Hebrew text wee may as well say unto you that the Latin Hereticks have corrupted the Latin text and so by such kind of reasoning no Scripture should be found pure sound and sincere But thankes be to God who so preserved them the Scriptures in their originals remained pure amongst the Iewes unto the verie time of Christ and were not corrupted by anie of those Hebrew Heretickes as some Papists affirme of them for otherwise it had beene in vaine for Esay or anie other of the Prophets of God to bid the people goe for their assured direction To the Law and to the Testimony or for Christ himselfe to bid the people as hee did To search the Scriptures for their assured guidance in the truth Yea S. Peter would then never have said as he did VVee have a most sure vvord of the Prophets to the vvhich yee doe vvell that yee take heed as to a Light that shineth in a darke place For if it had beene corrupted and falsified it had not beene a sure vvord to trust unto Arias Montanus himselfe affirmeth and maintaineth the puritie and incorruption of the Hebrew originals saying further that there was no word nor letter nor point but it was reserved in that Treasory which they call Mazzoreth and therefore hee calleth that Treasorie fidam custodiam a faithfull or sure keeper of them Iohn Isaac likewise and Franciscus Lucas Burgensis as well as Arias Montanus doe also uphold maintaine and defend even unto their times the puritie and incorruption of those Hebrew Originals alwaies preferring them before all Latin Translations whatsoever And must it not needs bee so when as Christ Iesus himselfe saith that Till heaven and earth perish one Iot or one Tittle of the Law shall not perish till all things be fulfilled Yea what doth Christ Iesus else but further shew the puritie and incorruption of the Hebrew originals unto his time when it is written of him thus that He began at Moses and at all the Prophets and interpreted unto them in all the Scriptures the things that vvere vvritten of him And when againe after his resurrection likewise hee saith in the same Chapter thus These are the words that I spake unto you whilst I was yet with you that all must be fulfilled which are vvritten of me in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalmes Yea the originals in the old Testament be and remaine pure and incorrupt to this day and so doe also the originals of the new Testament insomuch that S. Hierome as in one place he derideth them which said the Hebrew books were falsified so doth he in another place pronounce them to be impudent and foolish people that affirme the same of the Greeke originals For thus he writeth unto one Tibi stultissime persuasisti Graecos codices esse falsaâ—os Thou hast most foolishly perswaded thy selfe that the Greeke bookes bee falsified And againe he saith Tu mira impudentia haec in Graecis cod cibus falsata esse dicis Thou with vvonderfull impudency affirmest that thâ—se thinâ—s be falsâ—fied in the Greeke Bookes And as this was the error of Helvidius against whom S. Hierome writeth so was it also the error of the Manichees against whom S. Augustine writeth And is it not now gâ—owne to bee the error or heresie of Papists But what reason have you to preferre that Latine Translation which yee call Saint Hieromes before the Originals of the Hebrew and Greeke For first yâ—e cannot proove that Translation to bee S. Hieroms which yee so boldly affirme to be his And secondly what likelihood is there it should be his considering that in divers and sundrie places S. Hierome readeth otherwise then that Translation is yea sometimes he findeth fault with that Translation and reproveth it as for example the word â—say that is found in that translation in Marke the 1. verse 2. he thinketh to bee added by the negligence of the Librarie keepers and vpon Math. 6 he correcteth the word exterminant which neverthelesse is also in that vulgar translation And divers other such faults S. Hierome espieth and findeth in that which you call his Translation wherefore there is no likelihood it should be his And that it is not S. Hieroms translation may further appeare by the discourse which Munster hath set upon it Yea Erasmus also doth flatly affirme that this translation is neither Cyprians nor Hillaries nor Augustines nor yet Hieroms seeing his reading is divers from it and that it is much lesse that which he corrected seeing there be found in this things that hee condemneth not onely as touching the words but as touching the sence also But admit it were S. Hieroms translation whereof neverthelesse there is no likelihood yet thereupon it followeth not that therefore it is to be preferred before the originals of the Greeke and Hebrew For as there were manie translations in S. Hieroms time which were not so well liked so even of that translation which S. Hierome himselfe made and was the Author of himselfe speaketh thus I doe not thinke saith he that the Lords words are to be corrected but I goe about to correct the falsenesse of the Latin bookes which is plainly proved by the diversitie of them and to bring them to the originall of the Greeke from which they doe not denie but they were translated who if they mislike the water of the most pure fountaine they may drinke of the myrie puddles And againe he saith That as the bookes of the old Testament are to be examined by the Hebrew so the bookes of the new Testament require the triall of the Greeke And in divers other places he likewise preferreth the originals of the Hebrew and Greeke before all Latine translations whatsoever And to this effect doth Gratian also cite a sentence as â—f it were S. Augustines And indeede S. Augustine speaketh to that very purpose saying directly that VVee ought rather to beleeve that tongue from which it is by Interpretors translated into another And Lodovicus Vives also upon this place declareth the same And agreeably hereunto speaketh also S. Ambrose saying expresly That the authority of the Greeke bookes is to be preferred Bee not those men then much deluded which contrarie to the direction and iudgement of the old Church and ancient fathers and also of all right reason doe preferre that Latin translation before the originals of the Greeke and Hebrew Yea even Lyndanus a popish Bishop writeth of that latin translation that it hath manie and sundrie corruptions in it and therefore it cannot be the best and safest way to trust unto it 6 But when they must needs yeeld if they will be reasonable to the preferring of the originals of the Hebrew and Greeke before all latine translations yea and before all translations whatsoever Then they fall to another course accusing our English translations to be false and untrue and not
according to these originals And herein Gregorie Martin and the Rhemists have chiefely shewed their skill but Doctor Fulke that great Linguist and excellent Scholler in all kinde of learning especially in Theologie hath fully and sufficiently answered them both in his defence of the English Translations against Gregorie Martin as also in his Answer to the Rhemists and their Annotations Wee defend not anie translations in anie point wherein they can be shewed to be wrong and not according to those originals For wee abhorre such wilfull and wicked perversnesse but wherein soever our translations be right and true and according to those originals we have ever good reason so far forth to defend and maintaine them against the frivolous and vaine exceptions either of Gregorie Martin the Rhemists or of anie other whosoever And I could wish and doe indeed wish and earnestly desire you that as yee read the Rhemes Testament so ye would also read the Answer unto it and to the severall Annotations of it And as ye read anie Popish Writer in anie point of controversie whatsoever you would likewise search and see what Answer the Protestants make unto it that so seeing and hearing both sides without partialitie and without preiudice yee may bee the better able to iudge iustlie and rightly in the cause and to give both to your selves and others a sufficient and sound satisfaction For so long as yee heare and read but one side onely and will not heare and read the other side to understand what answer is made thereunto it is impossible ye should be held for good indifferent or equall Iudges or Censurers or that you can give either to your selves or others anie sufficient resolution or sound satisfaction in that case 7 But you will say peradventure that your Church alloweth you not to read the Bookes of Protestants whom therefore they call and account to be Heretickes As for their accounting and reckoning us Heretickes we regard it not For wee know how far their iudgments are blinded and that they mightily mistake and misreckon because not we but they in verie deede be the Heretickes if they had eies to see it But it is no marvaile that the true most ancient Catholicke and Apostolicke faith and religion conteined in the sacred and Canonicall Scriptures which wee professe hold should be by them tearmed Heresie for we finde that it was so likewise reputed and tearmed Heresie even in Saint Pauls time Such hath ever beene the wickednesse both of unchristian and Antichristian Spirits against it But whilst your Church is so politicke and wily for her selfe and her owne safetie as to forbid you the reading of Protestant Bookes lest ye thereby discerning her errors and heresies should be mooved to turne from her unto us haue yee not good cause at the least to suspect and mistrust such a Church For if their cause were the truth truth is ever able to stand against all encounters and needeth not to feare the opposition of anie adversaries But indeed their cause appeareth to be naught For what is Poperie if it bee well considered but an Hotchpot or Bundle of errors and heresies aggregate and patched together to make one bodie of that profession Yea what is their whole Church and religion if ye rightly consider it all together but revera the Antichristian as this Booke amongst others doth sufficiently declare And will anie then be so unwise as to subiugate hin selfe and to yeeld his obedience to the voice decrees statutes and commandements of such a Church I would wish you to be more considerate and better advised then to be so farre deceived For the difference between a Protestant and a Papist is not small being no lesse then this that the one holdeth of Christ wholly and altogether and the other of Antichrist which being a difference so great and of such importance it standeth upon the salvation of Soules for all persons duely to consider it But yet further why will not your Church permit the lay people to reade the holy Scripturs themselves without a speciall licence from their Priests or Bishops For is not Gods licence sufficient for them in this case Chysostome exhorteth all people and even