I had not nor could getanie other copie The place is thus Pour tant ceulx qui despouillenâ— l' Eglise de ceste puisance pour exalter be magistrate ou la iustice terriene non seulemeÌ„t corroÌ„pent le sens des paroles de Christe par faulse interpretation mais aussi accusent d' une grande vice les sainctz euesques qui ont estè en grand nombre depuis be temps des Apostres comme â—iilz eussent vsurpè la dignitè office du magistrate subz fauls se couerture That is to saie in englishe Those therefore which to exalt the magistrat or earthely iustice doe spoile the churche of this power he meaneth and speakith of the ordre touching churche matters doe corrupt not onelie the sense of Christes owne wordes by false interpretation but doe also accuse of a heynouse faulte the holie bishops whereof the nombre is not small which haue bin sence the apostles time as though they had vsurped by false colouring the matter the office and dignitie of the magistrate Nowe choose good readers whether ye had rather beleue Caluin mainteining the auctoritie and iurisdiction of the churche or our clawebackes and parasites which impugne the same The one hath scripture to defende it The other hath nothing to assaulte it The scripture saeith that in doutefull questions we should resort to the priestes that at their word should all matters be decided that they should iudge that at their handes we should demaunde knowlege that their lippes be the kepers thereof because they ar our lordes angells Nowe coÌ„meth the heretike the peruerter of scripture he telleth vs that we must seke it at the princes handes that he is goddes chiefest ministre in thinges and causes aswel ecclesiasticall as temporall The scripture reaconeth in the first place in Christes churche apostles that is to say priestes for we maie not thinck that in that place the apostle described a forme of the churche to endure but for that onelie age The heretike will haue princes placed aboue and priestes benethe The holie ghost appointed bishoppes and priestes to gouern the flock of Christ that is the churche The diuell in his meÌ„bres appointeth ciuile magistrates to rule and priestes to obey So that herebie we maie most euidentlie see how manifestly they peruert and corrupt the true sense and meaning of gods worde As for the other poinct which Caluin also laieth to their charge of accusing of a most heynouse and grieuouse fault the auncient bishoppes that haue bin sence th'apostles time as though they had by vnlaufull meanes vsurped to them selues the office and dignitie of the Magistrate it is also if their doctrine wer true most plaine and euident eueÌ„ at the eye For first if kinges must be the chiefe gouernours in matters of religion and bishoppes their vnderlinges who seeth not then how far Ignatius that holy martyr abused bothe him self and vs to bid all men without exception euen th'emperor him self by name to the obedient to the bishop to tell vs that after him next the king is to be honored If this be true which they teache who is he that can excuse Liberius that holie father who for the determining of matters coÌ„cerning the cuhrche would haue a sinode kept where the emperour should not so much as be present Or that reuerend father Hosius who willed th'emperour not to entremedle in ecclesiasticall causes nor to comptroll or commaunde the bishoppes therein but to learne of the in those thinges to whose charge they wer committed not to his Or Athanasius that strong piller of Christes churche who when he saw that wicked emperour Constantius doe that which the heretikes of this our time perswade the Kinges and Emperours that now arre to doe as the Arrians did those of their age that is to take apon him the determination of matters ecclesiasticall to make him selfe chief iudge bothe of the bishoppes and causes belonging to the churche called him that abhomination of desolatioÌ„ spoken of by Daniel the prophet and pronounced that for his so doing his impietie was such as Antichrist when he should comme him self should not be able to goe beyond termed it a newe deuise brought in by the Arrians and finally demaunded but one example ab oeuo condito from the beginning of the world where by it might appeare that the doinges of the churche should take their auctoritie from th'emperour till Arrius his time Or Gregorius Nazianzenus who told th'emperour that by the lawe of Christ his power was subiect to his consistory and that although he wer an emperour yeat was he not withstanding a shepe of his flock Or S. Ambrose that bad the emperour set his hart at rest and not to thinke that he had by the right of his crowne any auctoritie in those matters that concerned religion that his palaice belonged to him and the churche to the priestes Or Chrisostom who comparing the power of a King with the auctoritie of a priest calleth the one a prince aswell as the other and greater theÌ„ he toe by so much as heauen is greater then the earth and addeth that god him self to witnesse the same hath brought vnder the handes of the priest the head of the prince For that saith he that is lesser is blessed of the greater Who in an other place saieth that the power which is geuen to priestes is such as the like thereto was neuer giuen to Angels or Archangels seing that to none of them it was euer said what so euer yow binde in earthe shalbe bound in heauen or what so euer yow loose in earthe shalbe loosed in heauen Or how wer it possible if this doctrine of our aduersaries wer true to excuse Damascenus for reprehending Leo Isaurus as yow haue hard before the emperour and many a one more of the holie fathers which for breuities sake I am here constreined to passe ouer in silence Leauing therefore our aduersaries thus at square both with the old fathers and their newe doctours it is high time good readers that I remembre to discharge my self of my promise which was to laie before your eyes such euidence as in this matter ether part had to bring for theÌ„ selfe Which as I haue for the catholikes according to my simple wit and pooer knowledge allreadie done so shall I by goddes grace on the contrary parte for the protestaÌ„tes and Huguenotes faithefully endeuor to doe the like And because for that aswell of all the poisoned reasons touching either this matter or almost any other at this day in question the late apologie of the churche of EnglaÌ„d for so is it by th' authors termed may well be called as it wer the some or abridgemeÌ„t as also for that there is as it should seme and sence hath byn coÌ„fessed in it comoÌ„ consent of all the fantasticall congregation I meane of them that trouble Christes churche in our countrie
emperour yet hath he not thereby gotten auctoritie to depose bishoppes and ordeine newe â–ª which onely bishoppes must doe So strange a thing semed it then good readers in Christes churche which nowe we see so commonly done Long after thiese emperours start vp Leo Isaurus emperour of Constantinople he that made war with images Ageinst him god raised vp also his Azarias one to warn him of his duetie and that was that notable learned man Iohn Damascenus Giue saith he the apostle Paule crieth to euery one his due honor feare pension tribute to eche one that which they ought to haue The charge that kinges haue is to see well to their common weales the ordering of the churches apperteineth to the pastours and teachers This manner of inuading other mennes offices I can terme it no better my brethern then robbery and plaine violence And a little after he hath thiese wordes Tibi ô rex in ijs quae pertinent ad presentis vitae negocia c. As for those thinges ô king which concern onely this presâ—nt life in those we willingly obey the. In ordering thâ— state of the churche we haue shepherdes which haue spoken to vs the worde of god that is to saie taught it vs and haue left vs rites and ordres therefore And in the same place he addeth Non recipio regeÌ„ qui per tyrannidem sibi sacerdotiuÌ„ vsurpat I acknowledge him for no king that vsurpeth by tirany the priestes office And last of all to knit vp the knot in plaine wordes he saith Non assentior vt regum legibus gubernetur ecclesia sed patrum potius traditionibus siue scriptae hae sint siue non scriptae I consent not saith he that the churche of god shalbe gouerned by the lawes of kinges but by the traditions rather of oure fathers be they written or vnwritten And thus much hetherto good readers haue I thought good to reherce that yow may the better vnderstand how the auncient fathers of Christes churche haue not ceased continually from time to time to resist the vnlaufull attempt of such princes as being heretikes or enueigled theretoe by heretikes for of other perdy it was neuer gone about nor of all them neither would contrary to the expresse worde of god the custome of Christes churche from the beginning continued the alowed exaÌ„ples of all ages of all common weales Christian and heathen hetherto practised mingle heauen and earth holie and prophane together by vnlawfull vsurping to them selues the supreme and chief gouernement in causes ecclesiasticall To come nearer home to our owne time and daies if in it any prince haue attempted the like there hath not lacked also stoare of diuerse meÌ„ singuler bothe for their vertuous life and exquisite learning which haue rather chosen to withstand the same with the expence of their bloud and losse of this present life then to the vtter destructioÌ„ of both body and soule and losse of that which must continue for euer to consent thereto But if thiese examples please not the deinty tast of the aduersaries as being ouer stale I shall set before them their owne deare derling the piller while he liued of their religion the very head of their churche if they be not all together headlesse their Idol and their god in earthe whose doctrine and opinions at other times and in other thinges they haue so rauenouslie deuoured Iohn Caluin him self For if kinges and temporall gouernours as our aduersaries affirme ought euerie one of them in their realmes signories and dominions to gouerne in causes ecclesiasticall and matters of religion whie did then that monsterous beaste in his comentaries apon the prophetes Osâ—e and Amos rayl apoÌ„ our late souereigne lorde king Henrie the eight calling him homo belluinus a beastelie maÌ„ and comparing him with Iehû whome he termeth wicked and nought Why termed he theÌ„ blasphemers that first buzzed into his eares that vaine desire to be called chief head of the churche of England for of other yow wot well he neuer attempted to be nor euer was called vnder Christe here in earth If Caluin haue taught the truthe then haue his scholers taught vs and yeat doe feede vs with lies If they wer blasphemers that called king Henrie chief head of the churche of England vnder Christ which is to saie in effect nothing elles but to be chief gouernour in all causes belonging to the same who was yet a man although laie and thereto also of great wisdome and learning in what degree of blasphemie shall we place them that giue this title not to laie men onelie but to women also and children with out respect If Caluin who touching the giuing of this vnlaufull title to our late lord and maister was vtterly innocent coÌ„plained yet that euen his conscience was wounded not a little there withall how much more daungerousely wounded ought they to thinck them selues who of so many horrible and bloudly woundes whereby for the refusall to folow this example in christes churche neuer hard of before so many godly learned and innocent men in this realme haue died some by heading some by hanging some by quartering and tearing peace meale one membre from an other haue by ther false and vntrue suggestions byn the chief and onelie occasion who yet like cruell bloudsuckers and bloudy bourreâ—aus cary about in their murdering aud malicious mouthes the naked knife which wer it laufull for them they would sheathe in the throates of euerie one of vs that thinck not as they doe But if now on the contrarie part their maister Caluin wer deceauid if they be in the right and he in the wrong why steppeth none of them furth to defend and vindicate from perpetuall infamy that prince of famouse memory which by his railing writinges this wretched caytiff goeth about to bring him into why haue they left him so long vndefended who did no other thing then whereof them selues wer the authors and first beginners Or why at the least purge theie not them selues of the horrible crime of blasphemie laied by him to their charges and all such as theie ar for if they wer blasphemers that called king Henrie head of the churche of Englande what priuilege haâ—e thiese that calling not onelie him but his sonne and daughter by the same title in effect they should not incurre the same crime Where is now their spirit of vnitie that they ar wont so much to bragge of which dissent not here in any small poinct or from any meane man but euen from the chiefest caterpiller whyle he liued of their congregatioÌ„ who not onely in thiese places before by me alleaged kepeth as it wer with their proceadings a combat but elles where in his InstitutioÌ„s doeth merueilousâ—y discredit the same And in steede of manie places which might be brought here out of his worckes I shall onely for this time be coÌ„tented to alleage one in such sort as I finde it in the frenche because at the writing hereof
