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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	canonical_a	holy_a	scripture_n	5,721	5	6.0092	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01304	A confutation of a popishe, and sclaunderous libelle in forme of an apologie: geuen out into the courte, and spread abrode in diuerse other places of the realme. VVritten by VVilliam Fulke, Bacheler in Diuinitie, and felowe of S. Ihons Colledge in Cambridge.	Fulke, William, 1538-1589.; Feckenham, John de, 1518?-1585, attributed name.	1571 (1571)	STC 11426.2; ESTC S120640	88,715	248

it is Prophesied in the xij Chapiter of sainct Ihons Reuelation And yet for fiftie or sixtie yere agone it had been no harde matter to haue shewed you diuers members of our Churche bothe in Englande in Bohemia as th' historie of the church declareth at large Also in Fraunce at Merindoll and about Lyōs but these you will saie agreed not with vs in all poinctes but I will aunswere you thei agréed in the cheifest poinctes necessary to eternall saluation For whatsoeuer we are able to shewe for our Churche I am sure you are neuer able to shewe your self for your churche that whiche you require vs to shewe namely a churche that hath continued from this tyme vpwarde vnto the Apostles that taught vniformely and in all poinctes the doctrine that the Popishe Churche nowe teacheth Whiche thyng when you haue performed I will doe the like for oure Churche In the meane time that whiche is a sufficiente rule to finde out the true Churche by the iudgement of Saincte Augustine I will declare vnto you In his booke the vnitate ecclesiae Capi. 2. Inter nos autem Donatistat quaestio est vbi sit ecclesia Quid ergo facturi sumus In verbis nostris eam quaesituri sumus an in verbis capitis sui domini nostri Iesu Christi Puto quod in illius potius verbis eam quaerere debemus qui veritas est optimè nouit corpus suum Betwene vs and the Donatistes saieth saincte Augustine the question is where the churche should bée What shall we doe then shall we seke her in our wordes or in the woordes of her heade our Lorde Iesus Christ I thinke that rather in his wordes we ought to seke her which is the truthe and beste knoweth his own bodie And in the. xvj chapiter of the same booke he writeth thus of the Donatistes Vtrum ipsi ecclesiam teneant non nisi diuinarū scripturarum canonicis libris ostendant That is whether thei haue the churche on their side let theim shewe none otherwise but by the Canonicall bookes of holy scriptures Many other suche testimonies are in S. Augustine by whiche it is plaine that he geueth this infallible rule to knowe the true churche to examine the doctrine therof onely by the scriptures But wheras you saie that Anabaptistes Libertines and Arians pretende the word of god and the primitiue Churche what meane you therby that we should forsake the worde of god the Primitiue churche by whiche all heretikes haue béen cōfuted what soeuer thei pretended For though heretikes pretende the scriptures yet onely by the scriptures thei are to be cōfuted though thei appeale to the iudgemente of the primitiue church yet by the primitiue church thei are condemned for heretikes I maie as well say that Arianes Libertines and Anabaptistes boste them selues to be the true Catholike Churche therefore wee must not allowe the true catholike churche It is pitie to see menne that would be coumpted wise and learned to reason so fondly and vnlearnedly For of all other reasons it is the vainest and feeblest shift that the Papistes vse to flie frō the scriptures to the aucthoritie of the Churche in confutation of heresies For there was neuer yet heresie did arise but there was as greate controuersie of the Churche as of the opinion for euery heretike boasteth as well of the Churche as of the scriptures but when all is dooen his bragges of bothe muste bee beaten doune onely by the scriptures But because you make so proude vauntes that you will so plainlie proue that our Churche hath none agreans with the primitiue churche of Christ in discourse of that controuersie with you I will sette for the bothe what is the Primitiue churche and how we agree therewith and I doubte not but that I shal bee able by the grace of God bothe to iustifie our cause againste your false accusations and also to ouerthrowe youre falshodde whiche you haue heaped vppe to ouerwhelme the truthe And as I haue confuted your sixe considerations which vnto you seme of greate importaunce so by Gods helpe I shall auoide all other youre calumniations in whiche with some subtiltie but more impudencie and moste of all impietie you goe aboute to intangle the consciences of suche as bee ignorante and vnlearned to withdrawe their obedience ▪ from the godly lawes of this realme whiche are established for the mainteinyng of Gods true Religion and the abolishyng of all Idolatrie and superstition The Papiste Argumentes gathered out of the Scriptures prouyng that this late reformed Englishe churche hath none agreans with the Primitiue churche of Christ. The aunswere The very title of your argumentes declareth of what force youre argumentes are Your reasons are tenne in noumber whiche if thei were all graūted to be true yet foloweth not this conclusion that our Churche hath no agreance with the Primitiue Churche of Christe excepte you would affirme that all the doctrine of the Primitiue Churche were comprehended in these tenne poinctes Again your owne Popishe Churche differeth in these tenne poinctes as muche from the Primitiue Churche as ours therefore by your owne Logike I will conclude that your Popish churche hath no agreance with the church of Christ. 