mutable so Augustine in his booke de vera religione cap. 53. affirmeth The doctrine of our Puritanes it is mutable therefore it is not of God Miseri homines miserabiles quibus cognita vilescunt nouitatibus gaudent they are saith Augustine the miserablest men in the world that cannot digest the knowen truth but continually addict themselues to nouelties for proofe of this T. C. I. P. I. D. I. P. T. C. G. W. no singing in the Church is lawfull afterward the singing of the Psalmes was lawfull The Psalmes of Dauid saieth a fugitiue of Scotland selected are and may bee vsed The Psalmes of Dauid saieth Penrie concerne not vs therefore not to be vsed in diuine seruice Allegations of fathers and councels are impious assertions of fathers and decrees of councels saieth one that shal be namelesse may be vsed Sermons preached with premeditation derogate from the maiesty of God dabitur vobis in illa hora Sermons preached without premeditation they are but fardels of verball diuinity Innouations in doctrine in religion are dangerous Endoxius and Acacius peruerted the greeke Church and as Nicephorus in his 9. booke of his ecclesiastical historie c. 46. Men saieth he were so rash that they did contemne the custome of the Church nouas leges sibi pro se quisque conderet euery man had a religion peculiar vnto himselfe and is not this verified among vs at this day and what is the reason thereof men are caried awaie with a shew of doctrine so head-strong that they will not stande to the iudgement of the Church corruption in maners in religion are very rife all haue erred and the trueth is reuealed but vnto a fewe and that is vnto them Saint Paul would haue all things done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in decent and good order and according to ordinance but our conformers are so repugnant vnto that as the Poet speaketh qui rectum nil esse putat quod non facit ipse decorum that they labour to controule the custome of the Church to call in question controuersies already decided and to auoide an inconuenience Epiphan in Anchorato they doe as Epiphanius speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flying away from the smoke they fall into the fire False Prophets there are among the people so likewise there shall be false teachers among you The Church of Christ hath not bene free from this malady Master didst thou not sow good corne in thy fielde from whence came these tares The Church is saied to be Columba vnica his onely Doue via directa a direct way The Church is saied to be vnica quia in vnitate consistit because she consisteth in vnity sancta holy because shee is sanctified by the holy Ghost and because shee is the piller the foundation of trueth and saied to be corpus Christi he himselfe the head Ephes 1. 5. Coloss 1. 1. Timot. 3. shee is saied to bee vniuersalis because shee is not onely resident in one place but is extended to the confines of the whole earth The same affirmeth Isidorus in his first booke de officijs ecclesiasticis cap. 1. Aluarus Pelagius lib. 1. de planctu ecclesiae art 65. Torquemada lib. 1. de ecclesia c. 13. The church was instituted in paradise after the fal of our first parents being barrē she became fertle watered with the precious bloode of Iesus Christ the benefit whereof we all haue receiued and shal continue to the ende of the world and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her Are wee all agreed of a Church and of the vnity thereof from whence arise these dissētions the Seruetian he hath a Church by himselfe and is his the true Church the Anabaptist he is a member of the true Church therefore he cannot miscary The Familie of loue he is of the true Church Frauncis Ket opposeth himselfe against them all for his reasons and allegations are of themselues so euident that they cannot be answered Our Puritanes of England are now a purging of the Church in taking away humane traditions and vnnecessary ceremonies and will offer vp a Church pure vndefiled without spot If ancient Hilarie were aliue at this day Hilar. ad Constantium Augustum and should see vs contend at noone day in the heate of sommer de Asini vmbra I am very well assured he would vse the same words that he did long ago whenas the like occasion was offered in his time periculosū admodū atque etiā miserabile est tot nunc fides existere quot voluntates It is lamentable that there should be as many seueral faithes as there are diuersities in wils Et tot nobis doctrinas esse quot mores And as many chāges of maners so many diuersities in doctrin Et tot causas blasphemtarū pullulare quot vitia sunt as many vices so many causes of blasphemy sith that we are cōe to this point that we wil haue one faith writē according to our will or els the exposition thereof shall bee according to our direction Thus spake this Anciēt father of his time I appeale to you whither these wordes of his are not veried among vs in these daies But is the Church of England throughly purged What obstacles haue you remoued Assuredly the Reuenues Ecclesiasticall Bishoprickes and Deaneries Cathedrall Churches haue beene obstacles vnto them for had they beene able to remoue these they had brought in Idaeam Platonicam the like vnto this at anie time should neuer haue bene knowen But God hath taken the raigne into his own hād hath put a snaffle into their mouthes and hath asswaged the corages of them that to run forward they cannot and the vigilant eie of our soueraigne hath caused them like Seriphian frogges to liue in silence and whereas heretofore the hole Realme hath swarmed with there bookes