Peter I wil not build my selfe vpon thee but I will build thee vpon mee Asia and Affrica professing Christ as well as wee did not consent to the Bishop of Rome his Supremacie I confesse that the Eastern churches and Bishops for debates of matters of faith amongst themselues made suites to the Bishops of Rome but that was not for the superioritie of Iurisdiction that the See of Rome had ouer them but for the diuision that was within themselues by reason that the whole Easterne countries as well Bishops as others were much infected with the heresies of Arrius whereof the West was in a manner cleere So as amongst the Orients none were counted indifferent to decide those debates but all were suspect of affection for one cause or other wherefore they desired the opinions of the Bishops of the west as indifferēt not intangled with affections of anie of those parts vncorrupted of the Arrians Which appeareth by the Epistles of S. Basile written in all their names for that purpose wherein it is especially to be noted that their suit was not to the Bishop of Rome singularly by name but as the titles doe shew to the whole congregation of the BB. of Italy and France or of the whole West sometimes preferring the French BB. Gallis and Italis and neuer nameth the Romanes About the yeare of our Lord 610. Boniface 3 obtained of Phocas the wicked Emperor that slew his Mr. Mauricius his wife and children That hee the saide Pope might bee called the Prince of all Bishops Then the peoples deuotion to Religion and the beleefe which was setled in their minds of the power of the Keyes which were said to open and shut paradise to binde loose sinnes laid the foundatiō of the Popes greatnesse and authoritie Agatho B. of Rome writ to Constantine the 4. Most gratious Lord your sacred Letters encouraging vs to shew forth effectually our prompt diligent seruice for performing that which your Edict cōmanded for discharge of our duty c. And in a second Epistle All the Bishops of the North and West partes seruants of your Christiā Empire giue thākes to God for this your religious intēt in calling of a Councell A.D. 850 Leo the fourth Bish of Rome writ likewise to the Emperor As touching the chapters imperiall precepts of your Highnesse and the Princes your predecessors irrefragably to be kept and obeyed as much as in vs did or doth lie Wee by all meanes professe that wee will by Christs helpe now and for euer obserue the same Certainely the vaine Titles of the Pope as Vniuersall Bishop Prince of Priests supreame head of the vniuersall Church and Vicar of Christ here vpon earth likewise his vast pretended Iurisdiction came not into the Church altogether but with long working continuance of time by little little as occasions were giuen Partly by Boniface the third about the yere 610. partly by Pope Gregorie the seuenth called Hildebrād about the yere 1170. partly by Innocentius the third about the yeare of our Lord 1215. and finally by Pope Boniface the eight about the yere of our Lo 1300. Of which foure popes the first brought in a Title the second brought Iurisdiction the third pope Innocent with his Monkes and his Friers corrupted obscured the sinceritie of Christs doctrine and lastly pope Boniface the eight Clement the fift after him ouer and besides the Iurisdiction sufficiently aduanced before by pope Hildebrand added moreouer the tēporall Sword to be carried before him and that no Emperor were he neuer so well elected should be sufficiēt or lawfull without the popes admission A confident and high challenge differing so much from the obedience and humilitie of Christ of the Apostles of Christ of the good and holy Bishops of Rome which did speake write to the Emperors in a milder language full of acknowledgements and respects that men vnpartially affected neede not doubt it proceeded frō another spirit But whē pope Boniface came to make experiment of the possession of this challenge and how Christian princes would giue way vnto his claim Philip the Faire King of France returneth to the popes insolent demaund an answere swere full of royall magnanimitie as appeareth by their Letters ensuing Boniface B. seruant of the seruants of God to Philip King of Frenchmen feare God and obserue his cōmandements Wee will thee to vnderstand that thou art subiect to Vs both in spirituall and temporall things and that it belongs not to thee to giue any Prebend or Benefice If thou hast the keeping of any of them being vacant thou must reserue the profits of them to the successors if thou hast giuen anie Wee iudge thy gift to be void and doe reuoke all that hath beene done and whosoeuer beleeueth otherwise We iudge them heretickes Giuen at Latran the 4. of the Nones of Decemb the sixth yere of Our Popedome The King answereth him thus Philip by the grace of God King of France to Boniface calling himselfe Soueraigne B. little health or none at all Let thy great Fool-ship be aduertised that in temporall things Wee acknowledge no Superior