and that which is crooked as the Philosopher well said yet let vs yeeld so much to our Aduersaries either ignorance or obstinacie that as wee haue brought out the true and right notes of Antichrist out of the text of Scripture so wee may refute the false and fained proceeding out of the braine of man Bellarmine writes honestly that the opinions of the Fathers about Antichrist which cannot be prooued out of the Scriptures are not to be held as certaine truths or to bee beleeued as matter of faith I would hee would follow his owne rule we should sooner agree among our selues And he hath reiected some of their fables in this cause the Scripture being his guide but I thinke hee refused other mens deuises herein that with greater authoritie he might shew foorth his owne Some of them as false and absurd others as more probable but false for all that both of them he doth reiect Why so I pray Because they cannot be prooued out of the Scripture Who would not thinke that this man dealeth with vs in good sooth Of the generation of Antichrist 1 Antichrist is not as he saith borne of a Virgin 2 He is not the Deuill as Hypolitus thought 3 He is not a Deuill incarnate 4 He is not Nero brought to life againe These opinions saith he are absurde Others are more probable neither true 1 Antichrist is not a bastard as Damascen said 2 He is not of the Tribe of Dan as 12. Fathers do thinke and all Papists almost besides Bellarmine Do you not see Paul the 5. how your Bellarmine reiecteth twelue Fathers in this cause and giues his own side the slippe He denieth the old Tribe of Antichrist we looke he should deny his Countrey anone Hee denieth him to be of Dan by and by he will deny him to be a Iew. For as for the Tribe of Dan Bellarmine alloweth Hyeromes opinion Why This cannot saith hee be prooued out of the Scripture Although for the Tribe diuers Papists bring texts as probable as Bellarmine doth for the nation But those this plaine dealing man forsooth hath reiected Doe you not see how your men disagree in this matter that you may no more tell our men of their disagreements CHAP. XXVIII Of the Nation Religion Office and seat of ANTICHRIST BVT Antichrist saith he shall be by Nation a Iew by Religion circumcised and for a time a keeper of the Saboth by his office Messias for he shall especially come for the Iewes sake and shall be accepted of them for Messias and he shall sit at Ierusalem in the Temple of God reedified by himselfe A lyer must beare a memorie Messias of the Iewes saith he shall come not in his owne name but in Gods name So Bellarmine Bellarmines contradiction But Antichrist shall come not in Gods name but in his owne saith Bellarmine Antichrist therefore is not the Messias of the Iewes But he proueth out of two places of the Scripture that Antichrist is the Messias of the Iewes one if another shall come in his owne name saith Christ Ioh. 5. him you shall receiue Whereout of a compound supposition of an indefinite person if another hee doth inferre a simple proposition definitely that is that Antichrist absurdly nor well applied to the purpose Which sets downe that that Antichrist shall come a little before the end of the world Those Iewes therefore whom Christ spake to then aliue now dead could not receiue Antichrist for Messias Vnlesse peraduenture as he tells vs Enoch and Elias shall returne before the end who shall resist Antichrist A great absurdity so he imagines the Iewes that Christ spake to shall rise againe before the generall resurrection to receiue Antichrist But see how vntowardly the parts of this tale hangs together For he saith That Enoch and Elias should be killed of Antichrist and after three daies and a halfe liue againe and that it shall come to passe afterward that the Iewes being conuerted by that miracle shall kill their Messias in the mount oliue and shall returne to Christ who shall come 45. daies after Which dreame of his he refuteth in another place which he bringeth The Apostle saith that to them who receiue not the loue of the truth to their saluation God will send the working of error to beleeue lies and so to be iudged with the iudgement of condemnation 2. Thess 2.9 Wo be to those saith he who haue not receiued Christ The Iewes Although the Apostle saith not who receiued not the truth 1. Christ but who receiued not the loue of the truth as false Christians But how shall God punish those Iewes God shall send vpon them the working of error that they might beleeue a lye 1 Antichrist and should bee damned Therefore the Iewes shall receiue Antichrist for Messias But Bellarmine doth affirme that the Iewes shall bee conuerted by Enoch and Elias and therefore shall bee saued The Apostle speaketh of men reiecting Christ and therefore to be condemned he speakes not therefore of the Iewes But the Apostle saith that Antichrist is sent to them who would not receiue Christ which of the Iewes is true of the Christians false Yea he saith that he is sent to seduce those who haue not receiued the loue of truth which doth well agree with the Papists those false-christians Who although they receiue Christ The Papist receiue Christ but not the loue of Christ receiue not the loue of Christ But the Apostle speaketh of the time past Who haue not receiued the loue of truth not in the future Therefore he vnderstandeth the Iewes who before the Apostle wrote this refused to beleeue the preaching of Christ and his Apostles But the Apostle speaking of the sinne and punishment of Antichristians which presupposeth a sinne going before did expresse their sinne in the pretertense which is not to be referred to the time of the Epistle which Paul writ but to the time of the punishment which he enioyned But if the Iesuite doe vrge the pretertense so farre as if the Apostle should vnderstand that Antichrist should be receiued of them only who had reiected Christ before that time hee must hold that he must be receiued of them in the end of the world who were dead a thousand fiue hundred yeares before And is not this a worthy demonstration A popish absurdity whereby he proueth that Antichrist shall bee in Office the Messias of the Iewes to be receiued of them in the end of the world whence as one error begets another he concludeth that he is by nation a Iew by Religion circumcised c. I haue wonne it now that Antichrist is an Apostata-christian It followeth therefore that hee can by no meanes bee an Infidell Iew who as yet was not come to Christ I prooued that hee was an inward and hypocriticall enemy who denied Christ secretly indirectly It followeth then that the Iew no waies can be an outward and professed enemy who denieth Christ directly and plainely