secular men by name to get them Bibles and at least the new Testament And S. Hierome likewise saith that Married men Monkes and silly Women in his time used to strive and contend who should learne most Scripture without booke S. Augustine also exhorteth all men in their private houses either to read the Bible themselves or to get some other to read it for them Is not your Church then herein directly contrarie to the ancient Church Yea wherfore is it that God hath given unto men that precious Pearle and inestimable Iewel of his will and word in the Scriptures conteined but to the end they should take notice of it and be directed by it so that it is to be as the Psalmist speaketh a Lanterne unto their feet and a light unto their paths Doth not S. Peter speake even to the lay people as well as to others telling them that they doe well to take heede to the most sure word of God as unto a light that shineth in a darke place Will anie earthly King forbid his Subiects the reading of his lawes and Statutes whereby they are to bee ruled and governed Doubtles if ever it were necessary for men to read search studie and often and againe and againe to revolue the Scriptures and booke of God now is the time in the midst of so manie errours and diversities of opinions as be in the world to be most diligent in that behalfe For amongst them all there can be but one right religion and how shall wee yee or anie other know for certaine which is that one right religion which God hath instituted and allowed of but by the Scriptures Let no man therefore forestall or preiudicate himselfe with supposing that he cannot understād the Scripturs For first how can he tell whether he can understand them or no untill he have made tryall Secondly it is well known that God helpeth forward a willing and industrious minde that is earnestly desirous to know his will and religion therein delivered and seeketh it out in his feare and with an humble affection and a sincere purpose to observe it and to walke in the waies of it For so the Psalmist witnesseth That them that be meeke God vvill guide in iudgement and teach the humble his vvay And againe he saith VVhat man is hee that feareth the Lord him shall hee teach the vvay that he shall choose And againe he saith The secret of the Lord is revealed to them that feare him and his covenant to give them understanding And againe it is said that God resisteth the proude but giveth grace to the humble And againe To him will I looke saith God even to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and that trembleth
Secondly I must crave leave to say that I find not Popery how subtill or sophisticall soever it be to be of anie such puissance but that a man of meane learning armed with the strength of the divine Scriptures may easily ruinate and overturne it Thirdly those that oppugne the Religion His Majesties Supremacie what doe they else but oppugne therewithall as they must needs at least inclusively the Lawes and Statutes of the Kingdome whereby they are both established And what reason then can bee shewed why hee that is a Lawyer by profession may not defend and maintaine the Lawes and Statutes of the Realme in those two great points especially wherein they be so unjustly and causelessely oppugned But when I consider my selfe further to be a servant though unworthy to his most excellent Majestie and that in so high and eminent a Court as His Maiesties Bench is beside my profession the duetie of my place also tyeth mee to defend his Maiesties Supremacie as being a thing properly appâ—rtayning to his verie Crowne and Regall dignitie And doth not moreover the Oath of Supremacy to His Majestie which I have taken necessarily binde mee hereunto Yea even for this verie cause that I am a subiect to his Maiestie though there were no other reason doe I hold my selfe in duetie tyed to my power to uphold and maintain that his Regall Supremacie For if everie good childe will maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Father and everie good servant the right and Authoritie of his Lord and Master ought not everie good subiect to maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Soveraigne Lord and King And as touching the Religion if there were no other reason but this that I am a Christian by profession though no professed Divine doe I hold it for that verie cause not onely well beseeming mee but my duetie likewise according to such measure of knowledge and abilitie as God hath given mee to defend and maintaine the true and Christian Religion I professe against that which is untruly called the Christian and Catholike and is indeed the false erroneous and Antichristian For whereas some have a conceit that not Lay men at all but Clergie men only and such as be of the Ecclesiastical Ministerie should meddle with the Scriptures and matters of Religion it appeareth to be a verie vaine conceit and an untrue opinion because S. Paul directly requireth even of Lay Christians as well as of others that the Word of Christ should Dwell in them and that not poorely or in a small or slender measure but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is richly plentifully or abundantly Whereupon Primasius saith that Hence wee learne that the Lay people ought to have the knowledge of the Scriptures and to teach one another not onely sufficiently but also abundantly And therefore are they further expressely charged to admonish exhort and edifie one another yea to contend and not onely to contend but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnestly to contend for that faith which was once given unto the Saints And doth not God himselfe also command thus Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but Thou shalt in anie wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sinne to be upon him Agreeably wherunto would not S. Iames likewise have all Christians to labour the conversion of such as be in error and goe astray telling them for their better encouragement in this matter that if any doe erre from the truth and another convert him let such a one know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soule from death and cover a multitude of sinnes You see then what duties in respect of the good of others as well as of himselfe be required even of a lay person in matters concerning God and his religion And indeede verie strange it were if lay Christians should be tyed in charitie to take care of mens bodies and yet should in no sort be permitted to have anie care or to shew anie Christian charitie or affection in respect of their soules and the good and safetie of them It is true that no man may take upon him the office and function of Bishops Pastors or other Ministers of the Word without a lawfull calling or ordination first had and obtayned but although a lay man may not therfore preach minister the sacraments nor do anie such acts as be proper and peculiar to those that be Ecclesiasticall Ministers yet in such things as be not proper and peculiar unto them but be acts and duties common with them to other Christians a Lay man may lawfully intermeddle It is likewise true that the knowledge of Gods Word and consequently of Divinitie doth in a more exact and more plentiful and fuller maner and measure and chiefly belong to those that be professed Divines and of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery but thereupon it followeth not that therefore it belongeth onely to them As also although those of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery are to teach and instruct the Lay people out of the Scriptures and that the Lay people are to learne what they rightly teach from thence yet neither doth it thereupon follow nor is that anie argument or impediment but that the Lay people may neverthelesse reade and get knowledge in the Scriptures and thereout learne what good they can also even by their owne industry diligence and endevour We reade of Aquila and Priscilla his wife that they were by their Trade Tentmakers and that Apollos was a man eloquent and mightie in the Scriptureâ— yet so skilfull learned expert were those two nameâ—ly not onely Aquila but Priscilla also his wife in the Word of God as that they tooke unto them the same Apollos and expounded unto him The Way of God more perfectly All men know that Kings Princes and such like civill Magistrates be none of that Order of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery and yet of them it is specially required that they reade the Scriptures Book of God and that they be verie diligent and conversant in it For God expressely requireth of a King that When hee shall sit upon the Throne of his Kingdome He get him the Book of his Law and chargeth him to reade therein all the Dayes of his Life that he may learne to feare the Lord his God and to Keepe All his Words and ordinances not turning from them eyther to the right hand or to the left That so he may prolong his Dayes in his Kingdome Hee and his Sonnes after him And to Iosuah a civill Magiâ—â—â—ate hee likewise giveth this charge and commandement saying Let not This Booke of the Law depart out of thy mouth but Meditate therein Day and Night that thou maist Observe and Doe according to All that is written therein for then shalt thou make thy Way prosperous and then shalt thou have good successe Was not the Treasurer to Candace Queene of the Ethiopians also a Lay man and not
