God Yet I was not destitute of the Spirit of Prayer for in my greatest troubles and aflictions lifting vp mine eyes vnto Heauen I often times sayd Hath the Lord cast me off for euer Is his louing kindnesse withdrawne for euermore Hath the most mercifull God forgotten to be pittifull hath he by reason of his anger shut vp his compassion And often times sighing and speaking vnto my soule I said Oh my soule Why art thou abashed why doest thou tremble within me Repose thy trust in God and hope in him he shall yet be praysed and magnified in thee when with a benigne countenance onely he easeth thy torment The Father of mercie the God of all consolation did not reiect my prayer he receiued my request and heard me in Heauen He brake my bandes and of a Captiue set me free and at libertie He dealt not with me as I deserued nor rewarded me according to my iniquities For that as farre as the Heauens are distant from the Earth so much hath his mercie been aboundant vnto me With the same affection that a Father is mooued towardes his Child with the same hath the Lord been mooued towardes me Let my Soule blesse him and all the partes and members of my body prayse his holy name He hath saued me out of the Pitte and withdrawne my life from death Hee hath pardoned all my Iniquities and healed my Infâ—â—â—â—ties The Lord doth right and iustice vnto all those 〈…〉 iniuries and persecutions I will not therefore doe 〈…〉 who sayling in the middle of the Seas and after a thâ—â—sand dangers safely arriueth at his desired Hauen without considering or marking the hand of the Pilote that stirred the Shippe I will diligently acknowledge in this my deliueraunce the hand of God the prouidence of the Lord and THE Repentaunce of IOHN HAREN and his Conuersion from the Church of Rome to the true Church of God openly published and made by him in the French Church remayning in Wezell in the presence of the wise and discreete Senat of the same place the 7. day of March Anno. 1610. MY Lordes and louing Breathren in the Lord at my comming out of my sorrowfull Prison wherein I haue been violently holden for the space of eight yeares vpwardes for suckering your Churches passing by this towne of Wezell to goe 〈…〉 friendes I haue imboldned my selfe to salute you and to giue you to vnderstand many thinges which concerne the honour and glory of God the edification of his Church and the saluation of my soule Truely if it were not for the assurance that I haue of your pietie towards God and Christian charitie towards your Neighbours I durst not haue been so bold as I am at this present to certifie you of the miserable estate whereinto my sinnes haue brought mee but assuring my selfe that you will be imitators of the Mercie of God and of the Grace of his Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ who desireth not the death of a Sinner but that he should conuert and be saued it maketh me doe that vnto you which the diseased person doth vnto the Phisition which is to discouer the Griefes of my heart and the Wounds of my soule Beloued breathren in mee you see and behold the paterne and spectacle of the iust Iudgement of God vpon man who hauing acknowledged Iesus Christ for my Sauiour trode his Word vnder my feete and made no account of his holy Ordinaunces and therefore God as a iust Iudge set me vpon the scaffold of his Wrath and Indignation because I would seeme to be Wise in my selfe forgetting the indignitie and miserie of my estate I haue grieued the holy Ghost which had registred mee in the Cathalogue of the blessed certainely I had been most happie if at the issuing foorth of my Mothers Wombe I had been buried without euer seeing the light of this World seeing that by my sinnes I haue subiected my vncertaine dayes vnto so many outrages and griefes For is there any man that hath receiued more benefites at the holy and liberall handes of God our Father then I Who from my youth vpwardes was brought vp and nourished in the most excellent Schooles that are in Christendome hauing had a Father that spared no thing to bring me vp in Learning Vertue and Pietie and that shewed me an example of Constancie and Fidelitie hauing suffered death for professing the name of the Lord. But as if God had done me wrong to continue his graces and great mercies vnto me I became the most filthy beastly Apostate that euer was in the World I say the most filthy for consider I pray you the Apostacies which were in times past in the auncient Church specially during the tenne great Persecutions from Nero to Constantine the great and the eleuenth which was vnder Iuhan that wicked Apostate which caused so many Reuoltes in the Church and when so many great persons made shipwracke of the Fayth Consider also the Apostacies that haue been committed in our dayes and you shall see if you can sinde the like to mine That a Seruant of God nourished and brought vp at the feete of true Doctors the Sonne of a Martire one that preached the Ghospell 17. or 18. yeares and that with edification in the time of Persecution when the Swordes of Tirantes made all publike places in the Netherlandes redde with humaine blood I reputed my selfe not onely happy to beleeue and anounce Iesus Christ but with the losse of my goodes to indure all sortes of oprobyes and slaunders for his name in and by whom I beleeued and spake And yet neuerthelesse afterward with so great scandale hauing made my selfe a Disciple of Antechrist Who would not be abashed and abhorre such an offence And therefore it is that I openly cry out and confesse that my Sinne is not like vnto other mens sinnes for if any man sinneth by ignoraunce or infirmitie hee shall finde a Mediatour which will pray for him and it shall be pardoned but who shall be my Mediatour I haue offended God and all his Seruantes I haue scandalized his people and haue made my selfe vnworthy of the commiseration of honest men Therefore the dolors of death eternall haue compassed me about and the tempestes of my iniquitie haue abashed me for the Arrowes of Almightie God haue wounded my soule in such maner that no part of my Flesh nor any of my Vaines are whole so much my mischiefe increaseth my Heart panteth and beateth in my breast with griefe my Bones are weakened by reason of the great distresse which I indure by meanes of my wicked action Behold how those that abandonate them-selues vnto Vanities are forsaken of God and of their owne grauitie It is a horrible thing to fall into the handes of the liuing God and to abiure his Trueth once knowne What shall I doe shall I despaire Must I at my departure out of this life attend and expect the reward of Cain and ludas and say with those miserable Apostates
