then those men that call thē selues y e holy church yea take away the name of the church and set in her stéede the name of the deuyll how will you then know a byshop frō the deuyll By their workes nay trewly for they bée all one And yet will you bée the heades of Christes church yea the holy church her selfe not so yée wicked not so Wherefore that this blessed spouse of Christ may bée knowen from thée open and abhominable whores and harlotes therefore will I by gods grace set out what holy Church is and where by men shall know her This worde Ecclesia both in y e new testament and the olde is taken oftētymes for the whole congregatiō and and the whole multitude of y t people both good and bad as it is in the booke of Numeri Why haue you brought the congregation or Church of God into wildernes Also in an other place The king turned his face and blessed the whole congregation or Church of Israell and all the Church of Israell stoode Likewise in the new testamēt Saint Paule to the Corinthians I haue sēt vnto you Tymothy the which shall learne you my wayes y e bée in Christ Iesu as I doe learne euery where in all congregations Also in an other place doe you despise the congregation of God and shame thē that haue not In all these places in many moe is it open that this greke word Ecclesia is taken for the whole congregation both of good bad Wherfore this is not y e church that we will greatly speake of for in this church are Iewes and Sarasens Murtherers and Theeues Baudes and Harlots though we know them not But there is an other holy Church of the which S. Paule speaketh you men loue your your wiues as Christ hath loued the Church and hath geuē him selfe for her that hée might sanctifie her and clense her in the fountaine of water through the worde of life to make her to him selfe a glorious Church without spot or wrincle or any such thyng but that she might bée holy without blame Here haue you the very true Churche of Christ that is so pure and so cleane without spotte But wherby is shée pure cleane not by her owne merites nor by her owne might not by exteriour araye not by gold nor siluer nor yet by precious stones neither by myters nor crosestaues nor by pillers nor pollaxes But wherby then by Christ onely which hath geuen him selfe for that intēt that hée would make her cleane and therefore sayth S. Paule Hée gaue him selfe that hée might sanctifie her that hée might clense her and make her to him selfe a glorious Church Also in an other place you are washed you are sanctified you are iustified in the name of Iesus Christ and in the spirite of God Sée my Lordes how the Church is washed by Christ by his holy spirite and not by your blessynges not by your spirituall ornamentes nor by your spirituall holy water for these thynges cannot helpe the holy Church for she is holy in spirite and not in outwarde hypocrisie she is also clensed by Christes blessed bloud not by outward disguisinges This doth S. Augustine wel proue saying Of Christ is the church made fayre first was she filthie in sinnes afterward by pardon and by grace was she made fayre c. Here S. Augustine sayth y t Christ hath made his Church fayre and that by his grace his pardon and not by your pardons nor by your grace For this Church stādeth by Christes election not by yours And if Christ haue not washed you chosen you then bée you none of this Church though you ride with a thousand spiritual horses and haue all the spirituall tokēs on earth For and if y e sonne of God haue deliuered you thē are you truely deliuered Ye can not make by all your power and holynes that we shall alwayes finde good ale or wyne where there hangeth out a gréene signe and will you with your spirituall signes and tokens make the Churche of God to folow you or by them assigne out where the Churche shall bée Nay nay my Lords it will not bée but they that beléeue y e Christ hath washed them from their sinnes and sticke fast vnto his merites and to the promise made to them in hym onely they bée the Church of God so pure and so cleane that it shall not bée lawfull no not for Peter to say that they bée vncleane but whether they bée Iew or Gréeke kyng or subiect carter or Cardinall butcher or Byshop tancardbearer or cannelrater frée or bounde Frier or fidler Monke or miller if they beléeue in Christes word sticke fast to his blessed promises and trust onely in the merites of his blessed bloud they bée the holy Church of God yea and the very true church afore God And you with all your spiritual tokens with all your exteriour cleannes remaine in your filthynes of sinne from the which all your blessings all your pardons all your spirituallitie all your holynes can not clense you nor bring you into this Churche Boast crake blast blesse curse till your holy eyes start out of your head it wil not helpe you for Christ chooseth his church at his iudgement and not at yours The holy ghost is frée inspireth where hée will hée will neither bée bound to Pope nor Cardinall Archbishop nor Byshop Abbot nor Prior Deacon nor Archdeacon Parson nor Vicare Nunne nor Frier Briefly come all the whole rabble of you togither that call your selues y e holy Churche and exclude all other yea and take sunne moone starres to helpe you with all the frendes you haue in heauē and earth and yet shall you not bée of holy church except that you haue y t spirite of Christ bée washed in his blessed bloud For y e holy Churche of Christ is nothyng els but that congregation that is sanctified in spirite redéemed with Christes bloud and sticketh fast and sure alonely to the promises that hée made therein So that the Church is a spirituall thyng and no exterior thyng but inuisible from carnall eyes I say not that they bee inuisible that bée of the Church but that holy Church in her selfe is inuisible as fayth is and her purenes and cleanes is before Christ onely and not before the worlde for the worlde hath no iudgement nor knowledge of her but all her honour and cleanes is before Christ sure and fast And if there appeare any of her goodnes vnto the worlde of that shée maketh no reckenyng nor thinketh her selfe any thyng thyng the better that the worlde iudgeth well of her for all her trust is in Christ onely She suffereth the worlde to rage and blaspheme both agaynst her and agaynst Christ her maker Shée standeth fast and beléeueth sted fastly that that shal haue a shamefull ende and euerlasting
compared to the vyne and all the members of holy Churche to the branches that as the braunches can bring foorth no frute of them selues so cā holy church of her selfe bring foorth no goodnes except shee remaine in Christ by persite fayth This is wel proued by your owne law whose wordes bée these therfore is the Church holy because she beléeueth righteously in God c. Here you not the cause wherfore the Church is holy because she beléeueth righteously in God that is she beléeueth in nothyng but in him and she beléeueth nor heareth no worde but his as our master Christe beareth witnesse my shéepe heare my voyce and an other mans voyce doe they not know Also in an other place hée that is of God heareth the wordes of God How cōmeth this that y e Church of God hath so sure a iudgemēt that she knoweth the voyce of Christ frō other voyces can not erre in her iudgement Because that Christ hath chosen her and because she is learned of God as our master Christ sayth and because she hath as S. Iohn sayth the inwarde oyntmēt of God y ◠teacheth his all maner of verity so that she can not erre But why can shee not erre because she may doe what she will Because that all thing that she doth is well done because she may make new rules and newe lawes at her pleasure Because she may inuent a newe seruice of God that is not in Scripture at her wil Nay nay my Lordes For she is but a woman and must bée ruled by her husbande yea she is but a shéepe and must heare y e voyce of her shepheard and so long as she doth so long cā she not erre because the voyce of her shepheard can not bée false This may be proued by your own law whose wordes bée these y e whole Church can not erre Also in an other place the congregation of faythfull men must néedes bée which also can not erre c. These wordes bée playne what Church it is that can not erre that is the congregation of faythfull men that bée gathered in Christes name whiche haue Christes spirite whiche haue the holy oyntement of God whiche abyde fast by Christes word and heare no other mās voyce but his Now my Lordes gather you all togither with all the lawes that you cā make and all the holynes that you can deuise and crye the Church the Churche and the Councels the Councels that were lawfully gathered in the power of the holy ghost all this may you say yet lye and if you haue not in déede the holy ghost with in you and if you doe heare any other voyce then Christes then are you not of the Churche but of the deuill and théenes murtherers as Christ saith For you come into the fold of Christ without him you bring not his voice but you come with your owne voyce with your owne statutes with your owne word your owne mandamus mandamus precipimus precipimus excommunicamus excommunicamus These bée the voyces of murtherers and Théeues and not of Christ therfore you can not but erre for you bée not taught of God you haue not the holy oyntment you haue not the worde of God for you you heare not the voyce of the true shepheard therfore must you néedes erre in all your counsells This is an other maner of rule then my Lorde of Rochester doth assigne to examine your counsels by for hée sayth where that the Pope and the counsell doth not agrée all in one there will hée suspect the counsell not to bée right Who did euer heare such a rule of a Christean man yea and of a bishop yea and of a doctor of Diuinite where hath hée learned this Diuinite to recken a counsell to bée trew because y e the Pope and so many men doe agree in one yea and that such men as haue so often tymes erred in their coūcels as hée doth declare hym self rekening the counsell of Constantinople that had 330. Byshops and yet did erre and hée knew no other cause but bée cause the Pope did not agrée to them Is not this a resonable cause cā not the Pope erre let hym read his own lawe Distinctio 19. Anastasius Distinctio 40. Si Papa and also 24. q 1. Arecta in the glose and there shall hée fynde that the Pope hath erred Wherefore then should the matter stande in his iudgment Now how will hée by thys rule saue the counsels of constance and of Basell where in both counsels the Popes were condemned for heretykes As the same counsels make mencion also that the councels haue erred that graūted hée hymselfe but peraduenture hée will saye that they were not full Councels Now is it well amended what distinction is as conscernyng the veritie in a counsell that hath a thowsand byshops and in an other that hath fyve thowsand can the multitude helpe to the veritie Then had the Turke the veritie and we the falsed then had the Prophet Micheas the worsse part for hée was alone against iiij hundred so was y e verytie by y e Prophets of Ball and not by Elyas for they were foure hundred and fyftye hee was but one man Briefely Christes flocke is alwayes y e smallest nūber in this world but yet it is the best not the smallest number maketh Christes flocke but that Christes Church stādeth neyther by the greatest number nor yet by the smallest nor by the iudgmēt or numbring of man but by the callyng and eleccion of God Wherefore let my Lorde bring forth what counsell that hée will and if they haue not the word of God I will not all onely say they may erre but also that they doe erre in verye déede And that will I proue by the greatest lawyer that they haue called Panormitanus whose wordes bée these that Councels may erre as they haue erred as concernyng that contract of matrimony inter raptorem raptam and the saying of Saint Hierome was afterward preferred a boue the statute of the counsel as it is proued 36. q. 2. Tria for in thinges concerning the fayth is the saying of a priuat person to bee preferred afore the saying of the pope if hée haue better reasōs and scriptures of the new and of the olde testamēt for him then the Pope nor it can not helpe to say that the counsell can not erre because that Christ did pray for his Church y e her fayth should not fayle For I aūswere to this that though y e generall coūcell doe represent y e whole vniuersall church neuertheles in very déede there is not y e very vniuersall church but representatiue For the vniuersal church stādeth in y e election of all fayth full men all faithfull mē of y ◠world make that vniuersall Church whose head and spouse is Christ Iesus the Pope is but the vicar of Christ and not the very head of
hée haue better reasōs and Scriptures of the newe and olde testament for hym then the Pope hath Neyther it can helpe to say that the counsell can not erre because y e Christ did pray that the fayth of the church should not fayle For I aunswere to thys that though the generall counsell doe represent the whole vniuersall church yet neuerthelesse in very déede there is not the vniuersall church but representatiue For the vniuersall church standeth in the election of all faythfull men throughout the whole worlde whose head spouse is Christ Iesus And the Pope is but the Vicar of Christ and not y e very head of the church Thys is the Church that can not erre c. Here sayth this Doctour that same sētence of the church that I sayd I brought also for the same purpose the saying of Augustine whose words bée these Those counsels that be gathered in euery prouince must without doubt geue place to the auctoritie of the full counsels which bée gathered of all christendome And also those full coūselles oftentymes must bée amended by the full counselles that come afterwarde if any thing bée opened by experience that was before shutte and if any thing bée knowne tha◠was before hydden And this must bée done without any shadow of superstitious pride without any boasted arrogācy without any contention of malicious enuy but wyth holy méekenes with holy peace and with Christen charitie c. Here S. Augustine sayth plainly that the full counselles may erre and may bée refourmed After this I did declare how a mā should know this church by what fignes and tokens sayd that where as the worde of God was purely and sincerely preached and the sacramēts orderly ministred after the blessed ordinaunce of Christ and where as mē did patiently suffer for the veritie the hearers did apply their lyuing to Christes doctrine and with méeknes receaued the holy sacaments These I sayde were good and perfect tokens to iudge vppon that there were certayne members of Christes church And to prooue this I brought also S. Augustine saying Our holy mother the church through all the world scattered farre and wyde taught in her true head Christ hath learned not to feare the contumelies of the Crosse nor yet of death But more more is shée strengthened not in resisting but in suffering Also Chrisostomes wordes bée these They that bée in Iudea let them flye vp to the mountaines that is to say they that bée in Christendome let them géeue themselues to scriptures Wherfore commaunded hée that all christen men in that tyme should flie vnto scriptures For in that tyme in the which heresies haue crepte into the church there can bée no true probation of christendome nor no other refuge vnto christen men willing to know the verity of fayth but the scriptures of God Before by many wayes was it shewed which was y e church of God and which was the congregation of y e Gentiles But now there is none other waye to them that will knowe whiche is the very true Churche of Christ but alonely by scriptures By workes first was y e church of Christe knowne when the congregation of christen men eyther of all or of many were holy the which holynes had not the wicked men But now christen men bée as euill or worse then heretikes or Gentiles yea and greater continencie is founde amonge them then christen men Wherefore hée that will know which is the very