the Apostle and iudge if they be not full stuffed with these prophane bablings which we are commanded to shunne and auoide Looke into them and ye shal see both their mouthes and bookes ouerflowe with euill speeches braulings nips and tants yea and that against magistrates and such as are in chiefe authoritie Are not Gods ministers in these daies vsed with much more contumelie despight by the prophane and shameles libellers of our time then euer the heathen durst vse the Priestes of Iupiter Bee they not much bolder in deprauing them whom yet they know not thē Michael the Arechangell durst be when he stroue against the deuill to whom he would not giue railing speeches Mos hic semper fuit hereticorum quorum doctrinam nō possunt illorum vitam in odium adducere This euer was the custome saith a learned Father of heretiques to bring their doctrine into hatred whose life they could not depraue The same also was the practise of the Arrians long since who seeing it impossible to induce the people to their heresie while the good Bishops were had in reputation deuised therefore slanders and laied grieuous crimes against some of them Among which they charged the godly and learned Bishop Athanasius with murther and incontinencie With murther in that he should haue cut off one Arsemius his arme bringing forth the arme of a dead man for proofe of their purpose yet afterwarde Arsemius himselfe was knowen to liue and had both his armes With incontinencie in that he should haue rauished a certain woman who being suborned for that purpose did take a most shamelesse harlot without blushing to auouch it to his face though as afterward it was proued she neuer saw nor knew him And haue not like false accusations bene also of late forged against good and godly Prelates men for their profound learning and approued constancie worthie of all reuerence Good Christians which these malcontents would faine seeme to bee neuer vsed such prophane bablings this hath euer bene the manner of schismatiques and heretiques Who euer taught anie heresie that first began not with prophane bablings and ianglings so seuering and diuiding himselfe from the true Church That this is true examples will make it more then manifest For who at anie time before prophane Pellagius durst arrogate so great vertue and power of free will that he thought not the grace of God necessarie to all good works Who before that monstrous disciple of his Celestius denied all mankind to be vnder the guilt of Adams transgression Who before that blaspheming Arrius durst once thinke to diuide the vnitie of y ◠blessed Trinitie Who before that abhominable Sabellius durst once take in hand to confound the trinitie and vnitie Who before that cruell Nouatius called God cruell for that hee would rather haue the death of a sinner then that he should returne liue Who before Simon Magus Priscillianus euer affirmed that God was the author of euill Who euer before the Anabaptists disallowed baptisme to infants denied warre the power of the Magistrate and ecclesiasticall order as doe also our Martinists Who before Pope Gregorie the seuenth otherwise called Hildebrand challanged the authoritie of both swoordes to belong to the Church of Rome c. Who before the Enchetai or Messalians thought that men ought to do nothing els but pray cōtinually setting aside al other worldly busines And who before our new vpstart Martinists affirmed that men must doe nothing but to attende to preaching continuallie reiecting all formes of praier except such as their fantasies many times vnsauourly God wot vpon the sodaine do deuise Who before the Celestines our late Puritans did so much as dreame of a perfection in this life What should I speake of the Brownists Papists Family-louists and such like Many mo sectaries and heretiques there be of like sort both old and new which for breuities sake and loathing of Christian eares I omit By all which notwithstanding it doth euidently appeare that the guise of heretiques euer is to be singular new-phangled to delight in vain and prophane bablings by a false name of knowledge to make shipwracke of faith Whereas contrariwise sincere preachers in déede and true Christians without hypocrisie do continuallie and steadfastly hold fast one truth and doe condemne and abhorre prophane nouelties and as the Apostle said said againe If any man bring them any other doctrine then that which they haue alreadie receiued they should hold him accuised Wherefore I most humbly and heartely beséech all the Ministers of Christ that they end and cast away al their controuersies and that they knit themselues together in true concord charitie forgiuing each other their errors and offences auoiding new deuises and to teach the people not onely to know the truth but also to auoid the fellowship of the enemies therof So Saint Iohn taught others and so himselfe gaue example Fugiamus hinc ne balneum cadat super nos in quo est Cerinthus veritatis hostis Let us sayth he speedily depart hence least the bath wherein Cerinthus the enemie of the truth is doe fall vpon vs. Conuersing with them doth argue consent and allowance of their doings Digni sunt morte non solum qui faciunt illa sed etiam qui consentiunt ea facientibus Not onely they which cōmit such things are worthy of death but they also which haue pleasure in thē y ◠do thē Preach plain sound doctrine which euermore agreeth w t it self Bring the Church into one vnity with Christ so nere as you can faithfully indeuor your selues to preserue true concord therin Let the rule of S. Augustine preuaile with you to wit In quibus rebus nihil statuit certiscriptura mos populi Dei et instituta maiorum pro lege tenenda sunt In those things wherin the Scripture hath made no certain determination the manner custome of Gods people the constitutions of our ancestors are to be holden for a law But chiefly praie vnto God deuoutly with all feruencie for his grace holie spyrit that ye may do all these things with a willing and a ready mind For these things not obserued on your part an infinit nūber of souls through your fault shall most miserably be brought into danger of damnatio how then will ye excuse your selues at the houre of death and in that great daie of the Lord. Weigh well these things with your selues it is a horrible thing to fall into the burning wrath of the Lord. And as y ◠Apostle warneth you If ye bite and deuour one another take heede that ye be not consumed one of another Good graue and godlie men are iustly offended with your contentions for ye wounde the weak consciences of your brethren Ve vohis a scandalis c. Wo vnto you because of offences On the
