binde vpon the earth it shall be bound in heaueÌ„ whatsoeuer thou shalt loose vpon the earth it shal be loosed in heauen For otherwise those keyes of loosing binding had ben lost cleane and the authority of Christes church had bene ouerthrowen for euer if Peter onely shoulde haue possessed those keyes as parteining to himselfe alone and not to Christes Church For it followeth in the same chapter how Christ telling his Apostles that he must go to Ierusalem and there suffer many things by the elders scribes and princes of the priestes and beâ—lains and the third day rise againe from death Peter tooke him aside and rebuked him saying Let this be farre from thee let not this happen to thee Wherevpon Christe turning him selfe to Peter sayd vade post me Satana scandalum es mihi quia noâ— sapis ea quae dei sunt sed ea quaâ— sunt hominum Get thee behinde me thou Satan or Diuell thou art an offence vnto me for thou doest not sauour of the thinges that are of God but the thinges that are of men So that whatsoeuer Christ said to him before if the same had not concerned the authority of his whole church but onely Peters person theÌ„ al the vertue of those sayinges had bene clearely quenched and taken from Peter when Christ called him Sathan and bad him come behinde him But that the right of these wordes doth belong vnto the whole Church it is euident by the wordes of Christe that do follow in the eightéene Chapter spoken to the Church Matt. 18. Quaecunque ligaueritis in terra erunt ligata in coelo Et quaecunque solueritis in terra erunt soluta in coelo What soeuer ye binde in earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen Yea to regarde the substance of Christes wordes touching that authority of binding and loosing mentioned to Peter Christ said not tibi do claues regni coelorum Matt. 16. I doe giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen to thee but tibi dabo I will giue to thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen to loose and to binde So that Christes wordes were spoken of the time to come not of the time present to be giuen afterward not as giuen presently Whereof it doeth follow that none of the Apostles had authoritie of binding and loosing of retaining and remitting the sinnes of all estates of men through all nations vntill our sauiour Christ had suffered his death and had washed away our sinnes with his bloud and had conquered death by rising from death At the which time they receaued the holie Ghost as it shall appeare in the second commission and had that perfourmed whiche was promised when Christ saide Iohn 20. I wil giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen But in the mean season before that was performed Christ perceiuing by his diuine prescience and foreknowledge that Peter should denie him thrise in one day he saide vnto him Simon Luke 22. Ecce Satanas expetiuit vos vt cribraret sicut triticum ego autem oraui pro te vt non deficiat fides tua tu aliquando conuersus confirma fratres tuos Ipse verò dixit ei Domine tecum paratus sum in carcerem in mortem ire At ille dixit dico tibi Petre non cantabit hodie gallus donec ter abneges nosse me Simon saith the Lord to Peter Behold Sathan hath desired you to syfte you like wheat but I haue praied for thee that thy faith fayle not therefore when thou at length art conuerted confirme stablish thy brethren Then Peter saide vnto him Lorde I am ready to go with thee into prison vnto death But Christ saide Peter I tell thee the cocke shall not crowe this day vntill thou hast thrice denied that thou knowest me Whiche wordes of Christ were fulfilled the same night as soone as he was brought before the high priest For Peter being amongst them that stoode by the fire when he was reported of by a maide that he was one of those which were with Christ he aunswered I doe not knowe him When againe he was tolde by another man who stoode by the maide that he was of them he answered I do not know him Anone after the thirde time when another man said verily this man was with him for he is also a Galilean then Peter cursed and did sweare as S. Matthew doth witnes that he knew not Christ And immediately the cocke did crowe Matt. 26. And Christe looked back vpon Peter and Peter went forth and did wéepe bitterly This I haue recited so muche the more at large because there be some who would proue authoritie giuen to Peter by the former wordes of Christ which if they be well considered are but a manifestation partly of Christs Godhead in that he did foreknow Peter would denie him partely of his mercie shewed gratiously to Peter whose faith he did establish with his praier that he should not dispaire as Iudas Iscariot did who after he had sold Christ went and hanged himselfe So vpon this verie sentence of Christ Ego rogaui pro te Petre vt not deficiat fides tua Chrisostomus in Mat. Cap. 26. Hom. 83. Saint Chrisostome doth say that Christe the more sharpely to reproue