that were present whose eyes the Lorde had vouchsafed to open to see the truthe and whosoeuer shall yet reade it to this daie maie easily see that the sheilde of faithe was their defence that thei fought valiauntly with the sworde of the spirite to the confusion of those that stroue againste theim And though their bodies were vsed afterward at the pleasure of their aduersaries hauyng no regard of their callyng no reuerence of their learnyng no respecte of their age yet after the example of Samson and the true Samson Christ Iesus by death thei obtained victorie against theim In the beginnyng of the happie raigne of her Maiestie now sittyng in the Royall seate of her Fathers their Bishoppes and greatest Clerkes were prouoked and appoincted by aucthoritie to dispute if thei were able to maintain their doctrine with suche ministers of the Gospell as were called to deale with them in it Which action as it appeareth by the storie and testimonie of many that were present at it was so fōdly and ridiculously handled on the parte of the greatest Pillers of their pretended Catholike Churche that al men maruell that the memorie of the confusion and shame of that daie doeth not with hold them once to moue the matter of disputatiō with vs. For after a little impertinent speeche thei gaue ouer their cause in the plain field But thei saie he that runneth awaie maie fight againe and so peraduenture these men haue now gotten more harte of grace then thei had before or els these Romistes and Remistes thinke peraduenture their Bishops were vnlearned but that thei in so many yeres trauell and study abroad haue better furnished theim selues for the battaill But their weakenesse was notably discouered in their greate Champion and Father Iesuite who offeryng defiaunce with Goliah to the hoste of Israell as if the staffe of his Speare had been as a Weauers beame he was bolde to caste vs his Gloue and throw vs his Gauntlet to prouoke vs to fight with hym boastyng to maintaine his cause by Scripture Councells Fathers by all Lawes Common Ciuill and Canon and all Stories A man would thinke suche a Chāpion had been able to haue doen great matters but whē he was after encountred with his glorie was tourned to shame and the Diuinitie he boasted of was founde to bee but certaine of the boldest and moste vnreasonable asseuerations of the fondest and moste absurde distinctions that euer were heard of wherby he supposed to haue been well armed againste all obiections For a taste whereof I offer the gentle Reader some fewe whiche I heard beeyng present at the disputation In the matters of iustification of faithe onely whereas he had falsly and slanderously charged vs of late to haue brought into the Church this new doctrine of iustification by faith onely and that there were places cited out of the Fathers Greeke and Latin who liued aboue 1000. yeares agoe expresly hauyng these words that faithe onely iustifieth He aunswered that it was to bee vnderstoode of the vngodly wherein hauyng confessed a truthe for so the Apostle saieth that God iustifieth the vngodly by faithe that is holdeth hym godly in Christ in whom he beleeueth who in himself is vngodly by suggestiō of his companion he fought againe to ouerthrowe that he had saied by a fond distinction of two iustifications a thyng meerely deuised in the braine of man For who euer read in the Scriptures that a man is iustified before God any more then once but that thei whō GOD had once reputed for iust he holdeth them so for euer Otherwise the reason of the Apostles iustification by faithe were nothyng if the Iewes might haue aunswered thus that when he was first conuerted from Idolatrie Abraham was in deede iustified by faithe onely but after he was circumcised and had offered vp his sonne he was iustified againe and that was by his workes but this was a fancy not once dreamed of by them Therefore the Apostle taketh it for a grounde that beyng once iustified by faith onely he was alwaies iustified before God by faithe alone An other folly of a suche like distinction was ioyned with this that onely in the Fathers alleadged shatteth out onely the workes goyng before his faith whereby he forgat that he ouerthrewe their workes of congruitie whiche thei pretende to confirme out of Cornelius exāple but not the grace giuen together with faith whiche is hope and charitie whiche aunswere is as flat contrarie to the doctrine of the Apostle as darkenesse is to light For if Abraham were iustified by faithe hope and charitie then was he not iustified without the woorkes of the lawe for hope and charitie are workes of the lawe It is contrarie also to their owne doctrine for if the first iustification be by faithe hope and charitie what second iustification can there be or what other thyng will thei require besides faithe hope and charitie to iustifie with a seconde iustification This seconde iustification he would haue confirmed by the helpe of their vulgare Latine translation whiche hath Qui iustus est iustificetur adhuc but very corruptly for the Greeke is he that doeth iustice let him doe iustice stil as if he should saie he that doth well let hym doe well still and he that doeth ill lett hym doe ill still whiche is as farre from the question of iustification as the East is from the West In the question of transubstanciation to the place of Ireneus that there is a spirituall thyng in the Sacrament and also a materiall whiche he expresly speaketh of the very substaunce of bread His aunswere was that the materiall thing was the accidentes that appeared the whitenesse lightnesse roundnesse c. To Oregen affirmyng that whiche is receiued at the mouthe to goe to the stomacke and to nourishe the bodie and to bee cast into the draught His aunswere was that the accidentes doe nourishe and that the accidentes are voyded Contrary to all lawe and