subiect to Lawes and Magistrates as well as other men Or may they not bee commaunded if they cannot be entreated by them vnto whome they are subiect to doe good to the Church or Common-wealth Neither is that of Paule to Timothie any thing at all against this assertion No man that warreth intangleth himselfe in the affaires of this life For the affaires of this life are those with the which we get thinges needfull for this present life not those things which appertaine to the publique estate of the Prince or Common-wealth War-fare it selfe is one of the publike affaires of the Common-wealth vnto the which whosoeuer is leuied must leaue his domesticall affaires so that if a man would vrge the similitude thorowly Hee which warreth vnto God must leaue all his domestical affairs against that example of Paule of whom no man wil doubt but that he discharged his Pastorall duty faithfully yet notwithstanding intangled himselfe in the affaires of this life when necessity constrained him to get his liuing with his handie labor and to spend that time in the affaires of this life which other-wise he might better haue imployed either in praier or in Preaching Beeing ready no doubt to haue done the like in publique affairs which he did in priuate had the Magistrates commanded and the good of the people required the same Wherefore the sense of the similitude is this that we must abstaine from those things which do so hinder the VVarre to the which wee are called as that they force vs to for-sake the same That the vse of certaine things which doe perteine vnto the Common-wealth as to haue a Ciuill iurisdiction in certaine Citties or townes which a man may discharge by another to be of the Kings councel in certain causes to be present at the publik assemblies of the kingdome to deliuer his iudgement in thinges concerning the state to vndertake and discharge a royall Embassee at certaine times of the yeare to be present at sessions and assises and to vndertake all these by the Kings especiall commaundement or generall commission that these things I say and such like are of that wicked nature that whosoeuer vseth them cannot be a Bishop or a Minister this I say should haue bene prooued and this also that the Minister which intermedleth in any of these things for a publique commoditie beeing there-vnto called and commanded by the Magistrate dooth commit a wicked thing and vnworthy his calling CHAP. XXIII That diuerse functions are not confounded albeit vndertaken of one man THAT which is commonly said of the state Ecclesiastique that it is distinct from the Ciuil estate is altogeather impertinent to this question seing both callings become not one though one man be called to them both Are not the parts of of a Lawyer diuerse and the partes of a Physicion diuerse yet the same party may play both partes and prooue as good a Lawyer as a Physicion In like manner the same man may be both Physicion and Diuine and cure the body as a leach and comfort the soule as a spirituall Father Spiridion was a husband man and got his liuing by graizing yet was hee a Bishop of the Church and a Pastor of soules shall we thinke that he confounded both these functions I but a Bishop requireth the whole man neither yet is one man sufficing for more charges I but this indefinite censure is vncertainelie true and certainely false and there are manye presidentes to the contrary both in the old Testament and in other antique histories First I would know whether Spiridion both Pastor of sheepe and of souls were not a man able for both these charges No man as yet so far as I can learne hath enuied him his ferme with his Bishoprick No man hath dared to condemne that holy men but all men haue worthely admired both his simplicity and his sanctimony and yet might hee haue beene more greedy of graizing then of gaining soules had his mynde ben set vppon coueteousnes But why then might not the same man haue beene both Bishop and the kings Counseller as well No doubt the greatnes of euerye charge is chiefely to be considered and then also the supply of necessary ayde which a man may haue in either charge whereby he may well discharge the same There are some Churches more great then other som som haue more busines some lesse in so much that the Pastor may haue much time sometime to spare from his ordinary charge And in a great Church where the Bishop hath many and great affayres it may be he hath many and great helps Had these two functions beene so aduerse and contrary the one to the other that they could neuer be exercised together by the same man Moyses would neuer haue beene both Prince and Priest ouer the people of God But I feare me some silly shrewd fellow wil haue his action against me for that I haue called Moyses a Priest And yet I would haue him first to vnderstand that after he had created Aaron himselfe stil continued both Prophet and Pastor as he was before But that Ely Samuel were both Iudges and Priests together it cannot be denied You will say that was a thing extraordinary and I say that I do not speak of any ordinary thing neyther of all the Pastors of the Church onely I vrge what may lawfully be done where the welfare of the Church or common wealth requireth the same and in the meane while these examples shal proue that the same thing hath beene done But if so be you would haue a view of a ciuill authority which was also ordinary may it please you consider those forty eight Citties of the Leuites and the gouernement thereof For they could not be gouerned without a Magistrate and ordinary Iudges shall we say that they chose them Magistrats out of other Tribes to determine theyr controuersies when as themselues were ordinary Lawyers and not onely present but president at ordinary Iudgements Deutronomy the one and twenty Chapter and first verse euery question and controuersie is determined according to theyr censure And is there not the like reason of those royalties which are giuen to clergy men in a christian common wealth with those Citties and suburbs the old Israelites gaue the Priests and Leuites by the commandement of God Chap. XXIIII That Dauid and Solomon vsed the aide of Priestes and Leuits in ciuill affaires ANd as the most renowmed and religious Princes Dauid Salomon others vsed the Priests and Leuites at their command as other subiects in ciuill gouernement so likewise may christian kings vse the ayde of Bishops other Pastors of the church if there be any among them which may stand either them or the common wealth in any stead In the first of the Cronicles the three and twenty Chapter at the commaundement of Dauid there is a suruey made of al the Leuites from thirty yeares of age and vpwards and ther were found eight and thirty
ought to be reuersed vnto their lawful vse for the which they first serued The Arke of the Lord was taken of the Philistines and prophaned but it did not therefore cease to be sacred to God being receiued againe from the Philistines it was no lesse to be esteemed then it was before The vessels and ornaments of Solomons temple were translated by Nabucadnezar to Babylon the which things beeing laid vp in the Temple of his Gods after his manner he vsed them religiously But Babylon beeing conquered Cyrus in the right of a conquerour might haue praied vpon them yet when he once knew that they afore-times pertained to the holy worship of the most holy in the temple of Solomon he abstained from them and cōmanded that they shuld bee restored to their former vse againe More wisely or more religiously done least hapiy hee might haue incurred the same crime of cursed sacrilege for the which the Lord had iustly punished prophane Balthasar his predecessour By the which it may appeare that what things are once destined to the vse of the Church are sacred vnto God for euer not is it lawful at any time to distract them to foraine vses CHAP. V. A distinction of those Church-goods which the Church of Rome possesseth at this day BVt when as all the goods which we see in the Church of Rome are not of the same kind we cannot giue the same iudgement of them al. There is therfore a threfold difference of them alwaies to be remembred In the first order I place those which our godly Fathers gaue to the Church for the maintenance of the Pastors and the relief of the poore In the second order I place those which were granted to the church for superstitious vses as for Masses Dirges Monks and Nuns morow Masse-priests And in the last order I place those infinite donations pernitious to the Common-welth which were either rashly made by Kings and Emperors or wrongfully extorted from them by force or fraud of which kinde are the inuestiture of those Ecclesiasticall fees which were giuen by godly Princes to the churches the which when as by that title they do pertaine to them of right yet the BB. of Rome doth chalenge the whole right therof to himselfe But these things seeing that by the lawes both of God man they pertain to Kings alone that which is Caesars is to be giuen to Caesar The Lord hath forbidden ministers to be Kings ouer their churches therefore in the 22. of Luke he purgeth that humor in the heads of his Apostles with this Aloes The Kings of nations rule ouer them and they which haue power ouer them are called bountifull but it shall not be so with you that is you shall not be Kings with which magnificent titles of bountifull and gratious they flatter them which haue smal cause bearing the heauy yoke of their cruell dominion Wherefore in this case christian Kings may lawefully reuerse what-soeuer the Bishop of Rome hath vnlawfully raked to himselfe by fraud or by force But heere I require discretion and moderation to bee vsed that Caesar do not so reuerse those things which are Caesars that together he fal to rifle those things which are Gods Indeed the cleargy of Rome hath rauisht them both but they are not worthy whom the christian Magistrat shuld imitate neither is he a mā of worth that wil punish theft with sacrilege What things the error of our fathers gaue to