you vse all those Ceremonies that were vsed in the tyme of those doctors whose names you alledge or that al your Ceremonies were vsed in the tymes of those Doctours vpon whose aucthorities you would seme to grounde But to cōsider your groundes particularly that Augustine whom you call saincte Augustine was an vnlearned Monke as appereth by his questions propounded to Pope Gregorie that came into this land to corrupte the sinceritie of faithe whiche the Britons had receiued euen from the Apostles aboute sixe hundred yeres after Christe and liued twoo hundred yeres at the least after the aunciente father sainct Augustine bushoppe of Hippo in Affrica of whose pride and folie you maie reade in Galfridus Monumeth Matheus Westmin and others And truthe it is that muche superstition and false doctrine he brought in and by tyrannie mainteined as our stories witnesse but not all that you holde at this tyme for your religion in all pointes is nothyng so old And as for Beda he liued longe after Augustine But where you affirme that all youre Ceremonies haue been alwaies approued vsed and allowed throughout the vniuersall churche of Christe I can no longer forbeare you you saie more then all the Papistes in the worlde will be able to proue Touchyng sainct Augustine although the place by you alledged is not to be foūd in his vndoubted writyngs yet I confesse that he speaketh fauourably of Ceremonies cōmonly vsed to be quietly suffered and borne withall rather then vnitie to bee broken But what maketh this for your Ceremonies whiche you teache to bee necessarie for saluation and meritorious whiche if thei had been in saincte Augustines tyme or that men had so taught of theim there is no doubte but he would haue vtterly misliked theim as hereafter in place more conueniente I shall plainly declare In your next sentēce out of sainct Augustine also I must néedes tel you you plaie the suttle Marchaunt to sett for the counterfeict ware in steede of true marchandice for Augustine neuer was of that opinion that the Church hath the full aucthoritie of her husbande Christ and such gouernemente of the holy Ghost that she cannot consente but vnto true thynges neither hath he any suche wordes in al his workes For it is well knowen that the boke de dogmaticis ecclesiasticis out of which this sentence séemeth to bee borrowed is not accompted among the Authenticall workes of Augustine but forged of muche later time and falsly fathered vpon S. Augustine to steale credite from his name whiche it could not obtain of it self And yet if this saiyng were graunted to bée true it perteineth nothyng to your church which is the Sinagoge of Sathan and not the Churche of Christe Concernyng your thirde testimonie of sainct Augustine I can hardely thinke that saincte Augustine would haue an vniformitie of Ceremonies in praier and administratiō of the Sacramentes throughout all the worlde because I am able to shewe his aucthoritie to the contrary as in his 118. epistle to Ianuarius he discourseth at large And whereas you saie that the chaunge of the maner of praiyng hath broughte in chaunge of faithe in this lande it is cleane contrary for the diuersitie of faithe teacheth vs to praie otherwise then you vse for inuocation commeth of faithe as witnesseth sainct Paule Roma 10. The testimonie of saincte Ambrose although you declare not where a manne should finde it maketh little for your purpose For we agrée with hym that Schismatikes are to be abhorred but wée will not graunt to you that wée are Schismatikes as long as wée knowe that wée are members of Christe The testimonie of Tertuliane concernyng custome if it bee faithfully rehearsed of you I se not what it maketh for you For although laudable customes maie be obserued without searchyng their beginnyng what is that to your Ceremonies whiche containe manifeste impietie For you your self will not bee so madde to allowe all customes seyng many are contrary to the worde of god And although Tertuliane was to muche addicted to the maintainyng of Ceremonies and customes in some places yet otherwhiles he either expoundeth his meanyng or correcteth his errour as in his booke De virginibus velandis where he writeth in these woordes Hoc exigere veritatem cui nemo praescribere potest non spacium temporum non patrocinia personarum non priuilegium regionum Ex his enim fere consuetudo initium ab aliqua ignorantia vel simplicitate sortita in vsum per successionem corroboratur ita aduersus veritatē vindicatur Sed dominus noster Christus veritatē se nō consuetudinē cognominauit Si semper christus prior omnibus aeque veritas sempiterna antiqua res viderint ergo quibus nouū est quod sibi vetus est Haereses non tam nouitas quam veritas reuincit Quodcūque aduersus veritatem sapit hoc erit haeresis etiam vetus consuetudo That is to saie This the truthe requireth againste whiche no man can prescribe not the continuance of tyme not the defence of persones not the priuiledge of any regions For of these custome takyng her beginnyng for the moste parte through ignoraunce and simplicitie is confirmed into an vsage by succession and so is bosted of against the truthe But Christ our Lorde called hymself the truthe and not the custome if Christ were alwaies and before all truthe is as eternall and aunciente a thyng as he Lette them bee well aduised therefore to whom that is compted new whiche of hym is coumpted old Heresies saieth he not so muche their noueltie as truthe doeth conuict for what soeuer soūdeth against the truthe that shal be an heresie yea though it be an old custome By this testimonie of Tertuliane euery man maie see what he thought of old custome when it was alledged to deface the truthe and of what customes he speaketh when he commendeth customes namely suche as agree with the truthe and not euery blinde superstitious Ceremonie wherof a greate nomber were inuented many hundreth yeres after his death The Papiste The fifte consideration is that wheras I am not perswaded that the forme of praiers set forth in the saide boke is lawful and catholike my comyng to heare it shoulde bee an acte not onely contrarie to mine owne conscience and also to my damnable sinne but also my comyng therto should be to the weake and ignorant an occasion of ruine and deadly sinne which is called scandalum infirmorum and I am bound by the words of our sauiour Christ to auoide that saiyng wo be to that man by whom any suche offence or slaunder shall vprise and come For of my comyng thether either they muste iudge that I am a dissembler in doyng against my cōscience or els they must iudge that I am in cōscience perswaded thereunto And therby gather by mine example a likyng of that thing to be good and holy which in my very conscience I do vtterly condemne and that this slaunder shall not be so taken