of England I could not me thought either for their part which I coueâ— to make as strong as the naughtines of the cause will suffer doe better or for mine owne assurance worcke more warily then to take and cull out such proufes as for the maintenaunce of their opinion they haue there heaped to gether For them because there I persuade my selfe the reader may finde the verie force and strength of all that they haue for theÌ„ selues in this matter to saie as the place where bothe of good reason they should and for their craftie conueiance I nothing doubte but they would bring furth of their groundes the very best if they haue any better then other For my parte or rather for Christ and his churches whose quarell although farre vnworthy at this time I susteine it shall thus stande in steede that if it fortune in your iudgementes good Readers their said groundes and reasons to seeme such as any good man yea happely with some of them some of them selues may mislike they caÌ„ not yeat flee to their olde starting hole that it is but one doctours minde as they vse being sore pressed customably to doe whereas the booke bothe by the manner of the publishing thereof appeareth and sence hath byn acknowleged to be no priuat mannes acte The first argument therefore of theirs to proue that lay men in that they be kinges may take on them the ordering of matters in religion that to them belongeth the auctoritie and ouersight thereof is taken froÌ„ the example of Moyses who being a ciuile magistrat receiued neuerthelesse at the handes of almighty god bothe the charge and ordre of all the religion and ceremonies deliuered the same to the people and when Aaron being a bishop had contaminat the true religion by making the golden calf he failed not sharpely to rebuke and reprehend him therefore To this argument good Readers which out of this example they frame that therefore by good consequence it foloweth that the kinges emperours and other ciuile magistrates of our time may doe the like thus doe we answer that that auctoritie which Moyses had ouer the priestes was not because he was a prince but in that he was a priest as appeareth most euidentlie in the psalme where he is so called But ageinst this answere laboureth as they say with toothe and naile the author of that booke which walketh abrode in manie mennes handes vnder the name of a harborough for faithefull subiectes whose replie is this that in that psalme how euer the olde interpretors haue giuen vs the word the hebrue text hath Cohanim a word indifferent to signify priestes or princes aud that therefore such as doe best vnderstand the tongue giue it thus Moyses Aaron inter ministros eius Moyses and Aaron emongest his ministres And to proue that it may well so be the scripture he saieth calleth Dauid his sonnes Cohanim that is to saie ministres for well he woteth that no man wilbe so fond to saie that a kinges sonnes wer priestes yea he addeth that the best emongest the Hebrues interpreting thiese wordes giue it in Chorei Shemo Moyses AaroÌ„ inter eos qui inuocaÌ„t nomen eius Moyses and Aaron emongest them that call apon his name Thiese in effect be the reasons that moued the man to thinke that Moyses was no priest To be short Whome he taketh for the best or whome he accoÌ„pteth for the worst in the hebrue toÌ„gue or what his habilitie to iudge thereof is I confesse in good fayth I knowe not But of this I am well assured that S. HieroÌ„ Pagninus and whose translatioÌ„ for his religion he nede not to suspect Sebastianus Munsterus emongest all men taken for singulerly learned in that tongue inrerpret the worde to signify priestes And if all this satisfy him not the 70. interpretours traÌ„slate it so For thiese ar theire wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Moyses and Aaron in the nombre of his priestes And for so vndoubted a truthe was it taken with S. Hierom that he in the exposition of this psalme vsed thiese wordes Vterqué Moyses scilicet Aaron domini aduentum sacerdotali praeconio nunciauit Bothe of them that is to say Moyses and Aaron did with their priestly voyce denounce before hand the comming of our lorde Now touching the indifferency of the worde Cohanim to signify a minister or a priest we graunte it to be true but that because in some one place it so signifieth it ought therefore so to be expouÌ„ded in this that we vtterly denie And for proofe hereof we bring Abrahamus Esdras emongest the olde Rabbini called Sapientissimus He expownding this place of the psalme calleth Moyses and Aaron by the name of priestes And because no man should cauill about the ambiguitie of the worde Cohanim he graunteth it to be a worde doubtfull But to take away all such ambiguitie and to make vs assuredly vnderstaÌ„d when it signifieth this or that he giueth this rule that being ioined and applied to the name of god or any thing to him belonging as here it is it signifieth allwaies a priest but otherwise referred to prophane thinges a minister as maie be answered of Dauids children in the second booke of kings the .8 chapiter And surely so long as he standeth apon his bare vauntes of the best without naming at all any I se no cause but that we may well rest in that interpretacion which thiese â—ower for their knowledge in that tongue of the learned sort accompted most excellent beside the nombre of the .70 interpretours haue deliuered vnto vs especially seing that interpretacion which the very best emongest the Hebrues he saith haue giuen apon that place that is Moyses and Aaron emongest them that call apon his name I thinke to him that considereth well the wordes that followe Et Samuel inter eos qui inuocant nomen eius will seme and proue to be euen the very wurst But because yow shall well perceiue that Moyses was in dede a priest beside the testimonies allready brought furth I shall here alleage certein other to proue the same First S. Austen writing apon the same psalme where bothe he and Aaron ar called priestes maketh as it wer ageinst the priestehood of Moyses a certein obiection and afterward concludeth that Moyses was not withstanding a priest His wordes ar thiese Ibi quidem non videtur sacerdos essenisi Aaron Aperâ—è enim in illis literis Aaron nominatur sacerdos dei De Moyse noÌ„ ibi dicitur quòd sacerdos erat Sed si hoc non erat quid erat Nunquid maior sacerdote esse poterat Expropriat psalmus iste quia ipse sacerdos erat Moyses Aaron in sacerdotibus eius Ergo erant illi domini sacerdotes that is to say there it semeth that there was no other priest but Aaron for in that place is he plainelie named a priest but of Moyses there is no such word
and theÌ„ beleue And except you may see fleshe and bloud is it iuggling what yow meane herebie I knowe not of this suer I am that greate blasphemie it is so to terme thâ— miraculouse worâ—king of almightie god besides the horrible presumption to apointe god in what sorte he shall doe his miracles and last of all extreme folly to saie that he rather iuggleth that turning the substance of one thing in to another leaueth yeat vnchanged the olde for me which no iuggler is able to doe then he that altereth the fourme although he can not the substance which dailie experience telleth vs that euerie iuggler to our sight doeth So that almightie goddes worcking is moste vnlike to iugglers iuggling and rather might yow haue saide that Moses wand was aiuggling sticke for that that commonlie iugglers seme to doe as Moses did then that in this high misterie consisting all in faithe anie such false dealing should take place Yow that call this iuggling so far vnlike theretoe if Christe I feare me had turned in this sacrament in dede the accidentes and outewarde forme which euery Iuggler promiseth and semeth to doe in his trickes your false faithe is such that yowe woulde not haue letten to haue called that plaine iuggling besides other pretie termes that yowe kepe in store But leauing yow to your trickes of liegier de main wherein considering your excellencie we will in no wise contende with yow but wisshing yow yeat like a frinde to make some more store thereof and quietly hereafter to kepe them in your iugglers boxe till yowe meete with such companie as whose eyes yowe maie be able easelier to dymme tell me I praie yowe familierlie whether for all your greate bragges yowe mistrusted not the omnipotencie of god when yowe made this weake reason that it was not his will to haue his bodie present in the sacrament because in all the scripture beside yow reade of no such miracle that one thinge was changed into an other reteining still the qualities of the first Is not trowe yow god in good credite with you of whose miracles you beleue no one till he haue doeÌ„ two what neded yow to haue asked this question where he did the like before had yow not douted of his habilitie Is this Abrahams faithe is this Isaac his is this Dauid his that yoweboast your selfe to haue what scripture haue yow where anie of them did this Did our blessed ladie wheÌ„ she had receiued that strange message that she being a moste pure and immaculate virgin should conceiue and bring furth a childe desire first to see it done in an other And yeat emongest all the miracles that euer wer doen before or sence was there euer anie so strange Ar theie now blinde or maliciouse that charge yow with mistrust in goddes power Haue theie not righte good cause to saie that yow see no farder then Ismael and Agar that confesse yourselfe not to beleue this miracle because Christ neuer did the like before Your last reason is of all other moste vnreasonable and maketh me to thincke that sence the time that I last spake with yowe there is some mischaunce happended vnto yow that hath sore broosed your heade and let our your witte For who I praie yow hath made yow at anie time a councelor to god that so presumptuouslie yowe dare affirme that there was no necessitie whie Christe should worke such a miracle as to giue vs his bodie reallie and carnallie in a sacrament to be eaten Is this all the thanâ—kes that yow giue him for so greate a benefite and pretiouse a iewell that he might haue chosen being at libertie not constreined by necessitie whether he would haue doen it or no Trulie these reasons so 〈◊〉 and weake haue betraied yow and giueÌ„ vs to vndâ—rstand that the chiefe staie why yow beleue not this truthe is euen that which yow would so gladlie kepe from our knowledge that is to wit lacke and defect of power which yow persuade your selfe to be in god to the perfourmance of so greate a miracle And euen as the heretikes Basilides Cerdo and Marcion because theie could not atteine to the vnderstanding how a virgin might bring furth toke the occasion of their heresies to saye that Christ toke no fleshe of the virgin Marie and therefore suffred not in a true but in a fantasticall bodie so fareth it with yow and your companie who because yow can not see howe Christes bodie maie be in the sacrameÌ„t reallie present and in manie places at onee falle flat to the deniall thereof and bring it to a simple figure or fantasticall vnderstanding Now let vs returne againe to S. Ambrose from whome your peuish proctour M. Iuell hath made me somwhat to straie The same holie bishoppe hath touching this matter in an other place these wordes Sicut verus est dei filius D. noster Iesus Christus noÌ„ quemadmodum homines per gratiam sed quasi filius ex substaâ—â—ia patris ita vera caro sicut ipse dixit quam accipimus verus est potus c. Euen as our lorde Iesus Christ is the true sonne of god and not as men ar by grace but as his sonne of the substance of his father so is it true fleshe and true drincke which we receaue as he him selfe hath witnessed But thow wilt peraduenture obiect as euen Christes owne disciples did at that time when theie harde their maister saie Excepte ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man c how is it true fleshe I whiche see the similitude of bloud see not true bloud in deede First of all I tolde the of Christes worde which is in operation so mighty that it can change and alter yea the common and accustomed ordonances of nature Afterwarde when the disciples could not abide this communication of their maisters theie departed But onelie Peter saide Thow hast the wordes of life euerlasting Least therefore more might saie thus as though there should be a certeine horror and fearefulnes of bloud but yet the grace of redemption should remaine therefore trulie thow receiuest this sacrament in a similitude or likenes but so that thowe receiuest also the grace and force of his true nature Hetherto S. Ambrose in whose wordes two thinges there ar especiallie to be noted first that of the true presence of Christes bodie in the sacrament he toke him selfe to be so suer that euen as certeine a truthe as it is that Christe was the true sonne of god not by grace onelie or adoptioÌ„ so certeinlie and trulie he toke his bodie to be present in the sacrameÌ„t not by grace or spirituallie alone but truelie and reallie The seconde poincte that is diligentlie to be obserued is whie Christe contrarie to his accustomed maner of worcking in his miracles changeth not here in this sacrament the outewarde shape and forme but onelie the inward nature and substance which is as this holie doctour saithe for oure