God all the dayes of my life I likewise desire those on whom God hath powred his grace hauing miraculously preserued them in his Church with constancy and perseuerance without hauing diuorced themselues or committed apostacie as I haue done to praise God with all their hearts and continually to giue him thanks for it is a most great miracle which proceedeth not from their owne force and vertue but from the holy and liberall hand of God our Father Wherefore let them perseuere in louing of God and flie from finne and vices and being of a good courage the kingdome of Antichrist will fall and that of Iesus Christ shall be established but before that hapneth the diuell will enforce himselfe more then euer he did to make warre against the Church Behold wherefore if euer the children of God haue had need of prudence and wisedome surely to direct their vncertaine paths according to the word of God it is now in this pitifull and sorrowfull time wherein Satan enimy vnto all righteousnesse and godlinesse seemeth to haue so much authoritie euen ouer the elect that if they were not miraculously aided and defended by the holy and liberall hand of God our Father they should not onely be vtterly cast downe but the earth would soone be reduced vnto the same state that Sodome and Gomorra was in times past Let prayer therefore accompanied with true repentance be our refuge vnto him who will neuer forsake his inheritance and that will cause the assaults of Antichrist to perish as he once drowned Pharaoh in the sea To make an end I beseech you pray vnto God for me and if any one among you haue any bookes which in times past haue beene printed in my name in diuerse languages bookes full of iests lies and false suppositions I desire they may be burnt and consumed to ashes I will not likewise passe ouer in silence that in the confutation of those bookes and in some histories wherein mention is made of my fall there are some clauses ignorantly set downe which I impute not so much to the inconsiderate zeale of the Authors as to mine owne fault which God would iustly punish and correct hauing placed me vpon the scaffold of his wrath and indignation as I had most iustly deserued If you aide me with your prayers vnto God and if you be imitators of that great mercy which he hath shewed this day vnto me which I beseech you beare in minde I will praise God for your pietie and pray vnto him to continue his mercy towards you and yours with long life and happy dayes The prayer of king Manasses when he was prisoner in Babylon O Lord Almightie God of our fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob and of all the righteous seed of thine elect which hast made heauen earth with all their ornaments which hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandement which hast shut vp the deep and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name whom all doe feare and tremble before thy power for the Maiestie of thy glory cannot be borne and thine angry threatning towards sinners is importable but thy mercy is vnmeasurable and vnsearchable for thou art the most high Lord of great compassion long suffering and most mercifull and repentest for mans miseries Thou O Lord hast promised of thy great mercy to giue grace of repentance and mercy vnto those that haue sinned against thee and hast appointed repentance vnto those that are sinners that thou mightest saue them by the greatnesse of thy compassions Thou therefore O Lord which art the God of the iust hast not appointed repentance vnto the iust as to Abraham Isaac and Iacob nor for those that haue not sinned against thee but for me that am a sinner for I haue sinned aboue the number of the saud of the sea my transgressions are exceeding many and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of the heauens For the multitude of mine vnrighteousnes I am bowed downe with many and great sinnes and cannot lift vp my head neither haue any release but onely in thy free mercy for I haue prouoked thy wrath and done euill before thee I haue not done thy will neither kept thy commaundements but haue most wickedly committed sinne and iniquitie in thy presence and wilfully multiplied sinne vpon sinne Now therefore O Lord I bowe the knees of my heart beseeching thee of grace and mercie I haue sinned O Lord I haue sinned done euill before thee but I humbly beseech thee forgiue me O Lord forgiue me and destroy me not in the multitude of mine vnrighteousnesse be not angry with me for euer by reseruing euill for me neither cast me into the bottomlesse pit of hel for thou art the God euen the God of them that repent And in me I beseech thee shew foorth thy goodnesse in sauing me that am vnworthy in the multitude of thy great mercie and I will praise thee all my life long for euer for all the powers of heauen praise thee and thine is all glory for euer and euer Amen The Conuersion of a Doctor in Spaine SEeing Almighty God who is the chiefest