Arrogant but I never regarded my self nor them but considering the cause I deem'd my self sufficient to uncloud the Sun at Noon Day therefore pardon those heats of Zeal which the honour of Christ my King and the invincible Truth have occasioned Ye know M. Tullius when Roscius did promise him a Victory in case he would defend by dint of Argument that Seven Hundred Miles could not be run in two days did not only not fear the force and efficacy of Hortensius his Arguments but even of those that were his betters the Philippi the Cottae Antonii and Crassi who gain'd to themselves great honour in Rhetorick Indeed there is some Truth so Transparent that no Sophistry in words nor Jugling in things can Eclipse Moreover that is more manifest which we undertake than that supposition of Roscius for if I can prove that there is a Heaven that there are Saints that there is one true Faith that there is a Christ the Victory is mine May I not be then Couragious here They may Martyr me but they can never Baffle me for I insist on those Doctrines which the Spirit hath Taught which is never deceived nor overthrown I beseech you that you would use the means whereby you might obtain Salvation as for the rest I am not at all in suspence but that I shall receive from those I Petition it of if they will apply themselves to study call upon Christ and be diligent they will certainly find out the Truth to the Confusion of its Adversaries in the mean while it behoves us who are so firmly grounded to take the Field with a magnanimous Courage I draw the Curtain here because the rest which I have to say is Dedicated to you Farewel The Heads of the Reasons 1. HOly Scripture 2. The Sense of Holy Scripture 3. The Nature of the Church 4. Councils 5. Fathers 6. Decrees of the Fathers 7. History 8. Paradoxes 9. Sophisms 10. All sorts of Witnesses The Reasons of the Challenge sent to the Vniversities of England by Edmund Campion ALthough there are Innumerable Arguments to Demonstrate our Adversaries Diffidence in their Cause yet not any one so Material as their Violation of the Divine Majesty of the Holy Bible which is the Authority I draw my Sword for against Those who after they have contemned the Votes and Suffrages of all other Witnesses yet are reduced to that Non-plus that they cannot subsist unless they seize on SCRIPTURE and deprive Her of her Stings Indeed they do by their Actions insinuate unto the World as though they were driven into very dangerous Streights and were resolv'd in this so imminent danger of Shipwrack to make their most Audacious Efforts for their Religions and their last What induced the Manichees to reject the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles Distrust in their Cause For at these Volumes they were Thunder-struck who denied Christ Born of the Virgin Mary and who feigned that the Spirit descended from Heaven upon Christians when their Paracletus a Diabolical Persian started up Why did the Ebionites divorce the Epistles of St. Paul Distrust in their Cause for these retaining their pristin Grandeur their Ancient though Polite Imbellishments were antiquated which they forsooth had newly reformed What Instigated Luther that cursed Apostate to Censure the Epistle of St. James as Contentious bigg with Pride and Arrogance insipid empty and unworthy of an Apostolical Spirit Distrust in his Cause For with this Particle of Scripture the Fiend was Wounded and Stabbed to the Heart when he took up the Gauntlet for Justification by Faith only What made Luther's Hell-hounds strike out of the Authentick Canon Tobias Ecclesiasticus Maccabees and many others with the same disgust Distrust in their Cause For with these Oracles they were most Eloquently reprimanded as often as they disputed of Guardian Angels of the Liberty of free will of the Faithful departed this Life and the Intercession of the Saints But is it so Is there so great Infidelity so great Confidence when the Foot-steps of Antiquity and Authority are imprinted in the Church Councils Popes Fathers Martyrs Empires Peoples Laws Universities Histories by Scripture they are resolved to put an end to Controversies
Zuinglian because in that point he could be prejudicial to the Pope yet being taken and bound in the conclusion did yield and acknowledged Christ to be really present in the Holy Sacrament not less against his will than the Devils heretofore being overcome with Miracles called upon the Name of God Let it be so we treated of the Scripture before the Controversie now is on the Sense of Scripture we will search out this from the following words My Body which is given for you my Blood which shall be shed for you as yet Calvin's side is the hardest ours is easie and plain what would ye have more Search the Scriptures ye say well the Scriptures agree St. Paul is for us The Words Clauses and whole Connexion do reverently repeat the Bread and Wine a singular Miracle Heavenly Food Flesh Body and Blood There is nothing enigmatical nothing overclouded with obscurity of words yet our Adversaries persist neither do they make an end of Bantering what do we do Antiquity may be heard I think and Antiquity of time may bring forth that which we cannot see betwixt one another other they do not bring it they say they are betrayed they call the Scripture pure they are averse to mens Comments on it as treacherous and disingenious we urge the Word of God they obscure it we call Saints to witness as Interpreters they withstand them in fine so they order it that unless you will side with the guilty you must not give your judgment at all and so they behave themselves in every Controversie they undertake of infused Grace of inherent Justice of the visibility of the Church of necessity of Baptism of the Sacraments and Sacrifice of the Mass of the merits of the Just of Hope and Fear of the disparity of Sins according to their