the auncient Fathers much to blame who in setting downe the Articles of our Creede dyd neglect and lightly passe ouer this vpstart Article of the Romish sea that where we be commaunded to beléeue one Catholique and Apostolique Church they dyd not in manner commaund vs to beléeue the Romaine Church withall Héereby you perceyue well enough my fréendes into what combersome straights and absurdities the Papistes haue hurled them selues by their blinde and vnaduised rashnesse For first if no certaintie of saluation be to be hoped for out of the Church which Church must be without all question that same verie Church of Roome as they frame theyr argumentes and that the Church of Roome be none other but the same which is strained and straighted to the vniuersall commaundementes and decrées of the Bishoppe of Roome Nowe then they doo exempt out of the priuiledge of the Church not onely this our English nation but together with them also they doo exclude out of the number of the Catholique Church infinite other famous learned Clarks of the auncient and pure age of the Church as Doctors Patriarches and Bishoppes yea amongst these also all the Bishoppes of Roome as many as were Gregories predecessors But what néede many proofes in a matter of it selfe so manifest and well knowne Vndoubtedlie sithens Christe would vouchsafe to lay the first foundation yea and to build vp that beautifull and euerlasting building of his owne house vpon none other ground worke then vpon that corner stone of Christian faith and Christian confession And if Paule doubted nothing to recoumpt the same faith to be the only and infallible shoote-Ancker of saluation By what Lawe then will the Pope adiudge them as out-castes worthy to be banished from the Catholique and Apostolique Church which professe the selfe same faith of Christe that the Apostles and other Catholique Churches dyd professe Why should the Papistes thus cruelly deale with the Christians for following Christe and his Apostles Why should they thus furiously persecute the godlie burne them or consume them in prison for denying the Romaine Church to be the holie Catholique Church Séeing that no mention thereof is made to be such a Church as the Papistes would haue it to be throughout all the Scriptures But we gather by the Scriptures that the Church of Roome is the Church of the deuill for if the Church of Roome were the true Church of Christe Christes sheepe heare his voice But the Church of Roome heareth not his voyce but heareth rather the voyce of Courtezanes therefore it is not the true Church but the Sinagogue of Sathan Shee wryteth in her coyne That Kingdome and people that doo not obey mee shall be rooted out contrarie to that the Kinges of Nations beare rule ouer them but ye shall not so doo therefore shée is not the true Church Ambrose sayth That the true Church is the Mother of the liuing But those that be in this Church are dead for they haue no faith because they haue no knowledge therfore this Church is not the true Church Shée committeth idolatrie and spirituall adulterie many wayes therefore shée is not the holie Catholique Church The Church of Roome numbers her multitudes as Dauid nūbred his Souldiors and therfore shée is not the holie Catholique Church These Papistes are like Cockles they carry theyr house about with them so doo they theyr Church Aspalathus will not growe but in Boetia ye kill these men if ye take away the couerture of the Church of Roome This Church is the ritch Arras that couereth all her faultes follies But admit good people that we were wunderfull hūble obediēt to this Church and most willing to come againe as foolishe Béetles to the shirt of this Church and to aske of her questions and demaundes I protest before heauen and earth and the founder of them bothe that I thinke it not good we should be holde in asking for the great imminent daunger in her aunswering For if we aske Whether Iesus be Christe or no This Romishe Church giueth out her aunswere That the Bishop of Roome is the high Preest and that the sayde Bishoppe hath the strength of the kingdome of Christe and the infallible veritie of a Prophete And therefore they allowe to ouer rule Christe by adding and taking too and fro his woorde If we aske If Christe were the onely oblation offered once vp for all for the sinnes of the world Her aunswere is verie daungerous That the Masse is a sacrifice for the quicke and the dead And shee falleth into commendation of her wheaten God and dooth attribute the health of the world to that abhominable bread and Idoll If we aske her If Christe be her intercessour to God Shée aunswereth vs most wickedlie Iure Matris imperat That Christe forsoothe shall commaund his Father by the right of his Mother If we aske her Of the state and condition of man since the fall of Adam Shée aunswereth That hee may ouertake heauen of him selfe and well enough by him selfe worke out his owne saluation Aske her What faith is And shee wyll tell of an implicite thing and of a generall faith and to be holden fast by that hand there shée kéepeth silence and is as spéechlesse as a Fishe If we aske her What the Lawe is Shée ladeth our shoulders with the heauy Ceremonies of Judaisme and Paganisme If we aske her What the Gospell is Shée maketh voide Gods promise with her owne Iustice If we aske her Of good workes Shee aunswereth iust lyke Saint Lukes Pharasie Then againe shée deuiseth good workes to be thus to hyre certayne men for money to pray and to mumble vp much quantitie of Psalmes in a couert tongue to kéepe huge troughes of Ling and Saltfishe many yéeres to waxe spéechlesse with seldome speaking to waxe lame with much sitting to vse many knottes in theyr gyrdles and many windowes in theyr showes to be buried in Monkishe wéedes and Nunnishe Cowles c. If we aske her Of the number of Christes Sacramentes Shee aunswereth That