tyrannical while you inforce men to confesse their secret sinnes to a popish Priest where of there is no commaundement in the holie scriptures and partlie it is an encouragement vnto securitie a pampering in sinne while the fraile and foolish man is persuaded that by the heard confession absolution receiued of the Priest he is cleerelie discharged of his sinnes and may be toti es quoties with a litle pretie penance enioyned him for satisfaction But it is a firme principle you saie that in all formes of penance the penitent had remission of his sinnes for which he did penance no otherwise but by the ministerie of the Priestes A heauie case where the Priestes were straight laced and would retaine sinnes where God was readie to forgiue What is this els but to restraine the mercie of God to the ministerie of vnskilfull men At what howre so euer the sinner doth truelie repent the Lord remitteth his sinnes But man can not allwaies see or by outward tokens iudge of true and inward repentance Therefore it is a firme principle that God often times forgaue sinnes to the penitent otherwise then by the ministerie of the Prieste Men maie erre in exercising outward discipline but Gods remission is not staied vpon mans error Where you conclude that as the diuerse vse of baptisme hindreth not but that in substance it is the same so the sacrament of penance notwithstanding the diuers formes and manners in which it hath or is now vsed Your comparison is nought For baptisme is a sacrament of Christes institution your popish penance can neuer be prooued to be a sacrament Therfore your argument à paribus is of no force Whether the Church did well to restraine baptisme to certaine solemne feastes I will not here dispute That remission of sinnes hath beene ioyned often both in the law of nature and Moses to some externall ceremonies and sacrifices whereof in the olde law Priestes were appointed ministers THE NINTH CHAP. LEt no man vpon consideration of these thinges either reprehend or maruatle at the counsel and ordinance of god that he being hable to gouerne his creatures and amend or correct pardon or punish euerie mans misdeedes by him-selfe without all helpe and seruice of anie other his subiect natures that it pleaseth his wisdome for all that to forgiue sinnes no otherwise in his Church but by externall orders ioyned to mans ministerie in sundrie sacramentes In sober consideration of these thinges mans reason maie well be satisfied if he can conceiue that it is the honour and estimation of our kinde with almightie God our maker that he gouerneth not our affaires onelie by him selfe in his owne person but also that we be ruled and led in the waies of Gods will by one an other that the maiestie of God which most appeareth in regiment and in remitting of sinnes in correcting of 〈◊〉 and iudgement might be cleerelie seene in our kinde amongst our selues to our comfort and Gods no disgracing nor dishonour at all And therefore Saint Augustine saith of the like doubt of some in his daies which would not be taught by man but by Gods owne spirit Abiecta esset humana conditio si per homines hominibus verbum suum Deus ministrare nolle videretur Quomodo enim verum esset quod dictum est Templum enim Dei sanctum est quod estis vos si de humano templo Deus responsa non redderet Mans state were too base if God would not that his word should be ministred by one man to another For how should this truelie be spoken the temple of God is holie the which temple you are if God gaue not answers by mans temple This is one great respect surelie especialle since the second person in Trinitie tooke vpon him our nature by whome the woorthines of mankinde is much increased and more fit then euer before to serue ech other as in the workes that be diuine and properlie by nature belonging to God himselfe An other respect why we should by externall sacraments and mans ministerie receiue grace and remission of sinnes is the singular respect had by God of our infirmitie as well of minde as bodie For the minde requireth in her assured deseruing of damnation some externall token by which she maie haue good cause to hope of mercie and grace For where I know and assure myselfe that originall sinne is remitted by baptisme when I haue once receiued the same then I am in no further doubt of my selfe nor anie damnation for that sinne which by the promis of God I haue learned shall be washed awaie thereby as by an externall instrument in which he conueigheth that benefit to my soule if my soule by indisposition and unaptnes do not hinder the assured fruit thereof So where after Baptisme mans life is often defiled by greeuons sinnes and God highlie displeased therefore what an infinite treaskre it is and how great a comfort to haue an assured helpe therof wrought so by mans ministery in a visible action that I maie know sauing for mine owne lack of connenient disposition my sinnes to be forgiuen and Gods mercie and fauour to be obteined againe We maie conceiue easily what a passing comfort it was to the parties that heard sensiblie by the outward wordes of Christes owne mouth thy sinnes be forgiuen thee The said persons beleeuing in Christ and lamenting for their sinnes past might haue had some hope of remission by Christ though he had said no such thing vnto them yet he that perceiueth not what comfort of conscience what inward ioy of minde what reioysing of the spirit they must needes haue that had Christes testimonie and blessing in plaine termes for the same purpose he seeth nothing at all FVLKE That God hath vsed in all ages to testifie and assure men of his grace and mercie to the forgiuenes of their sinnes by outward signes and sacraments and that for diuerse good causes we are allwaies readie to acknowledge But that it pleaseth his wisdome as you saie to forgiue sinnes no otherwise in his Church but by externall orders ioyned to mans ministery in sundry sacraments we do vtterlie denie For that were to tie the grace of God to the outward sacraments which is most free to worke either with them or without them The penitent publicane an example of persons that seeke iustification had his sinnes forgiuen him by the onelie grace and mercie of God taken holde of by faith without al external orders ioyned to mans ministerie in any sacrament For if we acknowledge our sins he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all vnrighteousnes And Iesus Christ is our aduocate with the father to obtaine remission of sinnes And if anie man shal see his brother sinne a sinne not to death he shall ask he will giue life vnto him that sinneth not vnto death By all which testimonies and an hundreth more that are euery where to
For at this daie the Bishops that be throughout all Christendome how rose they to that roome The Church calleth them fathers and yet shee did beget them and she placed them in that roome of their fathers Non ergo reputes desertam quia non vides Petrum quòd non vides Paulum quòd non vides illos per quos nataes de prole tua tibi creuit paternitas pra patribus tuis natisunt tibi filij constitues eos principes super omnem terram Do not therefore think thy selfe desolate because thou hast not Paull because thou hast them not now present by whome thou wast borne of thy owne issue fatherhood is growne to thee and for thy fathers thou hast brought forth sonnes them shalt thou make the rulers ouer al the earth Thus much out of Saint Augustine By whome you maie perceaue the great prouidence of God that euerlastinglie vpholdeth the ordinance of his sonne Christ Iesus as well now by the children borne from time to time in the Churches lap as before in the spring of our faith by the Apostles sent and appointed in person by Christ him-selfe FVLKE I suppose the title of your booke will admonish you not to restraine this office onelie to Bishops which so often you haue made common to all priestes For Gregory also in the same homyly nameth often times all pastours of the Church to whome the power of binding and loosing doth appertaine which are many other beside Bishops Moreouer inueighing against the ignorance and vnworthines of them that occupied such places which take vpon them to loose where God doth binde and binde where God doth loose he concludeth that then the absolution of the gouernours of the Chuch is true when it followeth the will of the eternall Iudge By which saying and more to the like effect in that place he declareth his iudgement of the kinde of power or authoritie which the Church hath that it is not absolute but subiect vuto the will of God and is an expressing of Gods forgiuenes or retaining not a proper forgiuing or retaining The saying of Saint Augustine prooueth in deede a continuance of the ministery of the Apostles in the office of Bishops but hereof it followeth not that onelie Bishops as they are distinct from priestes haue this power for not onelie Bishops be the children of the Church but all faithfull men to whome the inheritance of the world is like wise appointed ALLEN And here you must know that not onelie Bishops who succeede the Apostles in all kinde of power and regiment but also all other inferiour Priestes to be compted with them as successors in ministring diuerse sacraments as baptisme penance the reuerend Sacrament of the Aultar and such like but looke what power either Apostle or Bishop hath in remission of sinnes in consecrating Christes bodie in baptizing the same hath the wholl order of holie Priesthood by the right of their order and maie practize the same vpon such as be subiect vnto them in all causes not exempted for reasonable causes by such as haue further iurisdiction ouer the people Wherof I will not now talke particularlie the learned of that order know the limits of their charge and commission better then I can instruct them and the simpler sort must seeke for knowledge of their duetie by the holie Canons of Councels and decrees of Bishops made for that purpose I can not now stand thereon meaning at this present onelie to defend the holie order and challenge for it such right as the scripture and Chistes owne word giueth which in this contempt of vertue and religion is moste necessarie for all men to consider FVLKE There is no power or authoritie graunted by our sauiour Christ to preach the word of God or to minister anie sacrament but the same is common to euerie one of the Pastoures of the Church and not onelie lawfull but also necessarie for them to exercise in their seuerall charges Wherefore that ministering of some sacraments is permitted to them and of other denied them it is beside the word of god Againe the word of god that giueth them general power whose sinnes soeuer whatsoeuer you shal bind or loose is directlie against al exempted cases which sauor of nothing but of Antichristian tyrannie As for the cannons of Counceles and decrees of Bishoppes whether you send the simple to learne the limites of their charge can not restraine that Christ hath enlarged and therefore if your meaning were as your wordes professe to defend the holie order and challenge for it such right as the scripture and Christes owne worde geueth you would enueigh against the pride and ambition of the Pope other prelates that exempt anie cases from the Priests power and authoritie which the holie scripture and the expresse wordsof our sauiour Christ doth in such ample manner graunt vnto them ALLEN Therefore vpon our large discourses for this last point I now deduct the particulars to this summe which maie stand for a certaine marke as well for the good to discerne the trueth as for the aduersaries to shoote at whiles they liue Alpower and euery iurisdiction or right of Christs Church remaineth as amplie and in as full force and strength at this daie and shall till the worlds end so continue as they were by Christ graunted first in the persons of the Apostles or other instituted But the power of remission of sinnes was giuen properlie and in expresse termes to the Apostles Ergo the same remaineth still in Gods Church Whereupon it is so cleare that the Priestes at this day haue as ful power to forgiue sins as the Apostles had And this argument of the continuance of all offices and righte of the Church is the moste plainest and readiest waie not onelie to helpe our cause now taken in hand but vtterlie to improoue all false doctrines and detestable practises of heretikes For they must here be examined diligentlie what common wealth that is what Church that is in which Christ doth prescrue the gouernment giuen to the Apostles where it is that the power not onely os making but also of practizing al sacraments hath continued still what companie of Christian people that is wherein the Apostles Doctors preachers ministers through the perpetuall assistance of Gods spirit be continued for the building vp of Christes bodie which is the number of faithful people What Church that is which bringeth forth from time to time sonnes to occupy the romes of their fathers before them It is not good reader the pelting packe of Protestants It is not I saie and they knowe it is not their petie congregations that hath till this daie continued the succession of Blshoppes by whome the world as Saint Augustine saith is ruled as by the Apostles and first Fathers of Religion Surely our mother the Church hath hene long baren if for her Fathers the Apostles who died so long since she neuer brought forth children til now to occupie their roomes and
