been ordained by Christ to bee the Sheep-heard ouer the whole Church in these wordes Feede my sheepe and that by that diuine speech neither Apostles nor generall Councels are excluded being all Christs sheepe and therefore to be fed by S. Peter the Vicar of Christ To that we answere that by these wordes Christ did giue no other authoritie but ministeriall vnto Peter as we haue proued Sect. 4.5 and 9. And that the duty of a Minister and Vicar is to put in execution the precepts of the Diuine Naturall and Canonicall law but yet according to the rules of the Aristocraticall temper ordained by God And that therefore Peter is accounted a Pastor only for the execution of Canons administration of the word and other such things which may better be managed by one man alone then by the whole Church gathered together in a Councell Their second argument is That the whole Church gathered together in a Councell makes but one Familie one Flocke one Kingdome and visible bodie of Christ therefore must also necessarily haue a visible head the Pope and it would seeme a strange Monster if one bodie should haue two supreme heads the Pope and the generall Councell Wee answere that the Church is a Monarchicall policie tempered by an Aristocraticall Gouernement Whence of necessitie it followes that the Councell hath the supreme power for direction of Gouernement correction and authoritie to make Canons And as for Peter hee hath it only for the execution exercise and vse of the â—â—ies towardes the particular Churches Looke our Sect. 4.5.6 and 9. Thirdly they alleage that in the Councell held at Rome vnder Pope Siluester with 280. Bishops it is ordained cap. 20. Let no body iudge the first Sea which is desirous to temper iustice The Iudge shall not bee iudged no not of the Emperour not of the whole Clergie nor of King nor of People Which sentence Gratianus citeth 9. quest 3. Can. Nemo But if wee must needes tell you what wee thinke thereof whosoeuer wiâ—l duly consider that Canon shall euen at the first sight perceiue that it is more hurtfull then fauourable to the Aduersaries because the opinion of the Schoole of Paris grounded vpon the decree of the Synode of Constance teaches that the Pope may bee iudged by the Councell in that case only when he doth notoriously scandalize the Church and is incorrigible But if he be desirous to temper iustice truly he must be iudged of no body since he law is not made against a iâ—â— man being a perpetuall law to himselfe Secondly although this Canon should decree absolutely yet can it not derogate any thing from the authoritie of the decrees of the Councell of Constance since it was made in a particular Church which indeede ought not to iudge of the Pastor of the whole Church vnlesse hee submit himselfe to the iudgement of that Councell as once Pope Sixtus the third did 2. quest 4. Canon Mandaslis Therefore those wordes No not of the whole Clergie must hee vnderstood distributiuely of some Church or particular Clergie but not ioyntly of a whole generall Councell as that of Constance or Basill was Thirdly who is acquainted with the reading of Councells shall soone perceiue that there are many harsh and vnproper thinges in this Canon which make it iustly suspected of manifest iâ—â—eption For certainely in those times the Fathers of the Church did not speake so gloriously neither did the persecutions giue them leaue to thinke of any absolute power Moreouer what needes to haue spoken of Kinges since at that time there were none at all but only the Romane Emperors But thou Christian Reader we pray thee looke thereupon Cardinall Cusanus lib. 2. cap. 20. de concordantia Catholicas For all other authoritie which are cited out of the writings of Popes read 9. quest 3. there is no great account to be made of them since Iohn Gerson and other Parisian Doctors doe answere in a word That none is to be beleeued in his owne cause except his testimonie agree with the Diuine Naturall and Canonicall law But now it is contrarie to the law of God and Nature that the ministeriall head should haue power ouer the Church And surely the finall cause of the Church which is euerlasting life by a good gouernment declares euidently that the Pope is by the Church and for the Church not contrariwise The Church by and for the Pope Therefore in the matter of Ecclesiasticall gouernment that Cephas that was Peter is subiect vnto the Church as the eie vnto man 1. Cor. 3.21 Therefore let no man glorie in men for all thinges are yours that is of the Church Whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephas c. Item 2. Cor. 13.10 All power is giuen to edification not to destruction From whence it ariseth as proued that the Church by the Diuine and Naturall law can prouide and preuent that the Pope may not rule her to her owne destruction as it was decided Conc. Constant Sess 4. and 5. Finally whereas they crie so loud that the Church hath an indirect authoritie ouer the Temporaltie it is true by way of doctrine perswasion direction and exclusion from the communion of the Church but false that it ought to be done by constraint and deposition of Princes as we haue shewed Sect. 11. 