And therefore he exhorteth those vppon whome this deadly desire groweth that they would vse to sacrifice for the same and humbly to fly to the Temple of the Gods to frequent the company of good men to heare theyr godly conference and to endeuour themselues to doe and to speake those things which are honest and iust But if so be that infirmity wil not so depart death for such a wretch were better then life Wherefore he enacteth this Law VVhosoeuer is aprehended for Sacrilege De legib Dialog 9. if hee be a seruant or a foreyner his fault being written in his forehead and his handes and being well whipped with so many stripes as the Iudge shall award let him bee thrust naked out of the borders of the land For happely by this punishment being brought to shame he may amend his manners For no punishment is appointed for any mans hurt but of two thinges it commonly effecteth the one it maketh him eyther much better or not so bad that sustaineth the punishment But if it be a Cittizen which shall be found to haue commited any such thing against the Gods or to haue done some great and gracelesse wrong to his parentes or his countrey let the iudge so censure of him as of one which is incurable considering this with himselfe what honest instruction and education he hath had of a childe and yet hath not absteyned from the most heynous sinnes VVherefore let this mans punishment be death the least of all euils So shall he profite others by his example while he is made infamous among all and is put to death beyond the borders of his own countrey The lawes of the twelue tables prouide thus against the same sinne VVho so stealeth or pilfereth any holy thing or committed to the holy place let him be held and handled as a murtherer of his Father But what neede I recite the seuerity of Lawes in this behalfe it is a thing well enough knowen if it were but halfe so much feared But euen they also which escape the lawes and iudgements of men because they are eyther too mighty or too crafty yet can they not escape the vengeance of God For it is one of the most detested sins after the which the wrath of God yearneth till it be reuenged The examples whereof are to be seene in Histories both sacred and prophane Chap. IX Certaine examples of Gods vengeance against Sacrilege THe first example of Sacrilege may be that which we read of Achan in the 7. of Iosua who took of the excommunicate things of Hierico a Babylonish garment two hundred sickles of siluer a wedge of gold For this offence of one wretched fellow did not all Israell feel the heauy wrath of God till satisfaction was made by the death of that accursed party and his whole family To this I may adde an other committed by the Priests and no lesse seuerely punished of God then was that of Achan In the first of Samuel the second Chapter we read of a certayn man of God who came to Ely the chiefe Priest and sayd vnto him Thus saith the Lorde did not I plainly appeare to the house of thy Father when they were in Egypt in Pharaos house and I chose him out of all the tribes of Israell to he my Priest to offer vppon mine Altar and to burne incense and to weare an Ephode before me I gaue to the house of thy Father al the offerings made by fire of the children of Israell VVherefore haue you kicked against my sacrifice and against mine offerings which I cōmāded in my tabernacle honorest thy children aboue me to make your selues fat of the first fruites of all the offerings of Israell my people VVherefore the Lord God of Israell sayth I sayd that thy house and the house of thy Father should walke before me but now the Lord saith it shall not be so for them that honor me I will honor and they that despise me shall be despised Behold the dayes come that I will cut off thine arme and the arme of thy Fathers house and ther shall not be an old man in thy house And thou shalt see thine enemy in the habitation of the Lord in all things wherein God blesseth Israel and there shall not bee an olde man in thy house for euer Neuer the lesse I will not destroye euery one of thine from mine Altar to make thine eyes to fayle and to make thine heart sorrowfull And all the multitude of thine house shall dye when they bee men And this shall be a signe vnto thee that shall come vppon thy two sonnes Hophny and Phinees In one day shall they die both And I wil stirre mee vp a faithfull Priest that shall doe according to mine heart and according to my minde And I will builde him a sure house and hee shall walke before myne annoynted for euer And it shal come to passe that whosoeuer is left in thy house shal come and bow down to him for a piece of siluer and a morsel of bread and shal say appoint me I pray thee to one of the Priests offices that I may eat a morsel of bread c. Thus saith the mā of God al which things as he foreshewed came to passe not long after For the sons of Ely were slaine in battayle the Arke of the couenant was taken of prophane men And Ely hearing the dolefull messenger of these wretched newes fell from his seate backeward and brake his necke his daughter in law the wife of Phinees died in childe-bed the holy mount Sylo was forsaken of the Lord neyther was the Arke of the Lorde euer brought thither againe And after all this 80. and 5. men Priests of the house of Ely were slain vnder Saul I need not speak of the calamities which befel that whole family for the Sacrilege of two men only And albeit the prophane Philistines did honorably vse the sacred Arke after their manner Yet notwithstanding God plagued them also for their prophanation neither was it forgiuen thē that they once handled so holy a matter But I omit the Sacrileges committed from that time to the captiuity of Babylon Wher the infamous act of Balthasar may be a notable exāple of Gods iustice against al Sacrilegers He in a brauery cōmanded those holy vessels which his father Nabuchadnezar had stollen frō Hierusalem to be set forth for a cupbord of plate in sumptuous banquet that out of them both he his cup-mates might carouse a full despite to the dishonor of God But the wrath of God found the sot in the deede doing brought him in a sharp reckoning with an heauy vp shot in the miraculous motion of a hand writing And here Daniel cald before the king to read expound the heauenly drawn writ in stead of a taking away taketh him vp amōg many other things bordeth him thus Thou hast lift vp thy self against the lord of heauē they haue broght the vessels of his house
