least he partakes in the sinnes and punishments thereof Indeede to goe vpon ambassage to any place or to trauell for this ende that we may performe the necessarie duties for our speciall or generall callings is not vnlawfull but to trauell out of the precincts of the church onely for pleasures sake and to see strange fashions hath no warrant And hence it is that many men which goe forth in good order well minded come home with crased consciences The best traueler of all is he that liuing at home or abroad can goe out of himselfe and depart from his own sinnes corruptions by true repentance FINIS An advertisment to all fauourers of the Roman religion shewing that the said religion is against the Catholike principles and grounds of the Catechisme GReat is the number of them that embrace the religion of the present church of Rome being deceiued by the glorious titles of Vniuersalitie Antiquity Successiō And no doubt though sōe be wilfully blinded yet many deuoted this way neuer saw any other truth Nowe of them and the rest I desire this fauour that they will but way and ponder with themselues this one thing which I will nowe offer to their considerations and that is That the Romane religion nowe stablished by the councell of Trent is in the principall points thereof against the very grounds of the Catechisme that haue beene agreed vpon euer since the daies of the Apostles by all Churches These groundes are fowre the first is the Apostles Creede the second is the decalogue or ten cōmandements the third is the forme of praier called the Lords praier the fourth is the Institutiō of the two Sacramēts baptisme and the Lords supper 1. Cor. 11. 23. That I may in some order manifest this which I say I will beginne with the Symbole or Creed And first of all it must be considered that some of the principall doctrines beleeued in the Church of Rome are that the Pope or Bishop of Rome is the vicar of Christ the head of the Catholike church that there is a fire of purgatorie after this life that images of God and Saints are to be placed in Churches and worshipped that praier is to be made to Saints departed and their intercession to be required that there is a propitiatory sacrifice daily offered in the masse for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead These points are of that moment that without them the Roman religion cannot stand in the councel of Trent the curse Anathema is pronounced vpō all such as deny these or any of them And yet marke the Apostles creede which hath bin thought to containe all necessarie points in religion to be beleeued and hath therefore beene called the Kay and rule of faith this creed I say hath not any of these points nor the Expositions made thereof by the ancient fathers nor any other creed or confession of faith made by any councell or Church for the space of many hundred yeares This a plaine proofe to any indifferent man that these be new articles of faith neuer known in the Apostolike Church and that the fathers and Councells could not finde any such articles of faith in the bookes of the olde and new Testement Answere is made that all these points of doctrine are beleeued vnder the articles I beleeue the Catholike Church the meaning whereof they will haue to be this I beleeue all things which the catholike Church holdeth and teacheth to be beleeued If this be as they say we must needes beleeue in the Church that is put our confidence in the Church for the manifestation and the certentie of all doctrines necessarie to saluation and thus the eternall truth of God the Creator shall depend on the determination of the creature and the written word of God in this respect is made vnsufficient as though it had not plainely reuealed all points of doctrine pertaining to saluation And the ancient Churches haue bin farre ouerseene that did not propounde the former points to be beleeued as articles of faith but left them to these latter times 2. In this Creede to beleeue in God and to beleeue the church are distinguished To be leeue in is pertaining to the Creatour to beleeue to the creature as Ruffinus hath noted when he saith that by this proposition in the Creatour is distinguished from the creature and things pertaining to God from things pertaining to men And Augustine saith It must be knowne that we must beleeue the Church NOT BELEEVE IN THE CHVRCH because the church is not God but the house of God Hence it followes that we must not beleeue in the Saints nor put our confidence in our workes as the learned Papists teach Therefore Eusebius saith We ought of right to beleeue Peter and Paul but to beleeue in Peter Paul that is to giue to the seruants the houour of the Lord we ought not And Cyprian saith He doth not beleeue in God which doth not place in him alone the trust of his whole felicitie 3. The article conceiued by the holy ghost is ouerturned by the transubstantiation of bread and wine in the masse into the body and blood of Christ. For here we are taught