there be seuen Without Scripture shée hath added fiue to Gods two as though God hath let her his two Sacramentes to vsurie If we aske her Whether we goe after this life Shée telleth vs of Virgils Platoes and Mahomets Purgatorie If we should say vnto her Fayre Church of Roome whether is thy belooued gone Shée would say He went in his body to harrowe hell And then I wyll aske her Howe she can aunswere to Signum Ionae et signum Lazari The signe of Ionas and the signe of Lazarus that Christe should be three dayes in his graue If we would say Fayre Church of Roome whether is thy belooued gone Shée wyll say To heauen But then shée dreameth grosely of heauen as Mahomet and besides that in euerie hyll Alter and grone Alter shée wyll saye Here is Christe and there is Christe The more shée aunswereth the more shée aunswereth of lesinges Vneath hath shée nowe these many long yéeres aunswered any
and purpose is not in writing this booke to gape for popular applause and to hunt after prayse but to signifie to the world what I haue bene and what I haue doone I haue been a member of the Romishe Church as it is well knowne to many who bothe knewe me and were conuersant with me at Roome And at my first comming to that Babilonicall Cittie I was suspected to haue bene an Hereticke for so tearme they Christian Catholiques wherefore by the meanes of an English man named Salomon Aldred sometime a dweller in Birchen lane in London who was maried and had bene in my company in France I was brought by Doctor Morice prouider of the English Hospitall at Roome for his owne discharge to the house of the Romishe Inquisition Where béeing examined in matters touching Religion I confessed what I had bene in tyme past an enimie to theyr Religion When as by the processe of my wordes the Dominican Inquisitour had intelligence of my former state He commaunded Doctor Morice to bring me before him the day following which was the .xxvi. day of Aprill in the yeere of our Lord. 1578. So the morning after I came vnto him with Doctor Morice then the sentence of the fowre Cardinalles which are appertayning to that office was this that I should write what I could with frée lybertie of spéeche and pardon graunted against the Pope and against his Religion Béeing thus commaunded as I would auoide the Popes indignation and displeasure to write what I could against his swelling tytle and presumptuous name of supremacie I spared neyther him neyther yet his vnstable Religion as héerafter in the Sermon made at the cōmaūdement of the fowre Cardinals and this Dominican it shall appéere Which Sermon Oration were brought before the Pope and the rest of the Cardinals béeing then in the Consistorie Whē the Pope vnderstoode howe that I had bene reconciled to his Church before the time I came to Roome he pardoned my trespasse and gaue me a Signatura not forgetting to giue me thankes and professing fréendship he willed a Letter to be written to the Rector of the English Seminarie that he should ascribe me to the number of the rest And the Letters béeing deliuered and read both of him and Cardinall Morone Protector of the English house I was admitted the .xxviii. day of May to the Societie of the English Students For so much as the Religion of the Papists is grounded vpon lyes so can they doo nothing else but lie and report vntruelie Wheras a Masse-monger who writeth that he did not only knowe me but also lyued with me falsely reporteth in his Lybell set out against me That I was recommended from Cardinall Paleote of Bolonia to Doctor Lewes that by his meanes I might finde some releefe at the Popes handes this reporte is as true as nowe I am in Wales As touching Doctor Lewes there was not so much as one word spoken much lesse a Letter written vnto him But this is the onely fruite of theyr Religion to speake more then trueth is to slaunder him wrongfully that dooth degenerate from them to hate him vndeseruedlie that findeth out theyr treachery maliciously to backbite him that hath forsaken the dregges of their idolatrie For that I haue with an vnfayned heart renoūced the Romish faith what slaunderous reportes the Papistes haue had of me in what hatred they haue me how maliciouslie they speake of me God knoweth from whome no secrete is hyd and so doo I acknowledging my selfe cléere and frée from those crimes wherewith I am vniustly accused these theyr malicious and slaunderous reproches I haue procured against me for telling the trueth And for the breach of the fowrth decrée of Pope Leo which was no crime in déede for that the decrée is vnlawfull Should I excuse the murther by this Pope committed as the murthers of Sampson Should I commend the deuillishe practises and cruell attempts of this Pope Gregorie to haue the lyues of the true Christians in the lowe Countries abreuiated theyr countrie spoyled theyr houses burnt theyr Cattell slaine theyr Daughters rauished theyr Sonnes murthred euen in the sight of theyr Fathers and the Parentes eyther made slaues or else constrayned before the due course of nature to yéelde vp the ghost Of all this calamitie iniurie and murther the Pope is the onely cause and author This I knowe to be true this I am able to auouch this I am not afraide to write Should I prayse your Pope béeing an adulterer or should I cloake his faulte as the adulterie of Iacob Should I thinke your Pope to be a holie Virgin hauing two Bastardes the one made a Cardinall the other a Marquesse the one a ruler of his Castle Santo Angelo the other Grand mon Signior of his abyding Pallace Should I coullour his robberies as the robbing of the Egiptians what robberies hath he done in the Churches of Italie to mayntaine the English Seminaries bothe at Roome and at Rheimes in Fraunce he hath compelled the most part of all Abbottes and Priours and other Ecclesiasticall men to disburse him about a twelue month past a summe of