superstitious vses they ar void I confesse supestition and idolatry being taken away the godly Magistrat may dispose of such goods as hee shall thinke good neither hath the church any right to chalenge in these And yet if the authority of the former law aleadged and the counsel of the learned father Augustine be of any worth those legacies which were giuen for the celebrating of masses the nourishing of Monks may be conuerted to some better vse by the which the memory of the testator may be solemnized in another a more lawful kind In the 16. of Numb the censors with the which the 250. rebels offered vp incense as Priests in sin vngodlines were notwithstanding hallowed before God and therfore that in no wise they might afterwards be imploied in any common vses he commanded them to be drawn into brode plates for a couering to the altar So were the instruments which the irreligious abused conuerted to a sacred and a religious vse The which commandement indeed althogh it be not general yet it conteineth therein an especiall instruction by the which we are taught what ought to be done in such a case Augustine in his 154. Epistle to Publicola is of opinion that the Idols Idol-temples groues which were put down were not to be diuerted to any priuate vse but to bee conuerted into publike seruices and the honor of the true God that the like thing may be done by them which is done in the men themselues who are conuerted from a sacrilegious impious people to the true religion of the liuing God Least otherwise it might seem to be done not of conscience but for couetousnes But seing the law of God prescribeth nothing in this matter and whatsoeuer Moses hath written therof concerneth the people of Israell in perticular I make it no matter of religion why the Magistrate may not determine herein as it shal seeme best to his godly wisedome Nor doe I disauow the decree of the Emperours Honorius and Theodosius but I aduise al Princes and other chiefe Magistrates who haue earst reformed Churches or shall here-after that this one thing be alwais wel considered of them namely that Churches were but robbed of their rights by Monestaries when they gleaned to themselues the duty of tythes and oblations which things christian Princes and people haue consecrated of old to the honor of their Pastors the comfort of the poore For they preposterouslie take vpon them the gouernement of Churches contrary vnto the order of the ancient Church and vnder the title of voluntary pouerty these gathered that to themselues which was giuen to the poore for necessity CHAP. VI That the goods of Monks are not all of one kind AS in those goods which the Pastors and rectors of the Church possesse I haue shewed that ther is great difference so neither are we to think that the goods of Monks are all of one sort It were to long to repeat how they came to so great wealth neither is it needfull onely this I wuld haue wel noted that whatsoeuer the Monks possessed which of right was due to the Pastors of the church that al that did pertaine to the first order of church-goods which I before noted the which indeed after the subuersion of Monasteries are not to be taken for wast so long as there is anie Church remaining Wherevpon I infer that all popish idolatrie being put down onely those things which maintained either tyranny or idolatry do deuolue by right to the Chequer the
there anye thing in the Fathers for some especiall cause moouing vs misliked of vs By and by we haue this theoreme at our fingers end We must remember they were but men and because men may easilie erre we muster whatsoeuer we mis-conceiue of them among the errors of that age In the meane while wee neuer remember our selues that we also are but men and therfore may erre with them yea we are such men neither are we exempt from the common infirmitie of men who may then er when we thinke amisse of them and in that verie thing may wee erre for the which we condemne them This is once that against the constant and consonant conclusions of the ancient church we ought not to attempt or admit anie innouation without a plaine commission from Gods holie writ and this also I dare boldly say that whosoeuer taketh away al authoritie from the Fathers he leaueth none for himselfe Indeed it must bee confessed that the Fathers were men and that they had their wrinckles yet can it not be denied that to haue our Fathers to bee our Patrons in the principal points of faith and externe pollicy of our church things controuerted betweene the Popelings and vs is a matter of no small moment and of especiall account And albeit the vniforme consent of Gods children from the Apostles times vnto this day may not be compared with the eternall word of God Notwithstanding of right it may come in and stand for the second place The custome of gods people receiued of all Churches thorow out the whole world is in maner of a lawe sacred and inuiolable Neither is there any likelihood that there could euer haue beene an vniuersall consort of all Churches and ages without either the authoritie of gods word or the tradition of the Apostles Notwithstanding for as much as no consent no custome no auncient prescription can or ought to preuaile in the Church of Christ against the word of God Therefore those reasons are to be weighed and those Scriptures to bee examined which mooued the Fathers to intertaine and continue that Church gouernment which our newe reformers will in no case agree vpon that we may certainelie know whose is the error theirs or ours The time hath bene when no good men disallowed of Bishops and Archbishops but now in despite of the Popes tyranny his complices it is come to this passe that their very names are called into question and that of diuerse men for diuerse causes Some because they are as they suppose the deuises of Antichrist or his fore-runners thinke them vnworthie thee Church and worthie to be cast ouer-boorde Others yet more modest in some reuerence of antiquitie thinke they may be borne with all for a time although in the mean time they allow not of them vntill such time as commodiouslie the names may bee antiquate with the thinges themselues In the meane while for that they know neither can they be ignorant to what singular effect the Church of God hath bin gouerned by graue and godlye Bishops they haue not the face to condemne them openly yet because they see certaine reformed Churches of this age to be gouerned without Bishops It is enugh they haue not the power any longer to tollerat the more auncient gouernment O the regiment of Pastors and Elders passing all antiquitie our soules haue longed for thee and we haue a desire vnto thee for that thou alone art grounded vppon the Lord Iesus his institution and thou if any art wholy purified of all tyranny and ambition O but by your leaue good brethren the shadowe you imbrace is no substance neither is the plot you conceaue a priueledged place Are you so far in loue with your liuelesse Pigmalion the worke of your owne hands I know who is not hee hath reason for his why not For neither is your newe draught of straunge gouernement sufficientlye prooued by the word of God neither is it yet or can at any time bee confirmed by the example of our Elders And how should it if we should iudge aright of it seeing it was partly vnknowen vnto them as a thing insolent and not heard of and partlie condemned of them as a thing Heriticall and not approoued of Wherefore to speake the plaine truth without flatterie or partialitie I thinke of this new forme of Church gouernment as some thinke of our Bishops regiment Namely that it is but a deuise of mans conceit and there to be tollerated where a better cannot bee obtained And contrariwise that which is disallowed of some as deuised by man seemeth vnto me to bee the verie ordinance of God and the onely true gouernment of the Church as that which hath his institution from God not only in the old but in the new Testament But because it is defiled with the manifolde abuses of men that which were to be layd vppon the person is imputed to the function as if forsooth no such miscariage might befall this their nouell kinde of gouernement The Romish Antichrist with his Bishops Archbishops Patriarches and Metropolitanes hath so troubled and intangled the Church of Christ that tyranny it selfe is thought to bee masked vnder those honest and honorable titles It is most true He that is once stong of a Serpent suspecteth euery stone and once bitten of a dog is affraid of euery cur Some therefore that they might apply some remedy to this maladie haue reuersed those names and yet retained the same things and for Bishops haue anoynted Superintendents and for Archbishops generall or prouinciall Superintendents as if the controuersie were not for the thing it selfe but for names sake But wise as we are seeing the signification of wordes is variable and voluntarie when we agree in truth what neede these garboyles about termes If the formes of gouernment which are signified by those termes are contained in gods worde Is there anie reason or sense that in disgrace of those names these formes should not be retained of vs If any man obiect that in the gouernment of Bishops there are many corruptions I make no question of that So wee might cauill with the gouernment of the ciuill Magistrate hath it not his corruptions Haue they not their infirmities Yet was there neuer anye that had his fiue wits who thought that a sufficient reason to remooue those from their place that are president in the state Wherefore our question is not how the Bishops haue abused their authoritye but whether the Lorde hath so forbidden this their Primacy that there may bee nor Pastor ouer Pastor nor Bishop ouer Bishop in the outward pollicie of the Church As for the rest if any will accuse the Bishops or their Consistories either of neglect dutie or corrupt dealing no man will be their hinderance why they may not prosecute that and persecute them before the chiefe Magistrate I take not vppon mee the apologie of anie Bishop I am not so worthie they are not so weake as that they need my Patrocinie
