is not at any time perfecte so long as shee trauelleth and fighteth in this worlde whiche maior I prooue thus First if the Church were without spot in this worlde in vaine hath our Sauiour Christe taught it alwayes to pray Matth. 6.12 forgiue vs our trespasses and sinnes But the Lorde Iesus hath not without good cause giuen vs such doctrine and instruction wherefore it followeth that the Church is not in this worlde without spotte yea rather that shee hath continuall neede alwayes for to praye vnto GOD that shee may bee more and more sanctified and obteyne the forgiuenesse of all her sinnes Secondly those which are with out spot and wrinckle haue nothing to doe with any washing because they haue no neede thereof But the faithfull although they be washed haue notwithstanding need yet of washing still as Iesus Christe himselfe declareth it vnto vs Iohn 13.10 when hee saith Hee that is washed needeth not saue to washe his feete For by the washing of the feete hee meaneth a continuall sanctification It followeth then that the faithful are not in this world without spot 1. Cor. 1.2 Thirdly Saint Paul ceaseth not to adorne and bewtifie the Corinthians with the title of the Church who notwithstanding greeuously abused the holy supper of the Lorde and had amongest them diuisions and partakinges which are not smal faultes yea indeede they were in doubte also touching the resurrectiō of the dead Also he nameth the assembly of the Galathians Galat. 1.2 the Church although that poore people were deceaued by false Prophetes and caried away to an other Gospell contrarie vnto that which hee had preached vnto them These places doe manifestly declare that the Church is neuer so pure and perfect in this world but that it hath always need to be more more purged sanctified which thing S. Paul sheweth yet more plainly openly whē he writeth vnto the Thessalonians For he calleth thē the Church 1. Thes 1.1 1. Thes 5.23 and yet he prayeth vnto God for them that he would sanctifie thē through out True it is that the Nouatians Donatistes and Anabaptistes who doe not agree with vs in this point are not without their replies For first they alledge vnto vs that which S. Paul writeth vnto the Ephesians Ephe. 5.25.26.27 That Iesus Christ gaue himselfe for his Church that he might sanctifie it and cleanse it that he might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinckle but that it shoulde be holy without blame But wee want not an aunswere also Saint Paul considereth the Church not in her selfe but in Iesus Christe her heade which shee taketh holde of by faith So shee is saide to bee without wrinckle and vnblameable by reason not of her owne righteousnesse but of Iesus Christes righteousnesse whereof shee is made partaker because it pleased God to impute and reckon the same vnto her for which cause also it is in an other place 1. Cor. 1.30 that Iesus Christe is made of God the father vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Moreouer wee might say that Saint Paul speaketh of sanctification or holinesse promised and which is not yet fully accomplished as though he called saide the Church to bee without spot not that it is so here belowe on the earth but because that one day it shall so bee aboue in heauen Augu. lib. de nuptiis Concupise cap. 34. And after this sorte Saint Augustine vnderstandeth it Iesus Christ saith hee cleanseth his Church by the washing of Christians to make it vnto himselfe without spott or wrinckle not in this world but in the world to come They alledge moreouer that which Saint Iohn saith 1. Ioh. 3.6.9 whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not Wherevnto I aunswere by a distinction Those that are borne of God that is to say the faithfull sinne not that is to say serue not sinne or rather sinne doth not raigne in them because they do withdraw themselues as much as they can or are inabled from sinne and with all their heart giue themselues to holinesse of life that they may glorifie God And in this sense Saint Iohn taketh it and speaketh it Againe they that are borne of God sinne that is to say can not liue so holily but that oftentimes they stumble and fall into sins For although they be sanctified yet for all that by reason of the reliques and remnauntes of nature corrupted which yet resteth and remaineth in them euery day they turne aside from the righte waye and sinne In this sense S. Iohn ment not that which he saith that whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not for so he should speak against him selfe hauing before saide If we say we haue no sinne 1. Ioh. 1.8.10 wee deceiue our selues and trueth is not in vs yea wee make God a lyer and his worde is not in vs. So it is then that though there seeme to bee some contrarietie betweene