Wherfore to conclude Folio 9. b. Ioan. 4. the only swete water to quench our thyrsts must be fet from the fountayne of Gods eternall wyl There is the well that springeth vp into euerlasting life Beware of the puddle of mens traditions it infecteth ofte féelde it refresheth We must not vse the pretexte of custome but enquire for that which is right and good Chrisost in Gen. cap. 20. Hom. 56. If any thing be good if it profyt and edify the church of Christ let it be receiued yea though it be straunge If any thing be hurtful and preiudiciall to the true simplicitie of the Gospell let it be abandoned though .xv. hundreth yeares custome haue confirmed it For my part I craue no further credit than the christian conscience groūded on the word of God shal of indifferency and good reason graunt me The Lorde directe your hearts in his loue and feare confound Sathan with all hys wickednesse and giue the glory onely to Christ His name be praysed for euer and euer So be it To the first Article HAuing to erecte the house of god wherto we ought to be fellow workers we are bound especially to sée to this that neyther we builde on an euill ground therby to lose both cost and trauail nor set to sale and cōmende to other a ruinous thing or anye waye infectious in steade of a strong defence or holesome place wherevpon to rest The Apostle commending his doctrine to the Corinthians sayth Vt sapiens architectus fundamentum posui 1. Corin. 3. As a skilfull masterbuilder I haue layde the foundation And other foundation can no man laye than that which is layde which is Christ Iesus Christ hath receyued of his father all things he hath conferred vpon vs no lesse he by his death hath made entrance into life for vs he is become our wysedome our righteousnesse our sanctification and redemption By his name we must onely be saued by hys doctrine we must only be directed vpon that rock that fayth of his we must substantially be grounded If any man teach other lessons than of that we must say with Paul Si Angelus è celo Gallath If an Angel from heauen teach otherwise than the Apostles haue preached to vs let him be accursed And with S. Iohn Quod audistis ab initio id in vobis permaneat Let that abide in you which you haue heard from the beginning so shal you continue both in the sonne and in the father And this is the promise that he hath promised vs 1. Ioan. euen eternall life If any man do not bring this doctrine with him do not so much as salute him Ioan. 14. Math. 15. neyther receiue him into your houses For he that loueth God heareth his voyce sayth Christ And they in vayne do worship him that teach the doctrine and preceptes of men Men in God his matters not to be beleued vvithout the vvord Men haue their errors and imperfections though they be the children of God yet they be not guided by his good spirit alwayes Euery man that hath an instrument in his hand can not play on the same nor euery man that hath learned the science can please the eare But if the strings be out of tune or frets disordered there wanteth the harmony that should delite So whensoeuer we swarue neuer so little from the right trade of Gods holy word we are not to be credited we ought not to please Wherefore sith the way is daungerous our féete slippery that we fall oft and are slyding euer no maruell if the best of vs sometime do halte It falleth oft that such as preach professe Christ builde sometime on him euill vnsound and corrupt doctrine Not that the word of God is occasion of heresies but that men lacke right vnderstanding and iudgement of the same which commeth only by the spirit of God And this it is that S. Paule sayth 1. Cor. 5. how some do builde vpon Christ the foundation golde siluer and precious stones But some other timber hay and stubble Yet must we not take the hope of Gods mercy from such euill carpenters as lay so rotten a couering vpon so sure a building where as otherwise they offending in trifles be sound inough in greater matters sticke to Christ the only substantiall and true foundation Yet such their errors and imperfections being brought to the fier of gods spirit De doctrin Christiana li. 2. ca. 9. sequentibus and tried by the word shal be consumed Augustine therfore when he would frame a perfecte preacher willeth him to conferre the places of Scripture together He sendes him not to the Doctours distinctions nor to the censure of the Church nor canons of the Popes nor traditions of the fathers but onely to quiet and content himselfe with the word of God Therfore in the primitiue Church when as yet the new Testament was not written al things were examined according to the sermons and wordes of the Apostles For which cause S. Iohn writeth Qui ex Deo est nos audit 1. Ioan. 4. He that is of of God heareth vs and he that heareth vs not is not of God So farre therfore as men accorde with the holy Scripture and shape their writings after the paterne that Christ hath left them I will not only my self estéeme them but wish them to be had in most renoune and reuerence Otherwise absolutely to trust to mē which may be deceiued gather out of the fathers writings whatsoeuer was wytnesse of their imperfection is neyther point of wisdome nor safety In euery age God raysed vp some worthy instrumētes in his church And yet in no age any was so perfect that a certaine truth was to be builded on him Which thing by example as wel vnder the law as in the time of grace god hath sufficiently by his worke declared Among the Iewes who was euer comparable vnto Aaron Aaron who fell so shamefully he assented for feare vnto the peoples Idolatry Among the ministers of the Gospell who had so great rare gifts as Peter who did offende so fleshely Peter for dreade of a girle he denied his master Which thing was not done without the prouidence of almighty God thereby to putte men in remembraunce of their frailty further to instruct them whence truth in doctrine must only be fetcht Trust not me Pro loco li. 3. de Trinita To. 3. sayth Augustine nor credit my writings as if they were the canonical scripture But whatsoeuer thou findest in the word although thou didst not beleue it before yet groūd thy fayth on it now And whatsoeuer thou readest of mine vnlesse thou knowest it certainly to be true giue thou no certaine assent to it Epist 48. ad Vincent de Vi coer her And in an other place reprouing suche as will bring forth cauils out of mens writings therby to confirme an error he saith that a difference should
be made betwene the assertions and mindes of men were they eyther Hillarie Ciprian Agrippine or any other and canon of the Scripture Non enim sic leguntur he sayth tanquam ita ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contra sentire non liceat Concio ad Adolesc sicubi forte aliter sapuerint quam veritas postulat In eo quippe numero sumus vt non dedignemur etiā nobis dictū ab Apostolo accipere Et si quid aliter sapitis id quoque deus vobis reuelabit For they are not so red as if a testimonie might be brought forth of them which it were not lawefull for any man to gaynesay if peraduenture they thought otherwise than the truth requireth For we are in the number of them that disdayne not to take this saying of the Apostle to vs If any of you be otherwise minded God shall reueale the same vnto you Wherefore with what iudgement the fathers of the church ought to be redde Basile setteth forth by a propre similitude Iuxta totum apium similitudinem orationum participes nos fieri conuenit Illae enim neque ad omnes flores consimiliter accedunt neque etiam eos ad quos volant totos auferre tentant sed quantū ipsis ad mellis opificiū commodū est accipientes reliquū valere sinunt Et nos sanè si sapiamus quantum sincerum est veritati cognatum ab ipsis adepti quod reliquum est transiliemus We must be partakers of other mennes sayings wholly after maner of the Bées for they flée not alike vnto all flowers nor where they syt they crop them quite away but snatching so much as shall suffise for their hony making take their leaue of the rest Euen so we if we be wise hauing got of other so much as is sound and agreable to truth wil leape ouer the rest Which rule if we kepe in reading and