I know my self to have been ignorant in that which indeed I knew not And finally S. Paul to the Hebrews maketh this plain when giving a definition of Faith he writeth thus Est autem fides substantia sperandarum rerum argumentum non apparentium Faith is the substance or ground of things hoped for in the next life and an argument of such things as be not apparent or manifest to humane sense or reason Thus teach they And the matter is clear in it self and confoundeth the politic vain heads of our days who will believe no more than they see or feel or can comprehend by their own understanding 21. But now concerning the causes of this difficulty or obscurity in matters of belief the same Fathers do assign 2 or 3 for principal The first is the heighth and sublimity of the the articles and mysteries themselves that are to be believed which being of God's Secrets do surpass the base capacity and reason of man. As are for example the creation of the world of nothing the trinity of persons in one nature of divinity the incarnation of the Son of God and his birth without violating his mothers virginity the resurrection of our bodies the being of Christ in the Sacrament and the like which human reason cannot reach unto tho' they be not contrary to it but above it Another cause is as S. Ambrose noteth the Majesty of Almighty God who will be believed at his word without being asked for proof or reason for the same For if saith he a grave honorable personage in this life especially if he be of high authority and our superior will take it in disdain to be asked a proof for that he affirmeth how much more ought God to be credited without proof of human reason when he proposeth unto us a matter above our reach or capacity 22. The third cause is that which before I touched that Man might merit more by believing that which he seeth not evident according to the Saying of Christ to S. Thomas Quia vidisti Thoma credidisti beati qui non viderunt crediderunt Because thou hast seen Thomas thou hast believed but happy are they that have not seen and yet have believed And for all these causes if we consider the matter well we shall find that God hath proceeded strangely to man's eye from the beginning of the world in revealing the mysteries of our Faith unto us discovering his will on the one side with infinite testification of his love and desire that we should know them and yet on the other side with such reservation in those revelations as the matter might still be difficult hard or obscure in some respect and this for the greater merit as hath been said of the believer As for example before the flood he appeared to divers Patriarchs from time to time causing them to preach and open to others his will and the truth of that Faith which they were bound to believe but yet he appeared not to all in those days which he might have done if he would and thereby have made the matter more clear and out of doubt but he would have them believe others by words and tradition And the like manner of proceeding he used after the flood with Abraham Isaac and Jacob for instruction of their posterity And then again four or five hundred years after that when he determined to bring the Hebrew people out of Egypt and to give them a written Law he appeared not evidently to all the people but chose Moses to send unto them in his name and spake to him out of a fiery bush at the beginning and at other times out of a cloud on the top of a hill All which things had still their doubts and difficulties for him that would wrangle or had not good will to believe and credit them 23. And finally when the Son of God came himself in flesh to preach tho' he used many and sufficient Arguments to draw men unto him and believe the Mysteries revealed by him as in the next Point shall be shewed yet used he the same course notwithstanding that had been used before for neither appeared he to the whole world as he might have done by his Divinity and Omnipotency but to those of Jewry only nor there to all nor did he work Miracles in every place but where he thought expedient Nor when he rose again from death which is a Point principally in this matter to be considered did he appear to all men or publickly in the Streets of Jerusalem as he might have done and thereby have made his Resurrection clear and out of controversie but he appeared only to his Apostles and Disciples which he expresseth in these words Hunc Deus suscitavit tertia die dedit eum manifestum fieri non omni populo sed testibus praeordinatis à Deo nobis qui manducavimus bibimus cum ilio postquam resurrexit à mortuis Et praecepit nobis praedicare populo testificari c. God hath raised up this his Son from death the third day and gave him to be made manifest not to all the people but unto such as were pre-ordained beforehand by him to be witnesses thereof that is to say us that did eat and drink with him after his Resurrection and to us he gave commandment to preach and testifie to the people c. 24. Behold here the reason why Christ after his Resurrection did not appear to the whole people in Jewry but to his Apostles and Disciples only who were his appointed witnesses to testifie and preach the same to others to the end their Faith might be of more merit according to his former speech to S. Thomas Happy are they who have not seen and yet do believe And for the self same causes we may not doubt but that these his apparitions and manifestations which are recounted in Scriptures to have been made by him at divers times in sundry places and upon different occasions during his abode on earth for the space of forty days after his Resurrection which apparitions arrive to the number of 13 or 14 were made in such particular manner by him as the Scripture recounteth them First to those godly women then to the Apostles then to the disciples going to Emaus and after that to others All I say were so made as still remained place for our free will to merit in believing them and divers did doubt at the beginning as the Scripture saith and Christ was often forced to reprehend their coldness and backwardness in belief as when he said O stulti tardi corde ad credendum O you foolish and slow of heart to believe And at his last departure from them Exprobravit illis saith S. Mark incredulitatem eorum duritiem cordis quia iis qui viderant eum resurrexisse non crediderunt He did exprobrate unto them their incredulity and
