worde can Master Chark now peepe against all this O you papists that with sinceritie of Religion haue not caste of all humane honestie doe you not blush at the impudent ignorance of this your defender And yet he is not ashamed to gather Master Charks absurd positions not one according to his meaning and but one onelie agreeable to his wordes First that sinne is no action where he holdeth that all sinne as the sinne of omission is no action Secondlie that no euill men doe sinne but the euill in men which he saith not but that man as he is the creature of God is not against the lawe but the euill in man Thirdlie that sinne is not voluntarie which he saieth not generally but of some sin speakeing properlie Forthlie that sinne is no humane or reasonable action which he saieth rather to be a beastlie and vnreasonable action of a man endued with reason Fiftlie that it requireth neither will nor knowledge in the doer where he saith that the transgression of Gods law is sin in some case and sort which is without the will and knowledge of the doer Last of all that fooles and madde men may as properlie commit sinne as others but this he saith not at al but that the infirmites of follie and madnes shal not excuse sin and that if a madde man or a foole kil a man in the Censurcrs iudgement it is properly no sinne Whereof you may inferr that it is sinne properlie but not that it is as properlie sinne as in others But if madde men and fooles coulde not commit sinne properlie whie are they punished for sinne To conclude where you saie that Master Charke reiecteth Saint Augustine about the definition of sinne it is false For these are his wordes Howsoeuer you alledge Austen to approoue your definition it is no waie so large as sinne and iherefore a most vnlearned definition These words of his declare that he reiecteth not Augustine in this matter but your false and fraudulent allegation of him which is manifestly shewed before by Augustines sound iudgement in his retractions The eight section Of sinne MAster Chark hauing said out of the definition of Saint Iohn which also Saint Ambrose doth vse as I haue shewed before that all transgression of the lawe is sinne was charged by the Censurer with transposition because the Apostles wordes lie thus in the text Sinne is transgression of the law Master Charke defendeth him-selfe alledging that these wordes sinne and the transgression of the law are as the definition and the thing defined which are mutuallie verified the one of the other The defender bringeth nothing to prooue that this is no definition but that which he hath saide in the section before which is ouerthrowne Onelie he quarrelleth that Master Charke said the Gospell is as generall as the power of God to saluation whereas Christ also is called the power of God to saluation As though the Gospell did not include Christ. For when it is said the Gospell is the power of God to saluation you must vnderstand the generall matter namelie the doctrine or the preaching That transposition of wordes is sometimes lawfull M. Charke sheweth by an example God is a spirite where the wordes lie in the text a spirite is God The defender wrangleth that it is not alwaies lawfull which shall be graunted vnto him without controuersie That in this question it is not lawful he hath nothing to prooue but a beggerlie demaund of that in question that transgression of Gods lawe is larger then sinne Where Master Chark alledgeth out of 1. Iohn 5. 17. that euerie iniquitie is sin he maketh no small adoe because the greeke word in that text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which if they be not all one in sense let him enter an action against the vulgar interpreter which in both places translateth iniquitas Yea let him quarrell with Saint Augustine which vpon the place in question writeth thus Nemo enim dicat aliud est peccatum atque aliud iniquitas nemo dicat ego peccator homo sum sed iniquus non sum omnis qui facit peccatum iniquitatem facit Peccatum iniquitas est quid ergo faciemus de peccatis nostris iniquitatibus Let no man saie sin is one thing iniquitie is an other thing let no man say I am a sinful man but I am not vniust euery one that committeth sin doth commit iniquity for sin is iniquity what then shall we do with our sinnes and iniquities c You see here that S. Augustine accounteth sin iniquitie or vniustice to be all one So doth he in 1. Iohn Tr. 5. And where the Apostle vseth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is vnrighteuosnes what say you meaneth he generall iniustice or speciall If he meane generall as you must needes say for shame then it is as large as sinne and it is manifest that the Apostle vseth the worde Iustice as contrarie to sinne therefore iustice must needes be the same that sinne If you can make a diuersitie between general iniquity general iniustice you are wiser then the vulgar interpreter speciallie if he speake in this latter place of great sinnes onelie as you say whereas iniquitie in the former place may signifie such small transgression as is no sinne at all Verelie Oecumenius is against you and saith Simpliciter tanquam à genere peccati facit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnis iniquitas peccatum est hoc est siue sit ad mortem siue non He maketh a plaine diuision of sinne as it were from the generall and saith all inquitie is sinne that is whether it be vnto death or not And vpon 1. 〈◊〉 3. he saith Sciendum autem quòd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We must know that sin is a falling from that which is good 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 is an offence against the law and both of them hath this beginning namelie sinne the 〈◊〉 from that which is good iniquitie to doe against the law that 〈◊〉 And they agree the one with the other and are about the same thing For he which sinneth erreth from the marke which is according to nature and in nature is selfe For the scope or marke 〈◊〉 nature is to liue according to reason farre from vnreasonablenes Likewise he that doth 〈◊〉 offendeth about the lawe giuen in nature beeing affected intemperatelie Rectè ergo discipulus domini 〈◊〉 inidem 〈◊〉 Therefore the disciple of our Lorde hath rightlie vsed the one for the other Here iniquitie is as large as sinne Against this what haue you to saie Aristotell in praedicam qual For which I send you to Aristotell Eth. lib. 5. c. 1. But 〈◊〉 euery iniquitie is not sinne you haue Saint Augustine lib. 2. cont Iulian cap. 5. When you can set downe his wordes you shall receiue an answere in the meane time as you saie Master Charke reserued a sure carde for the ende I may
warrant of Christ his power receiued by the holy ghost maie as ministers seruants remit or retaine sins we do most willinglie consent and confesse But then they practise this power as seruants when they beinterpreters and declarers of the Lordes will and pleasure and require not that God should followe their sentence or attend how they be affected to forgiue or retaine and so to subscribe vnto their doing for that is an Antichristian vsurpation farre from the meaning of that power which Christ did graunt to his A postles ALLEN Some holie writers vpon this text of S. Iohn in which the order of Christes authorizing his Apostles for the remission of sinnes is described doe dispute of the difference of giuing the holie Ghost then to his Disciples and afterward on Whitsondaie some note the eternall ceremonie that our Master vsed when he gaue them the holie spirit which was by breathing on them that such outward actions might both be an euidence to them of that excellent gift which they inwardlie then receiued and should further be an euerlasting instruction to the Church that Gods grace and giftes be often ioyned to externall elements for the solace of our nature that delighteth to haue our outward man schooled as wel as the inward man nourished These and manie things moe be of profitable remembrance and consideration but not so much to our purpose Therefore let vs see whether the iudgement of the holie Fathers doe not wholie helpe our present cause prouing the Priests ministerie through the holie Ghostes authoritie that our declaration standing on the plaine wordes of scripture with their vndoubted sense maie obtaine inuincible force against the aduersaries worthie credit of the true beleeuers FVLKE If you had expressed what the writers are that thus dispute or discourse vpon this text we might better haue considred how pertinent or impertinent their opinions are to our matter in controuersie S. Chrysost. seemeth to allowe the opinion of some and Euthymius plainely affirmeth the same that the Apostles at this time did not presentlie receiue the holie ghost but onelie were prepared or made capable thereof which if it were true is contrarie to the title of your Chapter I like better of Cyrillus iudgement which thinketh they presentlie receiued the holie Ghost in some measure but not so plentifullie nor with such diuersitie of giftes as on the daie of Pentecost That the grace of God is testified assured and sealed vp vnto vs for the help of our infirmitie by outward signes and externall elementes ioined thereto we know confesse but as for the solace of our nature or delight to haue our outward man schooled I knowe not what they meane It is great mercie of God to beare with our weakenes but it agreeth not with the discipline of the Gospell that we should delight in outward thinges but rather to exercise our faith in spirituall and heauenlie meditations ALLEN We will make our entrance first with Saint Cyrill whoe debating with himselfe vppon the incomparable authoritie and power giuen to the Apostles for remission of sinnes standeth first as in contention with him selfe and with Christs words how it maie be that they being but men should forgiue the sinnes of our soules being sure of this that it is the propertie onelie of the true liuing god to assoile vs of our sinnes against whom onlie all sins be properlie committed And therfore being not of stomake as men be now a daies to denie that which Christes words so plainelie do import he made answere that the Apostles were in deed deified and made as you would saie partakers of Gods nature to worke Gods owne office in the world Qua igitur ratione saieth he diuinae naturae dignitatem ac potestatem discipulis suis saluator largitus est Quia certè absurdum non est peccata remitti posse ab illis qui Spiritum sanctum in seipsis habeant Nam cùm ipsi remmittunt aut detinent spiritus qui habitat in eis remittit detines By what meanes did our Sauiour giue vnto the Apostles the preheminence and power of Gods owne nature Surelie because it agreeth verie well that they should rimit mans sins that haue in themselues the holie Ghost For when they assoile or retaine sins it is the holie spirit that dwelleth in them which by their ministery doth remit or retaine sins Thus he I maruell not now whie this same father termeth the Apostles sometimes protectores curatores animarum corporum the protectors curers both of bodies soules it is not strange whie S. Ambrose should call the order of priestood Ordinem 〈◊〉 Neither that he should terme Officium Sacerdotis munus S. S. The Priests office to be the function of the holie Ghost No I doe not wonder at some of our forefathers that in the admiration of Gods Maiestic which they same to be so present in the execution of so high in office they did simplie and plainely terme the principall Pastours of the Church halfe Gods and not meere men not hauing respect to their persons which be compassed with infirmities as other the sinfull sort of people in the world be but casting eie vpward to the holie and excellent function which they practised by the spirit of God which dwelleth in them and deifieth their persons to make them of habilitie to exercise the workes of God FVLKE Saint Cyrill is farre from that blasphemie to saie that the Apostles were in deede deified and made partakers of Gods nature to worke Gods owne office in the world For ascribing to God that which is proper to him incommunicable to anie meere creature he maketh this obiection how our sauiour did graunt to his disciples the dignitie power of his diuine nature answereth that they were only made ministers instruments of the holy ghost to expresse his power in remitting sinnes by baptisme and repentance whereof S. Chrysostome also saieth vpon the same text that the Priest giueth onelie his tongue and his hand but the Father the sonne and the holie Ghost doth all things in this case I will rehearse the whole saying of Cyrillus that his iudgement maie more fullie appeare vpon this text Et certè solius veri Dei est c. And suerlie it pertaineth to the onelie true God that he is able to loose men from their sinnes For to what other person is it lawfull to deliuer the transgressors of the law from sinne but to the author of the law him-selfe for so in mennes affaires we see it to be done For no man without punishment doth reprooue the lawes of Kings but the Kinges them-selues in whome the crime of transgression hath no place For it is wiselie said that he is implous which shall saie to a King thou doest vniustlie By what meanes then did our Sauiour graunt to his disciples the dignitie and power of the diuine nature because trulie it is not absurde that sinnes may be remitted
But in what asses eares should it so sound when euerie reasonable man must needes vnderstand that there be offences against the Prince and common wealth as fellonie misprision of treason Mayhem and such like which yet are not offences in so a high a degree as treason is The thing in question you confesse that there is something that doth repugne the law of God and yet is no sinne at all if it be without will or consent as the first motions of concupiscence are Another cauill you haue that his authors haue not onelie these wordes but somewhat more as when they saie Sinne is not whatsoeuer repugneth the law of God but c. If Master Chark had denied the rest it were somewhat that you saie but seeing you graunt they haue all that he rehearseth he is without blame and whether it be part of a definition it skilleth not seeing it is part of their affirmation A third cauill is that he chaungeth the place of the negatiue which in framing propositions altereth often the sense as for peccatum est non quicquid he saith non est peccatum quicquid If Master Charkes chaunging in this place did alter the sense you would haue tolde vs of it but seeing the sense is all one the chaunge is no fault Lastlie for repugneth the law of God you say he putteth it is against the worde of God But here by your leaue you make a peece of a lie for in his first answere he saith it repugneth the law of God which when he repeateth in his replie it is against the worde of God it can haue none other sense then before That you will admit as much as the Iesuites in word or sence haue vttered it is as much as Master Charke requireth Now to the obiection against the Iesuites definition made by Master Charke you saie that to prooue that sinne is no act he obiecteth that iniustice is a sinne and yet no act He were a poore sophister that could not espie your paultrie in this place Master Charke doth not prooue that sinne generallie taken is no act but he affirmeth that there is some sinne which is not an act And therefore the Iesuites in their definition haue not geuen the right Genus or materiall cause of sinne Now for iniustice to passe ouer your knauish example of the execution of Campian and his fellowes so innocent and learned men by great iniustice You take vpon you to teach Master Charke an high point of learning Of the difference betweene a vice that is an habite and a sinne that is a singuler fact which perhapps you weene he learned not before yet euerie young sophister in Cambridge knoweth it well enough But Master Charke speaketh of generall iniustice as his wordes are plaine which is a sinne in not doing the thing commaunded because it is a manifest transgression of the lawe of God whoe commaundeth the wholl and euerie part to be fullfilled and is the sinne of omission which you make the second obiection But euerie omission you saie includeth an act which is a grosse absurditie meaning such an act as is sinne For I maie doe a good act while I omit a better the omission of a better act is sinne the doing of a good act is no sinne To tith mint and anise is a good act of it selfe for it was commaunded by God must not be omitted yet was it sinne to omit mer cie and iustice as the wordes of Christ are plaine this you ought to doe and not to omit the other The examples you bring of one resoluing not to goe to Church Helie determining not to punish his children and the watchmen not to sound the trumpet where the determination and resolution as the cause is the principall part of the sinne are foolish For there maie be omission which is sinne where there is no resolution and determination to the contrarie of that which should be done but negligence or forgetfullnes yea there is omission which is sinne where there is no power in vs to performe that should be done as in all the reprobate and vnregenerate and in the regenerate also in part which neither doe nor can in this life loue God and their neighbour in such perfection as the lawe of God requireth There is omission also through ignorance of Godes lawe which is sinne and deserueth stripes and yet ignorance the cause thereof is no act but the lacke of knowledge But being ouercome by scripture and reason you flie to the authoritie of the auncient fathers and first you quote Chrysost. Homil. 16. in Epist. ad Eph. moste impudentlie where by scriptures reason examples he teacheth the cleane contrarie that omission of dutie is sinne though there be no act to the contrary as when Christ shall saie I was an hungred c. and concludeth Nihilenim boni facere hoc ipsum est malum facere to doe no good euen that is to doe euill or to sinne The like he saieth Hom. de virtut vitiis Satis est igitur mali hoc ipsum nihil fecisse boni Euen this is euill inough to haue done noe good Ambrose hom 18 hath nothing to the purpose or if you meane 81. which is translated out of Basils hom which you quote nexte he hath nothing to your purpose but rather against it For vpon the wordes of Christ Math. 25. I was an hungred and you gaue me not to eat he writeth thus Neque enim in his verbis qui aliena inuasit arguitur sed is qui non communiter vsus est iis que habuit condemnatur For in these wordes he is not reprooued which hath laid bolde vpon other mens goodes but he which hath not communicated those thinges which he had is condem ned Basills wordes in Greek are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the extorcioner is not there accused but he that doth not communicate is condemned Last of all you charge vs with that definition of Saint Augustine contra Faust. lib. 22. cap. 27. Peccatum est factum vel c. Sinne is something done or said or coueted against the eternall lawe But if this were a perfect definitiō what needed the Iesuites to frame another according to whose definition this of Saint Augustine is larger then the word defined and in respect of the sinne of omission it is streighter then the terme of sinne yet it serued Saint Augustine for his purpose in hand concerning the facts of the Patriarches mentioned in the scripture which were to be praised and which to be dispraised As for Ambrose in the place by you quoted lib. de paradiso cap. 8. hath another definition then Augustine and a more perfect taken out of Saint Iohn Quidest enim peccatum saith he nisi praeuaricatio legis diuinae coelestium inobedientia praeceptorum For what is sin but the transgression of the lawe of God and a disobedience of the heauenlie commaundements This definition of Ambrose is perfect and maketh
wher of the high Priest was a figure Neither was the citie of refuge appointed onelie for the triall of the slaughter whether it were willinglie or vnwillinglie committed as you saie but also for a kinde of punishment and detestation of manslaughter so that if the sleaer were found out of the City before the death of the high Priest the auenger of blood might kill him and not be charged with his blood Where you refuse the mysterie of Christes death in the death of the high Priest and flie to the fantasies of the Iewes you declare that you care not what you bring so you maie obtaine your purpose But Chri stian diuines as Cyrillus Maximus and others of the death of the high priest in that place gather deliuerance by the death of Christ. Saint Ambrose also is cleere that the high Priest in this place signifieth Iesus Christ and confuteth the politike reasons by you rehearsed out of R. Mose and R. Leui for that in causis paribus there was impar euentus In equal causes vnequall end For the high Priest might die saith he the next daie after the manslaier hath taken his refuge Againe he addeth that Christ is exors omnium voluntariorum accidentium delictorum void of all offences voluntarie and chaunceable by which he acknowledgeth vnwilling manslaughter to be an offence Saint Ierome also Dialog aduers. Pel. lib. 1. is plaine in that wholl case and sinne of ignorance and that he which is fled to the citie must tarie vntill the high Priest die that is vntill he be redeemed by the blood of our Sauiour Beda also vpon this place by his allegorie sheweth how he thought of that kinde of sinne Also Theodoretus in lib. Num. quaest 51. declareth both the mysterie of the high Priests death and sheweth that such vnwilling manslaughter is sinne Cur ad obitum Pontificis praescribet eireditum qui nolens interfecit Qnia 〈◊〉 Pontificis secundùm ordinem Melchisedech erat humani peccati solutio Whte vntill the death of the high Priest doth he prescribereturne vnto him which hath slaine a man vnwillinglie Because the death of the high Priest after the order of Melchisedech was the loosing of the sinne of man and so forth to the same effect And if all the politike reasons be graunted of the mans tarying vntill the high Priest die yet the mysterie of Christes death is not thereby taken away whoos 's blood clenseth vs from all sinne voluntarie or vnuoluntarie The last fault of the definition is that the Iesuites acknowledge not the sinne of ignorance you answer they do of that ignorance whereof a man him-selfe is the cause but not of that ignorance which the schoolemen call inuincible which is not in the doers power to auoid nor he fell into it by his owne defaulte as in the example of the Queenes subiect being in his Princes affaires in India and commaunded by proclamation in Westminster to appeare there at a certaine daie in which cause his absence is excused by inuincible ignorance This case graunted betweene the Prince and his subiect prooueth not that ignorance excuseth before God because there is not the like reason seeing no such ignorance whereby a man should transgresse the law of God is in man but by voluntarie and witting transgression of the first man and his owne negligence which maketh his fact sinfull because he is cause of his ignorance by negligence or in the sinne of Adam in whome you confesse that all men sinned At least wise if originall sinne be voluntarie by the sinne of Adam so also is the transgression of gods law in these cases of inuincible ignorance wittinglie committed by the same sinne of Adam Augustine whome you quote for your purpose speaketh of naturallignorance and infirmitie which is in insants not of that whereby men fall into error and so transgresse Gods law For that he calleth penall ignorance and difficultie which is iustlie laid vpon them that neglected to seeke knowledge and is sinfull therefore cannot excúse sinne Chrisostome whome you quote likewise is manifestly against you his wordes are these Quòdsi ea ignoraueris quae scriri non possunt praeter culpam eris siverò quae scitu possibilia sunt facilia extremas poenas merito dabis If thou be ignorant of those thinges which are not possible to beknowne thoushalt be blamles but if they be possible and easie to be knowne thou shalt worthelie suffer extreame punishment As in the cases of Abimelech with Abrahams wife and Iacob with Lea who if they had made diligent inquirie needed not to haue beene deceiued through ignorance Neither doth God excuse Abimelech from sinne altogether as you saie albeit he pardoned his ignorance and kept him from the fact of adulterie acknowledged his minde to haue beene free from the purpose of Adulterie For the punishmeut laid vpon him argueth what he deserued by his ouer hastie purpose of mariage with Sara and Abimelech confesseth that Abraham had brought vpon him and his Kingdom a great sinne Also when God saith to him I haue kept thee thatthou shouldest not sinne against me he declareth plainlie that if Abimelech had lien with Sara vpon that ignorance he had sinned against God But of Iacobslying with Lea in steade of Rachell you mooue a greater contention and alledge Saint Augustine in his defense But whosoeuer gaue you your notes through your negligence in not reading the places your selfe made you erre through ignorance For S. Augustine doth notin all those Chapters once touch the question whether Iacob sinned in that he did not regarde what woman was laid in his bedde by which negligence as Master Charke saith he might haue committed most horribleincest with his mother aunt or daughter Onelie he defendeth his Polygamie by the custome of that time and the contention of his wiues for their lodgeing with him and last of all allegorizeth vpon the wholl storie drawing the error of Iacob and all the rest to a mysterie Nor yet de ciuit dei lib. 16. c. 38. doth he defend his negligence rehearsing onelie how he came to haue foure wiues when he went into Mesopotamia for one onelie adding that because he had lyen with Lea vnwittinglie he did not put her awaie lest he might be thought to haue mocked her Neither hath Iustinus Martyr lib. de verit Christ. rel anie defense of Iacobs innocencie or excuse of his negligence in this fact but sheweth onelie what mysterie maie be gathered of his marriages as Saint Augustine doth Finallie Theodores your last auncient witnes agreeing with the rest saith that Iacob betrothed onelie Rachell and beside the purpose of his will had to doe with Lea. But immediatelie assoone as he perceiued the deceit he tooke it heauilie and complained to his father in law what word of defense or excuse of his fact committed through ignorance negligence haue you in this saying yet you conclude after your vaunting mannner And what one
purpose teaching onelie that we are consecrated or made perfect by baptisme which is true in respect of sanctification and remission of sinnes but prooueth not that concupiscence which you confesse to be an euil thing remaining in the regenerate is chaunged in nature to be no sinne although it be forgiuen and shall not be imputed to the elect For the wrong quoting of Augustine do 〈◊〉 concupiscent You were best quarrell with your printer for Master Charke hath instlie charged your booke with error in the first edition whereunto he answered which you will not vnderstand but charge him with ignorance quarreling and impudencie whereas your quotation was twise lib. de nupt concupiscent And not as you saie now lib. 1. de nupt concupiscent You with that you were with Master Charke to see if he would blush at his ignorance by you discouered and cal backe your wish for feare of purseuants But I looke not at all that your brasen face should blush either at so small a fault or at so false a defense thereof which are not ashamed of a great number of more wrong and impudent quotationes then that is for which though no purseuantes shall attach you yet the reproch of them shall pursue you to the vtter confusion of your proude and arrogant Censure and more impudent and vnlearned defense Finallie Ambrose lib. 1. de voc gent. c. 5. hath not one worde to prooue that concupiscence in the regenerate is no sinne of it selfe But where Master Charke rehearseth not the verie wordes but the meaning of Saint Augustine expounding him-selfe in what sense he saith that concupiscence is not sinne you set abroad all the sailes of your rayling and venemous tongue and penne against him Saint Augustines words are dimitti concupiscentiam carnis in baptismo non vt non sit sed vt in peccatum non imputetur Quamuis autem reatu suo iam soluto manet tamen donec sanetur omnis infirmitas nostra proficiente renouatione interioris hominis de die in diem cúm exterior induerit incorruptionem non enim substantialiter manet sicut aliquod corpus aut spiritus sed affectio est quaedam malae qualitatis sicut languor Concupiscence of the flesh is remitted in baptisme not so that it is not but so that it is not imputed to sinne And albeit the guilt thereof be loosed yet it remaineth vntil al our infirmitie behealed the renuing of the inward man profiting from daie to daie when the outward man shall haue put on incorruption for it remaineth not substantiallie as a bodie or a spirit but it is a certaine affection of euill qualitic as a sickenes These words declare that concupiscence being an affection of euill qualitie which is as much to saie as sinne remaning in the regenerate although it be not imputed to them as sin for that if they 〈◊〉 against it it shall not preuaill against them to condemne them A sinne not imputed is a sinne of his owne nature The sinnes of Gods elect are not imputed to them they are forgiuen the guilt is taken awaie they are washed awaie in the blood of Christ they are as white as wooll and as snowe yet of their owne nature they are foule abhominable and detestable transgressions of Gods lawe so is concupiscence against the lawe thou shalt not lust as Augustine often confesseth therefore of it selfe sinne euen in the regenerate to whome it is remitted The similutude of a sickenes also whereunto Augustine doth often compare it sheweth the same For a sicknes if it be not healed either by strength of nature preuailing or by medicine doth either cause death or remaineth as long as life so concupiscence of itselfe would kill if the medicines of Christs redemption did not ouercome the malice of it and in the ende take awaie the disease from the rootes But for a cleerer proofe Master Charke alledgeth that Saint Augustine in an other place saith plainlie it is sinne You answer that he saith onelie of concupiscence in generall that it is sinne and not of concupiscence in the regenerate But that Saint Augustine speaketh of concupiscence in the regenerate it is manifest by this reason for that he saith concupiscence of the flesh against which the good spirit lustesh which is onelie in the regenerate As he him selfe saith in an other place by you quoted Non enim rectè cuiusquam spiritus concupisceret aduersue carnem suam nisi habitaret in illo spiritus Christi For no mans spirit should rightlie lust against his fiesh except the spirit of Christ did dwell in him But that concupiscence without consent is properlie no sinne you saie Saint Augustine prooneth by the wordes of Paule him-selfe who calleth it sinne in the chapter last remembred but that is false he only retaineth his vsuall acception of the word sinne for actualsin as Saint Iames doth whose termes of conception and bringing forth also he vseth yet he concludeth that concupiscence without consent is euill is to be chastised to be brideled to be fought against to be ouercome which prooueth sufficientlie that it is sinne though not actuall sinne yet properlie sinne from which we can not be deliuered but by the grace of Christ sinne of another kinde sinne in another degree called sinnne in the scripture and therefore without controuersie except we will trifle in vaine contention of termes and childish sophismes where the matter is plaine sinne in deede and properlie which of his owne nature deserueth death but that it is purged by the blood of Christ as all other sinnes of what sort or degree soeuer they be in those that are saued That Saint Augustine vseth other whiles the termes of veniallie and mortallie when he speaketh of sinning it can not defend your distinction wherebie you holde that there be some sinnes so smale as of their owne nasure they deserue not damnation contrarie to the scripture that saith generallie the reward of sinne is death Whereas Saint Augustine meaneth onelie degrees of sinnes whereof some are lesse some are hainous yet all deserue death For Saint Augustine must be vnderstood according to the scripture but the scripture must not be racked to agree with Saint Augustine Hitherto concerning the doctrine of the Iesuites that concupiscence in the regenerate without consent is not sinne Against this doctrine Gotuisus opposeth the wordes of our Sauiour Christ Mat. 5. 28. whosoeuer shall see a woman to lust after her he hath alreadie committed adulterie with her in his heart which text you confirme as you said before to be alledged ignorantlie and against him-selfe because here is a manifest consent of the heart expressed to make concupiscence adulterie And for that purpose you cite Saint Augustine and to all this you aske what sir William replyeth and answer your selfe Surelie nothing but maketh a long idle speake of praedicatum and subiectum as pertinent to the matter as Charing crosse to Billings gate If William Charkes
sacrifices prescribed by the Lord for remission of sinnes saieth there are seauen kindes of remission of sinnes in the gospell namelie 1. In baptisme 2. In martyrdome 3. In almes giuing 4. Inforgiuing to other men 5. In conuerting a sinner 6. In abundance of charitie the seauenth he expresseth in these wordes which you rehearse verie vnperfectlie and translate falselie Est adhuc septima licet dura laboriosa per poanitentiam remissio peccatorum cùm lauat peccator in lachrimis stratum suum fiunt ei lachrimae suae panes die ac nocte cùm nou erubescit sacerdoti domini indicare peccatum suum quaerere medecinam secundùm cum qui ait dixi pronunciabo aduersum me iniustitiam meam domino turemisisti impietatem cordis mei In quo impletur illud quod Apostolus dicit Si quis autem infirmatur vocet presbyteros Ecclesiae imponant ei manus vngenteseum oleo in nomine domini oratio fidei saluabit infirmum si in peccatis fuerit remittentur ei There is yet a seauenth kinde of remission of sinnes though hard and painefull by repentance when the sinner washeth his bed with teares and his teares are made to him his foode daie and night and when he is not ashamed to declare his sinne to the priest of the Lorde and to seeke medecine according to him which saith I haue saide I will pronounce against my selfe mine owne vnrighteousnes vnto the Lorde and thou hast remitted the vngodlines of my heart wherein that also is fulfilled which the Apostle saith if anie man be sick let him call the elders of the Church and let them laie their handes vpon him annointing him with oyle in the name of the Lord and the praier of faith shall saue the sicke person and if he haue bene in sins theyshal be remitted to him These are the words of Origen but you in your latine after indicare leaue out pee catum suum and translate it and is not ashamed to vtter all his sinnes to make the place seeme more pregnant for auricular confession I passe ouer that you alter the wordes folowing which are secundùm cum qui ait initio sicut scriptum est by which it appareth that you borowed this place out of some other mans allegation or note-booke negligentlie gathered and doe not cite it of your owne reading But to the matter I answere that Origen is not plaine for anie necessitie of shrifte to obteine remission of sinnes when he sheweth fiue other meanes to obtaine it after baptisme beside this Secondlie it is euident that he speaketh of open confession to be made in the exercise of publique repentance which is not necessarie for all men For otherwise there is no remission of sinnes after baptisme but vnto them that be penitent before God althouh they suffer martirdome giue almes forgiue other men conuert sinnes abound in charitie if they be not sory and repent for their owne sinnes they shall not obtaine forgiuenes at the hands of God He speaketh therefore of open repentance where there is open confession which also maie be gathered by his allegation of the texte of Saint Iames where not one priest for auricular confession but the Elders of the Church are called for The priest of the Lord also that he nameth by the text following of Dauides confession before God maie be vnderstood of Christ of whome the Leuiticall Priest to whome Origen alludeth was a figure as I haue declared before so that here is no plaine testimony nor any certeine warrant for the necessitie of eare confession For that confession maie be made for quieting of a mans conscience we denie not but that it is necessarie to be made by all men of all their mortall sinnes and that without such confession there can be no remission of sinnes that I saie we vtterlie and alwaies denie ALLEN S. Dionise also an Apostolike man doth inuinciblie prooue vnto vs that confession to a priest and the sacrament of pennance was in vse in his daies that is to saie in the Apostles time for he was S. Paules scholler He checketh verie earnestly one Demophilus a naughty Monke that you maie see Monkes be olde when there was an euill one in S. Dionise daies and yet there was an euill Apostle before there was an euill Monke that you maie see both orders be auncient though be they neuer so holie they cannot be alwaies void of euill But this Demophilus I saie bare a great rebuke of Dyonisius that he vsurped once a Priestes place and function and that on a time he thrust backe from the Priest and rebuked contemptuouslie a poore penitent that came to confession and called the Prieste sitting on confession a wretch and a miser that he durst take vpon him to make a sinner a iust man Which wordes were verie fitte for Luthers mouth an other religious man of like humour and honestie So soone was confession hated of the wicked and so speedilie was it desended of the faithfull as of Saint Dionise who here calleth the orders diuine actes of penance the decrees and institutions of God FVLKE Indeed we reade that one Dionysius Areopagita was conuerted by Saint Paul but that the author of these bookes which goe vnder that name was an Apostolike man we doe vtterlie denie For Eusebius S. Hierome Gennadius woulde not haue omitted the mention of such a writer and such bookes being so diligent sertchers of auncient monuments of the Church as they were if anie such had bene heard of in their times by the space of fiue or sixe hundreth yeares after Christ. But concerning the matter this Dyonise whosoeuer he be saieth nothing for the necessitie of auricular confession which is the matter in question although he rebuke Demophilus for abusing a poore penitent presuming to raile vpon the Priest and to commaund him to auoide Neither is there anie mention that the Priest did sit vpon confession or that the penitent came in popish manner to shriue himselfe but to seeke medecine for his sinnes perhaps to offer himselfe to open penance for some hainous transgression openlie knowne as it shoulde seeme by the wordes of Demophilus reported by Dyonisius But thou as thine owne betters declare didst thrust awaie with thy heeles an vngodlie and sinnefull man as thou saiest euen when he was fallen downe before the priest Thou being present against thy selfe then did he intreate and confesse that he was come for the healing of his diseases But thou wast not terrified but increasing in boldnes didst raile vpon the good priest that he was a wretch in iustifying a penitent and an vngodlie person and at length saidest vnto him get the out c. These words prooue not although they were the wordes of Dyonisius the Areopagite himselfe that it is necessarie that euerie man is bound to confesse euen his secret sinnes to a Priest And as for the sacrament of penance which you say is inuinciblie
before they be instructed in Christian beliefe shal they be baptized If children naturall fooles and such as can not examine themselues notorious offenders that haue giuen no signes of repentance men knowen to be in malice c. shal present thēselues to the Lords table must they without al iudgement or discretiō be accepted or repulsed By this therefore it appeereth that there is nothing more iudiciall in receiuing of sinners to repentance if that were a sacrament then in the only true sacraments of baptisme and the Lords supper Wherefore there is no reason that the Pope should restraine anie man of that power which you confesse he hath by Christes graunt ouer all persons of his charge by exempting anie of them or giuing them libertie to chuse their gostlie Father according to their owne appetite and much lesse that he should reserue vnto him selfe the absolution from the greatest sinnes the power whereof was graunted by Christ to euerie Priest as you confesse ouer his owne parishioners for which reseruation you bring not so much as the shadow of anie reason to shroud him from the the note of Antichristian tiranie ALLEN The Popes Pardons also maie wellreach so farre as to take awaie veniall and dailie infirmites which be of their nature punishable but by some temporall paine and correction because they be remissible manie waies out of the sacrament both here in this life and in the next For the merites of Christ maie be applied sufficientlie to the offenders in such light manner of trespaces without the especiall grace of a sacrament as by saying our Lordes praier saieth Saint Augustine and by almese and by the holie Sacrament of the aultar either receiued or deuoutlie adored by sacrifice now of the holie Masse much more then in olde time in the sacrifices of the lawe and by the holie peace or blessinges of Christ and his Apostles and Bishoppes after them and by their Pardons Therefore to him that is free from greeuous sinnes or pardoned of the same all these thinges shal be commodious towards the remission of his lesser infirmities but if he be in state of damnation and out of Gods fauour which grace must be procured onelie by the Sacraments of Baptisme or penance he can not obtaine anie Pardon at the popes hands neither aliue nor dead nor none was euer meant vnto him FVLKE Seeing veniall sinnes maie so easilie be pardoned as you doe shewe and by so manie meanes you make great fooles of all them that trauell to Rome for a plenarie Pardon of Iubelie or that will paie one halfepenie for anie at home when without trauell without expences without daunger he maie so lightlie obtaine forgiuenes of them But howsoeuer you plaie and blear mens eies with veniall sinnes the worde of trueth saieth that euerlasting death is the reward of sinne if it be not pardoned through the merites of Christes death applied to vs by faith The grace of God is all one whether it be testified by his 〈◊〉 or by a sacrament But you would haue it seene that Saint Augustine is an author of this distinction of veniall and mortall sinnes and sheweth these meanes by which veniall sinnes maie be wiped awaie without the grace of a Sacrament but you peruert his wordes farre from his meaning For his purpose is to shewe that a man cannot be purged from his greeuose sinnes by almes except he be heartelie penitent and carefull neuer to commit them againe but of smaller sinnes without the which a man can not lead his life he cannot determine that he will forsake them but must continuallie craue Pardon for them and auoide them as much as he can His wordes are these Sanè cauendum ne quisquam existimet infanda illa crimina qualia qui agunt regnum Dei non possidebunt quotidiè perpetranda eleemosynis quotidiè redimenda In melius quippe est vita mutanda per eleemosinas de peccatis praeteritis est propitiandus Deus non ad hoc emendus quodam modo vt ea semper liceat impunè committere Nemini enim dedit laxamentum peccandi quamuis miserando deleatiam facta peccata si non satisfactio congrua negligatur De quotidianis autem breuibus leuibusque peccatis sine quibus haec vita non ducitur quotidiana oratio fidelium satis facit Eorum est enim dicere Pater noster qui es in coelis Quiiam patri tali regenerati sunt ex aqua Spiritu Sancto Delet omninò haec oratio minima quotidiana peccata Delet illa à quibus vita fidelium sceleratè etiam gesta sed poenitendo in melius mutata discedit Si quemadmodum veraciter dicitur Demitte nobis debita nostra quoniam non desunt quae dimittantur ita veraciter dicatur sicut nos dimittimus debitorib nostris id est fiat quod dicitur quia ipsa eleemosyna est veniam petenti homini ignoscere Suerlie we must take heede lest anie man thinke those wicked crimer which they that committe them shall not possesse the kingdome of God are dailie to be committed and dailie to be redeemed by almes For the life must be changed into better and God is to be intreated through almese for sinnes past he is not to be bought after asort for this end that it maie be lawfull to commit them alwais without punishment For he hath giuen to no man licence of sinning although by his mercie he doe wipe awaie sinnes alreadie committed if meet satisfaction be not neglected But for daily short and light sins without which this life is not ledde the daily praier of the faithfull doth make satisfaction For it pertaineth to them to saie Our Father which art in heauen which are alreadie regenerat to such a father by water and the holie Ghost For this praier doth altogether wipe awaie these least and dailie sinnes It wipeth awaie also those from which the life of the faithfull hauing beene wickedlie passed but by repentance being changed into better doth depart if as it is trulie saied forgiue vs our debtes because there want not dets to be forgiuē euen so it may be truly said as we also do forgiue our debters that is to saie if that be done which is spoken For that is also almes to giue pardon to a man which desireth it First of receiuing the Sacrament of the altar or adoring the same of the sacrifice of the Masse of the Bishops blessing of their pardons here is no mention Secondly he sheweth that great crimes are pardoned also by saying the Lordes praier if changeing of life do followe by which it is manifest that by satisfaction he meaneth the fruites of repentance which as the offences are greater or lesser so it is meete they be shewed accordinglie in small offences contrition of heart and humble acknowledging of them before God is sufficient in great offences the change of life into better must be manifest euen to the Church and the sinnes repented
