great S. Beda for the latin But for that I will not be prolixe and because I hasten to my second Consideration which is the very maine Conclusiō of all my whole discourse hitherunto I will knit vp all with that goulden admonition of Vincentius Lyrinensis an Author which who so readeth and belieueth it is impossible if he will professe any religion that he should be ought els but a Roman Catholicke well his wordes are these Let vs hould that saith he which hath bene belieued generally of all for that this is truly and properly Catholicke as the very nature signification of the name doth import And then for further explication he giueth a threefold prescription for a more sure and infallible direction and this is vniuersality Antiquity and Consent all which he must as time and occasion serueth adhere vnto that will be accompted truly Catholicke And yet in the beginning of his fourth Chapter he illustrates the first Prescription of Vniuersality most pertinent for our purpose at this time by way of supposition and question moued and answered His wordes are these VVhat then shall a Catholick Christian doe if any parcell of the Church shall cut it selfe of from communion of the vniuersall faith This is the questiō moued the answere followeth VVhat els forsooth should he doe but that he preferre the health of the whole body before any one pestilent and corrupted member thereof 20. And hereupon I began to enter into a serious Cōsideration and a seuere examination of my owne Conscience in a secret recollected and most retired conference betwixt God and my owne soule touching matters of religion as they shall eyther doome me or saue me at the last day First I considered yea and seriously within my owne hart debated demaunding of my selfe whether the Protestants Church and doctrine wherof I then was a reall and formall member and Professor had not cut it selfe of yea departed and separated it selfe from the vnion and communion of the vniuersall faith and from the sauing and conuerting Ghospell of Christ his Kingdome which was first to be preached to all Nations as Christ promised that it should come to passe before the worldes great destruction and generall consummation This was my first demaund and the answere returned vnto me by the Catholicke Church of ancient Fathers vpon view of their doctrine and comparing it c. nay by the spirit of God since it was promised to be the guider and directour of his Church I say the answere returned was that the Protestants Church doctrine had abandoned both Catholick name Catholick faith and therefore as beames cut of from the sunne as boughes violently broken of frō the tree and streames and channels parted and separated from their originall fountaine as S. Cyprian speaketh they were to perish vanish and come to naught And now what course remained for me to take if I regarded at all the welfare of my soule but to follow the sage weighty counsaile of my foresaid authour Vincentius Lyrinensis my Authour indeed being the only meanes next vnder God of my Conuersion from heresy to Catholicke Religion and that is to prefer the health and welfare of the whole body before any one pestered and infested member therof His meaning in plainer termes is that in time of Schisme and Heresy or in particuler Countries Apostacy from the Catholicke Christian faith and religion euery Catholicke Christian that is already in the Church must hoouer vnder the winges of the Church by retyring into her lap and bosome in time of any danger And he that is an Hereticke and of an hereticall Congregation and consequently forth of the Church must endeauour by all means possible to become a Catholicke by returning againe vnto the Communion of Catholick Religion out of which it is impossible there should be any saluation 21. This first Consideration I enlarged yet further extending it by a second supposition to witt if the Protestants Church and doctrine be Catholicke indeed as they would beare the world in hand it is then it hath bene generally reaceaued of Christians ouer all Christendome in that sense as it is now in opposition against the Roman Church then the Protestants can produce visible Churches of theirs that haue bene extant from the Apostles time downwards hitherto that haue held the selfe same points of doctrine the selfe same number of Sacraments other such differences as now Protestant Churches haue in them from the Roman thē according to that most sure prescription of Tertullian they can Edere origines Ecclesiarum suarum euoluere ordinem Episcoporum suorum Declare the beginnings of their Church they can turne ouer and bring forth an orderly succession of Bishops running on as he saith from the very beginning and continuing without any interruption to the Apostles tyme then can they proue that the first Bishop that held these differences was instituted and ordayned by some Apostle or Apostolicall man for so saith Tertullian could the Church of the Smyrneans proue their succession of Bishops from S. Policarpus ordayned by S. Iohn and the Church of Rome proue from S. Clement placed by S. Peters in one word then according to another prescription of Tertullian can they proue that the doctrine of their Church as now it standeth in contradiction with ours conspireth with the doctrine of the originall Apostolicall and mother Churches and that they hold that very doctrine which the Church receiued from the Apostles the Apostles from Christ and Christ from God and that the same hath cōtinued by neuer interrupted succession from that time to this of theirs These things if they shall euer be able soūdly and substantially to proue on their part then shall I acknowledg that they and their Religion are Catholicke indeed and that out of their Church there is no saluation 22. But if these things haue bene by them attempted and could neuer yet be proued by them nay if their affirmatiue haue bene disproued by a negatiue in all the forenamed notes markes prescriptions of the Church and against Hereticks as is already too apparently knowne to the whole Christian world then let them at the last vpon so manifest a conuiction ingenuously confesse that the denomination of Hereticke rather then the appellation of Catholuke doth properly apertaine vnto them 23. And albeit I cannot but vnderstand that the Hereticks of ancient times and all moderne Sectaries in these our vnhappy dayes both in Germany France Holland Scotland and England doe ambitiously affect this renowned name of Catholick to haue it giuen vnto their hereticall Cōgregations nay which is more howsoeuer they do fraudulently sometimes cloath themselues in sheepe skinnes when surreptitiously they inuest thēselues with this high title supreame dignity of a Catholick though in points of doctrine amongst themselues they be neuer so much opposite the one to the other ech condemning other for Hereticks nay damning themselues amongst themselues and
so ordered by the will of God that they minister store of matter vnto Heretickes when I read in Scripture oportet haereses esse there must be heresies which cannot be without Scriptures And this is my former Author his iudgment of the Scriptures wrested and peruerted by seuerall Heretickes in his dayes for maintenance of their seuerall heresies Which being so here is neither certainty nor generality nor facility nor perspicuity nor infallibility in this way of the Scripture barely and nakedly proposed of it selfe alone neither can it euer be inferred by any seeming probable conclusion that the Scripture alone is this infallible way which we do further illustrate by this familiar example obuious vnto euery mans capacity 56. If some rude and vnlearned countreymen repayring vp to the Metropolitan Citty of the kingdome to prosecute some suites in law touching a Farme or house or matter of lesse moment yt these men I say after conference had with their learned counsaile should receaue no other answere nor comfort nor direction of them for further managing of their suites but be remitted by them vnto the body of the law it selfe without any Iudge or Counsailour they being of themselues not able either to read or vnderstand the law much lesse to apply it to their proper cases and peculiar suites would not euery reasonable and conscionable man condemne these lawyers And had not the poore Coūtreymen themselues being vndone by this meanes in their worldly estates iust cause to complayne and cry out against the falsehood and treachery of their Coūsailours And yet behold here in a suit of of suits and matter of greatest moment and importance in the world not in a title or triall of a Farme or house but concerning our interest and right of inheritance vnto the heauenly mansion we are this way worse then thus since the matter is of far greater importance abused deluded betrayed we are promiscuously sent learned vnlearned men women yong old to the body of the Scripture mysticall volume of God his sacred and seauen-fold-sealed book as S. Iohn speakes of the Reuelation Apocal. 5. 