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A17219 Questions of religion cast abroad in Helvetia by the aduersaries of the same: and aunswered by M. H. Bullinger of Zurick: reduced into .17. common places. Translated into Englishe by Iohn Coxe. 1572 Bullinger, Heinrich, 1504-1575.; Coxe, John. 1572 (1572) STC 4074; ESTC S113230 103,005 301

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which were ●ut menne In lyke manner John the Baptiste than the which there was neuer any holyer amongste men whome Christe also commēdeth sent his disciples from himselfe vnto Christe as to the true sauioure yea he rebuked them bycause they attributed more vnto him than was conuenient althoughe they yet attributed vnto him nothing so muche as these men nowe adayes attribute to the Sainctes Reade the first and seconde Chapter of S. John his gospel Wherfore sith it is moste sure that the Sainctes in heauē haue not altered their minds then is it withoute all doubt that God is to be called vppon and prayed vnto through Christ only and that from him all things necessary are to be asked for and not from any Saincte The seuenth Common place Of the relikes of Sainctes images such like things The. xxxj Question Whether they beleeue that the going on Pilgrimage to the bones churches of the saincts be not a godly thing The Answere THis question compriseth in it three others First what we thinke of Pilgrymages that are taken in hande for religions sake Secondly what we thinke of the reliques and bones of the Saincts Thirdly what wée thinke of their temples To these wée aunswere All those things are godlie which men do being therevnto comaūded of God by his worde Wherfore if you wil haue vs iudge these Pilgrymages godlie then shew vs out of the scriptures where they were instituted and commanded of god For we can finde no one letter or title of holy Scripture where any mention is made of these pilgrymages but most perfectly know that our Lorde hath taught vs not to estéeme one place in this earth better than another nor to gadde hither and thither for the obtaining of grace For God is present and mercifull wheresoeuer the faithful haue néede of his grace and call vppon him with a true fayth Psalm 107. and. 145. Amos. 5. Jere. 7. 23. John. 4. 1. Timothe 2. and many other places Againe sithe in the Questions before going we haue alreadie shewed that the Sainctes sende vs from them selues to God and to his sonne Jesus Christe it is euidente that they allowe not of these Pilgrimages and that they are not profitable nor healthfull for those which take them in hand and therefore we ought not to doe them Touching the bones and Relikes of Sainctes there is thrée sortes of them Either they are their wrytings containing theyr Doctrine or some partes or menibers of theyr bodyes Or some exterioure things which they vsed as their garmentes and suche lyke Their wrytings therfore which containe their Doctrines are the right Relickes yea the vnspeakeable treasure of all good Christians which ought therfore to be had in moste great honor Againe the bones and bodyes of the Sainctes are worthy of their honoure as hauing parte in the Resurrection of the deade for the which they looke and were bisides the houses of that moste excellent spirite with which they were fulfilled But euen as the bodyes of the Patriarkes of Moses Aaron Josua the Kings Prophetes and the holy bodie of Christe of John Stephen and other the Apostles were moste honourably buried So are the bones of the Sainctes cōmitted to the earthe vntill the day of iudgemente and are not to be digged vppe nor sette to be worshipped of the Christians in their churches as Athanasius hathe taughte in the life of blessed Anthonie Furthermore if we haue oughte which we knowe the Sainctes vsed in the time of theyr life yet oughte we not to woorshippe it For as the aunciente Fathers haue taughte vs suche woorshipping is superstition and displeaseth bothe God and the Saincts as before it is said what thing else may be said touching Relickes I héere omitte bicause theyr deceites are euidently knowne For oftentimes it happeneth that the heade arme or some one or other mēber of a saincte is found to be in two or thre places as though he had had thrée heades or thrée armes more than any other man Againe in the stead of Reliques fonde and foolishe things are offered vnto men to be woorshipped by meanes wherof the sainctes are rather dishonoured than honoured yet in this their marchandise they so shamefully behaue themselues that those whiche haue in them any sparke of honesty although they delighte in Papisticall doctrine yet are they dyspleased hereat Lastely Temples and Chappels are not to be dedicated and built vnto sainctes which now are in heauen but they only ought to haue sepulchres or graues as becommeth mortal men Wherfore although it may be supposed that our elders for some good intent did build temples vnto the saincts yet is it euident that it displeseth both god the saincts For temples are not to be built in the names of sainctes nor congregations oughte to be collected in their names for that honor is due to the creator onely as it may easily be proued by diuers authorities bothe of the scriptures of men which héer for breuities sake I do omit Wherfore we iudge that the christians haue néede of churches to be built to the honor of god of our lord Jesus Christ in the which his word ought to be preached publike prayers to be made the sacramentes ministred almes to be bestowed And of these churches we think very honorably and therfore gladly cal them the churches or houses of god of Christe and ought in no wise to be prophaned as I haue already else where sufficiently taught The. xxxij Question Whether they beleue that it is good and godly to light vp candels before the sacrament of the altare and the images and relikes of sainctes The Answere THe vse of candels is necessary in the churches in the nighte times by reason of the darknesse as in the morning before day c. And after this sorte did the apostles vse candels in the church or congregation Actes 20. But to set vp light in stead of a sacrifice to the woorshipping of sainctes or for the saluation of soules this is cleane contrary to the holy scripture and therfore condemned by Lactantius a most auncient wryte● Our hartes must be kindled vnto God in the Newe testament and we muste giue light by our good woorkes and that shal be an acceptable sacrifice vnto god And bicause the Lord commaundeth vs to take and eate the sacrament it is not lawful for vs to kéepe it and shut it vp but we must eate it and therfore there is no neede to set lightes before it But let them rather which are partakers of that sacrament prouide that the bright and shining light of true fayth may bée in their hartes for this setting vppe of lightes before the Sacrament is a new deuise found out of late and vtterly vnknowne to the Primitiue Church And as touching Images this is our iudgement First God hath forbiddē to make Images to worship them as appeareth in the seconde Commaundemente Againe in the wrytings of the lawe the
