abstractes of the scriptures and doctors Phil. What so euer you do make them they are no ground of my fayth by the which I ought to be Iudged London I must nedes procede against the to morowe Phil. Yf your lordship so do I wil haue Excepcionem fori for you are not my competent iudge London By what lawe canst thou refuse me to be thy iudge Phil. By the Ciuile lawe De coÌ„petente Iudice London There is no suche tytle in the lawe In what boke is it as connyng a lawer as you be Phil. My lorde I take vpoÌ„ me no great connyng in the lawe but you dryue me to my shyftes for my defence And I am sure yf I had the bokes of the lawe I were able to shewe what I saye London What De competente Iudice I wil go fet thee my bokes There is a tytle in dede De officijs Iudicis ordinarij phil Verely that is the same Competente Iudice which I haue alleged With that he ranne to his studye end brought the hole course of the lawe betwene his haÌ„des which as it myght appeare he had wel occupied by the dust they were enbrued withal London There be the bokes fynde it out yf thou canst and I wyl promyse thee to release thee out of pryson phil My lorde I staÌ„de not here to reason maters of the Ciuile lawe althoughe I am not altogher ignoraunt of the same for that I haue ben a student in the same sixe or seuen yeres but to answere to the articles of fayth with the which you maye lawfully burthen me And where as you go about vnlawfully to procede I chalenge according to my knowlege the benefyte of the lawe in my defence London Why thou wilt answere directly to nothyng thou art charged with al. Therfore saye not herafter but you myght haue ben satisfyed here by learned men yf you would haue declared your mynde phil My lorde I haue declared my mynde vnto you and to other of the bysshops at my last beyng before you desyring you to be satisfied but of one thing wherunto I haue referred al other controuersies the which yf your lordships nowe or other learned men can symply resolue me of I am as contented to be reformable in al thinges as you shal require the whych is to proue that the churche of Rome wherof you are is the catholyke churche Couentrie Why do you not beleue your Crede Credo ecclesiam catholicam phil Yes that I do but I can not vnderstande Rome wherwith al you now burden vs to be the same neither lyke to it S. Asse It is most euident that S. Peter dyd buylde the catholyke churche at Rome And Christ sayd Tites Petrus super hanc petrant edificabo ecclesiam meam Moreouer the succession of byshops in the sea of Rome can be proued from tyme to tyme as it caÌ„ be of none other place so wel which is a manifest probacion of the catholike church as dyuerse doctours do wryte Phil. That you would haue to be vndoubted is moste vncertaine and that by the autoritie which you allege of Christ sayeng vnto Peter Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I wyll buylde my churche Marcke wel onles you caÌ„ proue the rock to signifye Rome as you would make me falsly beleue And although you can proue the succession of bishops from Peter yet this is not sufficieÌ„t to proue Rome to be the catholike church onles you can proue the successioÌ„ of Peters fayth whervpon the catholyke church is buylded to haue coÌ„tinued in his successours at Rome at this present to remayne London Is ther any mo churches theÌ„ one catholike churche and I pray you tel me into what fayth were you baptized Phil. I acknowledge one holye catholyke and Apostolyck churche wherof I am a membre I prayse God I am of that catholike fayth of Christ wherinto I was baptised Couentre I praye you can you tel what this worde catholyke doth signifie shewe yf you can Phil. Yes that I can I thanke God The catholyke faythe or the catholyke churche is not as nowe a dayes the people be taught to be that which is moste vniuersal or of moste part of men receyued wherby you do inferre our fayth to hang vpon the multitude which is not so But I esteme the catholyke fayth and the catholike churche to be as S. Austen defineth the same Estimamus fidem catholicam a rebus praeteritis praesentibus futuris We iudge sayth he the catholike fayth of that which hath ben is and shal be So that yf you can be hable to proue that your fayth and churche hath ben from the beginning taught and is and shal be then maye you count your selues catholikes otherwyse not And catholike is a Greke worde compounded of cata which signifieth after or according and holon a sumÌ„ or principle or hole So that catholike church or catholike fayth is as muche to saye the fyrst hole souÌ„de or chiefest fayth London Doth S. Austen saye so as he alledgeth it or dothe he meane thus as he taketh the same howe saye you maister Curtoppe Curtop In dede my lorde S. Austen hath suche a sayeng speaking against the Donatistes that the catholike faythe ought to be estemed of thinges in tymes past and as they are practised according to the same And ought to be through al ages not after a new maner as the Donatistes begaÌ„ to ê“fesse phil You haue sayd wel M. Currop after the meaning of S. Austen And do coÌ„firme that which I haue sayd for the significacion of catholike Couentre Let the boke be sene my lord London I praye you my lorde be content or in good fayth I will breake euen of let all alone Do you thinke the catholyke church vntil it was with in these fewe yeres in the which a few vpon singularitie haue swarued from the same hath erred phil I do not thynke that the catholike churche can erre in doctrine but I require to proue the churche of Rome to be thys catholike churche Curtop I can proue that Ireneus which was within an hundreth yeares after Christ came to Victor then bishop of Rome wisely Curtop to aske his aduise about the excommunicatioÌ„ of certayne heretikes the which he would not haue done by al lykelyhode yf he had not taken him to be supreme head Couentre Marke wel this argument Howe are you able to answere to the same Answere yf you can phil It is sone answered my lorde for that it is of no force neither this facte of Ireneus proueth nomore for the supremacie of the bishop of Rome theÌ„ myne hath done which haue ben at Rome as wel as he and myght haue spoken with the Pope yf I had list and yet I would none in Englande dyd fauour his supremacie more then I. S. Asse You are the more to blame by my fayth of my bodye for that you fauour the same no better Your othe is as great as if a
do as you do Phil. No my lorde I do not as I do for that cause For I am taught otherwyse by the Gospel not altogether to refuse the minister for his euell lyuyng so that he bryng sounde doctrine out of Goddes boke worce Do you thinke that the vniuersal churche may be deceyued Phil. S. Paule to the Thessalonians prophecied that ther should come an vniuersall departing from the fayth in the latter dayes before the comming of Christ sayeng Non veniet Christus nisi venerit defectio prius That is Christ shall not come tyl ther come a departing fyrst Cole Yea I pray you howe take you the departyng there in S. Paul It is not ment of fayth but of the departing from the empyre For it is in Greke Apostasia Phil. Mary in dede you M. Doctour put me in good remembraunce of the meanyng of saynt Paule in that place For Apostasia is properlye a departyng from the faythe and therof commeth Apostata whiche properlye sygnyfyeth one that departeth from his fayth And saynt Paule in the same place after speaketh of the decaye of the Empire Cole Apostasia doth not only signifie a departing from the fayth but also frō the Empyre as I am hable to shewe phil I neuer red it so taken and when you shal be hable to shewe it as you saye in wordes I wil beleue it and not before morc I am sorye that you should be agaynst the christen world phil The worlde cōmonly and such as be called christians for the multitude hathe hated the truth and ben enemyes to the same Gloue Why maister Philpot do you thynke that the vniuersall churche hathe erred and you only to be in the truthe phil The churche that you are of was neuer vniuersal For two partes of the worlde which is Asia and Affrica neuer consented to the supremacie of the bishop of Rome as at this daye they do not neither do folowe his decrees Gloce. Yes in Florentines coūsel they did agree phil It was sayd so by false reporte after they of Asia and Affrica were gone home But it was not so in dede as the sequel of them al hitherto doth proue the contrarye Gloce. I praye you by whom wyl you be iudged in matters of controuersie which happen dayly phil By the worde of God For Christ sayeth in S Iohn̄ the worde that he spake shal be iudge in the later daye Gloc. What yf you take the worde one waye and I an other waye who shal be iudge then phil The primatiue Churche Gloc. I knowe you meane the doctours that wrote therof Phil. I meane verely so Gloc. What yf you take the doctours in one sence and I in an other who shal be iudge then Phil. Then let that be taken which is most agreable to Goddes worde Cole My lordes why do you trouble your selues to answer him in this mater it is not the thing which is layd to his charge but his errour of the sacrament and he to shyfte him selfe of that brought in an other matter Phil. This is the mater maister Cole to the which I haue referred al other questions and desire to be satisfyed worce It is wonder to se howe he stādeth with a fewe against a great multitude Phil. We haue almost as many as you For we haue Asya Affryca Germany Denmarke and a great part of Fraunce and daylye the nombre of the Gospel dothe increase so that I am credibly informed that for this religion in the which I stād and for that which I am like to diē a great multytude dothe daily com out of Fraūce through persecucion that the cities of Germanie be scarse hable to receaue them And therfore your lordship may be sure the worde of God wil one day take place So what you can to the contrarie worcest They were wel occupied to bring you suche newes and you haue ben well kept to haue suche resort vnto you thou art the arrogauntest and stoutest fond felowe that euer I knewe Phil. I pray your lordshipe to beare with my hastye speache for it is parte of my corrupte nature to speake somwhat hastly But for all that I meane with humilitie to do my dewty to your lordships London Master Philpot my lordes wil troble you no further at this tyme But you shall goo from whence you cam and haue suche fauour as in the meane while I can shew you and vpon wednesdaye next you shal be called agayne to be heard what you cā say for the mayntenaunce of your error Phil. My lord my desire is to be satisfied of you in that I haue required and your lordship shall fynde me as I haue said worcest We wyshe you as well as our selues Phil. I thinke the same my lordes but I feare you are deaceuyd and haue a zeale of your selues not according to knowledge worcest God send you more grace Phil. And also God increase the same in you open your eyes Nay God ryd his shepe from such wolues that you maie se to maintaine his truthe and his true church Than the bishopes rose vp and cōsulted together and caused a writing to be made In the which I thinke my bloude by them was bought and sold and therto they put to theyr handes and after this I was caryed to my cole howse agayne Thus endeth the fourth parte of this tragedye God hasten the ende therof to his glorye Amen BEcause I haue begonne to write vnto you of myne examinacions before the B. other more to satisfie your desire than it is any thing worthy to be written I haue thought yt good to write vnto you also that which hath ben of late that the same myght come to light which they do in darkenes priuy corners and that the world nowe the posteritie herafter might knowe howe vnorderlye vniustlye and vnlearnedlye these rauening wolues do procede agaynst the selye and faithful flocke of Christ and condēpne and persecute the syncere doctrine of Christ in vs which they are not hable by honest meanes to resyst but only by tyrannie and violence The examinacion of Iohn Philpot had before the bishoppes of Lōdon Rochester Couētre S. Asses I trow one other whose seas I know not Doctor storie Curtop D. Sauerson D. Pendletō with diuers other chaplaynes and gētlemen of the Quenes chamber with diuers other gentilmen in a galerye of my lord of Londons palace MAster Philpot come you hyther London I haue desired my lordes here other learned men to take som paynes once agayne and to do you good and because I do mynd to sit in iudgemēt on you to morowe as I am commaunded yet I would you should haue as muche fauour as I can shewe you yf you wil be any thing conformable Therfore plaie the wyse mā and be not singular in your opinion but be ruled by these learned men phil My lorde that you saye you will sit on me in iudgement to morowe I am glad therof For I was promised by them