there anye thing in the Fathers for some especiall cause moouing vs misliked of vs By and by we haue this theoreme at our fingers end We must remember they were but men and because men may easilie erre we muster whatsoeuer we mis-conceiue of them among the errors of that age In the meane while wee neuer remember our selues that we also are but men and therfore may erre with them yea we are such men neither are we exempt from the common infirmitie of men who may then er when we thinke amisse of them and in that verie thing may wee erre for the which we condemne them This is once that against the constant and consonant conclusions of the ancient church we ought not to attempt or admit anie innouation without a plaine commission from Gods holie writ and this also I dare boldly say that whosoeuer taketh away al authoritie from the Fathers he leaueth none for himselfe Indeed it must bee confessed that the Fathers were men and that they had their wrinckles yet can it not be denied that to haue our Fathers to bee our Patrons in the principal points of faith and externe pollicy of our church things controuerted betweene the Popelings and vs is a matter of no small moment and of especiall account And albeit the vniforme consent of Gods children from the Apostles times vnto this day may not be compared with the eternall word of God Notwithstanding of right it may come in and stand for the second place The custome of gods people receiued of all Churches thorow out the whole world is in maner of a lawe sacred and inuiolable Neither is there any likelihood that there could euer haue beene an vniuersall consort of all Churches and ages without either the authoritie of gods word or the tradition of the Apostles Notwithstanding for as much as no consent no custome no auncient prescription can or ought to preuaile in the Church of Christ against the word of God Therefore those reasons are to be weighed and those Scriptures to bee examined which mooued the Fathers to intertaine and continue that Church gouernment which our newe reformers will in no case agree vpon that we may certainelie know whose is the error theirs or ours The time hath bene when no good men disallowed of Bishops and Archbishops but now in despite of the Popes tyranny his complices it is come to this passe that their very names are called into question and that of diuerse men for diuerse causes Some because they are as they suppose the deuises of Antichrist or his fore-runners thinke them vnworthie thee Church and worthie to be cast ouer-boorde Others yet more modest in some reuerence of antiquitie thinke they may be borne with all for a time although in the mean time they allow not of them vntill such time as commodiouslie the names may bee antiquate with the thinges themselues In the meane while for that they know neither can they be ignorant to what singular effect the Church of God hath bin gouerned by graue and godlye Bishops they haue not the face to condemne them openly yet because they see certaine reformed Churches of this age to be gouerned without Bishops It is enugh they haue not the power any longer to tollerat the more auncient gouernment O the regiment of Pastors and Elders passing all antiquitie our soules haue longed for thee and we haue a desire vnto thee for that thou alone art grounded vppon the Lord Iesus his institution and thou if any art wholy purified of all tyranny and ambition O but by your leaue good brethren the shadowe you imbrace is no substance neither is the plot you conceaue a priueledged place Are you so far in loue with your liuelesse Pigmalion the worke of your owne hands I know who is not hee hath reason for his why not For neither is your newe draught of straunge gouernement sufficientlye prooued by the word of God neither is it yet or can at any time bee confirmed by the example of our Elders And how should it if we should iudge aright of it seeing it was partly vnknowen vnto them as a thing insolent and not heard of and partlie condemned of them as a thing Heriticall and not approoued of Wherefore to speake the plaine truth without flatterie or partialitie I thinke of this new forme of Church gouernment as some thinke of our Bishops regiment Namely that it is but a deuise of mans conceit and there to be tollerated where a better cannot bee obtained And contrariwise that which is disallowed of some as deuised by man seemeth vnto me to bee the verie ordinance of God and the onely true gouernment of the Church as that which hath his institution from God not only in the old but in the new Testament But because it is defiled with the manifolde abuses of men that which were to be layd vppon the person is imputed to the function as if forsooth no such miscariage might befall this their nouell kinde of gouernement The Romish Antichrist with his Bishops Archbishops Patriarches and Metropolitanes hath so troubled and intangled the Church of Christ that tyranny it selfe is thought to bee masked vnder those honest and honorable titles It is most true He that is once stong of a Serpent suspecteth euery stone and once bitten of a dog is affraid of euery cur Some therefore that they might apply some remedy to this maladie haue reuersed those names and yet retained the same things and for Bishops haue anoynted Superintendents and for Archbishops generall or prouinciall Superintendents as if the controuersie were not for the thing it selfe but for names sake But wise as we are seeing the signification of wordes is variable and voluntarie when we agree in truth what neede these garboyles about termes If the formes of gouernment which are signified by those termes are contained in gods worde Is there anie reason or sense that in disgrace of those names these formes should not be retained of vs If any man obiect that in the gouernment of Bishops there are many corruptions I make no question of that So wee might cauill with the gouernment of the ciuill Magistrate hath it not his corruptions Haue they not their infirmities Yet was there neuer anye that had his fiue wits who thought that a sufficient reason to remooue those from their place that are president in the state Wherefore our question is not how the Bishops haue abused their authoritye but whether the Lorde hath so forbidden this their Primacy that there may bee nor Pastor ouer Pastor nor Bishop ouer Bishop in the outward pollicie of the Church As for the rest if any will accuse the Bishops or their Consistories either of neglect dutie or corrupt dealing no man will be their hinderance why they may not prosecute that and persecute them before the chiefe Magistrate I take not vppon mee the apologie of anie Bishop I am not so worthie they are not so weake as that they need my Patrocinie
daies did euer either so think or write The Fathers haue testified in their writinges what they receiued of their fore-fathers that Iames an Apostle was ordained of the rest Bishoppe of Ierusalem The which thing also seemeth to haue bene done vpon iust and necessarie occasion namely for the necessary good of the Church For when as that was the mother of all other churches that the Iews resorted thither out of al the parts of the world it ought not but to haue an Apostle resiant among thē so long as might be who might resolue the brethren in such doubtes as were likely to arise among them Although indeede to pilgrime through diuers regions to preach the gospel is most properly appertaining to the office of an Apostle so that they may not abide in one place but where necessitie requireth As therefore the Apostles discharged the duty of a Bishop when as they took vpon them the particuler charge of some on special church namely when the necessity of the church vniuersall did so require neither did thinke they did anye thing therin contrarie to their Apostolik calling so likewse if that which wholy pertaineth to the Apostles be cōmitted to the Bishops it need not seme a thing either vnreasonable or not profitable when the good order of church gouernement doth require the same But whereas the Canon sayth that we should keepe the old custome not the Lords institution it may seme that the power of Patriarks crept into the church of a contrarie custome rather then of any diuine institution I answere that the canon doth not gaine-say that the power Apostolique in church-gouernment was not left vnto the church of the Apostles but that besides or aboue the rest these or they shuld inioy it as namely he of Antioch Alexandria Ierusalem Rome that indeed was of the