A Myrror for Martinists And all other Schismatiques which in these dangerous daies doe breake the godlie vnitie and disturbe the Christian peace of the Church Published by T. T. Math. 4. 24. Take heed what ye heare LONDON Printed by Iohn VVolfe 1590. The Preface THE Apostle Paul exhorting euerie Christian to take vnto him vniuersam illam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that same compleat armour of a godly man willeth him to girde himselfe with the girdle of truth This truth seemeth to haue great affinitie with mans nature because wee are made after Gods owne image who is truth it selfe that wee might expresse the same in our life in our words and in our maners But by reason of original sinne we all haue made shipwracke of the truth euerie man is become a liar Yet what man is he so vnregenerate that in open shew seemeth not to like and loue truth Doe not the greatest liers and most false accusers pretend truth Celsus and Antiphon two heretiques called their bookes Bookes of truth The false Prophets which deceiued Achab made a great brag of truth The deuill who can transforme himselfe into an Angel of light when he tempted Christ had in his mouth the infallible truth of Gods word But Prosper sayth very well Parum est si verum in ore est et falsum in corde And an other father to the same purpose saith Nihil prodest quia hymnum cantat lingua tua si sacrilegium exhalat vita tua It is a verie vile thing to haue truth in the mouth and falshood in the heart A theefe many times is not knowen by his face from a true man Experience proueth that as poisoning hearbes do grow greene as well as the wholesome And as counterfait golde looketh to the eie so faire as good coine so doth falsehoode appeare oftentimes like the truth yea to some more plausible and acceptable For art and science which should serue for the truth are by the subteltie of sathan verie often retayned against the same The wisest creature among beasts the serpent I meane was by the deuil abused to set forth lies to the seducing of the first man And do we not see that the same deuill imploieth still art learning ripe wittes and other good gifts which God hath giuen vnto men against the truth to wit such as are in the Papists Heretiques Brownists the familie of Loue Martinistes and all Schismatiques which neuer cease peruerting the truth It were to be wished that the lips of these men might be continually sealed as was the mouth of the image Angerona the Goddes of silence For better it were for them to be dumbe images of a vaine Goddesse then the clattering false spirites of sathan The hurt that may come vnto thee Christian Reader by the poison of these vipers if it do but touch thee for Sub melle latet venenum vnder the greene grasse lieth a serpent and falsehood is couloured with truth hath made me carefull for thy good to publish this small treatise Therefore such as it is take it well in worth and forget not this caueat of our sauiour Christ saying Take heede what ye heare Vlterius ne tende odijs A Myrror for Martinists WHen I call to minde the graue sentence of our sauiour Christ Wisedome is iustified of her children and doe beholde the miserable contentions with which the Church of England at this day is so vexed and turmoiled by the children of follie I cannot but on the one side condemne the late Martine libellers and their fauorites who hauing a bad cause do as leudly handle the same and on the other side mislike some repliers who notwithstanding they haue chosen the better part yet handle it not so charitably and modestly as it requireth And albeit the first scandale commeth by those foolish workers of iniquitie yet Angerona the Goddes of silence might better haue answered them then men of vncircumcised lips whose euill wordes corrupt good manners for wisedome will not in such sort be iustified of her children She is louing saith Salomon and will not absolue him that blasphemeth with his lips nay she will bring to passe that the iudgement of reproch shall not suffer him to escape These things considered I haue thought good to tender this Myrror to take from the face manifest spots wishing as hartely that the Church might be as frée from those Martine Libellers as they séeme to wish it to bee without all manner of blemishes and imperfections But although the Church of Christ for her simplicitie is called a doue for her fruitfulnes a vine for her beautie a rose for her strength mount Sion and for her holines a Priesthood yet is it not so pure and simple so long as it is vppon earth but that it fostereth foxes and wolues not so fruitfull but it hath thornes and thistles not so strong but the tyrants of the worlde doe sometime assaile and shake the same neither is it so holy but that prophane and wicked men séeme to haue place therein Our sauiour Christ sayd that the kingdome of heauen which is the Church hath in it fishes good and bad virgins wise and foolishe cockle and wheate yet these are not of the substance but as it were the dregs and excrements thereof The bodie of Christ is liuely neither hath it anie dead members and therefore Saint Iohn speaking of false Apostles sayth They went out from vs because they were not of vs for if they had ben of vs they had surely tarried with vs. Assuredly the wicked are conuersant in the Church no otherwise saith Saint Augustine then are corrupt and naughtie humours in a mans bodie for euen as those trouble corrupt the health so these vexe and disquiet the Church and are loathsome vnto Christ himselfe insomuch that he spueth them out of