money Because I haue spoken truely bothe by your Pope and by you Papistes therefore you maliciouslie slaunder me but in the Booke of Pilgrimage I wyll blaze out your armes and so discouer your treacheries the lyues of your Monkes and Iesuites among whome I haue lyued shall be knowen to all England the hypocrisie of your Cardinalles and Bysshoppes with whome I haue bene conuersant no man there is but shall knowe The Sodomiticall life of your Prelats repeate Monkes Theatines Iesuites Cardinals and Byshops and others I will sound out with the larum bell The discention of your Colledge the emulation of the Englishe Studentes the orders of the house theyr manner of lyuing theyr canckred hatred towardes theyr natiue Soyle all these thinges recited in the Booke of Pilgrimage shall be truely and not maliciouslie handeled for the greater detestation of your forged and fayned Religion sproong vp from couetousnesse and ambition I wyll haue an especiall care to the wordes which I shall write least that in misreporting ought of you rashly I incurre deseruedly the displeasure of almighty God and may not be frée of infamy and the hatred of such as haue been trauellers who knew them selues many things to be true which I intend to bring to light iustly I should procure I would thou Papist hadst the same minde not to haue excéeded the bondes and lymittes of trueth because they thought to bring my name to discredit by theyr vntrueths they thought it good to scatter abroade theyr lying Lybels to the ende that some who are weake of beléefe and others which are inclyning to Papistrie might reiect my writing and make no accoumpt of my sayinges howe false theyr Lybel was you may reade as followeth The first vntrueth is this that where as be vntruely reporteth That I was brought vp in Poperie and therein continewed vntyll for pouertie
belooued before I beginne I dare faithfullie promise you that you shall finde throughout the whole Testament neyther Papa Papatus Primas nor Primatus Neyther Pope Papacie Primate nor Primacie to be graunted vnto any of the Apostles of Christe then much lesse vnto the Bishop of Roome Howe shamefully they wrest those places of binding and loosing No learned man there is but vnderstandeth and perceyueth the same I aunswere with Cyprian and Augustine De. sin Cleri That God in the person of Simon Peter gaue the Keies to all to signifie the vnitie of all for Christe did it not for this purpose to preferre one man before another but to set out the vnitie of the Church for the rest of the Apostles were the same thing that Peter was endued with like partaking bothe of honour and power Augustine sayth Homil. in Iohn 1. Homil 11. Si in Petro Ecclesia mysterium non esset Dominus ei non diceret Dabo tibi claues If there were not in Peter a mysterie of the Church the Lord would not say to him I will giue thee the Keies For if this was said to Peter the Church hath them not but if the Church haue them then Peter when he receyued the Keies betokened the whole Church And in an other place when they were all asked onelie Peter aunswered Thou arte Christe And it is sayde to him I will giue thee the Keies As though he alone had receiued the power of binding and loosing whereas bothe he béeing one sayd then one for all and he receyued the other with all as bearing the person of vnitie therefore one for all because there is vnitie in all Let Peter truelie haue the first place yet there is great difference betwéene the honour of degrée and power We sée that the Apostles commonly graunted this to Peter that he should speake in assemblies and after a certaine manner goe before them with propoūding exhorting and admonishing but of his power we reade nothing at all Reade the Scriptures and there ye shall finde what office and power Peter had among the Apostles howe hée behaued him selfe and howe he was accepted of them Runne ouer all that remayneth written you shall finde nothing else but that he was one of the twelue equall with the rest and their fellowe but not their Lord. But to graunt them that which they require concerning Peter that is that he was the Prince of the Apostles and excelled the rest in dignitie Yet there is no cause why they should of a singular example make an vniuersall rule and drawe to perpetuitie that which was once doone sith there is a farre differing reason One was chéefe among the Apostles forsoothe because they were fewe in number If one were the chéefe of twelue men shall it therefore followe that one ought to be made ruler of a hundred thousand millions of men It is no meruaile that twelue had one among them that should rule them all for nature beareth this and the witte of men requireth this that in euerie assemblie although they be all equall in power yet there is one as a gouernour whome the rest may haue regard vnto There is no Court without a Consull no Session of Iudges without a Pretor or Propounder no Company without a Ruler no fellowshippe without a Maister So should it be no absurditie if we confessed that the Apostles gaue to Peter such a supremacie but that which is of force among fewe is by and by to be drawne to the whole world to the ruling whereof no one man is sufficient But say they this hath place no lesse in the whole vniuersalitie of nature then in all the parts that there be one soueraigne head of all And héereof very wisely as they thinke they fetch a proofe from Cranes and Bées which alwayes chuse to them selues one guide and not many I allowe in déede the examples which they bring foorth but doo Bées resort together out of all the world to chuse them one King euery seuerall King is contented with his owne Hiue So among Cranes euery hierde hath theyr owne King What else shall they prooue héereby but that euerie Church ought to haue her owne seuerall Bishoppe appointed her But whereas I sayde let it be graūted that Peter