taken out of S. Ambrose S. Peter and S. Paule haue preheminence aboue all other Apostles by speciall prerogatiue But yet is it vncertayne whether of them two were preferred before the other For I think that they were both equall in deserts likewise in their deathes and passions and also that they liued in like deuotion of faith and finally came Both together to the glory of martirdome And I beleue that it hapned not with out some cause that they both suffered martirdome in one day in one place and vnder one persecuter for they suffered in one day that they might goe together in company to Christ and in one place to the end that Rome should not want either of them both vnder one persecuter that both of them might be partakers of one cruelty The day therefore was ordayned for their desert the place for their glory and the persecuter for their vertue And they both suffered martirdome at Rome the soueraign Lady and head of all nations to the end that where the head of superstition was there should rest the head of holines where the princes of the Gentils dwelt there should remayn the Princes of the Church By which Canon it may easely be iudged that S. Peter was in nothing to be preferred before S. Paule that both were equal in all respects which sheweth plainly that S. Peter was neuer head of the Church neither in respect of nature nor in respect of ministration For if he had been thē should as much haue been sayd of S. Paul according to the Canon And so by consequence we should say that the Church had then two heads like a monster a thing that were to absurde strange I know wel that such as imagine the gouernment of the Church to be like the gouernment of a kingdome doe thinke it meete that there should be one supreme head and gouerner and that the same should haue Cardinals as great Princes of his court Archbishops somewhat in lower degree than the Cardinals and Bishops as inferiors to the Archbishops and so consequently Abbots Priors Channons and Curats ech in degree vnder other And in good sooth this order of holy gouernment hath a fayre outward shew but there is one thing that marreth all which is that it hath no foundation in the word of God which doth not teach that there is any inequalitie amongest the Shepheards but that they ought to gouern their Churches with one common consent by Gods word making assemblies or meetings which are cōmonly called Sinodes or Councels for the same purpose if need require And moreouer that they ought to submit themselues to the Ciuill Magistrate And the very Canons themselues doe agree herewith specially one Canon which is taken out of S. Iherom seeing that in the time of the primitiue Church there was no difference betwixt a priest or an elder and a bishop and that the Church was then gouerned by the common councell of the elders Let vs heare the very words of the Canon In olde time an Elder and a Bishop were all one thing till scismes and parttakings crept into Religion by the deuils inspiration and that folke began to say I hold of Paule and I of Apollo and I of Cephas Vntill this time the Churches were gouerned by common aduice of the Elders But after that euery man began to brag of his own disciples whom he had baptised and not of Christ then it was ordayned that in euery Church one of the Elders should haue authoritie ouer the rest to take away the seede of scizme Wherefore like as the Priests know that by the custome of the Church they be put in subiection to the party that is set in authoritie ouer them So let the bishops know also that wheras they themselues are of more authoritie than the Priest it is not by the ordynance of God but by custome and that they ought to gouerne the Church by common aduise Which Canon in very truth is very notable specially for that it doth euidently shew that all the degrees and dignities which are infinite at this day in the Church of Rome are not grounded vpon the expresse ordinance of God but only vpon the positiue law of custome for looke what the Canon speaketh of Bishops is much more by all reason to be spoken of Cardinals Patriarches Archbishops and other dignities seeing that the office of a Bishop wherof the holy Scripture maketh mention was instituted long time before the dignities of the Cardinals and the others And hereupon it followeth that men should not make so great reckning of any of these great and pompous dignities which are founded but onely vpon custome which ought not to be of any or at least wise of very litle authoritie in the Church of God as shal be declared more at large in the last chapter of this booke As touching the residue if it be alleaged that the Bishop of Rome had in olde time and still ought to haue cheefe authoritie and preheminence at the least wise in the assemblies of coūcels and Sinodes the answere is that he hath nothing to doe with the matter for the Ecclesiastical histories and the acts of the auncient councels as that of Nice holden in the time of Constantine the Emperor doe witnesse vnto vs that the Bishoppe of Rome was so far of from ouerruling the coūcels that he tooke his place in sitting but as fourth in degree which is a good way offe from the first and cheef place as he did at the generall councell of Nice But forasmuch as in this point of the Popes Supremacie the Romish Catholicks chiefly the Canonists doe maintaine the authoritie of the Pope by meanes of a donation and of certaine prerogatiues which they affirme to haue been graunted vnto the Pope by the Emperor Constantine the great I will here a litle examine the truth of the matter I say therfore that this donation and graunt of prerogatiues inregistred by Gratian in his decrees is a thing inuented of pleasure and altogether false and that it neither is like nor possible that the Emperor Constantine did at any time make such a pretended gifte or graūt of prerogatiues as may easely be perceiued by the histories of his time And for proofe of this matter ye must first vnderstand that in their sayd surmised donation they make the Emperor Constantine to say within foure dayes after he was baptised that he wold haue all the Bishops and Priestes of the Romayn Empire to acknowledge and hold the Bishop of Rome for their head in like sort as the iudges of a Realme doe holde their king and that he should haue greater authoritie than the Emperor himselfe Geuing vnto Siluester the vniuersall Pope and to his successors his Imperiall Pallace of Lateran which is at Rome and the Citie of Rome it selfe with al the Prouinces Places and Cities of Italy and all the west part of the Empire together with
still spight of all the corruptinges and darckninges of this world and of the maintayners of them And in very deede God who gouerneth the doings of all men in the world by his prouidence hath reserued still in this miserable world a great number of good and honest mē and of such as loue vertue And like as in the foresayd time of the Ciuill warres among the Romaynes Tacitus sayth that that age was not so barrayn of honest men but that it brought forth some good examples so also may we say that euen in this age of oures how much soeuer it be infected and corrupted yet hath God of his gratious goodnes reserued many still which to follow the pure Religion and vertue haue constantly indured pouerty losse of their goods the cruell murthering of their children kinsfolke and frendes banishment out of their Countrey absence from their houses and an infinite number of other aduersities and inconueniences Which thing geueth vs assurance that our Lord god will alwayes maintayne a certayn number of good men here below which shall imbrace vertue by maintayning good lawes and discipline and follow the light of the truth which abideth inuincible for euer and shall scatter the mistes and cloudes that set themselues agaynst it The worthy iudgement of that great monarch Darius king of the Medes and Persians will neuer slippe out of the remembrāce of men For this king hauing vpon a time made a royall feast to all the Gouernors Captaynes and other Officers of his Dominion which was so great that it extended ouer a hundreth and seuen and twenty Prouinces was contented to heare a disputatiō between three young Gentlemen of Iury that were attendant vpon his own person Of whom the one maintayned that nothing is stronger than wine because that commonly it ouercommeth aswell the great as the small Another sayd that nothing was stronger than a king because that with one only word of his mouth he can make men to be slayne Cities to be razed and Fortresses to be beaten down when he listeth And the third named Zorobabell a gentleman of the bloud royall descended of the line of Dauid vpheld that truth is strongest of all things because it contynueth in force euerlastingly and shall raigne for euer and euer Darius hauing heard this disputation and knowing well how it is most certayne that truth is the thing of greatest strength and of longest contynuance in all the world gaue the prize to zorabable as to him that had been of best opinion and gaue him great giftes and priuiledges aswell for himselfe as for all his wholl nation commaunding that from thence forth Zorobabell should be called the kinges Cosen Which iudgement of this great king ought to be wel considered of all persons and specially of kinges and Princes that they may geue themselues earnestly to the seeking out of the truth in all thinges as well in case of Religion as in Ciuil and worldly affaires and esteeme it more strong and inuincible thā any force of man. For certainly there is neither king nor Emperor fire nor sword payne nor tormēts that euer could quench the truth or ouercome it But forasmuch as in these dayes many men are doutfull in the case of Religiō where they should seeke the truth I will not here forget the rule which the great Emperor of Rome Constantine did set down at the cosicell of Nice in Bithinia for the decyding of the points of doctrine which were to be handeled and treated of there For hauing assembled the Councell together to determine vpon the doctrine that Arrius had sowed at that time When he had made the Bishoppes to take their places euery one in his degree which were to the number of 318. besides the Elders and Deacons that accompanyed thē who were aboue 500. he sate him down among them in a low chaire and made this Oration to them well beseeming his Maiestie and godlynes My Lords and fathers quoth he forasmuch as God hath vouchsafed to put down the cruell Princes by my hand and to geue peace to the world vnder my raign it is meete that you also in this holy assembly should