before eyther had or presently did feele their euil and sought remedy in his merite Vnder the first the Church was visible amongst men but if you compare those which serued God in puritie with the others we shal finde that they were entangled in a wonderfull confusion Vnder the second the Church was visible in one people issued from the loynes of Abraham to witte the people of Israel but not so eminent if we consider not so much what the countrie as the people themselues were in comparison of the rest of the whole world and the great Empires that florished at that time Vnder the third is comprehended all peoples nations without any exception or acception whatsoeuer being nowe visible in one Countrey or other fewe or many and therefore we call her Catholique or vniuersal to witte which is to â—â—ore tyed to the familie of Iacob nor to Ierusalem as vnder the second estate or age for from all partes it ought to be gathered there but who adopteth for childreÌ„ of Israel of Abraham in all places those that haue the fayth of Abraham and for citizens of Ierusalem all the citizens of the world which serue God in spirite and trueth This is that which Christ hath taught vs when he sent forth his Apostles into all the world and S. Paul when hee sayth that the wall is broken downe that there is no more Iew nor Greek but that al are one in Iesus Christ that which is noted vnto vs in the Apocalypse by the Citie hauing xii gates three into euery quarter of the world In which also after the Prophets and Apostles the auncient doctors of the Church agree that after the vocation of the Gentiles there is not any nation or citie more priuiledged then another but that all the world is the threshing floore the field and inheritance of the lord All peoples is Iuda and Israel all cities Ierusalem all houses the house of God so that he be there worshipped serued so far is it of that at this day any place what soeuer it be may attribute any spirituall prerogatiue more to it selfe theÌ„ to another This vniuersal Church comprehendeth vnder her all the particular Churches gathered together in diuers parts of the world the which likewise we cal the ChristiaÌ„ Churches that is to say assemblies which cal vpon one only God by Iesus Christ as the East Church West Church the Greek Church and the Latine Church the Church of Corinth the Church of Galatia of Ephesus of Rome of Carthage notwithstaÌ„ding to speake properly not Catholike or vniuersal but parts of the Catholique or vniuersall No more then when we speake of some parts of the Ocean sea we call all those the sea as the South sea the North sea the Athlantique sea the Cantabrique sea and the Britannique sea c. and we say of al these it is the Ocean sea And yet notwithstanding we knowe that there is but one Ocean and not many whereof by these names we make many distinctions seeing it is but one body vniforme from which the vnion cannot be seuered but only distinguished as wee ought also to acknowledge in the Church And therefore he that saith that the Church of Rome the Catholique Church is al one he speaketh no lesse improperly theÌ„ he that should say that the Britannique sea were the whole Ocean sea or the Tyrrhene sea it self which yet is but a part of the MediterraneuÌ„ sea Nowe the visible Church is in the worlde and the worlde as we may feele in our selues is an vncleane worlde therefore liuing vnder such an infected ayre it is impossible but that shee shoulde be defiled and drawe vnto her much corruption It is also compounded of men and outwardly gouerned by men and all men are flesh and blood and by a consequent corrupt and imperfect subiect to ignorance and malice It is then possible that sometimes shee be corrupted and impossible that in this world she appeare in any sound perfection Notwithstanding because the Scripture sometymes in speaking hauing regard to that which is reputed vnto her in consideration of Iesus Christ her husband before God and sometimes also not according to that she is but according to that shee ought to be not so much to praise her as to prouoke her to make her selfe worthy of that praise shee is graunted these titles of the Churche to which she is not alwayes conformed be it that we consider her in the men whereof she is composed or the doctrine it selfe that is taught in her She is called the kingdome of heauen or the kingdome of Christ but Christ Iesus which is the king himself that raigneth in her compareth her vnto a net cast into the sea which draweth vp to him both good and bad fishe This then is as much to say as in this kingdome of heauen the deuill hath his subiects which perteyne to his tyrannie Saint Paul also there calleth vs the house of God and exhorteth vs to take heede howe we there behaue our selues but the selfe same Paul would not hide this from vs that in the same house there are not onely vessels of golde and of siluer but also of woode and of earth the one I say to honour and the other to dishonour whereof Saint Augustine hath taken his distinction of those that are in the house and yet are not of the house And this that we confesse in our Creede it selfe that the Church is the Communion of Saints it is not meant that all they which are there assembled are sanctified by the spirite of God in Christ but rather that there is no true Communion no true holinesse but in the Church calling it as we are alwayes accustomed by the best part And thus much of the corruption of the persons Concerning the doctrine she is called his spouse altogether faire and without spotte the faithfull Citie the Citie of righteousnes the temple of God and the piller of trueth By these goodly titles she should be stirred vp to please him who vouchsafeth to call her by these names and to be obedient vnto him In meane time it oftentimes falleth out that the Church gouerned by naughtie Pastors presumeth to be such as her titles set her foorth to be and that she can neuer be any other so that shee dareth to say I am a Queene and can be no widowe and so maketh voide the goodnesse of God through which alone shee is decked with all these titles Shee neglecteth the voice of her husband and maketh lawes at her own pleasure her gouernors will gouerne her after their guise thinking that they are wise ynough of them â—â—ies And hereupon the Prophets haue haue constrayned to change their speach according as shee changeth her gouernement This is the cause why they haue called her strumpet and adulteresse that they haue reproched her that she hath played the harlot vnder euery busshie greene tree that
