the spirit A Church therfore I do finde is taken 2 wayes in the holy scriptures First for the cōpany of all those who in asure firme faith do beleiue in Christ their only head This is scattered through the universall world Who knows this church Only God But what shall we say of the Pope Cardinalls and Bishops which come togeather into a Counsell Are not they also the Church the Church militant I answer they are only members of this Church if so be it that they beleiue in Christ acknowledg him for their head If they beleiue not they belong not to the Church at all So farr of it is that they should be the church Synods But thou wilt say they are a Church Representatiue Of this I find nothing in holy scriptures out of mens devises any man may fayne any thing We rest on the holy scripture against which thou wilt not attempt any thing if thou be a christian Secondly a Church is taken for the severall congregations A visible Church which conveniently meet together in some one place for the hearing of the word and receaving of the Sacraments The Grecians call these Parikias Parishes Of this manner of a Church Christ speaketh Mat. 18. saying Tell the Church And so Paul useth the name of the Church 1. Cor. 1. To the Church which is at Corinth etc. And Furthermore afterward Quid audio Episcopus ne solus excommunicare potest Putabam Ecclesiae esse datū What doe I heare May a Bishop alone excommanicat I had thought that had been appoynted to the Church But perhaps they will say a Bishop onely is the Church Christ saith tell the Church doth a Bishop then or an Abbot signifie the Church Excommunication belongeth not to one man whatsoever person he be but to the Church For Christ sayd not we should refuse the company of a man when he had contemned an admonition or twayne therfore one onely man cannot excommunicat but then at the last when he hath despised the admonition of the Church therefore no man but that Church can excommunicat wherin he dwelleth which by his sinne hath offended vnto the Church the Pastor of the Church belongeth this right of pronouncing sentence of excommunication against the offender And further he saith Tradunt excommunicationem ab Episcopo latam Ecclesiae esse excommunicationem Art 31 Sed observandum supra ea quae octavo articulo diximus Ecclesiam in scripturis accipi aut pro omnibus christianis qui in istis terris visibiliter nunquam conveniunt soli Deo noti atque in hac ecclesia omnes sunt qui Deo patri per Christum fidunt et nituntur et haec est ecclesia quam in articulis fidei profitemur aut pro singulis quibusque ecclesiis quas paraecias vocant Conventiculum ergo et conspiratio personatorum istorum Episcoporum sub ecclesiae nomine comprehendi non potest nec id possunt ex scriptutris ostendere quod ipsi sint ecclesia etiam sirumpantur Ecclesia ergo nequaquam sunt Cui ergo ecclesiae offendens pcccator indicari debet Ad ecclesiam universalē Christus nimirum nos ire non mandat nam haec nusqua hic coit corporaliter They hold that the excommunication by the Bishop is the Churches excommunication But saith he those thinges are to be observed which before we haue spoken in the 8 article that the Church in the scriptures is eyther taken for all christians which upon the earth do never visibly meet together which are only knowne unto God and in this Church are all they which beleeue in God the Father and cleaue fast vnto him through Christ and this is the Church which we acknowledg in the articles of our faith or else it is taken for every perticular Church which they call parishes Therefore the conventicle and the cloked conspiration of these disguised Bishops cannot be comprehended under the name of the Church Synods neither can they proue it by the scriptures that they be the Church though they would burst therefore it is cleare that they be not the Church unto which the offending sinner ought to be shewed for it is manifest that Christ doth not command us to go tell the universal Church for this Church never meets together bodily And agayne he saith Quis enim omnes pios congregare posset restat ergo ut ecclesiae iubeat Christus indicandum peccatorem quam paraeciam vocamus For who can gather together all the faithfull therefore it can be taken non otherwise but that Christ commandeth the offender to be iudged by the Church which we call a parish Now let us goe forward to heare what the rest of the excellent lights and Angells or Messengers which God hath raysed in this our age set up upon the golden candlesticks among which Christ himselfe walketh in Germanie Helvetia Savoy France c. concernyng the pulling downe of the whore of Babell and the reformation in the poynts of religion a foresayd Wherin if there be any that thinke some speaches before or hereafter to be uttered be over bitter let them marke what M Luther sayth upon the Epistle of Peter a foresayd Now their be many sayth he that can well inough abide to haue the Gospell preached so that their might be no exclayming and speakyng against the Wolues I meane so that the Preachers in their Sermons would forbeare exclayming and taunting against Prelats But although I Preach sound doctrine and that which is true and though I feed and teach my charg the sheepe well and rightly yet is not that sufficient for it is further requyred at my hands to keep the sheep from danger and to haue a carefull regard unto them that Wolues come not among them to driue them away out of their fertile and wholesome pastures For to what purpose is my building if when I haue couched and orderly layd my stones an other straight wayes come and hurle them downe as fast agayne and I seeyng him forbid him not The Wolfe is well enough contented that the sheepe be well fed and fatted in good Pasture because the fatter they be the pleasanter and daintier pray he thinketh to make of them But that Doggs should incessantly barke and baule at him that he cannot abide Such barking doggs they cannot abide but dumb doggs they can beare well enough with all The next light set vp among the golden Candlesticks of Germanie to shew forth the darknes of Antichrist and the blindnes of the Romish Babilon was M. Bucer Bucer pag 2148 edit 1570. col who for his learned excellency was sent for by K. Edward the Sixt and appoynted to be the Divinitie Reader in Cambridg of whom M Fox in our booke of Martyrs saith He brought all men into such admiration of him that neither his frends could sufficiently prayse him neither his enimyes in any poynt find fault with his singuler life sincere doctrine How earnestly M