of the Order of the Ecclesiasticall Ministerie and yet did he reade Esaias the Prophet which is a part of the holy Scriptures as hee was returning homeward and sitting in his Chariot and was in no sort reproved for the same but well allowed therein and had a blessing therupon sent unto him from God Is it not likewise recorded of those noble Christians at Berea to their great honour that they received the Word of God with all readinesse of minde quotidie scrutantes Scripturas searching the Scriptures Daily And were not Lay persons also comprised amongst those to whom Christ Iesus himselfe said thus Scrutamini Scripturas Search the Scriptures Yea doth not God himselfe further give a direct commandement that the Booke of his Law and of the Religion and ordinances therein conteyned should be read published and made knowne to All even to Men Women and Children And doth hee not moreover say of that his Word commandements and ordinances in this sort They shall be in thy heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talke of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest downe and when thou risest up Yea is he not pronounced blessed that hath his delight in the Law of the Lord and that doth meditate therin Day Night Timothy even whilst he was a childe was conversant in this Booke of God the holy Scriptures for so S. Paul expresly testifies of him that he knew the holy Scriptures of a childe and for his further encouragement therein saith that those holy Scriptures be able to make him Wise unto Salvation S. Iohn also writeth one of his Epistles which is a part of the sacred and canonical Scriptures expressely and by name to an elect Lady and her children which hee would never have done if it had not beene both lawfull and laudable even for vvomen and children also that be of capacitie as well as for others to reade the Scriptures and to know them How shall a young man clense his Way even by taking heed thereunto according to Gods Word saith the Psalmist According whereunto it is againe required of all that they remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth Origen also from his childehood was taught in the Scriptures and learned them without Booke and questioned with his father Leonides an holy Martyr who ioyed therin about the difficult sentences of the same Macrina S. Basils Nurse likewise taught him the Scriptures of a childe And S. Hierome writeth of Paula a Gentlewoman how shee set her maides to learne the Scriptures Yea manie of his writings be directed to women commending their diligence and labour in the Scriptures and encouraging them therein as namely to Paula Eustochium Salvina Celantia c. Theodoret also testifieth of the Christians that lived in those ancient times thus You shall everie where see saith he these points of our faith to be knowne and understood not onely by such as be Teachers in the Church but even by Coblers and Smiths and Websters and all kinde of Artificers Yea all our vvomen not onely they which are Booke-learned but they also that get their living with their Needle yea â—â—â—id-servants and vvaiting vvomen and not citizens onely but husbandmen also of the countrey be verie skilful in these things Yea you may heare amongst us Ditchers and Neatheards and Wood-setters discoursing of the Trinitie and of the creation c. S. Chrysostome likewise exhorteth all sorts of men to reade the Scriptures and to call their neighbours to the hearing of them Hee also taketh away the vaine pretences and excuses of them who alledged that they were secular and Lay men and had wife children and family to looke to and desireth them that they would not so deceive themselves saying that They which be entangled with such cares have the more need to seeke remedie by reading the holy Scriptures Againe he saith It is no excuse but a fault to say I have not read what S. Paul saith And therefore hee saith further Audite obsecro seculares omnes c. Heare I beseech you all yee that be secular or lay-men provide you Bibles which be medicines of the soule if you will nothing else yet at least wise get the New Testament the Apostle the Acts the Gospels which be continuall and diligent Teachers It is then more then manifest that the reading searching and knowledge of the Divine Scriptures is permitted and belongeth not only to those that be of the Order of the Ecclesiasticall Ministerie but even to those also that be not of that Order as namely to Kings Princes civill Magistrates to old to yong to men to women to children and generally to all sorts of people and that to this end to benefite others aswell as themselves as they shall be able For as God giveth not worldly wealth or earthly blessings and gifts to anie man for his owne private use and behoofe onely but that he should communicate and distribute of the same unto others so neither doth hee give his spirituall gifts or graces to anie to hide or keepe theâ— only to himselfe but to extend and impart them to the profit also of others As likewise no man lighteth a candle to put it under a bushell but on a candlestick that it may give light to others that be in the house aswell as to himselfe Yea the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everie one to this verie end to profit others withall aswell as himselfe as S. Paul again directly teacheth Although then everie man cannot be a professed Divine yet it is evident that eveey man ought to be a professed Christian Yea Whosoever shall be ashamed of mee and of my words saith Christ of him shall the Sonne of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in the glorie of his Father and of the holy Angells And S. Paul saith likewise that With the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confesseth unto salvation So that we must not onely beleeve in Christ with our heart but wee must also confesse or professe him and his religion with our mouth and which is yet more we must practise Christianitie in our lives and conversations and endevour also so much as in us lyeth to have the same observed and practised by others Wherein there is no cause to feare those proverbes of Ne sutor ultra crepidam and Tractant fabrilia fabri and such like which cannot here be rightly used or applied because the knowledge of God and of his Word and Religion is not like the case of other arts sciences trades and occupations in the world but is a thing to be learned and professed by all sorts of people of what worldly calling or profession soever they be as now I trust you sufficiently perceive But consider yet further
he speaketh of the whole Booke of the Law saying that It is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that be vvritten in the booke of the Law to doe them doth not this extend to the Morall Law or can these words be restrained only to the Ceremoniall Yea when he further saith thus I had not knowne sinne but by the Law for I had not known lust or concupiscence to be sinne except the Law had said Non concupisces Thou shalt not covet or Thou shalt no lust doth not everie one hereby most plainly perceive of what Law it is that he chiefly speaketh meaneth namely that it is principally of the Morall Law that is of the Decalogue or Law of the Ten Commandements For to what other end else is it that he there expresly and by name rehearseth and bringeth in one of those ten Commandements But yet further he sheweth that there be but two waies of righteousnesse namely the righteousnes that is of the Law and the righteousnes which is of faith and saith that Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law in this sort viz. That the man vvhich doth those things shall live by them But the righteousnesse vvhich is of faith speaketh after another manner and he sheweth it to consist not in anie doubtfull questioning but in a firme beleeving in Christ vvho is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that beleeveth When therefore he here againe saith touching the vvorkes of the Law and the righteousnesse compassable that way That the man that doth those things shall live by them is it his meaning thinke you that hee that observeth the workes of the Ceremonial Law only without observing or doing anie of the workes of the Moral Law shall live thereby and enioy everlasting happinesse I presume none can be so absurd or unwise as to thinke it It is then a thing verie manifest that hee speaketh not onely of the workes of the Ceremonial Law but of the workes also of the Morall Law and of these chiefly excluding aswell the works of the one as of the other from being anie cause of our Iustification in Gods sight And this is so much the more evident because S. Paul yet further in that his dispute of Iustification excludeth not only the Iewes but the Gentiles also from all hope of Iustification by the Law teaching that they both are to expect iustification in Gods sight Not by the vvorkes of the law but by faith in Iesus Christ. Now yee know that the Gentiles be not bound to the observation of the ceremonial law as the Iewes were but the Gentiles aswell as the Iewes bee bound to the observation of the moral law of the ten Commandements When therefore S. Paul teacheth that aswell the Gentiles as the Iewes are to expect Iustification not by the workes of the law but by faith in Christ it is apparant that he must needes meane to exclude herein aswell the workes of the Moral law whereto the Gentiles are bound as the workes of the Ceremoniall law whereto the Iewes onelie were bound and not the Gentiles for otherwise you will make him a verie vaine and idle disputer in this point as in respect of the Gentiles 5 Howbeit being thus repulsed from this hold they then retire and returne to their old wonted and ordinarie nold wherein they seeme to repose their greatest strength and that is the same which is before mentioned namely that S. Paul when he excludeth workes from being anie cause of Iustification in Gods sight meaneth it of vvorkes done before faith received and whilst a man is an unbeleever and not of workes done after faith received Which works done by a beleeving person doe as they suppose Iustifie before God and in his sight This hath beene before sufficiently answered yet because they so often and usuallie urge it I hope it will not be offensive that I also here once againe make answer unto it First therefore it might suffice to call to your remembrance that which hath been spoken concerning those two faithfull godlie men Abraham and David who albeit they had after faith grace received from God lived well and done sundrie good workes for which they might deserve praise and glorie amongst men yet for al that they deserved no praise nor glorie with God as S. Paul witnesseth nor were thereby iustified in his sight Yea as touching Abraham he saith that notwithstanding all that he did not his vvorkes but his Faith vvas imputed to him for righteousnesse before God And as touching David though he were a man likewise verie faithfull and godly and did manie good workes yet by his godlie life and good workes he never thought to be iustified before Gods tribunall but found all the godlines and goodnes that was in him to bee too defective and to come too short for that purpose and therefore also he crieth out thus unto God saying Enter not into iudgement vvith thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified Yea hee discribeth the blessednesse of everie man even of the holiest man that liveth to consist not in his owne sanctitie or righteousnesse but in this that His sinnes be forgiven or not imputed to him And so doth S. Paul inferre and teach out of this example of David That God imputeth righteousnesse vvithout vvorkes So that neither the workes which David did nor the workes which Abraham did nor consequently the workes that anie other godly or holie man doth after grace and faith received be sufficient to Iustifie in Gods presence For I knovv nothing by my selfe saith S. Paul yet am I not thereby iustified I might here further desire you to call to your remembrance that holie man Iob and that holy Prophet of God Daniel yea all that godlie companie and Church of God in Daniels time and Esaies time who all did as themselves testifie renounce all their owne inherent righteousnes as too insufficient and unmeet to stand before Gods most pure eies to claime Iustification thereby in his sight Yea if God should looke narrowlie to see what is said done amisse and to recompence it in the rigor and severitie of his Iustice according to mens merits and deserts VVho as the Psalmist speaketh should bee able to stand or to abide it Yea I might here moreover desire you to remember whatsoever is conteined in the former Chapter touching this matter For not the workes even of a iust man doe iustifie in Gods sight as S. Paul prooveth by an expresse testimonie out of the Prophet Abacuk where he saith even of the iust man that He liveth by his faith and not by his Workes And this he urgeth and enforceth againe in his Epistle to the Galathians saying thus But that no man is iustified by the lavv in the sight of God it is evident for saith he The iust shall live by
