to that bold persuasion of some who perswade themselues that saluation may be had in any religion or in either of some two religions or in any faith soe that they beleeue in Christ for they shall finde one day that disobedience to the true Church is a sinne which deserueth damnation S. Augustine againe in another place Epist. 104. Being out of the Church and diuided from the heape of vnity and the bond of charity thou shouldst be punished with eternal fire although thou shouldst be burned aliue for the name of Christ The Church is honored in the scriptures with many noble and glorious titles The titles of Church It is called the kingdome of God the house of God his spouse his faire one his onely one and the very body of Christ He gouerneth it as his kingdome he prouideth for it as his household and loueth it as his deere spouse and as his owne body pleasing and delighting himselfe in the soules of good Catholikes that serue him It is compared to the holy city of Hierusalem in which the true worship of God flourished and in which diuine sacrifice was duely offered It is compared to the arke of Noë out of which there was noe saluation but a general death and destruction Infidels that haue not the faith of Christ are out of the Church Haeretiks Schismatiks and excommunicated persons although they beleeue in Christ yet because they heare not the Church that is obey it not they are also our of it as heathens that participate not the benefits of it The Catholike Church hath two parts The triumphans and militant Church the one Triumphant the other Militant The Triumphant Church is the company of blessed soules in heauen who hauing gotten victory ouer their spirituall enemys in this life are now triumphing in euerlasting glory The Militant Church is the company of the faithfull vpon earth liuing as it were in a warrfare where we are allwais fighting with the enemys of our soules and by perseuering vnto the end in the seruice of God we shall be crowned like good and faithfull souldiers The Militant Church conteineth both good and euill liuers Mat. 3. and therefor it is compared to a field that beareth both good corne and cockle to a nette that gathereth together both good and euill fish The good are kept Mat. 13. but the bad are throwne away It is compared to tenne virgins fiue of which were wise and had prepared the light of good works against the comming of Christ to reward them Mat. 25. and therefor they were admitted into his heauenly nuptials but the other fiue came like fooles and although they had the faith of Christ and were christians yet wanting the oile of the loue of God and the light of good works they were excluded from his blessed ioyes By these and the like places we are giuen to vnderstande that it is not enough to haue the true faith and to be Catholikes if our liues be dissonant from our profession that we liue not like good Catholikes for there are many euill liuers in the Catholike Church who as bundles of cockle shall be throwne into the fire The Communion of Saints Communion of Saints S. Iohn Euangelist writing to the faithfull giueth them as the cause of his writing that you also may haue society with vs Io. 1.1 and our society may be with the father and with his sonne Iesus Christ That is that you may keepe in the society and Communion of the Church and be partakers of those good works and meanes of saluation which are to be had in it For there in is the Catholike Church such a participation of good works that all Catholikes that are in the state of grace participate with one another in them and receiue benefit by the good works of others The reason is because the Catholike Church is as it were one body and all the members of it liue by the same spirit of the Holy Ghost and of Iesus Christ who keepe them in that holy vnion and Communion together And as all the members of the body concurre and helpe to the good of each other soe euery member of the Catholike Church helpeth to the good of the rest and receiueth good by the rest participating of their good works Ps 118. â—am partaker of all that seare thee Saith he holy psalme And in the Pâ—ter nester our Sauiour hath taught vs soe to pray that euery one should aske in the name of all saying giue vs forgiue vs c. Those who are guilty of mortall sinne as they haue noe reward of grace for any worke of their owne which is done in that state soe they loose the benefit which they should receiue by the good works of others For although they be members of the Catholike Church yet wanting the life of grace they are as dead and rotten members into which the rest haue noe spirituall influence The benefit which is reaped by the good works of others is participated by euery one in measure and proportion to the disposition which he hath for it and according to the intention of him that performeth the worke for as we are more or lesse in his intention soe doe we participate more or lesse benefit by the worke which he doth For this it is enough to say that our good works are offerings which we make to God and are therfor receiued and applyed by him according to the offerers intention By all which we may see what a happinesse it is to be in the Catholike Church Ps 83. and in the state of grace Blessed are they who dwell in thy house ô Lord. Now let vs speake OF THE AVTHORITY of the Church BY these words of the Creede it appeareth that the Catholike Church is of diuine authority for euery article of the Creede being of diuine authority and we being by this article bound to beleeue the Church it followeth that the Church hath diuine authority and that we are bounde to beleeue and to obey it as hauing the authority of God And therefor this article was most profitably and necessarily made by the Apostles as the ground and foundation of diuine faith and worship For although in the scriptures it be plane and by reason must needes be true that we are allwais to be gouerned by the authority of the Church yet this article being soe commonly and often professed it is agreat curbe to the rizing of new sects and haeresys all which beginne in the disobedience of some priuate men to the authority of the whole Church and it can not but be a horrour to their mindes and a greeuous wounde to their owne consciences to see how they contradict the common Creede of the Apostles And therefor S. Paul might well say that a man that is an haeretike is subuerted and sinneth Tit. 3. being condemned by his owne iudgment The authority of the Church is diuine in that it is declared also by the
controneâ—sys what the successour of S. Peter and the pastors that ioyne with him determine and we must adhaere to them as to the true and lawfull authority of the Church This as I shall â—hew is the bishop of Rome and the pastors of his Communion and therefor those that obey him and them obey the lawfull authority and are the true Church and they are all false Churches that disobey them Because the authority of the whole Church residing in the head and Pastors of it disobedience to them is disobedience to the whole Church and all false Churches of christians being either of Schismatiks or haeretiks and they beginning allwais in disobedience to the Church it followeth that those who continue allwais obedient to him that is then the head of the Church and to the pastors of his Communion are the true Church and the company of them altogether is the whole Catholike Church and those that refuse to obey their authority are false Churches of Scismatiks or haeretiks And this disobedience is not onely the original cause of all false Churches and a destinctiue signe to discerne them by but it is the very essential forme which constituteth them in the nature of false Churches and maketh them to be such For noe man can be a member of a false Church for false doctrine onely except it be ioyned with obstinacy and disobedience to the Church A good Catholike may hold or reach false doctrine of ignorance or mindelesnesse but he is not a Catholike if he mainteine any thinge obstinatly against the authority of the Church In points which are disputed by Philosophers and Catholike diuines affirmed by some and denyed by others a falsehood is taught on one side but noe errour in faith is committed nor the sinne of schisme or haeresy is incurred because the head and pastors of the Church hauing declared nothing in those points there is noe disobedience to the Church by them S. Cyprian and the bishops of Affrica erred in doctrine and opinion when they thought that the baptisme of haeretiks was not valid but they erred not in faith because the Church had then declared nothing of it and therefor it was noe formal errour or heresy because there was noe disobedience to the Church I may erre say the fathers commonly alleadged but I will neuer be an haeretike Errour is of the minde and vnderstanding but heresy is the defect of the will to be allwais free from errour we can not but from schisme and heresy we may if we will It is then willfull disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church that constituteth all false Churches and it is obedience to the head and pastors of the Church that conserueth vs in the true Church The true Church is a congregation of people vnited together with his lâ—wfull head and pastors all false Churches are congregations of people diuided from and disobedient to the head and pastors of the Church S. Paul warneth the Romanes to remember this marke saying Rom. 16. I desire you brethren to marke them that make dissentions and scandals contrary to the doctrine which you haue learned and anoide them If all christians had remembred these words and at all times had obserued them there had neuer bene any false Church of christians And if all would here after obserue them in the beginning of heresys the arch haeretike might despaire of his worke and would not gett soe much as one follower after him he would discouer himselfe by the propper marke of an haeretike which is not onely to hold false doctrines but also to make dissension in the Church by teaching new doctrines and by standing obstinate in them If therefor you see any one to beginne some singularity of doctrine contrary to that which is taught in the Church suspect presently such a man as tainted at least with a dangerous humour of pride if not with inward heresy but iudge him not an haeretike vntill his errour be made manifest by the authority of the Church and he stande obâ—â—inate against that authority Which if he doe then he maketh dissention and scandall and we may then and must iudge him to be an haeretike and auoide him We should pitty such a man with all our harts and pray for him as for our brother but we ought to auoide his conuersation as the breath of one infected with the plague But if you see that he gette followers to ioyne