the date of thē is now expired God graunt them grace that in time they may see there owne infirmities and al occasions of dissention taken a way we may liue togither in Christian vnity that in this world we we may so glorifie God that into the world to cōe we al likewise may be glorified of him It were not altogither repugnant vnto this matter if a question were demaunded wherefore God permitteth his Church to be persecuted by false Apostles false teachers Vt qui in vobis sunt manifesti fiant to this end that their good and best men among you may be made manifest A greater punishment cannot be laied vpon vs then this when as God as Aug. speaketh in his 19 sermon de verbis Apostoli permitteth vs to be seduced by them they which make a glorious shew of piety religion in the end they bring both soule body to cōfusiō Arrius deluded Irene the Empres with hipocrisie Menno the Anabaptist corrupted multitudes with the same Castellio infected with pharisaical leuen was the ouerthrow of himselfe his audiditory and as Hierom obserueth writing
thē liued did caecutire they had not so special aportiō of gods spirit as they haue obiect vnto them the estate of the Church as it is now ratified by inuincible authorities of scripture confirmed by the ancient fathers heretofore defended by the blessed hand of her maiesty against the greatest Monarches in Europe at this day Iamque faces saxa volant furor arma ministrat And these are the men of whom Saint Hierom speaketh in his Commentaries vpon the 5. Chapter of Saint Pauls Epistle to the Ephesians Qui semel fuerit furore superatus necesse est vt profiliat in clamorem turbide fremens huc atque illuc in modum fluuij ventiletur dicat O rerum iniquitas O iniusta Dei iudicia catera quae solent loqui qui per indignationis furorem mentis iudicium per diderunt These men I leaue to their owne phantasies and commend this my sermon vnto your worship vnto whom I acknowledge my selfe in dutie greatly bound desiring God to blesse your worship with many happy and prosperous yeares in this world to the glory of God and your hartes desire Oxon The second Epistle of S. Peter 2. Cap. 1.2.3 vers There were false Prophets among the people so likewise there shal be false teachers among you which shal bring in damnable heresies denying the Lord that redeemed them bringing vpon themselues a speedy destruction and many shall follow their riotousnesse by whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed And in couetousnesse with pleasing wordes they shall buy and sell you whose iudgement that was long agoe doeth not linger and their destruction doeth not slumber THE Church of God the which the Apopostle Saint Paul termeth the piller and the foundation of trueth is as Augustine writeth vpon the 28. Psalme planted in the middest of thornes and briers omnes amici nulli pacifici Gen. 8. sayeth Hierom writing to Damasus The crow that returned not and the Doue that brought an Oliue branch were preserued from the generall deluge by the arch of Noah Christ and his Church are one therefore inseperable Christ the head we his members One God one faith one baptisme Is Christ deuided or haue we receiued any prerogatiue but by the Crosse of Christ Saint Paul gloried in this onely that he was crucified to the world and the world vnto him In these perilous and dangerous daies wherein euery peculiar phantasie be it neuer so ridiculous once shrouded vnder hypocrisie is accounted piety wherein likewise quot auditores tot detractores as many auditors so many detractors I haue thought it necessary to stay them that are running headlong to their owne perdition and if it may be to plucke them out of the fier that are already schorched and to remoue all occasion of schisme and dissension that as God is a God of peace so wee likewise may endeuour to obserue the vnity of the spirit in the bonde of peace The Apostle speaketh vnto vs telling vs that in God there is no change or shadow of chaunge and if God bee alwaies one and the same we ought likewise to conforme our selues vnto him and to stand fast in that doctrine which we haue receiued And not to be caried away with euery blast of vaine doctrine The Apostle Saint Peter in these three verses propoundeth vnto vs three seuerall partes to be obserued The first a propheticall prediction of the future calamities incident vnto the Church of Christ by false teachers conteined in these words There were false Prophetes among the people so likewise their shal be false teachers among you During the time of the lawe Iannes and Mambres Balam the sonne of Bosor with others seduced the Church of God Pharisies and Saduces Elymas Simon Magus Alexander the copper smith raised sedition among them Since their time Diosciorus Iouinian Vigilantius issued forth and these with Arrius and Eunomius brake downe the heads of the vineard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrupting the word of God and perverting the same False prophets there were among the people so likewise there shall be false teachers among you The second containeth in it a description of them They shall priuily bring in sects damnable sects denying the Lord that redeemed them and shal bring vpon themselues a sudden destruction many men shall followe their riotousnes the way of trueth shal be blasphemed by them and to enrich themselues they shall buy and sell you according to their owne disposition The third is the rigorous and feareful iudgement of God that houereth ouer their heads seta equina by a twine thread cōtained in these words The iudgement of these men doeth not linger