his mouth and will saie vnto them in that great daie Depart from me ye workers of iniquitie They then are too péeuish and wayward which at this day doe faine and imagine to themselues a Church so reformed héere in earth as they will haue nothing out of square in the same doe looke for that here which is no where to be found but in heauen And if they finde not the Church according to their conceit they incontinent forsake the same and make a scisme Which to the Church according to Cyprians opinion is more permitious than idolatrie For hee sayth that heresie and schisme succéeded in the place and selfe same degrée that idolatrie had afore time Christi aduentu prostratus inimicus vides idola derelicta c. The enimie Sathan being ouerthrowen by the comming of Christ séeing idols forsaken and his sees and temples to be left desart by reason of the great multitude of faithfull people deuised a new subtiltie vnder the verie title and name of Christianity to deceiue the vnwary he found out I saie heresies and
garboiles they nothing regarde howe they may as cause requireth prouide for the publique state but in stead thereof vnder a great shew of holines and zeale they thrust into the house of God before the whole congregation their contentious conceits péeuish affections and so by these kinde of Sermons the simple and silly people receiueth small profit being by these not instructed as they ought to be in faith confirmed nor moued to repentance but rather are troubled and made worse and disobedient Whereby it commeth to passe that they saie they cannot tell what to beléeue nor to what sound and true foundation to leane And thus these Scismatiques by their contentions to vse Saint Ambrose wordes against them Quadam nuncapatiua fidei germanitate parricidialibus gladijs homines cupiunt vulnerare With a certaine brotherly affinitie or likenes of one faith they couet to wound men as if one brother should drawe his sword against another Such false Apostles are craftie workers transforming themselues into the Apostles of Christ and are excellently described in the Apocalips vnder the names of locusts the formes wherof were similes equis paratis in praelium like horses redie to the skirmish that is to saie hot and vehement and they had vppon their heads as it were crownes not crownes in déede and like to golde but not golde their faces were as the faces of men that is they séemed good and honest men and they had hayre like vnto womens haire many faire shewes and resemblances and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots and horses but they had tayles like to Scorpions and their stings were in their tailes that is to say the end effect of all their labours was to seduce men to euerlasting damnation The state therefore of the Church in these our dayes is like a great houshold wherein not onely the sonnes daughters and seruants are at continuall discord braule among themselues whereby it commeth to passe that none of them doth his dutie nor séeketh to vpholde the state of the house but also the parents themselues which are chiefe of the house and ought to remoue those contentions and put euery man in minde of his dutie are also at contention and strife together and so hauing respect onely to their owne contentions they let the whole house go to hauock caring nothing at all whether it be gouerned well or ill yea by reason of these braules they confirme the troubled housholde in their conceiued wickednes whereby at last they altogether miserablie perish For these vnhappie contentions of the parents are the chiefe meanes to vpholde the cause of that heauie destruction of the whole housholde This is a verie fit reseblance of the Ministers of the Church of England at this daie I meane those that be faltie in this behalfe For those which are not faultie as I hope through the grace of God the most are such are not offended with this speach For the other doe grieuously offend and no small parte of the cause both of the corruptions of the present manners and also of the times doe rest in them For whereas they ought by doctrine reprouing and exhorting grauely to helpe the publique state and preuent the worst they doe not as they ought imploy their diligence herevnto but rather doe giue themselues to sow sedition then studie to follow their function and so vnfruitfully they continually wearie and offend the people that many the more is to be lamented do stubburnly persist and continue in their incredulitie and so repent not to theyr owne destruction and at the last contemne both the Church and doctrine But such as rather loue contentious inuectiues then quiet preachings and haue so vsed themselues thereunto that they can almost doe nothing els but contend obiect to vs the saying of Saint Paul who commandeth a Bishoppe to holde fast that faithfull word which tendeth vnto doctrine that he may bée able to exhort by wholesome instruction and to confute such as shall speake there-against Truly I answere it is néedfull that euerie faithfull Minister should stedfastly cleaue to wholsome doctrine and earnestly bend himselfe against that which is contrarie and agaynst such as peruert the same so as hée may bée able with firme arguments to confute their peruerse and false opinions and so ouerthrowe falshood before they can vtter it This may be done stoutly and yet modestly And this graue modestie is to be learned by the examples of the Apostles who although they had many enemies yet notwithstanding did not immodestly rage in any place of their writings and sermons against a publike estate