are driuen to yeeld the keyes to all the Apostles as well as to Peter and yet they thinke he alone had the primacie which sheweth clearly that the keyes containe it not Fourthly they which expound the power of the keyes to shew what they containe mention therein no more but as I haue answered The Councell of Colen vnder Hermannus x Bell. de poen l. 1 c. 1. penned by Gropper y Defens of the Cens whom the Papists cal the rare man of our age proceedeth thus z Enchir. concil Colon. de sacr confess But what keyes Christ when he departed hence left the Apostles and their successors in the Church that is to be explicated And truly this is plain that he committed to them his owne keyes and no other euen the keyes of the kingdome of heauen as himselfe said to Peter Whatsoeuer thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shal be loosed in heauen These keyes the Fathers deuided into the key of order and the key of iurisdiction And againe each key into the key of knowledge and of power The key of order is the power of priestly ministery which containeth power to preach the Gospell consecrate the bodie of Christ remit and retaine sinnes and to minister the sacraments The key of iurisdiction is power to restraine the faultie this is that power of excommunicating such as offend openly and absoluing them againe In which explanation of the power mentioned in the keyes we see nothing touched but onely the ministery of the word and Sacraments and the execution of discipline But Marsilius a Defens part 2 c. 6. speaketh more fully that the authoritie of the keyes according to Saint Austin and Hierom is that iudiciarie power that standeth in dispensing the word sacraments and discipline although the opinion and title of the fulnesse of power which the Bishop of Rome ascribeth to himselfe tooke his beginning from these words Whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted and whatsoeuer you shall bind vpon earth shall be bound in heauen 20 The second text alledged is Luk. 22.32 where Christ saith to Peter I haue praid for thee that thy faith faile not and thou being conuerted strengthen thy brethrē which the Iesuit expoundeth as if our Sauiour had specially prayed for S. Peter and the Pope that their faith should not faile at least so farre as to teach the Church a false faith to the intent they might alway be able to confirme their brethren if at any time they should faile in the doctrine of faith which all Catholicke men knowing do confesse the Popes definitiue sentence to be always an infallible truth and thereupon submit themselues thereunto and so liue in vnitie But this exposition is soone confuted for first here is no mention of the Pope but of Peter onely whereby it is plaine that no certaintie can be concluded out of the words for any but for the Apostles onely or if they reach to any besides Peter then according to the opinion of the most iudicious Papists the Church is it and not the Pope So saith b Qu. Vesper d. 3. art 3. prob 1. lit G. Cameracensis That which in Scripture is promised to the whole must not be attributed to any part but alway to hold the true faith and neuer to erre against it is promised by Christ to the whole company of beleeuers alone It is plaine therefore that Christ promised Peter his faith should not faile vnderstanding it not of his personall faith but of the generall faith of Gods Church committed to his regiment And Frier Walden c Doctr. fid l. ◠c. 19. saith Peter bare the type of the Church not of the particular Romane Church but of the vniuersall Church not gathered together in a generall Councell but dispersed through the world from Christ to our times Of the same mind are d Concord l. ◠c. 11. Cusanus and e Defen part 2. c. 28. Marsilius So that in the iudgement of foure of the learnedst among our aduersaries the purpose of Christ was not by this text to indow Peter or the Pope but the whole Catholick Church and so accordingly the right of gouernment and freedome from erring should remaine not in the Pope but in the vniuersall Church cleane cōtrary to that which the Iesuit here supposeth 21 Secondly the direct and immediate purpose of Christ in these words is to forewarne Peter of the sinne whereinto he fell afterward by denying him and the meaning is that though Satan desired thereby to destroy him yet he had prayed that his faith might not by the temptation be vtterly extinguished admonishing him that as by his fall he would weaken his brethren the members of the Church so by the example of his true conuersion he should strengthen them againe vnderstanding this faith for which he prayed not of Peters teaching or directing the Church in doctrine but of the habit of faith abiding in his heart whereby he beleeued in Christ and confessed his name and f Confirmandi vocabulo authoritatem in docendo significari saith Greg. de Valen. to 3. pag 197. e. by strengthening his brethren not that he should be supreame head ouer his fellow Apostles but that g Esto a his poenitentiae exemplar ne desperent Theophyl Infirmiores fiatres exemplo tuae poenitentiae comforta ne de venia desperēt Gloss by the exāple of his repentance experience of Gods mercy to him in his infirmitie he should encourage all people against temptation This exposition is proued to be true because first there is no word in the text importing either all infalliblenesse of faith or any authoritie ouer the other Apostles See h Comment in Luc. 22. saith Caietan how Christ biddeth Peter account the Apostles not his subiects but his brethren see how he putteth him in office not to rule ouer them but to confirme them in faith hope and charitie Secondly the words going immediatly before forbid all absolute power of one ouer another The Kings of the nations beare rule and exercise authoritie ouer them but it shall not be so among you Thirdly Bellarmine acknowledgeth i Ex quibus priuilegiis primsi fortasse non manauit ad posteros De Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 3. § Alterum priuilegium Quoad prima non agit Petri successorē Boz de sign eccl tom 2. l. 18. c. vlt. pag. 594. that to persist alway in the faith without falling from it is a prerogatiue that possible is not deriued from Peter to the Pope which being so it followeth that the Iesuites exposition is false and no Papist can be certain that by vertue of this text the Pope can teach no error any more then he is assored he cannot erre himselfe but it is cleare he may erre himselfe and all Papists yeeld it therefore it is also vncertaine whether he be enabled to teach the Church so that in teaching he