Elder or any other he spake altogeather according to the rule of Gods law And if he saw any maÌ„ livyng in voluptuous pleasure and delicates or any man corrupting the Ecclesiasticall preaching and the lawes of the Church this man could not beare it but by wordes did reprehend it as I haue said And this was very grevous to them that were of a lewd life and for this cause he was despited with contumelies and suffered contradiction he was hated and suffered himselfe to be vexed and thrust out and tollerated shamefull ignominie continuing soe a long time in the Church among them vntill such time as certaine men violently rushing upon him droue him out for the same cause But hee would not suffer himselfe so to be driven out but rather endeavored himselfe to speake the truth and not to depart and breake the bonde of the vnion of the Catholicke Church Audianus was no Heretike nor his present company But their Successors were Anthropomorphits But when he had been often beaten both he and his companions and had suffered very greivous thinges lamenting exceedingly he tooke to himselfe the necessities of iniuries for his Councellour for he seperated himselfe from the Church and many togeather with him departed and so made a division having nothing different in the faith but did beleeue most rightly both he and all his company Thus farr Epiphanius touching the sect of these heretickes called Audiani and of the cause occasion meanes wherby it grew and thus farr was the shamfull corruptions in the order and discipline of the Church growne at that time which was about one hundred yeares before Epiphanius Neither may we thinke that the Bishops and cleargie of that age did without cloke or colour in plaine termes defend their Lordly pride and ambition but even as they doe now vnder the pretences of vnitie conformitie and peace of the Church For who can dreame or immagine that they would say these men ought to be thrust out of the Church because they speake against our pompous proud ambitious govermeÌ„t but no doubt their pretence was the breach of vnitie conformitie and refusing to subscribe to such orders pollicy of the Church as they had devised to maintaine themselues withall and their pompous estate without the which they pretended the Church could not be well governed But this place of Epiphanius I leaue to the reader further to consider of wishing him to obserue the integritie of life the sinceritie of faith the necessity that compelled them to speake the exceeding loathnes to make any schisme or to depart from the Church that was in these men vvho were so violently thrust out and this vvas not yet 300. yeares after Christ Herevnto I may joyne the pride and ambition of Paulus Samosatenus Bishop of Antioche who also was long before the time of Epiphanius of whom Eusebius saith Cum prius egens fuerit et pauperrimus Euseb Eccles histor lib 7 caâ— 26 et neque ex parentum successione neque vllam questus occasionem habuerit honestam nunc ad summas divitias pervenerit non aliunde nisi ex sacralegiis et ex his quae per fraudem diripuit When before he was a needie fellow saith Eusebius and a very poore man and neither by succession from his parents neither had any iust meanes of gaine he got vp to very great riches none other way but by sacriledge and of that which he gat by fradulent meanes Who is so blind that seeth not this Bishop Paulus to be a-perfect patterne of the L. Bishops of our dayes who coÌ„ming for the most part of poore parentage by hooke or by crooke become Lord-Bishops abounding in riches worldly honor Which thing Polydorus Virgilius being other wise himselfe a great fautor and maintainer of Lord-Bishops yet speaking of the pride of Paulus Samosatenus he saith Vnde propter hominis arrogantiam plerique Christi religionem detestabantur Polydor Virgill lâ—b 8 ab hoc Paulo opinor nostros pontifices pomparum ordinem quem nunc ducunt accepisse Whereby saith Polydor through this mans ' arrogancie many men detested the religion of Christ Wherefore it is that Polydor concludeth with these wordes Ab hoc Paulo opinor nostros pontifices pomparum ordinem quem nunc ducunt accepisse Of this Paule I suppose our Bishops or Prelates haue taken the order of Pompe which they now carrie Thus farr and thus plaine speaketh Polydor Virgill And Eusebius in the place before of this Bishop Paulus saith Directio quoque praeeuntium et constipatio insequentium qùam plurima querebatur ita vt omnes qui videbant horrescerent et detestarentur per illius arrogantiam religionem divinam He sought also to haue troopes of men to go before him and traines of many to follow him in so much that all men which saw it did vtterly abhorre it and through his arrogancie detested the religion of God Thus you see how the Dragon that old subtile Serpent even then practised to corrupt the religion of Christ and so to bring it into vtter detestation But to returne neerer to the first originall corruptions that began immediatly after the Apstles time you