of the whole Church which themselues had planted The Apostle Paul who would haue a Bishop to holde fast true doctrine and to resiste those that speake agaynst the same doth notablie speake of these things charging thus The seruant of the Lord must not striue but must be gentle to all men apt to teach suffering euill men patientlie instructing them with meeknes that are contrarie minded prouoking if God at anie time will giue them repentance that they may know he truth c. These precepts of the Apostle are to be obserued by the Ministers of the worde in such wise that they be not moued to immoderate heate and rayling whereby in déede they destroie more then they build But saie they the euill manners of men must be restrained by the straight discipline of the Primitiue Church and religion must be restored to that perfection from which by the corruption of times it is fallen and this say they is the marke ende of all our labours Let vs sée and consider this haue these reformers taken in hand to embrace méeknesse and humility Haue they cast from them the bitter gall of hatred and cursed speaking Haue they crucified their fleshly desires The Apostles whose steps they would séeme to followe by their example exhorted the world to humilitie lowlynes méeknesse and patience these teach theyr schollers pride crueltie scolding and cursed speaking The people saie they may not tarrie the leasure of the Magistrate in reformation of religion the present state is Antichristian Againe they were all of one minde disciples of one maister the holy Ghost they laboured to knit men together with the sure bond of peace and to fasten them with the gliewe of mutuall loue they praied to God for the health and wealth of them that wronged them being rayled on they gaue not foule language againe Alas the contrarie is true with them Quot capita tot sensus How many heads so many opinions Their shamefull doings do disproue their shamelesse sayings They speake as if they had in se nihil humanū as if they had mortified al concupiscence in their mortall bodies as loosed from the bondage of sin as if God were the onely obiect of their thoughts and the holie Ghost their counsailour Curios simulant et Bacchanalia viuunt
to forbid this But yet there must be great care had that it be a procéeding in déed and not rather a backsliding an innouation alteration from good to euill It is a profiting and a good proceeding when a thing is amplified and enlarged in it selfe and it is an alteration or innouation when one thing is transposed into another The vnderstanding knowledge and wisedome as well of euerie one as of all men as well of one man as of the whole Church must of necessitie grow greatly profit by the degrées of ages times but yet onely in one kind y â— is to saie in one religion in one sense and in one and the selfe same opinion The religion of mens soules may be resembled vnto y â— course and order of their bodies which albeit they growe to their full stature and bignesse by processe of time and yeres yet they are the verie same still that they were before There is great difference betweene the blossome of youth and the ripenes of age and yet olde men are the verie same that they were when they were yong insomuch that although the stature apparell and forme of the man be altered yet the nature abideth all one and the person is the same Small are the members of sucking babes greater when they be yong men yet all one the same The child hath as many sinewes vaines anâ— bones as the olde man and looke what the more ripe age hath the same did the séede of infancie bring forth so that olde men haue nothing new in them which afore time laie not hid in children There is no doubt then but that this is the most true rule of profiting the sure and comely order of growing when age alwaies discouereth those partes and formes in the greater which the wisdome of the creator made before in the smaller But if the forme of man be turned afterward into any other similitude and likenes then of his owne kinde or if he haue anie more or fewer members then he should the bodie then must néedes either decay or els become monstrous In like sorte Christian religion must follow these lineaments of profiting to wit in yeres it must bée made sound and perfect in time extended and inlarged in time extolled and aduanced and yet so that it abide vncorrupted and pure full and perfect in all the proper members and sences therof because it will not suffer alteration or innouation no losse of propertie nor anie varietie of definitioÌ„ As for example Our forefathers of olde time I meane in time of the Primitiue Church did sowe in this ecclesiasticall sowing the séedes of pure faith It were now vnfit that we their posteritie in sted of the true and pure grain should choose the deceitfull errors of tares but this rather is more méete and agréeing that the first the last not disagréeing with themselues wée reape the fruite from the increase of pure instruction and also of pure religion that when the first sproutes of those séedes by processe of time begin to appeare and is now prosperous and garnished yet nothing of the propertie of the naturall séede is altered And although another forme difference and distinction be added yet the same nature of kinde remaineth For God forbidde that the rosarie plant of true religion should be turned into briers and thornes Yea God forbid that in this spirituall Paradise the swéete Sinamom and fragrant Balsamus trees should yield forth fodenlie and vnlooked for deadlie poison Therefore whatsoeuer