was Prince of the Apostles He was no otherwise called Prince of the Apostles then Cicero was called Prince of Eloquence in respect of excellencie not of superioritie and so was Homer called the captaine of Poeticall finenesse If a questiō should be mooued who were the chéefe and captaine of the schoole Some one or other should be noted foorthwith yet is hée not therefore a Prince ouer his fellowes nor his fellowes subiect vnto him So I say though Peter had béene called the Prince of the Apostles yet was hée not theyr soueraigne and Lord but fellowe labourer in the Lord his Vineyarde And thus much bréeflie touching the Pope and his false supremacie Of the erronious hippocriticall and false Church of Roome HEther vnto I haue intreated of the Popes vsurped supremacie nowe I meane to speak a word or two of the Churche I wyll first beginne with the definition of this worde Church and then I wyll procéede farther to intreate thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a Congregation or company of faithfull men assembled together This Church is two manner of wayes construed that is the Church or company onely of those whome God hath chosen to euerlasting lyfe in all tymes and places Which is to man inuisible who can not enter so farre as to knowe GOD his wyll neyther the heart of man him selfe but is onelye visyble to GOD who knoweth those that are his as the Apostle sayth and hath sealed them with his owne seale And there is a Church of wicked and reprobate of Papistes and Turks yea the wicked to the ende of the world are mingled with the good Papists contrarie to their owne lawes frequent the Churches or assemblies of Christians the Goates kéepe company with the Shéepe the chaffe with the graine and the Tares are found among the good Corne. Into the bosom of the true Church God will haue his chyldren to be gathered together not onely that they should by her helpe and Ministery be nourished while they are Infantes and young chyldren but also be ruled by her motherlie care tyll they growe to ryper age and at length come to the marke of faith for it is not lawfull that those thinges be seuered which God hath conioyned That to whome hee is a Father the Church be also theyr Mother and that not only vnder the Lawe but also since the comming of Chrisie As Paule Galat. 8.26 witnesseth which teacheth That we are the chyldren of the newe and heauenlie Jerusalem In the Créede where we professe that we beléeue In the holie Catholique Church Wee meane not Roome to be that holie Catholique Church for if no Church ought to be reputed for Christian or Catholique but that which is of Rome Then were
thing truelie of the goinges of the beloued or of the dooinges of the beloued Beléeue me truely O world it is daunger to aske her it is next to deaths doore to heare her it is dampnable death and hell to beléeue her Better it is to dye in body for him that may then to beléeue her to be the holy Catholique Church and therefore to perishe in body and soule Happy were they and are and shall be who patiently suffered doo suffer and shall suffer the tyranny and persecution of Antichriste Hope of Roome for the deniall of his whoorishe and Babilonicall Church By theyr patience it appeared that they had the cognisance or badge of the true Church August De tempore Ser. 130. Crux regni insigne est The Crosse sayth Saint Augustine is the cognisance or badge of the Church Athanasius Ad solitariam vitam agentes sayth Caedi Christianorum proprium est Caedere aus tem Christianos Pilati et Caiphae officia sunt To be persecuted belongeth to Christians but to persecute the Christians belongeth to the office of Pilate and Caiphas But the Papistes say that they punishe the Protestants onely for a desire to haue them reconciled to their Sinagogue and for entyre looue A gentle kinde of looue lyke the looue of one Philippides of whome Aristophanes in Vespis writeth who tooke a cudgell A prettie example alluded to the Papists and dyd beate his Father and all for looue But we may say with Tertullian Crudelitas vestra nostra gloria est Your crueltie is our glorie For Gods Religion the more it is pressed the more it encreaseth This persecution of the Papistes against the Christians is an euident token that the Church of Roome is the Sinagogue of Sathan Caine persecuted Abell the Giants Noah the Sodomites Loth Ismaell Isaack Esau Iacob the Egiptians the Israelites Pharaoh Moses Saule Dauid and yet Dauid would not hurt againe of whome we learned that Gods Church dooth suffer rather then hurt pardon rather then persecute The false Church of the Prophetes persecuted the true propheticall Church the Sinagogue of the Iewes persecuted Christe and his Apostles The Churche of Roome persecuteth Christes lyttle flocke and congregation So Hillarius and Nicephorus in many places discourse Lactantius sayth excellently to this matter Diuin Institut Lib. 5. Cap. 19. Defendenda religio est non occidendo sed monendo non saeuitia sed patientia non scelere sed fide Nam si sanguine et tormentis si malo religionem defendere velis iam non defendetur illa sed polluetur atque violabitur Religion is to be defended not with murthering but with monishing not with crueltie but with patience not with furie but with faithfulnesse For if ye defend Religion with bloodshedde and tormenting or with working of mischeefe it is not defended but defiled and deceyued The Church of Roome persecuteth all Christians The Ornamentes and deckings of the Antichristian Church of Roome her sentence is burne burne burne her hadge let vs laye wayte for blood her head blasphemie her shéelde tyrannie her breast iniurie her eyes fyre her gyrdle fornication her breath poyson her tongue the stinge of death her féete ready to shedde innocent blood her sworde violence her Crosse persecution her pardons iniquitie her tryple crowne presumption her Keies ambition