order of nature whiche God hath appointed For it is no more possible that accidents being not in any substance should nourishe as it is that darkenesse should at the same tyme bee bothe darkenesse and light To Theodor affirmyng the nature and substaunce of the bread to remaine He aunswered that Theodor vnderstoode it of the substaunce of the accidentes and a generall substaunce whereby an accident hath a beyng and not of the speciall substaunce of bread whereas it is as cleare as the daie at noone that Theodor meant plainly that the very substaunce of the bread remaineth still in the speciall substaunce of breade and is not altered otherwise then in the vse whereto it is applied that is that beyng naturally appoincted of GOD for the feedyng of the bodie it hath hereby the institution of that Sacrament a heauenly vse whiche is to feede our soules A nomber of these fonde and vnreasonable absurde and vnlearned distinctiōs of his I could alledge but thei are now at large reported and published to
publike causes I sawe there were also many contrarye presidents and that of many worthy men who in like times had stoode in the gap and in the breach against the enemie Moreouer Neh. 4.16.17 I considered this our time to be like that wherof we read in the booke of Neemie wherein because of the often and hot charges of these Samaritanes enuying the raysing vp againe of the new Ierusalem out of the ruines wherin they had ioy to see it we are constrayned so to buylde it as we may stand also redy armed to make head against the enemie and to beate him backe when he shal assayle vs. Which because the learned will see to be no matter of game and striuing for the golden pen but a necessarye seruice of God and his church I hope they will be satisfied better with that which may bee sure for defence then faire for shewe But chieflye this is my hope of all your H. both for the graue wisdome God hath endued you with and for the accustomed fauour you are wont to shewe to all such as to their power doe endeuour faithfully to serue the Lord. As for the enemie I know in deede his malice is bitter and his pen foule and shameful For so both others of them and especially the defendant of the late censure hath notoriously testified in his wicked slaunders of as worthie men as the sunne hath seene anye in this age of their profession But seing it lieth not in vs to make them modest and that we are called in good and il report yea in life and death to serue God his church I willingly commit any iniurie that may be done me by them for his cause to him to whome the punishment thereof appertaineth Iude Epist and who as Enoch prophecied long agoe commeth with thousands of his Saintes to doe iustice vpon them all and to reprooue those which are wicked amongst them of all the deedes which they haue wickedly committed and all the hard speaches which wicked sinners haue spoken against him Wherefore being satisfied for these doubtes and knowing no other sufficient cause to the contrary I haue thought this defence to be my most bounden duetie to almightie God to her most excellent M. to your H. and to this whole state and church Therefore I haue resolued by your LL. good fauour seeing no man els so long time had vndertaken to deale with this Plaintife to maintaine against him to my small power the glory of God in the iust defence of his trueth the honor of the authority I haue named in their most lawfull proceedings against such as vntruely are called Catholiques Thus hauing before your H. most humbly rendred some reson of this my doing I come now to ioyne with mine aduersarie The effecte of this Authours purpose is as he himselfe declareth in the beginning of his booke The answere and hath béene touched before in presenting your LL. with the Epistle intituled of the persecution in Englande with this treatise of his own is to complaine of intollerable extremities vsed agaynst the pretended Catholiques for their only conscience sake as he affirmeth and also to become suter to your Honors in behalfe of their cause that if for the time it may not be receyued as he thinketh it worthy yet at the least it may not be so hardly intreated as hee woulde make the world beleue it hath beene hetherto Which their cause being not of the thinges of this life wherin reason and discourse may trie and discerne but of religion he ought to haue taken his reasons to perswade the religion he would maintaine to bee good out of the holy and sacred bookes of the canonicall scriptures 2. Tim. 3.17 For of these we reade that they are able to make vs wise vnto saluation thorow the faith that is in Christ Iesus as the Apostle addeth in the same place they are giuen by inspiration from God to furnish vs and to make vs fully able to instruct in that which is truth and to conuict whatsoeuer agreeth not with it Therefore as in question of mettall the touch stone is called for to shew the good and to discouer the badde so should he haue touched with this true onely touch both our mettall and his that that which is base or fine in eyther religion might haue bene discerned In doubtful controuersies in the law they were commanded to repaire vnto the hie priest into whose brest the Lorde had put Vrim and Thummim Exod. 28.30 whereby he was able to giue aunswere in all causes Christ is our hie Priest and the holy scriptures as being that wisedome of God to be reuealed to vs the Vrim and Thummim whereby we are answered as by Oracle from God in al our controuersies Therefore in this most weightie cause counsell ought to haue bene sought for there where the brest of Christ is open vnto vs and where a perfecter light then that of Vrim Thummim shineth to our most safe direction Esay 8.9.10 But this Author that we may know by the testimony of the Prophet Esay that there is no sparke of true light in him leaueth the lawe the testimony