universall Councels most ancient of greatest authority and which Pope Gregory the first equalleth to the foure Evangelists Pope Gelasius speakes the same for in his Tome of the Bond of an Anathema disputing against one of the foure first Councells to wit against that of Chalcedon where there were sixe hundred and thirty Bishops he urgeth thus The Apostolicall Seat alone dissanulleth that which a Synodall Assembly Quod refutauit sedes Apostolica habere non potuit firmitatem sola rescindâ— qd prater ordineÌ„ congregatio Synodica pisâ— taverit vsurpandum though to haue vsurped against order The subject of his choler against this so famous and honourable assembly was for that in this Councell is framed a Canon ordaining that the Bishop of Constantinople should be equall to the Bishop of Rome in all things and that hee should haue the same preheminences CHAP. XI Of what sort how weake and how vncertaine the foundations are wheron Traditions of the Romish Church are built and of the three maximes that serue for their defence and prop. THe Traditions of the Church of Rome are of so great a number that a meere Catalogue of them would furnish out a large volume The whole rabble of them hath these three maximes for their foundation 1. That the Pope is Successor to St. Peter in the charge of Head of the universall Church 2. Secondly that the Pope cannot erre in the faith 3. That the Apostles haue not set downe in writing all that they did teach by word of mouth Hee that will comprehend the nature of these maximes shall know that they evert the Christian faith and consume all Religion into smoke for if the Maximes wheron all Papistry is founded and all the body of Romish Traditions bee imaginary maximes and purely humane not to giue a worse phrase it is impossible that the Religion which is built thereupon can haue the least tittle of assurance 1. The first maxime that layeth downe the Pope to bee Saint Peters Successor in the charge of Head of the vniversall Church is destitute of all testimony of Gods Word and our Adversaries to vphold it produce nothing but humane testimonies Whence it followeth that it is not an Article of the Christian Faith and that it cannot be beleeved for a certaintie of faith for the Christian faith is grounded upon the Word of God Faith commeth by â—earing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10. 17. But the Church of Rome giveth his maxime not onely for an Arâ—cle of Faith but also for a founâ—ation of all the other Articles of â—aith and of the whole Religion For in the Church of Rome the Popes authoritie is planted to be a Foundation of the Church and of all the doctrine of salvation to the very subjecting of the Scripture that is to say the word of God to his authoritie and to cause that the authoritie of the Scripture depend vpon the opinion of the Church of Rome and all this by vertue of that pretended Succession to St. Peter Briefly our Adversaries make all Christian Religion to hang vpon this poynt as Bellarmine acknowledgeth at the entrance of the Preface in his Books of the Pope speaking thus To say in a word when mention is made of the Etenim de qua re agitur cum de primatu Pontificis agitur breutssime dicam de summa rei christianae â—â— entâ— quaeritur aebeatne Ecelesia diutius consistere an vero dissolui concidere Observ andic est tertia licet force no sit de â—ure diuno RomanisÌ„ PontificeÌ„ ut Romanum Pentificem Petro succecere tamen â—â— ad fidem Catholicam pertinere NoÌ„ enim est idem alsquid esse de fide et esse de ture divine Nec enim de oure divine fuit â—â— Paulus hâ—beret penulaÌ„ est tamen â—â—â— ipsum de fide 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 penulam Etsi autem Romanum Pontificem sucâ—edere Petro noÌ„ habeatur expresse in scripturis c. Popes supremacy the summe of all Christianitie is at stake for the question is whether the Church ought to subsist any longer or whether it must bee dissolved and fall Thereunto doe all the Controversies referre and all the Traditions ayme at the profit and greatnesse of the Pope yet the same Cardinall at the 12. chap. of the second Booke of the Pope acknowledgeth that the Scripture maketh no mention of the Popes succession in the place of Saint Peter and that this poyut is not jure divino Neverthelesse hee affiemeth that this succession though it bee not jure divino leaueth not to appertaine to the Catholick faith In the same manner as the Catholicke faith beleeueth that Saint Paul had a Friers weed though that were not jure divine and that God had not commanded any thing to that purpose Hence it is manifest that all the diuine doctrine is founded vpon a plaine humane Tradition to weet a Tradition vnwritten That God hath ordained the Pope of Rome for Successour in the Primacy of Saint Peter Thus you see Tradition grounded vpon tradition that is vpon it selfe and this infinite Masse of traditions is founded vpon a Traditions that is no more jure diuino then Saint Pauls weed whereof never was any diuine Testimony extant I will not at this time enter into proofes of the falsity of this matter which wee haue handled in diuers places especially in my booke that went before and shewed the vntruths by aboundance of reason and authority drawne from antiquity I say but this that the ancient Bishops of Rome were called Successours of Saint Peter in the Bishopricke only of the Citie of Rome but not in the Apostleship nor in the goverment of the vniuersall Church Iust as the Bishops of Ierusalem were called Successors of Saint Iames and those of Antioch of Saint Peter and those of Ephesus of Saint Paul and of Saint Iohn not in the Apostl ship but in the Bishopricke of thâ— townes wherein these Apostles had planted the Church Our adversaries produce not any example or passage of the ancient Church whereby it may appeare that ever the Bishops of Rome attributed any authority to themselues over the Churches that are out of the Romane Empire I say also that when the Bishop of Rome was heretofoâ—e Successor to Saint Peter in place of head of the Church so it was that the heresies which infected this seat as our adversaries themselues doe confesse and the Popes complaine of it and the Schismes which haue rent it there hauing beene two Popes at once sometimes three at the same instant prosecuting one the other to extremity and calling one the other Antichrist did long since breake the chaine of this succession In which Schismes ordinarily the most vicious and most cunning caried it and hee excluded his adversary who had the favour of those Emperours and Kings on whom the fortune of warre did smile This continued straine of succession not being possibly knowen but by the multitude of Histories and Authors both
Greeke and Latine who very often jarre among themselues so far as not to agree vpon the next Successours to Saint Peter it is impossible that the people should know any thing in this succession oâ— should haue any assurance hereof but by the Testimony of those who brag of it and liue by it Moreover our adversaries doe confesse that the Pope and church of Rome may erre in the question de facto Now these questions to weet whetheâ— Saint Peter hath left the Bishop of Rome Successour of his Apostleship or of his Supremacy and whether this succession hath not beene interrupted by Schismes and heresies are questions de facto and consequently of the nature of those wherein our adversaries hold that the Church of Rome may erre And the proofes which our adversaries bring forth are drawne from books which theirselues conuince of falsity and from such fragments as for the most part are supposititious I forbeare to censure any further the certainty of Romish traditions seeing they are all founded vpon one Maxime which is a Tradition humane not vpheld by any Ordinance of God a Tradition which is not an Article of the Christian faith yet at this time is put downe for the ground of Faith a Tradition which is of the nature of those wherein our adversaries confesse that the Church may erre a Tradition whereof the people can haue no certainty nor knowledge but by bookes both Greeke and Latine of infinite length wherein they vnderstand nothing and by the Testimony of those especially who propose it that is to say the Popes who receiuing not the Scripture for Iudge cal themselues supreme Iudges and infallible in all controuersies more especially in that wherein is pleaded their succession and their owne proper authority and infallibility Now it is an easie matter to guesse at what the proceedings of the Enemy of our saluation doe levell Their butt scope is to distill as it were all Religion into a vapour and to make it depend vpon presuppositions not only vaine and vncertaine but also false and imaginary as he that should beare vp an obeliske vpon a smal feskue When some demand Wherefore is it behouefull to receive Traditions the answere is because the Pope hath ordained it Againe if it be demanded whence commeth this authority of the Pope it is answered Because Saint Peter dying hath left the Bishop of Rome Successour of his Supremacy over the Church of the whole world Moreouer when it is asked Can you produce any Ordinance of God for this succession for this point being estated by you for the foundation of the Church and of all the Christian faith it is not credible that God hath ordained nothing of it there they stand caught by the nose not vttering one syllable of the word of God and doe confesse that this succession is not lure diuino nor by the Ordinance of God Only the Popes will bee therein beleeued and call themselues supreme and absolute in a case wherein they are so much interessed and wherein it is disputed of their succession and authority Thus you may see all the Ius diuinum founded vpon a point which is not Iure diuino and all the divine doctrine founded vpon humane Tradition yea vpon humane Testimony the most vncertaine of all for the certainty of the Popes succession is founded vpon the Testimony and authority of the Pope himselfe who is party in this cause and who by this Tradition ruleth and vpholdeth his Empire Nay they doe worse they make not onely these Traditions but the very authority of the holy Scripture to depend vpon this Tradition Let it bee demanded wherefore ought we to beleeue that God hath created man after his owne Image that he hath giuen his Law to Moses in two Tables and that the Sonne of God hath taken flesh in the wombe of the blessed Virgine and is dead for vs It is answered that this is to be beleeued because it is written in the holy Scripture that God hath inspired his Prophets and Apostles Againe let it bee asked wherefore ought the holy Scriptures to bee beleeued and why are wee obliged to put our faith therein The answere Basiliensis ConcilyÌ„ appeÌ„dice Ecclesia Romana sic lequitur Qued autem verum feret Christi EvaÌ„ge leum quâ—mâ—de scire possetu nisi illud vobis patefeeissem Audistu noÌ„nullos ex Apostolu scripsisse Evangelia Sed quoâ—iam quatuer duntaxat approbavi â— Ra vt Evangelia venerantur alia respuuntur is Because the Church of Rome hath so ordained it which hath this authority by vertue of her succession in Supremacy of Saint Peter But vpon this question haue you any commandement from God they answere the holy Scripture indeed speaks nothing of it but the church of Rome is supreme Iudge and hath more authority over vs then the Scripture Neverthelesse in this point it is disputed of the authority of the Church of Rome wherein it is no reasonable thing that shee should bee Iudge much lesse to assigne her selfe Iudge aboue the Scripture Doe but obserue what becommeth of all Christian Religion in the account of these Merchants Their will is that God should bee beleeued because men ordained it and that the diuine truth should haue no other foundation then the evidence and authority of lying men yea such as will bee Iudges in their owne cause and who hauing invented a thousand Traditions all tendiâ—g to their profit hold them all vp by one Tradition alone which hath no other foundation then their owne authority There is no such pernicious stratageme to pervert the Christian Religion as to confound the things that are certaine by vncertaine proofes to plead humane Tradition for their highest and concluding principle and to order that the Christian faith should haue a Maxime that is no Articie of faith and is vpheld by no other authority then of those that publish it and such as by this Maxime enrich themselues and build them vp an Empire on the earth yea all the Churches in the world except the Romish doe reject this Maxime and laugh at this succession as a story contradicted by all antiquity and especially by al the Bishops of Rome who whilst the Romane Empire was in florishing estate never intermedled in any affaire beyond the limits of that Empire as I haue proued at large in my first Treatise The second Maxime is of the same nature and dependeth vpon the first Our adversaries to maintaine all their Traditions say that the Pope cannot erre in the Faith and that likewise by vertue of the same succession For they will haue the Pope Successour not only of the power of Saint Peter but also of his infallibility Now if the Pope should be Successour of the Supremacy of Saint Peter it followeth not thereupon that the Pope cannot erre for hee that is Successour of the charge of another is not therefore Successor of his vertue The Doctors that haue succeeded in the chaire of Moses haue
