prove it 4. Pope Hildebrand or Gregory VII deposeth the Emperor Henry IV. by the Authority given by God as he says of binding and loosing both in Heaven and Earth And then he absolves his Subjects from their Oath of Fidelity and then prohibits them to obey him This Bull is dated at Rome Anno Domini 1075. and five years after he â—xcommunicates and Deposes him again 1080. And implores the Assistance of Peter and Paul in this his Excommunication and Deposition of the Emperor that the World may know that as they have power to bind and loose in Heaven so they have power on Earth to give and take away Empires Kingdoms Principalities Dukedoms Earldoms and according as they shall deserve and he is Judge of that the possessions of all men This power he says Peter had and so he and the Bishops of Rome have it too and that from God as Vicars of Christ and Peter ' s Successors And so by this most Erroneous and Impious Doctrine the Popes have a Power which neither Peter nor any nor all the Apostles ever had to dispose of all mens Temporal Estates in the World whether they be Supream or Subjects 5. After this Pope Gregory IX Excommunicates the Emperor Friderick II. Absolves his Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance lays an Interdict on all his Cities Castles and Villages Excommunicates all that favour him or any way assist or obey him commands the German Bishops upon pain of Excommunication solemnly to publish this Excommunication with all their Impious Solemnities ringing of Bells lighting and then extinguishing Candles c. 6. After this Pope Innocent IV. in the like form Excommunicates and Deposes the said Frederick The Lemma or Title prefix'd to the Bull is thus The Damnation and Excommunication of Frederick II. c. And least this might be thought a rash and inconsiderate Act of the Pope he himself tells us That he did diligently deliberate about it with his Brethren the Cardinals he means and the Sacred Council the General Council of Lions I know that Matthew Paris says that he publish'd that Excommunication in that Council not without the Horror and Amazement of all who heard it But Platina tells us That it was done by the general and concurrent consent of the Council And Innocent himself expresly says That it was done Friderick Excommunicate by the Council it self and therefore the Major part must concur and if it was not so that Pope was not only fallible but actually false And it is a considerable Observation which Matthew Paris has and therefore I shall not omit it when he tells us That some did positively affirm and he believed it that Innocent IV. did above all things earnestly desire to ruin the Emperor Friderick whom he called the great Dragon that he being trampled upon the King of France England and other Christian Kings whom he call'd diminutive Kings and little Serpents affrighted with the sad Fate of Friderick might more easily be kept under and they and their Prelates spoiled of their Goods and by him plundered So that although he and other Popes did pretend as appears by their Bulls that they deposed Kings for the Extirpation of Heresie the Preservation of the Catholick Faith and Christian Religion yet 't is evident to any intelligent and impartial Judge of their Actions that it was their prodigious ambition and covetousness their inordinate and erroneous desire of Dominion of Rule and Riches which made them usurp and exercise a power to depose Kings and Emperors which St. Peter from whom they pretend to have it never had nor pretended to 7. Pope Paul III. Excommunicates Curses Deposes and Damns Henry VIII of England and all who adhere to him favour or obey him absolves his Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance commands them all under pain of Excommunication not to obey him or any Magistrate or Officer under him nor to acknowledge the King or any of his Judges or Officers to be their Superiors And further with a strange Impiety and Impudence he declares King Henry and his Complices and Favourers and their Children and Descendents to be Infamous incapable to be Witnesses make Wills or be Heirs to any Incapable to do any legal Act and that in any Cause of Debt or any other Cause Civil or Criminal none should be bound to answer them and yet they bound to answer every body And to omit the rest for I shall at the end of these Observations set down the whole Bull he commands the Ecclesiasticks Secular and Regular to quit the Kingdom and not to return till the Persons Excommunicate deprived cursed and damn'd the King and all his Loyal Subjects he means be absolved from their Censures This Bull though fram'd and ready to be publish'd yet the Execution of it was suspended for three years and then actually published in the Year 1538. which was the fifth year of Pope Paul III. as appears by the Date of it in the aforesaid Bullary And when it was published as it was in itself highly Impious so to Hen. VIII and his Loyal Subjects it was ridiculous and all the Effect it had was that it increased their hate and contempt of the Antichristian pride and folly of its Author It appeared what indeed it was Brutum fulmen and that King had too great a courage and understanding to be frighted with an Ignis fatuus Papal Squibs and Wild-fire which could neither warm or burn him 8. Lastly as the Popes preceeding Pius V. so those who followed approved and so far as they were able put in practise that execrable Doctrine of Deposing Kings Pope Gregory XIII did immediately succeed Pius V. and renues and confirms his Bull for deposing Queen Elizabeth and absolving her Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance as is testified not only by Cambden but by the Romish Priests themselves the Seculars who seem'd most moderate and in prosecution of that damnatory Sentence the said Pope Gregory did constitute Fitz-Gerald an Irish Rebel against the Queen General of all the Irish Rebels that so he and they by Fire and Sword might Execute the Sentence of those two Popes deposing that Queen This is expresly testify'd by Fitz-Gerald himself in an Edict publish'd by him after he was General declaring the Justice of that Irish War which he says was undertaken for the Catholick Faith and restoring it in Ireland To Gregory XIII Sixtus Quintus immediately succeeds and confirms the damnatory Sentences of his two Predecessors and as he who well knew tells us Excommunicates and deposes the Queen Absolves her Subjects from their Oaths of Fidelity and published a Croisado as against Turks and Insidels indeed as afterwards evidently appear'd against England and Queen Elizabeth and gave what he Never had â—o give plenary Indulgence to all who should assist in that War Nor is this all Cardinal Allen writ a Traiterous
