not betake themselves to the universall Church In this then there appeares a very great abuse that the Church of Rome being indeed but a particular Church stiles her selfe the universall Church and in that she being full of errours vaunts her selfe neverthelesse to be without any errour nay more that it is impossible for her to erre and least her errours should be discovered by the glorious light of Gods holy Word the writings of the Prophets and Apostles she doth not only hinder the people from reading the word and reade it in the Church in a language which the people understandeth not but endeavours also to take away all its force and authority for they make the people beleeve that the Church of Rome is soveraigne Judge in all matters of difference in Religion by this meanes he that will accuse the Church of Rome of any errour may be sure to loose his processe seeing she alone is soveraigne Judge in her owne cause The Church of Rome doth likewise affirme that it is impossible for her to erre in the interpretations of the holy Scripture and that it is in her power to make constructions of the like authority with the word of God which is indeed no lesse then to place her selfe in Gods seat For as there is none but the King that can give an interpretation to his edict that may be of equall force with the edict it selfe So there is none but God alone that may give such a construction unto the Word of God as may be of the like power and authority with the Word of God And there is nothing more certaine then that such an interpreter is greater then the Law-giver sithence he giveth unto the Law such a sense as he pleaseth and the people taught to rely more on that then on the Law it self And to be sure that the Church of Rome be not any way subject unto the holy Scripture they maintaine that it is the Church that doth authorize the Scripture and which gives it all its power and authority as if the Subject could give authority unto Lawes or as if the Word of God did receive its authority from men To this end the Doctours of the Church of Rome say that the Church is more ancient then the holy Scripture but doth it therefore follow that the Church must be above the Scripture the people are they not many of them older then the King yet are they neverthelesse subject both to the King and to his Lawes however there be many Doctrines in the holy Scripture more ancient then the Church But say they we should not know that it were the Scripture if the Church did not tell us so but doth it follow thence I pray you that the Church must be above the Scripture If I should say I doe not know which is the King and if my friend should shew me doth it therefore follow that my friend must be above the King Many serve for witnesses unto persons unto whom they are farre inferiour Likewise to undervalue the authority of the Scripture and to strengthen that of the Church they say that the holy Scripture is a dead thing and cannot speake and consequently may not be Judge for say they a Judge must be able to speake as the Church is This is most false and deceitfull for the holy Scripture speaketh enough and if it speaks not enough it is that it guides us But the Church of Rome forsooth will be the rule it selfe and not subject to any Law but will be Judge both of the Law and of the Word of God Thus are men become Gods Judges and guilty persons shall be infallible and soveraigne Judges of the sence and authority of the Law which concernes their owne crime by this meanes they need not feare to be condemned but will they nill they at the day of Judgement they shall be judged by this very word over which they now thus usurpe authority then shall that pratling Judge be constrained to keep silence So then these Gentlemen in sending the people to the Church for the deciding of doubts in faith distract their minds with an innumerable company of doubts and difficulties for how shall an ignorant man know that there must be a Church in the world If they say he may know it by the Scripture it is then necessary that he be acquainted with the Scripture and thus the authority of the Church should be founded on the Scripture and when the Church teacheth this or that how shall the people know whether it be conformable to the Word of God sithence the reading of Gods Word is absolutely forbidden them and there being many Churches disagreeing one with the other how can the poore people discerne that which teacheth lyes from that which teacheth the truth seeing the very rule of truth which is the holy Scripture is a book utterly forbidden them Shall they follow the multitude Jesus Christ saith Mat. 7. That the gate is wide which leadeth to perdition and there are ten times as many Turks and Pagans as there are Christians shall they believe miracles our Saviour faith Marke 13. There shall come false teachers working miracles whereby to seduce if it were possible the very elect shall they have regard to seats and successions The Churches of Greece have also had their seats since the Apostles and the Churches of Syria theirs and brag of S. Peters chair and yet all these are quite contrary to the Church of Rome and indeed more ancient Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles having preached there and beeing the first Institutours of them We doe not here dispute of S. Peters superiority over the rest of the Apostles he might be the first in order authority or virtue and yet not have any superiority of jurisdiction But that matters not the question is whether the Pope of Rome be S. Peters successour as the head of the universall Church which is the principall point of the Papists Religion wherof neverthelesse there is not one word spoken in all the Scripture The Bishops of Corinth and Thessalonica were Saint Pauls