shall find in all the most auncient Fathers a great libertie taken to leaue the very wordes of the Holy Ghost and insteed of them to vse such improper speaches names and words as they thought fit and convenient to expresse the same thing as to call the Ministers of the word of God and the Pastors of the Church Sacerdotes Priests the Deacons Levites the table of the Lord an Aulter the whole action of the Supper of the Lord a Sacrifice and at the last they cald it Missio and then Missa a Masse Vnproper speaches likewise they called a Diocese a Province by the name of a Church and at last the whole Vniversall multitude of ChristiaÌ„s throughout the world by the name of the Catholike Church As also their Teachers Gouernors by the name of Bishops All which are very improper speaches And thes improper speaches are as frequent and as commonly vsed among the auncient Fathers as the wordes of the Holy Ghost are vsed in the scripturs Wherin we may obserue out of what smale beginnings and litle sparks of error great flames and horrible corruptions doe growe as a line beginning from the very Center to be drawne never so litle a wrie maketh a shamfull error when it commeth to the circumference so the Fathers at the begiÌ„ning vsing these termes thought full litle that such a foule Idol as the God of the Masse such a spirituall tyrant as a Vniversall Bishop should haue growne out of them but they spake alluding vnto the Church Priests Levites Aulters Sacrifices of the law in the old Testament which were indeed figures shadowes In which mistaking Satan that old serpent had his drift to set up his Idoll in processe of time thus reasoning vpoÌ„ these termes as our Papists doe yet to
not foure or fiue thowsand pounds by the yeare nor made him a Lords grace nor an Archprophet but let him liue in-such a meane estate as hath been before declared and as the Prophet thought meetest for himselfe to continew in And not unfitly heerevnto may be joyned the history of Constantin the great and his singular loue and favour towardes the Ministers and Preachers of the word of God in his time that we may see together what was the estate both of the Prophets in the old Testament and of the Preachers of the word of God in the New And how Kings Princes maintayned thē which most dearly loved them In the life of Constantine thus it is written Dei vero administros ad se accersitos semper honore praecipuo dignos censebat et omni officio prosequebatur Vit. Const apud Euseb nihil circa devotos addictosque numini benignitatis aut humanitatis omittebat Homines quidem de vultu ornatuque tenues alia tamen apud eum nota convictores erant haud asseclae The Ministers of God being called unto him he ever thought them most worthy of speciall honor and did reverence them withall duetifulnes and he omitted nothing towards them who were devoute and dedicated to God which pertained to loving kindnes or curtesie yet they were men indeede in countenance and garnishment but poore but in another note they were familiar companions with him and not waiting servants I neede not to amplifie this matter ye see as I haue saide the estate of the Ministers of Gods word both in the old Testament and in the New vnder those Kings and Princes which so highly favoured honored and so dearely loved them And yet never made thē Lords nor Archlords nor maintayned them in any pompous or lordly estate And heere I will ad the example of Athanasius who must needs haue been extolled and lifted up unto a Lordly dignitie by that great and mightie Emperour Constantine if he had not thought it vtterly unlawfull so to exalt any Bishop in the world Being the onely man aboue all the rest among all the three hundred Bishops in the Counsell of Nice which confuted and confounded the horrible heresie of Arius which then was readie to overrunne the Church of God in so much that he was called Oculus mundi the eye of the world And whose Confession is set up and received even to this day in all christian Churches and called Athanasius Creed yet when he was accused to haue turned the corne which the Emperour sent unto the Citie to other uses then the Emperour had appoynted The Synod of Alexandria in their Apologie for Athanasius maketh this answer Synod Alexan. Apol 2. Quid Athanasio remotius a crimine qui si vel in ipsa Alexandria fuisset quid tamen ipsi cum negotiis prefecti What could be further of from fault then Athanasius Which if he had ben at that time even in the Citie of Alexandria yet what had he to doe with the affaires of the Magiistrate And further they say Nec fieri posse vt homo privatus et pauper tantum virium haberet Neither could it be possible that such a private and poore man should be able to doe it Heere you see the estate that Athanasius the most famous Bishop in the world at that time was in and how the Bishops themselues and the most godly Princes and Emperours thought fit for thē to liue in All these things being considered I conclude that the Pastor or Preacher of the word of God ought to be so maintayned that being freed from all other busines he might haue one man at all times to waite upon him Whereunto a convenient proportion of living as the state and rate of thinges stand at this day in England cannot be lesse then one hundred pounds by the yeare considering that he may not attend upon any other occupying affayres or busines but onely and continually upon prayer and administration of the word Wherefore I say at the least one hundred by the yeare for so the sound judgment of reason requyreth Howbeit if some one be aboue other charged with many children or other wayes A reasonable proportion for a Pastors maintenance or in speciall sorte with excellencie of guifts be found worthy to be preferred before other the living unto