to haue named the Pope rather then to vse such a circumlocution of words for you must not doubt but that he is that Visible head whom he meanes Now it deserues a Quare why the Church being but one body should need two Heads Why being but one Monarchy it cannot consist without two Monarchs To say that one is a visible the other an invisible the one a principall the other a ministeriall head it is all one in effect as if they told vs of two Christs a visible and an invisible perhaps in time to come the world may heare of some such matter if this doctrine goe on In reason they ought to make two Churches because the body must bee multiplied according to the multiplication of the heads we are sure that Christ now in heauen is every way as able to governe his Church by himselfe as he was while he lived vpon earth if in regard of his bodily absence they thinke it necessary that he should leaue some deputie behind him Neither doth this hang well together with some other popish Positions for by their doctrine Christ is not so ascended into heauen but that they haue his body as they say remaining still among them vpon earth and that not only in a spirituall manner but most really and carnally They haue freer recourse to Christ now by the helpe of Transubstantiation Transubstantiation then they could possibly haue with him while he conversed here in the flesh Nay they haue not so free accesse to the Pope I am sure as they haue to him with whom they may speake when they list vpon every Altar and in every Pixe And what folly is it to seeke to the foote when we may goe to the head To set vp a ministeriall head in the Church where the principall himselfe is alwaies at hand Dulciùs ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquae Besides No visible head necessary if this visible Head were such a necessary implement in the Church of God as they would make vs beleeue it seemes strange to mee why his name should be forgotten and that in those very Scriptures where the Governors and the government of the Church is purposely treated of or how was it possible for Saint Paul speaking of Apostles and Prophets and Evangelists of Pastors and teachers ordained by Christ for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministry c. Eph. 4 11. and 1. Cor. 12.28 to forget the name of this Pastour Paramont who now takes vpon him to be Dominus fac totum and to rule the rost throughout all Christendome There is another thing that makes mee doubt much of this matter namely that whereas the Church hath still bin known by the name of a Monarchy yet the Pope among all other his titles hath not ordinarily taken vpon him the name of a Monarch till of late I know some such thing hath beene muttering a pretty while in the Schooles but it never past for currant Doctrine in the Church till within these few yeares nay it is not so farre past yet but that the Sorbonists of Paris generally the whole Church of France oppose strongly against it In like sort whereas the Church hath ever beene called the body of Christ Ephes 1.23 yet I never heard of a Pope so desperate that durst call the Church his body which yet in some sort hee might be allowed to doe if it bee lawfull for him in any sort to call himselfe the Head of the Church by the Doctrine of Relatiues Moreover I finde the maintainers of this Doctrine much puzzelled in seeking to expresse what authority it is that the Pope may challenge in right of his headship and Monarchie what power is appendant to that name whether it bee a meere spirituall power or a temporall or both or some third mixt power compounded of temporall and spirituall Difference betweene the Papists touching the temporall and the spirituall power of the Pope Here I see them at such deadly strife among themselues as I hold it no safe trusting either of them vntill I shall first finde that they trust one another better Card. Bellarmine himselfe within these few yeares knew not what to make of that matter as it appeareth by his latter writings compared with the former When he first set forth his bookes of controuersies he was of one opinion concerning this point which afterward hee changed became of another as you shall finde by his recognitions wherein hee did not mend that which was amisse as Augustine did in his Retractations but proficiens in peius like those of whom the Apostle speakes 2. Tim. 3.13 hee made that worse which was too bad before euen in the iudgement of his owne good friends In his former writings of this argument though hee had pleaded for the Papall authority Quantum honestè potuit Barclay Sixtus Quintus plus etiam quà m debuit saith William Barclay a Papist yet was Sixtus Quintus the Pope so discontented with his booke that he was once of the mind to haue damned all his writings because he did not speake home to his Holinesse contentment I meane because hee did not attribute such an vnlimited and transcendent