your yeares great exercyse do excell therin but fayth coÌ„systeth not only in learning but in simplicytie of beleuing that which Godes word teacheth therfore I wil be glad to heare bothe of your lordship or of any other that god hath reuealed vnto by his worde the true doctrine therof thanke you that it dothe please you to take paynes herein Chiche You take the first alleged amisse as though al meÌ„ should be taught by inspiration not by learnyng Howe do we beleue the Gospel but by the authoritie of the church and because the same hath allowed it Phil. S. Paule sayeth he learned not the Gospel by men neyther of men but by the reuelatioÌ„ of Iesus Christ which is a sufficieÌ„t profe that the gospel taketh not his authoritie of maÌ„ but of God only Chichest S. Paule speaketh but of his owne knowlage how he came therto Phil. Naye he speaketh of the Gospel generally which coÌ„meth not from maÌ„ but from God that the churche must only teache that which coÌ„meth froÌ„ God and not mans preceptes Chiches Doth not S. Austine saye I would not beleue the Gospel yf the authoritie of the churche dyd not moue me therto phil I grauÌ„t that the authoritie of the churche dothe moue the vnbeleuers to beleue but yet the churche geueth not the worde his authoritie for the worde hath his authoritie only froÌ„ God not of man Men be but disposers therof for fyrst the worde hath his beyng before the churche and the worde is the foundacion of the churche and first is the foundacion sure before the buyldyng theron can be stedfast Chiches I perceaue you mistake me I speake of the knowlage of the Gospell and not of the authoritie for by the churche we haue all knowlage of the Gospel phil I confesse that For fayth cometh by hearyng and hearyng by the worde and I acknowlage that God appointeth an ordinary meanes for meÌ„ to come vnto knowlage nowe and not miraculously as he hath done in tymes paste yet we that be taught by men must take hede that we learne nothing else but that which was taught in the primatiue churche by reuelation Here came in the B. of Yorke and the bishop of Bathe and after they had saluted one an other and commoned a whyle together the Archbishop of Yorke called me vnto them sayeng Yorke Syr we hearyng that you are out of the waye are come of charitie to enforme you and to bring you into the true fayth to the catholike churche agayne willyng you first to haue humilitie and to be humble and willyng to learne of your betters for else we can do no good wyth you and God sayeth by the Prophete On whome shall I reste but on the humble and meke and suche as tremble at my worde Nowe yf you will so be we wil be glad to trauail with you phil I know that humilitie is the dore wherby we enter vnto Christ I thaÌ„ke his goodnes I haue entred in at the same vnto him wil with al humilitie heare whatsoeuer truth you shal speake vnto me Yorke What be the maters you staÌ„de on and require to be satisfyed Phil. My lorde and it please your grace we were entred in a good mater before you came of the churche and howe we should knowe the truth but by the churche Yorke In dede that is the heade we nede to beginne at for the churche beyng truly knoweÌ„ we shal soner agre in the particular thynges phil Yf your lordships can proue the churche of Rome to be the true catholike churche it shall do muche to persuade me towarde that you would haue me inclyne vnto Yorke Why let vs go to the definition of the churche what is it phil It is a coÌ„gregation of people dispersed through the worlde agreyng together in the worde of God vsyng the sacramentes and al other thinges accordyng to the same Yorke This diffinitioÌ„ is of many wordes to no purpose Phil. I do not precisely diffyne the churche but declare vnto you what I thinke the church is Yorke Is the church visible or inuisible Phil. It is bothe visible and inuisible the inuisible church is of all the electes of God only the visible consisteth of bothe good and bad vsing all thinges in fayth according to Goddes word Yorke The churche is an vniuersal coÌ„gregacioÌ„ of faythful people in Christ through the worlde which this word catholik doth wel expresse for what is catholike elles doth it not signifie vniuersal Phil. The churche is diffined by S. Austen to be called catholike in this wyse Ecclesia ideo dicitur catholica quia vniuersaliter perfecta est in nullo claudicat The church is called therfore catholike bicause it is throughly perfyt and halteth in nothing Yorke Nay it is called catholyke bycause it is vniuersally receyued of all Chrystian nations for the most parte Phil. The churche was catholike in the Apostles tyme yet was it not vniuersally receyued of the world but bicause their doctrine which they had receyued of Christ was perfect and appointed to be preached and receaued of the hole world therfore it is caled the catholike fayth all persons receyuing the same be to be counted the catholike churche And S. Austine in an other place writeth ad Neophitos that the catholike church is the which beleueth a right Yorke Yf you will learne I wil shewe you by S. Austine writing against the Donatistes that he proueth the catholike churche by two principall pointes which is vniuersalitie and successioÌ„ of bishops in one apostolycal sea from tyme to tyme. Nowe thus wil I make myn argumeÌ„t The churche of Rome is vniuersal hath had his succession of bishops from tyme tyme Ergo it is the catholike churche howe answere you to this argumeÌ„t phil I deny the antecedent That the catholike churche is only knowen by vniuersalitie by succession of bishops Yorke I wil proue it And with that he brought furthe a boke which he had noted out of the doctors and turned to his commoÌ„ places therin of the churche recyted one or two out of S Austen specially out of his epistle written against the Donatistes Here S. Austen manifestly proueth that the Donatistes were not the catholike churche bicause they had no succession of bishops in their opinion neyther vniuersalitie and the same force hath S. Austins argument against you phil My lord I haue wayed the force of that argument before nowe And I perceiue it maketh nothing against me nether it commeth to your purpose for I will stand to the tryall of S. Austen for the apê“bacion of the catholike churche where of I am For S. Austine speaketh of vniuersalitie ioyned with veritie of faythful successours of Peter before corruption came into the churche and so yf you can deduce your argumeÌ„t for the sea of Rome now as S. Austen might do in his tyme I would say it might be of some force otherwise not Yorke S. Austine proueth the catholike churche
cause After the which he sayed my lords wyll was that I should haue anye frēdshyp that I wold desyre and so departed Within a litle after one of my lords gentlemē commeth for me And I was brought into hys presence wheare he sate at a table alone with thre or fower of hys chaplaynes wayting vpon hym and hys regester London Master Phylpot you are welcome giue me your hand phil With that because he so gentlye put furth hys hand I to rendre curtesye for curtesye kyssed my hande and gaue hym the same London I am ryght sorye for your trouble And I promise you before yt was within these two howres I knewe not of your beīg here I praie you tel me what was the cause of your sending hyther for I promise you I know nothyng therof as yet neyther I would you should not thynke that I was the cause therof And I maruayl that other men will trouble me with theyr maters But I must be obedient to my betters And ywis men speake otherwyse of me than I deserue phil I shewed hym the summe of the matter that yt was for the disputacion in the conuocasion howse for the which I was agaynst alryght molested London I maruayl that you should be troubled therfore yf ther wer none other cause but thys But parauenture you haue mayntayned the same synce And some of your frēdes of late haue asked whether you do stād to the same and you haue sayd yea and for this you might be cōmitted to prison phil And yt shall please your lordship I am burdened non otherwyse than I haue told you by the commissioners who haue sent me hither bycause I wil not recant the same London A man may speake in the parliament house though yt be a place of fre speche as he may be imprisoned for As in case he speake wordes of hygh treason against the Kyng or Quene And so it might be that you spake otherwyse then it became you of the church of Christ Phil. I spake nothing which were out of the articles which were called in question and agreed vpon to be disputed by the holl house by the Quenes permission and her counsell London Why maye we dispute of our fayth Phil. Yea that we maye London Naye I trowe not by the lawe Phil. In dede by the cyuile lawe I knowe it is not lawful but by Goddes lawe we maye reason therof for S. Peter sayeth be ye ready to rendre accompt vnto all men of that hope which is in you that demaunde you of the same London In dede S. Peter sayeth so Why then I aske of you what your iudgement is of the sacrament of the altar Phil. My lorde S. Ambrose sayeth that the disputacion of fayth ought to be in the congregation in the hearing of the people And that I am not boūde to rendre accompt therof to euery man priuatly onles it be to edifie But nowe I can not shewe you my mynde but I must runne vpon the pikes in daunger of my lyfe therfore Wherfore as the said doctour sayd vnto Valentiniane them perour so saye I to your lordship Tolle legem fet certamen Take away the lawe and I shall reason with you And yet yf I come in open iudgemēt where I am bounde by the lawe to answere I trust I shal vtter my conscience as frely as any that hath come before you London I perceyue you are learned I would haue suche as you are about me but you must come and be of the churche for ther is but one Churche Phil. God forbyd I should be out of the churche I am sure I am within the same for I knowe as I am taught by the scripture that there is but one catholyke churche Vna columba vna sponsa vna dilecta One doue one spouse one beloued congregacion out of the which ther is no saluacion London Howe chaunceth it then that you go out of the same and walke not with vs Phil. My lorde I am sure I am with in the boundes of the churche wherupon she is buylded which is the worde of God London What age are you of Phil. I am foure and fourtie London You are not now of the same fayth your Godfathers and Godmothers promised for you in the whiche you were baptised Phil. Yes that I thanke God I am For I was baptised into the faythe of Christ which I now holde London How can that be ther is but one fayth Phil. I am assured of that by S. Paul sayeng that ther is but one God one fayth and one baptisme of the which I am London You were .xx. yere ago of an other faythe then you be nowe Phil. In dede my lorde to tell you plaine I was then nullu fidei of no fayth a neuter a wycked lyuer neyther hote nor colde London Why do you not thynke that we haue nowe the true fayth Phil. I desire your lordship to holde me excused for answering at this tyme. I am sure that Goddes worde throughly with the primatiue churche and all the aunciēt wryters do agre with this faith I am of London Wel I promise you I meane you nomore hurte thā to myne owne person I will not therfore burthen you with your conscience as now I maruayle that you are so mery in prison as you be synging and reioysing as the Prophete sayeth Exultanies in rebus pessimis reioysing in your naughtines Me thinke you do not wel herin you should rather lament and be sory Phil. My lorde the myrth that we make is but in singing certayne Psalmes according as we are commaunded by S. Paule wyllyng vs to be mery in the Lorde synging together in Hymnes Psalmes and I trust your lordship can not be displeased with that London We maye saye vnto you My lorde is we louersene in the gospel as Christ sayd in the gospel Tibijs cecinimus vobis non planxistis And ther my lorde stumbled and could not bring furth the texte and required his chaplaynes to helpe and put him in remēbraunce of the texte better but they were mūme phil And I recited out the texte vnto hym which made nothing to his purpose onlesse he would haue vs to mourne because they yf they laugh syng styll sorowfull thinges vnto vs threatning fagottes and fyre We are my lorde in a darke cōfortles place and therfore it behoueth vs to be mery lest as Salomon sayeth sorowfulnes eat vp our heart Therfore I trust your lordship wil not be āgry for our singing of Psalmes sence S. Paule sayth yf any man be of an vpryght mynde let him syng And we therfore to testifie that we are of an vpright minde to God though we be in miserie do syng London I wil trouble you no further as nowe Yf I can do you any good I wil be glad to do it for you God be with you good master Philpot gyue you good nyght Haue him to the cellar let him drinke a cuppe of wyne Thus I
