of good liuing as euery naughtie man desireth that good lawes might be banished and destroyed although he prayse them sometime in his talke Briefly the record of the life doth not so muche deceiue as of the tong the whiche the sentence of Christ dothe confirme willing vs to trye out false prophets and wolues couered with shéepes clothing by their fruits For albeit they couÌ„terfayt neuer so much and often times also deceiue wise men yet at length their woluish nature doth bewray it selfe But chiefly a sure iudgement may be had by the scope and marke vnto the which euery man driueth and wherevnto he referreth al his counsayles endeuors as Paule doth playnly signifie in certayne places noting this especially in false teachers renegates deceiuers that they erred from the marke and turned aside els where Uerely it is chiefly the care of true teachers to apply all their thoughts and doings to the doctrines deliuered vnto them by God as the which regardeth nothing more counteth nothing better then to submit their wils to Gods will and to be obedient therevnto But it is a common thing with false-teachers to turne the heauenly doctrine to the marke which they haue set before them selues to the intent they may force it to serue their owne purposes commodities yea and their owne lustes The same doth Paule writing to the Corinthians the firste Epistle and 14 chapter sharpely reprehendé speaking of them which abused the gifts of tongs the whiche place of the Apostle Chrysostome that godly Bishop and good interpreter of Paule expounding sayth Mark howe here agayne he squareth the stone to the squier seeking euerye where the edification of the Church So that the Apostle doth teache both in this place and els where that all things are to be referred to the edification of the Church Which marke who so will regard shall not easilye erre but he that hath any other respect must néedes misse often times Nowe let vs consider vnto whiche sort these newe Apostles do belong and vnto whom they are more like eyther Paule or those disguised Apostles What the doctrine of Paule was his Epistles doe witnesse but what his aduersaries was it maye certaynely bee knowen partely by Luke Acts 15. chapter partely by Paule him selfe namely out of the Epistle to the Galathians and partly by Hierom especially out of his commentaries vpon Ezechiel 16. chap. and certayne other olde writers The effect is they went about to couple the keeping of the olde lawe these are Hieromes owne wordes with the grace of the Gospell and to ioyne Moses vnto Christ But howe small a matter is this I pray you if it bee compared with the riffe raffe of the Iesuites doctrine in the which there is scarce a leafe wherein there is not read some much more gréeuouser reproche against Christ then that was If for that doctrine the Apostle doubted not and that with indignation to call them the enemies of the crosse of Christ which inuerted the gospell which he hauing receiued of Christ had preached are not these to be taken for the very sworne enemies of Christe and his Gospell of all those that haue professed Christe that loue him and are carefull for his glorye For what Christ I pray you shoulde we haue if we harlten to these newe masters and folowe them For almost all the ornamentes whiche the father hath bestowed vpon him are pluckt from him and turned ouer not vnto Moses the rare Prophet of God but vnto infinite obscure and vnknowen eyther Saintes as these men tearme them eyther false gods which haue bâ—â— sanctified or deified by filthy and lowde men His grace procured by his death sacrifice and merite is not onely obscured but also extinguished buried by these mens doctrine of the merites of man and workes whiche were not good but partly superstitious and partly wicked For what I pray you doth that huge heape of euils that shoppe of wickednes and nurse of mischiefes the Masse leaue vnto it Againe what soeuer these men teache of the fyre of Purgatory prayer to the dead worshipping of images pardons the Popes supremacie the authoritie of the church and such other like matters what els are they but mens dreames and deuises more vayner then old wiues tales Is it not meere vayne babling the greatest parte of those things which vnder the title of the traditions of the Apostles are deliuered as the Oracles of God vnto Christian people and are thrust vpon them both to be beléeued and obserued What néede I to speake of many ceremonies For it is certayne that almost all the Iewishe ceremonies except circumcision which these aduersaries of Paule or rather of Christ and the truth did chiefly vrge are raysed vp and brought againe into the church of Christ many thinges also therewithall mingled out of the superstition and vngodlynes of the Heathen And when at length men began to beléeue that religion consisted in them onely their heape with continuall additions grewe so great that it was altogether intollerable began with the hugenes therof to fall to the ground Neuertheles as if those things which were inueÌ„ted brought in by the predecessors were not sufficient these newe workemen doe labour to adde to the former suche as they haue lately coyned in their owne shoppe Is not this to teache other doctrines and to bring in darknes at the noone light yea and to call againe boÌ„dage libertie being once obtained Moreouer that vnlearned brabling hurtfull yea pernitious questions are ioyned with the Iesuites doctrine it is thereby well knowen that they embrace all the consuse heape of the Popish diuinity nor do signify in any place that I know that they mislike the thorny or subtil trifles of y e scholemen Whereby it euidently followeth that these newe false apostles as touching the nature of their doctrine do not differ from the olde sauing that these mens doctrine is more erroneous corrupt then theirs and further off also from the simplicitie and puritie of the Gospell As touching the maner of insinuating them selues and créeping into mens bosomes and rushing vnto the tower of doctrine that is the pulpit or the chayre there is to be seene very great likenes betweene them both They were Iewes by birth by profession Christians but in very deede of that sorte of men which of some are called neuters that is which imbraced earnestly neither religion abusing notwithstanding craftily both vnto their gaynes What course these new hypocrits haue taken and by what practise they haue mounted are come vnto this degree and place whiche nowe they haue it is not vnknowne vnto many which are yet aliue Hauing attiâ—ed them selues cunningly with a visor of godlines they came abroade when the times were miserable and lamentable that is when all things in religion were out of order and tumbled vpside downe The maner of their countenance of their voyce of
of God shewing him selfe that he is God that euen in his time the mysterie of iniquitie began to be wrought that his comming should be with the effectual working of Satan with al power and signes and lying wonders and in all deceaueablenes of vnrighteousnes among them that perishe because they receiued not the truth that they might be saued and that therfore God should sende them strong illusions that they might beleue lyes that all might be damned which beleeued not the trueth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes In these words the Apostle doth most fully and liuely set foorth the whole kingdome of Antichrist to wit that he should bring with him a departing from the fayth as the word doth sounde that he should be openly discouered to the world to be the man of sinne full of all abhominall and haynous attempts agaynst the maiestie of God that he should be the childe of perdition working his owne and others destruction that he should not onely directly set and oppose him selfe but also exalt and lift vp him selfe agaynst God that he should sitte with authoritie in the Church of God and aduaunce him selfe as God he declareth further that euen from the time of the Apostles Satan hath priuily sought to laye the foundation of this his Antichristian kingdome and the meanes to bring the same to passe he also describeth to wit that it was done by the effectuall and mightie working of Satan with all power and lying signes wonders and myracles and all subtiltie craft and deceite Finally he sheweth who they are that shall be seduced and deceiued thereby namely they that are castawaies and ordeined to destruction and he addeth therewithall a reason thereof the contempt of the trueth whereby they might be saued and that this shall be the iust iudgement of God to giue them therefore ouer to the strong illusion of seducing and erroneous spirites to their vtter confusion destruction These things Right Honorable beeing considered and layde together and compared both with the former and the present state of the Church of Christ on the one side and the pernitious practises of Satan in both we shall easily perceiue that in the later he hath farre passed the former and that in both he hath euer striuen agaynst Christ the foundation of his Church and the very effectes do declare the same if we looke but a litle therevnto For immediatly at the first publishing of the Gospell he brought to passe that Christ became a stumbling blocke and a rocke of offence vnto the Iewes as he is also at this day and to the Greekes and Gentiles foolishnes as likewise in their ofspring the Cerinthians Marcionites Maniches Arrians Nestorians Eurichians and such like heretikes oppugning his diuine and humaine nature and at last in the Turkes we see it euidently come to passe All which waying the doctrine of Christ crucified with the balances and waightes of humayne reason the course of nature Philosophie and mans wisedome haue accounted it but mere folly and playne vanitie Neuertheles these being open and professed enemies and caste out of the body and bowels of the Churche haue not bin so hurtfull and daungerous as Antichrist priuily lurking as it were in the very bosome and sitting in the middest therof pretending him selfe not onely to be a true