most famous places and that be shall worke strange signes and wonders we conclude on the contrary part that antiquitie multitude succession and miracles are rather at this day the markes of the seat of Antichrist of that whore then of Christ and of his chaste spouse of whome Christ hath giuen vs this one marke He that is of the trueth heareth my voyce He that is my Disciple abideth in my word That the holy scripture is the vndoubted touchstone to try the puritie of doctrine which is the marke of the pure Churches CHAP. 4. OVr aduersaries doe therevpon obiect vnto vs that doctrine as a common argument and that euery one saith that he hath the pure doctrine on his side and therefore that it can not be alledged as a mark of the pure Churches I answere that this is in deede a common bragge of all heretikes but it is not alwaies a common marke but peculiar and proper to the pure Churches For both the true Christians and heretikes may haue antiquitie multitude succession and miracles as we haue already proued but there is none but the sound and Catholike Church that can haue trueth true doctrine which consisteth in faith and charitie forasmuch as she is one and if the other boast of it they haue nothing else but the sound the which by and by vanisheth if it be once put to the touch Likewise we see commonly that they which pleade together pretende euery one that ryght is on their side In meane time who wil say that seeing both twaine saye they haue right that there is no question to dispute of the right but only that he which is in possession should keepe it He that should say so he should make him selfe a laughing stocke should often times giue authoritie title to the vniust possessor against the right owner For besides the opiniōs of parties there are aduocates to debate the right lawe that must iudge thereof Now for to decide the matter wherof there is questiō thanks be to God we haue a good Iudge The question betweene vs is of the pure seruice of god Now it is not in mans power to iudge howe God must be serued much lesse for a poore pesaunt to make bookes how Princes should be dutifully serued For betweene man man there is alwaies a proportion but betweene man and God there can be none For it is God alone which ought only to be heard in this matter not men whose ordinances of the seruice towards god is for their own turne serue only for their owne phantasies This is the cause why God himselfe would be the onely law giuer vnto his people giuing thē a law which containeth whatsoeuer he requireth of men aswel in general as in particular And to cut of al mans inuētiōs he expressely forbiddeth thē to adde any thing thereto or to take any thing therefro for he saith that he will be serued according to his pleasure and not according to that which is good in mens eyes which he hath knit vp for vs in one worde I will obedience not sacrifice The Priests were men very oftentimes they could not content themselues with this but the example of the sonnes of Aaron may be an horrour vnto euery one who for offering straunge fire vnto the Lord not being commaūded they were consumed with fire sent from heauē And whilest men haue loued their owne inuentions they haue loden the people with traditions ceremonies and gloses and whereas the lawe was giuen to conuince them of sinne to the ende they might seeke mercie in Christe they haue founde out other meanes for their saluation But God by his Prophets which he hath sent from time to time betweene the publishing of the law the Gospel hath alwaies helde them to the lawe To the lawe and the testimonie saith Esai hide my lawe amongst my Disciples And if they speake not according to this worde the morning light shall not be giuen vnto them And because they obserued not this sacrifice it was turned to them into a curse God was readie to make a diuorce with his people therefore to cutte of at one blowe all their madnesses Malachi recommendeth to the Church the obseruation of the law and the ordinances giuen from Moses vntill the comming of Elias that is of Iohn the forerunner of Iesus Christ See then the lawe of the Church euen vntill the Gospel of grace was giuen whereof the Prophetes were expositers by which a man may distinguishe the false seruice from the true without hauing anye recourse to the long possession thereof which had but small authoritie to giue power to Ismael him selfe agaynst Israel To be short he of whom it is only said Heare him to teach vs by his example hath giuen so great authority to the lawe that he will haue the people thereby to iudge whether he be Christ or no Search saith he diligētly the Scriptures for you thinke that by thē you shal haue euerlasting life and they are they which beare witnes of me The iudge of the world attributeth so much to the lāw that he wil haue the world to iudge by the same law whether he be the true Messias a deceiuer of the people or the sauiour of the world And why so because it is not the word of Moses nor of Esai nor of any men but euen his who sent him Nowe by the comming of our Sauiour Christ the holy scriptures haue lost nothing but rather haue the greater authority God which hath spoken to our fathers sayth the Apostle sundry times in diuers maners hath in these last times spoken vnto vs by his owne sonne This sōne is God himselfe this is that essētial word this is he by whose cōming the Church waiteth for the manifestation of al things The word then that proceedeth frō him ought to haue an infinite absolute authority therūto must mē adde nothing For it is the infinite wisedome of the infinite father and can teach vs whatsoeuer is necessarie for our saluation And seeyng he hath so loued vs that he came into the world to dye for vs he would not then hide from vs the worde of life To be short he came to lighten vs in darkenesse and hath promised neuer to forsake vs He hath then left vs some light to guide vs and seeing he is that same light it selfe it is such a light as we following it we cannot be deceiued Nowe this then is that same written word of God which is the true image of that essentiall worde in which he hath imprinted all that is necessarie for vs to the glorie of God and all that is expedient for our saluation The Apostles receyued this worde from his mouth to preache the same to all the worlde and herein they were true and faithfull Ambassadors Agayne the spirite of God through which they preached indited it and taught them what they
by the Scriptures which were giuen vnto vs by the holie Ghost reiecting whatsoeuer is not agreeable to them as enemie to our saluation And against all heretikes he demaundeth that onely the Scripture be vmpire Chrysostom calleth it the most exact balaunce the squire the rule and iudge of all doctrine And in a certayne other place the same sayeth that the Scripture is the accomplishment of the holie Ghost as Christ is of the lawe and that without it we may not alledge the spirite Irence calleth it the foundation and pillar of our faith Tertullian sayeth Take from heretikes the bookes of Ethnikes and winne so much of them that they will rest vpon the Scriptures and they can not stande Also let the shoppe of Hermogenes shewe that it is written if they cannot let them feare the curse which is appoynted for them that adde to or diminishe To bee short they all dryue to this poynt that to examine all doctrine to maintayne the true to vanquishe the false we must haue no other touchstone no other Buckler or sworde but this And this was the cause in the thirde Councill of Carthage it was forbidden to read any thing in the Church but the Canonicall Scriptures And the Imperiall lawe distinguisheth Catholikes from heretikes by the Apostolicall and Euangelicall doctrine and Constantine the great the first Christian Emperour hauing assembled that famous Councill of Nicee wherein there were three hundreth and eyghtene Fathers to dispute agaynst the heresie of Arrius he prescribed them this rule We haue sayeth he the bookes of the Euangelistes Apostles and Prophetes which instruct vs in the holie lawe By these bookes then it behooueth vs to resolue all doubtes and questions And this rule also was there so exactly kept that one Minister alone Paphnutius by name alleadging the Scripture made all the rest to chaunge their opinion who without any grounde of the Scripture for certayne politike and humane considerations were readie to haue abolished the marriage of Ministers To be shorte Gerson and Panormitane euen when the Popes thunderbolts and lyghtning excommunications were most hotte durst yet say and write that one poore lay man alleadging a text of the olde or newe Testament ought to be preferred before the Pope yea and before a generall Councill erring through ignorance or of malice against the text of Gods worde which ought to bee thought no more straunge then if they had sayde that the worde of God alone hath more wayght then all the Doctors of the worlde together who are nothing else with all their knowledge but ignorance and vanitie I haue bene long in this poynt because nowe a dayes they alwayes speake vnto vs of the fathers and I pray the readers to take a little payne to reade the places themselues because they shall finde them yet more playne and full then the desire that I haue to be short suffereth me to write at large With Isaie the Prophete therefore we call our aduersaries to the Lawe with Abraham to Moses and the Prophetes with Christ to the Scriptures with all the fathers and Christian Doctors to the olde and newe Testament If this Iudge then which heretofore hath decyded all cōtrouersies which hath bene so reuerently accepted euen of the greatest parte of heretikes themselues can not please thē either they must alledge great causes of refusall against it or else all the worlde will holde their doctrine more suspect then the doctrine of al the heretiks that euer were Their first cause of refusing the holie Scriptures is for that they are imperfect But I demaunde of them if they will require any other perfection then a doctrine sufficient to saluation If they content themselues to be saued Saint Iohn hath tolde vs that that which he hath written is sufficient to beleeue in Christ and to haue lyfe in his name and as concerning the things which are omitted S. Augustine pronounceth that he is rash which presumeth to ghesse what they are Saint Paul also sayth that the holy Scriptures are sufficient to make the man of God perfect and wise to saluation That they comprehende sufficiently the rule of faith and whatsoeuer belongeth to the seruice of god Beholde then sufficiently wherewithall to saue them If they wil not cōtent thēselues with saluation but call the Scriptures imperfect because they finde not there the determination of certaine curious questions which they handle in their schooles and yet they doe the Scriptures wrong for there they shall finde their condemnation Moreouer I demaunde of them from whence this imperfection can come Is this of Christ nay rather he is perfection it selfe And seeyng he came to accomplishe our saluation it must needes bee he of whome the Church must wayte for the reuelation of all things He then coulde beyng perfectly wise and woulde beyng perfectly good teache his Church whatsoeuer myght belong vnto her saluation Or is this imperfection of the Apostles but they receyued this woorde of lyfe from his mouth and after hee sent vnto them his holie Spirite to recorde it and to put them in minde thereof in such sorte that they preached saluation to all nations and as Ireneus sayeth that which they preached by mouth they haue left vnto vs by wryting to be the pillar and foundation of our fayth The whole faulte then commeth not that wayes it remayneth then that the whole imperfection bee in men who not fynding in the Scriptures their imperfections they esteeme it imperfect as they that haue swilled in the snowe waters from the mountaynes call those imperfect which haue not wyde and hanging throtes like themselues for that they haue not their superfluous imperfection We finde in the Scriptures the inuocation of one God alone by meanes of Iesus Christ alone but they would find there the inuocation of Saints We there finde that purgatorie cleansing is in the onely blood of Iesus Christ they woulde finde there that purgatorie which they haue taken out of Virgill and Plato We there finde one onely Mediator but they would finde as manie there as there are saints in their kalender They call these things imperfections in the Scripture which are rather so manie infections in their Church Furthermore I demaunde be it that a man thinke that there wanteth something who shall be so hardie after such a workeman to put to his hande to make it perfect If a man saye the Doctors why then quite contrarie finde it onely perfect in it as in a glasse they acknowledge the imperfections both of others and of themselues If they will bryng in the Church through her traditions why it is shee that hath taught vs to cut of by the bookes of this Canon all that we finde not therein and further shee is forbidden to serue God according to her traditions and commaunded to be a scholer of this word and we knowe that this is not the parte of a scholer to vsurpe aboue
