Gregor epistolarum Lib. 4. Epist 32. 38. For he would not suffer this decrée to be receiued within his prouince of Italy but vtterly reiected it and wrote not only to the emperour how greatly he did offend almighty God in admitting this new prophane blasphemous name and authoritie into the Church of Christ empairing the authority which he hath giuen to the rest of his byshops and ministers but also to Iohn the patriarke that he by taking and vsurping that authority did shewe him self in pride and presūption to be the very forerunner of Antichrist Wherby it came to passe that Mauricius the Emperour was so greatly offended with this good Gregory Platina de vitis pontificum Romanorū in Gregorio primo Volaterranus Centuria 6. fol. 872. that as Platina doth report he exhorted the Lūbardes to set vppon the city of Rome which Agilulfus the king of Lumbardy did beséeging it a whole yeare Howbeit in the end he was faine to go away without any hurt done to the city that was saued by the mighty prouidence of God Chap. 3. That Christ in the promise of his second commission saying vnto Peter To thee will I giue the keyes of heauen doth giue him no supremacie Neither by these wordes I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not NOwe to returne to the commissions of Christe because that betwixt the first whiche was giuen before his passion to his Apostles as I haue declared and the second which he gaue them after his death and resurrection Christ did open to them in the meane time his purpose and intent both for giuing them further authoritie then before he gaue them and for instructing of them what they should doe with it he therefore demaunded of his disciples what men did talke of him and whom they saide him to be To whome when they aunswered some that Thou art Iohn Baptist and some Elias others Ieremias or one of the prophets Matt. 16. then Iesus said vnto them Vos autem quem me esse dicitis Respondens Simon Petrus dixit tu es Christus filius Dei viui Respondens autem Christus dixit ei beatus es Simon Bar-iona quia caro sanguis non reuelauit tibi hoc sed pater meus qui est in coelis Et ego dico tibi tu es Petrus super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam portae inferni non praeualebunt aduersus eam Et tibi dabo claues regni coelorum quidcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in coelis quidcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in coelis But whom saith Christ do you say that I am He said not Peter who dost thou say that I am but in the plurall nomber to all his Apostles who doe you say that I am Then Peter as the mouth and speaker of them al said Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God To whom our sauiour Christ aunswered and saide blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed it to thee but my father which is in heauen And I say to thee Tu es Petrus alluding to the name of Peter for his perfect faith on the head corner stone the is to say on Christ wherevpon Peter him selfe was builded and not Christ vpon Peter therefore Christ said Vpon this rocke or stone of thy confession of me to be the sonne of the liuing God will I builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it Christ did not say against thée Peter but against it that is his true Church builded vpon that faith that Peter then confessed and not vpon Peters person I doe beléeue there is no man so ignoraunt or voide of knowledge that will iudge our Sauiour Christ would build his Church vpon so weake and fraile a foundation as Peter was if we regard not his profession but his person who shewed himselfe more wauering and vnstable then any other of the twelue Apostles as one that vtterly denied his Maister Christe thrée times in one day Matt. 26. and also before that did speake such carnall and worldly wordes vnto him that Christe was faine to answere him Thou art an offence vnto me and added moreouer Matt. 16. Get thee be hinde me Sathan Wherefore I do leaue it to the iudgement of euerie good Christian man whether it be more agréeable to our faith and safe for the Church of God to be founded vpon Christ or vpon Peter vppon the sonne of the liuing God whō Peter confessed or vpon a man who vttterly denied the sonne of the liuing God saying Non noui hominē istum and that cum iuramento Matt. 26. I do not knowe this man and bound it with an othe as the Gospel doth testifie It is certaine that Christ builded his Church vpon that rocke or stone Iuellus in replicatione ad responsum Hardingi fol. 221. 222. 246. 