these two to say that we are sinners and sainctes both together yet all agreeth together verie well for euerie man if we consider him in his owne nature according to which he is called the childe of wrath he is a sinner worthie of death and eternall damnation but if we consider him in Iesus Christ as a Christian and faythfull man hee is holy so that he sinneth not that is to say serueth not sinne and his imperfections are hidden and couered because that they are not imputed vnto him and moreouer the Lorde Iesus maketh him partaker of his righteousnesse And so being a sinner in respect of his owne nature he is notwithstanding reputed and accounted holy iust before God But that which we haue hitherto spoken toucheth or concerneth the members of the Church particularlie Wee may also well say touching the Church considered in her owne bodie that it shall neuer here be purged from al filthinesses because that so long as shee shall bee on earth there shall be in her wicked ones mingled with good ones Which thing Iesus Christ hath declared in the Gospell by two similitudes Matth. 13.24.25 c. In the first he saith that the kingdome of heauen that is to say the Church is like vnto a man which sowed good seede in his feeld but while men slept there came his enemie sowed tares amongest the wheate and went his way And when the blade was sprong vp and had brought foorth fruit then appeared the tares also Then came the seruauntes of the housholde and saide vnto him Master sowedst thou not c. and woulde presently haue gone and gathered them vp but the Lorde woulde not suffer them least while they went about to gather the tares they plucked vp also with them the wheate Therefore he willed that they might both growe together vntill the haruest and in the time of haruest the reapers shall gather the tares and binde them in sheaues to burne them but they shal gather the good
corne into the Lords barne Afterwards he expoundeth the saide similitude saying He that soweth the good seede is the sonne of man and the fielde is the world Matt. 13.37 c. the good seede are the children of the kingdome the tares are the children of the wicked and the enimie that soweth them is the diuell the haruest is the end of the world and the reapers be the angels As then saith he the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of the world The sonne of man shall send foorth his Angels and they shall gather out of his kingdome all things that offend and them which do iniquitie and shall cast them into a fornace of fire there shall be wayling gnashing of teeth Then shall the iust men shine as the sunne in the kingdome of their father In the second similitude he saith Matt. 13.47.48 That the kingdome of heauen is like vnto a drawe net cast into the sea that gathereth of all kinde of things which when it is full the fishers draw to land on the shoare and put the good by them selues into their vessels and cast the bad away And afterwardes he giueth the exposition thereof So shall it be saith he at the end of the world Matt. 13.49.50 The Angels shall goe foorth and seuer the wicked from amongest the iust and shall cast them into a fornace of fire where shall be wayling and gnashing of teeth By these two similitudes Iesus Christe verie plainely expresseth what shall be the visible state and condition of the Church so long as it shal be on earth that is to say that the wicked shal continually be mingled therein with the good and that in such sorte as the tares are amongest the good wheate in the fieldes and as euill fishes are mingled with the good in the sea whereof followeth that which we haue saide before in the third Chapter to wit that all they which are in the Church are not for al that of the Church And indeede experience hath in all ages shewed the same vnto vs and maketh vs to behold the same as yet euē euery day Cain was the first that defiled the Church of GOD Gene. 4.3 c. although he offered sacrifices in outward shewe as his iust brother Abel did Noah preached vnto those of his time and continuing his exercise a long season some thinke sixe score yeares hardly would his owne housholde beleeue his worde Gene. 7.1 c. so that GOD destroying all the worlde by the floud onely eight persons of the foresaide Noahs housholde were reserued by the meane of the Arke And euen yet of those eight persons with whom GOD had made a newe couenaunt touching the establishing againe of his Churche Ham Gene. 9.22 in his time verie manifestly declared his hypocrisie Matt. 27.3 c. Act. 1.16.17 c. Reue. 2 6. Amongest the twelue Apostles Iudas is found a traitor and vnfaithfull Amongest the seuen Deacons one Nicholas was an heretike at the least if that be true that this Nicholas was one of the seuen Deacons as Clemens