sayth Whatsoeuer the Church teacheth mening y e Pope and the Church of Rome That same is the expresse word of God and whatsoeuer is taught against the meaning consent of the Churche is the expresse worde of the Diuel So that if this be true that he sayeth then the Romish religion which the Papists teach is Gods word and the Gospell which we teache is the worde of the Diuel What a blasphemous wretch is this to cal gods word the worde of the Diuel Hosius and other that saye so and take it so at the dreadfull terrible day of iudgement when neither proude Pope presumptuous Prelates blasphemous Byshops nor péeuish Priests nor Papists shal beare any such sway as they do now and haue done shal then know whether that which we now Preach and teach is the word of the Diuel or not I beséech God that al suche may repente before for then to repent it wil be too late Siluester Prierias sayth Whosoeuer leneth not to the doctrin of the Church of the Bishop of Rome as vnto the infallible rule of God of which doctrine the holye Scripture taketh force and authoritie he is an Heretike Let Prierias and a thousand of the Popes Doctors besids saye so for as long as Christ sayeth not so we care not if Prierias saye true then Christe and his Apostles were Heretikes and manye other for in Christs time there was no Pope of Rome for as loÌ„g as Christ himself was aliue he néeded no vicar And was y e scripturs then w tout authoritie and of no force bycause the church of Rome was vnplanted and bycause there was no Pope it was happy there came a Pope after or else the Scriptures had bin of no force nor had any aucthoritie it was maruell that Christ bad them then Search the Scriptures Did Christ send his Apostles abroad to preache a Gospell that had no aucthoritie and that was of no force it appeares that it had some force for Christe saide that They that beleeued the Gospell which they Preach and were baptized shoulde be saued and they that beleeued not shoulde bee damned Oh what a diuelish preposterous doctrine is this Papistrie y t teacheth that the holy Scripture and word of God taketh his force and aucthoritie of the Churche of Rome whereas their doctrine and all other muste take their force and aucthoritie froÌ„ it For Christ saith Euery plant that my heauenly father hath not planted shal be rooted vp And bycause Papistrie is contrary to Gods word and so not plaÌ„ted by God therefore it shall be pluckte vp by the rootes Therefore though the Churche of Rome and the Pope shoulde bothe perish as many Churches haue done and as the Romish Churche muste néedes perishe yet God hathe and wyll still gyue aucthoritie and strength to his worde This your Papisticall doctrine is suche a false and rydiculous religion that in euerye point it ouerthrowes it selfe Marke againe an other of the Popes pen-men howe blasphemously he writes for the exalting of the aucthoritie of the Romishe Churche Iohannes Maria Verractus saieth We do humbly confesse that the aucthoritiie of the Church meaning the Churche of Rome is aboue the authoritie of the Gospell if it be true that he writes thoughe he be not ashamed to write a moste abhominable lye yet I am sory to write true of him whiche is that I am moste certayne that the spirite of the Diuell hadde greater power in hym when he wrote it than the spirite of God Saint Paule is of a contrary opinion to this Ioannes Maria Verractus for he saith That the gospel of Christe is the power of God to saluation to all that beleeue and both for hys credite and for his authoritie and auncientie is to be beléeued as well as thys Papisticall writer Nowe if the Churche of Rome haue greater power than to be the power of God to saluation then I knowe not what power it shoulde be vnlesse it be the power of the Diuell to Damnation And if that be his authoritie aboue the gospel that he doth meane let him kéepe that authoritie to himselfe and much good doe it him but there is no wise man wil yéelde or submitte hym selfe to that power I thinke This fellowe belike takes his own word for a warrant for he brings neither Scripture nor auncient Doctor to confirme his sayings Well séeing hée bringeth no other aucthoritie to affyrme his saying but himselfe I will be an other that wil maintaine his assertion that the aucthoritie of the Romaine Church and of the Byshoppe of Rome is aboue the aucthoritie of the Gospell And nowe you shal knowe wherein it is greater which hée woulde not vtter for belike he was somthing ashamed of the matter forsooth it is greater for to set the Pope aboue Emperoures and Kings to make him Lord of Lordes and King of Kings to make him tread on the Emperors necke to make him claime to haue al power in heauen in earth to make al the whole earth to be his Uicarage or Dioces to set Kings and Princes togither by the eares to make true subiects rise and rebell against their Prince and King to make him take vppon him to be called the Lamb of God that takes away the sinnes of the worlde to make hym a tyraunâ—e and to burne the Scriptures to murder burn and kil the seruaunts of God that professe the Gospell to make hym commaunde the Angelles to come oute of Heauen at hys pleasure if they wyll doe so much for him and to carrye mens soules to Paradise howe wickedly soeuer they dye to make him an earthly God to make him be called our Lord God the Pope to make him do in a maner whatsoeuer God can do and to make him and Chryste to haue one Consistorie or seate of Iudgement In these béefore declared the Churche of Rome hath greater aucthoritie than Gods worde for Gods worde hathe no suche force nor authoritie This is your godly Churche of Rome In all these thinges and manye moe suche she hath aucthority aboue Gods word but in godlinesse in trueth and in all thinges that appertayne to our saluation the Scriptures and the word of God hathe force and aucthoritie aboue your Church of Rome But perhappes you wil not beléeue me though I haue sufficiently proued it by the Scriptures vnlesse I shewe you some authorities out of ancient Doctors If you looke that the Doctors ought to confirme the Scriptures then you are wide for the Scriptures must confirme and allow the Doctors But to satisfy you withall I wyl alleadge the Doctors who you shall sée wyl agrée with me that the Scriptures must allowe the Churche and that the right Church is knowne by the Scriptures and whosoeuer refuseth to bée tryed by the Scriptures is not of the right Church nor of the church of God The Churche of God is knowne only by Gods word as the auncient learned Father
yea and thou shalt accuse thy father and mother if they professe the Gospell to the holy inquisitors of the church of Rome that they may be burned for Heretikes if thou be an Emperors son or a Kings son thou shalt rise against thy father and put him downe place thy selfe in his roume as Henry the Emperour was serued by his son if he loue embrace the Gospell and do any thing against the Popes wil and pleasure And whereas God saith Thou shalt do no murther now the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged therfore God hath likewise chaunged his iudgement so that thys commaundement must now be turned thus quite contrary Thou shalt murther kil and burne thy brother mother father sister or else any other whatsoeuer he be if he professe the Gospel and followe Christes lawe And whereas God saith Thou shalt not commit adultry nowe the iudgement of the Pope and the Churche of Rome is chaunged and therfore Gods iudgement is chaunged so that this lawe by the iudgement of the Churche of Rome must now be thus Thou shalt not marry but thou maiest haue a Concubine or a Harlot to commit aduoutrie or fornication withal and thou shalt haue a licence for money of the Pope to doe so and so he shall allowe thée to commit aduoutrie or to playe the whoremonger or Harlot but take héede thou marry not according to the law of God for then thou shalte loose all thy lyuing thou shalte be taken for an heretike and the Pope wil not dispence with thée therfore And wheras God saith Thou shalt not steale now y e iudgement of y e Popes church is changed so Gods iudgement is changed therefore this law must now be after this sort thou shalt steale and rob God of his glorie thou shalt giue the glorie that is due to God vnto his Saints nay vnto stockes and stones yea and if thou chaunce to steale anye mans good care not for the Pope shal pardon thée therfore for the Pope by his power is able to dispence with all the lawes both of y e olde Testament of the new Testament And whereas God said Thou shalte not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour nowe forasmuch as the iudgement of the Romishe Church is changed the iudgement of God is changed therfore this lawe muste be turned an other way and thus it muste be taken thou shalt beare false witnesse against God his word say there is no saluation without the Church of Rome and that the death of Christ is not