such may ought to be encreased yet so that none exceede the revenues of two hundred or there about Which thinge agreeeth well with the words of his Majestie in his second booke of his Basilicon Doron where he saith As some will deserue to be preferred before other pa. 44. so chaine them with such bonds as may preserue that estate from creeping to corruption And surely a foule and shamefull corruption it is that any Ecclesiasticall person should be maintained upon and by any Ecclesiasticall lyving exceeding the reasonable estate and proportion before named For so he is both corrupted himselfe and also robbeth other of that which by right belongeth unto them while the one is lifted up to a Lordship and the other kept under in a beggerly estate Now to goe forwarde with the proceeding and growing up of Antichrist and his Babilonish whore When the Bishops had taken a degree aboue the rest of the Pastors and had the name of Papa as it were written one their foreheads and usually given them in their titles and their regiment creaping up to whole Cities Diocesses So that some of them began to maintaine themselues as Lords and to claime a Lordly estate The godly learned Fathers not seeing the mischeifes that were alreadie by a generall and common consent crept in whereby it was imposible to keepe out the foule corruptions following not onely tollerated the foule abuses brought in but also they themselues in their simplicitie with a zeale of God though not accordyng to knowledge brought in many bald Ceremonies and corruptions which for brevityes sake I will passe over and onely set downe the words of our English Father George Alley Bishop of Exeter of the corruptions in the Sacrament of Baptisme brought in by the auncient Fathers Alley Whereby we may see the weaknes even of the first times and former ages Tertullian writeth saith he that when we come to the water we stay somewhat before in the Church vnder the hand of the Preist and doe protest that we will renounce the Devill his pompe and all his Angels After that we be thrise dipped in the water de coron militi◠answering no more then the Lord hath determined in his gospell And then being taken out we tast of milke and hony And from that day we abstaine from being washed by the space of a whole weeke Here you may see saith our Bishop of Exeter by the words of Tertullian what rites were added unto Baptisme as abrenunctions three immersions tasting of milke and hony abstinence from washing lib. 15. in Esa In his first booke against Martion he maketh mention also
onely with a needfull lyving And againe he saith Sed quēadmodum sacerdotes c. Like as the Preists liue of the holy service and Alter so they that preach the gospell ought to liue of the gospell and as they doe eate so these take their livyng but they doe not abound nor gather any treasure And upon the second chapter to the Philippians sermon the 9. Even speakyng in the defence of the Pastors maintenance he hath these words Dic quaeso sericisvestitur multitudinem sequentium et concomitantium habens Circa forum arroganter incedit Equo vehitur Domos edificat habens vbi maneat Si ista facit et ego reprehendā et non par cam imo ipsū sacerdotio quoque indignū dico Quomodo enim admonebit ne superfluis istis vacent cum se ipsum admonere nequeat Si vero necessarium victum abunde habuerit ideo ne iniustus erit Sed circum ire oportebat et mendicare Et tu vt discipulus nihil inde dic quaeso pudifieres At pater quidem carnalis si hoc faceret turpe putares Si vero spiritualis ad hoc cogatur non quaeres pre pudore latebras Tell me I pray thee saith he is the Pastor clothed in silke having a great number followyng accompaning him Goeth he proudly about the Market place Is he a horsebacke or at his foote cloth doth he build houses having already an habitation to dwell in If he doe these thinges I my selfe will reproue him neither will I spare him yea I my selfe also say that such a one is vnworthy of the Preisthood For how shall he admonish other men that they giue not over themselves to those superflutious things seeyng he cannot admonish himselfe But if he haue a plentifull necessary lyving shall he therefore be counted uniust Thou wilt say he ought to goe up and downe and begg And I pray thee tell me wouldest thou not be ashāed to be the Disciple of such a one If thy fleshly Father should doe so thou wouldest be ashamed Now if thy spirituall Father should be driven therevnto doest thou not for very shame hide thy selfe If Appelles with his pensill should haue paynted out this matter he could never halfe so liuely haue paynted out the Lord Bishop and the Parish preist of our dayes as this goulden mouth in these wordes hath done condemnyng both these extreames as shamefull and abominable But I leaue it to the reader that winketh not but openeth his eyes to behold the state of the Church in our time and to compare it with that time In his 50 Hom. vpon the Epistle to Timothie the 5 chap Chrys in 1. Tim. he discourseth in these words Honorem hoc in loco obsequium c. In this place saith Chrysostome honor is taken for readines to doe the thing that a man is willed to doe and for needfull liberalitie For that which followeth thou shalt not mousell the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne and the laborer is worthy of his reward sheweth that to be the Apostles meanyng for when he also commandeth that widowes should be cherished with honor it must needes be referred to a necessary livyng c. Therefore saith he if any man be a delicat fellow or negligent in his office he is surely worthy of no reward except he be an Oxe that treadeth out the corne except he draw the yoke even against the thornes and the frost shrinke not away he is unworthy Therefore unto the Teachers