and the ruine and destruction of them all doeth not slumber You see beloued the scope and final end of the apostle his words are plaine manifest verified at this day in the eies and eares of you all and the like euent that campe vpon them wil also light vpon vs in that we haue deuided the cote of Christ that had no seame and haue dried vp the ointment of vnity that ranne downe vpon Aarons beard euen vnto the skert of his garment Saint Paul perpending the state of his time protested plainely that if hee should labour to please men he could not be a Disciple of Christ And I would to God that there were not some to be found among vs that will preach according to the direction of their auditory from whence haue rysen diuisions tending to the subuertion of Christian faith and religion And from this sort of men the Apostle exhorteth euery one to depart The haruest approacheth the Master of the ground expecteth a good croppe but the tempestuous blast of schisme and diuision hath shaken the blade that the corne is perished and he that thresheth the same shall well perceiue his labour to bee lost Men and brethren in this militarie expedition let euery one be aduised how and in what order hee standeth He that is persuaded that he is sure of foot may fal he that rūneth may forthwith stumble but in humility let euery one learne for God resisteth the proude and applieth himselfe to the humble and hath dealt mercifully with the poore in spirit when the rich men of the world haue beene sent empty away The Apostle S. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothy cap. 4. The spirit speaketh plainely that in the later daies certaine shall reuolt from the faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 addicting themselues to spirits of errour Oecumenius in 4. cap. epist ad Timoth. so Oecumenius speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That hee that hath once swarued from the verity of Gods word is presently caried awaie with euery fantasie In the infancy of the Church sprang forth Cerinthus and Saturninus in the second centenarie issued forth Carpocrates and Montanus in the third Nouatus and Sabellius in the fourth Eunomius Vigilantius and Heluidius in the fift Pelagius and Nestorius in the sixt Agnoitae Monophysitae in the seuenth Iacobitae
est de pulmentarijs cogitare non dogmata diuina decoquere Master Cooke saith he if I be not deceiued your office belongeth to the seasoning of the pot and in matters appertayning to Gods Church you haue no interest Reade beloued the holy Scriptures with feare and reuerence preferre not a priuate interpretation before that which hath beene receaued and is approued a truth If any be ignorant let him repaire to the learned that all sects schismes and false teachers detected we may so heare reade and beleeue the Scriptures that they may be vnto vs a sauor of life vnto life that the course of our life ended each of vs may receaue a full reward in the kingdome of heauē of the which God for his mercy make vs all partakers And thus much by your fauourable patience shall suffice to haue spoken of this first part The second part conteineth a description of them they shall bring in damnable heresies tending to the destruction of the instructer and the instructed they shall impugne the deity and the humanity of Christ the people that are credulous shal follow them the trueth shal be blasphemed and corrupted by thē of a greedy appetite to enrich themselues with pleasing and perswasiue words they shall buy sel you according to their owne disposition The Apostle writing to the Hebrewes exhorteth them not to be caried away with strange doctrine from heauen to earth from Angels to damned spirits from faith to infidelity from felicity to misery and in fine to euery mischiefe for they that leaue faith hope and charity and with the contrary vnto these doe conuerse are forthwith caried into eternall damnatiō being of the seede of Abraham they degenerate and are of the seede of Cain descending lineally of Christ they approue themselues of the seede of Antichrist Iude exhorteth all Christians to remember the words of the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ which tolde you that in the later daies there should come mockers which should walk according to their carnall desires worldly minded men hauing not the spirit Our sauiour in the 18. of Luke the son of man whē he cōmeth doe you think that he shal find faith vpon the earth And againe take heede of false Prophets that come vnto you in sheeps cloathing yet inwardly they are rauening wolues whereunto the Apostle addeth this that they shall make merchandize of godlinesse and as our Sauiour speaketh vnder a pretence of piety they shall deuoure widowes houses Whosoeuer saieth Christ is not with me is against me he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroade professour of Christ and professed enemies to Christ gathering multitudes together and dispersers of them whose ende shall be according to their workes Christ is preached to many beleeued of a fewe some require discipline in the Church of Christ the whip of Christ is not exercised the streight way is laied open for euery passenger and liberty standeth at the gate and offereth free accesse to euery one people are incredulous Master we would see a signe from thee an extraordinary signe would sufficiently approue thy doctrine Simon Magus flew vp into the aire as he corrupted men on earth Arnobius lib. 2 cont gentes he would if it might be peruert Angels in heauen but his supporters the princes of the aire forsooke