a sufficiēt sacrifice for our sins if thou chance to bear false witnes against one that professes the gospel thou shalt be heard the Pope shal giue thée his blessing for it thou shalte haue no harme therfore And if thou chance to beare false witnes against any for a little mony thou shalt haue y e Popes pardon for it therfore beare false witnesse and spare not for y e pope the holy church of Rome do giue thée leaue And whereas God sayd Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house thou shalte not couet thy neighbours wife nor his seruant nor his maide nor his Oxe nor his Asse nor anye thing that is his Now this is not Gods commaundement bycause the Churche of Rome doth not allowe it and Gods iudgement is therein changed bycause the Church of Rome hath now chaunged hir iudgement therfore you must turne this lawe vpside downe take it thus thou maist be bolde to couet any thing that is thy neighbors for if thou steale anye thing from hym or take it by vyolence or take thy neighbors wife or his maid lye w t them or lye with thine owne sister and marry hir the Pope wil dispence with thée and pardon thée for money as Pope Martin didde dispence with one that marryed his owne sister Thus this vile and viperous generation haue by their authoritie whiche they say is aboue the Scriptures allowing the scriptures whatsoeuer they list and taking from the same what they thinke good haue turned cleane contrary the commaundements of God into the commaundementes of the Pope whiche you maye plainelye perceiue by their doings and dispensations before mentioned to be the very doctrine of the Diuel And further this Carnal Cardinal sayeth Scripturae ad tempus adaptantur c. Scriptures are applyed to the states of diuerse times so are taken in diuerse senses so that at one time they are expounded according to the current order of the Church but the order being chaunged the sense of the Scripture is likewise changed Howsoeuer they would haue the Scriptures to be chaunged in their meaning the wicked Pope and his presumptuous Prelates are chaunged from al goodnes and truth both in their sayings liuings for according to the time they make the Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ agrée with their doings but they wil not frame their liuings to make thē agrée w t y e scriptures And bycause the Popes conditions and the iudgemente of the Church of Rome is chaunged therefore the meaning and sense of the Scriptures must be chaunged as is before sayde For whereas Christ sayd Blessed are the mercifull for theirs is the kingdome of heauen nowe the meanyng and sense therof ought to be chaunged quite contrarie and say thus blessed are the vnmerciful for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen or else thus vnhappye are the merciful for theirs is the kingdome of Hell And whereas Christe sayde Blessed are the peace makers for they shall bee called the children of God Now according to the time the sense of the Scripture is chaunged bicause the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged and therefore not to be expounded as it was in Christs time So that now it ought to be turned thus Blessed are the peace breakers and they that set men togither by the eares as the Pope doeth and blessed are the rebels that fighte againste their Prince and Country in the Popes quarrel for they shal be called the children of god and the Pope wil giue them the kingdome of heauen And wheras Christ sayth Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorify your Father in heauen Now the meaning thereof is chaunged according to the time therfore now it is thus let not your light shine before men but worke the déedes of darknesse wherby you may please the Diuel your Father And wheras Christ saith Whosoeuer puts away his wife except it be for fornication and marryeth with another cōmitteth aduoutry now for as much as the iudgement of y e Church of Rome is chaunged therfore according to y e time y e meaning of this saying must be changed therfore vnderstand it now thus what Priest soeuer kéepeth his wife and puts hir not away from him though she be neuer so honest shal be coūted
of God you wil scantly like The Popes Doctors say auouch it for truth that if the Priest say thus when he doth Baptise a childe Ego te Baptiso in nomine patris filij spiritus sancti diaboli that is I Baptise thee in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and of the Diuell yet the forme of Baptisme is very good and the child is rightly christned I remember that Christ bad his Apostles Baptise in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost but that he bad them Baptise any in the name of the Diuel I neuer heard If they be rightly christned that are christned in the name of the Diuel according to the Popes law then I hope they are not falsely christned that are christned in the name of God without naming the Diuell accordyng to Gods lawe If wée shoulde allowe such Baptizing to bée good and that they were rightlye Baptized that were Baptized in the name of the Diuell you that call vs nowe Sathans broode woulde then call vs as you myght well the chyldren of the Diuell Must not this Churche of Rome bée a holy Church that hath such goldy doctrine and diuine Doctours if they bée curst that take any thing from the worde of God then they are not blest that adde the Diuell to the Baptizing of the children of God Euerye one that haue an affection to the Popes Religion woulde scantly beléeue that there is such handsome doctrine belonging to his religion This is not much vnlike other of the Romish Doctors doctrine for in the Defence of the Apologie which the learned Bishop of Sarisburie wrote against the confutation of Doctor Harding are these wordes Petrus Asotus Hosius sticke not to affirme that the same Counsell wherein our Sauiour Iesus was condemned to die had both the spirite of Prophesie and the holy Ghost and the spirite of truth And that it was no false saying when the Bishop sayd we haue a lawe and by our lawe he ought to die and that they so saying did light vpon the very truth of iudgemēt and that the same was a iust decree whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die Thus the Popes Prelates take part with Annus Caiphas against Christ. If that were a good true iudgement that most shamefully wrongfully condemned the sonne of God to death then where shal we finde any false and wicked iudgement by this meanes the Popes sentences iudgements in burning the members of Christ for professing of y e Gospel cā not be false wicked or euill I feare they y t say they had the holy ghost the spirite of truth y t iudged Christ to death and that the same was a iust decrée wherby they pronounced y t Christ was worthy to die I feare I say y t they are none of them that Christ dyed for and as they y t iudged Christ most wrongfully did it not by the spirit of God Euen so Asotus Hosius and all other that say y t their iudgement was true that their decrée was iust whereby they pronounced that Christ was worthy to die spake and vttered the same by the spirit of y e diuell for if they gaue true iudgement against Christ then Christ was an offendor and deserued to die The Lorde blesse euery man from beléeuing the doctrine of such that either say or beléeue that Christ the Sonne of God that neuer offēded nor sinned was worthily or rightly condemned to die If our Bishops Preachers and Doctors shoulde preach teache or write such blasphemous doctrine you might then iustly cal vs Heretiks as we may wel cal them al other y t take their partes blasphemers the disciples of Antichrist But Caiphas sayd it is good that one man die for the people least all the people perishe Ergo sayth M. Harding Caiphas had the spirit of God To whom that learned and worthie M. Iewel late Bishop of Sarisburie replyes with these wordes But that ye may the better M. Harding espie your ouersight like as ye saye Caiphas prophesied blindly himselfe not vnderstanding what he sayd Ergo he had the holy Ghost S Paule sayth no man can say the Lorde Iesus but in the Spirit of God hereof by your Logicke you may reason thus the Diuell sayd vnto Christ I knowe that thou arte Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Ergo the Diuell had the Spirit of God c. If Caiphas had the spirit of God then he had y e holy ghost that wrote this note vpon the Popes decrée that the Iewes had committed mortall sinne if they had not nayled Christ to the Crosse. Now open your eyes and beholde whether this be good sound doctrine or not y t these Papisticall Doctors do teach They that worship God aright follow Christes Gospel wil do detest such diuellish doctrine Therefore flie from this Romish Church that taketh the Pope to be hir heade and that refuseth to be tried by the Scriptures and spéedily become members of that Churche that taketh Christ to be hir heade and is content to bée iudged by the Scriptures For they that are of