THE ROCKE OF THE CHVRCHE Wherein the Primacy of S. Peter and of his Successours the Bishops of Rome is proued out of Gods Worde By Nicolas Sander D. of diuinity The eternal Rock of the vniuersal Church Christ was the rock an other foundatiō no man is hable is put 1. Cor. 3. 10. The temporal Rock of the militant Church Thou art Peter and vppon this Rocke I wil build my Church Matth. 16. The continuance of this temporal Rocke In the Church of Rome the primacy of the Apostolike chaier hath alwaies florished August in Epist 162. Recken euen from the very seate of Peter and in that rew of Fathers consyder who succeded the other That is the rock which the proud gates of hel doe not ouercome In Psal cōt part Don. Tom. 7. LOVANII Apud Ioannem Foulerum Anno D. 1567. REgiae Maiestatis Priuilegio concessum est Nicolao Sandro Sacrae Theologiae Professori vt librum inscriptum The Rocke of the Church per Typographum aliquem iuratum imprimere ac impunè distrahere liceat Datum Bruxellis 27. Febr. 1566. Subsig Prats TO THE RIGHT Worshipfull M. Doctor Parker bearing the name of the Archbisshop of Canterbury and to al other protestants in the realme of England Nicolas Sander wissheth perfect faith and charity in our Lord declaring in this Preface that the Catholiks whom they cal Papists doe passe the Protestants in al manner of Signes or Marks of Christes true Church I Besech your worshippe not to mislike with me for omitting any parte of your accustomed title in this my letter sithēs I doe it not of any contempt but onely of conscience grounded vppon Gods worde as who am persuaded the religiō presently authorized in the realm and consequently your ministery therin to be so far of from Christes true religiō as it is far from Christ to haue his Church which after the publication of the Gospell ought Genes 22.26.28 Psal 2.44 75.88.144 Philip. 2. according to the prophecies to be openly spread through out the world and her Citizēs ought to shyne in the middest of the peruerse nation Isai 54.60 Math. 28. of infideles like starres and to remayn gloriouse for euer in many natiōs togeather now first after nine hūdred yeres oppression as your own brethern doe confesse to shewe it selfe abrode and openly to be professed So that although it could be shewed that your faith had bene alwaies in the world as it was not yet in that if at all it were it lay hydden Math. 5. it could not be the faith of Christes true Church which neuer ceased to be a City built vpon a hil which can not be hidden And he did sette his candel vpon a candelstick not only to geue light for a few hundred yeres but to geue light to all Luc. 8. that either should come into his house or tarie in his house And seing at al momentes men in diuerse countries came into Gods house by faith and baptisme Isai 2. 62. Math. 28. and seing likewise he is with his disciples al daies vntil the end of the world and not only liueth but reigneth for euer Luc. 1. regnabit that is to say abideth gloriously and roially in the house of Iacob which is the Church doutlesse his Church is for euer built vpon a hil and therefore it can not be hidden any one moment and his light neuer can cease to shyne to thend it may euer be true which Malachias the Prophet saied Malac. 1. From the rising of the sonne to his going downe my name is great among the gentils And yet seing Christes name is not great by them who beleue falselie for they must nedes also haue naughty woorkes and so the name of God Heb. 11. Isai 52. Rom. 2. as Saint Paule saith is rather blasphemed amonge the Gentiles then glorified by euil men it remaineth that Christes name must be great among the Gentills throughe a good faith openly geuing light by the good works of true Christians who may thereby cause Gods name to be glorified Math. 5. and by their good conuersation may cause the Infidels to be conuerted vnto Christ 1. Cor. 7. 2. Pet. 3. Now for asmuch as your faith was not openly alwaies professed in many nations together but was altogether hidden before these fifty yeres and so hidden A Church vnder a bushel that no history or Chronicle doth make mention of any congregatiō at all professing your faith from tyme to tyme in any Cities Townes Villages or priuate houses of diuerse prouinces and countries at once nothing can be iustly said or alleaged why you should not renounce this obscure religion of yours which is so slaunderouse to Gods gloriouse name and returne again to that our Churche A Church vpō a hil which stode for euer vpon the hil and whose light was neuer so dimmed or darkened but that the very Iewes Turks Saracēs Moores and Tartariās knewe where we dwelt and what we professed I chose at this tyme to intreat with al sober Protestants the rather by your person M. D. Parker because I haue heard of so much good nature in your worshippe that it was not vnlike but he woulde