church of Christ how shall hée know it but by scriptures onely And therfore our Lorde considering that so great confusion of thynges shoulde come in the latter dayes for that cause commaundeth hée that christen men willing to reserue y ◠stedfastnes of true fayth shoulde flée vnto none other thyng but vnto scriptures For if they haue respect vnto other thynges they shall bée sclaundered and shall pearishe not vnderstandinge which is the true church c. Maister More hath no great thing in this pointe agaynst mée sauynge that hée sayth these sayinges are none of Chrisostomes but of an other mā written in Chrisostomes name Neuerthelesse I let it passe let other men iudge betwéene vs both Afterwarde because that I sawe so great persecution vsed by the popes church agaynst all maner of sortes of good men whome M. More caulleth heretikes more for his pleasure then for theyr deseruynge For this cause I say I brought a saying of Hilarius to prooue that they that did exercise such tyranny were more to bée compared to the Arians then to Christes church his saying is this The church doth threaten with banyshmentes imprisonmentes and shée compelleth men to beléeue her which was exiled and cast in prison Shée hangeth on y e dignitie of her felowshop the which was consecrated by the threatenings of persecutours Shée causeth Priestes to flee that were encreased by the chasing away of Priestes Shée glorieth that shée is loued of y e worlde the which coulde neuer bée Christes except the worlde did hate her c. After this I brought a saying of S. Barnard to proue that the name of spirituall array gorgious apparell y e is vsed in y e Popes church dyd not make y e Church Hys saying is thus They bée the ministers of Christ but they serue Antichrist they goe gorgiously arayed of our Lordes goodes vnto whom they geue no honor And of these commeth the decking of harlots that thou séest dayly the game players disguising kings apparell Of this commeth golde in their brydells in their saddelles and in their spurres so that their spures bée brighter then the aulters Of this commeth their plenteous wyne presses their full sellers bolking from this vnto ye. Of this cōmeth their tūnes of sweete wynes Of this bée their bagges so fylled For such thinges as these bée will they bée rulers of the Church As Deacons Archdeacons Byshops Archbyshops c. Men may make an exposition of S. Barnarde but it wil bée hard to frame hym to their purpose But for a conclusion M. More and I doe vary but in this poynt that hée sayth the very Church of God stādeth by them that bée good and bad and I say that the trew church of Christ standeth in thē onely that bée good men For the kingdome of Christ is distincted in very déede from the kingdome of y e deuyll For euell men bée doubtles the membres of the dyuell as Paule sayth Ephe. 2. Also our M. Christ sayth vnto the Pharysyes You are of your father the dyuell Wherefore it can not stande with no learning that wicked men which bée the members of the deuyll and bée gouerned by hym can bée members of Christs body though that in this present lyfe they bée not yet so declared vnto y e worlde God send vs all his grace y ◠we may bée of his holy Church and mēbres of his blessed Sonne Iesus Amen FINIS What the keyes of
you doe honour in sensible thinges And maketh you to beleeue that you bee not wicked when you hurt sensible and reasonable men c. 346. col 1 Clement sayth also in an other place What thing is there so wicked and vnthankfull as to receaue a benefyte of God and to geue thankes vnto stocks and stones Wherfore wake and vnderstand your health c. 346. col 2 Augustine sayth Let vs not loue any visible spectacles least by erring from the veritie and by louing shadowes we bee brought into darknes let vs haue no deuocion to our phantasies It is better to haue a trew thing what so euer it bee then all maner of thinges y t may bee fayned at our owne pleasure c. 346. col 2 Hierome Bee it knowē vnto y e King c. The properties of the wordes be to bee marked that hee sayth We will not worship thy Gods nor yet honour thy Image for neither of both become the seruauntes of God to doe c. 346. col 2 God for vs all hath geuen his sonne shall he not geue vs all thinges with hym 347. col 1 There is one mediatour between God and man the man Christ Iesus the which hath geuen him selfe for the redemption of all men 347. col 1 S. Iohn sayth If a man doe sinne we haue an aduocate by the father Christ Iesus 347. col 2 S. Paule sayth The spirite of God maketh intercession mightely for vs with mightie desires that can not be expressed with toung c. 347. col 2 Also S. Paule sayth Christ sitteth on the right hande of the father the which doth also praye for vs. c. 347. col 2 Paule sayth Hee is our wisedome he is our satisfaction and our redemption made of God c. 347. col 2 S. Iohn sayth No man commeth to the father but by mee c. 348. col 1 S. Iohn sayth I am the way onely in the father c. 348. col 1 S. Iohn also sayth Whatsoeuer you aske in my name the father shall geue it you c. 348. col 1 S. Iames sayth All good giftes commeth from the father of lyght 348. col 2 Dauid sayth When I am troubled I will cry vnto the Lord and hee will helpe me c. 349. col 1 Dauid sayth My helpe is of God that hath made heauen and earth 349. col 1 Augustine sayth Let vs haue no deuotion in honoryng of dead men for if they liued wel they may not bee counted for such men as to desire such honours but they will that God shall bee honored of vs by whose lightenyng they reioyce that we are made companions of their glory Wherfore saintes must bee honored by folowyng them but not by honoryng them of deuotion c. 349. col 2 That man was forbydden of the aungell to worship hym but alonely to worshyp one God c. 350. col 1 Chrisostome sayth Doost thou see this womā which was vnworthy but by her perseueraunce was made worthy wilt thou learne also that we praying vnto God in our owne persons doe more profite thē when other men doe pray for vs. This woman did cry and the disciples came and prayed him that hee would speed her for she cryeth on vs. But to them hee aunswered I am not sent but vnto the sheepe which are perished of y e house of Israell But when shee came her selfe and dyd perseuer crying and saying Yes Lord for the whelpes doe eate the crūmes that fall from their maisters tables thē dyd hee geue her the benefite and sayd bee it vnto thee as thou wilt Doost thou not see how hee dyd repell her when other men prayed for her but whē shee came her selfe and cryed hee did graūt her Vnto them hee sayd I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe But vnto the woman hee sayth bee it vnto thee as thou wilt c. 350. col 1 Also Chrisostome sayth We haue no neede of Patrōs before God nor neede of much processe to speake fayre vnto other men but though thou bee alone and wantest a patron but prayest God by thy selfe yet for all that shalt thou haue thy desire God doth not so lightly graunt when other men pray for vs as when we pray our selues yea though we be full of sinnes c. 350. col 1 Ambrose sayth Men are wont to vse this miserable excusation that by these thynges may wee come to God as we may come to y e kyng by Earles I aunswere wee doe come vnto the Kyng by the meanes of Dukes and Earles because that the kyng is a mā and knoweth not to whom hee may commit the common wealth but vnto God from whom nothyng cā bee hid hee knoweth all mens merites wee neede no spokesmā nor no mediatour but alonely a deuoute mynde c. 354. col 1 ¶ That Councels may erre PAnormitanus sayth That Councels may erre as they haue erred as concernyng that contract of Matrimony Inter raptorem raptā the saying of S. Hierome was afterward preferred aboue the statuteof the Councell as it is proued 36. q. 2. Tria for in things cōcernyng the faith is the saying of a priuat persō to bee preferred before the saying of the pope if hee haue better reasōs scriptures of the new of the old Testamēt for him then y e Pope Nor it can not helpe to say that the Councell can not erre because that Christ dyd pray for his Church that her fayth should not fayle ▪ For I aunswere to this that though the generall Councell doe represent the whole vniuersall Church neuertheles in very deede there is not the very vniuersall Church but representatiue For the vniuersall Church standeth in the election of all faythfull men and all fayth full men of the world make that vniuersall Churche whose head and spouse is Christ Iesus and the Pope is but the Vicare of Christ and not the very head of the Churche this is the Church that cā not erre c. 248. col 1 Augustine sayth Those Councels that bee gathered in euery Prouince must without doubt geue place to the authoritie of the full Councels whiche bee gathered of all Christendome and also those full counsels oft tymes must bee amended by the full counsels that come after if any thing bee opened by any experience that was afore shut and if any thing bee knowen that was hidden And this may bee done without any shadow of superstitious pride with out any boasted Arrogancy without any contention of malicious enuy but with holy meekenes with holy peace and with Christen charitye c. 248. col 2 ¶ That the spiritualty is subiect to temporall power and lawes and ought not to resiste by violence THe holy Church of God hath no sworde but the spirituall sword w t the which shee doth not kill but quicken c. 191. col 2
full satisfaction for our sinnes 50. b. his body not naturally in the Sacrament 469. b. how he is in many places and how not at one instant 461. b. his bloud blesseth vs from curse of the law 77. a. he consecrated no bread 465. b. satisfied for our sinnes after afore Baptisme 32. a. sacrificed once for all 310. b. he boroweth figures of the old Testament and why 14. b. his prayer is heard praying for vs. 401. b. his treasures who vnderstand not 69. b Christ why not embraced 162. a. dishonored 18. a. vnder the temporall sword 115. b. a vayne name in respect of the Popes name 127. a. hys prophesie must be fulfilled how terrible soeuer it be 132. b. he prophesied why Antichrist should come 151. b. not tyed to Antichristes eare 149. a. not disguised 408. a. accused of insurrection 105. a. his prophesie fulfilled in the papistes 132. a. commaundeth Scriptures to be searched 102. a. alloweth allegories aptly applyed 467. a. onely fulfilleth the law 40. a Chrisostome calleth the Sacrament a signe of Christes body 474. b. his saying of our Lady 336. b Christian man onely suffreth 119. b. receiueth ibid. hath Christes spirite 83. b. how farre bosid to suffer 327 a. wherunto called 98. b. what requisite for hym 34. a. seketh Christes honor 292. a. seeketh his saluation onely of Christ 292. a. seeketh to Christ 329. b Christian loue of whō reiected 116. b Christian patience 260. a Christian doctrine sufficiently conteyned in Paule to the Romanes 49. b Christian kyng who 349. b Christenyng of Belles 152. a Churche 200. a. what it is 257. a. 〈◊〉 word of diuerse significatiōs 249. a. without sinne 294. a. contayneth good euill 291. a. a place of prayer 282. b. why first ordeyned 87. b. cannot erre 360. a Church of God how taken in Scripture 250. a. repugnaunt to Gods law erreth 201. b. hath a double signification 291. a. why translated into this word congregation 250. b Churche must yeld a reason of theyr doctrine 288. a. Papall persecuteth neuer suffreth 289. b. erreth if the Pope be head therof 375. a Church carnall sinneth 294. b Churlishnes 290. b Churchwardēs their office in tymes past 373. b Cyprian 332. b Circumcision 273. a. a figure of baptisme 467. b. the seale of Gods couenaunt with vs. 437. a. not vsed in xl yeares 248. a. without fayth auayleth not 441. a Circumspect Prelates 369. b Citations 134. b Ciuile orders for fastyng 136. a Clergy 339. a Clergy of the Pope 293. a. are lyers 341. b. robbe God of all honor 165 b. secret conspiratours 363. a. murtherers 341. a. persecutours 262. a Clergy discharged 374. b Climyng vp of the Pope 347. b Cloister loue is bely loue 164. b Comparisō betwen Ionas Christ 27. b. contrariety betwene Christ the Pope 353. b. betwene the olde passeouer Christes last Supper 467. b Comparison betwene Thomas Becket and Thomas Wolsey 361. b Competent liuyng sufficient 20. a. it cōmeth by folowyng Christ 235. b Compassion for Christes sake must be shewed 84. b Commodities folowyng couetouse rich men 231. a Common wealth 23. a Common goodes 346. a Compulsion that Priests should put away their wiues 314. a Comminalty what to bee required of by the Prince 179. b Common saying of Papistes 360. b Comfort agaynst desperation 4. a Commaundementes of whom kept 76. b Comfort agaynst carnall weakenes 454. a Condemnation not vnder three witnesses 23. a Condemnation of the law 57. a Confirmation of childrē 276. b. how it came first into the Church 276. a Congregatiō how vnderstode 205. b it must order vs. 441. a. what perteineth to them 358. b Confession 115. a. 290. b. 173. a Confession the nurse of treason 155. b. what an intolerable burden 140 a. robbeth the Sacramentes 157. b. stablisheth the Popes kingdome 180. b Confessiō due to them whō we haue offended 148. b Confession with repentaunce 392. b. knowledgeth her sinnes hartly to God 147. a Confessiō of thy fayth in Christ with out carnall feare assureth thee of saluation 147. a Conquest of the world what 405. a Conquestes of fayth 421. b Conscience how pacified ibid. b Conscience accuseth not the worker 413. b Consciēces must be examined before the communion be receiued 472. b Consideratiō of two thinges in Sacramentes 468. a Constancy 454. a Constantines gift fayned 356. a Correction of God a token of loue 25. a Corpors ecloth 277. b Contemners of the law who 380. a Contempt of the world 7. b Contempt or loue shewed to Christ as to our brethren 163. a Contentes of the old Testamēt and new 377. b Controuersies concernyng saluation to be stode vnto 1454. a. betwene Iames and Paule 130. b Continuaunce to the end in the Gospell maketh vs blessed 52. b Conuersation of Christ and his Apostles to be considered in expoūdyng Scriptures 172. b Couenaunt of God 186. b. to be kept with hym 23. a. a sure absolution 224. a Couenaunt of Gods promise 432. a. of hys bindyng him selfe to vs. 224 ▪ b. of the Iewes 436. a Couent 192. b Couetousnes 189. b. 267. b. 290. b. 205. b Couetousnes a plague 230. a. blyndeth our eyes 406. a. blindeth Religion 19. b. blyndeth the spiritualtie 107. b. roote of all euill 215. b Couetousnes bewrayeth a false Prophet 189. b. maketh a false prophet 231. b. the end of false doctrine 173. a. of Prelates decayed Christendome 346. a. of shauelynges must not be restrayned 406. a Councels 295. a. general 314. b. how they should conclude 288. a. put downe all Images in Grece 323. b Councell of Papistes dānable 108. a Craft of the Pope 369. b. of his Legates 366. b. of Prelates 135. a. of hypocrites 134. a Crosse 186. b. 219. a. 326. a Crosse borne in procession 135. a Crosse of Christe purgeth all vices 165. a. foloweth a true Christian 209. a Crueltie of Papistes 309. b. 363. b Curse 110. a Curse of God vppon law breakers 23. b Curse of the Pope a fearefull bugge 150. a Cursed who 195. b Cursyng the meanyng therof 174. b Curiositie reproueth 23. b. to be auoyded 409. b Curiositie in searching Gods secrets 329. a Custome of walshe people 152. b Cut of from Christ who 165. a Cup of Christes bloud what 443. b Cup of Christ the deuill how they differre 472. a. and b. D. DAmnation of Princes 112. a Damnation not due to them that are in Christ 42. a Darkenes 232. b. of the Popes doctrine 232. b Darknes caused through couetousnes 232. a Dauid 260. a. would not aduenge hym selfe 110. b. slue not Saule why 111. a Dauncyng in Paris 375. b Dayly bread expounded 222. b Dayly vse of the Sacramentes commaunded by God 442. a Deacon 345. b. what it signifieth his office 133. b Deacons how admitted of the Apostles 146. a. their office in the primitiue Church 345. b Deacons were the first corruption of the Church 346. b Deacons of Christ and of the Pope differre 310.