credible and sufficient to move any wise considerate man to believe the same tho' they do not enforce him 30. And the like may be said and shewed concerning the Arguments for Catholic Religion against all Sects and Heresies whatsoever which are so many and pregnant in themselves to him that will consider them duly as there can be no probable doubt in the world which is the truth and which is falshood tho' oftentimes for want either of diligence to know them or pious affection to consider indifferently of them which is the third Point here to be mentioned many Mens Judgments are so obscured or perverted that they cannot or will not see the truth Of these Arguments of credibility for proof of Catholic Faith in general against Heresies you may see many put together by Tertullian in his excellent Book De praescriptionibus adversus Haereses and in S. Augustin's Books De utilitate credendi de moribus Ecclesiae and other such Treatises and in all his other Books against the Donatists Manichees and Pelagians And in that Golden Treatise of Vincentius Lirinensis contra prophanas haeresum omnium novitates who wrote soon after S. Austin and in our times Bosius de signis Ecclesiae and divers others have handled the same Argument And more than this there want not also store in our English Tongue of like matter as Dr. Bristow's Motives and others and you shall find no small number of these Arguments in this Treatise if you read it over So as this Point maketh any man inexcusable that will pretend ignorance herein 31. But now there resteth the third Point which as I said is the Key of all the rest to open the Gate to true Faith and Belief which is a pious and purged Affection without which all the Arguments of Credibility in the World will do no good to move a man to true Religion no more than the persuasion of S. John Baptist did with Herod nor the often speeches and Conferences of S. Paul prevail'd with the Proconsul Foelix the reason whereof is that albeit naturally our Judgment and Understanding should yield to that which appeareth truest and that our Will and Affection by the same natural course ought to follow our said Judgment and Understanding yet thro' the corruption of mankind we find daily by experience that our Will draweth after it our Judgment and as she is affected or disaffected so goeth our Judgment and Understanding also 32. This Point touch'd Christ our Savior when he said in S. John's Gospel to certain ambitious Jews Quomodo vos potestis credere qui Gloriam ab invicem accipitis Gloriam quae à solo Deo est non queritis How can you believe in me which do take and seek Glory one of another and do not seek that true Glory which is only to be had from God Here you see that an ambitious affection did impossibilitate their Understanding to believe notwithstanding what Arguments Reasons or Motives soever to the contrary S. Paul also giving the reason why certain Infidels did not believe the Gospel preach'd by him with many Signs Miracles and other Arguments to move them he noteth the whole impediment to be in their affections saying In quibus Deus hujus saeculi excaecavit mentes ut non fulgeat illuminatio Evangelii gloriae Christi qui est Imago Dei In whom the God of this world hath blinded their Minds and Vnderstanding so that the light or illumination of the glory of Christ's Gospel cannot shine in them who is notwithstanding the very Image of God c. 33. Here you see that there wanted not external Light on the behalf of Christ and his Gospel whose Glory shin'd by so many Miracles in those days of S. Paul but that the love of this World and disorderly affection to Honor Ambition Riches and other Sensualities thereof which here by the Apostle are called the God of this World for that worldly men do adore them This God I say or Devil rather of corrupt affections had so blinded their Judgments and Understanding inwardly as they could not see this shining Light of Truth So that where this pious affection is not or at leastwise where it is not so purg'd from sinister humors as it remaineth with some indifferency of desire to know and follow the Truth if it be discovered no good can be hop'd for In regard whereof Christ refus'd to do Miracles before Herod or in his own Country for that he knew them so obstinately averse in mind as they would not profit by them And for the same cause he refus'd to reason or argue with Pilat about his own Cause when he gave him occasion for that he knew his affections to be so ty'd to the World and himself so addicted to please the People and to gain the good will of Tiberius the Emperor as his labor would be but lost in seeking to persuade him being so obstinately dispos'd otherwise And thus much of this third Point of pious affection and the necessity thereof to a Man's Salvation 34. The fourth and last Point of this Consideration is That tho' it be true as is said in the first Point that ordinarily and for the most part the Object or Articles of our Faith are above the reach of man's Reason and were first reveal'd to man from God himself yet are there some Points thereof which by force