voutesafe to heare what so euer should be reasonably said specially touching Gods worde and the practise of the primatiue Churche of which pointes my chiefe talke shal be at this tyme. Many men haue laboured to geue diuerse Signes and Markes of the true Church to thintēt it being ones knowē al other controuersies may geue place to the pillor and sure stay of truth 1. Tim. 3. But that it may appear to them who do not willingly stop their eares against the truth what notable aduantage the Catholiks haue ouer and aboue the Protestants in this behalf I wil shew the truth of our Churche to be so safe and clere that hitherto it was not possible for the Protestants themselues to deuise any such marke or signe of a true Churche the which doth not much rather make for vs then for them Gods vvord is not a sufficient mark of the true Church They teach Gods word to be the chiefe mark whereby the true Church may be knowen which yet can not wel be so because the marke whereby an other thing is knowen ought it selfe to be most exactly knowen whereas we are not agreed what Gods woorde is For some call onely the writen letter and the meaning thereof Gods woorde others thinck many things to be Gods woorde which are not expresly writen but are reuealed from God to the Church by the tradition of the Apostles 2. Thess 2 Heb. 8. 10. 2. Cor. 3. and by the holy ghost who hath writen Gods lawes in our harts and there hath imprīted them Also we are not agreed vppon the writen woorde of God because the Protestantes doe not admitte so many bookes of the olde Testament as the Catholikes doe Thirdly the meaning of those bookes which we are agreed vppon
ouer euery man and euery thing without conforming them selues to any superiour authority Yea what shall we say if the Protestants will not only be supreame iudges ouer the meaning of Gods woorde but also ouer the bookes themselues and ouer the reading thereof For beside that they reiect the bookes of Tobie of WisedoÌ„ and of the Machabees with certaine other parts of holy scripture from the Canon of Gods woorde thei also reiect the epistle of S. Iames and that was done not onely by Martin Luther who called it stramineaÌ„ of no more force then a straw is An. Dom. 1â—66 Confessio edita Tiguri but euen this last yere of our Lord there came forth a Confession of the faith printed at Zurich whereunto all the Sacramentaries of Zuicherland yea also the preachers of Geneua gaue their assent and consent as the title of the booke doth witnesse In which booke it is saied that S. Iames is to be reiected if he be coÌ„trarie to S. Paule The which heathenish saying doth presuppose that S. Iames may be contrary to S. Paule and in that case he is to be reiected say they Their wordes are Iacobus ille dixit opera iustificare non contradicens Apostolo rencieÌ„dus alioqui Cap. â— that fellow Iames said that works doe iustifie not speaking against S. Paule otherwise he were to be reiected No man could say this much of S. Iames but he who thought it possible for S. Iames epistle to be no holy scripture Euseb li. 1. cap. 23. For if it be clerely admitted as it hath ben alwaies amoÌ„g true Catholiks for holy scripture then if it could be contrary to S. Paule it were no more true that S. Iames should be deceaued then S. Saule For of that which is confessed to be the woord of God there is noe difference at all But one Holie ghost speaketh with like authority in al his instruments Psal 44. whatsoeuer they be Therefore this pestilent opinion is priuily fostered among the Protestantes that S. Iames epistle is not the vndoubted word of God and thereof can they geue none other reason but because he is contrary to their deuilish doctrine of only faith A false opinion For whereas they say that S. Iames meaneth that workes declare our iustification before men and doe not in deede iustifie before God it is stark false which thei say For he saith What good shal it do Iacob 2. if a man say himself to haue faith and haue not woorkes shall his faith saue him Behold he speaketh of works necessary to that iustification whereby we are saued before God and not to that onlie whereby we are declared iust before men For saluation dependeth of God only and not of men at all The which thing may be proued out of S. Iames by diuers other arguments For he speaking of Abraham whom no man saw offering vp his sonne beside God alone saith Iacob 2 that faith was made perfit of woorkes and concludeth generallie a man is iustified of woorkes and not of faith onlie And againe faith without works is dead Therefore if the ProtestaÌ„ts wil haue faith without works to iustifie they wil haue a dead faith to iustifie Whensoeuer S. Paul said that faith did iustifie he meant of faith Rom. 3. S. Paules meaning Galath 5. which worketh by loue as himself hath declared And when he saith that faith iustifieth