created by the consecration of the sacrificing priest If thys be true then haue not the sacrificing priestes the true body of Christ which was haÌ„ged vpon the crosse For y â— is not of the substance of the bread but of the substance of the blessed Uirgine Mary Wherefore there shal not be only two bodyes but infinite bodies of Christ in heauen if as often as the priest sayth Masse the body of Christ created of a new substance of bread is by y t ministery of Angels caried vp into heaueÌ„ Who vnder standeth not thys grosse error which is ryghtly instructed of y e supper of y e lord In the which supper y â— same bodye of Christ which is in heaueÌ„ is also after a spiritual maÌ„ner agreable to Christs diuine maiesty truly preseÌ„t to y e faithof y â— godly receauer whersoeuer his holy supper is celebrated Neyther also can the sacrifycing priests wrap themselues out of thys two horned argument If the Aungel cary the body of Christ into heauen there is nothing then lefte for the sacrifycer But if the sacrifycer swallowe it vp theÌ„ descendeth the Angell in vayne and is sent away emptye These things of the Canon are not only erronious but also rediculous and childyshe inuentions The fyfth error In the Canon purgatory and suffrages and sacrifyces for the dead are confyrmed Remember also Lord sayth he thy men seruaunts and women seruaunts which haue gone before vs w t the signe of faith and slepe in the slepe of peace N. we beseche thee Lorde geue vnto them and all those y â— rest in Christ a place of refreshing light and peace This error euen these their owne words confute in whiche is contayned manifest contradiction For if the faythfull y â— are dead doe slepe and are in peace light and at rest what is it nedefull to desire it for them But if they be in darkenesse in paine and most great terrors sorowes as it is before sayde out of Discipulus touching the paynes of the soules in purgatorye howe are they then sayde to sleepe in the sleepe of peace That prayers and sacrifices of the quicke nothing profyte the dead we haue before shewed neyther is it nedefull in this place to repeate it agayne The last error is comprehended in the last prayer of the Canon Let this performance of my seruice O holy Trinitye sayth the priest please thee and graunt y t the sacrifyce which I vnworthy y â— I am haue offred vnto the eyes of thy maiestye may be pleasaunte and acceptable vnto thee and may thorough thy mercy be propitiatorye for me and all those for whom I haue offred it into euerlasting life Amen The same error also is before put in the beginning of the Cannon but with other wordes For y â— whiche he there sayd he offred for the redemption of soules the same now he sayth y t he offred it a propitiatorye sacrifyce Doth he not manifestly in this place attribute y t to the execution of his seruice which is proper to y e death and passioÌ„ of Christ He y â— seeth not these things is blinde He saith Iohn is the propitiation for our sinnes and not for our synnes only but also for the sinnes of the whole world c. The worke of the crosse was expiable for our sinnes and not y e worke of the masse or the ministery of the sacrificing priest Let y e counsel go now decree y e the Canon wanteth al maner of error y â— al thing contayned in y â— are godly holy which ouerthroweth y e fouÌ„dation of ChristiaÌ„ doctrine coÌ„teyneth so horrible errors of purgatory of merites inuocatioÌ„ of saints of y e body of Christ of praiers for y e dead of y e merite application of the death passion of Christ. But I wil staÌ„d no loÌ„ger about these things of which our meÌ„ haue learnedly written And amongst other y â— historye of the masse is most diligently discribed of Valentinus Vannius bishop of Maulbrune wherin the aboue mentioned errors other many more are at large and throughly confu ted These as principall I thought good as it were w t my â—…inger to shew forth y t the godly reder may vnderstaÌ„d how great impiety how horrible errors y e Papistical CouÌ„sell hath confirmed in allowing the Canon of the Masse Let kings princes althoughe neuer hitherto yet now at y t last begin to cast away all hope to haue y t doctrine of y â— Church maners reformed by y e Papistical CouÌ„sel which in their wicked Canon will not acknowledge so much as the least error so farre is it of that they thinke to amende and correct any In y â— vi doctrine or decree are coÌ„firmed al y â— papistical ceremonies histryonicall gestures hitherto vsed in y â— celebration of Masses And althoughe also y â— chiefest strife betwene our men theÌ„ of y â— papacy is not as touching these thiÌ„gs which are yet also in many reformed churches for y t most part retained for y e weakes sake yet this is erroneoê° not to be suffred y e y â— Church had these things of y e