Dominick the other of Saint Paul were written these words On Pauls By this man you may come to Christ On Dominicks But by this man you may doe it easilier because Pauls doctrine led but to faith and the obseruation of the Commandements but Dominicks taught the obseruation of Councils which is the easier way All this and asmuch more might be produced to this purpose But I conclude the point with the censure and confession of their owne Cassander who out of the writings of William Bishop of Miniatum concludeth with him that as if officious lyes should bee added to the holy Scriptures there would remaine no authority nor weight in them So no errour nor falshood should be tolerated in Images and Pictures in the Church seeing that an errour not resisted is receiued for a trueth And in the same place the same Cassander doth bewaile the abuse of Images in the Church of Rome affirming that superstition was too much pampered thereby that Christians were nothing behind the Heathō in the extreme vanity of framing adorning and worshipping of Images Thus farre Cassander out of which we may perceiue the chiefe lessons that are learned out of these Lay bookes to wit ignorance superstition and Idolatry And therefore no maruaile if all these vices raigne in the midst of their Church as plentifully as amongst the Heathen themselues 19. Fourthly they deliuer for sound doctrine that whereas Saint Iohn sayth that they which haue the anointing of the holy Ghost know all things Hee meaneth not that euery one should haue all knowledge in himselfe personally but that euery one that is of that happy society to which Christ promised and gaue the holy Ghost is partaker of all other mens graces and gifts in the same holy Spirit to saluation And thus whereas Saint Iohn meaneth that euery true Christian both by the outward preaching of the word and by the inward vnction of the Spirit hath a distinct knowledge of all things necessary to saluation They say that it is sufficient if he be partaker of another mans knowledge though he be empty voyde himselfe Then which what can be a greater nourisher of ignorance and quencher of knowledge For if I may bee saued by anothers mans knowledge and faith And if it bee not required that I should know al things necessary to saluation in my owne person but may haue a share of another mans knowledge what need I greatly seeke for knowledge my selfe And why may I not repose the hope of my saluation vpon other men And heereby wee may obserue their grosse absurdity In the case of iustification they teach that wee are not made righteous by the righteousnesse of Christ imputed vnto vs though hee bee the head of the body of the Church and the Spirit that animateth it proceedeth from him and yet heere they say that a man may be made wise and knowing by the knowledge of other their fellow members in the same body abiding in the vnity of Christs Church What is this but to aduance the members aboue the head or at least to forget themselues not caring what they say so that they maintaine the cause they haue in hand 20. I but Saint Augustine sayth If thou loue vnity for thee also hath he whosoeuer hath any thing in it it is thine which I haue it is mine which thou hast And againe in another place hee sayth When Peter wrought miracles he wrought them for me because I am in that body in which Peter wrought them In which body though the eye seeth and not the eare and the eare heareth and not the eye yet the eye heareth in the eare and the eare seeth in the eye c. Therefore all the grace and knowledge that is in any other of Gods Saints either liuing or dead is ours by participation And so that which was sufficient in them for their saluation is also enough for vs for ours though wee haue little or none of our owne Thus reason our Rhemists in the place before quoted But I answere first with our reuerend learned countrey-man Doctor Fulk that Saint Augustine vnderstandeth that place of Saint Iohn of an actuall and personall knowledge inspired by the holy Ghost concurring with the outward ministery of the Church and not of any generall knowledge infused into the Church to bee transfused and dispersed among the members by an imputatiue participation Secondly if a man may know by another mans knowledge why may not a man bee righteous by anothers righteousnesse And if the knowledge of our fellow members may bee imputed to vs that wee thereby may bee saide to know why may not the iustice of our head bee so imputed vnto vs that thereby wee may bee made iust These things are so paralell that the one being granted the other needs must follow Thirdly and lastly that communion which is betwixt the members of a body either naturall or mysticall is not an actuall translation of gifts from one to another but either a participation in the fruit of those gifts or a generating of the like in others by doctrine example exhortation prayers and such like meanes And so wee may truely say that euery one that is in the body of