were receiued n Bern. Senens ser 51. c. 3. Another saith that Christ was incarnate more for the redemption of the blessed virgine then for all mankind besides Bozius o De sign eccl tom 1. pag. 679. 681. saith The victory obtained ouer the diuell is to be ascribed altogether to Christ himselfe but by Christ it must also principally be ascribed to the virgine Mary Seeing the blessed Virgine is the most noble part of the Church it is chiefly referred to her to be Heuab which signifieth the mother of the liuing namely because by the vertue of Christ Marie principally giueth eternall life to mankind and through her we increase in the faith and are multiplied in charitie and replenish heauen By the two Cherubins vpon the Arke were signified Christ and Marie through whom God is mercifull and heareth our prayers There must needs be something in the Church to answer those old ceremonies Wherefore in the Church there must needs be some woman who being blessed with Christs gift and merits may beare all men to God and by whom God may be mercifull to vs. But this that Galatinus writeth deserueth the noting he saith p De Arcan Cathol verit pag. 489. that FOR THE LOVE OF IESVS AND MARY GOD CREATED THE WORLD For the loue of the vndefiled Virgine who is the wisedome of the world God made heauen and earth and it was not onely made for her loue but also preserued for it could no way stand our deeds are so euill BVT THAT SHE BY PRAYING FOR VS MERCIFVLLY VPHOLDETH IT * Pag. 515. Adam following sinne incurred death but the glorious Virgine and her Sonne being no partakers of Adams sinne and altogether free from originall sinne of right were to be impassible and immortall But forsomuch as the death of Christ was needfull for the redemption of mankind therefore it was necessary that the body of Christ should be passible and mortall and so likewise the immaculate Virgine being to beare a Sonne passible and mortall which was to be one flesh with her and that could not naturally be if she were impassible and immortall therefore she was also necessarily mortall and so both the mother and the sonne died THE DEATH AND PASSION OF CHRIST AND THE HOLY VIRGIN WAS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND It was impossible she should haue died afore the passion of her Sonne The second reason is that SHE ALSO MIGHT COME BETWEENE God and vs FOR THE REMISSION OF SINNE seeing all things must come betweene for the remission that came betweene when Adam did it Thus they ioyne the virgine Marie with Christ in the very worke of our redemption and ascribe to her no lesse then to him the execution of all Gods mercies toward vs. Brigit in her reuelations q Pag. 21. saith the virgin Mary told her that AS ADAM AND EVE SOLD THE WORLD FOR ONE APPLE * Filius meus ego redemimus mundum quasi cúm vno corde SO HER SONNE AND SHE REDEEMED THE WORLD WITH ONE HEART Thus they haue ioyned a creature with Christ and giuen his honour to another yea that honour of redeeming and sustaining the Church which no creature is capable of And this idolatry they haue committed not with the blessed Virgine alone who is blessed and honorable though not to be worshipped but her selfe worshipped him that was borne of her flesh r Lib. 3. saith Epiphanius but euen with the basest of their Saints that we may know in what vile account they hold Christ the Sauiour ſ Lib. Conform Francis pa. 304. They say he imprinted his fiue wounds vpon Francis of Assise the Frier as if he also were to suffer for the world and redeeme mankind and market t Posseuin bibl select p. 295. the verses of Tursellinus the Iesuite concerning the same Exue Franciscum tunica laceroque cucullo Qui Franciscus erat iam tibi Christus erit Francisci exuuiis si quâ licet indue Christum Iam Franciscus erit qui modò Christus erat Strip Francis from his coate and cowle all nak'd and you shall see He that euen Saint Francis was to Christ will turned be Againe put Francis coate and cowle on Christ and marke the lier He that euen now was Iesus Christ will Francis be the Frier The same conceit or a worse u Boz de sign eccles tom 2. pag. 200. is thus expressed by another Iesuit Fr. Bencius Sancte patrum spirans Christi exspirantis imago Tempore quam nullo deleat vlla dies Quas etenim fers ipse manus fers ipse pedesque Has tulit ille manus has tulit ille pedes Nec minus teli transfixum cuspide pectus Quale tibi patulo pectore vulnus biat Cuncta estis similes illum qui fortè verentur Reddere te saltem cur imitentur habent O holy Francis that of Christ dying vpon the tree The very breathing image art for euer so to be What hands thou bear'st what feet thou hast such hands such feet had he And such a wound wide in his brest as in thy brest we see In all things you are both alike that he which is ashamed Him t' imitate may follow him at least and not be blamed Out of all this the Reader must obserue what the Church of Rome ascribeth to Saints and how farre they intrude them into the office of Christ and then take a scantling thereby of the religion and iudge whether it be the Church of God that offereth this iniury to his Sonne 15 Let people therefore open their eyes and view the Papacie a title better how it hath incroched vpon heauen and earth that not the God of heauen or the states of the world or the consciences of men haue escaped the malice thereof but it is busily doing with them all the which me thinketh should moue them if no other thing could be obiected For what tyrannie and vsurpation is it thus to loade the world with their traditions and fill the Church with more then Iewish idolatry and superstition Moreouer what had the Councell of Trent to do now after 1500. yeares to make a new Creede and profession of faith which euen the people of their owne Church were neuer bound to before This is a point worth the looking at that the Bishop of Rome should take vpon him to adde twelue more articles to the Creed and to bind men by oath and confession to receiue them This sheweth him to be the same x 2. Thess 2.4 that sitteth in the Temple of God exalting himselfe aboue all that is God and his people to be in a miserable state that must haue the matter of their faith increased diminished and changed at his deuotion I will let downe this new Creed word for word that such as haue not seene it may consider thereof and see the new faith which the Pope hath taught his children Thus it lieth in the Popes y Bulla Pij 4. super
