Teachers which we are to renounce and detest Neither is this anie disorderly immodest or unseemely course whatsoever Rhemists or other Papists say to the contrarie but verie requisite and necessarie as you see in this case especially where the learned professed Divines themselves be at such variance Yea it is a thing not onely permitted and allowed but commended and commanded also in Gods owne Booke For when Christ Iesus biddeth aswell lay persons as others for tryall and finding out the truth in a doubtfull matter to Search the Scriptures is not that a sufficient commandement And when those noble-Christians at Berea did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 search the Scriptures and that daily thereby to trie and judge whether those things were so or no which their Preachers Teachers had taught delivered unto them be for the same so highly commended by the holy Ghost Shall anie be so unadvised rash or presumptuous as to say or thinke it to be either unlawful or unlaudable for them that be learners and hearers so to doe Is not all the immodestie pride arrogancie in them rather which will not suffer or allow their Doctrines to be thus tryed and examined by the Scriptures but as if they were Lords over mens faith will have men to beleeve them whatsoever they teach be it right or wrong without anie further search enquirie or examination May not men most easily be thus deluded deceived Against which doth not Christ himselfe say Take heed that no man deceive you Againe doth hee not say Take heed and beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees that is of their Doctrine as it is expounded in the same chapter And doth not S. Paul likewise bid the people to Try or examine all things touching mens doctrines and to hold fast that which is good Doth not S. Iohn againe say thus unto them in plaine termes Beleeve not everie Spirit but try the Spirits whether they be of God or no for many false Prophets be gone out into this world Chrysostome in his dayes answering the obiection of such as said they could not tell what religion to be of because there were so manie differing opinions of it saith that seeing they have the Scriptures vvhich be so true and plaine it will be an easie matter thereby for them to judge for tell me saith he hast thou anie understanding or judgement for it is not a mans part barely to receive vvhatsoever he heareth Say not then I am a learner and may be no Iudge for that is but a shift And this also S. Basil teacheth Origen likewise teacheth the same saying Me dicente quod sentio Vos discernite examinate si quid rectum est aut minus rectum Whilst I speake what I thinke Doe you judge and examine vvhat is right and vvhat is not right in it S. Ambrose likewise saith thus Wee justly condemne all new things vvhich Christ hath not taught for Christ is the Way to the faithfull If therefore vvee our selves preach anie thing vvhich Christ hath not taught Doe you saith hee judge that abominable In like sort speaketh S. Cyril saying Concerning the holy and heavenly mysteries of faith vvee must not deliver anie thing though never so small vvithout the holy Scriptures neither may vve be led away with probabilities and shew of vvords nor yet beleeve me saith hee barely saying these things unto you unlesse you also receive the demonstration thereof from the Scripture For the securitie of our faith ariseth from the demonstration of the holy Scripture Here then you plentifully perceive that even lay persons are to judge and discerne of the Doctrines of men although not by anie private spirit of their owne yet by that divine Spirit that speaketh in the holy Scriptures the onely infallible rule of true Religion the voice and iudgement of which divine Spirit there speaking we ought to obey and yeeld unto Let not therefore anie reason drawne from possibilitie of errors or heresies which men may fall into by misunderstanding of the Scriptures taking them in a wrong sense alienate you from reading of them for if this should passe currant and be held for a good and sufficient reason then neither should Clergie-men or Ecclesiasticall Ministers be permitted to reade the Scriptures because there is a possibilitie for them also in the reading of them to misunderstand them and to take them in a wrong sense and so to fall into errors or heresies as we see indeed that some of them heretofore have done and still doe And as for the obiection of difficultie or obscuritie in the Scriptures S. Chrysostome hath answered it long agone saying that therefore God penned the Scriptures by the hands of Publicanes Fishermen Tentmakers Sheepheards Neatheards and unlearned men that none of the simple people might have anie excuse to keepe them from reading them and that so they might be easie to be understood of all men the Artificer the housholder the vviddow-woman and him that is most unlearned And further hee saith that the Scripture when it speaketh anie thing obscurely expoundeth it selfe in another place And so also saith S. Augustine that there is almost nothing in these Obscurities but in other places a man may finde it plainly delivered In like sort speaketh S. Hierome saying It is the maner of the Scripture after things obscure to set downe things manifest and that which they have first spoken in parables to deliver afterward in plainer termes And so testifieth S. Basil also that the things that be doubtfull and in some places of Scripture seeme to be spoken obscurely be made plaine by those things vvhich be evident in other places And therefore none of us that be lay-men upon anie pretences of difficultie or obscuritie whatsoever must be deterred or discouraged from the diligent reading and searching of these sacred divine canonical scriptures that so we may at last therby finde out the certain and undoubted truth in these Controversies that so deepely concerne us and be of so great and high importance But these things be more fully handled afterward and therfore I here forbeare to speake any further of them In the meane time you see that which I cannot conceale or denie namely that in these Controversies I hold with the Protestants against the Papists which neverthelesse I hope ye will conceive that I do not in anie partiall worldly or sinister regards but for that upon triall and examination of these matters by the rule of the divine and canonicall Scriptures I finde the truth to be on their side and so I rest assured that even your selves also will finde it if all partialitie and preiudicate conceits being laid aside yee will be pleased to â—udge of them as of right yee ought and in reason I hope ye will be moved to do by that only infallible rule I grant that the name of Protestants is
herein giveth us an excellent rule saying Si quem videritis dicentem spiritum sanctum habeo non loquentem evangelica sed propria is à seipso loquitur non est spiritus sanctus in ipso If saith hee yee shall see anie man that saith I have the holy Ghost and doth not speake things agreeable to the Gospel but his owne that man speaketh of himselfe and the holy Ghost is not in him And againe he saith Si quis eorum qui dicuntur habere spiritum dicat aliquid de seipso non ex Evangelio ne credite If anie of them which are said to have the spirit speake anie thing of himselfe and not forth of the Gospel beleeve him not So that it still appeareth that the Gospel of Christ and divine Scriptures is the thing whereby men are to trie and examine all spirits and their doctrines and decrees and to determine who they be that speake and decree by the guidance and direction of the holy Ghost and who not And therefore doth S. Augustine also take it that no man is absolutely bound by the authoritie of Councels though they be generall for thus hee saith to one that obiected a generall Councell against him Neyther ought I to alledge the Councell of Nice nor thou the Councell of Arimine as thereby to preiudicate one another for neyther am I bound by the authoritie of this or thou of that but let matter vvith matter cause vvith cause and reason vvith reason make the Tryall by the authoritie of Scriptures not proper vvitnesses to any of us but indifferent to us both And concerning the Pope that he may erre as well as anie other Bishop in matter of Faith beside that which is before spoken it further appeareth even by Gratian himselfe dist 40. where it is taken for granted that the Pope may be à fide Devius a goer out of the way of faith Lyra affirmeth expresly that manie Popes have beene found Apostotasse à Fide To have been Apostotates or departers from the faith The Councell of Constance calleth Pope Benedict a Schismaticke and an Hereticke and a departer from the faith The like is said of Pope Iohn the 23. Catharinus saith directly Nihil prohibet Papam errare etiam in fide deficere etiamsi quidam novitij Scriptores ausi sint oppositum defendere praeter communem sensum Doctorum Nothing withstandeth but that the Pope may erre even in faith and faile albeit some late writers have dared to defend the contrarie against the common opinion of the Doctors And so likewise testifieth Alphonsus de Castro Papam posse in ijs quae ad fidem spectant errare immo aliquos Pontifices summos errasse in fide compertum est That the Pope may erre even in matters of faith yea it is found saith he that some Popes have erred in faith And againe he saith Omnis homo errare in fide potest etiamsi Papa sit Nam de Liberio Papa refert Platina eum sensâ—sse cum Arrianis Everie man may erre in point of faith though hee be a Pope For of Pope Liberius Platina reporteth that he held the Arrian heresie Yea Panormitan saith that a Councell may depose the Pope for Heresie ut in cap Si Papa dist 40. where it is likewise said That the Pope may be an Hereticke and iudged of Heresie Yea In concernentibus fidem etiam dictum unius privati esset praeferendum dicto Papae si ille moveretur melioribus Authoritatibus novi veteris Testamenti quam Papa In things concerning faith saith hee the saying even of one private man is to be preferred before the saying of the Pope if he be moved by better authoritie of the old and new Testament then the Pope It is therefore evident that neither the Pope by himselfe nor yet ioined in Councel with others is or can be held to be an unerrable or infallible Iudge in this case What then Would anie have the old Doctors and ancient Fathers to be this Iudge But they also may erre and doe sometimes taxe one another for errors Yea themselves as before is shewed doe humbly and reverently submit all their doctrines positions and opinions to the judgement of the Canonicall Scriptures not desiring to be further credited or beleeved then there is warrant for what they speake or write within those sacred writings Whereby they sufficiently give us to understand that God onely speaking in these his Scriptures is to be held for the only Infallible Iudge for the determining and deciding of every controversie in Religion Ista controversia Iudicem inquirit Iudicet ergo Christus This controversie enquireth after a Iudge Let Christ then be Iudge saith S. Augustine Iudicet cum illo Apostolus quia in Apostolo ipse loquitur Christus Let also saith hee the Apostle iudge with him because in the Apostle Christ himselfe speaketh And againe he saith Sedeat inter nos Iudex Apostolus Iohannes Let the Apostle Iohn sit Iudge betweene us In like sort speaketh Optatus Quaerendi sunt Iudices In terris de hac re nullum poterit reperiri Iudicium de coelo quaerendus est Iudex sed ut quid pulsamus ad coelum cum habeamus hic in Evangelio Testamentum c. Iudges are to be sought for In earth saith hee none can be found for this matter from heaven therefore is the Iudge to be sought but vvhy doe vve knocke at heaven vvhen we have here upon earth a Testament in the Gospel An earthly father vvhen he feeleth himselfe neere death fearing lest after his death the brethren breaking peace should fall at variance calling witnesses unto him out of his breast ready to dye putteth his vvill into a vvritten Testament that shall long continue And if variance grow amongst the brethren they goe not to the grave but the Testament or last vvill is demanded and hee which resteth in the grave speaketh out of that his speechlesse Testament vvith a lively voyce viz. that voice which he uttered whilst he lived He vvhose Testament it is is in heaven therefore as in a Testament so in the Gospel let his will be enquired To the same effect S. Augustine saith VVho is he that knoweth not that the Canonicall Scripture is so conteyned vvithin his certaine bounds of the old and new Testament and is so to be preferred before all other vvritings of Bishops that a man may not at all either doubt or dispute vvhether any thing be right or true that he is sure is vvritten in it but the vvritings of all other Bishops which eyther are or hereafter shall be vvritten beside the Canonicall Scriptures alreadie confirmed may be reproved eyther by more grave authority of other Bishops or learned men or by the vvords of any man that is better seene in the matter Again he saith thus Gather not my Brother against so many so cleere and so undoubted testimonies of
by the controversies that are betweene the Protestants and the Papists how much even the learned professed Divines themselves be divided in opinions In this case what shall we doe that be Lay-men shall wee bee of no religion untill these be agreed But when will that be or what if in the interim anie of us in such a case should die were it not extreamely perillous or shall a man at all adventures betake himselfe to one of the two Religions not caring or not knowing whether it be right or wrong which he betaketh himselfe unto were not that over-great levitie a blinde resolution and a strange inconsiderate rashnesse Yea doe we not all say and hold that extra veram Ecclesiam non est salus out of the true Church there is no salvation There is then so farre as I perceive a direct necessitie laid upon as manie of us as be able to make search not onely to search but to finde out also whether of these be the true Teachers and which is the right faith and the true Church and to ioyne our selves thereunto For which purpose ought wee not studiously and diligently to reade and revolve the Scriptures For is there anie other sure rule of truth beside them or anie other infallible or better Iudge for the deciding of these controversies then God himselfe speaking unto us in those his sacred and divine Writings But to take away all doubts let it be examined Would anie then have the Church to be the Iudge Why the Church it selfe is the thing that is chiefly in question the grand and principall Question betweene the Protestants and the Papists being Whether of them is the true Church and when the Church it selfe is in question she is not to iudge but to be iudged as even Bellarmine also himselfe declareth Or would anie have Councils to be this Iudge Godly Councils that be assembled in the name of Christ and aime onely at truth and that have the Word of God onely for their rule and direction be I confesse much to be honoured and respected but Councils at all times follow not nor doe according to that rule whereupon it commeth to passe that they sometimes erre and goe astray and consequently cannot be infallible Iudges For first it is granted aswell by Papists as by Protestants that Provinciall Councils may erre even in matters of faith and why then may not generall Councils also possibly erre in matters of faith sometimes For is not the holy Ghost the spirit of truth if he so please as well able to keepe a Provinciall Councill at all times from erring as a generall What then is the difference or wherein doth it consist Will anie say it consisteth in this that in a generall Councill there is a greater number or multitude then is in a Provinciall But truth goeth not alwayes by multitudes or the greatest number but is somtimes found in the lesser number and in few against manie as in times past it was found in one Michaiah against foure hundreth For which cause it is also written Thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe evill nor agree in a controversie to decline after manie to overthrow the truth Neyther indeed do the Popish Teachers themselves hold the reason of their supposed non-errabilitie of general Councils to be because of the greater number or multitude but because of the promise of the holy Ghost made unto them which holy Ghost they neverthelesse cannot denie to be promised aswell to a Provinciall as to a generall Councell yea Where but Two or Three be gathered together in my Name saith Christ there am I in the midst of them Seeing then it is granted that a Provinciall Councill may erre notwithstanding this promise of the holy Ghost it must be granted that a generall Councill may sometime also erre by the same reason that a Provinciall may notwithstanding that promise For as touching the reason that some bring that if a general Councill may erre then the whole Church may erre faile in faith it is no consequent inasmuch as all the Bishops and Pastors within Christendome without exception be not alwayes present at a generall Councill much lesse be all the faithfull throughout the whole world there present and therefore also doth even Panormitan himselfe reiect that reason and inference as frivolous For saith he though a generall Councill represent the whole universall Church yet to speake truth the universall Church is not there precisely but by representation because the universall Church consisteth of All the Faithful and this saith he is the Church which cannot erre Wherby it is not un-possible that the true faith of Christ may abide in one person onely therefore the Church is said not to faile or not to erre if the true faith remaine in anie one And thus saith Pighius also though an Arch-Papist Certum est Concilia non esse universalem Ecclesiam it is a thing certaine that Councils be not the vvhole or universall Church Where he further affirmeth those two Councils of Constance and Basil to have erred notwithstanding they were generall Councils Yea this is so cleere a case with him that Generall Councills may erre even in matter of Faith that hee saith againe most directly and expressely thus In fidei definitionibus errasse etiam universalia sanctorum Patrum Concilia comperimus Testimonio sunt de universalibus Concilijs imprimis Ariminense Vniversale haud dubie c. Insuper Ephesinum secundum ipsum Vniversale c. Testimonio inquam haec sunt errare posse etiam universalia Concilia etiam legitimè congregata We finde that even generall Councils of holy Fathers have erred in their decrees or determinations of matters of faith Witnesse hereof concerning generall Councils is especially the Councill of Arimine a generall Councill without doubt c. And moreover the second Ephesine Councill which was likewise a generall Councill c. These I say be Witnesses that even generall Councils may erre though they be never so lawfully assembled For although most true it is that the holy Ghost cannot possibly erre and that the same holy Ghost is promised and given to godly Councills as likewise he is to everie godly man faithfull member of Christ yet it pleaseth the holy Ghost not to extend and shew forth his vigor force and power at all times but sometimes to withhold it and so to leave men to themselves in which case it is then a verie easie matter for Councils either Generall or Provinciall as also for anie other godly man or particular member of Christ to erre sinne or goe astray neither is it Gods Spirit which doth disagree from his Word And consequently whosoever teacheth anie thing concerning Faith and Religion not according to Gods Word but out of his owne braine and fancie must be supposed to speake not by Gods spirit whatsoever he pretendeth but by his owne as S. Chrysostome also informeth us Wherefore
