in other workes be of the same merit and therefore Priests and religious persons might aswel marry as liue continently Secondly He laboureth to proue that the Deuil cannot ouer-come them that be regenerated in ful faith Thirdly He putteth no difference betweene abstinence from meate and eating of the same with thanks-giuing Fourthly That al who haue kept their baptisme shal haue the same reward in heauen and not any one a greater then another These saith S. Hierome be the hissings of the old serpent by these sleights the Dragon cast man out of Paradise And doe our Protestants by hearkning vnto these serpentine voices thinke to recouer Paradise againe doe they not beleeue just with Iouinian that it is of no greater merit to liue a professed Virgin then to liue maried sauing that they are so much worse then Iouinian vvas as to deny the best Christian to haue any merit at al by any state or vvorke soeuer Be they not secondly wel assured in their owne opinion that the Deuil cannot subuert them and put them by their places in heauen doe they not thirdly in proper tearmes teach with Iouinian that fasting is no more acceptable to God then eating And they that hold one simple justification common to al without any kinde of merit must needes consequently hold that al in heauen haue the same reward vvhich was the fourth point of Iouinians heresie They then be so formal Iouinians that they cannot deny it but are driuen to maintaine M. Abbots Page 56. that Iouinian vvas a right honest man and vnderstood Paul better then any of them al Hierome with al his Hebrew Greeke and Latin was no body in comparison of him But what say they then to Augustine Lib. 2. Retract cap. 22. another professed aduersary of that Iouinian who stileth him for his ignorance joined with impudency and for the lewdnesse of his doctrine a very monster And further telleth vs that the old holy Church of Rome did most faithfully and most valiantly resist him and his errours So did also that most graue and holy Bishop S. Ambrose Ambros lib. 3. Epist 81. vvith many other worthy Prelates his neighbours condemning Iouinian and his complices for false teachers Besides he is yet further ranked in the rew of damnable Heretikes by the ancient learned and Godly Authour Vicentius Lyrinensis In Cōmonit cap. 15. neither can the Protestants name any one approued authour for a thousand yeares after his daies that held him for any better And yet such goslinges doe they make of their followers that they must rather follow Iouinian then Hierome Augustine Ambrose and the old Church of Rome and vvhatsoeuer else He that wil take no warning but longeth to be gulled let him hardly hearken vnto them In like manner doe they vphold the Heretike Vigilantius Hieron cont Vigilant Who denied the Relikes of Martirs to be worshipped and waxe candels to be lighted before them at noone day and said That whiles we liued we might one pray for another but no mans praier after his death wil helpe any other Out of vvhich it followeth euidently that it is in vaine to pray to Saints that can doe vs no good Thirdly he taught That they did better who vse their owne goodes and doe of their reuennues giue peece-meale some-thing to the poore then they that sel al away and giue it al at once to them and become Monkes and Religious Fourthly That Clergie men should marry For these points expresly Vigilantius was reproued by S. Hierome as an vnpure and an vngodly Heretike and in one nights worke vvas so taken downe and as it were crushed in the head that he neuer after durst once quack or reply one word S. Hierome is therein also seconded by Gennadius a famous Authour of a thousand yeares standing and by S. Thomas of Aquine with others without any contradiction at al vntil Luthers vnhappy daies And yet the Protestants his disciples hauing put on their brazen faces M. Abbots Page 68. doe not only paraleel and equal him but also preferre him before S. Hierome one of the best learned among the Christians that liued since the Apostles daies M. Abbot very shamefully saith Page 67. that Hierome himselfe commended this Vigilantius for a holy Priest And to make his lie the more luculent he puts it in the superlatiue degree sanctissimum S. Hierome doth indeede commend one Vigilantius for a holy Priest but were there no more of that name besides that wicked Heretike whom he calleth rather Dormitantius then Vigilantius Are there no more Abbots but one any man that hath but halfe an eie may see if he wil view that Epistle that S. Hierome spake there off a farre honester man then the other was whom he calleth neither sanctissimum nor sanctum but a man replenished with an vncleane spirit Hieron cont Vigilant very vnlearned and more fit to keepe an Ale-house then to serue in the Church To returne then to my purpose vvhereas he can be no true Catholike according to S. Augustines rule and the common opinion that beleeueth any one point of heresie Ad Quodvult In fine The Protestants doe hold nine points of heresie condemned in three notable Heretikes Aërius Iouinian and Vigilantius And that so openly without any kinde of cloaking or colouring that they are compelled to defend the authors themselues for honest men who notwithstanding by the verdict of al approued Antiquity lay condemned as vvicked Heretikes for more then a thousand yeares togither Now I wil proceede to some of the rest of their erronious opinions which though they imbrace yet they dare not defend the authours of them for godly men but with vs doe condemne their authours though they vphold some of their errours It is noted by the blessed Martir Ireneus that one of Simon Magus errours was That men were saued by grace Lib. 1. cont Haeres c. 20. and not for good and just workes the Protestants agree with him in this that saluation and heauen are not giuen for good workes For though they teach that good vvorkes be necessary as signes and fruites of our faith yet they wil not in any case admit them to be any cause of saluation but make their justifying faith the only and whole cause thereof by which they fal also into the heresie of Eunomius related by S. Augustine in these vvordes Eunomius is reported to haue beene an enemy to good workes August ad Quodvult Haeres 54. so farre forth that he auouched the committing of what sinne soeuer and the continuance in the same to hinder no man so that he were a partaker of that faith which he taught Doth not the new deuised faith of Protestants giue them the like assurance of saluation though they be no lesse sure to commit and to continue in mortal sinne euen vntil their dying day The Nouatians were branded for Heretikes Euseb 6. Histor cap. 35. Socrat. 1. Histor cap. 7. Zozom 1. Histor
not what blasphemy is For God doth not withdraw his loue and liking from any man that he once loued and doth not abhorre his soule vnlesse that man doe first forsake God and commit some offence against his diuine Majesty as all diuines agree but to imagine that our Sauiour committed any offence against his heauenly Father as impious Caluin doth insinuate is flat blasphemy against his immaculate purity In c. 27. Mat. and against the holy Scriptures that doe testifie Hebr. 7. vers 26. Our high Priest to be holy innocent impolluted segregated from sinners higher then the heauens c. That had no necessity to offer for his owne sinnes How therefore could his heauenly Father abhorre his soule or how could he be so euil perswaded of so good a Father God indeede to shew the rigour of his justice against our sinnes for which Christ suffered and the better to declare Christs inuincible fortitude and most feruent loue towardes vs was content not to yeeld vnto Christs humanity vpon the crosse so much as the ordinary inward comfort vvhich he affordeth vnto al that suffer for his names sake and that only did Christ in the name of his humanity expresse where he said My GOD my GOD why hast thou forsaken me and doest not afford me so much as that inward consolation which thou grantest to others But he was at the very same instant most assured that euen then God did loue him more ardently if it were possible then at any time in his vvhole life before because that then he did for his sake according to his heauenly decree and to satisfie his vvil and pleasure suffer the greatest sorrowes that the nature of man could sustaine and