Christian but also to be the head of the Church of Christ the Vicar of Christ the successor of the Apostles and his Romish religion and doctrine onely to be the Christian Catholike and Apostolike though it be neuer so expresly and directly to the contrary and by his Traditions Canons Councels and determinations chalenging vnto him selfe authoritie vppon the consciences of men in making them equall and of like force with the written word of God and exacting obedience therevnto vpon payne of condemnation To be short erecting a blasphemous sacrifice of the Masse expiatorie and satisfactorie for the quicke and the dead agaynst the onely most sufficient and perfect sacrifice of Christ robbing him at once of his kingly Priestly and Propheticall dignitie and office and so consequently spoyling him of his soueraigne titles and names Iesus and Christ and therewithall his Church of the benefite cause and ende of his comming in fleshe By this Romishe Antichrist and his members Satan hath more mightily preuayled agaynst the Church of Christ and shaken the foundation thereof more daungerously subtilly secretly and continually then euer he did before For although he hath not in flat wordes with the Iewes Turks Arrians and such like heretikes denied the Godhead of Christ or his manhood yet in effect hath he done the same in depriuing him of his office as I haue sayde and the end and scope of his comming which is to be the onely Christ the annoynted and holy one of God Therefore Iohn describing Antichrist sayth he shall denie Iesus to be that Christ and that therein he should deny the father and the sonne because whosoeuer denieth the sonne the same hath not the father And agayne Euery spirite that confesseth not Iesus Christ to haue come in the flesh is not of God and this is the spirite of Antichrist of whom ye haue heard howe that he shoulde come and now already he is in the world But to omit the monstrous and manifolde errors drawen from the sinkes and puddles of all heretikes wherwith this confuse and huge Babell of this Antichristian kingdome haue bin buylded vp the meanes and instruments wherby the same haue bine brought to passe are rather at this time shortly to be noted and marked as seruing most vnto my purpose The Apostle Paule as I haue touched before sheweth that Satan should to the accomplishing therof vse all power falshood deceit strange illusions And the same doth the spirit of God set foorth in the Reuelation by the image of a whore gorgeously arayed with purple and searlet attyred with golde precious stones and pearles hauing a cuppe of golde in her hande full of the abhominations and filthines of her fornication wherewith she maketh drunken the kings and inhabitauntes of the earth Hereby the spirite of God paynteth out the hypocriticall and goodly outwarde shew which as well Antichrist and his ministers as his doctrine should make vnto the world therby to seduce and deceiue the same This although it may be perceiued to be most true frō time to time in the hypocriticall swarmes of Popish Abbots Monkes Fryers and suche other religious orders as likewise in the scholmen and Canonistes the spirituall enchauntments and bewitchings of whose gloses distinctions definitions and conclusions haue as strong illusions beguiled the world and not onely the simple sort but the very wysest them selues and most learned yet especially the same is to be seene at this daye in the new and lately inuented Secte of the Iesuites which the Romishe Antichrist hath set foorth as the laste proppe and staye of his totering
backbite him aboue others so he dealing with a good conscience in this his vocation did set him selfe stoutly and constantly agaynst these ministers not of Christ but of Satan well perceiuing what this enimie by them did goe about to bring to passe As therefore he well vnderstoode the craftinesse of these deceiuers so he moste clearely discouered them vnto all congregations paynting them out as it is sayd in their owne colers and that not in worde onely but also by writing that y e memory therof might remayne with the posteritie to their great profite For the Church hath in that description of the Apostle a liuely picture of all false teachers and heretikes whiche if all that professe the name of Christ did marke and note it would be farre better with a great number and the Church of Christe should féele lesse hurt Verely in that picture of the Apostle these new kind of deceiuers of whoÌ„ we now speake séemeth vnto me most of all to be expressed For there is suche a likenes betwéene them bothe that the one may worthily séeme to be and to be called not onely the image and liuely portrature but the fathers also of the other Onely this vnlikenes I doe note to be betweene them that the children doe many wayes passe their fathers in wickednesse and craftines But that ought neither to séeme to be a newe thing neither to be marueyled at For Satan the common father of them both by long vse and experience of many things doth euery daye ware worser and crafttâ—r then him selfe Wherefore it is no maruel if his second deuises be more wylier as the Prouerbe goeth and the last egge of this crowe be more hurtfull then the first Herein they doe agree well first that as that enemie of Christ so soone as the Gospell began to be published amongst the Gentiles brought them in subtelly vnder the pretence of the lawe and religion of Moses So immediatly when the light of the gospel began to shine again to be restored craftily he stirred vp not onely conueighed into the Church but also by and by aduaunced these béeing couered with the title of Iesus and decked with the shewe of godlynes and furnished with many practises to deceiue And to the entent that euery man may the sooner vnderstaÌ„d what great likenes and agréement there is betwéene bothe the sortes I haue thought good to laye before all mens eyes a comparison of them The false Apostles whiche Hierom other doe call Nazares or Nazareans as touching their doctrine were Enemies of the crosse of Christ Phil. the 3. ca. Teachers of an other gospel theÌ„ that which was deliuered of Paul and corrupters of the same Gal. 1. Teachers of other doctrines 1. Time 1. ver 3. disobedient vaine talkers or talkers of vanitie and deceiuers of minds Tit. 1. ver 10. Such as gaue heede to fables and the commandements of men that turne away from the truth Tit. 1. ver 14. Authors of fables and genealogies which are endles whiche breede questions rather then godly edifying which is by faith 1. Tim. 1. vers 4. Disturbers of the congregations Acts. 15. vers 1. Gal. 5. vers 10. Authors of dissentions and offences Rom. 16. vers 17. Authors of prophane and vayne bablings oppositions of sciences falsely so called 1. Tim. 6. vers 20. The summe or effect is that the 〈…〉 e Apostles doctrine is contrarie to the doctrine of Christ that is the Apostolicall that it is fabulous vaine vnprofitable bréeding dissentions and offences or as these Romishe Censors are wont to speake Schismaticall and offensiue In the maner of deliuering their doctrine they wer wont To transforme themselues into the Apostles of Christ 2. Co. 11. To make a shew of god lines but to denie the power therof 2. Tim. 3 vers 5. To make a fayre shewe in the flesh Gal. 6. ve 12 To boast in the fleshe Philip. 3 To deceiue the hearts of the simple with faire and smooth speaches and flatterings Rom. 16. vers 18. To bark like dogges at godlye and notable men Philip. 3. 1. cap. To set to sale and to handle deceitfully the word of God 2. Cor. 2. vers 7. 4. vers 2. as deceitful workmen 2. Cor. 11 vers 13. and euill workmen Phi. 3. vers 2. The summe or effect is that they were counterfait hypocrits that they did nothing singlely or playnly that they vsed speache framed to deceiue that they corrupted craftilye those things that were whole and round The end scope of their purposes and doings was To serue their own bellye and not Christ to honor their belly for their God Rom. 16 ver 18. Philip. 3. ver 18. To seeke their owne not those things that are Christs Phi. 2. v. 21 To teache things that they ought not for silthy lucre sake Tit. 1. ver 11. and to subdue whole houses To beare rule imperiously and to play the tyraÌ„ts in the Church with the reproche therof 2. Cor. 11. ve 20. To bring other into bondage Gal. 2. vers 4. To flee persecution for the crosse of Christ to glory in other meÌ„s fleshe Gal. 6. ver 12. 13. The summe and effect is that they referred all thinges to their owne gaynes to wit their owne ambition and couetousnes two plagues or pestilences of the Church and the welsprings of all euill that they were inflamed with the desire to beare rule that they were in respect of theÌ„ selues lofte and gentle that they were cruell and fierce to others Those things that Paul hath written not so muche agaynst his owne enemies as the enemies of Christe and hath in his Epistles hâ—â—e and there insearted I thoughte good to referre vnto these heades placed in this order that they might the more easily both be séene with the eyes and conceiued with the minde And as both in these meâ—s persons doctrine there is set foorth vnto vs an image of all false teachers and â—ure markes of corrupt doctrine 〈…〉 in Paule and his doctrine we haue a true and liuely picture bothe of the true ministers of Christ and also sincere and pure doctrine for they must bothe be ioyned together if we will iudge aright Neither is any mans doctrine so muche to be wayghed and estéemed by his tong and talke as by his life déeds For of such deceiuers writeth Paule Tit. 1. They professe them selues to knowe God but denie him in their déedes It is also well written of Cyprian that the testimonie of the life is more effectuall then of the tong and that workes hath their tong and their eloquence yea when the tong kéepeth silence For as there can not be a holy life which is not ordered according to the rule of holy doctrine so it commonly commeth to passe that he which leadeth a life not agreable vnto this rule is willing and endeuoreth to breake and corrupt if he were able the very rule
