any moderation or concorde namely syche as they would haue synce it is so truly written of the blessed martyr S. Cyprian There can be no socyetee between faith and infidelitee He that is not with Christ is agaynst Christ He that is enemy to his vnitee and peace can not ioyne with vs If they come with submission and satisfaction lett them be heard If they come with curses and threates let them be refused But where that lewde fellowe Vergerius writeth there is none other meane or hope of concord except the vniuersall papacy be suppressed see for Gods sake what sleyghtes these be of Sathan and to what end he tendeth in seeking so earnestly to ouerthrowe the papacy But that our saying may be the better beleeued wee wil rather bryng foorth his testimony of the papacy who so long as he liued held mortall warre against the same and whose word Vergerius adoreth as the very word of God then vse our owne wordes For thus writeth Luther in a certayne Epistle to ij parish priestes of the Anabaptisme I heare sayth he and see rebaptising taken in hand of some vpon this grownd that they would doo it in the despight of the Pope as men that will haue nothing of Antechrist Euen as the sacramentaries will haue in the sacrament but meer bread and wyne in despight of the Pope thinkyng them selues able by this meanes to suppresse the papacy Verely this foūdatiō is friuolous and vayne wherupon they can build no good thing For by that reason wee must denye al the holy scriptures and the office of preaching For all this haue wee from the Pope And then must wee make allso a newe scripture Then must wee forsake also the ould Testamēt lest we should seeme to haue any thing frō the infidell Iues. All this is but foolishnes For Christ allso found in the Iuishe nation abuse emong the Scribes and Pharisees yet did he not therfore reiect al things which they held and tawght But wee confesse that vnder the papacy is myche good Christianitee yea and all good Christianitee And that from thence it hath come vnto vs. Yea truly wee graunt that vnder the papacy is the true scripture the true baptisme the true sacrament of the aultar the true keyes of remission of synnes the true office of preaching the true Cathechisme which is the lords prayer the x. Commaundementes and the Articles of the Crede I say farther that vnder the papacy is the true Christianitee yea and the very true kernell of Christianitee And lest any man should thinke that Luther wrote this when as yet the light of the Euangelicall veritee wherof he so myche vaunteth had not shyned vpon him let him knowe that this Epistle was written by him the x. yere after he had cut him self of from the Churche of God at what tyme his name was very farre spred by the fame of his heresies Thus ye see how the truthe brake foorth from him against his will euen as it did thorowgh the throte of Balaam the prophet all be it he were an enemy of the truth See you now most vertuous kyng wherunto the deuyses of Sathan tend when by his sowldyar Vergerius and by others of that kynd he seeketh to haue the vniuersall papacy taken away For he seeketh therin by the verdit of Luther to haue taken away the true scripture true Baptisme the true Sacrament of the Aultar the true keyes of remission of synnes the true office of preaching the true Catechisme true Christianitee yea and the very true kernell of Christianitee And haue not these his deuises succeded as he would haue them First Luther sowght to take away the papacy and therunto he layd certayne foundations as we haue before shewed For first in despight of the Pope and the councell he graunted the cuppe to the laye people Then he abrogated aunciēt rytes and ceremonies and instituted newe Not long after of the number of the vy sacramentes he tooke away v. And last of all he ouerthrew together both sacrifice and priesthood But what came herof VVith in a short tyme after vp sprang Sacramētaryes and Anaptistes who tooke from vs those ij sacramentes allso of the aultar and baptisme which ij Luther had yet of his curtesy left vnto vs And that did they not more in hatred or desspight of the Pope then of Luther him self if wee may beleue Philip Melancthon For they seing Luther thus to play the Pope yea and more then a Pope could not broke this intollerable tyranny of the man After this foorth came the heauēly prophetes which tooke from vs both the scriptures and all externe ministery of preaching At the last owt of what darke caues I know not issued Campanus and Seruetus which sowght to pull from vs our Sauiour Christ speaking very blasphemously of his diuinitee This end at the last they attayned which laboured to ouerthrow the papacy and to do all thinges in despight of the Pope I vse somtyme most vertuous kyng to reade the triffles of those heretikes which are of no great name that I may knowe the better how things goe amongest them My happe was emong others to hyt vpon a certaine Germayne Luther an named Erasmus and not