doe your indeuoures to set a stable vnitie and cōcord in the Church For it were to euill an example if after the ouercomming of our enemies the publick peace should now be disturbed by the controuersies and disagreementes of the Shepheards of the Church a thing that would minister occasion and matter to the vngodly to mock our Religion to laugh it to scorn Now then sith we be to treat here of diuine matters we must tak the doctrine of the holy Ghost for our rule and resort to the bookes of the Euangelistes Apostles and Prophets which teach vs what opinion we ought to be of concerning Gods holy law Therfore setting aside all stoutnes of contention let vs seeke the resolution of our questions in the word that is inspired by God. After this short and notable speech made by that great Emperor the Councel was held and the doctrine of Arrius was throughly debated by the only word of God and in the end iustly condemned by those holy Fathers as vtterly contrary to a number of expresse places of the holy Scriptures which auow vnto vs the Godhead and euerlastingnes of the sonne of God which thing Arrius did wickedly deny But I must tell you by the way that in this speech of Constantines we haue three dueties to marke which doe wel beseeme a great Prince The one is to be inclyned to publicke peace and tranquillitie and to procure the maintenance thereof by all lawfull meanes Another is to loue the truth aboue al things chiefly in cases of Religion And the third is to seeke the same truth in the Scripture inspired by God. Now I beseech God of his gracious goodnes to make your Maiesties vertue godlines to shine forth dayly more and more in those holy dueties and to cause your Royall highnes to grow greater and greater in all his heauenly giftes and in all honor and felicitie Dated the 15. day of February the yere of our sauiour Christ 1578. The author of this Apology his Song THe Pope of Rome a thousand Canons bendes Agaynst the Church which doth Gods word imbrace And stoutly forth his own Decrees he sendes The soueraign Lords commaundements to deface Or rather quite and cleane away to chase Presuming proudly for to beare chiefe sway In mannes saluation euery kinde of way He thinkes ere long that noble fort to win And tryumphing aforehand in despight Of heauenly truth he sets him down within Gods Temple boasting euen in open sight Himselfe as God and striues with al his might To maintayne still his Lordly soueraintie Aswell aboue as vnderneath the Skie But thou O Christ our King omnipotent Reach out thine arme and with thy skilfull hand Lay holde vpon the Canons that are bent Agaynst thee by the Romish Tirants band And turne them back at him that hath them
them euidently that it is not so when we come to the scanning of euery poynt particularly that is in question And for proofe and demonstration of our sayinges we will take for our grounde three Maximes or generall rules which are very certayne and true whereby euery man shall easely be able to iudge whether the same religion is to be reckned wicked new and hereticall or no. The three Maximes are these The first is that that doctrine of Religion whereby God is most honored is the best The second is that that Doctrine which is best builded vpon the worde of God is the moste auncient and true The third is that the Romish Catholickes cannot well accuse that doctrine of heresie which is approued by their own Canones Which three rules or maximes be so cleere euident of them selues that in mine opinion the day or the Sun is not clearer For seeing that Religiō is no other thing than the duty which we owe vnto god It doth folow that that doctrine which teacheth vs to yeld vnto him all dutye and honour and to rob him of no part thereof is a good and true doctrine and that there can be no better Likewise it is certayn that the doctrine which is builded vpon the only word of God ought not to be called new but that we may rather say that it is as olde as the world it selfe In so much that they which doe call it new may not nor cannot so call it in respect of it selfe but onely in respect of their own ignorance for to the ignorāt euery thing that they vnderstand not is new Neither is it to be douted but that it is most true because that God who is the author therof is the truth it selfe and the fountayn of light and wisdome In like maner I thinke that al mē will easily graunt that euen the earnestest Catholickes of Rome can not dispence so much with them selues as to accuse that Religiō of heresie which is approued by their own Canones because the Canones be authorysed by the Popes themselues For the decrees of Gracian from whence I intend to draw the most partes of the Canōs which shal be alleaged were ratifyed authorised by Pope Euginie the third who commaunded that they should be red in the Vniuersytyes and vsed in iudgemēt as they haue bene euer since So that to reiect and condemn the Canons were as much in effect as to deny the Pope and all the Romane Religion But full well I know that hereafter when I shall alleadge the Canons those passionate Catholickes will rise vp and say that there be other canons contrary to these and truly I will not deny but that the bookes of the Canon law are ful of cōtraryeties Yet dare I boldly say and assuredly auow that those Canons which I will alleadge in this booke are of the best and most auncient of al the Canon law which haue proceeded from the best springs fountaynes and from such authors as were most principall in skill and holynes as may easely bee iudged by those that will compare them with their bookes Hauing thus set downe these three Maximes the truth whereof is easelie to be perceaued by euery man of common capacitie yea euen of the grossest sort I am now to apply them orderlye to euery particular poynt And first of all we will treate of Prayer ⧠OF PRAYER The second Chapter THe doctrine of the professors of the Gospell touching prayer is verye playne Their opinion is in effect that we ought to offer our prayers vnto God our maker who is able inough to geue vs whatsoeuer we aske gratious in harckening gentlye to our requestes Who also hath manifested his great goodnes in giuing his euerlasting Sonne to the end that by him our manhoode might haue accesse to his Godhead And therefore they say that in praying to God our creator wee muste alwayes vse the credite and intercession of his Sonne our mediator who may boldly goe to the Father because he is God as he is in the selfsame Godhead and being and disdayneth not also to apply himselfe to men and to be an intercessor for them because he is man as they be Nether is this manner of praying vnto God altogether disalowed of the Romain Catholicks but they wil needes adde thereunto that we must haue also other Mediators and Intercessors to God the Father and to Iesus Christ himself That is to wit the hesaints and the shesaintes which are many in number in their times haue done many a faire miracle For say they if a man would be a suiter to a king in any cause or to his eldest sonne he would not at the first dash preace to their presence but goe to some of their seruants or Lordes of their court And so it seemeth a thing very reasonable and meete that when a man is minded to pray to god for any thing he go first to some of the Celestial court to purchase acces to god to Iesus Christ his Sonne by their meanes and that to doe otherwise were a kinde of dispising of the saints who haue the charge from God to pray continually for the Millitante Church and euery particular person of the same Truely it is not to be denied but that these reasons haue some colour and shew of truth if we shall iudge of God as of man. But hereunto the Protestants reply that we may not iudge of God as of a king or as of another mortall mā for there is great difference God is altogether good and inclyned to doe good But men be they kinges or other are naturally euill and disposed to doe euill both against God their neighbors God vnderstandeth our Prayers assoone as they be conceiued in our harts and before our mouthes doe vtter them But to cause a king to vnderstande our suites we must put them in wryting or tell them by word of mouth and therfore we haue neede of Aduocates to lay forth our cases of Maisters of requestes to preferre our petitions to the Prince or to his councell and of the fauor of great Lordes and councellours to get vs audience and dispatch All which thinges haue no place with god So that to compare the maner of praying vnto God with the preferring of suits vnto Princes is a token that we slenderly consider the greatnes of god And here wee haue to note a proper saying of S. Ambrose which he vttereth in these expresse wordes Those which in steede of resorting vnto God repayre vnto creatures are wont to colour their contempt of God with this miserable excuse That by the menes of those to whō they haue recourse they may attayne to the presence of God as men attayne to the presence of a king by meanes of his officers But I pray you is there any man so mad or so careles of his owne life that he dareth yeald the honor to any of the kings seruantes or officers which belongeth