A PROVFE OF CERTEYNE ARTICLES IN RELIGION DENIED BY M. IVELL sett furth in defence of the Catholyke beleef therein by Thomas Dorman Bachiler of Diuinite VVHERE VNTO is added in the end a conclusion conteinyng .xij. Causes vvhereby the Author acknovvlegeth hym self to haue byn stayd in hys olde Catholyke fayth that he vvas baptized in vvysshyng the same to be made common to many for the lyke stay in these perilouse tymes Augustinus contra literas Petiliani lib. 2. cap. 16. Si quaeras quibus fructibus vos esse potius lupos rapaces cognoscamus obijcio schismatiâ— trimeâ— quod tu negabis ego autem statim probabo Nequé enim communicas omnibus gentibus illis ecclesijs Apostolico labore fundatis that is to say If thou demaundest he speaketh to Petilian the Heretick by vvhat fruictes I knovv you to be rather the rauening vvolues I obiect to you the fault of scisme vvhich thou vvilt deny but I vvil out of hand proue for thou doest not communicat vvith all Nacions nor vvith those churches founded by th'apostles labour Imprinted at Antwerp by Iohn Latius at the signe of the Rape with Priuilege Anno 1564. REgiae Maiestatis Priuilegio permissum est Thomae Dormanno sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureo vti per aliquem Typographorum admissorum impuneâ—e ei liceat imprimi curare per omnes suae ditionis Regiones distrahere Librum inscriptum A prouf of certeyn articles in religion denyed by M. Iuell omnibus alâ—s inhibitum ne eundem absque eiusdem Thomae consensu imprimant velalibi impressum distrahant sub poena in Priuilegio contenta Datum Bruxellae 14. Iul. Anno. 1564. Subsig Facuwez TO THE RYGHT VVORSHIPFVLL MASTER Thomas Hardyng Doctor of Diuinite Thomas Dorman Bachiler of the same sendeth gretyng and wyssheth health of bodye and soule IT prycketh now fast if my memory fayle me not ryght worshipfull sir towardes the poyncte of seuenteen yeares when I beyng a yong nouyce of Caluyns relygyon was fyrst by my frendes brought to that famouse schole at Wynchester of bishop VVyckham hys foundation At which tyme it pleased you of your goodnes beyng then one of them who had for that yeare the right and auctoritie in that behalf without monye without rewarde without commendation of frendes apon the onlye contemplacion and respect of my pooer and nedye estate and some lyttle hope perhapps conceiued hereof that once the tyme myght coÌ„me when I should not be alltogether vnprofytable eyther to my countrye that brought me forth eyther to the place that should nouryshe me vp to bestowe apon me beyng then a futer for that purpose your voyce or suffrage for th' obteinyng of a place emon gest the scholers there By the benefyte whereof I was the same yeare made one of that numbre brought home agayn to Chrystes churche from whence I was strayed and fynally haue obteyned that knowledge and small vn derstanding yfyet emongest the learned it may be accompted any to the which you now see me growen True ytis I can not denye yt that other helpes God hath sence that tyme prouyded for me to the furnyshyng and makyng perfect of that buyldyng the foundacion whereof by your handes he fyrst disposed to be layde To whome I mynde not nether to showe my self in tyme and place of so great benyfytes by them receaued eyther vnmyndfull or vnthanckfull In the meane season yf as next after God of that profytt which I haue taken in my studye what so euer yt be I accompt you for the author and verye founder thereof so I doe with the scripture askyng quis plantat vineam et de fructueius non comedit offer to you such as they ar the fyrst fruictes thereof for a taste and that apon the groundes of the law whych wyll that the most auncient debt be first discharges before all other none I trust of my other frendly cre dytours wyll be therewithall offended Thys hath byn ryght worshypfull sir the verye cause of my boldnesse in offeryng to you thys rude and symple treatyse of myne Wherein yf any offence on my part haue byn commytted impute it I praye you to the abundanâ—e of the great good will that I beare towardes you and the necessitie that I thought my self to stand in for the testifyeng of my mynd ready in some part to discharge as I was hable my dutye to you Fare you wel at Aquicinctum the seat of my banyshment your mastershyps to commaund Thom. Dorman TO THE READERS I Am not ignorant good Readers of the manyfold daungers wherinto what so euer he be he wyllyngly as yt wer casteth hym self who publysheth any thyng to the world in wrytyng The whych confy deration after that I had well weighed and deepely debated wyth my self of what mynde I was touchyng the sendyng abroade of thys lytle treatyfe of myne any man may easely iudge For I besydes those sawcy snaphaunces and murmuryng momi whome no mans doyngs can please but there owne which fortune I tooke to be common to me wyth many foresawe also my self not wythout good cause in apparence ready to fall in to the iust and lawfull reprehension euen of those whose iudgements I haue alwayes both loued and feared the wyser the learneder and the better sort also Whylest after so godly so graue so exact a worck most amply treatyng of the same matter I of all other moost vnfyt therefore should seeme to take pen in hand to wryte agayne This one cause appeared to me to be of such importance that I was euen fully resolued to stay my hand and trauell herein no farder When sodenly beholde emongest dyuerse other it camme to my mynde to thynck on the earnest desyre and godly greedy hunger of my pooer countrymen I meane not the Catholykes only but euen of those whome simplicitie not malice hath caused to stray whereof I was to my great comfort dayly enformed wyth what labour they fought for wyth what diligence they harckened after wyth what sauory appetyte they receaued in to ther myndes and as it wer deuoured such bookes as brought them any tydyngs of the truthe Whereapon I discoursed farder wyth my self that eâ—en as in a plague of famyn or dearthâ— he that hauyng in hys barnes no great stoare of corne but yet somme beyng once well mynded and charytably moued to employ part of that lytle which he had to the comfort and relyef of hys pooer hungrye neyghbours should in all mens iudgement doe verye â—uell yf afterward apon the liberall almoise of some welthyer man he should vtterly wythdrawe hys and because hys habylytie serueth hym not to gyue as muche gyue nothyng at all euen so me thought it fared wyth me who myndyng these two whole yeares past to conferre some part of that small prouysyon that allmyghty god hath bestowed on me to publyke coÌ„modytie could not now I perswaded my self suppresse and kepe in the same wythout the manyfest offendyng of hys holy spyryt who fyrst moued me
again And because good Christian readers you shall well perceaue that this is no nowe deuise or fantasie imagined by mâ— I will here lay before your eyes the iudgement of certein notable men whom god gaue to his churche to serue for a wall for the same ageinst the incursions of the wicked Phylistins his enemyes In whom you shal most plainely perceiue this ordre in Christes churche to be so necessarie that the onely breache or lack thâ—râ—of hath byn by them taken to be the highe way and very path that leadeth to all heresies And first to begyn wyth that blessed martyr of god S. Cyprian hath he not coÌ„cerning this matter in an epistle by hym written to Corâ—elius then bishop of Rome thiese wordes Neque enim aliunde obortae sunt haereses aut natâ—â— sunt schismata quà m indé quâ—â—d sacerdoti dei non obtemperatur necvnus in ecclesia ad tempus sacerdos et ad tempus iudex vice Christicogitatur that is neyther yet truely doe heresies aryse or schismes growe of any other cause then thereof that men obey not the priest of god neyther doe thinck that there is in the churche in the steed and place of Christ one prieste and one iudge for the time Hetherto S. Cyprian By the whych wordes good christian readers it is so euident that there must be one priest in the churche whom all other must obey that the same must be taken of vs for iudge here in earthe in the stede of Christe that you see I nothing doubt great cause to condeÌ„ne the grosse ignorance of our late apologie Wher in the authors contrary to thys doctrine of S. Cyprian most impudently pronounce that in hys church Christ our lord vseth not the help of any one man alone to gouern the same in his absence as he that standeth in neede of no such help and that if he did no mortall man could be found hable alone to doe the same and finally wyth the same S. Cyprian who dyed a holy martir and is no dout a saincte in heauen to whome the belief of both these two articles seemed not onely not impossible but also very necessary to lyue and dye in th' obedience of this priest and vnder such a iudge then wyth a sort of lewd losels in whose churche being a certein secret scattred congregation vnknowen to all the world beside and to their own fellowes toe is nother head ordre obedience neyther yet certein rules or groundes where on to stay to runne hedlong ye wot no more then your guides whither But S. Cyprian was he trow yow of this minde alone No verilie for S. Hierom is of the same as by thiese his wordes it is most euident Ecclesiae salus in summi sacerdotis pendet dignitate cui si non exors ab omnibus eminens detur poteâ—tas tot in ecclesâ—a efficientur schismata quot sacerdotes The health sayth he and welfare of the churche dependeth apoÌ„ the estimatioÌ„ of the chief priest who if he haue not auctoritie pearelesâ—e and aboue all other ye shall haue in the churche so many schismes as there be priestes And again in an other place speaking of the apostles he writeth thus Quòd vnus poâ—teà electus est qui caeteris praeponere tur in schismatis remedium factum est ne vnusquisque ad se trabens ecclesiane rumperet that is That one was afterward chosen to rule the rest that was donne for a remedy ageynst schismes least while euery man would chalenge to hym self the churche by such halyng and pullyng they might brâ—ake the same Leo of whom the whole councell of Calcedon as one of the greatest for nombre so of all men accoÌ„pted emongest the fower general for auctoritie reported so honorably that they did not onely wyth one voice all openly professe them selues to beleue as he did but called him also by the name of Sanctissimus beatissimus that is most holy and blessed of all other speaking of the mysticall body of Christes church writeth after this sort Haec conâ—exio totius quidem corporis vnanimitatem requirit c. This combination and ioining together he speaketh of the body of Christes church requireth an vnitie of the whole body but especîally of the priestes emongest whom although there be one dignitie common to them all yet is there not one generall ordre emongest them all For euen emongest the blessed apostles in that similitude of honor was there yet a differeÌ„ce of power and whereas in ther election they wer all lyke yet was yt giuen to one to be aboue all the rest Out of whych forme is taken our difference of bishops and by merueylouse ordre and disposition ys yt prouided that euery one should not chalenge to him self euery thing but that in euery prouince there should be one whose iudgement emongest the rest of his brethern should be chief and of most auctoritie And agein certein appoincted in greater cityes whose care should be greater by whome to the onely seate of Peter the charge of the vniuersal churche might haue recourse that nothing might at any time dissent from the head Hetherto haue yowe hard good readers beside th' experience that we haue of ciuile policy and worldly gouernement the opinions also of S. Cyprian S. Hierom and holy Leo all three agreiâ—g in one that there must nedes be one iudge in Christes churche in his steede that the health of the churche dependeth apon the auctoritie of the chief priest that if his auctoritie be not aboue all the rest there will so many schismes breake in apon vs as there be priestes that for th' auoyding of that mischief there was one chosen euen emongest th' apostles to gouern the rest Last of all that that vsage in christes churche to haue one head is no newe inuention as some men falsely report but taken from th' example of th' apostles them selues I can not heare stay to examyne curiously euery word in these auncient fathers but leauing that good readers to your discretion and not douting but that in these graue witnesses in a matter of such weight and importance as whereapon dependeth the health of the whole churche you wilbe no lesse diligent then you would be in examining the depositions of your owne witnesses or your aduersaries in a triall of landes or other temporall commoditie I shall procede to the coÌ„sideration of the second reason which before I touched of the people of Israel if I fyrst warne you to considre but this by the way that ye may trust those auncient fathers by ther word the better an other time how many schismes be burst in apoÌ„ vs in our country of England for one common receiued truthe in the dayes of our fathers when we remained in the obedience of one chief priest and iudge which shake now so myserably the same howe quietly in one loue in one truthe in one