alleaging the fathers words we shall not swarue from our profession the scripture shall haue the soueraine place and yet the Doctours of the Church shall lose no parte of their due estimation None of the Fathers but haue erred There is not any of them that the world both most wonder at but haue had their affections nor I thinke that you aduersaries to vs and to the truth will in euery respecte admitte all that any one of the fathers wrote My selfe were able from the very first after the Apostles time to runne them ouer all and straightly examining their words and assertions finde imperfections in all But I would be loth by discrediting of other to séeme that I sought some prayse of skil or else be likened to Cham Noahs sōne that seing the nakednesse of the fathers Gen. 21. wil in contēpt vtter it But bycause in ceremonies and obseruances wherein they scant agreing with themselues euery one discording from other declined all from simplicity of the Gospell we are onely burdened with the name of fathers giue vs leaue somtime to vse a Regestion let vs haue the liberty toward other which Hierome graunteth against himselfe saying Certe vbicunque Scripturas non interpretor In Apo. pro lib. contra Iouin To. 2. liberè de meo sensu loquor arguat me cui lubet Truely whersoeuer I expound not the scriptures but freely speak of mine own sense let any man that lyst reproue me Not that I wil giue so large raynes to the headdinesse of some whiche either of affection or of singularity wil néedes dissent but that I wil not exempte any from their iuste defence Ioan. 4. from triall of the spirits whether they are of God We must followe the example of them of Berrhea which trusted not to Paule himselfe but searched the scriptures whether they were so Tvvo Iudges of cōtrouersies the vvorde and the spirite But where as this precept is generall all men to iudge all men to try what doctrine they receyue this iudgement and trial to be had by the word is somewhat in dede but yet not all that may be sayde in the matter I graunt the Scripture to be a good Iudge in deede But vnlesse the spirite of wisedome and knoweledge doe lighten our wyttes and vnderstanding it shal auayle vs little or nothing to haue at hand the worde of God whereof we knowe not the sense and meaning Golde is tryed by the touchstone and metalles in the fier yet onely of suche as are experte in the facultie For neyther the touchstone nor yet the fier can any thing further the ignoraunte and vnskilfull Wherefore to be méete and conuenient men to iudge of a truthe when we do reade or heare it by the holy Ghost we must be directed In this behalfe although I knowe that the giftes of God haue their degrées yet dare I say that none is vtterly so voide of grace It is possible to trie a truthe but hath so much conferred on him as shal be expedient for his owne behoofe vnlesse he be vtterly as a rotten member cut of from Christ Vaine it were to commaūd a thing that lies not in vs and vs to deny the possibillitie when we haue a promise of a thing that shall be doth argue our inconstancy and mysbelief Wherefore syth Christ and his Apostles saye often times Videte Cauete Probate which wordes be spoken in the commaunding mode byd vs Sée Beware and Proue I must néedes conclude that we shal not be destitute of the spirit of God so farre as shal be most néedefull for vs if we doe aske the same by fayth And whereas Christ doth affirme that we shal knowe 1. Ioan. 4. And S. Iohn in his epistle doth assure vs that 〈◊〉 doe knowe Spiritum veritatis Spiritum erroris the Spirit of veritie and Spirit of error we must acknowledge and confesse that the truth is not hidde from vs further than we lyst to shut it vp from our selues But here ariseth doubtfull case If euery man shall haue authoritie to giue his verdit vpon a controuersie Tvvo kindes of examination of doctrine Priuate which shall séeme and say that he hath the spirit no certain thing shal be decréed euery man shal haue his own way no stable opinion and iudgement to be rested on Hereto I aunswere againe that there be two kindes of examination of doctrine one priuate another publique Priuate wherby eche man doth settle his owne fayth to staye continually vppon one doctrine which he knoweth stedfastly to haue procéeded from God For consciences shall neuer haue any sure porte or refuge to runne vnto but only God He when he is called vpon will heare our prayers when he is desired wil graunt vs his spirit But he hath prescribed vs a way before hand to attayne the same if we bring vnder all senses of ours vnto his word Ioan. 8. Si patrem habetis Deum quomodo non agnoscitis loquelam meam If ye haue God to your father saith Christ how falleth it
he doth call it Stolidam arrogantem Synodum A doltish and a proude Synode And the decrée there made touching the adoratiō of Images which you M. Martiall do teach so stoutly Impudentissimam traditionem A most impudent and shamelesse tradition I refer you to the foure bokes of Carolus in which at large is set forth not only the vanity of those reuerend Asses which went about to establish Images but also the effect of the Councel of Frankford not vtterly abolishing which was their imperfection but playnly condemning the adoration and worship of them But in this case where Councell is agaynst Councell and necessary it is that one of them be deceyued which must we trust to I knowe that the latter age hath receyued the worse the seauenth of Nice But we must not follow the authoritie of men were they neuer so many but the directiō of God his spirit truth reuealed in his holy word What moued the faythfull to refuse the second of Ephesus willingly embrace the Councell of Chalcedon but that examining their decrées by Scripture they founde Eutiches heresie confirmed in the one which the other condemned So when the manifeste worde of God shall try where the spirite of God doth rest there must the credite there onely be giuen And to the ende that al readers hereof may vnderstand and sée what vanity there was in the Prelats of Nicene Coūcell what more than vanity is in the magnifiers of so mad a cōpany I wil set forth the allegations of the Image worshippers and the confutation which the seruantes of God made that euery man thereby may iudge so as the spirit of God shall leade him Car. Mag. Li. 1. Cap. 20. To. 2. Cō Concil Nice 2. and as himself shal sée good cause Fyrst of al their generall position was That the Images of Christ the virgin Mary other Saincts were sacred and holy therfore to be worshipped Hereto the Synode answered That the Antecedent the former proposition was false in as much as they are neyther holy in respecte of the matter wherof they be made nor of the colours that be layd vpon them nor yet for any imposition of hands nor by any canonical consecratiō Therfore they be not at al holy much lesse therfore to be worshipped Thē noble Iohn the legate of the Esterlings brought forth another reason God made man after his owne Image likenesse therfore Images are to be worshipped Hereto the catholikes iustly replied that he made a false argument Abignoratione Elenchi by applying that to Imageworshipping which made nothing at all to purpose For both out of Ambrose Augustine they proued that man is called the Image of God not for his externe shape which Images wel ynough may represent but for the inwarde man the minde the reason the vnderstanding vertues consonant to the wyll of God For Ambrose sayth Quod secundum Imaginem est In Psal 118. Ser. 10. non est in corpore nec in materia sed in anima rationabili That which is according to the Image of God is not in the body nor in the matter but in the reasonable soule Likewise Augustine Accedit vtcunque anima humana interior In Psal 99. homò recreatus ad Imaginem Dei qui creatus est ad Imaginem Dei The inwarde soule of man the newe borne man which is made after the Image of God commeth after a sorte néere vnto God his Image But that wheresoeuer a similitude and lykenesse is spoken of there is also an Image to be meant Octog triū quest ca. 74 Augustine disproueth Vbi similitudo non continuo Imago non continuo aequalitas c. Where a similitude or lyknesse is not by and by an