of human Reason may be known and demonstrated As for example that there is a God and that he is but One and cannot be Many and that the World was made by Him and that he hath Providence over the same and other such-like Points Which Points and Articles notwithstanding for that on the other side they are propos'd also in the Scriptures and in the Nicene Creed as Articles of our Faith that must be believ'd by Christians as reveal'd from God hence ariseth no small question among School-Divines whether these Points here set down may be known by two distinct ways or no to wit evidently by force of human Reason or Demonstration and inevidently by Light of Faith and Revelation from God And the more common and probable Opinion of School-men and more conformable to the Scriptures and ancient Fathers is That they may for that our Vnderstanding may have two Lights to know one and the self-same thing the first by Revelation from God which always is with some darkness and obscurity to our Reason as before hath been declared and consequently our Judgment being not forc'd to yield thereunto by the clearness of evidence it followeth that our assent by Faith is more free and greater place is given to pious affection of our will and thereby also more merit to assent as before hath been shewed 35. The second Light may be by force of Man's Reason and evidence of Demonstration which sometimes is so clear in it self as it admitteth no doubt at all as when we shew
this Principle That every Whole is greater than its Part or that man is a reasonable Creature or like evident things and then is our Vnderstanding forc'd to yield thereunto and consequently hath the less Merit by how much less freedom it leaveth to our will and affection to give our assent or no. But yet this knowledg gotten by human Reason doth not so take away the merit of the other that proceeded of free assent of Faith but that both may stand together in one and the self-same man about one and the self-same thing to wit Faith and Demonstration as distinct lights gotten by different and distinct means the one by Revelation from God the other by Demonstration of Reason for that otherwise this great inconvenience say the Authors that hold this Opinion would follow that learned men should be in far worse case for their merits in Faith than the ignorant for that whensoever the said learned men do come by means of their study to see clearly by Reason the truth of any Conclusion of Divinity or Article of Belief which simply before they did believe only as revealed from God which thing may very well happen and often doth to learned men that then they should lose their former Faith or at leastwise the Merit thereof if it be granted that Faith and Science may in no case stand together 36. But to leave this to be disputed in Schools and to return to our purpose There is no doubt but that some Points belonging to Christian Faith may plainly and absolutely be demonstrated and prov'd by human Reason Science as those which I have here touched of One God his Omnipotency Providence and the like Some other there be which tho' they cannot be altogether so absolutely convinc'd by Demonstrations yet may they in part by way of supposition that is to say by supposing some one or two Points belonging thereunto which the Adversary will either grant or cannot deny As for example Supposing there is a God and that he hath appointed any Religion to mankind and that the Prophets and Prophesies of the Old Testament are to be believed it is not hard to prove and demonstrate the Verity of Christian Religion against either Jew or Gentile And the like is it in this matter here treated by me in this Book against J. Fox and his Fellows about the Beginning Planting Growing and Continuance of Catholic Religion For if you suppose only that Christ is God and that he hath appointed any Religion at all and that the first Religion and Church instituted by him was true and truly meant by him and that he was able to perform his promises made to the first Christians for the Preservation and Perpetuity thereof This I say being granted what I infer in this Treatise followeth by necessary consequence of moral Demonstration as you will find in the perusal 37. These four Points then I thought good gentle Reader to touch briefly in this Preface meaning to make four several Inferences out of the same not unprofitable in mine opinion to the purpose we have in hand For out of the First Point concerning the height and sublimity of matters of our Faith above the capacity of Man's Reason I make this inference That every one ought to come to treat and talk of such things as belong to Faith and Belief with great reverence respect modesty and submission of mind not condemning that which his sense or reason reacheth not unto nor making the Depth of his own Capacity the Rule and Measure of his Belief A thing noted in the Sect of Manichees by S. Austin who writeth That for this cause principally he was nine years of their Company for that they told him still he being a young man desirous of Knowledg that Catholics did superstitiously require Faith before Reason and that They the Manichees forsooth did teach nothing but that which should clearly be discuss'd by force of good Argument and Reason before it was believed c. Vpon which occasion also the said Father wrote that excellent Book beforementioned de Utilitate Credendi of the great utility and infinite commodities which Catholic Christian People have in believing simply by Tradition of their Ancestors that Faith which is established in the Universal Church of Christ tho' their own Reason arrive not to penetrate the same for whosoever openeth once his Ears especially the Unlearned sort to hearken to Human Reasons against