miseries of sinne but so as with griefe and anguishe of heart they carry that lumpe of death Yet they in pacient mortification by his holy spirite wayte his tyme set for their delyuerie and earnestly desyre the same Note also the right ende of this peticion which by the wicked and desperate is abused A due respect in the desyre of naturall death The godlesse cumbred with piercing sting of conscience ashamed of their state and looking for his heauye iudgement doe also desyre and cry for death So doe the poore ignorante persons which in pryson in Gallyes or Iayles and pyning in payne The poore oppressed the néedie which cannot haue to satisfie the hungry crye of their children and selues the sick pacient which long hath lyen of an incurable disease These and such lyke desyre death but it is not to the right ende for which it should be desyred They only haue respect to the present paine or shame and to fynish that they do not onely desyre but the wicked desperate persons in despite of God his holy lawe and instinct of Nature doe with the pernicious knyfe of perpetuall paine bereaue for a tyme the sorrowes of thys synfull corps But such desperate death is the purchase of Hel with Iudas Achitophel king Saule and such others Now the true and lyuely ende of this peticion in the elect of God is That least they should by to much acquaintance wyth finne and death become resty in the bed of hir delight and so be slayne Sap. 4.11.12 sléeping with Holophernes in dronken pleasures of the fleshe the same daylie more and more assaulting them they doe pray for death as for the last remedye and perfite victory against sinne and Sathan Yet so as I saye still they doe by fayth in hope suppresse the dolorous griefe of sinne in lyfe with the continual meditation of the inwarde ioyes receyued by grace in Christ and therein solace themselues as with the earnest penny of their Fathers possession which they are assured of when the Lord in mercy shall call them to himselfe by death Till when they punishe this bodie of sinne least it shoulde proue to lustie 1. Tim. 5.23 but they nurrish nature weakned that she may the sooner and the better yéelde the office which their seuerall callings doe require And this is the heauenly ende of our desyre to die that so we may receiue to our selues that life which now is treasured vp for vs with GOD in Christ which is our onely lyfe Col. 3.1.2 And thirdly the loue and longing desyre which in the saintes is apparant for the whole and perfite ioye of the Church the Apostle S. Iohn manifesteth in these wordes O Lorde come quickly Apo. 22.17 which there is approoued by the Lorde who to the comforte of his Church sealeth vp thys prayer with Amen Saying So be it Beholde I come quickly Amen Lorde perfite vs in thée and shortly ende these dayes of sinne for thy holye names sake Lorde Iesu and giue vs that truely call vpon thée thy eternall glorye Amen Last of all when Symeon sayth Lord now let thy seruaunt departe in peace he doth teach vs to abhorre all troublesome and murtherous kinde of death And doth cōuince all those guyltie of this precept Thou shalt not kill which in any maner haue slaine themselues for any cause Symeon abhorreth al troublesome and murdering deaths And doth forewarne the Church of God to flye such damnable enterprises which are no other but the perswasions of Satan and the acte herein is the obsequie of his deadly will Though Symeon desyre to dye and that death is to him comfortable in that he hath séene in bodye and soule the Sauyour of the worlde come now in fleshe to saue his Church by the ransome of his bloud which fayth only maketh death desyred in hart yet will he not shorten his life by sodaine crueltie to be a Felondese But he will dye as hath ordayned the wyll of God And therefore he addeth according to thy worde What shall we then say to them which else haue their great commendation in that to auoyde some the dayes of tyranny some other the sight of Gods church persecuted or to auoyde the purpose of synful persons or the infamy of synne or therby thinking to glorifye God haue from the consistory of the harte giuen commission and commaundement to the violent hande to cut in sunder soule and bodye by murthering stroake of merciles arme Truely I say that neyther Cato Razias Lucretia Curtius or his lyke are sure warrants to thée or yet the Donatists which to bring the Christian Byshops into contempt would offer to kill themselues rather then to prouoke the Emperours sworde against them which they spake to winne more ease when the godly Bishops craued his ayde against their pernitious pollution and yet would they be accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cato in kylling himself thought to be ridde of Caesars tyranny by which meanes he offred himselfe to Sathans bondage yea he conuinceth himselfe of folly when he exhorteth hys sonne to obey and séeke the peace of Caesar from whome he ran by murthering death If it were good and a wise