discipline traditioÌ„ of y â— Apostles For asmuch as it is manifest ly knoweÌ„ y e all of theÌ„ for y e most part were vnknoweÌ„ vnto y e Apostles in y â— primatiue church were not in vse which as y t scripture speaketh are y e inueÌ„tioÌ„s doctrines of men brought in w tout y â— authority of y â— Apostles Unto which if the opinion of worshipping or necessitye be added they serue not God but an Idole and are to be condemned and auoyded of all them that be in dede godly In y â— vii decree are confirmed priuate Masses brought in for gaynes sake But the CouÌ„sell denyeth y t those Masses wherin the sacrificer alone coÌ„municateth are priuate it goeth about by two reasons to coÌ„firme it The one is bycause y e people spiritually coÌ„municateth The other is bycause they ar celebrated of y â— publique minister of y â— church not for himselfe only but also for all y â— faithful which pertaine vnto y â— body of christ But this is to coÌ„firme a grosse error by other ii no lesse grosse For Christ in his last sup per instituted not a priuate supper of one man only but a spiritual celestial baÌ„quet wherin he did not eat drynke for his disciples but all and singular did eate drynke together for them selues to departe froÌ„ this institution to institute a spectacle of one man only in the Churche and that not only with out the word of God but also against the worde of God is sacriledge Farther y e custome of the primatiue Churche is not vnknowen vnto y e CouÌ„sel For as many as did not sacrameÌ„tally participate in the body bloud of Christ were expelled out of y â— Church or teÌ„ple so farre is it of y â— the
be accursed If a man say y ◠grace beyng lost thorough sinne faith is also together there with all lost or that the fayth whiche remayneth is not a true faith although it be not a liuely faith or that he whiche hath faith without charity is not a Christian let him be accursed If a man saye that after the receauyng of the grace of iustification the faulte of euery repentaunt synner is so forgeuē or y ◠guiltennesse of eternall punishmēt so wiped away y e there remaineth no guiltinesse of tēporall payne to be payde ether in this worlde or in the worlde to come In Purgatory before the waye can be made open vnto the kingdome of heauen let him be accursed Let these curses suffice and leaue of to speake of other for by these the godly reader maye see that the principall pointes of faith and Christiā religion are not so much cor rupted and peruerted as vtterly condēned of the fathers of the Councell of Trent celebrated in the yeare of our Lord. 1547. Of all whiche we thought good briefly to admonishe the reader before that we examine the Decrees and Canons made by the Councell of Trent vnder Pius the fourth Bishop of Rome They haue layd a foundation to defende all superstitions idolatries and abuses vpon the authority of humans traditions vnder the name whereof they vnderstande all those traditions which haue now a few yeares past crept into the Church of God and are therin vsurped And although our men haue neuer earnestly contended agaynst traditions which are not manifestly agaynst the worde of God but thought that they myght be retayned without offence to God so that yet they were not vitiated with the opinion of the seruice of God as it is sayd Thei worship me in vaine with the commaundementes doctrines of men yet wil our aduersaries neuer be contente And therfore they haue not only made all tradicions and supersticions yea euen those which are repugnaunt vnto the doctrine of the Prophetes and of the Apostles equall with the holy scripture haue referred them vnto Christe as to the author of them but also they haue malepertely contended contrary to the expresse word of God y ◠God is worshipped by these humane traditions which they haue brought in Farther they are not ashamed to make equall y ◠bookes called Apochripha which are disallowed euen by the testimony of the fathers some of the which bokes S. Jerome counteth among fables with the authoritye of the other sacred bookes which are Canonicall And in like manner alledge they of the bookes of the Machabees in the latter booke whereof the author desireth pardon if he haue discribed any thing y ◠is not well which phrase of requeste agreeth not with the holy ghost whose oracles are al true and not to be doubted at As touching the Epistle vnto the Hebrewes the secōd Epistle of S. Peter the two latter Epistles of John the Epistle of James and the Apocalips we are not the fyrst y t haue bene in doubt of them for euen from the primatiue church there haue bene sundry opinions of them But there is none y ◠is in very dede Godly which is so vnlearned that he vnderstandeth not what these holy fathers chiefly intended in thys decree For they see th◅t in them they haue