deliuer all men from hell if they be not damned already For sayth he whosoeuer hath committed a capitall crime hath therby deserued damnation and yet may the Pope deliuer hym both from the crime and also frō the payne due vnto it And he affirmeth that thre times in the xxj article for feare of forgetting Vpon this poynte will I a litle reason with my Lord and so wil I make an end If the Pope may deliuer any mā from the cryme that he hath committed also from the payne due vnto it as you affirme then may he by the same authoritie deliuer xx an hundred a thousand yea all the world for I am sure you can shewe me no reason why he may deliuer some and not all If he can do it then let him deliuer euery man that is in the poynte of death both from the crime and frō the payne so shall neuer man more neither enter into hell nor yet into Purgatory which were the best dede most charitablest that euer hée dyd yea this ought he to do if he could although it should cost hym his owne lyfe and soule thereto as Moses and Paule geue him exāple but yet there is no ieoperdy of neither other Now if he cā do it as you say and will not then is he the most wretched cruell tyraunt that euer lyued euen the very sonne of perdition and woorthy to bée damned in an hundred thousand helles For if he haue receaued such power of God that hée may saue all men yet wil not but suffer so many to be damned I report me vnto your selues what hée is worthy to haue Now if any man would solute this reason and say that he may do it but that it is not méete for hym to do it because that by theyr paynes Gods iustice may be satisfied I say that this their euasion is nothyng worth neyther yet cā I imagine any way wherby they may haue any apparēce to escape For my Lord sayth hym selfe that the Pope must pacifie Gods iustice for euery soule that hée deliuereth from Purgatory and therefore hath he imagined that the Pope hath in hys hand the merites of Christes passiō which he may apply at his pleasure where he will And also he sayth that the merites of Christes passion are sufficient to redeme all the sinnes in the world Now sith these merites on their part are sufficiēt to satisfie y e iustice of God and redeme the whole world also that the pope hath them in his hand to distribute at his pleasure then lacketh there no more but euen the Popes distribution vnto the the saluatiō of the world For he may pacifie Gods wrath and satisfie hys iustice sayth my Lord by applying these merites to them that lacke good workes And so if the pope wil Gods iustice may bée fully satisfied the whole worlde saued Now if hée may so iustly easely saue the whole world charitie also mouyng him vnto it and yet will not apply these merites so frutefully then is the faulte onely his and he the sonne of perdition and worthy more payne then can be imagined And so is not the reason improued but much more stablished and as I thinke ineuitable Beholde I pray you whether my Lord of Rochester hath brought our holy father in auauncyng hys power so high euen into y t déepest pit of hell which if my Lord sayd true it is impossible for hym to auoyde But it chaunceth vnto hym euen as it doth customably where such pryde raigneth for whē they are at the hyghest then fall they downe headlong vnto their vtter confusion and ruine If any man féele himselfe gréeued and not yet fully satisfied in this matter let him write hys minde and by Gods grace I shall make hym an aunswere and that with spéede Pray christen Reader that the woord of God may encrease Amen ¶ An other booke agaynst Rastell named the subsedye or bulwarke to his first booke made by Iohn Frithe prysoner in the Tower IT neadeth not Christē reader I thinke now that thou hast ouerread and diligentlye pondered in thine inward senses that the treatise of Iohn Frith wherein he confuteth all the reason which Rastel More and Rochester made for the maintenance and vpholding of the bitter paynes of purgatory to commende vnto thee thys briefe worke folowing named a subsedy defence or bulwarke to the same And much les nedeth it to dehorte thee from the vayne childish feare which our forefathers haue had of that place of purgatory as theyr good woorkes which at this day remayne vppon the earth founded for theyr thence deliueraunce do testifie And forasmuch as thou art a Christen man and reioysest in Christ I dare boldlye affirme for thee that thou takest neyther pleasure nor ioy of that place like as some persons do which triumphed of late and with much ioy and clapping of handes sent tidinges into all partes that purgatorye was founde agayne because they read in a booke named the Institution of a Christen man this worde Purgatory And yet haue I not heard hetherto that the selfe same persons haue shewed any tokens of gladnes for Gods woorde translated into english so that to me they seeme to reioyce more to haue the sely soules purged with punishmentes when they be departed then to haue them purged with the worde of God while they be here Who wil think but as they haue vttered theyr hartes concerning Purgatory with theyr tongues euen so say they in theyr stomakes that their holy father the Pope whome we may as iustly call the Bishop of Rome seeing he is there the head of S. Peters church as we may call the head of S. Paules church in London Byshop of London hath recouered agayne here in England his old authority yea that he neuer yet lost because they finde in theyr churches copes ropes bels and beades with other lyke holinesse and on themselues long gownes shauen crownes and fingers annointed with the holy oyle of idlenes For who will say but that these holy reliques declare the byshop of Rome as clarkly as this worde purgatory proueth a place to be where soules after the departure from theyr bodies suffer paines and punishmentes Doth not this preaty pageant of purgatory signifie and prognosticate what Tragedye they will play hereafter when the word of God shall blow and scatter from the face of the earth the darke cloudes and mistes of mens inuentions and shall scoure away y t rust of fleshly vnderstanding of the scriptures in other things likewise as it hath done in this if ought may be found in that booke wherwith they may resist that such thinges may be picked out of it the fruite which commonly hath come of all counsels conuocations and synodes since the Apostles time very few excepted causeth me somewhat to feare for if a mā wey the good with the bad that hath sprong from them
for it is better to mary then to burne The Pope sayth all monkes Fryers and Nunnes shall vowe and sweare chastitie be it geuen them or not my Priestes also shall not be wedded but as for to kéepe whores and rauishe other mens daughters wiues shal be dispensed withall I will sée no such thinges for my Byshoppes haue yearely great mony by it like as baudes be wont to haue 57. Christ sayth all meates that maÌ„ taketh with thankes staineth not the soule for all things are pure to them that are pure The Pope sayth he that eateth egges butter or fleshe in these dayes that I haue commauÌ„ded to be fasted doth not onely stayne his soule wyth sinne but also is to be denounced an hereticke Dist 4. ca. Statuimus This agréeth with Christ euen as the lyght doth with the darcknes And yet haue we bene thus blynded long that we could neuer perceaue this Antichrist till now in the last dayes 58. Christ sayd vnto his Disciples that you bynde in earth shal be bouÌ„de in heauen and that you lose in earth shal be losed in heauen The Pope chalengeth greater authoritie for he will lose soules out of Purgatory and commaunde the angels to fetch them out and all for money without money you get nothing 59. Christ sayth wheÌ„ you haue done all thynges that I haue commaunded you yet say that you are vnprofitable seruauntes The Pope sayth do those thynges that I commauÌ„d thée and take a sure conscience vnto thée that thou art a iust and a religious maÌ„ and that thou hast deserued heaueÌ„ And as for I myselfe If I do wrong in euery thyng 〈◊〉 bring many thousandes with me into damnation yet shall no man rebuke me but cal me the most holiest father Dist. 40. ca. Si Papa 60. Christ teacheth vs to fulfill the woorkes of mercy to the poore euer commendyng mercy aboue offerings and sacrifice The Pope teacheth vs to geue our money for pardons masses diriges to images and Churches so that we may offer vnto their bellyes And he that sayth it is better to geue our charitie to the poore as Christ sayth is counted halfe an hereticke because he goeth aboute to marre the Popes market 61. Christe suffered death for our sinnes and arose for our iustification or els we all should haue perished The Pope sayth if thou bye my pardoÌ„ or els be buried in a gray Friers coate thou must néedes be saued so that Christ hath suffered in vayne sith a Friers coate will saue a man 62. Christ onely is our mediatour which maketh vnite betwixt hys father vs howbeit the prayer of a iust man is very good and profitable The Pope sayth The greatest power and saluation next to Christ is myne Dist 60. cap. Si Papa I maruell then why he is so curious to cause vs to worship the Saintes y â— are a sléepe And not rather hym selfe sith he chalengeth a greater power then euer they dyd while they lyued 63. Christ sayth who soeuer breake one of my lest coÌ„maundementes shal be called the lest that is to say none in the kyngdome of heauen The Pope sayth what pertaineth his law vnto me I am subiect to no lawes 25. q. 1. cap. Omnia therefore doth the Pope but seldome right And is alwayes agaynst right yea and agaynst his owne lawes as often as men do bryng hym money for that loueth he aboue all thynges 64. Christes law is fulfilled through charitie The Popes law is fulfilled by money if thou haue no money to geue them thou shalt carye a fagot though thou offende not money them they sée thée not do what thou wilt 65. Christ is the head of the Church as the Apostle doth testifie And also the stone whereon the Church is builded And this Church is the coÌ„gregation of the faythfull and the very body of Christ The Pope sayth I am the head of the Church Dist 19. cap. Enim vero And the seate of Rome is the stone wheron the Church is builded Dist 19. Ita Dominus Can any thyng be more contrary vnto the honour and glory of God then thus to dispoyle hym of his kyngdome whiche he so dearely hath bought shedyng his precious bloud for it 66. Christes law whiche is the holy Scripture came by the inspiryng of the holy ghost whiche dyd infuse it aboundauntly into the hartes of the Apostles and of the same spirite hath it his enduraunce and interpretation The Pope sayth I am Lord of the Scripture to alow and disalow it for of me doth it take his full authoritie ca â–ª Si omnes And for a token of this is the Scripture of Christ layd vnder his féete when he is at Masse 67. Christes Apostle sayth that a Byshop ought to be so well learned that he with the Scripture be able to ouercome all them that be agaynst the fayth The Pope and Byshops will dispute in Scripture with no man but cast them first in prison and proper engynes they haue inueÌ„ted to wring their fingers so sore that the bloude shall braste out at their fingers endes they pyne them and scourge theÌ„ with infinite other tormeÌ„tes payning theÌ„ to forsake the truth And after make them sweare on a booke that they shal tell no man of it thus cruelly do they entreate them against iustice And if they can not subdue them to theyr willes then do they committe them vnto y e seculare power to be burned 68. Christes accusation and cause why he was condemned vnto death was writteÌ„ ouer his head in Hebrew Gréeke Latine that all men might know the cause this was an argument that they vsed iustice although they condemned him vniustly sithe men might sée the offence and iudgement ioyned together The Pope and Byshoppes condemne men and committe them vnto the seculare power that they shold execute the sentence But this is a mischeuous abomination that they will not suffer the seculare power to know the cause why they put men to death worshipfull dis diuines Master Doctor O you gentle nobilitie ponder this matter indifferently Beware how you do execution except you know the cause why Thinke you the bloude shall not be requyred on you if for an others pleasure you destroy the worke of God They will say vnto you as the Iewes sayde vnto Pilate concerning Christ If he were not an euill doer we would not haue deliuered him vnto you Trust not their wordes for no doubt they are lyers know the cause your selues and heare the matter vnfaynedly Thinke you they woulde not let you know the cause and iudgement if they did iustice and not tyrannye Be therefore no longer â—oyes to theÌ„ which ought to be your seruauntes God hath geueÌ„ you his spirite grace and vnderstanding hide not the talent that God hath geuen you but do your diligence to sée iustice executed secluding all tyranny for that is your office appoynted you of