and the Pope haue two keies and they but one resolue vs these matters out of the holie scripture and you shall come somewhat nearer your purpose of pardons As for the communion of holie works which is betweene the heade and the members if you meane thereby the workes of men ioyned with the satisfaction or merites of Christ either shew vs where it is taught in the scriptures or giue vs le aue to denie it vntill you can prooue it ALLEN Perchaunce some Protestant will here call vs back and require proofe that there should be anie paine or tempor all correction remaining for those persons which hauetheir sinnes forgiuen by God in the sacrament of Penance or otherwise by the onelie faith of the partie penitent as he maie perhaps surmise If he list to be satisfied in this case let him turne backe and make a short view of the works of God since the beginning and there consider well whether God him-selfe hath not commonlie visited his children receiued to mercie with some correction answerable in respect of his iustice to the greeuousnes of the crime forgiuen Who is so froward or so rude but he may well discerne betwixt the sault of our first Father and the punishment of euerlasting damnation deserued thereby His sinne was one thing his deserued punishment an other thing his sinne was disobedience his punishment correspondent to that was euerlasting death Yet whensoeuer one of these two is forgiuen the other must needes be forgiuen also because he can neither be subiect to damnation whose sinne for which damnation was ordeined is forgiuen neither his fault be forgotten whose euerlasting punishing is pardoned which is the rewarde of sinne But now both these being once through Christ remitted to Adam as we read in the booke of wisedome who perceiueth not that he was for all that long afterward subiect to temporall death and manie other miseries both of this life and of the next beeing onelie punishments appointed by God for the ful satisfying euen of those sinnes which were forgiuen him FVLKE Out of all peraduenture we require proofe not onelie of this point but of manie more positions which you haue barelie affirmed to build your popish pardons vpon them And touching this point we do require proofe not onely that after sinnes and eternal paines remitted there are temporall paines remaining to satisfie Gods iustice but also if there were anie such remaining by what authoritie you should release them I know that often times after sinne remitted God sendeth or suffereth a temporal paine to remaine but that is not for satisfaction of his iustice but for a mercifull chastisement of his fatherlie discipline The punishment due to Gods iustice is eternall damnation for euery sinne as euen the glosse vpon the Extrauagant of Boneface the eight doth acknowledge And when God doth freelie remit the sinne he doth as freelie remit the punishment due for the same For what remaineth to be punished when the sinne is remitted Temporall paines therefore satisfie not his iustice but admonish his children of their ductie and make them carefull not to commit sinne which by his chastisment they are put in minde to be displeasing vnto him The temporall death and miseries that Adam was subiect vnto through his disobedience remained in him and his posteritie not as a satisfaction of Gods iustice for his sinne remitted and satisfied by Christ but as a monument and example of his iustice for sinne and therefore they remaine not onelie in the elect but in the reprobate for an admonition to beware of sinne vnto the Godlie and to take excuse awaie from the wicked of ignorance of Gods punishment for sinne yet are all those punishments vnto the Godie turned into blessings being either made his fatherlie chastisments for their amendment or els occasions of their eternall 〈◊〉 as aduersitie by humbling of them death by deliuering them into the possession of eternall life and therefore is blessednes pronounced both of the one and of the other But that Adam was subiect to anie miseries after this life or in this life as being onelie punishments appointed by God for the 〈◊〉 satisfying euen of those sinnes which were forgiuen him we denie vtterlie For the obedience of Christ was 〈◊〉 full satisfaction for the disobedience of Adam both for him and all Gods elect ofhis posteritie For if by the transgression of one manie haue died much more the grace of God and the free gift in grace which is of one man Iesus Christ hath abounded vnto manie For if through the transgression of one death hath raigned by one much more they which receaue the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousnes shall raigne in life by one Iesus Christ. For as by the disobedience of one man manie were made sinners so by the obidience of one man manie shall be made iust This and much more hath the Apostle to prooue that the redemption of Christ was more bountifull toward them which are iustified thorough faith then the transgression of Adam was rigorous to their condemnation which could not be if anie parte of Gods iustice remained to be satisfied by the punishment of the partie after his sinnes were remitted and he made iust by the redemption and iustification of Christ. Therefore the temporall paines whereto Gods children are subiect after their sinnes remitted are not left for the satisfiing of the iustice of God Or if you will needes contend that they are so left and that the Pope out of the treasure of the Church hath authority to pardon all such punishment or anie parte thereof let him make triall ofhis power in such corporal punishments as God laieth vpon his children for their corrections let him by his pardon release anie man of his sicknes age death if he can do none of these then either these are no punishments due to satisfie Gods iustice or els he hath no such power as is bragged of by dispensing of the treasure of Christes copious redemption to pardon men of all their punishment due to the iustice of God for sinne For if he had such power euerie sick man that receiueth a ple narie pardon à poena culpa should presentlie recouer of his disease yea I maruell how he should die if death be a penaltie due to the iustice of God for sinne which hath such a plentiful indulgence of all paines inioyned or deserued by sinne But if he cannot release one fit of an ague with all the pardons I maruell how he should release a man of all his paines of purgatorie yea spoile all purgatorie at once of all them that suffer paines therin except it be because he hath power onelie ouer that prison which is of his owne building and all that come therin but hath no power at all ouer them vpon whom God laieth any affliction either bodilie or spirituallie ALLEN Looke at the Prophet Dauid whether God corrected him not with temporall scourge after he
solùm peccata omnia quorum nunc remissio fit in baptisme que reos faciunt dum desideriis vitiosis consentitur 〈◊〉 peccator verumetiam ipsa desideria vitiosa quibus si non consentitur nullus peccati reatus contraehitur quae non in ista sed in alia vita nulla erunt eodem lauacro baptismatis vniuersa pur gantur Not onelie all sinnes whereof there is no we remission in baptisme which make men guiltie while they consent to vitious desires and to sinne but euen those vitious desires also to which if consent be not yealded no guilte of sinne is contarcted which not in this life but in the other life shall be none at all are altogether purged in the same lauer of baptisme Now whether a Christian man neede to saie forgiue vs our debtes for his vitious or wicked desires although he consent not vnto them you define out of Saint Austine that he neede not And quote Ep. 200. ad Asell where he saieth that if we did not at all follow our concupiscence and although the desires of sin be in vs while we are in this mortall bodie yet if we giue consent to none of them there were not for which we should say to our Father which is in heauen forgiue vs our debtes Yet should we not be such as we shall be after this mortall hath put on immortallity for then there shal be in vs no desires of sinnes Secondly you quote conc 3. in Ps. Where he answereth this question in these words Quantum quidemegs sapere possum c. As farre as I can perceiue the whole guilt of the disease and infirmitie from whence those vnlawfull desires are mooued which the Apostle calleth sinne is loosed by the Sacrament of baptisme with all those that obeying it we haue done saide or thought neither should this disease hereafter hurt vs though it be in vs if we yealded obedience to none of the vnlawfull desires thereof at anie time either in worke speach or secretassens vntill the sicknes it selfe be healed when that which we pray for is fullfilled either when we say thy kingdome come or when we saie deliuer vs from euill Thirdlie you quote de perfect iustisiae c. vltimo Where against the Pelagians which holde that a man might be iust without actuall sinne although he could not be without concupiscence which is called sinne because it is sin to consent vntoit and is mooued against our wil he hath these words Subtiliter quidemista discernit c. He that so saith discerneth these things subtillie but let him be aduised what is done in the Lordes praier where we saie for giue vs 〈◊〉 debtes Quòd nist fallar which except I be deceiued it were no neede to saie if we did neeur consent neuer solitle to the desires of the same sinne either in slipping of tongue or in delight of thought but onelie we should saie Lead vs not into temptation but deliuer vs from euill Lastlie you quote Cont. 〈◊〉 Epist. Pel. lib. 1. cap. 13. Nec propter ipsum 〈◊〉 iam c. Neither for this concupiscence whose guilt is alreadie confumed in the lauer of regeneration the baptized saie in their praier forgiue vs our debtes c Out of all these places this I may gather First that Saint Augustine doth not so constantlie affirme as you saie as a Doctrine most certaine but modestly deliuereth his opinion saying as farre as my wisdome serueth and except I be deceiued Secondliehe speaketh not of those motions that be in vs which consent to some though not to al of thē but in case we neuer consented to anie of them Thirdly he rendereth his reason because they he alreadie forgiuen to theregenerate in baptisme And sorthlie he calleth them vnlawfull desires of sinne against which we praie to be deliuered So that all thinges weighed as you haue Saint Augustine in some sort fauorable to the wordes of your assertion in this piont yet he is not so ranke and full one your side in the sense of the matter as you would bear vs in hand Now followe a number of cauillations against M. Charkes wordes which I will brieflie runne ouer First where he saieth Are not all the first motions of iust meerely naturall and euer more of some cause giuen by vs and dwelling within vs namelie the corruption of Adam This fonde 〈◊〉 saie you includeth two contraries for of they be meerlie naturall then are they not of anie cause giuen by vs. This fonde argument saie I hath two faultes One is ambiguitie sought where it needes not in the word meerelie naturall which Master Charke sheweth to be by corruption of nature and then the consequent followeth not for to that corruption cause is giuen by vs and in vs in the sinne of Adam Secondlie you saie that it is false that all first motions of iust are meerely naturall for in lewde men they are often voluntarie Iump as you are wont to saie For if will goe before them then are they not first we speake of motions which goe before will and therefore are called first motions wherefore your example of awaking a madde dogge and distinction of naturall in the roote and voluntarie in the branch doe not excuse but increase your heape of waste words as when you be awake you maie perceiue Another cauillation you haue that Master Charke deceitfully auoideth the simulitude of first motions with the pulse because they be not like in all thinges which is vntrue but because they are not like in qualitie in the which they are compared For the first motions vnto sinne are euill vitious vnlawfull as Saint Augustine calleth them so is not the motion of the pulse therefore not like But while he reasoneth against your example of the pulse he vttereth three foúle absurdities most grosse errors if we beleeue you Which are they saie on take heed you lie not The first is that he placeth concupiscence of the flesh whereof we talke in the resonable part of the minde and 〈◊〉 in the sensitiue parte That is false for his wordes are you cannot conclud from that part of our soule whereby we haue life and sense onelie to that part where in our reason and affections are placed In these wordes he denieth not concupiscence vnto the sensitiue part but extendeth it to the reasonable parte where also the affections are where vertues and vices haue their seat in as much as the reasonable soule is distinguished into two pars the one that vseth reason the other that should obeie reason And therefore you speake verie grosselie and falselie when you saie The first motions are nothing els but the rebellions of our sensitiue partes And your reason is as grosse in diuinitie as your position is in philosophie because it is called flesh and the concupiscence of the flesh c. where flesh signifieth the whole corruption of man as it is manifest by the workes of the flesh rehearsed by Saint Paull in the text you
quote Gal. 5. where there is not onelie whordome glottonie drunkennes and such like but Idolattie witchcraft heresie c. which are sinnes against faith and knowledge and doubtles haue thir first motions as well as other sinnes that are principallie committed with the body as adultrie drunkennes c. and may haue their first motions both in the body in the minde but chiofly in the minde Therefore while you charge Master Chark with intollerable ignorance you bewraie intollerable want of knowledge in one that would be taken both for a philosopher and a diuine The second absurditie you saie is greater in affirming that the sensuall parte of man is not so much corrupted by originall sinne as the reasonable parte But master Charke saith the former that is that parte of our naturall soule where bie we haue life and sense onelie is not in the same sorte corrupted as the second neither doth sinne so worke in naturall life and sense as it doth in the heart by the corruptions and guiltines of the soule Now these words do declare a comparison in qualitie not in quantitie for the question if you be remembred was of a similitude which is a comparison in qualitie not in quantitie But if he hadmade comparison in quantitie I thinke there is no wise man but feeleth temptations against the knowledge of God and faith greater and more dangerous then to commit sinne in the abuse of any of the senses And seeing all that defileth man commeth first from the heart I maruell how you place concupiscence in the sensitiue part except you place the sensitiue parte in the heart Although it is not without fraud that you change Master Charkes wordes who speaketh altogether of life and sense and you onelie of the sensitiue part in which you include the inward senses as well as the outward where as Master Charke speaketh of the outward onelie as his examples of smelling seeing hearing and feeling declare The third absurditie is ioyned with flat Pelagianisme where he saith that the necessarie actions of life and sense remaine now in man as they were before his fall For which is alledged a saying of Saint Augustine de Eccles. dogm cap. 38. that if anie man shall affirme that man both in bodie and soule is not chaunged into worse he is deceiued with Pelagianisme But Master Charkes wordes are that the nenecessarie actions of life as eating drinking c. and of sense as smelling ate of them selues all free from sinne remaining as they were in man before his fall he doth not denie that they are changed into worsse but that of them selues they are not sin It is not sinne to eate but a man may easilie sin in eating it is not sinne to see but by sight a man may easily fall into sin Neither doth your author saie that the actions of life sense are sinne but he speaketh against them that thought by the fall of Adam the bodie onelie was subiect to corruption the liberue of the soule being vnhurt Now if you holde that the simple and necessarie actions of life and sense are sinne I wounder how you can deny the first motions and vnlawfull desires of sinne to be sin But you 〈◊〉 them from sin because they be not voluntarie which is serase true of the senses for a man need not to see except he will seeing he maie close his eies But against this point of voluntarie you say he obiecteth originall sinne which is answered before and shewed how it is voluntarie And I answere that the first motions are voluntarie by the same reason Secondlie he obiecteth that god saieth in Genesis euerie cogitation of mans heart is euill euermore To that you answer that it inclineth to euill by reason of concupiscence left in vs. Thus God and you agree not He saieth it is euill you saie it inclineth to euill but yet is not that inclination sinne without consent But God saieth it is onelie euill and that alwaies Thirdlie you saie he obiecteth the commaundement Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart c. Whereby the first motions being against the great cōmaundement must needes be sin But that you saie is false For though we be stirred by this commaundement to all perfection that we can in this life yet no more is inioyned vs thereby vnder paine of sinne and damnation but onelie that we doe not yealde consent to sin If you say that god imputeth not vnto vs that are his children all breach of this commaundement to our condemnation I would agree with you But that anie man in this life can keepe this commaundement or that no transgression thereof except it be with consent is damnable sinne I doe vtterlie denie Yet you make Saint Augustine author of your interpretation First lib. de spirit lit cap. vltimo Who both affirmeth that this commaundement is not fullfiled by anie man in this life and also that there is no perfect iustice in this life but that man hath profited moste which knoweth how farre he is from perfection of iustice Againe that there is no iustice in this life but by faith therefore walking by faith he may be saide not to sinne against the iustice of this commaundement seeing he is not to be blamed if he loue not God so perfectlie as when he shall knowe him perfectlie But all this is to be vnderstood of the new man so farre forth as he is reformed according to the Image of God And therefore he concludeth in the end that of what qualitie soeuer or of what quantity soeuer we can define iustice in this life there is no man voide of sinne and it is necessarie for euery man to praie for remission of sinnes and to presume of no iustice of his owne but of the grace of God Secondlie you quote lib. 1. de doct Christ. cap. 2. where there is nothing to the purpose Thirdlie de natura gratia cap. 69. where he saieth this commaundement is not heauie where there is that loue whereby faith worketh where this loue is not it is heauie But that the breach of this commaundement is not sinne where we yeald no consent he saieth not one word Lastlie you quote lib. 2. de pecc merit cap. 6. where this commaundement is not once mentioned Thus you thinke to carie awaie the matter with dumme quotationes when in the places quoted there is nothing to vpholde your assertion Next followeth a question whether Protestantes or papists do represse the raines of lusts which he knoweth best that searcheth the heart the raines But the doctrine of the protestantes saie you doth take awaie both raines and bridle out of our handes while they teach the first motions to be naturall and that we cannot let their effect but that they worke sinnes in vs whether we consent or not But that is false for we saie that by the grace of God we maie resist their effect which is to worke actuall sinne
if default be not in our selfe yet we saie they are sinne of them selues for which we ought to sigh and grone with the Apostle And where you saie we haue no hope of victorie because we sinne though we consent not and thereof make manie wordes in vaine of the excellencie of popish doctrine it is moste vntrue for we haue a most cer taine hope by the grace of god in Iesus Christ to haue deliuerance frō the one victory of the other that to the obtening of the crowne of euerlasting glorie Now are we come to the tenth commaundement which is contrarie to the Iesuites doctrine which you say the Censure out of S. Augustine expoundeth to be meant of consent lib. 1. denupt conc cap. 23. where S. Augustine doth not so expound this cōmaundement thou shalt not lust but sheweth as he doth in other places before noted that it is not fullfilled in this life Next to this you saie it pleaseth Master Charke to put downe foure manifest lies saying As the Papists make of the tenth commaundement two commaundements so this fellow maketh of two seuerall breaches of two diuerse commaundementes but one sinne And both these you saie are slaunders But how both these if they were slaunders should make foure lies I doe not yet see except it be by multiplication Your answere is first that the Catholikes make but one of the tenth commaundement but the question is which is properlie and distinctlie the tenth commaundement Verie well if it be a question and such a question as you conclude not to be defined in your Church you doe ill to make it an argument to conuince him of slaunder For if that opinion be true that maketh but one commaundement against coueting which few papists doe follow and yet many auncient writers doe holde as you confesse then doe the rest make two commaundemetes of that one against coueting Yes Saint Augustine you saie contendeth in diuerse places that these two clauses thou shalt not haue strange Gods and thou shalt not make any grauen Idoll are but one commaundement and therefore that the two other of coueting make two distinct commaundementes That S. Austine liketh that diuision I denie not but that he contendeth for it is vntrue And you your selfe note six auncient writers namely Origen Procopius Clemens Alexandrinus Hesychius S. Ambrose S. Ierome that follow our diuision assigning foure preceptes to the first table and six to the second To which may be added Greg. Nazianzen decalog Mosis carmine Augustine or whoesoeuer was author of those books called quaestiones ex veteri N. T. quaestione 7. Beside the authority of those olde fathers reason is against it For whereas you saie this clause Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours wife is the ninth commaundement and the rest the tenth Moses is against you Exod. 20. placing thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house first and then thou shalt not couet thy neighbours wife which were a confusion if that which is in the second place were the ninth that which is in the first were the tenth beside the transposition that part of the tenth commaundement should be ioyned with the ninth Therefore seeing the same Moses placeth the coueting of the wife Deu. 5. in the first place it is manifest that both those clauses make but one commaundement els should it be vncertaine which is the ninth and which the tenth Againe where you saie it is moste conuenient that the twoe generall internall consentes vnto the two lusts of carnalitie and couetousnes called by Saint Iohn concupiscence of the flesh and concupiscence of the eie should be expresselie and particularlie forbidden by two distinct commaundements I answere that it is more couuenient that concupiscence of all sinnes against the second table should be forbidden in one generall commaundement And it is meruaill how in Saint Iohn you forgotte the pride of life which he ioyneth with the concupiscence of the eies and of the flesh which was as needefull to be forbidden as the other two though you saie the internall temptations against the other commaundement are neither so frequent nor so daungerous as those two Yes verely the temptations to ambition rebellion disobedience malice lying such like are both as frequent and as daungerous as vnto bodelie lust and couetousnes To that you sate they are sufficientlie forbidden by the wordes set downe in the commaundements them-selues it may be answered so are the other two and therefore all lust with consent is forbidden in euerie one of them as lust vnto adulterie in the commaundement prohibiting adulterie desire of reuenge in the commaundement prohibiting murther by our sauiour Christs owne interpretation and authority by like reason ambition or lust of disobedience in the commaundement that biddeth parentes to be honoured couetousnes in that which forbiddeth theft the lust of lying or slaundering in that which forbiddeth false witnes Therefore the commaundement of lust beeing one and general must needes be the tenth and the comaundement of hauing no gods but one the true God the first the commaundement of not making nor worshipping Images the second which are two perfectlie distinct preceptes the one commaunding the true God to be honoured alone the other commaunding the worship of God to be spirituall and forbidding all carnall imaginations of Gods worship as by Images or any other thing of mens deuise wherebie they chaunge the glorie of the immortall God into the shape of a mortall man beastes fouls or any other thing Therefore he that worshippeth Baall as a God breaketh the first commaundement he that worshippeth Iehoua in the calfe that Aaron made or the calues that Ieroboam set vp or by offering incense to the brasen serpent offendeth against the second commaundement This diuision therefore is both most conuenient as that which distinguisheth all good workes and all sinnes by their proper precepts and also necessarie as that which maketh tenne commaundements euerie one perfectlie distinct from the other and that sheweth all men all manner of sinne as well that which is in act as that which is in desire not onelie that which is with consent but euen that also which proceedeth of the corruption of nature and is resisted by the spirit of God Therefore that which you saie vntrulie of the first two braunches is true of the last that they conteine but one thing namelie a prohibition of concupiscence against any of the other five preceptes of the second table But it is a weightie argument that the 70. interpreters doe recite them distinctlie as two commaundementes in their Greeke translation How shall we know that You answere by repeating the verbe twise But that is a slender proofe for the verbe is twise repeated in the Hebrew text and in Deut. 5. once changed In the twoe first commaundements there are foure verbes denied there shalls not be thou shalt not make thou shalt not bow downe thou shalt not serue Yet these two you will haue
necessarie to saluation not expressed in so manie wordes and syllables yet in full sense contained and to be plainlie concluded out of the holie scriptures and these we receiue to be of as great credit as anie thing that is expresselie contained in the scriptures The other kinde of traditions was rites and cerimonies which are not necessary to saluation but are in the Churches power to alter as it maie stand best with edification Among which S. Basill rehearseth some that long since are abolished as the rite of standing in praier one the Lords daie and betweene Easter and Whitsontid which of it selfe is a thing indifferent as also that manner of glorifying in which they said with the holy ghost whereas al the Church long since hath said neither in the holie Ghost nor with the holie Ghost but to the holie Ghost To beleeue that the holie Ghost is to be glorified equallie with the Father and the sonne it is necessarie to saluation but in what forme of wordes that shal be song in the Church it is indifferent and the later Church hath vsed her libertie herein to alter that forme which Saint Basill saith was deliuered by the Apostles themselues without writing By this I hope it is manifest what kinde of traditions are of equall force or authoritie with the scripture euen they which haue their ground in the scriptures and none other For as the same Basill affirmeth Euerie word or deede ought to be confirmed by testimonie of the holie Scriptures Againe For if all that is not of faith is sinne as the Apostle saith and faith is of hearing and hearing by the word of God whatsoeuer is beside the holie Scripture being not of faith is sinne Thus Basill whatsoeuer he speaketh of vnwritten traditions he meaneth not against the insufficiencie of the holie scriptures except you will saie he is contrarie to him-selfe in manie places beside these that I haue noted Tr. de vera piafide Epist. 80. in Reg. Breu. Inter. 1. 65. 68. de ornatu Monachi Your next testimonie is out of Eusebius lib. 1. Eu. Demonst. cap. 8. whole wordes you mangle after your manner leauing out at your pleasure more then you rehearse Eusebius hauing shewed the excellencie of Christ aboue Moses declareth also that there are two manners ofliuing in Christianitie the one of them that are strong and perfect the other of them that are subiect to manie infirmites and that whereas Moses did write in tables without life Christ hath written the perfect preceptes of the new Testament in liuing mindes his disciples following their Masters minde considering what Doctrine is meete for both sortes haue committed the one to writing as that which is necessarie to be kept of all the other they deliuered without writing to those that were able to receiue it wich haue excelled the common manner of men in knowledge in strength in abstinence c. And this is the meaning of Eusebius in that place not of anie traditions necessarie to saluation of euerie man which are not taught in the holy scriptures but of certaine precepts tending to perfection not enioyned to all but written in the heartes of some The third man is Epiphanius who you saie is more earnest then Eusebius writing against certaine heretikes called Apostolici which denied traditions as our Protestantes do Which is but a tale for they were more like to Popish monkes and friers then Protestantes For they professed to abstaine from marryage to poslesse nothing and such other superstitions they obserued But what saith Epiphanius for traditions He saith that we must vse tradition For all thinges can not be taken out of the scripture wherefore the holie Apostles deliuered somethings in the scriptures and something in tradition Mine answer to Epiphanius is the same that it was to Basilius Namelie that such things as were not expressed in plaine wordes in the scripture were approoued by tradition being neuertheles such thinges as were to be concluded necessarilie out of the scripture As in the question for which he alledgeth tradition it is manifest Tradiderunt c. the holie Apostles of God saith he haue deliuered vnto vs that it is sinne after virginitie decreed to be turned vnto marriage This the Papistes doubt not but that they are hable to prooue out of the scripture except where the Pope dispenseth And we acknowledge that where the vow was made a duisedly to a Godlie purpose and abilitie in the partie to performe it that it is sinne to breake it neither can the Pope dispense with it In the other place where he rehearseth manie examples of traditions he speaketh of rites and ceremonies as is before declared wherof manie are not obserued in the Popish Church neither is there anie of them necessarie to saluation But Epiphanius you saie prooueth it out of scripture 1. Cor. 11. 14. 15. vhere Saint Paulsaith as I deliuered vnto you And againe so I teach and so I haue deliuered vnto the Churches and If you holde fast except you haue beleeued in vaine To the first I answer that it prooueth no traditions necessarie to saluation which are not contained in the scriptures as is more manifest by the second and third text for where Saint Paul saith so I teach in all the Churches of God 1. Cor. 14. 33. he saith immediatelie before that God is not the God of sedition but of peace 1. Cor. 15. 1. 2. 3. the Apostle speaketh manifestlie of the doctrine of the resurrection wherof he him-selfe in that place writeth plentifullie and in manie other places of scripture the same article is taught moste expresselie You see therefore how substantiallie Epiphanius prooueth tradition vnwritten out of the scripture to be necessarie to saluation which is our question But with Epiphanius saie you ioyneth fullie and earnestlie Saint Chrysostome writing vpon these wordes of Saint Paul to the purpose Stand fast and holde traditions out of which cleere wordes Saint Chrysostome maketh this illation Hinc patet c. Hereof it is euident that the Apostles deliuered not all by epistle but manie thinges also without writing and those are as worthie credit as these Therefore we think the tradition of the Church to be worthie of credit it is a tradition seeke no more The sense of these wordes is that the Apostles in their preaching did expresse manie things more perticularly then in their epistles not that they preached anie thing necessarie to saluation but that the same was contained either in their epistles or in other bookes of the holie scripture And so I saie of the tradition of the Church which is a doctrine contained in the scriptures though not expressed in the same or in so manie wordes as the three persons and one God in trinitie and trinitie in vnitie to be worshipped c. is of equall credit with that which is expressed in the scriptures because the ground of our faith standeth not vppon the sound of wordes but vppon
the sonne of man which was proper to him-selfe so he might well giue the other Your argument in à posse adesse which is not worth a strawe among them that knowe that argumentes doe meane That power which God might giue to meere mortall men whoe doubteth but God might also giue to Christ his sonne to exercise according to his humaine nature but that he did exercise the same onelie as man not as God by what argument is it prooued we knowe that in casting out of deuilles he vsed his diuine authoritie and in his owne name commaunded them to come forth and they obeied Marke 1. 27. he raised the dead by his owne authoritie as God and in his owne name Luke 7. 14. Saint Iohn restifieth that of the eternall worde which was made flesh and dwelt among vs he and his fellowe Apostles did see the glorie as the glorie of the onelie begotten Jonne of God full of grace and trueth From whence come you therefore with a Ghospell to teach vs that Christ did forgiue sinnes heale the sicke cast out deuills and doe miracles but as a man onelie by power receiued from God whereby you shew your selfe to be a good procter for the Arrians if those works which were proper to Christ in respect of his diuinitie you wil draw downe to his humanitie so that he raised the dead clensed the leapers c. not otherwise thē by power receiued frō god as Elizeus did or as anie of his Apostles which did al things in his name whose dignitie you are so careful to further that you care not how you abase the honour of their Master al to bring in a popish that is an Antichristian tyrannie ouer mens soules which is blasphemous against the authoritie of God For if the plaine text of the scripture Iohn 20. 23. whose sinnes you forgiue they are forgiuen c. would yeald you so much authority as you would gladly excercise you would not trouble your selfe to make such impertinent and inconsequent collections by which you would haue it seeme as though Christ in respect of his diuine nature was vnoccupied as concerning the worke of our redemption in the world but that he did all thinges in respect of his humane nature by power receiued from God But Saint Augustine you saie prooueth that by the spirit of God in respect of his manhood Christ wrought miracles which although it be not the matter in question yet you drawe S. Austen to another matter then euer was in his meaning For although it be true that Christ did cast out Deuills in the spirit of God as man yet it followeth not that he did not cast out deuills by his owne authoritie as God seeing the workes of the Trinitie are vndeuided and Saint Augustine in the place by you quoted distinguisheth between those sayings that speake of him as in the forme of God and those that pertaine vnto him in respect of the shape of a seruant But an other argument you haue of that the Iewes which seeing themselues thus ouercome in their vaine cogitations waxed afraid and glorifyed God who gaue such power to men That the Scribes and Pharises which first mooued the question of forgiuenes of sinnes were mooued with reuerence of our sauiour Christ or yealded glorie God I finde not but that al the rest of the people glorifyed to god which had giuen such power to men What power saie you to forgiue sinnes The text saith not so but of working such miracles to heale the man sicke of the palsie so that he was presentlie changed from extreame weaknes to perfect strengh whereof as S. Luke reporteth they said we haue seene sirange things to day and as S. Marke rocordeth it they said we neuer sawe it thus But as for the ordinarie power of making attonement for sinnes which the Priests vsed according to the lawe it was no strange thing vnto them and they had seene it often times before These therefore are the best interpreters of S. Math. which did write by the same spirit But because mans authority with you is many times preferred before god you shal heare what S. Hilarie saith in that place which ere while you affirmed to make nothing against your meaning his interpretation of the text Et honorificauerunt deum quòd tantā dedit potestatem hominib c. is this Conclusa sunt omnia suo ordine cessante iam desperationis timore honor Deo redditur quòd tantam dederit hominibus potestatem sed soli hoc Christo erat debitum solide communione paternae substantiae hoc agere erat familiare All thinges are concluded in due order and the feare of disperation now ceasing honour is rendered to God because he hath giuen so great power to men But this was due onelie to Christ to him alone it was familiar or accustomable to doe these thinges by the communion of his fathers substance These wordes doe plainelie shew that Saint Hilary dissenteth euerie whit from your meaning and that you arme your schollers with no armour of proofe when you wil them to looke for the like power of remitting sins in Christs humanity which he did exercise according to the authoritie of his diuinitie ALLEN Let the proud cogitations of men here attend that so highlie disdaine the ministerie of mortall men in the remission of their sinnes let them controulle the wounderfull wisdome of God which would no otherwise saue the pitifull sores of our soules but by the seruile forme of our owne nature ioined meruelouslie in our person to the worde and eternall Sonne of God the father let them reprehend the vnsearchable secret councell of the holie Trinitie which being of power infinite to worke their wil in al creatures yet would not repaire the world nor remit our sinnes anie otherwise but by the seruice of the Sonne of man let them mislike that flesh blood and the soule of our blessed sauiour being al creatures should ioyne with the onelie almightie creator of all thinger in the remission of all our offences let the presumptuose thus doe and let vs humblie reuerence Gods ordinance and glorifye him in his Sonnes high calling in our kinde through whose singular prerogatiue we shall vndoubtedlie finde exceeding power to be giuen to his bodie and brethren in earth to his moste deare spouse the Church FVLKE The ministerie of mortall men in remission of sinnes no man I hope is so madde to disdaine when Christ him-selfe in so plaine termes hath authorized the same But where you saie that the wisdome of God would no otherwise salue the pittifuli sores of our soules but by the seruile forme of our nature ioined meruelouslie in one person to the word and eternall sonne of God I cannot but maruaile at your Nestorian blasphemie For although it be moste certaine that in the forme of a seruant the wisdome of God preformed that which to the glorie of his iustice was expedient yet that the deitic was altogether idle
or vnoccupied in the worke of our redemption yea that the godhead did not worke the principall and moste necessarie part thereof it is too too abominable and intollerable heresie Out of the like stinking puddle it proceedeth that you saie that the holie Trinitie being of infinit power to worke their will in all creatures yet would not repaire the world nor remit our sinnes anie otherwise but by the seruice of the sonne of man That the seruice of the sonne of man was necessarie to be vsed it is moste true but that authoritie of the sonne of God was not necessarie for so great a worke as wel as the seruise of the sonne of man it is such an impudent blasphemie as I thinke the Pope him-selfe would condemne it if his opinion without partialitie thereof might be knowne As for the worke of Christes humanitie ioyned in one person to his deitie and the commission graunted to his ministers to remit sinnes are nothing hindred by acknowledging that God onelie doth properlie and absolutelie forgiue sinnes euen when his ministers according to his commaundement doe forgiue sinnes as S. Ambrose saith and all antiquitie doth accord Here it is declared by the scripture that the same power of remitting sinnes which God the Father by commission gaue vnto his Sonne as he was man was also by Christ bestowed on the Apostles after his resurrection THE SECOND CHAP. ALLEN IN what high reputation man hath euer bene with god his maker it is not my purpose now to treat of neither will I make anie tediouse talke though it be somewhat more neere the matter how estimation is encreased by the honourable and most merueilous matching of Gods onelie sonne with our nature and kinde whereof whosoeuer hath anie conside ration he shall nothing wonder I warrant him at the soueraingtie of such as be placed in the seat of iudgement and gouernement for the rule of that comonwealth whereof Christ is the head These thinges though they be well worthie our labour and deepe remembrance and not verie far from our matter yet so will I charge my selfe with continuance in my cause that I will onelie seeke out the dignitie of priesthood touching the right that the order laimeth in remission and retaining of mans sinnes In all which cause I take this a grounde that our Masters messenger stood vpon when his disciples grudged that Christ had his followers and practized Baptisme no lesse then him selfe did which is That no man can rightlie receiue anie thing that is not giuen him from aboue Therefore if it may be sufficientlie declared that the order holdeth by good warrant this their preheminence of pardoning or punishing of the peoples offences and that by commission from him who without al controuersie is the head of the Church then the contrarie must learne to leaue their contentious reasoning and vniust contempt of that order which is honoured by power and prerogatiue proceeding from Christ Iesus FVLKE That God of his meere goodnes and mercie hath vouchsafed man of so great honour that of him selfe deserueth eternall shame it is more reason to wonder at Gods mercie then to insinuate anie peece of mans dignitie or worthines That it hath pleased god to aduaunce some men to the gouernment of his Church vpon earth we haue cause to magnifie his maiestie that disdaineth not our base condition but putteth his honour and authoritie vpon them driueth vs not from them by the excellencie of their nature aboue ours but familiarly inuiteth vs to obedience of his wil that we may attaine to his promis of eternal happines The title of this chapter That our sauiour Christ gaue vnto his Apostles the same power of remitting sinnes which God the father by commission gaue vnto his sonne as he was man we do all agree but that Christ did exercise a more soueraigne authoritie in forgiuing sinnes then he did bestow vpon his Apostles or their nature was capable to receiue it is prooued sufficientlie in the Chapter going before Neuerthelesse I will examin all partes of this chapter and if in anie thing I dissent from you I will shew that you dissent from the trueth And first where you professe onelie to seeke out the dignitie of Priesthood touching the right that the order claimeth in remission and retention of mans sinnes you should haue done better to haue sought and set out the duetie of such persons also to whome such dignity is committed lest as it falleth out in your bastarde Popish Priesthood the dignitie be onelie sought for the labour and duetie almost or altogether neglected The ground you take out of Saint Iohn is infallible and therefore your Popish priesthood doth blasphemouslie vsurpe a pretended power to offer vp our sauiour Christ vnto his father as a sacrifice propitiatorie for the sinnns of the quick and the dead for graunt of which power from aboue you can shew no warrant out of the written word of God the onelie true record of Gods graunt and sufficient euidence for so great an authoritie ALLEN And of two or three places in holie scripture pertaining to this purpose that shall be first proposed which with moste force driueth downe falsehood and most properlie pertaineth to the pith and principall state of the cause which we haue in hand Thus then we finde of Christes wordes will and behauiour concerning the commission graunted out to his holy Apostles for the remission and punishment of our sinnes in the 20. Chapter of the Gospell of Saint Iohn Where the Euangelist thus reporteth that Christ after his glorious resurrection came into a secret chamber where his disciples were together the dore being shut for feare of the Iewes and there after he had giuen them as his custome was his peace and his blessing and she wed him self to their infinite comfort that he was perfectlie risen againe in the same bodie that so latelie was buried he then straight afterwarde to make worthie entrance to so high a purpose gaue them this peace againe in manner of a solemne benediction and therewith said Sicut misit me Pater ego mitto vos Euen as the father hath sent me so I do send you And when he had so spoken he breathed on them and said Accipite spiritum sanctum quorum remiseritis peccata remittuntur eis quorum retinueritis retenta sunt Receaue you the holie ghoste whose sinnes soeuer you shall forgiue they are forgiuen them and whose sinnes you shall retaine they be retained This is the place lo in which the iudgement and rule of our soules with all authoritie in correcting our sinnes in moste expresse and effectuall termes and in moste ample manner is giuen to the Aposiles and their successours Christ him seife doth communicate vnto them the iurisdiction that he receiued of his Father he giueth them in a solemne ceremonie that same spirit of God by which in earth him-selfe did remitte sianes hemaketh them an assured promis that whatsoeuer they pardoned or corrected in mans