but God that the gift of Prebendes being voide belongs to Vs by Our Royall Prerogatiue and the fruites that growe thereby the which Wee will defend by the Sword against all them that shall seeke to hinder Our possession esteeming them fooles and without iudgement that shall thinke otherwise The Realme of England certainely was neuer by Lawes or long submission subiect to the Popes authority For when the Bishops of Affrica prayed Innocentius either to send for Pelagius the Britaine or to deale with him by Letters to shew the meaning of his lewd speeches tending to the derogation of Gods grace the B. of Rome made answer When will he commit himselfe to our iudgemēt write what letters I will when as he knoweth he shall bee condemned And if hee were to bee sent for they may better doe it that are neerer to him and not so farre distant from him as I am Jnnocentius 400. yeres after Christ confesseth that hee had no sufficient authoritie to call one poore Britaine out of this realme And 200. yeres after that the Bishops of Britaine would yeelde no subiection to Austine the Moncke neither did they accept him for their Archbishop Indeede their maner of Baptizing obseruing Easter and other Ecclesiasticall constitutions contrary to the rites and customes of the Church of Rome as Augustin then obiected vnto them make manifest proofe that they were neuer vnder the Iurisdiction of the B. of Rome Take a view of the Kings of England you shall finde that from the Conqueror vnto this day most of them haue either resisted or abated the Ecclesiastical iurisdiction which the Pope claimed in this land by right of the Crowne A.D. 1067 William the Conqueror said in a Parliament For asmuch as the King is the Vicar of the High King hee is therefore appointed to that purpose
giuen to Kings and none sorteth better with the intent end of their office which is as Aristotle admonisheth king Alexander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paul expresseth it in good English Hee is the Minister of God for thy good Tu regem patremque geras tu consule cunctis You haue heard how the Lord that is annoynted honoureth the Lords annoynted with Supremacie in his Iurisdiction with Maiestie in his Stile and Titles It is our dueties to wish him good lucke with his Honour Peace be within his Wals plenteousnesse within his Palaces for my Brethren Companions sake I will wish him prosperitie yea because of the house of the Lord J will pray for his good Now let vs see the last passage what interest the Apostles and their successors haue in this matter of Supremacie and Titles of Maiestie Our Sauiour takes it from them Positiuely Vos autem non sic You that are Apostles shall haue no such power Our Masters of the Church of Rome drawes it to them crookedly whether will ye beleeue him that was indifferent and without respect of persons or these that are partiall him in the trueth or these in their pride the Sonne of God or the Brethren of the Conclaue Amongst many differences that be betweene them this may be reckoned for one That we beleeue the Sauiour of mankinde vpon his word Jpse dixit is sufficient But the other must attend for no further credit from vs then they can winne by the euidence of their proofes And these are either Blasphemous or Triuiall They now say that wee must conceiue a secret implyed Oath in our Baptisme to yeelde obedience to the Pope A proofe full of horrible blasphemie true Christians will detest to sweare into the Popes wordes and to ioyne him in their Baptisme as a Consort with the three Persons of the holy and vndiuided Trinitie Hearest thou not this O Christ at the right hand of God How the Aduersaries for their owne greatnesse would euacuate and violate thy holy Baptisme The other proofes Feede my sheepe and Vnto thee will I giue the keyes for I reade no more in the writhen Diuine are ouerworne triuiall proofes vnbeseeming the cause which is now made one of the principall Articles of Faith as if none could be faithfull vnlesse he beleeue in the Pope vnfitting the person that alleageth them from whom the world did looke for Oracles and behold nothing but that which euery triobolour Papist can tel As to the former Paul in his farewell tould the Elders of Ephesus that The holy Ghost had made them ouerseers to feed the Church of God Wherein I note two things First the Office of Elders did consist in feeding Secondly that the Church of God which they must feede is of equipollent and of as large compasse as the sheepe of CHRIST Therefore if there bee any force in the words of our Sauiour vnto Peter for feeding his sheepe because they are indefinite There must needs bee the same in these of Paul to the Priests of Ephesus because they are equiualent And so euerie inferior Minister should hould a kinde of Soueraignetie in their places which peraduenture our Aduersaries may intend though it bee not expressed for they conceale many things till opportunitie serue But if the Pope by feeding of Christs sheepe