c. 4. l. 3 c 5. saith Saint Augustine hath beene gathered togither whatsoeuer was dispersed throughout the diuine Scriptures to the end that the memorie of the most dull and slow of conceipt might not be ouerlaboured And whereof Beda after him leaueth vs this lesson That we must beware that Secundum fidem fit Sacramenti diuini expositio That the exposition of the diuine mysteries be according to faith In such sort as that we haue two Canons but the one neuerthelesse an abridgement of the other the Canonicall Scripture and the Canon of faith that is the Creede that to stay our spirits so that they may not search for in substance any thing in faith Tertul. de praescript saith Tertullian anie where else then in the doctrines of faith This to direct them in the expounding of that that is of the Scriptures and doctrines of faith to the ende that they may not admit of any sense how plausible soeuer it might be which is gone be it neuer so little from the articles of faith For example 〈◊〉 wee haue to deale with an Arrian we shall say vnto him after the maner of Saint Augustine let vs pitch our selues without any shifting vpon the Canonicall Scriptures we haue no other titles whereby we may learne the right but them But if from these Scriptures he alledge vnto vs The father is greater then I c. we shall call to mind that it is also written I and the father are one and the Scripture cannot be contrarie To the ende then that the one and the other may proue true we shall distinguish referring the first vnto the humane nature and the other vnto his diuine that so we may not conclude against that which is said I beleeue in Iesus Christ for Cursed be hee that putteth his cōfidence in any thing but God c. And let vs further obserue here that as hath bin said there is no societie since that of the Apostles that can make that Canonicall Scripture which is not as in like maner there is not any that can make an article of the faith of that which of it selfe is not one This power saith the Cardinall Caietan himselfe did ende there and there is not any either succession or discent which can attribute it vnto it selfe or which can pretend the same What then How we are to receiue and intertaine the Fathers And shall the Fathers that haue so highly deserued of the Church that haue so much and so well trauelled in the Scriptures serue vs for no vse Yes but marke the place due vnto them and the which no other can bee attributed vnto them they could not be called any sooner It is for God in his word to giue vs his law he is our onely Lawgiuer to whom alone it appertaineth saith the Apostle to saue and to destroy Iames. 4.12 Expounders not lawgiuers The greatest honour that man can haue giuen him in the Church is to be an expounder To take vpon him to make any lawes therein of himselfe this is to coine money this is to incroch vpon the Prince he cannot doe it without committing of treason yea without the incurring of blasphemie Here therefore we admit of the Fathers as expounders of the law word and diuine Scriptures we receiue their interpretations with reuerence admiring their pietie doctrine and zeale but alwayes with this exception most reasonable That they be but expounders not law-giuers dispensers of the mysteries of godlinesse and not authours In whom we must consider what they haue said not in that they haue said it but in that they haue said it by the way of expounding of the Scripture not speaking of their owne heades but according to their capacitie of the sense and meaning thereof As for example we reason of purgatorie The question here is not to know if it be to be found in Origen Augustine or S. Gregorie this rule abideth alwayes firme That if there be one it must needes bee that God hath made it for there is not any Doctor that hath power abilitie to make it If it belong to vs to know it let God haue reuealed and disclosed it vnto vs for it is not to be learned at the gesse of any of the Fathers let vs then haue found it in the Church her treasurie the Scripture Now there will be some to shew vs some places out of it from which they would collect and gather it and accordingly they will that they should be vnderstood on this sort and we on the contrarie In this controuersie we shall reade ouer the Text verie carefully as also that which goeth before and that which followeth we shall examine it to see if it be faithfully translated we shall make comparison of the like places All this hitherto is nothing else but to call vpon the Spirit of God to be our aide so much the more to inlarge and open our spirits according to that which the Apostle saith vnto vs. 1. Cor. 14◠Let the spirits of the Prophets that is of such as haue the gift of interpretation be subiect to the Prophets We shall here consult with the olde Fathers we shall compare their expositions both with the Text and amongst themselues we shall marke if they haue vsed a good translation whether they handle the place by the way or of set purpose affirmatiuelie or doubtfully and where they differ as ordinarily it falleth out we shall weigh them both according to the age wherein they shal haue liued for it importeth infinitely and according to the testimonie that the Church shall haue giuen of their doctrine for they are not all of one weight And in the ende caeteris paribus We shall not despise the consent and agreement of many against a few But God forbid that we should receiue them for Law-giuers or yet for Authours of opinions in the Church either contrarie vnto or without the scriptures And as farre off must it be that we should make them correctors or iudges ouer that ballance which iudgeth them and wherin themselues will be weighed For this should be blasphemie against God treason against the Church and an iniurie to themselues We wholie yeeld vnto them in thus doing the honour which they haue giuen to their predecessours as whereby they haue set a law and giuen an example for their successors practised by them against those by these against themselues If they had done otherwise where had we beene long agoe Seeing there is not so much as one of them that hath not erred in some thing many of them in the points of faith and certaine of them so farre as that they haue fallen into heresie Verily wee had beene Chiliasts with Irenaeus Montanists with Tertullian Anabaptists with Saint Cyprian Arrians with Theophilus Pelagians with Faustus the originals of all errours yea euen of Arrianisme with Origen we should wound the bodie of Christ not being subiect to paine Zonar de Ori. in Constant S. Hie