with him and to mainteine his disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church you haue then in them a false Church and those that mainteine their disobedience though neuer soe long after are all members of the same false Church and those that keepe in vnion and obedience to their head and pastors are the true Catholike Church Now christians you haue for ener a preuention against all schismes and heresys that may hereafter arize you shall presently destinguish the true Church from the false by this noble cognizant to wit obedience to the head and pastors of the Church and the false you shall discerne it by the infamous brand of pride and disobedience to them Keepe your selues in vnion and obedience to that authority which is and allwais must be in the Church of God and you are grounded vpon a sure rocke I would that these words were written in the doores of euery Church and engrauen in the walls in stones of flint THE TRVE CHVRCH CONTINVETH ALLWAIS IN VNION AND OBEDIENCE TO ITS HEAD AND PASTORS ALL FALSE CHVRCHES BEGINNE BY DISOBâ— DIENCE TO THE HEAD AND PASTORS OF THE CHVRCH that all by often beholding them might remember their due obedience to the Catholike Church And this marke is not onely sufficient to discouer for the future and to preuent the rizing of false Churches here after but also to shew which of all christian Churches that are now extant in the world is the true Catholike Church for Christ hauing instituted the gouernment of his Church to be by one head and supreme pastour and by other bishops as inferiour pastors in Communion with him and the gouernment which Christ instituted being allwais to be obserued and obeyed by vs there needeth noe more to shew which is the true Church but to shew who is the true head of the Church by succession from S. Peter and by the lawfull possession of his chaire and power For he and the pastors of his Communion are to be obeyed as deriuing their authority from Christ himselfe and as hauing from him the authority of the whole Church This argument is often vsed by S. Cyprian who biddeth vs in the beginning of all heresys and for the deciding of all controuersys allwais to looke vp to the head of the Church and to seeke to him and tractatu de simplicitate praelatorum siue de vnit Eccles he maketh this the cause of all heresys as you haue heard Because saith he we haue not recourse vnto the ormen nor seeke vnto the head and then he
33. l. 3. c. 43.44 l 2. cont Gauden c. 3 l. de vntco bap â—â—s c 15. ep 48. L. 2. cont Petâ—lâ— c. 19. as may be seene in The Authour of the Protestant Religion l. 2. c. 11. They must therefor shew some iust cause why they went forth and separated themselues For as S. Augustine alluding to the holy Prouerbe c. 30. often obiecteth against the Donatists The euill child calleth himselfe iust but he can not excuse his going forth And in another place You must come and giue an account of your separation But none of them haue a iuster cause nor can giue a better account of their separation then those whom they confesse to be false Churches therefor they are all false Churches I haue now sufficiently performed one thinge which I promised in the title of this booke The verity of the Roma â—e Cathelike faith is demonstrated by industion from aâ—l other religions to wit to demonstrate by induction from all the religions that are in the world the verity of the Romane Catholike faith As for the atheist he ought indeede to be excluded from all speech of religion for that he hath none yet his prophanesse is disprooued in the first article of the Creede in which the Apostles laid the foundation of religion saying I beleeue in God The Pagans religion is disprooued in the same article in that he beleeueth not in one God the maker of heauen and eaâ—th The Iewish and Turkish sects are disprooued in the second article for that they beleeue not in Iesus Christ the onely Sonne of God All sects of Christians that are out of the Romane Church are disprooued in that they haue broken this ninth article of the Creede I beleeue the Cathâ—like Church disobeying its authority in the lawfull head and pastors of it Let them harken to the words of the Holy Ghost Deut 17. If thou perceiue that the iudgment with thee be hard and doubtfull c. Thou shalt come to the Priests of the Leuitical stocke and to the iudge that shall be at that time and thou shalt doe whatsoeuer they that are presidents of the place which our Lord shall choose shall say and teach thee according to his law and thou shalt follow their sentence neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand But he that shall be prowde refusing to obey the commandement of the priest which at that time ministreth to our Lord thy God and the decree of the iudge that man shall dy Here now I cry to all those christians that are out of the Romane Church Graecians Arians c. and to all the seueral Churches of Protestants and especially to you my very deere Countreymen for whose soules I haue long hazarded my corporall life You haue contemned this great authority or rather a greater then it was You haue refused to obey the commandement of the priest and priests not of the Leuitical stocke but of the institution of Christ to wit the Successour of S. Peter and his pastors that is to say the Bishop of Rome and his pastors who gouerned the primitiue Church of Christ and were then actually gouerning it when your Churches beganne These you know you haue disobeyed and stande still disobedient vnto General Councels haue declared against you all and especially against the seueral sects of Protestants the Councell of Trent consisting of two hundred and fifty fiue fathers besides the most eminent doctors of the Catholike Church All Romane Catholiks obey this Councell in all points of faith and you disobey it Disobedience to the Leuitical priest and priests by the law of Moyses was punished with death and your disobedience I am sorry with all my hart but I haue noe scruple to speake it shall without doubt if you repent not be punished with eternal death Therefor I coniure you by the sweet merites of Iesus Christ in whom you beleeue and whom you expect to be your iudge to reflect ypon your soules and vpon true religion Call to minde how your Churches beganne and how schismes and heresys beginne and if you finde as you shall easily finde that you haue begunne after the very same manner as they in disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church and to all but your owne wills your beginners were as Core Nu. 16. Dathan and Abiron that beganne diuisions in the Church of God their followers that liued with them were as the followers of the former whom God destroyed also with them and you rising vp to mainteine their disobedience when they are dead and gone are like to those who after their deaths rose vp to iustify their cause and were therefor by the iudgment of God consumed with fire Forsake their company desert that vnlawfull cause and returne againe into the sheepfold of Christ if you desire to be saued THE TENTH ARTICLE FOrgiuenesse of sinnes None can rightly consider these words as made by the Apostles to be an article of the Creede but he must needs conceiue some greater mystery to be conteined in them them onely to professe that God can or doth forgiue sinnes Neither can he in reason vnderstande any other thinge then that there is power of forgiuing sinnes in that Church which they had newly professed This was indeede a gift and priueledge worthy to be mentioned in the publike Creede Christ after his resurrection before he ascended into heauen appeared to his Apostles and breathing vpon them said Io. 20. Receiue ye the Holy Ghost whose sinnes you shall forgiue they are forgiuen and whose you shall retaine they are retained This was a mystery which the Church of God had great reason to remember and often to inculcate vnto her people and therefor the Apostles hauing professed their beleefe in the Catholike Church in the next place would commemorate this gift and power which the Catholike Church hath of the forgiuenesse of sinnes that with gratitude we might remember it and make good vse of it It is a greater worke saith S. Aug. tract 52. Augustine to make an euill man good then to make the world of nothing Yet it is giuen vnto man to doe this great worke It is giuen I say vnto man for it is not of his owne power but of the gift of God God onely of his owne natural power can forgiue sinnes Esa 43. I am he that taketh cleane away thine iniquitys but he can if he will giue that power vnto men The Apostles had that power by the gift of God as they had of him to worke many miracles which were as hard and vnpossible to nature as to forgiue sinnes Iudges of themselues haue not power to iudge but when the king maketh them iudges and giueth them power then they haue power and may exercize it and the exercize of it is good and valid because the king who gaue them that power setteth them in his owne place giueth them to represent his owne person and ratifyeth the
was strucken of God with a suddaine leprosy which then in the sight of all broke forth of his forhead soe that for his prowde aspiring to the dignity and office of Priests he was then for his leprosy to be excluded euen from the people And Saul for offering of holocaust being a king onely and noe Priest although compelled as he thought by necessity vnto it lost notwithstanding his kingdome from himselfe and from his posterity for euer Some times Emperours and Prince are present at General Councells to grace and protect them from turbulent men but they giue not their voices in any thinge Soe Constantine the first christian Emperour was present in the first General Councell of Nyce but how he came in the last of all and hauing a litle low seate sette for him he satte not downe vntill the bishops made him a signe to sitt downe And as for the decrees of the Councell we reade that three hundred and eightteene bishops subscribed to them but not that Constantine euer subscribed Soe also men of more sanctity of life and eminent in abilitys although not bishops are sometimes called to assist in General Councels but not to giue sentence or to subscribe to the decrees by their owne authority The gouernment therefor which Christ ordained in his Church was by S. Peter and the Apostles that is to say by one head or cheife bishop and by inferiour bishops vnder him And their authority is most full and obliging when it speaketh by a General Councell Then the head of the Church exercizeth more fully his supreme authority calling together the pastors of the world and assigning to them the place of their meeting The bishops and others who for sanctity wisdome and learning are in reason to be thought the best deseruing of the whole world are present at them Being come together