forma iuramenti professionis fidei Bull which calleth it THE PVBLICKE PROFESSION OF THE ORTHODOXAL FAITH TO BE VNIFORMLY OBSERVED AND PROFESSED z THE NEW CREED OF THE CHVRCH OF ROME I. N. do with firme faith beleeue and professe all and singular things contained in the Creed which the Romane Church vseth namely I beleeue in one God the Father almightie maker of heauen and earth and of all things visible and inuisible And in one Lord Iesus Christ the onely begotten Sonne of God borne of his Father before all worlds God of God light of light very God of very God begotten not made being consubstantiall with the Father by whom all things were made who for vs men and for our saluation came downe from heauen and was incarnate by the holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man crucified also for vs vnder Pontius Pilate suffered and was buried and rose againe the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of his Father and shall come againe with glory to iudge the quicke and the dead whose kingdome shall haue no end and in the holy Ghost the Lord and giuer of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne who with the Father and the Sonne is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets And I beleeue one Holy Catholick and Apostolicke Church J beleeue one Baptisme for the remission of sinnes and I looke for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come Amen The Apostolick and Ecclesiasticall TRADITIONS and other obseruances and constitutions of that Church do I firmly admit and embrace Also the sacred Scripture according to THAT SENCE WHICH OVR MOTHER THE CHVRCH HATH HOLDEN AND DOTH HOLD whose right it is to iudge of the true sence and interpretation of holy Scriptures do I admit Neither will I euer receiue and expound it but according to the vniforme consent of the Fathers I do also confesse that there be truly and properly SEVEN SACRAMENTS of the new law instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ and necessary to the saluation of mankind though all be not for euery man that is to say Baptisme Confirmation the Eucharist Penance extreme Vnction Order and Mariage and that they confer grace and that among these Baptisme Confirmation and Order cannot be reiterated without sacriledge Also the receiued and approued rites of the Catholicke Church vsed in the solemne administration of all the aforesaid Sacraments I receiue and admit All and euery the things which concerning ORIGINALL SIN and IVSTIFICATION were defined and declared in the holy Councell of Trent I embrace and receiue Also I confesse that in the MASSE is offered to God a true proper and propitiatory sacrifice for the quicke and the dead and that in the holy EVCHARIST is truly really and substantially the body and blood with the soule and Diuinitie of our Lord Iesu Christ and that there is made a conuersion of the whole substance of the bread into his body and of the whole substance of the wine into his bloud which conuersion the Catholick Church calleth TRANSVBSTANTIATION I confesse also that vnder ONE KIND ONLY all whole Christ and the true Sacrament is receiued I do constantly hold there is a PVRGATORY and the soules detained there are holpe by the suffrages of the faithful And likewise that the SAINTS raigning with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed vnto And that they offer their prayers to God for vs and that their RELICKS are to be worshipped And most firmly I auouch that the IMAGES of Christ and the Mother of God alwayes a Virgin and other Saints are to be had and retained and that to them due honor and veneration is to be giuen Also that the power of INDVLGENCES was left by Christ in the Church and I affirme the vse thereof to be most wholsome to Christs people That the Holy Catholicke and Apostolicke ROMANE CHVRCH is the mother and mistris of all Churches I acknowledge and I vow and sweare true obedience to the Bishop of Rome the successor of S. Peter the Prince of the Apostles and the Vicar of Iesus Christ And AL OTHER things likewise do I vndoubtingly receiue and confesse which are deliuered defined and declared by the sacred canons and generall Councels and especially the holy Councel of Trident and withal I condemne reiect and accurse all things that are contrary hereunto and all heresies whatsoeuer condemned reiected and accursed by the Church and that I will be carefull this true Catholicke faith out of the which no man can be saued which at this time I willingly professe and truly hold be constantly with Gods helpe retained and confessed whole and inuiolate to the last gaspe and by those that are vnder me or such as I shall haue charge ouer in my calling holden taught and preached to the vttermost of my power I the said N. promise vow sweare so God me help and his holy Gospels The Schoolmen Lawyers were long ago in hand with this question whether the Pope had authoritie to make a new Creed And because they were long tempering with it and the affirmatiue seemed a strange position we maruelled what they would make of it But now we see they meant in good earnest indeed and this belike was the Creed whereof the Pope was with child and all his Church must receiue it This is a strange presumption that taking vpon them to bring new matter of faith into the Church and to make that necessary to be beleeued for saluatiō which before was not so yet their people should be so blind as not obserue it Suarez the Iesuit a Tom. 2. p. 30. The matter may come to that passe that without any new explicate reuelation the Church may haue sufficient motiues for the defining of this or that veritie by the infolded and still reuelation of God for this manner of defining whereby that which was not before is now made an article of faith it is sufficient that any supernaturall veritie be infoldedly contained in tradition or Scripture that the common consent of the Church by which the holy Ghost often explicates traditions and declares Scripture increasing the Church at the length may bring in her determination which hath the force of a certaine diuine reuelation in respect of vs. This consent of the Church may so increase that at the length she may simply and absolutely define it This sheweth plainly that they thinke the Pope hath power to make a new Creed and hereby the world may see that vnder pretence of things lying hidden in the Church and the common consent of the Church increasing the Pope may multiply the matters of faith and so fit in the conscience as he pleaseth 16 It is no small griefe to all that are well minded to see this more then Egyptian bondage whererein so many people liue but yet if any man looke attentiuely vpon it the matter will not seeme
