Emperor the murdred Mauricius his wife and children was the first that gaue the title of vniuersall bishop to Bonifacius the 3. then bishop of Rome And this was 600. yéeres after the birth of our sauiour Christ Your church was in hatching the later 300. yéeres of the 600. but neuer perfected before Phocas time Wherefore your antiquity is nothing Your vniuersalitie was neuer so large as the Romain Empire your vnity diuided into moe sects then euer the heathen Philosophers were Your succession of Bishops is such that no man can iustly prooue that Peter was the first nor that euer hee was Bishop of Rome Or if hée were Bishop of Rome no man can certainely say how longe he was there Bishop nor who it was that was the next Bishop after him And by the testimony of your owne Hystorians some in the succession of your Bishops were as wicked men as euer liued vpon earth and one was a woman an arrant whore And bisides all this your Apostolike seate of Rome that you bragge so much of hath bin voyde for the space of one yea two yeeres togither more You haue had also two yea three Popes at one time and much blood hath bin shed about the triall of their titles But our vniuersality is and euer hath bin as large as the whole world yea when in the iudgement of men of the best sorte our Church seemed to bée cleane rooted out as in the daies of king Achab it séemed to bée in the kingdome of Israell yet had God his number knowne vnto him although not knowne vnto men And therefore when Elias complayned and said The children of Israell haue forsaken thy couenant they haue ouerthrowne thine alter they haue slaine thy prophets I alone doo remaine and they seeke after my life 3. Reg. 19. 3. Reg. 19. Then did the Lord answere and saide vnto him I haue reserued for my selfe 7000. men that haue not bowed their knees to Baall As then and there so at all times and in all places the Lord hath had hath still and still will haue in despight of all Turkish and Popish enimies his number knowne vnto him selfe that number is his Catholique knowne church And this church hath God made able at all times to conuince all heresies and Heretikes And at this day hée dooth for euer hereafter hee will make the same church able to conuince all turkish popish Heretikes Heresies although not by the sword yet by the word as at this day you M. Offerer and all your popish Catholique brethren may sée if you haue eyes to sée willes to consider of that which you doo and must néedes sée Our vnitie also in the substance of religion is the same that was taught by the Patriarches by the Prophets and by Iesus Christ and his Apostles and was by the first Christians that were in Roome and in the rest of the Citties that then were vnder the dominion of the Romane Emperours receiued holden and professed That is with one full consent wée beléeue holâ—e and confesse all the Articles that are conteyned in the three Créedes namely the Apostles Créede the Nicene Creede and the Créede of Athanasius We beléeue as S. Paule hath taught the Ephes to beléeue that there is but one Lorde one faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all which is aboue all Ephe 4. and in vs all Ephe. 4. Our succession of Bishops is such as the succession of the Prophets was We make no account of that succession of Bishops in Rome which you doo bragge so much of for the Scribes and Pharisies might haue bragged of such a succession as well as you doo and might haue sayd to our Sauiour Christ as you do to vs where was your Gospel 400. yéeres past But we doo make account of that succession wherein God hath in his good times stirred vp some in the spirite of Elias to deale in doctrine with men of all sortes as Elias dyd with Achab and the Isralities and as Iohn Baptist dyd with Herode and with the Iewes in his time The high Préestes had theyr succession euen from Aaron as your Popes haue had from Peter some of them asspiring to that estate by one sinister meane and some by an other as by the Histories it appeareth But in the meane while God stirred vp Prophets but now and then for the worde of God was precious in the dayes of Elie the high Préest when the Lord stirred vp Samuel to bee a Prophet And when Iohn Baptist was stirred vp there had béene no Prophet amongst the Iewes for the space of many yéeres together This was the execution of Gods iust iudgement vpon the Iewes because they had not regarded those Prophets which he had styrred vp amongst them In like manner in the time that hath béene since the Incarnation of our Sauiour Christ because men had giuen ouer themselues to beleeue lies did not regard the trueth God tooke from them such as had laboured to leade them in the waie of trueth and gaue them ouer to the efficacie of error Yea béeing wilfully blinde hee gaue them