ad Pammach Oceanum de Origen we should likewise speake doubtfullie of the Deitie of the holie Ghost with Saint Hillarie we should condemne children dying without Baptisme with Saint Augustine we should giue them the Eucharist with Saint Cyprian and the greatest part vntill the time of Charles the great euen vnto the mouthes of the dead as certaine Councels doe beare vs witnesse In a word we should haue made with lesse then nothing of the Church of Christ Augeas his Oxehouse Canus l. 7. de locis Theol. c. 3. Gen. Cent. 3. seq ad finem c. 4. VillavinceÌ„tius de ratione studiâ—â— Theolo l. 4 c. 6 obseru 1. 2. Baron annal tom 2. of Noes Arke a sinke of all superstitions and errours Which thing our greatest aduersaries themselues at this time not being able to dissemble doe say All the Saints such onely excepted as haue written the Canonicall bookes haue spoken by the Spirit of man and haue sometimes erred euen in the matters of faith both in worde and writing what profoundnesse of learning or innocencie of life soeuer that we can obserue and marke in them And they come so farre as to set downe their errors and that both by their names as also by their kinds concluding that the Scriptures are onely without error and exempted from lies As therefore there are rules for the expounding of the Scripture by the Scripture The Fathers must be admitted as expounders but not as law-giuers so there are also for the expounding of them by the Fathers the first whereof is alwayes this That they be receyued and read as expounders not as law-giuers and that they referre their expositions to the rule of faith and the articles thereof and not to make any new faith any new articles according to that which Saint Ierome saith vnto vs Hieron cont Iouinian August de Bono viduitat As oft as I expound not the Scriptures but speake freely of mine owne sense reprooue me who will And Saint Augustine The holie Scripture hath set vs a rule not to dare to knowe more then it behoueth My teaching of thee then may not be any other thing then to expound vnto thee the words of the Teacher that is of the Lord. Vincentius c. 2 22 41. And this is the same that Vincentius Lyrinensis saith vnto vs The Canon of the Scriptures saith he is perfect and superaboundantly sufficient in it selfe for all things Wee are not then to make any addition of the Fathers to make by them any supplie vnto the doctrine of the Scriptures but rather saith he seeing that they may bee interpreted in diuerse senses it is meete to ioine therewithall the authoritie of the Ecclesiasticall vnderstanding Not to adde vnto or alter any thing that is written but onely to make for the vnderstanding of it For saith he elswhere It is written Depositum serua That which hath beene committed of trust vnto thee not what thou shalt haue inuented That which thou hast receiued not what thou hast found out wherein thou must not be an authour but whereof thou art a gardiant not an ordiner but a disciple not a guide but a follower What thou hast receiued in golde redeliuer the same in golde c. And in the person of Timothie this is spoken vnto all Teachers it is spoken to the whole Church c. And what we say of one of the Fathers we take it as spoken of all togither for although all the men of the world could bee assembled and called togither and that euerie one of them were worth an Augustine they could not make or cause to be made one article of faith to binde the faith of a Christian to beleeue anie other thing necessarie vnto saluation then that which is in the holy Scripture Gaâ—â— following that which Saint Paule saith Though I my selfe or an Angel from heauen should preach vnto you any other thing then that which wee haue alreadie preached vnto you let him be accursed And a little after he setteth downe the reason For I haue not receiued or learned it of any man but by the reuelation of Iesus Christ c. And this hath beene renued by all the olde Fathers though but ill fauouredly kept by them which were their successours and whereupon notwithstanding our maister Gerson and Cardinall Caietan after him haue framed this conclusion That the Church of this time cannot any more neither hath bin able besides that which the Primitiue Church could to canonize any booke establish any article of faith c. The second is That we discerne in the workes of the Fathers the true and legitimate bookes from the faigned ones not to attribute them vnto them and by consequent sucke out of them an other mans errors in stead of their sound opinions not to receiue any doctrine for old when as the same shall be either new or else verie sparingly commended vnto vs of the ancients For it cannot be denied but that there are many such and those easily found out either by the stile being otherwise in one age then it is in another yea differing in some one time of some one father from that of another or by some apparance of contrarietie and that either in doctrine or exposition a thing hardly befalling any one authour or by the alledging of Authours which are notoriously knowne not to haue liued till after them or by the vsing of some tearmes and speeches not as yet practised in the Church in their time c. Of all which sorts the malice of men hath furnished vs with sufficient store of examples For the stile of the Epistles attributed to the first Bishops of Rome is meerely barbarous and Gottish in the times of the greatest flourishing of the Latine tongue and when there could not bee found in all Italie nor in all the Romane Empire either learned or idiot that could speake this language The stile of Denys the pretended Areoopagite is nothing like to Saint Pauls containing nothing of Apostolicall note or marke nothing of the spoiling of Ceremonies so oft repeated by the Apostle The treatise of Sina and Sion against the Iewes c. nothing of that vigor which was in Saint Cyprian his other writings against the very same but farre lesse of his elegancie zeale and doctrine The pretended Canons also of the Apostles how should they proceed from them when they forbid that which the others approue and command that which they do openly disproue and disallow And therefore by so much the more daungerous and poisonfull for hauing purloined the name of so soueraigne a drug And in such sort we are likewise to say of Saint Clement his reuises and Saint Peter his peregrination Hieronym in Apolog. cont Ruff in Epiph. haeres 27. which Saint Ierome and Epiphanius do witnesse vnto vs wittingly to hold and take part with the heresie of Eunomius and Ebion the most pernicious ones that haue been in the Church
