first ordeine lawes then assigne his Magistrates the Apostles Lastly that this bonde of mutuall societie might not be broken and so the couenable agreement of this Citie disturbed he did erect a Monarchie and therein inuested Peter with the highest soueraigntie First of all what heauenly commoÌ„ wealth do you dreame of vpon earth when as that heauenly Ierusalem is aboue wherein dwelleth God him selfe and our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ whereas the earth can haue none other Citie then earthly Neither did Iesu Christ take vnto him mans nature to the end hee would coyne new lawes but to accomplishe the old that the glad tydynges might be preached That prisoners might bee loosed that the sicke might be healed lastly that by offring vp his most precious body on the Crosse our sinnes might be clensed As for any superioritie in gouernement the Apostles receaued none nor any other authoritie was committed vnto them but that they should wander through the whole world emptie of all worldly furniture cariyng nothing with them and should sow in all places abroad the comfortable doctrine of the Gospell Nay rather when arose betwixt them a question who should be greatest amongest them our Lord and Sauiour Christ did so vtterly suppresse that ambicious contention that he briefly denounced that he which was left should be greatest amongest them Agayne when Iames Iohn had besought of our Lord and Sauiour that the one of them might sit on his right hand the other on his left hand when he were ascended into heauen vnto the throne of Maiestie he reproued them both so sharpely blamyng their ignoraunce that he told them They knew not what they asked and immediatly callyng the rest of the twelue together he so tempered vnto them lowlynes humilitie and obedience by manifest Arguments that they might easely perceiue how they were forbidden all maner of superioritie Sith these thyngs therfore are true I woÌ„der what came into your mynde to dreame of so dry a Summer that a Monarchie was erected amoÌ„gest the Apostles and that vnto Peter was geuen the preheminence thereof Was Peter so appointed the chief ouer the rest of the Apostles when as Christ him selfe doth so embace them and fearefully terrifle them from all maner of supremacie was Peter so worthy to be a Monarche when as Christ him selfe did hyde him out of the way bycause they would haue made him a kyng must we be so subiect to Peter and his Successours as vnto Princes when our Sauiour Iesu Christ came downe from heauen for this entent purpose to become a seruauÌ„t vnto others requiryng of his Apostles the selfe same duetie of abacement But there is nothyng you say more cleare then these wordes Thou art Peter and vpon this Rocke I will builde my Church And what soeuer thou byndest vpon earth shall be bound also in heauen And I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth may not fainte And thou at the last beyng coÌ„uerted confirme thy brethren And many other like Whereby you will coÌ„streine vs to beleue That Peter was preferred before the rest of the Apostles I will treate therfore of euery of these seuerally That it may be euidently knowen what a deépe insight this Reuerend Prelate hath in Diuinitie For if he haue made here a strong and souÌ„de foundation his passage wil be the easier to the rest of his Assertions But if his groundewordes be planted vpon Sande the rest of his buildyng will quickely shiuer in peéces and come to ruine First of all therefore Note this to bee commonly vsed throughout the whole Scripture That when our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ would demaunde any question of all his Apostles Peter would make auÌ„swere in the name of the whole generally and not in his owne name particularely So to that question But whom do you say I am Peter maketh auÌ„swere for them all Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuyng God Agayne when the Lord demaunded Whether they his Disciples would depart away from him with the rest of the Iewes Peter not onely for him selfe but for his whole company denyed saying Lord whether shall we goe Thou hast the wordes of eternall lyfe The life hereof is in Peters Sermon when he exhorted the Iewes to repose their whole affiaunce of saluation in Iesu Christ whom they Crucified and was risen agayne froÌ„ death to life For in the same place it is sayd that Peter alone did not preach to the Iewes but with the other eleuen The wordes were pronounced by Peters mouth onely but the mynde sentence enteÌ„t was agreed vpoÌ„ by all the Apostles Now therfore if those Scriptures do admitte these phrases of speach as appeareth playnly by the wordes of the holy Ghost Then this is a necessary consequent That our Lord Iesu Christ did in lyke maner apply his wonted communication vsed with the Apostles to Peters coÌ„mon aunswere In the like phrase of speach were those wordes Thou art Peter and vpon this Rocke will I build my Church For as Peter in the behalfe of all his fellowes affirmed that hee was Christ the sonne of the liuyng God so Christ likewise though he named Peter onely yet acknowledgeth the vniuersall consent and confession of all the rest and in the same doth promise to establish his Church which interpretatioÌ„ if you will not allow without witnesses behold Oâ—otius I haue alledged auncient Fathers mainteinyng myne allegation agaynst you and haue noted their places not obseruyng your disorder herein whiche vse to packe together a Rable of names of Fathers omittyng the matter as though to the resolution of doubtfull matters neéded nothyng but names Next hereunto you place in order the promise of Christ in these wordes What soeuer thou shall bynde vpon earth shall also be bounde in heauen what then ought this promise to bee restrained to Peter onely or was this promise equally coÌ„municated to the other Apostles whose speach is this then Receaue ye the holy Ghost whose soeuer sinnes ye do forgeue shal be forgeueÌ„ them and whose sinnes soeuer you doe reteine the same are reteined Is not this the gift of Christ is not this Christes promise made vnto his twelue Disciples standyng in the middest of them and preachyng vnto them all endyng them all with his heauenly blessing somewhat afore his Ascention Is not this sentence manifest enough the witnesse approued the authoritie not comptrollable vnlesse paraduenture you will contend like a child and stand vpon the nycenes of these sillables byndyng and loosing wherof you made mention before And yet if ye will obstinately persiste herein you shal be vrged with sillables and titles of like wordes Verely verely I say vnto you whatsoeuer you shall bynde on the earth the same shal be bounde in heauen also and whatsoeuer you loose vpon the earth shal be loosed also in heauen Here you this Do you also perceaue it and are ye not ashamed will you attribute that vnto
filthy mischieuous dennes betymes You reserue a place for the defence of your Monckes by it selfe and in drawyng their petigreé you play the Philosopher at large Wherein you are not onely to childishe and tedious but so farre estraunged frō the purpose that ye seéme rather to dreame of S. Patrickes Purgatory thē to note our Religiō Let vs marke the begynnyng which is this There be ij sortes of men say you that are empaled within the boūdes of the Churche The one whose function consisteth in generall practize of maners in a meane course of vertue and godlynes The other that desire to aduaunce thē selues in a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline Behold here a new Diuinitie Two sortes of Christians are sprong vp if we beleeue my Lord Byshop where as the Scriptures haue authorized but one onely state of Christians hitherto There are diuersities of giftes yet but one spirite and there are differences of administrations yet but one Lord there are diuers maners of operations and yet but one God which worketh all in all For as the body is one and hath many members and where as also many members be of one body Euē so is Christ. For we are all Baptized into one body by one spirite whether we be Iewes or Gentiles bondmen or free and we haue all dronke of one spirite These are the wordes of S. Paule Wherfore there can not be two sortes of Christians if there be but one body of Christians nor a distinct profession bycause the spirite is one and the selfe same Will you haue this made more manifest by sillables and titles One body and one spirite euen as you are called in one hope of your callyng One Lord one Fayth one Baptisme one God Father of all which is aboue all and through all and in you all All are one and in vs all as Paule doth affirme Where is your distinction therfore There is no respect of persons with God but in euery nation hee that doth feare him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted of him So doth Peter preach whō if we admit for our Scholemaister all your distinction wherein you haue trauailed so much will lye in the durte And therefore sith our profession is but one and the same common also to all Christians out of Antioche were all called once first by this common name Christians But if you will not be satisfied with the testimonies of the Apostles Let vs heare