blinde guides that might leade them the right way into the ditch of distruction Thus you may sée if you haue a lust to behold the truth that not your new found Popish Catholique Church but our most auncient Christian Catholique Church is that Church that hath continued thoroughout firme and stedfast whiles all other couenticles and congregations aswell of Arians c as of Mahumetans and Popish Antichristians and the rest of Heretickes of all sortes haue decayed and béene conuinced and ouerthrowne and that by none other Church then by the knowne Catholique Church of Christ builded vpon the rocke Christ which Peter confessed Math. 16. Math. 16. And vpon none other foundation Wherefore I doo require you now to yéelde and recant according to your promise The fifte Offer Offerer Fifte if it may sufficiently be prooued that any other Church then the common knowne Catholique Church of Christ hath instituted and ordayned all goodly ceremonies and solemne obseruations in the same daily practised and vsed as the festiuall daies of Christmas Candelmas Easter Whitsontyde the feastes of the Apostles and holy Euangelistes Saint Michael the Archangell and of all hallowes and blessed Saintes the obseruation of the holy fast in lent and Ember dayes the fast of th'apstoles and of all the aforefayd festâ—uall Euens besides the weekely fast of Fridayes and Saterdayes and the rest yet obserued and allowed on both sides to the honor and glory of God then I will recant and not before Crowley Vnder the name of goodly ceremonies you comprehend all manner of ceremonies good and badde such as are daylie practised and vsed in your Church Your Baptising of Churches or buriall places of Belles and of Shippes to sayle on the Seas are goodly ceremonies Your hallowing of bread water or salte of Waxe and Wax candles bowes beades garmentes fire and
Protestant to shew cause and reason why our congregations doo those things that neuer any of our congregations did Can this Offerer prooue that euer any congregation of Protestants did admit and receiue all bishops priests deacons and other spirituall officers c. Wée doo in déede receiue the men that haue bin bishops Priests and deacons c. And finding them meete to serue either in the places that they serued in before or in any other wée doo employ them in seruice in those places that we finde them méete for And thus we doo not bicause they haue bin ordered after your Antichristian maner but bicause wee sée in them manifest signes of repētance that euer they yéelded to be made ministers of Antichristian religion do desire to be admitted to serue God in the ministration of the true right religion of Christ As for your shauing your clipping annoynting that you doo vse in the ordring consecrating of your bishops priests deacons we estéeme as lightly of it as you either doo or can estéeme of our maner of ordering and consecrating of ministers of all sortes Wée know that no ceremonies that are or can be vsed in this behalfe either by you or by vs doo or can giue any ability to the persons towards whom those ceremonies are vsed in the admitting of them but we doo vse them as meanes to put those persons in remembrance of those duties that doo belonge to them in the office calling whereunto they are called admitted We doo not thinke that you doo or can by your ceremonies imprimere characterē indelebilem that is imprint into such as you doo order a marke that can not be blotted out so that your priestes being once made priestes must continue so for euer Neither doo we thinke it necessary to degrad your priests when they returne vnto vs from your Antichristian religion as you vse to doo before you deliuer them to the seculer power when you haue cōdemned them for heresie For we know that the marke of the beast which they receiued at your hands is blotted out by their hearty and vnfained repentance the signes wherof we sée in them before we doo admit them to serue in any calling amongst vs either Ecclesiasticall or Ciuill You might much better haue charged vs with consenting vnto and allowing of the lawfulnes of your priests bishops bicause we be not rebaptised but then perhaps you think we would charge you with the like consent and approouing of the lawfulnes of our ministery for that you doo not rebaptise such as haue bin baptised by vs. But to be short I conclude thus Though we doo receiue such as doo come from you as S. Paule was receiued comming from the Phariseis doo admit them to such offices amongst vs as wee finde them méete for as S. Paule was admitted to the office of preaching ministration of sacraments yet we doo not thereby consent vnto or allow of the lawfulnes of your Antichristian ministers more then the church that receiued S. Paule cōming from the Phariseis did thereby consent vnto or allow of the sect of the Phariseis If this be a cause reason sufficient as I think it is why the Protestants should neither take your Antichristian ministers to be méete ministers of Christes religion so longe as they remaine amongst you nor refuse them when they shall repent bring forth fruits worthy méete for repentance and yet notwithstanding account take your church for Antichristian then I require you M. Offerer to fulfill your promise and recant although you haue hitherto refused so to doo The Thriteenth offer Offerer Thirteenth I require of the learned Protestant to expresse what furniture furdrance or cōmoditie to the honor serurce of God did christianity or any part of Christendome receiue by his church or congregations what temple or church did you build at any time for your assēbles and seruice of God what bishopricks for the better gouernment of the church did you founde or procure what vniuersities schooles or colledges did you at any time erect for the maintenance of christian doctrine faith and religion when the learned Protestant shal be able to prooue by ecclesiasticall histories and old auncient writers these things to be monuments of their conuenticles and priuate congregations of their faith and religion and not of the common knowne faith religion and Catholique church of Christ then I shall in like maner yeelde and recant and not before Crowley If this Offerer had liued in the dayes of the prophets or of the Apostles hée would haue kept a iolly stur with them for none of them were builders of Temples Synagogues or Churches neither were they Founders of vniuersities schooles or colledges And yet was their faith and religion fruitfull so is ours though none such fruits as this Offerer speaketh of should spring thereout And yet I doo know that these are good works I hope I shal be able to prooue that the Protestants Catholique church hath not bin neither is slack in dooing these works when hability and oportunity may serue them If I might be so bolde with M. Offerer I would demaund of him require him to expresse who it was that builded S. Peters church in Rome and the rest of the most auncient churches in that citie I think he would answere with spéede say thus it was Constantine the first christened Emperor If hée shall so say he shal say truly for so hath Platina and other more auncient Hystorians written But here is the question whether this Constantine were a Protestant Catholike or such a Catholike as this Offerer is For we hold that hee was a protestant Catholike and this Offerer holdeth the contrary The matter then resteth vpon proofe I doo thinke that I haue already prooued sufficiently that Constantine liuing raigning in the end of the first 300. yéeres after Christ could not be an Antichristian catholike as this Offerer is bicause the great Antichrist was not as yet spronge vp although many Antichrists or false Prophets were in the world euen when the Apostle Iohn worte his first Epistle as in the 4. Chap. thereof it appeareth but that great Antichrist that S. Paule nameth the man of sin 2. Thes 2. did not begin to shew himselfe in the world before the daies of Bonifacius the third that tooke vpon himselfe the name estate of the vniuersall head of Christs vniuersall church And that was the time wherein your Schismaticall church fell away from that true Catholike church whereof Constantine was and wée that beare the name of Protestants now bée The bishopricks also that were appointed or founded at any time within the first 600. yéeres after Christ all the Vniuersities Schooles Colledges that were foūded with in that time were founded builded by protestant Catholiques For although many corruptions were spronge vp in the Catholike church whereof wée be before the end of the first 600.
Christ which was 70. yéeres after as it is supposed that Peter was made bishop of Rome So that the church vsed none of those things that were diuised by him for the space of those 70. yéeres of the first 300. yeeres After this Alexander Sixtus 1. was made bishop of Rome in the yeere 121. after the incarnation of our sauiour Christ if the hystories bee true and the fourescore yeere after the supposed entring of Peter into the Byshopricke of Rome This man diuised sundrie things as Sanctus sanctus sanctus to bée songe in the celebration of the Lords supper But heere I must note how vnlikely this is to bée true for as saint Augustine hath written in the 7. August li. 9. Conf. Ca. 7. Chapter of the 9. booke of his confessions the custome of singing in churches was not begun in the Latine church before the dayes of Ambros who liued about the yeere of our Lord 380. And more ouer it can not bee prooued by any hystories that the Christians had any liberty to builde any church in the