and their lawfull Princes he will not only pardon without exception but he will abette them in their deuilish deuised and perswade them forward in their damnable courses till at last when it is too late for them to repent they will if they take not good héed in time féele the â—â—art of it in hell tormentes together for euer What the religon of Rome is may appéere by this that any man for monie may get a pardoÌ„ for his sins then what sin néed rich men feare to commit when a Popes pardon will saiue all or how can it be otherwise than a religion of licentiousnes when for mony a man may haue a licence of dispensation against any sin whatsoeuer These things be such open blottes to the Romish religion as that worthily euery good and godly minde hath it in detestation doth iustly condemne it Yet further will I prooue that the Church of Rome cannot be the true Church possibly 1 The Church of Rome doth hold that the diuine and sacred Scriptures doo not containe all things necessarie to saluation but their vnwritten traditions must forsooth all bée receiued with equall and lyke authoritie for so hath theyr Councell of Trent determined And Pope Leâ— the fourth feareth not to pronounce with a loud voice That hee that receyueth not without difference the Popish Cannons as well as the foure Gospels beleeueth not aright nor holdeth the Catholike faith effectually The decretall Epistles also they number with the Canonical scriptures And Pope Agathe saith that all the sanctions and decrées of their Romish Sea are to bee taken as stablished by the diuine voice Which blasphemies who can abyde For heereby they make both the Scriptures imperfect and not so content doe further adde vnto those Scriptures Wherein they commit two notable sinnes first accusing the sacred and canonical scriptures that they containe not al matters necessary to saluation which is directly contrary to the testimonie of S. Iohn who saith that these things are written that ye may beleeue that in beleuing ye may haue life eternal and cleane contrary to the testimonie of Saint Paul who saith That the Scriptures giuen by diuine inspiration are profitable to reproue to teach to correct to instruct and perfect the man of God 2. Tim 3.15 Ergo the Scriptures or word of God written is a true sound and perfect whole doctrine containing in it selfe fully all things néedfull for our saluation Yea Saint Paule saith expressely to Timothie That the Scriptures are able to make him wise vnto saluation 2. Tim. 3.13 And therefore the Church of Rome béeing cleane contradictorie dooth marueilously erre and therefore also we néed none of theyr vnwritten traditions And againe how should we bée assured that those traditions which they call Apostolicall be Apostolicall considering them not written by the Apostles Augustine speaking hereof saith thus Si qua retinuit Iesus Christus quis nostrum dicet hoc vel illud esse Et si quis hoc dicat quomodo probabit That is If Iesus Christ haue kept any thing close which of vs shall say that it is this or that And if anie say it is this how wilâ— hee proue it For all the errors of the Church of Rome shrowd themselues vnder the harbour of traditions And Chrysostom saith flatly whatsoeuer is requisite for our saluation is conteined in the Scriptures And againe hee saith All thinges bee cleare and plaine in the Scriptures and whatsoeuer thinges be needfull be manifest there And Ierome in the prologue of the Bible to Paulyne after hée had recited the bookes of the new Testament and the old saith thus I pray thee deare brother among these liue muse vpon these know nothing else seeke for none other thing And againe vpon the bookes of the olde and new Testament These writings be holie these bookes bee sound there is none other to bee compared to these whatsoeuer is beside these may in no wise bee receaued amongst these holy things And againe hée saith All other thinges which they seeke out or inuent at their pleasure without the authority testimony of the Scriptures as though they were the traditions of the Apostles the word of God cutteth off Let vs therefore stand fast to the written word of God and as for their traditions which they cannot prooue but obtrude vnto vs without testimonie of Scriptures let vs contemne them For as Athanasius saith the holy Scriptures inspired from God are sufficient to all instruction of the truth And as for the other point of the Papists in equalling and adding of their traditions their decretall Epistles and Canons to the pure and diuine word of God it is a blasphemy intollerable and who can indure it For doth not God say thus Yee shall put nothing to the word which I commaunde you neither take ought there from Deut. 4. And againe he saith whatsoeuer