all things is infallible which if it were granted yet were it too short to proue that therefore this Church were the rule of faith For euery infallible thing whose teaching is most true is not yet in the ordinance of God set apart to instruct vs. As the Angels of heauen for example are not the rule of our faith though a Fr. Suarez in Tho. to 1. disp 42. sect 1. they haue all the graces and glorie that a creature can haue and consequently the grace of infallibilitie Let this be noted in the first place 2 But yet the doctrine and teaching of the Church is not in all points infallible and most true neither meaning this doctrine not of the Scriptures but of the Churches ministery in propounding and following the same for in her ministery and manners she may and doth erre as shall appeare in my answer to the Iesuites reasons throughout this section But first the question must be made plaine For to say as he doth here and euery where in this question that the teaching of the vniuersall Catholick Church is infallible not subiect to error is an improper speech not incideÌ„t to the question because that Church comprehendeth all the triumphant Church in heauen which neither can be vsed neither do we charge it with error but confesse it to be b Ephes 5.27 glorious not hauing spot or wrinkle or any such thing All the question is of that part of the Catholick Church which dwelleth here on earth professing the name of Christ and liuing in warfare against the world and Satan called the Church militant Which so distinguished we hold to be subiect to error both in manners and doctrine And the Iesuite of necessitie by the vniuersall Church must vnderstand onely this part thereof because this part onely is apt to teach vs and hath ministerie in her hands or else he disputeth confusedly not distinguishing the termes of the question 3 This being noted now I come to the discourse which may all be concluded in this syllogisme that we may the better iudge of it That 1. vnto which Christ hath promised his owne presence and the presence of his spirit for euer to the worlds end 2. which hath commission from God to teach all nations 3. which all men are commaunded to heare in all things 4. they that heare it are warranted as if they heard Christ himselfe 5. they that heare it not are threatned as if they despised Christ himselfe that is free from error and the doctrine thereof in all things is infallible But such is the Church that concerning it Christ hath 1. promised 2. giuen commission 3. commanded 4. warranted and 5. threatned as is aforesaid Therefore the Church is free from error and the doctrine thereof in all things is infallible This is the summe of all this section whereto I answer by denying both propositions and the reason is for that they consist of Scripture falsly expounded and applyed and this my answer I set downe more particularly in that which followeth wherein I will examine euery text as it is alledged and make it plain that neuer a one of them proueth the conclusion 4 The first place is Mat. 28.20 Lo I am with you alway to the worlds end But I answer 1. this was a personall promise made onely to the Apostles and so cannot be extended to all the Church if we will speake of the words properly according to their immediate sence 2. To whomsoeuer it belongeth the meaning is c Iansen concord Eâ—ang cap. 149. that howsoeuer his bodily presence ceassed yet his prouidence should neuer faile to preserue comfort them in all their troubles and helpe them in all their actions and by degrees so enlighten them also that they should not perish in their ignorance but be led forward to more perfection This must needes be granted to be all that is meant First because Christ is not absent from his people euery time they fall into an error but remaineth with them still for all that either forgiuing it or reforming it Secondly this promise notwithstanding yet afterward d Gal 2.11 vide August de Baptism cont Donat. l. 2. c. 1. de agon Christian c. 30. Thom. in ep ad Gal. c. 3. lect 3. Peter one to whom the promise was made erred against the truth of the Gospell and was therefore by Paul rebuked and resisted to his face which thing could not haue fallen out if this promise had exempted the Church from all error Thirdly if it priuiledge the whole Church from error because it is made to it then consequently it priuiledgeth the particular Churches Pastors and beleeuers therein because it is made to them likewise but experience sheweth these latter may erre and therefore the meaning must needs be as I haue said Fourthly e See §. it is a ruled case among the Papists that the Pope may erre which could not be if these words of Christ meant the Church of Rome and that infallible iudgment which the Iesuite talketh of As for his glosse vpon the words that Christ in them should promise his continuall presence not for a while then nor for a while now but for euer it is altogether either idle and inept For he can name no Protestant that euer thought Christ was at any time absent but we all constantly beleeue he alway was is and shall be with his Church to the end 5 The second and third places are much like the first Iohn 14.16 I will pray the Father saith Christ and he shall giue you another comforter that he may abide with you for euer And Iohn 16.13 When he is come which is the Spirit of truth he will leade you into all truth But I answer two things First these words are properly extended to the Apostles promising f Act. 2.4 that which was performed immediatly after Christs ascention and ought not to be stretched any further Which being so they conclude somewhat for them but little for the Church because euerie grace belongeth not to the Church in all ages that was giuen the Apostles Secondly applying them to the Church also the meaning is that the holy Ghost should neuer forsake it but perseuere in teaching it all truh which is simply necessary to saue it according as the Church is able to learne it which he doth by meanes of the Scripture though not at all times alike perfectly but so as he endueth it with all holines and yet many sins are found in it This interpretation must needs be allowed for three causes first the Apostle saith of himselfe and the Church g 1. Cor. 13.9 Now we know but in part and prophesie in part Which were not true if these words of Christ had secured the Church in all things and in euery truth for the part cometh short of the whole Secondly this promise belongeth as well to one Apostle as another yea h 1. Ioh 2.20 to all the faithfull as wel as to the