only by syr name but in deed rightly caulled All beere who wrote a booke against Carolstadius and other Sacramentaries Anabaptistes and image breakers Therein he telleth of one Iames Schēck how when at Berlin he preached to the people the word of Luther for the word of God he could not by any meanes be induced vpon the solemne feast day of Easter to preache of the Resurrection of our Lord but vpon Easter daye he would nedes preache of the Passion And of an other at Francfort that would in no wyse kepe the feast of Christmas daye And why I pray you Forsooth in despight of the Pope lest they should seeme in any thing to impart with the papacy that is to say with Christianitee they had rather all the memory of Christ his benefits were extinguisshed then they would celebrat the same with those Christians that acknowledge the Pope You see most vertuous Kyng what thinges haue followed wher the papacy hath been taken away And this very state of thinges Vergerius or rather the diuell by Vergerius his solliciter seeketh now to bring allso into your kingdom For this hath allwayes been an owld practyse of Sathan as wee reade written by the holy martyr S. Cyprian to infest and persecute in all he may the head ruler of the churche to the end that hauing taken away the master he might with the more violence and owtrage spoyle and ransacke the churche Neither haue heresies or schismes saith S. Cyprian risen of any other occasion then of that the priest of God is not obeyed and that one Priest for the tyme in the churche and one iudge for the tyme in stead of Christ is not thought vpon To
owne doctrine that they frame to the wordes of the scripture their owne priuat sence And that they contend not with vs about the sence and mynd of the scripture but about their owne sence vnderstādīg therof which rather thē we would adore as the pure word of God against the cōuiō sence and cōsent of the whole church we are redy to do and suffer all thinges For wee are persuaded that so to do were right idolatry Synce therfore wee haue at large shewed why wee can not agree with the enemyes of the Gospell which by the wordes of the Gospell assault the same and contend with vs about their owne mynd and not the mynd of the scripture wee will brieffly discourse the cause why we can not so do First the most seuere commaundements of God forbid vs to geue eare or consent vnto them according to these wordes If any man preache vnto you any other Gospel then that which ye haue receyued let him be accursed If any man speake blasphemie against the holy Ghost it shall not be remitted vnto him Flee from idoles Seeing therfore these men be syche as preache vnto vs a Gospell which wee haue not receyued and syche as speake blasphemy against the holy Ghost and seeke to be adored of vs as certayne idolls wee obeying the commaundements of God are iustly feared frō consenting with them And lest any man thinke wee applye these scriptures to our owne proper sence we will in fewe shewe how the auncient catholyke fathers haue expoūded them to the end euery man may plainly perceiue that wee doo very truly vse them against these enemyes of the Gospell And first who is ther to whō the name of Athanasius is not knowē and wel thowght of VVho as S. Cyrill writeth adorned heauen it self with the workes he wrote as it were with a most fragrant oyntment This father therfore in his booke which he intituled of the incarnation of Christ as it is by Cyrill cited vseth these wordes VVho so euer besyde these thinges teacheth out of the holy scripture that there is one sonne of God and an other sonne borne of the virgin Mary and adopted for a sonne only in suche sorte as wee men be so that there be two sonnes etc. Or yf any mā saye that the fleshe of our lord came from aboue and not of the virgin Mary or the whole diuinitee to haue been cōfounded or chaunged into the fleshe or the deitie of our lord to be passible or that the fleshe of our lord as of man is not to be adored this man dooth the holy and Catholyke churche accurse following therin the holy Apostles saying If any man preache vnto you any other Gospel thē that which ye haue receiued let him be accursed Behould this good Father whose memory in the churche is holy and immortal sayth he is accursed of the catholyke churche who so euer should go about to teache yea though it were owt of the holy scriptures any of these poyntes But o holy father by what auctoritee thinkest thou that may be done yf he teache the same owt of the scriptures For sooth sayth he by the auctoritee of S. Pawll who sayd If any man preache vnto you any other Gospell then that which ye haue receiued let him be accursed A marueilous matter The same sentence which the heretikes of our age haue allwayes in their mowthe wherby they thinke as with a ramme of Iron to assault and ouerthrow the whole auctoritee of the fathers and coūcells thou bringest foorth on the cōtrary syde To wyt yf any man shal goe about to