iudge indifferentlie to say as the Huguenotes and heretykes doe then to leane and rest apon the same groundes for the banishing of the head of Christes churches on which the Swenckfeldians doe for th'abolishing of the scripture For the one sayeth we must haue no scripture because god can teache vs without the other we must haue no head of Christes churche because he is the head him self and can rule vs without any other to be his vicair The one saieth the scriptures ar but dead lettres and no more accompte to be made of them then of other creatures the other saieth that the pope is but a sinfull man as other ar and that therefore there is no more accompte to be made of him then of other sinfull men Finally the Swenckfeldians bar god of all meanes to worck his will by and so doe the protestants while they alow him not a ministre to gouern hys churche in externall gouernement but tell him that he is of age and able to doe it him self and that therefore there is no remedie but he must needes comme downe and giue answere to all our wise demaundes in hys own person And thus whilest most shamefully to the greate dishonor of the whole realme vnder whose name as it wer that fardell of lies their apology was sent abroade they haue not byn ashamed to charge with this heresie of Suenckfeldius one of the greatest estates bothe for lerning and vertue that at this daye Christendom hath we may see that they haue not onely showed them selues to be very wicked and shameles men the truthe to their vtter and perpetuall infamy and shame had they any plainely to the contrary in the worcks of him whome they so selaundred bearing witnesse ageynst them but ar also runne into the same growndes whereon Swenckfilde builded his heresie their owne selues For gods sake good Chrystian readers for your owne soules sake and the loue that you beare thereto gyue eare to no such seditious voices how euer they be cloked wyth the name of Christ which the diuel then doeth most inculcat when he would driue vs sonest from him What other thing did their forefathers Châ—â— Dathan and Abyron in rebelling ageynst Moses and Aaron the ministres of almightie god what other persuasion vsed they to the people what other reason brought they to allure from their obedience to rebellion from quiet rest to seditious wandring without a head the flocke of god then the verie same that these miserable men 〈◊〉 our time doe Their apologie saieth that there nedeth here in the churche no head to gouerne it because Christ is alwaies wyth it And did not those wicked men in their rebellioÌ„ against Moses and Aaron vse the same reason when they tolde them to their face Sufficiat vobis quia omnis multitudo sanctorum est in ipsis est dominus let it suffice you that all the multitude is holy and they haue god present wyth them Cur eleuamini super populum domim and whie then take yow apoÌ„ your selues the rule ouer the people of our lord As who would saie hauing no neede of any other ruler god being with them But as almighty god was then emongest his people and vsed yet neuerthelesse the ministery of men so is Christ no dout our sauiour now present alwayes wyth hys churche and chief head and gouern or thereof and yet gouerneth he the same by man And as Chore Dathan and Abiron be gone before swalowed alyue by hell there to taste of those rewardes which for such rebelliouse wretches ar prepared so must our Chore and his compagnioÌ„s folow their trace onlesse by their repentaunce they molify and asswage the iust wrath of god But yet let vs good readers that nothing may remaine that might in any wise seeme to blemish this truthe goe one steppe farder For as yet will our aduersaries I know well saye that I neuer can where it grew For our case saye they is far otherwise then you take yt seyng that we vtterly denye not that Chryst worcketh by meanes but onely swarue from yow in that we take those instruments and meanes to be other then you doe For the scripture we say whych Christ hath left to vs is the true meane wherebi in all doutes and controuersies we maie sufficiently content and satisfy our selues This is that iudge whych can not deceaue this ys that touchestone that can not lye Thus say our aduersaries with whom in that that they appeale to the scriptures no man is offended yea we praise them therefore and doe the lyke our selues But in that that they hold the scripture to be of it self alone to ende and determin all controuersies rising apon the doutefull meaning of the lettre able and suffycyent therein we vtterly dyssent from them and as we thynck not without great cause For omitting here that almighty god commaunded in th' olde lawe as before you haue hard that his people the Iues in doutefull questions arising apoÌ„ the lawe should resort to the priestes and to him that was the chief iudge for the time to be resolued therein and bad them not for the tryall thereof whych sense wer most true to lay and confer one text with an other which without all dout had he knowen it to be the best and surest as it is the readyest and easiest way he would not haue let to haue doen experience also hath taught vs the contrary thereof For emongest so many as at all times haue disquieted the church what one heretike ar they able to recon ouerthrowen by the scryptures was Arrius vanquished by them Naye if yow brought to conuince him this text Pater ego vnum sumus my father and I ar one he would tell you again that the same Chryst that so sayd sayd also pater meus maior me ests my father is greater then I. what had yow theÌ„ wonne at his handes that would tell you that one place of scripture must expounde an other and that therefore your place must be expounded by his And if you would wade farder with him he would interprete your place as he did wyth the catholikes to be vnderstand of vnitie in will and not in substance and bring yow scripture toe although wrested from the true sense that should seeme well to proue his distinction As when our sauiour praied vnto his father in this sorte Pater sancte serua eos in nomine tuo quos dedisti mihi vt sint vnum sicut nos kepe them â holy father in thy name whom thow hast giuen to me that they may be one as we two at one In th' exposition and right vnderstanding of these fewe wordes Hoc est corpus meum this is my body how happeneth it that the Caluinistes and the Lutheranes agre not by conferring one place of scripture wyth an other yf that be so ready a waie Doeth not Caluyn wyth all hys teache vs that the sense and true interpretation
of thiese wordes must nedes be atteined by the conference of one place of scripture with an other and to that ende doe they not fondly alleage S. Paule callyng Chryst a rocke yea Chryst calling hym selfe a vine when he was in dede neither the one nor the other but by a fimilitude As though because th' apostle or Chryst hymself vseth a fygure in one place we must thincke that in all other he neuer spake other wise By which abhominable doctrine what letteth if a man would be so wicked to affirme that Chryst the sonne of god and second parson in trinitie wer not the true and naturall sonne of god but by adoption onelye and for that wycked heresy to bring this texte dedit eis potestatem filios dei fieri he gaue them power to be made the sonnes of god Which wordes we knowe being spoken by vs men must be vnderstand by grace and adoption and frowardly to mainteyne that all the places whych any good man can bryng for the defence of the contrary should be drawen to thys texte alleaged by them and expownded and vnderstand thereby The Anabaptystes who deny the baptesme of infants leane they not thyncke yow to thys grounde of yours yea truely and good reason it is that being all heretykes as you ar although in some poyntes dissentyng yet all ioining and agreing in one cancred hatred against the churche you should all vse the same rules and principles For that I may here passe ouer that reason of the Anabaptistes which belongeth to an other place that therefore infants must not be baptized because it is not expressed in scripture a principle also of your religion but deliuered vnto vs by tradition saye they not also that they haue the scripture playne for them ageinst vs where yt hath Qui erediderit baptizatus fueriâ— saluus erit he that beleueth and is baptized shalbe saued and again in an other place vna fides vnum baptisma one faythe one baptesme By whych places say they it appeareth that say the must goe before and baptisme folowe after And when the catholykes to represse and vtterly ouerthrowe this bruâ—ysh and beastely opinion answer that for infants thus baptized the faithe of the churche is sufficient and accounted for theirs crie they not as yowe doe that in this controuersâ—e one place of scripture must expound an other and that therefore where as the scripture requireth in him that is baptized faith that theie must haue it of their owne according to th'apostles saieng fides ex auditu faithe commeth by hearing which infants can not haue and according to the saieng of the prophete Iustus ex fide sua victurus est the iust man shall liue by his owne faithe I am sory that in answering to this fond reason I haue bin compelled to make anie mencion of such horrible heresies as thiese ar which I had much rather wer with their first authors buried in hel from whence theie cam where neither they nor their name might euer hereafter offend the conscience of any good christian man But as I haue necessarily laied before your eyes thiese that by a part yow may iudge of the whole so haue I willingly staied my self from rehercing whole swarmes of such opinions as being of all men taken for confessed heresies onely depend apon this one false ground that we nede here in earthe no other iudge to decide and determine doubtes arising upon the sâ—ripture then the scripture it self whych being they saye laied and conferred to gether one text with an other will not faile to bring vs to the right vnderstanding thereof If your hartes good readers be moued with thiese heresies in the reading as truely god I take to witnesse mine was in the writing abhorre those that teache them shonne and auoide such principles and groundes as haue byn the foundacion not of thiese onelie but of all that now reigne in the worlde and may be of any other hereafter that any desperate heretyke lysteth to inuent Stick to those by which all heretykes haue byn and thiese shalbe to their vtter confusion vanquished Shrincke not rashelie from that fundacioÌ„ whereon your elders and forfathers fastening them selues haue passed ouer so many hundred yeares in the true confession of one god one faith one truthe to them that hauing yet scarse fourty on ther backes haue notwithstanding emoÌ„gest theÌ„ creaping all out of the filthy neast of one Martin Luther so manie faythes and yet no faith so many truthes and yet no truthe neuer a one agreing with the other as there be mad frantick heads emongest them Giue no eare to that subtil generation walcking in the darck like blinde battes without a head without a iudge and all to thend ther iuggeling might not be espied Tell them that yow haue sene them thriue so euel apon that presumption of theirs so many heresies so many schismes and lewd opinions brought in thereby that yow ar at a poinct with your selues to leaue them and take that way that S. Hierom in the like case hath doen before yow who although his knowledge in the tongues wer such as by the report of most men it passed anie others in his time yet would not he take apon him in the discussing of doutes to leane to that rule of theirs to lay and confer to gether one texte with an other but referring him self to the see of Rome he alwaies protested that by that seate and faithe praised by th'apostles owne mouth would he be counceled and ruled Beatitudini tuae id est cathedrae Petri communione consocior To your holines saith he writing to Damasus then the bishop of Rome that is to say to Peters chaire am I ioined in communion and he addeth a cause whie Super illam Petram aedificatam ecclesiam scio I knowe that on that rock Peters chaire the churche is builded Say vnto them as S. Hierom said vnto the the heretikes Vitalis and Miletus because they ar aduersaries to this seate that yow knowe them not that they scatter and ar schismatikes alltogether out of the churche that gather not with Peters successor Tell them boldelie with S. Austen that yow will owe neither sute nor seruice to their chaire of pestilence nor be a membre of that bodie that either lacketh a head and is a dead tronck or hath many and is a liue monstre Aske of them with what face they could so many yeares to gether call king Henrie the eight supreame head of the churche of England immediatlie vnder god and nowe our gracious souereigne lady his daughter supreame gouernor in all ecclesiasticall thinges and causes ouer the same which how so euer they please them selues with fine fetches and coloured deuises is with th'other title in effect all one if this reason of theirs wer good Christ is head of the churche therefore there is no other head thereof vnder him And how was king Henrie then if they say that