our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ sendyng his eleuen Disciples abroad into the whole world speakyng vnto them in this wise All power is geuen vnto me in heauen and in earth Goe ye forth therfore and teach all nations Baptizyng them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to obserue all those thynges whiche I haue commaunded you This is the pure and onely profession of Christian Religion grounded vpon the authoritie of Christ his owne wordes repeated by the preachyngs of the Apostles confirmed with the generall consent of the Catholicke and Apostolicke Church and ensealed with the bloud of the Martyrs in all ages Leaue this Religion to vs and reteine to you and your fraternitie that newfounde two horned sect whereof you can vouch no Authour besides Cicero or Aristotle But let vs pause yet a whiles vpon my Lordes diuision and consider the speciall pointes of his discreét destruction distinction I would say For after he hath enstalled two sortes of Christians hee doth geue them cognizaunces whereby they may be discerned There is one sort of them sayth hee whose function consisteth in common practize of maners and in a meane course of vertue and pietie The other desire to aduaunce them selues to a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline Now I beseéche you my Lord what mediocritie of vertue and pietie do ye speake of Sithence our profession doth exact of vs a perfect and most absolute keépyng of the commaundements by expresse testimonie of both old and new Testament how oft is this sentence repeated in the old Testament Be ye holy for I am holy Wherfore we ought not to stand still in a meane but must endeuour couragiously to that perfect holynes of God This is an expresse cōmaundement I am the Lord your God you shall obserue all my ordinaūces and all my Statutes c He cōmaūdeth all maketh no exception And therfore this your newfangled meane betwixt both must bee throwen away nay rather this meane is execrable dānable our Lord God the Father thūdryng the same frō heauen If you will not harken vnto me sayth he and will not obserue all that I commaunde you I will visite you with feare with tremblyng and burnyng feauers c. The very same wordes are so oft and so manifestly repeated in Deutero That who so will diligently behold them can not but wonder at your dulnesse and ignoraunce in Scriptures God doth accurse the person that will not obserue all the preceptes of the law perfectly to doe them and all the people shall say Amen What will you aunswers to this conclusion of Moyses he commaundeth a perfection the Lord doth accurse him that doth not fulfill it yea euen by his owne mouth and all the people say Amen And you contrary to this doctrine do deuide the Christians congregation or rather disseuer it into partes practize to plante in place thereof a frame shapen meane of pietie whiche neither old nor new Testament doth acknowledge You haue heard out of the old law we will now come to the new There is also an expresse commaundement of our Lord Iesu Christ to his Apostles in these wordes Preach ye the Gospell to all creatures who soeuer beleueth and is baptized shal be saued but he that doth not beleue shal be damned Go ye forth therfore and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to keepe all thynges that I haue commaunded you Behold here one maner of professiō dispersed abroad ouer all Nations behold all thyngs must be obserued that are commaunded Wherefore there is but one sort of Christians not two and the same one also endeuoureth to perfection standeth not still in amediocritie Our Lord Iesus standyng vpon the mount compassed about with the people of the Iewes preached in most godly maner the chief principles of Christian Religion vnto them and amongest the rest gaue this commaundement seuerally Wherfore be ye perfect as your heauenly Father which is in heauen is perfect What impudencie is this Osorius to thrust a mediocritie into our Religion when our Lord Iesu Christ by expresse commaūdement requireth perfection But I tary to long vpon matters clearer then the Sunne And yet this our deépe Deuine doth vnderproppe his lazie Monckerie vpon these pillers whiche beyng wormeaten rotten as I haue shewed already will at length bryng all his other buildyng to ruine and
his name Christ teacheth farre otherwise of him selfe Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any maÌ„ heare my voyce and opeÌ„ vnto me the gate I will enter vnto him and will suppe with him and hee with me O sweéte and most comfortable voyce of our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ which if once may be throughly rooted in the inward partes of our soule will easely rase out abolish that priuy blind buzzyng in the eares of those Massemongers and Friers But Osorius sticketh fast to his substitution and mainteineth earnestly that the Apostles were assigned to be Christes Uicares on earth whiche should supply his iurisdiction and should enterlace their owne definitiue sentences with his These are both false God is a ielous God and will not geue his honour to any other Hee hath appointed no Uicare and the holy Scripture doth acknowledge no such word neither was it his will that the Apostles should entermedle in his Iurisdiction Your surmise is false quite contrary to his heauenly prerogatiue For Christ onely hath the keyes of hell and death Christ onely is the slayne Lambe and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda the roote of Dauid which openeth the booke and louseth the seuen seales therof neither was there any besides him in heauen in earth or vnder the earth that could open the booke and looke into it Our Lord Iesus beyng raysed from death and appearyng vnto his Apostles spake vnto them in this maner All power is geuen vnto me in heaueÌ„ and in earth Of this power was neuer iote empaired in any respect and neuer shal be What was the Commission of the Apostles then Christ him selfe doth open it in the selfe same place Goe ye therfore and teach all nations Baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to obserue all those sayings which I haue commauÌ„ded you This was the Embassie of the Apostles this was their CommissioÌ„ Iurisdiction or to speake more playnly bluntly this was their function this was their office To this authoritie the keyes of heauen and remission of sinnes and whatsoeuer els of the same kynde must be applyed S. Paule doth comprehend all these briefly in these wordes Let men so esteeme vs as Ministers of Christ and Stewardes of the mysteries of God You be not Uicares theÌ„ Osori you be Ministers ye be not iudges to constitute Lawes as you do wickedly take vpoÌ„ you but ye be Stewardes to dispose the mysteries of God or at the lest you ought to bee But how belongeth this doctrine of Christ and his Apostles to your Massemongers Confessours They haue an other Romishe doctrine whereby they doe receiue the seély rude people runnyng in heapes vnto them rehearsing their sinnes priuily and in some close corner superstitiously when they haue vttered what them listeth they pronounce ouer them of their own power an absolution in a strauÌ„ge language in steade of Satisfaction they do enioyne them some fastyng dayes or some long pilgrimages and to make an ende of the play they pike from them a few peÌ„ce for their labour This is your vsurped power of CoÌ„fessioÌ„s Osorius which you affirme was geuen first to the Apostles afterwardes to you by a certâ—ine title of Succession Tell me now did you euer read that any thyng was whispered into the Apostles eares priuily or that sinnes were seuerally repeated or the people absolued by their owne absolute power or any thyng done in a language not vnderstanded or any penauÌ„ce as you tearme it enioyned or at the last any reward taken What vnshamefastnes is this what impietie is it to defend this close superstitious and mercenarie eare confession vnder pretence of the authoritie of our Sauiour Christ example of his Apostles especially wheÌ„ as none of these was euer instituted by Christ or frequented of his Apostles But your braynes are so be witched and intoxicated with eare confessions that ye shame not to alledge other stuffe yet whiche is most absurde of all the rest You say that it is daungerous for men to bee left in their owne libertie wheÌ„ they should confesse them selues to God For if it were so we would not willingly yeld to that embacing and throwyng down of our selues which Dauid named to bee the most acceptable sacrifice to God You do heare and acknowledge your owne wordes my Lord then the which I neuer heard any thyng vttered more blockish The matter shal be made manifest by the same example of Dauid which your selfe do alledge Dauid beyng a Patriarche a Kyng and a Prophet and a maÌ„ accordyng to Gods hart to vse the wordes of the Scripture was notwithstandyng continunually exercized in this kynde of Confession whiche is betwixt God onely vs in whom there is such store of sorowyng sighyng lamentyng weépyng afflictyng and bewayling as the like hath neuer bene in all your seâ—â—et whisperyngs no not sith the first whelpyng of the same For 〈◊〉 els is there in all that heauenly golden Psalmes of Dauids pâ—ayer then a mournefull and lamentable confession