Constance especialy they holding such a Principle as they are not bound to keepe faith and fidelitie with an heretike But suppose wee had beene present wee should haue stood for ciphers and not for a number because they were linked together in the same confederacie to suffer nothing to passe which might be preiudiciall to the See of Rome Thirdly Bellarmine defineth those councels Tom. 1. controuers 4. cap. 4. onely to be vniuersall where all Bishops of the world either were or might be present these be his words Vbi adsunt aut adesse possunt omnes Episcopitotius orbis and in the next chapter he defineth that councell onely to be lawfull which the Pope hath approoued and the catholikes generally haue receiued But neither all could be present as I haue declared neither haue the greater part of Catholikes yet receiued that councell with the decrees thereof for they are refused by the Catholikes of Germanie France Hungary Bohemy Poland as our owne experience can tell vs. In the third place forasmuch as I haue shewed you that Christians dwelling in one place are to meete together for the exercise of their religion which consisteth in these three things prayer the word and the Sacraments Let vs examine the worde which we teach the leiturgie or forme of prayers which we vse the maner of our administration of the sacraments whereof wee would that they should be partakers Concerning the doctrine as I saide before wee holde with them the same Creede and the same Bible concerning which Bible these haue bin the chiefest differences betweene them and vs which follow First whether all the books of the Bible be canonicall or no They affirme that Tobie Baruch Iudith Ecclesiasticus Wisdome the Maccabees and the fragment of Esther c be canonicall we holde them for Apocripha They prooue them to be canonicall out of Saint Augustine we that they be Apocripha out of Saint Hierome both which doctors are of no small authoritie with the Church of Rome and therefore in this wee differ no more from them than Saint Hierome did from Saint Augustine which did both agree and were easily reconciled S. Hierome interpreteth Saint Augustines meaning that they were canonicall enough to prooue rules of life not groundes of doctrine and faith Thus Saint Hierome answered Saint Augustine in the Primitiue Church thus we haue answered the Papists of our age and Bellarmine since this answere was giuen handling this controuersie at large replieth not against our answer Onely he prooueth in generall termes that they be canonical which we do also confesse but hee dooth not so much as mention this destruction of Cannons of faith and Cannons of good life and manners much lesse dooth hee reply against it therefore wee take it proconcesso as a thing graunted by the Lawes of disputations De verbo Dei lib. 1. capitibus 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15. that hee holdeth as wee holde flâ—eth to our defence and so resteth satisfied with our answer and the case to be cleere betweene vs both Secondly A question hath beene debated betweene vs concerning the Bible forasmuch as there be many editions as Hebrue Greeke Latine which is the best Wee say the Hebrew they the Latine and the councell of Trent hath obtruded to vs one only Latine edition that is the old vulgare translation and decreed that it onely should be authenticall and no other that all others should be corrected by it and it by none Wee grant it fit that for vniformitie in quotations of places in schools and pulpits one Latine text should be vsed and we can be contented for the antiquitie thereof to preferre that before all other Latine books so much we do yeeld to the Councell But forasmuch as that translation hath many faults as al other translations haue because they are the workes of men we preferre the originall that is the olde Testament in the Hebrew and the new in Greeke farre before it forasmuch as they were written by the finger of God the Holy Ghost which cannot erre And Bellarmine condescendeth to our opinion as more sound than the decree of the councell of Trent shewing that wheresoeuer the Latine bookes do discent one from another that it may be discerned which is the truest each of them to be examined by the originall which is of greater authoritie and the Latine bookes to be corrected by them that onely to be sound which agreeth with them and that to be reiected which discenteth from them His words are these Ad aliud de emendatione Latinorum codicum ad Hebraeos De verbo Dei lib. 2. cap. 11 Graecos respondeo quatuor temporibus licere nobis recurrere al fontes Hebraeos Graecos vt illi patres monent Primo quando in nostris codicibus videtur esse error librariorum c Secundo quando Latini codices variant vt non possit certò status quae sit vera vulgata Lectio possumus ad fontes recurrere inde iuuari ad veram Lectionem inueniendam Sic Iosue 5. quidam Latini codices habent Quibus iurauit vt ostenderet illis terram lecte