A Defence of the Olde and True profession of Christianitie against the new and counterfaite secte of Iesuites or fellowship of Iesus Written in Latine by P. Boquine a Frenchman borne in Borges Professor of Diuinitie in the Vniuersitie of Heidelberge Translated into Englishe by T. G. Whereby maye bee perceiued howe falslye the Iesuites vsurpe the name of Iesus and how farre off they are from the thing signified thereby and what their profession and purpose is in truth otherwise then they beare the worlde in hande ¶ VBIQVE FLORESCIT LONDON Imprinted by Iohn Wolf and Henry Kirkham and are to be solde at the little North dore of Paules at the signe of the Blacke Boy To the Right Honourable his verie good Lorde the L. Fraunces Russell Earle of Bedforde Knight of the most Noble order of the Garter and one of her Maiesties most Honourable priuie Councell T. G. wisheth encrease of grace true zeale and knowledge together with all spirituall giftes in Iesus Christ AS our Sauiour Christ Right Honorable hath buylded his Church which he hath so dearely bought and purchased vpon him selfe the onely sure rocke and foundation thereof then the which as th Apostle sayth no other can be layde So on the other side hath Satan alwayes sought nothing more then to vndermine shake and if it were possible to ouerthrow the same For he well perceiueth that so long as this spirituall house glorious buylding standeth firmly and surely grounded and founded vpon Christ the euerlasting trueth the way and the life contayned in the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles whiche they not onely haue deliuered to the Church by liuely voyce but as the faithfull Notaries and Secretaries of the holy Ghost haue also registred and coÌ„mitted to writing in the sacred Scriptures for the continuall comfort and instruction thereof it remayneth vnremoueable and inuincible agaynst hell gates and all the formes and tempests raysed agaynst it by him and all his instruments Wherefore he layeth all his batterie and bendeth all his forces agaynst this foundation labouring by falsehood and lyes whereof he is the father to corrupt depraue alter obscure and deface the Gospell of Christ and the worde of life and thereby to subuert and ouerturne or at the least to weaken and shake the fayth of the faithfull resting wholle therevpon This hath bene euer from the beginning his practise and is at this lay and shal be vntill his kingdome be vttterly remoued and taken away Wherefore he is fitly named by Christ a lyer and a murtherer from the beginning For as by lyes he laboreth eyther to extinguish and abolish eyther to discredite and peruert the trueth of the worde So doth he therby intende and purpose the murdering and destruction of mankinde both body and soule For the which cause our Sauiour Christ as a moste wise and prouident and therwithall louing and carefull head and gouernour of his people foreseeing the daungerous and malicious attempt of his and their aduersaries giueth warning thereof vnto them before hande that they might not be founde vnprouided and vnfurnished when they should be assaulted and so by securitie and carelesnes loose the field and the victorie Therefore as well Moses and the Prophets before the comming of Christ inspired with his spirite as also at his comming in flesh he him selfe and his Apostles do giue vs a watchworde and often admonishe vs to auoyde and take heede of false Prophets false Apostles and false teachers though they worke signes and myracles and come in sheepes clothing that is make neuer so great a shewe of the true Prophets of God in outward apparaÌ„ce yea though they following the steppes of their father Satan who transformeth him selfe the sooner to deceiue into an angell of light turne them selues into the Apostles of Christ Herehence is it that the Apostle Paule chargeth the Galathians not to beleeue an Angell coÌ„ming from heauen but rather to holde him accursed if he should teach vnto them any other doctrine then that which at his mouth they had recevued In which words he implieth a high and a waightie reason to wit that the trueth of the glorious Gospell of Christ is such and so great that not onely no humayne authoritie and waye of perswasion whatsoeuer should moue vs to forsake the same but that no angelicall or heauenly messenger whatsoeuer shoulde perswade vs to the contrarie thereof To the same purpose Iohn willeth the faithfull noâ— to beleeue euery spirite but to trye the spirites whether they be of God because many false Prophets are entred into the world But albeit this warning and caâ—eat agaynst false Prophets be in diuers places giuen vnto vs yet then especially doth our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles labour to stirre vp the godly to a more continuall and earnest watchfulnes and warynes when they foretell of the state of the later dayes wherein we liue by howe muche they foresawe those times should be more perilous then any other in the which Satan perceiuing his time and kingdome to be short should rage most violently and vse most extreme tyrannie and put in vre most straunge and vnwonted practises to driue them from the onely foundation Christe Take heede sayth our Sauiour speaking of these later times that no man deceiue you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceiue many and there shall arise false Cristes and false Prophets and shall shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceiue the very elect beholde I haue tolde you before Paule the Apostle likewise sayth that in the later tymes which he therfore calleth perilous men should depart from the fayth and should giue heede vnto spirites of error and doctrines of diuels which should speake lyes through hypocrisie and haue their consciences burned with a hote yron that moreouer some should haue a shewe of godlines but should denie the power thereof from which he willeth vs to turne awaye that as Iames and Iambres resisted Moses so should these resist the truth being men of corrupt mindes and reprobate concerning the fayth Peter also Iude declare that there should be false teachers which should priuily bring in damnable heresies euen denying the Lord that had bought them and that many should folow their destructions by whom the waye of trueth should be euill spoken of and should turne the grace of God into wantonnes and deny God the onely Lordae and our Lorde Iesus Christ But that is chiefly to be considered and marked which the Apostle Paule writeth of Antichrist and his comming For before the later day he sheweth that there should come an Apostacie and departing from the faith and that the man of sinne should be disclosed euen the sonne of perdition which is an aduersary and exalteth him selfe agaynst all that is called God and is worshipped so that he shall sit as God in the temple
Pauls speach answered him thou doest almost perswade me to be a Christian as also by the words of Peter 1. Epist Cap. 4 wherewith he exhorteth the godly to suffer afflictions paciently Let not any of you saith he bâ— pumshed 〈◊〉 murtherer or a thiefe or an euil doer or as a busie body in other mens matters but if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but rather let him glorifie God in this behalfe This place of Peter doth verie plainlye declare that this title was now commonly both knowne and vsually receiued to signifie the which embraced and openlâ—â— professed the doctrine of the Gospell and therewith all that it was hated as wicked or rather condemned and that it did draw with it all kinde of afflictions as the East Northeast winde doth cloudes according to the Prâ—â—erbe For the Apostle compareth 〈…〉 th most greeuous and detâ—stable sinnes as are â—â—uther theaft wickednesâ— yea afterward that it became most hatefull it maye be perceiued by the most ancient and best writers AthenagoÌ„r as Iustine the Martire Tertullian Eusevius and such 〈◊〉 For so at that tyme did prophane men deteste that name and shutting theire eyes as saith Tertullian did so wilfully rushe and ramble to the hatred of it that the only profession thereof was accompted worthy death and the deniall thereof a matter for the which a man was acquited and discharged as if the name conteined in it a fault and that therwith eyther it was taken on or put of Such was the blind outrage of the wicked whom sathan the God of this world had bereaued of the eyes of their vnderstanding which suffred them not to see the most cleere light to consider what Athenagor as did alledge as a most iust defence to wit that names were not worthye of hatred but that wickednes did deserue punishmente and that which Iustine wryteth neither prayse neither punishment to be gotten by a name And I woulde to God this our age did bring forth or behold no examples of such horrible blindnes madnesse Thus then at those times wherein y e doctrine of the gospel did most florish godlesse men did think of y e naine of a stian But the godly thought farre otherwise therof Unto whom nothing was either more acceptable either more pleasant either more honorable then this name for they acknowledged it to be inuented and geuen vnto them by God him selfe partly to discerne as in deede so iâ— name the new people that is the church gathered of the Gentiles from the old that is the Iewish Sinagogâ—es Partly also to store vp nourish faith in Christ by renuing eftesoones by that title the remembraunce of the benefites receaued by him For euery one ought to thinke with him self that he is therfore called a christian because he is ingraffed into Christ as a bough into the body of the tree or as a member vnto the body and so to be made partaker of the sappe and life thereof or to be indued with the spirite of Christ and withal to be admitted into the felowship of his benefites For there is no other word which doth effectually expresse that most straite coniunction which is set foorth by the goodly allegorie of mariage and by the which we are sayd to be and to beleeue that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones Doth there not as soone as we heare this sweete name that which Peter and Iohn haue recorded come to our minde that we are made kinges and Priestes or that wee are made a kingly priesthode to offer vp spirituall sacrifices What shal I say this word is as it were a certain mysterie to all that are but meanlye informed in the Apostles doctrine vnto whose eares it soundeth that which that holy anoynting whereof mention is made out of the olde Testament Psal 133. did in times past set before the eyes of the godly For God who is both good and true doth neuer deceaue them that put their truste in him hee would haue his moste deare Sonne honoured with the tytle of Christ and the same not emptye or vaine but such as the thinge it selfe should agree with all for he anoynted him with the oyle of gladnes as witnesseth the prophet Dauid aboue his felowes Therfore he anointed them with the same oyle to witte the holye Ghost although beneath him being the chiefe the first be gotten Wherefore as many as cleaâ—e vnto him w t a true faith doe perceiue that it is no bare and vaine name but persuade them selues that they are admitted as well into the felowship yea the possession of the thing that is the giftes of the holy Ghost as of the name Uerely it is a title both honourable and profitable as they know and perceue which are not ignorant of the diuine misteries I pray you how not onely honorable but also profitable comfortable is that speech of God touche not my anoynted Doth not God euidently declare that they are deare vnto him and that he is carefull for them whom he doth vouchsafe of and honour with this name Truely Hierom thinketh it to be that name wherby God promiseth by Esay Cap. 65. that he will call his seruantes that is the faithfull that in the steade of those diuine titles Iacob Iudah Israel Ephraim Ioseph they should be called of Christ the christiâ— people How much so euer then this title hath bin either contemned or hated of profane men yet hath it worthely on the other side bene had in great honour of the godly and preferred before all other wordlye titles be they neuer so glittering and glorious Hierome writing to Furia and making mention of her father doubteth not to adde that he did more honoure him in that respect that be was a christian then that he had bene a Consul or Senator of Rome Neuertheles wee must remember that this is then true when we are in deede the same that we are called And as they are very fonde to say no more which entitle them selues most Christian will so be called notwithstaÌ„ding they haue in them no godlinesse aunswearable to the name so they are farre deceyued which eyther are ashamed or weary of this name if they beleue that they are partakers of the thinge signified CAP. IIII. That all they are ignorant of Christ departe from him which chalenge vnto themselues any other title in Religion then the Christian PAule in the very beginning of the first Epistle which he wrote vnto the Corinthians complayneth verye greeâ—ously sharply inueieth against theÌ„ which straight vpoÌ„ his departure from the church had sowen certaine seedes of discention and scismes while some addicted themselues to other techers and professed themselues to be their scholers whom they esteemed aboue others and whom they chieflye loued and folowed in so much that they tooke vpon them their names blased them out with the
obscure and to say nothing bitterly foolishe Therfore this marueilous practiser Sathan hath by his subtleties brought to passe that Christ should be banished out of his owne kingdome should be a stranger in his own house and shoulde be withdrawen and quite taken away from their eyes eares and mindes whiche pretended themselues to fight vnder his banner For they that were baptized in the name of Christ had made promise vnto him woulde neuer either take vnto themselues either suffer themselues to be called by the names either of Angels or men or any other thing were it of neuer so great value if they had truly knowne him to whom they had addicted themselues and if they had rightly vnderstood what he required of them and had couenanted with them or what they had promised vnto him For it coulde not haue come to passe that they shoulde haue ioyned themselues vnto any other vnlesse first they had departed from him Uerely this may thereby be plainly perceiued which is writter of some auncient writers that the Emperour Tyberius did in time past referre to the iudgement of the Senate whether Christ were to be placed amongst the nomber of their Gods vnto whome the Senate woulde not consent for that cause that Christ woulde be honoured alone For the Senate castly perceiued that they were to let goe all their other Gods whom they had receiued if they shoulde receiue him Which reason if the Romishe church had diligently wayed it woulde neuer haue entertained suche a company of Mediators as it doeth nowe For it would lightly perceiue that it coulde not holde Christ together with them For christian religion acknowledgeth and worshippeth as one God so one Mediator and doth adorne or honour with the onely christian name all those that worship him CAP. v. That this newe Sect by the verie name drawne from Iesus doeth shewe it selfe giltie of noueltie Schisme and Sacriledge DIuers thinges haue heretofore of some bene written touching the originall the reason and sundry allusions of the name Iesuite whiche I néede not to repeate What I thinke I will vtter simply and without cauils For to iest much lesse to cauil it liketh me not in so earnest a matter I will easily graunt vnto the deuisers thereof that they haue deriued it from the name of Iesus after the same maner by which sometimes they y t canie of Israel were called Israelites and at this day they are called Ioanites and Iacobites whiche will be called and thought to be followers of Iohn and Iames. For the knot we nowe seeke lyeth not in that thing For we are in hande nowe not with the propertie of the worde but with the truth and godlines of the Iesuites profession First as I doe like very well that these newe fellowes that I may not defraude them of their praise by this name fained of themselues doe plainly signifie that they doe reprooue and condemne the authours of former Sectes which gaue them names taken from mens names by whiche thing it is manifest that they spread abroad no small séedes of Sâ—ismes and superstitions and doe call them backe to Iesus Christ as the onely fountain and head from whome those names do testifie that they haue fallen away and haue digged to themselues pittes that can holde no water so I cannot but much mislike yea and sharply reprooue their rashnesse and boldnesse that forsaking the common title of all christians nowe alreadie heretofore receiued whose authour to haue bene the holy Ghost which to haue bene alwayes had in reuerence with our godly forefathers it hath bene alreadie declared they dare fame and vpon their owne heades take vnto themselues an other hitherto vnheard of and nothing agréeing with them and which is ioyned with no small reproch of Christ the Sauiour of all the faithfull Euerie man knoweth that the name of Iesuites is newe Now that noueltie as in all other things so especially in the cause of religion is greatly to be auoided all the godly and learned doe well warne vs which thing the Apostles by their example haue approoued For when the doctrine of the Gospell was at the first slaundered by the enemies with the name of Noueltie we plainly perceiue by their writings that they especially Paule did diligentlyendeuour to shake of this slaunder And in suche why shoulde newe names be deuised but to signifie newe thinges it is not misliked of the learned that newe names be deuised for newe thinges For that doeth Hierome in the first Epistle to the Galathians maintaine against certaine froward and deintie men but he then thinketh it lawfull to be done when either profite either necessitie doeth exhort or rather force them thereunto But where as these of this fellowship will séeme for that purpose to haue flockt together and to haue come forth into the worlde that they might restore the auncient godlines what eyther profite could leade or necessitie force them to deuise this name First of all by that newe name they promise an other thing then they perfourme and so it commeth to passe that they themselues are coÌ„trarie to themselues Secondly howe agreeth this newe name with the auncient doctrine and religion Truely no more then a péece of newe or rawe and vndressed cloth with an olde garment as Christ saith For what is this newe title but a certaine marke engrauen in then forehead which warneth all men and clearely pronounceth that there is nothing els but that which is newe and lately deuised to be looked for of these vpstartes or newe fellowes Paule not without cause warneth his scholler Tymothie whom hée entirely loued as his naturall sonne the 1. Epistle Cap. 6. verse 20. That he would abhorre newe tearmes although I knowe other doe reade vaine tanglinges of wordes For it skilleth litle which way we reade séeing there is verie great affinitie betwéene y e things signified and the wordes Verely new thinges are often also vaine Luke noteth in the Athenians Actes 17. The desire of noueltie and vanitie to bee thinges that goe alwayes together And surely it was verie wise counsell that he gaue who when his friend said vnto him he had some newe thing answered I had rather haue some profitable and auaileable thing Furthermore this late sect vndertaketh either to set forth the doctrine and religion of the Prophetes and Apostles either some other contrarie thervnto If it professe that it bringeth the same what fondnesse is it to make that thing suspicious and odious with a new name which as it is most true so is it most ancient But if it bringeth a contrarie there is no cause why it should be offended with vs if we bid it to be gone with his forgeries and pronounce it to be accursed séeing the Apostle of Christ Gal. the first willeth vs to doe the same yea against an Angell of heauen For as Christ is sayde to haue made newe all things and