dwell there for euer And therefore the priests had no other answere to all the Propheres that reproued them but this The Temple the Temple the Temple of the Lorde But see what the Lorde him selfe answereth vnto them Goe saith he see Shiloh I haue chosen it from the beginning for my house Now see what I haue done vnto it for the wickednes of my people I wil do euen so to the place which I haue giuen vnto you and to your fathers But if you will that I dwell there amende your wayes turne from your euil deedes Nowe if he haue forsaken his owne temple for the iniquitie of the priests besides which he had none erected in the whole world must we tye our selues to the Church of Rome or to any other place seeing that al the Elimates of the world are equally his temple Concerning the succession of persons that is no lesse friuolous then the other In all estates cōmō weales there is one perpetual sequele of magistrates either by succession or by election Nowe if there be any questiō of reforming the estate according to the lawes there is no way so ill as to vse these argumentes I am a magistrate as was my predecessour or from the father to the sonne ergo the cōmon wealth hath not to make any reformation None euer douted but that Nero was a tyrant although he was descended from Augustus neither would any man affirme that Commodus was a good prince although Marcus Aurelius was his father In like maner euery one will accord that Manasses defiled the church violated al iustice albeit he was the sonne of good Ezechias and Iosias he reformed the Church the lawes who was the sonne of Manasses himself And the ciuil lawiers themselues which make two sorts of tyrantes the one sort without title the other of exercise that is one sort vniust vsurpers the other vniust gouernors so we also make two kinds of Popes playing the tyrantes ouer the Church one sort which they call intruders which are thrust in there vnlawfully the other abusers abusing their authoritie shewing thereby that that which may fall out in the successiō of magistrates in the common wealth may also fall out in the succession of prelates in the Church Furthermore if euer any might alledge the succession of pastors they were the Iewes for they were of the house of Aaron from the father to the sonne besides them none might sacrifice Moreouer to them it was promised that they shoulde so continue for euer And hereof it was that when the Prophets exhorted them to reformation they had no other thing in their mouth The lawe shall not perish from the Priest nor the councell from the wise nor the worde from the Prophete But the spirite of the Lorde aunswered them Say not We are wise the lawe of the Lord is with vs For it is in vaine that the pen is made and that there is a scribe The wisemen are confounded And seeing that they haue reiected the worde of the Lord what shal be their wisedome any more Likewise when they boasted to Iesus Christ that they were the seede of Abraham I knowe it well saith he but the deuil is your father And in very deede this successiue hereditarie wisedome crucified Christ and reiected it saluation as also this selfe same successiō but yet only pretended worshippeth Antichrist ētertaineth it own perdition Moreouer I demaund what these alledgers of succession would haue aunswered to the Samositans Nestorians Arrians c. who had their beginning cōtinued from the first Bishops euen to thēselues namely frō Nestorius Samosatenus both which were lawfully called to the patriarchal churches the one to Constantinople the other to Antioche Also what wil they answere to the succession alledged by all the Greeke East Churches to be short to the reformed churches of Englād Denmark Swethen a great part of Almaigne c. through all which there is at this daye this succession from Bishop to Bishop frō pastor to pastor If they will alledge the Popes supremacie a man may deny it them this is another question If simply succession then they haue lost their cause If that doctrine thē we gaine this point that the simple succession of persons without the succession of doctrine is nothing worth They alledge that the auncient Doctors haue vsed this argument we deny it not But they must marke therein eyther that this was against heretikes that denyed the holy scriptures or else there was alwayes adioyning the successiō of doctrine S. Augustine enferreth it against the Manichees but they reiected the greatest part of the scriptures and manifestly the booke of the Actes of the Apostles to the end to deny the descending of the holy Ghoste and to establish Manichee in his place He alledged also vnto them miracles antiquitie c. but he addeth immediatly after You on your part alledge nothing like but onely you holde a promise of the trueth amongst you notwithstanding if you could euidently proue it I suppose it ought to be preferred before succession antiquitie miracles and al things else This is as we dispute against thē that denye the scriptures by probable reasons by authorities of prophane bookes albeit we hold them not for rules of the trueth Against the Donatists Arrians Pelagians others who accept the scriptures he disputeth by the scriptures In a certaine place he alledgeth amongst other things the succession of 39. Bishops of Rome but this was with this caueat In al this company there was not one Donatist that is there was not one that helde any such doctrine as you do Irenee sayth that they are not alwaies true priests which seeme so to be but they which keepe the doctrine of the Apostles Tertullian presseth the heretikes of his time who for the most part denyed the Scriptures to shewe that their predecessours were the Apostles or the Apostles schollers but by and by afterwards he requireth consanguinitatem doctrinae the consanguinitie or kinred of doctrine preferreth it before all succession that is to say that they onely were not the sonnes of the Apostles but also their doctrines were the daughters of the Apostolical doctrine Chrysostome sayth that the pulpit maketh not a priest but a priest the pulpit To be short a man shal not finde any which hath spoken in any other sense And nowe seeing that none can transferre that to his successour which of right doth not belong vnto him that S. Paul hath forbidden vs to heare the Apostles the Angels themselues preaching any other Gospel then his owne doth it not followe that the successors of the Apostles are reiected if they preache otherwise It followeth then that the succession neither of place nor of persons is any thing worth but onely the succession of doctrine which we haue sayd before to be the true infallible marke of
shoulde say to the ende it should be deliuered vnto the posteritie so as we haue it there registred by foure sworne Notaries of the holie Ghost and expounded in many Epistles of the Apostles Finally these Registers of the kingdome of heauen haue gathered them together by the common care of the Churches wherein they haue bene kept the which haue witnessed that this worde proceeded from them and thereto haue put to their seale and to the ende that no Scripture myght be made equall vnto them and to take away also the foundation of all heretikes which euery where alledge it and bring in to serue euery turne the traditions of the Apostles the Churches haue brought them into one booke which they call the Canon that is the rule and the Canonical Scriptures See then that in the Christian Church we haue now as was vnder the lawe one rule to iudge the right from the crooked a squire to direct our buylding a compasse to guyde our barke a lawe to iudge controuersies and a God in his woorde to determine all matters which shall arise in the Churches All that is agreeable to this word of God is of God for that it is his owne word All that is not agreeable to this worde is of man and no man hath any voyce in the Churche to make any lawes concerning the seruice of god The sonne of mā alone God and man hath onely this power of whom it is onely sayd Heare him Al then that is ouer and besides this ought to haue no place in the Church By this worde thus limited within the bookes of the Canonicall Scripture the primatiue Church hath taken away an infinite nomber of traditions which heretiks haue made to passe vnder the name of the Apostles allowing nothing but that which they haue found contained in the foresayde bookes By the same also they haue stopped the mouth of heresies which sprong vp of the noughtie and vnsound interpretations thereof to be short they neuer complained when they had any thing to doe with heretikes who agreed of this Iudge accompting their matter wonne but rather when they vanquished them which refused the same worde forasmuch as it is impossible to finde a Iudge to them that refuse to be iudged of God. Our aduersaries alwaies cry with open mouth The Fathers Fathers Fathers but beholde whereby the Fathers woulde bee iudged and before whome they would pleade This controuersie sayeth S. August requireth a Iudge let Christ then be Iudge himselfe and tel vs himself wherefore he dyed Let the Apostle also be iudge together with him for in the Apostle also Christ himselfe speaketh It is sayde that he hath not spared his owne sonne c. but hath giuen him to the death for vs See then the Iudge before whome he calleth the Pelagians from whome our aduersaries haue borowed their doctrine Against the Donatistes his ordinarie wordes are We haue founde Christ in the scriptures there also must wee finde the Church Also let it not be heard any more betwene vs I say this thou sayest that but rather see what the Lord sayth for we haue saith he the bookes of the Lord to which we both giue consent we both beleeue and keepe Againe the canonicall Scripture is the rule of all The epistles of Bishops gyue place one to an other and Councels are amended