the seruice of God there was this other thing in it that it was but a litle countrey and in that countrey one onelye Citie Ierusalem and in that City but one Temple where men ought to sacrifice so that there one gouernour and one high Priest might suffise in steade whereof the whole world by the comming of Christ the Messias is become one Temple and al the people but one flocke which must be fedde by the worde of God a thing that no one mā may presume to do Not that I would denye but in the heart of one Pope there may bee ambition enough to couet the whole world for this were to deny the truth of all histories but rather I woulde saye that there was not any one of thē that was not ready to haue forfaited lost the crown if he failed to instruct by the preaching of the word of god the least diocesse in the world Of this allegation then they conclude nothing to their aduantage vnlesse they wil become Iewes enclose the whole world in one Citie make voyde the benefit of the death of Iesus Christ which is cōmon to al the world But contrariwise we may by the way drawe this consequence That seeing Moses as they say was head of the cōmon weale and Aaron of the seruice of God that the Pope ought to content him selfe with the one without farther intermedling with the other to the preiudice of all the princes kings of the earth Nowe if they replie that they are able ynough to exercise the estate of the generall lieutenantshippe of Christ throughout the whole world without calling them to the practise which yet neuer was seene I demaund whether this be by the spirit of Christ or by their owne If by theirs why then this is the spirit of the prince of this world for to couet and not to conduct and miserable is that Church which is left to be guided by the vaine spirite of these men who thinke themselues to haue such abūdance Nowe if it be by the spirite of Christ I do require thē either that they will agree that this spirite following the promise of Christ to his ministers doeth giue power to the ministery of the worde pronounced by them whereof followeth that euery Bishop and pastor in his ministery occupieth the roome of Christ visibly or else that they proue vnto vs by fit agreeable texts that Christ hath enclosed the roote of his spirite so in the heart of the Pope that none can be partaker of it besides himselfe To be short the kingdome of Christ consisteth in this that he gouerneth his owne giuing power to the preaching of his worde and to his Sacramentes by the vertue of his spirite and the ministerie of his Gospell consisteth in the administration of that worde and of his Sacramentes Nowe there is not any man that can boast to giue and dispense the holy Ghost for he proceedeth not but frō the Father and the Sonne None then vnlesse it be Christ God and man can be the essential head of the Church Likewise no man can preache the woorde exercise the ministerie throughout the world none therefore can bee the Ministeriall head of the whole Church But rather eche minister pastor in his owne right vnder the Pastor of pastors Iesus Christ our Lorde Nowe let vs come to that which our aduersaries say that Saynt Peter was the ministeriall head of the Church If he were so they must needes graunt that this was by the institution of Christ for otherwise and without his commaundement he would neuer haue presumed to haue takē vpon him such a dignitie Likewise if our Lorde haue placed him in any such degree and so necessary as they saye for the Church they will graunt me that Saynt Peter hath exercised this office for otherwise it had bene to leaue the Church for a pray and confusion If then Christ haue not instituted it nor S. Peter exercised it it must followe that he was neuer the ministeriall head of the Church Concerning the first poynt The whole Gospell throughout teacheth vs nothing but humilitie that we should become litle children and poore in spirite c. Christe setteth forth himselfe for an example to his Apostles and willeth that his Apostles be examples to the whole worlde I am sayth he your master and yet notwithstanding I am amongst you to serue you Also when there was strife amōgst the Apostles at two sundry times who should be chiefe Christ pronounceth this determination He that wil be the greatest or chiefe amongst you let him be a seruant to al. And he saith vnto them Learne of me He sayth not sayth Saynt Augustine to worke miracles nor to make a newe worlde but that I am milde and humble of heart And as touching S. Peter he is brought vnto Christ by his brother Andrewe to the end to be his companion and not to be called the chiefe