good that pictures ought not to bée in the Churche leaste that thyng whiche is worshipped and honoured should bee painted on the walles To conclude that whiche you alledge out of Beda concernyng Dan Augustine the Monke I will aunswere by the aucthoritie of sainct Augustine the Bishoppe who in his boke De consensu Euāgelistarum libr. i. Capit. 10. Speakyng of certaine Heathen aduersaries whiche noumbred Paule emong the twelue Apostles that were with Christe while he liued writeth in these woordes Credo quod pluribus locis simul eos cum illo pictos viderunt quià merita Petri Pauli etiam propter eundem passionis diem celebrius solemniter Roma commendat Sic omnino errare meruerunt qui Christum Apostolos eius non in sanctis codicibus sed in pictis parietibus quaesierunt I beleue that in many places thei sawe theim painted together with hym because the Citie of Rome commendeth the worthinesse of Peter and Paule more notably and solemnely because of the same daie of their sufferyng So altogether thei were worthie to bée deceiued whiche sought Christ and his Apostles not in the holie scriptures but in painted walles And so all thei that followed your Augustines superstitions were iustely blinded and deceiued because thei sought not Christ in the scriptures but in painted Tables whiche is the punishemente due for Idolatrie as sainct Paule testifieth Roma j. The Papiste Eight in the primatiue church the maner of fastyng was merueilous streight in so much that Faustus Manicheus 1300. yeres agoe did taxe the christiane men that they should in tyme of Lente absteine from all meate that is spoken of by the Apostle S. Paule in the first to Timothy the fowerth Chapiter And did blaspheme the doyng and teachyng of Christes churche to be doctrinam daemoniorum But Ierome vpon the same place doth make answere like as sainct Augustine in manie places that the church in their fasting to absteine from meate not therby to condemne any kynde of meate as Manichaeus did but for penance and to subdue the carnall concupiscens and suche other like good purposes ▪ And farther for the streight fasting in the primitiue Churche S. Iheronime writeth ad Nepotianum Epiphanius in Anchorato whiche is nowe thought of these reformatours to be superfluous and folishe and therfore they mind not to reduce and bring vs to the order of the primitiue churche The aunswere Concernyng Fastyng I haue spoken sufficiently in aunswere of your tenth argumente out of the scriptures where you make mention of fastyng also Euseb. lib. v. Capit. xviij Testifieth that Montanus the heretike was the firste that prescribed lawes of fastyng whom you followe altogether And especially the heretikes call Archontici of whom Epiphanius writeth lib. i. Tom. iij. Here. 40. whiche pretended fastyng but obserued none in deede and the Manichees of whom S. Augustine testifieth that vnder colour of abstinence thei refrained from eatyng of any liuyng thyng and from drinkyng wine yet did thei glutte and pamper theim selues with delicate frutes and spices with drinke made of the iuice of Dates c. such was your Popishe faste on Fridaies at Dinner to eate no fleshe but as muche fishe as the beallie would holde with good store of wine at night to eate no liuyng creatures but Figges Reasons Almondes Wardens and Quinces baked Suckette and Marmelade and other fruites conserued with good wine or Hipocras to helpe digestion This was a straight kind of faste yet this was Catholicke enough so long as greate Prelates vsed it The Papispte Ninth in the primitiue churche they vsed praier for the soules departed whiche was the tradition of the Apostles as witnesseth Dyonysius Areopagita de caelesti Hierarchia Cap. 7. Epiphanius Chrisostom in 1. ad Cor. Hom. 41. in Math. 33. Hō 69. ad populum Antiochenum whiche thinge is proued also by the Scriptures affirmed of all auncient writers and hath alwaies been continued in Christes Churche and now denied and taken awaie by oure reformatours and therefore they minde no to reduce vs to the primitiue churche The aunswere I must needes confesse that praier for the deade is one of the oldeste heresies that the Papistes doe maintaine and yet hath it no aucthoritie of Gods worde nor of the primitiue Churche for twoo hundreth yeres after Christe Thei vsed in deede to make mention of theim at the celebration of the Communion and to giue God thankes for them whiche some tyme is called a Sacrifice offered for thē as of Cypriane Lib. iiii Epist. v. Speaking of Martyres of whom none doubteth but thei were in heauen and neded no praiers to bee made for them Sacrificia pro eis semper vt meministis offerimus quoties martyrum passiones dies anniuersaria commemoratione celebramus That is Wee offer Sacrifice for theim alwaies as you remember so often as wee celebrate the passion or dayes of the Martyres by yerely commemoration But this vnproper kinde of speakyng and bolde attemptes without scripture to name the deade in the Communion did bréede in the posteritie many errours as praier for the deade the Sacrifice of the Masse for the deade Purgatorie and suche other But in this nineth argumente you bewraie your fraudulent dealing in the other for here you note the places of the doctours whiche you knowe no manne will denie and in other places where you affirme that none of vs will graunte you alledge their names onely without quotyng the places The Papiste Tenth in the Primitiue churche christen men were taught to arme them selues with the signe of the Crosse whiche consignatiō of the Crosse was vsed in the administration of the Sacramentes and that of necessitie as sainct Augustine saieth wordes also of inuocation before the consecration of the Sacrament of the Aulter were vsed in the primitiue churche like as the sanctifiyng of the Fonte the blessyng also of the Chrisme and Oyle to annoincte the partie baptized all which thinges were of the traditions of the Apostles as witnesseth Basili sainct Cyprian sainct Augustine Damas and many other ▪ whiche thinges beeyng now vtterly abolished by the newe reformatours they purpose not to bring vs to the order of the Primitiue churche Seeyng therefore it can not bee denied by so many testimonies gathered out of the diuine Scriptures and holy fathers that they agree not with the primitiue churche of christe but doe dissent and are cleane gone from it in so many diuerse poinctes as I haue expressed Therefore this their reformation to reduce vs to the primitiue churche is onely pretended of their partes and shall neuer be proued The aunswere You leape to and fro backwarde and forwarde more like to one that daunseth then that disputeth Haue wée not hearde enough before of crossyng and blessyng of Oile and Chrisme But thei must now be repeated againe whiche if thei were graunted to you and vsed of vs as thei were in tyme of those doctours whose names you recite what had you gained ther by It