solemne dayes of prayer are instituted for the inuocation of the Holy Ghost Euery one of this absolute company hath then liberty to speake his minde freely and by the grounds of his owne religion is bounde not to dissemble but to speake the truth according to his conscience they being for the most part meere strangers to one another All things being well examined they subscribe in order first the head bishop and then the rest after him according to their dignity This is the harmony which Christ hath composed in his Church of people concording with their pastors and of pastors with their supreme head Now what more satisfaction can our soules desire then from such an assembly of soe many holy and learned men who haue the voyce of the whole Catholike Church and the assistance of Christ and of the Holy Ghost Let any christian speake truely and he must needes confesse that it would be a horrour to his conscience and that his owne thoughts would condemne him of errour if he were condemned by such an authority And therfor S. Paul might well say that the haretical man is condemned by his owne iudgment Tit. 3. Because he seeing his doctrine to be publikely condemned by the general sentence of the whole Catholike Church that then is in the world can not but see his owne peruersed obstinacy in still mainteining it and that he breaketh the concord of people with their pastors confoundeth all order of gouernment in the Church destroyeth the certaine ground of all diuine veritys and maketh the Creede scriptures and all principles of faith to become subiect to the censure of euery priuate man Wherefor the Apostle biddeth vs to take heed of such men and our blessed Sauiour himselfe hath commanded vs to regard them noe otherwise then as Heathens and Publicans Victor an auncient and graue authour Vis l. 2. de pâ—rses Vandal who liued in the age of S. Augustine about twelue hundred yeares since relateth a passage worthy to be remembred to shew the comfort and confidence which Catholikes haue in General Councells and how that haeretiks are affrayed and dare not stande to them Hunnericus king of the Vandals persecuting the Church summoned the Catholiks of his dominions to come to Carthage to a publike disputation with his Arian bishops Bishop Eugenius in the name of the Catholikes answered in this manner Let the kingknow that trusting in God we are ready and very glad to haue a publike triall of our cause but we desire that all the world may be present at it for we will not take vpon vs to decide the generall cause by our particular votes Let therfor all those beyond the seas know that the vniuersall cause is here to be treated and not onely the cause of the Affrican Prouinces for we will be tryed by the vniuersal authority and consent of all And when the king returned answere by his Prefident that he would grant him his desire if he would bring all the world vnder his power Eugenius replyed againe Thou shouldest not desire that request of mee which is not in my power to performe That which I say to the king is that if his maiesty desire indeede to be sdtisfyed in our religion which onely hath the true faith let him sende vnto his friends and I will sende vnto my fellow bishops and especially to the Romane Church which is the head of all Churches The bishop suspecting the intention of the king denyed to come to his city and wisely appealed to the generall authority and especially to the bishop of Rome but noe haeretike will euery yeeld to that appeale where the question is to be tryed by the vniuersal authority of the whole Church but as owles and battes fly from the sunshine soe doe they from such a glorious tryall and as they beganne in the disobedience of a few obstinate persons or of some one silly man soe they are affrayed to be tryed by the vniuersal Church which is at all times and was then when their disobedience beganne Disp Lyps Luther was contented to haue a tryall of his doctrine by single disputation and when that worthy man Dâ— Eckius the glory of Swedland publikely confuted and shamed him he broke forth into blasphemous words vnworthy to be repeated But he durst not come to the Councell of Trent which he needed not to hâ—ue feared if he would haue submitted to the authority of the vniuersall Church as all good Christians ought to doe Now let vs see WHICH IS THE CATHOLIKE Church Quest Giue mee a difference betwixt the true and all salse Churches Ans The true Charch continueth allwais in vnion and obedience to its head pastors all false Churches beginne in dissentions and disobedience to the head and pastors of the Church Thus S. Cyprian S. Hierome and others alleadged S. Peter being constituted of Christ as the head and supreme pastour of the Church as I haue shewed and is confirmed by all that which I haue to say of his successour the Bishop of Rome and that authority being necessary to remaine allwais after him we must see at all times and in all
beginneth to deriue that authority from Christ vnto S. Peter that by one head and supreme pastour vnity might be preserued in the Church And sayth againe that Heresys haue sprung and Schismes haue bene bred by noe other cause Cyp. l. 1. ep 13. 55. but for that the Priest of God is not obeyed nor one iudge considered to be for the time in the Church of God Soe that to shew who is the true head of the Church will sufficiently destinguish the true Church for the pastors that communicate with him are the true pastors and the people of that Communion are the true people of God and that whole congregation of pastors and people being taken alltogether is the whole Catholike Church Now to shew who is the true head of the Church we must secke into antiquity and see what bishop did aunciently in the first Church of the Apostles and in the primitiue times after them beare that authority and was then acknowledged for the head and supreme pastour of the Church For as truth which was eternally in God was before falsehood which came afterwards by creatures and as true and lawfull power was first in the true Church of Christ and false vsurped power was afterwards begunne by disobeving it soe he that was first acknowledged in the primitiue times of the Church as the head and supreme pastour he and his successors are all wais to be acknowledged after him and they are false Churches that haue begunne at any time in disobedience to him and to the pastors of his Communion Now let vs see what bishop was acknowledged in the primitiue times and was first obeyed as the head and supreme pastour and which of all Churches that how are retaine still their obedience to him These are either all or the cheife christian Churches that are now in the world The Romane Church which is truely Catholike and Vniuersal ouer the whole world the Greeke Churches which are not Catholike nor vniuersall in the world although some of them be much spred The Church of the Georgians of the Armenians of the Aethiopians of the Arians of the Nestorians of the Waldenses of the Lutherans of the Zuinglians if any of them be yet extant destinct from the Caluinists the Church of the Caluinists and the Church of England which is the latest and newest of them all If there be any more besides these as we see petty sects daily to arize out of the later and to beginne in disobedience to them as all of them once did to the Romane Church both they and all the rest beside the Romane Church shall appeare to be false Churches and it onely to be the true Catholike Church for that it onely is in vnion and holdeth obedience to the true and lawfull head of the vniuersall Church and to the pastors of his Communion all the rest disobeying that authority But first it is to be obserued that the word Church being a word of Communion siguifying a company of people communicating together in the same faith and vnder the same authority it can not be the same Church and a lawfull Church if it haue not the same and that a lawfull authority Secondly some of these acknowledge a head and supreme pastour of the Church vpon earth and others of them will acknowledge none The Romane Church all ouer the world acknowledgeth the bishop of Rome to be vpon earth the head and supreme pastour of the Church The Graecians Armenians Georgians Aethiopians and Churches of the east haue some of them the Parriarke of Constanâ—inople others the Patriarke of Alexandria or a parricular and propper pastour to themselues whom they acknowledge for the supreme head of their Church and the Church of England vntill within these tenne or dozen yeares acknowledged their temporal prince man woman or child that was for the time to be the head of that Church Others there are who are headlesse acknowledging noe supreme head vpon earth in any spirituall power as the Lutherans Caluinists c. these are but few and inconsiderable in comparison of those that submitte vnto a head and supreme authority And I shall shew that both they and all others beside the Romane Church are false Churches for that they stande disobedient to him and to the pastors of his Communion who is indeede the true head of the Church I haue shewed before that the gouernment which Christ instituted in his Church was by S. Peter as the head and cheife pastour of it Now I shew that that supreme authority of S. Peter was acknowledged by the primitiue Church to descende vpon the bishop of Rome as successour to him and that there is none but he that can with reason pretende to haue had that authority This is prooued first by the manifest testimonys of those auncient writers that then liued Secondly by the practise of those times for that the bishop of Rome exercized in fact that supreme authority and the faithfull of those times obeyed it Thirdly for that there is none els that can pretende to haue bene at any time aboue all other bishops as the cheife pastour and gouernour of the Church First then I produce soe many The Bishop of Rome is acknowledged by the primitiue fathers to be the head of the Church and such testimonys of auncient writers as shall be sufficient to satisfy him that regardeth the safety of his soule And to beginne euen from the Apostles times the scriptures which they wrote declare soe farre for the supremacy of the bishops of Rome that they are alleadged to that purpose by holy and auncient authors as will appeare by their following citations who seeing the supreme pastorship to haue bene promised by Christ vnto S. Peter Mat. 16. and to haue bene giuen him Io. 21. when he commended soe particularly the feeding of his sheepe to him and considering him to haue died at Rome bishop of that place and a successour in his authority to be allwais necessary for the gouernment of the Church without any more argument they grounded themselues vpon these scriptures and commonly alleadged them for the supremacy not onely of S. Peter but also of the bishop of Rome The same they inferre out of S. Paul to the Romanes where he sayth your faith is renowmed in the whole world Rom. 1. gathering by these words the supremacy of the Romane chaire S. Epis 55. Cyprian speaking against some of those times sayeth They are soe bold as to carry letters from prophane schismatiks to the Chaire of Peter Nu. 6. and the principall Church whence priestly vnity arose not considering the Romanes to be them whose faith the Apostle being the commender was praised to whom misbelcefe can not haue accesse And S. Hierome know ye that the faith of the Romanes will receiue noe such deceits Adner Ruffin l. 3. c. 4. to 2. nor can possibly be changed though an Angell taught otherwise being fensed by S. Cyp. ep 52. and Anronian Amb