or to haue any primacie attributed vnto him Agayne when they were sent foorth to preache they went two by two as companions which excludeth all superioritie When Christ promiseth that they shall iudge the twelue tribes of Israel sitting vpon twelue thrones he giueth not him a place aboue the rest to gouerne in Whē the triumphant Church likewise is described vnto vs by Saint Iohn it is sayd that the Citie hath twelue foundations and vpon them the names of the twelue Apostles of the lambe without mentioning of any great stone for Peters throne aboue the rest To be short when the Apostles receiued the holy Ghost the power of binding and loosing commaundement to preache throughout all the worlde and when the holye Ghost it selfe descended downe vpon them this was when they were al gathered together without any prerogatiue of one more then the other Hitherto then in the principall places where the primacie should haue beene shewed we see not so much as any appearance thereof Against these places playnely denying and forbidding the primacie they alledge vnto vs that which Iesus Christ hath said vnto Peter Tu es Petrus super hanc petram c. Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuayle against it Nowe vpon this place our aduersaries ground this proposition The Church is founded vpon Saynt Peter And we will drawe another The Church is founded vpon Christ which is the rocke and vpon the confession of his name That of theirs is foūded vpon this that it is sayd Tu es Petrus that is to say Thou art Peter That of ours vpon this that it is said Super hanc Petram non super te Petrū that is to saye Vpon this rocke not Vpon thee Peter And hereof it is that our Sauiour Christ hath clerely distinguished Petrum a Petra that is to say Simon Peter from the liuely rocke whereupon he hath builded his Church changing
most auncient of all For this is alwaies a ryght rule and to be receiued that those thinges which are nought worth in the beginning are no whit better in the continuāce of time and if a mā cannot prescribe against kings and against the Church in their possessions much lesse he can doe it against God and against the trueth which is the only treasure of the Church Nowe let vs come to multitude it is saide expressely thou shalt not follow a multitude to do euill Also the gate is wide that leadeth to perdition Cōtrary wise feare not my little flocke for it is my fathers pleasure to giue you a kingdome Moreouer we see that all the worlde was brought to one onely Noah and afterwards to Abraham Then God chose one people of Israel the least as he hath said of al peoples and finally of all peoples the least part to wit Christendome which for this cause he calleth a litle flocke According to which S. Austin saith that the Church was sometimes in one Abel and in one Enoch Multitude then shoulde be rather a presumption of the false then of the true Church of impuritie rather then of puritie for asmuch also as man in all things is prone by nature to euill and tendeth not vnto good vnlesse he be as it were drawen by force vnto it If we looke to the number of Painims they will set against vs in al nations almost many against one and againe all nations against one only nation yea and in that nation it selfe all the families of one time against one or two as namely in the time of Noah those which were called the childrē of God mocked him his religion Likewise amongst this chosen people of God the Samaritans bare themselues against Iuda for there were ten tribes against two and in Iuda Israel the idolaters gained against the people of God for Elias cōplaineth that he was left alone against the good Prophet Micheas there arose vp foure hundred false the Prophets crie that all the people were deceiued euen from the Kings to the Priests Prophets In the Christian Church also there shall be as fewe in that place for euen at the beginning it was saide Who hath beleeued our word to whom hath the arme of the Lord bin reueiled we read that it was brought to a small number of persons the schoolemen themselues hold that after the death of our Sauiour in one instant it consisted in the virgine Marie alone In the greatest floure of it we reade that after the death of Constantine his sonne being of the same name fauoring the Arrians there were so few sounde professors amongst the Christians that the Emperour reproched thē that foure or fiue persōs with their Athanasius would trouble the peace of the whole worlde to whom Liberius the Byshop of Rome answered that his solitude or fewenesse did no whit diminish the word of faith In the end we are aduertised