garboiles they nothing regarde howe they may as cause requireth prouide for the publique state but in stead thereof vnder a great shew of holines and zeale they thrust into the house of God before the whole congregation their contentious conceits péeuish affections and so by these kinde of Sermons the simple and silly people receiueth small profit being by these not instructed as they ought to be in faith confirmed nor moued to repentance but rather are troubled and made worse and disobedient Whereby it commeth to passe that they saie they cannot tell what to beléeue nor to what sound and true foundation to leane And thus these Scismatiques by their contentions to vse Saint Ambrose wordes against them Quadam nuncapatiua fidei germanitate parricidialibus gladijs homines cupiunt vulnerare With a certaine brotherly affinitie or likenes of one faith they couet to wound men as if one brother should drawe his sword against another Such false Apostles are craftie workers transforming themselues into the Apostles of Christ and are excellently described in the Apocalips vnder the names of locusts the formes wherof were similes equis paratis in praelium like horses redie to the skirmish that is to saie hot and vehement and they had vppon their heads as it were crownes not crownes in déede and like to golde but not golde their faces were as the faces of men that is they séemed good and honest men and they had hayre like vnto womens haire many faire shewes and resemblances and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots and horses but they had tayles like to Scorpions and their stings were in their tailes that is to say the end effect of all their labours was to seduce men to euerlasting damnation The state therefore of the Church in these our dayes is like a great houshold wherein not onely the sonnes daughters and seruants are at continuall discord braule among themselues whereby it commeth to passe that none of them doth his dutie nor séeketh to vpholde the state of the house but also the parents themselues which are chiefe of the house and ought to remoue those contentions and put euery man in minde of his dutie are also at contention and strife together and so hauing respect onely to their owne contentions they let the whole house go to hauock caring nothing at all whether it be gouerned well or ill yea by reason of these braules they confirme the troubled housholde in their conceiued wickednes whereby at last they altogether miserablie perish For these vnhappie contentions of the parents are the chiefe meanes to vpholde the cause of that heauie destruction of the whole housholde This is a verie fit reseblance of the Ministers of the Church of England at this daie I meane those that be faltie in this behalfe For those which are not faultie as I hope through the grace of God the most are such are not offended with this speach For the other doe grieuously offend and no small parte of the cause both of the corruptions of the present manners and also of the times doe rest in them For whereas they ought by doctrine reprouing and exhorting grauely to helpe the publique state and preuent the worst they doe not as they ought imploy their diligence herevnto but rather doe giue themselues to sow sedition then studie to follow their function and so vnfruitfully they continually wearie and offend the people that many the more is to be lamented do stubburnly persist and continue in their incredulitie and so repent not to theyr owne destruction and at the last contemne both the Church and doctrine But such as rather loue contentious inuectiues then quiet preachings and haue so vsed themselues thereunto that they can almost doe nothing els but contend obiect to vs the saying of Saint Paul who commandeth a Bishoppe to holde fast that faithfull word which tendeth vnto doctrine that he may bée able to exhort by wholesome instruction and to confute such as shall speake there-against Truly I answere it is néedfull that euerie faithfull Minister should stedfastly cleaue to wholsome doctrine and earnestly bend himselfe against that which is contrarie and agaynst such as peruert the same so as hée may bée able with firme arguments to confute their peruerse and false opinions and so ouerthrowe falshood before they can vtter it This may be done stoutly and yet modestly And this graue modestie is to be learned by the examples of the Apostles who although they had many enemies yet notwithstanding did not immodestly rage in any place of their writings and sermons against a publike estate of the whole Church which themselues had planted The Apostle Paul who would haue a Bishop to holde fast true doctrine and to resiste those that speake agaynst the same doth notablie speake of these things charging thus The seruant of the Lord must not striue but must be gentle to all men apt to teach suffering euill men patientlie instructing them with meeknes that are contrarie minded prouoking if God at anie time will giue them repentance that they may know he truth c. These precepts of the Apostle are to be obserued by the Ministers of the worde in such wise that they be not moued to immoderate heate and rayling whereby in déede they destroie more then they build But saie they the euill manners of men must be restrained by the straight discipline of the Primitiue Church and religion must be restored to that perfection from which by the corruption of times it is fallen and this say they is the marke ende of all our labours Let vs sée and consider this haue these reformers taken in hand to embrace méeknesse and humility Haue they cast from them the bitter gall of hatred and cursed speaking Haue they crucified their fleshly desires The Apostles whose steps they would séeme to followe by their example exhorted the world to humilitie lowlynes méeknesse and patience these teach theyr schollers pride crueltie scolding and cursed speaking The people saie they may not tarrie the leasure of the Magistrate in reformation of religion the present state is Antichristian Againe they were all of one minde disciples of one maister the holy Ghost they laboured to knit men together with the sure bond of peace and to fasten them with the gliewe of mutuall loue they praied to God for the health and wealth of them that wronged them being rayled on they gaue not foule language againe Alas the contrarie is true with them Quot capita tot sensus How many heads so many opinions Their shamefull doings do disproue their shamelesse sayings They speake as if they had in se nihil humanū as if they had mortified al concupiscence in their mortall bodies as loosed from the bondage of sin as if God were the onely obiect of their thoughts and the holie Ghost their counsailour Curios simulant et Bacchanalia viuunt