1. we must seeke search confer cōpare expound interprete euery man must there be a chooser euery woman an expositor and euery creature must be his owne caruer all must presume of the spirit that they cannot erre all presume to be taught immediatly from God without the ministery of the Church Sola Scripturarum arsest saith S. Hierome against Heretiks of his time quam omnes sibi vēdicant hanc garrula anus hanc delirus senex hāc sophista verbosus hanc vniuersi praesumunt lacerant docent antequam discunt c. Only the art of Scripture is it which euery one challengeth to himselfe this the prating ould wife this the doting old man this the babling Sophist this all of them togeather presume to know and teach and teare in peeces before they learne it So he And this is all the way and ground prescription direction rule and line that our hereticall Sectaries can affoard vs for the guiding of our soules and the grounding of our faith Will any man therefore hereafter that hath but the least care or that can intertaine but one thought either of the present of future wellfarre of his soule rely vpon such false guides blind teachers since this ground of Scripture alone sensed by a priuate spirit was is euer shal be the cōmon ground nay rather desperate shift and refuge of all condemned heresies and hereticks and that purposely that they may auoyd the censure and tribunall of the Church 57. There followeth then the way indeed appointed by God reuealed by the holy-Ghost designed by Christ and proposed by the Catholicks and Catholicke Church and this is the sure easy euident generall and infallible waie indeed which is the vniuersall knowne Catholicke Church in euery age which is perspicuous and notorious easy to be found for that it cannot be hidden it is compared by holy Scripture to a Citty placed vpon a hill as S. Augustine in diuers prolixe Treatises of his doth euidently demonstrate it is a light vpon a candlestick it lighteneth all through the Egiptian darkenes of this worlds schisme and heresy and leades their soules into the way of truth it is that pillar of fire that leadeth all Gods chosen people through the vast and roaring wildernes yea and all the nightes darkenes of this world vnto the promised land of Canaan I meane the heauēly Hierusalem it is generally also figured by the dew that fell vpon the floore as well as vpō the fleece when Gedeon required the miracle to be doubled which was a mysticall representation of the Iewish Synagogue and Christian Congregation implying also that the dew of Gods truth and sauing grace should at last passe from the fleece of the Iewes to the floore of the Gentils and all to teach vs that this Catholick Christian Church should extend to all serue for all learned vnlearned yong ould high low great small for that all sortes sexes ages and conditiōs of people may repaire vnto her receiue her doctrine admit her instructions and directions by the continuall successions of her Bishops Pastors and teachers of euery age And finally this way is a most sure certaine and infallible rule for that Christ hath expresly assured and promised vs that he will be continually with this Church vnto the worlds end that he would send the holy Ghost to instruct direct and induce this Church in omnem veritatem into all truth suggerit vobis omnia quae dixere vobis and it shall suggest vnto you all that I will from heauen speake or notify vnto you It was Christ his promise vnto his Apostles in their persons vnto his Church for euer And lastly the gates of hell which are the gates of errour and heresies shall neuer preuaile against this Church 58. This then to exclude all by-pathes and blind waies of Heretickes is the way indeed this is that rule of faith as Tertullian speaketh instituted by Christ and it is such a rule and so certaine that Nullas habet apud nos quaestiones nisi quaes haereses inserunt quae haereticos saciunt no questions are so much as moued with vs concerning this rule but such as heresies cause and which very questions moued concerning the Church do cause and breed hereticks 59. This Church being once published by our Sauiour and the promises he had made vnto her being once diuulged what followed but that all men presently that had any care of the saluation of their soules flocked vnto her began to lay handfast and houldfast on this way and to haue recourse in all doubts and controuersies vnto the common knowne Catholicke Church of their age for explication and finall decision therof So shall you read Act. 15 6. that the Apostles immediatly after the Ascention of our Sauiour assembled the Church togeather for the detiding of that
antiquity well the admonition is this Caue Christiane Lector c. Beware Christian Reader of the bookes of Iohn Caluin especially in the articles of Trinity of the Incarnation of the Mediator of Baptisme of Predestination c. for that they doe containe most impious and blasphemous doctrine So he VVhereby is vnderstood not only the censure of the Lutheran Church concerning the Caluinists doctrine but also in what articles the difference betwixt them doth principally consist and these are neither few in number nor meane in nature as you see confirmed by the particular exceptions VVhich articles are reiterated by other Lutheran writers as namely by Albertus Grauerus in his booke intituled The warre of Iohn Caluin with Iesus Christ which booke was set forth in the yeare of our Redemption 1598. wherin he sheweth that the Articles wherby the Lutherans do cheifly differ from the Caluinists hereticall doctrine are of the person of Christ of the Supper of our Lord of Baptisme and of Predestination And Iacobus Halbruneir another Lutheran Doctor published an other booke the same yeare before to proue Caluinisme to be heresy and to the former articles of Albertus he addeth other two wherin Lutherans and Caluinists do deepely dissent which are de Maiestate Christi Ministerio Verbi wherby he maketh it euident that Caluinists are truly and properly Hereticks to Lutherans And this for the second point 80. Yt resteth now that I come vnto the third ranke of English Protestants and Puritans which are two different sects of Caluins doctrine which are found togeather in no state or Kingdome perhaps of Christendome but only in England And although some Protestant writers for dissembling their owne diuisions when they deale with Catholickes will needes forsooth acknowledge them for brethren as not differing from them in any substantiall point of Doctrine yet in all their other writings eyther against them or of them they disclose playnly what they thinke of ech other holding them both for Schismaticks and Hereticks in respect of their Protestant Church Which being presumed by them as they must needes presume to be the only true Catholike Church it must needes follow that Puritans who from their innermost soules detest the same and the communion thereof as Antichristian must needes be Sectaries nay Heretickes to that Church And this is consonant to the doctrine of these Scriptures and most conformable to the opinion of ancient Fathers as is before copiously in the precedent Considerations asseuered 82. For confirmation of which dissention capitall and reall hostility betweene our Puritans and Protestants in sundry mayne points of their Religion I might heere alledge and produce infinite authorityes and innumerable arguments if I should not surcharge my Treatise The two bookes yet extant printed by publicke authority in one and the selfe same yeare I meane the Suruey of the holy pretended Discipline compiled as it is thought by him that is now arriued to the highest pitch of Ecclesiasticall dignity in that Kingdome and the other bearing the inscription of daungerous Positions ascribed to Doctour Sutcliffe both of them receyuing presse at London by Iohn VVolfe Anno Dom. 1593. do sufficiently notifie vnto the world how reconciliable the Puritan position is with the Protestant Religion and that in sundry Articles of great weight and moment And amongst many others which to auoid prelixity I purposly omit the titles of the 22. and 23. Chapters of the Suruey are these That they to wit the Puritans do take from Christian Princes ascribe vnto their pretended regiment the supreme and immediate authority vnder Christ in causes Ecclesiasticall and in the oppugning theros do ioyne with the Papists Whereupon I inferre that if this spirituall Supremacy be any substantiall point of doctrine amongst the Protestants then the obstinate repugnance therof by the Puritans must needes be Schisme and Heresy 82. I pretermit diuers other bookes whereof I haue beene an eye witnesse how purposely and directly they treat of these matters as namely the Answere of the Vicechancelor Doctors of Oxford vnto the petition of a 1000. Puritans Anno Dom. 1603. wherein it is plainely conuinced that the Puritans hould their platforme of Ecclesiasticall gouerment of the gouerment of Christ vpon earth for a thing of no lesse importance then is the Ghospell of Jesus Christ. They hold it further for an essentiall part of their said Ghospell for a matter of faith to be receyued vpon paine of damnation for an essentiall marke of the true Church without the which the Protestants Church is no Church their faith no faith their Ghospell noe Ghospell c. And to conforme to that which M. Rogers writeth in his Preface to the Bishops Articles where he testifieth that the Puritans do hold their platforme differing from the Protestants to be a speciall part of the Ghospell yea the very Ghospell it selfe to be of such importāce as if euery haire of their heades were a life they ought to affoard them all in defence therof So they And in sober sadnes supposing their principles to be true haue they not great reason for that their differences be in so maine very substantiall points if we refere them to their heades wherof there is extant a very substantiall declaration and conuiction as to me it seemeth in the Preface of the Catholicke Deuine in his answere to Syr Edward Cookes fifth part of Reportes whither I referre the ingenous iudicious Reader for further perusall of this point for there it is shewed and irrefragably against all impugners therof proued how essentiall and substantiall difference of doctrine there is about the origen of Ecclesiasticall power and authority betweene the Protestantes Puritans and Catholickes of England the one that is the Protestāt ascribing it to their temporall Prince the other challenging it as most properly pertayning to their priuate Conuenticles Assemblies the last third to the Succession of Bishops from the Apostles the consequence wherof is this that whosoeuer of the three parties haue the right in this point there only is the true Church there alone is the true Ecclesiastiall Authority of preaching teaching or dayning Ministers administring Sacraments exercising Censures and Iurisdiction binding or loosing remitting or retaining sinnes and the like c. And for the other two Churches they do remayne as secular and prophane Congregations without any vitall spirit of Ecclesiasticall power at all Let them then contend neuer so much about the keys of Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction yet the plaine truth is they shall neuer be able to open or shut the gates of heauen vnto their owne friendes or against their enemies 83. And for as much as the Puritans also in their plea do perswade themselues to haue the right on their side they must needes inferre the other consequence against the Protestant Church houlding it to be no Church as the foresaid answere of Oxford Doctors pag. 15. doth confesse that the Brownists do ancrre