and seeketh to humane reason as to a cunning enchantres and as Saul to seeke answere hee goeth from the liuing vnto the deade Heb. 4.12 Ephe. 2.1 for the worde of God is liuing and the sonnes of men are borne deade in their sins But let vs see his reasons such as they are and howsoeuer he would flie the saymasters furnace the subtile weight yet bycause we know there is no other certain way to try what goodnes it may be of that hee bringeth we must make a say of it by the fire of the Lords altar and weigh euery thing by the weightes of his sanctuarie The reasons he bringeth are principally two Reasons vsed to perswade fauor towardes the Romane catholiques whereof the one is of the punishment laide vpon them and the other of the cause wherin they stand He toucheth briefly two other reasons which are of lesse moment rather of complemēt circumstance thē of any great weighte or substance in this question which are of the person of the ende For if it fall out as by Gods grace I vndertake to show that the punishment and the cause is such as that these falsly named Catholiques are dealt with in iustice and that mitigated with great moderation and clemencie then do these with all receaue their answere Yet something I will answere perticularly to these reasons and first to that which is taken of the persons of those who are punished In this he alleadgeth that they are of our owne bloude and Nation The first reason answered and borne subiects of the lande Wherein what doth hee pleade for them that may not be with as good reason brought for all malefactors which the lawe doth punish And to whom els doth the lawe extende but to the borne
workes of suche good writers as haue profitably trauailed in that study Amongst whom the ancient fathers are worthely accounted who no doubt by their earnest praier to God by help of the tongs and many artes and sciences and especially study and exercise in the worde of God haue left vs great helpe and furtheraunce in many things Which age was surely a happie and golden age in respect of many excellent wits which the Lord gaue to his church in those daies much about one time in an age or two togeather For both their mutual examples greatly furthered their diligence and the daungers of many subtle and cunning heretickes with whome they were to deale for the maintenance of the truth By which and such like meanes it pleased God singularly to blesse the moste of them with greate skill and iudgement in the scriptures especially in such points as their wits were most exercised in by occasion of aduersaries For which as they shyned in their time like burning lamps in the golden candlestick and as faire and bright stars in the firmament of the Church so we both reuerence their worthy memory and read diligently their learned writings Wherin if we find that by al the meanes God gaue vnto thē they shewe vs by conference of the scriptures the true meaning of them and help to teache vs where an Apostle plainly expoundeth a Prophet or where a Prophet giueth light to vnderstand that which is obscure in an Apostle We receiue it with their iust cōmendation and praise and with thanksgiuing to God and vse it to the edification of the church But if at any time for want of leasure and diligence or for some humane affectiō or because it pleased God they shold be cōtented with such a measure of his giftes who bestoweth his spirite as pleaseth him we find any thing mistaken in some place of scripture not vnderstood or wrested from his sence some pointe of faith not agreable to the body of doctrine deliuered vnto vs by the prophets Apostles thē without their reproch with acknowledgement of the infirmitie that is in man we leaue them and rest vpon the authority of those who are fathers both to them and vs. More then this what he can giue to the fathers I doe not see if he will binde vs alwaies to their exposition thē let him shew vs to what fathers and to what points of thē séeing want hath bin found in the best of thē If to the consent then let him shew whō and how many he wil consort sufficient ground why the doctrine of religion shold be ruled by thē For our sauior Christ his Apostles neuer left vs any such rule And yet if it were lawful for vs to leaue the trial of the word to argue it by their authority we are neuer a whit the nerer for any end of our controuersies For if the writings of the holy scriptures endited thorowout by the spirit of truth euery where cōsorant to it self be subiecte to this to be diuersly expounded how much more shal the writings of mē not only by possibility subiect to erre to dissent frō them selues but which indéed haue erred forgotten them selues so far as in one place to contrary that which they haue set down in another how much more I say shal such writings be diuersly drawn into sundry expositions And thē who shal determine of the true meaning of the fathers If it might be iuged according to truth we doubt not but euen by them to proue against our aduersaries most of the things which are in questiō betweene vs he apointeth a way which is the secōd cause he assigneth of the vniō of their churh that is the determinatiō of the suprem pastor meaning that B. of R. wherby he maketh cōmon the roial stile title of christ with euery Boniface Gregory euery vnlearned monk vngodly priest which shal come to be B. of R. with the general coūcel of christiā prelats But I put the case that prelates their suprem pastor do not agrée Which is a possible case for it hath fallen out more thā once or twise thē wold I know whether the pope should be aboue the coūcel or the councel aboue that P. I see both by that generally our english papists ar more giuē to hold with the P. by this authors setting this down that the pope with thē is to bear the bel away And so the truth of God which is not to be ouer ruled by al mē shal be