of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh for Christs bodies sake vvhich is the Church that is whatsoever yet wanted or remained for him to suffer in whose sufferings or afflictions Christ himselfe is said to suffer and to be afflicted and persecuted for what affliction or persecution is done to anie of his members hee accounteth it as done to himselfe all those sufferings and afflictions whatsoever they were that yet remained for him to beare he was readie willingly to undergoe for Christs bodie sake which is the Church that is for the profit and edification of the Church that it might thereby receive encouragement comfort confirmation strength and boldnesse in the profession of the Gospel I say all this being thus to be intended and understood how iniurious and impious be the Rhemists and other Papists which wrest this Text of S. Paul to prove that one man may merit and satisfie for the sinnes of another supplie his defects in that point As though the sufferings of Christ in his owne person for our sinnes had anie want defect or imperfection in them or as though the sufferings of S. Paul or of S. Peter or of anie other Saints or Martyrs and their bloudshed could or did doe that which the bloud and sufferings of Christ could not or did not doe Is it not a shame and a most monstrous shame for anie so to speake thinke or teach 7 But they here alledge that praier for the dead is mentioned in the booke of Macchabees and consequently that they be tormented in Purgatorie for why else should they be praied for I answer first that praying for the dead is there mentioned as the fact of one particular man onely namely of Iudas which can make no generall law or rule in this case And secondly there is likewise mentioned as by way of approbation in the same booke of the Macchabees the fact of one Razis that killed himselfe and yet for all that it is not of anie godly man to be followed or imitated And therefore as the one is disallowable so likewise may the other be disallowable notwithstanding the Approbation of it in that booke Thirdly Iudas himselfe did not there pray for the dead as thinking their soules to be punished and tormented in Purgatorie there is no such thing mentioned or appearing in the text but to shew that he had hope that they which were slaine and dead should rise again for to that end it was as the Text it selfe declareth But fourthly I answere that the book of the Macchabees is not canonicall Scripture and therefore is not of authoritie sufficient to prove a point of faith necessarily to be beleeved because that booke speaketh it That it is not canonicall appeareth before by the testimonie of the old Church and it doth also appeare by the testimonie even of the Author himselfe that wrote the Booke in that in the end of it he excuseth himselfe and as it were craveth pardon if he have written slenderly meanely Which apparantly sheweth that hee wrote by an humane and not by an undoubtedly divine spirit For the spirit of God is not wont nor needeth to crave pardon nor to excuse himselfe as though he wrote slenderly or meanely Lastly against that your conceit of tormeÌ„ting Purgatorie grounded out of that Booke I may and doe oppose the Booke of VVisedome where it is said directly The soules of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them If no torment shall touch them then doe they not come into anie of your supposed Purgatorie torments Yea although S. Augustine praied for his mother and some other also for their friends departed it is no proofe of your Purgatory inasmuch as such praiers do manie times proceed out of natural humane affection only be used as a token of love wel-wishing to friends departed without anie such beleefe of Purgatorie Which may doth appeare even by S. Augustine himselfe who though he praied for his mother beleeved neverthelesse that she was in peace and rest free from all paine and torment S. Ambrose likewise praied for Theodosius Valentinian and Gratian whom neverthelesse he beleeved to be in peace and rest and in heavenly happinesse You see then that praying for the dead is no prooâ—e for your Purgatorie Howbeit this praying for the dead hath also no commandement example or warrant for it in anie of the canonicall Scriptures and besides it appeareth by the premisses that it can doe the dead no good and therefore it is in vaine in respect of anie good thereby to be done to the dead As for the apparitions of soules which they likewise somtimes alledge to prove their Purgatorie it is a verie Toy and a fable For S. Chrysostome saith it is not the soule of anie dead person but a Divel which faineth himselfe to be the soule of such a one to deceive those to whom he appeareth and he calleth them Vetularum verba Pâ—erorum ludibria Old womens Tales and Childrens toyes And so S. Augustine likewise telleth you that it was not Samuel in verie deed but a Divell in his likenesse which appeared to the witch in King Sauls time And therfore he pronounceth of these things that they be either the Cousenages of Deluding men or vvonders of Deceitfull Devils with which therefore none ought anie longer to be bewitched or deluded CAP. VI. Of workes done upon a good Intention as they be called without a commandement or warrant from God or his word Of workes de Congruo and de Condigno And of workes of Supererogation and how unpleasing they all bee in Gods sight and censure howsoever in respect of men that have use and profit by them they be and may be called good and beneficiall workes SVndrie there be who thinke anie worke of their owne Invention or of others devising to bee a good worke acceptable to God and a point of good service performed to him so long as they have a good meaning or a good intention in it though the worke bee not commanded from God nor warranted by his word But God will not have everie man to doe what seemeth to himselfe good or right in his owne Eyes But vvhatsoever I command you that saith he observe to doe Yea that and That onely must yee doe as your owne latine Translation is Againe he saith I am the Lord your God vvalke yee in my statutes and kâ—epe my iudgments and doe them And nothing doth he more dislike or condemne in his service or worship then when men will be so presumptuous as out of their owne imaginations to suppose and devise what shall bee well pleasing to him For what is this else but for people to goe a vvhoring vvith their ovvne inventions as the Scripture speaketh My thoughts are not your thoughts nor your vvayes my vvaies saith the Lord for as the heavens are higher then
of the doctrine of faith calleth Pope Gregory the 13 Supremum planè Supremum in terris Numen The supreme verily the supreme god upon earth And Steuchus the Popes Librarie keeper in his Booke of the Donation of Constantine saith that Constantine the Emperor held Pope Silvester for a god â—doravit ut Deum and worshipped him as God And the Councell of Lateran in the 3 and 10 Sessions further telleth you saying The Pope ought to be worshipped of all people and is most like unto God and least you should thinke that he speaketh of a civill kinde of worship it is there told you what manner of worship it is namely that it is with that kinde of worship or adoration that is mentioned in the 72 Psalme Adorabunt eum omnes Reges terrae All the Kings of the earth shall worship him where by worship the highest kinde of worship is meant which is due to the Sonne of God as Tertullian also teacheth in his 5 Booke and 7 Chapter against Marcion Againe Leo the 10 in the Councell of Lateran before cited is called the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah the roote of David the Saviour of Sion And Bellarmine in the Preface of his Book calleth the Pope the Corner-stone a tried stone a precious stone All which bee titles proper and peculiar to the Son of God And in the 25 Cause 1 quaest it is said that to violate his Canons and ordinances is to blaspheme against the holy Ghost which is a sinne not to bee forgiven in this world nor in the world to come Againe he calleth his decrees and Canons by the name of Oracles Now an Oracle signifieth an heavenly answer proceeding from the mouth of God Rom. 3.2 11.4 Sutably whereunto hee saith That his decretal Epistles are to bee numbred amongst the Canonical Scripturs in the 19 distinction in the Canon In Canonicis Againe what can bee more said of God then that which the before cited Councell of Lateran in the 9 and 10 Sessions attributeth to the Pope namely that hee hath all power aboue all Powers both in heaven earth And himselfe speaketh asmuch of himselfe in the first Booke of holy Cerimonies saying thus This Pontifical Sword representeth the Soveraigne temporal power that Christ hath given the Pope his Vicar upon earth as it is written All power is given mee both in heaven and in earth and elsewhere His dominion shall bee from Sea to Sea and from the River to the ends of the earth And Pope Paul the 5. in his holy Register calleth himselfe a Vice-god the Monarch of the Christian world and the upholder of the Papal Omnipotencie So that if the words of S. Paul in 2 Thes. 2. concerning Antichrist had beene as they are not that hee should expresly say and affirme that hee is god you perceive by that which is before spoken how it might have beene verified and withall in what sort and sence it is that the Pope hath the verie name of God given unto him For it appeareth to bee given him in a farre other sense then it is to Kings and Princes and yet in verie deede Kings and Princes and such like Magistrates of the earth and not Bishops bee the men that in Scripture bee called Elohim or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Gods And they are called Gods as Christ himselfe declareth in respect that the word of God was committed to them not as it is to Bishops and Pastors publikely to preach in the Congregations but by their authoritie to establish and promote it to command obedience to it and to punish the violators of