booke and read the place The which after I had read I sayd it made nothing against me but against the Arriās and other heretiks against whom Ireneus wrote prouīg that they weare not to be credityd because they did teache and folowe after straunge doctrine in Europa that the chefe churche of the same was founded by Peter and Paule and had to his tyme continued by faythfull succession of the faythfull Bishops in preachyng the true Gospel as they had receyued it of the Apostles and nothyng lyfe to the late sprong heretikes c. Wherby he cōcludeth against thē that they were not to be heard neyther to be credited The which thing yf you my lordes be able to proue nowe of the churche of Rome then had you as good autoritie against me in my cause nowe as Ireneus had against those heretikes But the church of Rome hath swarued frō that truthe and simplicitie of the Gospell which it maintained in Ireneus tyme and was vncorrupted frō that which it is nowe Wherfore your lordships can not iustly applie the autoritie of Ireneus to the churche of Rome nowe which is so manifestlye corrupted from the primatiue Churche London So wil you say stil it maketh nothing for the purpose what so euer autoritie we bring and wil neuer be satisfyed Phil. My lorde when I do by iust reason proue that the autorities which be brought against me do not make to the purpose as I haue already proued I trust you wil receyue myne answere worcest It is to be proued most manifestly by al auncient wryters that the sea of Rome hath alwayes folowed the truthe and neuer was deceyued vntil of late certayne heretikes had defaced the same Phil. Let that be proued I haue done worcest Nay you are of suche arrogācie singularitie vayne glorie that you wil not se it be it neuer so wel proued Phil. Ha my lordes is it nowe tyme thynke you for me to folowe singularitie or vaynglorie synce it is nowe vpō daunger of my lyfe and death not onlye presently but also before God to come and I knowe yf I dye not in the true faythe I shall dye euerlastingly again I knowe yf I do not as you would haue me you will kyll me and many thousandes moo Yet had I leuer perishe at your handes than to perishe eternally And at this tyme I haue lost al my cōmodities of this worlde and nowe lye in a colhouse where a man would not laye a dogge with the which I am wel contented Cole Where are you hable to proue that the churche of Rome hath erred at any tyme and by what historie certaine it is by Eusebius that the churche was stablyshed at Rome by Peter and Paule and that Peter was Bisshop .xxv. yeres at Rome Phil. I knowe wel that Eusebius so wryteth but yf we compare that which S. Paule writeth to the Galathiās the first it wil manifestly appere the cōtrarie that he was not halfe so long there He lyued not past .xxxv. yeares after he was called to be an Apostle And Paul maketh mencion of his abidyng after Christes death more then .xviij. yeres Colle What did Peter wryte vnto the Galathians Phil. No I saye Paule maketh mencion of Peter wrytyng to the Galathians of his abiding And further I am hable to proue bothe by Eusebius and other historiographers that the church of Rome hath manifestly erred and at this present doth erre because she agreeth not with that which they wrote The primatiue churche dyd vse according to the Gospel And ther nedeth none other profe but cōpare the one with the other London Hearke my lordes wise parabable I maye compare this man to a certayne man I reade of which fell into a disperation and went into a wood to hang him selfe And when he came there he went vewyng of euery tree and could fynde none on the which he myght vouchesaffe to hang himselfe But I wil not applie it as I myght I praye you maister doctor go forth with him Nother you nor they are hable in this case Colle My lorde there be on euery syde on me that be better hable to answer him And I loue not to falle in disputacion for that nowe a dayes a man shall but sustayne shame and obloquy therby of the people I had leuer shewe my mynde in wrytyng Phil. And I had leuer that you should so do then otherwyse For thē a mā may better iudge of your wordes then by argument And I beseche you so doo But yf I were a ryche man I durst wager an hundreth poundes that you shal not be hable to shewe that you haue sayd to be decreed by a general coūsel in Athanasius tyme. For this I am sure of that it was concluded by a general counsel in Affrica many yeres after that none of Affrica vnder payne of excōmunication should apeale to Rome the which decre I am suer they would not haue made yf by the scriptures it had bene by an vniuersall counsell that all men should abyde and folowe the determinacion of the churche of Rome Colle But I can shewe that they reuoked that errour agayne Phil. So you saye maister doctour But I pray you shewe me where I haue hetherto heard nothing of you for my contentation but bare wordes without any autoritie London What I praye you ought we to dispute wyth you of our fayth Iustinian in the lawe hath a tytle De fide catholica to the contrarie Phil. I am certayne the ciuil lawe hath suche a constitucion but our fayth must not depende vpon the ciuil lawe For as S. Ambrose sayeth Non lex sed fides congregauit Ecclesiam Not the lawe but the gospel sayeth he hath gathered the church together worcest Maister Philpot you haue the spirite of pryde wherwith ye be ledde which wil not let you yelde to the truth Leaue it for shame Phil. Sir I am suer I haue the spirite of fayth by the which I speake at this present Neither am I ashamed to stand in my fayth Glocest What do you thynke yourselfe better learned then so many notable learned men as be here Phil. Elyas alone had the truthe whē there were foure hundreth priestes against him worcest Oh you would be coūted now for Helyas And yet I tel thee he was deceiued For he thought ther had ben none good but him selfe and yet he was deceyued for ther was .vii. hundreth besydes hym Phil. Yea but he was not deceyued in doctrine as the other .vii. hūdreth were worc By my fayth you are greatly to blame that you can not be content to be of the churche which euer hath ben of that faythful antiquitie Phil. My lorde I knowe Rome haue ben there where I sawe your lordship worc In dede I dyd flye from hence thither And I remember not that I sawe you there But I am sorye that you haue ben there for the wyckednes whych you haue sene there peraduēture causeth you to
dog sware by his christendom sence al the catholyke churche vntil these fewe yeares haue taken hym to be supreme head of the churche besydes this good man Ireneus Phil. That is not lykely that Ireneus so toke him or the primatiue churche For I am hable to shewe seuen general coūsels after Ireneus time wherin he was neuer so taken which maye be a sufficient profe that the catholike primatiue churche neuer toke hym for supreme head The other Bis This man wil neuer be satisfyed saye what we can It is but folly to reason any more with him Phil. Oh my lordes would you haue me satisfyed with nothing Iudge I praye you who of vs hath better autoritie he which bringeth the exāple of one man goyng to Rome or I that by these many general councelles am hable to proue that he was neuer so taken in many hūdreth yeres after Christ as by Nicene Ephesyne the fyrst and the second Calcedonen̄ Constantinopolitane Carthaginen̄ Auilien̄ Couentre Why wil ye not admit the churche of Rome to be the Catholyke churche phil Bicause it foloweth not the primatiue catholyke churche neyther agreeth with the same no more then an apple is lyke a nutte Couentre Wherin doth it discent Phil. Yt were to long to recite all but two thinge I wil name the supremacie and transubstāciation Curtop As for transubstantiation albeyt yt was set furth and decreed for an article of fayth not muche aboue thre hūdreth yeres yet yt was alwayes beleued in the churche London Yea that it was very well sayd of you master Curtoppe phil Ye haue sayd right that transubstanciation is but a late plantacion of the bishop of Rome and you are not hable to shew any auncient wryter that the primatiue churche did beleue any suche thinges And with this Curtop shranke awaye And immediatly after the ambassadoure of spayne cam in To whom my lord of London went leauing the other with me To whō I said my lordes yf you can shewe me that this churche of Rome wherof you are membres is the true chatolik churche I shal be content to be one therof And as conformable to the same as you can require me in all thīges For I knowe ther is no saluacion but within the churche Couentre Can you disproue that the churche of Rome is not the catholike churche phil Yea that I am hable but I desire rather to heare of you for the profe therof And seyng I can not haue my request at your handes neyther be satisfied with any probable auctoritie I wil shewe yowe good profe why it is not the catholike churche as it was in deade and owght to be the forme and scolemaistres of the churche to the worldes ende than is not the churche of Rome nowe the catholike churche which dissenteth so farre from the same bothe in doctrine and vse of the sacramentes Couentre Howe proue you that the churche of Rome nowe dissenteth in doctrine and vse of the sacramentes from the primatiue church Phil. Compare the one with the other yt wil sone appeare as you maye see both in Eusebius and in other Ecclesiasticall and auncient writers Couentre What haue you to saye more why it is not the catholike churche Phil. Because it is not by your owne interpretacion of the catholike vniuersall neyther neuer was albeyt you falsely persuade the people that it is soo For the world being diuided in three partes Asia Affrica Europa twoo parts therof Asia and Affrica professīg Christ as well as we did neuer consēt to the church of Rome which is of Europa which is a sufficient testimonie that your faith was neuer vniuersall Couentre How proue you that Phil. All the historiographers which write of the procedinges of the churche do testifie the same Besides that this present tyme doth declare that to be true which I saye For at this present the churche of Asia and Affrica do not consent to the churche of Rome Yea and besides al this the most part of Europa doth not agre neyther alowe the churche of Rome As Germanie the kingdome of Denmarcke the kingdome of Poole a great part of Fraūce England and Zealande which is a manifest probacion that your churche is not vniuersall And after this the bishop of London called awaye the other bishops left with me diuers gentlemen with certayne of his chaplaynes as doctor Sauerson an englisheman which had proceded doctor in Bonnony who after began with me in this maner D. sauer Master Philpot I remembre you beyonde the sea synce the tyme you reasoned with a fryer a notable learned man comming from Venece to Padua in a barge Phil. I can not forgett that for the fryer thretned me to accuse me of heresye as sone as he cam to Padua for that I talked with him so boldly of the truth He was no suche learned man as you name hym to be but onlye in his scoole poynts a good purgatorie frier D. sauer Well he was a learned man for all that And I am sorye to heare that you this daye hauing communed with so many notable learned men are no more conformable to them than you be Phil. I wil be conformable to all them that be conformable to Christ in his worde And I praye you good master Doctor be not soo cōformable to please men more than God contrarie to your learnīg for worldly estimaciōs sake D. sauer No that I am not vpon what occasiō should you thinke thus of me Phil. Vpō no euil that I do knowe of you master doctor but I speake as one wishing that you should not be led away frō the truthe for promocions sake as many doctors doo nowe a dayes D. sauer I haue heard your argumētacions hitherto me thinketh that a great many of the olde auncient writers be agaynst you in that you do not alowe the churche of Rome neyther the supremacie For S. Cipriane which is an olde aunciēt writer doth allowe the bishop of Rome to be the supreme head of the churche Phil. That I am sure of he doth not For he writing vnto Cornelius then bishop of Rome calleth hym but his cōpanyon and felowe bishop neither attributed to hym the name eyther of Pope or elles of any other vsurped termes which now be ascribed to the bishop of Rome to the setting forth of his dignitie Sauer You can not be hable to shewe that S. Ciprian calleth Cornelius his felow bishop Phil. I wil wager with you that I am hable to make that I can shewe it you in Ciprian as I haue sayd Sauer I wil lay non other wager with you but booke for booke it is not so Phil. I agre therto and I pray you one of my lordes chaplaynes to set vs Cipriane hyther for the triall herof And with that one of thē went to my lordes studie brought furth Cipriā And by by he turned to the fyrst booke of his epistles the .4 epistle and there woulde haue semed to haue gathered a strong