that when that sonne of man shall come before which that sonne of perdition must seduce the worlde he shal finde neither faith nor charitie on the earth and that those daies shall be as the daies of Noah Lot c. The eclipse thē of this Moone shal be as it were vniuersall all the whole earth being put betweene the Church and the Sunne therefore if we haue no other direction in these darkenesses then the multitude we shall haue no part with that little number Moreouer the Christians which reiect the Pope in Asia and in Affrica are a great many moe in number then the others If the Pope hold them for pure Churches then is the Romaine Church an heretike for she condemneth them and excōmunicateth them for diuers points of doctrine If not then multitude which is a common argument to the impure Churches themselues can not be alledged for a marke of puritie And yet for all this we cease not to praise GOD for the blessing which he hath giuen vnto his woorde making the same to fructifie and encrease to hundreds and to thousandes likewise we pray that as he hath already drawen a part of Christendome frō vnder the yoke of Antichrist so it wil please him to continue it more more But we say that if in certayne places it seeme that God do retire but few as the Pastor that saueth from the mouth of the Lion an eare of his sheepe as saith the Prophet Amos or according to Ieremie taking one of one towne two of one tribe for to retire them into the restauratiō of his Church yet for this cause we must not cal the trueth into doubt for asmuch as the selfe same trueth hath foretolde vs this the great number is no marke of puritie veritie nor the litle number of falshood and heresie Nowe followeth the succession of place and of persons which they alledge against the succession of true doctrine which we require in the Church As concerning the place there is no doubt but that this is to play the Iewes to enclose Orbem in Vrbe that is the whole worlde in one citie For the Church is not any longer tyed to Ierusalem but we see euery day that God calleth his people euen those which seemed not to be his people and contrarywise he hath permitted by his righteous will that many Christian Churches haue bene turned into the Temples of the Turkes as that of Ephesus foūded by S. Paul and S. Iohn and that of Bōne in Barbary wher S. Austin preached c. And further that is said expressely that the Church of God for a long time by reason of the persecution of Antichrist shall retire her selfe into the wildernes as the common glose it selfe doth expound Moreouer the Church is a citie that is to say one vniō of Citizens vnder the iust gouernement of Christ Now betweene a citie and a towne there is this difference that the one cōsisteth in walles the other in the vnion of the people gouerned vnder the same lawes therefore the citie of Rome was at Veies with Camillus being a banished man though the towne of Rome was in the hand of the enemie And Themistocles saide that Athens was in shippes which the Romanes had taught the poore Carthagians to their cost when they made their Citie to be caried out of their towne To be short the Popes thē selues haue maintayned for lxxx yeeres together that the Romish Church had her sea in Auigniō although they had forsaken Rome Moreouer this argument is common to the Churches Greekes Syrians Armenians Ethiopians c. whom the Pope condemneth in many poynts of doctrine To conclude if euer there were Church that might alledge succession of place it was Ierusalem For of it was said The Lord wil euermore dwel in this Temple Also I haue chosen and sanctified this house to the ende that my name may
ignorance and vanitie wherein we are all borne can vaunt them selues that they are able to walke vprightly without this worde Our aduersaries for to auoyd this place do lessen the sinne of Adam as much as they can lyking rather to accuse God of â—uiltie who for byting of an Apple through simple disobedience hath punished al mankinde and to make of no effect the Crosse of his dearely beloued Sonne whom he hath deliuered to death for the reconciliation of the worlde then to confesse that the Church can erre in the matter of saluation But the doctors of the Christian Church and those that are most sound amongst the Iewes themselues doe teach vs farre otherwise to wit that the sinne of Adam was specially in this that he was turned wholly from God and that he more beleeued the promises of the deuill then the threatnings of his Creator that he pretended to make him selfe equall with God that he sought his felicitie and his knowledge without him and without