citie Rome before the time of Constantine the Emperoure who builded at his owne charges the first churches that the Christians had in Rome But let it bée as Platina hath written in the life of Sixtus the first Hée commanded that Sanctus sanctus sanctus that is holy holy holy should bee songe in the celebration that is in the ministration of the cōmunion But I pray you marke what Platina saith further Nuda primo haec erant c. At the first those things were bare and naked and all thinges were handled simply For when Peter did consecrate hée vsed the prayer Our father Iames the bishop of Hierusalem encreased or enriched these mysteries and so did Basill and other For Celestinus gaue the Introite of the Masse Gregorie the Kyrie eleison Telesphorus the Gloria in excelsis Deo Gelasius the first gaue the Collations and Hierome the Epistle and the Gospell Haleluia was taken from the church of Hierusalem The Credo from the counsell of Néece Pelagius inuented the cōmemoration of the deade Leo the third inuented the Incense Innocent the first inuented the kissing of the Paxe And Sergius ordained that Agnus Dei should bée songe But séeing that in the daies of Sixtus fewe were founde by reason of the often murders or slaughters of Christians that durst professe the name of Christ and the Christians in France did desire to haue a bishop Sixtus did send vnto them one Peregrinus a citizen of Rome c. Thus far Platina By these woords of Platina it appeareth that during the first 80. yeeres after saint Peters supposed entring into the bishopricke of Rome there was no more vsed in the ministration of the Lords supper but the Lords prayer which beginneth thus Our father which arte in heauen c. Celestinus that gaue the Introite of the Masse was not bishop in Rome before the ende of 420. yeeres after Christ so that for the space of 420. yéeres your Masse had no Introite That Gregorie that appointed the Kyrie eleison was made bishop of Rome in the yéere 590. after Christ so that your Masse lacked that parte for the space of 600. yeeres almost Telesphorus added the Gloria in excelsis about 130. yeeres after Christ so that your Masse did lack that parte so longe time Gelasius the first that diuised the Collations was bishop of Rome about 490. yeeres after Christ so that your Masse lacked hir Collations almost 500. yéeres Hieronimus that added the Epistle and Gospell was neuer bishop either in Rome or else where Hee liued in Bethlehem about 380. yéeres after Christ so that your Masse had no Epistle or Gospell for 380. yeeres after Christ And your Halleluia was taken from the church of Hierusalem by Gregorie the first who was bishop of Rome about the yéere of our Lord 590. The Nicene Créede could not be vsed before that councell wherein it was agréed vpon which was 330. yeeres after Christ And Pelagius that inuented the remembrance of the deade was made bishop of Rome in the yeere of our Lord 556. so that for the space of so many yeeres after Christ there was no remembrance of the deade in your Masse Leo the third that inuented the burning of Incense was made bishop of Rome in the yeere 796. after Christ so that for the space of so many yeeres there was no burning of Incense in churches Innocent the first was made bishop of Rome in the yeere 406. hée inuented the kissing of the Paxe at Masse so longe therefore was your Masse without that ceremonie And Sergius that appointed the singing of Agnus Dei was made bishop of Rome in the yeere after Christ 694. or there about so that your Masse lacked hir Agnus Dei for the space almost of 700. yeeres after Christ Now M. Offerer consider with your selfe I pray you whether the learned Protestant may not as easily prooue the antiquitie of his communion booke euen from the Apostles time as you may prooue your Authenticall seruice and ministration of sacraments now daily openly practized If you would with indifferent iudgment weigh al that I haue here written I doo not doubt but you would cōfesse that during the first 90. yéeres after Christs ascention there was no prescribed order set downe in any booke for publike seruice or ministration of sacramēts other then that which is contained in the scriptures Wherefore there is none so great a cause of misliking in oure common booke as that there be so many of your latter inuētions allowed of in it And surely if our princes people would yéelde to a perfect reformation wee might make our communion booke a great deale lesse then it is by blotting out of it all that hath bin inuented by your bishops of Rome Thus I doo thinke I haue said enough to cause you to recant although you would not before The twelfth Offer Offerer I demaund of the learned Protestant to know cause and reason why their congregations doo admit and receiue all bishops