may exercise authoritie ouer Kings be well assured that his inferior Ministers which haue the same power of feeding may and will practise the like vpon you that are Subiects Is it possible that any Subiects should bee in better Condition then their Soueraigne Doe not deceiue your selues my good Brethren friends the seruant is no better then his Master That which is good in the head of the Church against the heads of Kingdomes will alwayes be of validitie in the Members of the Church against the Subiects of kingdomes Therefore beware of them beloued They that dare attempt against the Maiestie and Persons of Kingdomes will much sooner attempt against your lands and liues goods Nothing shall be left vnviolable nothing remaine free in any part of the Common-wealth all must bee at the pleasure and mercie of the Pope his Priests You see how he is not content to sheare but will skin his sheepe so as no man hath cause to be sorie that hee is not of his fould Now looke vpon his Keyes if they bee as powerfull as the feeding of sheepe The keyes of the kingdome of heauen is a perspicuous exposition of the Gospel teaching men what way they may goe to Heauen and how to be saued This Key was not cōmitted to Peter alone but vnto all the rest of the Apostles Hoc dictum Tibi dabo Claves regni Coelorum caeteris quoque commune est Et quae sequuntur velut ad Petrum dicta sunt omnium cōmunia This sentence of Christ Vnto thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of Heauen is spoken to the other Apostles too and the wordes that follow which seeme to bee deliuered vnto Peter are common to all the rest Then if wee maruaile that they which are designed to the charge of expounding of the Gospel and opening Heauen vndertake other things by the power of their keyes as Kingdomes and Gouernments of the Earth wee doe it not without the warrant of Scripture Heere is a Patterne that our Sauiour leaueth to his Apostles in my Text Soueraignetie is interdicted and a Ministerie is enioyned them Bernard writ to as great a Pope as Paul the fift Quid vos alienos fines invaditis What doe you meane to enter vpon other mens rights Disce tibi Sarculo opus esse nō Sceptro vt opus Prophetae facias Vnderstand that an Hooke to weede withall is fitter for you then a Scepter to doe the office of a Prophet Esto vt quacunque alia ratione hoc tibi vendices non tamen Apostolico iure By what other right soeuer you can challenge this thing it is certaine you may not doe it by any right deriued from the Apostles Nec illud tibi dare Petrus potuit quod non habuit For that which Peter had not himself he could neuer conuey to the Pope And so hee concludeth I ergo tu tibi vsurpare aude aut dominans Apostolatum aut Apostolicus dominatum Goe too then vsurpe if you dare either a Lord-like Apostleship or an Apostolicall Lordship Planè ab alterutro prohiberis You are cleerely forbidden the one of the two Si vtrumque similiter habere voles vtrumque perdes If you will needes haue them both together you must needes loose them both Well then are not the Keyes sometimes a Cognisance of absolute Authoritie yes verily but that is Dauids Keye not Peters I but CHRIST had that keye too It is true but he did not communicate it to Peter or to any of the Apostles This saith he that hath the keye of Dauid then he had it he hath it still hee
will haue it euer hee will neuer resigne it to any of his Apostles Hee sent them but as his Father sent him into the World that was without any Royaltie or Kingly power But after his Resurrection he saith All power is giuen mee both in Heauen and in Earth and addeth Go therefore vnto his Apostle By that power which was giuen him both in Heauen in Earth he sheweth that hee hath authoritie to send forth his Apostles so he addeth rightly Goe ye therfore But how shall they goe Suerly not with that fulnesse of Power ouer Heauen Earth which hee mentioned instantly before and then was the fittest time to haue giuen it But Goe teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to obserue all things that J haue commaunded you This is their Charter their Commission their Letters Patents and it containeth all the notes and markes of the Church Those things bee within their charge the preaching of the Gospell the administration of the Sacraments the setling not of any one modell but of that discipline that may bring men to the obedience obseruation of CHRIST his Commaundements For planting or transplanting of kingdomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no Title in all their Commission Bellarmine makes much adoe about the translation of the Romane Empire from the Greekes to Charlemaine by the B. of Rome and pleaseth himselfe with coniecture more then his Iudicious Reader with soliditie of reason The verie trueth of that storie is that Charles the great had it not by the authoritie of the Pope but by Conquest and Transaction with Nicephorus the Greeke Emperor when he could hold it no longer But allow the Cardinall