perfectly treated of no more then before the questions of the Arrians the Trinitie had neuer bene perfectlie treated of the thesis or tenet of the Catholickes was that the word Catholicke was a word of Communion and not a word of Simple beliefe The Christian Africans are called saith Saint AVGVSTIN and not with out good right Catholickes protesting by theire proper Communion the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And againe wee shew by the testimonie of our Cōmunion that wee haue the Catholicke Church the thesis of the Donatistes contrariwise was that the word Catholicke was not a word of Cōmunion but of beliefe and obseruation of precepts The Donatistes saith Saint AVSTIN answered that the word Catholike was not deriued from the vniuersalitie of nations but from the fulnes of the Sacramentes that is to saie from the integritie of the doctrine And in the Epistle to VINCENTIVS Rogat Thou thinkest said he then to saìe some subtile thing when thon interpretest the name of Catholicke not from the Communion of the whole world but from the obseruation of all the preceptes and diuine Sacramentes And againe you are those that hold the Catholicke faith not from the Communion of the whole world hut from the obseruation of all the preceptes aud diuine Sacramentes And the iudgement that was made vpon this difference was that the word Catholicke was a title not of simple beliefe but of Communion also After a contention of 40. daies saith OPTATVS Mileuit speaking of the first disputation of the Donatistes the finall sentēce of the Bishops Eunomius and Olimpius whcih were the Bishops deputed to iudge the possessiō of the word Catholicke betweene the Catholickes of Africa and the Donatistes was that that was Catholicke that was spread throughout the world And Saint AVSTINE speaking of the Conference of Carthage The Commissarie said he answered that he could not by 〈◊〉 attribute the name Catholicke to anie other then to those to whom the Emperor from whom he had his Commision had attributed it And in an other place citing the law of the Emperors made vpon this Conference The Emperors said he haue forbidden that those that vsurpe the name of Christians out of the Communion of the Catholicke Church and will not in peace adore the author of 〈◊〉 should dare to possesse anie thing vnder the title of the Church And againe The Emperors of our Communion haue ordained lawes against all heretikes now they call heretickes those that are not of theire Communion amongst which you are And after disputing with the same Donatists Thou askest said he of a stranger whether he be a pagan or a Christian he answeres thee a Christian thou askest him whether he be a catechumenus or one of the faithfull least he should intrude himselfe vnlawfullie to the Sacraments he answers thee one of the faithfull thou askest him of what Communion he is he answers thee a Christian Catholicke CHAP. II. Of the Conditions of the Catholicke Church The pursuite of the kings answere NOw the King belieues simplie without colour or fraude that the Church ōf God is one only by name and effect Catholicke and vniuersall spread ouer all the world out of which he affirmes himselfe there can be noe hope of Saluation he condemnes and detestes those which either heeretofore or since haue departed from the faith of the Catholicke Church are become heretickes as the Man ichees or from her Communion and are become schismatickes as the Donatists Against which two kindes of men principally sainct AVGVSTINE hath written the things alleaged in this obseruation THE REPLIE TELESIVS a Stripling of Greece hauing won the prize and victorie of the Combate in the Pythian games when there was question of leadinge him in triumph there arose such a dispute betweene the diuers natiōs there present euery one being earnest to haue him for theire owne as the one drawing him one waie the other an other waie insteed of receiuing the honor which was prepared for him he was torne and dismembred euen by those that stroue who should honor him most Soe happenes it to the Church All those that beare the name of Christians auow that to her only appertaines the victory ouer hell and that whosoeuer will haue parte in the prize and glory of this Triumph must serue vnder her ensigne But when they come to debate of the true bodie of this societie then euery sect desirous to draw her to themselues they rent and teare her in peeces and in steed of embracing the Church which consistes in vnitie they embrace schisme and diuision which is the death and ruyne of the Church The cause or rather the pretext of this euill comes from two faultes that the aduersaries of the Church commit in the distinction of the word Ecclesia or Church which makes the possession vncertaine and disputable The one is the fraudulent restriction of the terme of the Church to the only inuisible number of the predestinate by which when they feele themselues pressed to represent the succession of theire Church they saue themselues like Homers Aeneas or Virgils Cacus in obscuritie and darknes The other is the equiuocall and captious extension of the same word Church to all Sectes which professe the name of Christ by which when they see themselues excluded from the refuge of theire inuissble Church they haue recourse from darknes to confusion and confesse that there hath bene alwaies a visible Church but sometymes pure in faith and sometymes impure that is to saie now a Church and now noe Church And therefore I attribute it to a singular care of the prouidence of God that his Maiesty saying he beleeues the catholicke Church hath added as to preuent all theses shiftes without colour or fraude For to beleeue the catholicke church without colour or fraude is to beleeue her in the sence that the Fathers haue beleeued and vnderstood her the Fathers I say which haue lest vs these sentences pronunced sometymes as in the hypothesis against the Manichees and Donatists but as in the thesis against all kindes of heretickes or schismatickes in generall that out of the Catholicke Church there is noe saluation that whosoeuer is separate from the Catholicke Church cannot haue life and other such like which his Maiestie protested to approue Now first by the word Catholicke Church these Fathers haue beleeued and intended such a Church as these wordes of Esay 〈◊〉 In the last daies the Mountaine of the Lord shall be on the topp of all the Mountaines and all the hills shall flowe to her The people shall walke in thy light and the kings in the brightnes of thy Orient Theire seede shall be knowne amongst the people and theire kinge in the middest of the nations And these of our Lord The Citie built vpon the mountaine cannot be hid Tell it to the Church and if he heare not the Church let him be to thee as
predesigned that she might be discerned and hath bene exbibited that she might be seene And if he can proue that she neuer went forth from the Communion of anie other but that all other went forth from her and shee alwaies remained in her roote visible eminent perpetuall immutable and exempt from all interruption which is a marke which Saint AVGVSTINE testifies to be inseperable from the Church when he writes The Catholicke Church fightinge with all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne All heresies are come out from her as vnprofitable branches out from the vine but she remaines in her vine in her roote in her Charity In truth I saie if the excellent kinge can shewe these 3. thinges I confesse freely that this Collection of passages that out of the Catholick Church none can be saued that whosoeuer is separate from the Catholicke Cburch how laudable soeuer he presumes his life to be for this only Crime that he is separated from the vnitie of Christ he shall not haue life but the wrath of God shall remaine vpō him that he shall not haue God for his Father that will not haue the Church for his mother and that it shall nothinge auaile him to haue 〈◊〉 or done such and soe many good workes without the end of the soueraigne good that out of the Catholicke Church all thinges may be had but saluation that he that Communicates with the the generall Church is a Christian and a Catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichriste that it must be 〈◊〉 and vndoubtedly held that euery hereticke or Schismaticke baptised in the name of the father the Sonn and the holy Ghost if before the end of his life he doe not 〈◊〉 himselfe to the Catholicke Church what almesdeedes soeuer he doe yea though he should 〈◊〉 his blood for the name of Christ can in noe sorte be saued makes not against his Maiestie But if contrarily the excellent kinge cannot proue that the Church to which he adheres hath taken the originall of her visible Communion continued and not interrupted from aboue 60. or 80. yeares and that betweene the tyme of the Fathers from whom that collection of passages hath bene extracted and the tyme of Caluins pretended reformation there hath neuer bene anie Church anie communion anie Societie anie person that hath held iointlie vniuersally those thinges for which England hath deuided herselfe from the visible Communion of that Church wherein she was before then I had need be instructed to apprehend how these passages make not against his maiestie Of the distinction of heretickes and Schis matickes CHAPT XVI The continuance of the kinges answere FOr from all these testimonies there followes onely this consequently that there remaines noe hope of saluation for those who are seperated from the faith of the Catholicke Church or from the Communion of the same Catholicke Church which the kinge as we haue said before grauntes himselfe THE REPLIE THe Collection of the passages that I haue produced doe not put this alternatiuely that amongst those that are seperated either from the faith of the Catholicke Church or from her Communiō there is noe saluation Otherwise in a thinge that the Fathers would should be cleere and manifest they had a perpetuall ambiguitie to witt what it were to be seperated from the faith of the Catholicke Church For there would remaine alwaies this questiō whether the pointes of separatiō were pointes of Faith and the separation might be made vpon such a pointe as the one side would say it were a pointe of Faith and the other that it were not As the Pellagians disputinge against the Catholickes said theire difference was not in a pointe of Faith And the Catholicks said the contrary and as yet to this daie the Zuinglians and the Caluinistes disputinge against the Lutherans theire contestation is not about a point of faith and the Lutheranes saie the contrary But the Fathers absolutely sett Downe this Maxime that out of the Communion of the Catholicke Church there is nōe saluation reducinge all the certainly and euidence of this proposition that out of the Church there is noe saluation to the seperation of Communion It is true that the seperation of Communion may proceede from either of these two causes to witt either from an error in faith in which case those that forsake the Church are called heretickes or from defect in Charity in which case they are called Scismaticks But because those that sinne either in the one or in the other cannot be soe easily conuinced either of the one or of the other as of the seperation of the Communion of this visible Church eminent aboue all hereticall and Schismaticall sectes whom God would be exposed to the view of all Nations and called Catholicke and to whom he hath affected the promises and prerogatiues of the perpetuall assistance of his holy Spirit For this cause the Fathers and the Councells of Africa Saint AVGVSEINE beinge theire Secretary haue pronounced this sentence soe often before particulariz'd by the penns of the precedinge authors that out of the Catholicke Church there is noe saluation without makinge distinction betweene those that seperate 〈◊〉 from the faith of the Church and those that seperate themselues from her communion for as much as all those that seperate themselues visiblie from the faith of the Church seperate themselues also frō her Cōmunion For there are noe declar'd heretickes but they are withall Schismatickes also Onely there is this difference that heretickes seperate themselues from the Faith and Communion of the Church both together and the Schismatickes onely seperate themselues from her communion although there are fewe Schismatickes who to the separation of communion add not the separation of some pointe of faith For as Sea-crabbs when they see oysters open cast in litle stones within theire shells to keepe them from shuttinge againe that they may haue tyme to deuowre them soe when Schismatickes see a breache made in the Church to hinder it from closeinge againe they caste pointes of heresie into theire Schisme and from Schismaticks become accessorily heretickes Wee esteeme said Saint IEROM the difference betweene heresie and Schisme to be that heresie holdes a peruerse doctrine and Schisme for Episcop all dissention seperates men equallie from the Church which difference may well haue place a while in the beginninge but in tract of time there is noe Schisme that doth not forge to it-selfe some heresie to seeme to haue the iuster cause to seperate it selfe from the Church And therefore when the Emperors speake of the Donatists who are those principally for whom his Maiestie added this clause or haue seperated themselues from her communion they taxe them accessorilie of heresie From thence saith the lawe it is happened that from Schisme heresie is bred And when Saint AVGVSTINE disputes against them he proues to thē that they are not onely
cōmuniō of the true Catholick church doe concurr to it and it is not requisite that those that are lawfully seperated frō her either for Schisme or herefie as are the Greekes who erre in the Faith of the procession of the holy Ghost which his Maiestie himself holdes to be an article of Faith the naturall Egiptians Ethiopians who erre in the Faith of the hipostaticall vnion in the qualitie of Eutichians and Monophysites are excluded frō the Bodie of the Church from before the fifth Councell should assist to it And notwithstanding yet euen in these last ages there haue bene Councells Oecumenicall indeede and in the sence whereto his Maiestie imployes this terme when the partes seperated frothe Bodie of the Church whould haue conspired to some re-uniō As that of Lateran vnder Pope Innocent the third where there where with the Pope the Patriarckes of Constantinople and Ierusalem and the legates of those of Alexandria and Antioch and more then 400. Bishops and 70. Archbishops from all the partes of the Church aswell Greeke as Latine And that of Florence vnder Eugenius the fourth where assisted the Greekes with their Emperor and their Patriarke and the Legates of three other Patriarkes and the Armenians and the deputies also of the Ethiopians and in both these they were agreed of all the points of Faith which in these daies are againe put to question From whence it appeareth that the wante of Generall Councells could not make the Church to be lesse acknowledgeable in the last daies then she was in the first Of the effect of Councells for the visibilitie of the Church CHAPT II. The continuance of the Kinges answere AND in the ancient tymes it was a firme bond by which all the mēbers of the Catholicke Church were bound in the frame of one selfe Body which body for this cause was meruailously noble and eminent being so constituted in the view and knowledge of all that none thought they would could haue bene ignorant of her One Faith one policie one Body of the Catholicke Church a frequent visitation of the partes amongst themselues a meruailous consent of all the members an admirable sim pathie THE REPLIE RAther some tyme these were the meanes which heretickes or those Emperors that fauored them made vse of to shake and dissolue the masse and frame of the Body of the Church frō whēce proceeded the complaintes of the Fathers that after things had been once resolued of in the Church they should noe more holde other newe Councells that after the Councell of Nicea euery other Councell was superfluous and that they neuer sawe any good effect of all those Councells as is by S. GREGORIE Nazianzene aboue said And therefore these rich and magnificent amplifications of eloquence were noe impediments but that the Church when Luther began might haue bene not onely as much but more visible illustrious and eminent then she was manie tymes in those ages witnesse the obiections that the Donatists made to saint AVSTIN of the estate of the Church principallie in the East in saint HILLARYS tyme Such was said saint AVS the tyme whereof Hillary hath written from whence thou thinkest to sett ambushes for so manie deuine witnesses as if the Church were thē perished from the Globe of the Earth And saint IEROM because the East striking against herselfe by the ancient fury of her people tore in little peeces the vnseamed coate of our Lord wouen from aboue and that the foxes destroyed the Vine of Christ in such sort as it is difficult amongst the dry pondes and which haue noe water to discerne the sealed fountaine and the inclosed garden therefore I thought I ought to consult with the Chaire of Peter and the Faith praised by the mouth of the Apostles For whereas his Maiestie adds that the Bodie of the Church was then set in such an eminence of view and knowledg that she could not be vnknowne noe not by those that would haue bene ignorant of her this was verie true if you tooke all Catholicke prouinces together and compared them with euery particular Sect and it had place in regarde of those that were within the bosome of the Church which neither then nor since could haue bene ignorant of the Bodie and Societie of the true Church for as much as they all agreed in the hypothesis that the Church ought to be discerned by inimitable and indisputable markes and that those that had them not could not faine to haue them as the communion with the Sea of saint PETER the continued and not interrupted Succession of ministrie and Doctrine the eminencie and vniuersalitie aboue all other Christian Sects taken euerie one a parte and other such like But in regard of those that were seperated from it as heretickes and Schismatickes who would discerne the Church by markes more obscure then the thing itselfe and such as all Sects perswade themselues to haue to witt by the conformitie of Doctrine with the scripture interpreted according to the sentence of euerie particular man there was nothing lesse euident For to those the Church how eminent soeuer she had been hath alwaies been obscure hidden not for the want of her light eminencie but because of their darknes and blindnes This saith saint AVS is common to all hereticks to be vnable to see the thing that in the world is most manifest and constituted in the light of all nations out of whose vnitie whatsoeuer they worke although they seeme to doe it with great care and diligence can noe more profitt them against the wrath of God then the spider webb against the extremitie of colde And againe The Church is not hidden for she is not vnder a bushell but vpon a Candlesticke to giue light to all that are in the Howse And of her it is said The Cittie built vpon a Mountaine cannot be hidd but she is as hidden to the Donatistes who heare so cleere and manifest testimonies which demonstrate her to be spread ouer the whole world and yet had rather blindfold strike against the mountaine then ascend it And other where how can I call those but blinde that see not so great a mountaine and shutt their eyes against the lampe sett vpon the candlesticke Of the comparison of the Pope with the other Patriarkes CHAP. III. The continuance of the kinges answere IF anio one vvere fallen for heresie or Schisme from the communion of one of the Churches I saie not one of the first which vvere the Seates of the fovver Patriarckes but of anie other of those vvhich vvere much lesse as soone as it vvas knovvne he vvas reputed excluded from the communion of all the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE IN the tyme of saint AVSTINE there was yet but three true 〈◊〉 Seates in the Church I meane invested with patriarchall Iurisdiction to witt Rome Alexandria and Antioch Ierusalem hauing obtained noe patriarchall diuision till the Councell of Chalcedon For before it was
Archbishops or Bishops for what cause was it that when the Pope excommunicated anie other Patriarkes as when he excommunicated Flauianus 〈◊〉 and Peter Patriarkes of Antioch or as when he excommunicated Nestorius Accacius Anthimus Archbishops of Constantinople or as whē he excōmunicated Theophilus Peter and other Patriarkes of Alexandria hee did for all this incurr noe censure from the Bishops or Catholicke Councells but was reputed to doe what he might doe Whereas when anie other Patriarke yea vnder the pretence of a generall Councell did 〈◊〉 the Pope he was punished and deposed for this presumption as for an enormious and extraordinary Sacrilege For what had not Dioscorus Patriarke of Alexandria done in his false Councell of Ephesus he had embraced the heresie of Eutyches he had condemned the Catholicke doctrine he had excommunicated Flauianus Archbishop of Constantinople who maintained it and had not only excommunicated him but alsoe slaine him And neuertelesse ô eminent dignitie of the 〈◊〉 Apostolicke these Sacrileges were not the principall causes of his deposition but that he and his pretended Councell had dared to excommunicate the Pope Dioscorus saith Anatolius Archbishop of Constantinople bath not hene deposed for the faith but because he excommunicated my Lord the Archbishop Leo and that hauing bene cited thrice before the Councell he appeared not And the Fathers of the Councell of Chalcedon in their relation to the Pope After all these things said they he hath extended his frensie euen against him to whom the guard of the Vine hath bene committed by our Sauiour that is to saie against thy Holynesses and hath me ditated an excommunication against him who laboreth to vnite the bodie of the Church But why should wee haue recourse to particular examples since the common voice of antiquitie teacheth vs that in all the tumults and in all the confusions of the Schismes and heresies which haue perturbed the Christian Religion the Roman Church hath alwaies bene as the center the principle and originall of the ecclesiasticall communion and as the Ensigne colonell of the armie of Iesus Christ vpon whom all the other Catholick 〈◊〉 haue cast their eyes and to whom they haue gathered 〈◊〉 separating themselues from the communion of those that communicated not with her and embracing the communion of those who communicated with her For what meane these wordes of saint IRENEVS With the Roman Church because of a more powerfull principalitie it is necessarie that euerie Church should complie And these of saint CYPRIAN The Roman Church is the Chaire of Peter and the principall Church from whence the Sacerdot all vnitie hath proceeded And these of saint AMBROSE Hee asked whether the Bishop of that place consented with the Catholick Bishops that is to saie with the Roman Church And these of Theodoret The Emperor Gratian commaunded that the Churches should he deliuered to those that held communion with Damasus which was added hee executed throughout the world but that the Roman Church was the center the beginning and the roote of ecclesiasticall communion and that whosoeuer was admitted to her communion was likewise admitted to the communion of the whole Bodie of the Catholicke Church and that those who were excluded out of her communion were excluded out of the communion of the whole Bodie of the Catholicke Church And what meane these wordes of saint HIEROM I am ioyned in communion with thy Blessednes that is to saie with the Sea of Peter I know the Church is founded vpon that Rock c. whosoeuer eateth the lambe out of this howse he is prophane And a little after I know not Vitalis I am iguorant of Paulinus I reiect Meletius whosoeuer gathers not with the scatters And againe In the meane time I crie If anie one be ioyned to Peters Chaire he is mine And these of Optatus Mileuitanus At Rome there hath bene setled to Peter the Episcopall Chaire in which there was sett the first of all the Apostles Peter c. to the end that in this onlie Chaire the vnitie of all might be preserued And a litle after In the person of Cyricius all the world cōmunicates with vs by the commerce of formed letters And againe From whence is it that you pretend to vsurpe to your selues the keyes of the Kingdome you that combate against Peters Chaire by your presumptions and bold Sacriledges But that the Roman Church was the center the principle and the roote of Ecclesiasticall communion and that those that were admitted into her communion were admitted into the communion of the whole Catholicke Church and that those that were excluded from her communion were excluded from the communion of the whole Bodie of the Catholicke Church And what meane these words of saint AVSTIN In the Roman Church hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie of the Apostolick Sea And those of Eulalius Bishop of Syracusa to saint FVLGENTIV Se to turne him from goeing to the Monasteries of Egipt The Countries whither thou desirest to trauell a perfidious dissention hath separated them from the communion of the blessed Peter all those Religious persons whose admirable abstinence is celebrated should not haue the Sacraments of the Altar common with thee◠And these of Victor of Tunes speaking of the rebellion of Vitalian against the Emperor Anastasius the hereticke Hee would neuer promise peace to the Emperor till first he had restored the defendors of the Councell of Chalcedon who had bene banisht into their owne Seas and till he had vnited all the Churches of the East to the Roman But that the Roman Church was the center principle and the roote of the Ecclesiasticall communion and that those who were admitted to her communion were admitted to the communion of the whole Catholicke Church that those who were excluded from the communion of the whole Bodie of the Catholicke Church And what doe these wordes of John Patriarke of Constantinople intend We promise not to recite amidst the sacred misteries the names of those who are seperated from the communion of the Catholick Church that is to saie who doe not fullie consent with the Sea Apostolicke And those of the Emperor IVSTINIAN Wee preserue in all things the vnitie of the most holie Churches with the most holie Pope of old Rome And these of Menas Patriarke of Constantinople Wee follow the Sea Apostolick and obeie it and communicate with those that communicate therewith and condemne those that it condemneth And these of the Bishops returning from the Schisme to the Church in the time of saint GREGORIE the Great I promise I will neuer returne to the Schisme from whence by the mercie of our Redeemer I haue bene deliuered but that I will remaine alwaies in the vnitie of the Catholick Church and in the communion of the Bishop of Rome but that the Roman Church was the center the principle and the Roote of the ecclesiasticall communion and that those
alone and from belonging to her alone noe more then when in a common weale the factious part and which separated it-selfe from the state and reuoltes against the true preseruers of the Estate come to be deuided from that which remaines in the lawfull administration of the Estate this diuision hinders not the part which restes vnited with the Estate from preseruing the right and title of the vniuersallitie of the cōmon-wealth and those thinges which are done by it alone from being accounted to be done by the whole Bodie of the common-wealth Whose whole being is preserued in this part alone the other by the desertion thereof hauing lost all the part it had in the name and effect of the common-wealth Of the sence wherein the Roman Church is called Catholicke CHAP. IX The continuance of the Kinges answere TO attribute to themselues the title of Catholicke as proper to themselues alone THE REPLIE WHEN wee vse this traine of Epithetes the Catholicke Apostolicke Roman Church we intend not by the word Roman the particular Church of Rome but all the Churches which adhere and are ioyned in communion with the Roman Church euen as by the Iewish Church wee intended not the tribe of Iuda only but the lines of Leui and Beniamin and manie relikes of the lines which were ioyned therewith For S IOHN BAPTIST was of the tribe of Leuy and sainct PAVL of that of Beniamin Anna of the tribe of Aser and neuerthelesse they were all of the people of the Iewes and of the Iewish Church but they were called Iewes and Iewish people because of the adherence and communion that they had with the principall Tribe which was that of Iuda Soe all the other Churches which communicate with the Roman in what soeuer part they are constituted are comprehended vnder the common word of the Roman Church when wee saie the Catholicke Apostolicke and Roman Church because they hold the Roman Church for the center and originall of their communion And in this sence saint AMBROSE saith that his brother inquired if the Bishop of one of the citties of Sardica where he desired to be baptised consented with the Catholicke Bishops that is to saie added hee with the Roman Church And in this sence saint HIEROME saith that the Church of Alexandria glorifies her selfe that she participates with the Roman Faith And in this sence Iohn Patriarke of Constātinople writes to Pope Hormisdas Wee promise not to recite amongst the sacred mistiries the names of those which are separate from the communion of the Cathoick Church that is to saie that consent not in all thinges with the Sea Apostolick And in this sence Beda vseth these words Our mother the Roman Church In this same sence they comprehend vnder the Greeke Church not only the natuaall Greekes but the Russians and Muscouites although they be distinct in nation and in language from the Greekes yea euen haue their Seruice in a tongue quite different for asmuch as they adhere to the Creeke Church Not that the particular Roman Church may not also in a certaine regard be called Catholicke For the word Catholicke is taken in three sortes to witt either formallie or causallie or participatiuelie Formally the only vniuersall Church that is to saie the Societie of all the true particular churches vnited in one selfe same communiō is called catholicke Causallie the Roman church is called Catholicke for as much as she infuseth vniuersalitie into all the whole bodie of the Catholicke church That it is soe to cōstitute vniuersalitie there must be two thinges one that may analogicallie be insteede of matter thereto to witt the multitude for where there is no multitude there can be noe vniuersalitie And the other to be in-steede of forme thereto to witt vnitie for a multitude without vnitie makes noe vniuersalitie Take awaie saith sainct AVGVSTINE the vnitie from the multitude and it is a tumult but bring in vnitie and it is the people And therefore the Roman Church which as center and beginning of the ecclesiasticall communion infuseth vnitie which is the forme of vniuersalitie into the Catholicke Church and by consequent causeth vniuersalitie in her may be called catholicke causallie though in her owne being she be particular noe more nor lesse then the Galley to which all the other Gallies of a Fleete haue relation of dependancie and correspondencie is called the Generall although she bee but one particular Galley because it is she that by the relation that all others haue to her giues vnitie to the totall and generall bodie of the Fleete And finallie particular Churches are called Catholicke participatiuely because they agree and participate in doctrine and communion with the catholicke Church And in this sence the Church of Smyrna addresseth her Epistle To the Catholick Church of Philomilion and to all the Catholick Churches which are throughout the world Of the causes wherefore the Roman Church hath cutt of the rest from her communion CHAP. X. The continuance of the Kings answere AND to exclude from their communion all the rest which dissent from them in anie thinge or refuse the yoake of slauerie THE REPLIE THE most excellent King may be pleased to remember two things one that antient authors haue written that oftentimes for one only word contrarie to Faith manie heresies haue bene cast out of the bodie of the Church And the other that the societies of the Egiptians and Ethiopians haue not bene excluded out of the Church for refusinge that which his maiestie call the yoake of slauerie that is to saie the Superintendencie of the Roman Church but for hauing imbraced the Sect of Eutyches who with all his partakers was cutt off from the Church by the Councell of Chalcedon and that euen to this daie they are all readie and haue often offerred to acknowledge the Pope whom they confesse to bee the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles if they might be receiued into the communion of the Roman Church without obliging them to anathematize Eutiches and Dioscorus And as for the diuision of the Greeke Church the true cause thereof hath bene the Schisme fallen out betweene Ignatius lawfull Patriarke of Constantinople whom the Pope preserued in his communion and Photius intruded into the Patriarkship by the fauour of the Emperor to which Schisme the Greekes added for an obstacle of reuniō as the crabb cast the stone into the oyster to hinder it from shutting itselfe againe the difference of the procession of the holy Ghost and of Schismatickes became flatt heretickes This was the true cause of the seperation of the Greekes and not the yoake of slaueries of the Roman Church of the which neither Jgnatius nor anie of his Catholicke Predcessors had euer complayned Of the sence wherein the hereticks belonge not to the Catholick Church CHAP. XI The Continuance of the Kings Answere AND so on the suddaine to pronounce presumptuouslie that they belonged not in anie thing to the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE This deniall is
intended in deede and not in Right for we doe not denie but that the heretickes belong by right to the Church that is to saie that the Church hath to exercise her authority ouer them and to iudge censure and excommunicate them but wee saie that they belonge not in deede to the Catholick church that is to saie that they are not actually comprehended and contained in the catholicke Church and are not members and partes thereof And it is not wee that saie this but saint AVGVSTINE who writes it in these words And therefore neither the heretick belongs to the Catholick Church because she loues God nor the Schismatick because she loues her neighbour Of the proceeding of the other sects CHAP. XII The continuance of the Kings answere AND it is not you alone that attribute to yourselues this right others also doe the same for at this daie a word the king cannot speake without groaning there are manie particular Churches which beleeue themselues onelie to be the particular people that they call the Church if you giue them strength like the Romans they would alreadie haue done as that hath done and would iudge the rest no lesse seuerelie THE REPLIE WHAT those are wee are not to Answere let the dead bury their dead only wee maie saie their conclusion would be good if their hypothesis were true for if they were true churches euery Societie which should be excluded out of their communion should be excluded from the title of the Church and from the right of being able to call thēselues a part of the Catholick Church for as much as the Church as hath bene aboue said is either one or none Of the perswasion that the other sects pretend to haue of the truth of their Church by scriptures CHAP. XIII The Continuance of the Kings Answere WHAT shall I saie more that there are at this daie many sects which are celebrated the sectaries whereof are most stedfastlie persuaded that they alone see some thing into holie writt and as saieth the Poet that they alone are vnderstanding and that the rest hunt after a shaddowe THE REPLIE HARPASTE 〈◊〉 domestical foole hauing lost her sight would not beleeue it was she that was become blinde but perswaded herselfe that it was growne darke It is iust soe with all heretickes they thinke it is the Church that is become darke and full of obscuritie and not themselues which are become blinde To finde anie thing answered the Pelagians to saint AVGVSTINE when he alleadged the multitude of Authors for the Catholicke Church A multitude of blind persons serue to no vse And by that only his maiestie may iudge how necessarie it is not to abandon nor prostitute the exposition of the scripture to the iudgement of euery particular person since there is not that man that when he will make himselfe iudge of it doth not beleeue himselfe only cleere sighted and that the rest as Homer saith embrace nothing but darknes For the Scripture consisting according to saint HIEROME not in the reading but in the vnderstanding and men not being able to assure themselues of the vnderstanding of the Scripture by their particular Spirit for as much as saith saint PETER as the exposition of the Scripture is not made by priuate interpretation it is necessarie to determine the differences that are bredd by the interpretation of the Scripture to haue besides the Scripture a Iudge externall and interposed betweene that and vs who may secure vs of the true sence thereof and that this iudge should haue other markes and be notable by other externall meanes then by that of the doctrine contested since it is from that iudgement that wee ought to learne the decision of the true sence of Scripture in pointes disputable otherwise questions in Religion could neuer be determined no more then differences in ciuill controuersies if wee should leaue the deciding of the sence of the wordes of the lawe to the preoccupated vnderstanding of the Aduocates and parties that there were noe iudge ordained aboue them and sett betweene the lawe and them to interpret it Of the sence wherein hereticks haue disputed the word Catholicke CHAP. XIV The continuance of the Kinges answere IT is verie true that there hath bene noe age wherein there hath not bene conuenticles to raise Sectes parasynaxes which haue bragged of the name of the Catholicke Church and haue drawne ignorant persons to them by this allurement THE REPLIE THAT the ancient Sectes and Parasynaxes of heretickes haue effected the title of Catholicke it was not to pretend in good earnest that it belonged to them nor to drawe ignorant persons to them by that allurement but to dispute it with the catholicke Church and to hinder least by the possession of this name she should preserue her menbers from being defrauded and seduced by hereticks And euen so not to dispute it with her in that sence wherein she attributes it to herselfe to witt as an Epethete of communion but to dispute it in the qualitie of an Epithete of doctrine For heretickes haue alwaies sufficiently knowne that this taken in the true sence could neither be giuen nor maintained to their Sects And therefore they spake not of this word but either in seeming to mocke and scorne at it as when Sympronion saith to saint PACIAN that none vnder the Apostles were called Catholickes And when Fulgentius the Donatist said that the word Catholicke was an human fiction And that the Donatists according to the report of Vincentius Lirinensis cryed out to the Catholicks Come come o you miserable madd people commonlie called Catholicks or in disguising the sence of the word and applying it to signifie the qualitie of doctrine and not the communion of the Church as the Donatists which called themselues Bishops of the Catholicke truth and to whom S. AVGVSTINE said you are those that hold the Catholicke faith not from the communion of the whole world but from the integritie of the diuine Sacraments For when they suffered it to bee admitted in a true sēce they were as speedilie as shamefullie driuen from it I asked him saith S. AVGVSTINE speaking of Fortunatus the Donatist if hee could giue letters cōmunicatory which wee called formed whither I would c. But because the thinge was manifestly false they shifted from it by confusion of language And elsewhere Wee must saith hee hold the Christian Religion and the communion of that Church which is called Catholick not onlie by themselues but by their Enemies For whether the hereticks themselues and the foster children of schismes will or nil not when they speake not with those of their Sects but with others they call the Catholick Church noe otherwise then Catholick Neither could they be vnderstood if they did not discerne it by that name by which the whole world calls it And againe This Church alone amongst soe manie and soe great heresies hath so maintayned this name as when a
desire of communicating with her in case she would change the conditions of her communion cannot be called communion in vowe but discommunion otherwise there would be no heretickes that would not communicate with the Catholick Church for there is noe hereticke but would offer to communicate with her prouided she would change the clauses and conditions of her communion and would reforme her self to the conditions of his Sect. To communicate then in vowe with the Catholicke Church is not to be hindred from communicating reallie therewith by any obstacle proceeding from him that communicates therewith in vowe nor by anie condition that he reproues in the Catholicke Church nor by being vnited in communion with anie other Sect whose cōmunion is repugnāt to the doctrine of the Catholicke Church For whosoeuer cōmunicates with another sect wherewith the catholike Church communicates not can not be said to cōmunicate in vowe with the Catholicke Church And therefore S. AVGVSTINE speaking of some good people who sometimes are vniustlie excōmunicated cast sorth of the Church affirmes that they cease not to enioy the friute of the communion of the Church that is to saie that they are reputed to communicate with the Church in vow when there is on their parte noe obstacle from communicating actuallie therewith and that they make noe congregation of 〈◊〉 out of the Church Often times also saith hee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 permitts that honest people should be cast out of the Christian congregation by some ouer turbulent sedition of carnall men which 〈◊〉 to them done when they 〈◊〉 it patientlie for the peace of the Church and attempt no innouation of Schismes nor of 〈◊〉 they teache men with how true affection and with how great sinceritie and charitie God must be serued Of such men then the purpose is either to returne the tempest being ceased or if they be not permitted whether because the same tempest continues or whether least by their returne there may arise the like or one more cruell they yet preserue the will to serue euen those to whose motions and perturbations they haue giuen 〈◊〉 defending without anie congregation of Conuenticles to the death and helping by their testimonie the faith which they know to bee preached in the Catholicke Church Those the Father which sees them in secrett will crowne in secret From whence it appeares that those which cōmunicate with anie other Societie separate from the Church and hold anie other doctrine but that which is held in the Catholicke Church who are hindred from communicating with the Catholicke Church by obstacles proceeding on this part and by repugnancie to the conditions vnder the obligation whereof people are receiued into the Catholicke Church cannot bee said to communicate in vow with the Catholick Church Of the equiuocation of termes diminutiue imployed for negatiues CHAP. XVI The continuance of the Kings answere BOTH lesse exposed to the viewe of men and most subiect to 〈◊〉 THE REPLIE THE Poets faine that the Cyanian or Simplegade Islandes which are two Isles in the Mediteranean Sea doe sometimes meete together and ioyne themselues in such sorte as they seeme to bee but one therefore Homer calls them wandring and Pindar animated because they are described so moueable and vagabond The same may be said of the visible and inuisible Church of the Protestants to witt that sometimes they propoūd them as two Churches distinct separate sometimes they drawe them together and make them communicate together and compound of them one selfe-Bodie and Societie For when the oracles of the Prophetts Apostles are produced to thē touching the perpetuall puritie and integritie of the Church and that they are demaunded where all these promises haue bene fulfilled since soe manie and soe manie ages their 〈◊〉 refuge is to frame two Churches the one visible and the other inuisible and to saie that the puritie of Religion hath alwaies bene preserued in the inuisible which hath remained exempt from the contagion and from the abhominations of the visible but that it hath bene extinguished and abolished for a longe time in the visible And then as this ecclipse according to them is ceased and that they come to cast their eyes vpon anie companie which begins to hold visible that which they beleeue their inuisible Church inuisiblie to haue held then they constitute noe more but one Church and one communion of the visible Church and of the inuisible Church Now what other Protestants doe vnder the terme of inuisible Church his maiestie is brought to doe it vnder these wordes lesse exposed to mans viewe and more subiect to contestation by which noe other thing can be seriouslie vnderstood but that when Luther came into the world the true Church was wholie inuisible and not only that she was wholie inuisible but that she was wholie perished For if when Luther came into the world amongst manie Societies that contested for the title of the Church there had bene one lesse illustrious and eminent then she had antiently bene but yet visible which ought to be discerned from the rest by this essentiall marke that in the pointes wherein she differed from them she hath for her the worde of God Where did that Church reside Lett them giue it to vs that wee may giue ourselues to it But if she were inuisible and that before the coming of Luther there were a flocke vnknowne in the eyes of men but knowne to God which held the same doctrine that Luther brought besides that I will aske how the members of that Church could be saued not making anie profession of their Faith since our Lord saith who shall denie me before men I will denie him before God my Father And sainct PAVL Wee beleeue with our hartes to iustice but wee confesse with our mouthes to Saluation This Church then when Luther rose vp had no neede to receaue anie change in the pointes which are at this daie in controuersie nor to take anie instruction from Luther or his disciples but onelie to declare her self and with her Gyges Ring to make herselfe from inuisible visible And to cry out this is my beleefe this was the doctrine that I held before Luther spake Now this is soe farr from benig soe as Luther protests that none before him euer discouered the truth 〈◊〉 the doctrine that he hath declared And all those that came thither perswaded by the preaching of him and of his disciples and without euer bragging of the precedent possession of the same doctrine neither had this sufficed for the same Church must haue said Luther hath not yet passed forward enough hee is not yet arriued to the whole summe of my doctrine For wee know how much 〈◊〉 and Zuinglius haue added to the doctrine of Luther And so there not being when Luther came into the world a Societie neither visible nor inuisible which held Luthers doctrine and much lesse Caluins in the 〈◊〉 controuerted betweene them and vs it must necessarily followe
in as high fame As was the first inuentour of the same Nor can your worke bee any whit disgrac't By those who think it done with too much 〈◊〉 For had it beene in Michaell Angells power To perfect his great iudgment in one hower Hee who for that should valew it the lesse His owne weake iudgment would therein expresse And though wee in a common Prouerb fay That Rome was not built all vp in one day Yet could wee see a Citty great as Rome In all her 〈◊〉 in one minute come To such perfection wee might more expresse Our wonders and not make the glory lesse So I conclude with modest truth and dare All their free Censures who can but compare And whosoere shall try may spend his Age Ere in your whole work hee shall mend one Page A TABLE OF THE TITLES AND SVMMARIES OF THE CHAPTERS CONTAYNED IN THESE FOWER FIRST BOOKES OF THE REPLIE TO THE MOST EXCELLENT KING OF GREAT BRITAINE THE FIRST BOOKE CHAP. I. OF the vse of the word Cathòlicke fol. 13. II. Of the conditions of the Catholicke Church 17 III. Of the proceeding of the fathers for the preseruation of the vnitie of the Church 21 IV. Of the necessitie of communicating with the Catholicke Church 23 V. Of the markes of the Church 25 VI From what places of the voyce of the Shepheard the markes of the Church ought to be taken 32 VII Of the examples which we haue from the practise of the Apostles 35 VIII Of the definition of the Church and in what vnion it consists 36 IX Of the vnion of the predestinate and by way of adiunction of the visibilitie or inuisibilitie of the Church 39 X. Of the vnitie of eternall faith 48 XI Of other inuisible vnions 51 XII Of the knowledge that the Predestinate haue of their predestination 52 XIII Of the inequalitie of these two phrases to communicate with the Catholick Church and to communicate with some member of the Church departing from the rule of faith 55 XIV How to vnderstand the words of S. Gregory NazianZene there is a sacred warre 57 XV. Of the pretended precepts to goe forth from the visible communion of the Church 58 XVI Of the consequence of the places alledged by the Fathers for the authoritie of the Catholick Church 68 XUII. Of the distinction of the heretickes and schismatickes 69 XVIII Of the agreement of the auncient Catholicke Church with the moderne 70 XIX Of the conformitie or inconformitie of the sence wherein the word Catholick hath been common to the auncient Catholick Church and to the moderne 74 XX Of the comparison of the Church with the citie built vpon a mountaine 76 XXI Of the conformitie or inconformitie of the Donatists and Protestants in the question of the Church 77 XXII Of the extent of the ancient Catholick Church and the moderne 78 78 XXIII Of the communion that the Bishops of the East had by letters with those of the west 79 XXIV Of these words of the constitution of S. Clement the vniuersall Episcopate is committed to Bishops 80 XXV Of the comparison of the Pope with other Bishops 81 XXVI Of formed letters 113 XXVII Of pretended excommunications attempted against the Pope 116 THE SECOND BOOKE CHAP. I. OF Councells 125 II. Of the effect of Councells for the visibilitie of the Church 127 III. Of the comparison of the Pope with the other Patriarkes 128 IV. Of the difficulties of Scripture concerning the time of S. Peters 〈◊〉 at Antioch and at Rome 137 V. Of the Canon of the Councell of Nicea touching the gouernment of the Patriarches 147 VI. Of the addition of the word Churches suburbicarie made by Ruffinus in the Latine translation of the Councell of Nicea 161 VII Of the claime of the Bishops of Constantinople 178 VIII Of the order of sitting in the Councell of Nicea 204 IX Of the order of the sittings in the first Councell of Ephesus 217 X. Of the order of the sittings in the second Councell of Ephesus 219 XI Of the order of sittings in the Councell of Calcedon 220 XII Of the order of the sittings of the fifth Councell of Constantinople 222 XIII Of the order of sitting in the sixt Councell of Carthage 229 XIV Of the order of the sittings in the Councell of Aquilea 231 XV. Of the calling of Councells 232 THE THIRD BOOKE CHAP. I. OF Appeales 244 II. Of the opposition of sainct Ireneus to Pope Uictor 249 III. Of the opposition of S. Cyprian 251 IV. Of the commission of the Emperor Constantine the great for the iudgment of Cecilianus Archbishop of Carthage 264 V. Of the decree of the Mileuitan Councell concerning the beyond-sea Appeales 273 VI. Of the order and distinction of the Councell of Carthage 281 VII Of the African Councell 309 VIII Whether the Latine edition of the African Canons be more faithfull then the Greeke rapsodie 315 IX Of the difficultie touching the Epistles that are at the end of the African Councell 326 X. Of the question of Appeales treated off in the sixt Councell of Carthage 329 XI Of the Councell of Sardica 348 THE FOVRTH BOOKE CHAP. I. THE Estate of the Easterne Church 376 II. What the deuision of the Empire hath wrought to the diuision of the Church 378 III. Of the interpretation of those words Thou art Peter and vppon this Rock I will build my Church 379 IV. Of the indiuisibilitie of the Church 398 U. Of the effect that diuision brings to the Church 399 VI. Of the pretended corruption of the Church 400 VII Of the exclusiō of hereticks frō the bodie of the Catholick Church 402 VIII Of the qualitie wherein the Catholicke Church attributes to herself the name of whole 410 IX Of the sence where in the Roman Church is called Catholick 411 X. Of the causes wherefore the Roman Church hath cutt off the rest from her communion 413 XI Of the sence wherein the Hereticks belong not to the Catholick Church ibid. XII Of the proceeding of other sects 414 XIII Of the perswasion that other sects pretend to haue of the truth of their Church by scriptures ibid. XIV Of the sence wherein Hereticks haue disputed the word Catholicke 415 XV. Of the cases wherein the communion in vow with the Catholick Church may be imputed as actuall 417 XVI Of the equiuocation of termes diminutiues imployed for negatiues 419 XVII Of the authoritie of the worke iutituled imperfect 422 XVIII Of the vnderstanding of these words of sainct Augustine To seeke the Church in the words of Christ. 423 XIX Of the vnderstanding of the words of sainct Chrisostome in the thirtie third Homelie vpon the Acts. 427 XX. Of the rules to iudge admitted by sainct Chrysostome and sainct Augustine 429 XXI Of the application of the Thesis of this obseruation to his Hipothesis 430 XXII Of the personall succession of the Bishops 431 XXIII Of the succession of doctrine 434 XXIV Of the holding of a Councell 436 XXV Of the reduction of the disputation to