Peters pride who did presume more of him selfe then any other of the Apostles doeth signifie before vnto him that his fall shal be worse then the fall of the rest and therefore néedeth greater helpe to raise him vppe againe Wherefore that he might sée and féele his owne weakenes Christe suffered him to fal told him of it before it happened yet he preserued him wtall through his great care fauour that he should not fall from him though he did denie him wherwith he coÌ„forted him in saying I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith fail not Now as saint Chrisostome doth shewe that Christ did thus manifest his diuine knowledge and fauour vnto Peter by foreshewing him his fall and promising that he would rayse him so likewise holie Beda writing on the same wordes saith that he who onely knoweth what is in man Beda in EuangeliuÌ„ Lucae cap. 22. lib. 6. both as God did foretell in what sorte at what time how often Peter should denie him and as merciful did promise him the help of his defence least that any of the faithful either vnaduisedly should presume of his owne standing or more vnaduisedly should dispaire for his owne falling Wherefore to passe ouer other thinges that might be saide hereby it is manifest that the words of Christ spoken to Peter of his prayer for him haue no force at all to proue any preeminence or superioritie in Peter but they are rather of greate force against him and those that chalenge to be his successors sith they doe shewe a notable fall of Peter by occasion that he had too greate a confidence in himselfe as it is
Gregor epistolarum Lib. 4. Epist 32. 38. For he would not suffer this decrée to be receiued within his prouince of Italy but vtterly reiected it and wrote not only to the emperour how greatly he did offend almighty God in admitting this new prophane blasphemous name and authoritie into the Church of Christ empairing the authority which he hath giuen to the rest of his byshops and ministers but also to Iohn the patriarke that he by taking and vsurping that authority did shewe him self in pride and presūption to be the very forerunner of Antichrist Wherby it came to passe that Mauricius the Emperour was so greatly offended with this good Gregory Platina de vitis pontificum Romanorū in Gregorio primo Volaterranus Centuria 6. fol. 872. that as Platina doth report he exhorted the Lūbardes to set vppon the city of Rome which Agilulfus the king of Lumbardy did beséeging it a whole yeare Howbeit in the end he was faine to go away without any hurt done to the city that was saued by the mighty prouidence of God Chap. 3. That Christ in the promise of his second commission saying vnto Peter To thee will I giue the keyes of heauen doth giue him no supremacie Neither by these wordes I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not NOwe to returne to the commissions of Christe because that betwixt the first whiche was giuen before his passion to his Apostles as I haue declared and the second which he gaue them after his death and resurrection Christ did open to them in the meane time his purpose and intent both for giuing them further authoritie then before he gaue them and for instructing of them what they should doe with it he therefore demaunded of his disciples what men did talke of him and whom they saide him to be To whome when they aunswered some that Thou art Iohn Baptist and some Elias others Ieremias or one of the prophets Matt. 16. then Iesus said vnto them Vos autem quem me esse dicitis Respondens Simon Petrus dixit tu es Christus filius Dei viui Respondens autem Christus dixit ei beatus es Simon Bar-iona quia caro sanguis non reuelauit tibi hoc sed pater meus qui est in coelis Et ego dico tibi tu es Petrus super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam portae inferni non praeualebunt aduersus eam Et tibi dabo claues regni coelorum quidcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in coelis quidcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in coelis But whom saith Christ do you say that I am He said not Peter who dost thou say that I am but in the plurall nomber to all his Apostles who doe you say that I am Then Peter as the mouth and speaker of them al said Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God To whom our sauiour Christ aunswered and saide blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed it to thee but my father which is in heauen And I say to thee Tu es Petrus alluding to the name of Peter for his perfect faith on the head corner stone the is to say on Christ wherevpon Peter him selfe was builded and not Christ vpon Peter therefore Christ said Vpon this rocke or stone of thy confession of me to be the sonne of the liuing God will I builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it Christ did not say against thée Peter but against it that is his true Church builded vpon that faith that Peter then confessed and not vpon