it easely sene vpon how good grownde this doctrine standeth whereby it is affirmed that the bishop of Rome his Primacie hath his force by gods lawe and not onely by mannes lawe much lesse by vniust vsurpation The scriptures by which as well these as all other holy and learned fathers were leadde to acknowledge and confesse the Primacie of Peter and his successours were partly such as Anacletus and Gregorie here alleageth and Cyprian meaneth as it appeareth by his third treatise De simplicitate praelatorum and sundry mo of the newe testament as to the learned is knowen of which to treate here largely and piththely as the weight of the matter requyreth at this tyme I haue no leisure neither if I had yet myght I conueniently performe it in this treatise which otherwise will amount to a sufficiēt bignes and that matter throughly handeled will fill a right great volume Wherfore referring the readers to the credite of these worthy fathers who so vnderstoode the scriptures as thereof thei were persuaded the Primacie to be attributed to Peters successour by God him selfe I will procede keping my prefixed order The 2. proufe coūcelles Whereas the preeminence of power and auctoritie which to the bishop of Rome by speciall and singular priuiledge God hath graunted is commended to the worlde by many and sundry councelles for auoiding of tediousnesse I will rehearse the testimonies of a fewe Amonge the canons made by the three hundred and eighten bishops at the Nicene Councell which were in number 70. and all burnt by heretikes in the East church saue xx and yet the whole number was kepte diligently in the church of Rome in the originall it selfe sent to Syluester the bishop there from the councell subscribed with the said 318. fathers handes Vide Frācisc Turrianū lib. 3. charact dogmat the 44. canon which is of the power of the patriarke ouer the Metropolitanes and bishops and of the Metropolitane ouer bishops in the ende hath this decree Vt autem cunctis ditionis suae nationibus etc. As the patriarke beareth rule ouer all nations of his iurisdiction and geueth lawes to them and as Peter Christes vicare at the beginning sette in auctoritie ouer religion ouer the churches and ouer all other thinges perteining to Christ was Maister and ruler of christen princes prouinces and of all nations So he whose principalitie or chieftie is at Rome like vnto Peter and equall in auctoritie obteineth the rule and souerainetie ouer all patriakes After a sewe wordes it foloweth there If any man repine against this statute or dare resist it by the decree of the whole councell he is accursed Iulius that worthy bishop of Rome not long after the councell of Nice in his epistle that he wrote to the 90. Ariane bishops assembled in councell at Antioche against Athanasius bishop of Alexandria reprouing them for theire vniust treating of him saith of the canons of the Nicene councell then freshe in their remembrance that thei commaunde Non debere praeter sententiā Romani pontificis vllo modo concilia celebrari nec episcopos damnari That without the auctoritie of the Bishop of Rome neither Councelles ought to be kepte nor bishops condemned Againe that nothing be decreed without the Bishop of Rome Cui haec maiora ecclesiarum negotia tam ab ipso domino quà m ab omnibus vniuersorum conciliorum fratribus speciali priuilegio contradita sunt To whom these and other the weighty matters of the churches be committed by speciall priuiledge as well by our lord him selfe as by all oure brethren of the whole vniuersall councelles Among other principalle pointes which he reciteth in that epistle out of the Nicene councelles canōs this is one Vt omnes episcopi etc. That all bishops who susteine wronge in weighty causes so often as nede shall require make their appeale freely to the See Apostolike and flie to it for succour as to their mother that frō thence they may be charitably susteined defended and deliuered To the disposition of which See the auncient auctoritie of th'Apostles and their successours and of the canons hath reserued all weighty or great ecclesiasticall causes and iudgementes of bishops Athanasius and the whole companie of bishops of Egypte Thebaida and Libya assembled together in councell at Alexandria complaining in their epistle to Felix the Pope of the great iniuries and griefes they susteined at the Arianes alleageth the determination of the Nicene councell touching the supreme auctoritie and power of that See Apostolike ouer all other bishops Similiter à supradictis patribus est definitum consonanter etc. Likewise saie they it hath ben determined by common assent of the foresaide fathers of Nice that if any of the bishops suspecte the Metropolitane or theire felowbishops of the same prouince or the iudges that then they