notably Cont. epist Fundam That be would not beleeue the Ghospell except the authority of the Catholike Church did mooue him thereunto so also he sayth as plainly August epist 18. that it was most insolent pride to dispute against it And therefore the mind of man being insatiable of knowledge for which it was created and according to the Philosopher it being better to know a little of Diuine thinges then to haue great intelligence of other matters hence it followeth that to know so many celestiall Misteryes as the doctrine of Christ containeth in so short a tyme with such great ease and infallible certainty being groūded vpon so many conuincing arguments and apparent testimonyes of Diuine authority which doctrine being also that pretious stone that bringeth with it all good thinges and beginneth that happynes in this life which is perfected and rewarded with eternall felicity in the next This I say must needs be a wonderfull strong and excellent motiue to compell all those to enter into the Schoole and Church of Christ whose mynds haue any dominiō ouer their bodyes and are not wholy transported with the pride of life or altogeather drowned in worldly desires or brutish sensuality Whereas the Protestants on the other side professing to haue no other ground of Fayth but only the bare Scripture do shew therein that they haue neither sufficient ground to beleeue that God hath reuealed his secrets to the world nor any Diuino assistance to know and discerne what seerets they are that were so reuealed For first as concerning Scripture denying the authority of the Church as they do if S. Augustine for example should deny the Scripture which he sayth plainely that he would not beleeue vnlosse the authority of the Church did moue him thereunto how I pray you could they perswade S. Augustine by Scripture alone which he would flatly deny that any thing was euer reuealed by God or being reuealed that it was truely deliuered againe or that any part of those thinges which were reuealed was writen by the spirit of God and so recommended to posterity Secondly the Scripture it selfe making mention of many other bookes of Scripture that are not extant though one should graunt that some part of Gods word was written which the Protestants without cause beleeue how could they proue that any part therof remayneth For if some bookes are lost why may not all haue perished Thirdly the malice of the Iewes and the fraud of Heretikes being so great as they are and the diligence of Scribes in writing being no more but humane and the copyes of Scripture being very many and very different one from another and the Hebrew Text hauing beene written a long tyme without vowells and the adding or giuing of diuers vowells making diuers and contrary senses the vowells themselues being but little prickes set vnder the letters and the Characters being so strange and many of them so like one another as they are and therefore it being not only an easy matter to change them but also it seeming almost impossible that they should not haue beene mistaken among so many writers in so many seuerall Countreyes for so many yeares togeather all this considered though a man should graunt that some bookes of Scripture were not lost how I beseech you can the Protestants shew that any part thereof is free from errour and foule corruption especially granting as they do that many places of the Originalls are actually corrupted Fourthly supposing the originalls either to haue remayned perfect all this while or els to be restored by them to their perfection whereof they can haue no other ground but their owne wilfull imagination considering that all their interpreters haue translated with passion and preiudice in fauour of their owne opinions and in opposition to the Roman Church and to the auncient vulgar translation following therein See the Protestant Apol. p. 256. 257. 258. rather the exposition of the Iewish Rabbins the enemyes of Christ then of the ancient Fathers And likewise considering that as their translatours are all deuided among themselues euery one seeking his owne glory so also that they condemne one another of mangling dismembring forging and of corrupting the Scripture with what colourable reason can the Protestants belieue any of their Bibles or particuler versions to be the word of God not rather the word of Tyndall or Caluin or Luther or of some other translatour Fifthly giuing vnto them that some things haue been reuealed by God and were truly deliuered and truly written and that some of those writings haue been preserued by God and still remaine miraculously vncorrupted And that the Caluinists alone or the Protestants of England alone haue only the true version or translation therof the (a) Diony de Eccles hierar c. 1. Orig. in prin peria tract 23. in Mat. Tertul. in l. praescrip l. de corona Milit. Clemens in ep Iren. l. 3. cont haer c. 2. 3. Bafil l. de spiritu sāctoc 27 l. cont Eunom Epiphan haeres 61. Hier. l. cōt Lueif August ep 118.119.86 Cypr. l. de card Chrisoper c. de ablut peaū Theoph in 2. ad Thes 2. Chrysost orat 4. in eandem ep Theod. ibi auncient Fathers of the Church prouing not only by tradition but also by the writen-word it selfe that the word of God is partly written and partly vnwritten what infallible proofes can the Protestants bring out of Scripture that we ought to belieue nothing which is not expresly contayned in the Scripture Especially considering that contrary to their owne ground they pretend to belieue many things which indeed are true but no where expresly contayned in the Scripture as that the Scripture it selfe is the word of God that children may be baptized before they belieue That Baptisme in rose water or any liquour then naturall Elementary water or in the Name of Christ alone is not good and sufficient That the Baptisme of Turkes and Iewes and Heretikes is good in some cases That it is allwayes a sinne to rebaptize That God the Father hath no Father which among many others is one instance of S. Augustine against the Heretikes of his tyme acknowledging no other ground of their Fayth but only Scripture That the Sabaoth day which is Saturday ought not to be publickly obserued as holy which is against the Commaundement of the Law and that all Christians are obliged to obserue the Sunday whereof there is not commaundement to be found in the written word of the Ghospell That our Blessed Lady remayned and continued still a Virgin That Easter day ought to be kept vpon a Sunday That it is lawfull to eat bloud and strangled meats contrary to the words of the Decree of the Church in the Acts of Apostles and the like Many things also they belieue that are meerly fals and not only not contayned in the words of Scripture but also expresly contrary thereunto As that (a) Ephes 5.32 Matrimony is no
