two things very clearly 1 st That at that time they kept the Bread of the Eucharist in a Casket or Coffer so far were they from making it an Object of their Adoration 2 d That the mingling only of the Bread that was consecrated before with the Wine that was not consecrated made them look upon the Wine though not consecrated by the Words of Jesus Christ as the Blood of Jesus Christ which is the most extravagant and sensless Notion in the World if we suppose that these Fathers were season'd with the Doctrine of Transubstantiation which attributes to the Words of Christ only the Virtue of changing the Substance of the Wine into the Substance of the Blood of Christ Allatius takes a great deal of pains to avoid this Argument which shews that the Greek Church that believes the same cannot be of the Faith of the Church of Rome In the mean time the thing is certain and Mabillon has ingenuously acknowledged that this is the true sense of that Canon And indeed there are many Proofs that make it evident that both the Greek and Latin Fathers were of this Opinion Salonius one of the most famous Bishops of Gallia Narbonensis owns no other Doctrine but that of the Old and New-Testament Drink Waters out of thine own Cistern and running Waters out of thine own Well S. By Cistern he means the Catholick Doctrine that is that of the Old and New-Testament and by the Well he understands the Depth and Height of the same Catholick Doctrine that is the various meanings of holy Scripture For in these Words he teacheth us to beware of the Doctrine of Hereticks and to attend to the reading of Holy Scripture He will have the Author 's Meaning and not Tradition to be the Explication of Scripture Do not remove the antient Land-marks or Bounds which thy Fathers have set S. By the antient Bounds he understands the Bounds of Truth and Faith which Catholick Doctors have plac'd from the beginning He would have no Man therefore receive the Truth of Holy Faith and Gospel-Doctrine any otherwise than it hath been handed down to them by the Holy Fathers and likewise commands that no Man interpret the Words of Holy Scripture otherwise than according to the Intention of each Writer He doth not own the Apocrypha How many Books did Solomon publish S. Three only according to the number of their Titles Proverbs Ecclesiastes and Canticles V. What doth Solomon say in the Proverbs or what doth he teach in Ecclesiastes and his Songs He assigns but two Places whither the Soul goes immediately For by the Tree Man is understood because every Man is as it were a Tree in the Wood of Mankind by the South which is a warm Wind is signified the Rest of Paradise and by the North which is cold is signified the Pain of Hell and the meaning of it is Wheresoever Man prepares a Place for his future abode if to the South when he falls that is dies he shall abide to all Eternity in the Rest of Paradise and the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven He makes it the greatest Absurdity that a Man should eat his own Flesh which yet follows from the Doctrine of Transubstantiation But that Expression He eats his own Flesh is spoke by an Hyperbole V. What is an Hyperbole S. When any thing is exprest that is incredible V. How is this exprest hyperbolically he eats his own Flesh S. Because it is incredible that any Man should eat his own Flesh but to aggravate the slothfulness of this Fool he saith that he eats his own Flesh to shew that a Fool rather desires his Flesh should waste by Hunger and be consumed by the Misery of Want than to support it by the labour of his Hands These are all Maxims concerning divers important Articles very different from the present Maxims of the Church of Rome I grant that Prosper who was a Native of Aquitain was no more than a Lay-man but he was in so great a Reputation that there were but few Bishops of his time that have shewn more Knowledg or exprest more Zeal for the defence of Truth than he did This Testimony is given of him by Cassiodorus Photius and Vasquez Wherefore his Testimony concerning the Faith of his Country must be of great weight with us Would we know the Opinion of the Church of this Diocess He tells us of a small part of the Body of Jesus Christ thereby meaning the Eucharist or the Sacrament which was given in little Bits And it is in the same sense that he speaks of a small part of the Sacrifice Expressions that are utterly inconsistent with the Notion of the Church of Rome concerning the carnal Presence And indeed it is plain in all his Writings that he follows the steps of St. Augustin in his Expressions and Judgments of things which are contrary to those of the Church of Rome This we may see in his Extract of the Sentences of St. Augustin where he repeats what