power vnto him as that proud imperious Praelate did challenge in right of his pretended Monarchie because hee did not affirme him to haue as direct a temporall power over Kings as a spirituall over Bishops making all Kingdomes as well as all Churches subiect to his disposition See Barclay de potestate Papae in Principes christianos cap. 13. They that contract the power of the Pope within the confines of a meere Spirituall iurisdiction though they speake more modestly then other of their fellowes yet in as much as they extend this iurisdiction over the whole world which in respect of him they make to bee but as one Diocesse even this Paradox of theirs is as false as the others though not so impudent as iniurious to Christ and his Church though it be not so pragmatically dangerous to secular states and Princes Crownes for if the Spirituall Kingdome of Christ bee of no greater extent then the Popes iurisdiction it followeth that none are Christians but Papists which though some Popish Puritane in his fiery zeale will make no bones perhaps to affirme yet all of them are not so desperate and hee that speakes so in his heat must recall it againe in cold blood or else hee will leaue Christ but a poore Kingdome and a few subiects in respect of that multitude which God promised vnto him Psal 2.8 and Psal 72. v. 8.9 c. Nay how shall that Prophecy of Malachy bee verified of the Church spreading it selfe from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe thereof if there bee no more Christians in the world then there be Papists All the world knowes that the Popes Kingdome never extended it selfe so farre as that Prophecy speakes of by many degrees when it was at
the largest And Papists haue little hope ever to see it hereafter spread over the whole World Now because the Pope hath no jurisdiction in those parts nor ever had shall wee thinke therefore that Christ hath no kingdome there Or that the Grecian Armenian Jndian Aethiopian and other African Churches bee no Churches at all because they are no Popish Churches I omit to speake here of Protestants in Europe whose multitude the Pope knowes better then hee loues But for those other which I was speaking of it is certaine that either the Prophecies mentioned before are accomplished in those Christians or else they were never accomplished hitherunto at all eyther Christ now reigneth in those Churches or else his kingdome was never so large as it was promised that it should be And although it cannot be denied but that those Easterne Southerne Christians are much degenerated from their primitiue purity and there bee diverse things amisse in their profession yet they are Christians still and whosoever denies them that name because they are none of the Popes creatures hee robs Christ of more subiects then hee leaues him to raigne over Vbicunque timetur laudatur Deus ibi vera est Ecclesia August in Psal 21. The Church for the space of sixe hundred yeares was not only without this visible head but so farre from desiring it that when Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople an ambitious Prelate began to affect this matter he was told by Gregorie the Great that his course was Antichristian yet it is certaine the ambition of this Patriarch was no more then that which hath since broken forth in ambitious Popes vnder the name of their Supremacy and the same reasons which Gregory vsed against Iohn being many in number they conclude as strongly against Gregories Successors now a daies as ever they did then against the other Read Greg. on that Argument lib. 4. Ep. 30.32.36 alibi If the same question were made now to the Pope which was then made by Gregory to that Patriarch Tu quid Christo vniversalis Ecclesiae capiti in extremi iudicij dicturus es examine qui cuncta eius membra vibi conaris vniversalis appellatione supponere I thinke his Holinesse would be to seeke of an answere I am sure Gerson a learned Roman Catholike was so farre from thinking such a visible Head to bee any matter of necessity in the Catholique Church that hee thought the body might doe well enough though this head were taken off from the shoulders as appeares by his booke written De aufenibilitate Papae And so I passe from this description of the Catholique Church All that followes from thence to the end almost of the first page might well haue bin spared neither can I devise to what purpose it is brought in 1. That our Saviour Christ being a Priest for ever secundum ordinem Melchisedec Christ the head of the Church was the first visible Head and founder of the said holy Christian Catholique Church c. Hee is no Christian that doubts of it but when I heare him say that Christ was the first visible head of the Church me thinkes hee speakes strangely vnlessE hee thinke that Christ is now ceased to bee somewhat that hee was heretofore For why else did he not say in praesenti that Christ is the head of the Church