saye yea though it be out of the scriptures the cōtrary of that which hath bene defyned in lawfull councells of the fathers especially generall and by them deliuered to vs from hand to hād thou thinkest him not only not to be harkened vnto but allso to be accursed and that wee must firmly remayne in that which wee haue receiued though a man bring neuer so many textes of scripture in apparence to the contrary Athanasius will not that the children should iudge of the decrees of the fathers He will not that syche thinges as hath once been tryed by the rule of the scriptures should agayne be caulled back to the same vnlesse they will shewe them selues not to be laufull children but the seed of the harlot and adulteresse which if they dare do let them crye tyll they be hoarse For it is writtē as the father of heretikes attempting Christ once did yet maketh he no doubt by the doctrine of S. Pawll to hould them accursed because they preache a contrary Gospell to that which they receiued But did holy Athanasius when he wrote thus teache vs to contemne and holde for nawght the expresse word of God No God forbid It was neuer any part of his thought but he would haue taken for the pure and expresse word of God that which the Catholikes and not which the heretikes browght foorth that sense I saye which the Catholikes not which the heretikes drewe foorth of the scriptures VVe fynd notably written by S. Hierome that the Gospell standeth not in the wordes of the scripture but in the sense not in the superficiall face or shewe but in the marye not in the leaues full of wordes but in the roote of reason You see now how the most earnest defender of the Catholyke and ryght faith produced these wordes of S. Pawl with whose only auctoritee namely synce he standeth in place of many we will for this tyme be content lest we seeme to long But yet agayne though perhapps wee maye herein doe otherwyse then becometh vs to the end the truth may the more plainly appere wee thinke it not amysse to bringe foorth euen an heretikes exposition of these wordes of S. Pawl and of that heretike whose mynd touching the sacramēt Melancthon is sayd to haue followed He therfore speaketh in this sort intreating vpon those very wordes of S. Pawll Note this worde of the Apostle Accepistis Ye haue receyued For styl the Apostle laboureth to this end that they should not hange as it were in the ayre vpon an vnknowen Gospell only by way of imagination but should hould for a certayne and sure definition therof that that was the true Gospell of Christ which was deliuered vnto them and which they had receyued He commaundeth therfore that they should be reputed for diuells which would presUme to bryng any other Gospell differing from his calling that another Gospell wherunto other mēs inuentions are ioyned And surely this his sentence though he were an heretike we can not but in this poynt very well allowe For he will not haue any vnknowen Gospell receyued but that which hath been deliuered vnto vs and which we haue allready before receyued But nowe that which is of these men termed the Gospell and the expresse word of God came to light in manner but yesterday and was to our fathers
beyng bewrayed by his strong ayer vsurpeth allso thies wordes of the scripture to the end that shrowded therin hee may deceyue the simple so infectyd with his poyson For so deceyued he Eue so allso lead he other heretikes into error and euen so dooth he now persuade Arrius that as it were vnder colour of talking leeke an aduersary against heresies he might the better deceyue him in foysting in his owne Chrysostom allso following Athanasius Open o Arrius sayth he the sepulchre of thy throte filled with dead wordes for thou hast not yet that liuyng and quickening word which thow seekest to frame to the mayntenaūce of thy reasons but he so soone as he is callyd maketh the entree of his talke with scriptures But thow that art the faythfull fear not when thow hearest him bring in scripture for euen the diuell him self when he came to Christ and tempted him bourded him with scripture saying If thow be the sonne of God throwe thy self downe for it is written he hath geuen commaundement to his Aungells that they shal keepe thee in all thy wayes and shall hould thee vp with their handes And it is well knowen that Arrius browght foorth fowrty places of the scripture to proue that the sonne was not of one substance with the father And what did he and his followers crake euer of but of the scriptures the Gospell and the expresse word of God To the scriptures he appealed and would not otherwyse be dealt with but only with the scriptures Maximinus when hee should enter in to disputation with S. Augustin prescribed this lawe vnto him that he should of necessite yeld to what so euer he should bring out of the scriptures For thus he sayth Those wordes which are takē out of the scripture faull not to vs by chaūce synce the lord him self hath thus warned