that in the year 1273. in the time of Pope Gregory the tenth there was a Counsell holden at Lyon whereby was confirmed the prohibition made in the Councell of Lateran vnder Pope Innocent the third in the yeare 1215 which forbad the deuising of any moe new orders of mōks or habites of new religion whereof there had sprong vp a maruelous sort since that time and all new religions which had been inuented after the said Councell of Laterane were disanulled and forbidden What shall we then say of the smokymonkes the Iesuits and the Capussins which are growen since that time To conclude neither the Monkes of old time nor those which haue been deuised alate nor their vowes nor their works haue any ground in the word of God neither doe they behaue themselues according to their own Canons ⧠Of the commaundementes of God. The v. chapter THe difference betwixt the Romish Catholicks and that protestants touching the commaundementes of god is not small For the protestantes accuse them or els the Pope to haue wiped out the second commaundement which forbiddeth Images and to haue cut the last commaundement into twaine to make vp stil the number of tenne And truely it is a great trechery a presumption vtterly intollerable to haue bene so bold as to rase a whole commaundemēt out of the law of the liuing god For if ye marke well the commaundements which the priests pronounce in the saying of their common Masse ye shal finde that Immediately after the first commandement which is Thou shalt honor but the one God and loue him perfectly they haue put the third commaundement which is Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vayne and haue wiped out and ouerskipped the second commaundement which doth forbid to haue Images or to honor them Whiche thing hath beene done of purpose by the Pope and his Adherentes that they might the more easily fill the temples of the Christians vnawares with Idols and Sayntes of both kindes to draw vnto themselues offeringes and obuensions and other like thinges as may be seene by the sequel therof So as in this point the doctrine of the Romish catholicks is contrary to Gods word and commaundement for God sayth Thou shalt make to thy selfe no grauen Image nor the likenes of any thing nether shalt thou doe any honour vnto them Contrariwise the Romish catholicks vphold that it is lawful to haue Images in Churches as they haue and to knele before them and to offer vp candles and incēse to them and to put of their Cappes vnto them Is not this I pray you a direct encountering of Gods ordinaunce and a trāplinge of it vnder foote and a robbing of the creator of his due honour to bestow the same vpon stones and stocks For if they say that they worshyp none but onely God and that the thinges which they do to the Saints and to their Images is but a seruing of thē according to their own distinction of worshiping and seruing The aunswere herunto is both ready and very easy namely that first their own canons which alow the honoring and seruinge of Images doe vse the selfe same terme of worshipping sayinge that Christians ought to honor and worship Images And as for their distinction of worshipping and seruing it canne in no wise serue to excuse thē First because it doth not followe by force of that distinction that it is lawfull for them vnder that pretence to wipe out one of the commaundements of God. Secondlye because this distinction of worshipping and seruing is fond foolishe chieflye in the Application which they make therof For they say that they honor God with the honor that belongeth to worshipping and that they honor the Saynts with the honor that belōgeth to seruing Now who is so very a foole that he doth not perceyue how by this meanes they humble themselues more in their honoring of Sayntes than in theyr honoring of god For he doth more imbase himselfe which serueth than hee which worshippeth or honoreth For as we commonly see great lords can find in their hartes to honour meane personages to whome notwithstanding they will not vouchsafe to submitte themselues to doe them any seruice But yet moreouer this distinction is false As S. Augustine proueth who sayth that worshipping is alwayes taken in the Scriptures for seruice So as by that reckning worshipping and seruing are all one thing And in very deed both in the Scripture and also in the books of the auncient doctors those two wordes are names of one selfe same thing and signify bothe one thing without difference And as for the honoring of Images the same doctor who neuer hard of the distinctiō of worshipping and seruing doth vtterly condemne it saying that those be greater Idolaters which worship the Images that are made by the handes of men Than those which do worship the Sonne the heauen the sea and the other creatures which are made by the hand of God. Agayne the Protestantes say also that the Romish Catholickes haue corrupted the third commaundemēt For by the same god doth forbid men to take his name in vayne But yet doth he not forbidde to sweare by hys name when the othe is not in vayne as when a mā is brought to affirme a trueth before the Magistrate But doth commaund that in such case a man should sweare by his name And truly when in such an earnest matter men affirme the trueth it is an honoring of God who is the truth it selfe to take him to witnes and it is a dishonoring of God and a despising of him if they sweare by any of the creatures Yet notwithstanding the Romishe Catholickes permitte men to sweare in iudgementes vpon the reliques of S. Anthony and by the heesayntes and sheesayntes and other creatures which thing their own canons doe condemne Consider sayth a Canon that our Sauiour hath not forbidden vs to sweare by God but forbiddeth vs to sweare by the heauens by the earth by Ierusalem or by thy head An other Canon sayth thus Thou doost not amisse in vsing an othe well for although that of it selfe it be not good to sweare yet neuerthelesse it is necessary whē a man is to be perswaded in a truth There is an other canon which punisheth those that rēd god in peeces by their strāge othes which now a daies are but to much vsed saying thus If any man sweare by the heares or by the head of God or do vse any such like blasphemy If he be of the cleargy let him be deposed and if he bee a lay man let him be accursed The Protestantes say farther that the catholickes haue so corrupted the fourth commaundement as that by all likelihood their meaning was to haue made it quite away as they dyd the Seconde For God sayeth in his Law sixe dayes shalt thou labor and do all that thou hast to doe but the seseuenth day is the sabaoth of
it appeareth by the canons that the saluatiō of men doth doth not depend wholly vpon Baptisme but principallye vpon fayth These be the very wordes of the Canon S. Ciprian to proue that the torment of death may stād in stead of Baptisme hath grounded his argument vpon these wordes of Christ spoken to the vnbaptised theefe This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise In the examining whereof more narrowly I fynde that not onely the suffering of death for the name of Christ but also the harty beleuing in him and the confessing of him may supply the want of baptisme when the party is so distressed by some extremity of tyme as he cannot haue the sacrament of batisme ministred vnto him And there followeth an other Canon which sayth that if a learner of the Catechisme that is to say such a one as is but newly entred into the doctrine of the faith and is not yet baptised do suffer marterdome for the name of Christ he fayleth not to be saued although hee want Baptisme And the reasō herof as sayth the same canons is because that in this case such as haue not receiued the sacrament of Baptisme haue not wanted it through pride or disdayne but through inforcement of necessity In likewise it is forbidden by the Canons that women how wise so euer they bee shall either preach or baptise It is true that hereunto they do ioyn this one exception which is if it be not in case of necessity But if it be graūted according to the truth that the Infants which dye vnbaptised be not therfore excluded from saluation It followeth well that no necessity can be great inough to dispēse with women for intermedling themselues with the administration of the Sacramentes And truely in old time as the canons do witnes Baptisme was not ministred ordinarily but only at two tymes in the yeare namely at Easter and at Whittesontyde which well bewrayeth that they vsed no such haste as that women shoulde bee fayne to meddle with the matter Likewise it doth also appeare by the Canōs that Baptisme was not ministred to the infidels but only to such as had faith and did make confession therof when they were of age to do it And as touching the forementioned Ceremonies in deed there are some Canons how be it of the worst stamp which do allow thē But the best and most auntient canons do vtterly dissallow thē For by the auntient Canons men are permitted to baptise in Riuers in the Sea in fountaynes and in euery other place commodious for that purpose These be the wordes of a Canon taken out of the decrees of Pope Victor Let the Gentiles that are come to the faith be baptised in all seasons and all places fit for them be it in Riuer sea or Spring as being made cleane by confession of the Christian fayth And by an other Canon it is well shewed that wee ought rather to rest vpon the Baptisme of the couenaunt of fayth than vpon the Baptisme of water For it sayth thus The true baptisme doth not consist so much in the washing of the bodie as in the beleife of the hart as the apostolicke doctrine doth teach vs saying They make cleane their hartes through fayth And in an other Canon going before it is sayed that a catholicke not Baptised for it presupposeth that one may be a catholick without being baptised whiche hath an ardent zeale of deuine charity is to be preferred before a wicked man that is baptised As for example sayth the Canon Cornelius the Centener who was filled with the holy ghost before he was baptised is to be preferred before Simon Magus who was possessed with an vncleane Spirit after he had bene Baptised But if Cornelius hauing receiued the holy ghost had not bene willing to be baptised he had bene greuously guiltye of the despising of so excellent a sacrament By which canon it is easy to iudge that wee ought altogether to depend vpon that which the sacrament doth signifie vnto vs and vpon the graces which god doth thereby geue vnto vs and not to set our mindes vpon a sort of superstitious and vayn ceremonies as the Romish catholicks do in these dayes For they may easely perceiue by the things aforesayd that the doctrine of the reformed religion touching the sacrament of baptisme is better more auncient furder from heresy than theirs is according to our three maximes here before set downe to proue the points which are in question Let vs now speak of the supper of the Lord. ⧠Of the Sacrament of the holy supper The vii chapter THe difference betwixt the Romish Catholickes and the Protestantes concerning the Supper of the Lord doth consist in three points The one in the naming therof for the Catholickes call that the keeping of Easter which the Protestantes doe name the Supper of the lord But this diuersitie of speaking importeth not much for both of them are still a celebrating of the mistery of our redemtion True it is that the Catholickes vse the maner of speaking of the old Testament according to the phrase whereof the feast of Easter that is to say the passeouer was celebrated by the eating of a Lambe which did represent Christ in remembrance of the deliuerance of the people of Israell whom God had brought out of the thraldome of Egipt But the Protestantes vse the manner of speaking of the new Testament whereby the holy institution which our Lord Iesus Christ ordayned to celebrate the remembrance of his death and passion and to make vs partakers of his body and bloud is called the supper of the lord But we must not striue about words so it be knowen that to keepe the Easter and to celebrate the Lords Supper are at this day one selfe same thing The second difference which is much greater consisteth in the substance of the Sacrament For the Catholickes at leastwise the schoolmen vphold that assoone as the priest hath spoaken the words of consecration ouer one hoaste or ouer many they change their nature presently and are transubstantiated into the very body and bloud of Iesus Christ in the selfe-same greatnes bignes that it was vpon the crosse so as the bread of the hoast is thē no longer bread although the color and the tast of bread remayn still therin Their proofe of this doctrine is that when our Lord Iesus Christ did institute his supper as he gaue the bread to his disciples he said vnto them This is my body And in geuing them the cup he said vnto them This is my bloud They proue it also by a Canon which beginneth thus I Beringarius c. which Canon saith in expresse wordes that after the consecration the bread and wine become not only sacraments but also the very body and the very blo ud of Christ And that the priest doth sensibly handle the same very bodye and breake it And that the faithful in eating the Sacrament with
