himselfe which is the head therof therfore let vs searche the scriptures for the same and there we shal be best certified And séeing Christ biddeth vs search the scriptures which beares witnesse of him therefore let vs searche them thereby to knowe Christ and his Church for it is the chiefe lanterne that will guide and leade vs to the truth thoughe the Pope and his Prelates would faine make vs beléeue the contrarie And as it is here proued by the holy auncient learned Fathers and Doctors that the true Churche is chiefely to bée founde out and to bée tryed by the Scriptures and word of God nowe you shall heare what a good reporte diuerse haue giuen the Churche of Rome and to them that gouerned the same whereof some were of the Church of Rome who I thinke woulde not lye on their owne Churche and especiallye a Pope whiche some of you thinke can not erre Pope Adrian the fourth was woont to say we succeed not Peter in teaching but Romulus in killing our bretherne Erasmus saieth the Popes now are the vickares of Iulius Caesar of Alexander the great of Croesus and of Xerxes not of Christ nor of Peter It is written in a Sermon bearing the name of S Ambrose They that should haue bene the Apostles vickars are now become Iudas fellowes Robertus Gallus that liued wel néere thrée hundreth yéeres past imagineth Christe thus to say of the Pope who set this Idol in my roome and made him ruler of my flocke whether he that commendes the Pope thus were a Papist or not I know not but surely he was no Lutherane Zwinglian Caluinist nor Hugenot It was maruell that the Pope made him not a Saint for his sayings Ennodius saith That the Successors of Peter togither with the priuiledges of their See haue also gotten free libertie to doe euill for the Pope may not be iudged by any creature vnder Heauen If he will not yet I can tell him one thing he is like to be iudged by one that is in Heauen which is Christ whether he will or no. S. Barnard describeth the Popes Priests and Byshops that are of the Churche of Rome saying in their apparell they are Souldiors in there gaines they are Priestes and Byshops but in effect and deede they are neyther of both For neyther do they fight in the fielde as do the Souldiors nor do they preach as Priestes and Byshops Of whether order therefore be they whereas they would be of both orders they forsake both and confounde both S. Paule saith euery man shall rise againe in his owne order but in what order shall they rise whether for asmuch as they haue sinned without order shall they perish without order I feare me they shalbe ordered none other where but whereas is no order but disorder and horrour euerlasting Yf we should say thus as S. Barnard sayd they would saie we rayled The saide Barnard also saith that the Byshops in his time which were of the Church of Rome were not Doctors but deceyuers not Feeders but Defrauders not Prelates but Pilates and he sayth further that the heades of the Churche of Rome are Ministers of Antichrist Deceyuers Defrauders Raueners Traytors the darknesse of the Worlde Woolues Pylates and Diuels wherein it séemes hée doth not much prayse the gouernours of the Romish Churche this is but a sorie Church that hath such godly gouernours and guydes Marke also howe the same Sainct Barnard to whome Pope Eugenius was much beholden and beyng an Abbot condemnes all the Popes doctrine and Religion for that it agréeth not with the Scriptures Dothe not the rule saith hée agree with the Gospell or with the Apostle otherwyse that rule is no rule at all for it is crooked it is not streyght Here Sainct Barnarde that was one of that Romishe Churche yet an excellent and a Learned man dothe plainely condemne all those Lawes Religions Churches and Rules that doo not agrée with the Gospell and sayth it is no true nor good Churche and that suche Religions and Rules are crooked and no Religion nor Rule at all Nowe bycause the Popes Rules and Religion be contrarie to the Gospell therefore they are crooked and so naughtie rules And the same Sainct Barnarde in an other place discribes and setteth foorth what a godly and holy Churche the Churche of Rome is who sayth thus From the Sole of thy foote to the crowne of thy head there is not one whole place A man were better to be out of such a Churche than in it Marke also howe the Bishop of Bitonto extolled that same Churche of Rome at the Counsell of Trident saying With what monsters of filthinesse sayth hée with what villanie with what Pestilence be not they corrupted and defiled in the Churche of Rome aswell the Priest as the people beginne euen with the Sanctuarie of God if there be any shame if there be any regarde of honestie if there be any hope or way to liue well Petrarcha calleth Rome a Schoole of errour and a Temple of Heresie Brigitta whose Prophesies and sayings are of the Popes Schollers and Disciples muche