praedicabunt nisi mittantur How shall they beleeue him whom they haue not heard how shall they heare without a preacher how shall they preach vnlesse they be sent Therefore the true Church which only hath preachers truely sent of God must first be found out that by it we may heare and know which is the true faith Therefore of the two the true Church is rather a marke whereby we may know the true preaching and consequently the true doctrine of faith then contrary that as heretiques say the doctrine should be a marke whereby all men must know which is the true Church Thirdly true faith is included in the true Church and as it were enclosed in her belly as S. Austen saith vpon those words of the Psalme Errauerunt ab vtero â—â—quuâ—i sunt falsa In ventre ecclesiae saith he veritas manet quisquis ab hoc ventre separatus fuerit necesse est vt falsa loquatur Truth remaineth in the belly of the Church whosoeuer is seperated to wit by difference in doctrine froÌ„ this belly of the Church must needs speake false Therfore like as if a man had golde in his belly we must first find the man before we can come to see the golde it selfe so we must first by other markes find out the true Church which hath the gold of true faith hidden in her belly before we come to see the gold of true faith it selfe Sith especially we cannot see it vnlesse shee open her mouth and deliuer it vnto vs that we cannot being spiritually blind certainely know it to be true not counterfeite but by giuing credit to her testimony of it According as the same S. Austen saith Euangelio non crederem nisi me ecclesiae authoritas commoueret I should not beleeue the Gospell it selfe vnlesse I were moued by the authority of the Church For if we had not the testimony of the Church how should we haue bin infallibly sure that there were any Gospel at all or how should wee haue knowne that those bookes which beare title of the Gospell according to S. Mathew Marke Luke and Iohn Are true Canonicall Scripture rather then those bookes which are writen in the name of Nicodemus and S. Thomas bearing the same title or inscription of Gospell Fourthly if the true doctrine of faith in all particuler pointes must bee fore knowne as a marke whereby to know the true Church then contrary to that which hath bin proued the authority of the Church should not be a necessarie meanes whereby men must come to the knowledge of the true faith For if before wee come to know which is the true Church we must by other meanes haue knowne which is the true faith what neede then is there for getting true faith already had to seeke or bring in the authority of the same Church Fiftly If before we giue absolute and vndoubted credit to the true Church we must examine and iudge whether euery particuler point of doctrine which it holdeth be the truth with authority to accept that only which we like or which seemeth in our conceipt right and conformable to Scripture to reiect whatsoeuer wee mislike or which in our priuate iudgement seemeth not so right and coÌ„formable then we make our selues examiners and Iudges ouer the Church consequently we preferre our liking or disliking our iudgement and censure of the interpretation sense of Scripture before the iudgement and censure of the Church of God But it is absurd both in reason and religion to preferre the iudgment of any priuate man be he neuer so witty and learned or neuer so strongly perswaded in his owne mind that he is taught by the Spirit before the iudgement definitiue sentence of the Church of God the which is a company of men many of which both are alwaies haue bin vertuous wise and learned which is chiefe is such a company as according to the absolute and infallible promises of our Sauiour hath vndoubtedly the holy Spirit among them guiding them and teaching them all truth and not permitting them to erre as before hath beene proued But you may perhaps say that in Scripture we are willed not to beleeue euery spirit but to try spirits whether they bee of God or no and that therefore we must examine and try the spirit of the Church by looking into euery particuler point of doctrine which it teacheth I answere That in that place of Scripture it is not meant that it belongeth to euery particuler man to try all spirits but in generall the Scripture giueth the Church warning not to accept euery one that boasteth himselfe to haue the Spirit and willeth that they should trie those spirits not that euery simple or priuate man should take vpon him to trie them but that those of the Church to whom the office of trying spirits doth appertaine to wit the Doctors and Pastors which almighty God hath put in his Church of purpose Vt non circumferaâ—ur omni vento doctrinae that we may not be caried away with euery wind of doctrine and Vt non simus paruuli fluctuantes that we may not be litle ones wauering with euery blast of those that boast themselues to be singulerly