soules in the other is the saluation of the whole Church The place is pregnant And Saint Augustine proueth that schisme offended God more then idolatrie because it was more grieuously punished as in Chore Dathan Abiram who were schismatiques then in Aaron and them that worshipped the golden calfe who were idolaters The greater punishment most commonly is a token of the greater sinne Also the danger is greater which groweth by conuersing with schismatiques and heretiques then with Painims idolaters which Augustine noteth verie well in these words handling the Psal. 54. Ab his qui longe sunt a me facilis cautio est Non enim me tā cito fallit qui dicit veni Idolum adore multū a me iste longe est Christianus es Christianus inquit ex propinque aduersatur prope est redime Domini pace animam meam ab his qui appropinquant mihi I can easily beware of them that are far off from me He doth not so soone deceiue me that saith come worship an Idoll he is verie far off from me but I saie to another Art thou a Christian Yea forsooth a Christian saith he This fellow standeth néere me and may quickly ouerthrow me Redéeme and deliuer my soule O Lord from them that after this sorte approch and come néere vnto me And Saint Cyprian saith Non aperta tantum periculia metuenda sunt facilior cautior est vbi manifestier formido est plus cauendus est inimicus qui latentur obripit c. It is a most dangerous thing to be separated by anie occasion from the true Church the which God be thāked may be so plainly séene at this day in this realme of England that no man can doubt of it And yet very many haue bin carried awaie from the same through the blasts of false doctrine and some without anie cause haue too too rashly diuorced themselues what color of reformation so euer they haue pretended The Corinthians were very much diuided among themselues one woulde be of Paul another of Cephas another of Apollo and so they attributed as much to theyr Ministers as vnto Christ. They brought their strifes and contentions to the iudgement seate of Ethnikes they suffered an incestuous man who had the wife of his Father to be conuersant among them they thought not whooredome to be sinne they did euery where eate with the Painims of things offered vnto idols they celebrated the supper of the Lord with vnquietnes of minde they abused the gift of tongues neither did they iudge trulie and godlie of the resurrection These were no doubt grieuous blemishes yet notwithstanding Paul did not forsake the Church of Corinth Neuertheles some men can as they thinke with a safe conscience condemne this our most Christian Church both by speaking and writing against it and also by cutting off themselues frō the same gathering themselues together into corners and in secret conuenticles as the Family of Loue the Brownists the Martinists and others like vnto them Such were in olde time theyr predecessors the Donatists who in comparison of thēselues condemned all other Christians They released theyr owne crue from the seueritie of the censure and yet in theyr congregation suffered most impure men namely the Optatians the Gildonians and the Primians Be not ye like vnto those men abstain from theyr companies refraine theyr assemblies frequent not theyr sermons reade not theyr libels defend not theyr opinions but rather detest them By reading hereticall bookes many learned men haue yéelded to error and may not ignorant men much sooner Dionysius Alexandrinus a most learned and vertuous Bishop confesseth to a friend of his that he felt himself much the worse by reading of euil bookes If ye shall presume vpon your constancie knowledge that there can insue no danger Qui stat videat ne cadat Let him that standeth take héed least he fall Yea know he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith and the wise man saith Qui dormit iuxta sepem mordebit eum coluber He that sleepeth by a hedges side shall be bitten of a snake Euill wordes corrupt good manners so doth euill companie to Furthermore my brethren take heed of self-liking of arrogancie of singularitie and of contempt of wholsome doctrine deliuered by this Church for these are the deuils cordes by which he draweth men at the last into horrible heresies fearfull examples wherof there haue bene too many of late within this lande especiallie in the Countie of Suffolke where sundrie persons within these three or foure yeres both men and women beginning first to bee so singular that they controlled the Ecclesiasticall gouernment present state of the Church fell at the last yet further became plaine Anabaptists denying flatly the power and office of magistrates not staying here fell yet more horriblie into greater wickednesse namely into the heresie of the Arrians most blasphemously denying the Godhead of Christ Iesus For the which most detestable heresies three of them being by the deuill obdurated in their wickednesse namely Lewes Cole and Ket were burned at Norwich and some others of them abiured their heresies openly in the town of Ipswich Let these fearefull examples brethren moue you to beware of contempt of wholsome doctrine and of singularitie and so many of you in whom there resteth as yet such heart burning and diuision about things of no moment as if in religion we were vtterly sundered one from another and had no point of faith at all that were common betwixt vs I doe humblie beseech for Christes sake and of the peace of his Church whereof you professe your selues to bee members that with all speed you returne vnto that vnitie againe from whence ye are most dangerouslie fallen Amemus Dominum Deum nostrum c. Let vs loue the Lord our God saith S. Augustine and loue we his Church also him as our Father and the Church as our mother this matrimony is conioyned with singular loue no man offendeth she one and hath the fauour of the other The Epharamites were of the people of God and yet reuolted awaie from the lawe though still they held after a sorte the profession thereof and hauing so done they so continued a long time after as a wanton vntamed and vnrulie heifer notwithstanding al the warnings that God by his Prophets did giue vnto thē But yet it is recorded of them that at the length they returned againe smiting vpon the thigh and acknowledging that they had committed many shameful things If now with Ephraim ye haue so erred and stept aside pittie it were but that ye should be as ready with him to repent and returne againe Remember what S. Paul writeth to the Ephesians Be ye careful to keep the vnitie of the spirit through the bond of peace Againe One Lorde one Faith one Baptisme one God the Father of all which is aboue all through all and in all Hee saith also that we bée one