2. Decemb. 1631 F. Leander de S. Martino sacrae Theologiae Doctor Hebraeae linguae in alma Academia Duacena professor Regius Benedictinorum conuentus S. Gregorij Angliae Prior. THE LETTER OF THE LORD CARDINALL OF PERRON SENT TO MONSIEVR CASAVBON INTO ENGLAND SIR the letter that you deliuered to Monsieur de la Bodery was deliuered to me by him euen as I was vpon my departure for a voyage into Normandy and since my returne from thence I haue bene almost perpetuallie sicke which hindered me from answering with more speede Now that my disease begins to be at some truce with me I will paie the arrerages of this delaie and will first thanke you for the good office that you haue done me in shewing the letter I writt to you to the most excellent king of great Brittaine and in procuring me an interest in his fauour I will striue so to husband it by my humble seruice s and particularlye by celebrating his prayses which is the only fruite that good and vertuons kinges such as hee doe gather from allthe labours and thornie cares that the burden of a kingdome loades them with as his maiestie shall haue noe cause to be sorrie that it be declared to after ages how he hath honord mee with his well wishes ād how I haue had his 〈◊〉 in reuerence and admiration As for the translation of the verses of Virgill whereof you writt to me that he desires a Copie that which I sent you being lost I deferr yet for some daies to acquit myself of that dutie because I haue put it to the presse with the addition of a part of the fowrth which I haue ended expresselie for his maiestie sake to inlarge my presēte to him As soone as those few Copies which are in doing shall be finished I will not faile to addresse one of them to you to offer vp to him on my behalfe The third point of your letter yet remaines which is that his Maiestie was astonisht at those wordes in my letter That excepting the title of Catholicke I knew nothing wanting in him to expresse the figure of a perfect and compleate Prince and that he pretendes that since he beleeues all thinges that the Ancientes haue with an vnanimous consent esteemed necessarie to saluation the title of Catholique cannot bee donied him Now as on the one side I can not but greatlie praise his maiesties pietie and Christian humilitie in not disdayning to submitt his iudgement adorned with so manie lightes naturall ād acquired to that of those cleare beames of antiquitie imitating therein the wisdome of that great Emperor Thodosius who thought there was noebetter meanes to agree the dissentions which disturbed the Church of his time then to exact from either part an answere whither thy beleeued that the Fathers which had flourish'd in the Church before the separation had bene orthodoxall and that being confessed to summon them to submitt themselues to whatsoeuer they should be found to haue beleeued so on the other side there are manie obseruations `to be made vpon this Thesis before wee passe to the hypothesis which since I Cannot represent to his maiestie I shall be gladd to informe you of them for your particular satisfaction The first is that the name of Catholicke is not a name of beleefe simplie but of Communion also else antiquitie would not haue refused that title to those Which were not separated from the beleefe but from the Communion of the Church nor would they haue protested that out of the Catholicke Church the Faith and Sacramentes may be had but not Saluation Out of the Catholicke Church saith S. Augustin in his treatie of Conference with Emeritus a man may haue orders hee maie haue Sacraments he may sing Alleluya he may answere A men he may keepe the Gospell he may haue and preach the faith in the name of the Father of the Sonn and of the holie Ghost but he can no where finde Saluation but in the Catholicke Church And in the Booke De vtilit credendi There is a Church as all men graunt if you cast your eyes ouer the extent of the whole world more full in multitude then all the rest and as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in the doctrine of truth But of the truth that is an other question that will suffice for this search that there is one Catholicke Church vpon which seuer all heresies impose seuerall names whereas they are all call called euery one by his particular name which they dare not disauow from whence it may appeare to the iudgment of anie arbiter that is not prepossessed by fauour to whom the name of Catholicke where of all are ambitions ought to bee attributed And in the Booke against the fundamentall Epistle Then to omitt this wisdome which you denie to bee in the Catholicke Church there are manie other things which doe most iustlie retaine me in her bosome the consent of people and nations retaine me therein the authoritie begūn by miracles nourished by hope increased by charitie confirmed by antiquitie retaines me therein the succession of Prelates euen from the verie seate of Peter to whom our Lord deliuered his sheepe to be fedd after his Resurrection euen to the present Bishops seate retaines me therein and finallie the verie name of Catholick retaines me therein which not without cause this Church alone amongst so manie heresies hath in such sorte obtained as though all heretickes would be called Catholiques neuerthelesse when a stranger askes where the Catholicke Church doth assemble there is not one 〈◊〉 that dares shew his 〈◊〉 or his howse And in his treatise of Faith and of the Creede Wee beleeue the holie Church and that Catholick for heretickes and schismatickes call their Congregations Churches but hereticks beleeuing of God false thinges violate faith and Schismatickes separate themselues from brotherly charitie by vniust diuisions allthough they beleeue the same things that we beleeue and therefore neither can the hereticke belonge to the Catholicke Church because she loues God nor the schismaticke because she loues her neightour And in the Booke Of the vnitie of the Church All those that beleeue as hath bene said that ouer Lord IESVS is come in the flesh and is risen againe in the same flesh wherein he was borne and hath suffered and that he is the sōne of god god with god ād one with the Father and the onlie immoueable word of the Father by which all things haue bene made but yet dissent so from his bodie which is the Church that theire communion is not with the whole or is spread in deed but yet is in some part found to be separate it is manifest they are not in the Catholick Church And Prosper his scholler Hee saith hee that Communicates with this vniuersall Church is a Christian and a Catholicke but he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist And for this cause wee see that the Fathers denied the title
with that modesty and submission which is due to the person and worth of so high and mighty a Monarch and with that learning and solidyty that might be expected from so great a maister of truth as that most eminent Cardinall was in behalf of so glorious a cause as is the doctrine of the catholique Church THE L. CARDIN PERRONS REPLIE TO HIS MAIESTIES ANSWER TO THE LETTER WRITTEN TO MONS CASAVBON THE FIRST OBSERVATION Reduced into an abridgement by the Kinge THE name of Catholicke doth not simplie designe Faith but also Communion with the Catholicke Church for this Cause the Fathers would not suffer that those should bee Called Catholickes which had separated themselues from the communion of the Church though they retained the Faith thereof For there is one only Catholicke Church out of the which Faith and Sacramentes may be had but not Saluation To this end there are manie places alleaged out of S. AVGTSTIN OF THE VSE OF THE WORD CATHOLIQVE THE ANSVVERE OF THE KINGE CHAPITRE I. TO beleeue the Catholicko Church and to beleeue the Communion of Saintes are put distinctly as diuers thinges in the Creede and it seemes the first was ptincipallie inserted to discerne the Iewish Synagogue from the Christian Church which ought not to be as that was inclosed within the lymittes of one only nation but to be spread in length and breadth through all the regions of the world And therefore the reason is not manifest enough why in the beginning of this obseruation it is said that the title of Catholicke designeth Communion These two thinges are very neere one an other but different notwithstandinge as wee haue shewed THE REPLIE WHEN the Philosopher FAVORINVS disputed against the Emperor ADRIAN and that his hearers were amazed and reproached it to him that he suffered the Emperor to confute him and yielded to him he answered them should not I yield to a man tha commaundes twentie legions Soe if there were noe question in this worke but of humane philosophie secular learninge it should be easie for me to stop my selfe at FAVORINVS boundes and to abstaine to contest with his maiestie or to resist him But since heere wee treate of his interest who hath not legions of men but of Angells and which hath for his title THE KINGE OF KINGES AND LORD OF LORDES and from whom this excellent Kinge himselfe makes profession to holde in Fee his life and Crownes that is to saie the cause of IESVS CHRIST and of his Kingdome which is the Church I will promise myselfe from his Maiesties bountie that he will not mislike where it shall be needefull that I resist and contradict him with all the respectiue libertie that the lawes of disputation yield me Then for the argument of the Creede I will saie after I haue kist my weapones three thinges for my defence FIRST that it is vncertaine whither the cause of the Communion of Saintes be an article aparte or an explication of the precedinge cause and a declaration that the Catholicke Church consistes not in the simple number of the faithfull euery one considered a parte but in the ioinct Communion of all the bodie of the faithfull in such sorte as both clauses make but one article as it seemeth sainct IEROM RVFFINVS and Sainct AVGVSTINE who haue omitted the latter haue esteemed it The SECOND that it is vncertaine whether it signifie the Communion that the faithfull liuinge haue one with an other or the Commerce that the Saintes of the triumphant Church doe exercise with the Saintes of the militant Church by the prayers that the Saints of the triumphant offer for the Saints of the militant and the commemoration that the saints of the militant make of the saints of the triumphant which is that that wee in our Liturgie call to communicate with the memory of the Saintes And the THIRD that whatsoeuer it signifie it is most certaine that the word CATHOLICKE was not added to that of the Church to distinguish the Christian Church from the Iewish Synagogue which had neuer borne the name of Church in qualitie of a title of a Religion when the creed was Composed and by consequence did not oblige the Christian Church to take the Epithete of Catholicke to bee discerned from that from which in all cases she had bene suffieientlie distinguished by the title of Christian but it was added to discerne the true Church from hereticall and schismaticall Societies which vsurpe equiuocally and by false markes the name of Church for that our Lord was the first that affected and consecrated the word ECCLESIA which we vsually translate in Englishe Church to signifie a societie of Religion whereas before neither it nor the Hebrewe word that answeres to it had anie other vse but that which prophane authors giue it which is to signifie Assemblies conuocations Generall Estates as when DEMOSTHENES said to ESCHINES thou wert dumbe to the assemblies where the greeke word is Ecclesijs the conuocations or general meetings And as when Aristotle called the conuocations of Creete ecclesias And as when the Scholiast of HOMER said Iupiter gathered together Ecclesias the Assemblies of the Gods It appeares first by the testimonie of MOSES who forbids bastardes to enter into the Church of Israell And of DAVID who singes I hate the Church of the malignant And of S. STEPHEN who said MOSES was in the Church in the solitarie place that is to saie with the multitude of the people in the desert It appeares secondlie by the testimonie of S. IEROM and of S. CYRILLVS who interpretinge this verse of ESAY Thou shalt bee called by a new name that the mouth of our Lord shall pronounce Doe affirme that this new name must be the name of Church It shall noe more saith S. IEROM be called Ierusalem and Sion but it shall receiue a new name that the Lord shall impose vpon it sayinge to the Apostle PETER thou art PETER and vpon this PETRA or rock I will build my Church And S. CYRILL It shall be noe more called Synagogue but the Church of the liuinge God And finallie it appeares by the verie testimonie of our aduersaries that not only in all the textes of the old Testament where the Greeke translation of the Seuentie vse the word Ecclesia but also in all those of the new where that word hath relation to anie other multitude beside the Christian Church they expresse it by Congregation or Assemblies And if since the cōminge of IESVS CHRIST and the edition of the creede the Fathers haue sometymes called the Synagogue by the name of Ecclesia or Church it hath bene by anticipation to shew the successiue vnitie of the one and other societie but not that the Iewish Church while it lasted hath euer vndertaken to attribute to herselfe the title of a Church in the qualitie of a title of Religion Neither consequently when the creede was composed was there neede of an
a heathen or publican that is to saie a Church visible manifest and eminent and not a Church either perpetually inuisible or as if she had Giges ring now visible and now inuisible The Church saith Sainct CYPRIAN clothed with the light of our Lord sheds her beames through the whole world And S. CRISOSTOME g It is more easie to extinguish the Sunne then to obscure the Church And againe h The Sunne 〈◊〉 not soe manifest nor the ligh thereof as the actions of the Church And Sainct AVGVSTINE a The Church is not hidden for she is not put vnder a bushell but in a Candlesticke that she may giue light to all those which are in the house And of her our Lord hath said The Cittie built vpon the Mountaine cannot be hidd And in an other place b It is a condition common to all heretickes not to see the thinge that is in the world the most manifest and built in the light of all the Nations out of the vnitie whereof all that they doe though they seeme to doe it very exactly can noe more warrant them against the wrath of God then the Spiders webb against the rigor of the cold And againe he hath this most certaine marke that she cannot be hidden she is then knowne to all nations The sect of Donatus is vnknowne to manie Nations then that cannot be she And in deede how could it be that the Fathers had not had neede to be purged with Hellebore who imployed these sentences against the here tickes and Schismatickes of theire ages to presse them to returne to the Church That he shall neuer come to the rewardes of Iesus Christ that hath abandoned the Church of Christ d that he shall not haue God sor his Father that hath not the Church for his Mother e That he cannot liue that withdrawes himselfe from the Church and buildes to himselfe other seates and other dwellinges f That Christ is not with those who assemble themselues out of the Church g That he who shall not be in the Arcke shall perishe at the comminge of the floud h that he which eates the lambe out of his howse is prophane i That out of the Catholicke Church none can be saued k whosoeuer is separate from the Catholicke Church cannot haue life l That the Catholicke Church alone is the body of Christ m That out of this bodie the holy Ghost quickens none n That whosoeuer then will haue the holy Ghost should take heede of beinge separated from her and likewise take heede of entring into her fainedly if they had beleeued that the Catholicke Church had bene an inuisible flocke of predestinate persons knowne only to God and into whose Rolle as appointed from all eternitie none could enter or be added thereu nto SECONDLY by the word Catholicke Church the Fathers did not intend the Chaos and generall Masse of all Christian Sectes Societies as well pure as impure as well heretickes as Schismatickes as our aduersaries doe when they feele themselues excluded from theire refuge of an inuisible Church but by the word Cacholicke Church the Fathers intended a Societie such both for doctrine and Communion as these propheticall Oracles painted her forth o Thou art wholie faire and there is noe spott in thee p Thou shalt be called the citie of Iustice the faithfull citie q Through thee shall noe more passe anie that is vncircumcised or vncleane r I will espouse thee in faith and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. And these Euangelicall decrees s The gates of Hell shall not preuaile against her t The Church is the pillar and soundation of truth u There is noe communion of Christ with Belial nor of light with darknesse x If anie one bring not this doctrine saie not to him so much as well be it with thee for whosoeuer shall saie to him well be it with thee communicates in his wicked workes that is to saie they vnderstood by that terme socitie of Christians extracted and contracted by the iust and sufficient meanes of externall vocation to saluation and distinct and purified from the impurity and contagion of all the hereticall schismatical sectes y If thou hearest in any parte saith saint IEROM of men denominated from anie but from Christ as Marcionites 〈◊〉 Montayners or Campites know that it is not the Church of Christ but the Synagogue of Antichrist OPTATVS Mileuitanus z besides the only Church which is truly Catholicke the others amongst the heretickes are esteemed to be but are not soe indeed And againe The Church is one which cannot be amongst vs and amongst you it remaines then that it be in one only place And Sainct AVGVSTINE to Honoratus Although there be manie heresies of Christians and that all would be called Catholickes yet there is alwaies one Church if you cast your eies vpon the extent of the whole worlde more abundant in multitude and also as those that know themselues to be of it more sincere in truth then all the rest but of the truth that is an other Dispute That which sufficeth for the question is that there is one Church to which different heresies impose different names whereas they are all called by there particular names that they dare not disauow from whence it appeares in the indgment of anie not preoccupate with fauour to whom the name of Catholicke whereof they are all ambitions ought to bee attributed And in the booke of the true Religion Wee must holde the Christian Religion and the Communion of that Church that is called Catholicke both by her owne and by strangers for whether heretickes and Schismatickes will or will not when they speake not with theires but with stranges they call the Catholickes noe otherwise then Catholickes And in the Comentary vpon the 149. Psalme The Church of the Saints is the Catholicke Church The Church of the Saintes is not the Church of heretickes she hath bene marked out hefore she was seene and she hath bene exhibited to the end she should be seene And in the booke of Faith and of the Creede Wee beleeue one Church and that the Catholicke for the heretickes and Schismatickes call also theire congregations Churches but the hereticke beleeuinge of God false things violate the Faith And Schismatickes by vniust dissentions separate themselues from brotherly Charitie although they belieue the same thinges that we belieue and therefore neither the heretickes doe appertaine to the Catholique Church because she loues God nor the Schismatickes because she loues her neighbour And certainly how could the Fathers without making themselues ridiculous te theire auditors beate downe the heretickes and Schismatickes with these sentences That out of the Catholicke Church there is noe Saluation that whosoeuer is not in the Catholique Church canot haue life that he shall not haue God for
his father who wil not haue the Church for his mother That Christ is not with those that assemble out of the Church That although they should be slaine for the confession of Christ this spot is not washt awaie euen with bloud That he cannot be à martyr that is not in the Church That out of the Catholicke Church one may haue Faith Sacraments Orders and in summe euery thing except saluation That he that communicates not with the Catholicke Church is an hereticke and Antichrist That noe hereticke nor Schismaticke that is not restored to the Catholicke church before the end of this life can be saued if they had belieued that all the Sectes that professe the name of Christ both heretickes and Schismatickes had bene in the Catholicke Church THIRDLY by the word Catholicke Church they did not intend a Church interrupted and intermitting as that of the protestantes which is borne and dyes by fittes like the Tyndarides but such a Church as these wordes of the prophet describe As in in the daies of Noe I swore that I would no more bring the waters of the floud vpon the earth soe haue I sworne I will no more be angrie against thee Thou shalt noe more be called the forsaken I will place my sanctification in the midst of them for euer I will noe more doe to the rest of this people as in tymes past And these of our Lord The gates of hell shall not preuaile against her I am with you vntill the consummation of all ages The Spirit of truth shall dwell with you eternally Let the one growe with the other vntill the haruest that is to saie a Church permanent eternall and not capeable of ruine Wee acknowledge said that great ALEXANDER Bishop of Alexandria one only Catholicke and Apostolicke Church which as she can neuer bee rooted out though all the world should vndertake to oppose her soe she outhrowes disperseth all the wicked assaulth of heretickes And Sainct ATHANASIVS The Church is inuincible though hell it selfe should arise with all the power thereof against her And THEOPHILVS God in all tymes grants one selfe grace to his Church to witt that that Bodie should be kept intire and that the venome of the Doctrine of heretickes shall haue noe power ouer her And Sainct AVGVSTINE in the comentary vpon the 47. psalme God saith he hath founded her eternallie let not heretickes deuided into factions boaste let them not lift themselues vp that saie heere is Christ and there is Christ. And againe But perchance this Cittie that hath possessed the whole world shall be one daie ruined neuer may it happen God hath founded her eternallie If then God hath founded her eternally wherefore fearest thou that her foundation should fall And in the Comentary vpon the 101. psalme But his Church which hath bene of all nations is noe more she is perished soe saie they that are not in her O impudent voice And a little after this voice soe abominable soe detestable soe full of presumption and falshood which is sustained with noe truth illuminated with noe wisedome seasoned with noe salt vaine rash headie pernicious the holy Ghost hath foreseene it And in the treatie of the Christian combate They saie the whole Church is perished and the relickes remaine only on Donatus his side O prowde and impious tongue And in the worke of Baptisme against the Donatists If the Church vere perished in Cyprians tyme from whence did Donatus appeare from what earth is he sprung vp from what Sea is he come forth from what heauen is he fallen And in the third booke against Parmenian How can they vaunt to haue anie Church if she haue ceased from those tymes And in the explication of the Creede to the Cathecumenistes The Catholicke Church is she that sighting with all heresies may be opposed but cannot be ouerthrowne All heresies are come out from her as vnprofitable branches cut from the vine but she staies in her vine in her roote in her Charitie And the gates of hell shall neuer ouerthrow her Behold without colour or fraud what the Father 's vnderstood by the word Catholicke Church to witt a Church visible and eminent aboue all other Christian societies A Church pure from all contagion of schisme and heresie A Church perpetuall and which had neuer suffered nor neuer could suffer anie interruption neither in her faith in her Communion nor in her visibilitie This Church if the most excellent King haue let hin giue her to vs if not lett him receiue her from vs Aut det as saint AVSTINE said to the Donatists aut accipiat Of the proceeding of the Father for the preseruation of the vnitie of the Church CHAP. III. The pursute of the Kinges Answere THe Kinge commendes also the prudence of the religious Bishops who in the 4 Councell of Carthage as it is heere truly obserued added to the forme of the examination of Bishops a particular interrogatory vpon this point And his Maiestie is not ignorant that the Fathers of the ancient Church haue oftentymes done manie thinges by forme of accommodation for the good of peace and to the end to preuent the breach of vnitie and mutuall Communion whose example he protesteth he is 〈◊〉 to imitate and to followe the steps of those that procure peace euen to the Altars that is to saie as much as in the present estate of the Church the integritie of his Conscience will permitt him For he will giue place to none either in extreame griefe he suffers for the separation of the members of the Churdh which the good Fathers haue soe much detested or in his dosire to communicate if it were possible for him with all the members of the mysticall bodie of our Lord Iesus-Christ THE REPLIE IT was not by way of prudence as prudence signifies a human vertue that the Fathers pronounced this decree that out of the Catholicke Church saluation could not bee obtained but by way of decision and as an article of faith For this cause saith sainct AVGVSTINE vpon the Creede The Conclusion of this Sacrament is determined by the holie Church for as much as if anie one be found on t of it he shall be excluded from the number of the Children And he shall not haue God for his Father that will not haue the Church for his Mother and it shall serue him for nothing to haue belieued or done soe manie and soe manie good workes without the true end or butte of the souer aigne good And sainct FVLGENTIVS in his booke of the Faith Holde this firmely and doubt it not that euery hereticke and Schismaticke haptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost if before the end of this life he be not revnited to the Church Catholicke whatsoeuer almes he distribute yea though he should shed his bloud for the name
deceiptfull that is to saie he spake not this language to shewe that when he writt it there was then noe externall and visible Church which must be communicated with vnder paine of anathema but contrarywise to shew that they must continue to conserue the externall and visible communion of that Church impolluted and vndefiled from the contagion of the Arrians And therefore in the second place alleadged by his Maiestie he representes two Combates that the good Catholicke Pastors had in theire charges some within the Church against the iealousie emulation of euill Catholickes others without the Church against heretickes Schismatickes And which heretickes and not against the Church intituled Catholicke he calleth the warre sacred warre in imitation of the Phocensian warre which was called sacred Of the pretended precepts to goe forth from the visible communion of the Church CHAP. XV. The continuance of the Kings answere NOW that in the Church it was once necessarie to make such a separation we lerrne it cleerely as well out of other places of the Scripture as frō that which is opēlie declared to vs by this admonition of the holy Ghost made to the Church certainely not without cause Goe out of Babylon my people least you communicate in her sinnes Now what this Babilon is from whence the people of God are commaunded to goe forth the kinge searcheth not into it nor decides nothinge in that respect This certainly at least the thinge it self shewes manifestly that whether in that place by the word Babylon be meant a particular Church or the greater parte of the vniuersall Church it must be she hath heertofore bene a lawfull Church wherewith Religious men communicated 〈◊〉 and then from whom after her deprauation had yet past further the faithfull receiued commaundement to goe forth and to breake the communion they had with her Soe as it is easie to be vnderstood from thence that the faithfull ought not to desire all kinde of communion with those which are called vnder the title of Christ but only that which is made retaining still the 〈◊〉 of the doctrine reuealed from heauen THE REPLIE IT was not without cause the first Grecians called their allegoricall sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be it that this word intend hidden conealed senses or whether it intend suspitions For all senses purelie allegoricall are but suspitiōs coniectures haue noe firme solide foūdatiō And it is not without cause that the hebrew Doctors call the literall sense of the scripture the little word the allegoricall sense the great word For the literall sense is restrained by the square straight measure of that which is cōtained in the text where as the allegoricall sence hath noe boūd but is multiplied infinitly goes as farre as humane imaginatio can be stretched And therefore this axiom is past for a prouerbe in diuinitie that allegories proue nothinge Now if there be a booke in the world writtē in an allegoricall stile what one cā be equalled in that kinde to the Reuelation which as Sainct IEROM saith containes as manie Sacraments that is to saie sacred riddles as wordes And if Sainct AVGVSTINE cryed out against the Donatists who would haue found a prediction of theire Church in an allegoricall verse of the Canticles and said to them who is it that dares without a most vnbridled licence produce for himselfe that that is 〈◊〉 in an allegorie if he haue not places more cleere by whose light to illustrate that which is obscure What would he saie in this age not against his Maiestie but against the proceedinges of those that haue built the vocation of theire Church vpon these alegoricall wordes of the Reuelation goe forth of Babylon my people who knowes not that it is a solution sufficient for arguments drawne out of allegoricall expositions to answere I denie it and principally when there may be an other sense giuen to the allegoricall wordes then that according to which they are alleadged If I could not saith Sainct AVGVSTINE answering an allegoricall obiection proue this sense by anie more certaine argument yet it ought to satisfie euerie iudicious bearer that I haue foūd an issue for these wordes by meanes whereof it appeares that they haue alleadged nothīge for thēselues that is certaine but what may de doubted of And not only may there be found an other way of vnderstādinge this passage then that which his Maiestie supposes but antiquitie hath found two others and both celebrated by excellent and authenticall Authors and those which haue come after haue yet added a third The first way of vnderstandinge it is to interpret Babylon described by the Reuelation to be the Societie of all the wicked in generall as S. AVGVSTINE and many others often expound it in that sense and to expound Ierusalem described in the same booke to be the Societie of all the Good which are the two Citties whereof Saint AVGVSTINE hath composed a worke of the Cittie of the diuell which began in Cain and the Cittie of God which began in Abell For as there is the same reason in things contrary and opposite soe must the interpretatio of that Ierusalem painted out in the Reuelation and that of that Babylon which is opposed to it be a like Marke said Saint AVGVSTINE the names of these two Citties Babylon and Ierusalem Babylon signifies confusion and Ierusalem the view of peace c. They are mingled from the beginninge of humane kind and shall continue soe to the end of the world Hierusalem tooke her beginning from Abell and Babylon from Cain And a little after From whence can we now shew them that is discerne them Our Lord will shew to vs when he placeth them the one on his right hand the other on his left Ierusalem shall heare come you blessed of my father take possession of the kingdome which is prepared for you from the beginminge of the world and Babylon shall heare goe you cursed into eternall fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angells Yet we may also bringe some marke accordinge to the capacitie that it pleases God to giue vs by which the faithfull and godlie Cittizens of Ierusalē may be distinguished from the Cittizens of Babylon Two loues make these two Citties the loue of God makes Ierusalem the loue of the world makes Babylon let euerie one then examine himselfe what he loues and he shall finde of which he is a Cittizen And in an other place all the wicked belong to Babylon as all the Saintes doe to Ierusalem And in the volume of the Cittie of God And what shall we gather from this but that we must flie out of the middle of Babilon which propheticall precept ought spirituallie to be vnderstood in this sense that out of the Cittie of this world wich is without doubt the societie of euill Angells and wicked men we should flie with the steps of faith which workes by loue and
of Rome Now Liberius falle was in the end of his first banishement as saint HILLARY insinuats when he reproacheth to the Emperor Cōstantius that he had plucked Liberius out of 〈◊〉 and that he was vncertaine whether he had shewed more impietie in his banishement or in his repeale And as saint IEROM affirmes when he saith Liberius ouercome with the wearinesse of his banishment and hauing subscribed to the Arrian impietie was entred into Rome in manner of a conqueror And thefore the faith of Sirmium which Liberius had signed before his fall which happened at the end of his first exile that is to saie two yeare before the Councell of Arimini could not be that which was forged at 〈◊〉 the yeare of the Councell of Arimini but it was the first of Sirmium which 〈◊〉 also ratifies when he saith that Those of the East brought a forme of Faith that they had drawne from Liberius by which he condemned those that did not affirme that the Sonne was like to the Father in substance and in all things For that was the first Creede poposed to the Councell of Sirmium and embraced by the Demy Arrians which concealed the word 〈◊〉 and insteede thereof substituted like in substance The second coniecture is that the Latine translation of the faith of the false Councell of Sardica which is inserted into the Appendix of the Epistles which is annexed to the end of this writing which Monsieur le Feure will haue to bee gathered by the same Author is so differing not in sence but in wordes from that which is found in the worke of the Synodes of saint HILLARY that it seemes they could not both come from one pen and besides it is noted with this Title The decree of the Arrians whereas saint HILLARY in his booke of the Synodes to spare the Demy-Arrians which held the Simbole of the false Councell of Sardica and to oblige them to bandy against the compleate Arrians whose impietie was proceeded much farther in their latter professions reckons the Faith of the false Councell of Sardica amongst the orthodoxall beleifes supplyed by interpretation that it might receiue an orthodoxall interpretation and was not hereticall by expression but by omission The third coniectures is that in the tyme this writing intitled from saint HILLARY was composed that is to saie after the Councell of Arimini neither saint HILLARIE not anie other Catholicke could say 〈◊〉 to Liberius whosefault and repentance were both arriued before the Councell of Arimini but only the Luciferians who withdrew themselues from the communion of Liberius and of the Catholicke Church after the death of Constantius because that when Constantius was dead Liberius and the other Bishops and Catholickes receiued into the communion of the Church and to the exercise of the Episcopall order those Bishops which hauing bene induced by fraude or force to signe the councell of Arimini protested to repent it For when this writing was made that is to say after the Councell of Arimini Liberius was acknowledged for a Catholicke by all the Catholicke Bishops of the Earth and was so euer after the Councell of Arimini euen to the end of his life as it appeares both by the testimonie of the Councell of the West celebrated vnder Damasus imediate successor to Liberius which disanulling the acts of the Councell of Arimini alleaged amongst other nullities that the Bishop of Rome whose sentence should be attended before all others neuer cōsented to it And by the testimony of saint BASILE who solicites saint ATHANASIVS to write to the Bishop of Rome to be watchfull ouer the affaires of the East and send some to disannull the Councell of Arimini and testifies that the Catholicks of the East and namely the Councells of Militina and Tyana communicated with Liberius and himselfe calls him the blessed Bishop Liberius And by the testimonies of saint EPIPHANIVS who writeth 〈◊〉 Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia the lesse seemed to doe the office of a Legate with many other Bishops to the blessed Liberius of Rome and subscribed to the proposition of the councell of Nicea and to the profession of the orthodoxall Faith And by the testimonie of saint AMBROSE who intitles Liberius after his Death Liberius of happie memory And finally by the testimonie of Siricius imediate Successor to Damasus who saith The generall decrees of my Predecessor Liberius of Reuerend memorie sent through all the prouinces after the disannulling the Councell of Arimini forbad to rebaptise the Arrians when they returned to the Church By meanes whereof either this writing which anathematizeth Liberius after the Councell of Arimini is not saint HILLARIES but of some Luciferian author of the same age or these parenthesises inserted by forme of notes in the Epistles of Liberius inuironned with Semycircles and written in other caracters this is the Arrian trechery this I haue noted I that am noe Apostata And a while after I for my parte saie anathema to thee Liberius and to thy complices And againe Anathema to thee for the second third time ô wicked Liberius haue bene interlaced by the Luciferians or saint HILLARIE inserted the parenthesis into the Epistle of Liberius before he made this writing and hauing in this writing left the places voide to put iu the Epistles which he cited whose Collection was a parte in his papers those that caused them to be published after his death sett into the voide blancke places which he had left the copies of the Epistles which were amongst his papers as they were there found And the fowrth coniecture finallie is that this writing is not a compleate and intire writing of saint HILLARIES but a collection of diuers fragments of the intier worke of saint HILLARIES put together in a heape and without order as may appeare by the transposition of the Epistles there inserted and particularlie of one of Liberius Epistles which is sett in the place where the Epistle of the Councell of 〈◊〉 to Constantius should haue bene By occasion whereof it remaines vncertaine whether these parenthesis be of the author or of the collector that is either of saint HILLARIE or of some Luciferian compiler who to fauor the 〈◊〉 of the Luciferians and to make the memorie of Liberius odious and adhominable hath thrust in these parenthesis And this is spoken of the first answere The second answere against saint HILLARIES pretended anathema against Liberius is that there is great difference betweene an excommunicatiō and an anathema for asmuch as every formall excommunication importes iurisdiction and euery anathema doth not soe For there are two kinds of anathema the one iudiciarie the other executory applicatorie and adiuratory Iudiciary anathema's are those which are pronounced by persons constituted in the Ecclesiasticall Tribunall and which haue power to iudge of matters of Religion and who decree what kindes of things or persons ought to be anathematized and these anathema's import iurisdiction
as when the Councell of Nicea pronounced anathema against the Arrians in these wordes they that saie there was a time wherein the sonn was not the Catholick Church anathematizeth them that is to saie decideth that their Communiō ought to be renounced and abhorred and held sor anathema The anathema's executory applicatory and abiuratory are those by which euery particular person doth protest and declare that hee will practise the sentence of the Church decreed against those persons or doctrines which haue bene by her iudiciarily anathematized and to abiute and hold them for anathema And for this cause iudiciary anathema's cannot be pronounced but by persons grounded vpon iurisdictiō but executory and abiuratory Anathema's may be made not only by persons destitute of iurisdiction but by meere laie men As in the Councell of Ephesus when Cordanepius a lay man returned from the Sect of the 〈◊〉 to the Church he anathematized all those that followed the Sect of the 〈◊〉 I anathematize saith hee all heresie and namely that of the quartodecumans And to this day when anie one returnes from 〈◊〉 heresie into the Catholicke Church he is caused to anathematize that heresy from whence he departs But these anathema's are but simple abiuratory anathema's that is to saie they are but bare executions and applications of iudiciary anathema's and the word to Anathematize in such a case signifies noe other thing but to abiure abhorr and hold them for anathematized Now it was in this second sorte that saint HILLARIE anathematized Liberius for hauing signed and subscribed the communion of the 〈◊〉 to wit not with a iudiciary but with an abiuratory anathema For the iudiciarie anathema had bene already pronounced by the councells of Nicea and of Sardica against the Arrians into whose coummunion Liberius was entered soe as there was noe more question to decree the sentence of anathema against him but to execute it in abiuring and abhorring him as fallen into the sentence of anathema pronounced against the Arrians in the Councells of Nicea and Sardica and therefore saint HILLARY adds to his anathema this word for my parte and saith for my parte anathema to thee ô Liberius to shewe that he spake not with a iudiciary anathema but with an anathema abiuratory and abnegatory whereby hee did not seperate Liberius from the communion of the Church who had alreadie seperated himselfe in departing from her to the 〈◊〉 but whereby he seperated himselfe from the communion of Liberius The third answere containes two branches the one is that this anathema was not pronounced by saint HILLARIVS in the tyme of vnitie and agreement of Popes but in tyme of Schisme and duplicitie of Popes to witt when Liberius and Felix sate concurrently in the Pontificall chaire of Rome Now there is great differēce between pronouncing anathema against a doubtfull Pope and sitting in Schisme with another Pope and pronouncing anathema against one only certaine and peaceble Pope for in the first case to witt in case of Schisme betweene two Popes it is an ordinary thing that those that take parte with the one doe pronounce abiuration and anathema against the other as during the Schisme of John 23 th and of Gregorie the twelfth and of Bennet the 13 th for whose extinction the Councell of Constance was kept those that tooke parte with any one of these three Popes pronounced abiuration and anathema against the other two without pretending notwithstanding to departe from the reuerence and obedience due to the Sea Apostolicke And therefore during the Schisme of Liberius and Felix saint HILLARY might pronoūce anathema against Liberius and seperate himselfe from his communion and enter into the communion of the other Pope without seperating himselfe euer the more from the communion of the Sea Apostolicke The other is that this anathema was not pronounced by S. HILLARY in the tyme that the Roman Church acknowledged him for Pope but in the tyme that Liberius was fallen from the Papacie and that euen the Roman Church abiured renounced and disauowed him for Pope and had withdrawne herselfe from his communion and from his obedience and had ranged herselfe with Felix his competitor For the vnderstanding whereof we must distinguish the tyme of Pope Liberius Popedome into thee partes the first before his falle the second during his fall the third after his fall Now during the first parte to witt before his falle he was so firme a defender of the Faith of the Councell of Nicea and of saint ATHANASIVS innocencie and soe great an enemy to the heresie and communion of the Arrians as the Emperor Constantius for that cause made him be tiranòusly carried away and transported by way of banishment into the cittie of Beroe in the borders of Thrace and at the instance of the Arrians caused Felix the deacon of Rome to be ordained in his steede During the second parte which began at his banishmēt he ouercome with the length of two yeares exile and other corporall vexations and persecutions he suffered himselfe to be drawne to signe the condemnation of S. Athanasius and to admitt the cōmunion of the Arrians and entered into Rome with a promise to continue in that resolutiō then the Roman Church ceased to acknowledge him for Pope For Popes that falle visiblie and by their owne coufession or not contested signature into an heresie notorious cōdemned by a precedent sentence of the Church or into cōmunion with an hereticall societie as was that of the Arrians falle from the Papacie from that tyme cease from their right of being Popes And Felix on the other side who was entred by the packe of the Arrians into his place made himselfe so firme a protector of the Catholicke Faith and Communion and so constant an aduersary of the Arrians as the Roman Church if wee beleiue the ancient inscriptions and the ancient martirologes where Felix is intitled Pope and Martyr and the ancient Catalogues of the Popes where he is put into the ranke of the Popes by the name of Felix the second making valid by a new election or an acceptation equiualent to a new election the ordination of Felix receaued him for Pope in Liberius steede I haue said if we beleiue the ancient inscriptions and martyrologes and the ancient Catalogues of the Popes For many moderne authors and Onuphrius amongst the rest hold that Felix was neuer true Pope and that Liberius neuer fell from the Papacie nor euer receiued the Arrians into his communion And they beleiue that all that saint ATHANASIVS saint HILARY and other ancient writers haue written was grounded vpon a false rumor that the Arrians had spread And they alleadge for this purpose Ruffinus that saith he could neuer discouer the truth of it I cannot discouer saith Ruffinus certainly whether the Emperor Constantius sent backe Liberius to Rome because he had yeilded to his will or because he was pressed to it by the Romans And Sozomene who reportes
