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A72940 A declaration of the recantation of Iohn Nichols (for the space almost of two yeeres the Popes scholer in the English Seminarie or Colledge at Rome) which desireth to be reconciled and receiued as a member into the true Church of Christ in England. Nicholls, John, 1555-1584? 1581 (1581) STC 18533; STC 18533.5; ESTC S113205 57,669 199

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of the Arrians sayd That foure or fiue persons with their Athanasius woulde trouble the peace of the world To whom Liberius the Bishop of Rome answered That his solitude or fewnesse did not any whit diminish the worde of faith As for the declining estate of the Church wee are giuen to wit That when the sonne of man shall come before whose cōming Antichrist shall seduce the world Neque fides Matt. 24.12 37. neque charitas inuenta erit in terra isti dies erunt tanquā dies Noah Lot There shall neither faith nor charity be found on the earth and those dayes shal be as the daies of Noah Lot c. The Eclipse then of this Moone shal be as it were vniuersal al the whole earth being put betweene the Church the sunne And therefore if we shall finde no other direction in such darknes then the multitude we shall haue no part with that litle nomber So much for multitude whereof the Papists make great account Nowe will I speake a litle of Succession which you my brethren take to bee a very substantiall argument of the trueth But Christ saith in the 23. of Matthewe In cathedra Mosis sedent Scribae Pharisaei By order of Succession the Scribes and Pharises sit in Moses chaire Annas and Caiphas touching Succession were aswel Bishops as Aaron and Eleazar Of Succession S. Paul saith to the faithfull at Ephesus Scio quod post discessum meum intrabunt lupi rapaces ex vobis ipsis exurgent viri peruersa loquentes I knowe that after my departure hence rauening wolues shall enter and succeede mee and out of yourselues there shall by Succession spring vp men speaking peruersly Therfore S. Hierome saith Non sanctorum filii sunt qui tenent loca sanctorum They bee not alwayes the children of holy men that by succession haue the places of holy men Notwithstanding the Pope himselfe will say as it is before alledged In Papasi desint bona acquisita per meritum sufficiunt quae a loci praedecessore praestantur If the Pope want good things by his own merits the good thinges which hee hath by Successiō of Peter his predecessor are sufficient And the glose vpon Petrus fecit Papas haeredes bonitatis suae Peter made the Popes heires of his goodnes by Succession And againe Papa recipit a cathedra sanctitatē The Pope receiueth his holines by succession of his chaire Such affiance sometime had the Scribes and Pharises in their succession therefore they sayde Ioh. 8.33 53. We are the children of Abraham Vnto vs hath God made his promises art thou greater then our father Abraham Iohn 9.29 As for Christ we know not from whence hee came or what can he shewe for his succession And when our Sauiour went about to reforme the abuses and errors they sayde vnto him Matt. 21.23 Iohn 2.18 By what power doest thou these things and who gaue thee this authoritie where is thy succession Vpon which wordes Beda saith Beda in Matth. 21. Intelligi volunt diaboli esse quod fecit They woulde haue the people vnderstand for that he had no solemne succession that al that he did was of the deuill Cyrillus Carena in Luc. 39. And Cyrillus frameth their words in this sort Tu ortus ex Iuda commissos nobis fasces vsurpas Thou beeing of the tribe of Iuda and therefore hauing no right vnto the priesthoode takest vpon thee the office that is committed vnto vs. Likewise Chrysostom imagineth the Pharises thus to say Chrysost in Mat. Hom. 39. Tu de sacerdotali familia natus non es Senatus tibi hoc non concessit Caesar non donauit Thou art not of the house of priests the Councill hath not graunted it thee the Emperour hath not giuen it thee Thus to mainteine themselues in credit for that they had succession and continuance from Aaron and sate in Moses chaire they kept Christ quite out of possession Matt. 23.2 and sayd vnto him then euen as you my brethren saye nowe vnto vs Who euer taught vs this pernitious doctrine before what ordinary succession of persons and vocation haue we what Bishop admitted vs who confirmed vs who allowed vs Therefore good christian hearers let not these the Papistes great wordes much abash vs. The Scribes Pharises in the like cases vsed the like language long ago But let me