this mother there can be no health in you but all diseases there can bee no knowledge in you but al ignoraunce there can be no hoope of lyfe lefte in you but assurednes of deathe Yea ye can not be of God but of the deuyl Qui matrem ecclesiam relinquit August in sym bolo ad Catechumenod Libro mi. cap. r. quomodo est in Christo qui in membris eius nō est Quomode est in Christo qni in corpore Christi non est Ne that leaueth his mother the church sayeth S. Austen howe may he be of Christ whiche is not of his membres Nowe maye he be in Christ whiche is not in the bodie of Christ The bodie of Christ is the churche If you wil be healthfull come home and haue it If you couet knowledge come home and sucke it at your mothers brestes in forme and maner as it shall please her and not you If you wil haue life come home bide at home with our louinge mother where deathe ne hell can preuail against you If you wil be of god come home and be incorporate into the bodie of God and man Iesus Christe and then the deuil shall haue no power ouer you Do thus and you shall be assured to inherite heauen where that wicked harlot and her hareheades shal neuer come you shal doubtlesse possesse the celestiall Paradise which that wicked maistres and her minstrelles can neuer entre You shall receiue eternite which that hereticall churche and her chyckines shall neuer haue Their disobedience and false beleife shal tomble them together into hel your true obedience and faieth shall mounte you to heauen They as vnfaithfull rebelles shal be destitute of all heauenlie grace you as obedient and faithfull children shal be supported with the maiestie of Angels For them euerlasting tormentes are appointed for you heauenlye ioyes preparedeuer to ēdure Thei shal perishe wicked with the wicked you shall raigne sanctified with saintes I feare not but you that are at home wiltarie at home for feare of so many daūgers and I mistrust not but you that are from home wyll make hast homeward allured with so many benefites There is no doubte if cloked crafte begile you not if flattering fawninge of that deceiteful auoutresse hold you not but that you wyll make spede as I said to come home againe that haue straied from home so longe But as at home with our mother there is no lacke of trueth so that harlot our cruell stepmother lacketh no crafte to entrap and entangle you no falshood no flatteringe to allure and intice you Come vnto me saith she for here is Christ here is health here is saluaciō Thus the Ape can ruffle in purple thus the Asse can strowt in the Lyons skynne thus the iarringe Iaye canne counterfeicte the pleasaunt note of the nightingale But beware brethren be not deceaued It is and euer hath been the practise of the deuill and his ministers by coulor of trueth to perswade falshood vnder the cloke of good to bringe in al euil Our true mother the true church is but one in all respectes but one only one in one vniforme vse of one Baptisme sacramētes one faith one spirite This mother is not a mother of a fewe but of many her power is not particular but vniuersall as she is extended through all the foure partes of the earth her glorie diffused in the whole world For of her it is saied Dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuā possessionem tuam terminos terrae I wyll giue the nations thine inheritaunce and the extremities of the earthe shal be thy possession This our mother the true churche hateth not light loueth not to lurke in corners where she maye not be seene but as her power hath euer more been vniuersall so vniuersally she hath been at all tymes aperte plaine and manifest For how can she be obscure and hidden saith fainte Austē Quae obtinuit omnes gentes is that citie of whiche it is spoken Non potest abscondi ciuitas super montem constituta The citie cannot be hid which is set vppon a mountaine Our lorde hath set hys tabernacle in the sōne saith the propher his tabernacle is our mother the catholike church saith S. Austē which is set in the bright sonne not in the darke shade whiche walketh openly by daye and not preuilye by night Whose aduersarie the hereticall churche is of a contrary nature For she neither is vniuersall nor at all tymes but at some certaine time and in some one certaine place And againe she goeth and commeth preuilie and in her doinges there is no vnitie no certeintie at all Her ministers are diuided now they dreme one thinge nowe an other this daye they like to morowe they mislike one is against an other of them euen in the highest mysteries of Christ his religion Who list to cōsidre their writinges shall proue true that I saie Howe be it experience of their doinges without readinge of their bookes mighte perswade vs of Englande what thei were and wherehence they be that yeres past haue been preachers and teachers here amongest vs that haue persecuted our true mother the vniuersall churche of Christ and haue set vp their lorde Antichriste and his hereticall churche What orders what forme of religion haue they set furth sins their firste raigne that shortly after they altered not Whiche three of them amougest them all that agreed together in their matters No marueill for the deuill is their chiefe head whō they serue and he is full of lyes variaunce diuision and discorde And vnder him their scholemaisters were Hus Luther Zuinglius Decolampadius Bucer Melanethon Tindall Frythe whiche in their doctrine agree not one with an other Such maisters suche scholers come of them And this diuision this vncōstancie of doctrine was a manifest token that they were not the children of oure true mother the catholike churche nor ministers of Christ but the children of the deuill and ministers of Antichrist yea very Autichristes For who soeuer saith S. Austen is gone from the vnitie of the catholike churche he is become Antichrist Those Antichristes haue borne a great stroke here nowe to longe time in Englande in whom was no constācie no staye no stedfastues of religion and doctrine Howebeit thei al agreed wel in some thinges They all woulde be as proude as headdy as false and suttle as the deuill their father wherhence they came They al would haue wyues longe berdes and finally no olde trueth or fashions but all newe knackes and fansies as their scholemaisters lyked Bucer c. of whō they were taught Yet woulde they bere vs in haud the they wer catholike christiās But howe can ye be catholike christiaus saith sainte Austen in his treatise vpon sainte Iohn his Epistle that do not communicate and agre to the vnitie of doctrine and faith whiche is receiued and vsed through all christianitie They woulde be counted true preachers of the
decrease a confirmation not alteration renouatiō of religiō not innouation For ech thing receiueth increase is properly increased which is amplified enlarged in it selfe remayning one thinge notwithstanding and the same still But vnto permutation alteration or innouation it belongeth that somethinge in substaunce be altered conuerted from one into an other Wherefore I gladlie admit and allow the increase of religion that is I will and I thinke meete that the churche do increase growe and prospere in all ages and at all times verie muche in knowledge vnderstanding and wysedome But in one onely kynde sense and vnderstandinge Let the religion of soules imitate the consideration of the bodies For although the bodyes in processe of yeres are inlarged in their membres yet doe they remaine the same bodies that thei were There is much difference betwene the flower of youthe and the ripenes of age Yet be they made olde whiche were before young That all if of one and the same man the stature and habit dothe alter and varie as time tunneth yet the same nature substaunce and person is stil Tender and smale are the membres of younge infantes stronge and greate are the limmes of growē men Yet al one in euerie of them as many The infante hathe as many partes as hath the man And if there be any thinge that showeth not it selfe but in the ripe time of age the same notwithstanding was in the consideration or dissposition of the sede so that no newe thinge afterward appeareth in mā being stept in yeres whiche fofore was not hidden in him being but a childe Wherfore there is no doubte but thys is the laweful and right rule of proffeting this is the most perfecte and goodliest ordre of growing and increasing if the num bre of yeres the course of age the processe of time do resemble and alwayes showe the same partes and formes in the aged which the wisedome of the creatour had tofore formed in them being litle ones Nowe if the shape or forme of man be afterwarde turned and altered into any other figure vnlyke it selfe or if the iust numbre of the partes and membres be either diminished or increased then of necessitie the bodie must either perishe or become mōstruous or at leest wise be greatly wekened Euen so sitting and meete it is that the Christian riligion be increased and dilated according to the lyke ordre maner That is to wit religion oughte to be strengthened in yeres dilated in times auaūced in age but soo that it remaine euermore one and the same vncorrupted vnaltered in the measures of all her partes and as it were in all her propre membres senses and qualities full sounde and perfitte neither admitting any permutatiō in the substaunce ne suffering any dāmage in the proprieties nor allowing any varietie in the sette diffinitions sentences or censures As for example Our forefathers haue sowen in thys ecclesiasticall agricolation the cleane seede of whetie faieth It were surely very vnsitting and vniuste if we theire posteritie shoulde chuse cockle for whete and admit the counterfeit and deceitefull error of the one for the germaine and naturall veritie of the other Rather righte and consequent it is to th ende no discrepance or contrarietie be founde betwene the first and the last that of the encrease of whetie institution we reape the croppe of whety doctrine That when anye parte of these good seedes sowen by oure auncetours shall by accesse of tyme springe and blade vp the same by vs bee cherished mainteined and defended vnto the most desired haruest not altring or chaūging any parte thereof either in qualitie or in substaūce although we adde bewtie fame distictiō therto For god defed that the rosy plātes of their catho lyke determination shoulde be cōuerted into branbles thornes God defend that in the spiritual Paradise of the pleasaūt graftes of Cyunamome vitious raye or darnel shuld spring of the wholsome slyppes of balsamum pernitious wolbane should issue Whatsoeuer therfore the aunciēt fathers the faith full laborours in thys Agricolation husbandrie of Christ hys churche haue sowed and plāted mete it is that the same by vs thyr children and successours be diligentlye and faythfullye tylled garnished and obserued that the same doe prosper increase and augment the same doe styll floure and sede and atteyne to perfect ripenes For decent and fitte it is that the auncient preceptes rules and lessons concernynge the christian religion in processe of time be fyned polished and confirmed But a curssed and a destetable dede it is to detruncate mangle or violate them or anye