and all her dooinges abhomination Héere doo follow great swarmes of Cainites Giantes Sodomites Egiptians Scribes Pharasies Herodians Monks The Champions and vpholders of this Babilonicall Sea Friers Cardinalles Adulterers Idolaters Parasites Poysoners Pardoners Bawdes Flatterers Traytours Rebels Murderers Theeues with all the Romishe rabble These are the right Canniballes lyke to the barbarous people of Armenica that eate one an other My countrey men wyll you builde your faith vppon this Church which receyueth such Varlettes which hath such gracelesse personnes such persecutours and such bloodie butchers The Church of Christe hath none such there were neuer in the Church of Christe nor are not nor neuer shall be persecutors The Church of Christe is styll persecuted and neuer persecuteth Did the Matriarches persecute did Christe persecute did the Apostles persecute When the Samaritanes would not receyue Christe Iames and Iohn béeing as yet Nouices in Christes schoole called for fyre from heauen and would haue burned and consumed the Samaritanes but Christe rebuked them saying You wot not of what manner of spirite you are for the sonne of man is not come to destroye mens liues but to saue them If the Church of Roome were the holie Catholique Church it would then féede the soule of man béeing a spirite with spirituall foode moone her by spirituall instrumentes drawe her by the worde leade her by the spirite and persuade her by the Scriptures which are the onely meanes which God appoynteth If an Heretique holde an opinion he holdeth it eyther of ignoraunce or of wylfulnesse If of ignoraunce he is to be conuerted by doctrine to be conuinced by Scripture reformed by exhortation reduced by reason persuaded by the trueth If of wylfulnesse he is to be menaced by the Lawe and corrected by excommunication The Church of Rome vseth no such meanes wherefore the Church of Roome is of the deuill and not of Christe And as the Lord hath done to Ierusalem in Titus Vespasianus tyme as Iosephus in his hystorie of the Iewes maketh mention and to the ruines thereof that the place should not boast of the Oracles of God So God hath done to Roome A notable forewarning to the Church of Roome to the Idolles thereof that theyr boasting should be in vaine of the Church of God For what was Roome euen from her byrth but a Citie built in Parricide then strengthened with robberies and made a Sanctuarie for murderers of all Nations The pettigree of Roome as you may read in theyr owne Romaine Hystories And what was it afterwardes in the time of the Emperour Iulianus Apostata Dioclesian Nero and diuers others but a slaughter house of the Martyrs of God and what is it in ours and our fathers dayes but the Queene of pride the nurse of Idolatries the mother of whordomes the sincke of iniquities out of which sorceries withcrafts poisoninges adulteries rebellions and bloodie warres haue ouerflowed the whole earth Who wyll beléeue in this Church are we commaunded to beléeue léeue in this Church when as it is sayd in our Créede Credo sanctam Catholicam Ecclesiam I beleeue that there hath béene is and shall be a holie Catholique Church My sence can not shew it and therefore I beléeue it for if I sée it beléefe is in vaine for where sence faileth and can goe no farther there beléefe beginneth For is it necessarie that we should frō time to time beleeue that Roome is the holie Catholique Church but we should from tyme to tyme beleeue there is a holy Catholique church But in déede the Papists and such like open persecutours haue of so long tyme kept vnder the Church that we are driuen
to beléefe for they haue left scarse any sence or memorie of the true members of Christes Church If we beléeue the Romaine Church to be The holie Catholique Church The Scriptures are against vs theyr owne Doctours are against vs and the definition of the word Church is against vs. Shall we beléeue the building of Saint Peters Church to be our holie Mother the Church Beléeue it who that will and I assure him that he hath not the true Church on his side nor the Gospell to excuse him Séeke for this Church whereof Christe is head and not the Pope in this Church haue we lybertie not to doo euyll but to doo good The Churth of Roome bringeth to our lyfe myserable bondage Whyles we are in the Church of Christe wée hope for the promises of lyfe euerlasting but whyles wée stande in the Churche of Roome wée stande in feare and terrour of eternall condempnation to come vppon vs for our sinnes in the day of death Through Christe who is the head of this true Churche wée sée our sinnes purged the Deuill vanquished death and condempnation abolished and our selues in the lybertie of the chyldren of God to crie Abba Father Thus much touching the Church ¶ Of the infallible perfect ground and sufficiencie of the Scriptures to the eternall comfort and consolation of all true Christians and vtter confusion of the Pope and all his adherentes BEcause the Papistes affirme and boldly say that the Scriptures are not sufficient for a man therby to knowe the trueth by the which he may be saued it is erpedient and néedefull at this present tyme to heare what the Scriptures and Doctors doo say therevnto First I will beginne with the Scriptures as with the veritie it selfe and then with the Doctors who ground theyr argumentes and reasons vpon the worde of God which is the holy Scripture Although it behooueth man earnestly to bende his eyes to consider the workes of God For as much as he is set as it were in this gorgeous stage to be a beholder of them yet principallie ought be to bend his eares to the Scriptures that he may better profite thereby and sooner learne the trueth by the which he may be saued And therefore it is no meruayle that they which are borne in darknesse doo more and more waxe harde in theyr amazed dulnesse because verie fewe of them