aggravations of the Authority of Peter of the Keys of Prayers of Evangelical Mysteries and so of other things And we Catholicks have cited a great many weighty Texts of Scripture and discussed them in Books Colloquies Churches they have eluded them we have hinted on the Commentaries of Greek and Latin Writers they have winked at them what then Dr. Martin Luther or certainly Phillippus or to be sure Zuinglius hath faithfully published it or without doubt Calvin or Beza Can I think any Bodys Nose so stopt as not to smell out this deceit wherefore I confess I ardently desire the University Schools that openly I may raise those accomplish'd Souldiers out of their Ambush not to charge them in the hundredth part with my force for alas what is mine but defeat them with the Prevalent and Invincible Truth The Third Reason WHen the name of a Church was heard the Enemy grew pale yet I have devised something which I would have you consider that you might know the ruine and decay of Falshood you are sensible that in the Scriptures both Prophetick and Apostolick there is an honourable mention made of the Church that 't is called the Holy City the Fruitful Vine the High Mountain the Direct Way the only Dove the Kingdom of Heaven the Spouse and Body of Christ the Firmament of Truth that Assembly in which Christ hath infused all things necessary to Salvation against which Catholick Church the Gates of Hell shall never prevail that which whosoever opposes although he Preaches Christ with his mouth does no more injoy him than the Publican or Gentile he dares not contradict me with his roaring he would not seem to resist the Church which the Scripture so often Commemorates he hath craftily retained the name he has carried the day by his definition of it for he hath delineated a Church with these Properties which may be hidden quite remov'd from the senses and Phoenix like may be expos'd to view at a certain time to a very small number and those supernaturally inspir'd they may comprehend her Body Air-like in their understanding and may discern the Members of her Society with the subtile Eye of the Intellect as they may Cuckows Persecuted and Destroyed by their Young ones Where is your Candour Where is your Sincerity What Scriptures What Interpretations what Fathers draw out such a Church with their Pencil There are Epistles of Christ to the Churches of Asia of Peter of Paul John and other Epistles to divers There are many Churches in the Acts of the Apostles begun and propagated what are these Are they visible to God alone and holy men or to Christians of all sorts but Necessity hath no Law For how is it after 15 Ages they find no Town Village or House hath imbibed their Doctrine until that Diabolical Monk had Debauch'd a Devoted Nun by Incestuous Matrimony or Zuinglius the Fencer had Plotted against his Country and the Stigmatiz'd Vagabond had settled at Geneva they are compell'd to expose a Church to view in Caves if they will have one and Adopt them Sons which they never knew nor ever any man saw unless they trace the Foot-steps of their Ancestors who are plainly demonstrated to have been Hereticks as as Aerius Jovenianus Vigilantius Helvidius Iconomachi Berengarius Waldenses Lolhard Wickliff Hass from which several Poysonous Fragments of Opinions went a begging don't you wonder if I did not fear those Meteors which if I can but come to the day-light I will easily dispel for this is our time for Disputation Tell me do you subscribe to the Church which flourished in Ages before Yes Let us then survey Nations Countrys and Times in our mind To what To the Congregation of the Faithful of whom their Names are not known but 't is evident there are a great many how is it evident by God Who promulgated it We who are divinely inspired They are Stories how can I believe them If you are fervent in Faith you should know this so as to live by it When you my Advocates behold these wiles Can you through modesty refrain from smiles That all Christians be enjoyn'd to incorporate themselves into this Church and beware lest they be killed with the Sword of the Spirit to Worship Peace in the House of God to trust to this Pillar of Truth and lay aside all Controversies about it and from henceforth to be cast out as Gentiles so many men to be bound in Chains wheresoever she is Who do these belong to that only thing is in suspence where where is their Church She is reserved for Saints only and those that are Predestinated for Salvation how is it That if any one will Lampoon the Government he may be absolved from the offence so that he fall into the Presbyterian Perswasion and Apostatize from the Church When I found my Adversaries to insinuate such things which was a Custom in no Age of the Church before I was an Orphan to the thing yet put in a word for need and comforted my self with your Wit and Judgment and promised my self so to do until by their own Concessions you would discern their Stratagems and then as Ingenious
and lmbowel its very Body their only Buoy to Posterity exenterating its most goodly and specious parts For the seven Books of the Old Testament to connive at small things were spew'd out by the Calvinists and the Epistle of St. James and five others by the Lutherans with the like Hickups of indigestion about which there was one while a Controversie To these our Modern Presbyterians add the Book of Hester and in a manner the Three Chapters of Daniel which the Anabaptists their contemporaries long since Hiss'd out and derided How modestly did St. Augustine who concluding his Holy Catalogue did not lay down the Hebrew Alphabet for a Rule as the Jews did nor a private Spirit as the Sectaries did but that Spirit which Christ infused into his Church which Church indeed is the Trustee of this Legacy not the Testatrix as some Hereticks do object This Trust the Council of Trent embraced and was