Christ will heare his voyce which is the Gospell which true Church wherof Christ is the head can not be knowne but by the Scriptures Chrisostome saith now can no mā know the Church but by the scriptures S. Augustine saith Whether they haue the Church or no let them shewe by the Canonicall Bookes of the holy scriptures we must know the Church euen lykewise as we know Christ which is the head of the Churche in the holy Canonicall Scriptures Againe he saith the holy Scriptures shewes the Churche without any doubtfulnesse Againe the question or doubt is where the Churche shoulde be what then shall we doe whether shall we seeke the Churche in our owne wordes or in the wordes of hir heade which is our Lorde Iesus Christ In my iudgement wee ought rather to seeke the Churche in his wordes for that he is the trueth and best knoweth his owne body And agayne he sayeth Let vs not heare these wordes this say I This sayest thou but these wordes let vs heare Thus sayth the Lorde there let vs seeke the Churche there let vs discusse our cause And Saint Ambrose sayeth the Church shineth or is knowne not by hir owne light but by the light of Christ which is the word of God These learned holy and auntient fathers wordes are sufficient to proue vnto vs that y e Church of Christ is known and is chiefely to be discerned by the word of God But what if these auncient and learned Doctors had not written thus shoulde wée then haue taken that for the Churche of God which the Popes doctrine doeth allowe then we shoulde haue a trimme and holy Church as by the premysses doth appeare And nowe bicause nothing can describe which is the true Church better than Christ
himselfe which is the head therof therfore let vs searche the scriptures for the same and there we shal be best certified And séeing Christ biddeth vs search the scriptures which beares witnesse of him therefore let vs searche them thereby to knowe Christ and his Church for it is the chiefe lanterne that will guide and leade vs to the truth thoughe the Pope and his Prelates would faine make vs beléeue the contrarie And as it is here proued by the holy auncient learned Fathers and Doctors that the true Churche is chiefely to bée founde out and to bée tryed by the Scriptures and word of God nowe you shall heare what a good reporte diuerse haue giuen the Churche of Rome and to them that gouerned the same whereof some were of the Church of Rome who I thinke woulde not lye on their owne Churche and especiallye a Pope whiche some of you thinke can not erre Pope Adrian the fourth was woont to say we succeed not Peter in teaching but Romulus in killing our bretherne Erasmus saieth the Popes now are the vickares of Iulius Caesar of Alexander the great of Croesus and of Xerxes not of Christ nor of Peter It is written in a Sermon bearing the name of S Ambrose They that should haue bene the Apostles vickars are now become Iudas fellowes Robertus Gallus that liued wel néere thrée hundreth yéeres past imagineth Christe thus to say of the Pope who set this Idol in my roome and made him ruler of my flocke whether he that commendes the Pope thus were a Papist or not I know not but surely he was no Lutherane Zwinglian Caluinist nor Hugenot It was maruell that the Pope made him not a Saint for his sayings Ennodius saith That the Successors of Peter togither with the priuiledges of their See haue also gotten free libertie to doe euill for the Pope may not be iudged by any creature vnder Heauen If he will not yet I can tell him one thing he is like to be iudged by one that is in Heauen which is Christ whether he will or no. S. Barnard describeth the Popes Priests and Byshops that are of the Churche of Rome saying in their apparell they are Souldiors in there gaines they are Priestes and Byshops but in effect and deede they are neyther of both For neyther do they fight in the fielde as do the Souldiors nor do they preach as Priestes and Byshops Of whether order therefore be they whereas they would be of both orders they forsake both and confounde both S. Paule saith euery man shall rise againe in his owne order but in what order shall they rise whether for asmuch as they haue sinned without order shall they perish without order I feare me they shalbe ordered none other where but whereas is no order but disorder and horrour euerlasting Yf we should say thus as S. Barnard sayd they would saie we rayled The saide Barnard also saith that the Byshops in his time which were of the Church of Rome were not Doctors but deceyuers not Feeders but Defrauders not Prelates but Pilates and he sayth further that the heades of the Churche of Rome are Ministers of Antichrist Deceyuers Defrauders Raueners Traytors the darknesse of the Worlde Woolues Pylates and Diuels wherein it séemes hée doth not much prayse the gouernours of the Romish Churche this is but a sorie Church that hath such godly gouernours and guydes Marke also howe the same Sainct Barnard to whome Pope Eugenius was much beholden and beyng an Abbot condemnes all the Popes doctrine and Religion for that it agréeth not with the Scriptures Dothe not the rule saith hée agree with the Gospell or with the Apostle otherwyse that rule is no rule at all for it is crooked it is not streyght Here Sainct Barnarde that was one of that Romishe Churche yet an excellent and a Learned man dothe plainely condemne all those Lawes Religions Churches and Rules that doo not agrée with the Gospell and sayth it is no true nor good Churche and that suche Religions and Rules are crooked and no Religion nor Rule at all Nowe bycause the Popes Rules and Religion be contrarie to the Gospell therefore they are crooked and so naughtie rules And the same Sainct Barnarde in an other place discribes and setteth foorth what a godly and holy Churche the Churche of Rome is who sayth thus From the Sole of thy foote to the crowne of thy head there is not one whole place A man were better to be out of such a Churche than in it Marke also howe the Bishop of Bitonto extolled that same Churche of Rome at the Counsell of Trident saying With what monsters of filthinesse sayth hée with what villanie with what Pestilence be not they corrupted and defiled in the Churche of Rome aswell the Priest as the people beginne euen with the Sanctuarie of God if there be any shame if there be any regarde of honestie if there be any hope or way to liue well Petrarcha calleth Rome a Schoole of errour and a Temple of Heresie Brigitta whose Prophesies and sayings are of the Popes Schollers and Disciples muche reuerenced saieth in hir Reuelations Christe shall take his blessing from the Cleargie of Rome and shall gyue the same to a people that shall doe his will Then by hir sayinges and the other before recited the Pope and hys Prelates doe not Gods will and so if they doe not Gods will then they muste néedes do the Diuels will so that by these and by many other the trueth is a straunger in the Church of Rome and dwelles not there And whereas some saie that the trueth can not departe from the Churche of Rome it had néede to be there first before it departe from thence therefore the trueth can not departe from the Churche of Rome bycause it is not there But that holy Churche for all their bragges loue the trueth so well that yf they had it there they would driue it awaie from thence And now bycause the Church of Rome hath not the trueth but is a Churche of all wickednesse and errour as I haue sufficiently prooued bothe with Argumentes Scriptures Doctors yea and by the Popes themselues and other of the same Churche therefore I beséeche you come awaye from that whoorishe Church the seate of Antichrist and flie to the true Church whiche embraceth and obeyeth the Gospell and that heareth the voyce of Christe least you bée partakers of hir wickednesse whose destruction is not farre off And trust not to them neyther beléeue them that saie the truth is only in the Churche of Rome and that the truth shall neuer departe from thence Yf truth falshood may dwell togither or be both at once in one place then I will not saie but that your Churche of Rome may haue the truth but thy are such enimies that it is very seldome or neuer séene and though the Churche of Rome had the trueth as it is manifestly prooued
