points contrary to his lawe theyr circumcission therfore dyd profit them nothing but was turned into vncircumcission Rom 2. Rom 2 Euen so batpisme is vnto vs the seale of the new couenaunt which God hath made with vs and with our fore fathers which couenaunt he neither dooth nor can breake But when we breake the condition which is to serue and honour him in spirit and in trueth Ioh. 4. Iohn 4 then is our baptisme made vnprofitable to vs. For as S. Peter hath written 1. Peter 3. 1 Pet 3 The baptisme that saueth vs is not that which putteth away the filth of the flesh but that whereby we are made bolde with a good conscience to stand before God and to call vpon him This is the baptisme of the spirite whereby we are borne from aboue and made the sons and daughters of God and his spirit giuen vnto vs which spirite dooth certifie our spirites that we are Gods children and the same spirite dooth enbolden vs to repaire vnto God as children to a Father and to say vnto him father father Yea and this spirite dooth leade vs as the children of God and maketh vs able in some measure to serue him in obseruing the commaundementes of God Rom 8. Roma 8 How can you say that you doo obserue this condition of honouring and seruing God in spirit and in trueth when in your outward exercise of religion there is scarsely any one thing to bée séene that sauoreth any thing at all of the spirite but altogeather of the flesh yea very fewe thinges that God hath commaunded are to bee séene in your outward professing of Christ but very many things that God hath flatly forbidden Your temples or Churches stuffed full of images and howe dooth the temple of God agree with images 2 Cor 6. 2 Cor 6 your Churches builded and consecrated to the honor of creatures as of Angels and Saints Your solemne festiuall dayes yerely obserued in the honor of creatures Your inuocations and prayers Your burning of incence before dead images and liuing men and before that Sacrament which our Christ ordayned to be receiued in the remembraunce of his death and passion and not to bée worshipped your offering vp of this sacrament as a sacrifice for the sinnes both of the quicke and of the dead your hanging of it ouer your Alters and your carying of it about in your pompous processions your harmonious musicke with the voices of men and children together and the noise of Organes and other loude instruments of Musicke your ringing of Belles your burning of lightes in the open day-light with I wot not how many other toyishe diuises that are vsed by you in your exercise of religiō what one sparke of spirituall seruing and honouring of God can there be in them But your baptisme although you haue diuised manie madde toyes which you doo vse in the ministration therof remaineth the same in substance that our Sauiour Christ dyd commaund to be ministred to such as should beléeue by the preaching of the Gospell Math 28. Math 28. Goe your way and teach all nations baptising them in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holy Ghost You baptise not in the name of Antichrist but in the name of the holy trinity the Father the Son and the holy Ghost The baptisme therefore that we haue receiued amongst you is as effectuall to vs as the Baptisme that we minister to our infantes is to them Now you doo I hope sée that your two horned argument dooth not stand vpon so sure a ground as you séemed to be perswaded that it dyd Wée may say yea to your question and yet not affirme that there is an other way to saluation then by Christ And wée may say no to your question and not be enforced thereby to deny that any of the people that professed Christ for the space of 1000. yeeres were saued Nowe therefore I require you to remember your promise and to recant which you haue hetherto refused to doo The eighteenth Offer Offeter Eighteenth Let the learned Protestant make proofe vnto me how theyr hidde vnknowen and secret Church not hauing in it the Doctrine of Christs Gospell openlie taught no ministration of Sacramentes no spirite of Prophesieng no discipline or rod of correction no ordering of Bishops Preestes and Ecclesiasticall ministers nor yet any other spirituall function executed in the same for the space of a thousand yeres together Let hym prooue their hidde and vnknowen Church with the lacke of all these thinges to be the true spouse and Catholique Church of Christ and I will recant and not before Crowley I haue already prooued sufficiently that although our Catholique Church was by Antichristian tirannie verie sore oppressed and by Popish supersticion and by blasphemous idolatrie meruailously ouercountenaunced yet in all that time of a thousand yéeres that this Offerer speaketh of it was neuer so hidde so vnknowen or so secret but that it was still the Cittie on the hill the Candle on the candlesticke the salt and the light of the world euen as it was in the time of Christs being on earth in our nature and vnder the first ten horrible persecutions The doctrine of the Gospel of Christ was taught and the sacramentes of Christ were ministred in it as openly as the Tiranny of Antichriste would suffer It had the spirite of prophecie in as large mesure as our head Christ Iesus knew to be méete for vs. The rodde of correction or discipline was as much exercised as it might bée by them that had the