the Apostle S. Paul which was diuinely inspired into him but in the Bishops assembled in the Councels aboue said In confidence whereof I will come vnto the Councell of Nice which imposed three yeeres penance vpon the Christians who hauing abandoned their Armes afterward returned to the warres againe which rigour is condemned by S. Iohn Baptist who did not commaund souldiers to forsake their Armes but exhorteth them to content themselues with their payes and to demaund nothing beside that which was ordained for them The Fathers assembled in the Arelatan Councell haue prohibited the admitting of a married man into the vocation of the holy Ministerie by an article cleane contrarie to the 〈◊〉 the Apostle S. Paul who saith in the first Epistle to Tim. chap. 3. that a Bishop must be the husband of one wife The second Councell of Nice allowed the adoration and seruice of Images a fault which you will not correct to obey the second commandement of the Lord who saith in Exodus chapter 20. verses 4. 5. Thou shalt make thee no grauen Images neither any similitude of things that are in heauen aboue neither that are in the earth beneath nor that are in the waters vnder the earth thou shalt not bow downe to them neither serue them In the Lateran Councell which was held vnder Pope Innocentius the third it was decreed that men should beleeue that the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the bodie and blood of Iesus Christ by the vertue of these fiue words Hoc est enim corpus meum Which is a false opinion and easie to be ouerthrowne by many places of holy scripture and especially by the 11. chapter of Saint Pauls first Epistle to the Corinth where after he had recited the institution of the Lords Supper and treated of the consecration of the bread and wine by these very words of our Lord Iesus Christ This is my body c. he retaineth those same words of bread and wine For he saith as often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shew the Lords death till he come Againe Whosoeuer shall eate this bread finally let a man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cup. By which manner of speech he teacheth vs that there is no transubstantiation in the holy Supper but that the bread remaineth bread and the wine keepeth it owne naturall propertie They also which were present in the Councell of Toledo haue they not iudged that he which in stead of being espoused to any honest woman kept a concubine ought neuerthelesse not to bee cast out of the communion of the Lords Supper Doth not this sentence ouerthrow the institution of holy Matrimonie which by the Apostle S. Paul is called an vndefiled bed and honourable among all men Heb. 13. 4. Doth it not also fauour whoremongers which possesse the vessels of their bodie in dishonour and are condemned by God as well in the seuenth Commandement of his law as by many holie remonstrances of the Prophets and Apostles Moreouer the 72 Canon of the 6. generall Councel approued by Pope Adrian doth it not say that men ought to breake the promises of Mariage which the Catholikes haue made with heretikes and to hold them for nought as though they neuer had been made Is not this too too dangerous a Canon forged by the spirit of disloyaltie and dissension For the spirit of truth which guided the penne of the Apostle S. Paul doth it not signifie to vs in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the 7. chapter and 15. verse that God hath called the married in peace and that to entertaine and keep it If any brother haue a wife that beleeueth not if she be content to dwell with him he ought not to forsake her and if any woman hath an husband that beleeueth not if hee be content to dwell with her she ought not to forsake him neither Whereunto the Apostle addeth this reason as most worthy of consideration namely the vnbeleeuing husband is sanctified by the wife and the vnbeleeuing wife is sanctified by the husband and that through this coniunction their children are holy which else would be vncleane The Councell of Wormes abusing that admonition of the Apostle S. Paul in the 1. Epistle to the Cor. chap. 11. 28 where he saith Let a man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cup thought it a matter of no moment to admit theeues and other scandalous persons vnto the Lords holy table vpon the trial and testimonie of their owne consciences These are the Councels very words It oftentimes happeneth that the Monkes in their Cloisters doe commit some crime of theft behold wee therefore iudge that these brethren being accused of such a fact ought to cleere themselues thereof and ordaine to this effect that the Abbat or some one among them of their brethren celebrate the Masse and that all trying and prouing themselues doe participate the same And in another Canon If any one hath charged the Bishop or Priest with some mischieuous deed he ought to celebrate the Masse and to shew thereby that he knowes himselfe innocent and guiltlesse of that crime which is laid vnto his charge This canon hath not only been