certeine noble and rich men being chosen to the ministerie and lyuing somewhat like vnto the former estates wherein they were before others also assayed to be like vnto them as we see in that poynt the nature of man is too ready to follow if they see any example before theyr eyes But there is no reason because Ambrose and such lyke dyd so therefore our byshops shoulde do it of the churches costes Nor because Ambrose and such like dyd tary in their trim houses which they had built them selues of theyr owne charge before they were byshops that therefore they shuld come out of theyr chambers or narow houses into courtes and palaces builded of the churches costes An other reason of thys pompe and statelynes of the byshoppes was that which almost brought in all poyson and popishe corruption into the church and that is a foolish emulation of the maners and fashions of the Idolatrous nations For as thys was the craft of sathan to draw away the Israelites from the true seruice of God by theyr fond desire they had to conforme them selues to the fashyons of the gentiles so to punish vnthankefull receiuing of the gospell and to fulfill the Prophesies touching the man of sinne the Lord suffered those that professed Christ to corrupt theyr wayes by the same sleyght of the Deuill Galerianus Maximinus the Emperor to the end that he myght promote the Idolatry and superstition whereunto he was addicted chose of the choysest magistrates to be priestes and that they myght be in great estimation gaue eche of them a trayne of men to follow them And the christians and christian Emperours thinking that that would promote the christian relygion that promoted superstition and not remembring that it is often times abhomynable before God which is esteemed in the eyes of men endeuoured to make theyr byshops encounter and match with those Idolatrous priestes and to cause that they should not be inferior to them in wealth and outward pompe And therfore I conclude that seing the causes and fountaynes from whence thys pompe and statelynes of byshops haue come are so corrupt and naught the thing it selfe which hath rysen of such causes can not be good And thus will I make an end leauing to the consideration and indifferent waying of the indifferent reader how true it is that I haue before propounded that our Archbyshops Metropolitanes Archdeacons Byshops haue besides the names almost nothing common with those which haue bene in elder tymes before the sunne of the gospell began to be maruellously darkned by the stincking mistes which the deuill sent forth out of the bottomles pit to blynde the eyes of men that they shoulde not see the shame and nakednes of that purpled whore which in the person of the cleargy long before she gat into her seate prepared her selfe by paynting her wrythen face with the couloures of these gorgeous titles and with the shew of magnifycall and worldly pompe For the deuill knew well enough that if he should haue sette vp one only byshoppe in that seate of perdition and left all the rest in that simplicitie wherein God had appoynted them that hys eldest sonne shoulde neyther haue had any way to gette into that and when he had gotten it yet being as it were an owle amongst a sort of birdes shoulde haue bene quickly discouered But I haue done only thys I admonishe the reader that I doe not allow of all those thinges which I before alleaged in the comparison betwene our Archbyshoppes and the Archbyshops of olde tyme or our byshoppes and theirs Only my entent is to shew that although there were corruptions yet in respect of ours they be much more tollerable and that it might appeare how smale cause there is that they should alleage theyr examples to confirme the Archbyshops and Byshops that now are Concerning the offices of commissionership and how vnmeete it is that mimisters of the worde should exercise them and how that the worde of God doth not permitte any such confusion of offices there shal be by Gods grace spoken of it afterwarde To your answere also vnto the places of S. Mathew and Luke the reply is made before The place of the fourthe of the first to the Corinthyans is well alledged for it teacheth a moderate estymation of the mynisters and a meane betwene the contempt and excessiue estymation neyther can there be any redyer way to breede that disorder which was amongst the Corinthyans as to say I holde of such a one and I of such a one and I of such an other then to sette vp certayne mynisters in so hyghe Titles and great shew of worldly honoure For so commeth it to passe that the people will saye I beleeue my Lord and my Lord archbyshoppe whatsoeuer oure parson say for they bee wyse men and learned as wee see it came to passe amongst the Corrinthyans For the Apostles because they hadde a shewe and outwarde pompe of speache they caryed away the people For althoughe Saynt Paule sayeth that some sayde I holde of Paule I holde of Apollo I of Cephas yet as it appeareth in an other place they helde one of thys braue eloquent teacher an other of that For hee translated these speaches vnto hym and hys fellowes by a fygure All that rule is tyrannycall whiche is not lawfull and is more then it oughte to bee and therfore the place of Saynt Peter is fitly alleaged whereof also I haue spoken some thing before You are you say of Hemingius mynde and thincke that thys opynion smelleth of Anabaptisme I haue shewed how you haue depraued and corrupted Hemingius and desire you to shew some better reason of your opynion autos ephe will not suffice vs You say that if we had once obtayned equalitie amongst the cleargie we would attempt it in the laitie In what starre doe you see that Maister Doctor Moyses sayth that if a man speake of a thing to come and it come not to passe as he hath spoken that that man is a false Prophet if your prophesie come not to passe you know your iudgement already out of Moyses The Pharisies when our sauiour Christ inueighed agaynst their ambytion accused hym that he was no freende to Cesar and went about to discredite hym with the cyuill Magistrate you shall apply it your selfe you will needes make the Archbyshoppe c. neyghboures vnto the cyuill Magistrates and yet they almost dwell as farre a sonder as Rome and Ierusalem and as Syon and S. Peters Church there so that the house of the archbyshoppe may bee burnt sticke and stone when not so much as the smoke shall approche the house of the cyuill magistrate In the. 116. page for the authoritie of the archbyshoppe is alleaged the nynthe Canon of the Councell of Antioch which I haue before alleaged to proue how farre different the authoritie of the Metropolitane in those times was from that which is now For there the Councell sheweth that euery Byshoppe
and grauitie that the order which the Apostle there vseth is still to be obserued M. Bucer of the kingdome of Christ in the. 1. booke and. 9. chap. sayeth that S. Paule accuseth the Corinthians for that the whole church dyd not cast out of their company the incestuous person 6. That Chauncelors Commissaries Officials c. vsurpe authority in the Church which belongeth not to them M. Caluin in hys Institutions 4. boke 11. chap. 7. sect speaketh agaynst the office of Officials and alledgeth diuers reasons agaynst them as that they exercise that part of the Byshops charge and that they handle matters whiche pertayne not to the spirituall iurisdiction M. Beza in hys boke of Diuorces prouing that the iudiciall deciding of matrimonyall causes appertayneth vnto the cyuill magistrate sayeth that officials proctors and promoters and in a word all the swinish filth now of long time hath wasted the church Peter Martyr vpon the. 13. chap. to the Romaines speaking agaynst the ciuill iurisdiction of byshops doth by the same reason condemne it in their deputies the officials 7. That the mynisters of the worde ought not to exercise any ciuill offices and iurisdiction M. Caluin in hys Institutions 4. boke 11. chap. 9. sect bringeth dyuers reasons to proue that byshops may neyther vsurpe nor take being geuen them eyther the right of the sword or the knowledge of ciuill causes M. Beza in hys Confessions chap. 5. sect 32. sayth that the Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction is to be distinguished from the ciuill and that although the byshops in the times of Christian Emperoures were troubled with the hearing of cyuill causes yet they dyd not that by any iudiciall power which they exercised but by a frendly entreaty of the parties which were at discorde and sayeth notwithstanding that herein the Emperors dyd geue too much to the ambytion of certayne byshoppes whereupon by little and by litle afterwarde all thinges were confounded And in the. 42. section sayeth that those corporall punyshmentes which the Apostles exercised were peculier and extraordinary Peter Martyr vpon the. 13. to the Romaines speaking of thys meeting of both Ecclesiasticall and ciuill iurisdiction in one man sayeth that when both the ciuill Ecclesiasticall functions do so meete that one hindreth the other so that he which exerciseth the one can not mynister the other M. Bucer vpon the. 5. of Mathew sayeth that there is no man so wise holy which is able to exercise both the ciuill the Ecclesiasticall power and that therfore he which will exercise the one must leaue the other 8. That the sacraments ought not to be priuately administred nor by women The forsayd confession .c. 20. holdeth that baptisme ought not to be mynistred by women or midwiues to the which also may be ioyned the Liturgy of the English church at Geneua which cōdemneth the mynistring of either of the sacraments in priuate houses or by women Peter Martyr vpon the. 11. chap. of the. 1. ep to the Corinthes in describing the corruptions of the Lordes supper noteth thys to be one that the church dyd not communicate altogether which corruption as it was in dyuers places in times past so he complayneth that it is now M. Bucer in hys first booke of the kingdome of Christ and. 7. chap. proueth out of the. 10. to the Corinth that the whole church should receiue the supper of the Lord together and that the vse of the church of God in thys behalfe ought with great and dyligent endeuour to be restored vnto the churches that it is a contempt of the mysteries not to be partakers when they are called M. Beza agaynst Westphalus sheweth that it is not decent that baptisme be mynistred but in the church that at standing houres and by the mynisters and further that vppon no necessitie as it is called it ought to be mynistred in priuate houses And that if it might be mynistred in priuate houses yet no otherwyse then by mynisters M. Caluin in hys institutions 4. booke chap. 15. sect 20. 21. proueth that baptisme ought not to be mynistred by priuate men or by any women 9. The iudgement of those late wryters touching ceremonies and apparell whose secret Epistles M. Doctor alledgeth appeareth by these places folowing cited but of their workes Printed and published by them selues Wherof also some are alledged by the answerer to the examiner where are diuers other places to thys purpose wherunto I referre the Reader M. Bucer vpon the. 18. of Math. sayth that they say nothing which doe alwayes obiect that greater things must be vrged then the reformation of ceremonies therby defending the reliques of Antichrist forasmuch as ceremonies are testimonies of religion And that as there is no agreement betwene Christ and Belial so those which are sincere Christians can abyde nothing of Antichrist Peter Martyr vpon the .10 c. of the .2 booke of the kings sayeth that the Lutheranes must take heede least whilest they cut of many popishe errors they follow Iehu by retayning also many popish things For they defend still the reall presence in the breade of the supper and images and vestmentes c. and sayth that relygion must be wholy reformed to the quicke Bullinger in hys Decades 5. booke and. 9. sermon sayth that our sauior Christ the Apostles vsed their accustomed apparell in the supper and that although in times past the ministers put on a kynde of cloke vppon their common apparell yet that was done neither by the example of Christ nor of hys Apostles but by the tradition of man and that in the ende after the example of the priestes apparell in the olde law it was cast vpon the mynisters at the ministration of the supper But sayeth he we haue learned long agoe not only that all Leuiticall ceremonies are abrogated but also that they ought to bee brought agayne into the church of no man And therefore seing we are in the light of the gospell and not vnder the shadow of the law we doe worthely reiect that massing Leuiticall apparell Gualter vpon the. 21. of the Actes among others bringeth thys for one reason to improue Paules shauing of hys head for that the gospell had beene preached .xx. yeares and that therefore the infirmitie of the Iewes ought not to haue beene borne with And after hee sayeth that that teacheth how much the supersticious masters of ceremonyes hurte the gospell which nourishe the weakenes of fayth by the long keeping of ceremonyes and by their long bearing hynder the doinges of those mynisters which are more feruent FINIS Prouer. 8. 15. 2. Chap. 34. 60. chap. 12. 3. Deut. 25. 2. Samu. 7. 2. Psal 132. Esra 3. 3. 10. Agg. 1. 14. 2. kin 22. 23. 2. kin 18. 2. Chr. 17. 8 Chap. 17. 18 1. Cor. 1. 27. 28 2. Chro. 29. 34 2. Chr. 30. 17. 2. Kin. 5. 4. 14 1. Sam. 25. 18 1. Agg. 234. 1. Cor. 3. 12. 13 2. Cor. 6. 15. Cap. 2. 42. 43. Rom. 12. 18. 2. Cor. 10.