Clemens strom lib. 3. Euseb hist eccles lib. 3. cap. 29. Alexandrinus and Eusebius certainely affirme it S. Iohn speaking of Antichristes wherewith the Church was in his time troubled and tormented saith 1. Ioh. 2.19 They went out from vs but they were not of vs for if they had bene of vs they would haue continued with vs. And what at this day Howe many hypocrites and great mungrell mastifes are found at this day in the outward Church and are suffered therein Certainely there are verie many which are acknowledged and allowed for members of the Church of whome GOD who beholdeth all mens heartes doth in the meane season iudge otherwise Wherefore the Church euen in this respect is not at any time in the world without wrinkle The fourth point which we must note here is that our sanctification is not performed or wrought all at one time but there are three degrees or steppes thereof to the end that it may be perfect The first degree is during this life when that our Lorde Iesus Christ giueth vs his holy spirite thereby to resist and withstande the world the diuell sinne and our owne flesh to the end that we may loue good thinges and hate euill Herevnto may be applyed that which Saint Paule speaketh of him selfe Rom. 7.22.23 c. writing vnto the Romanes in the seuenth Chapter verse 22.23 The second is after this life when the soule enioieth the presence of Iesus Christ giuing it selfe vnto all holinesse but our other part that is the bodie resting it selfe in the dust without being able to applie it selfe vnto any thing to sanctifie the name of God by The thirde shall be after the last iudgement when being perfectly ioyned with Iesus Christe our head we shall beholde God euen as he is who shall all in all and that after such manner and sorte as Saint Paule saith 1. Cor. 1.30 that Christe is made of God vnto vs wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Therefore when that our Lord Iesus Christ shall so worke in vs that there shal be no spot Philip. 3.21 1. Ioh. 3.2 but that our verie bodyes shal be fashioned like vnto his glorious bodye and we shall be like vnto him then truely shall our sanctification be accomplished and made perfect which nowe is but as it were begunne in vs. CHAP. XII Whether the Church may erre or no. THis question to wit whether the Church can erre hath bene diuers times tossed and handled for the opening vnfolding whereof we must first striue to knowe after what maner or in what sense the word Church is here to be taken I meane whether we must vnderstand this of the Catholike and vniuersall Church or else of the particular Churches But the controuersie is not in my iudgement of the Catholike Church for we all agree herein that she can not erre as touching faith And indeede howe should she erre seeing that following Iesus Christ her head and her husband she walketh not in darkenesse but in the light of life On the other side it is impossible that all faithfull people vniuersally euen from the first vnto the last should fall into errour for there haue bene alwayes some preserued through the goodnesse and grace of GOD by whome trueth it selfe through other mens naughtinesse brought as it were to nothing or at the least destituted and forsaken hath yet notwithstanding bene restored to her former force and is yet still maintained and preserued Wherefore this question is touching a particular Church Touching which it seemeth good vnto vs in the first place to heare the iudgement and reasons of the Romish Catholikes vpon this that they affirme that the Church so taken can not erre following herein the Nouatians Donatistes and other heretikes And afterwardes we will shewe foorth and put downe our aduise and reasons
some of them they pleasing thē selues and being desirous to continue in their former dissolution and leudnes Here to alledge that for the making of and extraordinarie vocation certaine and approued some miracles are necessarie or else some certaine plaine and manifest places of scripture is to no purpose at all or they say as much as if they saide nothing For as concerning places of scripture we are not destitute thereof Iesus Christ speaking in the Gospell to the Priestes who did not well and rightly execute their office in their charges demaundeth of them When the Lord of the vineyard shal come Matth. 