12 Seeing the Church hath neither Territorie nor vse of the materiall sword Whosoeuer therefore doe maintaine that the Church may lawfully depose Christian Princes doe euen as much as if one should inferre that the Schoole-master because he hath the authoritie of Scholasticall discipline may disinherite his Disciples of their partrimonie if they be obstinate against his discipline Which also is fallacious as being wrested à dicto secundum quid addictum simpliciter from that which is said in some respect to that which is affirmed simply For such thinges which are true in some one and peculiar sense ought not to be stretched to an vniuersall and absolute sense but by Sophisters and Iuglers only And if they vrge further that the Church is sufficient in it selfe and a supreme commandresse The answere is that that must be limitted within those bounds which be assigned by nature to euery thing But the essentiall causes of the Church will not suffer that church-men should meddle with violent or secular businesses Wherefore all the sufficiencie of the Church gouernment ought to be deriued from the obseruation of the commandements of God but not from any temporall Monarchie or right of sword Mat. 28.19 Goe therefore and teach all nations baptizing them and teaching them to obserue all thinges whatsoeuer I haue commanded you and lot I am with you alwaies vntill the end of the world For the arguments which doe vphold this doctrine wee will reduce them to three heads The first shall containe all the examples which Sanders Bellarmine Coâ—queus and others set forth out of the old Testament but all ab ignoratione Elenchi through vnskillfullnesse of arguing Who is ignorant among vs that there is a farr different nature of the Iewes Sinagogue and of the Christian Church of the law of Moses and of the Gospell For these indeede had Territorie alloâ—ted them consequently might haue right of meere command from God which no wise man will euer affirme of the Church And to this that the Euangelicall law compared to that of Moses yea to any other law whatsoeuer is a law truly Roiall and full of mildnesse and most perfect libertie whereas the law of Moses was a most seruile bondage Act. 15.10 Gal. 4.3 The second head offereth vnto vs the authorities taken out the Canonicall law which Cardinall Bellarmine commended namely cap. 3. Synod Lateran where it is ordained that Kings and Princes are to be deposed which doe not roote out all Heretikes from their Dominions The answere is that these and the like ought to haue no more power against ciuill Princes then the extrauagant of Boniface 8. Vnam Sanctam or the constitution of Paul 4. Cum ei Apostolatus of siue which is to be read in the Directorie for Inquisitors seeing those decrees haue been made not Synodically that is with consent of the whole Church but by the Popes priuately and by their owne proper motion which therefore doe not binde because the Church is ruled by Canon not by absolute power Sect. 5. and 8. For the third head we denie absolutely that the deposition of King Chilperiâ— or the translation of the Empire to the French was by the only authoritie of the Popes without consent authoritie or desire of the people And though it were true as they say yet would it make but very little or nothing to the decision of our present Controuersie since it rather openeth a question of fact then of right as also the examples of the deposing of Henrie 4. Frederick 2. and other Emperous or Kings Let therefore our Aduersaries dispute of right not of fact for our Lord Iesus Christ hath ordained the Christian commonwealth to be gouerned by good manners and Canons not by examples The solution of all other arguments drawen either from holy Scripture or any where else may be taken out of the most learned Treatise of M. Iohn of Paris touching Regall and Papall authoritie Let all these thinges be subiect vnto the iudgement of the Catholike Church FINIS