goodnesse and felicity and maketh his grace and goodnesse communicable to other things hath participated himselfe in things we see not and touching the Diuinity to the Son by generation contrary to the opinion of Arrius and Samosatenus and to the holy Ghost by proceeding contrary also to Macedonius and Eunomius arch-heretiques euen according to his infinite Essence without any distinction or deuiding of the same and to be equall with him in deity stance Therefore the Sonne begotten of the Father and not made and the holy Ghost which proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne as from one beginning haue the same essence in number and inseparable nature with the Father contrary to the opinion of the Valentines which faine more then one yet his Persons viz. of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost are in number distinguished and deuided contrary to the Sabellians who dreame they are all but one Person For the Person of the Father is one of the Son another and of the holy Ghost another But of the Father the Sonne and the holy God there is but one Diuinity one equall glory and one coeternall Maiesty God himselfe is immutable in his counsels neither can he be any way hindered or deceiued in the same By reason whereof it comes to passe that whasoeuer happeneth the same he hath determined from eternity who in things that we see by his word as he saw good hath created all things of nothing and made and disposed in order the heauens the earth the sea and whatsoeuer is therein contained by his euer-liuing Sonne working with the Father who also by his infinite and consubstantiall power and vertue viz. by the holy Ghost administers all things in his diuine Prouidence In this participatiō God remaines in himselfe imparting his Essence to other
by Christ nor his Apostles The Greeke Priests do vse leauened bread Therefore it may be said that if they be various in the matter there can be no truth found in the forme For the determinate matter hath her determinate forme and the determinate forme also her determinate matter But they adde and diminish at their pleasures contrary to the rules and commandements of God who saith You shall not adde to the word that I speake vnto you nor take from the same And moreouer What I command thee that onely doe neither adde thou any thing nor diminish God reprehends such as are bold and audacious in this behalfe saying I protest vnto every man that heareth the words c. If any man shall adde c. See how God reproues the bishop of Rome all his Popish Priests complices that walk against Gods coÌ„mandemeÌ„rs for the word of the Lord endureth and he himselfe saith Heauen earth shall passe away but my words shall not passe a-away Therefore that God that true and euerlasting God will send vnto them sodaine ruine and destruction Amongst other ceremonies which the Papists do vse one is after consecration of the bread to blesse the same bread with the signe of the crosse and certaine words c. Now I demand of them if it be lawfull for the creature to blesse the Creator For benediction as Saint Paul saith is alwaies from the greater to the lesser The lesser is blessed of the greater as he affirmeth in expresse words Hebr. 7. 7 For the father giues his blessing to the sons as Isaac did to Iacob and Esau and Iacob to the sonnes of Ioseph his sonne And it is commonly obserued that the father at the very point of death giues his blessing to his sonnes but the sons which are the lesser although they reuerence and honour the father do not yet giue him benediction By which I conclude that the Papist Priests as inferiour ought not to blesse Christ their superiour and if they do it in their Masse as they terme it they blesse not Christ the Creator but the bread the creature and so they worship the creature not the Creator as Saint Paul saith They haue turned the truth of God into a lye and worshipped and serued the creature much more then the Creator Neither ought we to beleeue that Christ is in their hands when the words are pronounced by them For many are consecrating the Sacrament at once and the body of Christ being but one in number is not in many sacrifices For the body of Christ is natural and keepeth a place and is not giuen in many places at one time But the Papists reply to this saying that the body of Christ is there sacramently not totally But this is a very idle distinction and a slanderous boldnesse to say they haue Christ in that manner in their hands at the Sacrament For if as they confesse Christ haue a chiefe place in heauen and yet is in the Sacrament with the same really as he is heauen it would follow God in times past who was figuratiuely in the Arke was couered with a Table of gold and so the Arke was honored and had in admiration that the Priests might with feare come vnto it For when Vzzah as the Arke of God was carried out of the house of Abinadab with a godly zeale put his hand to the Arke The Lord was very wroth and smote him in the same place for his fault and there he died by the Arke Therefore Dauid that day feared the Lord and said How shall the Arke of the Lord come to me and durst not bring the Arke of the Lord to himselfe If this be so how dare the Romish Priestes pronounce Christ himselfe with his Diuinity and Humanity to descend into their hands Or if the true body of Christ were in the sacrifice or the sacrifice it selfe were the true body of Christ how comes it that brute beasts haue place there For many times the flies goes vpon it and other insensible creatures as is daily seene and made manifest And I my selfe often celebrating the Masse haue seene flies vpon the Sacrament consecrated and made holy Therefore we may not beleeue the true body of Christ to be there Sometimes also by negligence of the Priests part of the sacrifices haue fallen