Christ reapeth fruit and benefit by all the graces and gifts that euer haue or shall belong to any member thereof though not for merit yet for comfort instruction edification and increase of grace And againe as one candle lighteth another and one steele sharpeneth and whetteth another So wisedome and grace is deriued from one to another either by naturall commerce of speech or patterne of example Thus much did Saint Augustine intend and no more and therefore it neuer came into his minde to thinke as these idle braines would make him that the knowledge which resided in the Saints of God is actually in all Gods Children or that they are partakers of their gifts and graces to their saluation For he that will be saued must beleeue for himselfe and know for himselfe and liue godly for himselfe If hee doe all these things by a proxy hee must also goe to Heauen by a proxy and not by himselfe This doctrine therefore is a manifest breeder and maintainer of such grosse ignorance as both Saint Augustine and all other holy men haue alwayes condemned for a sinne 21. A fift doctrine from whence ignorance springeth and ariseth is their prohibiting of Lay men to dispute touching matters of faith and that vnder paine of excommunication This Nauarre propoundeth as the doctrine of their Church neither is it contradicted by any other Aquinas goeth further and sayth that it is vnlawfull to dispute of matters of faith in the presence of those that are ignorant and simple And Bellarmine taketh away from the people all power of iudging of their Pastours doctrine saying that they must beleeue whatsoeuer they teach except they broach some new doctrin which hath not beene heard of in the Church before And if they
that it was the Italian fashion to liue by robberie and to trample vnder focte all equity and religion And for the moderne times witnesse the common prouerbe An Englishman Italionate a deuill incarnate Rome is the Popes owne â—eate for it is the spirituall Babylon built vpon seuen hils and yet that is the sincke of Italy witnesse their owne Mantuan I pudor in villas c. Vrbs est iam tot a lupanar Depart honesty into Villages the Citie is wholly become a Stewes and Trauailors report it was neuer so euill as it is at this day witnesse their owne pasquill Roma vale vidi satis est vidisse reuertar Cum leno aut meretrix scurra cynaedus ero Now farewell Rome I haue thee seene it was enough to see I will returne when as I meane Bawde Pander Knaue to bee As if there were none but such at Rome 42. And this the best of them against their wils acknowledge when they confesse Rome to be mysticall Babylon for why is Rome so stiled in the Scripture but because it resembleth the Assyrian Babylon in pride idolatry filthinesse and especially in most cruell persecution of the Church of God and for the same cause it is called spirituall Sodome and Egypt Sodeme for pride and filthines Egypt for Idolatry and cruelty The Popes court is the Popes owne Sanctum Sanctorum if in reuerence to that holy place I may so say yet that is the sincke of the Citie Witnesse Catherina Senensis that holy woman whom Pope Pius the second canonized for a Saint who thus complained that in the Court of Rome where should bee a delicate Paradise of vertues she sound a stincke of hellish vices Concerning the whole state of the Romane Church both Laiâ—ty and Clergy heare what the iudgement of Durand was in his time Desperata est salus Romanae Ecclesiae c. The saluation of the Romane Church is desperate of which is verified the sayings of the Prophet Esay It shall be a bed of Dragons and of Petrus de Alliaco a Cardinall in his time Ad eum statum venit c. The Romane Church is come to that state that it is not worthy to be gouerned but by reprobates And of Platina himselfe the Popes owne Secretary Hac nostra aetate sayth he vitia cò crcuerunt c. In this our age vices are so increased that they seeme to haue scarce left vs any place in Gods mercy c. After the Councell of Trent which promised a reformation heare how a Bishop of their owne Espensaeus complaineth All hope saith he of reformation is taken away where vnder the Sunne is there greater licenciousnes clamour impurity I will not say madnesse and impudency then in this Citie such and so great as none can beleeue but he which hath seene it none can deny but he which hath not seene it I could heape vp many like testimonies for the clearing of this poynt but it is needlesse seeing that all that haue either gotten experimentall knowledge by their trauailes or speculatiue by their reading can will iustifie the truth of this position that in no place of the world more impiety atheisme impurity cruelty poysoning trechery all maner of villanie raigneth then in Italy the Popes owne dominions and in Rome vnder his Holinesse nose So that for shame but that the whore of Babylon and her adherents haue brazen foreheads they may cease to lay that imputation of loosnesse and wickednesse of life vpon vs and our Religion and