parte of them It is lawefull that throughe our diligence industrie and labour the auncient presidēces of our fathers doe receyue euidencie light distinction But it is also necessary that they styl retaine their auncient fulnesse integritie and proprietie For yf this licentious libertie of impious fraude shal be permitted to alter and chaunge the auncient censures of the vniuersal churche I am afrayde to saye how great daunger shoulde ensue of breaking and abolishyng the amiable concorde of Christ hys vniforme religion within short tyme. For anye one parte of the catholike institution beynge once broken and abdicate the Leprisie wil so crepe from part to parte that at length the whole wyll be the least parte and vtterlye refused Agayne if they beginne to myngie newe tryckes with olde and auncient lawes straunge forayne deuises with accustomed and familiar preceptes prophane fantasies with sacred and holye ceremonies no doubt it will grow to suche a custome in the whole that euer after it wyll be the practise of euerye lyght brayne to alter and put downe olde religion and to set vp new fangled toyes deuised by theyr owne witte In so muche that nothing shal be left in the churche vnspotted vntouched vndefiled but where the churche heretofore hathe been estemed and accompted the precious vesture of chaste and vncorrupte veritie from hencefurth it may be rekened the sincke of impious and foule errours But God of hys mefureles mercye forbyd any suche detestable enterprise to entre into the myndes of hys people But let it be as it hath been alwayes and stil is the furious and peuish practise of the wicked impious and cursed Let the church of Christ euermore be as it hathe been euer and shal be for euer the diligent warye and faythfull keper of suche determinations decrees and ordinaunces as haue been lefte by our auncetours and vniuersallye receyued in consent and vnitie This true and faythfull churche permitteth nothinge diminisheth nothyng addeth nothynge cutteth not away necessaries and supplieth superfluities omitteth not her own and vsurpeth that whiche pertayneth not vnto her But with all diligence studieth to preserue maintayne and continewe suche doctrine as hathe descended vnto her from the auncient fathers by general cōsent And what hath been lefte vnto her only begon and not settled the same she endeuoreth to publishe fine stablishe What hath ben fully
epistole Ioannis apostoli qÌ„ caâ—atu .iii. Mater enim est cuius vbera sunt duo testamenta For she is our mother whose twoo brestes are the .ii. testamentes of God Wherfore to knowe her is to knowe Christe and trueth Betwene whiche there is no more difference then is betwixte the head and the bodye the spouse and the spousesse which as they are by a necessarie band of vnitie knitte together so Christ trueth the church are inseparatly conioyned For neither canne Christe be without trueth nor trueth without the churche with whom God the holy ghost doeth communicate al truth Wherfore to thend you shal not hensforth misse of Christ â—e mistake his trueth I haue geuen you a worthy worke in your naturall language of famous Vincent priect somtime of Lyryn which he penned aboue a .xi. T. yeres agone in the Latin toÌ„ge wherein you shall finde the true and liuely image of this churche and also most certayne vnfallible rules wherby to discerne all cloked falshode from the simple trueth diabolike sophistrie from Euangelike doctrine I haue geuen you this Iewell of a great zeale and affection doe not you receaue it vnthankefully How be it I grate not thankes for the geuinge but onely acceptation of the gifte And howe worthye it is to be accepted howe necessarie to be had you shall soner vnderstande by the vse therof than I by words can expresse Accept it therfore for it is worthy and follow the counsell thereof for it is necessarye What more necessary can be geuen the siche then soueraigne medicine whereby he maye be recouered What more necessary can be geuen the worldling being in daunger to perishe then to directe him in the wat to heauen wher he may be saued What more necessarye for the drowned in sinne whiche bringeth bondage then to trace him to grace that might sette him free What more necessary can be geuen him whom the fleshe ruleth the cause of corruption then to acquaint him with the heauenly spirite the cause of sanctification What more necessary canne be geuen him that is nouseled in ignoraunce whiche made him blinde then to instructe him with knowledge whereby he may see What more necessarye to be geuen him that is smolthered in heresye which hilleth then to shew him the true religion wherby he may reuiue Al these malavies grieffes soores and discases in you Vincent yea rather God that heauenlye Phisition by the ministerie of this holy Vincent shal remedie and cure whilesthe shal eftsones settle you in the sure lappe of our mother the catholike churche the comfortable leche of all infirmities the necessary nourse of al weakelynges the most surest hauen for all stormebeaten to ariue vnto O dere brethren frendes it muche pitieth me and I trust it nowe repeuteth you also to consider how euyl you haue ben of late taught howe vnnaturally you have been intreated synce ye lefte this good and louing mother howe manye diseases and infirmities haue growen vpoÌ„ you synce your departing froÌ„ this comfortable leche howe owgle carren leaue ye are to see synce you chaunged this necessary nourse with how great tempestuous stormes you haue ben beaten synce you first did loose froÌ„ this faithfull hauen Wo worth that false harlet that hathe deceaued you I meane that malignauÌ„t and cursed church It is she that by her flatteringe meanes and deceatefull allurementes hath intised you to come from so swete amiable mothers lappe into her whorishe armes froÌ„ church to church I grauÌ„t but not from like to like FroÌ„ an heauenly church to a malignaunt church from a louinge mother to a flatteryng harlote From the condition of grace to the state of perdition From the vnitie of christians to diuision of Nerelikes FroÌ„ the light of pure knowledge to the darkenes of foule ignoraunce From the trueth of antiquitie to the falshode of nouelties From faythfull beleuyng to carnall reasonyng From sauing Christ to deceyuing Antichrist Thus they agree together that in all thinges they be vtterlye vulike The one is of God and ledeth to Christ and trueth Thother is of the deuyll and leadeth to Antichrist and heresie The one grounded in fay the subdueth reason thother ledde by reason confoundeth faith The one beleueth reuerentlye what reason can not comprehende thother impudently alledgeth reason faith to reprehende Betwene theÌ„ ther is no amitie no semblaunce no agrement no felow ship but continual war one against another Nowbeit for asmuch as no vntrueth can deceaue but by colour of trueth no hereticall poison can beguyle but when it is geuen in fourme of medicine therefore thys whorish churche laboureth by al meanes to resemble in vtter shewe and countenaunce thother good churche the rather to seduce the improuident when her falshode is cloked the soner to catche the simple when her hooke is couered And this is the matter why diuers haue been so greatlye deceaued of late and diuers againe wil be hereafter if vpon this warning thei watch not and by other menues harmes they beware not For although this harlot this deuillishe Syuagege purposeth nothinge els but to incororate you to the deuyll Antichrist yet hath she euer more in her mouthe Christe Christe Though she only laboreth to tumble you headlong into hell both body and soule yet doth the continually babble of heauen though she teacheth nothing but heresy to ouerthrow the ghospel yet her tongue runneth stil of the ghospell as thoughe shee hated heresye Thoughe she be whollye of the deuyll and nothing of Christ yet she pretendeth great familiaritie to Christ oulie as thoughe she knewe not the deuyll Thoughe shee lacke no crafte to subuert trueth yet trueth trueth is euer her word as though she lacked crafte O malicious harlot O deceauable feinde O cruel stepdame Come home come home gentle brethren to youre louing and tender mothers lay whiche hath fostered you from your youthe and leaue the armes of that cruelstepmother whiche will not leaue if you leaue not till she hath strangled you Come home to this leache that shee maye heale you of your foule leprie wherwith this feinde hath ifected you Come home to this swete nourse that you maye sucke from her brestes the holsome foode of your soules healthe and comforte and leaue the stinkinge carren wherewith this whore feedeth you Come home I say to thys calme and quiet port where you shall finde reste and tranquillitie of conscience whiche the deuyll coutinually tosseth and tumbleth in restles paynes with the tempestuous stormes of hereticall nouelties Who is our mother Wher is our home No doubt the vniuersall church is our mother her lappe is our home If you be not ther at home you can not be at home with God If you acknowledge not her to be your mother you may not acknowledge God to be your father To this mother Mary the mother of her countrye calleth you To thys home Vincent wyll leade you euen by the hande as it were If you be not at home with
voyce together wished Verely that suche doctrine as was of olde taught and receyued shoulde be euermore allowed and imbraced and what of late dayes was newely deuised should for euer be refused After whiche thinges I was for my parte brought into a very greate admiration of their doinges and coulde not sufficientlye as me thought coÌ„mend the wonderful humilitie and godly deuotion of so great clerkes and holy men For although they were suche and so many indued with suche excellent knowledge with such inestimable iudgement that eche and euery of them mought haue frelye questioned in anye matter of the auncient faythe and againe theyr assembly and congregation together mighte seeme to incourage and imbolden the same newe matters of theyr owne heades deuised to decree and set furthe yet would they innouate nothinge but by al maner meanes cared that no doctrine should be deliuered vn to theyr posteritie but such as they had receyued of the forefathers Thus dyd these fathers not onelye for the good disosition of thynges at that present tune but also to leaue example to suche as should folow them what they shoulde doe in lyke case That they ought with all their studie to honour the auncient faith and not deuise new to mayntayne suche religion as they had receyued and not to set furth what of their owne braynes was deuised I inueighed also agayust the most wicked and pestilent presumption of deuillishe Nestorius who bragged of hym selfe that he first and onelye of all other vnderstode the scriptures rightlye and that all other before his time wandred in ignoraunce and errour as many as ener had taught or written vpon the scriptures as all Priestes Bishoppes Matyrs Eonfessours that eyther haue expounded the scriptures or geueÌ„ credit to others expositions vpon the same And who finallye affirmed the whole church euen nowe to be in blindnes and errour and euer to haue been whiche nowe folowed and at all tymes had