cōmaundement of the Church of Roome But asfor the supper of our Lord It is no sacrifice but an holy bancket which is prepared to put vs in mynde of thonelye and soueraigne sacrifice whereby our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe was once for all sacrificed for our redemption and to make vs pertakers of his body and bloud by the spirituall and effectuall eating thereof So that there is noe more lykenes betweene the celebrating of the Lordes supper and the celebrating of the masse than is betwixt geuing taking which are things far differyng For in the supper the faythfull receyue the body and bloud of Christ but in the Masse the Priest geueth or offereth vp Christ wholly vnto God the Father as an host of sacrifice Now it must needes be graunted that in this poynt of the Masse the catholickes and the Protestantes doe vtterly disagree And that the same disagreement is the principall cause why the Catholicks do so extreemely bate the doctrine of the sayd Protestants For they esteeme the masse to be one of the principall poyntes of the Christian religion and therfore think it very straunge that the Protestants should be so bould as to reiect it syth it hath dured so long tyme and is cōposed of so many good things drawē out of holy Scripture the whiche the Protestantes seeme to reiect in reiectyng the texts that are taken out of it In deede these reasons geue some likelyhood wherby to iudge so without hearing the other partye But if the Catholickes will vse a little patience and here the replies of the Protestantes they shall not finde them so voyde of reason as they thinke For first they say that the onely sacrifice whereby Christ hymselfe was sacrificed once for all is more than sufficient for the saluation of the whole worlde Yea though he had shed but one only drop of hys precious bloud vpon the crosse It had bene sufficient to haue satisfyed the Iustice of God his father and to washe away the sinnes of all men which should be borne into the world in an hundred thousand yeres if the world shold last so long for that inasmuch as he was the sonne of god the dignity of his priesthoode and the infinite greatnes of hys Sacrifice are of sufficiency and worthines inough and more than inough to doe away the innumerable sinnes of all men hetherto borne or hereafter to be borne And therefore it is great outrage say the Protestants to our Sauiour to crucifie hym new agayne as they do in the masse to obtayne remission of sinnes and lyfe euerlasting for the quick and the dead for it is all one as to say that hys onely once sacrificing of himselfe is not sufficient to take away our sinnes and to obtayne vs lyfe euerlasting because that if they held it for sufficient and perfect as in truth it is it should follow that it were in vayne to do it any more And is it not a great blasphemy to say that the oblation and sacrifice of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ is not sufficient for the saluation of the whole world Truely it is not to be douted for although it be nether auailable nor appliable to any other than to such as beleue in him yet notwithstanding his sacrifice is more thā sufficient to saue all the world And furthermore wheras the Catholickes at the least wise the simple common people imagine that the Protestants in reiecting the masse doe reiect the holy Sacrament of the body bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ they deceyue themselues greatly for contrariwise the Protestantes hold the same sacrament in his true perfection as we haue showed in the Chapter going before Neither do they reiect the textes that are stuffed into the Masse and be taken out of the holy Scripture But they like much better to read learn them in the bible it selfe than in the Massebooke Neither do they reiect the good prayers which are mingled in the Masse but they say it is much better to pray to God with a contynual prayer for Princes Magistrates for the Shepheards of the church for the necessities of all the people for the remission of sinnes for those which are sick and afflicted for the conseruation of the faithfull for the inlightening of the ignorant and for the aduancement of the kingdome of Iesus Christ as they themselues doe than to say an Oremus or particular prayer for euery of these thinges as the Priest doth in his masse which sayth now one Oremus for himselfe and by and by another for the Pope and 〈◊〉 a third for his benefactors and for those that are departed and often times for brute beastes as is done in the Masse of S. Anthony For besides that the most part of the prayers in the masse be not allowable by the word of God It is certaine that men pray more hartely more aduisedly and with greater zeal when the prayer is contynued to the end without interruption than when it is sayd by iumps with often interruption Besides this the people which do harken to the Priestes Oremus cannot set their mindes well vpon the prayer which he is saying because they vnderstand it not nor often times the Priest himselfe To be short therfore by this doctrine of the Protestants God is better honored than by the doctrine of the Catholicks For the Protestants in not admitting any other sacrifice than that which our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe did make of his own body vpon the crosse which sacrifice they esteeme to be very sufficient and perfect for our saluation doe therby yeald the honor and the effect of our felicity vnto our Lorde Iesus Christ onelye wheras the Catholiques doe attribute parte of his honor to the Priest and parte to the sacrifice of the Mas. Likewise the Protestantes doe much better honor God in learning the texts of Scripture in the Bible it selfe which is the very originall Record of his will than those which wil needes learn them in the Massebook where they be confusedly packed and vnaptly applyed And now to shew that the doctrine of the Protestantes which admitte the only Sacrifice of Christ and reiect the Sacrifice of the Masse is euidently grounded vpon the holy Scripture there needeth no other witnes than the Apostle to the Hebrues For first he doth testifie vnto vs that there is none other Sacrifice for the remission of mennes sinnes but Iesus Christ only and that he himselfe by his own bloud hath obtayned for vs an euerlasting redemtion For thus he sayth Christ being become the high Priest of the good things that are to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands That is to say not of this building nor by the bloud of Goates and Calues but by his own bloud is entered in once into the holy place and hath found eternall redemtion And to the end we should not thinke that Christ is no more a Priest but that although he
water The third opinion is taken out of Galene and other Phisitions which say that mannes body is compounded of fower humors That is of bloud of flewme of melancholy and of choller and therfore say they that are of that opinion it is very like that when the Euangelist sayd that with the bloud there issued water out of the side of Iesus Christ he meant that there issued out fleame which is a watry humor Wherupon they doe conclude that in the Masse water was changed into fleame But this opiniō was condemned by the sayd Pope Innocent in a letter which he sent to the Bishop of Ferrara The fourth opinion is of such as vphold that the water also is changed into bloud as well as the wine Which opinion the said Pope Innocent graunteth to haue in it not most truth but most likelyhode of trueth Because saith he water is often times in the Scripture taken for the multitude of the people so as the vnion which is made betwixt the water and the wine by the transubstantiating of the same water into wine doth signifie vnto vs the true knitting together of Christ with his people by such a bonde as cannot be broken Truely a reason drawen out of a quintisens of the subtilties of Scotus otherwise called Duns Marke here the goodly questions or rather the fonde and heathenish dotages wherin the Schoolemen and the Popes haue wrapped themselues by the meane of their Transubstantiation Likewise also they finde themselues greatly cumbred in answering these other questions that is to wit if a mouse or a rat doe happen to eate the Sacrament of the hoast whether she eat the very body or the accidents only Again whether the Accidentes can be without a subiect and whether Accidentes can be eaten or no. Also whether the Accident without the subiect may haue the tast of the wine and geue nourishment to the body and such other vaine questions whereof they can geue none but very absurde resolutions because the presupposing of transubstantiation is nothing but absurditie Besides this the Canons say not that our Lord Iesus Christ did ordayne the Mas but they affirme that it was S. Iames and S. Basill for these be the wordes of the Canon Iames the brother of our Lord according to the flesh who had the first charge of the Church of Ierusalem and Basil the Bishop of Cesarea whose knowledge in the Scripture hath been renowmed throughout the world haue brought vnto vs the celebrating of the Masse But yet neither S. Iames nor the other Apostles nor the Euangelistes haue at any time spoken of the masse in their wrytings so as there is no likelihood of truth in the report of this Canon that S. Iames should be the inuenter of the Masse Neither were it to any great