An Apologie or aunswer in defence of the Church of England concerninge the state of Religion vsed in the same Newly set forth in Latine and nowe translated into Englishe Rom. 1. I am not ashamed of the Gospell of CHRIST for it is the power of GOD vnto saluation to euery one that beleueth Londini ANNO DOMINI M.D.LXII Lorde saue the Quene The Apologie of the Churche of Englande IT hathe ben alwaies an olde complainte euen from the tymes of the Patryarkes Prophets and confyrmed by the writings testimonies of all ages y t Truth dwelleth as a straunger here vpon earthe and sone findeth enemies and slaunderers amonge suche as do not knowe her The whiche thing althoughe peraduenture it maie seeme incredible vnto others suche as haue not diligently marked these thinges specially bycause y t the whole ofspringe of mankinde by very course of nature without a teacher euen of his owne inclination coueteth after truth and Christe himselfe our sauioure what tyme he was here conuersante amongest men called himselfe the Truth as by that name which moste aptly did expresse all diuine power neuerthelesse we that are exercysed in the holy Scriptures and haue redde and seene what hathe happened in manner to all godly men of al ages euen vnto the Prophets vnto the Apostles vnto the holy Martyres vnto Christ hymselfe w t what reproches what reuylinges what slaunderous names thei were vexed here in their life time for onely truthes sake we I say do se that it is a thing not onely nothing new nor incredible but also very currant and cōmon to all ages Mary on the other side it might seeme muche more merueylous and vncredible in case that the Deuyl the very father of lyes and enemie to al truth shoulde nowe sodainely change his naturall disposition hope to fynde some other way then by lying to oppresse the truth or that by other sleyghtes then suche as he hathe alwaies vsed hee shoulde nowe beginne to establishe his kingedome For oute of all recordes you shall scantly finde any time other whyles religiō was newly growing and encreasing or after it was staied and setteled or when it began to sprynge againe wherin truth and innocency amongest men was not moste vnworthyly and most shamefully entreated for the Dyuill seeth whiles truth preuaileth he can not preuaile nor keepe his owne For to passe ouer and to speake nothing of the times of y e auncient Patriarkes Prophets in whose dayes as I haue sayde before there was no season voyde of slaunders and reproches against the truth We knowe that there were certaine persons that sayde and openly pronounced of y e auncient Iewes of whom we doubt not but they worshypped the onely and the trew God that in stede of God they worshipped other a Sowe or an Asse and that all their religion was nothing els but a sacrilege a contempt of al diuine power We knowe that the sonne of God oure sauioure Iesus Christ for teachinge of the truth was taken for an enchaunter for a worker of mischiefe for a Samaritane for Beelzebub for a deceiuer of the people for a man that folowed his delite in eatinge and drinkinge And who is ignorant of those thynges that were spokē in time past agaynste that moste earnest setter forthe champion of the truth S. Paule somtime that he was a seditious person that hee gathered souldiers that hee entended vprore sometimes that he was an Heretike sometyme that he was madde somtimes that onely to make strife and for his pleasure he blasphemed the lawe of God despised the ordinaunces of the fathers Who knoweth not how that S. Stephan so sone as he had receaued into the inwarde bosome of his mynde the truth and had begon freely according as he was bounde stoutly to preache it and to professe it was by by brought to pleade for his life as though he had wickedly spoken blasphemy againste the lawe against Moses againste the Temple against God Or who is ignorant that there were men in tymes paste whiche accused the holy Scriptures of lyes saying that they conteined thinges plaine contrary and repugnant one to an other that the Apostles did dissent euery one frō an other Paule from them all And least it should be to longe to reherse all for that were infinite who is ignorannt howe that oure Fathers whiche firste began to acknowledge and to professe the name of Christe were slaunderously reported of that thei conspired togither amongest themselues and that in their secret assembles thei had consultations against the state ouer the cōmō welth and that euen therefore their meetings were apointed before day in the darke that thei kylled yonge children filled them selues wyth mans fleshe and lyke moste cruell beastes dranke mans bloode howe that at the laste when the candels were out thei committed adultery and incest at auenture togither the brother with the syster the sonne with the Mother withoute any reuerence of kyndred without shame withoute difference euen a sorte of wicked men withoute all religion withoute God enemies of mankinde men vnworthy to beholde the light vnworthy of lyfe All these thinges in those daies were spoken against y e people of God against Christe Iesus against Paul against Stephan and againste al those that in the primitiue Churche embraced the truth of the Gospel and were content to be called by the name of Christians a name in those daies very odious amongest the people And albeit those thinges were not trew yet the Deuill thought it inough for him if at the least he coulde bring it to passe to cause them to be taken for trewe and that the Christians should be hated of al men and by al men persequuted vnto the death Wherfore Kings and Princes leadde by suche perswasions killed the Prophets of God euen to the laste man Esaie thei condemned to the sawe Ieremy to be stoned Daniel to the lyons Amos to the club Paule to the sworde Christe to the crosse al Christian men to prisons to tortures in horses bellyes to the gallowes to rockes to cliues to wilde beastes to fyers Yea thei sticked not to make great bonefiers of their liuing bodies onely for a light to serue them in the night season for a scorne of whom thei made none other accompt then as of moste vile donge as of accursed persons appointed to be slaine for Sacrifice and to be a scorne of all the worlde Thus I say the mainetainers and professors of the truth hathe bene alwaies delte withall So muche the more ought we that haue taken vpō vs the profession of the Gospel of Iesus Christ to take it in better parte if in the same quarel we be handled after the same sorte and like as oure forefathers in tymes paste so we at this day without any oure desert onely bicause we teache professe the truth are vexed with slaunderous names
slaunderousely agaynste vs yet thys one thynge they can not saye that wee haue aparted our selues either from the word of God or from the Apostels of Christ or from the primityue Churche But we haue alwayes estemed the firste age of the Church to be catholyke y e which was in tune of Christ and of the Apostles and of the holy fathers Nor wee doubt not to call y t Church the arke of Noe the spouse of Christ the piller and perfect stay of the truth or vpō the same to repose the whole course of our saluation It is doutles an odyous thing for any man to forsake y t felowship whereunto he hath accustomed himselfe but specially of those men which although they be not yet at the least seeme to be are called Christiās And to say truth concerning their Church euen for the names sake bicause y t in time paste of what sorte so euer it be now the Gospell of Iesus Christ was truly purely set forth in it we doe not so greatly contemne it nor would not haue forsaken it but only of very necessitie and y t very much against our willes But what if an Idole be raised vp in the Church of God that same desolation whereof Christ did prophecy shoulde stande openly in the holy place What if a strong theefe or a pyrate get the possessiō of y e Arke of Noe Doubtles these mē as often as they preach vnto vs y e Church they make themselfes onely to be the Church and all those tytles they chalenge to themselfes and so they triumphe euen as they did in tymes paste that cryed The temple of the Lord The temple of the Lord or as the Pharasies and Scribes did when they boasted themselfes to be the sonnes of Abraham Thus they deceiue the simple w t a vaine apparance of gay thinges and seke vtterly to oppresse vs with y e very name of the Church euen lyke as if a theefe when that he had entered vpō an other mans house and had other violētly thrust out or murdered y e owner therof should afterwardes chalenge it for his owne and keepe out of possession the right heire or if Antichrist after y e he had goten himselfe into possession of the temple of God should say afterwardes that it were his owne that it appertained nothing vnto Christ. For these mē wheras in the Church of God they haue left nothing lyke to gods Churche yet they will seeme to be maintainers and defenders of the Church euen altogether as Gracchus in tymes paste defended the treasure of Rome what time as with launching out of large gifts and vndiscreat expenses he vtterlye consumed cast it away There was neuer nothing so wicked or so farre against reason that vnder the name of y e Church might not easily be couered and defēded For euen the waspes also doe make honycombes and the wicked haue theyr assembles and fellowshyppes together lyke vnto the Church of God But not whosoeuer are called the people of God are by and by the people of God Nor all that are descēded from their father Israell ar all Israelytes The Arryans y t were Heretiks boasted themselues that they only were Catholykes for the reste they called them al sometyme Ambrosyans sometime Athanasians sometyme Iohannites Nestoriās as Theodoret saith although he wer an Heritike yet he couered himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 y t is to say with a certain apparance cloke of the right faith Ebion although he agreed in opiniō with the Samaritanes yet as Epiphanius saith he would be called a Christian. And the Mahometans although it be euident out of all hystories and can not deny themselfes but that they came of Agar the bondwoman yet they had rather as though they were descended out of the stocke of Sara a free woman and the wife of Abraham be called Sarracens for the reputation of the name and of the stocke Thus the false Prophetes of all ages which did withstand the Prophets of God as Esay as Hieremy as Christ as y e Apostles had nothing more rife in their mouthes then the name of the Church Nether for any other cause did they so bitterly turmoile them or call them runnawaies and forsakers of their profession thē bicause they had gone from their fellowship and obserued not the