other vpon the wordes of a statute must not the wordes of the statute iudge and determine the controuersye Ryche No mary the iudges of the lawe maye determine the meaning therof London He hath brought as good example against him self as caÌ„ be And here the bishop thought he had good haÌ„d fast against me and therfore enlarged it with many wordes to the iudgemeÌ„t of the churche The lordes He hath ouerthrowen him selfe by his owne argument Phil. My lordes it semeth to your honores that you haue great aduauntage of me by the example I brought in to expresse my cause but yf it be pondered throughly it maketh holly with me and nothing against me as my lorde of London hath preteÌ„ded For I wil aske of my lorde Ryche here whom I knowe to haue good knowledge in the lawes and statutes of this realme Albeit a iudge may decerne the meaning of a statute agreable to the wordes whether the same may iudge a meaning coÌ„trary to the expresse wordes or no Ryce He can not so do phil Euen so saye I that no man ought to iudge the worde of God to haue a meanyng contrarye to the expresse wordes therof as this false churche of Rome dothe in many thinges And with this the lordes semed to be satisfyed made no further replicacion herin Ryche I maruel theÌ„ why you do deny the expresse wordes of Christ in the sacrament sayeng this is my body yet you wil not sticke to saye it is not his body Is not God omnipotent And is not he hable aswel by his omnipoteÌ„cy to make it his body as he was to make man fleshe of a pece of claye did not he saye this is my body which shal be betrayed for you and was not his verye body betrayed for vs therfore it must nedes be his bodye London My lorde Ryche you haue said wonderful wel and lernedly But you myght haue begon with him before also in the sixt of IohnÌ„ where Christ promised to gyue his body in the sacrament of the altare sayeng panis quem â—go dabo caro mea est The breade which I wil gyue is my fleshe Howe can you answere to that Phil. If it please you to gyue me leaue to answere fyrst my lorde Ryche I wil also answere the obiection Ryche Answere my lorde of London first and after come to me phil My lorde of London may be sone answered that the sayeng of S. IohnÌ„ is that the humanitie of Christ which he toke on him for the redemption of man is the bread of lyfe wherby our bodyes and soules be susteyned to eternal lyfe of the which the sacramentall bread is a lyuely representacion and an effectuall cohabitatioÌ„ to al suche as beleue on his passion and as Christ sayeth in the same syxte of IohnÌ„ I am the bread that came from heauen but yet he is not material neither natural breade Lykewyse the bread is his fleshe not natural or substanciall but by signification and by grace in a sacrament And nowe to my lorde Ryches argument I do not deny the expresse wordes of Christ in the sacrament this is my bodye But I denye that they are naturally and corporally to be taken but sacramentally and spiritually according to the expresse declaracion of Christ sayeng that the wordes of the sacrament which the Capernaites toke carnally as the Papistes nowe do ought to be taken spiritually and not carnally as they falsely ymagine not wayeng what interpretacion Christ hathe made in this behalfe Neither folowe the institution of Christ nether the vse of the Apostles and of the primatiue churche who neuer taught neither declared no such carnal maner of preseÌ„ce as is nowe exacted of vs violently with out any grounde of scripture or antiquitie who vsed to put out of the church al suche as dyd not receaue the sacrament with the rest also to burne that which was left after the receyuyng as by the Canon of the Apostles and by the decre of the counsel of Antioche London No that is not so they were only Cathecumeni which went out of the churche at the celebration of the coÌ„munion and none other Phil. It was not only of suche as were Nouices in fayth but al others that did not receyue London What saye you to the omnipotency of God is not he hable to performe that which he spake as my lord Ryche hath very wel sayd I tel thee that God by his omnipotency maye make hym selfe to be this carpet yf he will Phil. As concerning the omnipotency of God I saye that God is hable to do as the prophet Dauid fayeth what so euer he willeth But he willeth nothing that is not agreable to his worde as that is blasphemy which my lorde of LoÌ„don hath spoken that God may become a carpet For as I haue learned of auncient wryters Non potest Deus facere quae suÌ„t naturae suae contraria That is God can not do that which is contrary to his nature as it is contrary to the nature of God to be a carpet A carpet is a creature God is the creator and the creator can not be the creature wherfore onles you can declare by the worde that Christ is otherwyse present with vs then spiritually and sacramentally by grace as he hath taught vs you pretende the omnipotency of God in vayne London Why will you not saye that Christ is really present in the sacrament or do you denye it Phil. I denye not that Christ is really in the sacrament to the receauer therof according to Christes institution London What meane you by really present Phil. I meane by really present present in dede London Is God really present euerywhere phil He is so London Howe proue you that phil The prophet Esay sayeth that God filleth all places and where so euer be two or thre gathered together in Christes name there is he in the middest of them London What his humanitie Phil. No my Lorde I meane the Deitie according to that you demaunded Ryche My lorde of LondoÌ„ I pray you let maister doctor Chedsey reason with him and let vs see how he can answer him for I tel thee he is a learned man in dede one that I do credit before a great many of you whose doctrine the Quenes maiestie and the hole realme dothe wel alowe therfore heare him London My lordes I praye you wil it please you to drinke You haue talked a great whyle and muche talke is thrustye I wyl leaue maister doctor and him reasoning together a whyle with your leaue wyl come to you by and by agayne They went as I suppose to make rowme for more drinke after the lordes had dronke Riche My lorde Ryche sayd to the lordes I praye you let the poore man drinke for he is thristy And with that he called for a cup of drynke and gaue it me and I dranke before them all God requite it him for I was athirst in dede Afterwardes doctor Chadsey began in this wyse
houre before masse and halfe an houre euen at masse lokyng for your coÌ„myng Phil. My lorde it is not vnknowen vnto you that I am a prisoner and that the dores be shut vpon me and I can not come wheÌ„ I lyst But as sone as the dores of my prison were open I came immediatly London We sent for thee to thintent thou shouldest haue come to masse Howe saye you would you haue come to masse or no yf the dores had soner ben opened Phil. My lorde that is an other maner of question London Lo maister chaunceler I tolde you we should haue a froward felowe of him he wil answere directly to nothyng I haue had him before both the spiritual lordes and the temporal and thus he fareth stil yet he rekeneth him selfe better learned then al the realme Yea before the temporal lordes the other daye he was so folyshe to chaleÌ„ge the best He would make himself learned You sayd before he was learened and is a very ignoraunt foole in dede Phil. I reken I answered your lordship before the lordes playne ynough London Why answerest thou not directly whether thou wouldest haue gone to masse with vs or no yf thou haddest come in tyme Phil. Myne answere shal be thus that yf your lordship can proue your masse wherunto you would haue me to come to be the true seruice of God wherunto a Christian ought to come I wil afterwarde come with a good wil. London Loke I praye you the Kyng the Quene and al the nobilitie of the realme do come to masse yet he wyll not By my fayth thou arte to wel handled thou shalt be worse handled herafter I warrant thee Phil. Yf to lye in a blind colehouse maye be couÌ„ted good handlyng both without fyre candle then it maye be sayd I am wel handled Your lordship hath power to entreate my body as you lift London Thou arte a foole and a verye ignoraunt foole Maister chaunceler in good fayth I haue handled hym his felowes with as muche gentlenes as they can desyre I let their frends come vnto them to releue them And wote you what the other day they had gotteÌ„ them selues vp into the toppe of the leades with a meany of prentiles gasyng abroade as though they had ben at lybertie but I shall cut of your resort And as for the prentises they were as good not to come to you yf I take them Phil. My lorde we haue no suche resort to vs as your lordship ymagyneth and ther coÌ„meth very fewe vnto vs. And of prentises I knowe not one neither haue we any leades to walke on ouer our colehouse that I wote of wherfore your lordship hath mistaken your marke London Nay now you thinke bycause my lorde Chaunceler is gone that we wil burne no moo yes I warraÌ„t thee I wil dispatche you shortly onles you do recant Phil. My lorde I had not thought that I should haue bene alyue nowe neither so rawe as I am but well rosted vnto ashes Chaunce Cast not your selfe wilfully a waye maister Philpot. Be content to be ruled by my lord here and by other learned men of this realme and you maye do wel ynough phil My conscience beareth me record that I seke to please God and that the loue and feare of God causeth me to do as I do that I were of all other creatures most myserable yf for myne owne will only I dyd lose al the coÌ„modities I myght haue in this lyfe and afterward to be cast to dampnatioÌ„ But I am sure it is not my will wheron I stande but Goddes wil which wil not suffer me to be cast awaye I am sure Chaun You are not so sure but you maye be deceyued London Wel synce thou wilt not be coÌ„formable by no faire meanes I wil ê“cede against thee Ex officio And therfore herkeÌ„ here to suche articles as I haue here written And I charge the to make answere to them And with that he red a lybel which he had in his haÌ„de of diuers articles And when he had done he had me answere phil Your lybel my lorde contayneth in suÌ„me two special pointes The fyrst preteÌ„deth that I should be of your diocese and therfore your lordship vpon diuers suspectes infamies of heresie goyng vpon me is moued to procede against me by your ordinarie office The which first is not true for that I am not of your lordships dioces as the lybel doth pretende And the seconde is that I beyng baptised in the catholike church and in the catholike fayth am gone froÌ„ them the which is not so For I am of that catholike faith and churche as I was baptised vnto London What art thou not of my dioces where are ye nowe I praye you Phil. My lorde I can not denye but I am in your colehouse which is in your dioces yet am I not of your dioces London You were sent hither vnto me by the Quenes maiesties coÌ„missioners and thou art nowe in my dioces wherfore I wil ê“cede against thee as thine ordinarie phil I was brought hither through violence and therfore my present beyng nowe in your dioces is not ynough tabrydge me of myne owne ordinarie iurisdiction neither maketh it me vnwillingly subiect to your iurisdictioÌ„ sence it commeth by force and by suche men as had no iust auctoritie so to do no more then a sanctuarie man beyng by force brought forth of his place of priuilege dothe therby lose his priuilege but alwayes may chalenge the same where so euer he be brought Chadsey Hath not the Quenes maiestie auctoritie by her commissioners to remoue your body whither she wil And ought you not to obeye herin phil I graunt that the Quenes maiestie of her iuste power maye transpose my body whither it shal please her grace to coÌ„maunde the same But yet by your lawes Spiritualia non sunt subiecta Imperatoris potestati Spiritual causes be not subiecte to the temporal power As for example you maister doctor yf the Quenes maiestie would appoint two temporal men to be iudge ouer you in certayne spirituall maters myght not you alledge the priuilege of a clearke and demauÌ„de competent spiritual iudges in your causes London Doth not a man I praye you Sortiri forum ratione delicti Phil. My lorde your rule is true in temporal maters But in spiritual causes it is not so which be otherwyse priuileged London What sayest thou then to the seconde article and to the other Phil. My lorde I sayd that I am not bounde to answere the seconde neither the reste onlesse the first be proued London Well suppose the fyrst may be proued as it wil be what wyll you say then to the seconde that you are not of the same catholike fayth neither of the same churche nowe as you were baptised in Phil. I am of the same catholike faythe and of the same catholike churche which is of Christ the piller and stablishemeÌ„t of truthe London Naye that you are not phil