21.40.41 what will he doe to these wicked husbandmen Vnto whome they aunswere condemning them selues He will cruelly destroy these wicked men and will let out his vineyard vnto other husbandmen which shall deliuer him the fruites in their seasons Now this was indeed iustly and faithfully accomplished For the Lorde tooke away his vineyard that is to say the gouernement of his Church from the Priestes Scribes and Elders of the people who did not yeld him the fruits which did belong vnto him and committed the same vnto other husbandmen that is to his Apostles and their successors which haue yelded him fruites in their seasons And euen in like manner hath the Lorde done in the Popedome beholding euill workmen in his vineyard that is to say wicked naughtie Pastors in his Church which did not at any hand their duetie and office he hath not destroyed his Church but hath chaunged the state and condition thereof taking away her blind guides and giuing vnto her others which see clearely It is also written in the Apocalipse The holy citie shall they tread vnder foote two and fortie monethes Reu. 11.2.3 but I will giue power vnto my two witnesses and they shall prophecie a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes In which place S. Iohn foretelleth the generall corruption of the Church which shall come to passe in the last times yet so that withall he giueth vs to vnderstand that God will not suffer his seruice to continue so corrupted and bastardly but that he wil reforme it and bring it to her former perfection and soundnesse and that for this purpose he will raise and stirre vp witnesses of his owne to prophecie and speake against so greeuous a corruption And howe shall this be done by vsing an extraordinarie manner Luk. 9.49 We may also verie well applie to this purpose the example of him who cast out diuels in the name of Iesus Christ For the Apostles would haue hindred him bicause he did not followe Iesus Christ as they did But Iesus Christe saith vnto them Take heede that ye forbid him not or hinder him for saith he he that is not against vs is with vs. It is verie true indeede that such an extraordinarie vocation ought not to be lightly approued but it is also as true that it ought not as lightly be condemned But we haue a certaine and manifest testimonie of this extraordinarie vocation in Phillip Act. 6.5 8.5 For he being onely ordained a Deacon at Ierusalem was afterwardes extraordinarily called by God to preach Iesus Christ Beside the first restorers of the Church of our age or time who were extraordinarily called are not to be reproued or blamed for rashnesse For as in a citie besieged by the enimie or assaulted with fire when they which were ordinarily called for the safegarde defence thereof and to giue order in the daunger of fire should be them selues the first enimies and putters to of fire if it fall out that certaine citizens hauing other charges or offices in the citie or else if they were but priuate and particular persons would come and set vp them selues and imploy them selues in running to the breach and fire to the end that they might preserue the citie so farre off is it that they deserue or ought to be reprehended as traitors and vnfaithful persons that on the other side for a fact so courteous gentle yea so profitable to the countrie they were greatly to be praised as verie good citizens and true friendes preseruers of the countrie so when the ordinarie saueguardes or keepers of Gods owne house haue declared them selues to be enimies thereof and putters too of fire to ouerthrowe and marre all they that are afterwardes aduaunced and set forwardes them selues to resist them and to maintain the right and estate of the saide house yea although they haue had no manner of ordinarie vocation but in their owne consciences haue onely felt them selues extraordinarily called for to execute such an office or charge so farre off is it that either they may or ought to be blamed that contrariwise they deserue honour great praise And yet this is here to be noted that albeit al are not enioyned or commanded to preach as wel as all are commanded to oppose or set them selues against false prophets yet by consequent it followeth verie wel that if any do aduaunce or set forward them selues to oppose or set them selues against false prophets they haue done nothing against their vocation or calling Add also that euen those which in the beginning were extraordinarily called hauing faithfully acquitted and behaued them selues in their charges in preaching the truth and being receiued and allowed of the people that vocatiō of theirs which before was extraordinarie hath ceased yea must cease and afterwards is become ordinarie And as concerning miracles we will shortly aunswere thereto Let the Romish Catholikes shewe what miracles Isaiah Amos Obadiah Nahum Zechariah and many other Prophets did whom God did extraordinarily stirre vp where they which had the order and gouernement in their owne handes abused the same Next let them consider Matt. 12.39 that it appertaineth to an euil adulterous generation to demaund seeke signes as Iesus Christ saith Thirdly that miracles may seduce and deceiue For we read that false