I commaund you that take heede yee doe onely to the Lord put nothing thereto not take ought therefrom And doth not S. Iohn in his Reuelation say that if any man adde to this thinge God shall adde vnto him the plagues which are written in this booke and shall take away his part out of the booke of life I conclude therefore that the Church of Rome which doth not content hir selfe with the sacred and Holie Scripture which the chast spouse of Christ euermore doth is not the true Church of God for there she sheweth hir selfe to beare the marke of a strumpet But when shée procéedeth and addeth hir owne traditions Decretall Epistles and Cannons to the word written and maketh them to be of as good and equall authoritie as the Canonicall and sacred Scriptures themselues What greater pride could haue bin shewed or what higher blasphemie But these are the right notes of an adulteresse to equall hirself with her husband Yea What should I say more They holde that the authoritie of the Church is aboue the Scriptures which sheweth fullie the notable pride and spirituall whoredome of their Church 2 The Church of Rome is Idolatrous and therfore it is not the true Church They fall downe before Idolls and Images as the heathen did and therfore commit Idollatrie as the heathen did I speake for the manner of their worship for the heathen how soeuer they worshipped not the true God yet they thought they worshiped the true God and their meaning was to worship the the true God in the Image or Idoll as the Papists likewise doo meane for they say they be not such fooles as to thinke or beléeue that an Image or Idoll made of wood or stone could bée God neither were the heathen so foolish as to thinke or beléeue that their Idolles or Images were God for they knew they were made of wood or stone or such like but as they tooke it they worshipped God in the Image as the Papists say they doo and therefore the case for the manner of worship is all
them saying He that slayeth his enemie or is slaine of his enemie let him enter possesse paradise he spake like a man with a carnal spirit teaching reuenge to the vttermost prâ—mising paradise to such but no proofe of a diuine spirit appeareth in him 6 As Mahomets religion is defended by force of sword and fraud insomuch as hée made it death to cal it into question so likewise did it begin as by force of sword so likewise by notable fraud was established through wiles deceit subtiltie and lyes for first he hauing the falling sicknes perswaded his wife and others that it was the power of God the presence of the Angell Gabriel that caused him to fall downe Sergius the hereticall Monke was at hande and bare false witnes to the same saith Zonaras He told them that the same Deue which hee taught to féede at his care was sometime an Angell and sometime the holy Ghost He had thrée companions all of a confederacie to deuise and face out lyes with him When hee perceiued that men gaue eare to him he feigned that the Angell Gabriel had carryed him to Ierusalem thence to haue lifted him vp to heauen and there to haue learned his law Hee made the Saracens beléeue that before God made the world there was written in the throne of God There is no God but the God of Mahomet When hee had framed his Alcoran and bound it vp faire he caused secretly a wilde asse to bée taken and the booke to be bound about his necke and as he preached vnto the people vpon a sodaine hée stood amazed as if some great secrecie were reuealed to him from aboue he brake out and tolde the people Behold God hath sent you a lawe from heauen goe to such a desert there yee shall find an Asse and a booke tyed about his necke The people ran in great hast they found it so as hee had saide they take the Asse they bring the booke they honour the Prophet Touching diuorced and separated wiues hée tolde the Saracens he had receiued a paper from heauen He vsed sooth-saying and diuination the which at Fessa a Cittie of Mauritania vnto this day is called Zarragia He perswaded his followers that at the end of the world hée should bée transformed into the forme of a mightie Ramme full of lacks and long fléeces of wooll that all that held of his lawe should bée as fleas shrouding themselues in his fléeces and that he would iumpe into heauen and so conuey them all thither These and such like were his sleightes to beguile a foolish rude and barbarous country people the foolerie pride and vanitie of whose religion I trust euery one doth sufficiently perceiue 7 Mahomets Religion is no true Religion but a méere deuise of his owne and of thrée others his false conspirators for hée hath patched together his Alcoran of the doctrine of Heathens Indians and Arabians of superstitious Iewes of Rechabites of