vs saying in vayne do they worship me teaching the preceptes and commaundements of men S. Augustin allso writeth euen the leeke of the Donatistes As the diuell sayth he against the very lawemaker browght owt the very wordes of the lawe so ye by the wordes of the lawe accuse the men ye knowe not and withstād the promisses of God which are geuen by the very wordes of the lawe And a lytle after You speake sayth he the wordes of the lawe but against whom you speake them youe marke not No more did the diuell when he vtteryd the wordes of the lawe knowe him to whō he spake them He would haue throwen downe our head which was ascending vpward but ye would contract to one lytle part the body of that head which is dispersed throwgh the whole earth In leeke sort also dealt Macedonius as may be gathered by the sermon which Gregorie Nazeanzen wrote of the holy Ghost And so played Nestorius for he thowght he was able by the expresse word of God to shewe that Mary the moother of Ihesu was deliuered but of a bare man because in the Canonicall scriptures shee was sometymes callyd the moother of Ihesu but neuer the mother of God Leekwyse Eutiches whē he denyed ij natures to be in Christ seemed therin to leane to the expresse woord of God and asked of the Catholykes In what scripture those ij natures appeared I haue not learnyd owt of the holy scriptures any suche ii natures And of suche thinges must wee make searche only in the holy scriptures which are of more force then the doctrines and expositions of the fathers But what needyth in a manifest thing to vse moe wordes when nothing can be more truly sayd then is written by S. Augustine Errour could not spring cloked vnder the name of Christ but of the scriptures not well vnderstanded Neither dare the diuell attempt any other waye but by the diuine scriptures as wee reade in Origē VVho whē he had brought foorth the diuell alleaging those wordes of the Psalme They shall hould the vp with their handes c. How comith it to passe Sathan sayth he that thow knowest thies thinges to be written hast thou read the prophetes or knowest thow the scriptures though thow hould thy peace I will answer for the thou hast read them not that by the reading of holy things thy self wouldest become better but that by the bare letter thow mightest kyll the frēdes therof Thow knowest that yf thowe shouldest speake out of any other bookes thow coul dest not deceyue neither could thy allegations haue any authoritee So did Marcion read the scriptures as did the diuel so Basilides so Valentinus that with the diuel they might saye vnto our sauiour it is writtē etc. Yf any tyme therefore thou here testimonyes browght owt of the scripture take hede thou do not by and by repose thy self on the speaker but cōsider him well what he is of what mind and dispositiō lest happely he faine him self holy and be not so in dede and lest the woulse infectyd with the poyson of heresy lye shrowdyd vnder a shippes skin or lest the diuel speake scripture out of him This admonition of Origen is so depely to be layd vp in our mynd that at no tyme it go owt therof that when wee heare one bring foorth the scriptures or glory of the expresse word of God wee do not by and by beleaue euery suche kynd of sprite Be the Lutherans only they in this our age trowe yee which so confidently beate our eares with their continuall boasting of the word of God Doo not the Sacramentaries with as great or greater assurednes arrogat the same vnto themselues VVherunto doth Caluin appeale but vnto the scriptures when he hath to do with the Lutherans VVhat can he beare more vnpacyently then when both by the Christians and Lutherans he seeth obiected against him the auctoritee of the fathers and Councels VVhen the Magdeburgenses wrote wee are coōmawnded from God to heare the sonne of God Caluin ansvereth them in this sort Maliciously and wickedly doo they obiect to vs the auctoritee of Christ as though our mynd were one iote to declyne from his pure and syncere doctryne whoo haue allwayes shewyd our selues in very deed with no lesse reuerence to receiue what so euer hath issued out of the diuyne mowth of the lord then they yn wordes doo boast on their part Lett therfore the sonne of God be vnto vs without all cōtrouersy the chieff most perfytt and only maister in whose doctrine it may not bee laufull to alter one worde or sillable But the obedyēce of the fayth dooth not lett but that wee may bee attentiue to the sownd vnderstanding of his wordes Loo as wicked and blasphemous as Caluin is yet may he indure nothing worse then to be charged that he geueth not eare to the sonne of God or declyneth any thing frō his pure and syncere doctrine But what Do the Anabaptistes with any lesse courage stande also vpon that poynt No truly For beholde howe one of them