Image not by and by equalitie So that the folly of him was great to abuse the scripture to so impertinent a purpose But the Nice masters procéede and say That as Abraham worshipped the sonnes of Heth Gen. 25. Exod. 18. Moses Iethro the priest of Madian so must Images be worshipped of men Hereto the Councell as Charles the president thereof affirmeth answered Dementissimū est Lib. 1. Cap. 9. ab omni ratione seclusum hoc ad astruendā Imaginā adoratione in exemplū trabere quod Abrahā populum terre Moses Iethro sacerdotē Madiā leguntur adorasse It is a thing of most madnesse and vtterly seuered from all reason to bring for example to confirmation of Imageworshipping that Abraham is red to haue worshipped the people of the earth and Moses Iethro the priest of Madian The Sainctes of God in token of their obedience and humilitie sometime haue bowed themselues haue shewed some piece of curtesie to such as pleased them and had authoritie in the earth But what is this for the honour done to a deade stocke Why is this example made to be general extending to all both quicke and deade both good and badde where as the Sainctes themselues sometyme abhorred this worshippe to be gyuen them sometime refused to giue it vnto other Imagines verò nusquam nec tenuiter quidem adorare conati sunt But as for Images they neuer attēpted in any place or in any so slender wise to worshippe them De Doctri Christ Li. 1. Cap. 1. Let them learne of Augustine that Abraham and Moses doing as they did were examples of humilitie not paternes of impietie Let them learne that there is no lesse diuersity betwene the worshipping of an Image and worshipping of a man than is betwene a lyuing man and a man paynted vpon the wall Let them learne howe loue reuerence and charitie towardes men is in the Scripture commaunded ofte The bowing the knéeling the seruice to an Image is in euery place forbydden and accursed The Papistes figure to make the Scripture serue their purpose But a familiar figure the Papists haue to make the Scripture to serue their faustes Acyrologiam which you may call Abusion Impropre speaches As where so euer in the Hebrewe texte they reade any worde that betokeneth Bowing Saluting Blessing they doe full wisely tourne it vvorshipping And is this honeste and vpright dealing Yet howe they dally on this sorte both with the worlde and with the worde of God the nexte allegation of theirs declareth Iacob suscipiens à filijs suis vestem talarem Ioseph Carol. Mag. de Ima li. 1. ca. 12. osculatus est eam cum lachrimis imposuit oculis suis Ergo. c. Which wordes in english according to their translation be these Iacob receyuing of his sonnes Ioseph his long garmente he kyssed it and wyth teares layde it vpon his eyes And therefore Images are to be worshipped And is not this a reason that might haue bene fette out of a Christmas pye Wil any man hereafter finde fault wyth Papists deprauing of the Scripture since they take thē leaue to make what Scripture they lyst Where finde they this texte in all the Bible that Iacob kyssed his sonnes
out that ye do not vnderstand my talke Oues mea cognoscunt vocem meam non sequuntur alienum My shéepe sayth he knowe my voyce and followe no straunger Nor doubt it is but by the instinct of the holy Ghost we be made his shéepe which will not hearken to errors and heresies which are the voyces of straungers but followe the voyce of our master Christ which in the Scripture is crying to vs. If these reasons and allegations may not preuayle with some to driue them to a sure and safe ankerholde in Christ let them runne and they lyste Publique to the other kinde of examination of doctrine which is the cōmon consent of the Church For syth it is to be feared greately least their arise some phrenetike persons which will bragge and boast as well as the best that they be Prophetes they be endued with the spirt of truth and yet wil leade men into all errors this remedy is very necessary the faythfull to assemble themselues together and seke an vnitie of fayth godlynesse But when we haue runne as farre as we can The scriptures laste refuge we can goe no further than to the wall we must reuolte to the former principles and trye by the Scriptures which is the Church Wherfore in controuersies of our Religion if mennes deuises were lesse estéemed and the simple order of Gods wisedome followed lesse daunger fewer quarrels should arise amongst vs more truth more sinceritie should be retayned of vs. And to this ende I coulde haue wyshed that you M. Martiall should haue learned firste to frame your owne conscience according to the worde then haue ascribed suche authoritie thereto that we néeded not forsaking the fountaine to follow the infected streames nor hauing the vse of swéete sufficient corne féede vpon acornes still But I would that had bene the most fault of yours to haue attributed much vnto the fathers had not otherwise of malice wrested them and of mere ignoraunce sometime corrupted them The Scripture which in the title of your boke hath the first place in the rest of the discourse hath very little or no place at al and vnder name of Fathers and antiquitie fables and follies of newefangled men are obtruded to vs. To come to the instants Folio 18. First ye bring forth the significations of Crosse in Scripture Ye muster your men whose aide ye will vse in this sory skirmish And although they be very fewe yet ye number one moe than ye haue and like a couetous captaine wyll néedes indent for a dead pay Ye say that the scripture hath preferred to your bande .4 Souldiours Folio 24. The Crosse of affliction The passion of Christ The Crosse that he died on And the materiall or mysticall signe of the Crosse Material to be erected in the church Mystical to be made vvith the finger in some partes of the body These be not many ye wote ye might haue kept tale of them But the first and the second as the word of God commendeth in dede and be most necessary for our saluation so wil you not deale withall they be to cumbersome for your company the thirde ye confusely speake of of which notwithstanding small commendation in the Scripture is founde The fourth which ought to strike the greatest stroke is not extant at all For neyther the material nor mistical Crosse in that sense that ye take them to that ende that ye apply them be once mencioned in the worde of God Wherefore ye might blotte out of your boke Scripture and take to your selfe some other succours or fight with a shadowe I néeded not to trouble my selfe about your third Crosse which is the piece of wood wherevppon Christ died both for bycause we haue it not and also you your self do not take it incident into your purpose to treate of Yet bicause ye make many gloses theron and apply to the signe the vertue propre to the thing it self it is not amisse to examine your folly First ye cite a place of Chrisostome Folio 13.2 ex Demonstratione ad Gentiles and for .3 leaues together although ye do not tell vs so much ye write an other mans wordes as your owne to prayse your pregnante wit But ye patch them and piece them ilfauoredly whatso euer séemes to make against you ye leaue out fraudulētly This is no playne or honest dealing In dede Chrisostome stoppeth many a gappe with you The comfort of your Crosse doth most rest in Chrisostome Chrisostome But Chrisostome was not without his faultes His golden mouth wherein he passed other sometime had leaden words which yelded to the error abuse of other I am not ignorant that in his dayes many euill customes were crept into the Church which in his works he reproueth not He praiseth such as went to the sepulchres of Sainctes He maketh mention of prayer To. 4 ad pop 66. In. 1. Cor. 16. Hom. 41. for the deade Monkerie he cōmendeth aboue the Moone In his tract of Penaunce beside many other absurdities when he had rehearsed many wayes to obtayne remission of sinnes as Almes Weping Fasting and such other he maketh no mention at all of fayth In his cōmentaries vpon Paul he sayth that Concupiscence vnlesse it bring forth the externe worke is no sinne Wherefore if he had sayde so much for the Crosse as ye misconster and more than accordeth with the glory of Christ I might lappe it vp with other of his errours and hauing the Scripture for me Chrisostome should be no president against me But I will not goe this way to worke I admit his authoritie but marke M. Martiall what his meaning is In the place that ye alleage for the Crosse he dealt with the Gentiles The marke that he shot at was to proue to them Quod Christus Deus esset that Christ was God as in the title appeareth Now bicause this punishment to be hanged on the gallowes was maruellous offensiue vnto the heathen nor they could thinke him to be a God the was executed with so vile a death Chrisostome therfore goeth as far in the contrary prouing that that which was a token of curse was now become the signe of saluatiō And bycause that they spake so much shame of the Crosse derogating therfore from him that was crucified the Christians to testifie by their outward facte their inward profession would make in euery place the signe therof This was the occasion that the mysticall Crosse crepte into custome But here is no place to entreate of that though you taking styll Non causam pro causa that which is impertinente for proufe of your matter confounde the same Notwithstanding Things vvel receued il cōtinued howe thinges receyued to good purpose as to the iudgement of man séemeth may afterward growe to abuse this signe of the Crosse sheweth That which was at the first a testimony of Christianitie came to be made a Magical enchauntment That which
the Sentence Let fayth be taken Sine pro eo quo creditur siue pro eo quod creditur eyther for that wherby we beleue or else for that which is beleued certayne it is that the simplest of them both is better than a signe though it be of the Crosse For be it the latter fayth Quam Daemones et falsi Christiani habent as he saith which the Diuels false christians haue yet by the same Possunt credere deum et credere deo they can beleue that there is a God they can giue credit vnto his words But a bare Crosse can not do this Take me a man that neuer hearde of Christ and bring him to a Spanyard to beholde all his Crosses at the Mary Masse and he shall be as learned when he commeth away as the Ape is deuout when he hath eaten the hoste But if a man neyther did nor could euer heare at all this naked fayth were able to teach him without any further information that a God there is which the very Gentiles did vnderstande Agayne to compare a gifte of God which is in the minde to the work of man made with the hande is Canibus catulos coniungere matribus haedos To ioyne the whelpes and houndes the kiddes and goates together Nowe to your Iulian. Iulians example Folio 21. b. Ye say that when he had consulted with Sorcerers and they had made the Diuels solemnly to appeare He vvas stricken in a feare and forced to make the signe of the Crosse in his foreheade Then the Diuels loking backe and seing the figure of the Lordes banner and remembring their fall and ouerthrovv sodaynly vanished out of sight Thus much or so much as this ye cite out of Theodorete and Gregory Nazianzene For the truth of the historie I contende not with you But what I iudge of the experiment I will tell you Fyrst of al that wicked reprobate and godlesse persones can vse the signe of the Crosse as well as other Which proposition shal quite cōfute all your ninth Article For if such as Iulian can crosse themselues and notwithstanding haue neuer a whit the more fayth as your selfe confesse then how falles it out that the Crosse driueth out heresies Fol. 22. a. Contradictions in Martiall Fol. 94. b. that the signe of the Crosse conuerteth obstinate sinners Fol. 114. 115. that the signe of the Crosse maketh vvicked men to think vpon God that the Crosse is comfortable in desperation Fol. 116. Secondly this I note How sore the Diuel was hurt by the Crosse when it nothwithstanding he retayned the possession of whole Iulian both in body and soule Thyrdly that the diuell doth fayne himself to be afrayde of that which with all his heart he would haue men to vse For this is a generall rule that the Diuell is a lier and alwayes will séeme to be as he is not If there were no other matter in the worlde agaynst you this onely were sufficient to discredite you For what better reason is there that Crossing ought not to be vsed at al than that the Diuel did séeme to dread it If that indede he had bene afrayd of it he would haue doubled a point with you and not haue played so open play He runs from the Stéeple to dwell in the people He counterfets a flight from the holy water bucket and nestles himselfe in the bosome of the priest He séemeth to giue place to the charmers inchantment yet that sacrifice doth please him excedingly Ye confesse that Iulian had no hope in Christ no loue to god no faith and will ye not confesse that he was therby a desperate person a lyin of the Diuell The Diuell then shuld haue done him wrong if he had put him in any further danger But one thing I maruell at how you M. Martiall a bacheler of law sometime Vsher of Winchester now student in Diuinitie making a boke intitled to the Quéene perused by the Learned priuiledged by the King allowed by Cunner should fall into manifest contradictions scape vncontrolled I sée it is true quod mendacem memorem esse opertet a lier had nede haue a good remembrance Ye sayd in the leafe before Folio 21. The signe of the Crosse must concurre vvith fayth and fayth vvith the signe of the Crosse Nowe ye alowe the bare signe of the Crosse without any fayth to haue the force and power aforesayd If I thought ye were ignorant of Sathans practises I would shew you some of them to make you more circumspect But you haue bene brought vp in his schole a good while and therefore I thinke ye practise after him endeuouring your selfe of set purpose to deceiue For which like a Spider ye spinne a subtile webbe You sucke out of the Fathers the worst ioyce that you can that you may turne the same into your owne fylthy and infected nature Gregorie did well in abhorring the name of vniuersall Byshop But Gregories authoritie is not taken in that Gregorie sayde well when he tolde vs the tale of Speciosus a deacon that would rather forsake his benefice than his Wife But the president of that persuadeth you not Onely when Gregorie disgraceth himselfe wyth olde wiues tales and tryfling customes of his corrupted tyme then is he meate for your sawsy mouthes A Iewe sayth Gregorie vvithout truste confidence or fayth Folio 22. b. in Christes passion vvas preserued from Spirites by the signe of the Crosse I rehearse not the circumstaunce of the tale bycause I haue tolde you more than is true already For if he had no fayth in Christ the Scripture is playne that there could no spirite be worse than himselfe Heb. 11. Impossible it is to please God without fayth And shall God by the Crosse preserue them that please him not Who séeth not what a fable this is or rather a blasphemie if it be weyghed aright But Gregorie hath it A doctor of the Church So hath he more vntruthes than this Lib. Dial. 4. Cap. 55. As that for confirmation of sacrifice for the dead he bringeth forth a vision a dreame or a dotage such a one as I am ashamed to father vpō him or any one of the faythfull yet proufe good inough for such a matter of naught His tale is this A certayne priest that vsed the bathes went on a day into them and found a yong man whome he knewe not very obsequious and seruiseable vnto him he pulled of his shooes he toke his garmentes he did whatsoeuer might be comfortable for him When this he had often done one day the prieste going thitherwarde thought thus with himselfe I ought not to séeme vnthankfull vnto him which hath so deuoutly bene accustomed to serue me whensoeuer I washe me but néedes I must cary him somewhat for a reward Then toke he with him the tops of two loaues which had ben offered at seruice And as sone as euer he came vnto the place he founde his man he vsed