aske you a question Howe can you shewe any demonstration or probabilitie that the succession of your church is lawfull If there were any church that could alledge succession of persons it were the church of the Iewes for they were of the house of Aaron from the father to the sonne and besides them none might sacrifice Moreouer to them it was promised that they should continue so for euer And in deed when the Prophets exhorted them to reformation they had no other thing in their mouth but this Lex a Sacerdote non peribit neque consilium a sapiente neque verbum a propheta The lawe shall not perish from the priest nor the counsell from the wise nor the word from the Prophet But the spirit of the Lorde answered them Quomodo dicitis Sapiētes sumus Iere. 8.8 lex Iehouae penes nos est vtique ecce ad falsitatē operatur stylus ad falsitatem operantur legis periti fecerúntne sapientes vt erubescerent consternatíne sunt capti ecce verbum Iehouae spernunt eccuius rei sapientia inesset eis Howe say ye We are wise and the lawe of the Lord is with vs For it is in vaine that the pen is made and that there is a scribe wise men are confounded and seeing that they haue reiected the worde of the Lord what shal be their wisdome any more In like maner when the Iewes boasted to Iesus Christ that they were of the seede of Abraham Iohn 8.44 I know it wel saith he but the deuil is your father And in very deede this successiue and hereditarie wisdome crucified Christ and reiected saluation offred vnto them as also this self same successiō although it be only pretended worshippeth Antichrist and interteyneth her owne perdition Moreouer I demande what these alledgers of succession would haue answered to the Arrians Samosetans Nestorians c. who had their beginning continued from the first Bishops euen to themselues and namely to Nestorius and Samosetanus both which were lawfully called to the patriarchal churches the one to Constantinople and the other to Antioch Also what will you answere to the succession alledged by al the Greeke and east churches To be short to the reformed churches of England Dēmark Swethē a great part of Almaigne through all which there is at this daye this succession from Bishop to bishop from Pastor to Pastor If you wil alledge the Popes succession wee deny it you it is another question If simply succession you haue lost your cause If your doctrine then we gaine this poynt that the simple
if we beleeue not at all the traditions of men but the Scripture manifestly doeth Esay 29.13 Matth. 15.3 Colos 2.8 forbid vs to beleue them If you can find one only text of the scripture that willeth and commandeth vs to beleeue in the Romane church as hauing prerogatiue ouer all churches the world throughout I will be on your side to the death But no such place I am certain you can shewe in the whole Bible that the Romane church is the holy Catholique Church which all men of what countrey soeuer they be must acknowledge to be chiefest It is not sufficient to claime succession of place it behoueth vs rather to haue regard to the succession of doctrine Bernard in Concil Rem Bernard sayth Quid prodest si canonice eligantur non canonice viuant What auaileth it if they be chosē in order liue out of order So sayeth Saint Augustine contra Donatistas August lib. 6. 1. q. 3. Vocatur canes Ipsum characterem multi lupi lupis imprimunt The outward marke or right of a Bishoppe many giue to wolues and be wolues them selues Therefore the auncient father Ireneus giueth vs this good counsell Eis qui sunt in ecclesia praesbyteris obedire oportet qui successionem habent ab Apostolis qui cum episcopatus successione charisma veritatis certum secundum beneplacitum patris acceperunt It becommeth vs to obey those Priestes in the church which haue their succession from the Apostles and together with the succession of the Byshoprickes according to the good wil of God the Father haue receiued the vndoubted gyft of the trueth Saint Cyprian being likewise charged for dissenting from his predecessours answereth thus Cyprian lib. 2. Epist 3. Si quis de antecessoribus meis non hoc obseruauit tenuit quod nos dominus exemplo magisterio suo docuit potest simplicitati eius venia concedi nobis vero ignosci non potest qui nunc a Domino admoniti instructi sumus If any of my predecessours haue not obserued and kept the same that our Lord hath taught vs both by his example and commandement his simplicitie may be pardoned but we if we doe the like can hope for no pardon being now admonished instructed of our Lorde Compare