doo giue them selues pliable to learne of the worde of God whereby to kéepe them within the boundes but they rather reioyce in theyr owne vanitie Thus then ought we to holde that to the ende true Religion may shine amongst vs we must take our begynning at the heauenlie doctrine and that no man can haue any taste be it neuer so little of true and sounde doctrine vnlesse he haue béene Scholler to the Scriptures And from hence groweth the originall of true vnderstanding that we reuerentlie embrace whatsoeuer it pleaseth GOD therein to testifie of him selfe for not â—nely the perfect and in all poynts absolute faith but also all right knowledge of God springeth from obedience and truely in this behalfe God of his singuler prouidence hath prouided for men in all ages For if we consider howe slippery an inclination mans minde hath to slide into by forgetfulnes of God how great a readinesse to fall into all kinde of errours howe great a lust to forge oftentimes new and counterfeyt Religions The onely fall of man into so many and sundrie euyls is the forgetfulnesse of God We may thereby perceyue how necessarie it was to haue the heauenly doctrine so put in writing that it should not eyther perishe by forgetfulnesse or growe vaine by errour or be corrupted by boldnesse of men Sith therfore it is manifest that God hath alway vsed the helpe of his worde towardes all those whome it pleased him at any tyme fruitfully to instruct because he foresawe that his Image imprinted in that most beautifull forme of the world was not sufficiently effectuall therfore it behooueth vs to trauaile this straight waye if we earnestlie couette to attayne to the true beholding of God we must I saye come to his worde wherin God is well and liuelie set out by his workes when his workes be weyed not after the peruersenesse of our owne iudgement but according to the rule of the eternall trueth If we swerue from that worde as I sayd euen nowe although we runne neuer so faste yet we shall neuer attayne to the marke because the course of our running is out of the way For thus we must thinke that the brightnesse of the face of God which the Apostle calleth Rom. 16. such as can not be attained vnto is vnto vs lyke a Maze out of which we can not vnwrappe our selues vnlesse we be by the line of the worde guided into it And therfore Dauid Psalm 9. et 96.97.99 c. oftentimes when he teacheth that superstitions are to be taken away out of the world that pure Religion may florishe bringeth in God reigning meaning by this worde reigning not the power that he hath but the doctrine wherby he challengeth to him selfe a lawfull gouernment because errors can neuer be rooted out of the hearts of men tyll the true knowledge of God be planted Therefore the same Prophete after that he hath recited Psalm 19.21 That the heauens declare the glorie of God that the fyrmament sheweth foorth the workes of his handes That the orderlie succéeding course of dayes and nightes preacheth his Maiestie then he descendeth to make mention of his worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayth he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The lawe of the Lorde is vndefiled conuerting soules sayth Dauid the witnesse of the Lorde is faithfull giuing wisdome to lyttle ones The rightfulnesse of the Lord is vpright making hearts cheerefull the commaundement of the Lord is bright giuing light to the eyes For although he comprehendeth the other vses of the Lawe yet in generallitie he meaneth that for as much as God dooth in vaine call vnto him all Nations by the beholding of the heauen and earth therefore this is the peculiar schoole of the children of God The same meaning hath the .xix. Psalme where the Prophet hauing preached Of the voice of God which in thunder winds showers whirle-winds and stormes shaketh the earth maketh the mountaines to tremble and breaketh the Ceder trees In the ende at last he goeth farther and sayth That his prayses are sung in the Sanctuarie because the vnbeleeuers are deafe and heare not all the voices of God that resound in the ayre And in lyke manner in an other Psalme 93.5 after that he had described the terrible waues of the sea He thus concludeth Thy testimonies are verified the beautie of thy Temple is holinesse for euer And out of this meaning also proceeded that which Christe sayde to the woman of Samaria Iohn 4.22 That her Nation and the rest did honour that which they knewe not and that onely the Iewes did worshippe the true God For whereas
reproch thee for neither is it to be confessed to thy fellow seruant that may vtter it abroade but to the Lord. To the Lord shew thy woūds which hath care of thee that is bothe a gentle and sweet Phisition After warde he bringeth in God speaking thus I compell thee not to come into the mids of a stage and call many witnesses tell thy sin alone to me priuately that I may heale thy sore Shall we say that Chrisostome dyd so rashlie when he wrote this other lyke thinges that he would delyuer mens consciences from these bondes wherwith they be bound by the lawe of God Not so but he dare not require that as of necessitie which he dooth not vnderstand to be commaūded by the worde of God If auricular Confession were the lawe of God how durst Nectarius Bishop of Constantinople repell and destroye the same Wyll they accuse for an heretique and scismatique Nectarius a holy man of God allowed by the consenting voyces of all the olde Fathers but by the same sentence they must condempne the Church of Constantinople in which Sozomenus affyrmeth That the manner of confessing was not only let slip for a tyme but also discontinewed euentyll within time of his remembraunce Yea let them condempne of apostasie not onely the Church of Constantinople but also all the East Churches which haue neglected that Lawe which if they say true is inuiolable commaūded to