to confesse the true and perpetuall incarnation of Christ beginning in his conception and neuer ending afterward and we acknowledge the truth of his manhoode and that his bodie hath the essentiall properties of a true bodie standing of flesh and bone hauing quantitie figure dimensions namely length breadth thicknes hauing part out of part as head out of feet and feet out of head beeing also circumscribed visible touchable in a word it hath all things in it which by order of creation belong to a bodie It will be said that the body of Christ may remaine a true bodie and yet be altered in respect of some qualities as namely circumscription But I say againe that locall circumscription can no way be seuered from a bodie it remaining a bodie For to be circumscribed in place is an essentiall propertie of euery quantitie and quantitie is the common essence of euerie bodie And therefore a bodie in respect of his quantitie must needes be circumscribed in one place This was the iudgement of Leo when he saide The bodie of Christ is by no meanes out of the truth of our bodie And Augustine when he saide ONELY God in Christ so comes that he doth not depart so returnes that he doth not leaue vs but man according to bodie is in place and goes out of the same place and when he shall come vnto an other place HE IS NOT IN THAT PLACE VVHENCE HE COMES To helpe the matter they vse to distinguish thus Christs bodie in respect of the whole essence thereof may be in many places but not in respect of the whole quantitie whereby it is onely in one place But as I haue saide they speake contraries for quantitie by all learning is the essence of a
foundation to the very bottom And that it may the better appeare that we auouch the truth first I will confirme our doctrine by scripture and secondly confute the reasōs which they bring for themselues III. Our reasons Reason I. Heb. 9. v. 15. and 26 and cap. 10. v. 10. The holy ghost saith Christ offered himselfe but once Therefore not often and thus there can be no reall or bodily offering of his bodie and blood in the sacrament of his supper the text is plaine The Papists answer thus The sacrifice of Christ say they is one for substāce yet in regard of the manner of offering it is either bloodie or vnbloodie and the holy ghost speakes onely of the bloodie sacrifice of Christ which was indeede offered but once Ans. But the author of this epistle takes it for graunted that the sacrifice of Christ is onely one and that bloodie sacrifice For he saith Heb. 9. v. 25. Christ did not offer himselfe often as the high priests did v. 26. For thē he must haue oftē suffered since the foundatiō of the world but now in the end he hath appeared once to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe and v. 22. VVITHOVT SHEDDING OF BLOOD is NO remission of sinne By these wordes it is plaine that the scripture neuer knewe the two fold maner of sacrificing of Christ. And euery distinction in Diuinitie not founded in the written worde is but a forgerie of mans braine And if this distinction be good how shall the reason of the Apostle stand He did not offer himselfe but once because he suffered but once Reason II. The Romish Church holdes that the sacrifice in the Lordes Supper is all one for substance with the sacrifice which he offered on the crosse if that be so then the sacrifice in the Eucharist must either be a cōtinuance of that sacrifice which was begun on the crosse or els an iteration or repetition of it Now let them choose of these twaine which they wil if they say it is a continuance of the sacrifice on the crosse Christ being but the beginner and the Priest the finisher thereof they make it imperfect for to continue a thing till it be accomplished is to bring perfection vnto it but Christs sacrifice on the crosse was then fully perfected as by his owne testimony appeares when he said consummatum est it is finished Againe if they say it is a repetition of Christs sacrifice thus also they make it imperfect for that is the reason which the holy ghost vseth to prooue that the sacrifices of the old testamēt were imperfect because they were repeated Reason III. A reall and outward sacrifice in a sacrament is against the nature of a sacrament and especially the supper of the Lord for one end thereof is to keepe in memory the sacrifice of Christ. Nowe euery remembrance must be of a thing absent past and done and if Christ be daily and really sacrificed the sacrament is no fit memoriall of his sacrifice Againe the principall ende for which the sacrament was ordained is that God might giue we receiue Christ with his benefits and therfore to giue and take to eate drink are here the principal actiōs Now in a reall sacrifice God doth not giue Christ the priest receiue him of God but contrariwise he giues offers Christ vnto God and God receiues some thing of vs. To helpe the matter they say that this sacrifice serues not properly to make any satisfaction to God but rather to apply vnto vs the satisfaction of Christ beeing already made But this answere still maketh against the nature of a sacrament in which God giues Christ vnto vs whereas in a sacrifice God receiues from man and man giues something to god a sacrifice therefore is no fit meanes to apply any thing vnto vs that is giuen of God Reason IV. Heb. 7. 