shall be truely gathered together in his name And to speake in fewe wordes where that true seede is sowen there is the Lords field and there that haruest groweth which shall neuer be burned But againe because it falleth out partly thorough the weaknesse of mans wit euen in the moste excellent men partly through the wickenesse or negligence of the pastors that scarce at any time since the time of the Apostles the doctrine of Christ hath beene so preached in the Church but that some blemish hath priuely crept in which thing appeareth to bee done euen by the Epistles of the Apostles and that whilest they also were liuing Finally because the Lord hath apointed not onely that the worde shoulde be taught but also that it shoulde not be taught of euery man And for this cause hath appointed certaine lawes touching this order I must here again declare two things to wit how farre it shoulde be necessarie that that onely marke of the true Church that is to say the preaching of Gods worde shoulde be pure and how much we should giue to the ordination and succession of the Pastors themselues Therefore How farre it is necessary that the doctrine of fayth should be pure in the Church that the Church eyther particular or general may be a true church as touching that former point I put downe three thinges One is that although there be nothing set out vnto vs in the holy Scriptures which is not most profitable and verie necessary as it were vnto saluation yet there are certaine chiefe points and as it were grounds of our religion which are to be discerned from the rest The second point is that there haue beene some matters which in times past haue beene rudimentes of the Catholique Churche and may in other times also be rudiments of some particular churches yet for all that those points cease not to belong to the true Churche The third is that the religion and marke of the Churche either vniuersall or particular is not to be measured by some thing that this or that Pastor teacheth by worde or writing neither by that that some sheepe by them selues haue thought this Or by the disputations of some whether they be many or few but by that doctrine which is commonly receiued in the Churches so that it be agreable to the word of God That all the points of christian religion are not of the foundation thereof Now because these questions are called into controuersie go to let vs confirme them by sure reasons examples As touching the firste the thing it selfe sheweth that there may be variaunce touching some things yet the soundation of christian religion remaine safe And againe some things cannot be taken away but that the whole building be vtterly ouerthrown He that denieth Christ to haue come in the fleshe Iohn 4.3 is not of God but is the spirit of Antichrist Therefore the companies of the * They denied Christ to haue come in the flesh Dochitae of the * The Marcionistes of whome he speaketh here did hold that Christ was not true man Marcionits and of such like be not the Church of Christe whereby it is prooued that the point touching both the natures of Christe is an article of Christian religion belonging to the foundation Againe the Churche of Ierusalem wherin who was better learned than Peter knew not the calling of the vncircumcised and yet what true Churche was there then in the worlde if the Church of Ierusalem were not it Therefore the point concerning the calling of the vncircumcised is not of it selfe of the points of Christian religion which concerne the foundation Therfore there is some difference betweene those thinges which are set forth vnto vs in the scriptures to be beléeued The second also may be prooued by a more euident example For who doubteth That there are some rudiments of particular Churches VVhich thing also in times past fall out in the Catholique church but that if euer there were any where a true and almost onely and wholy Catholique Churche that was Christes owne houshold being conuersaunt and that according to the fleshe with those his twelue disciples Who likewise is ignoraunt that the point of the resurrection the foundation wherof is the resurrection of Christ himselfe is of so great waight that the Apostle doth rightly pronounce that that beeing abolished the whole fruit of the Gospell shoulde be abolished but that very congregation could scarce beleue that Christ was yet risen And Thomas gaue not credite to his own very fellow disciples yea the disciples would not haue beléeued euen their owne verye eyes if the Lorde had not sayd Luke 24.39 VVe may not determine of the falshood or truth of any church by the doubting of either many or few A spirit hath not flesh and bones And that third thing is confirmed by the examples of the Churches of Achaia and Galatia which doubtlesse the Apostle would not haue called the churches of Christ and therefore true churches if hee had therfore thought that the church of Corinth had denied that article of the resurrection of the flesh the churches of Galatia had reiected the benefite of their liberty purchased by Christe because some in Corinth