all Christians I could alleadge many places out of Ambrose Augustine Hierom and Chrisostome if the tyme would permyt Wherfore the aucthority of Chrisostom against auricular Confession the hearing of the godlie may satisfie I will procéede nowe farther to disprooue auricular Confession by reason First I demaund howe can the Préest or Confessour absolue me of my sinnes who hath néede of absolution him selfe can he pardon my sinnes that can not pardon his owne Moreouer if he that confesseth be a naughly man and hath cōmitted some notorious fact he will be affrayd to confesse the same in the eare of the Préest least he be so lewde as to reueale his confession so by that meanes the party that confesseth may dispayre of his saluation onely for that he made his cōfession vnperfect not discouering all the faults which he had cōmitted besides that the Préest may ioyne him such a penaunce that the partie confessed to accomplishe may refuse and so may forsake all hope of saluation But that I may speake a word merely and peraduenture say no more then the truth is I take the cause of confession to be this that Préests béeing vnmaried and were sworne to doo as the Fore dyd to fast when he got no meate and so they to be chaste The craftie deuise of Preestes to coullor their knauerie when they got no Concubines might in hearing the confession of many knowe who were most inclined and prone to carnall delectation And shée that were found such a one should heare in stéede of Absoluo te nomine patris c. These wordes Absoluo te nomine Papae Concubinae et nothi I absolue thee in the name of the Pope his Concubine and bastard that thou commest to my bed this night I will prooue this to be the cause of auricular Confession by an example In the tyme of king Henrie the. 8 A prettie tale of a Preest and his Lemman as I vnderstoode by many the tolde me the same exāple which nowe I vtter vnto you There was a Préest héere in England that got a very fayre Gentlewomā in hearing her cōtession in stéede of absolution to be his waighting-maid This préest fearing lest that this Gentlewomās husband should not finding his wife at home serch for her in his Parsonage or Vicarage I can not tell which he tooke him a goodlie and a lustie Gelding and rode foorth hauing his woman behinde him the most parte of the night vntyll he had found a shéepheards lodge where he rested himselfe a whyle But when they were merie at supper the Kings Trumpetter hauing repayred thither bothe for that he was gone out of the way and knew not how farre be had to any lodging and also for that it rayned apace reposed him selfe vpon a hey mowe which was in the same lodge in a corner distant from the Preést and his woman The blacke Moorian Trumpetter spying some in the shéepheardes lodge and making ioyfully good chéere sounded out his Trumpette the Préest and his woman looking on him and séeing his face so black thought him to be the Deuill they ran away on foote left all things behinde the Trumpetter loste nothing by that shifte Behold the fruites of confession The Préest beguiled the woman belike in telling her that shee could not be saued vnlesse shée would consent vnto his vnhonest request Wherefore in lyke manner he was deceiued in taking the Moorian to be the Deuill What great inconueniences haue growen out of auricular Confession Confession the cause of whoredom daylie experience taught the same The Préest hath the burning heate of fleshly luste extinguished the Daughter is defiled and the Matrone is at the Préests berke commaundement Mens sinnes oftentymes by the Préestes haue béene discouered great enmitie discentions and bloody Combates procéeded thereof To auoide these occasions of euils whereof auricular Confession is the cause good it were and profitable no more to reueale our sinnes to the Préestes Thus haue I bréeflie disprooued auricular Confession both by Scriptures Doctours and Reasons Nowe I purpose God willing to procéede farther to other principall pointes of Religion which be in controuersie betwéene vs and the Papistes Let this suffice for auricular Confession more at large could I haue spoken thereof But as the common prouerbe is Quod satis est sufficit Enough is as good as a feast Sufficiencie suffiseth ¶ Of Faith TO speake of Faith for as much as it importeth not onely the confidence which we haue in God but in as much as it includeth also with that cōfidence the very knowledge of God wheron dependeth Faith Hope and Charitie according to the iudgement of Saint Paule Hebr. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faith is the ground of thinges which are hoped for and the euidence of things which are not seene Therefore Faith is not as many doo thinke a certayne obscure lyght of God and a certayne trifling and friuolous opinion but it is an euident lyght a certayntie and assuraunce of the minde and a cléere shyning which béeing our guide we sée that God is so mightie wise and good that he can that he knoweth howe and that he wyll saue vs. Therefore with a sure and stedfast confidence we put our trust in him repose and cast our selues whollie vpon him Faith is the sheeld wherewith we quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked Ephe. 6.16 And againe Faith is the mouth bellie and stomacke by the which we feede on the body and blood of Christe beeing at the right hand of his
