not betake themselves to the universall Church In this then there appeares a very great abuse that the Church of Rome being indeed but a particular Church stiles her selfe the universall Church and in that she being full of errours vaunts her selfe neverthelesse to be without any errour nay more that it is impossible for her to erre and least her errours should be discovered by the glorious light of Gods holy Word the writings of the Prophets and Apostles she doth not only hinder the people from reading the word and reade it in the Church in a language which the people understandeth not but endeavours also to take away all its force and authority for they make the people beleeve that the Church of Rome is soveraigne Judge in all matters of difference in Religion by this meanes he that will accuse the Church of Rome of any errour may be sure to loose his processe seeing she alone is soveraigne Judge in her owne cause The Church of Rome doth likewise affirme that it is impossible for her to erre in the interpretations of the holy Scripture and that it is in her power to make constructions of the like authority with the word of God which is indeed no lesse then to place her selfe in Gods seat For as there is none but the King that can give an interpretation to his edict that may be of equall force with the edict it selfe So there is none but God alone that may give such a construction unto the Word of God as may be of the like power and authority with the Word of God And there is nothing more certaine then that such an interpreter is greater then the Law-giver sithence he giveth unto the Law such a sense as he pleaseth and the people taught to rely more on that then on the Law it self And to be sure that the Church of Rome be not any way subject unto the holy Scripture they maintaine that it is the Church that doth authorize the Scripture and which gives it all its power and authority as if the Subject could give authority unto Lawes or as if the Word of God did receive its authority from men To this end the Doctours of the Church of Rome say that the Church is more ancient then the holy Scripture but doth it therefore follow that the Church must be above the Scripture the people are they not many of them older then the King yet are they neverthelesse subject both to the King and to his Lawes however there be many Doctrines in the holy Scripture more ancient then the Church But say they we should not know that it were the Scripture if the Church did not tell us so but doth it follow thence I pray you that the Church must be above the Scripture If I should say I doe not know which is the King and if my friend should shew me doth it therefore follow that my friend must be above the King Many serve for witnesses unto persons unto whom they are farre inferiour Likewise to undervalue the authority of the Scripture and to strengthen that of the Church they say that the holy Scripture is a dead thing and cannot speake and consequently may not be Judge for say they a Judge must be able to speake as the Church is This is most false and deceitfull for the holy Scripture speaketh enough and if it speaks not enough it is that it guides us But the Church of Rome forsooth will be the rule it selfe and not subject to any Law but will be Judge both of the Law and of the Word of God Thus are men become Gods Judges and guilty persons shall be infallible and soveraigne Judges of the sence and authority of the Law which concernes their owne crime by this meanes they need not feare to be condemned but will they nill they at the day of Judgement they shall be judged by this very word over which they now thus usurpe authority then shall that pratling Judge be constrained to keep silence So then these Gentlemen in sending the people to the Church for the deciding of doubts in faith distract their minds with an innumerable company of doubts and difficulties for how shall an ignorant man know that there must be a Church in the world If they say he may know it by the Scripture it is then necessary that he be acquainted with the Scripture and thus the authority of the Church should be founded on the Scripture and when the Church teacheth this or that how shall the people know whether it be conformable to the Word of God sithence the reading of Gods Word is absolutely forbidden them and there being many Churches disagreeing one with the other how can the poore people discerne that which teacheth lyes from that which teacheth the truth seeing the very rule of truth which is the holy Scripture is a book utterly forbidden them Shall they follow the multitude Jesus Christ saith Mat. 7. That the gate is wide which leadeth to perdition and there are ten times as many Turks and Pagans as there are Christians shall they believe miracles our Saviour faith Marke 13. There shall come false teachers working miracles whereby to seduce if it were possible the very elect shall they have regard to seats and successions The Churches of Greece have also had their seats since the Apostles and the Churches of Syria theirs and brag of S. Peters chair and yet all these are quite contrary to the Church of Rome and indeed more ancient Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles having preached there and beeing the first Institutours of them We doe not here dispute of