his worde To be shorte that this was an heresie so neere to infidelitie and a sinne linked with so many sinnes that none other but the Sonne of the eternall God by the only sacrifice of his death coulde be able to repaire and redeeme it Hee forsooke sayth Saint Augustine his God for to be of him selfe and such condemnation followed his pride that he who otherwwyse had a spirituall fleshe had nowe a carnall soule Some man will say that this was a great punishmeÌ„t but he that shal think it great cannot be able to measure what a great iniquitie that was to sinne seeing it was so easie for him not to haue sinned For as Abrahams obedience is praised because when he was commaunded to offer vp his sonne being a thing so hard which notwithstanding he obeyed euen so also as great and as incomprehensible a disobedience must it be in Paradise where the commaundement had not any kinde of difficultie Now the obedience of Abraham saith the Scripture proceeded from faith whereof it is that he was called the father of the beleeuers The disobedience then of Adam proceeded from infidelitie whereof it is that he is father of all infidelitie which since that time hath bene and is in all mankinde See then for the first sort of the Church in which one shall see nothing but a growing and continuance from worse to worse euen till the second as maye be seene in the corruption confusion which was in the time of Noah and Abraham and amongest the Israelites in Egypt where GOD reprocheth them that they were bestayned and defiled with all kinde of idolatrie Nowe the whole seconde state of the Church to wit vnder the lawe is full of such like examples God made a couenant with his people of Israel to be their God and that they should be his people the promises of this same couenant they are very great and excellent I will walke in the middest of you I will haue my tabernacle amongst you for euer my name shal be in Ierusalem I haue sanctified it to the ende it may be there alwaies I will answere betweene the two Cherubins But alwayes this condition was set to this couenaunt If you shall be my people if you shall serue me if you shall walke in my commaundements if you shall aske counsell at my mouth c. otherwise he sayth first I wyll chastice you with my roddes to cause you to returne vnto me but if you shall make no accompt of it he addeth straightway afterwards I will reiect the people that shall forsake my lawe I will cast of Iuda from before my face as I haue reiected Israel I wil reproue the Citie of Ierusalem which I haue chosen the house whereof I haue said my name shal be there Euen as I haue done to Silo sayth he euen so will I doe to you yea euen vnto you This is that that the Spirite of God sayth in the time of Asa by the Prophet Azarias The Lorde is with you because you are with him If you seeke him you shall finde him If you forsake him he vvill forsake you And a little after he addeth Wherefore haue ye beene so long time without the true God without a Priest without a Teacher and vvithout the Lawe c. Nowe when the Lorde sayth in a thousand places If ye shall forsake me he putteth not downe any false matter nor impossible thing but a thing that not only oftentimes commeth to passe and is possible but also is so easie and so ordinary or rather so natural to euery assembly of men that in this same Church here which may enioy the manifest presence of the Lord and may heare his voyce when it tooke counsell at his mouth we see by a great many of examples Aaron was a Prophet and a litle after was made high Priest he had seene the wonderful works of God though he had seene them both day and night to go both before behinde him yet notwithstanding he made vnto himself a golden Calfe and he saith vnto the people Beholde O Israel the gods which brought thee out of Egypt If in this question they will vnderstand by the Church the people behold then a strange Idolatrie if they wil vnderstand as they speake the Cleargie then beholde not onely Idolatry but the Church of God euen prostituted to Idols that is to say beholde an adulterous wyfe prouoking her husband as much as lyeth in her to make a diuorce from her Vnder the iudges also so many tyrants as there were which oppressed the Church of Israel so many markes there were of their adulteries Gedeon himselfe after he had felt the power of God by his hand he made an Ephod and the people went a whoring after it Michas also did euen the like the spirite of God hath told vs the cause thereof because that there was not any to gouerne in Israel euery one did that which was right in his owne eies for that the word