plainely shewed against Tortus or rather counterfet Bellarmine that the Apostles Creede was set foorth whereto Iames the Apostle before his martyrdom had added the Article of Christ before the departure of the Apostles from Ierusalem and therefore before S. Peter came to Rome by the testimonie of Baronius himselfe Anno 44. and had concluded necessarily from thence that the Catholike faith was fully finished before the Apostolike See was begunne hence it is said there arose a doubt in that right honourable Calanders conscience a Papist but very moderate and honest not onely of the supremacie of Peter and of that depriuing power annexed to the supremacy but of all the whole Romish Catholike faith which he saw was contained in the popish not Apostolicall Nycene or Constantinopolitane Creede § 125 Therefore when those former learned men together with William Argentine came againe to visite him It is very well sayd Calander that you are met againe to discusse before vs a verie difficult controuersie of the popes new creede which Pius the fouth had formerly compiled Paul the 5. comanded it lately to be printed my good freind Argentine hath lately recited it and I hope by and by he will recite the same to you This being prescribed by the Church vtterly to reiect it I doe as yet to speake truely make a conscience and to admit it wholly vnlesse it bee ratified by the testimonies of the holy Scripture I cannot admit without scruple of conscience For I haue lately learned to giue attendance to the holy Scripture which holy S. Peter doth directly affirme to bee as a candle lightned in this life to vs wandring in darknesse 2. Pet. 1. Which holy Paul doth likewise make the foundation of the Church Ephes 2.20 1. Tim. 3.15 and yet I cannot depart rashly from the Catholike Church whereto I haue beene accustomed which the same S. Paul calles the piller and ground of truth by which there is a creede of faith set out for me So I hang doubtfull betweene the Scripture the Church which God hath giuen vnto vs as the Sunne and Moone the two great lights to giue vs light to life Then Patriott you say right Calander said he in the § 126 generall that as the Sunne and Moone so the Scripture and the Church as two lights shew light vnto vs The Scripture and Church compared to the Sun Moon but that you erre in the speciall as after it shall better appeare But the holy Scripture hath light in it selfe as the Sunne the Church is a light but borrowed from the Scripture as the Moone from the Sun these two I confesse are giuen vs of God to direct vs vnto eternall life But the Scripture directs vs with masterly authority the Church with her ministery for the holy Scripture is the wisdome of God in Christ inspired from aboue into holy men for the eternall saluation and perfection of the Church as the Apostle hath defined it God hath commended the Scripture to the Church The office of the Church as an heauenly charge that it may discerne expound keep and publish it to men the Scripture is therefore mens master but the Church is Gods minister Therefore the Apostle calles the truth the foundation of the Church and the Church the piller of truth as Salomon made his chariot to haue a golden axtree and pillers of siluer vnderstanding by the axetree the sound doctrin of the Messias by the pillers the faithfull teachers of the same § 127 It is a wicked thing therefore to detract from the maiestie of the holy Scripture and it is vniust to derogate from the ministery of the true Church for the Scripture is the truth of God The office of the Scripture and the Church is the house of God the truth is the golden foundation of this house and this house is the siluer piller of this truth that is cut out of the truth as out of the rocke as Chrysostome obserueth So if the Scripture be the base of the Church then the Church is the piller of the word as he spake very wittily Now reason teacheth that the foundation is not sustained by the house but the house by the foundation And religion concludes from thence that truth makes the Church not the Church the truth For the approbation of the truth is the working cause of the Church For before it do approue the written word of God it is but a company of Infidels and Idolaters after it hath approoued it it beginneth to be the familie of the faithful worshippers of God that is a Church Further although the Church by the Spirit doe discerne the true Scripture from the false yet the Scripture being once knowen and acknowledged as before it made so after it sheweth the Church For what more certain note can there be of shewing a thing then the working cause of the thing Againe what priuiledge soeuer the Church doth rightly challenge to it selfe it receiued from the Scripture as that which calleth the Church the piller of truth Therefore the truth of the Scripture is more ancient in time more perspicuous for the light and greater for authority then the Church which when it once receiueth her essence light and power from the Scripture then at last as a piller it vpholdeth with her ministery the truth in respect of men and reueales it to the inhabitants of the earth and it is that ground whereon men both may and ought to leane and rest Lawes vpon pillers so the Scriptures on the Church Whereupon the Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine is said to bee the foundation of the Church the Church is the strength of doctrine not the foundation It is euident therfore that the Church is founded and sustained by the truth and that the truth is sustained and reuealed by the Church once founded as it were a watch-tower for trauellers to direct them into heauen The Heathens were wont to write their lawes in tables and hang them vp vpon pillers to bee read of the people The Apostle describing the Church compareth it to such a piller the vse wherof was to shew the Law when it selfe was not the Law So the true Orthodoxe and Catholike faith being written in the tables of the Scripture is fastned to the Church as it wereto a most beautifull piller as a most strong prop which resteth vpon it not with its owne but a borrowed strength Wherefore the Apostle in the second to the Ephesians defines the Church when in the second to Timothie hee describes it For there hee argueth from the causes heere from the effects in each place he vnderstandeth the Church of Ephesus that is a particular Church In the first place he teacheth what made that in the second what that did nor so much what it alway doth for of necessitie the foundation being taken away the Church must fall as it happened first to the Church of Ephesus and afterward to the Church
of Rome as what it ought to doe For this is rather an admonition then a commendation and with a praise giueth warning of duty Wherefore you shall doe well Calander as S. Peter warnes you if you alwaies giue attention to the holy Scripture as to the candle to the Church as to the candle-sticke so long as it containeth and vpholdeth that candle giuing light to all the house For if it bee bereft of the light of her sunne and being blinde endeauours to make others blinde also while it makes new Articles of the faith and conceales the old it doth retain the name of a Church but it hath altogether lost the nature that which may very truely be spoken of the Church of Rome § 128 You doe very vnaduisedly traduce the Church of Rome saith Saturnine by whom you thinke that new Articles of the faith were made for the Articles of the faith which it propoundes are diuided into two sortes One are of immediate Reuelation Others are drawne and fetcht from thence What articles of faith the Church maketh The Church doth not make new Articles of the faith of the first sort But the Church maketh Articles of the second sort which ought to bee beleeued with the Catholicke faith as the case requireth if it thinke them necessary Therefore Vincentius Lyrinensis thinketh that the life of propheticall and euangelicall doctrine must be directed by the rule of Ecclesiasticall and Catholike sense so that he doth in vaine brag of the text of scripture who reiecteth the sense of the Church § 129 Then Patriott how absurdly is it said saith he that the Church doth not make immediate reuelations of God Vnlesse that be more absurd to thinke that to fetch and draw from is the same which to make for an Article must first be made before a doctrine