euery Spirit but try the Spirits whether they bee of God or no Likewise I did much ruminate and ponder with my selfe the place of the Prophet Esay where he saith to the Law and the Testimony If they speake not according to this Word It is because there is no light in them Whence I did gather that all Seruices and Doctrines of Religion are not acceptable before God For Faith commeth by hearing and hearing of the word of God so that if they speake not according to this Word it is rather fancy then faith humane traditions then Gods institutions and consequently condemned by our Sauiour in the 15. of Mathew where he expresly reprooued the Commandements and traditions of men And St. Paul reiecteth as Bastard slippes all voluntary Seruices what apparance or outward shew of deuotion soeuer they beare By which and other like places I was moued to examine my profession whether it were of Gods institution and especiall command specified to vs or whether God were the author of those Seruices and Ceremonies which now beate great sway in the Church of Rome and after due examination I found out for certaine that many points of the Religion now embraced by the Romanists are not to be found within the volume of Gods Word When I considered this and perceiued the weakenes of the grounds that must warrant our soules it gaue me occasion to forsake my communion with the Church of Rome in whose bosome I haue beene long detayned of whom I may iustly complaine as the Prophet Ieremy did of the false teachers in his dayes they haue reiected the Word of the Lord and what wisedome is then in them Likewise I often busied my selfe in reading of Books treating of Religion such as handled matters now in controuersie as the Apollogy of the most reuerent Father and learned Scholler Iohn Iewell Bishop of Sarisbury written against a friend and neere Kiseman of mine Docter Harding together with another no lesse reuerent then learned Marcus Antoniuus de dominis Archbishop of Spalato whom after I had well perused I found such comfort in my conscience and such sollid doctrine for my soule that I made no doubt to say with the Prophet Dauid a domino factum est hoc this is the Lords doing Now the Sunne is vp and the Clouds of ignorance are gone the truth shineth and the Kingdome of Heauen is at hand therfore I may say with my Text bonum est mihi quia humiliastime It is good for mee that I was in trouble for thereby I haue learned thy Statutes But what are these Statutes they are the Word of God contayned in the Law and the Prophets which are the rule of our Life and the square of our Faith and the very Oracle of Almighty God from Heauen to reueale his will vnto vs for certaine it is that Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it hee swarued not from the Law and the Prophets neither did the Apostles teach any thing vpon their owne will and discretion but the Doctrine which they receiued of Christ they faithfully deliuered it vnto the people and Nations And this they preached at the first in viua voce that is in a liuely Voyce and afterward deliuered it vnto vs in writing to be the foundation and Pillar of our Faith Qui hoc credit saith Tertullian nihil habet quod vitra credat He that beleeueth this hath no Obligation to beleeue any thing else and this is that which we ought to beleeue without either adding or diminishing I would now demand of the Pope and his Papalins in what Gospell in what Apostle in what Prophet or Euangelist or Book of Moses they find either Pope or his supremacy where are his Pardons where is his Masse where Images together with many other his Fopperies which now they hold to be very precious We reade in the 20. of Exodus that almighty God doth expresly forbid the making of any Image to represent the Person of Almighty God or to do any seruice and obey sance to any Picture or representation of the creature for first God is a Spirit invisible incomprehensible and Eternall and therefore hee cannot be signified by any Image or creature which is both corporall and momentary and therefore God in his second Commandement forbiddeth all seruice done vnto Images but contrary vnto this the Church of Rome doth command and allow not only the making of Images but also doth command the seruing and worshipping of them as by incensing them in lighting of Candles vnto them by kneeling before them and by yeelding vp their offrings and deuotions vnto them All which can bee no lesse then grosse Idolatry for albeit they do not worship their Images as stocks and stones but as they represent either God or some Saint So likewise did not the Isralits worship their golden Calfe as the true God but they did worship the true God in the Calfe and yet notwithstanding the Text saith that they did commit Idolatry and many of them were seuerely punished for the same Exod. 32. so that the Idolatry of the Church of Rome is as grosse as that of the Isralites What can bee more iniutious vnto God then to hope for helpe of him and yet notwithstanding to pray vnto a sencelesse stock The faith of the