condemned the orthodoxall doctrine and had excommunicated and not onely excommunicated but put to death Flauianus Archbishop of Cōstantinople who maintayned the true faith Neuerthelesse these things were not set amongst the principall causes of his deposition but the presumption that he had committed in vndertaking He and his false Councell to excommunicate the Pope and the contempt that he had added to it in not comeing to yeild reason for this presumption to the Councell of 〈◊〉 Dioscorus saith Anatolius Arch-bishop of Constantinople speaking to the Councell of Chalcedon hath not bene deposed for the faith but because he had excommunicated my Lord the Arch-bishop Leo and that hauing bene thrice cited he would not appeare And the Councell of Chalcedon in the epistle to Pope Leo saith After all these things he hath extended his 〈◊〉 euen against him to whom the guarde of the Vine is committed by your Sauiour that is to saie against thy Holynesse and hath mediated an excommunication against him that striues to vnite the bodie of the Church or according to the other 〈◊〉 against thee who makest haste to vnite the bodie of the Church that is to saie against thee that holdest the bodie of the Church in vnitie For with the Greeks it is a common phrase to saie to haste themselues to doe some thing in steede of saying to doe some thinge As when the Emperor IVSTINIAN writt to Pope Iohn surnamed Mercury We haue made haste to submitt and 〈◊〉 all the Prelates of the east countries to your Sea insteede of saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Prelates of the East to your Sea And as when the Councell of 〈◊〉 said Anthymus made haste to cast vs into a worse tempest insteede of saying Anthymus hath cast vs into a worse tempest CARD PERRONS REPLIE TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITANIE THE SECOND BOOKE CHAP. I. Of Councells The continuance of the Kinges answere TO this were added alwaies and as often as they were needefull Councells truly Oecumenicall and not as vve see they haue bene often since Oecumenicall by name but indeede assembled onely out of some prouinces of Europe THE REPLIE AND euen this also very often when there was noe neede of thē as the Councell of Arimini compounded of more then 400. Bishops the second Councell of Ephefus called from all the Regions of the world but assembled by hereticall Emperors or gouerned by the abettors of heretickes and from the vnlawfull celebration whereof the one held without the Popes authority and the other against it the successe teacheth vs that as much as Councells are profitable whē the temporall authority seconds the Ecclesiasticall as much are they pernicious when temporall authority vndertakes to performe the office of Ecclesiasticall authority Iointlie that as in human bodies the multitude of medicines is not a signe of health soe in the Ecclesiasticall bodie the multitude of Councells is not a signe of well being witnesse the complaintes of S. Gregorie Nazianz. vpon the multitude of Councells holden after that of Nicea of which he saith that he neuer sawe good come of them that is to witt as much because when the hereticall Emperors medled with the affaires of the Church the ambition to please them which was crept in among the Bishops thwarted the iudgments of the Synod as because the holding subsequent Councells vpon the same matter of those preceding them was to wound and to weaken the authority of the preceding Councells And then howe could the celebration of Councells haue bene a meanes to make men assured of the communion of the true Church if generall Coūcells lawfully assembled that is according to the externall solemne and vsuall waies might erre in faith as the Protestants pretend and had not the infallible assistance of the holy Ghost but that a particular man esteeming his opinion agreeable to the sense of Scripture and that of the Councell differing from it might yea ought to preferr his iudgement before that of the Councell For whereas his Maiestie saith that the Councells holden in the last ages haue bene Oecumenicall in name but in effect assembled onely from some prouinces of Europe he may obserue if he please that there are two sortes of Oecumenicall Councells the one Oecumenicall indeede the other Oecumenicall in right I call those Councells Oecumenicall in deede which haue bene assembled from all partes wherein the succession of the Episcopall character is preserued whether those parts haue remayned within the Body of the Church or whether they haue bene cutt of from it I call those Councells Oecumenicall in right which are compounded onely of those partes which haue remayned within the body and Societie of the Church and to whom onely as such belongs the right to iudge in matters of Faith as the Councell of Sardica at the which there assisted not the Bishops of the Patriarkeshipp of Antioch because they were Arrians And the second Councell of Nicea at which the Cophtes that is the naturall Egiptians and Ethiopians assisted not because they were Eutychians Now both these kindes of Councells are of equall authority as concerning certainty in decisions of Religion for all the bodie of the true Church being there representatively both in the one and the other the assistance of the holy Ghost is there equally infallible But in regarde of euidence the authoritie of Oecumenicall Councells in deede is more powerfull and eminent in the behalfe of those men which are deuided from the Church then that of Oecumenicall Councells in right For in Councells Oecumenicall in right there are none but Catholicks that are assured that all the body of the Church is there assembled whereas in Councells Oecumenicall in deede each of the parties cōtesting is of agreemēt that all the Body of the Church is there represented And the medley of hereticall or Schismaticall Bishops that is prouided with the onely succession of the Episcopall character but cut of from the communion of the Bodie of the Church hinders not but that in such councells the holy Ghost may worke by the common note of the Assemblie because the true Church receiuing those Bishops there for the effect then present into her charitie and into her communion while they are ioyned with her to the end to seeke meanes to assemblish vnitie she re-enables and restores to them for the tyme of the assemblie the authoritie of the exercise and of the Iurisdiction of their order whereof before there remayned to them nothing but the character To say then that some of the Councells of the latter age haue not bene Oecumenicall because the Greekes or Ethiopians did not assist there is not a valuable exception vnlesse it first appeare that the Greekes or Ethiopians are true and lawfull partes of the Church and haue not bene iustly cutt off and deuided from the Catholicke communion For it sufficeth to make a Coūcell generall and vniuersall in right that all the partes that remaine actuall within the Body
that were admitted into her communion were admitted into the Communion of the whole Catholicke Church and that those that were seperated from her communion were seperated from the communion of the whole Bodie of the Catholick Church Of the oppositions of saint Cyprian CHAPT III. THE second instance of Caluin is taken from saint CYPRIAN and consistes in seauen heades produced by him or by his disciples The first that saint CYPRIAN calls Pope Steuen Brother The second that he complaines because Basilides a Bishop of Spaine hauing bene deposed by a Synod of his Prouince for hauing bowed vnder persecution and an other hauing bene ordained in his place Pope Steuen restored him The third that he saith there were but a small number of lost and desperate persons who beleeued that the authoritie of the Bishops of Africa was lesser The fowrth that he saith that the ecclesiasticall causes ought to be determined where they were bredd The fift that hee affirmes that the Episcopall power is one thing whereof euerie one holdes his portion vndiuidedly The sixth that hee cries none of vs constitutes himselfe Bishopp of Bishopps And the seauenth finallie that he vseth rude wordes against Pope Steuen and accuses him of ignorance and of presumption To the first then of these heades which is that saint CYPRIAN calls Pope Cornelius brother Wee answere he calls him Brother not to denie to him the superintendencie of the Ecclesiasticall gouernement but for two other causes The one to insinuate that the Popes superintendencie ouer other Bishops was not a Lordly Monarchie as that of temporall princes ouer their subiects but a gentle and brotherly Monarchie as that of an elder brother ouer his younger Bretheren which is the title that our Lord himselfe would beare when he made himselfe be called the first borne amongst manie bretheren and which is the memoriall of humilitie that God had giuen to the Kings of his people when he had pronounced Thou shalt take a king from amongst thy bretheren And againe that the kings heart may not be exalted aboue his bretheren From whence it is that the Scripture to represent this brotherly Monarchie as well in the Sacerdotall as in the politicke order saith in the first booke of Esdras And Iosua sonne of Iosedeck 〈◊〉 vp and the priests his bretheren and built vp the Altar of God And the other to signifie the vnitie of the communion that Tertullian calls the nomination of brotherhood and to shew that he spake not of the Antipope Nouatianus to whom the Schismatickes adhered but of the true Pope Cornelius and of Steuen his successor with whom the Catholicke Bishops communicated as Erasmus hath acknowledged vpon the same place of saint CYPRIAN in these termes The word BROTHER doth not there signifie equalitie but societie of Religion For that it was a familiar thing for ancient authors to vse the word Brother not to exclude the superioritie 〈◊〉 but to expresse the vnitie of communion it appeares by a thousand testimonies It appeares first by the testimonie of saint AMBROSE who calls the Bishop of Rome his holy Brother and neuerthelesse ' in the same place aduertiseth Theophilus Patriarke of Alexandria who was a committee from the Councell of Capua to iudge the cause of Flauianus Patriarke of Antioch to procure his iudgement to be confirmed by the Pope Wee conceaue said hee that you ought to reserr the affaire to our holy brother Bishop of the Roman Church for wee presume you will iudge soe as can not displease him And a little after that Wee hauing receaued the tenor of your acts when wee shall see that you haue iudged things soe as the Roman Church shall vndoubtedlie approue we will receiue with ioy the fruite of your examination It appeares secondly by the testimonie of the Catholicke Bishops of Africa who answered the Donatists in the conference of Carthage that Cecilianus Archbishop of Carthage had bene their brother Hee was saith saint AVSTIN our brother because of the communion of the Sacraments And neuertheles the Archbishop of Carthage was head and Superintendent of all the Bishops of Africa It appeares thirdly by the testimonie of saint AVGVSTINE who calls Aurelius Archbishop of Carthage his brother and neuerthesse saint AVGVSTINE was the spirituall subiect to Aurtlius and had bene made Bishop of Hippo by meanes of the dispensation that Aurelius had giuen to Ualerius to take him for coadiutor and himselfe acknowledged that he was obliged to execute his commaundemēts I haue said hee obeied thy commaundements my holie brother 〈◊〉 It appeares fowrthlie by the testimonie of Epigonius one of the Bishops of the third Councell of Carthage who calls the same Aurelius his brother and neuerthelesse acknowledgeth in the same place that Aurelius had superintendencie ouer all Africa It appeares in the fifth place by the testimonie of John Patriarke of Constantinople who writing to Pope Hormisdas intituleth him his Brother and neuertheles protests wee doe in all things followe the Sea Apostolicke and preach all that hath bene thereby decided And promise in the tyme to come not to recite amidst the sacred misteries the names of those that are seperated from the communion of the Catholicke Church that is to saie addeth hee that doe not altogether agree with the Sea Apostolicke And finallie it appeares by the testimonie of the Emperor Justinian who 〈◊〉 to Pope John surnamed Mercurius Wee demaund that your Fatherlie 〈◊〉 may declare to vs your intention by your letters directed to vs and to the most holie Bishop and Patriarke of this famous cittie your brother And neuertheles in the same Epistle and in the Epistle to the Patriarke of Constantinople he affirmeth that the Pope is the head of all the holie Prelates of God And the same may be said of the words Colleague or Fellow-Minister that the ancient Catholique Bishops sometimes attribute to the Pope not to weaken the Superioritie of the Gouernment but to designe the societie of the Ministrie and to shew that the faithfull and wise seruant that the Master hath substituted ouer the companie of his seruants to giue them their nourishment in due season is not Lord but fellowe Seruant to his fellowe Seruants For that the Fathers doe so vnderstand it it appeares by manie Examples It appeares first by the Epistle of the Synod of Alexandria where the Bishops of Egipt call saint ATHANASIVS Patriarke of Alexandria their Colleague who neuerthelesse was their head and had iurisdiction ouer all the Bishops of Egipt and Libia as it appeares both from the sixth Canon of the Councell which giues perfect authoritie to the Bishop of Alexandria ouer all the Bishops of Egipt Libia and Pentapolis And from the Remonstrance that the Metropolitans of Egipt made to the Councell of Chalcedon that they could enterprise nothing without the authoritie of the Bishop of Alexandria It appeareth secondlie by the Epistle of Proclus Archbishop
causes of Bishops could not be determined till first the decision had bene made at Rome And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Sacerdot all lawe required that those things which were constituted without the Bishop of Romes sentence should be annulled Neuerthelesse for as much as Caluin obiectes that if this cause had belonged to the Popes Ordinary iurisdictiō he ought not to haue iudged it by the Emperors commission it is necessarie to cleere it To this obiection then before wee 〈◊〉 the matter to the bottom wee will answere in forme of a prologue fiue thinges first that it was not a commission except in regard of the three Assessors of the Gaules that the Emperor named to content the importunitie of the Donatists to the end that they might serue for 〈◊〉 warrants of the sinceritie of the proceedings of the Councell of Rome but a remittmēt as it appeares both by the Emperors confessiō who avowed that it belōged not to him to examin this cause by the electiō that the Pope made of fifteene other Bishops that he tooke for his assistāts besides those that the Emperor had nominated And therefore although S. AVG. in regard of the Donatists intētiō sometimes calls this remittmēta delegation neuerthelesse hee sheweth sufficientlie that it was rather a relegation then a delegation when he notes that the reason wherefore the Emperor did it was for as much as he durst not iudge the cause of a Bishop Your Superiors said he to the Donatists first brought the cause of Cecilianus to the Emperor Constantine And a little after But because 〈◊〉 durst not iudge the cause of a Bishop hee delegated the examination and 〈◊〉 thereof to Bishops I add that hee vsed this language by Synecdoche and referringe the word delegation to the Iudges of the Gaules onelie that were deputed to assist at the Councell of Rome and not to all the Councell of Rome as hee witnesseth elsewhere by these wordes The Emperor gaue to the Donatists the Iudges that themselues had demaunded that is to 〈◊〉 the Iudges of the Gaules And againe Donatus was heard at Rome by the Iudges that himself had demaunded For of the ninteene Bishops of the Councell of Rome there were but three of the qualitie of those that Donatus had demaunded Donatus had demaunded but three but saint AUSTIN extendes this clause by Synecdoche to all the Coūcell for as much as the three Iudges demaunded by Donatus had iudged in Common with all the Councell and were found soe conformable to the rest as the iudgement of the Councell which passed all with one voice and without anie diuersitie of opinions and theirs was one selfe same thing The second answere is that Constantine did not interpose his authoritie in this affaire as Maister by himself of the cause but as an Arbiter sought by the Donatists and assuringe himself as a Catholicke that he should be avowed by the Catholicks This Matter saith saint AVGVSTIN belonged greatly to the Emperors care whereof he ought to giue an accompt to God for the Donatists had made him arbiter and iudge of the cause of the tradition and of the Schisme From whence it appeares that the Emperors interposition in this cause was a matter of fact and not of right and whose example cannot be alleadged for a paterne of the ancient discipline of the Church The third that it was not a controuersie questioned amongst the Catholicks and according to the ordinarie lawes of the Church but a Sute commenced by the heretickes against the Catholicks and by waies extraordinarie to all the lawes and formes of the Church For the Donatists had alreadie broken the bond of vnitie and shaken off the yoake of the Churches authoritie They were saith saint AVGVSTIN alreadie culpable of the Schisme and alreadie stained with the horrible crime of the 〈◊〉 of Altar against Altar By meanes whereof there being noe iudge common betweene them and the Catholicks in the Church there remained nothing for them to doe but to haue recourse to the Arbitrements of the secular powers whose examples could noe more be drawne into consequence against the ordininarie authoritie of the Christian Church then the iudgment that Ptolomeus Philometor king of Egipt gaue betweene the Iewes and the Samaritans could forme a president against the ordinarie authoritie of the high priest and of the Sacerdotall colledge of the Iewish Church The fowrth that the cause questioned in this processe was not a cause of right and that should be proued by ecclesiasticall meanes such as the testimonies of Scripture or the traditions of the Apostles or the Custome of the Church or the sentences of the Fathers but a question of fact and whereof the hypothesis was mingled with accessories that belonged not to the causes of the Church and could not be examined by ecclesiasticall meanes onelie but must be iustified by human and secular meanes as the confronting of witnesses the acts of Notaries yea Pagan and heathen ones the Recordes of Clerkes and euen the applications of questions and corporall tortures For the accusation of the Donatists was principallie grounded vpon the framing of a false letter that they had forged against Felix Bishop of Aptunge for the examination whereof there must be a secular and proconsulary iudgement interposed betweene the ecclesiasticall iudgements that is to saie betweene the Councell of Rome and that of Arles to conuince the forgers of the falshood by the application of rackes and tortures Wee haue vndertaken saith saint AVSTIN the defence of the cause of Cecilianus although it belong not to the cause of the Churche that we may make their calumnies appeare euen in that And againe speaking of the torture which was offered to the scriuener Ingentius or Uigentius to make him confesse whether he had falsified the letter of the Aedile Alfius Cecilianus to Felix Bishop of Aptunge The Proconsull said hee amongst the fearefull cries of the vshers and the bloudy hands of the hangmen would not haue condemned a Colleague of his being absent And the fifth that all the actes that the Donatists extorted from the Emperor in this 〈◊〉 hee protested them to be soe manie irregularities and nullities and so manie vnlawfull enterprises vniust and extraordinarie wherein he suffered himself to be constrained against his will to giue waie to the passion and malice of the Donatists and in yeilding to them to assaie to reduce them to the peace and vnitie of the Church and he was soe 〈◊〉 from desiring to haue the example thereof serue for a lawe to the Bishops as contrarywise he promised to aske the Bishops pardon the historie is this The Donatists hauing accused Cecilianus Archbishop of Carthage of treason or communication with traytors that is to saie with those that had deliuered the holie Bookes and the sacred Vessells to be put into the fier in the persecution tyme yea euen to haue bene ordained by a traytor soe did they intitle Felix
Bisop of Aptunge they first obtained a iudgement of seauentie Bishops in Africa against him Then discerning that Cecilianus dispised 〈◊〉 iudgement as well because it was giuen against an absent person as because as saint AVSTINE saith that he sawe himselfe vnited by communicatory letters with the Roman Church in the which adds the same saint AVGVSTINE hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke and with the other Countries from whence the Ghospell came in to Africa they resolued to pursue beyond the seas a new iudgement Now they seared the Popes Tribunall both in generall because all Italie had bene trobled with persecutions vnder the Empire of Dioclesian by meanes whereof they figured to themselues that there would be manie Bishops that had bowed or bent and consequentlie would supporte the cause of Ceci 〈◊〉 and in particular if wee beleiue the Donatists in the conference of Carthage because the Pope Melchiades was suspected by them as a complice as they pretended of the same crime or one equiualent to that of him that ordained Cecilianus They began said saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the Donatists of the conference of Carthage to charge Melchiades of the crime of Treason and to 〈◊〉 that their superiors had shunned his iudgement because he was a Traytor For these causes then that is to saie be it for the suspition that they had in common against all Italie be it for that they had in particular against the Pope they addressed themselues to the Emperor Constantine who then was resident amongst the Gaules and besought him to giue them iudges from amongst the Gaules because in that prouince whereof his Father Constantius had had gouernment there had bene noe persecution which was to refuse in generall all the prouinces where Dioclesians persecution had taken place amongst which Italie was one of the principall Your Superior saith Optatus Mil. presented to the Emperor yet ignorant of the affaire the request which followes Wee beseeche thee ô excellent Emperor Constantine because thou art of a iust race whose father amongst all the Emperors neuer practised anie persecution and that the Gaules are freed from this crime for in Africa there are contententions amongst vs let there be giuen to vs Iudges from amongst the Gaules And what meruaile is it if they addressed themselues to Costantine since after they had recourse to the Emperor Iulian the Apostata a pagan and an infidell prince the Emperor Constantine amazed and angrie with this proceeding reproached it to the Donatists and obiected to them that they would receiue iudgement from him who himselfe did attend the iudgement of Christ. He durst not saith saint AVSTINE iudge the cause of a Bishop And Optatus Mileuitanus from whom S. AVGVSTINE borrowed this historie Hee answered them saith hee with a spirit full of indignation you aske of me iudgement in this world of me I saie that doe my self attend the iudgement of Christ that is to saie you would haue me constitute my self for a Iudge of the Ministers of Christ I that doe my self attend the iudgement of Christ. Which was the same protestation that he made afterward at the Coūcell of Nicea in these wordes repeated by our glorious CHARLEMAINE To me who am constituted in a lay condition it is not lawfull to iudge of Bishops And this the Emperor Ualentinian renewed in these wordes repeated by saint AMBROSE and by the same CHALEMAINE Your businesse ô Bishops is farr aboue vs and therefore treate amongst you of your causes And that S. ATHANASIVS remēbred to the Emperor Constatius in these termes What hath the Emperor in common with the iudgement of Bishops And againe when did the iudgements of the Church take their force from the Emperor And saint MARTIN to Maximus This is a new and neuer heard of impietie that a secular iudge should iudge a cause of the Church And this was the first protestation of irregularitie made by the Emperor Constantine against the Donatists to witt that leauing the waie and the ordinarie progresse of the iudgments of the Church they had recourse to him to obtaine Iudges and which hath bene alwaies followed since by the pious and religious Catholicke Emperors This request neuerthelesse of the Donatists that the Emperor reiected as a iudge he beleiued that hee ought not altogether to reiect as an arbiter and compounder of the busines but thought it to bee to purpose in some sorte to make vse of the arbiterment that the Donatists referred to him to assaie to reconcile them to the Catholickes whose communion he held and for that occasion assured himselfe that he ought to be auowed and agreed vnto by them And therefore desiring on the one side to preserue the forme of the ordinarie iudgements of the Church on the other side being constrained to giue some waie to the hardnes of those that he desired to bring backe by faire meanes he remitted them frō the Gaules to Rome to be iudged by the Pope Melchiades with the assistance of three Bishops of the Gaules that he caused to trauaile thither Maternus of Cologne Rheticius of Autun and Marinus of Arles that they might be wittnesses and warrants of the sinceritie of his proceedings I haue ordained saith the Emperor in his Epistle to Melchiades euill inscribed to Mechiades and to Marcus that Cecilianus with ten of his accusers and ten of his abetters that is to saie ten Africā Bishops which opposed him and ten of Africk Bishops which maintained him trauelled so farr as to Rome that in your presence ioyning with you Rheticius Maternus and 〈◊〉 your Colleagues whom for this effect I haue enioyned to trasport themselues to Rome he may be heard so as you shall know that it belonges to the most religious lawe I haue said in the Epistle euill inscribed to Melchiades and to Marcus for there it must be read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well because Marcus was not Bishop of Rome till after Siluester Successor to Melchiades as because if this Marcus had bene anie other then a Bishop the Emperor would not haue said ioyntlie with you your colleagues Rheticius Maternus and Marinus And if he had bene Bishop hee had not directed 〈◊〉 letter to Melchiades Bishop of Rome and to Marcus without adding to it the qualitie of Bishop These three Bishops of the Gaules then hauing bene vpon the nomination of the Emperor admitted by the Pope and called by him to the Councell of Rome became iudges of the right of the affaires Now to whom doth it not heereby appeare quite contrarie to that which the Caluenists pretended to inferr For first if the Emperor as he protests himselfe had noe right to iudge the causes of Bishops howe could hee in right giue them Iudges I saie in right and not in fact for as much as the Emperor could well giue them Iudges in fact and whose
condemned the Faith of the Coūcell of Nicea and the person of S. ATAANASIVS Now it happened that in the addresse of the Epistle of this false Councell of Sardica the Arrians amongst the Bishops of their communion inserted the name of Donatus Bishop of the Donatists of Carthage for as much as this Donatus besides the heresie of the Donatists was also infected with that of the Arrians The Donatists then thinking they might inferr from thence that their communion had in former tymes bene spread out of Africa by this meanes auoid the reproaches that the Catholickes of Africa made to them that their Church was imprisoned within the lymitts of Africa and consequently was not Catholicke aduised themselues to call in and supprese secretly in Africa all the copies of the true Councell of Sardica which had bene brought thither by Gratus Catholick Archbishop of Carthage and to sowe in their steedes the copies of the false Councell of Sardica which had bene addressed to Donatus his competitor and wrought so in it that in the time of saint AVGVSTINE and of the sixth councell of Carthage as it shal be heereafter proued by many places of S. AVGVSTINE there were to be found in Africa none of the copies of the true councell of Sardica but only those of the false councell of Sardica The seauenth Aduertisement shal be that the African Fathers neuer went so farr as to make anie decision or anie decree vpon the Article of the Episcopall Appeales contrarywise before the cōming of the copies frō the East all their proceeding was to beseeche the Pope to cause their contentes to be obserued with protestation the while to practise what was sett downe in his Legates Instructiōs And after the copies had bene brought out of the East so farr were they from making anie decree vpon the Article of the Bishops Appeales as they hindred not those of Simple priests For after the death of Pope Boniface vnder whom the copies of the East were brought into Africa Apiarius being fallen into new crimes for which he was againe condemned by a Councell of Africa and Pope Celestine vpon a pretence of Appeale hauing againe sent Faustinus his Legate into Africa to cause a newe Councell to be holden there where Apiarius did not only forbeare to hinder it but also to obay the Popes Bill of Appeale assembled a new Councell where in his Legates presence Apiarius his cause was againe put to triall and they did not awake the contention of Appeales but vpon the occasion that was giuen them by the subsequent and vnexpected confession of Apiarius who vanquished by the remorse of his owne conscience voluntarily discouered all the infamous crimes whereof he was accused This confession then hauing renewed in the spirit of the Africans the memory of the greeuances that they receiued by Appeales which in steede of seruing as they ought for a shield for innocence when the raynes were let too loose serued for a Shield for incorrigibilitie and impunitie they tooke occasion from thence to write an Epistle of complaint to the Pope But yet euen then they passed not so farr as to make anie decree of the Episcopall appeales but contained themselues within the simple lymitts of complaints petitions and Remonstrances Which the Bishops of the Councell of Constantinople surnamed Trullian that the Greekes call the sixth generall Councell acknowledged when they said wee receiue the Canons made by the holy Fathers assembled at Sardica and at Carthage words which shewed plainely that they beleeued not the Councell of Sardica to haue bene disabled by the decrees of the Councell of Carthage The eight and last aduertisement shall be that the end issue of the affaire was that after all these contentions searches and proceedings the Pope remained in full and intire possession of the Right of the Episcopall Appeales of Africa and that the Africans were satisfied that what they hadnot found in the Councell of Nicea was contained in the Councell of Sardica whose Canons vpon this occasion they inserted into the Canon law of their prouinces and in summe that all the African Church continued and perseuered in the practise of yielding Episcopall Appeales to the Sea Apostolicke and in the communion and obedience of the Pope as long as Christianitie lasted in Africa This is the history Apiarius priest of Sicca a cittie of the prouince of Numidia in Africa after he had bene condemned deposed and excommunicated by the African Bishops in a cause that he had against Vrbanus Bishop of Sicca cōplained to Pope Zozimus that he had appealed to him that the Africans would not suffer the cause to passe beyond Sea Pope Zozimus vpon this occasion sent into Africa the rule of the Councell of Sardica vpon the matter of Appeales which consisted in two Articles wherof the one contained that the Bishops after they had bene deposed by the Councells of their Prouinces might appeale to the Pope the other contained that the Priests which had bene deposed by the Councell of their Prouince might haue their cause reuiewed by the Bishops of the next Prouinces which was the point that concerned Apiarius his controuersie For whereas the rule of the Councells of Africa imported that the Priests should be iudged by the Bishop of their Diocesse and by six Bishops of the same Prouince and that in case they would appeale from it they might not appeale but to the Primat and to the Councell of their Prouince to the end that the cause might be determined within the Lymitts of that particular Prouince where it had bene begun The Councell of Sardica ordained that after they had bene iudged by the Primat and the Councell of their Prouince they might appeale to the Primat and to the Councell of one of the next Prouince Which thing being applyed to Africa to witt that it might be lawfull to euery Priest of Africa to appeale from the Primat and from the Councell of his Prouince to the Primat and Councell of one of the next Prouinces Apiarius pretended that it belonged to the dignitie and the Priuiledge of the Sea Apostolicke that it might be in the power of him that was a Numidian Priest to choose amongst the Churches next the Prouince of Numidia the Roman Church although it were out of the continent of Africa before anie of the rest because besides the neighbourhood that Tertullian expresses by these words If thou beest a neighbour to Italie thou hast the Roman Church whose authoritie is neere and at hand to vs she hath the prerogatiue and preheminence of dignitie aboue all the rest Now it happened that the Pope sent into Africa these canons of the Councell of Sardica vnder thé title of the Canons of the Councell of Nicea For the mention of the Councell of Sardica inserted into some Latine copies of the sixth Councell of Carthage is a quotation of the copists which slipt out of the Margent into
man that is to saie a veritable man and then that a Church leaues not to be truly a Church although she be not a true Church it is a Sophisme of the truth of the essence to the truth of the word and of the word verus to the word Verax there being none so young a scholler but knowes that to speake vniuocallie whosoeuer is truly a man is a true man for as much as being and truth are conuertible from whence it is that sainct AMBROSE vseth these wordes true Israelite and trulie Israelite as termes equiualent And that sainct AVGVSTINE saith Euerie soule is by that a soule by which it is a true soule And therefore as the Fathers affirme that there is none but the Catholicke Church that is a true Church From thence saith sainct AVGVSTINE it appeares that the true Church is concealed from noe bodie Soe they also saie that there is none but the Catholicke Church that is truly a Church If you did teach saith sainct AVGVSTINE to the Manichees that mariage were good but virginitie better as doth the Church which is trulie the Church of Christ the bolie Ghost had not predesigned you And whereas it is replied that a man for being lesse or more sound leaues not to be a man and soe that a Church for being lesse or more pure leaues not to be a Church it is an other manifest Sophisme for health is not the essentiall forme of a man nor sicknes the priuation of the essentiall forme of a man but an accident which consequentlie may receaue more and lesse whereas puritie of faith according to his maiesties owne confession is the essentiall forme of the Church and the impuritie of Faith the priuation of the essentiall forme of the Church By meanes whereof noe Societie can hold among the conditions of her Communion and doctrine impure in Faith and contrarie to saluation but shee looseth at the same time the being and title of a Church And therefore the diuersitie of the communions whereinto the Church was deuided when Luther rose must not be alleadged for a pretence to be ignorant where the true Church then was For since the Church ought to be perpetually visible and eminent and that then there were noe Christiā communions visible in the world but ours that of the Grecians vnder which are cōprehended the Muscouites the Antiochians that of the Egiptians Ethiopians which is but one that of the Armenians that of the Nestorians that it is of the essence of the necessirie of the Church that she should be pure and impolluted in faith and that all those others by the common confession of vs and of the Protestants are heretickes and corrupt it is not needefull to goe to Delphus to learne that either the Church was perished which as wee haue aboue shewed could not be or that it was our communion which was the Church Of the qualitie wherein the Catholick Church attributes to herself the name of the whole CHAP. VIII The continuance of the Kings answere AND therefore the most excellent King is much amazed when hee sees the Churches which haue bene members of the whole Bodie drawe to themselues all the right of vniniuersalitie THE REPLIE IT hath alreadie bene aboue shewed that by the Catholicke Church the Fathers neuer intended the Masse and totall conclusion of the multitude of Christians but a speciall societie distinct from the beleefe and from the communion of all hereticall and schismaticall sects and which in regard of the Masse and generall confusion of all the multitude of Christians held actuallie but the place of a part and held only the place of the whole actuallie in regard of the particular Churches which were comprehended in deede in her communiō For there was neuer anie age since the apostles built the church but there haue bene some heretickes which haue gone forth from the Bodie of the Church neuerthelesse making profession of the name of Christ They haue gone forth from vs saith S IOHN but they were not of vs. And S. IVDE Cursed bee they for they perish in the contradiction of Chore people which separated them selues men animalls hauiug not spiritt And S. AVGVSTINE All hereticks and Schismaticks are gone forth from vs that 〈◊〉 to saie saith hee are gone sorth of the Church But amongst this difference of societies making profession of Christian Religion there was alwaies one more eminent in multitude then the rest which hath alwaies remained in her stocke and roote and from whence all the rest are gone forth to whom also the name of Catholicke nath bene preserued not because she held actuallie the place of whole in regard of the rest but onlie of all habituallie as the stocke in regard of the boughes which haue bene pluckt off for as much as in all the separations she remained in the same estate wherein all the Bodie was before the separation and consequentlie hath iustlie inherited the name of totall Church and succeeded onelie in the right and application of the whole as being she alone that represents it The Church saith S. AVGVSTINE Combating against all heresies may be resisted but she cannot be ouerthrowne all heresies are gone forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt off from their vine but she remaines in her roote in her vine in her charitie the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her Which amazeth me that is maiestie should be amazed that the Churches which haue heretofore bene members of the whole Bodie should drawe to themselues all the Right of the vniuersalitie For the word Catholicke was neuer common to all Christians but onely to a part of Christians to witt to that wherein there remained the actuall totalitie of that which rested in the iust possession of the title of the Church and which in regard of the partes separated retained noe more the effect but only the right of the whole as representing her that before each separation was the whole And therefore so farr was S. AVGVSTINE from extending the totalitie of the Catholicke Church to the multitude of all the sectes of Christians as contrariwise after hauing reported the opinions of the eightie eight heresies he adds What the Catholicke Church holdes against all these thinges is a superfluous demaund since it is sufficient for to knowe that she holdes the contrary to these thinges And a while after There may also be or be made other heresies besides these which are reported in this worke of ours whereof who shall holde anie one shall be noe Catholick Christiā And elsewhere The Catholick and the heretick are deuided the one against the other And againe They cannot beginn to be Catholick till they haue left to be hereticke And therefore when the hereticall Sects separate themselues from the Catholicke Church and deuide themselues from the part that consents not to heresie they hinder not the title os Catholicke nor the Right of vniuersalitie from being preserued in her
stranger askes an hereticke where they assemble to communicate in the Catholicke Church none of them dares to shew his Temple or his howse And the reason the title of catholick was not an allurement wherewith heretickes drewe ignorant persons to them but the firme bond by which the true Church drewe to her and retained in her communion all the true faithfull called to the hope of life eternall and amongst other this Eágle of doctors S. AVGVSTINE who saith That I omitt this sincere wisedome which you beleeue not to be in the catholicke church There be manie other reasons which doe most iustlie retaine me in her lappe the consent of people and nations retaines me the authoritie begunn by miracles 〈◊〉 by hope increased by charitie confirmed by antiquitie retaines me the succession of Prelates euen from the Sea of Peter to whom our lord committed his sheepe to be fedd after his resurrection vntill the present Bishop detaines me And finallie the verie name of Catholicke retaines me And a little after these so manie and so great most deare bondes of the Christian name doe iustlie detaine faithfull men in the Catholick Church although for the slownes of our vnderstanding of the defect of meritts in our liues truth doth not yet shew her else with manifest euidence Of the cases wherein the Communion in vow with the Catholick Church may be imputed as actuall CHAP. XV. The continuance of the Kinges answere BVT this notable calamitie is particular to the last times whereto wee are arriued that the Catholick Church which must bee communicated with either reallie and by effect or at the least voluntarily and in vowe is 〈◊〉 illustrious at this daie then antiently she was and lesse exposed to the view of men and more subiect to bee contested THE REPLIE ARISTOTLE that great Philosopher which steeped his pen say the Greekes in sece in steede of inke teacheth vs that the cittie is before the cittizen to witt not in prioritie of time for a cōmon-weale can not be without a cittizen but in prioritie of nature that is to saie that the being of the cittizen dependes from that of the cittie and not the being of the cittie from that of the cittizen from whence it appeares that the forme that giues being in the first place to the cittie and then by participation to the cittizen must reside in the cittie in the most perfect manner that it can reside and not in the most imperfect And soe although it suffice to preserue to a cittizen the being of a cittizē that in default of being able to participate actuallie in the communion of the common wealth as when he is hindred by anie locall obstacle either of beeing in a strange prison or remayning in a strange countrie he commnicate there habituallie and in desire which is an imperfect manner of communicating it sufficeth not that the communion where by the common wealth is framed and preserued in being should be a simple habituall communion and in vowe but it is necessarie that it should be a true and actuall communion For when a Cittizen is hindred by anie locall impossibilitie from communicating actuallie with his Common wealth he leaues not to preserue the being of a cittizen prouided that hee communicate therewith habituallie that is to saie in vowe and in desire and communicate not in a politicke communion with anie contrarie societie But when the communion of the bodie of a common-wealth comes to be dispersed and that there is noe more anie comerce or actuall communion in the estate then the common wealth is extinct and hath noe more being and the communion that is habituall and in desire of the cittizens dispersed and noe more communicating one with an other cannot preserue it Now euen that ought to be said of the Church whereof the Psalmist singes propheticallie Hierusalem which is built as a cittie whose participatiō is in vnitie to witt that although the cōmunion habituall and in vow sussice for a particular person in case of impossibilitie for the actuall to make him imputatiuelie a member of the Church that is to saie to cause this imperfect communion to serue him to saluation in default of the other Neuerthelesse the Church cannot be framed nor preserued in the beeing of a Church by a communion only habituall and in vowe but by a reall and actuall communion The which as soone as it comes wholie to cease and to perishe in the Church the Church perisheth and ceaseth to be And therefore this distinction of actuall communion and communion in vowe serues well to shewe that anie one may be imputatiuelie in the Church without participating actuallie in the visible communion of the Church prouided that this defect come from an imposibilitie of participating therein actualie but not to shew that the bodie of the Church can subsist and preserue the being and true title of a Church without visible and actuall communion For contrariwise that this imperfect manner of being in the Church serues to his saluation that is hindred by anie locall obstacle from being able to be there actually it is because the true and actuall communion which as in the Church is imputed to him by the desire that he hath to participate thereof which could not be imputed to him if it were not reallie some where and besides this desire of participation must be stript from all other impediments sauing that which proceedes from loand corporall imposibilities in such sort as all those which are not withheld by distance of place or other like obstacle ineuitable to them from participating in the actuall communion of the Church cannot be said to communicate there in vow nor to be there imputatiuely For nothing dispenceth with men for communicating with the Catholicke Church onely in vow and in will and not reallie and by effect if it be not the exclusion of time and place and besides in the article of death noe more then anie thing can excuse a man from being baptised onelie in vow and in will and not reallie and by effect but the condition of being excluded by the impossibilitie of time and of place and also in the Article of death from the meanes how to be baptised And because when the obstacle proceedes from externall impediments onely that if there were local or temporall commoditie he that communicates with the Church in vowe would communicate therewith actuallie this desire of communion may be imputed for true communion and called a communion in vow But when the obstacle proceedes from internall impediments from him that pretendes to communicate there in vow as of repugnancie to the beleefe and to the discipline and the lawes vnder the conditions whereof the Catholick Church receiues into her communion those that she receaues thereinto in such sort as all corporall obstacles being taken awaie and hee being in place where hee may assist at the Catholicke Church communicate with her hee will not doe it this conditionall
king answeres to the first obseruation that it can not be applied to the Hipothesis proposed without manie defects For so farr is this English Church from hauing departed from the faith of the ancient Catholicke Church which she honours and reuerences as she is not so much as departed from the Faith of the Roman Church in as much as she consents with the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE I Appeale from Phillip to Phillip that is to saie from the most excellent King to himselfe for what doth my first obseruation import yea according to the abridgement that this maiestie hath made of it but that the name of Catholicke doth not only denote faith but also communion with the Catholick Church and therefore that the antient writers would not suffer those to be called Catholickes who had separated themselues from the communion of the Church although they retained the Faith thereof Now how then is it that the most excellent King alleadgeth to shewe that this obseruation cannot be applied to his Hypothesis without manie errors that he is not departed neither hee nor his Church from the faith of the antient Church For the obseruation wherein it is handled being that to be Catholicke it is not sufficient not to be separate from the Church of the Catholicke faith but also not to be separated from the communion of the Catholicke Church is it not fussicient to applie it to the Hipothesis and to except the most excellent Kinge from the title of Catholicke that his Maiestie hath separated himselfe not from the Faith if soe be he had not done soe but frō the onlie cōmunion of the Catholicke Church And if the most excellent King saith that she from whom he hath separated himself is not the same Catholicke Church as she was in the time of the Fathers and of whom the Fathers said that out of her communiō the title of Catholicke nor the reward of saluation could not be obtained must he not shew that there is an alteration happened in thinges which are of the essence of the Church and without which the verie being of the Church cannot be preserued and besides this that he must finde out and cause to appeare an other societie wherein the succession of the doctrine and of the ministrie both of the communion and of the prerogatiues of the antient Catholieke Church hath continued and whereto he hath ranged himselfe to the end that adhering thereto he may saie that he hath not separated himselfe from the communion of the antient Catholicke Church but is returned into it Of the personall suceession of the Bishops CHAP. XXII The Continuance of the Kings Answere IF wee seeke for the succession of persons wee haue in being the name of Bishops and the succession vninterrupted from the first THE REPLIE IT sufficeth not to constitute the personall successiō of Bishops that some are entred in the steede of others but they must bee entred with the same forme and with the same conditions essentiall to a Bishopricke that their predecessors entred withall Noe more then it sufficeth to make the Priests of Ieroboa Successors to the true Leuiticall Priests that he had driuen awaie that they came into their places not being come in with cōditions necessarie to succeede thē And therefore whether the mission of the Bishops which are at this daie in England be a true ecclesiasticall mission made by ecclesiasticall authoritie and with the iust ecclesiasticall formes or rather a politick mission I forbeare to dispute Onlie I will saie that there are two kindes of successions in the personall continuance of a Bishops Sea the one the succession of authoritie and the other the succession of the character Whereof it is 〈◊〉 that the English according to the principles commō to them and vs haue not the one and it is euidēt that according to their owne particular principles they cannot haue the other For there doe meete together or concurr according to vs two conditions in Episcopall mission the one concerning the collation of authoritie the other concerning the impression of the character which comes from the part of the sacrament of order which wee conceaue to imprint a Seale which cannot be blotted out Now the condition which concernes the character which we will heere call sacramentall mission may well be preserued out of the Church for as much as the character cannot be blotted out and consequently may be giuen though vnlawfullie yet reallie out of the Church by them that haue carried it out of the Church But that which cōcernes authoritie which wee will call notwithstanding the barbarisme of the word authoritatiue missiō although it cānot be giuen in the Church without the other yet it cannot be carried awaie nor giuen with the other out of the Church and may be taken awaie by the Church from them to whom she hath giuen it when she shall iudge it necessarie to depose or degrade them As the Councell of Sardica deposed Narcissus Menophantus and others who notwithstanding left not to preserue the character of the sacrament euen as the officers of a prince when they ioyne themselues with a faction of rebells may carry with them the Seale and the character of the Patent of their offices and preserue it out of the state and out of the common wealth but they cannot carrie 〈◊〉 the authoritie of their office with them And therefore when they that haue bene degraded by the Church or ordained out of the Church returne to the Church the lawfull authoritie to exercise their function must be restored to them either by a particular rehabilitation or by a publicke declaration that the Churches makes to receaue them into her communiō with the exercise of their charges which serues them for a generall rehabilitation As when the Arrians returned to the Catholicke faith the Church restored to their Bishops the lawfull authoritie to administer the Bishop ricks whereof the ecclesiasticall lawes had depriued them and rehabilitated them all at once by the publicke declaration that she made to admitt them with the function of their charges From whence it appeares that they that are ordained out of the Church and by an other societie then by the true Church although they be indeede Bishops as for the Character of the Sacrament neuerthelesse they are not Bishops as for the function of authoritie and as manie times as they shall pretend to vse their authoritie without being rehabilitated by the Church soe often they commit sinn and sacriledge Let vs consider saith S. HILARY speaking of the Fathers of the Coūcell of Nicea what wee doe doe wee that anathematize them c For if they haue not bene Bishops we cā be none And S. ATHANASIVS It is impossible that the ordination of Secūdus as made by the Arriās should haue anie force in the Catholicke Church And S. HIEROME There are at this daie noe Bishops in the world sauing those that were ordained by the Synod And the lawe of the Emperors