him and let go their holde and as sinne of it selfe is heauy so likewise at the voice of Peter downe fel Simon the man of sinne and the fal of him is a memorable president for curiosity hereupon Saint Augustine in his 22. booke de ciuitate Dei cap. 8. quisquis adhuc prodigia vt credat inquirit magnum est ipse prodigium qua mundo credente non credit he that to ratifie his faith requireth a wonder that man saieth Augustine is a wonder that standeth in doubt of his faith when all the world receaueth the same Christ and Christianity cannot be seperated Luciferians Vigilantians Donatists Anababtists and as many as glory in the bare title of any man these haue separated themselues from Christ and are none of his folde Ignoro Miletium Paulinum respuo qui Christiani non est Antichrist saieth Hierom to Damasus I neither care for the one or the other I am assured of one thing saieth Hierom that hee that is not vvith Christ is against Christ Sathan hath sent forth his messengers I came saieth Christ in the name of my father and you receaued me not Another hath come in his his owne name and him you haue receaued Gog and Magog in the Reuelation are abroade and their armies are as the sandes of the sea The gnostique heretique that sprang from the rotten roote of Carpocrates they pretended piety and integritie of life and practised secretly by Magique Arrius he perceiued that the deity of Christ was generally receaued in that hee was tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee likewise peruerted multitudes in adding a letter and drowned the same in the sounde affirming that Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of the same substance vvith God his father but of the like and brought vpon his owne heade suddaine destruction Christ is very God and very man God of his father before the world and man of his Mother borne in the world perfect God and perfect man his humane flesh subsisting Yet Ioannes Langius affirmed that Christ was not man whose damnable heresie vvas long ago condemned in Eutiches in the 3. Calcedon Councels and the 2. councels helde at Constantinople Christ became sinne that is hee offered himselfe to God the father a sacrifice for sinne hee died for the sinnes of the worlde if any presumptuous and blasphemous mouth will saye that there vvas sinne in Christ Anathema sit let him bee accursed I hope there is no preacher in Englande will say so if any haue affirmed it that man is in the highest degree of heresie and blasphemy and if he persist in the same I assure him little comfort shall hee reape by the passion of Christ for the benefit of his passion is extended in omnes peccatores but as Durand speaketh respicientes but vnto them that haue conceiued within themselues a godly sorrow for sinne the grace of God assisting If then this doctrine be true as without controuersie it is most true where are they which vvere tearmed patropassiani and the like from vvhence Michaell Seruetus deriued his execrable and damnable assertions opposite and repugnant to the analogy and proportion of our faith Christ suffered in his humanity the deity impassible Lutherus in 2. ca. ep 1. Petri. Luther defended the contrary and vvas ouer-reached Christ descended into hell and preached vnto the spirits that vvere in prison here Erasmus of Rhetrodame decyphered his verball diuinity and his Atheisme in affirming that the passion of Christ extended it selfe so farre that it released the soules of Cicero Homer Plato Socrates If any learned man doubt of this his assertion I refer him to his epistle vvriten
Iacobo Tutori Mē in these daies are curious Erasmus he misliked the old interpreter Beza misliked him Castellio condemned him Tremelius magnified of a number Vatablus little regarded our ordinary translation of the Bible in English in pulpits not long since reprehended What haue these procured but a defection from Christ and Christianity Laurentius Valla in his sixt booke of Elegances cap. 34 by nomeanes could be perswaded to allowe of the woorde persona in the Trinity Jouius in vitis virorum illustrium Pomponius Laetus had conceiued so pleasing an opinion of himselfe that hee vtterly detested the Greeke tongue in that hee feared it would corrupt his fluent and copious stile in Latine And oftentimes it falleth out that men standing too much in their owne light forgette themselues and are perswaded of a verity the vvhich of them is not conceiued sectes are rife among vs the trueth is blasphemed and diuerse in these daies for lucre sake to obtayne a poore benefice can preach according to the direction of the patrons Demosthenes beeing once corrupted by money by Legates protested that he had little to say in the behalfe of his King and Countrey for his tongue was not his ovvne in that hee had solde it so these Clurina peccora that vvith money cary deaneries and prebendaries vpon their backes they haue but litle to say in the church of God for they paide extremely for it if they may saue himselfe he careth not It vvas an oulde verse Curia Romana non captat ouem sine lana so they maye reape the benefite lette them that list take the laboure And that vvhich is a soule inconuenience vvhen menne that haue spente all their dayes in phisicke or in the studies of the Ciuill Lawe if hee cannot by that aspire to promotion presently he intrudeth himselfe into the ministry and with their flesh hookes like Elies childrē they snatch the flesh out of the pot which in equity belonged to the priest and not vnto them In the meane season many a famous scholler in the vniuersity whose frends are