common wealth vnto the church 181. Drunkardes whoremongers c. papistes are neither of the church nor in the church 50. M. Doctors Clemens counterfait 88. c. Communion receiued by 2. or 3. the rest of the church departing not to be suffered 147. c. Papistes ought not to bee compelled to receiue the Communion of the Lord nor to be admitted if they offer them selues 167. c. Communicants what they be which must of necessitie be examined 164. c. Wherupon the ministring of the Communion in houses to sicke parsons rose 146. c. Common bread most conuenient for the Communion 164. c. Kneeling at the Communion daungerous and not so agreeable to the action of the supper as sitting 165. c Confirmation of children ought to be taken away 199. D  Deacons ordayning with vs in part examined 39 Deacons were in euery church 190. c. Deacons office is only in prouiding for the poore of the church 190. Deacons office perpetuall 191. Deacons may not preach nor baptise 161. DecoÌ„sh is no ordinary step to the ministery 163 Deanes in times past how much they differed from ours now 96. Disciplyne and gouernment of the church â—â—â— matters of fayth and saluation 26 Discipline standeth in 3. principall partes 183. Dyonisius Areopagita no archb but bish 91. M. doctors Dyonisius a counterfait 188 E  Elders in euery congregation in the Apostles times 173. c Elders necessary in euery churche of the causes of their office 175. c. Elders in euery church alwayes necessary but especially in the time of peace vnder a christen magistrate 178. c. Eldership was kept in the church vnder christian Emperors in the time of peace 182. Eldership fel out of the church through slouthfulnes ambition of the Doctors 182. Election of the ministers ought to bee by the church 44. c Pretended differences to alter the manner of election of the mynisters vsed in the primatiue church answered 49. c Election and ordination differ 58. c Euangelists no ordinary ministers 63. c. Excommunication doth not belong to one maÌ„ but vnto the church and especially to the minister and elders therof 184. c. F  Standing lawes of fasting brought in first by the hereticke Montanus 30. Augustines and Ambroses corrupt iudgement of fasting 30. G  We haue more certaine direction by the gospel in the whole seruice of God then the Iewes had by the lawe 35. c. Greater seuerity ought to be vsed against sins and especially against idolatry vnder the gospel then vnder the law 42. c There ought to be no more standing at the reading of the gospell theÌ„ at the reading of other scriptures 203 Churche Gouernment compounded of all the good formes of gouernment 51. H  The churches authoritye in makyng of Holy dayes 151. c Of the Apostles and saints dayes 152. c. Of homilyes reading in the church 81. 196. c I.  Iames no archbyshop but a byshop by Eusebius iudgement 91. There ought to be no more curtesy at the name of Iesus then at the other names of God. 203. M  Abuses in the celebration of maryage 196. c. Metropolitane byshop what that the name implieth no supertoritye 93. Metropolitanes very pore 108. 94. Ministers lordship one ouer an other eyther in office or name forbidden 22. c In what sorte and howe farre ministers are superiors one ouer another 109. c The cause of want of ministers with vs. 40. c. Ministers reuolting to idolatrye oughte not to be receiued againe to the ministery 40. Ministers may not exercise ciuill offices 206. O  Officials iurisdiction vnlawfull 188. c. Ordination and election differ 58. c. Receiue the holy ghost an vnlawfull speache of the B. in ordaining ministers 62. c. P  Parishes not deuided by Denis the Monke but by the word of God. 69. Prayers not only in matter but also in forme ought to belike the prayers of the scripture 138 Particulare faultes in oure forme of Common prayer 136. c The name of Priest cannot agree vnto the minister of the gospell 198. Prophet no ordinary minister 63. c R  Reading is not preaching 160 Reading preaching the word compared 159 Residence or abiding in one certain place required of al ordinary ecclesiastical ministeries 60 Residence continuall and necessary of the minister in hys church 65. c S  Sacramentes oughte to be ministred after the word is preached 157. Sacramentes vnlawfully ministred in priuate houses 28. 142. c Scripture containing the direction of al things pertaining to the churche and of whatsoeuer things can fall into any part of mans life 26 Scriptures Canonicall ought only to be red in the church 196. c Singing of Psalmes in the church side by side corrupt 203. T  Theodoret a pore Metropolitane 115. Timotheus and Titus by the iudgement of the Scholiaste byshops 91. but in deede Euangelists 65 Aug. iudgement of traditions very corrupt 31 VV  Widowes in the churche to helpe the sicke and impotent in it 191 Women may not minister baptisme and howe this corruption came into the church 143. c Womens churching corrupt 150 ⧠To the Church of England and ALL THOSE THAT LOVE THE TRVETH IN IT T. C. wisheth mercy and peace from God our father and from our Lord Iesus Christ AS our men do more willingly go to warfare and fyght with greater courage agaynst straungers then agaynst theyr countreymen so it is with me in thys spirituall warfare For I would haue wyshed that thys controuersy had bene with the Papystes or with other if any can be more pestylent and professed ennemyes of the church for that should haue bene les griefe to wryte and more conuement to perswade that which I desire For as the very name of an ennemy doth kyndle the desire of fyghting and stirreth vp the care of preparing the furniture for the warre So I can not tell how it commeth to passe that the name of a brother staketh that courage and abateth that carefulnes which should be bestowed in desence of the truth But seeing the truth ought not to be forsaken for any mans cause I enforced my selfe considering that if the Lord myght lay it to my charge that I was not for certayne considerations so ready as I ought to haue bene to publyshe the truth he myght more iustly condemne me if being oppugned and slaundered by others I should not according to that measure which he hath dealte vnto me and for my small habylitie defend it and delyuer it from the euill report that some endeuor to bring vpon it And as vnto other partes of the gospell so sone as the Lord openeth a dore for them to enter in there is for the most part great resistance so in thys part concerning the gouernment and dyscipline of the church which is the order which God hath left as well to make the doctryne
of the house of the Lorde whych by his manifest commaundement ought to be done wyth all spede then besides that they be very vncunning builders whych can not mende the faultes wythout ouerthrow of all especially when as the fault is not in the foundation they must remembre that as the meane whych is vsed to gather the children of God is called a building so is it called a planting And therfore as dead twigs riotous and superfluous braunches or whatsoeuer hindreth the groweth of the vine tree may be cut of wythout roting vp the vine so the vnprofitable things of the church may be taken away without any ouerthrow of those things which are well established And seeing that Christ and Beliall can not agree it is straunge that the pure doctrine of the one the corruptions of the other should cleaue so fast togither that pure doctrine can not be wyth her safetie seuered from the corruptions when as they are rather like vnto that part of Daniels image which was compounded of clay and iron therfore could not cleaue or sticke one with an other It is further sayde that the setters forwarde of thys cause are contentious and in mouing questions giue occasion to the papists of slaundring the religion and to the weake of offence But if it be found to be both true which is propounded and a thing necessary about which we contende then hath thys accusation no grounde to stande on For peace is commended to vs with these conditions * if it be possible if it lye in vs Now it is not possible it lyeth not in vs to conceale the truth * we can do nothing agaynst it but for it It is a prophane saying of a prophane man that an vniust peace is better then a iust warre It is a dyuine saying of an Heathen man Agatheâ—d eris hede brotoisi It is good to contende for good thinges The papistes haue no matter of reioysing seeing they haue greater and sharper controuersies at home and seing thys tendeth both to to the further opening of theyr shame thrusting out of theyr remnantes which yet remayne among vs The weake may not be offended considering the euen in the church of God and among those of the church there hath bene as great varieties of iudgementes as these are For what waightier controuersyes can there be then whether we shall ryse agayne or no whether circumcision were necessary to be obserued of those which beleued And yet the first was amongst the church of the * Corinthes the other was first in * Ierusalem and Antioche and after in the churches of * Galatia and yet they the churches and that the true relygion which was there professed And it is to be remembred that these controuersyes for the most part are not betwene many For sondry of those thinges which are comprehended in the answere to the Admonition haue as I am perswaded few fauourers of those especially which are of any stayed or sounder iudgement in the scriptures and haue sene or red of the gouernment and order of other churches so that in deede the father of that answere excepted we haue thys controuersy oftentymes rather with the papistes then with those which professe the gospell as we do And whereas last of all it is sayde that thys procedeth of enuy of singularitie and of popularitie although these be no sufficient reasons agaynst the truth of the cause which is neyther enuyous singular nor popular and althoughe they be suche as myght be seuerally by great lykelyhodes and probalyties refuted yet because the knowledge of these thinges pertayneth only to God which is the searcher of the hart and raynes and for auoyding of too muche tediousnesse we will rest in his iudgement tary for the day wherein the secretes of hartes shall be made manyfest And yet all men do see how vniustly we be accused of singularity which propound nothing that the scriptures do not teache the wryters bothe olde and new for the most part affirme the examples of the primitiue churches and of those which are at these dayes confirme All these accusations as well agaynst the cause as the fauourers thereof albeit they be many and dyuers yet are they no other then which haue bene long sithens in the Prophets Apostles and our sauior Christes and now of late in our tymes obiected agaynst the trueth and the professors therof And therefore as the sunne of the truth then appeared brake through all those cloudes which rose agaynst it to stoppe the lyght of it so no doubt thys cause being of the same nature will haue the same effect And as all those slaunders could not bryng the truth in disgrace with those that loued it so the children of the truth through these vntrue reportes will neyther leaue the loue of thys cause which they haue already conceaued nor yet cease to enquire dyligently and to iudge indifferently of those surmises which are put vp agaynst it Moreouer seing that we haue once ouercomed all these lets and clymed ouer them when they were cast in our way to hynder vs from coming from the grosse darknes of popery vnto the gloryous lyght of the gospell there is no cause why now they should staye our course to further perfection considering that neyther the style is hygher nowe then it was before being the very selfe same obiections and in all thys tyme we ought so to haue growne in the knowledge of the truth that in stead of being then able to leape ouer a hedge we should now haue our feete so prepared by the gospell that they should be as the fecte of a hynde hable to surmount euen a wall if neede were The summe of all is that the cause may be looked vpon with a single eye without all miste of partialitie may be heard with an indifferent care without the waxe of preiudice the argumentes of both sides may be waighed not with the chaungeable waightes of custome of tyme of men which notwithstanding Popishe excepted shall be shewed to be more for the cause then agaynst it but with the iust balances of the incorruptible and vnchangeable worde of God. And I humbly beseeche the Lord to encrease in vs the spirite of knowledge and iudgement that we may discerne thinges which differ one from an other and that we may be syncere and wythout offence vntill the day of Christ The author to the reader I Am humbly to craue at thy hand gentill reader that thou wouldest vouchsafe dyligently and carefully to compare M. Doctors answer and my reply both that thou mayst the better vnderstand the truth of the cause and that the vntempered speches of hym especially that whyppeth other so sharply for them which I haue in a maner altogether passed by and hys lose conclusions which I haue to auoyde tedyousnes not so fully pursued may the better appeare Which thing as I craue to be done through the whole booke so chefely I desire it may