hath bene sowen in this church which is Gods husbandrie hath bin sowen by the faithfull and painfull labours of their fathers the same ought now to be trimmed and garnished by the industrie of the children and posteritie the same must flourish and waxe ripe the same must profite and be profited For it is meet that those ancient decrees of heauenlie Philosophie shoulde by processe of time be adorned beautified and polished but vnmâ—et to be changed abridged or maimed They may receiue cleerenes light and distinction and yet retaine fulnesse integrity and proprietie If this wicked libertie to chop and change to alter to innouate to set vp and pull downe according to euerie fantasticall deuice be granted I feare to thinke and quake to speak in what danger religion shall be to be defaced and quite abolished The which one done but in part we shall haue euerie yere euerie moneth nay euerie daie a new religion For the parts by little and little being reiected what will followe at the last but that the whole also shall be banished And if nouelties may displace auncient godly rules if prophane men may deface goldie Fathers which stand as pillers in the Church it wil at the last come to this that nothing in the Church shall bee leste vntouched nothing sound nothing free whereby in the end y â— which was afore time the closet of a chast pure and vncorrupt truth shall become a filthie sinke of abhominable errours and a soule cage of vncleane birdes But God for his mercie furne this awaie far from the mindes of his chosen and let this bee rather the furie and madnesse of the wicked The Church of Christ being a vigilant and wary keeper of the doctrine committed to her doth not change diminish nor alter anie thing at anie time concerning the same It cutteth not off necessarie matter it doth not adde superfluous thinges it looseth not that which belongeth to her it vsurpeth not forain and prophane things but withall endeuour she seeketh this that making much and embracing the most ancient rules and precepts faithfullie and wiselie the may further aduance that which at the first was but begun she may ratifie and establish things expressed and manifested may constantly keepe whatsoeuer was before confirmed and determined But to returne to the wordes of the Apostle O Tymothe saith he keepe that which is committed vnto thee and auoide prophane and vaine bablings Shunne saith he such as a viper as a scorpion and as a most dangerous serpent least they strike thee not onely by touching thee but also by their sight and breath Auoid them that is with such see you deale not If anie come vnto you saith the Apostle and bringeth not this doctrine What doctrine The Gospell of our Sauiour first preached by him then by Saint Peter Saint Paul and the rest of the Apostles and which hath so remained from age to age by the incorrupt tradition of truth and shall also so continue for euer vnto the worldes end What then Receiue him not to house neither bid him God speed for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his euill Auoide saith Saint Paul prophane and vaine bablings And what is that Truelie such speeches and writings as sauour nothing of holinesse or religion with the which such as are members of the true Church are not acquainted Compare then the late seditious books of Martine and his mates with this sentence of
contrarie parte Papists Atheists and other wicked and godlesse men are delighted in them for that the idolatrous superstition and abhomination of the one is not as it ought to be reproued and condemned because you haue now wholy turned the spyrituall swoorde from them against your brethren hauing giuen occasion to the Papistes to saie vnto vs Vos Christiani dissidetis inter vos c. Ye Protestants doe disagrée among your selues and haue so many sectes among you that all which notwithstanding beare the title of Christianisme yet doo ye curse and condemne one another wherefore your religion is no true religion neither hath it procéeded from God and because the hypocrisie and counterfait holynes of the other is not discouered who onely hope that will come to passe through your discention at the last that they shal possesse the whole patrimonie of the church Which if it shoulde so fall out as God forbidde it shoulde learning thereby will decaie barbarisme will take place and so in time this most flourishing Church in Christendome shall be ouerthrowen Moreouer they which are come to a little tast of the Gospell are now readie to forsake their errors and superstitions purposing to cleaue vnto the Gospell are set backe and hindered by these contentions and saie they know ther are many ercors abuses great faults in the Popish Church but yet they cannot ioyne themselues vnto vs who so sharply contend accuse and braule one with another Of these weaklings Chrisostome speaketh thus Venit gentilis et dicit velim fieri Christianus sed nescie cui adherem c. The Gentile commeth and sayth I woulde faine bee a Christian but I know not with whom to ioyne there are many dissentions and tumults among you I knowe not what opinion to choose and holde for euery one sayth I speake the truth Also of this stumbling blocke Melancton in his time complained Quos fugiamus habemus sed quos sequamur non intelligimus We know saith he whom we should auoide meaning the Papists but whome to follow we cannot determine Such is the state of the church of England at this day through the diuersitie of opinions that weaklings are greatly dismaied Yet this excuse in the day of iudgement will not make weaklings