mere custome and at the sole disposition of the church For those particular Bishops did not receiue their Apostolique power immediatly from GOD as did the Apostles but from the church and by the church the which as it is not restrained to any certaine situate places or persons citties or Bishops so neither is the autority Apostolik Who doubteth but that the Nicen coūcell or any other like to that might haue translated the Patriarkie of the Romain BB. to some other place haue giuen it to the BB. of Rauenna or of Aquiline for good cause if their had bene any The like I say of the Patriarks of Antioch and Alexandria But that the councels of Bishops had this authority they declared then sufficiently when as they made him of Constantinople com-peer in all things with him of Rome By the which also it may euidently apeare that the prerogatiue of the power Apostolique was not giuen by succession but as it was best befitting the commodity of the church by those especial cities And therfore in that the Canon giueth that to custome it doth not therby take from it the diuine institution But that I may return to the next successors of the Apostles and Euangelists Titus and Timothy and the rest whom sacred writ recordeth were ioyned with the Apostles as assistants that they were Bishops had charge of many churches the most ancient and authentike tradition approoueth the same neither are those thinges so far at variance betweene themselues as some would haue them to be a Bishop to do the worke of an Apostle or an Euangelist For this is the common consent of all the fathers that the office of a Bishop and an Apostle or Euangelist are all one onely that the office of the one is more ample and augustious Cyprian in his 10. epistle writeth thus The Deacons ought to remember the Lord himself did chuse Apostles that is Bishops Prelats but the Apostles themselues ordeined them Deacons after hee was receiued vp into heauen Thus saith Cyprian out of whose words we may learne that a Bishoprick is an Apostleship as also an Apostleship is a kind of bishopricke Herevpon the Apostle Peter in the Acts calleth the Apostleship of Iudas a bishopricke And in like maner speaketh Augustine For no man is ignorant saith he that our Sauior ordeined bishops in the church For before he ascended into heuen he layd his hands vpon his Apostles made them bisheps And Ambrose vpon that in the 4. to the Ephesians some were giuen to the church Apostles writeth thus The Apostles are BB. but the Prophets are expounders of the scriptures which may now be called Priests For in a BB all the orders are contained becaus he is first a priest who is chiefe of ths priests and a Prophet an Euangelist to the furnishing of the rest of the offices of the church Theodoret also vpō the 1. to Tim. cap. 3. saith thus Of old they called the same men Priests and BB. but those that are now called BB. they then called Apostles but long since they left the name of Apostles to thē which were indeed apostles but the additiō of BB. they imposed vpon such as of old were called Apostles so was Epaphroditus the Apostle of the Philip so Titus of the Cretensians Timothy of Asia All the fathers which succeeded the Apostles were not of opinion that the forme of gouernement they had receiued of the Apostles should euer haue bene altered or exauterate the which verelye they could neuer haue perswaded themselues had they knowen that the gouernement of Titus and Timothie had bene but Temporarie and Extraordinarie But is it credible nay is it possible that Timothie Titus and others vnto whome the like prouince was demised should be ignoraunt of this themselues Augustine expounding that in the 44. Psalme Instead of thy Fathers thou shalt haue children sheweth that our Bishoppes inherited the Apostles as children their fathers And were it not a point of frontles and vngracious in solencie to deny that our fathers had their Bishops and Prelats euen from the Apostles times and a part of needles and superfluous diligence to proue a thing so manifest I might easilie and would willingly staie vpon the citing summoning of many more fathers vntil we were fully compassed with a cloud of witnesses But this is not the question but rather it is nowe doubted whether the ordinance of Bishops bee of God or of men as an order that slipt into the church rather of humaine custome then diuine cōstitution Wherfore of things confessed granted let vs decide and determin things doubted and in question That Bishops are ordained by a diuine institution and Apolique tradition Chap. XXI THere is nothing more certaine then this That the Apostles ordained nothing in the Church which they receiued not of the Lord. But they created Bishops as Titus and Timothie wheresoeuer need was in the Church And indeed had not the Apostles created Bishops as they dispersed themselues thorough out the whole worlde how could euer the calling of Bishoppes haue bene so vniuersallie approoued by so general an assent of all
citties But when as many Churches were infinitely distant from others is it not straunge that not any one Church retayned that diuine kinde of gouernement as it is thought which is adored at this day in some reformed Churches Doubtles Churches so diuerse and distant could not but greatly differ in things indifferent where there was no certaynty sette downe by the Apostles And therefore this could not bee without a miracle of eyther part Namely that eyther they should so vniuersally consort in this one gouernement if it were not receiued by tradition frō the Apostles or that with so generall a consent they should alter the same if it were For all the world knoweth that in all the world the gouernment was one and the same for all the world This is without question and beyond all exception that all the auncient autentike fathers so many as held the right faith were of this beliefe that in this onely plot they did follow the Apostolique tradition and diuine institution Ireneus in his thirde booke the third Chapter against Heresies writeth thus It is easie for all men to see that will see the truth the auncient tradition of the Apostles in the Church through the whole worlde and we can recken vp those which were ordayned Bishops of the Apostles themselues and theyr successors also euen vnto our selues which neyther taught nor knew any such thing as these men doate of Out of the which it appeareth That what thing was receyued in al Churches which were founded of the Apostles was an Apostolique tradition and diuine institution but the order of Bishops was receyued euery where in all Churches and therefore an Apostolique tradition and a diuine institution Ciprian in his fourth booke the ninth Epistle From whence sayth he are scismes bred and yet do breed but where the Bishop which is one and ouer the Church is condemned by the proud presumption of some and the man which is honored by the acceptance of God is dishonored by dishonest men c. The same Ciprian in his seuen and twenty Epistle according to the order of his Epistle citing that of Mathews Thou art Peter vpon this work c. he inferreth That euē frō thence according to the course of time and succession of ages the ordination of Bishops the computation of the Church doth run So that the Church may seeme to be grounded vppon Bishops and euery action of the Church to be gouerned by the same Presidents Wherefore seeing this is thus founded vpon the diuine ordinance of God I cā but wonder at som That it was the opinion of