canonicall mo bookes then these In the olde testament saith hée the fiue bookes of Moses that is Genesis Exodus Leuiticus Numbers Deuteronomium After these Iesus Naue of the Iudges togither with Ruth After these foure bookes of the raignes of kings which the Hebrews doo account but two Paralipomenon which is called the booke of dayes and two of Esdras which they doo receaue each by it selfe and the booke of Hester And of the Prophets Esaie Ieremie Ezechiell Daniell bisides these one booke of the xii Prophets Iob also and the Psalmes of Dauid are each of them one booke Salomon also hath giuen vnto the churches thrée bookes the Prouerbs Ecclesiastes and Cantica canticorum In these bookes haue the fathers shut vp the number of the bookes of the old testamēt And of the New testament there are foure Gospelles of Mathew Marke Luke and Iohn The Acts of the Apostles which Luke dooth describe Fouretéene Epistles of Paule the Apostle of Peter the Apostle two of Iames the brother of the Lord an Apostle one Epistle of Iudas one of Iohn thrée and the Apocalyps of Iohn These bée the volumes which the fathers haue shut vp within the canon whereof the father would that the assertions of our faith should consist Notwithstanding it is néedefull to bée knowne that there be other bookes also which are not canonicall but our auncestors haue called them Ecclesiastical That is to say wisdome which is said to bée Salomons And another Wisdome which is said to bée of the sonne of Sirach which is by the Latinists named by the same generall name Ecclesiasticus By which name not the author of the booke but the qualitie of the scripture is named And of the same Order is the booke of Tobias Iudith and the bookes of Machabies Thus far Ruffinus in his creede or confession of beliefe set foorth by saint Hierome And not many liues after this hée writeth thus These volumes haue the fathers deliuered vnto vs which as I haue said it hath séemed to mée méete to note out for the instruction of such as doo take vpon them the first rudimēts of the church of faith that they may know out of what fountaines the cups of the woord of God must bée drawne Now M. Offerer I pray you confer these words of Ruffinus with that decrée that was made by your fathers of the Tridentine councel in their 4. Session wherein they allow for canonicall all those bookes that haue bin are cōtained in that booke which is cōmonly called the Bible With them the bookes of Tobias Hester Iudith Wisdome Ecclesiasticus the two bookes of the Machabies are of as great authoritie as the rest and they doo denounce accursed all such as doo not or shall not receiue for canonicall all those books and euery part of them making no diffrence betwixt these and the other which Ruffinus hath said the fathers haue deliuered vnto vs as fountaines out of which the cups of the word of God must be drawn Let your fathers therfore denounce accursed this Ruffinus and those fathers that he speaketh of for they be of one minde with vs. Let them accursse S. Hierome that hath set foorth this Créede of Ruffinus as a sound confession of the Christian faith Let them excōmunicate S. Gregorie Grego Morali in 29. lib. Cap. 19. Hiero. in praefacio prou that in the 19. of his morall exposition of the 29. Chapter of Iob dooth confesse that the first booke of the Machabies is not canonicall Yea let them accursse S. Hierome as black as a pot for that in his preface to the prouerbes of Salomon he saith thus The church dooth read the bookes of Iudith Tobie the Machabies for th'edification of the people but not to confirme the authority of the doctrines of the Church This Hierome such other were the fathers the Ruffinus saith haue deliuered to vs the other bookes of the Bible not these to bee fountaines for vs to draw the cups of Gods word out of them And with these would wée rather bée accursed then blessed with your popish Catholique fathers in your Tridentine counsell You frame an argument after this maner If the Catholique church had the true spirite of God in discerning iudging the true scriptures of God from the rest not scriptures why should not we belieue the same Catholike church gouerned led by the same spirit in giuing the true sence meaning vnderstanding of the scriptures To this I answere That the romish Catholique church which now is hath continued for the space almost of a thousand yéeres is not neither hath bin led by the true spirit of God either in discerning or iudging the true scriptures of God from the rest c. Nor yet in giuing the true sence c but it hath bin and is still led by the spirite of Antichrist And that neuer more apparantly then at the Tridentyne counsell as by the canons of the same counsell dooth most manifestly appéere to as many as with indifferent iudgement can and will reade them Thus haue I shewed you sufficient reasons whereby you might bée mooued to yeelde and ioyne with vs in religion and no longer to depend vpon the iudgement of that Antichristian church which you call Catholique for that you may sée if you bee not altogither blinded that it is not the true spirite of God that hath and dooth leade your Catholique church but in déede the false spirite of Antichrist The fourth Offer Offerer Fourth Let the Protestants make sufficient proofe by auncient writers of the Ecclesiastiall histories what church it is that al these fifteene