taught by the Spirit So that this trying of spirits is only meant of those spirits of which men may well doubt whether they be of God or no theÌ„ also this trial beloÌ„geth to the Pastors of the Church But when it is certaine that the spirit is of God we neither need nor ought doubtfully to examine or presuÌ„ptuously to iudge of it but submitting obediently the iudgement of our owne sense and reason wee must beleeue the teaching of it in euery point Now it is most certaine that the Spirit of the true visible Church is of God as out of holie Scripture hath bin most euidently proued And therefore our only care should be to seeke out those markes by which all men may know which particuler coÌ„pany of meÌ„ is the true Church of Christ whose doctrine we neither need nor lawfully may examine and try in doubtfull manner but must obediently and vndoubtfully in all points beleeue as the only assured and infallible truth CHAP. XV. That these foure properties Vna Sancta Catholica Apostolica that is to saie One Holy Catholique Apostolique are good markes by which men may know which is the true Church SITH our Sauiour Christ hath thought good to plant a visible Church vpon earth which he would haue to continue vntill the worlds end for this speciall inâ—ent and purpose that all men in all ages by meanes of it may learne the doctrine of the true faith the true worship of God the right vse of the Sacraments the holesome lawes of good life and generally all good thinges that appertaine to the glorie of God and the saluatioÌ„ of our soules wee haue not any reason to doubte but that the same our Sauiour for the exceeding loue which of his part
not only not humble himselfe like a litle one submitting himselfe to euery humane creature for Gods sake but doth proudly oppose himselfe against the vniuersall Church it self whom God hath willed and commanded vs to heare no otherwise then himselfe For wanting this humility consequently the grace of God which is denied to the proud giuen to the humble there is no doubt but that howsoeuer such a man seemeth in his outward behauiour hee can haue no true sanctity within him the which true sanctity failing inwardly it is hard for him to beare himselfe so but that sometime or other by one occasion or other he shall euen outwardly manifest this his inward waÌ„t as in these our daies heretiques commonly do in such apparant manner that it is no hard matter to discerne that they be not as some of theÌ„ would haue the Church defined a company of Saints The true Church is proued also to be Catholique that is to say vniuersall first in time by most plaine prophesies promises of scripture as I haue already shewed in the eleauenth chapter vnto which here I will only adde those words of Isaias Hoc faedus meum cum eis dicit Dominus spiritus meus qui est in te verba mea quae posui in ore tuo non recedent de ore tuo de ore seminis tui de ore seminis seminis tui dicit Dominus amodo vsque in sempiternum This is my couenant with them saith our Lord my Spirit which is in thee and my wordes which I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth and from the mouth of thy seede and from the mouth of the seede of thy seede saith our Lord from hence forth for euer It may also be easily proued to be vniuersal in respect of place by these plaine testimonies of holy Scripture Conuertenâ—â—r ad Dominum vniuersi fines terrae all the â—ounds of the earth shall be conuerted to 〈◊〉 Lord. Dominabitur à mari vsque admare 〈◊〉 à flumine vsque ad terminos orbis terrarum He to wit Christ shall rule and haue dominion from sea to sea from the flood â—ntill the furthermost limits of the earth Omnes gentes seruient ei All nations shall serue him Vpon all which places and some other see S. Austen in his exposition of the Psalmes and among other things which he speaketh to the purpose note his interpretation of those words à slumiâ—â— vsque ad terminos orbis terrarum VVhich words saith he doth signifie that the dominion of Christ began à slumine Iordano from the flood of Iordan where he being baptized was made manifest by the descending of the holy Ghost and the sound of his Fathers voice from whence hee began to choose his Disciples and from hence saith he Doctrina oius incipiâ—â—s dilatatur vsque ad terminos orbis terrae cum praedicatur Euangelium regni in vniuerso orbe in testimonium omnibus gentibus tunc veniâ—â— finis His doctrine beginning is dilated or spread abroad vnto the furthest parts of the earth when the Gospell of the kingdome is preached ouer the whole world for a testimony to all nations after which done the end of the world shall come See also the same S. Austen in his booke de vnitate Ecclesiae especially in the ninth and tenth chapter where he citeth and vrgeth that place of Saint Luke where our Sauiour saith Necesse est impleri omnia quae scripta sunt in lege Prophetis Psalmis de me c. quoniam sic scriptum