of sinne ioyned with hartie repentaunce sure hope of pardon Be mercyfull to me O Lord sayth hee accordyng to thy manifold mercies wash me throughly froÌ„ my wickednes and clense me froÌ„ my sinnes for I do acknowledgâ— my faultes and my sinne is â—â—er before me Agaynst thee onely haue I sâ—â—ed and done wickedly in thy sight Loe here a true and souÌ„de forme of CoÌ„fession fully described in Dauid whoÌ„ you haue alledged In this coÌ„fession we do exercize our selues In this we remaine in this we do dwell We do also poure out publicke Confessions of sinnes in our Churhes where the godly Minister is harkened vnto which may minister an wholesome plaister to our wounded consciences some sentence 〈◊〉 of the authoritie of the Scriptures These be the keyes wherewith he doth opeÌ„ the kyngdome of God to theÌ„ which do vnfaynedly repent pronounceth vs that are bouÌ„de with the chaines of our sinnes freély loosed and deliuered from them in the name of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. These Confessions as well priuate as publicke these keyes this power of byndyng loosing we doe acknowledge appointed by the Scriptures and practized in the tyme of the Apostles Neither was any thyng done with Iohn in a corner touchyng Confession nor yet with the Disciples of Christ. This matter was referred and ended also to and before God wherof we haue a most manifest example in the Gospell which ought not onely enter the eares but also pearce the very hartes of all well disposed persons When the lost and prodigall sonne had riotously consumed and wasted all his substaunce in so much that he was driuen to eate Peascoddes with hogges he begynneth at the last to call him selfe home and earnestly to deuise how he might be reconciled to his father herein he prayeth no ayde of any Leuite nor sittyng in a
much more stoughtly and couragiously then for the law it selfe and the commaundementes of God And so runnyng lightly ouer those Ceremonies he presseth foreward to the Sacramentes of Confession first and next of the Euchariste But wheÌ„ we fall sayth he First what meaneth this word Falle For if the consideration of all your righteousnesse be settled in an interrupted course of liuyng well in the giftes of holynes and righteousnesse powred into you euen by Christ him selfe as your AssertioÌ„ doth emporte by what reason can these Falles and spottes of filthy life stand together with so great and so many ornamentes of righteousnes receaued of Christ him selfe or in so great righteousnesse what neédeth any confession But for as much as you be men let vs ascribe this to the frayltie of mans natuâ—e that as men you may lumper and trippe Go to then to what Sanctuary do ye afterwardes fleé for reliefe Forsooth to a rotten plancke that may saue a man amyddes the swallowyng gulfe beyng throwen ouer boorde into the Sea To the Iudgement of the Priest say you And why not vnto Christ rather Forsooth bycause in his absence entreaty is made by Proctours and Aduocates But was Christ absent whenas Iohn doth send vs backe agayne vnto him notwithstandyng speakyng on this wise And if we haue sinned we haue an Aduocate with the Father Christ Iesu and he is the propiciatory Sacrifice for our Sinnes Why did he not say we haue a Priest vpon the earth if there were either any first or second Table besides Iesus Christ onely In deéde he worketh by his Embassadours as he sometyme taught by the mouth of his Apostles and by them wrought miracles and euen now also proclaimeth his Gospell by his godly Ministers yet doth he neuerthelesse worke in heauen continually though he worke by his Ministers here on earth Furthermore neither doth he so vse the seruice of those Seruauntes and Ministers in all thynges whose externall Ministery he necessaryly employeth to many thynges as though he could of him selfe doe nothyng without their seruice Lastly all be not his true Embassadours which by forreine badge and cognizaunce doe vaunt them selues to be his Embassadours But let vs proceéde and what doe ye now when ye tumble in heapes together to confesse your selues to the Priest as to an honorable vmpier what doth he geue you at the length Making first a straight Inquisition of the Sinnes he doth by force of his wisedome searche out the wounde which beyng disclosed he applyeth a playster thereunto accordyng to the qualitie of the grief as seemeth most conuenient But what if you happeÌ„ vpon such a Priest as be now a dayes ouer many not much vnlike vnto them whoÌ„ Plautus doth describe in a certeine place Fooles wittlesse naturalles blockisse doltishe asses dronckardes c. But let vs admitte that there is no Priest but such as is most worthy of this function This Priest then accordyng to the capacitie of his wisedome considering the qualitie of the trespasse what plaister doth he apply to the soare a very wholesome one I warrauÌ„t you For accordyng to the dignitie of his person for he representeth the person of Christ he pardoneth absolueth the offendour cleane of all sinne yet so as enioyning certeine penaunce to the new clensed soule so that the trespassour may vnderstaÌ„d that he is bounde to make satisfaction for the trespasse In which doyng I can not maruell enough at your manifest giddynesse of idle brayne beyng so barreine not onely of discretion but voyde also altogether of common sence and feélyng almost The offendour say you is acquited by the absolution of the Priest Undoughtedly to be absolued by a Priest is a very gay Iewell if it be true as it is true in deéde that God doth geue absolution first But to assure vs that you tell truth what do ye alledge out of the Scriptures Forsooth the wordes of the Gospell He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me I do heare you and do acknowledge these wordes to be the wordes of Christ. But we must returne againe to the principall pointe of the questioÌ„ how shall I be assured that this Priest of yours is trnly of that nomber whom Christ doth point vnto vs by this pronowne you You will say that the shauen Crowne ought to be a sufficient warraunt vnto vs. Ueryly neither doe I reiect this outward vocation which is made by men neither ought we to expect the same maner of Embassadours to be sent by Christ now as he fent his Apostles heretofore And yet for as much as the Beast mentioned in the Apocalips hath his proper peculiar marke which Christ doth curse will you shew me no better marke for your Priest then a bald scraped scalpe sithence Christ sendeth vs to the coÌ„sideration of fruites and Spirituall markes of Doctrine and Truth But I will not much striue with you here Let all Crowes be white for me and let the absolution of the marked Priest be an vndoughted Oracle for me also This is the pointe that I stand vpon and demaunde Whenas the Trespassour doth obtaine of your Priest this absolutioÌ„ wherof you spake before From wheÌ„ce doth this absolution receaue the effectuall operation from the priests marke or from the Fayth of the Repentaunt rather If from the priests marke onely then what doth Fayth and Baptisme worke in vs or whereunto serueth the Article of the Creéde I do beleeue Remission of Sinnes Agayne if it depend vpon the onely Fayth of the Repentaunt to what purpose is this Priestly Confession But if you will couple both these together as that in your imagination the one can be of no force without the other how will this kynde of couples agreé with your doctrine who makyng so curious exact a distinction of all the other partes of penaunce will in all that Sacrament leaue no chinker at all for Fayth to peépe through no nor will be acquainted with the name of fayth in any part therof And what if a Iew or a Turke do with a sorrowfull coÌ„trite hart ioyne the Confession of his mouth withall satisfaction of the guilt as you terme it be his Sinnes washed cleane away therfore I do not thinke so what if a ChristiaÌ„ man beyng endued with a pure fayth bewaylyng his offences vnfaynedly and withall his hart lookyng vpon Christ with the eyes of Fayth as vpon the brasen Serpent do craue pardon of him without any hochpotte of priestly ConfessioÌ„ shall he obteine no salue for his soare If you deny this as your Lombardine questioners do Then would I fayne learne where was that priestly Confession before it was first instituted by Innocent 3. and thrust into the Church to be frequeÌ„ted .1215 where was this so vnaduoydeable necessitie then wheÌ„ Christ spake vnto the woman thy faith hath saued thee And in an other place speakyng of an other woman Where he forgaue her many sinnes