a necessary livyng ought plentifully to be ministred least they should faint or be discomforted neither that being occupied in the smallest thinges they should depriue themselues and other of great things that they might worke spirituall things having no regard of secular affaires For such were the Levits which had no charg of worldly busines as the lay men had Yet to the Levits some care of such thinges was permitted and by the law there was appoynted unto them revenues tithes first fruits vowes and many other things but unto them by the law these thinges were worthelie permitted as unto them that sought things present earthly Now Chrysostome concludeth with these words Yet I saith he will speake it bouldly that the cheifest Prelats of the Church ought to haue no more but onely foode and rayment least their affectiōs should be drawne away to thes worldly things He saith not that they should haue thē yet not set their affections upō thē but he saith they should not haue thē least their affections should thereby be drawne to loue them Thus haue ye heard both the judgment practise of all the principall cheifest of all the auncient Fathers which are called the Docters of the Church which lived under the most godly and christian Emperours in that three hūdreth yeares whch our booke of Martyrs calleth the florishyng time of the Church In which time although many ceremoniall corruptions steps towards the Hierarhie were brought in yet the Lordship of Bishops was by them all with one voyce and consent and with one vniforme practise of their life vtterly condemned as most wicked and abominable Fox pag 406 edit 1563 But as M. Fox saith speaking of the time betweene Augustine and Barnard And this while saith he still the regiment and riches of Bishops encreased and thereof ensued a monstrous regiment Yea blind Barnard himselfe saw plainely that the Lordship of Bishops with their riches great livyngs and magnificent estate was a wicked and monstrous regiment And that all men might knowe these thinges to be so plaine that even a blind man could see it therefore I will heere set downe som few of his sayings touchyng that purpose as in his 77. Sermon upon the Canticles in the title De malis pastoribus of evill Pastors Vnde hanc illis ex vberare existimas rerum affluentiam vestium splendorem mensarum luxvriem congeriem vasorum argenteorum et aureorum 〈◊〉 nisi de bonis sponsae Inde est quod illa pauper et inops et nuda relinquitur facie miseranda inculta hispida exangui Non est hoc ornare sponsam sed spoliare non est custodire sed prodere non est defendere sed exponere non est iustituere sed prostituere non est pascere gregem sed macctare et devorare Whence trow you doth this abūdance of riches flow unto them saith Barnard as that bravery in apparell the voluptuousnes of their tables their cubbards of gold and silver plate but of the goods of the spouse of Christ Here of it commeth that she her selfe is left poore needy and naked with a miserable face vndressed rude and terrible to see as pale as a dead corse This is not to garnish beautifie the spouse but to rob and spoyle her this is not to keepe her but to destroy her not to defend her but to thrust her out of dores not to instruct her but to make a whore of her this is
Non a minoritis sed a maioritis incipiendum est For where the Counsell pretēded to make a reformatiō in the Church one stood up and sayd the reformation must begin at the Fryer Minorits that is at the litle ones no sayd the Emperour not at the litle on s but at the great ones meanyng that they ought to begin not at the beggerly Fryer Minors but at the pompous and proud Prelats and Popes And Ieremiah the Prophet speaking of the beggerly sort and great men saith Ierem. 5.45 Therefore I sayd surely they are poore they are foolish for they know not the way of the Lord nor the iudgment of their God I will get me unto the great men and will speake vnto them for they haue knowne the way of the Lord and the iudgdment of their God but these haue altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds And in the 23 chapter he sayth speaking of the Prophets which were the cheifest and in highest degree of all Ecclesiasticall persons in that time Chro. 23 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the Prophets behold I will feed them with wormwood and make them drinke the water of gall for from the Prophets of Ierusalem is wickednes gon forth into all the land Now let us heare what M. Bucer saith touching the great livings of the Lord Bishops and the poore estat of the parish Ministers First to the Lord Bishops he saith in his second booke of the kingdom of Christ Agnoscant igitur tādem gravissimam suam culpam Episcopi quod ecclesias tam diu iam tamque horrende non tam neglexerunt quam vastaverunt Let the Bishops at the last acknowledg their most grevous fault that now so long time they haue not onely neglected but violently robbed the Churches And in the 13 chapter he toucheth againe the restoring unto the poore Parishes that which the Bishops by injurie and rob berie had taken from them Si vero parochiis non sit tam multum reliquum vt inde prospici queat fidelibus earum ministris tum certe vti et supra diximus ab Episcopis et ditioribus sacerdotiis petendum erit unde et his despoliatis parochiis consulatur Hic communio sanctorum exercenda erit vt egentibus ecclesiis succurratur ab iis quae abundant If there be not saith M. Bucer so much left unto the Parishes as therof there may be made a sufficient provision for their faithfull Ministers then certainly as we haue sayd before there must be taken from the Bishops and richer benefices where with these parishes that haue been so spoyled may be sufficiētly provided for For heerein the Communion of Saints