Sacrament that the (b) Matt. 26. Marc. 14. Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 11. Ioan. 6.51 Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is not Christs Body that men are (c) 1. Cor. 13.2.3 Iacoh 2.14 c. iustifyed by Faith alone that (d) Iac. 2.21 c. Eccles 18. Rom. 6.19 no good workes do merit that the (e) Matt. 11.30.1 Ioan. 5.3.3 Reg. 14.4 Reg. 23. keping of Gods Commaundements is impossible that we haue (f) 3. Rag. 3.5 Eccl. 31.10 Gen. 4.6.7 1. Cor. 7.37 no Freewill to do well that Christ (g) Act. 2.24.2.7 1. Pet. 3.18 descended not into Hell And to be short that the Church of God is (h) See before Sect. 21. inuisible that it hath erred and that many true Prophets or preachers haue been sent to reforme it whereas the Scripture only tells of false Prophets to come and saith expressy that the gates of hell shall not preuayle against it Lastly if you will but barre the Protestants their owne expositions and argumentations vpon the Scripture which they confesse themselues to be no part of the written word they cannot produce so much as one expresse place of Scripture for any of those opinions so peremptorily defended and stifly obiected against vs which me thinkes considering how much they vaunt of Scripture is sufficient of it selfe to make such as are good amongst them ashamed of their errours and sheweth most euidently that the first authours of this new Ghospell haue founded the same vpon nothing els but only vpon their owne impudency the malice of the tyme and the weaknes of their hearers By all which considerations it is more then manifest that the Protestants denying the authority of the Church they ouerthrow the authority of the Scripture and that refusing to receiue the same from the Church they haue no Scripture at all but that diuers wayes contradicting their owne grounds insteed of Scripture they miserably abuse themselues with their owne translations and their owne imaginations and haue nothing els but only the bare name and outward shew of Scripture And now to come to the second Stone of their foundation which is the point of their pryuate spirit First they can produce no place of Scripture to proue either that the Scripture alone is a sufficient ruie of Faith or that God hath promised his holy spirit to euery particuler man in expounding the Scripture And therefore belieuing either the one or the other they ouerthrow their owne grounds and belieue something more then Scripture which is not expresly contayned therein Secondly this manner of interpreting the Scripture according to the priuate spirit of euery particuler man is not only warranted by the Scripture but also expresly contrary thereunto For the Scripture commaundeth vs for the deciding of controuersyes about the same to ascend to the high Priest for the tyme Deu. 17.9.12 Matth. 2.7 Mat. 18.17 Mat. 23.2 and to obay him vpon payne of death to require the Law from the lips of the Priests to heare the Church and that such as will not heare it shal be accompted as Heathens and Infidells to do as they say who shall sit in the Chayre of Moyses and the like Which places are contrary to that infallible assistance of euery mans priuate spirit which the Protestants pretend and are further confirmed by the practise and execution of them in the primitiue Church recorded also by the Scripture For all the Apostles were not commaunded to write but to preach Mar. 16.15 and the world was obliged not to belieue any particuler spirit but the words and writings proceding from the spirit of the Apostles Act. 15.28 And the question of the obseruation of the Legall Cerimonyes was not left to the arbitrement of euery mans priuate spirit but was reserued to the common spirit of the Church And therfore as the Church was founded not only by Scripture but also by the vnwritten word of God so also it must be preserued And as the world at that tyme belieued the words and wrytings of the Apostles deliuered by themselues so now it must giue credit therunto being likewise deliuered by their Successors We haue a more firme Propheticall speach whereunto you do well to attend sayth S. Peter 2. Petr. 1.20.21 and after adioyneth first vnderstanding this that no Prophesy of Scripture is made by priuate interpretation for not by mans will was Prophesy brought at any tyme but the holy men of God spake inspired with the holy Ghost Whereof you see it followeth that the Scripture must be interpreted by the same spirit wherewith it was written being communicated by the spirit of God for the publike benefit of the Church with the publike authority of those that wrote it it must also be expounded by the same spirit for the publike weale of the Church with the like publike authority of those that haue the keeping of it so vnderstanding this that no Prophesy of Scripture is made with priuate interpretation The spirit sayth S. Paul deuideth vnto all in particuler according as he will 1. Cor. 12.17 All the members of the body haue not the same act for if the whole body be ancye where is the hearing Where also he denyeth that all haue the gift of Prophesy Matt. 18.17 Hebr. 13.17 2. Thes 2.23 Phil. 4.9 Gal. 1.8 Marc. 7.15.24 Marc. 13.22 2. Pet. 2.1 1. Ioā 4.1 2. Thes 2.2 the interpretation of Tongues discretion to discerne of spirit which is expresly against the Protestants c. In conclusion as the Scripture exhorteth vs to heare the Church to obay our Pastours and spirituall Superiours to remayne in those thinges which we haue heard of them not to beleeue an Angell from heauen but rather to hold him accursed that should preach contrary thereunto and the like which do signify the great authority giuen to the publike spirit of the Church promised to be sent vnto it and to remaine with it for euer so all those places of Scripture which aduise vs to beware of false Prophets that is to say of Heretikes to try the spirit not to be terrifyed neither by spirit or speach and the like must needs be vnderstood of those who out of a priuate spirit should oppose themselues against the common doctrine of the Church or publique authority of the gouernour thereof wherein also consisteth the very essence of heresy Aug. ep 162. deciuit l 18. c. 51. de Bapt. cont Don. l. 4. c. 16. and in this sense S. Paul affirmeth (a) Tit. 3.11 that an hereticke is subuerted and sinneth being condemned by his owne iudgment That is to say opposing his priuate iudgment against the Church and so giuing sentence against his owne soule to his eternall damnation And as this Protestant ground is most opposite to Scripture so also it is no lesse contrary to reason it selfe For as in a Commonwealth or Kingdome the law being publique and common to all the interpretation of the law and the finall sentence
Luther in Coloq c. de Past Eccl. Beza ad cap. 13. act Apost Caus dial 6.7.8 that in his writings he had not one word of Faith true ReligioÌ„ that he was manifestly blasphemous impious and intollerable bold in the detorting of Scriptures that if he perseuered in his opinions he was no lesse damned then Lucifer That (a) Cartwrigh in his Reply pag. 562. Damasus spake in the Dragons voyce That (b) Perkin Probl. p. 93.94 Paulinus Fortunatus Fulgentius Petrus Damianus were stayned with sinne and guilty of Sacriledge That (c) Whitaker de Cone coÌ„t Bell. p. 37. Beza in confes Geneuen c. 7. sect 11. Perkins vbi supra S. Leo was a great Archeretike of the antichristian kingdome that he breatheth out the arrogancy of the Antichristian Roman sea That (d) Luther in Colloq mens c. de patr Eccl. S. Basil was of no worth and was wholy a Monke (e) Luther in Colloq Germ. p. 499. Melauth in cap. 14. ad Rom. That S Gregory was grossly deceiuedly the Diuell and he that fell into open impiety tyranny And of the Fathers in general Schastianus Franeus (b) In epist de abrogandis in vniuersuÌ„ omnibus statis Ecclesiasticis concludeth that presently after the Apostles tyme all things were turned vp side downe c. and that for certayne through the worke of Antichrist the externall Church togeather with the faith and Sacraments vanished cleane away preâ—eÌ„tly after the Apostles departure D. Downham (c) Down treatise of Antichrist 〈◊〉 2. c. 2. affirmeth that the generall defection of the visible Church foretold 2. Thessal 2. began to worke in the Apostles tyme. M. Fulke (d) Fulk answere to a Counterfait Catholike pag. 35. auerreth that the true Church decayed immediatly after the Apostles tyme. Luther (e) Luther l. de seruo arbitrio VVitemb pag. 434. presumed to say that vnlesse the Fathers repented and amended they were neither Saints nor Members of the Church Caluin (f) Lib. 3. inst cap. 3. num 10. saith that the Fathers were carried away with errour Peter Martyr (g) De votis pag. 476. refrained not to say as long as we do insist vpon the Councells and Fathers we shall alwayes be conuersant in the same errours Beza (h) In his preface to the new testameÌ„t dedicated to the Pr. of Condy. affirmeth that in the best tymes Sathan was president euen in their assemblyes and Councells Cartwright (i) Cartwright l. 1. p. 5.13 154. affirmeth that seeking in the Fathers writings is a raking in ditches a mouing and sommoning of hell a mensuring of truth by the crooked yard of tyme. Whitaker (k) Cont. Duraeum l. 6. p. 423. auoucheth the Popish religion to be apatched couerlet of the Fathers errours sowed togeather Doctor (l) HuÌ„ph in vita lewel p. 212. Humfrey did grieuously reprehend M. Iewell for his so bould appealing to the Fathers affirming that M. Iewell herein gaue the Papists too large a scope was iniurious to himselfe and after a manner spoyled himself and the Church And M. Fulk (m) Pulk Reioynder pag. 4. Aug. coÌ„t Iul. l. 1. c. 2. De verbis Apostol serm 14. lib. 2. cout Iul. 6.10 being charged with M. Iewells confession in his reioynder to M. Bristowes reply sayth I answere if he charge me with the contynuing of the Church in incorruption for 600. yeares next after Christ he lieth in his throate Thus as S. Augustine saith they persecute those with hostility whom they should follow with fidelity which we cannot impute to their ignorance but to their impudency Alas they kick against they prick and as he sayth againe they push against that wall which will break them to peeces what the Father 's deliuered that they receiued and therfore as Tertullian noteth very well Tert de praesc c. 28. to condemne them is nothing els but to condemne the Apostles and Christ himselfe that taught them SECTION XIX That the Protestants dissent very much from the doctrine of the pure Church is proued out of the Protestants themselues condemning one another LIKE as a peece of earth deuyding it selfe from a high Mountayne and falling downe is againe deuyded into many peeces wherunto it breaketh or as the Kingdome of this world which was giuen by God to our Father Adam being separated by him from the obedience and from the Kingdome of God fell preent thereupon into many factions and was afflicted with many contrarietyes of Angells and men and beasts and Elements and the foure humours of the body and of sense and reason one against the other so it fareth with those that deuide themselues from the vnity of the Citty set vpon the mountayne and from the Kingdome of God which is the Church of Christ For now being destitute of that publick and inuincible authority which Christ hath ordayned to keep the members of his body in which they must needs deuyde themselues one from another euery man abounding in his owne sense and in the self pleasing loue of his owne iudgement The examples whereof haue been such in this miserable age as nothing is more to be admyred or lamented then to see so many Sects and diuersityes of opinions in these tymes as perchance do surmount the number of all the heresyes of former ages put togeather The most notorious heere with vs are the Lutherans the Protestants the Puritans and the Brownists Protest Apology pag. 502.503 504.684 The Lutherans differ from other Protestants in 33. seuerall articles whereof in particuler haue written Schlusselburg Osiander and Samuel Haberus The Lutherans are againe subdeuided into very many sects and the Protestants into more then seauenty seuerall opinions of most important matters the most of them set downe by M. Doctor Willet in his meditation vpon the 122. Psal printed anno 1603. pag. 91. Wherefore as sinne is punished with it selfe so it is the nature of falshood to ouerthrow and confound it selfe Which as it appeareth to be true in the infinite contrariety and confusion of doctrine among the Protestants themselues so alse it wil be manifest in the bold assertion of this vayne man which we haue now in hand And therefore hauing shewed already that to be most contrary to the Fathers which he sayth he hath found in the Fathers and that both by the testimony of the Fathers condemning the Protestants doctrine for heresy and also by the Protestants themselues who spare not to reuyle and blaspheme the Fathers before I conclude this whole matter you shall also heare both him and them condemned out of their owne mouthes Wherfore supposing that our Bishop is now a perfect English Protestant and that he belieueth his owne words to be true affirming those Charches which Rome hath made her aduersaryes to differ little or nothing from the ancient pure and true doctrine of the Church of Christ I argue in this manner The Church which followeth Luthers doctrine Luth. tom Witemb f. 381.382
you see in what sense it may be truly sayd that the spirit of Pride is the spirit of Heresy And as it blindeth the vnderstanding and with-holdeth the same from confessing his owne ignorance and from submitting it selfe to beleeue Gods word as it is taught by others so it exposeth and putteth men forth to teach and to make profession of that which they neuer learned 1. Tim. 1.17 They will be Doctours of the law sayth S. Paul neither vnderstanding what they say nor whereof they affirme In which sense one sayd very well of Heretiks that (a) Fulbertus Carnotensis Epist 1. while they refuse to become disciples or schollers of the truth they make themselues the maisters of errour And that which Optatus wrot of Victor may be also affirmed of other Heretikes (b) Opt. l. 1. That they are sonnes without fathers soldiers without captaines disciples without maisters c. Because they do not acknowledge that any haue the authority to bring them vp to lead and instruct them in such manner as that they are bound to obey and beleeue them No meruaile therfore that the Bishop seeming vnto himselfe to be a man of so great and perfect vnderstanding as not to need the help of others could not penetrate the deuine misteryes conteyned in Scripture For Almighty God is so far from reuealing to such as are proud the secrets of his grace that he is playnely sayd to oppose himselfe against them Iac. 4.6 And our Sauiour thanketh his Father for cōcealing his secrets from them Luc. 10.21 I thanke thee Father sayth he that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent in their one conceit and hast reuealed them to little ones such as wil be content to be instructed Yea though his first comming were in all mercy Ioan. 9.39.40 41. yet against such kind of persons he affirmeth that he came to iudgment saying I came into this world to do iudgment that such as see not confessing their owne ignorance might see and vnderstand and that those who see presuming vpon their owne priuate vnderstanding might be made blind with their owne folly And when the Iewes asked him therupon whether they were blind or no he answered vnto them If you were blind acknowledging your owne blindnes you should haue no sinne because your blyndnes should haue been forgiuen you Apoc. 3.17 But now saying that you see not acknowledging him that he sent to teach you your sinne remayneth By all which it is more then manifest That the spirit