and corrected one by an other but that must correct all Also where shall wee feede the sheepe of the Lorde Vpon the mountaynes of Israel these mountaines of Israel are the altars of the Scriptures of god When any man shall preach according to that from thence take taste thereof and all that is not from thence cast it awaye for feare of straying in the mystes And when the Donatistes alleadged Saint Cyprian vnto him of whome notwithstanding hee maketh a great accompt in all his workes and specially through whome he myght haue ouercome them in many matters I sayeth he allowe not the wrytings of Saint Cyprian for canonicall And yet herein I doe him no wrong for not in vayne was this so healthfull a Canon made in which are comprehēded the bookes which we dare not iudge and through which notwithstanding wee iudge of all bookes as well of infidelles as of Christians That which I finde there agreeable with Scripture I accept it with prayse that which I finde not agreeable to the Scripture by his good leaue I reiect it And there is no doubt sayeth hee in another place but that nowe he seeth all more cleare and bryght then when he was conuersant in darkenes that he will rather be glad to know how comfortable it is for vs that in the writinges of Christian orators and learned preachers a man may finde things to be reproued and that in the writings of those poore fishers that is to say of the Apostles a man shall finde no such thing in them Alledge not therefore to me sayeth he in this case their writings but the Lawe the Prophets the Psalmes the Gospell and the Apostle For from hence it is that I holde the Church is spread ouer all and is not tyed vnto any certayne place And the rule which hee gyueth vs out of the bookes of Cyprian he hath also gyuen out of his owne and out of all the rest and the places also repeated by Gratian in his Decretalles I knowe very wel that Gratian to get credite to himselfe gyueth no lesse aucthoritie to the decretall Epistles of the Pope then to the Canonicall bookes of the scripture impudently corrupting a place taken out of the bookes of Christian doctrine where he speaketh the quite contrarie But this is not worth the confutation And Alfonsus de Castro himselfe who is one of the chiefe pillars of the Papacie doth acknowledge this fault very liuely reproueth him for it The Arriās in a more high matter of the Christian faith woulde escape by the Councilles but he alwayes draweth them to this Let vs not alledge saith he disputing against Maximine their Bish neither thou the Council of Ariminium nor I the Councill of Nicee for neyther I am bound to the aucthoritie of that there nor thou to the aucthoritie of this here but let vs dispute by the aucthoritie of the Scriptures which are common witnesses to vs both cause against cause and reason against reason c. All his bookes are ful of such places especially against the Manichees who denyed one part of the Scriptures following the example of Christ who vanquished the Sadduces in the matter of the resurrection specially by the bookes of Moses because they reiected all the others And yet this is he that so astonished all the heretikes of his time that he put them to vtter silence But to the end that they condemne him not for an heretike whome they haue already so sore suspected it is necessarie to see what others doe holde concerning this matter Basil the great woulde that wee examine all doctrines
the master If the Pope doe it he is no longer a scholer of Christ but in this poynt he declareth himselfe to be Antichrist lifting vp himselfe aboue all that is God and by such a like gate the Alcoran of Mahomet hath entred into the worlde The more safe way then is to followe this worde and to beleeue that that perfect lawegiuer hath gyuen vnto vs a perfect lawe by the mouth of his Sonne to the which we ought a great deale lesse to presume to adde any thing of our owne then to that which was deliuered to Moses And if there were neuer founde Paynter which durst take vpon him to finishe the image of Apelles nor Poete the Aeneides of Virgill which were but the woorkes of vayne men what man shall bee so arrogant vnlesse it be that sonne of perdition which dareth put to his hande to the worke of him which hath made man and all that which a man loueth and beholdeth in this worlde Their seconde refufall is that the holie Scripture is obscure and thereupon they call it doubtfull a dead letter a letter which killeth a matter of contention and not the voyce of the Iudge riddles or darke speaches and such other like names whereof their bookes are full yea one of the great Masters of this tyme could not abstayne from saying that Paul went so farre beyonde himselfe that he entangled himselfe with many matters But the holy Ghost calleth the Scripture the Testament couenant And we know that a good prince dealing with his subiects wil not haue them to be circumuented and caught in words as also a good father making his last wil endeuoreth to set his children at one and not to sowe discord and to giue occasion of going to law quarels amōgst them The presumption then ought to be on the contrarie to witte that he which hath vouchsafed to saue his people so mercifully and which onely may be called a true father hath also deliuered his couenaunt in as cleare tearmes and expresse clauses as he coulde And in deede in all our Scriptures the Ethnikes haue not blamed any thing so much as to great playnenesse of them which is farre otherwise then that they woulde make men beleeue that they are riddles or darke speaches Agayne I demaunde of them whether the obscuritie of Christian doctrine be in the matter it selfe or in the maner of handling it In the matter they dare not saye for there is nothing more cleare and more simple then the doctrine of saluation and this is the answere of Origen to Celsus who blamed the simplicitie of it because that it must be such as it was because it was not such a philosophie as was brought to a little nomber of men as that of Pythagoras of Plato or of Aristotle but a saluation taught and preached to the whole world which the whole world great small learned and vnlearned might easily comprehende If it be in the maner of handling such obscurity of anye authour must arise eyther of ignoraunce or of malice Of ignorāce because that that which a man vnderstandeth but darkely a man can not teache plainely Of malice when wee will boaste our cunning and not teach it as Aristotle sayeth that hee did expressely in those same bookes of his naturall philosophie which yet notwithstanding all the worlde boast to vnderstand and as also certeyne other authours of profounde Sciences in our tyme haue done of set purpose Nowe of ignorance there can bee none in that wisedome which hath spoken to the Apostles nor in that spirite which hath inspired them Of enuious malice there can be as litle in him which dyed to accomplish our saluation and in them which haue published the same euen vnto their suffering after him It remaineth then for to auoide these blasphemies that either ignorance or much rather malice bee in our aduersaries and not in him which is wisdome and goodnes it selfe Againe I demaunde whether in their iudgement is more obscure the Gospel or the Prophets They will not saye I am sure that it is the Gospell for then litle children would laugh them to scorne And moreouer Saint Peter sayeth The Prophets were as shining candles in a darke place in steade whereof Christ is the true Sunne and that light that lighteneth euerye man that commeth into the worlde Moreouer both in the one and the other we finde Christ in the one promised in the other giuen in the one to come in the other come in the one foretolde in the other speaking him selfe of him selfe It is therefore sure that the doctrine of saluation in Iesus Christ is lesse darke in the Gospell then in the Prophets in the Newe Testament then in the Olde which is expounded and declared by the Newe Nowe Dauid sayeth that this woorde is vnto him as a lanterne for hys feete and not onely a lanterne but which serueth to leade him in the path yea in the path it selfe which can not leade astray That by the same hee is more wise then they that are elder Contrariwise Esaye pronounceth that the watchemen of the house of GOD who thought them selues verye cleare sighted were blinde because they had no regarde thereto Moreouer Christ sendeth not his hearers to the gloses of the Rabbins to traditions to the Thalmud to the Lawe not written wherewith the Pharises were puffed vp but to the Scriptures to the Lawe written and hee neuer alledgeth Testimonyes from anye other place Saynt Luke also prayseth those of Beroa which searched them and they which searched them found there their saluation whereas they which gaue them selues egarly to the speculations of men crucified him It followeth then that by a more strong reason wee ought at this daye to searche our saluation in the Scriptures hauing the Olde and Newe Testament together the shadowe and the body the starres and the sunne the messages of saluation and saluation it selfe If anye man yet finde obscuritie in the doctrine of saluatiō I leaue it to be iudged of all which of the two is more plaine eyther that which is in the worde of him which is the light of light or in the blindenesse of those whose spirits naturally are nothing else but darkenesse But putting the case there were such great obscurite as they say let vs see a litle by whome they would make it brighter Shall it be by the doctors Nay rather contrariwise as we shall see hereafter they reioyce not but in the brightnesse of this sunne What thē shal it be by the Church But the Church is the moone a body shadowed and darke of it selfe which hath no light but that which it giueth her What then shall it be Thomas shall it be Scotus shall it be Bricot and a rablement of such like I report me to al men of iudgement whether they darken or make more bright the woorde of god It remaineth then that we search in this light the light