prophets seducers Deut. 13.1 c. Matt. 24.24 and deceiuers haue sometimes done them thereby to deceiue men and to make approued their false doctrines 2. Thes 2.9 and to increase and strengthen their superstitions and idolatries And therefore we ought not by miracles to iudge of the vocation and doctrine but rather on the other side by the vocation and doctrine we ought to iudge of miracles and signes The other thing which we aunswere touching the vocation and calling of our first ministers is that we may verie well stop the mouthes of the Romishe Catholikes if we would alledge that those ministers them selues for the most part had in respect of them selues an ordinarie vocation being indeede called in their time by the Pope and by him established and set in their charges and therefore by consequent had authoritie and right to goe vp into the pulpit and to teach in the Church as Luther Zwinglius Oecolampadius Bucer and before them Wicklef and Iohn Hus. Also that in England Sweden and Denmarke the right
and Iohn who being couetous and greedie of worldly honours and desiring to liue at their case and rest Mark 10.35 c. demaunded of Iesus Christ That hee woulde graunt vnto them to sit in his glorie the one at his right hande and the other at his left But the scripture teacheth vs altogether the cōtrarie that is to say that so long as we haue to walk here below it standeth vs in hand to battell or fight yea to passe thorow the thornes and to be tormented by the malice of the Deuill wicked men his instruments yea so much the more by how much wee shal indeuour and labour sincerely to serue God Which thing also Iesus Christ hath well and sufficiently declared to the abouesaid sonnes of Zebedeus when he answered them Mark 10. 38. Yee knowe not what yee aske Can ye drinke of the Cup that I shal drink of and be baptized with the baptisme wherwith I shal be baptized Meaning therby that the common state cōdition of Christiās is this that they should be exercised in this world by the crosse tribulations before that they can bee crowned And this is the cause wherfore the church is called militant or warfaring so long as it is here below on the earth euē as we haue seene and heard in the first Chapiter And for this verie selfe same cause also Mark 4.36 c. it is compared to a litle shippe altogether tossed vp and downe in the midst of the bellowes or surges and of the tempests of the sea also to grounde continually ploughed ouer Psal 129.3 and thorowe which men make the plough continually to goe to rent or cleaue it to turn it vpside down Therfore also S. Paul saith in the Acts Act. 14.22 That by many tribulations wee must enter into the kingdome of God And in 2. Epistle to Tim. All those that wil liue godly in Christ Iesus 2 Tim. 3.12 shal suffer persecution Iesus Christ saith also vnto his Disciples Iohn 15.20 Remember the worde that I said vnto you that the seruaunt is not greater than his maister If they haue persecuted me Iohn 16.1.2 they wil persecute you also Also These things haue I said vnto you that yee should not be offended They shal excommunicate you yea the time shal come that whosoeuer killeth you wil thinke that hee doeth God seruice And this is the state and conditiō wherein God wil haue his Church to glorifie him here belowe on the earth And in deed the first lesson that Iesus Christ gaue to his Disciples was touching this matter of the Crosse and persecutions If any man saith he wil come after me Matth. 16.24 let him forsake him selfe take vp his Crosse and folow me The experience of all times and ages doth sufficiently shew vnto vs the truth of this matter whether we cōsider somwhat narrowly as well the estate of the auncient Church vnder the old Testament as the state of that which came afterward vnder the new Testament insomuch that it may rightly say Psal 129.1 They haue often afflicted mee frō my youth haue done mee a thousand euils as is saide in the Psalmes For euen from the beginning the Deuil hath alwayes beene like to himself that is to say a lier a murtherer Iohn 8.44 enuious a false and priuie accuser war hath alwayes continued betweene the womās seed the Serpents seed And howe can any man ioyne put together thinges which are of a cōtrarie nature Gene. 3.15 2. Cor. 6.14.15 How can any man make agreement betweene God and the Deuill betweene Christ and Belial betweene the faithfull and the vnbeleeuers Iesus Christ in the third Cap. of S. Iohn sheweth a reasō to declare why it is impossible that the good the wicked shuld suffer one with another agree together Iohn 3.19.20 to wit That all the workes which the worlde doeth are wicked and therefore lest they should bee discouered laide open by the light it hateth the light and loueth darknesse From hence is it that euen