and bound it with an othe that he did beleeue that those of Meryndoll and Cabryers were better and more honest people than himselfe or any of his other subiectes And what will you infer of this will you say now that this good king was a Protestant or that he mislyked the Romayn Religion I think there is no man so shameles that dares say so For his life and actes do shew that he was very well minded towardes the church of Rome In maintenance wherof he held great warres in Italy against the Venecians and other Princes that vsurped vpon the patrimonies of the Church But he was a good king and did acknowledge that God had put the Scepter in his hand to minister iustice to all his people and not to condemne the accused without hearing their answere nor to iudge of a matter of importance by the consciences of others but meekly to geue hearing to al matters brought before him not to condemne those thinges for euill which may shew themselues to be good I therfore cōclude thus that those which in these dayes doe so presumptuouslye condemne the reformed Religion without knowing any deserued cause or without hearing such as professe the same vnder color of the condemnatiōs done already by the Popes by the councell of Trent and by the Sorbonistes doe shew therby the great forgetfulnesse of their duty of iudging vprightly And that they cary to slack a hand on the bridle of their conscience in suffering it to depende vpon the phantasticall iudgement of others Lactantius Fyrmian speaking to Constantine the great who was the first christiā Emperor did greatly cōplayn and bewayle that the Paganes and Idolaters of his time did condēne the Christian Religion and had it in disdayn without knowing what christian Religion was and without reading their bookes to vnderstand it These be the very words of Lactātius I doubt not most mighty Emperor Constantine but that if this my work wherby I shew that the Creator of all thinges is the Gouernour of the whole world doe fall into the hands of these vnlearned Religious folke they by reason of their great superstition which maketh them too too impatient will assault me with iniuries spitefully fling the booke to the grounde before they haue read so much as the beginning of it imagining that they should defile thēselues with such a crime as could neuer be wyped out again if they should ether reade it or heare it red patiently Neuertheles I beseech them in duty of humanitie not to condemne my wrytinges if it may be before they doe perfectly vnderstand them For if it be allowed by order of law that Churchrobbers Traytors and Poysoners shall speake for thēselues and argue in their own defence and that it is not lawfull to condemne any of them without examination of his cause It is not againste reason that I should intreate those into whose hands this booke shall happen to reade it or heare it read throughout and to deferre their iudgements vntil they haue read it to the end But I know well the wilfulnesse of that kinde of people to be such as I shall not obtayne this suite of them For they be afrayd least the force and strength of the truth should ouercome them and make them yeald vnto vs and to agree with vs That is the cause of their roaring storming least they should heare vs and of their shutting of their eyes least they should see the light which we bring vnto them wherein they shew the litle assurance that they haue in their own fond reasons For they dare neither vnderstand nor enter into disputation because they know they shall soone be vanquished By reason wherof it commeth to Passe that through their shunning of all manner of scanning and sifting of things by disputation They driue discretion quite away And force and fury beare the sway As sayth Ennius And because they are bente to condemn and vtterly to oppres such as they well know to be innocent they be vnwilling that their innocencie should appeare because they deeme it a greater iniquitie to condemne the innocencye that is apparant thē the innocēcy that cōmeth not to tryall Or rather as I sayde afore they are afeard that they should haue no power to condemne vs if they should heare vs. This was the inuectiue which Lactantius wrote against the heathē in his time who condemned the Christians without hearing them Which reason I wil vse against the impatient catholicks desiring them not to shew them selues like vnto those heathen men in being so obstinate as to shutte their eares from hearing and vnderstāding the doctrine which they so condemne persecute without knowing what it contayneth But if those angry Catholicks which oppose themselues as aduersaries against our reformed Religion and so boldly condemn it wold temper their choller passions with such moderation as to geue place to reason and to set naturall discretion in due place and preheminence Truely I durst make thē iudges of this cause and I am wel assured that they would iudge farre otherwise than they haue done hetherto or doe yet And in deed if the loue of truth haue any place in their harts as I beleue it hath I beseech them euen before God and for the truthes sake to vouchsafe to examine this present defence with setled iudgement and to consider of it without affection For I protest vnto them that I will vse such modestie in my wordes as none shall iustly haue cause to accuse me of rigor First therfore I presuppose that betwixt the Romish Catholickes and the Protestantes there is disagreemēt of doctrine in many poyntes yea euen in the most principall as I will shew hereafter But yet neuertheles both the one and the other doe acknowledge generally the vnitye of the person of Iesus Christ in two natures not confounded The holy Trinitye of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and the holy Scripture of the olde