aungells of heauen wil vouchfafe to help them vp to heauen VVho when they haue all a leeke cutt them selues of voluntarely from the body of Christ that the heauenly Aungells haue then nothing to doo with them it is more certayn then that it may be doubted of Now therfore haue wee seen how Sathan assaulted Christ with the expresse word of God And hath he not doon the same also by his lymmes meÌ„bers agaiÌ„st the same Christ the sonne of God Did he not labour by the expresse word of God to shew that Christ was not only no prophett but allso worthy to dye wee reade in the Gospell that when the Iewes heard the word of Christ some sayd this is a ê“phet some others this is Christ yett were there not some emong them that sayd What Shall Christ come owt of Galilee Doth not the scripture saye Christ cometh of the seed of Dauid and foorth of the Castle of Bethleem where Dauid was The Phariseys allso said to Nicodemus Searche the scriptures and see that owt of Galilee shall aryse no prophette Yett not content therwith by the scriptures which they browght foorth to denye him to be a prophett they cryed out farther saying VVe haue a lawe and by that lawe he owght to dye because he hath made himself the sonne of God VVho will not be astonyed when he readeth these thinges The membres of the diuell browght foorth the lawe and the prophetts against the very auctor and lord of the lawe and the prophetts And as to them it seemed proued by the expresse word of God he was not only not a prophett but one worthy of death as a wicked transgressor of the lawe So that if against Christ him self when he yett walked emong men ther was so earnest fyghting not only by the diuel him self but by his members allso and that with the very sworde of the scriptures what shall wee thinke may not be doon against vs selly men Or what will not Sathan presume and not hope to coÌ„passe which thought assuredly he could euen by the very scriptures teache that Christ not only was no prophett but also worthy of death Nowe therfor is this made playne that the diuell feared not euen with the weapons of scripture to assault Christ the sonne of God lyuing here on earth and looke what sence he drewe foorth therof that would he haue to be takeÌ„ for the expresse word of God But what did he not euen with the same tooles sett on the Apostles yes â–ª and that very sore For what ells shewe these wordes of of S. Pawll Suche fauls Apostles are subtyll workmen traÌ„sfiguring themselues into the Apostles of Christ And no marueill For euen Sathan transfigurith him self in to an aungell of light It is not myche therfore if his ministers transforme them selues in to the leeknes of the ministers of Iustice How properly S. Pawll heer paynteth owt the fauls Apostles of his tyme They woldyn no wyse seeme to preache ay other thing then Christ and the Gospell But as the heretikes of our age woold pull from the Churche the Catholike doctryn so woold they haue doon the name of the Gospell from Pawlls preaching and woold seeme to arrogat the same vnto them selues Dooth not S. Pawll openly signifie this wheÌ„ he thus wryteth vnto the Galathians I marueyll you are so sone caryed away from him which caullyd you vnto the grace of Christ yn to an other Gospell which is but one not diuers Only some there be which trooble you and woold turne the Gospell of Christ VVhich place Iohn Chrisostom the true and faythfull Interpreter of S. Pawll expownding saieth Suche is the slaight of the diuell not to laye open the snares wherin hee seekyth to cache and intangle men For if they had sayd departe from Christ yee Galathians they wold haue auoyded theÌ„ as wicked and corrupt deceauers But now suffring them as it were to remayne in their faith and in the meane tyme couering their frawd with the name of the Gospell the vnderminers without any daunger with great bouldnes vndermined the house whil by the spreding of these veyls their right names wer couered Sins therfor they termyd their fraud the Gospel S. Pawl also striueth against the name etc. You see now howe eueÌ„ at that tyme as in this our age some cloked their deceyt with the name of the Gospell and called their frawde the Gospel That which they taught and not which Pawll preached they would haue to seeme the Gospell and with this honest preteÌ„ce casting a colour before men they labored to crepe into their myndes So doth Sathan to snare meÌ„ alwayes vse some shrowd and doth not streight waye to vse the phrase of the coÌ„moÌ„ people shewe his hornes but layeth the forthe name of holly scripture of the word of God of the Gospell that he may the more easely drawe men before they beware in to his nettes But it becomyth not faithful folcke by and by to be moued with suche masked Sprittes nor if a man call his owne trechery the Gospell straight way for suche to repute it The same Pawll allso remembryth writing vnto the ThessaloniaÌ„s that there were some which feared men by an Epistle sent as it were from him as though the day of the lord were eueÌ„ then at haÌ„d when yett by S. Pawll no such thing had bene writteÌ„ But where as he in his former epistle