alone and only the essentiall head by whome and for whome the Church subsisteth for which cause also hee speakes thus to Peter Matthew 16.18 Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it Wherein is to bee noted that hee doth not say thy Church or the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against thee likewise Iohn 21.15 Feede my Lambes Feede my Sheepe hee doth not say thy Sheepe or thy Lambes And that purposely to shew that Ecclesiasticall men are called to a meere and simple dispensation or administration not to any temporall Dominion or Gouernment meerely and absolute Monarchicall The Kinges of the Nations raigne ouer them but with you it shall not bee so Luc. 22.25 and 1. Peter 5.2 Feed the flock which depends vpon you caring for it not by constraint but willingly not as Lords of the flocke but that yee may bee a good example to them Which places of the Scripture Bernard ad Eugen. lib. â— cap. 5. doth expound after this sort Goe then thou also and vsurpe if thou dare either an Apostleship being a Lord or a Lordship being Apostolicall Thou art plainely forbidden both and if thou wouldst possesse both together thou shalt loose both This is the Apostolical forme Dominion is forbidden ministration is commaunded and commended by the example of the law-giuer * Luc. â—2 27 I am in the midst of you as one that ministreth c. By which both Saint Peter and Bernard doe set before our eyes a patterne of aristocraticall gouernment which shall bee more largely described afterwards Sect. 5. 6. and 8. I am not ignorant that our Nouelists better to defend their priuiledges doe maintaine that by these words Feed my sheep Christ hath giuen the whole Ecclesiastical iurisdiction solely to Peter alone to distribute it afterwards at his pleasure to whom he would But those idle pretences are so plainely and manifestly confuted by the Oracles of holy Scripture by the testimony of all auncient Fathers and by the whole practise of the primitiue Church that it is a great wonder how they dare forge such absurdities For indeed this speech of our Lord Feed my sheep c. doth confer vpon S. Peter as a ministeriall head a prime and ful authoritie of administring or executing the diuine naturall and canonicall law according to the rules of aristocraticall moderation Vpon which point looke Sect. 9. Which grounds being thus laid al those and other like arguments remain very easily answered That Petrus is Petra the foundation head of the Church and therefore without him the Church falleth Or that as a body being without a head a streame without a spring a beame without a Sunne a branch without a stock an arme of a tree cut from his body perisheth and withereth no more can the Church subsist without a Pope As though the Pope were the primary and not the secondary the essentiall and not the ministeriall Head of the Church Whence followes that the commandement of hauing a Pope binds * Ad semper non pro semper As Schoolemen speake for euer but not at all times The third principle makes a distinction betweene the State of the Church and her gouernment 〈◊〉 the State indeed is monarchicall as wel to maintaine vnitie order as to execute the Canons which execution is proper enough to the Pope as to a ministeriall head But the gouernment is Aristocraticall for found prouidence effectuall counsell and decreeing of those Canons for which cause wee sayd Sect. 1. That the keyes were giuen to the whole Church to bee vsed by one man For God hath ordained his Church his Spouse to be gouerned by Canon or counsel that the Pope and other Bishops might not bee able to decree any thing of moment of their own head or by the aduice of some oligarchicall Councell that is to say of few but that they should ofteÌ„ assemble craue the aduice of an aristocratical Councel of the church Therfore doe we read that it was ordained by the auncient Fathers that euerie yeare two prouinciall Councels shold be assembled For look what proportion there is betwixt a generall Councel and the Pope the same is also betweene particular Sinods their Bishops For particular Churches likewise must bee gouerned by their own Bishops with the rule of Canons not with absolute power Furthermore we hold the right and naturall Senate or Counsell of the Church instructed by our Lord to be not only the assembly of all the Bishops but of all Priests hauing charge of soules Of the which the former succeede the Apostles the latter the seuenty