and new Testament and therefore they bothe may in this respect be called Christiās howbeit the one more aptly then the other as shall appeare by that which I will say hereafter Now that wee may the better treate of the poyntes which are in question and that all men may the more playnly iudge thereof we will distinctly examine the reasons which are to be considered in this discourse and are commonly alleaged on both sides for the mayntayning of the doctrine of either party and so by comparing the contrary reasons and alegations together the truth will the more apparantly shew it selfe because light is thē most apparant and bright when it is set nigh to his contrary ¶ Of three Maximes groundes or rules whereby a man may iudge of the poyntes of religion which are in questiō The first Chapter FOrasmuch as the whot Catholickes accuse the Religion of the protestantes to be wicked new and heretical and therfore cannot brooke the society of such as professe the same we hope to shew
goodnes by heaping vpon vs his blessings as it were in recompence of the good works which he himself hath wrought in vs and in making vs to reap the fruit of his own labor and to receyue the reward which he himself hath deserued But touching the great and incōprehensible benefit of the gifte of eternall life and of knitting vs vnto him selfe in euerlasting happines he doth not geue it vs in any other respect or consideration thā only for the loue of his welbeloued sōne Iesus Christ That was the cause why he wold haue him to come down into this base world and to take our nature vpon him and to fulfill the law for vs and to beare our iniquities and greefes and at a word to be our Mediator our redeemer our high priest our Shepheard and our spirituall king All which titles he hath taken vpon him to saue vs and to be the onely cause of our euerlasting felicitie and to knit and incorporate vs vnto himselfe and to make vs partners for euer of his heauenly glory Yet may we not hereupon conclude that we should not doe good workes as though they stoode vs in no stead to saluatiō for they be fruits of faith and whosoeuer hath the true faith doth incontinently shew it by the good fruites and effectes which it bringeth forth in him And he that doth no good workes cannot saye that hee hath true fayth Besides that we also are sufficiently led to doe good workes by the great number of other benefites and blessinges wherwith God crowneth thē as we haue sayd before This is the sūme of the doctrine which the Protestants do hold concerning faith and good workes Whereby they yelde wholly vnto God and to our Sauiour Iesus Christ the honour which belongeth to hym as to the true onely cause of our saluatiō of all the good things which we haue and receiue aswell Spirituall as Temporal whatsoeuer they be It followeth then acording to our first Maxime that this doctrine is better thā the doctrine of the Romish catholicks who affirme that by theyr good works they deserue Paradise all the other good things which God geueth them that these good works do partly proceed of themselues and of their owne free will and partlye of Gods grace as if God alone coulde not saue them if they helped not the matter by their owne good workes which they hold to be part of the cause of their saluation which doctrine all men may easely perceiue to be repugnant to the nature of god For seing that he is altogether and perfectlye mercifull it must needes follow that those that be saued be saued wholly and not in part by his onely mercy which should not be perfect if the effect thereof were not perfecte and entyre Notwithstanding the Catholickes holde opinion still that their good workes are part of the cause of theyr saluation and that they be not saued by the onely mercy of God. Yea there are monkes which take themselues to haue such aboundance of good workes in store that they not onelye haue ynow wherewith to merite their owne saluation but also a great masse of ouerplus which they cal works of supererogation to purchase the saluation of other men but chiefly of such as do them good and geue them liberally of their temporall goods which doctrine in very truth all such as loue the name of God ought to reiect For it is an vtter defacing of the benefit of our lord Iesus Christ an attributing of the honor of our saluation to the vncleane works of sinners whereas in deed we ought to attribute the same to the death and passiō of the son of god who is without sinne Also it is to be discerned by Gods word which of the two doctrines is the truest and most auncient For the Scripture doth playnelye teache vs that we be iustified by fayth without the workes of the law so consequently by fayth onely when it sayth Wherfore no flesh shall be iustified before him by the workes of the law And it sayeth in an other place for you are saued by grace through fayth and not of your selues it is the gifte of God Not for workes leaste any man should boast of himselfe And in an other place it is sayd He hath saued vs not by the works of righteousnes which wee our selues haue done but of his owne mercy And Saynt Paule sayeth in an other place I esteme all things as doong so I may gain Christ and be found in him not hauing mine owne righteousnesse which is of the law but the righteousnes which cōmeth by beliefe in Christ Now as there is no comparison betwixt the desertes of Iesus Christ our sauiour and the desert of mens good workes no more than is betwixt the brightnes of the Sun a litle sparke of fire so must we needes confesse that our consciences do finde without all comparison far greater and excellenter quietnesse in the righteousnesse of fayth thā in the righteousnes of good workes And in that respect doth S Paule say Beeing then iustified by fayth we haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ By whom we haue also accesse through fayth to this grace wherin we stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God. But yet this fayth which doth iustifye vs may not be void of good workes for then it were like the fayth of deuils who beleue that God hath commaunded the contentes of the tenne commaundementes but doe quite contrary For such a faith wyll not iustify vs as S. Iames doth teache vs And wheras the Catholicks hold opinion that we are iustified by the grace of Christ and our good workes both together S. Paule doth answere them thus If it be of grace then is it no more of workes for then grace were no more grace And if it be of workes It is no more of grace for thē were works no more workes And whereas the Monkes beare men in hād that by their good works of Supererogation they deserue Paradise for themselues and for theyr benefactors Iesus Christ doth aunswere them himselfe and vtterly cast down their pride and ouerwéening in that he sayth when you haue done all the things that are commaunded you say vnto your selues we are vnprofitable seruauntes we haue done no more than we ought to do Neither may we say that Iesus Christ doth commaūd vs to say so to make shew of humility for he who is the truth it selfe doth not cōmaūd vs to lye for any intent good or euil And therfore it followeth that seing he commaundeth vs to say that though we haue done al the cōmaundements which neuer any man did but onely Iesus Christ yet were we but vnprofitable seruauntes and god were nothing in our dette for it because we haue done nothing but that whereunto our duety bindeth vs I say it followeth that the same is certayne and true Dauid also doth
any thing that we doe here vpon earth but by messēgers And who so should say that this doctrine is hereticall must say also that the Canones and Popes be heretickes which as I take it the Romish Catholickes will be loth to confes This Canon is also confirmed by the holy scripture which beareth witnesse to vs that there is none but god onely that knoweth the secrets of mens hartes and so consequently that it is he onely that can vnderstand our prayers which come rather from the hart than from the mouth The protestantes say furthermore that there are so greate numbers of Sayntes regestred in the Letany of whose Canonysing men doe doubte for as sayth a good auncient Doctor the bodies of diuers are honoured on earth whose soules are buried in hel that in reason we ought to refuse the number of intercessors and contente our selues only with Iesus christ which is the true and pure doctrine that we ought to hold and the Catholicks cānot iustly accuse it of herisy according to our third maxime And hereupon I adde this more that as the protestantes doe hold opinion that we ought not to attribute the title nor the office of mediator to any other thā to Iesus christ no more ought we to do in his other titles and offices as of his priesthood his mediatorship his spirituall reigning his chiefe shepheardship For these be the titles of honor which belong vnto Iesus Christ and are not to be cōmunicated to others how great or excellēt personages so euer they be And truely herein all the world must needs cōfesse that the protestants do shew thē selues to bee best Christians in that they attribute onely to our Lord Iesus Christ the titles of honor that are his and will not communicate them to any other creators what so euer they bee for if they would dispence with their consciences in this behalfe they know right well they might soone be at a poynt with the Romishe Catholicks and shunne many miseries and persecutions which they now indure For there wanteth no more but that they would allow the Sayntes to be partners of the title of mediator the maspriestes to be parteners of the tytle of Sacrificers the doers of good workes of Supererogation to bee parteners of the title of a propitiator And the Pope himself to be partaker of the title of Spyrytuall Kinge and soueraigne Sheaheard And then by and by there would be a peace cōcluded determined and established betwixt the protestants and the romysh Cacholicks But the protestants will by no meanes nor for any cause diminish any part of the titles of honor which belong vnto the sonne of God nor attribute them to any other creatures Whereby it appeareth euidently that men do them great wrong in defaming their doctrine to the King as though his permitting of them to excercise the same were a mean to disposses him of the title of moste Chrystian king For in asmuch as the name of christian commeth of Christ out of doubt they be worthiest of that name which yeld Christ his due honor and glory ¶ Of fayth and good workes The third chapter THe doctrine of the Romishe Catholickes concerning faythe and good workes differeth greatly from that of the Protestantes For the Catholicks hold opinion that only faith without good workes doth not iustifie a man but that it is needful the faith be ayded by good works Contrarywise the Protestants hold that onely faith doth iustify a man without good workes That is to say the faith is the onelye instrumēt wherby Iesus Christ who is the true and efficient cause of our iustification applieth his righteousnes vnto vs and maketh vs to be accounted iust before God his Father through his owne merit without the helpe of our good works Neuerthelesse they confesse that good workes are acceptable vnto God but yet they affirme that good workes are not of such power as to iustify vs before the face of god or to make vs capeable either in part or in al of euerlasting life And they say also that they be not all good works which the catholicks do take for good works For as touching the firste poynte you must consider that the doctrine of the