had in suspicion when there is anie question of their profit or authority Heere my Masters it is easie to shewe you that they lead you in a way by which it is altogether impossible you should bee saved for you are taught simply to beleeve the Church of Rome and without farther enquiry to depend entirely upon her authority and yet you are deprived of all means to know whether this Church whereunto you give credit bee pure and teacheth true doctrine For how should you knowe that should it be by the holy Scriptures yea but this book is not permitted you At Rome and in Spaine to read in it is no lesse than burning at a stake or would you knowe it by the Antients those are greek latin books which the people understand not What knowes an artificer or a woman or an husbandman amongst you whether the Church teacheth conformably unto the Scripture or if their church bee such as it was some 12. or 1500. years since or whether of a long list of Popes pictured the first have beleeved as the last and that the times have altered nothing In briefe you have no other proof of the purity of your church but the witnes of your Church it self whose Prelates vanting themselves that they cannot erre in the meane time deprive you of all means to discern of error from truth by hiding from you the rule of truth which is the holy Scriptures But wherfore should the Roman Church rather have this perfection that the Greek or the Syrian more antient and more pure than the Roman founded by Ies Christ himselfe and by his Apostles and who also brag to have Saint Peters chair Doth the Scripture give unto the Roman Church any prerogative above others or doth it give her the priviledge of not erring From hence doe ensue two things as cleere as the day the one that your faith is grounded onely upon the authority of men and by consequent that your religion is a humane religion and not divine Whosoever saith I beleeve the Gospell and the Word of GOD because the Church ordaineth it maketh the Church more credible than God To doubt of Gods truth is a lesse crime than to make it depend upon men The other is that of all humane witnesses you ground your selves upon the worst and most uncertain for you say your Church is good because shee saith it and so doo make her Iudge in her owne cause not considering that by this word Church you understand not Christian people nor the generality of Pastors but the Pope and some fewe Prelates whose rules are called Church-rules although they tend onely to the profit of the Clergie and the advancement of the Empire of the Bishop of Rome And you poor soules whom God hath framed after his owne Image whom hee hath redeemed with the blood of his Son whom God solliciteth by his Word will you languish alwaies in this captivity will you heap up unto your selves the wrath and indignation of the Lord by rejecting the salvation which is proposed you I confesse that the Roman Chur. in certain points alleageth scripture and that between her and us there is strife about the interpretation but we make use of the Scripture in another manner than those which teach you For first they are afraid the people should read the Scriptures but we exhort men thereunto Secondly they perswade you that the Scripture is obscure and ambiguous but we say all things necessary unto salvation are therein layd downe with much clearness Thirdly they say that the Scripture is an unperfect rule they will needs have another unwritten word and traditions of the Church equall in authority to the Scripture wee on the contrary say that the holie Scripture can make us wise unto salvation 1 Tim. 15. 1 and that wee ought not to bee wise beyond what is written 1 Cor. 6. 4 and that in that which is cleare in the Scriptures and needeth no interpretation are cōtained all the doctrines necessary unto salvation Fourthly when wee alleage the Scripture we alleage it as soveraign Iudge and as it that ruleth the Chur. and giveth her her authority but the Romane Church alleageth the Scripture as a doctrine authorized by the Church and that you ought to receive it because the Church hath ordained it Fiftly when wee interpret the Scriptures wee give not out our interpretations for lawes as doth the Roman Church nor call our selves judges or infallible interpreters of the holy Scriptures Finally when wee interpret the Scriptures wee draw our interpretations from the Scripture it self but the Roman Church draw their interpretations from the unwritten word and from tradition For example wee expound those words This is my body He took the bread gave it c. Do this in remembrance of me By the bread which I give you is the commemoration of my body the which expositiō is found in the text it self of the institution of the sacrament or by these words of the Apostle 1. Cor. 10. 