St. Peters and the Popes Monarchie which is founded saith he vpon our Sauiours verball institution Non vno tota momento sed gradatim Stapleton relec cont 3. q. 1. art 1. per partes à Christo facta tradita est was not made and deliuered all at one time by our Sauiour but it was giuen by degrees and by parts and therefore as it was instituted by degrees so it must be manifested and proued by degrees and so necessarily by degrees be confuted Thirdly because Gretzer tells vs Gretz defens Bellar. l. 1. c. 23. de Rom. Pontif. that the prerogatiues of St. Peter doe not proue his Monarchie Si considerentur solitariè non iunctim If they be considered apart and not ioyntly and therefore to disproue any one of his prerogatiues is not much to the purpose Finally because they falsly obiect that they being tyed as a Beare to the stake to defend those propositions which are deliuered in print and so professed to the whole world we take no fast hold nor come to handy-gripes but a snatch and away like the dog at Nilus Qui bibit fugit for feare of a Crocodile I will therefore at my next opportunity ioyne issue with them and proue first That the Apostle St. Peter had no Monarchy ouer the Apostles or Church of GOD as Bellarmine Stapleton and Sanders teach Secondly That Saint Peter had a Primacie of order as in an Aristocracie amongst the Apostles who were his equalls and that by the testimonie of the ancient Church Thirdly That the ancient Bishops of Rome of the purer times neither had nor chalenged any Monarchy in the Church or any part thereof Fourthly That by the iudgement of the Fathers they had the Primacie among other Bishops Lastly That this Primacie is not fastened to that See but may for their tyrannies and vsurpations vpon Churches and Kingdomes be remoued from it and conferred on another 62. My conclusion should be if the time did serue with an exhortation to beware how wee vndertake the defence of any vntruth either in Religion or Moralitie considering that neither the honour wit or learning of this great Cardinall can possibly maintaine it but vni sustinendo mendacio necesse est accumulari plura Vntruths are onely maintained by vntruths and one corruption or falsification begets another Truth and a good cause are fairely defended suâ claritate as Lactantius saith by her owne clearenesse Via illa mendax saith hee the way of lying and falsifying and corrupting c. Via illa mendax quae ducit ad occasum multos tramites habet That false deceitfull way which leades to destruction hath many crosse wayes and many trickes too but being examined as you see shame followes after and as he saith Ab aniculis quas contemnunt à pueris nostris error illorum stultitia irridebitur Their error and folly shall be laughed at by our olde women and children whom they scorne 63. God who is the author and defender of truth and reuenger and reuealer of falshoode and lies so possesse your hearts with the loue of truth that it may be the scope and end of all your studies and actions and at length direct you to that true way which leadeth to the true euerlasting life This GOD grant for Christ Iesus sake to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glorie praise and dominion for euer and euer AMEN THE SECOND SERMON Luke 12.41.42 c. Then Peter said vnto him MASTER tellest thou this parable vnto vs or euen to all And the Lord said who is a faithfull Steward and wise whom the Master shall make ruler ouer the houshold to giue them their portion of meate in season c. 1. I Haue heretofore diuided this Text into certaine conditions requisite for a good Steward but because we are to enquire Quis sit Who he is before we come to the question Qualis sit What his qualities and conditions are I shewed you that Bellarmine disputing against the Presbyterians affirmed out of St. Hilarie and the rest of the Fathers that the Bishops and Prelates of the Church were this Steward but discoursing against Protestants Cic. de Orat. Tanquam Academicus nonus qui contra omnes dicere solebant hee makes the Pope this Steward imagining these words to be spoke to St. Peter onely and to that purpose he corrupted as I then noted euery circumstance of this Text for as St. Augustine saith Aug. li. 83. quest q. 69. Non possit ijs error oboriri palliatus nomine Christiano nisi de scriptur is non intellectis aut malitiosè expositis 2. This counterfeit columne of the Popes Monarchie I then shooke asunder but it is seldome seene Cicero that in vno praelio fortuna Reipub. disceptat and this Monarchie was not collated by our Sauiour with any one speech or at any one time as Stapleton saith but by many and sundrie donations nor the great prerogatiues which were giuen to St. Peter and so consequently to the Pope are to be considered solitariè but iunctìm as Gretzer saies wherefore they must be confuted seuerally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Tullie hath it exactly Cic. de Orat. and with a iust proportion Vt verba verbis quasi demensa paria respondeant 3. But because all the reasons and arguments which the Iesuites now make in defence of this Monarchie by vertue of any prerogatiue Monarchicall which they attribute to St. Peter Adiunante misericordiâ Domini as St. Augustine saith anteà sunt antiquorum patrum praeuentione refutata Aug. cont epist 2. Gaudentij lib. 2. cap. 6. quam illorum circumuentione prolata are preuented by the ancient Fathers interpretations before we could be circumuented by their obiections as appeareth by sundry answeres which haue beene framed of late as also because it is an argument more beseeming many volumes then a fewe Sermons I will therefore as I then promised proue to all indifferent hearers First that S. Peter had not any Monarchy ouer the Apostles or Church of Christ by our Sauiours institution Secondly that St. Peter had a Primacie of order as in an Aristocracie among the Apostles who were his equalls as the Fathers affirme Thirdly that the ancient Bishops of Rome of the purer times neither had nor challenged any Monarchie ouer the Church or any part thereof Fourthly that by the iudgement of the Fathers they had the Primacie among other Bishops Lastly that this Primacie is not fastened to this See but may for their tyrannies and vsurpations ouer Churches and Kingdomes be remoued from it and conferred on another 4. The first is that our Sauiour bequeathed no Monarchie to S. Peter nor to his Church and so consequently that the spirituall gouernement is not Monarchicall 5. This argument hath beene copiously and learnedly handled of late but especially by those two worthies of our Church the most learned and reuerend Bishops of Winchester and