purpose to say that onely Iames of all the other Apostles was the first foūder and setter vp thereof For had it been a good thing the rest of the Apostles would haue allowed it as well as he and not being good he would haue allowed it no more than the residue did Besides this S. Iames hath no more spoken of it in his Epistle than the other Apostles haue spoaken of it in theirs Neither is it to be beleeued that any of them would adde aught to the ordinances of Christ their Maister And as for S. Basill the Canon hath vnfitly ioyned him with S. Iames to haue helped him to make the mas For he was 350. yeares after S. Iames. Moreouer there are other Canones which doe father the inuenting of euery part of the Masse vpon other foūders As for example the vsing of vnleauened bread and the putting of water into the Challice with the wine they father vpon pope Alexander the first The Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth and the inuention of the Corporace they attribute to pope Sixtus the first The inuention of Gloria in excelsis to pope Telesphorus the first The inuention to vse chalices of golde and siluer which wer wont to be of wood and glasse To pope Vrbane the first The singing of the great Creed at the Sondaies masse to Pope Marke The saying of Confiteor in the beginninge of the Masse To Pope Damasus the first The standing vp of the people when the priest singeth or saieth the Gospell To Pope Anastasius the first The kissing of the paxe to Pope Innocent the first The inuentiō of anthems taken out of the psalmes of Dauid and the Introites and Graduels to Pope Celestine the first The inuention of the nine Kirieleysons of the Alleluya and of the offertorye to pope Gregory the first The Oremus against the Turks Pagans and Infidels which in that time did make great warres vpon the Christianes to Pope Calixte the third The long prayers which are in the secrete words of the consecration to Pope Leo the first and to diuers other Authors So as S Basill is not found to haue done any thing toward the building of the Masse as may appeere by the Historiographers which haue written the liues of the Popes and by the Canones which speake of their particular inuentions Now these Popes that haue inuented and added euery one somthing to the Masse were not al at one time For betwixt the first and the last that are here spoaken of there was more than a thousand yeares which sheweth plainly inough that the Masse is but an inuention of men and therfore deserueth not to be of such estimation as the Romish Catholicks doe reken it For it ought to be sufficient for vs to dwell vpon the holy ordinances and institutions of God and to let goe the inuentions of men seeing that the Scripture forbiddeth either to adde or to diminish aught from Gods word Yea and there are some Canones that seeme to disalow the Mas. For among the rest there is one which cōmaundeth euery man to receiue immediatly after the consecration vpon payne of excommunication so as by that Canon it may be sayd that all such as be nowadayes at Masse are excommunicated euery one saue only the Priest because none receiueth but he only These are the expresse words of the same Canon After the consecration let them all communicate except they will be put out of the church for the Apostles haue so ordayned and the holy Romane Church doth so obserue the same There is also another Canō which forbiddeth vpon the same paine of excommunication that any man should heare the Masse of any Priest which keepeth a Concubine or any other woman These are the words of the Canon We doe commaund moreouer that no man doe heare the Masse of any Priest whom he knoweth assuredly to keepe a Concubine or any other woman in his house for so hath the holy Sinode ordayned vpon payn of excommunication By which Canon it appeareth that a man shal in these daies hardly heare a Masse without putting himselfe in danger of excommunication by reason of the notorious
in authoritie vnder them that we may leade a quyet and a peaceable life in all godlines and honesty For that is acceptable before God our Sauiour And it is not for any man not only to exempt himselfe from obaying the prince but also to deny to pay him tribute seeing that our lord Iesus Christ did pay it and hath commaunded to pay it S. Paule doth also witnes the same thing saying that the duty of conscience commaundeth vs to pay tribute to princes because they be the ministers of God and serue thereunto Therfore geue vnto euery mā sayth he that which is due vnto hym Tribute to whome tribute belongeth custome to whō custome pertaineth duty to whom duety belongeth and honor to whom honor is due To be short next after God wee owe to the Prince all obedience honour and feare neither ought wee to thinke it straunge that God shoulde haue the cheefe preheminence seeing that the prince is but his minister and seruant and that the Liefetenant ought not to goe before him which putteth him in office nor the seruant before the master And that was the cause why Daniell said so boldly vnto the king Darius that he had made no fault in disobaying his commaundement which he could not haue obayed without offending both God and his own conscience Also it was for the selfesame cause that the obedience which the people of Israell did yeald vnto their king Ieroboham which caused Calues of golde to be made and commanded the people to honor them is condemned by the word of god For in matters of Religion we ought to hold the generall rule which S. Peter teacheth saying We must rather obay God than man. The reason hereof is the same that is alleadged by S. Paule namely That we be redeemed or bought with the precious bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ which is a thing of so great and excellent price that we ought not to turne away from the saluation which he hath purchased vs for any thing in all the world We haue heretofore alledged some of the decretall Epistles of the Popes Gelasyus Innocēt the third and Bomface the eight by that which they haue done their indeuour to thrust down emperours kinges and other Princes far vnderneath them but the auncient Canons speake farre otherwise for by them euen the Pope himselfe whensoeuer he cōmitteth any fault ought to be corrected and punished by the Emperour as Pope Leo the fourth auoweth and confesseth in his epistle written to the Emperor Lewes which epistle is made canonicall If we haue done sayth he any thing which wee ought not or haue not performed the equity of the law towards your subiects we are ready to amend our fault by the iudgement of your selfe or of your commissioners for if we which should correct the faultes of other men do worsse then they we be not the children of the trueth but which thing I speake with great grief we be masters of error more thā others Wherfore we most hūbly besech your maiesties clemency to vouchsafe to send hither some commissioners of yours such as feare God to informe you of our behauiour and to make as diligent inquisition thereof as if your imperiall maiestie were here present in proper person and to search out the trueth by peecemeale not onely of the thinges afore mentioned but also of all other matters which may haue bene reported vnto you So as by that meanes al things may be determined by lawfull examinatian of the case and nothing remayne to be discussed and decided hereafter By which Canon it appeareth playnely that the Emperour of Rome hath power and authoritye to inquire of the misbehauiour and misdealings of the pope and that he may by lawful iudgement condemne and punish him when he doth amisse We do also read in S. Gregory who is esteemed for one of the best Popes that in his epistle which he wrote to the kings of fran̄ce of Englād and of the westerngothes he did alwaies call them his children But when the wrate to the Emperor which raygned in his tyme whose name was Mawrice hee called him his Lord and spake very humbly vnto him as vnto hym that was his soueraygne declaring that he did and would obay the sayd Emperors most mylde commaundementes for those be his termes that he vseth There are other Canons also by the which all power of Soueraintye is attributed vnto princes as well ouer the lay people as ouer the clergye and ouer the goodes both of the one and of the other These be the very wordes of the Canon S. Peter in fishing found tribute in the mouth of a fish because that the church ought to pay tribute of such outward good as are sene to al mē And the case so standeth that for his tribute he was commaunded to pay not all the whole fish which he had caught in fishing but onely the peece of siluer which he had founde in the mouth of the fish which he had caught because the church it selfe or the preheminence of the place ought not to be geuen to Emperours and Kinges nor to be put in subiection to their power But surely as I sayd before that which was found in the mouth of the fish is commaunded to be geuen for the tribute of Peter and of the Lord because wee ought to pay tribute vnto princes of the outwarde goods of the church according to the auncient custome to the end they may mayntayne defend vs in good peace and quietnes By which canon it appereth that princes may as well rayse tribute vpon men of the Church as vpon the lay people although they may not take authority in deuine matters further than to cause obedience to be geuen to the commaundements of God as it is sayd in an other Cannon in expresse wordes When Emperors make wicked lawes to maintayne falshood agaynst the trueth it serueth to trye the true beleuers who are crowned with martirdom for perseuering in the truth But when they make good lawes and edictes to mayntayne the truth agaynste the falshood the persecutors are strickē in fear by it and such as vnderstand the truth do amend themselues Whosoeuer therefore doth refuse to obay the edictes of the Emperoures and princes that mayntayne the true doctrine doe procure themselues great punishment but as many as refuse to obay the edicts made agaynst the will of God winne to themselues great reward Eor euer since the tyme of the prophets all kinges are blamed which haue not prohibited and rooted out from amongst Gods people all such thinges as haue bene set vppe agaynst his commaundements And these which haue prohibited thē and rooted them out are highly praysed aboue al others Nabuchodonosor being an Idolater did make a trecherous proclamation that all men should worship his Image But those which refused to obay the vngodly law dealt faythfully and holyly With this Canon agreeth an other canon taken out of S.