poore lingereth away his daies and is not regarded Our patrones should be vigilant in this point but euery man prouideth for his owne one mā he supporteth 4 steeples on his shoulders like Atlas that supporteth heauen that by reason of his burden he cannot speake Others that haue cōsumed their patrimonies in chambering wātonnesse and excessiue Rioting they forthwith take sanctuary in some one Cathedrall Church or other and are prebendes in the same The Church of God feeleth the inconuenience of it And as yet it is not redressed Heresies creepe into the Church of God sects and diuisions abound the way of trueth is blasphemed and diuers are caried away with faire and pleasant speeches Lucian in a treatise that he writeth de non credendo calumniae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a seducer crept in among you well furnished with learning this man saieth he would with great diligence bee regarded lest in the end hee seduce others Are these teachers in outward shew religious auoid them for as Leo speaketh in his 9. Sermon ac qudragesima plus plerunque pericili est in insidiatore occulto quam in hoste manifesto there is more daunger saieth he in him that is not detected then in a professed enemies Matters that nothing at all concerne vs haue bene scandalous to the Church of God Augustine and Hierom contended about the gourd of Ionas Hierom and Ruffinus whither Origen were saued Aug. in his 17. booke de ciuitate Dei cap. 20 doubteth wither Solomon were saued so doeth Chrysostome in the 68. homily vpon Matthew and Alphonsus Abulensis writing vpon the 2 of Reg. cap. 7. quaestione vltima Those thinges that doe not concerne vs let vs not contend about them wee haue no such custome neither the Church of God Let vs not search into the misteries of God for what man is he that is able to comprehend them Pride is properly incident vnto these teachers and as Aug. speaketh it is mater omnium haereticorum The wisdome of man it is foolishnes with God of our selues wee are not able to thinke a good thought much lesse to perfourme any thing that is good Ambrose compareth the night oule to these kinde of men Ambr. in Hexa Animal ist ud haereticorum figura est qui tenebras amplectuntur diaboli lucē saluatoris horrescunt this creature saieth hee is a right and perfect figure of heretiques which delight in palpable darckenesse peculiar to the deuill and cannot abide the light of Christ granbus disputationum oculis cernunt vana non respiciunt sempiterna and with their great eies of contention they looke after vanity and regard not those things that concerne eternity acuti ad superstitiosa quicksighthd to spy superstition hebetes ad diuina slowe and very dull in Christian Religion qui dum se putant sub limibus euolare sermonibus by which perswade themselues to flee into heauen with great words tanquam noctuae veri luminis splendore turbantur like vnto night oules are throwen downe at the brightnesse of the true light A man infected with some one dangerous malady is auoided for as Aristotle speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infection is alwaies in motu forthwith it will disperse herselfe But the infection of the soule which is heresie as Bernarde speaketh serpit vt cancer whē we think it is going away from vs it commeth vpon vs that is not regarded The body being sicke we forthwith haue recourse to sundry expert physicians and be the disease neuer so dangerous one or other is perswaded that he can cure the same But the soule of man lying in a consumption that the very essence of Religion faith in Christ is almost brought to nothing few resort vnto him that with clay and spittle can open our eies whose hem of his gramēt can immediatly stay the issue of bloud who in saying puella tibi dico surge damsell I say to thee arise who can raise the dead to life who waketh Lazarus out of his sounde sleepe Lazare veni foras Lazarus cōe forth This physician is not sought nor regarded but it is with vs as with desperate patients when the physician perceiueth that there is no way but death leaueth the patient to his owne appetite so ducimus in laetis dies nostros in puncto ad inferos descendimus we keepe holy day al the yeare long and in the twinckling of any eye we are turned into the pit We are al perswaded of a trueth yet we are not resolued of the trueth much like to the goast that in his traūce pasquill discerned houering in the sphear of the Moone with a weighty stone at his heeles that gladly would ascend higher yet the loue that he bare to the world did keep him downe this was Erasmus of Roterodame that knew the trueth and yet for feare of loosing his dignities in the world durst not professe the
same He that denieth me before man I will likewise deny him before my father in heauen he that confesseth me before man I likewise will acknowledge him before my father in heauen That man that weareth the cognisance of a noble man and vnder him is protected from diuerse that lie in waite to slay him and receauing sundrie benefits of him doeth in eury place reuile and slaunder him he is vnworthy of his benefites already receaued so wee that beare the cognisance of Christ vnder him are protected from three capitall enemies the world the flesh and the diuel that continually lye in waite to kill both soule and body doe keepe the coÌ„panie of his professed enemies and associate our selues with pride luxurie and prodigality and with them little esteeme of him and his Crosse we approue our selues vnprofitable seruaÌ„ts and greater iniurie then these vnto him cannot be offered If we professe