cōtrolled by one many times an ignorāt frier of litle learning an ambitious prelate of great presumptiō folly But if they shold agrée yet is that no sufficiēt warrant for vs. For daily is it fulfilled in the doctrine of the gospel that which once was performed in the person of our sau Christ that the Mr. builders of the house of god reiect the chiefe corner stone The hie priests the Scribes Pharises Elders the hie consistory of the whole visible church thē vpō earth cōdemned the holy one of god Mat. 26.65.66 Es 53.7 they pulled fléece frō the lamb and droue the sheepe before thē to the slaughter who opened not his mouth Likewise Annas high priest Chaiphas high priests at the cōdemnatiō of Christ with Iohn Alexander all the rest of the house stock of the high priest with Scribes Elders of the people condemned the doctrine of the gospel Acts. 4.5.6.17.18 and forbad the Apostles with straight charge comminations to preach any more in the name of Iesu These whatsoeuer our aduersaries vainely apply to this purpose which is otherwise true of the greter grace of the gospel had more lawfull calling larger promises thē their B. of Rome can pretend any yet they erred not only in a mattter of fact but of faith not as priuate men but as hie priestes and that in their iudicial sentences sitting in the midst of the consistory How much more then may he who hath no such calling of supreme iurisdiction in the church nor any more by the word of God thē any minister of the gospel tho he were lawful B. be deceiued and erre euen in matters of faith and that in his iudgements pronoūced from his seat of pride And if then he be subiect to error being the head it must needs follow that the inferior members must needs be in danger of the same For which cause this can by no means be sufficient to keep the church in the vnity of one true holy faith If it had béen so fit and necessary for this purpose surely our Sauiour Christ wold neuer haue forgotten to haue mencioned it exhorted vs to obedience vnto it Ioh 13.34.14.27 who was so careful that his disciples shold cōtinue after him in the same peace which he gaue left vnto thē and the same loue wherewith he loued thē Now the Apostle so earnestly
to their callynges to looke to the doynges of these busie and sedicious Seminaristes and to further suche lawfull iustice against them as they maye by their vnlawfull deedes make them selues subiecte vnto and that your HH accordyng to the noble care you haue had hitherto of the maintenaunce of Gods true Religion of the sacred person of her most excellent Maiestie and of all the people against al which thei haue wickedly set them selues will still holde your eyes open night and daie ouer them to discouer the secrete practises of their enemies and to bryng to knowledge and iustice their vngodly and cruell deuises whiche thei conspire of vnder pretence of their confession Concernyng triall of disputation he chargeth vs with two thynges that wee refuse all triall by writyng preachyng or lawfull disputation and that wee are readie onely when we haue the aduauntage What triall he could make of any cause by preachyng I can not tell except he haue a confidence in persuasible wordes of humaine learnyng and supposeth that if it were as free for thē to preach as it is for vs that then thei should worke miracles For to trie the truth of pointes of Religion by preachyng I think was neuer taken for any waie of triall since the Gospell was first preached Therefore this part of their three waies he might well haue spared except he hope of suche their abilitie If he haue any suche confidence he is to learne that the Apostles preuailed not by preachyng in suche order but that their speeche was such as caried with it an euidence read and vnderstoode in the hartes of the hearers that thei spake by the spirite of God For their doctrine as also our sauiour Christs before was with power not as that of the Scribes and Pharises And therefore if he haue hope in this his hope is a Spiders webbe and as a brokē Reede that wil deceiue him There were many eloquent Oratours many profounde Philosophers and many wisemen accordyng to humaine reason when the Apostles were sent to preache And thei came against them neither with persuasible woordes of mannes teachyng nor with any depe Philosophicall skill nor with any greate reachyng witte but with the worde of the Crosse as farre from any outwarde pompe of speeche as the Crosse of Christ was frō any worldly honor Yet by this woorde bare and naked in shewe by this breathe of the Lordes mouthe thei preuailed against all the enemies of the Gospel and subdued the wise and deepe the flowyng and eloquent men to the obedience of the faithe of Christe Therefore hauyng not this worde for hym but against hym if he had the tongues of Angelles yet should he no more preuaile to the subuertyng of the faithe of the electe of God then either Tertullus the Oratour or the false Apostles in the Churche of Corinth did against Paule the true seruaunt of Christe If the armour we fight with against thē were but carnall as theirs is wherewith thei striue against vs then might thei hope in deede to match learnyng with learnyng skill with skill knowledge with knowledge Eloquence with Eloquēce finally any of these giftes cōmon vnto all men with as greate giftes to maintaine warre against vs. 2. Cor. 10. ◠But the weapons of our warfare are spirituall and through the might of him that worketh all thynges of power to ouerthrowe euery high Tower and euery strong Bulwark that is exalted against it To vs it is who professe by the grace of God and teach the Gospell to whom is promised Mat. 10. and to whō it hath often been performed a mouth and wisedome against whiche all our enemies should not be able to stande Wee are the weake ones by whom the Lorde confoundeth the strong the base by whom the noble