vpon the ground and bene troden vnder foote And I am a faithfull and true eye witnesse that in the yeare of our Lord 1595 in a Church which the Order of the most holy Trinity hath at Turol whereof I was chiefe a certaine religious man as they call him celebrating the Sacrament turned the chalice vpside downe and the consecrated wine as they say was part sprinckled on the earth and part shed vpon the Altar And for these mischaunces there are certaine rules set downe in the Missall of Rome ordaining punishments to such Priests by whom they happen or befall Also in the Emperours Cathedrall Church of S. Paul in the yeare of our Lord 1580. the theeues stole away a siluer Casket where the consecrated Sacrifices were vsually kept and threw the sacrifices themselues vpon the ground and vpon the Altar In the yeare of our Lord 1586 in the Monastery of S. Sauiour at Fraga theeues aâ—so tooke away the chest where the Sacrifices were kept and they were throwne vp and downe Therefore we may not beleeue the body of Christ to be there For if as they grant the body and bloud remaine vnder those formes so long as they continue vncorrupt and if also laid vpon the ground as is aforesaid they be vncorrupt and so are troden vnder foote then Christ must likewise be troden vnder foote which is a most grosse absurdity Sometimes also as I haue seene wormes haue bred in those their sacrifices If then we hold their opinion it must needs be that they beingendred out of the body of Christ not out of the bread because there as they say the bread is not Haec de Accidentibus Because if by miracle as they hold they continue and abide of themselues then they ought to be kept by miracle without any corruption for there is no greater reason for the one then for the other nor of the body of Christ Otherwise the body of Christ should change the forme and the very wormes should partake of the body bloud of Christ and from thence haue originall beginning which is most false and vnworthy Therefore it is to be said that nothing is there more then the bread it selfe Moreouer let there be two sacrifices of bread put together sod and made at one time of one meale fire and water and let the one be consecrated and made holy and the other vnconsecrated and we shall see their corruption to be alike It therefore followes that the one hath no more in it then the other neither is the body of Christ more in the consecrated forme of bread then in that which is vnhallowed
Churches which our Lord had assembled in the Dukedomes of Inlyers Cleaue and Bergh hindring diuers sinister enterprises pretended against them The rigor which they vsed against me was great and my life was in danger if the hatred of the Ecclesiasticall persons which were the cause of my mischief had had as much place and force as the benignitie and prudence of the noble Princesse of Lorraine had power to defend and preserue me from their cruelties Being in my sorrowfull Prison abandoned of all the World when it seemed that I was at the poynt of death and that Heauen and Earth had conspired togeather and agreed to worke my ouerthrow and destruction I desired my God to let me know the cause of his wrath and anger conceaued against me who sufficiently made me vnderstand by his holy Spirit that my apostacie was the only cause thereof I lamented my euill I fainted vnder the burthen of my anguish I washed my Bedde with teares and watered my Couch with weeping and without longer delay I made a Vow agreeable and pleasing vnto God which was that if he would vouchsafe to deliuer me out of Prison and to restore me to my friendes againe that in the first reformed Church according to the word of God which I should come vnto I would certifie vnto it my affliction my desire which was to cry God mercie to extirpe the Scandale proceeded of my Apostacie by the way of humilitie repentance The Lord which doth all things iustly heard my Prayer he receaued my request he graunted my desire he brake my bands and of a Prisoner made me free It is reason therefore that I performe my Vowes I haue not done like Ionas who in stead of going to Niniue the great Citie tooke the way to Tarsis nor like the wife of Lot who looking backe whē she went out of Sodoma Gomora was turned into a Piller of Salt Our Lord also saith That hee which putteth his hand to the Plough looketh backe is not good for the kingome of heauen therfore I esteemed the things of this world hurtfull and a hinderaunce vnto the couers of my vacation taking my way straight to this Church which had ingendred me in Christ with teares in my eyes and griefe of heart not so much with the feeling of my temporall afflictions as for that I haue offended I asked two things of her the one if that the way of Repentance should yet be open vnto me and the other what penaunce I deserued or should submit my selfe vnto to deface the euill which I had committed Shee made me answere that God neuer shutteth the Gate of his Church against any man truely repenting and hauing considered my teares and complaintes and the effectes of my contrition she did charitably comfort and instruct me I am with ioy and gladnesse of spirit come out of Babilon Mother of Confusion which had lifted me vp in pride against God and his Church which fostered in my foule not onely a perpetuall dolour and anguish but an executioner which neuer let me rest in peace night nor day For the which infinitely I thanke my God that in my old age and before I goe downe into the Sepulchre after hee had fatherly punished mee with so long and horrible Imprisonment he hath this day restored me to my Mother his Church to be a Temple and Habitation of his Spirit in the vertue whereof I beseech him to blesse and sanctifie my steppes to his glorie and to make me capiable to be and continue his most humble and obedient