Pope and there being then in Antioch three seuerall factions all of them pretending to haue the Pope on their side he thus declareth himselfe writing to Damasus ad Damas I cry for him that ioynes with Peters chayre Meletius Vitalis and Paulinus say they adhaere to thee I could beleeue it if onely one of them affirmed it but now either two of them ly or they all three ly I know not Vitalis Meletius nor Paulinus he that gathereth not with thee scattereth he that is not of Christ is of Antichrist I ioyne my selfe vnto thy holinesse That is the chayre of S. Peter Vpon that rocke I know the Church was built S. Augustine made a catalogue of all the Bishops of Rome from S. Peter to Anastasius who then liued and saith that the succession of those bishops kept him in the Catholike Church Ep. 165. and that the principality of the Apostolical chayre allwais flourished in the Church of Rome S. Leo Pope writing to the Emperour stileth himselfe Bishop of the Vniuersal Church although he refused the title of Vniuersal Patriaâ—ke or Bishop of the Church when the Councell of Chalcedon gaue it to him Lâ—â— ep 52. because it was a title more subiect to misconstruction Theodoret writing to this Pope saith your sea praesideth ouer the whole world that holy sea holdeth the sterne of gouernment ouer all the Churches in the world S. Gregory the great who for the aforesaid reason refused the title of Vniuersal Patriarke often calleth the Church of Rome Caput omnium Ecclesiarum L. 7. c. 26. The head of all Churches And saith that if a falt be committed by a bishop he knoweth none but he is subiect to the Apostolical seate And againe who doubteth but the bishop of Constantinople is subiect to the Apostolical seate which also the most pious Emperour and Eutichius our brother the bishop of that city doe allwais confesse and yet the bishop of Constantinople then tooke place of all other bishops but the Bishop of Rome Thus you see by euident testimonys of auncient writers that in the primitiue times of the faith of Christ the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged as the prime pastour and head of the Church The same I shew also by the practise of those times The B. of Rome aunciently exercized in fact the supreme authority for that the Bishop of Rome then exercized in fact the supreme authority deporting himselfe in all thinges as the head of the Church He or his legates for him praesided allwais in General Councells confirmed them and was obeyed by them as the superiour ouer all bishops and all people as giuing bishoppricks to the worthy as depriuing the vnworthy as giuing lawes vnto all and hearing the causes of all of whatsoeuer Diocese and of the cheife bishops and cheife princes of the world in spirituall affaires All which will appeare by that which followeth As soone as the Church of God had gotten a Christian Emperour that bishops from all places could safely meete together a General Councell of the whole world was assembled at Nyce to decide the controuersys of those times Hosius Vitus and Vincentius presided in that first General Councell of the whole world as the legates of S. Syluester then Pope and subscribed in the first place And the primacy of the Romane Bishop was in that Councell expresly and of purpose declared as you haue seene in the words of S. Athanasius and the bishops of Aegypt Thebais and Libya written to Pope Felix The second General Concell was held at Constantinople and the fathers of that Councell wrote vnto Damasus Pope confessing themselues to be members of him In the third General Councell which was held at Ephesus S. Cyril Patriarke of Alexandria praesided in place of Pope Celestine and in condemning of Nestorius the Councell vseth this forme that they were forced by the Canons and by the authority of bishop Celestine to proceede with weeping teares to that heauy sentence against him The fourth General Councell was â—eld at Chalcedon where Paschasius Lucentius and Bonifacius praesided in place of S. Leo Pope and subscribed first And the fathers of this Councell wrote vnto Leo to desire his immediate approbation of their canons stiling him The Head and vniuersal Patriarke of the Church And his approbation being sent and read in the Councell the fathers cryed out Soe doe we all beleeue Pope Leo soe beleeueth let him be accursed that doth separate and diuide This is the faith of Leo cheife bishop Peter hath spoken by Leo's mouth and the Apostles haue taught soe Leo hath taught truely we all beleeue as Leo beleeues In the fift General Councell which was held at Constantinople Menas praesided who had bene thrusten out of that seate but was restored to it againe by the authority of Pope Agapetus In the sixt General Councell which was held also at Constantinople Theodore George and Iohn praesided as the legates of Pope Agatho whose letters being read the fathers of the Councell cryed out as those of Chalcedon had done almost three hundred yeaâ—es before to Pope Leo that Peter spoke by Agathós mouth c In the seauenth General Councell which was held at Nyce two Peters were the legates of Pope Adrian and had the first place and when his letters were read the fathers answered The whole Synode doth soe beleeue and teach The eight General Councell was held at Constantinople where Donatus and Stephanus Praesided as the legates of Pope Adrian and subscribed in this forme I Donatus by the grace of God bishop of Ostia hauing the place of my Lord Adrian high Priest and vniuersal Pope and praesiding ouer this General Councell according to his will haue promulged all that is here read and haue subscribed with mine owne hand I adde here that the very word and title of POPE is soe holy honorable and authentical that it is a sufficient proofe of his primacy and eminent authority aboue all For where as it signifyeth in it selfe a Great or Grane Father and was first of all giuen to Patriarks and more venerable pastors and higher dignitys it was decreed by an assembly of more then sifty bithops aboue a thousand yeares sinne that it should be giuen to none but to the bishop of Rome as to the Vniuersal Father of all faithfull christians Bishops Emperours Princes haue obeyed this decree the custome of nations hath consented vnto it and the very enemys of the Catholike Church now after the praescription of a thousand yeares giuing him that honorable title vertually confesse the supreme authority which then he had The bishops of Rome exercised authority ouer other dioceses and ouer the cheife persons of the world both of the Clergy and Laity S. Athanasius Patriarke of Alexandria who then tooke place of all but the bishop of Rome Asclepas of Gaza Marcellus of Ancyra and Lucius of Adrianopolis being expelled out of their bishoppricks by those of the Arian faction repairing to Pope Iulius were by his
Rome was once the head of the Church and that he and his pastors had the authority of the whole Church but will say that he and they were fallen into errors and therfor they were bounde to disobey them But this is not a good answere for it is authority which now we inquire after and which we require obedience vnto All doctrines must be tryed by lawfull authority but lawfull authority must not be questioned in doctrine for that there is none to question it For subiects to examine the authority of the Church and the doctrine which it teacheth is to set the feete aboue the head and to subuert all order and gouernment in the Church of God Christ hath giuen Apostles Pastors Eph. 4. and Doctors vnto the edifying of his body that is to the building vp and preseruing of his Church and these must either be obeyed or els they were in vaine and to noe purpose It is therfor preposterous and haereticall to disobey the authority of the Church vnder pretence of errors Neither is there any thinge by which haeretiks discouer and condemne themselues more then by talking of errors in the Church for by that one sheweth that he hath somethinge to say against the doctrine of the Church which is to be an haeretike The head of the Church and pastors of his Communion haue the authority of the whole Church and can not teach false doctrine for if they could we should haue noe certainty of the scriptures or of the sense of them or of the Creede or of any point of faith and this article were in vaine when we say I beleeue the Catholike Church Which being made by the Apostles to be said at all times the Church can neuer teach false doctrine but in all doctrines whatsoeuer and in all controuersys we must cleaue to the authority of the Church as to a firme and sure rocke and allwais say I beleeue the Catholike Church Ep. 48. S. Augustine it is impossible that we should haue iust cause to depart from and to impugne the whole Church They must first shew that the gouernment of the Church was taken from the bishop of Rome and his pastors and was giuen to some others whom they obeyed or els they could not lawfully disobey them vnder any pretence whatsoeuer Authority must gouerne the Church we shew our authority to be the same which the primitiue Church obeyed and we aske them vpon what authority they disobeyed it what head and what pastors deliuered their doctrine to them by continual succession from Christ and from S. Peter This they must shew or els they open a gappe to all haeretiks to disobey the Church when they will themselues vnder pretence of false doctrine If they say they haue authority from an inuisible head and inuisible pastors it is a ridiculous saying As though a company of souldiers who were brought before a Councell of warre for deserting their colours should pretende licence from inuisible officers or as rebels who being accused for resisting of lawfull authority should pretende a commission for what they did and being required to shew it should say that it were inuisible soe we aske them vpon what authority they disobeyed that authority which the primitiue Church obeyed and they say by the authority of a Church inuisible We bid them shew their commission they say it is