priests deacons and other officers spirituall ordered by our Catholike church as men lawfull and sufficient to preach the word of God to minister the Sacramēts to exercise all spirituall iurisdiction in no lesse wise but rather more then if they had bin ordred in their owne congregations whereas the Catholike church of Christ dooth not acknowledge any man of their ordering and calling to be any whit the more fit for any spirituall function in Christ his church then other cōmon lay men When therefore the learned Protestant shal be able to shew good cause and reason why our Catholike church hauing by their owne consent and approouing lawfull priestes bishops and spirituall ministers not to be also the lawfull true and Catholike church of Christ I will then recant and not before Crowley This Offer is altogither friuolous and foolish For what reason was it that mooued this vnreasonable Offerer to require the learned
Gospell and vndoubtedlie you shal be saued Let not the vaine estimation of the world stay you from saying I yéeld and recant although he therto it haue stayed you so that you could not so say notwithstanding that your conscience hath tolde you that you ought so to doo and say The seauenteenth Offer Offerer Seauenteenth I demaund of the learned Protestant whether if the whole space of that thousand yeeres of blindnes wherein theyr Church lay hid and vnknowen suppressed by Papistrie superstition and Idolatry as they terme it whether they which were then baptised and openly professed Christ were saued or not If the Protestant doo answer yea consequently it followeth that they were saued without the Church of Christ liuing in all ignoraunce superstition and idolatry as they say If he aunswer no and that there was no saluation out of theyr hyd and vnknowen Church then all men of al degrees young and olde for the whole space of the foresayd thousande yeeres by the Protestantes iudgement perished without all hope of Gods mercy and were damned When therfore the learned Protestant shal be able to prooue by good reason and argument eyther that there is a way to saluation without the Church of Christ or that all people professing Christ perished for so many hundreth yeeres togeather then wyll I recant and not before Crowley It séemeth that this Offerer perswadeth himselfe that by making this Offer he shall put the learned Protestant to silence for euer For if he shall open his mouth and say yea to that demaund which he maketh then must it néedes followe by good consequence that there is a way to saluation without the Church of Christ whereof no Christians eares can abide the hearing And if he say no then it must néedes followe by the lyke consequence that all men of all degrees young and olde that were borne into the world and professed Christ for the space of a thousand yéeres together dyd all perishe without all hope of Gods mercie and were all damned Thus in the opinion of this proude Offerer the poore Protestant is enforced to giue ouer in the plaine féelde and to yéeld and recant and so to become a Popish Catholique But I hope wée shall sée it fall out far otherwise Fyrst the ground whereon this Offerer buildeth hys argument or reason is not sure For he imagineth that the learned Protestants doo hold and affirme or graunt that theyr Church béeing suppressed by Papistrie superstition and Idolatrie dyd lye so hidde and vnknowen for the space of a thousand yéeres that no man could tell where to finde it But that imagination is vaine and foolish For although the Catholique Church which is the Protestants Church were during the tyme of blindnes sore opressed by Popish tirannie and ouercountenaunced by Popishe superstition and Idolatrie yet was it euen then as a cittie standing on an hil as a candle on a candlesticke yea it was the light of the world the salt of the earth Math 5. Math. 5. For when was the Church more obscure or when could it be lesse regarded then it was at that time wherein our Sauiour spake those wordes As then therefore euen so afterwarde in the tyme of the tenne first bloody persecutions the Church of Christians was the cittie on the Hill c. And so was it and is styll during those 1000. yéeres that the Offerer speaketh of For those thousand yéeres are not yet fully expired and although God haue giuen Halsion dayes to Christians in some regions as in Heluesia and in the vpper Germanie and now for a fewe yéeres in England and in Scotland yet in Fraunce Spayne Portingale and in the lowe countries and in Italy the seauen headed beast dooth still holde battell against the two witnesses that were slayne and are reuiued Apoc. 11. Apoc 11 But because our Catholique Church hath not at any time florished in the world in such pompous maner as the Antichristian Catholique Church dooth and