that Father had said upon Psalm 33. upon occasion of these Words of the vulgar Version which says that David ferebatur in manibus suis in the presence of Achish Where it clearly appears that he understood those Words as well as St. Augustin did of the Sacrament of his Body which may be called his Body in some sense that is to say by way of Likeness as St. Augustin expresseth himself concerning it I cite nothing here from those other Works which are attributed to him because indeed they are none of his I shall only observe two things The first is that in his Epistle to Demetrius he plainly shews that he knew nothing of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning the Necessity of the Ministers Intention for the Validity of the Sacraments for there he attributes all to the Work of God and not to that of the Minister according to the Doctrine of St. Augustin upon the Question of the Validity of Baptism conferred by Hereticks The other is that as he follows St. Augustin in the Matter of Free Grace as one may see in his Poems gathered from the Opinions of St. Augustin and his Sentences so he rejects the Doctrine of Merit and Works as a pure Pelagian Doctrine in several Places of his Writings Lastly We must join with these Authors Arnobius the Rhetorician since it is very probable that he lived in Gallia Narbonensis because he has dedicated some of his Works to Leontius Bishop of Arles to the Bishop of Narbonne and Faustus Bishop of Riez who died about the year 485. Arnobius explains his Belief in the Matter of the Eucharist after this manner We have received saith he upon the 4 th Psalm Wheat in the Body Wine in the Blood and Oil in Chrisme So likewise on Psal 104. he saith of Jesus Christ that he administers not only the species of Bread but also of Wine and Oil. Thus it is he describes the Eucharist and
is to be the Seat of Antichrist What I say now deserves to be considered because in the Year 1516 December the 19 th in the 11 th Session of the Lateran Council under Leo X in whose time Luther began to preach we find that there was a Prohibition against handling the Question of Antichrist in the Pulpit though under the Pretence of advancing some new Revelation concerning it without having obtained leave from the Holy See or from the Bishop The Words of the Canon which oblige all those who should ever undertake to preach on this Subject are these And we command all who bear this Charge or who shall bear it for the future that they preach and explain the Evangelical Truth and the Holy Scripture according to the Exposition and Interpretation of those Doctors whom the Church or long Tradition has approved and has hitherto allowed to be read or which shall be so for time to come without adding any thing that is contrary to or disagreeing from the proper sense of them but that they always insist upon such Matters as do not disagree with the Words of the Scripture nor with the Interpretations of the foresaid Doctors Neither let them presume to fix in their Sermons any certain time of the Evils to come of the coming of Antichrist or of the Day of Judgment forasmuch as Truth assures us that it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons Moreover if the Lord should be pleased to reveal to any of them in the Church of God future things by some Inspiration as he hath promised by the Prophet Amos and seeing the Apostle Paul saith Despise not Prophecying c. we will not have such as these reckoned amongst Impostors and Liars or that they shall be any ways hindred But because it is a matter of great Moment and that we are not upon light Grounds to believe every Spirit but are to try them whether they be of God we command that by a constant Law any such asserted Inspirations before they be published or preached to the People be henceforward understood to be reserved to the Examination of the Apostolical See but in Case this cannot be done without the Danger of too long a Delay or that urgent Necessity should otherwise perswade then observing the same Order it may be signified to the Ordinary of the place who taking along with him three or four learned and grave Men and diligently examining the matter with them if they see it expedient which we charge upon their Consciences they may grant them Liberty but whosoever presumes to commit any thing contrary to the Premises shall incur Excommunication from the which he shall not be absolved but by the Pope himself that so by their Example others may be deterred from presuming to do any such thing for which Reason we decree that they be for ever made incapable of the Office of Preaching any Priviledges whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding c. 