defences for certayne of theyr errours by whiche yet they can not extinguishe the light of the truth shining in y e writings of y e other Prophetes Apostles As it is in an other place aboundantly shewed In y ◠also they strike with their curse al those which in all things receaue not the cōmon trāslatiō in disputatiōs what more madnesse is there than this more repugnant to the meaning of y e holy ghost I say moreouer it is ful of many errors Will they also put vnder the thūder of their cursse y e holy fathers whiche vsed an other trāslation than it Or what impietie or discōmoditie hath it if men haue accesse to the springes of the Hebrewe Greeke tongue wherin the mysteries of the heauenly doctrine are writtē Unto the which S. Augustine hath diligently admonished vs oftentimes to haue recourse and accesse But they manifestly declare their minde and if it were but in this decree onely in y t they desire to prohibite all those that are studious of the heauenly doctrine from the entrance to the knowledge therof lest the errors and impieties with which the church of Rome hath hitherto vnder the moste thicke darkenesse bene sicke shoulde be brought to light For as muche as the Synode of Trent denieth that cō cupiscence is in very dede sinne notwithstanding neither hauing any regard that the Apostle calleth it sinne what would it not permit in thinges more obscure to oppresse and tread downe the truth The lawe sayeth manifestly Thou shall not lust And the law prohibiteth nothing but sinnes If therfore lust be not in very dede of the number of sinnes it can not be prohibited the commaundement of the Lord twice with so great seueritye repeated is in vayne Agayne I saye that these good holy fathers wyll thinke that there is nothyng not lawfull vnto them if the faithfull shoulde graunt vnto them so manifest an errour and sacriledge Lykewyse also that opinion is repugnaunt to the doctryne of Christ and of the Apostles which they go aboute by the thunder of cursyng to establishe theyr false I saye and vngodlye opinion concernyng humane strength and freewill namely that freewill is not extinguished though it be appayred and diminished When we were dead vnto synnes sayeth the Apostle he hath quickened vs together with Christ looke howe much a dead man is able to accomplyshe to recouer corporall lyfe so much doth the Apostle attribute to mans strengthe in hys conuersion to God And Christ sayth Without me ye can doe nothyng And to the Corinthians the Apostle writeth we are not able to thinke any thyng of our selues as of oure selues Agaynste these moste manifest testimonyes bycause they would attribute somewhat to mans strength they are not ashamed to diminyshe the grace of God whiche both chaungeth and moueth the will of the electes to obey the Gospell To the same end also tendeth the. vii Canon of y e same Session where in the workes done without fayth iustifie from sinne contrary to the manifeste sentence of Paule whiche sayeth Whatsoeuer is not of fayth is synne and those which with the Apostle thinke otherwyse they strike with theyr curse In the. xii Canon they vtterly ouerthrowe the hed and foundation of the doctrine of the Gospell and they robbe afflicted consciences of the only comfort whiche they haue in y e bloud of Christ. For they manifestly cōdemne althose y ◠thynke y e our ryghteousnes before god is y e confidence in y t mercy of god forgeuing sins for Christs sake The Apostle vnto the Rom. writeth vnto him which worketh not
of the whole world These testimonies of the holy Scripture of the olde and newe Testament doo manifestlye teache that besides the obedience of Christe made in the fleshe there is no other satisfaction for synnes and that they are fowlely deceaued which do put some part of satisfaction eyther in theyr owne passions or elles in their fained purgatorye To deuide in halfe the merite of the passion of Christ is vtterly to abolish his meryte for he is no halfe or vnperfect redemer but a perfect redemer with one oblatiō saieth the Epistle to the Hebrewes hath he for euer made perfect those which are sanctified Heb. x. But bycause they see that the expiation or satisfaction for synnes is by moste manifeste testimonyes of the scripture attributed onely vnto Christe they goe aboute to auoyde them by a vayne distinction when they teache that the synnes themselues are not expiated but that for the eternall payne dew vnto synnes the satisfaction of temporall payne is expiation made but in affyrmyng of these thynges they shewe in very deede that they are vtterly ignoraunt what remission of synnes is For what other thyng ells is remission of synne than that God fyrst receaueth vs into fauoure and forgeueth the faulte of synnes then also he remitteth the punyshemente whiche we haue deserued