it and to countenance and encourage the professors and observers of it For to this end is it committed to their charge and custodie And for this cause are they called Custodes utriusque Tabulae The keepers of the two Tables wherein the Lawes of God were written And for this cause also was it an Institution from God and accordingly an observation in the Church of the Iewes that at the Coronation of a King the Booke of Gods Law should bee delivered unto him When therefore the Bishops of Rome take upon them this title to be called gods they take that which God in his Scriptures doth no where give them but when further they take upon them to be adored as God they doe that which is in them most intolerably blâ—sphemous And when you suppose out of this Text that Antichrist shall call himselfe God you see how much you are mistaken and that the Text affirmeth it not Obiect 7. Yea Antichrist must bee exalted even above God himselfe 2. Thes. 2.4 Ans. How proove you that For in the verie Text it selfe the highest degree and step of the pride and aspiring minde of Antichrist is discribed and set forth in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. So that hee shall sit in the Temple of God as God shewing himselfe that hee is God Hee doth not say that such shall bee his pride and elation as that he shall sit in the Temple of God aboue God or so shew himselfe as if hee were aboue God but onely that hee doth sit in the Temple of God as God and so shew himselfe as if hee were God The pride of the Divell himselfe is noted to be such as that he would bee onely as God or like the most high but not above Him And when the Divell tempted the first man Adam being in state of Innocencie and Integritie unto pride and ambition it was not to anie such pride or elation as to be above God but to be onely as God knowing good and evill It were therefore strange if the pride of Antichrist should be supposed to exceed or goe beyond the pride of the Divell his Master Yea indeed how can it enter into the conceit of anie creature to thinke it anie way possible for him to be exalted above God his creator when nothing can be conceived or imagined greater nobler or higher then Hee who is God over all blessed for ever But secondly observe that the words be not as you suppose viz. that Antichrist shall be exalted above God but above all or everie one that is called God for the words in the Greeke Text be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super omnem qui dicitur Deus aut Sebasma that is above everie one that is called God and above every one also that is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sebasma .i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est Augustus for so Pausanias interpreteth that word and so is it likewise taken and used in the New Testament it selfe So that the meaning of those words is that the grand Antichrist should be exalted not only above Kings Princes and other Magistrates but even above those also that be Emperors and have an Imperial command and authoritie For it was indeed this Imperial State that was the hinderance or impediment that Antichrist
Gillebertus and Malachias and Christianus who were the Popes Legates here about 500. yeares agoe This Gillebertus an old acquaintance of Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury in the Prologue of his booke De usu ecclesiastico directed to the whole Clergie of Ireland writeth in this maner At the request yea and at the command of manie of you dearely beloved I indevoured to set downe in writing the canonical custome in saying of Houres and performing the Office of the whole Ecclesiasticall Order not presumptuously but in desire to serve your most godly command to the end that those diverse and schismaticall Orders wherewith in a maner all Ireland is deluded may give place to one Catholick and Romane Office For vvhat may bee said to be more undecent or schismaticall then that the most learned in one order should be made as a private and lay man in another mans Church These beginnings were presently seconded by Malachias in whose life written by Bernard wee reade as followeth The Apostolicall constitutions and the decrees of the holy Fathers but especially the customes of the holy Church of Rome did he establish in all Churches And hence it is that at this day the canonicall Houres are chanted and song therein according to the maner of the whole earth whereas before that this was not done no not in the citie it selfe the poore citie of Ardmagh he meaneth But Malachias had learned song in his youth and shortly after caused singing to be used in his owne Monasterie when as yet aswell in the citie as in the whole Bishoprick they eyther knew not or would not sing Lastly the work was brought to perfection when Christianus Bishop of Lismore as Legate to the Pope was President in the Councell of Casshell wherein a speciall order was taken for the right singing of the Ecclesiasticall Office and a generall act established that all divine offices of holy Church should from thenceforth be handled in all parts of Ireland according as the Church of England did observe them The statutes of which Councell were confirmed by the Regall authority of King Henry the second by whose mandate the Bishops that met therein were assembled in the yeare of our Lord 1172. as Giraldus Cambrensis witnesseth in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland And thus late was it before the Romane use was fully settled in this kingdome The publick Liturgie or service of the Church was of old named the Masse even then also when prayers only were said without the celebration of the holy Communion So the last Masse that S. Colme was ever present at is noted by Adamnanus to have beene vespertinalis Dominicae noctis Missa He dyed the midnight following whence the Lords day tooke his beginning 9º viz. Iunij anno Dom. 597. according to the account of the Romanes which the Scottish and Irish seeme to have begunne from the evening going before and then was that evening Masse said which in all likelyhood differed not from those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by Leo the Emperour in his Tacticks that is to say from that which wee call Even-song or Evening prayer But the name of the Masse was in those dayes more specially applied to the administration of the Lords Supper and therefore in the same Adamnanus we see that Sacra Eucharistiae ministeria and Missarum solemnia the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist and the solemnities of the Masse are taken for the same thing So likewise in the relation of the passages that concerne the obsequies of Columbanus performed by Gallus and Magnoaldus we finde that Missam celebrare and Missas agere is made to be the same with Divina celebrare mysteria and Salutis hostiam or salutare sacrificium immolare the saying of Masse the same with the celebration of the divine mysteries and the oblation of the healthfull sacrifice for by that terme was the administration of the sacrament of the Lords Supper at that time usually designed For as in our beneficence and communicating unto the necessities of the poore which are sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased we are taught to give both our selves and our almes first unto the Lord and after unto our brethren by the will of God so is it in this ministerie of the blessed Sacrament the service is first presented unto God from which as from a most principall part of the dutie the sacrament it selfe is called the Eucharist because therein we offer a speciall sacrifice of praise thankesgiving alwayes unto God and then communicated unto the use of Gods people in the performance of which part of the service both the minister was said to give and the communicant to receive the sacrifice as well as in respect of the former part they were said to offer the same unto the Lord. For they did not distinguish the Sacrifice from the Sacrament as the Romanists doe now adayes but used the name of Sacrifice indifferently both of that which was offered unto God and of that which was given to and received by the communicant Therefore we read of offering the sacrifice to God as in that speech of Gallus to his scholler Magnoaldus My master Columbanus is accustomed to offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brasen vessels Of giving the sacrifice to man as when it is said in one of the ancient Synods of Ireland that a Bishop by his Testament may bequeath a certain proportiō of his goods for a legacie to the Priest that giveth him the sacrifice and of receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister as in that sentence of the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life how can it helpe him after his death and in that glosse of Sedulius upon 1 Cor. 11.33 Tarry one for another that is saith he untill you doe receive the sacrifice Whereby it doth appeare that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like unto the new Masse of the Romanists wherein the Priest doth eate and drinke alone the people being only lookers on but unto our Communion where all that are present at the holy action do eate of the Altar as well as they that serve the Altar Againe they that are communicants in the Romish sacrament receive the Eucharist in one kinde onely the Priest in offering of the sacrifice receiveth the same distinctly both by way of meate and by way of drinke which they tell us is chiefely done for the integritie of the Sacrifice and not of the Sacrament For in the Sacrifice they say the severall elements be consecrated not into Christs whole person as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven but the bread into his body apart as betrayed broken and given for us the wine into his blood apart as shed out of his body for remission of sinnes and dedication of the new Testament which