approued but also put in practise by Pope Gregory the seuenth named before his popedome Hildebrand who being aduertised by letters that he was accused of sorcerie and simonicall heresie answered that to satisfie euery man according to that good canon of the Councell of Wormes and to take away that scandalous report of him out of y e Catholike Church he would receiue the body of our Lord in token of his innocencie True it is that afterward as Bellarmine writeth the Bishops thought good to abolish that pernicious canon whereby their predecessors had prostituted the communion of the bodie and blood of our Lord Iesus Christ to all sorts of leaud persons to be vnworthily trampled vnder their feete and prophaned But Bellarmine notwithstanding is driuen to confesse so much that it was receiued and allowed for some time in your Church To come now vnto the errors of some other Councels The Councels of Carthage and of Florence haue inrolled for canonicall bookes and as diuinely inspired to serue all men in the points of religion for a rule and as a law for their discourses the bookes of Tobit Iudith Wisedome Ecclesiasticus and the Maccabees which neuerthelesse according to Cardinall Caietans owne confession are accounted by S. Ierome among the Apocrypha and not receiueable for to ground vpon them any article of faith and to the end the Reader may not be troubled in that the abouesaid Councels and the Popes Innocentius and Gelasius haue reckoned these bookes among the Canonicall the said Cardinall giueth him this counsell in his obseruations vpon the tenth chapter of Ester to reduce them to the rule and correction of
S. Ierome Charles the Great speaking of the two Councels of Constantinople and of Nice in a book made at the Councel of Franckford touching the adoration of Images blameth the Councell of Nice of impietie and idolatrie forbidden by God in his holy word when he complaineth that not only the Kings of the Easterne prouinces but also the Priests and Prelates reiecting that which is said by the Apostle that if any one preach otherwise then that which hath been preached though he were an Angel from heauen let him be accursed haue sought to bring into the Church through Councels fond and infamous things one knowes not what which neither the Sauiour nor any of his Apostles haue euer brought in that is as hee himselfe expoundeth them Nouelties of words and the foolish inuention of the worshipping of Images and afterward hee rebuketh the temeritie and boldnes of Irene mother vnto Constantine the Emperour in that she had borne the chiefe sway in that Councell of Nice saying The Empresse did there all in all a woman vnto whom it was forbidden to teach in the Church hath taught and ordained she there intruded her selfe with the Bishops and all Ecclesiasticall Orders teaching things vnprofitable Thirdly he accuseth that Councell in that they admitted thereunto Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople and gaue too much credit vnto him who as he speaketh was at a iumpe come from the vulgar conuersation into the dignitie of Priesthood from the life of a Souldier to a religious life from the noise of the market to the preaching and distributing of holy mysteries and that in summe hee was of an ill iudgement and spake not well concerning the holie Ghost Whereunto hee addeth beside that for the rest of all this Councell they were ignorant barbarous insufficient fond and vnapt both in their sense and in their words and neuerthelesse proud beyond all pride which durst command that which neuer the Apostles nor their successors ordained and in one part of the Church to condemne and accurse all the Churches in the world which he proueth in that they made it to bee called a vniuersall Councell held for the worshipping of Images without the consent of many other faithfull and Catholike Churches of God and were so audacious euen rashly to accurse so many and so great Churches which are the body of Iesus Christ and to attempt to establish the worship and seruice of insensible things against the institution of diuine scripture Now like as Charles the Great who was present in the aforesaid Councell of Franckford assaulted the Councel of Nice so likewise S. Austin with many other of the ancient Fathers haue reprooued oftentimes the writings of their companions in the work of the Lord and the ordinance of their Councels in calling them back to be tried by the holy Scripture and admonishing them that through many of their false conclusions they were gone astray from the same which S. Austin testifieth in his second booke and third chapter of Baptisme against the Donatists The Epistles saith he of the particular Bishops are corrected by the Prouinciall Councels and the Prouinciall Councels by the vniuersall and the first vniuersall Councels by the latter when by experience that which was locked is opened and that which was hid is brought into light This is the cause wherefore one Councell hath oftentimes retracted and repealed that which a former had decreed As for example