Scripture is so heynous and temerarious a sinne as before we haue touched yea and that committed against the Blessed spirit that breathed them all and streamed these pure waters of life from one and the same liuing and life-giuing fountaine Let vs in the name of God in timore tremore euen with feare and trembling since the horror of the sinne committed requireth this at our hands examine a little in what a dangerous nay damnable state the Protestants of our dayes do stand in about their disauthorizing of Scriptures not in blotting out one booke alone but in wiping out many togeather from the number of the sincere Canon and let vs further consider in what a gaze and maze they stand being vncertaine of their ground also what they ought to belieue hould or determine after they haue lost the sure and stable-staying anchor of the Churches authority in this behalfe 34. As for example the Catholickes do belieue all those bookes before mentioned which are secundi ordinis in Bellarmine both the ould and new Testament to be Canonicall Scriptures of infallible truth and the reason is drawne from the Church for that she in her ancieÌ„t CouÌ„cells hath admitted the same for such at least wise since the 47. Canon of the third Councell of Carthage was enacted wherin S. Augustine himselfe was present and subscribed to the said Canon which Canon auerreth them to be bookes of true Canonicall Scriptures amongst which for example goeth the Epistle to the Hebrewes and of this my purpose is at this present to make some particuler Consideration for that the time within whose limyts I am straited will not easily permit me to treat of all 35. This Epistle then is belieued of the Catholicks to be a true part of Canonicall Scripture and written by S. Paul as well as the rest for that it was so receaued by the Church in old time as namely in the Councell of Laodicea the 59. Canon And after that againe in the third Councell of Carthage before mentioned and cyted in diuers other Councells and namely in the first Nicene whose authority his Matie of England offereth to stand vnto in the first Ephesine and of that of Chalcedon in all the grand Parlaments of the worlds Generall Councells it was receaued and acknowledged as the genuine Epistle of S. Paul But now in these our vnhappy times matters be raked into Controuersies againe and that after the whole Church hath in diuers Synods established the thing and euery sort of Sectaries will needes adhere to their owne brayn-sicke fancyes and will preferre their owne priuate opinion before the publicke determination and resolution of the Church Amongst all others as the Captaine and ringleader of the rest vpstarts Martin Luther but it was after he had broken vow and cloyster and married a Nunne taketh vpon him to censure the matter in his Prologue to that Epistle reuersing as erroneous the graue and infallible iudgement of so many Generall Councells directed by the spirit of God his wordes be these This Epistle saith Luther was neither written by S. Paul nor by any other Apostle and it conteineth in it some thinges contrary to the Euangelicall and Apostolicall doctrine This was Luthers heady and giddy censure of this admirable parcell of holy Writ Will any man hereafter so desperately cast away himselfe in crediting him who thus discrediteth Gods word 36. With Luther in this poynt conspire all the learned Lutherans about the disauthorizing of this holy Writ and namely Ioannes Brentius in his Confession of Wittemberg cap. de sacra Scriptura and the foure Magdeburgian good fellowes in their first loud-lying Century the 2. booke the fourth Chapter Col. 55. and that audacious and impudent Examyner and Censurer of all the learning and learned men of the whole Christian world I meane Martinus Kemniâ—ius in his examen of the 4. Session of that famous Councell of Trent And vpon this these men aduenture all their soules VVill any man suffer himselfe any longer to be deceaued by such pure reformers nay rather impure impostors But Iohn Caluin the next succeeding reformer of these Reformers being to beginne a new fect of his owne head he thought it most conuenient to oppose himselfe against the Lutherans in this point and therefore in his first Institutions printed in the yeare of our Lord 1554. cap. 8. § 216. he proueth that the Lutherans do erre in this poynt in houlding it not to be an Apostolicall Epistle yet he will not affirme that it was written by S. Paul but rather perhaps by Bannaby or Luke as may appeare in the same Institutions Chap. 10. § 83. and Chap 16. § 25. Vpon which scruple raysed by M. Caluin the Caluinian Ministers at a certaine Conuenticle of theirs held at Poysy in France in the yeare 1562. do in the third article of their Confession set downe this Epistle to the Hebrewes to be diuine Scripture but yet incerti authoris they leaue the authour of it to be doubtfull And this is a subtill trick peculiar to Caluin his inuention to wit to differ from other Protestants and yet not fully to agree with the Catholickes but to haue something singuler to himselfe as you see in this controuersy and it might be proued in many other 37. And here now I would demaund vpon what warrant in the world doth Iohn Caluin and his Sectaries contradict and oppose themselues against Luther and his followers in this point Certaine it is he agreeth not with the Catholickes at aâ—l and it seemeth then nay it is more then certaine he followeth a seuerall way and straine by himselfe and hath no ground or guide therin but his owne will iudgement choice and election 38. The like dispute I might propose about other bookes or partes of Scriptures and namely concerning the Epistle of S. Iames and the Apocalyps the former wherof is reiected both by Luther and all the forenamed Lutheran writers Brentius Kemnitius and the Magdeburgians all these auouch it to be no Scripture but yet it is asserted and asscuered by Caluin and the Caluinists for genuine and vndoubted Scripture The second which is that mysticall booke of the Reuelation composed by that high-soaring and Egale-winged Iohn S. Iohn syrnamed the Deuine this booke though it be in like manner discredited and disauthorized from Canon by Luther and most of his followers as namely by Brentius Kemnitius in the places before alleaged yet is the same booke eagerly defended against them by Caluin and his followers and good reason haue they in their iudgment for it forasmuch as thence they take vpon them to demonstrate the Pope to be Antichrist and the VVhore of Babylon in regard of the seauen hilled Citty I know not vpon what imaginations besides And this Consideration may be presumed to haue beene an especiall motiue vnto those chiefe Lutherans the Magdeburgians causing them to forsake both their Father Luther and their Lutheran brethren in this cause and to