reuerenced saieth in hir Reuelations Christe shall take his blessing from the Cleargie of Rome and shall gyue the same to a people that shall doe his will Then by hir sayinges and the other before recited the Pope and hys Prelates doe not Gods will and so if they doe not Gods will then they muste néedes do the Diuels will so that by these and by many other the trueth is a straunger in the Church of Rome and dwelles not there And whereas some saie that the trueth can not departe from the Churche of Rome it had néede to be there first before it departe from thence therefore the trueth can not departe from the Churche of Rome bycause it is not there But that holy Churche for all their bragges loue the trueth so well that yf they had it there they would driue it awaie from thence And now bycause the Church of Rome hath not the trueth but is a Churche of all wickednesse and errour as I haue sufficiently prooued bothe with Argumentes Scriptures Doctors yea and by the Popes themselues and other of the same Churche therefore I beséeche you come awaye from that whoorishe Church the seate of Antichrist and flie to the true Church whiche embraceth and obeyeth the Gospell and that heareth the voyce of Christe least you bée partakers of hir wickednesse whose destruction is not farre off And trust not to them neyther beléeue them that saie the truth is only in the Churche of Rome and that the truth shall neuer departe from thence Yf truth falshood may dwell togither or be both at once in one place then I will not saie but that your Churche of Rome may haue the truth but thy are such enimies that it is very seldome or neuer séene and though the Churche of Rome had the trueth as it is manifestly prooued
shal ratifie and confirme al this that I haue saide forsomuche as it is grounded altogither on reason Pope Damasus saith Whatsoeuer wanteth Reason must of necessitie be rooted out Nowe by reason I haue proued you to be Englishe enimies the Pope to be euil and hys religion to be false and cleane contrarie to reason therfore by Pope Damasus owne iudgement you must néeds decay and perish the Pope muste néedes come to confusion and his vnreasonable religion be rooted out and pluckte vp by the rootes And thus Pope Damasus which could not erre as long as he said truth hath by his sentence confirmed that I before by reason haue proued And bycause you shal perceiue that of euil wil I slander not your Popes you shall sée manifestly by their liuings déedes and dealings what godly holy humble and chaste fathers they are that you so sticke to cleaue to folow obey estéeme beléeue and honor as you do and that you maye the better credite the rest that hereafter you shall reade of them therefore at the first beginning thereof you shall heare what the Pope himselfe saith of them Pope Adrian bad Cheregatus his Legate to say and confesse openly to al the Princes of Germany at Norenbergeâ— about the yere of our Lorde .1523 at their generall assembly there That the iniquitie of the people grewe from the Priestes and that nowe for the space of many yeares there haue bin greate and greeuous offences commited in Rome that al this plague and mischiefe hath flowed to all the inferior rulers of the Church euen from the highe Throne of the Popes Holynesse By these wordes tt séemeth that Pope Adrian whyche was not long since did thinke the Popes lyued not altogither so godly as Christ so holy as the Apostles nor so vertuously as many of the ancient Fathers Nay if al the iniquitie of the people grew from the Priests and that all the plagues and mischiefs then did flowe as a fountaine from the Pope to his Prelates and Priests then it séemes none were so euil and wicked as the Popes themselues And now for that many of you hold with the Popes and take them to be very holy therefore now many of you shall hear more of their doings thaÌ„ euer you did which by credible authors is written of theÌ„ yet not so muche as I could reueale of them wherefore I hope you wil set lesse by them than you doe and estéeme them as they are and no more than you ought to doe And trust Pope Adrian which cannot lye by his office as his Doctors affyrme in that hée hathe sayde briefly of the Popes and the rather if that that I write here more largely of them agrée with hys sayings For séeing you haue beléeued many Popes y t haue told you nothing but lyes then it is good reason you should beléeue this one Pope that herein hathe tolde you nothing but trueth And thinke this by the waye that neyther the Pope nor his Cardinals doe estéeme their owne religion so muche as they persuade you to do For truely I doe verily thinke that if the Pope mighte be like an Emperoure or a King and be as much honored estéemed and gette as muche gaine and riches by thâ—s our religion as he hathe and dothe by his owne Papisticall religion he woulde then refuse his and embrace ours