protestants doth tend to attribute the honor of our saluation all wholly vnto our Lord Iesus Christ as vnto him who is the true and onely cause thereof For although we haue neede of fayth whereby to receiue the benefit of Christ who imputeth and applieth his owne righteousnes to all such as beleue in him yet neuertheles he doth remain the onely and altogether true cause of our saluation forasmuch as it is he himselfe which doth also geue vs fayth So as he doth not onely geue vs the drinke of immortallity that is to say his owne righteousnes which he alloweth vs but also the cup to receyue it in yea and he geueth vs both of thē freely and for nothing but onely of his owne liberalitye and grace with out asking or receiuing of vs any recompence for the same And truely if we would goe about to recompence so great and excellent a benefit as is euerlasting life thorowe our good workes it were as much as if a man would purchase a great and rich inheritaunce with a smale summe of bace mony such as in reason should rather be cried downe than allowed For our good workes of themselues bee so vnpure and vnperfect mingled with Ipocrisy and other ill affections that they are not worthy to be presented before the face of God who doth not esteeme such vntoward payments in recōpence of eternall life Notwithstanding when they be done through fayth hee doth accept them in fauour and for good will to his sonne our Lord Iesus Christ vpon whose only desertes our fayth resteth because in that respect they proceeded from the good tree which is Iesus Christ who worketh all our good workes in vs. So as the workes of fayth be good and acceptable vnto god for that they proceed from Christ as from the efficient cause which worketh them in vs but they are full of vncleanes worthy to be reiected in respect that they proceed from vs who serue but as instruments howbeit yet vncleane instrumentes to do them And therfore are they alwayes defyled spotted in some sort for Iesus Christ who worketh them in vs doth make thē good and pleasing to God his Father but yet they doe gather somwhat of the filthy and naturall infection of vs who are the vessels wherin they be made Neuertheles God is so good and gratious that he not only admitteth them as done by Iesus Christ his sonne but also for his sake doth wipe away the spots and vncleanes which are in them and crowneth them with many blessinges as with prosperitie of children temporall wellfare help of frēds in aduersitie moderation in prosperitie discretion happy succes in affairs with many other his benefits wherin he doth more and more shew his great bounty gratious
amōgest the Romayne Catholickes the pilgrimage to Ierusalem to visit the holy Sepulchre is highlye esteemed as most holy denoute paynefull and meritorious And yet for all this a certayne Canon sayth It is nothing worth to haue bene at Ierusalem but to haue liued well there These be the very wordes of the Canon taken out of S. Ierom. It is not a thing worthy praise sayth he to haue bene at Ierusalem but to haue liued well at Ierusalem And as touching contemplation whereby the Moonkes woulde cullour and mayntayne their idle life their owne Canons do openly condemne them saying that Moonkes ought to exercise themselues in tilling the land in dressing of gardens in graffing of fruit trees in making of nettes to catch fish in copying of bookes and finally in following the example of the Bee which neuer ceaseth to be doing of somewhat And the same Canons do also witnes that in the monasteries of Egipt they neuer receaued any Moonk but vpon condition that he should labor Not so much for his owne necessitye that he might haue wherof to liue as to keepe their minds from wandring about euill Imaginations In so much that we reade that in old tyme there was in Egypte a good Abbot named Serapion which had vnder hys charge ten thousand moonks which is so little allowed and lyked of pouerty as that they be very ful of husbādly ordinances for the well gouerning of the goods and riches belonging to the Monasteries Insomuch that there is a Canon which condemneth a certayne kinde of people for heretickes which tearmed themselues Apostolicall as followers of the examples of the Apostles in making profession to haue nothing priuat of their owne And therfore by this Canon a man might say that all beggers are heretickes And who doth not see the infinite number of abuses which are crept into the order of Monkes in protes of time against the ordinances of the Canones For saith the Canon if thou desire to be a Monke that is to say a solitary person as thou doest name thy selfe What doest thou in the Citie which is no place for solitary people but for such as should haunt company And another Canon following saith thus Let the Monke be contented with his Cloister For like as a fish doth die as soone as he is out of the water euen so doth a Monke when he is out of his Cloyster Therfore let him be solitary and hold his peace for he is dead to the world but aliue vnto God. But yet for all this doe we not see how the Monks are planted in the best and greatest Cities and in the fairest places of them and in exceding Princely and stately houses whereas in auncyent time they were contented to dwell in wild fields and Forrestes and in little Cabonets builded in the corner of some Rock Shal not a man meet them now at all houres in euery streete in markets and pleading places in Innes in fields in townes and in Castles in stead of being within their Cloisters Furthermore the Monkes in olde time of what sort so euer they were did eate no flesh at all but followed the ordinance of the Canon which sayth thus It is not lawefull for anye Monkes eyther to eate or to tast of flesh Not for that we esteeme the creature of God to be ill