Successours not as Apostles but as particular Bishops of those cities So the question is not whither the afore-said Bishop of Rome be Saint Peters Successour in the Bishoprick of Rome but whether he succeeds him in the Apostleship as the head of the whole Church This is that which we slatly deny and which they can never proove or if they could so prove it yet the Pope having corrupted Saint Peters Doctrine and changed his Bishoprick into an absâ—lute temporall Monarchy had long since that lost his succession To conclude there being but one holy Scripture and there being many contrary Churches and the Doctors of these Churches being apt to seeke their owne profit and subject to be carried away with diverse evill affections but the holy Scripture being an incorruptible Judge let us have recourse to this holy Word of God in the which if there be any obscurity there is
notwithstanding enough left which needs no interpretation which is sufficient to make us wise unto Salvation as the Apostle Saint Paul saith 1 Tim. 3. CHAPTER II. Of the Popes power THe Bishop of Rome calleth himselfe Saint Peters Successour not only as being Bishop of Rome but as being also the Head of the universâ—ll Church Which power he extends so farre as to give and take away Kingdomes to distribute of crownes to dispence with Christians from keeping their oathes and vowes to canonize Saints to give Lawes to the universall Church to forgive sins to take soules out of Purgatory to judge soveraignly and without controle of all points and differences in Religion vaunting that it is impossible for him to erre in faith and for these considerations qualifying himselfe god on Earth the Spouse of the Church and a divine Majesty causing Kings to kisse his feet and making himself a religious worship terming himself Gods Vicar For this cause I have read very carefully Saint Peters Epistles and have compared them with the Popes Buls wherby he thunders down Kings and degrades them publisheth grand pardons but I can finde no concordance at all the one with the other for Saint Peter in his Epistles speaks not any wise of his Superiority not of his power neither is there one word spoken of his Soveraignty or as being head of the Church which is a very strange thing that a Soveraigne should write unto his subjects without mentioning one word that might intimate his Soveraignty I finde also that the Apostles did contest among themselves concerning the priority and that Jesus Christ did decide the controversie not telling them that he had made Saint Peter chiefe over the rest but forbidding them all not so much as to speake of the priority any more Luk. 22. The Kings of the Gentiles saith he exercise Lordship over them but it shall not be so with you Saint Peter having confessed our Saviour to be the Christ the son of the living God our Saviours answer to him is not Tu es Petrus super te Petrum adificabo ecclesiam meam but tu es Petrus super hanc petram c. which rock is Christ Iesus himselfe as it is said 1 Cor. 10. That rocke was Christ and in the second chapter to the Eph. he is called the corner stone and S. Peter 1. cp 2. cals him a living Stone The reason why our Saviour spake to S. Peter alone was because S. Peter had there alone confessed him to be the Christ but the same power that he gave to S. Peter to binde and to loose and to remit sins he gives elswhere also to the rest of the Apostles Mat. 18. 18. c. John 20. 23. Likewise in the second chapter to the Ephesians all the Apostles are set for the foundation of the Church being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets See also Revel 21.14 And certainly if the Apostles had understood that Iesus Christ had given S. Peter the Superiority never would they again after that have contested betweene themselves for the preheminence as they do in Luk. 22. one day before the death of the Lord. The Apostle S. Paul also in Galat. 2. saith that he withstood St. Peter to the face which sheweth sufficiently that he was nothing subject to S. Peter and in the same Chapter a little before he saith That the Gospell of uncircumcision was committed to him as the Gospell of circumcision was unto Peter here we see them fellow-labourers together Saint Peter was to preach to the Jewes and Saint Paul to the Gentiles In that same chapter also S. Paul sets the Apostle S. James before S. Peter saying James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars So also S. John in the first chapter of his Gospell sets Andrew before Peter where he saith Philip was of Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter and in the 1 Cor. 9. The Brothers of the Lord and Cephas and in the 8. of the Acts of the Apostles the Apostles send Peter and Iohn to preach in Samaria Oh what a brave thing it were now a dayes to see many Bishops assemble together and send the Pope to preach in England or elswhere They object that our Saviour said to St. Peter three times Feed my sheepe true but they cannot inferre from thence that he made him the head of the universall Church for our Saviour said not to S. Peter feed thou my sheep alone or as a Soveraigne and indeed the same commission is given to all the Ministers of Gods Word in the 20. of the Acts Take heed therefore saith S. Paul unto your selves and to all the flocke over the which the Lord hath made you over-seers to feede the Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne bloud and in the 1 Pet. 5. Feede the flocke of Christ which is among you Jesus Christ then speaks to S. Peter alone because that a little before he had denied him and he only had need to be restablished in his commission that had failed in it Another reason why our Saviour repeats the words thrice is because that he had denied him thrice he draws from him three