litle that which Theodore Byshoppe of Ancyra teacheth We thinke it vnseemely to paynt in materiall colours the countenaunces and counterfaytes of Saynts but we ought to delight our selues now and theÌ„ with the beholding of theyr vertuous liues which theyr writinges do deliuer vnto vs as certayne liuely Images of the soule But such as erect theyr portraictes lett them tell vs what profitte may redownd vnto them by the same Is it because the maner of remembraunce by this spectible view doth helpe their memory But it appeareth manifestlye that all such Imaginations are vayne and dyabolicall deuises c. Moreouer Eusebius Byshopp of Pamphilia writing to Constantia Augusta for aunswere to here request made vnto him for the Image of Christ Denied that it could be possible that the resplendizaunt and most orient exellency of his Maiesty could be portrayed by any dead resemblaunce or any trisling picture Using this reason If that his heauenly disciples quoth he were not able to behold him in the Mount who fâ—lling flat vpon the earth confessed that they were not able to behold so great a sightâ— howe much lesse can the fashion of his flesh be resembled or endured sithence he had put of mortality and washing corruption cleane away had now translated the shape of a Seruaunt into the glorious Maiesty of a Lord and God c. To passe ouer of sette purpose the reasons of Nazianzen Basile and Athanasius debated vpon this matter in the same couÌ„sell For what neéd I cyte any more Testimonies of men sithence the Lord himselfe doth witnesse the same out of heauen The voyce of our God cryeth out in his word Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenesse of any thing Contrary to this crieth out the Pope in the TrydeÌ„tyne counsell let vs make our selues grauen Images we will make vs Imamages and Pictures who shal be obayed the pope or the Lord What hath the temple of God sayth Paule to do with Idols How shall the Temple of God stand sayth the Pope without Images and Pictures The Popes Parasites prate apace in theyr decreés The honor that is done to the Image of Christ is done to Christ himselfe For the honor of the signe doth redownd to the thing signified But the voyce of Chryst cryeth out farre otherwise which doth teach that the honor done vnto the first patterne can neuer be employed better then vpon his liuely members and liuely Images Whatsoeuer you haue done to the least of my brethren you houe done it to me He that receiueth you receiueth me Iohn the Apostle doth geue this lesson My litle children beware of Images What doth the Pope with his Trydentyne hyrelynges decreé out of his triple Crowne My sweét Babes retayne Images with you and seé that there be no saint in heauen which may not haue a Temple on the earth nor let any place of the Church be seéne voyd without some Imagerye whosoeuer shall either teach or thinke the contrary let him be accursed And by thys meanes what make ye els of the Temple of God but a denne of Idols The Lord crieth out by the mouth of his prophet Iere. Theyr Pictures are the doctrine of vanity and Abacuc the Prophet calleth Images the workemanship of lying And you make carued Images and woden Images bookes of the lay people On which side shall the fayth of the christians bestow it selfe shall they beleue the Prophets of God or the liyng of the Papistes If we that be christians doe liue by fayth and if fayth come by hearing and hearing by the worde of God and not by Images why are your Temples so open and common receptakles of dumme Stockes and Blocks and so fast lockt and shutte vppe from the word of God to speake freély to euery nation in their mother toung Nay rather why are the liuely Images of the liuyng God mangled and cutte of and why are his lyuely Temples consumed with fire and sword for dead Images of dead soules But to admitte thus much that Images and Pictures may happely serue to some vse els where then in Churches and besides the case of worshippyng Yet by what testimonye of the Scriptures do ye presse common weales not onely with the vse of Images but with a necessity also of hauing theÌ„ in churches and chappelles as though Christian Religion were not established vpon a sure Rock and defesible enough vnlesse it must be vnderpropped with the Popes pelting poppets how is it then that they which freély preach agaynst this neédeles necessity and fruitlesse fawning vpon Images accordiding to the prescrypt Rule of Gods word yea so protest the same as neuerthelesse offering not a finger so much nor any kinde of force in the meane time to the ouerthrow of those altares and Images but referre the matter wholy to the Magistrate not respecting ought els but that all Christians should worshippe God onely and alone Shall these professors say I which teach the trueth be accused or they rather which agaynst the direct word of God enforce the people to manyfest Idolatry But of this briefly and as it were lightly ouerrunue whereof Haddon hath both grauely and aboundauntly discoursed before Behold yet how this slaundrous mountayne swelleth and increaseth You haue most wickedly condemned sorrowfull contrision of the hart and good workes of the godly you haue cutte of all hope to liue vertuously and Godly by coÌ„firming a certayne notable vnpunished Licentiousnesse of liuing c. Where finde you this Osorius In the golden Legend I suppose or in the seuen sleépers dreame If you haue found any such thing in any their writings that doth condemne Contrition Godly teares and workes of good men Set downe the Authors name then good Syr cite the wordes and place if you can If you canne not what meaneth then this your vncessaunt outrage of lying and slaundering But happely Osorius is not so much to be blamed for this as his Notary is who raking together certayne scrappes out of other mens writinges very ill fauouredly and more illfauouredly deprauing them doth make a most illfauoured and framshapen deliuery of them to Osor. For by the matter it selfe it is apparaunt that Osorius was neuer exercised in the bookes whereat he barketh so much This sentence I confesse is in one of Luthers Articlesâ— namely The righteous man doth offend euen in his best workes And hereupon Osorius concludeth his argument Ergo A righteous man doth not worke any good worke but all that he doth is wicked and mischieuous But where did this Portingall learne his logicke whereas the right order of concluding after the Rules of Logicke should haue bene rather on this wise The righteous man doth offend do he neuer so well Ergo. The iust man doth worke well For vnlesse he did worke good workes how could he offend in a good worke As if a man shall frame an argument on this wise Osorius
the order of Templars or Almaines which tooke their name of the Hospitall of S. Iohn in the yeare .1128 The Order of Premonstratenses were founded by Caliste 2. in the yeare .1124 The order of Gilbertines in the yeare .1152 by Eugenius the 3. The Order of Brother Preachers who tooke their name and begynnyng from Dominicke a murtherer and most cruell persecutour of the Valdenses vnder Innocent 3. in the yeare .1216 Immediatly after ensued the factions of Franciscanes in the yeare .1228 vnder Gregory the 9. To whom within a whiles after were added the orders of Eremytes Austen Friers Reformed Carmelites whom the moūt Carmell did vomite out vnto vs. There followed also an other order of Austen Friers vnder Honorius the 4. in the yeare .1286 Neither did these monstruous vanities of new fangle Religiōs cease at men but the Serpigo crawled further into womens cōsciences also who beyng allured by the exāple of men began after a litle sittyng abrood to hatcht vp such cheékynes to flocke together in coueyes herdes Wherof some were called Sisters Clarites broched by Dominicke first Some Brigittines surnamed of one Brigitte a Scithiā borne their couey peéped abroad at the first in the begynnyng of Vrbane the 5. his Popedome In the Councell of Laterane was a Decreé published by Innocent the 3. with a speciall prouiso for the abandonyng of diuersities of Religions that from thenceforth no Couent of Cloystered company or cowled crew should be erected in the yeare .1215 And yet in despight of the authoritie of this Decreé how many clusters of factious Friers haue bene forged emongest your holy Fathers sith that tyme. Besides the orders of Minorites Austens Brigidines Crossebearers and Scourgers there is peépte abroad within these few yeares good lucke a Gods name to the Pope and his Puppettes the order of Iesuites in the yeare .1540 promising I know not what by the title of their names Sure I am they haue hetherto accomplished nothyng correspondent to so sacred a name But it seémed good to the Lord Iesus peraduenture to fulfill so the Propheticall truth of his Gospell Many shall come in my name c. What followeth let them selues looke to it I haue spoken of Mounckery I haue spoken also of some other orders and ordinaūces of the Romish Church for to rippe vp all were an infinite peéce of worke It remaineth now That Osorius say somewhat for him selfe likewise and make some shew of wares if he haue any in all that his Romish Church wherein he liueth now except a few Articles of the Creede onely wherein we can iustifie as auncient a prescription of possession as they can that be not either new straunge and lately vpstarte or els altogether Poeticall stagelicke and mockeries Wherfore if we measure Antiquitie by the age of Christ his Apostles the nearest yeares next ensuyng the same age wherein also if Osorius will abide by it that nothyng ought to be allowed in the Church that doth not sauour of that primitiue and Apostolicke antiquitie then shall Osorius daughtlesse at this one blow choppe of the Popes head triple Crowne Church and all for as much as he shall neuer be able to vouch any thyng either in the receaued Doctrine Religion Rites or Ceremonies of his Church that euer saw the age of