ordiānces of the elders And in case we wil folow the iudgement of those men onely by whom the Church was gouerned at that time haue no respect other to God or to his woorde or to any other thinge doubtles it cā not be denied but that the Apostles in as much as they declined away from the high Byshops priestes that is to say from the catholyke Church and contrary to their willes cried they neuer so much brought in an innouation a change of many thinges in religion were rightly condemned and according to law Wherfore like as thei writ of Hercules y t in wrastling with Anteus the Gyaunt he was faine to hoist him vp from the earthe his mother before he could ouercome him so our aduersaries must be lifted vp frō this mother of theirs that is to say from this counterfait shape and shadow of the Church which they mass themselues w tall for otherwise they can not giue place to y e word of God Wherfore Ieremye saith Boast not your selues so much that the temple of God is amongst you that is but a vaine confidence for these be saith he y e words of lies And y e Angel in the reuelatiō Thei say saith he thei be Iewes but thei be the Synagoge of Satan And Christ what time the Pharasies bosted themselues of the stock and kinred of Abraham You sayth he are of your father the Deuill for you doe nothing resemble your father Abraham As thoughe he shoulde saye thus You are not the men which you desire so much to be taken for you deceiue the people w t counterfait tytles and abuse the name of y e Church to the ouerthrowing of the Church Wherfore this they ought first euidently and truely to haue proued that the Church of Rome is y e true and the right beleuing Church of God and that the same according as it is gouerned by them at this day doth agree with the primitiue Church of Christ of the Apostles and of the holy fathers which no mā doubted to bee the Catholike Church True it is in deede in case we could haue beleued that ignorāce error superstition worshipping of Idols mans inuentions such as many times are contrary to the holy Scriptures either pleased God or were sufficiēt to the obtaining of euerlasting saluation or if we coulde haue perswaded our selues that the worde of God was writē only for a fewe yeares and then to be put out of all authoritie or that at any time the saiynges and ordinances of God shoulde stande at the discretion of the will of mā that whatsoeuer God sayde or commaunded
reproches and lyes 1. Nowe a daies thei crie euery where that all we are Heretykes that we are departed from the faithe that we with oure newe perswasions and wycked doctrine haue brokē the cōsent of the Churche That we do raise as it were out of Hell and restore to life againe olde Heresyes such as longe agoe were condemned We sowe abroade newe sectes and furious fansies that neuer before were hearde of Also that we nowe are deuided into contrary factions opinions could neuer agree by any meanes among our selues That we ar wicked mē make war after the māner of y e Giauntes as the fable is against God himselfe do liue altogither w tout care or reuerence of God That we do despise al good dedes and vse no discipline of vertue maintaine no lawes no customes no equitie no iustice no right That we loose y e bridel to al mischiefe allure the people to al kynde of licence and luste That we go about and seke how al the states of Monarchies kingdomes might be ouerthrowen and that all thynges might be broughte vnto the rashe gouernment of the people to the rule of the vnskilful multitude That we haue rebelliouslye withdrawen our selues from the catholike Churche and shaken the whole world with a cursed schisme haue troubled the cōmon peace the general quietnes of the Churche and that lyke as in tymes paste Dathan and Abiron seuered themselues from Moses and Aaron so we at this daye departe from the Pope of Rome without any sufficient iuste cause As for the authoritie of the auncient fathers and olde Councelles we do set at naught All auncient ceremonies suche as of oure grandfathers and great grandfathers nowe many ages paste when better manners and better daies did florish were approued we haue rashely and arrogantly abolyshed haue broughte into the Churche by our owne priuate authoritie without any commaundement of any holy and sacred generall Counsell newe rites and ceremonies And that we haue done all these thinges not for any respecte of religion but onely of a desire to maintaine strife and contention As for them they haue changed vtterly nothinge at all but all thinges euen as they receiued them from the Apostles were approued by the moste auncient fathers so they haue kepte them from age to age vnto this daye But now least thei shoulde seme onely to picke quarels and to speake euell of vs in corners onely to the intent to brynge vs into hatred the Romyshe Byshops haue prouided themselues of certaine men eloquente ynoughe and not vnlearned for to vndertake this desperate cause and to set it forth with bokes and long orations to the intent that the matter being cōningly handled after the best fasshion the simple and ignorant man might suppose there were somwhat in it for truely thei sawe how their cause began to decline in al places how their sleights wer now espied and therefore lesse set by and that their Garrysons decaied euery daie and therfore their cause to be such that it had great nede of helpe Now as touching those thinges whiche thei do obiecte against vs parte of them are manifestly false and euen by the iudgment of the selfe same persons that do obiect them condemned for lies parte of them although they bee as false as the other yet in asmuche as thei carrye a shewe and a counterfeat of truth in suche the symple reader if he take not hede specially if vnto the probabylitie of the matter the painted delicate speache of these fellowes be cunningly applied may easilie be entrapped and caried out of the waie part of thē againe ar such as we oughte not to decline from them as crimes but as thinges right well and aduisedly done to acknowledge to professe them and euen to tell you at a word how the matter goeth these men do slaunder all our doings euen those thinges whiche them selues can not deny to be wel and ordrely done and as thoe it were not possyble that any thinge should be other done or spoken wel of vs so all oure sayinges and doinges thei moste malitiously depraue No doubt it hadde been their part to haue gone more simply and more playnely to worke yf thei had ment to deale truly whereas now nother truly nor courteouslie nor Christianly but couertly craftily thei assault vs with lyes abusinge the blindnes of the people and the ignoraunce of Princes to bringe vs into hatred and to oppresse the truth this is the power of darkenes proprety of men that for the furtherance of their cause haue more confydence in the blockishnesse of the vnskilfull multitude in darkenes then in truth and light as S. Ierome saith of such as with closed eyes do barke against the manifest truth But we gyue thanks vnto the almighty God that our quarel is such that euen these men woulde thei neuer so faine can say nothing in reproche therof whiche might not be tourned in reprofe of the fathers of the Prophets of the Apostles of Peter of Paule and of Christe himselfe Now then in case it be lawfull for these men in railinge and speaking euil to be thus lowde and eloquent truly we in our iuste quarell answeringe for the truth ought not to be dumme and specheles for thei that haue noe regarde what is saide of them selfe or of their quarell althoe it be falsly slaunderously spoken specially when it is suche as thereby the maiestie of God and the state of religion is blasphemed thei surely declare them selfe to be dissolute men and suche as carelesly and wickedly do winke at the iniuries done to y e name of God For albeyt many times other greate and greuous iniuries of a sobre and a Christian man may be borne withal and dissembled neuerthelesse who that paciently can endure to be accounted an Heretike suche a one Ruffine was wont to denie to be a Christian. Wherfore we will now do that thinge whiche all lawes whiche the very voyce of nature commaundeth to be done and whyche Christ him selfe being in the like matter in like sort railed vpon did before vs y t is to say we wil giue a repulse to the accusations of these men and modestly and trulie defende oure cause and oure innocency For Christ what time he was accused by the Pharises of sorcery as one that had familiaritie with Deuills and did many thinges by their helpe I saith he haue no Deuill but I glorifie my father and you haue dishonored mee And Paule what time as Festus the leutenante contemned him as a madde man I saith he noble Festus am not mad as thou thinkest but I speake the wordes of truth and of sobrenesse And the Christians of the primitiue Churche what time as thei were iniuriously slaundered vnto the people as murderers of men adulterers incestuous persons and troublers of commō wealthes and sawe that by such slaunders the religiō which thei
of heauen We do beleue that Iesus Christe the onely sonne of the eternall father accordinge as it was decreed longe sythens before all beginninges when the fulnesse of time was come toke fleshe and the whole nature of man of that same blessed and pure Uirgine to the entēt to declare vnto men the secret and hidde will of his father whyche was hydden from all ages and generations and to the entente that in the bodye and nature of man he myght accomplish the mistery of oure redemption naylinge oure Sinnes and y t same Handewriting whiche was written againste vs vnto the Crosse. We beleue that for oure sakes he dyed and was buried descended into Hell the thyrde day by diuine power retourned vnto lyfe and rose agayne after forty dayes in the sighte of his disciples he ascended into heauen for to fulfill all thinges and the very same bodye wherein he was borne wherein hee was conuersaunte vpon earthe wherein he was mocked wherein hee suffered moste greeuous tormentes and cruell kynde of deathe wherein he rose againe wherein he ascended vnto the ryghte hande of the father hee hathe placed in maiestie and glorie aboue all princely dignitie and power and vertue and rule and all names that are named not onely in this worlde but also in the worlde to come and that nowe he sitteth there and shal sitte vntill al things be perfectly fynyshed And albeit that the maiestie and diuinitie of Christe bee spred ouer all yet his bodie as Augustine saithe muste bee in one place Christe gaue vnto his bodie maiestie but the nature of his bodie hee toke not awaie Nor we muste not affirme Christe in suche sorte to be God that we shal deny him to be man And as Uygill y e