Patriarkes and Prophets righteous Fathers from the beginning of the world was the same as ours is and ought to be as the Apostle saith that they were all baptized in the red Sea and did eate the same spirituall meate and iniutious vnto drinke the same spirituall drinke as wee doe now But was Abraham Isaack or Iaacob Papists did they fall downe before stocks and stones before Idols or Images to pray or offer vnto them did they go on pilgrimage one to anothers Relikes to doe deuotion vnto them there is neither shew nor shadow of these things in the Word of God Chrysostome saith that Christ nee discessit a lege neque a Prophetis but none of all this is to bee found in the Law or the Prophets therefore in no wise to bee admitted As touching the distinction which they vse betwixt Duleiam and Latreiam affirming that they giue to Saints onely Duâ—â—iam that is a kind of Religious Seruice and that they giue Latreiam vnto Almighty God intimating thereby that they both worship God and serue their Images Our Sauiour confoundeth them in the 4 of Mathew saying as is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue And Saint Paul perswadeth the Corinthians to turne from Idols and Images and to serue the euerliuing God where hee doth vse the word Duliea for the Seruice of the true God shewing heereby the opposition that is betwixt the one and the other that he that serueth Images cannot in any wise serue the Almighty God yea God himself speaketh it plainely in his first Commandement to worship and serue him only neither will he giue his Honour to any other
In the first precept God condemneth all false Gods in the second all false worshiping of the true God as making of Images vnto God or yeelding vnto the Image any part of deuotion which belongeth vnto the Lord. For it is not enough to know the true God and to acknowledge him alone to be worshipped according to the first Commandement yet breake the 2. by worshipping him amisse As in setting vp of Images and bowing and kneeling vnto thē for as the Almighty God saith in the 27. of Deut. verse 15 Cursed be the man that shall make any carued or molten Image for it is abomination vnto the Lord they that make them are like vnto them and so are all they that put their trust in them For as Nadab and Abihu the sonnes of Aaron by offring of strange fire before the Lord became lyable to his wrath and maledictiō for their presumption so the Papists that doe adde strange doctrines and new inuented traditions to the Word of God and seruice of the Lord do incurre his heauy wrath continuall displeasure And therfore we are willed by the holy Ghost to flye from them and their abhominations least we be partakers of their sinne end so likewise of their punishment The 2. Motiue that moued me to leaue the Papists is because they do as it were hood-winke the people in their religion giuing a Seruice in a language they vnderstand not amazing them with many outward Ornaments and huge heapes of Ceremonies calling Ignorance the the Mother of Deuotion and Images Layemens Books But we reade in the Councell of Tolledo in Spaine that Ignorantia est mater omnium errorum Ignorance is the mother of Deuotion but rather of Atheisme and the roote of all errour What should it auaile Moses to speake in Hehrew to a man of Africa who vnderstands no Hebrew and what may it auaile the people of other countries to heare their common Seruice in a tongue they vnderstand not for albeit they heare with their eares they vnderstand not with their hearts they are not much better then Birds and Parrats which babble much and vnderstand nothing Therefore in the primatiue Church when Faith was then in learning the prayers other Seruice was set fourth in a common tongue knowne vnto the people that they might vnderstand what they did professe and to be able to giue a reason of their faith When Almighty God appointed Moses to open the Law for the direction of his Church he decreed it as an euerlasting duty to all his people that the booke of the Law shold not depart out of their mouthes but that they should meditate therein day and night to obserue and doe according to all that is written But how should they meditate in them if they be vnknown to them and how should they know thē if they be in a tongue they vnderstand not is not this the curse which God by his Prophet denounceth saying I wil speak vnto this people in another language by strāge lips so as they shal not vnderstand me who would not iustly suspect such a church yea cōdemn it whē to maintain and continue their errour they will haue none of the people either to search the Scriptures or to vnderstand their common Seruice that they heare dayly Thus the silly Papalins are led like blinde men they know not whether and with her fides implicita that is to beleeue in grosse for their part they know not what are lamentably seduced The people go to see Masse but not to vnderstand it and oft-times the Priest himselfe vnderstands not what he saith and this is done for a double end the one is that the people may be kept still