left Vnto which he addeth these words Remembre deare children that ye bring no Images into the Church neyther place them in the sléeping places of the sainctes but sée that continually ye earye aboute in your heart the Lorde Neyther yet let them be suffered in a common house For it is not lawefull for a Christian to be holden in suspense by his eyes but by the contemplation of his minde The same father also in many other of hys sermons hath declared many things touching the ouerthrow of Images which the studious séeking for shall easely finde Likewyse also Gregorie the diuine saith in his verses It is a thing most abhominable to beleue in colours and not in heart For that which is in colours is easyly washed away but suche thinges as are in the depth of the minde those lyke I well Iohn Chrisostome also teacheth thus we through writing enioye the presence of the Sainctes although that we haue not the Images of their bodyes but of their soules for those things which are spoken by them are Images of theire soules Basilius also the great saith that the chiefest thing seruing to the outfinding of truthe is the meditation of the Scriptures giuen vnto vs by diuine inspiration For in these not onely arguments of things are founde but also the written liues of holy men are printed vnto vs as certaine liuely Images and that through the polityke imitation of their workes according to God Also Athanasius the light of Alexandria sayde howe are they not to be lamented which worship creatures that those that sée yeld seruice to those which are blind those that heare do pray and besech those which are altogether deafe For the creature shall neuer be saued of a creature Lykewise Amphilochius byshop of Iconium thus sayth We accompt it a matter of no estimation to counterfet in tables wyth colours the bodyly countenaunces of the Sainctes bycause that of these we haue no nede But we ought rather to be mindefull of the pollicy of their vertues Agreable also herevnto doth Theodorê° bishop of Ancyra teach in these wordes We iudge it nothing séemely at all to make the formes and shapes of holy men wyth materiall coloures but it is requisit that we often repayre make fresh their vertues which by writings are deliuered vnto vs euen as though it were certayne lyuely Images For by these we may come to the zelous following of the like Let those tell vs which set vp the same Images what profyte they haue by them whether they haue any kinde of remembrance by such special kinde of beholding them But it is most apparaÌ„t that euery such thought is vayne and an inuention of diuelish deceyt Likewise also Eusebius Pamphili signified after this sort to Constantia the Empresse crauing of him to sende the Image of Christ vnto hir For as much as ye haue wrytten to me of the Image of Christ that I should send it vnto you I would you shoulde shewe me what thing you thinke the Image of Christ to be whether that same true and vnchaungeable creature bearing the markes of the deitie or that which he assumpted for oure sakes taking on him the shape of a seruaunte But as touching the picture of the deitie I iudge ye be not very carefull in asmuch as ye haue bene taught of him that none hath knowen the Father but the Sonne and that none hath worthyly knowen the Sonne but the Father which begatte him And after other thinges but ye altogether desire the Image of the seruauntes shape and of the flesh which he toke on him for our sake but we haue learned that this is coupled with the glory of the Godheade and that the same suffred dyed And a little after Who can therfore counterfet by dead insensible colours by vayne shadowing Paynters arte the bright shining glistering of such hys glory whereas his holy disciples were not able to beholde the same in the mountayne Who therefore falling on their faces acknowledged they were not able to beholde such a syght If therefore the shape of fleshe receyued suche power of the Godhead dwelling within the same what shall we then say when as it hath now putte of mortalitie washing away corruption and hath chaunged the shape of a seruaunt into the glory of the Lorde and God What shall we say now after hys victorie ouer death after his ascending into heauen after his sytting in the kingly throne on the right hande of his Father after reste in the not vtterable secretes of the Father into the which he ascending and sytting the heauenly powers those blessed ones wyth voyces together do crye Ye Princes lyft vp your gates ye heauenly gates be ye opened and the King of glorie shall enter in These fewe testimonies therefore of Scriptures and Fathers out of many we haue placed here in this our determination auoyding in déede multitude least the matter should be too prolixe and abstayning of purpose from the residue which be infinite that those which luste may themselues séeke them Being therefore throughly persuaded by these Scriptures inspired from God and by the iudgementes of the blessed Fathers staying our féete vpon the rocke of the worshippe of God in spirite we which are girded wyth the dignitie of the priesthode being of one minde and iudgement assembled together in one place doe wyth one voyce determine in the name of the holy supersubstantiall and quickning Trinitie that euery Image made by Paynters wicked arte of any kinde of matter is to be remoued forth of the Church of Christians as that which is straunge and abhominable Let no man froÌ„ this time forward of what state soeuer he be followe any such kinde of wicked vncleane custome Whosoeuer therfore froÌ„ this day forward shall presume to prepare for himself any image or to worship it either to set it in a Church or in any priuate house or else to kepe it secretely if he be a Byshoppe or a Deacon let him be deposed but if he be a priuate person or of the laye fée lette him be accursed and subiecte to the Emperiall decrées as one which withstandeth the commaundementes of God and kepeth not his doctrine Wherevpon the Councels determination so farre as concerneth this case ensueth thus Si quis non confessus fuerit Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum post assumptionem animatae rationalis intellectualis carnis simul sedere cum Deo patre atque ita quoque rursus venturum cum paterna maiestate iudicaturum viuos mortuos non amplius quidem carnem neque in corporeum tamen vt videatur ab ijs à quibus compunctus est maneat Deus extra crassitudinem carnis anathema Si quis diuinam Dei verbi secundum incarnationem figuram materialibus coloribus studuerit effigiare non ex toto corde oculis intellectualibus ipsum sedentem à dextris patris super solis splendorem lucentem in throno gloriae adorare anathema Si quis
fathers bring an inuention of their owne do I otherwise deny them the right sense of scripture The fathers may haue sometime their fansies and yet besyde the word Then if their fansies be misliked is their exposition of the word condemned whereas they meddle not with the worde Apelles shoomaker was worthily checkt when he would be busy aboue the knée but that did not set but he might haue iudgement good ynough of the shooe Yet in a shooe made on anothers last the best shoomaker for al his skil may chaunce be deceyued In déede good cause we haue only to depend vpon the word of God and not be ruled ouer by time or custome bycause in matters of our religion as Christ hath taken perfecte order therein so hath he commaunded vs to go no further but him obey August de Consen Euā Li. 1. Cap. 18. Socrates was wont to say Vnumquemque Deum sic coli oportere quomodo seipsum colendum esse praecepisset That euery God was so to be serued as he himselfe had commaunded to be serued And this was the cause why the Romaines would neuer receyue the God of the Hebrewes For grounding vpon this foresayd principle they saw it necessary that eyther al their ydols shuld be excluded and onely the true God entertayned or he only not admitted the rest be honored For by the worde of God they found that they could not agrée together and cōtrary to his word they would not séeke to serue him If they had this affect as Augustine declareth gathered by morall reason and by no further insight of faith Shal we that professe more knowledge and perfection be folisher than they hearing continually Christ and his Apostles inueighing agaynst wilworshippers Therefore I say we aske for the worde you answere vs by wyl we cal for Scripture you reache vs custome Epig. lib. 6. Martiall