séemeth to come neare to this interpretation as though Iesus had lately chosen theÌ„ to be his colleagues and fellow companions to help wretched men I demaunde againe of them a sure testimony and authenticall instrumente or wrytinge of this their choyce otherwise it will be obiected vnto them and that not without cause that they haue taken this honor to themselues which the Apostle heb 5. denyeth to haue bene done of Christ himselfe Now the holy scripture witnesseth that this is the parte of theeues robbers and woolues Again it is no single but manifolde wickednesse for a man to professe himself a felow of Iesus in that poynte which the doctrine of the Apostles doe witnes to be so his owne that hee will suffer no felowe therein to be ioyned with him for he alone bringeth and geueth saluation As many as haue it muste néedes haue receaued it at his handes and he that receaueth it from him receaueth it for him selfe not for another In this behalf he accepteth no vicars or none in steade of other much lesse desireth them For faith the only fitte and meete instrument to obtaine saluation reacheth vnto him alone and therefore I sayd that the former sectes were worthely condemned of this latter secte in that respecte that they turned ouer vnto their fathers or founders that which the heauenly father would haue to belong only to Christ But if this new faction thinketh as I haue now sayd it sinneth more gréeuously then all the other which geueth that to euery member of their factioÌ„ which they ascribe only vnto their founders for so they call their fathers which know not the onely and common foundation Notwithstanding least I should séeme to consider other mennes words either too hardly either maliciously I will folow the interpretation which is both most gentlest and also draweth with it fewer inconueniences to wit that they professe this only that they haue felowshippe with Iesus to the intent they may obteyne saluation of him which the holy Scripture promiseth to all that beléeue in him Whether they say this truely or â—alâ—â—y and worthely hope for it iâ— cannot more certainly be knoweÌ„ then by the matter it false Let vs therefore now entreate therof and examine the same as it deserueth CAP. VI. That without the felowship of Iesu there remayneth no hope of saluation I Truste that they with whome I deale wil not deny but that a man must otherwise reason against them which openly professe themselues to be enemies of the name of Christ and christian Religion then with them which will séeme to be called not only mainteyners and defenders but also restorers and delyuerers thereof therfore I will be coÌ„tent at this time with the only example of Paule in steade of many argumentes to prooue the matter For it is most plainly perceyued by the Actes of the Apostles that this most skilfull disputer did otherwise handle the cause of Christ with the Iewes then the Gentiles I therefore following the steps of this excellent Doctor as well as I can will reason against these reformers of christian doctrine and vpholders forsooth of true Religion out of these onelye principles poyntes of this doctrine which are common to both partes and granted and receiued of all men First I doubt not but the Authours and Patrones of this new sellowship hold for a true and vndoubted ground that which in the second chapiter hath bene rehearsed out of the Euangelists Mathew and Luke touching the name of Iesus and the reason thereof giuen by the Angell It remaineth therefore that I shewe the thing both conteined in the name and vttered in the reason layde downe not only to agrée with the name but also to belong onely to this person no lesse then the name it selfe Peter being fill of the holie Ghost as Luke the fourth of the Acts writeth was a most faithfull witnes and best expounder of those wordes when being demaunded of the counsell of the high Bishops of the Iewes a reason of the myracle wrought and the benefite bestowed vpon the lame man did no lesse plainly declare then constantly confesse that it was all done by the name of Iesu whom they had crucified but God had raised from the dead adding with all that saluation is so offered and geuen through this man that he denyeth the same may be giuen by any man vnder heauen What could be sayd more pithely and expresly The vniuersall negatiue cutteth of all occasion of cauilling or quarrelling ioyned twise to that so waightie an affirmation The selfe same doth Paule almoste euerye where in his Epistles make good and doth also in some places set foorth with a very proper contrarietie of a twofolde Adam or man Hee setteth these fathers one against another as two contrary fountaines which beget two contrary ofsprings to wit him whom he nameth olde earthlye those that are infected and altogether defiled with sinne and therfore are in danger of the wrath of God and euerlasting death The other which on y e contrarie side he calleth new and heauenly those that be garnished with righteousnesse and foreappoynted to euerlastinge and happy life For as children doe ech of them retaine the nature and propertie of their parents so whatsoeuer beloÌ„geth to the fathers commeth at length also to the children for as destruction and euerlasting death is the iust rewarde of sin so saluation and a blessed life is by the goodnes of God annesed vnto righteousnes Wherefore euen as whosoeuer is borne of that first man for as much as he bringeth with him originall sinne cannot auoyde the punishment of euerlasting damnation wher by it commeth to passe that as one well saith euery man is first condemned before he be borne so for as much as none but those that beinge elected adopted and borne a new of the heauenly father are iustified or made righteous in the latter man to witte Christ It is meete also that those only be made partakers of euerlastinge saluation which thing Christ himselfe most clearely witnesseth As saith he the Father hath life in himselfe so likewise hath he geuen to the Sonne to haue life in him selfe and for that ende as in another place hee addeth that he that beléeueth in him shoulde not pearish but haue euerlasting life Wherunto agree those things which Mathew and Luke doe write that he saide of his comming into this world The sonne of man saith he came to séek and to saue that which was lost Therefore without him there is nothing els but death and destruction and in him alone is life and saluation and into him must all those be ingraffed which will receaue life of him and they must put on him as many as desire to haue their filthines couered and wiped away which thing is moste plainly shewed of Iohn also the first Epistle and fist chapter This is the testimonie of God that he hath geuen vs life
that hee shoulde haue any fellowship with him as it is that a blinde man 〈…〉 lde sée the light of the Sonne Whereof it followeth no lesse certainly then clearly that all that graunt any fellowship with the flesh and bodie 〈◊〉 Christ vnto vnbeleeuers doe vtterly shake the groundes or foundations of christian doctrine and doe not onely weaken but also cleane rent a 〈…〉 the harmony and agreement thereof Neither doeth this opinion seâ—â—â—â— to be called rather deuilish then h 〈…〉 or to proceede from a man for that only cause that it hath broken the rule of fayth and truth which our godly fathers haue so named 〈…〉 but also for the maner by which it is wâ—nt to be defended of thâ—se men For it is not auouched and maintâ—ined with the weapons of Diuines but of tyrantes that is not by the estimonies of the scripture or sure reasons drawen therehense but by cauilles reproches slanders banishmenis proscriptions fire and sword These are â—he weapons not of trueth and godlines but of falshood and wickednes the father and mainteiner whereof is hée which was a murtherer from the beginning whom they followe whichâ— are his abusing the colour of trueth and religion to ouerthrowe the â—ame that they may the better prouide for their owne gaine which is the onely thing that they séeke But the scripture left vs by the Apostles acknowledgeth no other followship with Iesu then that which is â—y faithâ— neither doth the ancient church to wit the Apostolike anâ— Catholike or vniuersall Now this that these man haue deuised they dream to be 〈…〉 with the mouth which are y â— Authorâ— of transubstantiatioÌ„ haue brought in to y e church not of Christ but of Rome together both their transubstantiation and their felowship with Christ imagined of themselues the latter wherof receaued as it were by handes from them they which haue inuented transubstantiation do with tooth and naile defend as agréeable with their new imagination vphold it egerlye with the same weapons that they doe But they whose mindes are voide of preindice doe easily perceiue that a man being vpoÌ„ the earth can neither folow Christ with his bodely féete neither touch him with his hands neither see him with his eyes neyther heare him with his eares So as no man can either eate or taste him with his mouth téeth tongue or rooffe All these thinges as they are done onely with the hart and minde so it is to be confessed that it can be done by fayth only Therfore he erreth greatly that trusteth that hee can haue any felowshippe with Christ by outward apparell or gesture or any bodely actions Now let vs see whether these new felowes of Ieâ—â— haue taken a righte way or no. CAP. IX That this new and vpstart felowshippe of Iesu haue no true faith THere is no man but doth acknowledge that the minde and the harte of a man is the proper and peculiar zeale of faith and his true dwelling place and that thereof it followeth that it belongeth to God only to iudge and geue sentence properly and truely thereof which thing I confesse notwithstanding the holy Scriptures doe euery where witnes that one man may yea and ought to iudge of another mans faith as of all vngodlynes and that neither vncertainlye neither vainly This ought to be taken for an vndoubted truth that the faith of Christ or christ 〈…〉 h iâ— that which is in Christ that is which aymeth vnto him as the 〈…〉 marke and layeth holde vpon him as the true obiects For albeit true faith doeth embrace the whole Scripture both of the Prophets and Apostles as the voyce of God containing verelye the most certaine will of God yet for as much as all partes thereof tende vnto Christ faith also it selfe hath respecte chiefly vnto him And that faith only is to be accounted for true which truly knoweth and apprehendeth him that is in such sorte as he is in deede euen such as the heauenly father hath set him out and offered him in that scripture which is as it were a most brighte glasse liuelye representinge Christ and in him God For the wit of man be it neuer so sharpe by nature cannot conceaue the true and liuelie Image of Christ and how can it seeing the thinges which are vttered of him vnto vs in the Apostles doctrine are vnto flesh and mannes reason not only Paradores but also foolishnes that is such as he confesseth and taketh to be extreame folly Neither was it without cause that Christ after that Peter had in flatte wordes pronounced him to be Christ the Sonne of the liuing God which came into this world by and by made answere Flesh and blood hath not reuealed this vnto thée but my Father which is in heauen Yea and Paule most cléerely teacheth that faith is conceaued and bred by hearinge and that of the worde of God The which therfore a litle before these wordes he calleth the words of faith For as that heauenlye worde is not perceyued of man but by faith so there is no faith but that which groweth in the minde out of the same word through the heauenly Spirite For which cause it is wâ—â—â—e to bee set foorthe with diuers names or titles taken froÌ„ those things which receaued by faith it bringeth to passe for it is named the worde of grace of euerlasting life and saluation And Christ acknowledgeth for his true disciples those only which abide and continue in his word Hereunto I suppose our â—â—â—â—rs which were truely godly and Apostolike men had an eye when they named the chiefest points of doctrinâ—â—â—â—tayned in the wrytinges of the Prophets and Apostles the Rule of our faith and the bookes in which is conteyned the Canonicall bookes For as by these wordes they meant that all things contained in those bookes were true certaine and sure so nothinge without or besides those bookes were eyther to be sought for or followed but that faith ought to holde himselfe content within those bowndes and lysts As Damascene a wryter nothing suspected of our very aduersaries no les fitly then truely wryteth in the Preface of his bookes Christian faith then is that which acknowledgeth loueth and imbraceth Christ in such sort as the holy Scripture expresseth him and as Paule by his liuely preaching paynted him out and cruâ—yfied him before the Galathians eyes and passeth by with closed eyes and eares as the vaine counterfette of Christ whatsoeuer are spoken and vttered without those bookes Therefore I suppose it lawfull for me to iudge of the faith of this new felowship out of their own doctrine or rather I am so commaunded to doe of God What that doctrine is how shoulde I more certainly know then by their wrytinges published abroad in the which they gaue their censure of other mennes doctrine and maintayn and defende their owne Now they doe most euidently shew
fallen downe in the church restore againe things corrupted amend thinges amisse doe not only deceiue the expectation of all good and godlye men but also doe marre agayne the things that began to be amended and to heape errors vpon errors yea and by all shifts and drifts labor to make the diseases incurable wherunto medicines were prouided with greate hope of recoueringe of health They that before these men tooke vpoÌ„ them the defence of popish errors were stayed with some shame that they durste not stubbornly maintain the grossest and such as were flatly contrarie to the Doctrine of Christ and they confessed willinglye that many thinges creapte into the church whilest the shepheardes were a sléepe which needed reformation as plainlye witnesseth certaine orations openlye made and pronounced in the Counsell of Trent both in the Popes own name and other catholike Princes which being also put in Printe remayne at this day in mennes handes But there is nothing so grosse so rotten so filthy so fonde and wicked in the popish puddle and sinck which sauoureth not well vnto those purgers and reformers They allow vphold and defende all thinges be they neuer so foolish and vnreasonable This can the reading of the bookes set foorth by them most certainly declare Neuertheles I will alledge one example to perswade theÌ„ of the truth herof which either haue not so much leisure to take that paynes or are not disposed to lose time in turning ouer these filthines It is wel knowen almost vnto al meÌ„ that Ariacletus the bishop of Rome being bewitched with the opinion of his soueraintie or as they call it popish supremacy when hee perceyued that it stoode vpon weake foundations toke vpoÌ„ him to make Christ the founder and author thereof which to bring to passe hee would vse a metamorphosis or transformation not vnlike that wherby he turneth bred into the body of Christ For of a stoane he thought to make flesh that is did translate the hebrue word Cephas a head He was laughed to scorne of all those that take no delight in such foolery and are not so light of credite y t they would receaue euery thing without examination and tryall When Antonius Contius the polisher of the popish canons and one of the chiefest flatterers of the Romish Antichrist lighted vpon the 22. Distinction and met with the place of the Epistle of Anacletus he feared being otherwise a bolde and shamelesse man as Runnagates are wonte to be to allowe of that interpretation which to be vnsauery his very conscience forced him to confes but cunningly indeauored to slippe away from the place where hee coulde take no holde First he confessed that that Etymologe was laught at by some then by and by he secretelye reprooueth it bringing the true interpretation out of Hierom. But on the other side fearing least he should offend his gods as some are wonte to say that is purchase no thankes of them whose good will and fauor he endeuoureth by all meanes to procure immediately he doth after a sorte excuse Anacletus and almost discharge hym bringing foorth an example of like errour in Optatus the Affricane a man otherwise both godly and learned Within these bowndes did this most earneste mayntener of Popish errors hold himselfe But Turrianus a great man amongest the companies of Iesus and a follower or rather a flatteer of cardinall Hosius did not stick to leape ouer the barres listes He excuseth not Anacletus after a sorte and indifferently but doth plainly commende and defende him as a skilfull and diligent man as a follower of the Prophets and Apostles and the learned auncientes So much preuayleth with these men the smoke of the Popes courte and his fatte morsels that they doe quickly shake of out of their conscience all the feare of God and driue from their face all shame and blushing while they turne black into white Whosoeuer therfore doe thinke that in these new companions of Iesu who as they are themselues seduced so endeuour what they can to peruert others there remayneth any sparcle or â—rum of true faith it must needes be either that they are not acquaynted with their disposition and manners either that they are them selues scarce sounde in faith CAP. X. That the second steppe to keepe fellowship with Iesu is a life worthie the name of Christ THat Christ is after two maner of wayes in the holie scriptures described and set foorth vnto all the godly we doe reade it well noted and for good cause written by many godly and learned expounders of the same For they teach first that he is the Authour and giuer of remission of sinnes righteousnes life saluation to those that beléeue in him And they witnesse the same to be so proper and peculiar vnto him that no péece or part thereof may be turned ouer vnto any other without great wrong and manifest sacriledge against him Secondly they describe him as a moste singular example and paterne of a godly and holie life ordered and framed vnto the most straight or exact rule of the lawe of God which as by his wordes hée taught and prescribed so did he by his déedes expresse and laye foorth to bee followed of all those that desire as wel to bee as to bee called his schollers whereof there is a plaine testimonye the 13. Chap. of Iohn For this heauenly maister was nothing like those whom Paule setteth foorth the seconde of Timothie 3. chapter Which cary a shewe of godlines but deny the power thereof of which sort were they also whom he doeth liuely paint out Rom. 2. chap. He hath therefore both deliuered in word and expressed in his deedes a true forme of godlines that all that couet to haue any place in his schoole houshold might vnderstande that it is required of them as well to professe the same with their mouth as to perfourme it in worke For this being comprised vnder the name of loue he haue said to be the proper marke of his profession and schooling whereby his true Disciples are discerned from counterfaite Io. 13. chapter As likewise he hath willed that Wolues and false Prophetes should be knowne by their fruites Math. 7 vers 16. To be short it is euident that Christ would haue our obedience ioyned with our fayth in him which is the head and summe of all the seruice whiche hée would haue done vnto him Yea and the Apostle in some places sheweth that fayth it selfe is comprised vnder the name of obedience Moreouer he witnesseth that God is denied as well in déedes as words Euen as he teacheth the doctrine to be commended with the example of holy life The Apostles therefore being the best expounders of the minde words of Christ Like as they doe alwayes teach that we should beléeue and trust in him the Authour of our righteousnes and saluation So they doe