ought to be exercised that the Churches which stand in need may be helped by them that doe abound And a non after he sayth Valeat itaque Domini lex dignus est opera rius cibo suo et mercede Item duplici honore digni sunt presbyteri qui bene praesunt ecclesiis maxime qui laborant in verbo et doctrina Debent autem hi et suo docere exemplo reliquos Christianos ut cum eis datur quibus alantar et tegantur his sint contenti valeat et lex spiritus sancti vestra abundātia sublevet illorum inopiam et illorum abundantia sublevet vestram inopiam quo sit inter vos aequalitas Therfore let the law of the Lord take his force which sayth the worke man is worthy of his meate and his wages and also the Elders which rule the Churches well are worthy double honor cheiflie those which labour in the word and doctrine And these also ought to teach all other Christians by their example and when there is given unto them foode and rayment with that let them be content And also let the law of the holy Ghost stand in his full force let your abundance vp hold their need that there may be equalitie I neede not to put the reader in any remēbrance what to obserue in these wordes they are playne enough that the Lordly livings of Bishops should be taken from them and they thēselues should not liue like Lords but in a meane estate as well as the rest of the Ministers Bucer in mathew 18.7 And touching the rest of the popish reliques he sayth vndoubtedly as there is no agreement at all between Christ and Beliall so sinceare and unfeined christians can by no meanes suffer themselues to be clogged with any whit of Antichrists trash and trumperie c. Wherfore so soone as true godlines and the right worship of God hath been preached and professed of many Antichrists Ceremonies and rites ought by and by to be abrogated and the reformation therof may not be prolonged c. These are indeed saith he over mild and to soft and sober Christians which can beare with such Antichristian trash like unto them who at Corinth knowing that an Idoll was nothing did eat thinges offered unto Idols and boasted as these our men doe in this wise In outward matters we are free What is that to me that another useth those thinges naughtily I will use them well c. Thus do they for sooth provide goodly for the weake ones yea they serue their owne bellies seeking to gratifie such as are either Christs enimyes or else backsliders for no man besids these will earnestly contend for Superstitious Ceremonies this is their modest bearing and delaying whereby they are so far from furthering of the Gospell that by litle and litle they do utterly abolish it Thus you heare M. Bucers judgment that noble light set up by God in Germanie and by King Edward brought into England and made the divinity Lecturer in Cambridg both for the establishing of the Discipline set downe by Christ and his Apostles in the first Churches for the taking away of the Lordly estate of Bishops and for the utter abolishing of all our vayne and beggerly Ceremonies which he calleth Antichristian trash Unto him I will joyn Peter Martyr his combresbyter or fellow Elder P. Martyr brought into England also by King Edward and made the Divinitie Lecturer in Oxford Whose departing from Argentine in Germanie was greatly lamented he was saith Sleidan a man there exceedingly beloved for his sincere judgmēt his great mildnes and modestie and for his incomporable learning In his Epistle to the Lords of Polonia professors of the Gospell and Ministers of the Church there when they began to make the reformatiō of religion in the rite of administring the Sacraments saith M. Martyr That manner is most to be imbraced which shall be most playne and most removed from the Papisticall trifles and Ceremonies and which shall come neerest to the purenes which Christ used with his Apostles Christian minds ought not to be occupied much in outward rites Ceremonies but to be fed by the word to be instructed by the Sacraments to be inflamed unto prayers to be confirmed in good works and excellent examples of life
Mary layd such violent handes upon the graft that she pulled it clean out of the stock cast it into the fire Our late gratious Queene Elizabeth receaved frō heaven a graft agayne and set it into the stock which by the blessing of God grew flourished but the boughes and sients which King Edward left shee suffered still to grow As the pompous estate of Bishops with the abominations of pluralities and Nonresidencies and such like with divers bad and beggerly Ceremonies which all remaine to this day O that our Prelats of England would lift up their eyes to heaven and behold the wrath of God which as Gualter saith hangeth over our heads for these reliques of Antichrist and other our sinfull wickednes then would they surely be so farr from mainteinyng the same or perswading his Majestie to let them continue that humblie one their knees they would beseech him though all their wealth and pompe should perish yet with his mightie hand to rent of the crabb tree scients and with the sharp sword to cut of the boughes that grow upon the stocke whereby the blessed graft of Gods word might liuely grow and flourish which exceept it be donne can never prosper nor as the Apostle speaketh can never haue free pastage be glorified And it is worthy to be noted that to his great honor it is written Iosiah also tooke away them that had familiar spirits and the Soothsayers and the Images 2 Kings 2 ◠24. and the Idols and all the abominations that were espied in the land of Iudah and Ierusalem to performe the words of the law which were written in the booke that Hilkiah the Priest found in the house of the Lord. But this is to be observed in his most excellent reformation that the text sayth he tooke away all the