to theÌ„ had thus written VVe which lyue which remayne to the comyng of our lord shal not come befor them which haue slept to those his wordes they fastned that straunge sence which he neuer meÌ„t So allso eueÌ„ whyle Pawll yet lyued some were not affrayd to misconster his wordes For thus S. Peter the Apostle writeth of Pawlls Epistles That some things therin be hard to be vnderstanded which vnlernyd and wauering persons do depraue as they doo allso some other scriptures to their owne damnation If then whyle Pawll yet liued on the earth there were some found which turned and misconstrued his wordes what wonder is it if after so many ages past sins his death they haue been and yet be handled in lyke sorte But what that was which vnlernyd and wauering persons sowght in Pawlls epistles to peruert S. Augustin teachith in that his booke which he intituled of faith and workes For where Pawll had writteÌ„ wee thinke man to be iustified by fayth without the workes of the lawe some lewde and vnlernyd persons sayth he so tooke these wordes that with a certayn wicked securitee and carelesnes they cast awaye both them selues and others whyle they gathered heerby that to obteyn SaluatioÌ„ only faith suffised which thing he sayeth was the cause that the other Apostolicall Epistles of Peter Iohn Iames and Iuda are chieffly bent and directyd against that opinioÌ„ so as they very strongly buyld and mayntayn the coÌ„trary VVhich is that faith without workes
sake thow entrest into disputation by the scriptures to the end thow mayest confirme him in the trowthe hāging yet doubtfull is leeke inowgh to faull deeper in to heresies when he shall see thow hast profitted nothing the matter remayning in euē termes of defence and denyall Surely of this arguing to and fro he shall departe more vncertayn then he was before not knowing whether of the two is the heresie But this argument may they also agayn retourne vnto vs. For it is necessary for them allso to saye that by vs the scripture is falsefyed that wee do wrongely expounde them and they therefore will nedes take vpō them to defend the trowth VVe must not therfore appeale to the scriptures wherin the victory is none at all or ells vncertayn or not very manifest For albeit we supposed the conference of scriptures should not so faull owt betwene Catholikes and heretikes that it should set vp both sydes a leeke yet the order of thinges required that this pointe should first be propownded which now lyeth only in question As to whom the very fayth belongeth whose be the scriptures frō whom by whom when and to what teachers that doctrine was deliuered wherby wee are made Christians After the same sorte writeth Clemens Alexandrinus one that liued aboute that time also If sayth he they which followe heresies dare at any time vse the scriptures first they will neuer vse them all nor wholle nor as the very body and text of the scripture speaketh but choosing foorth those things which are ambiguous and doubtfull they turne them into their owne priuat opinion gathering here and ther a fewe wordes as it were flowers and not considering what is signified by them but only abusing the bare and naked termes In euery word almost which they bring foorth you shal fynd them stickyng in the only names and termes and quyte swaruyng frō the significatiō therof VVhat could be written better or what more aptly to the matter now in hand then that which we fynd writtē by that most lernyd mā Tertulliā He sheweth vs that the vsage of heretikes was to talke mych of the scripture to persuade by scripture and to holde foorth the scripture But in the meane tyme he admonissheth vs to stop them at that step and that they bee not admitted to any disputation of the scriptures for that they haue no interest or possession theryn sins the Catholikes do prescribe in the possession therof He allso bringeth for proofe herof the testimony of S. Pawll who forbiddeth vs to wast tyme in cōtending with heretikes For that allwayes debate breedyth debate and of argumēt groweth argumēt so as ther is lyke to be no end of brauling and cōtētiō wher a mā hopeth to ouercome obstinat persons by disputatiō For neither wāt they wordes at any tyme and their frowardnesse geueth thē courage neuer to be tyered with cōtention So as it is farre better to auoyde all occasiōs of cōtending with them which is the thing they seeke and to refrayne brawlyng with them by disputation for so myche as therby is that owld prouerb often verefyed By to myche altercation the trowth is lost But see whether those wordes written by Tertullian that this heresie admitteth not some scriptures and so foorth as before be not very truly spoken of the heretikes of our tyme The first fownder wher of did he not I praye you opēly vse the same hatchet to cut of the scriptures which were contrary to his purpose which Tertullian sayth Marciō the heretike did at that time vse He taught only fayth to suffise both to our saluation