whome Paul secludeth out of Gods kingdome faultlesse at the end of theyr life except they conuert themselues vnto Christ and yéeld themselues wholy vnto him they can neuer haue a quiet conscience Other some also saie and most truely that God is the God of peace and concord and not of strife but these Preachers say they are at dissention among themselues and therfore God is not with them But this might haue bene obiected against the Churches in all ages For among the Iewes were sects as the Saduces the Pharesies the Essers and the Stoikes Among the Schoole men were Scotists Tomists and Occamists Among the seuen Deacons of the Primitiue Church was Nicholas of whom came the Nicholaitans mencioned in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn Yea this might haue bene obiected against the Primitiue and most perfect and holy Church of Christ militant wherin have bin so many heresies schismes and sects as Irenaeus Tertullian Epiphanius and Augustine do testifie that in regard of them the verie name of Christ began to be odious among the people and as Socrates reporteth the christians were mocked and iested at on publike stages and in theyr common plaies and enterludes Neuerthelesse by these obiections it may appeare howe greate heapes of euill suspitions these discords and contentions doe bring whereby we are put in minde the more earnestly and diligently to studie for peace and concord so shall we shew our selues to bee of that blessed number of whom Christ pronounceth this benediction Blessed are the peace makers for they shall bee called the children of God ANd as concerning you men and brethren beloued in Christ which are to heare and learne of vs the pure and whoelsome doctrine of the Gospell of Iesus Christ take héede how and what ye heare Proue the spirites whether they be of God or no because there be many seducers in the world and hold these for vndoubted approued rules first that none can laie anie other foundation beside that which is alreadie laide that is Christ Iesus secondlie that the true Church is alwaies knowen by these thrée things by the preaching of the Gospell the administration of the Sacraments and the exercises of holie life as appeareth by the words of the Apostle Christ loued the Church gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it being cleansed by the washing of water through the word that he might make vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinkle c. The first two markes are expressed in these wordes By the washing of water through the word and the last marke is this That hee might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church without spot c. Thirdlie that the same Church is from time to time troubled with false Apostles whom Paul thus painteth out in their coulors to the end ye may know them Haue saith he a diligent eie vnto such as cause diuisions and offences contrarie to the doctrine which ye haue learned and auoid ye them For they that are such serue not the Lord Iesus Christ but their owne bellies and with faire speach and flattering deceiue the hearts of the simple they créepe into houses and leade captiue simple women which women are euer learning and are neuer able to come to the knowledge of the truth they are vaine talkers and disobedient subuerting whole houses teaching thinges which they ought not for filthie lucers sake they are men of a corrupt minde and reprobate concerning the faith puft vp knowing nothing but wering themselues about questions and strife of wordes whereof commeth enuie strife railings and euill surmisings and vaine disputations men destitute of the truth which thinke that gaine is godlines they are also idle go from house to house yea they are not onely idle but also partakers and busie bodies speaking thinges which are not comely they would be Doctors of the lawe and yet vnderstande not what they speake neither whereof they affirme but hauing put awaie a good conscience from them haue made shipwrack of faith whose prophane and vaine bablings shall increase vnto more vngodlines and their word shall fret as a canker they haue onely a shewe of godlines but haue denied the power thereof but they shal preuaile no longer for their madnesse shall be euident vnto all men These markes being so euident you cannot be seuered from the true Church except ye wil most wilfully run to schisme a monster most perillous The famous Bishoppe Dionysius as witnesseth Eusebius saith y ◠to suffer martyrdome for the auoiding of schisme is more commendable then for the auoiding of idolatrie because in the one is the safetie of our
bodie of the flesh and of the bones of Christ that we be most néerely conioyned vnto him and the giftes which we haue bee deriued vnto vs by God through the flesh of Christ giuen for our sake vppon the crosse and so by the flesh of Christ we be coupled and vnited to God And in the Gospel of Saint Iohn Christ praieth thus for his Church Cause you that they may be one euen as I am in thée and thou art in me The vnitie of the Church therfore by the places alleadged consisteth in the spirit in the word of God in the Sacraments in a most néere bond with Christ who is the head of all the members of the Church This vnitie we must by no meanes breake but first séeke all the waies that possible we can to make the same safe and sound Bernard an ancient Father of the Church saith that neyther praier sacrifice nor anie thing else pleaseth God better then our concord and vnitie and that nothing grieueth the deuill more then that we should liue in vnitie For if we