tymes their own bloud their friends and nearest kynred to whome in vertue piety they were not comparable against whome no other cryme could be proued but the ancient religion of Christendome commonly either iustified or not condemned euen in the consciences of those that apprehended them prosecuted and executed the former lawes vpon them and if we might shew vnto them how by this means they haue crucifyed our Sauiour not once or twise but againe and againe for so many yeares togeather in his holy members I cannot but thinke that representing these things vnto them in vertue of that Word which deuideth betweene the soule the spirit the ioints and the marrow awaking in them the guilt of their owne consciences and the feare of Gods iugments we should inforce them to knock their breasts with the Iewes conuerted at the Sermon of S. Peter and to cry out vnto vs with teares of repentance Act. 2.17 Quid faciemus viri fratres men and brethren what shal we do SECTION XVI The absurd and pernicious grounds of the Bishops 10. Bookes and his Christian Commonwealth are further discouered and confuted AND now to returne to our Bishop I thinke by this tyme you perceiue that albeit this little booke of his be great bellyed like the Father yet his other ten bookes conceaued therin are but like so many bladders full of wind which if euer they come forth are like to shame not only himselfe but you also Not only because the former proofes of the Popes Supremacy are in themselues vnanswerable especially admitting as he doth the authority of the Councells Canons and Fathers of the Church but also in respect of that most absurd and most pernicious Position which he maketh the argument of his fifth booke and is indeed the very foundation of his Christian Commonwealth and the mayne ground of his Diuinity wherein he professeth to hold that there is no Iurisdiction in the Church of Christ Iurisdictionem omnem ab Ecclesia procul reijcio all Iurisdiction sayth he I cast far away from the Church that is to say all power and authority to commaund or to make spiritual lawes or to impose any punishment for the transgression of them A miserable deuise no lesse furious then dangerous and no more repugnant to the Popes Supremacy then directly contrary to the Councells Fathers and to the practise of the Primitiue Church in making lawes Canons and imposing censures vpon transgressours directly contrary as well to the institution of Christ in the authority which he gaue to S. Peter as you haue seene as also to the doctrine and proceeding of the Apostles themselues wherof no man that can read the Scriptures should be ignorant Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers sayth S. Paul for there is no power Rom. 13.1 but of God c. Therefore he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist purchase to themselues damnation Rom. 13.5 And a little after Therefore be yee subiect of necessity not only for auoyding wrath but also for Conscience sake Out of which place we may argue thus The Church hath receiued power and authority from God and therefore they that resist the same resist and disobey the ordinance of God and purchast to themselues damnation That the Church hath receiued power and authority to gouerne from Almighty God is to too manifest for so all the Fathers expound the words of our Sauiour to S. Peter Whatsoeuer thou shalt bind c. and to the Apostles Matt. 16.19 Matt. 18.18 whatsoeuer you shall bind c. And that binding signifieth the imposing of some law or commaundment we find in the 23. Matt. 23.4 of S. Matthew They bind sayth our Sauiour burdens heauy and importable vpon the shoulders of men but they with their finger will not moue them and in the same manner the Fathers expound those other words Ioan. 21.11.16.17 feed my sheep of the gouernment of Christs sheep as you haue heard And our Sauiour signifying how much we are bound in conscience to obey our Prelates sayd vnto them Luc. 1◠16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me And againe as my Father sent me Ioā 20.21 so send I you and he that will not heare the Church let him be to thee as an heathen and Publican Act. 16.4 According whereunto it is sayd of S. Paul S. Timothy that passing through the Gittyes they deliuered vnto them to keep the precept of the Apostles and of the Elders 1. Thes 2.23 And to the Thessalonians he sayth You know what commaundments I haue giuen vnto you he that despiseth them despiseth not man but God that gaue his holy spirit vnto vs and if any do not obey our word note him by an epistle 1. Tim. 5. and do not accompany with him that he may be confounded So he writeth to Timothy not to receiue my accusation against a Priest vnder 2. or 3. witnesses And to the Corinthians the weapons of our warrefare sayth he are not carnall but mighty to God 1. Cor. 10.7 vnto the destruction of munitions destroying Councells and all loftynes extolling it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuity all vnderstanding