notwithstanding most certayne was none of the Apostles Phillip likewise may be taken for one of this order and many other who laboured with the Apostles in the work of the Gospel And seeing it is so plain a case that these all were called immediatly from God and that as we read God gaue vnto his Church Euangelists who shall wee say were those Euangelists if not these Resolue then that those seuenty Disciples were Euangelists and those Euangelistes inferior to the Apostles For why they were giuen as Legats or Lieutenants vnder those graund Capitains to vndertake with like authority theyr taske and theyr turnes And yet besides these the Apostles tooke vnto them diuerse others as fellow laborers with them But in them ther was not that valour as was in those whom the Lord himselfe did choose and infuse with an Apostolike spirite We haue read of Barnabas Iude and Sylas theyr great trauel and no smal autority in the Church In which respect they came neare and were next in deede vnto the Apostles themselues But how might this haue beene if so be the spirit of God had not wholly possessed them as it did the Apostles But we knowe how that they all met that were at the election of Mathias the same day in the same place with the Apostles themselues when the Lord poured forth of his spirite a visible shape And albeit Barnabas was no Apostle none of the twelue yet can we make no lesse of him then an Euangelist one of the seuenty As for Marke and Luke albeit theyr authority in the Church were great and theyr desertes great for their perfect and well penned Histories of the Gospell yet are they not to be reputed with the seuenty Euangelistes by reason theyr calling was by men vnto the Ministery Tertullian in in his fourth booke against Marcion writeth thus Luke saith hee not an Apostle yet Apostolique not a maister but a scholler as he was lesse then his Maister so likewise was he so much the more lesse then an other for that he was follower of a lesse Apostle As for Marke Papias in his Commentaries as Eusebius reporteth in his thirde booke hath left vs this testimony Marke the interpreter of Peter wrote in deede very diligently what so euer hee remembred yet not altogether in that order as they were spoken and performed by the Lorde Neyther in deede did hee heare the Lorde himselfe neither was hee any follower of his but afterwards as I haue sayd became the companion of Peter c. VVherefore Marke did not amisse in this that he diuulged in writing such things as before hee committed to memory seeing aboue all thinges he chiefely regarded this one thing that neyther hee would omitte any thing he heard to be true neyther committe any thing hee knew to bee false Thus saith hee of him And it is well knowen that hee was inferiour vnto Barnabas also in authority for hee was his follower and in a manner his scholler as he was also Pauls and Peters and that in no other order then were Titus and Timothy And yet notwithstanding the name and credite both of Marke and Luke for their faithfull register of the Apostles preceptes is such and so reuerend as that their Gospels are recorded among the canonical scriptures and are equaled in authority with the more exquisite labours of Mathew and Iohn And reason too For in their Euangelike recordes whome had they for theyr patternes or their patrones but the Apostles and Euangelistes So that whereas the Gospell of Ma hew may seeme to bee onely Mathewes and that of Iohn to bee Iohns onely these theyr Gospels may be reputed the Gospels not of Mark and Luke but of all the Apostles and Euangelists In the which thing verily they are worthy great commendations that they sauoured no whit at all of men as commonly they doe which pen Histories but they so nearely and narrowly followed the very spirit of the Apostles and Euangelistes as if the Apostles themselues had beene rather the penners then perusers of so greate a worke Wherefore Luke is for good cause commended of Paul in the second to the Corinth the eight chapter and eighteenth verse when as he saith VVe haue also sent that brother whose praise is in the Gospell throughout all Churches But by these you may easely conceiue who were properly Euangelistes and who not Of Prophets Chap. V. AS wee reckon none in order with the twelue Paul onely excepted so with the seuenty find we not any that may be compared And albeit we doubt not that God could haue added to the 70. others also no way their inferiors yet seeing we haue no record of sacred writte to auouch the same it were hard for man to affirme that there were any such But now when as besides the twelue Apostles and those seuenty Euangelists we read of other also who in like manner haue been honoured with the first fruits of the holy Spirite by what name or title shall they be called or by what addition shal we distinguish thē from the rest Of the number of an hundred and twenty men there remayn fix and thirty stil whom seeing we neither account with the twelue Apostles nor yet with the seuenty Euangelistes it remayneth that wee adorne them with the name of Prophets For this it is which Peter doth insinuat vnto the people out of the Prophet Ioel in his Apology for himselfe and his fellowes namely That the spirite of Prophesie promised of olde to be giuen out in the later dayes was then poured forth vppon that assembly whom then they heard preaching and prophesying in diuerse tongues to theyr great astonishement Wherefore those thirty sixe men which neyther are ascribed into the company of the twelue Apostles nor yet are recounted in the society of the seuenty Euangelists were those first Prophets whom God gaue into his Church after our Sauiour was receyued vp into Heauen In which order as it might very wel be was Ananias of Damasco reputed and Agabus both of them renowmed Prophets Iudas and Sylas are also called Prophets and for that cause are they sent by the Apostles to Antioch to exhort confirme the brethren And I am of opinion that these and such like were properly called Prophets not Metaphorically seeing they did foresee thinges to come by the spirite of God and by the same spirite reuealed things secret and recondite And albeit the interpreting of the Scripture bee a kinde of prophecying yet is that kinde more proper to the Doctor then the Prophet and more truely may a man account Doctors interpreters of the Scripture then Prophets But doubtlesse God restored to his Church in those latter dayes that true kinde of Prophecy which in Israell was familiar from the beginning and in singular wisedom did erect three kindes of Doctors in his Church and gaue them to his new people Apostles Euangelists and Prophets And these were the first Elders and Bishops of the Church of Ierusalem That the
names and titles of Apostles Euangelists and Prophets were giuen also vnto other Pastors and Doctors of the Church CHAP. VI. ALbeit by that which I haue already written it maye sufficiently bee vnderstoode whome I call by the name of Apostles Euangelistes and Prophetes yet notwithstanding because those names are for good causes giuen vnto others also some what must be said of them in like maner In the Epistle to the Romains the sixteenth Chapter Andronicus and Iunius are called notable among the Apostles and out of the eight Chapter of the last to the Corinthians Titus and the brethren which were with him are called Apostles and in the Epistle to the Philippians Epaphroditus is called their Apostle The deriuation of the greeke word is well knowen that Apostles are called of sending for that they are Postes or speedie messengers sent of especiall purpose as Legates or Embassadours into diuers parts of the worlde according to this signification whosoeuer is sent as a messenger in anie busines may be called an Apostle In this sense our Sauiour himselfe who is Prince and Lord ouer the Apostles in the epistle to the Hebrues is called an Apostle But to be short this name is no where giuen in the newe Testament to any so far as euer I could learne but to the ministers of the gospell onely Amongst whome because there was great inequalitie Paule calleth those first twelue Apostles the chiefe Apostles as it is in the eleuenth chapter of the last to the Corinthians where he saith I suppose that I was not inferiour to the chiefe Apostles as it is also in the 11. verse of the 12. chapter By the which it appeareth most plainely that besides those chiefe Apostles who helde the commission of their ambassage immediatly from God ther were many other also which were in like manner called Apostles either for that they were accounted of the Apostles as fellow-labourers in their sea-apostolique or els for that they were sent as Legates in the same busines by the church of Ierusalem which was the mother Metropolitane church Among whom somtime there foisted in of their own heads certaine other iolly fellowes false Apostles whom Paul calleth false brethren and deceiptfull labourers who vnder a coppie of faire semblance could transforme themselues into the colours and companies of Christ his Apostles And these were they which sought by all possible meanes to impaire the authority of Paule as of one forsooth that sawe not the Lord in the flesh and therefore not worthy to mate and match with the other Apostles in like equipage of authoritie But doe you see their purpose Or doe you conceiue their policy By this meanes they ment to thrust Paul into the last and lowest forme of Apostles that themselues being mate with Paule might more easily giue the trueth a checke Against the malapertnes of these men the Apostle maintaineth the authoritie of his power Apostolique affirming that he was chosen apostle not by men but of God To how great or rather to how smal purpose should the Apostle haue vrged this had not the name of Apostle bene common vnto others also which were not of that company and conuent of the twelue Apostles but were sent from men and by men were not immediatly from God among