of ancient writers in this poynt I will take a few of both S. Paul saith Whatsoeuer Rom. 15. 4. things are written before are written for our doctrine that by patience and consolation of the Scripture wee might haue hope Whereby the Apostle teacheth plainely that the Scriptures are the rule of our doctrine so that nothing may bee taught nothing may bee learned concerning our faith but according to this rule deliuered in the Scriptures And againe All Scripture is giuen 2. Tim. 3. 16. by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousnesse that the man of God may bee perfect throughly furnished vnto all good workes The Apostle declareth how the Scripture is profitable and perfect The Papists confesse that the Scripture is profitable but not perfect They denie the perfection the Apostle prooueth both It is profitable to perfect the man of God that profitablenesse that is able to make men perfect is both profitablenesse and perfection If the Scripture can make the man of God perfect then there is no neede of any traditions of men to make vp this perfection This hath bene the common doctrine of the Church that the Scriptures are so perfect in themselues that they containe the whole rule of faith In this confession agree the Greeke Church the Latine Church the Church of Rome and all Writers in the Church of Rome haue helde vp this common faith vntill the Council of Trent which Councill ended some fiftie yeres agoe And then began these men whom now we call Papists to change this rule of faith in the Council of Trent For whereas before the rule of faith was euer confessed to be in the doctrine of the Scriptures in that Council vnwritten Traditions were taken into the rule of faith and so they teach now that the Scripture is but one part of the rule of faith and vnwritten Traditions of the Church of Rome another part So that the whole rule is in the Scriptures and in Traditions Whereby it appeareth that the rule of faith is by them changed For I say that they are not able to prooue by any writer of the Church of Rome much lesse by ancients that the vnwritten Traditions of the Church of Rome were helde to be a part of the rule of faith before the Counciâ— of Trent And because the Church is certainely knowen by preseruing the rule oâ— faith for that is the true Church which through alâ— successions holdeth the same faith deliuered by the Apostles and Prophets and that is no true Church which holdeth not the same faith anâ— the same faith is knowen by the same rule therefore thâ— Church of Rome that now is hauing changed the rule oâ— faith hath assuredly changeâ— the faith and hauing changed the faith ceaseth to be â— true Church of Christ because the Church is knoweâ— by the faith which the Apostles left to the Church Anâ— that Church such as it is following now a new rule of faith can prooue their antiquitie no ancienter then the rule That rule being then deuised some 50. yeeres agoe it followeth that when they seeke out their antiquity they will finde their Church to be according to the antiquitie of the rule of their faith of some 50. yeres standing and no ancienter In the meane time they cousen the simple people that cannot iudge with great boasting of their antiquitie and of the coÌ„tinuance of their faith from the Apostles But these be but vaine brags as it will further appeare in the processe thereof But first that we may know how faithful and peremptory the ancient Fathers and Writers of the Church of Rome haue beene in this point to prooue that nothing may be receiued into the rule of faith sauing only the Scriptures of many testimonies I will cite some Clemens Alexandrinus saith Strom. lib. 6. The Ecclesiasticall rule is the consent and conspiration of the olde and new Testament By the Ecclesiasticall rule hee declareth what is that rule which ruleth the Church And speaking of the holy Scriptures he saith There is no other worke but this onely that can bring saluation to men Athanasius saith Contra gentes The holy Scriptures inspired by God are sufficient to instruct men in the trueth Basill sayth Ascet de fide It is a manifest sliding away from faith and an euident signe of pride either to reiect any thing of that which is written or to bring in any thing that is not written Where he prooueth this both by Scriptures and reasons For Christ his sheepe heare his voice therfore it must be the known voice of Christ in the Scriptures that must rule our faith And the Apostle saith That though it be a Gal. 1. 