in vaine it is for men or Councils to say they be undoubtedly guided by the holy Ghost the spirit of truth unlesse they have the Word of truth for their rule and direction and can so prove the spirit whereby they speake and decree to be Gods Spirit and not their owne But againe yee know that in Councills aswell Generall as Provinciall things be caryed and over-ruled by the most Voyces and where things be so caried and ruled by the greater number of voyces there it is experimentally found to be a thing verie easily possible for the most voyces or greater number sometimes to over-rule the better part being the lesser and consequently Councils whether generall or particular because they may sometime possibly erre can not be held for anie absolute and infallible Iudge or infallible rule of truth in these controversies Or would anie think the Bish. Pope of Rome to be an infallible Iudge Why in the glosse upon the Popes owne Law that opinion also is reiected saying thus Quaero de qua Ecclesia intelligas quod hic dicitur quod non possit errare Si de ipso Papa certum est quod Papa errare potest Respondeo Ipsa congregatio Fidelium hic dicitur Ecclesia I demand of what Church it is meant when it is said as here That the Church cannot erre If of the Pope himselfe it is certaine he may erre I therefore answer that the whole company of the Faithful is here meant by the Church Where beside that you see what Church it is that cannot erre you see it directly affirmed that certum est quod Papa errare potest it is a thing certaine that the Pope may erre Gerson also the Chancellor of Paris telleth us that tam Papa quam Episcopus deviabiles à fide aswell the Pope as anie other Bishop may go out of the way of Faith Alfonsus that wrote so earnestly against Luther yet touching this point said thus Non credo aliquem esse adeo impudentem Papae assentatorem ut ei tribuere hoc velit ut nec errare possit I doe not beleeve that any man is such an impudent flatterer of the Pope as to attribute this unto him that he cannot erre Which words were in his first edition but are not now in the last but yet even in his new copies although he qualifie his termes he holdeth the same opinion verie directly saying Omnis homo errare potest in fide etiamsi Papa sit Every man may erre in faith yea even the Pope himselfe And againe he saith that Papa in fide errare potest ut melius sentientes tenent etiam ex hijs qui Papatui plurimùm favent inter quos est Innocentius ejus nominis quartus in cap. 1. de Summa Trinitate The Pope may erre in matter of faith as the better opinion is even of them that favour the Papacie most of all amongst whom is Pope InnocentÃus the fourth of that name writing upon the first chapter De Summa Trinitate Well therefore doth Erasmus also confute this new conceit strange opinion For If it be true saith he which some say that the Bishop of Rome can never erre Iudicially vvhat neede is there then of Generall Councils Why are men skilfull in the Lawes and learned in Divinitie sent for to Councils if he in his speakings cannot erre To what purpose be so manie Vniversities troubled with handling Questions of faith when thc truth may be had from his mouth Yea how commeth it to passe that the Decrees of one Pope be repugnant to the Decrees of another What Wresters of Scripture then do some Papists in these later times here appeare to be that abuse it to give an infallibilitie of judgement and an immunitie or priviledge from error to the Pope of Rome Arboreus a Doctor of Paris and one not of the meanest Sorbonists confesseth likewise and teacheth this truth saying Papa in fide errare potest Et tota mihi aberrare via videtur qui aliter sentit Assentantur sanè Romano Pontifici qui faciunt eum immunem à lapsu haereseos schismatis The Pope may erre in faith And he seemeth to mee to be in an extreame error that thinketh otherwise Surely they doe but flatter the Bishop of Rome that make him free from falling into heresie and schisme And how can it in reason be otherwise For if Provinciall Councils wherein be manie Bishops may erre in matter of Faith which is a thing that the Popish Writers themselves do grant yea if Generall Councils may possibly erre in matter of Faith which is also a thing confessed by some of the Popish Divines and cannot iustly be denied by anie is there anie likelyhood that any one Bishop singly considered by himselfe should be so priviledged as that he could not possibly erre Yea even a general Councill namely the Councill of Basil saith Saepe experti sumus legimus Papam errasse Wee have often found it by experience and know it also by reading that the Pope hath erred And againe they say Cum certum sit Papam errare posse Forasmuch as it is a thing certaine that the Pope may erre Whereupon it must be concluded that therefore the Pope also cannot be held for an unerrable or infallible Iudge Shall then the ancient Fathers be this Iudge They are I grant in all respects to have that due reverence that belongeth to them but themselves will by no meanes assume that high honour to themselves to be infallible Iudges or such as cannot possibly erre Yea they acknowledge that they may erre and therefore would have no man further to beleeve them then there is warrant for what they write and speake in the Canonicall Scriptures I cannot denie saith S. Augustine but that there be many things in my Workes as there be also in the Writings of my predecessors vvhich justly and without anie rashnesse may be reproved And when S. Cyprian was obiected against him hee answered thus I am not bound by his Authoritie For I doe not account Cyprians Writings as Canonicall but weigh them by the Canonicall Scriptures and that in them which agreeth with the Canonicall Scriptures I allow to his praise but that which agreeth not by his favour I refuse Againe he saith If anie thing be proved by the manifest Authoritie of the divine Scriptures which in the Church be called canonicall it must be beleeved without any doubting but as for other testimonies thou mayst beleeve them or not beleeve them according as thou shalt see cause to trust them And therefore he giveth this prerogative to the sacred and canonicall Scriptures that amongst all the Writings in the world they onely cannot erre and that all other may erre For which cause he saith againe thus Solis eis Scripturarum libris qui jam canonici appellantur didici hunc timorem honoremque deferre ut nullum eorum Authorem scribendo
aliquid errasse firmissimè credam I have learned to yeeld this reverence and honour to the canonicall Scriptures Onely that I most firmely beleeve no Author of them to have erred any thing in their Writing Yea the Writings of all others he saith are to be read non cum credendi necessitate sed cum judicandi libertate not with a necessitie to beleeve them but with a libertie to judge of them For The Authoritie of the sacred Scriptures cannot deceive And by those Bookes saith hee de caeteris literis fidelium vel Infidelium liberè judicemus We may freely judge of the Writings of all other men whether they be Christians or Infidels And this freedome or libertie S. Augustine againe challengeth to himselfe in quorumlibet hominum Scriptis in the Writings of all men vvhosoever and addeth this reason once more Quia solis canonicis debeo sine ulla recusatione consensum because I owe my consent without any refusall saith hee to the canonicall Scriptures onely Yea it is manifest that not onely singly or severally but iointly also with one consent manie ancient Fathers together have erred For example with S. Cyprian in his error of rebaptization manie of the ancient Fathers then living yea even great Councils also tooke part Againe did not all these Iustine Irenaeus Papias Tertullian Victorinus Lactantius Severus Apollinaris and others hold the Chiliastick error otherwise called the Error of the Millenarians In the Question also concerning Antichrist although verie manie ancient Fathers with one ioynt consent held he should come of the Tribe of Dan yet doth Bellarmine himselfe for all that hold this to be an opinion not certaine because it is not well and sufficiently proved by the Scriptures for the texts of Scripture which are wont to be alledged for maintenance of that opinion himselfe answereth and sheweth that they prove no such matter And therefore Turrecremata also saith thus The Writings of the Doctors are to be received vvith reverence yet they binde us not to beleeve them in all their opinions but wee may lawfully contradict them vvhere by good reason it appeareth that they speake against the Scripture or the truth And thus also speaketh Marsilius that he will receive whatsoever they bring consonant to the Scripture but what they bring dissonant from it hee will reject with reverence upon the Authoritie of Scripture vvhereunto he will leane Yea whereas some suppose that the ancient Fathers because they lived much neerer to the times of the Apostles then the late Writers did therefore see more and further into truth then the late Writers Andradius holdeth the contrarie saying God hath revealed manie things to us that they never saw Agreeably whereunto Dominicus Bannes another learned Popish Writer likewise saith thus It is not necessarie that by how much the more the Church is remote from the Apostles times by so much there should be the lesse perfect knowledge of the mysteries of faith therein because after the Apostles time there were not the most learned men in the Church which had dexteritie in understanding and expounding the matters of faith We are not therefore involved in the more darkenesse by how much the more in respect of time vve be distant from them but rather the Doctors of these later times being godly and insisting in the steps of the ancient Fathers have attained more expresse understanding in some things then they had for these be like children standing on the shoulders of Giants vvho being lifted up by the tallnesse of the Giants no marvaile though they see further then they Seeing then the ancient Fathers have erred and may erre even in the opinion of Papists as well as of Protestants it must be concluded that therefore they also cannot be this infallible Iudge What then May-Traditions not written or not specified in the sacred Scriptures alledged to be Apostolicall be held to be anie infallible Iudge or anie infallible rule of Faith I answer no. For first how can a man be assured that those Traditions be Apostolical which be alledged and affirmed so to be when he seeth no proofe or evidence for them in anie of the Writings of the Apostles or in anie of the sacred and canonicall Scriptures If you say that some of the ancient Fathers do testifie them to be Apostolicall That is no sufficient proofe that therefore they came originally and assuredly from the Apostles because even those ancient Fathers themselves taking them upon report of others might possibly be deceived And so pretious is mens faith and so deare unto them is and ought to be the salvation of their soules as that in those regards no Authoritie or testimonie of men without the Authoritie and testimonie of God therewith concurring can give them an undoubted or assured satisfaction For our Faith is not to be builded upon the credite Authoritie or testimonie of men but upon the testimonie and Authoritie of God himselfe Irenaeus in Eusebius declareth what maner of Traditions those were which Polycarpus delivered and said he had heard and received from the Apostles and testifieth of them that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all consonant to the Scriptures Traditions of this sort namely which be consonant and agreeable to the holy Scriptures we refuse not but willingly embrace but such Traditions as be dissonant and repugnant to those holy Scriptures there is ever iust reason to refuse or if they be not thereby warranted none is necessarily tyed or bound to beleeve them to be undoubtedly divine and Apostolicall It was not therefore without good cause that S. Paul himselfe gave caveats even touching Traditions and matters delivered as comming originally from the Apostles because sometimes some things were reported to come originally from them which indeed did not so come A cleere example wherof Eusebius sheweth in Papias who was himselfe so deceived under the name and supposition of Apostolicall Traditions and thereby also occasioned others to be deceived This Papias was schollar to Iohn the Apostle schoole-fellow to Polycarpus before mentioned and for the credit of his Traditions said thus I am not delighted with them that make mention of strange precepts and commandements but in them that teach those things that be true and bring such things as are delivered by the Lord to our fidelitie and came from the truth it selfe So vvhen anie came that was a Disciple of the Elders I enquired the vvords of the Elders What Andrew What Philip What Thomas or anie other of the Disciples of the Lord said and he saith moreover that hee laid up all those things well in his remembrance Howbeit notwithstanding all this his care diligence and vigilancie about Apostolicall Traditions he brought in as Eusebius saith sundry paradoxes and strange opinions and such as vvere full of fables amongst which was the Chiliastick opinion Yea this great liking and affection to unwritten Traditions deceived not onely Papias but as Eusebius witnesseth
it gave occasion of the Chiliastick error unto divers Ecclesiasticall persons also after him And he addeth the reason because saith he they pretended the antiquitie of that man Clemens Alexandrinus also was much addicted to unwritten Traditions and therewith likewise much deceived affirming and teaching by reason therof verie erroneous strange and untrue opinions as namely that Philosophy did in times past justifie or save the Greekes that Christ preached onely one yeare that the Apostles after their death preached unto the dead which with the Apostles descended into the vvater and being made alive ascended thence againe that Christians may not contendin judgment neither before the Gentiles nor yet before the Saints and sundry other errors Yea he there further mentioneth a certaine kinde of Gnostici of whom hee delivereth this description saying that the knowledge which maketh a true Gnostick is that which commeth by succession unto few from the Apostles and is delivered vvithout vvriting c. Where may appeare whence the heresie of the Gnosticks which was afterward condemned by the Church did spring and had his original namely out of unwritten Traditions supposed to be Apostolicall Yea sundry other Hereticks also boasted of their doctrines and opinions as if they had received them by tradition from the Apostles For Valentinus alledged himselfe to be schollar to Theodatus who was familiarly acquainted with S. Paul The Marcionites boasted that they had the Disciples of Matthias to their Master and taught the doctrine by them delivered Artemon likewise boasted of his doctrine as if it had come unto him undoubtedly by tradition Apostolicall But Eusebius for all that sheweth that it was not so Excellent therefore and ever memorable is that speech of Irenaeus touching this point where hee granteth that The Apostles did indeed at the first preach the Gospel by vvord of mouth but afterward saith hee by the vvill of God they delivered it in vvriting that so being committed to writing it might be for ever after that the foundation and pillar of our faith So that now and ever since that time wee must hold as S. Hierome also teacheth and holdeth saying thus That which hath no Authoritie of the holy Scriptures is as easily contemned as allowed And againe hee saith directly that such things as men invent and devise of themselves without the Authoritie and testimonie of the Scriptures as it vvere by Tradition Apostolicall the Sword of God striketh downe Yea some Traditions mentioned in ancient Fathers to be Apostolicall even the Papists themselves doe not observe as namely the temper of Milke and Hony given to them that be newly baptized abstayning from washing an whole vveeke after oblations for the Birth-day yearely not to fast nor kneele in prayer or worshipping of God on the Lords day nor betweene Easter and Whitsontide All which be mentioned in Tertullian S. Basil likewise mentioneth it as an Apostolicall tradition for Christians betweene Easter and Whitsontide to pray standing S. Hierome also mentioneth it as an Apostolicall Tradition the Temper of Milke and Hony as also on the Lords-day and throughout everie Pentecost neyther to pray on the knees nor to fast If then some Traditions affirmed by ancient Fathers to be Apostolicall be neverthelesse not observed in the Popish Church it selfe which is a thing very manifest why should anie Traditions be urged or obtruded upon the Protestants under the name of Apostolicall and by them necessarily to be held and beleeved which be not found specified in the undoubted Word of God the sacred and canonicall Scriptures but have onely the Authoritie of some men without the Authoritie of Gods word to testifie the same Yea as touching all points necessarie to salvation the holy Scriptures themselves be abundantly sufficient so that for that purpose there is no need of anie unwritten Traditions as even the ancient Fathers themselves doe also testifie The holy Scriptures inspired from heaven saith Athanasius be sufficient for all instruction of truth Whatsoever is requisite to salvation saith Chrysostome all that is fully laid downe in the Scriptures In the two Testaments saith Cyril everie vvord or thing that pertaineth to God may be required and discussed There vvere chosen to be vvritten saith Augustine such things as vvere thought sufficient for the salvation of the faithfull The Canon of the Scriptures saith Vincentius Lirinensis is sufficient and more then sufficient for all matters What need then is there of anie more speech in a matter so cleere and evident Concerning this point therefore Inasmuch as it is verie apparant that some errors heresies have arisen out of Traditions said and supposed to be Apostolical and that under that pretence and name sundry men in ancient and former times have beene deceived and may now much more by that meanes in these later times so farre remote from the times of the Apostles possibly be deceived it must be concluded that Traditions Apostolicall as they be called not warranted nor specified in the divine Scriptures cannot be held for anie infallible Iudge or infallible rule of truth in this case Seeing then the Church who is her selfe in question may not be the Iudge but must be iudged of and that by the Scriptures for in such a case where the Church it selfe is in question even by Bellarmines own acknowledgement the Scripture is better knowne then the Church and therefore must be the Iudge of it and seeing also that not Councils whether Generall or Provinciall nor Popes of Rome nor ancient Fathers nor unwritten Traditions said to be Apostolicall can be this infallible Iudge what remaineth but that God himselfe speaking unto us in his sacred and canonicall Scriptures is and must be held to be the only infallible Iudge in this case Or which commeth all to one effect if we will have visible and mortall men to be the Iudges The infallible Rule whereby they are to iudge and to be directed appeareth to be the verie same sacred and canonicall Scriptures wherein God speaketh And this also doe the ancient Fathers themselves yet further directly teach and affirme For S. Augustine saith The Scripture pitcheth downe the Rule of our Faith Tertullian likewise calleth the Scriptures the Rule of faith S. Chrysostome calleth them a most exquisite Rule and exact Square and Ballance to trie all things by And Gregory Nyssen also calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a straite and inflexible Rule By this Rule of the Scripture then it is that not only Bishops Pastors and Clergie-men but even everie man else that is able to make search and tryall is to trie and examine these differing and contradictorie doctrines and positions betweene the Protestants and the Papists For how otherwise shall we certainly know what is right what is wrong in them or how otherwise shall we be able to discerne the true Teachers which wee are to reverence honour and embrace from the false
good ends and purposes and not to satisfie the severity of his Iustice by that meanes for their sinnes and the punishment thereto belonging p. 125. c There is no iust cause to be shewed vvhy the pretended Catholicks should refuse to take the oath of Supremacy or refuse to come to our Churches Their obiections and reasons answered p. 1 2 c p. 407 c. See also throughout the vvhole booke for this purpose Concerning auricular Confession and to vvhom confession of sinnes is to be made and that it ought to be free and voluntarie and not forced or compelled pag. 302 303 c. pag. 253 254 D FOr vvhom Christ Dyed and to vvhom hee is a Redeemer pag. 187 188 189 c Every sinne Deadly in his owne nature although all sinnes be also veniall and remissible in respect of Gods mercie grace and bounty except the sinne against the holy Ghost pag. 114 115 E THe Emperor in ancient time had the Supremacy and not the Pope pag. 30 The Emperor in times past had power to place and displace Popes pag. 27 The Emperor in ancient time banished imprisoned and otherwise punished aswell Bishops of Rome as other Bishops pag. 22 Hee did make Lawes concerning Ecclesiasticall causes and religion pag. 24 As also Commissioners in an Ecclesiasticall cause and the B. of Rome himselfe vvas one of those Commissioners pag. ibid. An appeale to the Emperor in an Ecclesiasticall cause pag 24 Generall Councils in ancient times called by the Emperor and his Authoritie pag. 24 The Christian Emperor did and vvas to meddle in matters of the Church and concerning Religion pag. 25 The Christian Emperor in ancient time did nominate and appoint Bishops of Diocesses and Provinces and even the Bishop of Rome himselfe pag. 25 Emperors in ancient time did ratifie the decrees of Councils before they vvere put in execution pag 28 Miltiades Leo and Gregory all Bishops of Rome in their severall times subiect to the Emperor and at his command pag 24.26 Ancient Fathers Popes of Rome and Councils aswell generall as provinciall may erre even in matter of faith aswell as in matter of fact pag. 49 50 51 52. c See also the Preface for this point The Romane Empire dissolved ever since the Emperors have ceased to have the soveraigne command and rule of Rome and that the Popes have gotten to be the heads and supreme Rulers of that City and to be above the Emperors pa. 331.332 and pag. 391.392.393 The Pope of Rome hath no power or authoritie from Christ to Excommunicate any pag. 299 c Excommunications be they never so iust and lawfull be by Gods law and appointment of no force to depose from Earthly kingdomes or to dissolve the dutie and allegeance of subiects pag. 299 300 301 c F OVr Forefathers and ancestors not to be followed in any vices or errors they held pag 34 35 Foretold in the Booke of God that an apostacie from the right faith and a mysterie of iniquitie otherwise called an Antichristianisme should come upon the Church and that so the Church by degrees should grow corrupted and deformed pag. 35 36 280 Foretold also how long the Church should lye in those her corruptions and errors and vvhen she should begin to be clensed and reformed pag. 35 36 VVhat is to be thought of our Forefathers that lived and dyed in the time of Popery pag 39.40 41 42 Foretold that a strong delusion to beleeve lyes shouâ—d possesse them of the Antichristian Church because they received not the love of the truth extant in the divine Scriptures pag. 307 308 Men are iustified in Gods sight and before his tribunall by Faith only and good vvorkes be the fruits and declarations of that faith pag. 99 100 101 c. to the end of that chapter and pag. 116 117 118 c. to the end also of that chapter G God is not the author of sinne pag. 168 169 c. H NOt Protestants but Papists be the Heretickes pag. 72. and Schismaticks pag. 37 38. pag. 413.414 c Not the Pope but Christ onely is the Head of the universall militant Church as well as of the triumphant pag 94 95 96 97 98 I VVHo is to be the infallible Iudge of controversies in religion or vvhich commeth all to one effect in the conclusion vvhat is the infallible Rule vvhereby men must iudge and be directed for the finding out of truth in those controversies pag. 49 50 51 c. See also the Preface for this matter The Implicita fides of Papists reproved pag 78 79 80 K KIngs have the Supremacie over all maner of persons aswell Ecclesiasticall as Civill vvithin their own Dominions pa. 1. to p. 5 Their Supremacie in all kinde of causes aswell Ecclesiasticall as Civill pag. 5 c Kings and Princes although they have the Supremacie yet thereby claime not nor can claime to preach to minister the Sacraments to excommunicate absolve or to consecrate Bishops or to doe any other act proper to the function of the Ecclesiasticall ministers pag. 32 c Kings and Princes be notwithstanding their Supremacies under God and subiect to him and his vvord pag. 33 Even heathen Kings may command and make Edicts and Proclamations for God and his service pag. 7. c Christian Kings and Queenes are by Gods appointment to be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to his Church and Religion p. 7. The authoritie of a Christian King in respect of contemptuous disorderly and unruly persons requisite and necessary in the Church as vvell as in the Common-weale pag. 6 c Kings and Princes may command and compell their subiects to externall obedience for God pag. 6 7 8 9 10 Christian Kings may make lawes about matters Ecclesiast p. 7 8.24 Hee may make Commissioners in Ecclesiasticall causes pag. 24 He may have Appeales made unto him in a cause Ecclesiastical ib. He may nominate and appoint Bishops of Diocesses and Provinces pag. 27. Councels and Convocations to be assembled by his authoritie and the decrees thereof by him to be ratified and confirmed before they be put in execution pag. 26 27 28 Christian Kings doe punish offendors in Ecclesiasticall causes not Ecclesiastically but Civilly pag. 6 7.32 Subiects ought not to rebell against their Kings and Princes though they be adversaries to the Christian Religion and though subiects have power force enough to do it pa. 20 21 22.299 300 Kings of Rome did sometimes send the Bishops of Rome as their Ambassadors pag. 22 How thankefull subiects ought to be unto God for Christian Kings and Princes pag. 33 The power of the Keyes most grossely abused by the B of Rome to vvorke his owne exaltation above Kings and Princes pag 299 300 301 c The Keyes of the kingdome of heaven no more given to S. Peter then to the rest of the Apostles pag. 292 293 294 295 L NO Licentiousnesse or impiety in the doctrine of Iustification by faith or in the doctrine of predestination or
the people in the world may aptlie be divided The Vnchristian people be those that make no profession at all of Christ or Christianitie of which sort be Iewes Turkes and other Infidels of the world The Christian people revera and indeed of which in this distribution I speake be those that professe Christ and beleeve in him and addict themselves onelie to his religion and the rules and waies of it as it is described and set downe in the sacred and canonical Scriptures The Antichristian people be those that professe Christ in words in outward shewes and semblance but yet neverthelesse denie or oppugne him in deeds or in doctrine or in both Whence is concluded that neither the Turke nor Mahomet as I said before nor anie of the rest of the Infidells of the world can properly and according to the Scripture phrase and sense bee tearmed Antichrists or Antichristians fith they make no profession of Christ at all but such are properly to be termed Vnchristian and not Antichristian people and consequently it remaineth that Antichrist and Antichristian people bee onely to bee found within Christendome and amongst those that professe Christ. And who these be within Christendome is easily to be discerned for that the Pope of Rome and his followers be this kinde of covert masked and disguised adversaries and opposites to Christ and that under the name and profession of Christ his church and religion I thinke there is none but doth or may verie readilie perceive But would you know it further and in some particulars For you must indeed come to particulars with them inasmuch as otherwise in general termes and words they will make great profession of Christ and of the rights honors prerogatives to him his Church belonging and yet in the meane time in particulars and indirectlie and by consequent they will oppugne him Inasmuch therefore as he hath the name of Antichrist chiefelie by reason of his opposition unto Christ in this covert and disguised manner let us see how that is verified in the Pope and Papacie For which purpose let us consider our Lord Iesus Christ as he is to be considered namelie in respect of his person and in respect of his offices committed to him from his Father In respect of his person he is both God and Man in respect of his offices he is a Prophet a Priest a King unto us Now in everie of these respects doth the Pope and Papacie oppugne Christ. For first what a God doe they make Christ to be when they preferre the Virgin Mary above him and acknowledge authoritie in her to command him For thus they speake unto her Iube natum Iure Matris Impera redemptori monstra te esse Matrem That is Command thy Sonne and by thy motherly authority command the Redeemer and shew thy selfe to be a mother Is he God and the creator and supreame commander of all things that is thus made subiect to the authoritie and commandement of a creature But doe they not further oppugne his Godhead verie manifestlie when they hold that everie Priest of theirs after breathing of a few words out of his mouth can create and make Iesus Christ his maker for so they say as is before shewed that Sacerdos est Creator creatoris sui The Priest is the Creator or maker of his maker Now then is he a God that can be thus made by men And what doe they else but oppugne his Manhood also verie manifestlie whilest they make his bodie to be multi-present that is present in manie places at one time For they say it is both in heaven and in earth at once yea in so manie places as their Masse is celebrated or their Host reserved at one and the selfe same time which is contrarie to the nature and propertie of a true bodie which we are sure Christ Iesus hath Yea as they hold his Body to be carnallie eaten in the Sacrament with the bodily mouth so doe they hold it also to be void of dimensions and quantitie and to be uncircumscribed and invisible and no way sensible which is likewise as much as to make him to have no true bodie at all When againe they hold that his bodie is made out of the substance of a peece of bread for so much that their verie word of Transubstantiation importeth which was indeed not so made but of the substance of the Virgin Mary doe they not verie cleerelie oppugne his humanitie and the veritie of his bodie You see then how they doe oppugne the person of Christ both in respect of his Deitie and also of his humanitie verie apparantlie Let us now likewise briefelie consider how they oppugne Christ in his three offices namelie as he is a Prophet a Priest and a King unto us The Prophecie of Christ whose voice and instruction as of a Prophet and Teacher all-sufficient we are commanded to heare and obey they oppugne first by teaching that the sacred and Canonical Scriptures be imperfect and insufficient for a Christian mans instruction and salvation without their Traditions secondlie by adding not onlie their owne Traditions but the Apocryphal Bookes and Decretal Epistles also to the Canon of the Bible and stablishing them to be of equall authoritie reverence with the Canonical Scriptures themselves thirdlie by equaling also the determinations of their Popes and the Decrees of their Councels and Church which they say cannot erre unto the divine and canonical Scriptures they holding them to be as undoubtedlie the voice oracle of the Holie Ghost as anie thing is which is contained in those Scriptures fourthlie not onlie in equaling but which is more and much worse in preferring magnifying and advancing of their Pope and Church and their authoritie above the authoritie of the Scriptures and therefore doth Silvester Prierias Master of the Popes Palace affirme that Indulgences bee warranted unto us not by the authoritie of Scripture but by the authoritie of the Church and Pope of Rome which saith hee is a greater Authority Againe hee saith Whosoever resteth not on the doctrine of the Roman Church and Bishop of Rome as the infallible rule of God à qua sacra Scriptura robur trabit authoritatem from which the sacred Scripture draweth her strength and authoritie hee is an Heretick And so saith Eckius likewise that Scriptura nisi Ecclesiae authoritate non est authentica The Scripture is not authenticall but by the authoritie of the Church and sundry such waies doe they oppugne the all-sufficient written word doctrine and instruction of Christ our Prophet His Priesthood they also oppugne which consisteth chiefly in these two things viz. in sacrificing himselfe once for all his people upon the Crosse to take away their sinnes and in making intercession for them Now this his onely-propitiatory and only-bodily and all-sufficient Sacrifice they oppugne by erecting of another Sacrifice in their abominable Masse wherein they say their Priests