them about whom these newe Surgions are alwayes present and conuersant But againe me thinkes I heare them say that in déede they doe apply remedies neuertheles they finde by experience the force of the diseases to be so great that no remedies can preuayle with them and that they are without all fault séeing they doe their duetie truely But I would faine heare what they call their duetie Where is first to vse the Apostles worde soundnesse and wholsomenes of doctrine Againe where is that fréedome continuance franknesse of spéech and holy boldnes which the same Apostle commandeth in teaching exhorting reprouing in season and without season where is the feruencie of Spirite and zeale of the house of God Briefly where are the fire and burning yrons agaynst dangerous diseases and such that can not bee cured with lighter remedies And if they are not able to cut them of by excommunication from their churches by reason of the great power they haue why do not they cut themselues of from them that is why doe they not forsake them as Phisitions doe those sicke folkes which are wilful and past all hope So Paule séemeth to haue excommunicated the Iewes whiles forsaking them he turned him selfe vnto the Gentiles as the Lorde commanded him If a man may iudge by the effectes which is a readie rule in this kinde of matter these gadding or rouing Marchants haue some other purposes in their mindes and do followe some other respectes It is not the desire and hope to cure euils not the loue of trueth and godlines not the endeuour of holy life which draweth them to the porches precinctes of Prelates but the same desire that allureth Dogges and Rauens to seeke carcayses and carraine For the thing it selfe witnesseth that the wickednes ryot and sluggishnes of the Popes are not amended and diminished by the endeuour of these teachers but rather nourished established by their flatterings So farre of is it that they doe bridle the olde riot and madnesse that they incite them being of them selues forward enough thereunto For they haue brought to passe by theyr counsels and incouraginges that in stéede of an whorish they haue put on an yron forhead What should I say we finde by experience that the former tyrannie is so increased and confirmed that it may séeme that these new counsellours were heard and accepted of the Popes euen as the historie of the olde Testament declareth that Roboam sometime accepted the counsell of young men And as Ezechiel in the 34. Chapter doeth set out in the person of the Iewish shepheardes the slouthfulnes ryot and tyrannye of these of our time So in the 13. Chapter vnder the discription of false Prophets teaching the people the counsels of their owne heartes hee séemeth to haue painted out in their colours these newe Foxes All things truely do verie well agrée together But what néed many wordes the endles hatred they beare and warre they bid and vndertake against all those whiche can not winke at and away with the Popes disorder and dissolutenes and doe labour to shake of his wicked yoke doth most plainly argue and declare what minde and purpose these men are of And whether they doe allowe or disalowe their disposition maners and kinde of life hereby it may certainly be determined Paule the first to the Romanes doth end a recitall or bedroll of moste gréeuous hamous sinnes with this conclusion They doe not only the same them selues speaking of the Gentiles but also like and allowe of them that doe the same In which wordes he sheweth manifestly that they that further fauour sinnes whether it be by allowing or flattering or mainteining them which commit the same do sinne more grieuously and are more wicked and worthie a greater punishment Salomon also the 17. of the Prouerbes witnesseth that he that acquitteth or iustifieth the wicked cōdemneth the iust are both an abomination vnto the Lord. Now that these men doe commit both these offences the hatred they vse against those that teach that both such vngodlines and also naughtines is not to be borne with doe euidently declare Who I pray you would not thinke that those shepheardes which kéepe of and beate away dogges when they barke againste Wolues doe conspire with the Wolues against the flockes and that they are more dangerous and therefore more to bee auoyded of the flocke then the Wolues them selues To conclude there must bee eyther some secreat vertue such as they say is in the loode stone to draw yron to it eyther some very greate likenes of dispositions maners and counsailes which hath so sodenlye so quicklye so straightly lincked these Iesuites vnto the Romish Bishoppes and prelattes And for as much as we are not certain of any secret vertue but are most sure hereof by the consent of all wise men and experience of all times that that prouerbe is true likelyhood is the mother of friendshippe what other thinge may be gathered and concluded then that there is verie greate likenes betwene them and conspiracye in assalting the kingdome of Christ although there be in outwarde shewe neuer so greate an vnlikelyhood for it is aswel knowne and as certaine as snowe is white that they helpe one the other in bringing to passe this matter wherefore these newe companions haue taken to themselues a name from Iesu with the like right and no better tytle then the Bishoppe of Rome the open enimy of Christ doth call himselfe vicare and the prelates do boste them selues to be the successors of the Apostles from whom they do vtterly disagree CAP. XII That the third steppe Whereby the felowshippe with Iesu is confirmed is the bearinge of his Crosse AL wise men do confesse that likenes and equalitie are most sure bandes of felowshippes which thing also dayly experience doth teach and confirme For mens myndes are by no other meanes so much wonne and knit together and friendshippe and concord the foundations of felowships by no other meanes are so much gotten and preserued vnlikenes verelye and inequalitie do quickly breed complaintes and braules which are the distruction of societies and the occasions of discordes and seditions and contrariwise equalitie is y e nourisher of peace and concorde The most wise God therfore when he would haue his Churches to wit Christs and all the elects felowship to be most nere and sure he also would that there should be in the same both a verie great likenes and equalitie sauing that there should be a certaine diuersitie and difference which we se likewise to be necessary to make kepe societie As in y e bodie of man there is diuersitie of members so in a common wealth and a familie there is a difference of offices and degrees which doth so appertaine vnto good order that thereunto it is altogether necessarie but in all other things there ought to be verie great equalitie and likenes Moreouer 5.
more and more the face of true religion deformed many wayes by their predecessors to establish superstition and Idolatrie and that according to the maner of this Iuggler vnder the color of reformation buylding vp But it is well that this enemie did somewhat lately thinke of the mustering of this supply of souldiers For the lighte of the Gospell hath nowe spread his beames so farre and wide that it is no easie matter for them to extinguishe it the truth hath taken suche deepe rootes in the minds of many that it is an hard matter to pluck it out Notwithstanding it is to be lamented that in y e meane while the eyes of many vnwary and ignorant men or to speake more flatlye with Paule suche as are children in vnderstanding and foolish are so bewitched and deseled with these mens charms and doting tales that they entertaine heare haue in admiration and folow these obscure vpstarts as if they were Angels sent from heauen But suche is the disposition of many that according to the saying of Christ they loue darknes more then light and had rather follow blinde guides then those that can sée clearely briefly that preferre cruell wolues before faythfull shepheards and had rather buy their destruction dearely then receyue saluation fréely offered Truely it is a wonderfull and a pityfull thing that these vagrant and wandring persons thrusting vpon men vnder the pretence of the traditions of the Apostles moste absurde things and most contrary to the true and auncient forme of godlines shoulde be harkened vnto and embraced and in the meane time those things should be let passe with closed eyes and stopped eares which Luke in the historie of the Actes of the Apostles hath as faythfully deliuered as he wrote the history of Christ to wit the Gospel concerning the infancâ—e of the Catholike and true Apostolike Church and the first ordeining and founding therof Who can doubt vnlesse he be vtterly a godles person that as Luke is the onely writer so the holy Chest is the onely author of both the bookes Neither is there any doubt but that this spirite the gouernor and guider of the Church of Christ would haue that maner and forme committed to writing to be deliuered and leaft to the posteritie to the intent it mighte haue continually a paterne to looke vnto and folowe Verely Erasmus thought very conueniently and truely that it was meete that Christians should with greater desire couet to vnderstande the originall and beginning of their owne people that after they haue knowen by what meanes it hath growen vp they might perceiue that religion beeing decayed was by the selfe same to be restored For albeit that historie of the Actes of the Apostles be very shorte neuerthelesse there wanteth nothing that belongeth to the right buylding of the Church Here a man may see what was the Apostles doctrine fayth discipline and good gouernment and what ought the Christian and Catholike to be By these beginninges and foundations a man may surely knowe what afterwarde hath bene fitly and rightly buylded vp and added and what otherwise By this rule who so hath but a meane iudgement maye quickly perceiue what ought to be receiued and borne with in religion and shall discerne with litle adoe things that are right and true from those that be counterfaite and false And namely he