Milan which is neere Rome they fasted not on Saturdayes as Saint Augustine testifieth in his 118. Epistle Thirdly single life of Priests and 3. Single life of Priests Bishops cannot be an Apostolicall Tradition because it was not practised at the time of the Apostles nor many ages after them But having spoken of this elsewhere at large I will content my selfe for the present with the testimony of the two most famous Cardinals of this age Barronius and Perron Baronius in the 58. yeere of his Annales Bar. Ann. 58 §. 14. acknowledgeth that married men were received to the function of Bishop at the Apostles time whereof hee alledgeth divers causes and namely amongst the rest the scarcity of unmarried men especially in Crete And Perron affirmeth Du Perron cōtre le Roy de la grand ' Bretagne pag. 312. A cause respondrens nous de la rareté des personnes marices lors de la naissance de l'Eglise c. Mais depuis comme l'Emperour Constantin c. that this permission lasted untill the time of Constantine that is to say during the three first ages But if he would have confessed the whole truth he had acknowledged that Greeke Churches never was any time when Priests were not married yea they so continue to this very day And the 13. Canon of the sixt generall Councel called at the Imperial Palace of Constantinople doth formally condemne the Church of Rome upon this subject Estius Doctor and Professor at Doway in his Commentary upon this passage of the Apostle 1 Tim. 3. Let the Bishop Fatendum est Avestolum permittere vt in Episcopum eligatur qui habeat verum id pro tēpore propter paucitatem eorla qui et coelibes essent ad Episcopatum idonei be husband of one wife speaketh thus We must confesse that the Apostle suffereth us to chuse a Bishop that is married to one wife but he teacheth this according to the time because of the fewnesse of unmaried men and of such as were fit for the function of a Bishop Therefore this Tradition claimeth not the Apostles to bee the Authours of it and consequently is not Apostolicall nor hath it beene received at all times and in all places I have insisted hereupon not that wee should have need of the authority of the ancients to fight against Romish Traditions for refutation whereof the word of God is sufficient and is only that which ought to judge us but to shew that our Adversaries supposing to establish their Traditions doe plainely destroy them and doe giue such notes whereby they draw their owne inditement and conviction Neverthelesse it is not without craft that they will have Traditions to bee examined by this touchstone to wit whether they have beene universally received at all times For they know that of those who would examine their Traditions by this way scarce one amongst a thousand can attaine to the head of them and that the people can inform themselves nothing at all therein for this examination cannot bee made but by the reading of all the Greeke and Latine Fathers and of all the Ecclesiasticall histories since the continuation of sixteene hundred yeeres All the bookes to this purpose would fill a spacious roome and are no more then sealed letters to the people yea amongst the Clergie not one of a hundred will bee found that hath but ordinary knowledge therein By this meanes our Adversaries contrive the matter that when their Traditions come to be examined a way must bee undertaken that is endlesse wherein the people walke blindefold and are constrained to repaire to the testimony of such men as preach these Traditions and live by them truly if by these directions men expect to arrive at the knowledge of salvation I know not who can be saved The which most cleerely appeareth in this that the holy Scripture being the short and sure means to examiue Traditions they sequester it farre from the peoples eyes and divert them from reading therof appointing them to books wherein they are neither comprehensive nor capable It appeareth likewise in the examination of Traditions by the history of every age wherein ordinarily they commence with the last age and so walke retrograde in the calculation of their times to the end they may arrive as late as possibly they can at the Apostles time and their writings CHAP. XV. The second marke set by our Adversaries to distinguish the good Traditions from the bad to wit Succession To discerne the good Traditions from the bad our Adversaries agree that those ought to be held for divine and Apostolicall which are received by the Churches that derive their succession from the Apostles This marke hath no more certainty then the former and maketh as much against our Adversaries The doubtfulnesse of it is manifest in this that the Churches of Antioch of Alexandria of Ephesus of Thessalonica of Candia c. which are contrary to the Romish Church and more ancient doe boast themselves to bee of equall succession and one part of them challengeth a succession from Saint Peter yea before the Churches of Alexandria and Antioch did suffer any interruption by the persecutions of the Mahumetans they were often in discord with the Church of Rome and were not in any wise subject unto it and more particularly the Church of Thessalonica founded upon Saint Paul and the Church of Candia where Saint Paul established Titus from whom descended the Bishops of Candia keepe a succession from the Apostles which never was interrupted and hath continued since the time of Christ who speaking from heaven sent the Apostle Saint Paul yet notwithstanding these Churches are separated from a communion with the Church of Rome and the Pope holdeth them for Schismatickes and Heretikes As for the Bishop of Rome so many schismes dividing and so many heresies tainting his Seat as our Adversaries themselves confesse and we have elsewhere proved have long since broken the ranke of this imaginary succession Also the uncertainty of this succession betrayeth it selfe in that it is a meere tradition so as if the service of Images or the Communion under one kinde be founded upon succession behold then Traditions founded upon a Tradition and this Tradition founded upon humane histories which may mistake yea often doe jarre and disagree wherefore this is an uncertainty founded upon another uncertainty as atomes and motes carried upon the aire But how shall a Mechanicke or a woman know this succession How shall they be assured that the second Bishop of Rome hath beleeved in the points of Religion as the first the third as the second the fourth as the third and so for sixteene hundred yeeres though there never might have happened any alteration Who doth not perceive that these men by a palpable falshood invent projects wherof they know that the knowledge is impossible and wherein the search is a labour in vaine to the end that the ignorant finding themselves muffled up in darknesse
may catch hold and graspe the hand which these men stretch forth to them to be conductours of their blindnesse Yet let us briefly observe what this succession of the Church of Rome may signifie or bee they bring us clauses of ancient Authours reporting the Bishop of Rome to be Saint Peters Successor and shew a Nomenclature of the Bishops from Saint Peter to this day but we finde that the ancients make such another Catalogue of the Bishops of Ierusalem and of Antioch whose succession is of greater antiquity then that of the Bishops of Rome The Bishops of Alexandria likewise draw out their succession from Saint Peter But our Adversaries will not have this succession to be esteemed for say they those Churches are hereticall and yet the same Churches also call the Church of Rome hereticall and schismaticall Herein then lieth the point of difficulty the ancients reckon up the Successours of Saint Peter and other Apostles in Iernsalem in Antioch at Rome and at Alexandria but they meane not they should bee Successours of the Apostles in the Apostleship they meane onely in the governement of such and such a particular Church planted by one of the Apostles So putting the case that Saint Peter founded the Church of Rome and was there Bishop which neverthelesse is doubtfull and mistrusted I will also agree that the Bishops of Rome of the first ages have beene Successours to Saint Peter but in the Bishopricke of the Church of the city of Rome onely In the same manner as Simon was Successame manner to Saint Iames the Apostle in the Bishopricke of Ierusalem and Timothy Successour to Saint Paul in the Bishopricke of Ephesus but not in his Apostleship Our Adversaries profit nothing by their allegations if they prove not first by testimonies both divine and irrefragable that God hath ordained Saint Peter to have a Successour in his Apostleship and that the Bishop of Rome was Successour to Saint Peter in the dignity of the head of the universall Church For ought not this succession to have come from God Did God establish a supreame and successive head over the Church of all the world without making any mention of it in his word And did Saint Peter himselfe forget to speake of this succession from whence we have two long Epistles See then whereupon we stand and how our Adversaries are taken All their Religion is founded upon this Tradition to wit that the Pope hath beene ordained from God to bee the Successour of Saint Peter in the charge of head of the universall Church hereunto they bend their force this is the scope of all the controversies And yet concerning this Tradition they cannot produce one poore divine truth nor one single word out of the word of God yea when it commeth to humane testimonies it is apparant that they are contrary to this Monarchicall succession of the Pope of Rome In one thing our Adversaries finde themselves much incumbred We demand of them when they speake of a succession whether they understand it of persons without succession of doctrine or of a succession of persons in the same doctrine If they understand a succession of persons sitting in the same chaire without succession of doctrine this succession is impious serving for a title of succession to make warre against God Hee that corrupteth the Doctrine of his Predecessors succeedeth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as sicknesse succeedeth health and darknesse light so Gregory of Nazianzene speaketh in his Oration upon Athanasius To have the same Doctrine saith he is to have the same Seat but to have a contrary Doctrine is to have a contrary Seat one hath the name the other hath the truth of the succession c. Vnlesse a man will call it succession when the maladie succeedeth health and darknesse the light But if our Adversaries speaking of succession understand it of persons not only in the same Chaire but also in the same Doctrine this succession is excellent and a singular ornament in a Church no man can erre in adhering to such a succession for it carrieth conformity of Doctrine with the Apostles and before this succession can bee knowne it is behovefull to be instructed in the writings of the Apostles and in their Doctrine Such a succession is that whereof Iren. lib. 4. cap. 43. Eâ— quâ— in Ecclesia sunt Presbyteru obedire oportet his qui successioneÌ„ habent ab Apostolus qui cum Episcopatus successione charisâ—a veritatis certuÌ„ secunduÌ„ placituÌ„ Patris acceperunt Irenaeus speaketh saying That wee ought to obey Priests who are in the Church who have the succession of the Apostles and with the succession of the Bishopricke have received the certaine talent of the truth Not acknowledging succession in the Bishopricke without succession in the truth of the Doctrine And Tertullian speaking of the Heretikes Their Doctrine Tertull. de praescr c. 21 Iâ—sa eoruÌ„ doctrina cum Apostolica comparata ex diversitate contrariâ—tate doctrina pronuntiabit neque Apostoli â—licâ—ius auctoru esse neque Apostolicâ— being compared with that of the Apostles by the diversity and contrariety therein will plainely demonstrate that it hath not any Apostle for Authour nor any one that is Apostolicall Snatching this specious title of Apostolike succession from those who taught otherwise then the Apostles had done It is no small abuse when wee would know whether a Religion bee true or no to give us a list of Bishops in painting and pictures without knowing whether the latter doe teach as the first pinning religion unto the Chaires to the end to suppresse the true rules and institutions as also to divert the people from reading of the holy Scripture for feare lest they should apprehend the conformity in Doctrine with the Apostles which is the true succession We must note by the way that in the time of Irenaeus and Tertullian who wrote about six score yeeres after the Apostles it was easie to shew the succession Then I meane when the Churches wherein the Apostles had taught did hold one and the same faith I say when the succession was of no great length and the memory of the Apostles and their disciples preaching was fresh and familiar But now that the Churches which were planted by the Apostles are divided into contrary Sects and separated from communion and that the confusions abounding in space of some fifteene hundred yeeres have throwne downe so many Chaires and reared up others and that particularly the Bishopricke of Rome is turned into a temporall Monarchy and the Pope of a Bishop is become a temporall Prince this successive derivation of Chaires in the East and West is impossible considering that the entayle of this succession hath beene thousands of times cut off so that it is a meere imposture to enter into this lea of Histories and confusions to the end to examine the Traditions in stead of addressing our selves to the word of God CHAP. XVI That the Pharisees and ancient
hindred from choosing the best Church amongst many contrary How shall they choose Church from the false shall they know it in examining her doctrine by the Scripture that may not be for the Scripture is a Booke that the people are not permitted to reade and our adversaries affirme that the Church is not subject or bound to the Scripture and that the Church may change the same which God commaunded in the Scripture Shall they discerne the true Church by antiquity and succession nor that for the Syrian and Greeke Churches contrary to the Romish are more ancient then that of Rome deriving their succession from the Apostles and punctually to judge in this succession and antiquitie infinite Histories both Greeke and Latine ought to be read wherein the people vnderstand little or nothing And amongst the Clergie it selfe scarce one of an hundred is found that hath but ordinary or competent knowledge therein Hee that but entreth into the view thereof shall discouer the seat of the Romane Pontifies defiled with heresies and enormous crimes yea mangled and rent with Schismes that are decided by stroke of sword and according to the power of Emperours and Kings doeth the scale weigh downe Shall they haue respect to the generalitie and multitude no Iesus Christ calleth his Church a little flocke Luke 12. 32. and signifieth vnto vs that the multitude and broad way leade to perdition Math 7. 13 14. Shal they giue heed to miracles no the Apostle hath foretold us that the sonne of perdition who is Antichrist shall come with signes and miracles 2. Thess 2. 9. And Iesus Christ admonisheth vs that false prophets shall arise and shall make signes wonders to seduce Math. 24. 