we reiect and cast of that which it offereth vs and particularly it condemneth the Pharisies for that they denie Christ promised in the law Moyses on the contrarie that is to say this same doctrine dooth iustifie vs worketh with vs vnto saluation when we embrace Christ at whome it altogether aimeth according to that which is said afterward If you belieue Moyses you will also belieue me for it is written of me Iohn 5.39 And the Pharisies hoped in him that is to say in this doctrine according to that which hee said in former times Search the Scriptures for you thinke to haue eternall life by them c. And in the same sence Abraham aunswered the rich man They haue Moyses and the Prophets Not Moyses in the flesh not Moyses in the soule but Moyses as likewise the Prophets in the doctrine What should then the question of the intercession of Moses doe here Origen To belieue Moyses that is to say the writings and workes of Moses Orig in Ep. ad Fom l. 4 c. 4. Basill de Spir Sanct c. 14. Cirill in Ioh. l 3. c. 8. And by consequent to be accused by Moses that is to say by the law giuen by the Ministers of Moses S. Basill It is the custome of the Scripture to vnderstand vnder the name of Moyses the Law as when it is said they haue Moses and the Prophets Cyril more clearely intreating vpon this place When as saith he all others did hold their peace the Lord said that Moyses law alone did suffice to condemne the incredulitie of the Iewes Cardinal Hugo Moyses that is to say the Scripture or Law giuen by Moses Caietanus goeth yet further Caiet in Ioh. c. 5. The Iewes are accused by Moyses for that his writings declare them worthie of punishment in not belieuing in Iesus the Iewes also are said to hope in Moses because they generally hoped in the promises contained in the said writings but they acknowledged not the fulfilling of the same Iesus In the 2. Peter 1.15 I am saith he shortly to goe out of this my Tabernacle as our Lord himselfe hath declared vnto me 2. Pet. 1.15 but I will doe my indeuour that after my departure also you may continually call to mind these things that is pietie charitie brotherly loue c. Here they affirme that this shall be by his intercession in heauen But we that this shall bee by his diligence in instructing them well before that he goe out of this world that is as he hath said in the former verses By continually bringing it to their remembrance And the text is verie cleare and plaine for the same for he doth not say Dabo operam post obitum meum vt possitis but Vt possitis post obitum meum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say I wil haue care that after my death you may remember your selues and not I will haue care after â—y death c. That which followeth teacheth it For we haue not taught you the power and comming of our Lord in the deceitfulnesse of fables c. The Glose saith Jnterim dum venio dabo operam c. As long as I liue I will giue order or I will doe my endeuour c. And as for the alleadging of Oecumenius saying that certaine would collect heereof by the figure called Hyperbaton that is to say a long draught of words the intercession of Saints it had beene their dutie in like maner for the discharge of a good conscience to haue added that which followeth That others which handle the same more simply do vnderstand it thus That wheras he so carefully laboureth to imprint this doctrine in them it is not for that he doubteth them to be egnorant but to the end that they might abide the more firme after his death Caiet 2. Pet. 1. At the least they should haue held themselues to Caietanus I wil giue order that is in my life time that you may haue after my death books which may put you in remebrance of this doctrin In the Apocalips 5. Apocal. 1.8 the foure beasts and the foure and twentie Elders haue harps in their hands and Viols of gold full of perfumes Which are saith S. Iohn the prayers of the Saints therefore they must be imployed as intercessors for vs. Now it is not called in question whether they pray or praise God or no but if they make intercession to God for the things which wee particularly and by name pray vnto them for and againe if we may and ought to imploy them for intercessors with God for vs. And this cannot be gathered out of this place but rather that they praise God and pray vnto him And this praier without any further gessing of it doth follow in the next verse Thou art worthie to take the booke and to open the Seales thereof c. for thou hast bought and purchased vs to God by thy bloud out of euerie tribe and language c. And then not to imploy their merits with God for vs in stead of that of the Lambe but rather to acknowledge the bloud of the Lambe imployed for themselues And that maketh yet lesse for them Apocal. 8.3 which they further alleadge out of the fore part of the eight Chapter where the Angell standeth before the Altar with a Censor of gold wherein there were many perfumes giuen vnto him either to offer vp with the praiers of all the Saints or rather according to the Greeke to adde it to the praiers of the Saints vpon the Altar of gold which is before the throne For this Angell saith their Glose is Christ himselfe offering vnto God his father the petitions of the faithfull which are acceptable and well pleasing to him for his sake S. Ambros Aug. Primas Andraeas Caes in Apocal. Ambrose expoundeth this whole place of the teachers of the Church euerie man in his age That Christ openeth then the booke when by his holy spirit hee manifesteth vnto them the sence of the Scriptures that they fall downe before the Lambe when they are raised to the meditation of his mysteries and by consequent are humbled in themselues that these odors are their praiers whereof the Psalmist speaketh Let my praier ascend vp vnto thee as the perfume of incense c. And vpon the eight Chapter he taketh Christ for the Angell Ambros in Apocal c 8. the Church for the Altar c. and maketh many sorts of incensings praiers of the Saints For saith he the faithfull pray when they aske forgiuenesse of their sinnes when they giue almes when they forgiue their neighbours when they obserue and keepe the commaundements of God c. August Primas Andr. Caesar Thom. Aquin. in Apoc. c. 5. l. 8 And not a word of the praiers of the Saints that are dead for vs or of vs praying to them And as little in S. Augustine Primasius Andreas Bb. of Caesarea Thomas
