whiche refused the goodnes of God Vpon this the Apostle bringeth in these wordes Wherefore he taketh mercie on whome he wil and hardeneth whom he wil. The which is not so to be taken as though the thing that God willeth he willeth it without great good reason For the wil of his euerlasting wisedome can not be sundered from vnderstanding reason and aduisement And his will is to rewarde the faith of the chosen not as of dewtie but according to grace His wil is also to withdraw his helpe and aide from such as refuse it aÌ„d to suffer them to be of a corrupt iudgement Hereuppon S. Paule sayeth Then you wil say vnto me Wherefore doth he yet complaine For who shal withstand his wil In these wordes S. Paule bringeth in the person of a presumpteous man the which iudged rashly of the counsel of God and vnderstandeth this sentence of the scripture naughtily and he maketh him to speake very vngodly that he may the better stop the mowth of vngodlines it selfe If this be true saith euery wicked person that God taketh mercy on whom he wil and whoÌ„ him listeth he refuseth him and hardneth his hart and no man can resist his wil then he that synneth sinneth of necessity If he do syn of necessity wherfore doth God so often coÌ„plaine of the hardenes and crueltie of wicked men This synful and presumpteous talke S. Paule coÌ„futeth two waies First of al he sheweth that it is a presumpteous act to iudge of the iugemeÌ„t of god For euen for this cause only that a thing is don bi god although we vnderstaÌ„d not the reason of it yet must we assuredly thinke that it was done not without great reason Then he declareth the counsel of God by the which he hardneth that is to saie beareth long time with the wicked and at the length leaueth them destitute of his aide and healpe that he may suffer them to perish to the profite of manier O man saieth the Apostle who art thou that reasonest with God Doth the thing which is fourmed saie vnto him that fourmed it why hast thou made me so May not the potter make of one lump of claie one vessel to honour and an other to dishonour In which place you may coÌ„sidre by the name of a pot that it is not a worke which is determined without reason but such a thinge as is done by workemaÌ„ship Wherin he geueth you to vnderstand this much If the potter as a potter doth what so euer he doth by art much more doth God al things by art reson and couÌ„sel S. Paul therfore speaketh after this sort O man wilt thou not loke circuÌ„spectly about thee wilt thou not acknowlege the frailtie of thy nature wilt thou not coÌ„sidre the wisdom and power of god Wilt thou not dreade his Maiestie If there were any sense in earthen vessels surely suche vessels were not to be borne withall as woulde dispute with the potter whiche made them of the workemanship wherwith they were made Much lesse is the presumpteousnes of a seelie man to be borne â–ª the which improueth the iudgemente of that most excellent gouernour and in an endlesse and incomprehensible wisedom findeth lacke of cunning and skill Art thou at that point in deede The thing the cause and reason wherof thou art not able to atteine vnto by wit wilt thou by and by stand vnto it that it is void of al reason The potter maketh by arte one vessel for honour an other for dishonour and loke what is made by arte no man may wel finde fault withal And wilt thou saie that the thing which is made of that most high and perfecte wisedome in the which neither rashnesse neither vniustice may rest is made vndiscretely and vniustly By these wordes S. Paul intendâ—th only to put vs to vnderstaÌ„d that it is a very grieuouse offence to trie the iudgements of God by the balance of mans reason and to doubt of his iustice He doth therefore onely keepe downe vnreasonable presumpteousnes and fraieth rash and prowde ' menne by denouncing vnto them the iudgement of god After that he declareth what is to be holden as touching this question These are his words If so be that God willing to shew his wtath and to make his power knowen hath suffered the vessels of wrath with much patience which were shaped to destructioÌ„ that he might shew the ritches of his glory towardes the vessels of mercie the which he hath prepared to glorie It is an vnperfecte speach the whiche manner of speaking S. Paule vseth ofteÌ„ tymes There lacketh either this or some other thing like to this And yet wilt thou reprooue the wise and iust counsel of god Now in these wordes first of al it is to be noted that God framed not the vessels of wrath Truth it is that God made nature vnto the vessels but not synne not vngodlines not the rest of vices which deserueth to be punished most sharply by the seueritie of Gods iudgement whiche the holie Scripture calleth wrath For it cometh to passe by the wil of euery wicked man that he is made the vessel of wrath which would not be made the vessel of mercie The whiche thing S. Paule meaniÌ„g to set forth more plainly saith He suffered And being not satisfied with that word he saith moreouer He