24. Now seeing that so many false miracles are wrought and the most predominant Courts of Iustice haue made many Decrees against the workers of them how and by what markes shall the poore people distinguish the true miracles from the false seeing there is no knowledge of the true doctrien declaring Gods will that we should discerne the miracles Deut. 13. v. 1 2 3. Briefly it is certaine that the Scriptures authoritie being no more the foundation and direction of the beleeuers faith all Religion vanisheth and turneth into smoke and there remaines nothing but to beleeue at adventure to follow the generalitie and like blind men to lay hands on him that marcheth next before vs. It is answered that in this perplexitie the people are to follow their Doctors and Pastors for they are the men that vndertake with God for the people What must euery man beleeue the Pastors of his owne countrey must they follow the Church wherein they are borne shall man owe his Religion to his birth or the custome of his countrey or the successe of affaires If it bee answered that by the Pastors and Doctors those of the Church of Rome are to be vnderstood therein lies the poynt of difficultie For the question is if those Doctors bee sound and good teachign the true way of health conformably to the Word of God which they conceale from the people in denying them to reade the holy Scriptures then are the people bound to beleeue that these are good Doctors before they know the good doctrine and that this church is the true church before they know or apprehend the truth They are also bound to beleeue what the church of Rome beleeveth not knowing what that Church ought to beleeue But if it be their tenent that every particular person bee assisted with the Spirit of God to bee able to discerne the true Church why hold they not that hee bee assisted with the same spirit to discerne the true doctrine and to examine it by the holy scriptures seeing that the true Church cannot bee distinguished but by the true doctrine for the true faith is first to be knowne before the true faithfull can be distinguished and the true rule is to be well vnderstood before those that follow it can be knowne Christ must first be knowne before there is possibility of knowing undoubtedly what Church is truely his flocke Adde likewise heereunto that the faith of the Romish Doctors dependeth entirely upon the Popes faith neverthelesse they for the greatest part doe beleeue that the Pope may erre and the Popes themselues doe confesse the same as wee haue elsewhere prooved Yea their errors are condemned by those Councels which the Church of Rome did allow And it is hard to beleeue that he cannot erre who boasteth of his authority and power to change that which God hath ordained to dispense with his commandements Add moreover that the greatest â—â—atterers of the Popes that haue written their histories and liues doe lament the corruption of that seat and complaine of the traffique it exerciseth and of the infamous â—â—ving of many Popes and their intolerable pride for what doth the Pope hee is advanced so far as to call himselfe God and the divine Maiestie to cause himselfe to bee adored to reach forth to Emperours a pantable to be kissed to dispose the crownes and liues of Kings and to release soules out of Purgatory insomuch as from a poore Biship of a citie who in the Primitiue time appeared not but in the martyrdomes is by degrees become a great Monarch of the earth that surpasseth in riches and treasure the greatest Kings of the world These things considered may we fix in our minds a just cause to suppose that the Pope is the same man that the Scripture hath foretold to come into the world to * 2 Thess 2. 7 8. Apoes 13. 11 2. Thess 2. â— 4. 9. Apocal. 17. 3. 4. 9. 18. Apocal. 17. 2. Apocal. 13. 15. lift himselfe up into the shrone of Roman Emperours stile himselfe God vaunt of signes and miracles he that should beâ— cloathed in scarlet should possesse his seat in a towne of seven mountaines which is Romes description should seduce Kings wage war against the Church and vanquish it and all this vnder the name of Christian assuming to himselfe the title and authoritie of Iesus Christ For so saith the Spirit of God in the 13 of the Apocalipse Hee shall haue the hornes of a Lambe but shall speake like a dragon These things having beene foretold aboue fifteene hundred yeares past no man since that time hath so swelled himselfe to so high a pitch as to haue these recived things appropriated vnto him but the Pope of Rome Is it by chance or adventure that such preâ—ogatiues haue met in one man Surely these considerations are sufficient to cause a suspition in â—s that this is the man who should haue more authoritie then the Scripture that would haue himselfe beleeved when hee saith that the Scripture is subject vnto him and that he hath power to change it that is to say to contradict it For no man can extoll himselfe aboue the Scripture vnlesse it bee meerely to impugne it Now though man fearing God and touched with the zeale of his
the Clergy to take up Armes with heretikes to impeach those that goe to Rome to obtaine the great Pardons to play the Pyrate upon the coasts of the Papall territory from the hill Argentara to Terracina of these hainous sinnes none but the Pope can giue absolution for these are transgressions against the Lawes and Traditions broached by the Popes for their profit and to infringe them is rated a matter more grievous and capitall then sinnes against the Law of God contained in holy Scriptures VI. The Canon Violatores in the 25. Cause and 1. Question pronounceth In Spiritum sanctum blasphemant qui sacros Canones violant that those blaspheme against the holy Ghost who violate the sacred Canons Whence it followeth that this sin is unpardonable The sinns then against the Law of God are remiâ—table and the Priests forgiue them but to violate the Canons of the Church of Rome is a sinne unabsolvable This is that which is spoken by Pope Nicholas Can. Si RomanoruÌ„ Diss 19. Vt si quis in illa coÌ„miserit noverit sibi veniam denegari the first If any one sinne against the Decretalls of the Apostolique Seat let him know that it shall not bee forgiven him at the Canon Si Romanorum in the 19. Distinction And there againe he declareth that the Old and Capitulum S InnoccÌ„ty Papae cuius authoritate deecatur à nobis vtrumque testamentum esse recipienduÌ„ quaÌ„vis in ipsis paternis Canonibus nulluÌ„ eorum ex toto contineatur insertum c. New Testament ought to bee receiued although they bee not inserted in the Canons for the holy Pope Innocent hath expressed his opinion touching the same If the Old and New Testament must be receiued because Pope Innocent hath so appointed it we must conclude that the Decree of Pope Innocent is of more authority then the Old and New Testament For that which giueth authority is greater then that which receiueth it Yet the Old and New Testament had their plenary authority before Pope Innocent was in the world VII Pope Gregory the first before Nicholas had beate the path to this pride in his Epistle to Antonine Subdeacon complaineth of one Honorat who saith hee hath not onely Lib. 2. Epist 16. Non solum mandata Dei neglsgens â—ed scripta nostra contemnens neglected the commandements of God but also misprised our writings as if his writings were of more authority then the commandements of God VIII The single life of Priests is a Them 2. seeundae quast 88. art 11. meere humane institution as Thomas acknowledgeth as also Bellarmine in his booke concerning the Clergie Chap. 18. And in very deed the Scripture speaketh nothing thereupon But whoredome is forbidden by the Law of God neverthelesse if a Priest doth play the Fornicatour or Adulterer it is but a laughing matter But if a Priest doe marry to obey the Apostle speaking If they cannot containe let them marry 1. Cor. 7. 9. And let a Bishop bee a husband but of one wife 1. Tim. 2. 2. this mariage is called a sacriledge pointed at as a prodigious thing In lust and whoring hee transgresseth the Law of God and the vow that hee hath made to obey his word In marrying hee transgresseth the Tradition of the Church of Rome and the vow invented by humane Tradition which is accounted the gâ—eater offence For it hath pleased the Pope to allow of obscene whoredome and to forbid mariage which are two Traditions that haue caried him away against the rules of holy Scripture IX Marke yet something worse Innoc. 3. Extra de Bigâ—nou cap Q carea Post lasts per se Apostolica edoceri si presbyteri plures Conâ— binas habâ— bigame ceâ—antur Aâ— qd duicin râ—spondenduÌ„ quod cum irregularitateÌ„ non incurrerint cum eu tanquaÌ„ simplici fornicatione notatu poleru dispensure Navar. Tom. 2 cap. Ad inferendam 23. quast 3. De defeÌ„sione proâ—â—mi cap. 37. sect 15. RespondenduÌ„ est crimon Sodomiae non comprehendi in criminibus quae irregularitatem inducunt c. Quia parum rejert illud crimen esse gravissimuÌ„ et spurcissimuÌ„ cuÌ„ matus sit crimeÌ„ haeresis mentalis edium Dei quoruÌ„ tamen nulluÌ„ irregularitatem inâ—ucit Pope Innocent the third declare h that a Priest hauing many Concubines is not therefore lapsed into irregularity that is to say doth not for this become incapable to exercise the Priesthood Yea for Sodomy a Priest is not degraded as is taught by Nauarras the Popes Penancer But a Priest that marieth is foorthwith degraded is made a publicke execration and chased with more maledictions then the Azazel or Scape-goat although hee haue the Apostle on his side to protect him against the Tradition It is certaine that in the Church of Rome to eat flesh on Goodfriday is accounted an hundred degrees more horrible then to haunt brothell houses and to breake the arme of an Image is more then to breake the heads of ten liuing men For Tradition is more religiously obserued then the Law of God CAP. IX Three reasons wherefore Tradition is preferred before the Scripture in the Church of Rome THe reasons that haue moued the Pope to exalt Tradition aboue the Scripture are three The one is because the succession of the Pope in the primacie of Saint Peter is a Tradition which is the only prop of his dominion And therefore it neerely concernes him to exalt Tradition vpon which his Empire is founded The second is because Traditions depend vpon the Pope and as hee contriued them so can he alter them But hee hath not the Scripture in his power he cannot make another holy Scripture nor change the Hebrew originall which the Iewes who are not obedient to him doe carefully preserue nor the Greeke Testament which the Greeke Churches haue saued for vs. It concernes him therefore that the Traditions whereof hee is both Maker and Master be had in great estimation The third is because all Traditions are gainefull to the Pope and Clergy and serue to extoll the Papall Empire and dignity of the Ecclesiasticks hee and his Clergy rake vp infinite profit by Indulgences priuate Masses Suffrages and Masses for the deceased Dispensations Annates c. By confessions the Priests know the secrets of families make themselues formidable in reseruing the participation of the chalice to themselues and Kings they make themselues companions of Kings and worshipfull to the people by Transubstantiation they attribute to themselue the Gabriel Biel in Can. Miss Lect 15 NeÌ„ volut Dominus aliquâ—m habere potestateÌ„ ligandi vel solvenis super corpus Christi mysticuÌ„ nisi haberet potestateÌ„ super corpus Christi verâ—â— power of making God with words to create their Creatour and to haue Iesus Christ within their jurisdiction locked up in a Pix By the sacrifice of Masse they make themselues sacrificing Priests sacrificing Iesus Christ to his Father By the institution of festiuall dayes the
Pope vsurpeth power in commanding al shops to be shut vp and causeth all Sessions of iustice and Councell to be interrupted at his pleasure By the difference of meats he governeth the Markets Kitchens and Tables of Kings By the canonization of Saints hee makes his meanest groomes to bee worshipped by the people and lifteth up to heauen those that haue most faithfully served him and commandeth the people to invoke such Saints as hee pleaseth By the Sacrament of Penance he imposeth corporall and pecuniary penalties mulcts yea upon Kings and Princes to the very whipping of them usurpeth sway over bodies and goods and changeth corporall punishments into pecuniary By the Absolution of sinnes the Priests make themselues Iudges betweene God and the sinner and will haue God obliged to pardon a sinner because the Priest hath pardoned him yea in a cause where God is the partie offended the Priest maketh himselfe judge Whereas God in the holy Scripture giveth to Pastors power to dispense with the punishment of sinnes as far as Ecclesiasticall censure these gallants make bold as far as the Conscience and to the very judiciall Seat of God By Service in Latine the Pope retaineth the people in ignorance and planeth among all Nations a marke of his Empire giving them the Romane language to subdue them to the Romish Religion The Dispensations which the Pope giveth to Princes to marry in degrees forbidden by the word of God doe oblige the children that spring from them to maintaine the Papall authority for if that were shaken it would bee doubted whether they bee legitimate or no. The power of dis-enthroning Kings disposing of Empires causing their feet to bee kissed by Monarks canonizing Saints and of releasing soules out of Purgatory are Traditions which magnifie the papall dignity aboue all power spirituall or temporall that ever was on earth Wherefore let vs not maruell that the Pope laboureth to countenance these Traditions and to crush the Scripture which doth but molest him disaccommodate him in his traffique and staggereth his whole Empire Hereupon the Reader that hath heard the comparison which our aduersaries make of Tradition of the Romish Church with the holy Scriptures saying that Tradition of the Church is more ancient more ample more cleare more certaine and of more authority over vs then the holy Scripture will call to remembrance the example of the Aegyptians who passing by long rankes of columns and pillars and by magnificall Temples did lead the Worshipers to a place more solitary and retired where stood the God of the Temple there did they shew them an Ape or an Oxe or a Cat in honour of whom the Temple was erected even thus doe our aduersaries in this question After such high titles and magnifications of Traditions to the extolling of them aboue the word of God contained in holy Scriptures when wee come to vnmaske their vglinesse and offer them to sight they present vs with absurd inuentions and such as expose Christian religion to laughter They tell vs of Images of the Trinity in wood or stone Of soules that broile in a fire for sinnes pardoned Of Indulgences for one hundred yeares Of priuileged Altars vpon which whosoeuer causeth a Masse to bee said maketh choise of a soule to be released out of Purgatory Of Adoration of Images bones and rags Of solitary Masses without communicants which chant after the intention of him that payes them Of publicke prayers and particular in an vnknowne tongue Of masses for horses Of Iesus Christ caried away by mice Of blessed beads and Agnus Dei. Of pilgrimages Of the difference of meats Of borowed satisfactions Of fasting and being whipt one for another Behold their Traditions see what is preferred before the Scripture obserue the Lawes and documents which they balance with the Law that God himselfe hath pronounced and with the doctrine of our redemption which the eternall Sonne of God hath brought from Heauen and yet is found light in comparison of these venerable Traditions for why because they cast into the scale a massy stone to weet the names of Pope and Church of Rome which in the hearts of men growne brutish weigh downe against God and the Scriptures CHAP. X. That in this question by the word Church our Aduersaries vnderstand not the Church whereof is spoken in the Creed but the Pope alone FOrasmuch as our Aduersaries doe maintaine that the Church whereof mention is made in the Creed is the whole body of the