assume the aspersion of it vnto themselues being farre more guilty and their religion directly tending thervnto by these six maine grounds which I haue in this first motiue propounded to the iudgement of euery indifferent Reader The Lord of his mercy open our eyes that we may discerne the truth and our hearts that we may loue it and embrace it MOTIVE II. That religion which maintaines by the grounds thereof things forbidden by all lawes both of God of Nature and of Man cannot be the true religion but such is the religion of the Romane Church Ergo. THe first proposition in this reason is vnquestionable and without controuersie for the law of God is one part of true religion as the Gospell is the other and therfore whatsoeuer contradicts this law is opposite vnto true religion and so cannot be true religion it selfe for truth is not opposite vnto truth but falshood and the lawe of nature is nothing but the law of God engrauen in the hearts of all men by the instinct of nature which Tullie calleth a lawe engendred not imposed borne with vs not laid vpon vs. And the positiue laws of men if they be good are nothing els but extracts out of the law of God characters of the law of nature That religion therefore that crosseth all these lawes by allowance of such things which are by them all condemned cannot in any wise be the true religion but must needs stand guilty of falshoode and errour Now that the Romish religion is such which is the second proposition in the reason that is my taske to proue and I hope I shall by inuincible arguments make good the same 1. And first what can bee more contrary to the lawes of God of Nature of Man then treason and rebellion against Princes for the lawe of God commandeth ciuill obedience to the Magistrate by the first precept of the second Table and our Sauiour in the Gospell biddeth to giue to Caesar those things that belong vnto Caesar and Saint Paul chargeth euery soule to be subiect to the higher powers because all power is of God euen tyrannicall power as our Sauiour confesseth to Pilate Thou hadst no power ouer mee except it was giuen thee from aboue where he acknowledgeth that Pilates power though he was a tyrant was of God and therefore submitteth himselfe vnto it As for the law of nature it requireth as much of all for as in the bodie naturall all the outward members and inward faculties are gouerned by reason residing in the head and in the body oiconomike all the familie is directed by the Father or Master thereof so in the body politique all the members of a Common-wealth must by natures decree be obedient to the King or gouernour whom to resist is to rebell against nature as it is against nature for the member to mutiny against the head or for children and seruants to be disobedient to their Fathers or Masters Neither are the lawes positiue any whit behinde for no offence by lawe is more seuerely punished then crimen laesae Maiestatis that is high treason against the Kings person or State and that not onely in this our Kingdome but in all others as is sufficiently knowen 2. Now that the Romish doctrine and religion is a supporter of treason and an animater of traytors against their Soueraignes I call to witnesse first their owne principles and secondly their
before their Images in the Temples of their Gods and therefore me thinkes it is strange that Bellarmine should make this an argument why Reliques are to be worshipped because Tapers and Candles are set vp before them wheras rather he should conclude that Idolatry is cōmitted before them because of this Againe in their solemne oathes they touch not onely the Bible but the Reliques of Saints so deuide the religion of an oath which is a principall part of Gods worship betwixt God and them against which a plague is denounced by the Prophet Zephany Zephan 1. 5. And it is also condemned by the Prophet Ieremie Ier. 5. 7. And a reason is giuen of it in Chrysostomes 12. Homily vpon S. Mathew at least if it be Chrysostomes He that sweares by any thing beside God deifies that thing and thereby makes himselfe an Idolater Is not this then Idolatry Lastly whereas in former times where lesse superstition preuailed they placed the Reliques of Saints vnder the Altar as Ambrose witnesseth of the Reliques of Geruasins and Protasius Ille Christus videlicet super altare qui pro omnibus passus est isti sub altari qui ipsius redempti sunt sanguine Christ was vpon the Altar who suffered for all the Reliques of them vnder the Altar who were redeemed with his bloud yet now as Cassander well notes contrary to the ancient custome their practice is to place the bodies of Saints vpon the Altars which place is only proper for the body of Christ Is not this horrible Idolatry And yet Bellarmine would hence proue that they are to be worshipped because they are placed vnder the Altar because forsooth the Altar is to be worshipped but what if the worshipping of the Altar be Idolatry too as without question it is if the Altar be a dead