the Pope Concerning the Church the Apostle seemeth to giue a cléere testimonie that the answere thereof is an infallible Oracle of Gods worde when he saith It is y e piller and stay of truth whereof it may bée inferred that the Church alone whiche as the holy Scriptures is sufficient to vpholde and stay the truth that it should neuer faile nor decay in the worlde Much rather when it hath the assistance of the Scriptures in some part is the Church able to maintaine an other part of truth without the Scriptures After this maner the Papistes reason out of this text to prooue that all truth is not conteined in the holy Scriptures But this is a very féeble kinde of reasoning For graunting that the Church is y e piller and the stay of truth as it is in déede it followeth not thereof that it vpholdeth any truth which is not comprehended in the holy Scriptures But contrariwise séeing it hath béen plētifully prooued that all true doctrine is taught in the holy Scriptures euen to the perfection of the man of God it followeth that the Church is the piller and stay of that true doctrine which is taught in the Scriptures and not of any truth beside the Scriptures For when all truth is taught in the scriptures it followeth that whatsoeuer is not taught in the Scriptures is not truth But if this be y e proper note of y e Church to bee the piller of truth say they it is prooued thereby that the Churche cannot erre so that if it set foorth any thinge beside the Scriptures the same muste needes bée true I answere this Sophistrie is already confuted for it it bée graunted that the Church cannot erre as in matters necessary to saluation the whole Churche of God cannot erre to continue therein it is because the Church cannot depart from the doctrine contained in the Scriptures which are able to make a man wise vnto saluation But admit it were graunted that the Churche cannot erre at all what shoulde that auaile the Papistes verily nothing but to prooue that they are not the Churche For if this be a proper inseparable note of the Churche that it cannot erre what companie soeuer doth erre is not the Churche But the Papistes whose doctrine containeth so grosse contradiction of the worde of GOD doe shamefully and abhominably erre from the truth therefore the Popishe faction is not the Church which is the piller and stay of truth Thou shalt make no images for religion saith the worde of God Thou shalt make some images for religion saith the Popish Churche Thou shalt not fall downe to them nor worship them saith Gods commaundement Thou shalt fall downe and worship them saith the popish Sinagogue Thou shalt worship the Lorde thy God him only shalt thou serue saith our Sauiour Christ. When hée was tempted to fall downe and worship the Diuell not as GOD but as Gods Minister to whom the kingdomes of the worlde were committed to dispose The Pope saith thou shalt worship and serue other beside the Lorde thy God so thou worship them not and so thou serue them not as Gods I might runne ouer a whole hundreth of contradictions which the papistes doe holde and teach contrary to the worde of truth written in the Scriptures by which it is more then manifest that they holde and teache damnable errours therefore they are not the Churche of the liuing God which is the piller and stay of truth at the least wise in matters necessary to eternall saluation But let vs sée whether the Apostle by these wordes intended to priuiledge the Churche of God from all possibilitie of erring in any matter albeit the Church should departe from the certaine direction of the holye Scriptures in any thing Firste it muste bee remembred that Saint Paule in the Chapter 1. Timothie 3. describeth the persons and offices of Christian Bishoppes and Deacons which doone he addeth immediatly These thinges doe I write vnto thée hoping to come vnto thee shortly but if I tarry long that thou mayst knowe howe it behoueth thée to bée conuersant in the house of God whiche is the Churche of the liuing God the piller and stay of truth In which wordes wée haue to note first that the Apostle hath written briefly that which hée purposed if they met shortly more at large to set foorth and confirme Secondly that if he were disapointed so that hée coulde not come shortly that Timothie might haue a sufficient direction howe to behaue himselfe for ordering of the Church of god in appointing the ministers of the same By which it is manifest that this which hée speaketh of the piller and stay of the truth is meant in respect of the Pastors and Teachers of the Churche by whom the truth of heauenly doctrine is vpholden and continued in the worlde which without their ministery woulde vtterly fall to the grounde and decay For euen as hée writeth to the Romans séeing faith commeth by hearing of Gods word of them that are sent of faith commeth