Disciples Dist â—8 Can. Charepiscopi ibid. Quaest 1. Can. Ecclesia and Dist 23. Can. Presbiter For the Priests indeede in times past did go 〈◊〉 the Church in common as Saint Hierome doct wiâ—nes Can. Legimus Dist 93. The fourth principle is That the infallible power of decreeing and making Canon is in the power of the whole Church or of a generall Councell representing the same Wherein principally consisteth the nature of aristrocraticall gouernment and is most clearely demonstrated partly by diuine partly by naturall light For indeede many eies can see farther and clearer then one alone neither is it giuen either from God or nature to any one alone to bee wise least hee should gloâ—ie in himselfe Moreouer The body of the Church is not one member only but manie If the whole bodie were an eye where were the hearing â— Cor. 12.24.17 And the spirits of the Prophets are 〈◊〉 the Prophets that is to the Church 1. Cor. 14 〈…〉 There is but one Bishopricke whereof a part is 〈…〉 â—um that is wholy by euery one 24. Quaest 〈…〉 â—tur Wherefore it is necessarie that 〈…〉 â—ncernes all should beâ— also approued 〈…〉 Since euery high Priest is taken from 〈…〉 â—mpassed with infirmitie Heb. 5.1.2 〈…〉 and bee deceiued except hee req◠〈…〉 Church which is the pillar groun◠〈…〉 â—refore when Christ was readie t◠〈…〉 â—hee doth promise the spirit of 〈…〉 Câ—urch not vnto onâ— and only Pâ—◠〈…〉 And I wâ—â—â— pray the Father and 〈…〉 â—ter that hee may abide with you for euer 〈◊〉 â—he spirit of truth And againe Mat. 18.15 hâ—â— doth establish his Church sufficient in it selfe and a chiefe Commandresse by the erecting of an infalible Court whiles hee doth so in these following words instruct Saint Petâ—â— desirous to know how many times he should forgiue his brother offending If thy brother trespasse against thee goe and proue him betweene thee and himself 〈◊〉 c. And if hee refuse to heare the Church 〈…〉 vnto thee as an Hâ—â—then man and a Publican Verily I say vnto you 〈…〉 yee bind 〈…〉 shalb◠〈◊〉 in heauen c. Againe 〈…〉 if two of you shâ—â— agree in earth vpon any â—â—ing whatsoeuer they shall desâ—â— it shall bee giuen 〈…〉 which is in heauen For where two or three are gaâ—â—â—red together in my 〈◊〉 there am
most strictly to him and neuerthelesse two of them at least doe but hold by a bare and verie small threed As the third also would stand in the like case but that beeing so neere and terryfying a neighbour of all sides vnto the Pope he holds him by the throat as they say being able to starue him to death with all the Consistorie whensoeuer he will but restraine the transportation of corne out of Sicily and other his dominions round about whereby he commandeth more then he is commaunded not perhaps more then hated if they durst shew it and neuer giues their holy Ghost leaue to sing any other song but that which hee sends him ready prickt from Madrid Now then if these men when they haue done al their vtmost power yea in the stretching of their loue filial duty enlarged kindnes beyoÌ„d that which they can wel warraÌ„t yet can they assigne vnto their father the Pope no more then a generall care of soules with a ministeriall direction onely for order and execution of Canons ouer particular Churches no power at all ouer the vniuersall Church in grosse much lesse ouer a generall Councell much lesse or in the same degree ouer the bodies of men by violence or any temporall punishment but by meere counsell persuasion onely And if not so much as ouer priuate bodies least of all ouer Kings and ciuill Princes which rather they allow and openly acknowledge to haue right and authoritie to commaund both Church and Church-men in some cases to which Princes all men aswell Ecclesiasticall as Ciuill must be most humble and faithfull subiects as being in so much as they be Lords of the territorie established by God Protectors and Defendors of the Church and of both Diuine and Naturall lawes with attribution of the materiall Sword to themselues only priuatiuely and exclusiuely from all others within their owne dominions What stop then any more deere brethren but that you shold gladly yeeld your naturall dutie and allegiance to your naturall king since ye are bouÌ„d to yeeld it euen to the froward 1. Pet. 2.18 That you should willingly giue him but that simple pawne of your loyaltie your oath the simplest that could euer be imagined vpon that great straight and necessitie whereunto the State was brought by that portentuous mischiefe which did once so nearely and daungerously threaten