â—â—ey esteeme fundamentall for the vulgar will suspeâ—â— our truth and fidelity vntill we discouer our adueâ—â—aries falshood and subtilty Cypr. de vnitate Eccles c. 2. and no maruell for Saint Cyprian saith Haeretici dum verisimilia mentiuntur veritatem subtilitate frustrantur Heretickes doe euen weaken and frustrate the truth by certaine false shewes and similitudes of it 4. Lactantius saith that as the way of wisedome Lactan. l. â— c. 7. or truth via illa sapientiae aliquid habet simile stultitiae hath somewhat in it that may seeme to be folly for as he saith in another place L. 5. c. 15. Sapientia suapte naturâ speciem quandam stultitiae habet as Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 1.18 1 Cor. 1.23 Verbum crucis est pereuntibus stultitiae and Christus crucifixus gentibus stultuia so also the way of errour Via erroris cum sit tota stultitia saith Lactantius habet aliquid simile sapientiae the way of errour which is paued with fâ—lly hath some shew also of wisedome in it which sometimes deceiues them that seeme to be wise and sometimes is vsed by them who discerne the truth to deceiue the simple 5. Card. Bellarmine in his Bookes de Rom. Pontif. Monarchiâ Ecclesiasticâ offers himselfe a leader and guide in this way of errour but being Dux praeuaricatox subdolus now he leades them in one path and then in another wheresoeuer he may find any shew any colour of truth sometimes by a face of Scripture falsly vnderstood sometimes vnder the cloake of ancient traditions sometimes vnder the credit of the Fathers authority sometimes vnder the colour of phylosophicall reason sometimes with the counterfet aspect of logicall definitions 6. Now as all these kindes of proofes to an orthodoxe disputant are viae itinera veritatis Lactantius the Churches high and straite way to leade vs to Gods truth so to them who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nâ—zianzen calls them that is falsly informed in the Christian Religion and false informers of other they are diuerticula semitae anfractus by-pathes corners and diuerticles to leade men to errour and to this purpose many times Lactantius Dux iste coniungit omnes Bellarmine makes vse of them all and most of them runne together and meete in one center to maintaine this false Monarchy and vsurped tyranny 7. Primum fraudis diuerticulum as Tullie calles it the first crafty shift that I will obserue vnto you is abigere homines per inanem fallaciam which the Apostle notes to be a quality incident to false Teachers Colos 2.8 Colos 2.8 which is to diuert men out of the way of truth by Logicall fallacies and corrupting the definitions both of the Church and of a Monarchie by defining the Church so as it may fit their Monarchy and by deuising such a definition of a Monarchie as may fit their Church For when the Empire became possessio quasicaduca Cicero vacua an vncertaine and weake possession in eam homines occupati imperatoribus otio luxu abundantibus inuolauerunt vpon the power and priuiledges thereof crafty and ambitious Popes vsurped whilest the Emperours liued in sensuality and ease and so by consequent vpon the Church-gouernement also from which vsurped possessions they cannot endure to be remoued though Kings and Bishops now challenge againe their ancient right and natiue prerogatiues and yet being not able to maintane it by Sword they would hold their possession by colour of reason and originall right 8. And taking this as granted by all reasonable men which both Tullie the Orator teacheth vs that Omnis Câ— lib. 1. Offic. quae à ratione suscipitur de re aliquâ institutio debet à definitione proficisci that euery rationall disputation takes the beginning from definitions And Aristotle the Philosopher Dubia omnia contingentia de re aliquâ ex definitione illius soluenda sunt all doubts and questions which can arise in any businesse may be dissolued by the definitions of them they vse strange art Et ea quae naturâ diuersa sunt definitionibus coniungunt they make the Church and a Monarchie which are diuers by nature one and the same and ioyne them together by false definitions Cic. cont Rullam as Corinth doth conioyne duo maria maximè nauigationi diuersa which run along with two contrary streames 9. For a Monarchie as appeareth both by the Etymon which is vnius solius imperium Arist lib. 3. Polit. cap. 11. and by Aristotles definition is that forme of gouernment in quâ vnus praestantissimus vir rerum omnium potestate defungitur which definition Sanders doth acknowledge Sanders lib. 3. de visib Monar cap. 3. 10. The royalties or prerogatiues of a Monarch consist in two things in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in hauing power in himselfe and of himselfe only which is called also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manus regia Ius regis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plenitudo potestatis and secondly in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vniuersall gouernment and command ouer all his territories 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or plenitudo potestatis semper subsistit in regis capite Fulnesse of power doth subsist in the Kings person and the prerogatiues which proceede from it as Ius nobilitandi legitimandi restituendi in integrum sententiam passos tam vitae honoribus quà m facultatibus the power and right to aduance at his pleasure to honour and nobility to legitimate to restore to their state such as are condemned both to their