15. mans testament yet if it be confirmed and ratified no man may disanull it or adde any thing to it Whereby Basill most powerfully proueth that the Testament of Christ being confirmed by his death may not be disanulled or haue any thing added vnto it For this were euident forgerie in a mans Testament And what then shall wee call this adding of vnwritten Traditions to the Testament of Iesus Christ Constantine the great had learned this of the orthodox Bishops and therefore hee sayth as Theodoret deliuereth Theodor. lib. 1. ca. 7 his saying in the first Nicene Council The Euangelicall and Apostolicall bookes and the oracles of the olde Prophets doe fully Plene nos instruunt instruct vs what we must vnderstand of the will of God therefore laying aside all contentions let vs seeke out the solution of those doubts that are proposed out of the holy Scriptures S. Chrysostome In 2. Cor. Hom. 13. sayth Seeing wee haue a most exact rule balance and gnomon that is the doctrine of holy Scriptures I beseech you â—hat you will not regard what this â—r that man sayth but seeke all â—hese things out of the Scripâ—ures Where S. Chrysostome â—reacheth to the people and â—rayeth them to read and search â—he Scriptures A cleane conâ—rary course take these Popish doctors who debarre the peoâ—le from reading the Scripâ—ures in a known tongue and â—o keepe them in ignorance â—elling them that they must beleeue nothing but that which the Church teacheth by the Church they meane themselues who are their teachers And they neuer declare to the people how by the rule of faith deliuered in the Scriptures they should examine their doctrines but the blind people must take all at their handes who are resolued to holde them blinde still As Cardinall Caietan comming into Paris and finding the people blinde was not desirous to remooue their blindnesse by instruction but content to abuse their blindnesse and to leaue them as blinde as he found them For when the people were desirous to haue the Cardinals blessing and therein the Popes the Cardinall at the first refused but finding the people earnestly set vpon that motion hee turned to them and sayde these words Quandoquidem
hic populus decipi vult decipiatur in nomine diaboli that is Seeing this people will needes be deceiued let them be deceiued in the name of the deuill and so gaue them the Popes blessing Thus doe the Popish teachers come to saue soules making the people blind keeping them in blindnesse and then profanely scoffing at that blindnesse which themselues procured But S. Chrysostome and the ancient godly Fathers dealt farre otherwise with the people alwayes exhorting them to reade the Scriptures And Chrysostome in the same place doeth with great reason and eloquence both pull off this vaile of ignorance which the Papists labour to cast ouer the eyes of the people and doeth very effectually descry the fraude and imposture of such teachers as these Popish teachers are For sayth Chrysostome would it not be thought a very absurd thing if in borrowing and lending of money a man should trust him that brought him money and not tell it after him how is it then that this is thought so absurd not to tell money after another and shall we in things o◠the greatest weight simply follow the sentence of othe◠men without examination seeing we haue such an exac◠rule of holy Scripture Chrysostome prooueth that the learned Papists are couseners an◠the simple Papists sottish lik◠them that will not see their money tolde This is the reason that in stead of golde and siluer they receiue copper and brasse The damage redoundeth to the destruction of their soules and therefore they ought to haue a greater care and foresight lest in the matters concerning their soules they bee abused by such as dare change the rule of Faith delighting in the ignorance of the simple and profanely scoffing the ignorance which themselues haue caused This thing the simple people ought more carefully to looke to more exactly to preuent then any damage that can grow in their worldly estate Cyrillus Bishop of Alexandria Lib. de recta fide ad regni saith It is necessary for vs to follow the holy Scriptures and from their prescript in no manner of thing must we depart Tertullian saith The rule of Faith Lib. de velandis virgini is instituted by Christ and it is one and the same which none may change which none may reforme Then whether the Papists wil call it an Alteration or a Reformation of the rule of faith which in Trent they haue done it is vtterly denied that the Church may either alter or reforme that rule S. Hillarie saith The presumption or Lib. ad Constan August frailtie or errour of some hee speaketh there against the Arrians but his wordes doe no lesse touch the Papistes hath either fraudulently confessed or impudently transgressed the vnchāgeable cōstitution of Apostolike doctrine So he calleth the rule of faith Indemutabilem Constitutionem Apostolicae doctrinae S. Hierome saith The Church Lib. 1. in Mich. c. ◠of Christ which dwelleth well possessing the Churches spread ouer the whole world is ioyned together in the vnitie of the spirit and hath cities of the Lawe and Prophets of the Gospel and Apostles and goeth not