false Christians and Heretikes as Nestorians Sabellians Manichées Arrians Cerinthians Macedonians Eunomians and Nicholaits of illusions and inuentions of their owne and lastly for further credit hée borrowed some out of the old and new Testament But God will not thus bée serued for hée deliuered his mind of old vnto Israell and hée is not chaunged but continueth the same God still Ye shall not saith God doe euerie man what seemeth him good in his owne eyes Whatsoeuer I command you take heed you doe it thou shalt put nothing thereto nor take ought there from Satan béeing coniured to deliuer the truth of the Alcoran of Mahomet said that therein were comprised twelue thousand lyes and the rest was truth by all likelyhood verie little And therfore I conclude that there is no euidence to proue Mahomet a true Prophet many to proue him to bée a false Prophet and blasphemous and presumptuous and his Religion to bée a wicked carnall absurd and false Religion procéeding from a proud spirit and humane subtill and corrupt inuention and euen from the deuill the craftie father of lies a murderer and mankiller from the beginning And so much héereof may suffise CHAP. V. VVherein is shewed that the Church of Rome is not the true Church of God nor obserueth the right Religion I Am nowe entring into that great controuersie betwéene the Protestantes the Papistes whether of them should bée the true Church and true worshippers of God in Christ for they both acknowledge God and Christ his son and all the sacred and canonicall books of the scriptures they confes to come from God from his diuine spirit as indéede they could come from no other But whiles they both confesse this booke it is good reason that they shoulde both stand to the arbitrement and iudgement of these bookes for the trial of the true Church which if they doo as indéed they must this controuersie is at an end and not worthy to be made a question or to be doubted of for by the sacred canonicall writinges it shal by and by be manifest that the Church of Rome cannot bee the true Church possibly But first let vs hear what it saith for it selfe what good groundes it hath for the fortification thereof For if it bee not builded vpon a good foundation and vpon such sure groundes as will holde the whole building is like to lie in the dust and to come to ruine 1 They hold very stiffely but not so strongly that the Church of God militant here vpon earth is euer visible to the outward eye and may bee pointed out by the finger at al times in such sort as that any one may know thither to resort as to the congregation of Gods people there to ioine himselfe vnto them to praise and pray vnto God with them and to do those things which he requireth at their hands But al this gain of profit them nor hurt vs for as in the Primitiue Churches persecuted by those tyrannicall heathen Emperors there was a Church of God though not seem of them who had their meetings assemblies amongst themselues though secretly because of their enemies so likewise in the dayes of Quéene Marie as also in all other times of the persecution of our Church by the Romish Bishops and their partakers our Church no doubt was and might be and they likewise haue their méetinges and assemblies though both they and the place of their resort were vnknowne to those their persecutors In the time of Dioclesian the Emperour especially Christians were so wasted as to the iudgement of men none were remaining theyr bookes were burned the Churches destroyed and themselues put to death in the end when this great hauock was made and crueltie had wasted and destroyed all that could be found where was then the visible church It must néedes then bée enforced to hide it selfe and so it was and the glorie thereof so eclipsed that for a wâ—ylâ— it shined
no where And therefore the Church is not alwaies visible and seene to the outward eye nor splendent in the faces and sight of men yet a true church notwithstanding as then it was for it is the Sumâ—e though it bee sometimes ouerwhelmed with a cloud and it is fire still though it bée sometime raked vp in Embers and so the true Church is and may bee although not séene or known to the worlde yea though it séeme ouerwhelmed with tyrannicall malice and hide it selfe as though it were cleane extinct 2 Let them tell mée where the Church was visible when béeing assembled at Ierusalem there arose a great persecution against it insomuch as they were all dispersed and scattered as the Text sheweth Or let them tell mee where or how the Church was visible when Christ was smitten and all the rest were scattered and hid and concealed themselues the face of the visible Church was then not in Christ his Apostles but in the Iewes among the