the Mysteries of their Faith he is in danger presently either to lose his Faith or at leastwise the Merit thereof together with the peace comfort and tranquility of his mind and thereby openeth a wide gap to the Devil and all his Instruments as well Infidels as Heretics to enter in and trouble the House of his Conscience 38. And as for Heretics it hath been an old practice to trouble or draw men from Catholic Religion or make them stagger by this means of pretending human Reason against Belief as we have shewed by example of the Manichees who took this trick from the old Heathen Philosophers whom S. Hierom for this cause principally calleth the Patriarchs of Heretics The Arians also deceiv'd many by the tricks of human Reason drawing out their Napkins as Theodoretus saith and asking the common people whether Three corners thereof could be One or no and then inferring deceitfully thereupon said No more could Three Persons be One God. The Sadducees founded their Heresie against the Resurrection of the Flesh upon the contrariety it seem'd to have with human Reason which prevail'd afterwards with divers sorts of Heretics that had infinit Followers as Simon Magus Basilides Hymenaeus Philetus Valentinus Marcion Appelles the Ophites Cerdonists Cainites Albigenses and others And now in our days with Zuinglians Calvinists Anabaptists Trinitarians Family of Love Brownists and divers other Sects who do nothing but rave and blaspheme against the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament upon the same ground that it seemeth contrary to Sense and human Reason And finally this is a way to all Misbelief Atheism and Infidelity c. 39. Out of the Second Point concerning Arguments of Credibility for our Belief I infer That seeing God hath left us such store and variety of Arguments for our comfort and consolation in that we believe every man ought to be diligent and careful to seek out and use them and not suffer himself to be overborn by deceitful quarrelling people in a suit of so great importance without looking upon his Writings and Evidences that he hath for the same For how greatly would we condemn the sloth and negligence of a Man who descending for many Ages as lawful Heir from a most Ancient and Noble House of great Riches and Possessions and seeing false Pretenders to make claim thereunto and by slight and intrusion to put both Him and his Posterity from the same How much I say should we condemn him if having whole Chests full of
c. In the end Wilfrid in his Disputation prevailed by his Impostures having bewitched the two Kings that were present King Oswyn and King Egfrid Did you ever hear a more shameless tongue But this he wrote of St. Wilfrid Obiter and by the way in the Narration he maketh of B. Colman But when he cometh to talk of him in particular and severally he is far more bitter and impudent against him telling us first how that after Wilfrid had been in France Italy and Rome to study and there learned the Mathematical Calculations of times out of the Gospels Reversus in Patriam Romanas Consuetudines contra Quartadecimanos sic enim pios homines tunc derisorié vocabant disceptationibus in Synodo publicis defendebat gerebatque circa collum reliquiarum quas Roma tulerat capsulam quandam c. Et Archiepiscopus denique ob haec his similia constitutus bis infra spatium 45 annorum non ob Regum insolentiam ut Polidorus immodesté scribit sed ob suam temeritatem imò malitiam atque neguitias plures Archiepiscopatu pulsus est longo tandem confectus senio periit Anno Christi 710. He returning from Rome to his Country did defend by public Disputations in a Synod the Roman Customs against these men who being Pious and Godly were called scoffingly in those days Quartadecimans he carried about his Neck a certain Box of Saints Reliques which he brought with him from Rome And being for these and other like things made Archbishop he was driven out twice within 45 years from his Archbishopric and this not by the Insolency of the Kings that drave him out as Polidor doth immodestly write but rather for his own Rashness yea Malice and many Wickednesses c. And so at length being consumed with Old Age he perished in the year of Christ 710. 19. Behold here a Narration worthy the Spirit of a new Gospeller and old Apostata against so Venerable and Worthy a Pillar of our Primitive English Church as was St. Wilfrid Mark how he is tax'd for travelling and studying at Rome for defending by public Disputations the Roman Custom of celebrating Easter which yet was defended and decreed openly by the General Council of Nice as before you have heard and after shall be proved for bearing a Box of Reliques about his Neck brought from Rome which no doubt is one of the things that most troubleth the Spirit of John Bale as it did the Devils and wicked Spirits in England who cry'd and were cast out by the same as you may read in them that write his Life 20. Moreover he saith That for his own Wickedness he was driven out of his Archbishopric and so finally perished in the year 710. As for his perishing if he perished that lived so austere a Religious Life converted so many thousand English Heathens to Christian Faith wrought so many Miracles as are recorded of him then woe to Us that cannot imitate so great Holiness and woe to John Bale that ran out of Religion and being a Fryer took a Wench named Faithful Dorothy and that as himself braggeth Neque ab homine neque per hominem sed ex speciali Christi dono Neither from man nor by man but by the special Gift of Christ as tho' Christ did use to divide such Gifts to Fryers that had vowed Chastity And how good a Fellow he became afterward and how pleasant a Companion you may understand by his own words when writing of his Works he saith