'T is not our Business to examine the Question whether the Bishop of Meaux hath exactly followed the Rules that this Canon prescribes in his Explication of the Scripture and especially about the matter of Antichrist though they be Rules by which Bishops are no less bound than the meanest Divines It may be the Church of Rome finds the Bishop's new System so much for her Interest that it inclines her to suspend the Severity of her Canons in Favour of a Person who has so dexterously pluck'd a Thorn out of her Foot which hath troubled her so long and which hath always caused new Pains to her as oft as any of her Doctors have indeavoured to pluck it out But I fear I have insisted too long upon so vain a Conjecture and which scarce deserved to be confuted There are able Men of the Church of Rome who have taken the Pains to refute the Conjecture of some Papists who would needs have Mahomet to be the Antichrist This was the Chimaera of Annius of Viterbo a Monk famous for his Impostures this likewise was the Whimsy of Fevardentius and some others whom Pererius the Jesuit hath refuted so solidly as that he has put the Bishop of Meaux to the trouble of inventing a new System to oppose the Protestants I hope his System will meet with the same Destiny amongst his own Party that so the Protestants may not be put to the trouble of giving it a formal Confutation For indeed though the Politicks of the Church of Rome do bear with several Opinions that differ from the common Hypotheses of their Society yet the Divines of that Party are not patient enough to dissemble the Dislike they have to see their old Opinions which have been maintained for several Ages trod under-foot The Bishop himself has an Example hereof which he cannot well have forgot in the Person of Cardinal Capizucchi who having given his Approbation to the Exposition of the Romish Faith made by the Bishop of Meaux in which he sweetens the Worship of Images so very much for Fear of incensing the Protestants whom he designed to bring over to his own Side was not wanting some Years after to publish a Treatise wherein he shews that he gave that Approbation only upon the Account of Reason of State and not because he sincerely approved the way which the Bishop had taken to make the Worship of Images appear more tolerable to the Protestant Party CHAP. XX. Of the Morals of the Albigenses and of their Ecclesiastical Government HAving thus justified the Albigenses as to their Doctrine and Worship it is time now to proceed to shew the Regularity of their Discipline by representing the Nature of their Church-Government and Conduct of those Churches in matters that related to their Manners This will not be a matter of any Difficulty for it is easily conceived that these Diocesses being stored with People who maintained the Doctrine of Berengarius as the Abbot of Tron tells us they had a great Party of the Clergy at the Head of them I do not say this without good Grounds for 1 st We see that in the Councils held against Berengarius there were very great Contests about this Matter and that the opposite Party carried their Point only by down-right Violence 2 dly That according to the Testimony of Sigebert if many Persons wrote against Berengarius many also wrote in favour of him and who can doubt of their being Church-men 3 dly That his own Bishop Bruno Bishop of Anger 's where he was Archdeacon declared himself for him 4 thly That in Aquitain in the Year 1075 Giraldus Legat of Pope Gregory VII was obliged to call a Council at Poictiers where Berengarius narrowly escaped being murthered as we are assured by the Chronicle of St. Maixant the Circumstances whereof there set down they that published it took care to leave out 5 thly That five Years after they were obliged to convocate another Council at Bourdeaux where Berengarius gave an Account of his Faith
Deputies of the University of Oxford who gave a publick and authentick Testimony of his Piety and his Purity in the Faith 4. The University of Oxford had espoused his Quarrel with the Church of Rome so far that after his having been attack'd by a Council at London in 1382 and after having maintain'd his Doctrine from the year 1367 with publick applause his Writings continued recommended by a Decree of the University to all the Students both in the Publick Schools and Colledges and were not forc'd from them till after his Condemnation which happened at the Council of Constance 28 years after his Death We see the Esteem Wicklef had in that University by the Testimony they gave in 1406 against those that endeavour'd to blemish the Memory of this great Man for after they had spoken of his Piety and Probity as of a Thing known to all Men after they had declared that he was a couragious Defender of the Faith they add Qui singulos