For I beléeue verily that they doe regarde maintaine and defende their Papistrie rather for the great riches rule pompe and estimation that it makes them to haue than for any truth or goodnesse they knowe to be in it And nowe consider and marke the greate prerogatiue and power of the Popes and their holy liues and vertuous déedes Pope Clement in his yeare of Iubilie gaue such aucthoritie by his Buls of lead as Christ nor his Apostles did euer giue These are the words that follow What person or persons soeuer for deuotions sake shall take their peregrination to the holy Citie meaning Rome the same day when he setteth forth of his house he may choose vnto him what confessor or confessors he lysteth either in the way or elsewhere vnto the whiche Confessors we graunte by oure aucthoritie full power to absolue all cases Papall as fullye as if we were in our proper person there presâ—nt Item wee graunt that whosoeuer being truely confessed shal chance by the way to die hee shal be quitte and absolued of al his sinnes Moreouer wee commaunde the Aungelles of Paradise to take hys soule oute of hys bodye beeyng absolued and to carrye it into the glorye of Paradise and so forth And also in an other Bull he sayeth thus We wil that no paine of Hell shall touch hym graunting moreouer to all and singular person and persons signed with the holye Crosse power and authoritie to deliuer or release three or foure soules whom they liste themselues out of the paines of Purgatorie c Is not this a goodly large and friendly pardon think you yea it is suche a pardon as Christ neuer graunted neyther in nor out nor beside the yeare of Iubilie Christe neuer gaue suche aucthoritie to Saint Peter hys Apostle whiche was the first Pope as they saye as thys Pope Clement dydde giue to his dead Bulles of Lead It is not mentioned in all the Scriptures that Christe the righteous and liuely Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda didde thus muche as the Popes dead Bulles haue done This is suche a way to make Rome so ful of fooles that there wil be no roume for wise men Here we may sée that if one be confessed of a Priest and take but his iorney towardes Rome thoughe he dye by the waye and neuer come there the Aungels muste néedes by the Popes commaundement carrye his soule to Paradise if they wil doe so muche at his bidding and they shall bée frée from the paines of Hell Al the Scriptures I am sure haue not shewed vs such a way to come to Paradise and to auoyde the paines of hel as this Pope Clement hathe done He was a milde and a mercifull Pope I warrant him he hadde not his name for naught Thus the Pope hath set Christ to schoole for Christ saith Blessed are the poore in spirite for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen also he saith Blessed are they whiche suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen nay sayeth Pope Clement I knowe an easier waye to Heauen and to escape the fire of Hell than that for whosoeuer goeth to Rome or else dyeth in his iourney going thyther being confessed of a Priest he shall be absolued from all his sins and the Angels shal cary his soule straight to Paradise and no paine of Hell shal touch him Indéede this is a verie easye waye to Paradise and to escape the fire of Hell if we maye beléeue the Pope especiallye when he telleth a lye I maruaile that neyther Moyses the Prophetes Christe himselfe nor his Apostles did reueale this
sayde This is the God that brought vs out of the land of Aegypt wherewith God was highly displeased and plagued them sore for it The Pope sayeth whosoeuer worshippeth an Image and saith this is Christe offendeth not And also God curseth all them that doe worshippe Images The Pope calles them Heretikes that do not worship Images Mardocheus said I feared least I shoulde turne the glorie of my God to a man but the Pope doth make a lawe that wée shoulde turne the honor and worship of God to a blocke or a stone Mardocheus said that he feared to worship any man saue God but the Popes lawe is that we must worshippe a deade Image with the same reuerence wherewith we worship the holye Trinitie The Angell of God would not suffer Saint Iohn to worship him but y e Pope will haue vs fall downe worship dead stockes stones But if it be not lawfull to worship an Angell then surely it must néedes be vnlawfull to worship blockes and stones Thus you that haue eyes may sée that as falshood is contrarie to the trueth so the Popes lawe is cleane contrarie to Gods lawe therefore as Gods lawe is most holye and godly so the Popes lawe muste néedes bée most wicked and diuelish Doe you thinke that these holy Fathers that were gathered togither in this Councell and set out this detestable decrée had the holye Ghost Wel thoughe they hadde not the spirite of God yet they were inspired with the spirite of the Diuel but we must not beléeue for all