martyre saithe Christ in his humaine nature did leaue vs but in his diuinitie he did not leaue vs thoughe he be absent from vs touching the forme 〈◊〉 a seruant yet he is alwaies w t vs in y e forme of God From that place wee beleue that Christe shall come agayne for to execute that same publike and vniuersall Iudgemente as well ouer those whiche hee shall finde yet remayninge a liue in their bodies as those that be deade We beleue that the holy ghoste whoe is the thyrde person in the holie trinitie is very God not made not created not begotten but proceedinge from boothe the father and the sonne by a certaine waie whiche is vnknowen to menne and not able wyth wordes to be expressed that yt is hys worke to make tender the hardnesse of manes harte what tyme as other by the holsome preachynge of the Gospell or by any other meanes hee is receaued into mans harte and that he lightneth them and leadeth them into the knowledg of God and into all way of truthe and into a newnesse of their whole life and perpetuall hope of saluacion We do beleue that ther is onely one Churche of God and that the same is not shut vp as in time past among the Iewes into any one corner of kingedome butte is Catholike and vniuersall dispersed into al the world so that nowe there is no nacion that maye truely complaine that thei be excluded and can haue no parte with the Churche and people of God He doe beleue that the same Church is the kingdome is the body is the spouse of Christe and of this kingdome that Christe is the only Prince of this body that Christe is the onely heade of this spouse that Christe is the onely bridgrome and that there be in the Churche diuers ordres of ministers some be Deacons some Elders some Byshoppes vnto whom the instruction of the people and the charge and prouision for thinges appertaininge to religion is committed and yet that there is noe one man nor that any one can be superioure and ruler ouer all for wee beleue bothe that Christe is alwaies present with his Church and that he needeth no Uicare that shoulde supplie hys roume in all pointes and that it is vnpossible for anye mortall man so muche as to comprehende in his minde muche more to set in ordre and rightly and profytablye to gouern the whole vniuersall Churche that is to say all partes of the worlde that the Apostles as Cypriane saithe were all of lyke authoritie and that the rest were in the very same degree that Peter was That it was spoken indifferently to them al Feede to them all Go in to the whole worlde to them all Teache the Gospell And as S. Ierome saithe that all Byshops in what place so euer thei be other at Rome or at Eugubin or at Constantinople or at Rhegium be al of like desert of like Preesthoode And as Cyprian saith that ther is but one Bishoperike and euery one holdyng a part therof dothe administer the whole and accordinge to the sentence of the Councel of Nice that the Romaine Byshoppe hathe no more right ouer the Churche of God then the other Patriarks of Alexandria of Antioche as for the byshop of Rome who at this day chalengeth all thinges to himselfe alone vnlesse he do his office vnlesse he administer the Sacraments vnlesse he instructe the people vnlesse he admonishe vnles he teache ought not of right to be accompted a Byshoppe or so much as an Elder in the Churche for a Byshoppe as Augustine saith is the name of a worke and not of honore so that he may know assure himself to be no Bishop that coueteth to beare rule and not to profite as for to be heade of the whole Churche or an vniuersall Byshop it is no more possible for him or any other mortall man then to be the bridegrome the light the saluacion the life of the Church for these be the priuileges and names of Christ onely and vnto him alone proprely and only thei do appertaine Nother before Phoeas the Emperours tyme whoe wee knowe well inoughe by a moste detestable murder in killinge the Emperoure Maurice his Lorde master aspired vnto the Empire that is to say before sixe hūdreth thirtene yeares after the byrth of Christ was there euer any Bishop of Rome that euer suffered himself to be called by so proude a name The Councell also of Carthage did expresly forbid that any Byshop shoulde be called other the highest Byshop or the chiefe preest And for the bishoppe of Rome in asmuche as he wil be called at this day after this sorte and chalengeth to hymfelfe an authoritye not due vnto hym besydes that openlye hee doothe contrarye to the olde Councels and contrary to the fathers if hee will beleue hys predecessor Gregory he taketh to himself an arrogant prophane sacrilegious Antichristian name he is the kinge of all pride he is Lucifer in asmuche as he preferreth himselfe before his brothren he hath cast away faith he is the fore runner of Antichriste We say also y t ministers
they to consider howe iuste the cause of our departing is For in case they wil saye it is lawefull for thee by no means to departe from that fellowship wherein thou haste ben brought vp Thus they maye easily in oure personnes cōdemne both the Prophetes and the Apostles and also Christe him self For why doe they not likewise finde fawte at this that Loth departed from Sodome Abraham out of Calde the Hebrewes out of Egypte Christ from the Iewes Paule from the Pharisees For onlesse there maye be some iuste cause of suche departynges we see not why they also maye not in like sorte be accused as factious and seditious men Nowe if we ought to be condemned for heretikes bycause we doe not al thinges whiche these menne doe commaunde vs whoe I praye you or what maner of men shall we account them to be which doe despise the commaundementes of Christe and of the Apostles If we be Schismatikes that haue disseuered our selfs frō these fellowes by what name I pray you shal we call them that haue departed from the Grekes at whose hādes they receyued the faith frō the primitiue church from Christ him self from the Apostels euē as it were from their owne parentes For as for the Grekes such as at this daye doe professe the religion and name of Christ althoe they haue many thinges that ar corrupted yet they retaine to this howre a great part of those thinges which they receyued of the Apostles Therfore nother haue they priuate Masses nor their sacramētes mangeled nor purgatory nor pardonnes As for the Popes titles and proude names so muche they doe regard them that whosoeuer doth take them vpon him and wil needes be called either the vniuersal Byshop or heade of the whole Church of him they will not sticke to saye that he is bothe an intolerable arrogant man and a personne that iniuriously defaceth all other Byshoppes his bretherne and also an heretike Now then sins the matter is plaine can not be denied y t these fellowes ar gone back frō those of whom thei receiued the gospel of whom thei receaued y e faith of whome the true religion the Churche what cause is there why they shuld not be cōtent to be called home againe euen vnto the same personnes as it were to the fountaines of religion Wherfore ar they so afrayde as thoe al the Apostles old fathers sawe nothing to folow the exāple of their times for doe they trowe ye see more or be thei more careful ouer the Churche of God then they y t first deliuered these things And now to returne to our selfs we haue departed frō that Churche wherin nother the worde of God could be hearde purely taught nor the Sacramentes rightly administered nor the name of God as it ought to be called vpō and whiche they themselues doe confesse to be corrupted in many thinges and wherin to say the truth there was nothing that could staye any man that was wise and that had any consideration of his owne saluation To conclude we haue departed from that Churche that is now founded not from that Church that was in time past and we haue departed in such sorte as Daniel did out of the denne of Lions as the thre childrē out of the fier yea rather caste out by them with their cursinges and banninges then departed of our selfs Agayne we haue adioyned our selfes vnto that Church wherin they them selfs in case they wil speake truely and according to their owne consciences can not denie but all thynges ar soberly and reuerently handeled and so farre forth as we were able to attayne most neerely vnto the order of the olde time For lette them compare their Churches and oures together they shal see bothe that they moste shamefully haue departed frō the Apostels and we moste iustly haue forsaken them For we after the exāple of Christe of the Apostles and of the holy fathers doe giue the whole sacrament vnto the people These men contrary to all the fathers contrary to al the Apostels and cōtrary to Christ him self not without as Gelasius sayth hygh sacrilege doe deuide the sacramentes and plucke the one parte awaye from the people We haue restored the Lordes supper accordyng to the institutiō of Christ and desire to haue it asmuch as maye be and to as many as may be most common and as it is called so to be in very deede a Cōmunion These men haue chaunged all thinges frō the institution of Christ of the holy cōmunion they haue made a priuate masse so that we present vnto the people a holy Supper they a vayne pagent to gase vpon We doe affirme with the moste auncient Fathers that the bodye of Christe is eaten of none other but of godly and of faithfull menne and suche as ar endued with the spirite of Christe these fellowes doe teache that the very bodye of Christe maye in very deede and as they terme it really and substantially be eaten not only of wicked and vnfaythfull men but also it is horrible to speake it of myse and dogges We doe praye in oure Churches after suche sorte that accordyng as Paule dothe admonishe vs the people may know what we doe pray and with one minde answere Amen These men powre out in the churches vnknowne and straunge wordes like vnto the noyse of soundyng brasse without any vnderstanding without sense without iudgement and this is their only endeuour that the people should not be able to vnderstande any thing at all And bycause we will not reherse all the differences betwene vs and them for they ar in maner infinite We translate the Scriptures into all languages these men wil scantly suffer them to be abroade in any tonge We doe exhorte the people to heare and reade the worde of God these menne driue them from it We woulde haue our cause hearde before all the worlde these menne flee al iudgement and triall We leane vnto knowlege they vnto ignorance We truste to the light they vnto darknesse We haue in reuerence as reason is the wordes of the Apostles and of the Prophetes these men do burne them To conclude we in Gods cause wil stande to the iudgement of God only these men will stande to their owne But if they will consider all these thinges with a quiet minde and a prepared purpose to heare and to learne thei shal not only allow our doyngs which leauing all errours haue folowed Christe his Apostles but also they themselues shal fal away from thēselues and of their owne accorde encline themselues to ioyne with our felowshippe But they will saye that it was an vnlawefull attempt to goe aboute such matters without an holy generall Counsell for therein is the whole powre of the Churche there Christe hathe promised that he will alwayes be ready at hand And yet they themselues haue broken the commaundementes of God the decrees of the Apostles and as we sayde a litle before haue scatered and torne