make their appeale to your holy See of Rome to whom by our lord him selfe power to binde and louse Matt. 16. by speciall priuiledge aboue other hath ben graunted This much alleaged out os the canōs of the Nicene councell gathered partly out of Iulius epistle who wrote to them that were present at the making of them which taketh awaye all suspicion of vntruth and partly out of Athanasius and others that were a great parte of the same councell For further declaration of this matter it were easy here to alleage the councell of Sardica the councell of Chalcedon Ca. 4. ca. 9 certaine councelles of Aphrica yea some councelles also holden by heretikes and sundry other but such store of auctorities commonly knowen these may suffise The Christen princes that ratified and confirmed with their proclamations and edictes The 3. proufe Edictes of Emperours the decrees of the canons concerning the Popes Primacie and gaue not to him first that auctoritie as the aduersaries doo vntruly reporte were Iustinian and Phocas the Emperours The wordes of Iustinianes edicte be these In authēt de Eccles tit Sancimus secundum canonum definitiones sanctissimum senioris Romae Papam primum esse omnium sacerdotum We ordeine according to the determinations of the canons that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome be formest and chiefe of all priestes About three score and ten yeres after Iustinian Phocas the Emperour in the tyme of Bonifacius to represse the arrogancie of the bishop of Constantinople Lib. 4. historiae lōgobardicae cap. 36. as Paulus Diaconus writeth who vainely and as Gregorie sayeth contrary to our lordes teachinges and the decrees of the canons and for that wickedly tooke vpon him the name of the vniuersall or oecumenicall bishop and wrote him selfe chiefe of all bishops made the like decree and ordinance that the holy See of the Romaine and Apostolike church shuld be holden for the head of all churches The 4. proufe doctoures Of the doctours what shall I say verely this matter is so often and so commonly reported of them that their sainges laide together would scantly be
beleue one holy catholike and Apostolike churche therefore I saye it hath nede of one prince and ruler to be kepte and holden in If it be other wise vnitie must nedes forthwith be sparkled and brokē a sunder And therefore it behoued that the rule and gouernement of the churche shuld be committed to one And whereas these Gospellers saye that Christ is the gouernour of the churche and that he being one kepeth the churche in vnitie we answere that although the churche be first and principally gouerned by Christ as all other thinges are yet gods high goodnes hath so ordeined as eche thing may be prouided for according to his owne condition and nature Therefore whereas mankynde dependeth most of sense and receiueth all learnīg and institutiō of sensible thinges therefor it hath nede of a man to be a gouernour and ruler whom it maye perceiue by outward sense And euen so the Sacramentes by which the grace of God is geuen vnto vs in consideration of mannes nature being so made of God as it is are ordeined in thinges sensible Therefor it was behoofull this gouernement of the churche to be committed to one man which at the first was Peter and afterward eche successour of Peter for his tyme as is afore declared Neither can this one man haue this power of any consent or companie of men but it is necessary he haue it of God For to ordeine and appointe the vicare of Christ it perteineth to none other then to Christ For where as the churche and all that is of the chuch is Christes as well for other causes as specially for that we are bought with a great price euen with his bloude as S. Paul sayeth 1. Cor. 3. how can it perteine to any other then to him to institute and appoint to him selfe a vicare that is one to doe his steede Wherefore to cōclude excepte we would wickedly graunt that gods prouidence hath lacked or doth lacke to his churche for loue of which he hath geuen his onely begotten sonne and which he hath promised neuer to forgete so as the woman can not forgete the chylde she bare in her wombe Reason may sone enduce vs to beleue that to one man one bishop the chiefe and highest of all bishops the successour of Peter the rule and gouernement of the church by God hath ben deferred For elles if God had ordeyned that in in the church shuld be sundry heades and rulers and none constituted to be ouer other but all of equall power ech one among their people then he shuld seme to haue set vp so many churches as he hath appointed gouernours And so he shall appeare to haue brought in among his faithfull people that vnruly confusion the destruction of all common weales so much abhorred of princes which the grekes call Anarchian which