in the vniuersities procured not the vtter defacing dissanulling of all the auncient Canons there gathered together seing they be so derectly contrary to the doctrine and authority of the popes But it was the prouidence and will of God that it should so be Now then you must first of all vnderstand that the auncient doctors of the church do oftē vse this name of pope which signifyeth a father and in aunciēt time was indifferently vsed to all Bishoppes aswell meane as great But in the end the Boshop of Rome appropriated the same to himselfe alone and from that tyme forth this name of pope hath euer bene taken as it is still in these dayes not for a father but for a supreme head and vniuersall Bishop of all the Christian churches of the world which title of vniuersall is reproued by all the auncient Canons so consequently the estate which the pope of Rome doth take vpon him at this present is condemned For it is well knowne that he nameth himselfe the vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop and that he chalengeth authority ouer all churches and councels Now harken to the very words of a Canō which putteth him to his neck-verse Let no Patriarke at any tyme vse the name of vniuersall For the Patriarke which nameth himselfe vniuersall taketh the name of Patriarke away from all others But Godforbid that any of the faythfull should chalendge honor to himselfe to the derogation of his brethren be it neuer so little Wherefore we besech you of your charity let none of you from henceforth in his letters geue the title of vniuersall to any man any more least ye take away the title due vnto your selues by attributing the same vnduely vnto orhers The next Canon following doth sing the same song which ought to be of so much the more force among the Romish Catholicks for that it is taken out of an Epistle of S. Gregory sēt to the patriark of Allexandria Thus therefore doth he say in expresse wordes Behold euen in the very preface of your letters which you wrote vnto me you go about to cast the proud name of vniuersal pope vpon me euen vpon me I say who haue forbiddē other men to vse it Wherefore I besech your holines euen of your curtesy to do so no more for you take from your selfe to geue to an other without cause why I seek not to aduaunce my selfe in tytles but in manners neither thinke I that I ought to purchase honour to my selfe with the losse of the honour of my brothers for my honor is to honor the vniuersall church and to behaue my selfe vprightly towardes my brethren And I thinke my selfe then most honored whē euery of them hath his due honour yelded vnto him But if your holines name me the vniuersall pope then in attributing the whole vnto me ther is nothing left to others which God forbid wherefore let vs driue away these termes farre from vs which inflame vs with vanity and hurt charity The reason of these Canons is very euident namely for that it is impossible for one man to gouerne the vniuersall church and to be Byshop of the whole world seeing that euen they which are best able do finde themselues greatly combred in the gouerning of one onely Byshoprick well Besides this the title of vniuersal Bishop is to stately and proud to be matched with the true Shepheardes of gods church which ought to walke in humility voyd of al pride and ambition The same thing is verified by a canō in these expres words Whosoeuer desireth supremacy vpon earth shall finde confusion in heauen And he that speaketh of primacie shall not be nūbred amongest the seruātes of god Let euery body therefore study not how he may seem greater thē others but by what means he may most imbase himselfe For hee is not the most righteous which amongst men is most honored but he is most honorable which is most righteous Hereunto agreeth well the Canon which sayth that all churches are equall in authoritye and that the church of Rome hath no superiority ouer other churches This Canon is takē out of S. Ierom and sayth thus We ought not to think that there is any ods between the church of rome the churches of any other place of the world In Fraunce England Affrik Persia the East and the Indies and all the Barbarous nations do honor Christ and obserue one rule of truth If regard bee to bee had of authority the world is greater then the City of Rome Wheresoeuer there is a Byshop be it at Rome be it at Eugubiū be it at Constantinople be it at Rhegium be it at Allexādria be it at Thebes or be it at Garmace it is all of one worthines of one selfsame degree of priesthood The greatnes of Riches or the meanesse of pouerty setteth not a Bishop in higher or lower degree To bee short all of them be the successors of the Apostles Now then it appeareth plainly by these Canons that the pope who in all his bulles doth name himselfe the Bishop of Rome is no greater than another meane Bishop that neither he nor the Church of Rome can claime to themselues any authoritie ouer other Bishops and Churches otherwise than by tiranny and vsurpation And truely besides the forealleaged Canons taken out of S. Gregory who so will reade his epistle shal find that he vtterly detested this title of vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop from his hart as a wicked title not meete for any but for Antichrist or for his forerunner In one of his Epistles he complaineth greatly to the Emperor Maurice that Iohn Bishop of Constantinople did trouble the Church of God by seeking to vsurpe the title of vniuersall Bishop For to the intent ye may vnderstand the very roote and originall beginning of this discourse you must consider that in those daies and long time before Constantinople was called new Rome and the other in Italy was called olde Rome And because the Emperor of Rome did most commonly keep his residence at new Rome and olde Rome was at that time greatly vexed with the barbarous Gothes Lumbards which warred vpon Italy and destroyed it without doubt the new Rome was then a more flourishing Citie and in higher estimation than olde Rome or any other Citie in all the wholl Empire Wherupon the said Bishop Iohn being of an ambitious dispositiō and minding to aduance himselfe by the dignitie of the Citie whereof he was bishop began to preach and persuade the people and diuers of the bishops that like as the Emperor extended his dominion ouer all the prouinces and countreys of the Empire euen so the Bishoppe of Rome that is to say of new Rome which was then in more estimation than old Rome ought to extend his power and autooritie ouer all the prouinces and countreys of Christendome And truly this Bishop Iohn did so much by his continuall trauell that he caused him selfe
the decrees of Pope Gelasius We reade that Christ hath raysed the dead to life But we read not that euer he released any of those which were dead in sinne And he who only had the power to doe it hath geuen this principall commaundement to S. Peter saying That which thou vnbindest vpon earth shall be vnbound in heauen and that which thou bindest vpon earth shall be bound in heauen He sayth vpon earth but he neuer sayd that he which is departed bound by sin shal be released Which Canon doth well shew that the power to vnbinde doth not stretch so farre as to hell nor so farre as to the pretended Purgatory but only to the earth and that the Popes of late yeares haue gone about to extend the boundes of their territories to farre in commaunding the angels as they doe by their bulles of pardons to goe fetch the soules of such out of purgatory as the Popes themselues listed to name for they haue no cōmaundement that reacheth either higher or lower than the earth It is true that for ground of this doctrine of Purgatory they alleadge that the custome of praying for the dead hath been allowed and receaued now of long time euen from the time of the primitiue Church But it doth not therby follow but that an error is an error although it be neuer so old Moreouer as Pope Innocent the third doth witnes many of the auncient Fathers haue beleeued that the glory of those which are in Paradise might still grow greater vntil the day of iudgement and so by consequence they did imagine that it was lawfull to pray to god for the increase of their glorifying S. Augustine also wryteth how be it that he alloweth not the opinion that some auncient Fathers haue imagined that to pray for the damned sort might doe them good not to exempt them from eternall payne but to moderate their tormēts And therfore although that this kinde of praying for the dead were sufferable as in deede it is not seeing it hath no foundation in the word of God yet cannot Purgatory be grounded therupon forasmuch as the praying of the Fathers of olde time was either for those which were happy in Paradise for that their glory and blessednesse might increase or for those which were damned that their payne might be diminished and