can be drawne or fetcht from the same Therefore that is said to bee an Article of the faith which is drawne from an Article Foolishly Articles are principles deductions are conclusions An article is one thing a conclusion drawne from the article is another which often is so contrarie that it vtterly ouerthroweth the article As it shall bee made cleare in the explication of your creede For I confesse with Vincentius Lyrinensis that the line of propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine is to be directed by the rule of the ecclesiasticall and catholicke sense For the ecclesiasticall and catholicke sense must alway agree with the Propheticall and apostolicall text For where the text doth faile vs the glosse cannot helpe vs. Whence I conclude that nothing can bee Catholicke and Ecclesiasticall which is not Propheticall or Apostolicall Now because Vincentius doth restraine the propheticall and apostolicall line to the cannon of the Scripture which he confesseth to be more then sufficient for faith it followeth that nothing contrarie to the canonicall Scripture can be Ca holicke though it bee so determined by the Church Wherefore Calander if the Church of Rome haue cast any article of faith into the Creede of the second sort which is contrarie to an Article of the first sort and haue added an ecclesiasticall glosse disagreeing from the definition of canonicall Scripture that Church shall sooner leaue off to be the Catholicke Church then that Article shall beginne to be Catholicke Let vs come therefore to the Creede and let vs intreat Argentine if hee please to open it vnto vs. Then Argentine I will doe it and very willingly and § 130 I will so professe it as it is propounded by the Bull of Pius the 4. to be a forme of an Oath of the profession of the orthodoxall faith 1 I William Argentine doe firmely admit and hold the Apostolicall and Ecclesiasticall traditions and other ordinances and constitutions of the Church of Rome The Popes creede Traditions Scriptures according to the Romane sense 2 I doe firmely hold and admit the holy Scriptures according to that sense which the mother Church hath and doth hold whose right it is to iudge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scripture neither will I euer admit it or expound it but according to the ioynt consent of the fathers 3 I professe that there be seauen Sacraments truely and properly of the new Law 7 Sacraments ordained by our Lord Iesus necessarie for the saluation of mankind Baptisme Confirmation the Eucharist Penance Extream vnction Orders Matrimony I admit the receiued and approoued rites of the Catholicke Church Originall sin and iustification 4 I admit and hold all and euery those points concerning originall sinne and iustification which were determined in the holy Councell of Trent The Masse 5 I professe that there is offered vp in the Masse vnto God a true proper propitiatorie sacrifice for the quicke and the dead Transsubstantiation 6 I beleeue that in the holy Eucharist the body and blood of Christ is truely and really and substantially and that there is made a change of the whole substance of bread into his body and of the whole substance of wine into his blood which change or conuersion the Catholicke Church calleth transsubstantiation I confesse also that vnder one kinde onely whole Christ is receiued and a true sacrament Purgatorie 7 I constantly hold that there is a purgatorie and that the soules there deteined are holpe with the praiers of the faithfull Adoration of Saints 8 I hold that the Saints raigning with Christ are to be worshipped and to be called vpon and that they offer vp their prayers to God for vs and that their reliques are to be worshipped The worshipping of Images 9 I firmely hold that the Images of Christ and the euer blessed Virgin and of other Saintes are to bee had and to be adored with due worshippe Indulgences 10 That the power of indulgences was left by Christ and that the vse of them is very auaileable for saluation The supremacie of the Pope 11 I acknowledge the Catholicke and Apostolicke Romaine Church to be the mother and mistris of all Churches and I vowe and sweare true obedience to the Byshoppe of Rome the successour of blessed Peter the Prince of the Apostles and the Vicar of Iesus Christ The authority of the Councell of Trent 12 I vndoubtedly likewise receiue all other thinges defined and determined by the holy Canons and Occumenicall Councells chiefly of the holy Councell of Trent and I reiect and accurse all things contrarie and all heresies reiected by the Church This true Catholicke faith without which none can § 130 be saued at this present I voluntarily professe I will procure as farre as lyeth in me to be wholy vncorruptly and constantly kept and taught by Gods assistance to my liues end I the same William promise vow and sweare so help me God and these his holy Euangelist And I stand in feare of that which the most holy Father added It shall not bee lawfull for any man to infringe this authoritie of our ordination inhibition
haue best of all knowne Christs minde and to deliuer it most faithfully about the gouernment of the Church although they granted a primacie of order and difference to the Bishop of Rome yet they denyed him a supremacie of power and iurisdiction and according to the sixt Canon of the Nicene Councell hembde in the See of Rome into certaine limits wherein being included shee should not breake forth Yet for all that they brake ouer the bounds set downe both by God and Men. God that he might punish the contempt of the Gospell brought so grieuous a sluggishnes vpon the world and so generall an apostacie vpon the Church that the time it selfe laying vp and hiding all meanes of helpe did not only bring to light the bramble formerly hid in the ground but brought it abroad and set it aloft and placed it aboue all the Cedars of Libanus First aboue Bishops in Boniface the third after aboue Kings and Emperors in Gregorie the 7 whose wings being so often clipt by foure Councells Wormes Papta Brixis and Montze grew againe in the successors so farre that they flew at the last aboue Councells Till the three generall Councells of Pisa Constance and Basil Constant Con Sess 1. did not only displace Popes out of the Popedome but decreed that Councels were aboue the Popes For the Pisan Councell did cast two Popes Gregorie and Benett out of their seats and choose Alexander the fift And the Councell of Constance assembled by the summons of Iohn the 23. for refusing their tryall and for his abominable symonie and wicked life and manners depriued him of his Popedome Sess 10 12. Sess 4. 