in Ignorance and the other is that it may bee a marke of the Popes dominion in that they vse his language in their deuine Seruice and so might bee thought to hold their Religion from the Popes Chaire euen as the Spaniard constreyneth the Indians to speake Spanish the better to reduce them vnder his Dominion But the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 86. Dominus narauit in Scriptur is populorū God hath opened and declared his wayes and will in the Scriptures but in whose Scriptures Hierom vpon this place answereth thus the Scriptures of the people so called because they be read vnto the people that is to say that all may vnderstand because the Princes of Christ which were the Apostles and Euangelists did not write them for afew but for the whole people not that afew but that all should vnderstand Saint Paul writ long Epistles to the Corinthians Ephesians and Philippians in his owne language that all might reade and vnderstand what hee wrote vnto them Why then may not others reade the same Epistles in their own language as the Corinthians and Ephesians did in theirs St. Hierome in an Epistle to Laeta writeth thus Let thy daughter loue diuine and heauenly Bookes instead of silkes and precious Stones let her learne of the Psalmes to despise earthly things let the Prouerbs of Salomon teach her to liue vertuously let the Ecclesiastes accustome her to renounce worldly vanity let Iob teach her patience let her take the Gospell of Christ into her hands let it not depart from her let her diligently study the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles And when shee hath enriched the Closset of her heart with such riches then let her learne the doctrine of the Prophets and the bookes of Moses This was the practice and vse of the Church in Saint Hieromes time and long after him as may appeare by Saint Gregory in his Pastoralis If the reading of the Scriptures may bee forbidden because some abuse them in the vsing then also may the Sacraments be forbidden because they are sometimes abused in the receiuing which to doe were a thing much dissonant to Gods will pernicious vnto his Church and therfore the proposing their seruice in a strange language and forbidding the people the reading of the Scriptures is altogether against Gods word the ancient custome of the Primatiue Church and so by consequence is not to be followed by any of the children of the Church of Iesus Christ A third reason that moued me to follow this pious resolution was that they hold against all Scripture and authenticall reason Purgatory that is a purging fire after this life to clense our sins Against this opinion of the Papists our Sauiour himselfe in the 16. of Saint Luke doth much confute where he maketh mention only of 2. places namely Heauen and Hell saying that the rich mans soule presently after death went to Hell and there was tormented and Lazarus soule at his death was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome a place of ioy and comfort For as Saint Ciprian saith against Demetrian that after this life there is no place of Repentance there is no satisfaction more to be made life is heere either lost or won by the due worshipping of God and the fruits of
still vrging me I could doe no lesse then retire my selfe back vnto the Lord from whom I haue long erred gone astray saying as Aristotle was wont to say Socrates is my friend so is Plato my friend but the friendship of the truth is far aboue all I can no longer beare witnesse against God it is no longer secure to call good euill or euill good light darkenesse or darkenesse light I must not be ashamed of the Gospell of Iesus Christ for it is the mighty power of God vnto saluation It is now high time to set aside all blinde affection and to iudge vprightly It is dangerous to ioyne with them that haue burnt Gods Word and scornefully called it a leaden rule a Nose made of waxe that call ignorance the mother of Deuotion dumb Images Lay mens Bookes who forbid marriage and lycence Concubines who haue deuised vnto themselues a strange Religion contrary to the Scriptures ancient Counsels old doctors and example of the Primatiue Church whom so many Kingdomes countries and infinite thousands of godly people haue forsaken From whom the holy Ghost by expresse words hath commanded vs to depart as it is written in the Apocalips Come away from her O my people that ye be not partakers of her sinnes lest ye be also partakers of her plagues for she hath falsified the holy farthers with such translations and expositions not as may best expresse their meanings but as may best further their owne pretenses and purposes they wrest them they alter them they put to them and take from them sometimes they take the bare words against the meaning and sometimes they frame a meaning against the words they imagine counsels that were neuer lied Canons of counsels that were neuer seene they bring forged Pamphlets vnder the name of Athanasius Anacletus and other godly Fathers by whom they were neuer made These are not errors in