of the Lord was rare and scant in this time amongst them They had notwithstanding the law of God the arke of the couenant but the mischiefe was that they did neither reade it nor take couÌ„sel of it Now this is not only said Haue the light but walke in it follow it In the daies of Saul it is said that no man sought the Lorde in the arke of the couenant that is to say that no man toke counsel of God in his word and herein we may see the iudgement of God when the Arke was taken by the Philistines to wit that it was for the contempt of God and his worde Vnder Joram Baal was worshipped in Iuda euen vntil the time of Ioas who renued the couenant with the Lorde Vnder King Achas there was a straunge altar euen within the Temple it selfe vpon which he sacrificed to false gods and Vriiah the Priest was
and thereupon he addeth Which feedeth the flocke and yet eate not of the milke He was then a pastor thereof and yet noue wil deny but that al the rest were pastors aswel as he To him it was said by the spirit of God Thou shalt be a vvitnesse for me before all men which is a great deale more general Then feede my sheepe and yet notwithstanding none will conclude that the other were but vnder witnesses For our Lorde like wise had saide vniuersally to all You shall be witnesses vnto me euen to the end of the worlde Wherefore then say they are these words here directed to Peter alone Because that as Peter alone had denyed him thrise so likewise he asketh three times whether he loued him for that by his triple deniall he had lost his Apostleship so by that threefolde commaundement his commission was renewed to the ende his companions should neuerthelesse esteeme him for an Apostle This therefore was rather a consolation for his infirmitie then a marke of dignitie Saint Augustine who was otherwise curtous inough found out no other meaning of this place For see what he saith vpon Saint Iohn where he hath playnely expoūded this place In stead saith he of that threefolde deniall behold a triple confession to the end the tongue should not lesse serue to loue then to feare and that it seemed not that present death drue from him more words then present life that is to saye Christ That this then shoulde be the office of loue to feede the flocke of our Lord seeing that that was the office of feare to haue denied the pastor himselfe What meaneth this then If thou loue me feede my sheepe that is to say Feed not thou thy self but feed my sheepe feed thē not for thy selfe but for me not for desire to beare dominion but for charities sake to helpe thē This expositiō also both Hylarius Cyril haue vpon the same place Also Christ recommended his Lambes to Peter euē he which fed Peter himselfe Vnderstād thē brethrē with obediēce that you are the sheepe of Christ as all we which heare his vvord Feed my sheepe S. Aug. therefore thought it to be as much spoken vnto him who was B. of Bōne in Affrike as to the B. of Rome following the admonitiō of our Sauiour himselfe That vvhich I say vnto one I say vnto al. S. Cypriā Al are pastors but there is but one flocke vvhich all the Apostles haue fed vvith one vvhole cōsent Also there is but one Bishopprick vvherof euery B. in solidum vvithout separatiō holdeth his part this is repeted by Gratian in his decretalles in expresse words which some of the schoolemē yea the sorbonists thēselues haue expoūded in these words The priesthood or ministerie is the soule of the Church the vvhich is vvhole in all and vvhole in euery part To be short it cannot be founde for many ages after the death of our Sauiour that this place hath bene alledged by the Bishop of Rome for any strength or povver that he shoulde be acknovvledged pastor of pastours And if they wil in this behalfe beleeue their owne Masse booke behold what they sing euery day It is very meete right healthfull to pray vnto thee at al times O eternall pastor that thou shouldest not forsake thy flocke but shuldest keep it by thy holy Apostles with a cōtinuall protectiō to the end that it may haue for gouerners guides such as thou hast established vnto it for vicars of thy worke pastures Behold therfore al the Apostles euē by their owne Masse it selfe to be rectors pastors and vicars immediately from Christ and immediately established from him And if in Peters owne cause they will be content to haue Saint Peter iudge him selfe The Elders which are among you I beseeche vvhich also am an Elder sayth he Feede the flocke of Christe which is committed vnto you not as hauing lordship ouer the heritages of the Lord but as examples of the flocke And when the chiefe shephearde shall