5. and after condemned Gregorie the twelfth not appearing and cut him of as a withered member and an incorrigible heretike and schismatike as they plainly termed him And that it may seeme not to haue dealt rashly This holy generall Synode say they lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost and representing the Church militant hath immediate power from Christ not from the Pope but from Christ whose power any whosoeuer of what estate and condition soeuer euen the Pope himselfe is bound to obey And farther declareth if the Pope do obstinately refuse to obey the statutes ordinances and iniunctions which either this holy Synode or any other hereafter generall Synode lawfully assembled either now haue or hereafter shall decree that he is to be constreyned to a condigne satisfaction and worthily to be punished and so Iohn the 23. being deposed and cast out it choose Martin the fift for Pope The Pope and the Councell did long contend about the maioritie and superioritie as they terme it but the Councell had the vpper hand Here comes to my minde a certaine tale not vnpleasant of the spawne of a frog which a Calfe had troden vpon in the absence of the Damme which Calfe when one escaping from the rest had described to the frogge his damme to bee a great beast how bigge I pray said shee and puffing out hir selfe thus bigge greater by the half said the young one Horaec Sermo 2 Saâ—y 2. what by so much said the Frog when shee had blowne vp hir-selfe more and more not if you breake your selfe said he can you be equall to it The Councell of Constance with her foote trode vpon two frogs though they would haue fled from tryall and declared it selfe to be greater and higher than the Pope though he sweld neuer so bigge The Councell had done well if it had not crusht in peeces two Doues and had not decreed that cuppe which Christ for diuers causes had commanded in his supper should bee giuen to the people for moe and more weighty causes as they say was to bee taken from them Which the Councell of Basill did restore afterward Sess 13. being assembled by Martin the fifts Bull and confirmed by the letters of Eugenius the 4. whom shee deposed and being ratified by the Bull of Nicholas the fift who succeeded Eugenius declared the decree of the Councell of Constance about the power of the generall Councell against the Pope to be a truth of the catholike faith Basil Con Sess 16. and adiudged him an heretike that did obstinately resist the two former truths Therefore let the Pope either submit himselfe vnder the generall Councell or by the iudgement of the generall Councell he must needs confesse himselfe to be an heretike Hence is all their griefe and their secret quarrell against the Scriptures and the former Synods and the latter also though they somwhat fauoured the Romish superstition because they did represse her ambition Till at the last two other Councells the Laterane and the Tridentine did lift vp the Pope not onely aboue all Councells but aboue all Scriptures that hee at his pleasure might put out the Crowes eyes as the Prouerbe is and as if hee were the 13 Apostle set forth a doctrine at his owne liking contrary to the Scripture After this sort after many ages and dangers the Pope got place aboue Bishops Kings Councels and Scriptures themselues So great a worke it was to build the Romish seate The very naked name whereof is opposed against all our encounters as it were Gorgons head Do we alledge the Fathers what maruell is it if when he perceiueth they stand against him hee reiects them in seuerall when hee contemnes them all in generall Do we alledge Councels The former are corrected by the later the better by the worse and the more by the fewer Do we alledge the Scriptures what good do we thereby when we haue a Sphinx at home who can lay open the Scripture as it were a riddle according to his owne sense and his best auaile Thus they reduce all things at the last to the mother the Church or rather to the father of the Church For they make the mother to be of the masculine gender and bring the most generall generall to one that is singular that is to the Pope for the time ruling With whose spirit that Synagogue being filled it seemeth closely to be offended with none of the Apostles more than with S. Paul by whose silence shee taks her selfe not only not to be assisted but to be hurt by his testimonie when as the merit of workes being abandoned hee concludeth the onely mercy of God in Christ being apprehended by faith to be mans iustice before God Which conclusion doth ouerthrow all Poperie as it shall afterward appeare It doth plague the Synagogue for it toucheth two things to the quicke the Bishops miter and the Monkes bellies for faith being placed in the only merits of Christ hath diminished the Indulgences the treasure of the Church and makes the offrings to images to be more rare and sparing So that the Synagogue doth sometime as well closely accuse S. Paul of heresie as Luther and Caluin I once heard two old popish Doctors one of them a Fryer Ieronimite in Portugall another a Iacobine in France say when they were prest with
erre greatly It was their office to discerne the leprosie the Magistrates to separate lest they should faint others That we may therefore vrge this figure against you It is the duty of Princes to separate the leprous that is hereticall Popes rather then of Popes to separate hereticall Princes But whereas you said the person of the King was stoutly assalted by Azaria and 80. other Priests and by violence cast out of the Temple that is an error far more dangerous For they did not violently cast him out but as the text hath it they caused him to make hast to go out of the temple no force at all being attempted For it followeth because the Lord stroke him he was forced of his owne accord to depart And so the word signifies and so your vulgar translation hath it which you call Ieromes he made hast to go foorth 2. Chron. 26. The Iesuits violence taxed But this error hath brought forth that dangerous sin Saturnine by the helpe of your conclusion as it were by the aide of a Midwife For you conclude it is a manifest example that it is lawfull for Priests by force of armes and by violent meanes to represse the wickednesse of Kings Azarias I confesse and the other Priests did resist the King but with words not with weapons And because he had broken the Law by burning of incense they did as it was meete sharpely reproue him neither did they forceably rush vpon the Magistrate or lay strong hand vpon him to driue him out of the temple much lesse out of the kingdome But your men Saturnine go further and from admonition fly to rebellion from reprehension to force from reprofe to armes being cousoned and deceiued by the false interpretation of this and the like places § 37 Here I appeale to you Princes neither to you only who haue departed from the Pope but to you who cleaue vnto him ☜ How long will ye suffer these martiall and swaggering Priests to abuse your patience how long shall this superstitious madnesse deceiue you An Ap strophâ— to popish Kings how long shall this wolâ—ish fearcenesse vnder sheepes cloathing assaile you how long shall they couer their detestable rebellion against kings vnder the cloake of religion And as if they fetcht poyson from heauen as Hercules Aeteus in the tragedie abusing the authoritie of holy Scriptures and examples of holy Priests gather force against your sacred persons and opprobry to your Maiesties This is said Saturnine to chaffe with vs not to dispute § 38 with vs. But marke the reason if you please why Ozias the king was stroken with the leprosie because he presumed to execute the spirituall and priestly function whereof you haue ordained your Kings supreame Gouernours I marke it well said Patriotta and when we maintain that it is lawfull for our Princes to preach the Gospell to baptise to minister the supper of the Lord to forgiue sinnes then cast vs in the teeth with Ozias pride and plague In the meane while learne that it is not for priests but kings to beare armes and the kings of Iuda who vsed the temporall sword to restore the truth and suppresse error which Dauid Iehosophat Ezekias Iosias were said to haue done got great fauour with God and great honour with men But wee when wee are iustly displeased with you whenas like seditious tribunes you stirre vp the commons against Kings and