out of her boundes that is out of the holy Scriptures Thus he calleth the holy Scriptures the bounds and limits of the Church out of which limits the Church of Christ neuer goeth but the Church of Rome is gone out of these bounds S. Augustine Libr. de bon vidutat cap. 1. saith The holy Scripture hath fixed a rule for our doctrine lest we might dare to be wiser thē we ought I omit many for breuity S. Gregory saith In the volume of the Scriptures are conteined In Ezek. all things which doe teach vs all things that edifie And again All our munitiō is cōtained in the holy Writ To these Ancients agree the writers of the Church of Rome Peter Lombard saith Lib. 1. dist 1. Matters of faith must be demonstrated according to the authorities of holy Scriptures T. Aquinas In 1. ad sim c. 6. saith The doctrine of the prophets and Apostles is called Canonicall because it is the rule of our vnderstanding and therefore no man ought to teach otherwise The same might be proued out of others but this may suffice From all which I conclude that the doctrine of the Scriptures hath euer bin held to be the rule of faith which must rule the Church in teaching For these men presume that they deale with simple men that may not examine their doctrines and therefore they bid the people take doctrines at their hands and seeke no further And they tell vs that the rule of faith is that which the Church teacheth These be mad fellowes that presume so much vpō the simplicity of others for the rule of faith is a rule that ruleth the Church for deceiuers may come into the Church The Scripture hath warned vs of deceiuers that such shall come Antichrist with his deceiuing Priests shall come Now lest these deceiuers should abuse vs with false doctrines which they may call the doctrines of the Church the rule of faith is fixed to rule them and all other The ancient Fathers were all ruled by this rule we are ruled by the same rule onely these that haue changed the rule refuse to be ruled by this rule They tell vs that their doctrine must bee the rule to vs but they tell vs not what should rule their doctrine Now here is the point which we entreat learned and vnlearned to consider who seeke out the true Church and are desirous to find it and therein to rest The Church is knowen by the careful keeping of the true faith that is the true Church which from the Apostles in all successions hath held the true faith the true faith is knowen by the rule of faith the rule is the same in all ages This rule hath beene helde inuiolable from the Apostles times downeward in the Greeke Church in the Latine Church euen in the Church of Rome vntill the Councill of Trent And in the Councill of Trent we find this rule changed For whereas before the Church helde this rule alwayes to bee the Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine conteined in the holy Scriptures now they haue made the rule to bee Scriptures and vnwritten Traditions These vnwritten Traditions they call the word of God as well as Scriptures and thus haue they made a word of God of their owne inuention By this meanes they magnifie the Popes authoritie and haue turned the Supremacie into a Godhead and will not vnderstand that they worship Antichrist in the Church For these Traditions are the Popes word as the Scripture is Gods word And they blush not to teach that the word of the Pope is the word of God And thus haue they set vp in the church another God and another word of God And what can Antichrist doe more then this Then in seeking the true Church wee must follow the rule we follow the same rule that all the fathers followed and because
blaspheme the Church dispersed ouer the whole world except the Church of Rome and some few of the West Then it followeth that in his iudgement the Church of Rome was not the Catholicke Church because Vrbicus who blasphemed the Catholike Church commended and followed the Church of Rome Many things might be brought for this purpose but I striue for breuitie This may suffice to prooue that the ancient Fathers did not hold the Church of Rome to be the Catholike Church In this Church there is a communion of Saints which Communion the Papistes deuise to bee betwene the Saints in heauen and the Saints on earth and them that bee in purgatorie These bee vaine conceits without any ground For the Church hath this Communion with GOD the Father and with IESVS CHRIST and among themselues as Saint Iohn teacheth 1. Ioh. 1. 3. Our Communion is with the Father and his Sonne Iesus Christ And declaring this Communion which the members of the Church haue one with another hee saith If wee walke in the light as hee 1 Ioh. 1. 