were here with his nette on his necke I thinke you would bid hym walke beggar if you called him not heretik Why doe you not sweare to folowe hys lyuing and to preach and teach his doctrine but that maketh nothing for your purpose Therefore you swerre all onely to S. Peters name But wherein wyll you bée faythfull to S. Peter to mayntane his worldly honours dignities or riches you know well hée sayth that hée hath forsaken all these thinges for Christes sake And for these thinges I thinke hée will require none othe of you Wherfore if you will néedes bée faythfull sworne vnto S. Peter it muste bée in mayntayning and in defending spirituall thynges as preaching of Christes Gospell purely and sincerely mynystring truelye after the institution of our master Christ y e blessed sacramentes of holy church and in vertuous lyuyng geuing example to the holy church of Christe But now if this bée your othe truely you are periured worthy to weare papers for you doe reken your selues to hye and to honorable to goe aboute such simple thinges as these bée And therfore you haue applyed your selues to other greater matters as to christening of belles to halowing of churches to blessing of candels to consecrating of holy oyle to halowing of chalesies vestementes and aulters and to geuing 40. dayes of pardon to them that receiueth your blessings in the streate and to some that visyte holy saintes such like greate matters which partayneth nothing to your othe wherefore I doe recken y e after the true forme of your othe we haue but few byshops but y e bée periured or abiured call it as you will both against God agaynst S. Peter and against their prince It foloweth And to the holy church of Rome what néedeth this what good can you doe to y e holy church of Rome Or what profyte is it to her that you sweare where is any request of her in holy scripture that you shoulde sweare Thinke you that she will compell you by your othe to bée true to her then must shee néedes sue you of periurie if you breake your othe But marke how y e church of Rome is set in your othe as the better person before the Pope wherefore it must néedes followe that y e Pope is vnder y e church and lesse then the church and no hed of the church except you will make hym a third person that neither pertayneth to S. Peter nor yet to holy Churche but is a thyng of him selfe and as your law sayth neither God nor man but middle betwéene them both that is as much to say after my learnyng as the deuill hym selfe But what meaneth it that you sweare onely to the holy Churche of Rome will you bée traytours to the holy Church of Constātinople or els to the holy Churche of England Or doe you thinke other Churches not holy tell vs what you meane for it séemeth a marueilous thyng and also a speciall thyng that you make such an othe all onely to the holy Church of Rome naming none other church Why are you not rather sworne to kéepe and to féede to norish and to bée true to your owne Church of the which you haue taken cure charge As S. Peter commaundeth you Sée that you féede Christes flocke which is among you For of these you haue taken your name lyuyng and dignitie You are called Byshop of Winchester of London and of Lyncolne And of these you are fed but these bée forgotten in your othe and these you litle regarde but to mayntayne the holy Churche of Rome that geueth you neuer a peny but robbeth all other Churches you must bée straitly sworne And why Antichrist must haue a cloke for his treason For now if hée bée a traytour hée is to bée excused why for hée is sworne to it But shall I tell you what I doe take out of it The truth is that you sweare to betray to kil and slay all members of all other Churches sauyng those that liueth after the whoredome and mischief that is vsed in Rome For if you should bee bounde to séeke out in Rome Christened men and those that doth liue after the liuyng of holy church I thinke you should finde but few Yea and vnto those you would thinke scorne to bée sworne Ergo it must folow that you are sworne to the worst sort of Rome and that your holy Churche of Rome is taken for such a sorte as liueth agaynst God agaynst his blessed worde agaynst the liuyng of holy Aposties agaynst the cōditiōs of our holy mother y e church I could say in all whoredome in all oppression in all Sodomytrie in all murther in all pōpe pride summa summarum in all maner of mischief what toung cā tell or hart can thinke But I will not say so for men would reken me vncharitable and to vehement Neuerthelesse all the worlde knoweth that you doe recken your selfe by the vertue of your oth boūde to no men but vnto such as in very déede liueth after this vngracious maner and yet will you bée faithfull and true vnto them agaynst all men Yea I dare say if that their conscience had not cōdemned them of such mischief they would neuer haue desired this assistence of you or els haue thought it necessary to haue required an othe of you But the veritie is they bée naught and haue néede of mayntainers in their mischief And also suspect you not to bée true except you made an othe to them yea and scarsly then onles that you in very déede at tyme and place conuenient doe betray your Princes for that is y e cause of your othe and other profite hath not the kyng by it I will bée reported by all practise that euer came out of your othe It foloweth And to my Lord the Pope I would gladly learne where the Pope hath got the dignitie of a Lord. This thyng is litle regarded of my Lordes the Byshops to bryng in such a worldly dignitie yea they will say it is but a trifle and mocke men for speaking agaynst it But the truth is if they durst as much now as in times past they would burne for this litle trifle the best Lord in England For I dare say it hath cost many a mans lyfe or euer they brought the Pope to Lordshyp Blessed S. Peter whose successour the Pope boasteth him selfe to bée knew nothing of this Lordshyp for bée sayth vnto hys felowes they shall not exercise no Lordshyp ouer the congregation And likewise S. Paule durst not take vppon him to commaunde as a Lord collections to bée made for poore men but mekely desires thē without any Lordshyp Also in an other place Let no man iudge vs but as the Ministers of Christ Blessed S. Paule rekeneth him selfe but a minister a seruaunt And yet y e day hath béene that he was so good as my Lord the Pope Our master Christ that
haue charitie but y e iustified mā hée is a frée seruaunt vnto God for the loue y e hée hath vnto him The which loue séeketh not in God his owne profit nor his owne aduaūtage for then were hée wicked but séeketh alonely the wyll of God and the profite of other men and worketh neyther for loue of heauen nor yet for feare of hell For hée knoweth well that heauen wyth all the ioyes thereof is prepared from the begynnyng of the world not by hym but by hys father And it must néedes folow as contrariwyse the Infidell and the wicked man doth not worke hys wicked déedes because hée woulde haue hell or euerlasting dampnation to hys rewarde but hée woulde rather the contrary Notwithstandyng hell and euerlasting dampnation must néedes follow his wicked déedes Finally a righteous man is a frée seruaunt of Gods and worketh not as an hyerelyng For if it were possible that there were no heauen yet woulde hée doe no lesse good for his respecte is to the maker of the worlde and the Lord of all rewardes There is also an other argument and that is thys Fayth is a worke but workes doth not iustifie Ergo fayth doth not iustifie Aunswere Truth it is that we doe not meane how that fayth for his owne dignitie and for hys owne perfection doth iustifie vs. But the Scripture doth say that fayth alonely iustifieth because that it is that thyng alonely whereby I doe hange of Christe And by my faith alonely am I partaker of y e merites and mercy purchased by Christes bloude and fayth it is alonely that receaue the promyses made in Christ Wherefore wée say with blessed S. Paule that fayth onely iustifieth imputatiue that is all y e merites and goodnes grace and fauour and all that is in Christ to our saluation is imputed and reckoned vnto vs because wée hange and beléeue of hym and hée can deceaue no man that doth beléeue in hym And our iustice is not as the schoole men teacheth a formal iustice which is by fulfillyng of the lawe deserued of vs for then our iustification were not of grace and of mercy but of deseruing and of duty But it is a iustice that is reckened imputed vnto vs for y e fayth in Christ Iesus and it is not of our deseruyng but clearely and fully of mercy imputed vnto vs. Now most honorable gracious Prince I haue declared vnto your highnes what faith it is that doth iustifie vs before God and also brought for my sentēce not alonely the blessed word of God the which were sufficient in this cause but the exposition of holy Doctours that your grace might sée that I am not moued to this opinion of a light cause nor that this doctrine of myne is so new as men hath noted it Moreouer I haue declared vnto your grace how that I woulde haue good workes done would not haue a Christen mans life to bée an idle thyng or els a life of vncleannes but I would haue them to bée chaunged into all vertue and goodnes and to liue in good workes after the commaundement will of God So that your grace may well perceiue that myne aduersaries hath not reported truely on me when they haue sayd how that I would that men should neither fast nor pray nor geue almes nor yet bée penitent for their sinnes I haue neuer sayd it nor yet taught no lyke sentence I take God to recorde my workes and my déedes and all my writynges that euer I wrote or made Wherfore I doubt not if it please your grace graciously to here me but that I wil proue them vntrue in this cause many other mo This doth almighty God know to bée true Who euer preserue your moste royall maiestie in honour and goodnes Amen What the Church is and who bee therof and whereby men may know her THe name of the holy church haue those mē of long tyme vsurped presumptuouslye and w t out all shame they were the greatest enemyes that holy church could haue in earth For they did no more agrée w t the maners of holy church then darknes and light then God and y t deuyll For where holy church hard no man but Christ onely They would heare all manner of men sauing Christ and neuer heare him except it weare to to their profit or glory Where as holy church was ruled in this world they would rule all the world where as holy church would bée holy by Christ onely they would bée holy by their owne helpe And where as holy church was allwayes despised and persecuted of the world They would bée honored of y t world and persecuters of all men And where as holy church was inwardly decked with spiritual vertues they would bée outwardly shinyng in spirituall araye And where as holy church would bée chaste in spryte they would with their mouthes vow chastite and spend all their liues in whore dome And where as holy church dyd allwayes shew méekenes in the worlde they would bée so proude y t hart could deuise no more Breifely whatsoeuer thing y e was agreable with the church of that had they neuer a crumme but allonely by violence vsurped the name of holy church So that if a man had had a crowne or a long goune and a white smock ouer his gowne thē was there no remedy but hée must nedes bée of the church yea and holy church her self So y e if a Barber had made a Bul a crowne a Taylor Iack napes a lōg gowne brought an Asse forth in a white rochet thē no mā might dout but y e there were holy church euerye man must fall downe to receyue clene remission a poena and a oulpa toties quoties for there came the successours of Peter Paule and they that haue the despensatiō of Christes bloud and the merites of holy saints and y e suffrages of holy church to distribute and the key bearers of heauē and hell Who can denye but this is truth It is to opē to néede an probation for wee sée it dayly before our eyes So that if a man will compare our M Christ y t is y e very head of holy church vnto these Prelates that call them selues his viccars hée shall finde but smale agréement betwéene the person and the vicar and hée that will consider S. Peter and S. Paule withall other Apostels shall think that eyther they were none of holy Church or els our prelals for they agrée in nothing Yea hée may reckē that S. Peter S. Paule were starke fooles ryght mad men that liued so despectuous a lyfe What néede me to make many wordes or to tell their names that I speake of There is no doubt but that galde horse will béewray hym selfe But shortly if the deuyll would come in his owne person disguised tell me how it were impossible that hée could bée more contrary to Christ and hys apostels
lyfe and godly conuersation that both his teaching lyuing going togither as the one may edifie by doctrine so the other may profit by example First touching the birth and parentage of this blessed Martyre in Christ hée was borne in the edge of Wales and brought vp from a childe in the vniuersitie of Oxforde where hée by long continuance grew and encreased aswell in the knowledge of tongues and other liberall artes as especially in the knowlege of Scriptures whereunto his mind was singularly addicted Insomuch that hée liyng in Magdalene hall read priuelye to certaine studentes and felowes of Magdalene College some percell of Diuinitie instructing them in the knowlege and trueth of the Scriptures Whose maners also and conuersation being correspondent to the same were such that all they which knewe him reputed and estéemed him to bée a man of most verteous disposition and of a life vnspotted Thus hée in the vniuersitie of Oxford encreasyng more and more in learning and procéeding in degrées of the schooles spiyng his tyme remoued from thence to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge where after hée had likewise made his abode a certayne space and béeing now farther rypened in the knowledge of Gods worde leauing that vniuersitie also hée resorted to one M. Welshe a knyght of Glocester sheare and was there schoole master to his children and in very good fauour with his master This gentleman as hée kept a very good ordinary commonly at his table there resorted vnto him many tymes sondry Abbottes Deanes Archdeacons with other diuers Doctours and great beneficed men Who there togither with M. Tyndall sittyng at the same table did vse many tymes to enter communication and talke of learned men as of Luther and Erasmus and of diuerse controuersies and questions vpon the scripture At which time M. Tyndall as he was learned wel practised in Gods matters so he spared not to shew to them simply and playnely his iudgement in matters as he thought And when as they at that tyme did varie from Tyndall in opinions and iudgment he would shewe them the booke and lay playnely before them the open and manifest places of the scriptures to confute their errours and to confirme his sayinges And thus continued they for a season reasoning and contending togither diuers and sondry tymes till at the length they waxed wery of him and bare a secret grudge in their hartes against hym Not long after this it happened that