same purpose 2. It is certain and Confess'd that our blessed Saviour in this place of Matthew does not Actually give St. Peter the Power of the Keys be what it will but pro futuro promise that he will give it For it is in that Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dabo I will give not I have given or do give and therefore they must shew some other place in Scripture where that Power is Actually given to Peter and that to him alone else if it be given to the other Apostles as well as to him it will be Impossible to prove his Prerogative and Supremacy over the other Apostles from that Power which they have as well as he 3. But it is certain that the Power of the Keys bâ— what it will was by our blessed Saviour afterwards given to all the Apostles as well and 〈◊〉 much as to Peter So it evidently Appears bâ— St. Matthew in the place Cited Where ouâ— blessed Saviour speaking to all his Disciples aâ— well as Peter hath these words Verily I say untâ— You 't is all of them he speaks to whatsoeveâ— you shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaveâ— and whatsoever you shall loose on Earth shall loosed in Heaven Here his Promise made beforâ— to Peter Chap. 16. 19. is made Good to him and the Power of the Keys given him but ' tâ—â— manifest that it is in the same time and Placâ— equally given to all the Apostles as well as 〈◊〉 Peter Their own Authentick Offices noâ— and heretofore in Publick use in the Church Rome do attest this truth In one of which they are taught to Invocate the Apostles in thâ— Form Orate pro eo Omnes Sancti Apostoâ—â— Quibus à Domino data est Potestas Ligandi Sâ—â—vendi The Power of Binding and Loosinâ—â— and so the Power of the Keys was given to the Apostles as well as to Peter This the Manual of the Church of Salisbury acknowledgâ— that the Power of binding and loosing was given Paul as well as Peter and further adds Thâ— Every Priest is Vicar of Peter and Paul and 〈◊〉 Petri Pauli ligat solvit binds and looseth their stead and place The Ancient MS. Mâ—â—sal belonging to the Abbots of Evesham says the â—ry same thing So does their St. Anselme aâ—â— the Old Ordo Romanus expresly says That the Power of the Keys or the Power of binding and loosing was by our blessed Saviour given to all the Apostles and in them to all their Successors Vide Bandinum Lombardum c. Sent. lib. 4. Dist. 18. 19. and the rest there Their Trent Catechism published by Pope Pius V. according to the Decree of the Trent Council assures us That every Bishop and Priest has the Power of the Keys given him by our blessed Saviour Hence it is that in their Roman Pontifical in their Ordination of a Priest this Power of the Keys of remitting and retaining sins is given to every one Ordain'd to that Office and which may seem strange in the very same words our blessed Saviour used when he gave that Power to Peter and the other Apostles Nor is this all Their Oecumenical Council of Trent approves and by a Synodical Definition and Decree confirms all this And says further That our blessed Saviour before his Ascention left All Priests His Vicars as Presidents and Judges who By the Power of the Keys should Pronounce Sentence of the Remission and retaining of Sins And this they there prove out of this very Place of Matthew from which they would and generally endeavor to prove the Popes Absolute Monarchical Supremacy And Power to Depose Kings and Emperors To omit all other Instances which are too many sure I am that Pope Innocent IV. builded his Power to Depose the Emperor Friderick upon this one Text We saith that Pope being Christ's Vicar and it being said to us in the Person of Peter whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven c. do Depose that Emperor and Absolve all His Subjects from their Oaths of Allegigance c. From the Premisses and Authorities above Cited I think 't is Evident 1. That in that Text Matth. 16. 19. The Power of the Keys was only promised but not Actually given to Peter 2. When it was really and de facto given him Matth. 18. 18. It was as well and as much given to all the other Apostles as to him as besides what is aforesaid is attested and expresly affirmed by Pope Gregory the Great in his Book of the Sacraments published by Hugo Menardus a Learned Benedictine Monck where Pope Gregory and he as Wise and Learned and as Infallible as those who follow him teaches them to pray thus O God who hast Committed the Power of Binding and Loosing To the Apostles c. He knew not it seems any Supremacy given to Peter by our blessed Saviour when he gave him Potestatem Clavium The Power of the Keys seeing the same Power was given to other Apostles who never claim'd any such Supremacy 3. Lastly I desire then to know by what Logick they can prove St. Peter's Supremacy over all the Apostles for having a Power the Power of the Keys which every Apostle had as well as He. 4. There is one place more and but one wherein the Power of the Keys is Actually given to Peter The words are these As my Father sent me so send I you And he breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Ghost whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained Where 1. It is certain and confess'd That though the Power of the Keys be not here expresly nam'd yet to retain and remit here in John signifies the very same thing That to bind and loose in Matthew where only the Power of the Keys is named This the Trent Catechism and the Trent Fathers themselves must and do acknowledge as will manifestly appear by the Places cited in the Margent and the most Learned Commentators on this Place in John allow it and tell us truly That remittere here in John is the very same with solvere to loose in Matthew and so retinere here the same with ligare in Matthew 2. And 't is as certain from the express words of the Text and the undoubted meaning of them that the Power of the Keys is here given Equally to all the Apostles as well as Peter For so the words of their Commission I send You mine Apostles and he Breathed on Them his Apostles whose sins Ye my Apostles retain c. The Authority and Power here mention'd is without distinction or difference of Degree Equally given to all to James and John and Jude as well as Peter 3. Nay more it is Confess'd and positively and truly affirm'd by a very Learned Popish Author That all the Apostles as well as Peter are by this Commission
shall be bound in Heaven we declare and denounce the said Friderick deprived of all his Honour and Dignity absolve his Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance and Excommunicate all who shew him any favour or obey him as Emperor And to the same purpose their Trent Catechism tells us That the Pope has by Divine Right not by any Human Constitutions that Supream Degree of Dignity and Jurisdiction over the Vniversal Church as Peter's Successor sitting in his Chair and as Vicar of Christ. 5. But that which they press with most Noise and Confidence is That our blessed Saviour gave Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven They seem to be in Love with these words Dabo Tibi Claves c. For in their Offices for only two of St. Peter's Festivals they are repeated almost Twenty times But how Impertinent this is to prove any Supremacy much less their Papal Monarchy will evidently appear in that this Power of the Keys which they would appropriate to the Pope was given to the rest of the Apostles as well as to Peter as is proved before nay to every Bishop and Priest in the World For 1. So their own Roman Breviary published by the Authority of Pope Pius the Fifth and afterwards revised by Clement the Eighth and Vrban the Eighth expresly says for having told us that our blessed Saviour gave the Keys to Peter it follows That this Power did pass to the other Apostles and Princes of the Church 2. Their Trent Catechism having spoke of the Power of the Keys afterwards tells us to whom our blessed Saviour gave and concredited that Power before he Ascended into Heaven And it was To the Bishops and Presbyters So that Catechism publish'd according to the Decree of the Council of Trent by Pope Pius the Fifth And 3. Their Roman Pontifical gives the Authentick Form how they Ordain a Priest in which the Power of the Keys is given to every Priest in the very same words our blessed Saviour did give it to the Apostles Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins you remit they are remitted And whose sins you retain they are retained 4. Lastly The Trent Fathers are yet if that be possible more express For speaking of the Sacrament of Pennance and Absolution They declare all their Opinions to be false and