him be deposed Or if he be a Lay-man let him be excommunicated Would they thus haue spoken if they had beleeued the Pope to haue beene their Superiour or the Church of Rome cheefe ouer other Churches and that it could not erre That the Passages of the Fathers alleadged by Coeffeteau for the Primacy of S. Peter are partly false Fol. 77. 78. partly maymed and partly impertinent FRom this point Doctor Coeffeteau passeth ouer to the Primacy of S. Peter Fol. 76. howbeit before he commeth thereto he giueth in passing by a blow to his Holinesse affirming that he is not Lord ouer any Towne thus doth he dispute the Souerainty of the City of Rome Wee leaue themselues to cleare this doubt and end this Processe He alleadgeth then for the Primacy of S. Peter the 11. Homily of S. Chrysostome and that very falsely for in all the Homily there is no mention of S. Peter nor of his Primacy But Bellarmine did deceiue him out of whom Coeffeteau copied his allegations This other is like it S. Cyprian saith Coeffeteau affirmeth Hoc erant vtique caeteri Apostoli quod Petrus pari consortio praediti honoris potestatis sed exordium ab vnâ—tate proficiâ— citâ—r vâ—â—â—â—â—â—sia vna monstretur that the other Apostles were certainly the same that S. Peter was fellowes and partners of his honour and of his power but the beginning proceedeth from Vnitie and therefore the Primacy was giuen to S. Peter the true reading is this the Apostles inde de were the same things that S. Peter was hauing ONE EQVALL SOCIETY In honour and in power but the beginning was made by one to shew the vnity of the Church Coeffeteau hath razed out the word EQVAL which troubled him and hath clapt on a Tayle of a sentence which is not in Cyprian and therefore the Primacy was giuen to S. Peter S Cyprian had said a little before that Iesus Christ after his resurrection gaue a like power to his Apostles and yet to shew the vnity of the Church he so disposed by his authority that the fountaine of this vnity should begin from one That is to say that he gaue to all his Apostles an equall power but to shew that the Church is one he gaue his power first vnto one namely to Peter and afterwards gaue equall power to the rest With like falshood he dealeth with S. Ierome Fol. 78. pag. 2. lib 1. against Iouinian whom he thus alleadgeth One is chosen among the twelue to the end that there being one head established all occasion of Schisme might be taken away At dicis super PetruÌ„ fundatur Ecclesia licet id ipsum in alio loco super omnes Apostolos fiat cuncti claues regni coelorum accipiant ex aequo super eos Ecclesiae fortitudo solideturâ—sed vnus eligitur vt capite constituto seismatist ollatur occasio But he omitteth the wordes that went before thou tellest me that the Church is founded vpon S. Peter notwithstanding that the same is done vpon al the other Apostles and that all do receiue the keyes of the Kingdom of heauen and that vpon them the stability of the Church is EQVALLY grounded whence appeareth that the Head and cheefe of which he speaketh is nothing else but a superiority in ranke without any Iurisdiction and power ouer his fellowes seeing that they had all the Keyes alike and were alike the foundations of the Church VVhich may serue to the end we may not trouble our selues with examining the rest of his falsifications for solution of all the rest of Coeffeteaus quotations in which S. Peter is called head and first among the Apostles S. Austen indeede in the beginning of his second booke of Baptisme which place Coeffeteau alleadgeth calleth S. Peter the first of the Apostles but he saith also in the same place that for all that he did not presume that the new-commers Nee Petrus queÌ„ primum Dominus elegit super quem aedificauit EcclesiaÌ„ suam cum secum Paulus de circumcisione disceptaret postmodum vindicauit sibi aliquid insolenter aut arroganter assumpsit vt diceret se primatum tenere obtemperari à nouellis posteris sibi potius debcri and latter Apostles were to yeelde him obedience The same S. Austen as he is alleadged in the 24. Cause Quaest 1. Canon Quodcunque speaketh thus S. Peter when he receiued the Keyes represented the Church if then all the good were signified in the person of Peter so were all the wicked also signified in the person of Iudas Seeing then that S. Peter was the same among the faithful that Iudas was among the wicked it followeth that as Iudas was not the head of the wicked to haue power and Iurisdiction ouer them but onely was the most remarkeable among them so S. Peter should be such a one among the beleeuers He might haue had perhaps a priority eyther in age or in vertue or in zeale or in eloquence or in preseance and taking the first place but yet without Dominion or power of Iurisdiction As touching that which somtimes he saith that the Church is founded vpon S. Peter we shall see hereafter that he retracted that ouer sight afterwards and we haue heard before S. Ierome to haue said that the Church is Equally founded vpon all the Apostles As for that which he saith that he that is without the Communion of the Church is to be accounted prophane and that he that is without the Arke shall perish in the floud the same may be said of euery other Church which holdeth the true Orthodox Doctrine yea of the least of the faithfull for that a man cannot separate and withdraw himselfe from him but by renouncing the truth Now in the quarrell which then was in debate Damasus maintained the truth and sounder opinion Whether the Pope may erre in faith or no. TO that which the King of great Britaine denieth that there is any Monarch of the Church on earth whose wordes ought to be held for laws who hath the gift to be able not to erre Fol. 80. Coeffeteau thus answereth We know that the Pope is a sinfull man as another man is and therefore may erre in Doctrine and Manners if we consider him in particular but in the quality of S. Peters Successour hee cannot teach any thing contrary to piety This is it which is commonly said that the Pope indeede may erre as he is a man and a particular Doctor but not as he is Pope Or that he may erre in manners but not in faith Cap. licet titulo 2 de Constitutioni in 6. They say also that he may erre in the question de facto but not in the question de Iure For as Boniface the eighth saith the Pope hath all law and right in the chest of his breast A man had neede of a good stomach to digest this And I doe not see how all this can agree For
Peter pascere oues and also what a cloude of witnesses there is both of Auncients and euen of late Popish writers yea diuers Cardinals that doe all agree that both these speeches vsed to Peter were meant to all the Apostles represented in his person Otherwise how could Paul diâ—ect the Church of Corinth 1. Cor. 5.4 to excommunicate the incestuous person cu spiritum suo whereas he should then haue said cumspiritu Petri And how could all the Apostles haue otherwise vsed all their censures onely in Christs name and neuer a word of his Vicar Peter wee reade did in all the Apostles meetings sit amongst them as one of their number And when chosen men were sent to Antiochia from that great Apostolike Councell at Ierusalem Acts 15. The text saith Act. 15.22 23. It seemed good to the Apostles and Elders with the whole Church to send chosen men but no mention made of the Head thereof and so in their Letters no mention is made of Peter but onely of the Apostles Elders and Brethren And it is a wonder why Paul rebuketh the Church of Corinth for making exceptions of persons because some followed Paul some Apollos some Cephas if Peter was their visible Head 1. Cor. 1.12 for then those that followed not Peter or Cephas renounced the Catholik faith But it appeareth well that Paul knew little of our new doctrine Galat. 2. since he handleth Peter so rudely as he not only compareth but preferreth himselfe vnto him But our Cardinall prooues Peters superiority Gal. 1.18 by Pauls going to visite him Indeede Paul saith he went to Ierusalem to visite Peter and conferre with him but he should haue added and to kisse his feete To conclude then The truth is that Peter was both in age and in the time of Christs calling him one of the first of the Apostles in order the principall of the first twelue and one of the three whom Christ for order sake preferred to all the rest And no further did the Bishop of Rome claime for three hundreth years after Christ subiect they were to the generall Councels and euen but of late did the Councell of Constance depose three Popes and set vp the fourth And vntill Phocas dayes that murthered his master were they subiect to Emperours But how they are now come to be Christs Vicars nay Gods on earth triple crowned Kings of Heauen earth and hell Iudges of all the world and none to iudge them Heads of the faith Absolute deciders of all Controuersies by the infallibility of their spirite hauing all power both Spirituall and Temporall in their handes the high Bishoppes Monarches of the whole earth Superiours to all Emperours and Kings yea Supreame Vice-gods who whether they will or not cannot erre how they are now become I say to that toppe of greatnes I know not but sure I am Wee that are Kings haue greatest neede to looke vnto it As for me Paul and Peter I know but these men I know not And yet to doubt of this is to denie the Catholique faith Nay the world it selfe must bee turned vpside downe and the order of Nature inuerted making the left hand to haue the place before the right Bellar. de Rom. Pont. lib. 1. c. 17. and the last named to be the first in honour that this primacy may be maintained Thus haue I now made a free Confession of my Faith And J hope I haue fully cleared my selfe from being an Apostate and as farre from being an Hereticke as one may be that beleeueth the Scriptures and the three Creedes and acknowledgeth the foure first generall Councels If J be loath to beleeue too much especially of Nouelties men of greater knowledge may well pitie my weakenesse but J am sure none will condemne me for an hereticke saue such as make the Pope their God and thinke him such a speaking Scripture as they can define heresie no otherwise but to be whatsoeuer Opinion is maintained against the Popes definition of faith And I will sincerely promise that when euer any point of the Religion I professe shall be proued to be new and not Auncient Catholike and Apostolike I meane for matter of Faith I will as soone renounce it closing vp this head with the maxime of Vincentius Lirinensis Libello aduersus haereses that I will neuer refuse to imbrace any opinion in Diuinity necessary to saluation which the whole Catholike Church with an vnanim consent haue constantly taught and beleeued euen from the Apostles daies for the space of many ages thereafter without interruption This discourse beeing nothing else Fol. 74. but a rich piece of tyssue wrought full of Demonstrations and the very language of truth in the mouth of a King deserued an exact answer But M. Coeffeteau not daring to confront the King to his face doth treacherously assaile â—im side-wise for in stead of satisfying his proofes drawne out of holy Scripture hee entrencheth himselfe in his hold of custome and produceth some testimonies of men He saith then that Basil writing to Athanasius aduiseth him to aduertise the Church of Rome of certaine schismes that happened in his countrey Epist 32. to the end that hee by interposing his authority might send learned and able men to extinguish those diuisions which troubled the East But withal he should haue added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Basil doth not intreat him to shew forth his power in punishing the obstinate and refractarie but onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reprehend and admonish the froward men of our countrey For as touching the title of Head of the Church S. Basil in the same Epistle doth so qualifie not the Bishop of Rome but Athanasius Patriarcke of Alexandria in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we thought that we could not better giue entrance to our affaires then by hauing recourse to your perfection as to him who is the vniuersall Head and by winning you to be counsellour and conductour of our Actions Now he thus speaketh not because Alexandria was the first Sea but because there was not then any Bishop who did not willingly giue precedence to Athanasius because of his vertue As for the priority of the Bishops-sea it appeareth by his 50. Epistle that S. Basill thought it due to Antioch when he exhorteth Athanasius to adioyne himselfe to Miletius Patriarcke of Antioch of whome hee saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is he who as we may so say sitteth as ruler ouer the whole Church And saith also He so calleth the Bishop of Rome that the Bishops of the West giue consent thereunto it is a thing remarke-able aboue the rest that S. Basill purposing to addresse himselfe to the Bishop of Rome that he should lend his helpe to pacifie some differences stirred vp in Asia confesseth in one of his Epistles that men are deceiued to hope for any succour from thence and taking offence at his pride he accounteth all such deputations idle and