hundreth yeeres past hath continued through out firme and stedfast while all other conuenticles and cōgregations as well of Arians as of the Nestorian Maniches Nouatians Vigilians Iouinians and the rest of Heretikes of all sortes haue decayed bin conuinced and ouerthrowne and that by any other Church then by the common knowne Catholique church of Christ and I shall then yeelde and recant and not before Crowley It is very true that the knowne Catholike church hath bin and still is as for these fiftéene hundreth yéeres last past it hath bin the meane that God hath vsed in the conuinsing ouerthrowing of Arians Nestorians and the rest of the Heretikes that you speake of It is most true also that the same Catholike church hath all this time continued firme and stedfast but how can you prooue that your popish Catholike church is that knowne Catholike church of Christ that you speake of Héerein lieth the difficulty It is not enough for you to say that your romish church is the Catholike church but you must prooue it Your antiquity your vniuersality your vnity with your continuall succession of Bishops will not serue your turne Your antiquity is not so auncient as ours by 4600. yéeres almost For ours began in Adam hath continued euer since yours began to florish in the daies of Phocas the
those workes that our Lord the hath made vs redéemed vs consecrated vs to his own seruice hath prepared for vs to walke in As for workes diuised by men wee esteeme of them as wee finde them If wee sée that they bend to the setting foorth of Gods glory in our edification wee vse them otherwise wee refuse them But the workes that God hath commaunded wee are carefull to doo And when by the infirmitie and corruption of our nature wee stumble and fall wée crie vnto our mercifull father for help as being assured that hee heareth vs and in tender affection towards vs will help vs yea though hee doo for a time suffer vs to lie vnder that too too heauie burthen of sinne vnder which wée are fallen by infirmitie Wee seeke not to our fellow seruants as to Angels or men much lesse to Antichrist the professed enimie of our Christ and sauiour Wee trust not in our owne strength nor in any merites that may bée in vs but wée trust in our God and our onely sauiour Iesus Christ And when wee haue walked vpright and haue done that which wee are commaunded to doo wee say as our Sauiour hath taught vs to say wee are vnprofitable bond slaues wee haue done nothing but that which of duetie wee ought to doo But now let vs sée the second offer that our Offerer maketh The second offer The Offerer Second Christ his Catholique Church being on this wise planted by the Apostles and Disciples of Christ by Bishops and Priests the successors of them had at all times a speciall care and regarde not onely of preaching Gods word but also of the preseruation of the same woord and gospell by writing of the sacred Bible and holy scriptures and did discerne and iudge them from all other writings prophane or authentique of all sortes What Church hath had from time to time the custodie of the sacred scriptures and most safely hath preserued them for the necessarie foode of Gods people and from the corruption of the aduersaries as well Iewes and Gentiles as schismatikes and heretikes of all sorts but onely the common knowne Catholiquâ— Church of Christ When therefore the learned Protestants shal be able to bring proofe to the contrarie that their priuate conuenticles and Congregations were the first bringers forth of this sacred Bible and word of God written the chiefe preseruers and defenders of the same in all times and ages from all Iewes Gentiles betikes and schismatikes then will I as I sayd before reuolt and recant Crowley In this his second Offer the Offerer vseth a fallace or disceit which in reasoning is called Petitio principij That is hee laboureth to confirme his assertion wherein there is no certenty by that wherein there is as litle or lesse certenty then in that assertion that hee holdeth And yet hee setteth a face vpon it as though nothing were or could bee more certaine then both the assertion and that whereby hée would prooue it bee His assertion is that the Church of Rome which he calleth Catholique is and euer hath bin from time to time the conseruer and kéeper of the sacred scriptures and this hee would prooue by another like assertion that is that the same Church was the first Preacher and Writer of the same scripture which hée calleth the sacred Bible and holy scriptures When the vnlearned Reader considereth this assertion hée is brought into such a maze that hee knoweth not which way to take For this Offerer would beare him in hand that the sacred Bible which containeth those bookes that are called the old Testament were neuer written before the church which he calleth Catholike did take in haÌ„d to write them Where as in very déede some of those bookes were written before the first foundation of Rome was layde Yea hee would that men should thinke that that Romish Church which hée calleth Catholique is the same that was first planted amongst the Nations of the worlde by the preaching of the gospell amongst them Which preaching began at Hierusalem sprang from thence as from a most plentifull Fountaine and was by the labour and trauell of the Apostles and Disciples of our sauiour Christ in preaching the