these thinges whiche so longe time hath bene openlye obserued and approued in the Churche of God ought now at the laste to be reuoked But we doe certenly knowe that that same worde which by Christ was reueled and published abrode by the Apostles is sufficient as well for our saluation as also to defende al truthe and to conuince al heresie By that same onely we doe condemne all kinde of olde heretickes whiche these men saye we do rayse vp agayne out of Hell the Arrians Eutychians Marcionites Ebions Ualentinians Carpocratians Tatians Nouatians and at a worde all such as haue had wicked opinioÌ„ other of God the father or of Christ or of y e holy Ghost or of any other parte of christian Religion in as much as by the gospell of Christ they are reproued them we doe openly pronounce to be wicked and damned and euen vnto Hell gates doe detest them And not only this but also in case they breake out in any place vtter them self we doe seuerely earnestly correct them with lawefull and conuenient punishmentes We coÌ„fesse in deede that certen newe sectes and such as before hath not ben hearde of as Anabaptistes Libertines Mennonions Zuenkfeldians by by at the springyng of the Gospell did starte vp But we giue thaÌ„kes vnto our God the world seeth now wel inough that we nother haue bred nor taught nor fostered these monsters Reade I praye thee whoe so euer thou arte our bookes they be in euery place to be solde what was euer written by any of oure men that might euidently fauer the madnes of these fellowes No there is no countre so free from these pestilent fellowes as these be wherein the Gospell is freely openly taught But yf menne will consider the very matter diligently rightly this is a great argumente that this doctrine whiche we teache is the truthe of the Gospell For nother is darnell commonly wonte to grow but with some kinde of grayne nor chaffe but with corne By and by after the time of the Apostles what time the Gospel was first spred abrode who knoweth not how many heresies sodenly sprang vp together Whoe euer hearde before of Simon Menander Saturnine Basilides Carpocrates Cherinthus Ebion Ualentine Secundus Marcosius Colorbasius Heracleo Luciane Seuerus And what shoulde we reherse these Epiphanius reckeneth fourescore Augustine moe and that distincte heresies whiche grewe vp together with the gospell Howe then was the gospell no gospell bycause that heresies sprange vp together with it other was Christ therfore no Christ And yet as we sayd this seede buddeth not amongst vs that openly freely teache the gospell AmoÌ„gest our aduersaries eueÌ„ in blindnes in y e darke these pestileÌ„ces doe rise and gather encrease strength wheras truthe is oppressed with tiranny cruelty can not be hearde but onely in corners and in secrete metinges Let them make a profe let them giue free course to the ghospell suffer the truthe of Iesus Christe to shine and to caste forth his beames into all partes they shal see by and by these shadowes at the lighte of the gospell to vanishe awaye euen as the darkenes of the night at the appearyng ot the Sunne For al those heresies whiche these men doe flaunder vs to foster and to nurrishe we dayely whyles they sit still and ar otherwise occupied doe confute and chase awaye Where as they saye that we are fallen into diuerse sectes and that some will be called Lutherans some Zuinglians that we could neuer wel agree amongst our selfs touchyng the summe of our doctrine what I praye you woulde they haue sayde if they had bene in the firste age of the Apostles and of the Fathers when one sayd I holde of Paule an other I of Cephas an other I of Apollo or when Paule reproued Peter when vpon occasion of stryfe Barnabas departed from Paule when that as Origene dothe testifye the Christians were deuided into so many factions that thei retained onely the name of Christians commune to them al els nothing that was like vnto Christian meÌ„ And as Socrates saithe y t for their dissensions sectes thei were scorned openly in stage plaies of the people when that as the Emperour Constantine dothe saye ther were so many dissensions braules in the Church that the misery therof might seeme to passe all the other miseries that were before Also wheÌ„ that Theophilus Epiphaniê° Chrysostome Augustine Rufine Ierome all being ChristiaÌ„s al Fathers al Catholikes did striue amongst themselues with most bitter contentions and such as coulde not be appeased when that as Nazianzenus saith the membres of one body one destroied an other when the Easte parte of the worlde was deuyded froÌ„ the West about leuened breade and for Easter matters of no great waighte when in all Councells nowe and then new Creedes and new Decrees wer stamped what trowe ye these menne woulde haue saide in those daies To whiche woulde thei haue chiefly applied theÌ„selfe From which woulde thei haue fledde Which Gospel would thei haue beleued Which would thei haue taken for Heretikes which for Catholikes Now for two names onely Luther Zuinglius what a busines do thei make Only to the enteÌ„t that bicause there is somthing whervpon thei two do not yet agree we shoulde ymagine that bothe of them erred nother of them had the Gospell and that nother of them did teache rightlye and truelie But Lorde what men trowe ye be these that fynde faulte with dissensions amongest vs Do thei all agree amongst themselfe Hathe euery one of them wel aduysed himselfe what waye to folowe Was there neuer no dissensions no braules amongst them How happeneth it then that the Scotistes and the Thomistes do agree no better about merytes of conueniency and merites of duety about oryginall sinne in the blessed virgine about a solemne and a simple vowe why doe the Canonistes say that eare confession is ordained by humayne positiue law and the SchoolemeÌ„ contrary by gods law Why doth Albert Pighius dissent from the Cardinall of Caieta Thomas from Lumbarde Scotus from Thomas Occame froÌ„ the Scot Alliensis from Occame the Nominales from the Reales And although we passe ouer the infinite dissensions of Friers and Monkes wherof some of them doe appoint their holines to be in fishe some in herbes some in shooes some in slippers some in a linnen garment some in a wollen some go in white some in blacke some are shauen broder some narrower some are shodde some are barefoote some girded some vngirded yet they ought to remember that there be some among them that say the body of Christ is present in the supper naturallye againe there be some euen of their owne company also that deny it that there be some that saye the bodye of Christ in the holy Communion is torne and crusshed w t teeth againe there be some that deny it that there be some that write that
haynouslye to exclayme agaynst our life It were a great deale more wisdome for them first other to make good their owne doynges before men or at the least to couer them somwhat more conningly For we doe kepe in vre oure olde auncient lawes and so farre forth as it maye be in these dayes and maners and in so great a corruption of al thinges we doe execute diligently and earnestly Churche discipline as for stewes for cōmon whores or flockes of concubines harlots we haue not Nor we doe not prefarre adultery before mariage nor we doe not occupie bawdery nor we gather no rentes vpon bawdy houses nor we doe not suffer incests and deuelish abuses of bodily luste nor such as Aloisius or as Casus or as Diazius the murderer to goe vnpunished For if these thynges had liked vs we needed not to haue departed from the felowship of these men where those thinges doe florish and ar had in price by rayson of our departing thus to fall into the hatered of men and into present perils Paule the fourth had not many moneths paste in prysonne at Rome certayn Augustine friers divers Byshops a great nōbre of other godly mē for the cause of religion He put them to tortures he examined them vpō interrogatories he assaide alwaies that might be At the laste how many coulde he finde of all these to be mē of vnordinate lustes how many whorehūters how many adulterers how many incestes Thākes be vnto our god although we be not such as we ought to be such as our professiō doth require yet what so euer we be if we be compared with these men euen our life and our innocencie shal easily cōfute these slaūders For we doe exhorte the people not onely w t bookes and sermōs but also with examples and well doyng vnto all kinde of vertue and of good deedes We teach that the gospell is not an ostentation of knowlege but the lawe of life and as Tertullian saith that a christian mā ought not to speake nobly but to liue nobly And not the hearer but the doers of the law ar iustified before God Unto al these thinges they ar wonte also to adde this to enlarge it w t all kindes of rayling that we be seditious personnes that we pluck the scepters from out of the handes of Kinges that we arme the people that we overthrowe all courtes of Iustice that we abolyshe lawes that we bryng possessions into common that we turne kingdomes into a popular state that we confoūde al thinges vpside downe To cōclude we would haue nothyng in y e cōmon welth to remayne vnfoyled O how often haue therwith these wordes inflamed the hartes of princes to the intent they should put out the light of the gospel whiles it were yet in kindelyng and should first begin to hate it before they might attayne to know it And that the magistrate as oft as he should see any of vs so ofte he should imagine that he sawe his enemie It would trouble vs very much to be thus odiously accused of high trayson but that we know that Christ him self before vs and the Apostles and infinite other good men and Christians were brought in hatered in māner for the same matter For Christe although he had taught that we ought to giue vnto Cesar y t which was Cesars yet he was accused of sedition bycause he was reported to be a mā that went about newe deuises and aspired to a kyngedome For this cause in open courte of