non pertinentia vel sibi ipsi contraria quae imperite atque improuidè scripsit and that hee had written many things idle and contradictory very ignorantly and vnwisely It is not materiall to enquire whether Cyprian were in an errour or no it is sufficient that Cyprian thought that the Bishop of Rome was subiect to erre and to mistake Our Doctor addeth S. Ierome who in his third Apology against Ruffinus saith That the Romane faith Romanam fidem Apostolica voce baudatam istiusmodi praestigias non recipere commended by the voyce of the Apostle doth not admit any such iuglings For so is it read and not as Coeffeteau doth falsly alleadge it The Trickes of which he speaketh were to put the title of a good Authour to an euill booke so that this place is neyther to the purpose nor yet faithfully alleadged and if it were to the purpose yet doth hee not say that the Church of Rome or her Bishop cannot erre in faith but sayth that the Faith which S. Paul commended in the Romans could not subsist together with such impostures for the faith which S. Paul prayseth in them was the true faith which doth not approue of any seducing The same may be said of the fayth of the Ephesians and Thessalonians to whom the same Apostle giueth the same testimony as well as to the Romanes to wit that their faith was spread abroad in all quarters 1. Thes 18. Now that S. Ierome did not beleeue that the Bishop of Rome could not erre in the faith in hoc habetur detestabilis quod Liberium Romanae vrbis Episcopum pro fide ad exilium pergentem primus sollicitauit ac fregit ad subscripti onem haereseos compulit it appeareth by this that in the Catalogue of Ecclesiasticall writers he thus speaketh of Fortunatianus In this he is accounted detestable that he was the first that solicited Liberius Bishop of Rome who went into banishment for the faith and made him to yeelde hauing induced him to subscribe to Heresie And in the same Catalogue he calleth Felix Bishop of Rome Arrian as doth also Socrates lib. 2. cap. 2. S. Hilary in his fragments lately published by Monsieur le Feure doth often excommunicate Liberius in these termes Anathema tibi a me Liberi For hauing subscribed to the Confession of the Arrians framed at Sirmium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Athanasius an inward friend to Liberius in his Epistle to them that liued in the Desert after that he had greatly commended Liberius he saith that after two yeares banishment he yeelded and subscribed As also the Arrians would neuer haue giuen him Letters to restore him to his Bishopricke Tomo 1. Concil p. 431. Ingressus Liberius in vibeÌ„ 6. Nonas Augusti consensit Constantio haeretico perseâ—â— utio magna fuit in vrbe Roma if he had still persisted in the true faith Damasus in the Pontificall alleadged in ther. Tome of the Councels saith that Liberius being re-entred into the Citie consented to the Emperour Constantius an Hereticke and that vpon his arriuall there happened a great persecution at Rome Liberatus a great flatterer of the Bishoppes of Rome hath written a booke which is found in the second Tome of the Councels where in the two and twentieth Chapter is produced an Epistle of Vigilius Bishop of Rome written to the Eutychian Heretickes in which he declareth himselfe an Eutychian and denyeth two natures in Christ euen so farre as to excommunicate those that say the contrary Honori the first is condemned for a Monothelite hereticke by three Councels which our aduersaries call Generall to wit by the sixth seuenth and eighth that is to say by a thousand witnesses the Deputies of Rome then and there present neuer gainsaying it On the contrary his Successors Agatho and Leo the second doe there accurse and detest him for hauing polluted the Sea of Rome through his heresie Who will beleeue that these Popes would haue defamed their owne Sea with a false accusation Or that so many witnesses had beene ill informed seeing that euen in these Councels the Epistles of Honorius in which he defendeth heresie are produced and alleadged And although they should haue condemned him vniustly yet it appeareth hereby that they held it in those times for a thing certaine that the Bishop of Rome might erre Bellarmine in his fourth booke de Pontifice Romano maketh no difficulty to say Potest dici Pontificem ex ignorantia lapsum esse that Pope Gregory the third who taught that a man whose wife was through sickenesse become vnfit for the dueties of marriage might take another woman had erred and failed through ignorance Iohn the two and twentieth beleeued and taught that the soules of the faithfull did not see God be fore the resurrection as wee haue proued heretofore by many witnesses Iohn the three and twentieth out-stripped and exceeded them all for he denyed the immortality of the soule and maintained that there was neither Heauen nor hell For which cause besides many other crimes laid downe in the eleuenth Session of the Councell of Constance he was deposed from the Papacy by the same Councell whose wordes are these IOHN the three and twentieth hath often and many a time in the presence of diuers Prelates and other honest men of worth said held determined and obstinately maintained by the instigation of the diuell that there is no life eternall nor any other after this life yea and hath obstinately said and beleeued that the soule of man dieth together with the body and is extinguished as that of brute beasts and hath said that a man once dead shall not rise againe the last day And to the end that no man may doubt of the truth of the Accusation it is a little after added that it is publiquely and notoriously knowne Note also that the Councell before that it deposed him acknowledged him for lawfull Pope and all the Church of Rome doth reckon him among the number of Popes Furthermore that prodigious Canon which beginneth Si Papa in the fortieth Distinction after it hath said Si Papa suae â— fraternae salut s negligens innumerabiles popules secum ducit primo mancip io gehennae cum ipso plagis multis in aeternum vapulaturos huius cu pas istic reprehendere praesumit mortalium nullus c. that though the Pope should draw with him an innumerable multitude of soules into hell there to be euerlastingly tormented yet no man should presume to reproue him because he that iudgeth all men ought to be iudged of no man Addeth this exception Nisi deprehendatur a fide deuius vnlesse he be found to haue swarued from the faith Passages of Scripture touching this matter THe King of great Britain alleadged against the Ecclesiasticall Monarchy these wordes of our Sauiour Luc. 22. The Kings of the Nations rule ouer them but it shall not be so among you Coeffeteau answereth that hereby Christ sought
and stirre vp the mildest spirits and was desirous by pardoning the wicked to make them become good and though he could not find cause in them why to pardon he fouÌ„d it in himselfe for though they no way deserued mercy yet he shewed himself worthy of his greatnesse in doing good to those of so euill demerite He considered that God whom hee represents sendeth raine vpon the Bryers and Thistles as well as on fruit Trees and makes the Sunne to rise alike to the good and to the euill or else it may be that his clemency was accompanied and assisted with a neglect of his enemies esteeming many of them not worthy of his wrath But for the better preuenting of such conspiracies in future times the Parliament together with the King framed a forme of Oath to be administred to all his Maiesties subiects which is to this effect That they acknowledge IAMES the first King of great Britaine for their lawfull King and that the Pope cannot by any right whatsoeuer depose him from his Kingdomes nor discharge his subiects of their obedience to him nor giue them licence to beare Armes against him Also that notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of ExcoÌ„munication made or granted or to be made or granted against the said King his Successors they wil beare faith and true alleageance to him his heyrs Successors him and theÌ„ wil defend to the vttermost of their power against all attempts conspiracies whatsoeuer And that they wil reueale al treasons and trayterous Conspiracies which they shall know or heare of against him or any of them And that they do abhor detest and abiure this damnable position that Princes which be excommunicated by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their subiects And that they beleeue and in conscience are resclued that the Pope hath no power to absolue them of this Oath or any part thereof And renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary And that without any Equiuocation mentall Euasion or secret Reseruation whatsoeuer they doe sincerely acknowledge and sweare all these things and doe make this acknowledgement heartely willingly and truely So helpe them God This Oath being offered to those of the Romish Church diuers of them tooke it without difficulty and amongst the rest Blackwell the Arch-Priest who then was and still remaines in England These things being come to the knowledge of the Bishop of Rome Paul the fift that raignes at this present he dispatches presently for England a breue or as they terme it letters Apostolique bearing date the two twentieth of September 1606. by which he declares That this Oath cannot be taken with good conscience exhorting them rather to vndergoe all cruell torments whatsoeuer yea Death it selfe rather then to offend the Maiestie of God by such an Oath and to imitate the constancy and fortitude of the other English Martyrs willing them to haue their loynes girt about with verity and to haue the Brest-plate of righteousnes and to take the shield of faith That God that hath begunne this good worke might finish it in them who wil not leaue them Orphants c. And finally willeth them exactly to put in practise that which is commaunded in the Letters of Clement the eight his Predecessor written to Mr. George Black well the Arch-priest of England by which Letters all Princes of any Religion contrary to their owne are excluded from the kingdome of England These Letters being come into England were not receiued by those of the Romish Church with such respect as the Pope expected for many iudged them ridiculous as exhorting them to suffer Martyrdome for ill doing since none can be a Martyr but for hauing done well As also for that they declare that this Oath is contrary to the Catholique faith without telling why or wherefore as likewise for that the exhortations of holy Scripture to shun vice and to perseuere in the profession of the Gospell and to resist the Diuell are in this Papall breue drawne to a contrary sense to kindle sedition and to incite subiects to disobedience And aboue all for that these Letters ingaging the subiects to reuolt doe necessarily plucke vpon them persecution and the iust anger of their natural Prince who being vnwilling to require any caution of them in any thing contrary to their beliefe demaundeth no more of them but fidelity and ciuill obedience For these considerations some part of the Priests and Friers of England said that these Letters of the Pope were shufled in by their Aduersaries and forged by the Heretiques for so they of their goodnes are pleased to tearme vs to kindle the anger of the King against them which was already prouoked by the plot of the Powder-mine which onely fell out to ruine the vndertakers By reason whereof the same Pope being aduertised that through these doubts whether they were true or fained the Authority of his Letters