without him in Coūcells And then when the conditiōs requisit for the libertie of a Councell shall be resolued vpō what fruite cā be drawne from it if it be not agreed before it be assembled that all that is decreed there must be holdē for infallible For if after such a Councell shall haue bene celebrated it rest still in the choyce of euery particular person to iudge whether the Councell shall haue iudged conformablie to the word of God who knowes not that this is not to submitt their iudgment to a Councell but to submitt a Councell to their iudgement and so to 〈◊〉 things noe further aduanced after the celebration of a Councell then before Now how is it that those who hold that the vniuersall Church may erre should hold that the authoritie of a generall Councell should be infallible which hath noe authoritie of infallibillitie but in as much as it represents the vniuersall Societie of the visible Church where of it is the voice and organ and of all the pastors where of it beares with it the tacit deputation And how can those hold that the vniuersall Church should be infallible cannot erre that hold that indeede she hath erred and that after soe manie ages there was noe visible part of the Church which hath not bene plunged in a pitt of errors repugnant to saluation and contrarie to faith But whether his maiesties offers ought to be examined in a formall Councell or in a verball conference wee are readie to assist at it and to shew that the English Church in pointes contested betweene vs and her hath neither Succession nor Similitude of doctrine with the Church of the time of the first Councells Of the reduction of the Disputation to the State of the Question CHAP. XXV The continuance of the Kinges answere THe English Church is readie to yeeld an accompt of her Faith and to proue by effect that the designe of the Authors of the Reformation vndertaken in this Prouince hath not bene to build anie new Church as the ignorant and malicious haue slandered her but to re-establish her that was fallen in the best manner that might bee THE REPLIE IT is not the question in the proceeding that wee haue framed to knowe whether the ayme of the Authors of the Reformatiō of England hath bene to make a new Church or to restore that which was fallen and to sett it vp againe in a better forme although the subsequent words of his maiestie where he saith that the action of the English Church hath bene a returne to the ancient Catholick Faith and a conuerfion to Christ the onlie master of the Church testifie that it hath bene a new refection and re-edification of the Church For noe it hath bene a new refection and re-edification of the Church For noe Societie in whose faith there is an auersion from Christ and from the ancient Catholicke beleefe can possesse the beeing and the name of a Church But in Summe howsoeuer it be it is not that that is the question in the proceeding that we haue framed but only to knowe whether the Catholicke Church when the English portion separated it selfe from her had so degenerated from the ancient Carholicke Church which was in the tyme of the first fower Councells in thinges importing the ruine of Saluation and the destruction of the being of the Church as she was noe more the same Church as she had bene in the time of those ages And consequently that it was noe more necessarie to obtaine the title of Catholicke and the participation of Saluation to communicate with her but contrariwise was necessarie to be seperated from her and not to commnnicate with her It is that that is the question it is that whereabout we must combat and to shewe some condition some doctrine or custome holden in the Catholicke Church at this daie that may be pretended to be repugnant to saluation and which destroyes the being of the true Church that hath not bene in the Catholicke Church in the time of the fower first Councells Of the inuention of order in the iustification of the reformation before the proofe of the Deformation CHAP. XXVI The continuance of the Kings answere NOw they haue iudged amongst the best that which had bane giuen by the Apostles to the breeding Church and which had bene in practise in the age neerest them THE REPLIE NEither is it the question of what they haue iudged but of the change that is happened betweene the ancient Catholicke Church and the morderne and of the importance of this change that is to saie whether there be happened anie change betweene the estate of the ancient Church the estate of the Church of the last ages of such importance as for that people might be permitted to separate themselues from her communion Which cannot be if some thinge haue not bene taken awaie from the forme of the antient Church which was necessarie to saluation or added thereto which was rèpugnant to saluation For if the moderne Catholicke Church were yet the same Church in matters of Faith and saluation as it was in the time of the fowre first Councells whatsoeuer reformation they haue pretended to make hauing separated themselues from her they cannot possesse the title of Catholicke whereof the question is nor obtaine saluation for as much as saith S. IRENEVS No reformation can be made that is of such importance as the crime of schisme is 〈◊〉 Besides It must bee first determined whether the Catholick Church were deformed in matters of faith and saluation before the English Church can be thought to be reformed in being seperated from her For the English Church could not seperate herselfe from the Catholick Church whereunto before she was ioyned in communion if first it did not appeare to her by proofes necessatie and demōstratiue that saluation could not be obtained in the Catholicke Church that is to saie she coulde not proceede to reforme her selfe in separating herselfe from her whole till it must first appeare to her that the whole from whence she separated her selfe were deformed and with a deformation incompatible with saluatiō Now that could not appeare that betweene the antient Catholicke Church of the time of the first fowre councells which wee on both sides graunt to be the true Church and whereof there remaines to vs monuments sufficient to instruct vs of the integritie of her doctrine and of her Sacraments and ceremonies and the Catholicke Church of this time there had happened opposition in matters importing gaine or losse of Saluation And therefore it is to that time that we must cōfront the state of the Church of this time and not leaue the ages of the fowre first Councells of whose estate wee haue more light and monuments then of the preceding ages to goe vp to those of whose estate we 〈◊〉 recourse not to finde therein more conformitie but to finde therein lesse instruction For as for the Church in the time of the Apostles
himselfe confest in these wordes The Apostles saith hee in truth haue prescribed nothing of this but this Custome ought to be beleeued to haue taken originall from their tradition as there are manie things that the vniuersall Church obserueth which art with good reason beleeued to haue bene giuen by the Apostles although they be not in writing Was this to pretend to seperate themselues from the Church out of iollitie of hart and without anie cause and neither to blame the faith nor discipline of the Church Of the authoritie of the rest of the Christian people which denied to the Church the title of Catholick Chapt. XXXII The continuance of the Kings Answere THE English haue separated themselues by a cruell necessitie from that Church that infinite Christian people that I may speake as modestly as I possiblie can doe not 〈◊〉 to be the true vniuersall Church THE REPLIE THat the English Church hath bene iustly forced by a cruell necessitie to depart from the Catholicke Church wherein alone the stocke of vnitie doth reside as our very aduersaries dare not saie that the bodie of Catholicke vnitie was to be found in anie other Societie when the English nation deuided themselues from her saint AGVSTINE will not avow who saith that there is no iust necessitie to deuide vnitie And lesse S. DIONISIVS of Alexandria who was much antienter then saint AVGVSTINE who writes Thou oughtest rather to suffer all kinds of death then to deuide the Church of Christ. For whereas his maiestie adds that an infinite number of Christian people doe not grant her to bee the true vniuersall Catholicke Church if these people can shew that there was an other to whom this title belonged when Luther came into the world wee will confesse her not to be soe but if it be not in their power not only to shewe but to faine an other then this must be shee For the Catholicke Church is perpetuall and their contradiction that are departed from her can not raise anie doubt of her title more then the contradiction of the antient Arrians and other hereticks could cause the antient Catholicke Church to loose this title For in that only that they haue departed from her and cannot shew that she hath departed from anie of all the other Societies which are in being they testifie that she only is the true Catholicke Church that is to saie the true stocke and originall roote of the Church from whom all others by their Schismes and diuisions are departed and gone forth Of the testimonies of our writers CHAP. XXXIII The continuance of the King answere AND that maniē of your writers themselues haue a longe while agoe ingeniousliē confessed to haue much varied from the antient in the dogm'as and in the forme of discipline and to haue patched and tacked together manie new thinges to the old manie euill thinges to the good THE REPLIE THOSE writers haue bene such as I haue aboue described as Erasmus Cassander and others who partly in presumption and partlie in ignorance of antiquitie and partlie to gratifie those Princes in whose fauour they haue taken penn in hand haue written thinges which would confound their faces if they were to maintaine them before anie that were versed of purpose in the studie of Antiquitie Of the begging of the principle contained in this hypothesis CHAPT XXXIV The continuance of the Kings answere WHICH is alreadie so knowne to all the world as it is noe longer in thé power of anie to denie it or to be ignorant of it THE REPLIE THIS is to take for a principle of disputation that which is the subiect of the controuersie for not only all Catholickes but also all the Christian Societies in the world more antient then the authors of this diuision and who haue noe interest neither for the one part nor for the other and if they had anie would haue it rather against the Church from which they are separated then for her doe maintaine that all the principall pointes that the pretended reformers calumniate in the Roman Church are of the true faith and of the true discipline of the antient Catholicke Church Of the temporall causes of the separation of England CHAP. XXXV The Continuance of the Kings Answere ADD to this that the Church of England had found the yoake of the Roman Bondage so hard vpō her for some ages past being incrediblie tormented frō daie to day with new vexations oppressions and vnheard of exactions as 〈◊〉 only cause before iust iudges may seeme to be able to free her from suspition of Schisme and as S. AVGVSTINE saith speaking of the Donatists wicked dismembring For sur ely the English haue not separarated themselues for iollitie of heart from brotherly charitie as the 〈◊〉 did THE REPLIE IF it may please your maiestie to call againe to memorie the historie of the Schisme of England you will finde that all those thinges which were alleadged for pretence of the Churches diuision haue noe waie bene the cause thereof contrariwlse that the English Church was more flourishing when this separation happened and the King of England and his clergie more affectionate to maintaine the Faith and communion of the Roman Church then euer they had bene before as appeares by the Booke that he made in defence of the Church against Luther the originall whereof he sent to Rome with these verses such as they are addressed to Pape Leo written with his owne hand Harrie the English King at once doth recommend This worke Leo to thee which publick proofe shall lend To shew which way his faith and friendship both doe bend But that it was the amorous passion of that King who to satisfie the appetite which transported him would cause a iust mariage to be broken and marrie her that he loued his first lawfull wife and by whom he had issue being yet liuing to which the Pope conceaued that he could not with a safe conscience giue consent This was the true and onely cause of all this Iliad of euills From hence gusht all these teares Of the comparison of the English Church with the Iudaicall CHAP. XXXVI The continuance of the Kings answere NOT for feare of the 〈◊〉 which was eminent but did not yet presse them like the tenn tribes of the people of the Iewes but after hauing suffered manie ages after the 〈◊〉 of vnspeakable greeuances they haue finallie shaken from their shoulders that insupportable burthen which neither their strength was longer able to beare nor would their conscience permitt them to doe it THE REPLIE HERE I might content myself with saying that what was ordained and approued by God in the separation of the ten tribes of Israell from the Kingdome of Iuda was the only di uision of State and not that of Religion For God as saint AVGFSTINE saith commaunds neither Schisme nor heresie And by consequence what pretence soeuer is added of present and not future euill there can be noe consequence
the world But who sees not that this was in the time wherein 〈◊〉 contract was expired and that of the Christian Church did beginne The lawe and the prophetts saith our Sauiour Vntill Iohn And sainct PAVLE Blindnes is partlie fallen vpon Israel that the fullnes of the Gentiles might be introduced Now the lease that God had made of his vine to the Iewish Church hauing bene but for a time what wonder is it that when this lease is come to expire the prerogatiue that she had by vertue of her contract should cease and that the master of the vineyard should lett forth his Vineyard to other 〈◊〉 and this fufficeth for the comparison of the Christian Church with the Iewish For to ascend to the time before the lawe of Moyses and to alleadge the little mention that is made there of the continuance of the Church it is clere that it had bene a thinge superfluous for the Scripture to haue represented particularlie the estate of the Church of those ages the knowledge of the succession of the Church not hauing bene necessarie but after the last institution of the lawe for the seruice whereof she is establisht as to the Iewes after the institution of the lawe of Moyses and to the Christians after the institution of the Euangelicall lawe Although both before and after the floud there are manie monuments of it For both before the floud this that the sonns of God knew the daughters of men shewes that there was an especiall people which boare the title of the children of God which title the interpretors would haue to be taken by the posteritie of Seth to distinguish themselues from the posteritie of Cain when Seth had begotten Enos and that they began saith the Scripture to all chemselues by the name of the Lord And the vniuersall corruption which fell out in the end vpon all the other families descended from Seth except that of Noe was a corruption of manners and for which if wee beleeue saint HIEROME all those that perish with a temporall death in the floud perisht not with an eternall death And after the floud that Noe liued almost to the sixtith yeare of Abraham And Sem the Sonn of Noe whom Luther calls the Pope of his Age till after the death of Iacob And that Melchisedech kinge of Salem was priest of the most high and in his qualitie blest Abraham that Rebecca wife of Isaach wēt to enquire of God vpon the misterie of her childrē shewes that euē thē the true worship visible seruice of God had place both before elsewhere thē in the familie of Abrahā Butto cōclude grant all the hypothesis to be such as the Protestāts pretend that the Church had bene interrupted both before the lawe vnder thelawe what would that make against the christiā church to whō Christ held this language As in the daies of Noe I swore that I would neuer againe bringe the waters of the Floud vpon the Earth soe I haue sworne that I will noe more be angrie against thee Thou shalt noe more be called the forsaken I will noe more doe to this people as in former daies I will contract a new alliance with them not according to the alliance I contracted with their Fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egipt The cittie of the Lord shall noe more be pulled vp nor destroyed The glorie of this second howse shall bee much greater then that of the first The cittie built vpon the mountaine cannot be hidden The gates of Hell shall not preuaile against my Church I am with you to the consummation of ages This Ghospell of the Kingdome must be preached through the whole world and then the end shall come Hee hath placed in his Church the Apostles Prophetts Pastors and Doctors c till wee all shall meete in the vnitie of faith The Church is the firmament of truth and other such like Of the comparison of the Charitie of the antient African Church and the moderne Roman Church CHAP. XXXVII The continuance of the Kinges answere AND surely the antient Church to recall the Donatists that were refractory to her communiō had accustomed by an admirable Charitie to prouide euen for the te mporall commodities of the Bishops that should be conuerted and of others also And the Roman Church to knitt againe the loue and good will betweene her and the English Church hath first employed the thunderboltes of Bulls and afterward of force sometimes openly and sometimes vnder-hand THE REPLIE THE antient Catholicke Church of Africa offered for the good of Charitie and of the Ecclesiasticall communion to yeeld vp the Bishoprickes of Africa not to those Donatist Bishops which still remained on Donatus his partie but to those that would returne to the communion of the Catholicke Church And the Roman Church hath excommunicated by her Bulls not those that will returne from the English diuision to the Catholick communion but those that after many admonitions are obstinate still to remaine in the separation And therefore there is in this no Antithesis betweene the proceedings of the antient Catholicke Church and those of the moderne For as concerning this word the thunderboltes of Bulls by which some thinke to make the Popes censures the more odious his maiestie may remember if 〈◊〉 please that it is an antient phrase of speeche that the Grecians vse who called the condemnations euen of secular iudgementes thunderboltes and to expresse that one was condemned in iudgment they would saie he was Thunder-strucken Of the innocencie of the Church in the matter of conspiracies against his maiestie CHAP. XXXVIII The continuance of the Kings answere TRAYTORS manifestlie culpable of the paricide vndertaken in this prouince she hath receiued into her lapp and still wholie protects them those that haue suffered iudgemēt for the same cause she Inrolles in the Catalogue of martyrs and propugneth from daie to daie their innocencie against all lawes diuine and humane THE REPLIE IF anie of those that were partakers of the abhominable cōspiracie proiected against his maiestie be receiued at Rome it is an error of fact and not of Right founded vpon a false information that is to saie vpon the beleefe that they haue imprinted there that they are not culpable of that attempt as Princes are accustomed to receaue in the qualitie of innocent persons those that haue recourse to them out of other Prouinces if the verball processe of the crime be not sent to them that they may informe themselues of the truth or falshood of the imputation And this lawe is a lawe of resuge and freedome cōmon to the Estates of all Princes But to beleeue that the Pope protects them in the qualitie of being culpable of this conspiracie I know to well how much I haue heard him detest it with his owne mouth For as touching those that haue bene excluded in England that that
the state of the Question 437 XXVI Of the inuention of order in the iustification of the reformation before the proofe of the deformation 438 XXVII Of the indefectibilitie of the Church 439 XXVIII Of the sense wherein the Fathers haue intended that their doctrine had bene holden from the beginning 441 XXIX Of the exceptions that the Kinge produceth to shewe that he hath not separated himselfe from the Church 442 XXX Of the demannds made for Reformations since the fiue last ages 443 XXXI Of the agreement of the English reformers with the Donatists 444 XXXII Of the authoritie of the rest of the Christian people which denied to the Church the title of Catholick 446 XXXIII Of the testimonies of our writers 447 XXXIV Of the begging of the principle contained in this hypothesis ibid. XXXU Of the temporall causes of the separation of England 448 XXXVI Of the comparison of the English Church with the Iudaicall ibid. XXXVII Of the comparison of the Charitie of the antient African Church and the moderne Roman Church 462 XXXVIII Of the innocencie of the Church in the matter of conspiracies against his maiestie ibid XXXIX Of the writings of the illustrious Cardinall Bellarmin 463 An admonition to the Reader COurteous reader for so I will esteeme of thee whosoeuer out of a true desire of vnderstāding the truth takest this learned work into thy hands to peruse it with iudgment and yet without preiudice vouchsafe before thou begin the perusall thereof to take these few obseruations from me First whereas the most eminent authour thereof had proiected to diuide it into twelue seuerall bookes or partiall treatises and died before he could make a compleat end thereof being often diuerted from it by manifold employments which his high estate calling was subiect vnto by some more necessary dispute writings which the cōdition of France did then affoord his frinds either not marking this his proiect or because all the work was not ended neglecting that diuision set is foorth reparted into six bookes only and those so vnequally sorted that the first book alone is in the French edition farre bigger then all the other ensuing fiue bookes taken together This vnproportionable partition we haue amended in this English translation as we might easily do by the citations or quotations with which the authour himself bordered his margent for in them he sometimes referres him self to such a chapter of the second seuenth eleuenth twelft booke whereby he sufficiently insinuates into how many bookes he intended to diuide this his excellent worke at what matter euery booke should take its beginning which his intention we haue obserued in this that now we present to thy view that the fit diuision of matters therein handled may make it more intelligible and lesse tedious Secondly the humour of the French demanded for their satisfaction that the many places which are cited out of learned holy and classicall autours hould not only be faithfully translated in the text but also placed at large in their originall languages in the margen that the learned reader might without recourse to the seuerall volumes which required a copious library whereof few are furnished out of hand examin the faithfullnes of the trāslatiō cōsequētly how fitly the alleged authority made for the purpose But this humour not yet for ought I haue seen much raigning in our country we haue thought it sufficient to cite the places only in the margen which are fully expressed in the text the rather because the excellent translatresse copy which we haue faithfully expressed contayned no more and more beseemed not her translation as not desiring to make shew of skill in greek and other such learned languages but only of that which was sufficient for her assumpt that it is of a faithfull translation according to the significant expressement of the French Thirdly we haue not presumed to alter or change any one word of her translation but in some few places where the French allusions could not be so well vnderstood if they were expressed in English properly corresponding thereunto for euery tongue hath some peculiar graces and elegancies which be lost in the translation yf they be put word for word And yet this haue we done as we sayde very seldome and that especially in the word Church wich we English men vse deriued from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the house dedicated to our Lords seruice which tropically we vse also to signify the congregation of the faithfull most solemnly and vsually made in the Church The French expresse it by the name of Eglise from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocatus ad professionem fidei the company of the faithfull called by Christ to professe his lawe by which word they secundarily or tropically vnderstand and call the Church or house of prayer So in the name of S. Peter in Frenche S. Pierre which word also signifies a rock or stone in French as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greek and Cephas in Syriak do but in our English we haue no such allusion No other change but in these few and such like haue we made neither was it needfull the translatresse hauing so fittly and significantly expressed the autours meaning that it would haue been lost labour to striue to do it better and rather marring then mending so perfect an expression Lastly I desire thee gentle reader to beare with the faults of the presse The printers being Wallons and our English strange vnto them it was incredible to see how may faults they committed in setting so that in ouerlooking the proofes for the print the margins had not roome enough to hold our corrections and do what we could yet the number of our corrections being so many a great many of them remayned vncorrected by the fastidious fantasy of our workman Yet we iudge there is no fault that may hinder or change the sence but is amended and for the rest we desire thee to pardon vs considering how hard it is to make a stranger here to expresse our ortography Farewell in our Lord and he of his goodnes giue thee grace to take profit by reading these learned discourses Thy Wellwisher in Christ Iesus F. L. D. S. M. APPROBATIO TRanslatio haec operis excellentissimi quod eminentissimus Cardinalis Perronius pro fides catholicae doctrina ad potentissimum Regem ac Dominum nostrum Jacobum totius Britanniae Franciae Hiberniae Monarcham summa cum cruditione pariter modestia conscripsit facta a nobilissima quadam Heroina prouinciae nostrae serenissimae Reginae Dominae nostrae Mariae 〈◊〉 Borboniae dicata per omnia fideliter concordat cum ipsa autoris mente verbis sententiis Qua propter dignā eam 〈◊〉 quae typis tradatur vtex tanti Praeceptoris accuratissimis cloquentiaque incomparabili vestitis disputationihus fructum copiosum capiatur Anglia nostra qualem vniuersa Gallia cum perpetua Magni autoris veneratione se percepisse protestatur
of Catholique to the Donatists because of the separation of Communion and yet graunted it to those from whom the Donatists had taken their doctrine because of the vnitie of Communion Cyprians people saith S. Pacian hath neuer bene called otherwise then Catholicke And Sainct Vincentius Lerinensis O admirable change the authors of one selfe same opinion are adiudged Catholickes and the Sectaries heretickes And S. Augustin Dissention and diuision saith hee makes you heretickes and peace and vnitìe makes Catholiques And that in the fowrth Coūcell of Carthage this article was inserted into the triall of the promotion of Bishops whither they beleeue that out of the Catholicke Church none cā be saued And that in the Epistle of the Councell of Cyrtha it was repeated by S. Augustin who was Secretarie thereto in theses wordes Whosoeuer is separated from this Catholicke Church how praise-worthie soeuer he conceaue his life to bee by this onlie crime that he is separated from the vnitie of Christ he shall not haue life but the wrath of God shall remaine vpon him And after by Fulgentius in these wordes Beleeue firmelie and doubt it not at all that no hereticke or Schismaticke baptized in the name of the Father of the sonne and of the only Ghost if he be not reconciled to the Catholicke Church what almes soeuer he may giue yea though he should shedde his blood for the name of Christ can in any sort be saued That I say was against or principallie against the Donatists And neuerthelesse the Donatists agreed in all the doctrine of the Creede and of the Scripture with the Catholicks Your are with vs saith S. Augustine in Baptisme in the Creede and in all the other Sacraments of our Lord but in the spirit of vnitie and in the bond of peace and finallie in the Catholicke Church you are not with vs And yet they differed only in one pointe of vnwritten tradition which as S. Augustin himself who principallie triumphes ouer this heresie confessed could not be demonstrated by Scripture This saith hee in the Booke of the vnitie of the Church neither thou nor I doe euidentlie reade And in the first Booke against Cresconius though for this there be noe example in the scriptures yet euen in this wee follow the truth of the Scriptures when wee doe that which hath pleased the vniuersall Church which the authoritie of the same scriptures doth recommend And in the secōd Booke of Baptisme against the Donatists And ourselues saith hee durst affirme no such thing but that we are upheld by the vnanimous authoritie of the Church And in the fift The Apostles haue in this prescribed vs nothing but this custome which was opposite to Cyprian ought to be beleeued to haue taken it's originall from their tradition as manie other things which the vniuersall Church obserues and for this cause are with good right beleeued to haue bene commaunded by the Apostles although they haue not bene vvritten From whence it appeares that to obtaine the name of Catholicke it sufficeth not to hold or rather to suppose to hold the same beleefe that the Fathers held vnlesse they communicate with the same Catholicke Church wherewith the Fathers did communicate and which by succession of persons and as wee pretend of doctrine is deriued downe to vs and if she haue lost anie thing of her extent in our hemisphere she recouers as much and more daily in the other hemisphere that these prophecies may be fulfilled In thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed In the last daies the mountaine of the howse of our Lord shall bee vpon the topp of mountaines and shall be exalted aboue all the highe hills and all nations shall come vp to her This Ghospell of the Kingdome must be preached ouer all the world and then the end shall come and such like in right whereof the Church as saith S. Augustin hath obtained the title and the marke of Catholicke The SECOND obseruation is vpon the restriction in Cases necessarie to saluation For besides pointes necessarie to saluation there are two other degrees of thinges the one sort profitable to saluation as it is according to the opinion of your owne ministers to sell all our goods and giue it to the poore to fast in affliction to appease the wrath of God to pray our Bretheren in the faith to praie to God for vs and the other sort lawfull and not repugnant to saluation as to fly from persecution to liue by the Altar since we serue at the Altar to putt awaie our wiues for adulterie and other the like for I alleadge these for examples and not for instances Now it is needefull to be cōformable to the integritie of the beleefe of the Fathers to beleeue all thinges that they haue beleeued according to that degree wherein they haue beleeued them to witt to beleeue for thinges necessarie to saluation those thinges that they haue esteemed to be necessarie for saluation and for thinges profitable to saluation those things that they haue esteemed to be profitable to saluation and for things lawfull and not repugnant to saluation those thinges that they haue holden to be lawfull and not repugnant to saluation and not vnder colour that the two last kindes are not things necessarie to saluation but only profitable or lawfull to condemne them and to separate ourselues for their occasion from the Church which then had thē in practise and still practiseth thē to this day The third obseruation is vpon the ambiguitie of the word necessarie to saluation which because of the diuers kindes of necessitie which haue place in matters of religion is capable of diuers sences for there is an absolute necessitie and a conditionall necessitie a necessitie of meanes and a necessitie of precept a necessitie of speciall beleefe and a necessitie of generall beleefe a necessitie of act and a necessitie of approbatio I call an absolute necessitie not simplie but by vertue of Gods institution that which receiues no excuse of impossibilitie nor anie exception of place time or persons as in regard of those that are of age capable of knowledge the beleefe in Christ mediator betweene God and man for neither the circumstance of being in a place where wee cannot be instructed in that article nor the preuention of time in dying before wee are informed thereof nor the condition of being an ignorant person vnlearned dull not apt to comprehend a sheepe and not a shepheard can warrant those from damnation that beleeue it not actually for as much as who beleeues not in the onlie Sonn of Gods is alreadie iudged And in regard of little Children baptisme only according to our doctrine may supplie the defect of Faith in Christ in their behalfe agreeing with that sentence of S. Augustin Doe not beleeue doe not saie doe not teache if thou wilt be a Catholick that little children which are 〈◊〉 by death from being
the Catholick Church with the state of the ancient Church wee should looke to take such a time wherein not only our competitors might agree with vs that the Church of the Fathers was still the true Church the true Spouse of Christ she in whom resided the lawfull authoritie to iudge questions in Religion but also those monuments doe sufficiently remaine to vs to manifest throughly all her doctrines and all her obseruations Which can neuer be better chosen for both partes then in the time wherein the fower first Councells were holden that is to saie from the Emperour Constantine who was the first Emperour that was publicklie a Christian to the Emperour Marcian And it seemes to me that his Maiestie hath yielded to this and also more liberallie in some of his writinges hauing extended this space to the first fiue ages For besides that the deliuerie from the yoake and subiection of the Pagans then gaue the Church meanes to speake lowder and to haue more communication with all her partes situated in so manie different regions of the earth and to flourish in a greater multitude of learned and excellent writers which is the cause that there remaine to vs without comparison more monuments of those ages wherein to view the entire forme of the ancient Christian Religion then of the former ages Besides this I saie our aduersaries cannot denie but that church which nursed vp the first Christian Emperours which rooted out the Temples and seruices of the false Gods which exercised the Soue raigne Tribunall of Spirituall authoritie vpon earth by the condemnation which she denounced vpon the fowre most famous heresies in the fowre first generall Councells which were the fowre first Parliaments and Estates generall of Christs Kingdome must bee she of whom it hath bene foretold that Kinges should be her nursing Fathers that the nations should walke in her light and Kings in the brightnes of her rising that euery engine sett vp against her should be destroyed that she should iudge euery tongue that should resist her in iudgment that God had sett watchmen vpon her walles which neuer should be silent by daie or night that the gates of hell should not preuaile against her that whosoeuer should not obey her should be holden for a heathen and a publican and in breefe that she was the Pillar and foundation of truth Shall we loubt Sayth S. Augustin who liued in the betweene-times of these first fowre Councells to sett our-selnes in the lapp of that Church which by succession of Bishops from the seate of the Apostles euen to the confession of all mankinde the hereticks in vaine barking about her and being condemned partlie by the iudgment of the people themselues part lie by the grauitie of Councells and partlie by the maiestie of Miracles hath obtained full authoritie to whom not to giue the preheminence must be an act of extreame impietie or of a headie arrogancie And againe The Catholick Church fighting against all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne all heresies are come forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt From their vine but she remains in her roote in her vine in her charitie Let that then bee holden for trulie anciēt and marked with the character of the primitiue Church which shall be found to haue bene beleeued and practised vniuersallie by the Fathers which liued in the time of the first fowre Councells and principallie when it shall appeare to vs that the things testified to vs by the authors of those ages were not holden by them for doctrines or obseruations sprung vp in their time but for doctrines or obseruations which had bene perpetuallie practised in the Church from the age of the Apostles although perchance there can not be found for euerie of them in particular so expresse testimonies in the former ages as in those of the first fowre Councells because of the fewe writinges which the persecution of those times haue suffered to come to our handes For it sufficeth to assure vs of the perpetuall vse of such thinges that the Fathers of the first fower Councells who had more knowledge of the ages before them then wee can haue doe testifie to vs to haue beleeued and practised them not as thinges instituted in their age but as thinges that haue alwaies had place in the Church and had come to them by a succession of obseruation from the Apostles downe to their time and that there is not to be found in former authors anie testimony against them but contrariwise in all places where there is occasion to mention them agreable and fauorable testimonies that is to saie in breefe that is to be holden ancient by vs which those whom we account ancient haue themselues holden to be ancient The fifth obseruation is vpon the consent of the beleefe of the Fathers which some contentious spirits would haue to be when one selfesame thing is actuallie found in the writings of all the Fathers which is an vniust and impertinent pretence For to haue a doctrine or obseruation to bee trulie holden by the Fathers for vniuersall and Catholicke it is not necessarie it should be in the writinges of all the Fathers who haue not all written of the same matters and of whose writinges all haue not come to our handes but there are two other lawfull waies to secure our selues of them The one is when the most eminent Fathers of euery country agree in the affirmation of the same doctrine or practise and that none of the others that haue bene without note of dissention from the Church haue opposed it As when S. Augustin hath cited against the Pelagians the testimonie of eleuen eminent Fathers all consenting in one and the same doctrine he supposeth hee hath sufficientlie produced against them the Common beleefe of the Catholicke Church and when the Councell of Ephesus had produced tenn Fathers of former ages they conceiued they had sufficiently expressed the consent of the former Church against Nestorius his doctrine Because none saith Vincentius Lerinensis doubtetb but that those tenn did trulie hold the same with al their other bretheren The other is when the Fathers speake not as Doctors but as witnesses of the Customes and practise of the Curch of their times and doe not saie I beleeue this should be soe holden or so vnderstood or so obserued but that the Church from one end of the earth to the other beleeues it so or obserues it soe For then we noe longer hold what they saie for a thing said by them but as a thing said by the whole Church and principallie when it is in pointes whereof they could not be ignorant either because of the Condition of the thinges as in matters of fact or because of the sufficiencie of the persons and in this case wee argue noe more vpon their wordes probablie as wee doe when they speake in the qualitie of particular Doctors but we argue therevpon demonstratiuelie That then
Epithete to distinguish the Christian Church from her for as the starr that the authors call Lucifer although it be the same with that that is called Vesper yet when it goes before the Sonne it beares one name and when it followes him it hath an other soe although the Iewish congregation hath bene in some sorte one same societie with the Christiā Congregatiō neuerthelesse whē this societie hath gone Before her SVNNE which is CHRIST she hath borne one name to witt the Synagogue and when she followes him she beares an other to witt the Church And therefore when our Lord said to S. Peter Dic ecclesiae tell it to the Church and if he heare not he Church let him be to thee as an heathen or a publican And when S. LVKE relates that HEROD sett himselfe to Persecute quosdam de ecclesia some of those of the Church and when saint Paul writes I teach it so in all the Churches And againe bee without scandall to the Iewes and to the Gentiles and to the Church of God And when S. Iames proclaimes If anie one be sicke lett him call the priestes of the Church And when S. Ireneus saith there haue bene sacrifices among the people there are sacrifices in the Church they thought they had sufficiently distinguished without anie other additiō the Christian Church frō the Iewish Synagogue And contrariwise when the Church of SMYRNA in an age neighbouringe vpon that of the Apostles intitles her Epistle to the Church of PHILOMILION and to all the a Diocesses of the Catholique Church that are throughout the world And when CLEMENT ALEXANDRINVS writes There needes not manie wordes to shewe that the mocke-Councells of heretickes are after the Catholicke Church And when TERTVLLIAN saieth Marcion gaue his money to the Catholique Church which reiected both it and him when he strayed from our truth to heresie And when sainct CYPRIAN aduertised the Bishops of Africke that passed in to Italie to acknowledge and hold fast the roote and matrice of the Catholicke Church And when Saint EPIPHANIVS reporteth that vnder the persecution of DIOCLESIAN those that held the ancient Churches called themselues the Catholicke Church and the Militians the Church of the martyres And when the Emperor CONSTANTINE ordained that all the Oratories of the Heretickes should be taken from them and presently after deliuered to the Catholicke Church they pretended not by the word Catholicke to distinguish the Christian Church from the Iewish but to distinguish the great and the originall bodie of the Church from the particular and later sectes Yet wee acknowledge that the word Catholicke in distinguishing by hervniuersalitie the true Church from the hereticall and schismaticall sectes distinguisheth her alsoe by accident from the Iewish Synagogue as a speciall difference in distinguishing her species from other species of the same genders doth also distinguish it from that of other genders though that be not her proper office for the word reasonable discerninge men from birds fishes serpentes and other beastes leaves him not vndiscerned accessarily from plantes metalls and stones But we maintaine the expresse and direct end for which the Surname of Catholik hath bene added to the Church I saie to the Church and not to the figures of the Church hath bene to distinguish it from hereticall and Schismaticall sectes If I should this daie by chance enter into a populous towne saith S. PACIANVS an author celebrated by sainct Ierom and finde there Marcionistes and Apolinarians it must be reade Apellecians Cataphrigians Nouatians and other such like which call themselues Christians by what surname should I knowe the Congregation of my people if it were not intitled Catholicke and againe Christian is my name Catholicke is my Surname that names me this markes me out by that I am manifested prodor non probor by this I am distinguished And sainct CYRILL of Ierusalem an author the same age expoundinge the creede For this cause saith he thy faith hath giuen thee this article to holde vndoubtedlie and in the holie Catholicke Church to the end thou 〈◊〉 flie the polluted 〈◊〉 of heretickes And a little after And when thou comst into a towne inquire not simplie where the temple of our Lord is for the other heresies of impious persons doe likewise call theire dens the temples of the Lord neither aske simplie where the Church is but where is the Catholique Church for that name is the proper name of this holie Church And sainct AVGVSTINE in his booke of the Faith and the creede Wee beleeue saith he the holie Church and that Catholicke for the heretickes and Schismatickes name also theire Congregations Churches but heretickes beleeuing in God in a false manner violate the faith and Schismatickes by theire vniust Diuisions seperate themselues from brotherlie Charitie although they beleeue the same thinges that we beleeue therefore the hereticke appartaineth not to the Catholicke Church because she loues God nor the Schismaticke because she loues her neighbour So that it amazeth me that I haue had soe little industrie to explaine myselfe as to haue giuen his Maiestie occasion to answere that the reason for which I had said in the beginninge of my first obseruation that the word Catholicke was not a title of simple beliefe but of communion was not enough manifest For hauinge alleaged these fower places of sainct AVGVSTINE Schismatickes appertaine not to the Catholicke Church although they beleeue the same thinges with vs. Those that disagree soe from the bodie of Christ which is the Church as theire communion is not with all or that it spread it selfe but is found separate in some part it is manifest they are not in the Catholicke Church There is a Church if you cast your eyes ouer the extent of the whole world more aboundant in multitude and also as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in truth then all the others but of the truth is an other disputation Diuision and dissention makes you heretickes and peace and vnitie makes vs Catholickes And hauinge accompanied them with these wordes of sainct VINCENTIVS 〈◊〉 O admirable conuersion or change the authors of one selfe opinion are called Catholiques and the followers of it beretickes And with those of sainct PROSPER 〈◊〉 that communicates with the vniuersall church is a christian and a 〈◊〉 catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist It seemed to me that I had sufficiently shewed that the title of Catholicke is not a simple title of beliefe but of communion also It is true I expected not that a question that had bene anciently moued and adiuged euen with the interuention of the authoritie of Emperors should againe haue bene contested against and put into dispute For in the controuersie of Catholickes and Donatistes vpon the word Catholicke before the decision whereof as sainct Austin saith the Church was neuer
of Christ cannot be saued And that which the Fathers haue done to hinder the breache of peace and of mutuall communion hath passed noe further then either to tolerate some locall and particular customes which brought more burden then profit as the custome some Africans had not to touch the ground with theire naked feete in the Octaues of theire Baptisme or to endure the manners and conuersation of some vitious men without applyinge the iron corrosiue of excommunication for feare of diuidinge the Church insteede of purginge it from wicked persons From whence proceeded that famous sentence of sainct AVGVSTINE They tolerate for the good of vnitie that which they hate for the good of equitie As for that which they haue done for the reestablishmēt of peace it hath beē extēded to the yeeldinge somethinge in the seuerity of discipline For when Arrian or Donatist Bishops came backe to the Church the Church in fauour of the people which followed them receaued them by a forme of generall rehabilitatiō with facultie to exercise theire Episcopall power Now this was against the ordinary rigor of the Canons And therefore sainct AVGVSTINE hath from thence taken occasion to say Thas as the trees that are inoculated receiue a wound in their barke to giue waie to those branches that should be graffed in soe the Church receiues a wound in her discipline to the end to take in and reincorporate hereticall people which were conuerted and returne together with theire Bishops but not that the loue of peace hath euer transported the Fathers so farr as to yield neuer so little in matters of Faith Contrarywise sainct BASILE witnesseth a That they haue alwaies rather chosen to suffer a thousand deathes then to b betraie one sillable thereof And sainct EPIPHANIVS recited by sainct IEROM saith c That for one word or two contrary to faith manie heresies haue bene cast forth of the Church And S. AVGVSTINE That the thinges contrary vnto faith and good manners the Church doth neither approue them conceale them nor doe them Therefore his Maiestie ought not to haue feared to imitate wholy the zeale of the Fathers for the good of peace and to doe for the restoringe the vnitie of the Church all things that the ancient Catholicke church hath approued practised taught Neither ought he to haue added to his offer the exception of that prouerbe euen to the Altars since our of the true Church such as was that of the Fathers to whose only Conditions wee exact his Maiesties communion with ours there are noe true Altars but only Altars agaiust Altars that is to saie prophane and Schismaticall Altars as those of Ieroboam were and the high places in the time of the law Nor finally should he limit the desire he hath to communicate with all the true members of the misticall bodie of Christ within this Condition if it were possible for it is so possible to communicate with all the actuall members of the misticall bodie of Christ that con trariwise it is impossible except in case of error of fact to communicate with anie one of them but you must communicate either immediately or mediatly with all the rest for the Church is that Societie whereof DAVID said Ierusalem which is built as a Cittie whose participation is in vnitie And sainct CYPRIAN The Catholicke Church which is one is not dismembred nor diuided but keepes herselfe vnited and is glewed together by the cement of the Prelates adheringe the one to the other And sainct AVGVSTINE Those whose Communion is not with all or that doe spread themselues but yet find themselues in some parte diuided it is manifest they are not in the Catholicke Church And againe Whosoeuer defendeth one parte separate from the rest let him not vsurpe the title of Catholicke And in an other place It may be will some one saie that there are other 〈◊〉 of God I knowe not where whereof God hath care but I knowe them not But he is too absurd euen in Common sense that imagins such thinges Of the necessitie of communicatinge with the Catholicke Church CHAP. IV. The pursute of the kinges Answere THese thinges beinge soe the kinge neuerthelesse esteemes that he hath very iust cause to dissent from them who without anie distinction and exception 〈◊〉 presse this Communion THE REPLIE THere is saith sainct AVGVSTINE noe iust necessitie to diuide vnitie and there is saith againe the same Doctor noe assurance of vnitie but in the Church which built according to Gods promise vpon the mountaine cannot be hidden For besides that the examination of the Church is soe easie and soe certaine as sainct AVSTIN saith I haue the most manifest voice of my pastor who expresses to me and pointes me out the Church without anie ambiguitie And againe this is noe obscure question wherein they may deceiue you of whom the lord hath foretolde that they shall come and saie heere is Christ And that the particular examination of Faith contrariwise is soe dangerous and difficult as yet most learned haue deceaued themselues in it And as sainct Ierom cryeth out There is great danger in speakinge in the Church for feare least by a wronge interpretation the Ghospell of Christ may be made the Ghospell of a man or which is worse the Ghospell of the diuell There is further this difference which is that he who hath the Church is sure to adhere to the true Faith though he know not distinctly all the articles thereof and that he is in the waie of Saluation where he that hath Faith and is not in the Church hath noe hope of Saluation If I haue all Faith saith Sainct PAVLE and 〈◊〉 not Charity I am nothinge And Sainct AVGVSTIN He that hath Charitie is secure and none can transporte charity out of the Catholique Church And elswhere If Schismatickes had Charitie they would not rend the bodie of Christ which is the Church By meanes whereof as much as Charitie is more excellent then Faith followinge that oracle of the Apostle but the greater of the three is Charitie soe much the instance of the Church is more necessary then that of Faith Aboue all these thinges saith sainct PAVLE holde Charitie which is the bond of perfection and lett the peace of Christ whereby you haue bene called into one bodie holde the principall place in your hartes And againe lett vs not for sake our Congregation as some haue accustomed to doe And sainct Iude Woe be to those that perish in the Contradiction of Core And a while after people that separate themselues sensuall men not hauinge the Spirit And it is a thinge so acknowledged by the Fathers that they affirme that faith it selfe turnes to increase of damnation to those that possesse it out of the Church yea they holde the cryme of Schisme to be worse then that of infidelitie and Idolatrie Those saith Saint AVSTIN whom