mendicitate spontaneâ Christi Religionem blasphemantes sacrae Scripturae sententiis catholicè expugnavit That he had in a Catholick Way by Texts of Scripture overthrown all those who by a voluntary Poverty blasphemed the Religion of Christ And since the Romish Party had not at that time a more formidable Enemy than Wicklef they were not wanting to muster all their Forces in order to suppress his Doctrine In the Year 1396 William Woodeford a Cordelier was chosen by Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury to write against Wicklef's Trialogue which he did accordingly refuting 18 Articles of his Doctrine This Book is printed in the Fasciculus In the Year 1411 Thomas Walden an English-man deputed to the Council of Constance dedicated his Doctrinal to Pope Martin V against Wicklef where he accuseth him of above 800 Errors This Monk as able as he was was really one of the most passionate Disputers that ever writ but withal it is true also that to follow his Measures we can scarcely imagine a more particular Discussion of the Errors Superstitions and false Suppositions which the Church of Rome makes use of to maintain her Errors and false Worship than that which Wicklef made use of In the Account that Walden gives of it we meet with a great Knowledg of Holy Scripture and great Skill in Antiquity whose Authority he makes use of to confound the Romish Novelties we discover there a great strength in his way of reasoning and an extraordinary Method in his Consequences so that he seems to have fully penetrated the Weakness of the Romish Cause and overthrown its whole Foundations One may plainly discover this by running over the Titles of the Doctrinal of Thomas Walden upon Matters of Faith upon the Sacraments upon those which he calls sacramental things or that belong to Sacraments for we scarcely meet with any Articles controverted between the Church of Rome and the Protestants which Wicklef hath not touched and handled and that with sufficient Exactness too This hath obliged the Papists with so much Care to reprint Walden's Works against Wicklef as containing a Body of their Controversies against the Protestants I am not ignorant that Walden objects some very harsh and impious Opinions to him and that the Council of Constance has mingled several of that Nature amongst the 45 Articles of Wicklef which are there condemned But here I must desire my Reader to call to mind four things 1 st That Woodeford hath objected no such thing to Wicklef which shews that he never taught any like Doctrine but that they are only Consequences drawn by a scholastical Divine who was used to carry things too far 2 dly That Walden wrote at a time when the Popish Party had the upper-hand in the Court of Henry V who had condemned the Wicklefites as guilty of high Treason which Walden takes notice of in his Dedication to Martin V. 3 dly That it is very probable that this Catalogue of 45 Articles was drawn up by Walden himself who was present at the Council of Constance on purpose to promote Wicklef's Condemnation 4 thly That the Council of Constance was the first where by publick Consent that Maxim That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks was ever put in Practice Now let any one judg what Equity or Truth can be expected from Villains of such profligate Principles who think it an Honour to act in every thing according to them After all this I might well excuse my self from setting down the Opinions of Wicklef or from saying any thing for his Justification but I am willing to do both the one and the other for the Honour of this great Man and for the Readers Satisfaction The Opinions of Wicklef with relation to the Doctrine of Protestants are these CHAP. XXIV Of the Calumnies that have been unjustly charged upon Wicklef by the Papists 1. WIcklef owns but 22 Canonical Books of Scripture excluding all the rest which he calls Apocryphal 2. He teaches that the Scripture contains all things necessary to Salvation Forasmuch saith he as in Scripture all Truth is contained it is evident that all Disputes that take not their Rise thence are prophane We are not to admit any Knowledg or Conclusion which hath not its Testimony from Scripture 3. He affirms that every well-disposed Christian may understand the Holy Scripture God hath appointed the common sensible Scripture to the comprehending of the Catholick Sense whereof God can never be wanting because he always enlightneth some particular Men to which Illumination Holiness of Life conduceth very much and it is the Duty of Divines to continue it in our Mother the Church which ought to keep within her Bounds so that it is not lawful for Divines to frame strange Doctrines besides the Faith of Catholick Scripture For which