that without any kinde of extraordinary or ordinary helpe comfort or consolation but of this I haue spoken more in the Preface before alleaged Here I am only to note how M. Abbot slandereth me in this place with that whereof he himselfe cleareth me afterwards in his booke Let vs goe on vvith his reproches He saith That we be but sicophants and hirelings to the Pope for whose sake we must gale and disgrace howsoeuer there be no truth in that we speake How proueth he this is it not the part of a notable sicophant indeede to vpbraide a vvhole order of men vvith so great crimes vvithout any proofe at al How many learned Catholike writers be there in the world that neuer receiued one peny from the Popes holynesse no nor neuer so much as saw him or had any particular dealings with him what they doe out of their duty towardes God and of zeale to his sacred truth that M. Abbot vvould haue seely soules to beleeue to be done only of constraint and feare or for some hope of worldly gaine Perge mentiri goe on Sir with your tale By which meanes saith he many of your subjects are intangled in a misconscience of religion and thereby drawne from their true loialty and prepared for seditious practises so saith he both simply and falsly without any colour of proofe But we say that by the Catholike doctrine al subjects consciences are rightly informed in the waies of God and thereby instructed to be true and faithful to their Princes and to hate al such practises as tend to the perturbation of the vveale publike Yea vve doe more forcibly and effectually by the Catholike doctrine moue al subjects vnto dutiful obedience then the Protestants doe Caluin lib. 4. Instit ca. 10. num 5. Perkins reformed catholike pag. 157. for they hold that Christian liberty alloweth al men the free vse of al thinges indifferent and that such thinges may not be made necessary in conscience so that if the Prince goe about to restraine his subjects of that liberty they are not bound to obey him vvhereas we al maintaine that al men are bound in conscience to obey al such just lawes of Princes as are not directly against the law of God our doctrine therefore doth farre excel the Protestants in the matter of true loialty And to answere here by the vvay to that odious argument of theirs That the Papists forsooth are but halfe subjects because in matters of religion they are not ruled by their King and his lawes but doe depend vpon the Pope I say that if al they who in matters of faith and saluation doe not take their temporal Prince to be their supreme gouernour should be esteemed but halfe subjects then the mighty Monarkes of France and Spaine and al other Catholike Kings or Princes of the vvorld haue not any one whole subject for none of their people acknowledge them for chiefe cōmanders in Ecclesiastical causes then also for a thousand yeares together our former Kinges were wholy destitute of true and loial subjects for they depended no lesse then we doe vpon the Bishop of Rome for declaration and decision of spiritual affaires as it is very particularly demonstrated in that learned answere vnto Sr. Edward Cookes fift booke of reportes Briefly if this their reason vvere good the Apostles and al the first and best Christians vvere but halfe subjects for in matters of faith not one of them vvould be ruled by the Roman Emperors or other their temporal Princes but did al acknowledge and confesse some other supreme gouernour in those spiritual cases wherefore they must either allow vs to be perfect loial subjects notwithstanding our dependance vpon the Popes holynesse in causes Ecclesiastical or else condemne as disloial al the best Christian subjects that euer vvere euen since Christes owne daies And thus much may serue for this place to shew that they are to be reputed vvhole subjects and that of the best marke who doe giue vnto Math. 22. vers 21. Caesar that which is Caesars reseruing neuerthelesse vnto God and his Vicar that vvhich to him appertaineth I returne to M. Abbots accusations They haue beene bold already saith he to tel your Majesty that if you wil not yeeld them what they desire God knoweth what that forcible weapon of necessity wil driue them to at length meaning as he expoundeth it that if we could not get vvhat vve desire by vviles like Aspes we would like raging Lions seeke it by open violence These wordes of M. Abbots maketh me remember that worthy saying of a graue wise author Sr. Thomas Moore Take away lying and railing from Heretikes and you shal leaue them little or nothing This one little sentence of mine whereon he makes a whole discourse a part and doth glance and girde at it very often elsewhere thinking to haue gotten thereby a great aduantage against al Catholikes he could not propose to his Majesty without a lease of lies The first is that he auoucheth my only feare and conjecture to be the constant opinion of al Catholikes they haue beene bold saith he vvhen he citeth my only vvordes vvriting in mine owne name wherefore he doeth open wrong to others to impute that to them whereunto they were not
in steede of God WILLIAM BISHOP WHAT a worthy graue Preface he vseth to assure men that vve wil not deny S. Paul nor his Epistle to the Romans vvhich neuer were called in doubt by any man But good S ir vvhiles you muse and busie your head so much vpon bables you forget or wilfully mistake the very point of the question Was the Church of Rome at her most flourishing estate when S. Paul wrote that Epistle to the Romans was her faith then most renowmed ouer al the world as you write nothing lesse for not the tenne thousand part of that most populous Citty was then conuerted to the faith and they that had receiued the Christian faith were very nouices in it and stoode in great neede of the Apostles diuine instructions Any reasonable man would rather judge that the Church of Rome then came first to her most flourishing estate when Idolatry and al kind of superstition was put to silence and banished out of her vvhen the Christian religion was publikly preached countenanced by the Emperours authority which was not before the raigne of Constantine the great our most glorious country-man vvherefore M. Abbots first fault is that he shooteth farre vvide from the marke vvhich he should haue aimed at principally The second is more nice yet in one that would seeme so acute not to be excused It is that he taketh an Epistle written to the Romans for their instruction and correction as if it were a declaration and profession of their faith vvhen as al men know such a letter might containe many thinges vvhich they had not heard off before Further yet that you may see how nothing can passe his fingers vvithout some legerdemaine marke how he englisheth Theodorets wordes Dogmatum pertractationem The handling of opinions is by him translated al points of doctrine vvhereas it rather signifieth some then al opinions or lessons But I wil let these ouer-sights passe as flea-bitings and follow him whither he pleaseth to wāder that euery man may see when he is permitted to say what he liketh best that in truth he can alleage out of S. Paul nothing of moment against the Catholike faith S. Paul saith he is wholy against you and for vs. Quickly said but wil not be so soone proued First he condemneth the worshipping of Saints and Saints Images in that he reproueth the Heathens for changing the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of the Image of a corruptible man O noble disputer and wel worthy the whippe because we may not make false Gods or giue the glory of God vnto Idols may vve not therefore yeeld vnto Saints their due vvorship might not S. Paul whiles he liued as al other most Godly men be reuerenced and vvorshipped for their most excellent spiritual and religions vertues with a kinde of holy and religious respect euen as Knights and Lordes and other worldly men are vvorshipped and honoured for their temporal callings and endowments with temporal worship vvithout robbing God of his honour Is the Lord or Master dishonoured and spoiled of his due reuerence and respect if his seruants for his sake be much made off and respected yet with such due regard only as is meete for their degree This is so childish and palpable that if the Protestants were not resolued to sticke obstinately to their errours how grosse soeuer they be