why do you wish and are content that we shoulde be spoyled burned or killed for our religioÌ„ Therfore you that are of the Popes religion are not of Christs religion bycause you haue rackt vs spoyled vs tormented vs burned vs and murthred vs which you would not haue vs do vnto you Now if your religion be not Christes religion as these words and your workes haue sufficiently proued then I know not whose religion it is vnlesse it be the diuels religion whose religion must néedes be wicked and euil for that Christes religion is most holy and good And thus I haue sufficiently proued vnto you that the Gospel that we haue is the true law of Christ And the Pops law that you followe is the false law of the Diuell or Antichrist But if your harts be so obdurate that no trueth can enter into the same Then mark this that followeth and deny it if you can or confute it if you are able If god bestowed these his blessings before mentioned onely vppon that people that hearken to his voyce and obey his worde as he hath promised and if our gracious Quéene we hir subiectes and hir realme haue had these gods blessings moste plentifully poured vpoÌ„ vs euer since she hath set forth this our religion the worde of God put away the Masse and Idolatrie then it is most euident that this our religion is the true religion of Christ and lawe of God bycause of the wonderfull blessings that we haue enioyed withall And if God send these plagues and curses before rehearsed only vpon that people that doth not harken to his voice but disobeyes his lawes and commandementes commit Idolatrie as he hath promysed if these Kings and Princes their people that obey the Pope and his lawes that are enimies and suppressors of the word of God haue dayly these plagues curses light vppon them then it is most apparant that the Popes religion is false abhominable and wicked and that God therewith is highly displeased bicause of the manifolde plagues and curses that he dayly sendes among them And thus for that God doth blesse vs with his foresayde blessings and that with such a plentie quietnesse peace and prosperitie as Englande neuer tasted before And bycause diuerse Countreys that obey the Pope and embrace Papistrie haue bene and are yet still compassed and enuironed with the saide plagues and curses of God that is warres troubles scarcitie and such like both we striuing and taking our selues for Christians as did the Israelites and the people of Iuda that were all Iewes and called the people of God whereof the Kings of Iuda and their people for cleauing to Gods lawe were blessed and prospered of God and the Kings of Israel and their people bycause they committed Idolatrie and disobeyed the lawe of God were plagued and cursed of God Therefore it cannot be denyed by any vnlesse they be as senselesse as brute beastes but that this that we haue is the true Religion of Christ whereby wée haue our name of Christians and that Papisticall doctrine which you haue is a most false and erroneous religion the professors whereof cannot iustly be called Christians but rather Antichristians Yet perhaps al this wil not persuade some of you though it be neuer so plaine and true But if this and the rest will not allure you to â—lye from Papistrie and to sticke to Gods word Surely surely you are then fully bent to resist the open manifest truth And though therby you willingly cast of God and his word yet I beséech God that he do not cast you of for euer It may be that some of you wil graunt that Gods word is true but that we do mistake it and that we haue not the true meaning and vnderstanding thereof so that we misuse it certainely this I will saye to you if we do misuse it and mistake it then God takes his markes amisse and is maruellously ouerséene that blesses vs so aboundantly that mistake and misuse his word and sendes his plagues and curses on those Countries and people that vse it well take it rightly and so by this it should séeme that God doth directly against his promise But assure your selues thoughe your presumptuous Pope and his obedient Prelates may be deceiued ouerséene as no doubt they are God and his déere sonne Christ can neyther be deceyued nor yet ouerséene marrye God ouersées them all looke they neuer so high Therefore turne to the Lord and to his holy worde that therefore will blesse and prosper you and forsake the Pope and his doctrine whereby God doth plague and cursse you and loue obey and thinke well of your most louing naturall and mercifull Quéene that mercifully and myldely doth protect you If you would marke but hir Maiesties power and knew what she may do weighe your owne doyngs what you ought to do truely you would say then that she is the most myldest and mercyfullest Quéene one of them that euer raigned You thinke not amisse in hir grace and count hir not vnmercifull though she put Théeues to death for stealing which God hath not commaunded to bée punished wyth death and can not you sée that hir maiestie is maruellous mercifull in that she suffers you to liue for disobeyng of Gods word and committing of Idolatrie which God by his law hath commaunded to be punished with death King Iosias burned the Idolatrous Priests vpon the Altars that committed Idolatrie and yet he is reckned for a godly King but our mercifull Quéene Elizabeth hath not burned the Popish Priests on the Altars where they committed Idolatry in saying of masse and worshipped a piece of bread for the body of Christ which she might haue done if she would and yet you count not hir for a godly and mercifull Quéene You prayse and extoll Quéene Mary to the Heauens for vsing crueltie and for burning hir humble and faultlesse subiects but if our Quéene Elizabeth should vse lawful seueritie on hir stubborne and disobedient people Gods foes and hir enemies that desire hir death and destruction the confusion of their countrie and the ruine of this Realme you would dispraise and slaunder hir and saie she were a cruell tirant Nay for all hir highnesse hath vsed you so mildely mercifully as she hath done yet some of you would darken hir deserts if you could in saying most spitefully falsely that this is the time of Tirannie these are the daies of persecution this I grauÌ„t but not in England though you meane in England truly such as do say so must néeds I thinke speake against their coÌ„science their knowledge vnlesse they take mercie for crueltie crueltie for mercie then I may say vnto them as Esay saide to the Iewes Wo be to you that call euill good and good euill c. If this be the time of tirannie and persecution when you that are manifest enimies to your Quéene and Countrey before wel proued are
suffred to liue peaceably to enioy your goods quietly to go at your libertie or imprisoned to fare daintilie and there to liue merily or to be releast vpon suerty then what was Quéene Maries time when hir simple humble and faultelesse subiectes were cruelly imprisoned in stockes and chaynes and other Engines tormented most tyrannously racked their friendes to come to them not suffered on the bare boordes and ground lodged to haue pen and Inke and Candle light not permitted for want of meate to be famished in prisons priuily to be murthered and abrode in euerie mans eyes to be burned That time of Quéene Mary to all wise men may rather séeme to be the time of crueltie tyrannie and persecution than this milde mercifull time of our Quéene Elizabeth You that thus drownde the mercifull doings of our most mercifull Mistresse call it the time of persecution I pray God for your vnthankefulnesse and peruersnesse that hereafter you féele not a time of confusion I beséeche God to open your eyes to sée howe hir Grace doth persecute you for if you did sée yet I feare some are blind for the nonce you would then say that she persecutes you none otherwise than the louing father doth his childe and as the good Scholemaister doth persecute his Scholler that he would faine haue to learne Therefore your peruerse detracting of this most blessed time of the Quéenes happie and merciful gouernment doth shew that you doe not reioyce therin but wishe the contrarie And as Donald once king of Scots did neuer laugh but when he heard of the discord and slaughter of his nobles so I feare you that are Englishe enimies before mentioned are most sorrowfull at this most blessed and happie state of our Quéene and this our Countrey Wherefore consider what I of verye zeale before haue written and bée no longer English enimyes to haue Gods plagues and curses but become English friends to obtaine thereby Gods blessings and fauour But if the trueth of Gods word can not moue you the prosperitie of our godly Princes can procure you nor all that is sayd before by forreine foes can persuade you then learne at the heathen that knewe not God to loue your Prince and to be friendes to your Countrey Zopirus an Heathen that knew not God did cutte off his owne nose eares and lippes disfiguring himself to come in credite with the Babilonians whereby he deliuered the Citie of Babilon to Darius his Lorde and maister but you as it séemes that néedes will be Christians doe wish and goe about to deliuer the whole Realme of England your natiue Countrey into your enimies hands to y e confusion of your louing and mercifull Prince and the cutting off the heades of thousands of your Countrey men Mutius Sceuola an Heathen and a Senator of Rome for the loue and friendship he bare to his Citie and Countrey went into the Campe of King Porcenna purposely to slaye the King but missing his purpose of the King he was apprehended and threatned therefore to be put to death