creature and a heape of stones or wood This is to adde drunkennesse to thirst and to couer a filthy wound with a more filthy plaister besides the first bringers in of that custome though they placed them vnder the Altar in a religious manner yet neuer meant that they should bee worshipped by those that approched vnto the Altar or that they did conferre any sanctity to the Eucharist Thus we haue a short view of their superstitious and Idolatrous practice in this point 31. Fiftly and lastly that they may be voyd of all excuse and pretext an infinite number of their thus worshipped Reliques are meere false and counterfait not true members parts or remainders of any Saints but fained impostures of couetous Priests and often the members not of men but of baser creatures At this day saith Cassander when the world seemeth to be full of Reliques it may bee feared lest vpon diligent examination most detestable frauds and impostures be found out as it appeared sometime to S. Martin who found a place honoured in the name of an holy Martyr to be the Sepulcher not of a Martyr but of a wicked Robber This kinde of cousonage began to spring in Augustine and Gregories times for the one complaineth of certaine Hypocrites that caried about and boasted of the members of Martyrs si tamen Martyram if so be they were Martyrs And the other affirmeth that certaine Greeke Monkes being found digging vp the dead bodies of men in a certaine field of Rome confessed that they meant to carrie their bones into Greece as the Reliques of Saints 32. But since Popery grew to perfection this is also growne to such a height of impudencie that it is a wonder to heare what strange Reliques are to bee seene in the world S. Peter being buried whole in one place to wit at Rome in the Vaticane as Baronius writeth yet is found halfe in another to wit in via Ostiensi as Onuphrius testifieth and for all this a part of him is to be seene at Constantinople as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth Nay further besides these three places his head is reserued in a fourth to wit in the Laterane Church at Rome by Onuphrius testimony And besides this whole head another piece of his head in the Church of Saint Praxis by the same Author and in a fixt place one of his iaw-bones with his beard is kept for a monument this is at Poytiers in Fraunce as witnesseth Caluine his teeth are not confined to his iawes nor yet at one place but to bee seene in many places at Rome in the Church of S. Vincent and Anastasius and the holy Crosse and S. Sauiour and S. Lawrence without the walls his braine is to be seene at Geneuah at leastwise if a Pumice stone be his braine for it is nothing else Many of his bones are to be seene at Treuers a piece of his shoulder at Rome in the Church of the holy Crosse a toe in the Church of S. Praxis and the ioynt of another in England at the Lady of Walsingham as Erasmus testifieth as it were of a Giants toe these with many moe be the Reliques of S. Peter all which are held in great honour and worship of them Now either S. Peter must bee a Monster or many of these counterfait Reliques 33. But S. Peter is not alone in this for Christ himselfe is abused three praepuces or foreskinnes of his are showne and worshipped in three diuers places so foureteene nailes when as he felt but three three coats whereas hee had but one and that without seame for the which the souldiers cast losts two titles that were set vpon the Crosse foure poynts of the speare wherewith his side was pierced fiue Linnen clothes wherwith he was wrapped and many such like trumperies Nay there is scarce a Saint that is any thing famous to whom they do not faine two or three bodies Saint Barbaries head is to be seene in so many places that sure she must needs haue beene a monster if all those were true members Saint Apollonia had so many teeth being all soueraigne medicines for the tooch-ache that when King Edward labouring of that disease sent through England for all her teeth to be brought vnto him two or three hogsheads could not hold them that were found out It is reported and recorded of a certaine Relicke-monger that boasted that hee carried about in a box some feathers of the holie Ghost Now another merry companion stealing away these feathers foisted in in their roome certaine coales The other not perceiuing the coozenage the next day began to vaunt of his holy relickes and to shew them to the people which stood ready by to adore them with great reucrence but when he opened his caske he found nothing but coales whereat being nothing amazed like a skilfull Artisan he turned Cat in the pan and told the people that those coales were taken from vnder the Grediron of Saint Laurence when he was broyled to death thus any thing will serue their turnes for relickes when need requireth and so more then Aegyptian is the