suffred in much patience the vessels of wrath What is this What griefe is that so great What torment is that so crewel that to the bearing of it God neded patieÌ„ce yea and that no meaâ—â— but exceding great patience Doubtles it is that which is if God were subiect to any griefe of al griefes that may be deuised the greatest to wit it is vicious liuing wickednes and an obstinate wil to coÌ„tinue in synne For there is nothing els that disagreeth with his vertue goodnes and wisedome there is nothing els that is directely against his most holy ordinaunces and lawes to be shorte there is nothing elles that God doth moste extremely hate and derest So that it is no wonder if a verie great patience were to speake of God as of a man needefull to beare such a bitter torment God therefore caused not this hardnesse of heart in Pharao but he suffred with a certaine great patience the wilfull stubbornes of that most wicked man whiche grieued his heart The which thing to expresse the beter S. Paule saith Vessels made to destruction He saith not The vessels which God him selfe hath made to destruction as he saieth a litle after of the vessels of mercie the whiche God him selfe hath prepared to glorie that you may vnderstande that Godlie menne are appointed vnto glorie by the wil and mercie of God and that wicked men are thrust out violeÌ„tly into euerlasting tormentes through euerie mans owne wilful synne as Esaie saith Goe into the fier whiche you haue kendled for your owne selues But to what ende I praie you did that most high Lord suffer so long time and
For if they be verie gentle as you saie they are then although I shall reuile them they will neuer be moued â–ª withall but wil meruelously well keepe their pacience and constancie But if they wil fearcely sette vppon me with villanous and reprochfull language then are they not so gentle as you make them to be I knowe verie wel that vnder the couert of a sheepes skynne as Christe saieth lieth hidden the râ—ugh and crewell nature of wolues It is also by experience well tried that there is nothing in the worlde more shamelesse then these fellowes are For when anie reason is brought against them thei endeuour theÌ„ selues to answerâ— it not by reason but by multiplying of woordes And therefore when they are prâ—ssed with argumentes then beginne they to chafe and sweat to feare and fainte to raile and raue and in the ende fall to plaine scolding vntil thei haue founde for their impudent assertion some shameles shifte But beleeue me I feare no mans slaunderous tongue For I haue committed myne honestie and estimation to the keeping of Iesus Christ and therefore no man shal euer be able to thrust me out of my place by the violence of his tongue And as for your reprochful woordes they moue me no more then the rauing of one that were frantike or out of his witte Were it not that the loue of godlines had moued me had I euer written so much as one letter against you No not one I tooke vpon me this charge of writing not minding thereby to mainteine myâ—â— owne good fame or â—stimation but to â—onfute your wicked and vngodlie talke Wherefore be bolde and spare not to taunt me at your pleasure to perce my good name with fowl words to tourmoile it with villanie to rente and teare it with al dishonestie and I geue good leaue and licence not onely to you but also to all your Bucers and Martyrs most gentle and softe creatures as you cal them to bende them selues as fiercely against me as thei can deuise Wherefore there is no cause why you shuld goe about to make me affraied of them for so muche as vnto their tauntes for the which I care not I wil neuer answere and their reasons are very peuish and alreadi coÌ„futed by the bookes of many learned men and I my self am at this point that I fear nothing in the worlde but only Christe As touching their persons if there be any sense of humanitie in you you see how il you haue defended theÌ„ You say aferwarde that it is nothing true that you shuld stand to the holy Scriptures only for so muche as you do receiue many sentences of the holy Fathers withal What a doubling and incoÌ„stancie is this Now you reiect many thinges for this reason only bicause they are as you say the deuises of men â–ª and by and by you receiue what you list and say that you haue not reiected al the traditions of menne You are so doubteful so diuers and so slipperie that you can not wel tel your selues what you thinke and what you mind to stand to And yet when you spake those wordes you commended them that acknowledge nothing elles but the holy Scriptures and refuse al holy traditions and ordinaunces These are your wordes Truely if it were so then folowed they the example of our Lorde Iesus Christe then folowed they the custome of the Apostles and of the auncient Fathers in the primitiue Church How many things you laie out at a venture It is like forsooth that Christ the mind and wisedome of God the Father by whose power and dispeÌ„sation the law it selfe was made by whom the Prophetes