were infringed hee writ others more expresly bearing date the three and twentieth of August 1607. In which he seemeth to wonder that they any way suspect the truth of the Apostolique letters Non solum motu proprio exceâ—â—a nostra scientia verum etiam post longam grauem deliberationem that vnder that pretence they might exempt themselues from his commaunds and therefore declareth vnto them that those letters were written not onely vpon his proper motion and of his certaine knowledge but also after long and weighty deliberation and therfore again inioyneth them fully to obserue them for such is his will and pleasure To these letters giuing the Alarums to rebellion for their greater confirmation were added the letters of Cardinall Bellarmine to George Blackewell the Arch-Priest In which after he had put him in minde of their auncient acquaintance hee greatly blameth him for taking the Oath the which vnder colour of modifications hath no other aime or drift but to transferre the authority of the Pope the head of the Church to a Successor of HENRY the eight by the examples of his Predecessors he exhorreth him constantly to defend the primacy of the Pope whom he calleth the head of the faith But he sheweth neyther what wordes or clauses in this Oath are contrary to the faith of the Romish Church nor wherefore this Arch-Priest should rather chuse to die then to obliege himselfe by Oath to be loyall to his King in things meerly ciuill and which no way meddle with the Primacy of the Pope and yet this is the onely thing whereof question is made and whereof proose is expected These letters both of the Pope and Cardinall being fallen into the handes of his Maiestie might wel haue kindled the anger of a very patient Prince and haue armed and stirred him vp against those with whom these Papall letters were of more power then eyther their faith to their King or their obedience to God For what Prince can permit in his Kingdome subiects that acknowledge him not or that to retaine
that they should not offer to chuse their Bishop without his commaundement After which Leo the ninth Sigonius pa. 372. Platina In Clemente 11. Nicholas the second Honorius the second were elected according to the same rule Sigonius in the yeare 1064. saith that Hanno the Archbishop gaue Pope Alexander a checke for entring vpon the Papacy without the penalty of Henry the Emperour Quam sedem multos iam per annos nemo nisi a rege probatus ausus esset attingere vnto which seate none saith he for these many yeares hath presumed to approach without the Kings approbation The same Hildebrand which was called Gregory the seuenth the scourge of Emperours was confirmed by Henry the fourth in the yeare 1075. who hauing first dared to incite the Almaines and Italians to reuolt from the Emperour and infinite warres being kindled thereby vnder this Henry and his successors it would be ouer-long to reckon vp how many Popes haue beene degraded and how many Anti-Popes created by the Emperours By which confusion and warlike broils continuing for one hundred or six score yeares the Papacy grew to a farre greater greatnesse then it maintaines at this day for it is within these two or three hundred yeares fallen wel-neare halfe way from the height and State wherein it stood The King of great Britaine hauing alleadged some of these testimonies Mr. Coeffeteau makes after his fashion a superficiall answere and saith That in the beginning it was not so Fol. 16. pag 2 And he saith well for in the beginning the Bishop of Rome medled not with the election of the Emperours hee did not pull downe Kingdomes he imposed no Annates or tyrannous impositions vpon the Clergy hee intermedled not with temporall affaires neither did his Ecclesiastical authority extend farther then the Churches and parishes in the Suburbs that is no farther then the Prouost-ship and Iurisdiction of the Citie of Rome he was not called the Monarch of the world nor the head of the Vniuersall Church nor God vpon the earth nor did he weare a triple Crowne nor made the Kings to kisse his feet nor did he vaunt that he could not erre in matter of faith but as fast as the Emperours did fall so fast did the Popes rise and I assure my selfe that the Pope would rather renounce his succession of S. Peter then the Donation of Charlemaine Secondly Coeffeteau saith That in the first ages the Christian Emperours did not enterprise such matters no not the Constantines or Theodosij Here then wee must learne him some skill in historie Betweene Constantine the great and Theodosius the first Valentinian was Emperour whose royall assent concurred in the election of Ambrose Bishop of Millaine a Prelate more reuerenced at that time then the Bishop of Rome Ruffinus speakes plainely in his second booke the eleuenth chapter The desire of the people being reported to the Emperour hee gaue commandement that their desire should be accomplished Socrates hath the same Lib. 4 cap. 25. The Emperour Theodosius chose Nectarius Bishop of Constantinople for as Sozomen testifieth he commaunded the Bishop to write downe in a paper their names whom they thought worthy reseruing the choyce vnto himselfe and hauing cast his eye ouer the list of such as were named among all the rest hee made choice of Nectarius Now wee are to vnderstand that the Bishop of Constantinople was not then inferiour to the Bishop of Rome in any respect Of which we could produce 780. witnesses to wit those hundred and fiftie Bishops which were in the first Councel of Constantinople vnder Theodosius and the sixe hundred and thirty Bishops in the Councell of Calcedon in which Councels there are expresse Canons to that purpose The third Canon of the Councell of Constantinople speakes in this tenour a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Bishop of Constantines Citie hath prerogatiues of honour next after the Bishop of Rome because it is new Rome Which Canon attributing to the Bishop of Rome priority of rancke not in respect of the See but in regard of the cheife Citie is expounded at large in the Councell of Calcedon in these wordes in the eighteenth Canon b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Fathers haue very rightly giuen the preheminence to the See of auncient Rome because the City was the Seate of the Empire So the hundred and fifty Bishops of the Councell of Calcedon beloued of God moued with the same reasons haue transferred the same preheminence to the seat of c That is to say Constantinople New-Rome thinking it reason that the City honoured with the Empire and with the presence of the Senate and enioying the same priuiledges as ancient Rome being the Seate of the Empire did and being after it the next should in matters Ecclesiasticall haue equall aduancement For then the See of Rome had the precedency without any authority or Iurisdiction aboue the rest iust as one Counseller of State goes before another that is equall in Commission with him This excellent Canon hath beene shamefully falsified in the Romane mane Decree in the Canon Renouantes the two and twentieth Distinction where in stead of Etiam in Ecclesiasticis our Aduersaries haue thrust in Non â—amen in Ecclesiasticis Hereupon I conclude that if Theodosius being at Constantinople had a hand in the election of the Bishop of Constantinople he might as well meddle with the election of the Bishoppe of Rome in case hee should be present in Rome And indeede Coeffeteau confesseth that the Emperour Constantius medled both with the election of Foelix and with the deposing of Liberius Bishop of Rome but he saith that he was an Arrian and that S. Hilarie cal'd him Antichrist which notwithstanding disables not the authority of this example for if Liberius had beene then an Arrian as hee became afterwards no man could haue thought it strange that Constantius had expelled him and aduanced another of the Orthodoxe faith into his roome S. Hilary blamed him not because he medled with the deposing or election of a Bishop but because in Liberius he persecuted the truth which may be as well said of the Kings of the Gothes fauourers of Arrianisme which made and vnmade the Bishop of Rome at their pleasure And it is principally to be considered that the Emperours tooke lesse heede to the choosing of the Roman Bishops as long as they preached the Gospell themselues and were contented with the office of being Pastors of the City of Rome and did not thrust their Ecclesiasticall sicle into the temporall haruest But assoone as they began to speake bigge and to meddle with ciuill affaires and that when matters were doubtfully ballanced they were like a great stone in one of the scales who can wonder if the Emperours bâ—gan then to looke about that none of an aduerse faction were brought in to that See against themselues That which Coeffeteau subioyneth makes nothing to the purpose to wit That the Emperours of the East continued
he combined against the Christians and both together massacred the poore religious men of Bangor and flew no lesse then 1200. of them The same Ethelfred assisted by the petty English Kings to despite the Christians inhabiting the Countrey remoued the Archiepisopall seate from London and translated it to Canterbury where ordinarily he made his residence Now the principall difference betweene the Christians and the Romish faction was about the day of Easter the single life of Priests and the Church-musique processions and Letany after the order of Rome consider further that some of the people were Pelagians for there was no speech then of transubstantiation nor of the Popes grand Pardons and indulgences nor of the Sacrament vnder one kinde nor of such heresies as were hatched in the after ages Whereof we haue sundry witnesses as Amandus Zirixensis in his his Chronicle Beda in the second booke of his Ecclesiasticall History of England Mantuan in fastis and Polydore Virgill Mantuanus Adde quòd Patres ausi taxare Latinos Causabantur eos stulte imprudentur aequo Durius ad ritum Romae voluisse Britannos cogere c. but especially obserue the wordes of Geffery of Monmouth in his eight booke de Britannorum gestis * In patria Britonum adhuc vigebat Christianitas quae ab Apostolorum tempore nunq tam inter eos defece rat Post quam autem venit Augustinus c. In the Countrey of the Brittà nes Christian Religion flourished which neuer failed among them from the time of the Apostles For Austen being arriued there found seuen Bishoprickes and an Archbishopricke in their Prouince all furnished with very religious Prelates and Abbots men that liued by the labour of their hands The King of England produceth also the Statute of Richard the second King of England by which all English-men were forbidden to holde or sue for any Benefice from the Pope which was in the heigth of the Popes vsurpation and this as the greatest part of the booke doth Coeffeteau passe by being content to scratch where he cannot bite CHAP. VIII That they which haue written against the King of great Britaines booke doe vniustly call him Apostata and Hereticke OVR Aduersaries are as open-handed in bestowing titles vpon vs as they are niggardly in giuing any reason of their doings Bellarmines booke vnder the name of Tortus sayth that the King of great Britaine is no Catholique but shewes neyther in what sense nor for what reason and as vniustly doth he call him an Apostata for an Apostata is one that hauing followed doth againe doth forsake the true Religion Now his Maiestie of England hath not forsaken the true Religion inasmuch as hee still maintaineth the same and should his Religion be as hereticall as it is sound and holy yet could he not be called an Apostata because he neuer professed any other Religion He that hath alwayes done euill is not a backeslider from vertue and no man can forsake that which he neuer had Now graunt that hee had beene baptized in the Church of Rome yet it followes not that he therefore receiued their faith that baptized him for the Church of Rome conferring any thing vpon him that is good bindes him not to follow her in that which is euill But because it may be presumed that the Queene his mother being of the Church of Rome might haue giuen him some impressions of that Religion his Maiesty therefore meeteth therewith and testifies that she adhaered not to the grosser superstitions of Poperie and that in the christening of the King her sonne