life the same should stand in force before God FVLKE Our sauiour Christ in this place doth first of all authorize his Apostles to execute the office of publike preaching of the Gospell in all the world vnto the which he had before chosen appointed them Then doth he furnish them with giftes of the holie Ghost meete for so high and painfull a calling last of all he ratifieth the effect of their ministerie to be accomplished in the remission of the sinnes of all them that beleeue their preaching and in the retaining of their sinnes that do not obey the voice of the Gospell to beleeue it For the power of remitting sinnes must not be separated from the office of teaching whereunto it is annexed by our sauiour Christ who doth not giue his Apostles authoritie to remit sinnes so that he would transferre into them anie thing that is proper vnto him-selfe For it is proper to him to remit sinnes which honour so farre forth as it pertaineth to his onelie person he doth not resigne to his Apostles but commaundeth them in his name to testifie the forgiuenes of sinnes that he might reconcile men to God by their ministerie For I haue shewed before in the words of S. Hilarie that to speake properlie God onelie by men remitteth sinnes not following the sentence of man but man following the iudgement of God which is to pardon all penitent sinners and to retaine the sinnes of vnbeleeuers vnto eternall condemnation Therefore it is much more then the place doth afforde that you affirme the iudgement and rule of our soules with al authoritie in correcting our sinnes in most expresse and effectuall tearmes and in moste ample manner is giuen to the Apostles and their successors in this place For Christ in this place doth constitute Apostles and not Iudges messengers and declarers of his good pleasure and will vnto men not rulers of mens soules he giueth them power to remit or retaine sinnes in his name to the inestimable comfort of all penitent sinners and to the terrour and in crease of damnation of all vnbeleeuers he giueth them not al authoritie and that in moste ample manner in correcting our sinnes neither are there in the place anie expresse or effectual tearmes our of which such omnipotent authoritie can be concluded as afterward when we come to your syllogisme we shall platnlie declare Againe there is no mention in the text of anie iurisdiction communicated vnto them but of the office of teaching whereunto Christ was sent for a time which he committeth to his Apostles and their successours For these wordes of our sauiour As my father hrth sent me I also do send you can not be enlarged generallie to all such purposes as God sent Christ but must be vnderstood according to the matter he speaketh of that is of the office of Preaching teaching which Christ at that time did cease to execute in his humanitie remaining yet still the onelie doctor and teacher of his Church because he is author of the doctrine that is taught and by his holie spirit teacheth continually in giuing effect to the labours of his Apostles Euangelists Prophets Pastours teach ers which he hath giuen vnto his Church for the external ministerie of instructing the same in al truth necessarie to the eternall saluation of his elect He substituteth therfore his Apostles in that necessarie office of preaching the Gospell he enableth them by his spirit which he testifieth vntothem by an holy signe to proceed from him He maketh an assured promis that they should not labour in vaine but that in pardoning retaining sinnes according to the doctrine of his Gospel whatsoeuer they did should stand in force before God ALLEN What dignitie could euer be giuen more in what tearmes more plain by what order more honourable for surelie if either Christ could remit sinnes as we haue at large prooued that he could by commission and sending of his father or if the holie spirit of God maie remit sinnes or if Christes word will procure man anie power to remit sinnes then vndoubtedlie maie the Apostles remit sinnes For they haue the expresse warrant of them all Much said Paul when he affirmed in the Apostles name and person of all Priestes Quòd 〈◊〉 erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi posuit in nobis verbum reconciliationis Pro Christo ergo legatione fungimur That God was in Christ reconciling the world to him selfe and hath put in vs the word of reconcilement therfore our calling is to serue as an Embasy in Christes owne stead These wordes be of great waight and exceedinglie set forth the vocation of the spirituall gouernours as of those that holde by the warrant of Gods sending and thereby occupie Christes owne roome Marie the place for all that appertaineth to their calling generallie as wel to preach as otherwise to guide the people of God in the behalfe of their Master to whome we al be subiect but this present text whereupon we now treat doth properlie concerne the commission giuen to the Apostles for the sacrament of penance and remission of sinnes For it doth in moste cleere and vndoubted sense giue to them the like right in that case that Christ him selfe had by the sending of God the father that is to saie the very same authority that he had in respect of his mediation and manhoode A Equalem patri filium nouimus saith Saint Augustine sed bîc verba Mediatoris agnoscimus medium quippe se ostendit dicendo ille me ego vus We know the sonne to be equall with the father but here we must acknowledge the wordes of a mediator For he shewed him selfe to be as a meane when he said He sent me and I send you That is to saie as Theophilact expoundeth it Take vpon you my worke and function and doe it with confidence For as my father did send me so I send you againe and I will be with you to the ende of the worlde FVLKE There is no dout but the Apostles had power to remit sins but yet for al your thetorical interrogations none other then I haue expressed before nor greater then may stand with the glory of Christ who maketh not men equal with him when he authorizeth them as his seruants to be ministers of his mysteries and stewardes of his gracious giftes And Paul trulie said much when he affirmed that god was in Christ recōciling the world to himselfe not imputing to them their offences which clause I know not why you haue omitted hath put in vs that word of recōciliation We are therfore embassadours for Christ c. For he said that it is proper to god to reconcile the world to forgiue sins or not to impute them that is but a ministery of reconciliation which he hath geuen vnto men she weth how this ministerie is executed namely by preaching reconciliation as the embassadours of God to desire men to be reconciled vnto God
which only meane of preaching expressed in this place you with a Marie for all that fumble vp with I cannot tell what guidance because you cannot content your selfe to be a minister a seruant a subiect but you must be a Lord a Prince a ruler But the other text of Ioh. 20. yousay doth properlie concerne the commission giuen to the Apostles for the sacrament of penaunce and remission of sins But whether I praie you in the scripture shal we read of this your sacrament or the institution thereof what is the visible worde or element thereof yet you saie that this text doth in moste cleare and vndoubted sense giue to them the like right in that case that Christ him-selfe had by the sending of God the father that is to saie the verie same authoritie that he had in respect of his mediation and manhood So that be like Christ as Mediator hath no authority peculiar to himselfe in respect of the excellency of his person but that which is communicable vnto others and is communicated to his Apostles But that is a strange doctrine neuer heard of before in the Church of God except it were from the mouth of Nestorius or any of his disciples For our sauiour Christ receiued in his manhoode that which no other man is able to receiue because he one lie is God and man he receiued the spirit not according to measure Iohn 3. 34. as all men muste do that receiue it therefore no man can receiue such power by the spirit in measure which he receiued by the spirit infinitelie or without measure But Saint Augnstine is called to witnes that this text doth giue theverie same authoritie to the Apostles that Christ had in respect of his mediation and manhoode Whereas Saint Augustines words import no such thing but onelie shew that Christ though equal to his father in respect of his Godheade yet as he is our Mediatour is sent of his father in respect of his manhood But of the verie same authoritie that Christ had in respect of his mediation giuen to the Apostles he speaketh not a word That you ioyne his māhood to his mediation as though the mediator were nothing but man or as though the man Iesus Christ which is our onelie mediator were not Immannell that is God with vs it is not without some smack of Nestorian heresie wherebie you seeme so to separate the man from God as though any thing might be verified of the man which in respect of the vnitie of person might not be verified of God or as though there were not such a perfect vnion of the two natures in one person that although they both continue vnconfounded reteining their essentiall properties yet any part of the office and authoritie of Christ which he exercised in his humanitie might as latgelie as fullie and with the verie same authoritie be committed ouer to any other mortall man to be exercised as it was by Christ himselfe But Theophilact is cited to be an interpreter of Saint Augustine whoe saith vpon these wordes as the father hath sent me c. in the person of Christ take vpon you my worke and be sure that I will be with you meaning that he committeth to them the office of teaching whereunto he was sent by his father but of equall authoritie with him he speaketh no worde Which place you haue verie licentiouslie translated to draw it to your purpose For the words are no more but these as Philippus Montanus hath translated them Meum opus inquit suscipite confidite quod vobiscum sum futurus And in the ende he willeth men to consider the dignitie of priests that it is diuine For it perteineth to God to remit sinnes so therefore are they to be honoured as God For although they be vnworthie what is that they are the ministers of Gods giftes and grace worketh by them euen as he spake by Balaams asse For our vnworthines hindreth not grace so because by meanes of priests grace is graunted they are to be honoured Thefe wordes of Theophilact declare that although he ascribe much to the dignitie of Priests yet he doth not allowe them the verie same authoritie that Christ had in respect of his mediation but a farre inferior ministerie And excellentlie to our purpose wrote the holie father Cyril as well for the dignitie of the Apostolike vocation as for the honourable legacie in these wordes Ad gloriosum Apostolalatum Dominus noster Iesus Christus Discipulos suos vocduit qui commotum orbem firmarunt sustentacula eius facti vnde per Psalmistam de terra de Apostolis dicit quia ego firmaui columnas eius Columnae enim robur veritatis discipulisunt quos ita dicit se mittere sicut à patre ipse missus est vs Apostolatus dignitatem ostenderet magnitudinem potestatis eorum aperiret These wordes and the residue following concerning the same purpose goe thus in english Our Lord and master Christ Iesus promoted his disciple to a glorious Apostleship whoe becing made the proppes and staies of all the earth haue established the wauering worlde whereupon the Psalmist sayeth thus of the earth and the Apostles I haue surelie and firmelie set the pillers thereof For the disciples no doubt be the verie pillers strength and staie of trueth whome Christ saith that he doth send euen as his father did send him that thereby he might declare to the worlde as well the dignitie of their Apostleship as open to all men their excellencie and the might of their power and no lesse signifie vnto them what way they had to take in all their life and studies For if they be so sent as Christ him selfe was sent of the father it is requisite to consider for what worke purpose the father euerlasting sent his sonne in flesh to the worlde And that him selfe els where declareth saying Non veni vocare iustos sed peccatores ad poenitentiam I came not to cal the iust but sinners to repen tance in another place it is said God sent not his sonne into the world to iudge the worlde but that the worlde shold be saued by him al these thinges and other he touched brieflie in these few wordes Sicus misit me pater ego mitto vos vt hinc intelligant vocandos esse 〈◊〉 ad poenitentiam 〈◊〉 corpore simul spiritumale habentes Like as my father sent me so I send you that sinners should be called to repentance and be healed both in bodie and soule Thus farre spake S. Cyril of the excellent calling of the disciples of the cause of their large commission not restricted by any streighter tearmes then Christs owne commission was which he receiued from his euerlasting Father FVLKE The wordes of Saint Cyrillus declare no more then I haue said before that the Apostles were sent of Christ as Christ was sent of his father to call sinners to repentance by their ministerie of preaching not
that they were sent with as large commission in euery respect as Christ was sent to be our mediator and redeemer The wordes of Cyrill which you haue mangled and chopped at your pleasure I will recite wholl together that the reader may see how iniutiouslie you would draw to farre other meaning then his saying wil yeald In Ioh. lib. 12. C. 55. vpon these words Dicit ergo eis iterum pax vobis sicut misit me pater ego mitto vos He writeth thus Ordinauit his verbis orbis doctores c. He ordeined thē by these words teachers of the world ministers of the diuine mysteries whome he sent as lightes to the lightening not of the region of the Iewes onelie which according to the measure of the legall commaundement extended from Dan to Bersebe as it is written but he commaunded them to lighten the wholl worlde Therefore Paul saith truelie that no man taketh honour vpon him except he be called of God For our Lord Iesus Christ called his disciples vnto the glorious Apostleship which staied the world that was moued beeing made the pillers thereof Whereof by the Psalmist he saith of the earth and the Apostles I haue strengthned the pillers thereof For his disciples are the pillers and strength of truth Whome he saith that he doth so send as he him-selfe is sent of his father that also he might shew the dignitie of their Apostleship and open to all men the greatnes of their power and with all might shew what way they ought to follow in their studies and in their life For if they be so sent as Christ is sent of his father how is it not necessarie to consider vnto what the father sent his sonne for so not otherwise they may be able to follow him But if expounding to vs the cause of his sending many waies one while he saide I came not to call the iust but sinners to repentance an other while The holl haue no neede of the Phisitian but such as be diseased And moreouer I came downe from heauen saith he not that I might doe mine owne will but the will of him that sent me And againe God sent not his sonne into the worlde that he should iudge or condemne the world but that the world might be saued by him All which thinges he signified in most few wordes saying that he doth so send them as he was sent by his father that hereof they might vnderstand that sinners are to be called to repentance that they which ar diseased might be healed both in bodie and in minde And in the dispensation of thinges they must not doe their owne will but the will of him that sent them and that the world by preaching and the doctrine of faith must be saued All which things with what great diligence they performed you may learne with small labour in the booke of the Acts of the Apostles in the Epistles of Paul Thus farre Cyrillus whose saying if you had not clipped and gelded for your aduantage would haue made no colour for your purpose but against it ALLEN And truelie it was the singular prouidence of God that beforē the graunt of the gouernment of mens soules to his Disciples beeing but mortal men mention should be made of his owne right therein that the wicked should neuer haue face to disgrace the authoritie of them that dependeth so fullie of the soueraigne calling and commission of Gods owne sonne This high wisedome was practized also to the vtter confusion of the wicked and wilfull persons at their calling to the office of preaching and baptizing The which function lest any contemptuous person should in such base men disdaine Christ alledgeth his owne power and preheminence to which the dignitie of priesthoode is so neere and so euerlastinglie ioyned that euerie dishonour and neglecting of the one is great derogation to the other And therefore he saith Omnis potest as data est mihi in coelo in terra All power in heauen and in earth is giuen to my handes Therefore goe you forward and teach all natious babtizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holie Ghost Thus before the institution of sacraments whereof God him selfe must onelie be the author as saith Saint Cyprian Christ voutchsafed for the quiet instruction of the world to declare his authoritie and prerogatiue that all men might farther vnderstand thereby that the ministerie and excllent founction in the vse of the same did orderlie proceed of that authoritie and supreame power that Christ hath receiued ouer all mankind FVLKE Cyrillus telleth you there is none other graunt of the gouernment of mens soules contained in these wordes but to be teachers of the Gospell and to be ministers of the diuine mysteries to preach remission of sinnes to the penitent and to seale it vp with the sacraments to denounce vengeance to the impenitent vnbeleeuers in all things to attend that they do not their owne wil but the wil of him that sent them And in so doing their authoritie is exceeding great deriued from God him selfe the onelie author of their Doctrine and of the sacraments they doe minister Wherein you seeme somewhat to forget your selfe which hitherto haue mainteined and still affirme that Christ did remit sinnes and gaue his Apostles authoritie to doe the same by power receiued from God in his manhoode and that the holie Trinitie would not remit our sinnes otherwise then by the seruise of the sonne of man But now you confesse with S. Cyprian that God himselfe must be the onelie author of Sacraments Wherefore if this power of remitting sins be a Sacrament as you holde Christ must be the onelie author of it as God himselfe not as man by power receiued from God by the holie Ghost ALLEN And this sequel of Christes reason hath maruelous efficacie and force if we will consider thereof All power is giuen to me both in heauen and earth therefore goe you and preach and baptize and remit sinnes If a man would aske the Priest or Apostle how he dare be so bold to exercise any of these functions he might vpon Christes word be so bolde to make him this answere marie sir I baptize because all power is giuen to Christ I preach because all power is giuen to Christe I remit sins because all power was giuen to Christ. For in my ministerie he practiseth daielie all these functions in his power I am become the lawfull worker of all actions that are so proper to Christ him selfe Therefore it was Christ saith Saint Augustine that baptized and had moe Disciples then Iohn and yet Christ baptized not but his Disciples onelie So saie you to all contemners of Gods ordinance it is Christ that pardoneth and enioyneth penance for mans sinnes and yet he doth it not him-selfe as in his owne person but Christ doth it daily by the power which he established after his resurrection and which
continueth for euer in the high ministerie and seruice of the Church Thus I saie doth he remit sinnes Hunt principem Saluatorem exaltauit dextra sua ad dandam poenitentiam Israeli remissionem peccatorum This our Prince and Sauiour hath God exalted with his right hand to giue penance and remission to Israell of all their sinnes This power hath our high priest de serued for his obedience therfore as he receiued it so he hath left it in his Church his owne holie wordes dot protest that same For vpon his power and sending which he did receiue of his father all the Priestes doe euerlastingly hold the right of al holy functions which ells but by Christes owne commission and sending they could neuer nor neuer durst haue practized so long FVLKE It were a more direct sequele for a Priest or Elder of the Church to maintaine and defend his power that he practizeth in preaching baptizing and remitting of sinnes by the calling of Christ who hath all power in heauen and in earth for otherwise it followeth not because Christ hath all power therefore man without calling and authoritie receiued from Christ maie execute anie part thereof But in your application where you saie that Christ pardoneth and enioineth pennance for mans sinnes in the ministerie of the Church I graunt he pardoneth where the power which he hath giuen to the Church is duelie executed But for enioining penance in that sense that papistes doe speake it which is a peece of satisfaction for mens sinnes you are neuer able to prooue that Christ either in his owne person enioyned anie or by meane or ministerie of anie man doth enioine such penance and therefore the text you cire Acts the 5. is wretchedlie writhen from the true meaning and falselie translated as I haue shewed before by testimonies of your owne translaters the English Rhemists who read it thus This Prince and sauiour God hath exalted with his right hand to giue repentance to Israell and remission of sins Where the text is so plaine of the 〈◊〉 conuersion of the Iewes vnto Christ that they were ashamed to turne the worde poenitentia as they doe moste commonlie penance by which they meane some workes of satisfaction which are enioined to them that commit sinne after baptisme As likewise Acts. II. where it is said God then to the Gentills hath giuen repentance vnto life Where by as good reason and in like sense you might saie that God hath giuen penance to the gentiles taking penance in your popsh meaning or els you haue greatlie abused the scripture to prooue that Christ enioineth penance by popish Priests by that saying of the Apostles Actes 5. whereby they meane that God hath exalted Christ to conuert the Israelites from Iudaisme to the Gospell and to giue them saluation in the free remission of sinnes which of it selfe excludeth all other satisfaction then such as Christ him-selfe hath made to answere the iustice of God whose obedience hauing satisfied for our disobedience vpon our true and vnfained repentance which will appeare by the fruites thereof we are receiued into fauour all our sinnes being freelie forgiuen for Iesus Christes sake ALLEN And whosoeuer seeth not how the power iurisdiction of so excellent actions passeth from God the Father to his onelie Sonne and from him againe to such as he hath sent and made the messengers of his blessed minde and disposers of mysteries he hath no feeling at al of the waies that he wrought for mans redemption he can not atteine to the intelligence of Christs vnction whereby he is made our head priest he in the middest of the glorious light of the Church can not beholde the practize of so he auenlie mysteries and therefore such things as he knoweth not he blasphemeth saith S. Iude. But to worke all in light and order I will build vpon the forsaid the intended conclusion that the a duersaries maie see and behold the force of our faith and the singular weaknes of their assertions I thus ioyne with them in arguments barelie and plainlie without couert That power and commission which was giuen to Christ by his heauenlie Father concerning remission or retaining of sinnes was giuen to the Apostles at his departure hence But Christ him selfe did truclie effectuallie and in proper forme of speach by his Fathers sending and and commission remit sinnes Ergo The ministers of Christ maie and doe truclie and perfectlie remit sinnes Or thus more briefilie As Christ was sent of his Father so are the Apostles sent by Christ But Christ was sent to forgiue sinnes Ergo the Apostles be fent to forgiue sinnes also The second part of the reasons which is that Christ had power of his Father to remit sinnes and was sent for the same purpose is sussicienlie prooued in the Chapter before The first part of the argument standeth vpon the sure ground of Christs owne wordes which be these Like as my Father sent me so I doe send you Which wordes were so plaine and so deepelie noted for this intent of Saint Chrysostome that with admiration of the dignitie and excellent calling of Priesthood he thus trimlie discourseth vpon them I will report his saying in Latin as Germanus Brixius hath translated it all that speaketh for that purpose hereafter shall be recited but now no more but this Quid hoc aliud esse dicas nisi omnium rerum coelestium potestatem illis à Deo esse concessam Ait enim Quorumcunque peccata retinueritis retenta sunt Quaenam obsecro potestas hac vna maior esse queat Pater omnifariam filio potestatem dedit caeterùm video ipsam eandem omnifariam potesiatem à Deo filio illis traditam Nam quasi iam in coelum translati ac supra humanam naturam positi atque nostris ab affectibus exempti sic illi ad principatum istum perducti sunt And in English thus it is What e's canst thou make of this or what lesse then that the power and iurisdiction of all heauenlie things is by God graunted vnto them for it is said whose sinnes soeuer you doe holde or reteine they be retained For Gods loue what power can be giuen in the world so great the Father bestowed all manner of power vpon his Sonne I finde the verie selfe same power of all thinges to be deliuered to the Apostles by God the Sonne For now as though they were al readie translated out of this life to heauen and there promoted aboue mans nature and discharged of all our feeble affections they are aduanced to the Princelie soueraigntie whereof we now haue said Thus farre Chrysostome So doth this worthie father helpe our cause and so doth he thinke of the excellent authority giuen by the father to his Sonne deriued from him to the ministers of his holy will testament in earth Whose iurisdiction so highlie holden so truely obteined so neerely ioyned vnto Christs honour and so dailie practized no
otherwise but in his right name whosoeuer shall controlle or cōremne they not onely irreuerently touch gods annointed but they sacrilegiously laie handes on ipsum Christum Domini euen on him that is annointed aboue all his fellowes Well I conclud vp this matter with these few wordes of Saint Ambrose Vult Dominus plurimum posse discipulos suos Vult á seruis suis e a fieri in nominesuo quaefaciebat ipse positus in terris Our lordes pleasure is that his disciples should haue great prerogatiue he will haue the same thinges wrought by his seruants in his name that him-selfe did in his owne person when he was in earth FVLKE He that seeth not the difference of the ministerie of man from the power of God in those actions wherein God worketh by man gropeth in the darke seeth nothing as he ought to see Therefore let vs come to the light of your logick and thereby consider if we can the distinction of the one from the other If the maior or first proposition of your former syllogisme be vnderstood of a power or commission graunted to the manhood of Christ such as might haue beene graunted by God to anie other meere man then your Minor is not true that Christ by such a power and commission onelie setting his Godhead aside though truelie and effectuallie yet not in proper forme ofspeach by his fathers sending and commission remitted sinnes for then could he not be the author of remission of sinnes but onelie a minister thereof and therefore in proper forme ofspeach he could not be said to forgiue sinnes which is proper onely to god but to preach the forgiue nes of sinnes in Gods name or to testifie that God did forgiue sinnes as the ministers of the Church do Butif the Maior be vnderstood of such power commission as was giuen to Christ as the Mediator in respect of his manhood but yet such as he couldnot receiue exercise but in respect of his godhead such as could not be graunted to any but vnto that person which is God man such is the absolute principall power of remission of sinnes then I denie that such power was giuen to the Apostles at his departure For when Christ him-selfe did truelie effectuallie and in proper forme of speech remit sinnes he did it as God hauing equal and principall authoritie with the father and the holie ghost so to do The conclusion of your second syllogisme I graunt that the Apostles were sent to forgiue sinnes but retaining the former distinction of the authoritie of God and the ministerie of man For as Christ was sent of his father to preach the remission of sinnes so were the Apostles sent by Christ to preach remission of sinnes therefore such power as he had by preaching onely of remission of sinnes to forgiue sinnes such power be graunted to his Apostles whome he ordained preachers in his place but the proper pow er of his deity he graunted not nor any power which is proper to the person of the Mediator God and man Theresore these wordes of Christ As the father sent me so send I you must not be extended further then our sauiour Christ in that place meaneth For els infinite absurdities might be concluded thereof as that he sent his Apostles to redeeme the world to die for the sinnes of the world to be sauiours of the world c. or that he sendeth all ministers of the Church to whome this commission extendeth to clense leapers to raise the dead to giue sight to the blinde and to do all other miracles that he was sent to do According to this distinction that Rhetoricall amplification of Chrisostome is to be vnderstood and doubtles wonderfull great is the authoritie that man doth exercise in the name of God although that which is peculiar to God be not attributed to men The similitude that Chrysostome vseth in the same chapter Lib. 3. cap. 5. of a King graunting power to one of his subiects to imprison men and to release them sheweth that he knew the difference of the Lord from the seruant who if he abuse the authoritie committed vnto him deserueth sharpe punishment and therefore hath not absolute authoritie to do all things as his Lord and can not transgresse in doing And in the next Chapter he sheweth that Priestes do exercise this power of forgiuing sinnes by teaching admonition and by praier Not onelie by teaching and admonishing but also by the helpe of praiers and a manifest difference sheweth Saint Ambrose when he saith Christ would haue his disciples to do in his name the same thinges which he did on earth partlie in his fathers name and partlie in his owne name The power of priesthood touching remission of sinnes prooued by the solemne action of Christ in breathing vpon his Apostles and giuing them thereby the holie Ghost THE THIRD CHAP. ALLEN THe commission and power that our Master Christ receiued of his euerlasting father being in moste ample manner communicated with the Apostles made great proofe and euidence for the right that they claime in remission of sinnes but the present power of Gods spirit breathed by Christ vpon them and giuen vnto them for the ministerie and execution of that function helpeth our matter so much that whoso euer now denieth this authoritie of the Apostles concerning the pardoning of our offences doth not so much sinne against the sonne of man which of it selfe is greeuous inough as he doth controll the worke of the spirit of Christ which is the holie Ghost in whome both he and his Church doth remit sinnes The more plaine and more exact our master Christ was in the bestowing of that power to remit and retaine sinnes the more is our contempt in the disobedience and deniall thereof He sendeth them 〈◊〉 with his owne authoritie in this case he giueth them the verie spirit of God by whose diuine power they maie execute the function to which he called them he giueth them the expresse warrant of his owne word that sinnes they might pardon and punish and yet we make doubt of their vsurpation But how they might forgiue sinnes by Christes sending we haue alreadie said Now for the holie Ghostes power and prerogatiue in the same action which was breathed on the Apostles we must further conferre with such as call in question matters so plaine And first I am in goodhope that no man will denie but Christ gaue them the holie ghost for no other purpose so much as to remit sinnes Secondlie I doubt not of their faith and beliese in this point but they will confesse the holie ghost to be of power by nature and proprietie to forgiue sinnes Thirdlie I claime of their sinceritie thus much more that Christ being as well God as man was well able for the furniture of their calling to giue them the holie ghost all which being confessed of all men and denied of no Christian aline how the conclusion so beset with all
proofe on euerie side standeth not let the aduersaries tell me In the Apostles there can be no lack touching that officie for the execution whereof they receaued both Christes commission first and the holie spirit of God afterwarde In Christ there can be no default who was well able to giue and in deade did giue the holie ghost In the holie ghost there can be no let nor lacke whose power is infinie and his verie proprietie to remit sinnes All thinges then standing on so safe and sure groundes the giuer the gift and the receiuer competent and fullie answereable each to other on euerie side let the discontented ioyne in argument let him alledge why the Priests so authorized by Christ and so assured of the holie Ghost maie not either pardon or forgiue penance Neuer man auouched that he exercised the high action vpon his owne authoritie but that he maie not as a minister and seruant practize it vpon the warrant of Christ and present power of the holie Ghost that no faithfull person can affirme nor anie reasonable man stand in FVLKE The commission that our sauiour Christ receiued in his manhood to preach remission of sinnes was by him committed to his Apostles but in such ample manner as Christ had power to remit sinnes it is not prooued that Christ did communicate the same with his Apostles The visible signe of breathing by which our sauiour Christ testified that he did giue them the holie Ghost declareth that they were enabled with spirituall giftes to exercise their function the chiefe and principall end whereof was to pronounce in his name remission of sinnes to the beleeuers of the Gospell and condemnation to the contemners And this authoritie of the Apostles concerning the pardoning of our offences I know no man that denieth And therefore you spend vainlie the one halfe of your booke'in proouing that which no man doth denie namely that the Apostles and their lawful succesiours had and haue power by Christes graunt to remitte or to retaine sinnes The matters in question are these 1. Whither Popish Priestes be the lawful successours of the Apostles 2. What manner of power is this which is graunted and thirdly How it is to be exercised by Preaching the gospell or by Popish absolution and pardons For we denie your shauelings for the most part vnlearned to be the Priests or elders of the Church of god towhome this power is deriued from the Apostles we denie an absolute power to be graunted but a ministerie of testification and assurance of that which God onelie doth properlie and principallie Thirdly we deny that by Popish shrift absolution and pardons this power is to be exercised but by preaching of the Gospell whereunto are annexed the sacraments as seales of the doctrine These questions would haue beene directlie handled without such a tedious discourse to prooue confuselie the power that is graunted by Christ to his Apostles which is not denied but the kinde of power about which you wander vncertainly somtimes making it to be a meere ministery seruice vnder god the onelie worker therein sometime more then obscurelie insinuating that it is the verie same authoritie and none other but the same which Christ did exercise vpon earth and now hath committed it ouer or communicated it to Priestes as though he were bound to stand to their sentence in remitting or retaining sinnes or that they might remit as well as he and he must accept whatsoeuer they do in that case But seeing you wil not go directlie to worke we must follow you in your crooked path as well as we maie And for the first part of your conference where you are in good hope that no man wil deny but Christ gaue them the holy ghost for no other purpose so much as to remit sinnes I must say vnto you for my parte that forasmuch as remission of sinnes is the principall scope of preaching the Gospel they were indued with giftes of the holie ghost especially to call men to repentance forgiuenes of sinnes and to assure the repentant and beleeuers of the remission of sinnes by that authoritie and commission which they receaued of Christ. But if you meane that Christ gaue them the holie ghost for no other purpose so much as that they should heare mens shrift and giue them absolution in such forme of wordes as your Popish Priests do vse without preaching the gospell to them and setting forth the grace of god in Iesus Christ I denie that they receaued the holy ghost for any such purpose The other two partes I graunt but I know not what is your conclusion If you wil conclude that they haue power to remit sinnes I graunt it neither do I know anie man that denyeth it But if you meane to conclude thus because the holy Ghost which was giuen to the Apostles is of power by nature proprietie to forgiue sins therefore the Apostles did as properlie forgiue sins as god himselfe I denie your consequence And it seemeth you meane such a matter when you saie In the holie Ghost there can be no let nor lacke whose power is infinite and his verie propertie to remit sinnes which is verie true but yet it followeth not thereof that whosoeuer is endued with the holie Ghost hath infinite power and maie properlie remit sinnes For the holie Ghost is giuen in measure to all men not that his substance is diuisible that it maie be apportionated but that his gifts are distributed by him selfe in such measure as the wisdome of God seeth to be moste conuenient His essence is infinit and incomprehensible but he is said in Scripture to be present with them or in them on whome he bestoweth his graces and giftes Therefore I see not what consequence can be made of the holy ghostes infinit power and verie propertie to remit sins to conclude that the Apostles which receiued the holie Ghost rereiued infinite power or the verie propertie to remitre sinnes Where you will the discontented to ioyne in argument why the Priest so authorized by Christ and so assured of the holy Ghost may not either pardon or giue penance Thus I ioyne with you For remitting of sinnes I see authoritie but for giuing of penance none therefore I graunt the former and denie the latter For if by penance true repentance be vnderstood god onelie can giue repentance who onelie can turne the heart of man to feare him If you meane popish penance that is enioyning of satisfactorie works or punishment I denie that it is mentioned in the scriptures neither can it be contained in retaining of sinne Where you saie that neuer man aduouched that high action vpon his owne authoritie it is vntrue for Antichrist that lifteth him-selfe to be equall with God and Christ auoucheth vpon his owne authoritie although to cloke his manifest impietie that he might deceiue the simple he pretendeth the name authoritie of God Christ. But that the Apostles and their true successours by the
vertue of the holie Ghost hath euer beene in it selfe bòth so plaine and so firme that the holie fathers haue vsed it as a ground to prooue against heretikes of Eunomius and Macedonius sectc the Godhheade of the holie Ghost the third person in Trinitie FVLKE You remember Saint Augustine but you can rehearse nothing that he saith touching this matter to confirme the deifying of your poeticall Popish halfe gods the Popish Faunes and Satyres saue onelie the generall argument of vniuersall consent and practize which if it be denyed you you are at a stale til you can prooue it You saide that priests as deified persons halfe Gods not meere men had abilitie to exercise the proper workes of God For otherwise the lawfull power and practize of remitting sinnes is so sufficientlie authorized by the words of the Gospel that it neede not be vnderproped with Saint Augustines generall argument wherein yet he neuer placed so great force as you affirme of him ALLEN S. Bernard is too young good man to name amongst these olde fathers of our new Church els perdie with the vertuous his wordes sound full sweetelie Thus saith he to prooue the equalitie of the holie Ghost with the Father and the sonne Sicut in nobis interpellas pro nobis ita a in patre delicta donatcum ipso Patre vt omnino scias quòd remissionem peccatorum spiritus sanctus operatur audi quod aliquando audierunt Apostoli Accipite Spiritum sanctum quorum remiserit is peccata remittuntur eis In English thus Like as in vs he maketh sute for vs so in the father he pardoneth sinnes with the father and that thou maiest vnderstande that the holy Ghost worketh remission of sinnes hear that which she Apostles once heard Receiue you the holie Ghost whose sins you doe forgiue they are forgiuen Thus he And Saint Ambrose his auncient to prooue the holie Ghost to be God alledgeth that he remitteth sins by the priests ministerie which he could not in any wise doe if he were not in all pointes equall and omnipotent God with the father and sonne Let vs see saith he Whether the holie Ghost doth pardon sinnes and he answereth him-selfe thus Sedhinc dubitari non potest cùm ipse Dominus dixerit Accipite spiritum sanctum quorum remiseritis peccata remittuntur ecce quia per spiritum sanctum peccata donantur homines autem in remissionem peccatoris ministerium suum exhibent non ius alicuius potestatis exercent It is thus much to saie There can be no doubt thereof seeing our Lord saide Receiue you the holie Ghost whose sinnes you doe forgiue they shal be forgiuen lookeye that by the holie Ghost sinnes be forgiuen men doe but exercise their seruice and ministerie and claime not the right of power and principalitie therein And Saine Basill vpon this assured ground frameth in full forme against Eunomius this argument Dominus sanctis Apostolis insufflans inquit Accipite spiritum sanctum quorumcunque dimittetis peccata dimittentur eis siergo nullius est peccata dimittere nisi solius Dei dimittit autem spiritus sanctus per Apostolos Deus ergo spiritus sanctus Our lord breathing on the Apostles said take ye the holy ghost for whose sinnes soeuer you shall pardon they be pardoned therefore if it be the onelie proprietie of God to forgiue sinnes and the holie Ghost so doth by the Apostles Ergo the holie Ghost is truelie God FVLKE Saint Bernarde is not to be despised for his youth where he agreeth with the most auncient and eternall truth reuealed in the holie scriptures His purpose is to prooue the equallity of the holy ghost with the father and the sonne and prooueth it by his effects because he forgiueth sinnes which is proper to God His saying Hom. de Pentecost 1. is mangled by you I know not for what purpose except you follow some Iesuites dictates more then your owne reading But in trueth there is nothing which can prooue the deification of priests but contrariwise that it is the holie Ghost that properlie remitteth sinnes of whose pleasure according to the holie scriptures the priestes are but interpreters and reporters As for the saying of Saint Ambrose is flat against you if you had not falsified it in translation For you traslate Exhibent ministerium non ius alicuius potestatis exercent They doe but exercise their seruice and ministerie and claime not the right of power and principallitie Where you should saie men doe exhibit or yeald their ministerie or seruise they exercise not the right of any power And he addeth a reason which you omit Neque enim in suo sed in patris filii SS nomine peccata dimittuntur Isti rogant diuinitas donat humanum enim obsequium sed munificentia supernae est potestatis For sins are not forgiuen in their name but in the name of the father and of the sonne of the holie Ghost These men do intreate the godhead doth graunt for the seruice is mans but the bowntiful gift is of the highest power Saint Basill also if his wholl saying were recited would appeare more manifest against you as he maketh vpon your owne report no shew at all for you His wordes are these against Eunomius Lib. 5. Cap. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is proper to God to forgiue sinnes he him-selfe affirming the same I am he which putteth away thy sinnes if your sinnes were as purple I will make them as white as snow and if they were as scarlet I will make them as white as woll Afterward when God the sonne of God Iesus forgiueth sinnes to the man sicke of the palsie saying sonne thy sinnes are forgiuen thee whereupon he was thought to blaspheme of the Iewes which knew not that he was God saying that this man blasphemeth for it perteineth to none to forgiue sinnes but to god alone But our Lord breathing vpon his holie Apostles said receiue the holie ghost whose sinnes you forgiue they are forgiuen to them If therfore it perteineth to none to forgiue sinnes as it doth not but onelie to God and the holy ghost by the Apostles forgiueth then the holy ghost is God and of the same efficacie and power with the father and the sonne In this saying of Saint Basil you haue not onelie omitted the former parte which ascribeth the power of forgiuing of sinnes as proper to God but also haue gelded out these wordes in that parte you alledge both in your latine and English translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in deede it is not of what purpose let the indifferent reader iudge ALLEN Thus you perceiue that the ground of this our faith and assertion was of olde accounted so sure that it was a singular aide and for tresse of faith against the vnfaithfull attemptes of most wicked persons in diuerse ages The onelie practize that priests vse by the Sacrament of penance to pardon sinnes was a full proofe that the
holie ghost was God by whose authoritie and proper power they did alwaies since Christs word was spoken remitte the same The which beeing true as it cannot be false that is so agreeable both to scriptures and to all our fathers faith the heresy of our time must needes directly impugne the vertue and power of Gods owne spirit For as the proofe of mans ministerie in this foresaid function induceth the true and euerlasting Godhead of the holy ghost by whome they practize that power so the denial thereof and robberie of priesthoode of this their moste iust claime doth directlie spoile God of his honour and of the euerlasting right that he hath in remission of sinnes So whiles these goodmen seeke to abase man vniustlie they blaspheme God highlie and together with mans ministerie they bring vnto vtter contempt Gods owne authoritie FVLKE Your deifying of popish priests doth altogether weaken the force of that argument which our fathers vsed against the auncient heretikes to prooue the diuinitie of the holie Ghost For it were an easie matter for Eunomius Macedonius or anie other heretike that was against his godhead to replie that by ministerie of God the holie Ghost might as properlie forgiue sinnes as Priestes do by the ministerie of Christ and of the holie ghost yea so farre forth as thereby they are made halfe Gods yea deified and made Gods in deede But you vtter repugnancie when you saie that by Gods authoritie and proper power Priestes do forgiue sinnes Where you make it not proper to God which is common to others with him Therefore you should speake more properlie to saie that God the holy ghost by his owne authoritie and power proper to the deitie doth forgiue sinnes in their ministery men thereto authorized do no more in proper speach and sense but testifie and declare what God doth for which declaration and testification seeing they are the embassadours and messengers of God vnto the world to declare his pleasure of reconciliation or condemnation they are said to forgiue sinnes or to retaine them which they do not properlie but pronounce the sentence of God concerning the remission or retention of mens sinnes And that this was the meaning of the Auncient fathers concerning the authoritie and power of Gods ministers it is moste manifest by this argument whereby they choke the enuier of the holie ghostes diuinitie from which you cutte of all the sinnewes and force it hath to prooue it when you communicate to men that which is proper to God and aduance men aboue the nature of meere men when you deifie their persons by meanes of the giftes of the holie Ghost giuen to them and make them of abilitie to exercise the proper workes of God As for the deniall and robberie that you ascribe I can not tell to what heretikes of this time we detest as much as ye not seeking to abase man beneath the nature and condition of man norseeking to extoll him by robbing God of his glorie and proper effects to magnifie menne to deifie the persoas of men as you do in plaine termes Whereby it is manifest we are as far from blaspheming god or making mans ministerie contemptible which he exerciseth in the name of God as you are from sobrietie thus to iudge if your meaning be of vs or thus to reason if you would defend the argument of the auncient fathers against the auncient heretikes ALLEN But for the readersease and more light of our cause I ioyne thus in argument with them againe vpon the second part of Christes owne wordes and action had in the authorizing of his Apostles Whatsoeuer the holie Ghost maie doe in this case by the proper power of his Godhead that may the Apostles and Priestcs do by seruice and ministerie through the power of the holie Ghost But the holie Ghost properlie and rightlie doth remit sinnes Therefore the Apostles doe rightlie remit sinnes by their ministerie in the said holie Ghost All partes of this conclusion stand vpright and feare no falsehood they be guarded on euerie side by Christes action by wordes of scripture by the Doctors plain warrant and by all reason With all which whosoeuer is not contented but will needes extinguere spiritum extinguish Gods spirit and violentlie take from the Church the greatest comfort of all mans life that in this infirmitie of our flesh standeth in moste hope by his gift in remission of sinnes for which especiall cause the said spirit was mercifullie breathed vpon the Apostles peculiarly before the mare common sending of the same from heauen aboue If all this reason and iust demonstration of trueth will not serue them I will charge them with this graue conclusion of S. Augustine vttered partlie against the Nouatians especallie against the desperate that would not seeke for Gods mercie by the Churches ministerie in the sacrament of penance To be briefe I will speake it in English Whosoeuer he be that beleeueth no mans sinnes to be remitted in Gods Church and therefore despiseth the bountifulnes of God inso mightie a worke if he in that obstinate minde continue til his liues end he is guiltie of sinne against the holie Ghost in which holy ghost Christ remitteth sinnes FVLKE I doe greatlie commend you that you haue such regard of the readers ease and it seemeth you haue good confidence of your cause that you flie not the light of Logicall iudgement by which the trueth shall more plainelie appeere to all sortes of men then by anie discourses at large vnder which many great errors may be often couered vnder sophistical cloudes ambiguity of words which in a briefe syllogisme is soone and easilie espied To answere your argument therefore First I distinguish of your Maior for if you meane by seruice and ministerie the expressing and declaring of the will and pleasure of the holy ghost wherunto they are authorized I acknowledge your Maior proposition to be true whatsoeuer the holie Ghost maie doe in this case by the proper power of his godhead that maie the Apostles and Priestes doe by seruice ministerie through the power of the holie Ghost But if you meane by seruice and ministerie that the proper power of God is communicated to men I denie your Maior as false and absurde For the Apostles and Priests maie not by seruice and ministerie through the power of the holie Ghost forgiue sinnes properlie which the holie ghost by proper power of his godhead may doe for this is a proper power not com municable vnto any creature but a declaration of the will of him that hath such power is the ministeriall authoritie by which men forgiue sinnes Secondlie I answere that your conclusion is deceitfull For your Minor Extreame or Assumption is not perfectlie ioyned with your Maior or Proposition in the conclusion For your Minor is that the holie ghost properly rightlie doth remit sinnes So your conclusion should be therefore the Apostles properlie and rightlie doe remit sinnes by their ministerie