declared thinges to come of whom al holie men of old time receiued their light was content to abyde that lawe him selfe that he would not be so hardie as to speake one woorde which he founde not registred in the holy Scriptures I besech you Sir wher read he in the Scriptures that a man for being angry only although he vttered not one reprochful word shuld incur the daÌ„ger of Gods iudgemeÌ„t wher found he it written that a man for casting his eye alitle aside waÌ„tonly shuld be accounted as an adulterer By what wordes in the Law was a man forbidden to geue a bil of diuorse to his wife In what place was it euer writen that a man minding the perfect obseruatioÌ„ of the Lawe should sell all his goodes and bestowe the money made thereof to the vse of the poore reseruing to him selfe nothing Haue you euer read either in the law or in the Psalmes or in the Prophets that the way to saluatioÌ„ is a narrowe waie or that you ought when a man hath striken one cheeke to holde him vppe the other or that you ought to pray vnto God for their life that speake il of you and woorke your destruction But nowe to come to other pointes of the birth and proceding of God of the regeneration of men in heauenlie life the whiche Nicodemus a man exactlie seene in the doctrine of the lawe vnderstood not of the time in the whiche God would be woorshipped neither at Hierusalem nor in the mountaine of Samaria of the bread of heauen whiche is the foode and sustenaunce of our life of al these thinges what woorde haue you expressely written in any place of the olde Testamente But when Christ spake these wordes there was no Gospell yet written neyther did any writen monumente confirme the sayinges of Christ but looke what he ordeined by woordes was afterward put in writing to the ende that men should not forgette it I doe here let passe many thinges minding not to prosecute al that might be saied for so muche as I haue alreadie spoken sufficientlie to the intent you might vnderstand howe vnaduisedly you haue saied that our Lorde Iesus Christ did also obserue such a rule in his doinges What shall I saie of the Apostles Where had S. Paule read that such as kepte the circumcision of the Lawe were to be separated from the communion of Christe In whiche of all the holie Writers found he that it is vnseemely for a woman to worshippe God bare headed or for a man to couer his head when he praieth to God What shoulde I rehearse vnto you howe he commendeth suche men as were mindful of his Doctrine deliuered vnto them either by writing or by worde What should I speake of that that the Apostles say in their Councel It hath seemed good to the holy Ghost and vs They saie not It is writen in the holie Scripture but It hath seemed good to the holie Ghost and vs. Nowe as touching the holie Fathers which peraduenture you neuer read how durst you affirme of them that they neuer brought in any thing for the gouernement of the Churche but what thei had found writen in the holie Scriptures How many things reherseth S. Basile and disputeth that thei were deliuered from the Apostles vnto the Churche onely by woorde
most florishing state of the primitiue Church to be meanly vertuous they must excell they must be wonderfull The whiche thing bicause they do it not but rather whersoeuer they put their foote they leaue the grownde embrewed with muche naughtinesse and vice it is very euident and plaine that they could not perfourme so much as they had promised For they haue brought into the common weale for the cleannes of the Gospell fowle vices for peace and loue debate for modestie pride for religion wickednes for liberty bondage for good ordre licentious liuing for pleasaunt calmenes a most crewel storme And yet you like a godly man lay before me the iudgement of God to make me afraied in the whiche you say that I poore wretch for so it pleaseth you to terme me shal yeald an accoÌ„pt of this so heinouse and wicked offence before the iudgement seat of Christ bicause I haue presumed to rebuke those holie continent and religious persons In deede there is good cause why I should feare For M. Haddon a wise man and such a one as hath familiar coÌ„ference with God at al tymes wold neuer haue said it vnlesse it had beÌ„ declared vnto him before by some heauenly reuelation Reason would therfore that I should tremble and quake for feare of that iudgement the which you your selfe feare neuer a deale and yet you threaten me very seuerely withal You say that I doe not only laugh at your Gospell and deface your Doctours whiche are very heauenlie menne but also violently wrest Hieremie The which thing how false it is I wil declare hereafter You say afterwarde that all that testimonie of Hieremie concerning false Prophetes perteyneth vnto vs. Howe so sir Hearde you euer say that there was any newe Prophete emongest vs that went about to tourne vs away from the auncient Religion That warranted vs of peace and ioylitie as though he had had commission from Christe so to doe That taught the people that