iudgemente the people cryed agaynste hym If thou lettest this man goe thou arte not Cesars friende And the Apostles although they had alwayes and constantly taught that magistrates ought to bee obeyd and that euery soule is subiecte vnto the higher powres that not onely for feare of displeasure and of punishement but also for consciens sake yet they weer reported that they troubled the people and stirred vp the multitude vnto rebellion Aman chyefly by this meanes broughte the whole nation and name of the Iewes into hatered of the kynge Assuerus in sayng that they were a rebellious a stubbern people and that they cōtemned the proclamations and ordinances of Princes The wicked king Achab speaking vnto Eli the prophet of God Thou sayeth he troublest Israel Amasias the prieste of Bethel accuseth Amos the Prophet vnto kyng Hieroboam of cōspiracy Beholde sayeth he Amos hath made a conspiracie agaynst thee in the middest of the house of Israel To conclude Tertullian sayeth that this was a common complaint in his time agaynst all Christian men that they were traytours that they were enimies of their country that they were enemies to all mankinde Wherfore if truth now also at this time be euil spoken of and as it is the same thyng so it be intertayned with the same reproches wherewith it was wonte to be althoughe it be greuous and vnpleasant yet it can not seeme to be newe or a thing that hath not ben before accustomed It was an easye matter for these men fortie yeres paste to deuise these slaunders and other more greuous matters agaynste vs what time as in the middest of that darkenes some little lightsome beame of the truth as yet in those dayes vnknowne and not hearde of beganne first to rise and to shyne what time as Martine Luther and Huldericus Zuinglius twoe most excellēt personages sente of God to giue light vnto the world came firste vnto the Gospell what time as the matter was yet but newe and the successe vncertaine and mēs mindes were waueryng and astonied and their eares open vnto slaunders and no mischief so haynous could be deuised agaynste vs whiche for the noueltie and straūgnes of the doctrine it selfe should not of y e people easily be beleued For after this maner the olde enemies of y e Gospell Simmachus Celsus Iulian Porphyry in times paste toke in hande to accuse all Christians of sedition and of treyson before that other the Prince or the people could knowe what maner of mē those Christians were or what they did professe or what they beleued or what they would haue Now after that oure very enemies doe see can not denie but that alwayes in all our wordes and writinges we haue diligētly admonished y e people of their duety how that they ought to obey their Princes and Magistrates although they were wicked and that vse and experience doth declare thesame and the eyes of all men whatsoeuer and whersoeuer they be doe see it and beare witnes thereof It was but an vnsauery deuise to obiecte suche thinges agaynst vs and for wante of newe and fresh matter to goe aboute to brynge vs into hatred only with olde forworne lies For we giue thankes vnto oure God to whome alone this cause doth appertayne that in all the kingdoms Iurisdictions countrays and Commonweales whiche haue receaued the Gospel hytherto no such example hath ben at any
was he that at Rome dyd set the crowne vpon the Emperours heade Henry the sixte not with his hande but wyth hys foote and wyth the same foote dyd caste yt downe againe saying withal that he had power bothe to make Emperours and to remoue them Whoe dyd sette Henry the sonne vpon Henry the fourthe his father beinge Emperoure and brought to passe that the Father was taken prysoner of the sonne and that after thei had shorne his crown scornfully abused him was throwen into a monastery where for hunger and sorrow he might pine away to death Who was he that in most shamefull wise did set his feete vpon Frederike themperours necke and as though that had not beene ynough he added moreouer these wordes out of the Psalmes of Dauid Thou shalt walke vpon the Aspis and vpon the Cockatryce and shalt treade downe the Lyon and the Dragonne Such an example of despite and contempt against princely Maiesty as neuer was heard of before in any age except parauenture in Tamerlane the Scithian that sauage and barbarouse man or in Sapor the king of Persia. All these were Popes al successors of Peter all most holy out of whose mouthes euery worde must be vnto us a seuerall Gospell If we be appeached as gilty of treyson whiche doe honour our Princes which yelde ouer vnto them all things so far as it is lawful by gods word whiche do pray for them what I beseche you ar these that haue not only done all these things that we spake of before but also by one assent haue allowed them as thinges right nobly done Trow ye then that either this is y e way to teache the people to reuerence the Maiestrate or that they w tout shame may accuse vs for seditious persons for disturbers of the common peace and despisers of princely Maiesty For we neither shake of y e yoke of oure obedience nor remoue kingdomes from one to an other nor take vpon vs either to make kings or to put them down nor translate Empires nor poison our kings nor offer them our feete to kisse nor triumphe ouer them setting our feete on their necks this rather is our profession this is our doctrine that eueri soule whatsoeuer it be whether it be monke whether it be Euangelist whether it be Prophet whether it be Apostle must of necessite be subiect vnto Kinges and Maiestrates yea and the Pope himselfe onles he will seme to be greater then the Euangelistes then y e Prophets then the Apostels must both acknowledge the Emperour to be his Lorde the which thing the auncient Bishops of Rome when the world was in better estate did neuer refuse and also call him by the name of Lorde Wee teache openly that princes are so to be obaied as men sent of God who that resisteth againste thē resisteth the ordinance of God these be our ordinances and these lessons are euident in our bookes these are in our sermons and these doe shine in y e māners and modesty of our people But as touching that where they say that we haue forsakē the vnite of the Catholike Church it is not only odious but also although it be most vntrue yet hath it some apparance and likelyhode of truth Now amōgest the common people and ignorant multytude not only those thinges that be true in dede and certain are beleued but also such things if any come in place that maye seeme to haue a lykelihoode of truthe Whereupon we se how y t crafty subtill fellowes hauing no truth where with to maintaine their cause haue euer vpholden their matters by those thinges that had a resemblance of truth to the intent y t such as are not able to see the bottom of the matter themselfes might at y e least be entangled with some colour and probalitie of the truthe Thus in times past bicause the Christians our forefathers what tyme they made their praiers vnto God tourned themselues towardes the Easte there were some that said they worshypped the Sunne and tooke hit to be their God And when as they sayde that as touching the euerlastinge and immortall life they liued vpon none other thing but of the fleshe and bloode of that Lambe that had no spott that is to saye of our sauiour Iesus Christe The enuyers and enemies of the Crosse of Christe who sought after nothing els but that Christian religion by any manner of meanes might be euill spoken of perswaded the people that they were wicked persons that they killed men to make sacryfices of them and that they dronke mans bloode Lykewise when they sayde that before God there is nother Male nor Female nor so farre as appertaineth to the attayninge of righteousnesse there is at all noe dyfference of persons and when as amongest themselues euery one called an other brother and syster there lacked not malycious persons to quarell agaynste them that the Christians made no manner of dyfference amonge themselues other of age or of kinde but laye together at aduenture al of them as it came to hande lyke brute beastes And whereas for common praier and hearinge of the Gospel they were oft times fayne to assemble themselues togyther in secrete vauts and hydden places bycause that practisers of conspyracies hathe accustomed sometimes to doe the lyke rumors were openly spread abroade that thei conspired among themselues and practised together other to murder magistrates or to ouertourne the common welthe And furder bycause that in celebratynge the holy mysteries they vsed accordinge vnto Christes institution to haue breade and wine it was supposed of many that they worshipped not Christ but Baccus and Ceres by reason that these counterfeyt gods amongest the hethen were worshipped after their prophane superstition in a lyke ceremony wyth bread and wine These thinges were beleued of many men not bycause they were trewe for what coulde bee more vntrue but bycause they were somewhat lykely and myght well deceyue men wyth the resemblaunce of truthe Euen after the same manner these men slaunder vs for Heretikes and to haue forsaken the Church and the communion of Christ not for that they thinke it to bee true for therof they take no care but bycause that vnto ignoraunt men it myghte paraduenture some way haue an apparance of truthe For we haue forsaken not as Heretykes are wonte to doe the Church of Christe but as all good men are bounde to dooe the contagious infection of lewde men and of Hypocrytes And yet dooe they in thys poynte tryumphe merueilousely sayeng This is the Church this is the spouse of Christ thys is the pyller of truthe thys is the arke of Noe oute of whych no saluation is to be looked for and that wee haue forsakē it we haue torne Christes coate Wee are cutt of from the bodye of Christ and haue abandoned the Catholyke Faythe And when they haue lefte nothinge vnsayde that may bee sayde although falsely and