the thinges of no accompt by whom he ouerthroweth those of greatest reckenyng in their opinion that the glory maie be the lordes Besides he must nedes think vs verie loose and dissolute in the administration and discipline of the Churche that should thinke it a likely matter to persuade that thei should bee suffered to come emongest vs to preache their wicked heresies of Idolatrie and all abhominations Where did the Apostles euer suffer this in any church established by thē Where did euer christian prince hauyng receiued the truth wittyngly and willyngly admitte false Apostles and erronious teachers emongest their people If the woorde of God had not made vs thus wise yet might wee haue learned this of all the worlde and of theim selues Thei themselues doe thei suffer the true Preachers of the Gospell freely and without restraint to preache emongest thē Did thei euer offer this at Rome or in any parte where their Idolatrie is established If the children of darcknesse haue so muche vnderstandyng to maintaine their Kyngdome of blindnesse muche more the childrē of light ought to be able to discerne of that whiche appertaineth to the mainteinaunce of the kyngdome of Christe This then neuer hauyng been any waie of triall nor in deede beyng not of that nature to trie a truthe there remaineth to satisfie hym for the reste He requireth yet a triall by disputation and that in twoo sortes by writyng or speeche For triall by disputation it hath been admitted alwaies and many tymes offered by the professours of the Gospell vnto them and that in bothe sortes of speaking writyng Martin Luther Phililp Melancthon Luthers worthie companion with sondrie others of the learned famous men of Germanie maintained the most holy and honorable cause of the Gospell by disputation before many of the great states of Germanie against as subtill cunnyng Instruments of Satan as euer since haue risen vp to oppugne the truthe of the Gospell In Fraunce at Poyssie Theodore Beze Peter Martir men of rare excellencie of knowledge and vtteraunce with sondrie other worthy learned menne so disputed this cause with the choise of Sorbone and of all the Papistes of Fraunce as the Cardinal of Loraine hym self wished that Beza that day had bin dombe or some of his auditours noting the chiefest had been deafe meaning thereby that God by him that daie had so laied open the truth and disciphered their errours as he feared least those that were in aucthoritie should haue receiued it I leaue to mention the disputation of Zwinglius Oecolampadius and others at Bearne Basile Strausborough and other free Citees In all which the Lorde so assisted his seruauntes the ministers of the Gospell as vpon suche triall the truthe was found to be with them And to speake here of the like at home in Kyng Edwardes tyme and also in Queene Maries when thei brought those worthy men and constant Martyrs of Christ Cranmer Ridley and Latimer and others to dispute at Oxford with the most vnreasonable inequalitie that might be yet thei so receiued and put out all the fierie dartes of the Deuill and his instrumentes cast against thē and so foiled and wounded their enemies that bothe all
whiche shall be alleadged Herevnto maie be added if there bee cause the testimonies of the Councelles Fathers Stories or other authorities of credite not to argue or proue any truthe or to cōuince or disproue any vntruthe for this appertaineth to God not to man to his infallible woorde and not to the writinges of men who are all liars but as witnesses to testifie what the doctrine of the Churche was in suche a question in the sondrie ages times of the church Which beyng doen by either partie then that either of them bothe aunswere the argumentes of the other and strengthen again his owne in suche place as the aduerse partie shall thinke to be weake Which passyng thus to and fro till bothe haue said what thei are able for thē selues will leaue suche a meanes for those whiche are willing to informe their cōsciences of the truthe as by gods grace it wil be easie to discerne His secōd reason wherby it maie appeare that their standyng in this cause is not without substanciall warrant is noted to be the vncertaintie of temporall fauor in matters of Religiō but that sectiō wherevpon it is noted conteineth no suche matter but onely this that it is not inough to perswade them that we saie we haue the Gospell because other also condemne vs and saie thei haue it we are not ignoraunte that euery one maketh claime to haue the Gospell and condemne those whiche ioyne not with them Amōgest whom that he reckeneth Luther and a Scholer of his I referre him to my answere where this is alledged of hym before which answere maie serue for his Scholer too As for the Trinitaries and Anabaptistes it is but his his malice and hatred against the Gospell to recken vs with theim whom wee are as vnlike in all their vngodly opiniōs as thei are vnlike the true Churche of Christ and her moste holy faith But this were an aunswere if we had nothing but the bare word and boastyng of the Gospell Wee haue made God be praised for it sufficient profe to all equall Iudges that it is bothe in woorde and in deede the true Gospell and pure woorde of GOD and the lawe of the lorde whiche is now the Religion through the goodnesse whiche hath visited vs from aboue established and preached emōgst vs. The twoo next sections haue some matter in them like this title for in the firste of thē he affirmeth the holie Religion whiche is now established to haue been brought in by an noble man after king Henries daies whiche he saieth could doe moste by bryngyng in twoo Caluinistes as he tearmeth them to read in the two Vniuersities here Whiche he so laieth out as if we had no other staie for Religion but that noble mannes pleasure who he saith if he would haue brought in twoo of any other