fast saith he the deuill seareth it not because he neuer eateth if we watch he careth not because he neuer sleepeth if we praie he regardeth it not because he neuer praieth but that we should be in vnitie it displeaseth him because we being men and on the earth should doe that which hée could not doe being an Angell in heauen Wee knowe it now by experience that Fratrum odia acerbissima and that inimici hominis domestici eius that the hatred of brethren is most grieuous and that a mans enemies shall be they of his owne housholde The Church of God neuer receiued more detriment by the tyrannie of papists then she hath and doth dailie by the cruell hatreds of false and dissembling brethren If therefore ye intend to be citizens of that heauenly Ierusalē Subtraite vos ab omni frate ambulante inordinatè Withdrawe your selues from euerie brother that walketh inordinatly and vnderstand that the earthly Ierusalem is builded as a citie that is at vnitie in it selfe Of the Primitiue Church it is said that they continued with one accord in praier and the multitude of them that beléeued were of one heart and of one soule If ye wil abide in this vnity then must ye be alwaies constant in the truth and not depend vpon men For through inconstancy the peace of the church which is the bond of vnitie is many times broken when as our affections and likings of men is such that therafter as ye loue thē so ye like their doctrine For ye regard the messenger and not his message ye looke vpon the earthen vessell and not vpon the heauenly treasure therein contained And hereof it commeth to passe that ye doe contemne and despise not onely wholsome doctrine but also the minister and preacher thereof and then commeth such a nicenes and choice liking of some that at the last followeth also an vtter loathing of others whom before ye greatly liked Thus hath the common multitude alwayes behaued thēselues towards the ministers of the Gospell Yea thus was our sauiour Christ himselfe handled among the Iewes who one while would néeds make him a king and anon after was ready to kill him one while they called him Rabbi and another while a Samaritan saying that he had the deuill they which once loued his doctrine sayd afterward this is a hard saying And as Christ himselfe so also were Apostles rewarded at their auditors hands and no meruaile for the disciple is not aboue his master It is inough for the disciple if he be as his master is Therefore Iohn the Baptist had such estimation for a while when he first began to preach the Gospell that he was taken of most men for the Messiah yet stood he not long before he lost his head When Paul Barnabas had wrought that notable myracle vpon y e lame man the people were blindly carried with such inconsiderate zeale that in all hast they would haue done sacrifice vnto them as vnto God but in a moment this hot zeale was so cold towards Saint Paul that they stoned him almost for dead The same Apostle was of the Galathians also reputed for an Angell of God insomuch that if it had bin possible they would haue pluckt out their owne eies for him to do him good but afterward they tooke him for no better then their enemie And why Forsooth because hee preached vnto them the truth Consider and sée if the verie like inconstancie and far worse if worse may be hath not bin among you In the beginning of her Maiesties most happie raigne you had those learned and graue fathers in great estimation which during the time of Quéene Mary suffered exile for the testimony of the gospel some in Geneua some in Frankford and some other in other partes of Germanie and at their first returne to the Church of Englande beeing placed by her Maiestie in the roomes of greatest charge in the Church as tried and approued men that had borne the whole heate and burthen of the daie ye estéemed of them worthily ye were very glad to sée and heare them ye embraced theyr most wholsome doctrine and so ye begun to runne wel in a good course but ye persisted not ye were soone wearie of your olde men and yee must needes haue new and I feare me that this propheticall saying of the Apostle is verified vpon many of you The time will come when they wil not suffer wholsome doctrine but hauing their eares itching shall after theyr own lusts get them a heape of teachers and shall turne theyr eares from the truth and shall be giuen vnto fables Be not carried about with euery winde and goe not into euery way for so sayth the wise man doth the sinner that hath a double tongue Such double walking and such dissembling talking will at the last and that ere it be long cause greater diuision and contention among you to the wofull ruine of vs all if it be not amended betimes And if we goe forwarde in discorde and bitter contentions as we haue hetherto done it is greatly to be feared least GOD haue appointed and ordayned that same agaynst vs which in time past he did in the raignes of Dioclesian and Maximian the Emperors when as there were like strifes and contentions in the Church as notably appeareth in the Ecclesiasticall historie written by Eusebius the effect of which history is diligently to be marked for this cause to wit for that in those daies the Church of Christ flourished But the people were vnthankful vnto God and impenitent and the ministers of the Church were ambitious and stirred vp grieuous and hot contentions among themselues Wherefore God being angry with them gaue them into the hands of tyrants who raised vp greater persecutions agaynst the Church then euer was heard of before For thus writeth Eusebius