lettres or worde leauing the free election notwithstanding to them to whome of right it apperteineth as this placing of Sadoc in Abiathars office may welbe vnderstande To th'example of Ezechias I answer with the scripture that of all those thinges here rehersed and what so euer elles may be he was onelie the executor the councell and ordering thereof comming alwaies from Esaias the prophete Who as the mouth commaunded the arme that is the prince to doe and put in execution this or that In like māner I answer to the example of Iehu who killed the wicked prophetes but by thaduertisement and sentence as it wer first giuen ageinst them by Haelizeus the prophete sent to Iehu as king by him to be put in execution How Iosias warned the priestes of their office and duety it appeareth in the fourth booke of the kinges where he required the priestes to demaund at goddes handes councell what he and his people should doe so that what so euer he did also he cā be counted no otherwise to haue doen but as a ministre apon the aduertisement and relation of the priestes Nowe as for Iosaphat and Ioas if th'one ouerthrewe the wooddes and hilles where the people lurcked from the temple the other warned the priestes to see better to the reparation of the same what greate matter is this I praie yow or how doeth this proue that kinges ought to haue the chief rule ouer the churche If princes that haue byn in times past had so well looked in this point to their duetie as of right they ought and all good men wishe they had if they had scoured your luskes corners and ouerthrowen the wooddes the blinde cellers and rotten barnes in which yow first vttred your poisoned doctrine neither had that made thē rulers of the church but faithefull and trusty ministers nor yow byn here nowe to trouble the churche of god as yow doe As if on thother side they had also folowed th'example of Ioas in calling apon the reparation of goddes house neither would any good man haue found faulte therewith all nor any wise man haue thought that this should haue made thē the chief gouernours in religion nor finally so many churches lien at this day flat on the ground so many monasteries in which god was serued and the pooer relieued made stables for horses housen for shepe or sties for swine And thus may yow see good readers that all thiese examples alleaged by our aduersaries ar to no purpose as of the which some as of king Dauid who was not a king onely but a prophete also conteine a manifeste fallacie other as that of Iosue that he should receiue especiall commaundemēt of almightie god to meddle with religion an impudent lie some as of Salomon Ezechias and Iehu a figure or phrase of speche as by the scriptures I haue proued and as of Iosias may be also truely answered who enterprised nothing before he had caused the priestes first to goe and consult what he should doe and other some such as of Iosaphat and Ioas as no man euer denied to kinges yea many wishe that in the practising thereof they had in times past and at this daie also would showe them selues much more forward then they haue or doe And last of all yow may see that all wer it so that euery example had plainely concluded their intention that yet it is no good reason to say that therefore our kinges nowe a daies must haue the like auctoritie no more then this that if Moyses had byn no priest it should folow that other temporall gouernours might consecrate bishoppes because he did being none consecrate his brother Aaron or that because Dauid had many wiues therefore our kinges also maie or the cleargie put to death kinges because Samuel did or priestes kille adulterers after th'example of Phinees or one spoile an other I meane of them that be of contrarie opinions in religion because the children of Israel spoiled the Egiptians And here there cōmeth to my remēbraunce an other cause why that reason of theirs should be naught which is this that the priestehod of the Iewes was altogether carnall and fleshelie and might therefore the rather be subiect to the kinges whereas the priesthod of the newe testament is so much more excellent then that as by how much the matter and obiect about which it is occupied the head author and chiefe priest thereof which is no other then Christ him self the eternall priest according to the ordre of Melchisedech doeth far surmount either the matter the priest or priestehod of theirs Which thing S. Petre did not obscurely signify by these wordes vos estis regale sacerdotium yo we ar a kingelie priestehoode as who should say the priestehood before was not kingly for that that kinges ruled ouer priestes but nowe is the priestehod kingly for that to it be subiect euē kinges them selues Which neither is any such greate absurditie if we indifferentlie wey the matter as some men would haue it seme to be considering that Ignatius disciple to S. Iohn the euangelist that all the auncient fathers doe most plainely affirme the same neither yet anie greate reason why thiese wordes should be to any man cause of offence seing that when all is counted this honor of gouernement resteth not in the priestes but goeth farder to god him self whose ministres they ar as contrarywise the dishonor the contumelies and reproches doen vnto them ar doen also to Christ as him selfe witnesseth Qui vos spernit me spernit he that dispiseth yow dispiseth me The which thing I would to god our aduersaries which glory so much of the name of Christians vaunt them selues of the knowledge of the gospell would not thinck scorne to learne by the exāple of a pagane and infidell I meane Alexander the greate Who although he wer by religion an ethnike by nature intollerably proude so that not contentid as Quintus Curtius writeth of him to be born of the race of mortall men he cōueighed his petigrue frō the goddes not suffering but commaunding also that apon peine of his indignation all men should call him the sonne of Iupiter and to encrease the more that naughty humor of his and to poure as the prouerbe is oile in to the fier by fortune so happy that the whole worlde was in a manner by the dent of his sword conquered and brought vnder that at his name the proudest tirants trembled and barbarouse nations stooped he yet all this not withstanding being such and so mighty a Monarche when on a time he should entre in to the citie of Ierusalem as sone as he once perceiued Iaddus the highe priest comming towardes him fell downe and reuerenced him Whereat whē Parmenio one of his trusty friendes marueiling not a little had demaunded of him why he whom all other men worshiped and had in reuerence did worship the prince of the Iewish priestes his answer was
apon D. Coles wor des in the margeÌ„t of your boke that no B. of Rome before S. Gregories time would euer be called vniuersall biâ—shop finallie then would yowe not so ignorantlie haue confounded together these termes vniuersall bishop and heade of the churche as though theie had in that place signified all one thing The which that theie doe not no maÌ„ doeth more plainelie expresse then S. Gregorie him selfe who writeth of S. Peter after this maÌ„ner The charge saith he and supremacie of all the whole churche was committed to him and yeat was he not called vniuersall apostle Lo M. Iâ—ell if you had taken the paines to haue scanned the place of S. Gregorie alleaged by yow by this and such other would yow euer haue brought in to the lighte this deade mouse this false argument and vntrue consequent There was neuer anie B. of Rome called or that would be called by the name of vniuersall bishop therefore â–ª theie be not or ought not to be heades of the churche Seing that S. Peter as saithe S. Gregorie had the charge of the whole churche although he wer neuer called by the name of vniuersall apostle If S. Peter might be heade of the churche and without anie absurditie haue the charge thereof as S. Gregorie thought although he wer not called vniuersall apostle whie should yow thicke it now anie more impossible for the pope to be called head of the churche although he be not called vniuersall bishoppe And so haue yowe by the waie an answer to your wise demaunde also that is if no B. of Rome would euer take apon him to be called th'vniuersall bishoppe or heade of the whole churche for the space of six hundred yeares after Christe where then was the heade of the vniuersall churche all that while or howe it coulde then continue without a heade more theÌ„ nowe For we saie vnto yow that that is moste false and vntrue which yowe lay for a grounded truthe that is that no B. of Rome woulde euer be called by the name of heade of the churche within the first six hundred yeares after Christe as hath bene sufficientlie proued before and that also as we haue declared yowe abuse your selfe in the framing of your saide questioÌ„ in taking for all one the heade of the churche and the vniuersall bishoppe And thus haue yow one cause whie this place of S. Gregorie maketh nothing ageinst the supremacie of the B. of Rome And other cause is for that that Iohn the B. of Constantinople by this name or title of vniuersall bishoppe vnderstoode him selfe onelie to be a bishoppe and none elles Which meaning neither in the first six hundred yeares nor at anie time sence anie B. of Rome that I could yeat heare of euer had And that this is the true meaning of S. Gregorie and not forced by me the verie wordes of the same man written to Iohn archebishop of Constantinople doe well witnesse with me Qui enim indignum te esse fatebaris vt episcopus dici debuisses ad hoc quandoque perductusâ— es â–ª vt despectis fratribus episcopus appetas solus vocari that is to saie for thow Iohn B. of Constantinople which once grauntedst thy selfe to be vnworthie the name of a bishoppe art nowe at the length comme to that passe that thowe labourest to be called a bishop alone And a little after Thow goest about saieth he to take awaie that honour from all other which by singularitie thow desirest vnlaufullie to vsurpe to thy selfe Thus maie yowe see M. Iuell howe this place being by th'author him selfe expounded fardereth yow nothing at all and also by suche auctorities and reasons as haue for our parâ—e bene before alleaged vnderstand howe vnaduisedlie it was saide of yowe that the catholikes as sure as god is god if theie would haue vouchesaufed to folowe either the scriptures either the auncieÌ„t Doctours and couÌ„cels would neuer haue restored again the supremacie of the B. of Rome after it was once abolished Doe yow not hereby giue occasioÌ„ to meÌ„ to thinke that your lacke of faithe and mistrust in goddes omnipotency in other thinges groweth euen thereof that yow thincke god is not god For towching the supremacie hauing in the scriptures nothing in the councels as little in the fathers writinges onelie thiese fewe wordes that might se me to impugne the same and yet doe not howe will yow be able to discharge so manie auctorities of the fathers such consent of councels such conformitie of examples and force of reasons as haue bene and maie be brought ageinst yow howe will you satisfie your owne conscience which telleth yowe that so manie ceremonies so manie ordonances so manie decrees of bishoppes of Rome as Thomas Beacon otherwise called Theodore Basile or by what name so euer he be elles termed hath heaped together deliuered by them to the worlde some of them as emongest a nombre that which of all other yowe make lest account of holie water within little more then a hundred yeares after Christe and the most parte in the pure state of the primitiue churche would neuer haue bene by such common and generall confent without contradiction of anie receiued by the whole worlde vsed and frequented in all the churches scattred and dispersed thorough out the same onlesse the authors thereof had had vniuersall auctoritie to establishe that which hath bene vniuersallie receiued Thus hauing hetherto touching the supremacie saide so much as maie presently serue for your chalenge leauing the rest for a whole booke either by me when god shall sende better laisure or some other better able when he shall thincke best to be thereof made I shall nowe passe to the nexte article in question THAT THE PEOPLE VVAS TAVGHT VVITHIN THE FIRST SIX HVNDRED YEARES AFTER CHRISTE TO BELEVE that in the Sacrament of the altar for so dothe S. Austen terme it is conteined Christes bodie reallie substantiallie corporalie and carnallie TErtullian an auncient writer of Christes churche reporteth of heresie that the nature thereof is either when it is pressed with the auctoritie of scripture to denie it platlie to be scripture or if she receiue it with additions and detractions to the framing of her purpose to peruert it or finally with false gloses and vntrue expositions in such sorte to water it that it maie seme to haue a far other sense then had euer the holie ghost the author thereof This lesson and manner of olde heretikes was neuer I trowe more diligently put in execution or earnestlie practised theÌ„ in this our most miserable and wretched time nor in anie controuersie more perspicuouse and easie euen at the eye to be perceiued then in this of the moste blessed sacrament of Christes owne bodie and bloude For when our aduersaries demaunde of vs scripture for the confirmation of our parte and we bring them the wordes not of Peter not of Paule not of anie of thother apostles but of Christe him selfe that