confessions to remedy his treble denyall which done he did againe establish him in the charge of a Shepheard of his flocke from the which he might plainly perceive that he had fallen Neverthelesse I will not deny but that S. Peter might be the chiefest among the Apostles in age zeale cloquance c. but by no meanes in superiority of jurisdiction wherby to have power to command them However put the case that S. Peter had beene the chiefe of the Apostles and their Superiour what doth that make for the Pope of Rome They say S. Peter died at Rome which is indeed very doubtfull neverthelesse put the case he did dye there for I may say then that the Bishop of Jerusalem ought to be the head of the Church for our Saviour Christ farre greater than St. Peter dyed at Ierusalem Where is the least mention in all Gods Word that S. Peter did leave one to succeed him in the charge of his Apostleship and as the head of the Church And when S. Peter was dead in all reason and conscience if any should succeed him ought it not to be the Apostle S. Iohn that excellent Apostle which Iesus loved rather then Linus S. Pauls Disciple Moreover by all the Histories of the lives of the Popes it appeares that the people of Rome did choose their Bishop who seeth not hereby that the Bishop of Rome was not the head of the universall Church for who gave the people of Rome power to give a head to the Church of the whole world and to set up Linus above the Apostles In an elective Kingdom when a King is to be chosen every quarter of the Kingdome and every commonalty sends it's Deputies to make the election the voyces of one city cannot conclude of any thing wherin the
THE TRVE PROTESTANT SOVLDIER Fighting valiantly under Truths Banner AND By the glorious light of Gods Word overthrowing the strongest Bulwarkes and subtle Stratagems of the Church of Rome By HAMNET WARDE ANCHORA SPEI LONDON Printed by G. M. for William Lee at the Signe of the Turks-Head in Fleet-street 1642. TO THE HONOVRABLE AND TRVLY VERTVOVS THE LADY BRIDGâ—T BRIANT all Happinesse in CHRIST IESVS Madam THe true zeale which you have for the maintenance of the Truth together with those many favours which your Ladiship hath been pleased to bestow on me my deceased and surviving friends hath encouraged me or rather inforced me to present this little Manuall being the first fruits of mine endeavours to your Ladiships acceptance In that short stride of the World which I have travelled having found many strong oppositions from our adversaries of the Church of Rome as well at home as beyond Sea touching the Protestant Religion I began somewhat to doubt of the truth thereof But by Gods providence lighting on this short Treatise after the perusall thereof I found the Religion of the Church of Rome if I may so call it so sleightly poasted upon the quicksands of mens frivolous opinions and contrariwise the Protestant Religion so soundly founded on the true and lively rocke of our salvation Christ Iesus that by Gods grace asâ—isting me neither the bewitching charmes of their devillish temptations nor the fiery darts of their hottest persecutions shall ever be able to divert me from the profession thereof Wherefore having received so great comfort thereby my selfe I have laboured with as much as in me lyeth to translate it verbatim out of French into English that others also may have benefit therby humbly beseeching your Ladiship to accept thereof as a token of my ever bounden duty and your Ladiship shall thereby encourage me to pray for your long and happy life here on earth and your eternall happinesse with God in heaven Madam Your Ladâ— ps most humble and truly devoted Servant Hamnet Warde To the READER Christian Reader MOnsieur Pierre Monginot a Gentleman as well learned as truly noble forsaking the Church of Rome and turning to the Protestant his friends being much discontented thereat wrote this short Treatise to satisfie them shewing them the causes which moved him to change his Religion Which I have translated for thy good out of French into English take but as much heed in reading it as I did labour in the translating it and God grant thee as much benefit by the Copy as I had comfort by the Originall Thine in Christ Iesus Hamnet Warde CHAPTERS 1. Of the true Church 2. Of the Popes power 3. Of the worshipping of Images 4. Of Prayer and Service in an unknowne tongue 5. Of the Invocation of Angels and Saints departed this life 6. Of Abstinence from Meats 7. Of Abstinence from Marriage 8. Of Purgatory 9. Of Merits and Justification by Works 10. Of works of Super-erogation 11. Of the superaboundant satisfactions of Saints and Monkes which the Pope distributes by Indulgences 12. Of the reall presence of the Lords body in the Sacrament and of Transubstantiation 13. Of the Sacrifice of the Masse 14. Of the taking away the cup in the Sacrament Decemb. 1â— 1641. Imprimatur THO. WYKES THE TRVE PROTESTANT SOVLDIER CHAPTER I. Of the true Church THe holy Scripture tels us of diverse kindes of Churches There is that Church which is spoken of in the Creed which the Apostle S. Paul calleth the body of Christ against which saith our Saviour Mat. 16. The gates of Hell shall not prevaile which is the Assembly of the truly faithfull and elect people of God wherof part doe already injoy the heavenly pleasures of Gods kingdome part now live here on Earth among sinfull men and infidels and cannot be discerned by the eyes of man Others not yet borne But besides this Church of Gods elect there is another universall and visible Church which is the Assembly of all such as professe themselves Christians and to believe in Jesus Christ This is that Church which Saint Paul 1 Tim. 3. cals the pillar and ground of the truth as being bound to defend and maintaine the truth against all