inuocation and from thence saluatiō if none be sent there can be no preaching no hearing no faith no innocation no saluation So the Church of the liuing God in respect of the faithfull Ministers of the same which teach the truth to the saluation of Gods people in which respect they are said to saue themselues and them that heare them is rightly called the piller and stay of truth which Ministery if it be taken away the truth also is taken away Euen as the remoouing of the Candlesticke in the reuelation signifieth the ouerthrowe of the Church of Ephesus vnto whom it is threatned if they doe not repent The Candlesticke which signifieth the Church vpholdeth the light of the gospell by the continual preaching of the Ministers thereof so is it a piller and stay of the truth so long as preaching of the Gospell is continued which if it cease then followeth darknes blindnes ignorance errour and destruction This is the true and plaine meaning of the Apostle where hée saith The church is the piller and stay of truth Not that it is vnpossible for the church to erre at any time or in any matter or that the determination of y e church without the scripture is a sufficient testimony of Gods worde or of the truth in any cause as the Papists maintaine For Paule instructeth Timothy by writing howe hée ought to behaue him selfe in the Church of God which is the piller stay of truth although hée should haue no further conference with him in the matter These thinges doe I write vnto thée saith he y t thou maist know so forth whereas if in calling the church the piller of truth hée had meant that the church without the scripture was able to haue instructed him hée would haue said If any thing want in my writing thou maist aske the determination of the church which is the piller and stay of truth But S Paul saith that
doeth signifie the whole worke or office of the minister only and not of the people also What can wée answere to this First I am content to vnderstande the man of God in this text specially for the minister of God as the quarreller saith and what haue wée lost therby The scripture is sufficient to make the minister of god perfect which hath y e charge of all the people to make them perfect and therefore yea much rather it is sufficient to make euery one of the people perfect and throughly instructed to euery good worke For what is the office of the minister of God is it not to teach to improoue to correct to instruct in righteousnesse The scripture is profitable for al these purposes euen vnto the perfection of the man of God therefore there wanteth nothing of sufficiencie in the holy Scriptures For what shall hée teach but true doctrine and howe is the Scripture profitable to make him perfect vnto doctrine except it bee able to teache him all true doctrine What shall hée reproue but errours heresies if the Scripture bee not able to conuince all heresies and false opnions touching religion how is it able to make him perfect to that part of his office which cōsisteth in reproouing and conuincing of errors and Heretikes Againe what shall hée correct but vices and sinnes that are commmitted against Gods commandements But howe shoulde hée bée able to correct them by the Scriptures if whatsoeuer is sinne may not be reprehended and condemned by the authoritie of the scriptures Finally howe shall hée instruct in righteousnesse to the perfect discharge of his office by the proper ablenesse of the scriptures if there bee any works of righteousnes acceptable vnto God which are not commanded or cōmended in the holye Scriptures Thus you sée the myst easily driuen away the cléere light of the truth gloriously shining to the shame confusion of al the enimies of the holy scriptures among whom the papists are not the lest which in no sauce can abide that the holy scriptures inspired of god should bée sufficient to testifie so much of Gods worde vnto vs as should be necessary to saluation of our soules but being thus shamefully ouerthrowne put to flight will they giue ouer and yéelde to the truth No they are frozen in the dregges of their error They will not cease to quarrell vntil they leaue to liue For what other starting hole haue they now trow you to auoide the force of the truth inforcing the sufficiencie of the scriptures by this testimonie of the holy Ghost For sooth they say that Saint Paules wordes are not to bée vnderstood of all the whole Scripture but of euery booke yea of euery text and sentence of the Scripture which is profitable to teach to improoue to correct to instruct but all true doctrine is not taught in euery booke or sentence of the Scripture therefore the sufficiencie of the scripture is not taught by this text I maruell they say not that Saint Paule speaketh of euery worde sillable or letter y t is written in the Bible in which is some profite to teach