faithfull people and that to this people it belongeth not to bee iudge of doubts and controuersies it is evident that by this Church which is said to bee soueraigne iudge and infallible another Church is vnderstood besides that whereof mention is made in the Creed but as by the Church they vnderstand onely the Church of Rome so by the Church of Rome is vnderstood the Pope who attributeth this soueraigne and infallible authority to himselfe Thus do Salm. To. 13. parte 3. disp 10. sect quarto â—um Cum Scriptura obscuta sit perdifficâ—lis nec â—adex esse queat quia proâ—iâ—enâ—ia Dei tolleretur cum per eam sâ—la lite◠〈◊〉 sedarâ— non possiâ—t superest ergo vt certuÌ„ aliquâ— iudiâ—em nobis dâ—signatâ—m reâ—queâ—â—â—t At hâ—c alâ—us non est habitus quaÌ„ qui sâ—mper fuit hoc est Rom. Episcopus alias eâ—im perijssâ—t providentia Dei per tot secula Caietan in 2. â—a â— 1. art 10. VerissimuÌ„ est authoritatem Ecclesiâ— vniversalis et CoÌ„â—â—lij princâ—paliter et totaliterrâ— sidâ—râ— in Papa in â—â—terminaÌ„d ea qua sunt d◠〈◊〉 the Doctours accord and in this manner doe apprehend it Salmeron the Iesuite seeing that the Scripture is very obscure and difficult and cannot bee judge for so the prouidence of God should bee annihilated because by it alone the controuersies moued canâ—ot bee appeased and determined it remaineth therefore that some certaine Iudge designed was left vnto vs. And hee is thought to bee no other then the same that ever was to weet the Bishop of Rome for otherwise the Prouidence of God in so many ages had perished Cardinall Cajetan It is most true that the authority of the vniuersall Church and of Councell resideth principally and totally in the Pope to determine the points of Faith And there againe he saith that the Church adoreth the Pope Paschal the Pope avoucheth that the Church of Rome is not subject to Councels and that in whatsoeuer they ordaine the Pope is alwayes excepted Speaking Exâ—r de Electione cap. Significasti Tit. 6. Aiunt hoc in Concilijs statutum non invenâ—ri Resp Quasi Romana Ecclesiâ— Conciliâ— vlla legâ— prae fixerint Cum omnia Concilia per Romanâ— Ecclesiae authoritatem facta sint robuâ— acceperint et in eorum statutis Rom. Pontificis patenter excipiatur auctoritas thus They say that this is not found to bee decreed in the Councells To the which hee maketh this answere as if any Councells had
often corrupted the Law of Moses and haue caused the people to depart out of the way and to stumble at the Law Malach. 2. 8. And the Scribes and Pharisees that were in the Chaire of Moses taught that Iesus Christ was a Seducer And wee haue formerly seene diuers Popes condemned for heresie and impiety by the Councels and many Popes complaining of their Predecessours heresies And seeing that our adversaries confesse that there haue beene multitudes of profane Popes and of infamous life it is hard to beleeue that hee which is not Successour of the good life and of the vertues of Saint Peter can be Successour infallible of his purity in the Faith For if the wicked doctrine of the Leaders of the Church bring in errours their vngodly life bringeth in profanenesse and Atheisme and as the Canon Si Papa hath it in the 40. distinction it casteth headlong innumerable troopes of people into hell it exposeth the Christian Religion vnto Scandall and bringeth errours into the very Faith It being the custome of lewd Pastors to change the doctrine for the better accommodation of their vices and to make it serue their avarice and ambition Let Saint Peter preaching the Gospell bee compared with the Pope that preacheth not at all Saint Peter going on bare foot with the Pope carried vpon Princes shoulders Saint Peter not suffering Cornelius to worship him Act. 10. with the Pope expecting himselfe to bee adored and that Kings should kisse his feet Saint Lib. Sacram. ceremon sect 5. c. 1. 3. Peter reprehending Simon Magus for holding the gift of God purchasable with money Act. 8. 20. With the Pope drayning so much money to himselfe by Absolutions Dispensations Indulgences Annates Archiepiscopall roabes c. Saint Peter recommending chastity to women 1. Pet. 3. With the Pope suffering whoredome and establishing brothell houses publickly at Rome Saint Peter that was married Marke 1. 30. With the Pope forbidding the Clergy to liue in state of matrimony S. Peter who in his second Epistle Chap. 1. Exhoreth the faithfull to bee attentiue to the word of the Prophets With the Pope not allowing the reading of Scripture Saint Peter writing to all the faithfull and commanding them to obey their Kings 1 Pet. 2. 3. and 14. With the Pope exempting the Clergy from subjection to their Kings Saint Peter making no mention in his Epistles of invocation of Saints of adoration of Images of Reliques of Purgatory of Indulgences of the Treasure of the Church of Limbus of the Service in an unknowne tongue of his Supremacie nor usurping any title to himselfe that was not common to the other Apostles with the Pope who teacheth all these things and in his Bulls attributeth to himselfe such titles as Saint Peter never admitted of in his Epistles then may it easily be conjectured what little modicum of assurance there is that the Pope cannot degenerate from the puritie of Saint Peter nor be alienated from his doctrine And note that although Saint Peter was exempted from errour by the continuall assistance of the Spirit of God which Iesus Christ had promised to the Apostles neverthelesse neither hee nor any Apostle vsed this arrogant language vaunting of their impossibilitie to erre As the Pope is the onely Christian Prelate which maketh himselfe to be called God so is he the onely creature which qualifieth himselfe with Infallibilitie to the end to make him resemble God Imitating heerein the false Doctors who taught the Iewes to say The Law shall not perish from the Iere. 18. 18. Priest nor the Counsell from the Wise nor the Word from the Prophet It is not requisite to prooue this Maxime any further That the Bishop of Rome cannot erre in the Faith to bee false and contradicted in the experience of so many ages by so many holy Doctors who haue so often condemned the Bishops of Rome by so many Councels damning the Romish Church and the Bishop of Rome for error and heresie by the testimony of numbers of our adversaries who reject this Maxime and by the confession of the Popes themselues This hath beene amply prooved in my first Treatise Vpon which so false a Maxime are grounded all Traditions of the church of Rome as a multitude of flies sitting vpon a floating planke or a number of Chymera's hanging at a spiders thread which breaketh at a blast It is their plaister for all evill They make new Articles of faith most gainfull to his Holinesse Idolatry Merchandise tyranny corruption of the benefit and nature of Iesus Christ is established And in conclusion they pay us with this maxime that the Church cannot erre and by the Church they understand the Romish and by the Romish Church the Pope of Rome Thus the Romish Church forbiddeth all sorts of errours by an errour in saying I cannot erre supplying with presumption that which is wanting in reason Shee is exempted from giving reason of her doctrine for shee her selfe judgeth that she hath reason Such an errour is the worst of all for by this meanes a man becommeth Iudge of the Word of God and maketh Religion to depend upon his will And hee that saith I cannot erre will never reforme his errour nor subiect himselfe to any rule for he beleeveth himselfe to be the Rule How shall he be raised vp who beleeveth hee cannot fall The third Maxime whereon our adversaries ground their Traditions hath no more certaintie then the other two precedent They presuppose without proofe that Iesus Christ and the Apostles haue spoken many things which they did not commit to writing Vpon this presupposition they build another the most inconsiderate and unreasonable that can bee For they would haue it beleeved that those things which the Apostles did not set downe in writing are the Traditions of the Romish Church at this time and therefore conclude that when Iesus Christ spake severally and apart to his Disciples he conferred with them about the service of Images and adoration of Reliques about Indulgences and superaboundant satisfactions of the Saints which the Pope ought to locke up in his Treasury about Invocation of Saints about the crowning of his Mother in the dignitie of Queene of heaven and of the Angels about private Masses the Communion vnder one kind blessed Beades Agnus Dei c. This is a daring conjecture whereon if the faith of the faithfull bee founded all Religion shall consist of supposition and the Pope shall haue good recreation to invent Traditions which shal turne to his profit for such conjectures are taken for Oracles and layd downe for a foundation of the Christian faith But they are ashamed of this and * contradict themselues for knowing that these Traditions are new Inventions they speake freely that neither Christ nor the Apostles haue taught all either by mouth or by writing and that the Popes from time to time haue added many doctrines essentiall and necessary reserving to themselues the power of altering that which God hath comanded in
adversaries therefore exclude Saint Cyprian and his companions from salvation Or doe they beleeve that hee failed in something necessary to salvation Indeed Saint Augustine in the same chapter of his second booke against the Donatists affirmeth NonduÌ„ nat diligenter illa ptismi astio peractata that This question of Baptisme was not yet well dicussed and explained in Saint Cyprians time But it is not credible that the Christian Church at that time should be unresolved upon any point necessary to salvation This is above all to be confidered ug lib. 1. â— Baptismo â—ntra Doatistas I am â— videar huâ—anis arguâ—entis id aâ—re c. ex â—vangelio â—rofero certa â—ocumenta â—ide et lib. 2 a. 14. Et li. â—ca 7. Et li. â— ca. 4. et 23. â—cripturaris â—anctis testimonijs no soâ—â—â— collâ—giâ—â— sed planè 〈◊〉 that Saint Augustine himselfe who telleth us that the Apostles wrote nothing as touching this matter and that this Custome commeth by Tradition doth not sticke to handle this question by the Scriptures and bringeth many passages from thence which he affirmeth to be certaine and the proofes to be cleere Whence it appeareth that by the things unwritten hee understandeth matters which are not in expresse termes in the Scripture but are deduced from thence by good consequence These things serve for the cleering of a passage in the same Father at chap. 33. of his first booke against Cresconius where speaking of the reâ—baptization of Hereticks hee hath it thus Although there bee no certaine example vouched for this out of the Scriptures yet herein we preserve the authority of the sacred word when wee doe that which pleaseth the Church universal For he speaketh of a point not necessary to salvation and of a Custome but not of a Doctrine of faith The which Custome neverthelesse he groundeth upon the Scripture The same answeres may serve to resolve all other passages produced out of the ancients For by these Traditions whether they understand the holy Scriptures themselves and the Doctrine of the Gospel or whether they understand Doctrines not contained in the Scriptures in expresse terms but drawne from thence by consequence or that they understand Customes Ceremonies and Laws of Ecclesiasticall policie allowed by the universall Church wee willingly embrace all these Traditions For though we place this last sort of Traditions farre below the two first yet no Ceremonie can be brought unto us nor Law of Ecclesiasticall policie which hath beene generally received by the universall Church of the first ages but we also doe approve of them CHAP. XXVI Three ancient Customes which wee are blamed to have forsaken THere are three Customes and ancient observations which are cast upon us for a reproach that we have left them that is to say the signe of the Crosse in the forehead prayer for the dead and Lent Our answere is that these are Customes which have not alwaies been and which the Apostles have not observed and lastly which were diversly practised in divers Churches and in divers ages so as if wee were to chuse what age and what Church we ought to adhere unto we should find our selves much puzled The best is the Church of Rome hath changed these Customes and under a shadow of keeping the words hath wholly perverted the thing it selfe having turned the signe of the Crosse August de verb. Domini Serm. 8. Ne de cruce Christi erubescat in froÌ„te illam figat vbi sedes puderis which was but a marke of the Christian profession into superstition and idolatry into conjuration preservatives and spels to repulse the Devils temptations not onely of men Efficit super ea crucis signaculum vt per crucis virtuteÌ„ omnes comitatus diabolieae malignitatis effugiâ—â—ne contra â—â—â—cerdotem vel sacrificiuÌ„ aliquo modo prevaleat N adiouste que l'encens sert aussi à chasser les diables but of Iesus Christ For In the Masse they make signes of the Crosse by a prescribed number not onely upon the Bread not confecrated but also upon the consecrated Hoste for feare lest the assaults of the Devill should prevaile against it as Pope Innocent the third doth teach in his 2. booke of the mysteries of the Masse chap. 58. It is the same concerning prayer for the dead whereof the first mention is found to be some two hundred yeeres after the birth of our Saviour which was made for the Saints Apostles Prophets Martyrs and for the faithfull to the and they might bee raised at a better houre then the rest or bee the more lightly scalded with the fire â—â— the last judgement and after â—ome refreshment in the sleepe of â—eace they might rise joyfully to â—verlasting Salvation But the Pope â—ath changed these into prayers for â—ormented soules in Purgatory â—king this occasion to eclipse the â—erfection of the benefit of Iesus Christ Whose blood purgeth us â—rom all sinne 1. Iohn 7. and so to â—ake a trade and trafficke whereby â—o heape up riches innumerable The same abuse is crept into â—ent which the Pope maketh use â—f to advance his Empire usuring thereby the power to modeâ—ate the Bellies Kitchens Markets â—nd Tables to give dispensations â—nd to change fasting into a diffeâ—ence of meats and an exercise of â—umility in matter of Merite and of satisfaction as well for him that fasteth as for another And wheras heeretofore this abstinence was free and every man did fast before the Paschal as many dayes as hee thought good and that these reglements were made by ordinances of the Bishops in every Church the Pope hath thereto imposed a precise necessity unlesse a dispensation bee obtained from him or his Ministers And lastly he hath drawne to himselfe a power that hee had not formerly but only in the Bishopricke of Rome which was a particular Church This is our beliefe that the things necessary to salvation ought not to bee abolished by reason of the abuses which are and may bee thrust into them but we must take away the abuse and returne to the fountaine which is the word of God But as for things not necessary nor perpetuall nor observed from the beginning and without which the Christian faith may â—ubsist in its integrity when corruption is infused amongst them and the use is transformed into abuse and idolatry or tyranny or superstition it is prudently done to shave off the occasions of abuse and firmely to shut this gate against the Devill CHAP. XXVII That the Traditions of the Romisâ— Church of this time have nothing in common with the unwritten Traditions mentioned by the Fathers IT appeareth how weake and how little to the purpose all is which our adversaries doe produce in the behalfe of the antiquity of their Traditions For the unwritten Traditions which they have recited are not Doctrines oâ— the Christian faith that adde anything to the Doctrine of salvation contained in the Scriptures as â— have prooved but customes and ceremonies and observations