call them to armes wherewith they may vanquish the professours of the Gospell as occasion is offered then here I pittie you exceedingly that from Azarias example peeuishly vnderstood and wretchedly drawn to your purpose you draw from an idle figure so slender an argument of your out-rage that there appeareth neither probabilitie in the Antecedent or necessitie in the consequence And whereas you said that Athalia was depriued of § 39 her kingdome and put to death by Iehoida the priest with the forces of the priests and people Athaâ—â—â— iustly deposed but not by the Priest Ioash the right heyre whom hee preserued in the temple being proclaimed annointed and crowned king you held that the Pope might likewise rightly depriue a lawfull king for heresie both of his kingdome and life it doth lay open apparantly the wretchednesse of your cause For what can you say else then that a wicked woman who flew all Ochasias the kings ofspring one sonne only excepted and did vniustly vsurpe the kingdome was surprised and punished by the vndoubted and lawfull heire of the crowne the king being proclaimed and annointed and the crowne set on his head by the consent of the whole kingdome as you your selfe haue confessed But Iehoida the high priest commanded to put her to death not the king True but hee commanded it by the authoritie of the king not his own But the king you say was but a childe of seuen yeares of age but hee was no lesse a king at seuen yeares then if he had beene of seuentie yeares For age cannot take away the right of a kingdome which bloud hath giuen him Iehoida had Gods law mans law to approue his action But Iehoida when he commanded Athalia to be slaine in the kings name did it both by Gods law and mans law First he preserued the young king in the Sanctuarie being kept from the rage of Athalia and nourisht him secretly in the Lords house Againe hee was the chiefe of his Tribe as others were of theirs that hee might arrogate so much to himselfe as others might in the nonage of the king to pacifie the kingdome and to take vengeance vpon the vsurping Queene for the cruell tyrannie against the kings progenie Besides that his wife was the kings Ant and he was his neerest kinsman and therefore was bound both by the law of nature and nations to defend the kings right his age and innocencie Last of all whatsoeuer hee attempted was with the Kings authoritie and with the common counsell and consent of all the nobility For he conuented all the captaines and cheife Fathers of Israel vnto him into the house of God and made a couenant with them and exacted an Oath of them in the house of God and shewed the kings sonne vnto them And so being not only the high priest but chiefe also of his Tribe and neerest allie to the king nor with his owne but with the common counsell and consent of the Peeres nor commanded with his owne but with the kings authoritie that wicked Athalia iniustly vsurping the kingdome the kings ofspring being first murthered and extinguished to be cast from her kingdome and of her life What is this to the Pope to depose a lawfull king to be murthered by a rebellious people being first by excammunication deposed from his kingdome And whereas you bragge of Elias zeale who did not § 40 only answere king Ahab very stoutly but slew 400. Elias killed not Baals Priests of Iesabels false Prophets you tell vs of the act but you cunningly conceale
sense whereby the Prophets doctrine doth vnderstand that the kingdome of sinne should be rooted out and destroyed and the kingdome of vertue should bee planted and aduanced in the conscience § 44 We haue examined your examples whence you inferre a conclusion that ill hangs together first that Kings rightly created and annointed may rightly be put downe I answer that one of the Kings you named was put downe and that was Ahab not by Elias not by Elizeus but by Iehu whom God by his owne mouth raised vp by name The deposing therefore of the King was not effected by the Prophet but by a Prince by name appointed to that purpose What doth this helpe your cause Saul was not deposed it is manifest that his posteritie was cut of from the succession of the kingdome and not his person from the present possession Ierobâ—am was by the Prophet sharpely reproued not violently expelled Ozias as a Leper was remoued from the gouernment not the right of his kingdome Athalia was neuer rightly created and for the cruell murthering of the Kings of-spring was put to death not by the Priests but the Kings authoritie The second conclusion is very idle for what causes the Kings in fact are to be secluded What shall you neede to enquire for what causes they be deposed when you doe not proue they should bee deposed Athalia was taken away neither for apostacie nor heresie but because shee vsurpt the Crowne against the lawfull heyre apparant God commended the acts of Ozias but detested his pride Ieroboam both an Apostata and an Idolater and yet neuer set beside the cushion Achab the Idolater was cast of with all his race but by the Magistrate not by the Priest The causes therefore which you alledge helpe your cause no whit at all The last conclusion which concernes the persons of § 45 the deposers is very lame You say that God vsed the ministerie of the Prophets and the Priests to that purpose either ordinarie or extraordinarie as iudges and executors of Gods will God did vse the tongues as I said of the Prophets and Priests to foretell and denounce those plagues which God decreed to bring vpon those Kings and sometimes hee vsed their hands to annoint those whom by name he appointed to be the successors of the kingdome but hee neuer vsed them either ordinarie or extraordinarie either iudges or executioners of his will in deposing them He vsed them as messengers who with their liuely voice did deliuer Gods decrees to Kings either deposed or appointed by God other execution or authoritie they had none which is very farre from that power of the Pope whom you challenge to be the ordinarie Iudge Tutor and Corrector of Kings And doe you endure his ferula ô yee Kings will you kisse the rodd that hath so often paid you and by this your patience make your Tutor more curst and whip you the more But I come now to you Saturaine § 46 You haue not of my word you haue not one Priest or Prophet vnder the old Testament that deposed a King Kings deposed Priests but I haue a King that deposed a Priest Whom you will say Abimilech I speake not of Saul who slew Abimelech for taking part with Dauid I passe ouer Ioash the King who commanded Zachariah Zacharia Iehoidas sonne to be stoned to death forgetting his fathers virtue and dutie What say you to Salomon who displaced Abiathar the high Priest from his primacie and dignitie Abiathar because he followed Adoniahs faction being the elder brother When it would haue followed by your conclusion that Salomon was rather to be deposed because the High Priest thought Adoniahs right to the kingdome to be better then Salomons § 47 But whereas you added that Princes hold their soueraigne dignitie and authoritie receiued from God because truth drew that speech from you which falls out very seldom I accept it willingly and thence conclude that God alone hath the power of putting downe Kings who alone set them vp and that Kings are bound to giue accompt to God alone from whom they receiued that honour But whereas you make the end of supreme princely maiestie receiued of God to be the promoting of the true worship and honor of God and the reteyning of the