the Donatists doe heale from the wound of infidelity and Idolatrie they hurt them more greevously with the wound of Schisme And for a proofe of his saying he alleadgeth the example of Core Dathan and Abiron and other Schismatickes of the old Testament who were all sent quicke into hell and punished more greevouslie then the Idolators Who doubtes saith he but that was committed most criminally that was punist most seuerelie And therefore as the ancient heretickes haue alwaies against the vnitie of the Church pressed and Cryed out the Faith the Faith soe the ancient Fathers against the diuisions of heretickes and Schismatickes haue alwaies pressed and cried out the Church the Church He shall iudge saith S. IRENEVS those that make Schismes in the Church ambitions men not hauinge the honor of God before theire eyes but rather embracing theire owne interests then the vnitie of the Church and for little and light causes deuidinge the great and glorious bodie of Christ. And a little after For in the end they cannot make anie soe important a reformation as the euill of the Schisme is pernicious And sainct DENIS of Alexandria writinge to Nouatian Certainly all thinges should rather be indured then to consent to the diuision of the Church of God those martyrs beinge noe lesse glorious that expose themselues to hinder the dismembringe of the Church then those that suffer rather then they will offer Sacrifice to Idolls And sainct CYPRIAN Doe those that assemble themselues without the Church of Christ suppose Christ to bee with them in theire assemblie Allthough they should be dragged to death for the confession of the name of Christ yet this spott is not washt awaie from them with bloude the inexpiable and inexcusable crime of discord is not purged vith death t selfe he cannot be a martyr that is not in the Church And sainct PACIAN Although saith he Nouatian hath bene put to death yet hath he not bene crowned Wherefore not because it was out of the peace of the Church out of concord out of this mother whereof whosever will be a martyr must be a portion And Saint CHRYSOSTOME nothinge stirrs saith he so sharpely the wrath of god as the diuision of the Church so as when wee haue done all other kindes of good workes wee shall deserue no lesse cruell punishment deuidinge the vnitie and fulnes of the Church then those that pierced and deuided his owne blessed bodie And S. AVGVSTINE Out of the Catholike Church all thinges may bee had except Saluation etc. They may haue and preach the faith in the name of the Father the sonnne and the holy ghost but they can noe where haue Saluation but in the Catholicke Church And a little after I saie more if a man out of the Church suffer the enemie of Christ I saie not his Catholike brother that desires his Saluation but the enemie of Christ if he suffer him without and that he being out of the Church the enemie of Christ saie to him offer incense to Idolles adore my Gods and for not adoring them he be put to death by the enemie of Christ he may well shedd his bloud but he cannot obtaine the Crowne And in an other place Being constituted out of the Church and separated from the heape of vnitie and the bond of Charitie thou shouldest be punisht with eternall death though thou shouldest haue bene burnt aliue for the name of Christ. Aud againe I goe not to worship the diuells I serue not stockes and stones but I am of Donatus his partie What will it serue thy turne that the Father is not offended since he will reuenge the Mothers 〈◊〉 And in his worke against the Aduersarie of the law and the Prophets If he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or publican which is more grieuons then if he were stricken by the sword consumed with flames exposed to wilde beastes And in the booke of Pastors The diuell doth not saie let them be Donatistes and not Arrians be they heere be they there they appartaine to him that gathers without any distinction Let him saith the diuell adore Idolls he his mine let him remaine in Iewish superstition he is myne let him abandon vnitie and enter into such or such an heresie he is myne And in the profession to be made by the Donatistes returninge to the Church Wee thought it had not imported in which part we had held the Faith of Christ but thanckes be to our Lord that hath taken vs in from the diuision and taught vs that it belonhgs to God who is one to be serued in vnitie And FVLGENTIVS the second Sainct AVGVSTINE and the Phenix borne a new out of his ashes Out of this Church neither doth the title of Christian warrant anie bodie nether doth baptisme conferr Saluation nor can they offer a Sacrifice acceptable to God nor receiue remission of Sinnes nor obtaine life eternall For there is one only Church one only doue one only well beloued one only sponse And againe Beleeue this stedfastly without doubting that euery hereticke or schismaticke baptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost if before the end of his life he be not reconciled to the Catholikke Church what almes soe euer he geueth yea though he should shed his bloud for the name of Christ he cannot obtaine saluation Faire but fearefull lessons for those who thinke that in what communion soeuer they be so they beleeue in Christ they may be saued Of the marks of the Church CHAPTER V. The continuance of the Kinges answere AMongst the proper markes of the Church the King confesseth that that is greatly necessary but his Majesty is not of opinion that it is the true forme of the Church and as the philosopher termes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein it consisteth THE REPLIE Neither is it necessarie that a condition for to be the marke of anie thing should be the essentiall forme of the thing for then we should haue noe marke of anie substantiall thing For we know not the essentiall forme of anie one of them except only of man and for more then three thousand yeares the true essentiall forme of man was vnknowen witnes the ieast of Diogenes vpon the definition of a man giuen by Plato And therefore Saint BASILE reprocheth it to Eunomius who had boasted that he knew the essence of the Father that he knew not soe much as the essence of the ground whereupon he walked euery daie and that what comes to the knowledge of men are but accidents Neither on the other side is it necessary that the essentiall forme of a thing should be the marke of the same thing Nay contrarywise to be the essentiall forme of anie thing and to be the marke of the same thing are commonly repugnant and incompatible conditions For the marke doth demonstrate the thing to the sense and the
Scripture haue bounded her to a little number of Moores of the Cesarian prouince then we must goe to the Rogatists if to a little compaine of Tripolitans Byzacenians and prouincialls the Maximianists haue gotten her If onlie to those of the East we must seeke her amongst the Arrians Macedonians Eunomians and others if there be others to be found for who can number the particular heresies of euerie nation But if by the diuine and most certaine testimonie of the holie Scriptures she is designed to be in all Nations whatsoeuer is alleadged to vs or from whence soeuer it is alleadged by those that saie heere is Christ there is Christ if we be sheepe lett vs rather heare the voice of our shepheard who saith beleeue them not for these are not tobe found in manie places where she is and she who is euerie where is also wheresoeuer they are And againe My sheepe heare my voice and follow me You haue heard his most manifest voice recommendinge his future Church not only in the psalmes and in the prophets but by his owne mouth alsoe And a little after This is no obscure question and wherein they may deceiue you of whom our Lord hath foretolde that they should come and saie lo heere is Christ behold he is tbere lo he is in the desert that is to saie out of the frequeneie of the multitud beholde him heere in the secret places that is in hidden traditions and darke Doctrines You heare that the Church must be spread ouer all and grow to the haruest you haue the citie of which himselfe that built it said the Cittie built vpon a hill cannot be hidden it is then she that is not in anie single parte of the earth but is well knowne euery where Beholde the markes of the Church that saint AVGVSTINE affirmes to be designed by the voice of the pastor and soe cleerely designed as they neede noe interpreter to the end that the Church beinge knowne by them we may after by the Church be informed of the sense of the other voices of the pastor which neede interpretarion Produce to vs said he something for your cause which cannot be interpreted more truly against you nay which at all needes no interpreter as these wordes In thy seede all nations shall be blest neede no interpreter As these wordes It behoued that Christ should suffer and rise againe the third daie and that in his name there should be preached penāce and remissiō of Sinnes through all nations beginning from Ierusalem haue no neede of an interpreter c. As these wordes And this Ghospell of the kingdome shall be preached through the whole world in testimonie to all people and then the end shall come haue noe neede of an interpreter As these wordes Let both grow together till haruest haue noe neede of an interpretor For when they had neede of an interpretor our Lord himselfe ineerpreted them for euen as when a testator ordaines some one to interpret the difficulties of his testament and that the name o this interpreter being common and equiuocall to manie the testator assignes marks in his 〈◊〉 to make him knowne the clause whereby he designes the markes to know him must be so cleere as they shall need no interpreter since it is by them that he should be knowne to whom it is necessary they should addresse themselues to make them vnderstand those thing that shall neede interpretation So God hauing promised in his testament to giue the interpretatiō of his testamēt to the Church the wordes whereby the markes of the Church are there designed must be so cleere that they shall neede noe interpreter so that by them the Church beinge knowne we may after by the Church learne the vnderstanding of those things that neede an interpreter And therefore the order and course of S. AVGVSTINE was to verifie by places of Scripture which had not need of an interpretor the externall and sensible markes ' of the Church by the externall and sensible markes of the Church the Church itselfe and by the Church the vnderstanding of those places of Scripture which had need of interpretation n This point said he we reade it not plainely and euidētly neither I nor thou but if there were beere some mā indued with wisdome to whom our Lord himselfe had giuen testimonie and that he were consulted with by vs about this question I beleeve we would nothinge doubte to doe as he would 〈◊〉 vs for feare of beinge iudged repugnant not soe much to him as to our Lord Iesus Christ by whom he was recommended Now he giues testimony to his Church And elswhere Whosoeuer then feareth to be deceaued through the obscuritie of this questiō lett him cōsult with that Church which the holy Scripture bath designed without 〈◊〉 ambiguitie But this was when hee disputed with the Donatists who agreed with the Catholicks concerninge the truth of the Scripture for when he disputed with the Manichees or with the Infidells which denied or questioned it then he changed his method and did not proue to them the Church by the Scripture but the Scripture by the Church and to that end he vsed two kindes of proceedinge The one was to put it for a ground that if god haue care of the Saluation of man as without this principle all discourse of Religion is in vaine there can be noe doubt but he hath appointed a meanes howe they might attaine it and that this meanes not cōsisting in thinges knowne by naturall reason for as much as thē naturallie all men would agree in it it is thē of necessity that it should consist in authority and then this ground benig laid to verifie that amonge all the Societies of Religion that bee in the world the onely Catholicke Church hath the true markes of authority The other proceedinge was to propose to them the accomplishment of profecies touching the extirpation of Idolles and the ruyne of the false Gods of the paganes and touchinge the abolishment of the Iewish Ceremonies and the dispersinge of the people of the Iewes and touchinge the comeinge of a newe lawe maker and of a newe Religion and to represent to them that these prophecies were written before the birth of our Lord and kept by the enemies of the Church and were couched in termes soe cleere that it was a wonder that the Iewes which kept them were not persuaded by them but that within the same bookes it was foretolde that theyshould be stricken with blindnes and that in seeinge they should not see And by this meanes to proue to them that these were sacred and inspired from God and then this obtained to shewe them in the same prophecies the markes whereby amongst soe manie Societies which should vsurpe the title of Christian Societies shee was to be discerned to whow appertained the right of beinge the true Common wealth of Christ. And she beinge finally acknowledged to addresse them to
For first the word Ecclesia Church is deriued from a verbe which signifies to call and not to predestinate frō whence S. Paul confirming the vse of this etymology inscribes his first to the Corinthians To the Saints called And in the epistle to the Ephes. he saith One bodie and one Spirit as you are called in one hope of your vocatiō And in the epist. to the Coloss. Lett the peace of Christ rule in your harts by which you are called in one-selfe bodie And secondly the Church is a Societie and there is this difference betweene a simple multitude and a societie that the societie adds to the partes of the multitude a condition and a certaine caracter as it were in vertue whereof they may cōmunicate together Now predestination as it is simple predestination puts nothing into the persons of the predestinate and is not made in them but in God only and by consequent doth not make them actually partes of the Church Our predestination saith S. AVGVST is not made in vs but in God the three other things are made in vs vocation iustification and glorification For that that is alleadged out of saint Paul that God knowes those that are his and hath marked them with his signet must be vnderstood that he hath marked the predestinate in himselfe that is to saie in his eternall determination and not in them as an Architect who designes in his spirit certaine stones that he will imploy in his building markes thē not by this mentall designation in them but in himselfe and makes thē not by this simple determinatiō actuall partes of his building I meane to be briefe that the vniō that cōstitutes men in the Church is in thē now the vnion that the predestinate haue in God as they are simplie predestinate is not in thē but in God alone And so it is not the vnion of predestination but that of vocatiō that cōstitutes men in the Church Thirdly S. Paul teacheth vs that the Church is the bodie of Christ and that by analogie to an organicall body God saith he constituted him head ouer all the Church which is his bodie And againe I accomplish that which wātes of the passions of Christ in my flesh for his bodie which is the Church Now it is of the essence of an organicall bodie as it is organicall to be composed of diuers offices members and parts If all the members saith S. Paul were one member where should the bodie be And by this reason the schoolemen proue that the heauens are not animated or liuing bodies because they are not organicall bodies and they proue they are not organicall bodies because they are not made vp of heterogeneall and different partes in cōposition and cōplexiō And therefore it is of the essence of the Church to haue distinction of members organs and offices is the Church doth not arise from the hidden and eternall predestinatiō for then the not predestinate could not be ministers and pastors of the Church but from externall and tēporall vocation And by consequent it is in the externall visible and temporall vocation and not in predestination which is internall to God hiddē and eternall that the being and essentiall forme of the Church consists Fowrthly the same Saint Paul saith that God hath tempered the honor of the members that there might be no schisme in the body Now the predestinate are not capable of schisme as they are predestinat but as they are called so it is not predestination but vocation that frames the bodie of the Church Fiftly he affirmes the Church to be our mother the superior Ierusalem saith he that is 〈◊〉 saie Ierusalē taken not accordinge to the lowlynes of the legall 〈◊〉 but according to the height of the Euangelicall sense is free which is our mother And he addes that it is of her that 〈◊〉 writes Reioyce thou barren woman that bringst not forth children Now the Church doth not engēder vs by predestination for God alone is the author of predestination and not the Church but by vocation and consequently it is vocation and not predestination that cōstitutes the Church in the state of a Church mother of the faithfull Moreouer the knowledge of being Children to the mother is before the knowledge of being Children to the father by the interposition of the mothers authoritie saith saint AVG wee are perswaded of the true Father For that that Aristotle writes That in certaine partes of the vpper 〈◊〉 where women were common they discerned the children by the resēblance they had to theire fathers was good for those people where that similitude had place but we in whose nature the image of God is soe defaced by the spott of originall sinne as we can noe more be knowne to be his children by vertue of naturall similitude only there is noe other meanes for vs to pretend to this quality but that we are regenerated by him in our spirituall mother which is the Church his only spouse And for this cause the Ancientes are soe carefull to saie that he shall not haue God for his Father that denies the Church for his mother and that if any be out of the Church he shall be excluded out of the mumber of the children and to exhort the Christians to doe like the Xanthians in taking the Surname of theire mother that is to say the title of Catholicke We receiue the holy Ghost saith Saint AVGVSTINE if we loe the Church if we be knitt in one bodie by charitie if we reioyce in the Catholicke name and faith Now the certaintie of being Children to the Church cannot serue vs for a meanes and path way to come to the perswasion of being the children of God if the definition of the Church consist in the hidden and inuisible secret of predestination For by this definitiō contrarywise we must be assured to be Children of God and comprehended in the Rolle of the predestinate before we can be assured that we are the Children of the Church So the definition of the Church ought to consist not in the hidden and inuisiblie condition of predestination but in the externall and visible condicion of vocation Also we see that our Lord who was the God-father of this Societie and gaue it the name of the Church in that sense that she ought to beare it hath neuer vsed that name neither he nor his Apostles but to designe a visible Societie constituted by externall and temporall vocation For when he saith Vpon this rocke I will builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her And I will giue thee the keyes of the the kingdome of heauen this word in the future tense I will build shewes he speakes of a Church constituted not by prestination which was established from all eternitie but by externall and temporall vocation And the word keyes which signifies the authority of the ministery confirmes it
And when he saith Tell it to the Church and if he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or a publican And againe the Cittie set vpon a mountaine cannot be hid And in an other place I will pray not onlie for these heere present but for all those that by theire word shall beleeue in me that they may be all one because the world may know that thou hast sent me Euen a blinde man may see that he speakes of an externall and visible Church And when he expresseth the Church by the parable of the barne where the corne is mingled with the strawe and by the parable of the fielde where the corne and the tares should growe together till haruest And by the parable of the nett cast into the Sea where the euill fishes were inclosed with the good And by the parable of the wedding where the hall was full of guests aswell good as badd and by the parable of the wise and foolish virgins which staied for the Spouse in one howse there needes noe Oedipus to vnderstand that he speakes of a visible Church constituted by externall and temporall vocation And when S. Paul saith to Timothee I write these things to thee that thou maist know how thou oughtest to conuerse in the howse of God which is the Church of the liuing God the pillar and foundation of truth And againe In a great howse there are not onely vessells of gold and siluer but also of wood and earth This word to conuerse which cannot haue relation to an inuisible Societie and this word foundation which is not relatiue to truth which hath no neede of foundation but to men to whom the Church serues for a foundation of truth And these wordes of wood and earth doe visibly shew that he speaketh of an externall and visible Church And when he saith in the 6. Chapter of the first to she Corinthians What haue I to doe to iudge those that are without And in the 11. We haue not this custome neither the Church of God And in the 12. God had placed in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly Doctors And in the Epistle to the Ephesians The truth of the wisedome of God is manifested to the principalities and powers in the heauenly places by the Church And againe Christ clenseth his Church by the waching of water in the word And in the exhortation of the Priests of Ephesus Take heede to your selues and to all the flocke ouer which the holy Ghost hath made you Bishops to rule the Church of God And when Saint Iames saith is his Catholicke epistle If anie one of you be sicke lett him call the Priests of the Church and let them anointe him with oyle It is more cleere then the sunne that they spake of an externall and visible 〈◊〉 And in truth how could it be that these prophesies alreadie soe often repeated In the last daies the mountaine of the Lord shall be aboue all the mountaines The Nations shall come to her and saie lett vs goe vp to the Mountaine of the Lord and into the howse of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his waies The people shall walke in her light and kings in the brightnes of her Oriēt Thine eyes shall see Ierusalem a plentifull habitation and a tabernacle that cannot be remoued Theire seede shall be knowne among the people and thire posteritie amongst the generations All those that shall see them shall know that they are the seed blessed by the Lord the nations shall know that I am the holie one of Israel when my sanctification shall be in the middle of them for euer had not bene iliusions and oracles of the Spirit of lyes if the Church should haue consisted only in the hidden and inuisible number of the predestinate into whose knowledge neither men nor angells can penetrate And our Lord himselfe who is the eternall wisedome of the Father had not he bene the most imprudent of all lawemakers to haue left his law exposed to soe manie suppositions deprauations and false expositions whereto the malice of the heretickes of all ages hath subiected it without leauing a depositary to keepe it and a iudge to interpret it or to haue left it an inuisible depositary and an inuisible interpreter But against this inuincible truth there doe arise fiue principall obiectiōs The first is that our Lord said The gates of hell shall not preuaile against my Church frō whence it seemes to followe that the reprobate are noe partes of the Church because the gates of hell doe preuaile against them The Second that sainct PAVL writheth you are arriued to the heauenly Ierusalem to the Church of the primitiues or first borne which are inrolled in heauen from whence it seemes to follow that the Church is only of the predestinate The third that we protest in the Creede I beleeue the Church from whence it is inferred that the Church is inuisible because faith is of inuisible things The fourth that Saint AVGVSTINE saith in some place that onely predestinat Catholicks are true partes of the Church and the true members of the bodie of Christ and puts a distinction betweene those which are in the howse and those that are of the howse and betweene the people knowne in the eyes of God and the people knowne in the eyes of men And the fift That Saint IEROME writes He that is a Sinner and soiled with anie spott cannot be said to be of the Church of Christ. To the first then of these obiections which is that the gates of hell shall not be victorious ouer the Church we saie That the victories which the gates of hell obtaine against particular persons by the vices of theire manners preuaile but against those particular persons that are spotted there with and not against the bodie of the Church for as much as the vices of manners are but iu the persons that commit or approue them and not in the Communion of the Church Those saith saint AVGVST whom the wicked please in theire vnitie communicate with the wicked but those that are therewith displeased communicate not with the wicked in theire actions but with the altar of Christ. For the Church exacts from none of her membres the condition of being vitious to receiue him into her Communion as she exacts from them the profession of the Faith and of the vniuersall ceremonies that she prescribeth to them the participation of her Sacraments and the adherence to her pastors By meanes whereof there is nothing but heresie and profession of error or infidelitie that can be pretended to make the gates of hell victorious ouer the body of the Church because those only cortupt the conditions vnder which the congregation is contracted or gathered and infect the body and masse of the societie for none can enter into anie hereticall societie
without obliging him-selfe to the doctrine whereof it makes profession And therefore saint EPIPHAN interpretes iudicially these gates of hell that shall not preuaile against the Church to be heresies the gates of hell said he are heresies and heresieMasters To the second which is that saint PAVL writes you are arriued to heauenly Ierusalem to the Church of the first-borne which are inrolled in heauen Wee answere he speaketh of the Church triumphant to which he writes that we are arriued in the same sorte as he writes our conuerfation is in heauen that is to saie in hope as when a shipp hath cast his ankor on land which is saith saint AVGVSTINE the symbole of hope it is said to be arriued to land though it be yet in the sea and let vs add that the word first-borne signifies there euen by Caluins owne confession the holy Fathers and 〈◊〉 of the old testament Or if saint PAVL speake there of the Church militant and that by the first-borne he intends the predestinate we 〈◊〉 he calls it the Church of the first-borne not because it containes only the elect but because the elect are no where els I meane the elect inuested in the temporall grace of theire election as we call the parliament of Paris the Court of the Peeres not because it containes none but Peeres but because there is noe place els wherein the Peeres are inuested in theire qualitie of Peeres To the third which is taken from this article of the Creede I beleeue in the Catholicke Church we saie it sufficeth that faith be either of inuisible things or of things apprehended vnder inuisible conditions as those are vnder which wee consider the Church when we beleeue her to be the spouse of Christ the temple of God the mansion of the holy Ghost the gate of heauen the treasuresse of spirituall graces Otherwise to beleeue in Christ had not bene an article of faith while our lord was in this world And neuerthelesse he saith Who beleeues not in the sonne is alreadie iudged And when the Councell of Constantinople puts this confession of Faith amongst the articles of the Creede of the Church I beleeue one baptisme in remission of sinnes they must conclude baptisme to be inuisible against the vniuersall condition of Sacraments which is to be visible signes of inuisible graces To the fourth obiection to witt that saint AVGVSTINF writeth that only predestinate Catholiques are true partes of the Church and true members of the bodie of Christ and distinguisheth betweene them which are in the howse and them which are of the howse and betweene the people knowne in the eyes of God and knowne in the eyes of man we haue three solutions The first solution is that saint AVGVSTINE intended not that only Catholiques predestinate were true partes of the Church according to the formall beinge of the Church which is common to all that are called but according to the finall being of the Church that is to the end and in the fruits for which the Church is instituted I meane saint AVGVSTINE did not intend in those places to define the Church formally and by what she is in this world but finally and by what she shall be in the other Euen as he that saith only good Citizens are true partes of a common wealth doth not define a common wealth formally and by what it is in it selfe but finally and by what it is in the intention of the law-maker And he that saith a true haruest is only the corne that is gathered from the strawe and not the strawe wherewth it is mingled defines not a haruest formally and by what it is in the feild or in the barne but finally and by what it will be in the garner We confesse saith saint AVGVST that whicked men are together with the good in the Catholick Church but as Corne and strawe And againe Wicked men may be with vs in the barne but they cannot be with vs in the garner For that sainct AVGVST doth not esteeme that the formall and precise condition that constitutes men in the Church is that of predestination internall to God and eternall but that of externall and temporall vocation he shewes it when he saith vpon saint IOHN None can enter by the gates that is by Christ to life eternall which is in vision if by the same gate that is to saie by the same Christ he be not first entred into his Church which is his sheepefolde to the temporall life which is in faith And in the place already alleadged vpon the psalmes Our predestination is made not in vs but in God the other three things are wrought in vs vocation iustification and glorification And in his writings against Faustus Men can be inserted into noe name of Religion whether true or false but they must be tied by the common participation of some signes or visible Sacraments Contrarywise the verie same saint AVGVST which distinguisheth betweene those in the howse and those of the howse teacheth vs that all Catholickes both predestinate and reprobate are in the howse that is to saie in the Church Those saith he we cannot denie but that they are likewise in the howse and then that the formall condition which 〈◊〉 the Church is vocation and not predestination but that there are none but the predestinate Catholickes which are of the howse that is to 〈◊〉 that are finall peeces inalienable and inseparable from the howse or to speake in termes of lawe that are goodes that the father of the familie vouchsafes to put into the Inuentory of his howse the other being there but for a tyme and as by waie of loane and not to dwell there 〈◊〉 euer For when the Church shall passe from earth to heauen and from the state of mortalitie to immortalitie only predestinate Catholickes shall remaine there and not the others The Church saith he is the 〈◊〉 the seruant is the Sinner now many sinners enter into the Church and therefore our Lord did not saie the Seruant enters not into the howse but he dwelles not for euer in the howse And againe None can blott from heauen the constitution of God nor can anie blott from the earth the Church of God c. She containes good and euill but she looseth none on earth but the euill and admitts none into heauen but the good The second solution is that this distinction of partes of the Church true and not true and of vessells which are in the howse and not of the howse and of people knowne in the eyes of God and knowne in the eyes of men is not a distinction of Religion but a simple distinction of manners which puts difference betweene the one and the other in regarde of the formall being of the Church and of the externall meanes of vocation which are the profession of the true faith the sincere administration of the Sacramentes and the adherence to lawfull
corrected or explained it both in the conference that he had with them in Carthage and in his retractations as there remaines noe more colour to abuse it For Saint AVGVSTINE in his first disputatiōs against the Donatistes finding himself pressed with the arguments that they brought to proue that baptisme could not be giuen by heretickes because heretickes were out of the Church aduised himselfe and particularlie in the worke of the seuen bookes of baptisme from whence this distinction of people knowne in the eyes of God and in the eyes of men is principally taken to helpe himselfe against them not with the formall definition of the Church by which onely infidells and hereticall and Schismaticall Christians are excluded but by the finall definition of the Church that is to saie by the definition of the Church considered according to the finall and future number of those of whom she should be constituted in the other world from which wicked Catholickes are also excluded to the end to inferr from thence against the Donatistes that as euill Catholickes though they were out of the Church defined according to her future permanent and principall being did truly baptise soe heretickes and Schismatickes though they were out of the Church defined according to her present and passant being yet might administer true baptisme And for a foundation of his definition he made vse of Epithetes of Salomon and S. Paul hauing noe spott nor wrinkle and 〈◊〉 her such like elogies of the Church which appertained either to the state of the other world or to the puritie of doctrine But after that the Donatistes abused both this definition and the testimonies from whence it was taken to inferre from thence that the Catholicke Communion which was mingled with wicked men was not the Church he changed his proceding in the conference that he had with them at Carthage and declared that this definition belonged not to the Church considered according to the present and formall being which she hath in this world but accordinge to the future and finall being which she shall haue in the next The Catholicks saith he made it appeare by many testimonies and examples of holy Scriptures that wicked mē are now so mingled in the Church that although Ecclesiasticall discipline ought to be watchfull to correct them both in words and by excommunications and degradations neuerthelesse not onely being hidden they are vnknowne but euen being knowne they are often tollerated for the vnitie of peace and shewed that the testimonies of scriptures did in that manner well agree together to witt that the places whereby the Church is represented with the medly of the wicked signisie the present tyme of the Church as she is in this world and the places whereby she is designed to haue no wicked persons mixt with her signifie the future state of the Church such as she shall eternally haue in the world to come And a little after so the Catholickes refuted the calumny of the two Churches declaring expressely and instantly what they intended to saie to witt that they had not pretended that that Church which is now mingled with wicked men should be an other Church then the kingdome of God that shall haue no wicked pesons in it but that the same one and holy Church is now in one sorte and shall be then in an other now she is compounded of good and wicked men and thē she shall not be soe And in the worke of the Cittie of God made by him after the Conference of Carthage there where the one and other kinde are found that is good euill there the Church is as 〈◊〉 is at this present but where the one only shal be there is the Church such as she is to 〈◊〉 when there shal be no wicked men in her And in the answere to the second Epistle of Gaudentias written also after the said Conference You see that the Church according to Cyprian is called Catholicke by the name of all and it is not without manifestly-wicked men And in the second booke of his retractations I wrote said he 7. bookes of Baptisme against the Donatistes attempting to defend themselues by the authority of the most happie Bishop and Martyr 〈◊〉 in all those bookes where I haue described the Church without wrinckle or spott it must not be takē of the Church as shee in her present being but as being 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 such whē she shall appeare in glorie And againe In my writings to an vnknowē Donatist speaking of the multitude of cockle I said by which are vnderstood all heretickes there wantes a Coniunction which is necessary for I should haue said by which are also vnderstood all beretickes c. whereas I spake as if there were onely cockle out of the Church and none in the Church And neuerthelesse the Church is the Kingdome of Christ from whence the Angells in the haruest tyme will plucke vp all Scandalls which caused the Martyr Cyprian to saie Although we see tares in the Church yet ought neither our faith nor our charitie to be so diuerted as because we see tares in the Church we should therefore seperate our-selues from the Church Which sense we haue also followed els where and principallie against the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 present in the act of the Conference From whence it appeares how much it is to abuse Saint AVGVSTINES wordes against the sense whereto himselfe intendes they should be either corrected or explained to transferr as the protestantes doe that that he spake of the Church considered according to her future and finall being in the other world and applie it to the Church considered accordinge to her actuall being heere and to inferr from thence that she may consist in this world formally in the onely mumber of the predestinate and remaine hidden and visible To the fift obiection which is that Saint Ierom writes vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians The Church is glorions wthout spott or wrinkle or anie such like thing he then which is a sinner and soyled with anie spott cannot be called of the Church of Christ neither subiect to Christ We answere that he meanes not to saie that wicked men are not of the Church which is the body of Christ which fightes heere below but that they are not of the number of the Church which is the bodie of Christ which shall raigne in heauen For soe farr of is it from Saint IEROM to belieue that the promise to be without wrinkle or spott of manners appertaines to the Church considered as she is in this world that he cryes out quite contrarilie against the Pelagians That what the Apostle writes that our Lord will make his Church holy and without spott or wrinkle shall be accomplished at the end of the world and in the consummation of vertues And againe True perfection and without soyle is reserued for heauen when the bridegrome shall say to the bride Thou art wholie saire my
loue and there is noe spott in thee And in the exposition of Ieremy Thou seest how manie places the Church hath and that this sentence of the Apostle that shee maiebe without spott or wrinkle is reserued for the time to come and for the celestiall places And in the same Commentary vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians Our Lord Iesus accountethe for his members all that are assembled in the Church both Saintes and Sinners but the Saints are his 〈◊〉 voluntarily and the Sinners by necessitie And therefore to the consequence that the Protctestates gather from this place of Saint IEROM when they inferr from hence that the Church consistes only in the mumber of the good we oppose these expresse wordes of the fame Saint IEROM As in the Arke of Noe there were liuing creatures of all kindes so in the Church there are men of all nations of all manners as there where together the Leopard and the Goates the wolfe and the lambes so heere are together the iust and Sinner to witt the vessells of gold and the vessells of wood and earth And againe if the Church be alreadie purified what doe we reserue for our Lord And to the consequence that they gather thence that the Church is inuisible we oppose these followinge That is no Church which hath noe priests And againe I could dry vp all the riuers of thy arguments with the only Sun-shine of the Church And a little after We must remaine in that Church which hauing bene founded by the Apostles indureth till this present And in an other place I am ioyned in communion with thy blessednesse that is to saie with the Chaire of Peeter I know the Cburch it built vpon that rocke whosoeuer eates the lambe out of that howse is prophane Of the vnitie of internall faith CHAPT X. The continuance of the Kings Answere THey are vnited in vnitie of Faith at least in those pointes which are necessarie for saluation THE REPLIE THere are seuen batailles to be giuen vpon this article but against a King that will glorie in suffering himselfe to be ouercome by truth and in saying with Darius his Chamberlaines that kings are verie strong but truth is yet more strong And therefore I feare not to incurr Homers sentence When a great king is angrie with his seruant The first bataile is that an vnitie in things necessarie for the Saluation of euery particular man is not sufficient for the constitution of the Church For there are pointes of faith which are necessarie euen with an ineuitable necessitie for the bodie of the Church which are not necessary with the like necessitie in regard of euery particular man as we haue shewed in our sirst Epistle and those which are sufficient for a man 〈◊〉 by death and in case of impossibilitie of better instruction are not sufficient for him that can haue commoditie to be more throughly 〈◊〉 and those that may suffice for a simple handy craftes man or a labourer cannot suftize for the bodie of the Pastors and the vniuersall Societie of the Church The second bataile is that besides the thinges which particular men are bound to belieue with a distinct and explicite faith there are manie other which they are obliged to belieue with a faith of adherencie and non 〈◊〉 which Schoolemen call implicit faith As all the articles that Councells ordaine to be belieued or forbidd to be belieued vpon paine of anathema A vine dresser a laborer an artificer is not bound to belieue them by retaile and with a distinct and explicit faith but it suffizeth that they beleeue thē in the faith of the Church to witt that they adhere and consent with the Church which beleeueth them For making profession to beleeue all that the Church where-into they are in corporared beleeues faith embraceth in generall by the meritt of theire obedience all that the same Church beleeues distinctlie though theire knowlege 〈◊〉 it not And therefore euen as while children are in theire mothers wombe or sucking at her brestes they liue by the foode and nourishment of theire mother but when they are parted from her they can no longer liue with that communicated nourishment or that infused foode so while simple persons remaine within the bosome and Communion of the Church they liue in those things which are aboue theire capacitie by the faith of the Church which is imputed ahd applied to them by the adherence that they haue with her Such saith Saint AVGVSTINE if before they arriue to the spirituall age of the Soule where they shall noe more be nourisht with milke but with solid meate the last daie of theire life surprise them he that dwells in them shall supplie what they want in theire 〈◊〉 because they haue not separated themselues from the vnitie of the bodie of Christ which bad bene made the waie to vs and haue not withdrawne themselues from the societie of the Temple of God And therefore it is necessary that the Church to whom they ought to adhere to obtaine this supplie should be first knowne and visible to them and more ouer that she not only liue with the doctrine which is answerable to milke as is the profession of the articles which simple persons are bound to belieue with a distinct and explicite faith which Saint AVGVSTINE calles the rule of Faith common to little and great but with that which is answerable to solid meate The third battaile is that it is not sufficient to saie in forme of an 〈◊〉 proposition they are vnited in points necessary for saluation but it must be said in forme of an vniuersall proposition They are vnited in all points necessary for saluation For as it will not serue a man to liue that he hath all his other partes sounde if he be deadlie wounded in anie member necessarie to life so it will nothing auaile to these societies we talk of to be vnited in other things necessary to saluation if they be wanting in anie one If a man be brought saith saint AVGVSTINE to a Physician grieuonsly wounded in some necessary parte of his bodie and the Physician saie if he be not dressed he will dye I thinke they which present him will not be soe senselesse as to answere the Physician after they haue considered and reckoned his other sound partes what shall not so manie sound partes haue power to 〈◊〉 him aliue and shall one wounded parte haue powre to bringe him to his death Now amongst things necessarie to saluation the principall and most necessary is the knowledge and acknowledgement of the Catholicke Church What profitts it a man saith saint AVGVSTINE either sound faith or it may be the onely Sacrament of sound faith when the soundnes of Charitie is wounded with the wound of schisme the only distruction whereof drawhes all the other partes to death And in an other place We had both one baptisme in that they were with me we both read
the Scriptures in that they were with me we both celebrated the martyrs feastes in that they were with me we both frequented the solemnity of Easter in that they were with me but they were not with me in all things in schisme they were deuided from me in heresie they were deuided from me in manie things with me and in few deuided from me but because of these few thinges wherein they were deuided from me the manie things wherein they were with me profited them nothing And so it is vnprofitable to those societies whereof his Maiestie speaketh to obtaine the name of Churches that they be vnited in most pointes necessary for saluation if they be not vnited in all and particularly in the knowledge and acknowledgement of the true Catholicke Church and consequently not supposing her to be visible The fowrth battaile is that the vniuersall distinction of things necessarie or not necessarie to saluation cannot be assuredly made by the iudgement of euery particular person but it dependes of the iudgement of the Church For there is noe Sect but belieues that those thinges which they hold are only necessary to saluation and that all which others hold ouer and aboue are either pernicious or superfluous Pelagius and Celestius saith Saint AVG. desiring fraudulentlie to auoid the hatefull name of heresies affirme that the question of originall sinne may be disputed without danger of saith And Saint AVGVSTINE contrarywise cryes out that it belongs to the foundation of faith We may said he indure a disputant which 〈◊〉 in other questions not yet diligentlie examined not yet established by the whole authoritie of the Church theire errors may be borne with but it must not passe soe farr as to attempt to shake the foundation of the Church And Luther speakinge of the controuersies of the Reall presence vnder both kindes and of the orall manducation of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist Zuinglius and Oecolampadius said he alleadge that the question betweene them and vs is a light matter and a little difference not worthie that by occasion thereof Christian charitie should be broken But LVTHER contrarywise cryes out Eternallie cursed be this concord and this charitie because it doth not only miserablie rend the Church but after the diuells fashion mockes her And againe I take to witnesse God and man that I agree not with the Sacramentaries that is with the Zuinglians and Caluinists nor euer did agree with them nor by the helpe of God 〈◊〉 will agree with them and that I desire my handes may be cleane from the bloud of all those whose soules by this poyson they haue turned from Christ and slaine And a little after We will auoid them we will resist and condemne them to the last breath as Idolators corrupters of Gods word blasphemers and seducers So that before we can be assured of entire vnitie in things necessarie to saluation we must heare the iudgement of the Church and consequently suppose her to be visible The fifth battaile is that it is not euough for the constitution of a Church that the persons where of it consistes should be vnited among themselues in matters necessarie to saluation if they be not also deuided from the externall communion of all other societies which holde things repugnant to saluation For it sufficeth that we be vnited with anie Congregation which belieueth anie one point repugnant to Saluation although we be well perswaded in all the rest nay and euen in that alsoe to be excluded from the participation of the Church for whosoeuer communicates in matter of Religion with anie Societie is answerable for all the pointes vnder the obligation whereof he receiueth men to his communion From whence it ariseth that a multitude of men of diuers externall communions such as his Maiestie hereafter propounds as a number of men of the Roman Communion a number of men of the Greeke communion and a number of men of the Ethiopian Communion cannot constitute a common Church for as much as though they are vnited in the beliefe of most things necessarie to saluation neuerthelesse there are things repugnant to saluation wherein some of them are vnited by the bond of theire externall Communions with the body of theire Sects which externall vnion though the internall went not with it is sufficient to depriue them from the participation of the Church The sixth battaile is that the vnitie of faith which enters into the essentiall definition of the Church is not simply the vnitie of internall faith but the vnitie of externall faith For the vnitie of faith which concurrs to the formall constitution of the Church is that which serues for a foundation to the commerce of Ecclesiasticall Charitie that is to saie by meanes whereof the members of the mysticall bodie of Christ may acknowledge and embrace one an other as brothers and members of one and the same bodie Now this is the vnitie of exteruall and professed faith and not that of hidden and internall which serues for nothing neither for 〈◊〉 nor for saluation if it be not made manifest and externall For our Lord cryes out Hee that will confesse me before men I will confesse him before God my Father And saint PAVL We make confession with our mouthes to saluation And saint AGVST We cannot be saued vnlesse labouring also for the saluation of others we professe with our mouthes the same faith which we be are in our hartēs And againe Peraduenture said he some one may saie there are other sheepe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I am not acquainted with but God hath care of them But he is too absurd in human sense that can imagine such thinges And finally the seuenth battaile is that the vnitie of faith euen externall and professed 〈◊〉 not for the constitution of the Church if the vnitie of the visible and Sacramentall Communion with the originall body of the Church and the vniuersall societie of the true pastors be not added to it You are with vs 〈◊〉 Saint AVGVSTINE to the Donatists in baptisme in 〈◊〉 Creede in the other Sacraments of our Lord but in the spirit of vnitie in the bond of peace and finally in the Catholicke Church you are not with vs. And Saint IEROM There is this difference betweene schisme and heresie that heresie holdes a false doctrine and schisme for Episcopall dissention equallie separates men from the Church Of other inuisible vnions CHAP. XI The continuance of the Kinges answere THey are vnited by the coniunction of spirits and by the offices of true Charitie and aboue all by that of mutuall prayers They are finally ioyned by the communion of one selfesame hope and by the expectation of one promised inheritance THE REPLIE NEITHER can there be a true Communion of Spirits where the visible and sacramentall Communiō of bodies is excluded that is to 〈◊〉 where the parties doe noe admitt one an other to the Communion and participation os the