16 The bread which wee break is the communion of the body of Christ Your Teachers do not thus interpret the Scriptures for they draw their interpretations from the unwritten word and from tradition When the Lord said to Peter I have prayed that thy faith fail not they say that by these words Saint Peter and the Popes of Rome his successours were promised the vertue that they could not erre but the Scripture speaketh not of Popes or of Bishops of Rome nor grants unto Saint Peter any successor in his Apostleship So Malachie speaketh of a pure oblation which was to bee made in all places Mal. 1. 11 This oblation according to the interpretation of these Masters is the Masse in which they say the body of Christ is really sacrificed But this interpretation is taken out of the unwritten word for the holy scripture speaketh not of any Masse nor of the sacrifice of the body of Iesus Christ nor establisheth any sacrificers in the Church to sacrifice the Son of God So when the Scripture saith Thou shalt worship one God and shalt serve him alone The interpretations of these Masters is that God forbiddeth onely the worship of Latria but not the adoratiō of Dulia which is an inferiour religious service But the Scripture speaketh not of the adoration of Dulia nor of any other religious service then that which is due unto God These are interpretations which the Romane Church draweth from the unwritten word which is at the discretion of the Romish Church nor can bee learned but from her mouth for I doo not think there is any that ever hath seen all the instructions of this unwritten word reduced into one body Bellar. in Barkl c. 3. He thinkes not rightly of the chur of the chur of Christ that admits nothing but what hee reads expresly to have bin alledged or practised in the old chu as if the Church of later time either ceast to be a chr or hath not
A LETTER VNTO THEM of The Romish Church By PETER du MOVLIN Minister in the reformed Church at Paris Together with a true Iubile or generall Pardon of Indulgence by the same Author LONDON Printed by H. L. for Mathew Lownes dwelling in Paules Church-yard 1621. TO The right worshipfull Master VVILLIAM HAKEVVILL Esquier R. G. Wisheth as in dutie he is bound all increase of grace and true happiness Sir THis little but excellent tract of Monsieur du Moulins being giuen mee to translate by your worthie brother who formerlie as your Worship may remember did once set me aworke in the like kinde vvith no ill successe and being desirous to haue it patronized by some good friend as the custome is I soone bethought mee how it might verie acceptablie passe vnder your name if so it would please you to grace my poore endeuour which in all humblenes I gladlie offer vp vnto you first as a thankfull remembrance of your manie charitable fauours towardes mee and then as an earnest of my willingnes to bee doing as I am able The discourse of it selfe in the originall is of worth enough to giue all good men content which loue Gods true Religion together with the propogation and increase thereof and as I hope hath receiued no greate soile or blemish by passing through my handes It seemes it was intended by that famous man the Authour especiallie for his owne countriemen of the Romish Church but alas who are so deafe as they that will not heare or blind like them that will not see Yet as hee saith in the end of his discourse that Animam suam liberauit in case it worke not amongst them his wished effect So likewise if it passe into English vnder your â—auâ—…ur vous aurez aussi Monsieur adâ—…ncè une bonne oeuure So trusting to our Worships gentle acceptance I cease further to trouble you in your most worthie employments for the common good and remaine Your worships most humble and euer much bounden Ry. Goring A Letter to them of the Romish Church by Peter du Moulin Minister of GOD's Word in the Reformed Church of Paris Translated into English out of the French Originall My Masters THE things that I have to represent to you would perhappes bee more acceptable from any other hand than from mine and yet I may bee bould to say that never did any man speak to you more void of hatred or more desirous of your good and salvation The Word of God from whence wee draw our Religion commands us to love those that hate us and to beleeve that those which doo persecute us doo thinke they doo God good service Every spirit which seeketh after the truth ought thus to be disposed Without this it is impossible to gather anie fruit by our communication for never doth any wound cloze up again during the inflammation And even as in a house which is on fire those which speake are not understood so shall we never understand one another whil'st our spirits doo burne with hatred and spleen The study of the sacred Word of GOD requireth a quiet spirit which wisely waigheth things without exception against any mans person for what reason is it to hate any bodie because hee goeth astray or because wee think wee see more cleere than hee Now then even as blinde-men are commonly wranglers and cholerick so also such as are most violent receive least instruction therefore hee that shall