1. For neither you haue all thinges common 2. neither dooe you sell your houses and landes to putte the price in common 3. Neither doe you make diuision to euery manne accordyng to his necessitie 4. Neither are all mēbers of your Churche so prouided for that none dooe begge 5. Neither doe you baptise onely in the name of Christe 6. Neither dooe you giue the holy ghost by laiyng on your handes 7. Neither dooe you restore theim to health whom you annoincte with oile beyng sicke 8. Neither dooe you make open confession of your synnes 9. Neither dooe you celebrate the Sacramente after supper 10. Neither dooe you abstaine from bloodde and strangled therefore by your owne reason you haue no agreance with the Primitiue Churche of Christe Or if you maie haue any agreance these differences notwithstanding why maie not we the same differences nothyng lettyng vs haue sufficient agremente therewith You see that either your argument is nothyng worthe or els you haue as little agreance with the Primatiue churche as we Your only refuge is this that it is not necessary for you to haue any agreance with the primitiue Churche And that is the opinion of all Papistes whiche is diligently to be noted that you disclaime of al title of the Primitiue Churche whiche you holde was but an infante and by addition of your doctrine and Ceremonies is growne to bee of womannes state As though Christ maried his Churche when she was vnder age and so the matrimonie was not ratified and consumated before the Pope had nourtured her in his schole vntill she came to yeres of discretion For it is as lawfull for me so to inferre vppon your allegorie as for you so to allegorise of her But that you maie the better vnderstande what

a manne as in a Stocke or Stone or who euer denied the consent of a mannes will to be required in beleuing This is no parte of the questiō But whether euery mā that is not predestinat of god to saluation hath it in his power to consent vnto faith that he maie bee iustified and so be saued which is cleane to ouerthrowe the election and predestination of God which is the chief foundatiō of our faith consequētly to ouerthrow the power wisdome glorie and aucthoritie of God ouer his creatures For if euery able and scilful workeman determineth of the ende and vse of his workemanship before he beginneth it with what reason can we take that frō the creator of all thinges who as Salomon witnesseth made all thinges for his owne glory euen the wicked man for the daie of his wrath Your conclusion is verie clerkely that we haue driuē all thinges to faith alone whē all is duely examined wee haue no fathe at all When Zeno had disputed longe that there was no mouynge Diogenes walked vp and doune his scole and beeyng demaunded what he was doing he aunswered I am confuting of Zeno his argumentes In whiche behauour he shewed a dooble example of wisedome first because he vouchesaued not to aūswere the subtilties of Zeno in so vaine a matter secondly for that his sensible action did sufficiently confute the Philosophers vaine speculation We will therefore holde our peace in this case and let the matter it self speake for vs If it were not that wee had faithe to Godward why should we troble our selues in this controuersie of religion If we sough riches honour pleasures or whatsoeuer the outwarde man can wishe for where should we sooner finde it then in Popery If wee sought any thing in this life by our professiō why should we not leaue it in time of persecution Let the life death therfore of theim that haue suffered martirdome for our religion declare whether for maintenaunce of faithe and truste in God or for confidence in the worlde we haue taken this contention in hande But seing you are disposed to dally with vs in deniyng our faithe you shal geue me leaue to disproue in good earnest your iustification For if you haue none other but these thrée which al learnyng you saie doth agree of I suppose it not vnpossible by your owne learning to cōuince that iustification in papistry is either very vaine or els none at all And because your distinction is so preposterus of it self it shal not be against order to begin with the last kinde firste whiche is you saie when of a iust mā is made a more iust mā If no man be iust how can there be degrees in iustification If the scripture teache as I wene you wil not deny that all men are sinners and that no sinner is iust then no man can bee made of a iuste manne more iuste But because I promised to deale with you rather by youre owne learnyng thē by scriptures if I can disproue your two first kindes of iustification the third muste needes vanishe awaie of it selfe Iustificatiō by baptisme is your first kind by penaunce your second kinde If a childe be iustified by Baptisme die in that state of iustification he cometh not into purgatorie And therfore néedeth neither Dirge nor Masse to be saide for hym but by saiyng Dirge and Masse for such one you acknowledge him to be in purgatorie therfore you confesse he is not iustified And so your owne catholike doinges denie your learned saiynges of iustification by Baptisme Lette vs see if iustification by penaunce be any thing surer When a manne hath shryuen himself receiued absolution I trowe you will saie hee is iustified by penaunce But so soone as he is gone from the Prieste if he fall into deadlie sinne he is become lapsus again And it is the doctrine of al the Sententiaries that euery euil desier with consente is deadlie sinne as if the partie that is shriuen when he cometh out of the church seeth a faire woman lusteth after her he hath cōmitted adulterie