whereby all men at all times may come to the true faith must be alway visible to all sorts of men But Christ appointed the Church to be the rule whereby all men at all times may come to the true faith Ergo the Church must be alway visible to all sorts of men This argument is faultie two wayes first in the assumption for the Church is not this rule as l Digr 3. § 14 per totum I haue shewed at large neither hath the Iesuite alreadie proued it but onely said it as here he beggeth it to proue that which before he brought to proue this 5 But yet it is a subordinate meanes for the bringing men to saluation in that God teacheth his elect by the ministerie thereof m Ad ipsam salutem ac aeternam vitam nemo peruenit nisi qui habet caput Christū habere autem caput Christū nemo poterit nisi qui in eius corpore fuerit quod est ecclesia Aug. de vnit eccl c. 16. neither can any man be made the child of God except first he be conceiued in the wombe of the Church But hence it followeth not that the Church is therefore visible or knowne to all sorts of men because visiblenesse and inuisiblenesse are but differences of the Catholicke Churches outward state here vpon earth and the elect may partake her ministery in either of these estates that is to say he may be effectually ioyned to the Catholicke Church though it do not visibly appeare in outward shew by the ditection of Gods word and spirit and by the teaching of a few faithful Christians that lie hid in the world as wheate doth in his chaffe and so consequently Gods elect neuer want necessary meanes of knowledge saluation because some part of the Church or other first or last though hidden from the world is manifested to them 6 As for the reprobate I grant that many times the Church is neither knowne to them nor yeeldeth them any meanes whereby the faith may be knowne And I adde further that this is Gods very ordinance whereby he vseth to punish their obstinacie For as sometime n Esa 6.9 Ioh. 12.40 he taketh away their heart and sometime o 2. Thess 2.11 giueth them ouer to strong delusions to beleeue lies so sometime he sends p Amos 8.12 a famine of the word of God that they shall wander from sea to sea and from the North to the East they shall runne to and fro to seeke the word of the Lord and shall not find it and sometime q Apoca. 2.5 compared with 1.20 taketh away the candlesticke which is the visible Church as I haue touched r § 3. nu 2. before All which notwithstanding it is true that God would haue all men saued and come to the knowledge of the true faith This I say is true not vniuersally in euery sence but as the Apostle meant it whose sence is declared by ſ Enchir. c. 103. cont Iulian. l. 4. c 8. de praedest sanct c. 8. de corrept grat c. 14 Austine thus No man is saued but whom he will saue not that there is no man whom he would not haue saued but that none is saued but whom he willeth and therefore is to be intreated that he would because what he willeth of necessitie must be done And by t De incarnat grat c. 31. Fulgentius thus By all these men whom God would haue come to saluation is meant not altogether all mankind but the vniuersitie of all that shal be saued who therefore are called All men because them all the goodnesse of God saueth out of the number of All and that out of euery nation condition age language and prouince The same exposition is also giuen by u Aug. vbi supra Haymo Anselm in 1. Tim. 2 Mag. 1. d. 46. others and commended by x Alliac c. 1. q. 14. art 1. ad 1. pag. 206. Durand 1. d. 46. qu. 1. ad 2. p. 134. Greg. de Valent. tom 1. p. 325. tom 2 p. 894 Biel. lect 68. lit f. pa. 189. Vocabul theol verbo voluntas Dei anteced Greg. Arimin 1. d. 40. art 2. ad 4. learned Papists But Thomas preferreth it before all others and y Lect. 1. in 2. c. 1. ep ad Timot. saith it agreeth best with the Apostles intent And Emmanuel Sa is of the same mind God saith z Notat in 1. Tim. 2 4 he would all men be saued he would All men that is All kind of men not euery man for if he would absolutely then he would do it Which being so the Iesuite may see there is no such necessitie that God should prouide the meanes of a visible Church to instruct all men vniuersally forasmuch as he neuer willed absolutely that all men vniuersally should be saued but as Saint Austine a Ep. 107. ad Vital post mediū speaketh It is euen by children manifest that many be not saued not because themselues but because God will not confuting the contrary as Pelagianisme And it is no absurditie to say of such that they wanted b Mat. 10.5 Act. 14.16 16.6 17.30 through Gods iudgement many times secret but alway iust c Rom. 1.16 1. Cor. 1.21 Rom. 10.14 Act. 2.47 necessarie meanes whereby they should attaine to faith and saluation God willing the meanes no otherwise then he doth the end that is by no absolute will formally abiding in himselfe but onely conditionally Whereas his will concerning the elect being his absolute purpose to giue them eternall life is alway ioyned with such works as make it not onely possible or conditionall but also certaine to be effected And if nothing else can teach the Iesuite thus much yet he might haue learned it of his owne words For if God will nothing which he knoweth impossible then doth he not will the saluation of such as he knoweth to be d Rom. 9.22 1. Pet. 2.8 Iude vers 4. the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction And if the Iesuite thinke yet to answer and vnfold the matter by applying e Magist 1. d. 46 47. ibi Scolast communiter omnes Damascen l. 2. orthod fid c. 29. the schoole distinction of will antecedent and consequent then let him open his eyes and consider that this Antecedent will taking it as f Voluntas Dei antecedens est qua dat alicui naturalia vel aliqua bona antecedentia quibus potest aliquid consequi Ockā Camerac 1. q. 14. art 1. and so the rest it is described g Quod vult Deus voluntate antecedente solùm non simpliciter vult Dur. 1.46.1.2 neither is any will simply properly and formally as the Apostle saith God willeth in the place alledged neither doth it necessarily include the certaine publishing of the Gospell or reuelation of the Church But h Interna vocatio Gentibus nunquā defuit nam iuxta opinionem Scoti