secte might aswell haue established it whervpon he cōcludeth that seyng that seculer magistrate nor temporall law is no sufficiēt ground in religiō there is no cause but thei should be excused to continue stil in their opinion as thei doe And thus he retourneth againe to his request of disputation But first for this his second reason He maie remember hym self that their Dagon was fallen to the grounde though not with so greate hurte as after euen in the tyme and raigne of Kyng Henry the eight of noble memorie So that to speake in any reason he cannot laie the foundation of the Gospell now emongest vs vpon the onely meanes of the noble manne whom he noteth He might haue remembred that worthie thinges wer doen in K. H. tyme. For God had giuē that noble king besides his owne abilitie to discouer the ambitious pride and greedie couetousnesse of the Clergie the repugnance of the Popes supremacie with the souerantie of his roiall croune and dignitie the abhominations of the Dispensations of the Pope and sondrie suche like weightie and materiall poinctes of true Religion For GOD gaue vnto hym by sides some other meanes chiefe furtheraunce to the sight of these thynges by that moste vertuous and excellent Princes Ladie Anne Bulleyne the moste honourable mother of our dreade Soueraine Ladie now raignyng ouer vs whose eyes God hauyng opened to see the truthe her religious and zealous mynde louyng the wisedome that is greater then Salomon whiche the famous Queene of Saba was so delighted with and beeyng carefull for Gods people as Queene Hester was a worthy meanes to draw the noble kyng to better iudgement and knowledge in Religion then he had been of before whiche was also Godlie continued by the good and gracious Ladie Queene Katherine Par. Further also besides many other he had two as wise faithfull coūsailors as euer had Christian kyng before hym The one that reuerend and learned father Crāmer and the other the wise lord Cromwel counsellours worthie of eternall memorie for their Religious stout and wise dealyng against the misterie of iniquitie For hauing not to do onely with the Popes Consistory and Vestrie with his Cannon lawe beggerly wardrope with his discipline ceremonies but with his whole bodie with his whole house and tēple and that so rooted and groūded as if the foūdations of it had been layd in the centre of the earth yet God poured suche a Christian magnanimitie into their noble hartes to vndertake and such a sound iudgement to deuise the way to performe the ouerthrowe of it and to vndermine those deepe foundations as if the lord had giuen theim a pouder to rende vp those stately houses as Bulwerkes of Sathan and Castles of superstition and Idolatrie which seemed to haue been builded to continue to the ende of the worlde Further the Gospell was taught bothe in other places and also here in Englande and was receiued beleued and professed most constantly to the death by sondrie true professors of it and constaunt martyrs of Christe long before that tyme he speaketh of Wherefore there is no reason to make the entrance of those two readers the beginning of true religiō with vs. Moreouer also in the beginnyng of the raigne of that noble princely king Edward Who knoweth not that the state of religiō was established within this land by act of Parlament before the commyng in of those readers into the vniuersitees so that this reason is vtterly voide of all reason to make thē the beginnyng of religion emongst vs who came in twoo yeres after it had been throughly and quietly established as it is at this present daie After in deede by the worthie meanes of the noble Duke of Sommersett Lorde Protector and the right reuerend Cranmer twoo famous clearkes that then were of the moste renoumed for their vertue and learnyng in all these partes of Europe Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr wer procured ouer and placed the one in Cambridge the other in Oxford to the greate seruice of almightie God and of this his Churche For thei accordyng to the Apostles exhortatiō deliuered ouer a forme of sound doctrine to many
and honourable Parentes it is no harde matter to poinct out bothe the Parentes and tyme of the natiuitie of it But as of a base sonne of a common Harlott no man can tell the father So their Romishe Superstition beyng the base issue of the whore of Bablilon no maruell though wee can not tell who it was that begot it That Harlot hath had so many louers as it is not easie for her selfe to tell who was father of her sondrie Bastards But though neither their father nor tyme of birthe be knowne is it therefore to bee concluded that thei are right and noble borne nothyng lesse But any other Parentes and Authours of our faithe then our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles neither he nor all the sonnes of Romulus at Roome nor of Remus at Rhemes shall euer bee able to shewe Thei maie easily shewe by whose blessed ministerie the Lorde of late hath restored vnto vs this Gospell again as it was easie in Iosias tyme to saie that the booke of the lawe was founde in Iosias tyme the 13. yeare of his reigne by Hilcia the Priest whiche was no preiudice to the lawe For if it had not been founde till of late when the Gospell accordyng to the truthe of it was found yet had it been neuerthelesse the law of God and that most holy and auncient law whiche had been giuen sometymes by the ministerie of Moses So likewise thei may name in what Kynges daies what yeare of his reigne Luther began to discouer the abhomination of the Popes indulgences after both he and others restored to vs againe after a lōg apostasie time of darknesse the knowledge of the truth yet were thei no Authors of it no more then Helcia of the law but Moses of the law and Christ of the Gospell whiche thei preached and other Authors shall thei neuer be able to shewe