manners which may be in any good Church but they are errors in Faith and Doctrine which cannot stand with the true Church And therefore as Saint Ciprian saith let not lies deceiue vs any longer it is night vntill the day spring but when the Day appeareth and the Sunne of truth is vp both the darkenesse of the night as also the thefts committed in darkenesse will appeare and giue place Now the Sunne of truth is vp and the Clouds of ignorance are scattered I will say with Saint Paul Let vs cast away darkenesse and put on the armour of light To maintaine a fault knowne is a double fault Errour cannot stand but by errour and the mouth that speaketh vntruth killeth the soule Therefore I may safely and ioyfully say Bonum est mihi domine quia humiliasti me vt discam instisicationes tuas It is good for me that I haue beene in trouble for thereby I haue learned thy truth O my God leade me in the truth teach mee to do thy will Albeit I haue erred and strayed like a lost sheepe Ego tamen filius tuus fillius ancillae tuae Yet I am as child of thine inheritance and borne and brought vp of thy Handmayd which is thy Church and Spouse Open mine eyes suffer me not to be deceiued by the abuses of the world Sweete Iesus confirme me in this my resolution helpe my vnbeliefe increase the Faith which is within me fructifie in me that assurance of Abraham who beleeued in hope against hope arme me with thy promises deliuer me from mine enemines replenish me with the Spirit of constancy to the end and in the end that hauing gotten the victory I may say with the Apostle Paul Bonum certamē certaui fidē seruaui cursū consummani de reliqu◠reposita est mihi corona iustitiae quam reddit mihi in ill◠die Iustus index 2. Tim. 4.7.8 I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the Faith 8. Henceforth there is laid vp for me a Crowne of Righteousnes which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue mee at that Day FINIS
Scripture but in the meaning Therefore Saint Paul saith that the Communicant doth eate Bread after Consecration for if the Bread were wholy and truly Transubstantiated into the Body of Christ hence it followeth that euery one that doth receiue the sacrament doth also eate the Body of Christ and consequently cannot be damned For our Sauiour saith He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Bloud hath eternall life so by this rule the wicked shall be saued as well as the godly Moreouer if Christ be present according to his humane Nature then is it no Sacrament for euery Sacrament is a signe inanis est signi visus vbi resipsa presens est the signe is to no effect where the thing it selfe is present And it is to be noted likewise that the signe must haue some Analogie with the thing that it signifieth Now the thing signified is the Body and Bloud of Christ which is true meate true drinke as our Sauiour himselfe witnesseth in St. Iohns Gospell but the species or accidents of Bread and Wine are not true meate nor true drinke by that meanes cannot giue any fit proportion with the thing signified by them Further it is an Axiome in Phylosophy that accidentis esse est in esse that the being of an accident is to be in some subiect But these accidents as colour sauour and roundnesse they cannot bee in any subiect and so by consequence they cannot exist in the Sacrament For they cannot be in the body of Christ because it is glorified but the accidents are subiect to corruption and therfore they must either exist without a subiect which is contrary to Phylosophy or else to bee seated in the Body of Christ which is now glorified and this is impossible It is further to be noted that the Church of Rome doth mutilate and curtall this Sacrament for they take the bloud of our Sauiour which is our redemption from the lay-people yet certaine it is that our Sauiour did institute this Sacrament vnder both kinds and as he said to all take eate this is my Body So did he likewise speake vnto all when he deliuered the Cup saying drinke ye all of this and Saint Paul writing to the Corinthians sayth As often as ye eate of this Bread and drinke of this Cup ye shew forth the Lords death vntill he come For as Alexander of Hailes saith whole Christ is not conteyned vnder each kind but the Flesh only vnder the forme of Bread and the Bloud vnder the forme of Wine And heere vpon Gelasius Pope made a Decree that they should either receiue the whole vnder both kinds or receiue none at all vnder any kinde For there can bee no deuision of this one Sacrament and high mistery without great Sacriledge so that by their owne Doctors it is euident that they commit great Sacriledge in deuiding this Sacrament and do much abuse the people of God in deceiuing them of the precious Bloud of our Sauiour The 5. Motiue which mooued mee to persist in this my enterprise is that the Pope challengeth authority vnto himselfe to forgiue sinnes and thereupon sendeth forth his Bulls Pardons and Indulgences pardoning whom he list and as he list as if he were God himselfe hauing absolute power to do what he list