onlesse the Byshop of Rome admitted and commaunded the same it ought to be taken as a thing vain and as vnsaid at all if wee coulde haue founde in our hartes to beleue these thinges wee confesse there had bene no cause why we should haue forsaken their fellowshipp But as touching that y t we haue now done in goyng from that Church whose errors are openly testifyed manifest and which hath it selfe moste euidently gone backe from the worde of God in as much I say as we haue departed rather from the errors therof then from it self and y t nether disorderly nor stubbernely but quietly and soberly we haue done nothing that disagreed other from Christ or frō the Apostles For the Church of God is not in that state as that it may not be blemmished with some spott or that it shall not haue neede sometimes of reformation for else what neded there so many assemblies and Councels without which as Egidius saith Christian faith can not stande For as ofte saith he as Councelles are neglected so oft is the Church forsaken of Christ. Or if ther be no daunger of any dammage that may come vnto the Church what nedeth as the case standeth now amongest these men the counterfet names of Bysshops For why be they called Shephardes if there be no sheepe that may go astraye Why are they called Watchmen if there be no Citie y t may be betraide Why are thei called Pillers if there be nothing that can fall The Church of God beganne forthwith from the beginning of the worlde to spredde abrode and was taught with the heauenly worde which God himselfe powred out of his mouth was taught with holy Ceremonies taught wyth the Spirit of God taught with the Patriarkes and Prophets and was so continued vntill those dayes when Christ shewed himselfe in fleshe But O mercifull God how often was it in that meane tyme and how horribly defaced and empaired Where was the Church at that tyme when all fleshe had defyled hys waye vpon earthe Where was it when as of the whole multitude of mankinde there was lefte but eyght personnes and they not all chaste and Godly which it pleased God to preserue oute of the common slaughter and destructyon Or when Elias the Prophet complayned so lamentablye and bitterly that amongest all them that lyued vpon earthe there was lefte none but hee alone that truely and rightlye worshipped God And when Esaye sayd The Siluer of the people of God that is to saye the Church is turned into drosse and that Citie whych sometime had been faythfull was becomme a harlott and that in hit from the hedd to the foote throughout the whole body there was nothing vncorrupted or what tyme Christe sayde that the Pharyseis and Priestes had made the howse of God a denne of theeues For the Churche euen like vnto a corne fielde except it be tylled except it be harrowed except it be laboured except it be husbanded in steade of Wheate it wyll brynge forthe Thistels Darnell and Nettels Wherefore God sent from tyme to tyme Prophetes and Apostles and also at the length his annoynted Christe which should leade the people home agayne into the ryght way and thoroughly repaire the Church at such times as it was ready to fall But least any man should say that these things happened only vnder the law and in y e shadow infancy of the Church what tyme as the truthe was couered w t figures and ceremonies what time nothing as yet was brought into perfection what tyme the law was engrauen not into mens hartes but in tables of stone although the same also be but a foolish obiection for euen at that time was also the same God the same spirit the same Christ the same Faith y e same doctrine y e same hope the same enheritāce y e same couenāt the same force of gods word And Eusebius saith that al the faithful euen frō the time of Adam were in very deede Christiās although they were not so called but least I say any mā shold make this obiectiō Loe Paul the Apostle found out like errours and like faultes in y e time of the Gospel in the time of perfectiō and of light in so much that he was driuē of necessite to write vnto the Galathians whom he had before instructed after this māner I am afraid least y t I haue labored amongest you in vaine that in vain you haue heard y e Gospell My little Children in whose birthe I trauaile againe vntil Christ be formed in you for as touching y e Church of the Corinthiās how filthily it was defiled it is not nedefull to speake of Now I praye you then might the Churches of the Galathians and the Corinthians fal from the faith and only y e Church of Rome may neither erre nor slide away Doubtles Christ touching his Church pronounced so long aforehand that the time should come when that desolation should stād in the holy place And Paule saieth that Antichrist in time to come should set his chaire of state in y e temple of God And that it should come to passe y t mē woulde not endure to heare sound doctrine but euē in the very Church men should turne their eares to the hearing of fables And Peter saith that in the Church ther shal be maisters of lyes And Daniel the Prophet speaking of the laste daies of Antichrist saith that in those daies truth shall be ouerthrowen and troden downe to the grounde And Christ saith that miserye and confusion amongest men shall be so great that euen the electe if it were possible should be ledd away in to errour And that all these things should come to passe not amongst the Paganes or Turkes but in the holy place in the Temple of God in the Church in the Congregation and fellowshipp of them that shall professe the name of Christe And albeit these warnings alone might suffise a wise man to beware that he suffer not himselfe vnaduisedly to be so deceiued with the name of the Church so y t he should neglect to make inquisition out of Gods word concerning the truth therof neuertheles many of the fathers also learned and Godly men hath oftimes greuously complained that all these things hath also happened in their times for God euē in the middes of that darkenes would haue some which although they did not open so manifest and cleere light yet they shoulde kyndle as it were some sparkell wherof men sitting in darkenes might haue a glymse Hylary what time as thinges remayned yet in māner vncorrupted pure neuerthelesse in an euill howre saith he haue you set your loue vpō walles In an euil howre doe you worship the Church of God in great houses and buildings In an euil howre do you thrust in vnder these the name of peace Is there any doubt but Antichrist in these places shall haue his seate vnto mee
perceaued out of what kinred euery man was descendid to be burned and vtterly to be defaced onely to this ende that nothing hereafter should remayne in recorde wherby it might appeare that he were a stranger Euen so doe these men in all pointes when as bicause they would haue all their deuises to be had in as great price as though they had bene deliuered from the Apostels or from Christe leaste that any thyng should at any time remayne that might reproue such dreames and lies other they burne the holy scriptures or craftely conueye them from the people Chrysostome surely writeth very well and agaynst the endeuour of these men excedyng aptly Heretikes sayth he shut vp the gates agaynst the truthe for they know right well if they be open the Churche shall not be on theyr side And Theophylacte The worde of God saythe he is the lanterne of light whereby the thief is espied And Tertullian sayth The holy scripture doth trie out the guyles theftes of heretikes For why doe thei hyde why doe they kepe vnder couert that gospel which Christ would haue to sounde from the toppes of houses Why doe they conuey y t light vnder a busshel whiche ought to stande vpon the candelstike why doe thei repose their trust rather in the blindnes ignorāce of the vnskilful multitude than in the goodnes of their cause Doe they suppose that theyr sleyghts be not yet espied or that they can nowe as thoe they had Gyges ring walke inuisible Assure your selfe now all menne seeth well inough what is within that same storeboxe of the Popes bosome euen this thing onely maye be a good argument y t they deale not vprightly and truely That cause ought of right to be suspected that flyeth the triall light For he that doeth euil as Christ saith seketh after darkenes and hateth the light A cleare cōsciēce offereth him self willingly to the shew that those workes whiche doe procede from God maye be seene They ar not so vtterly blinde but that they see this wel inough that if the scriptures haue the vpper hāde their kingdome is by and by ouerthrowen and that like as it is sayd of the Idols of the Gētyles frō whome in old time they fetched all oracles answers that at the presence of Christe when he came into the world they sodenly became dumme euen so now also at the sight of the gospel al theyr sleightes by and by fall headlong to the grounde For Antichrist is not ouerthrowē but by the clearnesse of Christes commyng We flee not as these menne are wonte to doe to the fyre but to the scriptures nor we doe not besege them with the sworde but with the worde of God thereby as Tertullian sayth we doe nurrish our fayth thereby we doe rayse vp our hope thereby we doe establish our assurāce For we know that the gospel of Iesus Christ is the powre of God vnto saluation and that in hit is euerlasting life And therfore we giue no eare according as S. Paule doth admonish vs no not to an Angel of God cōming from heauē in case he goe about to withdrawe vs frō any parte of this doctrine No as y e right holy mā Iustinus martyr sayth of him self We wold not beleue God himself in case he would teach vs an other gospel For where as these mē doe shake of y e scriptures as things y t cā not speake ar good for nothing and appeale rather vnto God himselfe speaking in the Church in councels y t is to say to their owne fansies opiniōs y t is bothe a very uncertain way to finde out the truth very ful of daunger somwhat like y e heathenysh māner of illudynge the people w t their furious inspirations such a waye as of the holy fathers was neuer approued Chrysostome saythe y t ofte times there be many that bragge of the holy ghoste but certainely sayth he they y t speake of their owne heades doe vntruly boaste thē selfe to haue the spirit of God For like as Christe sayeth he what time he spake out of the lawe and the Prophetes denied that he spake of him self euē so nowe if any other thyng but the gospell be enforced vpon vs vnder the name of the holy ghost we ought not to beleue it for as Christ is the fulfilling of the law the Prophetes so is the Spirite the fulfillyng of the gospell these be the wordes of S. Chrysostome But these menne although they haue not the holy scriptures yet peraduēture they haue the auncient doctors and holy fathers For in this they haue alwayes made their vaunt that all antiquite and the vniuersall consent of al ages was on their side Againe that al our opiniōs ar newe and grene and neuer hearde of before these fewe yeres nowe laste paste Doubtles there is nothing can be spoken of greater weight against the religion of God then when it is accused of noueltie for like as in God him self so in his religion there ought to be nothyng newe neuerthelesse we can not tel how it cometh to passe that from the beginning of the world we haue alwaies seene it in experiēce that as oftē as God wolde as it were kindle and disclose his truth vnto men althoe it were of it self not onely most aunciēt but also euerlastyng yet of wicked men and of such as were enemies therunto it was called grene and newe stuffe A man that wicked bloudy man onely to brynge the Iewes into hatered accused them to the king Assuerus after this sorte Thou haste here saieth he O king a people which in vsing certain newe lawes ar agaynst al thy lawes stobberne and rebellious Paule also at Athens so sone as he beganne to teache and to set forth the gospel was reported to be a setter forth of new goddes that is to say of newe religion And may we not saye they learne of the what māner of new doctrine is this And Celsus what time he wrote of purpose against Christ to the intent that after a more contemptuous māner he might scoffe out the Gospel with a slaunder of nouelty Hath God saith he now at the length after so many ages called himself to so late a rememberance Eusebius saith also that Christiā religion euen from the beginning was called in reproche 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saye new and strange Euen after the same sorte these men doe condemne all things that we doe allow for new and straunge their owne thinges againe whatsoeuer they be they will haue them to be commended as moste auncient And lyke as Necromanciers and Witches at this day such as haue to doe with Deuils are wont to say that thei haue their bookes and all their sacred hidd misteries from Athanasius from Cyprian from Moises from Abel from Adam and also from Raphael the Archangel to the intent that that skil which had proceded frō such authors and inuentours might be