appeare ye shall receiue an incorruptible crowne of glory He that will play the Sophister as they do vpon these words feede the flocke will conclude that Peter hath resigned his Church to thē But it suffiseth vs that S. Peter calleth not himselfe pastor of pastors but sendes them to the principal pastor who is Iesus Christ our lord And in that some obiect these wordes There shal be one fold and one shepheard applying it to the Pope they doe yet worse The scope of the text sheweth vs that Christ speaketh of the vocation of the Gentiles therevpon S. Gregory in their glose saith That this is spoken because Christ hath ioyned both the Iewe the Gentile in his faith Theophilus because all the sheepe haue but one marke to wit Baptisme but one pasture that is to say the word of God. But see one other place frō whence they haue not feared to begin to triumphe as if they had gottē a sword in their hād to defēd this interpretation Iesus Christ drawing neere vnto his passion saith vnto his Apostles When I sent you without bagge or scrip c. lacked you any thing they answered Nothing But nowe he that hath a bagge let him take it and likevvise a scrip he that hath none let him sell his coate and bye a sword For I say vnto you that the same which is written must be fulfilled in me he was reputed vvith the vvicked Then the Apostles saide Behold here two svvords And he said vnto thē It is inough There is none but clearly seeth by the drift of the text alone that he forewarneth his disciples of the enterprise that should be made against him for which notwithstanding they must not prouide any carnal weapons In meane season see the wandering conclusion which the Popes fetch from thence in their extrauagaunts It is said Behold here tvvo svvords ergo Saint Peter that is to say the Pope and his successours are heades all the worlde thorowe aswell of the Temporall as of the Spirituall This is that goodly decree of Boniface the eight for which king Philip the faire was excommunicated which decree beginneth Vnam sanctam ecclesiam c. that is to say that we must beleeue one holy vniuersall church endeth with this cōclusion we declare say dispute of and determine that for to obtaine saluation it is necessarie to euery creature to be subiect to the Pope of Rome But here is no question of S. Peter for he is not particularly named but of al. Also there is no questiō of bearing rule but to be persecuted And Iesus Christ him selfe cutteth of all this at one blowe when he made Peter to put vp his sworde into his sheath And yet notwithstanding they haue bene so impudent that they haue enterprised vpon the sight of this place to beare iurisdiction ouer the whole worlde both
Princes and people haue bene such noddies so ignorant that they haue suffered them selues to be troden vnder their feete And this were to doe the auncient doctors great wrong to apply thē to the refuting of this place whereupon some by the two swords vnderstand the olde and newe Testament others sounde doctrine and good example of life as also their owne glose doth But I report me to euery man if this be not opēly to deride Christ his word to say vnto him Haile king of the Iewes as the Pharises did whether these goodly swords deserue any otherwise to be refuted then by the lawfull sword of all Princes which beare the title of Christians And euē as wel grosided is that God hath made two lights the Pope is the Sunne the Emperour the Moone Ergo the Pope I know not howe many thousande times is greater then the Emperor Against which I will oppose none but their owne I sidore alledged by a Sorbonist who by the Sunne vnderstandeth a kingdome by the Moone the priesthood Also Iesus Christ comaunded the deuils to enter into the swine ergo the Pope is lord of the Temporaltie This passeth al kinde of blasphemy Our Lord saith Al power is giuē to me from the father aswel in heauen as in earth The Pope hath therefore an absolute cōmaundement ouer heauē earth And yet are these the ordinarie allegations of their decretals But they are now better aduised in their last disputations touching certeine other places but as ill to the purpose as blasphemous as the other It is writtē say the Iesuits of our time I will iudge saith the Lord betvvixt the sheepe and the sheepe betvvixt the Rāmes the Goates Therefore S. Peter his successors are iudges of al the earth S. August hath made an whole booke vpon this Chap. of Eze. yet neuer thought of this article of faith which was hidden in this verse But let vs reason of their words quite contrary Ezechiel saith that God vvil iudge betvvene the sheepe the sheepe c. the Pope