is a state for lacke of order in gouernours without any gouernement at all Which thing sith that the wise and politike men of this worlde doo shunne and detest in the gouernemēt of these earthly kingdomes as most perniciouse and hurtfull to attribute to the high wisdome of God and to our lord Christ who is the auctor of the most ordinate disposition of all thinges in earth and in heauen it were heynous and prophane impietie Wherefore if the state of a kingdome can not continew safe onlesse one haue power to rule how shall not the church spredde so farre abroade be in danger of great disorders corruption and vtter destruction if as occasion shal be geuen among so great strifes and debates of men among so many fyerbrandes of discord tossed to and fro by the deuils enemies of vnitie there be not one head and ruler of all to be consulted of all to be hearde of all to be folowed and obeied If strife and contentiō be stirred about matters of faith if controuersie happen to rise about the sense of the scriptures shall it not be necessary there be one supreme iudge to whose sentence the parties may stande If nede require as it hath ben often sene that generall councelles be kepte how can the bishops to whom that matter belongeth be brought together but by commaundement of one head gouernour whom they owe their obediēce vnto For elles being summoned perhappes they will not come Finally how shall the contumacie and pertinacie of mischeuous persones be repressed specially if the bishops be at discension with in them selues if there be not a supreme power who towardes some may vse the rodde towardes other some the spirite of lenitie with such discrete temperament as malice be vanquished right defended and concorde procured least if the small sparkes of strife be not quenched by auctoritie at the beginning at length a great flame of schismes and heresies flashe abrode to the great dāger of a multitude Therefore as there is one body of Christ one flocke one church euen so is there one head of that his mysticall body one shepeherd and one chiefe seruant made steward ouerseer and ruler ouer Christes householde in his absence vntill his comming againe The 6. proufe practise of the churche syxfolde But here perhappes some will saie it can not appeare by the euente of thinges and practise of the church that the Pope had this supreme power and auctoritie ouer all bishops and ouer all Christes flocke in matters touching faith and in causes ecclesiasticall Verely who so euer peruseth the ecclesiasticall stories and vieweth the state of the church of all tymes and ages cā not but cōfesse this to be most euident And here I might alleage first certaine places of the newe testament declaring that Peter practised this preeminence among the disciples at the beginning and that they yelded the same as of right apperteining vnto him Act. 1. As when he first and onely moued them to choose one in the stede of Iudas and demeaned him selfe as the chiefe autctor of all that was done therein when he made answere for all Act. 2. at what time they were gased and wondered at and of some mockte as being dronken with newe wine for that in the fistith day thei spake with tonges of so many nations when he vsed that dredfull seueritie in punishing the falshed Act. 5. and hypocrisie of Ananias and Saphira his wife Act. 15. when variāce being risen about the obseruation of certaine pointes of Moyses lawe he as chiefe and head of the rest saide his mynde before all others Among many other places lefte out for breuitie that is not of least weight that Paul being retourned to Damasco out of Arabia Galat. 1. after three yeres went to Ierusalem to see Peter and abode with him fiften dayes But because our aduersaries doo wreath and wreste the scriptures be they neuer so plaine by there priuate and straunge constructions to an vnderstanding quite contrary to the sense of the catholike church I will referre the reader for further proufe of this matter to the stories bearing faithfull witnes of the
desyre eueÌ„ so to be tried But vvhy throvv you avvaye these balance and being so earnestly requyred vvhy be ye so loth to shevv forth but one olde doctour of your syde ye make me beleue ye vvould not haue the matter comme to tryall etc. 26 VVhat thinke ye is there novv iudged of you that being so long tyme requyred yet can not be vvonne to bring one sentence in your ovvn defence Fol. 26. I protest before God bring me but one sufficient authoritie in the matters I haue requyred and aftervvard I vvil gentilly and quietly conferre vvith you farther at your pleasure VVherefore for as much as it is goddes cause if ye meane simply deale simply betraie not your right if ye maye saue it by the speaking of one vvorde The people must nedes muse some vvhat at your