vnto the obedience of Christ Act. 15.20 and hauing in a readynesse to reuenge all disobedience c. And in the first Coūcell the Church of Hierusalem made this Decree It seemeth good to the holy Ghost and to vs not to impose any other burthen vpon you but only these necessary things to abstayne from meats offered to Idolls from strangled meats from bloud Can. Apost Can. 62. and fornication And the punishment of those that did eate bloud or strangled meat afterward was so great in the Primitiue Church as that Clarks were deposed and lay men were excommunicated for the same Neither is this most pestilent assertion of the Bishop contrary to Scripture alone and to the Fathers and Councells as hath been shewed but also to the practise and doctrine of the Church of England For I would aske this wild Bishop whether the authority the English Bishops in their spirituall Courts be from God or no If it be then according to S. Paul all men are bound to obey them in that which is iust vpon paine of damnation If it be not then it is no small vsurpation in them to take vpon them such authority whereof the Bishop should do well to admonish them as his friends before he go about to reforme the Catholike Bishops whome he supposeth to be his enemyes In conclusion the necessity of Iurisdiction is so euident in it selfe and the institution thereof so palpable in Scripture that the Puritans themselues who deny the same to Bishops are inforced notwithstanding to challenge so much to themselues as may suffice to excommunicate all those who are obstinatly disobedient in their Congregations And therefore I thinke there is
hidden What shall I say more sayth S. Augustine vpon these words of our Sauiour but that they are blynd who cannot see so great a mountayne From hence also it doth necessarily follow that the doctrine of the Church is infallible and priuiledged from errour For according to the Protestants themselus that only is the true Church wherein the word of God is truly preached and the Sacraments truely administred And therefore if the Church should erre it should cease to be the true Church and should not contynue but the Gates of hell should haue preuayled against it Matt. 16.18 which is directly against the Scriptures And in particuler this priuiledge from errour is expresly promised in the old Testament Esa 59.21 in many places as where the Prophet Esay speaketh therof in these wordes This is my couenant with them sayth our Lord My spirit which is in thee and my wordes which I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth nor from the mouth of thy seed Oze 2.19.20 nor from the mouth of thy seeds seed from this tyme forth for euermore And where in Oze God sayth of his Church I will espouse thee for euer and I will espouse thee to me in iustice and iudgment in mercy and commiseration and I will espouse thee vnto me in sayth for euer Ephes 4.11 Epipha in Aâ—corato circa princ Matt. 16.18 Matt. 17.18 1. Tim. 3.5 IoaÌ„ 14.26 according whereunto it is also sayd in the new Testament That there should be Pastours and Doctours in the Church for euer that we be not carryed about nor deceiued with new doctrine that the Gates of hell by which is meant Heresy shall not preuayle against it that he who did not beleeue the Church should be compted as a Heathen or Publican that it is the Piller and foundation of truth that the holy Ghost should teach all things and suggest all things to the Pastours therof that God would giue them the spirit of truth IoaÌ„ 14.16 to remayne with them for euer In conclusion if you list to see more of the largenesse of these induments and of the flourishing greatnes of the Church of Christ you may read 4. whole Chapters of the Prophesyes therof in Esay 60.61 and 62. and Micheas the 4. which I thinke no man can read without the acknowledgement and admiration of them SECTION XXIII The force of the former Motiue is further declared out of the authorityes of S. Augustine and out of the effects of the contrary Doctrine AMONG all the ancient Fathers as there is none more opposite to the Protestant Ministers then S. Augustine so there is none more respected in outward shew and more esteemed by them which is vnto vs on the other side a notable argument of the excellency of the one and of the impudency of the other Now therfore if the word of S. Augustine be of force with you whome in regard of his antiquity learning wit vertue his aduersaryes themselues do so much respect read but the 6. Chapter of the first booke of that worke which is called Confessio Augustiniana for it cannot be that relying vpon the sayth of S. Augustine which could be no other then the sayth of the whole Church but that your vnderstanding should be wholy conuinced by it In regard wherof considering that it would be to long to alleadge the testimonyes of the rest of the Fathers and that men now a dayes are loath to seeke after that which they are affrayd to find with some temporall preiudice although it be