the generall Councell of Nice permitted the Priests to marrie which afterward the Councels of Neccesarea of Magence and the second of Carthage forbad them to do The Councell of Carthage in which S. Cyprian was present decreed that such as were baptized by Heretikes should be rebaptized which was shortly after broken and disanulled by another Councell of Carthage The second generall Councell of Ephesus approoued the error of Euryches who acknowledged but one only nature in Christ to wit the diuine but the general Councel of Chalcedon refuted and condemned that heresie You are not ignorant also how the Bracharean Councell condemned and accursed those which abstaine themselues from eating of flesh and how the third Councell of Toledo hauing confirmed that decree the cleane contrarie was ordained by the Councell of Rome forbidding the vse of flesh vpon certaine daies i the yeere The Councell of Constantinople decreed that they should throw and breake downe all the Images which were put vp in Churches but this ordinance and decree was ouer throwne againe by the second Councell of Nice assembled by Irene mother vnto Constantine the Emperour in which was commanded to reestablish and set vp those Images againe These examples may suffice to shew that Councels may erre and that oftentimes there hath been great dissension betweene Councels and contrarietie in the articles of the ancient Synods and that many things haue been proposed receiued and maintained in them without and beside the holy scripture which as S. Tertullian saith in his Treatise against Praxeas is not in danger of saying things contrarie but alwaies is consonant and agreeth in it selfe as appeareth by the mutuall correspondencie of the texts aswell of the old as of the new Testament which is alone without error and exempt froÌ„ lying as Cardinall Baronius also himselfe teacheth you in his Annals tom 2. This warre and manifest contradiction of the ancient Councels doth it not aduertise vs as it were of it selfe that we ought not to equall the canons of Councels with the rules of holy Scripture and yet neuerthelesse your ancestors haue done it who haue equalled the decretall epistles of their Popes with the epistles of the Apostle S. Paul and the decrees of the foure Councels of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon with the bookes of the foure Euangelists Now in this great diuersitie of Councels to which I pray you shall we haue our recourse to assure our consciences but to the word of God which is the touchstone and ballance whereby wee must proue and weigh all the traditions of men As S. Austin did in his dispute against Maximine Bishop of the Arrians lib. 3. cap. 3. I ought not to alleage saith he the Councel of Nice thereby to preiudice thee nor thou against me that of Rimini I am not bound nor tied vnto the authoritie of that Councel ner thou vnto the other It is by the authoritie of the Scriptures which are not partâ—all to either of vs but are common witnesses aswell to the one as to the other and that by them we ought to dispute in alleaging cause against cause and reason against reason According to which rule S. Bernard in his 9â— Epistle signified to the Bishops which in his time were assembled to handle ecclesiasticall affaires that he was very desirous to be present in their Councell and in their assemblies where the traditions of men were not obstmatelâ— maintained nor superstitiously obserued but where the good and persit will of God was sought after in all humilitie and diligence there am I
saith he rauished with all my affection there will I attend with my deuotion There through loue do I take all my delight and thereunto will I hold my selfe by consent Now although this zeale of S. Austin and S. Bernard hath been followed and obserued badly by their successors who since their time gaue too much credit to their owne Councels and humane fantasies yet Gerson neuerthelesle sought to remedie this abuse through his wholesome aduertisements For in his booke of the spirituall life of the soule he sheweth that the sayings of the Apostles and their disciples were of another kinde of authoritie namely in things which purely concerne our faith then the instructions of their successors and consequently that the authoritie of the Primitiue Church is farre greater then that which is at this day and that there is neither Pope nor Councell that can abate any thing of that which was giuen vs by the Euangelists and S. Paul or which hath the like authoritie to make that any thing should bee of faith as some men dreame And in another place vpon this question if in points of faith one might be called before the Pope No particular man saith he not the Pope himselfe neither the Bishops can make a proposition which is hereticall to be catholicall or which is catholicall to be hereticall And againe in the triall of doctrines Consider 5. Tom. 1. That in case of doctrine more credit is to be giuen to one simple lay man excellently skilfull in the Scripture then to the Popes declaration insomuch