sed viua illa intelligatur fides quae per dilectionem operatur In these twoo the whole lawe and the Prophetes depēdeth although it maie bee well saied that the commaundementes of God pertaine to faithe alone if not a deade faithe bee vnderstoode but that liuely faithe whiche worketh by loue And in his treatise Octoginta trium questionum lxviij Ipsa eutem gratia quae data est per fidem nullis nostris meritis data est The same grace whiche is geuen through faith is geuen to none of our merites Also Quest. lxxvi Quapropter non sunt contrariae duorum Apostolorum sententiae Pauli Iacobi cum dicit vnus iustificari hominem per fidem sine operibus alius dicit inanem esse fidem fine operibus quia ille dicit de operibus quae fidem praecedunt iste de ijs quae fidem sequuntur vt etiam ipse Paulus multis locis ostendit Wherefore the sentences of the twoo Apostles Paule and Iames are not contrary when the one saieth that a manne is iustified by faithe without workes and the other saieth that faithe without workes is vaine because the one speaketh of woorkes goyng before faithe the other of suche as followe faithe as Paule hymself sheweth in many places And that true faithe can not bee without good woorkes he sheweth in his booke De fide operibus Capi. xxiij Inseperabilis quippe est bona vita a fide quae per dilectionem operatur Good life can not be separated from faith whiche worketh by loue Also in his booke De natura gratia Cap. xi Fateor dilectioni vestrae cum ista legerem repente laetitia perfusus sum quod dei gratiam non negaret per quam solam homo iustificari potest Hoc enim in disputationibus talium maximè detestor horreo I confesse vnto your charity that whē I reade these thynges I was sodainly filled with gladnes because he denighed not the grace of God by whiche a lone a man can bee iustified for that thyng in suche mennes disputations I dooe moste of all deteste and abhorre And in the Chapiter xvj Haec est fides ad quam praecepta compellū◠vt lex imperet fides impetret This is faith vnto whiche the commaundemētes doeth driue a man that the lawe commaūdeth and faithe obteineth Also vpon the. lxvij Psalme Sine bonorum operum meritis per fidem iustificatur impius The vngodlie man is iustified by faithe without the merites of good workes And vpon the 88. Psalme Et quia sola fides in Christum mundat nō credentes in Christum soluti sunt ab emundatione And because faithe alone in Christ doeth clense thei that beleue not in Christe are free from clensing But what should I tary longer in rehearsyng sentences of Augustine when so many bookes Epistles and Homelies of his are extante whiche wholie and purposely were composed for the same matter against the Pelagians Paulinus also a learned manne in saincte Augustines tyme in an Epistle written to Augustine Episto 58. Hath these woordes Quid enim sis ad salutem quae sola fide quaentur prodest in legis memoria et meditatione versari c. What doeth it profite them to bee conuersante in the remembraunce and meditation of the lawe towardes saluation whiche is sought by faithe alone Marcus Heremita an aūcient gréeke writer in his treatise of them that thinke they maie bee iustified by their woorkes writeth on this wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lorde willing to shewe that euerie commaundement is of duety and that the adoption is of gifte by his owne bloode saieth When you haue doone all thinges that are commaunded you then saie you we are vnprofitable seruauntes and wée haue doone that whiche we ought to haue doone Therfore the kingdome of heauen is not the rewarde of workes but the free gifte of the Lorde prepared for faithefull seruauntes Faustus also an auncient Bishoppe in Fraunce writyng a boke de gratia meritis libero arbitrio hath these wordes Tempus gratiae in quo redempti sumus merita hominum non expectauit opera penitus non quae siuit sola deus fidei nostrae deuotione cōtentus fuit iuxta illud apostoli credidit Abraham deo reputatum est ei ad iustitiam The tyme of grace in whiche wee are redemed did not tary for the merites of men did not require woorkes at all But god was content with the onely deuotion of our faith accordyng to the saiyng of the Apostle Abraham beleued god and it was imputed to hym for rightousnes And although Claudianus Mamertus Bishoppe of Gallia Viennensis for his error concernyng Angelles in whiche he followed sainct Augustine dooeth confute hym and Ioannes Maxentius Archebishop of Constantinople for his opiniō of grace and merites in whiche he disagréeth from S. Augustine reproueth him in his answere against the Epistle of Hormisda Archbishop of Rome yet for excludyng merites from iustification no man findeth faulte with him For the same Ioannes Maxentius cōcerning the free will of man whereupon all merites are grounded hath this catholike confession Liberum autem naturale arbitrium ad nihil aliud valere credimus nisi ad discernenda tantum desiderāda carnalia siue saecularia quae non apud deum sed apud homines possunt fortasse videri gloriosa Ad ea vero quae ad vitā aeternam pertinent nec cogitare nec velle nec desiderare nec perficere posse nisi per infusionē inoperationē intrinsecus spiritus sancti We beleue that naturall free will auaileth to nothing els but onely to discerne and desire carnal or worldly thinges which may perchaūce séeme glorious before men but not before god But for those thinges that pertaine to life euerlastynge that it can neither thinke of them nor will them nor desire thē nor performe thē but by the inward infusiō working of the holy ghost And leste the iudgemente of this Ioannes should be doubted of because he wrote againste the B. of Rome This is the same Ioannes whose confession the same Hormisida sent vnto the Bishoppes of Spaine as catholike and true Albinus the schoole maister of Carolus magnus muche later in tyme but in sentence all one with him vpon the. 119. Psalme part 19. writeth in this maner Definit in nullo homini esse praesumendum nisi in sola dei pietate quae ex miserit beatos facit ex mortuis viuos He determineth that a man must presume in nothing but in the only mercie of god which of miserable maketh vs happy of deade mē aliue Another godly man of good antiquitie not so famous in name whiche of purpose he suppressed to auoide vaine glorie in all his writinges callyng hymself Idiota is neuerthelesse of the same opiniō in diuers places of his workes especially in Regulis sancti viri Quinta regula quod in illis duodecim armis nec in quocunque alio humano remedio confidas sed in