silence and mistrust your doctrine if it shall appeare to haue no grovvnde neither of the olde councelles nor of the doctours nor of the scripture nor any alovved example of the primitiue churche to stand vpon and so fiften hundred yeres and the consent of antiquitie and generalitie that ye haue so loÌ„g and so much talkte of shall comme to nothing For thinke not that any vvise man vvill be so much your frend that in so vveighty matters vvill be satisfied vvith your silence Here I leaue putting you In the ende of the 2. ansvver to D. C. fol. 27. eftsones gently in remembraunce that being so osteÌ„ and so openly desyred to shevv forth one doctour or Councell etc. in the matters a fore mencioned yet hitherto ye haue brought nothing and that if ye stand so still it must needes be thought ye doo it conscientia imbecillitatis for that there vvas nothing to be brought You saye vve lacke stuffe to proue our purpose In the reply to D. Coles last letter fol. 43. O vvould to God your stuffe and oures might be layed together then shuld it sone appeare hovv true it is that ye saye and hovv faithfully ye haue vsed the people of God Me thinketh bothe reason and humanitie vvould Fol. 44. ye shuld haue ansvvered me sumvvhat specially being so ofteÌ„ and so openly required at the least you shuld haue alleaged Augustine Ambrose Chrysostome Hierome etc. VVhereas a man hath nothing to saye it is good reason he kepe silence as you doo You knovv that the matters that lie in question betvveÌ„ vs haue ben taught as vve novv teache them Fol. 53. bothe by Christ him self and by his Apostles and by the olde doctours and by the auncient generall Councelles and that you hauing none of these or like authorities haue set vp a religion of your ovvne and built it only vpon your selfe Therefor I may iustly and truly â—â—â—nclude that you novv teache and of long tyme haue taught the people touching the Masse the Supremacie the commen prayers etc. is naught For neither Christ nor his Apostles nor the olde Doctours Tertulliane Cypriane S. Hierome S. Augustine S. Ambrose S. Chrisostom etc. euer taught the people so as you haue taught them Not vvithstanding your great vavvntes that ye haue made ye see novv ye are discomfyted Fol. 62. ye see the field is almost lost vvhere ar novv your crakes of doctours and councelles VVhy stampe ye not your bookes vvhy comme ye not forth vvith your euidence Novv ye stand in nede of it novv it vvill serue and take place if ye haue any Fol. 65. As I haue offred you oftentymes bring ye but tvvo lines of your syde and the field is yours Fol. 110. Hilarius sayeth vnto the Arians cedo aliud Euangelium shevv me some other gospell for this that ye bring helpeth you not Euen so vvill I saye to you Cedo alios doctores shevv me some other doctours for these that ye bring are not vvorthy the hearing I hoped ye vvould haue comme in vvith some fressher bande It must nedes be some miserable cause that can fynde no better patrones to cleaue vnto I knovv it vvas not for lacke of good vvill of your part ye vvould haue brought other doctours if ye could haue fovvnd them Fol. 112. O Master Doctour deale simply in Gods causes and saye ye haue doctours vvhen ye haue them in dede and vvhen ye haue them not neuer laye the fault of not alleaging them to the defence of your doctrine in your recognisaunce Fol. 114. But alas small rhetorike vvould suffise to shevv hovv litle ye haue of your syde to alleage for your selfe In the conclusion of the replyes to D. Cole fol. 129. Here once againe I conclude as before putting you in remembrance that this long I haue desyred you to bring forth some suâ—â—â—â—ent authoritie for prouf of your partie and yet hitherto can obteine nothing VVhich thing I must nedes novv pronounce simply and plainely because it is true vvith out if or and ye doo conscientia imbecillitatis because as ye knovv there is nothing to be brought THE PREFACE TO Maister Iuell THIS heape of Articles which you haue layde to gether Maister Iuell the greater it ryseth the lesse is your aduantage For whereas you require but one sentence for the auouching of any one of them all the more groweth your number the more enlarged is the libertie of the answerer It semeth you haue conceiued a great confidence in the cause and that your aduersaries so it liketh you to terme vs whom God hath so stayde with his grace as we can not beare you coÌ„panie in departing from his catholike churche haue litle or nothing to saye in their defence Els what shuld moue you both in your printed Sermon and also in your answeres and Replyes to Doctour Cole to shew such courage to vse such amplification of wordes so often and with such vehemencie to prouoke vs to encounter and as it were at the blast of a trumpet to make your chalenge What feared