the Scriptures sentences misunderstood out of the vvritings of Bishops eyther of ours or of Hillary or of Cyprian Bishop and Martyr of the Church for vve must put a difference betwixt this kinde of vvriting and the Canonicall Scriptures for these are not so to be read as though a Testimony might be alledged out of them in such sort as that no man might thinke otherwise if they happen to iudge otherwise then the truth requireth And againe he saith VVe ought not to allow the reasonings of any men whatsoever they be be they never so Catholike and Prayse-worthy as the Canonicall Scriptures so that it shall not be lawfull for us saving the reverence that is due to those men to reprove and refuse any thing in their writings if it fall out that they have iudged otherwise then the truth is the same Truth being by Gods helpe understood either of other men or of us For I am even such a one in other mens vvritings as I vvould men should be in mine And againe he speaketh thus If any question be eyther concerning Christ or concerning his Church or concerning any other matter vvhatsoever which belongeth to our faith and life I will not say If vvee but that which the Apostle further addeth in Gal. 1. 8.9 If an Angel from heaven should preach unto you any other thing praeterquam quod in scripturis legalibus Evangelicis accepistis Anathema sit Beside that which ye have received in the scriptures of the Law and the Gospel let him be accursed Ambrose likewise upon that Text before mentioned of Gal. 1.8.9 giveth this observation The Apostle saith he doth not say If they preach contrary but if they preach any thing beside that which vve have preached that is if they adde any thing to it at all hold him accursed And therefore Si quid dicatur absque Scriptura Auditorum cogitaâ—io claudicat If any thing be spoken vvithout the Scripture the cogitation of the Hearer halteth saith Chrysostome Yea To leane to the Divine Scriptures which is the certaine and undoubted Truth is saith Irenaeus to build a mans house upon a sure and strong Rocke But to leave them and to leane to anie other Doctrines vvhatsoever they be is to build a ruinous house upon the shattering gravell vvhereof the overthrow is easie Here then you may prrceive that even those unwritten Traditions also which yee obtrude unto us under the name of Apostolicall that bee not specified nor found written in Gods booke the sacred and Canonicall Scriptures are iustly refusable as being unassured uncertaine and unwarranted stuffe For so also doth S. Ierome say All that ever vvee speake wee ought to prove it by the Scriptures And so also speaketh Chrysostome saying Therefore neither are they to be beleeved at all except they speake those things which be agreeable to the Scriptures To that which Faustus put forth upon the birth of Mary that shee had a certaine Priest to her father named Ioachim S. Augustine answereth Because it is not Canonicall saith he it doth not bind mee The like answer giveth Tertullian to Appelles which said that the Angels had a bodily substance which they tooke of the Stars There is no certaintie saith he in this matter because the Scripture declareth it not And indeed who can assure such Traditions to be undoubtedly Divine or to be originally and infalibly Apostolicall which have onely Men for the witnessing of them and whereof there is no testimonie in the Apostles writings or in Gods booke to be found For if they be not there specified who as S. Augustine speaketh can say That these and these they are Or if he dare be bould to say so hovv will he prove it But moreover we neede none of those Traditions as I said before inasmuch as the Scriptures themselves bee fully sufficient for us and for our direction and instruction in all things necessarie expedient for us For beside the Scriptures which declare so much Tertullian likewise saith Adoro scripturae plenitudinem I adore the compleatnes or the fulnes of the Scriptures And S. Basil also saith Manifestum est infidelitatis arrogantiae crimen vel reijcere aliquid quod scriptum est vel addere aliquid quod non est scriptum That it is a manifest fault of infidelitie and arrogancie either to reiect anie thing of that which is written or to bring in anie thing of that which is not written Yea such is the sufficiencie fulness perfection and compleatness of the Scriptures in all points and respects that as you heard before S. Augustine denounceth him accursed that shall preach or teach anie thing beside them or which is not therein conteined or thereby warranted And therefore also doth Scotus himselfe say Patet quod scriptura sufficienter continet doctrinam necessariam viatori It is evident the Scripture sufficiently conteineth all doctrine necessarie for a wayfaring man that is for a man whilst he liveth and travelleth in this world 2 But moreover even expositions also of Scripture are to be framed warranted by the Scriptures to be found consonant with them or otherwise they are likewise refusable For it is not any humane or private spirit as S Peter sheweth but it must be a divine spirit even the Spirit of God the holy Ghost from whence all true sence and right interpretation of the Scriptures is to be derived And this S. Paul also declareth saying that As no man knovveth the things of a man but the spirit of man vvhich is in him so no man knoweth the things of God but the Spirit of God If therefore wee would know who they be that have this onely right interpreting Spirit that is the holy Ghost for their guide in that behalfe wee may know it by this If their expositions be such as bee sutable and agreeable to the Canonicall Scriptures without repugnancie of anie one place to another Therefore also doth Origen speake thus VVee must needes saith he call the holy Scriptures to vvitnes because our sences and expositions vvâ—thout those vvitnesses have no credite And so saith Irenaeus Secundum scripturas expositio legitima et diligeus sine periculo sine blasphemia est That is the right and legitimate exposition and the diligent and vvithout danger and vvithout blasphemie vvhich is according to the Scriptures Chrysostome likewise saith Scriptura seipsam exponit auditorem errare non sinit The Scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the learner to erre And this rule namely to expound Scripture by Scripture and by conferring one place with another giveth also S. Augustine Darke places ' are to be expounded by plainer places This is saith he the sure vvay to expound one scripture by another The same doth S. Augustine againe teach in other places as namely De doctrina lib. 2. cap. 6. 26.27.28 c And Clemens Epist. 5. and Dist. 37.6
Relatum where it is said Non enim sensum extrinsecus alienum extraneum debetis quaerere Sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet For yee ought not to seeke for a strange and forraine sence from vvithout but out of the verie Scriptures themselves yee must take the sence of the truth So that although the Church of Christ and the Bishops Pastors and Ministers therein be to expound the Scriptures yet wee see by what rule they are to be directed namely by the Scriptures themselves and not to expound it at randome or as they list If they wil have their expositions to be right and sound and such as shall be deemed to come from the holy Ghost 3 Yea the verie Church it selfe is also thus to be tried and decided namely by the Scriptures For so S. Augustine holdeth directly saying thus Let us not heare I say and thou sayest but let us heare Thus saith the Lord. There are verily the Lords bookes to the authoritie vvhereof vvee both consent vvee both beleeve vvee both serve There let us search the Church there let us discusse our cause And againe he saith That all that should be remooved vvhatsoever is alleaged on eyther side against other saving that vvhich commeth out of the Canonicall Scriptures And againe he saith Let them shevv their Church if they can not in the sayings and fame of the Affricanes nor in the determinations of their Bishops nor in any mans reasonings nor in false signes and vvonders for against all these vvee be vvarned and armed by Gods VVord but in the things appointed in the Lavv spoken before by the Prophets in the Songs of the Psalmes in the voyce of the Shepheard himselfe and in the preachings and painefulnesse of the Evangelists that is in the authoritie of the bookes Canonicall And a little after he saith againe thus To that eternall salvation commeth no man but he that hath the head Christ and no man can have the head Christ vvhich is not in his bodie the Church vvhich Church as also the head it selfe vvee must knovv by the Canonicall Scriptures and not seeke it in divers rumors and opinions of men nor in facts reports and visions c. Let all this sort of them be chaffe and not give sentence before hand against the vvheat that they bee the Church But this point viz. vvhether they be the Church or no Let them shevv no other vvay but by the Cononicall boâ—kes of the holy Scriptures For neither doe vvee say that men ought to beleeve vs because vvee are in the Catholike Church of Christ or because Optatus Bishop of Millevet or Ambrose Bishop of Millain or innumerable other Bishops of our Communion doe allâ—w this doctrine that vvee hold or becaâ—se in Churches of our Companions it is preached or because that through the vvhole world in those holy places vvhere our Congregations resorted so manie wonders either of hearings or of healing be done vvhatsoever such things be done in the Catholicke Church the Church is not thâ—refore proved Catholicke because these things bee done in it The Lord Iesus himselfe vvhen he vvas risen from death and offered his ovvne bodie to be seene vvith the eies and handled vvith the hands of his Apostles least they should for all that thinke themselves to bee deceaved hee rather iudged that they ought to bee established by the testimonie of the lavv Prophets and Psalmes shevving those things to be fulfilled in him that were there spoken so long before of him And hereupon a little after he saith againe These are the doctrines these are the stayes of our cause vvee read in the Acts of the Apostles of some faithfull men that they searched the Scriptures vvhether the things vvere so or no vvhich they had heard preached vvhat scriptures I pray did they search but the Canonicall of the Lavv and of the Prophets To these are ioyned the Gospels the Epistles of the Apostles the Acts of the Apostles The Revelation of S. Iohn Search all these bring forth some plaine thing out of them vvhereby you may declare that the Church hath remained onely in Affricke So farre Augustine Chrysostome also speaketh to the same effect saying VVhen you shall see the abhominable desolation stand in the holy place that is as he expoundeth it VVhen you shall see vngodly Heresie vvhich is the army of Antichrist stand in the holy places of the Church in that time let them which are in Iurie flie vnto the hills that is saith hee Let them that are in Christendome resort vnto the Scriptures for like as the true Ievv is a Christian as the Apostle saith he is not a Ievv vvhich is one outvvard in like manner the verie Ievvrie is Christianitie the hills are the Scriptures of the Apostles and Prophets But why doth hee command all Christians at that time to resort to the Scriptures Because in this time sithence Heresie hath prevailed in the Church there can bee saith hee no proofe nor other refuge for Christian men desirous to knovv the truth of the right Faith but onely by the Scriptures And the reason hereof he further sheweth For saith he such things as pertaine to Christ the Heretickes also have in their schisme They have likevvise Churches likevvise the Scriptures of God Bishops also and other orders of Clerkes and likevvise Baptisme and the Sacrament of the Eucharist and to conclude Christ himselfe vvherefore he that vvill knovv vvhich is the true Church of Christ in this so great confusion of things being so like hovv shall he knovv it but onely by the Scriptures And afterward againe he saith thus For if they shall looke upon anie other thing but onely the Scriptures they shall stumble and perish not perceiving vvhich is the true Church and so fall into the abhominable desolation vvhich standeth in the holy places of the Church So farre he Now then these being times of Schisme and heresie and of much contention and variance betweene the Protestants and the Papists and the great question betweene them being VVhether of them is the true Church Yea these being the times wherein the verie grand Antichrist himselfe with his armie of Bishops Priests and Clerkes hath place in the world as before in some sort but afterwards is more fully declared It followeth necessarily by this rule of his as also by the former Rule and direction of S. Augustine likewise that all people that bee desirous to know the truth in these times and which is the true Church must resort and betake themselves for the true tryall discerning and deciding hereof vnto the holy Scriptures only for all other waies and courses be uncertaine and unsure and such as whereby a man may possibly and easily be deceived as those ancient Fathers do there expresly teach and affirme And to give you some little tast here also that these be the times of Antichrist and that Antichrist is long sithence come and that the Pope of Rome
is he besides that which is before spoken doe but consider what the Abbot Ioachim long sithence told King Richard the first King of England namely that Antichrist was then alreadie borne and had his seat at Rome and was to be advanced in that Apostolicall Sea And he further saith Non nulli sub specie sedis Dei id estâ— universalis Ecclesiae Facti sunt sedâ—s Bestiae quae est regnum Antichristi regnantis ubique in membris suis c. Sundrie saith he under pretence of Gods seat that is of the universall Church are become the seat of the Beast vvhich is the Kingdome of Antichrist raigning everie vvhere in his members consisting as he there further saith in the Cleargie men in the Monkes and Monasteries Againe he saith that Rome est in spiritu Babylon Rome is the spirituall Babylon And againe he saith Negotiatores terrae sunt ipsi sacerdotes qui vendunt orationes missas pro Denarijs facientes domum orationis Apothecam Negotiationis The Merchants of the earth be the Priests themselves vvho sell Prayers and Masses for money making the house of Prayer a shop of Merchandize Yea sundrie both Princes and Bishops of Germanie long agon have affirmed and published the Pope to be Antichrist as appeareth in Aventinus But I leave this to be as I said more fully handled afterward In the meane time if anie would know who be the right Catholikes as Papists verie boldly but verie uniustly take upon them that title let him consider these two sentences of Vincentius and conferre and ioyne them together The first is this Id teneamus quod VBIQVE quod SEMPER quod ab OMNIBVS creditum hoc est enim verè proprieque Catholicum Let us uphold that vvhich hath beene beleeved everie vvhere and at all times of all persons for this is rightly and properly Catholicke The second is this where he saith Ille est verus Germanus Catholicus qui quidquid universaliter ANTIQVITVS ecclesiam Catholicam tenuisse cognoverit id solum sibi tenendum creder dumque decernit He is the true and right Catholicke who iudgeth that he is to hold beleeve onely that which he knoweth the Catholicke Church to have formerly held universally in the old time This Vincentius lived above 1200. yeares sithence so that this Antiquitùs this old time whereto he referreth everie man that will be a right Catholicke cannot be intended the age and time wherein himselfe lived much lesse can it he supposed anie of those manie hundreth yeares that came after him and are sithence his time gone and past but it must needs be intended of an old time passed long before the time wherein hee lived and wrote these things which old time therefore which he so called what can it be but the Primitive and Apostolicke times If then yee will prove your selves to bee Catholickes and your Church to bee the Catholike Church by this rule and definition of Catholikes out of Vincentius then must you not take your patterne and proofe from that Councell of Trent nor from the late Councell of Constance nor anie of the times after Vincentius but you must transcend and goe to the times that were in the old Time long before the daies of this Vincentius even to the primitive and Apostolike times which were indeed the best and purest times and from thence must you take the patterne of your Church and Religion For that which alwayes formerly and every vvhere and of all Christians in That Old Time was held and beleeved is the thing that he accounteth and defineth to be Catholicke and such to be Catholickes which hold and beleeve only so much and no more Which faith doctrine and religion of those old Primitive and Apostolicke times was at first delivered by word of mouth by the Apostles but was afterwards as Irenaeus hath before enformed us committed to VVriting that so it might be for ever that The foundation and pillar of our Faith Yea this even Vincentius also himselfe teacheth saying Scripturarum canon sufficit ad omnia satis superque the canon of the Scriptures doth suffice for all matters sufficiently and more then sufficiently that is abundantly and overflowingly By this rule then and definition of a Catholike given so long agon by Vincentius it is evident that not yee but wee are to be held for the right and true Catholikes inasmuch as not yee but wee doe beleeve and hold that faith doctrine and Religion which those old and first Christians universally held in those ancient primitive and Apostolick times and which was afterwards written and is omni-sufficiently conteined in that written word of God the sacred and canonicall Scriptures Yea that and onely that wee hold and beleeve as Vincentius saith right and true Catholikes ought to doe and so doe not you therefore whether yee or wee be the right Catholiks is a verie easie and apparant matter to be decided Aufer Haereticis quae cum Ethnicis sapiunt ut de scripturis solis Quaestiones suas sistant stare non poterunt Take from the Heretickes saith Tertullian those things wherein they savour of Heathen wisedome so as that they bring their Controversies to bee decided onely by the Scriptures and they be not able to stand In which wordes men that will not suffer their Controversies to bee decided onely by the Scriptures may see themselves ranged within the compasse of Hereticks and so termed and entituled by him so farre are they off from being the right and true Catholikes And yet Papists have I grant for some of their errors a kinde of Antiquitie but it is an Antiquitie of a later date and it is not that most ancient Antiquitie which Vincentius and the rest of the ancient Fathers direct you unto and which should be in request For that is the True whatsoever is the first and that which is later or commeth in after the first is the adulterate or corrupted as Tertullian againe expressely affirmeth Yea he saith further Hoc mihi proficit Antiquitas praestructae divinae Literaturae Herein doth Antiquitie availe me if it be builded upon the divine Scripture Wherefore if yee will be good and right Catholikes ye must go and take the patterne and president of your Faith and Religion from those most ancient primitive and Apostolike times as we doe because as Eusebius also out of Egesippus noteth the Church so long as the Apostles lived remayned a pure Virgin for that if any vvent about to corrupt the holy rule vvhich was preached they did it in the Darke and as it vvere underneath the earth But after the death of the Apostles and that generation was past which God vouchsafed to heare the divine wisedome with their own eares the placing of wicked error saith he began to come into the Church For which purpose to shew that corruptioÌ„ grew in those after succeeding times ClemeÌ„s also alledgeth the proverb