who then looking aside espying a great fire most couragiously therein he put his arme and there did hold it stil vntill it was burned saying then verie stoutlye to feare the King withall that thrée hundreth in Rome had likewise sworne to slay the King whereby the said King Porcenna made peace with the Romaynes But you that take your selues to bée the chiefest Christians and of the best Religion of all other are suche enimies to this your Countrey that you woulde haue our forraine foes enimies to come into this realme whom you woulde ayde and helpe to make warres vppon vs to displace your Prince to get our Countrey from vs not onely to spoyle vs but also to burne our armes bodies and all Marcus Curtius a worthy Knight of Rome an Heathen was such a speciall friende to his Countreymen and the Citizens of Rome that whereas there was a pit or gulfe in Rome out of which came such a stinking and horrible smell that a great sort died daily by y e infectiō therof which could be ceased by no meanes vnlesse the best Iewell or thing in Rome were cast into it which Curtius whē nothing could be found to cease it thoughe many Iewels pretious things was thrown into it taking himself to be the chiefest thing that the Romaines estéemed armed himselfe at al points and riding on a goodly courser richly trapped leapt into y e gulfe for the safegarde of the people then incontinent the earth closed which place was called Curtius lake but you that are obstinate and determined Papistes taking your selues for pure Christians woulde haue straunge Romanistes the Popes souldiors and our Princes enemies to come into hir Cities with great horses and coursers to make most stinking fumes smokes and smels where there is none to displace hir and to destroy vs and smulder vs that are your Countreymen and Citizens Zeleucus that famous Duke of the Locrenses an Heathen made a lawe that whosoeuer did commit whordome fornication or adultrie if he were known should therefore haue both his eyes put out the first offender wherof after the said law was made was his owne Sonne which worthie Prince by no meanes woulde bée entreated but the same lawe shoulde be kept and the offender to bée executed accordingly whereby his subiects might well thinke that if his owne Sonne coulde not be pardoned it was not for them then to looke for any pardon if they shoulde offende and so by the seuere execution thereof he was assured that the same necessarie law would be kept yet the sayde Duke at length by earnest motion and perswasion mitigated the rigour of the Lawe towardes his sonne but in such sorte that the same lawe shoulde not bée broken so that he commaunded that one of his sonnes eyes should be put out and an other of his owne but you that are the sayde Englishe enemyes inferiour Papistes not superiour Princes that take your selues to bée good Christians yea and woulde be angry with them that shoulde call you otherwise desire and wishe the Popes souldiors our foes to enter here into Englande to fight against our Prince and not onely to put out our eyes but also to plucke out our hartes and to destroy and abolish our good lawes the lawe of God which is against whoredome and fornication and thereby to bring in the Popes Lawe that maintaineth and allowes fornication and whordome Now séeing these Heathen with diuers others such that knew not God were such faithfull friendes to their Cities and Countries that for the safegard and commoditie therof did cutte off their noses eares lyppes dyd burne their owne arme dyd loose their liues and pluck out their eyes will you then that count your selues Christians wyshe or séeke the sorrow of your soueraigne the annoyance of your neighbours and the confusion of your Countrie Duke Dandalus was content to be tyed in Iron chaines and
for an Heretike shal be excommunicated lose al his spiritual liuing But if he shal kéep cōcubines Harlots he shal be a Catholike mā of a good religiō and kéepe al his liuings stil. Thus may y e pretious Pope the holy Church of Rome turne tosse the words meaning of Christ how they list but though they allowe and do these things yet therfore we must not think they ar good or to be liked but to be abhorred detested And I beléeue y t manye wil not allow their wicked laws and writings therein But now if y e Scriptures may haue sūdry senses at sūdry times may haue one mening at one time another mening at another time if this be so y t the Pope may chāge the senses of Christs Gospel for his pleasure thē why may not Christ change the meaning of his own Gospel for hys own pleasure therfore looke by what places of y e scripturs Peter his successors wer made Popes of Rome Christ may change the senses meaning of thē clean contrary therby vnpope them again For wheras Christ said Super han◠Petrā id est super ecclesiā Romanā edificabo ecclesiā meā which is Vpon this rocke that is to say vpō the Church of Rome I wil build my Church now Christ I thinke hath altered y e meaning sense of y e saying bicause y e order of the Church of Rome is changed therfore now to be vnderstāded thus vpon this rock being y e Church of Rome y e church of y e diuel shal be builded And wheras Christ said to Peter the first Pope as they say Whatsoeuer thou binds in Earth shall be bound in heauē now y e sense of y e scripture is changed the meaning therof is now thus whatsoeur y u binds in earth it shal be bound in Hel loke whose sins yée forgiue they shal not be forgiuen whō soeuer y u blesse in earth shal be curst in Hel whō soeuer y u curse on erth shal be blessed in heauē And wheras y e Pope sayes y t the meaning of Christ was y t the Popes being Peters successors should haue the keys which he gaue to Peter to open the gates of heauen to let vs in to it now I beleue y e same words of Christ haue another mening according to y e time chāging of y e Popes maners which are now quite contrarie to S. Peters conditions y t the keys now which the Pope hath shal shut men out of heauen open the gates of Hel let the Pope his Papistical Prelats into it thus the Pope by his chāging the sense of y e scriptures to serue for times hath made a very fair market for therby he is nether Pope nor Christs Uickar so he may binde in hel if he wil but he can binde nothing in heauen also therby he hath lost the keys of y e kingdome of Heauen hath in stead therof gotten y e keys of y e dungeō of Hel. For if y e Pope hath any spiritual keys at al as he sayth he hath by y e place of Scripture then the meaning therof is surely changed according to the time as Cusanus saieth so the Popes keys are not the keys of the kingdome of heauen but of the doleful dungeon of Hel. But though Hosius this Cusanus with other such like doth extol the Church of Rome sayth the authoritie theris aboue the scriptures that the meaning of y e scriptures are vncertain changes as the iudgement of the church of Rome changes y t nothing is takē for Christs cōmandemēt vnlesse the Church of Rome doth allow it Ther is no wise man wil beléeue them vnlesse they bring better authorities therfore thē their own bare words in y e mean space let vs giue credite to S. Aug. which was as godly a man as vertuous a mā as wel lerned a mā one y t knew what authority y e church of Rome ought to haue as wel as they who saith thus Cedamus cōsētiamus c Let vs yeld saith he consent to the holy Scriptures which can neither deceiue nor be deceiued He names not here the Churche of Rome nor sayeth that it hathe aucthority aboue the Scriptures nor yet sayth that the Scripturs haue sometimes one meaning and sometimes another and that the sense doth alter or chaunge but he bids both the Church of Rome and al other Churches whatsoeuer to yéeld and cōsent to the scripture which as he saith can neither deceiue nor be deceiued Truely if your Church of Rome had had any such aucthoritie aboue the scriptures as y e Popes proctors wold make vs beléeue then Irenaeus S. Ierome S. Augustine Tertullian Chrisost. other learned writers would haue writtē something of it nay if they had done so y e Popes doctors would haue brought thē forth for the better credite of their cause But bicause they write directly against thē as is before mētioned therefore they let thē alone Now if the scriptures according to Saint Au. can neither deceiue nor be deceiued then the Church of Rome which is inferior to the scripturs ought to giue place to y e Gospel being cleane contrary to the scripturs may deceiue vs therfore may erre ly as she cā do none other as before is very manifest but though these y e Popes prelates wold make vs beléeue y t ther were no certainty in the scriptures and y t the Gospell is vncertain the meaning therof chaunges according to y e times which is a moste diuellish doctrine yet I will approue that there is neyther certainetye trueth nor godlinesse in the Popes lawes nor in the Church of Rome Platina sayth that the Popes y t follow do euermore eyther breake or wholye abrogate the decrées of the Popes that were before now séeing there is such vncertaintie in the Popes lawes decrées are not we worthye to beléeue and credite the same Looke what lawes God did sende vnto vs by Iesus Christ his sonne which is the Gospel he neuer disanulled them nor did deliuer vs anye other since nor neuer wil his doings and iudgements are so certaine true infallible and therfore Gods law his holy gospel is so right true perfect infallible that al other doctrines ought to be iudged and tryed by it Therfore if you be the children of God you wil credite no doctrine be it neuer so auncient and séeme it neuer so glorious nor so holye no further than it doeth agrée with the Scriptures and the worde of God Therefore beléeue not the Church of Rome whose Doctours doctrine are so diuellish as before is well proued and as hereafter shal be more manifested Therefore marke well a little more of this doctrine of your church of Rome which if you be