she charged the Archbishop that baptized him not to vse any spittle in the Ceremonies saying that shee would not haue a rotten and pocky Priest to spit in her childes mouth that at her entreaty the late Queene ELIZABETH who was an enemy of Popery was his God-mother and christened him by her Ambassadour that she neuer vrged him by any letters to adhaere to Popery that euen her last words befor her death were that howbeit she were of a diuers Religion yet shee would not presse him to change the Religion he professed vnlesse he found himselfe moued therevnto in his conscience that if he ledde an honest and a holy life if he did carefully administer iustice and did wisely and religiously gouerne the people committed to his care she made then no question but he might and ought to perseuere in his owne Religion By these Demonstrations doth his Maiesty of England prooue that this great Princesse had no sinister opinion of our religion Hereunto Mr. Coeffeteau sayth hee will giue credite for the respect hee beareth vnto the King although it will with great difficulty bee generally perswaded that some Princes allied vnto his Maiestie could shewe some letters to the contrary Which is as much to say that although that which the King sayes be false yet to doe him a pleasure he will beleeue it and so giues him the lye very mannerly as if he should spit in his face doing him reuerence like the Iewes that cryed all haile to our Sauiour when they buffeted him His Encounter should haue had some coulerable matter at the least for what can argue more weakenesse in him then to mention letters that no man euer saw Or what strength hath it to weaken the testimony of a King concerning his own mother For to whom should she haue opened her minde more familiarly then to her sonne Or what wordes are more serious or more vndissemblingly spoken then such as are the last that dying persons doe vtter For then doth the hand of necessity pull off the maske from the deepest dissemblers then is it no time to hide themselues from men when they must mâ—ke their appearaÌ„ce before God But especially she then speaking to her onely sonne with whom to haue dissembled had beene a most iniurious dissimulation and an vnnaturall skill which if it bee blameable in a mother in any part of her life how much more at the time of her death His Maiesty of England being thus cleared from the crime of Apostasie he dooth likewise acquite himselfe from the imputation of heresie which is the ordinary wrong they doe him The word Heresie signifies a Sect by which name the Christian Religion was in auncient time traduced for so the Iewes speake to the Apostle S. Paul in the last of the Acts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as concerning this Sect or heresie We know that it is euery where spoken against And his Maiesty of England may very rightly say with the same Apostle cap. 24. vers 4. This I confes that after the way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they call Heresie I worship the God of my fathers beleeuing all things which are written in the law and the Prophets After which phrase of speech Tertullian and Cyprian doe call the Christian religion a Sect Tertul de Pallio c. 6. Denique etiam diuinae sectae ac disciplinae commercium pallio conferri Cyprianê° l
the Host to be vsed at the Masse 15. Or that the auncient Church hath held the bookes of Machabees for Canonicall 16. Or that the auncient Church hath beleeued that the Bishop of Rome cannot erre in faith 17. Or that the auncient Church hath beleeued that Iesus Christ by his death and sufferinges did clearely discharge vs of the paine and punishment of the sinnes that went before baptisme But as touching the paine of the sinnes committed after baptisme he hath onely changed it from eternall to temporall and that it lyeth in vs to satisfie the iustice of God for the same which is indeede the most important point of all Christian religion For he that would descend to smaller things and demaund of Coeffeteau if in any of the auncients there be mention made of Iubilees of Agnus Dei or holy Graines consecrated Medals of Cordelier-Friars or Iacobins or Iesuites and an infinite sort of religions and new deuotions I beleeue he would finde himselfe terribly puzled In all this as in those other seauenteene points before handled they receiue not the Fathers for Iudges Those auncient Doctors were not yet arriued to any so high point of learning But these messieurs our masters supply and support their ignorance in these matters In other controuersies they admit and receiue the Fathers for Iudges but with this caution and condition that themselues may be Iudges of the Fathers They allow the auncients to be interpreters of the Scriptures But themselues will be the interpreters of the auncients to the end to make them speake thinges contrary to the Scriptures ARTICLE IIII. Touching the authority of the holy Scriptures The KINGS Confession I Thinke also that no man doubteth but that I settle my faith and beleefe vpon the holy Scriptures according to the duty of a Christian Hereat Coeffeteau holdeth his peace and by his silence approueth the confession of the King of England For he doth not allow of the blasphemies which his companions disgorge against the sacred bookes of the word of God He hath not dared to say with Bellarmine Bellar. lib. 4. de verbo non scripto cap. 12. §. Respondeo Scripturae finem propriū praecipuum nō esse vt esset Regula Fidei Dico secundo Scripturam esseregulam Fidei nō totalem sed partialem that the Scripture is but a peece of a Rule and not the whole entire Rule of faith And that it was not properly made to bee the Rule of our faith It may be also that he doth not approue of Bellarmines saying who in his fourth Chapter of the fourth Booke of the word not written saith * Quarto Necesse nosse extare aliquos libros verè diuines quod certè ex sacris Scripturis haheri nullo modo possunt c. that a man cannot know by the testimony of the Scripture that there be any bookes of diuine inspiration albeit the Scripture doth say it and his reason is Because we reade aswell in the Alcoran of Mahomet that the Alcoran was sent from heauen It may be also that Coeffeteau hath not dared in this place to vse the tearmes of Doctor Charron in his booke called La troisiesme veritè where he saith that the Scripture is a Forrest to forrage in where Atheists lie in ambushments and that by reading it a man becommeth an Atheist Thou beleeuest saith he because thou readest so thou art not then a Christian It is cleare then that his Maiesty of England doth yeeld a thousand times more respect to the holy Scriptures then the Church of Rome or the Councel of Trent which ordaineth in the fourth Session that Traditions be receiued with like affection of piety and reuerence with the holy Scripture equalling mens Traditions with Gods diuine ordinances For the Pope hath letters of credit And we must presuppose that besides the new-Testament Iesus Christ hath made a Codicill or little booke which the Pope hath in his priuate custody whence hee draweth the ordinances that are not contained in the Scripture Yet this is but little For Bellarmine goeth farther and saith that Sunt quaedam Traditiones maiores quod ad obligationem quà m quaedam Scripturae That there are some traditions greater in respect of obligation then some partes of Scripture That is to say to which we are more bound to adhere Hauing good hope that in the end we shall see God to become Disciple to the Bishop of Rome ART V. Touching the Canonicall and Apocryphall bookes of Scripture The KINGS Confession In exposit Symboli BVt euen for the Apocrypha I hold them in the same account that the Auncients did They are still printed and bound with our Bibles and publikely read in our Churches I reuerence them as the writings of holy and good men but since they are not found in the Canon we account them to be secundae lectionis or ordinis which is Bellarmines owne distinction and therefore not sufficient whereupon alone to ground any article of faith except it be confirmed by some other place of Canonicall Scripture Concluding this point with Ruffinus who is no Nouelist I hope that the Apocryphall bookes were by the Fathers permitted to be read not for confirmation of Doctrine but only for instruction of the people Here Coeffeteau begins to put himselfe into the field In exposit Symb. we expected him long agoe He bringeth only two testimonies of the auncients and they are both false howbeit not through his fault for the falsification was made by others before him The first testimony is of S. Austen in his second booke of Christian Doctrine cap. 8. where he maketh an enumeration of the Canonical bookes almost agreeably to the Councell of Trent To this testimony hee adioyneth the third Councell of Carthage which also putteth Iudith Tobie the booke of Wisedome Ecclesiasticus and the Machabees among the Canonicall bookes He saith that it is not iust nor fit to alleage the opinions of particulars where question is of the publike faith testified auouched by this Councell In saying so little as this he spendeth three leaues Answere and yet he contradicteth himselfe and condemneth himselfe of iniustice by alleaging S. Austin who is but one particular If he say that S. Austin doth but report that which was the common beleefe I answere that those particular witnesses whom he reiecteth doe report the same also Againe * Tenebit hunc modum in Scripturis Canonicis vt eas quae ab om nibus recipiuntu Ecclesijs Catholicis praeponat eis quas quaedam non accipiunt it is false that S. Austen doth relate the common beleefe for a little before he had said that there are some books among the Canonicall which were not receiued for such of al the Churches Moreouer Coeffeteau hereby contradicteth the Church of Rome who doth not hold the Councels of Carthage for generall Councels nor their Canons for the publike beleefe of the vniuersall Church 1. To cleare this matter then the
Reader shall obserue first that these bookes to wit Tobie Iudith the booke of Wisdome Ecclesiasticus the Machabees they are not found in the Hebrew tongue and consequently they are not in the originall of the old Testament wherein there are but two and twenty bookes 2. Secondly we ought also to know that the Church of the old Testament neuer acknowledged these bookes nor receiued into the Church See Eusebius lib. 8. of his Storie cap. 10 as witnesseth Iosephus in his first booke against Appion 3. Thirdly it is also very considerable that Iesus Christ nor his Apostles who alleaged vpon euery purpose Texts and passages out of the old Testament neuer named any of those bookes nor neuer drew quotation out of any of them 4. Fourthly the chiefe and principall is that in these bookes there be many faults aswell in the Doctrine as in the Storie whereof * In my booke intituled the waters of Siloé cap. 6. we haue elsewhere produced many proofes But let vs heare the testimony of the auncients S. Hierome in his preface vpon the bookes of Salomon speaketh of Ecclesiasticus and of the wisdome of Salomon a Sicut ergo Iudith Tobie Machabaeorum libros legit quideÌ„ Ecclesia sed eos inter Canonicas Scripturas noÌ„ recipit Sic haec duo volumina legat ad aedificationem plâ—bis non ad authoritatem Christianorum dogmatum confirmandam As then the Church doth reade indeede the bookes of Iudith of Tobie and the Machabees but doth not receiue them among the Canonicall Scriptures so let it also reade these two volumes for the edification of the people but not to confirme the faith of the Church He saith the same in his Prologus Galcatus and marke by the way that he saith that it is the beleefe of the Church Sciendum tamen est quod alij libri sunt qui non Canonici sed Ecclesiastici a maioribus appellati sunt vt est SapieÌ„tia Solomonis Ecclesiasticus libellus Tobiae Iudith macabaeo rumâ—libri quae omnia legi quidem in Ecclesiis voluerunt non tamen proferri ad authoritatem ex his fidei confirmandam Praeter istos sunt adâ—uc alij eius dem veteris instrumenti libri non Cononici qui Catechumenis tantum leguntur Sapientia Solomonis c. Amongst the workes of S. Cyprian there is a Treatise which seemeth rather to be the worke of Ruffinus touching the exposition of the Creede There he reckoneth vp the bookes of the old and the new Testament Then he addeth * These are