Aerius That there is no difference betweene a Bishop and a Priest which was condemned for an Heresie by the Fathers Chap. XII THus haue we heard of the acceptance of God the diuine ordinance vpon which the authority of Bishops relied as our Fathers beleeued To the which I now adde that had not the orthodoctike fathers belieued that the order of Bishops was grounded vpon the word of God they would neuer haue recounted the opinion of Aerius among other Heresies Who three hundred yeares long after the Apostles times was the first that durst affirm That there was no difference between the holy Bishop and an ordinary Priest Of whom Epiphanius recordeth that hee spake more like a fury then a man who as hee also reporteth was wont to say VVhat is a Bishop to a Priest there is no difference betweene them for there is but one order and one honor and one dignity The Bishop layeth on his hands the Bishop sitteth on his throne so likewise doth the Priest Thus sayth Aerius But of the other side Epiphanius first sheweth That a Bishop may create Priestes and that he cannot be created of Priests The order of Bishops sayth he is the begetter of Fathers for be begetteth Fathers vnto the Church but the order of Priests cannot beget Fathers by the regeneration of Baptisme it begetteth children to the Church but not Fathers or Teachers For how shoulde he create a Priest who hath not the power of laying on of hands in the election And he aunswereth Aerius for his cauels That his trifling emulation deceiued him and that he was ignoraunt of the nature of antique histories For that when the preaching of the word was but a new thing the holy Apostle writ according to the state of the thing as it then stoode And therefore where there were Bishops appoynted he wrote to Bishops and Deacons neyther could the Apostles doe all at once But they had present vse of Priests Deacons For by those two all Ecclesiasticall functions are to be performed But where there were not any found worthy a Bishopricke there the place was voyd of a Bishop but where neede was and there were that were worthy there they placed Bishops But where as ther were not many there were not many to be found among them to be made Priests and therfore they contented themselues with a Bishop onely in that place But it is not possible that a Bishop shoulde bee without a Deacon and the Apostle had an especiall care of that that he should not be without his Deacons And thus the Church receyued the fulnes of his functions according as the conditiō of time and place did require For euery thing was not furnished with all things at the first but in processe of time such things were prouided as were requisite to the performance of things necessary c. These things he confirmeth by the example of Moyses who finished hys common wealth not all at once but after a time But as of old he should haue taken a wrong course who to reform the Churche of Israell would haue taken his patterne from the imperfect and not composed state thereof So likewise at this day they maintayn but too foul an error that would bring the state of a Church well growen in yeares backe againe to the swathling clouts And therefore Epiphanius very well inferreth thus So likewise sayth he are those things which are written in the Apostle vntill the Church be enlarged vntill it come to her ripe years vntil it be most perfectly preyzed with the or-nature of wisedome by the Father Son and holy Ghost Epiphanius perceyued that there were many things wanting and that al things were not in theyr perfect temper that after a time one and the same man was not both Priest and Bishop as it well appeared by that which Saint Paul writ to Timothy who was a Bishop Against a Priest or Elder receiue no accusation without two or three witnesses He sayd not to any Elder receyue no accusation against a Bishop c. Augustine in like manner mightily confirmeth this the censure and sentence of Epiphanius who also mustereth this error of Aerius among the mid-ranke of olde confused Heresies Hierom his opinion confuted Chap. XXII THat which is obiected out of Hierome vppon the first Chapter of the Epistle to Titus namely that Bishops are greater then
the finest fashion and with the best side outward and yet how many absurd things and absonant from the mind and meaning of our Lord and Sauiour do follow out of these and fall vppon heapes Chap. V. An aunswere to the arguments of the former chapter BVt that the truth of the controuersie may appeare to al al must learne to know that those Gospell precepts of contemning riches were not giuen to a certain few Apostles but to all euen as many as woulde follow Christ Wherefore first that distinction of counsells and precepes ouerturneth it selfe euen in those very wordes which goe for counsels For God hath sette downe one lawe for all one rule to liue well and hee hath layd out one path to eternal life as well in the olde as the new Testament Notwiâ—â—standing if any man of any priuate purpose sette doâ—â—â— with himself that he will needs liue in pouerty God forbid I should be his hindrance But they which thinke that the forsaking of all thinges and the profession of pouerty is a thing not commaunded to all but giuen in counsaile to some as a more perfect course of a godly life I say they are in a false beliefe Luke 14.33 The wordes of our Sauiour are these So likewise who so euer he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath can not be my Disciple Where you shall vnderstand that what so euer is commaunded as necessarily to bee obserued of the Disciple of Christ may not by any meanes be omitted and therefore it is manifest that there is no such counsell giuen in that place by the Lord our Sauiour as that it is left in our owne free power to omit the same but the precept there is set downe more absolute vnder the paine of damnation if it be omitted The cause of this error was the mis-conceyuing of that place in Mathew the nineteenth and Luke the eighteenth Marke the tenth where there seem to be two distinct things set down namely an ordinary way to eternall life by the obseruance of Gods commaundements and another more perfect and ready way by the alienation of all our goods the dispensation of them towards the poore In Mathew we read how our Sauiour aunswered one If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commaundements Who when he had very insolently boasted that he had kept them all from his youth vp how far he was from that perfection he boasted of our Sauiour proueth when he brought to light the secret corruption of a couetous heart which lay hid within and made knowen to him how far he was from the intire loue of his neighbour when he commaunded him to sell his possessions and giue to the poore In the which notwithstanding our Sauiour required of him no new thing no thing extraordinary nothing that hee was not bound to doe by that same law which he presumed he had performed seing ther it is commaunded that we should loue our neighbour as our selues For the force of the precept is this that we owe not onely all outward thinges to God and our neyghbour but eueÌ„ our life also if need doth require Of the which perfection how much this stripling wanted he then bewraied when as Christ commaunding him to giue but his goods to the poore he seemed to be touched so neare And yet vnles we be at that point with our selues as that we could willingly depart froÌ„ al that we haue for the meere loue of God and our neighbour we can