honours and possessions These and the like are merè regalia diuisionem vel communicationem non admittunt they cannot be diuided with any or communicated to any for then he to whom it is communicated or with whom it is diuided could not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub alterius potestate as all Subiects are and ought to be vnder a Monarch or King but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absolute of himselfe also 12. The royalties which proceede â 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his dominion or gouernment are often communicated to inferiour Magistrates and Presidents and gouernours of Prouinces as the vse of tributes Subsidies and the like not the imposing of them which are proprieties of an absolute dominion such as Monarchs enioy 13. To this forme of Monarchicall gouernment by encroachment and vsurpation the Popedome is brought dum Patres-familias dormirent whilst Kings and Emperours were fast asleepe but yet it must be chalenged from Saint Peter by succession in his Stewardship and therfore Bellarmine proposeth this question and holds it affirmitiuely Fueritne Sanctus Petrus primus Ecclesiae Catholicae spiritualis Monarcha whether Saint Peter were the first spirituall Monarch of the Catholicke Church 14. And Gretzer he will proue it thus Si quis est caput vniuersale idem iure optimo Monarcha est cum independentis potestatis plenitudinem possideat at Petrus fuit caput vniuersale ergo Monarcha Here is absolute
particular part a singulis tenetur in solidum by the first institution and euery one hath power in the whole as it is vndeuided indiuisus and continues for euer Episcopus vniuersalis Ecclesiae a Bishop of the Church vniuersall 45. Now as that one Monarchie in heauen hath not the denomination in respect of any superioritie which is found among the Persons in the Trinitie the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost who are that one Monarch of the same power and essence c. but is so called in regard of the world and coelestiall and terrestriall creatures which are subiect to them so this one Bishopricke is not Monarchicall in respect of any superioritie among those persons or Bishops which are all equall in power and degree and make all but one Bishop and supreame gouernour vnder Christ of his Church but in regard of inferiors Priests and people which are subiect to them 46. And yet as in the equalitie of persons the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost which are all one God there is found primatus ordinis in the Father which is Aristocraticall so in pari consortio honoris dignitatis of all the Bishops of the Church which make all but one Bishop of that one Bishopricke for as Saint Cyprian saith Cypr. Non ignoramus vnum Episcopum in Ecclesiâ catholicâ esse debere there is found of necessitie primatus ordinis as in euery Aristocracie because ordo or as Saint Cyprian saith Cypr. de vnit Eccles Exordium ab vnitate proficiscitur which exordium the Fathers affirme to haue beene in Saint Peter 47. If this my breuitie in this maine point breede any obscuritie and so doth not satisfie some intelligent Auditor by reason of the diuersitie of opinions concerning the first institution of Bishops I will enlarge it in the proper place when I speake of the Primacie thus much was said by Anticipation and by occasion of that philosophicall argument proposed by Thomas and pursued by the Iesuites for the Popes spirituall Monarchie 48. Which argument resembleth that of some Ciuilians and Canonists to proue the like absurditie in the temporall state Barthol in Extrau ad Reprimen Glos in cap. per venerab viz. That the Emperour is the Monarch of the whole world as Bartholus hath it and the glosse who alledge these reasons which Sanders and Bellarmine haue borrowed from them for Illorum sunt omnia quae delirant Iesuitae as thus Non est credendum quin Deus instituerit in orbe optimum genus gubernationis because it is said Psal 103. Omnia in sapientiâ fecisti sed illud est Monarchia which resembleth the coelestiall gouernement ergo Imperator est orbis Monarcha 49. Againe quae sunt praeter naturam debent imitari naturalia at in naturalibus semper vnus Rector in corpore cor in animâ vna ratio ergo in orbe vnus Imperator sicut vnus Deus and other the like reasons which are applied to the Pope in the selfe-same termes mutatis mutandis changing the Emperour for the Pope and the world for the Church 50. But I conclude briefly of the Popes spirituall Monarchie ouer all the Church as Franciscus a Victoriâ doth of the Emperours temporall Monarchie ouer the whole world notwithstanding all those reasons acknowledged by him Fran. Victor relec 5. de Indis Haec opinio est sine aliquo fundamento and therefore we may safely contemne the one of the Pope as Victoria the great Master of the Spanish writers doth the other of the Emperour without danger of Marcionisme Lucianisme Porphyrianisme and Heathenisme and such terrours and monsters of heresie as they pretend to vs. 51. And thus much of the second diuerticle or by-path to error which Bellarmine vseth to seduce his Readers Colos 2.8 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I would adde more if I might not offend your patience Bern. but Breuis dies cogit breuiorem sermonem this being one of the shortest dayes of the yeere requires a short Sermon I will therefore conclude beseeching him Aug. sine cuius luce non est veritas without whose illumination we cannot walke forward in the way of truth nor returne from the way of error that it would please him to leade into the way of truth all such as haue erred and are deceiued and so to direct our footsteps that we seeing what is light and truth may by his light finde out also what is not truth and so eschew it to the edifying of his Church the discharge of our duties and the saluation of our soules which God grant for Christ Iesus sake to whom with the holy Ghost three Persons and one God be ascribed all honour praise c. Amen FINIS THE FOVRTH SERMON 1. YOu haue heard of two sleights that Bellarmine and his fellowes vse to deceiue their Readers tertium fraudis diuerticulū his third by-way is 2 Cor. 11.