Catholike visible Church but of one blinde Pope that is the Enemie of the Church Fiftly how can the Vniuersall Church conuene to iudge all Controuersies And what reason hath any to follow the Church before Christ or to heare the Church iudging in her owne Cause Sixtly the Traditions of the Romish Church concerning the Popes power the Masse and siue new Sacraments and their formes and matter were neuer knowne eyther to the ancient Church or to Saint Austine Seuenthly hee neuer knew the Moderne Church of Rome or beleeued that the Catholike Church was visible or supreme and finall Iudge Hee declareth what a pestilent thing Heresie and Schisme is as the Apostate confesseth But what is that to vs that are true Catholikes and maintaine the Vnitie of the Apostolike Church It toucheth rather the pestilencie of this Apostate and his Companions who hauing abandoned Christ adhere to Antichrist and beeing diuided from the Apostolike Church embrace the Heresies of Trent and Schooles in part condemned or else not knowne to the ancient Catholike Church or to S. Austine S. Augustine held that which in his time was taught by the Fathers and was beleeued by the vniuersall Church But this Rinegate and his adherents embrace the nouelties of Schooles and errors of the Pope and the Conuenticle of Trent albeit they were neuer beleeued by the Church nor taught by the Fathers And of these erroneous Doctrines I haue touched many particulars heretofore That holy Father Lib. de vnit Eccles declareth how the Church was knowne by Scriptures and not by those false Markes which the Pope and his Supporters thrust vpon it By Scripture also wee plainely discerne that the Apostate and his fellowes are a packe of wicked Heretikes and Schismatikes and no Communion of Saints or Catholike Christians The Donatists denyed the vniuersalitie of the Church and sayd it was perished in all places saue in Afrike and in the Communion of the Donatists S. Austine therefore disputing against them confoundeth this Rinegate and his Apostaticall fellowes who confine the Church within the Limits of the Popes Diocesse and Territories of the Roman Obedience holding it to be fallen and vanished away in all other places As for vs we neyther denie the Church to be vniuersall nor hold that Christs Catholike Church can perish or faile although this shamelesse Companion doth impose this Error vpon vs whom he maliciously calleth Caluinists and Lutherans foming out his rage against his Parents Friends and Countreymen That the true visible Church is Judge of Controuersies and cannot possibly erre is not any Doctrine of S. Augustines but an absurd Error of this Rinegate For first eyther the Church iudgeth her owne Controuersies and so sitteth Iudge in her owne Cause or the Causes of Strangers and Infidels who will not heare her Sentence Secondly S. Austine neuer appealed to the Pope but to Christ and his Apostles Thirdly neuer doth the Church meet to iudge any mans Cause nor ought Bishops to iudge otherwise then according to holy Scriptures iuxta Legemâ—eius as Moses sayth Deut. 17. Fourthly the Church of Afrike of which S. Austine speaketh contr Epist Fundam c. 5. is not now visible nor extant in the World Fiftly it followeth not because the Church moued him to beleeue the Gospel that therefore the same is supreme Iudge for any man or woman may induce a man to beleeue the Gospel yet euery one is not a supreme and infallible Iudge Sixtly the Church of Ephesus Corinth and Galatia was sometime a true visible Church and yet it is now fayled and subiect to grosse Errors and neuer was the supreme Iudge of matters of Faith Neyther is it materiall that the Truth remaineth in the Belly of the Church as S. Austine sayth in Psal 57. for the Truth remained in the Church of the Colossians Thessalonians and Philippians yet neyther were these Churches supreme Iudges nor did they alwayes abide in Truth and whatsoeuer wee thinke of them yet the Truth abideth not alwayes in the Head Belly Legges or Chayre of the Pope If any feare to be deceiued sayth S. Austine Lib. 1. con Cresc c. 33. let him consult the Church which without doubtfulnesse the holy Scripture doth demonstrate And therein we willingly follow his aduice consulting the Church of England But the Aduersaries doe contrarie consult the Synagogue of Rome composed of Popes Cardinals Inquisitors Woluish Prelates Masse-Priests Monkes Fryars Nunnes and ignorant people knowing nothing of the Faith which neyther Scriptures nor Fathers demonstrate vnlesse it be in Babylon Apocalypse 17. He sayth further that no man can be saued but in the Catholike Church and so say wee But wee denie the Synagogue of Rome despising holy Scriptures and adulterating the Doctrine of Sacraments giuen vs by Christ to be that Church They may pretend to be Catholikes as other Heretikes doe and sing Alleluia De Profundis Aue Sancta Crux and Salue Regina but out of the Catholike and Apostolike Church as they hold the new Creed of Trent and Doctrine of Schooles they cannot be saued Greased and salued they may bee but saued they cannot be And hereof he bringeth another reason De vnit Eccles c. 16. because