power of the sworde taken from them and continually vsed against them They lacked neyther Bishops Préestes nor other ecclesiasticall ministers such as the heauenly father knewe to bée necessarie for them These although they were not ordered after the Antichristian manner by receiuing the marke of the beast had theyr lawfull calling from God by man and dyd execute theyr function faythfully and shewed therin no slacknesse but such as was enforced by open and bloodie Tirannie These thinges haue béene sufficiently prooued before and that our Church was not so hydde vnknowen and secret in the tyme that is past of the .1000 yéeres that this Offerer speaketh of neyther is it at this day in any part of the world so hidde c. As this Offerer would beare vs in hand that it was and is in places where it is persecuted and shal be till the whole time of the deuils libertie shal be complet and ended I doo not therefore sée wherefore you should not recant as you haue promised The ninteenth Offer Offerer Nineteenth Againe on the other side let the learned Protestant prooue that it is not the true Church of Christ that hath in the face of the world for the space of fifteene hundred yeeres past exercised preaching the conuersion of nations to the obedience of the Gospell that hath alwaies had the administration of Sacramentes the hearing of matters in controuersie the
is all the elected children of God whom GOD hath by the holie spirite of santification made holie Yea and the couenant that the Apostle speaketh of heere dooth assure vs that all the sinnes and iniquities of Gods Elected children are so pardoned and forgiuen that they shall neuer bée called to memorie any more And heere vpon saint Paule concludeth that there is no more sacrifice to bée offered for sinne How dare any Christian therefore affirme directly contrary to these woords of saint Paule that there is a sacrifice daily offered in the Masse for the sinnes both of the quicke and of the deade For that is the doctrine that this Offerer and his fellowes doo maintaine 1. Iohn 1 See also what Saint Iohn writeth in the first Chapter of his first Epistle Si autem in luce ambulamus sicut ipse est in luce societatem habemus ad inuicem sanguis Iesu Christi filij eius emundat nos ab omni peccato c. If wee doo walke in light as hee is in light meaning GOD of whom hee spake before then haue we fellowship one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ his sonne doth make vs cleane from all sinne If wée shall say that wée haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. If wée confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and iust so that hee will remit or forgiue vs our sinnes and hee will clense vs from all iniquitie And againe in the second Chapter 1 Iohn 2. the same saint Iohn saith thus My litle babes I write these woords vnto you that you should not sinne but if any man shall sinne wee haue an Aduocate with the Father euen Iesus Christ the Righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sinnes Not for our sinnes only but also for the sinnes of all the world If wée had to doo with reasonable men this that I haue cited out of the writings of these two Apostles might suffice for defence of that which the Protestants doo held concerning the Masse affirming that there is no sacrifice offered therein for the sinnes either of the quicke or of the deade But nothing will satisfie this Offerer his fellowes the Popish Chatholiques The Scriptures haue no credit with them except the same bee confirmed by the wryting of men Bicause commonly the Auncient Doctors haue in their writings vsed excessiue or hyperbolicall maner of speaches to mooue the mindes of their Readers reuerendly to esteeme of the holy mysteries these grosse Capernaites would by the authoritie of those auncient Fathers enforce vs to confesse that the holy Eucharist is a Sacrifice for the sinnes both of the quicke and of the dead But when their works are throughly waighed it is found that they ment nothing lesse then to giue occasion of any such blasphemous doctrine as these Blasphemers woulde builde vpon their woords Let vs see what Chrysostome hath said in his Homilie vpon the 95. Psal concerning the Sacrifices of the New testament Expounding the woords of the Prophet Malachie in the first Chapter Chrysost in Psalm 95 Malach. 1. Non est mihi voluntas in vobis dicit Dominus omnipotens c. I haue no pleasure or delight in you saith the Lord Almighty c. Hee saith thus Vide quam luculenter quamque dilucide mysticam interpretatus est mensam quae est incruenta hostia Thymiama vero purum appellat sacras preces c. See saith Chrysostome how plainly and manifestly hée dooth interpret the mysticall Table which is the vnbloodie Sacrifice Hée calleth the holy prayers which are offered vp after the sacrifice pure incense For this perfume is it that refresheth God not that which is taken from the rootes that grow in the earth but that is breathed out of a pure heart And after hée hath noted that the Sacrifices of the olde law were very many hee saith thus Quae omnia noua gratia superueniens vno complectitur sacrificio vnam ac veram statuens hostiam All which sacrifices the new grace that succeeded dooth comprehend in one Sacrifice ordayning but one which is the right Sacrifice in deede Who can write more plainely