of Pryde blinding a mans iudgment from penetrating the sense of Scripture and imboldning him like another Bayard to expound the same to others is most properly the spirit of heresie But now it cannot be denyed that the Fayry which led away your Bishop was the spirit of pryde as appeareth by those effects which it produced in him and especially in telling him that he was rich and neded no body to assist him making him appeare so prudent circumspect and all sufficient in his owne conceyt as that he neded not the aduice of any perswading him to write bookes of those things which no mortall man had euer taught him and to professe himselfe an vniuersall Doctour sent from God to teach the world hauing neuer been any mans Scholler from whome he might receiue his doctrine Therefore the spirit that moued him hereunto could be no other then the spirit of heresy Whereby you see that the vayne man did not try his spirit by the rules of Scripture as he ought to haue done but that he belieued his spirit before he tryed him suffred himselfe very easily to be deluded by him And thus much of my second Argument taken out of himselfe against himself and out of his owne words against his owne conclusion From whence I also drawe my third and last argument and briefly thus I propound it The spirit of true Faith is neuer giuen but by meanes of a Preacher or Teacher Rom. 10.14 which is all one And therefore according to S. Paul no man can truely beleeue without a lawfull Preacher because preaching is the meanes which God hath ordained to cōuert those that shal be saued And so we read that to shew the necessity therof S. Paul himselfe being conuerted by Christ who appeared to him in his way to Damascus was sent for his further instruction to Ananias Act. 9.6 Rise saith the text and go into the Citty and it shal be told thee what thou oughtest to do And the Centurion of the Italian Band albeit he deserued that an Angell should appeare vnto him Act. 10.1.3.5 yet he was commaunded to send for such a man in such a house in such a Citty which man should tell him what he ought to do So likewise the Eunuch of Queene Candaces Act. 8.27 c. could not be conuerted without a Preacher because Almighty God being a louer of order would in no case dispence or breake this ordinance of his owne Decree And therfore S. Philip was sent to instruct this potent Eunuch although he were as it seemeth very wise and very vertuous and wanted neither a Bible which he had in his Coach with him nor Gods holy Angell to assist him Who when S. Philip had done his office rapuit eum saith the text carried him sodainely out of sight thereby to confirme the Eunuch so much the more in that faith which he had receiued But this new Ghospeller as himselfe boasteth neuer conferred with any mortall man nor neuer read any Authour of this his new Religion before he was fully resolued to be a perfect English Protestant from whence it may also be inferred that he neuer came in the ayre nor that any body els was myraculously transported thither to instruct him least any man should imagine the contrary And therfore it is most certayne that he could neuer receiue the spirit of true fayth which cōmeth only by a lawfull Preacher and that he did not obserue the rules set downe for the receiuing of it in holy Scripture which is against the true triall of spirits that he pretendeth and which though he would make you belieue yet he neuer proueth and his owne words as I haue shewed by 3. most manifest and most conuincing reasons do euidently disproue him SECTION II. The three former Arguments inforced by three other Circumstances VVHICH three Arguments haue the more force against him in respect of three other circumstances very worthy your good consideration For first hauing been so long a Religions man as he reporteth he must needs haue learned that there is no vice whereby the Diuell taketh such hold to draw a man headlong on and to bring him perforce to euerlasting ruyne as by perswading him to neglect the counsell of others and to confide in his owne wit and priuate vnderstanding The Diuell is fitly compared to a dishonest louer who as long as the maiden or matrone whom he soliciteth is content to keep his
world God is one sayth S. Cyprian and Christ is one and the Church is but one and the Chayre therof but one founded vpon Peter by the voice of our Lord. Where he sheweth that as Christ is one with God so the Church being founded vpon S. Peter is one with Christ and according to the prayer of our Sauiour to his Father saying That they may be one as we are one And then followeth in S. Cyprian No other Altar or Priesthood can be established whosoeuer gathereth els where scattereth Lib. de past c. 13. To which purpose S. Augustine also hath these words For Peter himselfe to whome he commended his sheep as one man should do to another he our Sauiour made one with himselfe that so he might commend his sheep vnto him that is to say as to the other part of himselfe that as one was the head the other might beare the figure of the body to wit of the Church and that like the Brydegrome and the Bryde they might be two in one flesh Whereby he meaneth that S. Peter representing the whole Church as the head vnder Christ was made one with Christ the Supreme head thereof according to his owne words in other places saying That Peter the Apostle in respect of the Primacy of his Apostleship did beare the person of the Church by a figuratiue generality And againe Tract vlt. in Ioan. he is acknowledged to beare the person of the Church in respect of his Primacy and as holding the principality of the Apostleship More expresly In psal 108. Ser de verbis Dom. Ser. 2. de an assum S. Leo declareth this vnity saying For so he Peter was ordinated before the rest as while he is called a Rocke whil he is pronoūced to be the foundation while he is constituted the Porter of the kingdome of Heauen we might vnderstand by the misteryes of these appellations the society which he had with Christ. And yet more fully els where Serm. 3. de an assump As my Father manifested vnto thee my diuinity so also I make known vnto thee thy excellency for thou art Peter that is though I be the Rocke inuiolable the stone of the corner which maketh both to be one I the foundation besides which no man can lay another yet thou also art the Rock because by my vertue thou art made solide to the end that those thinges which by my power are proper to me by participation with thee might be made cōmon with thee and me By which wordes these holy Fathers labour to declare the vnspeakable vnity of Christ and his Church teaching how the head thereof in earth is made one by Gods diuine grace in name in place and dignity with the head in heauen For the further explicatiō wherof you shall vnderstād that the vnity which the Church possesseth by this means doth especially consist in 3. thinges the first is vnity of Iurisdiction or Iudiciall power which that it dependeth wholy of one head vpon earth and of the authority giuen to S. Peter is manifestly proued out of those places of the Fathers wherein he is acknowledged to haue the Primacy to be the head Pastour and gouernour of the vniuersall world which also shal be further cōfirmed when we come to speake of the Popes succession to S. Peter The second is vnity and consent in fayth for the mantainance whereof that solidity and strength was giuen to the fayth of Peter vpon which the Fathers according to the Scripture do aknowledg the Church of Christ to be built so strongly as that the gates of hell shall not