be conditions of his person as he was in sacrifice and oblation But our ancestours in the use of their Sacrament received the Eucharist in both kindes not being so acute as to discerne betwixt the things that belonged unto the integritie of the sacrifice of the sacrament because in verie truth they tooke the one to be the other Thus Bede relateth that one Hildmer an officer of Egfrid king of Northumberland intreated our Cuthbert to send a Priest that might minister the sacraments of the Lords body and blood unto his wife that then lay a dying and Cuthbert himselfe immediately before his owne departure out of this life received the communion of the Lords body and blood as Herefride abbat of the monasterie of Lindisfarne who was the man that at that time ministred the sacrament unto him made report unto the same Bede who elsewhere also particularly noteth that he then tasted of the cuppe Pocula degustat vitae Christique supinum Sanguine munit iter least anie man should think that under the formes of bread alone he might be said to have beene partaker of the body blood of the Lord by way of Concomitance which is a toy that was not once dreamed of in those dayes So that we need not to doubt what is meant by that which we reade in the booke of the life of Furseus which was written before the time of Bede that he received the communion of the holy body and blood and that he was wished to admonish the Pastors of the Church that they should strengthen the soules of the faithfull with the spirituall food of doctrine and the participation of the holy body and blood or of that which Cogitosus writeth in the life of S. Brigid touching the place in the Church of Kildare whereunto the Abbatesse with her maidens and widdowes used to resort that they might enjoy the banquet of the body and blood of Iesus Christ. which was agreeable to the practise not only of the Nunneries founded beyond the seas according to the rule of Columbanus where the Virgins received the body of the Lord and sipped his blood as appeareth by that which Ionas relateth of Domna in the life of Burgundofora but also of S. Brigid her selfe who was the foundresse of the monasterie of Kildare one of whose miracles is reported even in the later Legends to have happened when she was about to drinke out of the Chalice at the time of her receiving of the Eucharist which they that list to looke after may finde in the collections of Capgrave Surius and such like But you will say these testimonies that have beene alledged make not so much for us in proving the use of the communion under both kindes as they make against us in confirming the opinion of Transubstantiation seeing they all specifie the receiving not of bread and wine but of the body and blood of Christ. I answer that forasmuch as Christ himselfe at the first institution of his holy Supper did say expressely This is my body and This is my blood hee deserveth not the name of a Christian that will question the truth of that saying or refuse to speake in that language which hee hath heard his Lord and Master use before him The question onely is in what sense and after what maner these things must be conceived to be his body blood Of which there needed to be little question if men would be pleased to take into their consideration these two things which were never doubted of by the ancient and have most evident ground in the context of the Gospell First that the subject of those sacramentall propositions delivered by our Saviour that is to say the demonstrative particle THIS can have reference to no other substance but that which he then held in his sacred hands namely bread and wine which are of so different a nature from the body and blood of Christ that the one cannot possibly in proper sense be said to be the other as the light of common reason doth force the Romanists themselves to confesse Secondly that in the predicate or later part of the same propositions there is not mention made onely of Christs body and blood but of his body broken and his blood shedd to shew that his body is to be considered here apart not as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven but as it was broken and crucified for us and his blood likewise apart not as running in his veynes but as shedd out of his body which the Rhemists have told us to be conditions of his person as he was in sacrifice and oblation And least we should imagine that his bodie were otherwise to be considered in the sacrament then in the sacrifice in the one alive as it is now in heaven in the other dead as it was offered upon the crosse the Apostle putteth the matter out of doubt that not only the minister in offering but also the people in receiving even as often as they eate this bread and drinke this cup doe shew the Lords death untill he come Our elders surely that held the sacrifice to be given and received for so we have heard themselves speake as well as offered did not consider otherwise of Christ in the sacrament then as he was in sacrifice and oblation If here therefore Christs body be presented as broken and livelesse and his blood as shedd forth and severed from his body and it be most certaine that there are no such things now really existent anie where as is confessed on all hands then must it follow necessarily that the bread and wine are not converted into these things really The Rhemists indeed tell us that when the Church doth offer and sacrifice Christ daily he in mysterie and sacrament dieth Further then this they durst not go for if they had said he died really they should thereby not only make themselves daily killers of Christ but also directly crosse that principle of the Apostle Rom. 6.9 Christ being raysed from the dead dyeth no more If then the bodie of Christ in the administration of the Eucharist be propounded as dead as hath bin shewed die it cannot really but only in mysterie and sacramēt how can it be thought to be contayned under the outward elements otherwise then in sacramēt mysterie and such as in times past were said to have received the sacrifice from the hand of the Priest what other body and blood could they expect to receive therein but such as was sutable to the nature of that sacrifice to wit mysticall and sacramentall Coelius Sedulius to whom Gelasius Bishop of Rome with his Synod of LXX Bishops giveth the title of venerable Sedulius and Hildephonsus Toletanus of the good Sedulius the Evangelicall poët the eloquent orator and the catholick writer is by Trithemius and others supposed to be the same with our Sedulius of Scotland or Ireland whose
Collections are extant upon S. Paules Epistles although I have forborne hitherto to use anie of his testimonies because I have some reason to doubt whether he were the same with our Sedulius or no. But Coelius Sedulius whatsoever countreyman he was intimateth plainly that the things offered in the Christian sacrifice are the fruit of the corne and of the vine Denique Pontificum princeps summusque Sacerdos Quis nisi Christus adest gemini libaminis author Ordine Melchisedech cui dantur munera semper Quae sua sunt segetis fructus gaudia vitis or as he expresseth it in his prose the sweet meate of the seed of vvheat and the lovely drinke of the pleasant vine Of Melchisedek according to whose order Christ and he onely was Priest our owne Sedulius writeth thus Melchisedek offered wine and bread to Abraham for a figure of Christ offering his body and blood unto God his father upon the Crosse. Where note that first hee saith Melchisedek offered bread and wine to Abraham not to God and secondly that he was a figure of Christ offering his body and blood upon the crosse not in the Eucharist But we saith he doe offer daily for a commemoration of the Lords passion once performed and our own salvation and elsewhere expounding those words of our Saviour Do this in remembrance of me he bringeth in this similitude used before and after him by others He left a memory of himselfe unto us even as if one that were going a farre journey should leave some token with him whom he loved that as oft as he beheld it he might call to remembrance his benefites and friendshippe Claudius noteth that our Saviours pleasure was first to deliver unto his disciples the sacrament of his body and blood and afterwards to offer up the body it selfe upon the altar of the crosse thereby plainely distinguishing the sacrament from the body represented thereby and for the sacramentall relation betwixt the one and the other he yeeldeth this reason Because bread doth confirme the body and wine doth worke blood in the flesh therfore the one is mystically referred to the body of Christ the other to his blood Which doctrine of Claudius Scotus that the sacrament is in it owne nature bread and wine but the body and blood of Christ by mysticall relation was within fiftie or threescore yeares afterwards so fully maintayned by Iohannes Scotus in a booke that he purposely wrote of that argument that when it was alledged and extolled by Berengarius Pope Leo the ninth with his Bishops assembled in Synodo Vercellensi ano. Domi. 1050. which was 235. yeares after the time that Claudius wrote his commentaries upon S. Matthew had no other meanes to avoyde it but by flatt condemning of it Of what great esteeme this Iohn was with king Alfred may be seene in William of Malmesbury Roger Hoveden Matthew of Westminster and other writers of the English historie The King himselfe in the preface before his Saxon translation of S. Gregories Pastorall professeth that hee was holpen in that worke by Iohn his Masse-priest By whom if he did meane this Iohn of ours you may see how in those dayes a man might be held a Masse-priest who was farre enough from thinking that he offered up the very body and blood of Christ really present under the formes of bread and wine which is the onely Masse that our Romanists take knowledge of Of which wonderfull point how ignorant our elders were even this also may be one argument that the author of the book of the wonderful things of the holy Scripture who is accounted to have lived here about the yeare of our Lord DCLVII passeth this quite over which is now esteemed to be the wonder of all wonders And yet doth he professe that hee purposed to passe over nothing of the wonders of the Scripture wherein they might seeme notably to swerve from the ordinary administration in other things Only when he commeth to the apocryphall additions of Daniel he telleth us that what is reported touching the lake or denne and the carrying of Abackuk in the fable of Bel and the Dragon is not therefore placed in this ranke because these things have not the authoritie of divine Scripture as also when he commeth to the Maccabees In the books of the Maccabees saith he howsoever some wonderfull things be found which might conveniently be inserted into this ranke yet will vvee not weary our selves with any care thereof because we onely purposed to touch in some measure a short historicall exposition of the wonderfull things contayned in the divine Canon Which two last sentences I thought good not to pretermitt because thereby men may see that in the distinction of the apocryphall books from the Canonicall wee still retaine the tradition of our ancestours which the late Romanists have openly forsaken Who as they have increased the Canon of the divine Scriptures by addition of other books not received into that ranke by the ancient Church so have they augmented the number of the Sacraments by intruding into that reckoning five new ones to wit Confirmation Penance which carrieth sacramentall Confession and Absolution with it Matrimony Orders and Extreme Vnction Of the last of which I finde no mention at all of the next to that very frequent mention but no where as of a sacrament in anie of our writings that may appeare to have beene written before the Hildebrandine times Touching the rest Bernard reporteth that Malachias in his time which was after Hildebrands dayes did of the new institute the most wholsome use of Confession the sacrament of Confirmation and the contract of marriages all which he saith the Irish before were eyther ignoraÌ„t of or did neglect Which for the matter of Confession may receive som further confirmation froÌ„ the testimonie of Alcuinus who writing unto the Scottish or as other copies read the Gothish coÌ„mending the religious conversation of their laity who in the midst of their worldly employments were said to leade a most chaste life condemneth notwithstanding another custome which was said to have continued in that countrey For it is said quoth he that no man of the laâ—tie will make his confession to the Priests whom we beleeve to have received from the Lord Christ the power of binding and loosing together with the holy Apostles They had no reason indeed to hold as Alcuinus did that they ought to confesse unto a Priest all the sinnes they could remember but upon speciall occasions they did no doubt both publikely and privately make confession of their faults aswell that they might receive counsaile and direction for their recoverie as that they might be made partakers of the benefite of the keyes for the quieting of their troubled consciences Whatsoever the Gothish did herein sure we are that this was the practise of the ancient Scottish and Irish. So we reade of one Fiachna or Fechnauâ—