not enter into the kingdome of God And therefore Christ did not propound vnto the Pharasie a free thing the neglect whereof did not exclude from the kingdome of heauen but a thing altogether necessary for him that would enter into it And therefore when he did perceyue him depart away heauily after this precept he added Verily I say vnto you it is harde for him which is rich to enter into the kingdome of Heauen againe I say vnto you it is more easie for a camell to goe through the eie of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God By which words it is most manifest that no voluntary thing is propounded the which if a man did performe he should do wel if not he should not doe amisse as it is to liue a single life but a thing altogether necessary for him that would be saued But what then meaneth our Sauiour say they when hee sayth If thou wilt be perfect goe sell all thou hast and giue to the poore Seemeth he not to graunt that the keeping of the coÌ„mandements of God are sufficient to eternal life but not sufficing to perfection No verily For that this was not the meaning of the Lord his very wordes sufficiently declare but that in deede he spake of that perfection which is commaunded in the law of the which the young man had obserued an outward showe when as he wanted the inwarde substance For doubtlesse he which is not ready and resolued to lay down al that he hath to leaue his life bloud also for the loue of his neighbour he can not be sayd to loue his neighbour as himselfe And therfore seeing he would needs know what he wanted our Sauiour very wisely reioined him to the necessary duty of charity Wherfore this is the sense of Christ his words If thou wilt be a perfect obseruer of the law in deede and art desirous to tread that path into eternall life which is layd out in the sayd perfect and absolute performance of the law of God keepe those commaundements of the loue of God thy neighbour goe thy waies set thy things in an order that thou maist be ready at all times to giue vnto the poore Now vnlesse this precept did concern al to what purpose are these words It is more easie for a Camell to enter through the eie of a needle then for him that is rich to enter into the kingdom of God Whosoeuer therfore wil serue vnder Christ his colours is commanded to bid father mother and all farewell how deare so euer they be vnto him yea he must also not spare his own life for vnto all it is sayd Whosoeuer forsaketh not al he hath cannot be my Disciple That our Sauiour here inioyned his Disciples no new or insolent thing the example of Abraham may perswade vs whoÌ„ God of old also coÌ„manded to leaue his countrey his kindred al that was precious vnto him in Chaldea that he might goe whether it pleased the Lord to appoint him So did God exercise the father of the faithful that he might be alwaies at an howrs warning to surrender his riches al other emoluments of his life In like manner Christ wil haue al the true legitimat children of Abraham to depute all which they haue to his glory and to benefit theyr bretheren as the cause the time and the place require And this is that perfectioÌ„ which God at this day requireth vnder the Gospel
the same not that which is necessary but that which is voluntary Vppon which ground I hold this for a sure principle that that Priesthood or Bishop doth both against the honor and the honesty of the sacred ministery whosoeuer without commaund of supreme autority or constraint of extreme necessity shal take vppon him any seruice of war eyther as leader or as souldier But when such time and places betide as shall exact this at our handes we are vnwillingly to yeeld to vnwelcome necessity Theodoret in his second Booke the third chapter writeth of one Iames Bishop of the Citty of Nisib which of som is called Antioche Migdon that he was vppon occasion both Bishop and Captaine of the same his Citty the which by the helpe of God he manfully defended against Sapor King of Persia and deliuered the same as well with his prowes as his prayers The same Theodoret in his fourth booke the twelfth Chapter recordeth as much and much more of the warlike power and prowes of Eusebius Bishop of Samosis who mannaging himselfe with all manner warlike abilements ranged along throughout Syria Phenicia and Palestine wher he erected Priests and Deacons and performed such other Eccesiasticall pensions Neyther did I euer read of any that found himselfe offended with this action or thought his action offended against that Canon I doe not so thinke nor will I say so much of Theophilus and Cyrillus Bishops of Alexandria who tooke vppon them a secular principality ouer that Citty the Emperour not noting it but not commaunding it As for the Canon which Cyprian citeth I must needs confesse that I cannot attayne vnto the reason thereof onely this I am assured of that it was but a particular and a prouinciall decree seruing onely for that time and that place For no doubt to take charge of Widowes and Orphanes is an especiall worke of piety and commaunded of God in euery place of his Lawe and so that they incurre no small blame that deferre to take vppon them not the patrimony but the patrociny of such For good cause therefore was the old custome continued in the Chuch that Bishops should be the patrons of Widowes and the Fathers of Orphanes and that they especially before all others were to take charge of them without any shame to theyr calling without any breach of the Canons You shall heare how the Councell of Sardis doth allowe and recommend the same in plaine wordes For this is the speeche which Osiris then Bishop there made Much importunity and too much confluence with vnlawful sutes hath brought the matter to this passe that we haue not so much either fauor or credit committed vnto vs whiles there are some which cease not to repayr to the Court of the Bishop and especially they of Africa who as we know reiect and contemn the wholesome directions of our most holy brother and fellow Bishop Gratus Who do not only present diuers and sundry matters not materiall to the Church as many times it commeth to passe that widows orphans and the poore might be succoured but they doe further craue for certaine secular dignities and ciuill offices This bad order therefore stirreth vp not onely much muttering but many offences also Notwithstanding this is a commendable thing that Bishops should be a meanes for those which are oppressed with wrongfull violence as if so bee a widow be molested or an orphan defrauded and yet so that these parties haue some iust cause of complaint and some honest petition to praesent Wherefore if it so please you my beloued brethren let this be a decree that Bishops come not to the Court except happely they whom the Religious Emperour shall by his letters inuite But because oft times it commeth to passe that they which suffer wrong flye to the Church for succour and they also which doe wrong and are adiudged therefore to some I le or exile or in deede what sentence of iudgement soeuer they receiue they ought here to be relieued and without al doubt their pardon to be craued Therefore if it so please you as I haue sayd so let it bee decreed They all gaue a placet and let it be enacted This Canon containeth a certaine exposition of the sixt Canon of the Apostles and it teacheth vs what secular cares a Bishop or a Priest may vndertake and what not The Bishops in this point were imitators of their Fathers the Prophets which alwayes gaue their