preuayle against it And therfore S. Cyprian in his booke de vaitate Ecclesiae hauing declared that the Diuell to diminish the great mulutude of the beleeuers increasing so fast had denised Schismes and Heresyes wherby many were blinded and carryed away discouereth the cause therof in these words This is done sayth he beloued brethren because men haue not recourse to the origine of the truth neither seeking the head nor following the doctrine of their celestiall maister And then expounding himselfe he addeth Our Lord speaketh vnto Peter I say vnto thee Thou art Peter and vpon this Rocke c. And againe after his resurrection he sayd vnto him Feed my sheep In which words this glorious Martyr sheweth that according to the doctrine of Christ our maister for the finding out of the truth we must haue recourse to Peter the foundation of the Church and the Pastour therof And thereof he concludeth that albeit the Apostles were all equall in honour and power that is to say of Apostleship yet the Primacy was giuen to Peter that there might be one Church and one Chayre one flock fed by many Pastors with one mynd and consent The like words he also vseth in his epistle to Pope Cornelius where he sayth Lib. 1. ep 3. ad Cornel. For neither from any other cause do Heresyes come vp or Schismes do arise but only from this that obedience is not giuen to the Priest of God and that one Priest for the tyme or one Iudge for the tyme is not acknowlelged in the Church in the place of Christ. Whome if according to the diuine documents of their Maister the whole fraternity obeyed no man would or could moue any thing at all against the colledge of Priests that is to say collected vnited vnder one Priest one Iudge vpon earth in the place of Christ Epist 46. inter epist Cypriani And Pope Cornelius himselfe writing to S. Cyprian signifieth that some being repentant of their Schisme which ignorantly they had made against him confessed their errours in these words We know that Cornelius was elected by God almighty and by Christ our Lord to be the Bishop of the holy Catholike Church c. Our mind was alwayes in the Catholike Church For we are not ignorant that there is one God one Christ one holy Ghost and that in the Catholike Church there ought to be one Bishop so they which is the same in effect with the doctrine related out of S. Cyprian himselfe with which confession of theirs Cornelius sayth that he was much moued willed S. Cyprian to send his letters of the relation thereof to other Churches And to conclude this poynt the saying of S. Hierome is common in euery booke of Controuersy Among the twelue one was chosē that an head being established the occasion of schism might be taken away Thirdly therefore the vnity of the Church is increased and perfected by the vnity in power of Ecclesiasticall Order which as it dependeth of one alone to be rightly conferred so it is more then probable that our Sauiour ordayned it should descend from onealone Epist 1. so I vnderstand with Bellarmine those words of Anacletus that in the new Testament after Christ the Sacerdotall Order came from Peter by which he must meane not the order of Priests who were ordayned by our Sauiour himselfe in
them the more because of our corrupted nature they find themselues subiect vnto them and especially heretikes in whome God punisheth one sinne with another by with-drawing from them more and more the assistance of his holy grace to the end that their Pryde may either be humbled thereby or els confirmed And thus much for the first Catholike motiue expressed in the Creed vnder the signification of the word Holy which as I thinke you will graunt is most sufficient to persuade any well disposed mynd to imbrace the Catholike Faith by means whereof all men are inabled to resist sinne to obserue the Law and to preserue their loue and friendship with God And as all Christians belieue that very many in former ages haue attayned thereby to wonderfull sanctity holynes and perfection of life so none can deny but that this age of ours hath affoarded sundry the like examples Whereas on the other side experience teacheth that through the want therof many Christian Countreys and ours among the rest haue lost their ancient practise of good workes their former exercises of piety and deuotion and their exemplar disciplyne of Christian conuersation and insteed of these things changing the liberty of the spirit into the liberty of the flesh they are fallen into such corruption dissolution and prophanes of life manners that their owne Maisters and Doctours are ashamed of them SECTION XXII The force of the second Motiue signifyed by the word Catholike in the Creed of the Apostles is declared IT followeth to declare the second Catholike motiue comprehended vnder the name Catholike and contayned in the Apostles Creed which signifyeth the vniuersality of the Church in tyme and place and that the Catholike Faith was to be spred ouer all the world and to contynue in all ages vntill the day of iudgment which as in it selfe it is sufficient to moue any man of iudgement to follow this vniuersall and eternall Truth so is it set downe so clerely and aboundantly in the Scriptures themselues which prophesy thereof that a man would wonder if any blyndenes were to be wondered at in those that are obstynate how it is possible that such as professe to be much coÌ„uersant in the reading of them should not see and discerne them A stone (b) Dan. 2.34 cut without hands from the Mountayne was made a great Mountayne and filled the whole earth All (c) Esa 2.2.60.5 nations shall flow into it Thou (d) Esa 60.10.11 shalt see and abound thy hart shaÌ„lbe astonied and inlarged because the multitude of the sea shal be conuerted vnto thee The Iles expect thee their Kings shall minister vnto thee thy gates shall be continually open neither day nor night shall they be shut that men may bring to thee the riches of the Gentiles (g) Esa 49.23 Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and Queenes thy Mothers (h) Esa 54.2.3 The place is strait for me giue roome that I may inhabit Inlarge the place of thy tents spread out the Curtaynes of thy habitation for thou shalt increase on the right hand and on the left thy seed shall possesse the Gentiles These and infinit others like to these are the Prophesies of the extension of Christs Church vniuersally to all Kingdomes and Nations according whereunto our Sauiour compared his Church to a little Mustard-seed Matt. â—3 31 Mar. 16.15.16 Acts. 1.8 which after should come to be a great tree bidding his disciples to preach to euery creature to go forth into all the world to teach all Nations from Hierusalem to Samaria and so forward euen to the ends of the earth The continuance therof was likewise foretold that their watchmen or Pastors should not be silent (k) Esa 62.6 That their Priests should not want to offer Sacrifice all the dayes That Gods (l) Ierem. 