folowed as it seemed vnto hym ignoraunt blinde and erronious doctours and teachers And although to haue sayde thus muche might seeme sufficient to ouerthrowe and vtterlye to deface all prophane nouelties yet for the better furnishynge vp of the matter I haue adiected two authorities of the Apostolike See The one of Xistus Byshoppe of Rome The other of his predecessour S. Celestine whiche here I shall recount Holye Xistus in the epistle whiche he wrote vnto the Byshoppe of Antioche concernynge Nestorius matter sayeth thus For asmuche as ther is but one fayth accordynge to the Apostle whiche nowe most euidently hath obteined what ought to be taught let vs beleue that and lette vs firmelye holde what we ought to beleue Nowe what that is that ought to be taught and beleued he in his progresse doeth after declare Let no noueltie be receiued sayeth he and no credit be geuen vnto it hensfurth Because nothinge ought to be added vnto auncientie The manifest and well knowen faieth and credulitie of our elders be it troubled with no permixtion of myer Thus wrote Xistus and verye Apostolike commending the faythe of our auncetours with the termes of perspicuite and describynge prophane nouelties by permirtion of mier Holye Celestine in maner and sentence like confirmed the same in the Epistle whiche he sent vnto the priestes and preachers in FrauÌ„ce blaming them for their silence whereby they semed to geue ouer the auncient faith and suffered prophane nouelties to arise and saieth Merito nos causa respicit si silentio foueamus errorem c. The matter toucheth vs sayeth he if we by silence doe norishe and vpholde an errour Let such therfore be punished neither let it be lawfull for suche to speake what they lyst Here some man may perhappes doubt who be they whiche he forbiddeth to talke at pleasure and to speake what they lyst Whether it be ment by the preachers of the auncient doctrine or by the deuisers of fantastical nouelties Let holy Celestine hym selfe saye and dissolue this doubte in whome it foloweth desinat si ita res est If the matter be so saieth he that is to witte if it be so as diuers haue blamed your prouinces and cities for that ye through your daungerous dissimulynge and hurtfull silence cause them to consent vnto certaine nouelties If it be so sayth he let noueltie cesse to vexe and disturbe holy anncientie This was the sentence of blessed Celestine which tended not to distroye the auncient religion but to extirpe and banishe al newe inuentions contrarye to the catholike and old tradition of our forefathers Wherfore suche as contemne and wythstande the religion taught set furth by the apostolike catholike decrees what els doe they but preferre theyr owne fonde fansy iumlyng iudgement before the iuste sentence sounde iudgement of so manye godlye fathers and holy martyrs First thei herken not to S. Celestine who decreed vt desmeret nouÃtas incessere vetustatem That is that noueltie shoulde cesse to vexe and disturbe the auncientie They also laugh to skorne the wise counsel of holye Xistus who decreed in this wise Nihil vltra liceat nouitatà quia nihil addi conuenit vetustati They neglecte likewyse the statutes of blessed Cyril who honorablye allowed and commended the godlye zeale of reuerent Capreolus for that he by hys Epistle desyred the aunciente lessons and decrees concernyng religion to be confirmed and al new contrarye inuentions to be condempned They doe in lyke sorte treade vnder foote all the decrees lawes statutes made and agreed vpoÌ„ in the Synode kept at Ephesus wherunto all the holy Byshoppes of the East part assembled and there with one voyce consent and mynde authorised and confirmed all suche doctrine as by the elders was deliuered and condemned Nestorius as an heretike for that he impugned the auncient beliefe woulde haue brought in newe nouelties The consent of whiche fathers in that counsell and so in other generall counselles the consent of other also stablishing the catholike religion who euer neglecteth whom els dothe he neglecte and despise but the holye ghost by whose inspiration their hartes were ruled and the true catholike Churche whiche they maintened and the maisters of the same the Prophetes and Apostles whom they followed And expreslye he speaketh against S. Paule his doctrine who saieth O Timothee depositum custodi c. That is O Timothe kepe that whiche was lefte vnto the auoidinge prophane nouelties of wordes And in an other place he saith to the same sense If any shall shewe vnto you any other doctrine than that ye haue receaued accursed be he Nowe if the apostolike counselles and the ecclesiasticall decrees by which in holy consent of vniuersalitie and auncientie all heretikes hetherunto haue ben condempned and the catholike religion mainteyned are in no wise to be coÌ„temned and despised then shall it be necessarie for all suche as desire to be coumpted the legitimate children of our mother the catholike Churche firmely to cleue adhere and sticke sure to the vnspotted faieth of oure holy auncetours and vtterlye derest abhorre and persecute al wicked nouelties of prophane men that in any point resist the vniuersal religion receiued Finis Imprynted at London by Robert Caly within the precincte of the late dissolued house of the graye Freers nowe conuerted to an Hospitall called Christes Hospitall â‚ The .xxij. daye of Detober â‚ 1554. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum
Gospell Prophetes and Apostles yet none of them can saye as Paule the Apostle saied Our exhortacion was not to bringe you to error nor to vncieanes neither was it with gyle our conuersation was not at any time with flatteringe wordes neither in cloked couetousnes neither sought we praise of mē Ye are witnes and so is God howe holy and iustly and vnblameable we haue behaued our selues emouge you This said S. Paule What can our new Apostles say Out of all doubte the verie contrarie as truly as euer S. Paule said the other But for feare of Hypocrisie they dyd all their good workes in corners that mē might not se them Yet Christ said Let your lyght shine before men that they may se your good workes But thoughe they were not men of manye good workes yet had they many pretie Aualities though I saie it For I may lykē them well to the beast called Camelopacdus chiche being but one resembleth yet many beastes as by hys necke the horse by his feete the oxe by his head the Camell by his spottes in his skinne the Tygre So these late preachers in their stoute countenaūce they seemed warriers in their lighte apparell courtiers in their familiar talke rybawdes in their gesture wantons in their liuinge ryotous in the pulpyt lying preachers in their bokes spiteful railers If they haue not been suche as I report them then showe me what they were and howe muche ye that haue been their disciples and schoters haue profited vnder them and by their example in godlynes of lyfe in honestie of behauiour in charitie towardes your neighbours sins ye first wēt frō your mother the church left the auncient orders and customes of religion and became gaye Gospellers after the gyse of your newe teachers Beholde your selues in the glasse of your owne cōsciences tel me trueth Ye say that they were godly teachers and that through them ye haue attayned to a great knowledge of Goddes word The more knowledge ye haue the more godly ye ware of lyfe For wher the true knowledge of Gods worde is ther is the true spirite of God which euermore sterreth moueth mā to liue wel according to his knowledge the pleasure of God whose knowledge he doth professe But in Englande I am perfecte none of you cā sai nay saie truth but that ye haue growen in al wickednes as ye haue growē in this newe religion in somuche that there was neuer suche vnthriftines in seruaūtes suche vnnaturalnes in children suche vnrulines in subiectes suche feircenes in enemies suche vnfaithfulnes in frendes againe suche beastlynes of myndes such disdainfulnes in hartes finally such falshood in promises such deceitfulnes in bargaines suche gredy extortiō such insatiable couetousnes such itollerable pride as therfore ye are becōe a fable amōgest al natiōs How saye ye is not this true whiche of you can denaie it And be these the fruites of true knowledge yea do not these behauiours and vngodlye maners of you declare manifestlie that ye haue of late yeres geuen your selues rather to errors then to trueth rather to haue forsaken the catholike and pure faieth of our mother the true churche and folowed the fonde fansies of a fewe vngodly and false teachers to the highe displeasure of God Will God thinke ye reforme his churche if they were in error or call his people to knowledge if they had been in ignoraunce by the ministers of the deuil by the preachers of Antichrist Or can ye sai that thei be the ministers of God that liue so vngodlye that they be the preachers of righteousnes whose dedes are so full of vnrighteousnes that in comparison of them other whom ye called papistes might be saintes for the honestie of their liuinge and sobre behauiours as ye your selues haue saied many times euen in my hearing Be not these worthie Prelates to be folowed haue ye done a noble fete trowe ye to forsake the vniuersall vnitie of all christianitie to be at defiaunce with your louing mother the catholike churche whiche hath fostred you from your infancie and without whose help furtheraūce and succour ye cannot be saued for to folow suche blinde guides suche grosse maisters as whose doctrine hathe brought you in errors to the high displeasure of God whose example of vnclene lyuinge hathe ledde you into all wickednes to your great ignominie shame and rebuke with all godly people what good haue they done in this realme either by their preachinge in wordes or with their teaching by example Haue thei not brokē many good and godlye ordinaunces and set vppe none Haue they not caused for greate concorde and vnitie great tumult and rebellious sedition for godly fastinge ryotous feasting for deuout praiyng peuishe prating for due obedience vnlawfull libertie for peace Gods plentie and inough warre dearth famine more then inough I write and wepe in my harte to considre what maye be writen of the wretched condition and state that our countrie hath been in of late yeres Which of you al yea which of your preachers whose light should shine that the worlde shoulde see it which of them I saie hath not been as redye as the worst disposed of you all to eate vpon good friday or any other vigill daye as soone the Pigge as the Pikerel the Capon as the Carpe the Chykin as the Cheuen Notwithstanding the Magistrates of this realme cōmaunded the wisedome of the whole worlde thought necessarie the vniuersall consent of Christ his churche prescribed the contrary What seruaunt for the most parte hath any of you all that loketh not to haue his brekefast his dyner and his supper as well vpō Christmas eue as any other daye or els ye must prouide a newe seruaunt Who can blame them Are thei not as they haue been vsed Rather then ye would obserue the ordre of fasting prescribed by the churche ye woulde not stick at the beginning to giue your seruauntes one meale more on the fasting daye then ye woulde on any other day And where ye would other dayes feede them with milke butter cheese only on the fasting daie they should be sure to haue fleshe Yea and thought it a glorie whē ye had so done that ye had so well reformed your householde frō that popishe fast calling all thinges popishe that was godly But what haue ye gotten hereby Surely ye had neuer so lytle good seruice and yet ye neuer paide more for it then nowe Ye had neuer such disobedient seruantes and yet ye neuer cherished them better then nowe Why so Before they were better taught then fedde and of late they haue been full fed and ill taught Then were they obedient trustie and diligent as thei were taught and now be they disobedient slouthful and vntrustie as thei be fedde then were thei well taught workers and nowe ill fed porkers then had ye diligent laborers and now ye haue negligent loyterers I speake as I heare your selues saye that haue them Well will ye haue