as well as he is a priest for ever vnlesse he were afraid to hurt the Popes head Primus semper dicitur in ordine ad secundum secundus ad tertium Now if the Church by the death of Christ her first head got her a second head which was S. Peter why then vpon his death shee got a third head and so consequently hath had as many Heads as shee hath had Popes which is scarce good English 2. How farre the Clergy are to bee obeyed That Christ did institute a Clergy a Laity in his Church the one to preach and administer Sacraments the other to learne and to obey c. I hope hee doth not meane that the Clergy are freed from obeying the Gospell because they are bound to preach it But that Christ did institute such a distinction of people in his Church we know before hee told vs so Heere a man might suspect that some Priest had his finger in the framing of this writing in as much as when he speakes of the duty of the Laity he tels them That they are bound to obey the Clergy in all things touching their Faith a speech too lauish for any Priest to speake and too slavish for any ingenuous Lay man to heare except it be much circumcised they must obey in all things he meanes first the persons then the doctrine Ex personis fidem non ex fide personas And Champnies an English Sorbonist professeth as much l. de vocat minist c. 1. And so likewise Stapleton In doctrinâ religionis non quid dicatur sed quis loquatur attendendum est defens Ecclesiasticae autorit l. 3. c. 7. demon strat princip doctrin l. 10. c. 5. Which Tertullian thought a great absurdity and so disclaimes it Veritas docendo persuadet non suadendo docet adver Valent. Hic est sacerdos de genere Aaronis non decipiet nos 1. Mac. 7.14 so did some over-credulous Iews say of Alcimus but yet they were deceiued And so would your friend perswade you to belieue him because he is a Romish Priest and to take vp your faith vpon his credit But let it first appeare that their Clergy are so priviledged by speciall or common grace that either they cannot preach false doctrine though they would or that they wil not though they can then we are content they should bee obeyed in all things Alfonsus à Castro tells indeed strange things that hee heard a Dominican preach concerning the priviledges of his owne order l. 1. de haeres c. 9. but your friend goes beyond him and saies as much of every popish Priest such must bee obeyed in all things and therefore such cannot or should not erre and then vbi Papae infallibilitas what preheminence shall his holinesse haue more then every common Masse Priest Either this Pontifex maximus this high Priest must forbeare to say his Pater noster or forbid other Priests to say theirs or else they will goe cheeke by cheeke with him neque sufficit dicere neither can they say that they are all equall potestate ordinis only for they will be so potestate iurisdictionis too if they are to be obeyed in all things What will they say then that the Pope alone is the infallible Church to the learned Papist but to the common people every parish Priest is their Church to this I may answere that as Cotton seem'd to mistrust even the Popes infallibility when he desired to know of the divell the strongest proofe in Scripture for Purgatory Thuan. To. 5. fol. 1136. though hee needed not haue troubled the divell so farre when many of his owne
Faith Religion and Sacraments instituted by Christ In which words let it bee no offence to say that hee deales as boatmen vse to doe when they looke one way row another for whatsoever he talkes of the Catholique Church you shall finde presently that hee meanes the Romish Church a meere particular one though for the credit thereof he would faine yoake it together with the Church Catholique in the same description But see his ill lucke For while he goes about to describe them both in one he failes to describe either of them as he should For if the Catholique Church doth comprehend as hee saith the multitude of all true beleeuers even from righteous Abel as Augustine speaketh to the end of the world how can this agree to the Romish Church On the other side if it comprehend no more then such as are subiect to one visible head how can the name of Catholique in right belong vnto it So this description is like a shooe that will serue neither foote If wee should grant that the Romish faith in these daies were the true faith of Christ yet could not that make their Church to bee the Catholique Church but only a part thereof and that is the most that can bee said of it though it were farre better then it is but the Pope lookes higher then so Rome scornes to be ranckt in the order of particular Churches He must be the vniversall Bishop and she the vniversall Church of the World For if that should be denied what right hath either He or Shee to claime subiection of those who haue their severall dependance vpon other Bishops Therefore to make this good and to bring all