called Especially whē you pretend to geue it the name whiche commonly it beareth for you are not ignorante that it is called the booke of Common praier and not the Common booke of praier But a man maie easely and peraduenture truely gesse why you refused to cal it the boke of common praier leaste any man should conceiue by the onely name that common praier which is so necessarie for the Churche of Christe a forme whereof that booke conteineth is altogether wantyng in your Popishe Churche where in your Missalles Processionalles Hymnalles Grailes Antiphonalls and Pontificalls are not conteined common praiers to the edification of all the churche but idle and vnprofitable ceremonies to the mainteinaunce of ignoraunce and superstition The Papiste The first consideration is because the saide seruis booke was condemned as hereticall and schismaticall Anno domini 1553. both by the clergie and cōuocation of this realme and by the nobilitie and commons of the same by al whose consentes ther passed an acte of Parliament for the repeale therof Beside that Cranmer Ridley and Latimer the chief aucthours and composers of the saied boke were therfore openly condemned by the Churche and Lawes of this realme suffered the paines of death in Oxforde S. Paule in his Epistle willed the hebrues to haue in remembrance their Bishoppes which preached vnto them the woorde of God and diligently to obserue and looke vpon the ende of their liues and conuersation The aunswere The first consideration cōteineth two causes of your refusal the one because the booke of Seruice was repealed by Acte of Parliament the other for that Cranmer Ridley and Latimer were burned at Oxforde for it To the first I aunswere that if you accompt the aucthoritie of the Parliament of force to condempne it why doe you not acknowledge th'aucthoritie of the same in establishyng it for anno 1551. by all the states of the realme that boke was allowed and appoincted to bee vsed Also by diuerse Actes of Parliamente in the tyme of our soueraigne Ladies reigne established and cōfirmed But it is no hard matter to gather your traiterous meanyng whiche is common to you with all them of your religion You accoumpte no actes of Parliament passed in the tyme of kyng Edward or Quéene Elizabeth to be of any aucthoritie beyng confirmed by the roiall assent of those whom you esteme to be no lawfull Princes seyng your father the Pope hath pronounced sentence of depriuation against them Your seconde reason I will tourne vpon your owne necke Seyng Cranmer Ridley and Latimer did so constauntly suffer death for the confirmation of that doctrine whiche thei hadde taught it is a good argumente that thei dissembled not with vs but vttered that truthe vnto vs wherein as thei liued so thei were content to dye The text of the Apostle to the Hebres 13. you applie verie straungely as though wee should thincke well of none that suffreth death by martyrdom wheras the Apostle meaneth cleane contrary and exhorteth the Iewes to followe the faithe of them the ende of whose conuersation thei had séen to be agreable to their doctrine who as thei had preached diligētly so did thei ende their liues by tormentes in the same confession constauntely and patiently The Papiste The seconde consideration is that the saied booke so vniuersally condemned by all degrees of men here in this realme was receiued and brought in againe only by the nobilitie and cōmons of this realme cleane contrary to the whole mindes of our Clergie no one person in the Parliamente did giue his consente thereunto Besides that the whole conuocation did exhibite their boke to the contrarie VVherin the shepe taking vpon theim to establishe this boke contrarie to the learnyng and conscience of their shepherdes thei haue doen against the expresse wordes of our sauiour Christ who in describing the office of good shepherde and the duetie of good shepe saied that a good shepherde muste knowe his sheepe and his sheepe muste knowe hym heare his voice and followe hym And the Apostle S. Paule in his Epistle Cap. 13. willed the Hebrues to obey their shepherdes and spirituall gouernours and to submitte themselues vnto theim for thei doe watch euen as men whiche muste geue accompte for their soules Obey them therfore saieth S. Paule that they maie do it with ioie and not with grief The aunswere Your seconde consideration is determinable by suche as are skilfull in the lawes of this realme what persones muste concurre in the Parliament that it may be an Acte of Parliamente and I doubte not but the matter was so ordered by the iudgemente of them that had knowledge as was for the honour and wealthe of the realme But if any errour had been committed at that tyme you speake of it was since by all three estates in Parliament redressed the same booke of seruice by their aucthoritie being confirmed But whereas you complaine that the Shepe in that firste Parliament tooke vpon thē against their shepherdes I aunswer naie but the Shepherdes againste the Shepebiters for your Cleargie consisted all of Wolues and not of Shepherdes wherefore it was the duetie of the Prince with the nobles and senatours of that Parliamente to deliuer the Shepe out of their cruell tyrānie and to banishe and remoue all suche raueinous beastes frō the flocke And touchyng the booke you saie thei exhibited of what credite would you haue it to bee when thei so shamefully refused conference before the moste parte of the Parliamente vpon a friuolous pretence in Westminster churche At whiche time al wise menne sawe that their cause was naught whiche durste not abide the triall in the open light The Papiste The thirde consideration is that it is prohibited by the Canons of the apostles and by the generall caunselles also that a christian man shoulde not communicate neither in Sacramentes nor yet in commō praiers with Heritikes and Schismatikes As it appeareth in the tenth Canon and in the seconde Canon of the counsell holden at Antioche It was decreed there that it was not lawful to communicate with excōmunicate persones nor to enter into any house nor to praie with thē nor lawfull to receiue them that are excommunicate out of one churche into another churche And in the coūsel holdē at Laodicea it was prohibited there that the christiā men should enter into the churches or churche yerdes of the heretikes there to praie with them and in the 33. Canon of the same counsell the like prohibition is there expressed for praier with Schismatikes And in the 4. counsell holden at Carthage Canon 73. it was decreed that christian men should nether praie nor singe with Heretikes And who so euer did praie singe or communicate with any excōmunicate person whether he were of the Clergie or of the Laitie shoulde be thereby excommunicated An example we reade therefore how the christian men at Constantinople would not cōmunicate with the Arianes neither in Sacramentes nor yet in commō praiers notwithstādyng that