they haue not Christ for their head and this is proued because they haue the Pope for their head nay they haue Antichrist for their head They also hold the heresies of the Simonians and Carpocratians Angelikes Collyridians Nudipedales Manichees and Pelagians The bookes of Tobia Judith Wisdome Ecclesiasticus and the Machabees S. Austine neuer made equall to the Law and Prophets Nay he denyeth them to haue beene reputed Canonicall by the Church before Christ albeit in regard they contayned Precepts of manners they were read in the Church and in a generall signification might be called Canonicall Of S. Peters primacie this prime Disciple of Antichrist hath little reason to prate For first S. Augustine giueth him no command or superioritie ouer the Apostles but onely a prime Place in order in respect of his feruor Age and Vertue Secondly hee had no power to depose Princes or to make Lawes This belonged to the Councell that neyther to any Apostle nor any Councell Thirdly the Pope neyther feedeth Christs sheepe nor loueth Christ nay he is more like to Nero then to Peter Fourthly the Bishops of Rome had no Apostolicall Prerogatiue nor had they power ouer Scriptures mens Consciences Princes or all other Bishops Lastly the Bishops of Afrike and among others S. Austine thought themselues in no degree inferiour to the Bishops of Rome S. Austine contr part Donat. where hee speaketh of the Rock against which the proud gates of Hell cannot preuaile vnderstandeth S. Peters Confession and Doctrine and not the succession of Popes as this Popelin would haue it For against Marcellinus the gates of Hell preuayled and no strength is there in the Succession of the rest Secondly neither doth hee call S. Peters feat an Episcopall feat of Peter as this false Translator hath turned it but onely an
there is no mention of Centre or Circumference neyther is God in the lowest place as a Centre but filleth all things with his presence And where S. Austine sayth Exarsi aliquando satiari in inferis in adolescentia he turneth it thus I did sometimes burne with a kind of hellish desire to be satisfied as if Hell were nothing but hellish desires And commenting vpon the second Booke and second Chapter he sayth in his Marginall Note That Virginitie is a better disposition to receiue Diuine consolation then the state of Marriage But S. Austine talketh nothing of this disposition nor do Popish Votaries that forsweare Marriage eyther attaine to perfect chastitie or receiue the Diuine consolations he speaketh of nay Abraham Isaac Iacob Moses and other marryed men receiued more consolations from God then all the packe of vnmarryed Popes Monkes and Fryars These words Lib. 2. c. 3. Et volutabur in caeno eius tanquam in Cinamomis Vnguentis praetiosis he translated thus And I weltred in the myre thereof as if I had beene regaled in a Bed of Spices and precious Odours as if there were no Spices but Cinamon and Oyntment did signifie Odours Would he not be anoynted with Hogs-dung for corrupting the Text and bastonaded with a Ruler which maketh an English word of a Spanish and thrusteth it into the Translation without warrant of the Text Lib. 2. c. 4. S. Austine thought himselfe in the bottome of the Deepe remembring he had stollen his neighbors Peares But the Apostate and his Teachers account such sleight matters veniall sinnes and say they are done away with knocking the breast and holy water Hee translateth also these words in imo Abyssi in the bottome of Hell as if God redeemed soules out of Hell and Purgatorie Seruus fugiens Dominum consequut us vmbram Lib. 2. c. 7. he translateth a slaue flying his Lord and finding nothing to lay hold vpon but a shadow Where many words are redundant and the meaning not attained for S. Austines meaning is that a slaue flying and obtaining a shadie place had but a small rest Quis audet viribus suis tribuere castitatem innocentiam suam sayth S. Austine Lib. 2. c. 7. But this Apostate translateth it pedantically thus Who dares presume to entitle himselfe to the vertue of his chastitie and innocencie quite beside the Text and this of purpose least S. Austine should seeme to condemne his cooperations and that power of Free-will which Pelagianizing Papists maintaine Veni Carthaginem circumstrepebat me vndique sartago flagitiosorum amorum sayth S. Austine Lib. 3. Confess c. 1. But the Apostate durst not note any thing vpon the place because comming to Rome he was boyled in a Frying-pan of impure flagitious Lusts and reboyled againe in Cornelius Tub and yet confesseth nothing as did that holy Father S. Austine Lib. 3. c. 3. speaketh of certaine Companions called Euer-sores or ouer-turners of Ciuilitie a cruell and diuellish name yet not so cruell as the name of a Traytor and Apostate and a hyred slaue of Antichrist He compareth them to roaring Boyes and Wittes but English turned Italian and Spanish are farre more cruell and diuellish In the Margent of the fift Chapter he noteth that there is great difficultie in vnderstanding holy Scriptures but quite contrarie to that holy Fathers meaning for he sayth they profit such as are little ones and humble albeit they be not vnderstood of the proud and ignorant such as the Pope is that presumeth he cannot erre and such as his Disciple here is that with vnwashen hands and feet falleth vpon handling holy Scriptures The Manichees as the Translator sayth in his Notes vpon the 3. Booke of Confess c. 6. professed to beleeue the three Persons of the holy Trinitie But in the Text of S. Austine there is no such matter nay contrarie hee sayth their heart was void of all truth But did they beleeue some truth yet destroying the humanitie of Christ and forbidding Marriage to their elect Priests and not receiuing the Cup in the Sacrament and holding diuers other lewd fancies they were grosse Heretikes Likewise are the Papists who albeit they hold the Apostles Creed yet hold these Manichean Heresies and those of the Simonians Carpocratians Angelikes Collyridians Staurolatrians and others They teach also the fictions of Bodies which haue no being at all as S. Austine reporteth of them Lib. 3. c. 7. S. Austine confesseth he was perswaded to yeeld to foolish Deceiuers which he lamenteth Lib. 3. cap. 7. Yet this Apostate sorroweth not that he hath abandoned the Apostolike Faith and yeelded to seducing Masse-Priests and Iesuwides teaching the Heresies aboue mentioned and diuers others onely he noteth them to be Atheists which as it seemeth dislike that the Pope should allow that in one Age which is vnlawfull in another Flagitious sinnes against nature S. Augustine Lib. 3. Conf. c. 8. detesteth He sayth also it is a generall agreement of humane socictie to obey Kings Yet Popes disturbe this generall agreement forbidding men to obey Kings excommunicate and his marked slaues clayme exemption from this obedience And many forswearing Marriage fall into these enormious and flagitious sinnes Gladly would the Apostate cap. 8. excuse his companions who in their Catechismes leaue out the second Commandement against I dols or grauen Images But first S. Austine leaueth out nothing secondly more Father diuide the Commandements into 4. in the first Table and 6. in the last then into 3. and 7. Thirdly these words 3. and 7. seeme to haue crept into the Text hauing no connexion with other words In the 3. Booke and 9. Chap. the Apostate noteth that in the Catholike Church there is no danger of indiscretion in doing Penance But first most absurdly he doteth where he reputeth the Pope Cardinals Masse-Priests Monkes and Fryars to be the Catholike Church S. Austine certes doth not talke of Popish Penance in whipping themselues and lying on the ground or on Ropes Noli esse vana anima mea obsurdescere in aure cordis sayth S. Austine Lib. 4. Confess c. 11. And hereupon the Translator noteth That sinne maketh vs deafe to the voyce of God We may therefore well esteeme by his owne confession what the cause is why he heareth not the voyce of God but rather heareth and followeth the call of Satan drawing him away from the truth his heart is deafe in hearing the Word his soule foolish in obeying the voyce of Antichrist and delighting in forraine and strange fashions He talketh also here of the Centre of Rest corrupting his Author himselfe being not only out of the Centre but also all the Circumference of Rest In the Margent he noteth as an absurditie that any should preferre the part before the whole and yet he and his fellowes doe preferre the Pope before the Cardinals and Priests and before the whole Romish Church Lib. 4. cap. 16. When we relye on our selues sayth the Translator our strength is nothing but meere
to bee followed Was not then this Rinegate impudent that tooke the Authority which S. Austine bestowed on Scriptures and by a tricke of Legierdemaine conueyed it to the Church of Rome and to euery blind Pope That one place of Scripture hath diuers sences as the Apostate blindly auoweth in his Notes on the 12. Booke of S. Austines Confessions Chap. 18. hee shall neuer bee able to proue by the testimony of that Father who confirmeth that to be the sence of Scripture which the Enditor meant who is Truth and speaketh but one thing Thus wee see for a Translator we haue here a corrupter falsifier of S. Austine Afterward lib. 12. c. 20. he sayth diuers Expositors may diuersly interprete one place but he sayth not that one place hath diuers sences as the Apostate without all sence inferreth For how can that which differeth be true And how can God in one sentence vnderstand diuers things he being alwayes one and vnchangeable The Postiller vpon the Margent of this 12. Booke c. 25. sayth Truth is a Catholike Benediction and S. Austine there confesseth that Truth belongeth not to any one man but is common to all the louers of Truth But he is an absurd fellow to suppose the Pope and his followers embracing the refuse Doctrine of Trent and the Schooles to be Catholikes or Truth to be a Benediction bestowed on Papists that wee haue found and declared to be forgers lyars slanderers and a packe of Heretikes Further if Truth belongeth not to any one man why doth euery false Pope that is but a priuat man pretend that he is the onely supreme Iudge of Truth and infallible interpreter of holy Scriptures In the Title of the 30. chapter of the 12. Booke of S. Austines Confessions the Translator sayth Charitie is to be maintained among men of contrarie opinions So hee pronounceth sentence against the Pope and his Inquisitors and all their Faction which persecute Christians and cut their throats for not holding euery one of their trifling Heresies S. Augustine would haue Truth to make friends But the Apostaticall Sect will not heare him being offended for nothing more then that we teach Truth against the Brood of Antichrist and their wicked Errors Lib. 13. Confess c. 1. the Postiller noteth that without Gods inspiration a man cannot thinke a good thought which is also S. Austines Doctrine and both contrary to the Popish Doctrine of Papists that giue free-will to a naturall man both to say well and to doe well Cap. 7. the Translator intimateth that man riseth from sinne and is iustified by the helpe of Charitie inherent in vs. And this he endeuoreth to picke out of S. Austine but sooner shall hee picke Gudgeons out of Flint stones for that holy Father doth not speake there of Charitie inherent in vs but of Charitie giuen vs and working in vs by Gods holy Spirit Lib. 13. c. 9. ridiculously he endeuoreth to proue his Popish Procession by the example of the Jewes who as he sayth did sing Psalmes as they went vp the stayres of the Temple As if euery Masse-Priest singing Letanies as they goe vp Newgate stayres or as they goe to Tiburne doe walke in Procession By the Psalmes of the Jewes this Apostate will neuer proue his Letanies or Procession for they sung Psalmes to God Masse-Priests in their Letanies pray to dead men Where S. Austine lib. 13. c. 13. speaketh of the expectation of adoption and the redemption of his body the false Postiller noteth that S. Paul saued Christians by praying for them after his glorification of which that Father giueth not the least signification nay contrarie he expected the fruits of his owne adoption and the redemption of his owne bodie of which other Christians were no members Cap. 14. he sayth the Caluinists affirme their Church to consist only of the elect But the lying Apostate sheweth not who these Caluinists are and where they write so much as he chargeth them with Caluin himselfe saith only that the Catholike Church is a Communion of Saints and properly consisteth of the Elect to whom remission of sins eternall life belong albeit many wicked men may seeme to be of the Catholike Church in regard of their profession are reputed members of particular Churches Quis nisi tu Deus noster fecisti nobis firmamentum authoritatis super nos in scriptura tua diuina saith S. Austine Lib. 13. Confes c. 1.5 that is who but thou our God hath giuen vs a foundation of authority aboue vs in thy diuine Scripture which clearely refuteth the blasphemous Postill of this Apostate who saith the Church that is the Pope hath power to make Scriptures Canonicall to vs. For if they receiue authority from God only how commeth the Pope or the Church to giue them authority and how doth the Church know them to be Canonicall but by diuine Authority Cap. 19. the Translator corrupteth S. Austines text by adding to it about the middle of the Chap. these words a word of Counsell following as it seemeth his Spanish notes and translation He intimateth also that Fryers and Monkes the scum and refuse of the world are an elected generation which S. Austine neyther meant nor could speake of Finally he saith Religious men and Priests are a middle kind of Creatures as you would say Centaures Satyrs Monsters being neither Saints therfore not belonging to the Church that is a Communion of Saints nor ordinary Christians and therefore not belonging to Christ or to the King because they clayme themselues to bee exempt By creeping things Confes lib. 13. c. 20. the Postiller vnderstandeth Masse-Priests Monkes Friers who indeed creepe and crawle like Snakes leape like Toades and swarme like Lice But yet hee is much deceiued if he thinke there were any such vermine in the world in S. Austines time Lib. 13. c. 21. the Translator seeketh for Masse-Priests Monks and Friers in S. Austine and in the 1. of Genesis declaring that they are men as it were seuered from the world But the poore Ideot is as farre wide as Genesis is from the Apocalipse where he may find Locusts newly come out of the bottomlesse pit and Masse-Priests are no where found but in the Popes Decretals and Pontificall Both most noxious Serpents and giuen to carnality and worldly pleasures Spirituales ergo siue qui praesunt siue qui obtemperant spiritualiter iudicant sayth S. Austine Lib. 13. Confess c. 23. that is spirituall men iudge whether they rule or obey but of the sublime authoritie of Gods Booke he will admit none to iudge but would haue all men to submit their vnderstanding vnto it How then doth the Pope take vpon him to be that spirituall man that iudgeth all things Can Boniface the eight c. vnam sanctam extr com de Maior Obed. iudge better then S. Austine What audacious boldnesse is it for euery Pope to challenge a power to himselfe ouer Scriptures to make them authenticall to vs Euery Preacher may expound