the means of their saluation I thinke good to shew vnto you before I go any further the weight and force of this motiue out of the iudgment sayth and perswasion of S. Augustine For this was that which oueruled him so much as that he spared not to say I (a) Aug. cont epist Fundam c. 5. would not beliue the Ghospell vnles the authority of the Catholike Church did mooue me thereunto I (b) cont Faustum lib. 15. c. 3. must needs beleeue the acts of the Apostles if I beleeue the Ghospell because both those Scriptures the Catholike authority doth equally commend vnto me It being of necessity that one of those bookes must be fals speaking of the acts of the Apostles and of some other Apocriphy booke to which do you thinke we should rather giue credit either vnto it which the Church began by Christ himselfe continued by the Apostles with a constant course of succession euen vnto those tymes dilated ouer all the world doth acknowledge approue to haue beene deliuered and conserued or vnto that which the same Church doth reiect as vnknowne Those whom I beleeued saying vnto me Beleeue the Ghospell why should I not obey saying vnto me beleeue not Manichaeus Choose which thou wilt If thou sayst Beleeue the Catholikes they admonish me not to beleeue you Wherfore beleeuing them it is of necessity that I beleeue not you If thou say Beleeue not the Catholiks thou canst not with any reason compell me to beleeue Manichaeus because I beleeued the Ghospel it selfe by the preaching of the Catholikes If thou say thou didst well to beleeue them preaching the Ghospell but thou didest not well to beleeue them discommending Manichaeus dost thou thinke me such a foole as without any reason giuen to beleeue what thou wilt haue me and what thou wilt not not to beleeue Be not deceiued with the name of truth speaking as to the person of the Catholike Church the truth thou only hast in thy milke and in thy bread but in this Church of the Manichies or any other which is not Catholike there is the name of truth but the truth it selfe is not And of thy great ones thou art secure I frame my speach to thy little ones I call to thy tender issue that with garrulous curiosity they be not seduced from thee but rather let him be accursed of them who shall preach otherwise then that which they haue receiued in thee Know (c) Conc. ad Cathecum cap. 20. beloued that true sayth true peace and eternall saluation is only in the Catholike Faith For it is not in a Corner but it is euery where if any man depart from it and deliuer himselfe ouer to the errour of Heretikes he shall be iudged 〈◊〉 fugitiue seruant and no adopted sonne neither shall he rise to eternall life but rather to eternall damnation By (d) cort Faust l. 13. cap. 13. what manifest signe therefore I being yet a little one or a yong scholler and not able to discerne the pure truth from so many errours by what manifest token shall I know the Church of Christ in whome with so great manifestation of things fortold I am compelled to belieue the Prophet followeth on and hauing as it were orderly heard the difficulty or doubt of mynd of this new beginner Hier. 17. he sheweth him the Church of Christ fortold to be the same which is more apparant and
Church according to the Scriptures must needs haue been one chiefe cause of those swarmes of Athiests in Protestant Countreyes whereof their principall writers do so much complayne Whereat I wonder nothing at all For to what end did our Sauiour come into the world but only to espouse his Church in Faith To what end did he instruct her with his preaching redeeme her with his death and Passion and sanctify her with his holy Spirit augment and confirme her with the labours of his Apostles and with the bloud of so many millions of Martyrs but only to make her such a glorious Kingdome euen vpon earth according to all the former Prophesies so constant so stronge so imoueable that she should vphold the glory of his name against Princes and Potentats against Kings and Emperours against Schismaticks Heretikes and wicked Christians and against all the force of the world and on the Diuell himselfe that would seeke withall his arts and engines to suppresse it Wherefore if our Sauiour be the true Messias whose Name was foretold to be Deusfortis Emmanuel Esa 9 6. Esa 7.15 the strong God God with vs and who according to his owne speach came into the world to bynd the strong man which is to say the Diuell that held all the world in peaceful captiuity before his comming then it must needs follow that the Kingdome which he erected shall stand for euer Matt. 16.18 and that the Gates of hâ—ll shall not preuaile against it But on the contrary side if it were true which the Protestants affirme that his Church hath erred ceasing to be the true Church or which is all one that his Kingdome was destroyed and that there came one after him stronger then himselfe that is to say the Diuell who did bynd his body whereof he was the head defiled his Spouse bereaued him