to improoue to correct and instruct but not to teache all thinges needefull to bee knowne They might as well say that Saint Paule speaketh of euery singular worde as of euery particular booke seuerall sentence of the scripture But howe can it bée prooued that he speaketh not of euery booke or sentence seuered from the rest but of the whole body of Scripture Nay what is more easie to prooue then that When hée speaketh of the Scripture so as it is able to make the man of God absolute and perfectly instructed vnto euery good worke or vnto the whole good worke of his ministerie Euery seueral booke and much lesse euery sentence of the scripture is not able to make the man of God perfect in all partes of his office nor throughly prepared vnto euery good worke therefore it is most euident that the Apostle speaketh not of euery seuer all booke or sentence but of the whole body of the holy Scriptures in which Timothy was instructed and which he said before was able to make him wise vnto saluatiō For neither euery sentence nor euery booke of the holy scripture doth containe sufficient wisedome vnto eternall saluation but the whole body of scriptures is able to make any man wise vnto saluation through faith in Iesus Christe Therefore it is certaine that this text is to bée vnderstood of the whole Scripture and that worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so to bée translated the whole scripture or all the scripture and not euerie scripture But yet blinde malice cannot cease to rayse a dust to blemishe the glorie of Gods truth perfectly expressed in his holy scriptures This text saieth the Papist was written by S. Paule before the new Testament was put in writing and receiued in the Church Therefore it must néedes be vnderstood of the scripture of the olde Testament only Wherefore it is not like that Saint Paul would affirme the olde Testament sufficiently to cōtain the worde of God For then the addition of so many bookes of the newe Testament were altogether superfluous which absurditie that wée may auoide wée must néedes say that Saint Paules meaning was to teache vs that euerie scripture is profitable but not that the whole scripture as it was at that time was sufficient So that there is no text to prooue that the whole scripture as it is now containing both the old and new Testament is sufficient for a Christian mans perfect instruction but that hee must receiue the worde of God from the Churches mouth although it be not registred in the old Testament or the newe This argument being of a late inuention pieaseth the Papistes out of measure insomuch that they clappe their handes at it and thinke them selues clearly discharged of that Terte But howe vayne howe foolishe howe ridiculous it is and vnworthie of any mans estimation I will plainly open vnto you First it is not denyed but Saint Paule in this texte speaketh especially of the scripture of the olde Testament not only because all bookes of the newe Testament were not then written although many were but also because the apostle speaketh of that scripture in knowledge wherein Timothie had béen brought vp from his infancy which should be none other but the lawe and the Prophets the scriptures of the olde Testament But if it may bée prooued that the scripture of the olde Testament did sufficiently containe the worde of God as it hath béene prooued alreadie to make men wise vnto saluation then much more abundantly the scripture both of the olde and new Testament containeth the whole counsell of God a perfect truth euen that worde of God which our Sauiour Christ in this his prayer affirmeth to be the truth For of all the reasons that euer I heard this that nowe pleaseth them so much is most worthie to be laughed at and
hissed out of all Christian Schooles not only by learned men but euen by women and children If the scripture of the olde Testament be sufficient say they the new Testament is superfluous Is there no mean betwéene sufficiency and superfluitie A man that hath wherewith to prouide him selfe of meate and drink apparell and lodging of the meanest sorte hath sufficient for his liuing But if any thing be added to this sufficiency wil you say it is superfluitie Is there no vse of riches or abundance aboue sufficiency but it is by by superfluitie The scripture of the olde Testament cōtaineth the word of God sufficiently for mens saluation but the newe Testament added therevnto containeth no new substance or matter of doctrine or article of beliefe necessarie to saluation but the same auncient and eternall worde of God most richly most plentifully most abundantly Wherefore that the Apostle giueth the commendation of sufficiency vnto the scripture of the old Testament yet so far of that it should hinder the credite of the whole scripture which nowe the Church enioyeth that it doeth a great