they vvould for very shame not once more name it To the next ROBERT ABBOT PAVL saith and we say the same that Ibid. vers 17. the righteousnesse of God is from faith to faith you say otherwise that it is from faith to workes that faith is but the entrance to workes and that in workes the righteousnesse of God doth properly consist WILLIAM BISHOP THE sentence of S. Paul is mangled his wordes are for the justice or righteousnesse of God is reuealed therein in the Gospel by faith into faith which are obscure and subject to diuers expositions The most common is that Christ the justice of God is reuealed in the Gospel by conferring the faith of them that liued before the Gospel vvith their faith that liued vnder it the faith of them who liue in the Gospel giuing great light for the cleerer vnderstanding of such thinges as were taught of Christmore darkely in the law and Prophets This being the literal sence of this place what is here for mans justification by only faith where only mention is made of Gods justice and not one vvord of the imputation of it to man but of the reuelation of it in the Gospel What a foule mistaking is this alas his pouerty of spirit and want of good armour compelleth him to lay hand on any vveapons how simple and weake soeuer In the next verse it is plainly shewed that God did grieuously punish al them vvho liued wickedly notwithstanding they held the right faith for saith S. Paul Rom. 1. v. 18. the wrath of God from heauen is reuealed vpon al impiety and vnrighteousnesse of those men that retaine or hold the truth of God in injustice Whence it followeth first that men may haue a true faith without good workes for they held the truth of God being themselues wicked Secondly that the same faith would not auaile them aught nor saue them from the just wrath of God if it were not quickned by good workes ROBERT ABBOT THE Apostle in expresse termes affirmeth Rom. 4. v. 6. imputation of righteousnesse vvithout vvorkes We doe the same but you professedly dispute against it WILLIAM BISHOP WE hold with the Apostle that vvorkes be not the cause of the first justification whereof he there treateth nor to deserue it though inspired with Gods grace they doe prepare vs and make vs fit to receiue the gift of justification neither doe the Protestants wholy exclude workes from this justification vvhen they doe require true repentance which consisteth of many good workes as necessary thereto We hold that justice is increased by good workes which we cal the second justification against which the Apostle speaketh not a vvord but doth confirme it vvhen he saith in the same Epistle Rom. 2. v. 13. Not the hearers of the law are just with God but the doers of the law shal be justified Marke how by doing of the law which is by doing good workes men are justified with God and not only declared just before men as the Protestants glose the matter Now touching See the place Rom. 4. v. 6. imputation of righteousnesse the Apostle speaketh not like a Protestant of the outward imputation of Christs justice to vs but of inherent justice to wit of faith vvhich worketh by charity which are qualities Rom. 6. powred into our harts by the holy Ghost so that there is only a bare sound of wordes for the Protestants the true substance of the Text making wholy for the Catholikes ROBERT ABBOT PAVL teacheth that Rom. 6. v. 23. Page 98. eternal life is the gift of God through IESVS
be referred vnto the See Apostolike Because the Apostles by the commandement of our Sauiour haue ordained that questions of greater difficulty shal alwaies be referred vnto the Apostolike See vpon which Christ built the whole Church saying vnto blessed Peter the Prince of the Apostles thou art Peter vpon this rocke wil I build my Church c. Anacletus his immediate successor Euaristus Pope Martir writing vnto the Bishops of Africke Epistola 1. ad Eccles Africanam speaketh thus Truly your charity following the rule of the wise hath chosen rather to referre vnto the See Apostolike as to the head what ought to be obserued in doubtful matters then to presume your selues by vsurpation and writing to the brethren in Aegipt Epistola 2. doth command certaine Bishops whom he resembleth to adulterers because they had intruded into other Bishops Citties to be cast out of those places and to be made infamous and depriued of al Ecclesiastical honours adjoining That if after these thinges so dispatched they should haue further complaint against them that matter were to be enquired out and to be determined by the authority of this holy See Note how these holy Popes that vvere so nigh vnto the Apostles taught it to belong vnto the See of Rome to determine of the causes of the Bishops of Afrike and Aegipt most remote from them And because the Apostle S. Paul willeth 2. Cor. 13. vers 2. euery word to stand in the mouth of two or three witnesses I vvil take for the third Alexander the first Pope and Martir who succeeded vnto Euaristus he is as plaine and formal in this cause as any of the rest these be his wordes Epist 1. omnibus orthodoxis It is related vnto the primacy of this holy and Apâ—stolike See vnto which the disposition of the highest cases and the affaires of al Churches are by our Lord committed as to the head c. and a little after Our Lord here appointed this holy See the head of the whole Church I omit here the verdict of al others herein because this very matter must be spoken off hereafter againe and againe these three most ancient graue and Godly Martirs al successours of S. Peter and S. Paul vpon whose authority M. Abbot here only insisteth vvil suffice to certifie the indifferent reader that euen from the Apostles daies the Bishop of Rome hath beene taken for supreme judge in al Ecclesiastical causes aswel in the East as West Church To finish this passage thou maist gentle reader by this little see what shamelesse shifts M. Abbot is forced to vse to make any coulourable shew out of antiquity for the lay Magistrates superiority in spiritual causes He is first driuen to cite an vnlearned an vnlikely and an Apocriphal letter of 1400. yeares old vpon the credit of men of our owne age and those most partial too on his owne side the letter bearing date also many yeares after the death of him that is supposed to be the authour of it and when al is done in the same vvorshipful letter there is not one pregnant proofe for any part of their doctrine lastly that his owne chosen witnesses doe deliuer vp most cleare euidence against himselfe he therefore that vvil giue judgement on his side must needes shew himselfe exceeding partial ROBERT ABBOT ANACLETVS Bishop of Rome Dist 1. Episcopus 2. peracta and after him Calixtus ordained that consecration being done al should communicate or else be excommunicated For so say they the Apostles did set downe and the holy Church of Rome obserueth But the Church of Rome that now is maketh it lawful for the Priest to receiue alone the people in the meane time standing gazing and looking on and the fight only must suffice them WILLIAM BISHOP HERE is nothing in manner worth the answering only the cosening deceitfulnesse of the man is to be displaied First Anacletus hath only De consecrat dist 1. Can. Episcopus that Deacons Subdeacons and other Ministers that in solemne feasts attend in holy vestiments vpon the Bishop whiles he doth sacrifice vnto God should in the same solemne feasts communicate or else be debarred of their Ecclesiastical places where is not one word of the lay peoples communicating And therefore that Canon is wholy besides the purpose sauing that it doth teach that then Bishops vsed to offer sacrifice vnto God and that the Clarkes did in holy vestiments serue them at Masse See the Canon and vvonder at the folly of the man In like manner doth the second Canon of Calixtus speake of Ecclesiastical persons that serue at Masse for so saith the Collector De consecrat dist 2. Can. peracta Ecclesiasticis liminibus careat Minister Let the Minister or he that serueth want Ecclesiastical place With which agreeth the glosse vpon the same Canon vvhich also is euident by the very Text for the punishment set downe is Ecclesiasticis carere liminibus To be shut out of the Ecclesiastical mens seates and places vvhich vvere no punishment to a lay man that was not before admitted into any such roome And as it may be