remedy this ignorance shall likewise appease this furiousnesse But the evill is without remedy in him that endeavoureth to be ignorant and feareth to know the will of God lest hee should bee so much the more obliged to follow it This is my Masters the disease of this Age in which people make profession of following without knowing and to beleeve his Church without knowing what the Church ought to beleeve and resteth upon the faith of other being ignorant of the rule of faith which is the Word of God as if those that lead us ought to bee our warrants against GOD's judgement or as if it were a vertue to beleeve in God by Attorney Indeed people ought to obey their Guides in case God bee their Guide and beleeve that which they teach if so bee that which they deliver bee drawne from the Word of God The Index of bookes forbidden together with the rules which were made by the fathers that were chosen thereto by the TreÌ„t Synod The fourth rule In as much as it is plainly seen by experience that if the Bible bee every where suffered to bee read in the vulgar tongue without any restraint more hurt then good will thence arise by occasion of mens rashnes Hee that without such like licence shall presume to read or have the Bible may not have an absolution of his sinnes vnlesse hee first deliver it up into the hands of the Ordinary The which if they hide from the people and hinder the reading thereof it is a signe that they find themselves guilty or that in stead of subjecting themselves to this rule they will have the soveraign rule to bee their authority For wherefore should the Word of God contained in holy Scriptures bee a suspicious thing unto us and as it were a dangerous book Wherefore should not children bee permitted to see their fathers Testament The Apostle Saint Paul hath written his Epistles to the people of Rome of Corinth and Ephesus to the end they might read them wherefore then should Christian people at this day bee deprived of the reading of them The Catholike Epistles of Saint Iames Where it is to be noted that there it is spoken of Bibles translated by Catholick Roman Authors S. Peter and Saint Iohn are written to all the faithfull in generall wherefore then should not Christian people read those Letters which are expresly directed unto them and are written for their instruction wherfore may they not read the writings of the Prophets as well as the people of Berea which coming from Saint Pauls Sermon went and conferred it with the Scriptures To what end are Texts alleaged in Sermons if it bee not lawfull for the Auditor to goe home and see in the Scriptures Acts 17. 11 whether they bee truely alleaged or no A horrible thing that in those Countries where the Inquisition raigneth it is a crime worthy the fire to have a Bible in the vulgar tongue whil'st not onely the reading of fables is tolerated but whoredome also established there by law and politick regiment If so bee the Translation bee not thought true by the Pope his Holinesse should give order for a Translation fitting his judgement To say that some abuse this reading is to accuse the Apostles of folly to have written their * The Apostles did write in a language most publikely understood Epistles to christian people without foreseeing that they might abuse the same by the same reason they might forbid the preaching thereof because many doo abuse it Men abuse even
adversaries from condemning all those Fathers for equalling the Bishoppe of Constantinople to him of Rome in ecclesiasticall matters And it is marvelous how these men dare speak of Councels Afterwards in the year 450. they said they had the same priviledges seeing they knowe the day night are not more contrary than the ancient Councels and the new in which the Pope ruleth and ordaineth all but the other bishops give their opinion only with bowing of the head in signe of approbation At the beginning of which they lay down the holy Scripture at the Popes feet in witnes that the Word of God is subject unto him where the Pope is seated on a high Throne having the Emperor sitting at his feet In brief wee may see by the practice of these later Councels and above all by the Councel of Florence and the last of Lateran and by the book of sacred ceremonies that a Councell now within these few Ages is no other than a papal consistory though with more soleminity whereas in the antient Councels the bishop of Rome durst not be present and his deputies ordinarily had no precedencie there nor authority far from ordaining that no book shall be canonicall without the Popes authority and that all Kings should kiss his feet and to declare that there is no other name under Heaven but that of the great Bishop Annal. Baron which are the decrees of the Roman Councell under Gregory the seventh Anno. 1078 the yeare 1076. Briefly it is certain that they which buzze in your eares the Fathers and Councels do it not because the Antients are favourable unto them but because they knowe that