the Archbishop vvas dead Calomagnus the King of Scotts and the troupe of his Officers with the under-courtiers and the concourse of all that countrey with the same affection of heart cryed out that the holy Priest Livinus was most worthily to be advanced unto the honour of this order The King more devoute then all of them consenting thereunto three or foure times placed the blessed man in the chayre of the Archbishoprick with due honour according to the will of the Lord. In like maner also did king Ecgfrid cause our Cuthbert to be ordayned Bishop of the Church of Lindisfarne and king Pipin granted the Bishoprick of Salzburg to our Virgilius Duke Gunzo would have conferred the Bishoprick of Constance upon our Gallus but that hee refused it and caused another upon his recommendation to be preferred thereunto As the Pope intermedled not with the making of our Bishops so neyther can we finde by any approved record of antiquitie that anie Visitations of the clergie were held here in his name much lesse that any Indulgences were sought for by our people at his hands For as for the Charter of S. Patrick by some intituled De antiquitate Avalonicâ wherein Phaganus and Deruvianus are said to have purchased ten or thirtie yeares of Indulgences from Pope Eleutherius and S. Patrick himselfe to have procured twelve yeares in his time from Pope Celestinus it might easily be demonstrated if this were a place for it that it is a meere figment devised by the Monkes of Glastenbury Neyther doe I well know what credite is to be given unto that stragling sentence which I finde ascribed unto the same author for I will still deale fairely and conceale nothing that I meet withall in anie hidden part of antiquitie that may tend to the true discoverie of the state of former times whether it may seeme to make for me or against me If any questions doe arise in this Iland let them be referred to the See Apostolick Onely this I will say that as it is most likely that S. Patrick had a speciall regard unto the Church of Rome from whence he was sent for the conversion of this Iland so if I my selfe had lived in his dayes for the resolution of a doubtfull question I should as willingly have listened to the judgement of the Church of Rome as to the determination of anie Church in the whole world so reverend an estimation have I of the integritie of that Church as it stood in those good dayes But that S. Patrick was of opinion that the Church of Rome was sure ever afterward to continue in that good estate and that there was a perpetuall priviledge annexed unto that See that it should never erre in judgement or that the Popes sentences were alway to be held as infallible Oracles that will I never beleeve sure I am that my countreymen after him were of a farre other beleefe who were so farre from submitting themselves in this sort to whatsoever should proceed from the See of Rome that they oftentimes stood out against it when they had little cause so to do For proofe whereof I need to seeke no further then to those verie allegations which have beene lately urged for maintenance of the supremacie of the Pope and Church of Rome First Mr. Coppinger commeth upon us with this wise question Was not Ireland among other countries absolved from the Pelagian heresie by the Church of Rome as Cesar Baronius writeth then he setteth downe the copie of S. Gregories epistle in answer unto the Irish Bishops that submitted themselves unto him and concludeth in the end according to his skill that the Bishops of Ireland being infected with the Pelagian errour sought absolution first of Pelagius the Pope but the same was not effectually done untill S. Gregory did it But in all this the silly man doth nothing else but bewray his owne extreme ignorance For neyther can he shew it in Cesar Baronius or in anie other author whatsoever that the Irish Bishops did ever seek absolution from Pope Pelagius or that the one had to deale in any businesse at all with the other Neyther yet can he shew that ever they had to doe with S. Gregory in anie matter that did concerne the Pelagian heresie for these be dreames of Coppingers own idle head The epistle of S. Gregory dealeth onely with the controversie of the three chapter◠which were condemned by the fifth generall Councell whereof Baronius writeth thus All the Bishops that were in Ireland with most earnest studie rose up jointly for the defence of the Three Chapters And when they perceived that the Church of Rome did both receive the condemnation of the Three chapters and strengthen the fifth Synod with her consent they departed from her and clave to the rest of the schismaticks that were eyther in Italy or in Africk or in other countries animated with that vaine confidence that they did stand for the Catholick faith while they defended those things that were concluded in the Councell of Chalcedon And so much the more fixedly saith he did they cleave to their error because whatsoever Italy did suffer by commotions of warre by famine or pestilence all these unhappy things they thought did therefore befall unto it because it had undertaken to fight for the Fift Synod against the Councell of Chalcedon Thus farre Baronius out of whose narration this may be collected that the Bishops of Ireland did not take all the resolutions of the Church of Rome for undoubted oracles but when they thought that they had better reason on their sides they preferred the judgement of other Churches before it Wherein how peremptorie they were when they wrote unto S. Gregory of the matter may easily be perceived by these parcells of the answer which he returned unto their letters The first entry of your epistle hath notified that you suffer a grievous persecution which persecution indeed when it is not sustayned for a reasonable cause doth profite nothing unto salvation and therefore it is verie unfit that you should glory of that persecution as you call it by which it is certaine you cannot be promoted to everlasting rewards And whereas you write that since that time among other provinces Italy hath beene most afflicted you ought not to object that unto it as a reproach because it is written Whom the Lord loveth hee chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that he receiveth Then having spoken of the booke that Pope Pelagius did write of this controversie which indeed was penned by Gregory himselfe he addeth If after the reading of this book you will persist in that deliberation wherein now you are without doubt you shew that you give your selves to be ruled not by reason but by obstinacie By all which you may see what credite is to be given unto the man who would beare us in hand that this epistle of S. Gregory was sent
of the Doctor what the reason might be that where he bringeth in the words of Giraldus Cambrensis touching this place as an authenticall authoritie hee passeth over that part of his relation wherein hee affirmeth that S. Patrick intended by this meanes to bring the rude people to a perswasion of the certaintie of the infernall paines of the reprobate and of the true and everlasting life of the elect after death The Grecians alledge this for one of their arguments against Purgatorie that whereas their Fathers had delivered unto them manie visions and dreames and other vvonders concerning the everlasting punishment wherewith the wicked should be tormented in Hell yet none of them had declared any thing concerning a purgatorie temporarie fire Belike the Doctor was afraid that wee would conclude upon the same ground that S. Patrick was carefull to plant in mens mindes the beleefe of Heaven and Hell but of Purgatory taught them never a word And sure I am that in the book ascribed unto him De tribus habitaculis which is to be seene in his Majesties Librarie there is no mention of anie other place after this life but of these two only I will lay down here the beginning of that treatise and leave it to the iudgement of anie indifferent man whether it can well stand with that which the Romanistes teach concerning Purgatorie at this day There be three habitations under the power of almightie God the first the lowermost and the middle The highest whereof is called the kingdome of God or the kingdome of Heaven the lowermost is termed Hell the middle is named the present World or the circuit of the Earth The extremes whereof are altogether contrary one to another for what fellowship can there be betwixt light and darkenesse betwixt Christ Belial but the middle hath some similitude with the extremes For in this world there is a mixture of the bad and of the good together whereas in the kingdome of God there are none bad but all good but in Hell there are none good but all bad And both those places are supplied out of the middle For of the men of this world some are lifted up to Heaven others are drawne downe to Hell namely like are joyned unto like that is to say good to good and bad to bad just men to just Angells wicked men to wicked Angels the servants of god to God the servants of the divell to the Divell The blessed are called to the kingdome prepared for them from the beginning of the world the cursed are driven into the everlasting fire that is prepared for the Divell and his angels Thus farre there Hitherto also may be referred that ancient Canon