yowe to conclude that therefore he must be worshipped in heauen trulie I knowe not but suer I am that the argument holdeth à loco topico Baculus stat in angulo Ergo Christus non est in coelo I am lothe here to presse yowe with farder auctorities in this pointe bothe because I woulde not gladlie stray froÌ„ that which I haue in haÌ„de and also least therebie you might falsely thinke that you had trulie answered the place allreadie alleaged And therefore I forbeare to laye to your charge Chrisostomus who exhorteth in a certcine place of his worckes all Christian men to imitate and folowe those barbarouse men who worshipped Christe lienge in the mangier in worshipping the same on the altar who telleth yowe and vs all twise in one sentence that Christes blessed bodie being in heauen is showed vnto vs here in earthe and that it is Summo honore dignum worthy the chiefest honour But although of gentlenes I release yowe of the paines in answering to these places of S. Chrisostome yeat all the worlde loketh for thus much at youre handes that yowe shoulde giue some reason for as much as yow so vnderstande the place of S. Austen whie Christes bodie maie not aswell be worshipped on the altar as it shoulde in heauen If yow saie because there it hath annexed to it the diuinitie doe we separate them on the altar Or doe we directe our worship to it for anie other cause then for that it hath the deitie inseparably vnited thereunto wherefore of fine force yowe must confesse that seing S. Austen hath graunted that Christes bodie is receiued of vs here in earthe and yowe can giue no reason whie it should be rather honored in one place then in an other that he ment as he spake of honour to be to be doen thereto then and there as it is receaued which is not in heauen but in earthe And trulie if there wer no auctoritie therefore very reason doeth conuince the same For who is there so folishe or rather starcke madde that if his prince should doe to him being a pore man that honour that he would vouchesaufe to visite him in his pore cotage like a rude beaste without cap or knee would stande staring in his face and saie that when he meeteth him in his courte or findeth him in his throne as though there vnto wer tyed all his princely power and that he caried not the same with him whither so euer he went then he will not faile to doe his dutie to the vttermost Who would not detest such a lourdaine that whereas for such exceading greate kindenes of his lorde and king he ought the more to haue honored him he abuseth now the same as a cause to take all honour from him But let vs returne to S. Austen and of manie testimonies that he hath concerning the truthe of this controuersie alleage onelie one other which is there where he expoundeth these wordes of the psalme Et ferebatur in manibus suis and he was caried in his owne handes His wordes ar these Ferebatur enim Christus in manibus suis quando commendans ipsum corpus suum ait Hoc est corpus meum Ferebat enim illud corpus in manibus suis. The wordes saieth he of the prophete ar founde to be true not in Dauid for how he or anie other could carie him selfe according to the lettre in his owne handes we finde not but in Christe for he was caried in his owne handes when coÌ„mending his bodie to his disciples he saide This is my bodie For he caried that body in his handes If the diuels ministres will here goe about to persuade yow good readers that S. Austen ment not that Christe caried in his haÌ„des his true bodie but a figure thereof tell theÌ„ that S. Austen excludeth all figuratiue speche in that that he hath how Christe caried him selfe according to the lettre and that if he had ment as theie saie he did it had bene no greate harde thing for either Dauid or anie other to cary in his handes the figure of him selfe If they yet presse yow with that that S. Austen vseth the worde quodammodo after a certeine maÌ„ner tell them that he meÌ„t not therebie to infirme the truthe which before he had so manifestlie confirmed but to teache the manner to be miraculouse and aboue the reache of reason and withall to withdrawe vs from such fonde fantasies as discussing this misterie by the manner of reasoning in other thinges we might perhappes haue fallen in to I would here make an ende of alleaging anie more auctorities for the confirmatioÌ„ of this article wer it not that happelie some man might thincke that I contemned that notable piller of Christes churche in Grece Chrisostome if out of him hauing for this controuersie so manie testimonies as in no one there can either more in nombre or stronger in proufe be founde I should not also bring to lighte one at the leaste or two He therefore when he compared together the departure out of this worlde of our sauiour and Helias and noted therein this difference that the one Helias lefte behinde him to his disciple his cloke stripping him selfe thereof but Christe the other left with vs bothe his cloke for so calleth he there his fleshe shifting him selfe thereof and yet ascendid into heauen and caried the same with him also witnessed not he manifestlie his faithe in this controuersie If Christ left not his fleshe here behind him how could he theÌ„ haue saide that in that pointe he was like to Helias if yow saie that he left a figure of his fleshe or a representation thereof onely how is it theÌ„ true that he left the same behinde him that he caried with him seing that the scriptures teache vs that the fleshe wherein he ascendid was no such as Marcion saide suffred on the crosse and as yow affirme to be in the sacrament but reall naturall and true fleshe when he complained of the outrage doeÌ„ at Constantinople by the meanes of Thâ—ophilus B. of Alexandria where he saide the souldiors rifled the holie places of the churche and that the moste holie bloude of Christe was shedde and spilt on their garmentes did not he plainelie witnesse with vs ageinst yow Hetherto yow haue harde maister Iuell for one seuen auncient doctours of the primitiue churche all within fower of the first six huÌ„dred yeares that you demaunded But all this not withstanding you will yet perhappes stand still apon your negatiue and beare the world in hand that although I haue by diuerse auctorities alleaged sufficiently proued that Christes body is present in the sacrament forasmuch as the auncient fathers haue one that fleshe fedeth in the sacrament on his body and bloud an other that we eate the same fleshe and drinck the same bloud by the which we wer redemed that the bread in the sacrament is turned not in fourme or
that yow must proue The nexte auctoritie that yow alleage to this purpose is taken oute of the first epistle of Anacletus and neuer written as yow ignorantly sayde it was by Calixtus But whose so euer it be yow handle it like youre owne For hauing cut of that which otherwise might haue bewrayed your falsehoode yow bring vs in a piece that semeth without the rest to make for your purpose Truly the ciuile lawes call it inciuile euen in worldly matters to iudge apon the onely bare viewe of some one parte of the lawe what the meaning is of the whole What they wer like to call mangling and hackling tearing and dismembring such as yow vse in goddes matters I referre it to your owne conscience to iudge by the argument of L. Cornelia de Fals. The wordes of Anacletus arre these Episcopus Deo sacrificans testes vt praefixum est secuÌ„ habeat c. The bishop when he doeth sacrifice to god let him as is before saide haue witnesses and mo then an other priest For as his honour is greater so hath he nede of mo witnesses For apon highe and solemne feastes shall he haue with him either seuen or fiue or thre deacons which ar called his eyes besides subdeacons and other ministres Who hauing apon them the holy vestimentes shall stande with humble spirite contrite harte and demure countenaunce before him and behinde him the priestes on the right hande and on the left garding him from euell disposed parsons and giuing their coÌ„sent to the sacrifice It foloweth Peracta consecratione omnes communicent c. The consecration being ended let them all communicate they that will not shalbe suspendid from entring in to the churche For so haue the apostles ordeined and the holy churche of Rome oâ—serueth These arre the wordes of Anacletus which if yow had wholly according to true meaning alleaged euery man shoulde haue easely perceiued how little this place had made for youre purpose euery man could haue saide that the wordes let all communicate shoulde be restreined to the priestes Deacons and other ministres of whome assisting the bishop at Masse he had before spoken and not to be racked as by you they violently arre to all the whole people that they should take place not in euery priestes masse but in euery bishoppes not at all times but at high and solemne feastes But what M. Iuell if as now it appeareth that this place maketh nothing for the prouse of youre assertion that there was not or coulde not within the first six hundred yeares after Christ or now may not any masse be saide without there be â—ome present to communicate with the priest so I make the same place to th' intent yow may not be sayde to haue taken the paines to haue alleaged it in vaine to serue for vs ageinst yow Truly I nothing doubte but that in right and indifferent iudgement I shall be hable to doe it The assistentes to the bishop at his masse should ye wote well as appeareth by this place of Anacletus coÌ„municate peracta consecratione after the consecration But what if they had refused at any time so to doe What should then haue bene done with that which was consecrated To haue reserued it vntill an other time youre doctrine in that point would not haue permitted to haue cast it away or abused it to profanevses your reuerence to those highe misteries could not haue alowed it I put here no case either impossible or vnthought apon For Anacletus him selfe prouided yow see a punishement for those that woulde not receiue which might as well haue bene all as one Thus I hope for this matter we shall not neede to trye the lawe Yow will easely graunte your selfe that the bisshop might haue finished his masse and haue receiued a lone and so either haue song or saide a priuate masse contrary to that which yow haue hetherto affirmed To the place of Chrisostome and that other of S. Gregori by the which it appeareth that such as woulde not receiue with the prieste wer commaunded away although it wer ynough for vs to answere that all this proueth nothing that when they be gone the prieste which came thither for that purpose may not goe forwarde in his Masse and receiue yea alone so that resting on this pointe we might looke for youre replye yeat although these testimonies be not I saye to the purpose forasmuch much neuerthelesse as they goe nearer to vs then any of the other auctorities before alleaged while they seme to barre the people to be present at the masse without they will receaue the sacrament with the prieste I shall thereunto in fewe wordes answere after this sorte First that these fathers of a vehement and earnest zeale that they had to reuoke and call in to vse againe that frequent and common vsage of receauing with the prieste from whence they then sawe the people thorough coldenesse of deuotion which by the cruell and often persecutions of the heathen emperours was wont to be kindled and enflamed in them to be not a little swarued and fallen away vsed a phrase and manner of speche although exactly considered in it selfe not all together simply true yet for that time and those manners very much bothe expedieÌ„t and necessary For euen as no man reprehendeth him that minding to make a crooked wand streight boweth it first to a greate deale more crookednesse on the other side then it had before not that he aloweth that any more then he did the other but onely because he knoweth right well that to make it at all streight this is the onely way euen so these fathers if they commaunded them awaie that being present at the Masse woulde not communicate with the prieste if they threatened them that if they wer not worthy to receiue the communion they wer not worthy to haue any parte of the common praiers yea if they added that excepte they wer worthy euery daie to receiue they shoulde not be worthy once in the yeare we must nedes thinke that here they bowed these crooked pieces as farre an other way and that they ment no more to haue them stande thus then as they did before If you here demaunde of meapoÌ„ what groundes I dare leauing the manifest wordes of these fathers giue this interpretation knowe ye that two causes there arre which haue moued me so to doe The first is for the auoiding of absurdities and inconueniences for which causes they that be learned in the lawes will tell you that it is not vnlaufull to swarue often times and goe froÌ„ euen the plaine wordes of he lawe or statute which otherwise we should of necessitie fall in to and from which of good reason we ought to thinke those holy and learned fathers in all their actes and doinges to haue bene most farre For if they had meÌ„t verely as their bare wordes imporre what coulde haue bene spoken more absurdely then this