33.18.20.22 couenant with them should be like his couenant with the day and night that is to say to contynue foreuer That they should be multiplied like the starres of heauen and the sand of the sea which you know can neuer fayle Ministring (m) Esa 66.21.23 to him euen from moneth to moneth and from Sabbaoth to Sabbaoth that is to say allwayes In (n) Dan 2.44 the dayes of those Kingdomes God shall rayse the Kingdome of heauen which shall neuer be dispersed and his Kingdome shall not be giuen to any other people and it shall consume all those other Kingdomes and it shall stand for euer from generation to generation (o) Psal 85.30.31.32.3 Gods Couenant therewith shall not be broken for any offence committed by her children but shall contynue like the Sunne and the Moone for euer According whereunto our Sauouir also sayd that the Gates of hell should not preuaile against it and that he himselfe would be with it to preserue it all the dayes vnto the consummation of the world From the which as you see no tyme nor any one day can be excepted From these two propertyes is euidently deduced the visibility of the Church for it being so great as that morally it may be sayd to fill the earth and also of such emynent glory as to haue so many Kingdomes Nations subiect vnto it according to the former prophesies thereof no man can be ignorant where it is nor what people they are who are members of it Also the Priests therof being compared by the Prophets for their number and quality to the starres of heauen their Sacrifices their Lawes and executions of them their Sacraments and the administration of them their preachings and teachings and to let passe many other things their continuall and glorious fight against heretiks and Infidelles and wicked Christians must needs be so well knowne that no man dwelling neere the most inhabited and best part of the world possessed by them can be ignorant therof For as the Assyrians Persians Grecians and Romans in respect of the greatnes force and fame of their dominions were morrally sayd to haue conquered the world and to haue possessed the Empyre therof in which respect it can be no lesse then madnes to affirme that they were inuisible so also the Kingdome of Christ in respect of the extension inuincibility eminent apparence and great fame which it hath euer enioyed aboue any other sects of Religion whatsoeuer may be said more properly to fill the earth and to be the only Catholike or vniuersall Religion diffused through the world as you shal heare anone out of S. Augustine And for this cause God himselfe sayd Esa 61.9 that he would make an euerlasting Couenant with them that their seed should be knowne among the Nations And that all who did see them shall know them to be the seed which our Lord hath blessed And the prophets hauing fortold that it should be a mountayne Matt 5.14 prepared in the top of Mountaines exalted aboue other hills our Sauiour accordingly sayd of it That being a Citty placed vpon a Mountayne it could not be
of all suits causes concerning the law is likewise publique for otherwise there could be no peace nor concord made betweene priuate men if euery one might interprete the law to his owne aduantage so likewise the Catholike Fayth being common and publique propounded to all and all men being commaunded to agree togeather in the same fayth with vnity and concord it must needs follow that the definition and sinall sentence of all controuersyes causes of faith be also publique For otherwise there could be no end of differences euery man obstinatly defending the sense of his owne spirit and presumptuously condemning all those Hier cont Lucif c. 14. that oppose themselues against it If in the Church sayth S. Hierome there be no imminent power there will be so many Schismes as there are Priests And among twelue one was chosen that a head being appointed Idem cont Iouin the occasiō of Schism might be taken away But of this we haue spoken sufficiently els where and haue also shewed by experience that the Protestants for want of this publike authority are infinitly deuided among themselues and censure most terribly and condemne most extremly the seuerall opinions of one another Wherefore to proceed and to omit for breuityes sake that this rule of priuate interpretation being once admitted there would follow nothing els but an infinite confusion of little truth much falsehood in the Church of God And that the mēbers thereof should haue no meanes to discerne with whome they ought to hold communion as sincere and orthodoxall nor whome to auoyd as corrupt and hereticall What can be more contrary to the light of Nature then where all haue equall meanes to know the truth or that some for sundry good respects may be thought to excell the rest euery particuler man though neuer so simple should more cōfide in his owne priuate vnderstanding then in the iudgment of the best and wisest which as it is most absurd in all kind of knowledge so especially in the right vnderstanding interpretation of Scripture being in great part most obscure and euery where subiect to errour as you may easily iudge by the controuersyes decrees and generall Councells of the Church concerning the same by the condemnations of so many excellent wits learned men that haue erred therein and by the explications sermons and cōmentaryes that without end are made vpon them And truely that euery Protestant man woman and child plough-man artificer or of what profession soeuer learned or vnlearned whether they can read or no should take it vpon them and vpon their saluation as they do and as they are bound to do according to the ground of their Religion to iudge infallibly by the Scripture alone which bookes are Scripture and which not and to know euery verse and euery line of the Canonicall from that which is not Canonicall better then the ancient Fathers or Laodicean Councell for example who doubted of many of them and better then that famous Councell of Carthage where at S. Augustine was present is thought to haue been the Secretary and penner of it which decreed many bookes to be Scripture that are now contradicted reiected by the Protestants is so strange a madnes as it seemeth impossible that it should sinke into any mans hart to imagine or that the mind of any sober man could be deluded with it And the same we may say of the interpretation of Scripture For beleeuing as an article of their Fayth that there is no external means wherby they may infallibly know the meaning of Scripture but by the Scripture euery idle companiō preferreth his owne priuate iudgment therin not only before the iudgment of all the Fathers in particuler who haue doubted of many poynts of Fayth and of the meaning of many places in Scripture vntill by a generall Councell their doubts were cleared but also before the sentence of the vniuersall Church which euery Protestant doth imagine to haue grosly erred beleeuing in the meane tyme his owne opinion to be most infallible Which is yet more strang in that the Protestants perswading themselues to be most certaine that they haue the Scripture and the true interpretation of Scripture they confesse notwithstanding the meanes which they vse for the attayning of this certainty to be most vncertayne That is to say the reading of Scripture their conference of places their diligence prayer and the like Whereof the two last alone are common to all and euery one of these meanes being by their owne confession but human endeauours are therefore subiect to the errour of our frayle Nature to the common ouersight of mans infirmity And as all partyes among them condemne ech other so there was neuer any Protestant in the world whom they beleeue or acknowledge notwithstanding the vse of all these meanes not to haue been very much deceiued in the interpretation of the Scripture And therfore as the authority of the Catholicke Church in respect of the clarity and extension therof is fitly expounded by S. Augustine to be that Lightning of the comming of Christ which breaking forth out of heauen is scene from the East to the West Matth. 