kingdome and vs all as you your selues haue bene most vndoubting eye-witnesses You shall not be Catholikes neuerthelesse and you know how little or nothing besides that is required at your hands your consciences are no waies pressed your thoughts are most free and your words thank God for it and your gracious King may freely expresse them In so much that euerie day some of you God forbid I should say all dispute as peremptorily speake as odiously decide as vnchristianly inueigh as publikely against vs and our Religion here in the midst of London to our selues and one to another to our owne faces as thogh they were in the verie middle of Rome or Seuil very farre from the pittilesse fiers of those hot Countries where they burn without remission not only such as speak the least word I doe not say against God for they let them alone but against the Pope for that is the greater sinne yea euen against those they can by any meanes discouer to haue had at any time any thought or bee able afterwards to haue it against him Onely all you may complaine of is that yee haue not as free and as publike exerâ—ise as we of the rites of your Religion And yet in some sort haue yee it by hooke and by crooke or by a soueraigne transcendency of grace so much haue euer all Magistrates of our Religion abhorred extreame execution of the lawes but being forced thereunto by violent attempts For shame therefore be contented Enioy peaceably that liberty which you may buy so cheape and rather loue the certaine quietnesse of your present estate then the incertitude of another which sure cannot be but troublesome Force not by an vnnatural rebelliouâ— wilfulnesse in so iust in so lawfull a matter your naturall and most gracious King to be most vnvnwillingly and with a great griefe to hâ—s heart more sharp against you then the sweet inclination and meeknes of his royall nature will beare I conclude with an addition to your further encouragement of some decrees d cided and set downe two hundred yeres agoe by the verie same Sorbonne against that false doctrine and such as seemed then to broach it a new whom they neuer failed to condemne and caused them publikely to aske pardon and make satisfaction as Frier Iohn Sarazin Iohn Tanquarell Florentin Iacob Thomas de Blanzy and sundrie others at sundry times did Which decrees yet now of late they haue caused againe to bee printed by their owne Printer Felix de Blanuile in S. Victors streete in Paris and bound together with this present booke with this title Of the power and supremacie of the Pope Against the Sectaries of this age Repeating once more the diffinition of the Church as it is set downe in the title page of this booke to point as it were with the finger that both sprung together out of one the same fountaine Whereby you may see how carefull they haue euer beene to dash the young ones of Babilon against the right rocke of the truth The decrees are these after a long rehearsall of the cause and ceremonies of Sarrazins recantation in presence of the Rector of the Vniuersity and whole scores of Doctors there named one by one as witnesses THat all powers of Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction other then that of the Pope are from Christ himselfe in as much as concerneth primary institution and collation but from the Pope and from the Church for limitation and ministeriall dispensation onely That those powers are of diuine right and immediatly ordeined by God That we finde in the Scripture that Christ hath founded his church and expresly ordained other powers differing from that of the Pope That whensoeuer any matters bee ordained in a Councel the whole authoritie which giueth force to the decrees doth reside not in the Pope onely and alone but principally in the holy Ghost and the Catholike Church That by the text of the Scripture and doctrine of the Apostles wee see directly that authoritie of iurisdiction was conferred vpon the Apostles and Disciples when Christ did send them forth That the power of Iurisdiction of inferiour Prelates either Bishops or Curates is immediatly from God according to the doctrine of the Gospell and the Apostles That there is some power that is the power of the Church which of right and incertaine cases can decree against the Pope That any man liuing of whatsoeuer title authority dignity or preeminence hee may be euen though hee were a Pope if onely he haue the vse of reason may commit Simony Finally most heartily intreating you to take in the best part of this my louing