Christ in outward shewe for feare of the Rigour of some penall statute and in our harts doe not beleeue in him this profession of ours serueth not So the diuels likewise know him and acknowledge him yet they beleeue not in him In the meane season we are secure euery one doubteth not his owne estate cathedra Mosis the chaire of Moses and we haue Abraham to our father but these auaile not diuision is crept in among vs a kingdome deuided in it selfe cannot stand concordia res paruae crescunt discordia mazimae dilabuntur Antioch a famous Citty as you may read in the 11. of the Acts. in that the faithful beleeuing were called Christians a Citty greatly honored for ReligioÌ„ in so much it was had in so great honour and reputation that the patriarch had vnder him 14 metropolitanes as Volaterane in his 11. book reporteth there were an hundred and fifty Bishops The Cittie double walled for it had foure hundred and threefcore strong towers and three hundred threescore beautifull Churches but what of these they were at diuisioÌ„ some followed the doctrin of Nestorius others relied wholly vpoÌ„ Macarius denying the sonne of God that redeemed them Insomuch that God being offeÌ„ded with theÌ„ he seÌ„t Cosroe king of Persia inuaded the Citty ouerthroweth it put the inhabitaÌ„ts to fire sword this eueÌ„t had schism diuision To let passe Constantinople coÌ„quered by the Turke to omit the Empire of Trapezâ—â—t vanquished by him in that the inhabitants disseuered themselues in matters of ReligioÌ„ in that the Greeke Church dissented from the latin the Emperor of ConstaÌ„tinople came with the Patriarch to a councel holden at Florence in Italy there confirmed the vnity of both Churches what followed Marcus B. of Ephesus kindled sedition peruerted the Empire in 14. years after made great variance among theÌ„ insomuch that the Turke came suddainly vpon theÌ„ coÌ„quered the Empire and put them al to the sword the Emperour in fleeing away was slaine his head caried vpon a pole in derision his wife daughters reserued to satisfie their carnall appetite This is the ende of sects and schisme In the time of Iohn the 9. Pope of Rome Platina in vita Joh. 9. when as barbarisme had ouer run all Italy insomuch that we read nothing worthy memory to haue beene done in that age that is recoÌ„meÌ„ded to posterity there was fouÌ„d a monster in proportion like vnto a man his head excepted and that was like vnto a dog the which resembled the estate and condition of that time for so long as in hand and foote we cary the shape of a man if wee haue not that reason and discretion that is giuen vnto vs by God but according to our appetite follw that which is not expedient for vs we approue our selues in the end more like beasts then men the question at this day betwixt vs the church of Rome is whether we fel froÌ„ theÌ„ or they from vs. There is say they no change no innouatious in our doctrin that which was deliuered vnto vs we haue receaued that which we receaued haue we preached beleeued Is this true all of theÌ„ agree in it what is the reason that in their Masse of late years there haue bene such sundry innouations alterations Leo the 10. defended in his time that order of the Masse which was secunduÌ„ vsum Sarum so did ClemeÌ„t the 7. yet Paulus the 4. he began to vary a little from it Afterwarde came Pius the 5. and he sub anathemate sanxit none to be authenticall but that which hee allowed Gregory the 13. he liked not of his he set out one according as he thought expedieÌ„t afterward Sixtus 5. he caused a new one to printed at Rome with his additioÌ„s which in the year 1588. was printed by Plantine at Andwerp Tho Stapleton he exclameth against vs for our ofteÌ„ chaÌ„ge In that HeÌ„ry the 8. lest his 6. articles in force Edw. the 6. he put theÌ„ not in executioÌ„ her M. hath varied froÌ„ theÌ„ both Beloued I knowe no chaÌ„ge or alteratioÌ„ in our doctrine the book of coÌ„moÌ„ praier is the saÌ„e now that it was at the first hir M. hath defeÌ„ded it agaiÌ„st the monarchs of Europe in great lenity she hath gouerned vs peace hath lodged within the wals of our Citties I pray God long to continue the same euen to the last generation Gregory Martin in his discouery of corruptions seemeth to sport at the seueral editions of our English Bibles in that there is no harmony or coÌ„sent betweene them The words may vary but the sense is one the same and he whosoeuer he be forraine or domestique that shall goe about to alter a knowen and receaued trueth a white leprosie shall marke his forehead as we haue beene taught so haue we beleeued and he that addeth to this booke God shall adde vnto him all the plagues conteined therein and hee that taketh any thing away God shal likewise race out his name out of the book of life and giue vnto him his portion in the burning lake with hypocrites and foxes No Priest may marry diuerse haue maintayned the same so Alphonsus Viruesius aduersus Lutheri dogmata affirmeth and Perionius l. 2. topic theolog the Greeke Church haue allowed thereof Our late Canonists haue founde out a newe deuise that it is not lawfull for a Monk or a priest to marry openly but priuatly minori cum dispendio aliud esse aiunt cum occulto Monachus duxit vxorem quia tunc magis praesumitur delo peccasse quam intellectus errore So holdeth Francis Squilla de fide catholica cap. 15. Ludouicus Carer tractatu de haereticis numero 38. I could lay open seuerall repugnaÌ„ces among theÌ„ all which will sufficiently approue this that in the Church of Rome there haue beene and are at this day to be fouÌ„d sundry and diuers innouations Let vs beloued be firme and resolute in the trueth if any offer vnto vs any other doctrine tending to schisme and dissension refuse the same and as Basil