people in the faith and feare of the Lord I maruell what it ment that when alwaies you denie that a King should meddle with spirituall affaires and busines now as if you were forgetfull of your owne minde Alanus you direct the chiefe end and scope of the Kings dignitie to set forward the worship of God to stirre vp others to honor his high Lord and to preserue the people in the faith and feare of God We accept of your grant but that which you adde that Priests and Prophets haue opposed them-selues against Kings in all those matters How Priests ought to oppose Princes which may bring either dishonor to God or ouerthrow to religion or damnation to soules I am affraid vnlesse you expound your selfe more plainly wee may not grant it vnto you For if you say they opposed themselues as men of God and did earnestly admonish them by word and counsell or else did sharply reproue such Princes we doe willingly acknowledge the freedome of their holy vocation but to take vpon them to be Iudges ouer Kings by their rule and authoritie and do either iudicially depriue them or violently inuade them we detest the pride of such a turbulent spirit But betweene God and the King there is a certaine § 48 couenant which alwaies is of force either openly or secretly Be it so The couenant between God and the King And what if the King do breake some article of the league who shall accuse him before what iudgement seate before what Iudge shall hee be endighted shall it be in the Court of the common people who for fashion sake haue made choice and accepted of the King or in the consistorie of a Bishop who hath annointed and consecrated him I see what you meane to answer a Bishop who hath conditionally annoynted him if he breake the condition and couenant made with God hath againe depriued him and hath shewed iustice against him in the name of God who hath abused his supreme authoritie The Scripture recites nineteene Kings of Israel and § 49 fourteene of Iuda No bad King of 33 deposed by a Priest who brake the couenant made with the Lord and worshipped strange gods and draue the people to apostasie shew me any one of them to be depriued by a Priest or a Prophet because they had broken their first couenant and take the cause if you cannot leaue of to tell an vntruth and to crosse your own speech whom wee euen now heard confessing that Kings doe hold their supreme authoritie receiued from God not then from a Priest not from the people and that therefore they are not bound if they breake their couenant to giue
to the spirituals Carerius a Doctour of Padua Carerius against Bellarmine a sharpe witted and earnest fellow hee is of a contrarie opinion and doth not only striue with argument but laies a curse vpon the aduersaries sparing none no not Bellarmine himselfe whom he taking in hand of purpose to refell in a whole booke written as the Preface importes against the wicked Polititians and Heretickes of our time did a little too plainely touch the Cardinall So farre are they from agreeing in the manner of diriuing so great authoritie to the Pope from Christ Here Patriotta your Doctours saith hee § 83 seeme praeposterously to wrangle among themselues of the manner to deriue such authoritie from Christ when as yet it appeareth not that he hath any at all and in vaine do they argue whether the Pope receiued directly or indirectly such gouernment when it is doubtfull whether he receiued any or no. But I easily grant them by their dissenting about the manner to ouerthrow the thing it selfe that the confusion of tongues may againe seeme to happen in building their tower of Babel § 84 Then Velbacellus somewhat more gently I pray Patriotta Although that I ingenuously confesse while they thus egerly striue among themselues about the manner and ouerthrow their owne opinions with mutuall contradictions they seeme to leaue the Pope very small or no authoritie at all in temporalties For Carerius saith the Pope hath either ordinarie and direct authoritie to depose Kings as he is Pope or he hath no authority at all But he hath none direct and ordinarie as he is Pope by Bellarmines assumption Therefore hee hath none at all by Carerius conclusion It were long to set downe all the reasons drawne from Scripture whereby Bellarmine hath vtterly ouerthrowne the direct and ordinarie authoritie of the Byshoppe neither were it necessarie because they may bee had in his fift booke he set out so that men may thinke hee spake one thing and thought another Which when he might not touch openly for offending the Pope he did with sleights and deuises impugne that he might by any meanes deliuer the truth For he seemeth indirectly that I may vse his owne aduerbe to take away all power of the Pope of depriuing Princes For if the Pope as hee is Pope cannot directly and ordinarily depose Princes though the cause bee iust as Bellarmine saith and yet as hee is the chiefe spirituall Prince may dispose of kingdomes taking them from one and giuing them to another if it be necessarie for the sauing of soules that is indirectly in order to spiritualls as hee affirmeth what other thing did he closly insinuate but that the Pope had no power at all to displace Princes For Saint Peter neither did or could transfer any power but ordinarie Besides it is plaine that the Pope is no otherwise the chiefe spirituall Prince but as he is Pope so that what he cannot do as Pope he cannot do as he is the chiefe spirituall Prince Which Carerius concludeth against Bellarmine and doth vrge it with this grant that the Pope is properly called Gods Vicar Either he is not saith he the Vicar of Christ or else he deposeth inferiour powers as Pope But he deposeth them not as Pope by the witnesse of Bellarmine He is not therefore the Vicar of Christ by the conclusion of Carerius So Bellarmine gaue Christs Vicar so greiuous a wound if we beleeue Carerius that he could neuer cure with all the remedies of his distinctions And Carerius while he deckes him with strange fethers spoiled him of those were his owne Whom while hee ordeined Lord of the temporalties hardly left him Lord of the spiritualties In the mean time when neither the direct nor indirect power bee a matter of faith formally determined by the publicke sentence of the Church as Alanus and Couarruvias confesse there was no reason why Saturnine should call my friend Blackwell wretched Apostata who neuer swarued from the Catholick faith vnlesse by inueighing so bitterly against Blackewell he vaunt himselfe to be of the contrarie faction Then Patriotta I willingly behold Bellarmine and § 85 Carerius as Cadmeyes brethren or the Madianites cutting one anothers throate But I could more willingly behold the Pope as a iacke-daw dispoiled of his Egles and Doues feathers which he hath stolne which is of all his regall and Byshoply ornaments wherewith hee hath so long ietted so proudly and terribly vp down but I leaue this cause to God to be mended by him at his due time But truely Baronius and Carerius with all their faction doe flatter the Pope more grosly but Bellarmine with his cunning opposition flatters him more smoothly being the more dangerous enemie to Kings because the more cloase But that I often obserued the witty old fellow crossing of himselfe with his owne trickes and coyning those distinctions whereby hee vnweaued those things which he had weaued before O Penelopean skill of disputing But while he doth touch kings crownes indirectly and tels vs that it is all in the Pope so that he thinkes it meete to belong to a spirituall