recte de Ecclesia sentit qui nihil admit tit nisi quod expresse in veteri Ecclesia sumpenÌ„ aâ—t factuÌ„ essâ— legit quasi Ecclesia osterioris temporis aut desierit esse Ecclesia aut facuitate non habeat explicaâ—â— et acclarandi costiruenat etiam 〈◊〉 qua au 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christianon perâ—â—onâ— doctrine defendeth himselfe in this manner He judgeth not rightly of the Church who admitteth nothing but what hee expresly readeth to haue â—en practised or done in the ancient â—hurch as if the Church of these â—tter times had câ—ased to be a Church â— had not power to vnfold and dâ—clare â—a to establish and ordaine the things â—â—at appertaine to fayth and manners â—f Christians This power then of â—he Pope over the life and crowne â—f Kings is not a divine Tradition â— or Apostolike but Ecclâ—siasticall â—rought in by the church of Rome â—n latter times that is to say by â—he Pope And when our adversaries attribute to the Pope the power of adding to the Creed and of making articles of Faith it is apparant that they hold the Pope able to bring in Traditions essentiall to Christian faith which the Apostles haue neither written nor taught by word of mouth This is that which Thomas Aquinas Them 2. â—â— qâ— 1. are 10. Ad solam ar theritate 〈◊〉 â—â—◠〈◊〉 is pertinot noua editie symboli sicut alia omnia qua pertinent ad toram Ecclâ—siam teacheth in the second part of his Summs saying It belongeth sâ—lely to the authority of the soveraigne Pope to make a new edition of Creed as also all things that concerne the vniversall Church Vpon which passage Andradius that assisted at the Counsell of Trent spake thus in the second Booke of the defence 〈◊〉 Pontifices â—â—lte defini 〈◊〉 qua anto 〈◊〉 symbolâ— fidei 〈◊〉 consu 〈◊〉 of the Tridentine faith The Romane Pontifies in defining many things which had been formerly hidden haue accustomed to augment the Creed This question hath been moved to the Councell of Florence betweene the Greekes and Latines the Latines maintaining against the Greekes that the Pope and church of Rome may adde to the Creed Finally in the last Session is concluded in favour of the Latines Ipsi necessitate â—â—gente iure suo particulaâ— illam ex filioque symbolo app◠〈◊〉 licuisso that the Church of Rome hath right of power to adde to the Creed and in the margent is noted Rom Pontificis potestas the power of the â—ope for by the church you must â—understand the Pope To this doth the Iesuite Vasques â—gree who disputing of the Apoâ—les commandement that biddeth â—he people of Corinth 1. Cor. 11. vers 28 to eate of this bread and Vazques Tom. 2. Disp. 216. NuÌ„ 60. Licet coÌ„cederemus hoc fuisse ApostoloruÌ„ praceptuÌ„ rithilomâ—n us Ecclesia summus PoÌ„tifex potuerunt illud iÌ„ustis de causis abrogare Neque enim maior fuit porestas Apostolorum quam Ecclesia Pontificu in ferendu praceptis drinke of this cup speaking thus Though we should graunt that it hath been the Apostles commandement yet neverthelesse the Church and the sove raigne Pope were able to abolish this commandement vpon just reasons for the power of the Apostles to giue commaundements hath not been greater then that of the Church and the Pope Seeing therefore that the Pope hath as much power over the Church as the Apostles and that the Apostles haue had the power to forme a Creed and to establish in the Church Articles of Faith which had not beene written before nor taught by word of mouth in the Church it followes that the Pope hath the same power and that he can forma a Creed or adde to that which the Apostles haue formed and can ordaine matters which the Apostles haue neither written nor taught by mouth Whereupon Leo the tenth in his Bull Exurge which is annexed to the end of the last Lateran Councell thundereth and pronounceth an anathema again â— Luther for having spoken amongst other things Certum est in manis Ecclesis aut Papa proorsus noÌ„ esse 〈◊〉 artiâ—ulos fides that it is no way in the power of the Church or of the Pope to establish articles of faith Salmeron the Iesuite is expresse in his 13 Tome and the third part Disp 6. â— est ergo Doctrina â—dei admitit additioneÌ„â— essentialius of the sixth Disputation saying The doctrine of faith suffereth addition in the things that are essentiall These words are worth observation for if you beleeue this Iesuite the Pope and Church of Rome â—â—ay adde to the Traditions that â—re called Apoâ—tolicall and to the â—â— written word not only matters â—ccidenâ—all but also essentiall not â—aught by the Apostles Which â—ikewise doth iâ—feere that the Aâ—ostles haue not taught all that is â—ecessary to Christian Religion â—nd that then there wanted someâ—hing that was essentiall in the doctrine of the Apostles § Atque hoc c. Nec sub Apostolu omnia occur runt vt possent ab en omnia decidi Et in alio statu erat Ecclesia sub Apostolu quam sit modo vel fuenâ—â— post illa tempra Deinde natura nostra non omnia simul doceri potest c. In iniurtam igitur spiritus sanctâ— qui vngit vnctione â—a membra Christi qui vsque modo operatur reiicitur quicquid non est dudum ab Apostolis c. Possunt ergo esse nâ—uae traditiones ad fidem mâ—res spectaÌ„tes licet ab Apostolu noÌ„ sint conditâ— aut explicatâ— The same Iesuite in his 8. Disputation giues a reason why the Apostles haue not written nor preached all things The affayres saith hee in the Apostles time diâ— not so hit and fall out as that all things could bee decided and the Church at that time was of a condition differing from her now prâ—sent estate and from her estate since that very time Moreouer our nature cannot apprehend all things at once but by progresse and succession of time neither is it capable of all truths at a time c. It were then to abuse the holy Ghost that anâ—oynteth Christs members with oyntment and that operateth vntill thiâ— instant to reject all that hath not beeâ— spoken by the Apostles Whereupon he concludeth therefore may therâ— bee new Traditions concerning faith and manners though they were never made or explicated by the Apostles Now I leaue to judge with whaâ— conscience it may be maintained that the Traditions are ancient and Apostolicall seeing that our adversaries doe confesse that there are many of them moderne and new whereof the Apostles never spake word And to the ende that no man may conceaue these new Traditions to be spungie of no weight unnecessary or unessentiall to christian Religion he speakes directly that the new Traditions are touching faith and manners and that the â—â—ctrine of the Christian faith reâ—â—veth yet an addition even in â—ings that are essentiall
prescribed any Law to the Church of Rome when as all the Councells haue beene made and haue taken their force by the authority of the Church of Rome and in their statutes the authority of the Pope is cleerly excepted Who doth not perceiue that in these words by the Church of Rome the Pope alone is vnderstood for our Aduersaries deny not but that the people and Clergie of the Church of Rome are subject to the Councells The Iesuite Gregory of Valence in Pontifexiâ—â— Romaâ—â— eâ—t in quâ— authâ—ritas illa râ—â—det quâ— in Ecclesia extat ad iudgâ—anduÌ„ de omnibus omnino controversis fidei the title of the seuenth booke of his Analysis The Pope of Rome is he in whom resideth all authority of the Church to iudge entirely of all doubts of the Faith Andradius in his first booke of the defence of the Tridentine faith Fide Papae nostra continetur ex eius vnjus authoritate salus omnium pendet Our faith consisteth in the faith of the Pope and vpon his authority alone dependeth all mens saluation Iudge whether mans saluation bee not well deriued Whereupon hee Non minor est Papae ad controversias dirimendas quaÌ„ Ecclesiae totius authoritas speaks there againe that the authority of the Pope to decide all controuersies is not lesse then the authority of the whole Church And wee haue formerly heard the Iesuite Vasques affirming that the authority of the Pope is not lesse then that of the Apostles and that hee can abrogate and cancell the Apostles commandements In the second Session of the last Lateran Councell these words are expresse Behold Ecce adest Divi Petri successor Iâ—â— lius noÌ„ minor authoritate Iulius the Successour of Saint Peter no lesse in authority then him It is true that when the Pope will hee ioyneth some Prelates with him to assist him in his decreeing But whereas hee cals and chooseth whom hee will these Prelates haue not authority but by him and the Pope an enact all without them This is that which Cardinall Bellarmine hath in his third booke of Iste iudex non potest esse scripturae c. Igitur Princeps Ecc esiasticus vel solus vel cum consilto et coÌ„sensu coepiscop orum the word of God Chap. 9. That iudge cannot bee the Scripture therefore is it the Ecclesiasticall Prince either alone or with the aduice approbation of the brother Bishops For so our Aduersaries doe joyntly hold that when the Pope iudgeth in the Apostolicke chaire and as Pope his sole opinion and decree is as firme and certaine as if a Councell had voted vpon it And to remoue all doubt our adversaries blush not openly to affirme that by this word Church Grego de Valent Tom 3. in Thom. disput 1. q. 1. pusto 5. sect â— the Pope is to bee vnderstood Gregory of Valence the Iesuite after hauing said that the full authority of Hane authoritatem pleue in Romano Pontifice c resâ—dere qui scilicet de sides et morum controverstis ad vniversaleÌ„ EcclesiaÌ„ pertinetibus vel per se vel cuÌ„ generali Concilio sufficienter coÌ„stituat Iam igitur quuÌ„ dicimus propositionem Ecclesiae esse conditionem necessariam ad assansu â—â— fidei nomine Ecclesia intelligimus eius caput id est RomanuÌ„ PontificeÌ„ per seâ—vel vna cuÌ„ Concilio iudging controuersies of the faith and manners which concerne the vniuersall Church doth plenarily reside in the Pope of Rome Christs Vicar hee addeth Now therefore when wee say that the Proposition of the Church is a condition necessary to oblige the Faith to one agreement by this word Church wee vnderstand her head which is to say the Pope of Rome either alone or with the Councell For hee is not of opinion that the Councell bee necessarily required Bellarmine expoundeth it thus in his second booke of the Councels Chap. 19. The Pope saith hee ought to speake it to the Church that is to say to himselfe And Pope Innocent the third in his Chapter Novit extra de iudicijs attributeth to himselfe the taking notice of a difference betweene Philip the second surnamed Augustus King of France and Iobn King of England for it is written tell it to the Church Now S. Peter was one of those to whom Iesus Christ spake Tell it to the Church was this Apostle able to divine that Iesus Christ vnderstood Tell it to thy selfe and that Iesus Christ would haue the party complainant to be iudge see then the Church which is a word that signifieth an assembly reduced to one man And the sense of this Article of the Creed I beleeue the Church shall bee I beleeue the Pope who sometimes cals himselfe god sometimes Iesus Christ and sometimes the Church so he shall bee Bridegroome and Spouse and one man shal cal himselfe an assembly And tell me to what purpose are Councels assembled so long and so painfull seeing nothing is to bee done but to consult the Papall Oracle with in one instant can decide al controversies without possibilitie of erring seeing I say that in one man wee haue the vniversall Church that the Councell can doe nothing without the Pope and that the Pope can doe all and judge of all without the Councell Whereupon Bellarmine affirmeth Bellar. lib. 4. de Roman Pontifice ca. 2. Sect. videntur IpsaÌ„ insallibilttatem non esse in coetu consiliariorum vel in concilio E. piscoporum sed in solo Pentisice with all the Doctors that the Infallibilitie of a Councell is not in the assembly of the Counsellers nor in the Councell of Bishops but in the Pope alone and yet in the meane time the Popes themselues never appeare not in the Councels This Advertisment was very necessary to the end that the Reader might know that as by the authoritie of the Church is understood the authoritie of the Pope so by Traditions of the Church nothing is understood but the Ordinances made or approoved by the Pope for they subsist not but by his authoritie and though they haue passed through a Councell yet the Pope can change abolish them and institute new in their stead without wayting for a Councell For should he haue lesse authoritie over Traditions then over the holy Scripture wherein he can alter the Ordinances and Institutions of our Lord He can dispense against the Apostle should not he be able to dispense against a Councell or against the custome which hath authorised a Tradition It is the same that Andradius expresly teacheth in the second Booke of his Defence of the Tridentine Faith Liquet minime eos â—rrasse qui dicunt Romanos Pontifices posse nonnunquam in legibus dispensare a Paulo et a primis quaetuor Concilys Greg. 1. lib. 1. Epist 24. Those saith hee erre not who affirme that sometimes the Popes in their lawes can dispence contrary to that of S. Paul and the foure first Councels which are the