whome are to bee accounted Titus Andronicus Timothie Marke and many other whom al posterity hath reuerenced and accounted for Bishops and Archbishops of the church May not the like be sayd of the name of Euangelists For who knoweth not that the same name was giuen vnto manie other besides those seuentie two because indeede they were called to the same function both vnder the seuenty vnder the Apostles True it is they had not the like measure of Gods spirite and yet according to the moytie of their seuerall talent they did much edifie the church and magnifie the foundation which the Apostles had laid And therefore are they called Apostles and Euangelists not only in respect of the sense and signification of the wordes but also in regard of the Apostolique Euangelike function into the which they were associate and assumed by the Apostles as helpers and fellow-labourers But as for the name of Prophets not only they are so called in the scriptures vnto whome God hath reuealed the secrets of things to come but they also which doe faithfullie reueile the secrets of Gods eternal truth to others and know howe to apply auncient prophesies to present circumstances In which sense all Euangelique teachers and interpreters of sacred scripture may be sayd to be Prophets Of Deacons Chap. VII IF my purpose had beene in recounting the degrees of Ministers to haue followed the course of honour I would haue set next vnder Prophets Pastors and Doctors But for as much as I haue tied my selfe vnto the order of time in the which they were first ordained of force I must first speake of Deacons before I come to Bishops and Elders for we read that they were first created when as yet besides the Apostles and those Euangelists and Prophets of the which wee haue lately spoken the Church had no Elders and reason to For when as the Ministery of the gospell according to Gods holy institution hath annexed vnto it a religious care and consideration of the poore the Apostles tooke that vnto themselues as a thing pertayning to their charge vntill the murmure and mutinie of the Greekes against the Hebrewes gaue occasion of the Deacons Election But were there not at the beginning dispensers and disposers of the common treasure When Christ himselfe kept residence here vpon earth who but Iudas discharged that pension and doubtlesse if the Apostles coulde haue performed both they woulde neuer haue giuen charge that others should haue beene chosen for that charge And yet that charge was not so wholie giuen ouer of the Apostles to the Deacons as that afterwardes they thought the same nothing at all appertaining vnto themselues Haue wee not read what Paule and Barnabas did beeing requested to bee mindfull of the poore how vigilantly they vndertooke that care themselues And therefore they thought it requisite that the men to be chosen into that charge should be men ful of the holy Ghost But doe you not wonder now that these new elects did not imploye themselues in gathering and giuing of almes onely Why men forgetfull of themselues they take vpon them the office of teaching also See how Phillip preacheth the gospell to the Samaritanes also and baptiseth them that beleeue how while Stephen preached Christ more feruentlie he is become the first martyr of Christ May we not conceiue by these presidents what the rest of them did or shall we be so foolish as to think because there is nothing writtē of the rest that therefore they did nothing or not this Of the greatest part euen of Christ his Apostles is there not deepe silence or little sayd of whom notwithstanding there is nothing more cleare then that they performed their imposed
but one high Peiest in the old Testament with whome so long as he liued no other might bee surcharged vnlesse haplie hee had defiled himselfe with anie notorious crime or by chaunce had fallen into some vncleane disease which might make him eyther vnapt or vnable to perform his sacred dutie The which although it contained in it a secrete mysterie of the which the Church at this day retaineth no present memorie yet the policie of this mysterie which by no meanes is to be diuorsed from it ought not to be controlled of any that professe Christianitie If anie man heere suppose that by this reason the tyrannie of the Bishop of Rome may bee maintained to him I say that he taketh the matter amisse For there is great ods betweene a pastoral prefecture ouer one region and an emperiall prerogatiue ouer the whole world So ample and augustious is that his supreme empire and superlatiue degree in the Church as that it dilateth it selfe ouer all Christian churches wheresoeuer throughout the whole world but was the whole world at anie time demised to anie one Apostle Peter had the sea Apostolike ouer the circumcision and Paule ouer the vncircumcised but yet so as they excluded not their compeers and copartners in the same power with them For Iames also was the Apostle of the Iewes which liued at Hierusalem and in all Iudea but Peter ouer those which were dispersed among the Gentiles onely So likewise Paule limited his sea Apostolike among the Greeks of Asia and Europe leauing in the meane while other prouinces for other Apostles If in like manner the Bishop of Rome had contented and conteined himself within the precincts of his owne territorie how should any man haue accused him of any impious or vsurped tyrannie Againe for as much as it appeareth that the Apostolike traditiō so much as concerneth the regiment of the church and the outward policie thereof was taken of our Sauiour and afterwards also of the Apostles from out of the old Testament so far forth as the condition of time and place the state of the people and persons might permit can there bee any errour in this if the Fathers their successors seeme in like manner to borrowe from the same foundation certaine politike constitutions for the edifiyng of the Church Vpon this occasion Hierome thus writeth to Euagrius And in that we knowe that the Apostolike traditions were taken out of the old Testament that which Aaron and his sons and the Leuites were in the Temple the same are the Bishops Elders and Deacons in the Church I conclude therefore that ouer euery seuerall prouince or precinct which make as it were one Cittie they verie well and worthily placed seuerall Bishops and likewise ouer euery whole cuntry or regiō either Patriarchs or Archbishops or Primates or Metrapolitanes call them as you please moreouer that this was done of the antique Coūcels Fathers to singular purpose well consorting with Gods holy ordinance With the which that I may at the last determine this controuersie of those things which I haue already declared and concluded as well of the offices of the Gospell which were ordeined of the Lord and left vnto the Church by his Apostles as also of the vniforme consent of the Councels and continuall practise of the Church in all ages it shal be easie for all men to know That that gouernment is not of man or from man in the which the Elders ar subiect to their elder Bishops the Bishops to their higher Patriarchs Metropolitanes but contrarywise that the same is diuine and ordeined of God and that as well in the old as the new Testament Of the names of Patriarchs Archbishops Metropolitans Chap. XXV HAuing laid downe my reasons and proofes by the which I am taught to dissent from them vnto whom in other things I yeeld not a litle I take it now time to answere the cursing and cursed slanders of some who casting aside the modestie of ciuill Christians and neglecting the mediocritie of all learned writers do teare like mad dogs and torment the most reuerend names and religious functions of Bishops Archbishops Patriarches Metropolitans as pampred and proud titles antichristian prophane But wil you heare the reasons of vnreasonable men They alledge that the Apostle Paul in recounting the degrees of the Ministers of the Gospell in his Epistle to the Ephesians the 4. chap. maketh no mention of Patriarches Archbishops To the which before I goe any further I make them this answere That those offices are there comprised and contained in the names of Apostles Euangelists and in the 12. to the Rom. verse 8. in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ruler or he that ruleth and in the first to the Corinthians the 12. chap. and 28. verse in the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gouernors by all which tearmes and titles the sacred order of superior Pastors are vnderstoode But that the aforesaid offices of Apostles Euangelists are perpetuall wee haue already proued and it may also sufficiently appeare by the sequele of that enumeration of those offices namely when he setteth down to what end our Sauiour gaue to the Church some Apostles and other Euangelists Was it not for the work of the Ministery for the edification of the body of Christ So that so long as the Church is to be edified so long those offices are to be continued in the Church which are there conteined If the Church could haue beene edified without them they should neuer haue ben ordeined in the Church But againe that part of them are thought to be temporal part particular that thought is ouerthrown by the onely end of that for the which they were ordeined which end is to be sought for continually of all the faithful euen vntill the comming of the Lord. For are they not still to edifie by these offices to grow together into one mystical body of Christ Now albeit the office of bishops archbishops primates patriarchs doth not extend it selfe so far as did the office of the twelue Apostles neither are they inriched with the like treasure or measure of the holy Ghost yet are wee to consider that this difference is in the qualitie not in the quidditie of the same function in the measure not in the matter of their commission And therfore whom at this day we call Bishops Archbishops Paul the Apostle called Apostles for that as we haue said they are ioyned in the same combinatiō made partakers of that cōmission And for this cause the calling of Archbishops Patriarchs hath beene alwaies called and is yet to be accounted Apostolike in all places Yet for as much as these names and titles doe seeme in some mens eyes to be puffed vp with the tumors of pride and ambition let vs take a further view of those principall obiects and friuolous obiections by the which they are cast into this no lesse straunge then strong