24. 25. The Holy Ghost makes a difference betweene Christ the high priest of the newe testament and all Leuiticall priests in this that they were many one succeeding another but he is onely one hauing an eternall priesthood which cannot passe from him to any other Nowe if this difference be good then Christ alone in his owne very person must be the priest of the new testament and no other with or vnder him otherwise in the new testament their should be more priests in number then in the old If they say that the whole action remaines in the person of Christ and that the priest is but an instrument vnder him as they say I say againe it is false because the whole oblatiō is acted or done by the priest himselfe and he which doth all is more then a bare instrument Reason V. If the priest doe offer to God Christs reall bodie and blood for the pardon of our sinnes then man is become a mediatour betweene God and Christ. Now the Church of Rome saith that the priest in his masse is a priest properly and his sacrifice a reall sacrifice differing onely in the manner of offering from the sacrifice of Christ vpon the crosse and in the very Canon of the masse they insinuate thus much when they request God to accept their giftes and offerings namely Christ himselfe offered as he did the sacrifices of Abel and Noe. Now it is absurd to thinke that any creature should be a mediatour betweene Christ and God Therefore Christ cannot possibly be offered by any creature vnto God Reason VI. The iudgement of the auncient Church A certaine Counsell held at Toledo in Spaine reprooueth the Ministers that they offered sacrifice often the same day without the holy communion The wordes of the Canon are these Relation is made vnto vs that certaine priests doe not so many times receiue the grace of the holy communion as they offer sacrifices in one daie but in one day if they offer many sacrifices to God in ALL THE OBLATIONS THEY SVSPEND THEMSELVES FROM THE COMMVNION Here marke that the sacrifices in auncient Masses were nothing else but formes of diuine seruice because none did communicate no not the priest himselfe And in an other Counsell the name of the Masse is put onely for a forme of prayer It hath pleased vs that praiers supplications Masses which shall be alowed in the Councel be vsed And in this sense it is taken when speach is vsed of the making or compounding of Masses for the sacrifice propitiatorie of the bodie blood of Christ admits no composition Abbat Paschasius saith because we sinn daily Christ is sacrificed for vs MYSTICALLY and his Passion is giuen in mysterie These his words are against the reall sacrifice but yet he expounds himselfe more plainly cap. 10. The blood is drunke IN MYSTERIE SPIRITVALLY and it is all SPIRITVAL which we eate and c. 12. The priest distributes to euery one not as much as the outward sight giueth but as much as FAITH RECEIVETH c. 13. The FVL similitude is outwardly and the immaculate flesh
coniurations by holy water by the ringing of bels by lighting tapers by reliques and such like For these things haue not their supposed force either by creation or by any institution of God in his holy worde and therefore if any thing be done by them it is from the secret operation of the deuill himselfe The fift sinne is that in their doctrine they maintaine periurie because they teach with one consent that a Papist examined may answer doubtfully against the direct intention of the examiner framing an other meaning vnto himself in the ambiguitie of his words As for example when a man is asked whether he saide or heard Masse in such a place though he did they affirme he may say No and sweare vnto it because he was not there to reueale it to the examiner whereas in the very lawe of nature he that takes an oath should sweare according to the intention of him that hath power to minister an oath that in truth iustice iudgement Let them cleare their doctrine from all defence of periurie if they can The sixt sinne is that they reuerse many of Gods commaÌ„dements making that no sinne which Gods word makes a sinne Thus they teach that if any man steale some litle thing that is thought not to cause any notable hurt it is no mortall sinne that the officious lie and the lie made in sport are veniall sinnes that to pray for our enemies in particular is no precept but a counsell and that none is bound to salute his enemie in the way of friendship flat against the rule of Christ Matth. 5. 