at Saint Mary Maior and a third at Treuers the Cup wherein Iohn the Euangelist drunke the poyson after he was condemned by Domitian is both at Bononia and at Rome to be seene Saint Anne hath three bodies one at Apla another at Prouince and a third at Lyons and so her head is in three places at Treuers at Turen and at Thuring Lazarus the Brother of Marie is like wise a Gyant of three bodies one of them is at Massilia another at Angustodune and the third at Auelona 38. Iâ— would fill a volume if I should reckon vp all their strange relicks Let him that desireth to see more of them reade Caluins Tractate called Admonitio de Reliquijs where he shall finde a whole thraue of them I for this time end with three or foure braue ones for the nonce which are worthy neuer to be forgotten It is written of Dunstane the Abbot of Glastenbury that as he was hallowing a certaine Church he beheld the right thumbe of Editha then Abbesse of Wilton as shee was crossing and blessing her forhead and much delighting therein hee tooke it into his hand and said Neuer might this thumbe perish By vertue of which prayer of his after Edithaes death when all her body was turned into ashes that thumbe and another part of her body which it seemeth he had blessed too were found safe and sound and so became Reliques We read also of a certaine Monke who gaue out that he had brought from the East some of the sound of the Bels which hung in Salomons Temple and that he could shew among other Reliques some of the haires which fell from the Seraphicall Angell when hee came to imprint the fiue wounds of Christ in S. Frauncis body Yea some of them are not ashamed to shew to the Pilgrimes that goe to Ierusalem a three cornerd stone which they beare them in hand is that very stone whereof Dauid spake saying The stone which the builders refused is the head of the corner Lastly at Cour cheuerin neere vnto Blois is kept for a monument the breath of S. Ioseph which he breathed when he claue wood being a Carpenter at Burgos in Spaine is shewne a Crucifix whose nailes and beard are cut euery moneth they grow so fast and in these excrements they say is great vertue At Rome is to bee seene the fore-skinne of our Sauiour which was cut off at his circumcision and in Galicia as Pilgrimes report are preserued some of the feathers of certaine chickens which are of the race of that Cocke which crowed when Peter denied his Master And at S. Denis is to bee seene the Lanthorne which Iudas caried in his hand when he came to betray his Master with a number other such like These bee their goodly Reliques which they would haue men to worship with such great deuotion of all which or at least of most of them we may truly auouch that which Augustine saith of miracles that they are vel figmenta mendacium hominum vel portenta fallacium spirituum That they are nothing but mere impostures and coozening deuices either of diuels or of auaricious Priests Friers and Monkes to nouzle the people in superstition and to line their owne purses with crownes 39. The bare narration of them is sufficient to bewray their falshood but much more the Logicall contrariety and naturall repugnancie that is among them which all the wit of man is not able to reconcile And last of all their nouelty for most of these Reliques was neuer heard of in this world for three hundred yeeres aftâ—r Christ so that it may iustly be wondred where they lay hid all that while and by what meanes they were found out at last or how they could continue so long If they say they were discouered by diuine reuelation as the bodies of Geruasius and Protasius to S. Ambrose of Stephen and Nichodemus to one Luâ—â—anus and the head of Iohn Baptist to two Monkes and the bones of Abacuk and Michaeas to a certaine Bishop and the body of S. Barnabe with the Gospell of S. Mathew vpon his brest I answere that though all these were true yet they were not reuealed to that end that they should be worshipped neither yet did the God of truth euer by his testimony bolster out such notorious lyes as are found in the Romish Reliques We may confidently therefore conclude that most abominable Idolatry is committed in the Church of Rome by the worshipping at least of false Reliques whereof there is such a swarme for the greatest part of their Reliques being counterfait the greatest part of the worship which is done vnto them must needes be Idolatry 40. The Iesuites to this obiection of ours giue two answeres one is Bellarmines who flatly denieth the Reliques in Churches to be counterfait because none are receiued but by the authority of the Bishop of Rome And as for the multiplicity of bodies hee saith that the parts of them are often found in diuers places and by a figure of speech are called by the name of the whole But the Iesuites answere by his leaue is idle and friuolous for first all these fore-named false Reliques are not caried about by priuate men but found in their Churches and therefore if authorized by the Popes holinesse the more shame for him and the more certainty for vs that he can erre like a sinfull man euen sitting in his chaire of doctrine And