certaine of these great Doctours had inuited M. Welshe and his wife to a banket where they had talke at will and pleasure vttering their blindnes and ignoraunce without any resistaunce or gayne saying Then M. Welshe and his wife comming home and calling for M. Tyndall beganne to reason with him about those matters wherof the Priestes had talked before at their banket M. Tyndall aunswering by Scriptures mainteyned the trueth reproued their false opinions Then sayd the Lady Welshe a stoute and wise woman as Tyndall him selfe reporteth well sayd she there was such a Doctour which may dispend a C. l. an other CC. l. and an other CCC poūdes And what were it reason thinke you that we should beléeue you before them M. Tyndall gaue her no aunswere at that tyme nor also after that because he saw it would not auayle he talked but litle in those matters At that tyme he was about the translation of a booke called Enchiridon militis Christiani Which being translated he delyuered to his Master and lady Who after they bad read and well perused the same the doctourly Prelates were no more so often called to the house nether had they the Chere nor countenaunce when they came as before they had which thing they well marking and perceiuing and supposing no lesse but it came by the meanes of Tyndall refrayned thē selues and at the last vtterly withdrewe them selues and came no more there As this grewe on the Priestes of the countrey clustering togither beganne to grudge and storme against Tyndall rayling at him in houses and other méeting places Of whom Tyndall him selfe in his first Prologue before the first booke of Moses testifieth in his owne wordes and reporteth that hée suffered much in that countrey by a sort of vnlearned Priestes being full rude and ignoraunt sayth hée God knoweth which haue séene no more Latyn then that onely which they reade in their Porteasses and Missalles which yet many of them can skarsely reade except it bée Albertus de Secretis mulierum in which yet though they bée neuer so sorely learned they pore daye and night and make notes therein and all to teach the mydwifes as they say and also an other booke called Lynwood a Booke of Constitutions to gather tythes mortuaryes Offeringes Customes and other pillage which they call not theirs but Gods part the duetie of holy Church to discharge their consciences with all For they are bound that they shall not deminishe but encrease all thinges to the vttermost of their powers which perteineth to holy Church Thus these blinde and rude Priestes flocking togither to the Alehouse for that was their preaching place raged and rayled against him affirming that his sayengs were heresy addyng moreouer vnto his sayenges of their owne heades more then euer hée spake and so accused him secretly to y t Chauncelour and other of the Bishops officers It folowed not long after this that there was a sitting of the Byshops Chaūcelour appointed and warning was geuen to the Priestes to apere amōgest whom M. Tyndall was warned to bée there And whether hée had any misdoubt by their threatenings or knowledge geuen him that they would lay some thinges to his charge it is vncerteyne But certaine this is as hée him selfe declareth that hée doubted their preuy accusations so that hée by the way in going thitherwardes cryed in his mynde hartely vnto God to geue him strength to stand fast in the trueth of his worde When the tyme came of his apperaunce before the Chaūcelour hée threatened him greuously reuiling and rating him as though hée had béene a dogg and layed to his charge many thinges whereof no accuser could yet bée brought forth as commonly their maner is not to bring forth the accuser notwithstanding that the Priestes of the countrye the same time were there present And thus M. Tyndall after those examinations escaping out of their handes departed home and returned to his Master againe There dwelt not farre of a certaine Doctour that had béene an olde Chauncelor before to a Bishop who had béene of olde famyliar acquaintaunce with M. Tyndall and also fauoured him well Vnto whom M. Tyndall went and opened his mynde vpon diuers questions of the Scripture For to him hée durst bée bolde to disclose his harte Vnto whom the Doctour sayd Doe you not knowe that the Pope is very Antechrist whom the Scripture speaketh of But béeware what you say for if you shall bée perceaued to bée of that opinion it will cost you your
thou feâ—e theÌ„ and that thine hart mourne for them and that with al thy power thou helpe to amende them and cease not to crye to God for theÌ„ neither day nor night and that thou let nothing be founde in thee that any man may rebuke but whatsoeuer thou teachest them that â—e thou and that thou be not a Wolfe in a Lambes skinne as our holy â—ather y e Pope is which commeth vnto vs in a name of hypocrisie and in the â—…e of curssed Cham or Ham calling hymselfe Seruus seruorum the seruaunt of all seruauntes and is yet founde tyrannus tyraâ—norum of all tyrauntes y e most cruell This is to receaue young children in Christes name and to receaue young children in Christes name is to beare rule in the kingdome of Christ Thus ye see that Christes kingdome is all together spirituall and the bearing of rule in it is cleane coÌ„trary vnto the bearing of rule temporally Wherfore none that beareth rule in it may haue any temporall iurisdiction or minister any temporall office that requireth violence to compell withall ¶ Peter was not greater then the other Apostles by any authoritie geuen him of Christ THey saye that Peter was chiefe of the Apostles verely as Appeâ—â—â—s was called chief of Painters for his excellent cunninge aboue other euen so Peter may be called chiefe of the Apostles for his actiuitie and boldnes aboue the other but that Peter had any auctoritie or rule ouer his brethren and felow Apostles is false and contrary to y e scripture Christ forbad it the last euen before his passion and in diuers tunes before and taught alway the contrary as I haue rehearsed Thou wilt say thou caust not see how there should be any good order in that kyngdome where none were better then other and where the superior had not a lawe and authoritie to compell the inferior with violeÌ„ce The worlde truely can see no other way to rule then with violence For there no man absteineth from euil but for feare because the loue of righteousnes is not written in their hartes And therefore the Popes kingdome is of the world For there one sorte are your grace your holines your fatherhode An other my Lord Byshop my Lord Abbot my Lord Pryor An other master Doctour Father Bachelar mayster Parson maister Vicar and at the last commeth in simple syr Iohn And euery man raigneth ouer other wyth might and haue euery ruler his prison his iayler his chaynes his tormentes euen so much as the Fryers obâ—eruauntes obserue that rule and compell euery man other with violeÌ„ce aboue the cruelnesse of the heathen tyrauntes so that what commeth once in may neuer out for feare of telling taâ—es out of schole They rule ouer the bodye with violence and compell 〈◊〉 whether the harte will or not to obserue thinges of their owne making But in the kingdome of God it is contrary For the spirite that bringeth them thether maketh them wilâ—ing and geueth them lust vnto the law of God loue coÌ„pelleth them to worke and loue maketh euerty maÌ„s good all that he can do coÌ„mune vnto his neighbours nede And as euery maÌ„ is stroÌ„g in that kyngdome so loue compelleth him to take the weake by the hand and to helpe hym and to take him that can not go vppon his shoulders and beare him And so to do seruice vnto the weaker is to beare rule in that kingdome And because Peter did excede the other Apostles in ferueÌ„t seruice toward his brethren therefore is â—e called noâ— in the Scripture but in the vse of speakyng the chiefest of the Apostles not that he had any dominion ouer them Of which truth thou mayst see also the practise in the Actes of the Apostles after the resurrection For when Peter had bene and preached in the house of Cornelius an heathen maÌ„ the other that were Circumcised chode him because he had bene in an vncircumcised mans house had eaten with him for it was forbidden in the law neither wist they yet that the heathen should be called And Peter was fayne to geue accountes vnto them which is no token of superioritie and to shew them how he was warned of the holy ghost so to do Actes xj And Actes xv when a CouÌ„cell was gathered of the Apostles and disciples about the Circumcision of the heatheÌ„ Peter brought forth not his commauÌ„dement and the authoritie of his Vicarshyp but the miracle that the holy ghost had shewed for the heathen how at y â— preachyng of the Gospell the holy ghost had lighted vppon them and purified â—heir hartes through fayth and therefore proued that they ought not to be Circumcised And Paule and Barnabas brought soorth the miracles also that God had shewed by them among the heathen through preachyng of saith And then Iames brought soorth a prophecie of the olde Testament for the sayd part And therewith the aduersaries gaue ouer their hold and they coÌ„cluded with one assent by the authoritie of the scripture and of the holy ghost that the heathen should not be Circumcised not by the commaundement of Peter vnder payne of cursing excommunicatioÌ„ 〈◊〉 interditing and like bugges to make fooles and children afrayed withall And Actes viij Peter was sent of the other Apostles vnto the Samaritanes whiche is an euident token that he had no iurisdiction ouer them for then they could not haue sent him But rather as the truth is that the congregation had authoritie ouer him ouer all other priuate persones to admitte them for ministers and send them forth to preach whether so euer the spirite of God moued them and as they saw occasion And in the Epistle vnto the Galathians thou seest also how Paule corrected Peter when he walked not the straight way after the truth of the Gospel So now thou seest that in the kingdome of Christ and in his Churche or congregation and in his couÌ„sels the ruler is the Scripture approued through the miracles of the holy ghost and men be seruauntes onely and Christ is the head and we all brethren And wheÌ„ we call men our heades that we do not be cause they be shorne or shauen or because of their names Parson Vicare Byshop Pope But onely because of the word whiche they preach If they erre froÌ„ the word theÌ„ may whosoeuer God moueth his hart play Paule and correct hym If he will not obey the Scripture then haue his brethren authoritie by the Scripture to put hym downe and send hym out of Christes Church among the heretickes whiche preferre their false doctrine aboue the true word of Christ ¶ How the Gospell punisheth trespassers and how by the Gospell we ought to go to law with our aduersaries THough that they of Christes coÌ„gregation be all willyng yet because that the most paâ—t is alway weake because also that the occasions of the world be euer many and great in so much that
had learued their crafte and had buylt them goodly and costly nestes and their limiters had denided all countryes amōg them to begge in and had prepared liuinges of a certain tie though with begging then they also tooke dispeusations of the Pope for to liue as largely and as lewdly as the Monkes And yet vnto the laye men whome they haue thus falsely robbed and frō which they haue deuided themselues and made them a seuerall kyngdome among themselnes they leaue the pay ing of tolle custome and tribute for vnto all y t charges of the realmes will they not pay one mite and the finding of all the poore the finding of scholers for the most part the finding of these foresayd horseleches and caterpillers the begging Fryers the repayring of the hye wayes and bridges the building and reparations of their Abbaies and Cathedrall Churches Chapels Coledges for which they sende out their pardons dayly by heapes and gather a thousand pounde for euery hundred that they bestow truely If the laye people haue warre or what soeuer charge it be they will not beare a mite If the warre be theirs as the one part almost of all warre is to desende them they will with falshead make thē beare the greatest part besides that they must leaue their wines and children and go fight for them and lose their liues And likewise in al their charges they haue a cast to poule the laye people The Scottes cast downe a castel of y e Byshop of Durhams on the Scottishe bancke called Norant castell And he gat a pardon frō Rome for the bulding of it againe wherwith I doubt not but he gat for euery peny that he bestowed three And what do they with their store that they haue in so great plenty euery where so that the very begging Fryers in short space to make a Cardinall or a Pope of their secte or to do what feate it were for their profite woulde not stick to bring aboue a kynges raūsom verely make goodly places and parkes of pleasure and gaye shrynes and painted postes and purchase pardons wherewyth they yet still poule and plucke away that little wherwith the poore which perishe for neede and fall into great inconueniences myght be somewhat holpen and releued And lay vppe in store to haue alway to pay for the defending of their faith and for to oppresse the truth ¶ How the Pope made him a lawe and why AFter that the Pope with tyranny was clom vp aboue his brethren and had made all the spiritualtie hys subiectes and had made of them hym a seuerall kingdome among thēselues and had seperated them from the lay in all things and had got priuileges that whatsoeuer they did no man shoulde meddle with them and after also he had receaued the kingdomes of the earth of Sathan and was become his Vicar to distribute thē and after that the Emperour was fallen in like maner at his feete and had worshipped him as God to receaue his Empyre of him and all kinges had done likewise to be annointed of him and to be crowned of hym and after that the worlde both great small had submitted them selues to receaue the beastes badge then because y t Christes doctrine