in stead of which word properlie you craftelie conueigh in the worde truelie so your wholl syllogisme is a paralogisme and may lawfully be denied Notwithstanding your conclusion as it is we do graunt that the Apostles do rightlie and truely remit sinnes by their ministery in the holie ghost but as it should be inferred vpon your premises we denie it which cannot be gathered but vpon a false Maior Whatsoeuer the holie ghost may doe properlie in remitting sinnes the Apostles may do by ministerie as properlie As for the comfort of mans life taken away by denying sinnes to be properlie forgiuen by Priestes is a fond cauill and meere slaunder For we acknowledge it a singular comfort of mans life that God hath appointed men by their ministerie to assure vs of his fauour and reconciliation in the remission of oursins And we beleeue with Saint Augustine that sinnes are forgiuen in Gods Church vpon earth acknowledgeing the bountefullnes of God in so mightie a worke anathematizing and detesting the Nouatians and all other heretikes that obstinatelie and willfullie mainteine the contrarie The power to remit sinnes is further prooued to be giuen to the Apostles by these wordes of Christ Whose sinnes you do forgiue c. by the Doctors exposition of the same and by conference of other wordes of scripture of the like sense THE FOVRTH CHAP. ALLEN HOw the priestes of Christes Church haue defended this right and calling for remission of sinnes as wel by the commission that Christ first receiued of his father and afterward bestowed vpon them as by the assured receiuing of the spi rit of god from Christes blessed breath to the same and purpose I haue hitherto declared at large Now the third part of the place before alledged out of S. Iohns gospel concerneth the words of Christes promis and warrant made vnto his Apostles out of which wordes distinctly vttered we must see what force may be further added vnto our Catholike assertion for the pristes autho rity to remit and retaine sinnes And surely if none of the former wordes of commission nor any other mean or mention had beene made of the holy ghostes assistaunce herein these onlie woordes vpon the credit that faithful men owe to Christ had bin sufficient to haue assured the world of the authoritie of priesthood of the wholl cause that now is called in controuersie For what can be said either of god or man more properlie or more playnlie then this whose sinnes you shal forgiue they be forgiuen whose sinnes you shal retaine they be retained I must needes heree complaine of these vnfaithful and vnhappie times that in the continuall lothsome bragges of the scripture and Gods word in perpetuall tossing and tumbling of the booke of the Bible in endlesse contention and disputation of most high mysteries in them contained haue wholie conuerted the cleerest and onely vndoubted meaning of such places specially as moste touch the verie life and saluation of all mankinde and which be of all other thinges in termes of scripture most open and euident sull foolishlie and vnlearnedlie haue both the simple sort handled Gods word as in such grosse ignorance of al thinges they needes must and their new procured Masters also in not much more knowledge and farre passing pride can not otherwise do but whilest they plaie them selues in things of smaler importance they are to be laughed at rather then lamented but if the deuil driue them farther as he lightlie doth wherere he se quietlie possesseth and cause them to dallie and delude the places of scripture that principally concerne the state and saluation of vs al then we must with al force resist lest we leese the fruite and good of our Christianitie What can be of higher importance in the world or touch our soules and saluation so neere as the holie sacraments of Christ Church by which grace and mercy through gods appointment be procured yet these blessed fountains especiallie euen these waters springing euerlastingly to our life and comfort haue these men most infected FVLKE You fare as though we denied all power of remitting or retaining of sinnes whereas we do moste gladlie imbrace all such power as Christ hath giuen vs which we must so take as it be not dishonourable to the godhead that man should exercise that which is proper to God him-selfe The power therefore we graunt but what manner of power this is we must inquire whether an absolute power for priests at their pleasure as you speake afterward in this Chapter to forgiue sinnes properlie or a power to declare the same to be forgiuen according to the pleasure of God to them that repent and beleeue the Gospell and also whether this power is to be exercised by preaching the Ghospel or by auricular confession You spend manie words therefore in vaine to prooue the power and authoritie whereof we stand in no controuersie with you but what manner of power this is and by what meanes it is to be exercised As for the lothsome bragges of the scripture and Gods word in perpetuall tossing and tumbling of the bookes of the Bible doe argue that you complaine of sauoreth not of the spirit of Christ which willeth the scriptures to be searched as those which beare witnes of him To glory in the truth of Gods word contained in his holie scriptures is no vaine bragging but such as Christians ought moste of all to delight in The rest of your railing I passe ouer as vnworthie anie answere when whatsoeuer you prate in generall shal be founde false in speciall when you come to prooue the particulers ALLEN In the institution of Sacraments Christs wordes were euer plaine without colour or figure as wordes that worke with singular efficacie grace and vertue and therewith giue to the ministers iust authoritie for the execution of Christes meaning which could not be done in figuratiue speaches and parables without infinit error Did God speake parables when he instituted the solemnitie of so manie sacrifices in the olde lawe when he signified vnto Moses and Aaron euerie seuerall sorte of beast or creature with their sexe kind all the ceremonie thereunto belonging Did he speake parables when the sacrament of the lambe was to be instituted Did he speake by figure to Abraham when he commaunded him to circumcise the male of euerie of his people Did he speake by figure when he instituted the Sabbath Did he to be breefe euer in the olde lawe speake one thing and meane another when anie externall worke by the charge of his worde was to be practized for euer amongest the people In common speach in prophecying in preaching in similitudes in examples vttered for the declaration of manie thinges and for grace and varietie of talke to stirre vp mans industrie in searching the secretes of the trueth there figures of all sortes be vsed but where by externall wordes and actions force of inward grace must be procured or perpetuall vsages in the Church are
of Christ and his spouse the Church which you saie in no sauce we can abide as though wheresoeuer any mysterie is confessed to be there muste needes follow a Sacrament of the new testament ALLEN These fellowes therefore that dare be so bolde to disturbe all the orders and sacramentes of Gods Church and to mainteine their phantasies dare brust the sacred bandes of expresse scriptures in such pointes as doe directlie touch the wholl policie of our Christian common wealth and ordered waics of our saluation euen in those which Christ moste carefullie left to be practized for the vse of his louing slocke by the warrant of wordes moste plaine what shall we saie to such bold and impudent faces that thus dare doe and yet which I more mernaile at in this their vncurtesie and most vnhonest dealing will not sticke to crie and call vpon Gods worde as though they did that by scripture the contrarie whereof they expresslie finde in scripture And truelie where they be not holpen by the verte wordes vaine it shall be for them to stand with vs and with all our Fathers and with the practize of all nations and with the very expresse iudgement of the Church of God it shal not boote them I saie in their darke ignorance infinite pride to stand with vs hauing so many helpes for the true meaning and the expresse text of the worde for our selues and side FVLKE He must needes haue an impudent face and a wicked conscience that so shamefullie slaundereth vs to bereake the sacred bandes of the expresse scriptures wherunto we seeme to attribute al credit as though we denie any one word of expresse scripture do not affirme whatsoeuer the scripture doth affirme in expresse words or denie whatsoeuer the holy scripture in expresse words doth deny according to such sense and meaning as the scripture must haue as it is agreable to it selfe in all places The expresse wordes of scripture touching the Lords supper are these that it is the body blood of Christ we confesse and beleeue as much The expresse wordes of scripture concerning the Apostles authoritie in pardoning or reteining sinnes are as they haue beene often alledged we beleeue they and their successours of whome there is no expresse word haue power to remit or reteine sins The expresse words of scripture concerning the Lords supper are also The rocke was Christ we beleeue that the rocke was Christ. The cup is the new testament we beleeue that the cup is the new testament Also by expresse words to the Apostles there is graunted power to binde and to loose We confesse and beleeue that they haue power to binde and to loose And yet I trust we may be bolde to saie without breaking the sacred bondes of expresse scriptures The rocke was not Christ in nature of his humanitie and diuinitie but a sacrament of Christ. The cup is not the new couenant it selfe but that which is in the cup is an holie signe or seale thereof The Apostles had no power giuen them to binde men with chaines or coardes nor to loose the chaines coards of them that be bound by other but a spirituall authoritie to binde and loose spirituallie In like manner we doe not breake the sacred bandes of expresse scripture when we affirme that the Sacramentall bread and wine are not by transsbustantiation turned into the naturall bodie and bloode of Christ or the bodie and blood of Christ in the sacrament are not corporallie receiued but spirituallie For the contrarie of these we finde not expresselie in the scripture So when we saie the Apostles had not power to remit sinnes properlie which is peculiar onelie to God but to aslure men in Christes name whose embassadours they were of the forgiuenes of their sinnes by Christ we breake no bandes of expresse scriptures For we confesle the wordes according to their true meaning agreeable with other places of scripture that teach it to be peculiar to God to remit sinnes properlie An embassadour is said to make peace or warre when he declareth according to his commission his Princes determination of peace or warre The Kinges Liuetenant hauing such commission offereth or graun teth pardon to rebells or other offenders where he doth onelie declare the kinges pleasure in pardoning or releasing their offences As for the Popish bragge of all our fathers with the practize of all nations and the verie expresse iudgement of the Church of God to be for your assertion how vaine it is will easilie appeare when you come to cite fathers shew forth the practize of all nations declare the iudgement of Gods Church and when the contradictorie shall be manifestlie prooued and brough forth against you ALLEN Sometimes where it may appeare that the wordes and outwarde face of scripture serue not our assertions so plainlie as the holie traditions of Christes Church doe there they call vpon vs with infinite clamours to abide the iudgement of the word which they would be thought to esteeme aboue all mans meaning But whether would they now runne thinke you where all our sacraments stand vpon euident words more then words vpon the verie expresse notorious action of Christ him selfe al instituted sincerelie to be practized of the Church after his de parture hence all commended in knowne termes of greatest moste efficacie that could be not by way of preaching in which he vsed sometimes figures not at such time as he vsed other then common knowne speach but after his resurrection when he now vttered no more parables as he did before that such as faw should not see and such as were of vnderstanding might not vnderstand but did open vnto his dearest their senses that they might vnderstand scriptures and more carefullie expressed his meaning for the instruction of his holie Disciples to the better bearing of that charge which he meant to leaue them in after his departure whither will these men I saie where they see all thinges so enuironed with trueth whither will they flie The scriptures be plainlie ours the Doctors they dare not claime reason is against them there is then no waie to beare it out but with boldnes and exercised audacitie Yet here we wil assay by the notorious euidence of this one cause that we now haue in hand to breake their stonie heartes to the obedience of Christs Church word for whose faith if they haue seene great light force of argument allready shal yet see much more I trust they wil not stil with stand the knowen truth FVLKE We will runne no further for the vnderstanding of Christes wordes concerning the institution and practize of his holie sacramentes although we haue the consent of the moste auncient and approoued doctors of the primitiue Church as witnesses of the same That the sacraments are commended in knowne terms of greatest and most efficacie that could be we cofesse but therof it followeth not that they were not in some part commended by figuratiue speeches
which are often and almost alwaies if they be rightlie vsed better knowne and of greater efficacie then proper tearmes That you saie the sacraments were not commended by way of Preaching it is a grosse and impudent absurditie when they were instituted and commended to be seales of the doctrine that was preached for confirmation of faith which is builded vpon the hearing of Gods word preached As also it is a brutish assertion that Christ vsed no figuratiue speeches after his resurrection For what are these but figuratiue speeches feede my sheepe feede my lambes And what was that but a parable of Peters bandes girding him-selfe and being girded walking where he would and led whither he would not to signifie by what death he should glorifie God Neither did he affect obscurity by parables before his resurrection For his parables were vttered for better and more plaine vnderstanding of his obedient disciples although to the reprobate contemners of his doctrine they seemed hard and inexplicate and were as all things are vnto them and as Christ him-selfe was a stumbling block and stone of offence that they might fall and perish That our sauiour Christ did open the senses of his Apostles that they might vnderstand the scriptures they were the better able to vnderstand figuratiue speeches of which the scripture is full But that he did more carefully expresse his meaning for the instruction of his holie disciples I do denie for he had alwaies before as great care to expresse his meaning and without care was alwaies hable to vtter his diuine pleasure considering that he had appointed the doctrine which he preached before his resurrection to be committed to writing for the publike and perpetuall instruction of his wholl Church To the vaine insultation and boasting that followeth I answer as in the end of the last section before ALLEN All wordes then of institution of sacraments being literallie to be taken and things of so great charge not otherwise to be vnderstanded then are both by act and word of Christ sincerelie vttered we neede not doubt but the forme of Christes sentence in which he giueth the Apostles power to remit sinnes is plainly to be taken in that common sense as the same by wordes importeth and therefore that by force thereof they maie remitte sinnes And yet to make more proofe to satisfie all men I will ioyne to these wordes of our sauiour that most properlie concerne the sacrament of penance other his wordes touching our principall couclusion not vnlike whereby in conference of the like sayinges together which our aduersaries do alwaies as they would seeme well to allow trueth maie trie it selfe Therefore as our master here saith whose sinnes you shall forgiue they be forgiuen And whose sinnes you retaine they be also retained euen so said he twice before vnto the Apostles expressing in other wordes almost the same meaning and sense once to them altogether in the 18. of Saint Mathew and an other time before that in the 16. of the same Gospel to S. Peter alone To them in generall thus saith Christ If thy brother haue committed anie offence towards thee go to him admonish him priuately betwixt him and thy selfe If he take it well thou hast wonne thy brother if he regarde thee not take one or two with the that in the mouthes of two or three witnesses euerie word maie stand if he regarde not them neither then make complaint of him to the Church that is to saie as Saint Chrisostome expoundeth it to the gouernours of the Church and if he will not obey the Church then take him for no better then a Heathen and a Publicane And straight vpon these wordes lest anie man should set light by the Church or rulers thereof Christ added saith Saint Augustine a wonderfull terrour of her seuere authoritie saying Amen dico vobis quaecunque alligaueritis super terram erunt ligata in coelo quaecunque solueritis super terram erunr soluta in coelo Surelie I saie vnto you what things soeuer you binde in earth it shal be bound in heauen And whatsoeuer you loose in earth it shall be loosed in heauen This text is cleere for the Churches claime in remission of sinnes though it properlie pertaine rather to the outward power iudiciarie and court of external iudgement for open crimes and notorious contemptes then for the sinnes of the people that be secret and onelie subiect to power practized in the sacrament of penance which now lightlie is close and onelie vttered in secret to him that hath charge of his soule Neuerthelesse if the Priestes of God haue receiued power to loose and binde which is to pardon and punish open notorious crimes and contemptes which touching the guiltines of the fault doth no lesse pertaine to the power of God then the absoluing of secres sinnes doth then without question they maie pardon orretaine mans sinnes of al sortes as well in the sacrament of penance all that be confessed as in publike iudgement whatsoeuer is by witnesse prooued And as in this they maie at their pleasure where iustice requireth correct the open offender by most graue censures of Gods Church so maie the Priestes giue due penance in the sacrament for the chastisment of such sinnes as be to them confessed and for the satisfying of Gods iustice by sinne violated FVLKE If al wordes of institution of sacramets must be taken literallie then must these wordes be taken literallie This cup is the new testament in my blood The lambe is the Lordes passeouer Circumcision is the couenant and such like But as for your conclusion though inferred vpon a false principle I confesse to be true that the Apostles by force of the wordes of commission graunted to them maie remit sinnes but not properly for that the wordes do not enforce Both the places that you will ioyne to this of Math. 18. and Math. 16. are parables and figuratiue speaches of binding and loosing of the keies of the Kingdome of heauen and of a stone and buildilng of che Church thereupon neuerthelesse the text Math 18. I do acknowledge to be cleere for the Churches claime in remitting offences and that it pertaineth more properlie to the discipline of the Church then to the preaching of repentance and remission of sins whereunto the text of Iohn 21. moste properlie belongeth That you saie pennance is now lightlie close and the sinnes vttered onelie in secret to him that hath charge of his soule you do closelie confesse that otherwise lightlie you will not openlie acknowledge that your practize is contrarie to the vse of the most auncient and primitiue Church But that the ministers of the Church haue authoritie to remit sinnes as well openlie as secretlie I am content it be without question onelie this is the question whether anie thing pertaining to the proper power of God be made common to men For we holde that they do in such sorte remit sinnes as they exercise nothing that pertaineth
to the proper power of God touching the release of the guiltinesse of sinnes although in executing of discipline they maie pardon the exercise of repentance that is appointed for triall of the parties true penitencie or some part thereof which as it is enioyned by the iudgement and discretion of men so they may by the same release it as vpon good cause they thinke conuenient Where you say that Priestes may pardon or retaine mans sinnes of al sortes as wel in the sarcrament of penance al that be confessed as in publike iudgement You thrust in diuerse matters whereof there is neither mention in the text nor anie necessarie collection to be made of them out of it as the sacrament of pennance whereof there is no outward element or signe instituted then your kinde of penance which includeth some peece of satisfaction for sinnes last of all your auricular and particuler confession as though genetall confession and acknowledging of mens sinnes before God might not obtaine remission of sinnes in his sight And as though if anie sinne be not remembred in shrift the priestes remission extendeth not vnto it or if it were remembred and be hypocriticallie concealed yet the remission were good auaileable for al other sinnes that are confessed Againe it is an insolent power you giue them in open Iudgement that they may at their pleasure where Iustice requireth correct the open offender For though you seeme to qualifie their pleasure by iustice yet to ascribe that to their pleasure which is laid vpon them of necessitie what warrant haue you for it For if they maie at their pleasure they neede not except it please them Finallie your argument holdeth not that as in exercising of discipline they maie chastice the offender by the censures of the Church so they may giue due punishment for sinnes 〈◊〉 in shrift Neither are those two endes you alledge true For the chastisement of sinnes pertaineth not to them but to God and the ciuill Magistrate and the iustice of God violated by sinne is satisfied by the obedience and suffering of our sauiour Christ. Wherebie also it should follow that the power of remitting of sinnes were made void and frustrate if men must endure due punishment which you call penance for the satisfying of Gods iustice by sinne violated AILEN The other text of holie scripture containing Christes wordes to Saint Peter seuerallie by certaine notable circumstances of the letter and by wordes of great graunt spoken singularlie to him giueth the chiefe of all his Apostles in more ample termes and beneficiall clauses this power and perogatiue also To him it was onelie said thou art Peter which is as much to saie as a rock for our Master gaue him that name new at his first calling in signification of further intent and purpose which he here vttered and vpon this rocke will I set my Church and hell gates shall not preuaile against it That so said he thus spake in plaine termes Et tibi dabo claues regni caelorum Et quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in caelis quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in caelis And to thee wil I giue the Keies of the Kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt binde in earth it shall be bound in the heauens And what thou loosest in earth it shall be loosed in the heauens This promis made vnto Peter and performed no doubt after his resurrection when he committed to him the feeding and gouernement of all his deare flock both yong and olde doth exceedinglie import a wonderfull incomparable soueraigntie and-iurisdiction ouer mens soules For a mortall man to receiue the keies of Christes Kingdome and by them to binde loose to lock out and let in before our Master Christ who had the full iurisdiction therein it was neuer heard of And when the holie Prophets do meane to set out the great and passing power giuen by God the father to his onelie sonne in earth they vse to expresse the same often by the termes of keyes as when the Prophet Esaie saith I will laie the keies of the house of Dauid vpon his shoulder he shall shut and there can none be hable to open and he shall open so that none can shut agiane And Christ him-selfe speaking to his beloued Iohn in the Apocalips saith I am the first and the last I am aliue and was dead before and I haue the keies of death and hell The keies therefore euer signifying power andgouernment of the houshold was giuen to Christ as to whom being the principal and most excellent rectour of his owne Church that he bought so dearelie they moste duelie belong But he communicated vnto Peter as to his speciall stewarde the vse of the same for the gouernment of our soules with exceeding much preheminence both in binding and loosing Yet I do not remember that anie of the olde writers do put anie great difference betwixt the authorities of Peter and the rest of the Apostles concerning the remitting of sinnes which is a thing perteining indifferentlie to the wholl order of priesthood and therfore no more proper to the Pope or Peter then to Priestes and Apostles though Origen noted well that the iurisdiction of Peter seemed by these words to be enlarged aboue the residue by that our sauiour said to him that whatsoeuer he bound or loosed in earth it should be loosed or bound in the heauens where to the rest he spoke of heauen onelie in the singular number I speake onelie of this latter clause of binding and loosing with the keies thereunto belonging For there is no doubt but great preheminence of rule and iurisdiction is promised before in the sametext now recited and els where actuallie giuen vnto him more then to the rest of his breethren Neuerthelesse euen this power of binding and loosing common to all the holie order was in him first seuerally planted for the commendation of vnitie and order as Saint Cyprian sath and so the same authoritie giuen to other might yet after a sort be deriued from his fullnes of power and perogatiue as from a fountaine FVLKE The other text of scripture containing the wordes of our sauiour Christ to Peter seuerallie giueth to him as you saie this power and prerogatiue also As for the not able circumstances of the letter the wordes of great graunt spoken singularlie to him the more ample tearmes and beneficiall clauses let vs examine what they are and whether they be of force to make him chiefe of all his Apostles First to him it was onelie said thou art Peter which is as much to saie as a rock what then ergo he was chiefe of all the Apostles who is so madd to gtaunt the consequence To the sonnes of Zebede onelie it was said that they were Bonarges that is the Children of thunder ergo they had greater authoritie then the rest of the Apostles But of all the Apostles it was said
that they are the twelue rocks or stones the foundation of the walles of the new Ierusalem Apoc. 21. 14. and the Church is builded vpon the foundation of all the Apostles Eph. 2. 20. Secondlie you saie the promis made to him Ioan. 1. Math. 16. was perfourmed no doubt after his resurrection when he committed to him the feeding of all his sheepe yong and olde Ioh. 21. 2. We graunt as much but that it doth exceedinglie import a wonderful incomparable soueraigntie and iurisdiction ouer mens soules greater or other then was equally graunted to the rest of the Apostles we see not how it can be inferred of anie scripture Euerie one of the Apostles being sent into all the world to teach all nations and to preach the Gospell to euerie creature hath as generall authority to feede the shepe of Christ both olde and yong as Peter Thirdlie you saie for a mortall man to receiue the keies of the kingdome of heauen and by them to binde and loose to lock out and let in before our Master Christ who had full iurisdiction therein it was neuer heard of But we read that the samekeies were committed to the scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the law which they did shamefullie abuse and therfore are threatned by our sauiour Christ woe be to you teachers of the law for you haue taken awaie the key of knowledge and neither you your selues do enter and you forbid them that would Woe be vnto you Scribes and Pharisees ye hypocrites for you shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men For neither you your selues do enter nor suffer those to enter that would enter Luk. 11. Mat. 23. here you note inthese places the key of knowledge by which the kingdome of heauen should haue beene opened taken awaie and the kingdome of heauen shut vp from them that gladlie would enter if they knew which way The keies in deede do signifie power and authoritie but that onelie Peter hath those keies and not the Church and euerie true Pastour of the same or that Peter by them had greater power and authoritie then the rest of the Apostles which had them also you shall neuer be hable to make demonstration Your remembrance serueth you well that all the olde writers do make no difference betweene the authoritie of Peter and the rest of the Apostles concerning the remitting of sins But you do forget that the power of bynding and loosing was by our sauiour Christ graunted equallie to all the Apostles and to their successours though it were once singularlie vttered to one The subtiltie of Origen to make a difference betweene binding and loosing in all the heauens and in one heauen onelie beside that it is vaine in it selfe yet is it not brought of Origen to dignifie Peter aboue all the Apostles whome both vpon the place of Mat. 16. and this also he confesseth to haue receiued equall power with Peter but to prefer Peter and such as Peter was before them that haue thrise reprehended offenders and beeing not heard haue bound the sinner vpon earth iudgeing him as an heathen or publicane whereof he inferreth Quanto melior fuerit qui ligat c how much better he is that bindeth by somuch he that is bound is bound more then in one heauen and how much better he is that looseth by so much he shall be more happie that is loosed for he is loosed in all the heauens The greater preheminence of rule and iurisdiction the fullnes of power and prerogatiue deriued from Peter as from a fountaine be matters of bolde assertion but void of all manner of proofe or demonstration ALLEN But we will not stand hereon now nor yet to put difference betwixt these wordes and tearmes loosing or remitting binding or retaining nor to dispute whether these two textes more properlie signifie the authoritie and iurisdiction giuen to the spiritual Magistrates for punishing by temporal pain enioyned and releasing by mercie as they see occasion the same appointed penance againe or els it properlie concerneth the verie release of sinne it selfe or retaining the sinne which they vpon iust causes will not forgiue These thinges would grow to ouer tedious a tale and ouercurious for the simple whome I would moste helpe in these matters and I shall briefllie touch so much hereof as is necessarie hereafter when I shall dispute of pardons For in deede these two textes of binding and loosing as well spoken to Peter as to the residue afterward shall be the ground of our wholl discourse there and therefore till then we must touch these textes no further but as in common pertaineth to remitting or retaining sinnes For they are brought indifferentlie of the holie fathers with the foresaid wordes of Saint Iohn in which as I haue declared the verie institution of penance and Priestes iudgement of our soules and sinnes be moste properlie grounded Theresore that by all these wordes so often vttered by our sauiour you maie well perceiue the verie literall and vudoubted meaning to be that Priestes haue authoritie by Christes warrant to remit and retaine sinnes I will recite one or two places of most auncient fathers that they ioyning with such plaine wordes of sundrie places of scripture maie make all most sure to such as can by anie reason be satisfied First Ialledge the saying of S. Maximus an olde author a blessed saint He doth by conference couple together these textes whereon we now stand thus hespeaketh verie pithely therefore you shal heare his owne words Ne qua vos fiatres de creditis Petro clauibus regni more nostrarum clauium cogitatio terrena promoueat Clauis caeli lingua est Petri quam singulorum meritae censendo Aposiolus vnicuique regnum coelorum aut claudit aut aperit Non est ergo clauis ista mortalis artificis aptata manu sed data à Christo potestas est iudicandi Denique ait eis quorum remiseritis peccata remissa erunt quorum detinueritis detenta erunt Thus he saith in our tongue Least anie earthlie cogitation mooue you to think of anie such materiall keies as we occupy in earth when you heare of committing the keies of the kingdome to Peter you must thus vnderstand that the key of heauen is Peters word or tongue because the Apostle weighing well euerie of our deserts openeth or shutteth to euery man the kingdome of Christ. This key therfore is not made by mortal mans hand but it is the power of iudgement giuen by Christ. To be briefe he saith to them al whose sins you shal forgiue they shal be forgiuē c. Thus saith Maximus ioyning together fitly two textes for one purpose out of both maketh a moste forcible argument that the iudgement of our soules which is a passing authoritie and the verie letting in and keeping out of heauen is addicted by the keies to Peters and the Apostles ministerie For which cause also S. Gregorie calleth all Christes Apostles and the iust occupiers
of their roomes the dores by which we must enter into heauē or euerlastingly byde out which is a feareful saying to al such as contemne their authority His wordes be these Quid cuncti Apostoli nisi sanctae Ecclesiae ostia existunt cùm eis dicitur Accipite spiritum sanctum quorum remiseritis peccata c. ac si illis apertè diceretur per vos ingrediuntur ad me hi quibus vos ipsi panditis repellentur quibus obseratis What are all the Apostles else but the dores of holie Church Seeing it is said of them take you the holie Ghost whose sinnes you doe forgiue they be forgiuen euen as though in plainer termes it had beene spoken thus by you all must enter that will come vnto me those I saie to whom you open the dore by loosing of thir sins and those that be put backe that you locke out Hitherto Saint Gregorie This wonderfull authoritie caused Saint Hilarie thus to make exclamatiō O holie most happie men for the desert of your faith you haue obtained the keies of heauen now the whole right both of binding loosing in heauen earth is assuredlie in you But that you maie fullie beholde their right herein consider his notable words vpon the alledged place of S. Matthew Ad terrororē metus maximi quo in praesens omnes continerentur immobile seueritatis Apostolicum iudicium praemisit vt quos in terrae ligauerint i. peccatorum nodis innexos reliquerint quos soluerint concessione scilicet veniae receperint in salutem in Apostolicae conditione sententiae in caelis quoque aut soulti sint aut ligati That is to saie To she terror and feare of all men and necessarie keeping of them in awe and disctplne Christ promised the immooueable iudgement of the Apostles seueritie that whomesoeuer they hound in earth that is to saie left fast tied in the bandes of sinnes and whome they loosed that is to witte by mercie receiued to the benefit of pardon that the same persons so bound or so released in the same case that the Apostles left them should be in the heauens either loose or fast Thus farre S. Hilarie by whome we euidentlie maie learne in what carefull case all men be that passe this life not loosed by them whose sentence in earth is so surely ratified in heauen aboue and no leesse how the wordes of Christ vttered sometimes in termes of binding loosing other times in remitting and retaining doe literallie signifie FVLKE If these two textes of binding and loosing shal be the ground of your whole discourse when you come to the popes pardons we maie see before hand vpon how feeble a ground you build For they beeing brought as you confesse indifferentlie of the holie Fathers with the other wordes vttered by Saint Iohn in which you saie the verie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of penance and Priests iudgement of our soules and sinnes be most properlie grounded do prooue that all Priestes haue equall power in giuing of pardons as they haue in remitting of sinnes When you conclude that by all these wordes so often vttered by our sa uiour we maie perceiue the verie litterall and vndoubted meaning to be that Priestes haue authoritie by Christes warrant effectuallie to remit and 〈◊〉 sinnes you ioyne together things that are of no necessary consequence and in this case are to be disioyned For we acknowledge that it is the vndoubted meaning of Christ that his ministers should haue authoritie effectuallie to remit or retaine sinnes But the verie literall meaning so you call the grammaticall sense is otherwise then you take it For in those two textes binding and loosing are plaine Metaphors as all men wil confesse that can put a difference betweene proper and figuratiue speaches And in the third of remitting or retaining either we must acknowledge a Metonymie or els the Proper office authoritie of God is made common to men The places of the auncient fathers that you cite make nothing at al to cleare the controuersie on your side namelie whether Priestes forgiue sins as properlie as God him selfe First the saying of Maximus or whosoeuer was author of that Homelie interpreting the keie of the kingdome of heauen to be Peters word or tongue doth signifie that by preaching he exreciseth that power of iudgement by which he openeth or shutteth the kingdome of heaué according as euery one receiueth or refuseth his Doctrine Againe comparing this power of iudgeing with the text of S. Iohn he declareth that Peters keie is common to him with all the Apostles and their successours S. Gregorie also comparing them to dores meaneth not to take anie thing from our sauiour Christ the onelie dore Also in the same place he sheweth in plaine words that they are dores to let in and keepe out by preaching Et quia Doctores sancti praedicatione quidem sequentibus 〈◊〉 sunt authoritate autem suaresistentibus clausi non immeritò ostia vocantur id est aperta conuersationi humilium clausa terroribus superborum Non immeritò ostia vocantur quia ingressum fidelibus aperiunt rursum sese perfidis ne ingrediantur opponunt Pensemus quale Ecclesie ostium extitit Petrus qui inuestigantem fidem Cornelium recepit pertio quaerentem miracula Simonem reppulit illi dicens In veritate comperi quoniam non est personarum acceptor Deus secreta regni benignè aperuit huic inquiens Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem per districtae damnationis sententiam celestis aulae aditum claudit And because holy teachers by preaching truelie are open to them that followe them and by their authoritie shut to them that resist they are not vnworthelie called dores that is open to the conuersation of the humble and shut to the terrours of the proude They are not vnworthely called dores because they do both open an entry vnto the faithsull and againe oppose them selues against the vnfaithfull that they should not enter Let vs consider what manner a dore of the Church Peter was which receiued Cornelius searching out the faith and kept out Simon seeking miracles for monie saying to the one Of a trueth I preceiue that God is not an acceptor of persons he gentlie opened the secretes of the kingdome saying to the other Thy monit with thee be vnto destruction by sentence of straight damnation he shut vp the entrie of the heauenlie court Then followe immediatlie the wordes by you cited Quid cuncti Apostolie c. whereby it is euident that Saint Gregories iudgement is that by preaching they remit or retaine sinnes as by the same they are dores of the Church The former place of Saint Hilarie is vnfaithfullie translated by you In neither is their anie admiration or exclamationi in his wordes in respect of their authoritie neither saith he that the whole right of binding and loosing is assuredlie in you I will recite his words whereby all men may see how bolde you are to
sttetch forth the Doctors meaning when you will be so impudent with their wordes The Apostles said In hoc credimus quia a Deo exîsti Quae rogo haec verbi huius admiratio est quod se exisse à Deo professus sit Tanta tam deo propria vos O Sancti beati viri ob fidei vestrae meritum claues regni caelorum sortitt ligandi atque soluendi in caelo in terraius adepti gestacsse per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Dei filium 〈◊〉 ad id quod à Deo exisse dixit nunc primùm vos veri intelligentiam assecutos protestamini In this we beleeue that thou art come out from God What admiration I praie you is this of this word that he professeth that he came out from God so great thinges and so proper to God O ye holie and blessed men which had obteined the keies of the kingdome of heauen for the worthinesse of your faith and haue obtained right of binding and loosing in heauen and earth had you seene done by our Lord Iesus Christ the sonne of God And doe you now first protest that you haue obtained the vnderstanding of the trueth as concerning that he said he came forth from God In these wordes it is apparant that all the Apostles haue the keies as well as Peter and right or authoritie of binding and loosing but that the whole right thereof is in them as though God had resigned his right to them or giuen them equall right with him-selfe S. Hilarie neuer said nor thought The latter sentence toucheth not the cōtrouersy between vs. For we graunt the power of binding and loosing forgiuing and retaining to be ratified in heauen but that the wordes of Christ be of an absolute power properlie to doe that which is the office of God alone we cannot learne by this or anie other saying of Saint Hilarie ALLEN But I will adde S. Chrysostomes testimonie thereunto the rather because our aduersaries doe abuse his wordes sometimes against confession which necessarilie hangeth on the authority of Priesthood in remission and retaining sinnes as anon I shal declare That I be not ouer tediuose I will report his saying in English onelie Those saith he that dwelleth in earth and are conuersant amongst men haue receiued power and commission to dispose and dispense such thinges as be in heauen yea these men haue receieud power such as neither God either gaue to Angelles for it was neuer said to them whatsoeuer you bind in earth it shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you loose in earth it shall be loosed in heauen Earthlie Princes in deed haue power to binde but that pertaineth to the bodies of their subiectes onelie but that which I now talke of that is proper to the Priests touching the verie soule it selfe and is so ample that it reacheth to the heauens aboue yea that so largelie that whatsoeuer the Priestes doe beneath the verie selfe same God wil allow and ratifie in heauen aboue and so the Lord will confirme the iudgement and sentence of the seruants Thus farre speaketh Chrysostome His words be so plaine that to stand long on them for farther proofe of my matter then the verrie face of the sentence doth importe it were vaine For man maie here rather maruell to see such strange power vpon Christes wordes giuen to the holie order and yet that to be so litle esteemed of wicked men and so litle regarded euen of the honester sort of simple folkes that few either seeke after their iudgement in cause of their soules or duelie honour that power in them which passeth all other prelacie that euer either man or Angell receiued in this great contempt I saie of most holie things wickednes is rather to be wondered at and lamented then by long reasoning to be confuted The sequele of true thinges is so plaine in it selfe the diuerse places of scripture so answere iustlie ech to other the fathers so consonantlie confirme the knowne meaning of the same and the verie tearmes of so many scriptures writen at diuerse times by sundrie of the Euangelists so fall vpon one vndoubted sense that we may rightly conclude the power to be in all cases giuen to the Apostles of remission of sinne FVLKE The wordes of Chrysostome are large enough of themselues although you had not augmented them with your additions and explications beside that you haue altered the number in the text of Mat 16. where in lieth a mysteric For Chrysostome by these wordes spoken in the singular number to Peter prooueth the authoritie that is common to all Priests What soeuer thou shalt binde whatsoeuer thou shalt loose The summe is that the power and dignitie of Priests is exceeding great which maketh a mortall man to come neere to the blessed and incorrupted nature of God as he saieth before But if an absolute and proper power of remitting sins were graūted to them they come not one ly neere but are translated in deede into the diuine na ture which is intollerable blasphemy That the Lord ratifieth in heauen confirmeth the sentence of his seruants giuen vpon earth it is to be vnderstoode that God approoueth the sentence which he before hath appointed them to pronounce As if the Queene in England should protest that shee is content to ratifie and confirme whatsoeuer her embassadour doth in France acding to his commission and the instructions receiued from her thee neither resigneth her authoritie to her embassadour neither giueth him equall power with her selfe but onelie maketh him the interpreter and declarer of her will and pleasure which shee is content to ratifie and not otherwise ALLEN And vpon such knowne termes I make this argument against the aduersaries They truelie and properlie doe remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediatelie ensueth in heauen but Gods pardon vndoubtedlie followeth the priests pardon in remission in earth Claue non errante Ergo they assuredlie remit sins The Maior is manifest the Minor hangeth vpon plaine scripture thrise tolde which first appointed man to loose in earth and then that God shall in the same instant forgiue in heauen God shall confirme the sentence of his seruants saith S. Chrysostome Mans iudgement saith Hilarie shall be as a sentence preiudiciall to God in heauen And thus farre for the wordes of Christ at this present and farther strength shal more and more be gathered vnto them by diuerse partes of all the processe following FVLKE You make such argumentes for your friendes and not against your aduersaries For what aduersarie would you choose vnto your selfe so simple that could not espie these grosse faults of your syllogisme For first your Maior is false which you saie is manifest But you haue not yet prooued that they doe properlie remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediately ensueth in heauen that is whose sentence on earth is ratified confirmed in heauen That they doe