as it is certaine that one ought to beleeue the Gospell rather then the Pope Also that such a learned man ought to oppose himselfe against a whole Councell if he be there present and seeth the greater partie to be inclined either through malice or ignorance to that which is contrarie to the Gospell according to the example of S. Hilary Whereunto doth agree that which the Abbat Panorma wrote in his chapter intituled Significat extra de Elect. to wit that in things which concerne faith the saying of a priuate person ought to be preferred before the saying of the Pope if so be it is fortified with better reasons out of the old and new Testament Franciscus Picus de Mirandula saith If in a whole Councell the greater partie would ordaine some things which are â—ontrarie to the holy Scriptures and against things that are not lawfull to bee violated the other which are of the lesser number opposing themselues against the greater wee must rather cleaue vnto the lesser number as it happened in the Councels of Rimini and the second of Ephesus Yea euen a simple countriman a childe or an old woman are more worthie to bee beleeued then the Pope and a thousand Bishops if they should speake against the Gospell Now that which wee haue spoken of the authoritie of Councels ought to be appropriated to the censure of our fathers pastors of the ancient Church to wit that wee ought not to receiue their writings with such a reuerence and obedience of faith as wee receiue the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles but to iudge and examine them by the Scriptures according to that good counsell and example of some faithfull Doctors of the Primitiue Church We ought not saith S. Ierome inter cap. 9 on the 98. Psalme to follow the errors of our Fathers but the Scriptures authoritie and the commandements of God which â—nctruct vs. Euery other thing which shall be spoken after the Apostles time ought to bee cut off let it haue no authoritie then though the author thereof be holy or eloquent Reade me those things saith S. Austin in his booke of the Church chap. 6. in the Law in the Prophets in the Psalmes or in the Epistles reade them there and we will beleeue them All others saith he how holy or learned soeuer they be I may reade them not to beleeue what they say is true because they say it but in so much as they proue it by those canonicall authors or by probable reason And in his epistle to Fortunatus We ought not saith he to esteeme of all disputes though they proceed from praise worthie and catholike men as the canonicall Scripture but that in such a sort as is lawfull with the honour due vnto such men to gainsay them or to reiect some things in their writings if per aduenture we finde they iudged otherwise then stands with the truth found out through the helpe of God either by others or by our selues For I am such a one in the writings of other men as I would they should be in mine Doe not stand saith he in his preface of the third booke of the Trinitie vpon my words and writings as vpon the canonical Scripture What soeuer in them thou shalt finde beleeue it without doubting but in my writings that which thou holdest not for very certaine or if thou vnderstaÌ„dest it not hold it not as firme The like saith he of S. Cyprians bookes in his second booke against Crescon chap. 32. I hold not S. Cyprians bookes for canonicall that which agreeth with the authoritie of holy Scripture I receiue it with his praise but that which agreeth not with them I reiect by his good leaue and we doe him no wrong to make a distinction betweene his writings and the canonicall For this wholesome canon of the Church was not without cause established whereunto were brought certain bookes of the Prophets and Apostles which wee dare not at all iudge and according vnto which we freely iudge of all other bookes either of beleeuers or Infidels The like saith he also of S. Ieroms books of S. Ambroses and of the rest of the Fathers which haue written since the Apostles time in his epistle 112 and 11 booke against Faustus Manichean cap. 5. I would not bring in the opinions of those great personages lest thou shouldest thinke that it behoueth me to follow the iudgement of any man as the authoritie of the Scripture In all their bookes the reader or hearer hath a free iudgement to approue or reiect them without the necessitie of beleeuing them but with freedome to iudge thereof From thence it commeth that hee exhorteth Vincent his friend in his 48. epistle that hee should take heed of gathering against so many holy cleere and vndoubted testimonies some cauils out of the writings of the Bishops whether saith he of our owne or of Hilaries Cyprians or Agrippines for such writings ought to be distinguished from the authoritie of the canon for men reade them not so is it were to draw any testimonie from them contrary to which it should not be lawfull to deeme if peraduenture their opinion were otherwise then the truth requires Wherewith the sentences of our Fathers agree We haue no commandement frÌ„o Christ saith Iustine the Martyr in Triph. pag. 207 to beleeue in humane doctrines but in those which his Apostles haue preached and himselfe hath taught Therefore