24.27 and filleth the world inforcing all men to behold it so it is no great mystery to vnderstand that the Protestants shutting their eyes against it haue chosen to themselues such a ground of their fayth as by it self alone is not only most vncertaine vnto them for diuers sundry causes but also in respect of the formality therof is most contrary to Scripture most opposite to reason and most euidently ouerthrowing it selfe as hath beene shewed Whereof because no man that is not willfully blind among you can be ignorant therfore I can blame none of those great numbers of whome your authors do so much cōplaine who preferre the light of sense or naturall reason before the fayth of the Protestants and chuse rather to beleeue nothing then to be so grossly and so manifestly deceiued For such a kind fayth as hath been shewed doth not perfect the light of naturall reason but abuse it nor maketh men spiritually wise but rather diabolically contentious and absurdly foolish And the ground therof being false and friuolous they who rely the most thereupon are the most deceiued And albeit they may hold many things that are true yet speaking properly of diuine faith they haue no faith at all whereof I gaue you the reason in the beginning of this Section because to ayme at the secrets of God or to mooue any dispute about them without some infallible meanes which himselfe hath ordayned for the preseruation tradition and preaching or deliuery of them is no lesse ridiculous then for blind men as I haue sayd to cōtend of colours or as S. Paul affirmeth no better then vayne and idle talking 1. Tim. 1.6.7 not vnderstanding neither what is spoken nor of what to affirme But as the Turkes albeit they are perswaded that there is one
forgetteth not to vse tearmes of due reuerence saying in this manner Neither dost thou disdaine that art not proud though thou gouernest in a higher place to be a friend to these of low condition and to returne loue for loue And you haue heard what words of great respect S. Hierom vsed to Pope Damasus Hier. ad Damasum when he sayd Although thy greatnes doth feare me yet thy humanity doth inuite me being a sheep I craue the help of my sheepheard c. And how the great Athanasius Patriarch of Alexandria with the Bishops of the East thought it no disgrace to call the Pope their holy Lord venerable with Apostolicall dignity the Father of the vniuersall Church Athan. ad Marcum tom 1. Con. affirming themselues to be his and that vnto him with all those committed to them they were obedient and euer would be Whereof I thought good briefly to remember you that you might perceiue the difference betweene the Christian humility of the ancient Fathers and the saucy presumption of this new contentious Heretike SECTION XXX Of Schisme which is the last obiection of the Bishop against himselfe wherein hee is proued to be not only a Schismatike but also a manifest Heretike HIS second last obiection which he maketh against himselfe is this That forsaking the Church of Rome which he calleth Babylon he may seeme to haue incurred the cryme of Schisme wherunto he answereth saying I will that this my flight or profectiō be free from all suspition of Schisme If Monsignor fate voy when he fell into the hands of the Merchants that had beene deceiued by him should haue sayd I will be free from beating do you thinke it would haue serued his turne Truly both these Monsignors hauing so well deserued their fees as the blowes fell vpon the one notwithstanding his good desire to the contrary so not only the suspition but also the infamy both of Schisme and Heresy whether he will or will not must light vpon the other But because it is manifest that there is a Schisme or diuision betweene the Pope and him he would insinuate that all things considered not himselfe but the Pope must needs be the Schismatike which he seemeth to proue first by reason and secondly by the authority and example of S. Cyprian His reason is this in effect He that maketh new Articles of fayth either cōtrary or not contayned in the Scriptures and ancient Creeds and admitteth for Articles of Fayth such things as are indifferent in themselues and were neuer sufficiently defyned by the Church and condemneth those for heretiks whom the Church hath not sufficiently condemned he is the Schismaticke But such is the Pope who doth these things not the Bishop who detesteth them Ergo c. Wherein what he meaneth by not being sufficiently defined or condemned by the Church I know not But to giue you some light heerin you must vnderstand that according to the Catholike doctrine any Controuersy in matter of Faith may be sufficiently defyned foure manner of wayes That is to say First by the vniuersall consent and generall beliefe of all the Faithfull for as hath been proued it is impossible the vniuersal Church should erre in matter of Faith Aug. l. de haeres in fine And therfore S. Augustine sayth It is sufficient to know that the Church reputeth any doctrine not to be of Fayth that it be not receiued by any of the Faithfull Lib 1 cont Cresc c. 31. 33 ep 48.99 in ep 118. c 5. l. de v◅lit cred c. 17. And you know how he affirmeth that to dispute against the doctrine of the vniuersall Church is most insolent madnes and that not to giue thereunto the first place of authority is either extreme impiety or precipitate ignorance Secondly any thing may be defined to be matter of fayth by the vniforme consent of the Doctours of the Church who if they should erre the whole Church being bound to beleeue them must fall of necessity into errours with them Thirdly by a generall Councell confirmed by the Pope or lastly by the definition of the Pope himselfe decreing the same for the direction of the faythfull and establishment of the peace of the Church as hath been proued at large in the former Sections of the Popes Supremacy And because the question between the Pope and the Bishop in this place concerneth Schisme Heresy you are further to vnderstand that Schism according to the sense of the word signifieth a scissure or diuision of minds which is opposed to vnity and consequently to Charity which doth vnite the minds of the Faythfull And because the greatest vnity in the Church is that of the whole body which proceedeth from all the members with the head and whereunto the vnity and Charity of the particuler members among themselues is naturally referred as the part to the whole from hence it is that Schisme being taken for such a great dissention S. Thom. 2.2 quaest 39. art c. in corpore Hier. in c. 3. ad Tit. as is most contrary to the vnity of the Church is defined to be a rebellion against the head of the Church refusing to communicate with the members therof as they are subiect vnto him According whereunto S. Hierome giueth vs this doctrine between Heresy and Schisme sayth he we make this difference that Heresy holdeth some peruerse opinion Schisme also separateth from the Church by Episcopall dissention Epiph. sect 68. Aug. l de Haer. haer 69. l 2. cont Crese c. 4. 7. or dissention from the Bishop So Miletius making a proper congregation against Peter Bishop of Alexandria his Superiour was accompted a Schismaticke and no Heretike For as Epiphanius sayth his faith was neuer changed from the Catholike Church So likewise Cecilian being made Bishop of Carthage against the will of Donatus who obiected many crimes vnto him and with his followers departed from him the Donatists in the beginning were accōpted Schismatiks And in the same manner Optatus to proue Parmenian not Cecilian to be the Schismatike argueth in this manner For Cecilian sayth he went not out from Maiorinus thy predecessour but Maiorinus from Cecilian Neither did Cecilian depart from the Chayre of Peter or of Cyprian but Maiorinus in whose chayre thou succeedest and which before him had no beginning Wherfore in our case it wil be an easy matter to find out of these two the Pope or this Bishop which is the Scismatike For the Bishop rebelling against the Pope his Superiour if not by diuine yet at least by humaine law as himselfe will confesse dissenting from the chiefe Bishop of the Church of Christ going out and departing from the Chayre of Peter and ioyning himselfe vnto another Congregation most oposite thereunto it is more absurd for him to accuse the Pope of schisme then for a subiect taking armes against his Prince or ioyning with his enemyes to acuse the Prince himselfe of rebellion and