Palestina These were all complaintes which still remain'd within the limites of theire manners and neither touched the faith of the Roman Church nor the succession of saint Peter nor the communion of the Apostolicall Sea nor the very person of the Pope And indeede how could saint IEROME applie these wordes of the Reuelation Goe out of Babylon to the Cittie of Rome for anie thinge concerninge faith and Religion He that cryes out in his apologie against RVFFINVS Which faith is it that he calls his that that the Roman Church holdes or that that is contained in Origens bookes if he answere that that the Roman Church holdes then we are Catholickes And in the Epistle to THEOPHILVS Patriarche of Alexandria Know that we haue nothinge in greater recommendation then to conserue the statutes of Christ and not to transgresse the bounds of our fathers and alwaies to remember the Roman faith praysed by the mouth of the Apostle whereof the Alexandrian Church doth glorie to partake And in the Epistle to DEMETRIAS When thou wert little and that the Bishop Anastasius of 〈◊〉 aud happie memorie gouuerned the Roman Church a cruell tempest of 〈◊〉 risen out of the Easterne partes attempted to pollute and corrupt the 〈◊〉 of that faith which had bene commended by the mouth of the Apostle but this 〈◊〉 Pope Anastasius riche in a most plentifull pouertie and iu an Apostolicall care brake the pestilent head and stopped the hissinge mouthes of 〈◊〉 Hydra And because I feare yea I haue heard saie that the budds of this venimous plante doe still liue and springe vp in some I thought it my 〈◊〉 to admonish thee in a deuout zeale of charitie that thou keepe fast the faith of Saint INNOCENT his sonne and Successor in the Apostolicall Chaire And in the Epistle to Pope DAMASVS I am chayned in communion with thy blessednesse that is with Peters Chaire I know the Church is built vpon that rocke if anie eate the lambe out of that howse he is prophane And a little after I know not Vitalis I reiect Meletius I am ignorant of Paulinus whosoeuer gathers not with thee scatters that is to saie whosoeuer is not of Christ is of Antichrist Far then was hee from holdinge the Church of Rome for Babylon and the Pope for Antichrist since he held whosoeuer did not communicate with the Pope for Antichrist The third exposition is of them who interpret the allegoricall Babylon to be the Monarchy of the Turkes who with its false Prophet Mahomet haue possessed all the citties and particularly those of the seuen Churches of Asia to which S. Iohn addressed his reuelatioÌ„ and which hath giuen vp her soule to the perished beast that is to saie hath againe takeÌ„ the office and ranke of the pagan Emperors blasphmers and persecutors of the name of Christ and hath vsurped the Seate whither theire succession had bene transferd to witt Constantinople and who is clothed with purple that is hath the Emperiall power and authority whose simbole in Saint Iohns tyme was purple and which is seated be it literally vpon seuen Mountaines for Constantinople hath seuen Mountaines as old Rome had for moderne Rome hath nyne Or be it accordinge to the allegoricall interpretation of Saint Iohn vpon seuen kings that is to say vpon the seuen Empires that followe the impietie of Mahomett And in briefe which hath soe many other affinities with the Babylon in the ReuelatioÌ„ as OECOLAMP and BVLLINGER are constrayned to giue her two seates and conâ—â—â—â—uâ—e two Antichrists one in the weste and an other in the East Now which of these expositioÌ„s answeres the precise inteÌ„tion of the Author or whether the perfect accoÌ„plishment of these thinges be yet to come and should be vnderstood of a Societie which shall not arise till after the Ghospell haue bene actually preached to all the nations of the world as all ancient writers are agreed that the Monarchie of Antichrist which the ProtestaÌ„ts esteene to be one thinge with the Babylon of the Reuelation shall not come till after that tyme it is not heere our purpose to examine But in summe that that Babylon where of the reuelation speaketh can be seriouslie taken for the cittie of Rome the antithesis that saint IOHN makes of Babylon and Ierusalem which teacheth vs that as the Ierusalem described by the same Reuelation is not a locall cittie soe Babylon described by the same Reuelation is not a locall and corporall cittie takes from vs all colour to belieue it And therefore ARETHAS who beinge a grecian and a schismaticke as he is held to bee had had more interest to interpret this passage of Rome resolues in the end that it cannot be vnderstood neither of Rome nor of Constantinople but of the state of this corruptible world It appeares saies he vndoubtlie by this place that the thinges which are heere foretolde should neither be vnderstood of Babylon nor of olde nor newe Rome that is Constantinople nor of any other cittie but of all this corruptible world And that she may be taken for a Church which in the beginninge was a true Church of Christ and since growne false and adulterate bearinge neuerthelesse still the title of a Church the figure of Babylon which was from the beginninge founded by Nimrod a pagan and infidell and after alwaies perseuered in paganisme and in the open profession of infidelitie till the fall of her Empire cannot beare it Contrarywise that which saint IOHN saith that all those whose names are not written in the booke of life haue worshipped the beast vpon which the harlott sitts seemes to insinuate that he speaks of the societie of all the reprobate of what soeuer Secte Religion and profession they haue bene as well Iewes Gentiles Heretickes Schismatickes as euill Catholickes and not of any determinate Communion Yet we avowe neuerthelesse that the Fathers haue some-tymes turned the wordes of Isay and Ieremy from whence those wordes of the Reuelation are takeÌ„ to make vse of them against the particular Sect of the Arrians As when OSIVS and after him S. ATHANAS say the Scripture cryes out depart depart goe out from her and touch not her vncleanesse Withdrawe you from the midst of them separate your-selues froÌ„ theÌ„ you that carrie the vessells of our Lord. But besides that they haue neuer preteÌ„ded that this precept should be exteÌ„ded to all the multitude of ChristiaÌ„s and that there might come a tyme wherein there were noe externall CoÌ„munion visible and eminent out of which it should be vnlawfull to goe forth which is that which is in question There is great difference betweene the conceites allusions that the Fathers made vpon the allegoricall expositions of the passages of the Scripture and the proper and direct vnderstandinge of the same passages which is that onely from whence we may argue seriouslie And therefore when the Donatists in the conference of Carthage would haue made vse of the same wordes against the
CHAP. XIX The continuance of the Kinges answere IN how differing sense the Church is now called Catholicke from what it was then THE REPLIE I haue drawne out this clause from betweene the two that precede it because I would frame an answere by itselfe for as much as I beleiued the intention of the excellent King was as it is of other protestantes to saie that the Church beares the name of Catholicke now in an other sense then she bare it in S. AVST tyme because then she possessed all nations and now she possesses them not To this then I answere that S. AVG. neuer pretended that the Catholicke Church in his tyme did absolutely possesse all nations but onely by 〈◊〉 that is to say by applicatiō of the name of all to the greater part and in comparison of other Christian sectes and societies in regarde of which the Catholicke Church was soe large as it was called for eminencie the Church of all the nations Contrarywise where the Donatistes sett this errour on soote that the Church hadceased and was perished the principall reason that S. AVGVST opposed to them was that she was not yet spread ouer all the natiōs and that she must last without interruptiō from the first preaching in Ierusalem till the Ghospell had bene preached throughout the earth and then should be the end of the world Soe as it were to giue the lye to all the promises and prophesies of God to suppose she were perished since there were yet manie nations to which she had not yet extended herselfe And therefore the Church bore the title of Catholicke then in noe other sense then she doth nowe For soe farr was she from being called Catholicke from the atiuall possession of all Nations that not onely heresies whose numbers were very great were excluded but there were likewise an infinite Company of pagan Nations to which she was not yet arriued There are saith Saint AVGVSTINE amongst vs that is in Africa innumerable barbarous nations to whom the Ghospell hath not yet been preached Which was soe confessed amongst the Catholickes and Donatistes as the Donatistes made vse of it against the Catholicke Church to question her Catholicke title If you pretend saith Petilian the Donatist that you holde the Catholick Church beholde you are not inpossession of all for you are past into a parte And Saint AVGVSTINE confuting the wordes of Cresconius Thou arguest vainely saith he against the euident truth that all the worlde communicates not with vs because there are yet manie barbarous nations which haue not 〈◊〉 iued in Christ. And againe how is the world saist thou full of your communion where there are soe manie heresies whereof there is noe one that communicates with you And againe reporting these wordes of Vincentius Thou saist that as for the partes of the earth that wherein the Christian faith is named is but a little portion in comparison of the world And the Catholickes on the other side made vse of it against the Donatistes to proue that the Church had neuer receiued interruption But that Church said the donatistes is noe more she is perished soe saie they said Saint AVG that are not in her ô impudent voice c. This abominable and detestable voice full of presūption and falshood which is vnder propt with noe truth illuminated with noe wisedome seasoned with noe salte vaine rash headie pernicious the spiritt of God hath foreseene it And a litle after this Ghospell shall be preached where In all the world to whom in testimome to all nations and what after and then the end shall come Seest thou not that there are still nations to whom the Ghospell hath not been preached c. and soe how is it that thou saist that the Church is alreadie perisht from all nations since it is therefore that the Ghospell is preached to witt that it might be in all nations The Church thē in S. AVS tyme was not called Catholicke for her actuall extent into all natiōs but she was called Catholicke for two other causes the one that as more aboundant and the other that as radicall originall Church she held the place of all in regarde of other Christian Societies For in all the diuisiōs which were made from the first beginning of the Christian name not onely she remayned soe full in regarde of euery sect that came out from her that she held the place of the whole and the seperated sect the place of a part but alsoe in the act of seperation she still remayned immoueable I meane to say that the change for which the seperation happened was made not in her but in the hereticall sect Soe as it was the hereticall sect that was seperated frō her and not she from the hereticall sect And by cōsequēce to her as perseuering in the same profession in the same Estate wherein the whole Church was before the seperatiō apertained the right to holde the place of the whole and to inherite the being and aduantages of the whole And to the other to be reduced into the cōdition of a parte and to be cutt of and 〈◊〉 from the appellation and 〈◊〉 of the whole noe more nor lesse then in the deuisiō of a tree that parte wherein the trunke the stocke and the roote remaine keepes the name of the whole and the parte which is cutt of the name of a branche and of a part seperated from the whole They vnderstād not saith S. AVST speakeing generally of heretickes that there is one certaine true holsome and as I may saie germinall radicall societie from whence they are seperated in an other place Whosoeuer is separated from the whole and defēds a part cut off from the masse or bodie it selfe lett him not vsurpe the name of Catholicke And againe The Catholicke Church fighting with all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne All heresies are come forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt off from theire vine but she remaines in her vine in her roote in her charitie and the gates of hell shall not conquer her And as OPTATVS Mileuit before him Wee must consider who staies in the roote with the whole worlde and who is gone forth For these causes thē and also that the Catholicke Church was soe eminent both for perpetuitie and extent aboue all others as it was easie to iudge that it was to her onely and to noe other that the promise had bene made that in her seede all nations should be blessed and that in her should be denounced the remission of sinnes through all nations beginninge from Ierusalem for these causes I say S. AVG. affirmed that to her onely belonged the title of Catholique Thou 〈◊〉 saith he against Crescomius the Donatist the rest of the nations that the Church hath not yet possessed and takest noe heede how manie she hath 〈◊〉 from whence she dailie spreades to finish the possession of the
rest For how dost not thou denie the future perfection of these prophecies thou that fearest not to denie soe great in 〈◊〉 to which the perfection is due And in an other place Although there are manie kindes of heresies amongst Christians and that all would 〈◊〉 to be Catholickes and call the rest except themselue heretickes there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Church if you cast your eyes ouer the whole worlde more aboundant in multitude and as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in truth then all the rest but of the truth that is an other question That which sufficeth for this dispute is that there is one Catholicke Church to which different heresies impose different names they beinge neuerthelesse all called by their particular 〈◊〉 that they dare not disauowe from whence it appeares in the iudgement of arbiters not possessed with fauour to whom the name of Catholicke whereof they are all ambitious ought to be attributed By which wordes S. AVG. elegantly declares that the Church was not called Catholicke because she was actually and at one selfe same tyme ouer all Natiōs but for this cause amongst others that in multitude of people and in extent of nations she exceeded each one of other Christian societies Of the comparison of the Church with the Cittie builte vpon a Mountaine CHAP. XX. The continuance of the Kinges answere FOr heretofore the Catholicke Church like the Cittie built vpon a Mountaine which could not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not way subiect to be called in question but was euident and certaine to all in such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noe bodie of an vndistracted spirit could doubt of it THE REPLIE IT seemes that the excellent King holdes this word that cannot be hidden to haue reference onely to the Cittie built vpon a Mountaine and will not haue it belong to the Church but by accident that is when she resēbles the 〈◊〉 builte vpon a Mountaine That is to say it seemes that his Maiestie vnderstandes not that this condition to be like a cittie built vpon a Mountaine and by consequent not to be hidden belongs perpetually to the Church but will haue it that the Church sometymes enioyes this condition as when Saint AVGVSTINE writ and sometymes is depriued of it as afterwardes Neuertelesse Saint AVGVSTINE who is the best interpreter that can be of his owne wordes saith that the Church hath this most certaine marke that she cannot be hidd And againe that of her it is said The cittie built vpon the Mountaine cannot bee hidd From whence it appeareth that this Epithete of beeing vnconcealeable belongs not by accidēt to the Church when she shall be found like the cittie built vpon a hill but appartaines to her properly directly and perpetually For where his Maiestie adds that the Church was then soe manifest as noe man in his right wittes could doubt of her that was true and soe is she still at this day in regarde of all those that agree vpon the true markes of the Church that is to saie in regarde of those that accordinge to Gods promises designe the Catholicke Church by the perpetuitie of her continuance and by the eminencie of multitude and extent ouer nations aboue all other Christian Sectes But to all heretickes and schismatickes who reiected those markes and would receiue noe signe for a note of the Church but onely puritie of manners or triall of doctrine of which they attributed to themselues the iudgement by interpretation of Scripture made accordinge to theire sense the Church was not onely doubtfull but altogether hidden It is saith S. AVG. a condition cōmon to all heretickes not to see that thinge which is in the world the most apparent an t built in the light of all nations out of whose vnitie all that they doe though they seeme to doe it with great care cannoe more warrant them from the wrath of God then the spiders webbs against the extremity of colde Of the conformitie or inconformitie of the Donatists and Protestantes in the question of the Church CHAPT XXI The continuance of the kinges answere FOR she vvas not shutt vp in anie corner of the vvorld liyng I knowe not vvhere in the South as the foolish Donatistes affirmed but she vvas spread in leught and breadth ouer all the space of the Earth THE REPLIE THE Donatistes held not that theire Church was inclosed by right and for euer into Africa but onely in fact and for a certaine tyme noe more then the Caluinistes who haue pretended that the true visible Church had bene reduced for manie ages into the Prouince of Albigeois and other boundes and afterward in some valleys of Dolphiny And yet the Donatistes did not make this confession with theire good will but in theire owne defence by constraint Contrarywise they attempted with all theire power to shewe that theire Church was not restrained onely into Africa For this cause they kept a Bishop at Rome whom they had sent to a fewe African Donatistes that dwelt there They had plented a pretended Church in Spanie in the territory of a Lady called Lucilla that fauored them They had made the false Actes of the mock Councell of the Arrians holden at Philipopolis neere Sardica to passe current insteede of the true Councell of Sardica because in the letters of those Bishops amongst the names of the Bishops to whom they were addressed theire was the name of Donatus the false Bishop of Carthage one of the Bishops of the Donatistes party thereby to make it credible that the Councell of Sardica had communicated with them yea when they entered into conference with the Catholickes they grewe to be soe impudent but that it was confounded at the instant as to maintaine that theire communion was spread ouer all the earth Heere first saith Saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the conference that he had with Fortunius the Donatist did he attemps to 〈◊〉 that his Communion was ouer the extent of the earth I asked him there 〈◊〉 whether he could addresse cōmunicatorie letters which we call formall whither I 〈◊〉 appoint and I affirmed as it was manifest to all that by this meanes the 〈◊〉 might be easilie determined c. but because the thinge was euidently false 〈◊〉 out of this discourse by confusion of 〈◊〉 And finally when they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the visible 〈◊〉 of the Church they had recourse to the 〈◊〉 vniuersality and said they communicated inuisibly with all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hidden members of Christ which were spread ouer all the world for it is against them that saint AVG. disputes when he writes It 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God hath other sheepe which I know not but God 〈◊〉 care of them he is too absurde in humane sense that imagins such things By 〈◊〉 whereof theire cause who haue separated them-selues from vs in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ages can be noe waie distinguished in the point of the Church from that of the Donatistes Of the extent of the ancient Catholicke Church
Victor of Vtica answere him that he might not enter into those listes without the consent of other Churches and namely of the Roman Church which is the head of all Churches Let the King said Eugenius write to his friends and I will written my 〈◊〉 that our colleagues may come who with vs may shew you our common faith and principally the Roman Church which is the head of all Churches And why then when Fulgentius an African Bishop of the same tyme and the other Bishop of Africa assembled with him made their answere to Peter a deacon and deputy of the East did they say to him The Roman Church which is the topp of the world enlightned with two great lights Peter and Paule 〈◊〉 it is soe And why then when the Emperor Anast asius Zeno's successor solicited Macedonius Patriark of Constantinople to suppresse in the seruice of his Church the memorie of the Councell of Chalcedon did Macedonius answere him that he could not doe it without a generall Coūcell presided by the Pope The Fmperor Anast asius saith Theodorus Anagnostes pressed Macedonius to abrogate the Councell of Chalcedon but Macedonius answered him he could not doe it without a generall Councell wherein the Bishop of Rome must be President And why thē when the Bishops of the Easterne Church banded themselues against the preuarication of their Patriark Acacius did they write to Pope Symachus Thou art euerie day taught by thy sacred Doctor Peter to feede the sheepe of Christ which are committed to thee throughout the habit able earth not constrained by force but willinglie thou that with the most learned Paule cryest out to all thy subiects we doe not rule ouer you in faith but cooperate with you in ioy And why then when Vitalianus a Scithiā had rebelled against the Emperor Anastasius because he persecuted the Catholickes had borne armes at the gates of Constantinople did Victor of Tunes say He would neuer promise peace to the Emperor but vpon condition that he should restore to their Seates those that had bene banisht for defending the Councell of Chalcedon and should vnite all the Churches of the East with the Roman Church And why then when Justin a Catholicke Prince had succeeded the Emperor Anastasius did he cause Pope Felix sentence to be executed against Peter Patriark of Alexādria and Acacius Patriark of Constantinople and made their names be razed euen after their deathes out of the records of their Churches and from the recitall in the misteries We anathematize saith John Patriark of Constantinople in an epistle to Pope Hormisdas Timothie the parricide surnamed Aelurus and we condemne likewise Peter of Alexandria his disciple and partaker in all things and we alsoe anathematize Acacius sometimes Bishop of this cittie of Constantinople c. and we promise heere after not to recite in the sacred misteries the names of those that are excluded from the cōmunion of the Catholicke Church that is to saie that consent not fullie with the Sea Apostolicke And the Emperor Iustin in his epistle to the same Pope We haue giuen order that the reuerend Church of Cōstantinople and manie others should accomplish your desire not only in other things but also in razing the names that you haue required to be takē awaie frō the sacred recordes And a while after praying the Pope that he would be cōtent that the names of those only which had bene cōdemned by name by the Sea Apostolicke should be blotted out without exacting the racing of those that had cōmunicated with thē for the difficulty that there would be in razing the names of soe many Bishops to be takē away out of the recordes of their churches We aske noe grace said he for the names of Acacius nor for either the one Peter or the other that is to saie Peter Patriark of Antioch and Peter Patriark of Alexādria nor for Dioscorus nor Timothie of whom your Holynesse letters addressed to vs made speciall mention but of those that the Episcopall reucrence hath celebrated in other citties And Victor of Tunes The Emperor Iustin saith he revnited those of the East vnder worthie satisfaction to the Prelates of the West except the euill Bishops for it must be read prauos and not paruos which died blinded with their ancient error to witt Acacius late Bishop of Constantinople Peter Bishop of Antioch and Peter Bishop of Alexandria and caused the decrees of the Councell of Chalcedon to be reuiued that had bene banisht by the Emperors Zeno and Anastasius And why then when the Emperor Justinian nephew and successor to Justine was come to the Empire neere eleuen hundred yeares agoe did he make profession to acknowledg the Pope for he head of all the Churches Wee preserue said hee in the lawe to Epiphanius Patriarke of Constantinople the Estate of the vnitie of the most holie Churches in all things with the moct holie Pope of the ancient Rome to whome we haue written the like because we will not suffer anie thing to passe concerning the affaires of the Church which shall not be alsoe referred to his Blessednesse for asmuch as he is the head of all the holy Prelates of God And in the lawe Inter claras where the Epistle of the same Emperor to the Pope and the expedition of Hipatius and Demetrius his Legates to the Pope against Cirus and Eulogius Legates for the Acaemites soe were certaine Religious men of Constantinople called because of their long watches is inserted We will not suffer said he that anie thing shall be treated of belonging to the state of the Churches though 〈◊〉 and manifest which shall not alsoe be referred to your Holynesse who are the head of all the Churches For as for the shiftes of those that not being able to auoid the lawe Inter claras striue to make it suspected for false I will not staie to confute them It sufficeth that the defence of those two great Oracles of Themis Alciat and Cuias haue made of this lawe and the authenticall copie which is to be found in the Greeke Basiliques beginning with these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the history that Liberatus an African author of the same tyme reportes of it when he saith Hypatius Bishop of Ephesus and Demetrius Bishop of Philippi were sent by the Emperor Iustinian to Pope Iohn surnamed Mercury to consult with the Sea Apostolicke against Cyrus and Eulogius deputed by the Acaemites c. but Pope Iohn we being then present at Rome confirmed the Emperiall confession by an Epistle of his and addressed it to the Emperor And the testimonie that Iustinian himselfe giues it in the lawe to Epiphanius and in the Epistle to Pope Agapet and the old greeke paratitles translated and published by Leunclauius a protestant lawyer which reckon for the eight lawe of the Code the Emperor Justinians Epistle to the Pope and the Popes answere to him stopp
haue alwaies obserued what the authority of the Prelates of the sea Apostolicke hath commaunded And why then when saint GREGORIE the Great to whom I haue brought downe this information as well because the English men deriue from him the originall of their Mission Ecclesiasticall as because Calume propoundes him for true and lawfull modell of the iurisdiction of Popes reprehended 1027. yeares agone Natalis Bishop of Salona in Dalmatia for the fault that he had committed for which he after did penance in deposing Honoratus Archdeacon of Salona notwithstanding Pope Pelagius letters did he write to him that such a disobedience had bene intollerable euen in one of the fower Patriarkes If one of the fower Patriarkes said hee had committed such an act soe great disobedience could not haue escaped without a greeuous scandall And why then when Clementius Primat of Bysacia in Africa had bene accused before the Emperor and sent backe by the Emperor to the Sea Apostolicke doth the same S. GREGORY saie If there be anie faulte in the Bishops I knowe not what Bishop is not subiect to the Sea Apostolicke if a faulte require it not according to the reason of humilitie we are all equall And why then when John Archbishop of Larissa in Thessalia had vniustly and vnworthily condemned Adrian Bishop of Thebes one of the Bishops of his iurisdiction and that the Bishop of Thebes had appealed to Rome from him did S. Gregorie ecclipse the Bishop and Bishopricke of Thebes from the iurisdiction of the Archbishop of Larissa his Metropolitan and declared the Archbishop of Larissa if euer he attempted more to exercise anie act of Metropolitan ouer him interdicted from the sacraments soe as they could not be restored to him except at the howre of death but with the leaue of the Bishop of Rome Wee ordaine said hee that thy brotherhood abstaine from all the iurisdiction which you haue formerly had ouer him and ouer his Church And a while after that if in anie time or for 〈◊〉 occasion whatsoeuer thou shalt attempt to contradict this our statute knowe that we declare thee depriued from the sacred communion soe as it may not be restored to thee except in the article of death but with the leaue of the Bishop of Rome And why then finally when the Patriarke of Constantinople had gotten the vpper hand of the other Patriarkes did he continue to suffer appeals of causes from his iurisdiction to the Popes tribunall and to acknowledge himselfe subiect and inferior to the Pope Iohn priest of Chalcedon saith S. GREGORIE in the cause that he had against our Brother colleague Iohn Bishop of Constantinople hath had recourse according to the Canons to the Sea Apostolicke and the cause hath bene determined by our sentence and againe pronouncing the restitution of Athanasius a priest and a Religious man of Lycaonia who had bene deposed and cast out of his monastery by the same John Patriarke of Constantinople and had appeald to him Wee declare thee said hee to be free from all spott of heresie and a Catholick c. and giue thee free leaue to returne into thy Monasterie and to holde there the same ranke as thou didst before And againe who doubts but the Church of Constantinople is subiect to the Sea Apostolicke which the most Religious Emperor and our brother Bishop of the same towne doe continually protest For as for the word vniuersall Bishop wherein the Bishop of Constantinople desired to participate with the Pope but vnder the Pope and in the Empire of the East forasmuch as Constantinople had bene erected into the title of the second Rome it shall be answered in a chapter by it selfe for the resusall that S. GREGORIE made to vse the title of vniuersall Bishop though it had bene giuen to his Predecessors in the Councell of Chalcedon it shal be satisfied in the same place and shewed that it was because of the euill sence the word vniuersall Bishop might receiue which was to signifie only Bishop and soe exclude the other Prelates from the title of Bishops in chiefe and of ministers and officers of God and to hold them but for committees and deputies of the vniuersall Bishop as the same S. GREGORIE protestes when he faith If there be one that is vniuersall Bishop all the rest are noe more Bishops and not to depriue himselfe from the superintendencie and iurisdictiō ouer all other Bishops of which he cryes cleane contrary If there be anie crime in the Bishops I knowe noe Bishop but is subiect to the Sea Apostolicke if noe crime require it according to the reason of bumilitie we are all equall Of formed letters CHAPT XXVI The continuance of the Kinges answere THEN were alsoe in frequent vse formed letters by the commerce and contexture where of the communion was admirably exercised amongst all the members of the Church how farr soeuer they were distant one from an other in place THE REPLIE IT is true but the center of this communion and of this Ecclesiasticall vnitie which was exercised and entertained by the commerce of formed letters was the Sea Apostolicke and the Roman Church This appeares by S. Ireneus who cryes to the Romā Church because of a principality that is to say as it hath bene aboue manifested because of the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke it is necessary that euery Church should agree This appeares by S. Cyprian who calls the Roman Church the chaire of PETER and the principall Church and the originall of Sacerdotall vnitie This appeares by the lawe of the Emperor Gratian which ordained that the Churches should be deliuered to those that were in the Popes communion Hee ordained saith Theodoret that the sacred howses should be restored to those that cōmunicated with Damasus And a while after and this lawe was indefinitely executed in all nations This appeares by S. Ambrose who writes speaking of his Brothers comeing into one of the citties of the Isle of Sardinia He asked the Bishop of that place whether he agreed with the Catholicke Bishops that is to saie added he with the Roman Church This appeares by S. IEROME who writes to Pope Damasus I am ioyned in communion with thy Blessednesse that is to saie with Peters chaire I knowe the Church is built vpon that Rocke whosoeuer is not in the Arke he shall perish at the coming of the floud he that eates the lambe out os this howse is profane And a while after Whosoeuer gathers not with thee scatters that is to saie whosoeuer is not of Christ is of Antichrist And againe Send me word with whom I ought to communicate in Antioch for the heretickes of Campes with those of Tharses haue noe other ambition but that they might vnder the authoritie of your communion preache the three hypostosies according to the ancient vnderstanding And in an other place The while I cry if anie of you be ioyned to Peters chaire he
that the Arrians spread the rumor that Liberius had condemned Consubstantialitie The Arrians said he spread the rumor that Liberius had condemned the word consubstantiall Neuerthelesse for as much as saint IEROM speakeing of Liberius his exile writeth Liberius Bishop of the Roman Church hauing bene sent into exile for the Faith all the Clerkes swore they would receiue noe other but Felix hauing bene substituted in the priest hood by the Arrians manie periured themselues and at the end of the yeare were cast forth because Liberius ouercome with the wearynesse of his banishement and signing the hereticall impictie entred into Rome in the forme of a Conqueror And in an other place Fortunatianus Bishop of Aquilea is in this reputed detestable that he first solicited Liberius who was gone into banishment for the faith and inclined him and induced him to signe the heresie We followe the opinion of those that hold that during the tyme interposed betweene the returne of Liberius and the death of Felix Liberius remained fallen from the Popedome and that Felix was then true Pope For there is noe doubte but that the Clerkes which were cast forth with Felix because saith saint IEROM Liberius hauing signed the hereticall impietie was 〈◊〉 into Rome like a Conqueror were the orthodoxall and Catholicke Clerkes of the Roman Church who did materially periure themselues because they abandoned Liberius but not formally because Liberius first abandoned himselfe And in the third tyme which began after the death of Felix which if we beleeue Sozomene followed soone after the returne of Liberius Liberius not onely abiured that which the Arrians had constrained him to doe but made himselfe so constant a protector of the Catholicke Faith and cause and so despised all the persecutions of the Emperor as the Roman Church after the death of Felix and all the other Churches of the Catholicke communion with her did receiue and acknowledge him with an acknowledgement equiualent to rehabilitation for Pope In which appeared two actes of the prouidence of God with had appeared in saint Peters fall One that as saint Peter in the rising from his fall confirmed his Bretheren so Liberius in rising from his confirmed all the Bishops of the Catholicke Church shewing them the way rather to suffer a thousand persecutions then to signe the Councell of Arimini And the other that as the Fathers noted that God permitted saint Peter to fall that he might learne by his owne example to vse mercie to those that should fall and not to vse that rigor to them that the Nouatians would afterward haue introduced so God permitted that Liberius should fall into the communion of heretickes to the end that being restored he might learne by his owne example and serue himselfe for an example to others not to shutt the gates of Episcopall cōmunion from those Bishops that should fall into the same faulte when they should come to repentance and not to vse that rigor toward them that afterward the Luciferians would haue introduced Now it was in this meane while to witt when the Roman Church abiured Liberius because he had receiued the Arrians into his communion and ceased to acknowledge him for Pope and had reduced themselues into the obedience of Felix that saint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is abouesaid these parenthesis be his adhering to the Roman Church abiured him also and anathematized him not with a iudiciary but with an applicatory and abiuratory anathema and by consequence the obiection which is drawne from it is not onely vnprofitable but impertinent For what meruaile is it if in this meane while to witt when the Roman Church herselfe abiured Liberius and withdrew herselfe from his obedience and ceased to acknowledge him for Pope and tooke Felix his part saint HILARY adhering to the Roman Church did abiure him and anathematize him also not with a iudiciary anathema but with an executory and abnegatory 〈◊〉 and tooke likewise the parte of Felix to whom the orthodoxall Clerkes and inhabitantes of the cittie of Rome had ranged themselues The great and admirable DAMASVS who was after successor to Liberius in the Popedome and whom the Greekes called the diamond of Faith had not he bene one of those that had withdrawen themselues from the communion of Liberius and had transferred themselues to that of Felix and so what wonder is it if Liberius owne successor and all the true Roman Church with him hauing ceased to acknowledge Liberius for Pope and hauing abandoned and anathematized him that is to saie with an executory and abiuratory anathema and hauing acknowledged Felix his Competitor for true and law full Pope S. HILARY also in their imitation ceased to account Liberius for Pope and anathematized him not with a iudiciary but with an executory and abiuratory anathema in withdrawing himselfe from his communion and passing to that of Felix And finally the fowrth and last answere is that as in tyme offchisme and duplicity of Popes S. HILARY following the orthodoxall and Catholicke part of the Clergie of Rome adhered to Felix and anathematized Liberius so in the tyme of the vnitie of Popes the same S. HILARY testifies that all Catholickes acknowledged the Pope for head of the Church For he reportes the epistle of the Councell of Sardica wherein the Bishops of the Councell writt these wordes to Pope Iulius Liberius predecessor It shall be esteemed verie good and conuenient if from all prouinces the Bishops should referr the affaires to their head that is to saie to the Sea Apostolicke of Peter And thus much of the second obiection there remaines third To the third obiection then which is that Dioscorus in the false Councell of Ephesus did not content himselfe to excommunicate 〈◊〉 the Archbishop of Constantinople but went so farr as to excommunicate Pope Leo who vpeld him Wee answere three things first that it was not vnder his owne name that Dioscorus Patriark of Alexandria decreed this excommunication but vnder the name of all the false Councell of Ephesus which had bene called in the qualitie of an Oecumenicall Councell and which intitled it selfe an Oecumenicall Councell By meanes whereof this instance toucheth not the question whether another Bishop Archbishop or Patriark may excommunicate the Pope but whether a Councell Oecumenicall pretēding that the Pope is fallen into heresy may excōmunicate him The second that Dioscorus was deposed for this presumption in the Councell of Chalcedon and depriued for all eternity not onely of the title of Patriark but also of the title of Christian and Catbolicke in such sort as this example is so farr from making against the Pope as it falls vpon their heades that alleadge it And the third that there was so great difference betweene the enterprise of excōmunicating the other Bishops Archbishops Patriarkes and presumption of excommunicating the Pope as although Dioscorus Patriark of Alexandria was an Arch-hereticke and that he had approued in a full Councell the heresy of Eutiches and
of Constantinople who intreateth Domnus Patriarke of Antioch that he would beare with the infirmities of Athanasius Bishop of Perhes his fellowe Minister and to graunt him for his iudges other Bishops then his Metropolitan who was suspected by him It appeares thirdly by the sentence of the Bishops of the Councell of Ephesus who called Pope Celestin their most holy Father and fellowe Minister and nenerthelesse made themselues the executioners of his Decrees Constrained Necessarilie said they by the force of the Canons and by the letters of our most holie father and fellow-minister Celestin wee are come not without teares to pronounce this heauie sentence against Nestorius And finallie it appeares by the writings of Optatus Bishop of Mileuis in Africa who calls the Pope Siricius companion of Societie with the Catholicke Bishops and neuertheles acknowledgeth him in the same place for the heire of saint PETERS Chaire and for center and principle of Ecclesiasticall vnitie To the second head which is that saint CYPRIAN complaines that Basilides a Bishops of Spaine hauing bene deposed by the Councell of the Prouince for hauing yeilded vnder the persecution and an other hauing bene ordained in his place Pope Steuen had restored him Wee answere that this complaint insteede of wounding the Popes authoritie wholie confirmes it For saint CYPRIAN complaines not of the enterprize made by the Pope but of the surprize made vpon the Pope by Basilides who had misinformed him concerning that affaire Behold his 〈◊〉 That Basilides said hee after the discouerie of his crimes and the ignominie of his conscience made naked by his owne confession trauailing to Rome hath deceiued our brother Steuen remote by a farr distance of place and ignorant of the historie in fact and the truth of the matter which hath bene concealed from him to procure that he might be vniustly restored to his Bishopricke from which he had bene iustlie deposed cannot annull an ordination lawfully made c. Neither is he so worthie of blame who hath by negligence suffred himselfe to be misinformed as he is worthie of execration that hath fraudulently imposed it vpon him Now who sees not that this manner of speeche is not to reproue the interprize made by the Pope but the surprize made vpon the Pope And indeede how could saint CYPRIAN reproue the enterprize made by the Pope he that writes to him 〈◊〉 there be letters directed from thee into the prouince and to the people that inhabite Arles whereby Marcian being deposed an other may be substituted in his place To the third head that is that saint CYPRIAN writes Since it hath 〈◊〉 or dained to vs all or by vs all and that it is iust and equitable that euerie cause should be heard where the crime hath bene committed and that to euerie pastor there should be assigned a part of the flocke which he may rule and gouerne besore he come to yield an accompt of his actions to God those that we rule must not runne heere and there and cause the well vnited concord of the Bishops to knocke one against an other by a fraudulent and deceiptfull rashnes but pleade their cause where there may be accusers and wittnesses of their crimes Wee answere that he speakes heere of minor and particular causes whereof it was afterward ordained in the Councell of Carthage That particular causes should be determined within their prouinces that is to saie causes os manners and which concerned nothing but the liues of Clerkes and of inferior Clerkes onely that is to saie of Priests deacons subdeacons and other ecclesiasticall persons constituted to the lesser orders as it appeares both by these wordes Those whom we rule and by the qualitie of Fortunatus person of whom the question was who was a priest of the Church of Carthage who had bene excommunicated for his crimes by saint CYPRIAN and had made a Schisme against him at Carthage And not of Maior causes as those of faith or of the Sacraments or of the generall customes of the Church or of the depositions of the persons of Bishops the definition of which causes might be reserued for the iudgements beyond the Seas For that there was euer this difference in Africa betweene the inferior Clerkes that is to saie Priests deacons subdeacons and other ecclesiasticall persons constituted to the lesser orders and the superior Clerkes that is saie Bishops that the causes of the inferior Clerkes of Africa ought to be determined in Africa and not passe beyond the Seas but that the causes of the superior Clerkes that is to saie of Bishops might be transferred to the iudgement beyond the Seas wee learne it from saint AVGVSTINE who cries out that Cecilianus one of saint CYPRIANS Successors in the Archbishoprike of Carthage and within fortie yeares of S. CYPRIANS tyme who had bene condemned in Africa by a Councell of seuentie Bishops might reserue his cause beyond the Seas for as much as he was of the order of Bishops and not of that of Priests deacons and other inferior Clerkes There was noe question then saith saint AVGVSTINE of Priests or Deacons or other Clerkes of the inferior order but of the Colleagues that is to saie of Bishops who might reserue their cause intire to the iudgement of the other Colleagues and principallie of the Churches Apostolicke For whereas saint AVGVSTINE vseth the word Churches Apostolicke in the plurall number wee answere that in the Chapter following and shew that it is not to exclude the eminencie of the Roman Church ouer the rest 〈◊〉 of contrarywise he said but three lynes before In the Roman Church hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie Apostolicke But to preuent the malice of the Donatists who refused the iudgement that Pope Melchiades had giuen of the cause of Cecilianus for as much as they said that Melchiades had sacrificed to Idolls and consequenrlie could not iudge of the cause of Cecilianus who was accused of a crime of the like nature or equiualent to it It sufficeth at this tyme to inferr from the wordes of saint AVGVSTINE that there was this difference betweene the superior and inferior Clerkes of Africa that the causes of the superior Clerkes might be iudged beyond the Seas and not those of the inferior Clerkes And therefore where saint CYPRIAN saith that euery cause should be iudged where the crime had bene committed he spake of the causes of inferior Clerkes that is to saie of Priests Deacons subdeacons and other Ecclesiasticall persons constituted to the lesser order and not of the causes of superior Clerkes that is to saie of Bishops To the fowrth head which is that saint CYPRIAN complaines That the authoritie of the Bishops of Africa seemed lesse to some lost and desperate persons who had alreadie the yeare before bene iudged by them Wee answere two things the one that the word lesser hath noe reference heere to the Roman Church and is not a Comparatiue of relatiue signification but