without works he meaneth without works which goe before iustification and not without charity or loue of God Rom. 5. which is spread in our harts by the holy ghost at the tyme when God louing vs first 1. Ioan. 4. maketh vs beleue and also to loue him and so doth iustifie aÌ„d rectifie vs which were his ennemies before The which loue being infused to vs with a right faith doth cause vs to bring foorth such good works Ephes 2. as God hath prepared for vs to walk in and by those works our former iustification is increased and fortified according as we read Apoc. 22. qui iustus est iustificetur adhuc he that is iust let him be iustified as yet Thus doe all the Catholike Fathers expound the one Apostle both by himself and by the other In lib. de 〈◊〉 operi c. 14. in so much that S. Augustine confesseth an olde errour to haue sprung vppon S. Paules words to the Romans not well vnderstanded for which cause he testifieth that S. Iames S. Peter S. Iohn and S. Iude wrote their epistles all in commendation of charity and of such good woorkes as be ioyned with faith And S. Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians doth also wel declare what faith he would haue to iustifie for asmuch as he saith all faith to doe no good 1. Cor. 13. yf a man haue not charity Now when the Protestants perceaued that of all other S. Iames was most plaine against their onely faith they first did cast a smoke before mens eyes as though his woordes might be defended And yet when they considered that solution woulde not serue they gaue an other that S. Iames is to be reiected if he be contrary to S. Paule Neither onely doe the Protestants make themselues iudges ouer whole bookes and epistles of the Apostles but also ouer the very letter of Christes Gospell For beside their wicked interpretations thereof they finde fault with the construction of the Euangelists and bring the text it self in dout For whereas S. Luke witnesseth Luc. 22. that Christ said in his last supper this cup is the new testameÌ„t in my blood which that is to say which cuppe is shed for you whereas the participle shed is manifestly referred in the Greeke text of S. Luke vnto the cup and not vnto the name blood yet Beza translating the Greeke woordes into Latin In his notes vpoÌ„ that place of s. Luke readeth thus Hoc poculuÌ„ est nouum illud testamentum per sanguinem meum qui pro vobis effunditur He shoud haue said quod and not qui. This cup is that new testament by mie blood which that is to say which blood is shed for you S. Luke then readeth which cuppe but Beza readeth Os impudens which blood is shed for you Was there euer any like impudency heard of as to correct the verie text of the holy Gospel But perhaps Beza did finde it so in some copies No surely For he himself confesseth in his annotations printed at Geneua vppon that place in this wise Omnes tamen vetusti nostri codices ita scriptum habebant Yet all our old bookes had it so writen that is to say so as the Greeke copies euery where extant doe read In al which the participle shed can not be referred to the blood but vnto the cup. What is then the matter why Beza would nedes translate it otherwise forsooth S. Luke in this kind of reading is directly against his sacrementary heresie For S. Luke geueth vs the words of Christ in this
in ipio firmata est fides qui accepit clauem coeloruÌ„ Our Lord himself did constitute him chief of the Apostles a firme and sure Rock vpon which the Church of God is builte and the gates of hell shall not auaile against it for the gates of hel are heresies and the fouÌ„ders of heresies For by al meanes the faith is established in hiÌ„ who hath receiued the keies of heauen And in that I may goe forewarde with the GreciaÌ„s in Cyrillus we read In Ioan. lib. 2. c. 12. Nec Simon fore iam nomen sibi sed Petrus praedicit In eo In him vocabulo ipso commode significans quòd in eo tanque in petra lapidéque firmissimo suam esset aedificaturus ecclesiam Christ did foretel that his name shuld not now be Simon but Peter signifieng fitly by the very name that he would build his church in hiÌ„ as in a most sure stone aÌ„d rock And yet M. Iewel could see none of these testimonies Psellus is alleged of Theodoretus after this sort Theodoret in Cant. Canticet In Petro ApostoloruÌ„ priÌ„cipe Dominus in EuaÌ„gelijs se ecclesiaÌ„ suam aedificaturuÌ„ promisit Our Lord in the Gospels hath promised that he wil build his Church in Peter the prince of the Apostles In Peter Note that these wordes which do promise a building can not properly beloÌ„g first of all to Christ for vpon him the Church was already built In Iosaphat Barl. Damascene hath also this saying Princeps Apostolorum Petrus fidei petra Peter the prince or chief of the Apostles the rock of faith In Luc. 22 How plaine are these words of Theophilact which he speaketh in Christes name post me Ecclesiae petra es firmamentum Thou art the rock and staie of the Church after me In. Matt. 16. Euthymius fidei petra futurus es siue te ponaÌ„ fundameÌ„tuÌ„ credentiuÌ„ aedificabo super te EcclesiaÌ„ meam Thou shalt be the rock of faith or I wil make thee the foundation of the faithful vpon thée I will build my Church This much the Grecians Let vs now retourne to the Latins S. Augustin did euer accoÌ„pt it probable In Ioan. Tractat. 