synne should escape vnpunished You retourne once agayne to speake your pleasure by the holy Church the ordre wherof I haue alreadie declared in the whiche although there be some diseases yet they are suche as may be cured For we refuse not the medicine the which without the Church can not be found els where After that you commend your own Church highly The publike fermons say you you commit to certaine seely friers and they declaime after their owne fasshion in other matters they are dome As touching preaching I haue said already that this charge is in no wise to be neglected of the Bishoppes neither doth the holy Churche beare with such negligence but rather exhorteth and chargeth al Bishops most streightly to folow the office of preaching and teaching with all diligence And it is no reason that the negligeÌ„ce of a fewe men should be imputed to the whole Church the which is so careful to take good and wholesome ordre with euery particular man that he should doe his dewtie Moreouer there are as I sayd before many Bisshops emongest vs the which preach oftentymes and stirre vppe their subiectes to the loue of godlines But admitte it were alwaies so that the sermons were made by Monkes doubtlesse it is more tolerable that godly and religious persones should be appointed by the Bishops to doe that office then that base fellowes and suche as are poisoned with most pestilent and erroneous doctrine should be made rulers ouer Churches Whereas you say that at our sermons the audieÌ„ce is brought a sleepe I grauÌ„t it must needes happen so sometimes when he that preacheth can not be so eloquent and fine as you are What then Bicause some man nappeth a litle sometime therefore shall not the rest awake them selues and geaue diligent eare to the sermon shall no preacher be able to moue and exhort his hearers to serue God with greater loue and feruency In the ministring of Sacramentes say you the Priestes only are doers the rest are but lookers on Of lyke you are not pleased with that You haue no liking in modest and seemely ordre You would peraduenture that there should be made a disordre and confusion of offices and that al men should take vppon them the office of priesthood But we thinke that that comely ordre was ordeyned by God that Priestes only should minister the Sacraments and that the rest should take the profit of them with silence and not medle them selues with the diuine seruice As concerning the vnknowen tongue in the which the seruice is saide I â—â—ue spokeÌ„ sufficiently already wherfore bicause I wil not repete one thing often tymes I referre you to those thinges that are said before Let vs now enter say you into the masses in the which you would haue the very marow of religion to be powred out That is very true For they conteine in them a most seruent lifting vppe of the heart vnto God moste holy and deuout prayers the monumentes and remembraunces of Christe whiche represent vnto vs his life his passion his death and merites the ordre and woorking of our saluation and the appeasing of the displeasure of God And that I may say nothing elles in them is offered vppe the moste holie bodie of Christ the selfe same Sacrifice that taketh away the vncleane spottes of synnes that yealdeth vppe thankes to our most mighty Lord and bountiful parent that enkendleth godly mindes and inflameth deuout hearts with the loue of euerlasting life and glorie You say moreouer that no maÌ„ entermedleth with the Gospell emongest vs. You say wel in that For we can not abide that euery man should be a Reader euery man a Doctour euerie man a Prophet But we thinke it expedient to prouide that al thinges may be done honestly and orderly Where you saie that all exhortations out of the Gospell are whisshed omongest vs that is false For we haue continuall preaching and there is expounded what so euer coÌ„cerneth salualtion not vnlearnedly nor yet vnsauerly as you imagine and the hearers keepe silence after a very modest and comely sorte You come saie you to the Lordes Table once per aduenture euery yeare and that more for a solemne ceremonie then for a contrite heart This gesse of yours is very vaine also Truthe it is that al men are bownde by lawe and order to come vnto our Lordes Table once in the yeare but such as doe it but once in the yere are not wont to be coÌ„mended And emongest vs there are of such as feaste them selues at this heauenlie banket very often an exceding great number Whereas you say that it is done for a solemne ceremonie onlie and not for a contrite heart you doe but gesse as your manner it And for so muche as your gesse prooueth false it seemeth that you may woorthilie be numbred emongest the false Prophetes When you saie that in this supper the supper of our Lorde is not remembred of vs you speake with out the booke euen as you didde before