Scribes Pharisées and therefore it visibility bee such a marke of the true Church then these who crucified Christ were the true church and not Iesus Christ his Apostles Which who dare affirme yea who will not denie yea when the shepheard was smitten and the shéep scattered and yet a true Church who can denie bâ—â— that a true Church may bée though it bée not apparantly visible and séene to the world What should I say more Doth not S. Iohn in his Reuelation testifie expressely That the Church of Christ signified there by a woman fugit in solitudinem fled into a desert or wildernes where shee had a place prepared for her of God and where she could not for a certaine season bée found of her persecutors Let them further shew mée how the Church was visibly in the time of Elias the Prophet when he complained that himselfe was left alone O Lord saith he they haue forsaken thy couenant they haue destroyed thine Altar slaine thy Prophets with the sword and I am left alone Elias did not thinke himselfe to be solus Propheta relictus as Campion answered in the Tower I say hee spake not of himselfe onely in that respect but in this respect that hée tooke him to bee the onely true worshipper that was left in Israell which is manifest by the answere which God gaue him namely that beside him he had seuen thousand true worshippers yet remaining which had not bowed their knée to Baall I demand of the Papists when Elias knew no other true worshippers of God but himself how the church was visible for whither hee should go to finde a true worshipper he knew not Againe it is written in 2. King 16. that vnder the raigne of Achas there was taken a patterne of the Altar of the Idolaters of Damasâ—us and that Vrias the high Priest remooued the Altar of the Lorde whereby it appeareth that the Priesthood was corrupted the Altar remoued consequently the sacrifices ceased c. What visibilitie of the true Church could there be in those daies either of Achas Manasses and other kings being Idolaters when the Temple it selfe where onely by the law of God the Iewes were to offer the sacrifices was polluted and defiled with heathenish Idolatry What Church or Congregation could any man in this case haue resorted vnto to haue performed a true and acceptable sacrifice vnto God in those times when the Temple of Ierusalem which was the place to worship at would admit no true worshippers but onely Idolaters It is therefore manifest that a true Church may be though they know not a congregation of God to resort to yea though it bée close and not séene or knowne one to the other nor yet to the world And consequently visibility which the Papists make a marke of the Church is no perpetuall marke thereof Yea if such visibility should be a marke of the true Church then were the Idolatrous people in the time of Elias in the time of Achas Manasses and many other kings of Israell that were Idolaters the true Church who indéede were the false Church And then were Elias and all other the true worshippers of God who had in those times no places left to sacrifice in the false Church which is absurde Chrysostom saith that in the times of the abhomination of desolation spoken of by Christ Iesus in Math. 24. that is in the time of wicked heresie which is the armie of Antichrist as he expoundeth it Nulla probatio potest esse Christianitatis neque effugium potest esse Christianorum aliud volentium cognoscere fidei veritatem nisâ— scripturae diuinae No proofe can be made of Christianitie neither can there bee any other refuge for Christians which are desirous to knowe the truâ— faith but onely the diuine Scriptures And therefore I conclude which is apparant that the true Church sometime is in such a state as that visiblenes cannot discerne or proue it but only the diuine scriptures must demonstrate declare it And consequently it is demonstratiuely manifest that it is no true position of the Papists that the Church of God is alwaies and euermore visible seene and splendent to the outward eye and view of the world Wherefore the Papists do vs great iniury and bewray their owne ignorance when they would haue vs to shewe our Church in all times ages which notwithstanding perhaps may bée done for our Church was alwaies though it were not seene or knowne to them but lay bid and kept it selfe close from their fury and tyranny as the first and primitiue Churches did from their bloody persecutors Our Church was then persecuted in those times when it could not be séene many then like constant Martyrs endured the tyranny of that Romish religion so that some were banished others fled into other Nations some indured Martyrdome at home some other hid themselues but the whole Church generally was vexed and oppressed And therefore