Peters person I doe beléeue there is no man so ignoraunt or voide of knowledge that will iudge our Sauiour Christ would build his Church vpon so weake and fraile a foundation as Peter was if we regard not his profession but his person who shewed himselfe more wauering and vnstable then any other of the twelue Apostles as one that vtterly denied his Maister Christe thrée times in one day Matt. 26. and also before that did speake such carnall and worldly wordes vnto him that Christe was faine to answere him Thou art an offence vnto me and added moreouer Matt. 16. Get thee be hinde me Sathan Wherefore I do leaue it to the iudgement of euerie good Christian man whether it be more agréeable to our faith and safe for the Church of God to be founded vpon Christ or vpon Peter vppon the sonne of the liuing God whō Peter confessed or vpon a man who vttterly denied the sonne of the liuing God saying Non noui hominē istum and that cum iuramento Matt. 26. I do not knowe this man and bound it with an othe as the Gospel doth testifie It is certaine that Christ builded his Church vpon that rocke or stone Iuellus in replicatione ad responsum Hardingi fol. 221. 222. 246. 262. which was sure stedfast euen vpon the faith confessed by Peter and not vpon Peter And that by the iudgement of the olde fathers as Hillarie affirmeth in his second booke De Trinitate Haec est vna foelix fidei Petra quam Petrus ore suo est confessus This is the onely blessed rocke of faith whiche Peter confessed by mouth And Chrysost in Matth. Hom. 51. Super hanc petram in hac fide confessione aedificabo Ecclesiam Vpon this rocke vpon this faith and confession will I builde my Church And Saint Augustine in his 13. sermon vpon Matthew saith Non me aedificabo super te sed aedificabo te super me I wil not builde my selfe of thee but I will build thee vpon me And this was the meaning of Christ For after Peter had saide Tu es Christus filius dei viui Christ said not Super te Petrum vpon thee Peter but super hanc petram vpon this rocke or stable stone euen thy confession of me to be the sonne of the liuing God I will build my Church and the gates of hell shal not preuaile against it He saide not against Peter but against his Church which he builded vpon that rocke of faith that Peter helde For Christes words are Matt. 16. Portae inferni non praeualebunt aduersus eam in the feminine gender against it which must needes haue relation to Ecclesiam His Church not to Peter for then he would haue said Non preualebit aduersus eum Likewise he saide immediately Tibi dabo claues regni coelorum To thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Now it is plain that he gaue those keies vnto his Church and not to Peters onely person though he saide to him but as to his Apostle the charge pertayning to al his Apostles and all the ministers of his Churche by like right Quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in coelis quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in coelis Whatsoeuer thou shalt
Peter finally that these Bishops had but short liues bicause God did quickly take them out of the earth as it were certaine monsters And these are the testimonies that Platina doth giue of this trimme succession of the Romane Bishops following one an other when yet their power was lesser and their supremacie not growen so high If I should goe forward to speake of their behauiour who came after these men and did succéede them in that sée as namely of the crueltie of Sergius the third Platina in vitis horum pontificum who did behead the carcase of Pope Formosus long after he was dead of the beastlinesse of Iohn the thirtéenth a man euen from his youth giuen ouer to filthy lustes and all dishonestie of life of the sacriledge of Boniface the seuenth who being driuen of the citizens out of Rome did rob Saint Peters Church of iewels and making money of them returned to buy the Popedome of Iohn the sixtéenth who to enrich his kinsemen spared neyther heauen nor earth regarding neyther Gods honour nor the Churches commoditie of Siluester the second who gaue him selfe vnto the diuell that he would helpe him to be Pope vpon condition that he should haue him wholy after his death of Benet the ninth Siluester the third Gregorie the sixt of whom the first solde the other bought the dignitie and stroue together for it thrée most ougly monsters as Platina doth call them and to passe ouer the rest of Alexander the vi in our owne dayes who wasted and spoyled all Italy most miserably to make his bastarde Borgia Cesar a Prince and hauing at the length certaine of the richest Cardinals at supper did minde to poyson them to haue their riches for his bastarde Onuphrius in vita Alexandri sexti but him selfe was poysoned through the errour of his butler who mistakinge the flagon gaue the good wine to the Cardinals and to the Pope the poyson If further I shoulde speake of all their straunge and horrible scismes and