it is Prophesied in the xij Chapiter of sainct Ihons Reuelation And yet for fiftie or sixtie yere agone it had been no harde matter to haue shewed you diuers members of our Churche bothe in Englande in Bohemia as th' historie of the church declareth at large Also in Fraunce at Merindoll and about Lyōs but these you will saie agreed not with vs in all poinctes but I will aunswere you thei agréed in the cheifest poinctes necessary to eternall saluation For whatsoeuer we are able to shewe for our Churche I am sure you are neuer able to shewe your self for your churche that whiche you require vs to shewe namely a churche that hath continued from this tyme vpwarde vnto the Apostles that taught vniformely and in all poinctes the doctrine that the Popishe Churche nowe teacheth Whiche thyng when you haue performed I will doe the like for oure Churche In the meane time that whiche is a sufficiente rule to finde out the true Churche by the iudgement of Saincte Augustine I will declare vnto you In his booke the vnitate ecclesiae Capi. 2. Inter nos autem Donatistat quaestio est vbi sit ecclesia Quid ergo facturi sumus In verbis nostris eam quaesituri sumus an in verbis capitis sui domini nostri Iesu Christi Puto quod in illius potius verbis eam quaerere debemus qui veritas est optimè nouit corpus suum Betwene vs and the Donatistes saieth saincte Augustine the question is where the churche should bée What shall we doe then shall we seke her in our wordes or in the woordes of her heade our Lorde Iesus Christ I thinke that rather in his wordes we ought to seke her which is the truthe and beste knoweth his own bodie And in the. xvj chapiter of the same booke he writeth thus of the Donatistes Vtrum ipsi ecclesiam teneant non nisi diuinarū scripturarum canonicis libris ostendant That is whether thei haue the churche on their side let theim shewe none otherwise but by the Canonicall bookes of holy scriptures Many other suche testimonies are in S. Augustine by whiche it is plaine that he geueth this infallible rule to knowe the true churche to examine the doctrine therof onely by the scriptures But wheras you saie that Anabaptistes Libertines and Arians pretende the word of god and the primitiue Churche what meane you therby that we should forsake the worde of god the Primitiue churche by whiche all heretikes haue béen cōfuted what soeuer thei pretended For though heretikes pretende the scriptures yet onely by the scriptures thei are to be cōfuted though thei appeale to the iudgemente of the primitiue church yet by the primitiue church thei are condemned for heretikes I maie as well say that Arianes Libertines and Anabaptistes boste them selues to be the true Catholike Churche therefore wee must not allowe the true catholike churche It is pitie to see menne that would be coumpted wise and learned to reason so fondly and vnlearnedly For of all other reasons it is the vainest and feeblest shift that the Papistes vse to flie frō the scriptures to the aucthoritie of the Churche in confutation of heresies For there was neuer yet heresie did arise but there was as greate controuersie of the Churche as of the opinion for euery heretike boasteth as well of the Churche as of the scriptures but when all is dooen his bragges of bothe muste bee beaten doune onely by the scriptures But because you make so proude vauntes that you will so plainlie proue that our Churche hath none agreans with the primitiue churche of Christ in discourse of that controuersie with you I will sette for the bothe what is the Primitiue churche and how we agree therewith and I doubte not but that I shal bee able by the grace of God bothe to iustifie our cause againste your false accusations and also to ouerthrowe youre falshodde whiche you haue heaped vppe to ouerwhelme the truthe And as I haue confuted your sixe considerations which vnto you seme of greate importaunce so by Gods helpe I shall auoide all other youre calumniations in whiche with some subtiltie but more impudencie and moste of all impietie you goe aboute to intangle the consciences of suche as bee ignorante and vnlearned to withdrawe their obedience ▪ from the godly lawes of this realme whiche are established for the mainteinyng of Gods true Religion and the abolishyng of all Idolatrie and superstition The Papiste Argumentes gathered out of the Scriptures prouyng that this late reformed Englishe churche hath none agreans with the Primitiue churche of Christ. The aunswere The very title of your argumentes declareth of what force youre argumentes are Your reasons are tenne in noumber whiche if thei were all graūted to be true yet foloweth not this conclusion that our Churche hath no agreance with the Primitiue Churche of Christe excepte you would affirme that all the doctrine of the Primitiue Churche were comprehended in these tenne poinctes Again your owne Popishe Churche differeth in these tenne poinctes as muche from the Primitiue Churche as ours therefore by your owne Logike I will conclude that your Popish churche hath no agreance with the church of Christ. 1. For neither you haue all thinges common 2. neither dooe you sell your houses and landes to putte the price in common 3. Neither doe you make diuision to euery manne accordyng to his necessitie 4. Neither are all mēbers of your Churche so prouided for that none dooe begge 5. Neither doe you baptise onely in the name of Christe 6. Neither dooe you giue the holy ghost by laiyng on your handes 7. Neither dooe you restore theim to health whom you annoincte with oile beyng sicke 8. Neither dooe you make open confession of your synnes 9. Neither dooe you celebrate the Sacramente after supper 10. Neither dooe you abstaine from bloodde and strangled therefore by your owne reason you haue no agreance with the Primitiue Churche of Christe Or if you maie haue any agreance these differences notwithstanding why maie not we the same differences nothyng lettyng vs haue sufficient agremente therewith You see that either your argument is nothyng worthe or els you haue as little agreance with the Primatiue churche as we Your only refuge is this that it is not necessary for you to haue any agreance with the primitiue Churche And that is the opinion of all Papistes whiche is diligently to be noted that you disclaime of al title of the Primitiue Churche whiche you holde was but an infante and by addition of your doctrine and Ceremonies is growne to bee of womannes state As though Christ maried his Churche when she was vnder age and so the matrimonie was not ratified and consumated before the Pope had nourtured her in his schole vntill she came to yeres of discretion For it is as lawfull for me so to inferre vppon your allegorie as for you so to allegorise of her But that you maie the better vnderstande what