was contrary vnto all such kingdomes therefore had no law therein how to rule it he went and made him a seuerall lawe of his owne makyng which passed in cruelty and tyranny y e lawes of all heathen Princes And in his lawe he thrust in fayned giftes of olde Emperours that were out of memory saying y t the Emperor Constantinus had geuen vp the Empyre of Rome vnto Saint Siluester which is proued a false lye for diuers causes One that Saint Siluester being so holy a man as he was would not haue receaued it contrary to his masters commaundementes doctrine Another that the Emperours raigned in Rome many yeares after and all Byshops sued vnto the Emperour not to the pope which was but bishop of Rome onely not called father of fathers Moreouer that no autentike story maketh meution that any Emperour gaue them their patrimony but that Pipine which falsely and wyth strength inuaded the Empyre gaue it vnto hym Then put he in the graunt of Phocas then the gift of Pipine confirmed by the great Charles then a fayned release of the election of the Pope geuen vp agayne vnto Pope Paschale by the Emperour Lewes For they thē selues had graunted vnto Charlemaine and his successours for euer the election or denomination of the Pope and Byshops to flatter him withall and to make him a faithfull defender and that in a generall counsell which as they say cannot erre Neuerthelesse Pope Paschall though he beleued the counsell coulde not erre yet he thought them somewhat ouer seene to make so long a grannt and therefore he purchased a release of gētle Lewes as they pretend But verely it is more likely that they fayned that graunt to excuse their tyranny after they had taken the election into their handes againe with violēce when the Emperours were weake not able to resist them as they fayned the gift of Constantine after they had inuaded the Empyre with subtiltie falsehead And last of all they brought in the othe of Ottho with the order that now is vsed to chuse the Emperour How the Pope corrupteth the Scripture and why MOreouer lest these his lyes should be spyed and lest happly the Emperours folowyng might say our predecessours had no power to bynde vs nor to minish our might And lest kynges folowyng should say after the same maner that the sword ful power to punish euil doers indifferently is geuen of God to euery kyng for hys tyme and therfore that their predecessour could not binde them cōtrary vnto the ordinaunce of God but rather y t it was vnto their damnation to make such grauntes and that they did not execute their office And therfore thefoule and mishapen monster gate him to the Scripture and corrupted it with false expositions to proue that such authoritie was geuen him of God and chalenged it by the authoritie of Peter say ing that Peter was the head of Christes Church and that Christ had made him Lord ouer y e Apostles his felowes in that he bade him fede his shepe and lambes Iohn the last as who should say that Paule ▪ which came long after was not cōmaunded to feed as specially as Peter which yet wold take none authoritie ouer the bodyes or ouer the faythes of them which he fed but was their seruaunt for Christes sake Christ euer the lord and head And as though the other Apostles were not lykewise as specially commaunded as Peter And as though we now all that here after shall loue Christ were not commaunded to fede Christes flocke euery man in his measure as well as Peter Are not we commaunded to loue our neighbours as our selues as well as Peter Why then are we
not commauÌ„ded to care for hys flocke as well as Peter Moreouer if to fede Christes shepe is to be greatest as no doubt to fede Christes flocke is to be great and most to fede is to be greatest in which office though Peter was great yet Paule was greater how commeth it that the pope by that authoritie chaleÌ„geth to be greatest yet this viij hundred yeares fedeth not at all but poysoneth their pasture with the venemous leuen of hys traditions and with wrestyng the text vnto a contrary sense Then came he to this text Math. xvj Thou art Peter and vppon this rocke I will builde my congregation or Church Lo saith Antichrist the carnall beast Peter is the rocke whereon the Church of Christ is built I am his successour and therfore the head of Christes Church When Christ ment by the rocke the confession that Peter had confessed saying Thou art Christ the sonne of the lyning God which art come into this world This fayth is the rocke wheron Christes Churche is built For who is of Christes Churche but he onely that beleueth that Christ is Gods sonne come into this worlde to saue sinners This faith is it against which hell gates caÌ„ not preuaile This fayth is it which saueth the congregation of Christ and not Peter TheÌ„ he goeth forth vnto that which foloweth Vnto thee I will geue the keyes of the kyngdome of heauen and what soeuer thou byndest in earth it shal be bound in heauen c. Loe sayth he in that he sayth what soeuer thou bindest in earth he excepteth nothyng therfore I may make lawes and binde both King Emperour When Christ as he had no worldly kyngdome euen so he spake of no worldly bindyng but of bindyng of sinners Christ gaue hys Disciples the keye of the knowledge of the law of God to binde all sinners and the keye of the promises to loose al that repent to let them into the mercy that is layed vp for vs in Christ Then coÌ„meth he vnto an other text which Christ rehearseth Mathew last saying All power is geuen me in heauen and earth go ye therfore and teach all natioÌ„s Baptising them in the name of the father and the sonne of the hely ghost teachyng them to kepe all that I commauÌ„ded you And behold I am with you vnto the worldes end Loc sayth the Pope Christ hath all power in heauen and earth without exceptioÌ„ and I am Christes Vicare wherfore all power is myne and I am aboue all kynges and Emperours in temporall iurisdiction and they but my seruauÌ„tes to kisse not my feete onely but my N. also if I list not to haue them stoupe so low When Christ as I sayd because he had no temporall kyngdome euen so he ment of no temporall power but of power to saue sinners which the processe of y e text declareth by that he sayth go ye therfore and teach and Baptise that is preach this power to al natioÌ„s and wash of their sinnes through fayth in the promises made in my bloud Then hee commeth vnto an other text Heb. vij which is The priesthode beyng translated the law must needes be translated also Now saith the pope the Priesthode is translated vnto me wherefore it pertayneth vnto me to make lawes and to binde euery man And y â— Epistle meaneth no such thyng but proueth euidently that the ceremonies of Moyses must ceasse For the Priestes of the olde Testament must nedes haue bene of the tribe of Leâ—i as AaroÌ„ was whose duty for euer was y e offeryng of sacrifices Wherfore when that Priesthode ceased the sacrifices ceremonies ceased also Now y t Priesthode ceased in Christ whiche was a Priest of y e order of Melchisedeke not of the order of Aaron for then he must haue bene of the tribe of Leâ—i and that he was not but of the tribe of Iuda of the seede of Dauid Wherefore they that are vnder Christes Priesthode are vnder no sacrifices or ceremonies And of this maner iuggle they with all the Scripture whiche falshed lest the laye men should perceaue with reading the processe of the text is all their feare what soeuer they pretend Moreouer that thou mayst perceaue the Popes falshed marke Christ sayd vnto Peter I will geue not I geue neither sayd he I will geue vnto the onely Therfore looke in the. xx chapter of Iohn where hee gaue them the keyes after his resurrection and thou shalt see that he gaue them vnto all indifferently saying As my father sent me so send I you Whether sent he theÌ„ into all the world and vnto all natioÌ„s What to do to preach the law that the people might repent and the promises that they might beleue in Christ for the remission of sinnes saying receaue the holy ghost who soeuers sinne ye forgeue they shall be forgeuen By which holy ghost he gaue them vnderstaÌ„dyng of the Scripture and of all that they should preach as thou mayst see Luke last where he opened their wittes to vndestand the Scripture and sayd that repentauce and forgeuenesse of sinnes must be preached in his name to all nations and that they were witnesses to preach it Whereby thou seest that to bynde and to lose is but to preach to tell the people their faultes to preach mercy in Christ to all that repent And when he sayth all power is geuen me he sayth not go thou Peter preach but saith vnto all indifferently go ye and preach this power geuen me of my father to saue all that repent and to damne them that repent not but folow the lustes of their flesh with full desire to lyue beastly beyng enemyes vnto the law of God And Math. xviij Peter asked Christ howe oft hee should forgeue hys brethren whether seueÌ„ tymes And Christ sayd seuentie tymes seuen tymes As who should say as ost as he repenteth and asketh forgeuenesse Now though this were spokeÌ„ vnto Peter onely because Peter onely moued the question yet pertaineth it not vnto vs all as well as vnto Peter Are not we as much bound to forgeue our neighbours that repeÌ„t and aske forgeuenesse as Peter Yes verely But because Peter onely asked the question therfore did Christ teach vs by Peter If an other had asked he would haue taught vs by that other And in lyke maner when Christ asked who say ye that I am if any other of the Apostles which beleued it as well as Peter had sayd as Peter did thou art Christ the sonne of the lyuyng God whiche art come into the world of sinners to saue them vnto him would Christ haue auÌ„swered as he did to Peter that vppon the rocke of that his coÌ„fession he wold haue built his church and would haue promised him keyes as well as he dyd Peter Yea and in the xviij chapter of Mathew Christ sayth to all the Apostles yea and to all congregatioÌ„s
not in me and in whom I abyde not let hym not say or thynke that he eateth my body or drinketh my bloud They abyde not in Christ which are not his members And they are not hys mēbers which make them selues the mēbers of an harlot And these are also the very wordes of Bede Here it is playne proued agayne by the authoritie of S. Austen and Bede that the wicked and vnfaythfull which are not the members of Christ doe not eate hys body nor drinke hys bloud and yet they do eate the sacrament as well as the other Wherefore you must néedes graunt that the Sacrament is not y e naturall body of Christ but a figure tokē or memoriall therof Now good Christen people count not thys new learning which is firmed by such olde Doctors and faythfull fathers Now were this inough for a Christen man that loued no contention But because there are so many sophisters in y ◠world which care not what they say so they holde not theyr peace I must néedes set some bulwarke by thys holy Doctor to helpe to defend hym for els they will shortly ouerrunne hym as they do me and make hym an hereticke too Therefore I will alleage hys master S. Ambrose Saint Ambrose sayth Non iste panis est qui vadit in corpus sed ille panis vitae aeternae qui animae nostrae substantiam fulscit That is It is not thys bread that goeth into the bodye but that bread of euerlasting life whiche vpboldeth the substance of our soule Furthermore the great clerke Prosper confirmeth the same saying Qui discordat a Christo nec carnem Christi manducat nec sanguinem bibit etiamsi tamtae rei sacramentum ad iudicium suae praesumptionis quotidie indifferenter accipiat That is He that discordeth from Christ doth neyther eate hys fleshe nor drinke hys bloud although he receaue indifferētly euery day the sacrament of so great a thing vnto the condemnation of hys presumption And these are also the very wordes of Bede vpon the xj Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians Now you may sée that it is not S. Austens minde onely but also the saying of many moe And therefore I trust you will be good vnto hym And if ye condemne not these holy fathers then am I wrongfully punished But if you condemne thē then must poore Frith be content to beare the burthen with them ¶ The mynde and exposition of the old Doctours vppon the wordes of Christes maundey ANd where M. More sayth that if Christe had not ment after the plaine literal sece that both the hearers at that tyme and the expositours since and all Christē people beside this xv c. yeare would not haue taken onely the litterall sence beyng so straunge and maruelous that it might seme impossible decline from the letter for allegories in all such other thynges beyng as hee sayth and as in deede they be so many farre in nomber mo As touchyng y e hearers they were deceiued and vnderstode him not I meane as many as tooke his wordes fleshly as you do And they had their aunswere of Christ when they murmured that his wordes were spirite and lyfe that is as S. Austen sayth spiritually to bee vnderstand and not fleshly as is before declared And as for the expositours I thinke he hath not one of the old fathers for him but certaine new felowes as Dominie S. Thomas Decam and such other whiche haue made the Pope a God And as I haue shewed S. Austen maketh full for vs and so do all the old fathers as Occolāpadius hath well declared in his booke Quid veteres senserint de Sacramēto eucharistiae And some of their sayinges I shall alledge anone And where you say that all Christen people haue so beleued this 1500. yeares that is very false For there is no doubt but that the people thought as holy S. Austen and other faithful fathers taught them Which as I said make with vs. Notwithstādyng in déede sith our Prelates haue bene made Lordes and haue set vp their lawes and decrées contrary to the prerogatiue of all Princes lyke most sutle traytours haue made all mē beleue that they may make lawes and bynde mens consciences to obey them and that their lawes are Gods lawes blindyng y e peoples eyes with two or thrée textes wrongfully wrested to aduaunce their pride where they ought to obey Kyngs