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be transfigured into the Apostles of CHRIST And how is that done Vincent Lirin tells vs Vin. Lirin c. 37. Proferebant Apostoli diuinae legis exempla proferunt isti the Apostles alledged the Scriptures to prooue their true doctrine and so doe they to establish their false Monarchie which hath euer beene the practise of false Teachers whom the Apostle calls operarios subdolos scripturis malè interpretatis errores suos astruere 2 Cor. 11.13 to fortifie their errours by Scriptures misse-interpreted by which sleight Satan did transfigure himselfe into an Angel of light both when he deceiued our first parents and when he assaulted our Sauior Christ For both he and his Ministers know full well by their long practise and good successe in it Nullam esse ad fallendum faciliorem viam quam vt vbi nefarij erroris subinducitur fraudulentia ibi diuinorum verborum praetendatur autoritas that there is no such ready way to deceiue the simple as to pretend the authority of Scripture fraudulently to vnderlay a nefarious errour 2. This therefore is the third sleight to abuse many Scriptures for confirmation of this Monarchie so long vsurped and of late yeares as it seemes by common errour established as iust but such is the nature of truth Greg. Naz. Quae vt Esdrae sic mihi potentissima videtur which seemes to mee as heretofore to Esdras to be most powerfull that they euer fayle in their conclusions and instead of a Monarchie which they affirme they proue a Primacie which we deny not 3. To this purpose and with this euent or to little or no purpose are two twenty Scriptures alledged by number Cic. and yet in tanto conuentu nulla est quae rationem numerumque habeat amongst so many there is none that hath either weight or reason for though the Bookes are De Romani Pontificis Monarchia Petri yet he confesseth his proofes to reach but to a Primacie and he cannot be so ignorant or with any
prerogatiue which our Sauiour and the sacred Scriptures interpreted by the consent of the holy Fathers of the Church haue giuen vnto him That which I oppose is the imagined Monarchie which themselues so inconstantly affirme and so weakely proue In affirming it they are so ridiculè inconstantes that they confound the names of Monarchie and Primacie as I haue shewed before intituling their bookes Of the Monarchie of Peter Conc. 2. §. 17. and the Bishop of Rome and proposing in the seuerall Chapters the proofes of a Primacie which is vsuall with Sanders in his visible Monarchie and Bellarmine when hee giues this title to his ninth Chapter Regimen Ecclesiae esse praecipuè Monarchicum vseth eight reasons which proue onely a Primacie Cicero 16. Their proofes are as weake as a band of men that haue suffered ship-wracke eiecta debilitata or like those infirmiores in exercitu as Gretzer confesseth which are entertained of necessitie Gretz defens Bellar. l. 1. c. 17. Cum omnes fortes esse non possint c. Et vt turbâ numero exercitus compleatur out of S. Ierome lib. 1. cont Iouinian c. 14. For saith Gretzer though S. Peters Prerogatiues be alledged to proue this Monarchie yet praecisé ex ipsis priuilegijs quâ talia non colligitur Primatus precisely out of those Priuiledges as they are such a Primacie is not collected much lesse a Monarchie which they pretend 17. And againe he saith Istae prerogatiuae non nudè nec crudè inspici debent Ibid. sed cum mutuâ ad se inuicèm habitudine cum singularum circumstantijs cum respectu ad potissima de Primatu testimonia so that it is to no purpose to confute them seuerally they are the forlorne hope and of those kinde of arguments as Aristotle saith Quae non plus afferunt quam similitudinem veritati quae probanda suscipitur and being vsed onely to proue a Primacie as appeares both by Bellarmine and Gretzer which wee deny not quae Augur c. Iniusta vitiosaque dixerit irrita Cic. 2. de Legibus infectaque sunto those reasons which the prime Iesuites confesse to be weake and vitious irrita indictaque sunto they are vnto me as if neuer proposed 18. The maine priuiledges or the principalia testimonia which are brought are onely two one is Mat. 16. Tu es Petrus super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam tibi dabo claues which they say is promissio Primatus the other is Pasce oues meas c. which they say John 21. is Institutio Primatus some alleadge a third et tu aliquando conuersus confirma fratres tuos and holde that the Primacie was there first instituted 19. Now although these testimonies be alleadged by Bellarmine and Gretzer Sanders Stapleton c. to maintaine a Primacie which we denie not yet because they confound the words Primacie and Monarchie and entend by these places and texts of Scripture to establish a Monarchie how farre off they are from the perfection of so high a worke I will shew you by the weaknesse of these foundations 20. First the Texts of Scripture these principalia testimonia as they call them were neuer interpreted of a Monarchie by any one of the ancient Fathers for a thousand yeares after our Sauiours comming in the flesh neither were they euer vrged to that purpose before the quarrels betweene the Imperialists and the Papists betweene Gregory the seauenth and Henry the Emperour about sixe hundred yeares since as hath beene most learnedly proued by the right reuerend Bishop of Rochester for as I noted before out of Aluarez this Monarchie with them is fundamentum totius sacrae paginae which is alleadged to that purpose and not those Scriptures the foundation of that Monarchie 21. And euer since that controuersie the fauourers of the Papacie would haue the world imagine that our Sauiour made S. Peter and the Bishops his successors Monarchs formally after that manner that the Emperours of the East invested their Magistrates and supreme officers Niceph. Greg. l. 9. Nam cui publicè rerum gerendarum potestas dabatur gladius vnà cum sancto Euangelio in manus tradebatur and that St. Peter had not onely the Gospell committed to him but two swords for fayling 22. And the glosse alledging that for the Popes Monarchie which the whole Church vnderstands vnanimously and necessarily of our Sauiour only God and man In extrau vnam sanctam King of Kings viz. Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terrâ which is power purely Monarchicall saith impiously and blasphemously though he would seeme mannerly Non videtur Dominus discretus fuisse vt cum reuerentiâ eius loquar nisi vnicum post se talem vicarium reliquisset qui haec omnia posset 23. Who hearing this glosse or interpretation will not crye with Moses Leuit. 24.14 Educite blasphemum extra castra throw these blasphemous glosses and comments out of the Church and burne them and examine vpon the Scriptures the expositions of the antient Fathers who liued before that quarrell and then you shall finde as St. Augustine said to St. Ierome that Incomparabiliter pulchrior est veritas Christianorum quà m Helena Graecorum Aug. epist 19. the truth deliuered vpon these texts by the antient Fathers is incomparably more beautifull then the meretricious false colours and collusions of the late Church of Rome 24. Secondly all the words and phrases vpon which they ground and build this Monarchie are figuratiue and Metaphoricall as Petra aedificare claues ligare soluere pascere c. Now Stapleton prescribes vs this rule when wee offer to proue the Church to be an Aristocracie Staple Relect. p. 94. Oportet non modò perspicua esse verba quae rem tantam decidant verùm-etiam tum praedicatione pastorum tum fide ac moribus fidelium planissimè fieri we with reason vrge the same rule for their Monarchie they must proue it not by figuratiue but by perspicuous words now who can finde a Monarchie perspicuously in these words Petra aedificare claues ligare soluere confirmare or pascere c Were it not ridiculous to conclude est petra or est pastor ergo Monarcha est c. Secondly they must proue it Praedicatione Pastorum fide moribus fidelium and so make it planissimum But I shewed you in the former reason that the first true Pastors for more then a thousand yeares preached no such doctrine and that the Apostles themselues and the primitiue Christians acknowledged no such Monarchie in their practise and manners appeareth by this that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first conuerted Iewes contended against Peter for going to the Gentiles and conuersing with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 11.2 that is as St. Chrysostome reades expostularunt Now it is not good manners to expostulate with Monarchs no prescribing to him who can proscribe They say it was humilitatis
eosdem Praepositos gubernetur Thus you see that by this promise or power nothing is giuen or gotten that may enforce so much as a Primacie 56. How then commeth it to passe that the Fathers generally out of Tu es Petra and Tibi dabo claues and Pasce oues meas doe argue the Primacie or Principality to be in Saint Peter I answere not because the Primacie was heere promised or giuen vnto him but because the gifts were bestowed on the Church in his name rather then in the name of any other Apostle as wee may argue that the face is the prime place of a mans body as the Prouerbe is The face is the Market-place because when God would inspire the whole body it is said onely Inspirauit in faciem when neither the face was first inspired nor the rest of the body tooke life from it but at once all the whole Man was made anima viuens a liuing soule 57. It is a good rule which Saint Augustine sets downe Aug. Confess l. 10. c. 16. Omnes qui legimus nitimur hoc indagare atque comprehendere quod voluit ille quem legimus Now while euery man endeauours to finde out and to comprehend in the holy Scriptures that sense and meaning which hee intended who wrote the booke Quid mali est Jbid. saith Saint Augustine si hoc sentiat quod tu Lux omnium veridicarum mentium ostendis verum esse etiamsi hoc non sentit ille quem legit cum ille verum non tamen hoc senserit What ill is it if the Fathers out of this place Matth. 16. and that other Ioh. 21. should affirme Saint Peters Primacie which is true though our Sauiour in those places intended it not For although the Apostles themselues suspected no Primacie to be granted to S. Peter in those wordes as I haue noted before yet the Fathers when they perceiued it afterwards to haue beene conferred vpon him whether by our Sauiour or by the Apostles or by both shall be shewed in due place might very well and probably imagine that it was in these places insinuated 58. So that whereas two kinde of controuersies may arise cum aliquid à nuncijs veracibus per signa enuntiatur by occasion of some passage of Holy-writ one Si de veritate rerum dissensio est whether the matter in question be true or no another Si de ipsius qui annuntiat voluntate dissensio est whether it may be proued by this Text or no For the matter in question that is Saint Peters Primacie wee say with Saint Augustine Quod ad Petrum propriè pertinet naturâ vnus homo erat gratiâ vnus Christianus abundantiore gratiâ vnus idemque primus Apostolus But for the sense of those Scriptures we say also Quando ei dictum est Tibi dabo claues regni coelorum Quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in coelis c. vniuersam significabat Ecclesiam which is shaken in this World with diuers temptations c. and yet falleth not because it is built vpon the Rocke Aug. super Joh. tract 1â—4 Vnde Petrus nomen accepit non enim à Petro petra sed Petrus a petra sicut non Christus à Christiano sed Christianus à Christo vocatur 59. And to omit the various interpretations of the ancient Fathers which may all stand true for one truth doth not prejudicate another wee say that these were not times for the Apostles to expect Monarchies or meaner Primacies and Principalities but Saint Peter was rather informed in those words of his passions and afflictions and the gates of Hell which should striue against him then of his commands or his power and authoritie and our Sauiour rather published his owne Deitie by occasion of Saint Peters confession Tu es Christus filius Dei viui Matth. 