but for that wee iudge it meete and necessary that Monkes shold abstayne frō flesh excepting onely those which be sick Nowe then if it happen that any Monkes breaking the ordināce of this auncient rule and custome dare presume to eate flesh let him be shut vp and kept as a close prisoner by the space of sixe moneths to do his pennance See now how the Monkes were brideled by their own Canons but the most part of them haue since that time broaken their bittes For now there are none but the Monkes of the charterhouse the Celestines and these new come Capusmes and Smoke Monkes which will obserue that canon and yet their obseruing of it is for the most part but in outward shew and Ipocrisie Truely if there were no more but this to be found fault with in the order of monkery the matter were not great For christian libertie geueth euery man leaue to vse all kinde of meates which God hath created for mannes vse so that he take it moderatly with thankes geuing But the cause that led me to speake of this point among the rest is to shew that the Monkes of these dayes doe not obserue their auncient Canons And by the Canons also in auncient time it was vnlawfull for any Nun to take the vaile and to professe her selfe a Nun vnles she were aboue forty yeres of age But in these daies they be forced to take it vpon them being but thirteene or fourteen yeres olde whereof the world seeth what good huswifery insueth And as touching the pouling of their heads whē they cause thē to take the black veile it is not so small a fault as many esteeme it to be For by the word of God women are commanded to preserue their heire in token of subiection And according hereunto it is forbidden by a Canon taken out of the Councell of Gangra that any woman should poule her head vnder pretence of Religion These are the wordes of the Canon If any woman cause her head to be pouled in respect of Religiō cursed be she as a breaker of the Law of subiection because long heare is geuen vnto women to couer them withal and to put them in minde of their subiectiō And whereas in these dayes it is thought so strange a thing amongest the Romish Catholicks that a monk or a Nun should marry because it seemeth that in their so doing they breake the vow of virginitie which they haue made vnto God they declare herein that they haue not well read their own Canones by the which such mariages are allowed Namely by one Canon taken out of S. Augustine as a witnesse of the Councell which saith thus Some say that those which marry after the taking of the vow be adulterers But I say vnto you that those doe sinne right greeuously which doe seperate such marryed folks Yet notwithstanding we haue seene many Lawes here in Fraunce which haue disanulled the maryages of priestes Monks and Nuns and constrained them to returne to their Cloysters a thing quite contrary to this Canon The selfe same doctor S. Augustine doth also shew that they haue done greatly amisse which haue so highly commended virginitie as to preferre it before mariage saying that virginitie did fill the heauens and mariage the earth which was the cause of the sounding of so many Nunries For he excuseth S. Ciprian and S. Ambr. of their so great praysing and exalting of virginitie saying thus Wheras Ciprian the martir hath written of the behauiour which ought to be in virgines he did it not to intise thē to make vowes of virginitie but Ambrose the Bishoppe
the Lord thy god c. And the Romish Catholicks doe contrarywise say that in some weeks wee ought not to labour past three or foure dayes or fiue at the most for the rest say they of the sixe ought to bee imployd idlely in keeping them holy and feastfull to the sayntes I pray you tell me is not this a manifest impugning of the sacred inuiolable commaundement of God our creator Is it not a setting of thē selues directly agaynst his holy will I know well it may be sayd that in the tyme of the olde law of Moyses they did make moe resting dayes than the seuēth which was called the Sabaoth day As the feast of the Tabernacles of Trumpettes of vnleauened bread of Easter such others like But the aunswere hereunto is that such feasts were commaunded by the expresse word of god And bee not those feasts which are celebrated in the Romish Church Otherwise in al the sayd feastes of the old law the people did not loyter from their worke yea and euen in the Christian primatiue Church men might worke in tillage vpon the Sonday as it appeareth by a law made by the Emperour Constantine Which sayth thus Let all Iudges Citizens and handicraftes men forbeare their worke vpon the honorable day of Sonday But let it be free and lawfull for the husbandmen to labour in tilling the Earth for often tymes it hapneth that on the other dayes the weather serueth them not so well to sowe their corne and to dres their vines least by ouerhipping so small space of tyme they might lose the commoditye geuen them by the heauenly prouidence Geuen the second daye of Marche in the yeare of the second consulship of Crispe Constantine But there is a Canon taken out of S. Gregory which procedeth yet further and sayth moreouer that those which teach to abstayne from worke vpon the Saterday and Sunday be teachers of Antichrist These are the very wordes of the Canon It is come to my knowledge that certayne people of peruersse disposition haue sowed among you some poyntes of doctrine cōtrary to the holy faythe commaunding men to abstayne from working vppon the Sonday whom what els may we call than preachers of Antichrist who at hys comming will cause men to rest from all labour both vppon the Saturday and Sonday too This Canō doth plainly condemn the doctrine of the Papistes which hold opinion that men ought to do no maner of worke vpon the Sundayes nor on the holidayes