seruant Oh happie Prison which hath deliuered my soule from destruction and taking me by the hand to lead and conduct me by the pathes of Iustice to the Peace of the Elect Who would not admire the great effectes of the prouidence of God who in most desperate thinges can withdraw the shadow of darknesse to illuminate and direct our vncertaine steppes to follow his will Behold how it happeneth many times that that which we thinke would be most hurtfull vnto vs turneth vnto our great profit For the Prison out of the which I am deliuered without any blot of mine honour hath done that in me which the Prison in Babilon sometimes wrought in King Manasses So that I will not cease euery day to giue thankes vnto our good God who euen in the multitude and greatest force of my afflictions did alwayes support and vpholde my Soule in such libertie that it seemeth that how strong and great soeuer my troubles were they had power onely to ouercome and master my particular Passions and to eleuate my Spirit to Heauen to make me so much the more capiable to obtaine of God the assuraunce of his mercie by dispoyling me of the transitorie corruptible thinges of this world to the end to eleuate and stirre mee vp to thinges glorious and eternall For as much trouble and disquietnesse as my imprisonment procured vnto my bodie so much and more force and resolution it added vnto my soule It is true that Pietie is weakened by too great Felicitie but the Crosse and Persecution accompanied with a good Conscience maketh it become an assured Bulwarke against all the effortes and forces of the Diuell And in trueth we see that those whom God punisheth grieuously in this world for the most part are they whom he instructeth most fauourably in such maner that to speake properly the euils which God sent me and which I indured patiently were no euils vnto me but sharpned and stirred vp my spirit to soueraigne good Certainely that which Plato sayth is very true That those that are in griefes and anguishes haue the functions and faculties of the Soule more excellent then in time of prosperitie But that which maketh me most to woonder is that as much as my afflictions separated me from the House of God and the companie of the Faithfull so much it seemeth that they augmented and increased the former affection which I had to reunite my selfe thereunto and to leaue Papistrie A good man can not shunne aduersities but hee may well surmount and vanquish them and Although he seemeth vnto men to be wholly abandoned and reiected so it is that in the middle of his troubles he alwayes enioyeth a perfect felicitie the which hath sworne to be so loyall vnto him that whatsoeuer hapneth vnto him shee is alwayes with him shee is alwayes within him and maintayneth his Soule in such an estate that in what condition soeuer shee findeth her selfe to be shee is alwayes like vnto her selfe being so highly eleuated aboue the accidentes of humaine thinges that shee can not receiue any hurt or disgrace Seing then that the word of God teacheth vs that hee which hath publikely offended the Church ought to confesse and acknowledge his fault openly and for that the Order of Ecclesiasticall discipline in the Church of God practiseth the same I haue desired that my returne into the House of God should be publikely made and in
Sometimes also poyson as they say is put into that Sacrament that so men may be bereaft of their liues as it is read of the Emperour Henry the 7 and of Pope Victor the third whereof the first losse his life by the Sacrament of bread poysoned by his Consessour the last by wine transsubstantiate Therefore we must conclude that the body of Christ is not there or otherwise the body of Christ to be the instrument of sin and the meanes of euill which is blasphemy This corporall absence Christ hath manifestly shewne saying The poore you shall haue alwaies with you Me you shall not haue alwaies Christ also speaketh of the absence of his humanity for his Diuinity fils both heauen and earth in which humanity he shall not come vnto vs till the day of iudgement Moreouer the Papists affirme that the matter of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ought to be determinate They are also possessed with many mad imaginations saying this is a true Proposition Out of bread becomes the body of Christ And this also is false Of bread becomes or is made the body of Christ These are words of exceeding folly and dotage and are differing and repugnant to themselues although Thomas expound them supernaturally In conuersions also that which is conuerted is corrupted and that into which the conuersion is had is begotten and ingendred Thus after their opinion we must say that Christ is so begotten and ingendred which is an heresie The Diuell getteth much and enlargeth his power and number by the idolatry of the Church of Rome which he still perswades them to maintaine and so they will vntill it shall please God of his infinite goodnesse and mercy to open their eyes and make their vnderstanding perfect that they may truly see and reade the booke of God for they yet liue in error and darknesse But if they would looke vpon and heare the booke which Hilkiah the high Priest found in the house of the Lord they would do as that godly king Iosiah did in the 18. yeare of his Monarchy who as soone as Shaphan the Chancellor had shewed it and read it to the king and that he had heard the words of the booke of the Law he was so moued therewith that he rent his clothes and wept before God and crauing pardon at Gods hands humbled himselfe destroyed the idols and walked according to the will and word of the Lord. I was also much troubled in minde about the power of the Pope when he doth those things which almighty God neither doth or can do For although God be omnipotent and nothing is