and iustification And seing that this his doctrine could not stand if the canonicall Epistle of Saint Iames remayned in forse straight waye taking his hatchet in his hand he cut the same of from his booke saying This shall haue no place in my Bibles Loe the imperious auctoritee of the man He caullyth them his Bibles wherby he shewyth they haue no fellowship with the Bibles of the Catholyke Churche Hee tawght also prayers and sacrifice for the dead to be superfluous and herunto seing that parte of the scriptures to be directly contrary which for the more parte all the owld catholyke writers bring foorth of the Machabees he katcheth ageyne his hatchet and cutetth of also that booke He tawght farther that all things came to passe by a certayne absolute necessitee and that wee owght to be certayn and sure of grace and saluation Against this his opinion maketh that which is written in the booke of wisedom and in Ecclesiasticus He therfore with his hatchet cutt of also these bookes So wee see that those scriptures which serued not his purpose he receiued not but taking his hatchet in hand cut them out of his Bibles Nowe those scriptures which he did receyue and allowe did he not by his additiōs and detractions peruert them to his owne priuat purposes making of good Latyne lewd high Dutche VVhich is layd to his charge not only by the Catholikes but allso by the sectaryes them selues And yf he did receyue any scriptures whole and sound did he not deuise therunto strange or rather mere contrary expositions which thing we allso see doon by the rest of the heretikes who be no lesse diuers among them selues then contrary to the catholikes in expounding the scriptures which thing to haue lykewyse been doon by the heretikes of his tyme Tertullian remembreth From their owne rules sayth he them selues do varye whilest euery of them do pype after his owne volūtary those things which he hath receiued euen as he that first deliuered thē framed the same by his owne fancye VVith such therfore as receiue no scriptures but suche as they leeke and those which they doo receyue wreast by addition and detraction to their owne purpose or ells deuyse therunto newe and straunge expositions Tertullian willeth vs in no wyse to enter into disputation of the scriptures but commaundeth them to be sett ouer to the Ecclesiasticall tradition VVhich his mynde euē Luther him self semeth to allowe when he hath to do with sacramētaries and Anabaptistes But you shal heare his owne wordes he sayeth VVee haue read what the holy fathers did in the councell of Nice so sone as they heard the heresie of Arius read they hissed it owt with one voyce and would not vouchesase to heare them that presented it nor suffer them to defend it but presently condemned them withowt any disputation as manifest blasphemers Moyses allso in his lawe commaunded that suche false teachers should be stoned to death Euen so in this case ther is no disputatiō to be vsed but suche manifest blasphemers are to be condemned withowt pleading their cause As Pawle allso commaundeth in the third chapiter of his Epistle to Titus that an heretike should be auoyded after one or two warnings He allso forbiddeth to Timothee all contentions and disputations as things which do nothing ells but
vtterly vnknowen May we not therfore with S. Hierom aptly say thus vnto these fellowes that so earnestly labour to obtrude this new fownd Gospell vnto vs VVhat so euer thou be thou teacher of new doctrynes I pray the forbeare the Romaine eares forbeare the faith which hath been recommended vnto vs from the mouth of the Apostles VVhy doest thow seeke after iiij c. yeres but wee may now say after fourtene c. yeres and more to teach vs now that wee knew not before VVhy doest thow bryng foorth that which Peter and Pawll would not shewe The Christian world hath been withowt this doctrine vntill this daye I will for my part being now an owld man hould that fayth wherin being a chyld I was borne and bred VVhat a madnes then were this yf wee should now receyue a straunge vnknowen Gospell and reiect that which wee hould by deliuery vnto vs from those holy fathers For yf they meane the name of the Gospell those bookes which wee haue written by the Euangelistes and Apostles and before them by the Prophettes that Gospell hath Polonia had and receyued almost this vi c. yeres past neither is ther any amōg vs that doubteth but that in the same is the expresse word of God VVherfore as touching the scripture it is none other Ghospell which the heretikes would at this daye obtrude vnto vs but the same which we professe allredy Yea and that is more they openly confesse that they haue receyued the whole Canonicall scripture from vs. VVhat Gospell then I praye you is that which they preache vnto vs Forsooth such a Ghospell wherunto as Caluin writeth other mens inuentiōs and deuyses are ioyned wherof they bring a straunge sence hitherto vnheard of in the churche of God And this is it