the Apostles or is in any respect correspondent to that first patterne and president of the primitiue Simplicitie There is such a generall Metamorphosis and alteration yea all thynges are turned into so frameshapen a newfanglenesse that it may seéme they haue not onely forgoen the aunciēt ordinaūces of the primitiue Church but also to haue vtterly excluded them selues from all acquaintaūce with that same Church with the Gospell yea with Christ him selfe of whom the Apostles gaue testimony and preached The Apostles did not acknowledge that same one Christ any where but in heauen and him ascendes into heauen they did so apprehend by Faythe that they would neuer seéke him els where then in heauen and so in heauē sittyng in the flesh as that they would no more know him after the flesh as men not dreamyng so much vpon his carnall presence nor ouer greédely affectioned to enioy him after that fleshly maner but were otherwise wholy settled and vnmoueably fixed in mynde in that spirituall presence of his Maiestie But to you sufficeth not to apprehend Christ by Fayth sittyng in heauen and to worshyp in spirite as the Apostles blessed Martyrs did vnlesse after a fleshly and bodyly maner with your fingers you handle the reall corporall substanciall identicall presence of Christ behold the the same with your eyes and choppe him vppe at a morsell Which deuise of yours doth argue that you seéme to be carried with a wondrous senselesse opinion of errour as neither to acknowledge one the selfe same Christ whom the Apostles did nor to worshyp him in heauen onely but to imagine to your selues two Christes of that one Christ namely one Sauiour in heauē and an other in earth and him also to Sacrifice dayly in your Masse In the Apostles tyme the Communion was ministred not once in a yeare onely nor at the Feast of Easter onely nor with Bread consecrated into the body of Christ but in a thankefull remembraunce of the Lordes death the bread and wyne beyng equally deliuered to the people at all tymes whensoeuer any assembly of well disposed did meéte together for that purpose They neuer sayd nor song any priuate Masses nor instituted any Sacrifices for the quicke and the dead being throughly satisfyed with one sacrifice onely which beyng once finished they were assured that the whole action of our Redemption was accomplished For so are we taught by the testimony of the Apostle By his owne bloud he entred in once the euerlasting redemption being accomplished And agayne For this did he once when he offered vppe himselfe And imediately after We are sanctified by the onely offering of the body of Christ Iesu once offered for all Moreouer in an other place writing of one Christ onely One God sayth he one Mediator of God and men the man Christ Iesu c. But how shall there be but one onely Christ or one onely Sacrifice of his body once offered of whose body you doe exact dayly a new fresh sacrifice to be made for the sinnes of the people Or how cā he be sayd to be but one accordyng to the proportion of a body of whom you doe imagine a presence accordyng to the whole nature of his flesh both absent in body in the heauens and in the same body neuertheles at one selfe instaunt on the earth Do ye not seé how absurdly these your patcheries concurre and agreé with the naturall meaning of the Scriptures and how farre they be from all reason And what is this els then to preach vtterly an other Christ then whom the Apostles
haue taught They acknowledge him to be heauenly you make him earthly Theyr doctrine doth rayse vs from the earth vppe on high where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Your doctrine what doth it whereunto tendeth it whether doth it call the mindes of Christians but from aboue downeward out of heauen into the earth withdrawing the senses from the Spirite to the flesh So that we must seéke for Christ there not where he is but where you imagine him to be present The Apostle Paule when he preacheth vnto vs the liuely feature of this Christ who taking vpon him the shape of a Seruaunt suffered death in the same shape once for our sinnes vnder Pontius Pilate and afterwardes accomplishing the mistery of our redemption rose agayne for our iustification doth teach vs playnly that he ascended into heauen not leauing his body wherein he suffered behinde him here on earth but taking vpp the same body into heauen was with the same receiued into glory whom also he affirmeth he knew no more now according to his fleshlye presence that is to say according to the capacity of his carnall senses And that besides this Christ onely he knew none other Christ nor this Christ otherwise then according to the new creature onely namely visible in spirite with the eyes of fayth and not with fleshlye eies Let vs make now a comparison betwixt this Christ of our Gospell with that your Christ of the Pope in the same manner as you do fashion him and make a gaze of him to the eies and eares of the people after the order of your Gospel which seémeth to me to be after this manner not as hauing taken vpon him the shape of a seruaunt but the forme of bread is in the same forme of bread and vnder the accidents of bread made of wheat set out to the gaze of the people to be tooted vpon and is of Christians worshipped and offered to God the Father and this not once but dayly not vnder Pontius Pilate but vnder the Pope of Rome not a Sacrifice onely for the quicke but for the soules in Purgatory also to the washing away of theyr synnes Which Sacrifice being ended he is buried in deéd but buryed or rather drowned in the paunch of a priest from whence he neither riseth agayne nor ascendeth afterwardes but descendeth rather nor is euer looked for to come agayne from thence And this is that same Christ not the Euangelicall Christ but the Papisticall and poeticall Christ whom thought the Apostles or Euangelistes neuer knew yet must we be enforced will we nyll we to honor and worshippe neuerthelesse as the very Sauiour of the world forsooth Whom may not suffice to lift vppe hartes and mindes on high to him onely which dwelleth in heauen vnlesse we also lift vppe our fleshly eyes to this visible Christ and kneéle and crootche vnto him with great reuerence yea although the eyes themselues do behold nothing but bread and wine yet the eyes must lye and all the sences must be deceiued neither may in any wise be reputed other then verye herityques but in despyght of eyes and senses all we must of infallible persuasion of fayth firmely beleue that it is now no more bread and wine that is seéne But the bread and wine being thrust cleane on t of dores Chryst onely yea whole Christ doth possesse euery part of that place who though be not present in his owne naturall shape nor in the same proportion of body which he tooke of the Uirgine Mary yet in the selfe same nature trueth substaunce Identity notwithstanding vnder other formes forsooth and yet not figuratiuely but truely most absolutely perfectly and fully must in the same whole body and the same naturall blood be contayned felt seene and without all contradition worshipped These be the misteries of your diuinity as I suppose by the which you haue begotten vnto the world a new Christ I knowe not whom altogether an other Christ neuer borne of the Uirgine Mary doubtles whom the Gospell neuer knew nor the Apostles euer taught nor the Euangelystes euer saw I adde also whom neuer any of you hath seéne hetherto yet nor shall euer seé hereafter And yet these so wittelesse so dotish and monstruous deuises of drowsy dreames then which nothing can be spoken or imagyned more false and more monstruous you shame not at all to vaunt to be most auntient and most true as the Gabyonites of olde time did theyr shooes And for the same your Popish Christ made of bread you stick not to aduēture limm life more earnestly then for the true Glory of that Christ whom we do most certaynely know to be in heauen where also we do worshippe him And euen this doth your horrible butchery of an infinite number of our Martyres declare to be true by most plain and euident demonstration With the blood of whom because your holy mother the church seémeth so beastly dronken long sithence this one thing would I fayne learne of you what special cause was it that enforced you to vtter such outrage in the shedding of so much blood of your naturall brethren was it because they defrauded Christ the Sonne of God which was borne for our sakes crucified rose agayne ascended vp into heauē sitting now a Lord in heauē of one dramm so much of his due honor nothing lesse Was it because they abused or defiled the Gospel I thinke not so Was it because they brake the auntient ordinaūces and approued doctrine of the holy Apostles and Prophettes in any one thing or because they went beyond the bondes prescribed by the auntient fathers none of all these But the cause was for that they refused to allow of that newfangled and vpstart Idoll of the Popish Masse and that lately sprōg vppe Breadworshippe contrary to the doctrine of the Apostles yea contrary to Christ himselfe and because they would not in this behalfe be as furiously franticke as the Papistes themselues In the meane time we speake not this as though we were of opiniō that Sacramentes should be defrauded of theyr dewe honor For it is one thing to reuerence the Sacramentes accordyngly and an other thyng to conuert the Sacramente of Christ into Christ him selfe and to worshippe earthly Sygnes for the heauenly Christ in the one whereof is a kynde of Religion in the other manifest Idolatry To the whiche wanteth nothyng now but that they chaunt lustely together with Ieroboam These be thy Gods O Israell But we shall be vrged perhappes with the wordes of Christ in the Gospell This is my body c. As though in the wordes of Christ which be Spirite and life it be so rare vnaccustomed phrase of speaking to vse Tropes and figures now and then seing there is no kinde of doctrine that more vsually delighteth in figures Tropes parables Similitudes metaphors allegoryes mysteryes thē the mystycall speéch of the sacred