the vse order of our churches my brethrē with the Primitiue church of God and you shall easely see the right of our succession S. Cyprian sayeth ad Pompeium contra Epistolam Stephani Si canalis aquae quae copiosè priùs largiter profluebat subitò deficiat nonne ad fontem pergitur c. Hoc nunc facere oportet Dei sacerdotes praecepta diuina seruantes vt in aliquo si mutauerit vacillauerit veritas ad originem Dominicam Euangelicam atque Apostolicam traditionem reuertamur inde surgat actus nostri ratio vnde ordo origo surrexit If the pipes of the conduyte which before ranne with aboundance happen to faile doe wee not vse to search to the head c. The Priestes of God keeping Gods commandements must doe the same that if the trueth haue faynted or fayled in any point wee returne to the very originall of our Lorde and to the tradition of the Gospel of the Apostles that from thence wee maye take the discretion of our doings from whence the order it selfe and originall first began Thus much touching succession of place Now I exhorte you brotherly to be reconciled to the true church of God I meane the Church of England wherein you finde not so many idolaters Necromancers heretikes adulterers Sodomites churchrobbers periured persons mankillers Runnagates mōsters Sicophants Clawbacks slaundering tongues scribes and pharises as you may easely finde in the church of Rome Boast not of the succession of your Pope S. Paul sayth Rom. 10.17 Faith cōmeth not by succession but by hearing and hearing commeth not of legacie or inheritance frō Bishop to Bishop but of the worde of God They are not alwayes godly that succeede the godly Manasses succeeded Ezechias and Ieroboam succeeded Dauid the Prophet By succession the Turke this day possesseth and holdeth the foure great patriarchal Sees of the church Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Hierusalem Dan. 9.25 Matt. 24.15 Mar. 13.14 Luk. 21.20 By succession Desolation shal sit in the holy place and Antichrist shall preasse into the roome of Christ Thus much welbeloued brethren touching succession of place Now I will speake a litle in confutation of your forged myracles wherewith you seeke to oppugne the true church of Christ and defende your wicked church of Antichrist polluted with all maner of detestable idolatrie and cursed superstition There are two maner of myracles Miracles the one true the other false Myracles are counted false when either they be not that which they seeme to bee or if they be they are not supernatural but are done by vertue of nature and that the Angels either good or bad three maner of waies may bring to passe For sometime the force of nature which they best knowe they accommodate to the matter of which coniunction with efficient causes folowe the effects and that suddenly which effectes are of the beholders thought to bee myracles The deuils knowe that frogs wormes or serpents bee ingendred of putrefacted and rotten things so that there be put heate in certain degrees in consideration whereof seeing that it is not a hard thing for them to do these things which by nature maye bee wrought it is the easier to deceiue the weake of beliefe And by this meanes S. August de Trin. lib. 3. Augustine thought as he writeth in his third booke of Trinity Pharaos Magicians sometime to haue done the same Moreouer the coniunctions of the spirits of bloud and of humors do much disquiet mens bodies from whence proceede the sights or visiōs of things which are in those things conserued in the same motion before they come into the phantasie or imaginatiō and by the same reason and order wherewith the spirit is troubled it ioyneth them together which thing appeareth in such as be Phrentique Wee are not bound of necessitie to beleeue all such myracles whatsoeuer without exception Alexander of Hales sayeth Par. 4. quaest 53. Mem. 4. ar 3. solut 2. In sacramento apparet caro interdum humana procuratione interdum operatione diabolica In the Sacrament it selfe there appeareth flesh sometyme by the conueyance of men sometime by the woorking of the deuill Likewise saith Nicholaus Lyra Lyr. in 14. Dan. Aliquando in ecclesia fit maxima deceptio populi in miraculis factis a Sacerdotibus vel eis adhaerentibus propter lucrum Sometime euen in the church the people are shamefully deceiued with feigned miracles wrought either by the Priestes or els by their companions for lucres sake Miracles be not euermore vndouted proofes of true doctrine therfore Saint Augustine saith vnto the Manichees Miracula non facitis Aug. lib. 13. quae si