writing aduersus Anomaeos Sabillianos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ himselfe hath so taught vs The Apostles of christ haue so preached 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fathers in the primitiue church haue obserued the sāe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be sufficiēt then for thee to say I haue bene thus taught The Apostle Saint Peter obserueth two especiall properties in them the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their intemperancy they shall be so licentious in their doctrine that they care not what they speake the second is their couetousnesse they preach vnto you saieth the Apostle not to saue your soules but to saue themselues to enrich themselues and these are two notable tokens to discerne a false teacher A riotous and luxurious person ouerthroweth himselfe in his prodigality so these riotous and luxurious preachers they ouerthrow themselues in their superfluities he that in diputatiō hath once made a breach into any absurdity he wil not spare to swallow many so these hauing erred in the principal points of christian religion care not what they say A foole saieth Salomon he is lauish of his tongue and hee that is vnaduised in his speach shall feele mischiefes Dauid attributeth to a slaunderous tongue a fit reward and that is hoat consuming coales Saint Iames in his third cap. A horse saith he is an vnruly beast if once he haue the bit in his mouth will turne according to the will of the rider a ship a huge and vast vessell is ruled in the sea by a little peece of timber the tongue is a little member and it polluteth the whole body There are few years in the which our physicians doe not giue out that there is a new disease insomuch they are ignorant how and in what order to proceede This sommer past diuerse haue beene infected with a dangerous malady tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their tongues haue had such a shaking ague that seldome they were at rest Hee saieth the Apostle that offendeth not vvith his tongue he is a perfect man Homer obserueth that Irus the begger was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that vsed no measure in speaking but in Menelaus he noteth this in him that he vsed to speake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 few words yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery word weighed a pounde Augustine in xlv Sermon ad fratres in eremo describeth sundry incōueniences that haue happened vnto diuers by this excessiue riot videte fratres saith he quanta mala habet lingua brethren sundry are the inconueniences that the tongue bringeth In bono magna est in malo mors est laudable in a good man but present death it is in a wicked man Diabolus vnde cecedit Can you tel me how the diuell came by his fall numquid adulterium fecit assure your selues he committed no adultery numquid furtum fecit theft he neuer committed diabolus non propter hoc cecidit the diuill was not expelled out of heauen for these things sed propter linguam cum dixit in caelum ascendam super sydera ponā thronum meum ero altissimo onely his tongue was in fault when he saied hee would ascend vp into heauen and place his seate aboue the starres and be equall to God himselfe In the Church of England there is but one vniforme consent of praier ratified by autority yet that forme and order of praier cannot by no meanes be receaued For we wil pray as we are disposed This mans praier is effectuall it conteineth in it all things that are requisite to corporall sustenance or spirituall comfort The prayer prescribed in the Church by authority they are thankesgiuings for victories obteyned by Dauid or else if of late yeares they haue beene set downe they doe not concerne the state of the present time Againe diuerse are so addicted to their own fātasies that if it be not adorned with variety of choise words and beautified with metaphors contayning sundry and diuerse repetitions they doe not regarde the same Our cōming to the Church is to praise God with one vniforme consent of praier one man he hath writen praiers and so he praieth to himselfe Another he deuiseth a praier as he kneeleth if the preacher be not as they require they will not repaire to heare him One man he commēdeth the order of praiers prescribed by the faithfull brethren of the Church of Scotland another alloweth not so well of that as he doeth of certaine praiers that were priuily printed of late yeares in fine so they may deface the vniforme order of praier in the booke of common prayer they could bee content to receaue any order whatsoeuer John Penry his vnlerned confutation of Master D. Bancroftes sermon Iohn Penrie hath of late set forth a paltry pamphlet carying a shew of a confutation of a learned Sermon preached out of this place by a learned and a reuerende man wherein hee inueigheth against notable and learned pointes of doctrine the which the poore seely soule doeth not vnderstand And to aggrauate the matter hee desireth them vnto whose hands his booke shall come to peruse the Collect appointed for Saint Michaell the Archangell wherein he saieth there is plainly set downe a plaine article of popery praier to Saints On the other side I desire you that at this day heare me at your comming home to peruse the collect if you can finde any one such point therein conteyned tending to his wordes I will recant this that I say if