Ye as that I am London Your godfathers and godmothers were of an other fayth then you be nowe Phil. I was not baptised neither into my godfathers faith nor my godmothers but into the fayth into the churche of Christ London Howe knowe you that Phil. By the worde of God which is the touche stone of faythe and the lymites of the churche London Howe long hath your churche stande I praye you Phil. Euen from the beginning froÌ„ Christ from his Apostles from theyr immediate successours Chanc. He wil proue his churche to be before Christ phil Yf I dyd so I go not amisse For ther was a church before the coÌ„ming of Christ which maketh one catholike churche Chance It is so in dede phil I wil desyre no better rule theÌ„ that which is ofteÌ„ tymes brought in of your syde to proue both my fayth and church catholike that is antiquitie vniuersalitie and vnitie Lond. Do you not se what a bragging folyshe felowe this is He would seme to be very wel sene in the doctors he is but a fole By what D. art thou able to ê“ue thy church name hiÌ„ thou shalt haue him phil My lorde let me haue al your auncient writers with penne ynke paper I wil proue both my fayth my churche out of euery one of them Lon. No that thou shalt not haue â–ª you shal see howe he lyeth S. CipriaÌ„ sayeth Ye lye my lorde ther must be one high priest to the which the residue must obeye And they wil allowe no head neither vicar general phil S. Ciprian sayeth not that ther should be a vicar general ouer al. For in his boke De simplicitate praelatorum I am sure he sayeth the coÌ„trarie Vnus episcopatus est cuius pars in solidum a singulis tenetur Ther is but one bishoprike which is holly possessed of euery bishop in part London Fet hyther the boke thou shalt se the manyfest place against the. S. Chedsey brought the boke turned to the place in an Epistle written vnto Cornelius then B. of Rome recited these worldes in suÌ„me that it went not well with the church where the hyghe priest was not obeyed And so would haue coÌ„cluded for the confirmacion of the bishops sayeng Phil. M. doct you misconstrue the place of S. CipriaÌ„ for he meaneth not ther by the hygh priest the B. of Rome but euery patriark in his precinct of whom ther were foure apointed in his tyme. And in wrytyng vnto Cornelius he meaneth by the hyghe priest hym selfe which was then chief B. of Affrica whose auctoritie the heretikes began to despice Wherof he complayneth to Cornelius sayeth the churche can not be well ordered where the chief minister by order after the iudgemeÌ„t of the scriptures after the agremeÌ„t of the people and the coÌ„sent of his felow bishops he is not obeyed London Hath not the bishop of Rome alwayes ben supreme head of the churche and Christes vicar in earth euen from Peter Phil. No that he was not For by the word of God he hath no more auctoritie then the bishop of London hath Lon. Was not Peter head of the church and hath not the bishop of Rome which is his successour the same auctoritie Phil. I graunt that the bishop of Rome as he is the successor of Peter hath the same autoritie as Peter had But Peter had no more auctoritie then euery one of the apostles hadde Chaunce Yes that S. Peter had for Christ said specially vnto him Tibi dabo claues regni Coelorum I will gyue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen the which he spake to none other of his disciples syngularly but to him phil S. Austyne answereth otherwyse to the obiection sayeth that yf in Peter there had not bene the figure of the churche the Lord had not sayd vnto him to the I will geue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen The which if Peter receyued them not the churche hath them not Yf the churche hath them theÌ„ Peter hath them not London What yf I can proue and shewe you out of the ciuill lawe that all Christendome ought to folowe the holy catholike churche of Rome as there is a speciall tytle therof De catholica fide Sancta Romana ecclesia phil That is nothing material seing the thinges of God be not subiecte to maÌ„s lawes And diuine maters must be ordered by the word of God not of man M. d ee What will you saye yf I can proue that Christ buylded his church vpon Peter and that out of S. Ciprian will you then beleue that the bishop of Rome ought to be supreme head of the churche Phil. I knowe what S. Ciprian writeth in that behalfe But he meaneth nothiÌ„g so as you take it M. d ee S. Ciprian hath these wordes quod super Petrum fundata suit ecclesia tanquam super originem vnitatis That vpon Peter was builded the churche as vpon the fyrst begynning of vnitie Phil. Be declareth that in an example the vnitie must be in the church he grouÌ„ded on Peter his churche alone not vpon men The which he doth more manifestly declare in the booke De simplicitate praelatorum sayeng in persona vnius Christus dedit Dominus omnibus claues vt omnium vtatateÌ„ denotaret In the person of one maÌ„ God gaue the keyes to al that he in significacioÌ„ therby declareth the vnitie of all men M. d ee Howe wil you vnderstand S. Ciprian So that were good in dede Phil. I thinke you can not vnderstande S. Ciprian better then he dothe declare him selfe London I will desire you master chauÌ„celer to take some paynes which master doctor Chadsey master Dee about his examinacion For I must god to the parliament house And I will desire you to tary diner with me phil Then maister Dee toke agayne his former auctoritie in hande for want of an other And would haue made a farther circumstaunce dysgressing from his purpose To whom I sayd he knewe not wherabout he went and here withall he laughed And I sayd his diuinitie was nothing but scoffing M. d ee Yea then I haue done with you And so went awaye phil maister Dee you are to yong in dyuynytie to reach me in the maters of my faythe though you be learned in other thinges more then I yet in diuinitie I haue ben longer pracrysed then you for any thing I can heare of you therfore be not to hastie to iudge that you do not perfectly knowe Chaun Peter and his successours froÌ„ the beginning haue ben allowed for the supreme head of the churche that by the scriptures For that cause Christ said vnto him in S. Iohn thryse feade my shepe pasce oues meas Phil. That is none otherwise to be takeÌ„ theÌ„ Ite predicate goo ye preache which was spoken to al the Apostels as wel as vnto Peter And the Christ said thrise pasce oues meas feade my shepe it signifieth nothing
elles but the earnest studie that the ministers of God ought to haue in preaching the worde God graunt that you of the cleargy would waie your duetie in this behalfe more then you doo Is this a iuste interpretaciō of the scripture to take pasce oues meas for to be lorde of the hole world In this meane while came in an other bacheler of diuinitie which is a reader of Greke in Oxforde belonging to the bishop And he toke vpon him to helpe master chaunceler Scoler What will you say yf I can shewe you a Greke Autor called Theophilacte to interprete it so Will you beleue his interpretacion Phil. Theophilacte is a late wryter and one that was a fauourer of the bishop of Rome and therfore not to be credited synce his interpretacion is cōtrary to the manifest words of the scriptures and contrarie to the determinacion of many general councels Scolar In what generall coūcel was it otherwyse that the bishop of Rome was not supreme head ouer al. Phil. In Nyce counsel I am sure it was otherwyse For Athanasius was there the chief B. and president of the councel and not the bishop of Rome Scolar Nay that is not so phil Then I perceyue you are better sene in wordes then in knowlege of thinges For I wil gage with you what you will it is so As you maye see in the Epitome of the councell Scoler I wil set Eusebius and shewe the contrarie and the boke of general coūcels He went into my lordes closet and brought Eusebius but the general councels he brought not sayeng for sauyng of his honestie that he could not come by them And there woulde haue defended that it was otherwyse in Eusebius but was not hable to shewe the same And so shranke away cōfounded Chan. The church of Rome hath ben alwayes takē for the hole catholike churche therfore I would aduise you to come into the same with vs. You se al the men of this realme do condemne you And why wil you be so singular Phil. I haue sayd and stil do saye that yf you can be hable to proue it vnto me that I wil be of the some But I am sure that the church which you make so much of Note is a false churche and a Synagoge of Satan And you with the learned mē of this realme do persecute the true churche and condempne suche as be ryghteouser then you Chaun Nay the Deuylles daughter Do you heare maister doctor what he sayeth that the churche of Rome is the deuil Chadsey I wishe you did thinke more reuerently of the churche of Rome ▪ What wil you saye yf I can showe you out of S. Austyne in his epistle writtē to Pope Innocentius that the hole generall coūcel of Cartage dyd allowe the churche of Rome to be chefest ouer al other Phil. I am sure you may shewe no suche thyng And with ther he set the boke of S. Austyne and turned to the epistle but he could not proue his allegacion manyfestly Thou falsifiest S. Austyne Chadsey but by coniectures in this wyse Chadsey Here you maye see that the coūcell of Cartage wrytyng to Innocentius the Bishop calleth the sea of Rome the Apostolike sea And besydes this they wryte vnto him certifyeng him of thinges done in the councel for the condemnacion of the Donatistes requiring his approbations in the same Which they would not haue done yf they had not taken the church of Rome for the supreme heade of others And moreouer you maye see howe S. Austyne dothe proue the churche of Rome to be the chatholike church The succession of false bishops and not of Christes faithe by continual successiō of the byshop vntil his tyme which successyon we can proue vntyl our dayes Therfore by the same reason of S. Austine we saye nowe that the churche of Rome is the catholike churche Phil. Maister doctor I haue considered howe you do waye S. Austyne And contrarye to his meanyng and wordes you would infer your false conclusion A false cōclusion indede As cōcerning that it was called by him the Apostolical sea that is not material to proue the churche of Rome nowe to be the catholike churche I wil graunt it now that it is the apostolike sea in respect that Paule and Peter dyd once there preache the Gospel and abode for a certayne season I would you could proue it to be the Apostolical sea of that true religion and synceritie as the Apostle lefte it and dyd teache the same The which yf ye can do you myght boast of Rome as of the Apostolical sea Otherwyse it is now of no more force then yf the Turke at Antioche and at Ierusalem should boast of the Apostolike seas bycause the Apostles once dyd there abyde and founded the churche of Christ And where as by that the hole coūcel of Carthage dyd wryte vnto Pope Innocētius certifieng him of that was done in the generall counsell and willyng him to set his helping hande to the suppressing of the Donatistes as they had done That facte of the councel proueth nothyng the supremacie of the bishop of Rome no more then yf the hole conuocacion house nowe gathered together and agreyng vpō certaine articles myght sende the same to some Bishop that vpon certaine impedimentes is not present willyng him to agree therto and to set them forth in his dioces The whiche facte doth not make any suche bishop of greater auctoritie then the reste bycause his consente is brotherly required And touching the successiō of the bishoppes of Rome brought in by saynt Austine maketh nothyng nowe therby to proue the same the catholike churche onles you can conclude with the same reason as S. Austyne dothe And the rehersall of the succession of the bishops doth tende to this only to proue the donatistes to be heretykes because they beganne aswel at Rome as in Affrica to foūde an other churche then was groūded by Peter and Paule and by their successours whom he reciteth vntil his tyme which all taught no such doctrine neyther no suche church as the Donatistes And yf presently you be hable to proue by the succession of bishops of Rome wherof you do glory that no suche doctrine hathe ben taught by any of the successours of Peters sea as is nowe taught and beleued of vs you haue good reason Agaynst vs. Otherwise it is of no force as I am hable to declare Chaun Well master doctor you se we can do no good in persuadīg of him let vs mynyster the articles which my lord hath left vs vnto him Howe faye you master Philpot to these articles M. Iohnson I pray you write his answeres phil Master chaunceler you haue no autorytye to enquire of me my belefe in such articles as you go about for that I am not of my lorde of Londōs diocese to be brefe with you I will make no further answere herin then I haue already to the bishop Chaun Why then let vs go our