and firmelie receiued Let no man tell mee It is no Godheade It is not a God what was pleasing and acceptable to God they belieued and knew aswell as wee doe know or belieue any other thing that is But notwithstanding so it is that the Altar doth testifie what they tooke that to bee for which they made and erected the Altar c. Now with the inuocation of Saintes entred the multiplying of Altars after the manner of the Pagans and yet the multitude thereupon receyued did not satisfie thē but afterwarde they added thereunto according to the fruitfulnes and manifold increase of their Masses according to the verse of the Poet Vbi Templum illi centumque Sabaei Thure calent arae or rather according to the saying of the Prophet Osee c. 8. Ephraim hath multiplied his Altars c. But in the meane time it came to passe that there was neuer a Table to bee found in the Temples for the ordinarie Communion of the holy supper for the which and not for any other vse all whether Tables or Altars were at the first instituted and ordained in such sort as that the Masse hath wholy displaced the holy supper and the Altars the holy Table of the Lord. Hereupon followed as one abuse begetteth an other Consecration a thousand superstitious decrees and a thousand apish toyes some deriued from the Iewes and some from the Gentiles Let the Altars bee consecrated let them bee annointed with creame Concil Epaunense c 26. Gratianus de Consec D. 1. C. Altaria C Nullus Concil Bracar c. 37. but not any saue those onelie which are made of stone thereby they haue by little and little banished the Tables Let the Bbs. onlie doe it if any Clearke do meddle therein let him be degraded and if any Laye man let him bee excommunicated Was this the charge which S. Paule inioyned Bishoppes And what foolerie is this that a Priest should receiue the body and the blood of the Lord for the people and not to bee helde able or allowed to powre out a little oyle vpō a stone The Consecrating of these Altars is made of the same ingredientes with that of the Temples that is of a sprinkling with water mingled with salt wine and ashes of crosses made with holy water at the foure corners in the midst the Bishoppe his going about it seauen times the singing of the one and fiftie Psalme Asperges me Hyssopo not without the prophaning of the wholesome Scripture and in particular that doctrine of the remission of our sinnes Therewithall hee prayeth to God that he would vouchsafe to accept of his sacrifices not without the making of the Crosse of Christ as the Apostle sayeth of no effect Therein he burieth some reliques Three say they are too few fowre sufficient and fiūe too manie hee putteth them in some prettie little case with three graines of incense to the ende that for the affection and good will that God beareth vnto them he may receiue the prayers and sacrifices which shall bee offred thereuppon c. Then hee annointeth the Table of the Altar andas hee is annointing of it singeth Erexit Iacob lapidem c. Iacob set vp a stone and annointed it c. All of them late inuentions growing long after the times of the Apostles 700. 800. 900. or 1000. years that from their owne doctrine which is a great deale further swaruing from that of the Apostles without sence and signification yea and without all solide and sound foundation And this same ceremonie extendeth it selfe within a while after vnto all the ornamentes as linnens cups wine-pots and censers and that with far more carefulnes and industrie then euer they tooke about the Lord his lawfull Sacraments What may wee thinke that these fellowes will aunswere when he shall say Who hath required all these thinges at your hands And howmuch better had it beene to haue taught Christians the abolishment of all sacrifices by the one only sacrifice and of al Altars by the Altar of the Crosse then to haue led vs frō the corner stone to Iacobs stone from the annointing stone to the stone annointed from Christianitie to the Iewish religion and to the erecting and setting vp of Altars after the manner of the Iewes in hope of some newe sacrifice to bee offred vp to the annihilating of the sacrifice of the Lambe slaine before the foundation of the worlde and yet new and fresh in the eyes of God to the ende of the world And againe how much more worthie a thing had it beene to haue destroyed the Altars of the Gentiles then to haue dedicated them vnto Saints and to haue pluckt their ceremonies vppe by the rootes then to haue transplanted them into the Church seeing it is most plaine and euident that they were not deriued or borrowed from anie where else as appeareth when as wee see that the Soothsayers take ashes from the towne-house Pausaanias l. ◠to mingle them with the water of the floode Alpha and therewithall to besmeare the Altar of Iupiter Olimpius c. For what is there that can come more neerelie vnto the same then our manner of Dedicating And againe when wee see our Altars washt with wine and water and rubde with the boughes of Sauin Durand l. 6. c. 76. with the singing of some penitentiall Psalme Arnob. l. 7. c. For is it not like the washing of the picture of the mother of the Gods with sope wherewith our Countrie man Arnobius sporteth himselfe in his time CHAP. II. Of Images and that the old Christians had not any NOw follow the Images the ornament and goodliest garnish at this day that is about eyther Temples or Altars the refuge and succour of such as are deuoute without which the Temples seeme prophane notwithstanding whatsoeuer holy manner of seruice bee offred to God therein in all holy and reuerend sorte neither are the people thought to bee sufficientlie instructed how clearelie purelie and shrill soeuer his worde do sound therein Who doubteth but that if they bee of such importance if they haue anie such roome and place in the Church there is eyther precept or example to be found for the warrant of the same And againe who will not conclude and acknowledge it for manifest impietie or extreame lightnes if there bee nothing to bee found for the maintenance thereof but much to the prouing of the contrarie The eternall God sayeth in his law in the law which was giuen to his owne people in the toppe of the mountaine with thundering and lightning the visible threatners of the dreadfull sounde that was to insue Thou shalt not make to thy selfe anie grauen Image nor anie likenes c. thou shalt not bow downe to them nor worshippe them When God speaketh so clearelie and so loude what is it that men can possiblie finde out to cauill at to the contrarie but hee addeth a reason For I am a strong mightie and ielous