yea perhaps some of the pastors themselues did doubt of the poynte of the resurrection and the most part of the Galathians called backe agayn the vse of circumcision and other ceremonies seeing that yet notwithstanding Gal. 5.2 the same Paul sayth If ye be circumcised Christ doth profite you nothing and seeing that he affirmeth that those which vrged circumcision not of ignoraÌ„ce but of stubbornnes they were remoued alway vnto another gospel Gal. 1.6 Phil. 3.2 therefore he openly calleth theÌ„ Apostatates or fallers away and compareth them to Dogs that is to say to vncleane beastes But it is an other thing to erre through igâ—â—â—aunce than obstinately to resist the truth as wiful fellowes are wont Heresie which is without the Church if it be of some point of the religion that toucheth the foundation is an other thing than being deceiued or an error which requireth and suffereth it selfe to be taught To be shorte the Eclipse of the Sunne is an other thing than the absence of the same and the euening is an other thing than the darkenesse of the night yea the night it selfe which the day succeedeth is an other thing than the darknesse were Gen. 1.2 when they couered the depth These things then being put downe That some errours may creepe into the Catholique church yea and that in some point of faith which concerneth the foundation it shal be easie to iudge that euery error doth not take away the name of the true church and with al that to be most false which the aduersaries say to wit that the Catholique Church caÌ„not erre and yet that euery error doth not abolish the name of the Catholike Church For as touching this latter point if
none that so interpreted the primacies and glorious titles which are attributed to the bishop of Rome although in deed the bishops of Rome ambitiouslie sought nothing more and there wanted not some who most shamlesly euen then flattered thē as that they did for all that gyue this degree of vniuersall head vnto him Therfore they haue not Christ nor Peter but that most vile man of al Phocas I say the emperor for the author of this vniuersallitie and they haue Boniface the thirde the head or beginner of this tyrannie or that I may vse the words of Gregorie the great himselfe the chiefe or head of Antichristianisme in so much that the Romishe popedome doth but onely sixtene yeares at the most goe before Mahumetisme or the turkishe religion But by what sleightes that monster hath vsurped and attayned this tyrannie who I praie you at this day can be ignorant vnlesse he be ignorant of histories or whose eyes Satan hath blinded yea seeing that this most holy father doth boast him selfe to be not the successor of Peter alone but of Paul also whose heads being cut off not so much by newes hang men as by the Pope himselfe he ingraueth in these his leaden seales it must needs be either that afterward two heads were growen into one whose authoritie afterward passed for sooth to this successor of them both or els that neither Peter nor Paule were this onely vniuersal ministeriall head except he woulde rather acknowledge that the catholique churche hath had at the beginning two heades vppon the earth But what say I that I may speake nothing here of so many Antipopes or Popes one against an other when as Liberius and Damasus at one and the same time as all men affirme obtayned that seate of Rome where was then that one vniuersall head And let these thinges be sufficiently spoken touching the deliuerie of that spirituall sworde from hand to hand And as concerning that other sworde which they call secular or politique wherewith they haue ouerthrowen all magistracie From whence I pray you do they take the beginning of this iurisdiction for though we shoulde beleeue that fable of the donation or gyfte of Constantine to be as true as it was shamelesly fayned yet truely it shal not be set from the apostles but frō the emperor neither yet graunted by Christ or by Peter but by men Which thing notwithstanding was neyther lawfull for Constantine to do nor for the Bishoppe of Rome to receaue although it had beene willingly offered him Wherefore if they shall of their owne authoritie requyre agayne these two feathers the churche those former to wit the ecclesiasticall gouernement and Kinges and Princes these latter to wit ciuill iurisdiction and authoritie both which in their time shall come to passe this fellow will then appeare not the head of the church but an vnfeathered cuckow And these things concerning this head haue I put down in few words because they haue of late by them of our side verie plentifully both out of the worde of God out of the truest histories of former times to be short out of the testimonies of the Popes thēselues ben manifestly declared and plentifully proued Now the head of this succession being cut off That there can be noe Apostolicall succession in the Cardinalles Metrapolitanes Primates or Archbishops what shall the rest of the body be but a roteen and stinking carkas Truely them selues are compelled to confesse that the next degree vnto this head to