to be paid vnto God also as well as to Caesar as a testimony of our loyall subiection to his diuine Maiestie And is not the reason also as great for our heauenly King as an earthly Caesar Solomon in his Prouerbs among many other religious precepts hath giuen vs this Honour the Lord in thy riches and in the first fruits of all thy increase and thy barnes shal be filled with aboundaunce and thy wine presses shall burst themselues with new wine For no doubt we owe a tribute to the Lord as vnto the great King no otherwise then to an earthly Prince vnto whom wee may pay tribute for two respects both that hee may be able for those charges he vndertaketh for the common-wealth also that we may testifie vnto him our fealty and subiection as to our lawfull King the first being for our vse the second for his honour But now the first of these hath no place in God neither doth hee require any thing of vs in that behalfe but the latter is so much the more due to God by how much the more God is greater than man and the profession of subiectiō is necessary in euery faithful christian Wherfore after the Lord had appointed Israel a peculiar people to himselfe forthwith as Prince and chiefe Lord ouer his people he demanded the tenth of all their increase with orher rites and royalties of his supreame power And wheras it was alwaies an heinous matter among the Esterne Monarks to appear before the King without a present God required the like honor of his people namely for that hee was both king and Lord ouer his people For which cause in the law where all the males are commanded to appeare before the Lord they are forbidden to come neere without an offring Moreouer is there not yet extant in Malachy a shamfull rebuke against the Iewes which practised deceit in their first fruits and in their tythes That sacrilege the Lorde iustlie punished in them with the dire of a contagious dearth the which notwithstanding hee promiseth if they will amend that fault that hee would open the windowes of heauen and powre out vppon them a gracious plentye of all thinges The wordes of the Prophet are these VVill a man spoyle his Iudges but yee haue spoyled mee and say in what what things haue we spoiled thee in tythes and first fruits Yee are cursed with cursing it selfe for ye the whole nation haue spoiled me Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house and let there bee meat in mine house and proue me now saith the Lord of hosts if I wil not open vnto you the windowes of heauen that I may poure vpon you a blessing that their may be no end of aboundance c. Among the people of God it was alwais reputed an special exercise of gods religion to pay tithes truly of all that they possessed which they knew to be giuen not so much to a mortall priest as to the immortall God Doth not the Pharisie in the gospel glory in his fidelitie of true tything as in a rare virtue CHAP. X. An answere to certaine obiections the which it is confirmed by that the ministers of the gospel are worthy no lesse honor then were the priests of old among the people of God BVt it is excepted that the times are altered that at this day vnder the gospel the Priesthood is trāslated into Christ whose shadow it was that hee hath imposed an end to all outward rites by which means the right of tything is also antiquated with the Priest-hoode and all that outward glorie which made the antique Priests more honorable is therwithall ecclipsed Neither is there any man at this day which can arrogate to himselfe without impiety those auncient honours of the former priest-hood Is it not regestred among the chiefe errors of Antichrist that he vaunteth and aduanceth himselfe for Hic-priest Because that honour at this day is proper and peculiar to Christ alone In place of the auncient Priest-hood which was accompanied with an externall and a religious maiestie our Sauiour hath substituted the Ecclesiastical ministery base and abiect in great disgrace and cleane out of countenance And hath hee not giuen them their christning also according to their calling For therefore he gaue them the seruile names of Apostles and Ministers and Deacons and Bishops and Pastors setting aside all titles of Honor and dignity as are the names of Fathers and Doctors and Lords and such like that they might knowe what they were to conceyue of them selues their Ministery and that the people might likewise learne what reckoning to make of theyr paines and theyr persons Here is a faire tale surely and well soothed But what of all this that the Pastors and Bishops of Christ his Church are worthy lesse Honor in a christian common wealth then were of yore the Elder Priests Why then let vs conclude with al a lya or too that the leuitical priesthood is more honorable thē Christs that the ministery of the law is more glorious then that of the Gospell then the which if there can be any assertion more absurd this conclusion of theirs shall goe for no bad confection For if the Honor due to the Minister be to be measured according to the outward shew we may well conclude that Aaron was worthy double reuerence and our Sauiour the high Priest thrise sacred none at all For why he was inuestured with no mitre no labels nor did he glister with gold and precious stones But let vs first take that they giue vs in good worth namely that the Priests of olde were to be honored with no small obsequy then let vs examine the case what is to be deducted therof from the Euangelique Minister You are to vnderstand therefore that in most parts of the old ceremonies many times two things did meete in one which notwithstanding were diuerse and distinct in them selues of which the one did containe the shadow and promise of that which was to be exhibited in Christ the other did pertayn to some proper and especiall duety in the Church the shadowes are ceased those things being performed which in Christ were promised but the bond of especial duty remaineth as yet not cancelled For example sake the commaundement of keeping the Sabaoth hath a promise of eternall rest and a shadow of the rest of our bodies the seuenth day and besides that it includeth a morall dutie of seruing of God and ceasing from our labours The other precepts also do cōtain that duety of external worship which is due vnto God together with the rites of that time the rites being relinguished the worship of God to be retained The like we may say of the Priesthood in the which ther were sundry respects Whatsoeuer was typical was determined in Christ but of the other partes which were morall namely such as concerned the instructiō of the people the ministery of the Sacraments the regiment of the church the
the old Testament framed to him selfe a peculiar cōmon wealth the which although afterwards it might receiue diuerse formes of gouernement yet he did alwaies so prouide for the honour of the Priesthood that they alwaies retained that degree of dignity which the Lord would haue them maintain among the people of God God vnder the Gospell hath impropriated no peculiar people neyther hath he planted any certaine forme of gouernment He sent vnto all nations preachers of the Gospell priuate men without any warlike accutrements Them he appointed not to alter any form of gouernment least they might seeme to be sent rather for the subuersion then for the conuersion of the Gentiles And yet this hindereth not but that they may take vppon them a greater state and better beseeming the worthines of theyr calling where Religion it self is aduaunced by publique authority and in wisedome is made the ground-work both of the lawes and the common wealth In the old lawe the Priests Honor was especially set downe what how great after what sort in what things it should consist In the new Testament that limitation coulde not bee layd forth because it could not would they neuer so faine be like it selfe or the same among all people in all places at all times But as good christians doe take vnto them selues many other imitable examples out of the old Testament and the law of nature and the orders of nations by the which they may the better be brought vnto a ciuill conformity and a conformable ciuility of life so likewise ought we to doe in this case The minority vnder-reckoning of the ministery is not so held in the iudgements of those christians that haue their cōsciences acquainted with diuine causes but in the sight of carnall professors and the censure of the Churches enemies All indifferent harts eies may see and conceiue that how much greater Christ is then Moyses and the Gospel more excellēt then the law so much more honorable is the Euangelike ministery then the Aaronicall Priesthood the which we are abundantly taught by the manifest arguments of the Apostle Paul we may very well learne by the manifold Sermons of our Sauiour Christ Of old among the people of God it was for good cause held a great matter for any man to be like vnto Moyses or Elias For after the receite of the law and his familiar conference with God in the mount the face of Moyses is sayd to haue ben so radiant with passing all wonderous bright some rayes that the eyes of the amased Israelites by no means might indure the Sun bright lustre of his resplendent countenaunce After him was Elias no lesse honored and renowmed as well for his wonderfull acts atchieued in the zeale of God his law as also for his miraculous end translated aliue into the Paradise of Heauen Notwithstanding all this the Apostle in his latter to the Corinthians doth learnedly maintaine that the Ministery of Moyses was of the letter and of death but the Ministery of the Gospell of the spirite and of life and so much the more glorious