Facetias jocos sine certo numero feci I have written Jests and Pastimes without any certain number a fit Argument for a new Gospelling Fryer But yet how far this exercise of Jesting was from the Gravity and Holiness of St. Wilfrid no man can doubt And so himself miserable man may be thought to have perished while the other reigneth eternally in Heaven 21. And as for Refutation of the horrible Slander That for his Wickedness St. Wilfrid was driven out of his Archbishopric I have no better means present than to oppose against this lying Apostata the Universal Consent of all Antiquity especially those that wrote his Life as St. Bede and after him Hedius Odo Fridegenus Petrus Blesensis and others who have written both his Life and Death as of a great Saint and his Memory and Festival Celebration is held throughout the Universal Church upon the 12th day of October as all Martyrologies do testifie And thus much of the Insolency of John Bale against the person of St. Wilfrid 22. But now whereas further he is not ashamed to defend the Jewish Custom and the Quartadecimans condemned for it saying That they were pious men and were called by the nickname of Quartadecimans for a scoff only I am forced to deal further therein and to shew him first to be an Heretical and most shameless Calumniator for that the name of Quartadecimani or Quatuordecimani signifying those that observe the fourteenth day of the Moon of March to celebrate Easter is an old name appointed to those that held that Heretical Use for many Ages agone as may appear by St. Epiphanius that wrote 1200 years agone whose words are these Emersit rursus mundo alia Haeresis Tesseradecatitarum appellata quos Quartadecimanos quidam appellant There is another Heresie sprung up in the World of some that are called in Greek Tesseradecatites which others in Latin do call Quartadecimans c. The Explication of which words St. Augustin after him in his Book of Heresies written to Quod-vult-Deus doth set down thus Hinc appellati sunt quòd non nisi quartadecima Luna mense Martio Pascha celebrant These People are called by the Greek words Tesseradecatites and by the Latin Quartadecimans for that they do celebrate Easter upon the fourteenth day of the Moon of March. Unde etiam Quartadecimani cognominati sunt saith Nicephorus lib. 4. Histor cap. 36. for which cause they are called also Quartadecimans 23. And yet further the same men were called also by a third name of Paschatites as appeareth both by St. Philastrius Bishop of Brixia somewhat before St. Epiphanius who in his Catalogue of Heresies numbring up these Paschatites yieldeth the reason of their name in these words Qui asserunt quartadecima Luna celebrandum esse Pascha non autem sicuti Ecclesia Catholica celebrat Who affirm that Easter-day is to be celebrated upon the fourteenth of the Month of March upon whatsoever day it shall fall out and not as the Catholic Church doth accustom to expect the Sunday 24. Well then we see that St. Wilfrid and other Roman Catholics of his time did not invent the name of Quartadecimani for a scoff to disgrace godly men thereby as ungodly John Bale blusheth not to avouch but that it is an old name invented and appointed by the Universal Primitive Church to them that defended obstinatly the Jewish Custom of celebrating Easter-day strictly upon the
and of all them that came after him he was the best 5. Lo here Envy and Malice how blind they are for as for Baseness if he means in Blood or Worldly Honor it might perhaps with more probability have been attributed to all or any of the Popes that were before him than to Gregory who was as is known the Son of a most Noble and Rich Senator Gordianus as all Authors do testifie Whose Palace on the Hill Scaurus near to that of the Emperours is at this day a fair Church and Monastery and this Man being his Fathers Heir built with his own Substance seven Monasteries and endued them with rents before he entred into any religious Order himself Wherefore touching Birth and wordly Wealth this was so far off from the Baseness wherewith Fox would disgrace him as he might perhaps with more probability have subscribed this note as before I said to any other Pope from St. Peter downward then to St. Gregory And as for rare and singular Learning which impugneth also Baseness or for Holiness of Life that increaseth much Nobility I think John Fox dareth not to make St. Gregory inferiour to many Popes that went before him tho he were no Martyr as many of them were So that hard it were to determine wherein this Baseness doth consist but that the simple fellow would needs say somewhat to so great a Mans Disgrace And for terming him the best of all that followed this is not so much to praise him as to dispraise the rest or to make base and best to fall out in Tune and so we must pass it over as an impertinent Speech 6. But if we should stand upon the Testimonies of Antiquity in this behalf to oppose them against John Fox as namely Joannes Diaconus that wrote his Life and many other after him we should oppress the poor Fellow with Multitude of Witnesses yet cannot we let pass two that lived in Spain at the same time the one and the other soon after The first is Isidorus Archbishop of Sevil who writeth thus presently upon his Death Gregorius Papa Romanae Sedis Apostolicae Praesul compunctione timoris Dei plenus humilitate summus tantoque per gratiam Spiritus Sancti scientiae lumine praeditus ut non modo illi praesentium temporum quisquam sed nec in praeteritis quidem par fuit unquam Pope Gregory Bishop of the Roman and Apostolic See being full of Compunction of the Fear of God and most high in Humility was indued by the Holy Ghost with so great light of Knowledge as not only any Man of the present time is equal