and in what manner they may heare your Prayers and Supplications For to build the first point you lay downe two Articles and principles most false The one That this hath alwaies beene the doctrine of the Christian Church to say and teach that this was a thing more then reasonable and most profitable to man to inuocate the Saints yea that the Church hath taught the same for the space of 1605 year unto this day The other How certaine Heretikes which are sprung vp within this fortie or fiftie yeares haue meant to preach and teach the cleane contrarie to wit those whom you call Lutherans and Caluinists who but a few yeares ago endeuoring to â—uerthrow so auncient a doctrine according to your opinion haue said and say still that we must not call vpon any of the Saints but vpon God onely I say that your first foundation is false because as Eckius one of your principall Doctours plainely confesseth in his booke of the worshipping of Saints that it is impossible for you to alledge one onely text either out of the old or new Testament whereby you can prooue that either Christ his Euangelists or Apostles haue commanded vs to adore the Saints or haue recommended this seruice to vs as very profitable or reasonable Also Petrus à Scoto confesseth that the inuocation of Saints is not taught in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles but is there insinuated And likewise some of the Iesuits say that it is not manifestly represented in them but obscurely and mystically or by certaine consequences which are pretended and not well grounded And for this cause the Councell of Trent recommending it vnto the Christians makes no mention of the authority of the holy Scripture but of the ancient custome only of the consent of fathers and of the decreâ—s of holy Councels From whence followeth that this commandement of inuocating the Saints hath not bene giuen to the Christians as you write a thousand sixe hundred and fiue yeares ago or thereabouts but hath bene a long time after forged as I will prooue in due place by your Predecessors who haue made no conscience to teach for doctrine of saluation their owne traditions and humaine inuentions Which hauing shewed your second foundatioÌ„ wil tumble downe of it selfe that is how this rule of worshipping God alone hath bene inuented by those whom wrongfully you terme Lutherans and Caluinists for wee acknowledge none for our soueraigne Doctour and Master but our Lord Iesus Christ the only perfect wisedome and essential word of his Father who hath spoken heretofore to our Fathers by the auncient Prophets and since being manifested in our flesh hath spoken himselfe by his sacred mouth to his Disciples and after his Ascension by his Apostles who as faithful Secretaries and dispensators of the secrets of God haue left vs in writing the fundamentall points of pure Religion and touching this point haue taught vs that God only and no other ought to bee called vpon by vs in our necessities And although this is as cleere as the Sun shine in a bright day at noone yet because you are blinde and leaders of the blinde as your predecessors the Scribes and Pharisies were in the time of Iesus Christ wee will alleage against you some certaine proofes for that which is abouesaid to the end they may serue as a cleere light to those which wink not with their eyes that they might not see in seeing but open them with a holy desire to behold this light When God saith in the first Commandement of his law giuen by Moses to our Fathers * Thou shalt haue none* other Gods before me what doth hee signifie by this prohibition but only that we ought not to acknowledge any other God and Sauiour but him nor to attribute to any one that honour which is proper to him that is to call vpon him only in our anguishes according to that expresse command which he giueth vs in Deuteronom Thou shall worship the Lord thy God and serue him And by the Prophet Asaph in the 50 Psalme verses 14. 15. Offer vnto God praise and pay thy vowes vnto the most high and call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me And to stirre vs vp the more thereunto he denounceth by the Prophet Esay chap. 42. and 8 verse I am the Lord this is my name and my glorie will I not giue to another neither my praise to grauen Images And in the 45 chap. and 21 verse Haue not I the Lord and there is none other God beside me a iust God and a Sauiour there is none beside me And in the 22 verse Looke vnto me and yee shall be saued all the ends of the earth shall be saued for I am God and there is none other If hereupon you object against me that God commandeth not by these places that wee should only worship him and none other beside him The answere is cleere to wit that this commandement of God was so interpreted by the Prophet Samuel and in the fulnesse of time by our Soueraigne Doctor Iesus Christ himselfe For therefore you may see