of one of our Irish Synods wherein it is affirmed that the soule being separated from the bodie is presented before the judgement seat of Christ who rendreth it owne unto it according as it hath done and that neyther the Archangel can leade it unto life untill the Lord hath judged it nor the Divell transport it unto paine unlesse the Lord doe damne it as the sayings of Sedulius likewise that after the end of this life eyther death or life succeedeth and that death is the gate by which wee enter into our kingdome together with that of Claudius that Christ did take upon him our punishment vvithout the guilt that thereby he might loose our guilt and finish also our punishment Cardinall Bellarmine indeed alledgeth here against us the vision of Furseus who rising from the dead told many things which hee saw concerning the paines of purgatory as Bede he saith doth write But by his good leave we will be better advised before we build articles of faith upon such visions and dreames as these manie wherof deserve to have a place among the strange narrations of soules appearing after death collected by Damascius the heathen Idolater rather than among the histories discourses of sober Christians As for this vision of Furseus all that Bede relateth of it to this purpose is concerning certaine great fires above the ayre appointed to examine every one according to the merits of his workes which peradventure may make something for Damascius his Purgatorie in Circulo lacteo for in that circle made he a way for the soules that went to the Hades in heaven and would not have us wonder that there they should be purged by the way but nothing for the Papists Purgatorie which Bellarmine by the common consent of the Schoolemen determineth to be within the bowels of the earth Neyther is there anie thing else in the whole book of the life of Furseus whence Bede borrowed these things that looketh toward Purgatorie unlesse peradventure that speech of the Divell may be thought to give some advantage unto it This man hath not purged his sinnes upon earth neyther doth he receive punishment for them here Where is therefore the justice of God as if Gods justice were not sufficiently satisfied by the sufferings of Christ but man also must needes give futther satisfaction thereunto by penall workes or sufferings either here or in the other world which is the ground upon which our Romanists doe lay the rotten frame of their devised Purgatorie The latter visions of Malachias Tundal Owen and others that lived within these last five hundred yeares come not within the compasse of our present inquirie nor yet the fables that have bene framed in those times touching the lives and actions of elder Saints whereof no wise man will make anie reckoning Such for example is that which we reade in the life of S. Brendan that the question being moved in his hearing Whether the sinnes of the dead could be redeemed by the prayers or almes-deeds of their friends remayning in this life for that was still a question in the Church he is said to have told them that on a certaine night as he sayled in the great Ocean the soule of one Colman who had beene an angry Monke and a sower of discord betwixt brethren appeared unto him who complained of his grievous torments intreated that prayers might be made to God for him and after sixe dayes thankefully acknowledged that by meanes thereof he had gotten into heaven Whereupon it is concluded that the prayer of the living doth profit much the dead But of S. Brendans sea-pilgrimage we have the censure of Molanus a learned Romanist that there be many apocryphall fooleries in it whosoever readeth the same with anie judgement cannot choose but pronounce of it as Photius doth of the strange narrations of Damascius formerly mentioned that it containeth not onely apocryphall but also impossible incredible ill-composed and monstrous fooleries Whereof though the old Legend it selfe were not free as by the heads thereof touched by Glaber Rodulphus and Giraldus Cambrensis may appeare yet for the tale that I recited out of the New Legend of England I can
say that in the manuscript books which I have met withall here in S. Brendans own countrey one whereof was transcribed for the use of the Friars minors of Kilkenny about the yeare of our Lord 1350. there is not the least footstep thereof to be seene And this is a thing verie observable in the ancienter lives of our Saints such I meane as have beene written before the time of Satans loosing beyond which we doe not now looke that the prayers and oblations for the dead mentioned therein are expressely noted to have been made for them whose soules were supposed at the same instant to have rested in blisse So Adamnanus reporteth that S. Colme called by the Irish both in Bedes and our dayes Colum-kille caused all things to be prepared for the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist when he had seene the soule of S. Brendan received by the holy Angells and that hee did the like when Columbanus Bishop of Leinster departed this life for I must to day saith S. Colme there although I be unworthy celebrate the holy mysteries of the Eucharist for the reverence of that soule which this night carried beyond the starry firmament betwixt the holy quires of Angells ascended into Paradise Whereby it appeareth that an honourable commemoration of the dead was herein intended and a sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation rather then of propitiation for their sinnes In Bede also wee finde mention of the like obsequies celebrated by S. Cuthbert for one Hadwaldus after he had seene his soule carried by the hands of Angells unto the joyes of the kingdome of heaven So Gallus and Magnus as Walafridus Strabus relateth in the life of the one and Theodorus Campidonensis or whosoever else was author of the life of the other said Masse which what it was in those dayes wee shall afterward heare and were instant in prayers for the commemoration of abbat Columbanus their countreyman frequenting the memory of that great Father with holy prayers and healthfull sacrifices Where that speech of Gallus unto his deacon Magnus or Magnoaldus is worthie of speciall consideration After this nights watch I understood by a vision that my master and father Columbanus is to day departed out of the miseries of this life unto the joyes of Paradise For his rest therefore I ought to offer the sacrifice of salvation In like maner also when Gallus himselfe died Iohn Bishop of Constance prayed to the Lord for his rest and offered healthfull sacrifices for him although he were certainly perswaded that hee had attained the blessing of everlasting life as may be seene in Walafridus And when Magnus afterwards was in his death-bed he is said to have used these words unto Tozzo Bishop of Ausborough that came to visite him Doe not weepe reverend Prelate because thou beholdest me labouring in so manie stormes of worldly troubles because I beleeve in the mercie of God that my soule shall rejoyce in the freedome of immortalitie yet I beseech thee that thou wilt not cease to helpe me a sinner and my soule with thy holy prayers Then followeth that at the time of his departure this voice was heard Come Magnus come receive the crowne vvhich the Lord hath prepared for thee and that thereupon Tozzo said unto Theodorus the supposed writer of this historie Let us cease weeping brother because wee ought rather to rejoyce having heard this signe of the receiving of his soule unto immortalitie than to make lamentation but let us goe to the Church and be carefull to offer healthfull sacrifices to the Lord for so deare a friend I dispute not of the credite of these particular passages it is sufficient that the authors from whom wee have received them lived within the compasse of those times whereof we now doe treate For thereby it is plaine enough and if it be not it shall elsewhere be made yet more plaine that in those elder dayes it was an usuall thing to make prayers and oblations for the rest of those soules which were not doubted to have beene in glorie and consequently that neyther the Commemoration nor the Praying for the dead nor the Requiem Masses of that age have anie necessarie relation to the beleefe of Purgatory The lesson therefore which Claudius teacheth us here out of S. Hierome is verie good that while wee are in this present world we may be able to helpe one another eyther by our prayers or by our counsailes but when vvee shall come before the judgement seat of Christ neyther Iob nor Daniel nor Noah can intreate for any one but every one must beare his owne burden and the advise which the no lesse learned then godly abbat Columbanus giveth us is verie safe not to pitch upon uncertainties hereafter but now to trust in God and follow the precepts of Christ while our life doth yet remaine and while the times wherin we may obtayne salvation are certaine Vive Deo fidens saith he Christi praecepta sequeÌ„do Dum modò vita manet dum tempora certa salutis Touching the worship of God that I may now come to that point Sedulius delivereth this generall rule that to adore any other beside the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost is the crime of impietie and that all that the soule oweth unto God if it bestow it upon any beside God it committeth adultery More particularly in the matter of Images he reproveth the wise men of the heathen for thinking that they had found out a way how the invisible God might be worshipped by a visible image with whom also accordeth Claudius that God is to be knowen neyther in mettle nor in stone and for Oathes there is a Canon ascribed to S. Patrick wherein it is determined that no creature is to be sworâ—e by but onely the Creator As for the forme of the Liturgie or publick service of God which the same S. Patrick brought into this countrey it is said that he received it from Germanus and Lupus and that it originally descended from S. Marke the Evangelist for so have I seene it set down in an ancient fragment written wellnigh 900. yeares since remayning now in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton my worthy friend who can never sufficiently be commended for his extraordinarie care in preserving all rare monuments of this kinde Yea S. Hieroms authoritie is there vouched for proofe hereof Beatus Hieronymus adfirmat quòd ipsum cursum qui dicitur praesente tempore Scottorum beatus Marcus decantavit which being not now to be found in anie of S. Hieroms workes the truth thereof I leave unto the credite of the reporter But whatsoever Liturgie was used here at first this is sure that in the succeeding ages no one generall forme of divine service was retayned but diverse rites and maners of celebrations were observed in diverse parts of this kingdome untill the Romane use was brought in at last by