at my vvords But thirdly be not Lay-men of the Church of God aswel as those that be Church-Ministers And may not these be Theodidactoi that is taught of God and instructed by his spirit aswell as others for the right understanding of the Scriptures especially in all points necessarie to salvation Yea doe wee not see and finde experimentally that manie great Scholers and learned men doe notwithstanding all their learning erre verie much in the exposition and understanding of the Scriptures for why else doe they differ so much and hold contrarie opinions All which what else doth it shew but that indeed not anie humane spirit how learned soever but a divine spirit onely is the opener and the right expositor and understander of those sacred and divine writings And this S. Paul also hath before assured us that the things of God no man knoweth but the spirit of God Now this Spirit of God none can denie to be grantable as well to lay-men as to those that be of the Ecclesiasticall Ministerie Yea everie childe of God hath Gods Spirit given unto him For if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his as S. Paul witnesseth Inasmuch therefore as lay persons have received or may receive the spirit of GOD whereby it is that the Scriptures be rightly understood and are of the number of Gods Church and people no reason can be shewed why they should be debarred by others or why they should debarre themselves from the reading and searching of those Scriptures which they may possibly understand by the grace power of Gods Spirit within them aswell as others especially if they reade and search them as I said before in the feare of God and with all humble reverence and with often and earnest praiers unto God for the right understanding of them and with a godly purpose of minde to beleeve follow and doe thereafter For as S. Paul saith againe The spirit of God searcheth all things even the deepe things of God If anie finde difficultie and hardnesse in some places of the Scriptures he must not thereby be discouraged but provoked rather to use so much the more diligence in them For that which is difficult and hard in one place is as the ancient Fathers themselves have told us made more plaine and easie by another And touching such places of difficultie beside praier unto God and conference of Scriptures together it will be good also to reade Interpreters and to consult with godly and learned Pastors and Teachers and use all such good meanes for the understanding of them as God hath allowed For the godly and learned Pastors and Teachers be Gods own ordinance in his Church to them usually above others doth he give more speciall gifts for the edifying and instruction of his people and for the opening and unfolding of those harder and difficulter places of the Scripture so that they are not to be neglected but to be resorted unto and to be evermore much honored reverently esteemed If peradventure by all meanes used a lay-man or an ecclesiasticall Minister shall not understand some hard and obscure Scripture yet let him reverence as becommeth him that which he understandeth not and therein suspend his judgement and opinion untill it please God further to enlighten him For whereas some alledge that lay persons should not reade the Scriptures lest through misunderstanding of them they might possibly fall into some errors or heresies it hath beene before answered that such a reason is verie feeble and of no weight inasmuch as it may as well serve to disswade Pastors Doctors and Ministers of the Church from reading the Scriptures because there is also a possibilitie for them as well as for lay persons in the reading of them to misunderstand them and so to fall into errors and heresies as wee finde experimentally that sundry of them heretofore have done and still doe And whereas some againe imagine and feare not to say that the permitting of the Scriptures to bee read of the lay people in the vulgar tongue is the cause of all the schismes sects errors and heresies that now flow in the world they are herein mightily deceived by mistaking the cause for not the reading of the Scriptures either by lay persons or ecclesiasticall Ministers but the misunderstanding and misapplying of them through the frailtie and corruption that is in mens minds wresting and forcing them to serve their owne humors fancies and conceits is the cause of all those schismes sects heresies and errors and this is not the right using but abusing of the Scriptures Now even Reason and Philosophie doe teach as well as Divinitie that Of vvhat things there may be an use of the same things there may be also an abuse and it is a Maâ—â—ime with all that abusus rei non tollit usum an abuse of a thing doth not take away the lawfull use of it Manie men you know doe abuse meate and drinke to surfetting gluttony and drunkennesse shall that be therefore made an argument to perswade anie from all eating or drinking or is therefore eating and drinking the cause of mens gluttonie and drunkennesse or is not their owne excesse and intemperate humor the cause of it So albeit manie abuse the Scriptures wresting and wringing them to a wrong sense and to their owne humors and fantasies as doe Papists Anabaptists and other Sectaries and Heretickes yet must that bee no argument therefore to disswade anie from the reading of them or from taking that lawfull use comfort profit and benefite that may be had out of them and for which they were ordeined Yea the true cause both of the beginning and continuance of all the schismes sects errors and heresies that now be in the world is in verie deed for that men will not suffer themselves to be over-ruled by the Scriptures but will contrarie to the Scriptures and to the true sense of them follow their owne waies conceits and inventions or the devises of other men Let none therefore pretend or alledge excuses for their owne sloth or negligence in this case but with all alacritie betake your selves even ye that be lay persons as well as the rest to the reading of the Scriptures with reverence humilitie praier and a right inclined minde and affection to beleeve live and doe thereafter And then shall yee not need to make anie doubt of Gods blessing or good successe and profit unto you by the reading of them yea then shall yee see and discerne the errors heresies Idolatries filthinesse and other abhominations of the Popish Church and Religion which otherwise ye will not be able to discerne This is the condemnation saith Christ that light is come into the vvorld and men loved darkenesse rather then light because their deeds vvere evill for every one that evill doth hateth the light neyther commeth hee to the light lest his deedes should be reproved But
Christ imputed to us by faith And so also doe the Divines of Coleyn teach that we are Iustified by the righteousnesse of Christ not as it is without us abiding in him but as the same being apprehended by faith is imputed to us CHAP. IV. Certaine objections of the Adversaries answered concerning this matter of Iustification FIrst the ambiguitie of this word Iustificare seemeth much to misleade you in this point for you will have it to signifie and import to make a man iust who before was uniust by a quality of Iustice inherent in his owne person And true it is That whosoever is Iustified is also sanctified so that hee hath in some sort a Sanctitie or Iustice inherent in his owne person by the operation of Gods spirit within him This then which you call Inherent Iustice in a man is the same that wee call Sanctification and is not all one with Iustification but is a fruit effect and consequent of it Neither doth the word Iustificare to Iustifie evermore so signifie but sometimes it signifieth to declare or approve one to be Iust as in Psal. 51.4 and Rom. 3.4 where it is thus said to God himselfe That thou mayest be iustified in thy sayings meaning that thou maist bee declared or approved to be Iust. And so in the first of Tim. 3.16 Christ is said to be Iustified that is declared or approved to be iust And this sense also doth S. Iames in his second Chapter of his Epistle say That a man is Iustified by vvorkes that is declared or approved to be Iust by them as being the fruits and declarations of his faith And sometimes againe it signifieth by a Iudgement or sentence to absolve and acquit a man of faults and crimes laid to his charge of all punishments to the same belonging as in Pro. 17.15 it is said Hee that Iustifieth the vvicked and hee that condemneth the Iust even they both are an abhomination unto the Lord that is hee that absolveth or acquiteth a wicked man in Iudgement when contrariwise he should be condemned and he that condemneth a Iust and innocent person who should of right be acquited both these are abhominable in Gods sight Where you see that to Iustifie the wicked is not by alteration of qualities actuallie to make a man Iust who before was unjust but it signifieth by sentence and Iudgement to acquit and free him that is accused And thus is the word Iustifie taken in S. Pauls discourse touching this matter as to omit all other places is manifest by that one place of Rom. 8.33 34 where it is said thus VVho shall lay anything to the charge of Gods elect It is God that Iustifieth who is he that condemneth Where you see that the word Iustifie is set as opposite to the word Condemne and consequently signifieth an acquiting cleering freeing or discharging of whatsoever may bee laid to the charge of anie of Gods elect and chosen children 2 Neither can anie rightly conclude because this righteousnesse of Christ is thus said to be imputed by faith that therefore it is onely an imaginarie and phantasticall Iustice and no Iustice or righteousnesse indeed yea such blasphemies must be detested For the word Imputed doth not diminish or detract from the truth of the Iustice as though it were imputed or reputed for Iustice which were none revera but it signifieth that as it is in it selfe a most pure full perfect and complete righteousnesse being farre above the best righteousnesse that is to be found in anie earthly Saints or such as be meere men so doth God accordingly reckon and esteeme of it So that although we be most uniust in respect of our selves yet by having Christs righteousnesse imputed to us we are in him really and truely Iust righteous and without all spot staine or imperfection For Christ with all his merits righteousnesse satisfaction and obedience is not by way of fancie opinion conceit or imagination but revera actuallie and verilie bestowed and given of God to all his faithfull and beloved children Vnto us a childe is borne unto us a sonne is given saith Esay the Prophet And againe it is said That God so loved the vvorld that he gave his onely begotten Sonne c. And it is said againe that He vvas given of God his Father to the Elect and that those Elect were likewise given of God to him Agreeably whereunto speaketh also S. Paul saying that Christ is made unto us of God vvisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption that as it is vvritten vvhosoever glorieth should glory in the Lord. Seeing therefore Christ with all his obedience and righteousnesse is given unto us of God and that wee take and receive him by faith there can be no doubt but that he is as verilie and reallie become ours as anie mans lands possessions or goods become his which he hath by lawfull conveyance or gift from another man 3 But when we say that Faith only Iustifieth in Gods sight you further obiect that this word Onely is more then is in the Scripture to be found Howbeit you may observe that in the Gospel of S. Marke Christ said thus to one Be not afraid onely beleeve But neither are these words Trinity Consubstaâ—tiall c. expressely found in the Scripture but so long as the effect and equivalencie of them is there found it sufficeth In like sort if words equipollent or equivalent to this word Onely be found in the Scripture it sufficeth What is then the sense of this word onely in this position Faith onely iustifieth it is added to exclude vvorkes and their merit from being anie cause of that our Iustification in the sight of God Now then when the Scriptures expresly and plentifully affirme that vvee are Iustified by faith vvithout vvorkes and by faith and not by vvorkes is it not as much as if they had said in plaine termes that wee are Iustified by faith onely Againe when the Scriptures say and teach that vve are Iustificati gratis and ex gratia and per gratiam Iustified franckely and freely that is for nothing paid or performed on our parts and of grace and by grace Doe not these words fully import and cleerly shew that we are Iustified without anie merits or workes of our owne deserving it Can anie thing be more plainely declared 4 Neverthelesse they still seeke refuges and therefore sometimes say that When S. Paul speaketh of the Workes of the Law excluding them from Iustifying in Gods sight he meaneth only the vvorkes of the Ceremonial Law and not the vvorkes of the Morall Law But indeed S. Paul speaking of the Workes of the Law verie apparantly meaneth as well the Workes of the Morall law as of the Ceremoniall for when he saith that Not the hearers of the Law but the doers of the Law shall be Iustified can this be intended onely of the Ceremoniall law without anie regard at all had to the Morall Or when
a kind of matter appeared insomuch that S. Augustine himselfe sometime speaketh Doubtfully of it and with a peradventure there is some such thing But at other sometimes againe he is verie confident and resolute that there is no such third place and therefore in one place hee affirmeth it expresselie to be the faith of the Catholikes in that time to beleeve onelie these two places namelie Heaven and Hell But a third place saith hee vvee are utterly ignorant of Neyther doe vvee finde it to be in the holy Scriptures And againe he saith Duae quippè habitationes una in igne â—terno alia in regno aeterno For there be two habitations or dwelling places the one in everlasting fire the other in an everlasting kingdome Agreeablie wherunto the scripture that speaketh of fire for the punishment of people after their death expreslie affirmeth it to be an everlasting fire and unquenchable fire which is sufficient to take away all conceit of your temporarie and quenchable fire in your vainelie supposed Purgatorie Yea S. Augustine saith further In requie sunt animae piorum à corpore separatae c. The soules of the godly separated from their bodies be in rest or quietnesse and the soules of the ungodly suffer punishments untill the bodies of those doe rise againe unto life everlasting and the bodies of these unto eternall death vvhich is called the second death And so speaketh also S. Cyprian saying Quando isthinc excessum fuerit nullus iam poenitentiae locus nulâ—us satisfactionis effectus Hic vita aut amittitur aut tenetur Hic saâ—uti aeternae cultu Dei fructu fidei providetur VVhen men bee once departed out of this life there is no more place for repentance there is no more vvorke or effect of any satisfaction Here in this vvorld saith he life is eyther lost or got Here it is that provision is made for eternall salvation by the worshipping of God and the fruits of faith And again he there saith Then shall be vvithout fruit of repentance all griefe of paine inanis ploratio inefficax deprecatio and in vaine shall vveeping be then and prayers shall then be also uneffectuall and of no force 6 To what end then is also your praier for the dead or the Popes pardons and indulgences or singing or saying of Masses Trentals Requiems or anie other your workes satisfactorie or helpefull as you call them for the soules of the dead for in the place vvhere the Tree falleth there it lyeth whether it be toward the South or toward the North saith Ecclesiastes appointing likewise as here you see but two places in that behalfe Agreeably whereunto hee saith againe that when a man dieth his bodie as Dust returneth to the earth from vvhence it came and his soule or spirit returneth to God that gave it And againe he saith after that men are dead They have no more portion for ever in all that is done under the Sunne What part or portion then can they have in your praiers or in anie other works done by men that be living in this world Wee know and beleeve there is a communion of Saints and that the charitie and love of the Saints one towards another is verie great but yee see that the Saints and godlie Elect goe not after their death to anie place of Torment but into a place of blessednesse and heavenlie happinesse where they stand not in need of anie mortall mens praiers or other their workes whatsoever On the other side the soules of the ungodlie reprobates goe to Hell the place of the damned so that no praiers or other works whatsoever can doe them anie good for their ease or deliverance from thence And as for anie third sort of people that be neither Elect nor Reprobates such are not to be found It is true that in this life wee may beare one anothers burden and one may paie a debt for another and the abundance of one mans wealth may supplie the defect or want of another But as touching the next world it is not so for the Scripture saith that The Iust man shall live not by anie other mans but by his owne faith Againe it saith The soule that sinneth that shall dye And againe The righteousnesse of the righteous shall be upon himselfe and the vvickednesse of the vvicked shall be upon himselfe So that neither the righteousnesse nor the wickednesse of one shall bee imparted to another to save or condemne him Yea though these three men Noah Daniel and Iob were amongst them they should deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse saith the Lord God And againe the Psalmist saith A man can by no meanes redeeme his brother nor give to God a ransome for him It cost more to redeeme soules and therefore he must let that alone for ever Neither hath anie that is but a meere man anie such abundance of holinesse or righteousnesse in him as to be therewith able to supplie the defects or wants of others in that behalfe Yea all is little enough for himselfe when hee once commeth to stand in Gods presence and before his tribunall For even the holiest and iustest man that is must then say with King David Enter not O Lord into iudgement vvith thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified Yea even the blessed Virgin Mary her selfe though a most godly and holy woman yet had not such abundance of holinesse in her as to be able thereby to be her owne Saviour much lesse to be able to merit the salvation of others for that she was in respect of her selfe a Sinner and consequently had need of Christ Iesus to bee her Saviour as well as other people her selfe plainely declared when shee said My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit reioyceth in God my Saviour If she had had no sinne at all in her as some Papists affirme what need had she of a Saviour or how could Christ Iesus have beene her Saviour as shee calleth and affirmeth him For he is in no other respect called Iesus that is a Saviour but because he shall save his people from their sinnes as the Angel testifieth Againe doth not the Scripture say expressely that All have sinned and that vvhosoever be iustified be iustified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus The Papists also talke much of the vertues and sufferings of S. Paul as though they were meritorious and satisfactorie as well for others as for himselfe when as nevertheles himselfe sheweth they were not sufficient for his owne salvation It is true that he saith in his Epistle to the Colossians that He reioyced in his sufferings for them that is for their sakes who thereby were to be encouraged strengthned and confirmed in the faith of Christ and that Hee did fill up or accomplish that which was yet behinde