But for their Romishe faithe we will ioyne this issue with them to shewe it is not of Christ nor of his Apostles Further also notwithstandyng that thei and others who haue ruled the worlde haue wasted all the recordes of many auncient Writers that we can not haue the writynges of all that did controlle them and that in some fewe 100. yeares in the beginnyng their faithe crept in by little and little by soft and flowe paces and that with greate hypocrisie that it could not bee well discouered and therfore not easily controlled for suche tyme yet will wee shewe that when the buildyng and seede appeared aboue the grounde the seruauntes of God discouered Antichristes Sinagoge and his Tares and haue freely complained to the Lorde against it The reason why it is hard to discouer the Authors and tymes of the seuerall pointes of this Popishe heresie are these First it entered not into the Churche all at once but in sondry ages declined from the truthe of the Gospell till it came to this full apostasie wherein it hath beene now some hundred yeres The degrees of which declination were so small at the beginnyng that thei were not easily to be spied Reasons why this issue is not to be ioyned For as the grasse and wheate growe as wee reade in the Gospell yet no man can discerne the growyng of it or see how muche of it shooteth vp in a daie So likewise doe the Tares A man maie well discerne them when thei are growne but while thei are growing it is not easie to discerne Secondly the hypocriticall shewe that these beginnynges of declination caried with them was a greate meanes to deceiue the worlde For if it bee not easie to know the Wolfe in a Sheepes skinne nor the Beast in his shewe of two hornes like a Lambe nor the Angell of darknesse when he transformeth hymself like to an Aungell of light so most of all this hath place in little and small beginninges of Superstition couered and clothed with a shewe of good deuotion For these and suche like causes the auncient Fathers within the first 4. or 500. yeares tooke no greate heede to the little and small beginnynges that were then laied of this misterie of iniquitie Further also those tymes were exercised greatly in striuing with maine Heretickes seekyng to ouerturne openly the groundes and foundations of our faithe concernyng the twoo natures and vnitie of the persone of Christ Iesu Thei had to striue with Ebion Cerinthus Arius Eutiches Eunomius Nestorius and after with the Donasties Pelagians and many other who euidently and manifestly sought the subuersion of the chiefe groundes of Christianitie Wherfore hauyng to deale with many open enemies and of those some of greate abilitie to hurt the churche for speciall giftes of knoledge and eloquēce thei set them selues as there was great cause thei should to resist the forcible violence of those mightie enemies whereby it was scarse possible for those worthie learned fathers to take heede to those degrees of superstition that by little and little so suttely and hypocritically crept into the church Besides this if any of them did discerne the soft slidyng awaie from true religion and deuotion into superstition yet sure thei neuer feared the issue would haue been suche as experience hath taught vs. And if thei gaue any token of their dislike hereof the wastes and confusions of the world since that time haue been suche as it maie be well enough that some of them reproued more thē can now be shewed by any workes that are extant There were many worthie and famous mē which wrote infinite volumes of whō now little remaineth and some nothyng but their names Origen wrote exceedyng muche yet there remaineth now little in comparison of that he wrote and that which remaineth is so corrupted that it nothing aunswereth the famous reporte of learnyng which Origen had in the church in his tyme. To this maie be added that the B. of R. by meanes of the R. Emperors whiche were Monarches of the worlde with whom thei were in credit had the meanes to deface abolishe all writynges rolles and recordes whiche might hinder the growyng of their superstitions And that this is no vaine surmise of a thyng that might bee it appeareth that thei were so diligent to doe it as ther was nothyng so authentike and reuerende that for their purpose thei were not ready to corrupt and falsifie What was more reuerēd in Austens tyme then the famous councell of Nice and the Cannons agreed of by the Fathers assembled together in that reuerend Consistory Senate yet the B. of R. corrupted falsified the 9. Cannon of that Councell to lay the foūdations of the Primacy whiche thei pretended vnto ouer all Churches For so the Story reporteth that Faustine the B. of R. Legate or Deputie alledged that Cannon for the Supremacy which being after diligently sought for by Austen the rest of the Fathers was found to bee corrupted and so thei wrote vnto the B. whiche foule act to corrupt the Cannōs of so reuerende a Councell and to seeke to abuse
therby the cheefest and worthiest seruauntes of God in those daies and best able to discouer his falshoode doeth euidently shew that in other writynges which should neuer come to like examination and tryall they would make small conscience of like corruptions so thei might serue their turnes Further the creditte they obtained in the Church by some good Bishoppes of Roome in the beginning and cōstant Martirs of Christ was a great meanes whereby these whiche succeeded in their places but not in their pietie and holye profession togeather with the power and authoritie which they had gotten of the Emperours coulde not so easily and openly bee discouered as that the tyme of their beginning to fall awaie and theire secrete procéeding and growing forwarde shoulde bee openly controlled Which we may see in the declinations and conuersions of common welths For the lawfull gouernement of