him that inueigheth against any pastor without good cause beare the punishment as for inueighing against heaping of liuing vpon liuing and ioyning steeple to steeple and non residence and suche ambition and tiranny as beareth the sway in diuers Ecclesiasticall persons if the price of the pacification be the offending of the Lorde it is better you be displeased then God be offended To the. 16. VVe stay our selues wythin the bonds of the word of God we profes our selues to be of the nombre of those whych should * grow in knowledge as we do in age and whych labor that the image of God may be daily renewed in vs not only in holynes of life but also in * knowledge of the truthe of God and yet I know no question moued which hath not ben many yeares before in other churches reformed holden as truthe and therefore practised and in our churche also haue bene some yeares debated To the. 17. If we defende no falshoode or inconuenient thing we can not be counted stubborne or wilfull whereof we offer to be tried by the indifferent reader For waiwardnes and inhumanitie we thincke it a fault as we esteme godly societie and affabilitie to be commendable and what is our behauior herein we likewise referre to their iudgementes wyth whome we are conuersant and haue to doe wyth being misseiudged and vntruly condemned of you we iudge nor condemne no man their vices we condemne so farre forth as the listes of our vocation doe permit vs. To the. 18. We allowe of common weales as without which the church can not long continue we speake not against ciuill gouernment nor yet against ecclesiastical further then the same is an enemy to the gouernment that God hath instituted To the. 19. If we geue honor and reuerence to none let vs not only haue none again but let vs be had as those that are vnworthy to liue amongst men I feare there be of those whych are your fauourers Ecclesiasticall persons that if they shuld meete wyth my Lord Mayor of London would straine curtesye whether he or they should put of the cap first We geue the titles of Maiestie to the Queene our soueraigne of grace to Duke and Duches of honor to those whych are in honoure and so to euery one according to their estate If we misse it is not because we are not willing but because we knowe not alwayes what pertaineth vnto them and then our faulte is pardonable For answearing churlishly it is answeared before in the seuenth Article To the. 20. VVith acknowledging of our manifold wants and ignorances we dout not also to take vpon vs with thanks geuing that knowledge which God hath geuen to euery of vs according to the measure of fayth we seke not to please oure selues but the Lord and our brethren yea all men in that whych is good VVe reuerence other mens gifts so as we thinke the contempt of them redoundeth to the giuer Therfore although the common infection be in vs yet we hope pride doth not * raigne in our mortall bodyes To the. 21. VVe hold that it is no ministers part to chuse his owne place where he will preach but to tary vntill he be chosen of others Likewyse that he insinuate not hym selfe but abide a lawfull calling and therfore thys can not agree to vs but to those rather whych content themselues wyth a rouing and wandering mynistery and defend the ministers owne presenting and offering him selfe or euer he be called To the. 22. and. 23. I answer as to the fifthe and touching the. 23. refer the reader to a further answer in that place where occasion is offered to speake of it againe To the. 24. So farre forth as we may for the infirmities wherwyth we are enclosed we endeuor to adorne the doctrine of the gospell whych we profes we seeke not the admiration of men if God do geue that we haue honest report we thyncke we ought to maintaine that to the glory of God and aduancement of the gospel what is our straightnes of life any other then is required in all christians we bryng in I am sure no Monachisme or Anchorisme we eate and drynke as other men we liue as other men we are apparelled as other men we lye as other men we vse those honest recreations that other men doe and we thincke there is no good thing or commodity of life in the world but that in sobriety we may be partakers of so farre as our degree and calling will suffer vs as God maketh vs able to haue it For the hipocrisy that you so often charge vs wyth the day shall try it If any man ioyne wych vs with minde to contende it is against our will notwithstanding we knowe none and what great stirrers and contenders they be whych fauor thys cause let all men iudge To the two next sections Do you thincke to mocke the worlde so that when you haue so vniustly so hainously accused you may wipe your mouth and say as you did before that you will not accuse any and as now that you will leaue the application Is not this to accuse to say that the authors of the Admonition doe almost plainly professe Anabaptisme is not thys to apply to say that they agree wyth the Anabaptists in all the fornamed practises and qualities You would faine strike vs but you would do it in the night when no man should see you and yet if you haue to do against Anabaptists you neede not feare to proclaime your warre against them You haue a glorious cause you shall haue a certaine victorye I dare promisse you that you shall haue all the estates and orders of this realme to clappe their handes and sing your epinicia and triumphant songs But that you would conuey your sting so priuely and hissingly as the Adder doth it carieth with it a suspition of an euill conscience and of a worse cause then you make the world beleeue you haue From moreouer c. vnto To conclude Now you cary vs from the Anabaptists in Europe vnto the Donatists in Affrike you wil paint vs with their coloures but you want the oyle of truth or likelyhode of truth to cause your colours to cleaue to endure The Lord be praised that your breath although it be very ranke yet it is not so strong that it is able either to turn vs or chaunge vs into what formes it pleaseth you I shal desire the reader to loke Theod. lib. 4. De fabulis haereticorum and Augustine ad quod vult Deum and in his first and second bokes against Petilians letters where he shall finde of these heretikes that by comparing thē wyth these to whom M. Doctor likeneth thē the smoke of this accusation might the better appeare for these slanders are not worth the answering To this diuision from the churches and to your supposed conuenticles I haue answeared They taught that there were no true churches but in Affrica
eldershyp excommunication and the office of Deacons as it is thought for that the Saduces of whome so often mention is made in the gospell are thought to haue had that offyce to prouide for the poore for those that know the Hebrew tongue doe vnderstand that tsaddikim and tsedacah do not only signifie iustice and iust men but also almes and almes men I say these and others more translated from the law vnto the gospell but neyther you nor your Clement shall euer be able to shew that the Lord euer translated any thing from Gentelisme into the gospell We reade in the Actes that all the Gentiles were commaunded to conforme them selues vnto the Iewes in the abstayning from bloude and strangled meate for a tyme but we can neuer finde that the Iewes were commaunded to conforme them to the Gentiles in their ceremonies the reason wherof is because the one was sometymes the law of God and therefore he that had conscience in it was to be borne with and the other came from men and out of their forge which the Lord would neuer geue so much honor vnto as to make other men by any meanes subiect vnto them But what if there were no such offices amongst the Gentiles Paganes as Archiflamines or Protoflamines whereof before I shew the coniectures which I haue I must geue the gentle reader to vnderstand that I am not ignorant that there are diuers which say there were such offices amongst the Gentiles and namely heere in Englande that there were 25. Flamines and three Archiflamines wherof were made three archbyshops of London Canterbury and Yorke and. 25. Bishops as Platine hath in the chapter Eleutherius And Galfridus Monemutensis in hys seconde booke and first chapter And Lumbarde in hys fourthe booke speaketh of it as of a generall thing that was in all places where Paganisme was But if so be that the relygion of other Paganes dyd follow and was lyke vnto that of the Romaines which is very probable they being then the rulers of the whole worlde in a maner vnto whose example all men doe lightly conforme them selues euen without commaundement then there is great likelyhoode there were no such archiflamines or protoflamines out of Tullie which sheweth that there was amongst the Romaines dyuers kindes of priestes whereof some were called flamines of a seuerall attire which they ware alwayes of their heades other pontifices and a thirâ—â—â— sort were called Salij and that the cheefe of these Flamines was called flâ—meâ—â—â—alâ—s who was also distinguished from the rest vp a white hatte but of any archiflamines or protoflamines he maketh no mention at all and therefore it is lyke that there was neuer any such office amongst the Paganes And if there were I haue shewed how wycked it is to say that Peter framed the mynisterie of the gospell by it Now let it be seene of all men how strongly you haue concluded that the names of archbyshoppes are not antichristian when as it is most certen that he was a piller of antichrist vppon whome your reason is grounded The tymes wherein Volusianus lyued declare suffyciently how little credite is to be geuen to hys testimonie which were when the masse had place if not so wycked as it was after yet notwithstanding farre differing from the simplicitie of the supper which was left by our sauiour Christ And Eusebius is of more credite in thys then Volusianus which sayth of the reporte of Dionisius byshop of Corinthe that S. Paule made Dionisius Areopagita byshop of Athens he sayth not archbyshop but byshop although he speake twise of it And in the preface before hys workes it is fayde that after hys conuersion he went to Rome to Clement and was sent with others of Clement into the West partes and that he came to Paris and was there executed whether so euer of these opinions is true that falleth whyche Volusianus affirmeth And if eyther Volusianus or you will haue vs beeleue that Dyonisius Areopagita was archbyshoppe of Athens you must shew some better authoritie then Eusebius or Dyonisius byshop of Corinthe and then your cause shall haue at the least some more coloure of truthe Erasmus followeth which sayth Titus was archbyshop of Crete whom I coulde answere with hys owne wordes for I am sure he will graunt me that Titus Timothe had one office the one in Ephesus the other in Crete but it appeareth by Erasmus hys owne wordes that Timothe was but byshop of Ephesus therefore Titus was but byshop of Crete For Erasmus in hys argument vpon the first Epistle of Timothe sayth that S. Paule did enfornie Timothe of the office of a byshop and of the discipline of the church If eyther he had bene an archbyshop or an archbyshop had bene so necessary as it is made hee would haue instructed hym in that also And I pray you tell me whether Erasmus or the Greeke Scholiast be more to bee beeleeued in thys poynte out of whome is taken that whyche is in the latter ende of the Epystles to Tymothe and Tytus where they bothe are called the first elected Byshoppes that euer were eyther of Ephesus or Creta For my parte I thyncke they were neyther Byshoppes nor Archbyshoppes but Euangelistes as shall appeare afterwardes But it maye be suffycient to haue sette agaynste Erasmus authoritie the authoritie of the Scholiaste And if heere you will cauill and say that the Scholiaste whych sayeth hee was Byshoppe denyeth not but that he also was an Archbyshoppe because an archbyshop is a byshop it may be answered casely that the Scholiaste dyd not speake nor wryte so vnproperly as to call them by the generall name of byshop whome he myght as easely haue called if the truth woulde haue let hym by a more proper and particular name of archbyshop And further in thys dyuision of the mynisters the archbyshop and the byshop are members of one dyuision and therefore one of them can not be affirmed and sayde of an other for that were contrary to the nature of a true dyuision And yet I haue a further answere bothe to Erasmus and Volusianus and whatsoeuer other haue written after thys sort that they speake gaue titles to those men they wrote of not according to that which they were but according to the custome and manner of that age wherein they wrote And so we may read that Vincentius and Nicephorus wryting of Victor speake farre otherwise of hym then Eusebius doth which notwithstanding wrote of the same man which they dyd The one calleth Victor the Pope of Rome And the other sayeth that in glory he passed all the byshops before hym which Eusebius neuer maketh any word of Euen so Volusianus and Erasmus lyuing in the tymes when as they which were the most esteemed in the ministerie were called archbyshops call Titus and Dyonisius archbyshops vpon whome depended the cheefe care of those churches which they gouerned There followeth Anacletus an other of these witnesses which