those who labour to corrupt or suppresse it This universall visible Church is composed of divers particular Churches such as were in the Apostles time the Church of Jerusalem the Church of Corinth the Church of Rome and that of the Galatians c. Of these particular Churches some are puter than others nay and there may be some so corrupted as that it is impossible for them to be saved namely as where Idolatry reigneth and where the benefits of Jesus Christ are abused The Church of Rome is one of these particular Churches wherin reigneth Idolatry First in that they call God a Sacrifice made by men Secondly because the honour appertaining to God is by them attributed to Saints in that they say the Saints know the hearts of all men and because they give them and their reliques and Images a religious worship and adoration Lastly because they call the Virgin Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth for the Soveraigne Royalty of the world is not communicable to the creature Likewise the benefits of Jesus Christ are therin abus'd in that they teach that Jesus Christ by his death delivers us from sinnes committed before Bapisme but as for sinnes committed after Baptisme he hath left us to satisfie Gods justice for them by satisfactory pains as well here as in Purgatory Thus then let it be that the Church of Rome be a particular visible Church and it more corrupt than any other although she terme her selfe the universall Church as if there were no other Church besides whereas indeed the Churches of Syria Greece Armenia and Affrica be more pure and mor◠… cient then the Roman and no way subject therunto All th 〈…〉 h the holy Scripture and the Creed attribute to the universall Church of Gods elect or the universall visible Church the Church of Rome by an intolerable abuse and usurpation attributes unto her self as if in the holy Scripture there were no other Church spoken off but the Church of Rome or as if shee alone were the pillar and ground of the truth And when Jesus Christ Mat. 18. sends two Brothers being at strife to the judgement of the Church saying Tell it the Church and if he neglect to heare the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican these Gentlemen would needs make us beleeve that he sends such as doubt in matters of Faith and Doctrin to the judgment of the Church of Rome which they call universall but reade the passage and you shall see that our Saviour speaks not there of doubts touching Religion but of quarrels and broyles which happen betweene man and man and consequently he speaks not of the Church universall but of the Ministers of some particular Church for to appease a quarrell between two Neighbours men doe
to him although he understandeth all languages And indeed we can hardly reprove a man more sharply then by telling him friend thou knowest not what thou sayest Thus then they both mocke God and lose their labour The abuse is yet farre greater in the reading of the Epistle and Gospell to the people in the Church in Latine whereof most of them understand not so much as one word How can they then yeeld obedience unto such doctrines as they understand not Is not this the curse which God Almighty denounceth by his Prophets I will henceforth speake to this people in another tongue and with other lips and so they will not understand me saith the Lord 1 Cor. 14.21 Isa 28.11 And the Apostle Saint Paul saith that in the Church he hadrather speake five words with understanding that thereby he might teach others also then a thousand words in an unknowne tongue 1 Cor. 14. And in the same Chapter a little before he saith Except ye utter by the tongue words easie to be understood how shall it be knowne what is spoken for ye shall speake unto the ayre therefore if I know not the meaning of the voyce I shall be to him that speaketh a Barbarian and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me See then an admirable Religion for they speake to stocks and stones which understand no language and to the people least they should understand what they say they speake altogether in Latine The people indeed gee to see the Masse but they cannot understand a word of it nay and very often the Priests themselves have much adoe to understand it But say they we reade the Masse in Latine that strangers also may have benefit thereby A pretty hypocriticall excuse it is indeed for suppose there be ten twenty or more strangers in a Church is it fit that they should have service read in a language which they know and all the rest of the people sit like fooles and understand never a word Besides if they did meane as they pretend surely in such a City as Paris they would have in a Church for strangers to resort unto the service read in Latine and in all the rest in their owne countrey language which they all understand They also absolutely forbid any man to reade the holy Scripture without a speciall Licence from the Pope or his Factor and to translate it into the vulgar tongue which is as much to say as that they will not suffer a childe to read his Fathers will and that God Almighty is become suspected as if he had given us his word to deceive us The Apostle Saint Paul when he sent Epistles to the Ephesians Corinthians Philippians c. He writ unto every of them in their owne tongue to the end that all might reade and know what he writ unto them And I pray why may not we now reade those same Epistles in our owne language as well as they read them in theirs Whereupon also the Apostle Saint Paul in the 1 Thess 5. I charge you by the Lord saith he that the Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren So likewise Acts 17. ver 10. the Bereans are commended for that they searched the Seriptures daily whether those things were so which Saint Paul preached unto