then the bookes which the Fathers haue included in the Cannon or Rule and from which are drawne the proofs of our faith Notwithstanding we must know that there are other bookes which the auncients haue not called Canonicall but Ecclesiasticall bookes as is the wisdome of Salomon Ecclesiasticus Tobie Iudith and the bookes of the Machabees Then he addeth All which they would should be reade in the Church but that they should not be produced to confirme the authority of the faith S. Athanasius in his booke intituled Synopsis nameth al the bookes of the old Testament according to the Hebrew Bible Then he addeth Besides these there are yet other bookes of the old Testament not Canonicall which are not read but to the Catechumeni or Nouices newly taught and catechized such are the wisdome of Salomon the wisdome of Iesus the Sonne of Syrach Iudith Tobit c. Melito Bishop of Sardi as witnesseth Eusebius in his fourth booke of his Hystorie and the fiue and twentith Chapter Origen in Eusebius sixt booke and foure and twentieth chapter S. Hilary in his Preface vpon the Psalter S. Gregory Nazianzen in his verses of the holy Scripture Eusebius lib. 3. of his story cap. 10. Epiphanius in his booke of measures Damascene himselfe though long after in his fourth booke of the Orthodoxe faith cap. 18. And diuers other Fathers make an enumeration of the bookes of the olde Testament and yet do they not put in neyther Iudith nor Tobite nor Ecclesiasticus nor the booke of VVisedome nor the Maccabees But rather all with one consent and accord say that there are but two and twenty bookes in the olde Testament as many as there bee letters in the Hebrew Alphabet And yet further to conuince Coeffeteau let vs heare the very iudgement of him whom they most honour of all the Popes And this is Gregorie the first in his twenty sixe booke of morals vpon Iob cap. 29. where being desirous to alleadge the booke of Maccabees in the fact of Eleazar he excuseth himselfe in these wordes Of which thing we speake not out of reason Qua de re non inordinatè agimus si ex libris si non Canonicis sed ad Ecclesiae aedificationem scriptis testimonia proferimus if we produce the testimonies of bookes not Canonicall but written for the edification of the Church This ought to suffice to represent what was the heleefe of particular men who being assembled together are equiualent to a generallity Howbeit for the more store and the better supply let vs heare the Councels The Councell of Laodicea which was almost about the same time with the first Nicene Councell setteth ouer the last Canon this inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is to say How many bookes there be of the olde Testament that men ought to reade Then it reckoneth vp the number of them as farre as two and twentie Genesis Exodus Leuiticus Numbers Deuteronomie Ioshua Iudges Ruth Hester the Kings or Samuel two bookes of Kings two bookes Paralipomena or the Chronicles Esdras Psalmes Prouerbs Ecclesiastes Canticles Iob the twelue Prophets Esay Ieremy Baruch or the Lamentations and Epistles Ezechiel Daniel But of Tobie or Iudith or the Maccabees c. there is no newes Aboue all it is a thing to be be noted that this Councell of Laodicea is confirmed by the sixt generall Councell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the end of which Councell the Fathers assembled together in the Palace made one hundred and three Canons in the second of which it is said We doe confirme and ratifie the sacred Canons made by our holy Fathers at Laodicea of Phrygia And this was now in the yeare of Iesus Christ 684. I adde the fourth Councell of Carthage which in the Tomes of the Latin Councels which are horribly mangled and falsified hath beene very ill handled For we haue not these Councels in Latine but by the meanes of the Church of Rome who hath deliuered them vnto vs such as she would her selfe But she hath not had that power ouer the Greek Coppies where there is no speech at all of the Maccabees Reade the Greeke Canons of the Councels printed at Paris in the yeare 1540. with a Praeface of Iohn du Tillet and the Canons of Balsamon and you shall finde that which I say to be true But Coeffeteau being content to write as Hunters breake their Fast that is
of Diuinity As touching publique seruice it is certaine that at the celebration of the Eucharist there was commemoration made of the Saints deceased but without inuocating them as S. Austin witnesseth in his two and twentieth booke of the Citie of God chap 10. t Ad quod sacrificium sicut homines Dei qui mundum eius confessione vicerunt fuo loco ordine nominantur Non tamen a sacerdote qui sacrificat inuocantur At this sacrifice the Martyrs as men of God who haue ouercome the world in confessing him are named in their place and in their ranke but They are not Inuocated by the Priest who sacrificeth And to the same end the third Councell of Carthage in the three and twentieth Canon ordayneth very expresly u Cum ad altare assistitur semper ad patrem d rigatur Oratio that when they stand at the Altar the praier be alwayes addressed to God the Father not then to the Saints as they doe now adaies in many Masses In his twentieth booke against Faustus the Manichee x Cap. 21 Colimus martyres eo cultu dilectionis societatis quo in hac vita coluntur sancti homines We honour the Martyrs with the same honour of loue and society wherewith men honor the holy men of God which are in this life True it is that he acknowledgeth that it is with more assurance because they haue surpassed all danger but he alwaies acknowledgeth that it is one and the same kind of honour It is not then to inuocate them or to adore them and it is that seruice which is yeelded to liuing men which he affirmeth to be called Dulia whence it followeth that it is not a religious worship And therfore also in his booke of the true Religion c. 55. y Tom 1 Non sit vobis religio cultus hominum mortuorum quia si pie vixerunt non sic habentur vt tales quaerant honores sed illum a nobis coli volunt quo illuminante laetantur merito sui nos esse consortes Let not the seruice saith he of men departed be your religion if they haue liued holily they are in that state that they craue not these honors And a little after We must honour them for imitation but we must not adore them by any Religion The same Authour in his manuall to Laurentius cap. 114. z Non nisi a Domino Deo petere debemus quicquid speramus nos vel boni operaturos vel pro bonis operibus adepturos We ought not to craue from any other but from God the good which we hope eyther to doe or to procure as a Stipend of our good workes In his booke of Ecclesiasticall Determinations cap. 81. * Secreta cogitationis solus ille nouit ad quem dicitur Tu solus nosti corda filiorum bominum He alone knoweth the secrets of the hearts to whom it is said Thou alone knowest the hearts of the sonnes of men These passages a few amongst many shal suffice for this time against which our aduersaries produce some places drawne out of forged bookes or out of the ill gouerned deuotion of some particular men contrary to the publicke beleefe And if there be any examples found of some few who haue prayed Ad memorias Martyrum before or neere the sepulchres of the Martyrs our aduersaries perswade the ignorant that these prayers were made vnto the Martyrs in stead that they were made vnto God to praise him for the assistance giuen vnto the Martyrs and to craue of God the like grace Aboue all it is considerable that Coeffeteau doth touch but the half of the question and wardeth but halfe the blows for he endeuoreth to proue that we must inuocate the Saints which is but a litle peece of the abuse For the Church of Rome doth not stay there she craueth of God saluation not onely through the intercession of the Saint but also through their merites Quorum precibê° meritisque rogamê° Which is not to goe to God by the Saints but contrariwise to lead God to the Saints and to represent him their merites This is also to pray vnto God with an indiscretion which would be accounted impudent in speaking to a King If any man should aske him a fauour or benefite for the merites of another And this so vnworthy a prayer is accompanied with a superstitious iesture Oramus te Domine per merita Sanctorum quorum relliquiae hic sunt omnium sanctorum vt indulgere digneris omnia pâ—ccata mea when the Priest bowing himself ouer the Altar saith We pray thee O Lord by the merites of the Saints whose reliques are here for euery Altar is a Tombe and generally of all the Saints that thou wilt vouchsafe to pardon all my sinnes Of such a prayer Coeffeteau hath not been able to produce any example No more then of this damnable opinion which holdeth that the merites of the Saints doe serue to fill vp the measure of the merites of Iesus Christ Lib. 1 de Indulg cap 4. in that being adioyned to the merites of Iesus Christ and put together into the treasurie of the Church they are employed by the Pope for the redemption and discharge of the punishment of our sinnes whence also it is that Cardinall Bellarmine saith that in some sort they are our redeemers How comes it to passe that Coeffeteau holdeth his peace hereat and alleadgeth not any father and hath forgotten to excuse the Priest who in his Confiteor which he saith at the entrance of the Masse confesseth his sinnes to God to the Virgin Marie to Michael th'arch-Angell and to the Saints but not to Iesus Christ ARTICLE IX Touching Masses without Communicants and without Assistants BVt if the Romish Church hath coyned new Articles of faith The KINGS Confession neuer heard of in the first 500. years after Christ I hope I shall neuer be condemned for an Hereticke for not being a Nouelist Such are the priuate Masses where the Priest playeth the part both of the Priest and of the people If euer man turned his backe and shamefully fledde it is Coeffeteau in this place We expected from him the defence of priuate Masses by the word of God or at least that he should haue produced vnto vs the practise of the auncient Church or some examples of priuate masses in the first fiue hundred yeares after Iesus Christ seeing that the King of great Britain doth limit him to that terme but of all this not a word But rather he turneth aside his Discourse casteth himselfe vpon the sacrifice of the masse Fol. 22. pag. 1. heaping vp many passages of the Fathers who cal the Eucharist a sacrifice He saith onely that it is not necessary that a sacrifice be offered by many that in times past the greatest sacrifice of the Synagogue was done by the high Priest alone in the holy of holies that the fathers in many places called the