this but that the Popes haue the holy ghost and spirit of God to direct their doings in all their counsels whereby they cannot 〈◊〉 as it appeareth by the decrée of this Greeke Counsel and of the other Nicene Counsell And therfore at the beginning of all their holy Counselles they haue first of all a Masse of the holy Ghost after which beyng once sayd or sung they can not erre or go wrong And that you may the better perceyue howe readye the holy Ghost is to come among these holy harlots Prelates I shoulde saye at these their holy Counselles Marke wel this that followeth On a tyme in one of their late Counselles in Rome as they were singing and roaring oute of Veni creator Spiritus that is Come holy Ghost c. by and by at their becke and calling a poore olde Owle amazed with the noise thinking belike she was y e holy ghost they called so earnestly for leapte out of the hole where she sat and came downe in the middes of them and sat amongest them Thus you may perceiue there is a gret differēce betwéen the spirite of God and the Popes holy Ghost For God the holy Ghost descēded and appéered to Christ in the likenesse of a fayre white Doue but the Popes holye Ghost did descend and appéere to the Pope to his holy Cardinals Coūsel in the shape of a foule euil fauored Owle Wherby you may learne how holy their lawes and decrées are by their holy Ghost that came down among them to inspire and instruct them for such holy Ghost such holy lawes No doubt God had their counsels in derision and discouered their hypocrisie and their diuelishe doings that the worlde might vnderstande and perceiue in what spirite they did assemble and gather togither Marke also what holy men your Popes Doctors are and how learnedly and truely they write on their God y e Popes behalfe Hosius saith God will neuer haue thée consyder whether the Pope bée a Iudas a Peter or a Paule it is sufficient onely that he sitteth in Peters Chaire that he is an Apostle that he is Christes Embassadour that he is the Angel of the Lorde of hostes from whose mouth thou art commanded to require the Law This thing only Christ would haue thée to consider but you tell vs not in what place of the Gospell wée shall finde it be he Iudas forasmuche as he is an Apostle let it not mooue thée thoughe he bée a théefe Is not here good stuffe trow you there is very hard choice of Embassadours when Christe is constrayned to choose or haue a théefe for his Embassadour If a true man shoulde goe to a théefe to enquire the law or aske Counsell doe you not thinke that he will giue hym good Counsell or tell him the lawe rightly it is more lyke that he woulde take hys pursse from hym or cutte hys throate These holye Fathers are verye harde driuen when their Doctours aforehand are constrayned to excuse their Popes if they chaunce to bée Théeues they thinking belike that Théeues shal sitte in that chaire but it is no great matter for though they bée Théeues when they come to sitte in the Chaire yet they are true men and must néeds be most holy and Godly assoone as they be sette in it such as maruellous vertue hath the Popes chaire For if the Pope hath little or no goodnesse at all of hys owne as some of them had but very little as before it appeares yet for al that he can want neyther goodnesse nor holynesse for Saint Peter hath made the Pope heire of his goodnesse This glose vpon the Popes distinction was wel remembred for if Saint Peter had not made the Popes heires of his goodnesse and left it in hys Chayre behinde him some Popes then perhaps mighte haue wanted bothe godlynesse goodnesse and honestie And so the cheiefest holynesse that the Pope hathe is oute of hys Chayre for Cardinall Cusanus saith Veritas cathedrae adhaeret The truth cleaueth fast to the Popes Chayre c. yea for if it had not bene verye faste nayled vnto it it hadde bin quite gone ere this Christ hath fastned or nayled his truth to the Popes Chaire and not to his person for he saith the Scribes and Pharisies are placed in Moyses Chayre If this be true that the Trueth is so fastened to the Chayre I feare then that some haue stolne that true Chayre awaye and haue set a chaire of falshood in the place of it for surelye all the Popes haue had such lucke that haue of a long time sitten in that Chayre at Rome that they haue told nothyng but lyes woulde not that Chaire that was so ful of knowledge and truth make any desirous to steale it and carry it awaye for if the Pope were neuer so false by and by as soone as he got himselfe into that Chaire he could not erre For then he coulde saye nothing but trueth But as soone as the Pope was gone out of that holy chaire he left al the truth behinde him in the Chaire and carried none awaye with him If the Pope were neuer so vnlearned and could not construe hys owne name by and by as soone as he did once sit in that chayre hée was the greatest Doctor in both lawes that was in the world all knowledge was then crept into the Popes bosome or breast oh if eyther the studentes of Gods law or
