followeth that seeing we retaine the same saith and religion whereby the Patriarks and Prophets and other Fathers from the beginning serued God which the Papists doe not as by instance and comparison I then declared and remaineth now to be made good therefore not the Popish faith but our faith must needes be holden to be the Catholike faith This processe is cleare the Reader seeth in it neither winding nor turning and therefore it was but a simple shift of so learned a Doctor against a simple Minister to mocke his Reader with a tale of flying the point in Question where it hath so direct and expresse conclusion He saith that they willingly admit of St. Austins doctrine that that religion and faith is Catholike which is spred ouer all the world c. but I brought nothing out of Austin concerninâ— Catholike faith and religion I only noted out of him why the Church is called the Catholike Church And therefore preposterously and idlâ—ly doth he here vrge me in that sort Proue good Sir that his Maiesty imbraceth and maintaineth that religion which is spred ouer all the world c. and then you may iustly say that he vpholdeth the Catholike religion For of the Catholike faith and religion the conclusion followeth after in due place why then doth he thus preuent the time and like Dauus disorder ali but that he loueth to fish in troubled waters where his deceiptfull baites may be the lesse seene But if we must needes speake here of Catholike faith I will returne to him his owne question Proue good Sir that the Pope imbraceth and maintaineth that religion that is spred ouer all the world that Christians throughout the world are perswaded of that which you call the Catholike faith Bellarmine hath said it and Bellarmines ghost maintaineth it that the supremacy of the Pope for the deposing of Kings and Princes is a Bellar. epist ad Archipreâ—b apud Mat. Tort. Vnum ex praecipuis fidei nostrae capitibus ac religionis Catholicae fundamentis one of the chiefe points of your faith and of the very foundations of Catholike religion Proue now I pray you and bring vs hands and seales for it that we may beleeue you that the Christian Churches throughout Grecia Armenia Aethiopia Russia Palestina and such like are all become drunke and haue entertained this for a point of Catholike faith You will falle M. Bishop in this proofe and therefore why would you so much preiâ—â—iâ—ate your selfe to require the same of vs But Bellarmine himselfe shall free vs from any neede to trauell for this proofe who saith that b Bellar. de notis Eccles cap. 7. Si sola vna Prouincia retineret veram fidem adhuc vere proprie diceretur Ecclesia Catholica dummodo clare ostéderetur â—am esse vnam eandem cum illa quae fuit aliquo tempere vel diuersis in toto mundo Though one only Prouince or Country did retaine the true faith yet the same should truly and properly be called the Catholike Church and therefore their faith the Catholike fa 〈…〉 so long as it could be cleerly shewed that the same is one and the same with that which at any time or times was ouer the whole world To proue then that our faith is the Catholike faith it shall be sufficient to proue that it is that which once was spred ouer the whole world Now with the proofe thereof M. Bishop is choked already and all that we see from him now is but a vaine and bootlesse strugling to recouer his breath againe But yet he saith M. Abbot gaue this the slippe and turneth himselfe to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike And was not that M. Bishop a shreud turne for you to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike and was it not very pertinent for me so to doe when you exhorted the Kings Maiesty to the Roman religion vnder pretence of that name Yea but he shuffles from the religion and faith of which the question was vnto the Roman Church But what will he haue vs thinke that there is a Roman Church without faith or religion that a man must shuffle from religion and faith to goe to the Roman Church forsooth he shuffles from the faith professed at Rome to the persons inhabiting the City of Rome to proue that they are no Catholikes and that the Roman Church is not the Catholike Church And doth not he shuffle amisse for you M. Bishop that can shuffle you from being Catholikes and the Roman Church from being the Catholike Church And he that shuffleth you from being Catholikes doth he not also shuffle the saith professed at Rome from being the Catholike faith Are these things so diuided each from other as that they cannot in their order be incident to the same discourse Surely M. Bishop my shuffling will yeeld but a bad game to you vnlesse you can cut more wisely for your selfe theâ— hitherto you haue done If you haue no better cardes then yet we see you will certainly loose all W. BISHOP §. 2. BVt let vs giue him leaue to wander whither his fancy leadeth him that we may at length heare what he would say It is forsooth That the Church of Rome doth absurdly call her selfe the Catholike Church and that Papists doe absurdly take to themselues the name of Catholikes because the Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church but the Church of Rome is a particular Church therefore to say the Roman Catholike Church is all one as to say the vniuersall particular Church Here is a well shapen argument and worthy the maker it consists of all particular propositions which euery smatterer in Logicke knowes to be most vitious besides not one of them is good but all are sophisticall and full of deceit First concerning the forme if it were currant one might prouely it that no one Church in the world were Catholike take for example the English congregation which they hold to be most Catholike and apply Mr. Abbots argument to it thus The Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church but the Church of England is a particular Church wherefore to say the English Church is Catholike is to say a particular Church is an vniuersall His first fault then is in the very forme of reasoning which alone is sufficient to argue him to be a Sophister and one that meaneth to beguile them that will trust him now to the particulars His first proposition the Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church is both absurd because the same thing is affirmed of himselfe for vniuersall is no distinct thing but the very interpretation of the word Catholike and also captious as hauing a double signification For the Catholike Church doth signifie both the whole body of the Church compacted of all the particular members vnited and ioyned together in one in which sense no one particular Church can be called the Catholike Church because it is not the whole body spred ouer all
Papa Ecclesiae Catholicâ— vrbis Romae Bishop of the Catholike Church of the Citty of Rome so doth Constantine the Emperor write p Socrat. hist l. 1. c. 6. Constantinus Catholicâ— Alexandrinorum Ecclesiae to the Catholike Church of Alexandria and Austin nameth q August coÌ„t Crescon l. 3. c. 13. Omnis Africana Catholica Ecclesia the Catholike Church of Africa and Aurelius writeth himselfe r Collat. cum Donat. cognit 1. c. 16. Aurelius Episcopus Ecclesie Catholicae Carthaginensis Bishop of the Catholike Church of Carthagâ— another Aurelius Å¿ Ibid. cap. 201. Aurelius Episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae Macomadiensis Bishop of the Catholike Church of Macomadia Nouatus t Ibid. c. 204. Nouatus Episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae Sitifi Bishop of the Catholike Church of Sitif And so in the fift Councell at Constantinople we reade u Conc. ConstaÌ„tinop 5. act 1. Supplicatio à Clericis Monachis Apostolici throni Antiochenae magnae ciuitatis Catholicae Sanctae Ecclesiae Dei The holy Catholike Church of Antioch and in the subscriptions of the Councell Sextilianus Bishop of the Catholike Church of Tunis and x Ibid. Act. 8. in subscript Sextâ—lianus misericordia Dei Episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae Tuniensis Megethius gratia Dei Episcopus Sanctae Dei Catholicae Ecclesiae ciuitatis Heracleae Mâ—gethius Bishop of the holy Catholike Church of the citty of Heraclea and Pompeianus Bishop of the holy Catholike Church of the citty of Victoria and many other in the like sort Herein then standeth the error not that the name