doth not employ any creature to be presented vnto his Father to call Christ by the name of good things yea of things which God createth and doth alwayes blesse and sanctifie this is to mocke Iesus Christ who cannot bee called by the name of good things that God createth not nor alwaies sanctifieth And yet to offer these things by Iesus Christ that is to say to offer Christ by Christ is to be vtterly voyde of all sense Now to know what the Father 's beleeued in this point we must search the places where they doe expresly speake thereof The nineteenth chapter of S. Austines booke of faith ad Petrum Diaconum handles no other matter where thus he saith The Vniuersall Church throughout the world ceaseth not to offer a Sacrifice of bread and wine in faith and charity In isto autem sacrificio gratiarū actio atque commemoratio est carnis Christi quam pro nobis obtulit sanguinis quem pro nobis idem Deus effudit for in the carnall Sacrifices of the old Testament there was a representation of the flesh of Christ which he himselfe being without sinne was to offer for our sinnes and of the blood which he was to shed for the remission of our sinnes But in this Sacrifice of the Eucharist there is a giuing of thankes and a commemoration of the flesh of Christ which he hath offered for vs and of the blood which the same God hath shed for vs. Obserue that he saith that this is a sacrifice of bread and wine therefore not a sacrifice where the flesh of Christ is really sacrificed Aboue all this word of Wine is full of force for the bloud of the Lord was neuer called Wine Againe he saith that it is a sacrifice of thankesgiuing and of commemoration but not of propitiation or redemption The same Father in the three and twentieth Epistle to Boniface saith When Easter approacheth we say thus to morrow or after is the passion of the Lord howbeit he suffered so many yeares since and that this passion was but once indeede vpon the Saboath we say to day the Lord rose againe although so many yeares be past since the resurrection Why is there no body so vaine is to reproue vs for lying when we speake thus But because we name those dayes according to the resemblance which they haue with the daies wherin these things were done so that this day is called the same day which is not the same but resembling the same by the reuolution of time Was not Christ once sacrificed by himselfe and yet is he sacrificed vnto the people in a sacred signe not onely at euery solemnity of Easter but also euery day neyther doth he lie who being asked makes answere that he is sacrificed For if the Sacraments haue not some resemblance with the things whereof they are Sacraments they should be no Sacraments Now because of this resemblance they doe most commonly take the names of the thinges themselues This place ought very heedfully to be considered He sheweth how Iesus Christ is sacrificed in the Sacrament and doth illustrate the same by two examples to wit that it is all one as when we say two daies before Easter to day is the passion of Iesus Christ and when vpon the Saboath we say to day is the resurrection of Iesus Christ not that it is so indeede but because of the resemblance and commemoration for that the Sacraments take the names of the things signified Agreeable whereunto is the Canon Hoc est taken out of S. Austin in the second Distinction of the consecration Non rei veritate sed significante mysterio the offering of the flesh which is done by the handes of the Priest is called the passion the death and crucifixion NOT IN TRVTH BVT IN A SIGNIFYING MYSTERIE In like manner as the Sacrament of faith by which we vnderstand baptisme is the faith The same Doctor in the booke of Sentences gathered by Prosper alleadged in the same Distinction saith that Iesus Christ hath beene sacrificed but once by himselfe and yet he is continually sacrificed in a holy signe He is not then sacrificed by himselfe or in his owne person in the Eucharist For stronger confirmation whereof the auncient Glosses of the Church of Rome doe adde this marginall note Christus immolatur id est eius immolatio representatur fit memoria passionis Christ is sactificed that is his sacrifice is represented and the commemoration of his passion is solemnized Crysostome in the seuenteenth Homily vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after hee hath said that that which we offer is a figure of the sacrifice addeth these decyding wordes of that difference We alwaies offer the same sacrifice or rather we make a commemoration of that Sacrifice Herein doth it especially appeare that the auncients beleeued not that the body of Christ was really sacrificed included vnder the formes forasmuch as their opinion was that the sacrifice was sanctified by the offerers that it was pure according to the purity of the persons that offered Now Iesus Christ is neyther sanctified nor purified by men S. Austin against Petilian lib. 2. cap. 52. Such as euery one is that commeth to commenicate Tale cuiusq sacrificium quale est is qui accedit vt sumat omnia munda mundis such is his sacrifice to the pure all things are pure The first that directly handled this question at large was Lombard lib. 4. Dist 12. in the letter G. where he resolues this question by the wordes of S. Austin and S. Ambrose in these words If any aske whether that which the Priest doth he properly called a sacrifice or an offering or whether Christ be continually sacrificed or hath beene sacrificed but once whereunto we may shortly answere that that which is offered and consecrated by the Priest is called a Sacrifice and an oblation because it is the memory and representation of the true sacrifice and of the offering made vpon the Altar of the Crosse Christ died once vpon the Crosse and hath beene once sacrificed in person but he is continually sacrificed in the Sacrament because in the Sacrament there is a commemoration made of that which is once done Wherefore Austin saith that we are sure that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more yet for feare that we should forget that which was done but once it is done euery yeare for our remembrance to wit at all times and as often as Easter is celebrated is Christ therefore slaine so often No BVT ONELY the anniuersary commemoration representeth that which is already done Obserue this word Onely that none doe say the Eucharist is indeede the commemoration of the sacrifice of the Crosse but because Christ ceaseth to be really sacrificed Besides it is not compatible that a thing should be a representation of it selfe and that in the same action there should be both the signe and the thing
Carmeli alumnus disputauit has Theses sub auspicijs sapientissimi Domini nostri Bartolomaei Girart Nauarrici as the Carmelite Friers which haue this priuiledge of being in Purgatory no longer then the Saterday following their departure Which priuiledge the Carmelites of Paris haue lately published in certaine Theses printed oct o Octobris 1601. And Doctor Cayer stoutly defends this priuiledge in his booke intituled Le four de Reuerbere to the end whereof the Carmelite Doctors haue adioyned their subscriptions Those also which die immediately after they haue beene at the Iubile goe not at all into Purgatorie and those which the Pope exempteth by his Indulgences from this purging fire are excepted from the rule of the Gospell which saith Of a truth thou shalt not depart thence vntill thou hast paide the vttermost farthing This purging being ended then the soules after a little refreshing taken in the fielde of Flowers which is of one side goe directly into Paradice In the time of Gregory the first sixe hundred years after Christ this Purgatory was in another place for the said Pope in the fourth of his Dialogues placeth the Purgatory of some soules in Bathes of others vnder the leaues of trees and some vnder ice Petrus Damianus speakes of a soule that had his Purgatory in a Riuer and it is to be presumed that to wash himselfe the cleaner he went against the streame of the water The first Councell of the Romish Church that contriued this matter of Purgatory into an Article of faith was the Florentine Councell in the last Session held in the yeare 1439. where it was decreede against the Greeke Churches which denied and doe still denie this fire that a Purgatorie must be beleeued indeede former Councels do speake of prayer for the dead but we shall proue that this prayer that hath beene vsed for the dead doth make against this Purgatory The decision of this difference by the word of God 1 IN the first place it is to bee wondered that God who in his law appointed sacrifices and expiations for all sorts of sinnes and pollutions euen for the leaprosie issues of blood and the touching of the dead that he ordained neither expiation nor sacrifice nor satisfaction for soules in Purgatorie The faithfull in those dayes wept ouer the dead but neuer mingled their teares with prayers for their deliuerance from this fire Did God suffer the faithfull then to make a compleat and full satisfaction Had he then lesse care for his children then he hath now Had he then no priuiledged Altar Had he then no worship for the dead Had he then no Church-treasurie wherinto the Priests might gather the satisfactions of Noah or Abraham to giue some parte thereof to these roasted soules There appeares no such matter or that God had yet bethought himselfe of it And yet the Church had continued foure thousand yeares when Christ came into the world for touching that in the twelfth chapter of the second of Maccabees besides that wee haue proued in the fift Article that the booke is Apocryphall we shall hereafter see that the prayer for the dead which is there mentioned makes against Purgatory 2 In the Gospell and the writings of the Apostles there is no shew of this matter no Indulgences graunted for the dead no prayer for any departed nor any commaundement to pray for them nor any colour whereby it may be gathered that the soules of the faithfull are yet in torments 3 Contrariwise we finde many examples of men that by death haue entred into Paradice and haue beene gathered to their Fathers in peace good old Simeon was promised that he should depart in peace after that he had seene the Messias Luke 2. Saint Paul saith that after he had fought a good fight there was nothing left for him but to receiue a Crowne of glory 2. Tim 4. The soule of Lazarus Luke 16. was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome where he was comforted while the wicked rich man was tormented but of going in or comming out of Purgatory there is nothing spoken Christ saith vnto the good theefe To day shalt thou be with me in Paradice then hee went not to Purgatory for first his faith could not deserue this priuiledge for hee had no other faith then that which Christ gaue him for it can be no merite to receiue grace from God Secondly And he that giues Paradise to him that had but a weake faith doth consequently say that if wee haue a strong faith in Christ wee shall not goe to Purgatorie Thirdly besides no vertues can be satisfactory punishments but should rather mitigate the penalty so then faith which is a vertue cannot satisfie the iustice of God which requireth punishment satisfactory Fourthly if any shal cal this a priuiledge to be exempted from Purgatory he is bound to produce some other examples to prooue that others doe ordinarily goe into Purgatory Fiftly Againe the torments which he then suffered could not be his Purgatorie for our aduersaries say that this satisfaction must be voluntary and done with a purpose to satisfie God Now this theefe was brought to his punishment against his will and had no intention to satisfie Gods iustice to free himselfe from Purgatory Sixtly and lastly there is no proportion betweene the bodily paines of a few howers and a fire that lasteth thousands of yeares out of all peraduenture Purgatory was crucified with this theefe 4 The Angell of the Lord Apoc. 14.13 saith thus Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord Amen So saith the spirit that they rest from their labors and their workes follow them If they rest from their labours they doe not frie in a burning fire He that shall read the whole chapter will confesse that hee speakes not onely of Martyrs who are not mentioned in any part thereof but of those that keepe the commaundements of God and the faith of Iesus For if Martyrs alone die in the Lord in whom do the rest of the faithfull die 5 The Prophet Esay cap. 57. v. 1 2. saith that the righteous is taken away from the euil to come and that he resteth in peace S. Paul 2. Cor. 5.1 saith that if our earthly Tabernacle bec destroyed wee haue an house eternall in the heauens And the Apostle Heb. 9. saith that it is appointed for all men to die once and after that commeth the iudgement Why then doe they forget to mention Purgatory which is betweene them both 6 In the eighteenth chapter of Ezechiel God saith that if the wicked shall turne from his sinnes which he hath committed hee will no more remember his iniquities is this to remember them no more to plague them with a long and burning fire and to make the sinner pay the vttermost farthing 7 In the twentieth of S. Matthew all the labourers which wrought in the Lords Vineyard receiued their salary at the end of the day which is this life and when they had done their worke But the Church of