insomuch as Traytors and Rebels against God and their lawfull Prince hee will not only pardon without exception but he will enable them in their damnable courses to the ouerthrowing of themselues and their Princes What the Religion of Rome is it may easily appeare by this that a man may haue for money a Licence or dispensation for any sinne a Popes pardon is sufficient for all but to what end serueth pardons when as there is no Purgatorie for neither the ancient Fathers make mention of it and the Grecians vntill this day beleeue it not Siluester Prierias in his Booke against Luther saith that Pardons are not knowne vnto vs by any authority of the Scriptures but by authorie of the Pope which is greater then the authority of the Scriptures Vox bouis non hominis It is the voice or saying of some Beast and not of any Christian man Certaine I am that the Pope cannot justifie an vnrighteous man whom God abhorreth neither can he condemn the faithfull whō God doth much tender and fauour therfore his Pardons are rather pernitious then any whit commodious to the persons that buy them bearing them in peace and security when indeede they are in much perill and misery VVhere doe they find that the Pope hath any superiority ouer Kings Princes or Emperours that hee hath any authority to depose them from their Crownes and dignities and to absolue their subiects from their Oath and Allegeance which they haue sworne vnto their Princes That vpon his Excommunication it is lawfull for them to rebell against them and so practise all Hostility to depose them There is not one word sentence or place out of the Scripture to proue it no precept or example of antiquity to warrant it and yet they commend it for a chiefe point and ground of Catholike and Christian faith By what right doth he claime this supreme authority if he clayme it as a successor of St. Peter it is impossible for that Saint Peter neuer had any such Title or preeminence ouer the rest of the Apostles It is true that Christ said to Peter Thou art Peter and vpon this Rock I wil build my Church These words hitherto giue no superiority to Peter aboue the rest Only they shew that the Church is built non super petrum sed super Petram not vpon the person of Peter but vpon the Rocke Of which Saint Paul saith Petra autem erat Christus the Rock was Christ whom Saint Peter confessed to be the Sonne of the euerliuing God This confession of Saint Peter is that Christ is the Rock wherevpon the Church is builded aliud fundamentum nemo potest ponere nisi id quod positum est Christus Iesus Other Foundation can no man lay but that which is laid already namely Christ Iesus Where then shall wee find that Peter was made Prince of the Apostles to rule ouer all the rest as our Popes doe now But what hath the Pope to doe with Peter or what doth the Pope doe as Saint Peter did Saint Peter did conuert soules plant Churches and preach the Word of God vnto all Nations but in what Pulpit hath our Popes euer set foote where haue they preached the Gospell or expounded the Word The first Lesson that Saint Peter teacheth vs is to feare God the next is to Honour the King Quis haec est voluntas Dei for this is the will of God But the Popes say that they are Princes aboue Nations and Kingdomes they can depose Kings and pull downe Emperours they haue authority ouer their subiects to discharge them from their Oathes they haue the right and clayme vnto both swords as well temporall as spirituall And that
all Kings and Princes ought to depend at their beck and to sweare obedience vnto their holinesse as to their supreame heads and Soueraignes vnder the paine and losse of all their Dominions We reade that Boniface the eight because he could not haue the treasury of France at his command endeauoured by all meanes possible to remoue Phillip the French King from his estate and vnder his Bulls and Letters Pattents made a deede of gift of all the state of France vnto Albertus then King of the Romans As touching the Kings of this our Realme of England as our duty and alleageance bindeth vs we may iustly complaine that Pope Alexander the 3. by violence and tyrranny forced King Henry the second to surrender vp his Crowne Imperiall into his Legats hands and afterward for a certaine space to cōtent him in priuate estate to the great indignation and griefe of his louing subiects Like wise that Innocentius the 3. stirred vp the Nobles and Commons of this Realme against King Iohn and gaue the inheritance possession of all his Dominions vnto Ludeuicus the French King Pius Quintus of late dayes gaue away his Kingdome to Philip the 2. King of Spaine Shall any one thinke that these be deeds of holines and that he doth all this by right and equity through vertue of his spirituall priuiledge Surely no it is meere sacriledge against God and tyrranny ouer his Princes and Vice-gerents and not the part of any Minister of Christ or successor of the Apostles For first Christ himselfe saith that his Kingdome is not of this world He himselfe likewise refused to be made a King He