seene in the said distinction Cap. Etsi non frequentius De consecrat dist 1. and Cap. Secularis Lay men were commanded about those times to communicate but thrife in the yeare at Easter Whitsontide and Christmasse Briefly here is nothing against the moderne practise of the Church of Rome for both they that solemnely serue at Masse on festiual daies doe receiue and no lay man is denied to communicate on any day either on those feasts or at any time else vvhen he vvil prepare himselfe thereto But to debarre Priests from seruing God in that most high degree be their deuotion and preparation neuer so good vntil they can get some company of the laity to communicate with them is without just cause to robbe God of his soueraigne honour to extinguish the working of his holy spirit in deuout soules and to defraude the whole flocke of the benefit of many most holy and effectual praiers not only of the Priests but also of the people vvho doe not with vs stand gazing on at the time of communion as M. Abbot prophanely conceiteth but humbly kneeling doe then pray most deuoutly and doe in spirit and desire communicate also Briefly there is not one sillable in those Canons sounding to the Protestant sence that Priests should not coÌ„municate if the Clarke or people joine not vvith them but only that the indeuout and slugglish Clarkes should be depriued of their places if vpon high feasts they did neglect to communicate with the Bishop or Pastor ROBERT ABBOT IVLIVS the Bishop of Rome disallowed intinctam Eucharistiam De consecrat 2. cum omne the dipping of the Eucharist the Sacrament of Christs body in the cuppe Because no witnesse thereof was brought out of the Gospel but there is mentioned the commending of the bread by it selfe and the cuppe by it selfe but
beene supreme gouernour of Christes Church To vvhich fallacy it is most easie to answere First that albeit the Patriarke of Constantinople could not so cal himselfe in a lawful good meaning but proudly and wickedly because he had his jurisdiction limited vvithin the boundes of his owne Patriarkship had nothing to doe with any other churches that vvere vvithout it so that his power was in no sence vniuersal that is spred ouer al the world yet this name might in some good sence notwithstāding haue beene giuen vnto the Bishop of Rome as S. Gregory himselfe in one of the same Epistles vvhich M. Abbot citeth doth intimate For vvriting to the Patriarke of Alexandria he saith Lib. 4. Epist 36. Your Holinesse knoweth that by the Councel of Chalcedon vvhich vvas one of the foure first general Councels most highly esteemed off by S. Gregory this name of vniuersallity was offered to me as Bishop of the Apostolike See for as he testifieth Epist 32. of the same booke that name was in honour of S. Peter Prince of the Apostles attributed by many in that Councel vnto the Bishop of Rome yet saith he none of my Predecessours consented to vse it because verily if one Patriarke be called vniuersal the other are made no Patriarkes at al. Briefly then to dispatch this great matter that name vniuersal as it was challenged by Iohn Patriarke of Constantinople who had no right to it in any good sence was presumptuous peruerse and prophane in vvhich consideration S. Gregory so tearmed it Neither vvould he nor any of his predecessours vse that name though in that sence that they had charge and command ouer the vniuersal Church it might haue beene attributed to them yet because it was subject to another construction to wit that the Bishop of Rome was the only truly proper Bishop of euery Diocesse and other named Bishops were not true and proper Bishops there of but the vniuersal Bishops Vicars Suffraganes and Substitutes therefore they vtterly auoided that name as matter of jealousie and scandal choosing the humble stile of seruus seruorum Dei The seruant of Gods seruants For the further satisfaction of the learned reader I wil proue out of S. Gregory in the very same place quoted by M. Abbot both that he wrote against the name of vniuersal Bishop in the later sence And that notwithstanding he refused that name yet that he acknowledged and taught the Bishop of Rome to haue supreme authority ouer al the Church of Christ Touching the first the wordes before alleaged out of his 36. Epistle Lib. 4. Epist 36. doe demonstrate so much to wit If one Patriarke be called vniuersal the other are made no Patriarkes at al vvhich can haue no other sence then that the calling of one Patriarke or Bishop Vniuersal doth signifie him so to be a Bishop in euery place that no other besides him can be truly and properly called Bishop but must be his Vicar and Subdelegate The like saith he in his 34. Epistle to the Emperesse Lib. 4. Epist 34. That his brother and fellow Bishop Iohn striued to be called Bishop alone And in the 7. booke and 69. Epistle to Eusebius he saith Si vniuersalis est restat vt vos Episcopi non sitis If one Bishop be vniuersal it remaineth that you be no Bishops This then is most certaine that S. Gregory spake against the name of Vniuersal Bishop taken in this sence that he was so a Bishop as no other but he could be Bishop in any place Marry if we vnderstand by it one man to haue the general charge of al the Churches in the vvorld yet so as there be also Bishops and Archbishops his brothers who haue the particular and proper gouernement of their seueral Diocesse then S. Gregory telleth vs plainely that S. Peter and his Successours the Bishops of Rome were such these be his wordes Lib. 4. Epist 76. It is manifest to al that know the Gospel that the charge of the whole Church was by our Lordes owne mouth committed to S. Peter Prince of al the Apostles And againe in the same Epistle Behold Peter receiued the keies of the Kingdome of heauen the power of binding and loosing is giuen to him the charge and principality of the whole Church is committed to him vvhich is also repeated in one of the Epistles cited by M. Abbot Lib. 4. Epist 32. And that by S. Peter this vniuersal charge and authority was left vnto the Bishops and See of Rome no man can vvitnesse it more manifestly then S. Gregory hath done First hauing proued out of the word of God S. Peters supremacy he adjoyneth Lib. 6. Epist 201. Therefore though there were many Apostles yet for the principality it selfe the only seate of the Prince of the Apostles hath preuailed in authority As farre as the See Apostolike is euidently knowne to be set ouer al Churches by the authority of God So farre amongst other manifold cares that doth greatly occupy vs when for the consecration of a Bishop our sentence is expected Againe Lib. 2. Epist 69. Lib. 7. Epist 64. For whereas he the Patriarke of Constantinople acknowledgeth himselfe to be subject vnto the Apostolike See of Rome I know not what Bishop is not subject vnto it Moreouer What thing soeuer shal be done in that Councel without the authority and consent of the See Apostolike it is of no strength and vertue Whereas on the other side he saith Those thinges that are once ratified Lib. 7. Epist 69. by the authority of the See Apostolike neede no further strength or confirmation If any man desire to see how S. Gregory himselfe practised that soueraigne authority ouer al the parts of the Christian world let him but reade his Epistles and he shal finde it most perspicuously Magdeburg Centur. 6. In Indice verbo Gregorius euen as their owne great writers of the Centuries doe testifie directing them to the places in his workes where they shal finde the same How devoide then was M. Abbot of al good conscience and honest dealing that vvould vnder the colour of his writing against the name of vniuersal in that sence perswade the simple that S. Gregory vtterly misliked of the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome Now because that S. Gregory hath beene alwaies highly esteemed and greatly respected of both Latin and Greeke Church for his singular holynes and learning and was besides the principal cause vnder God of the conuersion of vs English-men vnto the Christian faith I wil note out of his workes summarily what was his opinion of many of the questioned points of faith betweene the Protestants and vs because M. Abbot citeth him against vs that euery one may see vvhat religion was first planted amongst vs English-men and continued for a thousand yeares Of the Supremacy and Merit of good workes hath beene spoken already Concerning the sacrifice of the Masse it was daily offered vp to God in his age