most auncient of all For this is alwaies a ryght rule and to be receiued that those thinges which are nought worth in the beginning are no whit better in the continuāce of time and if a mā cannot prescribe against kings and against the Church in their possessions much lesse he can doe it against God and against the trueth which is the only treasure of the Church Nowe let vs come to multitude it is saide expressely thou shalt not follow a multitude to do euill Also the gate is wide that leadeth to perdition Cōtrary wise feare not my little flocke for it is my fathers pleasure to giue you a kingdome Moreouer we see that all the worlde was brought to one onely Noah and afterwards to Abraham Then God chose one people of Israel the least as he hath said of al peoples and finally of all peoples the least part to wit Christendome which for this cause he calleth a litle flocke According to which S. Austin saith that the Church was sometimes in one Abel and in one Enoch Multitude then shoulde be rather a presumption of the false then of the true Church of impuritie rather then of puritie for asmuch also as man in all things is prone by nature to euill and tendeth not vnto good vnlesse he be as it were drawen by force vnto it If we looke to the number of Painims they will set against vs in al nations almost many against one and againe all nations against one only nation yea and in that nation it selfe all the families of one time against one or two as namely in the time of Noah those which were called the childrē of God mocked him his religion Likewise amongst this chosen people of God the Samaritans bare themselues against Iuda for there were ten tribes against two and in Iuda Israel the idolaters gained against the people of God for Elias cōplaineth that he was left alone against the good Prophet Micheas there arose vp foure hundred false the Prophets crie that all the people were deceiued euen from the Kings to the Priests Prophets In the Christian Church also there shall be as fewe in that place for euen at the beginning it was saide Who hath beleeued our word to whom hath the arme of the Lord bin reueiled we read that it was brought to a small number of persons the schoolemen themselues hold that after the death of our Sauiour in one instant it consisted in the virgine Marie alone In the greatest floure of it we reade that after the death of Constantine his sonne being of the same name fauoring the Arrians there were so few sounde professors amongst the Christians that the Emperour reproched thē that foure or fiue persōs with their Athanasius would trouble the peace of the whole worlde to whom Liberius the Byshop of Rome answered that his solitude or fewenesse did no whit diminish the word of faith In the end we are aduertised that when that sonne of man shall come before which that sonne of perdition must seduce the worlde he shal finde neither faith nor charitie on the earth and that those daies shall be as the daies of Noah Lot c. The eclipse thē of this Moone shal be as it were vniuersall all the whole earth being put betweene the Church and the Sunne therefore if we haue no other direction in these darkenesses then the multitude we shall haue no part with that little number Moreouer the Christians which reiect the Pope in Asia and in Affrica are a great many moe in number then the others If the Pope hold them for pure Churches then is the Romaine Church an heretike for she condemneth them and excōmunicateth them for diuers points of doctrine If not then multitude which is a common argument to the impure Churches themselues can not be alledged for a marke of puritie And yet for all this we cease not to praise GOD for the blessing which he hath giuen vnto his woorde making the same to fructifie and encrease to hundreds and to thousandes likewise we pray that as he hath already drawen a part of Christendome frō vnder the yoke of Antichrist so it wil please him to continue it more more But we say that if in certayne places it seeme that God do retire but few as the Pastor that saueth from the mouth of the Lion an eare of his sheepe as saith the Prophet Amos or according to Ieremie taking one of one towne two of one tribe for to retire them into the restauratiō of his Church yet for this cause we must not cal the trueth into doubt for asmuch as the selfe same trueth hath foretolde vs this the great number is no marke of puritie veritie nor the litle number of falshood and heresie Nowe followeth the succession of place and of persons which they alledge against the succession of true doctrine which we require in the Church As concerning the place there is no doubt but that this is to play the Iewes to enclose Orbem in Vrbe that is the whole worlde in one citie For the Church is not any longer tyed to Ierusalem but we see euery day that God calleth his people euen those which seemed not to be his people and contrarywise he hath permitted by his righteous will that many Christian Churches haue bene turned into the Temples of the Turkes as that of Ephesus foūded by S. Paul and S. Iohn and that of Bōne in Barbary wher S. Austin preached c. And further that is said expressely that the Church of God for a long time by reason of the persecution of Antichrist shall retire her selfe into the wildernes as the common glose it selfe doth expound Moreouer the Church is a citie that is to say one vniō of Citizens vnder the iust gouernement of Christ Now betweene a citie and a towne there is this difference that the one cōsisteth in walles the other in the vnion of the people gouerned vnder the same lawes therefore the citie of Rome was at Veies with Camillus being a banished man though the towne of Rome was in the hand of the enemie And Themistocles saide that Athens was in shippes which the Romanes had taught the poore Carthagians to their cost when they made their Citie to be caried out of their towne To be short the Popes thē selues haue maintayned for lxxx yeeres together that the Romish Church had her sea in Auigniō although they had forsaken Rome Moreouer this argument is common to the Churches Greekes Syrians Armenians Ethiopians c. whom the Pope condemneth in many poynts of doctrine To conclude if euer there were Church that might alledge succession of place it was Ierusalem For of it was said The Lord wil euermore dwel in this Temple Also I haue chosen and sanctified this house to the ende that my name may
the seruice of God there was this other thing in it that it was but a litle countrey and in that countrey one onelye Citie Ierusalem and in that City but one Temple where men ought to sacrifice so that there one gouernour and one high Priest might suffise in steade whereof the whole world by the comming of Christ the Messias is become one Temple and al the people but one flocke which must be fedde by the worde of God a thing that no one mā may presume to do Not that I would denye but in the heart of one Pope there may bee ambition enough to couet the whole world for this were to deny the truth of all histories but rather I woulde saye that there was not any one of thē that was not ready to haue forfaited lost the crown if he failed to instruct by the preaching of the word of god the least diocesse in the world Of this allegation then they conclude nothing to their aduantage vnlesse they wil become Iewes enclose the whole world in one Citie make voyde the benefit of the death of Iesus Christ which is cōmon to al the world But contrariwise we may by the way drawe this consequence That seeing Moses as they say was head of the cōmon weale and Aaron of the seruice of God that the Pope ought to content him selfe with the one without farther intermedling with the other to the preiudice of all the princes kings of the earth Nowe if they replie that they are able ynough to exercise the estate of the generall lieutenantshippe of Christ throughout the whole world without calling them to the practise which yet neuer was seene I demaund whether this be by the spirit of Christ or by their owne If by theirs why then this is the spirit of the prince of this world for to couet and not to conduct and miserable is that Church which is left to be guided by the vaine spirite of these men who thinke themselues to haue such abūdance Nowe if it be by the spirite of Christ I do require thē either that they will agree that this spirite following the promise of Christ to his ministers doeth giue power to the ministery of the worde pronounced by them whereof followeth that euery Bishop and pastor in his ministery occupieth the roome of Christ visibly or else that they proue vnto vs by fit agreeable texts that Christ hath enclosed the roote of his spirite so in the heart of the Pope that none can be partaker of it besides himselfe To be short the kingdome of Christ consisteth in this that he gouerneth his owne giuing power to the preaching of his worde and to his Sacramentes by the vertue of his spirite and the ministerie of his Gospell consisteth in the administration of that worde and of his Sacramentes Nowe there is not any man that can boast to giue and dispense the holy Ghost for he proceedeth not but frō the Father and the Sonne None then vnlesse it be Christ God and man can be the essential head of the Church Likewise no man can preache the woorde exercise the ministerie throughout the world none therefore can bee the Ministeriall head of the whole Church But rather eche minister pastor in his owne right vnder the Pastor of pastors Iesus Christ our Lorde Nowe let vs come to that which our aduersaries say that Saynt Peter was the ministeriall head of the Church If he were so they must needes graunt that this was by the institution of Christ for otherwise and without his commaundement he would neuer haue presumed to haue takē vpon him such a dignitie Likewise if our Lorde haue placed him in any such degree and so necessary as they saye for the Church they will graunt me that Saynt Peter hath exercised this office for otherwise it had bene to leaue the Church for a pray and confusion If then Christ haue not instituted it nor S. Peter exercised it it must followe that he was neuer the ministeriall head of the Church Concerning the first poynt The whole Gospell throughout teacheth vs nothing but humilitie that we should become litle children and poore in spirite c. Christe setteth forth himselfe for an example to his Apostles and willeth that his Apostles be examples to the whole worlde I am sayth he your master and yet notwithstanding I am amongst you to serue you Also when there was strife amōgst the Apostles at two sundry times who should be chiefe Christ pronounceth this determination He that wil be the greatest or chiefe amongst you let him be a seruant to al. And he saith vnto them Learne of me He sayth not sayth Saynt Augustine to worke miracles nor to make a newe worlde but that I am milde and humble of heart And as touching S. Peter he is brought vnto Christ by his brother Andrewe to the end to be his companion and not to be called the chiefe or to haue any primacie attributed vnto him Agayne when they were sent foorth to preache they went two by two as companions which excludeth all superioritie When Christ promiseth that they shall iudge the twelue tribes of Israel sitting vpon twelue thrones he giueth not him a place aboue the rest to gouerne in Whē the triumphant Church likewise is described vnto vs by Saint Iohn it is sayd that the Citie hath twelue foundations and vpon them the names of the twelue Apostles of the lambe without mentioning of any great stone for Peters throne aboue the rest To be short when the Apostles receiued the holy Ghost the power of binding and loosing commaundement to preache throughout all the worlde and when the holye Ghost it selfe descended downe vpon them this was when they were al gathered together without any prerogatiue of one more then the other Hitherto then in the principall places where the primacie should haue beene shewed we see not so much as any appearance thereof Against these places playnely denying and forbidding the primacie they alledge vnto vs that which Iesus Christ hath said vnto Peter Tu es Petrus super hanc petram c. Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuayle against it Nowe vpon this place our aduersaries ground this proposition The Church is founded vpon Saynt Peter And we will drawe another The Church is founded vpon Christ which is the rocke and vpon the confession of his name That of theirs is foūded vpon this that it is sayd Tu es Petrus that is to say Thou art Peter That of ours vpon this that it is said Super hanc Petram non super te Petrū that is to saye Vpon this rocke not Vpon thee Peter And hereof it is that our Sauiour Christ hath clerely distinguished Petrum a Petra that is to say Simon Peter from the liuely rocke whereupon he hath builded his Church changing
which for the agreeing of two persons onely woulde refuse to handle againe a processe whereof there had bene a determinate sentence giuen by the Parliament before This therfore is in the Romish Cōsistory where there is manifest doubt of their doctrine or else foule and shamefull lacke of charitie and that in such a wayghtie case as concerneth the saluation of the more part of Christendome To be short we agree and are knitte together in the doctrine of the Bible with all Christians but we reiect the pestilent gloses and traditiōs of the Pope we haue bene willing brotherly to communicate the trueth to our brethren with the danger of our life in the middest of their Churches and contrarywise the Pope in stead of hearkening vnto vs fearing to be discouered hath excommunicated chased and driuen vs out It is therfore the Pope and his greasie ones which haue broken the Communion of the vniuersall Church not we who to keepe vs in are readie to submitte our selues to al reason to abide all dangers Secōdly that they alledge altar against altar if we shall consider the nature of the Christian Church it is not much from the purpose In auncient tyme vnder the law there was but one Temple and one altar without which they were forbidden to sacrifice whereupon we see yet that the Iewes which were scattered throughout the world myght not sacrifice And therefore those which set vp altars in Dan and Bethel albeit that they had not sacrificed but to the true God and according to the sacrifices ordayned in the lawe yet they were guiltie of death because they had broken the expresse ordinaunce of God who woulde haue obedience and not sacrifice and because that in Iesus Christ to come figured by one citie of Hierusalem by one Temple and by one altar they ought to withdrawe themselues from the societie of all other people This is the cause that we reade not that the Prophetes established any order of the seruice of God in any other place although that the Temple of Hierusalem were defiled with idolatrie but rather that they preached opēly against those which mayntained it yet without sacrificing any where else But by the cōming of Iesus Christ as we haue often sayde it is altogether otherwyse For all the worlde is Hierusalem the temple and the altar of the Lorde We pray not any longer towardes the East but on euery side to which we turne vs wee turne to God we looke alwayes to Iesus Christ When therefore the Apostles preaching Christ coulde not be receyued into Hierusalem preaching Christ in the temple they preached him in houses and when they were yet dryuen away they shooke of the duste of their feete in witnesse agaynst them and went and preached else where When also they were forewarned by the holie Ghost of Gods vengeance to come vpon that Citie that had crucified Christ the anoynted they made no difficultie sayeth Eusebius to withdrawe the assemblie that is to say the true Ierusalem and the true children of Abraham from thence to gather them together into the little towne of Pella neere Iordan If therefore the temples of Constantinople are turned into the temples and Churches of Mahomet Christians may serue God and sacrifice to him the sacrifices of prayse and thankesgiuing at Pera harde by Constantinople And if Antichrist bee sette downe in the Church of Rome amiddest his temples we may serue Christ in the porche and if we may not preache agaynst him vnder the roofe of the Church we wyll doe it vnder the roofe of heauen which is euen aswell the Temple of the Lorde And this is the cause why being forbidden by kings and Princes vpon payne of rebellion to preache in Temples agaynst the Idolatrie which is there committed and agayne beyng likewyse expressely commaunded by God to auoyde Idoles and to publishe the trueth wee haue gathered the true faithfull thyther where we myght serue God together according to his worde and we haue withdrawen Hierusalem into the towne of Pella by the example of the Apostles and according to the libertie which Iesus Christ hath gyuen to the Vniuersall Church But by separating our selues from Rome we haue remayned in the heauenly Ierusalem founded vpon the doctrine of the Apostles from which it hath separated it selfe and wee haue not buylt an altar against the altar of the Lorde for Rome is not the peculiar seate of the Lords altar but rather an altar of Christ against the altar of Antichrist a temple of lyuing stones founded vpon the chiefe master stone of the corner agaynst the temples of idoles buylded vpon the stone of offence which is Antichrist There is therefore a notable difference betweene Hierualem and Rome and consequently it is one thing to separat from the faction of Rome that can hardly deserue the name of a member and an other from the Catholique and Vniuersall Church Hierusalem was the Temple of the Lord and at this day the whole worlde is his Temple in comparison of which Rome is nothing To Hierusalem was promised the Sonne of God to Rome the sonne of perdition And from this peculiar Temple of God the Apostles withdrewe themselues for that it refused saluation yea that they myght not perishe in her destruction they remoued the Christians into another place From the cōmunication or fellowshippe therefore of the Church of Rome which worshippeth and vpholdeth perdition wee holde our selues bounde to withdrawe our selues if we will not draw vpon vs the heauy vēgeance of God which is prepared for all those that remaine therein Thirdlye it is one thing to withdrawe our selues from the papacie and another thing to goe away from the poore Church that is there holden vnder captiuitie Euen altogether like as it is one thing to flie from a Citie and another to flie from the pestilence that is in the Citie And it is one thing for a man to withdrawe him selfe from the common Wealth and another from the power of a tyranne that vsurpeth the common weale They that flie the pestilence are ready to come to the Citye againe when the plague is gone and they that auoide tyrannie are readye to ioyne them selues againe to the Citizens that were vnder tyrannie as soone as it shall be banished Yea which is more they are in the Citye and in the Common weale in heart and spirite suffering together with their fellowe Burgesses and Citizens bewayling their bondage and purchasing their deliuerance by all the meanes they can deuise where as the tyrants that keepe that Citie they that are there seeme rather to be shut vp frō all cōmunaltie or fellowship not onely of the common weale but also as Cicero sayeth from all mankinde euen as Thrasibulus was beeing gone aside frō Philes during the time that thirtie Tyrantes did teare in pieces the common weale of Athens And as Camillus at Veies during the time that the Gaules wasted the citie of Rome And
called together by the Emperour Martian Leo the Bishoppe of Rome beeyng there president hee was called Archbishoppe as were the others But the history sayeth that he required the Emperour and the Empresse to gouerne there because that in the seconde Councill of Ephesus Dioscorus the Patriarke of Alexandria abusing his authoritie had approued the heresie of Eutyches whereof then there was question Nowe in that hee demaundeth this fauour it sufficientlye declareth that it was not done vnto him and if this might once bee drawen into consequence as well also must this that Cyrill was President ouer the first councill of Ephesus for all the Bishoppes of Alexandria And in very deede in the fift Councill of Constantinople his successour withstoode it not when Menas the patriarke of that place was there presidēt In the generall Councill of Aquilie S. Ambrose the B. of Millane was president there was not any mētion made of the B. of Rome although this was in Italy But behold the questiō was determined the parties being heard by the determinate sētēce of a coūcill The B. of Rome tooke vpon him a goodly large title of being patriarke ouer the churches of Affrike the schismatikes of Affrike willingly departed to go to him to finde there aid whereupon the coūcil of Mileuitane where S. Aug. was with a good nomber of fathers pronounced all them for excommunicate that had or shoulde appeale beyonde the Sea. The Bishoppe of Rome finding him selfe grieued sent to the sixth councill of Carthage where also Saint Augustine was that he might haue redresse in this matter the which was so long time in debating that Zosinius Boniface and Celestine Bishoppes of Rome succeeded one another during this Councill Aurelius the Archbishoppe of Carthage notwitstanding that their legates were there was president there and in the ende the definitiue sentence was pronounced in this force That the Bishop of Rome should not receiue those that were excommunicated by the Bishops of Affrike neither should he receiue the appellations of those that by them should be cond̄ened that all they which should appeale to him should be holdē for excōmunicated persōs The reasons of this councill contained in the 105. chapter by the letters of the council to Celestine Bishop of Rome are these that there is no coūcil that had so decreed Contrariwise that the Council of Nice had put the Clergie the Bishops of ech prouince vnder the Metropolitan That the grace of the holye Spirite had not withdrawen it selfe from euerye Prouince to discerne the right of all causes That anye myght appeale to a Prouinciall councill if hee felt him selfe grieued that it vvas more credible that GOD vvoulde inspire a great assemblie of ministers in a Councill then one man alone And because that the B. of Rome required to send his legates to be ouer those places to enquire of matters and causes they made answere that they could not find any councill that had so decreed and likewise that they would not suffer it In this council where they had time enough to dreame all their forbidding yet shall you not finde that the primacie was founded vpon anye lawe of God much lesse that which they call the fulnes of power And in very deede for to decide the matter men were not sent to search the scriptures in which S. Augustine who was present there was wel able to haue found it if it had bene there but rather to the foure originals of the coūcill of Nice which were kept in the foure patriarchall Sees In meane while Gratian the Compiler of their decree was so sottishly malicious that reciting this Canon of the Councill of Carthage That men should not appeale beyond the Sea he added vnlesse to the B. of Rome as though the Canon had bene made quite contrary to it selfe all the reasons being heard concluded to the contrary And by this place a man may very well gather what to accompte of their Canons being rehersed with such fidelitie In the Councill of Carthage holden vnder the Emperour Mauricius about the yeere of Christ sixe hundred the matter of the Supremacie was also largely debated because that thē the B. of Constantinople fauoured of the Emperor Mauricius by prerogatiue of the Citye of Constantinople called him selfe Bishop of Bishops and vniuersall Bishop And Mauricius vphelde and ayded him to beate down old Rome because thē the empire was trāslated into the East Italie left for a pray to the Northern people Let a mā read ouer al the Canōs of that council they pronounce a curse not onely vpon the B. of Cōstantinople but generally vpō al those who shall take the title of an vniuersall B. All the auncient doctors who liued during the time of these Councils yea the Latines that yelded very much to the Bishopricke of Rome as being their most neere patriarchshippe doe witnesse the selfe same thing vnto vs Athanasius albeit hee was greatly bound to the See of Rome which had receiued him in his exile he saith that all the Apostles were equal in honour power S. Hierom a minister of Rome he saith If there be any question of the authoritie of all the world the vvorld is greater then one City Wherefore vvilt thou bring the order of the Church into the subiection of a fevve persons Whence cōmeth this presūption Wheresoeuer there is a Bishop be he at Rome or at Agubiū be he at Constātinople or at Rhegiū he is of one and the same dignitie and Ministery Riches or pouertye neither make one superiour nor inferiour Againe there is saith he in euerye Churche a Bishoppe one chiefe amongest the Deacons and another amongest the Elders and all the order of the Churche consisteth in these gouernors It should folow therupon seeing the the question was of vnity that he should adde and say a B. ouer the other Bishops but he speaketh nothing S. August hath written a story which maketh this matter most cleare Donate of the black cotages a Numidian of whō the Donatists tooke their name had grieuously accused Ciciliā the Archbishop of Carthage Constantine the Emperor committed this cause which was merely ecclesiastical to Miltiades B. of Rome to certain other Bishops of Italie Gaule Spaigne Nowe if this had bene his ordinarie Iurisdiction there needed not any Cōmission of the Emperor it had belonged to him to haue chosen vnto himselfe his assistants not to haue receiued them But see further Donate being condemned appealed to the Emperor who sent his appellatiō to the Archb. of Arles either to proue or disalow the B. of Romes sentence I demand then in this fact which in this case is worth a million Where is the Supremacy where is the Iurisdiction without appeale and where is this same knowledge of all appellations this fulnes of power wherof they speak so much And yet this is that Constantine of whom they boast so much who as
were so impudent as to falsifie a decree of the council of Nice bringing foorth in steade thereof the articles of the councill of Sardes yet corrupted and falsified pretending that from all parts men might appeale to the bishop of Rome But the fathers of the councill had learned well to saye that they would not beleeue those productions and therfore sent to the originalls and they being seene they pronounced the quite contrary Leo the first receiued Eutyches condemned by Flauianus the bishop of Constantinople for a time mainteyned him against him whereupon his heresie first tooke footing and grewe which might then at once haue bene quenched But none approued this vsurpation To be short in the time of Chrysostome this ambition was so great amongest them that he complained that to obteine supremacie the bishops of Rome had filled the Churches with blood had defiled the Supper of the Lord with murthers vntill they had vtterly for it destroyed whole cities And he that will see the ciuil warres for they likewise name them which were at Rome betweene Damasus and Vrsicius in the time of Saint Hierome whether of them should be bishop and afterwards betweene Laurence and Symmachus he maye reade them in Ruffinus Amian Marcellin and their owne Pontificall it selfe And howsoeuer it were all the contentions that were made by the bishops of Rome in the auncient Church yea till the time of the murthering of Phocas for the supremacie looke how many they were they were alwaies arguments from age to age and as determined sentences against them in so much that they alwayes lost their cause whatsoeuer instāce they made or whatsoeuer diligence they vsed in pleading of it But they will obiecte vnto me that neuerthelesse the bishop of Rome hath helde the chiefe place amongst the Patriarches I agree thereto but yet I deuie that it was to commaunde others And in deede it is expressely said that he shall not be called vniuersall bishop but onely the bishop of the first See. I say moreouer that this is not in respect that he was the successour of S. Peter and lesse by vertue of those places alledged out of the holy Scripture But because that in seates there must be a first a second place according to humame order I say that this was ordeyned in consideration of that order wherby the citie of Rome was set aboue others If it had bene by the Scriptures it should haue bene a wonderfull thing that for 600. yeeres together these mysteries should haue bene hidden from the Church If in respecte of the founder why not rather at Antioche and at Alexandria after Gregorie or to all other bishopricks after Cusan who saith that all bishops are Peters successors equall in the essentiall dignitie although they differ in the administration and gouernment as the bishops of Spaine themselues haue disputed in the last councill of Trent Moreouer that Hierusalem should be the first and not the fourth seeing the Saluation of the world did there gouerne Or why is Antioche whereof Saint Peter was bishop put after Alexandria which can alledge nothing but the succession of Saint Marke his disciple To be short what hurt hath Saint Iohn the welbeloued disciple of our Lord done vnto them who so long time preached in Ephesus which notwithstanding is not nombred amongst the patriarchall cities Or what newe Apostle hath founded Constantinople three hundred yeres after the death of our Lord to attribute vnto it the second See But there is none that hath but a litle iudgement that doth not well enough marke that all the preeminences of these Sees rather proceede from the rancke and places which their cities holde then from the establishment of Christian religion Rome was then the seat of the Empire and the glorie of all the world good learning there flourished it was the chiefe of all the peoples of the earth and therefore when all the bishops were gathered together they gaue the bishop of Rome the first place for ciuilitie and courtesies sake Likewise wee reade in the histories that Alexandria and Antioch were after Rome the most famous cities and according to that degree which their gouernours helde they also helde their bishopprickes And concerning Ierusalem that was so greatly accompted of for the first originall of true Religion and therefore likewise was not reckoned in the least place for Plinie calleth it the head of all the East but yet her place was ill kept after she had lost her first glorie Afterwards Constantinople came to be builded which was called the second Rome And then also we see the councill of Constantinople where there were sixe hundreth bishops who gaue vnto it the second place which had not bene done if they had had regard to the degree of the founder and not to the degree of the citie by reason of whose might also this dignitie was confirmed vnto it by the Emperour Iustinian Aquila in Italie was called the second Rome Also there was a Patriarchship there established yea Rauenna it selfe was a long time holden not to be subiecte to Rome and it had her owne Cardinalls apart and by themselues and as Venice beganne to growe great so it had the Patriarchship of Grado for it To be short he that shall marke from countrey to countrey the erection of patriarchships and archbishopricks he shal finde no other consideration then this the same that Pope Lucinus saith alledged by Gratian That at the first they instituted Primates of the Church according to temporall policie Also Pope Clement himselfe saith That where there were chiefe Priests of the Painims there they established Primats of Christians the which is repeated in the same wordes by Peter Lombard in his fourth booke of Sentences The councill of Chalcedon wherein notwithstanding the earnest requests of Pope Leo the first the second See was giuen to the Citie Constantinople vseth also the same woordes The fathers vpon good righte with one consent agreed that the priuiledge of the first See should belong vnto olde Rome because of the Empire there and wee also moued with the same consideration agree that the second shal be at new Rome And in the 12. Act of the same council the reasoning betwixt the bishop of Nice of Basianopolis is grounded vpon the dignitie of the cities And to cut of all such controuersies this Canon was there passed That these Cities onely shoulde be holden for Metropolitans to which Kings and Princes had done this honor by their statutes And the Council of Thurin there addeth That if the earthly superioritie were translated from one Citie to another that then the right of the Archbishoprick should be translated likewise To be short when the seate of the Empire was translated to newe Rome that is to say to Constantinople we see that the Bishop of that place by by tooke vnto himselfe the primacie whereof they held euen as much as they coulde and when that
frō the tēple but from the idolatry cōmitted in the temple nor from the cōmon weale but frō the tyrāny which oppresseth the cōmon wealth nor from the city but from the pestilence which infecteth the city nor frō the cōmunion fellowship of the people to whō we wish al happines saluatiō but frō the conspiracie of Antichrist of his mainteiners we therefore renounce not their baptisme but we ratifie it By the same we are bound to serue God to renounce the deuil following the same we seeke to serue God according to his word renounce all idoles By these letters of natural birth we are bound to mainteine the lawes of the ancient christian cōmon wealth which is the church folowing thē we set vp againe before vs the law of God the only lawgiuer of the church would deliuer the church frō al new impositions burdens which Antichrist hath laid vpon their consciences By baptisme we haue made an oth vnto christ the pope would turne our seruice from Christ to his idols to him selfe we therfore set Christ against Antichrist and the church against his cōspiracy And this is that for which by the grace of God we haue bin baptized into the Church how tyrannicall and disordered soeuer it hath bene But the ministers therof whō you pretēs to be of Antichr they haue baptized you In deed they haue put water on my head but Christ hath baptized me The tyran or his officers which he hath established after his fashion haue made me lift vp my hande giue him an oth but they haue made me to make it to the cōmon welth not to the tyran in the name of Christ not in the name of Antichrist The forme of the othe hath remained entire sound albeit the estate were chāged To folow therfore the tenor of mine oth I will retire my selfe into the army of true citizēs I wil seek out the true church in the place wherunto it hath withdrawen it self I will renounce the communion of Antichrist who vnder colour of mine oth maketh me to breake mine othe To conclude this point It is sayde vnto vs Preach the trueth We haue done it but they haue excommunicated vs It is said consequently vnto vs Flye from idoles and departe out of Babylon We haue done it but yet then when the obstinacie of men against the trueth hath compelled vs Finally after the example of the Apostles beeing shut out of Churches by the magistrate we haue gathered together the faithful into houses and haue builded the true Ierusalem at Pella If men marke this deede in it selfe they cannot finde faulte with it For wee stande grounded vpon the expresse woorde of god Nowe if anye man further saye howsoeuer it ought to be done that yet it belonged not vnto our Ministers to do it There is no farther question but of their vocation and calling which shal be handled in the chapter next following That the Ministers of the reformed churches haue a lawfull calling to reforme the Church CHAP XI FOrasmuch as our aduersaries cā neither deny the corruption which is entred into the Church nor the tyranny of Antichrist with other things depending therof from the which we go about by the word of God to set it free to the end to hold vs from entring to the groūd of this matter from ripping it vp againe they at lēgth vse this pretty shift aske vs whatcalling our ministers haue to reforme the church to preach in it This is euen the same that Zidkiiah the false prophet saide vnto Micheas What way went the spirit of the Lord frō me to speake to thee And the Pharises to Iesus Christ Thou art a Carpēters sonne who hath sent thee To whō we may answere in one word with Iesus Christ The words which we preach beare witnes of vs. They likewise cast in our teeth their long succession That they are the children of Abraham S. Peters heires c. To whō Iesus Christ hath answered for vs Ye are Abrahās seede but the deuil is your father from whō ye are come s Paul Brethrē be not deceiued for Antichrist shall sit be vvorshipped in the tēple of God. But forasmuch as hertofore they haue made whole books vpon this point it is needefull to handle this more largely When fire shall take holde of any Citie or towne or an enemie shall scale it in the night if the least Burgesse shall giue an alarme yea admitte it be but a straunger whiles the watchmen sleepe no man will demaund by what tytle he did it and much lesse punish him for it but rather men wyll runne to the water and to the walles they will see where it is and euery one accepteth him thankfully that warned them When contrariwyse we discouer Antichrist sitting in the Church whō we haue submitted our selues to conuince before the face of a Councill and in his owne presence in steade of hearing vs of examining our reasons of going to the holy Scriptures where he is liuely painted out they fall to examine vs of our condition and by what authoritie we aduertise them yea they put vs to a worse death then if we had betraied the common wealth If the gouernours of some places shoulde doe the like when men giue them aduertisements what place shoulde not soone fall into the handes of the enemies And what prince is there that would not hold them for traitors and iudge that they had conspired with his enemies There is no question here of our condition qualities but of the qualities of Antichrist of his doctrine It standeth with the duetie of those that warne vs and it concerneth the saluation of all and of our selues If the aduertisement and warning be true it is the saluation of the Church if it be false it is ours The questiō is then to examine the circumstaunces of the warning and not the qualities and condition of those that warne vs In the conspiracie of Catiline the Senate lent theyr eare to a base woman agaynst the greatest And when the Gaules would by night haue inuaded the Capitole of Rome the watchmen spake not a worde and the dogges were dumbe there was nothing but the Geese that cryed and yet euery man ranne thither and made accompt therof and had not this gagling bin this notable Citie which afterwardes conquered the whole world had byn lost When therefore we shal be the most vile contemptiple of the Church we deserue to be heard yea seeing we desire not to speake in the eare as slaunderers but in the face of the Church yea in the eare of himself that hath accused vs not frō our selues but frō god Cōcerning the reformatiō of the Church after the scattering which the Pope his haue made in it we knowe that there must be a lawful callyng but we maintayne our selues to be therein better warranted and grounded then
institution of Christ in the Sacraments to change according to the time the interpretation of the holy scripture to make newe articles of the faith to derogate from the olde Testament from S. Paule his epistles as the vicar of Christ successour of S. Peter This then according to their iudgemēt is an article of great importāce to saluation vpon which all other articles necessarie to saluation are founded In the selfe same quality iurisdiction is giuen vnto him ouer all the East churches to cut them of frō the Cōmunion of the Church to leaue them for a pray to the Turk because they will not acknowledge him To be short it is come to this point that he calleth himself king of kings to establish empires at his own wil to set out kingdomes for a pray to dispence with subiectes for their othe made to their prince This therfore is an article not onely belonging to the saluation of euerye Christian particularly and to all in generall for that same vnion which is so much commended vnto vs but also necessarie to policie to the obedience due to magistrates to the whole life of man But nowe wee see that Iesus Christ his Apostles haue deliuered vnto vs the articles of our faith the doctrine of the Sacraments of the obedience which is due to our superiors in plaine expresse termes and those very often repeated in many places It followeth then that this article by the which new articles of faith are established the changing of the Sacraments the setting vp deposing of princes the subiecting of heauen and earth vnder the power of one onely man must bee there plainely set foorth Nowe if it be not there expresly conteined one of these two things must folow either that our Lord his apostles took pleasure to hide these things frō vs to make a math confusion of heauen and earth together which to thinke were verye execrable blasphemie or else it must bee altogether false and consequently all that is builded vpon it must quite fall downe and bee vtterly razed to the ground Nowe I doe adiure euerye one euen as they loue their saluation that they weygh wel the proofes of this article For if the very foundation of the popishe doctrine which is this here haue no foundation in Christ it followeth that the pope hath layd another foūdation in the Church then Christ contrary to that which the Apostle saith and by consequent that hee is none of those which hath builded vpon the foundation of Christ woode haye stone but the Antichrist him selfe which hath setled him selfe in the place of the chiefe corner stone which is the onely fundation of the Church We say that Iesus Christ is the head of the Churche our aduersaries say that it is S. Peter in his successors or rather the pope and the Church of Rome because of S. Peter his seat Now as we haue found the body out of the Scriptures to wit the church so likewise we ought not to search for the head any where else S. Paul saith that Christ is the head of the church the church the accōplishmēt of him which hath accomplished all in all Also that Christ is the head of the Churche as the husband of the wife and the Sauiour of his body Also wee which are manye are one body in Christ euery one of vs are mēbers one of another These places are so cleare the our proposition can not be denied Thereupon they will graunt vs that Christ is the head of the Church but they will say that there must be a head and generall lieutenant in the gouernment thereof that this is S. Peter in his Successors whome they call for distinction sake the ministerial head of the Church This is it that they must proue vnto vs by plaine textes for wee flatly deny it vnto them First of all we must not here imagine an earthly kingdome For Iesus Christ hath taught vs that his kingdome is not of this world if his be not of this world then much lesse shall his be whosoeuer shal enterprise to be his lieutenant This lieutenantshippe then is neither temporall nor secular neither can it be stretched ouer the empires of the earth neither can the B. of Rome in this qualitie call him selfe the Monarch or onely gouernour both of the spiritual temporal But as the kingdom of Christ is spiritual to wit the gouernmēt of the soules of the faithfull whō he fedeth by his word as S. Paul sayeth that it is peace ioy righteousnes through his spirit so must it be likewise that the administration or gouernmēt of his seruāts must be spiritual to wit the ministery of the word from whence proceede those forenamed effects much lesse ought we to imagine an earthly king For Christ is the Sonne of the eternal God who stileth euery thing with his power who by the vertue of his spirite is present to all thinges and is present with those that consent in his name to the ende of the world He needeth not therefore any lieutenant as doe other earthly princes for to winne the heartes of his people for these are the effectes of his Spirite giuing efficacie to his worde the which no man how great holy ▪ soeuer he seeme can attribute to him selfe And if they finde it strange that our Lord by his spirite in that he is God doth gouerne his Church forasmuch as he hath promised so to doe Let them not thinke it more strange that we deny his corporall and carnall presence in their masse which he hath not instituted Againe here is no question of a kingdome which may be gouerned by a lieutenant alone but of preaching the Gospell throughout the whole worlde of reconciling al the people of the world by the word vnto God in a woorde of the Ministerye of the Gospell which consisteth in administring the worde and Sacraments in all places Nowe it is certaine that no man can accomplish this but onely he who is the worde it selfe and the alone sacrifice because that with his manhode hee hath Godhead and power that is infinite Therfore there can none but he bee the Bishop of Bishoppes the Pastour of Pastours and the high Priest and none can bee this Ministeriall head or Lieutenant in his offices But rather euery Bishoppe and pastor amongest his flocke may represent Christ in exercising his charge without acknowledging of the Bishop of Rome to be aboue him as hath bene most largelye disputed by Cusan the Cardinall in the time of the Council of Constance That which they alledge of Moses and Aaron that they were heades the one of the common wealth the other of the sacrifices whilest yet God walked in the middest of his people is but naughtely drawen into a consequence For besides that there was the expresse institution of God in their persons and in the successors of Aaron for