erroneous who think that the Exercise of the Ministery and Power of the Keys belong to any save The Bishops and Presbyters and who think those words Whatsoever you shall bind on Earth c. And whose sins you remit shall be remitted c. to be spoken indifferently to all the Faithful and so think that any of the faithful may bind and loose remit and retain sins In which words the Council does I suppose Infallibly Declare at least in our Adversaries Opinion 1. That those two Texts which are cited in the Margent of the Council are to be understood of the Power of the Keys though in one of them that of John the Keys be not expresly named 2. That the Exercise of that Power of the Keys belongs To the Bishops and Presbyters but to none else neither to Lay-men nor any Inferior Orders By the Premisses I think it evident and confess'd by our Adversaries that every Apostle had the Power of the Keys as well as Peter and since they left the World every Bishop and Priest as well as the Pope Whence it further and manifestly follows That 't is impossible that the Bishop of Rome or any of his party should as they vainly indeavor prove his Supremacy from his Power of the Keys which is common and really possess'd by so many thousands beside himself For this is just as if Titius should brag that he is far richer then Sempronius because he has Five hundred pounds per Annum when Sempronius has an equal Estate and of the very same Value Or as if Sejus should say he had far greater Power then Cajus when the Power given them by the Emperor was equal and the same And yet such is the vanity and folly of their pretended Infallible Judges that in their Bulls and Papal Constitutions received into the Body of their Canon Law Dabo Tibi Claves this Power of the Keys is laid as a Sandy and Insignificant Foundation on which they build the vast and Insupportable Fabrick of their Supremacy I shall Instance only in two though I might in many more 1. In that famous Decretal of Innocent the Third before cited wherein he impiously and ridiculously indeavors to prove that the Papal Dignity is as much greater then the Imperial as the Sun is greater than the Moon And amongst other wild and ridiculous Arguments to prove his equally wild and extravagant Position he comes at last to this Dabo Tibi Claves to the Power of the Keys as the most known ground of his Supremacy 2. The second Instance is that of Pope Innocent the Fourth in his Impious Excommunication and Deposition of the Emperor Frederick who had been before Excommunicated by his Predecessor Gregory the Ninth in the Council of Lions It is Extant in the Canon Law and two things there prefix'd to that most Impious Decretal 1. That he depos'd Frederick in the Council for a perpetual memory of it And so it stands for a perpetual memory of his Antichristian Pride and Impiety 2. That the Pope can Depose the Emperor for lawful Causes And then in that Impious Decretal he grounds his Power to Depose the Emperor principally upon the Power of the Keys which he says was given to him in Peter when our blessed Saviour said Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth should be bound in Heaven c. so he and his Predecessors and Successors generally for this Six hundred years last past applies that Power of the Keys which is purely spiritual to carnal and temporal ends and impious purposes And here it seems to me Considerable and I believe will seem so to pious and dis-interessed Persons that in former Roman Breviaries as also in our Portiforium or Breviary of Sarum and in the Missals of Salisbury and Hereford we have this Prayer 1. Deus qui Beato Petro Apostolo tuo Collatis Clavibus Regni Coelestis Animas Ligandi atque Solvendi Pontisicium tradidisti Concede ut Intercessionis ejus Auxilio c. O God who by giving the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to thy Apostle Peter hast concredited and delivered to him the Pontifical Power of binding and loosing mens Souls grant that by the help of his Intercession c. Where it is evident that in the sense and plain meaning of this Prayer and Scripture too the Power of the Keys is spiritual to bind mens souls if Impenitent and if Contrite and truly Penitent to loose them I say spiritual for edification and saving mens souls and not temporal for Deposing Kings and Emperors and absolving their Subjects from their Oaths of
they could not have been saved And therefore they also are his Sheep 2. Yet they were Shepherds too sent by and subordinate to the great and chief Shepherd Jesus Christ in respect of the Church and Christians over which the Holy Ghost had set them 3. Our blessed Saviour is such a foundation and Founder of his Church as does not find but make these Lively Stones which are the Materials with which he builds it He gives his Spirit and by it Grace and a Lively Faith which things alone make men Lively Stones and fit for that Building This no Apostle not Peter much less any succeeding Pope ever did or could do nor without great folly and impiety can pretend to 4. Our blessed Saviour is such a Rock such a Foundation and Founder of the Church as was and is Proprietary and the sole true Owner of it 't is his House purchased with his precious Blood and he ever had and still hath a Magisterial and Imperial power over it to rule and govern it He is King of Saints 'T is true the Prophets and Apostles are called Foundations and Founders of the Church Those of the Judaical Church before our blessed Saviour's Incarnation these of the Christian Church after it But the Power and the Authority the Prophets or Apostles had even the greatest of them Moses or Peter was only Ministerial the Authority of Servants deriv'd from our blessed Saviour and Exercised under him So the Apostle tells us That Moses was faithful in all his House i. e. in the Judaical Church As A Servant but Christ as a Son over his Own House whose House Are We c. So in the Christian Church the Apostles All of them were Prime and Principal Ministers from and under Christ to call and build the Church They were Servants of Christ and for his sake of the Church they had Ministerium but not Imperium Neither Peter nor any other had that vast Monarchical Supremacy over the whole Church which is not without great Error and Impiety pretended to when they blasphemously say That Peter was our blessed Saviours Successor and by him Constituted the Head of the Vniversal Church with the very same Power our blessed Saviour had But this they say only without any Proof or Probability and so transeat cum caeteris erroribus 2. But although we say and have evident Reason and Authority for it That our blessed Saviour was the one and only prime and chief foundation and founder of the Church and all the Apostles Peter as well as the Rest Superstructions in respect of him yet we know and acknowledge that both in Scripture and Antiquity they are called Foundations and Founders of the Christian Church in respect of the Churches call'd Converted and Constituted by them but all Equally so Peter was no more a foundation then Paul or James or John For 1. They were all immediately call'd by our blessed Saviour without any dependence upon Peter or any body else as is Evident in the Text it self And this is generally Confess'd by the Popish Commentators even the Jesuits such as Tirinus Menochius c. I say all the Apostles had this immediate calling to their Apostleship from our blessed Saviour except Matthias and he was not chosen by Peter who neither knew nor had any such Supremacy as without all reason is now ascribed to him but the Colledge of the Apostles and consent of the faithful there present And though a Learned Jesuit zealous for Peter