deale more magnifically set foorth the vnsearchable treasures of Gods wisdom and holy word reuealed more at large more plainly and openly set foorth in the time of the Gospel then it was reuealed or set forth vnder the law Wherfore we may not reason w t the papists if the scripture of the old testamēt had béen sufficient the newe should haue béene superfluous but contrariwise if the olde Testament were sufficient the scripture of the newe and olde together must néedes be abundant That the scripture of the old Testament contained sufficient instruction vnto eternall life hath béene prooued alreadie sufficiently and yet for more clearnesse I will adde other reasōs and authorities to prooue the same richly and abundantly The whole doctrine of the Gospell of Christ is contained in the scriptures of the olde Testament which is sufficient for a Christian mans instruction therefore there is no want nor imperfection no vnsufficiency of the substance of doctrine in the scripture of the olde Testament Saint Paule in this verie place exhorteth Timothy to continue in those thinges whiche hée had learned and whiche were committed vnto him knowing of whome hée had learned them namely of the Apostle and secondly of the holy scriptures in which hée had béene instructed from an infant which were able to make him wise vnto saluation Sée you not here most plainly that the same thinges which Timothy had learned of Paule and which were committed vnto him that hée might perfectly fulfill the worke of an Euangelist which cannot be except hée preache the Gospell perfectly were contained in the scripture of the olde Testament which hée had knowne from a childe which Scriptures were not able to make him or any man wise vnto saluation excepte they contained all articles of Christian doctrine which a christian man is bound to know and beléeue And therfore vpon this ground hée inferreth that the whole scripture is profitable to furnish the man of God vnto all partes of his office and to make him perfect vnto euerie good worke Beside this the holy Ghost in the Actes of the Apostles commendeth the Berhaeans that they receiued the word of God with all readines of mind daily searching the scriptures if these thinges were so as y e Apostles preached Mark this text diligently they receiued the word of al redines as it was preached by the Apostles but they admitted nothing for the word of God but that they found to haue grounde and cōfirmation in y e scriptures in y e law the prophets wherfore the apostles preaching y e Gospel preached none other word of god but that which was cōtained in the scriptures of the old Testamēt For if they had preached any vnwrittē verities howe should the Berhaeans haue found the same in the scriptures And what speak I of the Apostles euen their lord maister y e sonne of God the word of God the truth of God offereth his whole doctrine to be tried by the scriptures of the old testamēt Search y e scriptures saith hée for in thē you think to haue euerlasting life they are the same y t beare witnes of mée Hee testifieth also y t all things that are writtē of him in y e law the prophets in the psalmes must be were fulfilled And whē he authorized his Apostles to preach y e Gospel performāce of all things that were written in the law the prophets He openeth their vnderstāding that they might vnderstād the scriptures which contained the worde of God perfectly sufficiently although the same in the new testament doctrine of fulfilling be set forth more richly more plentifully more plainly And lest you shoulde think this sufficiency of the scriptures to haue béen only after all the bookes of y e old testament were written which were many hundreth yéeres frō the first to the last So that from Moses vntill Malachy or from the beginning of the worlde vntill Malachies prophecy was receiued there was no sufficiency of true doctrine contained in the scripture I will plainly prooue vnto you that frō the time that the worde of GOD was first deliuered in writing there was sufficiency in that scripture for the perfect instruction of the church of that time And what soeuer bookes of scripture were afterward added was but a larger opening and playner demonstration of the same as GOD in wisedome and mercy dyd sée it conuenient and necessary for euerie age of the Church and his people liuing in those times The fiue bookes of Moses was the first scripture that was deliuered vnto the Church which contained a perfect and most sufficient doctrine of all thinges to be knowne and done of that people for the attainment of eternall life the other bookes that followed were but enlargementes and interpretations of the same doctrine that was contained in those fiue bookes For if they had béene additions of any newe doctrine they had béene contrarie to the prohibition of the same law and subiect