gospell speedily spred ouer all the worlde And that it was this Romish Church that did first wryte the Gospels and other bookes of the new Testament and hath discerned of those bookes that are accounted for holy scripture and hath seuered them from all other writinges what so euer and hath preserued them from all corruption c. But such as bee learned doo know that all the bookes of the old Testament commonly called the Bible were written before the Incarnation of our sauiour Christ and therefore before any such Church as this Offerer imagineth the Romish Catholique Church to bée could haue any being Our Sauiour him selfe hath sayd Iohn 5. Iohn 5. Scrutamini scripturas c. Serch the Scriptures for you think to haue euerlasting life in them And those scriptures bée they that doo giue testimonie of mee And againe the Euangelist Luke saith thus Chapt. 24. Et incipiens a Mose Luc 24. omnibus Prophetis c. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets hee did interpret vnto them all the scriptures which were written concerning him Saint Peter also saith thus Act. 3. Act 3. Et omnes Prophetae a Samuele c. And all the Prophets from Samuel forward euen as many as haue spoken haue made mention of these daies yea and saint Paule in that Epistle that hée directed to those Romaines that were the first Christians in Rome Rom 15. wryteth thus Quaecunque enâ—m scripta sunt c. What so euer things haue bin setdowne in writing haue bin written for our learning that through patience and consolation of the scriptures wée might conceiue hope And to Timoth. 2. Timoth. 3. 2. Timot. 3. Saint Paule saith thus Omnis scriptura diuinitus inspirata vtilis est c. Euerie scripture giuen dy diuine inspiration is profitable for teaching for reproouing for rebuking for instructing c. By all these places of scripture it appeareth plainely that the sacred Bible was written before the Romish Catholique Church had hir beginning and therefore coulde not bée first written by that Church as this Offerer laboureth to perswade that it was Yea and the bookes of the new testament were written by the Euangelists and Apostles and not by any such Bishops and Priests as this Offerer would haue vs think to bée the immediate successors of the Apostles and Disciples of our sauiour Christ and to bée the Bishops Priests of the City of Rome For when saint Paule being in prison at Rome wrote his second Epistle to Timothie there were no such Bishops or Priestes there as might worthyly bee taken for Christians For thus dooth S. Paule write In prima mea defensione nemo mihi affuit c. In my first defence 2. Timot. 4. there was not one man that
last by Gods mercifull prouidence wée gate a sight of them and had them translated into such languages as wee our selues doo vnderstand But this was full sore against your willes as by Hystories it dooth appeere Wee haue therefore no cause to thanke you for them but wée doo giue most heartie continuall thanks to our heauenly father that hath prouided them for vs and hath giuen the vse of them to vs. Yea and finding in the first chapter of S. Iames Epistle Iacob 1. that if any man lack wisdome hee must aske it of God who giueth to all men indifferently and dooth not vpbrayde any man with his giftes wée haue and doo still begge of God his holy Spirite to direct vs both in the discerning of the Bookes of the Scriptures and in the finding out of the true sense of the same And wee doo finde the saying of our Sauiour Christ written by Saint Luke chapter 11. very true Luc 11. Si vos cum sitis mali nostis c. If you being euill doo know how to giue good giftes to your children how much more shall your heauenly Father giue the holy Spirite to them that craue it of him wee haue craued that holy spirite and doo still craue it of our heauenly Father Wee haue receyued it and doo still receiue it in some measure Wée are thereby made able to iudge the spirits and according to the counsell of S. Iohns first Epistle 1 Iohn 4. and fourth chapter Wée belieue not euery spirite but wée doo trie the spirites And finding that the holy spirite of God did mooue them that first wrote the bookes of the Bible to write as they did write therefore wée doo thankfully receiue those bookes as holy scripture and doo reuerendly vse them as a Lanterne to our feete and a light vnto our pathes After this maner did the Catholique men that haue liued before vs endeuor to know the canonicall Scriptures from such as are pro haue And as S. Augustine writeth vpon the last Psalme August in Psalm 150. Tom 5. Tom. 8. Sunt etiam qui vniuersas omnino scripturas canonicas vnum librum vocent quod valde mirabili diuina vnitate concordent There bée some men also saith S. Augustine that doo name all the canonicall scriptures but one booke bicause they doo agree in a very merueilous and heauenly vnity S. Augustine in his second booke of christian Doctrine August de doct Christ lib. 2. Ca. 5. writeth thus Cap. 8. Totus autem canon scripturarum in quo istam considerationem versandam dicimus his libris continetur In déede the whole canon of the Scriptures wherein wee doo affirme this consideration is to bee vsed is conteined in these bookes And then hée maketh rehersall of those 44. bookes which are contained in that booke which both you and wée doo call the holy Bible concluding thus His quadraginta quatuor libris veteris