and the Popes Supremacy would have Peter to be the Directior in that business the Election of Matthias yet he cannot deny but it was done by the Common Consent of the Apostles and Brethren 2. As the Apostles all of them Matthias excepted had their call Immediately and Equally from our blessed Saviour without any dependence upon St. Peter so they had their Commission immediately from him and in it the very same Power equally given to all The same power given to any one even St. Peter was given to every one This is Evident 1. From those plain Texts where their Commission and Apostolical Power is given them by our blessed Saviour before the Resurrection when they were sent to the Jews only and the very same Power equally given to all 2. And from those other as clear and plain Texts wherein after the Resurrection they had Commission and Authority given them by our blessed Saviour to preach to all Nations where it is As my Father sent me so I send you and Go ye c. All equally sent no difference or distinction of the Persons as to any Priviledge or Precedence no Degrees of Power more or greater in one then every one Their Commission and Authority given in it was the very same and equally given to all the Apostles These Truths are so evident in the Text that some sober Popish Writers do both profess and industriously prove them Franc A Victoria prime Professor of Divinity at Salamanca in Spain and as they esteemed and called him an Excellent and Incomparable Divine Proposes and proves these two Conclusions 1. All the Power the Apostles had was by them received Immediately from Christ. 2. All the Apostles had Equal Power with Peter And then he Explains his meaning thus That every Apostle had Ecclesiastical Power in the whole World and to do Every Act which Peter had Power to do But then to please the Pope and his Party he Excepts those Acts which were proper and belong'd peculiarly to the Pope as Calling of a General Council But this is gratis dictum without any pretence of proof or probability from Scripture and evidently contradictory to the known Practise of the Christian World after the Emperors became Christians who alone and not the Pope call'd all the Ancient Councils as is fully proved by a late and Learned Sorbon Doctor 5. But to proceed That Place in Matthew is urged in the foregoing Objection to prove the Monarchical Supremacy of Peter I Give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven c. Now that I may give a short and distinct Answer to this place I consider 1. That this Text is generally urg'd though most Impertinently to prove Peter's and the Popes Power over Kings and Emperors So Innocent III. Cites it to prove that the Emperor is subject to the Pope To the same purpose Pope Boniface VIII produceth it in his Impious and as to the Nonsense and Inconsequence of it ridiculous Extravagant which Bellarmine approves and Leo. X. and his Lateran Council which they call a General one Innovates and Confirms and yet a late Jesuit expresly tells us and you may be sure with the Approbation of his Superiors That the Keys were given Only to Peter These and many more quote this Place to the
Vicars and Successors of Christ and have the Power of the Keys to bind and loose retain and remit sins Equally given to them All. Now if this be true then it will inevitably follow That all the Arguments they usually bring to prove the Pope's Monarchical Supremacy even over Kings and Emperors because he was Christ's Vicar and had the Power of the Keys given him I say All such Arguments from such Topicks will not only be inconsequent but indeed altogether impertinent and ridiculous For if this Argument be good and concluding The Keys were given to Peter and he is the Vicar of Christ Ergo He is the sole Supream Monarch of the whole Church Then this will be as good and concluding Every Apostle as well as Peter was the Vicar of Christ and had the Keys given him Ergo Every Apostle was sole Supream Monarch of the whole Church And then by this wild Logick we shall have Twelve or Thirteen Persons and every one of them sole Supream Monarch of the whole Church That the Power of the Keys was by our blessed Saviour given to All the Apostles as well as Peter seems to me Evident by the Premisses and that all of them as much and as well as He were Christi Vicarij Christ's Vicars may be as Evident and must be Confess'd even by our Adversaries unless they will deny the plain Truth of Scripture and their own received Principles For 1. Our blessed Saviour tells us As my Father sent me so send I you Christ was our great Apostle sent immediately by his Father so that he was Legatus Vicarius Patris his Father's Vicar and Ambassador as St. Ambrose says And our blessed Saviour sends his Apostles as his Vicars and Ambassadors So the same Father tells us in the same place and St. Paul says as much of himself and the other Apostles He hath Committed to us the Word of Reconciliation now then We are Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs's stead All the Apostles were by our blessed Saviour Commission'd and sent as his Ambassadors what they did was in Christ's stead and place They were his Vicars and what they did was as his Deputies Vice-Christi supplying his place Thus Lyranus and the Interlinatory Glossator and they no Lutherans Explain that place so the Famous Bishop of Paris and Father of the School-men Peter Lombard so Pope Gregory the Great nay the Jesuits Instituta Societat Jesu Tom. 3. pag. 262. 263. acknowledge their Superiors though they be neither Popes nor Apostles to be Vicarios Christi Christ's Vicars And that I may neither trouble the Reader nor my self with more Testimonies Their own Authentick Offices which have been or are Approved and publickly used in their Church expresly say the very same thing That the Apostles All of them as well as Peter were Christ's Vicars particularly the present Roman Missal as does manifestly appear by the place quoted in the Margent This then being certain and by our Adversaries Confess'd That every Apostle as well as Peter was Christ's Vicar and had the Power of the Keys given him by our blessed Saviour at the same time and in the very same words when and wherein they were given to Peter I say this being granted as it is and must it will be absolutely impossible for them to prove any Superiority in Peter much less a Monarchical Supremacy over the other Apostles from his Title of Christ's Vicar or the Power of the Keys both which every Apostle had as well and as much as He unless you will say That very Power which only makes Peter Equal to the rest makes him their Monarch and Superior Sure I am if this Argument be good and they have no better Peter is Christ's Vicar and has the Power of the Keys Ergo he is Superior to John Then this will be good too John is Christ's Vicar and has the Power of the Keys Ergo He is Superior to Peter But enough if not too much of this For the Arguments they bring for the Popes Supremacy drawn from his being Christ's Vicar and having the Power of the Keys are such as rather deserve pity or scorn then any serious Answer were it not that their greatest men for Place and Learning even their Infallible Popes in their Authentick Bulls perpetually urge them to prove the Pope Superior to Kings and Emperors and to have what Pope Pius V. in This Impious Bull against Queen Elizabeth pretends to Power to Depose them and Absolve Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance and Fidelity The Premises considered I think it is Evident and I doubt not but Impartial and Intelligent men think so too 1. That every Apostle as well as Peter was Christ's Vicar and had the Power of the Keys