truelie forgiue sinnes it is graunted but not that they doe properlie forgiue sinnes beeing but Gods seruants appointed to declare his forgiuenes Secondly your Minor bringeth in a fourth tearme Claue non errante beside that it is ambiguous that you saie Gods pardon followeth the preists pardon for if by following you meane succeading later in time or depending vpon the priests pardon your Minor is false wtih Claue non errante if you meane as I haue explicated in your Maior the worde ensueth it is true Last of all your conclusion ioyneth not your two extreames together as it ought to doe but leaueth out the worde which is of most importance and question among vs namelie this tearme Properlie For you should couclude that Priestes doe truelie and properlie remit sinnes which in respect of the worde properlie is false But as you set it downe with the worde assuredlie it is graunted For we acknowledge that the lawfull minister elder or priest of the Church doth truelie and assuredlie remit sinnes but yet not properlie So you misse the cushion and make a shew in your Maior as though you would reason directlie but in your Minor you giue backe with Claue non errante in your conclusion you fly quite from the question Where you interpret your Minor so that God in the same instant forgiueth in heauen you rid vs of one doubt of the posteritie in time But where you saie out of Saint Hilarie that mans sentence shall be as a sentence preiudiciall to God in heauen you giue vs to vnderstand that Gods sentence dependeth vpon mans sentence which is horrible blasphemie neither doe I beleeue that you are able to shew any such saying of Saint Hilarie for out of the places before alledged there is no such thinge to be seene or gathered That the same power of remitting and reteining sinnes which was giuen to the Apostles was nor bestowed on them in respect of their priuate persons but as they were publike officers and that therefore the like authoritie is committed by Christes graunt to all Priestes of Christes Church whoe in this matter are the Apostles successours THE FIFT CHAP. IF I had here to doe onelie with the learned it were enough that is alreadie prooued for the power preheminence giuen to the Apostles in remission of sinnes thereupon to ground most assuredlie the like right in the same cause to perteine to all Bishoppes and priestes of Christes Church But we studie to helpe such as cannot by this so farre consider that the power giuen to his Apostles or to any of them is one eternall power not ceasing in their persons but during in their succession to the worlds ende For I haue my selfe met with many such as could be content as they saide to acknowledge vpon so plaine scripture the singular priuiledge giuen to the Apostles and thereupon if they might haue had an Apostle they would not haue sticked to haue made there confession and sute to him for the remission of their sinnes but because I had not the like wordes of Christ spoken to all priests particularlie they thought it was no reason that any such challenge should be made for them nor any such charge to be giuen to others to confesse their sinnes vnto them This simplicitie of the common sorte or rather this rude frowardnes rising vpon contempt and disobedience to Gods Church is mainteined euen of the more learned sort whoe haue charged them-selues in all behauiour to be so populare and so plausible that euen against knowne order of things they will drawe backe from the light of the trueth with the common rude and vnlearned reasons of the people For Iohn Caluine a man borne to sedition and the Churches calamitie mainteineth the madnes of the multitude by this reason The Apostles saith he had the holy ghost whereof our priests haue no warrant But enquire of them whether they haue the holie ghost if they saie yea demaund of them further whether the holie Ghost may erre if they confesse that the holy ghost can not erre then they prooue themselues not to haue the holie Ghost because it is well seene that they may erre and doe erre both in loosing and binding many otherwise then Gods sentence will allow But brieflie to satisfie all sides in this case I shall declare the like power to be left by Christes meaning to al Bispopes and priests no lesse then to the Apostles them-selues to whome Christ then presentlie spake that both the peoples lacke of vnderstanding may be corrected and the false and craftie conueiance of their captaine may be to his shame and the diuells plainlie disclosed FVLKE It seemeth that those which you met with which would not acknowledge the same power to be in the ministers of the Church that was in the Apostles concerning remitting of sinnes were some of your owne chickens whome ignorance the mother of Popish deuotion had blooded vp in such phantasticall and soolish errors But least you should seeme to fight onelie with the simple sorte you saie the same opinion is vpon popularitie and plausibilitie mainteined euen of the more learned sort yea of Iohn Caluine him-selfe but you dare not set downe where or in which of his writings lest your impudencie should be manifestlie conuinced In deede Instit. lib. 3. Cap. 4. Sect. 20. he denieth that ignorant Popish confessours or shrift priests haue the power of the keyes which are voide of the spirit of God that is of the giftes of the holie ghost that they may know who me to binde whome to loose but he acknowledgeth the power of remitting sinnes to be perpetuall in the true preachers and faithfull ministers of the Ghospell And therefore you take needelesse paines to prooue this matter against him vnles you will take vpon you to defend the ignorance of your priesthoode and answere the arguments that he bringeth against it ALLEN First this is plaine that whatsoeuer Christ after his resurrection or before did institute for the commoditie of the people and weale of the wholl Church that did not decaie in the persons of them to whome Christ presentlie spake the wordes for ells all sacraments had beene ended and all gouernment ceased at the death of them to whome in person that charge was first giuen by Christ. For example Christ in his institution of the holie Sacrament of the altar spake onelie to his twelue to those present persons he onelie said presently hoc facite do this yet in their persons the Church was so instructed and all priests so authorized that the same soueraigne worke hath vpon that warrant beene truelie practized of the Church and by vaine imitation followed by their aduersaries euen till this daie And in deede the verie wordes of the instruction did importe no lesse for it is said Mortem Domini annunciabitis donec 〈◊〉 You shall set forth Christes death till his comming which could not be if the ministerie had decayed with their persons to whome Christ
same worke of binding and loosing of such sheepe of Christes folde as to them were committed And so did Saint Thomas who then was not there so did Saint Matthew who then was no Apostle so did Barnabas so did Timothie and Titus who were ordeined by Saint Paul and so did Paul him selfe of whome Saint Ambrose saith that he did remit sinnes without all derogation The good studiousereader must marke wel then that al these holie functions or passing preheminencies are not giuen to the priuate persons in respect of themselues neither of Peter nor of Paul nor any other but they are bestowed vpon them for the vse of the Church which dieth in their persons and therefore must be honoured with the same offices by other after they be dead by perpetuall succession they shall neuer cease And that caused Saint Augustine and other holie fathers to saie the keies were giuen to the Church and authoritie to remit sinnes to baptize and to enioyne penance not because the wholl Church by gathering all her children together must giue sentence vpon euerie sinner or els the priests iudgement to be nothing as some foolish seditious heades haue now to the distrurbance of the world deuised but because it is our common wealth and house of faith which is so beutified in her ministers with all kinde of sacraments and good orders for the gouernment of her children and because all men may see it was the earnest loue and carefull prouidence for this his spouse and not the persons of the Apostles in respect of them selues which mooued his wisedome to the institution of such perpetuall offices in the Church FVLKE Your conclusion is true that the power extended to al the Apostles successors but it is not strongly prooued by the example of Thomas Matthew Paull and Bernabas who were Apostles them-selues in the highest degree and therefore I like better the solution of Cyrillus which vnderstandeth the intention of Christ to haue beene of the wholl order of the Apostles and their successours although more then Thomas had beene absent at such time as he gaue that power alledging the examples of Eldad and Meldad which being of the number that were chosen to be gouernours to assist Moses although they were not present with the rest before the tabernacle yet they were indued with the spirit of prophesie because they were of the number appointed Where you saie that no doubt a Sacrament was instituted by these wordes of Christ and often haue so saide you onelie saie it and bring no proofe thereof neither doe you declare what is the visible signe of the inuisible grace nor what 〈◊〉 the element to which the worde commeth that we might acknowledge a sacrament with you That the keies are giuen to the Church although it prooue 〈◊〉 that euerie member of the Church should execute them yet it prooueth that Peter had no soueraigne nor singular authoritie of the keies aboue the rest of the Apostles but that the Pastour of euerie Church hath the same not of the gift graunt commission or permission of Peter but of the graunt and immediate commission from Iesus Christ him-selfe Whether the power of excommunication perteine to all the Church or to certaine chosen gouernours thereof it is a question not incident to this to be handled ALLEN Hereupon therefore and in consideration that the keies of opening and shutting heauen by binding and loosing mans sinnes shall euer remaine for the vse and honour of the Church the saied holie Saint Augustine hath these wordes Claues dedit Ecclesiae suae vt quae solucrit in terra soluta essent in coelo quae ligauerit in terra ligata essent in 〈◊〉 Christ deliured the keyes to the Church that whoesoeuer shee loosed in earth should be loosed in heauen and whatsoeuer shee bound in earth should be bound likewise in heauen And Optatus his equall striuing with the Donatistes for all holie giftes which Christ bestowed vpon his Church challengeth all other sacraments and namelie the keies for the Catholike and vniuersall Church from the part of Donatus the heretike as in the right of Peter He saieth exceeding pithely Claues darae sunt Petro non haereticis And afterwade Cathedram Petri quae nostra est per ipsam caeteras dotes apud nos esse probamus etiam sacerdotium The keies are giuen to Peter and not to heretikes by the chaier of Peter which is ours we prooue all other giftes of the Church to be ours yea euen priesthoode Thus he hath in sense in diuerse places By which we see the inrisdiction and power giuen to the principall Apostle yet to remaine and by it all other the Churches notable preheminences which he calleth Ecclesiae dotes The douries of the Church through his wholl discourse against the Donatists So doth Epiphanius attribute the power of penance and pardon to the Church likewise not onelie in baptisme which he calleth the moste perfect penance but also afterwarde vpon the parties relapse in which case the heretikes called Cathari affirmed that the Church had no authoritie to pardon them any more Against which pernicious sect he sayeth If any man fall after his baptisme the Church will not be vnmercifull to him Dat enim reuersionem post poenitentiam For shee giueth him leaue to returne and hath penance after penance By which he noteth that the Church hath two sacraments for remission of sinne the one is baptisme which he termeth perfect penance with Saint Paul to the Hebrewes And Saint Augustine doth call it in his En. chiridion Magnam indulgentiam a graund pardon And afterward The Church hath an other kinde of remission which Epiphanius calleth poenitentiam post poenitentiam But of these two more shal be said anon After this 〈◊〉 doth Lactantius 〈◊〉 to the true Church confession penance and profitable healing of our woundes and such sores as be found in our soules By all which euerie man may conceiue easelie that this honour and commission of priesthoode for the remission of our sinnes did not decaie with the Aposties appointed by Christ nor shall cease till Christes comming to 〈◊〉 the worlde FVLKE These testimonies needed not to be heaped vp in vaine but that you would beare the ignorant in hand most iniurioslie that Caluin and the better learned of the protestants do holde that the power of binding and loosing ated with the Apostles and continueth not in the Church Saint Augustines wordes are as you cite them but there followeth immediatlie an explication which you haue omitted Scilicet vt quis quis in Ecclesia eius dmitti sibi peccata non crederet non eidimitterentur quisquis autem crederet seque ab his correctus auerteret in eiusdem Ecclesiae gremio constitutus eadem fide atque correctione sanareiur Quisquis enim non cred it dimitti sibi posse peccata fit deterior disperando quasi nihil illi melius quà m malum esse remanear
For at this daie the Bishops that be throughout all Christendome how rose they to that roome The Church calleth them fathers and yet shee did beget them and she placed them in that roome of their fathers Non ergo reputes desertam quia non vides Petrum quòd non vides Paulum quòd non vides illos per quos nataes de prole tua tibi creuit paternitas pra patribus tuis natisunt tibi filij constitues eos principes super omnem terram Do not therefore think thy selfe desolate because thou hast not Paull because thou hast them not now present by whome thou wast borne of thy owne issue fatherhood is growne to thee and for thy fathers thou hast brought forth sonnes them shalt thou make the rulers ouer al the earth Thus much out of Saint Augustine By whome you maie perceaue the great prouidence of God that euerlastinglie vpholdeth the ordinance of his sonne Christ Iesus as well now by the children borne from time to time in the Churches lap as before in the spring of our faith by the Apostles sent and appointed in person by Christ him-selfe FVLKE I suppose the title of your booke will admonish you not to restraine this office onelie to Bishops which so often you haue made common to all priestes For Gregory also in the same homyly nameth often times all pastours of the Church to whome the power of binding and loosing doth appertaine which are many other beside Bishops Moreouer inueighing against the ignorance and vnworthines of them that occupied such places which take vpon them to loose where God doth binde and binde where God doth loose he concludeth that then the absolution of the gouernours of the Chuch is true when it followeth the will of the eternall Iudge By which saying and more to the like effect in that place he declareth his iudgement of the kinde of power or authoritie which the Church hath that it is not absolute but subiect vuto the will of God and is an expressing of Gods forgiuenes or retaining not a proper forgiuing or retaining The saying of Saint Augustine prooueth in deede a continuance of the ministery of the Apostles in the office of Bishops but hereof it followeth not that onelie Bishops as they are distinct from priestes haue this power for not onelie Bishops be the children of the Church but all faithfull men to whome the inheritance of the world is like wise appointed ALLEN And here you must know that not onelie Bishops who succeede the Apostles in all kinde of power and regiment but also all other inferiour Priestes to be compted with them as successors in ministring diuerse sacraments as baptisme penance the reuerend Sacrament of the Aultar and such like but looke what power either Apostle or Bishop hath in remission of sinnes in consecrating Christes bodie in baptizing the same hath the wholl order of holie Priesthood by the right of their order and maie practize the same vpon such as be subiect vnto them in all causes not exempted for reasonable causes by such as haue further iurisdiction ouer the people Wherof I will not now talke particularlie the learned of that order know the limits of their charge and commission better then I can instruct them and the simpler sort must seeke for knowledge of their duetie by the holie Canons of Councels and decrees of Bishops made for that purpose I can not now stand thereon meaning at this present onelie to defend the holie order and challenge for it such right as the scripture and Chistes owne word giueth which in this contempt of vertue and religion is moste necessarie for all men to consider FVLKE There is no power or authoritie graunted by our sauiour Christ to preach the word of God or to minister anie sacrament but the same is common to euerie one of the Pastoures of the Church and not onelie lawfull but also necessarie for them to exercise in their seuerall charges Wherefore that ministering of some sacraments is permitted to them and of other denied them it is beside the word of god Againe the word of god that giueth them general power whose sinnes soeuer whatsoeuer you shal bind or loose is directlie against al exempted cases which sauor of nothing but of Antichristian tyrannie As for the cannons of Counceles and decrees of Bishoppes whether you send the simple to learne the limites of their charge can not restraine that Christ hath enlarged and therefore if your meaning were as your wordes professe to defend the holie order and challenge for it such right as the scripture and Christes owne worde geueth you would enueigh against the pride and ambition of the Pope other prelates that exempt anie cases from the Priests power and authoritie which the holie scripture and the expresse wordsof our sauiour Christ doth in such ample manner graunt vnto them ALLEN Therefore vpon our large discourses for this last point I now deduct the particulars to this summe which maie stand for a certaine marke as well for the good to discerne the trueth as for the aduersaries to shoote at whiles they liue Alpower and euery iurisdiction or right of Christs Church remaineth as amplie and in as full force and strength at this daie and shall till the worlds end so continue as they were by Christ graunted first in the persons of the Apostles or other instituted But the power of remission of sinnes was giuen properlie and in expresse termes to the Apostles Ergo the same remaineth still in Gods Church Whereupon it is so cleare that the Priestes at this day haue as ful power to forgiue sins as the Apostles had And this argument of the continuance of all offices and righte of the Church is the moste plainest and readiest waie not onelie to helpe our cause now taken in hand but vtterlie to improoue all false doctrines and detestable practises of heretikes For they must here be examined diligentlie what common wealth that is what Church that is in which Christ doth prescrue the gouernment giuen to the Apostles where it is that the power not onely os making but also of practizing al sacraments hath continued still what companie of Christian people that is wherein the Apostles Doctors preachers ministers through the perpetuall assistance of Gods spirit be continued for the building vp of Christes bodie which is the number of faithful people What Church that is which bringeth forth from time to time sonnes to occupy the romes of their fathers before them It is not good reader the pelting packe of Protestants It is not I saie and they knowe it is not their petie congregations that hath till this daie continued the succession of Blshoppes by whome the world as Saint Augustine saith is ruled as by the Apostles and first Fathers of Religion Surely our mother the Church hath hene long baren if for her Fathers the Apostles who died so long since she neuer brought forth children til now to occupie their roomes and
great lacke ofrulers if she haue made her onelie contemners to be her owne gouernours No these sellowes holde not by her but they holde against her these sit in no seat Apostolike but they by all force dishonour the seat Apostolike these are not they qui pro patribus nati sunt tibi filij but these are the sonnes quos enutriuisti genuisti ipsi spreueruntte If you aske of these men how they holde they seeke no Fathers after whome they maie rightly rule they seeke no large rew of predecessours in whose places they may sit they aske no counsell of Gods Church by whose calling they should gouerne but they make a long discourse of statutes and temporall lawes to couer their ambitious vsurpation that in great lacke of Christes calling their vniust honour may be approoued by mans fauour Thereby let them holde their temporall dignities their landes their liuelihoodes their wiues also if ther can obtaine so much at the commō wealthes handes but their spiritual functions their ministering of Sacraments their gouernance of our soules and what els soeuer they vsurpe without the warrant of Gods Church the longer they exercise them the farther they be from saluation and the neerer to eternall woe and miserie But to come to our purpose it is our Church Catholike in which all holie functions haue bene practized after Christes institution euer since his ascension vp to heauen And therefore this principall power of remitting and retaining sinnes must needes be contained in the Church by her ministers and priests as it was begonne in the Apostles before FVLKE I like well your pretence after a large discourse to knit vp your whole entent in a Syllogisme which you set as a matke for vs to shoote at while we liue verilie your argument if one word were awaie I would willinglie graunt but the word properlie you are neuer able to prooue while you liue nor all the papists in the world after you are dead therefore in respect of that word I denie your Minor And yet I graunt that you inferre vpon it your conclusion in such termes as you haue set it downe that lawfull Priestes Elders or ministers of Gods Church at this daie haue as fullpower to forgiue sinnes in their seuerall charges as the Apostles had in their gener all commission But here you will needes examine vs what Church that is in which Christ doth preserue the gouernment giuen to the Apostles The Catholike Church forsooth 2. Where the power of ministring the sacraments if you meane that by your termes of making and practizing hath continued still in the Catholike Church 3. What companie of Christ an people that is wherein the Apostles Doctours preachers ministers through the perpetuall assistance of Gods spirit be continued for the building vp of Christes bodie which is the number of the faithfull Still I answere the companie of the Catholike Church 4. What Church that is which bringeth forth from time to time sonnes to occupie the romes of their Fathers before them Here I answere manie hereticall and malignant Churches but onelie the Catholike Church hath continued from the beginning in such propagation You answere your selfe and saie it is not it is not the pelting-packe petrie congregation of the Protestants to your double negatiō a single affirmation may serue It is the Church of them you cal Potestantes in Europe which is a part of the Catholike Church dispersed ouer all the earth which Church of the Protestantes I see not why you should so pelt at it with your pettierhetorike It is God be thanked as great and as glorious at this time in the eies of the world as the Romish rable except that the ministers thereof be not so prowde nor so gorgeous That whore of Babilon your dame whome you would haue to be accepted for the Catholike Church of Christ which boasted her selfe that she was no widow is now of manie forsaken of her spirituall for nication begetteih but feew bastardes in comparison of that she was wont to doe Therefore it is not no no that wil be able to pul vs out of the Apostolike chaires in which we teach nothing but the Doctrine of the Apostles consonant vnto the Doctrine of the Prophets These Fathers we seek to holde of and all other that holde of the same line we hold with them as for large view of predecessours we know it must necessarilie insue the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles because of the perpetuall continuance of the Church And therefore we take not vp olde mouldie and mothen parchementes to seeke our progenitours names but by consanguinitie of Doctrine with the Apostles as Tertullian calleth it knowe we are Apostolike and set in Apostolike places As for the long discourse of statutes temporall lawes that you talke of we claime no spirituall inheritance thereby although we accept the confirmation of temporall lawes for the better execution of our offices What I pray you Sir had not you Papists in Queene Maries time as large a discourse of statutes and temporal lawes as we haue for the maintenance of your popish superstition and all thinges thereto belonging and yet you would procure enuie to vs of statutes and temporall lawes as though wee helde onelie by them As for temporal dignites landes lieuely hodes I knowe not how they shoulde be mainteined but by temporall lawes Out wiues we holde by the law of God against which there is no temporal lawe of the land by infinit better right then you doe hold your stewes and other remedies of your incontinencie and as for spiritual functions we holde them by the same right that they were first giuen to the Church and haue therein continued euen to this daie An answer to such as denie this power to passe from the Apostles to al other Priests because many of them beeing euill men may be thought not to haue the holy Ghost whereby they should effectuallie remit sinnes THE SIXTH CHAP. ANd to Caluin or other of his secte that require the like vertue and force of the holie Ghostes assistance in all men that take vpon them to remit sinnes as it was giuen to the Apostles who first receiued that power I answer that the same gift of the holie Ghost is yet in the ministers of the same Sacrament no lesse then in the Apostles For though they had more plentifull sanctification whereby they were in all their life more holie and more vertuous then lightlie anie other either Priestes or laie men were after them yet the giftes of the holie Ghost touching the ministerie and seruice of Gods Church which were not so much giuen them for their owne sakes as for the vse of the common wealth and for the right of practizing certaine holy functions requisite for the peoples sanctification as they were also giuen to diuers that were neither good nor vertuous and therefore lacked that which properlie is that grace of the holie Ghost that is called of our schoole men
gratia gratum faciens such a grace as maketh a man acceptable to God Therefore the holie Ghost breathed vpon the Apostles then by Christ and giuen yet to Priests in their ordering by Bishopes is a gift of God and a grace of the holy ghost not whereby man is made rertuous or cunning or happie before God but it is a gift onelie of God whereby man is called aboue his owne nature and dignitie to haue power and authoritie to doe and exercise anie function in Gods Church to the spirituall benefit of the people which is not onelie not alwaies ioyned to vertue and holie knowledge but it full often by calling due to them which are moste wicked persons without anie impaire of their authoritie And these kinde of giftes and graces of the holie Ghost be called gratiae gratis datae certaine giftes giuen to men for no desertes of their persons but freelie for the vse of other men to whome they be beneficiall euen there where they be hurtfull to the bestowers In which sense Saint Paule numbreth a great sorte in the fourth to the Ephesians and the first Epistle to the Corinshians and he calleth them not onelie the graces of the spirite but also the diuisions of functions and ministrations as the gift of working of miracles the gift of tongues the gift of prophecying the gift of preaching and so foorth all which being the giftes and graces of the spirit for the Churches edifying and of Saint Peter being called the holy Ghost in the Actes yet they were giuen to euill men often as well as to good without all imparing of Gods honoure yea with the great encrease of God glorie that euen by the wicked is able to worke his wil and holie purpose for the benefit of his Elect. And in this sense the spirite of God breathed vpon the Apostles was a gift of the holie Ghost whereby man should remit by lawfull power the sinnes of the people Whereupon Theophilact sayeth that Potestatem quandam donum spirituale dedit Apostolis vs remittant peccata ostendens quod genus spiritualium donorum eis dederit inquit quorum remiser it is peccata remittuntur eis that is to saie Christ gaue to his Apostles a certaine power and spirituall gift whereby they might remit sins for he shewed what power of the spirit it was that breathed on them when he said whose sinnes you doe for giue they be forgiuen Whosoeuer shall vndoubtedlie remit sinnes and absolue sinners must haue the same gift of the holie Ghost which the Apostles had whereby he cannot erre And this gift no man denieth but it maie be in a wicked and vngodlie man For euen such an one may preach the doctrine of Christ of remission of sinnes publikelie and priuatlie if he haue the calling that is required to that office Neither doth Caluine or any other that are of his iudgement otherwise require the like force of the holie ghostes assistance in al men that take vpon them to remit sinnes For there is not onelie a power but a knowledge required in him that shall assuredlie and vndoubtedlie forgiue sinnes And therefore the papistes doe vnreasonably make a diuorse of the keie of power from the keie of knowledge which power if it be no guided by knowledge doth nothing but insteade of opening and shutting with the keies committed to the Church throw forth the keies as the blinde man casteth his staffe which cannot happen so right in to the locke that they should open it to the penitent sinners For it is not the Priestes authoritie that can open the dore of comforte to a sinners conscience except he can declare vnto him out of the word of God how and by what meanes he maie be reconciled vnto God That the holie Ghost is giuen by Bishopes to Priestes in their ordering it is more boldlie affirmed then euer it can be prooued for Christ onelie hath authoritie to giue the holy Ghost and therefore to declare that it commeth from him alone among men he breathed vpon his Apostles which though the Bishops doe vntill their longues ake yet can they not furnish their parties by them ordered with giftes meet for their calling as Christ did his Apostles They must make choise therefore according to the Doctrine of the Apostle of those that haue those gratious and necessarie giftes of God before and to them they must commit the power and authoritie to exercise the same to the publike benefice of the Church But if they wil giue authoritie to them that haue no wisdome to exercise the same they make the most foolish iudges of all the world and such are worthelie contemned Therefore howsoeuer you distinguish grace you must not seeke to winne credit to them which haue nothing but pretense of authoritie when they be voide of all vnderstanding how to vse it as manie hundreds yea thousandes of your hedge Priests are if their calling were neuer so good as it is moste corrupt and vnlawfull ALLEN If our aduersaries be ignorant of these thinges which be so common in schooles of diuinitie yet we think they should remember that Saint Paul did not dissalow the authoritie nor power of preaching in such as were euil men and taught for emulation and not of sincere zeale of the Gospell and that Christ him-selfe stopped not such as cast out deuilles in his name and therefore were not without the gifte of workeing miracles though he professed that manie of them at the date of iudgement challenging some right of heauen vpou that acte should not be receiued to glory how the gift of prophecy was common in the olde 〈◊〉 not onelie to the wicked but to such as willinglie would deceiue the people And Caiphas he prophecied by the spirit of God as by force of his office being yet in purpose to worke wickednes against Christ himselfe for whose trueth he then by force of the spirit prophecied But of the Sacramentes of Gods Church euerie one that they may beministred beneficiallie to the receiuing in much wickednes of the giuer there is no man can be ignorant For it is a rule and a principle moste certaine that God worketh his will in them by the ministerie of men be they neuer so euill For elle they were mans sacraments and not Gods and we could not be certaine neither of our baptisme neither of right receiuing of Christes bodie in the holie sacrament of his eultar nor of any other spirituall benefit that we now by mans ministery receiue in the Church Much cōsort it were for al Christian people to hauesuch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then soules and such disposers of Gods mysteries as would could in all sinceritie and faithfulnes worke Gods 〈◊〉 and that would alwaies vse the high power giuen them to 〈◊〉 and neuer to destroie and that they would so doe both S. Peter and S. Paule doe often exhort them But neither the miserie of mans sinsull nature can suffer that nor our wickednes can
the Church imbaryed from the vse and exercise of that office of remitting sinnes and such other the like spirituall functions FVLKE That the lacke of the fruit of any sacrament is most commmonlie in the receiuer rather then in the insufficiencie of the minister it prooueth that the minister doth not properlie giue the effect of the sacraments but the outwarde seales thereof as Saint Iohn Baptist doth moste wiselie distinguish them saying I baptize with water but he that commeth after me shall baptize with the holie ghost and with fire Saint Basill in the place by you quoted saying that the power of remitting of sinnes is not giuen absolutelie but in the obedience of him that repenteth c. declareth what manner of power this is contrarie to that you haue hetherto for the moste part maintained As also that he sayeth within few wordes after that the new testament doth promise remission of all sinnes to them that worthely repent he concludeth plainlie against your long discourse wherin you would haue it seeme as though the priest had absolute power of remitting and not an authoritie of declaring the sentence of God concerning such And Saint Cyprian or whoesoeuer is author of that worke De cardinalibus Christi operibus confirmeth that which I saide that the minister doth not properlie giue the effects of the sacrament but onelie the outwarde seales thereof as Iohn Baptist doth testifie His whol sentence I will repeate because you haue not so fullie set it downe not so truelie translated it Veniebat Christus ad Baptismum non egens lauacro in quo peccatum non erat sed vt sacramento perennis daretur autoritas tanti virtutem operis nulla personarum acceptio commendaret quoniam remissio peccaterum siue per Baptismum siue per alia sacramenta donetur propriè spiritus sancti est vt ipsi soli huius efficientiae priuilegium mancat Verborum solennitas sacri inuocatio nominis signa institutionibus Apostolicis sacerdotum ministerits attributa visibile celebrant sacramentum rem verò ipsam spiritus sanctus format efficit consecrationibus visibilibus inuisibiliter manum totius bonitatis author apponit plenitudinem gratiae vnctionis diuinae pinguedo sanctificationibus officialibus infundit remsacramenti consummat persicit Christe came to Baptisme not wanting that 〈◊〉 as he that was free from sinne but that perpetuall authoritie might be giuen to the sacrament and that no respect of persous might commend the vertue of so great a worke because remission of sinnes whether it be giuen by Baptisme or by other sacraments is properlie the holie ghostes and to him alone the priuiledge of this essectuall workeing remaineth The solemnitie of wordes and the inuocation of the holy name and the signes appointed for the ministery of the Preists by the Apostles doctrine and instruction doe celebrate the visible sacrament but the thing it selfe the holie ghost formeth and worketh and the author of all goodnes doth inuisiblie put his hande to the visible consecrations and the fatnes of the diuine vnction doth power the fullnes of grace into the ministeriall sanctifications and doth make consummate or make perfect the matter of the sacrament That the ministers desertes doth nothing alter the sacramentes or the effect of them it is no controuersie betweene vs howsoeuer you would make the ignorant beleeue that Caluine is of another opinion wherein his writings are moste manifest to the contrarie Where you approoued him that is lawfullie called to haue receaued the gift and grace of the holie Ghost which is the selfe same that the Apostles receaued of Christ for the like functions you take too much vpon you for the ordinarie and externall calling to exercise an outwarde ministerie where of Cyprian discourseth may be without receauing of the holie Ghoste Againe no man hath authoritie to giue the holie Ghost in ordaining more then in Baptisme or anie other parte of the ministerie of the Gospell Thirdlie where you require lawfull calling and ordaining in the minister of the sacrament that the receiuer being rightlie qualified maie obtaine like benefit of whomsoeuer the office is exercised you exclude lay men and women from ministring of the sacrament of Baptisme which your doctrine doth admitte Finallie where you assure the minister of the continuance of his authoritie by that gift of the holie Ghost be his life and desertes neuer so euill you saie verie much For what if he be an Idolater a persecutor of Christians or degenerated into Mahometisme wil you say his gift and authoritie doth still continue nay you saie it continueth though he be neuer so ignorant Then if he be a naturall foole or a mad man or one void of all Christian knowledge either when he was ordained or fallen since into such extremitie of ignorance yet by your rule he retaineth his gift Nay if he be for heresie schisme or notorious euill life lawfullie embarred from the vse and exercise of remitting sinnes and other like spirituall functions yet his gift of the holie Ghost continueth still with him This is in deede an indeleble character that is imprinted so deepe that nothing can scrape it awaie except perhappes a glasse or knife in degradation For as I take it you meane of him that is onely suspended from his office as though the practize onelie and not the authoritie for a time might be taken from him But to make an end of this matter I turne Caluins reason against him selfe He and his flocke be of that fond and blinde iudgment that the whole text of the twentith of S. Iohn wherin Christ giueth authoritie to the Apstoles to remit sinnes is meant onelie of preaching the Gospell for which function Christ gaue them the holie Ghost Now sir vpon this I vrge him with his owne reason I ask him first whether the ministers that by him cresent to preach the word of the holie ghost as for example Beza that he sent into Fraunce first or Richerus whome he sent to Coligninia or Hermam that came by the holie Ghostes sending vnto Flaunders Brabant had these the holie ghost or no If they saie yea as I think they will they be so bolde in an other mans house then demaund of them further whether the said spirit maie erre If they saie no as possiblie they will then conclude against them thus The holie Ghost can not erre ergo you haue not the holie Ghost and consequentlie you haue then no better right in preaching then poore Priestes haue in remitting or absoluing Therefore I leaue Caluine wrestling with his owne shadow and will follow on my purpose and course of matter which I haue in hande FVLKE Now we shall heare how cunninglie you can turne Caluins reason againste him selfe First you saie he and his flock be of that fond and blinde iudgement that the wholl text wherein Christ geueth authoritie to his Apostles to remit sinnes is meant onelie of Preaching the Gospell for which function
were by them Baptized it seemeth they take it of their Master Nouatus who because he had contemned he ceremonie vsed in that time of the Church him-selfe taught his schollers to doe the same left it should hawe beene reputed a want in him Although not the omission of the ceremonie but the contempt of the vsage of the Church being not impious in it selfe was chiefelie condemned in him For at such times as he was ordained Elder or Priest of the Church of 〈◊〉 it was thought by the Bishope a matter that might be remitted in him that for other respectes seemed meete for the office neither was it thought necessarie that he should receiue that cerimonie so by him omitted but not yet as it was thought in despight of the Church refused The Fathers oflater time as Theodoret writeth decreed that such as came from his heresie and would be incorporated into the Church should by receiuing that cerimonie which in time of their heresie they despised declare that they were truelie conuerted from it and willinghe submitted themselues to the Catholike Church and her Doctrine But of late daies when that ceremonie of anointing hath beene accounted a Sacrament yea and a greater Sacrament then Baptisme and thought necessary to eternall saluation whereas yet it hath no institution of Christ set forth in the holie Scriptures the reformed Churches haue iustlie abrogated that custome according to that libertie which the Church hath in all ceremonies not commaunded by God according to the example of the Church in former ages which hath abrogated manie ceremonies vsed of auncient times aswell as that of anointing with oile them that are Baptized ALLEN And first because generallie all the foresaid ioyne together against the trueth in this argument that it is dishonour to god and great presumption in a mortall man to claime the power so proper to God let the studious reader well consider that no function power ne dignitie be it neuer so peculiar to God him-selfe by naturaii excellencie but the same maie be occupied of man secondarilie as by the waie of seruice ministery or participation so that man challenge nor vsurpe it not as of him selfe or when it is not lawfuliie receaued nor orderlie giuen All the workes that extraordinarilie and miraculouslie were wrought either by Christ in his humanitie or by the Prophets or Apostles wordes or by their garments or by what other instrumēt so euer they were donne were the works of god no lesse then to remit sins yet al these things other the like brought to passe by man through the power of god that worketh by mans ministerie the same nothing derogateth to gods glorie but infinitelie augmenteth his honour euen so the power of pardoning mans sins being emploied by God the father vpon Christ his sonne by Christ vpon his Church ministers practized by them not of their owne might heades but in the 〈◊〉 of the holie ghost which by the sonne of god was 〈◊〉 vpon them this authoritie I saie is no derogation but an euident signe of his mightie power of saluation left for the faithfulls sake in the Church When the person that was lame from his birth begged of Peter and Iohn somewhat for his reliefe at the Temole dore as his manner was Peter answered him that golde and siluer he had none to giue but that which he had he would willinglie bestowe which was power to heale him of his incurable maladie for proofe whereof he bad him arise and walke and so he did at his word in the sight of all that there were gathered which being done and the people wondering thereat the Apostle thus instructed them Brethren faith he why wonder you at vs as though we had brought this strange worke to passe by our owne strength and power it is the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob that hath glorified his sonne Iesus whome you refused and betraied to Pontius Pilatus to be crucified in his name and faith this poore man is recouered Marcke well that the same thing which peter said him selfe had to giue quod habeo tibi do the same yet he professeth that he holdeth not as of his owne right or might but as of Christ Iesus in whose name he willed the lame to walke euen so the the power of pardoning sinner is truely and properly in the Priestes as the power of working miracles is properly in Peters hands neither the one noryet the other holden as of their owne might and power but both practized for the glory of God in the name of Iesus of Nazareth by their appointed ministery And as truly as Peter might saie to the feeble in body that which I haue I giue thee rise and walke in the name of iesos of Nazareth so surelie may the Priest saie to the sicke in souie that which I haue I giue thee in the name of Iesus thy Ennes my sonne be forgiuen thee No lesse is the one the peculiar worke of God then the other no more doth one dishonor god then the other FVLKE Nothing that is proper or peculiar to God can be communicated to man but it ceaseth to be proper to God For it is against the nature of properties to be made common to any other subiect then to that whereof they are proper adiuncts And yet I denie not but that which is proper to God he doth exercise often times by the seruice or ministery of men in which they are but instrumental causes he him selfe is the principal efficient otherwise man maie not occupie or execute secondly or thirdly or last of all by waie of participation that which is proper or peculiar to God So that it remaneth still an vndoubted truth that God onelie doth forgiue sinnes properlie and man doth not forgiue sinnes properlie but is the instrument of God to vtter and declare the good pleasure of God in forgiuing sinnes to all and euerie one that repent and beleeue the Gospe ll Your general negatiue that there is no function power nor dignitie be it neuer so peculiar to God by naturall excellencie but it maie be occupied of man secondly as by the waie of seruice ministery or participation if it were vrged against you would breed horrible absurdities To omit all other the power of creating thinges of nothing by what meanes maie man be partaker thereof occupie it or exercise it But let vs consider your induction All Miraculous workes worught by Christ in his humanitie the Prophets or Apostles were no lesse proper to God then the power to remit sinnes Yes verilie for manie miraculous workes that God did by Moses the inchaunters of Egipt did the like by the power of the deuill whereby it appeareth that although ail power be deriued from God as from the first cause thereof euen that power which the deuill hath yet it is otherwise communicated to creatures then the power of remission of sinnes is For that remaineth onelie in the hande of God and is not properlie