Satan It is sayde say they God created man to his owne image therefore we ought to haue Images Also no man lighteth a candle for to hide it vnder a bushell Therefore we ought to set Images vpon altars Also God is named maruellous in his Saintes therfore we ought to beholde his glorie in Images I aske of them what man he is that will rest him selfe vpon a sentence giuen vpon these proofes for Images Nowe there are an infruite number of the like where a man may plainely see the style of the spirite of Antichrist alleadging the Scriptures much worse then Satan did to our Lorde Iesus Christ To be short if a man will not iudge in a Court by former sentences is there any reason to refuse the selfe same order in matters of conscience and against the sentences themselues that a man knoweth to haue beene giuen the parties being therein neither hearde nor called But admitte that the holy Scriptures be the rule to compasse all doctrines they will yet aske me foran ende in so great contrarietie which is amongst vs who he shal be that shall expound and apply them Concernyng vs we are parties against them and as couching them they are parties against vs who shall be iudge here then for saye they Let the Scripture be so great a Iudge as men would haue it yet it speaketh not for to determine and pronounce the sentence To this I answere first that when a man is assured of the squeere in the measure or of the compasse in the shippe there is no Mason so sclender witted which doeth not knowe in applying it which is straight and which is crooked nor Mariner so vnskilfull that doeth not perceyue whether the shippe keepe her right course or noe And therefore let them onely graunt vs to guide the preceptes of our saluation accordyng to the rule of saluation conteyned in the olde and newe Testament and we will therein submitte our selues not onely to a free and lawfull Councill but also to learned and vnlearned to the ministers and common people and to all Christians for whose saluation it was written who by them selues shall finde in this worde the iudgement of the worde and shall pronounce definitiue sentence for the same Furthermore in euery arte there are certayne principles and groundes whereupon vndoubtedly depende all the rest Geometry hath her Axiomes Physicke her Aphorismes and the Eiuill and Canon lawe their generall rules by which they will scanne all difficulties which shal aryse in their lawes Nowe say I that diuinitie also hath her rules grounds and the lawe of God hath her certaine principles able to decide al controuersies which are amongst vs yea and those so much the more strong and easie as we are most assured that there is no kinde of doubt contradiction or contrarietie in them to make them voyde or vnstable Nowe we haue three sortes of differences or controuersies with the Church of Rome the one sort consisteth in thinges playnely forbidden in the worde of God the other in things which are not commanded and the last in the interpretation of certaine pointes which are eyther forbidden or commaunded which both of vs receyue but diuersly Concerning the first kinde we haue a rule in the lawe of God that we must rather obey God then man. This is so easie that euen litle children may comprehend it When then we shall see that men command one thing and God another we cannot doubt which we ought to obey By this rule we cut of images reliques and all kinds of idolatrie which are committed in the Papacie which are expressely forbidden in an hundred places of the word of God. Concerning the second we haue an other rule God is the onely lawgiuer vnto his people Thou shalt not saith he neither adde nor diminish from my lawe Christ saith God will not be serued according to our traditions but according to his commaundements S. Iohn and S. Paule say that the holy Scripture is sufficient for our saluation Chrysostom saith Where the Scripture holdes it peace there man must holde his peace S. Hierome Pratling without proofe of the Scripture ought to be of no credite This is a rule commonly giuen to all peoples and wherof also the people are capable Let the people now read the old new testament and let them marke if they finde any one worde directly or indirectly secretly or plainely which speaketh nie or farre of of the sacrifice of the Masse of Purgatorie of the inuocation of Saintes and such other points which are in controuersie betwene vs Contrary wise if they shall not finde therein from line to line that Christ is the onely sacrifice once offered vp for all that there is one onely washing in the bloud of Christ that there is one onely God to be called vpon in the name of Iesus Christ If they finde there the doctrines which we cōdemne then let them condemne vs and cry fagot and fire against vs If not then let them be iudged by the rule which is afore touched which they haue abused and haue caused men to search their saluatiō in those thinges which the Doctor of their saluation hath not taught them consequētly wherin they can finde nothing but destruction Yea I say more that if the learned would take paines to read after the holy Scripture the doctors of the primitiue Church they shal not find there any one word therof or if they do find any such place it shal be in such sort that they shal be in more doubt thē if they had spoken nothing Whereof then they will of them selues conclude forasmuch as Christ his Apostles haue taught nothing thereof nor the primitiue Church hath beleeued nothing nor they that came long after haue written any thing but that which is doubtful that these are such things whereof we ought not onely to doubt with the doctors but also whereof the Church ought to keepe silence with Iesus Christ As for example 400. yeres after the death of Christ the Church knew not what it was to call vpon Saintes there was not found one word in the auncient writers vulesse it were for the condemnation of those which did it according to the imitation of the Painims in seruing their gods Of Purgatorie the first doctors of the Church speake not one word S. Augustine who was long after sometimes saith that there was one sometime that there might wel be one sometime that it was no great matter whether there were one or whether there were none And S. Gregorie who was after him he began to beleeue by certeine visions that there was one and this was 500. yeeres after the death of Christ Of the Masse it was altogether like for we may marke the beginninges proceedinges and increase peece by peece euen vntill our time and yet forsooth these were made articles of our faith and for these men burned the Christians for which euen by as good reason they
because we finde not this puritie in the Church of Rome but the quite contrary neyther the lawe of God obeyed by made subiect to the wyll of the Pope and his vpholders we holde the Church of Rome most impure and we marke the Pope that gouerneth there for a notable marke of Antichrist lyfting vp him selfe aboue GOD for that he setteth the lawe of God behinde his owne commaundements and vaine inuentions That the visible Church may erre yea and that in matters of fayth and those which concerne our saluation CHAP. VI. BEcause our aduersaries knowe very well that they can not defende neyther by the holy Scripture nor by the example of the primitiue Church the false doctrine which beareth swaye amongst them in the most principal points of Christian religion yf a man should examine them by piecemeale therefore they haue thought good to defende all at once to wit to maintaine that the Church can not erre especially in matters that doe concerne saluation For say they seeing that Christ is the head of the Church he guideth the same by his spirit and this spirit is the spirite of vnderstanding which inspireth into her in time and place all that is necessary for to leade her in such sort that she can not erre But as they defēding this bulwarke assure themselues to defende all theyr Babylon so is it also as certaine that this being once wonne they can not any longer stande When they speake of the Church in this matter they vnderstand properly the Cleargie represented by a generall Councill and not the common people of whom they make no state the which thing many of themselues condemne as repugnant to holy Scripture notwithstanding I am content in this matter to speake after their maner to the ende to auoyde all cauils and starting holes Iesus Christ is the head of the Church as of one body not of that there nor of this here neyther of one nor of other but of all Churches alike Now this head is vnto the Church as reason vnto a man to wit to rule to guide the same by his commaundement Now so far forth as desire doth obey reason the body the head man is in good case his senses his mouings accions are in theyr perfection there is nothing in him which sauoureth not the good gouernment of reason Contrariwise when the desire will cast of obedience to reason and wil not be subiect to his gouernement but giueth it selfe to drunkennesse riot and all kinde of excesse then entreth he into a distemperature of all his body the vitall partes are therewith offended he loseth one member one sense after an other sight hearing and all the powers depart away from him To be short by the iust iudgement of God reason it selfe oftentimes is taken from him because he made no accompt to obey it I say that the selfe same may fall out and many times doeth fall out in the Church Now so farre forth as the Church doeth obey vnto Iesus Christ her head he arkeneth vnto his commaundements which is reason it selfe followeth his gouernement which is set foorth in the Scripture she can not erre in the path of saluation shee is sound pure and perfect and also he taketh pleasure to leade her and inspireth into her his holy Spirite to the ende to inlighten her in the middest of darkenesse it selfe But when she treadeth his gouernement vnder her feete and maketh no accompt to hearken vnto him but presumeth to be wyse ynough of her selfe to gouerne her selfe then is it no marueile if she fall as it were in pieces and lose one sense after an other if her eyes leade her into the pit and if the spirit of God abandon himselfe and forsake her because shee made no accompt of the worde with which he is inseparably ioyned knit together For as it is most certaine that Christ doth not suffer his flocke to erre so is it also as certaine on the other part that he doth not accompt any for his sheepe but chose which heare his voyce and those heare his voyce which hearken vnto him speaking in the Scriptures and making them clearely to vnderstand his will. God hauing first sent his Prophets hath nowe in the ende sent from heauen his owne worde which hath sayd to vs Search the Scriptures and this is that same worde also which hath sent the holy Spirite to the Apostles If we then wyll feele the Spirit it behoueth that we heare the word for the Spirit is sent from the word but the cleargie of Rome doe make no accompt of this word In stead of hearkening vnto it it will be heard afore it in steade of obeying vnto it it will make commaundements of it selfe in respect of which those of Gods haue bene neglected yea it hath abolished cut of certaine commaundements wholy and that openly It followeth then that it can not boast neither of the spirit neither of the leading thereof forasmuch as this spirite proceedeth from the sending of the essentiall word who hath left vs his word in the holy Scriptures So we see the a king wil cōmunicate his authoritie to a parliamēt to the end to make them obey his lawes to distribute them to his people but if the parliamēt shal abuse them to the end to make it self obeyed aboue the king and the lawes themselues he will straightwayes take his authoritie from it Nowe God and his lawe in respect of the Church are farre greater then these for there can be no proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite And therefore is it any wonder if he haue taken from the prelates of the Church of Rome the gifts of his spirit when they woulde giue authoritie to their vaine traditions aboue the lawe it selfe and that vnder the shadow of his Spirite We say that the spirit and the word are inseparably ioyned and knit together and that without great sacriledge they cannot be separated forasmuch as Iesus Christ who is the word it self hath so taught vs When that same cōforter shall come that same spirite I meane of trueth he shall leade you saith he into all trueth for he shall not speake of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall heare that shall he speake He shall glorifie me for he shall receyue of mine and shall shewe it vnto you and shall bring all thinges to your remembrance which I haue tolde you c. If this spirite heare the worde and speake nothing of his owne by a more strong reason the Church shoulde if she be gouerned and lead by the same spirite He sayth also vnto his Apostles I vvill be vvith you till the ende of the vvorld This he vnderstandeth by the vertue of his spirite but he had sayd before in the selfe same verse Teaching them to obserue al things vvhatsoeuer I haue commaunded that is to say my worde And therefore Saint Paul preaching the word both by liuely voyce