Augustine Sancti Apostoli certam regulam fidei tradiderunt quam secundum numerum Apostolorum c. The holy Apostles did deliuer a certaine rule of faith which rule being comprehended in twelue sentences according to the number of the 12. Apostles was called by them by a Greeke word and borrowed metaphor Symbolum a Symbole or collation of many thinges togeather And their intention as is before intimated was that by this Symbole signe and summe of Christian faith and doctrine Catholicae fidei veritas ab haereticae prauitatis falsitate discernatur as Vincentius Lyrinensis speaketh of his goulden rule of faith deliuered vnto him from all his ancestors that the truth of Catholicke faith and verity might be discerned from the falshood of hereticall prauity This haue our ancestors left vs by tradition And for the first in stitution of it it was in this sort as the history of Antiquity the very life of memory hath by writing registred and commended it vnto vs. 5. After the glorious visible Ascension of our Sauiour from the lowest pitch and vale of the earths misery into the highest toppe of heauen and bosome of his Fathers eternity this being terminus ad queÌ„ aswell as it was terminus à quo in that great motion of heauen Christs Incarnation and mans Redemption the place whither he ascended as it was the place whence he descended according to that Exiui à Patre veni in mundum relinquo mundum vado ad Patrem I say after this Ascension descension of the holy Ghost in the visible shapes of fiery tongues vpon the Apostles in abling them and qualifying them with the tongues of nations for the conuerting of nations then the Apostles being ready to separate themselues and to depart into all parts of the earth to preach the Ghospell for the conuersion of the whole world they did compose and lay down a perfect platforme of their future preaching and others belieuing by deuising a certaine squared rule and Canon of fayth and that not so much for their owne direction being so assisted with the inward inspiration of the spirit that they could not possibly erre in their doctrine though their teaching was euer to be conforme vnto these heades as for the Christian Churches instruction and premunitioÌ„ that by hauing recourse vnto these general heads of fayth commeÌ„ded vnto them by the true Apostles they might more easily discerne and auoyd the hereticall doctrine of all false disciples VVherefore the Apostles being assembled togeather and met as it were the second time in Councell being ech of them seuerally replenished with the holy Ghost and all of them ioyntly directed by the selfe same neuer-erring spirit who was both now and euer in such assemblies as these to sit as President in the Church I say being thus prepared euery one proposed as he belieued and all being put togeather in the vpshot did make the shot or symbole of a breife yet entire methodicall summe of Christian doctrine including all points of faith either to be preached afterwardes by the Apostles or to be belieued by their disciples And this summe did the Apostles theÌ„selues appoint to be deliuered by tradition or from hand to hand vnto euery one that belieued ad directionem ad distinctionem both for a direction vnto that which they were to preach and others were to belieue as also to discerne and put a difference betwixt all faithfull Christians and misbelieuing Infidels 6. Thus S. Augustine whose sense I haue kept though I haue somewhat dilated vpon his wordes relateth the matter which before him had beene recorded by Ruffinus in the Exposition of this Creed so that S. Augustine borroweth not only sense but the selfe same words also for the most part are taken from Ruffinus And further the said Ruffinus doth adde another signification of the word Symbole besides a collation or contribution of many things vnto one saying that it signifieth also a signe or badge wherby one sort of souldiers are distinguished from others And in this acception also of the word it consorteth well to our present purpose that by this briefe summe of Doctrine as by a badge or cognisance true Catholicke Christian men may be distinguished heere from Infidels and Hereticks since after death there is such an externall distinction and separation to be made And for this purpose at the beginning this Creed serued but afterwards charity the loue of God and Christian piety decaying and the malice of men exceedingly multiplying vpon the earth this breife and playne summe would not serue the turne against infernall and hereticall subtility for that as S. Augustine before hath well obserued sundry sortes of Hereticks presumed to shrewd their heresies vnder the articles of this Creed peruerting also the meaning and misunderstanding aswell the wordes thereof as the sense so as in fine the bare and outward profession of belieuing this Creed became at last to be no certaine argument of prouing a man to be a true Christian Catholicke except other due conuincing circumstances concurred as we haue before shewed of the Canonicall Scriptures themselues 7. Furthermore the Fathers and Doctors of the Church do ioyntly affirme and expresly S. Augustine in the place before cyted that albeit the wordes be few and briefe of this Creed yet are they so substantiall punctuall and materiall as that they containe the full and entyre summe of whatsoeuer is to be belieued by vs his wordes be these Quicquid praefiguratum est in Patriarchis quicquid denunciatum in Scripturis quicquid praedictum in Prophetis de Deo ingeniâ—o vel ex Deo in Deum nato c. Whatsoeuer was prefigured in the Patriarkes whatsoeuer was denounced in the Scriptures whatsoeuer was foretold in the Prophets eyther of God the Father vnbegotten or of God the Sonne begotten or God the holy Ghost or of receyuing any Sacrament or of the death of our Lord or of the mystery of his Resurrection all this is briefly contayned in this Creed so that the obseruation hence deduced must needs be this that albeit in the bare wordes of the Creed many thinges belonging to fayth are not literall and syllabically expressed yet were they implyed comprehended and intended by the Apostles and namely and particularly about the admitting of Sacraments of their nature number necessity efficacy manner of administration and the like as S. Augustine doth here expound which yet in the wordes are not expressed but were locked vp with in the sacred breast and closet of the Church as in the safest treasury there to be expounded dilated amplified more largely and particulerly vnto the faithfull as eyther the Churches necessity requiring or hereticall pertinacy and importunity oppugning should at any time or occasion require which exposition of the Church as the soundest Commentary vpon the Creed he that in all humility of iudgment and opinion submitteth not him selfe to belieue obay cannot be truly said to belieue this Creed notwithstanding
thinke you 54. But now lastly let vs come to his seauenth and last exposition vpon this article of the Creed The Church of Rome saith he hath most shamefully erred in life Cerimonies and matters of sayth this he should haue proued according as he vndertaketh in other articles from the warrant of diuine Writ but here he leaueth Gods word and runneth to Poets that say Roma mares c. Rome loueth boyes as who would say that this horrible and execrable sinne if it be or haue bene in Rome is not also in other Citties of the world or as if this alone were sufficient to proue his purpose if he could shew that there were many lewd liuers in Rome The thing he ought to proue is this that the whole Church of Rome that is to say the Catholicke Roman Church spread ouer the whole world acknowledging Rome for the chiefe head and member thereof had erred from her publike decrees set forth to be deliuered throughout the whole Church eyther for position of faith or direction of manners for this only is the point in controuersy and not whether any man haue liued loosely in Rome or any Popes haue bene naughty men or may be hereafter So as for the point controuerted he bringeth not one word of proofe and all that he hath scraped together of spitefull slanders contumelious reproaches against diuers Popes and other Prelates of that Citty as in consequence of argument they are nothing to the purpose nor can make any inference at all against the matter in question so are they in fact proued by diuers Catholicke Authours to be shamefull lyes contrary to the testimony of the best and most Authenticall authours that haue written whereof the reader may see effectuall proofes in Bellarmine and others that do answere those slanders against Rome 55. Now then we see how out of this one article of the Apostles Creed which all parts do admit what different doctrine there is drawne by different expositions and I might shew the same in sundry other articles as namely in that which ensueth immediatly after Credo remissionem peccatorum I beleeue the remission of sinnes which article those of the Roman fayth do vnderstād accordingly as the ancient Fathers do and this is not only of the remission of sinnes by our Sauiour his passion and grace thereby merited to this effect but also of the ordinary meanes left by our said Sauiour in the Church for ordinary remission of sinnes and namely by faith and baptisme for such as enter first into the Church and the holy Sacrament of Pennance which is according as anciēt Fathers do call it secūda tabula post nausragium the second table of the soule after baptismes ship wrack for such as sin after baptisme and other Sacraments all which Sacraments other meanes to this effect do worke their effects in the power and vertue of the said passiō of our Sauiour So houldeth the Catholicke But the Protestant that commeth forth with a not imputation saith that this remission of sinnes consisteth only in this that they are not imputed and consequently draweth a farre other sense vpon this article so as I must perforce conclude with that which often hath bene said and repeated that it is not sufficient to admit these Creeds in words as the Ministers of Englād are said to do in their Ordination but the true sense and meaning is especially to be stood vpon which meaning being farre dissonant frō the vnderstanding of the knowne Catholicke Church as lately we haue shewed their orall and verball admission of the said Creeds cannot be sufficient to make them Christian Catholicks or deliuer them from the imputation of being Hereticks for that this very choice and election which they do make of particuler senses and interpretations of the Articles of these Creeds opposite vnto our former rules and Considerations before set downe at large properly and effectually conuince them to be hereticks indeed And so much of this matter for the present THE FOVRTH CHAPTER CONCERNING THE APPROBATION AND ALLOVVANCE OF THE FOVRE GENERALL COVNCELS Which is the third generall head of tryall offered and proposed by his Excellent Maiesty of England AS in the former two