to Christianitie for they will giue all ouer them selues But briefllie to conclude vp the answere to their reason founded vpon Nouatus his principle touching Gods honour thus I saie That neuer derogateth to Gods honour which is agreable to gods ordinance but that priests should remit sinnes is the ordinance of God as is declared therefore the vse thereof doth not derogate any whit to gods honour Againe as great workes and as proper to god as remission of sinnes was practized by the Apostles and yet is vsed by the Bishops of holie Church without all dishonour of god giuing the holie ghost and gods grace by laying on of 〈◊〉 Ergo remission of sinnes may be also practized of priests without all iniurie to God and the onelie right therein FVLKE Whethersoeuer the force of trueth or prouidence of God driue heretikes we haue no purpose to follow them The gifts which god bestoweth on his Church and the ministers thereof with all humilitie and thankefulnes we acknowledge receiue and exercise to his glorie and the benefit of his Church although we arrogate nothing vnto our selues either in them or in any other thing that is proper to God And therefore it is both a vaine and a false complaint that the Church adorned with Gods blessinges is forsaken and a congregation barren of all Gods giftes imbraced All offices of ministerie in the Church that God hath ordained we admit and practise neither will we giue ouer anie thing for all your childish prating whereof we haue warrant to enioie it out of the word of God To your syllogismes I answere thus to the first That to exercise the Power of remission of sinnes in such sorte as it is ordained of God is no dishonour to God but a great honour To the second I denie that anie thing proper to God as remission of sinnes giuing the holie Ghost and Gods grace as it is proper to God was or could be practised by the Apostles or anie mortal man properly otherwise I confesse that remission of sinnes as Christ hath commaunded it may be practised without all iniurie to God and his onelie right therein For further proofe of the forsaid matter it is declared that neither Christ nor his euerlasting Father nor the holie Ghost doe giue ouer vnto man or resigne the power of remission or anie other holie function of the Church but doe themselues continuallie worke all those graces by mans mynisterie and seruice THE EIGHT CHAP. ALLEN FVrthermore we must here consider that what worke soeuer God appointeth man to exercise in his Church either in remission of sinnes or giuing grace of Gods spirit or what other holie action soeuer may in his name be done for the benefite of the people by the ministerie and seruice of man either by the meanes and mediation of any other instrumentall cause we must learne that in these workes so wrought either by man or through other creatures God doth not resigne his right to the waies and workers thereof and giue ouer the wholl title that is due to himselfe in the saide diuine acts For then in deede mans practize should derogate from Gods power and he should as it were succeed God in the right of his proper power and euerlasting inheritance which onelie to surmise as heretikes do were meere follie Christ is by euerlasting right made the head of the Church and he resigneth not this office to anie mortall man For if he did then the partie that should by his graunt occupie for a season the same dignitie were his fuccessour and should holde in like right the same office as he did before But that notwithstanding he hath made his substitute and vicegerent by whom in his corporall absence he ruleth now the Church as he did before in his owne person not giuing ouer his preheminence supreame power therein but now practizing that by another which afore he exercised him selfe in his owne person It had beene a great derogation to Christ that Peter should haue bin Christes heir and successour for then Christ had lost the perpeiuitie an other man gouerning after him in like right and preheminence as he had before But for Peter to rule the Church vnder him in his steade as by his euerlasting right with commission from him that holdeth that soueraigntie for euer by whomesoeuer the Church shall be ruled till the worlds end in earth this I saie is no derogation to God nor his sonne Christ at all but it much prooueth that Christ according to his manhood is the head of the Church for euer because by man in earth he ruleth the same til his comming again the whichman though he be his vicar vicegerent yet he is not his successour Saint Augustine did trimlie allude to the vse of the olde law comparing the ministers of Gods Church to the yonger brethren who were charged to marrie the elder brothers wife when he died without issue in whose name they did practize the worke of mariage and therefore could not call their children by their owne names but by the name of their elder breethren For as they raised seede to their brother and for their brothers honour so the Priests that haue taken vpon them as it were in mariage to gouerne Christes Church and to bring forth children not in their owne names but in the name of their elder brother and her departed Husband As when they bring foorth children in Baptisme as through the wombe of the Church they bring them not forth as for them-selues and in their owne names but in the name of Iesus Christ beeing their elder brother euen so it is in remission of sinnes also in which case Christ resigneth not his authoritie as though he lacked that power him-selfe but practzeth that mightie worke by the ministerie of man which before he exercised in his owne person And as the baptzing not in the name of Peter nor Paull nor Apolle but in the name of Christ the first husband of the Church after whome the Children be called Christianes not Petrianes nor Paulianes doth much set foorth the honour of the eldest spouse so it prooueth and augmenteth Christes euerlasting honour and moste iuste title in remission of sinnes that till this daie no lesse now in absence by the seruice of his Priestes then before when he was present by his owne worde and will sinnes be in his name and faith fullie remitted yea euen the verie function of Preaching the Gospell which they saie is meant by remitting of sinnes although they say most foolishlie therein and against the common sense of all the fathers yet euen that function is Christs still though it be vsed of man in earth FVLKE You are as plentifull in proofe of that which is confessed as you are naked and barren in proouing that which is denyed The title of your Chapter we will graunt you without proofe and according thereunto we are content to decide this controuersie But you will no longer abide by it
then vntill you haue made a shew of trueth and then straight giue it ouer challenging a proper power properlie to remit sinnes euen the power that is proper to God and the same to exercise as properlie as God doth with deification of your Priestes persons and such other arrogant assumptions Where you saie that God doth not resigne his right to the waies and workes of anie diuine function giue ouer the wholl title that is due to him-selfe in the said diuine actes I adde that he doth neither resigne his right nor his practize or exercise there of he doth not giue ouer his wholl title or anie parte or portion thereof When you go about to demonstrate your proposition you saie that Christ resigned his roome but not his right A pretie collusion of words but a matter ful of her eticall meaning For Christ resigned neither his roome nor his right when he ascended into heauen but set himselfe downe in the throne of magnificence that he might fullfill all things with his glorious an gracious presence by which he continueth with his Church vnto the end of the world Neither hath he neede of anie substitute or vicegerent to exercise anie point of that office which is proper to the vniuersall head of the vniuersall Church neither can anie mortal creature exercise the office of the head of the whol Churh because it is a meere diuine power by euerlasting right as you confes proper to our sauiour Christ that from him as from the head life and all powers of life should flowe into his wholl Church and euerie true member thereof And therefore whatsoeuer from the beginning he hath exercised in his owne person he doth not now practize by anie other but still by himselfe and in his owne person But the office of teaching which in his humanity he exercised and before his incarnation was exercised by the Prophets and Priests he hath committed to his Apostles Euangelistes Prophets Pastours and Teachers vnto the end of the world but that one man should rule his whol Church either by doctrine or discipline whereunto it is not possible for him to haue an eye and ouerseeing Christ hath neuer appointed but as he hath appointed seuerall teachers so also hath he ordained seuerall gouernours And no more possible it is that one man should rule and gouerne al the Church then it is possible that one man should teach al the Church despersed as it is now and hath been of olde ouer al the face of the earth But that Peter or anie other man should rule the Church in Christes steade you saie it prooueth much that Christ is head of the Church according to his manhood That Christ who is God and man is head of his Church it is a Christian confession But that Christ is head of his Church according to his manhood I see not how it differeth from flat Nestorianisme or Arrianisme For wholl Christ is head of his Church according to that he was head thereof before his incarnation and flesh assumpted yet intended and he is head of his Church according to that he filleth all in all Ephes. 1. It is one thing to saie that Iesus Christ or the man Iesus Christ is head of his Church another thing to saie that Christ is head of his Church according to his manhood Beside I know not what humane head ship you ascribe vnto Christ that make him head in respect of such externall regiment as may be exercised by man and yet by no one man alone but by manie men at once in this dispersion of the Church all which acknowledge Christ to be their onelie head because they must gouerne the Church by his word onelie and by lawes framed agreeable vnto the same That the Protestantes bring foorth children to Caluin or Luther it is nothing but tailing without reason For the Protestantes are willing to departe with anie pretence of right or honout so that God maie haue his whol glory by such meanes as he hath appoin ted Therefore according to Saint Augustines allusion they beget children by preaching of the Gospell vnto Christ and not to them selues The function of Preaching you saie is Christes still If you meane that he is the author of the doctrine preached and so the onelie master and teacher of his Church it is true but this function the Protestantes claime not but to be ministers appointed to declare this doctrine in the world This function as a part of his humiliation hath he cleane giuen ouer since his ascension and appointed in his stead Apostles Euangelistes Prophets Pastours and teachers to exercise the same function to the edifying of his Church vntill the end of the world You charge vs to saie that the function of Preaching is meant by remitting of sinnes which we saie not For Preaching extendeth further then the remitting of sinnes But we saie that by preaching publiklie or declaring priuatelie as the case requireth the grace and mercie of God in pardoning all penitent and beleeuing sinners the minister of God doth remit sinnes in the name of Christ while the pardon pronounced by him is of as great force to assure the re pentaunt sinner of remission of his sinnes as if Christ him-selfe should declare it out of heauen wherein we speake neither foolishlie nor against the common sence of all the fathers as by some of their writinges alledged before I haue plainlie declared ALLEN And they that are most tender in outward words of Godshonour will yet seeme to occupie that his proper function with out all derogation to his right therein But in deede their preaching which is their remission of sinne is not the power of God to saluation but it is his permission for our great punishment The lawful doctrine of Christs Church is truely no lesse theproper work of Christ then is forgiuenes of sinnes yet it is with out controlling of Nouatians Heretiks exercised by mans ministerie in earth S. Augustine saith hereof thus Christus est qui docet Cathedram in coelo haber scholaipsius in terra est scholaipsius corpus ipsius est It is Christ which teacheth and he hath his pulpit in heauen and his schoole in earth and his schoole is his body the Church Christ doth not then resigne vp his office in preaching no more then he doth his authority of pardoning no man succeeding him in either of the roomes but occupieth both vnder him in his Church which is his inheritance for euer the which Churh holdeth by him as a schoole to teach trueth in as a court and iudgement seat to pardon or punish sinnes in Thus he FVLKE The proper function of Christ which is to be the onelie author of the true Doctrine that is taught in the Church none of vs will presume to occupie we leaue that blasphemie to the Pope and the popish Church but the Gospel which we preach is the power of God vnto saluation in the remission of our sins reuealed
you We maruaile not why Christ hath giuen authoritie to man to forgiue sinnes whose ministerie he hath vsed in all times both by preaching his worde and by administring his sacraments to dispense his misteries vnto the rest of his Church vpon earth But that God doth not ordinarilie remit sinnes but by the ministerie of the priest nor any way ells for the moste parte but by externall acts we maruel how you are able to prooue it seeing God often times vseth many other occasions then the priests ministerie to bring men to repentance and without all waies of externall acts or sacrifices to assure men of the remission of their sinnes by faith But this admiration altogether passeth the reach of our capacitie to vnderstand how it may be conuinced That all priestes by warrant hereof may challenge all manner of interest in the gouernement of our soules It were much to challenge any interest in gouernment of our soules which is proper to our Sauiour Christ but to challenge all manner of interest in gouernment it sauoureth to stronglie of Antichristian presumption that any Christian should abide it The Apostles in exercise of their calling acknowledged them selues not onelie to be the seruants of God but also of the Church for we preach not our selues saith the Apostle but Iesus Christ and our selues to be your seruants for Iesus Christ. It is a ministerie and not a Lordeship that we must exercise not as temporall Princes who although they may be saide after a sorte to serue the common wealth yet they are so seruants as they are also Lordes But the ministers of the Church in their spirituall gouernement are seruants and not Lordes as Saint Peter testifieth therefore they cannot iustlie challenge all manner of interest in the gouernement of our soules For if they might we should haue many Lordes of our soules and denie God our onelie lorde our Lorde Iesus Christ our onelie sauiour ALLEN Much more might be said out of diuerse holie fathers much out of the decrees as well of Bishopes as Councells the authoritie wherof no Christian Catholike did euer reiect In Lateran in Florence and in Trent Councells Penance is decreed to be a sacrament and of necessitie to all such as fall into deadelie sinne after Baptisme The minister thereof by their holie determination is a Priest lawfullie ordered the remission of sins is in them all challenged to be his right not onelie by declaration that God hath or will pardon them nor by the preaching of the Gospell nor any other waies newlie deuised by the Deuill to delude Christes ordinance and misconstrue his plaine wordes But properlie is the priest prooued to be the minister vnder God of reconciliation and therefore may by his wordes absolue men in the saide sacrament of their sinnes as in Christs owne steade whose honourable iudgement seat byhis commission and the holie ghosts assistance he doth lawfullie possesse And so surelie doe Gods ministers holde this power and preheminence that no power or dignitie of man could euer be so well warranted and approoued by Gods owne worde and practize of all ages and nations christened as this is All the Princes in earth though they reigne full righteouslie can not yet shew the tenth part of the euidence that Gods priests can doe for their title of remission of sinnes and it booteth not mee in this my base state to admonish them though I hartelie wish they would consider it that the contempt of spirituall iurisdiction and the dignitie of priesthoode salleth at length to the difobedience of all temporal power and wicked contempt of ciuil gouernement also as in these disordered daies we may to our great griefe beholde when vnder pretence of religion and Gods worde whereof they haue no more respect surelie then the Deuil him selfe hath they haue disobeied not onelie Peters keies but also Cesars sworde Neither let any man thinke that where the bands of conscience the awe of gods maiestie the feare of hell and damnation the hope of heauen and saluation is remooued that there can be any ciuil obedience long Feare of man is much flatterie of man is more but bond of conscience passeth them both Thiu therefore haue Gods priests made account of their calling and long practised power of remitting and reteining the peoples offences FVLKE Whatsoeuer you can saie out of any auncient fathers will not prooue your intent of shrift and pardons your sacrament of penance is but a young beginner that can shew no auncienter councells for her authoritie then Lateran Florence and Trent the eldest of which is not much aboue 300 yeares olde and yet in the place you send vs vnto Confession is straightlie commaunded but penance is not decreed to be a sacrament Declaration of the pastour by preaching that God wil pardon al penitent sinners you count to be awaie newlie deuised by the diuil to delude Christes ordinance and misconstrue his plaine wordes as though your deuelishand blasphemous witte and tongue were hable to prooue out of Christes wordes your popish shrifts penance and satisfaction to be of Christes ordinance whereas it hath beene the doctrine and practize of all the Prophetes and Apostles to preach remission of sinnes to all that truelie repented and were turned vnto God and by authoritie of their commission receiued from God to assure all such of perfect forgiuenes of all their sinnes To compare the euidence wherby they holde this authoritie with the right of princes wherby they holde their croune so farre to preferre it is a point of antichristian and anabaptisticall presumption For ciuill Princes haue as cleere euidence in the scripture to auouch al their lawful authority as priestes haue to exercise that whereunto they be called Otherwise the particuler calling of euerie priest must leane vpon aiust title as well as the aduancement of princes into their throne and much more or els they haue not so great euidence as you talke of For a Prince being in the throne by what right soeuer he possesseth it is to be obeied But a minister of the Church except he be lawfullie called is not to be regarded You haue great cause to complaine of these daies that vnder pretense of Gods word and religion temporall and ciuill power is disobeied and contemned where there is no such manifest examples of such disobedience contempt as in your popish Northern rebellion and in an hundreth other vile attemptes to wring the scepter out of the hands of Gods anointed and your most lawful Prince vnder pretense in the Deuils name of religion and the Catholike Church But such religion and such a Church as aloweth in Italian Priest to depose anie Christian Prince from his throne God of his infinite mercie deliuer this Ileland and graunt all true subiectes of the same to yealde their faithfull obebience to their Godlie Prince not onely for feare but alfo for conscience Here it is prooued that b mitting sinnes the duety the right of the Priest
they are not crowned if they be not didicated But if they be washed in their own blood this mans will pietie also hath washed him Againe he saith speaking in an Apostrophe to him Quis dabit tefrater fratrem mihi lactentem vbera matris meae hoc est non quicunque te sed Christus illuminabit gratia spirituali ille te baptizauit quia humana tibi officia defuerunt Who shall giue thee brother to be my brother sucking the papes of my mother that is not euerie one but Christ him selfe shall lighten thee with spirituall grace He hath baptized thee because the seruice of man was wanting to thee By all which wordes it is manifest that S. Ambrose vnderstood not those wordes of our sauiour Christ of externall baptisme as you doe when he refuseth not them that haue a purpose and will to be baptized and are preuented by necessity of time But where you proceed and dare be bolde to saie that neuer man was saued that either contemned or neglected confession if you meane popish auricular and as you after call it sacramentall confession I dare be bolde to saie you speake vntrulie because the word of God prescribeth no such confession as necessarie to saluation Confession of that we beleeue and of our sins before God I knowe to be necessarie to saluation Neither can you prooue that they which dispise popish shrift be contemners of Gods ordinance for the Minor of your syllogisme that followeth is a lowd lie that your popish sacrament of penance and confession made to the Priest is the appointed meanes that God vseth in his Church for remission of mortall sinnes for God hath appointed no such sacrament or confession as necessarie meanes without the which remission of sinnes may not be obtained Your similitude of baptisme will prooue nothing except you can first prooue your confession to be of Gods institution as necessarie for doing awaie sinnes committed after baptisme as baptisme is by Christs ordinance the seale of regeneration by which we are assured of the remissiō of our sins ALLEN And yet me thinke I heare alreadie the sounde of the deceitfull voices of our Preachers It is Christes bloode that remitteth sinnes Come to me all ye that are heauie loaden and I shall refresh you I am he saith the Lord that putteth awaie thy sinnes with a thousand such like as though Christes bloode did not stand with Christes ordinances and sacraments as though they came not to Christ that keepe the waie of his will and sacraments to come vnto him as though God did not remit those sinnes which in his name and in his sacraments and by his appointed minister be remitted Protestant saie plainlie will thou refuse baptisme because Christes bloode washeth awaie originall sinnes If thou darest not openlie so preach although couertly thou maie chaunce so intend how darest thou deceiue the people and draw them from penance and confession because Christes blood doth remit sinnes For if the one sacrament may stand with the honour of God and with all those places that thou bringest so deceitfullie out of the scripture why may not the other seeing both are prooued alike to be instituted of Christ For the same selfe sauiour which said Come to me ye that be loaden and I shall refresh you he and no other said except you be borne of water and the holie Ghost you cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen The same God that said I am he that putteth awaie thy sinnes saith now to the Apostles and Priestss whose sinnes you doe forgiue forgiuen be they The same Spirit of God that said in the Prophet Confesse your selues to the Lorde for he his good said now againe in the Apostle confesse your sinnes one to another that you maie be saued By which he meaneth not as Origen venerable Bede and other doe declare so much brotherly acknowledging sor counsellor other causes the greefe of minde ech man to his fellowe as he doth the order of sacramentall confession to be made vnto gods Priests as it may well appeere by the circumstance of the letter For there he had willed them to send for the Priestes of the Church to annoile them streight after addeth this alledged text of confession and praing ouer the sicke The which place the heretikes sawe to sounde so manie waies as well towardes the sacrament of extreame vnction as the sacrament of confession both which they haue vnworthilie abandoned that they thought it not amisse either to denie the Apostles authoritie and the wholl epistle as no peece of holie scripture as Luther and other did or else which was after thought more handsome conueiance to corrupt the text and write instead of send for the Priestes of the Church thus call the elders of the congregation For they thought it might sounde euill to haue in one sentence priestes Church confession remission of sinnes release of paines for sinne annoiling praying ouer the sicke and so forth FVLKE It is no deceitfull voice of our preachers to affirme by these and a thousand such like textes of scripture that it belongeth to God onelie to forgiue sins properlie satisfaction being made for them by the bloode of Christ. And yet we derogat nothing from Christes ordinances and sacraments by which he worketh effectuall assurance of the same We acknowledge the ministerie of the Apostles and their lawful successours for the remission and retaining of sinnes both by preaching and by ministering of the sacraments instituted by our sauiour Christ. But we denie and dare stand to the deniall with all the papists that hath beene are or shal be that popish penance and confession is anie sacrament of our sauiour Christes institution for he that said whose sinnes you forgiue forgiuen be they hath not said whosoeuer will haue his sinnes forgiuen by you must haue some penance by you inioyned for satisfaction of Gods iustice yea there is nothing more contrarie to forgiuenes then satisfaction made by the partie to whome sinnes should be forgiuen And he that said confesse your offences one to another and praie one for an other that you maie be healed saith no where confesse all your sinnes vnto a Priest that you may be saued but willeth a mutuall acknoledgeing and reconciliation of one Christian man to another where there hath bin anie trespasse of such offences as one man hath committed against another and a mutuall acknowledging of our sinfullnes one to another that we may be sturred vp to mutuall praier By which textre the Priest is asmuch bounde to shriue himselfe to his parishioner as the parishioner to the Priest But Origen and Bede are alledged to prooue that the Apostle meaneth not onlie of such acknowledgeing nor so much thereof as the order of sacramental confession Verilie when the wordes of the scripture are plaine the sense 〈◊〉 to be gathered of the plaine words we may not restin anie mans opinion that is contrary to the same The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euerie man that hath but small knowledge in the tongue doth know to signifie and require a mutual confession aswell as a mutuall praier of one man for another But yet let vs examine what your authorities doe containe First Origen in the place by you cited speaketh not a word of this text confesse your offences one to another but only of the two verses going before For making seauen meanes of remitting of sinnes after his corrupt vnpure manner of teaching By baptisme by martyrdome by almes by forgiueing one another by conuerting of sinners by aboundance of charitie he addeth the seauenth in these wordes Est adhuc septima licet dura laboriosa perpaenitentiam remissio peccatorum cum lauat peccator in lachrimis stratum suum fiunt ei lachrima suae pánes die nocte Et cùm non erubescit sacerdoti Domini indicare peccatum suum quaerere medicinam secundùm eum qui ait Dixi pronunciabo aduersum me iniustitiam meam Domino tu remisisti impietatem cordis mei in quo impletur illud quod Apostolus dicit si quis autem insirmatur vocet Presbyteror Ecclesiae imponant ei manus vngentes eum oleo in nomine Domini oratio fidei saluabit 〈◊〉 si in peccatis fuerit remittentur ei There remaineth yet the seauenth kinde of remission of sins although it be verie harde and painfull by repentance When the sinner washeth his bed in teares and his teares are made vnto him breade daie and night and when he is not ashamed to declare his sinne to the Priest of the Lorde and to seeke medicine acording to him which saith I haue said I will pronounce against my selfe my owne vnrighteousnes vnto the Lord and thou hast forgiuen me the vngodlines of my heart In which also that is fullfilled which the Apostle saith if anie man be diseasedl et him call the Elders of the Church let them lay hands vpon him anoynting him with oile in the name of the Lord and the praier of faith shall saue the diseased and if he shal be in sinnes they shal be forgiuen vnto him Thus much writeth Origen Now it is to be vnderstood that after his manner he alligorizeth vpon the sacrifices of the lawe comparing these meanes of remission to them And lest you should thinke that by declaring of sinne to the Priest of the Lord he doth meane confession to a popish priest he himselfe expoundeth before whom he meaneth by this Priest In morali loco potest pontisex isse esse sensus pietatis religionis videri qui in nobis per orationem obsecrationes quas Deo fundimus velut quodam sacerdotio fungitur In morall place this high Priest may seeme to be the sense of godlines religion which within vs by praiers and supplications which we powre forth to God exerciseth as it were a certaine priesthood And so likewise he taketh the place of Saint Iames alligoricallie as his application of the seauenth waie of remission vnto the Iudaicall sacrifice doth declare Si autem in amaritudine fletus fueris luctu lachrimis lamentatione confect us si carnem tuam maceraueris 〈◊〉 ac multa abstinentia aridam feceris dixeris quia sicut frixorium confrixa sunt ossa mea tunc sacrificium similam à sartagine vel à craticula obiulisse te 〈◊〉 But if thou hast bene in the bitternes of weeping consumed with sorowe teares and lamentation if thou hast afflicted thy slesh and made it drie with fasting and much abstinence and said my bones are fried as a frying pane or a fire thing then knowe that thou hast offered in sacrifice flower of the frying panne or of the gredeyorn Origen therefore giueth a colour in words but no substance in matter vnto this popish confession Concerning the opinion and authoritie of Bede touching this matter I haue spoken before but by the circumstance of the letter you saie it may well appeere that the Apostle speaketh of sacramentall confession to be made to gods priests How so I praie you forsooth Because he had there willed them to send for the Priestes of the Church to anoynt them and streight after addeth this text of confession and praying ouer the sicke A simple reason god wot because priests were spoken of in an other matter therefore none but priests may be vnderstoode in that which followeth nay rather the circumstances make against auricular confession and popish anointing also For what needes more priests then one to be sent for to other of those popish purposes or what papist sendeth for more although there be neuer so manie priests in the Church But the companie of elders in the primitiue Church being chosen of the moste replenished with heauenly graces that were in the congregatiō both for the gift of healing for praier to be made ouer the sick man were most conuenient to be sent for But it is in vaine by couller of anie circumstances to restraine the confession to priestes when the verie wordes of the letter as you call the text doe make it generall and mutual and therefore here was no cause for Luther to denie the authoritie of the epistle or for anie other to corrupt the text But where you count it a corruption to writ in stead of send for the priestes of the Church this call for the Elders of the congregation you doe either abuse the ignorant of willfull malice to make them thinke the sounde of words being changed the sense is anie thing altered or else you ignorantlie quarell about the translation which is word for word out of the originall greeke into English as no man meanelie learned in that tongue can doubt It is not the sounde of the wordes you rehearse that troubleth vs for we both like and vse them in their right sense our selues but it sufficeth you to haue an accidentall sounde when you cannot sinde a substantiall reason of your popish ceremonies and sacraments in the holie scriptures ALLEN But that thou maiest see good Christian reader the necessity of confession the better and that it is not growne to such a generall practize and opinion of necessitie vpon anie charge giuen by man or positiue lawes marke well with me that it dependeth directlie vpon Christes owne wordes whose sinnes you doe forgiue they be forgiuen and whose sinnes you doe retaine they be retained And therefore sacramentall confession to be of Christes institution For if Christ gaue power to Priestes to forgiue or retaine mens sinnes then there must needes be some subiect to their power iudgement else in vaine were so long a confession of binding and lossing mens sinnes if the right of the power did not necessarilie charge all men that haue such sinnes to be subiect to their binding and loosing Therefore this is a cleare case that in the verie 〈◊〉 wordes that the power was deliuered vnto them the bond of obedience was also perscribed
to vs. So that after that daie no sinnes mortal could ordinariely be loosed but by theÌ„ that sacrament which in their ministery he then did institute FVLKE Now you come towarde the point when you promis to let vs see how your popish confession is of Christes institution It dependeth you saie directly vpon Christes owne wordes whose sinnes you doe forgiue c. That would we faine see how For you your selfe though you make a very disorderly syliogisme cannot tel which way to infer it vpon your premises But thus you reason If Christ gaue power to Priestes to forgiue or retaine sinnes then there must needes be some subiect to their power and iudgement I answere you that euery power draweth not a iudgement with it and therefore you foist in the word iudgement vnreasonablie although I graunt also a kinde of iudgement vnto them and that men are subiect to this power and iudegment of the ministers by whome is declared the infallible sentence of God Then saie you it is a cleare case that in the verie same words that power was deliuered to them the bond of obedience was also prescribed to vs. Of what obedience I pray you that we should obay them in any thing they shal speake or only when they speake in the word of the Lord If the latter only for no man wil graunt the former shew vs if you be able the Lords word and commaundement for sacramental confessoÌ„ as you terme it to be necessary Your conclusion hangeth as wel by your premises as confession dependeh vpon Christs words That after that date no sins mortall could ordinarilie be loosed 〈◊〉 by them and in that sacrament which in their ministery he then did institute All sin is mortall and deseruing death The wages of sinne saith the Apostle is death But your conclusion is confuted by your selfe afterward graunting sinnes to be remitted by baptisme and as for other sacraments I dare saie you will not exempt them but that sinnes are forgiuen by them And that which is the chiefe matter in controuersie namelie that a sacrament was there and then instituted you alwaies affirme but neuer are able to prooue And whereas you affirme that the necessitie of auricular confession standeth not vpon positiue lawes but by Christes institution it is maruell that this institution should so manie hundreth yeares be vnknowne in the Church The Master of the sentences can saie nothing for it but alledgeth diuers authorities to and froe and in the end hath no certaine argument to perswade vs that it is of Christes institution Gratian likewise in his decrees after diuers testimonies producted on both sides whether it be necessarie or no concludeth in these words Quib authoritatibus vel quibuslibetrationum firmamentis vtroque sententia satisfactionis confessionis innitatur in medium breuiter exposuimus cui autem harum 〈◊〉 adhaerendum sit 〈◊〉 is iudicio referatur viraque enim 〈◊〉 habet sarientes religi osor viros Vpon what authorites and what fundations of reasons both the iudgement of satisfaction and confession doth leane we haue briefely brought forth and declared But to whether of these we ought chieflie to sticke it is reserued to the iudgement of the reader for either of both opinions hath wise and religious men fauorers of it If the Romish Church in Gratianstime had receiued the opinion of the necessitie of shrift to a Priest to be grounded vpon the institution of Christ neither he nor the Master of the sentences would haue bin in such a mamering about it wherfore it appeereth to be but young ware the institution whereof was so vncertaine to those principal pillers of popery In so much that the glosse vpoÌ„ the 5. aistinct In penitentia was bolde to vtter these wordes which should haue prooued him an heretike if the popish Churh in his time had held that confession was of Christs institution and not vpon any positiue laws In hac distinctione in aliis duabus sequentibus agitur 〈◊〉 de illa parte poenitentiae que dicitur oris confessio operis satisfactio quà m de aliis ider videndum est 〈◊〉 oris confessio fuerit instituta virum necessaria sit vel 〈◊〉 voluntaria qualiter sit facienda cui et quando dicunt quidam institutam fuisse in Paradiso 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peccatum dicente Donino ad Adam Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ideo enim 〈◊〉 vt ipso conficente peccatum 〈◊〉 sorma aliis in posterum confitendi Sed quoniam in ille interrogatione dominus minùs expressè videbatur adconfirendum 〈◊〉 idro post exquisiuit á Cain fratricida expressiâ—s vbi est Abel frater tuus Alij dicunt quód sub lege primò instituta quando Iosua percepit Aâ—hor â—rimen sâ—um confiteri â—â— lapidatus est 45. dist secundum illud Alij dicunt quód in Novo testamento á Iacobo dicente consitemini alterâ—â—â—um peccata vestra c. Sed melius dicitur eam institutam fuisse a quâ—dâ—m vniuersale Ecclesiae traditione potius quám ex nouo vel veteri testamento authoritâ—s traditio Ecclesiae obligatoria est vt preceptum ait 1.1 di in his rebus Ergo necessaria est confessio in mortalib apud nos apud graecos non quoniam non emanauit apud illos traditio talis 〈◊〉 nec confisiunt in 〈◊〉 sed in firmentatis 5. di cap. 1. si illud ergo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alteruâ—rum peccata vestra 〈◊〉 consilium primó aliâ—â—uin liâ—oret et Grecos non obstanto eorâ—â— consuetudine In this distinction and the other two that follow it is intreated as well of that part of penance that is called confession of the mouth and satisfaction of the worke as of other partes And therefore it is to be seene when confession of the mouth was instituted whether it be necessarie or onelie voluntarie How it is to be made and to whome when Some say it was instituted in paradise immediately after sin committed when the Lord saide vnto Adam Adam where are thou for therefore he enquired that he confessing his sinne a forme of confessing should be giuen to others afterwarde But because in that confession the Lord secmed not so expresselie to haue warned him to confession therefore he enquired afterward of Cain the murtherer of his brother more expresselie where is Abel thy brother Other say it was first instituted vnder the law where Iosua commaunded Achar to confesse his fault and he was stoned 45. di sed illud Other saie that it was instituted in the new Testament by Saint Iames saying confesse your sinnes c. But it is better to saie that it was institutad by a certaine vniuersal tradition of the Church rather then by authoritie out of the new or olde testament And the tradition of the Church is of authoritie to binde as it is commaunded ar 11. di in these things Therefore confession in mortal sinnes is necessarie with vs but not with the Greekes because such tradition hath
not flowed vnto them Like as they make not the sacrament in vnleauened bread but in leauened 5. di 1. cap. si Therefore that saying of Iames confesse your sinnes one to an other was at the first but of counsel or els is should binde the Greekes notwithstanding the custome That which followeth in the glosse that confession in some case may be made to a laie man which also both Gratian Lumbard doe holde that which Bede writeth of confession of sins to euery man doth prooue that confessio to a priest is not of Christs institution by their iudgement For if it were it ought to be of all euery sin as wel as of those you cal mortall to a priest onelie For if Christ instituted a sacrament in these words whose sins you forgiue c. and ordeined a priest minister thereof by no other meanes but by hearing a sin ners particular confession as you seeme to holde what reason is there that a laie man should be a hearer of confession or an absoluer or that any sin be it neuer so small should not be confessed ALLEN And that is yet more euident by the second parte of Christes sentence where he saith whose sins you do reteine they be reteined The which worde retinere by Saint Hilarie signifieth non soluere or non remittere to reteinis as much as not to loose or not to forgiue Whercupon by Christes expresse wordes it ensueth that whose sinnes the priest doth not forgiue they be not forgiuen and therfore that euerie man beeing guiltie of deadelie sinne in his conscience is subiect to the priests iudgement by the plaine tearmes of Christs owne wordes Mary we must well note that the priest hath in other sacraments and namelie in Baptisme a right in remitting sinnes both originall and actuall but there in the graund pardon of all that is past he is not made a iudge or a corrector because the Church can not practize iudgement or exercise discipline vpon the penitents for any things done before they came iinto the householde and therfore can appoint the party no penance nor punishment nor binde him according to the diuersitie and number of his faultes nor can make search exactlie of all his secres sinnes by him committed that the sentence may proceede according to the parties desertes but onelie vpon his seeking that sacrament to minister it vnto him according to Christs institution whereupon without any sentence of remission giuen by the priest as I absolue thee or such like a pardon generall of all his sinnes committed if he come thether qualified most assuredlie ensueth But now in the other sacrament of penance not onelie pardon of sinnes but punishment for sinnes is put in the Apopostles and priests handes which can not be done without iudiciarie power and exact examination of the penitent because Christ would that if any did greeuouslie sinne after Baptisme he shold as it were be conuented before his iudgement seate in earth in which as in his roome he hath placed the Apostles priests as is alreadie prooued And therefore mens sinnes must in this case be knowne with diuersitie of their kindes and encrease by diuersitie of place time person number and intent For withoout this particular intelligence can neither the appointed iudges of our soules doe iustice nor the penitent receiue iustice for his offences Therefore it is euident that seeing this holie order is authorized not onelie to remit sinnes generallie as in Baptisme but also placed with all power ouer vs as the iudges of our sinnes we must needes by force of Christs institution be driuen to acknowledge and confesse all our sinnes to the Priest so sitting in iudgement vpon the examination of our conscience For no man euer tooke vpon him not in any ciuil causes to determine and giue sentēce in the matter whereof he hath not by some meanes or other persit and particular instruction and in causes criminall much lesse because the importance of the matter is much more Then in Gods causes and cases of our conscience and in things belonging directlie to mans euerlasting wealth or woe which is the life or death perpctuall of our soules there if either negligence in the iudge in searching out of our sins or consempt in vs in declaration opening confessing or cleare vtterance of them doe hinder the righteousnes of Gods iudgement executed by the Priests office or driuing them to giue wrong sentence of deliuerie and remission there the perill is exceeding great and the daunger wel neare damnation perpetual FVLKE Although to reteine is somewhat more then not to loose or not to forgiue yet the conclusion is true that whose sinnes the minister of the Gospell doth not forgiue of them that heare the Gospell they are not forgiuen But herofit doth not follow that euerie man is bound to shriue himselfe to the priest If you meane that by being subiect to the priests iudgement the minister of the gospell denounceth damnation to all impenitent and obstinate sinners vnto this sentence he is subiect by the plain tearmes of Christs owne wordes that is such a one But if he be truelie penitent in the sight of God he is absolued by the sentence of the minister which pronounceth in the name of God forgiuenes to all them that be truelie conuerted vnto God Wherefore here is no place for the necessitie of auricular confession except you can draw it in by the wordes of demonstratiue syllogismes which I suppose to be impossible and you your selfe shall in conscience confesse no lesse whensoeuer you dare goe about it As touching the difference you shew betwixt the priests office in remitting sins by Baptisme and penance it standeth altogether vpon your owne surmise without any authoritie of the holie scriptures For the minister of the ghospelis made as much a iudge whome to admit and whome to refuse from the sacraments as he is to pronounce whose sins be forgiuen and whose reteined Other iudgement or correction he hath not in the one nor in the other neither is there any punishments put into the Apostles or priests handes for those sinnes that are to be pardoned nor pardon to those that are to be punished The punishment is no lesse then the sentence of eternall damnation vnder which all obstinate and vnrepentant sinners doe remaine so iong as they continue in their obstinacie and impenirencie And therefore the power iudiciarie and exact examination of the penitent and the conuention before Gods iudgement feare in earth which should be the priest is nothing but imaginary vanitie without all ground of authoritie out of Christs institution wherefore except you can prooue that Christ by giuing his Apostles authoritie to sorgiue or reteine sinnes did giue this inordinarie power that you speake of and set vp this iudgement on earth like to the courts in ciuill iudgement in canonicall causes whatsoeuer you saie without warrant of Gods worde is as easily by vs denied as by you it