how the Prophet warneth all the house of Israel in the 7 chapter of his booke and third verse where he saith If ye be come againe vnto the Lord with all your heart put away the strange gods from among you and Ashtoroth and direct your hearts vnto the Lord and serue him only and hee shall deliuer you out of the hand of the Philistims By which you may see that the Prophet Samuel sheweth vnto the children of Israel that the meanes and way to conuert and direct themselues vnto the Lord with all their hearts is to serue him only and to take away from before his eyes the Idols of the Heathen which hee calleth the gods of the strangers Euen so also our Lord Iesus Christ being tempted in the wildernesse by the wicked spirit which had transported him vpon a high mountaine and shewed him all the kingdomes of the world and the glorie of them with promise that he would giue them all vnto him if so be he would fall down and worship him he alleageth against Satan that which is written in the sixt chapter of the book of Moses called Deuteronomie expounding the intention of his father as he which is his Counsellour witnesse the Prophet Isaiah in his ninth chapter and fifth verse he addeth thereto this word only when hee answereth Satan that in that place it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue as though he would haue said That the seruice which is due vnto God only is to worship him and to prostrate our selues before him And to this end and purpose the sonnes of Korah who composed the 44 Psalme teach vs in the 20 and 21 verses that to call vpon any other besides God is to forget and denie him If say they
instructions of those Doctors touching the inuocation of one only God the intercession of one only Mediatour Iesus Christ the leauen of the inuocation of Saints to corrupt the pure seruiâ—e instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ in the Apostolicall Church euen so the successors of these enemies of the ancient puritie perceiuing that the zealous followers thereof made vse of the good bookes of the ancient Fathers to encounter their superstitions haue continued in falsifying more and more their bookes And to make vp the measure of their Fathers being assembled in the Councell of Trent they enioyned some to change cut off and condemne whatsoeuer they should finde and iudge offensiue and contrarie to their errors Vpon which the Iesuits are diligently employed following therein the example of the idolatrous Gentiles who perceiuing as Aâ—nebius complaineth thereof in his third booke that they might be conuicted of falsehood by Ciceroes bookes touching the nature of the Gods formerly published corrupted them and maliciously concealed them that no more mention might be made of them For the Iesuites haue made two Registers imprinted at Naples Madril and Antwerp wherein they haue not only put sundrie words and sentences of the Fathers which expressely they commanded to chaunge and deface out of their bookes but also added certaine annotations to their writings by some great personages to helpe and ease the memorie of the Reader yea without sparing their owne Teachers who haue laboured asmuch to impart vnto vs the true exposition of the Fathers doctrine as they to bereaue and rob vs of it Now to cosen the world they haue intituled these fiâ—e bookes Indices expurgatorij that is to say Purgatiue Indices or Registers which more aptly may bee tearmed Putrefactiues For so farre off is it that these scullions haue laboured to purge the booke of the ancient Fathers and their expositors from staines and filth that contrariwise they haue defiled them wheresoeuer they laid their clutches on them full of stench and putrifaction I am ashamed to discover their villanies but seeing I haue begun I must proceed at once in manifesting it to them In their Index of Spaine they haue ordained to deface these words of S. Hillaries whereby he declareth the reason why the wise virgins answered the foolish that they could not guie theÌ„ of their oyle to wit because none ought to be succored with the works and merits of another In that very Index they command to race out of S. Anselmus booke of the manner of visiting the sicke these words of great consolation Beleeuest thou that thou canst attaine vnto glorie not through thine owne merits but by the vertue and merit of Iesus Christ Beleeuest thou y â— he died for our saluation and that none can be saued through his own merits nor no otherwise then by his death and passion They iudge also in that Index that these words annexed to S. Chrysostoms Register of his bookes ought to be defaced to wit that faith only iustifieth and faith only saueth grounded on certainâ— sentences of S. Chrysostoms noted in y â— said Register It admonisheth the Reader also to reiect this glosse that There are no more workes in the world to come nor any calling to repentance c. Which was receiued froÌ„ the discourse of Epiphanius in his treatise of Heresie 59. Likewise it ordaineth that this proposition be raced out that Prayer be made for the