Testament wherein there remaineth not anie more question of shadowes and figures and wherein if it bee nothing but a sillie sleight representation if it be nothing but an intricate and infolded thing if it bee not altogether plaine and cleare assuredlie wee may bee bolde to say and that without any doubt that it is but an humaine inuention yea and therefore that it is not there to bee found at all CHAP. III. That the pretended propitiatorie sacrifice of the Masse hath no foundation in the newe Testament OVr aduersaries say Our Lord saide to the woman of Samaria The howre is come that you shall not worship the Father anie more Iohn 4. either in this mountaine or in Ierusalem but the true worshippers shal worshippe in spirite and truth And what proue they from thence To adore say they is to sacrifice but if they said that it were to serue God they said somewhat to the purpose But yet what followeth of this Certainelie that the seruing of God shall not bee any more tyed to one place but spread all ouer the worlde according to the saying of Malachie And as assuredlie that in steade of the more carnall manner of seruice wherewith he was serued vnder the law hee shall hereafter bee spirituallie serued and in a worde that after the materiall sacrifices as saye the Fathers the spirituall sacrifices shall succeede Saint Augustine sayeth Doest thou seeke for anie holy place August in Iohan t. 15. make thy selfe in thine inwarde partes a Temple vnto God for the Temple of God is holie and that are you Wouldest thou pray in a Temple Pray within thy selfe c. chaunging all this outward and materiall seruice into an inwarde and spiritual Cyrill Cyrill in Ioan. l. 2. c. 93. He signifieth and setteth forth the time of his comming which chaungeth the figures of the lawe into truth the shadowes into a spirituall seruice according to the doctrine of the Gospell c. And Origen in like manner Chrysost aduers Iud. hom 2. Chrysostome sayeth That is there shall bee no more Sacrifices nor Priesthoode neyther yet kingdome in Iudea that so they may bee wayned from the receiued custome of the necessitie of worshipping in one certaine place and to bring them to a kinde of seruice that is more spirituall and full of Maiestie Idem de cruce de spiritu hom 3. in hom veniet hora c. In like manner expounding this place in an Homilie for the purpose hee coulde not finde anie Sacrifice but that of prayer grounded vppon the doctrine of veritie neither anie worde tending that waye Cardinall Caietan in the same sence In spirite that is to saye not in the Mountaine not at Ierusalem not in anie one certaine place nor with a temporall seruice but with an inwarde and spirituall c. And in faith that is in knowledge c. Ferus likewise In spirite in asmuch as they shall haue receiued the spirite of adoption crying in him Abba Father In truth in asmuch as they shall call vppon him in his Sonne which is Truth it selfe Offering sayeth hee afterwarde no more anie quicke or liue creatures but their owne bodies in Sacrifice a holie oblation and offering and not the Sacrifice of the Masse But how will they possibly now frame themselues to make their conclusions from this place God shall bee adored and serued in spirite no more in one place but euerie where no more in the sacrificing of beastes but in the sacrificing of our selues Therefore the Masse is a sacrifice propitiatorie for the sinnes of men therefore the Masse must bee saide euerie where c. But they come nearer vnto the point and giue an instance from the institution of the holy supper and this is also our proper part and possession It is said Luke 22. 1. Cor. 11. Doe this in remembrance of mee and to doe in the scripture signifieth sometimes to sacrifice Therefore the matter here in hand must needes bee a sacrifice And our Lord had taken the bread and the cup and had saide This is my bodie This is my blood therefore he did sacrifice vnder the kindes of bread and wine his body and his blood vnto God his Father and by vertue of these wordes iuioyneth all succeeding Priestes to doe the like a worlde of errors cauillations and false surmises in a verie few wordes And the long time since they were confuted and ouerthrowne in all these their argumentes might haue bin sufficient to haue caused them to cease from the vsing of thē any more Facere in Latine signifieth to sacrifice but by an abridging of the language to doe some holie thing but that this is more vsuall in the writinges and workes of Poets then of Orators and that seldome not often and onely then when the mater in question doth manifestlie appeare to be about a sacrifice as I say may euidentlie bee seene needeth not to be gessed at And here therefore we stand vppon the quite contrarie As that the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is neuer vsed to sacrifice as far off is faire in the French tongue but the Euangelists and Apostles writ in Greeke So that the controuersie here is about an ordinarie or common and not anie picked or vnwonted phrase the contention is not euidentlie and manifestlie of a sacrifice for it is so farre from apparatiues as that the sharpest sighted Fathers did know nothing therof And further the Hebrew word Asa and how much more the Greeke doth neuer signifie to sacrifice but when a sacrifice or oblation doth follow it as facere haedum agnū c. or facere haedo agno c. to offer a kyd a lambe c. their interlineall Glose is not acquainted with this subtill shift Hoc facite that is saith it At oft as you shal eate this bread and drinke this cup shew forth the death of the Lord vntill his comming But let vs admit that it is so Hoc facite sacrifice this what shall we make then of it To sacrifice the bodie of Christ But Christ saith Which is giuen for you and to giue is not to sacrifice Wherefore it is not the same action which Christ performed for a man to sacrifice if Christ did not sacrifice And afterwarde Which is giuen that is which is now at this present instant giuen and deliuered vp to bee crucified for vs. The olde translation approued by the Councell of Trent hath translated it Dabitur and not Datur referring the same to his suffering vpon the Crosse and not to the holy supper Chrysostome and Origen Dabitur effundetur which shal be giuen which shall bee shedde and offered vppe And Chrysostome addeth the reason how that for the comforte of his Disciples our Lord taught them that his passion was the mysterie of the saluation of mankind the Masse also enemie vnto it selfe in this point hath read it so Let vs say then that these wordes Hoc facite haue relation to the institution of