the Apostles Hebr. v. whiche we retain although you saie in the ende we do not As for salte spettle cōiuration or exorcisme thei ar altogeher superfluous at this tyme Of exorcisme there was some vse in the auncient churche but of salte spittle which neuer are not mentioned in that place of Basile As there were many possessed with Deuills so there was some that that had this power of the holie ghost to caste out Deuils whiche were called exoreistes as witnesseth S. Cypriane in his fowerth boke and Epis. vij ad Magnū Quod hodie etiā geritur vt per exorcistas voce humana potestate diuina flagelletur et vratur et torqueatur diabolus Et cū exire et hoēs dei dimittere saepe dicat in eo tamē quod dixerit fallat id quod per Pharaonē prius gestū est eodem mendacio obstinationis et fraudis exerceat Cū tamen ad aquā salutarē atque ad baptismi sanctificationā venitur scire debemus fidere quia illic diabolus opprimitur homo dicatus diuina indulgentia liberatur that is Which thing also is doen at this day that by the exorcistes through the voice of a man and the power of God the deuil is scourged burned and tormented And although he saith oftētimes that he goeth out letteth go the men of God and yet in so saying deceiueth practiseth the same thing that was dooen before by Pharao with the same lye of obstinacie deceipt yet whē we come to the wholsom water and sanctification of Baptisme we muste knowe and beleue that there the Deuill is oppressed and the man whiche is there dedicated is by the mercie of god deliuered This one testimonie emong a number is sufficient to declare bothe that there was in the Churche menne indued with the gifte of castyng out Deuilles whiche visibly and sensibly did possesse menne and that Exorcisme at Baptisme was vsed for none other ende but to deliuer suche as were possessed and could not be deliuered by the Exorcistes before thei were baptised not that euery persone which was Baptised hadde neede of exorcisme but onely suche as were vexed with vncleane spirites And seyng that gifte of castyng out Deuilles doeth no more continewe in the Churche and thei that are to be Baptised are not possessed with Deuilles it were not onely vngodlines but also méere madnesse for such to take vpō them that power whiche haue it not or if thei had it to exercise it where there is no neede of it The Papiste Fifte in the Primitiue churche thei builded churches erected therin alters and offfered sacrifice theron which was a suer token and argument of the faieth of Christ receiued like as Chrysostome writeth of Englande howe that they had receiued the faieth of Christe because they had builded churches and erected Aultars in the same S. Beade witnesseth that sainct Augustine at the bringyng in of Christes faieth into Englande did set vppe Aultars wherupon the people did make their oblations and the preste did celebrate Masse which these our reformatours doe denie and destroie as greate blaspemie vnto God. The aunswere For buildyng of Churches in any sumptuous maner the primitiue church was not careful but vntil Constantines time continued in such places as thei could get sometimes most commōly in caues vnder the yerth when thei were persecuted and durste not assemble in open places And we at this time if we had not conueniēt places for the holie assembles would and wher suche conuenient howses lacke doe builde Churches and Oratories But not in the honour of Sainctes and Aungels as you doe whiche thing the primitiue and auncient Churche did not but iudged it to be meare Idolatry sacriledge and blasphemie As Basile in his 141. Epistle proueth the holy ghoste to be God because he hath a temple so doeth Didymus in his treatise de spiritu sancto because no creature but God onely can haue a temple S. Augustine de vera religione Cap. 55 saieth concernyng sainctes Quare honoramus eos charitate non seruitute nec eis Templa cōstruimus c. Wherfore we honor theim with loue and not with seruise neither doe we build churches vnto theim for thei will not be so honoured of vs Likewise in the. 8. booke 27. cap. de ciuitate dei he saith that christians builde no temples to Martyres and in verie many other places he writeth to the same effecte And as for Alters and Sacrifies the primitiue churche vsed none more then wee The auncient churche in deede nameth Aulters and sacrificyng but they meaned nothyng lesse then suche Aulters and sacrifices as the Papistes vse For the fashione of their alter whiche was the Communion Table so called of them also is to be seen in the Panegyricall oratiō made before Paulinus Bishop of Tyrus wher also the fashion of their Temples is described Euseb. lib. 10. Cap. 4. There was but one Aulter in all the Churche whiche stoode not againste the furthest wall at the East ende of the Churche as your Aulters but in the middest of the Churche and was compassed rounde aboute with Grates or Lattesses of woodde which were called Cancells the Chauncel with in whiche place so incloased the Communion was ministred and at the time of the ministration the Ministers and Deacones stoode round aboute the Aulter whiche is a manifest proofe that it was not an Aulter against a wall like youres but a Table standyng in the middest as ours is Laste of all what they vnderstode by the name of sacrifice I will discloase by one Testimonie of Chrisostome whiche shal be in steade of a greate number For this he writeth vpon the. x. chapiter to the Hebrues Hom. 17. Speaking of the sacrifice whiche the Churche doth offer Hoc autem quod facimus in comemorationē quidem fit eius quod factum est Hoc enim facite inquit in meam comemorationem Non aliud sacrificium sicut Pontifex sed ipsum semper facimus magis autem recordationē sacrificijeperamur This Sacrifice saieth he that we doe is done in remembrance of that whiche was doone For he saied doe this in remembraunce of me we dooe not offer an other Sacrifice as the high Prieste but wee offer the selfe same alwaies or rather we exercise the remembrance of that sacrifice By this testimony of Chrisostome it is euident that the olde writers when thei spake of Sacrifice did not meane the Popishe sacrifice of the Masse but onely the remembrance of the sacrifice of Christe which is the ministration of the Communion The Testimonie of Beda concernyng Augustine the Monke that came into Englande which you alleged is neither aunciente beyng aboue sixe hundred yeres after Christe neither yet of auctoritie to bee followed the same Augustine beyng a superstitious proude cruell and vnlearned Monke For his superstition Bede testifieth his pride and crueltie is set forthe in our Englishe histories his ignoraunce in doubtes and questions whiche he