Pope knewe that it was a good way to bring him in credite For if kings rulers and Lords of the earth which may be deceiued do chose as nie as they can their most dearest and trustiest friendes to bée their presedents and deputies then I am sure that Christ the sonne of God and the King of all Kings that can not be deceiued if he had ment to haue had a general vickar on the earth woulde haue made one of his dearest and trustiest friendes his vickar and not his mortal enimie And therfore the Pope may saye what he wil but al wise men do sée that Christ neither takes him for his vickar nor yet for his Curate Can he or his chaplaines be the children of God that prefers ignorance before knowledge I think not some of them haue affirmed that ignorance is the mother of deuotion O Lord how contrarie are these mē both to God and to his son Christ nay ignorāce of Gods word is rather the mother of mischiefe the father of falsehoode the sister of sinne the son of sedition the daughter of disobediency the coosin of conspiracie and the Captaine of crueltie Ful wel the Diuel knew that ignoraunce was the next way to bring the Pope to promotion and the people to destruction for their ignorance made them thinke that none but the Pope or his Prelats did know the truth And their blindnesse did make them beléeue that none did sée perfectly but he and his pretious Prelates So that for wante of knowledge of Gods word which of purpose they kept frō them they beléeued that al they spake was true and that it was the very right way that they did lead them So that the peoples ignoraunce was the occasion of the Popes credite his credite the cause of his gaine his gaine the cause of his power his power th◠cause of his pride his pride the cause he made Emperours and Kings his seruauntes or rather slaues and thus the ignoraunce of Gods worde brought the Pope to promotion the Princes to subiection and the people to destruction And if you mark wel you may perceyue that the Popes suppressing and the keeping of Gods worde from the people is a manifest argument that he is neither Christs vickar nor his deputie nor that he loues Christe For Christe sayde to Peter louest thou mee to whome Peter sayde yea Lorde thou knowest that I loue thee then Christ saide to him againe Feede my sheepe c. So that Peters loue to Christ appeared by féeding of Christes shéepe whiche was not by féeding their bodies with meate and drinke but by féeding their soules through preching to them the Gospel Now if they loue Christe that féede his shéepe then they must néedes hate Christ that starue his shéepe neuer preching to them at all And such a one is the Pope for he neuer preacheth therfore he neuer féedes Christs shéepe Nay besides that he doth not only trouble molest hurt burne and kill suche as do or would féede Christes shéepe but also hideth kéepeth backe and burnes the Bybles and Testaments leaste the people shoulde loke on them and féede themselues So that here it is manifeste that the Pope loues not Christ bycause he féedes not Christes shéepe And he that loues not Christe muste néedes hate Christe and therefore the Pope being Christes enimie can not be the vickar of Christ. And here also is a great contrarietie betwéene Peter the Pope though he claime to be Peters successor for Peter loued Christ for that he fed Christs shéepe but y e Pope hateth Christ bycause he sterueth his shéepe yea and also kils his shéepe So that the Pope doth not succede Peter in any thing vnlesse it be in denying of Christ. Here it plainely appeareth that the Pope maye wel be the Uicar of the Diuel for Christes Uickar sure he can not be I am moste certaine that it was Christes wil that hys word should not be kept from any though it be the Popes will it should be rightly knowen of any For would Christ haue vs kepe that we neuer heard of and would he haue vs searche we know not what no Christe was neuer so vnreasonable For Christ sayth vnto vs all If you loue me keepe my commaundements that is whatsoeuer he hath willed by his word But how can we knowe what is his commandements y t we should kéep if none declare thē vnto vs neither read thē our selues nor yet haue thē red vnto vs Therfore if our louing of Christ depēd on y e kéeping of his cōmandements thē how cā we loue him séeing we can not knowe his commaundements So that y e Popes kéeping or hurding of Gods word from the people is the cause they can not kéepe Gods commaundementes And their not kéeping of Gods commaundements is the cause they doe not loue him and their not louing of him is the cause that he hates them and his hating of them will be the cause of their dampnation And thus the Pope is the first worker of the ignorant peoples damnation Christ saith also Search the Scriptures for they are they that witnesse of me but how can they search the Scripturs that haue not the Scriptures to search neyther know how to come by them now if the Scriptures witnesse what is Christes wil and pleasure and if their searching and looking therein wil shew them how to performe his wil and please him and the pleasing of him would be the cause of their saluation Then the Popes hiding and kéeping the Scripturs from them is the cause they cānot heare read or search the Scripturs and not hearing reading or searching of the Scriptures is the cause they cannot know the wil of Christe and the not knowing the wil of Christe is the cause they can not please him and their not pleasing of him is the cause they please the Diuel and the pleasing of y e Diuel is y e cause of their dānation And thus once again y e Pope is the chief cause of the ignorant peoples dānation Christe saith also Blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it so that they that heare the worde of God and kéepe it not are vnhappy Nowe if all they that heare the worde of God are not happy then all they that heare not the worde of God muste néedes be vnhappy for there are none happy but they that kéepe or folow the word of God but howe can they kéepe the word of God that neither heare it nor reade it Nowe if the hearing of Gods worde is the cause that they kéepe it and their kéeping or following of it is the cause they are happye or blessed then the Popes restrayning of Gods word frō the people is the cause they doe not heare it and their not hearing it is the cause they cannot kéepe or followe it and their not kéeping or following of it is the cause they are vnhappy and theyr vnhappinesse is the cause of their damnatiō
beyng breade and wyne are signes of the bodye and bloud of Christ which is an inuisible grace for Christ is the greatest fauour and grace that euer God bestowed vpon vs or sent vs. Further this is the true diffinition of a Sacrament Sacramentum est signum rei sacrioris se. A Sacrament is a Signe of a holyer thing than it is it selfe And for that nothing is more holye than the bodye of Christ and it beyng a Sacrament is a sygne of a holyer thing than it is it selfe therefore it can not bée the body of Christ. And marke these arguments that followe Nothing is done in the remembrance of it selfe But the sacrament is vsed in the remembrance of Christ Therefore the Sacrament is not Christ. Againe Christ neuer deuoured himselfe But Christ did eate the sacrament with his Apostles Ergo the Sacrament is not Christ himselfe And againe one thing can not be both visible inuisible But the Sacrament is visible and the body of Christ is inuisible therefore they are not one Which Saint Augustine openeth well by these wordes Aliud est Sacramentum aliud res Sacramenti c. The Sacrament is one thing the thing of the Sacrament is an other thing the Sacrament is that goeth into the bodye the thing of the Sacrament is the bodye of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. Saint Augustine sayeth also Euill men haue the Sacrament but they haue not the thing of the Sacrament which is the bodye of Christ that the Sacramente doeth signifie By these sayings it appeares