of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh for Christs bodies sake vvhich is the Church that is whatsoever yet wanted or remained for him to suffer in whose sufferings or afflictions Christ himselfe is said to suffer and to be afflicted and persecuted for what affliction or persecution is done to anie of his members hee accounteth it as done to himselfe all those sufferings and afflictions whatsoever they were that yet remained for him to beare he was readie willingly to undergoe for Christs bodie sake which is the Church that is for the profit and edification of the Church that it might thereby receive encouragement comfort confirmation strength and boldnesse in the profession of the Gospel I say all this being thus to be intended and understood how iniurious and impious be the Rhemists and other Papists which wrest this Text of S. Paul to prove that one man may merit and satisfie for the sinnes of another supplie his defects in that point As though the sufferings of Christ in his owne person for our sinnes had anie want defect or imperfection in them or as though the sufferings of S. Paul or of S. Peter or of anie other Saints or Martyrs and their bloudshed could or did doe that which the bloud and sufferings of Christ could not or did not doe Is it not a shame and a most monstrous shame for anie so to speake thinke or teach 7 But they here alledge that praier for the dead is mentioned in the booke of Macchabees and consequently that they be tormented in Purgatorie for why else should they be praied for I answer first that praying for the dead is there mentioned as the fact of one particular man onely namely of Iudas which can make no generall law or rule in this case And secondly there is likewise mentioned as by way of approbation in the same booke of the Macchabees the fact of one Razis that killed himselfe and yet for all that it is not of anie godly man to be followed or imitated And therefore as the one is disallowable so likewise may the other be disallowable notwithstanding the Approbation of it in that booke Thirdly Iudas himselfe did not there pray for the dead as thinking their soules to be punished and tormented in Purgatorie there is no such thing mentioned or appearing in the text but to shew that he had hope that they which were slaine and dead should rise again for to that end it was as the Text it selfe declareth But fourthly I answere that the book of the Macchabees is not canonicall Scripture and therefore is not of authoritie sufficient to prove a point of faith necessarily to be beleeved because that booke speaketh it That it is not canonicall appeareth before by the testimonie of the old Church and it doth also appeare by the testimonie even of the Author himselfe that wrote the Booke in that in the end of it he excuseth himselfe and as it were craveth pardon if he have written slenderly meanely Which apparantly sheweth that hee wrote by an humane and not by an undoubtedly divine spirit For the spirit of God is not wont nor needeth to crave pardon nor to excuse himselfe as though he wrote slenderly or meanely Lastly against that your conceit of tormeÌ„ting Purgatorie grounded out of that Booke I may and doe oppose the Booke of VVisedome where it is said directly The soules of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them If no torment shall touch them then doe they not come into anie of your supposed Purgatorie torments Yea although S. Augustine praied for his mother and some other also for their friends departed it is no proofe of your Purgatory inasmuch as such praiers do manie times proceed out of natural humane affection only be used as a token of love wel-wishing to friends departed without anie such beleefe of Purgatorie Which may doth appeare even by S. Augustine himselfe who though he praied for his mother beleeved neverthelesse that she was in peace and rest free from all paine and torment S. Ambrose likewise praied for Theodosius Valentinian and Gratian whom neverthelesse he beleeved to be in peace and rest and in heavenly happinesse You see then that praying for the dead is no prooâ—e for your Purgatorie Howbeit this praying for the dead hath also no commandement example or warrant for it in anie of the canonicall Scriptures and besides it appeareth by the premisses that it can doe the dead no good and therefore it is in vaine in respect of anie good thereby to be done to the dead As for the apparitions of soules which they likewise somtimes alledge to prove their Purgatorie it is a verie Toy and a fable For S. Chrysostome saith it is not the soule of anie dead person but a Divel which faineth himselfe to be the soule of such a one to deceive those to whom he appeareth and he calleth them Vetularum verba Pâ—erorum ludibria Old womens Tales and Childrens toyes And so S. Augustine likewise telleth you that it was not Samuel in verie deed but a Divell in his likenesse which appeared to the witch in King Sauls time And therfore he pronounceth of these things that they be either the Cousenages of Deluding men or vvonders of Deceitfull Devils with which therefore none ought anie longer to be bewitched or deluded CAP. VI. Of workes done upon a good Intention as they be called without a commandement or warrant from God or his word Of workes de Congruo and de Condigno And of workes of Supererogation and how unpleasing they all bee in Gods sight and censure howsoever in respect of men that have use and profit by them they be and may be called good and beneficiall workes SVndrie there be who thinke anie worke of their owne Invention or of others devising to bee a good worke acceptable to God and a point of good service performed to him so long as they have a good meaning or a good intention in it though the worke bee not commanded from God nor warranted by his word But God will not have everie man to doe what seemeth to himselfe good or right in his owne Eyes But vvhatsoever I command you that saith he observe to doe Yea that and That onely must yee doe as your owne latine Translation is Againe he saith I am the Lord your God vvalke yee in my statutes and kâ—epe my iudgments and doe them And nothing doth he more dislike or condemne in his service or worship then when men will be so presumptuous as out of their owne imaginations to suppose and devise what shall bee well pleasing to him For what is this else but for people to goe a vvhoring vvith their ovvne inventions as the Scripture speaketh My thoughts are not your thoughts nor your vvayes my vvaies saith the Lord for as the heavens are higher then
therefore can be no Sacrament For who is hee at this day that hath this miraculous gift of healing the sicke by annointing them with oyle I Popish Priests had it it would appeare in their extreame unctions and annointings but no such thing appeareth For what sicke man doe they recover or restore to health by that meanes Yea they use not this their unction and annoyling but when the sicke partie lyeth in extreamitie of sicknesse and is no way likely to recover and indeed most usually dieth notwithstanding these their annointings and whatsoever else they doe Thirdly the Sacraments whereof wee speake be such as bee common and appliable to all the members of Christ aswell when they bee well and in health as at other times But this their extreame Vnction belongeth and is applied onely to those that bee sicke and at such times as they be in their extreamest sicknesse and therefore it can bee no Sacrament Fourthly they use this forme of words in it By this annointing and his most holy mercie God doth forgive thee whatsoeuer thou hast offended by seeing hearing smelling tasting and touching Whereby appeareth that they make this their extreame Vnction to extend but onely to such sinnes as the man hath committed by seeing hearing smelling tasting touching that is to say by those his exterior five senses But those that bee true Sacraments indeed as is evident by Baptisme and the Lords Supper bee not so particularly limited or restrained but be Sacraments to a faithfull and godly man of the full remission and forgivenesse of all sinnes committed not onely by those his five outward senses but anie other waie else whatsoever either by thought word or deede And therefore this their extreame Vnction can bee no Sacrament rightly and properly so called 7 Now remaineth to be shewed that even those that be the verie true Sacraments indeede doe not give grace ex opere operato For they verie erroneously attribute remission of sinnes to the Sacraments administred as namely to Baptisme and the Lords Supper ex opere operato even by the verie worke done and performed whereas it is not in verie deede the external water in Baptisme administred that hath this power and vertue in it to take awaie sinnes or to cleanse and purge them neither is it the consecrated bread and wine in the Lords Supper that hath this power and vertue in it For so to suppose and imagine were to â—ttribute that to the outward signes or Sacraments which rightly and properlie belongeth to Christ Iesus inasmuch as hee onelie is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world and it is his blood onely that cleanseth us from all sinne as S. Iohn expresly witnesseth and all the rest of the Scripturs accord For which cause it is againe said in the Revel of S. Iohn that it is Christ that hath washed us from our sinnes in his blood Seeing then it is Christ and his blood onely that washeth purgeth and cleanseth in verie deede and materially from all sinnes the water in Baptisme administred must not have this power and vertue attributed unto it nor also the consecrated bread and wine in the Lords Supper received You will then demand why or in what sense it is that in the scripture the water in Baptisme is said to cleanse to sanctifie to regenerate I answere that it is said so to doe not that it hath these vertues inclosed in it or did these things efficiently or materially but for that it doth them sacramentally and significatively that is to say in plainer termes because the water in Baptisme is a Sacrament signe and seale unto us of that regeneration sanctification and cleansing which wee have through Christ For it is Gods spirit that efficiently worketh faith repentance regeneration sanctification or whatsoever other supernatural grace in a man and not the element of water And therefore also did S. Iohn Baptist say to those whom he baptized thus I Baptise you with vvater unto repentance but hee that commeth after mee is mightier then I whose shooes I am not worthie to beare he shall baptise you with the holy Ghost Where you plainely see that S. Iohn Baptist acknowledgeth that he in his Baptisme administred by him gave but water and that it was Christ that gave the holy Ghost and consequently that in the elemental water the holy Ghost was not conteined nor included but was to come another way Saint Peter hath a like speech saying That Baptisme doth save us not that it is the material cause of our salvation for Christ Iesus only is our Saviour in that sort but for that it is a sacrament signe and seale of that salvation which we have by Iesus Christ. And thus you see how all the scriptures stand well together and be rightly reconciled whereas otherwise according to their sense there would be a confusion and repugnancie Yea if it were true that the verie external act of Baptisme performed did ipso facto regenerate clense sanctifie and save then should all without exception that be baptised be also regenerated clensed sanctified and saved soules But this you neither do nor will affirme and therefore no reason have you to affirme the other whereupon this must necessarily follow In like sort if consecrated bread and wine externally distributed and received in the Lords Supper did ipso facto give grace and remission of sinnes then might Iudas that Traytor or anie other the most wicked and ungodly reprobate that externally receiveth that bread and wine receive also grace and remission of sinnes thereby which it were verie grosse and absurd for anie to affirme Yea S. Paul himselfe sheweth that there be some unworthy receivers that be so farre from receiving grace and remission of sinnes by it that contrariwise They eate and drinke Iudgement or condemnation to themselves as hee speaketh and directly witnesseth CHAP. X. Concerning the Popish Masse and the Popish Priesthood thereto belonging NOw give mee leave to tell you how detestable a thing your Popish Masse is which ye neverthelesse so much and so highly reverence being misled by the doctrine of your Teachers For yee say that your Priests doe therein offer up Christ Iesus everie day or often to his Father and that in a bodily manner and affirme it moreover to be a sacrifice propitiatorie for the sins of men What can anie that professe Christ or Christianitie be so absurd as to beleeve that Christ is often or daily offered up in a bodily manner to his Father for the sinnes of men Doe not the Scriptures themselves proclaime that Christ Iesus was in that his bodily sacrifice to be offered but Once and not often and doe they not withall expressely testifie that with that one Oblation or offering He hath consecrated for ever them that are sanctified What needeth then or how can there be anie more bodily offerings of him then that one whereby hee offered himselfe once upon the
should bee termed Regeneration which is not the verie Regeneration it selfe but a signe and token of regeneration for the Regeneration it selfe is the renewing of the man to the Image of God wherin hee was at first created which is a thing begun to bee wrought in him in this life not by the verie externall act of Baptisme performed and administred but inwardlie by the operation of the holy Ghost And likewise it ought for the same cause to seem nothing strange to anie that the Bread in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is called his bodie when as neverthelesse it is not his verie natural and substantiall bodie but a figure signe and token of that his bodie As for the reason which yee draw from the omnipotencie or almightinesse of Christ whereby hee is able as yee saie to make his verie essentiall and naturall bodie out of bread you must first proove that it is his will to have it so made before ye dispute of his power or omnipotencie For no man doubteth but that he can doe manie things which neverthelesse hee doth not doe nor will doe It is an Axiome in the Art and rule of reasoning that a Posse ad Esse non valet argumentum and therefore that God can doe such a thing and such a thing ergo hee hath done it is no good argument But that you may the better conceive the weakenesse of this your argument grounded upon Gods omnipotencie in this matter take another like unto it in this sort Christ saith of the Cup This is my blood And he by his omnipotencie is aswell able to make the very Cup his verie essentiall and natural blood as the bread his bodie ergo the verie Cup is his verie essentiall and natural blood Againe Christ saith that hee is a Vine and that hee is also Bread and by his omnipotencie hee is aswell able to make himselfe a verie Materiall Vine or verie materiall Bread as he is to make bread his natural bodie ergo hee is a verie Materiall Vine or verie Materiall Bread These arguments bee like yours when you say thus Christ saith the Bread is his body and he is by his omnipotencie able to make it his verie essential and natural bodie Ergo it is his verie essential and natural bodie I hope by this time yee see the vanitie and absurditie of this maner of reasoning But you still urge the words of Christ and say that hee saith It is his bodie and wee must not say you make him a Liar and therefore it is his verie essential and natural bodie God forbid that anie of us should goe about to make Christ a liar who is all Truth and the teacher of all Truth neither doth anie of us go about it but we say that Christ is true in those his words but men speake more then is true when out of those words of his they teach and affirme that the bread is become by way of Transubstantiation his verie essential and natural bodie For Christ doth not say so that it is his verie essential and natural bodie by way of Transubstantiation as they inferre but his wordes are onelie that it is his bodie And it may bee and is his bodie as I said before though it be not his bodie by way of Transubstantiation For if it be as it is his bodie figuratively sacramentally and significatively I trust his words are found true enough without anie such Popish grosse supposition Because Christ saith the Cup is his bloud shall he therefore be supposed a liar or untrue except the verie material Cup be beleeved in verie deed to be his verie essential and