a mery man a poet of your name a man of more learning and wit than you had some tyme to do with such a lawyer as you For a neighboure of hys had stolen .iij. goates The matter was called into the courte the party should come to proue the inditement He gat hym a counsailler to declare the case When the iudge was ready to heare it his counsailer fel a discoursing of the fight at Cannas the battayl wyth Mithridates the wrōges and iniuries sustayned by the Africanes Thus whē he had filled their eares a great whyle with dyn thūping on the barre and squekyng in hys smal pipes Martiall tenderyng hys own cause more than the babbling of his vaine aduocate at length pulled hym by the sléeue and sayd And please your worship I gaue ye my fée to talke of .iij. goates And thus had I néede to put you in remembrance For where ye appointed to speake of Gods seruice ye tell vs a tale of thys man and that man what he dyd and they dyd And yet not a worde what God hath commaunded Fol. 82. Ye call vs curious when we require Scripture We can get at your handes nothing else but custome And speakyng of custome accordyng to your custome ye make a lye and falsefie Tertulliā Martiall corrupteth Tertullian For these are your words We say vvith Tertullian that custome increser confirmer and obseruer of fayth taught thys vse of the Crosse c. As if the increase confirmatiō and obseruing of Fayth proceded of custom Hys wordes are otherwise For speakyng of hys traditions he sayth S. legem expostules scripturarū nullā reperies traditiō tibi praetendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides obseruatrix If thou demaunde a law of Scripture for these thou shalt fynd none Traditione shal be pretēded to thée as increaser custom confirmer and faith obseruer of them Where you may sée that custome is not made increaser and confirmer of fayth but fayth obseruer of custome Notwithstanding I must still beare with you For ye be driuen to narrowe shyftes fayne would ye say something But it is a foule shyft to make a lye Thys custome ye proue came of tradition For as Tertulliā Tertulian de corona millitis sayth how can a thing be vsed if it were not first deliuered To graunt it a tradition I wil not sticke with you But Tertulliā wyll haue the same to be builded vpon reason or els he refuseth it He maketh the Antithesis not betwene written and vnwritten but betwene written and reasonable And so he thynketh a Tradition not writtē to be admitted so it be reasonable Therfore he sayth Rationem traditioni consuetudini fidei patrocinaturā perspicies Martial is still by his ovvne authors ouerthrovven Ye shall sée that reason wyll defende tradition custome and fayth And afterwarde Non differt scriptura an ratione consistat quando legem ratio commendet It is no matter whether custome consist of writing or of reason inasmuch as reason also commendeth law So that reasonable must be the tradition And how shall thys reasonable be defined Tertulliā hymselfe doth tel you limiting how a mā maye make a custome if he conceue decrée duntaxat quod Deo cōgruat quod disciplinae conducat quod saluti proficiat Only that is agreable to God furthering vnto discipline and profitable to saluation If the tradition of the Crosse signe may be proued to be such I wyll yelde vnto you with all my hart Consider the reasōs and the examples that the Doctor vseth First of the Lordes authorite who sayd Cur non a vobis ipsis quod iustū est iudicatis Vt nō de iuditio tantum sed de omni sētentia rerum examinandarum Why do you not of your selues iudge that that is rightuous that it be not onely vnderstode of iudgement but of euery sentence of things to be examined And it followeth Dicit Apostolus Si quid ignoratis Deus vobis reuelabit Solitus ipse cōsilium subministrare cum praeceptum domini non habebat quaedā edicere à semetipso sed ipse spiritū dei habens deductorē omnis veritatis Itaque consiliū edictū eius diuini iā praecepti instar obtinuit de rationis diuinae patrocinio Hanc nunc expostula saluo traditionis respectu quocunque traditore censetur necl authorem respicias sed authoritatem c. And the Apostle sayth If ye be ignoraunte of any thyng God shall reueale it to you He hymselfe when he had not a commaundemente from the Lorde was wonte to giue counsell and prescribe some thinges of hymselfe but as one that had the spirit of God directer of all trueth Wherefore hys counsell and edict hath now obtayned to be as it were the commaundement of God through supportation and defēce of the reason diuine Thys reason inquire for sauing the respect of tradition whosoeuer be the deliuerer therof nor respect the author but the authoritie So farre Tertulliā And in hys wordes In a custome maker the spirite of God In custōe commoditie and
agreablenesse to Scripture must be coÌ„sidered Folio 82. a. Basile many notable poyntes are to be obserued First that in all iudgementes and examinations of thinges we must follow that that is right and good TheÌ„ that no man presume to ordayne any thing in the Church vnlesse he haue the spirite of God to guide hym Thirdly that S. Paules tradition should not haue stode in force vnlesse it had bene consonaÌ„t vnto the Scripture Fourthly that in all customes we muste haue an eye vnto Gods lawe seke what accordeth to it hauing no respect to the custome maker but Scripture coÌ„firmer Thus ye myght haue learned howe to iudge of traditions Tertullian myghte haue taughte you But as soone as euer you had made a lye of hym there ye left hym To Basile who sayth If vve reiect and cast avvay customs vvhich are not vvritten as thyngs of no great valevv or price vve shall condemne before vve be vvare those thinges vvhiche in the gospel are accoÌ„pted necessary to saluation I answere that of Traditions there be thrée kyndes Three kyndes of tradition Some that necessarily are inferred of the Scripture such were the Apostles Traditions as that a woman in the congregation shoulde not be bare headed that in the congregation she should kepe silence That the poore should labor with their owne hands and get their liuing which all such other although they wer not expressely in the word yet consequently they folowed of the worde And therfore Paul dyd not obtrude them of hys authoritie but by the Scripture proue them These and the lyke I confesse to be necessarye and of all Christians to be retayned Proue ye the Crosse signe to be one of these and I wyll recant But there haue bene other thynges deliuered to the Church direct contrary to the worde As Latine seruise worshipping of Images vowing of chastitie communicating vnder one kinde and an infinite number of popysh prescriptioÌ„s These ought not in any wyse to be receyued but what preterte of antiquitie or authoritie soeuer they haue be vtterly refused The third kynd of TraditioÌ„s is of such as be indifferent neyther vtterly repugnant to the word of God nor necessarily inferred of it Herein we must follow the order of the Church and yet not absolutely but with a limitation In traditions indifferent vvhat to be obserued First we must sée that those obseruaÌ„ces be not set foorth as a piece of Gods seruice wherein some speciall point of holinesse or religion shall consist For they may be kept for order for pollicie for profit of the Church but otherwyse the Scripture it selfe hath Gods store and plentye of thynges expediente for hys honor and seruice our comfort and saluation Felix ecclesia sayeth Tertullian Tertul. de prescrip aduer Hereti cui totam doctrinaÌ„ Apostoli cuÌ„ sanguine profuderunt Happy is the Church to whom the Apostles poured out the whole doctrine together with their bloud There is no insufficiency no imperfection Therfore we must especially beware that in our traditions indiffereÌ„t of themselues we repose no holynesse or deuotion Then also that we thynke them not to be of such necessitie that at no tyme they may be remoued The Church must styll retayne her ryght to be iudge and determiner of such traditioÌ„s eyther to beare with theÌ„ or else abolish them as best may serue for edification Last of all thys must not be forgotten that the people of God sometyme be oppressed with traditions and Ceremonyes and for outwarde