for the proofe of one onely Sacrifice that our sauiour Christ offered once for all then Chrysostome dooth in this place Yea hee proceedeth yet further and saith thus Habemus nos in nobis ipsis varias immolationes non quae iuxta legem incedunt sed quae decent Euangelicam grâ—tiam visne has cognoscere victimas quas habet Ecclesia quum sine sanguine sine fumo sine altari caeterisque ceremonijs munus euangelicum sursum ascendit ad Deum c. And wee also haue in our selues sundrie offerings which procéede not according to the law but such as are séemely for the grace of the gospell But wilt thou know those Sacrifices which the Church hath when the sacrifice of the gospell ascendeth vp vnto God without blood without smoake and without Aulter and the rest of the Ceremonies which is also the cleane and vnspotted sacrifice Hearken to the holy Scripture which dooth plainely expound vnto thée this difference and varietie The first Sacrifice therefore is that which I haue spoken of before that spirituall and mysticall gift whereof Paule speaketh when hée saith thus Jmitatores estote Dei c. Bée yee followers of God Ephe. 5. as deerely beloued children and walke in loue euen as Christ loued vs and gaue him selfe for vs a sacrifice and oblation of a sweete sauour vnto God c. It were too long to set downe here all the woordes of Chrysostome in this place The Offerer Tom. 1. or some of his fellows may reade them as they stand written in the Homilie afore mentioned It is manifest that Chrysostomes meaning was not to maintaine the opinion of the popish Catholiques which hold that in their blessed Masse is offered a sacrifice propitiatorie for the sins both of the quicke and the deade The same Chrysostome in his 17. Tom. 4. In Epist ad Heb. hom 17. Homilie vpon the Epistle to the Hebrews writeth thus Nonne per singulos dies offerrimus Offerrimus quidem sed ad recordationem facientes mortis eius Et vna est haec hostia non multae Quomodo vna est non multae Quia semel oblata est c. Doo not wée offer euery day In déede wée doo offer but wée doo it for a remembrance of his death And this sacrifice is but one and not many And how is it but one and not many Bicause it was offred but once it was offred in the holiest place of all and this sacrifice which wée offer is the Paterne or example thereof wée doo alwaies offer one and the selfe same thing And after many words to the same end hée saith thus Non aliud sacrificium sicut Pontifex sed idipsum semper facimus magis autem recordationem sacrificij operamur Wee offer not another sacrifice as the high Priest did
but wee doo alwaies make one and the same sacrifice but wee doo rather worke the remembrance of a sacrifice Except our Aduersaries haue vtterly lost the vse of Reason they must needes see that Chrysostomes meaning was to teach that it is not the holy Eucharist but the death and passion of Christ whereof the Eucharist is a remembraunce that is the sacrifice propitiatorie whereby our sinnes are taken away Euen in the iudgement of Chrysostome therefore the Masse which you call blessed is in deede curssed bicause it is derogatory to the office of Christ Iesus whose comming into this worlde was to saue sinners And hee onely it is that hath saued his people from their sinns by making a sacrifice of him selfe once for all By which one sacrifice once made hee hath made perfect as many and bee made holie that is all the Elected and chosen children of God So that now there is no more sacrifice for sinne Hebr 10. As the Apostle hath written to the Hebrews Chapter 10. But what should I make any more to doo about this matter sith the Scripture is plaine on our side Sit Deus verax Psalm 116. omnis autem homo mendax Let GOD the author of the scriptures bée true and euery man a liar Now the last point of doctrine that you charge the Protestants with is the abolishing of Christes sacraments of all the graces and goodnesse by them conferred vnto vs. To this I say that no learned Protestant either hath doth or will abolish or consent to the abolishing of any one sacrament that our sauiour Christ hath instituted or of any grace or goodnes cōferred to vs by them Wée confesse with S. Augustine Ad Ianuarium Epist. 118. August ad Ianuarium 118. that our sauiour Christ hath instituted verie fewe sacraments and that the same are verie effectuall as is Baptisme and the Communion of the bodie and blood of our sauiour Christ These two sacraments wee acknowledge to bee instituted by our sauiour Christ as sacraments that is outward and visible signes representing inward inuisible and spirituall graces In Baptisme the outward and visible signe is water and the inward inuisible and spirituall grace is forgiuenes of sinnes and regeneration or new byrth both which we haue by the death and resurrection of Christ and in that sacrament wee receiue a seale and pledge of the same Yea and where wee are by nature the children of Gods wrath wee are by Baptisme receiued into the church and assured that wee are now the children of God ioyned and graffed into the bodie of Christ and are become his members and that wee doo grow into one bodie with him Yea and being assured that Gods couenant and promise made to faithfull Abraham and to his seede belongeth to vs and to our seede bicause belieuing in Christ wee bee the spirituall posteritie of