fauoured of the cōmon multitude whom he sought to please then beloued of God I will set before you those of more deserued fame and learning and thereby a greater temptation to good men Among which Photinus is to bée remēbred who not long after that he was called to the Church of Syrmitana by a general consent shewed himselfe soone after rather a tempter then a teacher insomuch that sodainly lyke that euill Prophet or dreamer of dreames of whome Moses speaketh he began to persuade the people committed vnto him to followe strange Gods that is to say strange errours which before they had not knowen to bring which wickednesse to passe he had great helpes as a singular wit profound learning and persuasible eloquence insomuch that he could speake copiously with delight and dispute and write subtilly and sententiouslie with commendation as plainly appeared by his bookes which he wrote in Gréeke and Latine But happily it befell that the shéepe of Christ committed vnto him hauing a vigilant eie and carefull regard vnto their faith soone remembred the forewarning of Moses and although they had in admiration the learning and eloquence of their pastour and prophet yet were they not ignorant of the temptation For him whom afore they followed as the bel-weather of the flocke the same now they began to shunne and flie from as a most dangerous woulfe As we are warned by this example of Photinus so also are we taught by another of Appollinar to beware of the danger of this Ecclesiastical temptation and to take diligent héed that we kéepe the faith This Appollinar was also a man of great learning as appeareth by those thirtie bookes which he wrote against Porphyrius and as he was learned so also he séemed zealous in ouerthrowing many heresies and confuting such errours as were contrarie to the faith It were too tedious to make report of all his workes by which he might séeme equall to the greatest builders of the Church But sée the mallice of sathan This man through a certaine prophane desire of hereticall curiositie began to be new-fangled and so as it were by the contagion of a leprosie he defiled and corrupted all his labours whereby his doctrine in the end shewed it selfe to be rather an Ecclesiasticall temptation than a building of the Church But of all the most dangerous tempters of olde time none may be compared to Origen in whom many things were singular many excellent and many wonderfull to speak of whose condigne praises in respect of the mans rare gifts a whole daie will scarse suffice all which notwithstanding did not make so much for the glorie of religion as they do set forth the greatnes of the temptation For what man is he that rather than hée would cast off one endued with such a wit so profound in learning in all science such swéete eloquence so holy a life and with so great grace will not vse this sentence that hee had rather to erre with Origen then with others to be of a true and sounde iudgement And yet for all this no common but a perillous temptation by him as the end shewed carried many from the integritie of faith insomuch that the selfe same Origen insolently abusing the grace of God trusting too much to his wit and standing too fast in his owne conceit made smal account of Christian religion thought himself more wise then others contemned the ancient rites of the Church and interpreted some places of Scripture after a new and strange sense giuing iust occasion to Moses to speak vnto the Church of Christ concerning him Thou shalt not heare the voice of that Prophet because the Lorde your God proueth you whether yee loue him or no. But what néede wée séeke examples so farre of when as at home daily we haue too many of these before our eies of such men as are indued with competent learning and other good giftes and hauing once begun well in the race of discretion to run a good course and like good builders to lay a good foundation to reare vp the Church of Christ by the preaching of the Gospel are now at the last lyke those foolish builders of Babel confounded in their worke building by presumption a tower of fonde conceit to themselues and are by the iust plague of God so diuided therein that some are Anabaptisticall Brownists some libertine Family-louists and some beside other sectes malecontent Martinists birdes hatcht of an euill egge a generation of vipers that can finde no life but by the destruction of their mother to too gréedie to séeke themselues not Christ hauing no care to maintaine the peace of his Church but contrariwise séeke to disturbe the same which preach not his Gospell simply but their selfe conceited deuises which are infinite which masking kinde of hypocrites haue their visors daily taken from theyr faces and the most godly wise do knowe them perfectly and can saie that they are no better than those seducing dreamers and false teachers of whom Moses speaketh by which God vseth to trie vs whether we loue him or not Who therefore séeing these dangerous daies doth not rather wish with Ieremie to dwell in y e wildernes that so they might leaue the societie of sinfull men and giue themselues onelie to contemplation that so also they might not sée the miseries like to fall vpon vs. Polycarpus that holy martyr scholler to Saint Iohn the Euangelist when he heard in his time but of a little discord in regard of that which at this daie raigneth both in Church and common wealth is reported to haue cried out Deus bone in quae tempora me reseruasti vt haec audiam Good God vntill what time hast thou kept continued me y t I shuld heare these things How much more iust occasion haue the godly of this age not onely to crie out with the heathen Oratour O tempora ô mores O times O manners but also with the Prophet Isay Heare O earth and hearken O heauen c. The godly and faithfull of this most Christian Church of England féeling and fearing the danger of Schisme doe euery where greatly complaine of the discorde among Ministers Such is the miserable corruption of this latter world that whereas calamities troubles and contentions do euery where abound and the dutie of the Ministers of the Church is euen as Fathers chiefe men and teachers or rather as messengers of peace in the house of God to teach men plaine and simplie and instruct and confirme them in faith to reproue sinne and errours to exhort vnto good workes to comfort the afflicted finally to stirre them vp both to peace charitie and concord to amendement of life and repentance from sinne yet notwithstanding many of them doe nothing lesse And which is worse they themselues are the authors of schisme and distracting of the simple and ignorant multitude vsing a contentious kinde of teaching and quarrelling among themselues that beeing ouerwhelmed with these