As for the rest our Sauiour himselfe preferreth Iohn Baptist alone before all the Prophets whom he affirmeth to be more then a Prophet and yet he resolueth that the least Minister of the Church is greater then hee And therefore if Christ may be Iudge the least Minister of the lowest degree in the Church is more honorable to be honored more in his office then are any or al the Priests of the old Testamēt As for the low titles the Lord gaue to his Ministers for bidding the glorious insignes of honor as of Lord Father and Doctor I aunswere that it was not done that the Ministers should be of lesse honor among the people then were of old the Priests Leuits or that they should be debased beneath all estates be of no esteem in a christian common wealth but rather that they might retain a lowly an humble conceit in so lofty so honorable an estate For vnlesse the Lord in wisdome should temper keep vnder the ouer-weaning waiwardnes of mans nature euen in his dearest seruantes Such is the excellency of the Ecclesiasticall calling that the conceit thereof might easely ouercharge light mindes with lofty thoughts sodenly ouerturne rash heads into ruined estates But as humility is taught them in their inglorious titles so is their excellency taught vs by their magnificall statues For are not these they which are called the Salt of the earth the Light of the world Stars in the firmamēt Angels and Legats Stewards dispensers of the mysteries of God Ministers of the spirit of life what and how great is that honor and power they haue receiued of the Lord that they can binde and lose in earth what things are bound and losed in Heauen that they can remit and retaine sins that they can open and shut the highest Heauen Can there be any thing giuen to men more Honorable in this mortality As for the vse of those names Doctor Lord Father we will speake therof hereafter Now that I may determine this disputation of those things we haue here set downe I conclude That christian people are no lesse deuoted to their Pastors in al duty then were of old the Israelites to their Priests and Leuits And Where christian religion is publikely authorised that there the same degree of honor is to be giuen to the Ministers in the common welth which was vsed to the Priests Prophets among the people of God But if so be it so fall out that among vngodly people vngracious Magistrats there be no reuerend regard had of this honor due to the Minister that there the professors be not offended therewith seeing the worthines of ther Ministery is such as that no iniury of man can any waies diminish it For it becommeth them to be at this point with themselues that if so be the honor due to their ministery be giuen them they may reioyce in the religious godlines of the faithfull towards God but if it be denied them they may not grieue thereat as if them selues had lost any thing Neyther are they greatly to contend with the Magistrate for their right especially at any intempestiue season but they are to commit their causes vnto God and with Paul to expect a more conuenient time to expostulate In the mean while let them pray vnto God that he would vouchsafe thē better mindes that would be accounted for good christians The chief care of a faithfull Pastor must be this to gaine many soules vnto Christ not much riches or many honors First let them seek the kingdome of God and al these things shal be cast vppon them Wherefore seeing there are many parts of that honor which is due to the Minister I will chiefely prosecute those which the ciuil society of life doth require in a christian cōmon wealth and that aboue all others which consisteth in the maintenance of
and more-ouer he commandeth that the execution of their iudgements be done by his ciuil iudges By reason of the statute of Praemunire as they call it against the which whosoeuer offend they are punished with is a matter of verie great daunger in England for Church-men to inuade the office of the ciuill Magistrates and therefore there is kept a most circumspeact distinction betweene the affaires of the Ciuil and the Ecclesiastical Court If at anie time anie of the Bishops or anie other of the cleargie are thought meet men to vndertake any ciuill charge they doe it not by the especiall commaundement and commissiō of the King vnder the broad seale of England But those charges are alwayes accompanied with some honour so that they may be accounted rather a help then a hurt to the proceedings of the Gospell as are the offices and dignities of a priuie Counseller a Commissioner a Iustice of peace and such like Neither as I doe thinke will any man of sound iudgement say that those charges are eyther imposed vpon any Cittizen without the chiefe Magistrate or if they be so imposed that they can of any man be deposed or laide aside If any man except that this is more abhorring from the office of a Bishop then was of olde the charge of the poore from the which notwithstanding the Apostles did abdicate themselues because they could not attend vppon that and their owne charge too and therfore vrge that it is not possible for Bishops that they should discharge both charges well for which cause they ought to sequester themselues from the one I answer first that the Apostles did not so far foorth discharge themselues of the poore mans boxe that that they thought it not appertaining to them to haue any further care thereof for they alwayes continued patrons of the poore as doe the Bishops also whom we will not so intangle with ciuill causes that they forsake their owne but that as it especially concerneth their office vpright dealing and sincere charitie may bee maintained among them whose soules health is committed vnto them But how much a godly and diligent Bishop may doe in this matter Austine alone may serue for many examples who wrote so many excellent volumes when as yet he imployed no small part of his time in these troublesome affaires Whose words I will heere infer for that they inforce a sufficient confutation of this their cauill I call the Lord Iesus witnesse to my soule saith hee in whose name I boldly speake these thinges that for so much as concerneth my commoditie I had rather worke euerie day with my hand as it is vsed in wel ordered Monasteries and reserue the other houres free to read and to pray and to exercise my selfe in the Scriptures then to sustaine the tumultuous perplexities of other causes in determining secular controuersies by iudgement or in taking them vp by arbitrement To the which troubles the same Apostle hath appointed vs not of his owne will but of his that spake in him The which notwithstanding we read not that he himselfe susteined for indeed the course of his Apostleship stood not with it Neither did he say If therefore you haue any secular controuersies bring them before vs or appoint vs to giue iudgement of them but those which are least esteemed in the Church set them vp saith he And I speak to your shame is it so that there is not any wiseman among you which can iudge betweene his brother but the brother goeth to lawe with the brother that before infidels Wherfore those wise men which were resiant in some certaine place beeing faithfull and godly not those which discoursed this way and that way for the Gospel sake I say such would hee haue to bee the examiners of those matters For which cause it is no where written of him that he at any time attended vpon any such busines from the which notwithstanding we cannot bee excused albeit wee bee of the number of those which are least esteemed because he would haue those also set vp if wise men were wanting rather then that the controuersies should bee brought into the open and ordinarie Court The which labour notwithstanding we vndertake not without comfort in the Lorde for the hope of eternall life that we may bring forth fruit with patience Thus saith Augustine whose reasons in my iudgement may satisfie any reasonable man verely they satisfie mee neither can I finde anie thing to mislike in this action of his This is one generall maxime in the rules of Christianity That whatsoeuer wee reade in the word of God eyther forbidden beeing not euill of his owne nature or commaunded beeing of it selfe not good in those thinges Christian charitie dispenseth and disposeth of the matter as the time the place and the cause doth require Vnto the which whosoeuer doth refuse to subscribe he doth it of stubborne and froward hypocrisie not of any religion or deuotion he hath of the precept Neyther is the Diuines rule vnknown concerning those things which are bidden or forbidden in the word of God namely That some thinges are forbidden because they are euill and some thinges are euill because they are forbidden suppose for some especiall purpose And againe on the contrary part That there are some things commanded because they are good and some thinges therefore to bee accounted good because they are commaunded by God who requireth such thinges of men for some especiall causes Now those things which are of the first sort and section are vnder a constant and perpetual law and not to be changed by any means but there is not the like condition of the other sort neither do they bind anie man any further then the reason and occasion of the law doth require Examples of this matter wee haue in the obseruation of the Sabaoth and the vse of the Shew-bread of the which it was not lawfull for any man to eate but the Priests onely besides many other things of like nature which we read to be either commaunded or condemned In this our case it is no crime to be a King nor to be a Magistrate a capitall sinne And therfore the reason of the commandement abating the thing it selfe abideth free and it remaineth lawfull for Princes and other Magistrates to be of power to command the Bishops of the Church in a Christian common-wealth those things which would rather be an aide and an ornament then any hurt or impediment to their holy calling I speake of calling in generall not of any one mans calling which haplie may be hindred and shall haue neede of others which may helpe him but of all theirs which are in the same calling vnto whome there ariseth any honour and authoritie from the rest So that if all things be throughly examined and all commodities with all discommodities compared together which may any waies accrue vnto the Church and common wealth I doubt not but that which wanteth in one parte shall be requited