must depose that the name of an archbyshop is not antychristian of whome as of Clement that went before and Anicetus which followeth after the common prouerbe may be verifyed Aske my fellow if I be a theefe And although the answerer be ashamed of hym and sayth therefore he will omit him yet euen very neede dryueth hym to bring hym in and to make hym speake the vttermost hee can And thys honest man sayth that Iames was the first archbyshop of Ierusalem But Eusebius sayth Iames was byshop not archbyshop of Ierusalem and appoynted by the apostles And in an other place he sayth that the apostles dyd appoynt after hys death Simeon the sonne of Cleophas byshop of Ierusalem And Ireneus sayeth that the apostles in all places appoynted byshops vnto the churches whereby it may appeare what an idle dreame it is of Clement Volusianus and Anacletus eyther that Peter dyd thys by his owne authoritie or that the primitiue churche was euer staynes wyth these ambytious tytles of patriarche prymate metropolytane or archbyshoppe when as the storyes make mention that thoroughe out euery churche not chery prouince not by Peter or Paule but by apostles a byshop not an archbyshop was appoynted And heere you put me in remembraunce of an other argument agaynst the archbyshop which I will frame after thys sorte If there shoulde be any archbyshop many place the same shoulde be eyther in respect of the persone or minister and hys excellencie or in respecte of the magnificence of the place but the most excellent mynisters that euer were in the most famous places were no archbyshops but byshops only therefore there is no cause why there shoulde be any archbyshop For if there were euer mynister of a congregation worthy that was Iames if there were euer any citte that ought to haue thys honor as that the mynister of it should haue a more honorable title then the mynisters of other cities and townes that was Ierusalem where the sonne of God preached and from whence the gospell issued out vnto all places And afterwarde that Ierusalem decayed and the church there Antioche was a place where the notablest men were that euer haue bene since which also deserued great honoure for that there the * disciples were first called christians but neyther was that called the first and cheefest church neyther the mynisters of it called the Arche or principal byshoppes And Eusebius to declare that thys order was firme and durable sheweth that S. Iohn the Apostle which ouer lyued the residue of the Apostles ordayned byshops in euery church These two Anacletus and Anicetus you say are suspected why do you say suspected when as they haue bene conuinced and condemned and stande vppon the pillery with the cause of forgerie written in great letters that he which runneth may reade Some of the papistes them selues haue suspected them but those which mayntayne the truth haue condemned them as full of popery full of blasphemy and as those in whome was the very spirit of contradiction to the Apostles and their doctryne And do you marke what you say when you say that these are but suspected Thus much you say that it is suspected or in doubt whether the whole body of poperie and antichristianitie were in the Apostles time or sone after or no for Clement was in the Apostles time and their scholer and so you leaue it in dout whether the apostles appoynted and were the authors of popery or no. I thinke if euer you had red the Epistles you woulde neuer haue cited their authorities nor haue spoken so fauourably of them as you doe You come after to the councel of Nice wherin I wil not sticke with you that you say it was holden the CCC xxx yeare of the Lorde when as it maye appeare by Eusebius hys Computation that it was holden Anno Domini CCC xx and heere you take so greate a leape that it is enoughe to breake the archbishoppes necke to skippe at once CCC yeares that is from the tyme of the apostles vntill the time of the councell of Nice wythout any testimony of any either father or storie of faithe and credite whych maketh once mention of an archbishop What no mention of hym in Theophilus byshop of Antioche none in Ignatius none in Clemens Alexandrinus none in Iustin Martyr in Ireneus in Tertullian in Origine in Cyprian none in all those olde Historiographers out of the whych Eusebius gathereth hys story Was it for his basenes and smalnes that he could not be seene amongst the byshops elders and deacons being the cheefe and principall of them all can the Ceder of Lebanon be hid amongst the boxe trees Aristotle in his Rhethorike ad Theodecten sayeth that it is a token of contempt to forget the name of an other belike therefore if there were any archbishop he had no chaire in the church but was as it semeth digging at the metalles For otherwise they that haue filled their bookes wyth the often mentioning of bishops would haue no doubt remembred him But let vs heare what the councell of Nice hath for these titles In the. 6. canon mention is made of a metropolitane bishop what is that to the metropolitane whych is now either to the name or to the office of the office it shal appeare afterwards In the name I thinke there is a great differēce betwene a metropolitane bishop metropolitane of England or of al England A Metropolitane bishop was nothing els but a bishop of that place which it pleased the Emperor or magistrate to make the chefe citie of the diocese or shire and as for thys name it maketh no more difference betwene bishop and bishop then when I say a minister of London and a minister of Nuington There is no man that is well aduised whych will gather of thys saying that there is as great difference in preheminence betweene those two ministers as is betweene London and Nuington for his office and preheminence we shall see hereafter There are alledged to proue the names of archbyshops patriarkes archdeacons the. 13. 25. 26. and. 27. Canons of the councel of Nece For the. 25. 26. 27. there are no such canons of that councell and although there be a thirtenthe canon there is no worde of patriarke or archdeacon there contained And I maruell wyth what shame you can thruste vppon vs these counterfaite canons whych come out of the popes minte yea and whych are not to be found Theodoret sayeth that there are but twentie Canons of the councell of Neece and those twentie are in the tome of the councels and in those there is no mention of any patriarke archdeacon archbishop Ruffine also remembreth 22. Canons very little differing from those other twenty but in lengthe and in none of those are found any of these names of archbishop archdeacon patriarke And it is as lawfull for M. Harding to alledge the. 44. canon of the coūcell of Nece to proue the supremacie
them For so doth Cyprian cal the bishops of that prouince in his epistle his fellow bishops and in diuers places his brethren And in the sentence which he spake in the coūcel of Carthage he sayth none of vs doth take him selfe to be bishop of bishops Nowe that there was no authoritye of one byshop ouer an other and that there was none suche as when controuersies roase tooke vppon hym the compounding of them or any one to whome it appertained to see the vnitye of the church kept and to see that all other bishops and the cleargy did their duety as M. Doctor beareth vs in hand it may clearely be seene in diuers places of Cyprian and first of all in that sentence which he spake in the councel of Carthage where he proceedeth further after this sort that none of them did by any tirannicall feare binde his felowes in office or any fellow byshops to any necessity of obedience seeing that euery bishop hath for his free libertye and power hys owne iudgement or discretion as one which can not be iudged of an other as he also hym selfe can not iudge an other But sayth he we ought to tary and waite for the iudgement of our Lord Iesus Christ which only and alone hath power to set vs ouer hys church to iudge of our doing And in the same Epistle whereout the first place is taken by M. Doctor he sayth that vnto euery one a portion of the flocke is appoynted which euery one must rule and gouerne as he that shall render an accompt of hys deede vnto the lord And in an other place hee sayth we doe not vse any compulsion or vyolence ouer any nor appoynt no law to any seeing that euery one that is set ouer the church hath in the gouernment the free disposition of hys owne will whereof he shall geue an accompt vnto the lord And yet Cyprian was the byshop of the metropolitane or cheefe seate and one whome for hys learning and godlynesse the rest no doubt had in great reuerence and gaue great honor vnto And whereas it is sayde for the preseruation of vnitie one must be ouer all S. Cyprian sheweth that the vnitie of the church is conserued not by hauing one byshop ouer all But by the agreement of the byshops one with an other For so he wryteth that the church is knit and coupled together as it were with the glew of the byshops consenting one with an other and as for the compounding of controuersies it is manyfest that it was not done by one byshop in a prouince but those byshoppes whych were neere the place where the schisme or heresie sprang For speaking of the appeasing of controuersies and schismes and shewing how dyuers byshops were drawne into the heresie of Nouatus he sayth that the vertue and strength of the Christians was not so decayed or languished but that there was a portion of priestes which dyd not geue place vnto those ruines and shipwrackes of fayth And in an other place he sayth therefore most deare brother the plentifull body or company of the priests are as it were with the glew of mutuall concorde bande of vnitie ioyned together that if any of our company be author of an heresie and goe about to destroy and rent the flocke of Christ the rest should helpe and as profitable mercifull shepheards gather together the sheepe of the Lord wherby it is manifest that the appeasing composing of controuersies heresies was not then thought to be most fitte to be in one byshops hand but in as many as coulde conueniently assemble together according to the danger of the heresie which sprang or deepe roote which it had taken or was like to take And that there was in his time no such authoritie geuen as that any one might remoue the causes or controuersies which rose as now we see there is when the byshop of the diocese taketh the matters in controuersie which rise in any church within hys diocese from the minister and elders to whome the