and Princes and be subiect to their lawes as Christ and his Apostles were euē vnto y e death Sith that tyme I say they haue made men beleue what they list and made articles of the faith at their pleasure One article must be y e they be the Church and can not erre And this is the grounde of all their doctrine But the truth of this article is nowe sufficiently knowen For if Quéene Katherine be kyng Henries wife then they do erre and if she be not then they haue erred to speake no more cruelly It is now become an article of our fayth y e the Pope of Rome must be y ◠head of y e Church the Vicare of Christ that by Gods law It is an article of our fayth that what soeuer hee byndeth in earth is bounde in heauen in so much that if he curse wrongfully yet ye must be feared and infinite such other which are not in our Crede but blessed bee God that hath geuen some light into our Princes hart For he hath lately put foorth a booke called the glasse of truth whiche proueth many of these articles very foolishe phantasies and that euen by their owne Doctours so I trust you shal be proued in this poynt of the Sacrament for though it be an article of our fayth it is no article of our Crede in y e xij articles wher of are sufficient for our saluatiō And therefore we may thinke that you lye without all ieoperdye of damnation Neuerthelesse seing his mastership saith that all make for him and I say cleane contrarie that all the olde fathers make against him or at the lest wise not with him It were necessary that one of vs should proue his purpose But indeede in this poynt he would loke to haue the vauntage of me For he thinketh that men will soner beleue hym which is a great man then me which am but a poore man and that therfore I had more néede to proue my part true then he to proue his Well I am content and therfore geue eare deare reader and Iudge betwéene vs. First I wil begin with Tertulian because he is of most antiquitie Tertulian speakyng of Christ sayth Nec panem reprobauit quo ipsum corpus suum representat That is to say Christ him selfe did not reproue or discommend bread whereby he doth represent hys very body For the vnderstandyng of thys place you must knowe that there was an hereticke called Marcion which dyd reproue creatures and said
the Church this is the Church that can not erre c. Here it is open that the counsell may erre and that a priuate person hauing scriptures for hym is to bée heard before the Pope and also y e coūsell hauing no scriptures for them you haue also what is the very trew Church which can not erre which thing can not bée veryfyed of your counsels for they bée neyther without errour nor yet the holy Church but that they doe represēt the Church as a legate representeth a kings person but of that followeth not that hée is y e king or hath as much power as the king or is aboue The king or that he may rule the king this may also bée proued by S. Augustine whose words bée these those counselles that bée gathered in euery Prouince must without doubt geue place to the auctoritie of the ful counsels which bée gathered of all Christendom and also those full counsels oft tymes must bée amended by the full counsels that come after if any thyng bée opened by any experience that was a fore shut and if any thing bée knowen that was hydden And this may bee done without any shadowe of supersticious pride without any boasted Arrogancy with out any contentiō of malicious enuy but with holy méekenes with holy peace and with Christen charitye c. Here it is playne that your full coūsels may bée amended and reformed y e which thing néede not if they could not erre yea and if they did not erre in déede Moreouer you must néedes graunt that there is a rule where by your counsels must bée exammined where by sentence must bée geuen which of your councels bée true and which false by the which rule if your counsels bée not ordered they must néedes erre and bée false and of the deuill Wherfore gather all your coūsels togither and yet of them can you not make holy church But peraduenture there may bée many in your coūsels good and perfite men and of holy Churche but they and you togither make not the vnyuersall holy church that can not erre neither haue you any anctoritie ouer holy Church further then the holy scripture of God but as soone as you forsake Christ and his holy worde so soone are you the congregation of the deuyll and théeues and murtherers and yet for all this there must néedes bée an holy church of Christ in earth that is neyther bounde to Ierusalem nor to Constantinople nor yet to Rome as though shée were lyke vnto the Asse and the fole But now wyll there bée obiected that our Mayster Christ commaundeth if my brother offende mée that I shoulde complayne to the church Now is this church that I haue set out spirituall and no man knoweth her but God onely shée is also scattered thorow out the worlde wherfore how can a man complayne to that church I aunswere our M. Christ doth playnely speake of a man that hath wronge the which must néedes bée a perticuler and a certayne man and therefore likewyse hée biddeth hym complayne not to the vniuersall church but to the perticular church Now this particular church if shée bée of God and a true member of the vniuersal church shée will iudge righteously after Christes worde and after the probations brought afore her Neuerthelesse oftētymes cōmeth it to passe y ◠this particular church doth fully and wholy erre and iudgeth vnryght and excommunicateth him that is blessed of god as it is open in your owne lawe whose wordes bée these oftētymes hée that is cast out is within and hée that is within is kept without c. Here haue you playnely y e the particular church may erre Wherefore that church that can not erre is all only the vniuersall church which is caulled the communion and the felowship of Saintes the which addition was made by holy fathers for in Ciprians time was there no mention of it by all likelyhode to declare the presumption of certayne men and of certayne congregations that reckened themselues to bée holy church Wherfore my Lordes sée well to it least the holy Ghost haue pricked you wyth thys addition for you haue alwayes made your selfe holy church yea and that wythout any holines Now haue I declared vnto you what is holy church that is the congregation of faithfull men thorowout all y e world and whereby shée is holy that is by Christes holynesse and by Christes bloud and also what is the cause that shée can not erre because that shée kepeth her selfe so fast to the worde of God whiche is a perfite a true rule Nowe must we declare by what signes and tokēs that we may know that in this place or in that place there bée certeine members of this holye church For though shée bée in her self spirituall ▪ and can not bée perfitely knowen by our exteriour senses yet neuerthelesse we may haue certeine tokens of her spirituall presence whereby we may recken that in this place and in that place bee certeine of her members As by a naturall example though the soule of man in her selfe bée spirituall inuisible yet may we haue sure tokens of her presence as hearyng mouyng speakyng smellyng with such other So likewise where the word of God is truely and perfitely preached without the damnable dreames of men and where it is well of the hearers receiued also where we sée good woorkes that doe openly agrée with the doctrine of the Gospell these bée good and sure tokēs whereby we may iudge that there bée some men of holy Church As to the first whereas the Gospell is truely preached it must néedes light in some mens hartes as the prophete witnesseth my word shall not returne agayne to me frustrate but it shall doe all thyng that I will and it shall prosper in those thynges vnto the which I did send it Also S. Paule sayth fayth cōmeth by hearyng and hearyng commeth by the word of God and therfore it is open in holy Scripture that when Peter spake the wordes of God the holy ghost fell downe on them all Wherfore it is open that Gods worde can neuer bée preached in vayne but some men must néedes receiue it and thereby bée made of holy Churche though that men doe not know them neither by their names nor yet by their faces for this word is receiued into their hartes The second token is that the receiuers of this woord doe worke well thereafter as S. Paule declareth of his hearers when you receiued of vs the word wherewith God was preached you receiued it not as the word of men but euen as it was in déede the word of God whiche worketh in you that beléeue So that if men doe worke after the worde of God it is a good token that there bée men of the Churche though that we hypocrisie is so subtile and so secret may bée oftentymes deceiued by these
outward workes but neuertheles charitie iudgeth well of all thinges that haue a good outward showe and bée not opēly agaynst the word of God But it is no ieoperdy though charitie bée deceiued for it is opē to all ieoperdies but fayth is neuer deceiued Now to our purpose that where the worde of God is preached truely it is a good a perfite token that there bée some mē of Christes church This may bée prooued by Chrisostomes wordes they that bée in Iudea let thē flée vp into the mountaines that is to say they that bée in Christendome let them geue thē selues to Scriptures Wherfore commaundeth hée that all Christened men in that tyme should flye vnto Scriptures for in that tyme in the which heresies haue crept into the Church there can bée no true probation of Christendome nor no other refuge vnto Christen men willyng to know the veritie of fayth but y e Scriptures of God Afore by many wayes was it shewed which was the Church of Christ and which was the congregation of Gentiles but now there is no other way to them that will know whiche is the very true Churche of Christ but alonely by scriptures By workes first was the church of Christ knowen when the conuersation of Christen men either of all or of many were holy the which holynes had not the wicked men but nowe Christen men bée as euill or worsse then heretickes or Gentiles yea greater continencie is founde among them then among Christen men Wherefore hée that will knowe which is y e very church of christ how shall hée knowe it but by Scriptures onely Wherfore our Lord cōsidering that so greate confusion of thynges should come in the latter dayes therfore commaundeth hée that Christen men which bée in Christendome willing to reserue the stedfastnes of true fayth should flye vnto no other thyng but vnto Scriptures for if they haue respect vnto other thynges they shall bée sclaundered and shall perishe not vnderstandyng whiche is the true Church c. These wordes néede no exposition they bée plaine inough they doe also exclude all maner of learning sauing holy scripture Wherefore sée how you can with honestie saue your holy lawes and defend them against Chrisostome Moreouer if Chrisostome complayne of the incontenency that was in his dayes how would hée complaine if hée now liued sawe the baudry and fornication that is in the Church And also he sendeth men to scriptures that will know the holy Church and not vnto y e holy Church for in the Church were heresyes but not in scripture Also S. Paule witneseth the same saying you are built vpon the foundacion of the Apostles and Prophets heare haue you playnely that the very trewe Church is grounded yea and founded of holy scripture and therefore wheresoeuer that the worde of God is preached that is a good token that there bée some men of Christes Church But now as to the fruites and workes of this Church she doth all onely fetch out her maner of lyuing and all her good workes out of y e holy word of God and she fayneth not nor dreameth any other new holines or new inuented works that be not in scripture but she is content w t Christes learning and beléeueth that Christ hath sufficiently taught her all manner of good workes that bée to the honour of our heauēly father Therfore inuenteth shée no other way to heauen but followeth Christ onely in suffering oppressions and persecutions blaspheminges al other things that may bée layd vnto her which as S. Agustine sayth she learned of our M. Christ Our holy mother y t church throughout all the world scattered far and long in her trew head Christ Iesus taught hath learned not to feare the contumelys of the Crosse nor yet of death but more and more is shée strengthed not in resisting but in suffering c. Now my Lordes compare your selfe to this rule of S. Agustine and let vs sée how you can bring your self into the Church or els to proue your self to bée holy The Church suffereth persecutions for as S. Paule sayth they that will liue deuoutly in Christ must suffer persecution and you with stand all thinges and suffer nothing You oppresse euery mā and you will bée oppressed of no mā You persecute euery man and no man may speake a worde agaynst you no though it bée neuer so true You cast euery mā in prison no mā may touch you but he shal bée cursed You compell euery mā to say as you say you will not once say as Christe sayth And as for your holynes all the worlde knoweth what it is for it standeth in clothing and in decking in watching and sléeping in eating and drinking this meate or y e meate this drynke or that drinke in pattering and mumbling these Psalmes or those Psalmes without deuotion Bréefly all your holines is in books Bels Cādels Challeces oyle creme water horses houndes pallaces all that is mighty and gloryous in the world there on hange you there in glory you there on crake you there on boast you there vpon builde you Is this y e natures of y e church is this holines Of whome haue you learned these maners You can not deny but these bée true and if you would denye it all the world is witnesse agaynst you yea and also your owne factes déedes Of whom haue you learned this holynes not of Christ nor yet of his holy Church but you haue learned it of the Arians y e were the seruauntes of the deuyll Hilarius wryteth in these wordes the Church doth threaten with banyshmentes prysonmentes and shée compelleth men to beléeue her which was exciled and cast in prison now hangeth shée on the dignitye of her fellowship the which was consecrated by the threateuinges of persecutors shée causeth priestes to flye that was encreased by the chasing away of priestes shée gloryeth that shée is loued of y e world y e which could neuer bée Christes except the worlde did hate her How thynke you my Lordes doe not you all these thinges that bée layd to the Arians charge Your owne frendes yea your owne consciences must néedes accuse you of all these thinges and yet will you bée called Christes children I lay nothyng to you but that holy Doctours lay vnto you But let vs sée what S. Barnarde sayth on you they call themselues the ministers of Christ but they serue Antichrist they goe gorgiously arayed of our Lordes goods vnto whome they géeue none honour and of these goods commeth the harlottes decking that thou séest dayly the game players disguising and kynges apparell of thys cōmeth golde in their bridles in their saddles and in their spurres so that their spurres bée bryghter thē the aulters of thys commeth theyr plenteous wine presses and their full sellers bolkyng from thys vnto that of thys cōmeth their tunnes of swéete wynes