fluentem molle quidam habent vt non ostenderet c vera lectio videtur esse posterior Nam in Hebraeo constantèr additur Non. Sicut è contrariò Iosue 11. Quidam codices habent Non fuit ciuitas quae non se traderet Quidam habent Non fuit ciuitas quae se traderet Et hoc est verius quià conforme est Hebraeo verba sequentia id requirunt Sic Lucae 1. quidem codices habent Redemptionem plebisuae Quidam plebi suae haec videtur verior cùm in Graeco sit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A third question concerning the Bible is whether all grounds of saluation all things which are absolutely necessarie for a Christian man to know be contained in the corpes and body of the Bible They haue held in times past that the Bible was insufficient Vide Concil Trident. and therefore they added vnto it traditions which they call vnwritten verities and would haue them to be of as great authoritie as the scriptures as necessary to bee beleeued and obayed but now Bellarmine as if he were ashamed of that ascertion doth relinquish it and after he hath spoken in the defence of traditions what he can concludeth that all things which are necessary are contained in the Apostles His wordes are these Primum De verbo Dei lib. 4. cap. 10 est quaedam in doctrinâ Christianâ tam fides quam morum esse simpliciter omnibus necessaria ad salutem qualis est notitia articulorum Symboli Apostolici item congnitio decem praeceptorum nonnullorum sacramentorum Cetera non ita necessaria sunt vt sine eorum explicatâ notitiâ fide professione saluari homo non possit modo promptam habeat voluntatem ea suscipiendi credendi quando sibi fuerint legitimè per Ecclesiam proposita c
commaunded to doe wee are but vnprofitable seruants and therefore we will relie vpon the merits of Christ alone renouncing our selues and our workes Let them iudge then who are safest they or we Our difference is not concerning the worke it selfe but only concerning the opinion which we ought to conceiue of the worke they thinke honourably wee basely of our owne workes but worke the same And certainely the worthinesse of workes doth not consist in the excellent opinion which we conceiue of them but in the true and faithfull working not in the pleasing of our selues with our selues or any thing which procedeth from vs. Of Free will THis question hath bred some difference betweene vs in the schooles and yet if we do vnderstand each other we may be easily reconciled For the scriptures speake so plainely that they take away doubts We are say they not of our selues sufficient to thinke a good thought as of our selues but all our sufficiencie is of God The way of man is not in himselfe neither is it in man 1. Corint 3. Ierem. 10 to walke and direct his steps No man commeth to Christ vnlesse the Father draw him Draw me and wee will runne after Iohn 6 Cant. 1 Rom. 7 thee What good I would doe that doe I not the euill which I would not doe that doe I saith the Apostle To conclude therefore there are three sorts of agents the one working of his meere will and pleasure which is God the other of necessitie which is nature a third betweene both these extreames partly of willingnesse and partely of necessitie which is man And as no man is good against his will so no man hath power to will any thing that is good vnlesse God giueth him that will So saith the Apostle It is God which worketh in you euen the wil and deede Phil. 2 of his owne good will and pleasure And this will may be compared to the eye which being in darkenesse yet is not blinde neither doth it see without the especiall grace of God Of Prayer WE inuocate God alone who we are sure doth heare vs and they confesse that in so doing wee doe well why then will they not ioyne with vs in well doing But as for Saints departed when they pray to them to be prayed for by them they are not certaine that they doe heare them because it cannot be sufficiently prooued why then will they not pray with vs whose prayers they confesse to be voyde of exception They denie not but that it is better to pray to God then to Saints why then had they not rather be sure of the first place then doubt of the second Their prayer to Saints may breede a scruple in their conscience whether they do well or no. For if they heare them not their praiers are idle words but they must answere at the day of iudgement Matth. 12. for euery idle word which they shall speake As we pray not to Saints departed so wee pray not for Saints or any other deceased If they be in heauen they neede not our prayers if in hel no prayers can helpe them and we dare not say they are in purgatory sith purgatory by the confession of Bellarmine is a tradition not containd in the scriptures He writes that there be many things necessary to be known which are not contained in the scriptures he doth reckon them vp in order and he placeth them so first that women were purged from sinne though vncircumcised secondly that children that died before the eight day were also purged from originall sinne thirdly many Gentiles in the old testament were saued fourthly that of necessitie there be some books which are the holy scriptures fiftly that it must be knowne which bookes are the holy scriptures sixtly that the bookes which wee haue in our hands are the holy scriptures seauenthly that the scriptures are to be vnderstood eightly that Mary was a perpetuall Virgine ninthly that Easter is to be celebrated on the Lordes day tenthly that Infants are to be baptized eleuenthly purgatory But marke his words he saith many things are necessary to be knowne which are not contained in the scriptures among those he maketh purgatory to be the eleuenth therefore he affirmeth that purgatory is a thing necessary to be knowne and not in the scriptures and yet as a man that would halte betweene two religions to please vs and not displease the Papists doth lay it vpon Luther saying Credit Lutherus purgatorium esse tamen asserit purgatorium non posse probari in sacris literis Luther saith he belieueth that there is a purgatory and yet saith it cannot be prooued out of the scriptures The question is whether Bellarmine doth not say so as well as Luther If he do not first why doth he not expresse his owne minde to the contrary in that place secondly why doth he in that long catalogue of such things as are not contained in the scriptures reckon purgatory to be the eleuenth He sheweth that the tenth tradition or vnwritten veritie is the baptisme of Infants that Luther and Caluin hold it lawefull and yet his selfe doth not refuse that opinion which they doe hold and the like must be vnderstood concerning purgatory that as Luther denieth purgatory to be contained in the scriptures so doth Bellarmine or else he doth contradict himselfe which said before that Pargatorium est vndecimum eorum quae ignorari non possunt tamen in scripturis non continentur Purgatory is the eleuenth of these things whereof we may not be ignorant and yet are not contained in the scriptures Sith therefore Bellarmine repeating many things which are not contained in the scripture of which one to be purgatory and yet before as I haue shewd granteth all things to be contained in the scriptures which are necessary for our saluation that we should know them ye must beare with vs De verbo Dei lib. 2. cap. 11. if we doe not belieue purgatorie being no matter of saluation to vs to belieue it We pray in our mother tongue what exception doe they take against it Their priuate prayers are in English as it appeareth by their Iesus psalter their Manuall of Meditations and sundry other prayer books which they haue printed I would know why it might not be as lawfull to pray publikely in the same tongue Which is more I haue seene the Masse by them set forth in Spanish the Spanish being in one page of the booke and the Latine in the other In times past the English testament was printed with the English in one page and the Latine in the other and licensed to be printed and publikely sold by King Philip and Qu. Mary And now of late our English Seminaries of Rhemes haue published the New Testament in English with promise also to set forth the old why may not the English Bible be published by vs as well as by the Seminaries and as well be read publikely in our Church
man So then as it was not Saint Peters conscience but the errour of his conscience when he refused the meates as vncleane which God had sanctified and made lawfull so it is not their conscience but the error of their conscience that they refuse vs for schisme heresie which indeed are true gospellers and members of the mysticall body of Iesus Christ as by Gods assistance I wil proue And as the Disciples not knowing of Pauls Act. 9. conuersation were afraide to ioyne with him supposing him to be a persecuter when he was a Preacher so they feare to ioyne with vs supposing vs to be in the wrong way whereas indeed we be in the right And because I haue saide it is not vpon conscience that they sequester themselues from vs I will shew them how many wayes a mans conscience may erre and be deceiued and so carried away from the truth and they are these eight following The first is ignorance so the common sort ignorantly alledge we are heretikes that our religion is not warrantable but cannot know what heresie is neither yet rightly conceiue the groundes either of our religion of their owne For they are inhibited to heare our Sermons Vide Cōcil Trid. Pref. in indicem expurg Greg. Mart. de schis to reade our bookes to haue conference with vs or to be catechized by vs. How then should they knowe our religion They are nourished in blindnesse by their owne teachers which hold it as a principle that it is fit they should be ignorant Neither are they permitted to haue the Bible in their mother tongue How then can they know their owne religion They are vnfurnished and vtterly destitute of all meanes and helpes which may bring them to be able