out the efficacie thereof so fullie and largelie as they might But beholde the Councell of Trent assembled and called together not to reforme the Church of Rome as the Christian Princes had hope they woulde but rather to authorize and establish euen the most ill fauoured and deformed things that were therein for so they prouided and brought to passe therein If anie man holde and maintaine sayeth it that the Masse is not a true and proper sacrifice but rather a sacrifice of representation and praise and not propitiatorie for the liuing and the deade for sinnes punishmentes satisfactions and all other necessities let him bee accursed Cursing thereby in a fewe wordes the whole Scripture and all the olde Church And Pope Pius the fourth in whose time it was helde thrust into the oath which Bishoppes were to take this Article in expresse wordes I belieue that there is offered vnto God in the Masse Onuph in vita Pii 4. a true proper and propitiatorie Sacrifice for the quick and the dead c. But what And is there such abhomination in the Masse Let vs make a plaine and simple rehearsall of the principall errors therein without anie making of them more heinous and grieuous then they are indeede The first This pretended Sacrifice hath no institution or warrant in the worde of God but hath it on the contrarie directlie against it What audacious boldenes was this in man to dare to inuent of his owne braine a sacrifice by which God might bee appeased and made at one with vs And what other thing is it but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Seruice deuised of our owne carnall and corrupte sense and by consequent condemned of God who hath saide vnto vs In vaine doe you worshippe mee according to the Traditions of men c. The seconde This Sacrifice is a cleare and euident wresting and corrupting of the holy Supper and of the vse thereof whereby of a Sacrament ordained of God to assure vs of his good grace in Iesus Christ there is framed a Sacrifice whereby wee pretende to merite the same yea and that not hee onelie which doeth offer the same but those also that doe but stande by and beholde the same and that by their meere presence though they haue neuer a good thought or motion within them What is this then but to abolish the holie Supper of the Lorde vnder the colour of offering of it And who is hee that will any longer care to come to the Lordes Supper in the straight examining of his conscience if by the onelie hearing of a Masse hee may bee assured of eternall life And againe what presumption to dare thus to transforme the Will and Testament of the Sonne of God made and set downe in his holie Supper a thing not to bee endured in the Will and Testament of anie meane or base person The thirde The Masse is derogatorie to the onelie Sacrifice of the Sonne of God made vppon the Crosse and that not onelie by putting it selfe in place thereof but also by aduancing and setting forth of the power and efficacie thereof farre aboue the other It is saide There is but one oblation the Sonne of God giuen for the sinnes of the worlde this oblation the Masse will needes bee and yet renued and reiterated euerie howre Whereas there is pardon and remission of sinnes sayeth the Apostle there is no more anie oblation to bee offered And what should followe of this continuall and ordinarie repeating of this Sacrifice but that as yet there is no remission And that the sacrifice of Christ is either vnprofitable or imperfect And who doubteth but that this is the same which the Apostle called the frustrating and making of the Crosse of Christ of no effect and what more woulde hee haue made of it if hee had hearde the rest of their blasphemies as that the sacrifice of the Crosse hath not purged and done awaye anie but originall sinne but that the Masse hath taken awaye actuall sinnes c. and by consequent to become fellowe-worker with the same What can this bee tearmed but to declare the Sacrifice of Christ insufficient to renounce the power as also the benefite therof both together The fourth The Masse taketh awaye asmuch as lyeth in it the onelie Priesthoode of Iesus Christ whereof no other creature is capable for seeing it was requisite that the Priest shoulde bee eternall and the sacrifice infinite followeth it not that one and the same was to bee both the Priest and the Sacrifice And what other then but the Sonne of God offering vppe himselfe once to God by the holie Ghost and alwaies by his infinite merite making intercession for the infinite multitude of our sinnes vnto the infinite iustice and mercie of God And what a blasphemie is it then to say that anie man yea or that anie creature is able to performe the same And these are the abhominations which wee finde in the Masse as they make it the pretended sacrifice of the bodie and blood of Iesus Christ propitiatorie for the quicke and the deade for such a one our aduersaries doe teach it to bee the rest rising of the deprauing and corrupte wresting of the sacrament shall bee spoken of hereafter And now wee are to goe about the finding out of the originall and first beginning as also of the growth and proceeding of this applying of the benefite thereof to the deade deriued and fetcht as one error from an other from the opinion or rather imagination of Purgatorie CHAP. VI. That Purgatorie the foundation of Masses for the deade is not at all and first that it was not knowne in the Church of Israell or vnder the olde Testament ONe of the great imployments of the Masse That Purgatorie should haue had place in the church of the Iewes if there be any such thing is about the deade such deade as are not in Paradice for such haue no need of anie neither yet for such as are in hell for they all agree that it wold not any whit auaile them but rather for a certain number whome they pretend to be in a certain third place which they call Purgatory wherein they are to purge and make satisfaction for their sins of which when they went out of this worlde they were not acquited cleansed for the purging whereof there is no other helpe but that which may bee procured and supplied by a number of Masses Surelie man was a sinner and mortall from the beginning of the world yea man I say was subiect to dye in sinne being indebted by sinne and by consequent to incurre this penaltie of Purgatorie God likewise from all eternitie both iust mercifull iust in hauing appointed this punishment for sinne from the first creation of mankinde and mercifull as hauing taught him from the beginning the meanes of mitigating and remedying the same Which doctrine proueth Purgatorie to bee no newe fiction if so bee it may haue place but to haue beene