himselfe payd tribute vnto Caesar and commanded others to do the same saying giue vnto Caesar those things that bee Caesars Now if Christ himselfe was subiect vnto Caesar and commanded all others to be subiect and obedient vnto him it is a shame for the Byshop of Rome to exalt himselfe aboue Caesar and to animate others against him Imperium in Principe obedientia in subdito est de inre diuino Rule in the Prince and obedience in the Subiect are both immediatly from God and as euery member of the body naturall must subiect it selfe vnto the rule and regiment of the head if it meane to liue and thriue So must euery subiect in the body politicke be subiect and gouerned by the Prince which is the head of all and aboue all And therefore they are called in the Psalmes Vosestis Dij yee are as Gods so that he which contemneth them contemneth God they are called noursing Fathers that we should alwayes loue and reuerence them like vnto our Fathers they are also called Kings Princes and Rulers of the Earth which are Names and Titles of honour so that those whom God vouchsafeth thus to Honour we ought without all contradiction to loue honour and obey Therefore euery soule that is subiect to God must bee subiect to them because he that calleth them Kings calleth vs subiects this is their Patent that God hath chosen them Kings and set them vpon the Throne to rule his people and hath commanded euery soule to be subiect vnto their power Si omnis anima if euery soule must be subiect vnto their power then doubtlesse must both Popes and Byshops bee subiect to their Prince Qui vos tentat ab hac vniuer salitate excipere conatur decipere He that goeth about to exempt you from this vniuersall Law goeth about to beguile you For our Sauiour as hee commanded it so did hee in his owne person performe it Exemplum dedit vobis vt sicut ipse fecit vos faciatis Hee left you an example that as hee did so should you also doe So that it is a thing most certaine that the Pope of Rome hath no authority ouer Kings either in Ecclesiasticall or Temporall matters but is therein an Vsurper Intruder and a most odious Traytor both to God and Prince for all the ancient Churches haue affirmed and euer acknowledged the supreame auhority of Princes aboue all Priests and people whatsoeuer Tertullian an ancient Doctor and Priest in his Booke ad Scapulam hath these words Colimus Imperatorem vt hominem a Deo secundum soli Deo minorem Wee honour the Prince as next and imediatly vnto God inferior only vnto God And in his Apologeticks he saith that Principes sunt a Deo secundi post eum primi ante omnes super omnes That Kings and Princes are the second to God next vnto God aboue all and ouer all Optatus lib. 3. Contra Parmenianum saith that supra Imperatorem non est nisi solus Deus qui fecit Imperatorem It was the Lord which appointed Moses Iosua Dauid and his posterity to rule ouer Israel It was the Lord which moued the peoples heart to feare honour and obey them for as euery beame is from the Sunne and euery Branch is from the Roote so doth euery power proceede from God so that it is Deiure deuino that Kings haue rule ouer their subiects and therefore all subiects by the Law of God and nature are bound to honour and obey their Princes Good Kings are Gods Images and euill Princes are his Executioners Asher was his Rod Nabuchadonezer his seruant and Cyrus was his anoynted And therefore aibeit God vseth them as a Father doth his rod first to correct his children by them and then breaketh and throweth them away yet the children and beloued of the Lord must submit themselues vnder his instrument of correction The Rubenites Gaddits and halfe the Tribe of Manasses said to Salomon whosoeuer shall resist thy will or will not obey whatsoeuer thou commandest let him bee put to death So that in Israel whether their Kings were faithfull or vngodly the people euer yeelded ciuill faith and obedience For as Saint Peter saith this is the will of God and whosoeuer resisteth this obedience resisteth the will of God and so heapeth vnto himselfe vengeance against the day of wrath and so cōsequently this doctrine of rebelling against Princes must needs be very damnable and odious and worthy to be contemned of all those that feare God But it is not my purpose or intent to set downe heere in particular all the erronious parts of Doctrine at this present professed and embraced in the Church of Rome for there are many other points pernicious grounds by me obserued which in no point agreeth with the word of God but I suppose that these few positions which I haue already touched may bee sufficient enough to make it manifest vnto the world that I haue enterprised nothing without good reason that my conscience could neuer haue suffered mee to haue liued in quiet and rest if I had done any otherwise all which things duly and carefully ballanced in my mind haue exceedingly stirred me vp to this my pious resolution It is a difficult thing to resist Gods voice to fight against the truth which discouereth her selfe so apparantly my conscience