testamenti terminatur authoritas In these foure and forty bookes is the authority of the olde testament ended Then hée maketh rehersall of the bookes called the New testament which are in number 27. and they are the same that wee haue in our bookes called the New testaments both in gréeke in latine Of al these bookes togither which are in number 71. S. Austen writeth thus In his omnibus libris timentes Deum pietate mansueti quaerunt volūtatem Dei In all these bookes they that feare God are by godlines made modest doo séeke for the will pleasure of God And in the beginning of this 8. chap. of this second booke of christian Doctrine S. Austen dooth instruct euery christian after this maner Erit igitur diuinarum scripturarum solertissimus indagator qui primo totas legerit notasque habuerit si non dum intellectu iam tamen lectione duntaxat eas quae appellantur canonicae He therefore shal be the wisest searcher of the holy scriptures which will first read them through and will haue a perfect knowledge of them although not in vnderstanding as yet but yet already in reading those scriptures onely which are called Canonicall And going forward in this instruction hée saith thus Jn Canonicis autem scripturis Ecclesiarum catholicarum quam plurimum authoritatem sequatur inter quas sane illae sunt quae Apostolicas sedes habere Epistolas accipere meruerunt Let him as much as may bée follow the authority of the Catholike churches in the canonicall scriptures amōgst which churches vndoubtedly those churches are which haue deserued to haue Apostolical seates to receiue Epistles By these woords of S. Augustine it appeareth what was ment in S. Augustins time by these words the Catholique church the canicall scriptures The scriptures were called canonicall that doo containe the rule of faith of maners And the churches were planted by the preaching of the doctrine amongst which those were accounted for the chiefe that had bin planted by the Apostles them selues had had some one of the Apostles resiant amongst them for a time and therefore the places were called Apostolicall seates And these were the congregations that the Apostle Paule did direct his Epistles vnto And heere I doo by the way note that as Rome was Sedes Apostolicae an Apostolike seate so was Corinth Galatia Ephessus Colossa Philippos Thessalonica Wherefore these later were of like authority with the first S. Austen therefore addeth further and saith thus Tenebit igitur hunc modum in scripturis canonicis vt eas quae ab omnibus accipiuntur Ecclesijs catholicis praeponat eis quas quaedā non accipiunt Let him therfore that is a searcher of the scriptures kéepe this meesure in the canonicall Scriptures that hee prefer those scriptures that be receiued of al Catholike churches before those scriptures which certaine Catholike churches doo not receiue By all these words of S. Austen written in the 8. chap. of his second booke De christiana doctrina it appeareth manifestly that the church of Rome although it were then Catholique accounted so to be yet it was not as now you doo account it to be the onely Catholique church of Christ For the other Churches which had bin Apostolike seates had receiued Epistles were Catholique as well as the church of Rome was yea and that all those churches were but particuler churches and none of them vniuersall but members of that vniuersall Church which consisteth of all the particuler churches that are haue bin or shal be vpon earth Yea and it appeareth that some of those Catholique churches did not receiue as canonicall all those bookes that are contained in the Bible although they did in some sorte account them canonicall as containing rules necessary for maners though not for faith In Tom. 4. Tom. 4. of S. Hieroms works it appeareth the Ruffinus a learned Priest and such a one as S. Hierome liked well of liuing about 400. yéeres after Christes ascention did not alow for
Sauiour Christ dyd speake only to such Bishops and Préests as you doo appoint to be the successours of the Apostles and disciples of Christ when he sayd Euntes c. Goe and teach all nations of the worlde c. Howe hath that his commaundement béene or howe is it executed sith they commonly neither doo nor can teache those thinges that our Sauiour commaunded his Apostles and scholers to teach and to doo The successors of the Apostles and scholers of our Sauiour Christ to whome those wordes were at the first and be still spoken must bee such as God hath dooth and shall make méete to doo his message to men of all sortes to foreshewe vnto them by the Scriptures what hangeth ouer theyr heades if they will not regarde the message to comfort them with the assurance of the performaunce of the swéet promises which God hath made in the blood of his sonne Christ Iesus to foster féede and nourishe them with the foode of his heauenly worde and to teach and instruct them in the way of the trueth so that they may be able to discerne betwéene the broad way that leadeth to destruction and that narrowe way that leadeth to lyfe euerlasting and to continue walking in that way euen to the ende of their life in this transitorie state Thus much doo those wordes signifie which I haue cited out of the fourth Chapter of S. Paules Epistle to the Ephesians And in the wordes that I haue cited out of the 12. Chapter of the first to Corinth Saint Paule hath