secondly though it were true which he saith concerning the bodies of Saints yet it cannot hold in other things as in Iohn Baptists finger and his shooe and the nailes of Christs crosse and the Virgin Maries milke and such like Therefore Vasques the Iesuite hath deuised another answere and that is Though the Reliques be vncertaine and false yet if they bee worshipped it is no sinne but a good worke Because as it is not the sinne of Idolatry saith hee to worship a beame of light vnder which the diuell lurketh when a man taketh it for Christ so if a man worship a false Relique supposing it to bee some true part of a Saint Merito suae deuotionis non caret He wanteth not the merit of his deuotion But this answere is not onely friuolous but impious for by the same reason the Iewes should be cleared from sinne when they crucified Christ because S. Paul saith they did it through zeale though not according to knowledge Rom. 19. 2. and the Gentiles when they put Christians to death because our Sauiour saith that in so dâ—ing they thought they did God good seruice Iohn 16. 2. but they both sinned notwithstanding most grieuously And their owne rule is that ignorantia non excusat à toto sed à tanto that is ignorance doth not excuse the whole fault committed but onely lessens the guilt of it I conclude therefore that notwithstanding all that can be said yet in the worshipping of Reliques is committed manifest and detestable Idolatry 41.
That all the power of Emperours and Kings is subdeligate in respect of the power of the Pope And againe that all secular power is to be restrayned enlarged and executed at the commaundement of the Pope This is the assertion of that man who was authorised first to write by Pope Iohn the two and twentieth and after his Booke was set foorth by the priuiledge of Gregory the thirteenth So that here we haue two Popes maintayning this doctrine Clement the first was of the same minde who affirmeth that hee and the rest of the Popes had a soueraignity and superiority ouer the Empire and vpon that ground he dissanulled all the Sentences and Processes made by Henry the seuenth Emperour And so also was Boniface the eighth who in that famous Canon Vnam sanctam c. directly affirmeth that the Temporall authority must be subiect to the Spirituall and that it is necessary to saluation to beleeue that euery humane creature is subiect to the Pope of Rome Now the rest of the Popes must needes be of the same minde or else they should condemne these of error and that speaking definitiuely which is contrary to their Religion And so indeede that they are Bellarmine their Champion in his late Booke against Barclay the Lawyer doth manifestly declare who most impudently maintayneth this position with all his wit against that learned man as also in his last doting Apologie against our King wherein without doubt he is authorised and as it were tapped on the backe and called A good childe by the Popes Holinesse himselfe 72. Thus we see this doctrine maintayned by the Popes and their Lawes Let vs see also what the Cardinalls and the Iesuites say vnto it Cardinall Baronius a notable clawer of the Popes holdeth that the Pope hath power directly ouer Princes agreeing with Bozius and Triumphus but Cardinall Bellarmine with others on his side quallifieth the matter and saith that the Popes power ouer Princes in temporall matters is not direct but indirect as depending vpon his spirituall power and in order relation vnto that Let vs leaue these two Cardinalls fighting about direct indirect and come to the other Iesuites Gregory de Valentia saith that the Pope is subiect to none but that by a certaine hereditary right he is exempted from all humane jurisdiction Tollet affirmeth that there may bee in the Church many holier and learneder then the Pope but none superior or equall vnto him in dignitie Turrian the Iesuite saith that Christ hath translated all his Kingdome on earth vpon the Pope who beareth his person and carryeth his Image And lastly all of them like lines in a circle meeting in a Center ioyne in this that the Pope hath power to depose Kings to translate Kingdomes and to conferre them vpon others if it seeme to him necessary for the good of mens soules 73. Thus we haue their doctrine concerning their Head the Pope Now let vs heare what they say touching the body that hangs vpon his head their Clergie Kings are not now any more Soueraignes ouer Clerks faith Bellarmine and therefore Clerks are not bound to obey them by Gods law or mans except it be in respect of directiue lawes And Emanuel Sa. affirmeth that a Clergie man cannot be a Traytor though hee rebell because he is no subiect And it was long agoe the doctrine of the Fryers continued by the Iesuites that the King was not Lord ouer the Clergie but that the Pope was their Lord and therefore though a Clergie man had committed theft murther or treason yet hee ought not to bee called in question much lesse punished for it by a temporall Magistrate