plainly that the Sacrament is one thing and the bodye of Christ is an other thing S. Ambrose saith of the bread and wyne Sunt quae erant c They remaine the same that they were and are chaunged into an other thing That is they are made the Sacrament of y e body bloud of Christ which before they were not S. Ambrose saith let the word be added to the elemeÌ„t or outward creature it is made a Sacrament that is to say another thing Sacraments are signes or tokens of things being by substaÌ„ce one thing signifying an other thing So saith Chrisostom of the water of Baptim when this creature of water hath receiued the holy ghost it is made a Sacrament And now it is not water to drinke but water to sanctifie not coÌ„mon water but water to refreshe Thus the Element or outward creature both remayneth and is changed S. Augustine saith it is so called after a sort that is not in truth of matter but by a mysterie signifying that the sense maye be this it is called the bodye of Christ that is to saye it signifyeth the body of Christ. Hereby it appeares by the iudgementes of these learned wâ—yters that the bread and wyne are changed by the worde into a Sacrament being breade and wine still in substaunce and so are changed into an other thing then they were before for before they were but onelye breade and wine and nowe they are a Sacramentall bread and wine signifying the body and bloud of Christ. So that the Sacrament of the Supper of the Lord is a figure and signe of the body and bloud of Christ and not the verye body and bloud of Christ. These holy and learned men that wrote of this worthy excellent changing of the Sacramentes neuer knewe of the Popes changing or transubstantiation or turning of the breade and wyne into the bodye and bloud of Christe but if any were so wicked to write it so deuilish to declare it or so pestilent to persuade it of all them and all suche Saint Augustine doeth write thus This is a myserable bondage sayeth hée of the Soule to take the Sygnes in steade of the things that bee sygnified But whether there were then any suche or no hée hath fully touched you that takes the Sacrament that signifyes the bodye of Christ for the body of Christ. And therefore by his sayings you are in a myserable bondage of your soules that takes the sacrament for the body of Christ whereas it doth but signifie the body of Christ. Therefore for the loue of God release your soules and your bodyes also out of that myserable bondage and take it for a memorie and remembrance of the bodye of Christ as the Scriptures doe will you and the Doctors doe persuade you and beléeue not the Popes turning or changing or transubstantiation of the breade into the body of Christ for it is not true nay it can not bée true For it is not foure hundreth yéeres since it was first allowed or authorized by Pope Innocent the thirde and his Prelates whiche muste néedes come from the Diuell as the rest of the Popes holye Religion dyd aswell for that neyther Christ did teache it nor the Apostles did once mention it nor the auncient Doctors did affirme it or beléeue it as also for that is repugnaÌ„t to scriptures to the doctrine of the Apostles and to the writings of the holy and learned Doctors And though you haue bin persuaded that it is most sure and infallible doctrine the chiefest postes and pillers of the same are not onely in great doubt thereof but are at their wittes ende and knowe not well what to saye therein for Peter Lombard y e chiefe general of this campe of this transubstantiatioÌ„ saith thus as followeth Some meÌ„ iudge thus some saye thus some haue written thus some graunt this some other haue thought thus that the very substaunce of the breade and wine remayneth still Here is but a madde agrement of the learned to proue the same If so many learned men say by the confession of the chiefe champion of this matter that there remaynes still breade and wyne in the Sacrament then it were a verye madnesse for all you to beléeue that it is the very body and bloud of Christ neyther bread nor wyne But marke what Peter Lombard saith him selfe hereof that takes vppon hym to iudge these doubtes howe he is resolued or howe hée agréeth in iudgement wyth himselfe his aunswere is thys Si autem queritur c. If a question were moued saith he what maner of conuersion or change this is whether it be in forme or in substance or of some other sort I am not able to discusse it Here may you see saith M. Iewell the blinde leadeth the blinde he that setteth his foote before the rest and would be taken for a guide knoweth not where to set his owne foote Gabriel Biell sayeth howe the bodye of Christ is there whether it bee by chaunging of something into it or Christs bodye beginne to bee there with the breade both the substaunce and the accidentes of the breade remayning styll without chaunging it is not founde in the Cannon of the Bible c. Thus doe the learned Doctours of the Pope teache you they can not tell what But this I wyll saye if it bée not to bee founde in the Bible it shall neuer be founde
vtterly damned for euer Which no true Christian will beléeue Therfore if you will néedes beléeue the Popes Transubstantiation and that the Sacramentall bread is turned into the body of Christ and that if you eate it with your mouth champe it with your téeth that then you eate the very bodie flesh of Christ then you must also beléeue that al these holy men martires yong children and the théefe that neuer did eate it with their mouthes are dāned Which Diuelish and most vntrue doctrine I hope you wil beléeue no longer but if you do yet we will rather beléeue they are saued that your Diuelish doctrine of Transubstantiation is altogither false Thus you may sée into what a great mischiefe inconuenience you are driuen by beléeuing that the Sacramentall bread is the very body of Christ. And now marke well how you are brought into an other maruelous mischiefe and inconuenience by this your Romishe doctrine Christ sayth Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will rayse him vp at the last day Now if your eating of the Sacrament with your mouth and téeth and your drinking of the wine is the right eating and drinking of the bodie bloud of Christ then Iudas is saued for he did eate drinke it and Iewes Turkes and the Heathen worshippers of Idols shalbe saued if they once catch holde of your bodie of Christ and eate it yea and the little Mouse shalbe saued if she catch it and eate it for I dare say for hir that she neither beléeues in Christ nor would beléeue that it were the bodie of Christ but a péece of bread or a cake for if shée did thinke it were the bodie of a man shée would not come so nie it Thus if it be the very bodie of Christ and be truely receyued whether one beléeue in Christ or not then the greatest Infidels Idolaters Tirants and the most wicked persons on the earth yea and the Mouse the Dogge or any other beast if they may once get this your Christes bodie into their mouthes mawes are sure to be saued Christ will raise them vp at the last day for Christ saith as it is before whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day And so by this your true reasonable doctrine Christ will raise vp Mise and Dogges that haue and shall eate your Sacrament at the last day and also by this meanes the théefe is damned that Christ said should be saued and Iudas is saued that Christ saide was damned When you haue red this may you not be ashamed that euer you gaue such credite to this vile Diuelish doctrine of the Romish Church Yes verily if you haue any wit or reason but especially any sparke of the grace of God Sée hereafter I praie you how Christes doctrine and your Romishe religion agrées in this point forsooth euen as it doeth in all the rest Christe sayde I am the liuing bread that came downe from Heauen but cleane came and quite contrarie you saie that your earthly dead bread is Christ that went to Heauen for I am sure that the bread that you make your Christes bodie of was neuer in Heauen therefore your bread neuer came from heauen and so your bread can not be the bodie of Christe for that hée sayth I am the liuing bread that came downe from heauen And so your dead bread can not be the bodie of Christ. And now bycause it can not be the liuing bodie of Christe it must néedes be a dead Substance or péece of bread Therefore be no longer allured by the Romishe Religion that teacheth you thus falsely and vnreasonably that the Sacramentall bread by their consecrating of it is the bodie of Christ but beléeue as the Gospell doth tell you the Apostles do shewe you as Saint Steuen doth learne you and as your Créede doth teache you that the bodie of Christe is now in Heauen on the right hande of God the father from whence hée will come to iudge the quicke and the dead And if these be not sufficient to persuade you that he in his bodie is in Heauen and no where else you shall heare the opinions of auncient