handes and by which many miracles were wrought if with filing be could get off any thing For when many that come hither doe craue that blessing that they might haue of that dust which is filed off those chaines the Priest comming with the file◠doth for some presently get off something whereas for other he drawing the file on the chaines a long time nothing at al wil off it Further to a Noble man of France he sent the blessing of S. Peter and a little Crosse within the which was inclosed some such filing of S. Peters chaines Which for a time saith he bound S. Peters necke Lib 2. Epist 72. but shal loose your necke from sinne for euer Some relikes also of S. Laurence Grid-yron were inclosed in the foure corners of that same Crosse That by the helpe of that whereon his body was broiled your minde saith he may be kindled in the loue of God Touching the Images of Saints he not only approueth them to be made but teacheth them to be set in Churches Lib. 7. Epist 119. that they who cannot reade may by beholding of them learne to imitate some of their vertues Moreouer he exhorteth al men to worship them by kneeling before them yet with this caueat that they doe not yeeld them any such adoration as is proper to God What a protectour he was of Purgatory praier for the dead Lib. 7. Epist ad Secundin Lib. 4. Dialog cap. 20. may be seene in these places vvhere he saith that we must beleeue that there is a Purgatory fire to cleanse lighter offences after this life before the day of judgement And proues it both by Christes wordes ¶ Math. 12. vers 32. If any man blaspheme against the holy Ghost it shal not be forgiuen him neither in this world nor in the world to come And out of S. Paul 1. Cor. 3. vers 15. He shal be saued yet so as by fire And in the beginning of the third penitential Psalme expounding these wordes of the Prophet O Lord rebuke me not in thy fury neither chastise me in thy wrath he adjoineth This is as much as if Dauid had said I know that after this life some shal feele the fire of Purgatory others shal receiue the sentence of eternal damnation But because I esteeme that transitory fire of Purgatory to be more intollerable then any tribulation of this life I doe not only wish not to be reproued in the fury of eternal damnation for I feare also to be purged in the wrath of thy transitory correction In this exposition he agreeth vvith S. Augustine vpon the same Psalme euen as he did in the first with the same profound Doctor Lib. 21. de Cinit cap. 24. Et lib. 6. contra Iouintanum cap. 9. Further he teacheth to pray for the soules departed Lib. 4. Dialog cap. 50. And to offer sacrifice for them Ibid. cap. 55. and else where in many places To speake a word of the single and chast life of the Clergie S. Gregory saith None ought to be admitted to the ministry of the Altar Lib. 1. Epist 42. L. 12. In fine In decretis sauing such whose chastity hath beene approued before they were made Ministers Againe If any Priest or Deacon doe marry accursed be he How wel he liked of the vowes and holy profession of Monkes and Nunnes may appeare by that that he himselfe was one of them And he relateth Homil. 11. in Ezechiëlem Hom. 40. in Euangel that there were 3000. Nunnes of name in his time within the walles of Rome whose life was so holy and so much exercised in fasting praiers and teares that he did beleeue had it not beene for them none of the rest had beene able to haue subsisted so many yeares amongst the swordes of the Longobardes He then did not as the Protestants doe thinke religious persons vnprofitable members of the common weale by whose holy liues and deuout praiers he esteemed the Citty to haue beene preserued For the sprinckling of holy Water in Churches erecting of Altars placing thereof Relikes of Saints see Lib. 9. Epist 71. For Pilgrimage to holy places Lib. 4. Epist cap. 44. Homil. 37. in Euang. Lib. 2. Dialog cap. 17. Finally if I would stand to rehearse al that S. Gregory hath vvritten in the defence of the Catholike Roman faith I should make a vvhole volume And this briefe extract out of his owne authentike workes vvil suffice I hope to demonstrate what a jolly patron he was of the Protestants doctrine and vvith vvhat good conscience M. Abbot and his fellowes doe alleage him as a fauourer of their errours which he disproued confuted and condemned so fully and particularly little lesse then a thousand yeares before they vvere hatched and thrust into the world And must it not needes vvorke in al considerate English-mens harts a very vehement inclination to imbrace the now professed Roman religion to see the same point by point professed taught and practised a thousand yeare gone by so wise holy and learned a Bishop vvho was also as I noted before the chosen instrument of God principally to procure our reclaiming from Idolatry and the seruing of false gods vnto the true and sincere faith of IESVS Christ That faith which he taught was planted first amongst vs English-men See the Catholike Apologie out of Protestants as the most learned among the Protestants doe confesse the same hath also euer since vntil of late beene wholy retained of al our most holy Ancestours is it not then a great shame for vs to degenerate so farre and to fal so fondly from it I trust in the mercies and goodnesse of God that we shal once haue grace to perceiue vnderstand and amend it ROBERT ABBOT GREGORY the ninth Bishop of Rome though liuing in later time of great corruption yet by the ancient doctrine of the Catholike Church could say that * Greg. Ep. ad Germ Archi-Episc Cōstat apud Math. Paris in Henrico tertio the not knowing of the Scriptures by the testimony of the truth it selfe is the occasion of errours and therefore that it is expedient for al men to reade or beare the same But now the doctrine of Rome is that it is pernitious for the people to meddle vvith the Scriptures that reading and knowledge thereoff is the breeding of error and heresie and as dogges from holy things so the people must be secluded from the reading and vse of them WILLIAM BISHOP M. ABBOT seemes to be fallen into a dangerous consumption and to draw fast vpon a desperate estate or else he vvould neuer vse such silly salues as this to prolong the life of his forlorne cause From Gregory the first he leapeth ouer the heades of an hundred Popes his Successours and lighteth next vpon Gregory the ninth that liued aboue six hundred yeares after him whom also he citeth not out of his owne workes but from the report of another and when al is done he hath
cap. 21. by the best Hystoriographers and other approued authors of the auncient Church for denying Priests to haue power to forgiue some sort of the more hainous crimes Our Protestants exceede the Nouatians therein for they hold that Priests haue no power to pardon any sinne at al either little or great but only to pronounce them absolued for the satisfaction of the congregation And M. Abbot doth vpon meere surmises goe about very ignorantly to colour their deceit Page 187. in saying that the Nouatians denied absolution not from any sinnes but only from the sentence of excommunication Ibidem for both Socrates and Sozomene doe affirme in plaine tearmes the Nouatians to haue taught that it lay not in the power of a Priest but in God alone Illud genus peccati ignoscere To pardon and forgiue that kinde of sinne And againe That hope of pardon was not to be expected of the Priests but of God who could remit sinnes And there is no mention of any sentence of excommunication pronounced against them but that the offendours through the enormity of their sinnes had depriued themselues of the benefit of the Priests absolution And because M. Abbot saith yet further that Nouatus denied absolution to one only kinde of sinne let vs heare how formally that most graue Doctor S. Ambrose hath 1200. yeares before confuted him these be his wordes The Nouatians say Ambros de Poenitent cap. 2. that excepting some of the grieuous sinnes they doe giue pardon vnto the lighter offences But S. Ambrose replieth thus So did not Nouatianus the authour of your errour For he held that penance was not to be injoyned to any sinne at al vpon this consideration that he would not binde that which