by our synnes Wherfore where there is not a full and perfecte remission of payne but that some satisfaction is requyred there also is not a full and perfecte remission of synnes I knowe the Councell of Trent can not vnloose thys knotte and if thys be manifest to be the doctrine of the holy Ghost then will fal away theyr satisfactions for synnes and the fyre of purgatorye shal easiy be quenched And although the Lord somtimes do some what more seuerely chastē those whose sinnes he remitteth according to hys will as he vnderstandeth to bee expediente for them yet is that by no meanes to be counted a satisfaction for y e payne of sinne but a healthfull discipline to kepe them in doing theyr dutie and to cause them to woorke theyr saluation in feare and trembling When we are iudged sayth the Apostle we are corrected of the Lorde least we should be condemned with the world He sayeth not that we are corrected to the ende we shoulde satisfye part of the iustice of God but to the entent we should not synne hereafter or flatter our selues in sinnes Also y t fayned fyre of Purgatorye is manifestly against this sentence of Christ wherin he sayth Uerely I say vnto you he whiche heareth my worde and beleueth in him which sent me hath eternal lyfe shal not come to iudgement but hath passed from death to life It is also contra ry vnto the most sweete consolation of the Apostle which is written vnto the Thessalonians where the death of the Godly is called a sleepe I will not sayth the Apostle that you shoulde be ignoraunte brethren of those whiche haue fallen on slepe c. But it might be called a wonderfull sleepe if it were ioyned with so greate a tormente of purgatory fyer Which the Sophisters affyrme differeth nothing from the infernall fyre but only in respecte of duraunce of time Whereof you shall heare what the Disciple sayth in his Sermon of soules whose words are these For if all the coales of the whole worlde being gathered together vpō one heape were on fyre and if a man shoulde stande in the middest of them he shoulde not susstaine so greate heate as the soules sustaine in purgatory Of thys fayned fyre of purgatory the holy prophetes and Apostles know nothing y e holy scripture is ignorant therof neyther knoweth it of any other fyre after thys life than of the infernal euerlasting fyre of the damned which shall neuer be quenched but al the misery of those y ◠shal be saued endeth in this world wherein yet also is the beginning of eternall life And although y ◠Byshops of Rome with their Cardinalles Byshoppes Sacrificers and monkes were man◅ yeares ago admonished of all these pernitious errors ye◅ se great is their stubborn◅es and security in defending of errors that in s◅ manifest a lyght of the doctrine of y e Gospell they are bolde to obtrude them agayne vnto Christian people so muche are they bewitched by the spirite of lying that they shoulde not geue place vnto the truth of the heauenly doctrine whiche the Lord hath raysed vp againe in the latter times hath kindled the true lyght in the hartes of many I thought good to admonishe the godly reader of all these thinges before I tooke in hande to confute the rest of the decrees and Canons whiche were made vnder the Bishop of Rome Pius the fourth concerning the Sacramentes all which namely decrees and Canons seing they were allowed by the Counsell gathered together the laste yeare they whiche are but meanely instructed in the doctrine of pietie may most manifestly see y ◠there is no good thing to be hoped for at their handes For what but euen briefly to repeate all things pietie or sounde doctrine canst thou looke for of them which acknowledge not the disease of the corrupt nature of man dare denye it to be sinne contrary to the Apostle Which denye that man is dead thorough sinne and doo attribute vnto him strengthes yet remayning wherby he may apply him selfe vnto grace Whiche also excuse workes of the Ethnikes and infidels from sinne Whiche are ignorant of the nature difference of the law and of the Gospell Which condemne the righteousnesse of faith which thorough the obedience of Christ resteth onely in the mercy of God Whiche teache a man continually to doubt of the grace and fauor of God Whiche dreame y ◠the faythfull can fulfill the lawe of God Whiche besides the passion and death of Christ do teache vs to seeke other satisfactiō in this life in y e world to come What good thing I saye can a Christian Publique welth hope or loke for from suche fathers when as with their peruerse and vngodly decrees they do not o◅ely peruert the foundations and principall poyntes of Christian Religion but also as much as lieth in them vtterly ◅uerthrow them Where as there are fiue principall feast dayes wherein the benefites of the sonne of God are yearely celebrated in the Churche the feastes of the Natiuitie of Christ of hys Passion Resurrection and Ascencion into heauen also the feast of Whitsontyde Of all these feastes the Fathers of the Counsell of Trent haue left vs nothyng but the names and truth of the historye whiche is also in the deuilles vnto whiche fathers thou mayst most aptly apply this sayeng of Paul They professe that they know God but in dedes they deny hym when as they are abhominable and not harknyng to his worde and reprobate to all good workes For the power and fruite of the holye Natiuitie of Christe is to purge and make cleane our vnpure Natiuitie whiche were