262. which was sure stedfast euen vpon the faith confessed by Peter and not vpon Peter And that by the iudgement of the olde fathers as Hillarie affirmeth in his second booke De Trinitate Haec est vna foelix fidei Petra quam Petrus ore suo est confessus This is the onely blessed rocke of faith whiche Peter confessed by mouth And Chrysost in Matth. Hom. 51. Super hanc petram in hac fide confessione aedificabo Ecclesiam Vpon this rocke vpon this faith and confession will I builde my Church And Saint Augustine in his 13. sermon vpon Matthew saith Non me aedificabo super te sed aedificabo te super me I wil not builde my selfe of thee but I will build thee vpon me And this was the meaning of Christ For after Peter had saide Tu es Christus filius dei viui Christ said not Super te Petrum vpon thee Peter but super hanc petram vpon this rocke or stable stone euen thy confession of me to be the sonne of the liuing God I will build my Church and the gates of hell shal not preuaile against it He saide not against Peter but against his Church which he builded vpon that rocke of faith that Peter helde For Christes words are Matt. 16. Portae inferni non praeualebunt aduersus eam in the feminine gender against it which must needes haue relation to Ecclesiam His Church not to Peter for then he would haue said Non preualebit aduersus eum Likewise he saide immediately Tibi dabo claues regni coelorum To thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Now it is plain that he gaue those keies vnto his Church and not to Peters onely person though he saide to him but as to his Apostle the charge pertayning to al his Apostles and all the ministers of his Churche by like right Quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in coelis quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in coelis Whatsoeuer thou shalt
binde vpon the earth it shall be bound in heaueÌ„ whatsoeuer thou shalt loose vpon the earth it shal be loosed in heauen For otherwise those keyes of loosing binding had ben lost cleane and the authority of Christes church had bene ouerthrowen for euer if Peter onely shoulde haue possessed those keyes as parteining to himselfe alone and not to Christes Church For it followeth in the same chapter how Christ telling his Apostles that he must go to Ierusalem and there suffer many things by the elders scribes and princes of the priestes and beâ—lains and the third day rise againe from death Peter tooke him aside and rebuked him saying Let this be farre from thee let not this happen to thee Wherevpon Christe turning him selfe to Peter sayd vade post me Satana scandalum es mihi quia noâ— sapis ea quae dei sunt sed ea quaâ— sunt hominum Get thee behinde me thou Satan or Diuell thou art an offence vnto me for thou doest not sauour of the thinges that are of God but the thinges that are of men So that whatsoeuer Christ said to him before if the same had not concerned the authority of his whole church but onely Peters person theÌ„ al the vertue of those sayinges had bene clearely quenched and taken from Peter when Christ called him Sathan and bad him come behinde him But that the right of these wordes doth belong vnto the whole Church it is euident by the wordes of Christe that do follow in the eightéene Chapter spoken to the Church Matt. 18. Quaecunque ligaueritis in terra erunt ligata in coelo Et quaecunque solueritis in terra erunt soluta in coelo What soeuer ye binde in earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen Yea to regarde the substance of Christes wordes touching that authority of binding and loosing mentioned to Peter Christ said not tibi do claues regni coelorum Matt. 16. I doe giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen to thee but tibi dabo I will giue to thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen to loose and to binde So that Christes wordes were spoken of the time to come not of the time present to be giuen afterward not as giuen presently Whereof it doeth follow that none of the Apostles had authoritie of binding and loosing of retaining and remitting the sinnes of all estates of men through all nations vntill our sauiour Christ had suffered his death and had washed away our sinnes with his bloud and had conquered death by rising from death At the which time they receaued the holie Ghost as it shall appeare in the second commission and had that perfourmed whiche was promised when Christ saide Iohn 20. I wil giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen But in the mean season before that was performed Christ perceiuing by his diuine prescience and foreknowledge that Peter should denie him thrise in one day he saide vnto him Simon Luke 22. Ecce Satanas expetiuit vos vt cribraret sicut triticum ego autem oraui pro te vt non deficiat fides tua tu aliquando conuersus confirma fratres tuos Ipse verò dixit ei Domine tecum paratus sum in carcerem in mortem ire At ille dixit dico tibi Petre non cantabit hodie gallus donec ter abneges nosse me Simon saith the Lord to Peter Behold Sathan hath desired you to syfte you like wheat but I haue praied for thee that thy faith fayle not therefore when thou at length art conuerted confirme stablish thy brethren Then Peter saide vnto him Lorde