47. where the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth all manner of dutie and curtesie that rash iudgement though consent come thereto is regularly but a veniall sinne that it is lawfull other whiles to faine holines that the painting of the face is ordinarily but a veniall sinne that it is not lavvfull to forbid begging whereas the Lord forbad there should be any begger in Israel Againe they teach that men in their choller when they are chiding and sweare vvounds and blood are not indeede blasphemers Lastly their writers vse manifest lying to iustifie their doctrine They plead falsly that all antiquitie is on their side whereas it is as much against them as for them and as much for vs as them Againe their manner hath bin and is still to prooue their opinions by forged and counterfait writings of men some whereof I will name 1 Saint Iames Liturgie 2 The Canons of the Apostles 3 The bookes of Dionysius Ariopagita and namely De Hier archia Ecclesiastica 4 The Decret all Epistles of the Popes 5 Pope Clements workes 6 Some of the Epistles of Ignatius 7 Origens booke of repentance His homelies in diversos sanctos Commentaries on Iob and booke of Lamentation 8 Chrysostomes Liturgie 9 Basils liturgie and his Ascetica 10 Augustines booke de 8. quest Dulâ—itij A booke of true and false repentance Ser de festo commemorationis animarum booke de dogm Ecclesiast Sermon ad fratres in Heremo Sermon of Peters chaire Booke of visiting the sicke c. 11 Iustin Martyrs Questions and Answ. 12 Athanasius epistle to Pope Foelix 13 Bernards sermons of the Lords Supper 14 Hieromes epistle ad Demetriadem sauouring of Pelagius 15 Tertullian de Monogamia 16 Cyprian de Chrismate de ablutione peâ—um 17 In the Councel of Sardica the 3 4 and 5 canons are forged 18 In the Councel of Nice all saue 20. are forged 19 Certaine Romane Councels vnder Sylvester are forged For he vvas at this time dead and therefore could not confirme them Sozom. lib. 2. 20 To the sixt canon of the Councel of Nice are patched these words That the Romane Church hath alwaies had the supremacie 21 Lastly I will not omit that Pope Sozimus Bonifacius ana Coelestinus falsified the canons of the councell of Nice to prooue appeales from all places to Rome so as the Bishops of Africke were forced to send for the true copies of the saide Councell from Constantinople and the Churches of Greece I might here rehearse many other sinnes which with the former call for vengeance vpon the Romane Church but it shall suffice to haue named a few of the principall Now in this reason our Sauiour Christ prescribes another maine dutie to his owne people and that is to be carefull to eschewe all the sinnes of the Church of Rome that they may withall escape her deserued plagues and punishments And from this prescribed dutie I obserue two things The first is that euery good seruant of God must carefully auoide contracts of marriage with professed Papists that is with such as hold the Pope for their head and beleeue the doctrine of the Councel of Trent For in such matches men hardly keepe faith and good conscience and hardly auoide coÌ„munication with the sinnes of the Romane Church A further ground of this doctrine I thus propound In Gods worde there is mentioned a double league betweene man and man countrie and countrie The first is the league of concord when one kingdome bindes it selfe to liue in peace with an other for the maintenance of traficke without disturbance and this kinde of league may stand betweene Gods church and the enemies thereof The second is the league of amity which is when men people or countries binde themselues to defend each other in all causes and to make the warres of the one the warres of the other and this league may not be made with those that be enemies of God Iehosaphat otherwise a good king made this kinde of league with Ahab and is therfore reprooued by the prophet saying wouldest thou helpe the wicked and loue them that hate the Lord 2. Chron. 19. 2. Now the mariages of protestants with Papists are priuate leagues of amitie betweene person and person and therefore not to be allowed Againe Malac. cap. 2. vers 11. the Lord saith Iudah hath defiled the holines of the Lord which he loued and hath married the daughters of a straunge god where is flatly condemned marriages made with the people of a false god nowe the Papists by the consequents of their doctrine and religion turne the true Iehova into an idol of their owne braine as I haue shewed and the true Christ reuealed in the written word into a fained Christ made of breade Yet if such a marriage be once made and finished it may not be dissolued For such parties sinne not simply in that they marrie but because they marrie not in the Lord beeing of diuers religions The fault is not in the substance of marriage but in the manner of making it and for this cause the Apostle commaunds the beleeuing partie not to forsake or refuse the vnbeleeuing partie beeing a very infidel which no papist is if he or she will abide 1. Cor. 7. 13. The second thing is that euery seruant of God must take heede how he trauells into such countries where popish religion is stablished