but ought to be iudged by Ecclesiasticall Iudges in the Ecclesiasticall Court and if hee were conuict hee should lose his Orders and so being excluded from Office Benefice Ecclefiasticall if after this he incurred the like fault then might he be iudged at the pleasure of the King yea they goe so farre that if any offence were committed by diuers persons amongst whom there were one Clergie man none of the offenders were subiect to temporall iurisdiction And thus we see that neyther the Pope nor his Clergie will bee subiect to these higher Powers to which the Gospell commaundeth all men to submit themselues 74. How will they distinguish here Mary they haue two distinctions to helpe this doctrine out of the myre and yet all too weake First they say that when the Apostles Paul and Peter commanded euery soule to bee subiect c. they meane generally that all subiects should obey their superiors whether Spirituall or Temporall and not that euery one should particularly bee subiect to the King or secular power which interpretation is first flat contrary to the text for both Paul and Peter mention expressely Kings and Princes and such as haue the right of the sword which they would neuer haue done if Kings should haue beene subiect to Popes and not Popes to Kings for then they would haue instanced in Popes and not in Kings and though Christians were falsely accused of treason and rebellion to Princes yet this could not be a sufficient reason to mooue the Apostles to conceale so necessary a truth especially seeing they write to Christians and not to Infidels 75. Secondly it is contrary to reason for if Peter and so the Pope his pretended successor had beene in their iudgement superiors to Kings then surely Peter himselfe writing not onely to the people but also to the Elders of the Church as appeareth 1. Pet. 5. 1. would neuer haue enioyned them all to the obedience of the Ciuill Magistrate but would haue reserued some to his owne iurisdiction and bidden them all both Magistrate and people to submit themselues vnto him as the head of the Church or if he for modestie might forbeare this imperiall iniunction yet without question Paul had he beene of that minde would not haue sent euery soule to bee subiect to Kings but would haue told them that Kings and all should be subiect to Peter but seeing that neither of them both doth it neither here nor elsewhere and it is as they thinke so necessary a thing to be beleeued of all men it is most euident that they neuer meant it 76. Thirdly and lastly whereas the Apostle Paul commaundeth euery soule to be subiect wee may conclude that if the Pope be a soule or haue a soule for some of them haue thought that a man had no more a soule then a beast then he must be subiect And this conclusion a learned man that was afterward a Pope himselfe made when he plainly confessed that the Apostle did not except animam Papae the Popes soule from this subiection I omit heere S. Chrysostomes and Oecumenius exposition of the same place both which affirme that by euery soule the Apostle included both Priests Monks and Apostles and that this subiection was not contrary vnto piety And
high Priest of the world much like to King Alexanders Bucephalus which being bare would carry any groome quietly but when his trappings and furniture was on then hee would endure none but Alexander The writer of the life of Saint Bernard relateth a pretty wonder done by that holy man at the dedication of a Church when as the place was so filled with multitude of flies that the people could not enter into it without great annoyance Saint Bernard vsing no other meanes to destroy them said onely I excommunicate them and presently the next morning they were all found dead on the floore Doth this sauour of Saint Bernards holinesse or can any man bee so madde as to thinke that so holy a man would denounce excommunication ordained to separate from the Congregation open and sinfull men against poore silly flies sure hee hath no more wit then a flye that will beleeue this so that notwithstanding the ancient miracles recorded by the Fathers yet the Legendary Romish miracles are not freed from grosse and notorious falshood 27. Another practice of theirs to win credit to their Religion and disgrace to ours is slaundering and calumniating both our Religion and the professours thereof and that so grossely and falsely that their owne consciences could not chuse but say secretly vnto their tongues thou lyest when they were writing them in their bookes but they deale like theeues who to cleare themselues from suspition of robbery raise vp hue and cry against true men or like harlots that lay the imputation of dishonestie vpon sober matrones to the end that they themselues might bee thought chast and honest so beeing full of sores and blemishes themselues they seeke to couer their owne shame by discouering ours Which if it were in truth though their enuy was neuer the lesse yet their sinne was not so great but beeing