the Scripture of adding to the Creed of dispensing against the Apostle and of establishing new Articles of faith aâ— we haue shewed by multitudes of proofes by the practise of the church of Rome So as now wee are not to consider what doctrines haue been taught from the mouth of the Apostles but it is endeavoured to make us receiue all the Traditions which the Popes haue added not onely to the Scriptures but also to the preaching of the Apostles for inviolable lawes and infallible rules Our adversaries then come back to this that the Church of Rome cannot erre in her Traditions for shee cannot erre in this Tradition that shee cannot erre They would haue us beleeue the Tradition of the Romish Church because the Tradition of that Church hath so ordained it So as this third Maxime leadeth vs backe to the second which holdeth that the Pope cannot erre and this Maxime that the Pope cannot erre leadeth us to the first that is to say to the Succession of Saint Peter wherof God ordained nothing from whence they haue made this infallibilitie to spring forth It is lamentable to heare how they speake of the antiquitie of their Traditions yea when they be fresh and moderne They heard their fathers say that they heard from others and they againe from others that the Apostles haue taught these things by mouth onely and did disperse them amongst some few Thus they make a brittle cord which bindeth not the consciences and their beleefe striving to rove backe through fifteene or sixteene ages wherein they see not one jot is lost in the way in stead of beginning at the fountaine to wit at Iesus Christ and his Apostles and to learne in their writings that which they haue taught for a Commandement of the Lord or of the Apostles had in one word freed them from all doubt and difficultie CHAP. XII That our Adversaries alledging the Scripture doe contradict themselues and alledge Scripture for Traditions in generall without touching the particulars wherein they finde the Scripture contrary IT is the propertie of lying to say and unsay involving it selfe in contradictions Our adversaries build the authoritie of the Scripture upon the Tradition of the Church and then contradicting themselues they labour to ground Tradition vpon the testimony of Scripture Their custome is to alledge Scripture not to defend every one of their Traditions in particular but they endeavour to prooue in general that the Scripture speaketh of Traditions approveth them Presupposing without proofe thâ—â— the traditions wherof the Scripture maketh mention are those which in our times are received by the Church of Rome and where of the body of Papistry is compounded And herein they doe wisely For what should they find in the scripture that may be of use to uphold so many new inventions unlessâ— perhaps they would ground the abridgement of the cup upon the words of our Saviour Drinke ye â— Math. 26. 27. of it And upon the words of Sainâ— Paul writing to the people of Coâ—rinth Let a man examine himself 1 Cor. 11. 28. chap. 10. 17. and so let him eat of that Bread an drinke of that Cup. As likewise â— are all partakers of one and the same Bread and one and the same Cup according to the vulgar translation Or they would ground the single life of Priests and Bishops vpon the Apostles Commandement wherein he chargeth a Bishop to bee 1 Tim. 3. ver 2. 4. husband of one wife having his children in subjection with all gravity as also If they cannot containe let them 1 Cor. 7. 9. marry for it is better to marry then to burne Or Invocation of Saints vpon the words of Solomon that God onely 2 Chro. 6. 30 knoweth the hearts of men And vpon those of Saint Paul How shall they Rom. 10. 14 call upon him in whom they haue not beleeved And vpon those words of Iesus Christ When yee pray say Our Father which art in heaven c. Luk. 11. 2. Or private Masses and without Communicants upon this reason that Saint Paul calleth the holy Supper A Communion And upon 1 Cor. 10. 16 this that Iesus Christ giving bread to his disciples hath said Take eat for in their solitary Masses no man assisteth to whom the Priest may say Take Or the power of the Pope to depose Kings and to make them kisse his feet upon these sentences of the Apostles Feare God Honour 1 Pet. 2. 17. the King and vpon this Let every Rom. 13. 1. man bee subiect to superiour powers and vpon the example of Iesus Christ who payed tribute and washed his Apostles feet Or Service and Prayers in a strange language upon that which the Apostle speaketh Except you 1 Cor. 14. 9. 19. vtter by the tongue words easie to bee vnderstood how shall it be knowen what is spoken for yee shall speake into the ayre And I had rather speake in the Church five words with my vnderstanding then ten thousand in an vnknowne tongue Or difference of meates upon that which the Apostle sayth If any of them that beleeve not invite 1 Cor. 10. 27 you to a feast and ye be disposed to goe whatsoever is set before you eate asking no question for conscience sake And upon that which the same Apostle calleth the instructions of those that sayd touch not tast not handle not humane Commandements and doctrines although they were made for devotion and to subdue the flesh as he hath it in the 2 chap. to the Colos 21. 22. 23. Or merite of workes of condignity as they are called or of equivalence and congruity upon the words of our Saviour When you Luk. 17. â—â— shall have done all that is commanded you say we are vnprofitable servants Or workes of supererogation not commanded upon the summe of the Law which inioyneth to love God with all the heart and with all the strength For in these words is commanded all the good that man can doe and upon that where Saint Paul in the 4. to the Phil. 8. chargeth us to addict our selves to all things commendable and vertuous whereupon it followeth that if the works of supererrogation are vertuous and praise worthy they are commanded and vpon this that the perfection of the Angels doth consist in obeying the Commaundement of God Psal 103. 20. and not to doe more then he hath commanded Or borrowed satisfactions upon that which the Apostle testifieth that every man shall carry his owne burthen Galat. 6. 5. and that every man shall receiue his owne proper reward according to his owne labour 1 Cor. 3. 8. Or offerings of Priests in making sacrifices for the living and the dead upon that which Iesus Christ hath sayd Doe this in remembrance of me which is the place for proofe thereof that the Counsell of Trent in the 22. session wil have to be received of every man under paine of an Anathema Or festivall play dayes upon the
Pag. 1009. Et quat aux auteris plus proches du siecle Apostouque encore qu'il ne s'y trouue pas de vestages de vesta coustume c. Pag. 994. Quelques particuliers 〈◊〉 que les ames des fideles 〈◊〉 point la visin is Diâ—â— avant is augament final c. L'Eglise n'avcit point incore prononce la decisian la dessus is due to be the best versed in the study of the Father's confesfeth freely that in the Authors neerest approching to the Apostles time there appeareth no trace of this custome of invoking Saints Yea he acknowledgeth that then when S. Augustine wrote which was some 420. yeeres after the birth of our Saviour the doctrine of those which hold that the Saints know not the occurrences of things acted here below was not condemned and that the Church had not yet made a decision thereupon and indeed all that our Adversaries alledge out of the Fathers of the three first ages and more then halfe the fourth upon this question are passages ser ving to prove that the Saints pray for us which is a point that willingly wee condiscend unto but not to prove it behovefull for us to invoke the Saints nor to allow them a religious service The approbation of the bookes 3. Maccabees of Maccabees amongst other books Divine and Canonicall is inserted by our Adversaries in their unwritten Traditions Yet this is not a Tradition received from the beginning by all the Catholike Le Concile de Laodiceâ— Can. 58. Melâ—â—â—â— aâ—â—gué pur Eusebe â—â— 5. libâ—â—â— foni histoirà chap. 24. Origene surâ—â—s primier Ps 〈◊〉 par Eâ—seb lib. 6 cap. 24 Tertull â—â— 4 liure de ses Carmes Eujebe Chron. Olymp. 116. 〈◊〉 Cateeltesi quarta Athanas Epost 39. Synops Na-Zianz Caâ—â—â—n Epiph. de mensuris et ponderibus Hilar. prologo Psalmorum Church the Councell of Laodicea rejecteth them and Meliton Bishop of Sardius neere the time of the Apostles and Origen and Tertullian and Eusebius and Athanasius and Cyril of Ierusalem and Hilarie and Gregorie of Nazianzene and Amphilochius Bishop of Iconia and Epiphanius Bishop of Salamine and Philustreus Bishop of Bresse and Saint Ierome in Prologâ— Galeato and in his Preface upon the Bookes of Salomon and Ruffin upon the Lords Prayer all of these were persons remarkeable in the third and fourth ageâ— Yea and Pope Gregorie the 1. who wrote neere upon the end of the fifth age in the 19. of his Morals Chap. the 17 as we have proved elsewhere in amplemanner wherefore this is no Tradition received wholly and at all times by the Church universall By this very Plea the Romish 4. Indulgences Indulgences ought to be rejected the which Indulgences I understand to bee a Tradtion wherewith the Pope heapeth up the superfluity of the satisfactions of Iesus Christ and the Saints to the treasure of the Church and convertech them to payment for others by his Indulgences which he hoardeth in certaine Churches of Rome and causeth that the people from all parts repaire thither to purchase pardons I say that these Indulgences are new and that neither the Apostles nor their disciples did convert the superaboundance of the sufferings of Abrabam or of Saint Iohn the Baptist or of the Virgine Mary to payment for others and kept no treasury to hold the superabounding satisfactions of the Saints and gave no pardons of one or two hundred thousand yeeres as the Pope doth and that these Indulgences have beene altogether unknowne in the first ages of the Christian Church by the plaine confession of our Adversaries Cardinall Cajetan in the 2. Chap. of his Treatise of Indulgences hath these words * De ertu IndulgentiaruÌ„ si certituâ—â— habert posset veritati indà ganda opem ferret Verum quia nulla sacra Scriptura nulla priscoruÌ„ Doctoâ—uÌ„ GraecoruÌ„ aut Lâ—â—inoruÌ„ au 〈◊〉 asscripra hane ad nostraÌ„ deduxit notitiam sed hee solum a treemtis ennâ— scriprurae coÌ„mendatuÌ„ de ve tustus Paâ—â—tbus c. Gabrtel Biel Lect. 57. Decendum quod ante tempora B. Gregorij modicus vel â—ullus fuit vsus Indulgentiarum Nuâ—â—â— autem crebrescit 〈◊〉 vsuâ— quiae sine dubiâ— Ecclesia habens spiritaÌ„ sponsi sut Christi et idcirco non errans c. Navan us Coment de Iobel â—t Indutg pag. 545 Quate autent apud antâ—qâ—os tam rara apud recentiores taÌ„ frequens sit Indulgentiarum mentio docuit ille vit sanctissimus c. Iâ—hannis Roffensis c◠〈◊〉 ea de re verboruÌ„ summa est Quod non certo constat à 〈◊〉 primuÌ„ tradi coeperint c. Quod multa aâ— Evangelijs â—t alijs scripturu nuÌ„c sunt â—xcusa â—ucuâ—â—ntius intellectu perspicacius quaÌ„ fuerunt olim Quod nemo â—â— dubitat orthodoxus an Purgatâ—rium sit de quo tameÌ„ apud priscos illos nulla vel quaÌ„ rarissima fiebat mentio Quod non fuit tam necessaria siue Purgatâ—rij siue Indulgâ—tiâ—rum fides explicita in â—rimitiua ecâ—lesia atque â—unc est c. Anton. Sum. â—â— S. Theolog. art 1. tit 10. 3. de Indul. l. 202. Veâ—tijs ann â—82 5. bridgeent of Cup. If we could have any certainty concerning the originall of Indulgences it would helpe as much in the disquisition of the truth but we have not by writing any authority either of the holy Scripture or of ancient Doctors Greeke or Latine that affordeth us the least knowledge thereof Gabriel Biel Lect. 57. upon the Canon of the Masse We must confesse that before the time of Gregory that is to say in the six first ages the use of Indulgences was very little or none at all but now the practice of them is growne frequent for without doubt the Churoh hath the Spirit of Christ her Spouse and therefore erreth not Navarrus the Popes Penitentiary What is the cause that among the ancients so little mention is made of Indulgences and among it the moderne they are in such use Iohn of Rochester most holy and reverend for his dignity of Bishop and Cardinall hath taught us the reason saying that The explicite faith whether it bee of Purgatory or of Indulgences was not so necessary in the Primitive Church as now And a little after Whil st there was no heed taken to Purgatory no man enquired after Romish Indulgences because thereupon dependeth the properâ—y and worth of them Antonine Archbishop of Florence whom the Pope canonized for a Saint speaketh to the same purpose Touching Indulgences we have nothing expresly recited in holy Scripture although the saying of the Apostle be alledged upon this subject 1 Cor. If I have pardoned any thing I have done it for your sake in the person of Christ Nor are found at all in the writings of the ancient Doctors but of the moderne It is therefore no small abuse to place Indulgences amongst Apostolike Traditions Of the same ranke is that Tradition which excludeth the people from the communion of the Cup it
in ipsius pastoris vocibus in Euangelistarum praedictionibus loboribus hoc est in 〈◊〉 Caenoniâ— is sanctorum librerum authoritatibus their Bishops and the beleefe of the people saith Such like matters being layd aside let them demonstrate and proue their Church if they be able not in discourses and rumors of Africans not by the Councells of their Bishops nor by the writings of such and such disputants nor by cheating signes and miracles for against those devices we are armed and prepared with the word of God but by the ordinances of the Law by the predictions of the Prophets by the Canticles of the Psalmes by the words of the Sheepheard himselfe by the preachings and paines taking of the Evangelists that is to say by all the Canonicall authorities of the holy Bookes But as concerning another difficulty proposed to wit that there was obscurity in the Scripture and that there was difference and disagreement touching the sense of the passages which were alledged hee doth not in manner of our adversaries who striue to make the Church infallible interpreter for in so doing one of the parties should be judge and the Church should not bee subject to any judgment but he averreth that leaving the obscure passages every one may make use of those that are plaine presupposing that what is said obscurely in one passage is cleerly manifested in others Assuring withall that there is no other way to avoyd doubtfulnesse and Cap. 4. Hoc etiam praedico atque propono vt quaeque aperta manifesta deliga mus quae si in S. Scripturis non inuentreÌ„tur nullo modo essent vnde aperireÌ„tur clauso illustraereÌ„tur obscura Lib. 2. de doct Chri. cap. 9. In his quae aperté posita sunt in Scriptura inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent fideÌ„ moresque vivendi difficulty I propose this saith he to the end we may chuse the passages that are most cleere and manifest the which being not found in the holy Scriptures there should be no further meanes to open things that are shut up and explaine the obscure For as he speaketh in another place In matters that are plainely set downe in the holy Scriptures are found all things that concerne the faith and good manners As Basil hath it in his Breviores Regulae at the 267. Answere The matter that seemeth to bee obscurely mentioned in some passages of the Scripture divinely inspired are interpreted by that which is more cleerly set downe in other places Hee in his third booke against Maximine Chap. 14. disputeth thus Sed nunc â—nec ego Nicanum nec tu debes Ariminensa tanquaÌ„ pâ—aiudicaturus proferre Concilium Nec ego huius