euer hath doone since it first began therefore this Offerer imagineth that it lyeth hydde and vnknowen as in déede it dooth to such as he is which will not sée nor knowe that which most easilie may be knowen of all men He imagineth also that none of them that haue béene or bée baptised amongst them haue béene bée or can bée of our Catholique Church because such doo when they doo first come to yéeres of discretion professe Christ openly after theyr Antichristian manner But herein he is very much disceiued for very many of vs were borne and baptised amongest them of which number I my selfe am one And when I was growne vp to discretion I professed Christ after the Antichristian manner But God that had fore appoynted me and the rest of his chosen children to be vessels vnto honour would not leaue vs in that filthy puddle of popish superstition but did by his good meanes drawe vs out and hath washed vs in the fountaine of water by the word of lyfe Eph. 6. Ephe 6 And we doo not doubt but there bée yet many amongest you that in Gods good time shal be drawne out of that filthy puddle and washed as we bée No maruaile though such as this Offerer is can not sée this For euen Elias the Prophet could not sée the like in Israell in his dayes They haue sayth he ouerthrowen thine Altar they haue slaine thy Prophets I doo remaine alone a Prophet of the Lord and they séeke to take away my life But the diuine maiestie made answer I haue reserued for my selfe 7000. that haue not bowed their knées to Baall 3. Reg 19. 3 Reg. 19 Though this Offerer and his fellowes neyther could heretofore nor can now sée any of our sort amongest them yet God hath his number euen in Roome vnder the Popes nose And this is that sure seale that S. Paule wrote of to Timoth. The Lord knoweth who they bée that are his 2. Timoth. 2. 2 Timoth Cap 2. It séemeth that this Offerer is perswaded that baptisme in water and an outward and open professing of Christ are infallible signes of saluation The Israelites were in lyke manner perswaded concerning theyr circumsition and outward and open professing of the lawe But Esay sayth Esay 29. Esay 29 as our Sauiour him selfe hath cited hys words Ma. 15. Math 15 In vaine doo they worship mee teachinge the doctrines and commaundements of men Circumcission was to them the infallible signe and seale of Gods couenant made with theyr fathers and with them and God neither dyd nor could disceiue them but hée dyd alwayes performe that couenaunt towardes them at that time euen as hee had before performed the same towardes theyr fathers but they brake the condition of the couenaunt which they and theyr fathers had promised to kéepe which was to serue him according to his law When they therfore had deuised wayes wherein they would serue God not according to his lawe but in many
to burie them with theyr fathers in the buriall places that belonged to them And they found vnder the garmentes of them that were slaine certaine of the giftes that had béene offered to the idols that were at Iamnia from which the lawe had commaunded the Iewes to abstaine It was therefore made manifest to al men that this was the cause wherefore they were slaine The whole companie therfore did commend the iust iudgement of the Lorde which had made manifest the déedes that had béene hidde and kept secret And so they gaue themselues to prayer and besought God that the faulte which had béene committed might be blotted out of memorie But the most valiant man Iudas exhorted the people to kéepe themselues without sinne hauing euen before theyr eyes those thinges that had happened for the sinnes of them that were slaine And hauing ended his Collation hee sent to Ierusalem 12 thousande drachmas of siluer that sacrifice might bee offered for the sinnes of them that were dead Thus farre goeth the report of that which was doone by Iudas Machabaeus This is translated out of that latine text that the Tridentine councell hath allowed of which text this Offerer and his fellowes may not disalowe of In the Gréeke the sence is vncertaine and hardly can there any certaine sence be gathered in this place And this one thing I must note that where as this vulgare translation hath 12. thousande drachmas the Gréeke hath but two thousande drachmas which together with the rest of the circumstaunces of the texte doo cause me to thinke that Iudas néeded not to make any collection of money to be sent to Ierusalem For yâ—â—â—m being no greater he might very wel spare it out of his own treasure as it may be supposed Hauing therefore ended his collation or concion which he made to the whole company of hys Souldiours that then were about him wherein hée exhorted them to consider of that which had happened and to take warning thereby to bée careful to kéepe themselues