3 7. is in the light wee haue Communion one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ doeth cleanse vs from all sinne In which wordes hee declareth who are partakers of this Communion and consequently who are members of this Church For wee haue Communion one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne Then they haue this Communion who by the blood of Christ are cleansed from all sinne And therefore they who are in Purgatorie can haue no part of this Communion because they are not cleansed from all their sinne by the blood of Christ This Communion then is a Communion which the Church of the redeemed haue among themselues These bee they who sing that new Song Thou art worthie Apoc. 5. 9 to take the Booke and to open the Seales thereof For thou wast slaine and hast redeemed vs to God by thy blood out of euery kinred and tongue and people and nation This is the Communion that the Church of the redeemed haue and therefore it is called The Communion of Saints that is of such as are sanctified by the blood of Iesus Christ But this Communion is not in the Church of Rome For the Communion which is in the Church of Rome is such a Communion which by their owne confession is held among such men as haue no inward grace but onely the externall profession of Religion This being their owne confession it must needs follow that the Communion of Saints is not among them For Saints haue no Communion with wicked who haue no inward grace who are the members of the deuill and not of Christ The reason is because betweene the members of Christ and the members of the Deuill there can bee no Communion as S Paul prooueth For what fellowship 2. Cor. 6. hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse or what Communion hath light with darkenesse or what concord hath Christ with Beliall or what part haue beleeuers with vnbeleeuers c. Thus haue wee prooued that there is no agreement betweene the Church of Rome and the Catholike Church because the Church of Rome is neither holy nor Catholike neither in it is found the Communion of Saints Then they who boast so much of the Catholique Church the Catholique Church suffer themselues to be blinded by cosening companions who know not the trueth For they thinke to hold the Catholike Church before they will bee acquainted with a particular Church Let them bee intreated to vnderstand that if they desire to be in the Catholike Church without which there is no saluation they must betake themselues to some particular Church heere on earth which holdeth Vnitie with the Catholike Church And then shall they be sure to bee in the Catholike Church when they are found in such a Church which holdeth Vnitie with the Catholique Church that is by the ministery of the Church wherein you liue and are taught you must vnderstand that you are collected as members into one bodie that from the Head you may receiue an increase of this Body to the edifying of your selues in loue and so bee truely knit to the Head of the Church Iesus Christ that by one and the same Spirit you may be iustified and sanctified so holde the vnitie of the Spirit that by one rule of faith you may be taught and ruled and that you may be sure that the same rule which hath been the rule of faith from the Apostles times and continued euer in the Church be the rule of your faith When thus by the ministerie of a particular Church in whatsoeuer place of the world that Church be you are gathered into one Body vnder one Head gouerned by one Spirit holding one and the same rule of Faith then may you be assured that you are in the Catholike Church for the Catholike Church being vniuersall and not particular cannot be fixed to any one particular place but the men that must be gathered into the Church are particular men and holde particular places and therefore must vse the helpe of particular Churches to bring them to the Catholicke Church or else they shall neuer find it If thus men would seek the Church they should be sure to finde it there is but one way they that receiue not the loue of the trueth are iustly deceiued and perish that all might be damned who beleeued not the trueth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse So that when deceiuers come with their strong illusions yet shall they be able to preuaile against none but onely such as loue not the trueth But they who loue the trueth and seeke it with care and diligence as they would seeke siluer and golde or things that are esteemed more precious shall by the great mercy of God vndoubtedly bee saued from errour and damnation And all such by the free mercy of God shall be brought into the true Church that therein as in the Arke of Noah they may be saued For vnto the ende of the world must that alwayes be verified which is written The Lord added to the Church Acts 2. 