est sic oportebit Christum pati resurgere à mortuis predicari in nomine eius poenitentiam remissionem peccatorum in omnes gentes incipientibus ab Ierosolima It is needfull that all things should be fulfilled which are writen of me in the Law the Prophets and Psalmes c. for so it is written and so it was needfull that Christ should suffer rise againe from the dead the third day and that penance and remission of sinnes should be preached in his name throughout all nations beginning from Hierusalem By which place and diuers others he sheweth plainely that the true Church of Christ cannot be contained in a corner of the world but must be vniuersall that is diffused and spread throughout the whole world as the same S. Austen beside his other proofes gathered out of the very name Catholica the which name saith he was imposed on the Church by our forefathers vt ex ipso nomine ostenderent â—â—ia per totum est secunduÌ„ totum enim Catholon â—race dicitur That by the very name â—hey might shew that the Church is throughout the whole world For saith he the word Catholon in Greeke wherevpon Catholique is deriued signifyeth a thing which is generall or agreeing to the whole But we must note here that when we â—aye the true Church is Catholique or â—â—ffused throughout the whole world it is ment that at least by succession of time it hath beene or shal be dilated more and more in euery natioÌ„ till it haue gone throughout the whole world Moreouer it is tearmed Catholique not onely because it shal be spred ouer the whol world in processe of time but also because euen in euery age it hath beene and shal be alwaies in very many nations and indeede in euery nation where any Christian religion is which is in a sort to be spred ouer the whole world This doth S. Austen in his booke de vnitate Ecclesiae most diligently proue out of the Scriptures themselues The effect of his argument is this The Church must be such as it is described in Scripture But in Scripture it is described to beginne at Ierusalem and to procede into al Iewrie to goe forward into Samaria and to streatch it selfe further further vsque ad vltimum terrae euen vnto the vttermost of the earth And saieth hee the seede of the Gospell once sowen in the fielde of the world fructificat crescit doth not vniuersally or for the most part perish but fructifie and grow or encrease in omni mundo in the whole world doth coÌ„tinue to grow or encrease vsque ad messem vntill the haruest of the consummation of the world as our Sauiour signifieth the which consummation wil be when this seede is come to the full grouth praedicabitur Euangelium in vniuerso mundo in testimonium omnibus gentibus saieth our Sauiour tunc veniet consummatio the Gospell shal be preached in the whole world for a testimonie to all nations and then the consummation shall come This is Saint Austens discourse by which he proueth that the true Church of Christ is not contained in a corner of 〈◊〉 world but must be dilated and spred 〈◊〉 a sort ouer the whole world On the contrary side the congregatioÌ„ 〈◊〉 Heretiques is not Catholique neither in
how caÌ„ he be infallibly sure that in those places which doe seeme to fauour that sect which he followeth it doth not erre vnlesse he will admit an vnfallible auctority in the Church to assure vs that such or such a translation doth not erre in any point of which auctority I shall speake more hereafter Secondly they faile in the second conditioÌ„ or property which the rule of faith should haue For the Scriptures theÌ„selues alone in what language soeuer bee obscure and hard to be vnderstood at least to vnlearned men who caÌ„not read them and therefore the Scriptures alone cannot bee vnto vnlearned men a sufficient rule to instruct them in al points of faith as is plaine For locke vp an vnlettered man and an English Bible for a time in a studdy and he will come forth I warrant you as ignorant in matters of faith as he went in if wee adde no other meanes to instruct him but the bare written Word which he cannot reade And yet vnlearned men may bee saued and saued they cannot be without an entire and vnfallible faith and this they cannot haue vnlesse there be some certaine rule and vnfallible meanes prouided by almightie God meet for the capacity to teach them this faith and Scripture alone as is now proued is not a rule meete for the capacity of vnlearned men or apte to instruct them sufficiently in all points of faith But what speake I only of vnlearned meÌ„ sith also learned men cannot by onely reading the scriptures be vnfallibly sure that they rightly vnderstand them For while they vnderstand one way perhaps they ought to vnderstand another way that which they vnderstand plainly and litterally ought perhaps to be vnderstood figuratiuely and mystically and contrary that which they vnderstand figuratiuely ought perhaps to bee vnderstood properly And seeing that it is most certaine