authoritatate nec tu illius detineris ScripturaruÌ„ authoritatibus non quoruÌ„cimquo propijs sed vtrique communibus testibus res cuÌ„ re causa cum causa ratio cuÌ„ ratione concertet against an Hereticke Now I ought not alledge the Nicene Councell nor thou the Ariminensian by way of prejudging I am not bound to the authority of that nor thou to the authority of this Let one thing be opposed to another one cause to another and one reason to another reason and this by authorities of the Scriptures which are not particular to such and such but are common witnesses to one and the other party Origen in his Homily upon Ieremie It is necessary that we bring the Necesse nobis est sanctas Scripturas in testimonium vocare SeÌ„sus quippe nostri enarrationes sine his testibus non habent fideÌ„ Bell. lib. de verbo Dei noÌ„ scripto cap. 11. sect 2. holy Scriptures to witnesse for without them our opinions and reports are not worthy to be beleeved Bellarmine answereth that Origen speaketh only of obscure questions concerning which he thinketh it behoovefull that they be taught by the Scripture But besides that the whole proceeding of Origen in this passage maketh the contrary to appeare the Cardinall deceiveth himselfe if hee thinke that the things easie to bee understood as that God hath created the world and that Iesus Christ is dead for us have not as much need of the authority of the Scripture as those that are obscure but on the contrary it is not necessary to penetrate into the knowledge of many obscure things and God hath not deemed it requisite to satisfie curiosity therein Moreover Bellarmine speaking in that manner condemneth a great number of Traditions in the Romish Church which are most obscure as the Tradition of Limbus for the Fathers and that for little infants The Tradition that the Saints know our thoughts and behold all things in Gods face The Tradition of accidents without subject in the Eucharist The Tradition that the Virgine Mary is crowned Queene of heaven which are things wherein mans understanding is benummed all being full of uncertaine presumptions And it were most needfull to have the Scripture testifying for them if it bee so that in obscure things wee ought to bee taught by the holy Scripture Theod. lib. 1. Histor ca. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will adde the opinion of the Emperour Constantine the great for a close who was the man in this world after the Apostles that did most good to the Christian Church Of him Theodoret reporteth that at the overture of the great Nicene Councell exhorting the 318. Bishops assembled to determine controversies hee speaketh in this manner The Evangelicall and Apostolicke bookes and the Oracles of the ancient Prophets instruct us plainely in our Beleefe concerning divine matters Wherefore all unfriendly contention being throwne to the ground let us draw the solving of doubts from the words divinely inspired This holy discourse displeaseth Bell lib. de verb. Dei nâ— scripto cap. 11. §. tertio Eâ—at ConstaÌ„tinus magnus Imperator sed non magnus Ecclesiâ— Doctor And rad lib. 2. Defens Fidei Trid. initio Non advertuÌ„t imprudentes hoâ—ines tantuÌ„ Arianis qui Sâ—leuciâ— convenerunt ist aÌ„ Constanâ—ini â—rationâ—â— arrisâ—ssâ— Bellarmine for he saith That Constantine was a great Emperour but no great Doctor of the Church and that he understood not the secrets of religion And Andradius affirmeth that these words of Constantine pleased none but the hereticall Arians But who was he among the Ancients that ever blamed this Emperour for speaking so Yea doe not all the Historians magnifie his prudence and sage management of affaires in this Councell And verily this Councell hath followed his counsell and refuted not the Arians by other strength of Argument then by the holy Scripture It is evident by this passage that Constantine untill then had allowed no other instruction but by the holy Scriptures and that no man taught after the fashion of the Romish Church at this time wherein men begin with Tradition in saying that the authority of the Scripture is founded vpon the Tardition of the Church If then in matters necessary to salvation these Doctors for three or foure ages
after the Apostles did reject all Traditions not contained in the holy Scriptures much more and with stronger reason it standeth that after so many ages transacted there should be lesse probability of cause to make new additions For when shall there be any cessation of adding Bellarmine in his 3. chapter against Barkley perceiuing that the Popes power to depose Kings is destitute of all Testimony of antiquity Non rectâ— dâ— Ecclesia sentit qui nihil admittit nisi quod exprâ—ssâ— in vetâ—râ— Ecclesia scriptuÌ„ aut factum â—sse legit Quâ—sâ— Ecclesia posterâ—â—ris temporis auâ— desiâ—rit essâ— Eclesia aut facultatâ— non habuerit explicandi declarandi constituendi â—tiam et iubâ—ndâ— quâ— ad fideÌ„ et mores Christianos pertinent saith that hee judgeth not soundly of the Church of Christ who admitteth nothing but what he readeth expressely to haue beene done or sayd in the ancient Church As if the Church of the latter time had either discontinued and left off to be a Church or had not the faculty of explicating or declaring constituting and ordaining matters which concerne the faith and manners of Christians Whence it followeth that the Church of Rome is not yet compleate and finished in her perfection seeing that precepts touching the faith and rule of moralitie may be added thereunto as indeed there are yet many that are hot in the forge and freshly hammered upon the anvile of avarice and ambition But this Cardinall ought to consider that seeing this Tradition touching the Popes power to depose Kings maketh the Pope King of Kings It is not just or reasonable that the Pope should be judge thereof nor that he should bee permitted without rendering accompt to any other person to introduce such Traditions without the word of God whereby to enveagle the temporall wealâ—h and to make himselfe the moâ—arch on earth By this very doctrine the Iesuite equalleth in authority the Romish Church of this time to the Church of the Apostles time Yet it is the Church of the Apostles time which regulateth the succeeding ages And those first Heraulds of grace in Iesus Christ are yet seated vpon the twelue thrones ludging the twelue Tribes of Israel From this source proceeded the Bull Exurge which is at the end of the last Lateran Councell placing this amongst the heresies of Luther when he sayd that It is not in the power of the Pope and Church of Rome to establish Articles of faith Hence also proceeded the remonstrance Syn Flor. Sess vlt. Romana Ecclâ—siâ— nâ—cessitatâ— vrgente iurâ— suo partâ—culâ— illam ex filioque Symbâ—lâ— appâ—nere liâ—u â—ssâ— which the councel of Florence published that the Church of Rome had just power to adde to the Creed CHAP. XXIIII How the Texts and Passages of the Fathers which our adversaries alledge for the unwritten Traditions ought to be understood SEeing that in matter of Christian faith and the points necessary to salvation the Fathers doe unanimiously cleaue to the sole word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures it were a strange thing if after this they should seeke to ground themselues upon Traditions and to surmise in matter of salvation another word unwritten Certainely the Doctors who should destroy that which they have built vp ought not to be beleeved by no meanes should they bee credited who credit not themselues Now for the better purging of Three sorts of good Traditions them from this blame it would be necessary to remember that which wee have formerly spoken to wit that we reiect not all sorts of Traditions for the Scripture it selfe is a Tradition which is one reason A second is because there are Traditions which are not matters of Faith nor necessary to salvation but customes and reglements touching Ecclesiasticall policy which wee willingly approove when wee see that they have beene receiued in the auncient Church by a generall consent And Satan having alienated any one of these customes and turned it to Idolatry or converted it to any other end unpractised before wee doe not beleeue that in deserting such a custome Christian Religion is a whit impaired but it were wisely done to barge up that gate against the devill A third is because there are also Doctrines taught in the Scripture which are there not found in the same termes as the Ancients propose them but are therein found in equivalent words or are deduced from thence by necessary consequence If any man will call these doctrines Traditions wee will not quarrell him thereupon provided that he allow such Traditions to be bottomed with the Scripture and there to be found in substance I say then as often as the Fathers mention and give way to Traditions their meaning is of those three sorts afore recited that is to say either of the Scripture it selfe or of customes and reglements of Ecclesiasticall policy and of matters not necessary to salvation or of occurrences contained in the Scripture yet not there found in the same words as the auncients propose them but in substance and â—y consequence to proove the which wee have employed the Chapter following CHAP. XXV A proofe of that which went before SOme doe object Irenaeus unto us who wrote abou the end of the second age that in his 3. book 4. chap. disputing against Hereticks that gave no admission to the Scriptures laboureth to convince them by Traditions that is to say as he expoundeth himselfe by the succession of the doctrine left from hand to hand in the Churches erected by the Apostles What Quid auseÌ„ si neque Apostoli Scripturas quidem reliquissent nobis nonne oporteret ordinem sequi traditionis quam tradiderant â—â—s quibus coÌ„mittehant Ecclesias saith he If the Apostles had not left us the Scriptures would it not have beene needfull to follow the order of Tradition which they delivered to those unto whose trust they committed the Churches And to good purpose he sayd it for if wee had not the holy Scriptures wee should have been constrayned to have recourse vnto weaker meanes and of lesse certainty And it behooveth that when he speaketh in that manner it bee to such as are refractary and averse from the Scriptures but not to vs who cordially embrace them and set up our last rest upon them Moreover from the time of Irenaeas the succession was but short and the memory of things taught by the mouth of the Apostles fresh of the which the remembrance would bee razed and put out if we had not the writings of the Apostles For the continuation of time and the subversion corruption and schisme of so many Churches which then unamimously concurred and are now at variance boasting of their succession maketh this search and examination impossible to the Christian people and full of uncertainty But at length what are these doctrines which Irenâ—us would have to bee taught and learned by Tradition if we had not the Scripture Is it invocation of Saints service of Images adoration of Relickes the
Hereticke to whom the Orthodox answereth I dâ—ny not the custome of the Churches to be so c. This passage is considerable For I doubt not but the reading of such passages maketh our adversaries sicke at the very heart seeing that the unwritten Traditions whereof the Fathers do make mention as of Traditions descended from the Apostles are Traditions which the Church of Rome hath rejected and when the ancient Fathers do make recital of those unwritten Traditions they put not invocation of Saints amongst them nor Images of the Trinity nor service to the Images of Saints nor the Communion under one kind nor Romish Indulgences nor the forbidding to read the Scripture without speciall permission nor the Limbus for the Fathers or that for little infants nor prayer in an unknowne tongue nor the assumption of the Virgine Mary bodily into heaven or her Coronation in the Majesty of Queene of Heaven nor Masses without communicants nor the power of the Pope to give and take Kingdomes and to release soules out of Purgatory c. The Reader may note by the way what little reason there is to insert the custome of standing in prayer from Easter to Whitsuntide amongst the Apostolicall Traditions seeing that in the 20. chap. of the Acts 36. and at the 21. chap. 5. the Apostle Saint Paul prayeth kneeling betweene the Paschall and Pentecost as appeareth by the 6. and 16. verses of the 20. chap. As for Hierome his opinion touching these ceremonies and externall obseruations is farre differing from that of Basil if it be true that Basil is the authour of that booke de Sancto Spiritu For marke what he saith in his 28. Epistle to Ego te breviter illud admonenduÌ„ puto traditiones Ecclesiastieas prasertim qua fidei non officiant ita observaÌ„das vt a maioribus tradita sunt nec altorum consue udineÌ„ alioruÌ„ coÌ„trario more subverti Lucinius I thinke is expedient briefely to advertise thee that Ecclesiâ—sticall Traditions especially those which offend not the Faith ought to be observed according as men haue received them from their auncestors And that the custome of some should not bee subuerted by the custome of others contrarily practised Hee will have euery man to follow the custome of his owne Church in matters not contrary to the Faith without taking in ill part that other Churches have a contrary custome which is as much to say that hee accompteth these things indifferent in their owne nature And it is the counsell that Saint Ambrose gave to Saint August Epist 118. ad Ianuarium Cum Romam venio ieiu no sabbate cum hic sum non ieiune Siâ—â—tiam tu ad quam fortè EcclesiaÌ„ vâ—neru eiusmorem serva fi euiguaÌ„ non vis esse sâ—andalo nec quiÌ„quem tibi Augustine saying When I am at Rome I fast on Saturday but whâ—n I am here meaning at Milan I doe not fast So at what Church sâ—euer thou shalt arriue follow the custome of it if thou desirest not to giue occasion of dislike to any man and that no man should scandalize or bee offensiue to thee Pope Gregory the first about the yeere of our Lord 595. sending Augustine the Monke into England not to plant Christianity there for that was brought in long before but to establish the Popes authority to which the Christians of that Iland were not then subject was asked some questions by the sayd Augustine amongst the rest Interrogationes Augustini sub finé operuÌ„ Gregorij Cur cum vâ—a sit sides sunt EcelesiaruÌ„ censuctudines taÌ„ diversa altera consuâ—tude mtssarâ—â— est in Rom. Eeclefia arque altera in Gallica tenetur Resp Nâ—vit c. Sed mihi placet vt siue in Romana fiue in GallicaneruÌ„ seu in qualibet Eâ—clesia aliquid iâ—â—â—â—nisti quod plus eâ—â—nipâ—tets Dâ—â— placere poâ—â—it sollicite eligas marke but the third There being but one faith why are the customes of the Churches so differing and repugnant Why is there one custome of Masses observed in the Church of Rome and another in that of France This Pope that undertooke not to regulate and