godly and learned men therein S. Augustine saith Ibat per id quod homo erat manebat per id quod Deus erat c. Christ departed by that he was man but abode by that he was God he departed by that that was in one place he abode by that that is in all places Fulgentius writes as followeth concerning Christes absence and presence Secundum humanitatem suam localiter erat in terra c. Christe according to his manhood he was placed in earth but according to his godhead he filled both heauē earth The manhood of Christ is contained in place the godhead of Christ is infinite and in all places The fleshe of Christ is doubtles locall or in place the godhead of Christ is for euer in euery place There remained still in Christ the infinite godhead there was receiued of him a locall manhood how ascended he into Heauen sauing he is very man contayned in place how is he present with the faithful sauing he is infinite and true God And last of all he saith Vnus idemque Christus secundum humanam substantiam c. Christ being one according to the Substance of his manhead was absent frō Heauen when he was in earth and he forsooke earth when he was in heauen Now if we may beléeue Christ if we may credite our Créede if S. Steuen said truly if S. Paule be true of his worde If Tertullian Cyprian Augustine Chrysostome and this Fulgentius with many other godly fathers and learned writers haue not fabled herein then surely the very body of Christ that died on the Crosse is at this present time in heauen on the right hand of God the Father neither here on earth nor any where else though the Pope and his Parasites tell vs that he is here But marke further you shal sée how learnedly clarkly M. Hard. goeth about to proue this turning of a cake into Christ. Who saith that Christ made his Apostles saith M. Iewel misteriall Spirits saying Do this wherein is contained make this in my remēbrance saying a litle before that Christe was a Priest and consecrated as a Priest as S. Hier. dothe witnesse that as Melchisedech in foreshewing the figure of Christ had done Panem vinum offerens ipse quoque veritatem sui corporis sanguinis representaret Christ himselfe also should make present the truth of his body and bloud To whom that famous and learned man M. Iewell late Bishop of Sarisburie answeared as followeth Is representare Latine to make present M. Harding what Grammarian euer taught you so to say or what making finde you in this worde as you tender your credite tell vs who euer
dayly increased for kill they neuer so many yet let them tell them they shall finde them mo in number And so doth no other religioÌ„ in the world but it therfore there is no better marke wherby to know the true religion the church of Christ than by persecution by increasing thereby And hereto Tertullian agréeth who saith Crudelitas vestra nostra gloria est Your crueltie is our glorie your earnest crueltie is an entisement and a prouocation to this sect as often as ye recken vs ye find vs mo mo the seede is Christian bloud Thus it appeare that the Gospell of Christ growe and spring by being troubled persecuted so as I said doth no other religioÌ„ But the Popes doctrine would decrease if they should not trouble and persecute When the Emperour Adrian had yéelded to graunt one church within the cittie of Rome certaine of his priuie CouÌ„sel aduised him in any wise not to do so for that they said if the ChristiaÌ„s might haue but one church within the Citie the whole people would al become Christians and thereby their idols churches should be forsaken EueÌ„ so if y e Princes that holde on the Pope his religion would cease froÌ„ their killing murthering burning tormeÌ„ting of the professors of the gospel suffer them quietly to teach preach the gospel that would to haue the Bible the coÌ„mmunion in the Churches surely the Bible would driue away al y e images the CoÌ„munioÌ„ would quite ouerthrow their Masses y e truth of Gods word would vtterly confound abolish the Pope al his false doctrine Which the Pope knowes wel inough therfore he kéepeth the Kings Rulers not only in errour blindnesse but also persuadeth theÌ„ to be persecutors of theÌ„ that professe the Gospel And as Christ is mercifull so the Pope is cruell not to the wicked but to the godly for the Pope kil them that professe the Gospell whom God would haue preserued and not killed but harlots fornicators aduouterers Sodomites and incestuous persons which God appointeth to be executed stoned to death he preserueth maketh much of maintaine Christ saued a woman from being stoned to death y e had deserued to die by the law but the Pope cleane contrarie burneth kilteh murther them that ought to liue both by Gods lawe and mans lawe If Peter were Pope of Rome as some of you beléeue then marke how his doings did differ from the Popes practises for Peter did giue sentence of death against Ananias Saphira his wife the children of the Diuell so were suddenly stroken to death by the powre of God for lying but the Pope his Prelates pronounce sentence of death agaynst the children of God and burne them for speaking of truth And thus the persecuting Pope will néedes be contrarie to Christe do and say what we can Therefore if Christ be good as he is then the Pope is euill as he is for that they be so contrarie for Christe was méeke and mercifull the Pope is proude a tyrant Christe was poore y e Pope is rich Christ was in subiectioÌ„ to Emperours Kings y e Pope maketh the Emperours Kings his subiects seruants the Iewes did offer to make Christ a King but he refused it the Pope maketh himselfe a King of Kings and no man doth offer it Christ was the Author of peace the Pope is the author of wars Christ forbad sinne the Pope doth licence to sin Christ preached the Gospel the Pope suppresseth y e gospel Christ was persecuted killed the Pope doth persecute kill Therfore as Christ is the sonne of God so is y e Pope the child of the Diuel vnlesse he turne frame himself to the fashioÌ„ of Christ otherwise theÌ„ he doth This I hope is sufficieÌ„t for you to know of whose church they are y e do murther persecute eueÌ„ of the church of the Diuell for he was a murtherer from the beginning for as I saide murthering persecuting are badges of the Diuels church but let y e Pope be assured y t God is not only angrie with him for this his cruel murthering and persecuting but also wil pluck downe his pride at leÌ„gth for if God were angrie with king Saule put him from his kingdome bicause he killed not Gods enimie king Agag according to his coÌ„mandement then you néede not doubt but y e God is angrie with the Pope will put him out of his Popedome that killeth his friends contrarie to his commaundement And though the Pope call them Heretikes burne them bicause they will not woorship images and idols and obey his Diuelish lawe yet they are the children of God and though he burne their bodies he can not hurt their Soules But if they be Heretikes that put away idolatrie whiche God doth commaunde them then what is the Pope and his Prelates that doe sette vp Images and committe idolatrie whiche God doth forbid but though the Pope call them Heretikes that hée persecutes for professing of the Gospell and sayth they be damned yet Christe is of a contrarie opinion for he sayth Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake for theires is the kingdome of Heeauen Nowe if the kingdome of Heauen be theirs that are persecuted for righteousnesse then they that the Pope persecutes for testifying the Gospell which is trueth and righteousnesse are sure to haue the kingdome of Heauen though the Pope tell vs they are damned And if the kingdome of Heauen be theirs that the Pope persecutes then surely the kingdome of Hell is the Popes that thus doth persecute them So that by Christes owne wordes the Pope though he say hée can saue whom he will and can gyue the kingdome of Heauen to whome he liâ—te is so nie dryuen that he himselfe is like to dwell in the kingdome of Hell And no maruell for he hath bene so lyberall in gyuing to so many the kingdome of Heauen that thereby he hath quite dispossest him selfe of Heauen and therfore he is very lyke to dwell in Hell Wherfore if you woulde auoyde Hell haue no desire to burne your bretherne nor to persecute the professours of the Gospell for thereby you prouoke Gods wrath and also increase his kingdome and get the Diuels fauour decaye the Popes kingdome There is no striuing against God it can be no good bulwarke that is builded with bloud Suffer the house of God by the preaching of the Gospel to be builded for what soeuer you pluck downe in y e night he will builde it more to againe in the day and God will ouerthrow in the daie whatsoeuer you builde in the night For when the wicked Emperour Iulian in dispite of Christ had giuen the Iewes leaue to build repaire their Temple the Princes power assisting them no power séemed able to withstand their purpose Then God himselfe from