Committed to him by our blessed Saviour and that Immediately without Any dependence on Peter or any other Sure I am that Cardinal Cusanus though a zealous Assertor of the Pope's Supremacy was convinc'd of this Truth as to St. Paul and so he might for the Rest and does in Terminis Acknowledge it He says That both Peter and Paul were Ecclesiae Principes Princes of the Catholick Church That they both of them had the Power of the Keys power to bind and loose and both of them had it Immediately from our blessed Saviour That as Peter was Primate as to the Jews so Paul was Primate as to the Gentiles and so that in this Primacy Peter was not subject to Paul nor Paul to Peter but each of them had that Primacy Immediately from Christ without any dependence on each other And this Cusanus there proves out of Ambrose Augustine and Hierome 2. And as every Apostle as well as Peter was Vicar of Christ and had the Power of the Keys so it appears by the Premises and is Confess'd by our Adversaries in the Places before Cited that all of them transferred that Title and Power to their Successors so that every Bishop and every Priest after the Apostles is Christ's Vicar and has the Power of the Keys Whence it Evidently follows that the Bishops of Rome notwithstanding their great Noise and groundless pretence to the contrary are no more our blessed Saviour's Vicars nor have any more Power of the Keys then any I say again then any other Bishop in the World The Pope and Bishop of Rome no more then the Bishops of Roan and Rochester For their own Oecumenical and with them Infallible Council of Trent assures us of two things 1. That all Bishops are Apostolorum Successores Successors of the Apostles 2. That our blessed Saviour when he was about to Ascend into Heaven left Sacerdotes that is Bishops and other Priests his Vicars and gave them the Power of the Keys to bind and loose to remit and retain sins To conclude this Point If the Pope and his
Allegiance 2. But this Doctrine was not pleasing to the Pope and his Party And therefore in their late Breviaries and Missals they have left out the word Animas Souls and say only that God had given Peter Power of binding and loosing not mentioning in that Prayer what it was he had Power to bind and loose 3. But that we may better know their meaning and reason why they left out the word Souls it follows a little after in those late Offices Tu es Pastor ovium Princeps Apostolorum Tibi tradidit Deus Omnia Regna Mundi Ideo Tibi traditae sunt Claves Regni Coelorum They all agree That the Power of binding and loosing is as they call it in that Prayer Pontificium the Pontifical or Papal Power and having told us That God had given All the Kingdoms in the World to Peter and his Successors they add That Ideo Therefore he gave him Pontificium the Papal Power of binding and loosing superior to all Kingly Power so that they might by it Depose Kings and Emperors if they were not Obedient to the Pope for so their Popes as appears before have in Thesi affirm'd and in their Bulls their Publick and Authentick Constitutions approved and publickly maintain'd that Doctrine and in Praxi to the fatal Mischief and Disquieting of the Western World the ruin of many Princes and scandal of Christian Religion impiously acted according to it and put it in practice when they had advantage and opportunity By the Premisses I hope it may and does appear that all those Honorary Titles given to the Pope or his See Apostolicus Sedes Apostolica Cathedra Apostolica Peter's Successor Christ's Vicar the Power of the Keys Prince of the Apostles c. having been Anciently given to Thousands beside the Pope who never had nor dream'd of any Supremacy Though in these late and worst Ages they have been appropriated to the Bishop of Rome and though Old and Innocent Titles made use of to amuse and deceive the Ignorant to cover and give some Colour and Credit to New Errors and made Arguments to prove what he never had the Popes Supremacy yet 't is Evident that all such Arguments drawn from such Topicks are not only inconsequent but as I said before and still believe Impertinent and indeed ridiculous and Conclude nothing save that surely they who bring so bad had no better Arguments Two other words there are Papa and Summus Pontifex now appropriate to the Bishop of Rome and as generally and impertinently used as the former to Insinuate what they can never prove the Popes Supremacy For many Learned men have evidently proved or confess'd that Anciently every Bishop was called Papa a Pope and Summus Pontifex too Baronius a most Zealous and Partial Assertor of the Popes Supremacy and Monarchy over Kings and Emperors has in the Place quoted in the Margent confess'd what without great Impudence he could not deny that Anciently every venerable Presbyter was usually call'd Papa or Pope Afterwards he says the word Papa became common to all the Bishops though more particularly given to the Bishop of Rome and he further adds That the name Papa continued common to All the Bishops for Eight hundred and fifty years till Hildebrand Pope Gregory the Seventh in a Council at Rome in the Year 1073. decreed That there should be but one Pope meaning himself in the whole World Here we see that Hildebrand that Prodigy of Antichristian Pride and Tyranny appropriates the name Pope to himself and See which had for Eight hundred years he might have said a thousand been commonly given to Bishops and Presbyters as well as to the Pope Now I desire to know how this or any of the aforesaid Honorary Titles or Priviledges which were common to all Bishops and usually given them for many Ages as well as to the Bishop of Rome can be an Argument or Ground of the Popes Supremacy which were confessedly no ground of any such Supremacy in other Bishops who had the very same Titles and Priviledges as well and as much as he Suppose twenty Swans possibili posito in esse nil absurdi sequitur to have equal whiteness and the same Degree of that Quality To say that any one of those Swans was by far the whitest Swan in the World when as nineteen others were as white as that one Or suppose twenty men of Equal Piety all having the same Degree of Goodness and Vertue to say that any one of them was by far the most Pious man in the World when nineteen others were as Pious as he this were certainly irrational and ridiculous And yet our Adversaries reason no better when they say The Pope being Christ's Vicar and having the Power of the Keys has a Monarchical Supremacy over all the Bishops in the World when all those Bishops are Christ's Vicars and have the Power of the Keys as well as he But enough if not too much of this For were it not for the great noise number and confidence of our Adversaries such miserable inconsequent Reasonings might deserve Pity and Contempt rather than any serious Answer 7. Having made some Observations upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Title and Preamble of this Impious Bull I come now to the Penal part of it to observe what Punishments and Curses are contain'd in it and the Persons against whom they are denounc'd For although in the Title prefix'd to the Bull 't is call'd The Damnation and Excommunication of Queen Elizabeth only yet Thousands besides the Queen are concern'd in those Curses as will appear anon Here then it is to be Observed 1. That in this Uncharitable Bull the Pope Anathematizes and Excommunicates the Queen as a Slave of Impiety as an Heretick and a Favourer of Hereticks and Cuts her off from The Vnity of Christ's Body 2. He deposes and deprives her so far as the Plenitude of his Usurped Power and Tyranny could of her pretended right to the Crown of England and of all and all manner of Dominion Dignity and Priviledge By the way what the Pope speaks here notwithstanding his Infallibility is neither Reason nor Sense for if her Right to the Crown was only as he calls it Pretended he could not possibly take it away no not by his Plenitude of Apostolical Power if he really had it For 1. Notwithstanding all his Excommunications and Cursing she might keep that Right and as strongly pretend a Right to the Crown after as before his Anathema's 2. And if she had only a Pretended Right then he could not deprive her of any real Right it being impossible to deprive her of a Right she had not 3. He Absolves all her Subjects and All Others who were bound to her by Any Oath from their Oaths and all Debt of Fidelity and Obedience and that For ever Where observe 1. That 't is not only her own Subjects he absolves from Oaths of Allegiance but