not for any which they beleeued to haue bin lodged in Purgatory For in those dayes they knew not yet what was meante by Purgatory nor where Purgatory stoode For it is but a late inuention of the new descriptions of hell The famosest doctor that euer spake of Purgatory is S. Gregory who notwithstanding speaketh after such a fashion that he seemeth to make no great reckning of the matter For he sayeth that none but veniall sinnes may be purged by the fire of Purgatory the deadly sins cānot So that by this reckning the paines torments of this pretended Purgatory haue no more power to purge than hath the simple holy water whereunto they doe likewise attribute the vertue of clensing and of washing away of mennes veniall sinnes These are the very words of S. Gregory Such as a man departeth hence such is he presented in the day of iudgement But yet we must beleue that before the iudgemēt there is a fire of purgation for certayne degrees of sinnes because the truth sayth that if any mā haue blasphemed the holy Ghost his sinnes shall not be forgeuen neither in this world nor in the world to come By which wordes it is geuen vs to vnderstand that there are some sinnes which may be pardoned in this world and some in the world to come For that which is denied in one sinne is graunted in an other by consequent interpretation But yet as I haue sayd you must vnderstand this to be spoken of the leaste sinnes as the speaking many idle wordes to much laughter to great carefulnes for a mans owne family which is a sinne that can hardly be shūned euen of suche as know best how to keepe thēselues from sinning or to erre in poyntes which are of no great importance or to be ignorant of thē Al which sinnes make a mans burthen the heuier euē after death if they be not pardoned in his life tyme. Vpon this text and vpon the interpretation which S. Gregory hath made of it howbeit amisse as I haue sayd before in the text of the holy scripture which sayth that the sinne against the holy Ghoste is not pardoned in this world nor in the world to come the Romish Catholicks or rather the Scholemen and sophisters haue altogether builded and founded their purgatory And they are not contented that onely veniall sinnes should there bee purged as S. Gregory would but they will needes haue it to serue for the doing away of deadly sinnes also either by remayning there the full time of seuen yeares for euery deadly sinne or else by redeeming or shortening that long season by the celebrating and founding of Masses and other suffrages Which addition of the Sophisters hath maruelously inriched the kitchins of the clergy mōkes and brought great aboundance of water to their milles which had neuer happened to them if purgatorye had serued but onely to purge veniall sinnes according to the aforesayd opiniō of S. Gregory for the good people of christendome had rather to haue purged themselues from those sinnes with holy water which did no harme to those that sprinckled themselues therewith then by the fyer of purgatory which is affirmed to be extremely burning and scalding hot or by the founding of masses and Obits which were farre deerer then was the holy water So as purgatorye had bene brought to nothing as a wast and barren soyle if men had held themselues to the onely sayings of S. Gregory Thus may you see how the poore world hath bene abused by the inuētors and practisors of such holy deceytes ¶ Of the exception of prescription The xiii chapter HEtherto I thinke I haue made it to appeare playnely enough that the Romish Catholickes are not so well groundes as they imagine in the poynts of religion which they would mayntayne agaynst the protestantes Now therfore let them blame the reformed religion asmuch as them listeth and report it to be new full of errors and heresies and contrary to the word of God and finally let them deface it as much as shal please them For when it cōmeth to the vpshot their hasty headines and their wilfull fordeeming through the corruptnes of their affections shall neuer bring to passe but that truth shall alwayes be truth and darcknes be darcknes Do what they can to the vttermost yet will the trueth continue alwayes to strong for them in the iudgement of the wisest sort I know well that those which thinke themselues to haue the best braynes and to be of greatest insight in all matters are the persons that vtter their opinions so boldly in this controuersy of Religion saying that the
S. Ciprian all custome although it be neuer so auncient adde receiued ought to be set aside in respect of the truth all custome which is contrarye to the truth ought to be abolished There is yet another Canon which singeth thus In vayne do they alledge custome which are ouercome by reason as though custome were of greater force then the truth Or as though in spirituall thinges we should not follow that which hath bene reuealed by the holy Ghost Certaynly it is a true thing that reason and truth are to be preferred before custome But if custome be confirmed by the truth it ought to be constaÌ„tly kept and retayned There is yet another CanoÌ„ which speaketh fitly of this matter takeÌ„ out of S. Ciprian saying thus The custome that is crept into any place ought to be no impediment but that the truth shold be preferred and get the vpper hand for custome without truth is nothing els but a geuing of contynuaunce vnto error Wherfore let vs leaue the error follow the truth knowing that in Esdras truth getteth the vpper hand according as it is written Truth preuayleth and getteth the mastery and lyueth for euer and shall indure world without end To come to an end I wil adde this one Canon no more For I should not haue done very soone if I would rehearse all the Canones that are to purpose touching this matter And thus sayth this Canon If only Christ ought to be heard then must we not depend vpon the thinges which other men that haue been before our time haue thought meete to be done but rather vpon that which Christ hath done who is before all For we ought not to folow the custome of men but the truth of God specially seeing that he saith by the mouth of Esay the Prophet In vayn doe they honor me by teaching the commaundements and doctrines of men And in very deede this Cannon should make the whole rable of the Canonistes Decretistes Sarbonists Sophistes and others which handell the bookes of the Romish diuinity to blush for shame that they should strayne them selues to vphold the doctrines which haue bene apparaÌ„tly inuented by men For this one Cannon doth arregne them and coÌ„demne them al in few wordes Now to come to an end of this treatise I pray the Romish Catholikes to vouchsafe to looke aduisedly into the poynes hertofore by me discussed and to examine and ponder them throughly and without passion if it be possible For in so doing I am sure that as many as haue any naturall discression in them shall find that the ReligioÌ„ of the Protestants is a farre other thing then they haue hitherto taken it to be or than it hath bine borne them in hand to be And when they shall perceaue that the sayd Religion at the least is neither wicked nor hereticall nor new as euen the most simple may easely discern by the points before treated of it may be a iust occasion for them if they be not strangely bereft of their right wittes to incline to liue henceforth in peace and concord with the professors of the sayd Religion And herewithall I beseech them to haue earnest consideration of twoo thinges The one is that without a good peace and concord betwixt the Catholicks and the Protestants the state of the Realme of Fraunce will not only run wholy to ruine but also come to vtter vndoing and destruction And he that seeth not this is very grosse ignorant For Ciuill warres when they contynue do neuer bring forth other effectes than the changes and destructions of common weales vnles some good and vertuous men that are louers of the common weale doe fortune to preuent such vnhappy and euil destinies by procuring some good and reasonable pacification as the histories do yeald vs infinite examples therof The other thing to be considered of is this That euery perticular person ought to bethink himselfe that he hath a soule to saue and that he ought to seeke the way of his saluation For to what purpose serueth it to haue gotten honor glory riches and other contentments of the world to him that followeth the way of damnation to his own wretched soule Now he that is determined to seeke the saluation of his soule will he say that he is contented to beleeue as his Curate doth beleeue Such resolution were to foolish and beastly Or will it suffice him to say that he will liue as his Predecessors haue done and follow custome That were also a wronge way and is already condemned by the Canones heretofore alleadged Then ought we to determine with our selues to follow the