vnpossible with him he yet worketh no sinne or euill neither is there any guile found in his mouth neither can he do that which is wrapt or encombred with controuersies and contradictions But the Pope takes vpon him to do this for if any come vnto him and desire the reliques of some Saint as of Hermolaus or any other he will answer that he hath none because his bones are dispersed But he takes the bones perhaps of some reprobate and wicked person and blesseth them and baptised in the name of Hermolaus he deliuereth them to him that makes suite for the same and then the bones of him are worshipped whose soule in hell is cruciated And thus it begets scandall and contradiction that the bones of any wicked or idle persons are the bones of some Saints or others at his pleasure I obserued the power couetousnesse and tyranny of the same Pope I beheld his exceeding pompe and pride and with these things and many more of this nature my minde was much tormented For seeing Christ is the fulnesse of all grace in that he endues the Church with spirituall grace and vnderstanding we ordaine him to be the head thereof with S. Paul saying He hath made all things subject vnder his feete and hath appointed him ouer all things to be the head of the Church And seeing both Men and Angels are ordained to enioy Gods glory euen as of men so also of the Angels he may rightly be called the head For the mysticall body of the Church doth not onely consist of men but of Angels But of all this multitude and number Christ is the head for that his seat is neere vnto God and doth partake of his gifts not onely more absolutely then men but more perfectly also then the very Angels so that from his influence both men and Angels receiue their benefits As Saint Paul witnesseth saying He hath set him at his right hand in the heauenly places farre aboue all principality and power and might and domination and euery name that is named not in this world onely but also in that that is to come and hath put all things vnder his feete And so S. Matthew saith Behold the Angels came and ministred vnto him And albeit the Angels themselues lacke faith Quia non per fidem sed per speciem ambulant and the Church is the congregation of the faithfull neuerthelesse Christ is their head There fore besides that diuine wisedome which Christ had from the beginning he had also a humane knowledge notwithstanding the position ofsuch as deny that there be two sorts of wisdomes in Christ which in the sixth Synode is held a thing damnable for as S. Ambrose saith God did assume the perfection of humane nature in the flesh tooke vppon him the sence of man but not the pride of carnall sensualitie But to the sence of man appertaineth an humane knowledge created Therefore in Christ is giuen that experimentall knowledge of which S. Luke speaketh So did loel prophetically see him taught saying to the people Reioyce in the Lord your God for he hath giuen you the raine of righteousnesse c. And the spouse saith I will leade thee and bring thee into my mothers house and there thou shalt instruct me And Isaias I haue giuen him for a Prince and a maister vnto the people comprehending these two things namely that he was a Redeemer and a Maister for whereas he termes him a Prince he meanes him to be a Redeemer but calling him Maister he signifies him an instructer or teacher Christ therfore is endued with all these sciences by which mē were instructed by him as out of Mathew opening his mouth he taught his Disciples and out of Iohn Iesus ascended into the Temple and taught the people and as it is written in Luke They found him sitting in the Temple c. By two wayes then he taught the people that is by example and words For Iesus began to do and afterwards to teach the true and simple doctrine without any kind of commixtion Seeing therefore Christ came to teach mankind and to redeeme them with his most pretious blod my selfe being one among the rest to be redeemed and taught through his vniuerse and exceeding goodnesse was at the length called to the true
Bishop But the Primitiue Church euen according to the opinion of the Papists was the true Church Therefore the true Church ought to knowe or acknowledge no head but Christ nor any vniuersall Bishop It is also thus proued by authority Gregory Bishop of Rome wrote against Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople saying He that shall name himselfe the vniuersall Bishop may be called the forerunner of Antichrist And the Councell of Carthage forbiddeth the Bishop of Rome to be called the vniuersall Bishop as Gratianus witnesseth in these words But now no not the Bishop of Rome may be called vniuersall What should I speake of the Synode of Chalcedon whose arguments are so many and so euident against the Sea of Rome that the same must either needs fal from her high pride and dignity or the whole authority of her Councell be vtterly suppressed as here manifestly appeares in that the same Synode is held and celebrated onely by the Emperors command without either the presence or authoritie of the Bishop of Rome as in those times euen vnto the yeare of our Lord 900 as Cusanus witnesseth their Councels were not vsuall to be assembled but by the direction of Caesar And Pope Leo as Thomas affirmeth following the same custome submitted himselfe to the opinion and iudgement of the Emperour Christ the true Bishop as in this world he took vpon him no person of state so he appointed no dominion or Empire among his Apostles but with graue words pacified them muttering somewhat among themselues of principality so that he drew their thoughts and cogitations vnto another forme of life farre differing from the Princes of this world and openly affirmed that such as would be the first and greatest in the kingdome of heauen must humble themselues amongst