circumcision in the time of the Apostles began that medley in the Christian religion S. Peter himself winking at it S. Paul calleth this to make the Crosse of Christ of none effect S. Augustine in many places calleth it heresie Now from hence it came that the disciples of the circumcision who went to preach the Gospell to many peoples of the East and of the South there reared vp Churches in such sorte that the doctrine of grace was mingled with the lawe the shadowes with the bodie whereof it is that many yet doe hold circumcision with baptisme I speake nothing of the infinite heresies which put vp their heades vnder diuers names making their seuerall factions but of that which then came to passe in the bodies of the most flourishing Churches which afterwardes greatly encreased and multipled On the other side the people which were called from Paganisme to Christ then principally when the Church had some litle rest consequently lesse zeale care and puritie comming out of such a bottomelesse pit of Idolatrie they coulde not altogether forsake their old customes They had builded many beautiful Temples to their Idoles and it seemed a goodly thing vnto them to dedicate them vnto Saints Martyrs In stead of their hunting places they honored the reliques of Saints in place of the Images of Mars of Iupiter of Ianus they tooke pleasure to haue those of S. Paul of S. Peter c. And wheras they had a custome to make for their fathers that died praiers sacrifices lights following the opiniō of Plato cōcerning purgatorie they willingly cōtinued it least they should fal frō their humanitie therin only changed the forme The pastors some of them because they were come out from the same Paganisme thought it good other some did beare with it least they shoulde at the beginning goe backe hoping in time vtterly to remoue it from them as S. Paul did the ceremonies of the law from those of the circumcision and to cōuert their zeale humanitie into a better custome Iusomuch that their successors ascribing impudētly to much to their predecessors not examining the reason that moued them to beare with these things they cōtinued it of thēselues builded so much vpō this rottē fundatiō that superstitiō came to this that we see it at this day The vanitie of the one part the humane wisdome of the other hath brought vs to this and he that shal wel consider what man is how an old custome that hath but a litle shew may preuaile how much it wil cost the changing he wil easly graūt that those which haue to bring in a thorow mutatiō do think to haue gained much whē they could bring to passe to change the principal in forsaking as seemed to them certaine accessories as in our time we our selues haue proued not regarding that the deuil knoweth so wel how to husbād thē afterwards whilest we are negligent to water the true plants that in the end they come to be quite stifeled choked By these means errors first entred into the churches of the Ethiopiās Syrians Armeniās Grekes Russians Scythiās c. for the more part But which is more by the selfe same meanes entred Mahomet with his doctrine who about the declining of the Romane Empire found out the controuersies of the Iewes Christans ioyned himself to a Monke of the heresie of Nestorius named Sergeus who coined his Alcoran in such sort that many Christiās of Nestorius heresie partly seeing his force partly because it seemed that he cōsented with them in the essence of Christ they left of to go forward in the true religion the Iewes for the circumcision ceremonies which he left freely vnto thē and the safetie which he promised them by force of armes receiued him in the beginning as their Messias Beholde then how heresies entred into the christian Church that those so encreased as it easely cōmeth to passe alwaies when good decaieth and euil encreaseth that from heresie they came euen vnto infide litie yet notwithstāding these Churches were there founded by the Apostles receyued the holy scriptures beleeued saluatiō in Christ except those which haue cleaued vnto Mahomet which haue lost the name of the Churches haue a successiō of their bishops patriarks folowīg in good order haue an ordinary vocatiō in their ministerie hold a great sort more countries thē those that haue acknowleged that Pope Now I demaund of the prelats of the Church of Rome whether that these Churches haue erred in the matters which concerne saluation or no. They wil say that they haue erred in the matter of saluatiō because that they haue reiected Images because they worship not the bread because they communicate vnder both kinds because their ministers marry because they knowe not any thing concerning Purgatorie c. To be short because they doe not only erre in many not able articles as these are but aboue all because they do not acknowledge the domination of their Pope which is to heare themselues speake the principal article that men ought to beleue to the end to be saued It foloweth then by their own cōfession that the Christian Catholike visible Church hath no such priuiledge by the comming of Christ which doth exempt it frō being deceiued erring yea in that which cōcerneth saluation notwithstanding al that promises and pretended couenants which we haue already mentioned before But if now it do not erre in the matter of saluatiō then it must needes follow that the Church of Rome it self must erre which hath so long time excōmunicated and cut of frō saluation as much as in her lieth so many peoples nations which haue not erred in the way of saluation and which is more that she is iustly excōmunicated by the foresaid Churches for those dānable doctrines which they condemne in her To this they wil answere vs that these Churches had no such priuiledge as the Church of Rome and that the See of S. Peter hath this prerogatiue being the chiefe amongst the Apostles that it coulde not erre Without entring into the bottome of these goodly pretēces which shal be gauged in the chapter following it must followe then that those Sees which had so great authoritie as that of Ierusalem which is called the seat of God could not erre That the Church also of Christ being there gathered together had this prerogatiue seeing that Christ the head of the Church there preached accōplished the worke of saluatiō Likewise that the Church of Antioch must haue it much more then that of Rome seeing that that was the first See of S. Peter the first Church where the name of a Christiā was heard And yet Ierusalem which crucisted Christ the Christians of Palestina of Antioch of the countries round about in the iudgement of the church of Rome are out of the way of saluation It followeth then that Saint Peters See pretēted to
institution of Christ in the Sacraments to change according to the time the interpretation of the holy scripture to make newe articles of the faith to derogate from the olde Testament from S. Paule his epistles as the vicar of Christ successour of S. Peter This then according to their iudgemēt is an article of great importāce to saluation vpon which all other articles necessarie to saluation are founded In the selfe same quality iurisdiction is giuen vnto him ouer all the East churches to cut them of frō the Cōmunion of the Church to leaue them for a pray to the Turk because they will not acknowledge him To be short it is come to this point that he calleth himself king of kings to establish empires at his own wil to set out kingdomes for a pray to dispence with subiectes for their othe made to their prince This therfore is an article not onely belonging to the saluation of euerye Christian particularly and to all in generall for that same vnion which is so much commended vnto vs but also necessarie to policie to the obedience due to magistrates to the whole life of man But nowe wee see that Iesus Christ his Apostles haue deliuered vnto vs the articles of our faith the doctrine of the Sacraments of the obedience which is due to our superiors in plaine expresse termes and those very often repeated in many places It followeth then that this article by the which new articles of faith are established the changing of the Sacraments the setting vp deposing of princes the subiecting of heauen and earth vnder the power of one onely man must bee there plainely set foorth Nowe if it be not there expresly conteined one of these two things must folow either that our Lord his apostles took pleasure to hide these things frō vs to make a math confusion of heauen and earth together which to thinke were verye execrable blasphemie or else it must bee altogether false and consequently all that is builded vpon it must quite fall downe and bee vtterly razed to the ground Nowe I doe adiure euerye one euen as they loue their saluation that they weygh wel the proofes of this article For if the very foundation of the popishe doctrine which is this here haue no foundation in Christ it followeth that the pope hath layd another foūdation in the Church then Christ contrary to that which the Apostle saith and by consequent that hee is none of those which hath builded vpon the foundation of Christ woode haye stone but the Antichrist him selfe which hath setled him selfe in the place of the chiefe corner stone which is the onely fundation of the Church We say that Iesus Christ is the head of the Churche our aduersaries say that it is S. Peter in his successors or rather the pope and the Church of Rome because of S. Peter his seat Now as we haue found the body out of the Scriptures to wit the church so likewise we ought not to search for the head any where else S. Paul saith that Christ is the head of the church the church the accōplishmēt of him which hath accomplished all in all Also that Christ is the head of the Churche as the husband of the wife and the Sauiour of his body Also wee which are manye are one body in Christ euery one of vs are mēbers one of another These places are so cleare the our proposition can not be denied Thereupon they will graunt vs that Christ is the head of the Church but they will say that there must be a head and generall lieutenant in the gouernment thereof that this is S. Peter in his Successors whome they call for distinction sake the ministerial head of the Church This is it that they must proue vnto vs by plaine textes for wee flatly deny it vnto them First of all we must not here imagine an earthly kingdome For Iesus Christ hath taught vs that his kingdome is not of this world if his be not of this world then much lesse shall his be whosoeuer shal enterprise to be his lieutenant This lieutenantshippe then is neither temporall nor secular neither can it be stretched ouer the empires of the earth neither can the B. of Rome in this qualitie call him selfe the Monarch or onely gouernour both of the spiritual temporal But as the kingdom of Christ is spiritual to wit the gouernmēt of the soules of the faithfull whō he fedeth by his word as S. Paul sayeth that it is peace ioy righteousnes through his spirit so must it be likewise that the administration or gouernmēt of his seruāts must be spiritual to wit the ministery of the word from whence proceede those forenamed effects much lesse ought we to imagine an earthly king For Christ is the Sonne of the eternal God who stileth euery thing with his power who by the vertue of his spirite is present to all thinges and is present