of this Kingdome Matt. 12.20 and tooke his vessells and riches from him then of necessity it must be granted either that the former Prophesies of him were not true and that the Scripture is false or els that our Sauiour was not the true Messias who contrary to the Prophets and to his owne promises and protestations to maintayne his Church for euer hath suffered it to perish and therfore was not able to defend it This argument therefore of the largnes glory contynuance visibility and inuincible constancy of the Church is of great force to induce any man whatsoeuer whether he haue the Name or not so much as the Name of a ChristiaÌ„ to become a Catholike For the Scriptures euen as they are in the hands of our enemyes the Iewes â—iâ—t full of the Prophesies of those excellent perfectioÌ„s of the Kingdom of Christ which according to the present tymes and according to the historyes of all former ages we shewe to haue been performed since the death of Christ in the Catholike Church that was planted by himselfe and propagated by his holy spirit which according to his promise was giuen to his Apostles and their successours after them to remayne with them for euer And if it be manifest that this world in respect of the beauty and perfection therof Rom. 1. is the worke of Gods hand condemning all those that do not acknowledge him to be the Creatour of it much more manifest is it Eph. 5.27 that this glorious Kingdome and Church is the worke of God wherein he sheweth the riches of his power of his wisedome and of his infynit goodnes condemning all those that will not acknowledge it and subiect themselues to the gouerment therof SECTION XXIIII Foure other particuler motiues of the Conuersion of Nations of the Miracles of the Martyrdoms and of the vnion of the members of the Catholike Church are briefly propounded VNDER these generall tearmes of Holy Catholike Church are comprised many other partiticuler gifts and graces which being all supernaturall and diuine ech of them is a sufficient motiue to perswade any mans coÌ„science that the Catholike Church is the only blessed of God and the elected spouse of Christ our Sauiour Whereof being entred into this matter of Motiues I thinke good to giue instance in some few remitting you for the rest to other Catholike authours who haue treated more largely of this matter Diuers therfore haue been induced to belieue that the Catholike Fayth is the only true Religion by obseruing that all Nations and Countreys which at any tyme professed the Name of Christ haue been conuerted by Catholikes alone And in this last age since the Protestant religion began they haue reduced and subiected very many Kingdomes vnto the yoke of Christ whereof Philippus Nicolaus Coment de reg Christil 1. pag. 315. p. 52. Sym. Lyth in respons altera ad alteram Gretseri Apol. p. 331. Tertul. de praescrip c. 42. a Protestant numbreth more then 20. In so much as another Protestant in his answere to Gretser the Iesuit sayth The Iesuits within the space of a few yeares c. haue filled Asia Affrick and America with their Idols Whereas in the meane tyme the Protestants haue only sowne tares among the wheat atteÌ„ding as Tertullian sayd of the Heretikes of his tyme not to conuert the heathen but to peruert those that were before conuerted And although they haue sundry tymes attempted to conuert some heathen with hope to possesse their Countreys yet no King or Kingdome or Countrey or Prouince Sarauia in defension tract de diuersis gradibus Ministrorum pag. 309. was euer conuerted by them And Beza sayth plainly that the Protestants may leaue such peregrinatious to those locusts that belieue the Name Iesus Which conuersions of so many sauage and barbarous Nations by the words of a few poore men with a little broken language to imbrace a Religion so far aboue the reach of Nature and in respect of the austerity therof so contrary to flesh bloud and especially to their former intemperate liues and brutish customes as it shewath Gods promises by the Prophets to be dayly fullfilled in them and proueth our Church thereby to be the Church of Christ So it is most euident that their conuerters were supernaturally assisted by the strength of Gods Arme which is sufficient to perswade any indifferent man that the doctrine they preach can be no other then the true Ghospell reuealed by Christ to his owne Apostles Which also is a manifest token that the grounds of Christianity and of our Catholike doctrine are the very same And that the Protestants for want of them can neuer conuert any Heathen Nation to Christian religion denying as they do the grounds therof which are the same with the grounds of the Catholike doctrine Secondly therefore many haue submitted themselues to the obedience of the Catholike Church by consideratioÌ„ of those notorious miracles which in all ages haue beene wrought therin being such marks of truth as no man can deny them to be the seales of God and the signes of his owne hand If I should