not I beseech you for Gods cause suspect these men that seeke nothing but the ouerthrow of Religion and the subuersion of the state yet all is not they would haue it you haue gotten the start of vs. Our bookes are forbidden our printing presses are taken from vs and our prolocutor T. C. is now in durance Libanius the Sophist made a Rhetoricall declamation adorned with tropes beautified with variety of sentences and the phrase of it selfe so fluent and copious that Iulian the Apostate perusing the same cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Libanius saieth he thou art aureus partus matris tuae I neuer heard of the like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the excellencie of thy declamation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what an inuincible argument hast thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I haue not seene so elegant a disposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so forth So these men T. C. hath ouerthrown them by the word of God if his tongue and pen were at liberty he is now better furnished then euer he was The presbytery of England should be furnished with sufficient preachers all scādals remoued the gouernement of the Church should peaceably be gouerned and the spirit of prophecy should not be extinguished Well I am assured of one thing I shall haue no thankes for my labour and I looke for none what I haue spoken is for the duty that I owe to the Church of God and to benefit the same The Apostle would haue vs to pray continually
lifting vp pure handes vnto heauen and as long as we heape one innouation vpon the necke of another so long we exceed in excessiue riot and blaspheme the way of truth The second thing that the Apostle obserueth in these false teachers is their couetousnesse a fault not tolerable in them that are appointed by God to instruct his people This vice it is too too common among vs. Our liuings are pared and little is reserued for vs patrones caÌ„ be content to keepe them in their owne hands or if they cannot he that is presented vnto it of necessity he must offer somewhat to the siluer shrine of Simon before his institution Others againe that haue sufficient they prouide for others heap vp riches for their childreÌ„ In the meane season open exclamatioÌ„s are souÌ„ded forth derogatory to the church her ministers HieroÌ„ writing vpoÌ„ the 143. Psa Videtis saith he magistros haereticorum nihil aliud facere nisi studere diuitijs diuitijs studeÌ„t paupereÌ„ ChristuÌ„ coÌ„teÌ„nunt it is the custoÌ„e of false teachers to heap vp riches in making greater accouÌ„t of this world theÌ„ they doe of Christ Couetousnes it hath ouerthrowen multitudes it is the root of al mischiefe vnde habeas quaerit nemo sed oportet habere so we haue it we care not how in what order we come by it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bern. in a treatise that he writeth de bonis desereÌ„dis deciphereth the estate of his time A gentleman saith hee hath 4. children This say they shall haue an aduousion of some coÌ„petent personage the other shall attend vpon my Lord Bishop vt ditetur de bonis domini ne in nostros liberos nostra diuidatur haereditas This shall attend in the Vniuersity vpon some one man that shall be heade of an house And in time it may so fall out that in delicijs delictis nutritus Archidia conatu dignus habeatur he shall be a fit man to bee an Archdeacon Another that by reason of his pouerty hath no frends vndique sedulus circuit rangeth vp and downe the country obsequitur blanditur simulat dissimulat with cap and knee he attendeth on his patrone if at the last he may intrude himselfe in patrimonium crucifixi bona domini vpon the goods of the Church quae sola ex omnibus hodie inueniuntur exposita the which alone at this day are laied open for euery one in the meane season he vnto whom these goods appertaine which is Christ peregre profectus est hee is gone abroade in plenilunio rediturus at the full moone he purposeth to returne and of all these he will seuerely exact his own If any think that I haue gone further theÌ„ I should he is deceaued Bernard de boâ—is deserendis these words are not mine but Bernards Saint Paul he pointeth at these teachers and telleth vs quae sua sunt quaerentes non quae Iesu Christi they seeke those things that concerne themselues and not those things which concerne the honour of god Such a one was Nicholas one of the seuen deacons and SimoÌ„ Magus if he could haue purchased the holy Ghost with his money he would not haue bene a loser Liuings of the Church are saleable ware in these daies sundry intrude themselues into liuinges of the which they are vnworthy Giezâ— in the 4. Reg. c. 5. for his simony was stricken with a leprosie Iudas in selling our redeÌ„ption hanged himselfe Simon Magus for his voluntary proffer hee was vtterly reiected by S. Peter Act. 8. Christ he draue away these money changers out of his temple Men so that they may obtain riches what waies they vse they care not Church lands are not greatly sought for but if they lie in their way they can easily be intreated to take them Our auncestores thought it works of charity to builde Churches their progeny vpon a zeale pull downe Churches ecclesias Christi quas fundauere parentes perdere nitunturnati pietate carentes I will leaue this and hasten to the thirde and last part of my diuision Let vs beloued liue together in Christian vnity verily saieth Christ if you loue one another then are you my Disciples let vs auoide al excesse whatsoeuer and euery one labour to maintain the truth for