they doe outwardly pretend religion and inwardly intend subuersion promise and proclaime that they will restore ancient perfection but they performe nothing but the idle conceites of their owne fansies What better argument can there be of this then their deadly hatred toward their brethren their daily contentions their tanting ribaldrie railings vpon theyr superiours and their Momish fault finding wherein Saint Augustine fitly compareth them vnto Iobs dogs which licked his sore partes onely And Iustine Martyr compareth them to flies which doe euer gather about the diseased partes of anie creature Moreouer many great Clarkes now a daies without anie iust cause stirre vp grieuous contentions by mistaking and peruerting the godly actions and also the sound and wholsome doctrine of reuerend Fathers and good men and so by this means those good Ministers which are giuen to peace and had rather applie themselues to teaching reformation of lyfe and edifying of the Church are constrained by force to cease from their function and labour being a thing most néedful and to applie themselues for their defence against Brownists Martinists and such other like pestilent Sectes and Schismatiques wherby it commeth to passe that euen against their wils they are wrapped in contentions But those that kindle these flames of discord and by that meanes prouoke other vnto schisme which are louers of peace doe greatly offend the maiestie of God And those again on the other side are both before God and man to bee excused which stoutly and modestly withstand that viperous broode and yet so much as in them lieth doe still prefer peace before Schisme In the Primitiue Church of Christ if there happened anie sturre or anie suspition of errour to arise they sought the reformation and quieting thereof farre otherwise to wit by admonition by friendly communication and brotherly conference and when any manifest proofe of suspected opinion was euidently shewed forth they receiued the same and quietly without gainsaying yéelded themselues as it may euidently appeare in the reconciliation of Iohn the Bishop of Antioch Theodoretus and others of the East with Cirillus Alexandrinus And by this meanes they suffered not one braule to bréede of an other neither were their contentions endlesse neither striued they despitefully among themselues but handled al things with godly zeale vnto sound doctrine But if anie had erred and persisted obstinatly in his errour then did they admonishe all men to beware of him and to auoide his companie like as Saint Paul both taught and did also himselfe And by this meanes all things in the Church were in good state and al contentions for the most part were quieted Also the ancient Fathers in all ages did bend themselues against those which peruerted the godly actions and sound doctrine of others and which went about to stirre vp néedlesse contentions in the Church And those which in the Primitiue Church professed one and the same religion of Christ could not easily bee stirred to contention among thēselues least they should giue occasion thereby vnto their enemies the Philosophers idolatrous Priestes and others of the subtill Gentiles and Heathen to reioyce or matter whereby they might be confirmed in their errors But they altogether gaue themselues vnto concorde cutting off in due time all occasions of discord and ioyning their forces together fought against the enemies of the Church whereof Constantinus magnus that good Emperour verie notablie admonished the Bishops But when they followed not his counsell but without all reconciliation stroue among themselues there arose héereof most lamentable miseries to the Church as the histories both of Arrius and Mahomet doe euidently proue There arise also diuers discords and dissentions among the Ministers of the Church when some of them vse a proper and peculiar forme and order which themselues haue deuised both of preaching and also of other actions in religion and woulde binde others to the same although they knowe that the whole state being christian hath otherwise decréed And if peraduenture their deuice be reiected so that men do not conforme themselues to their fantasticall conceits by and by they iudge them not onely enemies but also crie out against them and saie that they are Papists and seducers being so contentious and péeuish that by no meanes they will bee satisfied except that all those things may bee receiued wherewith themselues are delighted But let them knowe that where there is a Christian Church once instituted and established all things ought to bee done in y e same in due order els why did Paul reproue some for breaking customes of preaching of praying of cutting of haire c. which order Anabaptists cannot abide but woulde mingle and confound all things by the subtill instigation of the deuill who misliketh not anie thing so much especially in diuine things as a right and well ordered gouernment As there is one God one Faith and one Baptisme one Christ one holy Ghost one onely true religion so is it néedfull that all things be done according to one rule els many yea infinite religions will rise one contrarie to another yea contrarie Churches to For euerie one will inuent a Church according to his owne fantasie We haue all one hope one communion one bonde of peace and one sacrifice and who so euer diuideth himselfe from this vnitie sayth Saint Cyprian alienus est prophanus est hostes est he is a stranger he is a prophane person he is an enimie And Saint Augustine saith Non potest esse particeps diuinae charitatis qui hostis est vnitatis Quisquis enim se ab Ecclesia seperauerit quantumlibet laudabiliter se viuere existimet hoc solo scelere quo a Christi vnitate seiunctus est nō habet vitam sed ira Dei manet super eum that is he cannot be partaker of diuine charitie which is an enimie of vnitie For whosoeuer separateth himselfe from the vnitie of the Church how commendably so euer he séemeth in his owne eies to walk for this wickednesse alone by which he is seuered from the vnitie of Christ hee hath no life but the wrath of God abideth vpon him It is most conuenient that there be in the Church one vniforme order as touching the times the places the formes and other circumstances to be vsed in the seruice of almightie God for the honour of his name as it is prescribed by the wisedome and godly discretion of this whole Christian state that all Schismes and contentions might be taken awaie Wherefore els did the Lord God command his people of Israel to méet together in one place and to sacrifice all after one forme in theyr seuerall sacrifices which he had prescribed Assuredly euen because there should be no occasion giuen of Schisme as might haue bene if the Israelites had assembled together in diuers places and had vsed such order and forme as they themselues liked and as the