the people can knowe nothing of them and that they must needs in those things referre themselves unto them But as for the Scripture which you ought to knowe and which ruleth all the Fathers it is that which is forbidden you In summe yeares are no rules and lying is ever since the beginning of the world The Church is not in a Countrey of custome but where the written truth is There is no prescription against divine truth yea even in the time of the Apostles the mystery of iniquity was a-brewing how far ought it now then to bee advanced And indeed as wel the people as the pastors of the Ro. Church have these many Ages cried out that their Church had need of reformation In the Councell of Pysa held in the yeare 1411 Pope Alexnder the fift in the twentieth Session promised solemnly to intend the reformation of the Church and to assemble for that purpose the most learned of all Nations A while after was held a Councell at Senes the yeare 1423. where the proposition of the reformation of the Church was revived and then put off to another time for they saw they could not stir this stone without shaking the papall seat That which the great ones would not doo God hath performed by the hands of little ones using unhoped for means to expose unto the view of the world the doctrine of salvation maugre al the machinations of Satan Vnto those that have endeavored and do yet endeavour to perfect this work you are thus much beholding as that the holy Scripture which the people saw not heertofore is now translated into the vulgar tongue and that the Spirit of God speakes it so as none can be ignorant of the Word of God but he that hood-winks himself lest hee should see the light You are also thus much more beholding unto them that the Pope doth lesse tyrannize over you than he did some foure or five hundreth yeares since and that your servitude is by a quarter lesse burdensome Such Buls are found in Math. Paris and in the 3. Tome of Councels at the end of the Councell of Lateran vnder Innocent the third For in those daies the Pope gave to the French which armed themselves for him and at his commandement besides the remission of all their sins a degree of glory in Paradise above others whereas now if he should send them to goe into a farre Countrey upon a Croysada to fight against Hereticks or to take-in some Townes of their neighbours to the Popes use as was done not very long since you your selves would mock at his commandement In former times when any King angred him his custome was to interdite his Kingdome and so put as far as in him lay many millions of persons out of the communion of the Church cause all divine service to cease in a large Countrey cause the Bels to bee still hinder Burialls and to expose the Countrey in preie to him could first conquer it England was six years and a half in this estate in the time of King Iohn but now-a-daies he drawes no more that weapon lest bestirring himselfe too hard hee overturne his owne chair which the doctrine of the gospell hath already much shaken You owe them moreover this obligation that you see not as in the time of Boniface the ninth and Leo the tenth Pardoners to run from house to house through France who for half a crown sould every one remission of all their sins and deliverance of a soule out of Purgatory The time hath bin that in France there was no speech but of miracles and of Saint Anthonies fire and of the apparition of damned soules or others returning from Purgatory of which illusions the greater part is vanished at the Sunne-rise of the holy Scriptures which the night of ignorance had hidden And if now they doo any petty miracles it is in secret and never in our sight for before a man that feareth God and knoweth him Satan is as it were afflicted and loseth his fense-play yea even your owne Magistrates have punisht these deceivers There bee but a few amongst you that doo wholly beleeve your owne religion but doo finde some fault in the Romish Church for indeed it would be a hard matter to endure the decrees and glosses which say that a Tit. 8 de Praebend cap. Proposuit According to the fulness of our power we may lawfully dispense above law Where the Glosse also The Pope doth dispense against the Apostle as also against the old Testament as also in another Glossa dist 34. can lector The Pope can dispense against the Apostle Et causa 23. qu. 1. can Sunt quidam The Glosse hath it thus Hee the Pope dispenseth in the Gospell by interpreting it the pope is above law and right and that he can dispense against the Apostle and against the gospell and which cals b Glossa extrav Cū inter Our Lord god the Pope the Pope god and c Concil Lat. ultimum sess 9. The countenance of thy divine Majesty Bellarm. in Barkl c. 31. Christ gaue to Peter in a good sense power to make of sinne no sinne and of no sinne sinne the divine majesty or those fabulous Legends which compare and equall in many things S. Dominick and S. Francis with Iesus Christ or the