Abraham wée are bould to baptise our children as fellow members togither with vs of the same mystical bodie of Christ that it hath pleased our heauenly Father to make vs members of And when they bee able to learne wee doo teach them to belieue and acknowledge that they bee so and to endeuour in their life to expresse that duetie both to God and man which was at their baptisme professed and promised In the other sacrament which we doo commonly call the Lords supper the outward and visible signe is breade and wine both which wee doo according to Christes commaundement receiue For hee hath said Take eate this is my bodie and drinke yee all of this for this is the Cup of the new testament in my blood c. And wee are assured by Faith that as wee doo receiue the breade and wine into our mouthes and stomacks euen so wee doo by faith receiue into our soules the very body and blood of Chryst that heauenly foode whereby our soules are refreshed and fed vnto euerlasting life And this bodie blood of Christ are the heauenly parte of this sacrament remooued from all outward senses But wée doo not belieue as you popish Catholiques would haue vs belieue that the substance of the bread and wine in this sacrament is turned into the substance of the bodie and blood of Christ for so it could not bee a sacrament which must haue in it both an outward and visible signe and an inward inuisible grace Wherefore the bread and wine must remaine in their natures and properties Neither doo wée belieue that this sacrament was ordeined to bee a sacrifice to God the father for the remission of sinnes for wee know that onely Christ Iesus hath bin and is able and worthy to offer sacrifice for the deliuerance of mankinde from sinne And that hee hath by that sacrifice that hee made of himselfe once for all fully satisfied for the sinnes of the whole world and hath left nothing for vs to doo but firmely to fixe our faith in him and thankefully to take the vse of this eternall sacrifice which wee chiefly doo when wee come worthely to the Lords table bee partakers of that holy sacrament Now if you thinke that I haue doone that which you required the learned Protestant to doo then shame not to yeelde and recant and bee no longer an obstinate and wilfull blinde popish Catholique which is an Antichristian schismaticke But bee a tractable and an obedient Scholler of Christ Iesus hearkening to and belieuing the gospell of Christ which is the glad tidings of free pardon and full forgiuenes of all our sinnes by the merites and mediation of our onely Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ protesting to hold euerie gospell that is contrary to this Gospell accursed as saint Paule willed the Galathians to doo So shall you bee a right Catholique Christian holding and professing that Catholique faith which Christ himselfe commanded his messengers to teach Catholiquely when hee sayde thus Euntes in mundum vniuersum docete omnes gentes baptizantes eos in nomine patris Math. 28. filij spiritus sancti c. Going into all the world teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghost teaching them to obserue all those things that I haue commaunded you This is the Catholique doctrine that wee haue heard and learned and doo belieue it By hearing this woord of the gospell or glad tidings of free pardon and forgiuenesse of sinnes our God hath wrought in vs such an assurance of Saluation that wee doubt nothing thereof And this assuraunce woorketh in vs an vnfayned loue towards him that hath adopted predestinated and called vs to bee meete Images of his sonne and one of vs towards another although not in such perfection as hee hath loued vs and as hée commaundeth vs to loue one another yet in some measure and in such measure as hee in mercie alloweth of Wee protest therefore that wee will hold this faith and still craue the encrease of this faith and that wée may grow ritch in
to burie them with theyr fathers in the buriall places that belonged to them And they found vnder the garmentes of them that were slaine certaine of the giftes that had béene offered to the idols that were at Iamnia from which the lawe had commaunded the Iewes to abstaine It was therefore made manifest to al men that this was the cause wherefore they were slaine The whole companie therfore did commend the iust iudgement of the Lorde which had made manifest the déedes that had béene hidde and kept secret And so they gaue themselues to prayer and besought God that the faulte which had béene committed might be blotted out of memorie But the most valiant man Iudas exhorted the people to kéepe themselues without sinne hauing euen before theyr eyes those thinges that had happened for the sinnes of them that were slaine And hauing ended his Collation hee sent to Ierusalem 12 thousande drachmas of siluer that sacrifice might bee offered for the sinnes of them that were dead Thus farre goeth the report of that which was doone by Iudas Machabaeus This is translated out of that latine text that the Tridentine councell hath allowed of which text this Offerer and his fellowes may not disalowe of In the Gréeke the sence is vncertaine and hardly can there any certaine sence be gathered in this place And this one thing I must note that where as this vulgare translation hath 12. thousande drachmas the Gréeke hath but