to the curse of God Yea the principall triall of all Prophetes that succéeded was by the same lawe Insomuch that if a Prophet or dreamer of dreames did arise which taught an other God or an other worship of God not set foorth in the lawe hée was thereby discryed to be a false prophet although he could tell before of thinges that came to passe or worke myracles This argued sufficiently the perfection of the doctrine contained in that lawe against which no signes or miracles should be credited Also Iosua in his exhortatiō made vnto y e people after that hée had deuided the lande vnto them chargeth them to obserue and doe all that is written in the booke of the lawe of Moses that they turne not there from neither to the right hande nor to the left that is they doe neither more nor lesse but that is written in the
A Sermon Preached vpon Sunday beeing the twelfth of March Anno. 1581. within the Tower of London In the hearing of such obstinate Papistes as then were prisoners there By William Fulke Doctor in Diuinitie and M. of Penbroke Hall in Cambridge Imprinted at London by Thomas Dawson for George Bishop 1581. A Sermon preached by M. D. Fulke THe place of Scripture which I haue chosen to speake of at this time and vpon the present occasion is written in the 17. Chapiter of the Gospel after Saint Iohn and the 17. verse of the same being part of the wordes of our Sauiour Christ vnto his heauenly Father in that most vehement and heauenly prayer which hee maketh for his disciples and his whole Church a litle before his Passion Iohn 17. Sanctifie them in thy trueth thy word is the trueth AFter that our Sauiour Christ had accomplished his office of preaching and sealed the doctrine of his redemption by institution of his holie Supper finally as it were taking his leaue of teaching his Apostles had instructed them of pacient bearing of his Crosse by setting foorth such comforts whereunto they should leane and by promising the comming of his spirite lifted them vp to a better hope then the present miseries did portende discoursing of the glorie and Maiestie of his kingdom wherof they should be partakers as is conteined at the full in the thrée Chapiters going immediately before The Euangelist declareth in the beginning of this seuenth Chapiter howe hée conuerteth himselfe to prayer that this his most heauenly doctrine might be made effectuall first in the heartes of his Apostles which then were his hearers and afterwarde in all true members of his Churche which by their Ministerie shoulde bée gathered in his name Wherfore among other requestes that hée maketh for his Disciples in this prayer this is one especially that his father would sāctifie them in his truth which is his holie worde the only outwarde witnesse of his will which is as much in effect as that it woulde please his Maiestie of his infinite goodnesse and for his sake who sanctified him selfe for them to be a sacrifice propitiatorie to dedicate them vnto his father to consecrate or hallowe them by his holie spirite vnto him selfe as his chosen and peculiar possession according to that most holy trueth which hée hath reuealed in his worde and doctrine of saluation conteined in the Gospell of his sonne that béeing truely vnited vnto him hée may be glorified in them and they made by him partakers if eternall felicitie Sanctifie them O Father saith hée in thy truth thy worde is the trueth There are two speciall reasons why our Sauiour Christ commendeth his Disciples vnto the holie and sanctifying protection of God his heauenly Father the one conteined in the verse going immediately before the other in the verse that followeth immediatly the one being the great daunger they stood in the other the great and high office also that they were called vnto Concerning the former he said they are not of the world euen am I am not of the worlde In that they were not of the worlde it could not be auoided but that they should be hated of the world as he said also in expresse wordes They therefore that shoulde be hated of all the worlde had néede to bée mightily protected They that had so many enemies must needes haue a strong defender and where should they haue any rest that had all the worlde against them but in God who is greater then the worlde And therefore in consideration of that great perill they were in which must remain in the world although they were not of the worlde although they were hated and persecuted of the worlde our Sauiour Christ committeth them in this prayer to his fathers holie tuition Forasmuch as they are not of the worlde but inheritours of heauen Sanctifie them in thy trueth Againe cōsidering how waightie a charge is laide vpon them as hée sheweth in the nexte verse As thou hast sent mée into the world so haue I sent them into the world hée desireth his Father to make them able to