I am ready to go with thee into prison vnto death But Christ saide Peter I tell thee the cocke shall not crowe this day vntill thou hast thrice denied that thou knowest me Whiche wordes of Christ were fulfilled the same night as soone as he was brought before the high priest For Peter being amongst them that stoode by the fire when he was reported of by a maide that he was one of those which were with Christ he aunswered I doe not knowe him When againe he was tolde by another man who stoode by the maide that he was of them he answered I do not know him Anone after the thirde time when another man said verily this man was with him for he is also a Galilean then Peter cursed and did sweare as S. Matthew doth witnes that he knew not Christ And immediately the cocke did crowe Matt. 26. And Christe looked back vpon Peter and Peter went forth and did wéepe bitterly This I haue recited so muche the more at large because there be some who would proue authoritie giuen to Peter by the former wordes of Christ which if they be well considered are but a manifestation partly of Christs Godhead in that he did foreknow Peter would denie him partely of his mercie shewed gratiously to Peter whose faith he did establish with his praier that he should not dispaire as Iudas Iscariot did who after he had sold Christ went and hanged himselfe So vpon this verie sentence of Christ Ego rogaui pro te Petre vt not deficiat fides tua Chrisostomus in Mat. Cap. 26. Hom. 83. Saint Chrisostome doth say that Christe the more sharpely to reproue Peters pride who did presume more of him selfe then any other of the Apostles doeth signifie before vnto him that his fall shal be worse then the fall of the rest and therefore néedeth greater helpe to raise him vppe againe Wherefore that he might sée and féele his owne weakenes Christe suffered him to fal told him of it before it happened yet he preserued him wtall through his great care fauour that he should not fall from him though he did denie him wherwith he coÌ„forted him in saying I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith fail not Now as saint Chrisostome doth shewe that Christ did thus manifest his diuine knowledge and fauour vnto Peter by foreshewing him his fall and promising that he would rayse him so likewise holie Beda writing on the same wordes saith that he who onely knoweth what is in man Beda in EuangeliuÌ„ Lucae cap. 22. lib. 6. both as God did foretell in what sorte at what time how often Peter should denie him and as merciful did promise him the help of his defence least that any of the faithful either vnaduisedly should presume of his owne standing or more vnaduisedly should dispaire for his owne falling Wherefore to passe ouer other thinges that might be saide hereby it is manifest that the words of Christ spoken to Peter of his prayer for him haue no force at all to proue any preeminence or superioritie in Peter but they are rather of greate force against him and those that chalenge to be his successors sith they doe shewe a notable fall of Peter by occasion that he had too greate a confidence in himselfe as it is
haue a respecte vnto a godly life let that at al times take place which our Sauiour Christe hath willed vs to search out the trueth of them by the Scriptures Iohn 5. For in the fifth Chapter of the Gospell after saint Iohn when hee had rebuked the Iewes because they woulde not beleeue his doctrine which he brought them from God his Father he saide vnto them Verbum ejus non habetis manens in vobis quia quem misit ille huic vos non creditis Scrutamini scripturas quia vos putatis in ipsis vitam aeternam habere illae sunt quae testimonium perhibent de me You haue not gods word saith Christ remaining in you for you doe not beleeue him whome the father hath sent Search you the scriptures for in them you think to haue eternal life and they beare witnes of me Which wordes of our Sauiour Christ haue enforced me the more boldly to search out by his holy scriptures the bishop of Rome his suspect authority I meane his supremacie and vniuersall iurisdiction most vniustly clamed and vsurped by him for these eight or nine hundred years cleane contrarie to Christ his word and commaundement For it is forbidden by him as the stories of the Euangelistes do shewe in the holy scriptures And as it doth appeare by storyes ecclesiasticall the Byshoppes of Rome haue chalenged and vsed it onely sith Boniface the thirde obtayned it of the Emperour Phocas of whom he was proclamed vniuersall Byshoppe to the ouerthrowe of true religion in the Church of Christ of vertue godlinesse humilitie and obedience amonge all the cleargie of the imperiall estate and maiestie of the noble Emperours and kinges from whome they had their first authoritie and not from our Sauiour Iesus Christ The which I will endeuour to shewe in this litle worke specially by the two cōmissions that