wherof S. Pawll geueth warning saying Yf any man preache vnto you any other Gospell then that which you haue receyued let him be accursed That is as myche to saye If Luther Caluin or Melancthon come vnto you and preache the Gospell to any other sence or meaning then that which you haue receyued of the blessed fathers yf he tell you any thing contrary to that which they haue deliuered vnto you let him be accursed Be wee not thinke you by these wordes of S. Pawll iustly fearyd from taking the inuentions and deuyses of these men for the true word of God Namely synce this is truly sayd to be a synne against the holy Ghost and to blaspheme the same when by contempt wee violat those thinges which haue been deliuered vnto vs by the fathers VVhich thing that blessed Bisshop Damasus teacheth vs in these wordes Voluntary breakers of the Canons sayth he are greuously iudged of the holy fathers and condemned by the holy Ghost by whose instinct and gift they were decreed For Rightly seeme they to blaspheme the holy Ghost which against those holy Canōs do any thing voluntarely or frowardly not cōpelled by necessitee or presume to speake against them or willingly consent to any that attempt so to doo For syche presumption is manifestly one kynd of blasphemy against the holy Ghost Yow see how this holy man telleth vs it is one kynd of blasphemy against the holy Ghost yf a man presume to do or speake frowardly or malapertly against those thinges which are deliured vnto vs from the fathers Therfore lest wee should become giltye of this kynd of blasphemy wee dare by no meanes consent to these men who thinke it a matter to be fled frō as a pestilēt poyson of Sathan which the Catholikes and right beleuers haue taught by the space of so many hundreth yeres which the ouctoritee of the churche hath deliuered all Christian people imbraced and the schooles of the diuines mayntayned And on the other syde would haue vs to esteeme the dreames of their owne brayne as the very pure and expresse word of God especially synce wee are twyse warned by these wordes of S. Pawll in one epistle that yf any man preache vnto you any other Gospell then that which ye haue receyued let him be accursed But chieffly that feareth vs which is spoken by the prophet depart ye frō idolls VVhich thing allso S. Pawll dooth itterate vnto vs cryeng out Flee from the worshipping of idolls which S. Iohn the Euangelist dooth allso repete vnto vs Concluding that his notable Epistle with these wordes My children keepe ye from idolls But what be not trow you Luther Caluin Melancthon and Brencius very idolls Is there not in these menne a wonderfull heygth lifting it self vp against the knowledge of God Doo they not resist and withstand And which is the property of Sathan doo they not extoll themselues aboue all which is sayd or worshipped as God shewing them selues as it were God and seeke to haue worshipped of all men as the expresse word of God what so euer they wryte or say But here lest wee seeme to apply these thinges according to the vision of our owne hart as heretikes vse to doo let vs in fewe lay open what the holy fathers haue taught to be signified in the scriptures vnder the names of idolls S. Hierome expounding that place of Zachary I will destroy the names of idolls from of the earth sayth that by these wordes are signifyed not only those idolls wherof we read in the Psalmes The images of the Gentills made of siluer and gould being the workes of mens handes but allso those wherof Pawll speaketh sayeng But the spirit telleth vs manifestly that in the latter dayes some shall depart from the faith geuing eare to seducing spirites and to the doctrine of diuells teaching faulse vnder hipocrisy hauing their consciences marked with an hot yron For euen as idolls sayth he are made by the hand of the worke man so the peruerse doctrine of heretikes what so euer it self deuyseth it turneth into an idoll and maketh Antechrist to be worshipped for Christ Leekewyse intreating vppō that place of the Prophet Esay Their land is full of idolls The workes of their owne handes haue they worshipped and that which their owne fyngers haue made hath man bowed vnto and humbled him self Idolls he interpreteth to be doctrines contrary to the truthe Neither will he haue otherwyse vnderstanded that which is written by the prophett Osee They made their siluer and gowld idolls to them selues that they might perishe S. Augustine allso after he had spoken many thinges of idolls made with handes Ther is sayth he a worse and more base worshipping of idolls when men worship their owne fancyes and honour with the name of Religion what so euer they haue imagined in their erring myndes puft vp with pryde and vayn glory Of which kynd of fanceys and vayne visions he interpreteth Iosue allso to speake in that place where he sayeth Take away straunge Gods from emong you and enclyne your hartes to the lord your God Leekewyse that place of Ezechiell of my