no fault found with his sentence of the Priestes power in binding and loosing Gratian also declareth that learned and religious men in his time were in diuerse opinions about that point and other concerning this popish sacrament of penance whereby it appeareth that the sentence which you holde was not accounted Catholike nor vniuersallie receiued in their times If Peter Lumbard the Master of the sentences was deceiued by the sayings of Saint Ierome and S. Augustine they were first deceiued themselues for other sense out of their sayings then the master of the sentences gathereth no reasonable man can conclude And it is but one onelie saying of S. Augustine that he citeth not diuers and not onely out of Augustine and Hierome but out of other writers also as Ambrose and Cassiodorus and Gratian citeth maniemore all which you must answere if you wil take part against the two principall posts of poperie Gratiane and Lumbard with all them that take their part But you thinke one saying of Chrysostome inough to wipe awaie all their authorities and reasons and to prooue that the priestes of the new lawe doe purge the fitlh of the soull and not onely declare it to be purged as the Priestes of the olde lawe did of the leprosie of the body The meaning of Chrysostome is that the Ministers of the Gospell haue power not onelie to pronounce declare the penitent sinner to be deliuered from the vncleanes of his soule vnto other men that he may be accepted into the congregation if he haue bene excluded but to assure the penitents conscience in Gods name of the remission of their sinnes wherein he doth much more for the benefit of his soule then the priest of the olde law who onelie declared vnto other men how the partie was to be taken who knew in himselfe whether he were sicke or healed before he came to the priest Therefore where Chrysostome saith It is graunted vnto the priests of the new testament not onelie to trie approoue the soule to be deliuered of the filihines thereof but altogether to deliuer it he meaneth of deliuering by assuring the conscience of the penitent sinner of Gods mercie and forgiuenes whereby he is throughly or altogether deliuered therfrom whereas otherwise it were blasphemous conrrarie to Chrysostomes iudgement in many other places if the wholl act of purging or deliuering the soull from filthines were ascribed to man as the words seeme to sounde ALLEN Now vpon all this foresaid declaration it maie be well vnderstood that our aduersaries haue small reason in reprehending the ordinance of God who is prooued in all ages and diusities of lawes to haue giuen grace and remission of sinnes not onelie by externall elementes and actions of diuerse ceremonies sacraments and sacrifices but also euer to haue dispensed the said benefites by mans seruice and ministerie without all dishonour of his personage or diminishing his owne proper interest and right therein And so much more hath he vsed in the new law of the Gospell the ministerie of the priests and externall sacraments to the procuring of the saied benefites by how much more our law our sacraments our sacrifices and our priests be glorified and preferred in respect of the olde and haue the more abundant blessing of the spirit and Christs blood which by these conduites most largelie flowe to all mens fouls that despise not the blessed benefit thereof Yet if they will not be satisfied herewith because they surmise our new law to be so spirituall that man may looke for nothing at mans handes but all immediatelie of God and his spirit for by him they will be taught the meaning of the scripture by him they will be baptized by him they must haue remission and absolution and at length they are become Anabaptistes and refuse to obey Prelates of the Church and Princes of the world because by God they wil onelie be ruled and punished for their offences Against such proud cogitations as Saint Augustine tearmeth them God hath purposelie to teach humilitie and obedience one to another both in temporal causes and especiallie in spirituall matters perteining to mens sinnes and soules he hath I saie for the nonst not onelie instituted these waies of baser creatures vsed in the sacraments to atteine his grace by but also hath made man the master almost and executor of his meaning in the same whose seruice he vseth so much for our saluation that he sticked not to send his most chosen and dearest euen of those daies of grace and plentifulnes of the spirit to be instructed by man and made readie for his ministerie no otherwise but by man A strange thing surelie and to be well noted for this purpose not onelie of our aduersaries for their confusion but of the good studious readers for their instruction how that Paul beeing prostrate and miraculouslie called by Iesus Christes owne voice was yet sent by Christ himselfe to confirme the authority of his priests to Ananias of him to receiue as well instructions as the sacraments of the Church for his incorporation to the faithfull and remission of his sinnes paste And againe that Cornelius though his praiers were heard and his almes acceptable to god an Angel sent vnto him to declare the same which was a signe of high reputatiō was yet charged to goe to Peter of him not onelie to receiue the sacraments but a so by his instruction to learne what to beleeue what to hope what to loue saith S. Austine The Eunuch might by god himselfe in his owne coun try haue bene schooledor sanctified yet it pleased his maiesty so to vse the matter that by Philip both the sense of scripture the sacrament of Baptisme should be vnderstanded receiued at once So hath God in all ages confirmed the authoritie of his holie priests and ministers so hath he euer checked by his owne holie examples the presumptuous temptation of man who euer hath disdained mans office and ministerie for his owne saluation Therefore let no man maruell why Christ hath giuen authoritie to man to forgiue sinnes seeing he hath from the beginning not remitted ordinarilie otherwise then by mans seruice nor any way ells for the moste parte but by externall acts of ceremonies sacraments and sacrifices that we may learne thereby humility obedience to Gods ordinance by the warrant whereof they all as I haue prooued challenge all manner of interest in the gouernment of our soules FVLKE That God by externall sacraments and by the ministerie and seruice of man hath dispensed his spiritual benefits it is prooued but so that his grace was neuer bound either to the one or to the other but that he maie and hath bestowed the same most freelie according to the good pleasure of his will The fansie of the Anabaptistes that would seeme to looke for all thinges immediatlie from God despising the sacráments and ministerie of man we abhor and detest no lesse then
not flowed vnto them Like as they make not the sacrament in vnleauened bread but in leauened 5. di 1. cap. si Therefore that saying of Iames confesse your sinnes one to an other was at the first but of counsel or els is should binde the Greekes notwithstanding the custome That which followeth in the glosse that confession in some case may be made to a laie man which also both Gratian Lumbard doe holde that which Bede writeth of confession of sins to euery man doth prooue that confessio to a priest is not of Christs institution by their iudgement For if it were it ought to be of all euery sin as wel as of those you cal mortall to a priest onelie For if Christ instituted a sacrament in these words whose sins you forgiue c. and ordeined a priest minister thereof by no other meanes but by hearing a sin ners particular confession as you seeme to holde what reason is there that a laie man should be a hearer of confession or an absoluer or that any sin be it neuer so small should not be confessed ALLEN And that is yet more euident by the second parte of Christes sentence where he saith whose sins you do reteine they be reteined The which worde retinere by Saint Hilarie signifieth non soluere or non remittere to reteinis as much as not to loose or not to forgiue Whercupon by Christes expresse wordes it ensueth that whose sinnes the priest doth not forgiue they be not forgiuen and therfore that euerie man beeing guiltie of deadelie sinne in his conscience is subiect to the priests iudgement by the plaine tearmes of Christs owne wordes Mary we must well note that the priest hath in other sacraments and namelie in Baptisme a right in remitting sinnes both originall and actuall but there in the graund pardon of all that is past he is not made a iudge or a corrector because the Church can not practize iudgement or exercise discipline vpon the penitents for any things done before they came iinto the householde and therfore can appoint the party no penance nor punishment nor binde him according to the diuersitie and number of his faultes nor can make search exactlie of all his secres sinnes by him committed that the sentence may proceede according to the parties desertes but onelie vpon his seeking that sacrament to minister it vnto him according to Christs institution whereupon without any sentence of remission giuen by the priest as I absolue thee or such like a pardon generall of all his sinnes committed if he come thether qualified most assuredlie ensueth But now in the other sacrament of penance not onelie pardon of sinnes but punishment for sinnes is put in the Apopostles and priests handes which can not be done without iudiciarie power and exact examination of the penitent because Christ would that if any did greeuouslie sinne after Baptisme he shold as it were be conuented before his iudgement seate in earth in which as in his roome he hath placed the Apostles priests as is alreadie prooued And therefore mens sinnes must in this case be knowne with diuersitie of their kindes and encrease by diuersitie of place time person number and intent For withoout this particular intelligence can neither the appointed iudges of our soules doe iustice nor the penitent receiue iustice for his offences Therefore it is euident that seeing this holie order is authorized not onelie to remit sinnes generallie as in Baptisme but also placed with all power ouer vs as the iudges of our sinnes we must needes by force of Christs institution be driuen to acknowledge and confesse all our sinnes to the Priest so sitting in iudgement vpon the examination of our conscience For no man euer tooke vpon him not in any ciuil causes to determine and giue sentēce in the matter whereof he hath not by some meanes or other persit and particular instruction and in causes criminall much lesse because the importance of the matter is much more Then in Gods causes and cases of our conscience and in things belonging directlie to mans euerlasting wealth or woe which is the life or death perpctuall of our soules there if either negligence in the iudge in searching out of our sins or consempt in vs in declaration opening confessing or cleare vtterance of them doe hinder the righteousnes of Gods iudgement executed by the Priests office or driuing them to giue wrong sentence of deliuerie and remission there the perill is exceeding great and the daunger wel neare damnation perpetual FVLKE Although to reteine is somewhat more then not to loose or not to forgiue yet the conclusion is true that whose sinnes the minister of the Gospell doth not forgiue of them that heare the Gospell they are not forgiuen But herofit doth not follow that euerie man is bound to shriue himselfe to the priest If you meane that by being subiect to the priests iudgement the minister of the gospell denounceth damnation to all impenitent and obstinate sinners vnto this sentence he is subiect by the plain tearmes of Christs owne wordes that is such a one But if he be truelie penitent in the sight of God he is absolued by the sentence of the minister which pronounceth in the name of God forgiuenes to all them that be truelie conuerted vnto God Wherefore here is no place for the necessitie of auricular confession except you can draw it in by the wordes of demonstratiue syllogismes which I suppose to be impossible and you your selfe shall in conscience confesse no lesse whensoeuer you dare goe about it As touching the difference you shew betwixt the priests office in remitting sins by Baptisme and penance it standeth altogether vpon your owne surmise without any authoritie of the holie scriptures For the minister of the ghospelis made as much a iudge whome to admit and whome to refuse from the sacraments as he is to pronounce whose sins be forgiuen and whose reteined Other iudgement or correction he hath not in the one nor in the other neither is there any punishments put into the Apostles or priests handes for those sinnes that are to be pardoned nor pardon to those that are to be punished The punishment is no lesse then the sentence of eternall damnation vnder which all obstinate and vnrepentant sinners doe remaine so iong as they continue in their obstinacie and impenirencie And therefore the power iudiciarie and exact examination of the penitent and the conuention before Gods iudgement feare in earth which should be the priest is nothing but imaginary vanitie without all ground of authoritie out of Christs institution wherefore except you can prooue that Christ by giuing his Apostles authoritie to sorgiue or reteine sinnes did giue this inordinarie power that you speake of and set vp this iudgement on earth like to the courts in ciuill iudgement in canonicall causes whatsoeuer you saie without warrant of Gods worde is as easily by vs denied as by you it