helping hand to widdowes orphanes and other afflicted people Doe we not read how fatherly and friendly the Prophet Elizeus greeteth the Sunamite after his entertainment 2. Reg. 4. VVhat wouldest thou that I should doe for thee is there any thing to he spoken for you to the King or to the Captaine of the host Nor neede this seem to any man any such a strange duety of religion that Bishops or other Ministers should repaire to Princes to intreate for the distressed Ambrose vndertaking an honorable Embassee for Valentinian the Emperour being yet a child to Maximus the tyrant spake thus in his case as himselfe reporteth to Valentinian in an Epistle VVhom sayth he ought Bishops rather to defend then orphanes For it is written Iudge the cause of the fatherlesse and defend the widow and deliuer him that suffereth wrong and in an other place Ye Iudges of widowes and fathers of fatherlesse As for that which is vrged from the example of the Apostles ther is no childe so simple so to conceiue therof as if when the Apostles had once chosen Deacons the care of the poore and the widow did no more pertayne to them I noted before how the necessity of the poore was commended to Paul and Barnabas after that and we reade how Paul also caried the beneuolence of the Corinthians and other Churches to Hierusalem Wherefore to conclude if it be lawfull as it is for bishops and Pastors and that according to the rules of charitye to imploye their labour in outward affaires and to detract some what from that time which otherwise were to be spent in reading of holy writ and other sacred trauels and that onely for our priuate necessities or our neyghbours what labour shall we thinke too much or what paines not to be performed in the commendable affaires of the King or common wealth for a publique necessity and a greater commodity Chap. XVII What a fee is and what are the conditions thereof NOw it remaineth that I make answere for those Church goods which are held in Fee of which terme before the irruption of the more barbarous nations into into the Romain Empire there was no wher any mention that phrase taking his original frō the Goths Vandals and Longobards What may be the etimology thereof and what is signified thereby the learned at large discourse discusse whose iudgements and opinions it were now too long to repeate But for our purpose this is enough and this is a cleare case that a Fee with the Lombards doth signify a priuiledge
Prince partly of the Common-wealth it is not repugnant to the state of the Church or stay of religion And indeed why should not the same thing betide their fields which befall the persons thēselues who albeit they are dedicate to God mancipate to his seruice yet they commit nothing vnworthy their function or not beseeming their calling when as according vnto the dignity of their place they performe due seruice to their Prince and other duties to the common-wealth That which is added of the pension or stipend of Ministers is easily answered by the same reason for it differeth not from the other Wherfore as a man may consecrate him selfe and his labours to God and the Church yet reserue his due obsequie to his Prince and the common-wealth so likewise may the Church inioy both fields and fearms and fees in the common-wealth and yet make no claime to any extraordinary immunity from seruice nor euer think much of any ordinary fealtie due to the patrōs therof The Bishop and euery other Minister of the Church is subiect to the lawes and Magistrate of the common-wealth and seeing he oweth homage to the Prince as to the cōmon parent of the people there is no absurditie committed if by the accesse of some especial benefit he become more nearly bound vnto him then the common sort How many and how bloudie wars the Bishops of Rome haue made vpon the Emperours and other Christian Princes euen for the onely inuestiture of those fees which they chalenge vnto themselues as consecrate to God therefore as they perswaded themselues free from all ciuill seruice all histories can well witnesse Wherefore those Magistrates at this day doe shew themselues very ingrate I may say vngodly to the present Ministerie who when as by defending the authoritie of the ciuill Magistrate which the Bishop of Rome had impayred they haue now at the length brought to passe that they haue recouered the same by their means doe now notwithstanding enuie them their poore estate in the Church and their small authoritie in the common-wealth May not that of the Apostle 2. Cor. 11.19 be truly said of this people They suffered those gladly which brought them into bondage which tooke of their goodes which exalted themselues which smote them on the face I more which afflicted them with fire and sworde and made them runne through Purgatorie glad that they might get to Hell But the faithfull seruantes of Christ which set them free frō the captiuitie of the Pope and gaue them that libertie which they nowe abuse against the Church those they doe not onely not reward with that honour they well deserued but they depriue them of those dignities they once possessed They lay baites for the bane for some set snares for the liues of others contriue plots for the deposing and disparaging of all Is this the thankes they giue to their Pastors And is this the reward for so many benefits receiued by their preaching O God forgiue them this sin if it be possible But thou wilt one day iudge betweene them and vs and reuenge this infamie done vnto thy selfe Chap. XXVIII Of the honorable titles which are giuen vnto Bishops NOw we haue spoken of fees and of that ciuill iurisdiction which is annexed vnto them it remaineth that wee speake somewhat also of their titles of honour Neither will I seeke into all but will shew you vnto a few of them and comprise in one or two all the rest which either the custome of the time place or the curtesie of Kings and Princes doe giue vnto the chiefe states of the kingdome With the which here are some in England which find themselues not a little offended would hold others in hand thogh they dare not hold their hand that such titles are not to bee giuen to the greatest Bishops The first that displeaseth them is the title of Lord which yet at this day is vsed to be giuen rather for honor sake then for homage The proper signification thereof is sufficiently known to haue relation to the possession proprietie of a thing In which sense euery man is Lord of that hee hath It hath a secondary relatiō also to a Seruant in which sense the Romane Emperours would not be called Lords or Maisters Suetonius reporteth of Octauius that he abhorred the name of Lord Maister as curse and a slaunder Indeed the Barbarians acknowledge no other distinction of persons but of Maisters Seruants therfore their Kings also do domineer ouer their subiects as maisters ouer their seruants the fathers of families haue the same authoritie ouer their wiues children as ouer their seruāts This would seem might well a very vnreasonable thing to vs being not as they are a people base seruile And yet the Moschouites rule at this day after this manner neither is the Empire of the Turkes much vnlike the same And generally all the Easterne kingdoms were once of this gouernment kept this foule rule ouer the nations wher they conquered Whether the Kings kindred had any priuilege besides the rest it is to be doubted so I leaue it But these a man might truly cal Dominos Lords or Maisters in which sense our Kings themselues wil not