47. from day to day such as should be saued FOrasmuch as I haue taken this as a thing granted by the Papists That they haue added their vnwritten Traditions which they call Apostolicall vnto the Scriptures to make vp the totall rule of â—aith the Scriptures making â—ut one part thereof and â—heir Traditions another by which alteration of the rule of faith they haue forsaken coÌ„munion with the Church which till that time alwayes held this rule which to the end of the world must holde â—t I haue here set downe the words of the Trent Council and of Car. Bellar. expounding the same for their sakes who being ignorant may doubt whether this be true or not CONCIL TRIDENT Sess 4. Decret 1. Omnes Libros veteris noui Testamenti nec non Traditiones ipsas tum ad fidem tum ad mores pertinentes tanquam vel ore tenus à Christo vel a Spiritus sancto dictat as continua successione in Ecclesia Catholica conseruat as pari pietatis affectu ac reuerentia suscipit ac veneratuâ— Tridentina Synodus That is All the books of the old and new Testament as also the Traditions themselues pertaining both to faith and maners as being either pronounced from the mouth of Christ or deliuered by the holy Ghost and by continuall successioÌ„ preserued in the Catholicke Church the Councill of Trent receiueth and honoureth with like and equall affection of piety and reuerence Card. Bellarm. lib. de verbo Dei non script cap. 3. Asserimus in Scripturis non contineri expressè totam doctrinam necessariam siue de fide siue de moribus proinde preter verbum Deâ— scriptum requiri etiam verbum Dei non scriptum id est diuinas Apostolicas Traditiones That is Wee affirme that in the Scriptures is not conteined expressely all necessarie doctrine whether of faith or maners and therfore besides the written word of God is required also the vnwritten word of God namely Diuine and Apostolicall Traditions Card. Bellar. ibid. cap. 4. Scripturae sine Traditionius nec fuerunt simpliciter neâ—essariae nec sufficientes That is The Scriptures without Traditions were neither simply necessary nor yet sufficient Card. Bellar. ibid. cap. 12. Dico Scripturam etsi non â—it facta praecipuè vt sit regula fidei esse tamen regulam fidei non totalem sed partialem Totalis enim regula fidei est verbum Dei siue reuelatio Dei Ecclesiae facta quae diuiditur in duas regulas partiales Scripturam Traditiones That is I say that the Scripture though it was not made especially to be the rule of faith yet is the rule of faith not in whole but in part for the whole rule of faith is the word of God or the reuelation of God made to the Church which is diuided into two partie-rules Scripture and Traditions These things the learned Papists make no doubt of and â—herfore I take them as things granted by them because all â—heir learned men grant the â—ame For the vnlearned I â—aue set them down that they may vnderstand that the rule of faith which the Church held before which holdeth â—he Church in vnitie is by â—hem forsakeÌ„ And therfore if they will seeke a true Church they must seek such a Church which holdeth still the same rule of faith with the true Church of Christ which was before the Trent Council and must stand till the end of the world FINIS
we finde the rule chāged in the present Church of Rome therfore we are sure that it cannot bee the true Church that hath chāged the rule of faith by which the true Church was alwaies knowen heeretofore and must bee knowen heereafter And as they haue changed the rule of faith so haue they changed the Iudge of the controuersies of faith For before the Councill of Trent the Church neuer held the Pope to be Iudge of Controuersies of faith Before the same time the Church neuer helde the Pope to bee aboue generall Councils but his authoritie alwayes euen in the greatest ruffe and pride of Popes was yet helde to bee vnder the authoritie of a generall Councill Concerning the iudge of controuersies of Faith the ancient Writers and the writers of the Church of Rome haue written no otherwise then as we write and speake In the Council of Nice Theodoret Lib. 1. cap. 1. declareth how Constantine described the iudge of controuersies of faith In the disputations of things diuine sayth hee the Bishops haue the doctrine of the holy Spirit written For the Euangelicall and Apostolicall bookes and the oracles of the ancient Prophets doe fully instruct vs and therefore let vs take the determination of questions from the wordes of the holy Ghost In which words he declareth first that in diuine Disputations or in Controuersies of Faith wee haue the doctrine of the holy Ghost written then let them tell vs from what spirit the vnwrittē word of Trent proceedeth Secondly he sayth that the writings of the Prophets and Apostles doe fully instruct vs then that writing is the full rule of faith for that which doeth fully instruct vs and not in part is the full rule and not a part thereof Thirdly he saith that all determinations of doubts must be taken from this written word Then hee prooueth vndoubtedly that this written word doeth suffice to ende all controuersies of faith