for the most part also neglecting such exercises of religion by praier contemplation and repentance as of right ought to be ioyned with the outward abstinence yea they place and practise fasting e Dicimus quod de essentia iciunij quoad mo dum sunt duo scil vna comestio in spacio 24 horarum abstinentia à carnibus quis lacticinijs Llamas Sum. Eccl. p. 390. onely in forbearing flesh and things coming of flesh on certaine daies allowing themselues in steed thereof not onely fish which is as good as flesh but that which is daintier wine conserues sweet meates and such like in as great measure as can be as the experience of this our countrey sheweth among such as are Popishly affected 3 And suppose we had omitted all fasting indeed and allowed no time for it yet some Papists would haue borne vs company herein that so themselues might be guilty of breaking fasting daies as well as we For f Catharin adu noua dogm Caietan p. 262. Caietan holdeth It is no where commanded but onely by custome was brought in and is necessary neither for the seruice of God nor the loue of our neighbour Wherin though we refuse his iudgment yet touching our putting away the distinction of meates and daies we are not to be blamed For what libertie or loosenes can possibly be imagined to proceed froÌ„ eating flesh more theÌ„ froÌ„ eating of fish sweet meats spices other things finer theÌ„ flesh which the g Tho. 22 qu. 147. art 6. 7. 8. Llam method part 3. c. 5. §. 24. 26. Church of Rome alloweth And how may it be conceiued to be such disorder on a Friday or in Lent or on a Saints euen to eate butter or egs or a bit of vndainty flesh when they that are busiest in controlling it the same daies will drinke strong wine and other drinkes and eate confections of better stuffe and warmer operations Or why should a man be censured for eating his meate on an Ember day that fasts carefully and zealously vpon any day without respect of difference Especially h Fran. Victo relect 9. de temperant p. 132. our aduersaries confessing There is no kinde of nourishment either of plants or liuing creatures but by the law of God and nature we may lawfully vse it Nothing can be obiected but the precept of the Church for i Rational l. 6. c. 7 nu 22. p. 268. Durands reason is too grosse that fish is eaten and not flesh because God cursed the earth but not the waters in that his spirit moued on them But what such authoritie hath a particular Church to make a generall law against that which God and nature left at large and what such iurisd ction hath Rome of late obtained that it should forbid that which the Church in old time permitted 4 For k Theoâ— epit diuin decret c. vlt. Niceph l. 12 c. 34. all antiquitie can witnesse that in the Primitiue Church fasting was held an indifferent thing euery maÌ„ was left to his owne mind therein * Laxus ac liber modus abstinendi ponitur eúctis neque nos seuerus terror impellit sua queâ—que cogit velle potestas Prâ—d Cathem hym 8. no law binding him to this or that maner as l Comment in Act. c. 13. quem refert Catha adu Caiet p. 262. Caietan confesseth Montanus a condemned hereticke being the first that euer brought in the lawes of fasting from whom the Papists haue borrowed them For Irenaeus that liued 1400. yeares ago m Euseb hist l. 5. c. 26. Niceph. l. 4. c. 39. testifieth concerning the keeping of Lent in his time that some fasted before Easter one day onely some two daies some more and the vnitie of faith was well maintained notwithstanding all this varietie n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hom 2. de ieiun p. 135. Basil mentioneth onely fiue daies And Socrates o Hist l 5 c. 22. writeth how it was obserued one way in one place and another way in another They in Rome fasted three weekes onely and excepted Saterdaies and Lords daies The Illyrians and Greekes sixe weekes Others began seuen weekes before Easter yet so as they fasted but a few daies of all that time The like varietie they obserued in meates For in some places they eat no liuing thing at all some onely fish some fish and foule some dry bread some would eate no berries or egges and some not so much as bread For in these matters the Apostles left euery man to his owne will p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sozom. l. 1. c. 11. Spiridion the Bishop of Cyprus though he kept Lent yet was it but vpon certaine daies that he fasted and when a stranger came to him vpon one of those same daies he set swines flesh before him and eat thereof with him Yea q Câ—ropâ—lat de 〈◊〉 sic p 118. iâ—i Pacius annot p. 322. graec they kept a Lent before the feast of Christs natiuity also which we do not And touching Saterdaies r Ignat. ep ad Philip. Sext. Syn. in Trul. c. 55. some vtterly condemned fasting that day yet Å¿ Aug. ep 86. other obserued it And t Haeres 75. Epiphanius thought it an Apostolicall tradition to fast Wednesdaies and Fridaies excepting those betweene Easter and Whitsontide which yet the Church of Rome obserueth not And as for Ember daies and Saints euens we finde no vse of them for fasting till of late times And touching this whole question of fasting dayes let it be marked what t Ep 86. ad Casulan pa nò ante finem Saint Augustine writeth to a friend of his If saith he you aske my opinion concerning this matter I find in the writings of the Euangelists and Apostles and all the new Testament that we are commaunded to fast but what dayes we must fast and what dayes we must not I find it not determined by any commandement of Christ or his Apostles So that if we be faultie because we fast not after the Romish manner then themselues are likewise faultie because they fast not after the Primitiue order there being no greater reason why they should condemne vs for neglecting their fasts then why we should condemne them for neglecting the fasts of the auncient Church nor any cause why our libertie in the vse of meates and dayes should be taken in worse part now then the same libertie vsed of old in the Primitiue Church when these things depended vpon the will of him that fasted 5 And possible our accusers breake fasting dayes in the same maner that we do For first they eate as often and as good as we do when they fast Next they haue dispensations u Dispensati ieiuniuÌ„ non frangunt Llam metho pag. 395. which exempt them from fasting so commonly and of course that any man may see the Pope defined fasting by meates and dayes for no other cause but to vtter his pardons