challenged by more Ancient Councils The same St. Augustine could not draw into the Scheme of his knowledge why the Book of Wisdom which is now and was then in force as Authentick and Canonical both by the Suffrages of the Church Succession of Ages by the Testimony of the Ancients and Inspirations of the Faithful should be struck out of the Canon with a Rash and Unadvised Censure What would he say now if he should have survived so many Lutheran and Calvinistical Artificers of the Bible who with their Polite and Elegant File have extenuated the Old and New Testament neither have they excluded the Book of Wisdom only but many others out of the Canonical Predicament That whatsoever came not from their Anvil that by a Phrensical Decree was spew'd out as Monstrous and Abortive To this so Dire and Unconsecrated a Sanctuary who have recourse to they indeed although they are extolled in the mouths of their Scullions do make Sale of their Benefices Declaim against Catholicks in their Sermons prepare Axes Racks Tormentilio's and Crosses yet they have been overcome abject disgrac'd vanquish'd and defeated forasmuch as having passed their Sentences as Authoriz'd Judges they obliterate Scripture it self if any part agrees not with their Stomach who is there even ordinarily Learned would fear such Rabbet-like Enemies Which Enemies when they are besieg'd by a Ring of such Learned men as we are will run to their old wiles as it were to Familiar Devils and should not be Entertain'd with Victorious Hummings but Disgraceful Hissings I ask of them for instance By what Right they Maim and Rend the Body of the Bible They answer They do not cut out the true Scriptures but cull out the Supposititious Who is their Judge The Holy Spirit For this answer is prescribed by Calvin that he might escape the Sentence of the Church by which Spirits are tryed Why therefore do you torment one another when all glory in the same Spirit The Spirit of the Calvinists receive Six Epistles which do not please the Spirit of the Lutherans yet both trusted in the Holy Spirit The Anabaptists term the History of Job a Fable interwoven with Comical and Tragical Laws How do they know The Spirit teaches them so Castalio a Debauch'd Rascal esteem'd the Mystical Song of Solomon which the Catholicks admire as the Paradice of the Soul as the hidden Manna as Rich delights in Christ no more than a Song on his Mistriss a Love-colloquie with the Ladies of the Court Whence did he draw it From the Spirit In the Revelation of St. John where every point doth express something Magnificent and Lofty as St. Jerome says yet Luther Brentius and Kemnitius curious Criticks desire it should be Authoriz'd Who would they ask The Spirit Luther with a Preposterous Zeal places the Four Evangelists by themselves and preferring them before the Three Epistles of St. Paul doth moreover Decree that the Gospel of St. John should be denominated True and Singular and good Reason for it because in it he made the Apostles partakers of his Contentions who teach'd him so to do the Spirit But yet that Frier did not scruple to touch the Gospel of S. Luke with a petulant stile because the good Works of Vertue are too often commended in it Who told him so The Spirit Theodorus Beza dared to Traduce that Mystical Expression out of the Twenty Second Chapter of St. Luke This is the Cup the New Testament in my Blood which Cup shall be poured out for you as Corrupted and Depraved because these Sentences admit of no other Exposition than of the Wine of the Cup being chang'd into the real Blood of Christ who told him so the Spirit Lastly when every one intrusts all things to his Spirit they do asperse the Holy Spirit with horrible Blasphemy whoever doth these things do not they betray themselves are they not easily Confuted are they not bridled and restrained without difficulty by a Consistory of such Learned Men as you are O! ye Academians May I fear to dispute with those who have not only with the most Treacherous Infidelity laid hands on Humane Writings but Divine I pass by those things which they have misconstrued although I can accuse them of things inexcusable I submit that to my Friend Gregory Martin who is Skilful of Languages who will perform it more Learnedly and Accurately than I and to others who as I am inform'd have it on the Anvil I Prosecute Crimes more heinous and of a worse nature I have found out Learned Banterers who with rash Incursions have Invaded Gods Prerogative and in many places have inveighed against it as Corrupt Imperfect False and Surreptitious Some parts they have Corrected some they have Carped at and some they have Rooted out quite Hence all the Turrets which they were Fortified with were chang'd into Lutheran Spirits as it were into Castles of Phantasms that they should not be Gravell'd when they should Quote the Scriptures infested with their Errours which indeed they can no more clear themselves of than Sup the Sparks or Eat the Stones For this Cause my first Reason was Vehement and Just that when it had delineated our Adversaries party despersed and vanish'd it might add Courage to all Christians who exert their Wits in these Studies to Fight for a Crown of Glory against the residue of our overthrown Enemies The Second Reason ANother thing which hath inflamed me to a Combat and to bring such Ammunition Musquets and Blunderbusses with me is our Adversaries policy big with Fraud and barren of Prudence in explaining the Scriptures presently ye will touch at this ye Philosophers and therefore I sought out you for my Auditors We ask of our Adversaries for instance who they follow what new Sect they entered into that they exclude Christ out of the Mystical Supper If they Quote the Gospel we appeal to it the words with us are This is my Body this is my Blood which expression seem'd so prevalent with Luther that he desired to be a