natural bloud by way of Transubstantiation or because Christ saith that he is a Vine shall he by and by be concluded to be false or untrue unlesse it be beleeved that therefore he is turned and transubstantiated into a verie natural and substantial Vine But moreover if it be Christs natural and substantial bodie in verie deed as you say it is shew us some way how we may be induced to beleeve it or how it may be proved or appeare to be so you answer that Christ his body is there miraculously But I replie againe that if it be there miraculouslie it must be there visibly and so appeare to the outward senses for it is of the propertie of everie miracle to be visible and to appeare to be so to the eie to the rest of the outward senses as when Christ turned water into wine it did appeare to be no longer water but wine to the outward senses So likewise when Moses rod was turned into a serpent it appeared to the eie outward senses to be no longer a Rod but a Serpent If therefore the bread be turned as yee say miraculouslie into the verie natural bodie of Christ it must likewise appeare visiblie to the eie and to the outward senses so to be namelie no appearance of bread must anie longer be there and on the other side onlie the verie natural bodie of Iesus Christ must appeare to the eye and the outward senses of the Receiver but cleane contrariwise there is no natural bodie of Christ Iesus appearing to the eie and outward senses of the receiver after consecration but bread onlie ergo the verie natural bodie of Iesus Christ is not there miraculouslie as Papists most absurdly affirme But although they cannot shew Christ his verie natural bodie to be there by way of transubstantiation yet say they they doe beleeve it to be so and they say withall that it is as well to be beleeved as the creation of the world the resurrection of the dead a virgin to beare a childe namely Christ Iesus such like But whilst they speake thus I pray let them tell mee can their supposed real bodilie presence of Christ in the Sacrament by way of Transubstantiation be as well proved by the Scriptures as the creation of the world the resurrection of the dead the bearing of a childe by a virgin or as the rest of the things which they meane and are directlie found in the Scriptures I am sure it cannot for all that can be said for your Transubstation hath beene examined againe and againe but no such matter can be proved or appeare Why then doe they match those things together which be nothing like Yea why be anie so unwiselie confident as to say they beleeve and verilie beleeve this real bodilie presence of Christ in the Sacrament by way of transubstantiation when they can no way shew it by anie maner of proofe or probabilitie What will men beleeve unremoveably beleeve things without wit sense reason or religion for which they have no maner of colour or warrant at all in Scripture from God or his word If they be such credulous people they may beleeve if they will anie thing whatsoever be it never so incredible or absurd for if their will and fancie shall be held for a sufficient râ—â—son who
the high Priest being one of them and the rest being the people of God that had so lately even a little before heard God speaking unto them were at least as wise as yee are to know that the Image which themselves had made could not be God and therefore albeit they fell downe before that Image yet they worshipped not the verie Image for God but God in the Image as yee likewise say yee doe Your cases then being both alike how can yee choose but confesse that yours is as plaine and as flat Idolatrie as was theirs The Scripture calleth all Idols or Images that are made to worship God in by the name of Gods thereby declaring how odious a thing in Gods sight this is whilest he accounteth it a forsaking of him the true God and a betaking of themselves to other gods to deale with him in that sort taking it for no worshipping of him at all whatsoever men pretend or say they doe intend in that case And indeed when GOD will have no such worshipping of him in and by an Image but reiecteth and refuseth to take it for anie worship of him the worship that in that case is performed then remaineth and resteth as it must needs wholly and entirely upon the Image it selfe For which cause it is that they are called Gods as I said before And therefore also doth God bring in the people of Israel after the making of that their Image and their intending to worship him in that sort as if they had said These be thy gods O Israel which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt For in Gods esteeme they worshipped not him nor offered unto him but worshipped their Moulten Calfe and offered thereunto whatsoever they pretended or intended For that Aaron the high Priest and the rest of the people of Israel did for their parts intend to worship by that meanes the true God vvhich brought them out of the land of Egypt besides these words which declare so much it is further manifest by that speech of Aaron which hee uttered saying To morrow shall bee the holy day unto Iehovah For thereby is evident inasmuch as Iehovah is the name proper to the true God Exod. 15.3 Esay 42.8 that the worshipping and offering of burnt Offerings and peace Offerings the next day before that Idoll or Image namelie before the moulten and golden Calfe was in their purposes and intentions meant and intended to the true God IEHOVAH albeit God for his part did not so account of it nor take it so but refused it as a thing odious and abhominable in his sight Insomuch that this their pretended worship of God by an Image is called in the Text A grievous crime a great sinne a corrupting of their waies a making of themselves gods of gold and a thing so highly offensive unto him as that hee was exceedinglie kindled in wrath against them and sent deserved punishment upon them for the same Take heed therfore of this grievous sinne and know that your pretended good meanings and intentions be in this case no more allowable in Gods sight nor can anie more serve to excuse or free you from Idolatrie or from incurring Gods iust displeasure for the same then did or could the same pretences intentions in the Israelites Yea your Idolatrie herein is not onely as grosse and as inexcusable as that of the Israelites but as grosse also as was that which was amongst some of the Heathens themselves for even they aswell as Papists could and did say as Clemens relateth their words Nos ad honorem invisibilis Dei visibiles Imagines adoramus VVee in honour of the invisible God doe worshippe visible Images And S. Augustine againe bringeth in the Heathen man speaking thus Non simulachrum colo sed per effigiem corporalem eius rei signum intueor quam colere Debeo I worship not the Image but by a bodily shape I behold the signe of that which I ought to worship Yea even Peresius though a Popish Bishop yet affirmeth expreslie that not all the Idols amongst the Heathen did signifie a false god and for proofe of it hee alledgeth that Text of Act. 17.23 24. c. where at Athens S. Paul finding an Altar with this Inscription To the unknowne God hee tooke occasion to preach unto them that God whom hee there saith they ignorantlie worshipped Some then there were as appeareth even amongst the verie Heathens themselves that in those their Idols or Images worshipped not the verie Image it selfe but God in those their purposes and intentions as the Papists likewise say they doe Where is then the difference of their Idolatrie 4 But they have yet a fourth point of very grosse Idolatrie in their Church and that is in their Invocations or prayers to the blessed Virgin Marie and to other Saints departed this life and unto Angells also For doth not S. Paul plainely tell you that men are to pray or call upon none but him in whome they are to beleeve How shall they call upon him saith he in whom they have not beleeved But none may beleeve in anie but in God as beside the Scriptures the verie Creede it selfe also teacheth you And therefore none may pray to anie or call upon anie in praier but upon God onely Againe when Christ Iesus taught his Disciples to pray Did hee teach them to praie to anie Saints or Angells No but saith hee VVhen yee pray say thus Our father which art in heaven c. therby teaching them that when they pray they must pray unto God onely their heavenly Father and not to anie creatures be they Saints or Angels or whosoever And this againe God himselfe expreslie willeth commandeth saying Call upon mee in the dâ—y of trouble so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie mee And againe in another Psalme it is written thus Therefore shall everie one that is godly make his prayer unto thee that is unto God The Psalmist saith againe VVhom have I in heaven but thee And againe he saith thus My soule waite thou onelie upon God for my expectation is from him Hee onely is my Rocke and my Salvation Observe well that word onely for so it is in the nevv Translation according to the Hebrew Original Now then if as here appeareth godlie men waite onely upon God and that Hee onely is their Rocke their Salvation their strength their refuge stay and helpe bee not all other hereby directly excluded Bus yet further Epiphanius saith expresly thus Let no man worship the Virgin Marie Yea hee sheweth it to bee the heresie of the Collyridians to vvorship her But consider yet moreover that it is a chiefe part of Gods worship and glorie to call upon him in Prayer for thereby wee declare that he is the only knower of our hearts discerner of our thoughts and affections and feacher of the reines as also that he is onely powerfull to yeed
thereby declaring that it shall not bee anie open hostilitie or professed Enmitie against Christ and his Gospell such as is amongst Turkes and Iewes and other Infidells of the world but an hidden close and covert Iniquity not easie to be discerned to be Iniquitie it should carrie and convey it selfe so subtillie and under such shewes and pretences of godlinesse and Christianitie And least wee should deceive our selves in the time or thinke that this Mysterie of Iniquitie vvas to rise to his height and fulnesse on a sodaine or all at once or not till some few yeares beâ—ore the end of the world behold S. Paul telleth us that it was then in working eveÌ„ in his daies so that even then namelie in S. Pauls time it began to worke in such sort as it could going on and creeping forward by little and little and by degrees untill at last it came to his full stature and highest tallest growth And further the text sheweth that in this Apostacie or mystical Iniquitie there should bee signes vvonders and lying Miracles wrought for the better prevailing and fortification of it and for the stronger alluring of people thereunto and confirming them therin Now they bee called lying Miracles or lying wonders partlie for that they bee false and counterfeit and partlie for that they lead men into falshood and errors as Chrysostome expoundeth those words And likewise S. Augustine sheweth that they be called lying signes and wonders either because hee shall deceive the senses of mortal men by counterfeit shewes and apparances that he may seeme to do that which hee doth not or else because they shall draw unto lies such as shall beleeve that they could not be done but by the power of God they not knowing the power of the Divell For the Divell sometimes interposeth himselfe to worke these miracles And even in this verie place also to the Thessalonians they are said to bee done by the operation or vvorking of Satan Consider then whether these things bee not found verified in the Papacie As touching the Miracles which are said to bee done in Poperie there be as that learned and reverend Bishop D. Dovvnam hath distinguished set them downe three degrees or three sorts of them the one such as bee merelie fabulous and devised by lying Companions whereof their Legends Festivalls and other their Bookes have good store of examples some of them being so notoriouslie incredible as that none except he were miserablie intoxicated and bewitched could or would beleeve them which lowd and lewd lies and no better then Poetical Fictions were neverthelesse in so high esteeme in the Popish Church that they were both publickelie and privatelie read in the vulgar tongue when as the sacred and Canonical Scriptures were closed up and kept from the people in an unknowne language And as this first degree of Miracles is of such as never were indeede not so much as in apparance but in the opinion onelie of men besotted and given over to beleeve incredible untruths So the second degree or second sort of their Miracles is of such as be in shew or apparance onelie or artificial conveiances of deceitful men or iugling trickes of Legerdemaine of which sort are the nodding or moving the smiling or frowning the sweating or speaking of Images and such like The third sort of their Miracles bee such as bee done by the power of the Divell working by natural causes and naturall meanes although so closelie covertlie stilie and speedilie sometimes as that they draw ignorant people that perceive not the reason of those things into a great admiration and conceit that they are true miracles indeed when as neverthelesse though they bee done yet they surpasse not the strength of nature as those doe that bee true and divine Miracles For those that bee true Miracles indeed bee supernatural and beyond the power of all natural causes whatsoever and are done onelie by the omnipotent power of God Neither is the Pope nor all his partakers able to produce anie one such true Miracle wrought by a Divine power and by the finger of God for confirmation of anie pointe of their New Religion wherein they differ from us although they pretend divers Yea some of their owne writers doe ingenuouslie confesse that sometimes there is verie great deceiving of the people by Miracles fayned by the Priests or their adherents for temporal gaine sake And another of them saith directly thus That in the Sacrament appeareth flesh sometime by the conveyance of men sometime by the operation of the divell Another of them saith likewise that Miracles bee sometimes done to men that flocke to Images by the operation of Divells to deceive inordinate worshippers God permitting it and the infidelitie of such men requiring it Irenaeus even in his time also telleth of a certaine man called Marke which in the Sacrament of the Eucharist mightilie deceived the people by changing the colour of the wine in such sort as that it seemed to bee blood All which kinde of deceiveable practises it is good that all those that bee so much devoted and wedded to Poperie and to listning after Miracles should take special notice of and thereby learne to take heede of such Impostors and Deceivers in time All the great wonderfull and supernatural Miracles which have beene done by Christ and his Apostles and in those ancient former and elder times be sufficent for confirmation of that old and most ancient faith and religion which wee hold namely which is conteined in the sacred and Canonical Scriptures neither doe wee desire anie moe or thinke anie more requisite or necessarie For as S. Augustine saith Quisquis adhuc prodigia ut credat inquirit magnum est ipse prodigium qui mundo credente non credit VVhosoever still seeketh after wonders that hee might beleeve is himselfe a great wonder who when the world beleeveth beleeveth not Yea if the Papists had not these their signes wonders and miracles amongst them they could not bee as here wee see the Antichristian Church But there bee no people of the world that so much obiect and boast of them as they As for the Iewes they have them not The Turkes and Mahometists disclaime them professing that their religion is to bee propagated and promoted not by miracles but by force and armes and by the sword The true Christians which bee the Protestants urge them not nor require them onelie the false Christians that is the Antichristians which bee the Papists doe urge and require them and glorie and vaunt of them and none so much as they nor anie like to them and therefore this note or marke of Antichristianisme touching Miracles is verie evident and most apparant amongst them 2 Againe this text of S. Paul sheweth that this great Antichrist who is the head of this Apostatical Church which thus aboundeth with false and lying Miracles and Wonders should sit in the Temple of GOD that