throughout the whole yere The protestantes doe in deed confesse that the Sunday ought to be imployed rather in the seruice of God than in any other kinde of trauell And that it is good to obserue that order to the intent that by resting on that day folke may be the better able to go through with their worke vpon al the other dayes of the weeke But to binde mens consciences to that order were no better than to make them Iewes And although the Romish Catholickes finde fault with men for labouring vpon the Sundaies and the other feastedayes yet doe they suffer vsurers and marchauntes to vse their trafficke and to make bondes bargaines contractes paymentes and receits of money vpon their holidaies So as it is commonly seene that the tymes which are chosen for the making of Obligations and such other bondes and bargaynes be the Sundayes and the other feastdaies And that the times appointed for paymēts of money are generally vppon the feastdayes And yet if now a dayes any poore protestant should labor sixe dayes of the week in the fieldes or in his shop to obay God and to mayntayne hys poore family by and by they will cry out that he is an heretick and worthy to be burnt or banished And why so Is it heresy to obay God Now whē when men vse such speeches is it not all one as if they called vertue vice and white black Therefore let them hardily know that their spewing out of such speaches is agaynst God himselfe who will one day well cause them to feele his terrible iudgement and make them know that hee is ielous of his honor and a reuenger of the despight done to his commaundements The ninth commaundemēt also is corrupted by the Catholick sophisters for God doth vtterlye and simply forbid to lye And they are of opinion that it is lawfull to lye for a good intent And not onely to tell a lye by reporting some vntrueth but also to break both promise and oth to Which is contrary to naturall reason whereby the lawe of all nations hath bene brought in which willeth that both the publicke and priuate promise should be religiously obserued kept for the maintenance of humaine societye And it is also contrary to the word of God which not onely reproueth liing but also threateneth the lyer with damnation and commaundeth vs to keep our promise euen though it bee to our owne disaduantage Also it is contrary to the canon law which sayth that all kinde of lyes are sinne and that we ought to keep our othe promise euen with our enemies against whom we make warre For as the Canon sayth expresly Men ought not to seeke peace to the ende to make war but to the end to gayne peace And I would to God that the Romish Catholicks had well obserued these Canons For then had not we frenchmē falne into the calamities and ruine which we now bee fallen into The other commaundementes likewise haue bene greatly corrupted by these Sophisters which name thē selues catholickes As namely the seuenth commaundement which forbiddeth Adultery hath bene corrupted by the goodly counsell of Tollette and by Isodorus which sayeth thus A christian may not haue two wiues nor moe than two but one onely But if he haue not a wife he may haue a Concubine which doctrine the Pope hys vpholders haue Canonised and confirmed thereby the better and more easily to maintayne their shamefull Lechery notwithstanding that the seuēth commaundement and also the auncient Canons prohibit all dwelling or matching together of mā and woman sauing onely in marriage Wherefore for a conclusion vppon this poynte it appeareth openly that the Protestauntes retayne Gods Commaundementes in their purenesse and soundnes without taking aught from them whereby it is euidēt to be sene that their doctrine is the best the auncientest and the fardest from error according to our forsayd maximes ⧠Of the Sacrament of Baptisme The vi chapter ALthough the Romish Catholickes holde opinion that there are seuen sacramentes yet not withstanding to auoyd tediousnes wee will speake here but of two That is to say of baptisme and of the Lordes Supper As touching Baptisme the Catholickes and the Protestauntes do well agree in the principal poyntes which is that it ought to be done in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy ghost with the sign of water But they doe differ very much in the other poynts and
so well exacte the tenthes keep all to themselues and geue naught to the poore Let vs harken I pray you how the canons doe thunder against such kind of people as doe withhold the goods of the needy The tenths saith the Canon are the tributes of needy soules so that if thou payest wel thy tithes thou shalt not only receaue aboundance of fruites but also health of body and soule He that payeth them not is an vsurper of other mennes goods And looke how many poore folke doe die for want of sustenance in the place where he dwelleth of so many murders shall he be gilty before the seate of the eternall iudge for conuerting of the thinges to his own vse which are appointed for the poore And surely the Church of old time could so ill away with such an abuse in the Clergie as is the withholding of the goods of the poore that it wold neuer haue suffered it But contrariwise by the auncient Canons the Bishops and the rest of the Clergie should haue been constrayned to succor the poore and needy with the gold and siluer of the Church and to imploy it rather in this work of charity than in making of faire buildings and in repayring of Churches These are the words of a Canon taken out of S. Ambrose The Church hath gold not to hoord it vp but to distribute it to the needy To what end should a man keepe that which serueth him to no purpose Do we not know what a great quantitie of gold and siluer the Assiriens tooke out of the temple of the Lorde were it not much better