argument he asketh him what he can laie against these witnesses As though it were not the easiest thing in the worlde to answere that all these though the noblest the best and worthiest of credit in their time yet were to far distant from the place where he liued to be eie witnesses of his naughty behauiour And therfore whatsoeuer they did write must needes proceede from the false suggestion of his enemies Where otherwise it is not credible that the Duke of Saxonie vnder whom Luther liued if he had known him to be so vile a person would haue suffered him to liue much les would haue reformed religion according to his preaching From Luther thus summoned to appeare he taketh vpon him as the Pythonesse plaied with Samuell to call vp Caluine out of hell to confesse that he kept a Nunne fiue yeares in his chamber vntill she was great with childe by him and that he married her to an Apostata channon that dwelled at Lausanna And this he saith that all the world knoweth If you aske him by what testimonie he produceth a slaunderous libellintituled passauant Parisien printed at Paris 1559. Against the falsehood whereof which neuer deserued credit with anie reasonable man the wholl citie of Geneua is readie to giue testimonie vnder their common seale if neede were that there was neuer any colour of such a slaunder so impudentlie deuised which in deed sufficientlie confuteth it selfe that in so manie yeares and among so manie enemies as Caluine had both in that city and abrode it could neuer be broched vntill the yeare 1559 which was 24. yeares after his comming to Geneua which vile slaunder Fowler in the description of his infamous picture setterh forth with blasphemous abusing of the holy name of the Gospell to signifie the most vile and filthie act of lecherie From Caluine our Frarine passeth to Beza whome with like impudencie he burdeneth with two hainous crimes and yet so confidentlie that he doubteth not to speake vnto him in these wordes Denie if thou dare Theodore Beza denie if thou canst for shame Would you not thinke he had manifest proofes of the crimes in such sorte obiected Let vs heare then what they are First he chargeth Beza to haue sold his eccleslasticall liuinges which he had in Fraunce before his departure to two diuers men for readie monié For which double dealing he was denounced excommunicate and so proclaimed in all the market places of Parris To prooue this crime he quoteth in the margent the preface of Bezaes confession But in that preface Beza indeed cōfesseth that the reuenewes of those Church liuinges which his friendes had procured for him were a great let to him for a long season to make open confession of his faith from the sweetnes of which gaine as a filthie dogg from greasie leather he could hardlie be driuen awaie vntill almightie God by an extreame sicknes so waked him out of that securitie that immediatlie after his first recouerie he left at once his countrie Parents and friendes and departed with his wife vnto Geneua But of selling his benefices in such an vnhonest manner there is no mention but contrariwise in the same preface he defieth all the world for any other crime of dishonestie then the setting forth of certaine wanton verses which were made when he was a child and printed while he was vnder the age of twentie yeares The second crime obiected is that he maried an other mans wife who was a tailor dwelling in Harpe street at Paris whome Master Charkes Censurer out of Bolsec affirmeth to haue dwelt in the Calender street that you maie know how wel the witnesses agree togither with further slaunderrs as that shee was called of Beza Mistres Candidae or mistres Bewtie in his bawdie verses Whereas it is well knowne that Beza in that poeticall fiction deuised after the imitation of auncient Poets meant no special person and least of all could meane his wife for that in those verses he commendeth Candidae being great with childe to the Gods Whereas his wife neuer had anie childe by him Further he saith that shee fled to the stewes because her husband hauing taken her in adultery had giuen her a gash with a knife in the hippe A pretie inuention if the gash had bene in her face or in anie other part of her bodie that might haue bene seene with honestie some or other should haue beene witnes of the scarre and therefore it is placed where none for shame might demaund the sight for triall An other cause of her flight vnto the stewes was as he saith because she had bene put in prison for that she fetched a friscoll when she was dawnsing in a tauerne with her customers said Hoigh one leape more for all Christian soules A sorie cause why she should flie to the comme stewes because shee had beene imprisoned Is it not more like if any such thing had beene or if shee had beene willing to depart from her husband that shee hauing so many customers as this tale pretendeth and specially Beza who could spend seuen hundred crownes by the yeare as he confesseth would not haue sought aid of him or them rather then to haue cast her selfe into a place of such publike infamie But all this fable is vtterlie denied of Beza as containing no sparke of trueth for his wife whom he maried priuilie in Paris in the presence of one or two onelie of his friendes was of so godlie and honest behauionr that she would not consent to the match but vpon expresse promise and condition that assone as he could conuenientlie al impediments set asside he should carie her into the Church of God and openlie confirme the matrimonie betweene them and also that in the meane time he should enter into none of the Popish orders both which conditions he faithfullie performed Here isnothing therefore brought against Beza or his vertuous wife but accusations without witnes slaunders without proofe lies without colour or shew of trueth The like I saie of that generall railing which followeth both against the schollers of this gospellish congregation as he scornefullie termeth them and the Mistres of the same whose wickednes in all kinde of horrible sinnes he affirmeth to be so great that if the lot had bin betweene the Protestantes and the papists which order of iustice he wisheth had bin obserued that whether haue most wickedly trāsgressed gods and mans laws should haue gone first to the gallowes there had not beene one Protestant left aliue to holde warre against the Papists I am ashamed to vse any wordes in confutation of such a monstrous a lie which no eninmie of the Protestantes being in his right wittes doth thinke in his conscience to bere any credit or similitude of trueth Many called Protestantes haue beene wicked liuers but that all should be condemned in capitall crimes beyond the moste wicked of the Papists it is too beyond measure a moste pestilent but yet a riduculous slaunder But
the scriptures of the authoritie of councels auncient fathers traditions of the Apostles and primitiue Church they binde them selues to nothing but to the present Popes authoritie and determi nation in thinges which he may choppe and chaunge at his pleasure against which they admitte neither scripture Councell Fathers nor Church For example brieflie The scripture moste plainlie forbiddeh the worshipping of Images will they giue soueraigne authoritie to the scriptures All the primitiue Church for six hundred yeares after Christ condemned the worshipping of Images euen Pope Gregorie that allowed the vse of them shall the authoritie of the primatiue Church or of Pope Gregorie in this point ouerrule them No I warrant you they will set them al to schoole and learne them a new lesson Theodoretus Bishop of Cyrus and Gelasius Bishop of Rome doe in plaine wordes affirme that the substance of bread and wine doth remaine in the Lordes supper after consecration doth either the antiquitie of these fathers or the determination of the Bishop of Rome which otherwise they affirme neuer to erre in doctrine preuaile with them against their new here sie of transsubstantiation The councells of Constantiople the first and of Chalcedon decreed that the Bishop of Constantinople should haue equall authoritie and dignitie with the Bishop of Rome The councells of Constans and Basill determined that the Councell is aboue the Pope The councels of Constantinople the sixt and Nice the second condemned the Pope for an heretike will the Papists of these daies trow you stand to the determination of these Councells you maie be assured they will not But the traditions of the Apostles they holde fast and binde them-selues vnto yea verilie as long and as much as they list What beareth a greater shew of the Apostles traditions then the Canons of the Apostles which excommunicate a Bishop priest or deacon that putteth away his wiffe vnder pretence of religion which excommunicate anie of the cleargie that is present at the communion doth not communicate except he shewe a cause whie he doth not Which admmitted him that is maimed in his eie or other partes of his bodie being otherwise worthie vnto the office of a Bishop because the maime of the bodie doth not pollute a man but the filthines of the soules These such like traditions of the Apostles how are they regarded of our Traditioners euen as much as they list and that is neuer a whit at this time and yet these men binde them selues to Councells Fathers traditions primitiue Church you see how farre Yea you see that while they raile vpon vs for appealing to onelie scriptures they themselues relie vpon the present Popes authoritie onelie Let all indifferent men therefore iudge whether it be more safe for a Christian man to bind him-selfe to the authoritie of scriptures onelie or to the Popes authoritie onelie and whether claime a priuiledge of ease they that will admitte no testimonie irrefragable but onelie the scripture or they which chattering of many other things in the end conclude vpon the Church onelie which when it commeth to triall is nothing els but the Pope onelie for if all the Church saie it and the Pope denie it it is nothing worth with them and if the Pope affirme it thoughe all the Church denie it it must stand for paiment But seeing the sense and interpretation of scripture is the cheefe matter we haue to speake of let vs consider whether Master Charke be iustlie charged by our answerer to haue abused that scripture by interpretation which is the chiefe ground of his preface and which he saith is a full and plaine rule whereby to discerne and trie the spirites namelie the text of Saint Iohn 1. Iohn 4. Euerie spirite which confesseth Iesus Christ being come in the flesh is of God and euerie spirite which confesseth not Iesus Christ being come in the flesh is not of God and this is that spirit of Antichrist c. This text Master Charke doth so expound as that it conteineth a confession not onelie of the person of Christ but also of his office for which office sake that wonderfull person of God and man Iesus Christ was ordeined and sent into the world to be a