abominations that were espied in the land of Iudah and Ierusalem For where very great defection and falling away from true religion is established by publicke authoritie it is a merveilous difficult matter for a Prince that would make reformation therof to espie whatsoever ought to be reformed So that if there be not daylie more and more amended the sients of the crabb tree stock being suffered will out grow the graft and spoyle the tree as we see in this most excellent reformation which Iosiah made which yet is so bitterly taxed not only by Zephaniah the Prophet but also by Ieremia as you may read in the third chapter where he sayth The Lord sayd also unto me Ier. 3.6.7.8 in the dayes of Iosiah the King hast thou seene what this rebell Israell hath done For shee hath gone up upon every high mountaine and under every greene tree and there playd the harlot And I said when shee had done all this Turne thou unto me but shee returned not as her rebellious sister Iudah saw When I saw that by all occasions rebellious Israell had playd the harlot I cast her away and gaue her a bill of divorcement yet her rebellious sister Iudah was not affraid but she went also and playd the harlot And afterward in the 10 and 11 verses he sheweth how high the abominations of Iudah even in the time of Iosiah were growne Neverthelesse saith Ieremiah for all this her from them as well as of Monks Thirdly that many that doe professe the Gospell handle the matter as ill as the Monks and Popish Bishops In that they restore not agayne to the Church and Congregation the libertie of choosing their Ministers which by tyrannie they tooke from them ruling the matter by their Lordly estate as they list themselues Fourthly that this evill also shortly if it be not amended will bring into the Churches that professe the Gospell both Symonie the utter confusion of Discipline And after in the same Homilie he saith Whosoever would haue in the Church the auncient authority of Discipline and the boldnes of the Prophets Apostles in the Ministery and to be short the old integritie and soundnes of the whole Church let him labour to recover and call agayne this auncient order of choosing Ministers shewed to us by the Apostles Note Obserue christian reader that whosoever wisheth to haue the old integritie and soūdnes of the whole Church ought to labor in his degree asmuch as in him lyeth to recover and call agayne this auncient order of choosing Ministers shewed us by the Apostles in Acts 15 22. Homilie 104. that is with the Churches free consent But in another Homilie he sayth Through the covetousnes and ambition of Bishops it is come to passe that the libertie of the Church is troden under foote and choosing of Ministers dependeth upon them O wicked wretchednes of those Biships which doe not onely heerein through their covetousnes and ambition offend Christ and rob his Churches of their right but also with great crueltie and bould faces maintayne the same to be well done and purpose to continue therein to their liues end And of the choosing of Deacons likewise upon the sixt chapter Hom. 41. he saith Therefore the chosing of Deacons to whom the administration of the Church goods is committed belongeth to all the Church But afterward upon the 15 chapter he saith Hom. 104. Now where the ambition of Prelats hath disturbed and broken this order who contrary to the commandement of Peter the Apostle haue challenged unto them a Lordship over the inheritance or Church of Christ the Congregations are every day molested with new contentions and there appeareth no end either of errors or most bitter debates I think verely M. Gualter in these words poynted with his finger specially to England for no Nation of christendom that is called a reformed Church or had the Gospel once shinyng in at the windowe hath had or is like to haue such endless contention and continuall errors only through the Lordship and magnificent estate of Lord Bishops Hom. 86 which no reformed Church in all Europe hath retained but England And upon the 13 chapter he sayth We must iudge them called of God that are furnished with necessary gifts of the holy Ghost and chosen by the voyce of the lawfull Congregation for that the Church hath heerein her voice election appeareth plainely by this place And likewise in the 1 chapter Homelie the 9. he sayth And the holy Ghost would haue all this historie so dilligently described for that a sure rule and president might be left to them that came after whereby to rule the election of Ministers And touching the dignitie and superioritie of Ministers one over an other he sayth in Acts 20 Hom. 133 Although the dignitie of all Ministers in the Church is a like and none ought to challenge power or authoritie over other yet an order is necessary in the Church which can never be kept and mainteyned except Ministers will obserue modestie and humilitie among themselues And in the 8 Homelie about the chosing of Mathias he saith First Peter will
Marlorat Danaeus and Tilenus leaving all the rest of the French Churches and learned men there which are exceeding many in number but all with one consent agreeing with those last a fore named lights of the gospell both in their doctrine Discipline and practise of life And first of Calvin which was as famous a Pastor in the Citie of Geneva as Augustine was in Hippo Calvin or Ierome in the towne of Bethlem yet lived he not like a Lord but like Augustine and Ierome and as hath been before shewed in a very meane estate whereof I my selfe haue been an eye witnes The author Ioh. Cal. vita ante eius epist and as in the Historie of his life and death ye may also read Where it is written Testari certe potest Senatus quū perexigua essent eius stipendia c. The Senate of the Citie can testifie that although his stipend was very small yet was he so far frō being discontent therwith that a more ample allowance being freelie offred him he obstinatly refused it And a litle before his riches and wealth that he left behind him are set downe in these words Cuius bona omnia c. All those goods his librarie also being dearely sold came scarselie to three hundred French Crownes which a mounteth not to one hundred pounds of our mony but lacketh about some ten pounds thereof and yet all that he left came scarselie to so much And according to this his practise both publicklie privately he taught and wrote as you may read in his Instistutions lib. 4. cap. 4. Where he saith Heereby also we iudge what use there was and what manner of distribution of the Church goods Ech wher both in the decrees of the Synods among the old writers it is to be found that whatsoever the Church possesseth either in lands or mony is the patrimonie of the poore And a non after he saith But sith it is equitie and established by the law of the Lord that they which imploy their service to the Church should be fed with the common charges of the Church and also many priests in that age consecrating their patrimonies to God were willingly made poore the distributing was such that neither the Ministers wanted sustenance nor the poore were neglected But yet in the meane time it was provided that the ministers themselues which ought to giue example of honest sparing to other should not haue so much whereby they might abuse it to riotous excesse or deliciousnes but only wherwith to sustaine their owne need Har. Evang. Mat 20 25 And upon the 20 of Mathew 25 verse he saith Ye know that the Lords of the Gentiles haue dominion over them c. He declareth that there shal be no such superioritie in his kingdom as they did striue for They therfore are deceaved which do stretch this saying to all the godly in generall when as Christ onely teacheth of that matter in hand that the Apostles were very fond to make any question of degree of power or of honor in their estate and calling for the office of teaching whereto they were appoynted had no likelihood wtth the Empires of the world And after he saith The purpose of Christ was to put a difference between the spirituall regiment of his Church earthlie Empires least the Apostles should apply themselues to courtlie graces and fashions For as every one among the Nobles is beloued of Kings so he climeth up to wealth and offices But Christ set Pastors over his Church not to beare a Lorlie rule over them but to Minister So the error of the Anabaptists which doe banish Kings Magistrats from the Church of God because Christ sayd they were not like his Disciples is overthrowne For the comparison is not made heere between Christians and prophāe men but between offices And anon after he saith So David Ezekias and such like when aswillingly they became the servāts of all mē yet were they adorned with the Scepter Diadem Thrōe and other such ensignes But the goverment of the Church admitteth no such thing For Christ gaue no more allowance to the Pastors then that they should be Ministers and that they should altogether abstaine from Lordlie government I need not to make any explanation of his words for they are plaine enough further for the election of Bishops Ministers M. Calvin saith Truelie this is a most foule example Bishops made at the Court a soule mattes that out of the Court are Bishops to possesse Churches And it should be the worke of godly Princes to abstaine from such corruption For it is a wicked spoyling of the Church when there is thrust unto any people a Bishop whom they haue not desired or at the least with free voyce allowed And upon the the 14 of the Acts he saith Paul Barnabas are said to choose Elders Do they this alone by their private office Nay rather they suffer the matter to be decided by the consent of them all therefore in ordayning Pastors the people had their free election And upon the 6 of the Acts where the seaven Deacons were chosen by the people these are his words As touching this present place the Church is permitted to choose For it is tyrannous if any one man appoynt or make Ministers at his pleasure Therefore this is the most lawfull way that those be chosen by common voyces who are to take upon them any publicke function in the Church And concerning Nonresidencie and Pluralities of benefices he saith Instit 4. 8 Non obiiciam verbum Dei c. I will not obiect against thē saith M. Calvin that the word of God doth in every place cry out against it which long since amongst them hath ceased to be in any manner of account Neither will I obiect many most severe constitution in many Counsells that hath been ordeyned against this wickednes For these Constitutions also as often as they list they stoutly contemne But I say that both these things are a prodigious or monstrous mischevous wiekednes utterly against God against nature against the Ecclesiasticall governement that one arrant theefe should sit over divers Churches together that he should be named unto Satans kingdom But also unlike to the earthly kingdomes which are governed by good civill pollicie Therefore Iesus Christ said that he came not to be served but to serue and to shew unto his Disciples the difference that they should put betweene the worldli◠kingdomes and their estate And his Church and the estate and government of the same c. He saith the Kings of the nations c. And a non after he saith When Iesus Christ sent his Apostles he said unto them As my Father sent me so send I you For he medled not nor tooke upon him to raigne as a worldly Prince But when the people sought him to make him a King he hid himselfe And when he was requyred to devide an inheritance between two brethren