Kinges or of a senate of Princes or of the states of a land after an equall and iust regiment of some yeares either of purpose or thorow the weaknes of mans nature which is not able to maintaine thinges long in any perfect state may decline in time to a tyranny or confusion But if the whéele of such a state be not turned with any suddaine violent motion but softly in many yeres almost without any noyse then I say that in a certaine periode of tyme the lawfull and iust gouernement will be chaunged in déed into an vnlawfull tyranny or confusion But yet while it is a turning especially in the beginning when the motions are leaste and hardest to be discerned no man almoste can bee able to saye when this wheele was firste moued or whose hand first began to turne it And this shal yet be harder if such as haue finest senses to discerne euen of the most still and insensible motions vppon their discouering of them be charged and condemned as traitours to the state For by this meanes others which perceiue no sensible alteration are greatly hindred to discerne of their exact and exquisite iudgement and thinke rather that they were deceiued worthely executed for some Treason against the state Whereas notwithstanding after when the motions grow more forcible and violent euerye meane wit will be able to discerne it and in the ende no man so blind nor dull but must needes perceiue it And such hath beene the conuersion of the Church of Rome In the tyme of the Apostle Paules preaching in it for of Peters beeing there we haue no certaine ground in the scriptures The state of that Churche both for doctrine and discipline was perfect and such as the Lorde Iesu him selfe had appoynted After his tyme it continued in good state while it was vnder persecution euen to Constantines time yet so that euen then the whéele began to turne And tho the motions were so easie stil as all men perceiued them not yet some of exquisite iudgement did discerne in it a slyding forwardes to this supersticion and tyrannie Amongest whome Ireneus noted Victor in the Question of the daye to bee kept for Easter daye to haue beene to peremptory and to take to much vppon him to excommunicate the East churches for it the matter being in it selfe indifferent and Victor hauing no authoritie ouer those Churches After when it had peace and rest from persecution the motions grew faster and swifter For then it began to seeke for wealth after wealth taking occasion by the honour of the place being then the seat of the Empyre began to affect some like preeminence in the church and to draw as it were in the church the image of the Empyre Whereof tho the rough draught was imperfect and a shadow of lyues not easie to be discerned yet after the cole came the pensill and then the colours til at the last the whole image of the Empyre was to be seene in the state of the Church In which tyme fell out the falsification of the Canons of the counsell of Nice reprooued by Austen and all the fathers of that coūsell Which liberty of theirs and the free estate of other churches as counterwholes so checked his course that it could not goe fast forward til by the authoritie of Phocas hee had obtained the name of vniuersall Byshop Which being once obtained with in a while after it grew to be such as all were declared Heretiques which should speake against it And then the wheele was violently carried to this apostasie from the trueth of the Gospell and as the motions were more sensible so more there were which perceyued it and spake against it But notwithstanding al the difficulties which might hinder this purpose it appeareth for all the secresie subtletie hipocrisie authoritie force and cunning whereby they sought to hide their wickednesse from the worlde yet by the grace of God the beginners and authours of certaine of the degrees of this mysticall iniquitie are to bee discouered Concerning the reste we vndertake to prooue that what time or by whom soeuer they were brought in that they were not taught by Christ nor his Apostles nor in their tyme which is our immoueable ground where on we build that at what time or by whome so euer it began it is not to be alowed nor receiued M. Iewell of reuerend memory did vndertake and perfourme againste them that twenty nine points Wherin they differ from vs the primitiue church Whensoeuer after they were brought in yet were not knowne nor taught in the church for sixe hundred yeres after Christ Amōgst which this is one which he nameth of the real presence and consequently Their masse which is another for their Masse can not stande without a real presence And if neither in the time of Christ nor sixe hundred yéers after they can prooue them to haue beene receiued to what purpose is it to aske when they began let them rather shewe vs when they began and prooue that so many points as haue beene offered them were receiued in so manye sundry ages and times of the Church Which if they can not doe then let them acknowledge their iuste cause of satisfaction and their wilfull ostinacy against the truth but to satisfy him further in the particulers he hath set down I say first touching the question of the real presence it began to be moued after the daies of Charles the great in the raigne of Charles his neuew At what time Bertram an excellent clarke wrote a large volume of it and prooued the words of the Supper were to be vnderstood in a mistery and figure and not really After whom Paschasius began to write for the vnderstanding of the words of a real presence And after thē both Bertrams iudgemēt was maintained by Berengarius the French churches and the opinion of Pascasius by Lanfranc and others Thus diuersly was this controuersie handled till the Laterane counsell defyned of it which yet the French churches especially of Aniou and Yours for a long time yéelded not vnto Of this errour