decision pertayneth and as when the archbyshop taketh it away from the byshop it may appeare in the same thirde Epistle of the first booke where he sayth after this sort It is ordayned it is equall and right that euery mans cause shoulde be there hearde where the fault was committed And a little after he sayth It is meete to handle the matter there where they may haue both accusers and witnesses of the fault whiche although it be spoken of them which fied out of Affrike vnto Rome yet the reason is generall and doth as wel serue agaynst these Ecclesiasticall persons which will take vnto them the decyding of those controuersies that were done a hundreth mile of them And whereas M. Doctor in both places of Cyprian semeth to stand much vpon the wordes One Byshop and priest the reason thereof doth appeare in an other place of Cyprian most manifestly and that it maketh no more to proue that there ought to be one archbyshop ouer a hole prouince then to say that there ought to be but one husbande proueth that therefore there should be but one husbande in euery countrey or prouince which shoulde see that all the rest of the husbandes doe their dueties to their wyues For thys was the case A Nouatian hereticke being condemned and cast out of the churches of Affrica by the consent of the byshops not able by embassage sent to them to obtayne to be receiued to their communion and fellowship agayne goeth afterwardes to Rome and being lykewise there repelled in tyme getteth hym selfe by certayne which fauoured hys heresie to be chosen byshop there at Rome Cornelius being the byshop or pastor of those which were there godly mynded whereupon it commeth that Cyprian vrgeth one byshop one priest in the church because at Rome there was two whereof one was a wolfe which ought not to haue bene there considering there was but one church which was gathered vnder the gouernmēt of Cornelius And therefore by that place of Cyprian it can not be gathered that there ought to be but one byshop in one citie if the multitude of professors require more and that all can not well gather them selues together in one congregation to be taught of one man much lesse can it serue to proue that there should be but one in a whole diocese or prouince I graunt that in later tymes and which went more from the simplicitie of the primitiue church they tooke occasion of these wordes to decree that there should be but one byshop in a citie but that can neuer be concluded of Cyprians wordes if it be vnderstanded why he vrgeth one byshop and one priest If therefore neyther word byshop nor priest do make any thing to proue an archbyshop nor thys worde church doth imply any prouince nor in these wordes one byshop one priest there is nothing lesse ment then that there should be one archbyshop ouer all the
That is true whatsoeuer is first and that is false whatsoeuer is later Ierome and you confesse that thys was first that the byshop was all one with the elder and first also by the word of God then I conclude that that is true You both doe likewise confesse that it came after that one bare rule ouer the rest then I conclude that that is false for all that is false that is later Furthermore Ierome in the same place of Titus sayth after thys sort As the elders know them selues to be subiect by a custome of the church vnto hym that is set ouer them so the byshops must know that they are greater then the elders rather by custome then by any truth of the institution of the Lord and so they ought to gouerne the church in common Now seing that Ierome confesseth that a byshop and an elder by God his institution are all one and that custome of the church hath altered thys institution for the taking away of thys custome and restoring of the Lordes institution I say as our sauiour Christ sayd why doe you breake the commaundementes of God to establishe your owne traditions for the one is the institution of God and the other the tradition of the church and if a mans testimony be so much with M. Doctor let hym heare what the same Tertullian fayth whatsoeuer sauoureth agaynst the truth shall be accompted heresie euen although it be an olde custome Now I will turne M. Doctors owne argument vpon hys head after thys sorte In the apostles tymes there were schismes and heresies but in their tymes there were no archbyshops ordayned to appease them therefore the best meanes of composing of controuersies and keping concorde is not by hauing an archbyshop to be ouer a whole prouince That there was none in the apostles tymes thus it may appeare If there were any they were eyther ordayned by the apostles and their authoritie or else without and besides their authoritie If there were any without and besides their authoritie then they are therefore to be condemned the more because in their tymes they starte vp without their warrant And if the apostles dyd ordayne them there was some vse of them to that wherunto they were ordayned but there was no vse of them to that wherunto they were ordayned therefore the apostles dyd not ordayne them The vse wherunto M. Doctor sayth they were ordayned was to compose controuersies and end schismes but to thys they were not vsed whereupon it followeth that if there were any they were vnprofitable That they were not vsed to any such ende it shall be perceiued by that which followeth At Antioche there rose a great and daungerous heresie that had in a manner infected all the churches which shaked the very foundation of the saluation of Gods children that was whether fayth were sufficient to iustifie without circumcision The matter was disputed of both sides it could not be agreed of What doe they now Doe they ordayne some Archbishop Archprophet Archapostle or any one cheefe to whome they will referre the controuersie or vppon whome they will depend nothing lesse And if they would haue had the controtrouersies ended by one what deuine was there euer or shall there be more fitter for that purpose then S. Paule which was amongst them Why doe they sende abrode for remedy when they had it at home why with great charges and long iourneys which they might haue had without charges or one foote set out of the dore what doe they then They sende Paule and Barnabas to Ierusalem as if the lesser townes should send to the churches of the vniuersities and of London to desire their helpe in the determining of the controuersie And what is Paule and Barnabas ambassage is it to desire the iudgement or minde of some one it must needes be answeared wyth S. Luke that they came to know the resolution of the churche and yet there were the apostles wherof euery one was better able both sharply to see and to iudge incorruptly wythout affection then any archbyshop that euer was If therfore in so great aboundance ouerflowing of the gifts of God and in that time when as controuersies might haue bene referred wythout daunger of error vnto one only thys ministerie of one aboue all was not thought good now when the gifts are les and the danger of error more to make an archbyshop for the deciding of controuersies and auoiding of schismes is a thing so straunge that I am not able to see the reason of it For to whych so euer of the apostles the controuersy had bene referred it is certaine that he would haue geuen a true sentence of it And if any can shew me one man in these times of whom we may be assured that he will pronounce the truth of euery question whych shall arise he shall make me somewhat more fauorable to the archbyshop then presently I am For although there were found one such as could not erre yet I could not consent that the matter should lye only vpon his hand seeing that the apostles whych could not erre in these matters would not take that vpon them and seeing that by that meanes the iudgement of the church should be contemned and further for that the iudgement of one man in a controuersy is not so strong to pull vp errors that are rooted in mennes minds as the iudgement and consent of many For that the iudgement of many is very apt either to confirme a truth or to cōfute falshode it is euident that S. Paule doth hold forth as it were a buckler against the frowardnes of certaine the authority of the church Furthermore if this distinction came vp in the apostles time and by them how commeth it to pas that they neuer mention it nay how commeth it to pas that euen S. Paule in that very Epistle where these voyces are found I hold of Paule I of Apollo I of Cephas whych are sayd to be the cause of the archbyshop ordaineth a cleane contrary to thys that M. Doctor commendeth For when two or three prophets haue expounded the scriptures he appoynteth that all the rest that are there should iudge whether they haue done well or no. And how commeth it to pas that S. Paule being at Rome in prison and loking euery day when he should geue vp hys last breath commended vnto the church a perfect and an absolute ministery standing of .v. parts wherin he maketh mention not one word of an archbyshop and sayeth further that that ministery is able to entertain the perfect vnity and knitting togither of the church Do not all these things speake or rather cry that there was not so much as a step of an archbyshop in the apostles times And if you will say that the apostles did ordaine archbyshops as you haue in dede sayd do now againe when as there is not one word in the wrytings of them I pray you tell vs how
chuse an other conceyueth the prayer wherby the helpe of God in that election and his direction is begged and no doubt executed the residue of the things which pertayned vnto the whole action In the seconde of the actes all the Apostles are accused of drunkennesse Peter answeareth for thē all wypeth away the infamy they were charged with But you will say where are the voyces of the rest which did chuse Peter vnto thys First you must know that the scripture setteth not downe euery circumstāce then surely you do Peter great iniury that aske whether he were chosen vnto it For is it to bee thought that Peter would thrust in hym selfe to this office or dignitie without the consent and allowance of hys fellowes and preuent hys fellowes of thys preheminence vndoubtedly if it hadde not beene done arrogantly yet it must needes haue a great shew of arrogancye if hee hadde done thys without the consent of hys fellowes And heere you shall heare what the Scholiast sayth which gathereth the iudgement of Greke diuines hora speaking of Peter panta meta koines auton gnomes poiounta Behold how he doth all with their common consent And if any man hereupon will say that Peter exercised domination ouer the rest or gate any archapostleship beside that the whole story of the actes of the apostles and his whole course of life doth refute that the same Scholiast which I made mention of in the same place sayth he did nothing archikos imperiously nothing meta exousias with domynion or power Further I will admonishe him to take heede least if he striue so sore for the archbyshop he slide or euer he be aware into the tentes of the papistes which vse these places to proue that Peter had authoritie and rule ouer the rest of the apostles And that it may bee vnderstanded that thys moderate rule voyde of all pompe and outward shew was not perpetuall nor alwayes tyed vnto one man which were the last poyntes of the cautions I put before turne vnto the 15. of the Actes where is shewed how with the rest of the church the apostles and amongst them Peter being assembled to decide a great controuersie Iames the Apostle and not Peter moderated and gouerned the whole action when as after other had sayd their iudgementes and namely Paule and Barnabas Peter he in the ende in the name of all pronounced the sentence and that whereof the rest agreed and had disputed vnto and the residue rested in that iudgement the which also may likewyse appeare in the 21. of the Actes This is hee which is called the byshop in euery church thys is he also whome Iustin wherof mention is made afterwardes calleth proestos And finally thys is that great archbishoppricke and great bishoppricke that M. Doctor so often stumbleth on This order and preheminence the Apostles time and those that were neare them kept and the nearer they came to the apostles times the nearer they kept them to this order and the farther of they were from those times