with those that consent in his name to the ende of the world He needeth not therefore any lieutenant as doe other earthly princes for to winne the heartes of his people for these are the effectes of his Spirite giuing efficacie to his worde the which no man how great holy ▪ soeuer he seeme can attribute to him selfe And if they finde it strange that our Lord by his spirite in that he is God doth gouerne his Church forasmuch as he hath promised so to doe Let them not thinke it more strange that we deny his corporall and carnall presence in their masse which he hath not instituted Againe here is no question of a kingdome which may be gouerned by a lieutenant alone but of preaching the Gospell throughout the whole worlde of reconciling al the people of the world by the word vnto God in a woorde of the Ministerye of the Gospell which consisteth in administring the worde and Sacraments in all places Nowe it is certaine that no man can accomplish this but onely he who is the worde it selfe and the alone sacrifice because that with his manhode hee hath Godhead and power that is infinite Therfore there can none but he bee the Bishop of Bishoppes the Pastour of Pastours and the high Priest and none can bee this Ministeriall head or Lieutenant in his offices But rather euery Bishoppe and pastor amongest his flocke may represent Christ in exercising his charge without acknowledging of the Bishop of Rome to be aboue him as hath bene most largelye disputed by Cusan the Cardinall in the time of the Council of Constance That which they alledge of Moses and Aaron that they were heades the one of the common wealth the other of the sacrifices whilest yet God walked in the middest of his people is but naughtely drawen into a consequence For besides that there was the expresse institution of God in their persons and in the successors of Aaron for
both the name the person the which our text plainely sheweth vs the which he would neuer haue done if it ought to haue bene vnderstoode of Peter not of the confession of Peter Againe I leaue it to the iudgement of euery Christiā whether it be more agreeable to the faith more healthful for the Church either that the Church be founded vpon Christ or vpon Peter vpon the Sonne of the liuing God whom Peter cōfessed or vpon Peter who a litle while after denyed the sonne of the liuing God vpon him that vanquished Satan or vpon him whom Christ himselfe in the very same Chapter calleth Satan himselfe vpon him who is called the chiefe corner stone of the building or vpon him who was an offēce vnto him that is to say a stone of great stumbling None sayth S. Paul can laye any other foundation but that which is layde which is Christ Also S. Peter saith You are as liuing stones built vpon the chiefe corner stone in whom whosoeuer beleeueth he shal not be confounded that is to saye in that confession of Christ which he called the rocke and foundation of his Church It appeareth then by this place that Christ hath builded it vpon himselfe not vpon Simon Peter and vpon the confession of fayth which Peter made and not vpon the fayth of Peter which was too much wauering and vnstedfast And in very deede where Saint Iohn recyteth this story he resteth wholly vpon Peters confession But to the ende they abuse not the people vnder the visard of antiquitie we must see what the auncient Doctors haue taught vpon this place Chrysostome vpon Saynt Matthewe Vpon this stone that is to saye vpon the fayth of this confession Also he hath sette our feete vpon the rocke that is to saye vpon fayth For fayth in Christe by good right is called a rocke that cannot be broken and therefore when Saint Peter had confessed Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God Christ added Thou art Peter vpon this rocke that is to say vpon this fayth which thou hast cōfessed c. Saint Ambrose Iesus Christ hath sayd vnto Peter and vpon this rocke c. that is to say vpon the confessiō of the Catholike faith I will establish the faythfull vnto euerlasting life Saynt Augustine Peter was founded vpon the rocke to the ende he should suffer death for the loue of him whom through feare he had thrise denyed Also the Church likewise is founded vpon the rocke whereof also Peter had his name For a rocke or stone commeth not of Peter but rather Peter of the rocke as Christian commeth of Christ and not Christ of Christian And because Peter had sayde Thou art Christ c. Our Sauiour added vpon this rocke which thou hast confessed will I build my Church Christ then is the rocke vpon which S. Peter himselfe was founded builded For none can lay any other foundatiō then that which is already layd to wit Christ Againe he wil not say vpō this Peter I wil build my Church but vpon this faith vpon that which he had saide Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God c. Here vpon this rocke saith he I wil found my Church Also Vpon this rocke which thou hast cōfessed vpō this stone which thou hast acknowledged wil I build my church I wil build my Church vpō me not vpō thee but thee vpō me The mē that will build vpō men they wil say I hold of Cephas that is to say of Peter of Paul and of Apollo but they who wil not be builded vpon Peter but vpon the rocke they wil say I holde of Christ This is the interpretatiō of S. Augustine repeated in many places of his bookes of the citie of God euery where where he handleth this matter Saint Hierome vpon this place By the rocke we vnderstande Christe whom Peter confessed For if we take Peter for a stone of the foundation all the Apostles shall be alike according to that which we see in the Apocalypse And this is the verie opinion of Cardinall Cusan in his booke of the Catholike Concorde presented to the counsell of Constance who proueth it euen by the Canon lawe it selfe and maintaineth it against the Pope Saint Bernard The rocke is in heauen In the same is stedfastnesse and assurance And in deede where else can it be but in our Sauiour The world roareth the flesh oppresseth me the world doggeth and hangeth vpon me and yet for all this I fall not for I am founded vpon a sure rocke To be short let them reade their owne common glose Super hanc Petram vpon this rocke that is to say vpon Christ in whom thou beleeuest and the interlineall glose Thou art Peter but frō me which am the rocke and alwaies in such sort as I reserue to my selfe the dignitie of the foundation of the Church Beholde then that by the interpretation of the auncient fathers none neede to dashe against this stone Nowe if our aduersaries reply that some of the auncient fathers interpret it as they doe and namely Saint Augustine in some place I aunswere that if a man reade those places he shall finde that it was but by the way and as it were in handlying another thing And in deede Saint Augustine in his booke of retractations hath retracted it in these wordes It fell out that I sayd in a certaine place that in the Apostle Saint Peter the Church was buyled as vpon a rocke but for the most part I haue expounded it of him whome Peter confessed I was abused by an Hymne of Saint Ambrose common ynough where he saith that at the crowing of the Cocke the rocke wept This is a Poeticall maner of speaking and therefore Christ saide not vnto hym Tu es Petra but Tu es Petrus For the rocke is Christe whome Simon had confessed Besides he is so farre of from taking Peter for the foundation of the Church that in another place he sayeth that Iames Peter and Iohn seemed to be the pillars of the Church but that in trueth they were not And Saint Hierome sayth that the Apostles are pillars of the Church principally Peter Iames and Iohn but that all they which ouercome the Deuill by fayth may be so aswell as they But here they run to their ordinary distinction That it is certayne that Christ is the essentiall head of the Church but yet that Peter is the Ministeriall head that is to say that he is likewise called so by reason of his ministerie But we demaunde in what place either of the Scriptures or of the fathers them selues they finde this And we haue alreadie proued that there can be had no ministeriall head which is the selfe same thing But againe let them answere vs whether Peter had any other Ministerie besides his Apostleshippe If he had any other let them take it and shewe
of tyrannie That Saint Peter was the first amongst the Apostles eyther it was for his age or for his zeale as Marsilius of Padua sayeth or for his aboundance of grace as sayth Cusan the Cardinall and before him S. Augustine And admitte that he were president in their assemblies what shoulde there followe of this In all companies there is a chieftie of order but that doth not therefore import that there shoulde be a chieftie of power nor any superioritie in respect of the one ouer the other In the empire of Germanie there are seuen Electors The Archbishop of Mentz and the Countie Palatine are the chiefest the one amongst the Ecclesiasticall persons the other of the ciuil Haue they therfore power ouer their fellow Electors to wit ouer the other princes that haue not that degree That is a toye Also there is no wel gouerned assemblie where some one is not president to propound the matters they haue in hande to gather the voyces to pronounce sentence according to them Shall such a one therfore establish and dispose all at his pleasure all the worlde will say contrary Also Peter was president among twelue persons that by the electio of the Apostles and not otherwise Whosoeuer therefore will conclude that it is very good that in all cōpanies there be some one to gouerne their actions and to keepe order the conclusion shal be very good But that therfore the Pope as his successour should gouerne ouer all the worlde this should be no more order but the cōfusion of the whole world Moreouer as it hath bin notably disputed long ago against the Pope If S. Peter according to the decree of Anaclet cited by Isiodore was elected president by the Apostles it followeth not that his successour should bee ouer the successors of the Aposties vnlesse he be chosen by their successors themselues For Saint Iohn myght haue had better successours then Saint Peter all which together myght haue had power to choose one to gouerne And these are those personall dignities which descende not from the father to the sonnes and are not tyed to one chaire but depend vpon the common consent of those which haue instituted them according to that which Cardinall Cusan durst well saye that if by consent of the Christian Church the Bishoppe of Treues were chosen president of the Church he shoulde haue farre more ryght then the Bishoppe of Rome who hath it not but through sufferance and that the Bishoppe of Rome should be bound to acknowledge him for such a one and to yeeld him obedience We see then by the Scriptures that S. Peter was neuer ordeyned head of the Church by Iesus Christ that he was neuer taken for such a one also was neuer acknowledged in this qualitie or office by the Apostles as also we finde not that in any one Councill that euer the Pope hath alledged I meane within 500. yeres after Christ Iesus one onely place of scripture whē the primacie was builded Whereupō we conclude with all antiquitie that the Pope in respect that he is Peters successor cannot be called the Ministeriall heade of the Church that he is equal to all other Bishops that the primacy which he exerciseth is not in any wise founded vpō Gods law and consequently that all the articles which are founded thereupon for which as necessarie to saluation the