be so called nor will they take it in good part to be so slandered for their subiects are not their slaues or seruants neither do they so vse them They hold it their chiefest glory to haue a free people subiect vnto them and thinke it more honorable to command ouer a free then a seruile nation And albeit the King may truly be called Lord and indeed the only chiefe Lord in his own kingdom referring the signification of that title either to the subiection of the whole people or the propriety of his own kingdome yet contenting himself with the royal title of King which glory he wil cōmunicate with no subiect he enuieth not his subiects the name of Lords but whō he thinketh worthy hee honoureth with that title Neither do inferior persons only cal superior personages Lords but they also which are Nobles of equall authoritie do so salute their peeres And doth not the King himselfe vouchsafe to greet the Honors of his lande by the names of Lords The name of Lord is of many significations and is as I haue said a title rather of honour and of fauor then of rule and of Empire the which argueth the no smal malice or otherwise the great ignorance of them which hold the title of Lord to bee of so great authoritie as that it is not conuenable to the calling of Bishops And yet at this day among the best Latinistes the same name ordinarily is giuen to any man of any ordinary esteeme So doth the signification of this title varie according to the diuersitie of regions and persons and proprieties They which in England do make the same a signification of greater honor then that it may any waies agree with
their Bishops doe ground that their errour vpon an other by the which they are perswaded that it is a thing insolent and absurd for Bishops to bee taken for peeres of the lande But herein they seeme to bewray themselues in like passion with the sons of Iacob when they enuyed their owne brother for that he was made more honourable then themselues who ought rather to haue thought themselues honored in their brother It is vtterly against the nature of a well ordered common-wealth that the order of religion should not bee accounted among the chiefe states of the lande the which honour seeing it cannot bee giuen to all that are in the same order it is wisely and worthily prouided by the chiefe Magistrate that the whole order should be honored in a few of them The which thing seeing it is agreeable to the lawe of God and the custome of the auncient people of God the practise of al Nations vnder the Sun may it not seem a woÌ„der greater then their errour that any learned men should be found in any wildernes of the world so ouergrown with mosse the melancholie of their distempered brains as once to oppose themselues in any ciuill societie against the same But let vs heare yet with what reasons they are moued so farre beyond all reason Those proud titles say they of dominion are the inuentions of Antichrist and our Sauiour answered his Apostles contending about the primacie That the kings of nations rule ouer them and they which exercise authoritie vpon them are called gratious Lords but it shall not bee so with you And in the 23. of Mathew You shall call no man your father vpon earth for there is one your father which is in heauen bee not called Doctors for one is your Doctor euen Christ Whatsoeuer els is alleadged is of smal worth these words of our Sauiour beeing honestly interteined the rest will willingly yeelde themselues First therfore I affirme that the titles of dominion were inuented before Antichrist himselfe was hatched hee beeing the author thereof who is the author of dominion Neyther is there any thing arrogant in the titles but in the impotent and vsurped aspirement of such which oft times reiecting their commendable titles affect the contrary and cal themselues seruants of seruants which thinke themselues Lordes of Lords name themselues with the lesse and the least which will bee accounted the greater the greatest that if for nothing els yet for that they are so named But the Lorde his meaning was not to abolish the vse of these titles Lord Doctor and Father but to teach vs onely by these his precepts to beware of two dangerous perrils The first is the vaine swelling or swelling veine with the which Hypocrites are commoÌ„ly puft vp by reaso of these titles the other is the preposterous confidence which the simple people coÌ„monly haue in their elected Doctors or Fathers vppon which aduauntage the popular professors distract the name of Christ so that some hold of Paul some of Apâ—llo and some of Cephas and euery man best fancieth the Doctor himself hath chosen when as no man ought to build vpon any Doctors wordes but on his alone which cannot erre the Lord Christ Neyther was it the Lord his intent to inhibit vs that we should not call those by their names vnto whom the Lord hath giuen the names of Doctors Fathers in the Church or that children should not cal them Fathers vpon earth that begot them into the world or that Disciples should not cal them Doctors in the Cittie that instructed them in the Vniuersity or that Christian seruants should not cal them Lords Maisters which haue intertained them into their families No doubt Onesimus both might ought to call and recognise Philemon for his Maister And did not Paul also a most perfect imitater of Christ cal himself the Doctor of the Gentiles And why may not we also cal him as well a Doctor as an Apostle In the first to the Corinthians chap. 4. he calleth himselfe theyr Father Although saith hee you haue ten thousand instructers in Christ yet haue you not many Fathers for I haue begotten you through the Gospell The like we reade in many other places by the which we are giuen to vnderstand that not the condition but the ambition onely of those names was forbidden with the singling out of some especiall Doctor or Teacher by the which wee will shew our selues to be singular For that indeed that knowledge of the truth which we would seem to experience in some especiall men is onely to be expected in that Doctor alone who with the Spirit is able to lead vs into all truth But now what shall we say of the name title of Lordes First I say it is no where written Be ye not called Lordes And againe I say that although it were written it could beare no other sence or haue any other interpretation then those other titles which before are noted That dominion ouer the Lordes heritage is forbidden by the Lord there is no man that doubteth and did the word Lord alwaies implie a Dominion it were some thing they saide But we haue heard of the diuers significations of these words As for that the Lord said vnto his Apostles It shal not be so with you what sober maÌ„ wil interprete him as if he had said Ye shall not be called Lords If the Kinges and Princes of the common-wealth will haue you to sit in the assemblies of great men and wil heare your iudgement concerning the state of the Church and will consult together with you concerning the affaires of the common-wealth and in regarde of my name and in reuerence of your calling wil haue you reputed among the peers of the land take heede beware of that and suffer not your selues to bee called Lordes this is a proud title and that is a foule matter From hence no doubt did arise that odious hypocrisie in the Church of Rome which vnder the basenes of mean titles exerciseth the sharpnes of no meane tyrannie and vnder the name of Seruant of seruantes vsurpeth dominion ouer Maisters and Seruants And hence it is also that his champions do glory in this to be called Friers Minorites the lesse or the least as if forsooth there were nor pride nor tyranny lurking vnder these their lubarly names or as if the name of Lord onely were to bee attended with pride and tyrannie Wherefore the meaning of our Sauiour in those words was not to forbid his disciples those ordinary tearms of honour which are giuen them by the fauor of the Prince and consent of the people only his intent was to teach theÌ„ that the Gospel was no prince-like Ministery or royal seigniory By the which it neither is nor can be concluded that Princes may by no means vse the assistaÌ„ce of Ministers nor grace the learned Pastors with certaine principall degrees of honor Hath Christ by any law diminished the Princes