to discerne truth from heresie The second is negligence So they which in some measure are learned doo call vs heretikes which can but doo not reade our bookes although they haue them nor examine the groundes which wee hold although they are able and it is permitted vnto them Concerning their owne doctrine they are contented to receiue it for truth vpon the credit of others without further proofe and to see with other mens eyes heare with other mens eares speake with other mens tongues because they will not spend so much time as to search further and what slaunder soeuer they doo heare of vs they are readie to beleeue it For example Edm. Cāp rat 1. Campion slandereth our Church as if we did offer violence to the holy scriptures affirming that Luther wrote contumeliously of Saint Iames his Epistle his disciples blush not to report the same because hee hath written it without further enquirie whether hee writ the truth or not whereas if they would but vouchsafe to examine the place for their owne satisfaction they would finde it a slaunder which they because of their slouthfulnesse do holde for a truth They are contented to buy Campion alone and Gregorie Martine his Preface with the notes of the Seminaries of Rhemes vpon the New Testament and now and then to reade them But as for Doctor Whitaker his answere many of them suffer it not to be in their studies or if it bee in the Catalogue of their liberarie they do not reade it And as for doctor Fulkes answere to Gregorie Martines Preface and the notes of the Seminaries they are so farre from conferring the one with the other that so they might be satisfied and resolued of the truth as they are contented to giue more mony for the Rhemish Testament alone then for the same booke with Doctor Fulkes answer ioyned with it The third is obstinacie For as the first cannot because they be ignorant and vnable to iudge and depriued of all meanes by which they may be enabled and the second do not iudge rightly because they are slouthfull and loth to take so much paines as to trie the spirites to examine doctrine and conferre places So the third sort of men will not vnderstand the truth because they be obstinate they will resist the holy Ghost and stop their eares against the truth as the adder doth against the charmer and as the Iewes did against Saint Stephen Wee shall not perswade Act. 7. them although wee doo perswade them because instruction and Rom. 10. faith commeth by hearing they wil not heare least they should be instructed and beleeue the truth They say their fathers professed that religion and therefore they will rather erre with their fathers Gen. 31. than embrace the truth with vs like Rachel which would not leaue behinde her the gods of her Father but carrie them with her They were brought vp and instructed in this religion from their childhood and now they say they will not alter They 1. Thes 5. forgot the rule of the Apostle which willeth them to make tryall of all and then to hold that which is best For they will heare none they will holde what they haue held and they will not alter for the better And in so doing what do they but as Pharao Exod. 5. did who saide Who is the Lord that I should heare his voice and let Israel goe I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel goe Whereas the Prophet saith To day if ye will heare his voice Psal 95. harden not your hearts The fourth is perplexitie vnstayednesse and trouble of mind like vnto Saule which after he had put away the Sorcerers and 1. Sam. 28. Soothsayers out of the Land yet when he was terrified by the armie of the Philistines seeing it to be very great and could haue no answere from God neither by dreames nor Vrim nor Prophets asked counsell of a Witch at Endor So diuers which haue renounced that religion and imbraced ours yet lying at the point of death in the midst of their conflicts and tentations thinking vpon the arguments which are brought on each side and fearing to halt betweene two opinions and so die vnresolued because they haue not had at that instant conference with such as were able Gen. 19. to resolue them of all their doubts haue suddenly reuolted and not onely followed the example of Lots wife which looked backe vnto Sodome but also of the people which haue saide come let vs goe backe into Aegipt againe The fift is pride and their owne insolencie whereby they are puffed vp and thinke that all men must be subiect vnto them Num. 14. but they neede submit themselues vnto none As Bernardinus Ochinus writ a Booke in defence of Poligamie affirming that numerosum coniugium multitude of wiues was lawfull supposing that after his Maister Peter Martyr was dead no man was able to match him in writing or in disputation like Golias of Gath which 1. Sam. 17 challenged all commers to the combat And this is the speciall cause why Popes and generall Councels doe erre because they hold it as a principle in their Diuinitie that they cannot erre For