wit the order of cardinalles as it is nowe cannot be set from the more auncient time There follow primates and Archbishoppes for scarce the verie name of Patriarkshippe is yet remayning and Mahomet at the length hath ended the matter incontrouersie which firste arose betweene the [a] That is those foure men that tooke vppon them the gouernment of the vvhol world he meaneth the foure Patriarches to wit Hierusalem Alexandria Constātinople Rome Quartumvi i and afterwards betweene the [a] That is the fiue mē that toke vppon them the gouernement of the world Quintumuiri Therefore the Nicene councell it selfe doth not refer the beginning of these offices to the word of God or Apostolicall institution eyther written or not written but to ancient custome So that neither can this succession be thought to be Apostolicall The degree of Bishopps wherin they are exalted aboue the rest of the Ministers or Pastors was vnknowen to the Apostles and therfore that there is no Apostolicall succession therof There rest yet Bishoppes so called of them to wit which are set in euerie diocesse aboue ministers for the other inferiour orders these pleaders of succession nothing esteeme whose onely succession neuerthelesse hath some shew of Apostolicall succession But it maye plainely apeare out of the firste Epistle to the Corinth not onely that there was no suche degree of Bishops ordeyned by the Apostles as immediatly afterward was brought into the Church after the times of the apostles neither that ther was any such allowed of the Apostle to wit that ther should be one degree of a bishop and an other of a minister or that some man should be called a Bishoppe not in respect of a flock but in respect of his fellow elders For who doubteth but that the Apostle woulde haue gyuen this counsel vnto the Corinthians or himselfe woulde haue perfourmed it or haue attributed it to Caephas or Apollo if which thing Hierome hath written to Euagrius and in his commentaries vpon the first Epistle to Titus he had iudged this remedie profitable much more necessarie for the brydling of Schismes But whether it were lawfull to ordayne this degree in the Church or not for of this I like not nowe to dispute that thing is not only apparant out of Hierom vpon the epistle to Titus the Bishops are greater than ministers rather by custome than by the truth of the Lords appoyntment But also by witnesses which these men as greater than all exception are accustomed to alleadge as Lucius the Pope Clement the second Anacletus vnlesse their Epistles be rather counterfaite which yet these men cite for authenticall Lombard in his fourth booke of sentences the 24. distinct Gratian and to be short Cardinall Cusan in his booke of the vniuersall vnitie Platina in the life of Pope Bonifacius the third al which plainly witnesse that all this Hierarchicall or priestlike gouernment aboue ministers was deuised by men after the example of the Roman empyre that is to say that it is the true Imag◠of the beast described in the reuelalion of Iohn Reuel 13.1 Reuel 14.9 For whose cause some in the beginning also did trauaile which ment not to performe that which afterward insued The thing it selfe in fine taught vs that it was a matter of great importance to decline euen but a nailes bredth from the word of God The conclusion of the disputation touching the succession of persons sundred from the succession of
part which the same Apostle speaketh to wit That the Church is builded vppon the foundation of the Prophetes and Apostles And that which he witnesseth of the holy scriptures 2. Timot. 3.16.17 Moreouer that shall be false to which the same Apostle saith That the Churche is the piller of truth 1. Tim. 3.15 Vnlesse all truth beeing ingrauen in that piller should be manifest Other some more shamelesse suppose there is left vnto these men whom they call the successours of the Apostles I know not what excellent thing and that they doe affirme so assuredly that they hold they can not be deceiued in that matter whose opinion I suppose néedeth not at this time amongst men of sound iudgement any confutation But in the ouerthrow of these two latter and especially of the last point I perceiue that all these men VVhat we ought to think of the vnwritten word are altogether of one opinion against vs. For they vrge I knowe not what vnwritten worde which they call Apostolicall traditions And verely I do not vnwillinglie graunt vnto them that all thinges were not seuerally put downe in wryting according to the circumstances of times place and persons which were obserued either by the Apostles or by their consent in the very forme and order of the seruice of God But who wil graunt that we must thinke the same of the decrees of the verie doctrine it selfe Finally when the aduersaries are bidden to bring forth what these pointes be then that lying spirit bewraieth himselfe because those thinges which they will haue deliuered from hand to hand could neither by word nor writinges haue bene deliuered by the Apostles but they should dissent from themselues But euen al the fathers