Faith and for our amendment suffered to be punished with so great Afflictions might be preserved uncorrupt But the number of the ungodly hath gotten such power there is now no place left in the whole World which they have not assayed to corrupt with their most wicked Doctrines Amongst others Elizabeth the pretended Queen of England a Slave of Wickedness lending thereunto her helping hand with whom as in a Sanctuary the most pernicious of all men have found a Refuge This very Woman having seized on the Kingdom and monstrously usurping the place of Supream Head of the Church in all England and the chief Authority and Jurisdiction thereof hath again brought back the said Kingdom into miserable destruction which was then newly reduced to the most Catholick Faith and good Fruits Sect. 2. For having by strong hand inhibited the exercise of the true Religion which Mary lawful Queen of famous memory had by the help of this See restored after it had been formerly overthrown by Henry the Eighth a Revolter therefrom and following and embracing the Errors of Hereticks she hath removed the Royal Council consisting of the English Nobility and filled it with obscure men being Hereticks oppressed the Embracers of the Catholick Faith placed impious Preachers Ministers of Iniquity abolished the Sacrifice of the Mass Prayers Fastings choice of Meats unmarried Life and the Catholick Rites and Ceremonies Commanded Books to be read in the whole Realm containing manifest Heresie and impious Mysteries and Institutions by her self entertained and observed according to the Prescript of Calvin to be likewise observed by her Subjects presumed to throw Bishops Parsons of Churches and other Catholick Priests out of their Churches and Benefices and to bestow them and other Church Livings upon Hereticks and to determine of Church Causes prohibited the Prelates Clergy People to acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the Precepts and Canonical Sanctions thereof compelled most of them to condescend to her wicked Laws and to abjure the Authority and Obedience of the Bishop of Rome and to acknowledge her to besole Lady in Temporal and Spiritual matters and this by Oath imposed Penalties and Punishments upon those which obeyed not and exacted them of those which persevered in the Unity of the Faith and their Obedience aforesaid cast the Catholick Prelates and Rectors of Churches in Prison where many of them being spent with long languishing and sorrow miserably ended their lives All which things seeing they are manifest and notorious to all Nations and by the gravest Testimony of very many so substantially proved that there is no place at all left for Excuse Defence or Evasion Sect. 3. We seeing that impieties and wicked actions are multiplied one upon another moreover that the persecution of the faithful affliction for Religion groweth every day heavier heavier through the instigation and means of the said Elizabeth because we understand her Mind to be so hardned and indurate that she hath not only contemned the godly Requests and Admonitions of Catholick Princes concerning her healing and conversion but also hath not so much as permitted the Nuncios of this See to cross the Seas into England are strained of necessity to betake our selves to the Weapons of Justice against her not being able to mitigate our sorrow that we are drawn to take punishment upon one to whose Ancestors the whole State of Christendom hath been so much bounden Being therefore supported with his Authority whose pleasure it was to place Us though unable for so great a burthen in this Supream Throne of Justice we do out of the fulness of our Apostolick power declare the aforesaid Elizabeth being an Heretick and a favourer of Hereticks and her Adherents in the matters aforesaid to have incurred the sentence of Anathema and to be cut off from the Unity of the Body of Christ. Sect. 4. And moreover we do declare Her to be deprived of her pretended Title to the Kingdom aforesaid of all Dominion Dignity and Priviledge whatsoever Sect. 5. And also the Nobility Subjects and People of the said Kingdom and all others which have in any sort sworn unto her to be forever absolved from any such Oath and all manner of Duty of Dominion Allegiance and Obedience As we also do by Authority of these presents absolve them and do deprive the same Elizabeth of her pretended Title to the Kingdom and all other things abovesaid And we do Command and Interdict all and every the Noblemen Subjects people and others aforesaid that they presume not to obey her or her Monitions Mandates and Laws And those which shall do the contrary We do innodate with the like Sentence of Anathema Sect. 6. And because it were a matter of too much difficulty to convey these presents to all places wheresoever it shall be needful our will is that the Copies thereof under a publick Notaries hand and sealed with the Seal of an Ecclesiastical Prelate or of his Court shall carry altogether the same credit with all people Judicial and Extrajudicial as these presents should do if they were exhibited or shewed Given at Rome at St. Peters in the Year of the Incarnation of our Lord 1570. the Fifth of the Calends of May and of our Popedom the Fifth year Damnatio Excommunicatio Elizabethae Reginae Angliae eique Adhaerentium cum aliarum poenarum Adjectione Pius Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ad perpetuam Rei memoriam REgrans in Excelsis cui data est Omnis in Coelo in Terra Potestas unam Sanctam Catholicam Apostolicam Ecclesiam extra quam nulla est salus soli in terris videlicet Apostolorum Principi Petro Petrique Successori Romano Pontifici in Potestatis plenitudine tradidit Gubernandam Hunc unum super omnes Gentes omnia Regna Principem constituit qui evellat destruat dissipet disperdat plantet aedisicet ut fidelem populum mutuae Charitatis nexu constrictum in unitate Spiritus contineat salvumque incolumem suo exhibeat salvatori Sect. 1. Quo quidem in munere obeundo Nos ad praedictae Ecclesiae gubernacula Dei Benignitate vocati nullum laborem intermittimus omni operà contendentes ut ipsa Vnitas Catholica Religio quam illius Auctor ad probandam suorum fidem correctionem nostram tantis procellis conslictari permisit integra conservetur Sed Impiorum numerus tantum potentia invaluit ut nullus jam in Orbe locus sit relictus quem illi pessimis doctrinis corrumpere non tentârint adnitente inter caeteros flagitiorum servâ Elizabeth praetensâ Angliae Reginâ ad quam veluti ad asylum omnium infestissimi profugium invenerunt Haec eadem Regno occupato supremi Ecclesiae capitis locum in omni Angliâ ejusque praecipuam Auctoritatem atque Jurisdictionem monstruose sibi usurpans regnum ipsum jam tum ad Fidem Catholicam bonam frugem reductum rursus in exitium miserum revocavit Sect. 2.