maisters doe vnderstand the Prophets and therefore they imagine that the Prophets should speake contrarieties Thinke you that God by Ieremie gaue that token to discerne a true Prophete from a false that al such as were present at the sermons of a true Prophete should foorthwith be withdrawen from wickednesse the which thing the false Prophetes could not doe If you imagine that the Prophete spake so you are much deceiued For our Lord him selfe by whose spirite all the holy Prophets were enkendled and stirred foreward speaking vnto those men that were obstinately bent in synne that shutte their eyes and stopped their eares willfully that the light of heauen might not shine vppon them or the Worde of God moue their heartes made them not to forsake their wickednesse And therefore he complayneth of the Capharnaites and suche other as withstoode his Doctrine verie obstinately What is that then that Hieremie said Dowbtles this That such as beleeued the Prophetes suche as hadde them in good estimation suche as tooke their sayinges to be the verie answeres of God if those Prophetes were sent from God there is no doubt but that they were easily brought from vnbeleefe to faith and from vice to an honest ordre of life The whiche thing when it folowed not it was a moste sure argument that they were not sent from God For example Phasur the Priest was in high reputation He bent him selfe earnestly against Hieremie Hananias desired to be called and esteemed as a Prophete He was in lyke manner an enemie to Hieremie Hieremie in those daies threatned the people that ther haÌ„ged a great plague ouer them but the other signified vnto the people with manie circumstances of words that al should be wel Many men folowed them but very fewe folowed Hieremie Nowe sir when there was such a great dissension betwene these twoo factions by what token might a man discerne whether of them was sent from God By the vertues and vices of suche as folowed either part Therfore if it had ben diligeÌ„tly marked at that time that such as folowed Phasur and Ananias or other the lyke falfe and deceitfull Prophetes prooued neuer the better but rather walowed stil most filthily in the selfe same vice as they did before might it not haue ben easily perceiued that those Prophetes vnto whom they had addicted them selues were not sent from God And contrarie wise if it had ben noted that those fewe which folowed Ieremie which resorted vnto him which gaue diligent eare vnto his doctrine did forsake sinne embrace godlines and feare the iudgementes of God they might haue iudged very well that he was sent from God and that the thinge which he spake came not from him selfe but that he vttered suche thinges onelye as he hadde learned of God Wheras therfore ther were at that â—yme many men whieh tooke vppon them the name of Prophetes and said thus saith our Lorde when in deede they had neuer heard the voice of our Lord and clawed the common people and brought them in hope of a merie worlde and said peace peace wheÌ„ no peace that is to say no great quietnes and abundaunce of thinges but an extreme calamitie hanged ouer the state of the Iewes and the common people whose eyes were wholly bent vppon them who esteemed them as menne of God were nothing the better for them but continued still in as muche wickednes as they did before doubtlesse it was euident that those menne were false Prophets and craftie crowders and that they did poison suche as they tooke vpoÌ„ them to instruct with pestilent errours The lyke might be said of the tyme of Christe and his Apostles There were Priestes and Pharisees and Saducees and Herodians all contrarie to the Doctrine of Christe Suche as folowed Christe and applied them selues with al diligence to learne his doctrine withstood synne and were inflamed with the desire of godlinesse and vertue but suche as folowed the Priestes of that time and the Pharisees were disteined with many foule vices By this token therfore it might be perceiued that Christ wrought by the holy ghost and spake the worde of God and that the Priestes and Pharisees tooke a pride vpon their owne conceite which proceded of an vnsetled and vndiscrete mind We may say the like of the Apostles who had much a do with false Priestes and Philosophers whiche were frowardly bent against the truth For such as herkened vnto the Apostles were beautifully fournished with the ornameÌ„ts of true vertue but such as went vnto the contrary part were clogged with most heiâ—ouses vices Any man therefore that was in his right wittes might well perceiue by the restimonie of Hieremie that the Apostles were sent from God and that their aduersaries were moued and stirred forward by the enemie the diuel That this is the meaning of the Prophete al men which are not obstinatly set in their owne mad and frantike opinion may see very plainely For otherwise the wisedom of God which spake in the holy Prophete should speake against it selfe the which thing if a man should but once conceiue it in his heart it were a mostâ— wicked synne and horrible offence Wee may nowe applie it vnto these newe Prophetes There was a certayne woorshipfull Prophete whom you thinke vndowbtedly to haue ben sent