when our Church was thus persecuted it is a good argument I thinke to say Wée had our Church then and alwaies though a persecuted Church though a Church chased and pursued though a Church scattered though a Church not séene or visible to them yea though in it selfe it were inlightened from God many ages together Namely till the tyrranny eâ— Antichrist were ouerpast Secondly Another erronious position whereby they are miserably deceaued is this They hold the Church cannot erre And therefore suppose because the Church of Rome was once the true Church of God therefore it is so now and euermore As though there might not be an Apostacie in the Church which Saint Paul affirmeth there should Or as though a perticular Church for the Church of Rome is but a perticular Church could not erre Yea as though general Counsels which represent the whole Church could not erre for so they affirme but how truely let the world iudge And if it may be shewed that generall Counsels
haue erred or may erre then they yéeld their cause in this behalfe I wish they would for their owne sakes for false Iesuits Seminaries doo but deceaue themselues others to their owne confusion in this world and except they repent in the world to come That generall Counsels may erre is manifest by Augustine who plainly teacheth that only the Scriptures cannot erre al other writers may erre Prouinciall Counsels may erre lastly hée saith Concilia quae fiunt ex vniuerso orbe Christiano priora posterioribus sape emendari cum aliquo experimento rerum aperitur quod clausum erat cognoscitur quod latebat That generall Councels which are gathered of all the Christian worlde are often corrected the former by the latter when by any triall of things that is opened which was shut and that is knowen which was hidden A generall Councell may be corrected saith Augustine Ergo it may erre And therfore Augustine speaketh plainly to Maximinian the Bishop of the Arrians Neither ought I to alledge the Councel of Nice nor thou the Councel of Arrimine to take aduantage thereby for neither am I bound nor held by the authoritie of this nor thou of that Set matter with matter cause with cause or reason with reason trie the matter by the authoritie of Scriptures not proper witnesses to any of vs but indifferent witnesses to vs both In the time of Constantine that Christian Emperour was the first and last Counsell of Nice wherin according to our Créede was decréed that Christ was God as well as man In the time of Constantius Constantinus sonne fauouring the errour of the Arrians it was decréed in the Counsell of Arimine that Christ was not God but onely man This Counsell of Arimine did erre and that grosely in a matter of faith Ergo it is palpable that a generall Counsel may erre euen in matters of faith Againe generall Counsels haue béene contrary one to the other and that in matters of faith as the Counsell of Constantinople condemned the setting vp of Images in the Church and the Counsell of Nice afterward allowed Images One of their being contrary must néeds be errours Ergo A generall Counsell may erre The generall Counsell confesseth of it selfe that it may erre For the whole Counsell prayeth in the end of a generall Counsell in a set forme of praier that iâ— appointed to bée saide after euery Counsell namely that God would Ignorantiae ipsorum parcere errori indulgere Spare their ignorance and pardon their errour Ergo a generall Counsell may erre The Pope of Rome whom the Papists holde for head of their Church may erre Ergo their whole Church may erre Augustine proueth it erres Beatae memoria Innocentius Papa sine baptismo Christi sine participatione corporis sanguinis Christi vitam non babere paruulos docet Behold Pope Innocentius of blessed memory doth teach that yong childreÌ„ cannot be saued except they receiue the baptisme of Christ and also the communion of the body and blood of Christ. But this is taxed for an errour Ergo the Pope of Rome can erre and consequently the whole Church vnder him except perchaunce members haue a priuiledge aboue the head But what shall I néed to stand hereupon their owne Cannon law as is euident in the decrées doth say expressely that if the Pope bee found negligent of his owne and his brethrens saluation yea thogh he lead innumerable people by heaps to the deuill of hell no mortall man may presume to reproue him because he himselfe béeing to iudge all is to bée iudged of none nisi deprehendatur a fide deuius except he be found erring from the faith wherby it appeareth that they thought hee might erre in matters of faith or else that exception was put in in vaine But the Pope is no other than a man as also all the members of his Church bée and humanum est errare all men are