End he lays down several Rules for the Understanding of the Scriptures 4. He asserts that the Scriptures ought to be translated into the vulgar Tongue The Truth of God saith he is not more confined to one Language than to another Jesus Christ delivered the Lord's Prayer in a known Language Why then may not the Gospel and other parts of Scripture be writ in English The Clergy ought to rejoice that the People know the Law of God It was for this Reason that he translated the whole Bible whereof several Copies are still to be found in the King's Library and in several other Libraries in England We may easily know what he thought of Tradition from these Words We have a perfect Knowledg of all things necessary to Salvation from the Faith of Scripture Decrees Statutes and Rites that are added according to humane Traditions are all inseparably sinful because they make the Law of God more difficult to be kept and hinder the Course of God's Word Traditions are hateful to God and the Church except only so far as they are grounded on Scripture Mens own Inventions are chiefly to get Money
dead Bodies to be unclean as if Christians still lived under the Law Whereas Vigilantius blamed the Custom of honouring them in the Churches because it was a piece of Superstition in a Place dedicated to religious Worship to bestow any Veneration upon Creatures though the most holy and most excellent that might be St. Jerom is forced to prevaricate upon this Charge his way of defending this matter is such as would never please the Palat of the Church of Rome Nos autem non dico Martyrum reliquias sed ne Solem quidem Lunam non Angelos non Archangelos non Cherubin non Seraphim omne nomen quod nominatur in praesenti saeculo in futuro colimus adoramus ne serviamus Creaturae potius quam Creatori qui est Benedictus in saecula Honoramus autem reliquias Martyrum ut cum cujus sunt Martyres adoremus honoramus servos ut honor servorum redundet ad Dominum qui ait qui vos suscipit me suscipit Ergo Petri Pauli immundae sunt Reliquiae ergo Moysi corpusculum immundum erit quod juxta Hebraicam veritatem ab ipso sepultum est Domino quotiescunque Apostolorum Prophetarum omnium Martyrum Basilicas ingredimur toties Idolorum templa veneramur accensique ante tumulos eorum cerei Idololatriae insignia sunt But we neither worship nor adore I do not say the Relicks of Martyrs but not so much as the Sun and Moon c. nor any Name that is named in this World or in that which is to come lest we should serve the Creature rather than God who is blessed for ever But we honour the Relicks of the Martyrs in worshipping him whose they are we honour the Servants that their Honour may redound to the Lord who saith He that receives you receives me What are the Relicks then of Peter and Paul unclean Is the Body of Moses unclean which according to the Hebrew Truth was buried by the Lord himself and as often as we enter the Churches of the Apostles Prophets and Martyrs do we worship the Temples of Idols and shall we say that the Tapers which burn before their Monuments are the Marks of Idolatry What a fine Application doth St. Jerom make here of that Passage He that receives you receives me and how solid an Answer doth he return to a solid Objection when he tells us We honour the Servants in worshipping him whose they are What a Consequence is this Is there any other Honour due to Relicks besides that of being interred Was not this the Custom used to the Christians of old before the time of Constantius It is well enough seen that the good Father skips over the Difficulty and under a general Protestation of worshipping nothing but God he endeavours to shelter a Custom which had been introduced after the Emperor Constantius's time that is to say about 60 Years before Vigilantius blamed the Custom which but a little before had been introduced of lighting Tapers before the Tombs of Martyrs and passing the Night by them in Prayer wherein he followed the Maxims of the Council of Elvira held under the Empire of Constantine about 90 Years before After what manner doth St. Jerom refute these Complaints of Vigilantius he tells us of the Presence of the Angels at the Grave of Jesus Christ he relies upon the Example of the Apostles who buried the Body of St. Stephen He produceth the Custom of Daniel and the Apostles who spent the Night in Prayer and all this without doubt extreamly to the purpose and the Protestants are much in the wrong to prefer the Opinions of Vigilantius to such solid Reasonings as these But it may be replied That St. Jerom disputed only slightly and for Argument's sake in his Epistle to Riparius not having then seen the Writing of Vigilantius and therefore handled the matter only as a Declaimer This indeed is the best