that not of your selues it is the gifte of God not workes least any mā should boast him selfe 2. Tim. 1.9 Qui saluos fecit nos vocauit vocatione sancta non secundum opera nostra sed secundum suum propositum gratiam quae dat a quidem est per Christum Iesum ante tempora aeterna Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his own purpose and grace which was geuen to vs through Iesus Christ before the world was Titus 3.5 Non ex operibus quae sunt in iustitia quae faciebamus nos sed secundum suam misericordiam saluos nos fecit per lauacrum regenerationis ac renouationis Spiritus sancti That is Not by the workes of righteousnes which wee had done but according to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost that we being iustified by his grace should be made heires according to the hope of eternal life 1. Iohn 4.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herein is loue not that we loued God but that he loued vs and sent his Sonne to bee a recōciliation for our sins In the 9. ver We loue him because he loued vs first To the Reue. 21.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will geeue to him that is a thirst of the wel of the water of life freely Many other places of Scripture could I alleadge against mennes merites righteousnesse but these already alleadged may suffise any Christian man Now briefly will I see what the Doctors speake against this matter of Iustification by good works Origene in his 4. booke and 4. Chap. I doe scarcely beleeue that there can be any woorke that may of duetie require a reward Basill vpon the Psalme 32. Hee that trusteth not in his owne good deedes nor hopeth to be iustified by his woorkes hath the onely hope of his saluation in the mercies of God Hilarie vpon the 118. Psalme If wee faste once we thinke we haue satisfied If out of the barnes of our houshold stoare we geue somewhat to the poore we beleeue that wee haue fulfilled the measure of righteousnesse But the Prophet hopeth all of God and trusteth all of his mercie Hierome vpon the 64. Chapter of Esay If we beholde our owne merites we must be driuen to desperation Vpon the. 3. Cha. to the Ephesians In Christe Iesu our Lord in whome we haue boldnesse and lyberty to come and trust and affiance by the faith of him not through our righteousnes but through him in whose name our sinnes be forgiuen In his first booke against the Pellagians Our ryghteousnesse dooth not confist of our merites but of the grace and mercy of God Augustin in his 50. Booke of Homyles 14 Hom. Dyd not he giue that thou mightest fight a good fight if he him selfe dyd not giue what was it that thou sayst In an other place I laboured more then all they yet not I but the grace of God within me behold thou sayst I haue ended my course dyd he not also giue vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course If he gaue not vnto thee that thou shouldest finish thy course what is it that thou sayst In an other place It lyeth not in the willer nor in the runner but in God that sheweth mercy I haue kept the faith I acknowledge and allowe it I confesse and grant that thou hast kept the faith but except the Lord dooth keepe the Citty he watcheth in vaine that dooth keepe it Pardon me O Apostle I know nothing of thine owne but euyll Pardon vs O Apostle we say so because thou hast taught vs. Therefore when he crowneth thy merites he crowneth nothing but his owne gyfts Thus you haue heard déerely beloued what both scriptures and Doctors write against mens merites and righteousnesse Wherefore I pray you in the name of Christe to embrace the trueth THus was the Sermon ended at Roome in the yéere of our Lord. 1578. in the moneth of May which Sermō is registred only for this cause the if I should reuolt frō Papistry mine own writing which is registred should cōdemne me to the fire for pardō there were none Otherwise if they had not registred this Sermon I might haue forsaken Papistrie without any feare of burning I might haue repayred vnto them be reconciled to the Romishe Church againe But nowe if I were so wicked lewde by meanes of my Sermō registred at Roome the Pope him selfe could graunt me no pardon according to theyr owne lawes But without any faile I should be burnt as an Heretique for thus tearme they Christians But God defend me from theyr clawes strengthē me in his faith graunt me patience vnto the ende and in the ende God graunt me an heart to looue him and obey my Soueraigne Quéene Elizabeth During her life I hope the Papists shall not burne me God graunt her Grace many yéeres to raigne with much felicitie encrease of honour and ioy of health bothe of body and soule Pray well O England for her Maiestie for truely thou hast much néed thou knowest the cause as well as I wherfore the same I doo omit to write This booke is ended Momus holde thy peace for there was neuer Momus that euer thriued vnlesse he became a mome for his labor Men wyll say as they haue done before this tyme that this Booke was the labour of other men as they say the other was It is well knowne of twēty and not so few that I had the helpe of none in this book neyther in the first booke which was called my Recantation All the helpe I had was of God and my bookes as for other helpe had I none not so much as one sentence or clawse had I by other mens industrie to be written in my booke This haue I spoken not to win prayse or that I should séeme to be coumpted learned before I be But I thought it good so much to write to certifie the Readers howe falsely I am accused and slaundered and what vntruethes the Papists report of me I crane no more of them then they would of me in the lyke case to speake no more then trueth is And let them not spare to report that which is trueth so shall they as I thinke neyther displease God nor molest their owne conscience And before the any man ought to beléeue them in misreporting ought of me let them first trie examine theyr wordes whether they be true or false and as they haue prooued theyr wordes so let them beléeue Thus I haue ended to write any farther to God be prayse vnto me to accomplishe what to a Christian belongeth If you like this simple worke of mine expect for a better which I hope to God ere it be long shal be brought to lyght to the misliking of the Papists and to the discredite of theyr hypocriticall Religion and to the profite of the Christians and aduancement of