and that is it which galleth them most S. Paul to the Romaines alleadgeth Esay I liue saith the Lord that euerie knee shall bow before me Rom. 14. Esay 45.13 and euerie tongue shall giue praise vnto God There was greater show why it should be vnderstood of worshipping and adoration and yet he expoundeth it of the iudiciall throne of Christ Tertull. ca 17 1. de Trinit Thom in Ep. ad Philip. c. 2. and of his last iudgement And indeed Tertullian vnderstandeth it of subiection and not of adoration The ordinarie Glose saith here As well the Angels as men and the Diuell Thomas likewise The Angels willingly and freely the Diuels will they nill they That is saith hee according to that which S. Iames saith that euen the Diuels themselues doe tremble Rom. 9. S. Ambrose interpreteth it by this place of the Epistle to the Romaines Which is God blessed aboue all things c. For saith he there is nothing in the world but heauenly earthly or infernall things and referreth it to the authoritie that Christ holdeth of the Father Chrysost ad Philip. c. 2. Haimo Caict in Ep. ad Philip. c. Chrysostome to the glorie of Christ vnder which both men and Angels and Diuels doe bow and stoupe euen all both iust and righteous as also the sinners and rebellious And Haimo Hugo and Caietan after the same manner And in deed Bellarmine dare not vrge this place neither yet that of the Apocalips but confesseth that they proue not the matter Neither hath it beene alleadged by any certaine Monkes onely of this time and age excepted who make vp their Purgatorie of whatsoeuer commeth to their hands euen as franticke men who sansie euerie thing that is said vnto them For how was it possible for the old writers to find it here vnder the earth when as Saint Gregorie sought it in hotte waters in bathes and in the shadowes of trees When Alcuinus seated it in the ayre betwixt heauen and earth When the certaine place where it was was vncertaine vnto them vntill the time of Beda to whome I know not what spirit did reueale it to bee vnder the earth In the first of S. Peter Christ saith he hath suffered once for sinnes 1 Pet 3.18 c. being mortified in the flesh but quickned by the spirit by the which he also went and preached to the spirits that were in prison This prison say they is Purgatorie Let them reade that which followeth and then they will vnsay it againe Hauing beene disobedient in times past when as the patience of God did once attend and waite in the daies of Noe c. The question then is about matters happening in the daies of Noe Now they are not yet resolued that there was any Purgatorie in the time of the olde Testament And in deed they haue euermore expounded this place of the limbes so that by building their Purgatory vpon this place they haue broken downe the partition wall Againe the Gospell is preached to be heard vnderstood and receiued in faith And they themselues doe affirme that faith is not begotten or to be come by in Purgatorie To what end or vse then should this preaching serue in Purgatorie Againe to the vnbelieuing disobedient for whome according to their owne doctrine purgatorie was neuer builded Now in deed the true sence and meaning is that the spirit of Christ at all times hath called men to repentance yea euen in the daies of Noe those rebellious persons who abused the patience and long suffering of God and who notwithstanding standing out disobedient vnto the same are therefore holden captiues in prison that is to say in eternall punishment And the Greeke article leadeth vs hereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prison when the question is of spirites is ordinarily taken for here In the Apocalyps Sathan shal be let loose from his prison and elsewhere Apoc. 20. 2. Pet. 2. Iude 1. The Deuils are tyed vp in chaines of darknesse in euerlasting bondes c. But seeing they will not accept of our expositions yet at the least I would haue them to stand to the fathers Clement Alexandrine saith Clem. l. 6 that Christ and the Apostles did preach the Gospell vnto the damned but this hee taketh out of certaine Apocrypha writinges attributed vnto Saint Peter and S. Paule who had corruptly vnderstood this place In ep ad Epict. Athanasius saith that during the time that the bodie was in the graue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word went to preach to the spirites that were in hell that is to say saith Damascene Damasc l. 3. de Orthod fid c 6. Not for to conuert them to the faith but to conuince them of their vnbeliefe this preaching being no other thing but a manifesting of his deitie vnto the infernall powers by the descending of Christ into hell S. Augustine ad Euodium handleth this verie place August ad Euod epist 99. and turneth it into all the waies that it may bee taken and vnderstood that so hee might come by the true sence and yet hath not remembred Purgatorie in any one small word in the end he concludeth thus That to the end that hee may auoide the inconueniences that follow other expositions it must bee vnderstood not of any going downe into hell but of the operation and powerfull working of his deitie which he exercised from the beginning of the world that is to say that he preached vnto them which liued here below imprisoned in this mortall bodie by the spirit of his diuine nature sometimes by inward and secret inspirations and sometimes by outward admonitions proceeding from the mouth of the iust And thus it is to bee seene how that for Purgatorie hee vnderstandeth this present life Thom. 3. p. ◠62. art 2. And Thomas doeth likewise approue the same handling this question of purpose To bee shorte Cardinall Hugo saith In carcere in the prison of sinne and vnbeliefe c. And their Glosse Of the darknesse of infidelitie or of carnall desires c. And Lyranus bound and chained with the common custome of sinne And as concerning the whole place they vnderstand it Of the preaching of Noe which he practised amongst the infidels of his time Heb. 13. to draw them to repentance by the spirit of Christ for saith he Christ is yesterday and to day the same and for euer and euer what maketh all this then for Purgatorie In the first of S. Iohn If any man see his brother sinne a sinne that is not to death 1. Iohn 5.16 let him aske of God and he will gine him life to all them I say which doe not sinne vnto death There is a sinne vnto death I doe not say that thou shouldest pray for it c. From hence they inferre those which sinne vnto death Are those that persist in infidelitie saith Saint Augustine euen vnto