Popes haue brought to confusion all Christendome haue not any foundation in Iesus Christ That the Pope or Bishop of Rome is not the Ministeriall head of the vniuersall Church by any right of mans lavve hovv he hath vsurped this title and povver CHAP. VIII BVt forasmuch as there is question of the succession of Saint Peter hauing seene in what it consisteth let vs see nowe what titles they bring forth to the ende they may be receiued into possession They alledge euery where that S. Peter was at Rome and hereof they conclude at one iumpe that the Pope is head of the Church We might denie that he was at Rome the which they can not proue by the holy Scripture whereof euery one may see what the foundation is of so wayghtie a buylding But contrariwise we finde great coniectures that he was neuer there of which wee were not the first searchers out but the greatest personages that were in many ages before vs Betwixt the death of our Lorde and the death of Nero there were 37. yeres By the holy Scripture it appeareth that Peter was at Hierusalem twentie yeeres after From thence he came to Antioch where Gregorie sayth that he was seuen yeres and Eusebius sayth 25. He that shall beleeue Eusebius he coulde not be martyred vnder Nero though he himselfe saye it For betwixt the passion of Christ the death of Nero there was but thirtie seuen yeeres and by Eusebius accompt there must be at the least xlvi yeeres And if we shall beleeue Gregorie there remaine but ten yeres during which time Peter could be at Rome But forasmuch as Peter and Paul were seene in Ierusalem S. Paul writing a long Epistle to the Romanes woulde he haue abstayned from him if he had bene there then Likewise he saluteth a great nomber of persons without making any mention of him Besides he writeth many Epistles from Rome in some of which a man shal finde some places that necessarily should haue made mention of him And in one place he complayneth that all had forsaken him beyng a prisoner for the Gospel And the 2. Epistle to Timothie was written the same yeere where a little after S. Paul was beheaded by the commandemēt of Nero. To be short whether S. Peter were at Rome before S. Paul or after If before as their legend sayeth that Saint Paul arriued there after that they two together had such combats agaynst Simō Magus whence commeth it that Saint Paul did not salute him in his Epistle to the Romanes Whence also commeth it that he maketh no mention of him in the other Epistles and which is more whence commeth it and howe can that accorde to that which S. Luke sayeth in the Actes That the Iewes sayd vnto Paul that they had vnderstoode nothing of him and they desire him to declare vnto them his opinion of that sect agaynst which euery man spake Is this credible vnto any that S. Peter who came thither before and was the Minister of Circumcision that he had taught them nothing of him Also whence commeth it that S. Paul who is wont diligently else where to rehearse their meetings as when they mette at Antioch maketh no mention of this meeting being in one of the most famous Cities in the worlde Nowe if Saint Peter came thither after Saint Paul besides that it is a great maruell that no mention is made thereof yet then the legende is false whereupon the primacie is founded and as it is false in one poynt so it may be in another Moreouer the Legende
dignitie of the ministerie which he calleth the power of the ecclesiastical gouernmēt ouer the people he maintayneth that the priests are equal to the Popes thēselues he proueth it because in their orders they vse the same words that they vse in the orders of bishops Apostles Receiue the holy Ghost vvhatsoeuer ye bind on earth shal be boūd in heauen c. To be short Cardinall Cusan himselfe maintaineth that the popedome the state of Bishopricks that is to say al their degrees both great smal they are not ordeyned of God but of men That all Priestes according to the ordinance of our Lord are equal that they were likewise ordeined of men for the better to wit to auoyde diuision But whē this better was turned into worse this which men had ordeyned to bring m̄e to God serued to turne thē away frō God then the cause ceasing these positiue lawes should also cease mē should be brought to the first institution And therfore marke saith he that in time of necessitie whē the Pope hath excōmunicated with an euill purpose the least priest may absolue him whosoeuer he be frō his excōmunication Behold therefore that in that the B. is aboue an elder it is but frō mans lawe for order which is no longer order when it is the cause of disorder Consequently we saye that those elders haue power to laye on their handes and to ordayne pastors That they had so in the Apostles tyme it is most cleare Neglect not sayth Saint Paul the gift that is in thee which is giuen to prophecie with the imposition of the handes of the Eldership that is to say of the assemblie of Seniors or elders And againe Timothie ordeined him selfe forasmuch as a Bishop elder were al one if by the scripture the Byshops take this power to themselues aswel might the Ministers Elders if they deny it to the ministers elders they deny it to themselues In deede in the olde time this argument was cōmon in the Church He might baptize he might minister the Lordes body ergo he might lay on his hands Also when they ordeined an elder the B. holding his hand ouer his head al the other elders drew neere layd on their hands together held them vpō the head of him whō they so ordeyned as it appeareth in many places of Gratians decretals which was to keepe their right in giuing of orders to shew that although the Bishop had the charge of this action that notwithstanding it was equall amōgst thē that he could not do it of himselfe alone And certaine of their owne haue disputed this same question 300. yeres since And if the ambition of Bishops the negligence of the Ministers Elders haue confoūded all thinges abolished the order of the church we must labour as much as wee can to bring it in againe And if the Bishoppe of a companion which he ought to be is become a tyrant ouer the ministers elders why it belongeth to those that are true ministers and elders to exercise the duetie which is left vnto them And if the primacie of the Bishop brought in by men haue led men to perdition which order we do not altogether disalowe if it be rightly obserued why then by the equalitie of ministers and Elders instituted of God they must bee brought againe to saluation To be short the first Bishops of the Christian Church were but elders and our first ministers were elders the elders by the institutiō of the Apostles had authoritie to lay on their hādes according to which also ours were ordeined ministers therefore ordeined by them are well ordained and their vocation can not in any wise be cauilled at or slaundered Nowe if any thinke them contemptible in comparison of the great prelates of the Church of Rome Caiphas in deede was reuecenced of the worlde whereas Cephas had neither golde nor siluer Paul being a persecuter was in great credit and Paul being an Apostle gotte his liuing with his owne hands Also God is wont to confoūd the great and mightie things of the world through thinges which seeme small And many of ours followe the pouertie of Christ which might be honoured yea and were so sometimes amōgst the chiefe vpholders of Antichrist It is not therfore to the purpose to aske miracles of vs for the approuing of our calling For if we must shew some then must they also for that is ordinarie But if by vertue of their calling they haue taken vpon them to preache newe doctrine why then let them suffer vs by vertue of the same to restore the auncient And if they say it is ours that is newe and not theirs why then there is no more question of our calling but of our doctrine and therefore we must passe through all these suburbes and come directlye to the conference of these two In meane time these were the goodlye fetches that hyndered the fruite of the conference at Poissy from whence all Fraunce wayted for some singular good thing yet this is that vpon which at this day the Iesuites do ground their principall defence When any say vnto them Shew me purgatorie and transubstantiation and the inuocation of Sayntes or any thing which draweth neere to the Scriptures they saye vnto vs Worke miracles Euen so likewise Satan said vnto Iesus Christ If thou be the sonne of God cast thy selfe downe from the toppe of the pinacle c. being as ready to haue turned vnto him if he had done it as if he had done nothing But our Sauiour who could haue done greater things confuted him onely by the scriptures So likewise the Pharises aske him for signes albeit he wrought inow those wonderful But if he cast out deuils this was say they by the power of the deuil If he did thē in earth they aske thē frō heauen if the heauen it selfe should speake to giue authoritie to his vocatiō thē they said What thūder is this Likewise they say vnto him vpon the Crosse If thou be the sonne of God helpe thy selfe c. and when he stept out of the Sepulchre ouerth wart those gross-headed watchmen they said that he was stolne away To be short euen so in asking miracles of vs nowe they are wholy bent to say if we should do them that we were the Antichrists which should deceyue the worlde by signes miracles that therfore we ought not to be beleeued But as the Pharises whē Christ suffered vpon the Crosse in steade of asking him miracles had done a great deale better to meditate vpon this place of Isaie He was wounded for our transgressions he was smitten for our iniquities and with his stripes were we healed So should it be much better for our masters to searche out of the holy scriptures the true markes of Antichrist and deepely to thinke vpon this great miracle which God hath wrought in our