is that the Fathers being so vnresolued in this point and so tainted with erronious opinions which our aduersaries reiect as well as we they are no way fit to be Iudges to decide this matter 2. The other is that the prayers which they make for the dead are condemned by the Church of Rome seeing that it receiueth no other prayer for the dead but that which is made to ease the soules in Purgatorie and by consequent also doth reiect the prayers of the Auncients for the resurrection and refreshing of the soules that lie and sleepe in their supposed receptacles As also the prayers vsed in the auncient Church for the Saints and Martyrs Whence the Reader may informe his iudgement with what care and circumspection the Fathers ought to be read seeing it is so hard a matter to vnderstand their termes and to finde out their meaning But we now liue in an admirable age in which all the world is become learned without study and in which they who scarcely vnderstand their Pater noster speake of the Fathers both Greeke and Latine with an incredible assurance Among these such men as Coeffeteau is doe easily beare sway and do Lesson and Lecture them at large See here a notable proofe hereof which we haue not hitherto touched Coeffeteau alleadgeth this passage out of S. Austin Pol. 71. pag. 2. de Ciuit. Dei lib. 21. cap. 16. Let no man thinke that there are any Purgatorie paines but such as be before the last and fearefull iudgement These words seeme very plaine and such as may easily make an ignorant man to rest vpon them but the iugling cousenage is manifest for if hee had but turned the leafe he should haue found that S. Austen speaketh of such purgatory and expiatory paines as a man suffereth in this life and before his death We confesse saith he that in this mortall life there be certaine purging paines Nos vero etiam in hac quidem morrali vita esse quasdam poenas purgatorias cimfitemur non ijs qui affliguntur quorum vita non inde fit melior vel polê° inde fit peior sed illis sunt purgatoriae qui illis coerciti corriguntur but they are purgatiue onely to those who being chastised and exercised by them they become bettered and amended thereby And cap. 26. The FIRE OF AFFLICTION shal burne away such delights and earthly loues as are not condemnable by reason of the bond of Matrimony To which fire also belong the losse of friends and kinsfolke and all other calamities which take away these things from vs. Yea the very next lines before this place cyted by Coeffeteau shew that he speaketh of a clensing done in the life present for hee saith Hee that desireth to escape the euerlasting paines let him not onely be baptized but also let him be iustified that so by forsaking the diuell he may betake himselfe to Christs side Hereunto he will haue certaine purging paines to be added without waiting for the day of iudgement So likewise S. Cyprian lib. 4. Epist 2. calleth that affliction of an offendor whom the Church doth for a long time detaine among the Penitents a purging fire But aboue all S. Austens irresolution in this matter is very considerable who sometimes as in the sixteenth chapter before alleadged saith that besides the Purgatory-paines of this life there are others after this life sometimes as chapt 26. hee saith that he doubteth whether it be so or no and it may be that it is true In many other places hee saith plainely that there is none at all and that the soules are in an instant transported into heauen ARTICLE XXII Of Anarchy and of the degrees of superiority in the Church AFter the refutation of so many abuses the King of great Britaine setteth downe for the shutting vp of his confession the Article of the Monarchy of the Church and of the primacy of the Pope the which his Maiesty affirmeth to be the cheefe of all other Controuersies and indeede vppon iust cause for all other errors serue to vphold this superstition helpeth to support tyranny Other pointes there are but this is that for which we dispute Whosoeuer shal examine al our Controuersies with a iudgement not forestalled nor pre-occupied shall finde that euery errour is a pillar of the Popes Empire and a prop of his Dominion and that the Articles of Faith haue beene skilfully bended and fitted to the aduantage of his Holinesse To this may be also added that if the Pope cannot erre in the decision of doubts the case is then cleare without further difficulty Neyther shall it be needefull hereafter to assemble Councels nor to search into Scriptures but onely to consult this Papall Oracle and so to content our selues with what it determineth It is therefore vpon iust cause that his Maiesty saith this point is the principall Controuersie and therefore insisteth vpon it more then vpon any other and therein displayeth the admirable ability of his wit of which I confesse I am rather a learner then a defender hauing first learned to speake of him before I did speake for him But before he entreth into the matter he saith that to haue Bishops in the Church is an Apostolique Institution and appointed by God and saith that he hath alwayes abhorred Anarchie and that in heauen the blessed spirits are distinguished by diuers degrees and that the very diuels themselues are digested and parted into Legions and haue their Princes that by the same reason no humane society can subsist without this order and difference in degrees and thereupon complayneth of certain turbulent persons that haue persecuted him euen from his mothers wombe pursuing his death before he entred into life But who these persons were that with so hasty murther would not haue expected his birth it is best knowne vnto his Maiesty and it is not to bee doubted but they haue beene punished according to the lawes And for such any punishment is too little But it is true that there is nothing so turbulent as an Anarchy in which there is no Master because euery one is such a one where euery one by being too free becommeth a slaue for in a State it is better to be vnder an ill Master then vnder none at all and Tyrannie is more tollerable then such a freedome which vnder the title of liberty introduceth licentiousnesse and this licentiousnesse bringeth in extreame seruitude So is it in Families and Common-wealths in Armies yea euen amongst the Angels themselues yea if we discend to Bees and Cranes wee see not these meaner creatures without a naturall pollicy and a kinde of superioritie The Church is no way exempt from this order in which God hath established Pastors and Bishops and aboue them Assemblies which the auncient Church called Synodes and Councels of which it is likewise necessary that some one should be President to direct and order the businesses But if one demaund what differences of degrees these should be
first if the Pope may erre in the question of fact it followeth also that he may erre in the question of Right seeing that the one dependeth vpon the other if he may be ignorant whether Iesus Christ came into the world or whether hee died for vs he may also be ignorant whether we ought to beleeue in him or no. So likewise if he may erre in maners it followeth that he may teach false doctrine for to lie and to speake against his conscience is certainly a defaillance in manners If then the Pope cannot be ignorant of the true doctrine and yet through malitiousnesse will bury the truth wilfully to deceiue to what end serueth this truth hidden in the Popes vnderstanding if the people in the meane time be fed with lies But this is an absurdity aboue the rest to thinke that the Pope may erre as man or as a particular Doctor but not as Pope for why doth not the Pope correct the doctor Or when Pope Boniface or Clement doe erre as Boniface but not as Pope why doth not Boniface aske counsell of the Pope why dooth hee not consult himselfe why doth he not betake himselfe from his priuate chaire to the Popes Seate to the end to change his opinion If the Popes diuine knowledge be tyed to his Chaire or Papall habite it followeth that when he riseth from his seat or putteth off his Robes Titulo 2. de Constitutionib cap. licet in 6. that withall he strippeth himselfe out of his knowledge And that Boniface the eight was to blame to inclose the Popes knowledge in his breast Shall we thinke that these men haue a desire to be credited and that by these pleasant distinctions they do not mocke the Pope Put the case that all this may be reconciled and that the Pope may be contrary to himselfe and worse then himselfe and at one instant both Hereticke and an Orthodox what doth all this auaile the people seeing that in what sort soeuer the Pope teacheth whether as Pope or as Doctor he will alwayes be beleeued Neyther can the people discerne these subtle Distinctions Neyther may wee omit that the Pope vpon Maundy Thursday doth excommunicate all Heretickes whence it should follow that if himselfe be an hereticke as man he is also excommunicate and consequently is out of the Church and so it should come to passe that the man may be out of the Church but the Pope be within it which is as if I should say that the King at the same instant is within his Palace as King but without it as man or that Coeffeteau is at the same time in the Refectory or dyning-hall as Fryer and without as man so that a man shall finde him in two places at once It was then a great vnhappinesse to the auncient Fathers to haue beene ignorant of this Distinction and to haue assembled so many Councels so long and so painful for the deciding of differents in Religion seing that they needed only to haue addressed themselues to the Bishop of Rome and to intreate him not as man or as Doctor but as Pope to pronounce the sentence giue decision of the Controuersie Whence also it followeth that then the Popes had but small zeale to the publique good of the Church seeing that they refused to be present at generall Councels which were the speciall places in which they ought to haue put on this their Infallibility As also when the Romane Bishop had giuen his aduise by his Deputies the Councels did not forbeare for all that to sound and examine the matter to the bottome and to heare the opinions of others Howbeit Coeffeteau produceth this Scripture to shew that the Pope cannot erre he saith that our Lord said to S. Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy faith should not faile Whence he concludeth that the Pope cannot erre in faith Surely wee haue no greater proofe of the patience of God then that he suffreth his holy word thus to be abused for first is there any mention here of the Pope Is all that that was spoken to S. Peter spoken also to the Bishop of Rome If that be so then must we needes say that that which our Sauiour said to Peter Mat. 16. he said also to the Pope Get thee behinde me Sathan Secondly adde that which wee will hereafter shew that the Pope is not the Successour of S. Peter vnlesse it be as sickenesse succeedeth health Thirdly and albeit this had beene spoken to the Pope yet by these words Christ doth not promise to S. Peter that he should not erre at all in faith for it is one thing not to faile another thing not vtterly to fall away There be many that misse and faile but yet doe they not wholly miscarrie whence ensueth that though Christ should haue prayed for the Pope that his faith should not vtterly faile yet can he not for all that be exempted from power of erring Fourthly if the Successors of S. Peter enter also vpon this vertue of his neuer to erre then should the Bishop of Antioch who stileth himselfe Peters Successor be exempted also from erring Fiftly seeing that Saint Iohn S Paul S. Iames c. were no lesse exempted from this power of erring then was S. Peter why should not their Successours inherite the infallibility of the rest of the Apostles as well as the Successors of S. Peter Sixtly but without any more adoe let vs looke vpon the place and reade with one breath the verses following and we shall finde that Christ in that place did foretell to S. Peter his fall and deniall and promiseth that his faith should not vtterly be vanquished in that temptation that was then personall and peculiar to S. Peter yet so that our Sauiour would haue his fall and rising againe to serue to confirme his brethrē Here by the way the Reader may note that this Passage and Text of Scripture is the onely foundation that the Church of Rome can finde to prop vp the Popes infallibility which is as if a man would plant and reare vp an huge Colossus vpon Reedes or from a thing of nothing to make a long chaine of Consequences to depend Wherefore Coeffeteau being put off from Scripture he hath recourse to the Fathers and saith that S. Cyprian is bold to say that the Church of Rome is that to which treachery and false hood can haue no accesse Cyprian thereby vnderstands that it cannot be the refuge of perfidious men neyther can they be receiued there to finde shelter which is true of euery Orthodox Church for Cyprian varied from the Bishop of Rome vpon the poynt of Rebaptization of heretickes which is an euident proofe that he did not beleeue that the Bishop of Rome could not erre and indeede in the Epistle to Pompeius written after that which Coeffeteau alleadgeth he saith that Stephen Bishop of Rome was in an errour Stephani errorē denotabis inter caetera vel superuacanea vel ad rem