haue in hast scribled out all myne examinacioÌ„ hitherto that the same which hath ben done vnto me in darke might come to light and that the papistes vniust ê“cedinges and nakednes in theyr false religion might be knowen to their confusion AMEM. Iesus is God with vs Amen 1555. The examination of IohnÌ„ Philpot had on S. Andrewes day last before the bishop of Duresme the B. of Chichester the bishop of Bathe the bishop of London the Prolocutor master Christoforson Doctor Chadsey D. Morgan of Oxforde master Hussey of the Arches D. weston D. Harpsfild Archdeacon master Cosins and master IohnÌ„son regester to the bishop of London in his palace I Was coÌ„ming being sent for with my keper and the bishop of LoÌ„don met me at his hal dore and full manerly he played the geÌ„tilmaÌ„ 〈◊〉 to bring me before the lordes sayeÌ„g London My lordes I shall desire you to take some paynes with this man he is a gentilman and I would be should do wel but he wil wilfully cast away him selfe Duresme Come hither syr what is your name phil My name is Philpot. Duresme I haue heard of that name to be a worshipfull stocke and synce you be a gentilman do as you may lyue worshipfully among other gentilmeÌ„ what is the cause of your troble now phil I told him the cause as in my former examinacions is expressed Duresme Well al causes set apart will you nowe be a conformable man to the catholike fayth and leaue al new fangled opinions and heresies I wis I was in Germany with Luter at the beginning of this and can tell howe they began Leaue them and folowe the catholike churche through out the world as the hole realme nowe doth Phil. My lord I am of the catholike fayth and desire to lyue and die in the same But it is not vnknoweÌ„ to your lordship that I with others these twenty yeres haue ben taught an other maner of fayth than you nowe go about to compell vs vnto Wherfore it is requisite that we haue a tyme to waigh the same and to heare howe it agreeth with Goddes worde For fayth is not at a soden nether won nether remoued but as S. Paule sayth fayth coÌ„meth by hearing heariÌ„g by the word Fides ex auâ—iuâ— auditus per verbum Chiche And if you wil geue m leaue my lord I wil shewe him howe he taketh the sayeng of S Paul amisse as many other now of dayes allegeing the same do that they ought not be coÌ„pelled to beleue where as S. Paul meaneth of infideles and not of the faythfull And so S. Austin writing against the Donatistes sayth that the faythfull may be compelled to beleue phil S. Barnard and it please your lordship doth take that sense of S. Paul as I do sayeng that Fides est suadenda non imponenda fayth must be persuaded to a man and not enioyned And S. Austin speaketh of suche as were fyrst throughly persuaded by manifest scriptures yet would resyst of stubburn wilfulnes Chichest So Bernard meaneth of infidels also phil No my lord that he doth not for he writeth not of the infideles for he writeth of such as were deceyued by errours Chichest My lord of Duresme I haue ben so bold to interrupt your lordship of your tale I pray you now ê“cede on Duresme M. Philpot wil you be of the same catholike fayth churche with vs you wer baptized in and your godfathers ê“mised for you and hold as we do and then may you be rydd out of trouble I perceyue you are lerned and it is pitie but you should do wel phil I am of the same catholike fayth catholicke church I was baptized vnto and in that will I liue and dye Duresme That is wel sayd yf you hold ther you can not do but well Chichest Yea my lord but he meaneth otherwise than you do Are you of the same fayth your godfathers and godmothers were or no Phil. I can not tel what fayth they were of certaynly but I am of the fayth I was baptized vnto which is in the fayth of Christ for I was not baptized in the faith of my godfathers but in the faith of christ Christo S. Austin sayth that infantes are baptized in fide susceptorum In the fayth of theyr godfathers Phil. S. Austin yet in so sayeng meaneth of the faith of Christ which the godfathers do or ought to beleue not otherwise Dures Howe say you wil you beleue as we do al the learned of the realme or no and be of one churche with vs My lordes it is not vnknoweÌ„ vnto you Phil. that ther hath ben alwayes two churches Chichest Nay that is not so there is but one catholike churche phil I shal desyre your lordships to heare out my tale and to take my meaniÌ„g for I know there is but one trewe churche but alwayes from the beginning ther hath ben ioyned to the same true churche a false churche aduersarye to the true and that was declared at the fyrst in Abel and Cayn who persecuted and slewe his brother in whom as S. Austine witnesseth is represented the false and true church And after that as sone as God had chosen his peculiar people and shewed vnto them his sanctuary holy statutes and wil anone after arose the false church ten of the .xij. tribes of Israel diuided theÌ„ selues from the true churche of Iuda and Beniamin and made to theÌ„ selues at Bethel and set vp golden calues and yet preteÌ„ded therwith to serue God so abused his worde No withstaÌ„ding God was displeased with them and ceassed not his wrathe vntil he had vtterly destroyed them Chichest I wil grauÌ„t you before the coÌ„ming of Christ ther were two churches in the olde lawe but in the newe lawe sence Christes coÌ„myng you can not shewe it to be so by the scripture phil Yes my lorde that I can yf you wil geue me leaue After Christ had chosen his twelue Apostles was ther not a Iudas in the newe lawe and a Symon Magus And were not they of the false churche Chichest Yea but I meane after the Gospel was written where can you fynde me two churches after Christ had ascended and sent the holy Goost phil The Gospell was within eyght yeres after the AscensioÌ„ written by S. Mathieu the wryting therof is not material to the declaration of these two churches to haue ben alwayes from tyme to tyme as by examples it maye be shewed And yet as euill as my memorie is I remeÌ„bre in the newe testameÌ„t is mencion made of two churches as it appeareth in the Apocalips and also S. Paule to the Thessalonians maketh mention that Antichrist with his false generacioÌ„ shal sit in the temple of God to the which Chichester replied not Duresme The church in the scripture is likned to a great fishers net which contayneth in it both good fishes and bad fyshes I truste you wil be of the better sorte and leane to the trueth phil My lorde it
mater you now stāde vpō Morgan M. Christoforson hath shewed M. Philpot a notable place for the authoritie of the churche of Rome and he maketh nothing of it London Where is the place let me se by my fayth here is a place alone Come hither sir what say you to this Nay tary a lytle I will helpe this place with S. Paules owne testimony the first to the Romaynes where he sayeth that their fayth is preached through out the worlde how can you be hable to answere to this Phil. Yes my lorde it is sone answered if you well consider all the wordes of Ciprian for he speaketh of suche as in his tyme were faythfull at Rome that folowed the doctrine of S Paul as he had taught them and as it was notyfied throughout the world by an epistle which he had written in the commēdation of theyr fayth With such as are praysed of S. Paull at Rome for foloing the true fayth mysbelefe can haue no place And now if you can shew that the fayth which the church of Rome holdeth is that fayth which the Apostle praysed and alowed in the Romains in his tyme then wil I saye with S. Cyprian and with you that infidelitie can haue no place there but otherwyse it maketh not absolutely for the authoritie of the church of R. as you do mistake it Christo You vnderstande Cyprian wel in dede I thynke you neuer red hym in your lyfe Phil. Yes M. S. that I haue I can shewe you a boke noted with myne owne hande though I haue nor red so muche as you yet I haue red somwhat It is shame for you to wrast and wryth the doctors as you do to mayntaine a false religiō which be altogether against you yf you take them aright yf your false packing of the doctors together hath geuen me and others occasion to loke vpon them wherby we fynd you shamfull lyars and mysreporters of the auncyent doctors Morgan What wil you be in hāde to alow doctors now they of your sect do not so I maruel therfore you wil alowe them Phil. I do alowe them in asmuche as they do agre with the scriptures so do al they which be of the truthe how so euer you terme vs I praise God for the good vnderstanding I haue receaued by thē Christo What you vnderstande not the doctors you may be ashamed to say it Phil. I thanke God I vnderstāde thē better thē you For you haue excoecationem cordis the blindnes of hart so that you vnderstande not truely what you read no more thē the wal here as the taking of Cipriā doth wel declare And afore god you are but deceauers of the people for al your brag you make of learning neither haue ye scripture or auncient doctor on your syde beyng truely taken Chriho Why al the doctors be on our syde against you altogether Phil. Yea so you say when ye be in your pulpits alone and none to answer you But yf you wil come to cast accōptes with me therof I wil ventre with you a recanraciō that I as lytle syght as I haue in the doctors wil bring more authorities of aunciēt doctors on my syde thē you shal be able for yours he that cā bring most to him let the other syde yeld Are you cōtent here with Christo It is but foly to reasō with you you wil beleue no mā but your selfe phil I wil beleue you or any other learned mā yf you cā bring any thing worthy to be beleued You cā not winne me with vayne wordes frō my faythe Before God ther is no truth in you Mor. what no truth no truth ha ha he Phil. Except the articles of the Trinitie you are corrupt in al other thīges are soūd in nothing Morg. What say you do we not beleue wel on the sacrament Phil It is the thing which among all other you do most abuse Mor. Wherin I pray you tel vs Phil. I haue tolde you before this M. S. in the cōuocaciō house Mor. Yea mary in dede you told vs there very well for there you fell downe vpon your knees fell to weping ha ha ha phil I dyd wepe in dede so dyd Christ vpon Ierusalem am not to be blamed therfore yf you cōsyder the cause of my weping Mor. What make you your selfe Christ ha ha ha Phil. No syr I make not my selfe Christ but I am not ashamed to do as my M. saueour did to bewaile lament your infydelytie and idolatry which I there forsawe through tyrannye you would bring agayne to this realme as this daye doth declare Morgan That is your argument Christo Wherin do we abuse the sacrament tel vs Pihl. As I may touche but one of the least abuses you minister it not in both kyndes as you ought to do but kepe the one halfe frō the people cōtrary to Christes institution Chri. why is ther not asmuch cōtained in one kind as in bothe and what nede is it then to minister it in bothe kindes phil I beleue not so for yf it had Christ would haue geuen but the one kinde only for he instituted nothīg superfluous and therfore you cannot say that the hole effect of the sacrament is aswell in one find as in both synce the scripture reacheth otherwise Christofor What if I can proue it by scripture that we may minister it in one kinde the Apostles dyd so as it may appeare in the Actes of the Apostles in one or two places where it is written that the Apostles contynued in orationibus fractione panis in prayers and in breaking of bread which is ment of the sacrament Phil. Why master doctor do you not knowe that S. Luke by making mentiō of the breaking of breade meaneth the hole vse of the sacrament according to Christes institution by a figure which you haue learned in gramer metinomia where part is mentioned and the hole vnderstanded to be done as Christ commaunded it Christofor Nay that is not so For I can shewe out of Eusebius in Ecclesi historia that ther was a man of God whom he named that sent the sacrament in one kind by a boy to one that was sicke Phil. I haue red in dede that they dyd vse to gyue that was left of the communion bread to children to maryners to women and so perauenture the boy might cary a piece of that was left to the sycke man Christofor Nay as a sacrament it was purposely sent vnto him Phil. Yf it were so yet can you not precysely say that he had not the cup ministred vnto him also by some other sent vnto him but what though one mā did vse it thus dothe it folow that al men may do the like S. Ciprian noteth many abuses of the sacrament in his time which rose vpō singular mens exāples as vsing of water in stede of wine therfore he sayeth Non respiciendum quid aliquis ante nos fecerit sed quid