shall verye easilye finde out the hypocrisie and deceitfulnes of this diuelishe felowshippeâ— both in the name that it hath newly inuented vnto it selfe as in the very thing likewise which it falsly chalengeth vnto it selfe For what is more meete and contienient then that they which beleeue in Christ and professe themselues to be of his schole and housholde should receiue and holde their name of him and should be called Christians what also is more iust then that they which professe them selues to be his disciples should kéepe and folow his doctrine And as by their name they witnesse the affinitie coniunction and fellowshippe they haue with him so likewise that they shewe foorth and as it were seale vp al these things by their life and déedes Therefore we must tâ—yne vnto the name the thing that agreeth therevnto least that our life denie that which the worde or name doeth affirme and at length beeing shut out from his fellowship we be cast into vtter darknes with all hypocrites If so be we loue the thing that is Christian godlines and religion there is no cause why we should be eyther a shamed or weary of the name which professeth it But as touching these newe companions where as Iesus is the same that Christ and they signifie playnely that they are ashamed of the name of a Christian and it is manifest that they are destitute of the thing which ought to be ioyned with the profession of the name there is no cause why they should call them selues Iesuites and saye that they haue fellowshippe with Iesu but if they wil say the trueth that is desire to expresse by their name the thing that is proper vnto them they may cal them selues both most truly aptly in stéede of Iesuites Gehezites FINIS Matth. 12. vers 37. By thy wordes thou shalt be iustified and by thy wordes thou shalt be condemned 1. Cor. 3. 11. Eph. 2. 20. Math. 16. 18. Io. 14. 6. Rom. 15. 4. Math. 7. 24. 25. Io. 8. 44. Io. 8. 44. Deut. 13. Math. 7. 15. 2. Cor. 11. 14. 15. Gal. 1. 8. 9. 1. Io. 4. 1. Apo. 12. 12. Math. 24. 4. 5. 11. 23. 24. 25. 26. Mar. 13. 21. Luke 17. 23. 1. Tim. 4. 1. 2. 3. 2. Tim. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2. Pet. 2. 1. 2. 3. â—nd 4. 18. 2. Thes 2. 3. 4. 8. 9. 10. 11. Antichrist The liuely description of the kingdome of Antichrist 1. Cor. 1. 23. Iewes Gentiles Heretikes Antichrist and his doctrine Concil Florent dist 22. 22. Sacrosancta Concil Triden 1. decret Sess 4. Lind. li. 1. ca. 4. Bonifac. 8. Extra vnam sanctam Trid. Concil sess 7. ca. 1. Cath. Rom. Antichrist a more deadly enemy to Christ and his kingdome then all other 1. Io. 2. 18. 22. 23 1. Io. 4. 2. 3. The means vsed by Antichrist to set vp his kingdome 2. Thes 2. Apo. 17. 1. 2. 3. 4 2. Thes 2. 8. Mat. 26. 49. The Iesuits giue Iesus a Iudas salutation and kisse The Iesuites the Popes chiefe hope Our Vniuersities of Oxforde and Cambrige haue had to muche experience thereof Mat. 23. 15. Math. 13. 24. The waye to auoyde Satans his ministers temptations assaltes Mat. 24. 13. 28. Io. 10. The consideration of Satans continuall hatred and craft against the Church profitable to the godly Luk. 1. 4. Act. 1. 3. The Church of Christ like a ship in the sea The Church of Christ euer assaulted by satan Satan raiseth enemies out of the Church against the Church Christ for good cause exhorteth vs to watchfulnes especially the shephcards of the flocke The
the world it selfe with his first comming so before his returne againe the doctrine of the Apostles promiseth or willeth vs to looke for no newe change in this respect Let vs also sée whether this newly deuised name doe not manifestly marke in the forhead with the print of Schisme this newe sect For God who is moste desirous of peace concord and vnitie hath endeuoured to commend the same by all maner of meanes vnto his Church as the place of Paule to the Ephesians 4. Chapter doeth most plainly teach For those whom he had chosen before the foundations of the world in his most deare Sonne he would gather together at his appointed time béeing scattered through the whole worlde and assemble them vnto him his first begotten Sonne as the Captaine and shepheard of all and couple them as members of one bodie vnto their head Hée commaunded nothing so diligently as vnitie which he hath established with a fellowship of all thinges amongest them whiche appertaine vnto godlinesse as with the word faith the Sacramentes the spirite and such lyke in the which as the Apostle witnesseth there is no difference betwéene the Iewe and the Gréeke the wise and the ignorant the maister and the seruant man and woman but all are one that is one Christ And who so seeth not herehense that it came to passe by the wil and counsell of this father that all were called by the onely name of Christians euen from the beginning of this assembling together by the preaching of the Gospell Therefore it is plaine that this name is as it were a certaine othe and band of that vnitie which he vtterly breaketh and looseth that taketh to him selfe any other vnder whatsoeuer pretence hée doeth it which thing also the place before cited out of the first Epistle and first Chapter to the Corinthians manifestly teacheth Moreouer in this common name besides the pledge of brotherhode and admonishing vs of naturall loue it appeareth that there is also contained a profession in religion to deuise therfore any other without necessitie is it not a certaine kinde of denyall and forsaking There is extant in Gratians decrées 11. Cause and 3. Quest a sentence taken out of Augustine vpon Iohn the 1. treatise which sheweth that he that denyeth himselfe to bee a Christian is conuicted to haue denyed Christ What shall I say that those of this felowship will séeme for that cause to haue bin assembled that they might gather and ioyne together others and to separate themselues If this be their purpose as they beare in hand why doe they not first in themselues shew a token of vnitie and not hauing neyther author nor cause by euill and hurtfull example further diuision and breaking asunder Why doe they by deuiding ouerthrow that which hath beene ordeyned by the authoritie of our master Christ and is confirmed by the consent and example of all the godly antiquitie I remember when as our masters the Sorbonistes were once very careful and circumspect on euery side to prouide not for the common good of Christendome but for their own bellie and authority did publish articles for so these Prophets forsooth did call those oracles to witte their determinations decrees set forth against them whom they call Lutheranes In one of the which the last sauing one to my remembrance it was flatly forbidden that any man in teaching should vtter Christ seuerally from Iesus Which decrée were it neuer so foolish was vrged so straitly that I being accused by four Franciscan Fryers and hauing the bishop of Claremount the chiefe Patrone of the Iesuites plaintiffe againste mee was constrayned with danger of my life to answere at the bar before Peter Lizet that worthy presidente forsooth a litle before hee was made of President Abbot Neuertheles we sée Peter and Martha in their confessiōs and Paule euery where in his Epistles to haue offended against that article without any cōtrolemēt I marnel therfore that these worthy watchmen doe not rather bende their lightnings against these of this felowship which contrarie to the oracle and decree of the holy Ghost and the auncyent custome of the church call themselues Iesuites rather then Christiās But perhaps betweene these two orders of these good men there is this agréement that they being niece and deyntie doe shun the crosse of Christ which we perceaue to haue beene in times past ioyned with the profession of the christian name But wee reade not any where that I know that the name of Iesus carryed with it anye such thing Lastly the deuisers and vsurpers of this new name cannot auoyd the offence of sacriledge and prophanation of the name of Iesu For it hath bene declared that the same was geuen by the commandement of the heauenlye Father to the sonne of God manyfested in flesh as proper vnto him only and noting a very great misterye belonging vnto his person With what boldnes then with what forhead yea with what conscience do 〈…〉 they chalenge it vnto them and vnseale that which God hath sealed vp make common that which is proper defile that which is holy But peraduenture they will say that they haue deuysed and taken that name to signifie and to professe by the name that they are worshippers of Iesu that is to beleeue in him to trust in him and to seeke for all their saluation of him I answere what not only curiositie and vanitie but also what wrong is it for a few to challenge to themselues that which is common to all the godly and is conteyned vnder the name of a Christiā and is intimated by the reuelation of the heauenly Spirite and for y ◠cause vpon priuate authoritie to inuent and chuse to thēselues a new title should not this in prophane thinges be accounted theafte why then in holye thinges should it not be counted sacriledge If this new order pretende any priuiledge or prerogatiue let it bring forth a true and very Apostolike charter that is brought not from the courte of Rome but from the court of heauen and let it delyuer it to be examined and scanned of al that hath to do therewith as euery one hath Now if it please them to take this their new title not passiuely but actiuely that is to speake plaine not for such as are saued but are Sauioures as which professe that they bring helpe to those that otherwise being in heauy and as it were in desperate case are like to pearish as we reade that God in times past raysed vp and sent sauioures or deliuerers to his people of Israel oppressed with their enemies they goe as the prouerbe hath from the lymehouse into the colehouse that is from one ill defence to another Neuerthelesse the lately inuented description of this name and which of some is set before their wrytinges to qualifie the hardnesse and absurditie thereof as far as I coniecture to wit the societie of Iesus