that all do not expound right sith the exposition of one is contrary to the exposition of another as right is neuer contrary to right how should one be vnfallibly sure that hee onely expoundeth right hauing nothing to assure him but the seeming of his owne sense reason which is as vncertaine and fallible as the iudgments and persuasions of other men who seeme to theÌ„selues to haue attained as well as he the right interpretation or sense Moreouer there be many things required to the perfect vnderstanding of Scripture which are found but in verie few and those also in whom those giftes are are not vnfallibly sure that they are so guided by those giftes but that both they and others may prudently doubte least sometimes in their priuate expositions as men they erre And consequently their priuate expositions cannot bee that rule of faith which wee seeke for which must on the one side bee determinately and plainely vnderstood and on the other side it must bee vnfallible certaine and such as cannot erre Thirdly they faile in the third condition For the Scriptures are not so vniuersal as the rule of faith had need to be For this rule ought to be so vniuersall that it may be able absolutely to resolue determine all doubtes questions of faith which either haue bin or may hereafter bee in controuersie for otherwise there were not sufficient meanes prouided by which schisme and heresies might bee aâ—oided vnity of faith so necessary to saluatioÌ„ might be conserued among Christian men But the Scriptures bee not thus vniuersall For there bee diuers questions or doubtes moued now a daies and those also touching very substantiall matters which are not expressely set downe nor determined by onely expresse Scripture For where haue we any expresse Scripture to proue that all those and onely those bookes which Catholikes or Protestants holde for Scripture or indeede Gods word and true Scripture this wee shall not finde expressely set downe in a part of Scripture This point therefore whereupon dependeth the certainety of euery point proued out of Scripture caÌ„not be made certaine to our knowledge or beliefe vnlesse we admitte some other infallible rule or auctority whereupon wee may ground an vnfallible beliefe which infallible rule if we admitte to assure vs that there is at all any Scripture and that those bookes and no other bee Canonicall Scripture why should wee not admitte the same to assure vs vnfalliblie which is the true sense and meaning of the same Scripture Hereupon S. Austen saith very well Cur non apud eos diligentissime requiram quid Christus praeceperit quorum auctoritate commotus Christum aliquid praecepisse iam credidi Tu ne mihi melius expositurus es quid ille dixerit c. Why should I not most diligently aske or learne of those hee meaneth of the Catholike Church what Christ hath commanded by whose auctority I was moued to beleeue that Christ coÌ„manded any thing at all what Wilt thou expound vnto me better what he hath saide that is to say the meaning of his words Quae saith hee ista tanta deâ—entâ—a est illis crede Christo esse credendum â— nobis disce quid ille dixâ—rit multo facilius â—ibi persuaderem Christo non esse credendum quam de illo quidquam nisi ab ijs per quos ei credidissem discendum What a madnes is this in thee to say beleeue them to witte the Catholikes that we must beleeue Christ and the Scriptures to bee his word yet learne of vs what Christ said that is to say what is the meaning of his word I should saith S. Austen much more easily perswade my self that I ought not to beleeue Christ at all then that I must learne any thing coÌ„cerning him of any except of those of whom I haue already learned to beleeue in him Thus I haue proued that those english translations wherupon Protestants commonly build their faith cannot be a sufficient rule of true Christian faith First because they are not infallibly free from errour Secondly for that all men cannot reade them neither can any by only reading bee sure to attaine the right sense without which to haue the wordes of Scripture is to haue them as Austen saith ad specieâ— non ad salutem for a shew but not to saluation Lastly for that all pointes of doctrine which appertaine to true Christian faith are not expresly set downe in Scripture as beside my proofe S. Austen S. Basiâ—l and Epiphanius doe affirme Some of which reasoÌ„s haue also force to proue that Scripture alone in what language soeuer is not a fitte meanes to instruct sufficiently all sorts of men in al matters of faith Wherefore I may absolutely coÌ„clude that Scripture alone cannot be that 〈◊〉 of faith which we seeke for Some obiect against this coÌ„clusion that place of S. Paul Omnis Scriptura diuinitus â—â—â—spirata vtilis est ad doceÌ„dum c. vt perfectus 〈◊〉 homo c. But this place proueth nothing against that which I haue said For it saith not that Scripture alone is sufficient to instruct