execute that charge saying Sanctifie them in thy trueth thy worde is the truth As though hée should say Knowing that they are men in whom naturally dwelleth the spirit of errour and not of trueth and yet such men as I haue chosen to testifie vnto the worlde the same trueth which thou O heauenly Father hast sent vnto them by mée I confesse they are not able of them selues to know the trueth to speake the trueth to loue the trueth for that mueterate corruption that beareth the sway in all the children of Adam therfore I beséech thee holy Father to sanctifie them in thy trueth euen in thy holy word which is the witnesse and expresse declaration of thy reuealed trueth that by thy sanctification they may be renued in the inner man to will and loue those things which thou commaundest by thy trueth they may be deliuered from errour blindnesse and ignoraunce in which they are holden Captiues and by thy holy worde they may be instructed from time to time that no forgetfulnesse of thy truth do take them but hauing recourse alwayes vnto it as to a light shining in a darke place they may be méete to accomplish the work of so high a calling And this is generally the summe and effect of the wordes of our Sauiour Christ in this his praier Sanctifie them in thy trueth thy word is the trueth But that I may speake of them more particularly I will diuide my Treatise vpon this text into two parts In the former I wil set foorth the request of our Sauiour Christ vttered in these wordes Sanctifie them in thy trueth in the other the exposition whiche hée maketh of the trueth when hée saieth Thy word is the trueth Concerning the request which hée maketh for their sanctification wée haue to cōsider first that it is neither lawfull nor possible for any man to haue any accesse vnto God to stand before his presence to looke for any benefit at his hands without true holinesse For the Lorde béeing holie abhorreth all that is prophane polluted and defiled testifiyng both by Moses and by the Apostle Peter that if wée will approch or come neare vntoo him wée must be sanctified wée must be holie be you holie or sanctified saieth the Lorde for I am holie According to him which hath called you which is holie be you holie saieth the Apostle To shewe that sanctification is necessary the Lorde ordeined all the sanctifying rites of the lawe by which the Tabernacle the Altar the Priestes the sacrifices and all the people were first sanctified and made holie before they coulde be accepted of him to be the Lordes Tabernacle his Altar his Priestes his sacrifice his people Yea this light of God shined euen in the darknesse of naturall vnderstanding so that without reuelation from heauen the Gentiles acknowledged that no man coulde come neare
liued with them vntill the time of Traianus the Emperour all which affirmed that Saint Iohn deliuered the same thing vnto them Yea some of them had séene not only Iohn but other Apostles also and hearde the same things of them testified of such report What a godly shew of truth hath this tradition Yea what woulde a man require almost for greater certaintie of such a tradition then the vniforme consent of al them that had séene and hearde the Apostle of which some had hard y e other apostles also What like assurance can the Papistes make vs for their pretended traditions of the Apostles And yet this traditiō which Iraeneus aduoucheth with such shew of credit to be a true tradition is a very falshood and vntruth contrary to the Historie of the Gospell which expresly affirmeth that Christ was but 30. yéeres olde when hee began to teache in the 15. yéere of the Emperour Tiberius after which time hee liued not aboue 3. yéeres and an halfe You sée therefore what it is to leaue the holy scriptures to follow vnwritten traditions whereof what certaintie can there bée when they that liued so néere the time of the Apostles were so grossely deceiued with impudent lyes and fables and yet coloured with such shewe and appearance of credite And no maruell if Irenaeus which receiued this tradition at the second hand was beguiled with a fained vntruth whē euen they that were the schollers of the Apostles them selues coulde not agrée about their traditions which were beside their holy writinges Eusebius out of Irenaeus testifieth that when Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna came to Rome in the time whē Anicetus was bishop there they could not agrée about the tradition of the Apostles concerning the celebratiō of Easter For neither coulde Anicetus persuade Polycarpus to alter that which hee had seene Saint Iohn and other of the Apostles to practise neither coulde Polycarpus persuade Anicetus to forsake that whiche hée had receiued of his predicessors who pretended to haue receiued the same of the Apostles Peter Paule So that when the first and immediate successors