inuisible Is not this Ridiculous for this it is enough to say that men are men that is to say a corporal and visible creature and therefor if the Church which gaue them authority were a congregation of men it was visible and if it were the true Church it was most eminently visible as a candle not hidden but set in a glorious candlesticke that all might see it and see by it what they were to beleeue for true and as a city on a hill conspicuous to all teaching preaching administring sacraments and gouerning of people after a glorious and eminent manner that all might haue recourse vnto it To alleadge onely an inuisible authority is to shew noe authority and shewing noe authority they are noe true Church If they say that they disobeyed not and went not out from the Communion of the Bishop of Rome and his pastors but were thrusten out of it whether they would or noe as a later authour who would seeme wiser then the rest hath vrged it is the weakest of all answeres For if they had kept themselues in obedience to their lawfull gouernors as they ought they could neuer haue bene out of the Communion of the Church They were thrusten out of the Church of Rome as Ozias king of Iuda was thrusten out of the holy temple of Hierusalem a plague of leprosy appearing suddainly in his forehead in punishment of his pride and disobediēce to the high Priest and priests that were with him soe they obstinatly disobeying the head and pastors of the Church that then were departed of their owne accord from the inward Communion of the Church and were thrusten out onely from externall Communion with it least they should infect others with the plague of heresy or schisme which appeared in them Seeing therfor all these answeres to be vaine and groundlesse and that they can shew noe head and pastors in all the world that gaue them authority to teach their doctrine in disobedience to those whom the primitiue Church obeyed they will pretende authority not by succession of pastors from pastors which is the ordinary way but after an extraordinary manner immediatly from God himselfe to disobey the first and to beginne a new gouernment contrary to it and hauing for this an extraordinary calling and commission immediatly from God they needed noe authority from any pastors vpon earth and therefor they will act according to their commission and will be tryed by none nor be subiect to any but God This is the onely answere which an haeretike can make who reiecting indeede the authority of all men that then are must of necessity pretende a particular and extraordinary commission immediatly from God But neither is this a good answere First for that there can be noe such extraordinary commission as to disobey the lawfull authority of the Church of Christ it being builded vpon sure promises of his perpetuall assistance that it can not faile in doctrine but hauing ordained pastors for the gouernment of it he will haue them allwais to be obeyed and therefor that Church that hath not allwais a continual succession of lawfull pastors is not the Church of Christ Secondly if they haue any such commission from God they must shew it or els they open a gappe for all disobedient persons to runne out of the Church disobeying their lawfull pastors when they list themselues vnder pretence of commission from God And this commission not comming to them after the ordinary manner from pastors to pastors but after an extraordinary sort immediatly as they pretende from God himselfe they haue noe ordinary meanes to shew it but
vpon you cleane water and you shall be clensed from all your contaminations Ezech c. 36. The Baptisme of S. Iohn had not this effect but was a Sacrament that is to say a holy mystery betwixt the law of Moyses and Christ not remitting of sinnes but ordained of God as an honorable preparation for christian Baptisme and for this reason Christ himselfe would be baptized by it not to be purifyed saith S. Augustine by the waters but to purify them by touching his most pure flesh And as it were to prepare them for that more honorable Baptisme which he was to commande The Apostles haue declared the effect of our Baptisme by some typical figures of the old Testament S. Peter applyeth the miraculous Saluation of mankind by water Pet. 1.3 in the dayes of Noë as a figure of our saluation by the water of Baptisme S. Paul deliuereth the passage of the Israëlits through the sea to the land of promise as a figure of our passing the waters of Baptisme to our desired rest in glory Thus would God honour our Baptisme with these honorable figures and inspire the Apostles to take notice of them We ought therfor with great reuerence humility and deuotion to be present at the administring of this great and powerfull mystery OF THE CAEREMONYS OF Baptisme THE dignity of the Sacraments of Christ requireth that they be deliuered with deuout and reuerent caeremonys such as may both expresse the nature of them and moue vs to deuotion in those holy mysterys Haeretiks when we speake of caeremonys presently beginne to laugh and as those that are possessed with euill spirits deride holy things soe doe they the caeremonys of the Catholike Church But this is the spirit of haeretical pride which is in them proceeding from their owne willfull ignorance because they will not consider and vnderstande truely the nature of caeremonys The original cause and grounde of caeremonys which is to be a corporal worship of God according to our nature and an humble acknowledgment of our weake and corporal nature who are indeede spiritual creatures in our soules but tyed vnto and clogged with a body which is earthly and therfor we must honour God both with our soules and bodys with our inward affections as the operations of the soule and with corporal caeremonys as the duety of our bodys euery creature being to honour him after that manner which is natural to it Angels honour God onely by affections which are spiritual because they are onely spirits but man that consisteth both of soule and of body must worship him both with spiritual affections of the soule and with corporal reuerence It is true God respects most the inward of our harts and without that nothing is acceptable to him but he will accept of corporal works together with our harts he will haue vs to pray in spirit inwardly yet he refuseth not our vocal prayers which are corporal expressions of our inward reuerence to him Nay he is soe farre from refusing them that Christ would both practise them himselfe and commende them to his Disciples giuing them a forme of vocal prayer And as God who respects most the inward of our harts would neuerthelesse allow of and commende vocal prayer that we might vse it as an expression natural to vs to humble our selues in the consideration of our weake nature soe will he haue vs to expresse our inward submission of hart by corporal caeremonys and humble ourselues by them vnto him This is the original cause of vocal prayer and of caeremonys as kneeling holding vp our hands and the like at our prayers and for this cause God would haue caeremonys to be vsed in his seruice both in the law of nature and of Moyses and Christ would initiate the law of grace with many caeremonys which himselfe vsed Read the fifteenth of Genesis Gen. 15. and you shall finde that God commanded to take for sacrifices such and such creatures of such an age to be diuided after such a manner and to be laid in such a posture all which an haeretike may laugh at if he will Afterwards in the law of Moyses he that should reade with the spirit of an haeretike all those very many and strange caeremonys which were then vsed Exod. 29. and should see in the ordaining of Aaron the blood of a ramme put vpon the tippe of his right eare right thumbe and right great toe would perhaps laugh them to scorne although they were ordained of God as this whole law was which was soe full of caeremonys that it may well be diuided into the Caeremonial law He that in the spirit of an haeretike should reade the seauenth of S. Marke Mark 7. and should see Christ take the deafe and dumbe man out of the multitude might aske to what purpose did he soe could he not as well haue cured him amongst the people he putt his singars into his eares to what purpose would this haeretike say could he not haue cured him as well without that caeremony he spitted touched his tongue looked vp to heauen groaned said Epheta To what purpose might he say was all this could not he haue done the miracle as well without it Yes Luc. 18. Christ could haue cured him without these caeremonys with a word onely as he did the blind man with onely Respice or without any word at all but onely the word of his will as he did the Centurions boy neither speaking nor touching nor soe much as seeing him but with his eyes of pitty being then in body absent from him But although then he would vse noe caeremonys yet at other times as you haue seene he did and for the most part he cured by imposition of hand and that to very good purpose and if the haeretike will know to what purpose it was it was to teach him and all men to worship God according to their nature and to humble themselues in the consideration of their corporal nature Holy Dauid seeing the arke of our Lord coming forth of Obededoms house moued with the zeale of diuine worship deuested himselfe of his princely maiesty and being a king he thought it noe disparishment to gird himselfe with a linnen Ephod and to leape and dance before the arke of our Lord Michol his foolish wife looking through a window and seeing it despised him in her hart for that caeremony of deuotion and when the king came to his house she mette him and vpbraided him with it as a scornefull caeremony But what was his answere to her Reg. 2.6 Before our Lord will I play and will become more vile then J haue bene and I will be humble in mine eyes This is the effect of the caeremonys of the Church to humble vs to God whilst we reuerence him both in body and soule Dauid was an humble man and the type of a good Catholike Michol was a prowde woman and may signify haeretiks for as she derided Dauids deuotion