beleue the remission of sinnes the resurrection of the body and life euerlasting Secondly it is called the Communion or felowship of Sainctes that is to say of the faithfull for as appeareth by the Epistles of S. Paul the Apostles and other blessed Fathers called the faithful or Christians Sainctes Bicause as I said before they are sanctified by Christ in his blud through the holy Ghost But bicause the church is a congregation or companie peraduenture therfore it is called in our mother tong Kuch by this letter L and not as some other Germanes do sound it by the letter R. For in the Hebrewe tonge the people or churche of God is called K●ha● and Keh●●a● whereuppon the Germanes say Kilcha But whether it be deriued from the Hebrue or from the Gréeke it is all one For ech of those wordes signifie the congregation or felowshippe of Gods people euen as this worde Ecclesia amongest the Latines dothe also signifie which worde is borowed of the Grecians And although the vniuersall Churche of God in thys earth can not be brought into one company or felowshippe before the last day yet notwithstanding is the same neuerthelesse a spirituall and inuisible body perfectely compacte vnder one heade Jesu Chryste euen as diuers members hauyng sundry operations are ioyned in one body The vniuersall Churche of Chryst is deuided first into the congregation of them whych hauing finished the course of this their lyfe and passed ouer all corruptible things do now reioyce with christ their head in heauen prayse God for euermore Secondely it is deuided into the congregation of those which do yet liue here on this earthe in dayly battell in the Churche of Chryst and haue thys hope that at the time appointed by god they shall come to Chryst their heade and the felowship of their elect brethrē And in this cōgregation there are some which haue true faythe and therefore are the liuely members of the Church vnder their head Chryste some lacke that liuely fayth and therfore are hypocrites being yet numbred in the visible Churche so long as their wickednesse springeth not foorthe nor they bewray thēselues Touching these S John writeth thus They went out from vs by this it appeareth they were reckned in the Church for else could they not haue gone out thē●e but they were not of vs that is to say they were not the liuely members of the church true beleuers for if they had ben of vs they wold haue remained with vs. And herevpon it commeth to pas that many deuide the church into the inwarde and inuisible and into the outwarde and visible Churche Yea furthermore it is deuided into the congregation of those which haue liued frō the creation of the world vnto the cōming of christ into the cōpany of those faithful which haue ben since the tune of christ and shal be to the end of the world And euery congregation of eche these parts are called the Catholike or vniuersall church yea eche of those churches which are scattered in this worlde haue but one spirite or faithe hath eche the name of vniuersall churche For in the scriptures there is mention made of particulare churches in this earthe as that Paule wryteth to the church of Rome Corinth Ephesus and suche others And therfore euē as many Cities and Prouinces are contained in one kingdome and of many members is made one perfect body so also those churches which are dispersed vpon the face of the earth make but one church one kingdom and one spirituall body of Christe be being the head therof The fourth Question Whether they beleeue that the vniuersal church of Christ be guided ruled and gouerned by the holy Ghost The Answere GOd hathe alwayes euen frō the beginning of the world bene present with his people and churche gouerning the same by the ministerie of the Patriarkes Prophetes and Apostles and that throughe the holy Ghoste For oftentimes God speaketh in the old Testament saying Beholde I am alvvayes vvith you I vvill guide and defende you c. And in the new Testament our Lord Christ saith Beholde I am vvith you for euer vntill the ende of the vvorlde And againe I vvill giue my spirite vnto you that he may abide vvith you for euer And againe vvhere tvvo or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them But the purpose of this Question is to bring the godly and simple into perplexitie and doubte For when they confesse that god gouerneth his church by his holy spirite forthwith the popish bishops conclude therof that the churche neither hathe nor can erre and héereby they suppose that all other things are sufficiently proued to wit that what soeuer they vnder the tytle and name of the Church shal thrust vppon men are bothe good and enspired by the holy Ghost But vnto these mates we answere Firste that we doo not acknowledge that church whereof they bragge to be the true primatiue apostolike church as hereafter we shal proue Secondely we d●● not confesse that the Churche can not altogither or in all points erre For so long as she is gouerned by the holy ghost and onely harkeneth vnto him dooing nothing but by his motion and worde she neither doth nor can erre But if she swarue at any time from the gouernement of the same spirite and gouerneth after hir owne luste then truely shée not onely may but also dothe erre But if any wyll aske whether the Church may swarue from the direction of Gods spirite I answere that it is euident and may in no wyse be denied that the Churche of God héere vpon this earthe often times vnder Moses the Iudges and the Kings of Israell and Iuda hath erred Yea and that the Disciples of Chryst who yet neuerthelesse were the church of christ did erre and had their falles For who is ignoraunt what happened to Dauid Aaron Peter and other the holy Sainctes and Disciples of Chryst Yea wée must note that the Church is gathered not of Angels but of men Wherefore although it be inspired and gouerned by the spirite yet it is not thereby turned into the spirite for it keepeth still hir fleshe and the infirmities thereof yea euen vnto death Who is ignoraunte of those writings which Sainte Paule hathe generally vttered touching the battell betwéene the fleshe and the spirite and that not in the vngodly and vnbeléeuers onely whiche are not of the Churche but euen in the faythefull also and members of the Church And this battell is so vehemente and sharpe that euen thereby the godly are forced not to doo that good and iuste thyng whyche they knowe but to doo that which they ought not to doo Read S. Paules fifth chapter to the Galathians also the seuenth to the Romanes Yet neuerthelesse the same Apostle calleth the Galathians and Corinthians the true church of Christ as purified by his bloude and gouerned by his