thereupon alwayes after Agaynst this open Apostasie then all the Churches of Greece Dace Illyricum c. did oppose themselues euen to the accusing of Pope Symmachus before Theodoricus the king of the Gothes for that he vaunted himselfe not to be subiect to the reprehension of any Spayne and Englande also were a long time without receyuing the legates of Rome One Claudius Byshop of Thurine in the time of Charles the great wrote very learnedly agaynst the Popes Supremacie and agaynst his doctrine yea about the reygne of Hugh Capet there was a Councill helde at Rheims which denyed vnto him al obedience and pronounced him to bee Antichrist But finally as it was bredde of the superfluous and euill humoures of the Church so it was skilfull to nourishe it selfe of the factions enmities and diuisions of Christendome that one in despite of other haue suffered all to goe to wracke Nowe if wee shall reade that which Saynt Bernard wrote of the state of the Church in his time about the yere of our Lorde 1140. aswell in his Epistles as in his bookes of considerations to Pope Eugenius they are nothing but lamentations of the ruine of the Church like to those of Ieremie of the Church vnder the captiuitie of Babylon or thundringes against the tyranny of Antichrist who shewed him selfe in his time He sayeth That the Popes Court is a parke of deuils That they vsurpe an vnlawfull and an intolerable authoritie That there was not any more shewe of Peters succession That the Bishops of his time were marchantes enriched with the riches of the vvhore That in steade of keeping the spouse of Christ they made port sale of her and prostituted and layde her open to all the lechers of the world to commit fornication vvith her And a litle after hauing sayde vpon the 91. Psalme That Antichrist shall haue his seat in the South part he addeth What differeth then the estate of our Church from that same pestilēt estate which walketh in darkenes What differeth it more from the seate of Antichrist Therefore yours sayth he is in very deede the state of Antichrist He made three expresse Satyres agaynst the Pope court of Rome and he that would alledge al that is writtē to that end he must here put in his whole bookes Nowe after the manifest Apostasie and falling awaye of the popedome the Church of Rome hath not brought forth so excellent a man as he was Frauncis Petrarch the Archdeacon of Parma and a Chanon of Padua lyued about the yeere 1350. whom we may call in al kinde of good learning The light of his age But I wil not say howe he decifreth out the court of Rome in his Sonets vnder the name of Babylō calling it whore the schoole of error and the Temple of heresie for some will saye that much is permitted to poetrie but I beseeche the readers to reade his latine Epistles which are full of grauitie zeale and doctrine He sayth there in plaine termes That in the Pope and his shauelings there is neyther fayth godlinesse nor trueth That the Popes chaire is the chaire of lying That this is a falling awaye of a people which vnder the banner of Christ rebell against Christe and fight for Satan That they esteeme the Gospel but for fables and the promises of the life to come for dreames He compareth the Pope to Iudas who betrayed Iesus Christe with a kisse and his clergie to the Iewes which sayd vnto him Aue Rex Iudaeorū Al haile king of the Iewes his prelates to the Pharisies who in mockerye clothed him with purple and afterwardes crucified him in the moūt of Caluery And after he sayth Denie it nowe if thou canst that thou art she which the holy Euangelist Iohn sawe in the spirit set downe vpō the great waters Thou art none other that Babylon the mother of the whoredomes of the earth Thou art drunken vvith the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus Thou art she vvhich hast made all the kings of the earth drūken vvith the Cuppe of thy poyson If thou deny it shew vs some other to vvhom these thinges maye better agree If thou canst not then vvayte for that to fall vpō thine ovvne head vvhich Iohn the Euāgelist addeth a litle after She is fallen Babylon the great and is made an habitation of deuils c. But what do I say Wayt for it Yea thou hast it already For hovv much better is the sonne of perdition then the deuill Thou art in very deed a kingdome of deuils vvhich reigne in the midst of thee in mans shape And in another place Let it not my friend euer grieue thee to returne from these princes of darkenesse And in deede vvhat vvouldest thou see in the Court of Rome Christ in exile Antichrist reigning in his stead Beelzebub the iudge Woolues let loose The Lambes in the stockes Ah good God vvho shall deliuer the vvorlde from this oppression Who shall gather together the sheepe Who shall vanquishe these vvicked Pastors Shall there neuer be a limitation and end of this intolerable mischiefe Now when there was such that durst crye so lowde wee may be sure that there were many more that lamented in their heartes To be short the most notable spirits that the worlde brought forth in the most ignorant ages and in the greatest thicknes of darkenes they perceyued this some more clerely and others as it were through a clowde vnlesse it were some such as ambition and glorie of the worlde had blynded Insomuch that when abomination was come to his full toppe God raysed vp Iohn Hus Hierome of Prage Wickliefe Luther and others which haue so lowdly published and proclaymed it that all the worlde doth vnderstād it And what will we more With leaue of those good Fathers of the Councill not long agoe holden at Trent we may make this Syllogisme Whosoeuer wil be called the vniuersal Bishop he is the forerunner of Antichrist the father of the sonne of pryde and a very Lucifer saith Saint Gregory the Pope and principall Doctor of the Church of Rome But Boniface the thirde his successour tooke this title they which followed him haue continued it and haue encreased it more more And the Councill of Trent excommunicateth all those that will not acknowledge him for vniuersall Byshop Ergo the Pope is Antichrist and al they are holden for excommunicate by the Councill of Trent that doe not acknowledge him for Antichrist Yea but the clergie of Rome wil say If the Pope were the Antichrist whereof the Church was before threatned we which are the Church shoulde haue knowen him Contrarywise I say vnto you that if you had knowen him for Antichrist he had not bene Antichrist This is that which the Pharises saide when Christ came If this were Christ who shoulde knowe him better then we We haue the Church we haue the Scriptures we are the interpreters therof We are the eyes of the people It cannot escape vs
that we shoulde not knowe it And yet in meane time the counsel of Hierusalem condemned crucified the Messiah for a deceiuer the great Rabbies and Masters with an infinit nomber of the people a little while after followed that same miserable Barcosba to ruine destruction and acknowledged him for the true Messiah To the end saith our sauiour that the worde of Isai the Prophet might be fulfilled Who hath beleeued our word and to whom hath thine arme bene manifested They haue eyes but they see not They haue eares but they vnderstand not The Lorde hath blynded their eyes and hardened their heart c. And nowe I say vnto you that the selfe same is come vpon you vpon you I say who boast of the name of the Church in the knowledge of Antichrist For he is come with all the signes wonders that the spirite of God hath foreshewed vnto vs in the same place at the same time by the same way in the same apparell There is nothing that doth not agree vnto him neyther that can agree to any other but to him In meane time the Church that is to say the Romane clergie haue receiued him for their Spouse The Council of Trent haue declared him to be God in earth excommunicating al those that wil not cleaue vnto him and the princes of the earth haue lent him their armes to persecute and to murther those who woulde make him knowen to the worlde And wherfore Because this word of God must be fulfilled which he hath spoken by the mouth of his Apostles He shall sit in the Temple of God boasting himselfe as if he were god He shal make drūk al the kings of the earth He shall abuse deceiue all the world because they haue not loued the truth God shal giue thē vp into a strong illusion to the end they may beleeue lies And euen lyke as the Coūcil of Hierusalē cōdemned Christ so the Coūcil of Trent haue approued Antichrist The clergie crucified saluation it selfe the clergie hath adored their perdition The great doctors of the lawe were therein blynd because Christ shewed them a spiritual kingdome in steade of the temporall that they waited for And the prelates of the Romish Church haue taken pleasure to shutte their eyes because Antichrist hath brought them a temporall kingdome wherein they intend to dwel But notwithstanding death the crosse and the conspiracies of all the worlde the spirituall kingdome of Christ was victorious ouer all the kingdomes of the earth And notwithstanding the temporall kingdome of Antichrist all his adorations and conspiracies of al the kings princes of this world which labour to vphold him it must needs be that he be destroyed by the breath of Christ his mouth and that he fall and vtterly perish They demaunde hereupon What then became of our fathers after so long time that this tyrannie of Antichrist came into the Church Of the great Rabbies and masters who aske this question I aske them what they haue done therein of them I say who had their soules in keeping and who had taken charge and who knew wel howe to heape vp great riches to builde them gaye houses I aske also againe of them what became of the poore people of all the East Churches who were farre greater then the Latines whom the Pope by his excommunications sent to hell by whole millions for the space of sixe or 700 yeeres after that To be short I may send thē to that which our Sauiour sayth that when the Sonne of man shall come to destroye Antichrist by the Spirite of his mouth it shall be as the dayes of Noah or of Lot in Sodom that there shal be no more neither fayth nor loue in the worlde But to the poore people who haue bene deceiued by Antichrist and his mayntayners I aunswere after another sorte First that this false doctrine of Antichrist came not in all at once but encreased by little and little till it grewe to his full measure and heape so as it was not so deadly in the beginning as towardes the ende thereof when it came to his strength But when it was most strong and in the greatest ruffe God alwayes reserued many in al coūtries which mourned vnder his tyrannie yea and some also that cryed out as loude as they coulde by theyr wrytynges as we haue already shewed And in deede xxv yeeres agoe one woulde haue sayde that there was not so much as one to be had in France which knewe Antichriste and his doctrine And yet notwithstanding at the first libertie which was graunted to the townes they were founde verye full of such people Secondly as our aduersaries make a difference betweene the Church and the people snatching the name of the Church onely to the prelates which should be common to all Christians so we likewise do well put a difference betweene the people cleauyng to the Churche of Rome and the faction of Antichriste betweene them who liue vnder the popedome and the vpholders and maintayners of the Pope betweene the enchanters those that are enchanted betweene the Pharises whome Christe calleth generation of vipers and that poore sicke woman whom he yet called the daughter of Abraham We saye that among that poore people which was so long tyme deceiued vnder the darknesse of Antichriste there was a parte of the bodye of the visible Church But that the Pope and his mainteyners are the bane of it which styfleth and choketh these poore people as much as lieth in it We saye that this was the Church of Christe but that Antichriste helde it by the throte to the ende that that saluation and life which floweth from Christe might not be powred vppon it That it was a flocke of Christ but gouerned partly by hyrelings and partly by woolues In the people we consider the members of the vniuersall church but in the scabbes infections which doe hide them we marke the poyson of the papacie and in their buddes the whoredomes that the church of Rome hath committed with Antichriste To be short we saye that the people were of the Christian common weale but the Pope with his faction a proud seditious Catiline to destroy and to set it on fire whom Cicero very wel calleth a plague and not a member of the common weale And in deede as of euill dyet and superfluitie there is engendred in mās body an impostume which yet notwithstanding is not the body nor any part of the body but a disease and very oftentimes the death of the body euen so sayth Salust that of the superfluitie of the common weale Catiline was bred euen so we saye that of the delightes superfluities and idlenesse of the Church of Rome Antichriste is bredde in it who yet is neyther the Church nor any part of the Church but is the disease and pestilence it selfe of the Church which had so infected and festered the whole bodie that there appeared no