unto him but neither of the Ages past 7. This is his judgment which holy St. Hildefonsus Archbishop of Tollet having cited in a Book of his of the same Title not long after yieldeth as it were the Reason of this Asseveration of St. Isidore in these words Ita enim cunctorum meritorum claruit perfectione sublimis ut exclusis omnium illustrium virorum comparationibus nihil illi simile demonstret antiquitas Vicit enim sanctitate Antonium eloquentia Cyprianum sapientia Augustinum c. For St. Gregory did shine with so high a perfection of all kind of merits as the comparisons of all other worthy Men being excluded Antiquity hath nothing to shew like unto him seeing that in Holiness he surpassed St. Anthony in Eloquence St. Cyprian in Wisdom St. Augustin c. Thus wrote these Men in those days and albeit it may seem some kind of exaggerations yet we may hereby behold the judgment of those Ages and the sense of these two learned and holy Prelates how different they were from John Fox and his Mates in our days that seek so fondly to discredit so rare a Man and this shall be sufficient for St. Gregory 8. Now as for our Apostle St. Augustin tho' the malice of our Heretics be exceeding great both against his person and actions yet is Fox oftentimes forced to speak well of him and his company as in these words At length when the King Ethelbert had well considered the honest Conversation of their Life and moved with the Miracles wrought through Gods hand by them he heard them more gladly and lastly by their wholsom Exhortations and Example of godly Life he was by them converted and Christened in the year abovesaid 596. and the 36 of his Reign 9. Thus writeth he there and moreover talking of a great and special Miracle wrought by St. Augustin in sight of the Britans then his Adversaries for confirmation of the Roman Doctrin in observing the Easter-feast as now it is used which Miracle was the restoring of a blind Man to his sight by only kneeling down and praying to God for him in the presence of the multitude whose Prelates had attempted the like before but could not atchieve it he saith that the stories both of Bede and Polychronicon Huntington Iornalensis Fabian and other more do agree in this matter And yet in the very next Page following he goeth about to discredit him by all means possibl◠and to diminish the Opinion of Sanctity in him For talking of a certain meeting of seven Britan Bishops with him where they say St. Austin being now made Archbishop and Primate of England would not raise nor move his Body at their coming in Fox writeth thus Much less would his Pharisaical Solemnity have girded himself as Christ did and wash his Brethrens feet after their journey but how knoweth John Fox this Hear his Reason Seeing his Lordship was so high or rather so heavy or rather so proud that he could not find in his heart to give them a little moving of his Body c. By this is his Affection seen to the Man and also by that he would gladly bring him in some manner of suspition to have been some part of the cause of the slaughter of the Britan Monks of Bangor slain by Ethelfred a Heathen King of Northumberland for that they come to Chester to pray against him Whereas Fox himself notwithstanding doth confess that both Huntington and other Authors and he might have said also Bede himself do say that St. Augustin was dead when this slaughter happened nor could any way this matter appertain unto him or to any occasion given by him yet doth another Companion of John Fox go further and more maliciously against this holy Man our Apostle to wit John Bale the Apostate Frier who writeth thus Augustinus Romanus à Gregorio primo ad Anglosaxones papistica fide initiandos Apostolus mittebatur Augustin the Roman was sent as an Apostle from Gregory the first to convert the English-Saxons to a Popish Faith. Behold here how ancient Papists the Catholics of England are by this Mans Opinion 11. I pass over the rest of Bales false and contumelious Speech concerning St. Augustin as that he being ignorant of the Scriptures taught false Doctrin and that he made himself Archbishop
propagation was in like manner from the same City under Pope Gregory by St. Augustin Now remaineth it that we shew and declare how the Britans from King Lucius's time until the coming of St. Augustin which was 400 years and more downward did not alter their Faith nor yet the See of Rome Hers and consequently that the Faith remaining among the Britans when St. Augustin entred and that which was brought in by Him from Rome and taught unto the English was all one 2. And first for the Church of Rome if we count the Bishops thereof that held that Seat from Eleutherius the fourteenth Pope after St. Peter who died Anno Domini 196 until the beginning of Pope Gregory I. the sixty-sixth Pope who was chosen Anno Domini 590 In this space I say of 400 years there passed fifty Popes all of one Faith nor shall it be found that any one of them changed his Religion or was different in belief the one from the other which is a sufficient proof that the Roman Faith in Gregory's time was the same that it was in Eleutherius's time 3. And as for the Britans we read not but that from the time of King Lucius they continu'd the Faith receiv'd under him from Pope Eleutherius until the rising up of the Heretic Pelagius which was somewhat more than 200 years after and for other 200 years again after that to wit from the time of Pelagius until the coming of St. Augustin we find not in any History that the Britans being once deliver'd from the Heresie of Pelagius by the help of St. German and Lupus Bishops of the Roman Faith ever changed their Religion in any one substantial point nor that they swerv'd from the general Faith of the rest of Christendom