you reproche of dastardnes if you had called forth no more but one learned maÌ„ of all your aduersaries and therefore to shew your hardynesse added more weight of wordes to your proclamatioÌ„ and chalenged all the learned men that be a lyue In the sermoÌ„ fol. 46 Among cowardes perhappes it serueth the tourne some tymes to looke fiercely to speake terribly to shake the weapon furiously to threaten bloudily no lesse then cutting hewing and killing but amoÌ„g such we see many tymes sore frayes foughten and neuer a blowe geuen With such bragges of him self and reproche of all others Homer the wisest of all poetes setteth forth Thersites for the fondest man of all the Grecians that came to Troye Goliath the giaunt so stoute as he was made offer to fight but with one Israelite 1. Reg. 17. Eligite ex vobis vituÌ„ descendat ad singulare certamen Choose out a man amongst you quoth he and let him come and fight with me man for man But you Maister Iuell in this quarell aske not the combate of one catholike man
them safest of all And in an other place Ad Enodiū epist 102. Si propter eos solos Christus mortuus est qui certa intelligentia possunt ista discernere penè frustrà in Ecclesia laboramus If Christ sayeth he dyed onely for them which can with certaine or suer vnderstanding discerne these thinges concerning God then is the labour we take in the churche in maner in vayne God requyreth not so much of vs how much we vnderstād as how much we beleue and through belefe how much we loue And when we shall all appeare before Christ in that dredfull daye of iudgement whe shall not be requyred to geue an accompte of our vnderstanding but faith presupposed of our charitie Now though the people knowe not the Latine tonge and albeit it were better The benefite of prayer vttered in a tonge not vnderstāded they had the Seruice in their owne vulgare tonge for the better vnderstanding of it yet as it is for as muche as it cōsisteth in maner all together of the scriptures that great profite cometh bothe to the reader and to the hearer of it Origen sheweth at large in the twētith homilie vpon Iosue Because it were ouer long to bring all that he sayeth there to this purpose the summe of the whole may thus be abbridged First that the heauenly powers and angelles of God which be with vs haue great lyking in our vtterāce of the wordes of the scripture Though we vnderstād not the wordes we vtter with our mowth yet those powers sayeth he vnderstand them and thereby be inuited and that with delite to helpe vs. And speaking of the powers that be within vs to whom charge of our soules and bodies is committed he sayeth that if the scriptures be read of vs they haue pleasure therein and be made the stronger toward taking heede to vs yea and that if we speake with tonges and our spirite praye and our sense be with out fruite And there he alleageth to that purpose the cōmon place of S. Paul to the Corinthiās calling it merueilouse and in maner a mysterie shewing how the spirite prayeth the sense being with out fruite After this he declareth the euill powers and our ghostly ennemies the deuill by our reading and hearing of the scriptures to be dryuen from vs. As by enchauntements sayeth he snakes be stayed from doing hurte with their venyme so if there be in vs any serpent of contrary power or if any snake waite priuely to mischiefe vs by vertue of the holy scripture rehearsed so that for wearynesse thou tourne not awaye thy hearing he is put awaye S. Augustine confirmeth the same doctrine where he sayeth In prologo Psalmorum psalmus daemones fugat angelos in adiutorium inuitat The psalme read deuoutly or heard putteth deuilles to flight and prouoketh angels to helpe At lenght Origen shewing how by meate or drynke we fynde remedie for sore eyes though we feele no benefite forthwith in eating or drynking he concludeth his speciall parte of the comparison with these wordes In this wise we must beleue also of the holy scripture that it is profitable and doth good to the soule etiamsi sensus noster ad praesens intelligentiam non capit although presently our sense doo not atteine the meaning or vnderstanding because our good powers by these wordes be refreshed and fedde and the cōtrary that is our aduersarie powers are weakned and put to flight At lenght making obiection to him selfe on the behalfe of his hearers as though they shuld laye this doctrine to his charge for excuse of taking further paynes in preaching and expounding the scriptures to them therto he answereth and sayeth No no we haue not sayd these to you for that cause neither haue we vttered these thinges to you for excuse but to shewe you in Scripturis sanctis esse vim quandam quae legenti etiam sine explanatione sufficiat that in the holy scriptures there is a certaine