to excuse the able auditory no excuse to dispence with an expence of duty For that communication of their goods is not so much to releeue the others necessity as to approoue their own duty The poore Christian brother is honoured for his want but the holy Minister of God for the worthines of his office Besides this the good will of the Magistrate is variable who being once offended with the Ministers whether right or wrong they shall be sure to leape short of their stipends But whensoeuer the cōmon treasurie shal shrink as by many meanes it may be brought to a low eb then alack pore Ministers needs must your state be most miserable The people not accustomed to passe any thing to their Pastors wil think it perteines nothing to them wheather they sincke or swim and most men are of that boorish nature as that they wil rather leaue the Pastor destitute then they wil seem to contribute and so hee being forsaken of his flocke of force must needs forsake his flocke as at this day it is come to passe in many places of Holland But how wretched the estate of the Ministery is in that countrey by reason of the basenes of their stipends and the badnes of their paiments they knowe best that smart for it when as poore soules they are constrained to trudge no small iorneis to begge their wages of their good maisters of whome many times they beeing intertained with disdaine are sent away with a mischief and bring nothing home with them but night besides the wearines of their lims the losse of their time the expence of their money and anguishe of their relenting soules To these miseries we may adde this also that the Magistrate accustomed to pay the Ministers their wages out of the common treasury beginneth to take them for ciuill officers and towne-seruants so that base men will not sticke some-times after they are once out of office as Curriers Tinkers Carpenters Pedlers and such like to insult ouer their Pastors with a villanous mind and in a shamelesse maner and to say What sir-priests you are our seruants we are your good maisters we pay you wages I would be ashamed so God mee helpe so disdainefully to shake vp the veriest page or basest drudge in my Lordes kitchin and as soone I should be called to mine answere for it I remember in a solemne banquet made at Gaunt to the Prince of Orange it was my hap to sit ouer against a cople of iolly Burgo-maisters who when they once began to be somwhat warme in their liquor and were now come from neuer a word to neuer a wise word at last they spied me busie in talke with another and thinking I marked not what they said they began to speake their pleasure and by chance I ouer heard thus much of their good talk We must take heed said they least these busie Ministers becom more combersome vnto vs then were euer our corne-fed Papists we must therfore keepe them vnder least they grow too lustie creep too far in fauor with the people and so become a terrour to the Magistrates but especially we must looke to this that their wages be not too great Hee that bringeth vp his seruant delicately at length shall find him maister-full These men a Gods name would seeme the patrons and pillers of Christ his Church but they bee it spoken without any preiudice to any other did afterwards bewray the venome they fostered in their harts when not long after they both became traytors to God and their country Whether Holland harbour any more such mates let them looke to it vnto whom it belongeth but the like effects giue a shrewd gesse of the like affects In the meane while wee see how this disdainefull dealing against Gods Ministers commeth of this because they are so bragge that they pay them their stipends being indeed no other thing then that which they haue before purloined frō the church crambd into their guiltie coffers Wherefore let no man wonder if I like but a little of this manner honoring of the Ministerie for smal is the honor that is braued with contumely And therefore in the name of God let that manner of honoring Gods Ministers bee continued in the Church which was appointed by the better wisedome of the Lord aswell in the olde as in the new Testament I say let it be continued in that manner as it was well conceiued and worthily receiued by the ancient Fathers Neither let the prerogatiue of our owne conceits any longer deceiue vs as if we were the onely men that could deuise a better Let abuses bee corrected but so that the lawful vse be either retained or restored Nor let the iniquitie of those men which haue defiled thinges sacred and prophane so farre preuaile with vs that wee should therefore confound things secular and sacred or that wee should take away that distinction in things which nature reason and religion hath set downe The third Booke Of Sacrilege and the punishment thereof Chap. I. That donations are made firme to Churches by the same lawes by virtue whereof other Cittizens hold their possessions THE studie and bountie of our forefathers in inriching the Church are sufficiently knowne in whome it may seeme no small wonder that euerie where alwayes and at all seasons they should so farre mistake the matter that is so childishly to deale in this matter and that their posteritie should nowe at the last see more and conceiue better then they who in the same cause take a cleane contrary course to them that without any commaund of God any example of former age No doubt as to stand vpon the examples of our Fathers in their offences is foolish and vnreasonable so rashly to condemne the same where iustly they cannot bee conuinced is vtterly godlesse and irreligious True it is wee are all prone to euill Fathers and Fathers children but to whether of these may wee bee more easely perswaded iudge you to giue of our owne or to take away other mens Our Elders gaue which no man can denie of no euill mind our vpstarts take away that our Elders gaue with what mind the thing it selfe doth shew Our Fathers gaue according to law our nouices take away contrarie to law Wherfore seeing the indowments made to the Church haue their strength and assurance from the very same lawes by the which other Citizens possesse their goods is there any man that would not iudge it a tyrannous act if any Mastrate shewing no cause should thrust any subiect out of his possessions Wherfore the Churchmen ought to haue bene first heard and iust cause should haue beene brought in against them why they were not any longer to bee suffered to enioy the possessions of the Church in a Christian common-wealth They also ought to haue bene heard which were to succeed the Masse-Priestes in pastorall charge whome it chiefly did concerne what was to be done with those goods But what need all