grounds of belieuing Canonicall Scriptures admitting the three vsuall Creedes and that only vpon the Churches publicke tradition his Matie hath giuen forth a declaration vnto the whole Christian World of his confident perswasion of being a Christian Catholick and no Heretick euen so in this third generall head I meane in the admitting and receyuing of the foure first Generall Councells his Royall Grace hath not only continued and perseuered in the former declaration of his good intention and perswasion but hath further and much more ratified and confirmed the same as appeareth by these his words where he writeth I reuerence and admit saith he the foure first generall Councells as Catholicke and Orthodoxe And the said Generall Councells are acknowledged by our Actes of Parlament and receiued for orthodoxe by our Church In which words though I must ingenuously confesse that I cannot retayne the least scruple or doubt of the sincerity and candor of his Maiesties meaning but that according to his Noble apprehension and the information giuen him by his Doctors he doth indeed for his Princely part and Person reuerence and admitt the foure first Generall Councels and wil be ready like a pious meaning Prince to receaue al the particuler points of faith concluded therein when they shal be discouered vnto him Yet since this Parlamentary admission of Councells is thē ground of all and must proue the admitting and reiecting of them either good or bad on the Church of Englands behalfe my first demaund shal be but this What hath lay parliaments to do with Religion What busines make they with the Councells of the Church Who designed vnto them this authority to alter chop and change Religion at their pleasure Vpon what ground do they admit some Councells and reiect others Especially hauing excluded from Parlamentall suffrage all their Catholicke Bishops and Clergy men as it is euident they did the thing remayning yet registred vpon Authenticall record fresh in the memories of many now liuing when at the first and second lay Parlaments in the first yeare of the late Queene they banished Catholick Religion out of the land 2. But supposing these foure Councels to be admitted and receiued if we consider how these Councels indeed are acknowledged by our Acts of Parlament how reuerenced and in what manner receaued for Catholicke and Orthodoxe by our English Congregation at this day we shall be fo farre from iustifying the Protestant Parlamentary admission of these Councels or any other of their actions whatsoeuer though neuer so outwardly veiled and couered with a colourable shew of piety as that in very deed we shall discouer nought els throughout the passages of their whole proceedinges but fraud imposture collusion dissimulation hypocrisie and heresie Which
of Triall offered and alledged by his Maiesty of England HAVING discoursed at large of the three generall heades to wit Scriptures Creedes Councells in the three precedent Chapters we are now according to order and method both offered vnto vs and accepted of vs to treat of the last generall head in this subsequent Chapter And the subiect we haue how in hand is touching the high esteeme credit and authority to be giuen to the ancient Fathers vnto which his Matie doth appeale in this last place saying thus I do reuerence the ancient Fathers as much and more then the Iesuites do and asmuch as themselues euer craued For what euer the Fathers of the first foure hundred yeares did with an vnanime consent agree vpon to be belieued as a necessary poynt of saluation I eyther will belieue it also or at least wil be humbly silent not taking vpon me to condemne the same But for euery priuate Father his opinion it byndes not my conscience more then Bellarmines euery one of the Fathers vsually contradicting others I will therefore in that case follow S. Augustine his rule in iudging their opinions as I shall find them agree with the Scriptures what I find agreeable thereunto I will imbrace what is otherwise I will with their reuerence reiect So the King And that his Maiesty for his part hath also a good meaning in this as farre as his education and instruction can possibly permitt and further that he is perswaded that he speaketh and meaneth like a good Catholicke and orthodox Christian I do with all diligence and due respect of loyall duty vnto his Royall grace endeauour to perswade myselfe 2. And yet neuerthelesse it is more then euident and apparant yea obuious vnto the eye of any discreet indifferent iudicious and vnderstanding man that his Excellent Grace hath bene notoriously abused and very sinisterly an erroneously informed in sundry passages of this poynt and mayne head concerning the reuerence respect and authority due to the Fathers of Gods Church and that by such Statizing and temporizing Ministers that being no longer able to sustaine their weake false cause quaeipsissimo suo ruit pondere would deriue the shame blame and burden of their now present tottering Religion vpon the person of his Princely Maiesty ingaging him thus in their hereticall quarrell and therefore they suggest from time to time such particulers out of euery generall as serue rather for their owne sinister respects then eyther for the preuention of errour or decision of truth or preseruation of the honour and soueraigne reputation of his Princely Person whence it commeth to passe that they impressionate his Princely hart with their owne particuler humorous passions exagitate his grace with their odious and malitious calumniations bent against the vpright and the innocent in a word they rather auert his affection from ancient Catholicke verity and peruert his iudgement by their erroneous fancy and late vpstart nouelty then lay forth the playne and simple truth vnto his Maiesty though they professe themselues to be Ministers of simple truth eyther in sound substance or sincere circumstance And this God willing we shall discouer by many particuler passages in this present busines and poynt of ancient Fathers that we haue now in hand 3. And first to proceed in order and to beginne with the accusation and imputation laid vpon the lesuits for that they are here charged according to that which hath bene suggested vnto his Maiesty for I will neuer lay this imputation and false accusatioÌ„ vpon his Princely Person that they do not reuerence the authority of the ancient Fathers indeed not so much as his Maiesty doth who saith here as you haue heard That when the Fathers of the first soure huÌ„dred years do with an vnanime consent agree vpon any thing to be belieued as a necessary poynt of saluation his Highnes will belieue it also or at least wil be humbly silent and not condemne the same But he that will peruse and read ouer the learned and manifould laborious volumes of the Iesuites shall find theÌ„ to go much further in this point teaching and constantly asseuering with Vincentius Lyrineusis and with the ioynt agreement of antiquity that the vnanime consent of Fathers vpon any point maketh it an infallible truth Quod Patres Doctores saith Gregorius de Valentia vnanimi consensu circa religionem tradunt infallibiliter verum est VVhatsoeuer the Fathers and Doctours deliuer with one consent about religion that is infallibly true And the same do hold all other Iesuites which also Vincentius Lyrinensis more then a thousand yeares before them doth confirme in these wordes Hos ergo in Ecclesia Dei diuinitus per tempora loca dispensatos quisquis in sensu Catholici dogmatis vnum aliquid in Christo sentientes contempserit non hominem contemnit sed Deum These therefore he meaneth the ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church giuen and granted by God throughout all ages and places whosoeuer shall contemne them agreeing vpon any one point in Christ in the sense of Catholick Doctrine he contemneth not man but God 4. And this is grounded and proued as the said Valentia noteth vpon that discourse of S. Paul Ephes. 4. where he sheweth how Christ ascending into heauen left his Church furnished and fenced with all kynd of necessary furniture for her present instruction future direction and perpetuall prescruation as with Apostles Prophets Euangelists Pastors Doctors and this vnto the worldes end And the reason of this is that which the foresaid Authour obserueth out of the Apostle himselfe Vt non circumferamur omni vento Doctrinae that we should not be carried hither and thither and tossed vp and downe with euery blast of Doctrine 5. And finally he confirmeth the same by shewing that this great absurdity would otherwayes follow that if the whole consent of Fathers may erre then may they induce the whole Church to erre yea inforce her therunto for that the Church is bound to follow and belieue the vnamine consent of her Pastours Doctors Gouernours and teachers and that throughout all ages of the Church 6. This is the doctrine which I find amongst the Iesuites concerning the accompt and reckoning that is to be made of the vniforme and vnamine consent of Fathers For with Gregory de Valentia as now I haue said doe agree all the most eminent and principall writers of that Society as for example Doctor Petru Canisâ—us in his later Catechisme Cap. 11. Cardinall Bellarmine in his fourth booke de verbo Dei cap. 9. Vasquez tom 1. in primam part Disp. 12. Cap. 1. Maldonatus in 6. Ioan. Tolet vpon the 6. Chapter of S. Iohn and many others which as I take it is a great deale more then here is granted by ProtestaÌ„ts vnto the Fathers since there is no more yet promised and professed then eyther to belieue them or to be humbly silent and not condemne them 7.