l 1. art 6. One saith We are to stand to the Popes iudgement alone rather then to the iudgement of all the world besides a Greg. à Val. to 3. pag. 293. Another that when the question cannot be fitly decided by the opinion of the Doctors then it is free for the Pope to interpose his authoritie Another b Turrecrem Sum. l 3. c 44. Bell. de conc l. 2 c. 17. that the Pope is aboue all Councels and the vniuersall Church and acknowledgeth no iudge vpon earth ouer him c Quanto de translat Episc in Gloss Another that he hath a heauenly iudgement and maketh that to be the meaning that is not d Caiet 27. q. 1. art 9. Another that the authoritie of the vniuersall Church and of a Councell and of the Pope is reputed to be all one Whereby you may see that whatsoeuer the fathers say or howsoeuer they consent yet it is in the Popes power to assigne the meaning And as if all this were too little e Index expuâ—gat Belg. p. 12. they openly professe that in the ancient Catholicke writers they tollerate many errors they extenuate and excuse them and oftentimes deny them by deuising a shift and faining some handsome sense to giue them when in disputations they are opposed against them and in conflicts with their aduersaries What needed all this if they followed the fathers as they pretend and why vse they this excusing shifting denying eluding them and why are they faine to call in the Pope to charm them if they think they haue their vniuersall consent as they preteÌ„d Nay let them say bona fide why haue they purged and razed and changed the writings of their owne Schoolemen and later Diuines and in later impressions changed them in infinite places from that which the authors writ but that their conscience telleth them they are shrunk from that which the Church of Rome held euen in their daies 12 But all this will not serue their turne neither though men not acquainted with the practise of hereticks would haue little looked for it at their hands that so insolently bragge of the fathers You shall now see in that which followeth that they openly reiect them also and deny their doctrine as ordinarily as euer any did And iudge thereby if it were possible the Centuries should be more negatiue then themselues In the question touching the cause of Predestination f Sixt. Sen. bib l. 6. annot 251. one of them hauing reckoned vp eleuen fathers chargeth them that they held the prescience of merits The which opinion saith he was condemned in Palagius g Mich. Medin Orig. sacr hom l. 1. c. 5. Another saith that Hierome Austin Ambrose Sedulius Primasius Chrysostome Theodoret Oecumenius Theophylact which are the chiefest of the fathers in the question concerning the difference betweene a Priest and a Bishop held the same opinion that Aërius the Waldenses and Wickliffe did whom he counteth for heretickes and chargeth those fathers with the same heresie In the matter touching the baptisme of Constantine the great h Baron an 324 n. 43. 50. inde they reiect Eusebius Ambrose Hierom Theodoret Socrates Sozomen and the whole Councell of Ariminum and say They deserue no credit because they haue written the truth that he was baptized by Eusebius the Bishop of Nicomedia In the question about the conception of the virgin Mary i Almain potest Eccl. c. 16. Clictou super Damascen l. 3. c. 2. Fra. Titl Ioh. 2. they hold she had no originall sinne and that it is a point of our faith so to beleeue and that it is impietie to think otherwise and yet k Bann part 1. pag 75. they acknowledg all the fathers with one consent held the contrary l An. 395. n. 42. Baronius censureth all the Historiographers of the fourth age both humane diuine He saith Though there were abundance of them yet some were too obscure some too short some wanted order some diligence some pietie and truth and some for priuate affection writ lies Thus they encounter whole troopes of fathers together 13 Now you shall see how they entertaine them at single hand one by one or a few together as they meet them m Stapl. iustif lib. 2. c. vlt. Austin went beyond all good measure in this dispute with the Pelagians n Sixt. Sen. bibl lib. 5. pref he attributeth sometime too little to mans will o Alphons adu haer verb. Episcopus I will beleeue Anacletus a notable counterfet better then either Ierome or Austin No maruell if Ierome were deceiued when good Homer sometime is taken napping p Turrian scol Graec. in const p. 172. Though Chrysostome and Austin and some other fathers say Iudas receiued the sacrament yet the constitution of Clement q Balsam resp apud ius Graecorum tom 1. p. 363. another egregious counterfet is rather to be beleeued r Ban. 22. p. 630 Certaine moderne Diuines haue forsaken Saint Austin and Thomas in a matter of great weight and haue followed their owne false imaginations Å¿ Tolet. Rom. 9 p. 421. I do not in this point allow the doctrine of Austin Ambrose Chrysostome Theodoret and Photius t Maldonat Ioh. 6. Let the reader beware that when he readeth Chrysostome vpon this place he fall not into Pelagianisme u Baro. an 216. n. 16. An euill spirit so caried Tertullian that of euill being made worse and most filthy he spued out most horrible blasphemies x Bellar. Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 8. Little credit is to be giuen Tertullian in this matter for he was a Montanist And yet y Baron ann 201. n. 7. I would not deny Saint Ieromes authoritie but that Tertullian saith otherwise z Errores articulat à Parrhisiens p 139. Cyprian and Ierome writ erronious and hereticall opinions which we do not reade they euer retracted a Ibid. It is plaine that Ieromes doctrine was erronious in some part and that in things pertaining to the faith and teaching of the Apostles b Can. loc l. 11. c 6. Pope Gregory and Bede the one in his dialogues the other in his English history misse it now and then c Baron ann 433. n. 30. They are deceiued which thinke Cassian was in euerie part a Catholicke And Gennadius was a Pelagian as well as he d Bellar. purg l. 2. c 8. Origen was seene in hell burning with Arrius and Nestorius e Baron ann 256. n. 40. I wonder certaine new writers dare still put forth apologies for him f Posseuin bibl sel l. 1. c 25. Eusebius was an ArriaÌ„ in al his works a man of a double mind g Baron annal tom 1. prefat He lied in many things he was full of Arianisme h Baron ann 324. n. 48. No remedy but we must needes say Eusebius lied falsely i Baron ann 395. n. 41.