from sinne lest the lyke should fall vpon them also he sent that summe of money to Ierusalem that Sacrifice might be offered there for the sinnes of them that were dead Slaine by the iust iudgement of God for that contrarie to the lawe they had taken to theyr own vse some of those things that had béene offered to the Idolles of Iamnia But what Shall we thinke that Iudas Machabeus being a man so precise in obseruing the lawe of God as in this Historie it dooth appeare that he was would cause any newe kinde of Sacrifice to be deuised or that he wold cause any of those Sacrifices that Moses had by Gods direction commaunded to be offered to bée vsed for any other purpose then for those purposes that God himselfe had ordayned them for If you will reade the whole Leuiticall lawe throughout you shal not finde that euer God did command any Sacrifice to bée offered for sinne other then that which is called a sinne offering and was to be offered for penitent sinners in such sorte as the lawe dooth prescribe which was in the presence of the penitent sinner him selfe laying hys hand vpon the head of the Sacrifised beast thereby signifying that it was he that had deserued that death which that innocent beast was there and then to suffer The sacrifice therefore which Iudas would haue to be offered at Ierusalem must néedes be of that kinde which is called a peace offering and was to be vsed for the pacifying of Gods wrath which should at any tyme by any occasion be bent eyther against the whole people or against any one sorte of the people for any offence committed amongest them Iudas therefore considering that God might in iustice as often tymes he had doone visite the sinne of the fathers vpon the children euen to the third and fourth generation in them them that committing willing and wilfull sin had shewed themselues to be haters of his maiesty feared least this iust iudgement should be executed vpon such amongst his people as remained yet aliue and were of the posteritie of them that were already slaine for that wickednes that they had committed The writer of the historie therefore hath doone great wronge to Iudas in that which hee addeth to the ende of this parte of this History Bearing hys readers in hand that Iudas ment to redéeme by Sacrifice the sinne that the flayne had committed and to teache that to pray for the deade that they may be released of theyr sinnes is an holy and an holsome cogitation Thus if this offerer and his fellowes wyll they may sée vpon how slender a foundation their opinion conceruing praying for the soules departed is builded I doo conclude therefore that theyr vowes their inuocation of saintes and praying for soules departed are superfluous Yea and as they haue conceyued opinion of them superstitious and as they doo vse them very impious But finally this Offerer dooth charge vs with speaking against the Church it selfe flatly denying that Christ hath here vpon earth any spouse or visible Church to bée heard speake perceyued or séene Here I must say that this Popish offerer dooth offer the Protestantes open wrong in charging them with that which neuer any one amongest them that is learned hath affirmed spoken or thought It may be that some such amongest the Protestants as haue not had the knowledge of the arte of reasoning haue béene by captions manner of reasoning brought into such a mase that they could not deliuer themselues from the captious Argumentes that these subtyle Popish Catholiques doo vse to frame And so haue séemed to be conuinced and enforced to graunt that Christ hath no visible Church here vppon earth but such amongst the Protestant Catholiques as doo knowe howe to answer such captious argumentes are able and haue alwayes béene able to vse such distinction as by the Arte of reasoning are allowed to bée vsed and thereby to make it playne to as many as be not wilfully blind that Christs Church that is here vpon earth may in one respect be sayd to be visible and in another respect the same Church may be sayd to bée inuisible 2. Timot 2. The Apostle Paule writing to Timoth 2 Epist 2 chapter sayth thus Firmum fundamentum Dei stat habens signaculum hoc Cognouit dominus qui sunt sui c. The foundation of God standeth firme and sure and hath this sure seale The Lord dooth knowe who be hys And let that person that calleth vpon the name of the Lord departe from euill Here the Apostle Paule dooth make the Church of Christ here on earth inuisible as knowen onely to the Lord and not vnto any man For none but onely God dooth knowe or can knowe who they bée whome hée hath chosen to be enheritors of hys kyngdome Yea none but onely God whych hath chosen them before the beginning of the world And such onely are that Church that may rightly be called the church of Christ And