truth and to imbrace the true doctrine of Christ Iesus but lord Sauior or else we shall neuer attayn to saluation And when we be thus resolued we must take heed that our passions doe not blinde the eyes of our vnderstaÌ„ding cause vs to take blacke for white For if we say stil we haue bene led and brought vp in this ReligioÌ„ my father grand fathers which were good men haue died in the same I haue borne Arms and ventred my life to mayntayne it it were not now for my honor to follow the Religion agaynst which I haue fought I am of the opinioÌ„ that there is no ill in the religion that I hould I am now to olde to learne any other and such other trifling excuses we do greatly deceaue our selues for they are nothing auaileable before god with whom we may not dally in this sort For such shiftes of descant serue to no other ond but to trifle our mindes and to lull them a sleep in ignorance and darckenes that they may haue no skill of their saluation when they depart this world What is then to be done that we may come into the path of saluation we must seek the truth And where shall we find it eueÌ„ there whether Christ did send vs wheÌ„ he sayd search the Scriptures The father of all mercy who hath created and made vs for of his owne glory and honor sake geue vs all such grace that being inlightened by hys holy spirit we may be well edified in the pure doctrine of Iesus Christ hys sonne our Sauiour to the ende that being true Christians in name and effect we may liue in good vnitye peace brotherly and christianly loue together in his holy seruice Amen Τελοσ Tit. liu lib. 1. in praefacione Esd 3. cap. 3. 4. Trip. hist li 2. cap. 5. 〈◊〉 â—nne 〈◊〉 be coâ—â—â—â—â—ed wâ—â—â—â—â—t beiâ—â—â—eard speake nun 〈…〉 Molin de mon. Fran. art 154. 155. 156. e. sicut e. excomunicamus Ex. de haeret Aut. Gazaros C. de haret Diu. Inst. lib. 5. cap 1. The pagans condemned the christiaÌ„s without hearing theÌ„ speake The decrees of Gratian authorised by the pope Annal. sur l. an 1168. The old canons are better theÌ„ the nevv We must not iudge of God as of man. Amb. in epist. ad Ro. c. 1. Math. 7.18 1. Iohn 2.1 Rom. 8.32 1.
reason vpon euery point and hauing alleadged the very text of the holy Scripture to confirme our doctrine and to disprooue theirs I geue them yet this aduantage further that I come into the listes against them with their own weapons which they take to be most for their own defence and most hurtfull to vs that is to wit the Canons made or authorised by the very Popes themselues Wherein I thinke I haue done so much by the grace of God that either they must condemne the Pope and his Canons or els confesse that our Religion is voyd of all error True it is that many learned men of our time haue sufficiently already set forth the purenes of our Religion by the holy Scripture yea and that much better than I could skill to doe Insomuch that in that respect many may thinke that I doe but make repetitions Howbeit forasmuch as I haue taken in hand as you would say to leuell or bend the Canons in defence of ourselues against such persons as beate vs with them and vnduely doe attribute asmuch or more authoritie to them than to the holy Scripture it selfe I haue considered that it were no reason for me to commit the same faulte which they doe And therfore my intent is to alleadge the very text of the scripture vpon euery poynt for the true and sure grounding of our doctrine and not to bestow the Canons otherwise than in beating downe the contrary doctrine I know well that the time is now so miserable and sorrowfull in Fraunce that most men take all good things in ill part and that euen those which best know the way how to heale our sores are so ill minded that they will not vse it And in good hower be it spoken we may well say as Liuie sayd speaking of the time of the Ciuill warres in Rome which began vnder Silla and Marius and contynued vnder Pompey and Cesar and so held on in quarrelling and parttaking stil vnder their successors a time in all points like to this sorrowfull time of ours that this Realme of Fraunce is brought to so extreme corruption as it may no longer indure either her owne vices or the remedy of them And in good sooth euery man may well perceiue the vices of dissention rancor ciuill warre and corruption both of manners and doctrine which are sowed at this day and already to deepe rooted in our French nation And likewise all men of any vnderstanding doe well see that the very remedy to rid away these mischiefes were to admit some good reformation aswell in doctrine as in discipline and in outward behauiour But France is in the same taking that a poore sick man is when the extremity of his fitte is vpon him who can neither suffer his disease patiently nor willingly receiue the medicine that should doe him good For all of vs doe well inough perceiue our disease and we know well it is great and dangerous and we would faine be healed of it but the most parte of vs doe finde that the medicine of reformation is to irkesome wherein surely men doe greatly ouershoote themselues for there is not so much payne nor displeasure in leading of a sober modest life as ther is in leading of a lose life Besides that the sober wel staid wel reformed life in good māners doctrine is accompanied with great quietnes of cōscience as sayth Cicero doth commonly lead the body to a healthfull and honorable old age But although we had no other cause to desire reformation than for the ceasing of our vntollerable troubles were not that cause inough sith it is not to be douted but that they will neuer be throughly brought a sleepe vntill the cause of them that is to wit the error corruption and loosenes that is among vs be first quenched and done away by a sound reformation aswel inwardly as outwardly For naturally all causes bring forth effects like themselues And againe it is certayne that God being righteous is wont to continue in striking with his reuenging roddes vpon such as harden themselues in their sinnes and stand kicking against the spurre If we considered the monstruous wasting and spoyling of things which Ciuill warres are wont to breede whereof we haue seene but too many by experience the heare of our heads would stand vp at it Cornelius Tacitus rehearsing the mischiefes that befell to the Empire of Rome by the Ciuill warres that were in the time of the Emperors Galba Vitellus and Otho sayth that in those fiery broyles the goodliest Prouinces of the Empire staggered inclyning to a change of state and to an ouerthrow of the Monarchicall gouernment where-through they had felt so many oppressions by meanes of the quarrels and parttakinges of great men who shot at no other marke but to destroy one another Insomuch that in those times there was euery where greate murthering of men burning of townes defiling of holy thinges excessiue cruelty euen in the Citie of Rome it selfe deflouring of the noblest Ladies and banishing of the honestest and honorablest men The vertuousest folkes went soonest to wrecke Notable valiancy and great riches dignitie and authoritie executed or left vnexecuted for feare were taken for crimes The seruant was wrought either by terror or by treachery to be against his master and the bondman was set at liberty against his lord Such as had no enemies were ouerthrowen by the suttle packing of their frends Truth was oppressed partly through the ignorance of the Gouerner partly through the crafty iugling of flatterers and partly through the spyting of such as held the helme It was not lawfull for a man to thinke what he listed nor to speak what he knew The wickednes of the flatterers who had wonne the eares of the Prince and the great rewards which they obtained for their flattering as Consulships gouernments of Prouinces preferments to Priesthods spoilings of Countreis and excheting of mens goods were hated and abhorred alike of all people The small Countreis which sometimes were intangled in those Ciuill broyles were full of cruell deedes The seas were couered with folke that had been banished and driuen out of their own houses the rocks of the sea were pestered about with the carkases of folke murthered and the good Cities were quite cleane soked from all their substance These are the fruites in effect which the great and pollitick wise man Tacitus affirmeth to come and grow ordinarily of parttakings and Ciuill discords Whereof we haue felt so good store by the space of seuenteene yeares alredy or there abouts that we ought now long ere this to haue desired and sought the remedye that might haue cured our so strange misfortunes and barbarous calamities Yea and euen they which are the most sworne enemies of the reformed Religion ought to become assured by the proof of time past that for all that euer they can doe or deuise they shall neuer so deface the truth and vertue but that they shall stand