they promise silence and when they say they will belieue the Fathers of those first ages when with one vnanyme consēt they shall agree vpon any thing to be belieued as a necessary point of saluation which seldome falleth out in matters especially now in controuersy for that they being busied in other matters as before hath bene touched eyther of writing Apologyes during the times of persecution or in conuerting and instructing the new conuerted Christians or in confuting other hereticks and heresies it must needes be a rare case to find all the Fathers agree togeather with one consent except it were in a generall Councell and to determine that this or that point was a matter of faith article of belief 39. Neither is it absolutely necessary to the purpose that they should do so for that our principall scope and drift being to seeke and trace out from time to time by testimony of the Fathers in euery age where the true Catholicke Church went and whether the Protestants or our Church at this day haue more resemblance vnto her there be diuers other arguments and probable coniectures to seeke out the same atleast wise probably then onely articles of beliefe agreed vpon by vnanime consent As for example sundry Cerimonies vsed in baptisme and other Sacraments as Exorcismes Exsufflations Christening and the like mentioned by S. Augustine and by diuers other anciēt Fathers as also the vse of the Crosse Tapers Candles reuerencing of holy Reliques and kneeling before Pictures Images Crucifixes and other rites testified by the whole Senate of Christian antiquity which though they be not by the said Fathers commended and deliuered as articles of our faith yet these being practised by the Primitiue Church which is graunted to be the true Church and compared to the customes of Protestants and vs in our Churches will easily disclose which of the two they or we do more imitate or impugne the true Church of antiquity But contenting our selues at this time with the onely mentioning of them by the way we will make a short and briefe passage or rather step throughout the foresaid foure or fiue hundred yeares limited vnto vs and this God willing we will do not by citing but laying downe the Fathers authorities themselues in particuler for it would be ouer long as before hath bene said but rather by producing such witnesses who being of most credit with our aduersaries cannot be well mistrusted or discredited to wit the Magdeburgians Centuries who haue in euery age diligently though partially examined the same and how substantiall a proof this is of Catholick religion by the very cōfession concession of their greatest aduersaries I appeale for iudgment vnto the discreet and indifferent Reader The first Age. 40. And as for the first hundred yeares after Christ his glorious Incarnation which is deputed generally vnto Christ and his Apostles age as the chiefe Doctors and Fathers that gouerned the Church and instructed the people in that time I wil take onely the note of one position or article of faith which the said Magdeburgians do gather out of all writers of that age as agreed vpon against the Protestants by the teachers of that age and continued euer after throughout all subsequent ages and this is concerning the Reall Presence of the true body and bloud of our Sauiour in the Supper of our Lord commonly called the Eucharist which point the ancient Fathers against all hereticall Protestantical tropes and figures do proue aboundantly out of the Ghospels themselues out of the Acts of the Apostles out of the Epistles of S. Paul out of the consent of the whole Church in that first age euer after to wit that the wordes of Christ do euidently containe the same being properly and litterally to be vnderstood as they are to be and not by any figure or trope as the Zuinglians Caluinists all other Sectes of Sacramentaries do faythlesly imagine 41. This first prescription then of this important article of fayth the Magdeburgians do fynd to be for vs against all our English Protestants aswell in the very first age vnder Christ and his Apostles as in all other successiue tymes for that in euery age they proue this diligently out of the consent of all Fathers and Doctors of that age to wit that Christ his true body is really present in the blessed Sacrament by the very power and vertue of Christ his owne wordes vsed by the Priest in consecration And if any hereticke demaund a reason of this admirable transmutation I can giue him no other then that which S. Augustine giueth in the like miraculous case it is in his third Epistle ad Volusianum and it is such a one as will suffice any right belieuing Christian if he will not continue an hereticke or an Infidell Hic si ratio quaeritur non erit mirabile si exemplum poscatur non erit singulare demus Deum aliquid posse quod nos fateamur inuestigari non posse in talibus enim rebus tota ratio sacti est potentia facientis Here if a reasō be sought for it is not wonderfull if an example be demaunded it is not singular let vs graunt that God can doe some thing which we must confesse we cannot search out for in such matters as these be the whole reason of the deed is the power of the doer And is not this one substantiall poynt of Popery as our Protestants brand it proued for vs by their owne friends 42. But as for other points of our Religion in controuersy betwixt vs and the Protestants though the Magdeburgians would not willingly graunt them to be so ancient as the first age which we notwithstanding do proue aboundantly in handling of euery controuersie yet do they will they nill they graunt sundry of them to haue begunne and crept in presently after the Apostles in the second age and so continued and increased in number in the third fourth fifth and sixt when all the whole Christian world went cleare with vs that is to say all the doctrine of such as were chiefe Doctors and Fathers for their learning and piety in those tymes and ages as heere shall appeare by a iust view of that which heere briefly I purpose to set downe The second Age. 43. In the second age immediatly after the Apostles the Magdeburgians doe graunt the very principall Fathers of that age to make for vs not only in the foresaid article of the Reall Presence against Sacramentaries but also in sundry other points now in controuersie against the Protestants And first concerning Free-will remayning in man after his fall for proofe wherof they cyte S. Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 72. contra hareses and that with great indignation and reprehension saying that he wresteth the wordes of the Prophets as also of Christ our Sauiour and S. Paul Multa Prophetarum Christi Pauli detorquet And the wordes which they reprehend in S. Irenaeus are these Prophetae
Apostoli hortabantur homines iustitiam agere bonum quoque operari quia in nobis sit hoc The Prophets and Apostles did exhort men to do iustice and to worke good works for that this is in our power And is not this a great offence in S. Irenaeus to speake so like a Papist 44. They accuse also other Fathers of the same age for like fault as Iustinus Martyr if it be his booke in his answere vnto the hundred and third question ad Orthodoxos and Clemens Alexandrinus lib. 2. stromatum saying of this latter Clemens liberum arbitrium vbique asserit Clement doth euery where defend free-will And finally they giue this censure of all that age Nullus ferè doctrinae locus est qui tam citò obscurari coeperit atque hic de libero arbitrio There is no peece of Doctrine that began to be darkened so soone as this of free will which darkning is nothing els with them but the Catholick sense of that doctrine which now also we hould to wit that albeit man his free-will was greatly wounded by Adams fall yet was it not so extinguished but that nature being relieued by the holy assistance of Christs grace and not otherwise the free-will of man may cooperate in doing of good workes which was also these holy Fathers meanings 45. The like the said Magdeburgians do complayne of the article of good workes and perfection of life to wit that this doctine also beganne to be darkened in this age so as according vnto them the candle lightned by our Sauiour and his Apostles and set vpon the goulden candlesticke of the Church dured but a little while 46. Furthermore they cyte also that saying of S. Clemēt lib. 5. stromatum which angreth them very much Gratia seruamur sed non absque bonis operibus We are saued by Grace but not without good works Et lib. 6. stromatum Quando audierimus fides tua te saluum fecit non accepimus eum dicere absolutè cos saluos suturos qui quomodocunque crediderint nisi facta quoque fuerint consecuta Whensoeuer we shall heare those wordes of our Sauiour vnto the Cananaean thy fayth hath saued thee we do not vnderstand that he said absolutely that they shall be saued whosoeuer belieue in any sort except good deedes do also follow And is this ought els but Catholicke doctrine to wit that