power or strength which is sufficient for one that readeth it yea without any expounding of it This sufficiencie he referreth I thinke to the procuring of the good powers to helpe vs and to the dryuing awaye the malice of the euill powers our ghostly enemies that they hurte vs not I trust wise godly and stedfast men who be not caryed about with euery wynde of doctrine will be moued more with the auctoritie of Origen a man allwayes in the iudgemēt of all the christē worlde accōpted most excellētly learned thē with the scorning of Caluine who speaking of the auncient latine Seruice vsed in England and Fraunce sayeth In Institutionib ad Ecclesiā ex sono non intellecto nullus penitus fructus redit that of the sownde not vnderstanded no fruite at all retourneth to the churche vsing that word of dispite that might better be spoken by a mynstrell of his pype and taburrette then by a preacher of the diuine Seruice Neither hereof with any milder spirite speaketh his disciple and subminister Theodore Beza the hote minister of the deformed churches of Fraunce Confessionis ca. 4. Sectiōe 16 Quaecunque preces ab aliquo concipiuntur eo idiomate quod ipse non intelligat pro Dei ludibrio sunt habendae What prayers so euer be made sayeth he of any man in a tonge that he vnderstādeth not they be to be taken for a mockery of God Who so euer here alloweth Caluine and Beza condemned of the churche must condemne Origen for this point neuer reproued nor touched of any that haue not spared him where so euer they could charge him with any errour If all prayers made in an vnknowen tonge be a mocking of God as Beza sayeth then were the prayers vttered by miracle in the primitiue churche with tonges which the vtterers them selues vnderstoode not after the mynde of Chrysostome a mocking of god for I see nothing whereby they are excluded from his generall saying and vniuersall propositiō Verely this teaching of Beza is not sownde I wene if he were out of the protection of his deformed churches and cōuented before a catholike bishop to geue an accompte of this doctrine he would steppe backe and reuoke that rashe saying agayne For els he shuld seme to graunt that God gaue at the begynning of the church the gifte of tonges to be mokte withall which were very absurde and blasphemouse S. Paul wisheth that all the Corinthians spake with tonges but rather that they prophecied If our newe maisters condemne the Latine Seruice in the Latine churche for that the people vnderstand it not thereof must it folowe that the English seruice so much of it as consisteth of Dauides psalmes which is the most parte be also cōdemned The like may besayde of other nations For how many shall we fynde not of the people onely but also of the best learned mē that vnderstand the meaning of them in what tōge so euer they be set forth S. Hilarie cōpareth the booke of psalmes to a
all this so much might easely be sayde as shuld serue to a whole volume But In this treatise seeking to auoide prolixitie hauing purposed to saye somewhat to this number of the other Articles and knowing this matter of the Primacie to be allready largely and learnedly handeled of others will but trippe as it were lightly ouer at this tyme and not sette my fast footing in the deepe debating and treating of it The Popes Primacie not of Man but of gods ordināce The first proufe of the Popes primacie scripture expoūded Matth. 16. First as concerning the right of the Popes primacie by gods lawe by these auncient autorities it hath ben auouched Anacletus that holy bishop and martyr S. Peters scholer and of him cōsecrated priest in his epistle to the bishops of Italie writeth thus In nouo testamento post Christum etc. In the newe testament the order of priestes beganne after our lord Christ of Peter because to him bishoprike was first geuen in the churche of Christ where as our lord saide vnto him Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will buylde my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it and vnto thee I will geue the keies of the kingdome of heauen Wherfore this Peter receiued of our lord first of all power to binde and to lowse and first of all he brought people to the faith by vertue of his preaching As for the other Apostles they receiued honour and power in like felowship with him and willed him to be their prince or chiefe gouernour In an other epistle to all bishoppes alleaging the same texte for the Primacie of the See of Rome speaking of the disposition of churches committed to Patriarkes and Primates saith thus most plainely This holy ad Apostolike church of Rome hath obteined the Primacie not of the Apostles but of our lord Sauiour him selfe and hath gotten the preeminence of power ouer all churches and ouer the whole flocke of Christen people