Prophet alone to teach a King alone to rule a Priest alone to sanctifie vs and to reconcile vs to his father by the obedience of faith And if any spiritte shall teach that Christ is not our onelie teacher by his Gospell but that we must admitte vnwritten beleefe and traditions from we know not whome to be of like authoritie with the written worde Secondlie if any spirite make not Christ alone our King and head to rule vs by his holie spirite but teach that a mortal and sinfull man must sit in our consciences and for hatred or gaine which is his practise binde or loose at his pleasure lastlie if anie spirite impeach the all-sufficiencie and entire vertue of Christes sacrifice offered vp once for euer and teach that themselues must enforce it from day to day by the continuance of their daylie sacrifice of the Masse offered for the quick and the deade it appeareth manifestlie that such spirits are not of God c. This interpretation of Master Charke saith the answerer conteineth manie absurdities For first the auncient fathers did expound this place as of it selfe it is moste euident against the Iewes which denied Christ to haue taken flesh also against Ebion Cerinthus and other heretikes that denied the Godhead of Christ. Note here by the aduersaries confession that some places of scripture are of them selues moste euident whereof this is one against the Iewes other heretikes that deny the godhead of Christ. And I hope you shall see it shortly as euident against the Papists that denie his offices To this interpretation of the auncient fathers we agree that whosoeuer denieth the person of Christ or any thing proper to his person is of Antichrist But none of the auncient fathers doe affirme that this text is to be vnderstood against such enemies onelie as denie the Godhead or manhoode of Christ. For Augustine and Oecumenius do interpret it against all heretikes and schismatikes which although they confesse this matter in wordes yet denie it in deedes and Oecumenius against all wicked persons which haue not the spirite of Christ mortifying their vngodlie lustes which carie not the mortification of Christ in their bodie c. Augustine also expoundeth the place against all that breake charitie Omnes negant Iesum Christum in carne venisse qui violant charitatem All they denie Iesus Christe to haue come in the flesh which doe breake or violate charitie whie so because not onelie the person that came but the end whie he came must be considered in the interpretation of this place as Saint Augustine rightlie iudgeth or els all heretikes will after a manner in tongue and wordes confesse that Iesus Christ came in the flesh But Quaeramus saith
them-selues Whereof if there be no perticular vowe expressed yet seeing they vowe to followe the rule of Layolas which includeth whipping of them selues as you cannot denie Master Charke hath not belied the Iesuites as you note in your margent And as concerning the sect of heretikes called whippers you referre vs to Prateolus and Gerson to prooue that they helde manie wicked opinions for which they were condemned and aske what doth this make against the sober moderat chastisment which good men vse in secret vpon their owne bodies at such times as they esteeme them-selues for mortification to neede the same I answere there is no neede that any man for mortification should whippe him-selfe or els it is neede for al men so to whippe themselues except Iesuites haue more vntamed bodies then all other men And therefore it is but ethelothreschia a voluntarie Religion or a superstition after the precept and Doctrine of men in colour of humilitie and not sparing the bodie described by Saint Paul Col. 2. 23. and as for Gerson to whom you send vs doth not onelie condemne the hereticall opinions of those whippers but also their whipping of them-selues and that for diuers causes of which I will rebearse some First he accounteth it a tempting of God to laie such a burden vpon men as you do which make whipping needfull for mortification whereby it followeth that it is needfull for all men as mortification is not for Iesuites onelie Secondlie he saieth that the law of Christ ought no lesse in his seruice to auoide the superstitions of the Gentilles and Idolatours espiciallie these that are cruell and horrible then the olde law in the which yet there is expresse prohibition Deu. 14. where it is said be ye seruers of the Lord your God you shall not cut your selues where the glosse is you ought not in anie thing to be made like to Idolatours and in the hebrue it is you shall not teare or rend your selues Againe he saith for I doe but translate his wordes lex Christi c. the law of Christ is giuen sufficientlie in the tenne commaundements the keeping of which good simplicitie and plaine faith is enough to saluation especiallie of laie men and common people without anie new imposition of moste greeuous burdens according to the saying of Christ if thou wilt enter into life keep the commaundements Neither is it anie thing worth if it be said that the people doe voluntarilie take vpon them such whippings without any other commaundement while it is found that there-vpon they doe more licentiouslie contemne Gods commaundementes in manie thinges For the nature of man is stubburne which since it is forsaken of the state of originalliustice it is caried more greedelie vnto those things that are of mans inuention then those that are of Gods bidding And this is one degree of pride which Bernard saith is found among Religious men while they reioice more in abstinence or particular voluntarie praier then in all the regular discipline Againe the law of Christ being set forth sufficiently by the Apostles and holie Doctors is not found to haue appointed such nouelties of men whipping them-selues either by preaching or otherwise but rather to haue reprooued them as moste suspect and daungerous and which may growe to the slaunder of Christianes among the Iewes Saracens and Paganes as though the lawe of Christ were austere cruell and nourished in blood not in mercie Afterward he setteth downe reasons to dissuade this superstition as he calleth it Let diligent and earnest exhortation be made touching the praises of patience which hath her perfect worke preferring it before such voluntarie whippings as Augustine saith agreeablie to Seneca that the aduersities of this world are not so much to be laid vpon vs as when they happen patientlie to be suffered makeing thorough patience a vertue of necessitie I am not so madde saith Seneca that I would be sick but if I must be sick I will beare it patientlie Therefore there must be reckened vp diligentlie and seuerallie the diuers tribulationes sometime temporall sometime spirituall which daielie do giue and offer to vs whether we will or nill matter of patience such as are sicknes pouertie c and who is able to number all such tribulations which are such and so manie that we must not bring vpon our selues new sorowes for the valiant suffering of such dailie tribulations is enough for the purging of greater sinnes especiallie if contrition be encreased and humble confession in deede or purpose c. Yea the same Gerson saith farther Imò sicut non licet c. As it is not lawfull for a man of his owne authoritie to mayme or gelde him-selfe excepte it were for the healthe of the whole bodie So it is not lawfull as it seemeth that a man should violentlie draw blood of him-selfe except it be for bodelie Physick or els by the like reason a man might burne himselfe with an hotte iron which no man hath held or graunted hitherto except perhaps idolaters or false Christians such as are found in India which thinke that they ought to be baptized with fire Finallie Gerson alloweth no whipping except it be enioyned as penance and that it be executed by another man and that moderatelie and without offence giuing or ostentation and last of all without drawing of blood And this booke of Gerson as you wotte is in print to answere your question was there euer honest man but Master Charke that would haue obiected so impertinent a thing in Print as is the whipping of men by them-selues vppon anie falselie pretended neede of Mortification But Master Charke maketh you laugh when he saith the sect of whippers was condemned long agoe You aske how long and by whome For they began anno 1273. vnder Pope Gregorie the 10. and were condemned both by him and his successours by which authority Luther and Caluine are likewise condemned An high point in a low house as though the authoritie by which men are condemned is all the matter not the cause for which Adultery is condemned by Mahomet and by the same authoritie the Gospell of Christ is it not lawfull to approoue the one condemnation except a man allow the other No maruaile though you laugh at this matter for indeed it is verie ridiculous as moste of your collections be And whereas you affirme that Pope Gregorie the 10. did condemne these Flagellantes I suppose you are not able to bring any author of credit that so doth write For in his time they sprang vp and continued almoste fourescore yeares without anie solemne condemnation For anie thing that Prateolus or who so writeth most diligentlie of here sies can testifie Prateolus out of Carion sheweth that 1343. they came to Spire in Germanie when the diet of the Empire was kept and through opinion of great holines had good entertainment Tandem verò damnata est At length saith he this sect was condemned and extinguished with fire
cōpetent ministers where the present peril of any mans life forceth thereunto that euen then when they may be beneficiall to other that without schisme cal for the sacraments yet they shal be damnable vnto themselues For hereof let euery man be bold that taketh vpon him any ministery in schisme disorder that so often he hath practized it so often hath he prouoked gods ire towardes him-selfe and procured as much as in him lieth his indignation to all that are partakers thereof S. Basil the great complaineth hereof verie much in his daies by these wordes In the doctrine of impiety wickednes the Churches babes be now brought vp For how can it be otherwise Baptisme is ministred by heretikes they helpe forth such as passe hence they keepe visitation of the sicke they haue comforting of the sorowfull they take on them the ease of such as be burdened in all cases and to be short they minister the mysteries of holy communion so that in time though the libertie of Christes religion be restored againe the youth shall take such liking in heretikes practizes to whome by loue and custome they are so fast knit that it will be hard to reduce them home to truth againe Thus farre spake Saint Basil of his daies and right good cause haue we no lesse to complaine of ours They were then incumbred with Arians and we with a legion of new deuises and bold practisioners of such high and heauenlie functions as neither by God nor man they are rightlie and orderly called vnto By these now onelie our soules seeme to liue but by these alone we suerlie die euerlastinglie In al which great desolation of Christian comfort and all spirituall vnctions this were some solace if either the elder sort could consider what they haue lost or the poore children which are nurced in these nouelities might learne what they lacked ALLEN My meaning is therefore to mooue al parties to the necessarie care and heede of the matter by the treatise following trusting that some one or other of my good brethren whoe all be to me moste deare will awake at my earnest call and consider of the matter deepelie how it fareth with him and other touching their soules since the sacrament of penance hath beene banished and the priesthoede of Gods Church spoyled of iurisdiction and right in remission of sinnes and to helpe him in so necessarie and fruitefull aduise of him-selfe and other whome in such cases I meane alwaies to serue I wil seeke out the ground of this authority that hath beene so long practized of the priest and honoured of the people to the singular glorie of God the notorious increase of vertue weale publike of the whol Christian world that both the good Catholike may haue reasonable proose of that which to his immortall weale he hath so long both loued reuerenced in Christs ministers and also the contemners of so heauenlie power may learne in humblenes of heart to like and feare the excellent function which by pride they did before vnaduisedly disprooue It may please any man that is doubtfull of this article which is so necessarie to be knowne to consider giue good attendance to the wholl course of my talke I promise him as afore god whoe will sharply iudge al sinister endeuours in causes of his honour that I will deale sincerelie in all points and faithfullie I will not couer my selfe nor the light of the cause in cloud of wordes neither by any artificiall sleight as new doctors now a daies often doe circumuent the sense of him that is mosse simple such indifferencie shall be vsed euerie where in trial of the truth that I will seeme for his sake to doubt of the matter my selfe Though in deede so god saue me in my common sense and so god spare me for my sins I cā neuer mistrust any point of that faith in which I was new borne baptized But that notwithstāding I wil not spare to rippe vp that which men moste reprooue in gods Church and ministers that al the disobedient children may see how free they be from falsehood and farre from beguiling the flocke of Christ to them committed to keepe we will call the high magistrates though it be exceeding vnseemelie for subiectes to account of their gouernent the principal pastour must giue a reason of his pardons and answere for the limitation of his indulgences by yeares daies and times both he and all other Bishopes shal be accomptable for such graue censures exercised vpon mens soules with them all inferior priests muste be posed for searching the secrets of our cansciences for releasing mans misaeedes enioyning penaunce and requiring satisfaction for sinnes Thus bold wil we be with truth the rather therebie to deface falsehood And all this in that order that may in least roome conteine most matter with both breuitie and light so much as so deepe and large a cause can beare from all contention I will so farre refraine that euen the aduersaries themselues of Cristes truth and doctrine albeit they be persons infamous by law and consent of al nations shall not yet without meete and reasonable moderation be touched or talked of requiring of them this curtesie againe that they reprehend nothing in this discourse pri uily which they can not nor dare not answere to openlie And of my louing brethren that be Catholike I must farder require one thing the sute is for them selues that when in a manner they sensiblie feele the trueth they would not refuse to follow the same that by outward worke they may declare their inward will Here of I am more carefull for that I see heresie and falsehoode to be of that countenance and colour that it is often liked before it be beleeued where gods trueth for terrour and bitternes that it beareth is not alwaies followed where it is wel knowne trusted But surelie truth is not profitably vnderstood till it be willinglie practized Therefore whoesoeuer acknowledged in his conscience the power of Gods Church and mynisterie for the remission of sins and vseth not humblie con fession of his sinnes that that power may redound to his saluati on he is so much farder from God by how much more he knoweth the right waie to come to God Mans will must in all such cases of terrour and difficultie geue ouer to Gods ordinance whose commaundements though they seeme to the worldlie burdenous yet to the good and ghostlie paucis amantibus saith Saint Augustine they are sweet and exceeding pleasant And this let euerie man assuredlie know that whosoeuer counteth confession so heaiue he neither feeleth the waight of sinne nor yet sufficientlie feareth the appointed paine for the same Al these vntowardlie affections that sinne and the world haue planted in vs all let vt seke by loue and zeale of Gods trueth and ordinance to amend and ioyne with me geucle Reader I besech thee in praiers that our endeuours maie please God and profit his people
which only meane of preaching expressed in this place you with a Marie for all that fumble vp with I cannot tell what guidance because you cannot content your selfe to be a minister a seruant a subiect but you must be a Lord a Prince a ruler But the other text of Ioh. 20. yousay doth properlie concerne the commission giuen to the Apostles for the sacrament of penaunce and remission of sins But whether I praie you in the scripture shal we read of this your sacrament or the institution thereof what is the visible worde or element thereof yet you saie that this text doth in moste cleare and vndoubted sense giue to them the like right in that case that Christ him-selfe had by the sending of God the father that is to saie the verie same authoritie that he had in respect of his mediation and manhood So that be like Christ as Mediator hath no authority peculiar to himselfe in respect of the excellency of his person but that which is communicable vnto others and is communicated to his Apostles But that is a strange doctrine neuer heard of before in the Church of God except it were from the mouth of Nestorius or any of his disciples For our sauiour Christ receiued in his manhoode that which no other man is able to receiue because he one lie is God and man he receiued the spirit not according to measure Iohn 3. 34. as all men muste do that receiue it therefore no man can receiue such power by the spirit in measure which he receiued by the spirit infinitelie or without measure But Saint Augnstine is called to witnes that this text doth giue theverie same authoritie to the Apostles that Christ had in respect of his mediation and manhoode Whereas Saint Augustines words import no such thing but onelie shew that Christ though equal to his father in respect of his Godheade yet as he is our Mediatour is sent of his father in respect of his manhood But of the verie same authoritie that Christ had in respect of his mediation giuen to the Apostles he speaketh not a word That you ioyne his māhood to his mediation as though the mediator were nothing but man or as though the man Iesus Christ which is our onelie mediator were not Immannell that is God with vs it is not without some smack of Nestorian heresie wherebie you seeme so to separate the man from God as though any thing might be verified of the man which in respect of the vnitie of person might not be verified of God or as though there were not such a perfect vnion of the two natures in one person that although they both continue vnconfounded reteining their essentiall properties yet any part of the office and authoritie of Christ which he exercised in his humanitie might as latgelie as fullie and with the verie same authoritie be committed ouer to any other mortall man to be exercised as it was by Christ himselfe But Theophilact is cited to be an interpreter of Saint Augustine whoe saith vpon these wordes as the father hath sent me c. in the person of Christ take vpon you my worke and be sure that I will be with you meaning that he committeth to them the office of teaching whereunto he was sent by his father but of equall authoritie with him he speaketh no worde Which place you haue verie licentiouslie translated to draw it to your purpose For the words are no more but these as Philippus Montanus hath translated them Meum opus inquit suscipite confidite quod vobiscum sum futurus And in the ende he willeth men to consider the dignitie of priests that it is diuine For it perteineth to God to remit sinnes so therefore are they to be honoured as God For although they be vnworthie what is that they are the ministers of Gods giftes and grace worketh by them euen as he spake by Balaams asse For our vnworthines hindreth not grace so because by meanes of priests grace is graunted they are to be honoured Thefe wordes of Theophilact declare that although he ascribe much to the dignitie of Priests yet he doth not allowe them the verie same authoritie that Christ had in respect of his mediation but a farre inferior ministerie And excellentlie to our purpose wrote the holie father Cyril as well for the dignitie of the Apostolike vocation as for the honourable legacie in these wordes Ad gloriosum Apostolalatum Dominus noster Iesus Christus Discipulos suos vocduit qui commotum orbem firmarunt sustentacula eius facti vnde per Psalmistam de terra de Apostolis dicit quia ego firmaui columnas eius Columnae enim robur veritatis discipulisunt quos ita dicit se mittere sicut à patre ipse missus est vs Apostolatus dignitatem ostenderet magnitudinem potestatis eorum aperiret These wordes and the residue following concerning the same purpose goe thus in english Our Lord and master Christ Iesus promoted his disciple to a glorious Apostleship whoe becing made the proppes and staies of all the earth haue established the wauering worlde whereupon the Psalmist sayeth thus of the earth and the Apostles I haue surelie and firmelie set the pillers thereof For the disciples no doubt be the verie pillers strength and staie of trueth whome Christ saith that he doth send euen as his father did send him that thereby he might declare to the worlde as well the dignitie of their Apostleship as open to all men their excellencie and the might of their power and no lesse signifie vnto them what way they had to take in all their life and studies For if they be so sent as Christ him selfe was sent of the father it is requisite to consider for what worke purpose the father euerlasting sent his sonne in flesh to the worlde And that him selfe els where declareth saying Non veni vocare iustos sed peccatores ad poenitentiam I came not to cal the iust but sinners to repen tance in another place it is said God sent not his sonne into the world to iudge the worlde but that the worlde shold be saued by him al these thinges and other he touched brieflie in these few wordes Sicus misit me pater ego mitto vos vt hinc intelligant vocandos esse 〈◊〉 ad poenitentiam 〈◊〉 corpore simul spiritumale habentes Like as my father sent me so I send you that sinners should be called to repentance and be healed both in bodie and soule Thus farre spake S. Cyril of the excellent calling of the disciples of the cause of their large commission not restricted by any streighter tearmes then Christs owne commission was which he receiued from his euerlasting Father FVLKE The wordes of Saint Cyrillus declare no more then I haue said before that the Apostles were sent of Christ as Christ was sent of his father to call sinners to repentance by their ministerie of preaching not
sttetch forth the Doctors meaning when you will be so impudent with their wordes The Apostles said In hoc credimus quia a Deo exîsti Quae rogo haec verbi huius admiratio est quod se exisse à Deo professus sit Tanta tam deo propria vos O Sancti beati viri ob fidei vestrae meritum claues regni caelorum sortitt ligandi atque soluendi in caelo in terraius adepti gestacsse per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Dei filium 〈◊〉 ad id quod à Deo exisse dixit nunc primùm vos veri intelligentiam assecutos protestamini In this we beleeue that thou art come out from God What admiration I praie you is this of this word that he professeth that he came out from God so great thinges and so proper to God O ye holie and blessed men which had obteined the keies of the kingdome of heauen for the worthinesse of your faith and haue obtained right of binding and loosing in heauen and earth had you seene done by our Lord Iesus Christ the sonne of God And doe you now first protest that you haue obtained the vnderstanding of the trueth as concerning that he said he came forth from God In these wordes it is apparant that all the Apostles haue the keies as well as Peter and right or authoritie of binding and loosing but that the whole right thereof is in them as though God had resigned his right to them or giuen them equall right with him-selfe S. Hilarie neuer said nor thought The latter sentence toucheth not the cōtrouersy between vs. For we graunt the power of binding and loosing forgiuing and retaining to be ratified in heauen but that the wordes of Christ be of an absolute power properlie to doe that which is the office of God alone we cannot learne by this or anie other saying of Saint Hilarie ALLEN But I will adde S. Chrysostomes testimonie thereunto the rather because our aduersaries doe abuse his wordes sometimes against confession which necessarilie hangeth on the authority of Priesthood in remission and retaining sinnes as anon I shal declare That I be not ouer tediuose I will report his saying in English onelie Those saith he that dwelleth in earth and are conuersant amongst men haue receiued power and commission to dispose and dispense such thinges as be in heauen yea these men haue receieud power such as neither God either gaue to Angelles for it was neuer said to them whatsoeuer you bind in earth it shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you loose in earth it shall be loosed in heauen Earthlie Princes in deed haue power to binde but that pertaineth to the bodies