contentions when two or three were made Popes at one time and raised their thrones at once in diuerse places of the which kind themselues doe number thirtie scismes some of them lasting for fiftie yeares together as namely that for which the councell of Constance was assembled by Sigismund the Emperour because the state of Christendome was troubled then with three Popes all chosen by Cardinals The firste Pope in Italy the seconde Pope in Fraunce the thirde Pope in Spaine and none would yéeld to other the very rehearsal of these and the like pointes would I feare be tedious and I coulde say no more of them thē that which Platina doth say often O quantum degenerarunt isti Pontifices a suis maioribus Alas howe greatly do these Bishoppes degenerate from their auncesters Or rather that which the Apostle doth write to the Romanes he spake it of the Gentiles it was fulfilled in the Popes Bicause they knewe God Rom. 1. and did not glorifie him as God but became vaine in their owne imaginations and turned the glory of the incorruptible GOD into the similitude of the image of a corruptible man therefore God gaue them vp to their hearts lustes vnto vncleannesse vnto vile affections vnto reprobate mindes Wherefore to leaue the rest which might be saide touching these fruites of the Romish supremacie to the further search and consideration of the godly reader onely this I can not choose but I must expresly note as the chiefest pearle of their supremacie that after they had gotten the loftie title of it by the graunt of Phocas of Emperours subiectes they became the Lords of Emperours commaunding what they list deposing whome they list as though they were the souereigne kings of all the earth First Constantine the Pope did onely resist Philippicus the Emperour refusing to plucke downe images as he commaunded him Then Gregorie the second when Leo the Emperour gaue him the same charge did take away from him his Empire in Italie and Gregorie the third did both depriue him of the Empire and of the fellowship of the faithfull But in this point Gregorie the seuenth who was named Hildebrand before he was Pope did farre passe all his predecessors for whereas before that time the Emperour had authorite to giue byshopriks and other spiritual liuings through all his dominions Gregory the seuenth tooke authoritie vppon him to forbidde the Emperour to giue any such liuinges threatening him withall that if he did giue them hee woulde condemne both him and whosoeuer shold receiue them Which commaundement of the Pope for as much as Henrie the Emperour missliked thinking it vniust and would not therefore obey it Gregorie the Pope excommunicated him and depriued him of his Empyre assoyling all his subiectes of their allegeances vnto him and charging them withall that they shoulde not obey him Wherevppon a parte of his Empire did rebell and great warres were raised against him by the Saxons which and other discommodities that did ensue I will not stande vppon Onely I do note the presumption of these Priests who both rebell them selues againste their Lordes and Emperours and stir vp others to rebellion vnder the colour of their supremacie Whereof we neede not to séeke for the proofe in Gregory the seuenth who did so abuse the good Emperour Henrie we haue had experience of it at home within our owne realme which Pius the fifth did raise to rebellion against our gratious Quéene Elizabeth whome the Lorde defende for euer as hee did then defend her when Pope did curse her he did blesse her But to knit vp this point of the fruites of the Popes supremacie this is the summe of all that they doe seeke their owne dominion the honour the wealth the pleasures of this worlde they will rather spoile Princes and Emperours all of their right then any part of their preeminence or commodities shal be empaired Vppon this ground to satisfie their ambition their coueteousnesse their lustes beside dominions in Italie which with Italian policies by the discorde of kings and Emperours they haue gotten into their hands they haue endeuored to take away as I haue shewed in Hildebrand and might at large in sundrie others which I omit for breueties sake they haue don I say whatsoeuer they could to take away frō Emperours Kings noblemen gentlemē and all the temporalitie as they did terme it their liberties of patronages donations presentations of al spiritual promotions in al kingdomes and countries reseruing to thēselues either alone or especially full power authoritie to giue bishoprickes and Abbayes and Prebendes personages and other such liuings And al to maintain their inordinate ambition their excesse of riot their imperial pompe their fleshly sensualitie which are the naturall children of the Romish supremacie the daughter of coueteousnes pride the mother of mischiefes and all abominations Chap. 14. Howe the Princes of England made many lawes and statutes against the Popish supremacie long before the