thee also of other matters after the same sorte I pray the amongest the whole numbre of olde Bishoppes and fathers where did euer any one of them teach thee either to say a priuate masse whiles the people loked on or to lifte vp the sacrament ouer thy heade in the whiche thyng all thy religiō is at this day contayned or to mangel Christes sacraments and contrary to his ordinance expresse wordes to deceaue the people of the one parte And that I may come ones to an ende of all the fathers whiche any one of them dyd teache the to dispose the bloud of Christ and merites of the holy Marters and as it were marchaundise to sell thy pardons in a common market and all the corners of purgatory These kinde of men ar oft times wonte to talke muche of their hidde and depe learnyng and of their manifolde and great variete of reading Let them therefore now bring out somwhat if they can wherby it maye at the leaste appeare that they haue readde and knowe somewhat They haue cried it out lustily in all companies where they came that all partes of their religiō were auncient and approued not only of the multitude but also by the consent and continuāce of all nations and times Wherfore let them at one time or other shew this antiquitie which thei speake of Let thē make these things to appere whiche ar spred as they say so far so wide Let them proue that al Christian nations haue agreed vnto their religion But they flee as we sayde a litle before euen them selfs from their owne decrees and those thinges whiche so fewe yeares paste they had established to remaine for euer in so shorte time haue made to be of none effect I pray you then how shold they trust in the fathers in the olde coūcels in the wordes of God They haue not O mercifull God they haue not those thinges whiche thei boaste themselues to haue nother antiquitie nor vniuersalitie nother the consent of all places nor of al times And therof they themselues although they would rather haue the matter dissembled ar not ignorāt Yea somtimes thei sticke not also plamly to confesse it And therfore thei say that the constitutions of olde Councels and fathers ar of that cōdition that somtimes they may be chaunged for according to the diuersitie of times diuerse decrees ar conuenient to be had in the Church And thus they couer thē self vnder the name and title of the Church and with a counterfaite shadow doe scornfully abuse the simple wretched people And a meruayle it is that either mē should be so blinde as they can not see these thinges or if they doe see them that they be so pacient as they can thus easily endure them and with so quiet a minde But in asmuche as they haue abolished and repealed those auncient decrees as thinges that ar now become ouer olde and worne out of vse peraduenture thei haue set other in their place that be better and also more profitable For they ar wonte to say y t not euen Christ himselfe or his Apostles if they should liue agayne coulde deuise a better or a more holyer waye to direct the Church of God then that wherby it is gouerned now at their hādes Trewe it is in deede that thei haue put other in their places but accordyng as Hieremias said chaffe in steade of wheate and as Esay saythe Those thynges whiche God hath not requyred at their hāds They haue stopped vp all the vaynes of the springyng water and they haue digged broken and durty pittes full of slyme and filthines whiche nother haue anye cleane water nor ar able to contayne it They haue taken from the people the holy communion the worde of God from whence shoulde haue come all comforte the true worshyppe of God the right vse of sacramētes and of prayer Agayne thei haue giuen vnto vs of their owne store wherewith in the meane season we might chiere oure selfes salte water creame pottes spittell palmes bulles Iubiles pardonnes crosses smoky incēce and an infinite nombre of ceremonies and mere mockes as Plautus saythe meerly to be mocked at In these thynges haue they fixed theyr whole religion With these thinges they taught that God might be well appeased that with these Devils be driuen awaye That with these mens consciences were confirmed For these forsothe be the ornamentes and denty storeboxes of Christian religion These in the sight of God be pleasant and acceptable that these thynges might be auaunced vnto honor it behoued that the ordinances of Christ and of the Apostles should be taken out of place And as the wicked kynge Hieroboam in time paste after he had taken awaye the true worship of God and had brought the people to the worshipping of golden calues leaste that afterwardes they shoulde peraduenture haue chaūged theyr mindes and slipping from him haue returned agayne vnto Hierusalem to the Temple of God he exhorted them with a long oration vnto constācie sayng These o Israel ar thy gods after this sorte your God hath commaunded that you should worshippe him It should be a paynefull and a troublesome thing for you to vndertake so long a Iorney and euery yeare to goe to Hierusalem to the intent to honor and to worshippe God After the same māner in all pointes these men when that for theyr owne traditiōs sake they had ones made voyde the law of God least that the people should afterwardes opē their eies and slippe an other waye and finde at others handes a more certayne course for their saluation O how often haue they cried This is y t kynde of worshippyng that pleaseth God and whiche he doth streightly require at our handes and wherewith he will be appeased in his anger By these thinges the agrement in the Church is conserued with these thinges all sinne is cleansid and consciences ar made quiet whoe that shal forsake these thinges he leaueth himself no hope of eternall saluatiō It is a paynefull and a troublesome thyng for the people to looke backe vpon Christ vpon the Apostles vpō the olde fathers euer more to be attentife what their will and commaundement is This I warrant you is the very way to bring the people of God frō the weake elementes of the world from the leauenne of scribes Pharises and from mans traditions It behoved that the ordenaunces of Christe and of his Apostles should be thruste out of place that these might be accepted in theyr stede O this was a sufficiēt cause why that good olde doctrine whiche many ages had bene approued should be abiected and a new forme of Religion should be brought into y e Church of God Neuerthelesse what so euer it is these men crie still Nothyng must be chaūged with these thinges mens mindes ar satisfied these thinges ar decreed by the churche of Rome that church can not erre for Siluester Prierias saith y t the Church of Rome is the squire rule
of truth from the whiche the holy scriptures receaue their authoritie The doctrine sayth he of the Churche of Rome is the vnfallible rule of fayth from the whiche the holy Scriptures fetcheth her strength And pardonnes sayeth he ar not come to our knowlege by the authoritie of the scriptures but thei ar knowne vnto vs by the authoritie of the Churche of Rome and of the Romane Popes the whiche is a greater authoritie Pighius also is not afrayde to saye that we ought not to beleue any texte of the scripture be it neuer so playne vnlesse we haue our warrant from the Churche of Rome Muche like as if any of these that can not speake good and pure Latine and yet can bable somwhat after the māner of Scholemens Latine very roundly and redily woulde needes maynteyne that all other mē also ought to speake such Latine now in these times as many yeres past Mammetrect or Catholicon did speake and suche as at this daye is vsed amongest themselues in their common scholes for so both that whiche is spoken maye be well inough vnderstanded and also mens mindes wel satisfied and that it were a mockery now after so longe cōtinuāce to trouble y e world with a new kinde of speach and to cal home againe the olde purenes and elegācy in speakyng whiche Cicero or Cesar vsed in their dayes Such is the duety forsoth that these men doe owe vnto the ignorance and darknes of the times paste Many thinges as a certaine man sayth ar ofte times in good estimatiō only bicause they had bene ones dedicated to the temples of Heathen Gods Euen so we see that these menne at this daye doe allowe many thinges and highly esteeme them not bicause they iudge them to be so much worthe but only bicause they haue bene receyued by coustume and dedicated after a certayne māner to the Churche of God But our Church saye they can not erre the whiche thing I suppose they speake much like as in time paste the Lacedemonians were wonte to say y t in the whole state of their common welth it was not possible to finde an aduouterer wheras in deede they were rather al aduouterers in asmuch as thei cupled thēself in vncertain mariages occupied their wifes together in cōmon Or as the Canonistes for their bealies sake ar wōte to speake nowe a dayes of the Pope That he in that he is lorde ouer all benefices although he doe sell for money Bysshoprickes Abbeys personages and suffereth nothing freely to departe from him neuerthelesse bicause he saythe that all is his thoe he would neuer so fayne he can not commit symonie But howe this argument should be good