thence haue giuen testimony to vs who remain behinde that they are safely arriued there you I say are vnwise that will leaue this way to aduenture the liues not of your bodies but of your soules in a path found out by your selues neuer tracked before In which whosoeuer haue gone yet God knoweth what is become of them since we neuer had letter or miracle or euident token or any word from them to assure vs that they passed safely that way I may account you most vnwise men that will aduenture such a pretious iewell as your soule is to be transported by such an vncertaine and most dangerous way I must needs think that since there is but one way and that the way of the Catholike Church is a sure and approued way you are very vnwise that leaue it The Answer 1 They are vnwise that leaue the way of the Catholicke Church they are no wiser but the very same that follow the way of the Romane Church the reason is because the Roman is not the Catholick Church And therfore we that haue left it and the waies thereof that we might trauell towards the heauenly Ierusalem reioyce in the goodnesse of God that hath called vs to this mercy and daily craue of his heauenly maiestie that he will continue vs therein to our liues end though Papists cal vs to follow them Whose miracles as a Digress 44. I haue shewed giue no testimony that any man in the Popish religion euer came to heauen The miracles of Christ and of his Apostles and of the Primitiue Church belong not to them but vs in that our faith is the same that theirs was that did them The rest contained in the Legends and Indian Newes which are all that Papists can properly challenge are the delusions of Satan and forgeries of men And so the diuell and the Frier playing the Carriers loded their packe-horse with such stuffe and because the Pope paied them well for the deuice they made silly Papists such as the Iesuite is beleeue they came from their friends in heauen This therefore is no sure way to finde the truth vnlesse it be certain that these miracles were sent indeed and then as certaine that they which sent them died in the present Popish religion 2 As for our selues we are not so destitute of letters and tokens as the Iesuite pretendeth sent vs not from men that are departed but from God that gaue them entertainment whose certificate to vs is b 2. Pet. 1 1◠more worth then all the miracles of the world because he sent it vs by his owne Sonne that best could tell who arriued in his fathers house And these letters are the Scriptures God our King c Hom. 39. saith Macarius hath sent the diuine Scriptures as it were letters vnto vs. And Saint Austin saith d Enarr Psal 90. conc 2. These are the letters which are come to vs frō that Citie whither like Pilgrims we are trauelling So that as long as by these Scriptures we can iustifie our faith we haue letters from heauen sufficient to assure vs that all which embrace and obey the faith we professe are safely arriued in the kingdome of heauen This is the reason why the Pope forbiddeth his people the reading of them lest thereby they should know so much and knowing it should forsake him and his lying miracles § 63. I must thinke that since the Catholicke Church is as I haue proued the light of the world and rule of faith the pillar and ground of the truth that you leauing it leaue the light and therefore walke in darkenesse forsaking the true faith and therefore are misled in the mist of incredulity into the wildernesse of misbeliefe Finally hauing lost the sure ground of truth fall into the ditch of many absurdities must needs be drowned in the pit of innumerable errors And erring thus from the way the veritie the life which is Christ residing according to his promise in the Catholicke Church must needs vnlesse you will returne to the secure way of the same Catholicke Church incurre your owne perdition death and endlesse damnation of body and soule from the which sweet Iesus deliuer vs all to the honour and perpetuall praise of his name Amen Laus Deo beatae virgini Mariae The Answer 1 The Church of Rome is not the Catholike Church but the seate of Antichrist and therfore what danger soeuer there be in forsaking the Catholicke yet there is none in refusing the Romane Church Nay t 2. Cor. 6.17 Apoc. 18.4 all such as will be saued must forsake it And they that will abide therein shall find by experience at the last that all the inconueniences which the Iesuite saith belong to such as leaue the Catholicke Church will fall vpon them And therefore blessed be God the Father of lights who hath restored among vs the publicke ministery of the Gospel for the calling of his people out of the damned errors of the Romane Sea into his owne Church And let the earth reioyce and euery child of God therein and giue him thankes who hath made the light of his Church to breake out when the tyranny of the Church of Rome had thought to haue smothered it in eternall darkenesse and with the innumerable errors that it bred to haue seduced misled and drowned it for euer wherby mankinde should haue incurred perdition death and endlesse damnation of body and soule And let my deare countrimen know among whom vnto whom I write these things and for whose sake I will expose my selfe to the vndiscreet fury of seducers and many seduced refusing no paines or dutie that may tend to the enlightning of their conscience and confirming of the vndoubted faith of Iesus Christ wherof I am called to be the meanest preacher that liueth among them LET THEM I SAY AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF OVR LAND WHOM THESE HAPPY DAIES HAVE RECLAIMED FROM THE CHVRCH OF ROME COVNT THIS THEIR CHIEFEST HAPPINES AND WE ARE IT AS THEIR CROWNE that God hath thus made them partakers of his Gospell when the other side euen vnder their eyes lie plunged in ignorance of mind error of faith and vilenesse of conuersation so horrible and prodigious that it needeth teares to bewaile it rather then a pen to report it In recompence wherof let them be CONSTANT AND FAITHFVLL to the end and continue in the things that they haue learned making no question but our faith which could bring so visible a reformation of manners into our countrey so certaine knowledge so vnspeakeable comfort into our minde which could bring the light of Gods owne word the maiesty of elder times the reuerent countenance of the first antiquitie and the perpetuall testimony of our aduersaries themselues for her iustification wil saue their soules if they will obey it For want of which obedience they may and shall perish eternally when the faith it selfe is in no fault And let them LABOVR WITH LOVE AND