them Saint Paul in the 2 of Timothy Chap. 3. prayseth his Disciple Timothy because that from a childe he had knowne the holy Scriptures In a word this is a new startup invention and such a knavery as is seldome heard of to forbid the people to reade the word of God lest they should become heretickes whereas indeed it is only to maske them with ignorance for feare lest by the light of Gods Word their Religion should plainly appeare to be as it is indeed full of grosse errours and hypocrisie In those countries where the Inquisition is bawdy-houses are licensed and the Pope doth gather out of them great summes of money for tribute â—oolish pamphlets and immodest Love-bookes are printed cum privilegio but if they finde but one Bible either Italian Spanish or the like 't is accounted a crime which deserveth no lesse then death and a case worthy of the Inquisition And certainly had it not been for the reformed Church that is to say purged from Popery the Bible had long since been buried in oblivion and no mention made thereof For as theeves hate the light lest their evill deeds should be discovered so doe those Doctors of the Church of Rome labour to obscure the light of Gods Word lest their hypocriticall inventions and new found devilliâ—h plots whereby they serve their owne unsatiable lusts should bee brought to light CHAPTER V. Of the Invocation of Angels and Saints departed this Life THe Invocation of Angels and Saints deceased hath indeed a shew of devotion and humility but it is never the lesse contrary to to the word of God which flatly forbids us to give any divine service or worship unto Angels as in the second Chapter of Saint Pauls Epistle to the Colossians Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen We beleeve in God alone and the same Apostle Saint Paul in the tenth Chapter of his Epistle to the Romanes forbiddeth us to worship any other then him in whom we beleeve how saith he shall they call on him on whom they have not beleeved And our Creed teacheth us to beleeve in the Father the Sonne and the Holy-Ghost but not in any creature whatsoever So likewise in the two and twentieth of the Revelation when Saint John fell downe to worship before the feet of the Angell the Angell forbad him saying see thou doe it not for I am thy fellow-servant worship God Saint James in the first of James ver 6. Willeth us to pray in faith and the Apostle to the Romanes 14. Chapter tels us that whatsoever is not of faith is sinne wherefore the Invocation of Saints cannot be done in faith because it is not grounded on the word of God for the same Apostle in the tenth of the Romanes saith that saith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God and none of the Doctors of the Church of Rome could ever produce any argument out of the word of God whereby to prove that religious worship which they give unto Angels or Saints deceased either lawfull or necessary Againe if it be necessary for us to pray to Saints it must likewise most necessarily follow that they must know our hearts and thoughts for how should they else discerne hypocrites from such as pray in sincerity Which is quite contrary to Gods word in the second booke of the Chronicles chap. 6. ver 30. thou onely saith the wise King Solomon knowest the hearts of the children of men Likewise to say that the Saints see all things in the face of God as in a glasse were to prophecye having no warrant from the word of
God for the truth thereof And were it so that the Saints knew all things then were they equall with God Almighty in wisedome and knowledge But the Scripture saith that the Saints know not the day of judgement Mat. 24. and Mar. 13. And the wise man in the ninth Ecclesiastes excludeth the dead from any knowledge of earthly things The dead saith he know not any thing neither have they any more a portion in any thing that is done under the Sunne And Job Chapter 14. speaking of a diseased father his children saith he come to honour and he knoweth it not and they are brought low but he perceiveth it not of them Their ordinary excuse is that they goe to God by Saints as men goe to the King by his officers But the case is not alike For a King cannot be every where neither doth he know all things and it is not possible that every one should have accesse to him Likewise be hath need to be informed of the truth of things by persons put in trust therefore It is not thus with God for he knoweth all things and doth see and behold all the creatures in the world at once and knoweth and understandeth all mens prayers not needing either Saints or Angels to informe him thereof And although this comparison were allowable yet if a King cals any one unto him certainly he will not be well pleased if that person should goe to any of his officers before he come to him Thus God invites us saying Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you Mat. 11. He doth not bid us goe to Saint Vrselin Saint Margarite or any other such like solicitors Nay more God cals us his children and therefore if we should not goe unto him in all our necessities when he cals us we should shew our selves very undutifull and unworthy of so high a calling Moreover we have one only Advocate with the Father namely the Sonne of God our Lord Jesus and there is none other The Apostle Saint Paul in the 1 Tim. chap. 2. saith thus There is one God and one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus As therefore there is but one God so there is but one Mediator And Saint John in his 1. Epistle chap. 2. We have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins And in the 14. Chapter of Saint Johns Gospell I saith our Saviour am the way the truth and the life no man commeth unto the Father but by me Their greatest abuse is yet behind which is