of their subiectes onelie but that which I now talke of that is proper to the Priests touching the verie soule it selfe and is so ample that it reacheth to the heauens aboue yea that so largelie that whatsoeuer the Priestes doe beneath the verie selfe same God wil allow and ratifie in heauen aboue and so the Lord will confirme the iudgement and sentence of the seruants Thus farre speaketh Chrysostome His words be so plaine that to stand long on them for farther proofe of my matter then the verrie face of the sentence doth importe it were vaine For man maie here rather maruell to see such strange power vpon Christes wordes giuen to the holie order and yet that to be so litle esteemed of wicked men and so litle regarded euen of the honester sort of simple folkes that few either seeke after their iudgement in cause of their soules or duelie honour that power in them which passeth all other prelacie that euer either man or Angell receiued in this great contempt I saie of most holie things wickednes is rather to be wondered at and lamented then by long reasoning to be confuted The sequele of true thinges is so plaine in it selfe the diuerse places of scripture so answere iustlie ech to other the fathers so consonantlie confirme the knowne meaning of the same and the verie tearmes of so many scriptures writen at diuerse times by sundrie of the Euangelists so fall vpon one vndoubted sense that we may rightly conclude the power to be in all cases giuen to the Apostles of remission of sinne FVLKE The wordes of Chrysostome are large enough of themselues although you had not augmented them with your additions and explications beside that you haue altered the number in the text of Mat 16. where in lieth a mysteric For Chrysostome by these wordes spoken in the singular number to Peter prooueth the authoritie that is common to all Priests What soeuer thou shalt binde whatsoeuer thou shalt loose The summe is that the power and dignitie of Priests is exceeding great which maketh a mortall man to come neere to the blessed and incorrupted nature of God as he saieth before But if an absolute and proper power of remitting sins were graūted to them they come not one ly neere but are translated in deede into the diuine na ture which is intollerable blasphemy That the Lord ratifieth in heauen confirmeth the sentence of his seruants giuen vpon earth it is to be vnderstoode that God approoueth the sentence which he before hath appointed them to pronounce As if the Queene in England should protest that shee is content to ratifie and confirme whatsoeuer her embassadour doth in France acding to his commission and the instructions receiued from her thee neither resigneth her authoritie to her embassadour neither giueth him equall power with her selfe but onelie maketh him the interpreter and declarer of her will and pleasure which shee is content to ratifie and not otherwise ALLEN And vpon such knowne termes I make this argument against the aduersaries They truelie and properlie doe remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediatelie ensueth in heauen but Gods pardon vndoubtedlie followeth the priests pardon in remission in earth Claue non errante Ergo they assuredlie remit sins The Maior is manifest the Minor hangeth vpon plaine scripture thrise tolde which first appointed man to loose in earth and then that God shall in the same instant forgiue in heauen God shall confirme the sentence of his seruants saith S. Chrysostome Mans iudgement saith Hilarie shall be as a sentence preiudiciall to God in heauen And thus farre for the wordes of Christ at this present and farther strength shal more and more be gathered vnto them by diuerse partes of all the processe following FVLKE You make such argumentes for your friendes and not against your aduersaries For what aduersarie would you choose vnto your selfe so simple that could not espie these grosse faults of your syllogisme For first your Maior is false which you saie is manifest But you haue not yet prooued that they doe properlie remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediately ensueth in heauen that is whose sentence on earth is ratified confirmed in heauen That they doe
that he speaketh in the next chapter of the first repentance that in men of discretion might goe before baptisme although it be true of all true repentance and conuersion vnto God ALLEN And let no man think that true repentance can be in anie or effectuall for the remission of sinnes if he follow not the appointed ordinance of God for remission of sinnes For I dare be bolde to saie that as since the time that our Sauiours wordes tooke place Nisi quis renatus fuerit Except a man be borne againe of water and the holie Ghost he can not enter into the kingdome of heauen that as since these words no man can be saued without baptisme so likewise since Christ spake these wordes Whose sinnes you do forgiue they be forgiuen I dare saie neuer man was saued nor can be saued that either contemneth or neglecteth confession or earnestlie seeketh not for it if he fall in relapse of deadlie crimes after his baptisme I will speake it plainlie because I would haue it thought on earnestlie As no man ordinarilie can be saued without baptisme so can no man that euer after baptisme committeth deadlie sinne be saued without sacramentall confession or the earnest desire and seeking for the same This maie seeme sharpe to some but this will prooue true to all contemners of Gods ordinance For whensoeuer God worketh his giftes and grace among men by anie ordinarie meanes appointed for the purpose it is great sinne to seeke for the same eitherwithout it or to presume to haue it at Gods handes otherwise then he hath prescribed But the sacrament of penance and confession made to the priest is the appointed meanes that God vseth in his Church for remission of mortall sinnes therefore whosoeuer thinketh to haue remission immediatly at Gods hand he shall first be voide of his purpose and then further be charged of high presumption and contempt of his will and ordinance The remission of originall sinner as properly pertaineth to God as of mortall sinner yet because Christ hath instituted a sacrament as an instrument meanes to conuey that singular benefit to man he that would now claime the same immediatly at Gods owne hand and therefore neglecteth the sacrament of baptisme or would minister it to him selfe without the Priests office he should neuer obtaine remission of his originall sinne but adde to that high persumption and disobedience of gods commaundement which of it selfe without originall sinne were damnable FVLKE No wise man thinketh that true repentance can be in any or effectuall for the remission of sins if he dispise to follow the appointed ordinance of God for remission of sins but you shalneuer prooue that shrift or auricular confession is a necessarie and generall ordinance of god for al that shal obtein forgiuenes of sins committed after baptisme How manie mortall sinnes are committed by children and others where of they haue no remembrance to confesse them so that if confession were necessarie remission of those sinnes for them were impossible That you dare be bolde to saie that no man can be saued without externall baptisme of water it argueth more boldnes then wisdome except you were able to prooue that the wordes of Christ by you cited are necessarie to be vnderstood of the baptisme of water And you are bolder then Fulgentius for he as you hard erewhile excepteth them that suffer martyredome for Christs name before they be baptized in water And Saint Ambrose is bolde against you to affirme that the Emperour Valentinianus the yonger who was slaine before he was baptized was vndoubtedlie saued For comforting his sisters he saith to them in that seueral oration which he made vpon the death of Valentinian the Emperour Sed audiui vos dolere quod nō acceperit sacramentū baptismatis Dicitemihi quid aliud in nobis est nisi voluntas nisi petitio Atqui etiam dudum hoc votum habuit vt antequam in Italiam venisset initiaretur proximè baptizari se à me velle significauit ideo prae coeteris carsis me accipiendum putauit Non habet ergo gratiam quam desiderauit non habet quam poposeit quia poposcit accepit vbi est illud iustus quacunque morse praeuentus fuerit anima eius in refrigerio erit Solue igitur pater sancte munus seruo tuo quod Moses dum in Siritu vidit accepit quod Dauid quia ex reuelatione cognouit emeruit Solue inquam seruo tuo Valentiniano munus quod concupiuit munus quod poposcit sanus robustus incolumis Si affectus aegritudine distulisset tamen non penitus à tua misericordia esset alienus qui celeritate temporis esset non voluntate sraudatus solue ergo seruo tuo munus tuae gratiae quam ilie nunquam negauit qui ante diem mortis templorum priuilegia negauit insurgentibus quos reuereriposset astabat virorum catcrua gentilium supplicabat senatus Non metuebat hominibus displicere in Christo qui habuit spiritum tuum quomodo non accepit gratiam tuam Aut si quia solenniter non sunt celebrata mysteria hoc mouet ergo ne martyres si catechumeni fuerint coronentur non enim coronantur si non initiansur Quòd si suo abluuntur sanguint hunc swa pietas abluit voluntas But I haue heard that you are greeued because he receiued not the sacrament of baptisme Tell me then what other thing is there in vs but our will but our desire But long since he had this purpose that before he came into Italie he would be dedicated and next he signified that he would be baptized by me And therefore before other causes he thought that I was to be taken Hath he not then the grace which he desired hath he not the grace that he called for receiued it because he called for it And where is then that saying the iust by what death so euer he be preuented his soule shal be in rest performe therfore holy Father that gift vnto thy seruant which Moses while he sawe in spirit receiued which Dauid because he knewe by reuelation obtained performe I saie vnto thy seruant Valentinian the gift which he called for being sounde strong in good health If being stroken with sicknes he had differred yet he should not be vtterly estranged from thy mercie which was depriued by swiftnes of time not by his owne will Performe therefore vnto thy seruant the gift of thy grace which he neuer denied which before the day of his death denied the priuiledges of the Idols temples to them that rose vp of whome he might haue stood in awe There stoode by a great rout of heathen men the senat made supplication Neuertheles he feared not for Christ to displease men He that had thy spirit how did he not receiue thy grace Or if this doth mooue because the mysteries were not solemnlie celebrated therefore let neither martyres be crowned if they haue not beene baptized for