notorious and outragious lyes they plainely show that they care not what they belch foorth so they staine vs with the filth thereof and that they haue learned that Maâ—chauillian rule audacter calumniari to slander boldly because though the wound bee healed yet a scarre remaineth 28. Their slanders are darted either against our persons or the gouernment of our Church or our doctrines let vs take a short view of all these and first for their personall slanders they slander all of vs in generall with the ignominious titles of solifidians nullifidians nudifidians Infidels worse then Turkes c. yea and say that wee haue no faith no Religion no Christ no God and what not that either malice can deuise or enuy and rage vtter These slanderous reproches are set abroach by rayling Parsons in his booke of the three conuersions and almost in all other of his discourses and by Mathew Kellison who was of a sudden start vp from spigget to the Pulpit a buttery diuine and by Wright another of the same stampe and by Reynolds and Bellarmine and Beran and Coster and all the brood of ranke mouthed Iesuites who as if they were all bitten with one madde dog raue alike against our Religion and the professours thereof but God bee praised with euill successe for their calumnies are so transparent that he that doth but meanly vnderstand the grounds of our Religion cannot but turne the lie vpon their heads 29. But let vs heare their reasons why we are all Infidels mary they propound two principall ones and those very strong as they thinke first they say that all learned Protestants are Infidels because they build their faith vpon their owne priuate exposition of Scripture and secondly that ignorant Protestants are Infidels because they rely their faith vpon their Ministers credit To the first I answere two things first that wee doe not interpret the Scripture by our own priuate iudgements but by the Scripture it selfe for some places are so plaine those principally that contain the grounds of Religion that they need no exposition as Saint Augustine witnesseth saying that quaedam in Scripturis c. There be some things in the Scripture so manifest that they require rather a hearer then an expounder and what those things are the same father declareth in another place where he sayth that in those things which are plainely set downe in Scripture are found all those points which containe faith and manners and those things which are obscure and hard in Scripture we do not expound by any forraine or priuate interpretation but by conferring them with other more plaine and perspicuous places and so except they say that the Scripture it selfe is of a priuate interpretation they cannot condemne vs of that crime Now that this is the best way of interpreting let the same Augustine informe vs who sayth That there is nothing contained in hard places of Scripture which is not to be found most plainely vttered in others and Chrysostome who affirmeth that the Scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the Reader to erre and Basill who telleth vs that those things which be doubtfull or seeme to be couertly spoken in some places of holy Scripture are expounded by other plaine places Of the same minde are the rest of the Fathers and so wee expound the Scripture no otherwise then all the ancient Fathers vsed to doe and then indeed it ought to be 30. I but wee follow not the iudgement of the Church say they which hath the onely key of interpretation committed vnto it if they meane by the Church the fathers we may iustify our selues by condemning them of the same fault they deale with them as the Iewes dealt with their wiues if they please their humors they hold vnto them but if they crosse or thwart them they sue out a bill of diuorce against them and put them away nothing is more common then this in all their writings and therefore it needs no instances to prooue it if they meane the Councils why by their owne teaching no Councill is of sufficient authority except it bee confirmed by the Pope nor any decree or interpretation to bee entertained without his approbation Therefore they must needs meane the Pope alone and if they doe so then we confesse that wee haue iust causes not to tye our faith to his girdle nor our vnderstanding to his braine seeing many of that ranke haue beene open Heretikes some notorious Atheists all men and therefore subiect to errour yea seeing the body of their Church is an Apostate harlot and the surmised head on earth that man of sinne the great Antichrist spoken of in the Scriptures If to vary from him then and his Babylon in our exposition of Scripture bee priuate interpretation wee confesse our selues guilty but in all other respects cleare and innocent 31. Secondly grant that wee doe in some points follow on our owne priuate exposition yet wee are not therefore Infidels for then most of the Fathers should bee infidels aswell as wee for there are few of them which haue not sometimes priuately vea and falsely