124. to say that the church was built vpoÌ„ Peter but he doubted sometime whether it were not safer to teach that it was built vpon Christ For whereas both opinions are true he knowing this later to be more true in it self because Christ is a surer Rock then Peter did vse commonly to applie that his moste sure doctrine vnto this place of the Gospel where yet S. Peter is more literally called this Rock Therefore on the other side when he considered that S. Ambrose made an Hymne wherin S. Peter was called the Rock of the Church then in those bookes of his Retractations which he wrote with most graue iudgemeÌ„t he allowed both senses for good and Catholike Retract lib. 1. c 21. coÌ„tra ep Donati Such humility was in that pillor of the church Dixi in quodaÌ„ loco de Apostolo Petro ê™ in eo tanquam in petra fundata sit Ecclesia Qui sensus etiaÌ„ cantatur ore multoruÌ„ in versibus beatissimi Ambrosii vbi de gallo gallinaceo ait hoc ipsa petra ecclesiae caneÌ„te culpaÌ„ diluit I said in a certain place of his book writeÌ„ against the Epistle of Donatus that the church is fouÌ„ded in Peter the Apostle The Church fouÌ„ded in Peter as in a rock The which sense is sung with the mouth of many men in the verses or Hymnes of the most blessed S. Ambrose where he saith of the Cock the very rock of the Church did wash away his fault The rock of the Church when the Cock did crow Thus both S. Ambrose and S. Augustine aÌ„d the faithful who vsed to sing those verses allow it for a right good sense which M. Iew. disalloweth that a mortal man as S. Peter was is this rock vpon which Christ built his Church And although S. Augustine had in many other places affirmed that the Church was meant in these words to haue ben built vpon Christ rather then vpon Peter which of it selfe is true though not first meant in this place yet he concludeth thus Retract lib. 1. c. 21. Harum duarum sententiarum quae sit probabilior eligat lector Let the Reader make his choise whether of these twoo meanings is the more probable Behold S. Augustine iudgeth it a probable sense that the Churche is built vppon Peter as also that it is built vpon Christe but whiche is the more probable thathe leaueth to be iudged of the Reader Why doth M. Iewel than without the assente of any old Father at al deny that sense whicb teacheth a mortal man as Peter was to be this Rocke sithens as all the other Fathers so S. Augustine doth not onely beleue it to be probable but he doubteth whether it be not more probable then the other And surely In the former Chap. as the circuÌ„stance of the woordes geue I haue shewed aboue twenty reasons why it is more probable that in those words Peter is first and most literally called this Rock and Christ is not so called there but onely by discourse and by the force of a necessarie consequent Prosper Aquitanicus affirmeth boldlie of S. Peter De vocation gen lib. 2. c. 28. in aeditione Louaniensi Haec fortissima petra ab illa principali petra communionem virtutis sumpfit nominis This most strong rocke did take the coÌ„mon enioying both of vertue and of name from that principal rock In anniuers Assump sermon 3. Leo agreeth with him who intreating vpoÌ„ these words thou art Peter saith Cùm ego fim inuiolabilis petra tameÌ„ tu quoque petra es quia mea virtute solidaris Wheras I am the rock which caÌ„ not be iÌ„iuried yet neuer the lesse thou art also a rock because thou art made firm by my streÌ„gth S. Gregorie could not disagree from so manie blessed Saints Epistol li. 6. epist 37 Quis nesciat sanctam Ecclesiam in ApostoloruÌ„ principis soliditate firmatam quia firmitatem mentis traxit in nomine vt Petrus à petra vocaretur Who doth not know that the holy Churche is established in the stedfastnes of the prince of the Apostles because he tooke stedfastnes of minde in his name in that he was called Peter of Petra a rock of a rocke When he saith the Church to haue ben stablished in the strength of the prince of the Apostles in that he declareth him to be this rock wherevpon the Church is promised to be built When he addeth that he was called Petrus of petra a rock of the rock he sheweth the reason how he came to be the rock verily because Christ the rock who gaue him his name gaue him the strength also which did belong to the name Lette vs conclude this matter at the last with the witnesse of six hundred