fish into St Peters net there were some well-wishers to the Romish cause who not finding how two such disparates in nature as vniversall and particular Catholique and singular might possibly be joyned together in one subiect they found a meanes at last to joyne them both together in one word and hence it comes to passe that instead of Romana fides Romana Ecclesia which was wont to bee the common language among all Christians wee must call it henceforth Romano Catholicam fidem Romana Catholicam Ecclesiam or else they will complaine that wee allow them not their full stile Thus still it falls out that Portenta rerū gignunt portenta verborum And if it were not a new and strange doctrine it never needs to coine such new and strange words And yet as if Romana Ecclesia did not speake home enough to expresse their meaning or as if it were too large a terme and they durst not trust that more then Catholica or Apostolica Bellarmine de effect sacr l. 2. c. 25. to be sure to fit the shooe to the Popes foot restraines it to nunc Romana Ecclesia I know not what the spirit of giddinesse is if this bee not or why wee should not say of these men as it was said of the Arrians Habent annuas menstruas fides Ecclesias If the ancient faith of Rome were the same with the present what meanes nunc Romana if it were not how is the present faith Catholica For that onely is so quae est omnium temporum locorum The Councells of Lateran or Trent will not be guided by the Councells of Basil or Constance And therefore Cusanus speakes plainely and saies that there is fides temporum a faith that alters with the time and that the true sense of the Scripture is that which the present Church giues Non est mirum si praxis Ecclesiae vno tempore interpretetur scripturā vno modo alio tempore alio modo nam intellectus currit cum praxi intellectus enim qui cum praxi concurrit est spiritus vivificans sequuntur ergo Scripturae Ecclesiam non è converso Epist 7. Bohem. The holy christian Catholike Church No absolute Monarchy is a visible Monarchie vnder one visible lawfull head I complained before that the Church of Rome being a meere Particular he made it all one to the Catholique Church of Christ Here I finde cause to complaine on the other side of his wrong done to the Catholique Church when he termes it a visible Monarchie vnder a visible Head which is the placing of a barre in her armes and makes her no better then the Romish or any other particular being of the younger house 1. When hee names the Church a Monarchie if he mean it in respect of Christ sole King and Monarch thereof I will not contend with him about the name or if hee meane it in regard of particular Churches we confesse that in as much as they are subiect to their severall Bishops their governement in that respect is a kinde of Monarchie though not an absolute Monarchie but such a one as is tempered with an Aristocrasie because Bishops either doe not or should not impose lawes vpon the Church but Ex communi Concilio Presbyterorum by the advice and with the consent of their Presbyterie A visible Monarchie Not visible If the Catholique Church were a naturall body and not a mysticall If it were some individuall and singular subiect and not a meere vniversall as the name of a Catholique imports Visibility might well bee an adiunct belonging vnto it Which otherwise I confesse I vnderstand not how it should and I belieue they that speake most of it vnderstand it as little if your friend haue ever seene the Catholique Church with his eye let him say whether it be Diaphanum or adiaphanum luminosum corpus or opacum bid him tell you of what colour and complexion it is And doe not thinke I iest in mouing such questions for in good earnest it must bee qualified thus for in some such sort if it be subiect to the eye of man I grant he hath seene some particular persons that belong vnto the Church and are members thereof and so haue I often but for the Church it selfe whose formality consisteth in a spirituall coniunction with Christ the head of the members themselues one with another this mysticall vnion I am sure he did never see therefore hee did never see the Church no not any particular Church to speake properly much lesse the Catholike church This is an article of faith and not an obiect of sense farre aboue the spheare of all optike learning it is an Article to bee believed not a thing to be descried by a paire of spectacles or any other prospectiue glasse if hee meane Video pro intelligo by the old Grammer rule let him and the rest speake so a Gods name and call it hereafter the intelligible Church that we may vnderstand them for then they shall begin to speake somewhat more like Protestants for otherwise while they call it the vniversall yet visible Church they interfeare at every word and speake pure non-sense The Pope not the head of the Church Vnder one lawfull visible head It had beene plaine dealing