he gaue the one before his death and passion the other after his resurrection to all his Apostles in like and equall manner that not one of them might thereby challenge any iote of authoritie or power ouer or aboue the other as by the commissions themselues the whole world easily may see Nowe as no subiecte can haue any higher or larger authoritie then is limited and expressed by plaine wordes in his commission by his emperours or prince whosoeuer it be that graunteth it and as euery one of the commissioners to whom it is directed haue that authoritie which in their commission is mentioned and no other euen so in the commission that our Sauiour Christ gaue to his Apostles euerie one of them ought obediently to obserue their maisters commaundemente with his authority giuen to them and not to breake it and goe beyonde the bondes and lemitation of it Yea much lesse shold they dare to breake it then any subiecte dare the commaundement and commission giuen him by his Prince a Prince of this worlde whose commission no subiect will be so bolde to breake in any one point because he knoweth the daunger of it As for the Bishoppes of Rome howe they haue brokē their master Christes commission you shal find by their doings most cōtrary to his two special cōmissions before mētioned specially in taking vpon thē higher power greter authoritie then any other Bishoppe hath or euer had from our sauiour Christ to wit that they are and ought to be soueraigne heades and rulers not onely ouer all other bishopes in this worlde but also aboue all Emperours Kinges and Princes Which being cleane contrarie to their Maister Christes commaundement commission thereby they haue manifested themselues to be of those very Antichristes of whom the scriptures do make mention 1 Iohn 2. Chap. 2. That the first commission of Christ to his Apostles when he sent them to preach the Gospell did giue no authoritie to Peter aboue the rest but like and equall vnto them all THE first message and commission giuen by our sauiour Christe to his Apostles is declared by the holy Euangelist Saint Matthew in the 10. Chapter of his Gospell Matt. 10. Where he sheweth that the twelue Apostles being called together they had power giuen them ouer all vncleane spirites that they might cast them out and also cure heale all manner sicknesse and diseases Whervpon hauing recited the names of Christes Apostles he saith these wordes Hos duodecim misit Iesus praecipiens eis dicens in viam gentium ne abieritis in ciuitates Samaritanorum ne intraueritis sed potius ite ad oues quae perierunt domus Israel Euntes autem praedicate dicentes appropinquauit regnum coelorum Infirmos curate mortuos suscitate leprosos mundate daemones eijcite gratis accepistis gratis date These twelue his Apostles Iesus sēt forth cōmāding saying to thē You shal not go into the way of the gētiles you shall not enter into the cities of the Samaritās but rather go you to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying the kingdome of heauen is at hand heale the sicke raise the dead cleanse the leopers and cast out diuels freely you haue receiued these things of me freely giue thē In this first message and commission of Christ giuen to his twelue Apostles you may plainely vnderstande that he gaue equall and like authority vnto them al without any preferring of any one of them before all his fellowes he gaue the very lowest if any were lowest as greate and large power as he gaue vnto the highest no exception being made of any one as higher in authority then they all So that neither Peter nor any supposed successour of Peter can claime any superiority by this ordinaunce and commission of our sauiour Christ And therefore if they enter into any higher authority it must be otherwise then by Christ belike by that way which Christ himself doth mention in the gospel of Saint Iohn where he sayth Ego sum ostium Iohn 10. qui non intrat per ostium in ouile ouium sed ascendit aliunde ille fur est latro I am the dore he that entreth not by the dore into the Shepehouse but climeth vp some other way he is a theefe and a robber Whereof it followeth that if the Byshops of Rome haue challenged suche authority which our sauiour Christ hath not giuē them but they haue obteined it otherwise by worldly pollicies then they deserue to be called by the names that Christe hath appointed for them euen théeues and robbers Now this wil easily and clearely be proued that the Bishop of Rome hath had no such vniuersal authority from our sauiour Christ Then what names what titles of dignity ought we to attribute to the Byshops of Rome which so haue abused Christes Church sith the time of the good byshop Gregory the first who did vtterly withstād the decrée of the Emperour Mauricius by the which he would haue made Iohn the patriarch of Cōstātinople vniuersall bishop ouer all the byshops of Christs catholike Church