since without this dedicatiō the ordinarie Sacrifices of the Lawe could not be lawful by cōsequēce according to our aduersaries had neede of the testimony of a canonicall Scripture and S. PAVL when he cites in the Epistle to the Hebrewes the historie of the tympanized Martyrs and that not in matters of things knowne by naturall light as when he alleadgeth Aratus or in manners as when he alleadgeth Menander or Epimenides but in matter of faith and to verifie these two theologicall propositions that faith is the proofe of things not apparant and by faith the Saints haue Conquerd Kingdomes and wrought Iustice. For the historie and the word it self of tympanized Martirs S. PAVL takes it from the second Booke of the. Machabees as Theodoret hath noted and after him the Ministers of Geneua who in their annotations vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes haue quoted in the Margent of this verse the sixth Chapter of the second of the Machabees I know well that the Caluinists doe shake the Authoritie of the two Bookes principallie of the second they obiect fiue things first that the author excuseth the lownesse of his stile the secōd that it is not an originall historie but the extract epitomy of a more large history the third that the primitiue author was called Iason which is a pagan and prophane name the forth that he was a Cyrenian and not a Jewe the fifth that this historie containes manie contrarieties both to itselfe and to prophane histories But there is none of these obiections but brings his solution with him for to the first oppositiō which is in behalfe of the excuse of the stile wee answere that S. PAVL doth yet excuse himselfe in more expresse termes for the stile of his Epistles whē he saith Though I be ignorant as concerning words yet I am not so in knowledge To the second opposition which is in behalfe of the qualitie of the historie which is the abridgment of a larger history wee answere that the historie of Kings and that of Chronicles are also of other larger histories of the Kings of Israel and Iuda and that to make a history Canonicall it is not necessary that the holy Ghost should immediatly indite all the matter of the Narration but it sufficeth that he so assist it that in the composition of the ingredients of the history there be noe falshood mingled with it To the third opposition which is cōcerning the name of Iason one of the authors of the originall history which they will haue to bee a prophane name wee answere that the name Jesus in hebrewe and the name Iason in greeke the one deriued from the hebrewe word Iesa which signifies saluation and the other from the the Greeke word Iasis which signifies healing is one selfe-same From whence it came that the priest Iesus brother of Onias was called Jesus amongst the Hebrewes and Iason amongst the Greekes as Onias his brother was called Onias or Oniā amōgst the hebrewes which signifies the strēgth of the people and Menelaus amongst the Greekes that since Iason sonne of Eleazar and manie other Iewes bore the same name To the fourth oppositiō which concernes the coūtrie of this Iason who is surnamed Iason the Cyrenean we answere that Cyrene was a prouince and peopled with Iewes frō whence it is that the Ghospell calls him that did helpe to carry the crosse of our Lord Symon the Cyrenean and that S. LVKE calls one of the Synagogues of Ierusalem the Synagogue of the Cyreneans And finally to the fifth and last opposition which is concerning the pretended repugancie of this history either against itselfe or against prophane histories we answere that if this gate should be once opened there were noe Canonicall booke whose authoritie might not be called in question For who knowes not that it is a thousand times more difficult to reconcile either the historie of the Chronicles which saith that Elias writ to Ioram king of Iuda with the historie of the Kings which saith that Elias had bene taken vp out of the world eight yeare before the raigne of the same Ioram King of Iuda or saint MATTHEW who writes that Ioram King of Iuda begat Ozias and reckons from Dauid to Ozias fourteen Generations with the history of the Kings the Chronicles which tetestifie that Ioram was the Grandfather of the Grandfather to Ozias and let ts downe from Dauid to Ozias seauenteen Generations or the historie of the Acts which computes the death of Theodas to be vnder the Empire of Tiberius with Iosephus an author of that countrie and tymel who reckons it vnder the Empire of Claudius then to reconcile all the seeming repugnancies which are in the historie of the Machabees either against itselfe or against prophane histories And if it shoud be lesse who sees not that it belongs not as hath bene already said to the matter now in agitation For the question that is in dispute in the matter of the collection intituled the sixth Councell of Carthage is not whether the bookes of the Machabees are in their ground Canonicall or not not whether the other partes of the Church haue reputed them canonicall or not Canonicall but whether the African Church hath holden them for such and whether the Greeke interpreters in ecclipsing them from the canon of the African Church haue done falsely or not Now wee proue that they haue done so both by the Catalogue of the third Councell of Carthage and by that of saint AVGVSTINE and by a thousand other authenticall testimonies and consequently that the latine edition of the African canons is of better creditt then the Greeke Rapsody which is that wee haue obliged our selues to proue Of the difficultie touching the epistles that are at the end of the African Councell CHAPT IX THERE remaines one last difficultie which is represented vpon the matter of the Councells of Africa touching the Epistles annexed to the end of the century of the African Canons to witt whether the latine text of these Epistles which wee haue at this daie in our Libraries haue bene translated from the Greeke translation and added to the collection of Dionisius the ancient latine originall being lost or whether the ancient latine text being come to our hands it haue bene corrupted by the Schismatickes of West the whether it were in the tyme that the Church of Aquilea and that of Grada were in Schisme and that the Popes held for the Church of Grada and the Lumbards for the Church of Aquilea or whether it were afterwards For that it hath bene familiar with the Schismatickes of the West to abuse these Epistles to the fomenting their rebellions it appeares by the mocke-Councell of Rheims holden for the cause of Arnulphus Bishop of Orleans where the principall piece that the Schismatickes made vse of was the Epistle of the
PERRONS REPLIE TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITAINE THE FOVRTH BOOKE THE ESTATE OF THE CHVRCH IN THE EAST CHAPT I. The continuance of the Kings answere HAd anie one presumed to alter or disguise euer so little the faith approued by the vvhole world it vvas easie euen for a Child to surprise and discouer in his noueltie him that should bring in a different doctrine and the robber of the truth being surprised all the pastors of the vvorld if it vvere needefull roused themselues vp and being once stirred vp gaue themselues noe rest till they had taken avvay the euill from amongst them and had prouided for the securitie of Christs flocke This vvas heeretofore the designation and felicitie of the Catholicke church but vvhich indured nōt manie ages THE REPLIE APPELLES answered one daie to one of this Schollers that had painted a Venus loaded with pearles carkanets and iewells because thou couldst not paint her faire thou hast painted her rich so though this discription be not adorned with truth which is the simple naked and naturall beautie of historie it is eloquent and adorned with rich and magnificent wordes But S. BASILL and S. HIEROM paint out the estate of Religion in their time in the east much otherwise S. BASILL when he saith To what shall we compare the state of the present times certainlie to a Sea-fight when Sea Captaines chased with the warr and inflamed to the combate set one vpon an other with a violent hate and nourisht with old iniuries And a while after The troubles stirred vp by the Princes of the earth swallow vp the people more horribly then all kinds of 〈◊〉 windes and tempests and a darke and sad night possesses the Churches the lights that God had placed to illuminate the soules of men being banisht from their Seas And S. HIEROME when he writes Because the East striking against it selfe by the antient furie of the people teares in little morsells the vndeuided coate of our lord wouen on high and that the foxes destroie the vine of Christ in such sort as it is difficult amongst the drie pitts that haue noe water to discerne where the sealed fouutaine and the inclosed garden is for this cause I haue thought that I ought to consult whith the Chaire of Peter and the faith praised by the mouth of the Apostle And a while after Now in the west the sunn of iustice is risen and in the East that Lucifer which was fallen hath sett vp his Throne aboue the starrs you are the light of the world you are the salt of the earth you are the vessells of gold of Syluer and the vessells of earth or wood doe here attend the rod of iron and the eternall And the historie of the following ages doth euen the same For when 〈◊〉 rose vp and after he had bene iudged in the first instance by Flanianus Bishop of Constantinople appealed or pretended to haue appealed to the Pope and was againe iudged and deposed in the second instance by him what came of it The Emperor Theodosius gouerned by 〈◊〉 an abettor of Eutyches caused a Councell to be held vnder the title of Generall at Ephesus where by force and by strong hand he caused Dioscorus the Patrō of Eutyches heresie to preside the legates of the Pope for this cause quitting the place fled In that Coūcell Eutyches was restored Flauianus deposed and slaine after he had neuerthelesse appealed from his condemnation to the Pope and the Eutychian heresie was subscribed by Dioscorus Patriarke of Alexandria Maximus Patriarke of Antioch Iuutnall Patriarke of Hierusalem and almost by all the Bishops of the Councell some by their good wills and others by force The Pope againe takes the cause of the faith in hand pursues the holding of a new Councell which was that of Chalcedon were that heresie is condemned and Dioscorus and Eutyches and all his abettors deposed and excommunicated and in Dioscorus steed there was substituted in the patriarkshipp of Alexandria Proterius a catolicke and partaker with the Councell of Chalcedon to Proterius there succeeded Timothie an 〈◊〉 and paracide of his Predecessor who againe sett on foote the Eutychian heresie in the Sea of Alexandria and in Egipt and disannulled there the decrees of the Councell of Chalcedon a while after into the Sea of Antioch there entred PETER surnamed the Tanner likewise an enemie to the Councell of Chalcedon and professor of the heresie of 〈◊〉 Likewise there came to Constantinople Acacius who communicated with Peter Bishop of Antioch and there was installed in the Empire Zeno an Eutychian and disannuller of the Councell of Chalcedon and all the Easterne Church miserablie rent by the factions of those that held some for the Councell and some against it and others neither for nor against it whom they called neuters so longe that after some changes of Patriarks sometimes Catholicks and some times Eutychians all the naturall Churches of Egypt and those of Ethiopia that is to saie all that acknowledged the Egiptian Patriarke of Alexandria haue remained and perseuered still to this daie in the profession of the Eutychian heresie Such was then in the east vnder the Emperors abusing their authoritie the designation and felicitie of the Church and such was the facilitie euen for Children except those that cast their eyes vpon the communion of the Roman Church to knowe the robbers of the truth and for pastors to driue awaie the euill from among them For as for the west the Patriarshipp of the Roman Church hath alwaies had this particular blessing that within the 〈◊〉 of the extent thereof the Catholicke Church notwithstanding the infidelitie of the Emperors had bene without comparison more visible and more eminent as being the Ensigne Colonell and that where to the others ought to haue regard and vnder which they should gather themselues then in the other Patriarkships From whence it is that what S. HIEROM writes in the forme of a historie of former times when he saith to Pope Damasus The wicked children hauing dispersed their patrimonie amongst you 〈◊〉 is preserued vncorrupted the inheritance of the fathers S. LEO seemeth to saie it informe of a prophecie of those that are to followe who pronounces That none of the Patriarchall 〈◊〉 sauing that of Rome shall remaine firme and stable What the diuision of the Empire hath wrought to the diuision of the Church CHAP. II. The continuance of the Kinges answere FOR after the Empire being ouerthrowne and the forme of the common wealth changed new gouernments haue risen vp manie in number different in manners distinct in languages lawes and institutions The diuision of the Empire hath drawne after it the diuision of the Catholicke Church and all those thinges that wee saie nowe to haue serued 〈◊〉 to the preseruation of the vnion and externall Communion of the Catholicke Church haue ceased by little and little THE REPLIE THE diuision of the Empire hath not
caused the diuision of the Church especiallie in the West for whatsoeuer multitude of gouernments haue had place there vnder the title of Empire Kindome Principalitie and Common wealth and whatsoeuer difference of manners languages lawes and institutions that haue raigned there the Church hath bene no more visible in the tyme when the Empire was one and ruled ouer all the East and west then it hath bene vnder this diuersitie of Princes and gouernments Also the vnitie of the Church was not foretold by the Prophets only for the time wherein there should be but one tēporall monarcke in the world if euer that title could haue belonged to anie Prince but also for that tyme wherein there should bee seuerall kinges and Administrators of Estates according to this Prophecie of the Psalmist The Kings and Kingdomes shall agree in one to serue our Lord. Which caused S. AVGVSTINE to saie vnder colour that in the whole world Kingdomes are often deuided yet for all that Christian vnitie is not 〈◊〉 for as much as the Catholicke Church remaines on either part And indeede that the vnitie of the Church depends not from the vnitie of the Empire but from the relation to a visible center of the Ecclesiasticall communion it appeared sufficiently euen in the time of the greatest vnitie and extent of the Empire when the Christians which were vnder Firmus King of the Barbarians in Africa vnder Mania Queene of the Sarazins vnder Cosroes King of Persia states all distinct yea the most part of the time enemies to the Romane Empire And after in Damascus and other neighbouring Prouinces vnder the Kings of the Agarenians did all agree in the vnion and communion of the Catholicke Church For as for the deuisions which are at this daie in the East euery one knowes that that of Egypt and Ethiopia hath begun from the time of the vnitie of the Empire And that of the Armenians likewise as appeares by the decisiōs made against them in the Canōs of the Coūcell holden vnder Iustinian 〈◊〉 And that of the Nestorians and Iacobites which haue yet to this day their sect in Mesopotamia other partes of Asia likewise And as for the Greeke Church it is certaine that although it began to be diuided since the separation of the Empire neuerthelesse the cause of the diuision was not the diuision of the Empire vnder which it perseuered yet manie yeares in vnitie with the Latine but the Schisme betweene the two competitors of the Patriarkship of Constantinople Ignatius and Photius to which to make it the more lasting heresie was added and which the Emperors according as they haue bene good or euill haue indeuoured themselues to fomēt or stopp and there haue not wanted generall Councells euen of the two seuerall Churches to extinguish this diuision when they haue desired it For histories are full of these examples witnes that which was holden at Constantinople vnder the Emperor Basilius for the restitution of Ignatius that which was holden vnder Pope Innocent the third which wee call the great Councell of Lateran to reunite the Greeke church with the Latine and that which was holden for the same effect at Florence vnder Eugenius the fourth at which the Emperor and the Patriarke of Greece assisted in person As also the diuision of the Empire and the rule of the Greeke Emperors after of the Mahometan Princes did not hinder the Churches that acknowledged the Patriarke of the Syrian tongue whom we call Maronites from perseuering in the communion of the Roman Church In such sort as this varietie and diuision of sects in the East can not be attributed to the defect of the vnitie of the Empire since in the time that the Empyre was most vnited these troubles and innouations had such place therein as Socrates and Sozomene doe in the tyme of the Emperor Constantius set the mount Tuscis in Illiria for a bound betweene the quiet peace of the Church and the tempest and turbulencie of hereticks But it ought to be attributed to the want of constancie of the Easterne people or rather to the blessing of God vpon the Roman church which would shew that this prophecie Thou art Peter and vpon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it hath had some more speciall effect for the Sea of S. PETER then for those of the other Patriarkes according to that oracle of the great Leo Besides the stone that our Lord hatt sett for a foundation noe other building shall be stedfast Of the interpretation of these vvords Thou art Peter and vpon this Rock I will build my Church CHAPT III. The continuance of the Kings answere SINCE that time the Catholicke Church in truth hath not ceast to be for it shall allwaies bee and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her who is founded on Christ the true stone and in the faith of PEETER and of the other Apostles THE REPLIE THat some times the Fathers expound these words Vpon this Rock I will build my Church of the Faith of S. PETER and say that the Church was built vpon the confession of PETER And that some times they expound it of the person of PETER and saie that the Church hath bene founded vpon the person of PETER they are not contrarie expositions the one excluding the other but conioynt the one including the other for they intend the Church to speake the Schoole language is built causallie vpon the confession of PETER and formallie vpon the ministrie of the person of PETER that is to saie the confession of PETER was the cause werefore Christ chose him to constitute him for the foundation of the ministrie of his Church By that saith saint HILLARIE the blessed Confession hath obtained his reward and that the person of saint Peter hath bene that vpon which our Lord hath properlie built his Church Soe as to saie that his Church is built vpon the confessio of PETER is not to denie that it is built vpō the person of PETER but it is to expresse the cause wherefore it is built vpon him noe more then to sale with saint HIEROME that PETER walked not vpon the waters but Faith is not to denie that saint PETER walked trulie properly and formallie vpon the water but it is to expresse that the cause that made him walke there was not the actiuitie or naturall vertue of his person but the faith that he had giuen to the words of Christ. And therefore as these two propositions the faith of PETER walked vpon the waters and the person of PETER walked vpon the waters are both true but in a different sence for the faith of PETER walked vpon the waters causallie as the Schooleme sare that is to saie it was the cause that the person of saint PETER walked there and the person of saint PETER walked there trulie properlie and formallie so these two propositions the Church was built vpon
and roote of this vnitie and by relation and adherence whereto all the colledge of the Apostles and all the Bodie of the Church might be manitained in vnitie For the thinges which are plurall by themselues and are not one with locall vnitie cannot without loosing their vndiuided pluralitie be reduced to a visible vnitie vnlesse by relation to some thing which by it self may be visiblie one And secondlie to maintaine this vnitie it is necessarie further beside the internall authoritie essentiall to the Apostleship there should be an other externall authoritie and accessory to the Apostleship which might haue the superintendencie ouer the care of the preseruation of vnitie to cause the Apostles to exercise their Apostleship in vnitie And as the office of the cause is to rule his effect he that should be the beginning and originall of this vnitie should likewise haue the superintendencie ouer the rest for what concernes the preseruation of vnitie and by consequence that to him should belonge the supereminent iurisdiction ouer things necessarie to the maintenance of vnitie that is to saie ouer things necessarie to preuent schisme and hinder the disorder and confusion of the exercise of the ministrie as are the distinction and distribution either mediat or immediate ofiurisdiction the suspension limitation of the exercise of the ministrie and other such like Not that the Apostles for their maintenance in vnitie had neede that the effect of this Authoritie should be practised so euidently ouer them as ouer their sucessors because of the assistance that they had euery one in particular of the Spirit of God but to the end to propound to the Church a forme and a modell of the order that she should keepe after their decease 〈◊〉 as although there were noe neede of a Councell in the time of the Apostles to decide questions of Religion whereof euerie particular Apostle might be informed with all fullnes and certaintie neuerthelesse the holie Ghost would that they should vse this forme in the matter of legall things to leaue it for a patterne to the Church of the succeeding ages in like occurrences It was then the internall authoritie and essentiall to the Apostleship which consisted in the power of reuealing matters of faith with assurance of infallibilitie to make canonicall writings to institute the first mission of pastors remitt sinns to giue the holy Ghost and other the like that saint CYPRIAN spake of when he said that all the Apostles were indued with equall authoritie and not of the externall authoritie and accidentall to the Apostleship which was instituted to cause it to bee exercised in vnitie THIS appeares first because he touches before and after the originall of vnitie The Lord saith he buildes the Church vpon him being one and commaunds him to feede his sheepe And although he conferr like power after his Resurrection vnto all his Apostles and said to them As my Father sent me so send I you c yet to manifest vnitie he constitutes the Chaire one and disposeth by his authoritie that the originall thereof shall take beginning from one That certainly that Peter was the other Apostles were also indued with a like share of authoritie and power but the originall takes his beginning from one that the Church the Chaire may appeare to be one And a little after according to the antient manuscripts and the citations of Iuon and Gratian He that abandons the Chaire of Peter vpon which the Church is built can he bee confident of being in the Church And elsewhere Peter vpon whom one God hath built the Church and from whom he hath instituted the originall of vnitie This appeares secondly because he calls the Roman Church the Chaire of Peter and the principall Church from whēce Sacerdotall vnitie proceedes This appeares thirdly because saint HIEROME after he had repeated the same sentence of S. CYPRIAN in these words Thou wilt tell me that the Church is built vpon Peter though the like be done in an other place vpon others and that the fortitude of the Church doe leane equallie vpon all Adds but amongst twelue one is chosen to the end that a head being appointed the occasion of Schisme might bee taken awaie To teach vs that in all other things the Apostles were equall to saint PETER except in those that had regard to the preuention of Schisme and the preseruation of vnitie for the consideration whereof he had bene constituted head of the Apostles And finallie because Optatus Mileuitanus countryman to the one to witt saint CYPRIAN and timefellowe to the other to witt saint HIEROME cries out Thou canst not denie but that at Rome the Episcopall Chaire hath bene placed by the Apostle Peter c. in which the vnitie was obserued by all to the end that all the Apostles should not attribute to themselues to each one his Chaire but that he should be a sinner and Schismaticke who against the onelie Chaire should erect an other And a little after from whence is it then that you would vsurpe to yourselues the keyes of the Kingdome you that by your presumptions and audacious sacriledges combat against the Chaire of Peter To the eleuenth obiection which is that Eusebius ill translated by Russinus reportes from Clemens Alexandrinus that Peter James and Iohn established Iames brother to our Lord Bishop of the Apostles Wee answere that it is from a faultie Grammar a faultie-diuinitie For the greeke text saith of Hierusalem and not of the Apostles Peter saith he James and John contested not for glorie or opinion for greeke word signifies either but vnanimouslie constituted Iames brother of our Lord Bishop of Hierusalem that is to saie James and John did noe more stand vpon it to dispute for honor with S. PETER as they had formely done but vnited themselues with him to consecrate Iames Bishop of Ierusalem whereto the words of CHRISOSTOME agree about the iealousie that James and John formerly had of the Primacie of S. PETER Harken said hee how this same Iohn that latelie demaunded these thinges afterward wholie yeelds the primacie to Peter TO the twelfth obiection which is that S. CHRYSOSTOME vpō the proposition made by S. PETER in the first of the Acts to substitute an other Apostle in steede of Iudas writes See the modestie of James he had bene made the greeke saith he hath bene made Bishop of Hierusalem yet he saith not a word vpon this occasion Consider also the singular modestie of the other disciples how they yeelded the Throne to him and debated not more among themselues Wee answere that this obiection is Andabates fence For this concession of a Throne hath reference not to S. IAMES but to S. PETER who whilst he spake S. JAMES was soe modest as although he were so excellent that he was after made Bishop of Hierusalem he opened not his mouth and the other Apostles as James and Iohn Sōns of Zebedeus which had formerly bene iealous of S.
to the Church CHAPT V The continuance of the Kings answere AND also which is principallie to be lamented it is happened by this dissipation that there is lesse force in the seperate parts then there was in the whole to resist the enemie of mankinde who as Christ teacheth vs is a wake and attentiue vpon 〈◊〉 occasion to mingle the good seede with darnell and tares THE REPLIE AFTER the deuision of the externall communion all the soule the forme and essence of the Church rests in one onlie of the societies which remaine after the diuision and not in the others which are no more trulie partes of the Church but only equiuocallie euen as when a member is separated from a liuing and sensible Bodie all the essence the Soule and forme of the creature remaines in the Bodie from whence that separation hath bene made and not in the part that hath bene separated from it which is noe more a part of the Bodie but equiuocallie and inproperlie And therefore after the separation of hereticks all the same strength vigor and vertue which was in the Bodie of the Church before the separation remaines in the part from whence the separation is made as she that inherits the condition of all and not in the others in such sort as she hath noe lesse force to resist the corruption that the enemie of mankinde would bring in but contrariwise oftentimes more for as much as the constancie of the Charitie of those which remaine in the Church is made the more vnited and the more eminent by the separation of the rest according to this sentence of saint PAVLE There must be heresies that the Good may be manifested And therefore saint AVGVSTINE writes That the Church makes vse of 〈◊〉 for the approbation of her doctrine and of schismaticks for the demonstration of her stedfastnes And elsewhere That those that goe forth from the Bodie of the Church are as euili humors by whose purgation the Bodie is eased By meanes whereof his Maiestie ought not to pretend that the alienations of the partes which are seperate from the Bodie of the Church haue left in her from whom they are seperated the lesse vigor to resist the enemie of mankinde and to maintaine her self vncorrupted then there was in the whole Bodie before but contrariwise to presuppose that the same vertue which resided in the whole Bodie is reunited in the part that succeedes it As when one of our eyes hath lost his former light His splendors faire effect shines in the other sight And th'extinguisht beame adds to the cleere-eyes store Who sees alone as much as both could see before Also it cannot be found that since the separation of the Roman Church and the Greeke faction quoted by his Maiestie which is the greatest seperation that euer was made the Roman Church receaued anie doctrine which was not holden by all the Bodie of the Catholike Church when this diuision happened and noe more till then since the separation of the Egiptians and Ethiopian Prouinces Of the pretended corruption of the Church CHAPT VI The continuance of the Kings answere AND what wee now see with our eyes to be happened yea and handle it with our handes it is a ridiculous thing and more then absurd to dispute if heretofore it could be or now can be done THE REPLIE THere was neuer anie age wherein those that seperated themselues from the Church haue not beleeued that they saw cleerly and euidently that she was corrupted and full of palpable and Cymerian darknes otherwise they had not seperated themselues from her The figure of this preiudication preceded in the rashnes of Oza who beleeued that the Arke was about to fall and vpon that beleefe put out his hand to lifte it vp for which he was punisht with death And followed in the incredulitie of the Apostles who while our Lord slept thought that the Barke wherein they were with him was about to perishe in indignation whereof he chidd them for their little faith and taught them that he that keepes Israell doth neither slumber nor sleepe and the historie since hath cōtinued in all the pretended Reformers of the Church For as Pentheus in seeing his children thought hee had seene Beares Tigers Serpents and other wild beastes and did not perceiue that the euill was not in them but in his sight Soe the heretickes in all ages in seeing their mother that is to saie the Church thought they had seene a troope of Dragons Lyons and wild-beasts and vpon that occasion haue put themselues to flight not discerning that the euill was not in the Church but in their eyes And that it is soe did not the Luciferians saie That the Catholicke Church had bene conuerted into a brothell and was become the whore of Antichrist And did not the Donatists call the Apostolicke chaire the chaire of Pestilence And did they not crie out that the Catholicke Church was become the shield of Romulus And saith not saint AVGVSTINE of them I iustly persecute him that detracts from his neighbour wherefore shall I not more iustlie persecute him that publickly blasphemes the Church c. when he saith she is a whore And the Pelagians when there was alleadged to them the number and the multitude of the Catholicks did they not answere that to finde anie thing a multitude of blinde men auailed nothing And neuerthelesse who knowes not at this daie that they were the blinde men and not the Church And then this pretended corruptiō of the Church being the theame of the question debated by vs to cause that to passe as a thing graunted it is to put for a principle that which his maiestie ought if it please him to reserue to be iudged at the end not presuppose at the beginning of the disputation For to saie that there is no thing but is altered and corrupted by age this argument is good for those thinges that are preserued by ordinarie and naturall faculties but not for those that are assisted by extraordinary and supernaturall helpe and to whom these words of Dauid may be applied Thy youth shall he renewed as the youth of an Eagle Now the Church is of this number for our Lord saith of her without exception of time Thou art wholly faire and there is noe spott in thee and shee sings and will sing to the end of the world I am black but I am faire that is to saie I am black in manners but faire in doctrine And therefore S. AVGVSTINE compares her to Sara who when she was old left not to be faire And for this same cause sainct HIEROME citing these wordes of Salomon that the eye that mockes his Father or despiseth the age of his mother the Crowes of the valley shall pull it out interprets them of hereticks who despise the age of the Church Assoone saith hee as the eye of the hereticks mocks the creator his father or despiseth the age
of the Church his mother the cursed and vncleane birds shall peck it out Of the exclusion of hereticks from the Bodie of the Catholick Church CHAPT VII The continuance of the Kings answere THE Roman Church then the Greeke the Antiochian the Egyptian the Abyssine the Musco uite and manie others are members more excellent in truth in doctrine and sinceritie of faith the one then the other but yet members of the Catholicke Church whereof the Masseand contexture as for externall forme is alreadie long agoe dissolued and disassembled THE REPLIE AND what shall then become of that his maiestie lately said that the specificall forme and essentiall marke of the Church is truth of doctrine and that there is noe communion betweene light and darknes and betweene Christ and Belial And that he that leaues Christ who is truth it self leaues the Church which is the foundation of truth if not onlie the Greekes Antiochians and Muscouites who are hereticks in the point of the processio of the holie Ghost which the most excellēt King doth with vs hold for an article of Faith which in this qualitie is inserted into ATHANASIVS his Creede and into the Creede of the Coūcell of Cōstātinople as it is read in the westerne Church which his maiestie professeth to imbrace but also the Egiptians and Ethiopians which followe the sect of Eutyches anathematised and cast out of the Church by the Councell of Chalcedon neere twelue hundred yeares ag oeād 〈◊〉 in the doctrine of the person of Christ which is the fundamentall doctrine of the Church and that whereof S. PAVLE saith None can laie 〈◊〉 other foundation besides Christ are Churches and partes of the Catholicke Church A Lacedemonian answered an inhabitant of the Isle of Delphos who told him that the woemen were not deliuered of Child in their Isle but trauelled out of it to be brought to bed and that their dead were not buried there but that they were carried forth of it to their Sepulcher And how then is it your countrie said hee if you be neither borne nor buried there Soe how is it that the Sect of hereticks and namely those of the Egiptians and Ethiopians with whom the Coūcell of Chalcedon forbidds vs to communicate vpon paine of Anathema and of whom saint Iohn himself tells vs If anie one confesse not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh he is a seducer and Antichrist And againe If anie one bring not this Doctrine receiue him not into your howses and saie not to him well be it with thee for whosoeuer saith vnto him well be it with thee communicates in his wicked workes should obtaine the being and title of the Church that is to faie of the Spirituall countrie of the Faithfull if to be borne in the grace of God and to breathe their first aire of spirituall life wee must first goe forth of their Societie and if to obtaine Saluation and to rest in peace after death wee must first renounce their communion God said to the Church by the mouth of Salomon Thou art wholie faire and there is noe spott in thee that is to saie as for doctrine and conditions of communion And by the mouth of Esaie None incircumcised or vncleane shall anie more passe through thee that is to saie None that publickly professe a polluted or impure doctrine Hee saith by the mouth of Ezechiell describinge the future state of the christiā church I will establish an alliāce of peace with my sheepe and will cause the euill beastes of the Earth to cease Which the Sibilla seemes to haue expressed in these words repeated by Virgill and that sainct AVGVSTINE saith might fitlie be applied to the Church Serpents shall cease swoll'n vp with th'impure blood Of poysenous herbes in their deceiptfull bud And how then should the mock Councells of hereticks which sainct HIEROME calls Denens of wilt beasts whose doctrine he calls the wine of 〈◊〉 mingled witd the gall of Aspes be Churches partes of the Church or how should the Church to whom God hath spirituallie giuē the same prerogatiue thar the historians attribute corporallie to the Isle of Creete to witt that it can suffer noe venomous beast in it that is to saie noe dogmatizing heretick communicate her name and societie with the venemous sects of heteticks Hee saith by the mouth of Osea I will espouse 〈◊〉 in faith And by that of Sainct PAVLE the edification of God is in faith And the most Excellent King himselfe protesteth that the essentiall forme of the Church is faith And how then can the sects not only of the Egiptians and Ethiopians but of all the hereticks which makes as saith S. PAVLE a Shipwracke of faith be Churches and in the Church Hee saith by his owne mouth the gates of hell shall not haue victorie ouer the Church And S. EPIPHANIVS and S. HIEROME interpret those Gates of Hell to be heresies And how then can it be that the hereticall societies into whose communion wee cannot enter without yeelding our selues tributarie to the gates of hell should be Churches and partes of the Church For though vices in manners belong also to the powers of hell neuerthelesse because the vices are but in the persons of those that committ them and not in the communion of the Church for as much as the Church exacts not from anie of her members the condition of being vicious to receaue them into her communiō they shall but conquer those particular persons that are spotted therewith and not the Church of the which God hath said by the Prophets Hierusalem shal be called the cittie of truth and the mountaine of the Lord of Hostes and the sanctified hill And by an other the howse of Israel shall noe more from 〈◊〉 forward be foyled whereas heresie infects the communions of the Societie where it remaines none being to enter into anie hereticall societie without obliging themselues to the doctrine where of she makes profession and vnder whose condition she receaues men into her communion and by consequent makes the gates of Hell victorious ouer the congregatiō wherein shee remaines He cōmaūds vs to hold those that heare not the Church for Heathens and Publicās he forbidds vs then from accounting the societies of heŕeticks which heare not the Catholique Church for Churches and partes of the Church but for Societies of 〈◊〉 and Heathens He saith to vs That whosoeuer gathers not with him scatters the hereticks then that gather not with him gather not but scatteŕ and so their assemblies are noe more Churches but dispertions He cries out to vs by the Organ of saint PAVLE That whosoeuer declares against what we haue receiued should be an anathema Hee wills then that heretickes should be held by the Church for anathema and consequently excluded from the communion both internall and externall of the Church He teacheth vs by the same Oracle that the Church is our mother
and not our mother as the first Eue was who engendred her children dead to Saluation but as the second Eue who engendred her children liuing From whence it is that saint AMBROSE and saint HIEROME call the Church the true Eue mother of the liuing And how then is it that hereticall sects who amongst the conditions vnder which they receiue men into their communion oblige them to hold killing doctrines should attribute to thēselues the title of a Church Hee teacheth vs that the Fathers of the Earth will not giue their children a Scorpion for an egge or a Serpent for a Fishe And how then is it that the Church should giue hers poyson insteede of wholesome food or that hereticall sects whose wine saith saint HIEROM is the furie of Dragons and the incurable furie of Aspes should bee Churches Hee teacheth vs that the Church is the Waie the Gate and Entrie into the Kingdome of Heauen yea for this cause himself often calls it the Kingdome of Heauen it is then of the Essence of the Church that Saluation might be therein obtained and the waie howe to come to the Kingdome of Heauen and consequently that amongst the conditions vnder whose obligation she receiues men into her communion there be none repugnant to Saluation Now contrarywise it is of the Essence and of the definition of hereticall and Schismaticall Societies that amongst the conditions vnder which they receiue men into their communion there are conditions repugnant to Saluation otherwise they could not be hereticall Schismaticall And so it is of the Essence and of the definition of the Church not to be hereticall and it is of the Essence and of the definition of hereticall Societies contrarywise not to be Churches nor partes of the Church and they cannot be called Churches nor members of the Church but falselie and equiuocallie as a dead member that is cutt off from the Bodie is noe member but equiuocallie and by abuse of speeche of as a dead man or a man either formed in picture or raised in a Sculpture is noe man but equiuocally by abuse of speech By meanes whereof it is to erre against the Essence and definition of the Church to hold them for Churches or to reckon them in the totalitie of the catholick Church and to this all the Fathers agree Heresies saith Clemens Alexandrinus are equiuocallie called Churches And saint CYPRIAN Nouatianus doth as Apes doe who would seeme to be men though they be not soe so will he seeme to haue a Church though he haue none And againe When the Nouatians demaunded beleeuest thou the remission of sinns by the holie Church they lye in their Interrogatorie for they haue noe Church And the Elibertine Councell If anie one passe from the Catholick Church vnto heresie and returne againe to the Church c. And the Councell of Sardica Wee cast out of the limtts of the Catholicke Church those that affirme Christ to be God and not verie God And saint HIEROME Heretick make in their Church by false appellation that which they made when they were yet heathen And againe Noe hereticall congregation can be called the Church os Christ. And elsewhere In what Church hath he beleeued in that of the Arrians but they haue none And in the same worke If thou hearest in anie place of men denominated from anie other then from Christ as Marcionites Ualentinians Montagniers or Campites knowe that there is not the Church of Christ. And Optatus Mileuitanus Out of the onelie Church which is the true Catholick Church others amongst hereticks are esteemed to be and are not And againe There is one onely Church which cannot be amongst you and amongst vs it remaines then that she must be in one place And S. AVGVSTINE you are with vs in the creede and in the other Sacraments of our Lord c but you are not with vs in the Catholique Church And againe There is one Catholique Church vpon which other 〈◊〉 impose other names although themselues be all called by particular names which they dare not disauowe From whence it appeares in the iudgement of Iudges not preoccupate with fauour to whom the name of Catholicke whereof they are all ambitious ought to be attributed And elsewhere The Church of the saints is the Catholique Church the Church of the Saints is not the church of Hereticks She hath bene predesigned before she was seene and hath bene exhibited that she might bee seene And in the Booke of Faith and of the creede Neither do the Hereticks belonge to the Catholick church because she loues God nor the Schismatickes because She loues her neighbour And in the Booke against the Fundamentall Epistle In this Church finallie the name of Catholique detaines me which this Church alone amongst so manie and so great heresies hath so preserued as when a stranger askes where they assemble to the Catholick Church there is noe hereticke dare she we his Temple or his howse And in his Treatise vpon saint IOHN All hereticks and Schismaticks are gone out from vs that is to saie are gone out from the Church Faustinus was not President to a Church but to a faction The holie Ghost hath not glorified Christ with a true glorie but in the Catholick Church for elsewhere addeth hee be it amongst hereticks be it amongst Pagans his true glorie vpon earth cannot bee And vpon sainct MATTHEW Jewes and all other hereticks which doe indeede confesse that there is a holy Ghost but denie that he is in the bodie of Christ which is his onely Church no other certainelie but onely the Catholicke are without doubt like the Pharises who though they did confesse that there was an holie Ghost yet denied him to be in Christ. And in the Booke of the method to cathecise the not instructed Wee must saith hee garnish and animate the infirmitie of man against temptations and scandalls be it without or be it within the Church 〈◊〉 against Gentiles or 〈◊〉 or hereticks and within against the Strawe in the Barne of our Lord. And againe Let not the Enemie seduce thee not only by those that are without the Church whether Pagans or Iewes or Hereticks but euen by those that thou seest in the Church euill liuers And in the fowrth Councell of Carthage where he assisted in person Let not the Conuenticles of Hereticks be called Churches but mock-Councells And the verie lawe of the Emperors Hereticks rashlie presume to call their Conuenticles Churches Now if this haue place in other heresies to witt that the beeing and title of a Church is denied to them how much more in that of the Eutychians that is to saie of the Egyptians and Ethiopians which destroy not the walles the roofe and the couering onely but the foundation of the Edifice of Faith vpon the which all the other partes of the doctrine are built to witt Christ the corner stone and maintaine
that in Christ there is but one Nature that is to saie confound and steepe the Essence of the humanitie in that of the diuinitie Doth not sainct AVGVSTINE crie out Those that beleeue not that Christ is come in the fleshe c. and that he is risen againe in the same Bodie wherein he hath bene crucified and buried although they should be in all the countries ouer the which the church is spread are not in the Church How can then the true Church haue cōmunion with this Sect and how can this Sect bee a member and a true part of the Church And how can it bee that of the Roman Church which holdes the contrarie doctrine and of this Sect there should be framed one common Bodie of the 〈◊〉 Church and to goe about to ioyne them together in one selfe-same Societie of a catholicke Church and more to add vnto them all other hereticall and schismaticall sects How is it anie other thing then to goe about to ioyne like Mezentius dead bodies with liuing bodies and to make of the spouse of Christ of the doue of Christ which is the only catholicke Church a monster and a Prodigie compounded of all the impious horrible and contradictorie heresies that haue rent the Coate and mysticall Bodie of Christ and to putt communion betweene Christ and Beliall and betweene light and darknes The Catholicke Church then is not a Masse and common Societie which containes in it the confusion of all Sects and of all the multitude of those that are called Christians but it is a particular Societie amongst all those Societies which beares the name of Catholicke or totall Church not because it containes in deed all the rest You will saith Optatus Mileuitanus to the Donatists bee alone all the whole 〈◊〉 are not so much as in the whole And saint AVGVSTINE Whosoeuer defends a part separate from the whole cannot vsurpe the title of a Catholick but because she containes them in right and holds habituallie the place of the whole in regard of them For the Church holds the place of the whole habituallie in regard of hereticall and schismaticall Sects and by her eminencie for as much as none of the other considered euerie one a part equalls her in number and in multitude Howbeit saith Saint AVGVSTINE that there are manie heresies of Christians which would be all called Catholickes There is neuerthelesse one Church if you cast your Eies vpon the extent of the whole world more aboundant in multitude and because vnto her alone belonges the prerogatiue of being successiuely spread ouer the whole earth in beginning from Hierusalem whereas none of the others hath the priuiledge but that the most part of them like that kinde of Ape which the Greekes call Callithrix cannot liue but in that climate and vnder the same influence wherein they were bredd And beyond this because all the rest hauing gone forth from her and she hauing as saint AVGVSTINE saith still remained in her stock and roote holdes the places and right of the whole in regard of all the rest noe more nor lesse then that part of the tree in which the life stood and roote rests holdes the place of the whole habituallie in regarde of those that haue bene separated from it They vnder st and not saith hee that amongst the Sects of the Christians there is one true and wholesome and in sort Germinall and radicall Christian societie from whence they haue separated themselues And finallie because all the rest are obliged if they will obtaine saluation to reinsert and reincorporate themselues into the bodie of the Catholick Church Holde most stedfastlie saith FVLGENTIVS that noe heretick or schismatik if he bee not reconciled to the Catholick Church before the end of his life can bee saued Otherwise if all the hereticall and schismaticall Societies which professe the name of Christ might iustlie enioy the title of the Church and were actuallie parts of the Church wherefore had the Fathers imployed these sentences against hereticks and schismaticks That 〈◊〉 of the Church there is noe saluation that out of the Church there may be had the faith and Sacraments and all thinges else Saluation excepted that who hath not the Church for his Mother cannot haue God for his Father that hee that communicates with the vniuersall Church is a Catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist And howe could the excellent King himselfe haue protested That he beleeues without colour or fraude that the is one only Church in deede and in name Catholicke and vniuersall spread ouer the whole world out of which there can be 〈◊〉 Saluation hoped for and condemneth and detests those that heretofore or since haue seperated themselues either from the Faith of the Catholicke Church and are become heretickes as the Manichees or from her communion and are become Schismatickes as the Donatists if the Catholicke Church did comprehend all the Hereticks and all Schismaticks among which there was neuer anie more pernicious then those that destroy the human nature of Christ the only organ of our Saluation as the Egiptians and Ethiopians doe For whereas his maiestie auowes that the frame contexture of the Church is alreadie longe agoe dissolued dissassēbled betweene thē vs but adds in regard of externall forme S. IOHN in saying to vs If anie one bring thee not this doctrine saie not so much to him as well bee it with thee for whosoeuer shall say to him well be it with thee shall communicate in his wiched works forbidds vs all communion as well internall as externall with thē And elsewhere we haue alreadie shewed that when externall and Sacramentall communion is interdicted on both sides that is to saie where there is a reciprocall excommunication and an erection of Altar against Altar there cannot be vnitie either internall or externall If wee be in vnitie said S. AVGVSTINE what makes two Altars in the Cittie And Sainct CYPRIAN The Church which being Catholick is one maintaines herself whole and is ioyned together with the cement of Prelates adhering to one another But against these decisions of the scripture and Fathers there doe arise fowre obiections The first that the word Church doth grammaticallie signifie assemblie and consequently that all assemblies are Churches and so all Christian assemblies are Christian Churches Now this obiection is good in gramar and to interpret prophane authors but not in diuinitie nor to interpret christian Authors amongst whō the word Church hath noe more this vast and large Grammaticall signification as it had before For as when Hormodius and Aristogiton had freed the common wealth of Athens from the slauerie of the thirtie tyrants the Athenian Senate to consecrate their names and to make them reuerenced to Posteritie ordained that from thence forward they should neuer be imposed vpon or communicated to anie other Soe after our Lord had giuen to his