afterwardes he could not loose least by binding he might put them in hope of loosing Therefore doe you condemne the sentence of your owne Master because you put that difference betweene sinnes that some of them may be forgiuen and other some you thinke remedilesse But God maketh no such distinction who hath promised his mercy vnto al and hath giuen licence vnto Priests to pardon without any exception Obserue how directly that auncient Father doth crosse our new Masters in witnessing that both Nouatianus himselfe denied Priests to haue power to pardon not only the greater but any sinne at al And on the other part that God gaue vnto Priests authority to pardon al sorts of sinnes without any exception of the most grieuous Hieron 〈◊〉 Epist de errorivus MoÌ„tan Niceph. lib. 18. cap. 43. Math. Paris in Henrico 3. Guido de lacobis cap. 2. The Montanists also as I rehearsed before out of S. Hierome did jump with the Nouatians in this point Afterwardes as heresies in tract of time grow more formal about the yeare of Christ 600. there sprong out of that corrupted roote certaine lewd impes called Iacobites who did teach in terminis That it was not necessary to confesse our sinnes to a Priest but it would serue to confesse them only to God Doe our Protestants differ from them any one jote therein That the Manichees among many other errours did deny Free-wil al Antiquity doth confesse The same doe the Protestants though not altogither after the same manner nor vpon the same groundes For the Manichees denied freewil aswel to sinne as to doe vvel Aug. 1. Retract 15. de duobus naturis cont Manich. for they dreamed that there vvas in a man both a good soule which they supposed to be a part of the good God and an euil soule descended of the nation of darkenesse Out of the forcible operation of the one of these two soules they imagined al good and badde deedes of man to proceede vvithout the free choise or consent of his owne wil. M. Abbot craftily to cleere their party from the infamy of the one branch of the Manichean heresie doth deny that they doe agree with them in the other True it is that the Protestants doe not deny vs free-wil to doe euil as the Manichees did yet doe they agree with them in the other part attributing the vvhole vvorking of good vnto grace as the Manichees did to the good soule without any free choise or consent of ours And albeit S. Augustine in refuting them doe most coÌ„monly insist vpon their denial of liberty to doe euil In disput coÌ„t FortunatuÌ„ in actâ—s cum Foeliâ—e cap 12. as being the more euident eminent absurdity yet doth he in sundry places intimate that the Manichees held it absurd to affirme that we had free wil to doe good The Donatists vvere of opinion that the visible Church of Christ was perished in al other parts of the world and only remained vndefiled in those coasts of Afrike where their heresie bare the sway August ad Quodvult alibi and vvere therefore by the verdict of Antiquity declared blinde Heretikes The Protestants as obstinately and more blindly doe auouch that the visible true Church was for 900. yeares togither banished out of the world and was of late restored from that long exile by Friar Luther and his followers and doth yet remaine only vndefiled in those corners of Europe where their new Gospel doth domineer they are therefore in that point Donatists It was a very preposterous shameful inuention of the Arrians yet of necessity imbraced afterwardes by other Heretikes to appeale from the judgement of their spiritual Pastors vnto the lay Magistrate thus writeth S. Ambrose of the Arrian Bishop Auxentius He being brought vnto an exigent doth flie vnto that suttle tricke of his predecessours to draw vs into the Emperours displeasure Orat. tertia cont Auxentium affirming that he being but a young-man and a Nouice in the faith ignorant also of the holy Scriptures as commonly other Princes are must notwithstanding in his Consistory determine this Ecclesiastical cause so did the Donatists appeale from the judgement of Bishops vnto the Emperour Epist 48. 162. Lib. 3. cont Iulian. cap. 1. as witnesseth S. Augustine And so the Pelagians would haue done if they could haue preuailed therein as the same most graue Father hath also recorded And is not this as it were the foundation and shot-anker of al the Protestants superstitious proceedinges Another rotten twigge of the same Pelagians heresie it was Aug. de Peccat Merit lib. 1. cap. 9. To deny children to be purged from original sinne by baptisme attributing that rather to a couenant made long since to old father Abraham most learned Protestants be of the same minde And al of them agree vvith Proclus the condemned Originist Epiph. Haeres 64. vvho taught Original sinne to be so in seperably joined with our mortal bodies that til death it is not clearely purged of it The Antidicomarianitae that is Epiph. Haeres 78. enemies of the blessed Virgin Mary were scored vp for Heretikes for denying that most holy Mother of God to be worshipped and honoured yet doe the Protestants
haue beene various in the transforming of his countenance In Germany beleeuing one thing in Heluetia another at Geneua turning the third way in Holland vvandering the fourth How many countries they infect with their new and prophane Gospel so many diuers professions of faith and distinct formes of Church gouernement they haue These changlinges that are so farre degenerated from their predecessors piety and doe disagree so much one with another Yea that doe in the same country often chop and change their owne religion are of al constant Catholikes to be auoided as vnstable and wauering soules caried about with euery blast of new doctrine But concerning dutiful obedience vnto the Prince vvho is Gods Lieutenant general in temporal causes Catholikes if they be compared to Protestants wil be found an hundred times more loyal and constant vvhich point because I haue touched in my answere vnto M. Abbots Epistle in the beginning of this booke I neede not here againe handle it at large And although some men of our religion haue now and then as fraile and sinneful creatures forgotten their duty both to God and their King yet they haue beene so few and that so seldome in comparison of the Protestants that for one of ours more then a thousand of theirs haue within this hundred yeares failed therein though we be in number a thousand of our religion for one of theirs if you take al Christendome ouer And albeit the state seeme now to be settled against the religion of our fore-fathers and not vnlike so to continue vntil it shal please God of his infinite mercies to alter and amend it vvhich notwithstanding as al the faithful know may be very shortly because his diuine power is infinite and no man able to resist his vvil yet we shal be by the assistance of Gods good grace so farre off from biting our tongues or the lip either thereat as M. Abbot fondly imagineth that vve wil rather pray to God to open our lips and to loose our tongues to magnifie his holy name that he hath giuen vs that true Christian happinesse and honour not only Phillip 1. vers 28. to beleeue a-right in Christ IESVS in these daies of infidelity but also to suffer disgrace and to sustaine persecution for the constant profession of his holy name and only true Catholike Apostolike Roman faith They who make profession of religion to please the Princes of the earth to heape vp honours and to rake riches togither haue great cause of griefe when they finde themselues therefore by the present state discountenanced impouerished and vtterly rejected But others vvho know our blessed Sauiour as al Christians ought to doe and the true honour vertue and riches of his Crosse doe more regard of his loue yea of one good looke of his then of al earthly Kinges countenances fauours and preferments And doe make a higher estimate of bearing his Crosse after him and of suffering persecution for his glorious name sake then of al vvorldly ease honours and commodities Imitating therein that generous and most noble minded Moyses Hebr. 11. vers 25. Who chose rather to be afflicted with the people of God then to haue the pleasures of temporal sinne esteeming the reproach for Christ greater riches then the treasures of the Aegiptians It doth not therefore so much trouble vs to behold the state settled against the