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then Saint Peters principality and superiority 60. For by those two promises Tu es Petrus super hanc Petram c. and Tibi dabo claues though Saint Chrysostome saith more for Saint Peter Chrysost super Mat. Hom. 55. then Bellarmine doth admit viz. that Hîc pastorem futurae Ecclesiae constituit yet saith he his duabus pollicitationibus Christus ad alâ—torem de se of himselfe not of Peter opinionem Petrum adducit seipsum reuelando Filium Dei ostendit He rayseth Peter to an higher opinion of his Deitie and reuealing himselfe more proueth euidently that he is the Sonne of God For those things which God onely can giue namely Remission of sins and that The future Church should stand firme and immoueable against the violence of so many floods as should breake in vpon it as Saint Peter should doe against all persecutions and Martyrdome being Pastor Chrysost Ibid. Caput Ecclesiae haec inquam omnia quae solius Dei sunt se pollicetur daturum 61. And in that he said thrice Simon Iohannis diligis me and vpon his answere replyed thrice Pasce oues meas as the title of Petra was not proper to him but to all the Apostles nor hee alone had the keyes but all his fellowes with him so hee alone had not the Pastors office for Saint Ambrose saith Post trinam interrogationem Christi Amb. Pastor Amas me traditas Petro oues omnibus Apostolis contraditas the Sheepe were committed ioyntly to all the Apostles 62. Againe where Caietan saith that by these three questions Petre amas me Amas me plus quà m hi our Sauiour committed to Saint Peter Pontificatum that is the Monarchie Saint Augustine saith better that he prepared him to Martyrdome as appeares plainely in these words following where he saith Passurum te ipse praedixit August super Ioh. tract 123. qui te praedixerat negaturum And if wee stand vpon a Monarchie in these words Si diligis me pasce oues meas redditur negationi trinae trina confessio ne minùs amori lingua seruiat quà m timori Here is no Monarchie here is no Primacie for saith he Quid aliud est si diligis me pasce oues meas quám si diceretur si me deligis non te pascere cogita sed oues meas sicut meas pasce non sicut tuas gloriam meam in eis quaere non tuam Dominium meum non tuum lucra mea non tua So that he rather forbiddeth glory and profit and dominion to Saint Peter which are Monarchicall properties then instituteth any Monarchie or Primacie in this place 63. To conclude it is a weake consequent which is thus inferred Peter loued our Sauiour best therefore he gaue him the Monarchie or Primacie For if we should grant which seemeth true to Saint Augustine that Saint Peter loued our Sauiour more then the rest did yet Saint Iohn was beloued of our Sauiour more then Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles Now in wordly preferments this is a rule Solemus praeponere
est yet saith he excelluit Petrus in Pontificiâ dignitate But if by the excellencie of his Pontificalitie he vnderstand a Monarchie as their vse is it is an absurd begging of the question if hee meane a Primacie onely the distinction is idle for not prioritie but superioritie takes away paritie 81. It is scarce credible how they haue corrupted this discourse of Saint Cyprian not onely by these vaine glosses but by adding to it and detracting from it to erect this Monarchie which is there demolished To these words alledged by Saint Cyprian Tu es Petrus super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam they haue falsly added super vnum aedificat Ecclesiam suam and omit two or three lines that those words might fit the better This I thinke was begunne by the late corrupters of the Canon Law and so it is found in all or most editions since the yeere 1540. for the Copies printed then before 1525. acknowledge no such words this you finde in the Decrees 24. q. 1. c. Loquitur if you compare these editions 82. From hence it seemeth to haue crept into the originall Author himselfe and because these words fauour their Monarchie they choose rather to corrupt the Author by the false Canon then correct the Canon by the true Author for the Cyprian which I vse was printed at Paris 1564. and hath no such words But if you consult some later editions as also that of Iustus Caluinus alià s Iustus Baronius that is of him who of a Caluinist for better maintenance became a Papist and so changed his name with his religion you shall finde in his second booke of Prescriptions against heresies which is this booke of Saint Cyprian De vnitate Ecclesiae at the third Chapter not onely those words added out of the corrupted Canon Law Super illum vnum aedificat Ecclesiam suam but in another place not farre off vnam constituit cathedram and some other additions which corruptions are not found in the Canon Law whereby you may perceiue they are so farre from amending that which is amisse that they doe proficere in petus and daily adde more corruptions to the writings of the ancient Fathers to extoll and magnifie Saint Peters Monarchie 83. Thus where Arnobius saith vpon Psal 106. Praedicauit Petrus baptismum Christi in quo in which baptisme or in which Iesus Christi vniuersa flumina in deserto huius mundi benedicuntur vsque hodiè à Petro all the Riuers in the world are blessed and hallowed from the time of Saint Peter to this present day Stapleton reades most corruptly thus and definitiuely of Saint Peter Vniuersa flumina in deserto huius soeculi benedicuntur vsque hodie à Petro all the Riuers in the world are blessed and hallowed by Saint Peter euen vnto this day ascribing that which is due to our Sauiour and his baptisme to Saint Peter and his baptisme belike because hee holds with Bellarmine that all Christian baptisme proceedes from Saint Peter to the other Apostles and so to the whole Church for euer 84. Againe where Arnobius saith in the same place Ipse posuit exitus aquarum in sitim ita vt qui exierit for as ab Ecclesia Petri siti pereat which is either Christus posuit exitus aquarum in sitim Christ by his preaching gaue many floods of heauenly waters to quench the desire of thirstie soules or if you will Peter by his preaching as he passed along sent out many flouds of heauenly water into the world c which is true also of the rest of the Apostles Stapleton makes him to say for Peters greater honour aboue them Ipsum esse exiâ—us aquarum in suim Stapl. relect controu 3. q. 1. art 1. conclus 3. equalizing him to his Master who was indeede the water of life which whosoeuer drinketh of should thirst no more Surely though our Sauiour Tertul. l. 4. cont Marci c. 3. as Tertullian saith affectauit charissimo Discipulorum de figuris suis nomen peculiariter communicare and tearmed him a rocke as our Sauiour was called figuratiuely yet hee neuer imparted to him his Essentialls to be the water of life that exitus aquarum which should runne along to euerlasting saluation 85. But of these vaine glosses and impious corruptions of the Fathers and Scriptures to maintaine this Monarchie facto finem vbi non est finis That Ber. which hath beene said at diuers times I hope will suffice to shew that Saint Peter had no Monarchicall power ouer the rest of the Apostles who in honour power and authority were equall to him and that all the reasons they alledge for it are false and fallacious and but craftie shifts and by-wayes to deceiue their Readers and leade them to error 86. It will perchance scarce seeme credible vnto their followers that so many men of learning and professors of Religion as are to be found in so many Colledges of Iesuites to say nothing of other orders and Religions should consent to betray so euident a cause with falsifying forgerie and fallacious sophistrie Cic. l. 3. de Natu Deorum seeing Vitiorum sine vllâ ratione graue ipsius conscientiae pondus est If they esteemed not their Christianitie yet the very conscience of these sinnes should be an heauie burthen to them No question their number their learning their profession their outward shew of holinesse and Religion their vnanimous consent in this grosse errour carry captiue many well-meaning people who cannot judge of these their writings 87. And to say the truth Quod tam desperatum collegium Cic. de Leg. l. 3. in quo nemo a decem sanâ mente sit Who would thinke the societie to be so desperately wicked that I say not one Iesuite among tenne but not in tenne Colledges of Iesuites one should haue a sound heart to acknowledge that truth which with so manifold glosses they labour to conceale for those multi tramites those by-pathes which they vse shew that it is via mendax Lactan. a deceitfull lying way which they walke in and that they treade it of purpose to leade men to errour nay ad occasum to their vtter destruction But they haue their reward the same which Lactantius allotted the Philosophers which opposed Christianitie Lactan. l. 5. c. 2. when he saith Quisquis veritatis contra quam perorat infirmare voluerit rationem ineptus vanus ridiculus apparebit 88. I hope I shall not neede in this place to vse his exhortation to our yonger Students Jbid. Ne patimini vos quasi homines imperitos istorum fraudibus illici nec simplicitas vestra praedae ac pabulo sit hominibus astutis And yet why should I not vse it Many of vs haue beene carryed head-long with as slender reasons and as grosse fallacies and corruptions to vilifie and confound the ancient Hierarchie of the Church as those are with which the Papists are moued to maintaine and dignifie their vsurped
Monarchie and it is to be thought that had their education beene there-after they would haue shewed themselues as prompt and ready to vphold the Monarchie as they be forward and resolute to oppugne the Hierarchie 89. For the Deuill who is praecursor viae stultitiae the chiefe guide in the by-pathes of errour and folly cuius vis potestas omnis in fallendo est whose chiefe power consists in falsehoods and fallacies as appeareth both by his discourse with our innocent parent and our innocent maker and redeemer Homines in fraudem non posset inducere Lactan. l. 6. c. 7. nisi verisimilia illis ostendando and there is as much probability at least in the defence of the Popes Monarchie as in maintaining the Puritans Democracie or oppugning our Hierarchie 90. Wherefore good counsell is not amisse in this place to take heede of these fraudes not rashly to giue credite to the Polemicall writings but to stand to the truth of our owne profession and to vse our best wit and industrie to discouer their fallacies for Inter ingenium diligentiam perpaulùm loci reliquum est arti or fraudi Vse your wits and diligence Cic. de orat l 2 and their fraudes will easily appeare 91. Neither are you to wonder or much to be moued that so sleight and weake glosses should captiuate so many with a false conceit and setled imagination of this Monarchie so that they should refuse the oath of Supremacie to their true Monarch nay euen the naturall oath of Allegiance to their Liege-Lords and Soueraignes euen in their temporalties with hazard of liberty life and liuing for you know that there is not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignorantia purae negationis cum quis simpliciter alicuius rei cognitione destitutus est such as Children and meere rustickes are subject to and such as follow and maintaine a custome in errour who are vncapable of all conclusions of arts and other faculties but there is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist ignorantia prauae dispositionis cum quis falso argumento deceptus falsam sententiam animo complectitur and so perswadeth himselfe to know that which he knowes not or not altogether as hee ought to know it 92. Now this ignorance prauae dispositionis which is common to many Students is the mother of the first of those three kindes of error which Saint Augustine mentioneth Aug. de vtil Creden c. 4. and is this Cum id quod falsum est verum putatur etiamsi aliud qui scripsit putauerit as if a man should beleeue that Radamanthus heard and determined causes