none can be bound or absolued but of his owneiudge we thinke that the foresaid remissions doe profit them onelie to whome that they might profit their owne iudges haue spirituallie or speciallie graunted Also the glosse vpon this decretall the author whereof liued after the Later an Councell saith that it was an olde complaint and yet in his daies verie doubtfull to what purpose these remissions or pardons were profitable remissiones ad quid valeant vetus est querela adhuc tamen satis dubia and rehearseth foure seuerall opinions concerning the validitie of them Some saie they auaile onelie towarde God but not toward the church Secondlie other saie that they auaile toward the Church but not toward God Thirdlie other saie that as they are giuen they auaile both toward God and toward the Church And the fourth saith that they auaile onclie to the remission of that penance which is negligentlie omitted To which the glosse addeth his opinson agreeing fullie with none of them all nor with the later Canonists Among which opinions you haue patched vp your wauering sētence of the validity or inualidity of pardons in this Chapter This diuersity of opinions among the Papists themselues argueth that the doctrine of pardons was verie raw and not halse digested in those daies The agreeablenes thereof with the worde of God and the practize of the primitiue Church when it shall be shewed we shal thinke better of them in the meane time you must bring better proofe out of the scriptures for them then you doe for Popish Bishops blessing out of the 10. of Saint Matthew or ells we shall haue litle cause to esteeme them more then it ALLEN Truelie that holypeace which Christ gaue to his Apostles at his comming into them at his departure from them and ells as 〈◊〉 entreth vpon any holie action signified nothing ells but an agreement and peace of mans soull with God and did no doubt purge them from their dailie infirmities which we call veniall sinnes and the bonde of all paine as it may be thought due for the same that in the presense of Gods maiestie sinne might cease and the parties appeere cleane afore his face that had nospot of sinne in himselfe at all as by the saied peace yet giuen to the worthie receiuers by holie Bishopps ministerie some like effect doth surelie ensue I vse this terme of peace when I speake of pardons not because they are preciselie meant in the action of giuing peace common to Christ his Apostles but because I see the olde fathers lightlie call that peace which we now call pardoning and perchance they did allude to that which Christ willed his Disciples to bestow on euerie householde for a kind of blessing Which no doubt was some great benefite and so great that our Master signified vnto them that many should be vnworthie of it and that the fruite thereof should redound to them-selues Which caused both Bishops of olde for Saint Augustine maketh mention therof to giue their blessings and euerie man humblie to require the same on their knees whereby surelie some spirituall grace was receiued and remission either of veniall trespaces or paine due vnto for̄mer sinnes giuen Let apish Camites here mocke and mow at their Mother as they customablie doe whiles the obedient children the discreete and deuout of Gods Church thinke it an high point of wisedome onelie to consider the maruelous direction of our fathers waies in the doctrine of discipline and awe of Gods relgion FVLKE That peace which Christ gaue to his Apostles was the quietnes of conscience reconciled to god and discharged of all sinnes and the paine due to satisfie gods righteousnes for them and the same peace did Christ send his Apostles to offer preach and wish to all them that would receiue it which if they refused became vnprofitable to them But the Popish Bishops blessing which consisteth in shaking his fingers and murmering some wordes perhapps not vnderstood of the people whome they neuer teach what the peace of conscience meaneth is no better then a vilde mockery of the peace that Christ gaue and willed his Apostles to offer where they became Whereas you alledge Saint Augustine for the antiquitie of the Bishops blessing it is a friuolous matter For he maketh no other mention but that after earnest praierhad bin made for patience and constancie of faith in one that was the next daie with daunger of his life to be cut for a fistula both by the partie himselfe a Bishop and many other Godlie persons then present that they arose from praier accepta ab episcopo benedictione discessimus and hauing receiued blessing of the Bishop we departed How can the superstitious blessing of Popish Bishops be resembled to this but onelie in the name of blessing For here is no requiring of it on knees nor any opinion of remission of sinnes by it but onely a Christian salutation or farewell by praier mentioned which all Godlie Bishops and elders doe in our Church vse euen at this daie speciallie in dimission of a Godlie congregation gathered to heare the preaching to praier or participation of the sacraments or such holie purposes which all Christians do esteeme as it becommeth them without making an Idoll of the minister or trusting in the ceremonie confirming their faith in God by the praior and blessing of his seruants in his name in whome is all their hope trust and ioye reposed That the Bishops beeing the highest ministers of Gods Church and namelie the Pope as the principall of the rest may onelie lawfullie giue Pardons and in what sense the soules depatted may be releiued by the same THE 11. CHAP. ALLEN OF the necessarie disposition of them that should effectuallie receiue benefit by the pardons of the Church and of the right intent of them that should giue the same wee haue already sufficiently spoken And now perchance some may thinke it necessarie that it should be opened brieflie in whome this authoritie of releasing the paines inioyned for sinne doth principallie consist Whereof I shall with better will bestow a few wordes because we shall haue occasion thereby to open the common sense of a wholl Councel both learned and godly touching the matter of Pardons in the iudgement whereof assuredlie proceeding from the holy ghost we may with safetie take our rest Of the lawfull minister therefore of these remissions the scripture in precise tearmes prescribeth nothing though the power of binding and loosing whereupon the matter standeth is prooued properlie to be an act of the keie namelie of iurisdiction and externall regiment which agreeth not to the simple Priestes hauing no further iurisdiction but in the secret court of mans conscience Wherupon as also by the vsage of all ages and by the prescription of the lawe it is prooued that Bishops onely or such as haue their authority for the execution of their office may lawfullie giue remission of satisfactions appointed for sinnes remitted Neither were it
other Bishops are restreined to that measure By which it appeereth that euen in that time which was litle more then three hundreth yeares agoe the large pardons of so many thousand yeares were neither knowen nor thought needfull For if they had it had beene great iniurie to driue men of all partes of the world to seeke for that at Rome which they might haue had neere hand of their owne Bishops Thirdlie you would haue vs consider the care of the Church in purging of corruptions But rather by the sequele we may gather that this was nothing ells but the ambition and couetousnes of the Pope vpon whose sleeue the Councell was pinned to bereue other Bishops of their accustomablie practized power all the worlde of their benefite and to rake vnto himselfe all the profit that might come by pardons as for the shamefull corruptions of pardons and pardoners hath beene an hundred times worsse since that time then euer it can be prooued that it was before ALLEN But he that list fullie to see how litle the Catholike Church liketh the abuse of wicked men in these matters and yet how seuerelie shee accurseth all the contemners of this holie function in the right vse thereof let him reade the Decree of the last generall Councell touching as well the vse of holie pardons as the earnest consideration had of reforming all disorder there in and he shall fullie be satisfied in this article if he haue learned so much as to giue ouer the preiudice of all priuate opinion to the common iudgement of Gods Church Being now thus far in our matter that it is well knowen the Bishoppes of Gods Church principallie to haue this binding and loosing by the keie of their iurisdiction to be exercised in the open court of the Church and that the power of the Bishoppe of Rome not onelie by speciall priuiledges giuen by Christ but also by law and prescription of all antiquities passeth in this point as in all other gouernement the tearmes or seuerall limites of all his brethren it shall not be needefull to dispute whether the keie of iurisdiction onelie separated from the keie of order proper to priesthoode be sufficient to giue remission of inioyned penance by Commonlie it is holden that as excommunication and other like acts of iurisdiction may be exercised by the Bishops Legates or Substitutes being no priests or by themselues being elected Bishops and yet neither consecrated nor ordered euen so many Indulgences be also profitablie graunted Whereof I will not now talke because it is not much materiall seeing commonlie they be not graunted otherwise but of Bishops neither so oft of other as of the Pope and neuer any otherwise but by his or other Bishops authoritie by whomesoeuer the function is executed FVLKE The Councell of Trent vnto which you send vs is as much the common iudgement of Gods Church as the Pope is the head thereof who when he is accused not onelie to be an horrible heretike but also to be Antichrist himselfe will stand to the determination of no Councell but such as he himselfe shall allow The grosse impudent cosenage of pardons being discouered to all the world more then 40. yeares before the Pope Pius 4. not able to iustify before his owne papists that haue but mother witte giueth leaue to those 100. thing pages of Tient to restraine the immoderate largnes of them which few or none doth esteem and to stay the sale of them which none wil voutchsafe to buy O goodlie reformation O great care of the popish Church which being challenged for the abuse of pardons can not finde time to redresse them in more then 40. yeares and in more then 2. yeares consultation in popish Councell Touching the other question it is not worth the deciding whether the keie of ivrisdiction separated from the keie of order can do anie thing seing both those keies in the popish Church are false and counterfet hauing no power to open the kingdome of heauen or to shut it ALLEN But this I know will be required rather at my handes the course of the matter giuing occasion thereunto how farre the limites of the Popes iurisdiction who hath the soueraigntie herein doth extend and whether the benefit of anie Pardon maie perteine to anie person that is alreadie appointed to suffer in his soule the paines of the next life and is at this present in the course of Gods correction in Purgatorie and finallie whether the graunt of an Indulgence may release them there of some peece or all their paines as it might haue done whiles they were in this present life To all this I answer brieflie that the Pope may doe it lawfullie whereof there can be no more doubt then there is of the other of which we haue made the plaine argument alreadie though in the waie meanes of applying the Churches remission or the Saints satisfaction vnto them there may be some diuersitie not such as may any thing hinder the trueth of the cause which of all catholike men is moste certainlie agreed vpon but such as may stirre vp mans industrie in the moderat search of Gods trueth and mysteries For the soules departed and being assured to be saued must needs be of the same body mysticall and felowship of Saints that the faithfull be of aliue therefore they may according to their aptnes more or lesse be profited by the holy works and satisfaction of their head fellow members because in euerie lawfull Pardon there is made by the keies of iurisdiction application of Christs holy merits his Saints in that respect as they be satisfactorie to the vse of their inferiour members that doe lacke that wherein the other doe abound Whereupon it standeth with plaine reason and meaning of Gods word touching binding and loosing that the soules in Purgatorie should sometimes be partakers of this blessing no lesse then other that be yet aliue For the deniall of which catholike assertion Leo the tenth accursed and condemned Luther by his letters patentes as euer since his memorie hath beene condemned most worthely of all good men continuing in the vnitie of Christes Church FVLKE A question meet to be handled by the popes proctor for purgatorie seeing in purgatorie the Popes prison is all his iurisdiction For it is meet that he should beare rule ouer his owne creature But in heauen no man hath authoritie but God because it is the seat of his maiestie and the reward of his blessed and beloued in his sonne Christ Iesus whoe hath opened the same to all faithfull and shut vp the same from all vnbeleeuers of whose will and pleasure he hath commaunded his seruants the true ministers of his Church to be interpreters vnto the world The question you assoile as you doe all other of popery that whatsoeuer the Pope and popish Church hath once allowed must needes be good although it haue no warrant out of the word of God nor testimonie of the