mans lawe had such a chaire of Uertue as this Popes Chaire is to sitte in then they shoulde not néede to take suche paines in studying nyghte and daye as they doe Therefore this Chaire being so full of vertue as is before saide surely one or other hathe stolne it from the Pope and set another chaire in the place of it like it in fashion but not in vertue truth was there euer any religion so rediculous that woulde teache vs to thinke that the whole knowledge and trueth of the same were nayled or fastned to a Chayre and that their Pope when he sittes in that Chayre can not erre God send vs a more certaine trueth than to depende vpon the trueth of a Chayre But if you be desirous to heare what Uertue and trueth there is in the Popes Chayre and how wise learned it makes the Popes to be after they once si◠in it I will not sticke to shewe you that by an excellēt example There was a great contention betwéene them of Ratispone in Germanie and the Abbay of Saint Denise in Fraunce about the bodie of Saint Denise which was so déepe a doubt to discusse that none but the Pope was able to try y e truth therof And so to Rome they went and the Pope sat sadly in iudgemente about it and examined their allegations and matter throughly and grew to a conclusion and in the end gaue thereof his déepe and diffinitiue sentence and sayde that both they of Ratispone and they of Saint Denise had the whole bodie of Saint Denise and that whosoeuer wold say the contrarie shoulde be an Heretike If the trueth hadde not bene faste nayled to the Pops Chayre the Pope could neuer haue giuen suche a true wise and learned Iudgemente of thys weyghtie matter Nowe surelye it was a Popely resolution yea and suche a one as muste néedes make the veriest fooles in the World beléeue that Wyll Somers woulde not haue giuen so fonde and ridiculous a iudgement This famous Diuine and true iudgement of the Pope is sufficient if there were nothing else to make vs beléeue that the Pope can not lye And as the Pope is verie wise and learned by the vertue of his Chayre to resolue doubtful matters so he hath wise and learned Doctours to giue him weightie and doubtfull matters to resolue Wherof I wil shew you some for a taste to sée howe you wil like them Augustine the Italian Monke that of some hath bin taken for the Apostle of Englande demaunded of Pope Gregorie by way of great councel whether a womanne wyth Childe mighte be Baptized or not and howe long afterwarde it myghte be lawfull for hyr to come to the Church Bonifacius the Apostle of Germaine demaunded of Pope Zacharie whether Iayes Dawes Storkes Beuers Otters Hares wilde Horsses be mens meate or not what order were to be taken with man or Horsse hauing the falling sicknesse at what time of the yeare it maye be lawefull or wholesome for folkes to eate Bacon and if a man list to eate it rawe howe olde it ought to be before he eate it what maye bée done if a Prieste haue a blacke in his eye who may hallow oyle with other déepe and doubtefull questions Surelye vnlesse the Pope had bene déepely profoundly learned by the great vertue of hys chaire he coulde neuer haue resolued these mysticall questions You maye reade the newe Testamente ouer ere you shal finde anye that euer demaunded anye suche thyngs of Christ. Marke further I praye you what dolting doctrine the Pope is faine to haue to proppe vppe hys Papistry wythall and what worthye argumentes are brought out of the Scriptures for prouing that the vulgar or common people ought not to reade the Scriptures Giue not holye things to dogges sayth Christ Ergo sayth the Pope it is not laweful for the vulgar people to reade the Scriptures Is not this an excellent and a true proofe to hide or kéep the Scriptures from the people By as good an argumēt I may say thus open not your secretes to your foe therefore tel not your minde to your friend or thus Giue no drinke to them that are drunken Ergo let sober men haue no drink The lay people are much beholden to the Popes penne men for they liken them to dogges But here for their purpose they can call the Scriptures holy but when they list they will call it the blacke Gospell and a nose of waxe Therefore consider and marke well though euen nowe to serue their turne the Scripture of them is called holye in what estimation and reuerence the Popes Prelates haue the holy Scripture and word of God and howe they extoll their Romishe Churche Ludouicus a Canon of the Churche of Laterane in Rome saith thus The Church meaning the Church of Rome is the liuely breast of Christ. But the Scriptures is as it is nowe deade Inke The Byshoppe of Poyters sayde the Scripture is a dead and a dumbe thing as are all other politike lawes Albertus Pighius sayeth if thou saye these