publique offences only Euē so and in such wise Releases Pardōs were esteémed not to be in any respect valuable to clense the sinnes of guiltye consciences in the sight of God simply but should be as pledges and witnesses of a full releasing their penaunce enioyned vnto thē by the Church or of mitigating the same with some gentle quallification As appeareth by a Transcript drawen out of the Penitentiall of Rome vp Burchard treating much of those exchaunges of satisfactions namely that in stead of this penaunce where a man was enioyned to fast one whole day with bread and water heé should be released thereof and say fifty psalmes or Lxx. psalmes kneéling relieue some one begger with food If he were a rich man and vnlettered he should redeéme one dayes penaunce by paying iij. pence if he were poore and vnlettered he should paye one peny or feéd threé poore folke The penaūce of a whole weékes fast was redeémed with CCC Psalmes a whole mouethes fast by saying xij hundred Psalmes for one yeares fast he shoulde geue in almes to the poore xxij shillinges c. Many other like exchaunges of penaunces are mentioned in Burchard all which respected none other end but that they might quallify the rigor of the olde Canons touching publique penaunce ministred to this end not as necessary instrumentes to obtayne remission of sinnes and to pacify the wrath of God but instituted for exāples sake that they might be speciall prickes and prouokementes to sturre vpp such as were fallen and allurementes to earnest amendement of life On the contrary part the custome of our time and of our Popes hath so farre degendred from the auncient ordinaunces of the Elders in dispensing with Pardons and Satisfactions that it may seéme to haue ouerwhelmed not onely all discipline of the auncient Church but also almost ouerthrowen the whole force and efficacy of Christian fayth For whereas the Summe and Substaunce of all our Religion consisteth in the cleansing and purging of Sinnes and the same comprehended also in the onely obedience and passion of Christ these new vpstart Popes haue translated all this Release and satisfaction for our sinnes from the merite of Christ to I know not what newfangled absolutions and Pardons And whereas the olde penitentiall Canons were onely mens constitutions wherein men might dyspence with men according to the necessity of the tyme hereupon our Popes taking hart of grasse are become so shamelesse impudent that with theyr Pardons they dare presume to dispense with mens sinnes yea and theyr consciences also and to make their satisfactory merites by merite meritorious as it were worthye and able to encounter the wrath and iudgement of God And now behold how many pumples and fretts lurke vnder this one skabbe of the popish doctrine First they do so ouerlade mens consciences with a commaundement of confession without all authority of scripture and contrary to all the presidents of the primitiue Church they force all persons to render an account of theyr sinnes whether they be contrite or not contrite and this also vpon payne of eternall damnation As for Absolution they leaue cleane naked of all effectualnesse denying it to be auayleable without workes precedent ouer and besides thys also they do clogge them that are confessed with an vnauoydable necessity of doing penaūce they do thrust in Pardō of sinnes graunted by mans authority which they call Satisfaction for sinnes to deserue freé release from that punishment payne which the iustice of God may duely exact Out of which Syncke proceéd many vntimely and vyperous birthes full of lyes sacrilege and blasphemy agaynst God Namely Mounckes vowes The Sacrifice of the Masse for the quick and the dead Pilgrimages to stockes and stoanes Iubiles Pardons and Purgatory and out of that Purgatory sprang forth that momish maxime of Scotus Scottish and crabbed enough to this effect That Sinners after absolution ar either turned ouer to pardones or to Purgatory I do not here complayne or expostulate for those portesales and crafty conueyaunces of Pardōs Let Pardōs be as francke and freé as they would seéme to be for me But this is the thyng that I do demaund by what title by what scripture by what example finally by what I do not say authority but by what honest colour the Pope of Rome may presume so much vpon hys authority as to challenge to himselfe an interest and as it were an inheritable possessiō of those things wh Gods owne mouth and the promises of the whole scripture doe geue franckely and freély vnto all them that repent and beleue euen by theyr fayth in Christ Iesu and how he dare also affirme that such men are not otherwise to be dispēsed withall then by his Bulles of Pardons and his deputary Cōmissaryes Saynt Peter cryeth out with a loud voyce and confirmeth his saying with the authority of all the Prophets that shall receiue forgeuenesse of Synnes as many as do beleue in Christ. So doth also the Apostle Paule proclayme boldly that all thinges are pacified by the bloud of Christ both in heauen and in earth and addeth moreouer And in him sayth he you are made perfect And because no man shall be of opinion here after that there wanteth any thing to the full accomplishment of our saluation read in Iohn The bloud of Christ doth clense vs from all Sinne. And immediatly after He is the propitiation for our sinnes not our sinnes onely but for the sinnes of the whole world And Iohn Baptist poynting to Christ with his finger doth affirme Christ to be the Lambe appoynted by God to take away the sinnes of the world And Paule to the Hebrues By one onely oblation Christ made perfect for euer them that were sanctified And in an other place we are taught that our hartes are purified by fayth To conclude The whole meaning and intent of the scripture being nothing els but a certayn neuer interrupted course of recomfortable refreshyng in Christ it doth so allure vs all vnto hym that it leaueth none other medicine or restoratiue for our ouerladen and encombred consciences but the onely bloud of the Sonne of God And therefore if the onely death of Christ once offred for all be a full Raūsome for our Sinnes and the full price of our Redemption If Christes onely death and Passion be imputed to the faythfull beleuer for righteousnesse What neéde then any other Pardōs If Christ pacified all thinges in heauē in earth why could he not aswell pacifie all thynges in Purgatory When full power was geuen vnto him ouer all thinges in heauen and in earth what shall Christ haue nothyng to doe in Purgatory but that the Pope must be onely Prince of that Region The bloud of Christ say they did Raunsome vs from guilt and euerlasting punishment But there remaineth yet a Temporall punishment to be endured partely in this lyfe partly in Purgatory out of the which
the father in Paradise confirmed by the Patriarches and Prophetes established by the Apostles and Martyrs continued most honorable in the best and purest ages of the world and by most notable personages Dare you with so blasphemous a mouth defile the dignitie of this Matrimonie beautified with so many ornamentes Dare you name that execrable furie of hell to be President at this honorable Mariage Beseémeth an old man a Byshop a Minister of the Sacraments so to dally and scoffe in matters of so great importaunce Forsoth I do reprehend say you the Mariages which the Votaries do contract together Uery well remēbred Syr what monument then can you geue vs of those gay professours of chastitie in that golden age of the primitiue Church when our Lord Iesus Christ and his Apostles did dwell vpon the earth If you can shewe vs no one exāple of those chast soules in that most blessed tyme Nay rather if that pestilent cōtagion of Uotaries did long after begyn to infect the Churche Packe ye hence with that deuilishe Priest of hell from vs and acknowledge your owne Priest that Satanish hellhounde Hildebrand who first of all enacted by publicke authoritie that infamous Canon of cōstrained vnmaried life Curse ye that your own hellhounde Priest and batter him with your thunderboltes of wordes and Sentences For Beelzebub him selfe withall the furies of hell could neuer haue practized a more pestilent infection of lyfe You proceéde to defend Images wherein you fight so stoutly agaynst your selfe that you neéde none other aduersary But first ye furnish your selfe with a startyng hole