of the Apostles cannot agrée vpon their traditions What hope of certaintie can wee haue after so many generations These were both auncient fathers both godly fathers which acknowledged y t all things necessary to saluation were contained in the holy Scriptures and therefore although they coulde not agrée in the vse of a Ceremonie yet they dyd not breake Christian vnitie for that diuersitie Whereas if they had thought vnwritten Traditions necessarie as Victor that was after successor to Anicetus séemeth to haue thought they woulde not haue so brotherly communicated the one with the other as they did but rather as Victor erroniously and presumptuously tooke vpon him to excommunicate the churches of Asia that agréed not with him they woulde haue detested the one the other This story also doeth plentifully witnesse that the Bishop of Romes authoritie in the beginning of the primitiue Church was not reputed to bée a matter of such certaintie y t all mē must obey his censure and no man gainesay or thinke otherwise then hée doeth in any case of religion For Polycarpus doubteth nothing at all to dissent from Anicetus Bishop of Rome where hée thought hée had better grounde neither doeth Anicetus obiect the necessitie of obedience vnto Saint Peters chayre as the Pope nowe a daies pretendeth but when hée coulde not perswade Polycarpus to consent with him in a mat-of small importance and which is beside the holy Scripture hée is content that hée shall dissent from him both in opinion and in practise But howe farre from this modestie is y e Pope of Rome in these dayes which though hée can tollerate diuersitie of Ceremonies as the Papistes say to colour this matter yet will he not tollerate that any man shall dissent in opinion iudgemēt frō him in any of those things for which he hath no groūd out of the holy scriptures but only a counterfet falsly pretēded tradition of the apostles Well you sée by the example of Polycarpus and Anicetus that there is no certaintie in vnwritten traditions when they y ◠were the next and immediate successors of the Apostles were not resolued vpon thē but continued in contrary iudgementes of them And no maruell when Iohn him selfe testifieth that euen among the very Disciples of Christe there went a wrong tradition concerning the death of Saint Iohn which hauing no ground vpon the wordes of our sauiour Christe but being cleane contrary to the truth of the holy Scriptures was yet receiued from an vnwritten veritie vntill by the written Gospell of Saint Iohn it was plainly confuted But it will bée obiected that the auncient fathers Tertullian Epiphanius Basilius and such like doe maintaine that there were some vnwritten Traditions of the Apostles in their times which were necessary to bée obserued I answere although the auncient fathers and euen these before named doe sometime auouch the sufficiencie of y e holy scriptures yet it must bée confessed that otherwhile they ascribed too much to vnwritten traditions wherein what certaintie it was likely for them to haue you may consider by that whiche hath béene saide alreadie beside that they agrée not about their Traditions either with the papists or with vs or among themselues altogether Therefore very wisely and like an Apostolike man y e holy worthy Ignatius as Eusebius writeth when hée was trauelling through Asia towarde his martyrdome which hée suffered at Rome and in euery Citie where hée came exhorted the people to continue in the faith of the gospell to beware of heresies which thē beganne to spring and multiplie in cleauing fast to the Tradition of the apostles hée testified that the same Tradition that it might bée certaine and vndoubted was already committed to writing for by that time all the bookes of the new Testament were written And that tradition so written hée thought it necessary to bee plainly taught and set foorth vnto the people This sounde and vncorrupted iudgement of Ignatius a most auncient father next successor vnto Peter in the Church of Antiochia concerning the Apostles tradition if they which came after him had reteined they had neither so easily béene drawen into errour themselues as Papias A great admiror of tradition vnwritten was Irenaeus Tertullian and other nor giuen occasion to heretikes by alleadging the insufficiencie and imprefection of the holy Scriptures to cloke their new heresies vnder the name of auncient traditions Thus you haue hearde that the worde of truth is not to be sought in the vnwritten traditions but in the vndoubted writings of the prophets apostles vpō which foundation the Churche of Christ is builded as Saint Paule testifieth and not vpon the vncertaine reportes of forgetfull and deceiueable men Now must wée examine the tow other pretended recordes of the word of GOD. The Churche and the principall Pastor thereof which they say is