booke against Iouinian The Church saith he is founded vpon S. Peter albeit in an other place the same is also built vpon the other Apostles and the strength thereof is equally grounded vpon them all Vnica est faelix fidei pâ—tra Petri ore confessa Hilary in his second booke of the Trinity It is the only blessed stone of the faith confessed by the mouth of S. Peter And in his sixth booke Vpon this Rocke of the Confession the Church is founded S. Ambrose vpon the nine and thirtieth Psalme Quod Petro dicitur caeteris Apostolis dicitur That which was said vnto S. Peter was said vnto the rest of the Apostles also Cyril in his fourth booke of the Trinity expounding the same place saith Opinor per Petram nihil aliud quam inconcussam fir misâ—mam discipuli fidem voluit I thinke that by the Rocke was nothing else meant but the firme and constant faith of the Disciple S. Augustine in his 124. Treatise vpon S. Iohn expounding these wordes Super hanc ergo petram quam confessus es aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Petra enim erat Christus Quid est supra hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Super hanc fidem Super id quod dictum est Tues Christus filiê° Dei viui Bellar. lib. 1. cap. 10. § Addo Augustinum ex sola ignorantia Hebreae linguae deceptum esse faith Vpon this Rocke that thou hast canfessed will I found my Church And vpon the Epistle of S. Iohn his 10. Treatise and 60. Sermon vpon the wordes of our Lord What meaneth this Vpon this Rocke will I build my Church Surely thus much is meant Vpon this faith vpon this that hath beene said Thou art that Christ the Sonne of the liuing God And forasmuch as he had said in other places that the Church was founded vpon Peter he recalleth himself in his first book of retractations cap. 21. Because saith he that Iesus Christ said not vnto him Tu es petra Thou art the Rocke But Tu es Petrus Thou art Peter Now this Rocke saith he is Christ Which Bellarmine vnable to denie thought it better to affirme that Augustine erred for want of knowledge in the Hebrew tongue Chrysostome vpon Matth. 16 Vpon this Rocke that is vpon the faith of this confession And in this Sermon vpon the Pentecost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath said vpon this Rock and not vpon Peter for he hath not founded his Church vpon men but vpon faith and what faith was this Thou art Christ c. Eusebius Emissenus in his homily vpon the Natiuity of S. Peter expoundeth these wordes in this manner I will build my Church vpon that stone which thou beginnest to lay in the Foundation of faith vpon that faith which thou teachest saying Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God For the Apostle agreeing with this opinion saith That none can lay any other Foundation then that that is laid Iesus Christ What say the Councels hereunto In the Councell of Calcedon Super hanc confessionem robora ta est Ecclesia Dei fidem pag. 223. of the Edition of Collen vpon this Confession which Peter hath made and vpon that faith is the Church grounded Super hanc petraÌ„ id est super meipsuÌ„ qui significor per petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Nay the Glosse of the Canon-Doctors themselues vpon the goodly extrauagant Vnam sanctam saith Super hanc petram id est super meipsum qui significor per petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Vpon this Rocke that is to say vpon my selfe that am the Rocke and am signified by the Rocke will I found my Church Reade the exposition of Lyranus vpon Matth. 16. for it agreeth fully with this and setteth it downe in expresse termes But it may be Coeffeteau alleadgeth this passage or sentence because it saith I will giue thee the keyes of the Kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou bindest on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt lose on earth shall be losed in heauen By the Kingdome of God the Gospell ordinarily doth vnderstand the Church of God vpon earth and consequently the Keyes of the Kingdome of God signifie the Church to bring men into the Church or exclude them from it This is cheefly done by preaching the word of God which our Lord for that cause Luc. 11. calleth the key of knowledge vnto which Preaching is annexed the power of admitting sinners to repentance and to the peace of the Church when they are come to receiue the word and submit themselues vnto it or if they are impenitent to shut them out from the communion of the faithfull This same power is signified by the wordes of binding and losing for wee are naturally in the bondes of Sathan but the preaching of the Gospel freeth and deliuereth vs when by faith we apprehend it by which the children of Abraham are vnbound whom Sathan hath fettered Luc. 13. ver 16. And if any man oppose himselfe against this word either by vnbeleefe or of a prophane humor by the same preaching first generally propounded and after particularly applied to the impenitent sinner by Ecclesiasticall censure the iudgements of God and his curse are denounced vnto him the which holdeth the sinner bound and are vnto him as chaines by which Sathan leadeth him captiue and draweth him with an insensible violence into perdition vnlesse by his earnest repentance hee free himselfe of those bonds and returne to God Here then Iesus Christ sheweth that God ratifieth in heauen both the reception of a repenting sinner and the reiecting of him that is impenitent and willeth that during his obstinacy by which he dispiseth the Church he be held as a Publican and an heathen Matth. 18.17.18 We are then to learne whether this power was giuen to S. Peter alone or to all the Apostles I say that that which was promised to S. Peter Matth. 16. was also promised to all the Apostles the eighteenth of the same Euangelist ver 18. Verily I say vnto you that whatsoeuer you shall binde vpon earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you shall lose vpon earth the same shall be losed in heauen 2 Assuredly it is a most ridiculous presumption to thinke that any man now adayes doth better vnderstand the wordes of Iesus Christ then the Apostles did But it is more then euident that the Apostles did neuer suppose that by these wordes of Christ any superiority was giuen to S. Peter for had they so beleeued they would neuer after that haue contended amongst themselues for preheminence as they did Luke 22. but one day before the death of our Lord. 3 Aboue all things this is to be noted that Iesus Christ doth not here giue vnto Peter the power of binding and losing but only promiseth to giue it him which he performed after his resurrection Iohn 20. in which place he giueth like power to all his Disciples saying Receiue yee
the Bishops of the world We graunt then willingly that the auncient Bishops of Rome before the corruption of Doctrine and vsurpation of the Monarchie in the Church were successors of S. Peter in the Bishoppricke of Rome onely euen as the Bishop of Corinth was successor to S. Paul but withall we adde this that through the corruption of Doctrine which hath by little little crept into the Church of Rome euery age hauing added and contributed thereunto hee is now wholy and iustly falne from that succession For he may not in no wise be called Peters successor who oppugneth the Doctrine preached by S. Peter and who in the Chaire of verity doth establish a lie The Turke may not bee called successor to the Emperour of Greece albeit he be seated in his place seeing that he is rather his subuerter I would haue one shew me that euer S. Peter preached any other purgatory then the bloud of Iesus Christ or any other satisfaction to the iustice of God then his obedience any other sacrifice propitiatory then his death That euer he gaue pardons for an hundred thousand yeares or drew soules out of Purgatory with buls and indulgences that he euer degraded Emperours that he tooke away from the people the reading of the holy Scriptures or the Communion of the Cup or that he commaunded the worshipping of Images and publique Seruice to bee said in an vnknowne tongue or that he euer constrayned other Bishops to take from him letters of Inuestiture and to pay vnto him Annates Or that euer S. Peter was called God on earth the Spouse of the Church and caused himselfe to be worshipped or that euer he sung Masse or commaunded the Host to be adored or that euer he left off preaching the Gospell or quitted the Crosier-staffe to take vnto him a triple Diaderne If I say they can shew me that S. Peter euer did these things then though the Pope were Bishop but of one Village alone I will willingly acknowledge him for S. Peters Successor but still in the Bishopricke only and not in the Apostleship which ended in his person and is not deriued vnto his Successors in particular Churches THus doth the confession of the King of Englands faith remain firme and vnshaken against which Coeffeteau hath armed himselfe with humane testimonies being vtterly destitute of any authority out of the booke of God For as they that are ready to drowne catch hold on any thing so these men in a desperate cause embrace all defences but least of all those that be good Againe whatsoeuer this Doctor alleadgeth out of the Fathers is found to be eyther false or clipt or vtterly counterfeit This payment is not currant especially to such a Prince who hath consecrated his penne to the defence of the truth But this is not to be imputed to Coeffeteaus disability but to the vnlawfulnesse of the cause vnto which we haue in such sort satisfied as whosoeuer shall examine my worke he shall finde an answere to Bellarmines booke also which he hath not long since made against the said booke of the King of great Britaine with more weakenesse and lesse dexterity then Coeffeteau hath done There remayneth the last part of his Maiesties booke wherein with a straine of admirable wit assisted by the spirit of God hee openeth the booke closed with seuen seales and piercing into the secrets of sacred Prophesies he findeth in the seat of Rome the full accomplishment of the Apocalyps When hate and bitternesse shall be extinguished through time Posterity shall admire both the worke and the person and looking backe into ages past for the like patterne shall not be able to finde any thing to be compared with it We will not feare then to enter into these darkenesses vnder so great a guide for it is hard eyther to stumble or to stray where so faire a Torch doth light and shine before vs. But we must here take breath a while before we enter into this taske For the sudden death of our King like a great cracke of Thunder benummeth our handes with astonishment and troubleth our spirits with griefe and anguish Let vs then giue place to necessity and leaue to write that we may haue leisure to lament and let Posterity carefully bethinke it selfe of remedies and hold it for a thing most certaine that hee that setteth light by his owne life is master of another mans and that there is nothing so forcible to make vs to contemne our owne liues as this new doctrine which by the murther of Kings openeth the way to the Kingdome of heauen FINIS Faults necessarily to bee corrected The first number noteth the Page the second the Line The letter R. standeth for Reade L. signifieth the line in the same PAGE PAge 13.25 r. Siloe 14.20 r. Enfant 17.19 r. Armies l. 24. r. these 20.15 r. villanies 42.13 for that r. as l. 19. r. State 49.25 r. things that appeare are more feared c. 56. l. vlt. r retorted 62.2 r. infinity of businesses 71.3 for or r. and. 74.2 r. differents 79.24 r. in the Bookes of the Acts and Charters 81.1 r. See and in the margent paulum annixus 82.1 r. whom l. 3 r. giue it l. 20. r. Ostia 84.25 r. deuolued 90.27 r. Ruota 91.4 r. fifth part or fifth penny 95.14 blot out he l. 25. r. Distinction 97.23 for alleadged r. already 99.18 make it 560.100.26 r. no wayes for now adayes 101.24 for take r. make 102 17. r. aboue 104.24 for Sinnes r. Summes 106.25 r Bellisarius 107.20 r. Conon 108.4 r. debonnaire l. 7. for to r. doe 110.1 for penalty r. priuity 119.12 Consiglio l. 17. r. retchlesse 125.7 for which is r. with l. 11. r. 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