Excuse that can be alledged to make the Reader digest the furious Transports and Invectives of this famous Monk who treats Vigilantius no otherwise than as another Julian the Apostate and seems very willing to have had him destroyed by the Law mentioned in the 13 th of Deuteronomy And after all this St. Jerom is the same in his Book against Vigilantius which follows this Epistle After a Preface which out-does all the Monsters that either the Scripture or Fables speak of he begins thus Exortus est subito Vigilantius seu verius Dormitantius qui immundo spiritu pugnet contra Christi spiritum Martyrum neget sepulcra veneranda damnandas dicat esse Vigilias nunquam nisi in Pascha Alleluja cantandum continentiam Haeresin Pudicitiam Libidinis seminarium quomodo Euphorbus in Pythagora renatus esse perhibetur sic in isto Joviniani mens prava surrexit ut in illo in hoc Diaboli respondere cogamur insidiis Here is suddenly started up one Vigilantius or rather Dormitantius who with an unclean Spirit fights against the Spirit of Christ and denies that any Veneration ought to be given to the Sepulchres of Martyrs condemns the Watchings at them affirms that Alleluja's ought to be sung at no time except Easter calls Continence Heresy and Chastity the Nursery of Lust so that as Euphorbus was said to be born again in Pythagoras in like manner in him seems to be revived Jovinianus's Wickedness in whom as we were forced to oppose our selves against the Wiles of the Devil so likewise are we now equally obliged to oppose this Man's Errors What Ciceronian Eloquence is this What a strange Account of things is here But there is something worse behind see what Stories he tells of Jovinian Ecclesiae Authoritate damnatus inter Phasides aves carnes suillas non tam emisit spiritum quam eructavit iste Caupo Callaguritanus in perversum propter nomen viculi mutus Quintilianus Miscet aquam vino de pristino artificio suae venena perfidiae Catholicae fidei sociare conatur impugnare virginitatem odisse pudicitiam in convivio saecularium contra sanctorum Azemia proclamare dum inter phialas philosophatur ad placentas liguriens Psalmorum modulatione mulcetur ut tantum inter Epulas David Idithum Asaph filiorum Core cantica audire dignetur Surely the good St. Jerom did not think of what he said so extreamly was he transported with an inconsiderate Zeal for Celibacy but however this Zeal of his had a reasonable Motive Prohnefas said he This is the first Heresy of Vigilantius he would have it allowed to Ministers to marry whereas in the ten Provinces subject to the Pope in the seventeen Provinces of the Jurisdiction of Ephesus and in the five Provinces of Egypt they followed a contrary Custom This without doubt was a crying Heresy and yet it appears from the Decretal of Pope to Hymerius Bishop of Tarracona that it had made so little Impression upon the Minds of Men that Innocent I. was fain to write
Nature from superfluous corporal Food 7. Concerning Monks and their Vows he speaks thus Friars studien to be rich they rob Men by begging Touch a great Cup of Gold or Silver but not a Penny or Farthing They magnify more Obedience to sinful Men than to Christ 8. He approved the Marriage of Priests 9. He disapproved the Practice of the Church of Rome in the Matter of Divorces To make Divorce common innumerable Subterfuges are invented 10. He blamed the Custom of the Church of Rome in granting Dispensations for marrying in case of Propinquity of Blood Such Dispensations as these bring Confusion into the Church 11. He condemned all Equivocation which so many Casuists of the Church of Rome pretend to justify 12. He maintains that the King ought not to be subject to any foreign Jurisdiction For otherwise saith he Kings would not be able fully to keep the Peace in their own Kingdoms 13. He blamed the too frequent Use of Excommunication 14. He maintained That a true Christian ought not to believe implicitly but with an explicit Faith that expresses the Particulars more or less according as they are more or less obliged by God and his Gifts and the Opportunity of time 15. He had no great Veneration for the Doctrine of Purgatory when he saith Whatsoever is said of Purgatory is only spoke threatningly as so many pious Lies Thus we see what was Wicklef's Faith and what his Judgment was concerning the Superstitions and Corruptions of the Church of Rome from whence we may gather that he came very near to the Belief of the Protestant Churches It was no difficult matter therefore for Dr. James to justify him against the horrid Calumnies of Walden by consulting his manuscript Works which are to be found in several Libraries in England 1. They objected against him that he taught that if a Priest or a Bishop ordains or consecrates