liuing but not for the dead Which was taken from S. Ieromes admonition vpon the third chapter of the Epistle to the Galathians whereupon he noteth this sentence of the Apostle that euery one shall beare his owne burthen Whilest we are in this present world we may succour each other either by prayers or counsels but when wee shall appeare before the iudiciall thronâ— of Christ neither Iob Dauid nor Noah can pray for vs c. What else haue not the Iesuits commanded in the two Indices of Spaine and the Low-Countries to cut out of the Register added to S. Chrysostoms bookes these words That all the Prophets haue bin married whereby the Reader is sent to that which S. Chrysostome speaketh thereof in his 56. Sermon vpon S. Matthew where he proueth by the examples of Moses Esay and Ezechiel that all the Prophets had wiues and houses In the Low-Countrie Index they condemne the sentences of one of their principall writers called Faber Stapulensis whereby hee maintaineth that S. Ierome and Chrysostome haue taught that inuocation appertaineth to none but vnto God only Also they would haue one to purge the writings of George Cassander touching the naturall exposition of the word merit and of whatsoeuer hee alleageth in his bookes concerning the custome of the Apostles first successors to wit that they haue communicated in the Lords Supper for more then a thousand yeeres vnder the two signes of bread and wine They haue also commanded to race out the annotations of Erasmus of Rotterdam vpon the third chapter of the first Epist. to Timothy and in like maner those of S. Chrysostoms That a Bishop must be the husband of one onely wife Finally as many lines so many corruptions and as many infallable markes of their vngodlinesse and ill consciences For albeit they seek to couer their impietie vnder that false mask the title of purgation yet so it is y â— they do most manifeâ—tly discouer it by the soueraigne authority which they take to themselues in censuring and condemning as Iudges the instructions of their ancestors conformable to the word which God himselfe hath inspired into his Prophets and Apostles And if they had made no doubt of the testimonie of truth which shined in the books of those first lights of the Church they would not haue inforced themselues to quench then so much but might thereby haue been armed to haue defended and preserued themselves On the other part if they had been faithfull keepers of their writings which were put into their hands they would haue altered nothing neither concerning the matter nor the forme thereof but would haue been carefull to haue preserued them in their originall puritie But knowing now that these falsaries haue not kept the treasure committed to their charge but haue mixed among them their lead with the pure gold which they receiued from their ancestors what man is it among vs which will dare to assure himself of the sinceritie of those authors and sentences which they alleage against vs and of the integritie of the interpretations which they recoÌ„mend vnto vs and of the truth of those examples which they propound vnto vs And sith I haue quoted so many excellent sentences of the Fathers manifestly contrarie to those which you haue produced in your epistle vnder the name and authoritie of the same Doctors what should we doe in so great a contradiction of those sundrie rules of prayers cited aswell in the one part as on the other as alreadie wee haue vnderstood that there is nothing more
sure when any point of doctrine is to be disputed or of the true sense of some texts in the Bible then to hold our selues to Gods law which is a faithfull witnesse according to the counsell of the Prophet Esay chap 8. verse 20. to giue the exposition of the law of God in expounding it by the Scripture it selfe imitating the example of Esdras and some other Doctors of the old Testament which is represented by Nehemiah before our eies in the 8. chapter and 2. verse Euen so when a question is of the true rule and manner of prayer there is nothing more expedient then to follow in all our prayers that only forme of prayer which our Lord Iesus Christ taught his Apostles as S. Tertullian and S. Cyprian shew vs by their excellent discourses touching the excellencie and perfection of this prayer And S. Austin in his epistle which he wrote to a Christian widow called Proba Wee say no other thing saith he then that which is contained in the Lords Prayer if we pray rightly and conueniently And whosoeuer should say any thing which is not agreeable with this Euangelicall prayer though he prayeth not vnlawfully yet he prayeth carnally and I know no reason why but that one may say he prayeth vnlawfully sith that such as are regenerated by the holy Ghost ought to pray spiritually By which admonition S. Austin signifieth to all Christians that all prayers which haue not their foundation in the prayer of our Lord Iesus Christ as are such which be addressed to the Saints departed are carnall and vnlawfull But to returne to your obiections where you say that you â—et