that they doe not onely make the Saints our Mediators but also our Redeemers For in the Masse the Priests pray for salvation through their merits For they say that the Saints undergoe more punishment and paines then their siunes deserve Hence they gather their superabundant satisfactions which the Pope hoordeth up in the treasury of the Church and distributes them by Indulgences so that any one that hath money may goe to the Pope and purchase as many merits as will satisfie Gods justice for all the sins that he commits all his life long let him sinne as much as he can This also is a tricke which serves very well for the Popes profit and to exalt his dignity and is founded on the unwritten word that is to say on their owne hellish Inventions CHAP. VI. Of fasting and abstinence from certainements THe grand enemy of our salvation hath laboured with might and maine for the accomplishment of the prophecye of the Apostle S. Paul in the 1 Tim. 4. chap. where he speaketh thus Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils forbidding to marry and commanding to abstaine from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which beleeve and know the truth for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanks giving This prophecye of the Apostle is long agoe accomplished in the Doctors of the Church of Rome For doe not they both forbid marriage and command to abstaine from meats which abstinence is also flatly condemned by the same Apostle in the tenth Chapter of the 1. to the Corinthians Whatsoever saith he is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof If any of them that beleeve not bid you to a feast and ye be disposed to goe whatsoever is set before you that eat asking no question for conscience sake And in the second Chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians he condemneth those who say touch not taste not handle not And to the end that we might not thinke that he speaks only of those who abstaine from meats which they conceive filthy in their owne nature he declareth plainly that he speaketh of such as abslaine themselves in humility and in voluntary devotion punishing their owne bodies not sparing their flesh which doctrines saith he have indeed a shew of wisedome in will worship and humility and neglecting of the body not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh The Church of Rome is full of these observations there being above five moneths in the yeare wherein some abstaine from some kind of meat or other Observations which we cannot find that they were ever practised by our Saviour or his Apostles These abstinences they give unto God in part of payment and their fastings they account for satisfactions as if a man should thinke to pay his debts by fasting presuming that his Creditors will abate him somewhat because that such a day he did eat nothing but fish for his dinner Nay the abuse is now come so farre as that one man may fast for another and so satisfie for him and that a man to whom the Priest hath set certaine fasts for pennance may for a peece of money buy them out Sobriety and abstinence of themselves are indeed good and holy duties so as they be not abused by superstition and by thinking to merit any thing unto our selves thereby for so that which is in it selfe an exercise of humility is changed into an efficient cause of pride and that which should serve to lay open our sinnes before God is made a covert for our hypocrifie This is also another device whereby the Pope increaseth his dignity and gathers vast summes of money to his treasury CHAP. VII Of abstinence from Marriage AS for forbidding to marry Saint Paul telleth us that it is the doctrine of devils In the Apostles time marriage was permitted unto the Ministers of the Church witnesse the same Apostle 1 Tim. chap. 3. A Bishop saith he must be blamelesse the husband of one wife ruling well his owne house having his children in subiection with all gravity and a little after Let the Deacons be the husbands of one wife
ruling their children and their owne houses well So likewise in the 11. verse commandeth that their wives be grave not standerous sober faithfull in all things and in the seventh Chapter of the 1 to the Corinthians to avoid fornication let every man have his owne wife and let every woman have her owne husband Note here the word every to the end that neither Priests nor any other may be excepted Likewise to avoid fornication this commandement is made unto all such as are subject to fall into fornication so that Priests are no way exempted from it for they also being but flesh and bloud are subject to the like infirmities as others are We reade also that the Prophets and chiefe sacrificers were married Likewise we reade that the Apostle Saint Peter was married for in the 1. Chapter of Saint Marke there is mention made of Peters wives mother Now in the Church of Rome Marriage is forbidden Clarkes and Priests If a Priest doth wantonly dally with a wench in the open streets no man regards that for at Rome the Prelates goe publikely into the bawdy houses but to see a Priest or Capuchin or such like married it were a thing very prodigious They object that the Priests have made a solemne vow to abstaine from Marriage but have they not also made a vow to keep Gods commandements that forbid fornication and that commandeth us to marry rather then to burne Vowes indeed are good when they promise good things and such as are in our power to performe but it is not alwayes in mans power to abstaine from fornication A single life is without question very good and commendable but in those only which have the gift of continency the which either none at all or very few have attained unto Moreover where is the least Commandement in all Gods Word whereby honest