men And whosoeuer will be great among you let him be your seruant Christ euer taught and exercised humility saying I haue left you an example euen as I do so also do you Christ had not where to lay his head and will not one Pallace suffice the Bishop of Rome Christ refused the condition of Regall dignity being offered and will not one Crowne content the Bishop of Rome Is it not enough that he possesseth Italy vnlesse with his triple Crowne he command the world Christ departed away into a mountaine himselfe alone that they should not make him a king declaring his kingdome not to be of this world And shall this glorious Vicar in the name of Christ with such honor and superfluity possesse his kingdome in this world Or shall he thinke men will continue so besotted and miscaried in this difference and vnlikelinesse of things as to be perswaded that he beares the place and office of Christ here vpon earth or rather not of Antichrist Boniface the third was the first that tooke vpon him the name of vniuersall Bishop about the yeare 600 which name was neither giuen him by Christ nor from heauen but by that tyrant and parricide Phocas the Emperour From that troublesome fountaine did arise the great floud of Papistrie and that proud name had first beginning And yet in those dayes the Popes did not as now they do presently ascend to the top and height of dignity but by degrees did steale into rule and dominion For Boniface the 8 after he had by cunning and sedition crept into the Papall place made Emperours and Kings to feare him going about to depose and raise vp to authoritie whom he pleased So he thought himselfe both King and Emperour in so much as when the Iubilee was first granted he shewed himselfe openly the first day to the people attired in his Pontificall vestments and the day following in his armor and coate of male and in the presence of all the people with a loude voyce he commanded himselfe to be proclaimed Caesar Which vanity Baldus Antoninus Arch-bishop of Florence Salo and many others doe maintaine by their false doctrine saying that Emperours and Kings are but the Popes substitutes and that the Bishops of Rome had both the power of spirituall and temporall gouernement They ground their false opiniō vpon the power of Christ which power they pretend to haue as his Vicars for Christ saith All power is giuen vnto me both in heauen and in earth and so by consequence both the swords for he is named King of Kings Lord of Lords and in diuers places of the Scripture is called King and Emperour Ezechiel giues him both names and the Magicians and Pilate call him King But I demand this of these Antichrists that if they imitate Christ in this why they do not follow him in humility For although Christ had the power of rule and command yet he in respect of his humility vsed them not but rather affirmed his kingdome not to be of this world But if the Pope do not imitate Christ he is not his Minister his Vicar nor successour As the lewes boasted before Christ that they were of the seed of Abraham so the Pope glories in the succession of Christ and of Peter But the same answere that Christ giues vnto the Iewes he giues also to the Pope as you may read in Iohn 8. Chap. the 37 verse to the very end of the same Chapter But the Pope saith they are called the Seruants of seruants and so named for their humility So that may suffice To this I answere that vnder a faire shew lye hid foule intēts He carries the name of humility but his deedes are cleane contrary Is he the seruant of seruants that holdeth his foote forth for Kings and Emperous to kisse and do reuerence to Is he the seruant of seruants that is carried vpon mens shoulders Is he the seruant of seruants that makes such daily boast of his kingdome and authority Is he the seruant of seruants that saith he hath authority from heauen and the fulnesse of power to make iustice of iniustice Is he the seruant of seruants that saith he is like vnto the Sun and the Emperour like the Moone No but he is rather to be called an Harpy crowned or a deuouring Hiena that vnder a faigned shew of humility worketh death and cruelty Sedition and controuersy oftentimes troubles the minds of such as aspire vnto that vaine dignity and contend for the Papall seat and authority and the place in which stands much scandall when schismes and deuisions arise in the Church in the very act of election Many times this fals out for proofe whereof reade Plato and Illescas in the History of the Bishops If then the election of this present Pope Clement the 8. be diligently examined it was in like manner very irregular the people did much murmure at it By reason whereof vnlesse I be deceiued the Diuines are very doubtfull concerning his election For at Vall-Solet a place where the king of Spaines Court is in the yeare of our Lord 1602. Theses Theologicae apparuerunt teaching Pope Clement the 8. not to be held
heretique and deforme and dissigure the dwelling place the fellowship and communion of such heretiques is to be abandoned and such a Synagogue to be auoided We must shake off the dust from our feete lest the drought of our barren vnfaithfulnesse prepare and make the way sandy and hard to the true progresse and passage of our mindes and vnderstandings So if there be any Church as he saith afterward that renounceth the true faith and doth not keepe and obserue the foundation and ground of the Apostles preaching it is to be left and forsaken that it beget not the corruption of vntruth Seeing then I haue found Christ onely and his doctrine dwelling in the reformed Church and haue seene that erronious teachers do deforme disgrace the habitation of the Church of Rome I haue deseruedly left the one that I may cleaue to embrace the other that according to the commandement of the Apostle saying Do not