solemnities the inwarde true seruise of God is neglected As in the popish Churche on a hye day there are so many gaudes that there is no place for a preacher Wherfore the superfluitées The Churche had to many Ceremonies in Augustines tyme. the long trayne of Ceremonies must be cut of least they do hynder the course of godlynesse and by gay shew engeÌ„der a coÌ„fidence to be put in them S. Augustine in hys tyme complayned that the Church was to full of presumptions And of them that haue bene added since a man may make many large volumes Wherfore these prouisoes had the order of the Churche I meane not Rome for that is no member of it may be kepte in traditions which are indifferent But in thys number you cannot iustly compryse the Crosse And although of some fathers it hath bene accompted such yet must ye remember as I sayd before that they dyd not alway buylde golde siluer but sometyme hay and stubble vpon Christ Nor euery thyng that is pretended to be the fathers wrytinges must by and by be thought to be theirs Many bastarde babes haue bene put in the cradel eyther when there was no lawfull chylde or the same ouerlayed and stifeled by the nurse As for exaÌ„ple Fol. 84. a. Athanasiê° Euagrius Li. 3. cap. 31. Athanasius whome you cyte for proufe that the Crosse was vsed in hys tyme hath many thynges that be none of hys Euagrius in the ecclesiasticall history doth playnly say that many workes of Apollinariê° were ascribed vnto hym And as for the booke which you alleage Questionum ad Antiochium is euident to be an others Quest 23. For Athanasius hymselfe is cited in it The wordes are these Et haec quidem multum valens in diuina scriptura magnus Athanasius And these thyngs did great Athanasius a mighty one in the Scripture of God Would Athanasius haue reported thys of hymself Wherfore in the ye bring prescription of time and writinges of the fathers for you ye do both reasoÌ„ vpon an vncertaine principle fayle in your proufe For the principle I say and I doubt not but ye wyll subscribe vnto me that whatsoeuer hath bene deliuered and otherwyse estemed Apostolique is not to be followed and thought inuiolable To begyn wyth that whiche bred in the Church a miserable schisme for many yeares together the Easter fast Easter fast Reade Eusebius in the Eccle His the v. boke the xxiiii xxv and xxvi cha was it alwayes and in euery place vniformly obserued Nothing lesse All the Asianes dissented froÌ„ the Romaines and eche of them sayd they had a tradition yea from the Apostles The Asians would haue Easter day to be the .xiiij. of the moneth Nisan howsoeuer it fell were it eyther the first seconde thyrde fourth fyfth or sixt fery The Romaines would haue it only on that day whiche is called Dominicus the Sabboth The Asians wer the stronger part they had Philip the Apostle and hys daughters Iohn the Euangeliste and Polycarpus his scholer for theÌ„ The Romaynes had the whole succession of byshops from Peter forwarde Which of these partes wyl you approue Ye are a Romanist and therfore ye will holde with Anicetus rather following the custome that is of hym receyued But now ye must not condemne the other least ye be gilty of the same cryme that Ireneus dyd reproue in Victor For he helde it tyranny to throw the thunderbolt of excommunication for a little storme the
collum suspendis si in intellectu ergo melius in corde posita prosunt quam circa collum suspensa Tell me thou foolish priest is not the gospell dayly read and heard of men in the Church Therfore who hath no profit by hearing of the gospel how can it saue him by hanging it about hys necke Furthermore wherin consisteth the vertue of the gospel in the proportiō of the letters or vnderstanding of the sense If in the letters wel doest thou hang them about thy neck but if in the vnderstanding thē would it profit more reposed in thy heart thā hāged about thy necke Thus much Chrisostom And least peraduenture ye should thinke that thys only superstition were reproued of hym he procedeth further and toucheth matter that doth more néerely concerne our case Alij qui sāctiores se ostēdere volunt hominibus partē fimbriae aut capillorū suorum alligant suspendunt O impietas maiorem sāctitatē in suis vestimentis volunt ostendere quam in corpore Christi vt qui corpus eius māducans sanatus non fuerit fimbriae eius sanctitate saluetur vt desperās de misericordia Dei cōfidat in veste hominis In english Some other which wil shew themselues holyer vnto mē do binde together hang vp a piece of the hem of Christes garment or hys heare O wyckednesse they wil shew more holinesse in the garments thā in the body of Christ that he which is not healed by eating of hys body shal be saued by the holinesse of hys garmente hem that he that dispaireth of the mercy of God shall put hys confidence in the garment of a man And thinke ye not that the coate of Christ which touched hys blessed body that the heare of Christ which grew vpon hys holy head is of as great vertue as a piece of the Crosse wherevpon he dyed Then if Chrisostome coumpted it impiety to haue such estimation of the coate or heare of our sauioure Christ shall we thynke that a piece of wood was in such price with him Would he inclose the Crosse in gold or coūsel other to do the same which held it wickednesse so to esteme a percel of his body Christ hath left vs hys body in dede for a memory of him for a cōfort of vs to be receiued and shal we seke for external meanes which neither haue part of promise nor be deuoyde of perill We reade in the gospel that after Christ was crucified Ioseph required the body and interred it the Maries were beholders of hys passiō and burial Mat. 27. Luk. 23. there was no sparing of cost for oyntmēt yet none of thē al cared for the crosse If it had bene such a iewell as you do make it they would haue brought it stolne it or spoken at the least wise of it Many other thynges of lesse importance than thys is by your supposall be mentioned in the Scripture as necessary or expedient Only more than that Symon of Cyrene caried it we reade nothing of the Crosse that he dyed on I remēber that it is a great argumēt of yours How God wyl not suffer hys Church to erre I remember ye alleaged in the Article before Foli 87 b. quod in hanc Apostoli plenissimè cōtulerūt omnia quae sūt veritatis That the Apostles most plentifully cōferred on the Church all thinges appertayning vnto the truthe as Ireneus doth truly say Lib. 3 ca 4. contr Her How chaunceth it then that thys truth of the Crosse for foure hūdreth yeares together was hydden from them From the death of Christ tyl the tyme of Helena no man or woman euer talked of it When she came she founde it .ij. hundreth yeares after it was vtterly consumed I thynke that such idle chaplenes such morowmasse priestes as you so slenderly furnished out of the store-house of fayth to fede the people would be glad to deale more of your popish plenty if thys at the first were gently accepted We should haue extolled S. Leonardes bolle S. Cornelis horne S. Georges colt S. Anthones pigge S. Fraunces cowle S. Persons bretche with a thousande reliques of superstition as well as thys For miracles haue bene done by these or els you lye nor authorite of mē doth wante to these Longolius a learned man and Charles the v. a noble Emperoure requested to be buryed in a friers cowle and so they were Therfore the friers coule must be honored Ye remember what the hoste in Chawcer sayd to-sir Thopas for hys leude ryme the same do I say to you bicause I haue to do with your Cantorbury tales for youre fayre reasons One thyng remaineth which I do you wrōg if I omit the singuler vertue that is not only in euery portion of the holy Crosse but also in euery signe thereof inasmuch as it onely driueth avvay all subtiltie and craftes of euill spirites destroyeth vvitchcraft Folio 92. 