to forbid this But yet there must be great care had that it be a procéeding in déed and not rather a backsliding an innouation alteration from good to euill It is a profiting and a good proceeding when a thing is amplified and enlarged in it selfe and it is an alteration or innouation when one thing is transposed into another The vnderstanding knowledge and wisedome as well of euerie one as of all men as well of one man as of the whole Church must of necessitie grow greatly profit by the degrées of ages times but yet onely in one kind y â— is to saie in one religion in one sense and in one and the selfe same opinion The religion of mens soules may be resembled vnto y â— course and order of their bodies which albeit they growe to their full stature and bignesse by processe of time and yeres yet they are the verie same still that they were before There is great difference betweene the blossome of youth and the ripenes of age and yet olde men are the verie same that they were when they were yong insomuch that although the stature apparell and forme of the man be altered yet the nature abideth all one and the person is the same Small are the members of sucking babes greater when they be yong men yet all one the same The child hath as many sinewes vaines anâ— bones as the olde man and looke what the more ripe age hath the same did the séede of infancie bring forth so that olde men haue nothing new in them which afore time laie not hid in children There is no doubt then but that this is the most true rule of profiting the sure and comely order of growing when age alwaies discouereth those partes and formes in the greater which the wisdome of the creator made before in the smaller But if the forme of man be turned afterward into any other similitude and likenes then of his owne kinde or if he haue anie more or fewer members then he should the bodie then must néedes either decay or els become monstrous In like sorte Christian religion must follow these lineaments of profiting to wit in yeres it must bée made sound and perfect in time extended and inlarged in time extolled and aduanced and yet so that it abide vncorrupted and pure full and perfect in all the proper members and sences therof because it will not suffer alteration or innouation no losse of propertie nor anie varietie of definitioÌ„ As for example Our forefathers of olde time I meane in time of the Primitiue Church did sowe in this ecclesiasticall sowing the séedes of pure faith It were now vnfit that we their posteritie in sted of the true and pure grain should choose the deceitfull errors of tares but this rather is more méete and agréeing that the first the last not disagréeing with themselues wée reape the fruite from the increase of pure instruction and also of pure religion that when the first sproutes of those séedes by processe of time begin to appeare and is now prosperous and garnished yet nothing of the propertie of the naturall séede is altered And although another forme difference and distinction be added yet the same nature of kinde remaineth For God forbidde that the rosarie plant of true religion should be turned into briers and thornes Yea God forbid that in this spirituall Paradise the swéete Sinamom and fragrant Balsamus trees should yield forth fodenlie and vnlooked for deadlie poison Therefore whatsoeuer hath bene sowen in this church which is Gods husbandrie hath bin sowen by the faithfull and painfull labours of their fathers the same ought now to be trimmed and garnished by the industrie of the children and posteritie the same must flourish and waxe ripe the same must profite and be profited For it is meet that those ancient decrees of heauenlie Philosophie shoulde by processe of time be adorned beautified and polished but vnmâ—et to be changed abridged or maimed They may receiue cleerenes light and distinction and yet retaine fulnesse integrity and proprietie If this wicked libertie to chop and change to alter to innouate to set vp and pull downe according to euerie fantasticall deuice be granted I feare to thinke and quake to speak in what danger religion shall be to be defaced and quite abolished The which one done but in part we shall haue euerie yere euerie moneth nay euerie daie a new religion For the parts by little and little being reiected what will followe at the last but that the whole also shall be banished And if nouelties may displace auncient godly rules if prophane men may deface goldie Fathers which stand as pillers in the Church it wil at the last come to this that nothing in the Church shall bee leste vntouched nothing sound nothing free whereby in the end y â— which was afore time the closet of a chast pure and vncorrupt truth shall become a filthie sinke of abhominable errours and a soule cage of vncleane birdes But God for his mercie furne this awaie far from the mindes of his chosen and let this bee rather the furie and madnesse of the wicked The Church of Christ being a vigilant and wary keeper of the doctrine committed to her doth not change diminish nor alter anie thing at anie time concerning the same It cutteth not off necessarie matter it doth not adde superfluous thinges it looseth not that which belongeth to her it vsurpeth not forain and prophane things but withall endeuour she seeketh this that making much and embracing the most ancient rules and precepts faithfullie and wiselie the may further aduance that which at the first was but begun she may ratifie and establish things expressed and manifested may constantly keepe whatsoeuer was before confirmed and determined But to returne to the wordes of the Apostle O Tymothe saith he keepe that which is committed vnto thee and auoide prophane and vaine bablings Shunne saith he such as a viper as a scorpion and as a most dangerous serpent least they strike thee not onely by touching thee but also by their sight and breath Auoid them that is with such see you deale not If anie come vnto you saith the Apostle and bringeth not this doctrine What doctrine The Gospell of our Sauiour first preached by him then by Saint Peter Saint Paul and the rest of the Apostles and which hath so remained from age to age by the incorrupt tradition of truth and shall also so continue for euer vnto the worldes end What then Receiue him not to house neither bid him God speed for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his euill Auoide saith Saint Paul prophane and vaine bablings And what is that Truelie such speeches and writings as sauour nothing of holinesse or religion with the which such as are members of the true Church are not acquainted Compare then the late seditious books of Martine and his mates with this sentence of