†A godly and necessarye admonition of the Decrees and Canons of the Counsel of Trent celebrated vnder Pius the fourth Byshop of Rome in the yeares of our Lord. M. D. LXII and. M. D. LXIII Wrytten for those godlye disposed persons sakes whych looke for amendement of Doctrine and Ceremonies to bee made by generall Counsels Lately translated out of Latine Psalm xxvi Odi ecclesiam malignantium I haue hated the Congregations of the wycked Math. xv What soeuer my heauenlye father hath not planted shalbe plucked vp by the rootes ¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Day dwellyng ouer Aldersgate beneath Saint Martins ¶ Cum gratia et priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per septennium The. xix of February 1564. These bookes are to be sold at hys shop vnder the Gate ⧠The Preface to the Reader OUr Lorde and Sauioure Iesus Christ when he hadde confirmed the mindes of his Disciples agaynste the daungers of persecution whych they shoulde be in daunger of for the confession of the truth of his doctrine with a spirite thurstyng our saluation brake foorth into these woordes What profiteth it a man sayd he though he win al the world if he lose hys own soule Or what recompence shal a man geue for his soule And his meaning was to admonish not onely his Disciples but also al vs together with them how much the saluation of soules is to be made of which being deliuered from the bodye and once abiected from God can by no price or recompence he redemed agayne But then are they most of al endaungered when they straye from the true knowledge of God and his syncere woorshipping For God is lyfe and truth and therefore the death of the soule is to decline froÌ„ the rule of the wyl of God reuealed in Christ. But bicause the Lorde speaketh not vnto vs from heauen but hath vpoÌ„ earth instituted the ministery of teaching whereby men are instructed of the wil of God we see that for that cause I say men are diuerslye affected For they which teach in the churche of God doo not euerye where professe one and the selfe same doctrine And when Christ sayde of true teachers He that heareth you heareth me And agayne If he shal not heare the church let hym bee vnto thee as an Ethnicke and a Publicane they excedinglye doubt vnto what congregation in so great a diuersitye of opinions they ought to soyne them selues For on the one syde they are holden by ordinary succession as they caâ—… it and custome and consent of very long tyme in whose congregation yet neuerthelesse they see very many errours and no small abuses which they them selues vnderstand and iudge that they ought of necessity to be amended On the other side against humane traditions they heare the expresse woorde of God brought foorth and vrged but for asmuch as they fynde among those meÌ„ also occasion to be offended and chiefely bicause they thinke that the chaunging of doctrine and ceremonies pertaineth not vnto euery man but vnto the ordinarye power they can scarse tel which way to turne them selues They flye therefore vnto the authority of a Counsel as to an onely sanctuary whereby they iudge that dissension sprong in the Church may most commodiously be taken awaye Of which thyng when deliberation was had long tyme and often by the orders of the Empyre neither yet by any conditions whereby on eyther syde it was requyred it could be obtained the saluation of many men hath by the stay of so long tyme bene miserably endaungered And although such are iustly to be reproued whych neglecting the very sounding from heauen of the sonne of God Heare him haue a regarde vnto the authority of men for the consideration of our saluation is not so obscurelye taught but that euen the moste simplest in fayth may comprehende it yet I thinke not that this kinde of men is to bee abiected But rather in that part wherin we see that they ar sicke we must after the exaÌ„ple of the Apostels to our power study to heale theÌ„ For that happeneth in this our time which we reade happened at Ierusalem on the day of Pentecost after the ascention of Christe into heauen For when the people saw and heard the Apostels with sundry tounges celebrate