matters muste be putte ouer to the iudgement of the Scriptures thou shewest thy selfe to be voyde of common reason for the Scriptures are dumbe Iudges and can not speake Eckius calleth the Scriptures The blacke Gospell and the Inken Diuinitie Pighius agayne sayeth The Church that is the Church of Rome hathe power to giue Canonicall authoritie vnto certaine writings whiche otherwise they haue not neither of themselues nor of their Authors and thus may the Pope by his aucthority allowe anye booke of the Scriptures and so he may make Scriptures Againe he sayth as one both truely and merily sayde the Scripture is like a nose of waxe that easily suffereth it selfe to be drawen backwarde and forward and to be moulded and fashioned this way and that way and howsoeuer they list Thus they teache the people to reuerence and estéeme the holy Scripture Gods worde they cal it deade Inke a liuelesse letter a dumbe Iudge that can not speake a blacke Gospell Inken Diuinitie a nose of waxe a thing vtterlye voyde of aucthoritie of it selfe Notwithstanding that Christ the sonne of God sayeth Search the Scriptures c. and they are they that testifie of me and hys Prelates giue good credite to Gods worde which is the chiefe worker of our saluation When obiection was made that King Dauid being not a Bishop but only a Temporall Prince had written the Psalmes that is to say the very key of the scriptures Hosius made aunswere Wrote Dauid Psalmes and why shold he not write them Horace sayth we write Ballades euerye body learned and vnlearned tagge and ragge so vnreuerently he skorneth and scoffeth at the holye scriptures the most pure word of God and compares the heauenly ditties of the holy Ghost to a vile heathen wanton ballade The same Hosius as one that hathe a mouth to speake blasphemie and to saye without all shame what he liste
for an Heretike shal be excommunicated lose al his spiritual liuing But if he shal kéep cōcubines Harlots he shal be a Catholike mā of a good religiō and kéepe al his liuings stil. Thus may y e pretious Pope the holy Church of Rome turne tosse the words meaning of Christ how they list but though they allowe and do these things yet therfore we must not think they ar good or to be liked but to be abhorred detested And I beléeue y t manye wil not allow their wicked laws and writings therein But now if y e Scriptures may haue sūdry senses at sūdry times may haue one mening at one time another mening at another time if this be so y t the Pope may chāge the senses of Christs Gospel for his pleasure thē why may not Christ change the meaning of his own Gospel for hys own pleasure therfore looke by what places of y e scripturs Peter his successors wer made Popes of Rome Christ may change the senses meaning of thē clean contrary therby vnpope them again For wheras Christ said Super han◠Petrā id est super ecclesiā Romanā edificabo ecclesiā meā which is Vpon this rocke that is to say vpō the Church of Rome I wil build my Church now Christ I thinke hath altered y e meaning sense of y e saying bicause y e order of the Church of Rome is changed therfore now to be vnderstāded thus vpon this rock being y e Church of Rome y e church of y e diuel shal be builded And wheras Christ said to Peter the first Pope as they say Whatsoeuer thou binds in Earth shall be bound in heauē now y e sense of y e scripture is changed the meaning therof is now thus whatsoeur y u binds in earth it shal be bound in Hel loke whose sins yée forgiue they shal not be forgiuen whō soeuer y u blesse in earth shal be curst in Hel whō soeuer y u curse on erth shal be blessed in heauē And wheras y e Pope sayes y t the meaning of Christ was y t the Popes being Peters successors should haue the keys which he gaue to Peter to open the gates of heauen to let vs in to it now I beleue y e same words of Christ haue another mening according to y e time chāging of y e Popes maners which are now quite contrarie to S. Peters conditions y t the keys now which the Pope hath shal shut men out of heauen open the gates of Hel let the Pope his Papistical Prelats into it thus the Pope by his chāging the sense of y e scriptures to serue for times hath made a very fair market for therby he is nether Pope nor Christs Uickar so he may binde in hel if he wil but he can binde nothing in heauen also therby he hath lost the keys of y e kingdome of Heauen hath in stead therof gotten y e keys of y e dungeō of Hel. For if y e Pope hath any spiritual keys at al as he sayth he hath by y e place of Scripture then the meaning therof is surely changed according to the time as Cusanus saieth so the Popes keys are not the keys of the kingdome of heauen but of the doleful dungeon of Hel. But though Hosius this Cusanus with other such like doth extol the Church of Rome sayth the authoritie theris aboue the scriptures that the meaning of y e scriptures are