the Sacrament of the Altar or administers Baptism whilst he is in mortal Sin it can do him no Service But the Falshood of this Objection appears from Wicklef's own Words which assure us of the contrary Except a Christian saith he be united to Christ by Grace he hath not Christ the Saviour nor without Falshood can he pronounce the Sacramental Words Tho they may do good to those who are capable of them for it behoves the Priest that consecrates to be a Member of Christ and as some holy Men express it to be in some sort Christ himself They objected against him that he had asserted that it was not lawful for any Ecclesiastical Person to have any temporal Râ—venue But nothing is more false for Wicklef only saith that the Goods of the Clergy are temporal Things what way soever they come by them and that the Possession of them is to be regulated by the Laws as well as the Estates of Laymen The Goods of spiritual Men saith he be temporal in what manner soever they come to them and must be ordered after the temporal Law as the Goods of temporal Men must be They said that it was his Opinion that no Prelate ought to excommunicate any Person whatsoever unless he knew that God himself had excommunicated him But Wicklef only speaks of those rash and precipitate Excommunications which never fail to produce bad Effects and which are only discharged from carnal Respects They like the High-Priests Scribes and Pharisees do not only eat the Flesh but the very Bones too they do not water what is dry with the Word of God but endeavour to cut and break what is fat and full of Marrow He saith also that Excommunications are the Fruit of Pride to terrify poor Laymen They accus'd him of teaching that a Man could not be either a Bishop or Priest as long as he continued in Mortal Sin But no such thing can be inferr'd from Wicklef's Words for he still aiming at the Reformation of the Clergy which was very corrupt in his time did not carry it too far when he said That it is not the Name that makes a Bishop but the Life Whosoever has only the Name of a Priest or Bishop and does not endeavour to add to that Name the reason of it he is in truth neither Bishop nor Priest They affirm'd that he had taught that Soveraigns might deprive the Clergy of their Possessions if they thought good as often as they committed any Fault But Wicklef never pretended that the Clergy ought to be deprived of the Goods they possessed for slight Faults True it is he did not think the Government was obliged to maintain so many useless Monks but as to the Bishops and Priests he never taught that they ought to be deprived of their Benefices except they made themselves unworthy of them by a perfectly scandalous Life He taught say they that Tithes were only Alms and that the Parishioners might keep them back and put them to what other Uses they pleased I own that Wicklef often said that Tithes were nothing else but meer Alms but it is false that ever he asserted that the Parishioners might keep them back on the contrary he saith It belongs to Parishioners for the good of their Souls to minister Tithes and Oblations to whom they are due The Priests of Christ ought to withdraw the Word of God from those who are not rightly dispos'd for it that is if the People should be so obstinate and disobedient to Holy-Mother the Church as either to forbid or not to minister the Necessaries of Life to him who preaches the Gospel to them They object against him that he despised temporal Things too much for the Love which he had for those that are eternal and that he join'd himself to the Mendicant-Friars approving their Poverty and commending their Perfection A strange Crime indeed It is a surprizing Thing to see them accuse Wicklef upon this account but it is no less astonishing to hear them assert that he had great inclination for the Begging-Friars to be convinc'd of the Falsity whereof we need only read the complaint he made to the Parliament and his Treatise against the Order of Begging-Friars He held say they that Church-men ought to beg Whereas on the contrary he maintained that God had condemned Beggary in the Old and New Testament See the fifth Chapter of his Book against the Order of Friars Mendic They accuse him for condemning lawful Oaths But this is for want of having read his Works for it appears by his Latin Exposition of the third Commandment and by his Book of the Truth of Scripture that he condemns all manner of Equivocations and ambiguous Expressions whether with Oaths or without He will not have any one to lie for a World or to save an infinite number of Souls and much less to swear falsly He taught say they that all Things come to pass by an absolute Necessity We may easily see what Wicklef believ'd concerning