propoundeth to Gregorie B. of Rome The Papiste Sixt in the Primitiue churche both men and women made solemne vowes to the abdication of all proprietie in worldlie goodes and possessions and also of perpetuall chastitie as it maie appeare Actes 5. Math. 19 and. 1. Corinth 7. 1. Tim. 5. Exāple wherof was in the time of the Apostles in Iphigenia a professed virgine whō Hirtacus Kyng of Ethiopia woulde nedes haue takē to his wife but the Apostle S. Mathew vouched to him that he coulde not so doe for that she had vowed her virginitie to god VVherupon Hirtacus put the Apostle sainct Mathewe to death as witnesseth Abdias and others The Canons of the Apostles doth prohibite the mariage of priestes The counsel holden at Chalcedon and all the aunciē fathers Dionysius Areopagita S. Basile S. Ambrose S. Augustine S. Chrisostome Epiphanius and diuers others This notwithstandyng our reformatours dooe defende suche mariages to bee lawfull and good hauing no regarde of anie vowe or profession made to the contrarie The aunswere In the Actes are mentioned those that were contente to giue their gooddes in common but no vowe spoken of that thei might neuer haue any proprietie of gooddes Our sauiour Christe also speaketh of some that had made theim self chaste for the kyngdome of heauen hauyng the gift of continencie but noe vowe that thei were bounde vnto Saincte Paule to the i. Corinthians vij chapiter commendeth Virginitie in suche as haue the gifte but he bindeth none with any vowes for if a Virgine marrie he saieth she dooeth not synne But in the firste of Timothe v. he entreateth of widowes whiche as thei were nourished by the Churche so thei did minister vnto the Churche and these made no vowe to God but a promise to the churche that thei would continue vnmarried that thei might attende to their charge beeyng free from housebandes whiche saincte Paule would not haue to bee chosen vnder sixtie yeres of age when carnall luste is paste What is this to yonge girles that are professed Nonnes at fiftene or sixtene yeres of age before thei knowe whether thei are able to liue chaste without any housebande or no As for your fable of Iphigenia and Hirtacus out of your newe founde olde doctour Abdias we giue small credite vnto it the verie names dooe sufficiently bewraie the forgerie whiche sounde nothyng like to the Aethiopian language The Canons cōmonly called of the Apostles doe excōmunicate a bishop or a clearke that doth putte awaie his wife vnder colour of Religion as I haue shewed before The coūsaile of Chalcedon Canon xiij forbiddeth Clerkes to marrie wiues of a contrary Religion as Iewes or Paganes But not simplie forbiddeth thē muche lesse would allowe theim to putte awaie their lawefull wiues But when you proceade further and saie that all the aunciente fathers dooe prohibite Priestes marriage you are to generall For I can bryng you some proues to the contrary In deede the moste of the later sorte of aunciente writers are verie muche addicte to the praise of sole life yet was not marriage cleane taken awaie from priestes for more then a thousande yeres after Christe You rehearse certaine aunciente writers and emōg them Dionysius Areopagita of whō I must admonishe the vnlearned reader that he is not that Dionysius whō saincte Paule at Athenes conuerted but one of muche later tyme For the reste of the Doctours if you had alledged their saiynges as you dooe their names I should haue saied some thyng vnto theim But that all aunciente fathers as you saie doe not forbidde marriage of Priestes and suche as haue vowed virginitie you maie knowe by these examples First Tertullian was a married man and writeth a booke to his wife Epiphanius rehearseth many heretikes whiche forbadde marriage Also of suche as had vowed virginitie and could not keepe their vowe he writeth Contra Apostolicos libr. 2. Tom. 1. haeres 61. Melius est itaque vnum peccatum habere non plura Melius est lapsum à cursu palam sibi vxorem sumere secundum legem á virginitate multo tempore poenitentiā agere sic rurssus ad ecclesiam induci velut qus mala operatus sit velut lapsum fractum obligatione opus habentem non quotidie ocultis iaculis sauciari ab improbitate quae à diabolo ei infertur Sic nouit ecclesia praedicare haec sunt sanationis medicamenta It is better therfore to haue one sinne and not manie It is better for hym that is fallen from his course opēly to take hym a wife accordyng to the lawe and to repente along tyme for his virginitie and so againe to be brought into the church as one that hath doone euill as one that is fallen and brused and hath neede to bee bounde vp and not to be daily wounded with priuie Dartes through the improbitie which is wrought to hym by the Deuill So the Churche knoweth to preache these are the medicines of healyng You see here that Epiphanius woulde haue suche as could not keepe their vowe of virginitie rather to marrie then to burne according to the doctrine ef sainct Paule Chrysostome whose name also you reherse in his second Homelie vpon the first Chapiter of the Epistle to Titus hath these woordes Obstruere prorsus intendit haereticorum ora qui nuptias damnant ostendens eā rem culpa carere imo ita esse pretiosam vt cum ipsa etiam possit quispiam ad sanctum ▪ Episcopatus solium euehi That is to saie He purposeth vtterly to stop the mouthes of heretikes which condemne mariage shewyng how that thing is without faulte yea to be so pretious a thing that with it any man maie be aduaunced to the holy sée of a Bishopricke Chrisostome therfore is not so whole on your side as you make hym no more is any of the auncient fathers though it please you to abuse there names for a shewe But who amonge all the olde writers was either a greater admirer of virginitie or a more defacer of matrimonie then Ierome was and yet he writeth thus of virgines that haue vowed continence ad Demetriadem Sanctum virginum propositum caelestis angelorumque familiae gloriam quarundam non bene se aegentium nomen infamat Quibus apertè dicendum est vt aut nubant si se non possunt continere aut contineant si nolunt nubere That is the ill name of some that behaue not theim selues well dooth slaunder the holy purpose of virgines and the glorie of the heauenly family of aungelles to whom it is openly to be spoken that either thei doe marie if thei can not conteine or els that thei must conteine if thei will not marrie By these witnesses it is apparant that all auncient fathers be not of your iudgement if wee shall beleue their owne writinges rather then your saiynges And cōcerning them that haue vowed continence if they haue any conscience of their vowe and are able to performe it none of vs