Catholike religion for our owne temporal interest who haue thereby so manifold occasions to mortifie our euil passions to flie the temptations of the wicked world and to endeare our selues vnto our most louing redeemer But very great sorow and continual sadnesse of hart haue we to consider that Christian religion first planted in our country and euer since vntil our fathers daies most constantly continued is now banished thence and with it al honesty of life al good and charitable dealing with our neighbour is vtterly decaied and banished out of the City and Country And in place thereof swearing and forswearing drunkennesse dishonesty and al manner of deceit and knauery openly practised countenanced and without blushing professed That the goodly faire and stately Churches built by our Catholike Ancestors for Catholike assemblies at the blessed sacrifice of the Masse and for the due administration of the holy Sacraments and true preaching of Gods word be now prophaned and turned to places of dishonouring of our soueraigne Creatour and of seducing his poore creatures That the famous Vniuersities and other Schooles founded for instruction principally of Catholike doctrine and deuotion be now made shops of new errours loose manners and impiety Vpon these and such like spiritual considerations finding our poore country depriued in manner of al Gods blessings and our deare country-men made slaues of the Deuil and fuel for the flames of hel fire vve Catholikes are exceeding pensiue yet doe vve not therefore fare like madde men nor gnaw our tongues for anger as M. Abbot scornefully vvriteth but doe in bitternesse of soule most earnestly pray vnto the Father of mercies in vvhose handes are the harts of al Kinges to inspire our dread soueraigne King IAMES and the Lordes of his most honourable Councel vvith the true knowledge of his sacred vvil and word and to kindle in them so feruent a zeale of the Catholike Roman faith as that they may imploy those very rare and singular gifts of nature arte and experience which God hath plentifully powred vpon them towardes the reclaiming of our country from the new prophane heresies and most wicked conuersation of these miserable times vnto our Ancestours sound faith sincere honesty and most charitable and vpright dealing This chiefly is the heape of our heauinesse this is al the harme vve wish them this is al the treason that can be justly laid to our charge That vvith the aboundance of such honour and prosperity as this vale of misery affordeth them they might also be heires of eternal happinesse glory and felicity And albeit for this inestimable heauenly blisse vvhich we most hartily desire vnto our natiue soile and best beloued country we be stiled a thousand times traitours and euery way vsed most vnkindly yet we shal not surceasse by Gods grace to pray for them continually vvho doe day and night persecute vs yea ouer and besides be ready also by the assistance of the same his grace not only to bestow our best and most seruiceable daies to doe them good but also the dearest bloud in our bodies if it shal please our blessed Sauiour so to dispose of vs. And is it likely that men thus by the grace of God affected should cry out as M. Abbot malitiously surmiseth O fallaces spes O deceitful hopes doth he not here rather notably discouer the basenesse and corruption of his owne mind as exceeding far dissenting from the right temper and disposition of a sound and noble Christian who should be nothing daunted for seing the worldly state settled against him because our great Master Christ hath assured vs of that
care of prouiding for wife children doth wholy extinguish or greatly diminish their good house-keeping and prouiding for the poore as the lamentable experience of our very time doth sufficiently instruct vs. What if some Popes or other Clergy-men haue beene too forward to satisfie the greedy couetousnesse of their carnal friends that is their owne fault contrary to the prouident order and law of the Church and if the corrupt nature of man be so inclinable to fauor them that be next in bloud to them was it not right vvisely ordained by our Church that Clergy-men should haue no wiues and children for that men naturally doe loue them most dearely and vse al meanes to prouide for them But how carelesly herein doe the Protestants carry themselues vvho doe encourage and as it were push their Clergy-men forward to haue wiues and children vvho being thereby clogged with the cares of this world bidde adieu to al courteous and plentiful hospitality and leaue the poore to shift as they can for themselues for they haue more then enough to doe to prouide for their owne wiues and children The second lie is shuffled into the parenthesis taken out of Platina to vvit That vnder the name of nephewes commonly goe their bastards vvhich is not in his authour but a most malitious slander deuised of his owne head and auouched without any testimony and therefore to be contemned The third is in that he maketh Platina to affirme it to be a common thing with the Popes which he only noteth for a special fault in some few Is this man worthy thinke you the sacred title of a Diuine or of the common name of an honest man vvho doth in manner nothing else but sow lies together and that sometimes so thicke that for euery line neere hand there is onelie or other vvas his meaning trow you to giue instruction to the ignorant and satisfaction to the learned as often he vaunteth or rather to blinde the simple and to feede the vaine folly of the ouer credulous Protestant Prouerb 10. Qui nititur mendacijs saith the vvise man hic pascit ventos Idem insequitur aues volantes He that relieth on lies doth feede the windes that is may please vaine and light heades He doth also follow birdes flying in the aire that is doth feede the humour of hawty wauering and vnsettled spirits but can neuer giue contentment or satisfaction to any graue modest and discreet man who doth flie from a crafty and subtle liar as from the very off-spring of that Serpent which with lying deceiued our first mother Eue. But goe on vvith your lies seing it wil be no otherwise ROBERT ABBOT THE Emperours of Rome Theodosius and Valens according vnto the doctrine of the ancient Church of Rome Petri Crinit de honest disciplina lib. 9. cap. 9. Vpon care of preseruing the religion of the high God did forbidde the making grauing or painting of the Crucifix and commanded it vpon penalty to be abolished wheresoeuer it was found But now not the making â—nly but also the vvorshipping of the Crucifix is a matter of high religion in the same Church of Rome WILLIAM BISHOP VERITAS non quaerit latebras Truth is not ashamed of her selfe nor coueteth to hide her head in corners vvhen shee may with safety be suffered to shew her face publikely That decree of the Christian Emperour Theodosius is extant and to be seene in the very corps of the ciuil law vvhat needed then M. Abbot to runne vnto a late obscure authour called Petrus Crinitus Peter with the long haire to seeke that which is of so good record in so famous a volume thinke you that it is without some mistery that he being thirsty would leaue the fresh fountaine and runne to drinke of the dirty puddle Latet anguis in herbae There is a padde in the straw A strange longing he had to finde out some cauil against any part of the doctrine of the Church of Rome and because that could not be by the true and ful report of the Catholike Emperours decrees he would needs fly to some broken relation of he cared not whom to blinde his vnwary reader vvithal The decree then as it vvas made by the Emperour and standeth Authentikely in the Code maketh much for the honour of the Crosse for he commanded That the signe of the Crosse should not be ingrauen Lib. 1. Codi tit leg Cùm sit nobis or painted on the pauement Ne sacrum signum pedibus calcaretur that the holy signe of the Crosse might not be trodden vnder feete Which said decree of Theodosius the elder the Emperour Tyberius the second one of his Godly successours vnderstanding wel vvhen he espied a Crosse cut in marble lying on the ground he commanded it to be lifted vp saying Paul Diaconus lib. 18. Rerum Romanarum We ought to blesse our fore-head and breast with the Crosse of our Lord and we treade it vnder our feete In what high estimation the signe of the Crosse was vvith that most bright mirrour of Emperors Constantine the great and how gloriously it was placed in their Diademes Pallaces and publike places no man can be ignorant that is acquainted with their Hystories And somwhat I haue said thereof already in the question of Images therefore I doe here omit to speake any more of a matter so euident I might here by the way blame M. Abbot not only for his deceitful dealing but also because he forgetteth vvhereabout he goes for his drift here is to teach that S. Peter and S. Paules successours the Bishops of Rome did of old teach another doctrine then these of later yeares doe now of vvhich number of Bishops Theodosius the Emperour was none but many such faults as this I let passe vvittingly or else I should neuer make an end And vvhereas he addeth That these Emperours did forbidde the making of the Crosse according vnto the doctrine of the ancient Church of Rome Obserue first that it is so said only without any proof and besides it is auouched very impudently as being flat repugnant vnto the knowne and notorious practise of Constantine the great their late and most famous predecessour Now to the next ROBERT ABBOT Greg. lib. 9. Moral ca. 1. 