is affirmed Where you quote Damascene I finde in him nothing for nor any thing sounding that waie in the place by you noted But in the tenth Chapter where he speaketh of eight kindes of baptisme the fifte he maketh Baptisme by the holie ghost and fire Which may be saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a punishing Baptisme because of the fire to come immediatelie followeth the sixth kinde of baptisme which is verie painfall by repentance and teares So that the one beeing distinct by the author from the other I know not by what learning you doe confound to make it seeme as both were one ALLEN Neither may we thinke that this authoritie and approoued power of priests concerneth onelie the open offences which by witnesse and proofe may be conuinced and deferred to the publike Magistrates of the Church as some Protestantes confounding all places of like wordes and tearmes in scripture doe Wherein they consider not that the perfectnesse of the Gospell teacheth man willinglie to accuse condemne and iudge himselfe that he be not iudged of our Lorde Neither doe they weigh that this iudgement of our sinnes though it be ministred by man is yet the seate and court of Christ to whome it no lesse perteineth to binde and loose our secret sinnes then our open offences And he without exception committed remission of all manner of sinnes vnto the Apostles and priestes saying Like as my father sent me so doe I send you But Christ was sent to heale the contrite and sorowfull of al sinnes priuate and publike therefore al manner of offences be they neuer so secret belong to the priests not onelie pardon but also correction and punishment whereof because they be men they cannot iustlie discerne or determine to remit or reteine giue pardon or giue penance except they be confessed by the parties penitent Christ him selfe perfectlie seeing all diseases both of bodie and soule the inwarde sorow and sute of euerie mans heart yet saied to the sicke man blinde Quid vis faciam 〈◊〉 what wouldest thou haue at my hands And shal the priest being a mortall man take vpon him to giue sentence of the diseases of our soules before he knowe them or pardō him that wil not shew vnto him wherein for what sin he asketh a pardō Furthermore the sins of mans cogitation that cannot be discerned by the priest with out the confession of the partie be often no lesse greeuous dānable before God then the open offences therefore there may be no doubt but Christ hath ordeined mercie as well for them as other that be actuallie committed and subiect to the sight of the world but yet no otherwise but by the sacramēt of penance in which without exception the priests haue power to remit or reteine sinnes as well priuate as publike Therefore the same secret sinnes beeing subiect to the Churches iudgement no lesse then the open they must needes be vttered and confessed or els they cannot be realesed much lesse haue any enioyned penance for them But it is mecre wrangling of our aduersaries in so plaine a case follie in all other to doubt whether secret offences euen committed in thought onelie against the last two commaundements forbiding vnlawfull coueting and desires of the minde be properly subiect to the Priests iudgement seeing they can by no otherwise be released but in the sacrament of penance sincere confession of them For here is practized a iudgement not of ciuile Magistrates which onelie punish by laws of all nations actually committed faultes against the weale publike but of soule and conscience which properly pertaine to the cure of Priestes as they properly occupie Christes owne roome to whose pardon and punishment not onelie open sinnes but also priuate offences either in deede or thought committed doe in like perteine For external penance or publike is rather vsed to satisfie the Church of her right in which sinnes can not openlie be committed but to the great offence of her children and therefore must in her by publike penance be corrected for the example of discipline and prouiso of the like sinnes to come FVLKE I knowe no Protestantes neither I suppose you can name anie writer of them that doth think that the authoritie of sorgiuing and retaining sinnes concerneth onelie open offences and not secret But it maie be that some protestantes haue written as all I think do holde and you your selfe in the end of this section do acknowledge that open confession is most conuenient fot the satisfaction of the Church which is offended where and by whome open and notorious sinnes haue beene committed But that secret confession made to a priest is necessarie for the discharge of secret sinnes all Protestants denie neither can anie Papistes prooue it For such reasons as you bring are verie weake and friuolous The perfectnes of the Gospell teacheth man willinglie to accuse condemne and iudge himselfe that he be not iudged of our Lord Ergo he is bound to shriue him-selfe to a Priest Nay contrariewise if he be made accuser condemner and iudge of himselfe he neede not seeke anie other externall iudge but in his owne conscience accuse examine condemne and iudge him-selfe before God And this court of conscience we acknowledge to be the seat and court of Christ where no priest or other mortal man hath authoritie to sit and iudge Neither doth anie correction punishment of our sins belong to priestes by reason that Christ sent the Apostles and their successours to Preach as he was sent by his father but they may remit or retaine sinnes without hearing the particuler confession of euerie sinner by declaring the mercie of God to all that repent and his iustice to all that continue in sinne without repentance But it is a maruetlous strong argument Iweene to prooue the necessitie of confession because our sauiour Christ caused the blinde man by vttering his request in particuler to declare his faith Nay if he had caused all them whose sinnes he pronounced to be forgiuen first to make particuler confession vnto him it had beene more coloure and yet no sufficient argument to prooue the necessity of confession to be made vnto other men much lesse that he would haue the blind mā acknowledge that he beleeued that he was able to giue him sight wherfore vpon a Principle shamefully begged that confession to a priest is necessary you go about to proue that confessiō of secret faults and cogitations of mans heart is also to be made to a priest you accuse your aduersaries of wrangling in so plaine a case and all men of follie that doubt whether such secret offences be subiect to the Priestes iudgement seeing they can not otherwise be released but in the sacrament of penance and sincere confession of them but which of your aduersaries will graunt that they can not otherwise be released or how will you satisfie them that doubt out of the holie scriptures of the institution of
such a sacrament and of auriculer confession as necessarie ALLEN Moreouer the sacrifices of the olde law were in manie cases done by the Priestes as well for priuate sinnes as open which could not be without the confession of the penitent ergo much more the secrets of our soules be subiect to our Priestes to whom Christ hath giuen all iudgement Yet all this notwithstanding there be some that keepe them-selues by vaine excuse of sinne from the verie principall point and pith of this sacrament which is the particuler examination of a mans sinnes committed by thought word or worke and will yet draw back and holde that a generall confession is enough with tearmes vniuersall acknowledgeing a mans selfe to haue sinnes by minde word and deede though he expresse not the seuerall pointes thereof But this opinion is confuted both by all the fore said reasons and other as a moste absord and wilfull maintenance of sinne For by this rule he that killed and murdered thousandes should confesse no more after his wicked actes then before nor no more then the innocentest man that liueth Dauids weeping and confession should haue beene one after his double deadlie sinne committed as before in his innocencie Peter should not haue more bitterlie went after his for saking of his master then before Neither should our confession then pertaine more to our selues then to other who by like generall clauses maie truelie make the like and the same confession as it is now in the Church of England But the holie King Dauid confessed not sinnes common to him selfe and other men but my sinne my wickednes my impietie saith he and this in confessing to God that know alreadie his sinnes How much more now where Gods iudgement is exercised by man that can not discerne our faultes him selfe must we confesse our sinnes that he maie rightlie iudge thereof FVLKE The sacrifices of the olde law did in deede containe a confession of sinne but no particuler declaration vnto the priest of anie sin committed in secret therfore your conclusion is naught as also it is blasphemous that you saie therein that Christ hath giuen to your priestes all iudgement But confession by a generall clause you do not allow to be sufficient to saluation not answerable to Christes meaning I praie you sit at the length bring forth those words of Christ by which you know his meaning so well that you dare deny saluation to them that make not a particuler confession to a priest By this rule you saie the murtherer of thousands should confesse no more then the innocentest man aliue verily to a priest he is no more bound to confesse his murthers then an innocent man his lester trespasses But as anie mans sinnes are more heinous and greeuous so ought he to bewaile and lament the same more earnestlie before God So did Dauid and Peter after their seuerall and greeuous falles not to enforme God which knew their sinnes more exactlie then they could make confession of them but to stirre vp themselues to more earnest hartie sorrow and repentance for them That Gods iudgement is so exercised by priests as you meane you must first prooue after vse for an argument or els you begge and gette nothing ALLEN Penance must be donne for euery of our sinnes So Peter prescribed Simon the sorcerer when he attempted to haue bought the gift of Goddes Spirit that he should doo penance for that especiall greeuous crime Poenitentiam age saith he ab hac nequitia tua Doe penance for this thy wicked attempte if perchaunce God will forgiue thee this abhominable intent The man was baptised not long before and then no such Penance was prescribed for his most greeuous and blasphemous practises of Nicromancie and witchcrafte long exercised before Wherein this naughty pack Simon Magus is a thousand partes more religious then our newe maisters For he desired the Apostles to pray to God for him that this sinne might be forgiuen him where these care no more for the priest or Apostle concerning their sinnes then they doo for dogges Againe Saint Paule did not onely confesse his sinnes by a generall clause but acknowledged his owne sinnes wherein he in his owne person had offended he confessed he was of al sinners the greatest that he had obteined commission to attache them that beleeued in Christes name and so forth Such as were faithfull also at Ephesus as we reade in the 19. of the Actes came to the Apostles Et confitebantur actus suos and confessed their actes and misdees In so much that certaine which had followed vnlaufull artes as Magike Nicromancie and such like curiositie confessed their faultes and burned their bookes before all the people FVLKE We must be poenitent for al and euerie of oursinnes that we know or can call to minde but that penance must be enioyned by a Priest as you meane for euerie sinne let vs see how you can prooue it S. Peter prescribed Simon Magus that he should do penance for that greeuous crime Therfore penance must be done for eucrie of our sinnes Although the antecedent were true yet the consequence is naught penance must be done for one open and hainous sinne ergo for all secret sinnes But I denie that anie such penance as you meane was enioyned vnto him by Peter But that he exhorted Simon to repentance if he looked to haue any forgiuenes of his sinnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repent saith he or change thy minde from this thy wickednes and not as you translate for this thy wickednes as though repentance were a satisfaction for his sin Moreouer I answere you vse not to enioyne penance before men haue confessed their sinne But when Peter exhorted Simon to repent he had not yet confessed his sinne but was a couetous hipocrite 〈◊〉 you dissent from your pupills of Rhemis which denie that doing of pennance was prescribed to men before they were baptized For they translate agite panitentiam as well before baptisme as after to do penance satisfaction for sinne Where you saie that your new maislers care no more for the Priest or Apostle concerning their sinnes then they do for degges it is a saucic Censure of a dogged Papist For they whome you scorne do reuerence all the ministers of God as well in the power they haue to remitte sinnes as also in al other partes of their office An other argument on haue of Saint Pauls example who confessed his owne sinnes and namelie the greatest of persecuting the Church of Christ. Yea but not his secret sinnes to a priest but his open faultes before his conuersion and Baptisme And so likewise they that beleeued Act. 19 made open confession of some of their deuilish practizes committed before they were Christians and in detestation of their former wickednes and signe of true repentance burned their bookes to a great value ALLEN If the priestes had nothing elles to doe with oursins but as they had in the olde lawe to doo with
Christes owne person Which prouing and iudging of mans selfe to be meant by the diligent dif cussing of our consciences sinnes and misdeedes by contrition and confession of them to our ghostlie Father the practise of the Church doth most plainlie prooue which neuer suffered any greeuous sinner to communicat before he had called him selfe to a reckning of his sinnes before the minister of God and so iudged him selfe that he receiue not to his damnation that which to euery worthy person is his life and saluation Whereof S. Augustine or the authour of the booke de Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus set forth with his name giueth vs good notice for his time Quem mortalia crimina post Baptismum commissa premunt hortor priùs publica poenitentia satisfacere ita sacerdotis iudicio reconciliatum communioni sociari si vult non ad iudicium condemnationem sui Eucharistiam percipere sed secreta satisfactione solui mortalia crimina non negamus I exhorte euerie man saith this holie doctour that is burdened after his baptisme with mortall sinne to satisfie for the same by publique penance and to be reconciled by the priests iudgement to be restored to the communion of saints if he meane to receiue the holy Sacrament not to his iudgement and condemnation And I denie not in this case but deadly sinnes may be remitted by secret satisfaction Thus he By whose wordes you see in what a damnahle state men now of daies stand seeing that whosoeuer receiueth the sacrament of Christes bodie and blood before he be reconciled by a priestes sentence and assoiled of his sinnes he doth receiue it to his euerlasting damnation Vnto whose iudgement I ioyne Saint Cyprian in this same matter complainig verie earnestly vpon certaine Conuersies in his daies that would aduenture vpon Christes bodie and blood ante exomologesim factam criminis ante purgatam conscientiam sacrificio manu sacerdotis Before their sinnes be confessed and their consciences purged by sacrifice and the Priests hand Al these thinges might be at large declared and confirmed farther by the iudgement of mostauncient Fathers but because I haue bene verie long and enough alreadie maie seeme to be said for such as by reason will be satisfied a great deale more then anie Protestant will answere vnto and also the scriptures them selues giuing the Priest so plaine power of binding and retaining as wel as of remitting and loosing will do more with these that haue charged themselues with the beleefe of nothing that is not in expresse writing of Gods word then the vniforme consent of all ages and the moste notable persons in the same In respect of their humor therefore I will not saie much more for this point then I haue said onely my meaning now is for the Catholikes comfort to repeat a few such euident sentences out of moste authentique authors by whom we take a 〈◊〉 not onely of their meaninges which is much for the matter but especiallie of the Churches practise in all ages and moste countries christened since the Apostles time which I account the moste surest waie to touch trie truth by that by the example of al our forefathers euery man may willingly learne to submit him selfe to the sentence of such as God hath made the iudges of his soule and sinnes FVLKE Yf Saint Poul had meant Popish shrift he could and would haue said Submit your selues to the examination iudgement of the Priest and not as he hath said Let a man trie him selfe Iudge your selues brèthren Yf auricular confession be necessarie vnder paine of damnation for euerie one that receiueth the sacrament of Christes bodie and bloode immediately before it many thousandes of your priests which saie masse euerie daie without shriuing themselues are in a damnable case I or there passeth no day of mans life without some deadelie sinne if not in deede not word yet at the least in thought but that you popish hypocrites by your distinction of veniall sinnes flatter your selues to be cleare when you are moste foull and filthie but the perpetuall practize of the Church you saie prooueth the necessitie of auricular confession whereof you take witnes the author of the booke de Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus for his time which you doe honestly not to father vpon Saint Augustine being a man of much later time lesse learning and more corruption of doctrine but you do fraudulentlie cut of his saying in the waste because that which followeth declareth plainlie that either he meaneth not of mortall sinnes as the Popish Church now doth holde or else his opinion for secret satisfaction is farre differing from that you would haue men weene that he meaneth namely such as you vse to inioine in your confession fiue Ladies Psalters fiue fridaies fast fiue pence groates or shillings to so many poore men in remembrance of the 5. wounds and such like stuffe but these authors wordes require another manner of satisfaction Sed secreta satisfactione solui mortalia crimina non negamus sed mutato prius secularihabitu confesso religionis studio per vitae correctionem iugi immò perpetuo luctu miserante Deo it a duntaxat vt contraria pro his quae poenitet 〈◊〉 eucharistiam omnibus dominic is diebus supplex submissus vsque ad mortem percipiat Poenitentia vera est penitenda non admittere admissa deflere Satisfactio paenitentiae est causas peccatorum excidere nec eorum suggestionibus aditum indulgere But also that by secret satisfaction mortall crimes may be loosed we doe not denie but so that the secular habite be first changed and the studie of religion confessed by amendment of life and by continuall yea perpetuall sorow God being mercifull so onelie that he doe the contrarie things to those for which he doth penance and humblie and lowlie receiue the Euchariste euerie sondaie to his dying day It is true repentance not to committe things to be repented and to bewaile such as are committed The satisfaction of repentance is to cut of the causes of sinnes and to yeald no entrie vnto their suggestions Wherefore it is plaine that in this writers time there was no auricular confession but an open confession and publike penance for open and hainous offences and that none was admitted to secret satisfaction except he changed his habite became a Monke performed other conditions by him required by which it is manifest that the iudgement of this writer though corrupt yet is contrarie to the practize of the popish Church at this daie But Saint Cyprian is a better witnes I trow for the necessitie of auricular cōfession of secret sins sauing that he speaketh of them that had openlie fallen to Idolatrie and without open confession of their fault and publike satisfaction of the Church by some vndiscreete pastours were admitted to the Lordes table describing them he saith Mortiferos Idolorum cibos adhuc pene ructantes exhalantibus etiamnum
well as of anie other on whome handes were laide but of the sacrament of penance he speaketh not there or else where in all his workes nor of the necessitie of confessing of secret sinnes to a Priest ALLEN But to go forward in our matter Saint Basill a greeke writer also doth euidentlie shewe both his meaning and his Churches practise touching confession both often els namelie where he saith vpon the occasion of a question mooued touching that matter thus Necessarium est vt iis fiat confessio peccatorum quibus dispensatio mysteriorum Dei 〈◊〉 est Nam hoc pacto qui olim inter sanctos poenitentiam egerunt fecisse reperiuntur It is necessarie saith he that our confession should be made to them to whom God hath credited the disposing bestowing of his holy mysteries For so the Saints did penance as we reade And he alledgeth more that penance was vsed speciall sorowfulnes for sinnes with some kinde of confession of sinnes in baptisme how much more then must we now vse the same where it is more required where Christ hath instituted a Sacrament to that end to remit suines committed by relapse after Baptisme And in deed the custome of Iohn the Baptist prooueth that there was a kinde of confession necessarie or at the least conuenient before the institution of this Sacrament For the Euangelisten doe saie Baptizabantur ab eo in Iordane confitentes peccata sua Men were baptized of him in Iordane and made confession of their sinnes So that Iohn maie seeme to haue prepared the waie to Christes doctrine and Sacraments not onely by his baptisme but also by the vsing of the people to confess their faultes and yet it is not necessarie that his vsage of penance should be of like force or shoulde containe an exact conconfession of euerie sinne as the institution of Christ afterward did include no more then this Baptisme maie be thought to be fullie answerable either in manner of vsage or force and efficacie to the holie sacrament of Baptisme by Christ instituted for the office of the newe lawe And in an other place the saide S. Basill treateth how young Nuns and holie sacred Virgens should confesse themselues And in an other place he admonisheth all men to be circumspect in choice of their ghostlie father by whose sentence sinnes ought with singuler discretion to be iudged or examined Whereby it is most manifest that confession to the priestes was vsed and counted necessarie in his daies FVLKE You saie well that S. Basill speaketh vpon occasion of a question that was mooued touching this matter which question if it had pleased you to set downe Saint Basill shoulde haue serued you for no shew or colour of the necessitie of shrifte or confession of priuate offences The question is this O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that is willing to confesse his sinnes whether ought be to confesse them to all men whatsoeuer they be or to certain men By which question it is manifest that cōfession was not necessary but voluntarie But if anie man will make confession S. Basill saith he ought to do it to them to whome the dispensation of Gods mysteries is committed For so they which repented of olde time are found to haue done vnto the holie men for it is written in the Gospell that they confessea ' their sins to Iohn the Baptist in the Actes of the Apostles all men confessed to them by whome they were baptized And we acknowledge as much that if any man will confesse his secret sinnes to be partaker of spirituall counsell and comfort for quieting of his conscience he may ought to confesse the same to them to whome the dispensation of Gods mysteries are committed But what is this for the necessitie of enumeration of all sinnes vnto a priest The same Basill in the Hom. 21. vpon Psal. 37. acknowledgeth in the person of Dauid confession to God alone to be sufficient yea the secret groning of the heart without moouing of lippes or vttering anie wordes to suffice In the 110. question for which you haue placed question the 100. as there is somewhat to prooue that confession was vsed to the priest or Elder so there is nothing to prooue that it was counted necessarie in his daies The question is this whether as at such time a sister maketh confession to an Elder the Elder women must be present This question declareth that priestes had not such familiar and secret shriuing of virgines in those daies as they haue now among the papists S. Basils answer is this The confession shal be made more decentlie and more reuerentlie by the Elder woman vnto the Elder man which is able wiselie to set downe the forme of repentance reformation This answer declareth that Saint Basell would not haue yong women to shriue them selues at all vnto the Priest but that if anie thing troubled their conscience which they were disirous to vtter they should first expresse it to an auncient woman and she should make report thereof to the Priest as in the colledges of virgines he prescribeth it moste conuenient to be done by the matrone or Elder woman that had the ouersight of the yonge sisters and in the next question he affirmeth that the said Elder woman or gouernesse hath iust cause to be angrie with the Priest if he appoint anie thing to be done by the sisters that are vnder her charge without her knoweledge Whereby he declareth plainelie that he alloweth not that priestes should heare the secret confession of such yonge women or appoint them anie penance without the knowledge of their gouernesse That men ought to make good choise of them to whome they wil confesse their secret offences it prooueth not that confession is necessarie whereupon we stand or that it was accounted necessarie in Saint Basills daies That Iohn Baptist made a preparatiō to shrift it is a fond dreame when you your selfe acknowledge that your sacrament hath no place in them that are not babtized That the institution of Christ doth include an exact confession of euerie sinne to the Priest you can neuer be able to prooue The Baptisme of Iohn was not instituted by man but by God therefore of as great efficacie as that which was ministered by the Apostles for Christ was baptized for vs not with the worse baptisme which was ministered by the hands of Iohn ALLEN Necephorus later then he but a learned Greeke writer declareth also vnto Theodosius a Monke that the power of binding and loosing sinnes was committed to bishoppes by our mercifull Lord Christ Iesus in so much saith he that once all men came and confessed their secret sinnes to them by whom they either receued pardon or were put backe But now through the encrease of Christian people and great tediousnes of the worke they haue committed this busines much what to religious persons such as be of tried conditions for to be moste profitable to others
prooued by this place to haue bene in vse in his daies here is no mention thereof Finallie where you would build the antiquity of works vpon this mans authority to be as high as the Apostles I must tell you that by this place you can not albeit the Epiflle were graunted to be writen by the Areopagite For he calleth not Demophilus a Munke as Perionius translateth the word but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a seruant or inferior minister I knowe that Maximus and Pachymeres expound that worde to be meant of Munkes and that this Dynoise also elsewhere nameth Monachos that were in his time but his time was farre vnder the Apostles as is prooued inuinciblie by this argument that neither Eusebius nor Hierome nor Gennadius maketh mention of anie such workes extant in their time of Dyonisius Areopagita and therefore it is certaine they were counterfaited long after vnder his name ALLEN I can not stand vpon euerie point which greeueth me much my matter is so fruitfull and one worthie witnes is yet behinde S. Clement I meane him that S. Peter made his successour Si fortè saith he in alicuius cor vel liuor vel infidelitas vel aliquod malum labenter irrepserit non erubescat qui animae suae curam 〈◊〉 confiteri ei qui praeest vt ab ipso per verbum consilium salubre curetur quò possit fide integra bonis operibus poenas aeterni ignis euadere ad perpetuae vitae praemia peruenire If either enuie or infidelitie or anie other greeuouse sore priuilie possesse mans soule let not him that hath anie care of his saluation be ashamed to confesse it to him that is his Prelate that through his word and counsell he maie be healed of his sinnes and that in true faith and good workes he maie escape hell and attaine to euerlasting life Thus Saint Clement FVLKE The points are not so manie that you should proue but you might haue leasure enough to stand vpon them your matter is so passing barren that for lacke of authenticall writers you are driuen to praie aid of impudent counterfeiters as of shameles and vnlearned asses which counterfeyted the Epistles that goe vnder the name of Clemens and that without either wit or learning or likelihood of trueth For who would thinke that the holie man Clemens could not write his minde in true latine who would thinke that such barbarous latine was written by the bishoppe of Rome at that time when boyes and girles did speake a hundreth fold more pure latine what wise bodie would thinke that Clemens the Apostles schooler would take vpon him to teach the Apostle Saint Iames and that such bables as of keeping the sacraments from myse dong and rottennes nay not onelie to teach him but to giue him charge à principio Epistolae vsque ad hunc locum de sacramentis deleganti bene intuendis vbi non murirum stercora inter fragmenta dominicae portionis appareant neque putrida per negligentiam remaneant clericorum From the beginning of this Epistle vnto this place I haue giuen in charge of the sacraments to be well looked vnto where no mise â—urdes maie appeere among the fragments of the Lords portion neither maie they remaine rotten through the negligence of clarkes This is that worshipfull Clemens that prescribeth confession to a Priest I besech thee reader as Erasmus saith what wit shame or honestie haue they that will beare men in hand these Epistles to be written by so auncient so holy so wise so learned fathers in which is nothing but follie barbarousnes ignorance and impudencie The conclusion of this treatise remoouing the impediments of confessiòn ALLEN THus far in despit of heresie and al her abbettours hath trueth brought it selfe By Christ power was giuen to the Apostles and Priests to remit sinnes by Christ confession was instituted by the Apostles it was commaunded to all Christians by their example all nations faithfull afterward haue vsed it by generall Councells which be of moste soueraigne authoritie it hath bene both confirmed and commaunded by all learned Doctors liked and allowed by all Christian people frequented reuerentlie as the onlie refuge after their relapse Therefore whosoeuer shall see this case so cleare and so consonant to all reason to all learning to all the examples of antiquitie and to Christs owne institution let him schoole his conscience as he thinketh good FVLKE As a cowardlie traitor that is fled out of the battell wherin he had greater care to hid him selse frostrokes then to fight to attaine the victorie when he thinketh him selfe to haue escaped daunger ceaseth not to brag and boast of his valiant actes and strong aduentures in defence of his Prince or countrie so it fareth with you For as though you had fought vnder truthes baner you boast of the victorie against heresie whereas you haue serued heresie done your indeuor against the trueth striuing for nothing so much as that heresie might change names with trueth But they which will you voutchsafe to consider with how litle labour you haue bin encountred and chased out of the field will be able to discerne trueth from heresie and to giue trueth her true name of trueth and heresie her right name of heresie But let vs see what great matters this Champion of trueth hath brought to passe First that by Christ power was giuen to his Apostles and their successours to remit sinnes this victorie indeed is soone archiued against them which neuer withstood this tlitle But what manner of power this is and how to be executed by sentence definitiue or declaratiue according to the will of God or man and by what meanes it is exercised by preaching the Gospell or by murmering of words wherein trueth controulleth heresie you haue broughtnothing to fortifie your errors Secondlie you saie that confession was in stituted by Christ and yet haue no word in the scripture to prooue that popish confession to a priest after your position was either instituted or allowed by him The like I saie of the commendation of shrift to all Christians Neither haue you prooued the necessitie of confession by the example of anie faithfull nation that vsed it and allowed it nor by anie Christian generall councel before the Lateran councell gathered in the name of Antichrist to maintaine his pride and abominable heresies neither hath anie one learned Doctor for 500. or 600. yeares after Christ liked or allowed of confession according to your popish definition thereof much lesse that by all Christian people it was reuerently frequented lest of al that confession is the onelie refuge I meane confession alwaies to a priest for Christians after their relapse which most absurd proposition I thinke few learned papistes will maintaine sure I am manie of the Elder papists haue denied holding that by contrition of heart men might obtaine remission of sinnes without confession of the mouth to a priest Wherfore he that seeth
man of sinne and euerlasting paine whome he also punished for the same sinne with temporal paine as a satisfaction to the iustice of God which none could satisfie in part or in wholl but he onelie by his obedience and suffering ALLEN And this iurisdiction and power of regiment he gaue to Peter principallie when he bestowed on him the keies of heauen vpon the rest of the Apostles with him the power of binding and loosing which is moste principallie and properlie meant of enioyning penance or punishing by sharpe discipline the sinners euill life either before they forgine his sinnes or afterward For as the place of the 20. of Saint Iohn properly concerneth the power of pardoning reteining or forgiuing penance for satisfaction in the sacrament by the right of Priesthoode receiued in their orders though it may somewhat concerne the iurisdiction of the high Magistrates also so the place of Saint Matthew rather perteineth to the chastisment of the wicked by the open discipline as they haue the regiment of al our affaires then it doth to the sacramentall remisstion or satisfaction enioyned For ligare there doth signifie some bond of punishment wherewith the partie is tied and charged for his correction and not onelie bonde of sinne wherewith the Church bindeth no man no more then God himselfe doth but euerie man onelie bindeth himselfe in his owne sinnes And the Church or her ministers doe properlie then binde when they punish by their iurisdiction the sinnes committed not for the damnation of them that did fall but for their correction and amendment And the plaine mention of excommunication which there is expressed to be giuen to the Apostles for the chastisment of such as by more gentle admonition will not amend nor obeie the Church doth prooue that to binde in that place namelie importeth power of punishment to be executed on the offenders which way of chastisment is an open exercise of discipline giuen to the Apostles to be vsed at their discretions for the edifiyng of Christs Church Therefore as to binde there is as well an act of the proper power of iurisdiction as it is a function of prie sthoode to be exercised in the sacrament of penance so to loose soluere in that place though it may signifie to remit sinnes in waie of sacramentall confession yet it is more aptlie correspondent so the words that went before of binding which was not sinne but the paine and punishment for sinne whereby it must needes fillow that as to binde doth fignifie to charge that penitent person with some temporall paine so to loose must also meane to dissolue the bande which before was laied on him for present correction FVLKE Christ gaue no more iurisdiction or power of regiment to Peter pricipallie when he bestowed the keies of the kingdome of heauen vpon him then vpon the rest of the Apostles vnto whome he gaue the like and equall power of binding and loosing of opening and shutting the kingdome of heauen as he did to Peter The same thing verilie saith Saint Cyprien were the rest of the Apostles that Peter was indued with the same fellowspip both of honour and of power That the power graunted in the 18. of Matthew pertaineth moste properlie and principallie to the chaistisment or reconcilement of open offendours by discipline the circumstance of place affordeth no lesse as the text Iohn the 20. ratifieth the effect of their message in them that imbrace or refuse the doctrine of the Gospell And that the gouernours of the Church haue power by excommunication to binde and by absolution to loose vpon good ground and cause in both cases you neede not halfe these wordes to prooue it for we doe acknowledge and practize no lesse in the Churches of Christ where we haue gouernement likewise that the Church hath authoritie for triall of the parties repentance to enioyne some exercise of humiliation and to release the same or part thereof beeing satisfied with the manifest signes of repentance and submission it is also out of controuersie But of your sacrament of penance or satisfaction for sinnes by either discipline established Matthew the eighteene or power of remission of sinnes graunted in the text Iohn the twentie we shall neuer be agreed vntill you can make plaine demonstration out of the holie scriptures that either God hath instituted the one or alloweth the other which you shall neuer be able to doe ALLEN For this is a rule moste certein that all the bandes which the Church laieth vpon any offender be medicinable if the partie list to take them and may be loosed by the same power of the Church by which they were bounde before And therefore euer as mention is made in scripture of binding or which is all one punishing of sinnes there is also mention of the like power of loosing for Christ would not giue power to the Church to binde or correct sinnes but much more he would haue the Church resemble himselfe being her head in mercie and therefore gaue her alwaies power to loose that kinde of punishment which shee by her ministers had bounde or inoyned before For these two actes beeing answerable in conference and contrarietie muste necessarilie follow ech other and properlie to the like power and prerogatiue Then the one beeing giuen to the Apostles euen out of the sacrament of penance the other muste needes also by the like right be receiued S. Ambrose rebuketh much the Nouatians because they would haue the Church enioyne penance but they liked not that he should mercifullie release the same againe nor the penitents sinnes neither Dominus saith he par ius soluendi esse 〈◊〉 ligandi qui vtrumque pari conditione permisit ergo qui soluendi ius non habet nec ligandi babes Our Lord would haue the right of losing binding to be like for equally he gaue the power of both Therfore whosoeuer hath not power to loose he hath no power to binde If anie man then list follow the Nouatians he maie holde at his pleasure that it preteineth to the Churches iurisdiction to binde that which she can not loose againe contrarie to Christes expresse graunt made vnto her first in the person of Peter and then in the right of all the Apostles to whome when he had promised as well the keies of order as iurisdiction he said vnto them whatsoeuer you shall binde in earth it shal be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you loose in earth it shal be loosed in heauen first giuing them thereby authorititie to punish and then to pardon And therefore as the sacrament of penance wherein sinnes be released or retained was grounded vpon the wordes of Christ spoken to the Apostles after his resurrection whereof we talked so much in the former treatise so the power of giuing pardon or punishing out of the sacrament by the vertue of the iurisdiction as the Pope and other Bishoppes now doe and alwaies haue done is founded moste fast vpon this
place of Saint Matthew spoken first and principallie to Saint Peter and then to other Apostles vniuersallie Now if anie list be assured by the Doctours interpretation that the wordes of our Sauiour of binding and loosing doe directlie giue power to the pastours of his Church to punish the offenders and release their sentence of seueritie againe let them read Saint Augustines 75. Epistle where they shall finde much of this matter and thus amongst other thinges spiritalis poena de qua scriptum est Quae ligaueritis in terra erunt ligata in coelo ipsas animas obligat The spirituall punishment whereof Christ spake when he said what-soeuer you binde in earth it shall be bound in heauen do fast binde the soules themselues And Saint Chrysostome disputing excellently vpon these wordes of binding or loosing compareth the iurisdiction of Princes temporall vnto the spirituall power herein and maketh this to excell that as farre as heauen passeth the earth and the soule in dignitie surmounteth the bodie If anie King saieth Chrysostome should giue vnto some subiect such authoritie vnder him that whome whosoeuer he would he might cast into prison and againe release him when he list all men would account that subiect moste happie But he that hath receiued not of an earthlie King but of God him selfe a power that passeth that other as farre as heauen is from the earth and the soule excelleth the bodie I trow him euerie man must both wonder at and highlie reuerence Thus farre said the Doctor acknowledging that as some by Princes grauntes maie prison or pardon the bodies so the Priestes maie punish mens soules and loose or pardon them againe For the proofe whereof he applieth fitlie both the woordes of Christ spoken to S. Peter aud the like afterward to all the Apostles concerning binding and loosing FVLKE Whether all the bands of the Church be medicinable if the partie list to take them Doctors doe dour seing there is a sin vnto death not to be praied for And S. Paul layed such a band vpon Alexander the copper smith that he desired the Lord to requit him according to his workes which could be no lesse then eternall damnation without hope of true and faithfull repentance for which Esaw found no place though he sought the blessing with teares For true repentance is not a matter of mens list but an excellent gift of God That case excepted it is out of question that the Church hath power as well to loose as to binde what or whome soeuer and God in heauen doth ratifie that which the Church vpon good cause doth on earth And therefore to prooue this whereof there is no doubt there needed neither Ambrose Augustine nor Chrysostmes authoritie to be cited except it be to shew how prodigall you are of proofe where there is no neede and howe drie and barren where there is most necessitie vnlesse you will haue your wordes and sayings go without al warrantize as euen in this section that this power or iurisdiction as you call it is giuen principallie to Peter that the sacrament of penance is grounded vpon Christes words spoken to his Apostles after his resurrectiō which of the Doctors affirmeth Contrariwise Chrysostome in the place by you cited as you your selfe confesse doth fitlie applie the words of Christ spoken to Saint Peter and the like to al the Apostles concerning binding and loosing vnto all priests alike therefore no principalitie in Peter For these and such like matters of controuersie the Doctors serue not your true but you would haue the ignorant suppose that as you can cite the Doctors full and direct for manie thinges whereof we doe not contend so in all matters of contention the Doctors are full on your side But if anie papist haue but halfe an eie he will or maie espie your insirmitie though you doe neuer so cunninglie dissemble it ALLEN Againe Saint Cyprian and other holy bishoppes of Affrike which had inioyned long penance to certaine that had fallen in time of persecution from their faith for flatterie or feare of the worlde and had thought to haue giuen them anie Indulgences peace or pardon for that then they called dare pacem which we now tearme to giue a Pardon til the houre of death came Statueramus saie they vt agerent diu plenam poenitentiam we had verilie determined that they should haue done out all their full inioyned penance but now vpon other great respectes we doe agree to giue peace of pardon to those that haue earnestlie done some penance alreadie and lamented bitterlie their former fall But marke well here by what authoritie they chalenge this power and what they doe chalenge They chalenge pardie power to giue penance to the offenders and they claime by right the release thereof Againe they clearelie take vpon them in consideration of the fault to inloine what they list and how long they list and vpon like iust respect by their wisdomes to pardon some peece of the same againe either after death or else if good matter mooue them long before But by what Scripture doe they claime such iurisdiction that they maie giue discipline to offenders euen without the 〈◊〉 of penance onelie by their iurisdiction and right of regiment and then by their onelie letters to giue them in absence peace and pardon of their inioyned penance againe Saint Cyprian and all his honorable fellowes shall answere you in the same place for there they giue a reason of that their proper right Quia ipsepermisit qui legem dedit vt ligata in 〈◊〉 is etiam in coelo ligata essent solui autem possent illic qui hic prius in Ecclesia soluerentur That is to saie he doth permit vs who made this lawe that whatsoeuer we bound on earth should be bound in heauen and those thinges should be loosed in heauē aboue which the Church here beneath releaseth before Let vs therefore be bolde also to answere our aduersaries with the said holie Fathers if they aske vs by what right the Pope or Bishoppe giue pardon or what is that he doth forgiue by his pardon let vs answere for them and for our Mother the Church that they pardon onelie the penance inioyned or other paine due for greeuous sinnes after they be remitted in the sacrament of penance And that they maie so doe by good authoritie we alleadge Christes owne worthines with the named holie Fathers whatsoeuer you binde in earth it shal be bound in heauen and if you loose it in earth before it shall also be released in heauen But vpon this practise of Gods Church I will charge them further hereafter FVLKE This authoritie of Saint Cyprian is no more necessarie then the former of Chrisostome Augustine Ambrose For we doubt not but the Church with the gouernours thereof haue sufficient power by Christes graunt to release such time of penance or parte therof as is enioyned to offenders to prooue their repentance and to