thereunto I will make it the conclusion of this whole Treatise Wherefore Brother sayth S. Cyprian if thou wilt dayly consider the Maiesty of God from whome the ordinance of Priests proceedeth If thou wilt beare respect vnto Christ who with his holy pleasure and continuall presence gouerneth both the Prelates themselues the Church with the Prelates If thou wilt esteeme of the innocency of Priests not according to the hatred of man but according to the iudgment of God If thou wilt begin at length to repent thy ◅merity and pride and insolency If thou be contented to make a full and perfect satisfaction to God and his Christ whome I serue and vnto whome with a pure and immaculate mouth I offer continuall sacrifice both in peace persecution vpon these tearmes we may be brought to haue peace and communion with thee Thus though I haue beene much longer then I thought yet at length as I take it I haue sufficiētly cōfuted not only the little booke you sent me the other great volume which it threatneth but also the Author himselfe For I haue proued out of his own mouth that in the whole course of his turning and flying from the Catholike Religion there was neither wisdome nor humility nor obedience but only extreme confidence pride and presumption in his owne wit idle suspitions and iniurious surmyses of fraud and falshood in his own Maisters great ambition with great signes of fearefull Apostasy from that Order whereunto he was vowed strife contention with his Suffragans hatred malice against the Pope who defended them extreme ignorance or extreme impudency in accusing the Catholiks of innumerable errours in affirming the Protestant Religion to be the doctrine of the Fathers opprobrious and most intemperate speaches against the Pope his Superiour and as himselfe calleth him his most blessed Father impious indifferency and neutrality in Religion admiration of himselfe and his booke hypocrisy vnder the cloke of Charity Turkish sicophancy and most vnchristian adulation indiscretion falshood and dishonesty in producing the authority of S. Cyprian so much against his own cause against the truth of the story against himselfe in that poynt against the common and knowne doctrine of S. Cyprian to the contrary And therfore to omit that in this maister-peece of worke which he made to gayne himselfe credit for the rest of his books that are to follow he proueth nothing but euery where beggeth the question sheweth to dissent from the Protestants themselues whom he taketh vpon him to defend all his former vertues which I haue brieflly rehearsed being put togeather I thinke will be sufficient to make any thing that shall come from his penne to be vehemently suspected or altogeather despysed hereafter And truly these good qualityes of his which I may call his prayses because he hath no better do so manifest themselues in all the passages of his booke to euery iudicious Reader that there was little need of me or of any other to haue beene his Brother And now that according as I affirmed in the beginning you may perceiue the entrance of this strange Bishop into England to haue beene no other then the comming of a foule spanell to fawne vpon you who can do no lesse then beray you I frame this Sillogisme The Diuell perswadeth or-induceth no man to forsake the false or to imbrace the true Religion But as hath been shewed it was no other then the spirit of the Diuell that induced the Bishop to forsake the Catholike and to imbrace the Protestant Religion Therfore neither the Catholike can be the false nor the Protestant the true Religion If I had meant nothing els but to discouer the spirit of this man three or foure of the first Sections might haue sufficed for the tryall thereof But because I was desirous by this occasion to lay open and approue vnto you some of the chiefest grounds of the Catholike Religion by which your selues might easily refute whatsoeuer the same author may herafter publish in prosecution of his purposes I went forward and as the matter of his booke requyred First I gaue you a full and euident proofe of the Popes Supremacy And secondly I made it appeare most manifestly that the auncient Fathers taught the same doctrine which the Catholikes now professe and that they vtterly condemned the Protestants and were likewise condemned by them And lastly I haue shewed that as the Protestants of their part can giue no fundamentall reason of their faith nor shew any ground thereof and therefore haue no fayth at all so on the other side I haue declared that the motiues of the Catholike and of the Christian Religion are both the same and be in themselues most reasonable and most forceable to any mans iudgment or vnderstanding that shall duely consider or reflect vpon them Which three poynts being so clerely and manifestly proued doe plainly conuince that out of the Catholike Roman Church there is no saluation Whereof in seuerall places I haue also declared the reasons at large vnto you because that without obedyence vnto the Church as I haue proued there can neither be true fayth nor true iustice without both which it is impossible that God should be pleased or the soule of man be saued Wherefore considering how ready and desirous you haue alwayes professed your selfe to imbrace the truth if euer you came to vnderstand with whom it remayned I will vse no other perswasion but only for a conclusion of my former discourse Iren. l. 4. cont haer cap. 25. I will referre you to the graue Counsell of the most auncient Iraeneus whose words being very worthy of most attentiue consideration are these that follow Where the gifts and graces of God are bestowed there we ought to learne the truth With whom that succession of the Church which is from the Apostles remayneth and that which is sound and irreprouable in conuersation and that which is vndefiled and incorruptible in doctrine doth still continue For these be they who both keep and preserue our fayth and expound the Scriptures vnto vs without danger And now because this answere to your friendly Letter is growne to the iust bignesse of a booke for your greater ease and for the benefit of others it wil be sent to the print And although by meanes thereof it may be very long before you receiue it yet I imagine that when it cōmeth it wil be somewhat the better welcome And because I am verily perswaded Almighty God hath so ordayned that the fall of this Bishop shal be the occasion of the rysing and conuersion of many I will hope in respect of those excellent parts wherewith I know you are indued that if you be not the first you will not be the last that must be cōuerted by this meanes And so with the remembrance of ourauncient loue which I beseech Almighty God to make eternall I rest Your friend and seruant in Christ Iesus C. A. sufficiently knowne vnto