this without any iust knowledge or further trial of the cause a quicke course must be taken the Chequer if it were the Chequer swopt at al. But if the Church-men were found ready to renounce all Popery and to receiue the true profession of Christ his religion what cause was there lefte or what occasion might be found why Bishops and Pastors should be expelled their parishes possessions vnlesse haply they did reckon the Church goods among the other heresies which error is already confuted But where now shall I lay the blame vpon the ignorance of the Ministers or the auarice of certaine Officers No doubt they were both in great fault But certaine craftie vngodly men who not in the zeal of godlines but for the desire of goods presuming of a pardon for the contempt of all religion ioyned themselues vnto vs and while they would seem the more serious fauorites of the Gospell they became the most sacrilegious instrumentes of this mischiefe so that the same which of som was thought to be done of error or ignorance in these was brought to passe of a malitious wickednes For who can excuse them of most hainous sacrilege who vnder colour of reformation in some partes of Germany the Low Countries haue made a pray of whatsoeuer was giuen for holy necessary vses to the Church and Church Ministers With due reuerence I acknowledge the chiefe Magistrates as the chiefe patrons of religion and I hold it alwayes lawfull for them according to their royal right to make lawes for the Church and Church goodes alwayes prouided that they so take not the matter vpon themselues that they take al vnto themselues For it is not the part of a patron to spoile his clyent neither was it euer heard of before these dayes that any Christian Magistrate brought into his Chequer all the Church goods made no bones therof They which vpon occasion rifled the Church onely of some small part therof that when the Chequer was in some great consumption are but euil spoken of for their labour in all histories What then may we iudge of thē who haue set the cards drawne the Church of euery penny I name none But I mean them who by their example haue giuen the hint to their neighbors and set them a patterne of an holy robbery Lord how like are these ranke professors to Iulian the recreant or the Turkish tyrant which make no difference betweene thinges sacred prophene how vnlike to any Christian Magistrate so far as I know either of this age or our fore-fathers But is it a foule matter for sacrilege to be obiected to a Christiā Magistrate a more filthy thing is it to be committed Chap. II. What Sacrilegeis THere are some found now adaies not far to seek who thinke that no sacrilege can now bee committed because the difference betwene sacred prophane in externe thinges was taken away by the death of our Sauiour which seemeth to mee not the iudgement of a Diuine but the opinion of an Atheist For albeit to the holy all things are holy and to the prophane all things prophane yet that distinction of things is not taken away which they haue in their appointed vse There was alwayes among all nations a great difference put betweene those thinges which were dedicated vnto diuine seruice and those thinges which serue men for their common vses Thinges for the most part take their denomination from their ende for the which they were ordained So priuate men haue their treasure and the common-wealth her treasure If you doe respect the matter they are both of one nature namely gold and siluer and whatsoeuer else is of any price but if you respect either the end or the possessor you shall finde a great difference betweene them The end of a priuate man his treasurie is the commoditie of a familie but the end of the publike treasure is the benefite of the Prince and the whole Country In like manner the treasure which is giuen or gatheted to the worship of God it hath his proper end diuerse and distinct from both those before mentioned the which ende seeing it is sacred it giueth the name also to the treasure and it is called sacred Furthermore because the inuiry is greater which is committed against a Prince or a publike state then if the same be done against a priuate mans person or his estate therefore the robbing of a priuate treasure is called plain Theft but of the common treasure a Robbery of the commonwelth So likewise how much the more horrible the offence is which is committed against God then against man so much more detestable is the direption of the sacred treasurie then common theft or the robbing of the cōmon treasurie For which cause they call that also by his proper name Sacrilege which is commonly defined to bee the theft of a thing sacred The deformitie of which theft is so much the more notorious by how much the more sharper punishments God himself as also the laws of al nations haue deuised against the same Albeit the definitiō cōteineth not only things sacred to the worship of the true God but of false gods also for that it is the conscience that maketh the sacrilege an opiniō of the holy godhead contemned But how all those goods the Romish Cleargie did possesse vnder the title of the poore the Church haue beene translated to priuat prophane vses I need not tel for it is too manifest Chap. III. The reasons with the which they commonly excuse their Sacrilege BVt sacrilegious persons and their patrons will not onely maintaine themselues with their theft but they will maintaine their theft that is was well and worthily done for the ouerture of the Pope and the inuestiture of the true Church Their reasons are these That the goods of the Church did serue to Idolatry prophane vses the which beeing taken away they could by lawe deuolue no man but onely to the common treasury of the which the Christian Magistrate hath the care and custodie And as the godly Emperours Constantinus Theodosius Honorius and Areadius hauing by their lawes put downe the Idolatry of the Gentiles had the places and reuenues of their temples and their prebends in their owne power to dispose of them as they thought best and that without any sinne of Sacrilege so likewise at this day the Papacie being exiled the goods annuities of Munks Nuns and Masse-Priests may be chalenged by the same right to the Christian Magistrate But that wast goods pertaine to the common treasurie by way of excheate it is a knowne point in the lawe and a common case Neyther were the Bishops of olde of this opinion that the Church had nay right to those goods which were destinate vnto the seruice of Idols so that it may seeme a verie straunge thing to vs that at this day there should be found any faithfull Minister of the Gospel which should once
the finest fashion and with the best side outward and yet how many absurd things and absonant from the mind and meaning of our Lord and Sauiour do follow out of these and fall vppon heapes Chap. V. An aunswere to the arguments of the former chapter BVt that the truth of the controuersie may appeare to al al must learne to know that those Gospell precepts of contemning riches were not giuen to a certain few Apostles but to all euen as many as woulde follow Christ Wherefore first that distinction of counsells and precepes ouerturneth it selfe euen in those very wordes which goe for counsels For God hath sette downe one lawe for all one rule to liue well and hee hath layd out one path to eternal life as well in the olde as the new Testament Notwiâ—â—standing if any man of any priuate purpose sette doâ—â—â— with himself that he will needs liue in pouerty God forbid I should be his hindrance But they which thinke that the forsaking of all thinges and the profession of pouerty is a thing not commaunded to all but giuen in counsaile to some as a more perfect course of a godly life I say they are in a false beliefe Luke 14.33 The wordes of our Sauiour are these So likewise who so euer he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath can not be my Disciple Where you shall vnderstand that what so euer is commaunded as necessarily to bee obserued of the Disciple of Christ may not by any meanes be omitted and therefore it is manifest that there is no such counsell giuen in that place by the Lord our Sauiour as that it is left in our owne free power to omit the same but the precept there is set downe more absolute vnder the paine of damnation if it be omitted The cause of this error was the mis-conceyuing of that place in Mathew the nineteenth and Luke the eighteenth Marke the tenth where there seem to be two distinct things set down namely an ordinary way to eternall life by the obseruance of Gods commaundements and another more perfect and ready way by the alienation of all our goods the dispensation of them towards the poore In Mathew we read how our Sauiour aunswered one If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commaundements Who when he had very insolently boasted that he had kept them all from his youth vp how far he was from that perfection he boasted of our Sauiour proueth when he brought to light the secret corruption of a couetous heart which lay hid within and made knowen to him how far he was from the intire loue of his neighbour when he commaunded him to sell his possessions and giue to the poore In the which notwithstanding our Sauiour required of him no new thing no thing extraordinary nothing that hee was not bound to doe by that same law which he presumed he had performed seing ther it is commaunded that we should loue our neighbour as our selues For the force of the precept is this that we owe not onely all outward thinges to God and our neyghbour but eueÌ„ our life also if need