14. GREGORY Bishop of Rome taught That al the merit of our vertue al our righteousnesse is but vice and vnrighteousnesse if it be stricktly examined it needeth therefore praier after righteousnesse saith he that whereas being sifted it would quaile it may by the only mercy of the Iudge stand for good Bernard in Annot. 1. De lib. Arbit Grat. In fine Trident. sess 6 cap. 16. Yea and Bernard by the same doctrine of the Church of Rome saith That mens merits are not such as that eternal life is due vnto them of right or that God should doe wrong if he did not giue the same they are the way to the Kingdome saith he but not the cause of obtaining the
Kingdome But now the * Rhem. Test Annot. in 2. Tim. 4. v. 8. ad Hebr. 6. vers 10. Church of Rome attributeth so great perfection of righteousnesse to good workes as that they fully satisfie the law of God and worthily deserue eternal life yea they affirme them to be so farre meritorious as that God should be vnjust if he rendered not heauen for the same chargeing the justice of God not in respect of his promise but in respect of the merit and desert of the workes WILLIAM BISHOP NOW that M. Abbot is driuen to flie to that most holy and renowmed Pope S. Gregory the great for defence of their doctrine he is like to speed wel no doubt for he was the first founder of the Catholike religion amongst vs English-men and a great maintainer of it al the world ouer as shal appeare to the eie of euery vnpartial man that wil but reade that little which shal by me hereafter be produced out of him First touching the merit of workes we beleeue the same that S. Gregory taught to wit That al the merit of our owne vertue al our owne righteousnesse that is al that vertue and righteousnesse which we haue by our owne nature or strength is rather vice and iniquity then vertue And therefore that vve had neede most humbly to sue and pray to God for mercy and forgiuenesse of our sinnes and for the assistance of his heauenly grace which is the roote and fountaine of al good workes and merits M. Abbot therefore mistakes S. Gregory grosly if he thinke him to deny any true merit or righteousnesse to be in a vertuous Christian for though he say that our owne to wit that which we doe by vertue of our owne natural power be nought vvorth yet he teacheth most expresly that good workes done by the helpe of Gods grace doe merit life euerlasting Thus he hath left vvritten vpon that verse of the Psalme I haue meditated in thy workes Gregor in Psal 141. He that acknowledgeth the riches of this world to be deceitful and doth through the loue of heauenly thinges contemne earthly that man doth meditate vpon good workes which when this life doth passe away shal remaine yeeld the reward of eternal life For we liue not here profitably Nisi ad comparandum meritum quo in aeternitate viuatur But to get merits by which we may liue eternally And vpon these wordes of the 101. Psalme Their seede shal be directed for euer Our workes are therefore called seedes saith he because like as we gather fruit of seede euen so doe we expect reward of our workes for the Apostle saith Gallat 6. Whatsoeuer a man wil sow that shal he reape He therefore that in this life soweth the seede of good workes shal in the life to come reape the fruit of eternal recompence And in the same booke of his Morals out of vvhich M. Abbot snatched his darke wordes S. Gregory declareth clearely Greg. lib. 4. Moral c. 42. That as there is among men a great difference of workes in this life so in the next there shal be as great distinction of dignities that how farre here one man exceedes another in merits so much shal be there surmount the other in rewardes If then according to S. Gregories plaine doctrine grounded vpon the Royal Prophets Dauid and the Apostle S. Paul good workes be the seedes vvhich bring forth life euerlasting If the merit of this life be that wherewith we must liue eternally hereafter If according to the difference of merits in this life we shal receiue distinct dignities in the life to come can any man of judgement doubt but that he most perspicuously taught both that there be true merits in vertuous and good workes and also that according vnto the different degree of merits distinct dignities of glory shal be rendred in heauen The most sweet and religious father S. Bernard is haled into this ranke of S. Peters successours against al due order because he was no Bishop of Rome but our prophane Abbot saith that the holy Abbot Bernard herein agreeth vvith the ancient Church of Rome How may we know that Is it because that godly and deuout man did in al points imbrace and follow the ancient Roman faith L. 2. de Cons ad Euge. In Vita lib. 2. c. 3. 6. Item lib. 4. cap. 4. Lib. 3. cap. 5. Serm. 66. in Cant. lib. Sententiarū non procul ab initio then it is a cleare case that the Bishop of Rome is supreme gouernour of Christes Church that the sacrifice of the Masse is a most true holy sacrifice and that the same body that was borne of the blessed Virgin Mary is really and substantially there present that it is flat heresie to deny either praier to Saints or praier for the dead that euery one must confesse his sinnes to a Priest that the vowes of Monkes and religious persons are most pretious jewels and ornaments of a Christian soule vvhereof he was so earnest a Patrone and perswader that in his * In Vita life-time he instituted 160. Monasteries Briefly there is no branche of the present Roman faith which may not be confirmed out of his godly and learned workes Wherefore if S. Bernard agreed vvholy with the doctrine of the ancient Church of Rome so doth the Church of Rome that now is But if M. Abbot wil say that in this point of merits only he jumpeth vvith the auncient Church though in none of the rest should he not rather haue proued it to be so then to haue taken it as granted Yes verily vnlesse he vvould be esteemed for such a trifler as ordinarily doth petere principium begge that which he should principally proue To the purpose then I say that neither the ancient Church of Rome doth deny the merits of good workes as may be seene in that question nor yet S. Bernard for when he saith That our merits doe not in justice deserue heauen he vnderstandeth that of our merits taken by themselues without Gods promise and appointment of heauen for the reward of them the which secluded excepted God should not doe any body wrong if he gaue not heauen for the same but Gods ordinance promise presupposed and the grace of Christ by which the merit is wrought then it doth euen in S. Bernards opinion of right deserue heauen and God should doe wrong not to repay it with heauen And this in effect doth S. Bernard himselfe teach in the second place cited by M. Abbot vvhere he saith That it is just that God pay that which be oweth De Lib. Arbitrio In fine but he oweth that which be promised the promise was indeede of mercy but now to be performed of justice which justice though it be also principally Gods because it proceedes from his grace yet it hath pleased God to haue vs to be partners of that his justice that he might make vs merit ours of his