fayth must go before and good workes follow And is not this the selfe same doctrine which S. Paul teacheth saying that the sauing faith is fides quae per charitatem operatur the faith which worketh by charity in vs. 47. Moreouer concerning the law that it doth not command impossible things but that with the assistance of Christs grace Christian men may obserue the Commandements this the Magdeburgians do censure for erroneous doctrine also in the Fathers of this second age namely in Iustinus Martyr resp ad Orthodoxos 103. who proueth it out of the example of S. Paul himselfe of Zachary and Elizabeth that were both of them iust and S. Irenaeus teacheth the said doctrine lib. 4. c. 30. and Clemens lib. 2. stromatum being all Fathers of this second age which doctrine is confirmed afterward by all the Fathers of subsequent ages And yet do the good-fellow Magdeburgians condemne the same with great resolution out of a Maxime of Aristotle most foolishly and wickedly applied saying Dato vno inconuenienti sequi solent infinita One inconuenience being graunted by these Fathers to wit the doctrine of free-will infinite other inconueniences are wont to follow Which speach of the Fathers though it be incōmodious vnto the Magdeburgians for such set downe by them yet are the wordes playne for the Catholick Doctrine now held by the Roman Church in that behalfe 48. But yet further concerning the externall vsuall sacrifice of Christiās then accustomed to be offered on the Aultar the same Magdeburgians are much troubled about certaine speaches of S. Ignatius and S. Irenaeus The first hath these wordes in his Epistle ad Smyrnenses Non lice sine Episcopo neque offerre neque sacrificium immolare It is not lawfull without the Bishop to make oblation or offer Sacrifice And the like wordes they cyte out of S. Irenaeus 4. cap. 32. saying of him Satis videtur loqui incommodè cùm ait noui Testamenti nouam docuit oblationem quam Ecclesia ab Apostolis accijiens in vniuerso mundo offert Deo Irenaeus say they seemeth to speake incōmodiously inough when he saith that Christ did teach a new oblatiō of a new Testament which the Church receiuing from the Apostles doth offer vnto God throughout the whole world So they of the externall Christian sacrifice of those daies checked condemned the Fathers of that first age after the Apostles 49. About traditions in like manner rites and Cerimonyes they complaine in this age as they did of other points before to wit that Doctrina de libertate christiana non-nihil coepit obseurari that the Doctrine of Christian liberty beganne not a little to be darkened with rites and Cerimonies in this age also succreuit say they paulatim error de traditionibus necessariò obseruandis and the errour of necessary obseruation of traditions did by little and little grow vp whereof they giue an example out of S. Ignatius his epistle ad Philadelphios where he saith Dies festos nolite inhonor are Quadragesimam verò nolite pro nihilo habere imitationem enim cominet Dei conuersationis hebdomadam etiam Passionis nolite despicere Quarta verò sexta feria ieiunate reliquias pauperibus porrigentes Do not dishonour holy dayes do not neglect Lent for it cōteyneth in it the imitation of Christ his conuersatiō who is our God Do not despise the Passion weeke do you fast vpon wensdayes and fry daies that which is left of your meat giue it vnto the poore And this is the darkenes which the Magdeburgians do obserue or rather this is the light which those Angels of darkenes and instrumentes of Sathan would darken in the Apostolicall writinges of S. Ignatius and other Ancients of this very next age after the Apostles contrary vnto their carnall and Euangelicall liberty which their first luxurious Apostata and Cloysterbreaker Luther set abroach 50. The same Magdeburgians do cite a plaine sentence out of S. Irenaeus lib. 3. Cap. 3. whereby he proueth the Primacy of the Church of Rome to wit for her more powerable principality it is of necessity that all Churches should come vnto her that is to say all faithfull people from all parts of the world for that in her hath bene conserued euer the tradition of the Apostles Which plaine sentence the Magdeburgians do endeauour to delude by diuers shiftes As first that it seemeth to sauour of nouelty then that this sentence is found say they in the copies that now are extant of Irenaeus as though there were other not extant that had it not Thirdly
they do interpret Irenaeus his meaning that he vnderstandeth onely by tradition written Doctrine But by this we may see how they are incumbred with the writinges of Fathers euen in this very first age after the Apostles when these and all other the like doctrines of Christian Catholick Religion were sealed with the fast shedding bloud of her Martyrs and Doctors 51. Another poynt also offendeth them much which is the excellency and great merit of Martyrdome which the Fathers of this age do in all their writings exalt De Martyrio say they nimis honorificè sentire coeperunt The Fathers of this age began to think too gloriously of Martyrdome belike these same good fellowes neuer meant that their finger should ake for Christ or Christian religion and then they say of holy S. Ignatius that constant Martyr Ignatius in epistolis valde periculosè loquitur de martyrij merito Ignatius in many of his epistles doth speake very dangerously of the merit of martyrdome Also they do check the same Saint and holy Martyr for that in his epistle vnto the Romans whē he was going vnto martyrdome to be deuoured of wild beastes in the Amphitheater of Rome he crieth out Sinite me vt bestiarum esca sim per quam possim Christum promereri Suffer me that I may be the food of beastes and thereby promerit to enioy God himselfe And what so great perill is there I pray you in this doctrine For that throughout the whole Fpistle it appeareth that he ascribed vnto Christ his grace all the fortitude which he expected for this combate and consequently all his merit of enioying God proceeded principally from the said grace of his Maister And so do the Catholicks at this day hould in the doctrine of merit if malice and enuy could suffer the Protestants to see it and acknowledg it 52. But they are very angry with him for frequent vsing of another phrase in three distinct Epistles to wit to those of Antioch of Ephesus and to Policarpe Pro animabus vestris ego afficiar quando Christum meruero adipisci I shall be come an intercessor for your soules when I shall deserue to obtaine the fruition of Christ. In which words as you see is not only expresse mention made of the singular merit of martyrdome but also insinuated the intercession of martyrs departed vnto the next life for their friends left behind them vpon earth as hauing not aspired vnto the heauenly blisse 53. And finally not to go any further they quarrell also with the said Ignatius about the merit and praise of Virginity as diuers hereticall Caluinists haue lately done in Oxford Ex Ignatij Epistolis apparet say they homines iam tum paulò impensiùs coepisse amare venerari Virginitatis statum it appeareth out of Ignatius his Epistles that euen then men beganne more earnestly to loue and reuerence the state of Virginity wherfore they giue sundry examples as namely in his Epistle ad Antichenos Virgines videant cui se consecrarint let Virgins consider vnto whome they haue consecrated themseleues and in his Epistle ad Tharsenses Eas quae in Virginitate sunt honorate sicut sacras Christi Honour those that liue in Virginity as the sacred of Christ. So excellent an opinion had this holy Father martyr in those first dayes of thè primitiue Church concerning the state of Virginity so little esteemed now by Protestants 54. All these points of controuersy then betwixt vs and the Protestants at this day to wit of Free-will good works possibility of the commandements externall Christian sacrifice tradition and rites the Primacy of the Church of Rome merit of Martyrdome and state of Virginity to pretermit sundry other articles as ouerlong to be handled here we see to haue bene auouched by the principall Fathers of the second age and that in our defence against the Protestants 55. And howsoeuer the Magdeburgians go about to discredit these Doctrines togeather with their Authours calling them incommodas opiniones naeuos stipulas errores patrum incommodious opinions blots stubble and errours in the Fathers yet seemeth this only reason and Consideration to be sufficient to conuince them of hereticall insolency in their condemning these Fathers for that it cannot be shewed and if it can let the Protestant speake that the said Fathers were euer taxed or condemned for these Doctrines by the Church or other Doctors of that age or of any age afterwards for the space of fourteene or fifteene hundred yeares togeather vntill Luthers prophane and vncleane spirit brake forth of the Cloyster and made way for hereticall insolency to barke against orthodoxall antiquity And this