subiect to errour Let euery man take héed how he trusteth the Pope or any man mortall for it is written Iere. 17. Maledictus homo qui in homine confidit Cursed is that man that putteth his trust in man And why because as the kingly Prophet Dauid saith Psa. 116. All men are liers in their wordes and sinners in their works But when the doctrine of that man of Rome and of his Church is in diuers things clâ—ane contrary to the expresse word of God who can denie but it is an apparant erring Church As when it stablished ignorance to bée the mother of deuotion which Christ calleth the mother of errour saying Yee erre not knowing the Scriptures Math. 22. â—9 Who can chuse but think that it hath no good meaning in it but purposed onely to build vy the pride of the Pope of his Cardinals Bishoppes Priests Monkes and other their ecclesiasticall men Christ biddeth the people to search the Scriptures Iohn 5 39. â—â—is Antichrist forbiddeth them saying it is perâ—lous it causeth schismes sectes and heresies as though they were wiser than Christ. Againe the Apostle Paule commandeth That the word of God should dwell plenteously in the people whereby they might teach themselues Collos. 3.16 But the Pope of Rome and his Church alloweth not plentifâ—l knowledge of the word in them yea ignorance is the knowledge that hee would desire them to haue Who would not iustly suspect such a Church such a Religion yea condemne it when to maintaine and continue their Church in errours they would haue none of the people to search any scriptures whereby they might bée discouered Thus the sillie Papistes whom I pittie are lead like blind men they knowe not whither and with their implicita fides which is to beléeue for their part they know not what are lamentably seduced It is good themselues should sée know what they beléeue and that their faith and beléefe be right least at last they be through euer much trust of their teachers extremely deceiued The people of Berca were highly commended and it is noted to their praise that they searched the scriptures to sée whether those thinges were true or no which Paule himselfe teached Acts 17. For whosoeuer he bee yea though it were an Angell from heauen if hée teach matters contrary to the doctrine of the holy canonical scriptures we are to held him accursed yea and accursed againe as the Apostle of Christ Iesus S. Paule commandeth Gal. 1.8.9 Againe the Church of Rome when it taught and holdeth that the Scriptures were to bee made vnto the people or congregation in an vnknowne tongue what were the people the wiser Saint Paule would haue all thinges owne to ediffyng in the Church For sayth Saint Paeule Is qui supplet locum indoctiquomodo dicturus est Amen ad tuam gratiarum actionem quaâ— do quidem quid dicas nescit How shall hee that supplyeth the place of an vnlearned man saye Amen to thy thankes giuing when hee vnderstandeth not what thou
auaileable But faith and works must goe together and indéede where a true faith is there good works will shew themselues as the fruits thereof And thus Paul and Iames are to bee reconciled which thing Thomas Aquinas a schooleman of the Papists doth himselfe plainely testifie saying that Christ Iesus doth iustifie effectiuè effectually Faith doth iustifie apprehensiuè by taking hold of Christ and good works doo iustifie declaratiuè that is doo declare vnto men their iustification before God And so it is cleare that howsoeuer a true faith cannot bee without workes as fire cannot bee without light and heate yet our iustification before God is to bee imputed to our faith not to our works as warmth is to bee imputed to the heate of the fire not to the light of the fire For so saith saint Paul expressely That God imputeth righteousnes without works Rom. 4.6 And againe That it is by grace not of workes Rom. 11.6 And againe Not of workes Rom. 9.11 Againe saint Paul telleth the Saints at Ephesus that God hath ordained men to walke in good workes yet he saith that they may not trust to be saued by them for he affirmeth and assureth them That they are saued by grace and not by their works Eph. 28.9.10 Againe he speaketh in the person of himselfe of all the children of God and saith that wee are saued not by workes but by his predestination and grace 2. Tim 1.9 And againe God is our Sauiour not for any-workes which wee haue done but according to his owne mercie hee hath saued vs Tit. 3.5 And diuers other like places bée Wherefore saint Hillary hath these very words which we hold Sola fides iustificat Faith only doth iustifie And Ambrose among other sentences hath this Non iustificà ri hominem apud Deum nisi per fidem That a man is not iustified before God but by Faith Which is as much as Faith onely doth iustifie