shape other Churches to the forme of his owne answereth him Your brotherhood knoweth well what is the custome of the Church of Rome wherein you may remember you had your education But I hold it requisite and good if you find any thing either in the Church of Rome or in that of France or in any other which is more pleasing to God Almighty that you make choyse of it with all diligence and respect To celebrate the Masse at this present in France otherwise then according to the Romish order were a flat rebellion and all that the Pope enjoyneth to the Churches which he subjecteth to himselfe by the assistance of Kings and Princes is granted for inviolable and for an Apostolicall Tradition More especially our adversaries doe flourish insultingly with the words of Chrysostome in his 4. Homily upon the 2. to the Thessal Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith hee it appeareth that the Apostles have not taught all by Epistles but that they have also taught many things without writing and aswell these things as those are worthy to bee beleeved I have already sayd that although the intention of Chrysostome should bee to affirme that the Apostle have taught many Doctrines and Articles of the Christian Faith not contained in holy Scripture yet would it not follow that these were the same poynts which they of the Romish Church advance and put forward as invocation of Saints succession of the Pope in the Primacy of St Peter Images Indulgences c. But Chrysostome suffereth us noâ— to doubt of his intention He understandeth only the things that are not necessary to salvation for as touching the Doctrines that are necessary to salvation he affirmeth in the precedent Homily being the third that they are all contained cleerely in the Scripture Observe his words All that is in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divine Scriptures is cleere and legall all things that are necâ—ssary are therein plainely couched Nothing can be uttered more expresly The same Father in his third Homily upon the Epistle to the Philippians speaketh of the commemoration of the dead in the Eucharist in these words It is not without reason that he hath ordained by the Apostles that in thereverend mysteries a commemoration be made of the dead acknowledging that therby much gaine and good accrueth to them But wee must take notice that the prayer which the ancient Church did make for the dead is rejected by the Romish Church of this time For the Church of Rome prayeth only for the soules of Purgatory to the end their torment may be asswaged or consummated But the ancient Church prayed for the Prophets Apostles and Martyrs and humbly besought that those for whom it petitioned should bee raysed to salvation or should rise earlier and at a better houre then the rest or should be more superficially singed
with the fire of the last judgement Particularly Chrysostome was of opinion that the Soules could not bee tormented without the bodies as hee speaketh in his 39. Homily upon the 1. to the Corintbians And in the same passage where his 3. Homily upon the Epâ—stle to the Philippians is objected to vs hee supposeth that the dead which are comforted by lamentations and prayers are not the faithfull but the infidells So as this passage maketh altogether against the Church of Rome Though Saint Augustine be punctuall and excellent in this subject as we have seene yet they would make him an advocate to plead for unwritten Traditions in matter concerning the faith This holy Father hath beleeved and we with him that the necessary Doctrines which concerne faith and maners are sufficiently contained in the holy Scriptures And for some certaine Customes Ceremonies and outward observations because they are generally received he beleeveth they are derived from ancient unwritten Tradition It becommeth none to gainesay this but frantickes or such as are given to a contradicting humour and are enemies to the peace Good reason for it To give you some instance Aug. ad Ianuar Epist 118. Illa qua non scripta sed tradita custodimus quae quidem toto terrarum orbe servantur dantur intelligi vel ab ipsis Apostolu vel pleparijs Concilijs quoruÌ„ est in Ecclesia saluberrima authoritas commendata atque statuta retine 1. Sicut quod Domini passio et resurrectio ascensio in coelu et adveÌ„tus de coelo Spiritus Sancti anniversaria solemnitate celebraâ—ur It is not commanded in the Scripture to celebrate annually the day of our Saviours Nativity nor of the Paschall nor of the Lords Resurrection nor of Pentecost which is the day whereoâ— the holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles For Saint Augustine in his 118. Epistle bringeth these examples where he saith To stirre up dissentions hereupon for matters in their owne nature not necessary to salvation but authorized by the generall custome of so many ages should be according to my judgment according to the truth a despightfull perversenesse yea a symptome of distraction confounding all concord and quietnesse In like manner doth the Scripture give no charge touching the precise houre of administring the holy Supper Iesus Christ occasionally performed it after Supper to place and substitute the holy Eucharist immediatly to the Paschal Lambe But it appeareth by the History of the Acts that the Apostles were not obliged to this houre and since that time the generall custome was to celebrate it in the morning I say for a man hereupon to separate himselfe from the Communion of the Church and to make a schisme or trouble the peace of the Church in a matter that concerneth not the Doctrine of faith nor is necessary to salvation What is it but stubborne arrogance It is most necessary not to molest the Church for matters not necessary in their owne nature If the mischiefe bee not great for as much as concerneth the Doctrine yet is it of no small importance for what concerneth the manners and the many inconveniences that ensue thereon This is the same that Saint Augustine teacheth in his 118 Epistle to Ianuarius where he argueth the case whether they bee well advised who appoint that on Thursday before the Paschal the holy Supper be twice solemnized that is to say in the morning after evening repast His answer is If Quid horum sit facienuÌ„ si divina Scriptura praescribit authoritas non sit dubitanduÌ„ quin ita facere debeamus vt legimus c. Sioniliter etiam si quid horum totaÌ„ per orbeÌ„ frequentat Ecclesia NaÌ„ hoc quin ita faciendum sit disputare insolentissima insania est the authority of the holy Scripture prescribe what is to be done wee are not to doubt but that wee ought to doe as wee reade c. As also if there bee any thing that the universall Church doth practise thorowout the world For to dispute whether this should bee done or no is a meere lunacie But in other matters as that concerning the houre of the holy Supper which doe vary according to the places he alloweth that every man should follow the custome of his countrey He speaketh of the same otherwhere As in the second booke of QuaÌ„ consuâ—tudineÌ„ credo ex Apostolica traditione vinienteÌ„ sicut multa noÌ„ inveniuntur in literis eorum neque in Concilijs posterioru Et tameÌ„ quia per vniversame custodiuntu Ecclesiam non nisi ab ipsis tradita commendata creduntur Quod vniversa tenet Ecclesia nec Concilijc institutu sed semper retentuÌ„ est no nist auctoritate Apostolica institutuÌ„ rectissimè creditur Apostolis qui deÌ„ nihil exinde praecepâ— king â—t sed contudo alia 〈◊〉 oppnetur Cypriaâ—ab eorum â—ditione ordium â—mpsisse creâ—nda est Si-â—t sunt mul-â—t quae vniâ—ersa tenet Ecclesia at obâ—oc abd Apotolis praecepâ—a bene creduntur quanquaÌ„ scripta non reportantur Baptisme against the Donatists the seventh Chapter Which Custome not to rebaptize Heretickes I beleeve to bee derived from Apostolicall Tradition as many things are not found written in their bookes nor the Councels of posterity after them Neverthelesse because they are kept by the Catholike Church it is beleeved that they were delivered by none but them And in his fourth booke chap. 24. That which the universall Church doth keepe and hath not beene instituted by Councels but hath alwayes beâ—ne preserved is justly beleeved to have beene given for no other Tradition but Apostolicall And in his fifth booke chap. 23. The Apostles have commanded nothing to that purpose speaking of the re-baptizing of Hereticks but we must beleeve that the other Custome which was opposed against Cyprian tooke beginning from their Tradition As there are many things which the universall Church observeth and therefore are beleeved to be instiâ—uted by the Apostles although they appeare not in writing In this Tract he speaketh concerning the Custome of not re-baptizing those who have beene baptized by Heretickes which is no point necessary to salvation For how many men are saved that never heard discourse of this question If a man once baptized bee re-baptized the second time although his second Baptisme be superfluous yet neverthelesse the fault not being in him that is rebaptized he shall not be therefore debarred from salvation Or if the Baptisme of Heretikes be unlawfull yet hee that is converted from heresie to the true faith having received no other Baptisme shall not be deprived of salvation because it happeneth not by his default It is not the privation but the neglect and contempt of Baptisme that impeacheth mans salvation Saint Cyprian and his Predecessour Agrippine and with them all the Bishops of Africke have in this point beene of a contrary opinion to the Romish Church and by expresse Councels have condemned the Doctrine held in that Church Would our
length as also lest the people should compare the vanity of these Traditions with the sanctity and excellence of the holy Scriptures which our Adversaries hinder to bee read with all their might and diligence Moreover our Adversaries doe say that the Pope and the Church of Rome can adde to the Creed and establish new Articles of faith Wherupon it followeth that if Christian Religion may suffer yet more additions to bee matters essentiall the Fathers did vainly labour to make a perfect body of the Christian Religion seeing that it is as yet imperfect I being moved with these considerations which doe altogether hinder them did designe with my selfe to make a collection of all the Traditions of the Church of Rome and to lend helpe to their negligence But being entred therinto I perceived the labour to bee endlesse and was overwhelmed with the multitude It hath happened to mee as to those that settle themselves in an evening to count the first starres that appeare and whilst they are counting the first others appeare then more so as all their reckoning is interrupted This labour increasing underhand dulleth the edge of a mans desire and so much the rather seeing there is no man but is soone weary of gathering uselesse drosse together If I were disposed to make a perfect Catalogue of the Romish Traditions it would bee necessary for me to decipher and paint forth the infinite diversity of Masses the Services and Suffrages of the dead the Rubriques and Proviso's to supply the defects of the Masse arising either from some defect in the person of him that celebrateth or from the place or from the time or from something in the matter or in the intention It would be needfull for me to insert all the lawes touching the administration of the Seven Sacraments and the disciplines of the Romish Pontificallity that direct the collation of the seven Orders The Consecration of the Bishops the Archiepiscopall garment the benediction of Abbots Abbesses and Nuns the Dedication of the Churches the Consecration of the Altars whether fixed or portative together with the vessell and moveables of the Church and Churchyards the reconciliation of the Churches and Church-yards in case of pollution by effusion of blood or by other dishonest act or by the interrement of an Hereticke the benediction of the Images Crosses Corporalls Reliques Bels and Standards the Consecration of the Chrysme and the Fonts the Admonitions Excommunications and Reconcilements of Penitents on Maundy Thursday the forme of Degradings and Exorcismes the single and double shaving the infinite variety of Monkes and their Orders of the divers priviledges and spirituall graces which the Pope hath granted unto them It would like wise bee needfull for mee to represent the lawes of the booke of holy Ceremonies wherein the forme of the Popes Obsequies and Funerals and of the Election and Coronation of a new one is prescribed The submissions which the Kings owe in the Procession that is made at his Coronation and at the Feast The Coronation of the Emperor by the hand of the Pope with his shamefull homages and submissions to his Holinesse The benediction of the Knight of the Church The benediction of the Rose on our Lords day Laetare and of the sword on Christmas night The Consecration of the Agnus Dei The Creation of Cardinals The power of Apostolike Legats The Order of the Consistory and of the Conclave and of the Councel when the Pope is resident there in person or by his Nuntio's The Papall Masse and how the Pope receiveth the Communion The Popes Habits his Episcopall Miter his Royall Crowne and a thousand the like things whereof the very names doe terrisie us and the Lawes and Disciplines for quantity doe surpasse the Bible in thicknesse It would have beene needfull to adde a thousand villanous and ignominious precepts touching busie and unchaste interrogations which the Confessors make the determinations touching the cases of conscience But modesty hath hath not permitted it and I was loath to staine my booke with such infamous rules which teach vices under the shadow of examining and reprehending them Therefore to put some bounds to this trouble I have contented my selfe to bring traditions which concerne the Doctrine that is to say which in some sort thrust at the Law of God and the Doctrine of the Gospel that concerne the Sacraments and the Orders and the Ecclesiasticall charges with some superstitions where the abuse is most grosse and apparant I have drawne all these Traditions from the publike practice from the Councels approved by the Popes from the text of the Masse it selfe and from the Decrees Decretals and Extravagants of the Popes And from some of the more famous Authors as Lombard and Thomas two Princes of the Schoole Bellarmine Vasquez Gregory of Valence Tolet Emanuel Sa that are Iesuites Navarre the Popes Penitentiary the three later I quote most often because they maintaine their sayings by a multigude of other Doctors so as under the name of one Authour I alledge many All such as have hearts disposed to learne shall here see with admiration mixed with griefe as in a small contracted table the whole massie body of Papisme varied with a hundred thousand colours and shall be able thereby to profit For the simple recitall is enough for refutation and to leade foorth into view the mystery of iniquitie FINIS