that the priestes should bestowe it to the releefe of the poore and needy than that the wicked enemye should spoyle it and carry it away will not the Lord say vnto yov wherefore haue ye suffered so many needy folke to dye for hūgar For thou hadst gold wherwith thou mightest haue bought them meate wherefore hast thou suffered so many Captiues to be led into bondage and to be killed by the enemy for lack of beyng redeemed It had bene much better for thee to haue saued the vessels of lyfe then the vessels of mettall Thou shalt not know what to aunswere vnto this for what wilt thou say That thou wast afrayd least the Tēple of God should not haue bene well garnished I say vnto thee that the Sacramentes haue no neede of gould The thinges which are not to be boughte for golde are neuer the more acceptable for the golds sake The redemption of Captiues is the ornament of holy thinges And truely these are the precious vessels which do saue mens soules from death That is the true treasor of the Lord which couereth that whiche his bloud hath couered And the next Canō following taken out of S. Iherom sayth thus The glory and reputation of a Bishop is to pinch himselfe to inrich the poore and it is a shame for a Priest to seeke riches to himselfe Many build vp the walles and in the mean while do pul downe the pillors of the Churche The marble glistereth the Lampe shyneth and the aulter is garnished with precious stones but of all this while there is no account made of the seruaūts of god To receiue the goodes which ought to be distributed to the poore and to be desirous to keepe them vnspent is a poynt of to great forecast or els of to great fearfulnes but to conuert any part of it to a mans owne vse is a fault whiche passeth the crueltie of the greatest theeues of the worlde Marke this definitiue sentence which this good doctor S. Ierom hath pronunced agaynst such as withhold the goodes of the poore and bestow them to their own vse Oh good lord howe full of suche theeues is this world at this day which are cōdēned by this sentence of S Ierom. At leastwise the most part of my masters of the Clergy can not wash their handes of this crime of deteining and vsurping the goodes of the poore except they will deny the Canons heretofore alleadged which are grounded vpon al reason and equity and haue bene holily obserued in the primatiue church I doubt not but that many of the clergy will thinke this little discourse of tyme which I haue made touching their discipline very hard and greuous But I beseech them to suffer their affections to geue place to the truth Their owne Canons shal serue me for a lawfull defence and excuse in this case For by them we be taught neuer to conceale the truth but bouldly to speake it vpon payne to be accounted oppressors of the same and allowers of error These are the wordes of a canon of Pope Innocentes The errour which men do not resist seemeth to bee allowed And the trueth which is not defended is oppressed If a man neglect to resist the vnruly it is as good as a mayntayning bolstering of them neither can the party be excused of suspition of secret society which neglecteth to withstand the crime that is manifest There is also another canon which sayth thus That party is gilty of the fact which is careles to correct the thing that he may amend For it is written that not only those are partakers of the misdeede which commit it but also they that consent thereunto And he that condemneth such as goe astray sheweth himselfe to hate their misdoinges and he leaueth no gap for himselfe to leape out at which challengeth those that start out of the way By which canon we ought all of vs to learne not to winke at vices and misdealings And therefore my maysters of the clergy may if it please thē make themselues a wholesome medicine of the things which I haue spoken heretofore concerning their manners and discipline And like as they spare not to exclaime against the Protestants howbeit wrongfully that they are the cause of the ciuill trobles in Fraunce and so consequently of the corruptions and disorders that are bred of them So set them bethinke themselues a litle of their own doeings and they shall finde by the Canons which I haue alleadged heretofore that in their own orders there are as many abuses and corruptions as possibly can be But now that I haue spoaken sufficiently of the Pope and of the Romish Clergie let vs now enter into theire Purgatory ⧠Of Purgatorye The xii chapter THe Romain Catholicks doe hold opinion that there is a certaine place within the earth which is not altogether so low as hell whether the soules of the good Christians which are dead doe goe to purge them of their sinnes by tormentes of fire and other rigorous paynes and that euery deadly sinne should by desart haue seuen yeares of purgation if the term of yeares were not shortned by masses suffrages and pardons And for this cause they doe hold opinion that it is needfull to cause a great number of masses and suffrages to be sayd for them that be dead and to the same end to geue