before God Saint Basil doth say that this is perfect and sound reioycing in God when a man doth not boast of his owne righteousnes but knoweth that he wanteth in himselfe true righteousnes and that he is iustified by faith onely And Gregory Nazianzen saith that to beléeue onely is righteousnes And therfore it is euident both by the expresse testimony of the Scriptures and of the Fathers that wee holde the truth in this behalfe and that the Church of Rome is in a maruellous errour It is true which is written that euery man shall bee rewarded according to his works because the faith of men is estéemed and estimated by their workes as the frée is knowne by the trust But there is no Text of scripture to shewe that any man is saued propter merita for his works or merits but many Texts of scripture to the contrary as before appeareth For when we haue done all that we can yet we must say as Christ commaundeth Wee are vnprofitable seruaunts Luke 17.10 And therefore the Papists which teach workes meritorious yea workes of supererogation availeable to saluation as well for others as for themselues holde not the right faith and consequently are not the true Church 8 But if I should shew all the corruptions of the Rómish Church I should be infinite neither am I able to number them I will therefore conclude all this discourse onely with this argument following The Pope of Rome being the head of that Church is that famous Antichrist that was foretold by Paull the Apostle and that is presignified in the reuelation of Saint Iohn Ergo it is impossible that the Church of Rome should be the true Church for the Church of Antichrist though it boast neuer so much cannot bée the true Church though it would faine bee so accounted as many an harlot desireth to bee reputed an honest woman one marke of that Antichrist Paull sheweth to be this 2. Thes. 2.8 that he should exalt him selfe aboue euerie one that is called God hee doth not say aboue God but aboue euery one that is called God Iohn 10.34 Nowe those whome the Scriptures calleth God we know to be such as be the Iudges Magistrates of the earth Psa. 81.6 who for that they bee in the place of God and his Lieutenants are vouchsafed in Scripture this high and Honourable title is to bee called Gods That the Pope of Rome is such a one as doth exalt himselfe aboue any such God of the Earth namely aboue all Princes and Magistrates is a thinge so well knowne as I néede not to prooue it himselfe by his wicked practises and his Iesuits Seminaries and Patrons doe in their bookes manifest the same vnto the world 2 An other marke of Antichrist Paul setteth downe to be this namely 2. Thes. 2.4 that hee should sit in the Temple of God as God shewing himselfe to be God And I pray what doth the Pope els but sit in the Temple of God as God When claiming the Apostolike Sea he taketh vpon him to bee the head of the Church and to rule it as he list to erect Princes and to depose them againe from their thrones that hee cannot erre that hee can forgiue sinnes matters that belong peculiarly to God and to no other What doth hee els but by these demonstrations shew himselfe to be God insomuch as hee arrogateth to himselfe most proudly the authority of God himselfe which things the Sixt booke of the Decretals the Clemantines and the Extrauagants doe abundantly testifie For these men were not content with that which Angelicus wrote in his Poetry the beginning whereof is Papa stupor mundi the Pope is the wonder of the world Nec Deus es nec homo sed neuter inter vtrumque Thou art not God ne art thou man But neuter mixt of both But these Popes were bold to take vnto themselues the verie name of God and to accept it giuen of others according as Pope Sixtus the fourth when he should first enter into Rome in his dignitie papall had made for him a Pageant of Triumph cunningly fixed vpon that gate of the Citie he should enter at hauing written vpon it this Blaspemous verse dedicated vnto him Oraclo vocis mundi moderaris habenis Et merito in terris crederis esse Deus By Oracle of thine owne voice the worlde thou gouernest all And worthy lie a God on Earth men thinke and doe thee call Yea shall I say more The Pope if any man in the world doth take vpon him such more than Luciferian pride howsoeuer to deceaue the worlde with wordes he calleth himselfe seruus seruorum Dei a seruant of the seruants of God that he exalteth himselfe aboue God himselfe and his worship for hee taketh vpon him to bée aboue the Scriptures and to dispense with them at his pleasure and to allow matters contrarie vnto them which God himselfe whose will is immutable and reuealed therein will not doe for he and his worde will not be contrarie Againe héereby it is manifest that he exalteth