receiued into eternal happines because of the Son of God made a sacrifice for vs whome they haue participated in the Eucharist But as hee was vrged drawne by the strife contention of the time for there was then much to do about this Article whereas al the former haue made but two orders of the deceased August de cura pro mortuis ad Paul Nol. c. 1.4.18 Ad Dulcit q 2. De Ciuit. Dei l. 21. c. 13. 14 Idem de verb Domini Serm. 32. he hath made three The good saith hee who haue nothing to doe but to make prayers and supplications and these are they whome by name they dayly vsed so to praie for The wicked for whome no prayers or supplications could serue if it be not it may be saith he for the damned for the diminishing and lessening of their punishment And Chrysostome said also that they did ease their paines And the middlemost or those betwist the other two who haue need and accordingly ayde and succour there by whether it bee saith hee that God may not deale with them according to their sinnes or that their soules may be purged before the day of iudgement by temporall punishment that so they may not fall into the eternall Finally the prayers which are made for the good are thankesgiuings for the wicked such as whereby the liuing may be comforted and for those which are betwixt both such as are propitiatorie Now this is the first man that hath set open this way and passage contrarie to all auncient writers and more then foure hundred yeares after our Sauiour Christ there hauing not beene any man before time that had so much as read any thing of prayer for the dead or of a third place which they call Purgatorie and this Purgatorie notwithstanding wherof he saith elswhere in other places That there is some apparance that it is That it may be that there is one That no part of the Scripture speaketh of it That there is not any at all Doubtfull therefore are these prayers and oblations euen for the middle order of the deceased as is also his Purgatorie Or rather none at all absolutely as neither his Purgatorie seeing that by his confession there is none in the Scriptures What doe wee gather out of all this discourse Verily first That these prayers haue no foundation or ground either in the olde or new Testament Secondly that they are proceeded partly from humane affections and partly from the imitation of the Pagans Thirdly that the old Fathers vsed them for those whome they belieued alreadie to enioy eternall life as the Apostles Prophets Martyrs the holy Virgine c. Or we may say better according to the manner wherin they prayed in the Councell of Trent for the Soules of the Popes Paul the third and Iulius the third For those which liue and die in a most holy manner can they possibly according to their owne doctrine abide so long in Purgatorie Fourthly that it was then in regard of their soules a holy desire and to be taken in like sence as when we say liue O Christ liue O God c. whome wee know to raigne eternally In regard of their bodies a prayer vnto God that it would please him to glorifie them in the resurrection c. Fiftly that they were made rather in consideration of the liuing then of the dead to ease them of their griefe and confirme them in their faith instructions that may bee taken at a better hand and warrant from the Apostle Torment not your selues about them which are a sleepe c. Sixtly that they made them not vpon any consideration of Purgatorie seeing that amongst so many reasons of so many Doctors liuing in diuers ages and places not any one before Saint Augustine hath alleadged Purgatorie Seuenthly that these obseruations and reasons so diuers and manifold doe witnesse vnto vs that it was at that time held as an indifferent doctrine as also how that the greater sort doe call it a Custome a Decree an Institution c. Eightly that Saint Augustine himselfe who alone after many other better reasons alleadgeth Purgatorie cannot make any good proofe of the same seeing he himselfe doth not couer or conceale what doubt hee was in whether there were a Purgatorie or not Likewise he deliuereth contrarie assertions whereby there is great apparance and likelyhood that he did not reuoke or vnsay any thing but so farre as hee was wonne and ouerswayed by the headstrong conceipt of men seming in the light of nature to know that which they had neuer heard or seene Finally that the prayers for the dead which haue no foundation in the world ought not to haue any more authoritie in the Church then Baptisme for the dead practised say the ancients but not approued from the time of the Apostles or the Eucharist giuen into the mouth of the dead the one and the other proceeding from the same naturall affections and yet both the one and the other abolished and banished out of the Church Now it is not to be forgotten that that which was to be seene very weake and feeble in S. Augustine for to strengthen this new building withall hath beene since that time vnderpropped by counterfait and fained writings by men willing that way to imploy their vttermost indeauour thus labouring by vntruth to establish a lie and mans deuice and inuention by notorious and hainous crimes And to that end some haue attributed vnto him the Bookes August de ver fals paenit c. 71. De vera falsa paenitentia made in deede by Monkes though they be commonly cited in his name where he saith Let him that deferreth to conuert and turne too long passe through the fire of Purgatorie which is more painefull and grieuous then all the punishment that man can indure in this life A Sermon also of the day of the dead or of the remembrance of all the deceased where they haue made him speake in the same tearmes and manner of speach A booke notwithstanding wherein the Author himselfe alleadged S. Augustine as also the feast not being as yet receiued into the Church in his time but instituted by Odilo Abbot of Clugni more then 500. yeares after And yet which is more there are some that haue deuised an Epistle written from S. Cyril Bb. of Ierusalem to S. Augustine for to confirme him in the opinion of Purgatorie Cyril I say whose life S. Ierome did write whiles he liued writing to S. Augustine of the myracles of Saint Ierome after his death In which Epistle there is mention made How that S. Ierome appeared vnto a certaine man named Eusebius and commaunded him to cast his sacke ouer three dead bodies which should presently therupon rise therby confounding the heresie which denied Purgatory That these three men thus raised againe made their abode amongst men for the space of twentie dayes declared how that S. Ierome had beene the meanes of their seeing of