end he bewraieth lesse malice but greater craft Here Argentine who had kept silence from the beginning looking earnestly first on Saturnine then on Velbacellus Saturnine saith he seemes to me to bee more strickt in this matter then is requisite and Velbacel more loose and remisse because he gaue too much authority this none at all to our most holy father to suppresse Kings when neede requires This great Doctour of the Church therefore Bellarmine tooke a middle course who first ouerthrew that infinite power of ordinarie and inherent gouernment then retained that extraordinarie and borrowed authority in the Pope least Kings like vntamed coultes as it were not hauing bitte and bridle should waxe too lustie whom the most holy Pope might bring againe into the circle of religion and iustice if once they began to start out first with his counsell and after if that were relected with some other moderate chastisement Which would be the most safe course for Kings and very auaileable for subiectes § 87 Then Carolus Regius this moderate chastisement of Kings Argentine as you call it is their vtter ruine and rooting out if you vnderstand Bellarmine aright For there lurkes vnder those Aduerbes certaine deceites which subiectes haue found to be as damnable to them as Kings haue For he bringeth in your Pope whom one doth well tearme Satans Asse with this his extraordinarie and borrowed power which he bestowed vpon him curbing of Kings with a bridle when the raynes lay on his owne necke turning and ouerturning kingdomes at his pleasure taking them from one and giuing them to another Meanes of the Popes greatnesse when he thinketh good that it is for the order tending to spirituall good And by what counsells he alwaies vsed to take from Kings both their kingdomes and their liues all histories do shew them to haue beene by the emulation of
other popish writers subscribe That with a few others did Bellarmine attempt against the Scripture which the boldnes of many popish writers more learned were afraid to attempt And will you hearken to this fellow Calander in a chiefe article of faith as he calls it so far dissenting from his owne side or dare you securely admit of those whom you see as the Madianites mutually wounding them-selues in a cause of such importance Saturnine who seemeth to bee no other thing but very Bellarmine himselfe proceedeth from Christ to Peter from Peter to the Pope from the Pope he falleth to the Popes chaire and hee proueth that the Church is to be founded vpon that rocke out of testimonies borrowed and framed out of Ierome Austin and Cyprian Cic de erat Cicero makes mention of a certaine mad fellow who finding a small boate on the sea-shore purposed to build a great ship of it Papists like mad-men These mens madnes is like who finding Peters chaire in the Fathers do dreame that the Church must be built vpon the chaire Ierome to Damasus I am vnited in communion saith he to your blessednes that is to Peters chaire I know that vpon that rock the Church is builded that is vpoÌ„ the chaire as you relate it Jerome misalleaged But Ierom thus I following after none chiefest but Christ 〈◊〉 vnited to your Blessednes c. You passe by Christ in this sentence as if he were a man vnknowne and you curtall Ieromes words wherein hee confesseth that he doth follow none chiefly but Christ You make mention of Peters chaire Vpon that rocks saith Ierome I knowe that the Church is â—aide Why should you not rather referre That rocke to Christ that goeth before then to Peter that followeth after in the sentence chiefly when Ierome doth adde the word I know that the Church is builded vpon that rocke Now that Christ is that rocke wheron the Church is builded â—one at all doubteth but that Peter is that rocke many deny And yet you are so mad that you will build the ship of the Church vpon the chaire as it were vpon a small boate You haue well Saturnine by rasing out the name of Christ shauen away the sentence as a beard with Ieromes sharpe rasor I shall maruaile much if Austin when he cannot endure that Peter should bee the foundation of the Church would suffer the Pope to be and if when he did remoue the person of Peter from this honor hee would admit Peters chaire But when he makes mention of Peters seat that said he is the rocke Is it so indeed let vs adde the wordes following recken vp said he all the Priests from the very seat of Peter and in that order of Fathers marke who succeeded one another that is the rocke against which the proud gates of hell shall not preuaile Then Saturnine while you are handling another § 161 matter Patriot you doe confirme by Austens authority another article of the Catholicke faith of the Pope Peters successour But said he againe to the confirmation of an article of the Catholicke faith Austens authoritie without the testimonie of the Scripture cannot be sufficient in the iudgement of Austen himselfe who speaketh of the matter as he had heard that the Byshop of Romes seat was the seat of Peter and that in that seat some succeeded others but hee makes it no article of the faith Wherefore when he speaketh that is the rocke it cannot be referred either to the seat or to the succession of Byshoppes in the seat For therein hee should contradict himselfe who makes Christ the rocke of the Church Apostles rockes in respect of doctrine vnlesse rather he referre it to Peter so vnderstood as I said with the rest of the Apostles who in respect of doctrine may in some sort be called rockes But it is not said you will say he is the rocke but shee is the rocke therfore the reference is not to the person in this place but to the seat i. to the chaire As though by the deceit and carelessenesse of writers greater faultes then these had not crept into Austens workes then she for he Although what hinders why shee is the rocke may not aswell bee referred to the person of Peter as those wordes in the Gospell vpon this rocke c. are referred to the person of Peter by the Rhemistes But let that be granted you for a time which you shall neuer euict that Peters chaire is ment in that place Austen saith not that is the rocke whereon the Church is builded but that is the rocke which the gate of hell shall not vanquish So he doth not promise that Rome shall alwaies withstand but doth testifie that Rome did then resist the gates of hell while it kept that faith vncorrupt that Peter left vnto them For if hee should now liue and make diligent search hee should not finde Rome in the middest of Rome This Rome not old Rome Our Romaines at this day are no Romaines they are but the carcasses of those Romaines who receiued their first faith from Paul and Peter which these men haue breathed out as their soules § 162 And now let Cyprian make answer for himselfe who affirmeth that the like power was giuen to all the Apostles by Christ Lib. de vnitat Eccles and that the rest of the Apostles were the same that Peter was being endowed with the same fellowshippe of honour and power Let him make answere for himselfe how he could lift vp Peters chaire aboue the chaires of the rest and would not haue it forsaken for iust cause which he did oppose in an vniust But Cyprian as both Ierome and Austen and other fathers haue iust cause to complaine Contra Stepha Corruption of Fathers after their death that so many bastardly bookes are brought in the place of those that were right and true And false sentences deceitfully foysted in and true violently cast out that now being dead they are constrained to speake and holde their peace according to other mens pleasures not their owne Now Ierome at your command conceales that which he vttered before Cypr. de vnit Eccles Now Cyprian speaketh that which he neuer meant He that forsaketh Peters chaire whereon the Church is built doth he trust that he is in the Church Cyprian writ thus a little before Christ doth build his Church vpon Peter alone How Peter the first stone in order not in power meaning that Peter was the first stone that was placed vpon Christ the foundation vpon whom the rest in their order were to bee builded First therefore in order not in power therefore he said that equall authoritie was giuen by Christ to all the Apostles but that it tooke the beginning from vnitie that the Church may be shewed to be one The foundation therefore of the building in Cyprian is nothing else but a beginning The rest of the Apostles were this which Peter was being endowed