added that these wordes of our Sauiour Christ were spoken to them also whom God hath dooth or shall make mighty endueinge them with power from aboue making them able to stande against and to withstand yea and vanquishe the ghostly enimies that is the deuill the world and the fleshe to cure sicknesses and diseases to succour helpe and comfort the weake and féeble to gouerne the simple and to vnderstand and speake diuers languages All this may be vnderstanded in these wordes of S. Paule God hath placed in his Church certaine degrées of men first Apostles secondly prophets thirdly teachers after that powers after that giftes of healing helpings gouernementes and diuersities of tongues So that these words go and teach all nations c. Were spoken first to the Apostles and Scholers of our Sauiour Christ and then to all such their successours as God hath dooth or shall make méete any way to teach those thinges that he hath commaunded to be taught practised But now M. Offerer hath found that S. Paule being at Miletum hath admonished the Bishops Priestes that were assembled before him there saying AtteÌ„dite vobis c. Take héede to your selues and vnto the whole flocke of Christ in which the holy Ghost hath ordained you Bishops Act. 10. Regere Ecclesiam Dei. To gouerne the Church of God And againe in the 13. Chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrewes Saint Paule dooth commaund all other sortes of men without exception of Emperours Kings Quéenes and Princes to obay their Bishops and Préestes saying Obedite praepositis vostris subiacete eis ipsi enim peruigilant quasi rationem pro animabus vestris reddituri Obey your Prelates and doo what they appoint you to do for they doo watch as men that shall render an account for your soules Héere is subtile Sophistrie in the stéede of probable reasoning and profound Diuinity These testimonies bée so plaine that it can not be denied but that as the charge gouernement of Christes Church c. was committed to Christs Apostles and Disciples so the same is committed to Popish Bishops and Préestes as to their successors But I pray you good M. Offerer let vs consider of these two places that you haue cited Saint Luke reporting the Actes or déedes of the Apostles sayth that Saint Paule hasting towardes Ierusalem would spend no time in Asia and therefore determining to passe by Ephesus sent messengers thether to require the Elders of the congregation to repayre vnto him being then in the Iland Milâ—tâ— which is now called Mâ—lâ—a These Elders you doo name Bishops and Préestes But the Gréeke worde that S. Luke vseth there can not by any meanes signifie eyther a Bishoppe or Préest of that sorte that you speake of For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dooth signifie one that is elder or more auncient in yéeres or more honorable then they be amongst whom he liueth And such were they that commonly were chosen in those dayes to be teachers instructours and gouernours in the congregations or Churches of Christians and therefore they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obseruers watchmen searchers such as had the ouersight of things committed to them But your Bishops and Préestes most bee such as the Grecians doo call by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is a Préest that offereth sacrifices But héere I will make you one offer M. Offerer which shal be thus If you can finde in any of the Bookes of the newe Testament that eyther our Sauiour Christ speaking of the ministers of the new Testament or any of the Apostles writing of the seuerall sortes of ministers that our Sauiour Christ hath ordayned to serue or minister in his Churche haue vsed eyther of these Gréeke woordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doo signifie a sacrificing Preest then will I recante the Protestants doctrine and subscribe to your Papisticall doctrine and not before In the place that you haue cited out of the 20. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles S. Paule calleth the ministers of Ephesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is watch men or ouerséers appointed by the holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to gouerne the Church of God in such sorte as a shéepheard dooth gouerne and féede his flocke but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to exercise lordlike authority ouer them as your meaning must néedes bée that your Bishoppes and Préestes should For you say that S. Paule dooth commaund all other sorts of men without exception c. To obay their Bishops and Préestes saying Obedite c. Obay your prelates c. And here I must néedes note your corrupt manner of handling of this place of S. Paule He himselfe dooth beséech those Hebrewes that he worte vnto to suffer or to take in good part that short exhortation that he gaue them but you say that hee commaunded them yea though they were Emperours Kings Quéenes or Princes to obaye theyr Prelates and to doo what they appoint In the Latine you cite the wordes Hebr 13. as they are in the vulgare translation allowed in the Tridentine councell Obedite c. It pleaseth you to set downe for Praepositis Prelates minding as it séemeth to make vs beléeue that such Prelates as you call Bishops and Préests must by S Paules commaundement be so obeyed of all Emperours Kings Quéenes and Princes and so by