contrarie parte Papists Atheists and other wicked and godlesse men are delighted in them for that the idolatrous superstition and abhomination of the one is not as it ought to be reproued and condemned because you haue now wholy turned the spyrituall swoorde from them against your brethren hauing giuen occasion to the Papistes to saie vnto vs Vos Christiani dissidetis inter vos c. Ye Protestants doe disagrée among your selues and haue so many sectes among you that all which notwithstanding beare the title of Christianisme yet doo ye curse and condemne one another wherefore your religion is no true religion neither hath it procéeded from God and because the hypocrisie and counterfait holynes of the other is not discouered who onely hope that will come to passe through your discention at the last that they shal possesse the whole patrimonie of the church Which if it shoulde so fall out as God forbidde it shoulde learning thereby will decaie barbarisme will take place and so in time this most flourishing Church in Christendome shall be ouerthrowen Moreouer they which are come to a little tast of the Gospell are now readie to forsake their errors and superstitions purposing to cleaue vnto the Gospell are set backe and hindered by these contentions and saie they know ther are many ercors abuses great faults in the Popish Church but yet they cannot ioyne themselues vnto vs who so sharply contend accuse and braule one with another Of these weaklings Chrisostome speaketh thus Venit gentilis et dicit velim fieri Christianus sed nescie cui adherem c. The Gentile commeth and sayth I woulde faine bee a Christian but I know not with whom to ioyne there are many dissentions and tumults among you I knowe not what opinion to choose and holde for euery one sayth I speake the truth Also of this stumbling blocke Melancton in his time complained Quos fugiamus habemus sed quos sequamur non intelligimus We know saith he whom we should auoide meaning the Papists but whome to follow we cannot determine Such is the state of the church of England at this day through the diuersitie of opinions that weaklings are greatly dismaied Yet this excuse in the day of iudgement will not make weaklings whome Paul secludeth out of Gods kingdome faultlesse at the end of theyr life except they conuert themselues vnto Christ and yéeld themselues wholy vnto him they can neuer haue a quiet conscience Other some also saie and most truely that God is the God of peace and concord and not of strife but these Preachers say they are at dissention among themselues and therfore God is not with them But this might haue bene obiected against the Churches in all ages For among the Iewes were sects as the Saduces the Pharesies the Essers and the Stoikes Among the Schoole men were Scotists Tomists and Occamists Among the seuen Deacons of the Primitiue Church was Nicholas of whom came the Nicholaitans mencioned in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn Yea this might haue bene obiected against the Primitiue and most perfect and holy Church of Christ militant wherin have bin so many heresies schismes and sects as Irenaeus Tertullian Epiphanius and Augustine do testifie that in regard of them the verie name of Christ began to be odious among the people and as Socrates reporteth the christians were mocked and iested at on publike stages and in theyr common plaies and enterludes Neuerthelesse by these obiections it may appeare howe greate heapes of euill suspitions these discords and contentions doe bring whereby we are put in minde the more earnestly and diligently to studie for peace and concord so shall we shew our selues to bee of that blessed number of whom Christ pronounceth this benediction Blessed are the peace makers for they shall bee called the children of God ANd as concerning you men and brethren beloued in Christ which are to heare and learne of vs the pure and whoelsome doctrine of the Gospell of Iesus Christ take héede how and what ye heare Proue the spirites whether they be of God or no because there be many seducers in the world and hold these for vndoubted approued rules first that none can laie anie other foundation beside that which is alreadie laide that is Christ Iesus secondlie that the true Church is alwaies knowen by these thrée things by the preaching of the Gospell the administration of the Sacraments and the exercises of holie life as appeareth by the words of the Apostle Christ loued the Church gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it being cleansed by the washing of water through the word that he might make vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinkle c. The first two markes are expressed in these wordes By the washing of water through the word and the last marke is this That hee might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church without spot c. Thirdlie that the same Church is from time to time troubled with false Apostles whom Paul thus painteth out in their coulors to the end ye may know them Haue saith he a diligent eie vnto such as cause diuisions and offences contrarie to the doctrine which ye haue learned and auoid ye them For they that are such serue not the Lord Iesus Christ but their owne bellies and with faire speach and flattering deceiue the hearts of the simple they créepe into houses and leade captiue simple women which women are euer learning and are neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth they are vaine talkers and disobedient subuerting whole houses teaching thinges which they ought not for filthie lucers sake they are men of a corrupt minde and reprobate concerning the faith puft vp knowing nothing but wering themselues about questions and strife of wordes whereof commeth enuie strife railings and euill surmisings and vaine disputations men destitute of the truth which thinke that gaine is godlines they are also idle go from house to house yea they are not onely idle but also partakers and busie bodies speaking thinges which are not comely they would be Doctors of the lawe and yet vnderstande not what they speake neither whereof they affirme but hauing put awaie a good conscience from them haue made shipwrack of faith whose prophane and vaine bablings shall increase vnto more vngodlines and their word shall fret as a canker they haue onely a shewe of godlines but haue denied the power thereof but they shal preuaile no longer for their madnesse shall be euident vnto all men These markes being so euident you cannot be seuered from the true Church except ye wil most wilfully run to schisme a monster most perillous The famous Bishoppe Dionysius as witnesseth Eusebius saith y ◠to suffer martyrdome for the auoiding of schisme is more commendable then for the auoiding of idolatrie because in the one is the safetie of our