doth require Of the which perfection how much this stripling wanted he then bewraied when as Christ commaunding him to giue but his goods to the poore he seemed to be touched so neare And yet vnles we be at that point with our selues as that we could willingly depart froÌ„ al that we haue for the meere loue of God and our neighbour we can not enter into the kingdome of God And therefore Christ did not propound vnto the Pharasie a free thing the neglect whereof did not exclude from the kingdome of heauen but a thing altogether necessary for him that would enter into it And therefore when he did perceyue him depart away heauily after this precept he added Verily I say vnto you it is harde for him which is rich to enter into the kingdome of Heauen againe I say vnto you it is more easie for a camell to goe through the eie of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God By which words it is most manifest that no voluntary thing is propounded the which if a man did performe he should do wel if not he should not doe amisse as it is to liue a single life but a thing altogether necessary for him that would be saued But what then meaneth our Sauiour say they when hee sayth If thou wilt be perfect goe sell all thou hast and giue to the poore Seemeth he not to graunt that the keeping of the coÌ„mandements of God are sufficient to eternal life but not sufficing to perfection No verily For that this was not the meaning of the Lord his very wordes sufficiently declare but that in deede he spake of that perfection which is commaunded in the law of the which the young man had obserued an outward showe when as he wanted the inwarde substance For doubtlesse he which is not ready and resolued to lay down al that he hath to leaue his life bloud also for the loue of his neighbour he can not be sayd to loue his neighbour as himselfe And therfore seeing he would needs know what he wanted our Sauiour very wisely reioined him to the necessary duty of charity Wherfore this is the sense of Christ his words If thou wilt be a perfect obseruer of the law in deede and art desirous to tread that path into eternall life which is layd out in the sayd perfect and absolute performance of the law of God keepe those commaundements of the loue of God thy neighbour goe thy waies set thy things in an order that thou maist be ready at all times to giue vnto the poore Now vnlesse this precept did concern al to what purpose are these words It is more easie for a Camell to enter through the eie of a needle then for him that is rich to enter into the kingdom of God Whosoeuer therfore wil serue vnder Christ his colours is commanded to bid father mother and all farewell how deare so euer they be vnto him yea he must also not spare his own life for vnto all it is sayd Whosoeuer forsaketh not al he hath cannot be my Disciple That our Sauiour here inioyned his Disciples no new or insolent thing the example of Abraham may perswade vs whoÌ„ God of old also coÌ„manded to leaue his countrey his kindred al that was precious vnto him in Chaldea that he might goe whether it pleased the Lord to appoint him So did God exercise the father of the faithful that he might be alwaies at an howrs warning to surrender his riches al other emoluments of his life In like manner Christ wil haue al the true legitimat children of Abraham to depute all which they haue to his glory and to benefit theyr bretheren as the cause the time and the place require And this is that perfectioÌ„ which God at this day requireth vnder the Gospel
and which God of old exacted vnder the law before the law without the which no man at any time shall enter into the kingdome of Heauen In deed it becommeth the preachers of the Gospel to appeare before all others in the contempt of worldly things but yet there is no peculiar precept thereof giuen to them any otherwise then to all other christians As also for the example of Christ which they aledge they cannot be ignorant of this that it is set forth to be imitated not only of the apostles ministers of the gospell but generally of al christians of what condition soeuer But nor patterne nor precept of Christ either confoundeth or controleth the degrees of honor which are necessary in a common wealth All men may lawfully be liberall towardes the poore and be poore themselues also in spirit euē in the midst of their welth Nor Daniel his lieutenancy ouer the Babylonians nor Ioseph his iurisdictiō ouer the Aegyptiās nor Mardochai nor Nehemias their courting among the Persians were any hinderance to them in the worship of God Neyther was yet the roiall Diademe of Dauid and other godly Princes any preidiudice vnto them why they might not inherite the kingdome of Heauen Wee haue read of the great wealth of Iob and Abraham and other Patriarches who were religious towardes God liberall towardes the poore and farre from all coueteousnes Neyther doth penury conclude neyther doth plenty exclude the contempt of riches If a man haue nothing and yet languishe in a desire to haue he is couetous againe if a man haue much but yet is not bound to that which he hath he is the true contemner of all that he hath The precepts of Christ concerning the selling of our possessions are vnderstood to be obserued not so much in the work it selfe as in the willingnes of minde to performe the same according as time and place doth require Actes ◠Barnabas one of the seuenty sold no lād before he see the necessity of the brethren to exact the same So long as the Lord liued whom also he followed he kept possession of all his possessions In like manner such times may fall and we may fal into those times in the which christian charity shal require euery christian to do the like but where ther is no such need it is better kept and it shall doe more good and vppon more occasions then if all were sold at once afterwards want wherwith to relieue other or themselues c. I dare say that Abraham Iob and Dauid followed the precepts of the Gospel good christians are as well to imitat them as Christ his Apostles Our Sauiour himselfe witnesseth of Zacheus that he was the child of Abraham in imitation of the faith which was in Abraham n amely when as he vndertook to giue halfe of that he had to the poore to restore four fould wher he had defrauded By which words of our Sauior the vanity of that reason is conuinced which affirmeth that God cockred the Patriarches and the Leuitical Priests as a carnal people in riches and honour which thinges the Lord hath denyed to christian Pastors In deede we will not deny but some things were giuen in those times of an especial and a partiall fauor and that God did winke at some things of old which at this day he wil not ouer-see For then the cōmon error of al nations had in som things inuaded the people of God also as in their many wiues and often diuorses c. But that God did not onely pamper the Fathers with things externall and did not erect the minds of the faithful to things eternal it cannot be spoken without a mouth of blasphemy against God and a slander of iniury against the Fathers Ther was the same faith of the Fathers vs the same doctrine of both the testaments the time onely is altered such things being fulfilled which fore-shewed of the Messias in religion maners ther is no such alteration Who wil say and not repent him that those most sage wise Heroicks of that age were ignorant of the nature of riches the condition of this present life namely that they were diffluent distrustful scarce worthy to be taken for goods and that man ought to aspire to a greater more excellent good which is certaine and not to be suspected and stands vppon no die The very Philosophers knew these things and argued very religiously of them and did the diuine Prophets the seruants of God conceiue nothing more noble then these earthly things nothing can be sayd of purpose more absurd Wherfore let this opinion fly and let vs resolue vppon that which is certain That ther is one way of life prescribed to all men and that the onely one way of vertue constant to be continued in al ages For it was giuen of God And againe That we may safely follow the Fathers when they cannot be proued to haue erred from that course of life which was prescribed both to them to vs and therfore if it were then lawfull among Gods people for the Priests and Leuites to inioy riches and to be adorned with honors the same is also lawfull at this day for the Ministers of the Gospell in a christian common wealth As for the Philosophers which as they say had riches in so light account I also say that the same thing is taught vs by Christ after a more excellent maner and that he is not worthie the name of a Christian that doth not excell the Philosophers in the same thing For they both erred from the true scope and besides a vaine and popular applause they gained nothing by their foolish and vnprofitable losse Neither hath Christ taught vs to cast awaye our goods but to giue them vnto the poore Goods are receiued of God for the vse of man they which are rich receiue them of God not to loose but to laye out but they as if the thinges themselues had beene euill not of mans corruption but of their owne condition cast them cleane away When goods are called the prouocations of euill you must vnderstand that they are so called not that themselues are in fault but they onely which abuse them Whatsoeuer God hath created is good and hath some good vse that therfore one hath cast all his wealth into the Sea an other hauing conuaied all his substance into a few precious stones crusht them all vnto powder it was an action of vaine and ridiculous applause of no good vse But the precepts of Christ do direct vs to the loue of God and our neighbours vnto whome wee owe all that we haue The contempt which wee see in some currish Philosophers and certaine smokie brethren of this age is far from the loue either of God or of man and it is well seene howe farre it is estranged euen from that humanity and humaine ciuility which ought to bee in men But the pouertye of