affirmeth that nothing is required to iustifie but faithe the other affirmeth that faithe whiche onely is required as sufficient to iustification is not deade solitary or vnfruictfull but liuely fruictfull accompanied with manie vertues good workes For he that acknowledgeth his sinnes to be forgeuen of God for Christes sake and that he is receiued of God as his childe whiche is to be iustified must needes loue God and all theym that loue God muste néedes haue a desier to obeye God honour God to be thanckefull to God and to profette all theim that God hath commaunded hym to loue And this is the worste effecte of onely faithe iustifiyng But because you make it so straunge a matter as though it had neuer been heard of in the worlde before nowe that faithe alone or onely faithe doth iustifie I will rehearse you the sentences of a fewe doctours that I haue readde whiche in plaine wordes affirmed the same many hundred yeres before you and I were borne Not doubtyng but they that haue redde more then I are able to bring forth a greate deale more then I haue brought Origines though otherwise a verie vnpure writer yet for iustification by faithe onely speaketh very plainly although not in all poinctes truely vpon the Epistle to the Rom. lib. 3. Cap. 3. Dicit sufficere solius fidei iustificationem ita vt credens quis tantummodo iustificetur etiamsi operis nihil ab eo fuerit expletū Imminet igitur nobis qui integram esse scripturam Apostoli conamur asserere ordine suo cuncta constare vt requiramus quis sine operibus sola fide iustificatus sit Quantum igitur ad exemplum pertinet c. S. Paule saieth that the iustification of faith alone doth suffice so that he whiche beleueth onlie maie bee iustified although he haue doen no good worke Wherefore it standeth vs vppon that take in hande to defende the writyng of the Apostle to bee perfecte and all thinges therein to stande with good order to enquire who was iustified by faithe onely without woorkes Therefore for examples sake I thinke that theife is sufficiente whiche beeyng crucified with Christe cried to hym from the Crosse. Lord Iesu remember me whē thou comest into thy kyngdome Neither is there any other good woorkes of his described in the Gospell but for this faieth onely Iesus saide to hym verily I saie to thee this daie thou shalte bee with me in Paradice Thus far Origine Neuertheles wee muste remember as I haue saide before that although this thief was iustified by faithe onely yet this faithe was fructefull of suche good workes as the tyme suffered hym to expresse as inuocation repentaunce reprehension of his fellowe c. The same Origene saieth Idem enim ipse deus ex vtroque populo non circumcisionis aut praeputij priuilegio sed solius fidei contemplatione iustificat The same God out of bothe the people not by priuilege of Circumcisiō or vncircumcision but by the contemplation of faith alone dothe iustifie And in the. 4. booke and. 4. Cap. Initium iustificandi à deo fides est qua credit in iustificantem haec fides cum iustificata fuerit tanquam radix imbre suscepto haeret in animae solo c. Faithe is the beginnyng of iustifiyng before god which beleueth in hym that iustifieth and this faithe after it is iustified as a roote that is wattered with a showre of raine abydeth faste in the grounde of the soule that when it beginneth to bee dressed and delued by the lawe of God the boughes arise in it whiche bring forthe the fruicte of good workes And in diuers other places Origē sheweth himself to be of the same minde Sainct Cypriane ad Quirinum Cap. 4. In nullo gloriādum quando nostrum nihil sit We haue to bost of nothing seyng nothing is our owne Where bee then our merites Againe Cap. 42. Fidem tantum prodesse tantum nos posse quantum credimus He affirmeth that faithe onely doth profitte and that so muche as we beleue so muche we maie obtaine Wherein he agreeth with our sauiour Christe saiyng all thinges are possible to hym that beleueth Also in his booke de duplici Martyrio he writeth thus Non credit in deum qui non in eo solo collocat totius foelicitatis suae fiduciam He doothe not beleue in God whiche dooeth not place in him alone the assurance of all his felicitie In whom then doe Papistes beleue that truste in their owne merites and in creatures Sainct Hilarie agreeth in the same sentence de Trinitate lib. 2. Et cum sola fide expleri quae praecepta sunt oporteret c. Seing that these thinges whiche are commaunded must be accomplished by faithe onely that is to worshippe the father and with hym to honour the soonne and to abounde in the holy ghoste wee are inforced to extende the basenes of our speache to those thinges that are vnspeakable Also wrytyng vppon Mathewe Canone 21. he hath these wordes Nam inuiti licet confitētur quis obsecutus sit voluntati iunior scilicet filius obediens professione licet non efficiens in tempore Quia fides sola iustificat atque ideo publicani meretrices in regno coelorum erunt priores quia Ioanni crediderūt For thei confesse though it be againste their will who hath obeied the fathers wil namely the yonger sonne obedient in profession although not performing in time Because faith alone doth iustifie and therefore the Publicanes and harlattes shal be sooner in the kingdome of heauen because they beleued Ihon. c. And in the. 8. Canon hee hath this plaine conclusion Fides sola iustificat faithe alone doth iustifie Therefore wée are not alone that teache so Gregorius Nazianzenus in his Oration 22. de modestia in disceptationibus Prope te ait verbum est thesaurum hunc intellectus habet lingua hic quidem credens illa vero cōfitens quid his opibus succinctius quid dono hoc facilius Confitere christum credas eum à mortuis suscitatum esse ac saluaberis siquidem credere solum iustitia est salus autem perfecta confiteri loquendique libertatem addere scientiae The worde saieth he is neare vnto thée and this treasure thine vnderstandyng and thy tongue hath the one beleuyng the other confessing what can bee more shorte then these riches what more easie then this gifte Confesse Christ and beleue that hee is raised from death and thou shalte be saued For to beleue onely is rightousnes and perfecte saluation to confesse and to adde fréedom of speache to knowledge The same Gregorius carmine de rebus suis speaking in the person of the publicane that praied with the Pharisie Nō opera me saluabunt tua autem gratia tuaeqús misericordia mihi stillet profano quam solam miseris rex praebuisti spem peccatoribus Woorkes shall not saue me but lette thy grace and thy mercie droppe vppon mée profane