the wonderful things of God whom yet the Priestes Scribâ—…s and Phariseis had a litle before condemned and persecuted they were vtterly at their wyts ende and in doubte whose doctrine they should embrace For Christ seemed no lesse to commend the doctrine of the Phariseis than the doctrine of the Apostels when he said Upon the chaire of Moses syt the Scribes and Phariseis that which they say doo ye What maruaile is it if the rude and vnlearned people were doubtfull For the Phariseis vnto whom they were so long tyme addicted in learning the woorshippyng of God taught one thing and the Apostels an other thing The selfe same thing vndoubtedlye wee see happeneth in this our age For with our Elders great hath bene the authority of the Church of Rome wherewith the eyes of many men are yet styl blinded But no lesse yea rather farre greater is the authority of the woord of God whereby are reproued errours and abuses which haue throughe the negligence and auarice of men crept into the Church A man that wyl ryd him selfe our of these difficulties ought not vtterly to be vnskilful in holy matters and so to be addicted vnto the Church that in the meane tyme he same not against the manifest wil of God expressed in the woord of the Gospel But there are two rockes betwene which godlye men must wyth great care and diligence sayle For some by reason of lightnes of mind without iudgement and true faith embrace euery maner of religion But other some to stubbornlye resist and wyll not once so muche as vauchsafe to know the doctrine set foorth bicause their minde is bent vnto an opinion which they defend for the truth Or bring ouercome with the pleasures of this worlde they haue no care of the truth nor saluation of their soules But there is none amongest them that are trulye godlye so rude to thinke that so great inconstancye of minde in the doctrine of religion or stubbornes in errors should be numbred among vertues but by the holy scriptures they are taught that either of them is to be auoyded For against inconstancy the Apostle speaketh Let vs not be as â—…ytile ones wauering neither let vs be caried about with euerye wynde of doctrine But against stubbornes in errour Iohn hath left in writing Proue the spirites whether they be of God Wherwith the selfe same Apostle agreeth Quench not saith he the spirite despise not prophecies But proue ye al thing that which is good hold But bicause it is a singular gift of God to proue spirites and as the Apostle saith prophecye that is the naturall interpretation of the holy scripture belongeth not to euery man Manye suppose that thys
care pertaineth onely to Bishops and Priestes that a Synode being assembled learned and modest men on eyther partye and suche as are addicted to nothing but vnto the truthe and healthe of the Churche should temperately conferre together of articles in controuersye For they thinke them selues farre inferiours than that they shoulde take vpon them to iudge of so great matters where disputacion is had of the saluation of soules Although these men which thus iudge touching matters of religion be in some part woorthye of pardon or rather compassion yet me thinketh they are gentlye and modestlye to be admonished of certayne thynges For first in that they iudge that it is profitable and necessarye that godly and learned prophetes for so the Apostle calleth the interpretours of holy scripture and Bishops shoulde assemble together in a Synode and conferre their sentences together concerning the articles proposed in this part they seme not to erre For we rede that not onely the successours of the Apostels did so but also the Apostles them selues as the Actes of the Apostels and Counsels doo testify So straight waye after the ascension of Christe into heauen when at Antioche there arose a question as touching the obseruation of the law of Moises as a thing necessary to the rightcousnes of mā which is auayleable before God Paule and Barnabas by the consent of the Church of Antioche went vp to Ierusalem to the Apostels and Elders that it might be manifestiye knowen vnto the Churches that they in al pointes agreed with the rest of the Apostels against the fained lye of the false Apostels For the false Apostles had euerye where abroade in the Churches accused Paule and Barnabas of this thing namely that they vnder the name of the Gospell deliuered an other and farre diuers doctrine vnto the Gentiles Lykewise also in the primitiue Church ▪ there wer by the authority of godly Emperours assembled the Counsels of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedonia against Arrius Macedonius Nestorius and Eutiches to retayne styll a godlye consent in doctrine of the deuinity of Christ Of his two natures deuine and humane in one person Of the person