and how the wordes maye agree with reason we can not as yet surely perceiue except peraduenture like as the aūcient Romanes in time past dealt with Lady Victorie so these mē after that truth came fliyng vnto them they pulled of her winges that neuer after she should be able to flie from them But what if Ieremie say vnto them accordyng as we sayde before that these be the wordes of lies What if the same man saye agayne that euen they whiche ought to haue manured the vineyarde haue wasted and destroyed the Uineyarde of the Lorde What if Christ saye that they whiche chyeflye ought to haue bene carefull ouer the Temple of the Lordes temple haue made a denne of thieues But in case the Church of Rome can not erre then muste it needes be that the happynes thereof is greater then the wisedome of these menne For suche is their lyfe doctrine and diligence that the Churche maye full well for all them not onely erre but also perishe vtterly and come to nothyng Doubtles if that Churche maye erre whiche hath vtterly gone astraye from the worde of God from the commaundementes of Christe from the ordinances of the Apostles from the examples of the primitiue Church from the constitutions of the olde fathers and auncient Councels and from the verye decrees of theyr owne makynge and whiche will not be kepte in order with no lawes nother olde nor new nother of theyr owne nor of others nother of God nor of manne then is it moste certaine not onely that the Churche of Rome mighte erre but also that moste lewdely and shamefully it hath erred But you were ones saye they of our felowship but now you ar become Apostatas rūnegates haue separated your selfs frō vs. True it is y t we haue disseuered our selfs from thē and for that cause we bothe giue thankes to our moste mercyfull and mightie God and also on oure owne behalfes we doe moste hyghlye reioyce But we haue not departed at all from the primitiue Churche from the Apostles nor from Christe We can not denie but we were brought vp amongest them in darkenes and in the ignorance of God euen as Moyses was in the discipline and in the bosome of the Aegyptiās We were sayth Tertullian of your fellowshippe I cōfesse and no marueile for men ar made and not borne Christians But let these men tell me wherefore they ar come downe from these seuen hils wherupon afore time Rome did stande and haue chosen rather to dwel vpon the playne whiche is called the fielde of Mars They will say peraduēture bycause the conduytes of water that were in those hils without the whiche they could not wel liue ar now decayed dried vp Then lette them giue vs that same leaue touchyng the water of euerlastyng life whiche they will haue to be graunted vnto them in this case of material water Amongest thē this water fayled longe a goe the elders as Hieremy sayeth sent theyr yoūgelings to y e waters but they when thei could finde nothing brought home theyr empty vessels beyng in great miserie and vtterly loste for thirste The needy sayeth Esay and the poore sought after water but they founde none in no place theyr tongues were now euen dried for thyrst these mē had broken vp all their water courses and theyr conduytes these had choked all theyr springes and had filled with myre and durte the fountayne of the water of life And like as Caligula in time paste by closing vp of all mens barnes brought vpon the people a generall hunger and famine so these men in chokyng vp of all the foūtaynes of Gods worde haue brought the people into a miserable thyrste They brought as Amos the Prophete sayth hunger and thirst vpon men not a famine of bread not a thirste of water but of hearyng the worde of God The poore wretches wandered vp and downe sekyng after some litle sparke of that light of God wherwith they might chiere their consciences but it was cleane quenched out they coulde finde none at all Suche was the very state suche was the pytifull condition of the Church of God Moste miserably men liued therein without the gospell without lighte without all comforte Wherefore although our departyng be somewhat greuous vnto them yet ought
in pieces in maner all not onlye the ordinances but also the certaine principles concernyng doctrine of the primitiue Church and that without tariyng for any generall Councell But where as they say that it is not lawful for any man to appoint any new order without a Coūcel who I praye you hath prescribed these lawes vnto vs or where haue they founde this decree It was folishly done of Agesilaus the kynge who beyng ones acertained of the minde and pleasure of the hyghe Iupiter woulde needes present the whole matter agayne vnto Apollo for to know whether he were of the same minde that his Father was But we should doe more foolyshlye a greate deale in case that when we doe heare God him selfe speakynge moste playnely vnto vs in the holye Scriptures and vnderstande his will and pleasure if I saye afterwardes as though al this were nothing we would refarre the whole matter to a councell The whiche is nothing els but to searche whether menne be of the same minde that God is and whether menne will allow by their authoritie the commaundementes of God What I praye you shall not the truthe be truthe or shall not God be God except a councell will and commaunde it so to be If Christe would haue handeled the matter so frō the beginnyng that he woulde haue taught or sayde nothing without the consente of the Bysshoppes and woulde haue referred ouer hys whole doctrine vnto Annas and Cayphas where should the fayth of Christ be at this day or who shoulde euer haue hearde of the gospell Peter forsothe of whome the Pope is wonte to speake more often and with more reuerence then of Iesus Christe did boldely withstande the sacred councell and sayde it was better to obeye God then men And Paule what time he had ones receyued the gospell into his minde and that not of men nor by man but only by the wil of God did not counsell with flesh and bloud nor dyd not referre the matter vnto his kinsemen or brothern but went by and by into Arabia for to publishe by the authoritie of God Gods misteries We surely doe not despyse Councels or assemblies and conferences of Bysshoppes and learned menne Nother haue we done those thinges that be done altogether without Bysshoppes or without a coūcell The matter was handeled in full parlament with long deliberation and in a greate assemblie But as touchyng this councell whiche Pope Pius dothe at thys tyme counterfetly set forthe wherein men beyng nother called nor hearde nor seene ar so lightly condemned what we maye loke or hope to gette thereby it is not harde to gesse Nazianzenus longe agoe when that in his tyme he sawe menne that came to suche assemblies to bee so blinde and so obstinate that they were caryed after their owne affections and foughte rather for victorie then for truthe pronounced in playne wordes that he neuer sawe good ende of anye councell What woulde he saye nowe if he were a liue at this daye and shoulde vnderstande what these menne wente aboute For in that tyme all though they were gyuen to partes yet bothe mennes causes were hearde and manifeste errours by the common consente of all partes were taken awaye These menne agayne neyther will suffer the cause to bee freelye debated nother will endure to haue anye thyng chaunged howe many errours so euer there be For that is a thyng whiche they ar wonte often and with out all shame to boaste of that their Churche can not erre that in hit there is no blemyshe that there is nothyng to be graunted vnto vs or yf there be anye thyng that the iudgement thereof appertayneth vnto Bysshoppes and Abbots they be the directers of those matters they be the Churche of God Aristotel saythe that bastardes can not make a citie But whether the Churche of God maye be made of these fellowes or no let them consider for surely nother be they lawfull Abbots nor right Bysshoppes But let them hardely be the Churche lette them be hearde in coūcels let them only haue authoritie to giue a voyce Neuerthelesse in times paste when the Church of God if it be compared with their Churche was resonably wel gouerned as Cipryan sayth bothe Elders and Deacons some parte also of the common people were called to the hearyng of Ecclesiasticall causes But what if these Abbotes and Bysshoppes haue no knowledge What yf they vnderstande not what religion is and what opinion they oughte to haue of God What if law be loste of the preeste coūsel of the Elders What if the night as Micheas saythe be vnto them in stede of a vision and darkenes in stede of forseyng thynges to come What if all the watchemen of the Citie as Esaye sayth ar become blinde What if the salte hath loste his strēgth and his taste and as Christ sayth is good for nothyng not so muche as to be caste out vpon the dunge hill Forsothe they will committe all thynges to the Pope whoe can not erre But that to beginne withal is a folishe deuise that the holy ghost should flie away in haste from the holy Councell to Rome to the intent that if he doubte or sticke in anye thyng and not be able to winde him selfe out he mighte take counsell of some other spyrite I wote not who better learned thē him self For if the case stande so what needed it that so many Byshops should in this time at so great charges and through so long iorneys be summoned to come to Trent It were yet a much more wiser better way sure I am it were bothe shorter and more commodious for them rather to put of all thynges to the Pope and to repayre at the firste dasshe to the heauenly determination of hys sacred breaste Moreouer it is agaynste equitie to put ouer oure cause from so manye Bysshoppes and Abbottes to the iudgemente of one man speciallye of hym whoe standeth accused by vs of moste weyghtye and greuous offences and as yet hath not brought in his answer who also hath condēned vs without iudgement before wee were once called to bee iudged What trow ye that these be things of our own deuise Or is not this y e order of their Councels at this day Or be not all thinges committed ouer from y e holy Councels vnto the Pope alone in such sort that as though so many voices and subscriptiōs serued to no purpose he alone may adde chaunge diminish take away alow release and againe restraine what him lyfteth Then I pray you of what maner of men were these words spoken Or why did the Bishops and Abbots not long agoe in the last Coūcell of Trente decree after this manner at thende of their constitutions Sauing alwaies in al things the Authorite of the Apostolicall seat Or why doth Paschale the Pope write of himselfe so arrogantly As though saith he any Coūcels had prescribed a lawe vnto the Church of Rome wheras all Councels both are made by