vncertain changes as the iudgement of the church of Rome changes y t nothing is takē for Christs cōmandemēt vnlesse the Church of Rome doth allow it Ther is no wise man wil beléeue them vnlesse they bring better authorities therfore thē their own bare words in y e mean space let vs giue credite to S. Aug. which was as godly a man as vertuous a mā as wel lerned a mā one y t knew what authority y e church of Rome ought to haue as wel as they who saith thus Cedamus cōsētiamus c Let vs yeld saith he consent to the holy Scriptures which can neither deceiue nor be deceiued He names not here the Churche of Rome nor sayeth that it hathe aucthority aboue the Scriptures nor yet sayth that the Scripturs haue sometimes one meaning and sometimes another and that the sense doth alter or chaunge but he bids both the Church of Rome and al other Churches whatsoeuer to yéeld and cōsent to the scripture which as he saith can neither deceiue nor be deceiued Truely if your Church of Rome had had any such aucthoritie aboue the scriptures as y e Popes proctors wold make vs beléeue then Irenaeus S. Ierome S. Augustine Tertullian Chrisost. other learned writers would haue writtē something of it nay if they had done so y e Popes doctors would haue brought thē forth for the better credite of their cause But bicause they write directly against thē as is before mētioned therefore they let thē alone Now if the scriptures according to Saint Au. can neither deceiue nor be deceiued then the Church of Rome which is inferior to the scripturs ought to giue place to y e Gospel being cleane contrary to the scripturs may deceiue vs therfore may erre ly as she cā do none other as before is very manifest but though these y e Popes prelates wold make vs beléeue y t ther were no certainty in the scriptures and y t the Gospell is vncertain the meaning therof chaunges according to y e times which is a moste diuellish doctrine yet I will approue that there is neyther certainetye trueth nor godlinesse in the Popes lawes nor in the Church of Rome Platina sayth that the Popes y t follow do euermore eyther breake or wholye abrogate the decrées of the Popes that were before now séeing there is such vncertaintie in the Popes lawes decrées are not we worthye to beléeue and credite the same Looke what lawes God did sende vnto vs by Iesus Christ his sonne which is the Gospel he neuer disanulled them nor did deliuer vs anye other since nor neuer wil his doings and iudgements are so certaine true infallible and therfore Gods law his holy gospel is so right true perfect infallible that al other doctrines ought to be iudged and tryed by it Therfore if you be the children of God you wil credite no doctrine be it neuer so auncient and séeme it neuer so glorious nor so holye no further than it doeth agrée with the Scriptures and the worde of God Therefore beléeue not the Church of Rome whose Doctours doctrine are so diuellish as before is well proued and as hereafter shal be more manifested Therefore marke well a little more of this doctrine of your church of Rome which if you be
workes of the holy Popes of Rome before mentioned that teaches you to haue such confidence in your workes they are more like to bring you to Hell than to Heauen Now marke further what a pretie toye the Pope hath deuised which is his paineful purgatorie to pick our purses withal marueling that you can beléeue that there is any such place The Scriptures in diuers and sundrie places make mention both of heauen hell but not one worde at all of Purgatorie therefore I am out of doubte there is no such place for if there were eyther Moses the Prophets Christ or his Apostles would haue spoken something of it therefore beléeue not that the Pope and his Doctours doe saie true in this thing that haue lied to you in so many other thinges For it is onely inuented to feare vs withall whereby to emptie fooles purses to fill the Popes coffers But if there were such a place then it shewes that the Pope is a couetous and mercilesse Tirant that will do nothing for pittie but all for pence for the rich for money shal soone be ridde out but the poore that wante money or friends must tarrie there stil One sayth The Soules being in Purgatorie are vnder the Popes iurisdiction the Pope might if he would auoide all Purgatorie Truely in this it séemes that the Pope is not halfe so mercifull as Christ was that will suffer the poore soules to lie broyling and roasting in the fire of Purgatorie might with one worde of his mouth or a bull of leade rydde them out of their paines and prison But belike the Popes thinke it néedes not bicause they knowe there is no such place the Pope would scarce doe so much for vs if he could as Christ did that came out of Heauen to Earth and suffered death to ridde vs out of hell that will not release the soules out of Purgatorie with speaking one worde and néedes