it as not to be done is most insolent madnes Epist 118. To question that which the whole Church obserueth or curiously to dispute of it is full of danger and presumption but soe as to disallow of it and to condemne it is absolute madnes and the propper madnes of heresy Now as you haue seene the power of granting indulgences to be deriued from Christ soe you shall see the practise of it to haue bene in the primitiue Church Although then they were neither soe commune nor solemne as now a dayes First because in those times of persecution christians could not soe frequently meete together Secondly because the graces and gifts of the Apostles and their successors were then greater and aequiualent to the benefit of indulgences Thirdly the feruour and deuotion of those christians was also greater the blood of Christ being yet warme and as S. Hierome saith boyling in them That they neither stoode soe much neede of indulgences nor were their punishments often remitted Yet S. Paul exercized this power when in the person of Christ he gaue indulgence or pardon as he termeth it to the sinfull Corinthian least he should haue bene swallowed vp with sorrow at the greatnes of his punishment Cor. 2.2 And whom you haue pardoned any thinge I also For my selfe also that which I pardoned if I pardoned any thinge for you in the person of Christ Thus S. Paul pardoned him and not onely in the sight of the Church but also in the sight of God for otherwise this pardon had been to his hurt and he had not pardoned in the person of Christ who hurteth not by his pardons Tertullian lib. ad martyres c. 1. and S. Cyprian l. 3. c. 15. ser de laps affirme that it was then the custome of bishops at the intreaty of those who were designed to martyrdome to grant pardons to offenders from the penaltys of the Church That which S. Paul and these bishops did was the very same which the Catholike Church now doth in giuing of indulgences for they are nothing els but the releasing of punishments in the sight of God Diuerse examples and canons of the Church for this are to be seene in authors which for breuity I omitte Indulgences vpon a iust cause and for a good end may sometimes be granted without the enioyning of any penalty As those were which primitiuely were granted at the intercession of martyrs and those which are now granted to some at their deaths for some great deserts and good seruice allready done to the Church But ordinarily some pious worke is praescribed and soe a greater punishment is changed into a lesse That which is required to be done ought to be performed with much deuotion and to gaine the indulgence it must be done in state of grace and therfor Confession and Contrition are for the most part expresly required in euery indulgence Indulgences which are granted to the soules in purgatory are applyed vnto them onely by way of suffrage that is by a pious offering of ours to pay their debt and not by applying any power or iurisdiction of the Church ouer them For the pastors of the Church haue power and iurisdiction ouer the militant Church onely ouer which they can visibly exercize their power of gouernment By indulgences we are not to vnderstande that soe many yeares or dayes of purgatory are remitted but that soe much punishment is pardoned as soe many yeares or dayes pennance should haue satisfyed for according to the pennances of the primitiue Church A plenary indulgence is a full and totall pardon of all punishment in the sight of God A Quarentine is as much as to say an indulgence corresponding to the pennance of forty dayes which aunciently was a time of prayer fasting and other austeritys in those times often vsed and was called Quadragena a Quarentin and when it was with bread and water onely it was called Carentia an abstaining from meates A Iubily is a more solemne kind of indulgence It is is an hedrew word signifying ioy or reioycing The Israëlits euery fiftith yeare had a Iubily yeare which was soe solemne that they absteined from tillage in it Lands that were sold returned to their owner slaues were enfranchized banished men restored debtors set at liberty All but in figure of the spirituall ioy and liberty which we obtaine in Christ And therefor we haue now a yeare of iubily which at first was kept euery hundreth yeare then euery fiftith now euery twenty fift The faithfull being piously inuited to Rome a place allwais frequented for indulgences and where Saints haue soe much desired to liue that S. Catherine of Siena vsed to say I treade vpon the blood of martyrs at Rome There doth the holy Vicar of Christ himselfe entertaine his people wash their feete make exhortations to them and spareth nothing to promote the loue and seruice of God in them Thus much as to the declaration of satisfaction which is the third part of the Sacrament of pennance Hauing Confessed our sinnes and receiued our pennance and absolution from the priest we must remember well the aduises which were giuen vs and purpose to keepe them and performe our pennance presently least we should forgette it or any part of it It is a signe of loue and reuerence to God when we goe willingly and readily to pay that which we owe him I haue now but one word more to say of this Sacrament and that is to exhort all to frequent it and to coniure him vehemently that is fallen into any greater sinne presently to seeke out a priest and to gette his conscience cleered by Confession and if he hath not then the opportunity of a priest to fly instantly to an act of Contrition and to make it with all the feruour and humility that possibly he can and in the meane time to slippe noe occasion of Confession Truely I thinke I may say that amongst soe many good remedys as spiritual men haue praescribed for particular sinnes it is the best and most general against all sinnes whatsoeuer to repent presently by a good Confession of them For as great wounds are easily cured when they are brought presently into the surgeons hands and by differring and not applying remedy in time they become vncurable and without remedy soe the longer we differre our Confession the harder we make our Conuersion and if we stay long in sinne we harden our harts still more and more vntill we come in the end to the vtter contempt of God and of our owne soules And therefor I exhort all from this very instant to purpose with themselues that if they chance at any time through frailty to fall into some great sinne they will seeke presently to Confession after it O thou that fearest not to be in mortal sinne if thou didst but vnderstande the heinous condition in which thou art that thou standest then face to face at defyance with God who with one word of his will can strike
which they represent they are to be worshipped with a holy and religious worship though relatiuely and secondarily onely the goodnes of the thinge represented being the prime motiue of that worship And this is confirmed for that all men by nature apprehende the iniurys done to the images of their enemys as done to their enemys themselues the prototypes of those images and therfor by the same reason we must apprehende that the worship which we giue to the images of our freinds as to Crucifixes holy pictures and the like is giuen to the prototype represented by them Therefor images are to be worshipped with secondary and relatiue worship for the prototypés sake which is primely and principally worshipped in them That which the Catholike Church doth in this is commended all ouer in the scriptures the arke the temple the vessell and ornaments of it the priests garments and the like being to be worshipped with inferiour religious worship for the relation which they had to God They prayed towards the temple in reuerence to it the vessel of it were not to be touched with vnconscerated hands The ground on which Moyses saw that great vision was called holy Exod. 3. and as such was to be honored with his bare feete when he trode on it onely in relation to the vision that appeared to him in that place Make then this argument That which hath relation to holy things is holy and to be worshipped in that relation images and pictures haue relation to holy things therefor they are holy and to be worshipped in it But it displeaseth the enemys of the Catholike Church to haue it called adoring of images This ought not to displease them for creatures are often said in the scriptures to be adored Abraham being amongst the Hethaits lawfully adored before the people of the Land Iacob adored Esau Gen. 23. and Esau adored him againe Ioseph adored Iacob Dauid adored Saul the Prophet Nathan adored Dauid and we are commanded psal 98. to adore the footstoole of God which must be vnderstoode of some creature in relation to him And if all this satisfy not let them agree with vs that images and pictures as they haue relation to holy things are to be honored and for the name let them call it reuerence honour worship or the like as they please The Catholike doctrine in this was aunciently questioned by haeretiks but is was declared by the Councell of Nyce against them and those accursed that should deny it The Apostles in their canons haue commended the vse of images and pictures to vs and the fathers in their writings haue declared them to haue bene vsed in their times as now they are in the Catholike Church S. Cont. Iul. Basil speaking of the saints saith for which cause the historys of their images I honour and publikely adore For this as deliuered by the Apostles is not to be prohibited but in all Churches we erect their historys S. Chrysostome in his Lyturgy the priest coms forth carrying the ghospell with the Clerke before him hauing a light and turning to the image of Christ he bendeth his head What more could we haue desired them to say Was it now truely said of Caluin that for the first fiue hundred yeares after Christ images were not worshiped these Saints hauing liued farre with in that time Or is it true that which our enemys make their people to beleeue that we committe idolatry by it giuing diuine honour to creatures The contrary is an auncient heresy noted in Marcyon Manichaeus Xenaias and others who were then recorded as haeretiks for it and the wicked Iulian as he Apostatized from the christian faith denying his christendome soe did he also deny to worship the holy images that represented the mysterys of that faith and pulling downe that which the pious woman whom Christ cured of the blody flux had erected of him and which for some hundreds of yeares vntill his reigne had bene reuerenced by christians he set vp his owne insteede of it but the diuine indignation quickly appeared against his prophanesse fire descending from heauen and breaking it in peeces diuided the head from the shoulders of the image of that wicked man Hist Trip. l. 6. c. 1. Eusebius l. 1. c. 13. relateth how that Abagatus king of the Edissens in Syria sent vnto Christ desiting him to come and cure him and that Christ wrote backe letting him know that himselfe could not then come but that after his death one of his disciples should cure him And that a painter being sent by the king to bring him at least the liuely countenance of him when he should haue drawne his picture the brightnesse of his face did soe dazle the painters eyes that he could not goe on with his worke Where vpon Christ tooke a cloth and applying it to his sacred and life giuing face printed his blessed countenance vpon it Lib 4 hist c. 26. and sent it to the king This is recorded by diuerse authors and Euagrius