a remedy Thē begin where ye left teach them better and feede them lesse And for praying how it hath decaied which of you cannot beare witnesse Finallye what kinde of wickednes is there that ye haue not aboue other and what one vertue is there that ye haue not lesse then other that professe the contrarie religion to you One demaunded of kinge Agesilans what fruit and benefite the lawes that Lycurgus made had brought vnto the Citie of Spart marie quod he Contemptum vitiorum that is the contempte of vices But whoo shoulde require of me what fruit the innouatiō of religion hath brought into this realme of Englande I muste nedes saye as I knowe Contemptum virtutum the contempte of vertues and al godly liuing If it be true knowledge that ye bragge your selues to haue of Gods worde came ye not to it by the spirite of God And doth the spirite of God increase knowledge in you and decrease godlines that shoulde be in you according to your knowledge Is godlie zeale is the feare of God is holynes of life is charitee towardes your neighbours wrought in your hartes without the knowledge of Christe his true religion or els with the knowledge therof If it be in the right knowledge of worshippinge God then of necessitie must ye cōfesse that before this innouation you were in better state of knowledge because your liues were then more agreable to knowledge and that sins ye haue been erroniouslye taught and deuillishelye seduced because your dedes doinges haue euer sins been more and more vngodly and deuillishe For God did neuer begin to plante a doctrine vnknowen tofore or renewe a doctrine afore neglected and forgotten but by suche as were godly and vnspotted as in dede expressed the strength and vertue of their doctrine in their life and behauiours For as S. Ambrose saith the wordes of teaching do vehementlie moue the hartes of the hearers when the life of the teacher is not dissonant Thē is the authoritie of the preacher firme sure alewable when he clencheth his sayinges in the mindes of the hearers with the efficatie of godly workes For the iuste man in his worde and dede is alowed in his sayinges this is required in all preachers and teachers commonlie howe much more is it requisite in them that will preache and teache a newe vnknowen doctrine and woulde repell and olde knowen and well grounded religion to plant some newe fangled inuētion If thei were moued by God then no doubte God woulde also inspire them to doo it orderlie that is accordinge as him selfe did and required other to doe He him selfe as is reported of him Caepit faeere docere Began first to doe and then to teach And he instructing his preachers said who soeuer breaketh one of these least cōmaundementes and so teacheth other he shal be called the least in the kingdome of heauen but whosoeuer obserueth teacheth the same shal be called great in the kingdome of God And S. Paule the worthie preacher of Christe his trueth dothe testifie of him selfe I doe chasten my bodie saith he and bringe it into subiection least peraduenture while I preache to other I my selfe be made a reprobate Surely if God woulde innouate or alter the religion so longe receiued by reprobate men then is he not the same that he was nor one with his promise For when he first began to plant the doctrine of his sonne Christ he chose such ministers and preachers therof as for integritie of life and also for diuers miracles effectuall persuasions of anye thinge that they shoulde teache were notable through all the worlde But our holy preachers beginning to plant a newe religion or as they saye renewe an olde doctrine this .xv. C. yeres neglected lacke both Thei haue neither good conditions to authorise ne miracles to cōfirme their sayinges O you will say vnto me though they liued not accordinglye yet was their teachinge good I saie they taughte naughtie false doctrine How proue I that because it is contrarie to the faith receiued and taught by our mother the vniuersall churche But they brought the scriptures for them ye wil fai. Yea so did the deuil so did Arreus Donate Sabellius and as many heretikes as euer were to maintaine their doctrine yet was their doctrine hereticall and blasphemous and the scripture true and moost true But thei alleged the Doctours and Fathers vppon the scriptures They did in dede but in like sort and maner as diuers were noted to allege Homers verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hedles endles for whatsoeuer they founde in any of the fathers workes that mighte in any respecte seeme in apparaunce to mainteine their errors the same wolde thei continuallie chat and charme on allthoughe in dede it made either against them and their errouious doctrine or at least nothinge with them if they had well waied their workes throughlye as they did not But they were snatchers and patchers only and only snatched here and there a piece to patche vp a botching mater I mighte well liken them to Apes for diuers qualities that were in them for as the Ape being neither apt to kepe that house as doth the mastie cur nor fitte to bere burthen as can the hors nor meete to turne and till the grounde as can the Oxe she only flattereth she only moueth vs to laughter and pleasure and with her folishe mockes and mowes maketh vs pleasaunt and merie So these newe fangled preachers for as much as thei had not the grace neither to kepe home with their mother the vniuersall churche and with her to watch and kepe the wardes that her enemies assaulte her not neither to turne till the groūde of mans soule that it might be apt to receiue that good feéde of whete whiche their mother woulde haue sowen neither yet paciontlie to bere the burthen and loode of her motherlie correction by fastinge and praiyng and to suffre the crosse of her spouse Christe which she would haue leide vpon their showlders being vnfitte I saye and vnprofitable membres to these good purposes and vses they became ministers of pleasure libertie lyeence and ease and they thēselues knowrle dope in them all Whos 's onlie purpose was as Trasmus well noteth in his epistle to Bylibaldus Census vxor thryuing and wyuing ergo in this point they be apishe Againe when so euer they toke vpon them the handlinge of any good and weightie matter their handling of it was apishelie for either thei woulde rent and teare it into peices and make it nought worth orels by wrasting and wrething of it they woulde force the same to mainteine their principall intente wyuinge and thriuynge and this is apishe Further as of euill commeth good many times so of thē came some good also For we reade that the wantonnes plaie and pastime that the Ape maketh driueth away the Agew from the Lyon In like sort the foly the lyceutious libertie of these new fangled preachers haue driuen
Iacob Verè hic est domus dci porta coeli id est In dede this is the house of God and the gate of heauen For be out of doubt if ye he not of this house ye cannot entre into heauen where God raigneth If ye kepe not your selues within the Arke of this vniuersall churche ye cannot auoide destruction Ye must nedes perishe bodie and soule Wherefore louinge frendes if you desire to be saued to raign with Christ be at home with his spousesse If ye louge to inherite as the children of our heauenly father despice not the doctrine of oure mother the catholike churche If ye longe to drinke the liuely water that springeth into euerlastinge life resorte home to the cleare fountaines of your kinde mother the churche and abandon the company of heretikes Leaue their broken and vncleane cesterues whiche can holde no water but poudle miere For briefe if ye desire to worshippe God rightly and to walke in this true religion accordinge to his most holy will pleasure then stagger not to embrace and folowe the olde religion newlye recouered and set furthe by our heauenlye and vertuous maiden Quene For bee out of doubt there is nothinge in this religion but what the scriptures of God haue occasioned the heauenlye spirite hath suggested our true mother the catholike church hath authorised the holye learned fathers of all Christendome haue set furth the consent of many generall counselles hath confirmed the longe succession and coÌ„tinuaunce hath approued to be moost true syncere and perfect O moost dere beloued frendes be not ashamed to repent wherein the Angelles of heauen will reioyce Be not ashamed to arise that haue so shamefully fallen Be not ashamed to come home to your mother the churche sith she is not ashamed to receiue you Thinke it not vilenesse to forsake the society of heretikes that ye maie bee made the children of God Thinke it no folye to twyne your selues out of the armes of an harlot whiche will gripe you to deathe that ye maye sit in the lappe of so tender a mother whiche will cherishe you into life euerlastinge Well it is time I see to breake of for I haue exceded the iust measure of a Preface And yet am I loth to leaue Blame me not though I cannot obserue measure in my talke to you towardes whom my loue hartie affectioÌ„ knoweth no mean And though I am in doubte how you shall lyke my doinges yet be ye out of all doubte I haue done the same of a great zeale and most frendlye affection towardes you all And I protest before God I onlye seeke therby your soules health Neither haue I written this to shame you but as my dere beloued bretherne I warne you and call you into the feloweship of the soonne of God Iesus Christe our lorde Wherein if I ought preuaile wel is it with me but muche better with you Here I will leaue gyue place to holy Vincent Too whom I beseche you hartely giue attentiue eare and willinge harte to vnderstand his counselles and no doubt but ye shal be glad therof The blessed God in perfite Trinitie direct your hertes waies The booke THE Scripture saiing and admonishinge DemauÌ„de of thy fathers Deu .xxxi and they wil tel the Enquire of thyne auÌ„cetours and they wil shew the Lykewise Applie thine eares un to the wordes of the wyse Prouer .iii Agayne My soÌ„ne forget not my sayinges let thy harte kepe my wordes It semeth vnto me that am of al the seruauntes of God the verye basest Pilgrime a matter wel worth the trauel and lyke throughe Gods grace to profite verie much if I shuld comprise together in wrytynge all such godly comfortable and holsome preceptes and couÌ„sels as I haue faithfullye receiued of the fathers concerninge the true and catholyke faieth A worke no doubte ryghte necessarye for mine owne infirmitie hauinge thereby prompte and redye that might through dayly reading repaire and help the wekenes of my memory Vnto whiche enterprice not the fruit onely of the selfe worke hathe moued me but also the iust consideration of tyme and oportunitie of place haue and doo vehementlye encourage me to attempte the same Tyme Tyme I saye for time we see passeth awaye irreuocablye suatching with it man and all humaine worldly thinges Wherefore sittinge it is that we of tyme catche also somewhat that might in tyme aduantage vs into lyfe lastinge beyonde tyme. And at this time especially when both a certaine terrible expectation of Goddes fearefull iudgement nowe imminent and approchinge verye nigh at hande exactethe in vs a more feruente studie towardes his religion and also the subteltie and crafte of newe fangled heretikes nedeth nowe greate care watche and diligence The place I saye Place because sequestratinge and deuidynge me from the frequencie and haunt of Cities and Townes I haue bestowed my self in an out smal village and in a Monasterie where without greate let or hinderaunce that maye be accomplished whiche the Psalme speaketh of Vacate uidete quoniam ego sum deus Moreouer the consideration of my purpose agrieth hereto well For whereas ones I was tossed with diuers and boysteous waues of the secular traffyque at length Christe beynge my helper I arriued vnto the porte of religion a moost sure hauen for all menne that there pullyng downe the combe of pryde and vanitie and applying my selfe to please God with the sacrifice of Christian humilitie I mighte happelye auoyde not onely the wrekes and troubles of this present lyfe but the inquencheable flames alsoo of the worlde hereafter But now I shall in the name our lorde sette vpon the matter purposed That is to describe and set furth such good lessons as by tradition are diriued by writtinge are lefte vnto vs froÌ„ our auncetours forefathers desirynge to be accepted rather as reporter thereof then presuminge to seeme authour of the same And further I shall obserue this ordre in writting not all but of all the moost necessarie matters to gather and reherse and that not in fyne and pyked phrase but in facile and coÌ„mon speche so that the moost part may seeme rather signified theÌ„ explicated rather sleight lye touched then exactly discussed I leaue the florishinge curious and painted maner of endicting to other whiche either vpon confidence of their wittes or respect of dutie or office attempt the lyke enterprise As for me I intende nothinge els but to prouide vnto my selfe and for mine own singular vse a byll of remembraunce as it were agaiust obliuion wherby memorie moughte be holpen whiche I feele nowe to decaye in me And yet I shal endeuour with Goddes helpe to amende and daylye enlarge the same as my leysure and oportunitie shal serue to recognise and recompt suche thinges as I haue learned And this to this end I say that if thê my treatise which I make for my selfe onely escape my handes and happe to lyght into the
it God forbyd that we shoulde so thinke of S. Paule For it foloweth and the same he eftsones doeth inculcate verye earnestlye with this iteration As I haue said tofore sayeth he I saye nowe agayne if any shal preache any other Ghospell vnto you then that whiche ye haue receiued accursed be he He sayde not yf any shal teach other doctrine theÌ„ such as ye haue receiued blessed be he let him be allowed receyued but let hi be sayth he Anathema that is to say let him be seperated segregated excluded as one accursed lest the dauÌ„gerous inffection of one corrupt shepe maye poyson and infect the sound flocke of Christ with his venemous permixtion company But some may say that these S. Paules preceptes wer only geueÌ„ to the Galathians and to none other Then also it shuld folow that other thinges set furth in the same epistle were commaunded vnto the Galathians onely and to none other As that Si uiuimus spiritu spÃritu ambus lemus c. that is if we liue by the spirite let vs walke in the spirite Let vs not be made desierous of vayne glory prouoking one an other enuiyng one an other And so furth as foloweth But if this be absurde to grauÌ„t if al thinges ther expressed by sainct Paule were commaunded vnto all indifferentlye then aswel the counseil warning concerning fayth as those preceptes of maners in like sort perteyne vnto al. And as it is not lawfull for anye person to prouoke or enuye one an other so it maye not be lawfull for any to allowe and folowe anye other doctrine then suche as the Catholike churche doth vniuersallye preache And yf that which then was commaunded as if anye teache you other doctrine then suche as hath been taughte you let him be accursed be not now commaunded which ther he sayeth in like sorte Dico autem spiritu ambulate et desiderium carnis non perficietis I saye walke in the spirite and fulfill not the luste and desire of the fleashe But yf it be wycked and also pernicious so to beleue then necessarely it foloweth that as these rules touchinge maners ought to be obserued of all ages euen so the other preceptes concerning the holye fay the are commaunded vnto all men of all ages as that nothyuge ought to be innouated or altered Wherfore neither hath it ben lawful neither is it lawful at any time to teache other doctrine vnto the catholike christians then hath already been allowed receyued Shal it theÌ„ be lawful or no to accurse them which presume to inayntayne or teache any other doctrine then that which hath been receyued taughte and beleued Verely it hath been euer lawfull it is alwayes lawfull it shall euermore be necessarye and lawfull Then for asmuche as it is so is there any of suche boldnes that dare teache any contrary doctrine to that which the vniuersall Churche hathe taught Is there anye of suche lightnes that is so madde to receyue any other then that whiche the churche hath receyued Yea although S. Paule crye and crye agayne Although I sai that blessed vessel of electioÌ„ that heauenly maister of gentiles that soundinge trompet of apostles that noble crier of the earthe and skylfull of the heauens althoughe I saye he do crye to al at all tymes and euerie where neuer somuch neuer so oft neuer so vehementlye accursed be he that teacheth anye newe opinion yet beholde howe these frogges these wretched gnattes the Pelagians Anabaptistes and other like heretikes reclame stil to the contrarie and that to the catholikes sayinge We being your authours leaders and teachers condemne that whiche ye haue allowed and allowe that which ye haue condemned Away with your olde faith with your elders institutions your auncetours decrees awaye with them all and for them receiue and imbrace wotte ye what Verelye suche gere as not only may not be auouched but neither yet also refelled or named weout dauÌ„ger Me thike I here some say Sir if no innouations maye be admitted howe is it that many times many excellent persones constituted and appointed in the churche are permitted by the wil of God to setfurth newe matters vnto the people This is a good questioÌ„ and worthye with muche diligence and at large to be considered Wherunto I shal not shape anye aunswere of myne owne witte but vse the authoritie of the heauenly scripture cleaue to the counsel and censure of the holy church Let vs heare therfore godly Moyses let hym declare vnto vs why learned men suche as for the gift of knowledge were called Prophetes by the Apostle are permitted now and then to bringe furth newe opinions and sectes whiche the olde testament calleth vnder allegorie straunge Gods because suche newe sectes are no otherwyse obserued and fauoured of heretikes theÌ„ the Gentiles did obserue and fauor their Gods This blessed Moyses therfore writeth in the Deuteronomie in this wise Moyses Yf a Prophet shal rise among you or any shal saye that he hath sene a dreme that is to wit a maister constitute in the churche whom the hearers beleue to teach by some reuelation what then And shall saieth Moyses foresaie asigne or portent and it shall happen as he hath spoken This is meaned no doubt by a maister of so great knowledge as might seeme to his disciples and hearers not onely to foreknow mean humain thinges but also suche matters as are aboue man much lyke were as their disciples bragge of them Valentinus Donatus Apollinaris and other of the same heere It foloweth in Moyses And shall saye vnto you go we and let vs folowe straunge Goddes whiche you knowe not and let vs serue them what be these straunge Gods but onely straunge errours Whiche thou knowest not that are newe not hearde of afore Let vs serue them What is that Let vs beleue and folow them What then Thou shalt not heare saieth Moyses The wordes of that Prophet or dreamer And wherefore I praye you Is not that forbidden to be taughte which is forbidden to be heard May not the hearing therof be suffered the teachinge whereof is not forbidden Because saieth Moyses the lorde your GOD tempteth you that it maye be manifest whether ye loue him or not with all your harte and with all your soule It is manifest and cleare as the daye to what ende the prouideÌ„ce of God doth some times permit certaine maisters and ceÌ„sors of his chucrh to erre and in their erringe to imagine and teache freshe ware newe toyes contrarie to the auncient custome of the catholike church It is saieth Moyses that thereby the Lorde youre GOD maye tempte you And doubtlesse this is a greate temptation when he whom thou iudgest a Prophet whom thou estemest a disciple of Prophetes whom thou thinkest a true and faiethfull teacher of veritie whom thou doest imbrace with all reuerence dothe sodeinlye slippe into daungerous errour and priuily teacheth falshood whiche thou canst not easelye deprehende that arte ledde with
the foreiudgemente of the auncient censure and hardlye maiest thou condempne them in whom affection hathe blinded the. Heare perchaunce some requireth that I explane these thinges auouched in the woordes of holye Moyses by some ecclesiastical examples It is a iust request and vnworthie to be neglected What temptation was that trowe ye when that vnhappie Nestorius sodainlye of a shepe beinge made a woulfe â—estorius began to rent teare the flocke of Christe Yea when euen they whose bloude he sucked yet beleued him to be a shepe whereby they were the redier pray vnto him For whoe woulde not hardlye beleue that he were in error whom they sawe elected and chosen with soo greate iudgemente of the temporall Empyre so greatlye fauoured and reuerenced of the spirituall clergie who with muche commendation of holye men with great fauour of the people was daily celebrated and did openly preache and teache the holye scriptures and so earnestly confuted the daungerous and pestilent errors of the Iewes and Gentiles Whoe woulde not thinke but this were a ryghte felowe and that he taughte preached and thought ryghtlye in all pointes For to th ende he mighte make awaye for his heresie to take place he inueighed earnestly againste the blasphemies of all other heresies But this is it that Moyses sayed The lorde your GOD tempteth you if you loue him or nor And to let passe Nestorius in whom alwayes moore admiration was theÌ„ profitte greater fame then experience whome in the conceite of the multitude rather the fauor and fancie of men had made great theÌ„ the grace of god let vs recite other which being of greate knowledge and diligence were therefore no small temptation vnto the catholyke folke As amoÌ„gest the Hungarians was one Photinus Photinus that teÌ„pted the coÌ„gregation of Syrma Who afterwarde that he was admitted into the holy order of priesthoode and had there ministred a while as a true catholike maÌ„ sodaynly as that false prophet or Dreamer whome Moyses speaketh of he beganne to perswade the people of God committed vnto hym to folowe straunge Goddes That is to saye straunge opinions whiche they knewe not before And as that is common so is this very pernicious when to the settyng furth of such straunge errours ther lacke no colour of scholes no apparell of Rhetoricke no helpe of knowledge as thys Photinus lacked not For he was a manne by witte able to doe asmuche as anye in all kynde of knowledge excellent for pleasaunt and swete pronuntiation inferiour to none Who copiously and weyghtely disputed and wrote in bothe tongues as is manifest by his bookes whiche he made and penned as well in the Greke tongue as also the laten tongue But happely the flocke of Christ committed vnto him being very vigilant and warye for and concernynge the catholicke faythe remembred quickely the watche worde geuen tofore by Moyses and although they wondred at the eloquence of theyr Prophet and Pastour yet wer they well warye of the teÌ„ptacion For whom they afore folowed as the belweather of their flocke nowe they auoyde and flie from hym as a rauenyng wolfe Likewise the example not of Photinus onelye Photinus Apollinaris but of Apollinaris also maye well teache vs what great peryll ensueth of the ecclesiasticall temptacion and so warne and prouoke vs with the more earnest diligence to obserue holde and folowe the catholycke faythe vniuersallye taughte and receyued For this Apollinaris had with such fetches so intangled his hearers with suche insoluble argumentes and so combred theyr wyttes that thauthoritie of the churche leading them one waye the custome and practise of theyr preacher drawynge them another waye they were al amased and in doubt what thei might stand to and whiche waye thei might take and folow Neyther was Appollinaris suche one as mighte easlye be contempned Yea he was so worthye a man and of suche estimation as in moste thinges mought very quickely be credited For who was more excellent in finesse of witte then he Who worthie either for diligence or knowledge to be conferred with him Howe manye heresies in howe manye volumes he hath expressed how manye errours contrary and iniutious to the fayth he hath confuted I nede not declare That most noble worke contayninge thirtie bookes in numbre maye suffice for the declaration therof wherin he confouÌ„deth mightelye the frantike brablinges fonde cauillatioÌ„s of Porphyrie with a great heape of proffes It were a tedious busines to recite all the workes that he made wherein he shewed hym selfe to be so excellent a clerke as might worthelye be thought equall to the chiefe builders of Christ his churche had he not through prophane lust of hereticall noueltie ymagined that new fangled errour wherwith as with the poison of a running Leprie so defiled he the rest of his doinges with from theÌ„cefurth his doctrine was thought and accompted rather to be ecclesiasticall temptation then spirituall edification Here it maye be required at my handes that I declare theyr heresies whom I haue aboue remembred for heretikes that is the heresies of Nestorius Apollinaris Photinus Howe be it this appertaineth not to the purpose which nowe is in hande For my purpose is not to recite all their errours but to produce the examples of a fewe whereby that maye be euidently and clearely demonstrated vnto you whiche Moyses sayeth that yf at anye time any maister of the Clergie yea and he euen a Prophet in expoundinge the mysteries of the Prophetes attempteth to bringe any new opinion into the church ye maye knowe that the prouidence of God then suffered you to be tempted I shall not let notwithstandinge in discurse briefly to disclose the errors of the afore saied men And I wil first beginne with Photinus Whose sect is this Photinus He sayeth that God is but a single and solitarye persone and that he muste be confessed after the maner of the Iewes He denaieth the Trinitie and thinketh to be no person either of the son or of the holy ghost He affirmeth Christ to be only maÌ„ that he toke his beginning of Marye And this he teacheth vehemeÌ„tlye that we oughte to confesse the onelye personne of God the father and wurshyppe Christ as man onelye This was the heresie that Photinus mayntained Apollinaris braggeth that in the vnitie of the Trinitie he doeth consent with vs Apollinaris heresie and yet the same he blasphemeth with his erronious profession touchynge the incarnation of Christ For he sayth that in the fles he of our Sauiour eyther the soule of man was not at all or at leastwise such one as lacked vnderstanding and reason Moreouer he say de that Christ receyued not fleshe of the blessed virgin Mary but that he came from heauen into the virgin And being wauerynge and doubtfull what he might certaynlye at all tymes auowche he some tymes affirmed the fleshe of Christe to be coeternall with God the worde some times to be made of the diuinite of the worde For he would
humayne letters then he Whose breste was farced vp with a most plenteous varietie of all maner of knowledge There was no sect of Philosophers no part of theyr studies whiche he had not sought and faithfully placed in the treasurye of remembraunce He so far excelled in grauitie and vehemencie of witte that he hath not at anye time almoste purposed to withstande or ouerthrow anye controuersie which either by finesse of witte or by wayghte of argumentes he archiued not The prayse of whose oration who can expresse Whiche was interlased wyth so greate necessitie of reason that it did impell and inforce to his opinion such as otherwyse he could not induce and perswade In which almost howe manye wordes so manye sentences be And howe many sentences so many victories A great many can recorde this and speciallye Marciones Apelles Praxee Hermogenes the Iewes the Gentiles the detestable heretikes called Gnostici Whose blasphemies he hath in great large volumes defaced and as it were with the violent stroke of percinge lightninge clene ouerthrowen And yet eueÌ„ this TertulliaÌ„ after al these godly practises not stedfastlye cleuing vnto the faithful shore of the catholik trueth the vniuersal and auncient faith beinge more eloqueÌ„t then happy more pregnaÌ„t in wit then coÌ„stant in faith forgetting as it wer him self his former profession did at length as the blessed confessor Hillary in a certaine place dothe wryte of him saiyng TertulliaÌ„ tracing and folowing error hath pluckte awaie authoritie from his probable writinges And he also hathe ben in the Churche a greate tempracion But I shall spare to speake any more of this man Onely thys shall I remembre that forasmuche as he mainteined the newfangled furies of Montanus beinge raysed in the Churche contrarie to Moyses precepte affirmed those mad dreames of newe doctrine deuised by worse then mad women to be true prophesies he therefore hath deserued that of him and his writynges it shoulde be said If a Prophet shal rise among you you shal not herkeÌ„ to the wordes of that prophet Wherefore Because saieth Moyses the lorde your god teÌ„pteth you whether you loue him or not By these other the lyke so many and so greate examples we maye euidentlye perceiue and by the lawes of Deuteronomie more clearly see and vnderstande that if at any tyme any ecclesiasticall prelate orlearned man shall erre from the catholike faith in any point that then the heauenlye prouidence dothe suffre the same to tempte and proue vs thereby whether we loue God or not in all our harte and in all our soule Wherfore seyng it is so he then is a true and perfecte catholike man whiche loueth the trueth of god which loueth the church the mysticall bodye of Christe whiche estemeth no singular mans authoritie witte or iudgemeÌ„t knowlege or eloquence aboue the true religioÌ„ of Christ whiche preferreth not the affection loue or frendeship of anye singular person before the vniuersall and catholike faith But despising all those thinges doth abide permanent and stable in faith and resolueth with him selfe to receiue hold and beleue which he knoweth the catholike Churche vniuersally and continually to haue receiued holdeÌ„ beliued And what euer new doctrine at any time after he shall perceiue to be brought in by any one either besides or aboue or contrarie and repugnant to that whiche the catholike fathers haue in consente agreid vpon he adiudgeth the same to pertaine not to religion but vnto temptation onely accordinge to the holesome doctrine of blessed S. Paule expressed in the firste epistle vnto the Corrinthians Oportet hÄ™reses esse ut probatimanifesti fÃant in uobis That is to saie Heresies must be to th ende that the proued may be made manifest amonge you As if he had saied the authors of heresies be not by by rooted oute but permitted for the time by God that euery man beinge proued maye be made manifest and euidentlye to appeare howe stedfaste faithful and sure louer he is of the catholike faith And in dede as oft as any noueltie riseth vp theÌ„ esely is the good corne tried by his weighte and the chaffe by his lightnes Then the good corn abideth within the floore notwithstandinge any puffe of noueltie And the chaffe is therwith lightly pufte out hauinge not the substauÌ„ce of good corne to keepe it within the floore of the catholike vnitie For theÌ„ we see howe some take their leaue shake handes for euer some other hange houerynge in the ayre and kepe them aloufe both fearing to depart and ashamed to retourne beynge wounded halfe dead and half aliue For why They haue receiued suche quantitie of the poyson as neither killeth ne can be digested neither forceth to dye ne suffereth to lyue Ah moost wretched and miserable condition In what restles cares are their hartes broyled trowe ye Now thei will nowe they nil one whyle they are violently plucked with the raised error where the wind of noueltie dryueth another while reuersed vpon them selues as contrarie waues they do relide and beate against the walles of theire owne conscience Nowe with foule hardie presuÌ„ption they approue that whiche semeth vncertaine now throughe causelesse feare they dreade and feare to coÌ„fesse such thinges as are moost certaine being al vncertaine which way to god or come what to desire and what to auoide what to hold or what to let passe Which affliction of so doubtfull wauering hart is no doubt the remedie and medicine of Goddes mercie towardes them if they be wise For beinge without the moost surest porte of the catholike faieth they are shaken beaten and almost slayne with the violente stormes of sondrye thoughtes to th ende that they put downe the sayles of proude minde whiche they had hoyssed alofte and vnaduisedlye had spreed to the windes of noueltie and that they ariue againe home warde into the quiet and calme hauen of their good and peaceable mother the churche where they myghte drinke the streemes of lyuelye and springing waters that thei vnlearne well whiche they learned not well and to prouoke them to forget with speede that whiche they receiued in ouer great hast And of the whole doctrine of the churche what can be comprehended in their vnderstandynge and reason to vnderstand the same and learne it by reason and what is aboue their capacitee of reason that same firmelye to beleue Thys beinge thus reuoluynge and many times recordynge the same with my selfe I cannot sufficientlye wondre at the greate madnes of certayne menne the greate impietie of blinded mindes and finallye the greate luste and desyre to erre that some haue that they cannot be contented with the auncient beleife taughte and receyued vniuersally in the churche but muste seke daylye newe gere Euermore couetynge to alter and innouate the religion eyther by adding some thing that is newe or by pullinge awaye parte of that whiche was olde As thoughe the religion of the churche were not an heauenlye decree but an earthly institucion whiche
otherwise can not be perfect without dayly emendation yea rather repreheÌ„sion of the same the diuine Oracles criyng to the contrarye Ne transferas terminos quos posuerunt patres tui that is to sai beware thou go not beyonde the bondes whiche thy auncetours haue set Agayne Super iudicaÌ„tem ne iudices That is to say Iudge not thou of or vpoÌ„ him that hath iudged Likwise ScindenteÌ„sepem mordebÃt euÌ„ serpeÌ„s Whiche is in our tonge The serpent wil stinge him that breaketh or cutteth the hedge Whereby is ment that the deuyl which is figured by the serpent in the scripture wil poison stinge him to deathe that presumeth to breake the hedge of the catholike faythe and contemneth the vnitie of Christ his vniuersall churche Hereto belongeth the worthye counsail of S. Paul wherwith as with a certayne spirituall sworde all detestable nouelties of cursed heresies are and at all times haue been cut of and shal be to the worldes ende O Timothe sayeth he kepe that doctrine whiche was lefte vnto thee and auoyde all prophane nouelties of wordes and termes Beware of oppositions and obiectioÌ„s of false named science whiche certayne promisyng haue erred coÌ„cerning the faith What can be more vehemeÌ„tly spoken against new innouations contrary to the auncient order of the vniuersall church theÌ„ this yet behold the indurate hartes the shamelesse impudeÌ„cie the stiffe outragious pertinacie of diuers whom neyther the great weight of so manifest scriptures can moue to yelde nor the weyghtie importaunce of so highe authorities canne force to retyre ne yet so terrible threatenynges of high vengeaunce can persuade to repent O Timothe sayeth S. Paule auoyde prophane nouelties of wordes and voyces He sayth not antiquities and auncienties But therby sheweth what on the other syde he shoulde folowe For he sayeth not Auoide the olde auncient receiued termes phrases and sentences but newfangled gere and prophane nouelties Then if noueltie is to be auoyded antiquitie oughte to be admitted if noueltie be prophane then is auncientie holye and diuine Auoide also sayeth he and resist oppositions and obiections of knowledge falselye so called That is obiections made by heretikes agaynst the receyued order of the catholike churche vpon knowledge as they wold lyghtlye perswade But it is not so sayeth S. Paule It is falsely called knowledge The knowledge of Heretikes is grosse ignoraunce their brightnesse is mere dymnesse Theyr light is hellishe darkenesse Yet woulde they so disgyse and colour them that in apparaunce they might seeme the selfe same thinges whiche promisyng sayeth S. Paule they haue fallen from the faithe What haue they promised Surelye I wote not what newe and vnknowen doctrine For ye shall here some say vnto you The verie fourme of wordesth heretikes vse O ye fooles and selye poore soules whiche commonly are called catholike come ye vnto vs saye they and learne of vs the true faythe which none knoweth besides vs whiche hath ben hidden from you this many hundred yeres and is nowe of late reueled and shewen vnto a fewe of vs. But learne it of vs priuelye and secretlye and you shall finde great pleasure therin And wheÌ„ ye haue learned it at our handes teache it other also but priuelye in corners that the worlde heare it not and that the Churche knowe it not For thei can not beare it because it is geuen but to a fewe to vnderstande and receiue the secrete of so great mysterie I praye you be not theise the very wordes of that abhominable and deceytefull harlot spoken of in the pronerbes of Salomon Which doth allure to come vnto her suche as passe by the waye goynge in theyr iourneye sayinge He that is vnwisest of you al let him come to me And the simple she intiseth also saying Panes occultos libenter attingite et aquam dulcemfurtim bibite That is to saye Come and eate gladlye the loues whiche are hidden and drinke priuely a swete pleasaunt water These are the flattering and deceyuable wordes of that false wicked harlot the churche of Antichrist But it is worthe the labour to trauerse more at large the wordes of S. Paule O Timothe saith he kepe that which is left vnto the auoyding prophane nouelties of wordes O is an exclamation aswell of prescience as also of charitie For he aforesawe the errours to come and afore hande was careful howe to auoyde them He speaketh vnto Timothe Who is now Timothe But eyther the vniuersal churche generally or the whole bodye of the rulers speciallye For bothe them selues oughte to haue the sounde and perfect knowledge of Gods religion and also to teache the same to other What is meaned by that Deposita custodi Kepe that whiche is lefte vnto the. Kepe sayeth saynct Paule because of fylchynge theues and enuyous aduersaries Least thei when men be at rest shoulde sowe theyr zizan and Cocle vpon that good seede of Wheate whiche the sonne of man hadde sowen before in his feelde Kepe that whiche was lefte vnto thee sayeth the Apostle What was that Forsothe that whiche was credited and committed vnto thee and not that whyche was deuised by thee The religion whiche thou haste receyued and not whiche thou of thy selfe haste imagined a matter not of wyt but of doctrine not of priuate vsurpation but of publike traditioÌ„ brought vnto the from thyne auncetours not brought fnrthe by the for thy successors Wherof thou oughtest not to be an authour but keper not an institutour but folower Hold assuredly saieth S. Paule saue kepe the inuiolate and pure talent of the catholike faieth committed vnto the. Exchaunge not but what thou hast receiued holde that still and delyuer that same vnto other Thou hast receiued golde yeld golde againe I will not that thou rendre either impudentlye leade or craftely coper for good golde restore in value and substaunce gold in deed and not that whiche glistereth and hath a showe lyke to golde and yet is none O Timothe O thou priest thou doctour preacher or expouÌ„der of scriptures if the gift of God hath made the a fitte instrument thereunto in witte doctrine and exercise bee thou Beselehel the workeman of the spirituall tabernacle Cut and graue workemanly the pretious Gemmes of the heauenly doctrine Coapt set and applye them faithfully Adorne decke set theÌ„ furth wisely Adde with the vttermost of thy power shyning grace bewtie Through the and thyne expositions let it be perceiued more clearelye whiche before was darke and yet beleued faithfully Through the and thy frauel let the posteritie reioyce in the vnderstandinge of that whiche tofore the antiquitie did worship and not vnderstande But yet teach the same thinges whiche thou hast learned and none other that when thou speakest newely yet thou speake not newe matters Here some wil saye What shal there be no increase had of religion in the churche of Christe-Yes what els Who is so iniurious bothe to God and man that would not so But increase I would should be not
expressed and throughly resolued the same to cōsolidate confirme and assure What hathe been confirmed and ratified the same faythfullye to kepe folowe and beleue For what hath the churche purposed at anye time by the decrees of general counsailles but that such thynges shoulde afterwarde more diligentlye be obserued whiche afore were simply beleued And that whiche tofore was but slackly taught should afterwarde be preached more in stantlye This I say at al tymes and nothing els the churche being vexed with the furious nouelties of wicked herelikes hathe purposed to doe in the decrees of her counseylles that suche doctrine as was receyued by tradition onely from the auncetours might be assigned sealed hensforth vnto the posteritie by scripture cōprising in litle writyng a great weight of matters And manye times for the better vnderstanding of them vttereth expresseth the olde sense and meaning of our faith in new termes newly deuised for the playne opening of suche matters as might otherwise apeare obscure But let vs returne to the apostle S. Paule He sayeth Depositum custodi Kepe that whiche was left vnto the auoidynge prophane nouelties of words auoide saith he hate as a viper as a scorpiō as a venemous cockatrice least they hurt thee not onelye with their touching but also with their sight and pestilent brethe What is it to auoide Forsothe not once to eate or drinke with thē Auoide sayth S. Paule What Yf anye sayth he cōmeth vnto you and bringeth not with him this doctrine What doctrine The catholycke and vniuersall doctrine which hath remained one and the same by all succession of ages through incorrupt tradition of verite shall remayne to the worldes end whosoeuer saye naye What then Doe not receyue him sayeth S. Paule into thy house neither shalte thou saye vnto hym aue God spede For he that sayeth vnto him God spede or all hayle he doeth communicate with hys wickednes He sayth prophane nonelties of wordes What is prophane Verely that whiche is neither God! ye nor goodly all whory and nothing holy that whiche straieth without the borders and boundes of the catholyke Churche whiche is the temple of God He saith Prophane nouelties of wordes or voices What is that No doubt nouelties of wordes opinions censures sectes contrarie to antiquitie repugnaunte to the auncient faieth of the vniuersal churche For if suche nouelties be receiued suche innouations admitted thē of necessitie must the faieth of the holy fathers be greatlye stayned then must all faiethfull of all ages all holye and chast fathers all contment and godly virgins all clerkes leuites and priestes theu must so many thowsande of confessours so greate hostes of martyrs so innumerable multitude of cities of peoples of Islādes and prouinces so many thowsande kinges and nations Finally in maner the whole world being incorporate vnto our heed Christ throughe the catholyke faieth must of necessitie I say be indged all this while so many hundreth yeres to haue been ignoraunt to haue erred and blasphemed God not to haue knowen what they shoulde beleue Prophane nouelties of wordes saieth Paule auoide Whye auoyde Because it was neuer the custome and propertie of catholyke men but onely of heretikes to receiue and folowe thē And in dede what heresie hathe there been that spronge not vp vnder a singular and certaine name in a singular and certaine bothe time and place Who euer forged any heresies but that he first diuided him selfe from the consent of the vniuersalitie and aunciētie of the catholike church Whoo euer presumed so greate force of frewill that he thought it sufficiente to worke all good actions without the helpe of Goddes grace before that prophane heretike Pelagius Whoo euer denaied all mankinde to be boūde in the offēse of Adam his preuaricatiō before Celestius the prodigious disciple of that monstruous maister Pelagius Who euer durst either to diuide the vnitie of the blessed trinitie before that cursed Arrius or confound the Trinitie of the ineffable vnitie before wicked Sabellius Who euer saied before that mooste cruell Nouatianus that GOD woulde rather haue the deathe of a sinner then that hee shoulde returne and liue Who euer before Symon Magus of whome that olde goulfe of filthes euen vnto Priscillianus by continuall and priuie succession haue issued dursie saye God our creatour to be the authour of euell that is of oure wicked impious abhominable dedes For he affirmeth that God hath created such a nature in man that by a certaine propre motion and impulse of necessarie wyll he neither can ne wil any thinge els but sinne for being exagitate in flamed with the furies of al vices he is pluct and pulled throughe insatiable desyre into al kinde of iniquitie There be inumerable examples of this sorte whiche I omit for breuities sake by whiche it is clerely and manifestly declared that this hath been as it were a solemne vowe euer moore amonges heretikes to set vp prophane nouelties to neglecte the orders of auncietie And by oppositions of doctrine falselye termed to hasarde the catholyke faith Of thother side this euermore hathe ben the propertie of the catholikes to kepe maintaine saue all suche godly orders and constitutions deliuered and left of the holye fathers to condempne vtterly all prophane nouelties according to the counsel of S. Paul Who earnestly warneth if any shal preache vnto you any other doctrine thē ye haue receiued accurse him Here perchaūce some wyll saye vnto me do not suche as ye call heretikes vse the scriptures And can the scriptures lye Surely the scriptures lye not Yet lyinge heretikes abuse the testimony of the scriptures yea and veray vehementlie For ye shall se them flye throughe euerie volume and parte therof throughe all the bokes of Moy ses of the kynges throughe all the Psalmes the Apostles gospelles and Prophetes Wheresoeuer and with whomsoeuer they talke beinge at home or a brode whether they preache or write be they at feast or in the stretes scripture droppeth out of their mouthes as thicke as hayle from heauen They bring not one iote of their owne but the same is shadowed with scripture termes Reade who list the workes of Paulus Samosatenus or Priscillianus Eunomius Iouinianus all other heretikes that euer haue ben or hereafter shal be And ye shall finde an infinite heape of examples yea ye shall se not one leafe in all their bookes almoost but it is painted set as thicke with quotations notes in the margente of sentences as well of tholde as the newe testamente as possybly the margente canne holde Yet are they detestable heretikes Of whome we oughte so muche the more to beware and feare the more priuely they lurk vnder the bowers of diuine scriptures For they know well that their trecherie and filthes ill stenches coulde not quickly please if they were nakedlye and simply brethed furth And therefore they all besprincle thē with the swet spices as it were of the heauenlye doctrine that he
S. Paule shall not be knowen That is to saye whosoeuer eyther doeth not learne whyche he knoweth not or beyng knowen doeth contemne the same man shal not be knowen That is he shal be counted vnworthy on whome amongest other vnited in fay the and knitte in christian humilitie the heauenlye mercye maye be extended And what thynge worsse What euyll more bytter canne be deuysed then thys And yet accordynge to thys Apostolycke commination we see the same hathe chaunced vnto Iulian Pelagian who eyther neglected to incorporate hym selfe to the mynde and sentence of other fathers or presumed to excorporate hym selfe that tofore was one of them But nowe time it is that accordinge to my promise I declare by example when and how the sentences of the holy fathers may be gathered together that by them the rule of Ecclesiasticall faythe myghte be assured and confirmed accordynge as by decree and authoritie of counsayle is sette furthe And to doe thys fytte and necessarye it is that I doe eftsoones reuoke what tofore was sayde I sayde at the begynnynge that thys euermore was and styl is the custome of Catholike and true beleuers to approue the true faythe by two wayes First by the authoritie of diuine Scripture Secondlye by tradition of the catholyke Churche Not because the Scripture sufficeth not or plentuously contayneth not all thinges necessarye but because euery man expounding the same accordynge to theyr owne fantasies do often times conceyue dyuers errours and straunge opinions centrary to the intent of the holy scriptures And therefore it is necessarye that the intelligence vnderstandinge of the heaueuly scripture be directed according to one vniforme rule of the ecclesiastical iudgement especiallye in those questions on whiche the foundacion of the whole catholike doctrine doeth staye We sayde moreouer that we ought to consider in the churche the consent aswel of the vniuersalitie as also of antiquitie Least we be broken of from the integritie of vnitie into some prophane error or least we be tumbled from the religion of auncientie headlong into nouelties of vnknowen heresie I haue sayde also that in the same antiquitie of the churche we ought vehementlye and studiously to obserue two thinges vnto which eche man must cleue fast that will not be an heretike The first is if any thinge in the antiquitie of the churche hathe been decreed by all catholike teachers and holy fathers and hathe been setfurth by authoritie of vniuersall counsell Next if there hap to arise any newe question whiche is not decided by generall counsell that then euery good man ought to haue recourse vnto the auncient writers which are knowē to haue stedfastly perseuered in the vnitie of the catholike communion and faieth And whatsoeuer they in one minde and consente haue receyued and taught the same we ought to iudge and accept as moost syncere pure and catholike doctrine And that this myght not seeme to be spoken rather of my owne head then by authoritie ecclesiastical I haue drawen to example the godly counsell kepte in Afia at Ephesus Bassus and Antiochus two noble persones then beinge consulles In which counsell a motion beinge made for orders and rules to be deuised for the stablishinge of the faieth it semed vnto all the fathers there assembled whiche were aboute C C. in numbre a thinge verye catholike right faiethfull and moste beest to be done lest any prophane noueltie shoulde by chaunce crepe in contrarye to their godly purpose as to fore in the counsell kepte at Arimine in Italy to bringe furthe the sentences censures opinions of the holye fathers of whiche some were Martyrs some wer Confessors and al were constātly remained catholike priestes true faiethful teachers And according to their minde consente and decree well and deuoutly considered the religion of christian faieth might be confirmed and the blasphemie of prophan noueltie condempned This thus done of righte that wicked Nestorius was condempned as an heretike iniurious to the catholike auncientye and blessed Cyrillus was pronoūced catholike consenting and agreable vnto the holye antiquitie And for the better warrant of the matter I learned the names of the same fathers although I haue forgotten their order accordinge to whose censure and iudgement both suche sentences as then were cōtrouerted were expounded and also the rule of the diuine doctrine stablished Whiche fathers here to reherse by name I thinke it not superfluous For thereby shal my memorie be confirmed Wherefore these were they whose wrytinges are recited beinge either iudges or witnesses in that coūsell S. Peter Byshop of Alexandria a verie excellente teacher mooste blessed Martyr Holy Athanasius highe prelate of the same citie a right faithful preacher and moost worthie confessor Holy Theophilus Byshoppe also of the same citie a man for his faieth lyfe and knowledge very famous Whom succeded Cyrill a father of muche reuerence To these holy fathers and godlye Byshoppes of our Citie and prouince adde those shining beames of Cappadocia as saint Gregorie Byshoppe and confessor of Nazianse S. Basil Byshop cōfessor of Caesarea Cappadocia other S. Gregorie also byshop of Nice a man for his faith conuersation integritie and wisedome most worthie to be as he was brother to holye Basill All these were Greekes Amongest the Latines also were manye that by their iudgemēt allowed the matters passed in that counsel as S. Felix martyr and S. Iulie Byshoppes of Rome Lykewise blessed S. Cyprian Byshop of Carthage martyr Holye sainte Ambrose Byshop of Mediolanū These were they whiche were in the counsell of Ephesus as iudges witnesses Maisters and Counsellers whose doctrine that blessed Synode faiethfullye imbraced and folowinge theire counsell beleuinge their testimonie obeinge their iudgement haue syncerely truely and faiethfullye pronounced of matters concerning faieth These fathers were but tenne in numbre A greater numbre mought haue been called thereto but there was noo necessitie because as the tyme serued the matters consisted not in the multitude of witnesses and noman doubted but all other catholike men thoughte and beleued as these tenne did After all these thinges I also added S. Cyrill his sentence Whiche is conteined in the eccle siasticall gestes For what tyme the Epistle of holye Capreolus Byshoppe of Carthage was readen who intended and desired nothinge els but that the holye antiquitie mought be defēded and wicked noueltie anulled and vtterlye refused then S. Cyrill pronounced defined in fourme as followeth And this Epistle saied he of the reuerend and most godly father Capreolus Bisshop of Carthage shal be regestred in the boke of our gestes and decrees concerninge the faieth whose sentence is so playne For he will that the sentences and decrees of the auncient faieth be confirmed and stablished and that newe founde fansies and inuentions be reproued and condēpned as bothe superfluous and wicked Hereto all the Byshoppes gaue their consent al wholly agreed therupon all together with one voyce wished the same Wherto gaue they their consent What was it that they in one