frō the beginning of the world enimites between the faithfull and the aduersaries of the trueth haue taken and had their originall and first foundation This is the cause why Cain slue his brother Abell that Lot the faithful seruant of the Lord was hated of the Sodomites that Ishmael mocked Isaac and persecuted him that Esaw went about to oppresse kill Iacob euen from his youth that Ioseph had his owne brethren for his enemies that the Prophetes could not agree with the wicked Kinges nor S. Iohn Baptist with the incestuous Herode nor Iesus Christ with the high Priestes Scribes Pharisees nor the Apostles and Martyrs with the infideles vnbeleeuers of their times And therefore it is meere follie to suppose and thinke that the children of God can euer bee beloued of the worlde Whereupon by good right for good cause S. Iames saith That the amitie of the world Iames. 4.4 is the enimitie of God and hee that will bee a friende of the worlde maketh himselfe the enimie of God Iohn 15.19 And for this cause also Iesus Christ hath saide to his Disciples If yee were of this worlde the worlde woulde loue his owne but because yee are not of this worlde but I haue chosen and separated you out of this worlde therfore the worlde hateth you To bee short if we woulde that the Church of God should bee without persecution then of necessitie must it bee that the worlde shoulde bee without hatred the Deuill without enuie and our nature without vice or sinne But to the ende that wee may specifie and declare certaine thinges A discourse of the ten great persecutions of the Church touching the persecutions of the Church let vs examine as it were one by one the ten persecutions which came vpon it after the death of Iesus Christ vnder the Emperors whereof the Ecclesiasticall historie maketh mention True it is that in the time of Augustus the seconde Emperour the church was muche persecuted vnder the greate Herode who thinking to put to death the King of the Iewes in the verie cradle commaunded men to slaie all the babes and litle children of Bethlehem and of all the borders thereof from two yeares olde and vnder Also vnder Tiberius the third Emperour by Herode Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee who was the sonne of the first Herode who tooke away his brother Phillips wife and put to death Iohn Baptist because hee reprooued him for that sinne and offence And by Pilate also who condemned and caused to be put to death on the Crosse Iesus Christ the high Priests Scribes Pharises Elders of the people beeing the principall blowers of the fire and chiefe persecutors Moreouer vnder Caius Caligula that horrible monster who was appointed the fourth Emperor in the nine and thirtieth yeare after Christes birth raigned three yeares tenne monethes and
eight dayes vnder Claudius also his successour And it appeareth by the historie of the Actes and the Epistles of the Apostles howe the churches were tossed and persecuted in Asia Antiochia Pisidia Iconium Lystra Galatia Ephesus Macedonia Philippi Thessalonia Corinthus Berrhoe Rome and many other places but all these persecutions were as yet particular and but in some one place or other God moderating and mitigating the hearts and hands of men and gouerning after a wonderful sorte his Churche in those Emperours dayes to the ende it mighte more blessedly and plentifully growe But omitting these let vs speake of the ten great and generall persecutions as they are called by which the Church was eagerly assaulted and cruely tormented on all sides The first persecution was vnder Nero the sixt Emperour who was called Claudius Domitius Nero. He was ordeined Emperour in the yeere 57. after the birth of Christe and reigned xiiii yeeres seuen monethes and certaine dayes And some say that the fiue first yeeres hee was a good man but that afterwards he so disordered himselfe and fell into suche excesse by incests murthers and all maner of wickednesses that hardly there is as yet any other Emperour to be found who was defiled with such filthinesses Tertullian rehearseth in his Apologetico that this Emperour was the first persecutor of the Church Tertul. Apolog. Cap. 5. Looke saith hee into your histories and registers and you shall finde that Nero was the first which exercised crueltie against the christians which were vnder the Emperours authoritie principalie against the church which was established at Rome Corne. Tacitus lib. 15. And Cornelius Tacitus declareth that the ocasiō which Nero toke to persecute the church for was this that he cōmāded secretly to set on fire the citie of Rome that he might see some forme or image as it were which might represent set out vnto him the fire of Troy And so the fire continued in the Citie sixe daies space which made such a