parte for his sonne to obteyne the Princes fauour why not for the father also His impacience which could not suffer himself to liue a bearing subiect was a thousande partes worse then the Tyrants crueltie But thou which fearest God hast another rule if the Prince be neuer so cruel thou art commaunded to pray for him that thou mayest liue a quyet godly honest lyfe 1. Tim. 2.12 which thing sayth Paule in that place is good and acceptable What to kyll himselfe from Nero his tyranny being a persecuted christian No but that God will vnder his Regiment giue thée at length a quyet lyfe For the same cause Ieremy sendeth by Baruck Baruk 1.11.12 exhortations to the afflicted Iewes in captiuitie vnder Nabuchadnezar that they should pray for his lyfe Persecuting Princes muste bee prayed for How much more ought wee to call vpon God for such as professe hys Gospell that they might also lyue quyetly vnder him And the Apostles doe arme vs to pacience and vnto forbearing of tyranny with long suffering as well by their owne example as doctrine But in no waies haue they eyther slayne themselues to be ridde of prisons Irons cruell murther or tyranny but haue sought by all meanes rather to maintayne their lyfe to doe more good therein to the Church of God then to hasten their ende by violent stroke For thys cause did Paule exhorte Timothie to pacience willing him to suffer aduersity to do the worke of an Euangelist 2. Tim. 4.5 and to make his ministery knowne He telleth him that he is now ready to be offred to dye for Christ but he feareth it not or will preuente Nero his cruelty by his owne hande but will lyue till the daye of his dissolution which the Lorde hath set
therin and whosoeuer of these do desyre and séeke at me aright for health and lyfe But sayth Symeon this light is sent to be reuealed made knowne to thys worlde For the same cause Christ fyrst preached it Iohn Baptist and the Apostles were sent to manifest him thereto that as saluation was wrought by him so they by fayth which commeth by hearing the worde reuealed might apprehend it in him Of which more a little after God so wylling But possibly some man would aske me if Christ be the light and Sauiour of the whole worlde The cause of our great blindnesse in so clere light howe it is that so manye therein are notwithstanding still blynded and so condemned Christ aunswereth drawing his generall spéeche to a speciall which onely receyue health by him in the eyght of Iohn Ioh. 8.12 He that followeth mee walketh not in darknesse It is not ynnough that God hath made his sonne our light vnlesse we embrace and walke therein And this is the condemnation of the worlde sayth Christ hymselfe that light came into the worlde Ioh. 3.19 and men loued darkenesse rather then the light The nature of these men is to hate the light and to absent themselues from it least their déedes should be made manifest thereby Loe it is not that these wante in the world that they hate it but for that they lust after their owne wyll to lyue wickedly still therfore they refrayne it yea and to their power restrayne it also But here they are conuinced in conscience that the gospel is light and they are the sonnes of darknesse drawing to themselues damnation I aske againe and if Christ be the light of the worlde The worlds darkenesse what it is what is the darknesse then of the same It is a profitable question and it may be aunswered thus The darknesse of the worlde reprehended by Christ walloweth in two myrie dangerous doungeons that is to say in false Religion and fylthye conuersation bothe which Christ the lyght calleth darknesse in that he sayth Lighte came into the worlde and men loued darknesse more then lyghte Iohn 3.19 That a Religion or worship of God deuised of mans brayne wythout warrante of Gods worde is darknesse and the author and fautors blynde it is more then apparente to him that hath but halfe an eye Therfore the teachers therof be called blynde guydes Math. 23.24 Eph. 4.17.18 the hartes imbracing it blynded and the whole which follow it in much paine to themselues walkers in the vanity of their darkned minds to their owne damnation what intent purpose or séeking soeuer they haue to serue God But amongst manye the former false Religions the Romishe is not the least Romishe Fayth the roote bottomlesse pyt of darknesse from whose Pope and Clergy hath come the Cup of fornication whereof all Princes haue dronke not as the saying is till they stare but that which more is vntyll they became starke blynd through that gréedy draught of excecating ignorance Apo. 17.4 And to proue the Religion of Rome a false corrupte and humane blynde Religion First I say I speake of the latter Rome who hath as an Apostata and fylthy strumpet runne farre awaye from her fyrst fayth and faythfull husbande Iesus Christ and his couenant the gospell of God Rome is runne from God That the Church of Rome nowe is become an Apostata from her former fayth it shall appeare to all that measure hir