in his harte with her if he méete his enemie desire reuengement he is a murtherer If he behold any house land or other goods cattelles that is not his and couet it he breaketh the x. commaundement so of the rest Wherfore so so●e as euer hee thinketh an euill thought after his absolution all the fatte is in the fire he hath loste his iustification So that he must be shriuen ten thousand tymes in a yere or els he must not tary but a short while in his iustification A miserable conscience or none at al must that man haue that trusteth to suche a iustification But you wil saie he needeth not to fall by concupiscence so often But I saie hee is a false hypocrite that dare so saie of hym selfe Sainct Paule was not inferiour to any man in the grace of regeneration and yet he confesseth that there was an other Lawe in his members whiche was resistaunte to the lawe of his minde so far preuailed that it brought him continually captiue vnto the lawe of synne in so much that it did wryng out of him this pathetical exclamation miserable man that I am who shal deliuer me from this bodie of synne And findeth no other comforte but the mercie of GOD in Christe Roma vij Wherefore seeyng both the firste iustifications faile the thirde muste needes fall and therefore excepte you canne finde another iustification you are like to haue none at all at lest wise of any value to make you rightous by your owne learnyng The Papiste My poore witte learnyng and conscience being fully perswaded that al the premises be of suche truthe and veritie as I haue expressed I thought it good to make declaratiō ther of chiefly for discharge of cōscience and partly to meete with this common obiectiō that we haue nothyng to saie but stande wholie vpon a wilfull frowardnesse obstinacie and vainglory hauing neither scripture doctour argument nor reason to alledge for the defence of the matter that wee stande in And for some triall to be made of my fidelitie and truth in the allegatiōs of the premisses I doe offer my self to turne the bookes of the scriptures doctours and holy fathers whē wher and before whom I shall bee called And by the bokes beeyng indifferently redde iudge betwixte vs Doubtlesse this is the whole desire and intente I had in the writing hereof not any other desire I had of liberty enlargemente or heare to liue For what desire should a christian man haue to liue in that Realme that sleaeth them that would their wealth and is angrie with them that would helpe their euilles what desire should a christen man haue to liue in that realme that setteth naught by and destroyeth those that dooe watche and praie to doe good and setteth by those that do watch and trauaile for to doe euill VVho would desire to liue in suche a Realme where the Elders and aunciente menne thereof the wise godly and verteous doe liue discontented and wheras the youth witlesse gracelesse and vitious doe liue best contented and pleased who would desire to liue in that Realme where suche vices are of subiectes openly cōmitted whiche in all other Christian realmes thei feare to doe in secrete and where all that thei desire thei procure and all that thei procure thei doe attaine and all that is euill thei thinke and all that thei thinke thei saie and all that thei saie thei maie dooe and that that thei may dooe thei dare do and putte in operation And therfore I can haue by no righte reason any desire of enlargemente of libertie or yet hope any while to liue The aunswere A man may doubte for al your protestatiō whether your wit learnyng and conscience bee so persuaded of all the premisses as youpretēde of which some be so absurde that no man of any witte or learnyng canne be perswaded in theim And whereas you thinke you haue aunswered the common obiection that you haue nothing to saie I suppose by the iudgemente of wise menne you haue rather confirmed the same that either you haue nothyng to saie or that which you saie is nothing to the purpose Youre fidelitie in the allegations shoulde better haue appeared if you had noted the places at the firste which either must bee imputed to fraude or to lacke of bokes that it was omitted but by notyng of some places it shoulde seeme you wanted no bookes and your streight keping I suppose is not suche but you might haue had bokes if you list You cōclude your Apology with an odious diffamatiō of the whole state of our princes gouernemente which if it haue failed in anie poincte it was in ouer muche clemencie shewed towardes suche as you are It cannot be denied but menne of good profession are oftentymes wicked in liuyng and many of no profession be a slander to those of true religion But howe soeuer menne be malicious and vngodly bente the state alloweth theym not but punisheth theim that by order of lawe are conuicted to be suche Wherfore to make suche an outcrie as though nothing but murther oppresssion filthines and all kinde of vngodlines yea nothing els but a confusion of al wickednes were openly mainteined it sauoureth neither of truthe nor of the spirite of God nor of the affection of a good subiect If Nero Domitian or Heliogabalus raged in the world with what other Rhethorike would you haue painted out their regiment then this that you haue abused againste this present gouerment the praise whereof if the present age enuie the posteritie will merueile at it when neither in memorie nor in monumentes beyng compared without afffection the like shall euer be founde before it God geue all true Subiectes grace to bee thankefull for it and so to behaue themselues therein that through his mercie it maie be many yeres more most happelie continued FINIS