euen so as he saide to blessed Peter th'Apostle Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke etc. S. Gregorie writing to Mauritius the Emperoure against Iohn the bishop of Constantinople ambitiously claiming and vsurping the name of an vniuersall bishop proueth the bishop of Rome succeding in Peters chaier to be Primate and to haue charge ouer all the church of Christ by scriptures thus Cunctis euangelium scientibus liquet etc. Epist 32. It is euident to all that knowe the gospell that the cure and charge of the whole church hath ben committed by the worde of our lord to the holy Apostle Peter prince of all the Apostles for to him it is sayde Peter Ioan. 21. Luc. 22. louest thou me feede my sheepe to him it is sayd Beholde Sathan hath desyred to syfte you as it were wheate and I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not And thou being once conuerted strengthen thy brethren To him it is saide Thou art Peter Matth. 26 and vpon this rocke I will buylde my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it And vnto the I will geue the keies of the kingdom of heauen And what so euer thou byndest vpon earth shal be bounde also in heauen and what so euer thou lowsest on earth shable lovvsed also in heauen Beholde he receiueth the keies of the heauenly kingdome Cura ei totius Ecclesiae principatus committitur the power of bynding and lowsing is geuen to him the charge of the whole church and principalitie is committed to him Thus farre Gregorie But because our aduersaries though without iuste cause refuse the witnes of the Bishops of Rome in this article as vnlawfull witnesses in their owne cause were thei neuer so holy martyrs or learned confessours they may vnderstand we are able to alleage sundry other authorities to the confirmation hereof that be aboue all exception S. Cyprian declaring the contempte of the high Priest Christes Vicarie in earth to be cause of schismes and heresies writeth thus to Cornelius Pope and Martyr Neque enim aliunde haereses obortae sunt etc. Neither haue heresies or schismes rysen of any other occasiō then of that the Priest of God is not obeied and that one Priest for the tyme in the church and one iudge for the tyme in stede of Christ is not thoughte vpon To whom if the whole brotherhed that is the whole number of Christē people which be brethren together and were so called in the primatiue church would be obedient according to gods teachinges Secūdum magisteria diuina then no man would make adoo against the colledge of priestes no mā woulde make him selfe iudge not of the bishop nowe but of God after gods iudgement after the fauour of the people declared by theire voices at the Election after the consent of his felowbishops no man through breach of vnitie and strife would diuide the church of Christ no man standing in his owne conceite and swelling with pride would sette vp by him selfe abroade without the church a newe heresie Of all other authorities that of Athanasius and of the bishops of Egypte and Libya gathered together in a Synode at Alexandria is to be regarded Who making humble sute to Felix then bishop of Rome for aide and succour against the Arianes through the whole epistle confessing the supreme auctoritie of that Apostolike See vtter these very wordes Vestrae apostolicae sedis imploramus auxilium etc. In primo tomo Cōciliorum We humbly besech you of the helpe of your Apostolike See Because as verely we beleue God hath not despised the praiers of his seruantes offered vp to him with teares but hath constituted and placed you your predecessours who were Apostolike Prelates in the highest tower or supreme state In summitatis arce constituit and commaunded them to haue cure and charge of all churches to th' intent you helpe and succour vs and that defending vs as to whom iudgemēt of bishops is committed you forslowe not through negligence to delyuer vs from our enemies Now if the Apostolike church of Rome hath obteined the Primacie and preeminence of power ouer all churches and ouer the whole flocke of Christen people of our lord Sauiour him selfe as Anacletus saith If it be euident to all that knowe the gospell that the cure and charge of the whole church hath ben committed to the holy Apostle Peter Prince of all the Apostles by the worde of our lord as Gregorie witnesseth If the whole brotherhed that is to say all christen folke ought to obeye the one hygh Priest or bishop of God and the one Iudge that is Christes Vicare or in the steede of Christ for the tyme according to the preceptes and teachinges of God as Cyprian writeth If it be God that hath placed and ordeined the bishop of Rome in the highest state of the church as Athanasius with all the fathers of that Alexandrine councell recordeth If this I say be true then is