and deuinity of the holy Ghost So also after that for the taking away of dissentions betwene the Clergy and offences out of the Church there wer Synodes had not onely in euery prouince but also there was a decree made that from that tyme for euer there shoulde with in ten yeares hee celebrated an vniuersall Counsell For that thyng is accustomed to happen in the Church which happeneth in houses which vnles they be with beasoms often made cleane they wil be couered with filthynes and dust So also vnles the Teachers of the Church doo with a perpetual care and diligence geue vigilant heede and continuallye institute godlye conferringes together of sentences easy is the fal of doctrine and maners except they be in tyme corrected they are accustomed to draw a wonderful great ruine vnto the Church But in this thing they seeme not to indge wel in that they think that the peace and tranquility of the Churche may by this meanes be recouered and preserued firme For although the disputacions and decrees of godly Counsels haue brought great vnity vnto the Churche of God in which the peruerse and vngodly opinions of heretiks haue bene by testimonies of the holye scripture vehement◅ye reproued yet the Ecclestastical history testifieth that no lesse contentions yea also sometimes greater contentions haue happened in the Church of God after the Counsels had bene celebrated Upon which occasion Gregorius Nazianzenus being moued with the euent of the Counsels writeth that from that tyme forward he determined to eschewe all Synodes of Bishops bicause he found that no Synode had a good ende or which rather brought not increases of euyls than an ende of them Although that this good man in this point seemed somewhat to erre for that he there for that cause iudged that Synodes are vtterly to be auoyded bicause he sawe that the peace of the Churche coulde not by Counsels be made firme For although it were to be wished that al men should rest in the explication of the truth which is in godly Synodes instituted by testimonies of the vndoubted holy scripture yet this is not the sole onely ende of Counsels For there alwaies haue bene are and shalbe contentious wits which endeuour them selues to perturbe the peace and concorde of the Churche But the principal end of Counsels is the explication and confirmation of sounde doctrine and the confutation of errours and peruers opinions Whych althoughe it satisfieth not all men yet it satisfieth al the godlye whose simplicitye is correspondent vnto a godly explication of the truth Therefore whether the peace of the Churche bee restored or whether it bee not restored yet a godlye conferring of sentences in godlye Synodes is both profitable and necessary And vnlesse suche a conferring were had it were to be feared least the multitude and variety of opinions should at the length bring no lesse cuyll and discommoditye vnto the Church of God than brought the superstition of tyme past And bicause some daunger commeth of disputations that are to vehement godly princes may by their authority easely remedye this euyl who of necessity must be present at them as we reade was done in the Counsell of Chalsidonia that by their authoritye contentions and wanton wyttes were restrayned wythin the bondes of Christian modesty For euen as it is trulye sayde that by to muche alteration the truth is lost so also semeth it no lesse to be truly said that by quiet disputing godly conferring of sentences the truth is brought forth whereunto the sonne of God hath promised that he wyl be present together with the father and the holy Ghost yea if there be but twoo or three gathered together in his name And it is better presently to entreate of matters with a modest conferring together being appointed than by mutual writing to inflame the hartes of either party Farther in this thyng also they iudge not ryghtlye for that they thinke that in suche Counsels are matters entreated of which vtterly and wholy passe the capacity of the laity For although al the Laity neither can neither are bound exactly to know the reasons and argumentes of al and singular controuersies yet no godly Counsell hath decreed of anye thing which of necessitye pertaineth vnto the saluation of al and singular men which also such as are but euen meanely instructed in the chiefe pointes of their Christian faith vnderstand not wel and as much as to them is sufficient is playne ynough The ten commaundementes are knowen the articles of fayth are knowen the forme of the Lordes praier is knowen the maner of baptisme and institution of the Lordes supper are knowen the ministerye also of remitting and retaining synnes in the name of Christe is knowen In which principal pointes are contayned almoste all maner of controuersies that the world hath in