not once go out of his chaire Well though the Popes doe tell vs that there is such a painefull Purgatorie yet they are not agréed among them selues of the manner of the place nor of the paynes For Sir Thomas Moore said that there is no water in Purgatorie no not one drop which he woulde proue by the wordes of the Prophet Zacharie which are these thou hast deliuered thy prisoners out of the dongeon wherin there is no water but Doctor Fysher the Bishoppe of Rochester sayth there is good store of water and that he proueth by the Prophet Dauid We haue passed through fire and water thou hast brought vs forth into a place of refreshing Albertus and the Bishop of Rochester say that the executioners and ministers of Purgatorie are holy Angels But sir Thomas Moore saith out of doubt they be no Angels but very Diuels But may not one come after these two learned men and proue that there is neither fire nor water in the Popes Purgatorie forasmuch as the Scriptures doe not certifie vs of any such Purgatorie therfore I am sure there is no such Purgatorie and if there be no Purgatorie then I am sure there is neyther fire nor water in Purgatorie and as there is neither fire nor water there so neither Angels nor Diuels are executioners or ministers there It is a verie strange matter that these wise learned and graue men should be so blinde as to apply hell from which Christ hath deliuered vs whereof the Prophet Zacharie ment to the Popes Purgatorie wherof neither he nor any other of the Prophets dyd euer heare But God when and where it pleaseth him doth blinde the eyes of the mightie wise of this world that they may not vnderstande the veritie and againe doth open the eyes of the simple that they may sée the truth I beséech God to open your eyes to sée the truth whereby you may shun all falshhood and lyes Marke further what a maruellous mischiefe the Diuell hath brought into the Churche of Rome which is the disanulling of the marriage of Priests although many of you thinke it is a necessarie and a godly lawe but howe godly so euer it is Saint Paule calles the forbydding of marriage the doctrine of Diuelles for thus he sayeth The Spirite speaketh euidently that in the latter tymes some shall departe from the fayth and shall giue heede to Spirites of errour and diuelish doctrine of them which speake falsely through hypocrisie and haue their consciences marked with an hotte yrone forbydding to marrie and commaunding to absteine from meates which God hath created to be receiued with giuing thankes of them which beleeue and knowe the trueth Doth not Saint Paule poynt oute the Popes doyngs here as plainely as thoughe he had vttered him by name for in what Religion in the worlde but his is marriage and eating of meates forbydden And as this texte doeth touche the Popes wicked and superstitious fasting which before is disproued euen so it doth touche his forbydding of marriage which is an abhominable and detestable doctrine as hereafter shall bée proued For whereas the Popes lawe is that Bishoppes and Priestes maye not marrye Gods lawe doeth permitte and allowe them to marrye for Saint Paule sayeth that a Bishoppe must be faultlesse and the husbande of one wyfe likewyse sayeth he muste the Deacons bee honest not double tounged c. Euen so must their wyues be honest not euil speakers but sober and faithfull in all things let the Deacons bee the husbandes of one wyfe and suche as rule their Children well and their owne housholdes c. Thus Saint Paule doeth allowe that the Bishops and the other Ministers of the Churche shoulde bée marryed and haue wyues but the Popes doctrine is that neyther Bishop nor Priest whiche are Ministers of hys Churche shall bée marryed and therefore the Popes doctrine herein is the doctrine of the Diuels as S. Paule termeth it It is euident that Aaron and the Priestes of the olde lawe before Christ were marryed then why should not our Bishoppes Priestes and Ministers of the newe lawe that are after Christ bée marryed especially not forbydden but allowed by the Scriptures And that you maye perceiue that Christ allowed and lyked well of the Preachers and ministers of his Churche thoughe they were marryed hée choosed marryed men to bée his Apostles For Ignatius that was Scholler to Saint Iohn the Euangelist sayth That Peter other the Apostles of Christ were marryed men And Saint Ambrose sayth that all the Apostles had wyues onely Iohn and Paule excepted yet Origen sayth by report of other his auncestours that Saint Paul and his wyfe were called to the fayth both at one time of which wyfe as he sayeth he writeth thus in his Epistle to the Phillipians I beseeche thee faithfull yokefellowe helpe these women that haue laboured with mee in the Gospell And moreouer Clemens Alexandrinus Eusebius Ignatius that sawe Christ after his Resurrection and was in companie with the Apostles say in