mentioneth the miracles which were wrought by that picture For what end now did Christ thus draw this miraculous picture and send it to the king Was it to be cut in peeces and abused as haeretiks doe the pictures of him or els to be kept and honored for his sake Truely as it was the picture of Christ whom he loued and worshipped he could not in reason but loue and worship it and if he had done otherwise he had not shewed himselfe the freind of Christ The worship of images is not then forbidden by nature but is grounded vpon the nature of images and of our nature who are to worship holy hings And such worship is deduced as you haue seene from the Scriptures warranted by Councels and by practise of the primitiue Church and by miracles and therefor whatsoeuer obiections that can be made against it must either be as they are vaine cauils or plane forgerys of contentious and dissembling men Neither is the worship of reliques as it is vsed in the Catholike Church contrary to this Commandement Reliques but for the same reasons to be allowed of for that we haue noe prohibition either in general or in particular forbidding them to vs but rather the quite contrary as we haue said of images natural reason instructing vs to worship that as holy which hath relation to holy thinges and it is deduced from the Scriptures as before and also by diuerse miracles recorded in the Scriptures to haue bene wrought by reliques The body of a dead man was restored to life by touching the bones of Prophet Eliseus Reg. 4.13 and there vpon it is said Eccli 4◠that the dead body of Elizeus prophecyed And in the new testament the woman that was troubled with an issue of blood came behind Christ and touched the hemme of his garment saying within herselfe If I shall touch onely his garment I shall be safe Mas. 9. And Christ turning vnto her commended her
to determinate those materiall things to pious vses which in themselues are indifferent to any for this reason the ornaments and vessell of the Church seruice were commanded to be consecrated in the law of Moyses Exod. 40. and are now in the law of Christ The sodality of the Rosary is â—rected in the order of Saint Dominike and priuileges are granted vnto it to excite all vnto that deuotion and I hope our blessed Lady will graciously acknowledge me one day although now an vnworthy Sodales of it Euer since the Empresse of the world was assumpted into Heauen it hath bene the custome of the Catholike Church for all the people both riche and poore to beseech her gracious countenance and to pray to her the holy to be strenghtned in holines and sinners to he freed from sinne and as we haue through out the yeare diuerse Feasts which were aunciently by the holy Saints and are now by vs obserued in her honour soe to commend vnto all the deuotion of the Rosary Pope Gregory the XIII of holy memory appointed the first Sunday of October to be kept in honour of it For in the yeare of our Lord 1571 when the Catholike Church appeared destitute of humane helpe and leaned onely on the armes and strength of her diuine Spouse the Northerne parts of Europe being then lately fallen into heresys and the Turke comming on the otherside with a formidable nauy to assalt her it pleased God to defende the Catholike cause and to couer our enemys in the sea by a glorious victory which we gott ouer the Turke surpassing vs in number and force but inferiour by the diuine protection ouer vs and by the power of our B Lady then particularly called vpon For the victory was gained on that day on which the Sodality of the Rosary was called together to implore especially her assistance and therefore the holinesse of the foresaid Pope dedicated it as solemne to the Rosary shewing in two things his wise and pious minde First in giuing the victory not vnto humane power but to the diuine protection and especially in those circumstances to our blessed Ladys prayers and secondly by instituting a continuall memoriall in thanksgiuing for it that as in S. Dominiks dayes when the deuotion of the Rosary was first begunne by him our blessed Lady appeared in Earle Monforts army sighting against the Albigenses haeretiks who in mighty numbers wasted the Kingdome of France so it was the will of God that her power should be acknowledged and the mysterys of the Rosary honored in that late batle against the enemys of Christ And as when Queene Ester pecitioning the King obtained the liues of the Israeliticall people a day was set a part for the solemnity of it and as the victory of Iudith had also a day of solemnity afterwards soe might this day of the Rosary be glorious in our victory when the Procession of Saint Dominiks order shall sing Aue maris Stella to the triumph of our Lady and the whole Catholike Church shall answere in their harts Iudit 15. Thou art the glory of Hierusalem thou the ioy of Israel thou the honour of our people because thou hast done manfully thou shalt be blessed for euer c. THE TENTH DISCOVRSE OF THE MASSE I Am now to speake of the high glory and bright Sunne of all deuotions I meane the Holy Sacrifice of Masse Which as it is a Sacrifice it is the supreme and highest of all worships proper onely to God and as such a Sacrifice of the Body of our Lord it is more eminent and perfect then all the Sacrifices that euer were or euer can be offered Fist I will speake of the Masse as it is a Sacrifice Secondly of the particular parts and ceremonys of the Masse And lastly something of its fruits and benefits Let vs say the Haile Mary for our blessed Ladys intercession Haile Mary c. First OF THE MASSE AS IT IS A SACRIFICE Quest What is the Masse Answ The Masse is the continuall Sacrifice of the law of Christ in which his true body and blood is offered vnder the signes of bread and wine THERE are seuerall kindes of Sacrifices Diuerse kinds of Sacrifice First there are spiritual sacrifices to wit our inward thoughts and good purposes And soe King Dauid sayth that an humbled spirit and contrite hart that is to say an act of humility and Contrition is a Sacrifice to God And S. Peter writing vnto all the faithfull requireth of them that they be a holy Priesthood by this kind of Sacrisice Pet. 1.2 Be ye a holy priesthood to offer vp spirituall hosts There are also diuerse sorts of corporal Sacrifices First such as vocal prayer kneeling adoring offering of gifts and the like which as they are corporal worships they may be called Sacrifices in a large sense and S. Augustine sayeth that euery good worke is a true Sacrifice nor that it hath truely the nature of a Sacrifice but that it is an offering with fruit and good effect to our soules and not a false Sacrifice without fruit as Christ said of himselfe that he was a true vine that was to say a good vine that bringeth fruit and not an ill vine which falsifyeth the hopes of it But nene of these neither spiritual nor corporal are properly Sacrifices but onely in an vnpropper and large sense in that they are good works offered vp to God but they are not offered as the highest worship propper onely to him but may be and are in their kind giuen to men as when we worship our friends both in our harts and with our bodys and when we offer gifts to our superiors as the Kings did to Christ their superiour euen as man but propper Sacrifices are offered to none but God A Sacrifice therefor properly speaking is the offering vp of some corporal and sensible thinge as the supreme and propper worship of God The Masse then is a Sacrifice in its true and propper sense that is to say the offering vp of some corporal thinge as an act of highest worship special and propper onely to God to acknowledge diuine power in him And thus a Sacrifice may be vnderstoode two wayes either for the action of offering and Sacrifizing or els for the thinge that is offered and Scrifized as the word Offering is sometimes taken for the action of offering as when we say he was long or short gracious or tedious in his offering and is sometimes taken for the thinge that is offered as when we say it was a rich or poore offering Soe the Masse is a Sacrifice vnderstanding the action of Sacrifizing And soe all the prayers and caeremonys of Masse are parts of it belonging to its integrity as it is such a manner of Sacrisizing and offering and for the thinge offered it is the true body and blood of our Lord vnder the signe of bread and wine Soe that both the Masse is a Sacrifice and the body and blood of
they are as due to them as wages are to workemen And we may speake by experience to them that know not the truth that our labour is without comparison greater then the labour of day tale workmen I haue no more to say of the Praecepts of the Church You haue seene first the authority of the Church to be diuine and her Praecepts to oblige vnder amortall sin Secondly you haue in particular the declaration of them Let vs keep them with deuotion and zeale of the honour of the Church that coÌ„mandeth them She is the immaculate spouse and glorious Bride of God She is our mother and neuer was there any mother so disirous of her childreÌ„s good nor so efficaciously procuring their true prefermeÌ„t as the Catholik Church doth ours The mother of the Zebedoes was sollicitous for her sonnes with Christ asking to haue them neere him in his Kingdome but she knew not what she asked The Catholike Church asketh nothing for her children but that which God will haue her to aske and which he inspireth her how to procure and which they if they will obey her are sure to obtaine and that is the highest honour and greatest felicity of all honours and felicitys to be made indeede the courtiers and fauorits of Christ in his euerlasting Kingdome Let vs then obey her Eccli 3. As he that gathereth treasure soe he that honoreth his mother And then a little after he is cursed of God that doth exasperate his mother How much then ought we to honour the whole Catholike Church and with what reuerence to receiue her Precepts THE TVVELFTH DISCOVRSE OF SINNE I Haue now a most hidous and fearefull monster to set before your eyes I meane to describe vnto you the euill of sinne which is indeede the most hideous monster of the world so deformed that neither men nor Angels can comprehende the deformity of it none but God can rightly vnderstande it and he vnderstanding it is moued with infinite detestation and auersion from it as from that which is most opposite of all things to his goodnesse and most hurtfull to his creatures I would stire vp in your hearts a vehement abhorring and vtter renouncing of sinne This is all the fruite saith the Prophet that sinne be taken away Esa 27. and this is all the fruit which I desire and labour for in you and which you ought to labour for in your selues to haue your sinnes taken away fot this we preach catechise and exhort that we may detest all sinne