vntill the discouering of the sonne of perdition the further of were they from thys moderation and nearer to that tyranny and ambitious power which oppressed and ouerlayde the churche of God. And therefore maister Caluin doth warely say that one amongst the apostles indefinitely not any one singular person as Peter had the moderation and rule of the other and further shadoweth out what rule that was by the example of the consul of Rome whose authoritie was to gather the senate together to tell of the matters which were to be handled to gather the voyces to pronounce the sentence And although the Antichrist of Rome had peruerted all good order and taken all libertie of the church into hys the Cardinalles Archbishops and Byshoppes handes yet there are some colde and lyght footinges of it in our synodes which are holden with the parliament where amongst all the mynisters which are assembled out of all the whole realme by the more part of voyces one to chosen which should goe before the rest propounde the causes gather the voyces and bee as it were the mouth of the whole company whome they terme the prolocutor Suche great force hath the truthe that in the vtter ruines of Popery it could neuer be so pulled vp by the rootes that a man coulde neuer know the place thereof no more or that it shoulde not leaue suche markes and printes behinde it whereby it myght afterwardes recouer it selfe and come agayne to the knowledge of men Now you see what authoritie we allow amongst the ministers both in their seuerall churches or in prouinciall sinodes or nationall or generall or what so euer other meetinges shall be aduised of for the profite and edifying of the church and withall you see that as we are farre from thys tyranny and excessiue power which now is in the church so we are by the grace of God as farre from confusion and disorder wherein you trauell so much to make vs to seeme giltie M. Doctor reasoneth agayne that Paule an Apostle and in the highest degree of ministerie was superior to Timothe and Titus Euangelistes and so in a lower degree of mynisterie therefore one mynister is superior to an other one byshop to an other byshop whych are all one office and one function As if I shuld say my Lord Mayor of London is aboue the sherifes therfore one sherife is superior to an other Again an other argumēt he hath of the same strēgth Titus being an Euangelist was superior to al the pastors in Crete which was a degree vnder the Euangelists therfore one pastor must be superior vnto an other pastor And that he was superior he proueth because he had authority to ordaine pastors so that the print of the archbyshop is so deepely set in his head that hereof he can imagine nothing but that Titus shuld be archbishop of all Crete I haue shewed before how these words are to be taken of S. Paule and for so much as M. Doctor burdeneth vs wyth the authority of Caluin so often I wil send him to Caluins owne interpretation vpon this place wher he sheweth the Titus did not ordaine by his owne authority for s. Paul wold not graunt Titus leaue to do that whych he him self wold not and sheweth that to say that Titus should make the election of pastors by him selfe is to giue vnto hym a princely authority and to take away the election from the church and the iudgement of the insufficiency of the minister from the company of the pastors whych were sayeth he to prophane the whole gouernment of the church I maruell therfore what M. doctor meaneth to be so busy wyth M. Caluin and to seke confirmation of his archbyshop and byshop at him whych wold haue shaken at the naming of the one and trembled at the office of the other onles it be because he would faine haue hys plaister where he receiued hys wound but I dare assure him
there shoulde be diuers pastors elders or byshops in euery congregation Sathan wrought first that there should be but one in euery churche thys was no doubt the first step Afterwardes he pushed further and stirred vp diuers not to content them selues to be byshops of one church but to desire to be byshops of a diocese whervnto although it seemeth that there was resistance in that it is sayd that it was decreed often yet in the end this wicked attempt preuailed and thys was an other step Then were there archbishops of whole prouinces whych was the third stayer vnto the seat of antichriste Afterwards they were Patriarks of one of the .iiij. corners of the whole world the whole church being assigned to the iurisdiction of fower that is to saye of the Romaine Constantinopolitane Antiochene and Alexandrine byshops And these fower stayers being layd of Sathan there was but an easy stride for the B. of Rome into that chaire of pestilence wherin he nowe sitteth Hauing now showed howe thys Lordly estate of the byshop began and vpon what a rotten ground it is builded I come to shew how farre the byshops in our time are for their pompe and outward statelines degenerated from the byshops of elder times And heere I call to remembraunce that whych was spoken of the poore estate of Basile and Theodorete and if M. Doctor will say as he doth in deede in a certaine place that thē was a time of persecution and this is a time of peace it is easely answeared that although Basill were vnder persecution yet Theodorete liued vnder good emperors But that shall appeare better by the Canons whych were rules geuen for the byshops to frame them selues by In the. 4. councell of Carthage it is decreed that the byshops should haue a little house neare vnto the church what is thys compared wyth so many faire large houses and wyth the princely palace of a byshop And in the same councel it is decreed that he shoulde haue the furniture and stuffe of hys house after the commen sorte and that hys table and diet should be pore and that he should get him estimation by faithfulnes and good conuersation And in an other councell that the byshops shoulde not giue them selues to feastes but be content wyth a little meate Let these byshops be compared wyth oures whose chambers shine wyth gilt whose walles are hanged wyth clothes of Auris whose cupbordes are loden wyth plate whose tables and diets are furnished wyth multitude and diuersity of dishes whose daily dinners are feastes Let them I say be compared together and they shall be founde so vnlike that if those olde byshops were aliue they wold not know each other For they would thinke that oures were princes and oures woulde thinke that they were some hedge priests not worthy of their acquaintance or fellowshyp In the same councell of Carthage it was decreed that no byshop sitting in any place should suffer any minister or elder to stand Nowe I will report me to themselues how thys is kept and to the pore ministers whych haue to do with them and come before them The byshops in times past had no tayle nor trayne of men after them and thought it a slaunder to the gospell to haue a number of men before and behynde them And therefore is Paulus Sam of atenus noted as one that brought relygion into hatred and as one that seemed to take delight rather to be a captaine of two hundreth then a byshoppe because he had gotten him a sort of seruing men to waight on hym An other example not vnlyke and likewyse reprehended is in Ruffine of one Gregory a byshop Now in our dayes it is thought a commendation to the byshop a credite to the gospell if a byshop haue 30. 40. 60. or moe wayting of hym some before some behynde whereof three partes of them set apart the carying of a dishe vnto the table haue no honest or profitable calling to occupy themselues in two houres of the day to the filling of the church and commōwealth also with all kynde of disorders and greater incommodities then I minde to speake of because it is not my purpose And heere I will note an other cause which brought in this pompe and princely estate of byshoppes wherin although I will say more in a worde for the pompeous estate then M. Doctor hath done in all hys treatise yet I will shew that although it were more tollerable at the first now it is by no meanes to be borne with * In the ecclesiasticall story we read that the inscriptions of dyuers epystles sent vnto byshops were timiotatois kyriois We read also of aspasticon oicon house of salutations which Ambrose byshop of Millain had As for the title of most honorable Lordes it was not so great nor so stately as the name of a Lord or knight in our country for all those that know the maner of the speach of the Grecians do well vnderstand how they vsed to call euery one of any meane countenaunce in the common wealth where he lyued kyrion that is Lorde so we see also the Euangelistes vse the worde Kyrios to note a meane person as when Mary in the. 20. of Iohn thinking that our sauiour Christ had bene the keper of the garden calleth hym Kyrion So likewise in Fraunce they call euery one that is gentilman or hath any honest place Monseur and so they will say also fainng your honour Now we know thys word Lord in our countrey is vsed otherwise to note some great personage eyther by reason of birth or by reason of some high dignitie in the common wealth which he occupyeth and therfore those titles although they were somewhat excessiue yet were they nothing so swelling and stately as oures are And as touching Ambrose house albeit the word doth not employ so great gorgeousnes nor magnificence of an house as the palaces and other magnificall buildinges of our byshoppes yet the cause whereupon thys rose doth more excuse Ambrose who being taken from great wealth and gouernment in the common wealth geuing ouer hys office dyd retayne hys house and that which hee had gotten But our byshops doe maynteyne thys pompe and excesse of the charges of the church with whose goodes a great number of idle loytering seruing men are mayntayned which ought to be bestowed vpon the ministers which want necessary finding for their families and vpon the poore and mayntenance of the vniuersities As for these riotous expences of the church goodes when many other mynisters want and of making great dynners and entertayning great Lordes and maiestrates and of the answere to them that say they do helpe the church by thys meanes I will referre the reader to that which Ierome wryteth in a certayne place where thys is handled more at large By thys which I haue cyted it appeareth what was one cause of thys excesse and stately pompe of the byshops namely that
the people to be seene it was meete that they shoulde doe it in houses which otherwise they woulde haue done in open places And then those houses which receiued the congregation were not as I haue shewed for the tyme to be counted priuate houses And further in places where the gospell hath not bene receiued nor no church gathered but one only housholde embracing the gospell I say in suche a case and especially in the tyme of persecution where should the mynisters preach or mynister the sacramentes more conueniently then in that house where those professors of the gospell bee Now to draw thys into our churches which may safely come into open places and where the church and congregation standeth of dyuers housholdes is a token of great want of iudgement in shuffelyng those thyngs together which for the great diuersitie of their natures will not be mingled And in the page 152. he bringeth other reasons to proue that the sacraments may be mynistred in a priuate house whereof the first is that our sauiour Christ celebrated his supper in a priuate house and in an inner parlour the reason wherof is easely to be knowne for the law of God ordayned that euery housholder in hys house should eate the passeouer with hys owne family if it were so great as that they might well eate vp a whole Lambe Our sauiour Christ therfore with hys housholde obserueth thys law and for because he would declare that the passeouer had hys ende and that hys holy sacrament of the supper should come in place thereof he doth forthwith celebrate it in the same place Which if he had not done neyther could he haue done it at al the houre of hys apprehension then approching neyther should it so liuely haue appeared that eyther the passeouer was abolyshed or that the supper came in place of it being celebrated both at an other tyme in an other place For the celebrating of the supper in houses in the Apostles tymes and in