of sound iudgement haue iudged farre other wise of the most excellent and moste sound perfection of the holy scriptures with whose testimonies being a thousand times alleadged I thought it not good now to fill these leaues There remayneth the question to be handled The interpretation of the vvritten vvord is not else vvhere to be fet then from the vvorde it selfe to wit by comparing of the places one vvith another and out of the analogie or proportion of the articles of our fayth touching the interpretation of the scripture Which truely is so tossed to and fro by these men that they cannot eschew the sinne of blasphemie There be I confesse some places of the scripture partly through the ignorance of tongs partly also throgh other faults of our owne so dark vnto vs euen vntil this day that as yet euen the most learned interpreters and such as be of best cōscience cannot thoroughly agrée what should be the proper natural meaning thereof There be some thinges also in the holy scriptures so profoundly spoken that euery one maye not lawfullye procéede so farre To be short there be some things also written in such terms that as Augustin saith it shold appeare the holy ghost would whet our diligence in the serching and meditating of them And vnlesse the necessarie points of doctrine and Christian religion were so playnely and clearly to be short so familiarly declared in the writings of the Prophetes and Apostles that they may be the holy ghost being presēt amongst them whereby God lightneth all his sayntes manifestly vnderstoode in the Church to what end shoulde the Lorde haue sent his hearers to the scriptures Yea that more is to what ende haue both the Prophets and Christe himselfe also and the Apostles spoken if they would not haue these thinges to be vnderstood which all ought to know I will speake something more boldly which yet I hope I can proue VVe cannot by naturall vnderstanding knovv vvhat the pointes of Christian religion are but by the writinges of the Prophets and Apostles That we may consent vnto the points of Christian religion as vnto true groundes and muche more that wee may applye them vnto our selues it behooueth surely that wee shoulde haue our eares elsewhere opened a fleshly bea rt giuen vs to be short that we should elsewhere be taught tban of flesh and blood because the church is the congregation of them that must be taught of God to whome the arme of the Lord is reuealed Esai 53.1 and that men may vnderstand what the Prophetes and Apostles haue briefly thought and taught concerning euery article of our religion they haue neede not onely of a wit in some measure sharpened but also of the knowledge of tongues and of careful and diligent reading For it is one manner of thing to vnderstande what this or that man sayth then so to vnderstand the things which thou doest perceiue that thou also approue of them Comprehension knowledge and full perswasiō must be distinguished in the holy scriptures of which that to wit comprehension is naturall the other is in deede spiritual but also commō to many reprobates The third is proper to the children of God and not onely that thou vnderstand what the thing is but also wherefore it is and comprehension is another thing than knowledge euen in prophane matters and agayne in matter of diuinity this knowledge is another thing than full perswasion therefore comprehension belongeth vnto all men that are endued with some iudgement and vnto knowledge there is required also an outwarde lightning of Gods spirite by reason of the blindenes of mans iudgment which gift notwithstanding is common as well to many euil as to many good men But ful perswasion doth seperate the chosen children of God from the castawayes and is the proper riches of the Saintes Therefore we require In what points we doe at this day dissent when the question is demaunded touching the interpretation of Gods word the exposition of the worde of God not onely as profitable but also as necessary yet not for the same cause as these mē thinke neither yet wil wee fet it from the place frō whome these men suppose we wil take it for they think that that worde is so darkly deliuered that as thogh it were some darke thing it should neede light fetcht elsewhere then from it selfe and when we demand of them from whence at the length this light should be fet thē they lay vnto vs the vizard or bare shewe of the Catholique Church vnder which name somtimes they lay before the ignorant these or those of the Fathers sometimes the fragments of particular or general counsels to bee short they lay before them very often long custom for an argument that cannot bee refused to which thinges if a man doe not forthwith consent he is now layde open to the slaughter of the outragious people no knowledge of his cause beeing had before as thogh he were guilty of some haynous crime committed against God or man wheras in times past he was condemned to bee burned vnder some certaine colour of law And in deede this is now their zeale But we that we may in one word declare all thinges which belong to this