article collected seuerally by theÌ„ selues I haue therefore accordyng to my simple skill gathered this Epitome and haue added also thereunto foure other articles translated into Englishe out of hys Booke De Doctorum Sententijs whiche bee confirmed in the lyke sorte onely by bare testimonyes of scriptures fathers couÌ„cels lawes Which foure articles and the treatise beefore of the originall of the Masse were omitted in hys English workes But as for all the other testimonies in his booke De DoctoruÌ„ Sententijs hee hath in this volume of his workes dispersedly alleaged most of them to his purpose as hee had occasion which by this Epitome folowing thou mayest perceaue Now hast thou gentle reader to consider of these auncient testimonyes desiring thee for the coÌ„firming and establishyng of thy doubtfull conscience to compare these sayinges of Doctors holy fathers and of the Popes own law vnto the saying of the Pope and his Papisticall byshops that bee in these latter dayes and to their late practises where their power is or hath beene receaued and then geeue sentence howe they doe agree If they doe accorde then is it lyke they bee of the true Church whereof these holy fathers were But if they agree not then mayest thou suspect that they haue gone astray and that the deuill hath transfigured hym selfe into an Aungell of light and that they are his ministers Who notwithstandyng haue fashioned them selues as though they were the ministers of righteousnes whose end shall bee accordyng to their deedes ¶ That faith onely iustifieth AMbrose sayth they are iustefyed freely for they doeing nothing nor nothing deseruing all onely by fayth are iustefied by the gyft of God Fol. 230. col 1. Ambrose sayth It was so decreed of God that after the lawe hee should require vnto saluation all onely the fayth of grace hee sayth that they bee blessed of whom God hath determined wtont labour without all manner of obseruation all onely by fayth that they shall bee iustefyed before God Blessed are they whose sinnes are forgeuen Clearely they are blessed vnto whoÌ„ without labour or without any worke their iniquities bee remitted and their synnes couered and no manner of workes required of them but all onely that they should beleeue 231. col 1 Athanasyus sayth there are two maner of faythes one is iustefying as y t of the which it is spoken thy fayth hath saued thee An other is cauled the gift of God whereby myracles bee done of the which it is written if you haue fayth as a graine of mustard seede 241. col 1. Athanasyus sayth Nowe doth the Apostle playnely showe that fayth all onely hath vertue in hym to iustifie and bryngeth Abacuke saying of fayth and not of the law shall a righteous man lyue Hee addeth well beefore God for beefore man peraduenture they shall bee reckened righteous that sticke to the law but not beefore God c. 233. col 1 Augustine saith those same workes y t bee done beefore fayth thoughe they seeme vnto men laudable are yet but vayne and I doe iudge them as great strength and swift running out of the way Wherefore let no man count his good workes before fayth where as fayth is not there is no good worke the ententioÌ„ maketh a good worke but fayth doth guide the entention c. 233. col 2 Augustine sayth we doe gather that a man can not bee iustefyed by the preceptes of good lyuing that is not by y t lawe of workes but by that lawe of faith not by the letter but by the sprite not by the merites of workes but by free grace 234. col 1 Augustine sayth S. Paule affirmeth that a man may bee iustifyed by fayth without any works goyng before iustifycation but when a man is iustifyed by fayth how can hee but worke well though y t he before working nothinge righteously is now come to the iustifycation of fayth not by merytes of good workes but by the grace of God the which grace in hym now can not bee Idle seeing that now thorow loue hee worketh well And if hee depart out of this worlde after that hee beleeueth the iustifycation of fayth abydeth by hym not by his workes going before iustifycation for by his merites came hee not vnto that iusteficatioÌ„ but by grace nor by his workes that followe iustefycation for hee is not suffered to lyue in this lyfe Wherfore Paule and Iames are not contrary for Paule speaketh of the workes that goe beefore fayth and Iames speaketh of the woorkes that followe the iustefycation of fayth 238. col 1 Augustine expoundinge the texte of y t Apostle Roma 2. The doers of the law must bee iustifyed sayth so must it bee vnderstoode that we may know that they can no otherwise bee the doers of of the law except they bee fyrst iustifyed not that iustifycation belongeth to the doers but that iustifycation doth proceede of all manner of doeing 240. col 1 Barnarde sayth I doe abhorre what so euer thinge is of mee except peraduenture that that bee myne that God hath made mee his By grace hath hee iustifyed mee freely and by that hath hee deliuered mee from the bondage of synne Thou hast not chosen me saith Christ but I haue chosen thee nor I found any merites in thee that might moue mee to chuse thee but I preuented all thy merytes Wherefore thus by fayth I haue maried thee vnto me and not by the workes of the lawe I haue maried thee also in iustice but not in the iustice of the lawe but in that iustice which is of fayth 233. col 2 Popes law sayth Cornelius centuno being a heathen man was iustifyed by the gift of the holy Ghost 240. col 2 ¶ What the Church is and who bee thereof and whereby men may know her AVgustine saith of Christ is y e church made fayre fyrst was shee fylthy in synnes afterward by pardon and by grace was shee made fayre 244. col 1 Augustine sayth The holy church are we but I doâ— not say we as one should say we that bée here alonely that heare 〈◊〉 now but as many as bee here faith full Christen men in this Church that is to say in this Citie as many as bee in this region as many as bee beyond the Sea c. 245. col 1 Lyranus sayth The Church doth notâ—stand in men by reason of spirituall power or secular dignities For many Princes and many Popes other inferiour persons haue swarued from the fayth Wherefore that Church doth stand in those persons in whom is the true knowledge and coÌ„fession of faith and of veritie c. 245. col 1 Augustine sayth The whole Church sayth forgeue vs our sinnes wherfore sheâ— hath spottes and wrinckles but by knowledgyng of them her wrinckles bee extended and stretched out by knowledgyng her spottes are washed away 246. col 1 Augustine sayth Our holy mother the Churche throughout all the world
scattered far and long in her trew head Christ Iesus taught hath learned not to feare the contâ—…elyes of the Crosse nor yet of death but more and more is shee strengthned not in resistyng but in sufferyng c. 250. col 2 The Popes law sayth Therfore is the Church holy because shee beleueth righteously in God c. 246. col 2 The Popes law sayth The whole Church can not erre Also in an other place of the congregation of faythfull men must needes bee which also caÌ„ not erre c. 247. col 2 ¶ That the keyes of the Churche bee the Woorde of God and not mans power HIerome sayth vppon these wordes I shall geue thee the keyes of heaueÌ„ This place the Byshops the Priests not vnderstanding haue vsurped vnto them somewhat of the Phariseis pride so that they thinke that they may condemne innocentes and loose them that bee giltie wheÌ„ beefore God not the sentence of the Priest but the lyfe of the giltie is regarded c. 257. col 2 Augustine sayth That must bee called a key where by the hardnes of our hartes are opened vnto fayth where by y t secretnes of myndes are made manifest A key it is sayth hee the whiche doth both open the conscience to the knowledge of sinne and also includeth grace vnto the wholsomnes of euerlastyng mistery c. 258. col 1 This doth Chrisostome well proue in these wordes Thâ— key is the word the knowledge of Scriptures wherby the gate of veritie is opened vnto men c. 261. col 1 Augustine doth also witnes the same saying These keyes hath hee geuen to the Church that what shee byndeth in in earth shall bee bounde in heaueÌ„ and what shee looseth in earth shal bee loosed in heaueÌ„ that is to say who soeuer doth not beleeue that his sinnes bee forgeuen hym in the Church they bee not forgeuen hym But hee that doth beleeue and auerte hym selfe from hys sinnes beyng within the Churche by that same fayth and amendement is he made whole c. 261. col 1 Origene vpon these wordes Tu es Petrus c. The wordes were spoken vnto Peter vnto all Apostles vnto all maner of perfect faythfull men for all they are Petrus and in all them is builded the Church of Christ and agaynst none of them can the gates of hell preâ—ayle Doost thou reckeÌ„ that the keyes of heauen were alonely geuen to Peter and that no other Christen maÌ„ dyd receaue them c. 261. col 2 Augustine doth also testifie the same in these wordes Wherfore the Church whiche is founded and grounded in Christ of hym hath receiued in Peter the keyes of heaueÌ„ that is to say power to bynde and loose c. 261. col 2 Chrisostome sayth The key bearers are Priestes vnto whom is committed the word to teach and to interprete Scripture c. 262. col 2 Ambrose sayth Sinnes bee forgeueÌ„ by the word of God whose interpreter is the Deacon c. 262. col 2 Chrisostome sayth Behold I see meÌ„ that haue no trew sence of holy Scripture yea they vnderstand nothyng at all therof to passe ouer many things for I am ashamed to call them madde men triflers and wranglers they bee such as know not what they say nor of what thyng they speake but alonely bee they mightye and bolde to make lawes and to curse and coÌ„demne those thynges of the whiche they know nothyng at all c. 265. col 2 The Popes â–ª law sayth If Peter haue power alonely to bynde and to loose then doth it not the Church But if this bee done in the Church then did Peter wheÌ„ hee receaued the keyes signifie holy Church c. 261. col 2 ¶ That free will of man after the fall of Adam of his naturall streÌ„gth can doe nothyng but sinne beefore God AVgustine sayth Lest any maÌ„ should suppose that the braunche of hym selfe could bryng forth at y t lest wayes a litle srute therfore saith hee nor with out me can you doe a litle but without we caÌ„ you doe nothyng Therefore whether it bee litle or much without him can it not bee done without whoÌ„ is nothyng done One of two thinges must the braunche needes doe either abyde in the vyne or els burne in the fire if it bee not in the vyne then is it in the fire c. 267. col 1 Barnarde sayth What shall we say is this alonely all the merite of freewill that hee doth alonely coÌ„sent yea doubtles Not that the same consent in the which is all his merite is not of God when that we can neither thinke the which is lesse then to coÌ„sent any thing of our selues as though we were sufficient of our selues These wordes bee not myne but the Apostles the whiche geueth vnto God and not to his free-will all maner of thinges that can bee good that is to say to thinke to will or to performe c. 267. col 2 Augustine sayth What goodnes can hee doe that is lost except that hee bee deliuered from his miserie Can hee doe good by his freewill God forbyd for man euill vsyng hys freewill dyd both loose him selfe and also his freewil and as man beeyng alyue doth kil him selfe and when he hath killed him selfe hee can not make hym selfe alyue agayne So likewise when we doe sinne by freewil and sinne hath the victory then is freewill cleane lost for of whom a man is ouercome vnto hym must hee bee seruaunt Doubtles this sentence is of Peter the Apostle the which seeing that it is true I pray you what maner of freedome caÌ„ a bonde seruaunt haue except it bee when it pleaseth him to sinne c. 268. col 1 Augustine sayth O cursed freewill without God we haue experieÌ„ce what freewil can doe without God therfore are we miserable because we haue experience what freewill is able to doe without God Behold maÌ„ was made good by his freewill was hee made an euill man When shall an euill man by his freewill forsaking God make a man good hee beeyng good could not keepe him selfe good and now that he is euill shall hee make him selfe good when that hee was good hee kept not hym selfe good and now that hee is euill shall hee say I make my selfe good c. 268. col 2 Augustine sayth Hee that feedeth without mee feedeth agaynst mee c. 269. col 2 Augustine sayth Thou wilt say that can my will doe that can my freewill doe What will what manner of free-will except that hee guide thee thou fallest except hee lift thee vp thou lyest stil How canst thou then doe it by thy spirite seeing that the Apostle saith As many as bee led by the spirite of God bee the children of God Wilt thou doe of thy selfe Wilt thou bee led of thyne owne selfe to mortifie the deedes of the flesh what will it profite thee