Iustins and Tertullians tymes which were tymes of persecution I haue spoken before where also I declared that such houses for the tyme are not priuate but publike And these are hys reasons wherewith he wold proue that the sacraments and therefore also the sacrament of baptisme may be mynistred in a priuate house He hath certayne other to proue that women may baptise whereof the first is in the. 93. page and that is that Sephora Moses wyfe circumcised her chylde whereunto I haue answeared partly before that particular examples especially contrary to generall rules are not to be followed and will further answere if I first admonishe the reader wherupon thys baptisme of mydwiues and in priuate houses rose that when we know of how rotten a stocke it came the frute it selfe may be more lothsome vnto vs It first therfore rose vpon a false interpretation of the place of S. Iohn Vnlesse a man be borne againe of vvater of the spirite he can not enter into the kingdome of heauen Where certayne doe interpreate the worde water for the materiall elementall water wherewith men are washed when as our sauiour Christ taketh water there by a translation or borowed speach for the spirite of God the effect whereof it shadoweth out For euen as in an other place by the fire and the spirite he meaneth nothing but the spirite of God which purgeth and purifyeth as the fire doth so in thys place by the water and the spirite he meaneth nothing else but the spirite of God which clenseth the filth of sinne and cooleth the broyling heate of an vnquiet conscience as water washeth the thing which is foule and quencheth the heate of the fire Secondarily thys error came by a false and vnnecessary conclusyon drawne of that place For although the scripture should say that none can be saued but those which haue the spirite of God and are baptised with materiall and elementall water yet oughte it to bee vnderstanded of those which can conueniently and orderly bee brought to baptisme as the scripture saying that who so doth not beleeue the gospell is already condemned meaneth thys sentence of those which can heare the gospell and haue discretion to vnderstande it when they heare it and can not heere shut vnder thys condemnation eyther those that be borne deafe and so remayne or little infantes or naturall fooles that haue no wit to conceiue what is preached And heereupon * S. Augustine concludeth that all not baptised are condemned which is as absurdly concluded of hym as that of our sauiour Christes wordes except one eate the fleshe of the sonne of man hee hath not lyfe he concludeth that whatsoeuer he bee which receiueth not the sacrament of the supper is damned Vpon thys false conclusion of S. Augustine hath rysen thys prophanation of the sacrament of baptisme in being mynistred in pryuate houses by women or lay men as also vpon hys other absurde conclusion sprong a horrible abuse of the Lords supper whylest they dyd thrust the bread and wyne into yong infants mouthes for that men were persuaded that otherwyse if their children shoulde die before they were baptised or had receiued the supper they were damned for euer And what better token can there be that thys was the cause of thys blynde baptisme then that the papistes from whome thys baptisme by women is translated were of the same iudgement and for that cause brought in theyr baptisme by women Hereupon may be added an other cause which is that as when the church began not only to declyne but to fall away from the sincerity of relygion it borowed a number of other prophanations of the Heathen so also it borowed thys For as the Heathen had women priestes so it would haue also her women priestes and that thys was an other occasion of bringing in the baptisme by women it appeareth by your Clement if he can speake any truth Now I returne to the example of Sephora and say that the vnlawfulnes of that fact doth appeare suffyciently in that shee dyd it before her husband Moses which was a Prophet of the Lord and to whome that office of circumcysion dyd appertayne so that vnlesse M. Doctor would haue mydwyues baptise in the presence of the byshop or the mynister there is no cause why he should alledge thys place Besides that shee dyd cutte of that foreskin of the infant not of mynde to obey the commaundement of God or for the saluation of the childe but in a choler only to the ende that her husbande myght be eased and haue release which mynde appeareth in her both by her wordes and by casting away in anger the forskin which she had cutte of And if it be sayde that the euent declared that the act pleased God because that Moses forthwith waxed better and was recouered of hys sicknesse I haue shewed before how if we measure thinges by the euent we shall oftentymes iustifie the wicked and take the
extremity for the doing whereof the orders that God hath set that it should be done in the congregation by the mynister of the gospell are broken Yes verely And I will further say that although that the infants which dye without baptisme should be assuredly damned which is most false yet ought not the orders which God hath set in his church to be broken after thys sort For as the saluation of men ought to be deare vnto vs so the glory of God which consisteth in that hys orders be kept ought to bee much more deare that if at any tyme the controuersy could be betwene hys glory and our saluation our saluation ought to fall that hys glory may stand Now in the 187. page M. Doctor answeareth heereunto that thys implyeth no more that the saluation is tyed to the sacramentes then when it is taught that infants must be baptysed and not tary vntill they come to the age of discretion Which how truely it is spoken when as the one hath ground of the scripture the other hath none the one approued by the continuall and almost the generall practise of the church the other vsed in the corrupt and rotten estate thereof let all men iudge Therefore for so much as the mynistery of the worde and sacramentes goe together that the mynistery of the word may not be committed vnto women and for that thys euill custome hath rysen fyrst of a false vnderstanding of the scripture and then of a false conclusion of that vntrue vnderstanding which is that they can not be saued which are not baptised and for that the authors them selues of that error did neuer seeke no remedy of the mischeefe in womens or priuate baptim And last of all for that if there were any remedy agaynst that mischefe in such kynde of baptisme yet it ought not to be vsed being agaynst the institution of God hys glory I conclude that the priuate baptisme and by women is vtterly vnlawfull There followeth the priuate communion which is found fault with both for the place wherein it is mynistred for the small number of communicants which are admitted by the bocke of seruice Touching the place before is spoken sufficiently it reasteth to consider of the number But before I come to that I will speake some thing of the causes beginning of receiuing in houses of the mynistring of the Communion vnto sicke folkes It is not to be denyed but that thys abuse is very auncient and was in Iustin Martyrs tyme in Tertullians and Cyprians tyme euen as also there were other abuses crept into the supper of the Lord and that very grose as the mingling of water with wine and therein also a necessitie and great mystery placed as it may appeare both by Iustine Martyr and Cyprian Which I therefore by the way doe admonish the reader of that the antiquity of thys abuse of pryuate communion bee not preiudiciall to the truthe no more then the mingling of water with that opynion of necessitie that those fathers had of it is or oughte to bee preiudiciall to that that wee vse in mynistring the cuppe with pure wine according to the instytution I say therefore that thys abuse was auncient and rose vpon these causes First of all in the prymitiue church the dyscipline of the churche was so seuere and so extreame that if any which professed the truth and were of the body of the church did through infirmitie deny the truth ioyned hym self vnto the idolatrous seruice although he repenting came againe vnto the church yet was he not receiued to the communion of the Lords supper any more And yet lying in extremitie of sickenes and redy to depart thys lyfe if hee dyd require the communion in token that the church had forgeuen the faulte and was reconcyled altogether vnto that person that had so fallen they graunted that he might be partaker of it as may appeare by the story of Serapion Another cause was that which was before alleaged which is the false opynion which they had conceiued that all those were condemned that receiued not the supper of the Lord therfore when as those that were as they called thē cathecumeni which is yong nouices in relygion neuer admitted to the supper or yong children fell sicke daungerously they mynistred the supper of the Lord vnto them least they should want their voyage victuall as they termed it which abuse notwithstanding was neither so auncient as the other nor so generall And there wanted not good men which declared their mislyking and dyd decree agaynst both the abuses agaynst all maner communicating in priuate houses As in the councell of * Laodicea it was ordayned that neyther byshop nor elder shuld make any oblation that was mynister any communion in houses Besides therfore that I haue before shewed the vnlawfulnesse generally of mynistring the sacrament in priuate places seeing that the custome of mynistring thys supper vnto the sicke rose vpon corrupt causes and rotten foundations considering also God be praysed in these times there are none dryuen by feare to renounce the truth whereupon any such excommunication should ensue which in the extremitie of sicknesse should be mitigated after thys sort for no man now that is in extreame sicknesse is cast downe or else assaulted with thys temptation that he is cut of from the church I say these things considered it followeth that thys mynistring of communion in priuate houses to the sicke is vnlawfull as that which rose vpon euil groundes if it were lawfull yet that now in these times of peace when the sicke are not excommunicated there is no vse of it And so it appeareth how little the custome of the olde church doth helpe M. Doctor in thys poynt And as for that he sayth Peter Martyr Bucer doe allow the communion exhibited to the sicke persons when he sheweth that he shal haue answer For wher he saith he hath declared it in an other treatise either the Printer hath left out the treatise or M. Doc. wonderfully forgetteth hym selfe or else he meaneth some odde thing that he hath written layd vp in some corner of his study For surely there is no such saying in all hys boke before nor yet after so far as I can finde Now remayneth to be spoken of the number of communicants that there is fault in the appoynting of the seruice booke not only for that it admitteth in the tyme of plage that one with the mynister may celebrate the supper of the Lord in the house but for that it ordayneth a communion in the church when of a great number which assemble there it admitteth three or fower the abuse and inconuenience whereof may thus bee considered The holy sacrament of the supper of the Lorde is not only a seale and confirmation of the promises of God vnto vs but also a profession of our coniunction as well with Christ our sauiour and with