the Church should of dutie initigate the rigor of those Canons and not send men to secke pardons for them Whereas many a man that hath needc lacketh either monie or other occasions to purchase pardons but if the manners of men be so dissolute as they like not streight penance they are more dissolute vnto sinne and so had need of the bitte of streighter penance to keepe them in then the raine of pardons and easie penance to let them runne You repeat againe that this penance Canonicall was appointed not onelie for cautele and prouision against the like sinnes but also for satisfying of Gods iustice But hereof no proofe at all but a bare affirmation ALLEN The third waie of punishment of temporal sinne is by Gods owne hand as when he striketh some by sickenes 〈◊〉 by temporal death or by the paines of Purgatorie which 〈◊〉 a place of temporal satisfaction correction of the soule only in the next life Thus were diuers of the Corinthians cast into infir mites manie striken dead and further also punished in the next world in the place of iudgement there not eternal but transitory because they would not iustly iudge and correct themselues And which is much to be noted for our purpose the Apostles also had authoritie giuen them to punish the offendours often by bodelie vexation and death sometimes that they might thereby make true shew and proofe to all the world that they and their successours had iurisdiction ouer the soules of men whiles they made it euident by manifest signes wrought in the face of all the world euen vppon the bodies themselues which are not so properlie subiect to the gouernours of the Church as the soules of the faithfull be though their bodies to for the soules sake be subiect to the said power And not withstanding the same miraculous force in correcting sinners did cease afterwardes yet the like power ordinarilie to be exercised by giuing penance and seperating from the Sacraments remaineth in the Churches right still And here we maie not thinke that the killing of diuers as well by Gods owne hand amongest the people of Israell in Moset time as of other that died of diseases for punishment of vnworthie receiuing the Sacrament in Saint Paules daics or sleaing of Ananias and his wife by S. Peters hand manie moe perhapes whereof there is no talke in the text we maie not deny I saie that these were all killed either of God or Christes Apostles to eternall damnation but rather for their temporall correction and the auoiding of Gods iudgements to come especiallie where anie of them did repent them of their fault before their deserued death came vpon them FVLKE That God striketh by sicknes or temporal death his children sor their chastisment and example of others it is verie certaine but that he sendeth anie into purgatorie or punisheth for satisfaction of his iustice I must stil denie vntil I see it plainly proued Neither do I finde that the Corinthians which neglected to iudge themselues in this life were punished with anie transitorie punishment in the next world That the Apostles had authoritie to aftlict mens bodies prooueth not that they or their successours had iurisdiction ouer mens soules But their spirituall power is otherwise sufficiently testified as well in retaming sinnes as in casting out of the Church such as teeme by gentler discipline incorrigible Concerning all those that haue bin or be striken with the hand of God with temporall death we leaue the iudgement to him selfe If they did trulie repent before their death we haue sure testimonie that God hath receiued them to mercie But hereof it followeth not that their temporall punishment was a satisfaction of Gods iustice neither-saith Saint Hierome anie such thing ALIEN Now by these three diuers waies of correction for sinnesremitted no doubt the Pardons of Gods ministers must be limited and vnderstanded so that whosoeuer giueth a pardon lawfully he must either discharge the penitent of the punishment which his Ghostlie Father enioyned him or that the olde lawes of most holie Councels charged the like offenders withal or that God himselfe enioyned sometimes in this world but especiallie in the next life where god more exactlie properlie punisheth both for sins remitted not remitted If the pardō be large it taketh awaie the whole pain if it be otherwise it determineth the number of daies and releaseth not all but part of the pennance onelie that is to saic so manie daies or yeares as in the Indulgence is mentioned Whereof no man can now be ignorant if he doe but marke that the penance which the Pope taketh vpon him to remit was also limited by yeares of fasting praying abstinence from the Sacraments and such 〈◊〉 as if your Confessour had giuen you in penance to fast euerie fridaie bread and drinke onelie for some notorius sinnes confessed vnto him then the Pardon for twentie daies would discharge you of so manie daies from your said bond as be named and if it be a free and plenarie Indulgence it shall discharge you of the bond of all the daies or yeares appointed which you haue not before the receit of the said pardon accomplished And this is exceeding plaine for the two first kindes of punishments which we said were adioyned for satisfaction by the Churches lawes and by the confessours prescription For they stood vpon daiet and yeares so the remission of the same must needes keepe the like forme For which cause you shal see often expressed De Poenitentiis iniunctis in the Indulgence And that forme of graunt remission was vsed alwaies in gods Church For S. Cyprian did remit a great peece sometimes De poenitentiis inunctis of the enioyned penance when he gaue peace to such as fell in time of persecution long before they had fulifilled their prescribed penance and so did S. Paull to the Corinthian that had committed incest And so doth Nice Councel prescribe to Bishops that they should or might at the lest Humaniùs agere deale more gentlie with those that denied their faith in the persecution of Licinius that they might pardō them before if they saw cause though seauen yeares penance was prescribed vnto them In which places that the Church now calleth a Pardon or Indulgence was tearmed sometimes donare aliquid in persona Christi to giue or graunt something to the offender in Christes person and so called Saint Paull it sometimes it was called Dare pacem as Saint Cyprin termeth it in manie places of his workes sometimes it was called Humaniùs agere To deale gentlie with sinners or to shew vnto them humanitie and so doth Nicen and Ancyran Councells terme it Licebit etiam Episcopo humanius circa aliquid cogitare It shall be lawfull for the Bishop to deale more curteouslie with them saith the holie Councell FVLKE First you tell vs that the pardon must discharge men either of al or some part of these three kindes of
that euer recouered by the Popes pardon among so many 1000. sick persons as haue receaued the Popes pardon was neuer none sick by gods appointment for satisfying of his iustice onelie But admit he were sick for other causes as welll as for that should not the popes pardon at the least take away some parte of his sicknes namelie so much as was laid vpon him for that cause onelie Let the Pope if he will make triall of his power to the confusion of his abuersaries graunt a generall pardon to all Papistes as he maie easilie do and then let it be tryed whether anie one shall straight recouer of his bodelie sicknes or other affliction or how manie shall be eased in their bodilie or wordly affliction Prouided alwaies that we haue no counter fait crankes that shall step vp sodenlie recouered of that disease whereof they were neuer sick But if you dare be bolde to saie that the Popes pardon can cause anie man to recouer straight vpon the recept of it you must also be bolde to say that the popes pardon can worke miracles for no man can sodainlie recouer of any disease which is not come to the period without miracle if the naturall cause thereof be not first taken awaie But alas who doth not see your miserable startinghole if that infirmitie were for none other cause but that onelie as it may be for manie mo wherof no man can easilie iudge A wretched clout to hide your infirmitie where no one example among so manie thousand as are sick in the world can be shewed So that purgatorie paines and the release of them are grounded vpon temporall afflictions whereof noe man can iudge for what cause they are no man can shew one example of the release of them by pardons ALLEN And therfore not onelie Christ him-selfe as I shall declare hereafter but Aaron also healed in the olde law the infirmities of thousands which came vpon them onelie for temporall punishment of sinnes And in the sacrament of extreme vnction the Apostle Saint Iames affirmeth that our Lord shall vpon the priestes praier lift vp the penitent or ease him of his sicknes whichhe meant onely or chiefely of that sicknes which commeth vpon the partie by Gods hand as a punishment of those sinnes which be remissible in the sacrament for such like means As Saint Chysostome sheweth also a passiing power in the ministers of God Church saying That they maie keepe mans soule from perishing and maie charge him with more easie paine euen at his passing hence besides that they maie ease his bodelie infirmitie also by their holie praiers in the act of extreame vnction in this sense speaketh he thereof FVLKE Said I that no man can shew one example of the release of bodilie afflictions Master Allen sheweth here examples of thowsands healed not onelie by Christ but by Aaron also of infirmities that came vpon them for temporal punishment of sinnes as he will declare hereafter But I replie what miracles Christ or Aaron wrought in his name they be no examples of the Popes pardons by which if he can prooue that anie man receaueth recouerie of his sicknes it is somewhat to the purpose The llke I saie of annointing with oile by which the elders of the primitiue and Apostolike Church endued with the miraculous gift of healing cured manie of their bodilie infirmities but that anie extreame vnction restoreth anie man to health or euer did I vtterlie denie and therefore we will not dispute of what sicknes they heale them Neither doth Chrysostome saie that the Ministers of Gods Church haue such a passing power that they maie ease bodilie infirmitie by their holie praiers in the act of extreame vnction neither hath his words anie sense thereof and therefore you deale fraudulentlie to tell vs of the sense when you rehearse not the wordes Plaine dealing becommeth an honest cause but when neither wordes nor sense can helpe you you must faine a sense which can not be prooued of the wordes which are these De sacerdotio lib. 3. cap. 6. preferring the ministers of the Church before bodelie parents by so much as the life to come excelleth this life for they truelie do beget vnto this life but these vnto that to come And they truelie can not so much as deliuer them from bodylie death nor driue awaie sicknes that falleth vpon them but these have often saued the soule that was stck and readie to perish causing some to haue a gentler punishment suffering some not to fall from the beginning and helping them not onely by teaching and admonishing but also by praiers For not onelie when they regenerate vs but after warde they haue power to forgiue sinnes It anie man sick among you saith he let him call for c. Where the text of Saint Iames is alledged onelie to prooue that they haue power to obteine forgiuenes of sinnes by praier and neither for healing of bodylie sicknes nor for extreme vnction The ceremonie whereof with the miracle whereunto it was annexed was ceased long before Saint Chrysostomes time ALLEN But as I said because no man can well iudge when man is afflicted onelie for temporall discipline or satisfaction or when far other purposes to vs vnknowne the Church of God that vseth high wisdome and moderation in all things medleth not directly in pardoning by her iurisdiction with any such bodily afflictions as god chargeth man with alin this life which maie be to the forsaken as a beginning of their eternall damnation as Saint Augustine saith as well as a temporall correction and therefore not effectuallie remissible in the Church But the bond of Purgatorie that I saie in the Church maie be released and is released at euerie time that man worthilie receiueth a full and plenarie remission of all penance enioyned due to be enioyned by the law of the Churches decrees I do not speake now of the deliuerie of anie person from the paines of purgatory which alreadie is actuallie there or for the Churches power in releasing of their painet after they be in the course of Gods iudgement for the same I am not so farre yet but I speak of the discharge of the bond thereof or some portion of the same now before the partie do passe hence which is a great deale more proper to the Churches power and more easie to be brought to passe then when the penitents soule is alredy in iudge ment there to which place the Churches iurisdiction as some suppose doth not extend If the simple vnderstand me not let him marke my meaning by an example The paines of hell can not neither by God nor man ordinarilie be helpen or released after man be in the same but the debt of Hell which is due for euerie mortall sinne is discharged allwaies at our repentance in so much that the priest in the sacrament of penance with the sinne euer remitteth the bonde of Hell and preuenteth Gods iudgement in the same So if
of them The example of Aarons intercession as he was the high priest shewed the effect of Christes priesthood of whome he was a figure whose perfect sacrifice represented in the incense was a sweete sauour of reconciliation vnto God for the preseruation not onelie of the Israelites but of all Gods elect both from temporall and eternall destruction This example of Aarons incense therefore is as farre differing from the Popes pardons as Aarons office differeth from Antichristes presumption ALLEN But it were to long to make rehersall of all such punishments as God hath afflicted his people with all for sinne and yet hath beene either wholie put of or much thereof abated by these priestes euen of the olde lawe when they had no warrant promise nor commission in sacrament or otherwise either to binde or loose as by iurisdiction or anie otherwise but by their praiers where ours of the newe law and testament haue expresselie receiued a full power and commission concerning the same Therefore now in the new lawe and in the daies of grace where mercie and iudgement be met together truth and peace be ioyned we shall finde expresse examples of iustice and iudgement on the one side and grace and mercie on the other not onelie in the gouernment of Popes and Bishops but in Christes owne regiment and his holie Apostles from whome to our priestes all this power prooceedeth In them then of whome heresie and falshoode doe stande in awe let vs see whether anie examples maie be found of pardoning the paine due for sinne The seuen deuils possession of one womans bodie was no small punishment for sinne yet when it pleased Christ he both forgaue her the sin discharged her of that horrible punishment for the same she had a graund pardon a plenarie Indulgence because she loued much Yea a woman thae had committed adulterie and therefore by the law subiect to death was pardoned by Christ not onelie of her sinne and damnation but of that penaltie which by Gods law shee was subiect vnto for the same sin wherby he declared that he had full power not onelie to remit sinnes but also to giue pardon for any temporall punishment prouided by law for sinne Where are they woman that doe accuse thee quoth Christ Here is none here said she Lord. If none haue condemned thee goe thy waie therefore and sinne no more And this is the 8. of Saint Iohns Gospell FVLKE Yf the Priests of the old law had no warrant promise or commission to binde or loose any waie but by their praiers for as much as the dutie of praier is not proper to priests but common to al faithfull persons you can prooue no shadow of the power of Priests in releasing Gods punishment by their putting of or abating such punishment by praier onelie Although you saie vntrulie that they had no warrant of binding and loosing in sacrament or otherwise For they had power and commission to separate the cleane from the vncleane to exclude from the participation of the Sacraments and sacrifices to cast out of the sinagogue and to receiue againe But thereof I will not dispute at this time That is a greater matter you speake of that Christ himselfe gaue a pardon Who doubreth but that Christ had fullnes of power to pardon according to his diuine pleasure Yf the Pope may doe whatsoeuer Christ did let him caste out Deuills clense the Lepers raise the deade yea let him make another worlde But where you saie that the adulteres Iohn 8. was pardoned by Christ of the temporall penaltie that shee was subiect vnto by Gods law for her sinne that was stoning to death you speake beside the Gospell for there is no one worde to prooue it but rather Christ sheweth that he had not to do with ciuil punishments as when he refused to deuide the inheritance betweene the brethren and discouereth the hypocrisie of the Pharisies who when they had no authoritie to execute any offendour by death beeing restreined by the Romane lawes and power come to tempt him that either he should giue sentence of her against the law of God or ells seeme cruel in pronouncing sentence of death against her whose life the ciuill authoritie did spare What is here like the Popes pardons or what hath any pardon of Christ like to the Popes pardons ALLEN Which example I alledge the rather because Saint Augustine noreth it as a strange power and iurisdiction that should remit the punishment enioyned by the law it selfe for a publike crime where the person was taken with the manner Yea he applieth it to the Priests and Bishops and prooueth that it becommeth them at the lest to make intercession to the temporall officers by occasion for the release of offendours even where they be subiect vnto the appointed punishment of the lawes Wherein he saith that though they cannot by their authoritie commaund their release yet that it behoueth the Ciuill Magistrates to release the paine where they doe make request For which cause Macedonius a Magistrate had challenged Saint Augustine or rather asked him the question why Bishops did so much intermedle in the temporall iudgement for procuring pardon to offendours in so much that they would not take it well if they obtained not the remission of the parties punishment for whome they made intercession To whome Saint Augustine answereth trimelie and largelie where amongest other things he saith Ipse Dommus intercessit ne lapidaretur adultera eo modo nobis commendautt intercessionis officium Our Lord himselfe made intercession for the woman taken in adultery by that fact commended vnto vs the office of intercession And Saint Augustine excommunicated Countie Bonifacius that he tooke from the Church an offendour and put him to execution when he came to the Church for mercy pardon So prone hath Gods Church euer beene to remit the paine for sinne deserued not onelie where she had full authoritie to pardon at her pleasure but euen there where it could not otherwise be had but by intercession to other men who had to doe therewith FVLKE You quote Saint Augustines epist. 54 ad Macedonium as though he should note it a strange power and iurisction that should remit the punishment inioyned by the law it selfe for a publike crime But there is no such note of any such strange power and iurisdiction in all that Epistle In deede he supposeth that this dutie of intercession for offendours is commended to the Ecclesiasticall persons by this example and that Magistrates are to be mooued with pitie to pardon offenders at their request But he speaketh not of any power or iurisdiction in this intercession but of humble petition Our Lord him selfe saith he was a meane among men that the adulteres should not be stoned and by that means commended to vs the duetie of intercession sauing that he did it by terrifying that we do by petition For he was the Lord and we are
his seruantes yet he so terrifyed that we all ought to feare For which of vs is without sinne which when he had said to them by whome the sinner was offered to be punished that he which knew him-selfe to be without sinne should first cast a stone at her their crueltie fell downe by trembling of their conscience For then they slipping awaie out of that congregation left the poore wretch alone to him that is mercifull Let the pietie of Christians giue place to this sentence to which the impietie of the Iewes gaue place let the humilitie of them that are obedient giue place to that to which the pride of persecutors gaue place let the confessiō of the faithful yeld to that whereto yeelded the dissembling of the tempter What haue we here for this strange iurisdiction or for the Popes pardons in this example or in the example of Saint Augustine excommunicating or suspending of Bonifacius for violating the priuiledge of the Church in taking awaie a man worthie to die that fled thether for succour when he did not execute as you saie but restored him vnhurt to life as appearerh by his answere The pronnesse of Ecclesiasticall persons vnto mercie and pitie may be gathered by this example but no argument to prooue the Popes pardons to be good that I saie not it may be doubted whether such clemencie standeth with Gods iustice that commaundeth the murtherer to be drawen euen from his aultar to be executed And Augustine himselfe in his Epistle of intercession commendeth the punishing mercie and con demneth the pardoning crueltie beside that we muste liue according to laws and not according to examples ALLEN Againe Christ deliuered in the fift of Saint Iohn one that had beene feeble eight and thirtie yeares long for a punishment of his sinnes and that he might vnderstand that that sicknes came vnto him for correction of his former offences he said vnto him after in the temple Lo thou art made wholl looke thou sinne no more least a worse thing happen vnto thee Neither is it vnlike but the partie had his sinnes remitted long before Christ healed him of his corporall infirmity by the sacrifices of the law and by ordinarie meanes of that time through the faith in Christ Iesus Whereby you may perceiue that our high Bishop Christ hath giuen pardon to many not onelie of their sinnes and euer lasting damnation but also of the temporall paine and punishment either prescribed by the law or enioyned by Gods owne appointment Then we neede not wonder that the Churches officer holding by his right both the title to pardon and to punish should be by his example so prone to mercie which of the two is alwaies moste commended in spirituall regiment FVLKE Christ healed many that suffered punishment of bodelie diseases for their sinnes to shew that he was appointed of god to be the heauenly phisitian to heale the diseases of our soules by pardoning our sinnes But that the partie whereof you speake had his sinnes remitted long before Christ healed him of his corprall infirmitie by sacrifices of the law and ordinarie meanes of that time through the faith in Christ Iesus though you saie it is like yet it is verie vnlike For he had laien eight and thirtie yeares in the portch of Siloam waighting for the miraculous manner of healing that God shewed at certain times vppon them that first entred aster the water of the poole was mooued All which time it is not like that he could be partaker of the sacrifices or ordinarie meanes by which remission of sinnes thorough faith in Iesus Christ was testified to the participants of those meanes But rather as his owne wordes sound it is like he was onelie attentiue to the vsuall meane which God shewed to attein health of bodie thereby not caring for true repentance and conuersion to god yet it appeareth he had small taste of spirituall doctrine when he knew not of whome he receiued the benefit of health and so was vnthankesull vnto him for it But what is concluded out of this example that the officers of the Church in spirituall regiment ought to be prone to mercie Many examples prooue that more directlie but that the officers of the Church haue power to punish and pardon as Christ had this example prooueth not ALLEN Neuerthelesse we meane not that the priest hath alwaies such power as Christ had in remoouing of bodelie sickenes not onelie because they know not when it is the deserued paine for sinne as he did but also because as Saint Augustine saith Remissio in Ecclesia magis fit propter futurum iudicium Pardoning in the Church hath more respect to the iudgement of the next worlde he meaneth by the temporall iudgement and for that he alledgeth out of Saint Paull that the iudgement which he willeth vs to preuent by punishing our selues is the correction of such as God loueth lest they be damned with the worlde which cannot signifie the euerlasting iudgement Wee meane not then that the Pardons of the Ecclesiasticall Magistrates should perteine to the releasing of bodelie paines duely deserued for sinne or for other causes appointed because Christ so did not vnto all but vnto some as it pleased his wisedome but this we saie that as he of his mercie tooke away and released the sinners of certaine temporall afflictions as well appointed by the law of Moses as enioyned by Gods owne hand and so gaue a Pardon of that which both Moses and his owne Father appointed euen so maie the Apostles and their successours pardon anie man that is worthie of that benefite of some parte or all such penance as their owne lawe prescribed or the iustice of God vpon the bonde of their decrees and the debt of the sinners hath in the next life prepared Although as I haue once noted before not onelie the Apostles miraculouslie but also Gods Priests dailie doe heale in the sacrament of extreame vnction and praiers not onelie sinnes but the penitent of their sickenes and infirmity where the disease especially came of sin as I suppose or otherwise when it is expedient to the partie and glorious to Gods name FVLKE You were bolde to saie before that if any man were sicke by Gods appointment for that cause onelie to satisfie for his sinnes remitted that he should streight recouer by the Popes pardon which is to graunt him such power as Christ had in remoouing ofbodelie sicknes suffered for the cause aboue specified That the priest wanteth this power because he knoweth not when bodelie sickenes is the deserued paine for sinne as though there were any paine that were not deserued for sinne it is no reason For an empirike healeth by vertue of his medicines oftentimes though he know not the cause of the sickenes and so should the priest by laying to his plaister if he had any such but none euer recouered sodainlie by the Popes pardon or the priests power therefore it is a fained for gerie
that they haue any such power of healing bodelie diseases It is a better reason that you alledge out of Saint Augustine that remission of sinnes in the Church respecteth the iudgement to come but that he speaketh there of any temporal iudgement after this life you are not able to prooue Neither doth the citing of the text of Saint Paull I. Cor. II. helpe you which he citeth to prooue that temporall paines are laide vpon men in this life to them whose sinnes are done awaie that they should not be reserued to the ende as his wordes are plaine in that wholl Chapter Magis enim propter futurum iudicium fit remissio peccatorum In hac autem vita c. For remission of sins ie made rather for the iudgement to come For in this life it preuaileth so much which is written a heauie yoke vpon the sons of Adam from the daie of their comming forth of their mothers wombe vnto the day of their buriall into the mother of all thus we see euen litle children after the lauer of regeneration to be tormented with the affliction of diuerse euills that we may vnderstand that all which is doue by the healthfull sacraments doth pertaine rather to the hope of good thinges to come then to reteining or obteining things present Manie euills also seeme to forgiuen heere and to be reuenged with no punishments but the paines of them are reseruea vntill afterwarde For not in vaine is that called properlie the daie of iudgement when the iudge of the quicke and the deade shall come As on the contrarie side some things are reuenged heere and yet if they be remitted verilie in the worlde to come they shall not hurt Wherfore of certaine temporall paines which are laid vppon sinners in this life in them whose sinnes are done awaie that they should not be reserued vnto the ende the Apostle saieth for if we iudged our selues we should not be iudged of the Lord but when we are iudged of the Lord we are chastened that we should not be damned with this worlde Thus it is plaine by Saint Augustines iudgement that Saint Paull speaketh of temporall paines laied vppon sinners in this life to bring them to repentance not of temporal iudgement to be exercised after this life But you meane not that Popes or Bishops pardons should alwaies take away bodelie sicknes because Christ did not so vnto ai Nay rather because they are not able to heale a sore finger in any one man For Christ healed as many as he would if the Pope haue Christs power why should he not as well heale whome he will Your similitude that as Christ tooke away temporall paines so may Popes and priests holdeth not for there is great odds betweene Christ and his seruants he did what he would they may doe no more then he hath giuen chem power and charge And for releasing of times of repentance appointed to satisfie the Church they may by power giuen from him but for the releasing of debt to be paied in the world to come he gaue them neither authority nor cōmaundement That the priest doth dailie heale in your sacrament of aneling it is an impudent lie For first they anoint none in their dailie practize but such as are in dispaire of life of whom if any recouer by the wilof God it is sacriledge to impure it to the power of the priests anointing who hauenot the gift of healing as the elders of the Apostles Church had whome S. Iames willeth to be sent for to heale the diseased ALLEN But in Saint Paull we haue inuincible proofe of the authoritie and iurisdiction of Bishops and princivali pastcurs touching as well the power of enioyned pename and satisfaction for sinnes committed as the lawfull power of pardoning the same which before was enioyned and so in one fact of the Apostle a cleare practize of binding and loosing He first bound him by excommunication that had so greeuouslie offended and to shew what a terrible torment this kinde of panishment is and how much it is to be dred he maketh it euident by a slraunge corporall vexation that all Chrillian men might conceiue the miserie of those persons which be excommunicated hereafter when the externall signe and miraculous torment should ceasse in the Church I wili reporte the matter fullie There was amongst the Corinthians one of reputation that kept vnlawfullie his fathers wife the which being knowne to their Apostle Saint Paul who then was absent srom them and being accounted of him as in deede it was an exceeding grieuous fact and notorious he gaue in charge to the Church of Corinth to take the person that had so offended as excommunicated that is to saie to be separated from the sacraments the seruice and common fellowship of Saints But see with what a maiestie and might of operation with what force of wordes and authoritie of his calling with what a kinde of punishment Christes officer here correcteth the offender Thus runneth his determinate sentence on the offender that all the worlde may take heede and wonder at the Churches authoritie and condemne the vaine voices of them that doe restraine the power of Gods ministers onelie to the preaching of the Gospell I beeing absent in bodie but present in spirit haue alreadie giuen iudgement as well as if I were present that the person that hath thus wickedlie wrought should be deliuered vpto Sathan in the vertue of our Lorde Christ Iesus you there being gathered with my spirit in the name of our said Lord Christ Iesus and all for the vexation of his flesh that his soull may be safe in the daie of our Lord Iesus Christ. This in effect is the Apostles sentence on that incestuous person wherby he was temporallie tormented by the force of Saint Pauls power of binding sinners giuen by Christ and exercised no otherwise as you may see but in Christs vertue holie name Where it may be noted for a strange 〈◊〉 of mans word that the deuill himse fe should be therby appointed to torment a sinners bodie not as he would but as far as the diuine Magistrate shall limit him Diabolus enim quia ad hoc paratus est vt auerses à Deo 〈◊〉 in potestatem audita sententia corripit eos The 〈◊〉 saith Saint Ambrose who is alwaies readie to take them to his power that are turned from God sireight as soone as he heareth the sentence pronounced vpon sinners he doth afflict and correct them As it may also appeere by our Sauiours wordes in the Gospell of a woman that had spiritum infirmitatis the spirit of infirmitie whome the deuill had eighteene yeares together fast bound in sickenes for her sinnes to whome also Christ gaue a pardon by imposition of his holie handes Where we may haue an other example of his mercie in loosing the temporall band and punishment appointed for sinne But let vs turne to Saint Pauls patient whome we left by the key of the
none can be bound or absolued but of his owneiudge we thinke that the foresaid remissions doe profit them onelie to whome that they might profit their owne iudges haue spirituallie or speciallie graunted Also the glosse vpon this decretall the author whereof liued after the Later an Councell saith that it was an olde complaint and yet in his daies verie doubtfull to what purpose these remissions or pardons were profitable remissiones ad quid valeant vetus est querela adhuc tamen satis dubia and rehearseth foure seuerall opinions concerning the validitie of them Some saie they auaile onelie towarde God but not toward the church Secondlie other saie that they auaile toward the Church but not toward God Thirdlie other saie that as they are giuen they auaile both toward God and toward the Church And the fourth saith that they auaile onclie to the remission of that penance which is negligentlie omitted To which the glosse addeth his opinson agreeing fullie with none of them all nor with the later Canonists Among which opinions you haue patched vp your wauering sētence of the validity or inualidity of pardons in this Chapter This diuersity of opinions among the Papists themselues argueth that the doctrine of pardons was verie raw and not halse digested in those daies The agreeablenes thereof with the worde of God and the practize of the primitiue Church when it shall be shewed we shal thinke better of them in the meane time you must bring better proofe out of the scriptures for them then you doe for Popish Bishops blessing out of the 10. of Saint Matthew or ells we shall haue litle cause to esteeme them more then it ALLEN Truelie that holypeace which Christ gaue to his Apostles at his comming into them at his departure from them and ells as 〈◊〉 entreth vpon any holie action signified nothing ells but an agreement and peace of mans soull with God and did no doubt purge them from their dailie infirmities which we call veniall sinnes and the bonde of all paine as it may be thought due for the same that in the presense of Gods maiestie sinne might cease and the parties appeere cleane afore his face that had nospot of sinne in himselfe at all as by the saied peace yet giuen to the worthie receiuers by holie Bishopps ministerie some like effect doth surelie ensue I vse this terme of peace when I speake of pardons not because they are preciselie meant in the action of giuing peace common to Christ his Apostles but because I see the olde fathers lightlie call that peace which we now call pardoning and perchance they did allude to that which Christ willed his Disciples to bestow on euerie householde for a kind of blessing Which no doubt was some great benefite and so great that our Master signified vnto them that many should be vnworthie of it and that the fruite thereof should redound to them-selues Which caused both Bishops of olde for Saint Augustine maketh mention therof to giue their blessings and euerie man humblie to require the same on their knees whereby surelie some spirituall grace was receiued and remission either of veniall trespaces or paine due vnto for̄mer sinnes giuen Let apish Camites here mocke and mow at their Mother as they customablie doe whiles the obedient children the discreete and deuout of Gods Church thinke it an high point of wisedome onelie to consider the maruelous direction of our fathers waies in the doctrine of discipline and awe of Gods relgion FVLKE That peace which Christ gaue to his Apostles was the quietnes of conscience reconciled to god and discharged of all sinnes and the paine due to satisfie gods righteousnes for them and the same peace did Christ send his Apostles to offer preach and wish to all them that would receiue it which if they refused became vnprofitable to them But the Popish Bishops blessing which consisteth in shaking his fingers and murmering some wordes perhapps not vnderstood of the people whome they neuer teach what the peace of conscience meaneth is no better then a vilde mockery of the peace that Christ gaue and willed his Apostles to offer where they became Whereas you alledge Saint Augustine for the antiquitie of the Bishops blessing it is a friuolous matter For he maketh no other mention but that after earnest praierhad bin made for patience and constancie of faith in one that was the next daie with daunger of his life to be cut for a fistula both by the partie himselfe a Bishop and many other Godlie persons then present that they arose from praier accepta ab episcopo benedictione discessimus and hauing receiued blessing of the Bishop we departed How can the superstitious blessing of Popish Bishops be resembled to this but onelie in the name of blessing For here is no requiring of it on knees nor any opinion of remission of sinnes by it but onely a Christian salutation or farewell by praier mentioned which all Godlie Bishops and elders doe in our Church vse euen at this daie speciallie in dimission of a Godlie congregation gathered to heare the preaching to praier or participation of the sacraments or such holie purposes which all Christians do esteeme as it becommeth them without making an Idoll of the minister or trusting in the ceremonie confirming their faith in God by the praior and blessing of his seruants in his name in whome is all their hope trust and ioye reposed That the Bishops beeing the highest ministers of Gods Church and namelie the Pope as the principall of the rest may onelie lawfullie giue Pardons and in what sense the soules depatted may be releiued by the same THE 11. CHAP. ALLEN OF the necessarie disposition of them that should effectuallie receiue benefit by the pardons of the Church and of the right intent of them that should giue the same wee haue already sufficiently spoken And now perchance some may thinke it necessarie that it should be opened brieflie in whome this authoritie of releasing the paines inioyned for sinne doth principallie consist Whereof I shall with better will bestow a few wordes because we shall haue occasion thereby to open the common sense of a wholl Councel both learned and godly touching the matter of Pardons in the iudgement whereof assuredlie proceeding from the holy ghost we may with safetie take our rest Of the lawfull minister therefore of these remissions the scripture in precise tearmes prescribeth nothing though the power of binding and loosing whereupon the matter standeth is prooued properlie to be an act of the keie namelie of iurisdiction and externall regiment which agreeth not to the simple Priestes hauing no further iurisdiction but in the secret court of mans conscience Wherupon as also by the vsage of all ages and by the prescription of the lawe it is prooued that Bishops onely or such as haue their authority for the execution of their office may lawfullie giue remission of satisfactions appointed for sinnes remitted Neither were it
the Church the glosse thinketh that it should be in vaine if it should serue vs to no purpose as though if any such thing were might stand with Gods iustice it might not serue to set forth the glorie and riches of Christes incarnation Ad hereunto that the ouerplus were needeles for vs if the value of one drop be sufficiēt for the perfect redemption of the whol world it might also be sufficient to take away all temporall paine But if we should further admit that there were such a treasure of the Church who made the Pope generall stewarde of it and other Bishops to haue so small a portion of so infinite a treasure You answere that Saint Paull saith that Christ left to his Vicar generall and other his holie appointed ministers the beslowing of Gods mysteries But Saint Paull speaketh of no Vicar generall but of all Gods ministers which be not onelie bishops I trow that they be stewardes of his mysteries which mysteries are his holie word and sacraments or if this treasure were parte of them the dispensation of it perteineth to priests as well as vnto Bishoppes To proceede this treasure beeing so plentifull as you saie no man notwithstanding may claime the benefit of it otherwise then through such meanes as God hath appointed and by the ministrie of the man that he hath appointed But neither this treasure nor the meanes nor the man are appointed of God as farre as we can learne out of his written worde neither is the Pope any such steward to whome Christ would commit the keies of so inestimable a treasure which considereth not the worthines of the person but of the price which he receiueth for his pardons as the greatest practize of them hath beene euer since they were inuented Againe if the offendour be meete and of good congruitie worthie of grace and mercie what neede any peece of his treasure to be laide out aboute him for Gods iustice is as much bounde vnto congruitie as vnto condignitie Neither can he deny pardon to any that in any respect is worthie to receiue it sauing that grace is no grace where their is the worthines of the partie to deserue it but the rewarde is accounted according to debt and not according to grace ALLEN And such a perfect knot there is now since Christes incarnation of euerie member in Christes mysticall bodie which is the Church and companie of faithfull with him beeing the heade of the said bodie that his merites workes suffering and satisfaction maie well be applied to serue and supplie all wantes of ech member thereof yea more then that the holie suffering and tribulation of holie Saintes as of our blessed Ladie Christes mother and the holie Apostles with numbers of constant Martirs Confessours and Virgines helpe to supplie our lack also and encrease the huge treasure of the Church for the satisfying for our sinnes which yet notwithstanding as they were meritorious to the sufferers be fullie rewarded by the glorie of Christes kingdome and eternall felicitie which farre exceedeth not onelie the merites of all Saintes but sufficientlie rewardeth the incomparable humilitie and obedience of Christ to his father in suffering death vpon the crosse though his workes as they be satisfactorie for vs are not yet answered in vs nor can not be till the worldes end ALLEN That knot of communication of the benefites of Christes death was as effectuall before his incarnation as since although it became effectual by meanes of his incarnation euen as the effect of his death extended to the saluation of his elect before his death But you doe well to follow your author at the harde heeles the writer of that glauering glosse vpon Pope Bonefacius Bull which immediately aster the words by me last cited addeth Nam propter vnionem capitis membrorum meritum capitis attribuitur membris quia sic per alienum meritun non per proprium meritum liberantur à poena ideo quantum ad ipsos talis liberalior dicitur remissio seu indulgentia licet quoad Christum qui hoc nobis meruit vocetur redemptio copiosa For because of the vnion of the heade and the members the merit of the head is attributed and applied vnto the members and because they are so deliuered from paine by the merit of an other and not by their owne merit therefore in respect of themselues such deliuerance is called a remission or pardon although in respect of Christ which deserued this for vs it is called a plentifull redemption We know that by meanes of the vnion of the head vnto the members the redemption wrought by the head perteineth to the members but the application thereof is by the spirit of God and not by the Popes pardon or any ministrie of man in speaking properlie which extendeth no further then the outwarde senses in speaking the worde of God to the hearing in washing with water or deliuering the bodelie foode in signe of baptizing with the holie ghost and feeding with the bodie and blood of Christ. But more than that you saie the holie suffrings and tribulation of Saints doe helpe to supplie our lacke and increase the huge treasure of the Church Your wordes found as though your meaning were that the suffring of Saints doth more supplie our lacke then the infinite treasure of the passion of Christ. But that I may not take you at the worst you meane at the lest that they ad vnto it you say plainly they increase the treasure of the Church But you forget the infinite valure of Christes bloodwhich you spake of before which can no more receiue any increase then it can be diminished for there is no proportion of that which is infinite tò that which is finit But if the treasure of the Church which is infinite by Christs merit may be made greater by the merit of Saints which are finit then the quantitie thereof must be greater by so much or so manie partes as are added and so there shall be proportion of finit to infinite or ells the treasure of Christs merit shall not be infinite This grosse and impossible absurditie therefore came in after the first deuise of the Churches infinite treasure by Christs merit For Clemens the fixt which brought the Iubelie yeare from euerie hundred to euery 50. as he learned of Aug. de Ancona that liued in this time ioyneth in his bull the merits of all Saints to increase the infinite treasure of Christs merits Of what value the merits of Saints be we shall heare in the next section ALLEN And for Christ in this case our aduersaries perchance would not much sticke with vs but for the remaine of Saints satisfaction they can not abide And if Saint Paull in expresse words did not vtter this my meaning concerning the trauaile of holie Saints for Christes bodie which is his Church the litle kolie ones of these daies would haue spurned at these kinde of speaches for feare of doeing iniurie to Christ of