that what Erasmus Observes out of Hierome is true is this The Spanish Inquisitors have damn'd it and in their Index Expurgatorius Commanded it to be blotted out But Erasmus adds further That it cannot Logically and firmly be concluded from the Order wherein the Apostles are number'd which of them is to be preferr'd before the rest because where many are number'd there is a necessity we begin with some one and 't is not material which we begin with And This the Inquisitors let pass without a Deleatur they do not condemn it to be blotted out and so seem to approve it otherwise it had not pass'd so that even by our Adversaries consent all that can be rationally Inferr'd from that Text where in numbering the Apostles Peter is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first is only a Primacy of Order which we willingly grant but no Primacy much less a Supremacy of Authority Dominion and Jurisdiction over the rest of the Apostles which the Pope and his Party desire and we justly deny 2. And as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Primus so Princeps or Prince amongst the best Latin Authors usually signifies Order Only or some Excellent Quality in those who are call'd Principes without any Authority or Jurisdiction over those in relation to whom they are so call'd And that the Rest of the Apostles were call'd Principes as well as Peter I have Authentick warrant even the Roman Breviary restored according to the Decree of the Council of Trent publish'd by Pius V. The very Pope who publish'd this Impious Bull a-against Queen Elizabeth and then Revised by the Authority of Clement VIII and Vrban VIII and Printed at Antverp 1660. In this Breviary we have this Hymn in the Office for the Feast of St. Peter and Paul Ecclesiarum Principes Belli Triumphales Duces Coelestis Aulae Milites Et vera Mundi Lumina c. Now in this Hymn Peter and Paul too are call'd Ecclesiarum Principes Princes of the Churches For being a Hymn for the Feast of those two Apostles Ecclesiarum Principes cannot relate to less than two nor Properly to any but them two in that Place Though elsewhere it relates to all the Apostles as in the Place cited in the Margent when after the Invitatory as they call it Come let us adore the Lord King of the Apostles it follows thus Aeterna Christi munera Apostolorum Gloria Palmas Hymnos debitos Laetis canamus mentibus Ecclesiarum Principes Belli Triumphales Duces Coelestis Aulae Milites Et vera Mundi Lumina c. So that if we may believe their own Authentick Breviary Publish'd and Carefully Revised by these Popes according to the Decree of the Trent Council All the other Apostles under our blessed Saviour and by his Authority were Princes of the Christian Church as well as Peter Now I desire to know how these things will Consist Pius V. in this Bull against Queen Elizabeth says That our blessed Saviour Committed the Government of his Church to One Only to Peter and Constituted him Only a Prince over all Nations and Kingdoms so he in his Bull and yet the same Pope in this Roman Breviary for it was Approved and Published by him and the Hymn here cited says That all the Apostles were Ecclesiarum Principes and if so then Peter was not the Only Prince to whom the Government of the Church was Committed no the Commission of every Apostle given by our blessed Saviour was as unlimited and as large as Peters This will appear in all the Particulars of it equally given to all as they are expresly set down in Scripture from whence alone we can surely know what their Authority and Commission was Our blessed Saviour tells them and us 1. As my Father sent me so send I you There we have the Author and Authority of their Commission The same blessed Saviour of the World sends them all 2. Then he breath'd upon them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost There we have the Principle inabling them to discharge that great Office and Trust reposed in them It was that Holy Spirit which gave them 1. Infallibility in their Doctrine 2. Power to work Miracles for Confirmation of it 3. Then he adds whose sins ye retain they are retained c. Here we have the great Spiritual Power given them for the calling and governing the Church which is elsewhere called The Power of the Keys which Consists in binding and loosing retaining and remitting sins For so 't is Explain'd by our blessed Saviour in the Place last cited and is by our Adversaries confess'd So that 't is Evident that the Power of the Keys the Power of binding and loosing of retaining and remitting sins is Equally given to all the Apostles to every One as well as Peter 4. He Assigns them their Place and Province where and the way how they were to Exercise their Apostolical Power Go and Teach All Nations baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you Their Diocese was the World Go ye into All The World and preach the Gospel to every Creature every man And the administring the Sacraments and teaching men to believe and observe the whole Goâ—pel was the business they were to do in that their Diocese 5. And to incourage them to this great and difficult Work he graciously promises his Presence and Divine Assistance Lo I am with you Always even to the End of the World These are the Powers and Promises given to the Apostles and which to me seems Evident without difference or distinction Equally to all to Simon the Cannite for so it should be writ as well and as much as to Simon Peter If any think otherwise if he can and will by any Cogent Reason make it appear either 1. That the foregoing Powers and Promises were not Equally given to all the Apostles 2. Or that some other Power or Promise was in Scripture given peculiarly to Peter whereby he had an Authority and Dominion over the other Apostles and the whole Church to make him Only a Prince over all Nations and Kingdoms as Pope Pius V. in this his wild Bull confidently affirms I say he who can and will make both or either of these appear shall have my hearty thanks for the Discovery and I shall for the future have a better Opinion of Peter's Supremacy which at present I take to be a groundless Error without any proof or probability I know that the Popes in their Constitutions and their Party usually urge that place in Matthew to prove Peter's and thence their own vast and Monarchical Supremacy over the whole Church even the Apostles themselves not excepted the words These Thou art Peter and upon This Rock I will build my Church And I give unto thee The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven From this Place most