auncient Church First you saie therfore that the Pope may lawfullie graunt pardons to them that be in Purgatorie whereof you saie there canbe no more doubt then there can be of the other In deede they be both of like certaintie sauing that for this later question it must first be prooued whether there be any purgatory before it be demanded whether the Popes pardons extend to purgatorie Saint Augustine somewhile doubted whether there were any such place and saith it may be doubted of and perhapes be found perhapes neuer be founde other while he vtterlie denieth any third place because he findeth it not in the scriptures neither shal the pope be able euer to finde such fictions in the scriptures The like I saie of his power of application of the merites of Christ or his Saints or that the saints haue any merits for themselues much lesse for other men Wherefore it standeth neither vpon reason nor vpon any meaning of Gods word whereof there can no wordes be shewed including or importing anie such meaning that the Popes pardons should reach to the release of purgatorie paines if anie such were which cannot release the lest paine that any man suffereth vpon the earth That Leo the tenth did excommunicat Luther it proueth no more the Popes doctrine to be true then that Caiphas condemned Christ prooueth Caiphas to haue bin an honest man ALLEN Marie whether the Indulgences take place so often vpon the dead as vpon the liue that is not so well knowen because the persons departed be not in case to make themselues more apt to take benefit thereby then they were at their departure hence And therfore if they were not with singular zeale and deuotion so qualified in the end of their life they cannot now any whit abetter their own case or otherwise dispose themselues to attaine the fruit of those singular remissions And more then that no Indulgence is lightlie graunted but vpon the fullfilling of some appointed worke of pietie and the departed not hauing alwaies in this life such friends as will accomplish competently the worke prescribed by the Pardon nor himselfe now in case to doe the same he often misseth the benefit of the Churches remission which else he might haue had by the meaning of the giuer Whereupon it seemeth to some to be no surer how far the departed may be relieued by the keies of the Church then it is of other holie suffragies and good workes either of priests or priuate persons all which doe assuredlie relieue them that be in Purgatorie but without anie limitation of benefit which whollie is vnknowne to the liuing without speciall reuelation in what state they stand FVLKE Two causes you assigne why it is not knowne whether indulgences take place so often vpon the deade as vpon the liuing The first because the soules there can take no benefite of pardons but according to the merites of their life But this reason is confuted by authoritie of the glosse vpon the first bull of Iubilie which saith that pardons respect grace and not merite which if it be true not the merits of the receiuer but the power and will of the giuer were to be obserued The second reason is that pardons lightlie require some worke to be fulfilled But that worke is neuer so laborious as the paines already by them susteined in purgatorie if we beleeue you which if it will not serue for a recompence or commutation of penance you will hardelie perswade men that saying of such a prayer giuing of such an almes visiting such an Idoll should be sufficient to make the Popes pardon auaileable But it is a pitifull case that poore soules in purgatórie which lacke nothing for their release but such a trifling worke to be performed for them and haue no friend in this life that will accomplish it for them should lie still broiling in the frying panne and be so litle regarded of the Pope that he will not appoint that his clergie at the least of their charitie should take paines for them although they haue no penie for their Pater noster That some among you thinke the profite of pardons is no surer then of other suffrages and workes to them in purgatorie which are auaileable but you know not how much first it sheweth the certaintie of your faith which leaneth vpon such helpes as you know not whereto they will serue you Secondlie it sheweth that you are not agreed among your selues of such articles as you thrust vpon other men to be credited And thirdlie that euerie one among you being not resolued of the Popes keies of iurisdiction some thinke that the Pope hath arrogan the abused his keies when he hath taken vpon him to dzale further in purgatorie then they are perswaded he hath authoritie For certaine it is the Pope hath pretended by his pardons not onelie to release soules out of purgatory but also to giue other men power to release three or foure a peece whome they will choose ALLEN And therefore vpon this consiacration the learned diuines doe teach that the Pope doth and lawfullie maie applie vnto the soules departed by his keies some parte of the Churches treasure which consisteth of Christes satisfaction and other his Saints by which they departed as they haue neede and be in competent termes to receiue benefite by the merits of their head or fellowes maie be released from some parte of their paines but yet they will not charge anie man with necessitie of belceuing that the Pope or Church should vse meere iurisdiction ouer them that be in an other worlde To be plaine for the peoples vnderstanding the meaning is that in a pardon there are two thinges the one is a sentence of absolution definitelie pronounced vpon anie person penitent the second is the recompence of the debt of sinne remitted by the saide absolution through the application of the Churches treasure by the power of the officiers keies Both these two iointlie can neuer be exercised vpon anie person not subiect though the one maie Absolution can not properlie be giuen nor fruitfullie to anie man not subiect to the giuers regiment but the application of the treasure may be made by the keies to procure mercie for them that be not vnder their power but that is not by proper iurisdiction but by aide of request made by iust offers why the partie should be receiued vnto mercie In this sense then the Pope absolueth no man departed absolutelie But onelie offereth in the person of Christ for the reliefe of him that is in Purgatorie to God his mighti iudge there the abundant price of Christs passion and the satisfaction of Saints And no doubt for his reuerence and representing Christes person he is more often heard then anie priuate man offering onelie his owne almes and praier for the soule departed And for that cause in this sense the Popes pardon worketh onelie per modum suffragij as by aide of sute and not by regiment or iurisdiction which
yow saith he that can be are with no mans faultes but your owne did not subscribe to the crime as the law ordeineth to binde your selues to the punishment of the faults which you could not prooue against other Yes verelie either for the generall crime of heresies laide against Antichrist and his sinagogue or the particular crimes against the persons of many Papists the reachers of this learning which we professe and many professours also haue put to their names and subscribed with their owne handes And although they failed not of proofe if they had beene heard before indifferent iudges yet haue they beene cruellie tormented and put to death for the testimonie of the trueth whereas if Frarine should haue beene bounde to the ordinance of the law which he prescribeth to others if he had as many liues as Hydra is fained to haue heades his bodie would not haue sufficed to the execution which he hath deserued both for his particular slaunders against some men and for his last generall accusation of all Protestantes But yet more impudentlie you behaued your selues and more contrarie to all order and forme of lawfull proceeding for in this your monstrous iudgement of reformation you were accusers witnesses Iudges and hang men yourselues Howe much more rightlie might he haue vttered this against the Pope who beeing accused of heresie and blasphemie would be his owne iudge and tried by no witnes butof his owne allowing wheras the Protestantes neuer refused the arbitriment of a free and lawful councel the auncient remedie to decide the controuersies of the Church where the word of God should be the highest Iudge against which no conuocation of men haue power to define any thing But it maie be saith Frarine that your vow of chastitie which you were not suffred to break by mariage which he calleth bathing their bodies in the stinking pudle of carnall pleasures was the cause of your vprores How vnfitlie this quarrell of vowes is alledged against Caluine and Beza the principall teachers of the french nation who neuer made that vow all wise men maie laugh to consider Yet he followeth the matter verie whotlie and saith that faith and promise to a mortall enemie is to be kept much more made to almightie God I would this eloquent orator had beene aliue in the time of the councell of Constance that he might haue persuaded the Popish Church to haue kept the publike faith and safe conduite graunted to Hus and Hierome which was shamefullie violated vnder colour that faith was not to be kept with heretikes or in the time of the slaughter of Varni which drew with it the destruction of the noble realme of Hungarie that he might haue diswaded the pope from stirring vp the king of Hangary to breake the faith and league of peace made with the great Turke vpon pretence that faith is not to be kepte with infidels But as for vowes made to god except they be of things vnlawfull or which are not in our power to performe who doubteth but they are inuiolablie to be obserued The vow of chastitie in such as are not able to conteine is not kept by not marrying But rather dailie broken in burning The remedie whereof by the iudgement of Epiphanius and Saint Hierom and the Catholike Church of their times is mariage and not the common stewes and brothell houses light women maried and vnmaried and Nuns fallen from their profession which Frarine doth leaue vnto them as a lesse euell then mariage But where are those common stewes and brothel howses which he saith are open at all times and euerie where at mens pleasures Are there any to be shewed vnder such Christian Princes Magistrates as manteine the doctrine of the Gospell no verilie but where poperie reigneth where the Pope setreth himselfe at Rome No maruell though such grosse impietie be not onely suffered to be vnpunished but also by the Popes proctors to be desended as conuenient Yet some townes are so well ordered that votaries can not be suffered to haue a misteris Candida for a vessell of easement which he saith is Couerdales phrase yet sheweth no place where he demaundeth then whether that were a sufficient quarrell to bidde battaile to manteine the kingdom and Gospell of Venus in euerie place so chast religious his phrases be while he carpeth at Couerdales phrase whome perhappes he belieth in such sence as he meaneth I answer there was no such cause For if they had beene as greatlie addict to Ladie Lecherie as he faineth of them those well ordered townes are not so manie in Poperie but that they might with much more ease haue remooued to Cyties of greater licence then to haue taken in hand and indured so great and dangerous warres And if the satisfying of lust without regard of conscience had beene the marke they shot at they needed not so to haue bound themselues to one woman in mariage which bringeth manie cares and troubles with it when they might without controllement haue had their change and choice as you confesse by the common stewes euerie where euen to the cloying of carnall lust if they had continued still in Poperie But yet further searching out the cause of these warres taken in hand he obiecteth that some of our side suffered for the words sake for so saith he ye cal that cursed Gospel of yours Doubtles we cal the word of God and no Gospell of ours but the Gospell of Christ by that tearme which we finde vsed in the holie scriptures therefore are not afraid of it Nay but you suffered worthilie saieth he for barking at prelates Princes for working al means to wring the sword out of their hands for troubling and disordering the state of common weales for blaspheming the sacrament of the alter and therfore they were no Martyrs but rather Diuelles This lastcrime dependeth vpon that controuersie of doctrine whether that which he tearmeth a sacrament be not rather a sacriledge detestable Idole as it is vsed in poperie The other crimes are vtterlie false and manifestlie confuted by the quiet behauiour of those professors in all places where they be not assaulted with intollerable iniuries and by the florishing estate of those kingdomes common wealthes where this doctrine by publike autoritie hath long time bene receiued But was it meete saith he that because they could not freelie preach the worde therefore they should by and by laie hand on the sworde The Apostles were went to suffer and not to strike But O Master Ministers your word is verie hard you speake gunnestones you preach fire and powlder you ride to preach on barbed horses you put on your corpsiet not of faith but of iron Al your proceedings and teachings are contrarie to Christ and his doctrine What wise man may not laugh at this vaine rhetorike who hath sene or hard the modest and Christianlike behauiour of our preachers that I speake nothing of their doctrine yea Christ saith he was