two thousande drachmas which together with the rest of the circumstaunces of the texte doo cause me to thinke that Iudas néeded not to make any collection of money to be sent to Ierusalem For yâ—â—â—m being no greater he might very wel spare it out of his own treasure as it may be supposed Hauing therefore ended his collation or concion which he made to the whole company of hys Souldiours that then were about him wherein hée exhorted them to consider of that which had happened and to take warning thereby to bée careful to kéepe themselues from sinne lest the lyke should fall vpon them also he sent that summe of money to Ierusalem that Sacrifice might be offered there for the sinnes of them that were dead Slaine by the iust iudgement of God for that contrarie to the lawe they had taken to theyr own vse some of those things that had béene offered to the Idolles of Iamnia But what Shall we thinke that Iudas Machabeus being a man so precise in obseruing the lawe of God as in this Historie it dooth appeare that he was would cause any newe kinde of Sacrifice to be deuised or that he wold cause any of those Sacrifices that Moses had by Gods direction commaunded to be offered to bée vsed for any other purpose then for those purposes that God himselfe had ordayned them for If you will reade the whole Leuiticall lawe throughout you shal not finde that euer God did command any Sacrifice to bée offered for sinne other then that which is called a sinne offering and was to be offered for penitent sinners in such sorte as the lawe dooth prescribe which was in the presence of the penitent sinner him selfe laying hys hand vpon the head of the Sacrifised beast thereby signifying that it was he that had deserued that death which that innocent beast was there and then to suffer The sacrifice therefore which Iudas would haue to be offered at Ierusalem must néedes be of that kinde which is called a peace offering and was to be vsed for the pacifying of Gods wrath which should at any tyme by any occasion be bent eyther against the whole people or against any one sorte of the people for any offence committed amongest them Iudas therefore considering that God might in iustice as often tymes he had doone visite the sinne of the fathers vpon the children euen to the third and fourth generation in them them that committing willing and wilfull sin had shewed themselues to be haters of his maiesty feared least this iust iudgement should be executed vpon such amongst his people as remained yet aliue and were of the posteritie of them that were already slaine for that wickednes that they had committed The writer of the historie therefore hath doone great wronge to Iudas in that which hee addeth to the ende of this parte of this History Bearing hys readers in hand that Iudas ment to redéeme by Sacrifice the sinne that the flayne had committed and to teache that to pray for the deade that they may be released of theyr sinnes is an holy and an holsome cogitation Thus if this offerer and his fellowes wyll they may sée vpon how slender a foundation their opinion conceruing praying for the soules departed is builded I doo conclude therefore that theyr vowes their inuocation of saintes and praying for soules departed are superfluous Yea and as they haue conceyued opinion of them superstitious and as they doo vse them very impious But finally this Offerer dooth charge vs with speaking against the Church it selfe flatly denying that Christ hath here vpon earth any spouse or visible Church to bée heard speake perceyued or séene Here I must say that this Popish offerer dooth offer the Protestantes open wrong in charging them with that which neuer any one amongest them that is learned hath affirmed spoken or thought It may be that some such amongest the Protestants as haue not had the knowledge of the arte of reasoning haue béene by captions manner of reasoning brought into such a mase that they could not deliuer themselues from the captious Argumentes that these subtyle Popish Catholiques doo vse to frame And so haue séemed to be conuinced and enforced to graunt that Christ hath no visible Church here vppon earth but such amongst the Protestant Catholiques as doo knowe howe to answer such captious argumentes are able and haue alwayes béene able to vse such distinction as by the Arte of reasoning are allowed to bée vsed and thereby to make it playne to as many as be not wilfully blind that Christs Church that is here vpon earth may in one respect be sayd to be visible and in another respect the same Church may be sayd to bée inuisible 2. Timot 2. The Apostle Paule writing to Timoth 2 Epist 2 chapter sayth thus Firmum fundamentum Dei stat habens signaculum hoc Cognouit dominus qui sunt sui c. The foundation of God standeth firme and sure and hath this sure seale The Lord dooth knowe who be hys And let that person that calleth vpon the name of the Lord departe from euill Here the Apostle Paule dooth make the Church of Christ here on earth inuisible as knowen onely to the Lord and not vnto any man For none but onely God dooth knowe or can knowe who they bée whome hée hath chosen to be enheritors of hys kyngdome Yea none but onely God whych hath chosen them before the beginning of the world And such onely are that Church that may rightly be called the church of Christ And