of the Catholike Church is vsed of a particular Church but because it is absurdly made a propriety of one particular Church which was neuer vsed but indifferently of all Churches and neuer but with implying the signification of the vniuersall Church Thus I am still constant in one tale what I said before I said after and I say it now againe and more cause there was for M. Bishop to haue taken another Cocke to himselfe then to put the weather-cocke to me Now he himselfe confesseth that no one Orthodoxe Church is more Catholike then other if the word Catholike be taken precisely but what it meaneth with him if it be taken precisely he telleth vs not If Orthodoxall and Catholike precisely taken be all one with him he playeth the Donatist as we shall see hereafter and in that sense amongst many Churches that may bee called orthodoxal and sound there may yet be some more sound then other If in true meaning it be taken precisely and properly then it is taken as in the Creede we professe to beleeue the holy Catholike that is the vniuersall Church and so no particular Church as hath been said and as M. Bishop hath confessed can be called the Catholike Church M. Bishop therefore vnlesse he be wilfull must also necessarily confesse that the church of Rome being a particular Church dealeth absurdly in applying to it selfe the name of the Catholike Church there where the word Catholike without all doubt is precisely and properly taken But though speaking precisely no one Church be more Catholike then other yet we hold saith M. Bishop that among all the particular Catholikes the Roman holdeth the greatest priuiledges both of superiority in gouernement and stability in true faith Hold it M. Bishop where you haue it and blinde men as much as you can in the conceipt of it but where you haue it not yee are neuer likely to obtaine it To vs it is nothing what you hold what you proue is somewhat but you may hold with Copernicus if you will that the Sunne standeth still and the earth turneth round or with Anaxagoras that snow is black So the Church of Rome according to that it was we attribute eminency of place precedence of honour authority of estimation and account but authority of power or superiority of gouernment we acknowledge none belonging thereto We reade that other Churches haue yeelded vnto it amity and loue y Rom. 16. 16. The Churches of Christ salute you but no where doe we reade All the Churches of Christ are subiect vnto you And will any man thinke it credible that such priuiledges should appertaine to the Church of Rome and yet that neither St. Paul nor St. Peter himselfe should make any mention of them The one of them wrote to the Church of Rome it selfe they both wrote to many other Churches and would they neuer haue remembrance to say any thing of the Lord God the Pope Yea St. Iohn did honor to z Apoc. 1. 4. the seuen Churches of Asia by writing to them and would he neuer speake of a Apoc. 17. 9. the seuen hils of Rome but only as the seate of the whoore of Babylon Yea of those seuen Churches of Asia it is to be noted which Gregory Bishop of Rome oftentimes deliuereth hath Austin therin agreeing with him that b Gregor in Ezech. hom 15. In â—oannis Apocalypsi septem Ecclesijs scribitur per quas vna Catholica designatur Praefat. ad exposit Iob. Per septem Ecclesiarâ—m numerum vniuersalis Ecclesia designatur Sic August Ep. 161. in them is designed or figured the Catholike or vniuersall Church And to this accordeth Optatus also when of those Churches hee saith c Optat. Mileuit lib. 2. Extra septem Ecclesias quicquid foris est alienum est Whatsoeuer is without the seuen Churches is altene and strange Now amongst those seuen Churches none had any priuiledge either of superiority in gouernement or of stability in faith There is not one Angell or one Church questioned for all as hauing charge and authority ouer all but euery Angel euery Church seuerally censured by it selfe and according to euery their works either allowed or reproued Sith then the principall must haue correspondence with the figure it must likewise be in the vniuersall Church that no one Church hath priuiledge or superiority aboue all but euery Church accordingly as it performeth fidelity vnto God either standeth or falleth either is accepted or refused And the lesse hath the Church of Rome to presume of priuiledge in this behalfe for that it hath speciall caution giuen to the coÌ„trary d Rom. 11. 20. Be not high minded but feare fâ—r if God spared not the naturall branches take heede lest he also spare not thee Behold the bountifulnes of God towards thee if thou continue in his bountifulnes or else thou shalt also be cut off This notwithstanding M. Bishop telleth vs that that which they hold of those Romish priuiledges is deduced out of the word of God But how because that Church is the Rocke according to the expositâ—on of the ancient Fathers vpon which the whole Church was built and against which the gates of hell should neuer preuaile Here is chalke for cheese we were promised a deduction out of the word of God and insâ—eede thereof he bringeth vs an exposition of the ancient Fathers But
testimony of Pighius one of his owne fellowes should be sufficient to choake him a Pigh Eccles Hierarch l. 6. cap. 3. Quis per Râ—manaÌ„ Ecclesiam vnquam intellexit aut vniuersalem Ecclesiam aut generale Concilium Who did euer by the Roman church vnderstand the vniuersall Church A generall Councell is holden to be by representation the vniuersal or Catholike church and who was there euer so far out of his wits as to cal a generall Councell the Roman Church The seuen Churches of Asia haue been taken to betoken the vniuersall Church as we haue seene before but who euer said or thought that they did betoken the Roman church Now whereas he telleth vs that it may be so taken I answer him that so some man may take M. Bishop to signifie a ioined-stoole For if men will take names words to signifie what they list why may not some man be as wilfull in the one as he seeth them witlesse in the other What authority haue they to impose significations vppon words and phrases contrary to the first original thereof and to the alwaies continued custome and vse of the whole Church The Church of Christ absolutely is but one dispersed and scattered ouer the whole world Of this one Church there are notwithstanding diuers parts which all being in nature alike are by the name of the whole called by the name of b Act. 15. 41. Rom. 16. 16. Churches For distinction of these Churches they haue euery of them their denomination of the places where they are The church of Antioch is called c Act. 13. 1. the Church which is at Antioch the Church of Corinth is d 1. Cor. 1. 2. the Church of God which is at Corinth the Church of Ephesus are e Ephes 1. 1. the Saints which are at Ephesus And thus when the Apostle meant to write to the Church of Rome he writeth f Rom. 1. 7. to all that be at Rome beloued of God c. For as the Church of Thessalonica is g 1. Thess 1. 1. the Church of the Thessaelonians that is of them that inhabite Thessalonica so the Church of Rome is the Church of the Romans that is of them that inhabite Rome And thus we see that in the inscriptions of the Epistles of the ancient Bishops of Rome accordingly as we haue them albeit sometimes they wrote themselues Bishops of the Catholike Church yet doe shew that they meant it no otherwise then as all Bishops wrote themselues Bishops of the Catholike Church as I haue before shewed namely with limitation thereof to the Citty of Rome whereof they were Bishops without euer dreaming of M. Bishops vniuersall Roman Church Thus we finde h Calixt Epist 1. Calixtus Archiepiscopus Ecclesiae Catholicae vrbis Romae Calixtus Archbishop of the Catholike Church of the Citty of Rome i Marcellin Epist 1. Marceilinus Episcopus Sanctae Ecclesiae Catholicae vrbis Romanae Marcellinus Bishop of the holy Catholike Church of the Citty of Rome k Marcell Epist 2. Marcellus Episcopus Sanctae Apostolicae Catholicae vrbis Romae Marcellus Bishop of the holy and Apostolike and Catholike Citty of Rome And so Leo onewhere writing himselfe l Leo. Epist 13. Leo Catholicae Romanae Ecclesiae Episcopus Leo Bishop of the Catholike Roman Church doth otherwhere plainly expresse the meaning thereof m Epist 1 2. 3. Leo vrbis Romae Epi copios Et Epist 12. Leo Papa Ecclesiae Catholicae vrbis Romae Leo Bishop of the City of Rome Leo Bishop of the Catholike Church of the Citty of Rome To bee short it is not to bee found that euer the Church of Rome was otherwise vnderstood but only for the Church of the Citty of Rome and shall wee hearken to these new vpstart Minters that thus coyne vs a Church of Rome that was neuer heard of before And therefore it is nothing to vs what they by abuse of speech teach their followers to say let their French Disciples say they are of the Catholike Roman Church we vnderstand them thereby to take part with the Church of Rome but the Church of Rome is that of Rome only whereto they addict themselues Albeit by that addition what doe they but shew themselues Sectaries and Schismatikes diuiding themselues factiously apart from the whole the Catholike Roman Church absurdly so named by themselues from that which is absolutely and therefore truly called the Catholike Church For the Catholike Church is the whole Church as hath beene said but Roman put to it is a terme of diminution and abridgeth the whole to a part the vniuersall to a particular because the whole is not Roman Therefore to say Catholike Roman is to say Catholike not Catholike and Roman Catholikes are Catholikes which are no Catholikes and of them it may be truly said which Optatus said of the Donatists n Optat lib. 2. Vultis vos solos esse totum qui in omni toto non estis You would haue your selues only to be the whole who are not in all the whole Now here we may aske them with what face they can talke of antiquity who haue brought into the Church so strange a nouelty as this is The name of Catholikes and of the Catholike Church which pleased antiquity is not enough for them Pacianus said of old o Pacian ad Simpron epist 1. Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus verò cognomen Christian is my name and Catholike my surname but that is changed now into Roman Catholike is my surname disclaiming thereby the communion and fellowship of the Catholike Church and banding themselues in a partiall and factious confederacy with the Roman Church Thus hauing departed from the ancient faith and discipline of the Catholike Church they doe notwithstanding for colouring of their Apostasie retaine certaine names and formalities thereof but they doe it so as that by their additions and constructions they make no other but mungrels and bastards of them And this appeareth by the reason that M. Bishop giueth of their adding Roman to Catholike namely to separate them that ioyne in faith with the Church of Rome from other sectaries because Catholikes were of old so called not for ioyning in faith with this or that Church but for being members of the vniuersall Church And if that reason were sufficient it should haue waighed of old as well as now when there were so many Sects and Heresies in the Church when Schismatikes and Heretikes vsurped to themselues the name of Catholikes and yet the Catholike saw no reason to draw the whole to the name of any part or to call themselues otherwise then by the name of Catholikes as resoluing to professe no other communion or fellowship but vniuersally with the Church of the whole world Neither was it otherwise till Antichrist had exalted himselfe in the Roman Sea who challenging to himselfe and his only to bee the Church of God tooke vpon him to
authorised to all other Churches I am not so copious as to afford to euery leasing of M. Abbot a new phrase wherefore the Reader I hope will beare with my rudâ—nesse if I call sometimes a lye by the name of a lye It is an vntrue tale that the Donatists ordayned Bishops from Cartenna for they could not abide that place but esteemed it to be Schismaticall as you haue heard before He doth misreport S. Augustine who saith Quò ex Africa ordinare paucis Lib. 2. cont Câ—â—scon c. 37. vestris soletis Episcopum You Donatists are wont to order and send a Bishop thither to your few companions out of Africa not from Cartenna in Mauritania Neither doth the Catholike Church appoint that euery Bishop should goe to Rome to take holy Orders and from thence to be sent to other Catholike Countries but in euery other region where be three Catholike Bishops they may be lawfully consecrated albeit for vnities sake and to prâ—serue due order they bee confirmed by the Bishop of Rome the supreme head vnder Christ of the Catholike Church R. ABBOT PVt Africa here in steede of Cartenna and M. Bishop hath no shift to auoid this point of resemblance betwixt the Romanists and Donatists The Donatists designed the fundamentall place of the Catholike Church in Africa as the Papists doe at Rome The Donatists laboured the extent of their communion into all other Countries as also the Papists doe a Optat. lib. 2. Sed habere vos in vrbe Roma partem aliquam dicitis In the Citty of Rome it selfe as Optatus witnesseth the Donatists bragged that they had a part that ioyned with them They had there a Bishop of their owne to assemble and gouerne that part of theirs insomuch that Optatus in the same place reckoneth sixe Bishops of that faction Victor Bonifacius Encolpius Macrobius Lucianus Claudianus who had there succeeded one another Of the manner of the appointing of these Bishops St. Austin saith in the place by me cited to M. Bishop b Aug. cont Crescon lib. 2. cap. 37. Romanorum Ecclesia quò ex Africa paucis vestris ordinare soletis Episcopum To Rome for those few followers that you haue there you are wont to order and direct a Bishop out of Africa Out of Africa saith M. Bishop not out of Cartenna in Mauritania True it is if Africa be in speciall vnderstood but I not waighing the matter so strictly vnderstood Africa more largely as the third part of the world and in that signification Mauritania and therefore Cartenna in Mauritania is a part of Africa Well let Cartenna be put out and take Africa as indeed it was meant for c Theo lâ—ret haeret fabul l. 4. de Donatist Regio quae olim Lybia nunc autem Africa appellatur that Countrey which of old was called Lybia and in which meaning St. Austin noteth that Mauritania Caesariensis where Cartenna was d Aug. Epist 48. Mauritania Caesariensis quaÌ„do nec Africam se vult dici c. refused to be called by the name of Africa from this Africa the Donatists ordered and established Bishops ouer that part which they had at Rome and so said I from Rome by the Papists order must Bishops now be authorised to all other Churches Now M. Bishop seeing that Africa being thus put in steede of Cartenna the resemblance would somwhat touch their Church of Rome bringeth a very poore and silly shift for the auerting of it The Catholike Church saith he he meaneth the Roman Church doth not appoint that euery Bishop should goe to Rome to take holy Orders and from thence to be sent to other Catholike Countries No more say I did the Catholike Church of the Donatists binde men to come into Africa to be ordered Bishops there but it was enough if by Bishops of their communion he were ordered otherwhere For whether it were by sending some to order Bishops where none were or by sending Bishops already ordered it may either way stand which St. Austin noteth as a matter of their conceipt that e August de vnit Eccles c. 13. Ostendant esse praedictum solam Africam remansuram quocunque Episcopi ex Africa â—â—tierer tur out of Africa Bishops should be sent into all places And thus the same St. Austin although in the place alleaged he mention no more but the ordering of a Bishop to be sent to Rome out of Africa yet in another place declareth it to haue beene indifferent with them either f August ad Quodvult hâ—rel 69. In vrbe Roma Montâ—nses vocantur qu bus 〈◊〉 ex Africa solâ—nt Episcoâ—um mittere aut â—inc illuc Afri Epicopi corum pergere si fortè ibi cum ordinare placuisset to send a Bishop to Rome out of Africa or that the African Bishops should goe to Rome if they thought good to order a Bishop there namely because there were no other Bishops there of their communion by whom otherwise he might be ordered Whereas therefore M. Bishop saith that Bishops may lawfully be consecrated in any region where be three Catholike Bishops he saith no more for their Popish Bishops then the Donatists acknowledged of theirs and therefore in this point of the resemblance there is no difference at all betwixt the Donatists and the Papists Albeit by reason of that which M. Bishop confesseth that all Bishops must be confumed by the Bishop of Rome it may bee truly said that Bishops are made at Rome only because they are not taken to be fully and absolutely Bishops till they be confirmed there Which confirmation is not for vnity and order as M. Bishop pretendeth but for extortion and couetousnesse the Pope being wont to make infinite aduantage and profit to himselfe thereby neither is it giuen by the supreme head vnder Christ as he stileth the Pope but by a Nimrod and proud vsurper ouer the Church of Christ W. BISHOP §. 4. THe fourth point of the comparison is most absurd for the Donatists were so farre from thinking them Catholikes that kept communion with the Church of Cartenna that they detested and abhorred their company as Schismatikes Neither doe we call any men Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Rome if it be taken for that particular Church which is contayned within the walles of Rome but because that communicating with that Church in faith and religion they doe communicate with all other of the same faith which are spred all the world ouer R. ABBOT I Said the Donatists I should haue said the Rogatists who were but one part of the Donatisls as I haue before obserued the Rogatists I say would be taken to be Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Cartenna and euen so will the Papists be accounted Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Rome For the Rogatists expounding the word Catholike of integrity and perfection of faith as before we haue seene and affirming a Aug. Epist 48. Persuadere
doth not furnish me with some bookes which they haue followed in which case I may as well vse their names as Papists may vse the names of Baronius Surius Genebrard and other their owne authours as I haue d Aduertisement concerning D. Bishops Reproofe sect 6. before shewed more at large As touching the disagreement betwixt Austin the Monke and the British Bishops I referred the Reader to Beda as well as to any other and by him it appeareth that there was variance betwixt them not only in some few but in very many things c Beda hist l. 2. c. 2. Sed alia plurima vnitati Ecclesiae coÌ„traria faciebaÌ„â— Qui cum longa disputatione habita neque precibus neque hortamentis neque increpationibus Augustini ac sâ—ciorum eius ossensum praebere voluissent c. Dicibat eis quòd in multis quidem nostrae consuetudini coÌ„traria gâ—ritis tamen si in tribus his mihi obseperare vultis c. caetera aequanimitèr â—uncta tolerabimus wherein he sought by disputing by intreating by exhorting by reprouing to draw their assent vnto him Which when hee could not obtaine he made offer to beare with all other differences so that in three things they would yeeld to him to obserue Easter and to celebrate Baptisme after the manner of the Church of Rome and to ioyne with them in Preaching to the infidell Saxons M. Bishop here will giue reason why the Britans should haue yeelded to the Roman manner of Baptising because forsooth it was likely to be administred more decently and deuoutly in the most renowmed city of Rome then amongst the Britans in a corner of the world But if it must be presumed that at Rome because of the renowme of the place all things were done more decently and deuoutly then otherwhere why did Gregory aduise Austin that f Ibid. l. r. c. 27. Mâ—bi placâ—t vt siue in Romana siue in Gallâ—aru siue in qualibet Ecclesia aliquid inuemsti quod plus omnipotenti Deo posâ—it placere so 〈…〉 e â—lâ—gaâ— custodiamus consuctudines commendat whether in the Church of Rome or in the Church of France or in any other Church he should finde what might better please God he should make choise of it Surely it was an absurdity in Austin that when things might be better as g Ambros de Sacram. l. 3. c. 1. Quod alibi rectiùs seruatâ—r nos rectè Ambrose also saith in other Churches then in the Church of Rome he should notwithstanding seeke to force other Churches to the example of that Church Yea and it was a token of his ignorance that he needed to write to Gregory to be resolued as touching h Beda vt supra Cùm vna sit sides cur sunt Ecclesiarum diuersae c. the diuers customes and obseruations of diuers Churches not knowing that i Euseb hist lib. 5. cap. 23. Dissonantia ieiuny fidei concordiam difference of ceremonies commendeth the vnity of faith as Ireneus spake particularly of fasting and therefore that there was no cause for him so to labour other men to conformity to their rites Albeit it may be likely that the Sacrament of Baptisme was administred amongst the Britans with greater simplicity and lesse ceremony then at Rome and that for that cause they made choise rather to continue their old forme knowing that abundance of ceremonies breedeth commonly abundance of superstitions and k Aug. Epist 119. Quamuis neque hoc inueniri possit quomodâ— contra fidem sint ipsam tamen religioneÌ„ c. seruilibus oneribus premâ—nt c. though it be not seene how they make against the faith yet they are as St. Austin saith the clogge and burden of religion oppressing it first and then eating out the very heart of it And this we take to be the chiefe cause why they so stifly refused Austin for that albeit they acknowledged that he taught the true Christian faith yet they saw him ioyne therwith not in baptisme only but otherwise also so many humane traditions and inuentions which they held to be so many prophanations of the true Christian faith If some of them acknowledged so much as M. Bishop vrgeth out of Beda we will not sticke to acknowledge the same in such sort as they did neither will we stand to question whether Dulcitius he would say Dubricius as I take it or Dauid principall preachers of the Britans in their times were brought vp at Rome though Bale whom he citeth in his lesser worke which only I haue doe not say so much or that either of them was Legate to the Bishop of Rome but be it so yet it followeth not that all his Maiesties Auncestours both English and Britaines embraced that Roman faith that now is because it shall appeare as I haue said that the Roman faith is not the same now that it was then As touching the obseruation of Easter what reasons might moue the Britans to continue their former custome we cannot tell It may be that they were ignorant of the Nicene decree and what of that Surely Hilary a learned and godly Bishop of France protesteth that he l Hilar. de Synod adu Arian Fidem Nicenam nunquam â—â—si exulaturus audâ—â—i neuer heard of the Nicene Councell till the time that he went into banishment which as appeareth by Hieromes Chronicle was about the twentieth yeare of Constantius the Arian Emperour which was thirty yeares after the time of that Councell Now if it were so long vnknowen or so little knowen in France no maruell if in Britanny it were lesse knowen and where it had not caused a change within that time it was not likely afterwards to preuaile much specially with a nation so much afflicted and troubled with warres and inuasions as the Britans thenceforth were in which case no alteration might be likely to take place amongst them Moreouer they could remember that in the time of Lucius their King Eleutherius sent ouer some preachers hither for the conuerting and instructing of the King and his people who yet required not to haue Easter obserued after the manner of the Roman Church but left them to keepe it according to the custome that they had vsed from the time of the Apostles whereupon they might resolue that there was no cause why Austin comming from Rome should now goe about to alter that custome more then they had done In a word the Britans were not too contentious in refusing to yeeld to a sodaine alteration of things so long continued but Austin rather shewed himselfe contentious and vndiscreet in that he did so vnseasonably and without cause so strongly vrge the same W. BISHOP §. 4. THe same might as easily be proued of the Churches of Scotland who acknowledge Palladius and Patritius for two of the chiefe founders of the Christian faith in that country who both were brought vp at Rome and sent into Scotland by Celestinus Bishop of Rome to instruct
Christ her Lord and head and most entire in the faith and doctrine which shee had receiued from him Of this flourishing and best estate we must consider in the next Chapter and therefore I cease here to speake any further thereof CHAP. VII Of the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome and of the testimony of Theodoret concerning the fulnesse of doctrine contained in the Epistle to the Romans and that the Apostle there condemneth Popery of Idolatry in worshipping of Saints and Images ANSWERE TO THE EPISTLE VVE hope you vvill not deny but the Apostle S. Paul vvas one principall pillar c. to Chap. 8. Paul saith and vve say the same that c. W. BISHOP §. 1. WHat a worthy graue Preface he vseth to assure men that we will not deny S. Paul nor his Epistle to the Romans which neuer were called in doubt by any man But good Sir whiles you muse and busie your head so much vpon bables you forget or wilfully mistake the very point of the question Was the Church of Rome at her most flourishing estate when S. Paul wrote that Epistle to the Romans was her faith then most renovvmed ouer all the vvorld as you write nothing lesse for not the ten thousand part of that most populous Citty was then conuerted to the faith and they that had receiued the Christian faith were very nouices in it and stoode in great neede of the Apostles diuine instructions Any reasonable man would rather iudge that the Church of Rome then came first to her most flourishing estate when Idolatry and all kinde of superstition was put to silence and banished out of her when the Christian religion was publikely preached and conntenanced by the Emperours authority which was not before the reigne of Constantine the Great our most glorious countrey-man wherefore M. Abbots first fault is that he shooteth farre wide from the marke which he should haue aimed at principally The second is more nice yet in one that would seeme so acute not to be excused It is that he taketh an Epistle written to the Romans for their instruction and correction as if it were a declaration and profession of their faith when as all men know such a letter might containe many things which they had not heard off before Further yet that you may see how nothing can passe his fingers without some legerdemaine marke how he englisheth Theodorets wordes Dogmatum pertractationem The handling of opinions is by him translated all points of doctrine whereas it rather signifieth some then all opinions or lessons But I will let these ouer-sights passe as flea-bitings and follow him whither he pleaseth to wander that euery man may see when he is permitted to say what he liketh best that in truth he can alleage out of S. Paul nothing of moment against the Catholike faith R. ABBOT WEe see here what great cause there was that his Maiesty should adde the wordes now spoken off And from Christ her Lord and head because it might be doubted what construction they or any other might make of the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome I say that St. Paul wrote his Epistle to that Church when the faith thereof was most renowmed through the world This M. Bishop denieth and will not haue that to be taken for the flourishing and best estate of the Roman Church And why First not the ten thousand part of that most populous Citty was then conuerted to the faith and secondly they who had then receiued the Christian faith were very nouices in it and stoode in great neede of the Apostles diuine instructions So then he will haue vs to vnderstand that then was the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome when there were in it the greatest number of Christians and they were so perfect in the faith as that they needed not the Apostles diuine instructions But when was that Not before the reigne of Constantine the Great saith he Well and was it then Nay he saith not so and we may well thinke that he knoweth not well when or what to say Certaine it is that Paganisme abounded in Rome after the time of Constantine who indeede for his time by lawes restrained the publike exercise thereof but yet a Relat. Symmach apud Ambros lib. 5. Epist 30 Diui ConstaÌ„tij factum diu non sletit that act of his saith Symmachus did not long stand good the people returning to their old superstitions and sacrifices vntill that by Theodosius and Gratian the Emperours of Rome they were repressed againe Which lawes of theirs Symmachus the Lieutenant of the city moued the next Emperour Valentinian in his owne name and in the name of the City and Senate of Rome to haue againe repealed who b Symmach vt supra Senatus me querelaruÌ„ suarum iussit esse I egatum c. Vt Praefectus vâ—ster gesta publica prosequor vt Legatus ciuium mandata commendo though he pretended a farre greater number of Senatours to ioyne with him then did as Ambrose sheweth yet cannot be doubted to haue had a great number also partakers with him beside the common multitude of the City whose affection how it stood we may gather by that that Hierome saith not much distant from that time that c Hieron in Esai lib. 16. c. 57. â—psaque Roma orbiâ— Domina in singulis insulis domibusque Tutela simulachrum cereis venerans ac lucernis quam ad tuitionem aedium isto appellant nomine Rome in euery house did with tapers and candles worship the image of Tutela whom they so called for the tuition and defence of their houses though elsewhere he testifie that d IdeÌ„ ad Marcel vt commigret Bethlehem Est ibi sancta Ecclesia c. gentilitate calcata in sublime se quotidiè erigens vocabulum Christianum Paganisme was decaying and the name of Christians arising and growing higher and higher from day to day But if it were yet growing then it was not at full growth and therefore when will M. Bishop say was the most flourishing and best time of the Church there Againe we desire to know of him when the time was that the Church of Rome stoode in no neede of the Apostles diuine instructions May we thinke M. Bishop that euer there was any such time Surely we know now what the cause is why the Apostles diuine instructions are so little set by at Rome They serued the Romans forsooth at first when they were but nouices in the faith but now they are growen ripe and haue no neede to be taught by him May we not thinke him a wise man that thus telleth vs that the Romans then stoode in neede of the Apostles diuine instructions as if there were any time since that they had not the like neede But I would aske him how it appeareth to him that the Romans were then but nouices in the faith The reason which his wordes imply is because
of the blisse of the life to come CHAP. XIIII That the Epistles of St. Paul are loosely and impertinently alleaged by the Papists for proofe of their Popery as namely for Iustification before God by workes for Free-will against certainty of saluation and particular Faith for the Merit of single life for Monkish vowes for Purgatory and prâ—yer for the Dead for Images and inuocation of Saints for the Masse and Reall presence for the Authority of thâ— Church of Rome for Pardons for Traditions for the perpetuall visibility of the Church for Satisfactions and workes of supererogation for seuen Sacraments c. THE TRVE ANCIENT ROMANE CATHOLICKE CHAP. I. That the Church of Rome doth vainely and absurdly challenge to it selfe the name of the Catholicke Church Answere to Doct. BISHOPS Epistle Sect. 3. HEre M. Bishop propoundeth briefely to his Maiestie the summe of his Petition c. to It is therefore a meere Vsurpation c. Doct. BISHOPS REPROOFE Pag. 89. §. 1. MAster Abbot is now at length come from his extrauagant rouing narrations vnto some kind of argumentation Here he will giue a proofe of his valour here we shall soone trie whether he come so wel furnished into the field that he neede not to doubt of the victory as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he 〈…〉 ed of himselfe on whether his speciall skill and force die not rather lie in râ—â—ling at vs and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reader then in any sound kinde of re 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of St. Aug 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the â—ord Catholike we â—â—llingly â—â—mit off to wit That religion is Catholike that faith is Catholike which is spread ouer all the world and hath beene alwaies imbraced and practised euen from the Apostles time to our daies and such is the religion which I would haue perswaded his Maiesty to receiue into his Princely protection To this what saith M. Abbot marry that his Maiesty hath already receiued it How doth he proue that not by any one plaine and round argument directly to the purpose but from the Catholike religion falleth to the Catholike Church and so spendeth the time in most friuolous arguing against the Roman Church of which I made no mention at all Doth he not deserue a Lawrell garland for the worshipfull ranging of his battell and is he not like to fight it out valiantly that thus in the beginning flyeth from the point of the Question Proue good Sir that his Maiesty imbraceth and maintaineth that religion which is spread ouer all the world and that hath continued euer since the Apostles time and then you may iustly say that he vpholdeth the Catholike religion according to your owne explication out of the ancient Fathers But because Mr. Abbot saw this to be impossible he gaue it the sâ—ippe and turneth himselfe to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike and perceiuing that also as hard to performe as the other he shuffles from the religion and faith of which the Question was vnto the Roman Church that is from the faith professed at Rome to the persons inhabiting the City of Rome whom he will proue not to be Catholikes and the Roman Church not to be the Catholike Church Doe you marke what winding and turning and what doubling this simple Minister is driuen vnto ere he can come to make any shew of a silly argument R. ABBOT I Doe not maruell that my narrations seeme to M. Bishop to be extrauagant and rouing who hauing set vp his owne marke thinketh all to be extrauagant and rouing that flyeth not by his aime Albeit he is beholding to me for those extrauagant and rouing narrations because they haue ministred him matter towards the making vp of a prety handsome booke which must haue beene much shorter if he had beene tyed to the substantiall points of his owne defence As for the victory that I ominated to my selfe thanks be to God I haue obtained it being become Master of the field and M. Bishop enforced to leaue the maine battell contented now only out of a corner to thrust an ambush that he may make some shew that he is not quite spent I triumph ouer him in his owne conscience being priuy to himselfe what desperate shifts he hath beene faine to vse to how cruell a racke he hath beene forced to put himselfe to make men beleeue that he hath strength enough left to saue himselfe It is but risus Sardonius whereby he iesteth at the simple Minister driuen to winding and turning and doubling it is indeede for his behoofe to haue it taken so but the Ministers proceeding is direct and orderly familiar and sensible to euery mans vnderstanding inferring by due course the very point that doth require proofe The Minister is not so simple but that he can easily discerue the pittifull case of a Popish Masse-monger who being troubled with a vertigo or some other distemperature of the braine thinketh all to be winding and turning about him when there is no turning at all but in his owne head The issue betwixt him and me was Whether his Maiesty doe 〈◊〉 and maintâ—ine the only true Catholike and Apostolike faith To proue that he doth so it was necessary first to explicate what is meant by the Catholike and Apostolike faith Of the Catholike Church it is that the faith is called The Catholike faith For there hath beene one and the same faith from the beginning as shall afterwards appeare but it could not be called the Catholike faith till the Church became the Catholike Church If of the Catholike Church the faith be called the Catholike faith then to shew what is meant by the Catholike faith I was first to shew what is meant by the Catholike Church This I did and 〈◊〉 occasion thereof taxed as due order required the 〈…〉 of the Pope and his complices in vsurping to themselues the name of the Catholike Church and thence terming themselues Catholikes that hauing destroyed their ridiculous and foolish claime there might be thereof no let to the collection whereat I aimed that the Catholike faith is the faith of the Catholike Church that the Catholike Church though becomming Catholike by being spred ouer the whole world yet containeth as a part thereof euen * Aug. de Catechiz rudib c. 19. Velut totus homâ— dum nascitur etiamsi manum in nascendo praemittat tameÌ„ vniuerso corpori sub capite coniuncta atque compacta est quem admodum etiam nonnulli in ipsis Patriarchis in buius ipsius rei signum manu praemissa nati sunt c. as an arme or hand come out of the wombe before the rest of the body the whole Church of God from the beginning of the world that of this whole body of the Church from the beginning to the end there is in substance but one faith and religion towards God that therefore what was the faith of the Patriarks and Fathers from the beginning the sâ—me and no other is now the Catholike faith whence it
any such when they withstood Victor Bishop of Rome in the same cause and neglected his excommunication the same Polycrates alleaging for himselfe that d Ibid. Ego qui sanctam Scripturam volui ac reuolui non tâ—rbabor illis quae terrendi gratia obijciuntur Etâ—nim maiorâ—s mei Deo magis quà m hominibus obedienâ—â—â— esse dixerunt hauing read the holy Scripture ouer and ouer he would not be troubled with those things that were threatned to him because his ancestors had taught him rather to obey God then men Neither did e CoÌ„cil Carthag apud Cyprian Per totum Cyprian and his African Bishops conceiue any such when in their Councell they determined the point of the Baptisme of Heretikes professedly against the knowen iudgement of the Bishop and Church of Rome whether truly or falsly that skilleth not only hereby it appeareth that they had not learned nor did beleeue M. Bishops necessity of according with the Church of Rome Neither did the Easterne Churches imagine any such principality in the church of Rome when as Leo hauing affirmed it to be f Leo. Epist 62. Ad octauum Calend. Maiar Paschalem obseruantiam perducere nimis insolens aperta transgressio est a strange and manifest trespasse or transgression to bring Easter day to the eighth of the Calends of May he was faine notwithstanding to yeeld g Idem Epist 93. Studio vnitatis pacis malui Orientalium definitioni acquiescere quà m in tantae festiuitatis obseruantia dissidere to them therein because they would not yeeld to him Neither did Hierome beleeue any such who writing purposely in derogation of the Church of Rome saith h Hieron epist ad Euagr. Si authoritas quaritur vrbis maior est vrbe c. Quid mihi prâ—fers vnius vrbis consuetudinâ—â— quid paucitatem de qâ—a ortum est supercilium in leges Ecclesiâ— vindicas If authority be required the whole world is greater then one City what doest thou bring me the custome of one City why doest thou maintayne a paucity or fewnesse whence hath growen proud vsurping vpon the lawes of the Church Neither did Ambrose admit it who for defence of a ceremony vsed in his Church of Millan saith i Ambros de Sacram. lib. 3. cap. 1. Cupio in omnibus sequi Romanam Ecclesiam sed tamen nos homines sensum habemus I desire in all things to follow the Church of Rome but wee also are men that haue vnderstanding and therefore what is more rightly obserued otherwhere wee iustly obserue the same Neither was it acknowledged by the sixe hundred and thirty Bishops of the Councell of Chalcedon who affirming k Chalcedon Concil Act. 15. Can. 28. Antiquae Roma throno quòd vrbs illa imperaret iure patres priuilegia tribuere â—t eadem considerationâ— moâ—i centum quinquaginta Dei amaâ—tissimi Episcopi Sanctâ—ssimo noua Româ— throâ—o â—qualia priuilegia tribuere rectè iudicantes vrbem quae Imperio Senatu honorata sit c. etiam in rebus Ecclesiasticis non secus ac illam extollâ— c. the priuiledges of the Church of Rome to haue beene giuen to it by the Fathers before fâ—r that that City was the seate of the Empire did for the same consideration giue to the Church of Constantinople equall priuiledges with the Church of Rome when the City of Constantinople was honoured with the Empire and Senate as well as the City of Rome which in the l Synod 6. in Trullo Can. 36. Decernimus vt thronus Constantinopolitanus aequalia priuilegia cum antiquâ— Romae throno obtiâ—eat sixt Synode holden at Constantinople in Trullo by almost three hundred Bishops more was againe approued and confirmed Now then by the continuall practise of the Church it appeareth that the wordes of Ireneus cannot be truly applied to approue any superiority of gouernement to appertaine to the Church of Rome As little doe the wordes of Cyprian auaile to challenge thereto certaine continuance and stability in true faith who exagitating the tumultuous and disorderly courses of certaine lewd and schismaticall persons who being censured by the Bishops of Africa sought to patronage themselues vnder the fauor of the Bishop of Rome vpbraideth them that m Cyprian lib. 1. Epist 3. Nec cogiâ—â—re â—os esse Romanos quorum fides Apostolo praedicante laudata est ad quos perfidia habâ—re non possit accessum they considered not that the Romans were men whose faith by the testimony of the Apostle was commended to whom perfidiousnesse can or may haue no accesse Where M. Bishop adding in his translation of the wordes or falshood in matters of faith to make the wordes serue his purpose thrusteth them quite from the purpose of him that wrote them It made nothing for Cyprians purpose that falshood in matters of faith could haue no accesse to the Romans the thing that hee aimeth at is that in matters of iurisdiction perfidious and trecherous persons iustly punished for their euill demeanours and thereupon comming to Rome with lies and tales should finde no admittance or harbour there M. Bishop though hee giue to the Bishop of Rome a priuiledge not to erre in deciding matters of faith yet will not denie but that hee may erre in cases and proceedings of iurisdiction and in examining and iudging matters of fact may giue countenance to lewde and vngracious men as hee did to the Iesuites against the Priests It beeing then impertinent here to Cyprians occasion to affirme the Church of Rome to bee free from errour in question of faith either wee must make him speake idlely or else wee must construe his wordes the other way that those lewde and euill disposed persons should finde no fauour or entertainement there Which hee saith cannot bee not as to affirme an impossibility thereof but as to signifie how farre hee presumed of their integrity in this behalfe and that they would make good the Apostles commendation of their faith one fruit whereof should bee to resist the courses of such tumultuous disturbers of Ecclesiasticall order and peace and to yeeld no accesse or â—are to their calumnious and false suggestions Gregory Nazianzene well noteth that in diuers meanings it may bee said of a thing that it cannot bee n Greg. Nazianz Orat. 5. Significata horuÌ„ posse vel noÌ„ posse coÌ„plura sunt Interdum dicuntur de virium desectu certo huius tempore respectâ— alicuius c. Interdum vsurpamus de eo quod vt plurimùm accidit c. NonnunquaÌ„ vt rationi non consentaneum c. Nonnunquam vt quod voluntas noÌ„ admittat c. Praeterea quod natâ—rae quidem respectu sieri nequit praestari autâ—m à Deo potest si is velit c. Praeter haec quod prorsus vel fieri vel contingere nequit c. First to note want of strength at a certayne time and in some respect as to say of a
That we are not to imitate our fore-fathers descendeth to the subsequent to wit That his Maiesties Progenitours Kings of England and Scotland were not of our Roman faith which he will proue hereafter at more leasure that is to say neuer For he doth not deny but that the religious and holy man Augustine sent into our country by Gregory the Great Bishop of Rome to conuert our Ancestours the Saxons and English to the Christian faith did then teach the same Roman faith which we now professe so that aboue this thousand yeares by his owne confession his Maiesties Progenitours haue beene of our Catholike Roman faith and religion and very few Kings now liuing I weene can deriue their pedegree much further Afterward he doth rake out of the chanels of Bale Iewel Hollinshead and such like Page 198. late partiall writers which any man not past all care of his reputation would be ashamed to cite for sufficient witnesses in matters of controuersie wherein they themselues were parties that there was great disagreement betweene Augustine the Italian Monke as he speaketh and the Churches of England and Scotland whereas venerable Bede a most approued authour and neare vnto those times who did as most diligently trace out those matters so record them most faithfully he I say whose authority is sufficient to put downe an hundreth late writers interessed in the cause affirmeth that there was no variance betwixt them in any one article of faith but only in some few points of ceremonie namely in these two Vpon what day the feast of Easter was to be kept Beda lib. 2. histor cap. 2. and about the rites of Baptisme For S. Augustine offered them to beare with all other their different rites if they would yeeld vnto him in these two points Vt Pascha suo tempore celebretis That yee would keepe Easter-day at the due time appointed by the Councell of Nice and minister the Sacrament of Baptisme after Euseb in vita Const lib. 3. 17. Epiphan lib. 3. Haeres 70. the manner of the Roman Apostolike Church And concerning these two points who can thinke but that the Sacrament of Baptisme was like to be administred in those daies in the most renowmed City of Rome after a more decent and deuout manner then among the Britans that liued in a corner of the world Now for the other of keeping the feast of Easter the fourteenth day of the first Moone with the Iewes It was many yeares before condemned in the first most famous generall Councell of Nice and therefore it cannot be denyed but that those Britans were either very ignorant in the Canons of the Church if they knew not so solemne a decree or else too too contentious and wilfull in refusing to yeeld vnto it A third clause was added by S Augustine that the Britans would ioyne with him and his fellowes Beda ibidem in preaching the word of God vnto the English nation which also argueth yet more strongly that they agreed together in all articles of faith or else they would not haue required their helpe in instructing others in matters of faith And this is not only registred by S. Bede that holy Historiographer but also reported by their owne late writers Hollinshead and * M. Godwine Volum 1. page 103. * Page 6. in his Catalogue of the Bishops of England S. Bede also witnesseth further in the place aboue said that the same Britan Christians euen then confessed that they did perceiue that to be the true way of iustice which Augustine did preach Furthermore the principall Preachers and most godly men that liued not long before S. Augustines arriuall among the Britans as namely S. Dulcitius and S. Dauid were brought vp at Rome and one of them the Popes Legate too as the aduersaries Iohn Bale in their liues themselues confesse Whereupon it followeth clearely that not only for these later thousand yeares but also in the former hundreths all his Maiesties Ancestors both English and Britans embraced and maintayned the same Catholike Roman faith which we now doe R. ABBOT MAster Bishop kindly threapeth vpon me that I denie not but that Austin the Monke sent hither by Gregory Bishop of Rome did then teach the same Roman faith that they now professe whereas I doe not only deny it to be so but also doe bring a Answ to the Epistle to the King sect 31. diuers instances to proue directly that it is not so Of those diuers let one only here suffice The religion brought in by Austin the Monke continuing here till the time of Charles the Great though it approued the hauing of Images yet condemned the second Nicene Councell for that it approued the worshipping of them The thing by Roger Houeden is thus reported that b Roger. Houeden Annal. p. 1. Anno 792. Carolê° Rex FraÌ„corum misit Synâ—dalem librum ad Britanniam sibi à Constantinopoli directum in quo libro beu proâ— dolor multa inconuenientia verâ— fidei coÌ„traria reperiebantur maximè quòd penè â—mnium Orientalium Doctorum non minus quà m trecentorum vel â—o amplius Episcoporum â—nanima assertione confirâ—atum fuerit Imagines adorari debere quod omninò Ecclesia Dei execratur Contra quod scripsit Albinus EpistolaÌ„â—x authoritate diuinarum Scripturarum mirabilitèr affirmataÌ„ illamque cum â—odâ—m libâ—o ex person 1 Episcoporum ac Principli nostro 〈…〉 â—rancorum 〈…〉 t. in the yeare 792. Charles the King of France sent ouer into Britaine a synodall booke or booke of a Councell directed to him from Constantinople in which booke alas for woe many things were found inconuenient and contrary to true faith specially for that by agreement of all the Easterne Doctors no lesse then three hundred Bishops and more it was decreed that Images should be worshipped which thing the Church of God wholly accurseth Against which saith he Albinus wrote an Epistle wonderfully strengthened by authority of holy Scriptures and brought it together with the booke to the King of France in the name or behalfe of our Bishops and Peeres The Roman faith which Austin brought condemned that Nicene Councell Tho Roman faith which M. Bishop bringeth approueth that Councell for so hath he done in his c Sect. 12. Epistle to the King Therefore the Roman faith which M. Bishop bringeth is not now the same that Austin brought He cannot doubt but that Austin being sent hither by Gregory did teach the same faith here which Gregory himselfe taught at Rome But the faith which Gregory taught at Rome shall be shewed if God will in this booke in many particulars to haue beene contrary to that faith that is now taught from Rome As for our writers Bale Iewell Hollinshead and such like I cite them not as sufficient witnesses in matters of controuersie as he vainly cauilleth but I name them only as recording matters of history which they haue taken out of former stories and writers when mine owne Library
proprietas Ecclesia ea est vt Catholica nempe vniuersalis vocetur The third property of the Church is that it is called Catholike that is vniuersall or might the Catechisme say without absurdity that Catholike is Vniuersall and must I be absurd because I say The Catholike Church is the Vniuersall Church Surely when words of one language are borrowed to speciall vse in another the reddition of them in the tongue to which they are borrowed is taken with the learned as supplying the place of a definition and it is thereby made to appeare whether they be properly and rightly vsed or vnproperly abused M. Bishop and his fellowes abuse the name of Catholikes and of the Catholike Church which English men doe not so readily vnderstand Let them giue the signification of the word and call themselues vniuersals their Church the vniuersall Church and then all that haue will to vnderstand can easily see their foolery and are ready to deride them But this they hide vnder the veile and couer of a Greeke word and wee that the truth may be the better seene are necessarily to discouer and therefore iust cause had I to say The Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church and he is an absurd man to taxe it as a thing absurd Yet notwithstanding I wish the Reader duly to obserue how that taxation stand 〈…〉 with the other that the same proposition of mine is captious For why is it captious Marry because the Catholike Church doth signifiâ— both the whole body of the Church compacted of all the particular members in which sense no one pâ—rticular Church can be called the Catholike Church because it is not the whole body and secondly the Catholike Church doth also designe and note very properly euery particular Church that embraceth the true Christian faith Where we may wonder that within the compasse of so few lines the mans wits should so extremely faile him For if the Catholike Church and the vniuersall Church be one and the same thing as he hath already told vs and vniuersall be no distinct thing but the very signification of the word Catholike then how can it be which here he telleth vs that the Catholike Church signifieth both the whole body of the Church which is the vniuersall Church and doth also very properly designe and note euery particular true Christian Church If the Catholike Church be no distinct thing from the vniuersall Church then it cannot properly note or designe euery particular Church or if it doe properly designe euery particular Church then it is distinct from the vniuersall Church Tell vs M. Bishop how these things hang togither for if the vniuersall Church be the very signification of the Catholike Church then we cannot see how a particular Church can bee properly called the Catholike Church because no particular Church can properly be called the vniuersall Church As for the exception that here lyeth against vs that the Fathers in pointing to a particular assembly doubt not sometimes to vse the name of the Catholike Church I shewed it before to be no whit preiudiciall to that that wee say because they minded not in so doing to limit themselues to that particular assembly but in a particular assembly to demonstrate the vniuersall Church For to say in any Citty for distinction sake this is the Catholike Church what was it else but to say this is that Church which is vniuersally dispersed through the whole world euen as when a man to demonstrate the elements saith This is the aire this is the earth pointing to the aire or earth whereat he is present but therein intending to demonstrate the whole body of the aire or earth hauing continuation with that whereto he pointeth For as the Apostle directing his speech to the Church of Ephesus nameth l Act. 20. 28. The Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne bloud and againe m 1. Tim. 3. 15. the house of God which is the Church of the liuing God the pillar and ground of truth so speaking of a part as to conioyne it with the whole euen so no otherwise was it that in noting any particular Church it was said This is the Catholike Church the whole Church being totum similare as I said before and the whole being subiect to be designed in any part But M. Bishop here saith that this was not only because the Church is totum similare but because each of the said particular Churches hath the same faith the same Sacraments and order of gouernment Which is as wisely and discreetly spoken as if he had said that this was not only because the Church in all parts thereof hath the same faith and sacraments but because the said particular Churches haue all the same faith and Sacraments For why is the Church said to be totum homogeneum or similare a body whose parts are all of the same nature kinde and being but because in all parts thereof there are the same faith and Sacraments or to vse the wordes of the Apostle n Ephes 4. 4. One body one spirit one hope of calling one Lord one faith one baptisme one God and Father of all who is aboue all and through all and in vs all Surely either M. Bishop was sleepy or else his wits were a wooll-gathering when he put in this exception Now then it was not said that the word Catholike is not or may not bee directed to any particular M. Bishop doth therein but meerely calumniate but I said and shewed that it is neuer rightly applied any way or to any particular but with implication of the vniuersall Church The faith is called Catholike because it is the faith of the vniuersall Church propagated and spred by the Apostles ouer the whole world Particular Churches are called Catholike and particular persons are called Catholikes as a man would say Vniuersalists for maintayning communion and fellowship of this faith with the Church of the whole world And as the name of the aire or the earth being absolutely vsed importeth that whole element whereof we speake but yet according to distinction of places we say The aire of London the aire of Oxford the aire of Winchester c. without restraining the name of the aire to any one place more then other and only meaning that part of the aire that is in such or such a place euen so whereas the name of the Catholike Church simply and absolutely vsed importeth the whole vniuersall Church the same notwithstanding is found to be distinguished by diuersity of places the Catholike Church of such a place or the Catholike Church of such a place not limiting the name of the Catholike Church to any one place more then other and in true propriety of speech meaning nothing else but that part of the Catholike Church that is in this or that place And therefore I formerly noted and thinke not vnfit here to be repeated that as Leo wrote himselfe o Leo. epist 12. Leo