Marriage is forbidden either to those of the Clergy or others No no this certainly was invented for the better maintenance of the Popes dignity for the Pope having been at great charges in erecting of bawdy-houses in Rome and elsewhere it was necessary for him to find out some devise to get resort thereunto by the forbidding those of the Clergy to marry who now are far better customers then any other CHAP. VIII Of Purgatory THe Purgatory of the Church of Rome hath this maxime for its foundation That by the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we are discharged and delivered from the guilt and punishment of our sinnes committed before Baptisme but as for sinnes committed after Baptisme it is left to us to satisfie Gods justice in this life by such penances as the Church shall thinke fit to enjoyne us and afterwards in afire which they call Purgatory which torment is mitigated and shortened by the prayers and offerings of the Living and by the Popes Indulgences Surely the proofe of this doctrine they have out of their unwritten word for there is not so much as mention made of any such matter in Gods Word However hereby they have amassed infinite riches unto the Popes Treasury because these Masses and Indulgences by the which they say this torment is mitigated and shortened are sold at a very high rate for they never say any Masse for any person deceased except he or his friends doe give somewhat to the maintenance of the Church No no such speciall graces as these are not for such poore people as are not able to purchase them Concerning this Purgatory we reade nothing neither in the old nor new Testament but on the contrary we reade of divers persons who by death have immediately entred into Paradise and there rested in peace Witnesse the good old Simeon in the 2d. of Saint Luke who had a promise after having seen the Messias to depart in peace Likewise Saint Paul in the 2â— of Timothy 4. witnesseth that after having fought a good fight he was to receive a crowne of righteousnesse The soule of poore Lazarus in the 16. Luke is carried immediately after its departure out of the body into Abrahams bosome where it is comforted whilest wicked Dives is grievously tormented in hell-fire Our Saviour said to the penitent theefe that was crucified with him this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise It is manifest then that he went not into Purgatory The Angell of God in the 14. Chapter of the Revelation pronounceth Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works doe follow them Doe they rest from their labours how are they then tormented in a terrible blasting fire Againe the Apostle Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5. saith That if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternall in the heavens Now I doe much admire how the Apostle should be so far overseen as to forget Purgatory which they imagine to be between these two Moreover we reade in the first Chapter of Saint Johns first Epistle that the bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne and in the 2d. Chapter to the Colossians we reade that God hath forgiven us all our trespasses How is it then that these blasphemers dare to accuse God of so high an injustice as to exact the payment of those debts which are already paid and to scorch his poore children in a hot burning fire for the punishment of those sins which he hath already freely forgiven us in Jesus Christ Thus to deale with our very enemies were inhumanity how then can we imagine that the God of heaven who is goodnesse it selfe should doe thus with his servants I confesse that God after having pardoned our sinnes ceaseth not to chastise us in this life to amend us and to keep us alwayes in awe of his Majesty These punishments are none other then fatherly chastisements and corrections If God did not thus correct us he would punish us more in not correcting us for the sinner that is not thus recalled from his evill wayes snorts in his wickednesse and luls himselfe asleep in his sinnes but I shall never beleeve that the most just and onely wise God after having freely forgiven us all our sinnes in Jesus Christ should afterwards take pleasure to torment us thousands of yeares in a terrible hot burning fire Besides if there be a Furgatory why may not the death and passion of our Saviour Christ Jesus be sufficient to deliver soules from thence as well as the Popes Indulgences and if the Pope can draw soules out of Purgatory at his pleasure I must needs judge him a very uncharitable person to let so many thousands lye there in such grievous torments for want of money to buy Indulgences As for those passages which they alleadge out of the Scripture to prove this their imaginary Purgatory they are all spoken allegorically and figuratively As that same passage which they have out of the 12â—â— Chapter of Saint Mathew that the
all which is a thing most necessary in every sacrifice and more especially in a sacrifice newly instituted for a president and example for the future Moreover the Apostle Saint Paul in the 10th Chapter to the Hebrewes saith that we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all We see then plainly that the death of our Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus is the onely sacrifice which he himselfe offered up unto God for all our sinnes so that it is meere foppery in us to presume to sacrifice that body againe in such a tragicomaediall manner as that of the Masse which hath already been received as a sufficient sacrifice for all our sins Likewise in every sacrifice that which they sacrifice ought to be consecrated that which they pretend to sacrifice is the Lords body which cannot be consecrated for who can consecrate the Sonne of God so likewise the