fathers at once Concil Chalced. Act. 3. who in the fourth general Councel teache thus Petrus Apostolus est Petra crepido ecclesiae Catholicae Peter the Apostle is the Rocke and toppe of the Catholik Church What meant you then M. Iewel to say that the olde Catholique Fathers haue writen and pronounced not any mortal man as Peter was but Christ himselfe the Sonne of God to be this Rocke The old Fathers affirm both Christ and Peter to be the Rocke Christ by nature Peter by vocation and election Christ to be both the Rocke absolutelie and also by a consequent to be this Rocke wherupon the militant Church shal be built Peter to be this Rocke but not absolutely the Rocke But what did not M. Iewel know all this that surely is scant likelie sith these things are so riue in the old Fathers and so oft alleaged by the new writers Vnlesse perhaps M. Iewel readeth not the old Fathers and trusteth not the new writers aÌ„d so be ignoraÌ„t of these authorities For in dede id appeareth by his doings that either he neuer saw the originals whence he citeth his testimonies but onlie followeth blind note bookes made and collected by other his auncestours and masters in heresie or els he is one of the most manifest falsifiers that euer was in the Church For willinglie to belie so manie Fathers at once as he now hath done it is a malice not much lesse then Simon Magus or any scholar of his had I rather thinck he saw not the originals Howsoeuer it be he is an horrible instrument of perdition to the childern of perdition O syr Are Tertullian Origenes Cyprian Hilarie Basil Epiphanius Ambrose Hierom Augustine Chrysostome Cyrillus Damascenus Psellus Theodoretus Theophilactus Euthimius Prosper Leo Gregorius no auncient Fathers Al they teache a mortal maÌ„ as Peter was verily euen Peter him self by the gift of Christ to be this Rock whereof it is said vpon this rock I wil build my Church What a lyer now is he who saith they doe not so their bookes be foorth in print let them be sene If M. Iewel be an impudeÌ„t lier let him either openly recant or be auoided as a falsifier of Gods Gospel and of true religion yea as one more worthy of a whetstone then of a bishopricke But now lette vs consider also the reason why the fathers confesse the Church to haue ben built vpon S. Peter For euery thing is made the plainer and surer when the reason of it is knowen The diuerse reasons which the Fathers bring to declare why S. Peter was this rock doe euidently shew that he was most literally this Rocke whereupon Christ would build his Church The VI. Chap. HE that geueth a cause of a thing done or said sheweth himself to be most fully persuaded concerning the truthe of the thinge otherwise he would neuer indeuour to find out the reasons why that should be so doÌ„ or said which he thought not to be don or said at all Seing then the auncient Fathers do shew why and how S. Peter is this Rocke wherevpon the Church is built it is impossible that they should anything dout thereof and much lesse can they denie him to be this rocke wherevpon Christ said he would build his Church And yet M. Iewel hath said most falsely that they doe write and pronounce not any mortal man as Peter was to be this Rocke To beginne with S. Basil he saith Petrus Ecclesiae aedificationem in seipsum suscepit Aduersus EunomiuÌ„ lib. 2. Peter receaued the building of the Church vpon himself But why propter fidei excellentiam for the excellencie of his faith Behold his faith alone was not properlie the Rocke but Peter was the Rocke and that not onlie for his faith for then other faithful meÌ„ might haue ben the like rock but for the excellencie of his faith Two things then are necessarie for being this Rocke that he be Peter and that he haue an excellent faith to wit such as none other had as the which was promised most singularly and for the continuance whereof Christ himself hath praied And because this faith was most excellent Libr. 6. de Tainit Saint Hilarie teacheth farther that Supereminentem gloriam beatae fidei suae confessioâ—e promeruit Peter by the confessing of his blessed faith deserued a passing glorie Peters faith had not excelled yf anie man had ben like to him neither had Peters glorie passed for the confession of his faith yf any man had bene like to him in glorie His glorie was to receaue the building of the Church vppon him for the excellencie of his faith therefore the Churche was more singularlie built vppon him then vpon any other manels S. Cyprian writeth of S. Peter Ecclesia quae vna est super vnum Ad Iubaian qui claues eius accepit Domini voce fundata est The Church which is one is by the voice of our Lord fouÌ„ded vppon one who hath receaued the keies of it This reason can beare but one such Rocke at once as Peter was for els the Church as one is not founded vpon one if there are moe such rocks at once Otherwise what can be saied why if there be many such rocks there should not also be many Churches But the Churche beinge one is built vppon one therefore that one who is Peter hath no fellow in that behalf vntil after him an other doe succede in that one office Homil. de Pastor S. Augustine discoursing vpoÌ„ those wordes of Christ spoken to S. Peter Feed my sheep writeth thus Dominus in ipso Petro vnitatem coÌ„mendauit c. Our Lorde hath coÌ„mended vnitie in S. Peter himself Vni dicitur There were many Apostles aÌ„d it is said to one feed my shepe S. Augustin calleth the other Apostles also good shepherds but S. Peter he calleth the one good shephearde by whose one pastoral office vnitie is commended and set forth verely because it is meant that as many Pastours and particular flocks in this life are vnder Peter one chief pastour and in him â—hey al are one euen so all the states â—nd ages of the Church that euer haue â—en be or shal be are vnder one chief â—astour Iesus Christ and in him they â—al are one But as al the ages of faithful meÌ„ are one Church in Christ the chief pastour because he in deed and in truth conteineth them al vnder his vnitie right so Peter shuld not be the chief one Pastor of al the particular flocks in respect of the other Apostles except in deede he had power geuen him to feede them all within the compasse of his one folde S. Hierome hauing called S. Peter Lib. 1. aduers IouiÌ„ the Apostle of Christ and the Rock afterward confesseth to Iouinian who reioysed to see a maried man so honoured that Super Petrum fundatur Ecclesia The Church is built vpon Peter Adding therevnto Licet id ipsum in alio loco super omnes Apostolos fiat
dimidium temporis The Saints shal be deliuered in his haÌ„d vntil a time that is to saie one yere times that is two yeres more and half a time that is halfe a yere And that we may be sure this interpretation to be true it is noted of S. Augustin that Daniel afterward nuÌ„breth the daies aÌ„d in the Apocalips the moneths are also nuÌ„bred Apoc 13. to wit forty and two moneths Daniel saith FroÌ„ the time wherin the continual Sacrifice shall be taken away and the abhomination of desolatioÌ„ shal be set vp daies a thowsand Daniel 12 two hundred nientie Where S. Hierom saith Perspicuum est tres istos semis annos de Antichristi dici temporibus qui tribus semis aÌ„nis hoc est mille ducentis nonaginta diebus sanctos persecuturus est Et postea corruiturus in monte inclyto sancto It is euident that these three yeres aÌ„d an halfe are said of the time of Antichrist who shal ê‘secute the saints three yeres aÌ„d an half that is a thousand two huÌ„dred aÌ„d nienty daies and afterward he shal fal in the glorious and holy hil Of the same mind were Eusebius Caesariensis Appollinarius Laodicenus and Methodius whoÌ„ S. Hierom nameth at the end of the same Chapiter S. Irenaeus likewise saith Iren. lib. 5. Aduersus haeres Cùm vastauerit Antichristus omnia in hoc mundo regnans annis tribus mensibus sex sederit in templo Hierosolymis tunc veniet Dominus c. When Antichrist reigning three yers and six moneths shall haue spoyled all things in this worlde and shal sit in the Temple at Ierusalem theÌ„ our Lord shal come If Antichrist then preuaileth but three yeres and a halfe seing the Popes haue kept their succession fiftene huÌ„dred yeres together and haue had their teÌ„poral power which is annexed to the bishoprik eueÌ„ by the coÌ„fession of our Aduersaries at the least these viij or ix huÌ„dred yeres I can not see what ground they haue to teache the Pope to be Antichrist himself I might adde to these differences that Helias shal come at the time of Antichrist as a Serm. de Antich Hippolytus b De ciuit lib. 20. c. 19 S. Augustine c in 2. Thessal S. Chrysostome and d in 2. Thessal Theodoretus teache who is not yet come although the Popes hath florisshed so long Item that Antichriste shall be born of the tribe of Dan as a lib. 5. Irenaeus b de Anti. Hippolytus c in 2. Thessal Theodoretus and S. d In 14. in Iob. 11. Gregorie haue written wheras the Popes are of no suche tribe and also that Antichrist cometh but euen a litle before the end of the world as a Lib. 5. Irenaeus saith and b Lib. 20. c. 19 S. Augustin and c in 2. Thessal Theodoretus In ipso tempore coÌ„summationis in the verie time of the last end But either these former differences doe suffise or with them who haue settled their hartes against the truth of Gods worde and againste the iudgement of the Catholike fathers no arguments at al wil preuail Whose infinite selfe will if it be punisshed with infinite damnation it is but the iust iudgement of God Onelie I beseche him to staie their harts whiles yet the time of penance is not shut vp I haue not lightlie spoken one word in this behalfe without authoritie because the matter is harde and aboue mans capacitie In so muche that S. Hierom considering Daniel him selfe not to haue perceued the mysteries before they were expounded to him writeth in this wise In cap. Dan. 12. Si Propheta audiuit non intellexit quid faciunt hi qui signatum librum vsque ad tempus consummationis multis obscuritatibus inuolutum praesumptione mentis edisserunt Yf the Prophet did heare and did not vnderstand what shal they doe who by presumption of the minde do expouÌ„d and declare the book sealed and folded vppe with many obscurities vntil the time of consummation Let now the Protestants speak without the booke after their presumptuous phantasie or els let them shew vs one auncient Father of the first six hundred yeres among so many as haue writeÌ„ who said at any time the Pope of Rome was or should be Antichrist Dan. 7. Ioan. 5. 2. Thess 2 Or if none can be named yea if the Prophets the Gospels the Apostle describe Antichrist in suche wise that it is impossible for the Popes to be meant thereby shal yet this furious opinion stil preuaile It shal in deed but with men possessed by some euil spirit who haue neyther eyes at libertie to see nor eares to heare nor common sense to conceiue either the word of God or the consent of graue and lerned men God opeÌ„ the eyes of the blind if it be his wil. The argument of the Protestants Now whereas to make a shewe of somwhat the Protestants alleage that Babylon is expounded by Tertullian to be Rome and that Rome is called the harlet clothed with purple in Saint Hierome and that there are the seuen hils whiche are spokeÌ„ of in the Apocalips Apoc. 13. If these men care not what they saie or how they allege the Fathers so that they may seeme to the ignorant not to lack wordes I can not enuie them their small pleasure which shal be afterward recompensed with so bitter a sauce of aeternal damnation But if they seek the truthe with a syncere coÌ„science thei are wel assured that Rome is called BabiloÌ„ not in respect of the Christians which are now there but oÌ„ly in respect of the coÌ„fusioÌ„ of al tongs aÌ„d al peple whiche haunted thither in the time of th' Emperors And then Rome was ful of Idolatry aÌ„d did persecute the Saints and did put to death aboue thirty of the first Bisshops of Rome So that Rome is called Babylon for persecuting the Bishops and not for honouring them For disobeying the Popes and not for obeying them Ad algaesiam Againe S. Hierom expoundeth the harlet clothed with red purple namely to be that euerlasting wordlie Empire and monarchie which as the Romans dreamed should continue stil ouer the whole world The which opinion of the eternity of the Roman Empire S. Hierom calleth the name of blasphemy which is writen in the harlets forhead And in this respect the RomaÌ„ Empire prepared a way for the abhomination to come which being once come to his ripenes Antichrist shal be reuealed One of the graetest signes of whose comming is the weakenes of the RomaÌ„ Empire Which when it is cleane taken away then cometh Antichrist But it is to be vnderstanded if I shall play the child with childish Diuines that the city of Rome at this daie standeth not vppon the seuen hils but as the Empire is gonne from the city so is the City gonne from the hils and standeth in the plaine along by the riuers side in the field which sometime
sense This cuppe that is to say the liquor and drinck conteined in this cuppe is the new Testament in my blood the which liquor conteined in the cup being so the new testameÌ„t in my blood is shed for you Marke vvel But no liquor conteined in the cup is shead for vs beside the substantial and real blood of Christ therefore the liquor conteined in the cup after the woordes of Christ once spoken is none other liquour beside the substantial and real blood of Christ. To auoide this argument Beza who was at a point neuer to yeld in his heresie would nedes signifie that S. Luke doth not wel reherse Christes woords and therefore he himself hath rehersed them better yf yet he shall be credited more then the Euangelist But lette vs also see the wordes of Beza in his Comment vpon this place Qui pro vobis effunditur In Oliua Rob Stephani 1556. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quum haec verba si constructionem spectemus necessariò non ad sanguinem sed ad po culum pertinent neque tamen de vino nedum de poculo intelligi possint aut manifestum est Solaecophanes quuÌ„ dicenduÌ„ fuerit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aut potius cuÌ„ haec essent ad marginem annotata ex Matthaeo Marco postea in contextum irrepserunt Whereas these words which is shed for you if we looke to the constructioÌ„ doe necessarily appertaine not to the blood Mark his coÌ„fession but to the cuppe and yet they can not be vnderstand of the wine and much lesse of the cuppe either it is an euident apparence of incoÌ„grue speach where that is readeÌ„ in the nominatiue case He correcteth S. Luke which should haue ben readen in the datiue or rather whereas these woordes were noted out of Mathew and Marke in the margent they crept afterward into the text See for Gods loue this mans owne confession First the participle shed in Greeke can not agree with nowne blood because in Greeke the participle is the nominatiue case and blood is the datiue case Doth Beza coÌ„fesse this much and yet doth he the contrarie O vnspeakeable malice Againe the participle may and must agree with the nown cup with whome it is of the same case gender aÌ„d number why then doth Beza refer the participle to an other noune Thirdly the participle can not be vnderstanded of the wine for wine was not shed for vs and that Beza coÌ„fesseth Fourthly it can not be vnderstanded of the material cup literally for it can not be shed for vs as being no liquour but gold or syluer or some like massy stuffe All these things Beza coÌ„fesseth Wel what followeth then in truth it only followeth that the cup is neither meant the matter and stuff of the cup nor the wine which now is no more in the cup but it is meant the blood in the cup made of the wine For so the word cup standeth to signifie that which is in the cup Math. 26. Marc. 14. as all men know that haue common sense and that is in the cup which Christ pronounced saying this is my blood cat Therefore Beza should haue confessed the fifth point The true sense of S. Luke to wit that the blood of Christ conteined substaÌ„tially in the cup and made there present by changing the wine into it is the new testament in Christes blood that is to say it doth testifie vnto vs that Christ by his bloodshedding vpon the crosse is our sacrifice recoÌ„ciling vs to God The which blood so mysticallie conteined in the cup is shed for vs because the substance of that in the cuppe and of that which is shed on the crosse is all one substance the difference being onlie in the outward foorme and not in the inward truthe So that whereas Christes blood was really shed for vs on the crosse in his owne foorme that which is mystically conteined in the cup vnder the foorme of wine is the self same blood made also present after the sort of a mystical sacrifice to represent in the truthe of Christes own substaÌ„ce made inuisibly present the great visible sacrifice openly made vppon the Crosse This only was the whole meaning of S. Luke the which thing if Beza would not haue lerned of the catholik church he should haue learned it of S. Luke at the least for his woordes geue that sense But he would not learn it of S. Luke because he had hated it in the Catholike Churche perhaps before he knew what S. Luke wrote For these men profitte more by spite then by reading They first chose to forsake the Church and then if any thing make for the same Church be it epistle be it gospel it shall soner be false Greeke and false Latin to then they wil come into the Church againe I pray you what a shamelesse point is this to teach that S. Luke wrote false Greeke and did put the nominatiue case in stede of the datiue case well therein Beza would not stand ouer longe But he rather thiÌ„keth that the words which is shed for you are not at all of the Gospel but crept in or were put in O God! All their auncient Greek copies haue it by his own confession al our Greek and Latin copies haue it also Yea our masse booke hath it to And yet now we must thinck that it is an errour crept in If this glose may be admitted euery thing which in holy scripture maketh against the furiouse opinion of any meÌ„ber of Antichrist shal be a thiÌ„g that out of the margent crept into the text O Satanical pride of our ê“restaÌ„ts where is the obedience you pretend to Gods word where is the reuerence which ye ought to geue and we doe in dede geue to the blessed gospel of Christ which reuereÌ„ce is so great amoÌ„g the Catoliks that we dare not chaÌ„ge a letter nor a point neither in the Greeke nor LatiÌ„ copies except we finde it so in many auncient and well corrected bookes and those well knowen to many witnesses and that by the iudgemeÌ„t of a Synod But albeit al you know not so much yet now learn that your heads and your false preachers are so maliciously sette that if the gospel be not conformable to their coÌ„modite and preiudicate opinioÌ„ be he Luke be he Iames be he Iohn he shal be made as light of as euer was any Pope of Rome Looke vp at the last for Christes sake and consyder that you are held captiues of rauening wolues who spoile your soules of all their spirituall treasures aÌ„d feede you with mere dreames and phantasies the which yf you amend not before at the hower of death will bring you to desperation and to euerlasting fire of hel Other places I could bring where the Protestants haue thus abused Gods own woorde but it would carie me to far away from my principal purpose Only this I assure you of The Pope hath no such custom to say S. Luke