from heauen Many men went after him and commended him highly and garded him both with their bodies and armes and fournished him with their gooddes I will therefore demaund not of al but of such onely as did not onely loue Luther as a bowntifull and helping man but also esteemed and reuerenced him as a Prophet sent from heaueÌ„ and receiued his doctrine most willingly both with eares and heartes whether they were foorthwith chauÌ„ged in hert and whether they became any thing the better for it No they were rather made by the heariÌ„g of him much more presumpteous and proud much more incontinâ—nt and seditious much more dispiteful and outragious yea so farre foorth that Luther him self which had schooled them was not able to kepe them in order That therfore might haue ben a full proofe that Luther stoode neuer in the counsell of God For if he had stoode in the counsell of our Lord and had declared the verie wordes of God vnto such as folowed him and were named after him dowbtles there should haue ben seene some wonderfull alteration of life in them The like maie be saied of Melanchthon Zwinglius Bucer and Caluine and other the like Prophets For these men were none such as might by good example of their coÌ„tinent and honest conuersation asswage the heate of incoÌ„tinency in those that folowed them but rather out of their schooles proceded verie often vicious and incoÌ„tinent men yea and not only incoÌ„tinent but also violeÌ„t churchrobbers destroiers of good lawes wily practisers of treason against princes felowes mischieuously bent to deface al places of holines and deuotion by manslaughter bloudshead and fier Wherfore the teachers of this doctrine were not sent
from God for if they had ben sent from God doubtles they had tourned those men that honoured them as goddes from their wicked life Moreouer for so much as there is no disagreement in the spirite of God if they had ben sent from God there must needes haue ben a most perfecte cōsent and agreement emōgest them But the world knoweth that there is a most bitter dissension emongest them wherfore it foloweth necessarily that they were not moued by the instincte and inspiration of the holie ghost but driuen with burning fyer brandes of the findes of hell and that they applied them selues not to instruct men but to ouerthrow them You saie that there is a meruelous goodlie agreement emongest you I speake not of you as nowe For it maie be that you maie by feare of pounishmente staie for a lytle time the furie of raging felowes the whiche remedie when the minde is not well settled can not endure longe But of others see you not howe great dissension there is emongest them that sprange of Luther See you not howe they fall out about woordes How they alter and chaunge their opinions Howe confusely doubtfully and intricately they speake With what fond reasons they labour in vaine to prooue that thing which they are bent to mainteine in so muche that they can neither agree with other men neither yet within them selues They choppe and chaūge their Creedes they affirme now one thing and now an other they are established in no one opinion They can neuer agree within them selues to whome they maie referre the determination of dowbtes You referre the matter to your parlament as you terme it or els to your babling Bucerans as the Bishoppe of Angra not vnsittely termeth them Diuers men referre the decision of questions in religion to diuers Confessions of the faith which are wont now and then to be altered and chaunged Thinke you M ▪ Haddon if as I doe now reason with you in writing so I mighte be presente wyth you and presse you with wordes and wind you to and fro by the force of argumentes that you were able to stande to your tackelinges No without dowbt But you woulde deuise a hundred diuers shiftes of descant to face out the matter and seeke out all the starting holes and blind corners in the world in such sort that it might easily appeare that neither your tongue neither yet your wit were in perfecte good plight Howbeit one poore shifte you would finde which is a singular good helpe to you in all your distresses that is to brawle chide schold and reuile You saie afterward That you maie acknowledge the authoritie of this Churche if you dowbt of it I referre you to the Apologie I know you haue writen an Apologie wherwith you labour to set out your Churche meruelously If you haue written it more wittyly and finely then this booke which you set out against me surely you haue done me great wrōg For you made light of me and therefore did not vouchesafe to put out the vttermost strength of your eloquence when you encountered with me If you vse the like stile and the like argumentes that is to saie if you contend with the like arrogancie and reprochful language I haue not so much time to spare that I wil desire to take it once in my handes For you define nothing you speake ▪ nothing sincerelie you conclude nothing by good argument You saie at the length Confute it if you can But you can not