thing consecrated which they sacrifice in the Masse cannot be the bread for they say that it is no more bread after the consecration and although they should say that it were bread after the consecration yet so it is that neither bread nor any other creature can be thought a reasonable sacrifice for our redemption Certainly this was invented onely for the maintenance of a company of lazie lubbers which they call Priests for take away the sacrifice of the Masse and they have no imployment and truly by this meanes I thinke they get as much as might competently maintaine them were it not for the Popes bawdy houses which consume most part of their revenues CHAP. XIV Of the taking away the cup in the Sacrament THere are yet many errours in the Church of Rome but the most abusive and injurious errour in my opinion is the taking away of the cup in the Sacrament from the Laity contrary to our Saviours institution and to the practise of the Apostles who gave the people the holy Communion under both signes The first institution of the Sacrament was when our Saviour tooke the cup and blessed it and gave it to his Disciples saying drinke ye all of this Now if in these words drinke ye all of this our Saviour speaks to none but the Pastors or Ministers of the Church it must consequently follow that the commandement to eat which is in the aforegoing words appertaine also to the Pastors onely and then there is no commandement at all whereby the Laity is commanded to receive the bread And it is cleare that the Apostles receiving the Sacrament of our Saviour received it not then as Pastors but as Sheep and Disciples And though they had received it as Pastors and Ministers of the Church did not our Saviour thanke you when he said unto them doe this as oft as ye doe it in remembrance of me intimate unto them that they ought to administer it unto the people in the same manner as he did administer it unto them The Apostle Saint Paul understandeth it so as you may see by that commandement which he gives the Corinthians in his 1. Epistle Chap. 11. Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eat of that bread and drinke of that cup. It is manifest that this commandement both to eat of that bread and drinke of that cup is made unto those that ought to examine themselves but every one ought to examine himselfe before he come to receive that holy communion therefore every one ought to receive both that bread and that cup whereof Saint Paul speaketh And in the beginning of that same 1. Epistle to the Corinthians it appeareth that Saint Paul did write to all the people of Corinth excepting none that did call upon the name of the Lord Jesus These are the words Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And surely it is somewhat considerable that the Church of Rome seemeth by this meanes to labour to deprive the people of eternall life For the Doctors of the Church of Rome conceive those words of our Saviour in the 6th of Saint Johns Gospell Except ye eat the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye have no life in you to be spoken of the Sacrament of the Eucharist And if it be so it is manifest that in taking away the cup from the Laity they deprive them of eternall life Their excuse for this is that the bread is in the body so that in eating the body they drinke the bloud also To the which I answer that to receive the bloud so in the Sacrament is not to drinke it but our Saviour saith expresly Except ye drinke c. And if in eating the body they drinke also the bloud the Priest doth by this reckoning drinke twise once when he swallowes downe the body and againe when he drinks off the cup. They produce likewise certaine passages of the Scripture wherein it is spoken of the breaking of the bread without mentioning the cup I answer that in those passages as it is not said that the people should receive the cup so neither is it said that the Priests should receive it If then by these passages they will gather that the people are not obliged to take the cup I may also from thence gather that the Priests are not obliged for there is no more spoken of the one then of the other Besides we reade in the 2d of Sam. chap. 9. that Mephibosheth did eat bread at Davids table may we conclude from thence that he never dranke because it is not expressed The manner of the celebration of the Lords Supper ought to be taken from our Saviours first expressed institutions and formall commandement The originall spring of this grosse abuse proceedeth from pride and ambition for by this meanes those of the Clergy raise their dignity farre above the people whom they exclude from one halfe of the Sacrament and doe hereby make themselves in this respect equall unto Kings who together with them receive the Sacrament under both signes And the Pope hath a prerogative above all men else in that he doth sucke the wine out of the Calice with a quill Thus have we briefly discovered the manifold and great abuses of the Church of Rome and how strangely they delude the common people with their imaginary and idolatrous services how absolutely contrary to Gods holy word are all their tenets and how through the whole profession of their Religion they seeke infinitely Gods dishonour and are wholly bent for the advancement of the Popes dignity I beseech Almighty God to give us his blessed Spirit to discern betwixt good and evill and so to relye upon the merits of our Saviour Christ Jâ—sus by a lively faith that at length we may obtaine that immortall crowne of glory prepared fâ—r all faithfull persons in Christ Jesus our Lord to whom with the Father Almighty and the glorious Spirit be ascribed and given all possible praise thanksgiving and obedience for ever and ever Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS