not be cruell to the Christians Propter discordiam Ecclesiasticorum dogmatum for the variance of Ecclesiastical opinions For amongst the Pagans there vvere more then three hundred sects To come now to succession doth not Bellarmine your Pythagoras teach that it prooueth not alwaies a church Secondly Atheists Heretikes Sorcerers and a woman haue beene Pope and that interrupteth your succession Thirdly your plurality of Popes during your two and twenty schismes disanulleth the same Lastly many Popes haue not beene Canonically elected To proceed to antiquitie see your selues stripped of it in this my treatise and yet you are not greatly vvise men to alleadge bare antiquitie for as Lactantius saieth in his 2. booke and 7. chap. Tanta est apud insipientes authoritas vetustatis vt in cam inquirere scelus esse ducatur Amongst fooles antiquitie hath that authoritie that it is counted a hainous thing to inquire into it Lastly concerning your miracles I say with Augustine in his book de vnitate Ecclesiae cap. 16. Let them not say it is true because Donatus or Pontius or any other man hath done these these miracles Againe whether they hold the church or no let them shew no otherwise but by the Canonical bookes of holy Scriptures I will not spend any time in painting out of the odious and infamous lifes of Papists but come to a conclusion namely that seing those thinges that they were wont to bragge of are taken from them let them embrace the truth let not the world seduce them against their owne consciences For what are vngodly rich men but as Plutarch saith asini ligna ferentes asses bearing burdens The Lord open your eyes to see the truth To the Christian reader ALthough I had many motiues to set forth this my treatise in latin yet regarding the good of those that are ignorant in that tongue I haue written it in English with as much shortnes and breuitie as I could possibly I confesse I might haue made a great volume of it if I had insisted vpon the amplification of euery reason but for diuerse respects I haue comprehended it in this small manuall And as I haue disswaded men from popery by these twelve seuerall reasons so did I once thinke to haue adioyned more but for causes known to my selfe I haue yet concealed them Their senselesse paradoxes and witlesse arguments with which their bookes are fraught haue caused me so to abhorre their religion that I may protest in simplicitie of a good conscience I could neuer read any argument to perswade me to papistrie yet haue I read their writers without any praeiudicate opinion at all being neuer forestalled with this religion in which through Gods grace nowe I stand And Bellarmines corrupting of fathers his foolish distinctions his cōtradictions with himselfe with other Papists his sencelesse sophismes his wresting of holy writte haue in them as I thinke this force to perswade his readers from his religion Now it remaineth Christian reader to desire this of thee to weigh these my motiues with an indifferent mind and if thou receiuest any good by them to be thankefull to God and to commend me in thy praiers vnto him Catalogus authorum ALcoranus franciscanorum Alexander de Ales. Alphonsus de castro Ambrosius Aquinas Arias montanus Arnobius Augustinus Bellarminus Bernardus Buckingerus Catalogus testiū veritatis Censura Coloniensis Catechismus Coloniensis Clemens Alexandrinus Chrysosthomus Cusanus Cyprianus Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus Duraeus Durandus Epiphanius Erasmus Euripides Eusebius Fasciculus temporum Freculphius Gratianus Gregorius Episcopus Romanus Gregorius Nazianzenus Gregorius Martinus Hentenius Herbranaus Hierom. Hugo Cardinalis Index Expurgatorius Irenaeus Iuellus Iustinus Lactantius Lombardus Lyra. Macrobius Maierius Mathaeus Paris Melchior Canus Origines Picus Miranaula Plautus Polidorus Virgilius Psalterium Romanū Rhemenses Roffensis Ruffinus Scotus Sleidan Socrates Tertullianus Tullius Turrianus Wolfgangus Hermānus Zozomenus THE FIRST REAson of Antichrist IN times past Christiā Reader the question was whether Christ appointed the Pope to be heade of this church but now blessed be God it is not without cause demanded whether he be Antichrist or no. From which as the title of servus servorum that is the seruant of seruants will not excuse him beeing indeed the title of cursed Cham and so fit in Gods iust prouidence for the man of sinne so these circumstances following beeing laide together will firmely conclude the same The 1. Circumstance Antichristianisme is a mysterie 2. Thess cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The mysterie of iniquity doth now worke out of which place of holy writte I argue that neither the open blasphemous haeretiks nor the Turke can be that Antichrist because they are not dissembled but plaine and open enimies to Christ Yet as Hierom saith on the 24. chapter of Mathew Omnis Haeresiarchia est Antichristus Euery Arch-haeritike is Antichrist but not Antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that singular Antichrist Maruell not then though all men perceiue vnderstand him namely the Pope not to be that Antichrist seeing it is a mysterie for as fewe knowe the Gospell because it is a mysterie so likewise little is the flocke to which this Antichrist is revealed pray therefore with Dauid to open thine eyes that thou maist behold the secrets of God for as Augustine saith Epistola 11 2. Qui didicerunt à Domino Iesu esse humiles mites in corde plus proficiunt or ando quà m audiendo legendo that is They that have learned of Christ meekenesse of minde and humility of heart profit more by prayer then by hearing and reading The second Circumstance Antichrist is not called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an aduersary to God although he doth band himselfe against him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is an aduersary to Christ in aemulatiō of like honour For he arrogateth to himselfe those things that are propper to Christ as namely remissiō of sinnes which I prooue out of Bernard who saith 11. sermon ad Milites Vnde scimus quòd Christus potest dimit tere peccata quia deus est vnde scis quod deus est miracula probant That is Howe do we knowe that Christ can remit sinnes because he is God How dost thou knowe he is God his miracles prooue the same Out of which testimony I frame this syllogisme he that remitteth sinnes is god but the pope remineth sinnes therefore he is god and by consequēt Antichrist The third Circumstance Those things which the Papists write concerning Antichrist are ridiculous First the Rhemists say and affirme that he shall come of the tribe of Dan which opinion Bellarmine strongly refuteth by this reason Namely because the tribes are so confounded that no man can say this man is of this or that Tribe Secondly they say Antichrist shall be the Iewes Messias but he must spring of the tribe of Iudah ergo Antichrist the Iewes Messias cannot descend of Dan. Thirdly they teach he shall be one singuler man
and embrace it The first propertie Truth hath this propertie that it is simple and needeth not many interpretations and expositions so saith Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Poperie to defende it selfe vseth many expositions Vide rever Bilson de Sacram and yet knoweth not what to hold For the proofe of this consider their interpretatioÌ„s of the first word in this short sentence this is my bodie d contra Ploretum lib. 4. Gerson affirmeth that it signifieth the substance of bread and e contra Diabolic sophist Steuen Gardiner sometimes thought so also notwithstanding afterward he changed his minde and came to Individuum vagum as if Christ had saide This what it is I cannot tell but it must needes be somewhat is my bodie in 4. of Senâ— dist 13. Occam and other say the pronoune this must be referred to the bodie of Christ as if our Sauiour had saide This my bodie is my bodie de Conse dist 2. Their glosse resolueth this question on this manner Solet quaeri quid demonstretur per pronomen Hoc It is a common question what is meant by the pronoune This. To this demand I say nothing is meant but it is there put materially without any signification at all thus they turned and tossed the words of Christ till they brought all that the Lord said at his last supper to plaine nothing Tomo 2. Duraeus and Bellarmine teach that by the word this is meant the whole substance which Christ had in his hand I demande then what this substance was whether it was bread or the body of Christ if bread then there was a figure if the body of Christ then there must be transubstantiation before these wordes were pronounced which plainely fighteth with their fancies This propertie being cleerely auouched if it please thee to consider gentle reader the Caluenists expositions as they call them thou shalt find them to be all one namely this signifieth or this is a signe of my body let Carolostadius and the Lutherans answer for themselues The second propertie The second propertie of truth is that it blusheth to be hid Lib. aduersus Valenâ—â— so saith Tertullian Nihil veritas erube scit nisi solummodo abscondi that is truth is ashamed of nothing but of concealing Math. 10.27 and our Sauiour Christ saith Whatsoeuer I shew you preach on the house toppes but they hid their traditions from the people as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth which argueth that they were not truth I will not here confute his answer to the saying of our Sauiour Christ because I shall deale with it in the Motiue of Haeresies If they retort this propertie against vs because our Church was as they call it occulta that is hid for many yeres I first answer that they must distinguish betwixt the time of peace and persecution Rom. 12. truth in persecution may be driuen into the wildernesse but in peace who knoweth not but that it ought plainely to be taught Secondly I answer that the Papists haue alwaies felt our Church as testifieth Reinerus a popish Inquisitour Catolog test veri so I passe to the 3. propertie of truth The third propertie The third propertie of truth is that it is magna praevalet it is great and preuaileth reade the third of Esdras for the confirmation of this where trueth is prooued stronger then wine and women and indeede Actes the fift and 39. If it be of God it cannot be destroied this declareth then most apparantly that it could not proceede but of some diuine power and super-naturall assistance that amidst the contradictions and oppositions of so many adversaries among the whippes swordes and tortures of so bloodie and cruell Caniballs as the Papists are our poore simple and feeble congregation should peirce through and augment it selfe strongly especially if we consider the outward means of this increase where there was nothing to allure or conteÌ„t mans nature nothing gorgeous nothing delectable nothing to please or entertaine sensualitie by which is answered their cauil that trueth resteth with them because of their great multitudes for had they not had murthers Revel 9.21 sorceries fornication and thefts which are as I will prooue God willing foure pillars of papistrie they had neuer come to that primarie yea who knoweth not that with Cyrus they powre forth Gold to their slauish sect by heaps and waight and not by number and account The fourth property The fourth propertie of trueth is to be steadfast and perpetually like it selfe for which cause in the Hebrew tongue it is called Emeth of the roote which signifieth stabilitie so doe the Latines call that verum which is immutabile per omnia sibi simile immutable and like it selfe euery way but in popery there is no steadfastnesse is not prima secunda iustificatio the first and second iustification a new deuise Censura collon Ex consilio Tridenti can any Papist resolue the certenty of Peters sitting at Roome read Bellarmine here he disagreeth from Onuphrius and Onuphrius from the rest of the Papists in this point which is the foundation of Poperie is the greatest point of Papistrie so vncertaine that they knowe not what to hold Doth not Allen confesse in his booke of purgatorie that there is no text brought to prooue the same which might not be otherwise applyed Nay haue not the Rhemists and Bellarmine himselfe left schoole conceipts and brought in their owne deuises witnesse their owne writing Tell me thou learned Catholike who succeeded Peter Tertullian affirmeth that Petrus Clementem Episcopum Romanorum ordinauit Lib. de praes that Peter ordained ClemeÌ„t Bishop of Rome Lib. 3. Ireneus placeth next to Peter Linus Ancletus and then Clement Read Hierom and Augustine and thou shalt finde greater diuersitie Answere me papist howe or with what kinde of worship Images are to be honoured Bellarmine himselfe is not assured of this point as thou maiest read in his tractate of Images Lastly because I cannot be long answere me howe Saints heare our prayers if thou canst Bellarmine himselfe must needes yeeld to thee for he is ignorant of that point therefore answereth vncertainties as he doeth in the defense of purgatorie beeing pressed with Theophilactes authority now making it a part of the hande of God which is a place of all iust mens soules and in the next wordes a part of hel Thus Christian reader like wandering trauellers out of the way the learnedst papists knowe not where to rest yea like drunkards they stagger to and fro but thankes be to God it is not so with the Caluinists who coyne no new distinctions for truth is alwaies the same The 5. propertie The 5. propertie of truth is that it is subiect to persecution Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit Friends are the children of flatterie hatred is begotten by harmelesse truth Peruse the whole booke of God nay all histories and thou shalt finde
secrets are not to be vttered but to be concealed which is directly contrarie to our sauiviour Christ his wordes Matt. 10.27 who commaundeth those thinges which he taught to be published on the house toppes to which place Bellarmine answereth si opus est if it be needefull de tradit I doubt not but if he had beene furnished with a better answer we should haue had it but pardon errour which hath but figge leaues to hide her filthinesse may not the Atheist say when he is commanded to beleeue and keepe gods commandemēts si opus est If it be requisite I will doe them To shewe nowe that the papists conceale their secrets from the people is needelesse seeing it is confessed by Bellarmine in his tractate of Traditions And why is their seruice in an vnknown tongue why are the scriptures forbidden the laye people Clem. Alex. lib. 3. cap. 2. but to hide their errors so that I may fitly cōpare the Romish religion to the temples of Aegypt which without were deckt with gold but within had most loathsome sights The 5. note The fift note is to vaunte and to boast themselues of their pretended and falsely called knowledge 1. Tim. 6.20 dicunt se saith Iraeneus non solum presbyteris Lib. sed etiam Apostolis existentes sapientiores synceram invenisse veritatem they say that beeing wiser then the auncient and Apostles they haue found out the syncere truth 1. Tim. 6. This note is so euidently eminent in all haereticks that the Rhemists themselues haue made made it a badge of an haereticke but howe shall we prooue that the papists like empty vessels make the lowdest the greatest soūd Cap. 5. The maker of their Apologie doth it for me advance their fellowes in this insolent māner Our wits saith he are from God in as plentifull manner as theirs our foundation in all kinde of faculties requisite for the studie of Diuinitie is as deeply laid as theirs our diligence rather more then theirs our times both for age and studie more complete then theirs commonly can be Our order method and course of Diuinity much more profitable then theirs we haue more disputations lessons conferences examinations repetitions instructions catechizings resolutions of cases both of conscience and controuersie methods and manners to proceed to the conuersion of the deceiued and such like exercises in our two Colledges then they in their two Vniuersities containing neere hand 30. goodly Colledges as for the Masters and Professours in our Colledges specially the Romane readers we may be bold to say they be in all kinde the most choyse and cunning men in al Christendome for vertue learning c. Would not this odious and arrogant comparison rather beseeme boies in the schoole then diuines in the church thus the Papists themselues haue made both the proposition and assumption so that if so bee they bee not wilfully blinde they may inferre the conclusion Tht 6. Note The 6. note is to refuse the common name of Christians and to choose themselues seuerall names Hierom in dialogo contra Lucifir Sicubi audiueris eos qui dicuntur Christi non à domino Iesu sed ab alio nūcupari vt puta Marcionitas Valentinianos scito non Ecclesiam Christi esse sed Antichristi synagogam If thou hearest any where such as bee said to be of Christ not to haue their names of our Lord Iesus Christ as Marcionites Valentinians knowe thou that they belong not to the Church of Christ but to the synagoge of Antichrist Haue not the Papists peculiar names as Dominicans Franciscans Iesuites Thomistes and Scotistes maintaining al one grand heresie of Poperie yet hauing their diuerse opinions among themselues each sect enuying other and swelling against the other which caused Anselmus as Heerbrandus reporteth to break out into this speach Quis non contemnat religionem tot varietatibus subiectam Who would not despise a religion subiect to so many sects The 7. Note The heretikes in all ages haue by allegories vpholden their errours and allegories haue bin their strōgest instruments to work withall Epiphanius maketh mention of a beastly kinde of heretikes who by allegories defended the sinne of the Sodomites not onely as a thing that might be suffred but as a duetie that must be done most shamefully racking to the defence of that shameles opinion these wordes of Christ Verely I say vnto thee Matt. 5.26 thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the vttermost farthing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is they say that what soeuer are thought euill amongst men are not euill indeed but naturally good for nothing is naturally euill The heretiks called Priscillianistae did auoid by allegorizing whatsoeuer was brought against them August de Haere In suos sensus allegorizando vertunt quicquid in sanctis libris est quod eorum euertat errorem vvhatsoeuer is found in the Scripture that ouerthrovveth their errours by an allegoricall exposition they make it to maintaine the same So do the Anabaptistes and Familistes now in our daies As for the Papistes haue not they plucked their purgatorie out of the same text aboue named by an Allegorie Doe not they prooue their free-will by allegorizing the parable in the tenth chapter of S. Luke which is concerning the man halfe dead By which wee see it common to heretikes and not peculiar to any one by allegories to abuse the holie Scriptures to be abbetors of their absurdities Many moe places might I haue alleadged out of the Papistes to prooue this Vide Dur. de sopis but the trueth is so cleare and manifest that they cannot denie it The 8. Note The eight note is to enioyne the lay people those things that are to bee performed by the Ministers Tertul lib. de praescrip Laicis sacerdotalia iniungunt ipsae mulieres haereticae quà m procaces quae audent tingere ordinationes eorum leues inconstantes c. they command the people priests duties their women are so bold as to baptize their ordinations of ministers are light and inconstant These properties doe liuely paint out the Papistes Their Mid-wiues vse to baptize their ordinations and consecrations are they not of the basest of the people I would wee had not had experience of this cursed practise of Ieroboam Ordo sacerdotum fatuo turbatur ab omni Labitur passim Religionis honos Euery foole with the Papists are priested by which religiō commeth to ruine nay I dare avouch that they haue consecrated shriuelings that are not borne ad Aram but ad Haram not to serue at the altar but at the swine-stie Here I might haue added moe properties of heretiks confessed by the Rhemists themselues Vpon Iud. as contempt of authoritie the crueltie of Cain the couetousnes of Balam which aptly agree to the Papists for the Pope will be subiect to none no not to a generall Councell witnesse Martine the 5. and Eugenius the 4. who would not stand
except we knowe whether we must runne 2. 2 q. 44. art 8. So doth Aquinas vse the very same answer by which it is apparent to all mē that God commaundeth impossible things and therefore by this blasphemy must be more cruell then any tyrant but this might haue beene better borne withall if they had vttered no moe blasphemous arguments The Rhemists vpon the first of Timoth. chap. 4. wanting reasons for their prohibition of meates and marriages know not how to defend their practise but by an argument à pari taken from equalitie God in paradise did commaund abstinence from one certaine tree and also did forbidde in the time of the Law certaine degrees of marriage ergo so may the Pope doe O vnanswerable nay rather blasphemous consequents if ye thus dispute without all peraduenture in the ende ye shall haue the victorie From Bellarmine and the Rhemists I come to their angelical Doctour who in his supple 25. quae art 1. concludeth thus Christus potest Ergo Paulus potest Ergo papa potest Christ can doe it therefore Paul can doe it therefore the Pope can doe it Make the syllogisme and then the argument will be of greater force whatsoeuer Christ can doe that can Paul doe and whatsoeuer Paul can doe that can the Pope doe but Christ can doe this therefore Paul and the Pope can doe it But why are Paul and the pope ioyned together seeing his authoritie is deriued from Peter when Peters keies will not serue then Pauls sword must saue To let passe these sensles disputers heare what is written in the first part of the 6. booke of Decretalls and 6. title de electione fol. 44. Papa non est homo sed vicarius Dei expressius acus The pope is not a man but Gods vicar more expressely God In the proheme of the Clementines and 3. folio I finde the notation of the pope to be this Papa id est admirabilis nec deus es nec homo quasineuter es inter vtrunque The pope is called so because he is wonderfull thou art neither god nor man but as it were a neuter betvvixt both Againe in the Extravagants fol. 16. tit 3. Supposit a plenitudine potestatis iuxta quam papae dici non potest Domine cur ita facis Presupposing the plenarie power by which no man may say to the pope Master why doest thou so no not though as it is in an other place he leade innumerable soules with him by heapes to the deuill of hell Nowe let Panormitan play his part Papa Christus faciunt vnum consistorium The pope and Christ make one consistorie excepto peccato omnia potest quae deus excepting sinne he can do al that God can doe Also papa potest quicquid vult the Pope can do what he wil and therfore cōtra novū testamētū potest dispensare he may dispense against the new testament From the Canonists I come to the Alcorā of the Franciscans taken out of their booke of Conformities nihil fecit Christus quod Franciscus non fecit imo plura fecit quà m Christus vngues Francisci tentationem propellunt Christ did not any thing but Frances did the same yea more then Christ the nailes of frier Frances driue away temptations Sicut Ade Deo non parenti omnis creatura libellis extitit Sic Frācisco omnia praecepta diuina implenti creatura omnis famulata est omnia Deus subiecit sub pedibus eius c. As euerie creature rebelled against Adam disobeying God so all of them serued Frances who fulfilled gods commandemēt God hath put all things vnder his feete he hath made him ruler ouer all the workes of his handes and he may most worthily say that which is written in the Gospell All things are giuen mee of my father Can the diuel himselfe speake more spitefully against the God of heauen and earth I wonder howe the Pope can suffer those things seing he applyeth the same scriptures to his authority and therefore sayeth Omnis potestas mihi data est in terra all power is giuen me on earth To proceede in the same booke thus they speake of the masse Celebratio vnius missae tantum valet quantum Christi passio The saying of one masse is as profitable as Christs passion And againe si quis devotè audierit missam non incidit in peccatum mortale if any here masse with deuotion he cannot fall into mortall sinne if this be true why haue the priests so many harlots nay why are Popish geldings become stone horses These Christian reader are not the tenth of their blasphemies which they haue vomited but I dare not load thee with any more least I should he offensiue I will ende this reason in a word that religion is a blasphemous religion which maketh not God mercifull and iust in the highest degree but the Popish religion maketh not God mercifull and iust in the highest degree Ergo it is a blasphemous religion the assumption is thus prooued if the onely mercie of God be not the onely cause of the pardoning of our sinnes and the alone satisfaction of Christ aunswereth not to Gods iustice then may a finite thing as mans satisfactions answer the same so he shal neither be summè misericors nor summè iustus neither haue perfect mercy nor perfect iustice but the only mercy of God is not the onely cause of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes neither is his iustice fully satisfied by Christ but by our owne satisfaction and therefore he is neither perfectly mercifull not perfectly iust Let god be then as he is is most rich in mercy and absolute in iustice and the Romish religion cannot stand for it detracteth from his infinit mercy and iustice therfore without all controuersie is a blasphemous religion The eight reason of the Papists owne Confession AMongst the properties of truth this as I proued was one that it was great and preuaileth and indeed thorough Gods omnipotent power it is so great that the Aduersaries against themselues confesse the same so that I may say with the Orator in his oration pro Quinctio quis nostrae causae testis idem qui accerrimus aduersarius in hac re inquam adversarium citabo testem Who beareth witnes to our defence euen he that is the fiercest aduersary in this defence I say I will vse our aduersarie for a witnes for although I may say to him as the same orator doth in an other oration pro Fonteio Tuum testimonium quod in aliena re leve est in tua quoniam contrate est gravissimum esse debet Thy ovvne testimonie which is of small credit in another matter in thine owne because it is against thy selfe ought to be of exceeding great waight vpon these triumphs as it were the Christian Reader will be desirous to heare the Papists testimonie not to hold him therfore any longer in suspence this is Bellarmines confession in his 7. chap. 5. book of Iustification Propter periculum
mors before man is life and death These three arguments are all answered by Aquinas and yet they are the papists pillers of free-wil as euery man knoweth if it were needfull I might quote the authors that vse them The 19. Contradiction Alexander de Hales parte 4. quaest 24. denieth that confirmation was instituted by Christ his reasons are these two Quia Christus quando instituit aliquod Sacramentum determinat elementum when Christ doth institute any sacrament hee determineth of the element and matter of the Sacrament but hee hath not done so in this Sacrament Ergo it was not instituted of him Secondly in Sacramentis vna forma est in the Sacraments there is one forme of words but in this there is not one forme of wordes for in diuers churches they haue diuers formes Ergo it was not instituted of Christ Hence it may be concluded that it is no sacrament because all Sacraments were ordained by Christ Iesus as Aquinas holdeth 3. parte quaest 72. art 1. resp adprimum where also wee may see that some held as Alexander de Hales holdeth namely that it was not instituted of Christ and by consequent it is no Sacrament The 20. Contradiction The Contradictions about the Sacrament of the alter and reall presence are so manie that I will not enter into them because I eschew tediousnesse onely I will set downe Aquinas his opinion in his supplement 83. quaest art 3. responsione ad quartum namely that on body cannot bee locally in two places at one time for it implyeth a Contradiction but now the Papists care not for Contradiction so they may make the bodie of Christ present locally in the Sacrament Many more Contradictions might I haue set downe as namely the certaine knowledge that a man is in grace and such like taught by Papists but it shall suffice to haue proued that in the weightiest points of controuersie the Papists are on our side Let them now bragge no more of vnitie for the spirite of dissention is sowen amongst them Did euer the Caluinists teach the weightiest points of poperie as the papists do the greatest opinions of Caluinisme I know they doe not Thus leauing this reason to the indifferent reader to iudge of euery man may see what cause there is to disclaime and renounce the Romish religion The twelue reason of the Originall of many things taught held in Poperie FOr asmuch as in one of my former reasons I haue by sufficient testimonies proued the practise of the primitiue Church to bee repugnant to Poperie in many weightie matters I shal not need to be long in the Original of the Romish religion certaine it is that it was not all hatched at once Teâ— de pâ—escâ—â—p and that it it not a thing necessarie to shew the beginning of euerie point in poperie seing that ipsa Papistarum doctrina cum Apostolis comparata ex diuersitate contrarietate sua pronunciabit neque Apostoli alicuius authoris esse neque Apostolici The Popish doctrine it selfe being compared with the Apostles will by the varietie and contrarietie that is in it pronounce that neither Apostle nor any Apostolicall man was the author of it Notwithstanding both because it helpeth much for the satisfying of some and also because diuerse abuses are noted by Papists theÌ„selues I will set downe some things concerning the Originall of poperie and first heare what Bucchingerus an arch Papist in his Ecclesiastical history writeth pag. 217. Res est plena horroris vel legere vel meminisse tantam tyrannidem inter se exercuisse mutuò Pontifices Romanos ô quantum degenerarunt à maioribus suis fieri non potuit in tanta crudelitate vt pietatis Christianae ratio haberetur ne cui mirum sit interim siqui abusus perversae opiniones in Ecclesiam irrepsêrunt It is a thing full of horror either to reade or to remember the great tyranny the Bishops of Rome haue practised one toward another ô howe are they degenerate from their auncestoures and it cannot be that in such crueltie their should be had any regard of Christian piety let no man then marueile if some abusâ—s and badde opinions haue crept into the church Loe here three things noted by a Papist him selfe First the cruelty of the Romish Bishops 2. their degeneratioÌ„ from their auncestours and thirdly that certaine badde opinions by this meanes are crept into the Church For proofe of this last point I will beginne with purgatory because that it hath warmed the popes kitchin Concerning which let Roffensis a papist speake artic 18. contra assert Lutheri fer in iniâ—sed Graecis etiam adhunc vsque diem non creditum est purgatorium esse legat quicunque velit Graecorum veteruÌ„ commentarios nullum quantum opinor aut quà m rarissimum de purgatorio sermonem inveniet Sed neque Latini simul omnes huius rei veritatem concepêrunt rursus non absque maxima spiritus sancti dispensatione factum est quod post tot annorum curricula purgatorii fides indulgentiaruÌ„ vsus ab orthodoxis generatim sit receptus quandiu nulla fuit de purgatorio cura nemo quaesivit indulgentias nam ex illo pendet omnis indulgentiarum existimatio The Greeks to this daie doe not beleeue that there is purgatory reade who list the Commentaries of the auncient Graecians and he shall finde either very seldome mention of purgatory or none at all Neither did the Latin Church conceiue the trueth of this thing at one time And againe neither was it done without the great dispensation of the holy ghost that after so many yeares Catholikes both beleeued purgatory and receiued the vse of pardon generally so long as there was no care of purgatory no man sought for pardons for of it dependeth all the aestimation that we haue of pardons Out of this testimony I gather first that the Greeke Church acknowledgeth no purgatory Secondly that the auncieÌ„t Latin Church did not beleeue it Thirdly that these opinions grewe by little and little in the Church Fourthly and lastly that pardons depende vpon purgatorie and so are newe deuises of mans braine Therefore let pardons purgatory pickpurse goe From purgatory I passe to the Popes primacy which is an after invention as I prooue out of Socrates in the 7. booke of his Ecclesiasticall historie and the 11. chap. Episcopatus Romanus non aliter atque Alexandrinus quasiextra sacerdotii fines egressus ad saecularem principatum iam erat ante delapsus The Bishops of Rome and Alexandria going beyond the limits of priesthood vvent into a secular worldly dominioÌ„ For proofe of this when Victor as Eusebius writeth lib. 5. cap. 23. Ecclesiastic histor would haue excommunicated the Churches of Asia he was resisted by Iraeneus To passe ouer that Policarpus would not yeeld to Amcetus We know that before Boniface the first no Bishop of Rome was called vniuersal bishop Lastly as testifieth Fasciculus temporum anno 704