in Hell which concerned the dead because Virgil saith Gnossius haec Radamantus habet durissima regna Aeneid 6. Castigatque auditque dolos which is most false and Virgil himselfe neuer beleeued it but vsed poeticall fictions to teach and delight his Readers For I assure my selfe by most euident proofes of so many sleights and shifts and falsifycations and contradictions and all manner of fallacious dealings vsed by heretickes and false teachers of the Primitiue times and imitated by Bellarmine that he beleeues no more that the Pope is the Monarch of the Church then Virgil thought that Radamanthus was the Lord chiefe-Iustice in Hell 93. I take not vpon me herein to censure his learning which I admire for vbi benè nemo doctiùs as also vbi malè nemo fallacius the former excellencie is to be found in his writings against the Anabaptists Sectaries Schismatickes of these times but especially against the Arians and Antitrinitarians in his bookes De Christo but this that I speake is to note his dishonestie symbolizing with those false Apostles in all those sleights which St. Paul notes to be vsed in his time to seduce the simple and they that through weaknesse beleeue such teachers fall into two errors Aug. Ibid. as Saint Augustine notes Quòd rem non credendam credunt neque id putandus est credidisse ille quem legunt first they beleeue that which is false and secondly they falsly imagine that their teachers beleeue it 94. I speake all this to confirme you in that truth which you professe not that I thinke any here present tainted or infected with this errour for as Saint Augustine sometimes said beholding his Auditorie Aug. in Joh. tract 39. as I doe you Quidam fortasse sunt in istâ multitudine Arriani non audeo suspicari esse Sabellianos So there may peraduenture be present in this Auditorie certaine Puritans or Precisians I doe not beleeue there is any Papist Hoeresis ista as Saint Augustine said of the Sabellians nimis antiqua est paulatìm euiscerata Poperie in this place blessed be God is antiquated by little little in processe of time euiscerated vnbowelled and the heart of it broken Arrianorum autem as he saith videtur habere aliquam motionem quasi cadaueris putrescentis aut certè vt multum quasi hominis animam agentis The Puritan error seemeth to haue but little motion in the elder sort so much as may be in a putrifying carkasse or at the most Cic. as in a man giuing vp the Ghost but Qui norunt os adolescentioris Academiae they who know the conditions of many of the younger sort qui non delectu aliquo aut sapientiâ ducitur ad iudicandum sed â—â—petu nonnunquam quadâm temeritate think that this error hath taken hold fast on many of them Aug. Ibid Oportet inde reliquos liberari sicut inde multi liberati sâ—m It were well for the peace of the Church that the rest were deliuered from that error as others haue beene and were informed that they also hold this first kinde of error that Saint Augustine mentions and I haue obserued in the Papists Id quod fatsum est verâ—m putant cum aliud qui scripserunt putauerint they hold those positions which are absurdly false and destructiue of that forme of gouernement which our Sauiour left to his Church by one extremitie of the Democracie as the Papists doe in the other extremitie of a Monarchie and yet their leaders and guides and corrupters aliud quà m scripserunt putant beleeue not as they write and instruct others but the very opposite part which they seeme to oppose as appeareth both by this their ambitious encroachment vpon the Churches honour which none affect more preposterously or abuse more corruptly as also by their fraudulent manner of writing for in some of their bookes are found mille testimonia Vincent Lirin c. 37. mille exempla mille autoritates de lege de Psalmis de Apostolis de Prophetis but yet interpreted tam nouo tam malo more that you may be assured that they were racked and strayned to this purpose euen to contradict that truth that Hierarchie which their consciences acknowledged as you may obserue to omit others in Parkers schismaticall books of the Crosse and the Church gouernement where you may obserue more Scriptures and authorities of Fathers and Councells voluntarily abused to ouerthrow that ancient Christian cerâ—monie of the Crosse in Baptisme and the Churches Hierarchie then can be found in Bellarmine to maintaine his false vsurped Monarchie 95. Both these extremities know the truth which they oppose and though they be daily conuinced yet pro animositate suae peruersitatis as Saint Augustine said of the Rogatians contra veritatem sibi notissimam dimicant Aug. Epist 48. An impiety saith he quae fortasse Idololatraim superat and wherein the Diuels triumph aboue measure dum errores suos humanis erroribus fraudes suas humanis fraudibus pascunt Aug. de Catechiz rudibus c. 19. 96. But let vs speake nothing but the truth in these and the like questions let vs heare nothing but that truth which our Sauiour deliuered who himselfe prescribed the true forme of gouernement in his Church Out of his mouth wee haue learned him who is the truth out of his mouth we haue knowne his Church which is partaker of his truth from his word interpreted by his Church we haue learned the true Church gouernement which hee instituted and which we entertaine and in which wee liue and if we make our selues not vnworthy of the continuance of so great a blessing shall by Gods good fauour remaine in the same to the worlds end Grant this Lord Iesus the great MASTER and sole Monarch the Author and establisher of it To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one God be ascribed all honour praise and glory for euer and euer AMEN FINIS ERRATA PAge 7. line 25. for Monarchium reade Monarchicum P. 13. l. 14. corruption r. corruption P. 25. l. 25. Dominm r. Dominum P. 32. l. 9. to makes law r. to make lawes P. 39. l. 22. not r. non P. 53. l. 19. seruus r. seruum P. 56. l. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 120. l. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 144. l. 22. imagine r. imagine