legacies and foundacions of Obites to massepriests and chauntrypriests and to make good prouision of pardons specially in the time of the great Iubileis and Croysseys which they sell very good cheape And in very truth this doctrine of Purgatory hath exceedingly inriched the Cleargie yea more than any other thing For there dyed not so poore a wretch which gaue not some legacie to the priest yea often times euen the best thing they had to haue them sing masses for the case of their soules and to shorten the time of their abode in purgatory And hereunto were al sick folke perswaded by their Confessors which would make great difficultye nicenes to geue them absolution except they would promise to geue one thing or other to the church And the better to draw them hereunto they made them beleue that for euery mortall sinne their soules shold remain as is said seuen yeares in the paynes of purgatory which would be an infinite time if it were not shortened by masses For say they although that God doe in this world pardon the sinnes of all such as confesse them to the priest and make satisfaction yet doth he remit but the sinne only and not the payne so as we must needes goe to purgacory to suffer paynes for al the sinnes which we haue committed in all our life time Which paines are so great as greater are not possible For say they there is as greate difference betwixt the fire of purgatory and the fire of this world as is betwixt a burning coale the breath of a mannes mouth By reason wherof the poore world had so great feare and conceit of this hote fire of purgatory and of the infinite time which they should be fayn to remaine there accounting seuen yeares for euery mortall sinne which was committed in a mannes life time that euery man gaue vnto the Priestes as much as they would craue to the end that their time in purgatory might be shortned But contrary to this doctrine the Protestantes doe hold opinion that we haue no other purgatory than the bloud of our Lord Iesus Ghrist which washeth away and clenseth all mens sinnes which beleue in him And they say that his precious bloud is more then sufficient to wipe out all our sinnes without hauing neede to be purged by any fier And that our sauiour doth not clense vs by halfes but throughly altogether and we should doe him wrong and iniury to beleue that we haue need of any other kinde of clensing than of that which he him selfe maketh in iustifying vs by bearing our iniquities and by wyping away our sinnes and blemishes And that it is a mockery to say that God doth pardon our sinnes and not the payn due for sinne as if you wold say he forgeueth vs the dets that we doe owe him but not the payment of the dettes for he will haue that still And now to say the truth all men may easily iudge that this doctrine is better thā the doctrine of the Romish Catholickes according to our first rule because that by the same Christ our Redeemer is most honored forasmuche as he is acknowledged to be the only and whole purger of our iniquities and our true and only Attonementmaker and Iustifyer And asfor the holy scripture that doth teach vs that the faythfull and chosen of God do dye vnto the Lord and that those which dye vnto the Lord are very happy do go into the place of rest These are the expresse wordes of S. Iohn Happy are they which from this time forth do dye to the Lord for they do rest from their labors And for those which dye not to the Lord forasmuch as they be none of his nor members of the body of the true church whereof christ is the head it is certayne that there is no saluation for them And therefore it is in vayne to imagine a purgatory either for the one or for the other For as many as die to the lord go presently to rest not into purgatory And those which doe not dye to the Lord do go into euerlasting payn not into purgatorye and there is no saluation for them And as for the text taken out of the booke of the Machabees which alloweth prayer for the dead and so by consequence purgatory also The Protestantes say that it ought to be houlden for a certayn and vndoubted rule that we ought not to build any article or fayth vpon the bookes called Apocripha of which nūber this booke of the Machabyes is one insomuch as the Author thereof that wrate it confesseth that he may perchaunce haue ouershot himselfe and that he hath written in simple stile and that he was not of skill to write any better which is an vnmeete kinde of speech for the holy Ghost who can not erre nor hath any neede to be excused for speaking in a base stile for when he listeth he speaketh in a higher stile than the excellentest Orators that ouer were in the world And as touching the text where it is sayes that the sinne against the holy Ghost is not pardoned neither in this world nor in the would to come Whereupon the Romish Catholicks doe inferre following the interpretation of S. Gregory that then the other sinnes are forgeuen in the other world and so by consequence that there must nedes be a purgatory the protestantes affirme that to be an ill conclusion For in so saying our Lord Iesus Christ mente nothing else but that the sinne againste the holy Ghost shal neuer be forgeuē S. Oregory himself as we will declare hereafter doth not say that all other sinnes sauing the sinne agaynst the holy Ghost shall be pardoned in the world to come but onely that the smalest sort of sinnes which are called veniall sinnes shal be then forgeuen Let vs now come to the Canons There are two peeces of Canons in the decrees of Graecian which may easely quench and confound purgatory For by the one it is sayd that in this world one of vs may wel be helped by the prayers of another But when we depart from hence to appeare before the seate of Christ euery man must beare his own burthē and then the prayers of Saints which are in paradise will nothing auaile vs and much lesse will the prayers of mē of this world stand vs in any steade These are the wordes of the Canon In this present world we know we may helpe one another with our prayers and good aduice but when we come before the iudgement seate of Christ then neyther Iob. nor Daniell nor Noe can pray for any but euery man shall then beare his own burthen The other Canon sayth that neither the bishops nor the Apostles can assoyle the dead of their sinnes Wherupon it followeth that men haue bought the Popes pardons in vaine for the redeeming of those which are sayd to haue been in Purgatory These are the very words of the said Canon taken out of