bodie of the flesh and of the bones of Christ that we be most néerely conioyned vnto him and the giftes which we haue bee deriued vnto vs by God through the flesh of Christ giuen for our sake vppon the crosse and so by the flesh of Christ we be coupled and vnited to God And in the Gospel of Saint Iohn Christ praieth thus for his Church Cause you that they may be one euen as I am in thée and thou art in me The vnitie of the Church therfore by the places alleadged consisteth in the spirit in the word of God in the Sacraments in a most néere bond with Christ who is the head of all the members of the Church This vnitie we must by no meanes breake but first séeke all the waies that possible we can to make the same safe and sound Bernard an ancient Father of the Church saith that neyther praier sacrifice nor anie thing else pleaseth God better then our concord and vnitie and that nothing grieueth the deuill more then that we should liue in vnitie For if we fast saith he the deuill seareth it not because he neuer eateth if we watch he careth not because he neuer sleepeth if we praie he regardeth it not because he neuer praieth but that we should be in vnitie it displeaseth him because we being men and on the earth should doe that which hée could not doe being an Angell in heauen Wee knowe it now by experience that Fratrum odia acerbissima and that inimici hominis domestici eius that the hatred of brethren is most grieuous and that a mans enemies shall be they of his owne housholde The Church of God neuer receiued more detriment by the tyrannie of papists then she hath and doth dailie by the cruell hatreds of false and dissembling brethren If therefore ye intend to be citizens of that heauenly Ierusalē Subtraite vos ab omni frate ambulante inordinatè Withdrawe your selues from euerie brother that walketh inordinatly and vnderstand that the earthly Ierusalem is builded as a citie that is at vnitie in it selfe Of the Primitiue Church it is said that they continued with one accord in praier and the multitude of them that beléeued were of one heart and of one soule If ye wil abide in this vnity then must ye be alwaies constant in the truth and not depend vpon men For through inconstancy the peace of the church which is the bond of vnitie is many times broken when as our affections and likings of men is such that therafter as ye loue thē so ye like their doctrine For ye regard the messenger and not his message ye looke vpon the earthen vessell and not vpon the heauenly treasure therein contained And hereof it commeth to passe that ye doe contemne and despise not onely wholsome doctrine but also the minister and preacher thereof and then commeth such a nicenes and choice liking of some that at the last followeth also an vtter loathing of others whom before ye greatly liked Thus hath the common multitude alwayes behaued thēselues towards the ministers of the Gospell Yea thus was our sauiour Christ himselfe handled among the Iewes who one while would néeds make him a king and anon after was ready to kill him one while they called him Rabbi and another while a Samaritan saying that he had the deuill they which once loued his doctrine sayd afterward this is a hard saying And as Christ himselfe so also were Apostles rewarded at their auditors hands and no meruaile for the disciple is not aboue his master It is inough for the disciple if he be as his master is Therefore Iohn the Baptist had such estimation for a while when he first began to preach the Gospell that he was taken of most men for the Messiah yet stood he not long before he lost his head When Paul Barnabas had wrought that notable myracle vpon y e lame man the people were blindly carried with such inconsiderate zeale that in all hast they would haue done sacrifice vnto them as vnto God but in a moment this hot zeale was so cold towards Saint Paul that they stoned him almost for dead The same Apostle was of the Galathians also reputed for an Angell of God insomuch that if it had bin possible they would haue pluckt out their owne eies for him to do him good but afterward they tooke him for no better then their enemie And why Forsooth because hee preached vnto them the truth Consider and sée if the verie like inconstancie and far worse if worse may be hath not bin among you In the beginning of her Maiesties most happie raigne you had those learned and graue fathers in great estimation which during the time of Quéene Mary suffered exile for the testimony of the gospel some in Geneua some in Frankford and some other in other partes of Germanie and at their first returne to the Church of Englande beeing placed by her Maiestie in the roomes of greatest charge in the Church as tried and approued men that had borne the whole heate and burthen of the daie ye estéemed of them worthily ye were very glad to sée and heare them ye embraced theyr most wholsome doctrine and so ye begun to runne wel in a good course but ye persisted not ye were soone wearie of your olde men and yee must needes haue new and I feare me that this propheticall saying of the Apostle is verified vpon many of you The time will come when they wil not suffer wholsome doctrine but hauing their eares itching shall after theyr own lusts get them a heape of teachers and shall turne theyr eares from the truth and shall be giuen vnto fables Be not carried about with euery winde and goe not into euery way for so sayth the wise man doth the sinner that hath a double tongue Such double walking and such dissembling talking will at the last and that ere it be long cause greater diuision and contention among you to the wofull ruine of vs all if it be not amended betimes And if we goe forwarde in discorde and bitter contentions as we haue hetherto done it is greatly to be feared least GOD haue appointed and ordayned that same agaynst vs which in time past he did in the raignes of Dioclesian and Maximian the Emperors when as there were like strifes and contentions in the Church as notably appeareth in the Ecclesiasticall historie written by Eusebius the effect of which history is diligently to be marked for this cause to wit for that in those daies the Church of Christ flourished But the people were vnthankful vnto God and impenitent and the ministers of the Church were ambitious and stirred vp grieuous and hot contentions among themselues Wherefore God being angry with them gaue them into the hands of tyrants who raised vp greater persecutions agaynst the Church then euer was heard of before For thus writeth Eusebius