shall suffice for this second age Let vs now passe to see how conforme and agreeable the third age was vnto the second for by this lineall and personall descent of Doctors and Centuries we shall euidently and infallibly discouer how in all times ages and persons the busines and doctrine of the Church was still carried by tradition from hand to hand The third Age. 56. Concerning this third age wherein were Doctors Tertullian Origen Dionysius Alexandrinus Cyprianus Methodius and many others which for breuities sake I am inforced to pretermit the Magdeburgians do beginne with this Preface both complaining and taxing Quò longiùs ab Apostolorum aetate recessum est eòplus stipularum doctrinae puritate accessit The further of that we go from the age of the Apostles the more chaffe did grow into the purity of doctrine And yet you see we haue gone but one age from thence for the last was the first after the Apostles and this is the second and in the last you haue heard what chaffe they complayned of But now we shall see that they complaine not only of the same poynts of chaffe reiterated and confirmed againe by the Fathers of this age to wit about free will and good workes perfection of life possibility of Commaundements Sacrifice Tradition rytes Supremacy merit of martyrdome and Virginity for all these heads they do shew in their seuerall titles of doctrin to haue bene continued repeated and confirmed againe by the Fathers of this age but furthermore they do also shew and complayne of other articles explayned by the Fathers of this third age in behoofe of the moderne Catholicke religion much more aboundantly then before As for example they shew that it was an opinion of this age Angelosinuocandos esse that Angells are to be prayed vnto according vnto the doctrine of Origen who setteth downe also a certaine forme of praying and inuocating vpon Angells to wit Veni Angele suscipe sermone conuer sum ab errore pristino c. Come Angell and receaue him that is conuerted from his errour by the word preached Neither was this euer reprehended in Origen or numbred amongst his errours and consequently this may be presumed to haue bene the forme of praying in the publike Church at that day according to the rule before
said Lactantius S. Gregory Nyssen Hilarius Nazianzen S. Ambrose Theophilus Alexandrinus Ephraim and others all Fathers of this age do openly defend the same Whereupon they I mean the Magdeburgians conclude in these wordes I am cogitet pius Lector quà m procul haec aetas in hoc articulo à doctrina Apostolorum desciuerit Now let the godly Reader consider how farre this age departed from the doctrine of the Apostles in this article of good workes But I would thinke it more reason to exhort yea and to beseech the Reader euen as he hath care of the euerlasting welfare and saluation of his soule to consider seriously indifferently setting all kynd of preiudice apart whether it be not more likely that so many learned and holy Fathers that liued with so great admiration of their vertue learning piety in this age should know what agreed with the Apostles Doctrine and what agreed not aswell or as a man would imagine somewhat better then these foure quarrelling Companions the Magdeburgians I meane Illyricus VVigandus Iudex and Faber for these foure do onely subscribe their dedicatory Epistle to Queene Elizabeth vpon the yeare 1560. 73. S. Bernards rule prescription of Antiquity was this Quantò viciniores aduentui Saluatoris tantò mysterium salutis pleniùt perceperunt The nearer the holy Fathers were vnto Christ his incarnation the more fully receaued and perceaued they the mystery of our redemption And yet these foure good fellowes do thus presume to censure the most reuerend and learned ancient Fathers as you see 74. And on this fashion these men go forwardes in setting downe all the 18. or 19. heades of doctrine before mentioned as held by the Fathers of this fourth age to wit Pennance satisfaction inuocation of Saints citing aboue a dozen Fathers of this age for the same of traditions about Virginity monasticall life the like wherein they do so check condēne contemne the said holy Fathers as passeth all modesty must needs be a token of manifest heresy 75. S. Ambrose say they in his second booke ad Marcellinam nimis insolenter pronunciat de virginum meritis Ambrose doth pronounce to insolently of the merit of virginity The like and worse they speake of S. Ephraim and S. Athanasius for that they write of Monkes and namely S. Ephraim that they are perfecti pugnatores paradisi amoenitatem ante oculos habentes perfect fighters that haue before their eyes the sweetnes of paradise These men cry out against this Quid potest monstrosiùs dici contra meritum Christi What can be spoken more monstrously against the merit of Christ 76. And for that S. Ambrose serm 6. de Margarita hath these wordes VVhosoeuer therefore doth honour Martyrs doth honour Christ and he that contemneth Saints contemneth the Lord of Saints which is conforme to the Ghospell the Magdeburgians complaine crying out I am cogitet pius lector quà nt tetra suntista Let the godly Reader consider how horrible these thinges are The godly Reader hath cōsidered and he findes nothing deliuered by these Fathers but the holy Catholicke doctrine And as for your exclamations they are but the barkinges of Vigilantius or rather as S. Hierome more fitly calleth him Dormitantius and other ancient condemned heretickes against the holy reliques of Saintes and Martyrs reuiued and renewed by you againe raked out of the ashes of hell and hellish heresy 77. And finally not to be tedious in going forwards with a copious enumeration of the foresaid articles I do onely admonish the Reader for the last article mentioned of Purgatory how they do produce three Fathers more of this age that held the same to wit Lactantius Prudentius and S. Hierome as they might haue done many more and they add vnto the said former number diuers other articles which the Fathers of this age do teach as of the particuler rules of religious people now in vse De memorijs Martyrum of celebrating the memories of Martyrs in Churches and Altars erected and set vp in their honour De signo Crucis of the externall vse of the signe of the Crosse and miracles that thereby haue happened whereof Prudentius hymno ante somnum writeth thus in commendation of the Crosse and the benefit that redoundeth by vsing this laudable Christian cerimony Crux pellit omne crimen c. the signe of the Crosse keepeth of all sinne from vs. And S. Ephraim lib. de poenit cap. 3. aduifeth vs thus Pingamus in ianuis ac in frontibus nostris c. Let vs paynt the signe of the Crosse in our gates in our foreheades in our mouth in our Breastes c. and many other such sayings of holy Fathers of this age 78. Wherfore to conclude we see that this fourth age agreeth with the former three in all points of doctrine held for Catholicke throughout the whole Christian world at this day And as the Fathers of this age doe consent with their predecessors so shall we see them not dissent from their successours as shall appeare by the next ensuing ages And if this be not a sufficient demonstration of the true Roman Catholick Church and of her doctrine confirmed by all records of antiquity euen by the confession of our aduerfaries the Magdeburgians then let the English Protestants answere vnto this euidence and giue a better if they can But we shall passe further yet to make an insight into two other ages that ensue The fifth and sixt Ages 79. There follow the fifth and sixt age whereof the former is receyued heere by his Maiesty in the second edition of his English Premonition though in the first the first 400. yeares were onely allowed as hath byn sayd and the later was comprehended in M. Iewell his challenge at S. Paules Crosse who promised there openly to allow any of the Fathers or Councells that could be brought within the first six hundred yeares But this publike declamation was but a vaine ostentation of the challenger and this large offer was also restrained and reuoked afterwardes by others both at Paules Crosse and in either of the Vniuersities in so much that Doctor Humphrey in Oxford in a funerall speach made of the said M. Iewell by the former D. Humphrey did not for beare to taxe him openly of inconsideration for his so large and liberall offer of Fathers for six hundred yeares to decide all controuersies 10. But heere in this our affaire and busines we haue now in hand we haue thought good to ioyne both these ages togeather for that in them both the like descent of doctrine one after the other is still to be found the latter repeating and confirming the former And for proofe of this point I shall need to goe no further then to the confession and concession of our aduersaries themselues the Magdeburgians for there they shew for example in the first Century first of Free-will to wit that albeit the Doctors of this age interdum benè sanè videantur loqui tandem