phil And I was had into the wardrobe agayne by my keper and within an howre after was sent for to come before him and the bishops of Worcester and Bangor Lond. Syr I haue talked with you many tymes and haue caused you to be talked with all of many learned men yea and honourable bothe temporall and spirituall and yet it auayleth nothing with you I am blamed that I haue brought thee afore so many for they say thou gloryest to haue many to talke withal Well nowe it lieth the vpon to loke to thy selfe for thy tyme drawith nere to an ende yf thou be not become conformable And at this present we are sent from the synod to offer you this grace that yf you wil come to the vnitie of the churche of Rome with vs and acknowledged the reall presence of Christ in the sacrament of the altare with vs all that is past shal be forgeuen and you receyued to fauour worcest M. Philpot we are sent as you here haue heard by my lord of Londō frō the synod to offer you mercye yf you wil receiue it And of good will I beare you I wishe you to take it whiles it is offred and be not a singular man agaynst a hole multytude of learned men which nowe in fasting and prayer are gathered together to ymagyne thinges to do you good There haue many learned men talked with you why should you thinke your selfe better learned thā them all be not of suche arrogauncy but haue humilitie and remembre ther is no saluacion but in the churche Bangor Me thinketh my lord hath sayde wonderfully well vnto you that you should not thinke your selfe so well learned but other men are as wel learned as you neither of so good wyt but other be as wise as you neyther of so good memory but other haue as good memory as you Therfore mystrust your owne iudgement and come home to vs agayne Iwis I neuer lyked your religion bicause it was set further by violence and tyranny The same token proueth your religion false and that is no token of true religion And I was that same maner of man then that I am nowe and a great meany mo Mary for fear we held our peace and bare with the tyme wherfore M. Philpot I would you did wel for I loue you and therfore be cōtent to come home with vs agayne into the catholyke churche of Rome Phil. Where my lorde as I maye begynne first to answere you that you say that religion is to be misliked which is set forth by tyrāny I pray God you giue not men occasion to thinke the same by yours at this daye which hath none other argument to stande by but violēce Yf you can shewe me by any good sufficient grounde wherby to grounde my conscience that the churche of Rome is the true catholike churche whervnto you cal me I wil gladly be of the same otherwise I can not sone chaūge the religiō I haue learned these many yeres Bangor Where was your religion I pray you a hundred yeres ago that any man knewe of it Phil. It was in Germany in diuers other places apparent worcest Iesus wil you be stil so singular a man what is Germany to the hole worlde London My lordes I praye you geue me leaue to tell you that I sent for him to hear masse this morning and wote you what excuse be made vnto me for soth that he was accursed cursed allegyng his owne shame He playeth as that varlet Latimer dyd at Cambrige Harke how fyne my lorde is in dogges eloquence If he had come to mass he had ben cursed in dede when the vice Chaunceler sent for him who entended to haue excommunicated him for some of his he resies and the chaunceler was commyng to his chamber which as sone as he herde that the chaunceler was come made answer that he was sicke of the plague and so deluded the chaūceler euen so this man sayeth he is accursed because he will not come to masse worcest My Lorde I am sure here dothe behaue him selfe lyke a father vnto you therfore be admonished by hym and by vs that come now frendly vnto you and folowe your fathers before you phil It is forbidden vs of God by the prophet Ezechiel to folow our fathers ▪ neither to walke in their cōmaūdemēts worcest It is written also in an other place interroga patres aske of your fathers phil We ought to aske in dede our fathers that haue more experiēce knowlage then we of Goddes will but nomore to allowe them then we perceaue they agree with the scriptures worcest You wil be a contentious mā I see well and S. Paule sayeth that we neither the church of God haue no suche custome Phil. I am not contentious but for the veritie of my fayth in the which I ought to contende with al suche as do impugne the same without any iust obiection worces Let vs ryse my lorde for I see we shal do no good London Nay I praye you tary hear the articles I laye to his charge and after he had recited them they arose and afterwarde standing they reasoned with me a whyle worces M. Philpot I am very sorye that you wil be so singular I neuer talked with non yet of my diocese but after once cōmunicatiō had with me they haue ben cōtēted to reuoke their errours to teache the people howe they were deceaued and so do muche good as you may yf you list For as I vnderstande you were archdiacon of winchester which is the eye of the B. you may do much good in the coūtrey yf you would forsake your errours come to the catholyke churche phil Wher withal you so sone persuaded them to your will I see not Erroure that I knowe I holde none and of the catholike churche I am sure I am worces The Catholike churche doth acknowlege a real presence of Christ in the sacrament and so wil not you phil That is not so For I acknowlage a very essensial presence in the sacramēt duely vsed worces What a real presence Phil. Yea a reall presens by the spirite of God in the ryght administracion worces That is wel sayd and do you agree with the catholike churche also Phil. I do agre with the true catholike churche worcest My lorde of London this mā speaketh reasonably nowe London You do agree in generalties But when it shal come to the particularities you wil farre disagree worces Wel kepe your selfe here and you shal haue other learned bishops to common farther with you as my lord of Duresme my lorde of Chichester whome I heare say you do lyke wel Phil. I do lyke them as I do all other that speaketh the truthe I haue once already spoken with them they foūde no fault with me worcest Praye in the meane season for grace to God Phil. Prayer is the comfortablest exercise I feale in my trouble and my conscience is quiet and I
my lord that your grace do reade him any mo places for he estemeth them not Phil. I esteme thē in as muche as they be of force as your lordship dothe heare me deny no doctors you bring but require the true applicacion of them according to the writers meaning as by his owne wordes I do proue Yorke I wil reade him the place and so make an ende After he had red the sentence he said that by fowre speciall pointes here S. Austine proueth the catholike church The first is by the consēt of al nations the secōd by the Apostolike sea the thryd by vniuersalitie the fourthe by this word catholike Chichest That is a notable place in dede and please your grace philpot I pray you my lord of what church doth S. Austine write the same of Rome or not ▪ Yorke Yea he writeth it of the churche of Rome philpot I wil lay with your lordship as muche as I can make it is not so And let the boke be sene Bathe What arte thou hable to laye that hast nothing Yorke Dothe he not make mention here of the Apostolike sea wherby he meaneth Rome Phil. That is very straytly interpreted my lorde as though the Apostolike sea had ben no where els but at Rome But let it be Rome and yet shal you neuer verifye the same onles all the other cōdicions do go ther with as S. Austine dothe procede withall wherof none except the Apostolike sea can nowe be verifyed of the churche of Rome For the faythe which that sea nowe maintayneth hath not the consent of all nations nether euer had besydes that it can not haue the name of catholyke bycause it diffreth from the catholike churches which the Apostles planted almost in all thinges Yorke Naye he goeth about here to proue the catholike churche by vniuersalitie And howe can you shewe your churche to be vniuersall fyftye or an hundred yeres ago phil That is not material neither any thing against S. Austyne For my churche wherof I am were to be counted vniuersall though it were but in .x. persons bicause it agreeth with the same that the Apostles vniuersally did plāte Yorke I perceyue you are an obstinate man in your opinion and will not be taught Wherfore it is but lost labore to talke with you any lenger you are a member to be cut of Chichest I haue heard of you before howe you troubled the good bishop of Winchester before and nowe I see in you that I haue heard Phil. I trust you see no euill in me by this I desire of you a sure ground to build my fayth on and if you shewe me none I pray you speake not yll of him that meaneth well Chichest Thou arte an impudent felow as I haue commoned with all Phil. That is spokē vncharytably my lord to blaspheme him whom you can not iustly reproue Chichest Why you are not God blasphemy is counted a rebuke to God-ward and not to man phil Yes it may be aswel verified of an infamy layed to man speaking in Goddes cause as you nowe do laye vnto me for speaking frely the truthe afore God to mayntayne your vayne religion you are voyde of all good grounde I perceyue you are blinde guydes and leaders of the blind and therfore as I am bound to tel you verye hypocrites tyrānously persecuting the truthe which otherwise by iust order you are hable to do by no meanes Your owne doctors and testimonyes which you bring be euidentlye against you and yet you wil not see the truthe Chichest Haue we this thanke for our good will comming to instructe thee phil My lordes you must beare with me synce I speake in Christes cause and bicause his glory is defaced and his people cruelly and wrongfully slain by you bicause they will not consent to the dishonour of God to hypocrisie with you Yf I told you not your fault it should be required at my handes in the day of iudgement therfore knowe you ye hipocrites in dede that it is the spirite of God that telleth you your synne and not I. I passe not I thanke God of al your crueltie God forgeue it you and gyue you grace to repent And so they departed The same day at night before supper the bishop sent for me into his chappel in the presence of Archdeacon Harpesfild doctor Chadsey in the presence of other his Chaplayns and his seruauntes MAster Philpot I haue by sundry meanes gone about to do you good and I maruail you do so litle considre it By my truthe I can not tell what to say to you Tel me directly whether you wil be a conformable man or no and wher vpon you chifly stand Phil. I haue told your lordship often tymes playne ynough where on I stand chiefly requiring a sure probatiō of the churche wherunto you cal me Harpel S. Austine writing against the Donatistes declareth foure special notes to knowe the church by the cōsent of many nations the faith of the sacraments confirmed by antiquitie succession of bishops vniuersalitie London I pray you master Archdeacō fett the booke hither it is a notable place let him se it And the boke was brought and the bishop red it demaunding howe I could answere the same Phil. My lord I like S. Austins foure points for the tryal of the catholik churche wherof I am For it can abide euery point therof together which yours can not doo Harpes Haue not we succession of bishops in the sea and church of Rome wherfor then do you deny our churche to be the catholike churche Phil. S Austine doth not put succession of bishops only to be sufficient but he addeth the vse of the sacramentes according to antiquitie and doctrine vniuersally taught and receyued of most nations from the beginning of the primatiue church the which your churche is far from But my churche can auouche all these better then yours therfore by S. Austins iudgement which you here bring myne is the catholike churche and not yours Harpes Chad. It is but foly my lord for you to reason with him for he is irrecuperable Phil. That is a good shift for you to runne vnto when you be confounded in your owne sayenges and haue nothing els to say you are euidently deceyued and yet will not see it when it is layd to your face Here ende as many of Iohn̄ Philpots examinacions as came to the printors handes and assone as the rest may be come by thou shalt haue it good reader by the will of God In the meane tyme refreshe thy selfe with this praising God for the perseueraunce of this cōstaūt learned martir and praye hartly for the rest of Christes poore afflicted church Geue God the glorye Iesus is God with vs. An Apologie of Iohan Philpot written for spitting vpon an Arrian with an inuectiue against the Arrians the very natural chyldren of Antichrist with an admonition to all that be faythfull in Christ to beware of them and of other late sprong heresies as of
thinges visible inuisible do coÌ„sist haue their beyng and lyfe In the which beleue we were baptised by the institution of Christ in to the name of the father the sonne the holy Goost Mat. 28. And shal we now begin to stande in doubt of this most firme fayth the which froÌ„ the beginning hath ben coÌ„firmed besydes the vndoubted testimonies of the scriptures with the precious bloud of an infinit nomber of martirs and coÌ„fessours It is no maruaile thoughe these Arrians denye the holy goost to be God who refuse the testimonie that he made of him selfe in fiery tongues to the primatiue churche Act. 1. Math. 3. and before that in the likenes of a Doue at the baptisme of Christ They must nedes denye the spirite of truth who be led by the spirite of errour vnder the colour of Godlynes denyeng their true sanctifier instructour whom Christ euidently taught to be an other comfortor besydes him The holy goost is an other comforter besides Christ And therfore to th ende he should so be beleued appeared visibly as Christ dyd but as their corrupt faces bashe not to denye the eternall sonne of God so are they not ashamed to denye the holye Goost to be God The Arrians are past shame their forehead is lyke the forehead of an hore hardened with counterfaited hypocrisie styffnecked wretches they are that wyll not yeld to the truth though it be neuer so manyfestly layde before their face they haue sworne to runne after their master the deuil wtout staye to draw with theÌ„ as many as they can in the which they are very diligent The Lorde confounde them the Lorde conserue his electe from their dampnable poyson the Lorde open al christian eyes to beware of them The Lorde gyue al his churche an vniforme zeale minde to abhorre them to cast faith froÌ„ them You that be of the truth haue any zeal of God in you stere it vp bynde it against these enemyes of our lyuyng God which is the Father the Sonne the holy Goost to whome be al honour praise and glorie for euer Canst thou be angred with thy brother beyng lawfully called to be a mynister in Christes church and to be a teacher in the same for spitting at an obstinate aduersarie of Christ refusyng to obey the truthe and declare no maner of indignacion against the Arrian the thefe that