Expence of Money the Pope and his Party designed and earnestly desired and indeavour'd to Execute 3. When all this would not do and the Pope and his Party plainly saw that they could not cut off the Queen by Pistol Poyson or private Assassinations horrendum majus machinantur scelus they design by Fire and Sword by open War utterly to destroy that good Queen and all her Heretical that is Loyal Subjects And to this end besides Plenary Indulgence and Pardon of all sins here and the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter Pius the Fifth promises and immediately gives two whole Kingdoms England and Ireland to Philip the Second King of Spain as is notoriously known and confess'd by their own Popish Writers His Successors Gregory the Thirteenth and Sixtus the Fifth renue and confirm the Excommunication of Elizabeth and the donation of her Kingdoms and accordingly not with Gods but with the Popes Approbation and Blessing in that memorable year 1588. the vainly supposed Invincible Armado was sent to destroy the damn'd Hereticks the Queen and her Loyal Subjects and take Possession of her Kingdoms which the Pope had given him The Pretences the Pope had to give those Kingdoms for they were but miserable Pretences void of all Reason and Justice were Two 1. King John's Donation and Resignation of his Crown to Pope Innocent the Third about the year 1213. when that King and the whole Nation groaned under many Miseries and Papal Oppressions Which Act of King John was invalid and absolutely Null he having no just Power to give away his Kingdom And even then declared to be Null not only by the English Barons and Nation but by the King of France and his Nobility as Matthew Paris tells us 2. Nor is it only Matthew Paris who says that the Kings of England and Ireland are since King John's time Tribuiaries to the Pope as they pretend but their Historians Canonists and the Popes themselves So Matthew Westminster Henry Knighton Cardinal Tuscus c. The Cardinal tells us That the Pope is the Supream Judge of All. That he can Depose the Emperor Kings Dukes and All who Acknowledge No Superior and that the Kings of England and Sicilie are Tributaries to the Church of Rome And he who denies this Papal Power is No Christian And for Ireland Pope John the Two and twentieth in a Bull to our King Edward the Second tells him That his Predecessor Adrian the Fourth Gave the Kingdom of Ireland to Henry the Second King of England upon certain Conditions which Conditions our King had not kept And this ridiculous Bull we have in Matthew Paris ad Ann. 1156. pag. 95. where he tells us That all the Islands in the World which are Christian belong to Peter and so to the Pope See Archbishop Vsher of the Religion profess'd by the Ancient Irish pag. 51. 92. 93. 94. c. And upon these and such like ridiculous Pretenses the Pope required Edward the Third to do him Homage for the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the Arrears of One thousand Marks per Annum All the Popes pretences were in a full Popish Parliament declared vain and evidently null as appears by my Lord Cooke and the Record before mention'd Besides 't is certain that John was an Usurper and had only Possession of the Crown but no just Right and Title to it For Elinor Daughter to Jeffery his Elder Brother was living and was the true Heir of the Crown so that King John's Resignation of the Crown to the Pope was absolutely null it being impossible he should give a Just Title to another who had none himself His second Pretence was that the Queen being an Excommunicate and Deposed Heretick as he was pleased to miscall her her Kingdom was forfeited to him by the Canon of their great Lateran Council Wherein 't is declared That such obstinate Persons as they call the Queen when they stood Excommunicate and would not give Satisfaction the Pope was to absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance and give their Lands and Kingdoms to Catholicks who by that Canon were bound to Exterminate or Extirpate all Hereticks Upon the aforesaid Sandy Foundations the Popes successively since King John's time build their Right to the Crown of England and believe or at least say and would have others believe that the Imperial or Royal Power of England and Ireland is in them and our Kings only Beneficiarij Feudatarij as the Civil Law calls them Feudataries to the Pope of whom as their Supream Lord they hold their Kingdoms Whence it was that Pope Innocent the Third in his Letter to Philip King of France calls the King of England his Vassal And his Successor Pope Innocent the Fourth with a Prodigious Antichristian Pride and Impiety calls our King Henry the Third was then King His Vassal and which is more his Slave What says he Is not the King of England our Vassal Nay that I may say more our Slave These are his words and expressions of such prodigious Pride as is absolutely Inconsistent with that great and exemplary Humility which our blessed Saviour practis'd in his own Person and Commanded all even Peter and his Apostles to imitate But yet congruous enough and consistent with the Hypocrisie of him who would be call'd Servus Servorum Dei the Servant of all Gods Servants and yet as the Man of Sin mention'd by the Apostle Exalts himself above all that is called God and with Pope Innocent the Fourth in the place now cited calls Kings his Slaves and Vassals 'T is true we believe and know that the Pope indeed had no Power to performe those aforesaid Promises and so in making them was to all intelligent sober and pious Persons not only impious but ridiculous yet to those of his Popish Party who having strong delusion to believe a Lye were perswaded he had Power to make good his Promises that he was Christs Vicar Supream Head and Monarch of the Church that he had the Power of the Keys and so could shut and open keep out and let into Heaven whom he pleased that he could by this Power Depose Kings and was Infallible and never Err'd for these Erroneous and Impious Positions are approved and received at Rome I say such Promises made by such a Person were very great And to such deluded Persons who were perswaded of the truth and reality of them prevailing Incouragements to make them desperately indeavour to Assassinate and Murder Queen Elizabeth Forty or Fifty thousand Duckets promised was great and inticâ—ing Wages for doing such a Work and actually prevail'd with many to endeavour it But when what the Pope promised Philip King of Spain two whole Kingdoms here and the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter are promised for destroying the Hereticks the Queen and her Loyal Subjects this was such an offer as could not be refused by