that he that is not worthy to receiue the blessed body of Christe in the sacrament is not worthy also to be praied for Whereas all men knowe that theÌ„ more vnworthy he is of the one the more worthy he is of the other if the sicke be worthy to haue a phisicioÌ„ and not the hole that by the meanes thereof he maie become worthy to receiue that of which he was before vnworthy If we so sticke in the barcke and rinde and come no nearer to the pith what sense will yow make S. Ambrose to haue in saieng that he that is not worthy to receiue the sacrament daily is not worthy to rceiue the same once in the yeare Might it not so happen that many a good man which now receiueth worthily once in the yeare shoulde by this meanes not receiue worthily once in his life But of this maÌ„ner vsed in speaking or writing haue we not in some of these fathers expresse testimonies namely in Chrisostome who trauailing in a certeine place of his worckes to persuade the true and reall presence of Christes body in the sacrameÌ„t vseth these wordes Seest thow not thy lorde offred vp the prieste doing his priestly office pouring oute his praiers the people rounde aboute him imbrued and made redde with that pretiouse bloud which wordes I knowe yow will easely graunte with vs to be not in all pointes simply true but yet not discommendable or vnsemely being spokeÌ„ as sensibly as might be the more firmely to persuade the truthe of that which although it be there as truely as though it had bene sene was yet hidde and to carnall eyes inuisible But what needeth it here to alleage the manner of speaking of the auncient and olde fathers seing that yow M. Iuell and your coÌ„panions oure newe maisters and yong fathers vse the same or not much vnlike in your cisguised communion And yeat for all your terrible thundre boultes shotte ageinst them that being present receiue not yow see neuer a one the more for feare thereof departe oute of the churche yea he that I thinke should wer well like perhappes to heare thereof to his coste before his Ordinary But there is not the simplest in a parishe but he knoweth that youre meaning is not to driue theÌ„ oute of the churche as youre wordes sounde but to stirre theÌ„ vp thereby the oftener to come to youre schismaticall communion and therefore they tarrie still Or elles if this be not youre minde of so many that be present coÌ„tinually thereat and be not partakers thereof why haue yow punished all this while noâ—â—e An other cause that hath moued me thus to vnderstand these fathers is for that the practise of the churche appeareth to haue bene in their time such as that the people was willed euen then to be present at the church and to heare Masse at the leaste on the Sundaies when they stoode neuerthelesse at libertie touching the receauing of the sacrament any oftener then thrise in the yeare as appeareth by the councell holden at Agatha in Fraunce aboute Chrisostomes daies and by S. AusteÌ„ neere also vnto the same time S. Austens wordes arre these In die verò nullus se a sacra Missarum celebratione separet neâ—ue otiosus quis domi remaneat On the Sunday let no man absente him selfe from the holy celebration of the Masse nor remaine within the doores idle And alittle after he addeth Adhuc quoâ—ue quod detestabilius est ad ecclesiam aliqui venientes non intrant non insistunt praecibus non expectant cum silentio sanctarum MissaruÌ„ celebrationem that is to say Besides all this which is a thing more to be detested some coÌ„ming to the church entre not in they praie not they tarie not out with silence the celebrating of the holie Masses And thus it appeareth the vse of the churche being at that time such as the people was by ordre bounde to heare Masse on the SuÌ„day whether they receuid or no that in no wise these fathers can be so vnderstande as though they ment to driue them vttrely from the Masse whither the churche had bounde them to come but onely to put them in remembraunce so to come and so to be present thereat as in times past in that olde feruency of deuotion they had bene wont Thus much for the first answere Secondarily to the places before alleaged I saie that â—â—â—ing graunted which denied by vs yow shall neuer be able to proue that in the primitiue churche such as woulde not receiue with the priest wer not suffred to be present at the mass Year is it no good reason to saie that therefore it must necessarily be so now Seing that in those thinges which haue by Christ bene left indifferent of which this is one the spirituall gouernours haue power to change and alter as occasion giueth Will yow see it proued by examples There was a time when to absteine from bloud and straÌ„gled meates was a thing so necessary to be obserued that it was by a solemne decree of the apostles enacted and as light a matter as some will perhappes make thereof yeat added the apostles thereto this weight and poise of wordes Visum est Spiritui sancto nobis it hath semed good to the holy ghost and to vs. Yea the text hath that they accounted such abstinence inter necessaria in the nombre of those thinges that were necessary to be obserued euen as to absteine from fornication Of the continuance of this decree in his force the place mencioneth nothing so that thereof can be gathered no other but that it was a lawe made to endure for euer although at this daye it be not practised well yow wote pardye Were it well done thincke yowe now to reason thus In the apostles time the churche absteined from bloudinges and stiffled meates Therefore we must in these dayes doe the like Yeat wer this truly a stronger reason drawen from an ordonaunce and commaundement of the apostles then is youres leaning apon examples if yow had any such which as they neuer had their beginning of any commaundement or precept of the holie scriptures but by them lefâ—e at libertie were by the spirituall gouernours as the present time required drawen to a necessitie so by the same apon contrary occasion maie at all times be released But yow haue at all no such commaundement in the whole scripture that soundeth that waies that the prieste maie not saie Masse and receiue the sacrament alone without companie or that no man maie be present with the prieste at his Masse there with him to communicate spiritually onlesse the same will also communicate sacramentally For that yow alleage most fondly for the proufe of the contrary that Christ gaue this holy sacrament not to one alone but to many being together and that he saide farder by the waie of charge Doe this that is yow saie Practise this that I haue here done and that in such ordre and
would coÌ„municate with the prieste some Secondarilie they teache that this sacrameÌ„t ministred in the masse was chiefelie instituted to be a sacrifice to be offred vp to god by the prieste for his owne sinnes and the sinnes of the people and nexte to be a spirituall foode for all Christian people and nexte to be a spirituall foode for all Christian people to feede apoÌ„ and that as the first vse of anie thing maie not depend apon the second but contrarie wise this apoÌ„ that so in this sacrament the oblation which is the chiefest vse thereof and whereunto the prieste is bounde maie not so depend on the peoples coÌ„municating which is the seconde and whereunto touching so often receiuing theie ar not bounde but stand at libertie that without their deuotion serue them to receiue it he maie not doe his dutie that is to offer it Thirdlie that although for lacke of company the prieste doe receiue alone the sacrifice is yeat neuer the more priuate or lesse coÌ„mon For as no man is so madde to saie that a greate riche man keping a common table for his pooer neighbours hath left his olde accustomed wont and maketh nowe his table priuate if the gates of his house standing wide open as theie wer wont to be his tables furnished with plentie of meates and all thinges in a readinesse his geastes forbeare to come euen so it fareth in this case where the table is laide the gates be open the goodman of the house the prieste supplieng the place of Christe abideth loking for his geastes who onelie refraine to come Is this table priuate is he a niggard or shall he not eate that woulde because theie will not that shoulde Is a conduict builded in the middest of the open market place of a towne the lesse publike or common if the inhabitantes for whose ease it was made refuse to fetche water thereat Last of all we saie that hethertoe yow haue not discharged your promise which was to proue that within the first six hundred yeares after Christe there was neuer Masse saide nor might be without a nombre to receiue with the priest So that now we may saye vnto yow Vbi est illa seuitia vbi est ille fremitus Leonis Nonne sagittae infantum factae sunt plagae eorum Where arre now become youre cruell wordes ageinst the Catholikes to what ende is your Lions roring O Gregory O Augustine O Hierome O Chrisostome O Leo O Dionise O Anacletus O Xistus O Paule O Christ. If we be deceiued yow haue deceiued vs to what ende I saie is it brought Nonne sagittae infantum factâ—e sunt plagae eorum Ar not the woundes that yow haue giuen vs such as childrens cockeshootelles ar wont to make Well these be the pointes that the catholike doctrine standeth apon in this article To the which if youre stomacke serue yow to replie and that yow haue digested that which yow haue allready receiued I moste hartely praie yow to kepe yow without straieng from the matter or alleaging proufes impertinent as close as yow can So shall yow doe bothe to youre selfe in writing and to me in answering a very greate pleasure while I am suer your euidence is so much that six lines I speake with the moste will receiue with ease all that yow shall haue to write THE CONCLVSION CONTEINING 12. CAVSES HABLE AS THE AVTHOR IVDGETH either to stay the wauorer in matters of religion or to calle back the wanderer in thiese perilouse times HEtherto haue yow hard M. Iuell for the confirmation of fower articles the chiefest in a manner of all the rest that arre at this daie in controuersie betwene yowe and vs the scriptures the councels the Doctours and examples of the primitiue churche not their bare names as apoticaries set furth their empty painted boxes but full euen to the toppe of moste wholesom triacle and pretiouse preseruatiues ageinst the venime and contagion of your poisoned and pestilent hereticall doctrine So that now there remaineth no more but that euen as of late yow haue bene warned allready so now by me yow be put in remembrance once againe according to your promise to returne froÌ„ your heresies to your mother the Catholike church The which to perswade yow the rather and with the better will to doe I haue thought good here to communicate with yow such causes and reasons as by parte whereof I haue by experience founde my self against oure coÌ„mon ennemie the craftie serpents assaultes at such times as he hath laboured to drawe me to youre parte not a little strengthened and confirmed in Christes true religion and his catholike faithe FIRST I beseche yow considre and weigh well with your self whether Christ at his departure from vs men left behinde him here in earthe a churche or none Whether he promised to aide the same and to be present with it to the ende of the worlde to defend it in such sorte as if hell gates wer set wide open and all the diuels there sent abroade to vexe it they should not yet all of theÌ„ be able to preuaile When all this shalbe well considered and founde to be true then marche yet one step farder I praie yow and aske as it were of youre self how this churche prospered afterwarde whether as if according to his promise he haue bene continually present therewith all it needes must it multiplied and encreased or by his absence therefro decreased and went backeward Here wote you well you must needes saie either th' one or the other If yow saie that it hath alwaies hetherto either encreased or byn at the least so mainteined that no enemie no heretike no diuell him self no not all the diuels with all the power of the worlde ioining together could euer yet preuaile ageinst it then must you also graunte that at all times sence Christes departure from hence there hath bin a churche visible such as of all men might bothe be seene and knowen for such a one left Christ behinde him to vs his xij apostles besides the nombre of disciples to be a pillar for them to leane vnto that thorough infidelitie should be in daunger of falling and a house to harbour and succour them that otherwise should be like in the tempestes and stormes of heresies to lie without the doores If yow saie thus and that he hath neuer forsaken his churche but allwaies noorished it at all times in such sorte defended it that neuer was there time yet in which for feare of all the tiraunts in the world for dread of burning hanging hedding or other torments what â—oeuer it could be forced to hide it self to seeke meanes to lurcke in cloudes or walâ—k inuisible but hath allwaies to the coÌ„trary well declared it self to be that tabernacle placed in the cleare shining sonne that citie builded on the top of the mountain that caÌ„dell which giueth light to all that arre in the house theÌ„ demaunde I hartely praie you