saith that he will be he therefore he setteth himselfe in Gods seate It followeth therefore that the Pope is he of whō S. Paul hath foretold vs that would lift vp himselfe aboue all that is called god Also S Peter saith that baptizme was represēted by the Arke whereof this conclusiō foloweth that as by the Arke mankind was saued as it were begottē againe euen so Christiās are regenerated by baptizme c. They reason thereupō quite cōtrary Baptizme was figured by the Arke Noah was head of his sonnes in the Arke ergo Saint Peter his sonnes in the Arke ergo Saint Peter his successors are heads of the church I aske thē in what Lorgicke schoole this maner of reasoning may be allowed But with their leaue we will conclude otherwise Iustine Martyr one of that aunciētst doctors of the Church expounding this place He saith that Noah vvas a figure of Christ because he vvas the beginning of another generation regenerated by vvater And the Pope sayth that he was a figure of him It followeth then either that the Pope is Christ or else that he cannot be any other but he who woulde aduaunce himselfe to that place in the Church to wit Antichrist I woulde haue bene ashamed to haue alledged these places for them were it not that they which haue no shame to defende the Pope in this time are so impudent to alledge them and to make great bookes thereof And by this a man may see howe destitute they are of playne places when they are driuen to haue recourse to such But forasmuch as it appeareth not by the holy Scripture that our Lord hath ordeyned Peter head of the Church but altogether the contrary It followeth then that we see if S. Peter before his death hath euer exercised this charge and also if the other Apostles haue yeelded so much vnto him He was sent with Iohn into Samaria by the Apostles Now amongst men he that sendeth is aboue him that is sent he was accused amongst the brethren for hauing cōuersation amongst the Gentiles This vvent fore and yet notwithstanding he excuseth himselfe towardes them He did not then what seemed good to himselfe without beyng answereable for it to the brethren In the Councill at Ierusalem he propounded his opinion concerning the matter of the Gentiles whose vocation was reueyled vnto him and Iames there concludeth as President and letters are dispatched awaye in the name of the whole assemblie And yet this shoulde haue bene the place where this preeminence ought to haue appeared To be short he calleth himselfe a companion or fellowe of the Elders of the Church and louingly exhorteth them as his equalles and not by decrees and commaundementes c. If we should goe any further Saint Paul in two first chapters of the Epistle to the Galatians declareth that he was not subiect vnto him that Saint Peter required it not of him but onely that he gaue him the hande of fellowshippe to trauayle in the Lordes vineyarde and that he reprooued him to his face and that he resisted him as his fellowe and companion And their ordinarie glose sayeth vpon this place The other Apostles seemed to be more worthie then Paul because they were sent by Iesus Christ but he was a great deale more woorthie then they because he was sent by Christ altogether immortall whereas they were but sent by Christ then a mortall man Also he learned nothing of Peter nor of the rest but contrariwise he taught Peter and they conferred not any thing to him but he rather conferred and profited Peter Also the Lord Iesus sayeth Saint Paul which is in vs all hath ordeyned some Apostles some Prophets some Doctors c. for the Ministerie of his Gospell Also we are one body and one spirite hauing the same hope of calling one God one faith one Baptisme It shoulde haue followed that he shoulde haue adioyned in recommendation of this vnitie a ministeriall head of the Church Peter and his successours in the See of Rome Hitherto then we haue not so much as any appearance of primacie Yea but Peter is sometyme first named A poore foundation of so monstruous a buylding And the Uirgine Marie is named in some places the last and Saint Peter himselfe by Paul after S. Iames. But he was wont oftentymes to speake first and he was endowed with great giftes and oftentimes he is called by the fathers the chiefe amōgst the Apostles And who of vs is there that doth denie S. Peters excellencie that doeth not wonder at his incomparable zeale that doeth not place him in the vppermost seate of the Church And contrariwise who is he that doth more dishonour him then the Pope who hideth his filthinesses and vilanies vnder S. Peters Cloke vnder the colour of his name filleth all the worlde ful