robbeth thy God of his honour Doth the iniurie of the Arrian more offende thee than the defence of thy redemer please the Art thou not ashamed rather to take part with an Arrian than with a true christian Thou wouldest seme to haue charitie by bearing with the wicked and contrarie to al charitie thou backbitest thy brother for doyng that which thou shouldest rather do than to haue any familiaritie with thee Yf thou dwel within the churche of Christ what hast thou to do with them that be without Which go about nothing els but to buyld a new Babilon and to destroye al the Godly order of the Gospel I tel thee plaine that I am nothyng of that face but gyue God thankes that I heare euil for wel doyng Yf I should please meÌ„ I could not please God I maruaile that there should be so litle zeale in a true christian hart that it can seme to take the part of an ArriaÌ„ We can not scrue Christ and Baal how long wil meÌ„ halt on both sydes let your halting be healed Yf ye be vnfainedly of the truth abyde in the truthe let al your wyl be toward the ê“fessours of the truth in the vnitie of Christes church least you might appeare to be scatterers with heretiks rather thaÌ„ gatherers together with Christ Do ye not se what a rable of newe founde scaterers ther be such a sorte as neuer at ones hath beÌ„ heard of in one realme the one contrarye to the other The deuil hath shakeÌ„ out his bagge of heresies against the gospell So that the deuel myght seme to haue powred out al his poysons at ones against the gospel And wyl you that glorie of the truth go about by worde dede helpe to maintayne any suche in their headdy errours he that toucheth pitche can not chose but defyle his fyngers therwith Be not deceaued sayeth S. Paule for wicked talke corrupteth good maners 1. Cor. 14 Therfore watche ye righteously and synne not for many therbe that haue not the knowlage of God I speake it to your shame 2. Tim. 2. Saint Paule willeth vs to be more circuÌ„spect in talking or acquainting our selues with suche then men at this daye be to their incorragemeÌ„t strenghtnyng in their errour The wordes of an heretike as he sayeth in an other place eateth lyke a canker 2. Tim. 2 And therfore wrytyng vnto Tyte Tit. 3. he commaundeth al Christian persones to auoyde an heretike after once or twyse warnyng knowing that such a one is peruerted and synneth and is dampned by his owne iudgement And to the Thessalonians he also sayeth 2. Thes 3. we commaunde you in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ that you wythdrawe your selfes froÌ„ euery brother that walketh inordinatly not according to the institutioÌ„ which they haue receaued of vs. There can be no felowship betwixt fayth and infidelitie he that is not with Christ is his enemy Luke 11. he that is an enemie to the vnitie and peace of Christes churche he maye not be coupled with vs. And Salomon rendreth a cause why Prou. 16. A peruerse man in his mouthe doth carye perdicion and in his lippes hydeth fyer Agayne he sayeth an euil man obeyeth the tounge of the vnrighteous Prou. 17 but the Iuste harketh not to lyeng lippes Also Ecclesiasticus warneth sayeng Eccle 28. Hedge thyne cares wyth thornes and do not heare a wycked tounge This haue I touched to gyue you warning howe to behaue your selues with the Arrians and other sismatikes and heretikes whome al godlie ordre and good learning displeaseth the which yf our Christian brethren and systerne did well way and folow there wolde not be so many stoute heretikes as there be I doubt that the heretikes be better prouided for than the poore faithfull afflicted flocke of Christ If you heare that ther is conteÌ„tion betwene vs and theÌ„ that be in prison maruaile not therfore neyther let your mindes be alienated from the truth any thing therby for as it is writteÌ„ it is necessary the heresies should be 1. Cor. 11. that the elect might be tryed Christ and Antichrist can neuer agree 1. Ioh. 2. And as S. Iohn saith Antichrist is come and there is nowe many Antichristes they ar gon out from vs such as were non of vs for if they had they wold haue coÌ„tinued with vs by thys sayeng of S. Iohn we maye wel trye and knowe all the rowte of Antichristes generacion suche they be as breake the vnitie of Christes church neither abide in the
light The Arrians lurke in corners and be coy to shew ther faith lest his doynges should be reê“ued By this ye may know that these Arrians with other heretikes are borne of that prince of darkenes who walke continually vnder cloudes with great difficultie will shew them selues onles it be to some simple personnes whom they thinke apt to be deceaued Therfore turne your eares froÌ„ them al ye that be vnlearned when they endeuour to depraue your faith with an other Christ and meanes of saluacioÌ„ thaÌ„ you haue heard before of And byd them fyrst shew their new founde saith to the elders and ministers of Christes trew church and afterwarde yf they allow the same as sound and pure you will gladlie harken vnto them otherwise not for no ê‘son ought to take vpoÌ„ him the office of a doctour except he be called thervnto by the ordinarie alowauÌ„ce of the church of God Rom. 10. as S. Paule testifieth how shal they preache except they be seÌ„t Marc. 4. Therfore Christ in S Mark biddeth al ê‘soÌ„nes take hede what they heare There are innumerable sorts of heresies entred into the world so that we may iustly gather these to be the euill daies that Christ spake of before Math. 24 in the which yf it were possible the very electes should be deceaued be ye therfore strong in your faith grouÌ„ded vpon the rocke vnmoueable what soeuer storme come vpon you or mystie winde blowe against you Many inordinat personnes of this tyme do runne Iere. 23. whom the Lord hath not sent as hieremie sayeth and saye the Lorde sayeth thus thus where as the Lorde neuer spake any suche thing as they of their phantastical brayne do ymagine and thorough ignorauÌ„cy do misconstre to deceyue others and themselues also Therfore the Lorde biddeth vs not to harken to their wordes Proue these wandering glittering spirites by this rule which I haue tolde you and than be you assured ye can not be deceaued though there aryse ten thousande more heresies thaÌ„ there be It maye trouble an inconstaunt mynde to se so many at once but he that knoweth the deuils diligence to deface Christes Gospel maye not wonder therat for he knoweth his tyme is but short and seeth the gospel so triumphe thorough the death of faythful martirs that he is wood therat therfore worketh his vttermost trusteth to make some stoute arrogaunt martirs for the stabishement increase of his kingdome that vnder the name of christ as he hath had in tymes past that the simple people might be brought in a mamering of their faith stande in doubte whome they myght beleue that therby he might more lyghtly seduce them into his snares Beholde I haue gyuen you warnyng that ye be not deceaued by these wanderyng starres and emptie cloudes which nowe a dayes are caried about with so vncertayne wyndes that a man can not tel where to fynde them neyther they themselues knowe from whence they came neither whither they would They wil entre into heauen by the wyndow and not by the dore and therfore lyke erraunt theues shal be cast out Beware of curiosite my dere brethren and systerne for she is an vnsatiable beast and the cause of muche infidelitie and wyckednes she is alwayes desirous of alteration to heare newes and can not be permanent on one sure grounde Dyna as it is wrytten in the Genesis beyng ful of curiositie Gene. 34. and desyrous to see the women of a straunge countrey was rauished lost her virginitie and was the destruction of Sichem Dauid was curious to behold the beautie of Bethzabe 2. Reg. 11. and became therby an adulterer a murtherer was the cause of many thousandes destruction 2. Reg. 24. by the curiouse nombring of his people Therfore of experieÌ„ce he geueth good counsel sayeng in the psalmes turne awaye thyne eyes that they se not vanitie Turne I saye awaye from these heretikes shewe not them a cheareful countenaunce lest they receyue an incouragement therby to wynne the vnto them and thou by curiositie be entangled thorough their hipocrisie and peruerse talke As many as abode in the Arke of Noe were not drowned by the flood of Noe. Euen so as many as abyde in the true church of Christ shall receyue no hurte by all the blustering and corrupt waters which the dragoÌ„ that persecuteth the church into wildernesse dothe in thapocalips cast out after her to the ende to drowne her therwith Apoca. 12 You that staÌ„de in doubt of any thyng by the suggestion of these newe founde heretikes runne to the pure catholike churche of Christ for your sure instructioÌ„ which praysed be God at this daye dothe gloriouslye appeare and shyne spyte of the gates of hell in all Germany and in the borders of Fraunce at Geneue and in the kyngdomes of Denmarke and Pole besydes that whiche of late ye haue sene in your owne countrey in Englande now by the wyl of God vnder affliction and persecution aswel for our synnes as for the trial of the people of God for as an auncient father S. Ciprian sayeth He that hath not the churche for his mother hathe not God for his father we haue but one mother sayeth Salomon in his Ballets Cant. 6. and she coueteth to gather vs vnder her winges lyke a louyng heÌ„ne her chekins and yf we abide there we are assured from al the rauening vermyne of heretikes and though there shal fal on euery syde of thee milliaÌ„s yet shall they not aproche nere vnto thee But yf after curiositie thou go out astraye some Kyte or other will snatche thee vp to the prince of the ayre from where thy fal wil be great Yf thou wilt be assured of the eternal kingdome of God be stable in thy faith flee from sectes and heresyes abyde in the vnitie of Christes spouse his true churche Remembre that in olde tyme it was forbydden the people of God to mary with any foreyn nacioÌ„ that was not of the house of Israel in significacioÌ„ that the church of God should neuer ioyne them selues with suche as be of a straunge religioÌ„ and of hereticall opinions contrary the catholike faith cursed is he saith Hieremie that dothe the worke of the lorde negligentlie and with drawith his swerd from blood Iere. 48. In the lawe he is commaunded to be stoned that goeth about to turne vs froÌ„ the lyuing Lord Gent. 13 and to moue vs to worship creatures for the creatour and that the same should cast the first stone at him whom he went about to peruert And what do these Arrians els go about but to wil vs to worshippe their new founde Christ whom they affirme to be but a creature in place of our true Christ the eternall sonne of God our creatour redemer and gouernour who is God to be praised honoured with the father and the holy goost world without ende The Prophet saith in the psalmes there must be no new God among Goddes people but if Christ shoulde be as they say but a made and appoincted God of the father as princes of the earthe be called Gods theÌ„ should he be a new God and so by the worde of God not to be taken of vs for God neyther to be worshipped or called vppon Iere. 17. for as the Prophet Ieremy testifieth cursed is the person which putteth his confidens in man and setteth fleshe to be his strenght These wicked Arrians are worse than the Iewes for they were offended with Christ whom they toke but for a creature for saieng he was the sonne of God But the Arrians blinder than the Iewes taking him for God would haue him to be onlye a creature lyke to them selfes in all poinctes and not very God of Goddes substaÌ„ce They make the Iewes more ryghteous than Christ and do iustifie them for crucifieng of him for the chieffe cause why they crucified him was as it doth appeare by S. Iohn bicause he made him selfe equall with God being but a maÌ„ as they toke him to be onely What ChristiaÌ„s eares do not glome at this great impiety who hauing any zeale of God wil not cry out ah deuil ah Lucefers brood ah Marathans cursed of God vntil his commiÌ„g wo be to the Arius the father of this wicked progeny woo be vnto you vile childerne folowers of his horrible impietie God of his mercy turne froÌ„ you suche as of ignorauncy simplicitie be deceaued but you that be arrogant vncurable in your blasphemy The lord for his glory sake and for example to others to beware of suche detestable impietie consume you with fyer froÌ„ heaueÌ„ as he did Chore Dathan and Abiron let the grounde oh lord open and let hem go downe alyue vnto hell let them be put out of the boke of lyfe and let them not be reckoned amoÌ„g the righteous let theÌ„ haue thy traitour Iudas rewarde let theÌ„ breake a sonder in the middest let their bowelles gushe out to their shame for euer let their guttes issue out behinde as Arrius guts did let them die in their owne dong with their father and be abhorred of al the world for euer let their porcion be with Zodome and Gomor let their stinking smoke be done out neuer let the iust reioyce when they shall see the reuengaunce of the glory of Christ let them praise him one God with the father the holy goost for euer and euer AMEN FINIS Vincit qui patitur