Church the priuiledge to conquer Hell and to deliuer mankinde from the tyrannie and oppression of the deuill that name is become consecrate and affected to her alone and it hath bene forbidden to communicate it anie more to anie other Societie either Paga hereticall or Schismaticall Let not the Conuenticles of hereticks saith the fowrth Councell of Carthage be called Churches but Mock-Councells And the verie lawe of the Emperors That the Donations made to hereticall Conuenticles which they presume rashlie to call Churches be applied to the reuerend Catholick Church THE second that S. PAVLE writing to the Galatians and to the Corinthians calls their Societies Churches and neuerthelesse the Galatians erred in faith imbracing the circumcision with the Ghospell and the Corinthians in not beleeuing the Resurrectiō but the snare here is manifest For there is great difference betweene the doctrine of a Church and the doctrine of anie particular person which is deuided from the doctrine of the same Church The doctrine of a church is that which is held by the bodie of that Church vnder the codition whereof either expresse or tacite she receiues men into her comunion not the doctrine which euery particular mā straying fro the commo doctrine of the same church holdes against the opinions of the Bodie Now it cannot be found that the Societie of the church of the Corinthians did euer hold that the dead did not rise againe nor that she had exacted that beleefe from those that entred into her communion but onelie that amongst the Corinthians there were some that did not beleeue the resurrection of the dead If Christ saith S. PAVLE be preached to haue risen againe from the dead how is it that there are some amongst you that saie there is no resurrection of the dead And that S. PAVLE made his remonstrance in common it was to hinder them from being seduced by them which spake this language Suffer not your selues said hee to bee seduced euill words corrupt good manners But not that he supposed they beleeued it contrarywise hee exhorts them to remaine firme in that which they beleeued And therefore my Bretheren said hee be stedfast and vnmoueable And for the Galatians soe farr off was it that that error which sainct PAVL cryed out against was the doctrine of the Church of the Galatians as it was the doctrine of those which rebelled against the faith of the Church of the Galatians which doctrine sainct PAVL disputes as if all the Galatians had imbraced it not that they did doe soe but to hinder them from doeing soe as he testifies to them in these wordes I haue this confidence of you in our Lord that you will haue noe other beleefe but that he that troubles you shall beare his iudgement whosoeuer hee be And againe If a man be found in anie crime doe you which are spirituall instruct him in the spiritt of mildness And that this is the true intent of sainct PAVL sainct AVGVSTINE teacheth vs when hee writes to Vincentius Rogatist Thou might'st saie euen as well that manie of the Churches of Galatia were not when the Apostle cryed out O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you And a while after The Canonicall scriptures haue bene wont to make their reprehcnsion in such sort as it may seeme the word is addressed to all and neuerthelesse it concernes but some fewe THE third is that sainct AVGVSTINE disputing against the Donatistes writes That the Church begetts all Christians by Baptisme from whence they would inferr that all those then that are baptized as well Catholiks as hereticks are in the Church but he bringes with it expressely this distinction either in her selfe or without her selfe to shewe that the Church begetts none but Catholicks onely in her selfe as Sara begate but Isaack onely in herselfe and that the rest the Church begets without her selfe For although Ismael were not begotten in the Bodie of Sara but in the bodie of Agar yet he was in a sort begotten by Sara for as much as he was begotten by her that belonged to Sara and was Saras nuptiall right to witt by the seede of Abraham Soe then the hereticks be begotten by Baptisme out of the Church neuerthelesse it is the Church that begetts them euen out of the Church for as much as the baptisme whereby they are begotten and which those that baptise them haue carryed out of the Church belonges to the Church and is of the coniugall rightes of the church and not heresie By which meanes when they returne to the church there is noe neede that the church should baptise them againe The Church saith hee begetts all Christians by baptisme be it in her-selfe that is to saie in her bowells or without her selfe that is to is to saie of her husbands seede be it in her selfe or in the bond-woeman Whereby soe farr is hee from teaching that heretickes are in the church as contrarywise he plainelie affirmes heereby that they are out of the church For the thing wherein catholicks and the Donatists were at agreement was that hereticks were out of the church and the thing where about they disagreed was that the Donatists held that Baptisme could not be out of the church and consequently that heretickes could not haue it And catholicks contrariwise maintained that Baptisme might to be out of the church and consequently that hereticks though they were out of the church left not to haue it The Church saith sainct AVGVSTINE compared to Paradise teacheth vs that Baptisme may be had without her but the Saluation of the beatitude none can receaue or haue out of her for the floods of the fountaine of Paradise rann abouudantlie forth of it And in the Booke following What is saith hee this doctrine that an heretick is pretended to haue noe baptisme because he hath noe Church And againe It is a wonder that there are some that saie that baptisme and the Church cannot be separated and deuided the one from the other And elsewhere But of the Church and against the Church they haue holden the sacraments of Christ and as in a ciuill warr they haue fought bearing our owne Banners against vs. From whence we may discouer the impertinencie of those that conclude that because hereticall Sects haue baptisme therefore they are Churches THE fowrth 〈◊〉 is that sainct HIEROME speaking in the person of the Church saith to Hilarie a Luciferian Deacon I am a harlott but yet I am thy mother I committ adultrie with Arius and I did soe before with Praxeas 〈◊〉 Cerinthus But it shal be heereafter manifested that this is a ridiculous equiuocation by which they attribute that to S. HIEROME as spoken in his owne sence which he spake according to the sence of his aduersary that is to saie according to the sence of the hereticke against whom he disputeth For to this that some add that a lying man leaues to be trulie a man although he be not a true
that the Church was then perished for since the excellent King will haue it that the only assured marke to discerne which either of the Church which hee calls English or of ours is the true Church be it that which is the essentiall forme of the Church and that he pretends to be doctrine it is necessary that he suppose that the difference which are betweene the Church that hee calls English and ours be questions which take awaie the essentiall forme of the Church and destroy the being of a Church And by consequence that that of the one or other Societie which errs in these pointes shall bee depriued of the essentiall 〈◊〉 of a Church and destitute from the being of a Church And then if when Luther came into the world there were noe Societie neither visible nor inuisible which held that that the English Church holdes at this daie in the pointes disputed betweene her and vs it followes there was then noe Church Of the authoritie of the worke intituled imperfect CHAP. XVII The Continuance of the Kings Answere AND therefore the excellent King thinkes that he ought with soe much the more Care in so great a floud of different opinions withdrawe himselfe into the mountaines of the holie Scripture THE REPLIE WHEN Nauplius King of the Island of Euboea now called Negrepont would at the returne frō the Seige of Troy cause the fleete of the Greekes to be shipwrackt to reuenge the death of his Sonn Palamides hee sett by night torches in forme of a beacon vpon one of the mountaines of his Island at the foote whereof the Sea was full of bankes cliffes and rockes so to drawe their shipps by the hope of a safe hauen to runn hazard and perish in those shores Soe whenantient heretickes whom saint AVGVSTINE calls mountaines for Shipwracke would cause the Catholickes to make shipwracke in Faith the more their doctrines haue bene pernicious and mortall the more they haue adorned and illustrated them with texts and lampes of the scripture This appeares in the heresie of the Arrians who painted and coloured their error with more then fortie passages of the Bible and by this art attempted to call men backe from the externall and sensible markes of the Church which could not bee pretended by false ensignes by those who had them not to reduce them to the only marke of the scripture the interpretation whereof by their subtletie they made subiect to as manie deceipts as there were wordes But aboue all this is verified in the writer from whom his Maiestie borrowes this language who was one of the most passionate Champions of the Arrians For though he cites these wordes without naming the Father neuerthelesse both the termes wherein they are couched and the tracke of those who haue alleadged them before him to witt Caluin in some of the prefaces to his institution the author of the Booke of the Eucharist in the preface to his worke cannot suffer vs to doubt but that they were taken from the author of the worke intituled Imperfect falselie attributed to Sainct CHRYSOSTOME Now that this Author was not onelie an open Arrian but one of the most eager and violent Champions of the Arrians it appeares by this that he calls the Trinitie triangular impietie and the doctrine of the homousians that is to saie of those that held the Consubstantialitie of the Father and the sonne Heresie Not but that I knew well that he is sometimes alleadged euen by Catholickes with the title of saint CHRISOSTOME vnder whose name he had bene first printed at Basle But because it is one thinge to alleadge him in places where hee disputes not against the Church wherein he is excellent and aboue all in the discourse of manners and an other to alleadge him in the places where hee combates with deliberate purpose against the doctrine of the Catholicke Church of his age as he doth in that from whence the words are taken which his maiestie produceth For behold the expresse termes of the passage When you shall see the impious heresie which is the armie of Antichrist sett in the holie places of the Church then let them which are in Iudea flie into the Mountaines that is to saie let them that are in the christian Societie haue recourse to the scriptures And a little after The Lord then knowinge that so great a confusion of things should arriue in the last daies for this cause commaunds that the Christians who are in the Christian Societie being willing to receaue the stedfastnes of the true faith should haue recourse to noe other thing but to the Scriptures otherwise if they cast their eyes elsewhere they shall be scandalized and perish not discerning which is the true Church Now that by this impious heresie and by this Armie of Antichrist he intends the Catholicke Church and the communion of them which beleeue the equalitie of the Father and the sonne he plainelie shewes when he saith in the same Homilie that the great spirituall euills which haue come vpon the Church haue happened in the time of Constantine and Theodosius and that the armie of Antichrist is the heresie and the abhomination of desolation which hath since them possest the holie places of the Church that is to saie the Basilickes that Theodosius cōmaunded to be deliuered vp to the Catholickes And whē he saith in the former Homilie that the heresie of the Homousians that is to saie of those that hold Christ to be consubstantiall which his Father Fights not only against the Church of Christ but euen against the other heresies which hold not the like And in the nineteneth Homilie when hee calls the worshippers the Trinitie Those that honor the triangular impietie Whereby it appeares that this passage if so farre from giuing fauour to his Maiesties intention as contrariwise it manifestes how dangerous a thing it is to seeke to reduce the markes of the Church to the onelie doctrine drawne from the scripture by the interpretation of euerie particular person since the Arrians in the point which of all others should be most expresse in the scriptures for the catholickes to witt in the point of the diuinitie of Christ for if there be anie thing cleree in a Testament it should be the qualitie of the testator refused all the other markes of the Church and all the other waies of disputation and burnt with desire to fight by the onely texts of the Scripture disarmed from the traditions of the Church Of the vnderstanding of these words of S. Augustine to seeke the Church in the words of Christ. CHAP. XVIII The continuance of the Kings answere AND to seeke according to the Councell that S AVGVSTINE heretofore gaue to the Deuatists the Church in the Words of Christ. THE REPLIE WHEN S. AVGVSTINE said in the booke of the vnitie of the Church there is a question betweene the Donatists and vs where the Church is what shall wee thē doe shall wee seeke her
in our owne wordes or in the wordes of her head our Lord Iesus Christ I thinke wee ought rather to seeke her in his word from him that is truth and well knowes his owne Bodie And a while after I would not haue the Church demonstrated by humane instructions but by diuine or acles And againe Let vs then seeke her in the canonicall scriptures He did not intend that to seeke the Church in the scriptures betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists was to seeke the doctrine of the Church in the scriptures that is to saie to examin by the scriptures the point of doctrine which was contested betweene the Church and the Donatists but to seeke the markes and externall and visible characters of the Church in the scriptures to the end that the Church being discerned by those markes the truth of the doctrine contested might be after knowne by the disposition of the Church For the vnderstanding whereof it must be noted that there were two questions betweene the Catholickes and the Donatistes the one of the Bodie of the Church to know on what party either of the Catholickes or of them the true societie of the Church resided The other of the doctrine of the Church to witt the which they or the Catholickes held the true doctrine concerning the Baptisme of heretickes The first question then which is of the Bodie of the Church saint AVGVSTINE wills it should be iudged by the scripture alone for as much as in the precise controuersie wherein the question was which of the two societies was the Church the voice of the true Church cannot be discerned But the second question which is that of the doctrine contested betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists he would haue it decided by the onlie deposition of the Church as a faith full guardian and depositarie of the Apostolicke tradition To seeke then according to saint AVGVSTINE betweene the Catholickes and the Donatists the Church in the Scriptures was not to search the doctrine of the Church in the contentious points of Faith in the Scripture but to seeke the visible markes and notes by which the Church ought to be exteriorly discerned in the Scripture For the Donatists to proue that their Church was the true Church and not the Catholicke Church alleadged human actes and human proofes to witt that the Catholicke Church had receaued into her communion without anie expiation and purgation of preceding pennance those that had deliured the holie Bookes to be burnt and had sacrificed to the false Gods in the time of persecution and therfore that she was polluted with their contagion and was perished And then that the onely faction of Donatus which had remained pure from this contagion was the true Church And saint AVGVSTINE contrariwise saith that against all these words which were human proofes and words for if he that ordained Cecilianus had deliuered vp the holy Bookes in persecution time it was a thing to be proued by human testimonies that is to saie by actes of notaries and clerkes euen prophane the Catholickes had the wordes of Christ wherein the workes of the Church were described to witt that she ought to be visible eminent vniuersall perpetuall and that to examin the Church according to these markes it was to seeke her in the words of Christ and to examine her according to the production of the Donatists it was to seeke her in humane wordes What are saith hee our words wherein wee must not seeke her c. All that wee obiect one against an other of the deliuerie of the holie Bookes of the sacrificing to Jdolls and of the persecutions those are our wordes And a while after I would not that the Church should be demonstrated by human instructions but by diuine oracles for if the holse Scriptures haue designed the Church to be in Africa alone and in a smalle number of Roman inhabitants making their conuenticles in Rockes and mount 〈◊〉 and in the howse and territorie of a certaine Spanish Ladie then whatsoeuer records can be produced there are none but the Donatists that haue the Church If the Scripture assigne it to a little number of Mauritanians in the 〈◊〉 prouince you must goe to the Rogatists If in a smalle troupe of Bizacenians and Tripolitans prouincialls the Maximinianists haue mett with her If those of the East alone wee must seeke her amongst the Arrians Macedonians Eunomians and others if there be others for who can number the heresies as proper and particular of euerie particular Prouince But if by the diuine and most certaine testimonies of the Canonicall scriptures she be designed in all nations whatsoeuer they produce and whensoeuer it be produced by those that saie there is Christ if wee be 〈◊〉 let vs 〈◊〉 heare the voice of our Shepheard saying beleeue them not For euerie one of those is not to be found but this which is ouer all is to bee found in the selfe same places where the others are And therefore lett vs seeke her in the holie Canonicall scriptures The places the of the scripture where S. AVGVSTINE would haue the Donatists to seeke the Church are these In thy seede all the nations vpon the earth shal be blessed The children of the forsaken shal be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 number then those of her that hath a husband This Ghospell must be declared ouer the whole world and then the end shall bee I am with you to the consummation of ages And other such like And the arguments that he bringes to manifest the Church by the Scriptures are these The cittie of God saith he hath this for a certaine marke that she cannot be hidden she is thē knowne to all nations the sect of Donatus is vnknowne to manie nations then that is not shee Item You haue the Church which ought to be spread ouer all and to growe till the haruest You haue the Cittie whereof hee that built it hath said the Cittie built vpon the mountaine cannot be hidd It is she then that is most euident not in anie one part of the world but ouer all And other the like But as for the point of doctrine I saie againe and I saie it boldlie that saint AVGVSTINE neuer intended either that the question of the Church betweene the Catholiques and the Donatists should be tryed by the doctrine nor that the article of the doctrine contested betweene thē should be decided by scripture but that the point of the Church should be examined by the externall and visible markes that of the externall and visible markes by the Scripture and the difference of doctrine by the reporte of the Church that is to saie by the tradition of the Apostles is to denie that in disputatiōs against other heresies whē pointes are handled which are heere esteemed to be expresselie treated of by the canonicall Scriptures but that hee often called vpon their iudgment For who doubtes but that where the Scripture is cleere
expresse wee must haue recourse thereto But wee said that he neuer thought neither in generall that all things belonging to Religion were treated off in scripture nor in particular that the contention betweene the Catholickes and the Donatists concerning Baptisme was of that quality And wee maintaine that for soe manie yeares wherein hee combated with them about this article when there was quēstion of Searching the cause to the bottome hee neuer produced one proofe out of Canonicall scripture Indeede he hath often alleadged places of Scripture to make some approaches to it and to beate downe certaine defences to solue by scripture the arguments that the Donatists brought out of Scripture to maintaine that the custome of the Church in the point contested was according to Scripture in as much as According signifies not against the Scripture to establie generall theses and preparatiues to proue the propositions that had some simpathy and affinitie with that which hee disputed As for example he doth indeede proue by scripture that what is sound and intire amongst heretickes must not be repeated againe when they returne to the Church but that Baptisme is sound and intire amongst them he doth noe were proue by Scripture He proues indeede by Scripture that there may be ecclesiasticall thinges out of the Church but that Baptisme is of that number he nether doth nor can proue by Scripture He proues indeede by scripture that it is against the commaun dement of God if heretickes haue receaued the Baptisme of Christ in their owne partie to rebaptise them for wee also reade that our Lord answered Sainct PETER Hee that is wholie washt neede washe but his feete But that heretickes receiue the Baptisme of Christ in their Sects and not 〈◊〉 polluted and prophane washing which is all the knott of the question he noe were proues by scripture For as hee notes elsewhere Peter of whom this is written had not bene baptised by heretickes he prooues indeede by scripture that they who are out of the interior and Spirituall vnitie of the Church as Judas and wicked Catholickes doe not for that leaue to conferr true Baptisme but that they who are neither inwardlie nor outwardlie in the Church who are out of the vnitie of the profession of Faith and of the communion of the Sacraments of the ecclesiasticall bodie can conferr it he proues noe where by scripture And in Summe the thinges which belong to the Solutions of arguments to probable and coniecturall preparatiues to shewes of possibilitie and non repugnancie to soften and dispose the spiritt of the Readers he doth indeede prooue by scripture but the impression of the last forme the assumption and hypothesis of the sillogisme the proofe of this precise and speciall point that Baptisme whereof Sainct IOHN cryes None may receaue anie thinge except it be giuen him from heauen That Sainct PETER saith to be administred into remission of Sinnes That Sainct PAVL calls the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holie Ghost and whereof hee writes One faith and one Baptisme And againe All they that are baptized haue put on Christ That this Sacrament I saie may be conferred out of the Church which is the fullnes of Christ which is the sealed Fountaine which is the only dwelling of the holie Ghost which is shee alone that hath receiued the keyes and the authoritie to remitt sinnes that this can subsist amongst hereticks who haue neither faith nor guift from heauen nor the holie Ghost you can neuer finde that in soe maine yeares as saint AVGVSTINE the principall opposite and ouerthrowe of this heresie hath contested her he hath neuer manifested nor could hee nor he hath not pretended to proue by anie passage of Scripture but by the only vnwritten traditions of the Apostles and the generall practise and vniuersall attestation of the Church Wee must saith hee obserue in these thinges what the Church of God obserues The question now betweene you and vs is which of yours or ours is the Church of God And againe Wherefore although in truth there be noe example to be produced of this out of the 〈◊〉 Scripture yet we leaue not to maintaine euen in this case the truth of the Scriptures when we obserue what hath bene approued by all that Church that the authoritie of the canonicall Scripture recommendeth And in an other place This is neither openlie nor euidentlie read neither by you nor by me c. But if anie one indued with wisdome and recommended by the testimonie of our Lord Iesus Christ were to be found in the world and that hee had bene consulted by vs vpon this question wee ought noe waie to doubt to doe what he should tell vs for feare of being iudged repugnant not so much to him as to our Lord Jesus Christ by whose testimonie hee had bene recommended Now he giues testimonie to his Church And in the worke of Baptisme against the same Donatists The Apostles saith hee haue prescribed nothing in this matter but this custome ought to be beleeued to haue taken the originall there of from their tradition as there are manie thinges which the vniuersall Church obserues and which are therefore not without cause beleeued to haue bene commaunded by the Apostles although they be not written From whence the contrarie appeares to what his maiestie pretends to inferr from this passage to witt that the scripture only destitute of the vnwritten Apostolicke tradition cannot decidè all pointes of Faith nor refute all heresies For the point in agitation betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists concerning the truth realitie of the baptisme giuen by hereticks was a point of faith and wherein obstinate error would make an heresie The proofe of this is first that the doctrine of Baptisme importes so much to the faith as where there is noe true baptisme there is noe true Church S PAVL teaching vs that God clenseth his Church through the washing of water in the word Now there where the Church is destroyed there is destroyed this article of the Faith of the Creede I beleeue the bolie Catholick Church And secondlie that the vnitie of Baptisme belonges so to faith as S. PAVL saith there is one faith and one Baptisme And that the creede of Cōstātinople setts amōgst the Articles of the Confession of the Faith We 〈◊〉 one baptisme in the remission of sinns in such sort as if the Donatists erred in disanulling the baptisme of heretickes and rebaptizing them they destroyed the faith of the vnitie of baptisme and anathematised the character of Christ which had alreadie bene imprinted in the baptized by baptisme And if the Catholicks erre in approuing the baptisme of heretickes and in not rebaptisinge them when they came to them they sinned against the Faith of the necessitie of Baptisme for the constitution of the Church and consequently had noe Church And neuerthelesse neither could this point of Faith be proued nor
speaking of the Bishops of the hereticks ' It is vnlawfull that they should make ministers who are none themselues Whereby they doe not intend that the Bishops of hereticks who haue drawne their character from the Church be not Bishops as for the impression of the character but that they are none as for the imposition of the authoritie By meanes whereof the English Bishops can pretend noe Episcopall succession from the Church of the antient Fathers as for the succession of authoritie for as much as if the Catholicke Church which was in England and in other places when king Henry the eigth came to the crowne were not the true Catholicke Church the Bishops of the Catholicke communion were not true and lawfull Bishops as concerning authoritie but only as concerning the character and by consequence neither had themselues the succession of Episcopall authoritie nor could transmitt it to those that haue taken it from them By what right saith sainct ATHANASIVS speaking of the Arrians can they be Bishops if they haue bene ordained by those men which themselues doe slander with heresie And contrariwise if the Church that was at the beginning of King Henry the eigth throughout Europe and in manie other partes of the world were the true Church this selfe-same Church hauing disannulled the episcopall authoritie in those from whom the English at this daie pretend to haue had their mission and hauing deposed and anathematized them they had no more lawfull episcopall authoritie by consequēce could not cōferr it to others And besides if that Church were the true Church the English Church at this daie which is gone out from her communion can not be so nor preserue in her the succession of Episcopall authoritie which cannot be transferred out of the Church And for the succession of the character the English according to their doctrine can in noe secte pretend to it for they hold not if they would hold they cannot doe it for as much as they make profession to agree in the faith in the sacraments with the Protestants of France that order conferrs anie other thing then authoritie nor that it imprints anie sacramentall character which is that only which in mission can be transferred giuen out of the Church And so if by their doctrine they could haue the succession of the character they are fallen frō the right of making vse thereof For they communicate with the Puritans of France hold their sheepe for true sheepe and so their pastors for true pastors and for their colleagues and fellowe bretheren Now the ministers of France are not ordained by anie Bishops and so are noe Bishops For hee saith sainct CYPRIAN cannot be a Bishop who succeeding no bodie hath bene ordained of himselfe And not being Bishops haue noe Church since as saith the same sainct CYPRIAN The Church is in the Bishop and the Bishop in the Church and who is not with the Bishop is not in the Church By meanes whereof the English which communicate with them and hold them for their colleagues and fellowe bretheren inuolue themselues into the crime and contagion of all their ecclesiasticall defects and consequentlie fall from all the rightes whereof those with whom they communicate are depriued I add to that that to shew a Church to be successiuelie and representatiuely the antient Catholicke Church it sufficeth not to shew that a part of that Church deriueth the personall successiō of her Bishops from the missiō of the antien Catholicke Church but all the Church that will pretēd the inheritāce successiō of the tittle of catholike must haue the successio of her Bishops deriued frō the 〈◊〉 of the antiēt catholick Church For the Bishops Sea is one as saith S CYPRIAN whereof euerie one holdes his portiō vndiuidedly And elsewhere The Church is one bound togeather by the cement of Bishops adhering the one to the other Now the English doe not pretend alone to cōstitute all the cōmunion of their Church nor to be all the true and pure visible Catholicke Church but doe comprehend into their communion the Protestantes of France as partes of the Bodie of their Church And therefore they canot saie that the Catholicke Church to which they adhere and wherewith they communicate to bee by succession and personall representation the same visible Catholicke Church which was in the time of the fowre first Coūcells Cōtrariwise from this that the other partes of the communion to which the English Church adheres communicate not by succession of persons with the mission of the antient Catholicke Church and consequently are at the least schismatikes it issues that the English which communicate with them cannot cōmunicate with the antient Catholicke Church for none except in error of fact can communicate with the Catholicke Church and with Schismatickes together And finallie I saie that since in all questions of Schismes wee must mount vp to the originall following these wordes of saint AVGVSTINE to the Donatists The question betweene you and vs is where the Church of God should be wee must then begin at the originall why haue you made a schisme The accompt that the English Church will yeeld of the succession of her Bishops ought to be brought to the originall of the Schisme Now therevpon I will aske his Maiestie where the first after the rising vp of Luther and Caluin began in England to separate themselues from the Catholicke Church to imbrace other forme of Religion which they now hold where was this Societie wherein there was together to be found both the succession of Bishops vninterrupted from the first and the succession of doctrine For to goe out from the Church then intituled Catholicke they must range themselues to an other Church which must haue true doctrine and true ministrie by adherence ad communion to the which they might preserue the title of Catholicke and transmitt it to those that should come after them Now where was then this Societie indued with the true doctrine and the true succession of Bishops when the English first separated themselues from the Church intituled Catholike For I will not inquire who is the first from whom she saith that the English Bishops can shew their vninterrupted succession if it be not S AVGVSTIN Bishop of Canterburie whom S. GREGORIE sent thither Nor will I demaund for the preaching of what doctrine S. GREGORIE sent him thither if it were not for the preaching of the same doctrine that was there before the last separation Of the succession of doctrine CHAP. XXIII The continuance of the Kings answere IF the succession of doctrine bee demaunded lett vs mako triall of it THE REPLIE THERE is great difference betweene similitude of doctrine and succession of doctrine Similitude of doctrine is a simple reporte of agreement betweene one doctrine an other but the succession of doctrine properly takē is a deriuation of doctrine continued by a perpetuall vnintermitted chine of teachers and persons taught And
beginning of these last diuisions either perswaded in some pointes by the innouators or ioyned to the partie of the innouators themselues haue attempted to seeke out some accommodation in matter of doctrine and of the vniuersall Religion of the Church to come to a reunion perswading themselues that as the Poet saith all men doe Sinn Without the walls of Troy and 〈◊〉 within It will bee alwaies easie for vs to shew that the desire of reconciliation rather then the knowledge of antiquitie and truth hath caused them to speake this language Of the agreement or disagreement of the English reformers with the Donatists CHAP. XXXI The continuance of the Kinges answere AND therefore the English Church feareth not that she can seeme in the iudgment of sincere arbitrators to haue done anie thinge like to the 〈◊〉 in this separation They out of a iollitie of harte and without anie cause abandoned the Catholicke 〈◊〉 approued by the consent of all nations whereof they could neither blame the faith nor the discipline THE REPLIE NEITHER was the Catholicke Church then actuallie approued by all nations for these prophecies In thy seede shall all nations be 〈◊〉 and This Ghospell must be preached ouer all the world shall not be fullie accōplisht as S. AVGVSTINE notes till the end of the world But it might well be said by 〈◊〉 in regard of other Christian sectes to be spread ouer all nations because the extent thereof was more eminont as it is nowe then that of anie other Christian Societie Neither was she approued by 〈◊〉 men of all the Christian nations For who knowes not how great the multitude of other heresies was when the sect of the Donatists sprange vp and how much greater then when the passages of the Fathers cited in the beginning of this obseruation were pronounced against them Of one side the Arrians possessed almost all the East of the other side the number of the Donatists was such in Africa as they held all at a time Councells of three hūdred Bishops yea euē in the time of S. AVGVSTINE there where whole natiōs that professed christianitie which did not acknowledg 〈◊〉 Catholick Church as that of the Gothes Vandalls And in breefe elghtie or an hundred other sects of Christiās which were then in the world diuided like Sāpsons Foxes by the heads but tyed together by the tayles did all agree to reproue the Catholicke Church And whereas the excellent king addeth that the Donatists could blame neither the faith nor discipline of the Catholicke Church if by blaming his maiestie intend to blame with reason that is not particular to the Donatistes for neuer anie Sect either Schismaticall or hereticall could blame with reason the faith or discipline of the Church But if by blaming he intend accusing and slandring her and beleeuing that they had iust occasion to doe soe who euer blamed the faith and discipline of the Catholicke Church more then the donatists who called themselues the Bishops of thē Catholicke truth and obiected to the Catholickes that they erred in faith in beleeuing that the holy Ghost resided out of the Church and in holding that Baptisme which cannot be administred but by the operation of the holy Ghost might be conferred out of the Church and in the Societie of hereticks who reprocht it to them thāt they violated these oracles One faith one Baptisme It is lawfull to be baptised if thou dost beleeue be yee euery one of you baptised in the remission of Sinnes Christ purgeth his Church by the washing of water in the word Who heares not the Church lett him be as a publican and as a heathen Baptisme is the washing of the regeneration of the Ghost The Church is the close Garden and the sealed Fountaine Who gathers not with Christ scatters And other such like alleadged by them in so great number as Vincentius Lyrinensis cryes out But perchance this new inuention that is to saie the heresie of the Donatists will want defences nay she was assisted with soe great strength of spirit with so many flouds of Eloquence with so great a number of protectors with so much likelyhood with so manie oracles of diuine lawe but expounded in a new and naughtie manner that it seemes to me that such a conspir aice could neuer haue benē destroyed if this same imbraced this same defended this same extolled profession of noueltie had not in the end left the cause of soe great a motion alone and abandoned And as for the discipline of the Church did not they blame it who taxed the discipline of the Church to haue receiued without expiation of preceding pennance those that in the persecution time had denied Christ and communicated in the sacrifices of the Pagans and consequently to haue bene polluted with the contagion of the Pagans who accused her for hauing receaued conuerted heretickes into her communion without giuing them true Baptisme which could not be giuen according to them but in the Church and consequently to haue polluted her communion with the contagion of vnbaptised or vncircumcised spirituallie and so to haue lost the being of the true Church which could not subsist without the true vse of the sacramēts Who made profession in manners of a conuersation of life much better ruled more reformed then that of the Catholickes from whence it is that S. AVGVSTINE forbidds the catholicks to reproche the Donatists with anie other thing but that they were not Catholickes Who called themselues the little flocke of the lord the two tribes of the Kingdome of Iuda who said we hauing nothing and possessing all things wee account our soule to he our riches and by our paines and our blood we purchase the treasure of heauen And in breese who supposed themselues to haue such reason for their separation as they reputed the Catholickes not to be worthie of so much as the name of Christians as hauing lost the true vse of Baptisme whereby men are made Christiās when they spake to them they said Caius Seius Caia Seia O man 〈◊〉 thou be a Christian O woeman wilt thou be a Christian And cryed to them Come o yee ignorant and wretched people who are commonlie called Catholickes And called the Chaire of Rome the Chaire of pestilence and called the Catholicke Church an Harlott and an Adulteresse and chose rather to suffer all kindes of persecutions and false Martirdomes then to communicate with her If I persecute saith Saint AVGVSTINE iustlie him that detracts from his neighbour why should I not persecute him that detracts from the Church of Christ and saith this is not shee but this is an hatlott And againe If the punishment and not the cause made Martirdome heauen should be full of your martirs And against whom contrariwise the Catholickes in matter of doctrine had not one passage of scripture for them but only the Apostolicall vnwritten tradition as S. AVGVSTINE
drawne from this example for the desertion of the Catholicke Church God saith saint AVGVSTINE bad that these tribes should be separated not to diuide the Religion but the Kingdome and that 〈◊〉 this meanes vengeance might be taken vpon the Kingdome of Iuda But for as much as the ordinarie refuge of those that separate themselues from vs is to haue recourse to the Symptomes of the Iewish people and to inferr from thence the same conclusions of possibilitie of errour and licence of separation for the Christian Church and that to contradict this wee haue not onely promised to shew that there neuer happened anie accident to the visible Iewish Church wherefore they either ought or could separate themselues from her communion but also that if anie such thing had happened the cōsequence thereof could not bee applied to the Christian Church which is grounded vpon other contracts and vpon other prerogatiues It is best for vs here to quitt vs of our promise and to search the question to the bottome both concerning the Thesis and the Hypothesis In regard then of the Thesis the aduersaries 〈◊〉 Catholick religion set this foundation that the Church in all times is subiect to the same Symptomes and to the same accidents there vpon argue thus The visible Church hath had three periods the first vnder nature the second vnder the lawe and the third vnder Grace Now vnder the two first she hath bene corrupted and consequētly vnder the third she may be soe Which is as if one should saie there are three periods in the progresse of the generation of man The first during the which man liues onlie the life of plantes and is yet touched with noe other instinct then simple appetite which the Philosophers call naturall common to herbes aud trees which seemes to correspond to the condition of the first period of the Church wherein she had yet noe lawe or rule but the simple lawe of nature The second during which he liues an animated and sensitiue life which is proportioned to the state of the people of the Jewes because as man in this second progresse harh noe other knowing facultie but that of the sence which is common to him with beastes so all the obiects which were manifestlie propounded to the Iewes and all the promises which were literallie made to them were of sensible thinges And the last wherein man takes possession of the life trulie human and reasonable and is adorned and enobled with intellectuall knowledge which hath analogy with the state of the Christiā Church where the faithfull are consecrated to God by a perfect lawfull forme of religion and sticke noe longer in terrestriall and materiall obiectes but exalting their thoughtes and their hopes doe nourish intertaine themselues with spirituall and incorruptible promises Now vnder the first and second of those periods the imperfect soule of man which wee call an Embricn is subiect to perish corruptible and mortall the soule of man therefore vnder the third period is not incorruptible immortall For to preduce for a reason of exception and dissimilitude that the forme of a man during all the three periods of this progresse is not one selfe same forme the reason of the 〈◊〉 is void for as much as the diuersitie of Gods promises where it so falls out hath noe lesse power to varie the Symptomes of the Church during the three periods of her being then the diuersity of formes to varie the conditions which accompanie the three periods of the generation of man Now that the promises made to the Church vnder the last period which hath bene establisht as S. PAVL saith vpon better promises then the former be wholie different both in eminencie perpetuitie from those that haue bene made to her vnder the two first what Christian can call it in question God first in regard of eminencie and multitude did he not saie to Abraham in thy seede that is to saie as S. PAVL expoundes it in Christ shall all generations be blessed And againe thy seede shal be as the starrs of heauen and as the sands of the Sea And Aggeus describing the future estate of the Church vnder the Enigma of the re-edification of the temple doth hee not saie The glorie of this last howse shall be much greater then that of the first And the Spouse in the canticles speaking of the Jewish Church doth she not singe our Sister is little and she hath yet noe breasts that 〈◊〉 to saie is not yet in state to bringe forth and nurse vp children And doth not 〈◊〉 crie out Reioyce thou barren woman that bearest not children and thou that art no mother cast forth cryes of ioy For the children of the forsaken shall be much more in number then hers that hath a husband And a while after Lengthen the cords of thy pauillions and settle their posts for thou shalt penetrate on the right band and on the left and thy seede shall inheritt the nations And againe Cast thine eyes about thee and behold all these are assembled for thee they are come for thee thy sonns shall come from farr and thy daughters shall be borne vpon shoulders And doth not S. AVGVSTINE disputing against the Donatists crie out Feare you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Jews should aske you where is that accomplished that your Paul hath 〈◊〉 of your Church reioyce thou barren woeman that thou bearest not and cast out cryes of ioy that thou hast noe children for the children of the forsaken are more in number then hers that hath a husband Preserring the multitude of the Christians before that of Iewes if your little number be the Church of Christ. And S. HIEROME against the Luciferians Where are these too Religious or rather too prophane persons that affirme there are more Synagogues then Churches And therefore doth not the same S. AVGVSTINE elegantlie compare the historie of the different times of the Church to that of the birth of Iacob for as much that as Jacob in his Birth thrust forth first one arme and then his head and then all his Bodie so the Church before she was borne first thrust forth one arme that is to saie a little part of her societie which was the Synagogue and then her head which is Christ and then all her Bodie which is the Christian Church But against that the aduersaries of the multitude of the Church alleadge that our Lord calls his Church A little flocke cōmaūds to enter into the straight gate it is true but it makes nothing for them for that our Lord calls his Church a little Flocke it is in regarde of her birth at the time where of she was the least the basest and most contemptible of all societies and not in regard of her progresse which himselfe compareth to that of a graine of mustard-seede which being at the beginning the least of all seedes becomes in the increase the greatest of all plantes We
of the Anathema But God himselfe pronounceth Israel hath sinned and hath transgressed against my alliance they haue taken of the anathema and haue stollen it and haue lyed and haue hidden it amongst their stuffe and Israel cannot subsist before his enemies but shall fly before them for he is polluted with the anathema And notwithstanding there was but one onely man in al Israell and he yet vnkowne that had committed this crime to witt Acham And whereas it is said in the first of Samuel that in the time of Eli the word of God was precious that is to saie rare the author speakes not there in anie sort of the lawe or of the written word but of the oracles and visible predictions that God had accustomed to giue by the prophets as by these words And there was noe manifest vision may appeare And whereas it is said in the first to the cronicles that in the time of Saule the Arke was not required that is to saie according to the innouators glosse that God was not consulted with in this word This is a wrong interpretation of the word requisiuimus which intends not there inquired of but required and hath not reference to the word of God but to the Arke and signifies noe other thing but that in the time of Saule they had not yet required the Arke from the cittie of Kiriath Jearim The third obiection is taken from the complaint of Elias Elias said the Aduersaries of the Church complained to God that his Altars were beaten downe and his prophetts slaine with the sword and that he was left alone and they likewise sought him to put him to death And God answered him that he had reserued to 〈◊〉 seauen thousand Whereof Elias conceaued he had knowne none And this when God could not be serued visible but in Iudea the Church as they conclude was then inuisible But how longe will they stūble at one 〈◊〉 stone and not learne to distinguish betweene the kingdome of Israel were was the seate of schisme and heresie the kingdome of Iuda where was the seate of the true Church It is writtē that the herbe called Eringus hath this hidden propertie that if amongst a companie of Goates there be anie one that takes a leafe of it betweene his teeth that Goate will immediatlie stopp and with him all the Flocke so as it is not possible to make anie one of thē goe forward till first the leafe be pluckt out of his mouth Soe after one of the aduersaries of the Church hath apprehended anie falshood or absurditie all the rest as by a certaine charme doe soe stopp and stumble at it as it is not possible to make them goe forward vnlesse you call back the first author yea out of his graue to contradict himself and to recant publickly Melancton being inquired off 〈◊〉 the Church was twelue or thirteen hundred yeare agoe since from that time by his accompt our communion was corrupted with Idolatrie and impietie had recourse to the historie of Elias to whom said hee for a while the true Church was vnknowne and iuuisible After this all those that haue handled the same questiō without inquiring whether this solution were true or false without taking care to examin the place haue soe tied themselues to it as at this daie it is their onely and common refuge in this extreamitie It doth not importe vs answere they to knowe where the residence of the Church was in the ages whereof you inquire Elias who was a prophet was also ignorant for a time where she subsisted wee then may well be ignorant of it who are neither Prophets nor the children of Prophets For he complained that he was left alone but of whom did Elias speake when he said They haue 〈◊〉 thy Prophets with the sword Was it not of Achab and of Iesabel and where was it that he said he was left alone was it not in the Kingdome of Israel Now if saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the Christian Church it selse hath had reason to saie what an absurditie is it not to consider that the Church increasing and multiplying ouer all the world might suffer persecution by the kinges of some Nations when she did not suffer it by the rest wherefore may not wee cry out What an absurditie is it to transferr what belōges to the Kingdome of Israel where the true Church was persecuted to the Kingdome of Iuda where she was visible florishing and eminent For so fart of was the Church then from being tied and restrained to the Kingdome of Israel as contrariwise the true Seate the only seate the soueraigne seat of the seruice of God and of the visible exercise of Religion wherein only sacrifices might be lawfullie celebrated the center of vnion and ecclesiasticall communion the heart if I may saie so and roote of the Church was Situate out of the iurisdiction of Israel Nay more then so all the sacerdotall order all the 〈◊〉 of Leui all the high-priests priests and ministers to whom onely belonged the dispensation of the misteries and ceremonies all the magistrates and officers of the Church all the Pastors and ordinarie Doctors without which she could not be visible nor retaine her iust markes and Sacraments then made their residence out of the Kingdom of Israel And to proue this threescore yeares and more before Elias began to prophecie the Kingdome of Israel had bene deuided into two Kingdomes the one contayning the tribe of Iuda which was without comparison the greatest and most principall that of Beniamin to which was also ioyned the linage of Leui all intire with infinite particulars of the other Tribes who desired to serue God purelie holding the title of the Kingdome of Iuda vnder the dominion of Roboam the true and naturall heire the other cōprehending the rest of the tribes possessed by Jeroboam a rebell an vsurper possessed vnder the restrained name of the Kingdome of Israel By meanes whereof these two peoples haue alwaies had their estates and their kings aparte yea their religiōs also for the more part deuided For to Jeroboam succeeded Nadab to Nadab Baasa to Baasa Ela to Ela Zambri to Zambri Amri to Amri Achab All not only schismatickes but Idolators and infidells Elias then as subiect to Achab complained that these Relickes of the Church which remayned in Israel these fewe of the faithfull which were left in the territorie of Achab and which were wont euerie yeare to goe vp to professe and to exercise their Religion in the Kingdome of Iuda where the Temple and Priesthood was had bene rooted out by the tyrannie of Queene Iesabel And frō the departing frō thence there are men which cōclude without scruple of this feare there was thē noe visible Church in the world But heare the historie of the seperatiō of these two kingdomes He raigned saith the historie of the chronicles speaking of Roboā ouer Iuda ouer Beniamin The Priests also the Leuites which