Religion with that fayth delyuered to that Churche and of them receyued by the pen of Paule in his Epistle sente to Rome extante in the Lordes Testament Paule teacheth it folly and wickednesse Rom. 1.23 To serue the immortal God by the ymage of a mortal man Is not the Church of Rome fallen from this fayth now Doth not her chiefe ioy consist in Images of mortall men and séeketh and commaundeth men to serue God and saints by before them neyther fearing Gods prohibiting lawe or Paule theyr chiefe Doctors proclamation from his mayster Christ Paule and Rome then beléeued Rom. 5.28 that man was iustifyed by fayth in Christ and not by the works of the Lawe But the Church of Rome nowe denyeth it flatly and condemneth them for Heritiques which be of that iudgement Rome did then as Tertullian sayth acknowledge one God the Creator of all things Tertul. de prescript Hereticorum and Christ Iesus the sonne of the Virgin Mary to be the sonne of God to haue suffred death and to arise againe She did ioyne the lawe and the Prophets the Gospell and the Apostolicall Epistles together and from that Fountayne she did drinke her fayth she baptized wyth symple water she was adorned with the giftes of Gods spirite she fedde her people with the Euchariste note he sayth not Rome offred vp the sacramēt of Christs bodye for the synnes of the people But Rome receyueth it of the Lords institution and fed hir people therewith she exhorted her flocke to the fayth by the constancie of Martyrdome in her example and against his order and institution she admitted no man But what doth Rome nowe Euen as the Samaritans The Papistes beleue with vs as the Samaritans dyd with the Iewes ioyned with the Iewes in some and sundry poyntes but varyed from them in many most wickedly So doth newe Rome with Gods Churche in olde Rome and ours nowe they ioyne in some principall poyntes of our Religion as in the Trinitie and vnitie of persons of the profession of the holye ghost c. But if ye once come to the office of Christ the fruite of his death the valour of his Sacrifice the authority of hys worde the contynuance of hys sole priesthoode and the truth of his sacraments they flée from you as farre as East from weast and vtterly denie the auncient fayth and moste fylthylye corrupt the true administration of Gods mysteries as men that neuer had heard of such matters Charge them with the scriptures and they would compell them to stoope to the false gloses Offer them the name of Paule and he is as odious in harte to them as a venemous Serpent to a woman Gen. 3. betwixt whom God hath for euer set a perfite hatred Notable is that saying of the learned Lodouicus agaynst the blyndnesse of his tyme in the latyn Church Lodo. viues in li. 13 de ciuit Dei cap. 2. Augustinum vetustas tuetur c. Augustine is safe for his age But if he and Paule were aliue agayne he should be shaken of as a badde Rethoritian or a poore Gramarian But saint Paule should be taken for a mad man The Romans nowe would call Paule an Heretique were he alyue or else for an Heretique Thys learned man approoued by them thus openly conuinceth them of flatte Apostasye and horrible blasphemy Neyther let anye man obiect to me that thys Church of Rome could possibly neuer erre so wickedly for thou seest by comparing
them with the other as before howe they are degenerate and Paule himselfe in his Epistle to the Romaynes Paule feared the Apostasie of Rome doth warne that church of the same which after came to passe vz. that she shoulde take héede for as God had not spared the naturall branches hys Church in Iewry Cap. 11.21.22 So they in that church of Rome should not be high minded but stande in awe He exhorteth them to consyder Gods sharpnesse towards them that are fallen away and hys goodnesse to the church of Rome and other Gentyls that they maye by grace remayne in their receyued goodnesse Otherwise sayth Paule Thou also though thou be the church of Rome shalt be cut off Then syr there is feare in Paule of the errors and departing from the fayth which after came to passe I saye in the Church of Rome and remayneth at thys day so as one of the Popes Legats called Cheregatus Io. Sleda lib. 4. Io. Sarisb sent by Adryan then Byshop of Rome to the great assembly of the Empyre at Norembirge in Germany 1523. by his maysters warrante sayd thus in the assembly A sacerdotibus iniquitatem populi duianare multis nunc annis c. That is the iniquitie of the people grew from the priests that now for the space of manye yeres there haue bene great offences coÌ„mitted in Rome and all thys plague and mischiefe haue followed vnto all the inferiour Rulers of the church euen from the high throne of the Popes sauing thy reuerence good Reader owne holynesse Fasciculus reruÌ„ sciendarum And in the late Counsell or conspiracie rather at Tridente Cornelius Byshop of Bitanto hath affyrmed the lyke Al filthynes from the Pope They haue brought to passe sayth he that godlynesse is turned into hypocrysie and that