destruction that he became hereby very odious among the people And seeing that hee could not put out this hatred and waiting of him to doe him som mischiefe for al the good turnes which he could do to the people he foūd out this deuise to sow abrode this bruite rumor and report that it was the Christians who had ben the blowers of that fire and the authours of that destruction and from that time forward he began to persecute them and to put them to death both because they were as he said the blowers of that fire and also because they were enimies of all mankinde by reason of that confession which they made of the name of Christ And to make them to die his vpholders put vpon their backes the skinnes of wild beasts that they might be torn and rent if it were possible in peeces with dogs where also they crucified them burned thē al aliue although the day failed thē yet they burned them that they might therby giue light to the night This first persecution began about the yeere of Christ 66. the x. yeere of Nero his raigne lasted 4. yeres somwhat more vntill the death of that tyrant Some say Eusebius amōgest those reciteth it that this Nero about the end of his daies or reigne caused S. Peter S. Paul to be put to death The 2. persecution was vnder Domitian the xii Emperour who was appointed Emperor in the yeere of Christ 83. reigned xv yeeres and vi monethes He was so lifted vp in crueltie and pride that he would haue his subiects call him God Lord caused images of his owne person to bee made of gold siluer He ordeined as his father Vespasiā had done before him that inquirie should be made against the race of Dauid that they which were foūd to be therof shold be put to death for he feared the comming of Christ about the 14. yere of his reigne the yeere of Christ 97. he caused by an Edict to be published and proclaimed a cruell persecution against the Christians insomuche that the Church was miserably and a long time tormented vnder him The third persecution was in the dayes of Traian the fourteenth Emperour who was appointed Emperor about the yeere of Christe 100. who gouerned the Empire nienteene yeeres sixe monethes and fifteene dayes Hee is greatly praised of the Historiographers as a courteous and gentle Prince and some say that hee was so renowmed and famous by reason of his iustice curtesie that euer after so often as any was created Emperour the people yeelded this blessed exclamation outcrie and consent Bee hee more happy then Augustus and better then Traian yet notwithstanding hee persecuted the Church and mark the occasion that he tooke so to doe Hee was brought vp from his infancie in the Paganish and Heathenish superstitions by reason whereof hee disdained and despised christiā religion because that it was contrary to these superstitions Besides that hee had about him certaine courtiers which were blowers of that fire in him augmented that disdain and dispite in him insomuch that diuers Historiographers recorde that hee was not so much of his owne nature inclined to shed blood as deceiued and stirred vp thereto by his councellers and principally by the Pagane Priestes Freculph lib. 2. Cap. 20. who as Freculphus witnesseth gaue good store of siluer to the gouernours and bribed freely to the end that they would put the christiās to death as their deadly enimies Some adde that the number of Christians was very much increased whereupon many inconueniences might come to the Romane Empire if the dāger were not preuēted which also was a cause that Traian was the more inflamed and kindled against them as also Sabellicus writeth Sabellicus that the great number of christians were more suspected of this Emperour then the religion After this sort then did they accuse the christians of sedition and blasphemie and for these causes they were cruelly persecuted insomuch as it appeareth by that which Plinie the second hath written Plinius secund That publik commandements were sent from the Emperour to the gouernours of all the Prouinces by which euery gouernour was inforced too persecute and so the persecution was spread abrod through out al the places of the Romā empire which at that time cōteined not only Europe but also a great parte of Asia Affrica And the said persecutiō indured about fourteene yeeres but yet in suche order that in the beginning of the reigne of Traian it was some what lesse sharpe but afterwards it flamed out and burst foorth more and more Tertul. Apologi Capt 2. Nowe the sayde Plinie the seconde had at that time the gouernment of a certaine Prouince to wit of Bethina and as Tertullian saith hee was appointed too persecute the Christians about the yeere of Christ 112. and of Traian the xiiii yeere Wherefore hee being astonished with the great number of martyres