and fly it as the most dreadfull monster in the world We may conceiue somethinge of the power and malice of sinne by the vision which Saint Iohn had in the twelfth of the Apocalipse Apoc. 12. First he saw a very glorious woman soe glorious that she was clothed with the Sunne and had the Moone vnder her feete and vpon her head a crowne of twelue starres Then there appeared another signe in the Heauens a great dragon with seauen heads and tenne hornes and seauen diademes on his head And this dragon was soe strong and powerfull that he drew downe from Heauen the third part of the starres and cast them to the earth and assalting the glorious woman for all her glory he put her to flight and although she had giuen her the wings of an Eagle to fly into the desert yet the dragon sending forth of his mouth a flood of waters ouertooke her with them and had swallowed her vp if she had not gotten helpe By this dragon we may vnderstande something of the power and malice of sinne Sinne is the enemy of all glory it ascended into the Heauens and threw downe from thence the celestiall Angels and made them who were as the starres of Heauen in naturall beauty to wander now vpon the earth and vnder it full of shame and paine The Church farre more glorious in the sanctity of soules then the Sunne is in corporall brightnesse and which may well be signifyed by the glorious woman iâ— sometimes so persecuted by the sinnes of Infidels and euill Catholiks that although the true worship of God be neuer quite banished out of the world yet in some places it is so obscured that the Church in those places is driuen into corners as it were into the desert Sinne is that monster which brought the flood of all humane miserys and a reall flood of waters vpon the Church in the deluge and had quite swallowed her vp if God had not miraculously saued her Sinne hath brought plagues vpon houses citys and Kingdomes and taged in the end so violently destroying of soules that the Sonne of God was incarnated to destroy it It made the Sunne to be eclipsed with a horrible darkenesse the roofe of the Temple of Hierusalem and the rocks there abouts to be rent in peeces the ground to tremble graues to open and dead bodys to rise againe at the destruction of it It made our Saviour to weepe vpon Hierusalem and it made HierusaleÌ„ within a while to be as a stinking graue that swelled vp to an incredible hight with the multitude of dead carcases which were in it It made thousands of that people to languish away with famine and hundreds of thousands to come into their enemys hands and to become subiect to their slauery and torments Sinne hath brought haeresys into the Church of Christ and by them cruell blood â—hed amongst ChristiaÌ„s It is the cause of all dissentions and all the euills that euer were were caused by sinne It maketh the prowde to be contemned the enuious to be enuyed the contentious to be killed the couetous to be full of perplexity the luxurious to dispaire and all sinners to detest that in the end which once they loved and to be full of horrour when they come to dy Wise and holy men haue liued hard and austere liues to keepe themselues cleare from sinne and haue chosen to submitte themselues rather to the cruellest deaths that sinners could devise to inflict then to be sinners with them These are the effects of sinne what monster could euer doe the like if those tall and strong men that terrifyed the Israelites were called monsters for their extraordinary strength and tallnesse why may not we call sinne a monster which hath such power Num. 13. and if excesse or defects or disorders of members make monsters How monstruous is sinne that is the originall cause of all the excesses defects and disorders that euer were it peruerteth the order of all our actions it corrupteth our nature and euen as poyson put into wine intoxicateth it quite and changeth it all into poyson so sinne corrupteth all that is good in our soules and all our good workes being poysoned with one mortall sinne goe downe with it into hell What reason then haue we to abhorre and to fly from sinne If we looked behinde vs and saw a Lyon Beere or terrible Serpent pursueing vs at our heeles our harts would faint presently our whole bodys would
did Simon Magus beginne first to teach that God is the authour of sinne not that he was the immediate causer of it but in that he had giuen vs such a nature as that we sinned of necessity and could not but sinne Which commeth to be the same as to deny freewill Cerdon and Cerinthus followed him in this blasphemy that God is the authour of sinne Yet it had soe ill a sound in their eares to impute sinne vnto God who is infinitly good that they would imagine another God whom they called the euill God and to him they imputed the euill of sinne The like doctrine hath bene auouched by latter haeretiks who amongst other old hâ—â—â—ys haue renewed this as may be seene in Catholike authours who haue confuted them but we will ground ourselues vpon this firme and easy principle established by the Church that God is good and infinitly hating the way of iniquity and infinitly iust that he could not punish vs for sinne if he himselfe were the cause of it therefor God is not the cause and authour of sinne The inordinate affection of creatures is the cause of sinne and men are the authors of the sinnes which they committe God hath ordained all creatures to a good end and to reasonable creatures he hath giuen reason and offereth grace to order their actions according to it they abusing the gift of God and breaking his ordinance committe sinne God permitteth his Law to be broken but is soe farre from breaking it himselfe or being the cause of breaking it that he allwais vseth sufficient meanes to hinder the breaking of it he calleth vs backe from sinne before we committe it inspiring and exciting vs to the contrary and giueth grace to resist temptations and to absteine from sinne if we will And when we haue sinned he rewardeth it not but punisheth it and rewardeth the contrary and therefor by noe meanes can be said to be the cause of sinne He vseth sinne to a good end manifesting his goodnes in rewarding the good and punishing the wicked who of their owne wills committe it being noe way moued by him to it S. Aug. l. de Gen. ad lit to 31. Augustine expresseth this by a very fitt similitude As â—ests in musicke saith he which are noe musicke and as discords of notes which are contrary to musicke are soe placed by skillfull musicians and composed with concords that they make a more sweet and gratefull harmony and as darke colours are intermingled with lightsome to giue more beauty and grace to pictures sic vitiorum nostrorum non est author Deus sed tamen ordinat ea perpeti cogit quae maerentur Soe God is not the authour of our vices but he ordaineth and forceth that which they deserue And as the notes of discorde are not discorde but concorde in effect as the musician ordereth them making of their discorde a perfect harmony soc sinnes are not euill as God permitteth them or as he createth creatures that committe them of as they are ordained to a good end by him but they are in themselues acts of discorde from the Diuine Law and are put into order and concord by him And as we cannot say that the musician causeth discorde or is the authour of discorde for vsing of discorde to perfect his harmony because he maketh concorde with it soe we cannot say that God is the cause or authour of sinne because it hath noe euill but good as he ordereth and vseth it And therefor good Diuines say that God is the cause of the materiall of the act of sinne but not of the malice or euill of sinne as the musician putteth together notes of discorde but maketh noe sounde of discorde by them Those that impute their sinnes to God saith S. Hierome haue that sheild of hart which the Prophet speaketh of saying Thren 3. thou shalt giue them a sheild of hart thy labour They stande as it were face to face against God and retort their sinnes vpon him as though he were to blame in permitting them to sinne and not they in sinning Hence it followeth that we haue freewill to sinne or to abstaine from it Freewill For otherwise sinne proceeding naturally and necessarily from vs the euill and malice of it could not be imputed to vs but to God the authour of our nature Neither is that destinction which some would make to any purpose saying that we haue free will to doe euill but not to doe good For to be free is to haue power to the act or to the contrary and if the act be euill the contrary is good It is true we haue noe power to doe good of ourselues without Gods grace but we can concurre or not concurre with it It is a thinge soe manifest saith S. Aug. ep 11. l. de duab animabus Augustine that man hath freewill and that he is not to be punished for that which is not in his power that shepheards sing it on the mountaines poets on stages the vnlearned in circles the learned in librarys masters in schooles bishops in sacred places and mankind thâ—ough out the world Yet this which is soe manifest was denyed by the Manichaeans the disciples of Manes who sometimes feigning himselfe to be the Holy Ghost and sometimes to be Christ chose twelue disciples to follow him and went vp and downe Affrica preaching against freewill and deceiuing many with such absurditys as are almost incredible to haue bene beleeued After a thousand yeares and more the same doctrine was reuiued againe by Luther and is still mainteined by his followers and by other sects that haue sprung out of him Pelagius an auncient and very learned authour but a prowde and obstinate haeretike was soe farre contrary to this doctrine that where as they deny free power to man to doe good works with Gods grace he affirmed that we haue not onely free power to doe good with Gods grace but also of ourselues without it But S. Augustine hath breifly confuted them both in these words If there be noe free will Aug. ep 46. how doth God iudge the world and if there be not diuine grace how doth he saue the world how can God iudge men to rewards or punishments if they haue not freewill and how doth he saue vs but by his grace strengthening and eleuating vs to good works Soe that we haue free will to doe good contrary to Luther but not to doe good of our owne freewill onely but by the diuine grace which is contrary to Pelagius The Manichaeans Lutherans and those that deny freewill make voide the seauenth article of the Creede that Christ is our iudge and the Pelagions make him noe Sauiour The Catholike Church hath allwais taught that man hath freewill to doe well by cooperating with Gods grace or to doe ill by reiecting it And soe our good works are cheefely attributed to God as proceeding cheefly from his grace and secondarily and instrumentally to our selues because we