93. doth as much as the presence of Christ in earth pocedeth vvith like efficacie as the fyrst sampler Strange effectes I promise you But fyrst I maruel why you are offēded with vs for preaching onely fayth iustifyeth synce you do teach vs that the onely signe of the Crosse can do as much as it If onely woode if onely making an ouerthwart signe disappoynt the might of aduersarie powers he is but a foole that wil be troubled with sprites he is but a beast that will feare the Diuell Signo crucis tantū vtens homo omnes horū fallacias pellit Man vsing onely the signe of the Crosse putteth away all their subtiltie and craft If a piece of wood that wormes do bréed in that neuer God nor good man commended otherwise than wood haue such spirituall vvater flovving thereinto vvhich is knovven to be saluation of faythfull soules Folio 93. shal we be condemned for attributing the like effect to spirituall and liuely fayth which the word of God so ofte so earnestly with such promis of grace such assurance of safetie cōmendeth to vs If the signe of a Crosse drawen with a finger do the same that the presēce of Christ did in earth as is by you alleaged O men vnmercifull that suffer so many halte so many lame so many blinde so many sore to liue in misery and missecary with vs. Christ cured the like he by his presence brought health and comforte to all diseased why do not you my Crosse masters the like If these allegations be true as confidentely they be printed of you why ceasse your miracles Confirm vs in your folish faith When we sée the effectes we shall consider of the cause Thus haue I shewed you that in cases of religion as this is one no mens authority shuld prescribe vnto vs no time no custome preiudice a truth Examples be daungerous to be follo wed both bycause they be sometime but personall and are not alwayes of Gods good guiding spirite which if it be true in them of whose fayth and holynesse we haue in the
Scripture honorable commendation we may the more mistrust of other whose liues and vertues we can by no meanes be so well assured of As for authorities though Scripture it selfe doth suffise the faythfull and such as delite not to be contentious yet that men of good iudgement vtterly abhorred as heathenish diuelish and Idolatrous this keping inclosing honoring of a piece of woode or any such earthly matter I haue brought you Hierome Chrisostome whose plaine words condemne the superstition of you and al other that you do talke of Last of all I haue touched the grosse absurdities that consequently do follow of your doctrine which though I haue not thorowly vnripped your beastlinesse vanity being so lothsome to me yet haue I touched sufficiently to driue you if any grace be in you to consider your duty better to write with more reason or be stil with lesse shame Is this the profession of your priesthode Is this the cōmissiō that men of your coate haue to preach the fables of olde gentility stirre vp the kenel of stinking superstitiō which euery olde wife is a wery of euery childe doth scorne at Learne Christianity of Christ himself true order of preaching of the Apostles seke not so much what men haue done but how well they haue done It is written to the Hebrewes Hebr. 2. that God of olde time spake at sūdrie times and in diuers maners to our fathers by the Prophetes But in these last dayes hath spoken vnto vs by his deare sonne Whereby what other thing is to be meant but that God hereafter will not vse the mouth of many nor heape vs prophecy vpon prophecy reuelation vppon reuelation but that he did so fully instruct vs by his sonne that the very last euerlasting testimony of truth must be had of him He gaue him therefore a singuler prerogatiue to be our Prophete our master and our guyde commaunding him onely no church no councel no man to be heard The Church I trust will take no more vpon them than the Apostles did What the synagoge of Antichrist doth I care not what the true Christians ought to do I proue Christ sent forth his Apostles into the worlde and gaue them commission to teach and preach not what soeuer they could inuent but what he had fyrst commaunded them And nothing could be more playnly sayd than that which he speaketh in another place Math. 23. Be not ye called Rabbi as masters or rulers ouer your brothers fayth for one is your Doctor and your teacher Christ Then if nothing can be allowed in matters of fayth and saluation but that which is grounded on Christ the Gospell all doctrines of men all Crosses all Crucifixes Roodeloftes and all which haue no colour of scripture to defend them but be most iniurious and contrary to the same muste cleane be abolished and put out of the Church If Christ did call them hypocrites Math. 15. and honourers of him in vayne which teach the doctrines that procéede of man surely you Papistes for fowler name of heresie can I giue you none which bring vs mens authorities without the warrāt of Gods holy word that binde vs to beleue things most contrary to it are neyther shepherds nor shéepe of the folde but for all your fléese be rauening wolues This doth Ignatius on this wise confirme Omnis igitur qui dixerit prater ea quae tradita sunt tametsi fide dignus sit In episto ad Hieronim tametsi ieiunet tametsi virginitatem seruet tametsi signa faciat tametsi prophetet lupus tibi appareat in grege ouium Who so euer speaketh any thing more than is written although he be worthy credit although he fast although he kepe his virginitie although he do miracles although he prophecie yet let him seme to thée a wolfe in the flock of shepe This hath bene alwayes the opinion of the godly This all the doctors haue taught and written Onely you good sir and certaine of your factious fellowship will be wiser than Christ bolder than the Apostles better lerned than the Doctors and giue vs out new lessons that Scripture neuer thought of I wil not tarry here in rehearsall of your errours in other poynts which hasten to the end of my reprouf of this Only you good readers I shall exhorte and for the mercies of Christ besech you that as ye tender your owne health and wish to be gathered into the fold of life ye wil hearken to the voyce of your shepherd Christ come at no strangers call giue credite to no man in matters of your fayth further thā he brings his warrant with him Beleue no report for it is a liar Beware of the woluish generation which now being hungry kept and féeding vpon carrein breath out nothing else but horrible blasphemies and stinking lyes They prate of good life themselues most licentious They burden men with breach of lawes themselues most rebellious and dissolute They goe about to discredit vs as teachers of carnall libertie themselues embrewed wyth all kinde of filth and abhomination As for all their doctrine and religion I may say vnto them as Christ did to the Pharises Populus iste labijs me honorat cor autem eorum longe est à me This people honor me with their lips but their heartes are farre of from me Their eyes their hands their head their féete they frame in such wise as shall tend to some piece of obseruāce of the lawe Their winking their nodding their mouing their crossing is all Gods seruice as they do tell vs. But where is the heart Where is the minde and inward puritie that God requireth When they heare Thou shalt not kyl thou shalt not steale thou shalt not cōmit adulterie The purest of them all what do they Peraduerture not draw the sword to slay any man not lay their hādes on other mens goods not depart their bodies with harlots which yet is a marueilous rare byrde to be hatched in the nest of poperie but they compasse mischiefe and destruction in their hearts they burne in desire they fret consume away for enuy So that which is the chief of the law is least among thē That which semeth gay to the outward shewe is onely retayned and kept And for conclusion beside that they expel fayth which is that goodnesse of al works they set vp works of their own making to destroy the works of God be holier than they First with their chastity they destroy the chastity that God ordayned only requireth With their obedience they take awaye the order that God in thys world hath set and exacteth none other With their pouertie they peruert humility the true pouerty of the spirite which Christ taught onely which is onely not to loue the worldly goodes With their faste filling their vnsatiable paunches they forget the fast which God commaundeth a perpetuall sobrenesse to tame the fleshe With their pattering of prayers they haue put away