except only some few of them infected with the foresaid Heresie whiles it lasted and the Custom of keeping Easter-day with the Jews Which before we have shewed to have been perhaps some remainder of Pelagianism or otherwise brought in after But howsoever it got in certain it is that in other substantial points of Doctrin and Religion there was no difference between the Britans and Romans at that day to wit under Pope Gregory that sent hither Augustin which I shew by the Reasons following Reason I 4. First That if St. Augustin at his coming had found any other substantial difference of Belief in the British Faith from that which he brought from Rome he would have reprehended the same as well as he did their different Custom in celebrating Easter after the Jewish manner and some few other Rites of less moment or at leastwise being afterward made Archbishop and Primate of all the Land and conferring with the British Bishops in Council as Fox saith he did he would have communed with them about the same or objected it unto them or at leastwise have made some mention thereof either in his Letters to Pope Gregory as he did of far lesser matters or to some other man. But any such thing we do not read and consequently it may be concluded certainly that there was no such difference in matter of Faith and Doctrin 5. Another Reason may be taken on the other side from the Britans towards Reason II St. Augustin who being in Controversie with him about his preaching to the Saxons whose Conversion for the present they seemed not to desire in respect of many injuries receiv'd from them as St. Bede affirmeth they did observe all Occasions Causes and Reasons which they might alledge by any probability why they would not joyn with him in that Work and if they could have alledged this Cause That the Doctrin which he preached had been different in any one point from that which they had received and observed before it had been a very sufficient excuse and reason for them But we do find no such exception alledged by them and consequently we may conclude as before that there was none 6. Our third Argument or Reason may be deduced from the consideration of Reason III the Universal State of Christian Faith in those days to wit under Gregory I. who was chosen Pope about the year of Christ 590 at what time there was Unity and Conformity of one Religion throughout all Christendom except only in some places of the World certain Reliques of Pelagians Origenists Donatists and Eutychians out of whom sprung also in those days the Arminian Errors as appeareth by the History of those times especially out of St. Gregory's own Works Neither do we read that the Britans were noted with any of these Heresies but only with Pelagianism some years before from which they had been deliver'd by the Preaching of the French Bishops St. German and St. Lupus and by the diligence of their own Metropolitans St. Dubritius and St. David afterward Seeing then St. Augustin came from Rome by Italy and France and was directed to the Bishop of Arles from whom he passed through France into Britanny it is certain he brought no other Faith than the Universal Faith of Christendom receiv'd and believ'd in those days From which seeing that Britanny was not held nor noted to be different nor yet Excommunicated as certain Bishop of Ireland appear to have been by divers Letters of St. Gregory himself written to them in their reprehension for participation with certain Schismatics it followeth that the Faith which St. Augustin brought and that which the Britans had before must needs be one and the self-same in all material and substantial points 7. To which effect also may be added That in the very next Age among Reason IV the Britans before the English entred there were British Bishops in divers General and National Councils as in the time of Constantine and Pope Sylvester we read That one Restitutus a famous Bishop of London was present at the Synod of Arles in France in the year of Christ 325 and subscribed to the same as by the Acts of the said Council appeareth wherein among other points was ordained That no man having a Wife should be made a Priest without his Wifes consent promising to forbear her Company for the time to come It appeareth also by the Apology of St. Athanasius that divers Bishops of Britanny were present at the Council of Sardica held for St. Athanasius against the Arians about the year of Christ 350 as also the Council of Ariminum wherein tho' the greater part of that Council were beguil'd by the Arians yet St. Hilary doth praise divers good Bishops for their Constancy and among other Provinciarum Britannicarum Episcopos certain Bishops of the Britan Provinces By all which is shewed that the Christian Religion of Britanny was Catholic and Universal and concurring in all points with the Roman in those days as Athanasius and St. Hilary who praised these Bishops are known to have done and consequently it cannot be presumed that either the British Religion should be different from the