iudgement of M. Bucer And wheras M. doctor vpon that s. Peter willeth the husbands to geue honor to their wiues wold approue this manner of speach in matrimony wyth my body I thee worshyp he must vnderstaÌ„d that it is one thing wyth vs to worship and an other thing to honor For we honor men whych we do not worshyp and besides that S. Peter speaketh of the honor of the mynde wherby the husband shuld be moued to beare wyth the infirmities of his wife therfore it is vnfitly alleaged to proue that he may worship her with his body As for the receiuing of the Communion when they be marryed that it is not to be suffered onles there be a generall receiuing I haue before at large declared and as for the reason that is fathered of M. Bucer whych is that those that be Christians maye not be ioyned in maryage but in Christe It is verye slender and cold as if the sacrament of the supper were instituted to declare any such thyng or they could not declare their ioyning togither in Christ by no meanes but by receyuing the supper of the Lorde To the next section in the. 197. page TEll me M. doctor why there should be any such confirmation in the church being brought in by the fained Decretall Epistles of the Popes and no one tittle therof being once found in the scrypture and seeing that it hath bene so horribly abused and not necessary why ought it not to be vtterly abolyshed and thirdly thys confirmation hath very dangerous poynts in it The first steppe of popery in thys confirmation is the laying on of hands vpon the head of the childe wherby the opinion of it that it is a sacrament is confirmed especially when as the prayer dothe saye that it is done according to the example of the Apostles whych is a manifest vntruthe and taken in deede from the popish confirmation The seconde is for that the byshop as he is called must be the only minister of it wherby the popishe opinion whych esteemeth it aboue baptisme is confirmed For whilest baptisme may be ministred of the minister and not coÌ„firmation but only of the byshop there is great cause of suspition geuen to thinke that baptisme is not so precious a thing as confirmation seeing thys was one of the principall reasons wherby that wicked opinion was establyshed in popery I do not heere speake of the inconuenience that meÌ„ are constrained with charges to bryng their childreÌ„ oftentimes halfe a score miles for that which if it were nedeful might be as wel done at home in their owne parishes The thirde is for y â— â—â— the allegation of the seconde cause of the vsing of the confirmation the boke sayeth that by the imposition of hands and prayer the chyldren may receyue strengthe and defence agaynst all temptations whereas there is no promyse that by the laying on of hands vpon chyldren any suche gyfte shall be geuen and it maintayneth the popyshe distinction that the spirite of God is geuen at baptisme vnto the remissyon of synnes and in confirmation vnto strength the whych very worde strength the booke alledgeth and all thys M. Doctor confuteth by callyng of the authors of the admonition peeuish and arrogant To the next section contained in the. 198. 199. 200. 201. pages LEast M. Doctor as hys common fashyon is when the corruption of anye thyng is spoken agaynst say that we condemne buryall I would haue hym vnderstand that we hold that the body must be honestly and comely buried and that it is mete that for that cause some reasonable numbre of those whych be the frends and neyghbors about should accompany the corps to the place of buryall We hold it also lawfull to lament the dead and if the dignity of the persone so require we thynke it not vnlawfull to vse some way about the buriall wherby that may appeare but yet so that there be a measure kepte bothe in the weepyng and in the charges consydering that whereas immoderate eyther weepyng or pompe was neuer no not in the tyme of the lawe allowed nowe in the time of the gospell all that is not lawfull whych was permitted in the time of the law For vnto the people of God vnder the law weeping was by so much more permitted vnto them then vnto vs by howe muche they had not so cleare a reuelation and plaine syght of the resurrection as we haue whych was y cause also why it was lawfull for them to vse more cost in the embaulmyng of the dead therby to nouryshe and to helpe their hope touchyng the resurrection wherof we haue a greater pledge by the resurrection of our sauyor Christ then they had Nowe for the thyngs whych the admonition findeth fault wyth and thereof bryngeth reason M. Doctor of hys bare credite wythout any reason or scrypture or any thyng els commendeth them vnto vs sayeth they be good And thys you shall marke to be M. doctors symple shyft throughoute hys booke that when he hath no coloure of scripture nor of reason no name nor title of doctor theÌ„ to make vp some thyng he varyeth hys affirmation by all the figures he can as in saying simplye that it is so and then in askyng whether it be not so and after in askyng whether there is any other man will thynke that it is not so as if the woulde make vs beleeue that he setteth vs dyuers kindes of meates because he bryngeth the same in dyuers dyshes For besydes these reasons he hathe no reason eyther to proue that it is meete to haue prescript forme of seruice for the dead or that the minister should be drawne to thys charge Surely if the order be so good and conuenient it hath met with a very barren patron whych can say nothing for it And although there be enough sayd by the admonition yet because thys bold and hardy speache is enough to lead the simpler away to make them thinke that M. doctor hathe a good cause therfore I wil also say somthyng of these rites of buryal And first of all as thys almost is a generall fault in them all that they maintayne in the mindes of the ignorant the opinion of praying for the dead so is thys also a nother general fault that these ceremonyes are taken vp without any example either of the churches vnder the law or of the purest churches vnder the gospel that is of the churches in the apostles times For when the scripture descrybeth the ceremonies or rites of buryall amongste the people of God so dilygently that it maketh mention of the smallest thyngs there is no doubte but the holy Ghoste doth therby shew vs a paterne wherevnto we should also frame oure buryalles And therfore for so much as neyther the church vnder the law nor vnder the gospell when it was in the greatest puritye dyd euer vse any prescript forme of seruice in the buryall of theyr dead it coulde not be but daungerous
not be husbandmen crafts mē c. yet may haue ciuil offices I thinke far otherwise that although neither be lawfull yet the one were more tollerable then the other For seing after the ministery of the word there is no calling vnder the sunne weightyer and which requireth greater exercise of the mynde then the office of the magistrate it is agaynst all reason to lay this heauy burthen vpon a man that is already loden and hath as much as he is able to beare It were more equall if they will needes adde vnto the weyght of thys burthen to lay some lyghter charge of exercising handy craft then to breake hys backe with the charge of a cyuill magistrate And whereas in the pollicy of M. Doctor it semeth a furtherance to the gospell to ioyne these together which was also the pollicy of the Idolaters as I haue before declared in the wisedome of God it hath semed farre otherwyse which I doubt not dyd therfore separate the ministery from thys pompe whiche is commendable in the cyuill magistrate least the efficacy and power of the simplicitie of the word of God and of the mynistery should be obscured whilest men would attribute the conuersion of soules vnto the gospell dew vnto the worde and to the spirite of God to these gloryous shewes And least whylest the mynyster haue the woorde in one hande and the sword in the other men should not be able to iudge so well in their consciences of the mighty operation of the worde of God in them For they might doubt with them selues whether the feare out ward shew of the mynister caryed some stroke with them in beleuing the word But M. Doctor sayeth that cyuill offices are not to be counted worldly affayres but heauenly and spirituall it is so and yet when they are compared with the ecclesiasticall offices they may be called secular offices for so muche as they together with the care of relygion procure and prouide for the things wherby we may quietly and commodiously lyue here where the ecclesiasticall offices are immediatly and only bent to procure the glory of God and the saluation of men and in that signification of heauenly spirituall which you take marchandyse husbandry and the handy craft be heauenly and spyrituall although not in the same degree All lawfull callinges came from God returne to hym agayne that is he is both author of them and they ought to be referred to hys glory so that if the mynister may exercise all thinges which be heauenly and spirituall you may as well bring hym downe to the plough as promote hym to the courte And whereas M. Doctor sayth that the office of a commissyoner is ecclesiasticall because it handleth ecclesiasticall causes I meruayle that he is so ignorant that he can not put a difference betweene geuing iudyciall sentences and appoynting bodely punishmentes which are meere cyuill and betweene the vnderstanding the truth of euery such cause according as the worde of God defyneth of it which is a thing common as wel vnto the magistrate as vnto the minister and wherein the mynister because he ought to be most ready ought if neede be consulted with An other of Maister Doctors reasons is that as kinges doe serue Christ by making lawes for hym so byshoppes doe serue Christ by executing lawes for him As though it pertayned not vnto the magistrates to execute lawes aswell as to make them and as if the magistrate were not therefore called a speaking law because by executing them he doth cause the lawes after a fashion to speake Thys is to deuide the stake of the magistrate betwene hym and the byshop yea to geue the byshoppe the best part of it For wee know that with vs the people be at making of the lawes which may not meddle with the execution of them And if M. Doctor say that he meaneth not hereby to shut the prince from executing the lawes then as hys similytude when it is at the best proueth nothing so by thys meanes it haltes downe ryght and is no simylitude As for Elie and Samuell they are extraordinary examples which may thereby appeare for that both these offices first meting in Melchisedech afterward in Moses were by the commaundement of God seuered when as the Lord toke from Moses being so wise godly a man the priesthode gaue it to Aaron and to hys successors And so for so much as when the Lord would polishe hys church make it famous renoumed in the world he gaue thys order It appeareth that he wold haue this to be a perpetuall rule vnto his church And by so much it is the clearer for that the Lord did not tary vntil Moses death but toke the priesthode away frō Moses which was a man as able to execute both as eyther Elie or Samuell And thys may be also easely seene for that in a maner alwayes where there was any good and stayed estate of the churche these offices were mynistred by seuerall persons and then met were mingled when the estates were very ruinous and myserable And if thys be a good reason to proue that mynisters may exercise ciuill offices it is as good a reason to proue that princes may preach and mynister the sacramentes For if the mynisters may exercise ciuill offices because Elie and Samuell being mynisters did so the Princes and Iudges may preach the word and mynister the sacramentes because Elie and Samuell being princes and iudges dyd so And so we see how M. Doctor going about to defende one confusion bringeth in an other As for Elias killing the false prophetes and our sauiour Christes whipping out of the temple it is strange that Maister Doctor will alledge them as thinges to be followed when he may as well teach that we may cal for fire from heauen as Elias dyd and being demaunded answere nothing as our sauiour dyd as to follow these actions which are most singular and extraordinary And if these one or two examples be enough to breake the order that God hath set by thys a man may proue that the mynisters may be fyshers and tent makers because Peter and Paule being mynisters dyd fyshe and make tents And truely these are not so extraordinary and from the generall rule as the other be And it was permitted in a councell that rather then a mynister should haue two benefices he might labor with hys handes to supply hys want withall When S. Paule willed Tim. that he should not receiue an accusation agaynst an elder vnder two or three witnesses he dyd commit nothing les then any ciuill office vnto hym And M. Doctor hym selfe hath alledged it before as a thing incident to the office of a byshop and therefore he doth forget hymselfe maruellously now that maketh thys a ciuill office And doth M. Doctor thincke that S. Paule made magistrates Or is he of that iudgement that the church in the tyme of persecution may make ciuill officers