that which he cannot proue that Charles obtained the Empire by the Popes authoritie then he may call to minde That the restitution of the Romane Monarchie must be done by Antichrist as it is in the 13. Chap. of the Reuelation But Bellarmine tells vs that the B. of Rome effected the restitution of the Romane Empire therefore Bellarmine makes the Bishop of Rome to be Antichrist which I will not confute You haue heard how CHRIST his Censure doth deiect the Pope from his vsurped Monarchie Vos autem non sic You that be Ministers of the Gospel may not raigne like Kings And some of our Brethren alleage the same words also to dispossesse the Reuerend Bishops of this Church from their Superioritie But they set CHRISTS wordes vpon the tentar-hookes and stretch them too farre His meaning is not to make an equalitie amongst the Ministers but to set a difference betweene Kings the Ministers of the Word that none should inuade the right of Princes vnder the pretence of their Ministerie As for Aequalitie when one aduised Lycurgus to establish it amongst the Lacedaemonians whereby the least meanest might beare like sway and rule with the greatest The wise man answered that he which calleth for that should begin it first at home in his owne house And if all men be carefull to exclude Paritie out of their priuate families if men experienced in Policie and Gouernement will not admit it into the Common-wealth because that cannot bee preserued with equalitie but by authoritie and rule Why are not men as sensible of the House of God as of their own houses why should Aequalitie that is found intollerable in other Societies be obtruded to the Church Because distinctions and inequalitie of Pastors cannot bee proued by Scripture That is not so There were diuers Pastors vnder the Law so I thinke I may call the Priests but they were not equall for there was one High Priest as it were a Transcendent aboue them all But his eminencie was to expresse the Soueraignetie of IESVS CHRIST But then there were Captaines of euerie family of the Leuites and that proues an inequalitie Last of all there were two ioyned with the high Priest which are called Rulers in the House of God in the first Paralip Chap. 24. Vers 5. In the New Testament there was distinction and inequalitie betweene the Apostles themselues or else Paul would neuer haue called Peter Iames Iohn cheife pillars of the Apostles There was distinction inequalitie betweene the twelue Apostles the seuentie Disciples Paulus Appellat seipsum Architectum Wee reade of many Pastors at Ephesus Act. 20. in the Reuelat. John writeth To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus which euicteth necessarily that there was one greater then the rest Par in partem non habet Imperium One equall hath no power ouer another But Paul gaue Timothy authoritie ouer Pastors Therefore he intended ordained an inequalitie no paritie amongst the Pastors of the Church The reasōs of those that call for equalitie in the Ministers of the Church are not made to build vp and they are too weake to pull doune Zeale is good a sweet thing it is to vow your hearts vnto God but euery Sacrifice must be seasoned with Salt least yee goe about to reform the Church with one hand to subuert the state with the other Abraham sayes grauely vnto Lot Let there be no Contentions betweene mee and thee for wee are Brethren That is one reason And it is both good pleasant for Brethren to dwell together Againe The Chananite the Peryzite are yet in the land that is another motiue In which case who knows not that the aduersaries of our doctrin wil sooner be ouercom with vnited thē distracted forces And so we that fight the Lords battels cannot dis-joyne our selues without preuarication bootie Away then with all singularitie and admiring our owne opinions know ye not that it is the Seminary of inward Contention The spirit of the Prophets must be subiect vnto the Prophets Let vs haue but one heart one way that we may fill the Lords House with Garlands of victories that wee may beat our Aduersaries from humane merits and bring them to the diuine mercies from Free-will and the possibilities of Nature to the Grace of God from Traditions to the written Word from Eleuation Adoration Circumgestation Transubstantiation of the Sacrament to the Commemoration of Christs death a sweet fruition thereof by Faith from their Hierarchy visible Monarchy to the Headship of our Lord IESVS CHRIST from superstition to the true worship of God Oh how glorious are these holy triumphes how instantly doe they call vpon vs to combine our selues together that the Conuersion Offering vp of the Papists may be acceptable and sanctified And thus much for Concord to my Brethren of the Ministerie I would not dismiss you of the Laity after this long discourse of contention without som short exhortatiō to peace The very name of Peace is a sweete word but the worke is sweeter I cannot alwayes speak of it but that which I cannot speake of alwayes you