iustification and of the saluation of the Elect by the grace of Christ before Peter gaue his sentence and that not sitting but arising and that very modestly and gently Afterward Iames did onely yeeld his opinion but pronounced and set downe in writing the decree it selfe which all the assembly of Apostles and Preists did follow It seemed good also not to Peter alone but to the Apostles and Preists with the whole Church to send certaine choice men to Antioch with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas and the Synodall Epistle did not beare the name of Peter but of all the Apostles Preists and Brethren And if Peter had receiued the primacy of iurisdiction from Christ the other Apostle had done him great wrong that suffered not Peter to bee President of the Councell that they sent Peter as inferior into Samaria that they took accompt of his doing that they met not together by his appointment that they suffered him not to sit aboue others to propound the decree to send Legates and to seale vp the Synodall Epistle in his owne name But the Apostles did no wrong to Peter It followeth then that Peter receiued no primacy of iurisdiction from Christ but was equall to the rest of the Apostles and inferiour to the whole Councell The Papists doe grant a double gouernment to Peter § 201 Peters double pretended gouernment Galat. 2. Paul nothing inferiour to Peter They make him Lord of the spirituals and temporals Therefore the Apostle Paul did ill bee it spoken with reuerence who made himselfe equall to Peter and gaue out that he was inferiour in nothing vnto Peter and which was more reprehended him sharpely to his face as his equall and fellow-seruant and that publikely when hee tooke him in a fault For the Gospell saith he was committed to me ouer the Gentiles as it was to Peter ouer the Iewes For hee that was powerfull through Peter in the Apostleship of the Iewes the same was powerfull in mee ouer the Gentiles And when as Iames Cephas and Iohn who seemed to bee pillers knew that grace was giuen me then they gaue the right hands of fellowship to me and Barnabas See Cephas doth acknowledge Paul his fellow hee had him not for a subiect neither did hee challenge to himselfe the highest top of gouernment but gaue the right hand of fellowship which was done by Peter not only in respect of humilitie of minde but for equalitie of office Farre be it from vs to thinke it was written by Paul for pride of minde but for the truth of the matter And if Christ had appointed Peter the vniuersall Bishop Prince of his Church how durst Peter and Paul couenant betweene them-selues in the 18. yeare after Christ his passion that Peter should exercise the Apostleship ouer the Iewes and Paul ouer the Gentiles not only but chiefly whereby Paul by the Antients is called the Prince of the Apostles as well as Peter But the equall hath no gouernment ouer his equall Peter would be are no rule ouer the clergie 1 Pet 5. Neither could Peter himselfe beare rule ouer the Clergie that he might not seem to permit that to other which he would not take to himselfe when hee called himselfe not a chiefe Priest but a fellow Priest Much lesse did he vse the sword and ciuill gouernment and iudge Caesar to be subiect vnto him but admonished himselfe with all other Christians to submit themselues to Caesar as to the most excellent and to other Magistrates as sent from him neither did at any time exercise ciuill gouernment He had it not therefore for that is not a power which is neuer brought into act Therefore Peter was no more ouer Kings than hee was ouer Apostles § 202 Nay Christ himselfe as a man was not aboue the Emperour Christ himselfe as man not aboue Emperors As he is God he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords as he was man he did not only submit himselfe to Tiberius but to Pilate Tiberius Deputie in Iurie You had no power said he ouer me if it were not giuen you from aboue Againe he saith that his kingdome was not of this world when he was demanded of Pilate what kingdome he laid claime vnto Whereby it appeareth that Christ was to haue not a temporall August in Psal 47. but a spirituall kingdome as Austin gathereth out of those words Harken to this ô yee Kings and enuy not Christ is a King after another fashion than you are who said my kingdome is not of this world Feare not therefore if the kingdome of this world be taken from you you shall haue another giuen vnto you and that a heauenly one whereof he is King If Christ had not a temporall kingdome was it for Peter to haue it what is this else but to make the seruant aboue his master and the embassador aboue him that sent him and if it did not belong neither to Christ nor to Peter do you thinke that not only the temporall kingdome but the chiefe gouernmēt ouer all temporal kingdoms was giuen to the Pope Christs supposed Vicar Peters counterfeit successor fie vpon such foolish pride fie vpon such loftie vanitie which Christ did reprehend in many places in the the Apostles when he said the Kings of the earth beare rule ouer them but you not so And as my father sent me so I send you And my kingdome is not of this world And yet Bellarmine dares to write Bellarmine contrary to Christ that the supreme temporall power was giuen to the chiefe Bishop which Christ himself by his owne confession did not exercise Christ saith the Kings of the earth beareth rule ouer them but you not so Bellarmine contrary but you so Christ as my Father sendeth me so I send you Bellarmine contrary not as my Father sendeth me do I send you The Father sent me in humilitie and ignominie I send you in pompe and maiestie Christ my kingdome is not of this world Bellarmine contrary yea it is of this world and of all this world So manifestly doth the Cardinall contradict Christ But although Christ as man did not exercise temporall § 203 power he might if he had so liked saith Bellarmine Here the question is not what Christ could haue done but what he did Neither is the authoritie of Peter to be grounded vpon that which Christ could haue done but vpon that which Christ did indeed Christ could if he had pleased haue made the world in an instant but he would not the Scripture witnesseth he would not because it is said that hee tooke to him six daies to bring forth that worke He could if he would haue redeemed the world with one drop of blood without death but he would not that hee would not the Scripture beareth witnes wherein it is said that he must die for vs. So he could if hee would as man exercise the dominion of temporall things but hee would not that hee would not truth it selfe