for a time Brentius as appeareth in his Confession of Wittemberg and some others of that Sect. But this Opinion of Luther did not long please his Followers for that Ph. Melancthon his chief Scholar did soon after teach the contrary viz. That the Church was visible to the eyes of men also And the Magdeburgians do hold the same defining every-where the Church to be a visible Company of Men. Which going back of the principal Lutherans in this point it being done by a certain Consultation had thereof among themselves as Fredericus Staphylus the Emperor's Counsellor that had been one of them affirmeth was some Cause perhaps that Calvin coming presently after them took upon him to defend the same Doctrin again saying Nobis invisibilem c. We are forc'd to believe the Church to be invisible and to be seen only by the eyes of God. Lo Calvin putteth necessity in this point of Belief 13. The Causes that moved the chief Lutherans to go back from their first Opinion about the invisibility of the Church were principally the apparent Evidences and Demonstrations which Catholics do alledge both out or Scriptures Fathers common sense and reason for overthrow of that most fond and ridiculous Paradox And first out of holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament these men being not able to alledge any one place where the Name of God's Church is applied to an Invisible Congregation the Catholics on the contrary side pressed them with many most evident Texts of Scripture where it was and is used for a visible Company of Men as that in the Book of Numbers ch 20. Cur eduxisti Ecclesiam Domini in solitudinem Why hast thou brought the Church of God into the Desart And again in 3 Kings ch 8. Convertitque Rex faciem suam benedixit omni Ecclesiae Israel omnis enim Ecclesia Israel stabat c. The King turning his face about did bless all the Church of Israel for that all the Church of Israel was present c. Which places and many the like cannot possibly be understood of an Invisible but of a Visible Company 14. And much more if we consider the speeches of Christ and his Apostles in the New Testament as these words of Christ Dic Ecclesiae si Ecclesiam non audierit c. Tell the Church and if he hear not the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen or Publican But if the Church were invisible neither could a man complain to the Church nor hear the Church Moreover St. Paul exhorteth the chief Pastors of the Ephesians to attend diligently to their charge Acts 20. In quo vos Spiritus Sanctus posuit Episcopos regere Ecclesiam Dei In which the H. Ghost hath placed you as Bishops to govern the Church of God. But how could they being visible men govern a Company that was invisible not to be seen 15. And yet further when St. Paul and St. Barnabas went up from Antioch to Jerusalem the Scripture saith Deducti sunt ab Ecclesia c. They were brought on their way by the Church of Antioch and when they came to Jerusalem suscepti sunt ab Ecclesia they were received by the Church And yet further ascendit Paulus salutavit Ecclesiam Paul went and saluted the Church c. All which places cannot agree possibly to an invisible Church and yet that this was the true Primitive Church of Christ no man can deny 16. And finally when St. Paul doth teach Timothy his Scholar 1 Tim. 3. Quomodo oporteat conversari in Domo Dei quae est Ecclesia c. How he should converse and govern the House of God which is his Church Columna Firmamentum Veritatis the Pillar and Firmament of all Truth Ibid. All this I say had been spoken to no purpose if the true Church of Christ were invisible for how can a man converse in a Congregation which he cannot see or know or how can the Church be a Pillar and sure Firmament of Truth to resolve all Doubts and Questions that may fall out about Scriptures Articles of Belief and Mysteries of Christ's Religion if it be an invisible Congregation that no man seeth discerneth or knoweth where or how to repair unto it nor who are the persons therein contained 17. And lastly not to stand longer upon this matter that is so evident in it self and plain to common sense and reason if the true Church of Christ be a Society not of Angels Spirits or Souls departed but of Men and Women in this life that must be governed or govern therein how can they be invisible And if they must have Communion together in external Sacraments and namely in Baptism and participation of the Body of Christ if they must profess the Name and Doctrin of Christ externally to the World as also to be persecuted and put to death for the same if all men must repair unto them and those that be out of the Church to enter and be received therein and those that be in her to be resolved of their doubts to lay down their complaints to be governed and directed by her and finally to obey her under pain of Damnation how can all this be performed if she be invisible to man's eyes and only seen by the eyes of God 18. To alledge Fathers and Doctors in this behalf were both endless and needless for that all of them every-where almost are occupied in setting forth not only the Visibility but the Splendor also and Greatness yea the multitude and external Majesty of Christ's Church throughout the World in their days and only St. Augustin may serve for all who dilateth himself every-where in this Argument shewing how the little Stone prophesied by Daniel was grown to be a huge Mountain and terrible to the whole World and that the Tabernacle of Christ which is his Church was placed by him in the Sun to be seen of all and that it was a City upon a Mountain which none could be ignorant of and other like Discourses founded on evident Scriptures Whereby is refuted not only the first shift of Luther and Calvin making the true Church of Christ invisible but also the second of these latter Lutherans who tho' overcome with the former proofs do grant the Church to be a visible Company yet do they deny it to be that external conspicuous Succession of Bishops and Councils which have been most eminent in the known Christian Church from the Apostles downward but rather to be some few obscure and contemptible people which they call the Elect that have lived or lurked from time to time in shadows and darkness and known to few or none 19. But this second device is more fond than the former for where shall a man seek out these hidden Fellows to treat with them or to receive Sacraments at their hands how shall they be known how may they be trusted whence have they