of your owne coÌ„science where fifty yeares a goe that schismaticall churche which yow call the true churche and boaste your self to be of was in the coÌ„passe of all the wide worlde to be seene or hard of where your bishoppes had their consistories where your pastours and doctours were resident where youre religion was preached and SacrameÌ„tes ministred in such sorte as yow preache and ministre theÌ„ S. HieroÌ„ saieth where is no priest there is no churche S. Paule teacheth vs that in Christes churche be placed apostles prophetes EuaÌ„gelistes pastours and doctours Bring furth your priestes shewe where were your doctours and preachers If yow can not as in deede by the confessioÌ„ of youre apologie where yow confesse that forty yeares a goe the truthe which yow teache began first to spring that theÌ„ it was by Martin Luther and Hulderick Zuinglius first as neuer before hard of for yow call it inauditam veritateÌ„ brought to the knowledge of men yow ar not able confesse then at the length that yow had at all no churche ioine youre self to them which can of all times and of all ages bring furth good testimonies and euideÌ„t proufes where the religion which they professe the doctrine which they preache hath byn preached and taught and the sacramentes which they ministre ministred in such sort and manner as by them they presently arre Thus much if you graunte to vs that Christes churche according to his promise hath prospered hath preuayled ageinst all enemies and backe frindes hath alwaies sence his departure hence byn visible and to be seene of all men But if now on the coÌ„trary parte you saye not thus but for the citie that should staÌ„d on the toppe of the mountaine to be sene of all meÌ„ you will leade vs to a ragged cotage standing in some darcke hole and obscure caue able to be sene of no man or very fewe if for the tabernacle placed in the bright sonne you point vs to a doghole in some cloudy cellar or rotten barne and tell vs that there youre church hath lurcked and all this long while lien hidden for feare of persecution then must we tell yow in plaine Englishe that although yow were able to finde out some such luskes coâ—ner where youre coÌ„uenticles had bene assembled as if a man should aske yow but of the yeare before Luthers time you can not yet this would in no wise serue youre turne as being the strange voice of those false prophetes of whome in the gospell our sauiour gaue vs a watche worde to beware and take heede For Christ and so by a consequeÌ„t the body which must folow the head the chuâ—che I meane is not in partes here or there and therefore yow deserue no credit when yow so saye He dwelleth not in the desert of singularitie but in that well peopled citie cuius participatio eius in idipsum which is at vnitie with it self and whither the multitude ascendith not by one and one alone but by whole tribues and companies together And therefore when yowe tell vs that his abiding is in deserto in the desert or wildrenes we maye not goe out of that populouse citie nor step oute of the common beaten way there to seeke him no more then we maye beleue yow when yow crye in penetralibus that he is in the secrete and priuey places of the house Thus tolde S. Austen then whome the churche had neuer yeat a champion more exercised or better practised and acquainted with the manners and fasshions of heretikes Petilian that heretike his wordes ar thiese Sed haec interim sepono tu ostende ecclesiam I am vox illa mihi sonabit quam in pseudoprophetis Dominus vitandam praemonuit ostendentibuâ— partes ab vniuer so alienare conantibus Ecce hic est Câ—ristus Ecceillic Sed vsque adeò putas veras oues Christi cor non habere quibus dictum est nolite credere vt lupum audiant dicentem hic est Christus pastorem non audiant dicentem per omnes gentes incipientibus ab Hierusalem That is to saye But thiese thinges I lay all a syde and slip ouer showe me the churche Here will that voice sounde in my eares which our lorde warned vs to beware of in false prophetes showing vs partes and going about to drawe vs from the whole saing Lo here is Christ and there is Christ. But thinckest thow PetiliaÌ„ that the true sheepe of Christ to whome it is saide beleue them not ar so hartelesse that they will harckeÌ„ to the wolfe howling that here is Christ and will giue no eare to the shepherd sayeng thorough out all nations beginning at Hierusalem Thus taught he vs in an other place to discerne true preachers from false Si quis tibi Christum praedicat attende considera qualem praedicet vbi praedicet Christus enim veritas est per scriptur as sanctas praedicatur non in angulis non occultè sed palam publicè In sole posuit tabernaculum suum hoc est in manifesto collocauit ecclesiam suam If any man that is to saie preache vnto the Christ marcke and considre what maÌ„ner of Christ he preacheth and where he preacheth him For Christ is truthe he is preached by the holy scriptures not in corners not in hocker mocker but openly and publikely He hath pitched his tabernacle in the sonne that is to saye he hath placed his churche in the open sight of all men The same S. Austen told Seuerinus a kinsman of his that the churche was ciuitas supra montem posita a citie buylt on the top of a hill and that therefore it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greke because it was diffunded thorough out the whole world and finally that for that cause according to the worde of god it could not be hidden To this that hath byn alleaged maye be added that if euer Christes church should haue bene brought to such extremitie at any time after the fundation thereof once layed that a man might haue sought for it and not haue founde it that no one duâ—sâ— put furth his head to kepe the possession and right thereof that then it had byn vtterly ouerthroweÌ„ that hell gates had preuailed ageinst it And how had then Dauids prophecy bene true spokeÌ„ before hand of the churche Dominabitur a mari vsâ—ue ad ma re à flumine vsâ—ue ad terminos terrae It shall rule from sea to sea and from the floud to the ende of the world How had the churche ruled and gouerned that shoulde haue byn so brought vnder and vanquished Or how could Daniel haue called it the greate stone that grew and becam a houge mountayne and filled the whole worlde Yea how had Christ acquitâ—ed him self of his promise to be alwaies present with his churche if it had euer byn brought to thiese termes Greate persecutions the churche we confesse of Christ hath suffred but
omitted so much as one worde ▪ let vs nowe I beseche yow as yow tendre the common quiet of the churche as yow regarde the health of youre owne soule doe the like Youre owne selues confesse within the terme of yeares by me mencioned of the beginning and continuance of youre religion youre Apologie alleaging 40. yeares for all the vniuersall worlde M. Haddō to Hieronimus Osorius standing more stoutely then wisely apon the quiet possessiō of thirty yeares six excepted in which the course thereof was interrupted within oure realme of England So that yow can not say that I haue here imagined a case impossible but by youre owne selues confessed and by manie a man aliue if yow would denie it easy to be proued To conclude if all that hath byn allready saied satisfie yow not let yet Tertullian persuade yow in this poinct whose wordes touching this matter written ageinst the heretikes of his time folow in english after this sorte Well let it be graunted that all haue erred Hath the holie ghost yet all this while regarded no churche to leade it into the truthe being sent for that purpose by Christ being therefore expressely demaunded of his father to be the teacher of all truthe Let it be so that goddes bailif and Christes vicair haue suffered the churches to vnderstand otherwise then he taught by his apostles Is it yeat likely that so many and famouse churches should erre in one faithe And a littell after he addeth thiese wordes The truthe belike looked for some Marcionites and Valentiniās the heretikes against whome he wrote to deliuer it in the meane season till whose comming the ghospel was not rightely preached so many thousand thousands baptized amisse so many worckes of faithe euell ministred so many vertuouse cures and giftes wrongfully wrought so many priesthodes and ministrations naughtely executed so manie martirdome to make an ende suffred in vaine Thus far Tertullian To whome it seemed a thing absurd and vnlikely that the holie ghost should faile the churche in the reuealing and opening to the same of any wholesom and necessary truthe that gods bailiff and Christes vicair should suffer so many churches to fall in to an erroniouse and wrong belief that so many agreing all in one faithe should erre that no chaunce should at one time or an other haue varied the ordre had it byn nought of that doctrine which so many churches taught This wrote he when Christes churche was yet in herba when it had continued little aboue two hundred yeares What would he haue saied were he now aliue in oure time to heare that all the churches in the wide worlde the same where the apostles them selues gouerned from whence as from a spring all scripture all true religion next after god flowed in to the reast of Christendome should be noted agreing all in one faithe to haue perniciously erred not one hundred yeares or two but by the continuall space of fiftene hundred Or if that cōfession fell from yow in youre Apologie vnwares as in a booke set furth with such publike consent first commendid to the world next as the common and certeine pledge of youre religiō and last of all vaunted to be placed openly in the eyes of all the world and such as no one of youre aduersaries wer able to refell it is not easi to be presumed yeat for the terme of nine hundred yeares at the least For for so long continuance the moste parte of yow graunt that we ar able to bring proufes and witnesses of oure religion and therefore yow chalenge all the writers that haue written within that compasse Would he not now haue cried out and haue asked where was become the holie ghost apppointed by Christ demaunded of the father to leade the churche in to all truthe Whether it were likely that so many and notable churches agreing all in one faithe should erre would he not thincke we take vp oure newe doctours yow and youre cōpanions telling yow that the truthe laie euer bounde and could neuer be losed till frier Luther and his brother Zuinglius cam and set it at libertie and that in the meane season the ghospel was neuer preached aright baptesme euel ministred with such like functions in the churche But leauing Tertullian and comming nearer to oure owne time will not thinck yow Hieronimus Osorius laughe in his sleeue whē of thirteene hundred yeares for so long is it and more sence we Englishe men first receiued the faithe at the handes of pope Eleutherius M. Haddon his aduersary after so much turning and tossing troubling and vexing of Cicero his maister and chiefest author of his diuinitie could at the length with much ado finde but .24 yeares that our countrie had continued in the doctrine of the gospell Is he not like thinke yow to serue him again with this tennis ball Hoc est tuū Gualtere nescio stupidius an improbius ad Hieronimi epist. respōsum And will not some other trowe you cut him shorte of this accounte eleuen yeares and bid him for .30 lacking six to write .30 lacking .17 Except he will flie to this to iustifie his reaconing that as soone as the pope was once banished although Masse Mattins and all other seruice cōtinued till the deathe of king Henry that yeat was all as it shoulde be and according to the doctrine of their gospell How euer it be fower and twenty or .13 yeares hath not the Quene our gratiouse lady trow yow and the whole realme good cause to decree and appoint a perpetuall salary out of the common coffers to such a patrone But because Osorius is well knowen to be man good ynough for M. Haddon and therefore bothe cā and will if he thincke it needefull to reply apon so fond an answere defend him selfe I will leauing to write any more thereof as perteining not principally but incidently to my purpose conclude here this first cause with my earnest request to yow once again that yow considre it diligently and seriously not lightely or scornefully THE second cause that hath weighed much with me and maie also iustly doe the like with yowe is the same that S. Austen disputing with the Maniches affirmed to haue kept him in the lappe of the catholike churche that is the auctoritie of the same churche by which we ar taught to giue credite vnto the ghospell For as he reasoned thus ageinst Manichaeus Quibus ergo obtemperaui dicentibus c. Those therefore whome I beleuid bidding me beleue the ghospell why shoulde I not giue credite to the same men warning me not to beleue Manichaeus so maie yow or I saie to all such factiouse men as labour to bring vs from the obedience of the catholike churche of Rome to their parte The churche of Rome the mother and chief of all other taught vs Englishe men first to beleue the gospell and other knowledge the reof then which we had from that church we haue none Why should we