company together with idolaters And againe Haue no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but euen reproue the rather And what more vnfruitfull worke is there then to embrace false doctrine and heresie In another place We command you brethren in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that ye withdraw your selues from euery brother that walketh inordinately and not after the instruction which he receiued from vs. And to Titus Reiect him that is an heretique after once or twice admonition And the Apostle moreouer saith thus If any preach the Gospell vnto you otherwise then you haue heard and receiued it let him be accursed And a little before that Although any yea an Angell from heauen should teach you any other doctrine then that we haue preached vnto you let him be accursed But I will no longer stay vpon those places of the Prophets wherein the people is oftentimes exhorted to leaue and go out of Babylon which I know the Church of Rome both imitates and followes Let it not be obiected vnto me by any aduersary that I haue denyed my baptisme by which I am consecrated to almighty God for I onely renonunce the vaine ceremonies vsed therein by the Bishops without authority of holy Scriptures The vertue whereof I know to depend on God not in man that administers the same vnto me Seeing thē it is the part of a louing mother not onely to bring vp her children in the obedience and feare of God but to instruct them also and nurse them vp with the food of his heauenly word and so vnite them to Christ as I haue bene consecrated to God by baptisme in the Church of Rome so in the same I haue bene seduced from Christ by humane inuentions I haue therefore worthily and of right made choice of that Church in which the true baptisme is sincerely administred and the sound doctrine thereof is faithfully deliuered to such as are baptised through the whole course of their liues Besides I perswade my selfe and that truely that I am more deepely bound to God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost being three Persons yet onely God then the Church of Rome which hath forsaken and rebelled against that faith which the Apostles in times past so highly commended in her and against whom that imputation of reproach may worthily be had which was once laid vpon the Church of the Iewes in these words And their sonnes whom they beare vnto me they haue offered to Idols to be deuoured And againe in the same Prophet They haue played the whores and bloud is in their handes and with their idols haue they committed adultery And what is it else to commēd the inuocation of soules the adoration of images the obseruation of Purgatory and of Pardons They glorie of the workes of Supererogation the rules and examples of men that are sinners as Francis Dominicke Bruno Celestine Ignatius Loyola and others and especially to thurst yong men and women against their wils into a monastery What is this else as I say but to be consecrated to idols and to superstitious worshipping and in the end to the deuill himselfe and damnation And because as it is well knowne vnto me the Papists thinke we walke not after the right decrees and determinations of the true Church neither beleeue those things which are to be beleeued I will therefore seeing as God hath commanded I am separated and come from among them relate those things which we faithfully hold and imbrace For as Paul saith I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for it is the power of God vnto saluation to euery one that beleeueth Before all things we beleeue in God the Father Almighty maker of heauen and earth and in his Word begotten of the Father and in the holy Ghost proceeding from them both to whom their due and distinct properties are to be attributed in which according to Essence we neither separate the Sonne nor the holy Ghost from the Father nor contrary to the opinion of the Manicheys diuide the Father from the Sonne or from the holy Ghost but we beleeue that they haue one vnity of Essence and Trinitie of Persons without any confusion Which vnitie and trinitie as Hilary Ambrose and many others teach cannot perfectly be comprehended by naturall reason but is apprehēded by faith as many other hiddē mysteries of God of which S. Paul speaketh Oh the deepnesse of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God How vnsearchable are his iudgements and his wayes past finding out All honor be giuen to the blessed Trinity being one God and to whom is equall glory in three Persons contrary to the opinion of Arrius that blasphemously takes away the equality of Persons holding the Sonne to be inferior and the holy Ghost to be seruant to God the Father Of Christ the Sonne VVE beleeue in Iesus Christ his onely begotten Sonne the Redeemer and Mediator of mankind through whom in the holy Ghost he created all things in the beginning not that he redeemed mankind without the Father which sent his Sonne to be the Redeemer of the world or without the holy Ghost by whom man is conceiued and annointed but because the only person of the Sonne tooke vpon him humane nature and by his death and passion payd the price of our redemption and is but one person contrary to the opinion of Nestorius that maintained two We beleeue also that Christ was borne of the virgine Mary according to humane nature it selfe by the inspiration of the holy Ghost and we beleeue with the Catholicke Church that she was a virgin before the birth in the birth and after the birth against Heluidius whom S. Hierome vtterly disallowes so doth S. Ambrose S. Augustine and S. Thomas We beleeue also that Christ our Lord suffered vnder Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried and descended into hell and the third day rose againe not by anothers meanes as Lazarus and others but by his