slip in silence the miracles done through the inuocation of Saints and yet you send vs to the 22 booke of the Citie of God and we send you back againe to that which wee haue formerly noted to wit that Viues testifieth that many sentences haue been annexed to that booke of the Citie of God and for that reason we ought to giue no beleefe thereunto But rather as Origen witnesseth vpon Ieremiah it behoueth vs to call for witnesses the holy Scriptures forasmuch as without those witnesses our sense and discourses are of no credit which S. Austin also giueth vs to vnderstand by this exhortation that whatsoeuer wee would haue men to beleeue we must proue it by cleere testimonies of holy Scripture and vse them against the enemies of the Church And if we should grant you that many miracles haue been done by the inuocation of Saints yet you cannot with a good conscience gather froÌ„ thence that this seruice was pleasing to God seeing that the false prophets and ministers of Satan haue sought to set vp their impieties through the lustre of many miracles Thereupon Moses aduertiseth the people of his time saying in Deut. â—3 1. If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreames and give thee a signe or wander and the signe and the wonder which he hath told thee come to passe saying Let vs go after other gods which thou hast not known 〈◊〉 let vs serue them Thou shalt not hearken vnto the words of that prophet or vnto that dreamer of dreames for the Lord your God proueth you to know whether you loue the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soule And Iesus Christ in the 24 of Matthew and 23 verse saith If any shall say vnto you loe here is Christ or there beleeue it not for there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceiue the very elect Behold I haue told you before according to which Saint Paul writeth in the â— of Thesâ— 2. that the comming of the Sonne of perdition who sâ—â—ll sit as God in the temple of God and shall exalt himselfe against God and shall be by the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and in all 〈◊〉 of vnrighteousnesse among them that 〈◊〉 Whereupon S. Austin grounding himselfe saith on the 9. Psalme That Antichrist shall vse force in his empire and deceit in his miracles And in the treatise of Antichrist which is added to his bookes Antichrist saith he shall rise vp against the elect by three manner of waies by terrors by gifts and by miracles And Chrysostome speaking of the false Doctors on the seuenth chapter of S. Matthew They cast forth diuels saith he in the name of Christ hauing the spirit of the enemie or they rather doe not cast them foorth but seeme to cast them foorth through the collusion which they haue with the diuels and so alwaies they cast them foorth and neuer doe heale The diuels euermore crie before them as if they were chastized and they neuer come foorth of them as though they were afraid Behold therefore Theophylact teacheth vs in the explication of the seuenth chapter of S. Luke and namely on the second verse that preaching is confirmed by miracles and miracles by preaching for oftentimes diuers haue done wonders by the diuels but their preaching was not sound therefore their miracles also were not of God Which Anselmus appropriating to the miracles of Antichrist in his Commentaries vpon the second Epistle to the Thessalonians and second chapter These signes and wonders saith he shall be lying either because they should deceiue the mortall through magicall visions or else because that although they should be wonders and prodigious signes yet they should draw vnto lies such as beleeue in them Moreouer Meses recounteth in the booke of Exodus that Pharaohs Magicians haue imitated and counterfeited many miracles which he formerly had done in the countrie of Egypt Also Hippocrates reciteth in his book de Morbo Sacro that some Sorcerers in his time healed many of the falling sicknesse in making sacrifices and certaine prayers because they would be reputed as holy personages The like writeth Bodin of Appolonius Thyaneus and of some other Sorcerers which chased away diuels and did many other wonders through fainednesse and collusion This is that also whereof the Emperour Charles the Great would aduertise vs by his third and fourth bookes made vnder his owne name and approued by Pope Adrians Legats and many other Bishops of France Germany and Italie which were present in the Councel of Frankford in the yeere 794. There is great danger saith he in many miracles because there may be in them some craft of that crooked Serpent which doth transfigure himself into an Angel of light for many miracles are done by those Angels reuolted by Powers or rather by spirituall subtilties which communicate to diuers miserable wretches the gift of prophecying and doe many strange things through their officers of which sort those shal be which shall say Lord Lord haue we not prophecied in thy name and haue wee not cast out diuels in thy name and by thy name done many great workes To whom the Iudge will