because the words of men may be subiect to errour but the wordes of the holy Ghost are not This is the Catholike determination of the iudge of controuersies in faith which hath beene in all succession preserued vntill the Councill of Trent Optatus an ancient Father holdeth the same way in seeking a iudge for thus he reasoneth against the Donatists Let no Optat. lib. 5. man beleeue you let no man beleeue vs for all we are contentious men Iudges must be sought but if wee take Christians they cannot be helde indifferent for both sides because the trueth is encumbred by contentions Wee must then seeke a iudge without But if he be a Pagan hee cannot vnderstand our mysteries if a Iewe he is an enemy to Christian baptisme Therefore on earth no iudgement will be found for this wee must seeke the Iudge from heauen But what need we knock at heauen seeing wee haue him here in his Gospel Thus Optatus sought a iudge and could find none but Christ speaking in his Gospel in his written word How easie had it beene for Optatus to haue named the Pope if the Pope had then beene esteemed the iudge of controuersies of faith But this is a late inuention not knowen to the ancient fathers Saint Augustine speaketh in like sort This matter Libr. 2. cap. 33. de nupt concupisc saith he writing against the Pelagians requireth a Iudge and therefore let Christ iudge And then hee produceth the words of Christ as the words of the Iudge Hee saith also Let the Apostle iudge with him for in the Apostle Christ speaketh And then he produceth the words of the Apostle as being the words of Christ the Iudge And in another place It is not without great cause that Ad Cresc lib. 2. cap. 31. the Canon of the Scriptures is ordeined with such wholesome vigilance whereunto certaine books of the Prophets and Apostles doe pertaine which wee dare not iudge at all but according to them may we freely iudge of other writings whether they be written by beleeuers or no beleeuers After this till the Councill of Trent the Church helde the same determination still concerning the Iudge of controuersies of faith Indeed there were some Friars and Canonists that flattered the Pope and the Pope was as willing to make vse of their flatterings But these flatterers were reiected as men odious and could neuer finde any credit in the world before the Council of Trent In so much that the Popes themselues and what is it that they durst not doe durst not claime this authoritie before that time Pope Clement the first hath Dist. 37 cap 14. This Pope liued anno 1047. these wordes You must not seeke a strange sense which may be adulterated and inwardly corrupted nor confirme such a sense by the authoritie of Scripture but a man must take the sense of the trueth from the Scriptures themselues seeing that one may haue the full and firme rule of faith and trueth in the Scriptures Thus sayth a Pope Integra firma regula veritatis ex Scripturis Then there were no vnwritten Traditions thought of at that time to be thrust into the rule of faith Secondly he saith that the vnderstanding of the trueth must be sought out of the Scriptures themselues So that hee knew no other Iudge of the controuersies of faith Thus was the doctrine of the Iudge of controuersies maintained vntill the time of the Council of Basill The Councill of Basil doth likewise maintaine the ancient doctrine of the Church concerning this point For thus they say Lex diuina praxis Concil Basil Sess 4. Christi Apostolica Ecclesiae primitiuae vna cum Concilijs Doctoribusque fundantibus se veraciter in eadem pro verissimo indifferente iudice in hoc Basiliensi Concilio admittentur That is The diuine Law or holy Scripture the practise of Christ of his Apostles and of the Primitiue Church together with Councils and Doctours grounding themselues truely thereon shall be admitted for the most true and indifferent Iudge in this Council of Basill We finde by this what was the sense and iudgement of the Church in our fathers dayes for this was done about the yeere of Christ 1440. Then before the Councill of Trent there was no change in these things but there they haue changed all and made a new Church but with such sleights and cunning that it is apparant that it was not religion and conscience which mooued them but ambition and a singular estimation and pride of their owne wit holding such a scorneful conceit of other nations whom they call Tramontani that they presume that they can make all other men fooles This they practised in the Council of Trent and through the simplicitie and ouer-much credulitie which they haue found in some haue partly well confirmed their purpose for there were certaine questions which were determined in that Councill of Trent and yet neuer discussed as namely whether the Popes authoritie be aboue the authoritie of a generall Councill and whether the Pope be the