wherein you may shroude your selfe from a showre For you deny that Images are worshypped that pictures are honored but you confesse that in them is a certeine naturall power which may bryng some helpe to vnlettered persons If it were so Osorius we could be somewhat tractable herein would somewhat frendly tollerate the rude weakenesse and grosse ignoraunce of the people But how say you Is not worshyp geuen to Images Truly people fall prostrate before thē they stretch out their handes vnto them they perfume them with frankencense they set cādles before them they call vpō them by name they decke them gorgeously they carry them solēnely abroad and make a shew of them openly they waxe hoarse with scrichyng and cryeng out vnto them in their sicknes and diseases They gadde many a wéerysome iourney on pilgrimage vnto them they powre out prayers vnto them with great reuerence they enlarge vnto then magnificently yea they do beléeue that they do worke miracles If all these doe not playnly denounce worshyppyng by what other Argument may a man discerne the nature of worshyppyng But if ye yeld not that these blasphemies are committed in your Romishe Church yea in your owne Temples of Siluania it is very well and I would to God it were true for your credites sake But if you graūt it as ye can not deny it why doe you so impudently deny in wordes the thyng whiche you know to bee haynously handled in dayly practize How much better had it bene for you Osorius to haue defended worshyppyng of Images as well as ye could though without all colour of truth thē so stoutly to deny that which your women and childrē do sée to be dayly hourely frequented in your Churches yea your selues the very Authours therof ministryng example to others But you haue lost both your witte and modestie that in so dayly and manifest abuses will séeme to be ignoraunt and withall mainteine your vntruth with pretie popet demaundes so blockish and so farre from the purpose that a man may iudge you to be fast a sleépe with your eyes open You demaunde earnestly of me whether the Images of the Cherubines were placed before the Arcke of Couenaunt in the old tyme and whether the Brasen Serpent were erected that such as were wounded with Serpentes might behold it and be made hole what then wise man as though any man could or would deny that Images pictures were made in all ages or that it came euer into my thought to condemne the commendable Arte of Engrauyng Paintyng I graunt that there may bee some vse of Images but I deny worshyppyng of them I doe allow that there may be pictures but I do abhorre all honor in them And the same hath our Lord and heauenly father prohibited by expresse commaundement You tell vs that the Auncient Israelites had diuers Images of Cherubines I confesse it but you can not shew that they were worshypped at any tyme. The Image of the Brasen Serpent◠as a remedy for them that were bytten with Serpentes I graunt it But when in processe of tyme the people came at length to worshyp it the godly kyng Ezechias detestyng their Idolatry cōmaūded the Image to be taken downe and broken in peéces and herein your selfe do wonderfully cōmende him You marre therfore all your owne matter Osorius by this your owne example For ye graunt that the worshyppyng of Images is damnable defiled with poysoned Idolatry Ye deny that men are now at this present or euer heretofore were at any tyme so blockish and senselesse as to beleue that godlynesse was included in Images and withall yeld your selues to be accoūpted for madde and buzzardly blynd if this can be iustified agaynst you What els do ye then whenas you throw your selues prostrate before pictures and neuer make any end almost of embracyng them lickyng them kissyng them deckyng them presentyng them with giftes goyng on pilgrimage vnto them when you call vpon inuocate the Images of dead persons by the proper names of your Saintes pictured there when you keépe such a sturre before stockes and stones and confesse neuerthelesse that in thē is neither vertue nor sense your selues surely be worse thē rotten blockes that will geue such reuerēce to dead stockes But I will sticke somewhat neare to your skinne in this matter The people of Israell as ye know were a chosen Nation an holy kinred a peculiar and elect people and yet in the absence of Moyses they forged a golden Calfe and beleued that there was in this Image not onely lyfe and sense but with open mouth did professe also that it was God yea the very same God that brought them out of the land of Egypt For when they had commaunded that this Image should be borne before them as the cōduct of their iourney they added hereunto these blasphemous wordes also These be thy Gods O Israell whiche brought to passe that thou were deliuered out of the land of Egipt There followeth yet more And Aaron seyng this erected an Aultar before it What say you Osorius Truely though you conceaue neuer so well of your selfe and loue your coūtrey as meéte is you should neuer so much yet you do not beleéue I suppose that those your countrey men what soeuer they be are more deare now vnto God then the children of Israell
ioue Peace yea and mainteyne Peace amongest them selues yet good men onely good Syr haue not Peace alone How glorius acceptable a thyng soeuer Peace is accoumpted to be in her owne nature yea though it be chiefly embraced and hadd in greatest price with good men Yet is not Peace alwayes and altogether conuersaunt amongest good men onely nor the entoyeng of Peace alone doth make men to be good For there is a certeyne Peace amongest the wicked Yea Pirates Theéues Robbers haue their certeine Peace and agreément in willes Neither is it to be doughted but that false Catholiques and such like heretiques haue their seuerall Conuenticles and peacyble bandes of concorde and consent euē as the false Apostles and false Prophetes had in tymes past They that worshypped the Golden Calfe and they that conspired took counsell agaynst the Lord cryeng Crucifige agaynst him did represent a certeine forme of the Churche and were firmely knitte together in mutuall Peace and agreément of myndes If it be an haynous matter to dissolue the bandes of Peace and knittyng together of fellowshyppes concluded and determined vpon for euer occasion whatsoeuer we must neédes thinke that Cicero dealt very wickedly who at the tyme of Catelynes conspiracie did breake a sunder and sparckle abroad the false treatheries of this detestable cōspiracie beyng linked together with a certeyne wonderfull agreément of willes and affections yea and affyed together sworne in one by drinkyng a cup of bloud So also did Elias very naughtely who detected so great a nūber of the Priestes of Baal agreéing together so constaūt in errour and in so great a tranquillitie causing them to be slayne And therfore it is not enough to pretend the names titles of Peace and of the Churche onely if their effectes be not aunswerable Peace sayth Hillarie hath a glorious name and truth is had in great admiratiō but who doughteth of this that the onely vnitie and peace of the Church and of the Gospell is that which is of Iesu Christ alone c. Now as the Peace of Christ and Christes true Churche doth alwayes lyue in a perfect vnitie so together with vnitie doth it alwayes enioy perfect truth and veritie On the contrary part that Peace and Churche whatsoeuer is not grounded vppon the Rocke of Christes infallible truth is not Peace but Battell rather is not the Churche of Christ but a conspirary of naughty packes And therfore we do seé many tymes come to passe that vnder the name of Peace very naturall dissentiōs are fostered and many persons are deceaued by the paynted vysour of the title of the Churche yea they are many tymes accumpted seditious persons which doe vphold and mainteyne Peace and tranquilitie most After this maner Tertullus the Oratour did accuse S. Paule to be a seditious fellow so was Christ him selfe also and his Apostles exclaymed vpon as seditious by the Phariseés the holy Martyrs were likewise charged with treasō procuring of vprores by that vnbeleéuyng Emperours and miscreant infidels Euen so fareth it now a dayes with Luther the Lutheranes Luther sayth he doth rende a sunder the Peace and tranquillitie of the Church with his writynges and preachynges doth teare in peeces Christes Coate that is without seame rayseth tumultes and vprores doth entāgle whole Christēdome with dissentions and varieties of opinions And why so Osorius I pray you From sooth bycause he doth discouer the liuely well-springes of sounde doctrine bycause he doth enstruct men to cōceaue the most wholesome and souereigne Grace of God in his Sonne and declareth vnto them the true rule of righteousnes and the true Peace which is in Christ Iesu bycause be allureth all men to the onely mercy of GOD excludyng all mans merites and vayne confidence of Freewill Now bycause their bleare eyed dulnes could not endure the sharpenes of this light from hence flush out all these fluddes of complaints from hence rush out all these Tragicall scoldinges exclamations wherewith these Rhetoricall Becons haue conceaued so greéuous a flame ragyng out on this wise Is not this mōstruous wickednesse is not this horrible