That was verie arrogantly spoken Who hath made you so loftie and high sprited Your eloquence Or elles the loue of the truthe If you truste to your eloquence you are a very babe If you beare your selfe vppon the truth you imagine manie thinges to be true that are not You saie that one hath barked againste your Apologie I haue not reade it and yet I knowe that your Apologie whiche you saie can not possiblie be confuted is alreadie excellentlie well confuted by a manne of muche grauitie godlines and learninge which thing you denie But this lesson haue you learned of your maisters who beinge openlye conuinced fall a crying being sette a gogge kepe a raging stirre and when they are able to saie nothing to the grownde of the matter they heape together manie woordes without order and besides the pourpose and yet they vaunte them selues emongest their adherentes beyond all measure and modestie But I regard not your brauerie and Iustines I esteeme not your haughtie and prowde vauntes I weye the truthe reason and argumentes And suche is the noblenes of this your Ilād the glorie and renoum◠of your kingdome so bright that neither can anie vice lie hidden in it neither yet anie vertue vnknowen Wherfore you labour but in vaine to conceale that thing whiche is euerie where cōstantly reported What you say touching the immortality of soules I wote not I neuer saied that your maisters denied the immortalitie of sowles Howbeit I am not ignorant by what degrees or steppes men are wont to clymme vp vnto the highest point of that most detestable opinion Whereas you saie that there hath ben manie men emongest you which haue confirmed the truth of the gospel by banishment nakednes hungre yea by sheading their bloud and yealding their liues I graunt it For so did the Bishop of Rochester so did Moore so did the holy Carthusians to passe ouer a numbre of others these men died a most honourable death for the glorie of Christ So doe your holy Bishops whō you haue defeated of their goods depriued of their dignities and cast into prisons So do we see many others Bishops Priests and Monks very godlie and Religiouse persons driuen out of England and Ireland liuing like banished men and outcastes the which if they had not ben able to escape out of your clammes had peraduenture ben put to a most orewel death by the ministers of this your Gospel If you meane any other of your men heare what S. Cyprian saith that such as being without the bowndes of the Church doe suffer death for the glory of Christe they doe not receiue the Croune of Martyrdome but beare the punishment for their vnbeleefe If thei therefore that breake vp the inclosure of the Church and seperate them selues from it although they yeld their bloude and liues for the Religion of Christ which the Church holdeth are not to be accounted as Martyrs but as naughty packes and Church robbers what is to be thought of such as being without the Church are not ashamed to spil their bloud and liues in the main tenance of rebellion and vngodlines I am nowe come to that place whiche is by you who are a man naturally abhorring the sleightie occupation of flatterie and lying verie clerkely handled Your woordes are these You confesse that you haue gone further in the matter then you had thought to doe Truth it is that you haue gon a great deale further then it became you to doe especiallie in the most
shamefull language when he had vttered most horrible and diuelish blasphemie when he had wasted spoiled and burned all holie thinges when he had committed all these outrages and villanies then was he thought a meete man to be taken into gods pricuie counsell and a persone woorthie to whome God besides all other secretes shoulde mercifully reuele that mysterie also of the deuising of purgatorie Then did this great wise man vnderstand at the length that S. Augustine which held that we should praie vnto God in our Sacrifices for the dead that S. Cyprian which laied this most grieuous punishment vpon such as appointed Priestes in their testamēt to be tutours or gouernours to their children that there should no sacrifice be offred vp for them in the churches that S. Chrysostome whiche referred this ordinaunce to the tradition of the Apostles that S. Denise to passe ouer a numbre of others which wrote very diligently of the care that is to be had for the departed in the faith and of praiers that are to be made vnto God for their deliueraunce Luther I saie vnderstood from heauen that al these men had ben in great errour and folie Trulie the capitaine of this your faction had a great commoditie of his naughtines and folie if after the reising of such broiles and troubles in the worlde he was deliuered by the benefite of God from that errour in the which those holie Fathers most Godlie and wise men excellently wel learned in the Scriptures linked vnto Christe with a most streight band of heauenlie loue were quite drowned If no man can thus perswade him selfe vnlesse he be peeuish frantike and starke mad void not only of al