the sauour of lyfe is tourned into the sauour of death Would God they were not gone wholy with general consent froÌ„ Religion to superstition from fayth to infydelity from Christ to Antichrist from God to Epicurisme saying with wicked harte and fylthye mouth There is no God Neyther hath there bene this great whyle any pasture or Pope that regarded these things for they all both Pope and Prelates sought their owne and not so much as one of them neyther Pope or Cardinall sought for the things that pertayne to Iesus Christ By thys sufficient wytnesse of their owne good Reader thou now séest as the church of Rome may erre So in déede truth she hath for many yeres erred and that most fylthyly Examine the chiefe points of her Religion wherein she most gloryeth and thou shalt finde them eyther to haue their beginning and warrant of mans mortall brayne or if borrowed from Christes worde and institution the same greatly corrupted shadowed and abused Chose what poynte thereof that lyketh thée best and it wyll so appeare in euydent proofe The opinion of syngle liâ—e in priests examined in apparent truth As for example The syngle lyfe of popishe priests is a principall poynte of their profession Against which we will fetche no other wytnesse then themselues and their alowed Doctors to proue that thys opinion most stricte yoke which not many of them are or can he able to beare is farre shorte the warrante of God and deuised of their selfe inuention rather Ex diametro Priests syngle lyfe is an humane constitution againste God and holye scripture right agaynst God and his sacred worde First Hierome sayth that Paule doth not commaund christian men to put away their wyues The words of this Father their Church Doctor as they chalenge him are vpon the words of Paule Let euerye man abyde in the vocation wherein he was called Ex hoc habentibus vxores c. Hereby S. Paule byddeth not maryed men to put away their wyues sayeth Hierome Hier. coÌ„tra IouinianuÌ„ lib. 1. Dist 31. Quoniam Ergo say I Christianitie or the Gospell compelleth not syngle lyfe Further in the sixte counsell at Constantinople it is thus set downe Folowing the olde Fathers and diligence of the Apostles and the constitutions and lawes of the holye fathers from henceforth we wyll that the lawfull mariage of priests and Byshops shall stande in force not in any wayes dissoluing the lawfull mariage bedde with their maryed wyues Note he sayth that the mariage of Byshops and priests is the order diligence and lawes of the Apostles and holy fathers and sayth their maryage bedde is lawfull and therefore wyll not they compell syngle lyfe to the Clergy But yet more a most deare friend to the Pope and gatherer of his fragmentine lawe called Gratian sayth hereof Copula sacerdotis c. 16. Ques 2. sors The mariage of priestes sayth he is not forbidden by any authoritie eyther of the law or of the Gospell or of the Apostles Saint Ambros expounding these wordes of the Apostle Ambro. in 1. Cor. 7. Touching Virgins I haue no commaundement sayth Si Doctor gentium non habuit quis habere potuit If the Doctor of the Gentyls had no commaundemente of the Lorde touching Virgins what man else then coulde euer haue Clemens Alexandrinus sayth all the Epistles of the Apostles all which teache sobrietie and continente lyfe Clem. strom li. 3. whereas they contayne innumerable preceptes touching Matrimonye bringing vp of children and gouernment of house yet they neuer forbad honest and sober mariage The Apostles neuer forbad honest maryage And to suffise this matter I will stay with the testimony of the Popes owne Legate Slatere Cardinall Caielanus whose wordes are touching this matter thus It cannot be prooued eyther by reason Card. Ca. in quodli contra Luthe nor by authoritie speaking absolutely that a priest synneth in marying a wyfe For neyther the order of priesthood in that it is order nor the same order in that it is holye is any hindrance to matrimony For priesthood breaketh not mariage whether it be contracted before priesthood or afterward Setting all Ecclesiasticall lawes aparte standing onely vnto those things Pano de claric coÌ„iuga cum olim which we haue of Christ and his Apostles Abote Panormitane sayth Single lyfe is not of the substance of the order of priesthood nor of the law of God The long practise in the church of Rome approoueth mariage in Ministers or priestes holy and lawfull syngle lyfe in Popishe priesthoode compelled to be a corrupte lawe after long tyme by tyranny thrust vpon the Clargy Pope Damasus wryteth that many Popes of Rome themselues were maryed priestes sonnes Sundry the Byshops of Rome maryâ—â— priests chyldren As Syluerius Pope was the sonne of Syluerius also a Byshop of Rome Pope Dens dedit was the sonne of Steuen a Subdeacon Pope Adrianus Ex Damaso ad Hieron ex Platina Nan clero the sonne of Thalar a Byshop Pope Iohn 15. the sonne of Leo a Priest Pope Hosius Steuens sonne Subdeacon Agapetus Pope had one Gordeanus a priest to his