maddnesse is not this intollerable presumption what feuer doth make thee so frantike Haddon what furies doe possesse thee Luther what paynes of haynousnesse doe pursue thee And such like pleasurable ornamentes of whotte eloquence which scarse any man can read without laughyng For who can endure to heare common outlawes complainyng of Sedition Truly I suppose Osorius that with the very same wordes and euen in the same maner of outrage or surely not much vnlike Herode and the whole Nation of Phariseés did crye out whenas the fame of Christes byrth being bruted abroad it was sayd that Herode the king was exceedingly troubled and with him all Ierusulem also And therfore accordyng to this Logicke and Rhetoricke of Osorius Let vs condemne Christ him selfe for a seditious fellow bycause vnlesse that child had bene borne and that Sonne had bene geuen vnto vs those troubles had neuer arisen amongest the Iewes What shall we say to that Where the same Christ afterwardes beyng now of well growē yeares did declare in playne open wordes That he came not to send peace in the earth but a sword but diuision but fire and that he desired no one thyng more earnestly thē that the same fire should be kindeled Wherfore if it be so much to be feared least breach of Peace and concorde breéde offence Let this Portingall aduise him selfe well whether Christ shal be here accused as farre forth as Luther bycause in the Gospell he is sayd to sturre vppe the Father agaynst the Sonne the daughter agaynst the mother the stepmother agaynst the daughter inlawe and the daughter in lawe agaynst the stepmother two agaynst three and three ogaynst two or whether Luther ought to be acquited with Christ for as much as in this accusation he can not duely be impeached with any one cryme which may not also aswell be charged vpon Christ. If the Peace of the Catholickes be disturbed in these our dayes through Luther the same also happened to the Phariseés in old tyme by the meanes of Christ and his Apostles yea not to the Phariseés onely but also in sturryng vppe all the Natiōs of the earth in an vproare wherein yet no fault can be layed vpon Christ who is himselfe the Prince of Peace and can by no meanes be vnlike him selfe In lyke maner and with lyke consideration Luthers doctrine is to be deémed as I suppose For what a sturre soeuer the Papisticall generation keépe in these our dayes yet surely is not their Peace hindered by Luther or if it be yet ought not he to be accused that ministred wholesome playster to the wound but the fault was to be imputed rather to them whose cankers were so vncurable that could not endure the operation of the Medicine And therefore as touchyng the crime of sedition and troublesome disturbaunce
substaūce of God what kynde of couplyng do ye desire to be had betwixt Reason and the will of God Who in deéde can will nothyng but that whiche is perfect sithe that nothyng is perfect but that which he willeth And whereupō then riseth this hauty crest of yours that can not be satisfied with the bare will of God beyng expressed in his playne word Neither seémeth it sufficiēt in your Iudgement that God should chuse any to saluation vnlesse his secret counsell herein may be made discernable by the deépe reach of your owne reason and that he should render an accoumpt and reason of his decreéd will herein vnto your Maistershyppe Albeit I doe not deny this to be true that the profounde wisedome of the Deuine Godhead can not be sundered from the knittyng together of his Reason and counsell that is to say from it selfe Yet out of what Schoole suckt you such Diuinitie O singuler Piller of the Romishe route so earnestly to require and to sift out the counsell and Reason of the Creatour euen in the very vnsearcheable wisedome of him that created you I suppose ye were thus schooled in your sacred confessions Surely you neuer learned it out of holy Scriptures If you neuer noted what aunswere the Lord made to Moyses in the Scriptures marke now somewhat more attentiuely I will haue mercy sayth he on whom I haue mercy and I will take compassion on whom I will take compassion c. Here you may seé a singuler Mercy of God in takyng compassion whereof you nor seé nor heare any other rendred in the whole Scriptures besides the onely will of God I will haue Mercy saith he will you know the causes and the persons the doth not say bycause I perceaue thē to be worthy of my benignitie whose foreseéne workes doe delight me now before I take Mercy but I do therfore take Mercy bycause I will take Mercy and I will take compassion on him of whom it pleaseth me to haue Mercy And therfore S. Paule addyng a very fitte conclusion Ergo sayth he God will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and will harden whom he will harden With these wordes bridlyng our nyce curiositie as it were and withall geuyng vs to vnderstand that it is enough for vs to know that so is the will of the Lord although there be no manifest demonstration made vnto vs of the cause wherfore he would so do For of what soeuer it shall please the Lord to bryng to passe albeit we can not atteyne the Reason yet ought we to grounde our selues vpon this for sufficient and lawfull Reason bycause the Lord hath brought it so to passe we ought also to learne of Christ this lesson Bycause it hath so pleased thy good will O Father For as much as it is not lawfull for any creature to presume to enquire any reason beyond the will of God Right well therfore and very profoundly doth Augustine geue vs this lesson It is not meete sayth he to search for the causes of Gods vnsearcheable will it is not lawfull to know it for that the will of God is the principall and highest cause of all thinges that are and therefore if when it is asked why the Lord did it it is to be aūswered bycause he so willed it if thou go further in asking why he willed it thou askest some greater and higher thyng then the will of God is Which can not possibly be founde out And agayne the same Augustine in an other place writyng of Predestinatiō and grace God sayth he taketh mercy on whō he will haue mercy and of whom be will not haue mercy he will not take mercy He geueth to whom him listeth and requireth that whiche is due vnto him of whom he will Here agayne ye heare the Will of God named yea and that alone wherewith if you be not yet satisfied bycause it is named alone harken what is immediately annexed by the same Augustine for thus it followeth He that shall continue to say God is vnrighteous let him harken vnto the Apostle O man what art thou that contendest with God man with God earth with the Potter c. Doth he herein not note you excellently Osorius and as it were poynt at you with the finger as that no man could possibly haue noted any matter more notably Paule the Apostle doth render no causes at all of Gods Election but his will onely Augustine dare enquire after none All the whole Scripture is throughly satisfied with his will onely Onely Osorius can not be satisfied nor thinketh it lawfull enough for God to doe that him lyketh best vnlesse with sutteltie of Reasonyng as it were with cutted Sophismes and Sillogismes mā mainteyne Argument with his GOD earth with the Potter Which thing how horrible it is learne at the least out of Esay the Prophet Woe sayth he vnto him that will contend with his maker a brittle pottesharde of the outcast potteshardes of the earth shall the clay say vnto the Potter why doest thou make me thus did thy handes fayle thee in thy worke c. As though there were any of the Creatures of God that doth vnderstand the mynde of the Lord or were euer counsellours vnto him or as though it were not permitted him to will as him lysteth or as though what soeuer pleaseth him were not lawfull for him to do vnlesse he did geue vs a reason and orderly render vnto vs the causes that moued him thereunto And what if he will not discouer it Osorius Yea and what if he ought not what if when him lysteth to display it most manifestly your balde mazer and the blockyshnes of your nymble capacitie can not be able to pearce into the vnsearcheable depth of his glory wisedome and counsell Ieremy the Prophet beyng commaunded to go downe into the house of the Potter and there to behold throughly the workemanshyppe of the runnyng wheéle and the hand of the craftesman when he saw the Uessell that was newly made and was by and by broken agayne neither doth he require a reason thereof of the workeman nor yet doth the Lord beyng the workeman rēder any reason vnto him onely he declareth his power in makyng new and renewyng agayne of that which was broken in these wordes Am not I of power to do vnto you as this Potter doth to his claye O house of Israell sayth the Lord. Behold as the clay in the hand of the Potter so are you in my hand O ye house of Israell And will Osor. dare be so bold beyng a fashioned lumpe of the Potters wheéle neither reuerencyng the Maiestie of his maker nor contented with his onely will to require a reason of his creation besides the lawfull will of the Creator and will he not permit it to be sufficient for God to doe in his owne workes what it pleaseth him best For what do these wordes of Osorius emporte els Where beyng squeymish at Luthers speache He doth