godlie religion but also of common sense who doth not see that this opinion of Luther is wicked ād detestable taught and set out by none other then by the enemie the diuell But this saie you is not witten in the scripture What then The thing which the Apostles taught by word of mowth which their schollers deliuered to the posteritie whiche hath ben most constantly holden and beleeued from the primitiue Churche till our times whiche hath ben approued by the beleefe and full agreement of the whole Church for so manie hnndred yeares shall Luther a seditious mad selowe after so manie ages garishly auowch it to be a feined matter Shall men whiche take vpon them to be both Godlie and religious folow him as a God of heauen that attempteth most desperatly to assault heauen For he maketh warre against heauē which taketh vp armour against the faith of the Church No no saie you you would not thinke what manner of man he was For he I tel you woulde allowe nothing vnlesse he fownde it written in the holie scriptures Well sir I will not nowe handle that matter whiche is by the holy Fathers discussed long a goe howe the gospell consisteth not only in thinges written but also in customes and ordinaunces receiued without any writing deliuered vnto the Churche by worde of mowth and order of the Apostles how much the sure and groūded authoritie of the Church which is the piller and staie of truth is to be esteemed of howe great value and importaunce the agreement of all holy men in one minde without anie varietie ought to be all these thinges I will nowe omit and aske you one question how Luther when he saied there was a purgatorie to prooue it alleaged the testimonies of the holie scripture if there were no testimonie in the scripture that proued that there was a purgatorie Then againe when he saied that there was no Purgatorie by what testimonie of the Scripture thought he that Purgatorie might be vtterly disprooued Brought he anie one place by the whiche he might conuince that there is no Purgatorie Dowbtlesse not one Such therefore was his presumption that what so euer came into his head that woulde he constantly affirme and againe the selfe same thing if it misliked him would he vtterly denie And yet his disciples for sooth find no fault at all neither with his inconstancie neither yet with his lewd fasshions but what so euer the drowsie blowbol draueled out ouer his pottes that toke they vp so griedily as though it had ben good gospell But lest you should saie that it can not be shewed by the testimonie of the scripture that there is a purgatory although it be not necessarie yet besides those places whiche are wont to be alleaged for the proofe thereof I thinke it good to bring a fewe of the whiche that is one of S. Marke where our Lorde when he had saied that hel into the which al such shalbe throwen downe as esteeme more their bodilie pleasure then their dewtie towardes God shoulde haue this propertie that the worme of them that shall be tombled down headlong into it should neuer die and their fyer neuer be quenched he brought in foorthwith these wordes for euerie man shalbe seasoned in fyer and euery sacrifice shalbe seasoned in salt In this place there are two thinges to be noted One is that there is a worme that is to saie a vexation or torment of cōscience gnawing and molesting the minde the whiche shal haue an ende and that there is a torment of fyer also the whiche in like manner shall haue and end in some men For otherwise our Lorde woulde neuer haue brought that place out of Esaie their worme dieth not and their fyer is not quenched By the whiche place we are taught that there is one torment euerlasting and an other that lasteth but for a time For so muche therefore as this worme and fyer is a torment or vexation of minde and of tormentes there is one whiche is appointed by the iudgement of God to last but a time and the other to continew for euermore is it not euidently prooued that there is a purgatorie for so is the place of punishment called in the whiche by the sentence of God the sowles are purged within a certaine time of suche spottes of venial offences as they had gathered in this life An other thing worthy to be noted is this that no synne shal escape vnpunished For euen as in the old lawe it was not lawful to offre vp any Sacrifice without salt so is it not lawful for our soules to approch vnto the throne of Gods maiestie vnlesse their vncleanes be before clensed by salt and fyer that is to say by the rigour of Goddes iudgement and by dewe punishment that when al the spottes of vncleane affection be put out and quite consumed the faithful sowles may come to haue such a puritie and cleerenes that thei may be able to receiue the brightnes of God in them selues and be likened and confourmed to the glory of God For although by the mercy of God synne is taken quite away in such as stay them selues vppon a liuelie saith yet are they for the most parte so bounde with some knot of the law that they must needes satisfie