shall vvalke after the Lord your God and feare him and shall keepe his commandements and hearken unto his voyce and yee shall serve him and cleave unto him But that Prophet or that Dreamer of dreames hee shall bee slaine because hee hath spoken to turne you avvay from the Lord your God vvhich brought you out of the Land of Egypt and delivered you out of the house of Bondage to thrust thee out of the vvay vvherein the Lord thy God commanded thee to vvalke Wherby we are admonished that if anie Miracle be wrought or wonder done to leade a man out of the right way from God and his religion or for the confirmation of anie Idolatrous erroneous or false religion or of anie point of Error or Vntruth wee must not regard it or bee moved by it And therefore wee are first to examine whether that point of faith and religion which in these daies is so attempted or intended to bee proved by Miracle or Wonder bee consonant and agreeable to the word of God delivered unto us in the holie and Canonical Scriptures For if it be not found to bee thereby warranted the Miracle or wonder wrought for the confirmation of that untruth must beare no sway with us how great soever it seeme but must be reiected as here you see And this is one cause amongst the rest why they bee called Lying Miracles and wonders which are done in Poperie the Antichristian Church because they bee done to this end to maintaine lyes and lying doctrines and an untrue and false religion whereby they deceive men and bring them first to Impietie and misbeleefe and afterward to utter ruine and destruction 7 For as this Antichristian Poperie was to prevaile by the subtiltie and deceiveablenesse therof and by the working of Satan and by the lying miracles and wonders that be therin so S. Paul further sheweth amongst vvhom it should prevaile namelie Amongst them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved and that therefore God did sent them strong delusion that they should beleeve lyes that they all might be damned vvhich beleeved not the Truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse In which words you see first the cause and reason which God had to punish the world with this great plague of Antichristian Popish blindenesse namely the neglect and contempt of his Word and Gospell and their preferring mens traditions doctrines lies and devises before his truth in his Scriptures contained For saith he because they received not the love of the Truth that they might bee saved therefore it is that Satan with his fraudes and deceiptfull practises should so prevaile among them Againe hee saith And therefore shall God send them strong delusion that they should beleeve lyes that they all might be damned vvhich beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse Observe here well that hee calleth it as most apparantly it is indeede a strong delusion wherewith Papists are possessed and carried and that it is also a strong delusion to beleeve lyes and such as that they take pleasure in that unrighteousnesse Doe not all devoted Papists finde this to be true And is not Popish Antichristianisme also rightly worthily called Iniustice or unrighteousnesse when most iniuriously it hath robbed God and men Christ and his Church and the sacred and canonical Scriptures and not only Bishops and Clergie men but Kings Princes and Emperors also and people of the rights and dues to them belonging Yea it breaketh the strength and sinewes of Common weales also aswell as of the Church by lying and deceiptfull equivocations by dispensing with oathes and with other things by their doctrine and Decree that Faith is not to be kept vvith Heretickes by their dissolving of the allegeance of subiects by their doctrine of deposing Kings by their Gun-powder plots and most detestable devises of treasons rebellions murders and massacres of Christian and Protestant Princes and their people and by sundrie other wayes rufull to be told and most shamefull to be either professed or put in execution Can there be greater points of iniustice or unrighteousnesse then these But all this while forget not I beseech you amongst what manner of people it is that this Antichristian Poperie prevaileth namely that it is amongst them that perish that all they might be damned vvhich beleeved not Gods truth extant in his Scriptures but take pleasure in that unrighteousnesse For doe you not hereby perceive the most fearefull estate and most wofull condition that all Papists be in that notwithstanding they be often admonished will not for all that forsake Antichrist and his religion to embrace the truth and the most pure religion of Christ taught in the holy Scriptures Bee they not here expressely affirmed to be such as perish and are to be damned if they persist obstinate and will not be reclaimed or converted Agreeably hereunto is also that which is written in the Revelation of S. Iohn where the Angel uttered it with a lowd voice to the end that all men should take notice of it saying If any man vvorship the beast and his image and receive his marke in his forhead or on his hand the same shall drinke of the vvine of the vvrath of God yea of the pure vvine that is poured into the cup of his vvrath and hee shall be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy Angells and before the Lambe and the smoake of their torment shall ascend up evermore and they shall have no rest day nor night vvhich worship the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the print of his name Consider these things seriously yee that are wont to say and hold that None can be saved but he that is a pure Papist Doe yee not see the cleane contrarie here directly affirmed and that by warrant from God himselfe that whosoever is a pure Papist and in contempt of all admonitions will so live and die is not a saved but a damned soule Wee wish your salvation and if your selves wish it likewise as no doubt ye doe yee will then take the right course for it and be content not onely patiently but thankefully also to receive these christian and friendly admonitions and so be moved in time to relinquish and utterly to detest and abandon this Antichristian Poperie that thus directly and certainely leadeth to Hell and damnation 8 But consider yet further the other words of S. Paul where he saith of Antichrist thus VVhom the Lord shall consume vvith the spirit of his mouth and shall abolish with the brightnesse of his comming For hereby appeareth that Antichrist and his religion shall be consumed by the voice and preaching of the word of God which he calleth the spirit of his mouth and that hee shall be utterly abolished at the bright and glorious comming of Christ to iudgement so that here you may observe the decay and destruction of that Antichristian monster namely
of his most holy and most pure Religion and ordinances delivered in the sacred and canonical Scriptures the Infallible rule of Truth For doe you thinke that ever Christ and Antichrist will agree together VVhat hath the chaffe to doe vvith the vvheate saith the Lord. Or VVhat fellowship as S. Paul speaketh hath righteousnesse vvith unrighteousnesse vvhat communion hath light vvith darkenesse vvhat concord hath Christ vvith Belial vvhat part hath the Beleever vvith the Infidel vvhat agreement hath the Temple of God vvith Idols In some things I grant the Popish Church holdeth rightly and in all things such is the mysterie of Iniquitie maketh a semblance and pretence of pietie and Christianitie But take heed and be not here with deceived for beside that it is the nature and maner of Hypocrisie so to doe you now I hope doe sufficiently understand that neither the Pope of Rome could be Antichrist nor his Church be the Antichristian vnlesse they did make this semblance of pietie outward shâ—w and pretence of Christianitie yea cleerely they should be altogether Vnchristian and not Antichristian people if they made no semblance or profession at all of Christ. But all is not gold that glistereth nor that ever right and true Christianitie that seemeth to be so The Divell himselfe will hold some things rightly and will sometimes utter and tell some truths but it is to the end to gaine credite and beleefe to himselfe at other times and in other things when and wherein he speaketh lies And this craft and subtiltie have all Antichristian and false teachers learned and do practise being as S. Paul calleth them False-Apostles deceiptfull vvorkmen transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ And no marvaile saith he for Satan also himselfe is transformed into an Angel of light Therefore it is no great thing though his ministers transforme themselves as though they vvere the Ministers of righteousnesse vvhose end shall be according to their vvorkes Now then concerning the Kings Supremacy and his Authoritie in all kinde of causes and over all sorts of people aswell Ecclesiasticall as Civill you see what it is and you understand I trust the cleere lawfulnesse of it within his owne Dominions For a time there was as before is shewed when the Bishop of Rome was limited his precincts and bounds aswell as other Bishops and had no more Supremacy or Authoritie over other Bishops then they had over him Yea a time there was when Bishops in a Councell assembled had authoritie over the Pope of Rome and might and actually did depose him and when also the Bishops of Rome were subiect to the Emperor and at his command as is likewise before declared So that the best title which the Bishop of Rome at anie time had to his Supremacie within anie Kingdome appeareth to be not by anie institution or law of God but by an humane constitution onely and a positive law And seeing that this his Supremacie was afterward put downe againe dissolved and abolished within this Kingdome as also in all the rest of his Maiesties Dominions by as high and as good authoritie as at anie time it was erected and established in the same namely by Act of Parliament made within those Realmes Everie subiect to his Maiestie now standeth tied and bound in duetie utterly to renounce and forsake it If yet yee alledge as ye sometimes doe that for the space of divers hundreth yeares in the later times the Kings and Princes in Christendome submitted themselves to this Supremacie of the Pope I answer first that it is apparant that Non fuit sic ab initio it vvas not so from the beginning and that the most ancient Precedents be to the contrarie Secondly that this was to fulfil a prophecie in the Scripture which foretold that so it should come to passe namely that these Kings should vvith one consent submit or give their Kingdome unto the Beast untill the vvords of God vvere fulfilled Yea these Kings not onely submitted themselves and their Kingdomes to this Supremacie of the Pope but to the adulterated Religion likewise of that Whore of Babylon the Papal Citie of Rome to fulfill the like Prophecie which saith that vvith her have committed fornication the Kings of the earth and the Inhabitants of the earth have beene made drunken vvith the vvine of her fornication Inasmuch then as these things be thus foretold in holy Scripture to come to passe what marvell should it now be to anie to see and know them to have beene accomplished accorcordingly But yet thirdly observe that although these kings did for so long time yeeld and submit themselves and the people of their kingdomes to this Beast vvhore of Babylon yet the later part of this Prophecie remaineth to be fulfilled which is this that Tenne of these Kings that were so long enchanted and bewitched with this Whore and seduced and abused by her shall afterward discerne and espie her fraudes and wickednesse and thereupon shall detest and hate her make her desolate and naked eate her flesh and shall burne her vvith fire Which Prophecie as it is alreadie begun to be performed in some of these Kings which have fallen from her hating and detesting both her authoritie and her adulterated religion so shall it in all the parts and points of it in the due time appointed of God be fully and actually performed and accomplished The long continuance then of Pope and Poperie in the world is no argument or proofe of the lawfulnesse or allowablenesse of them for beside that it was foretold to be of that long continuance Mahometisme Paganisme heresie and error drunkennesse adulterie and sundrie other sinnes and vices be also verie ancient and of long continuance in the world yet doth not that make them therefore to be ever the more lawfull or allowable Yea the longer the Popes Supremacie and his adulterated Religion have continued the greater wrong and iniurie hath been done all that while not onely to all other Bishops in the world and to all Emperors Kings and Princes likewise but also to the whole Church and religion of God and even to God himselfe And therefore this maketh not for the upholding or confirmation but for the further and greater detestation and condemnation of them both 2 So that no sufficient cause or reason can anie of you shew why ye should refuse to be of our Religion or why yee should not all come to our Churches assemblies and ioine with us in the right and true service of God For first where yee suppose Ours the Protestant Religion as it is called to be false and heretical and yours the Popish to be the onely Catholike right it hath before bni made verie manifest unto you cleane contrariwise that Ours is the right Apostolike Catholike most ancient religion that yours comming in afterward is the new adulterate heretical false Antichristian and that those be not the children of the right and
here useth is taken among authors oftentimes in contrarie senses eyther to signifie a great while since or else but lately or erewhile In the former sense it must be here taken if it have relation to the time wherein Bede did write his book and in the latter also it may be taken if it be referred to the time whereof he treateth which is the more likely opinion namely to the comming of Bishop Aidan into England which fell out within a yeare or little more after that Honorius had sent his admonitorie letters to the Irish. who as hee was the first Bishop of Rome we can reade of that admonished them to reforme their rite of keeping the time of Easter so that the Irish also much about the same time conformed themselves herein to the Romane usage may thus be manifested When Bishop Aidan came into England from the iland Hy now called Y-Columkille the colledge of monkes there was governed by Segenius who in the inscription of the epistle of the clergie of Rome sent unto the Irish is called Segianus Now there is yet extant in Sir Robert Cottons worthy librarie an epistle of Cummianus directed to this Segienus for so is his name there written abbot of Y-Columkille wherein he plainly declareth that the great cycle of DXXXII years and the Romane use of celebrating the time of Easter according to the same was then newly brought in into this countrey For the first yeare saith he wherein the cycle of DXXXII yeares began to be observed by our men I received it not but held my peace daring neyther to commend it nor to disprayse it That yeare being past he saith he consulted with his ancients who were the successors of Bishop Ailbeus Queranus Coloniensis Brendinus Nessanus and Lâ—â—gidus who being gathered together in Campo-lene concluded to celebrate Easter the yeare following together with the universall Church But not long after saith he there arose up a certaine whited wall pretending to keepe the tradition of the Elders which did not make both one but divided them and made voyde in part that which vvas promised whom the Lord as I hope will smite in whatsoever maner he pleaseth To this argument drawne from the tradition of the elders he maketh answer that they did simply and faithfully observe that which they knew to be best in their dayes without the fault of anie contradiction or animositie and did so recommend it to their posteritie and opposeth thereunto the unanimous rule of the Vniversall Catholick Church deeming this to be a very harsh conclusion Rome erreth Ierusalem erreth Alexandria erreth Antioch erreth the whole world erreth the Scottish only and the Britons doe alone hold the right but especially he urgeth the authoritie of the first of these Patriarchicall Sees which now since the advancement therof by the Emperour Phocas began to be admired by the inhabitants of the earth as the place which God had chosen whereunto if greater causes did arise recourse was to be had according to the Synodicall decree as unto the head of cities and therefore he saith that they sent some unto Rome who returning backe in the third yeare informed them that they met there with a Grecian and an Hebrew and a Scythian and an AEgyptian in one lodging and that they all and the whole world too did keepe their Easter at the same time when the Irish were disjoyned from them by the space of a whole moneth And vve have proved saith Cummianus that the vertue of God was in the relicks of the holy martyrs and the scriptures which they brought with them For we saw with our eyes a mayde altogether blinde opening her eyes at these relickes and a man sicke of the palsie walking and manie divells cast out Thus farre hee The Northren Irish and Albanian Scottish on the other side made little reckoning of the authoritie either of the Bishop or of the Church of Rome And therefore Bede speaking of Oswy king of Northumberland saith that notwithstanding hee was brought up by the Scottish yet hee understood that the Romane was the Catholick and Apostolick Church or that the Romane Church was Catholick and Apostolick intimating thereby that the Scottish among whom he received his education were of another minde And long before that Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus who were sent into England by Pope Gregory to assist Augustin in a letter which they sent unto the Scotts that did inhabite Ireland so Bede writeth complayned of the distaste given unto them by their countreymen in this maner When vve knew the Britons vve thought that the Scotts were better then they But we learned by Bishop Daganus comming into this Iland and abbot Columbanus comming into France that the Scotts did differ nothing from the Britons in their conversation For Daganus the Bishop comming unto us would not take meate with us no not so much as in the same lodging wherein we did eate And as for miracles wee finde them as rife among them that were opposite to the Romane tradition as upon the other side If you doubt it reade what Bede hath written of Bishop Aidan who of what merit hee was the inward Iudge hath taught even by the tokens of miracles saith he and Adamnanus of the life of S. Colme or Columkille Whereupon Bishop Colman in the Synod at Strenshalch frameth this conclusion Is it to be beleeved that Colme our most reverend father and his successors men beloved of God which observed Easter in the same maner that we do did hold or doe that which was contrary to the holy Scriptures seeing there were very many among them to whose heavenly holinesse the signes and miracles vvhich they did bare testimony whom nothing doubting to be Saints I desist not to follow evermore their life maners and discipline What Wilfride replyed to this may be seene in Bede that which I much wonder at among the many wonderfull things related of S. Colme by Adamnanus is this that where he saith that this Sainct during the time of his abode in the abbay of Clone now called Clonmacnosh did by the revelation of the holy Ghost prophecie of that discord which after many dayes arose among the Churches of Scotland or Ireland for the diversity of the feast of Easter yet he telleth us not that the holy Ghost revealed unto him that he himselfe whose example animated his followers to stand more stiffely herein against the Romane rite was in the wrong and ought to conforme his judgement to the tradition of the Churches abroad as if the holy Ghost did not much care whether of both sides should carrie the matter away in this controversie for which if you please you shall heare a verie prettie tale out of an old Legend concerning this same discord whereof S. Colme is said to have prophecyed Vpon a certaine time saith my Author there was a great Councell of the people of Ireland in the