S. Peters superiority over the rest of the Apostles he might be the first in order authority or virtue and yet not have any superiority of jurisdiction But that matters not the question is whether the Pope of Rome be S. Peters successour as the head of the universall Church which is the principall point of the Papists Religion wherof neverthelesse there is not one word spoken in all the Scripture The Bishops of Corinth and Thessalonica were Saint Pauls Successours not as Apostles but as particular Bishops of those cities So the question is not whither the afore-said Bishop of Rome be Saint Peters Successour in the Bishoprick of Rome but whether he succeeds him in the Apostleship as the head of the whole Church This is that which we slatly deny and which they can never proove or if they could so prove it yet the Pope having corrupted Saint Peters Doctrine and changed his Bishoprick into an absâ—lute temporall Monarchy had long since that lost his succession To conclude there being but one holy Scripture and there being many contrary Churches and the Doctors of these Churches being apt to seeke their owne profit and subject to be carried away with diverse evill affections but the holy Scripture being an incorruptible Judge let us have recourse to this holy Word of God in the which if there be any obscurity there is
accuse God Almighty of injustice to thinke that he inflicts more punishments on any man then his sinnes doe deserve It is not to know the greatnesse of sinne and to be ignorant of the punishment due thereunto to conceive that a few fasts and scourgings or any miseries that are to be endured in this life can be a satisfaction more then sufficient for the same For our Saviour in the 5th Chapter of Saint Matthew saith that he that calleth his brother foole shall be in danger of hell-fire And if the satisfaction of Iesus Christ be sufficient for the punishment due to all our sinnes what need we the satisfactions of Saints Why should we thinke that God will take two payments for one and the same debt when the first is sufficient Moreover God rewards us to the full here on earth for all our good works and endeavours how is it then that we should merit any thing to another thereby A foolish conceit it is indeed as if the same money which I imploy to buy me a house should likewise serve over and above for the payment of another mans debts And in a thing so holy and important as touching our reconciliation with God in Christ is it lawfull to forge articles of faith without any ground for the truth thereof out of the word of God For where is the least proofe for this in all the holy Scripture who seeth not that it was invented on purpose to increase the Popes treasury and to exalt his Empire who hereby with his pardons and Indulgences amasseth unto himselfe infinite riches I would very willingly learne who it was that first put the Saints satisfactions into the treasury of the Church when began this distribution how shall we know certainly whether God doth receive these satisfactions as sufficient why had not the Priests in the old Testament such a treasury wherein to keep the superaboundant satisfactions of Noah Abraham and Jacob c. which overplus it seems they have lost by ill husbandry What is the cause why our Saviour Christ Iesus nor his Apostles were not advised to speake of this Treasury or of one mans satisfying for another Surely Saint Paul was asleep when he said that every man shall beare his owne burthen Gal. 6. or else they will make themselves wiser then Saint Paul But whether it be allowable by Gods Word or no so it be any way conducing to the Popes profit it matters not with them so the Pope hath a fee it 's no matter whether God hath any honour Thus doe they both dishonour God and wrong their owne soules CHAP. XII Of the presence of the Lords body in the Sacrament and of Transubstantiation IF there were none other abuse in the Church of Rome save only this one errour of Transubstantiation it were of it selfe sufficient to drive away from the Church of Rome any man that is carefull for the salvation of his soule The holy Scripture declareth that no Idolaters shall enter into the kingdome of God 1 Cor. 6. and surely there can be no greater Idolatry then to call a morsell of bread his god and his Creator and to adore a god made with a few words a god that may be stollen away a god that may be mouldy and eaten up with wormes and those termes which they use of eating God of lifting up God of carrying God about in procession me thinkes should make a true Christians haire to stand on end to heare such intollerable blasphemies whereby God Almighty is so greatly dishonoured and the Christian Religion so exposed to the reproach of Pagans and Infidels The Doctors of the Church of Rome strive to prove this their Transubstantiation from that passage of our Saviour which they alleadge cropt and maimed not mentioning either the foregoing or the following words where we find that Jesus tooke bread brake it blessed and gave it to them saying take eat this is my body which is broken for you doe this in remembrance of me It appeares then that our Saviour gâ—ve bread and it is manifest that he gave it not till after the consecration it was therefore bread after the consecration Our Saviour saith that the bread is his body not that the bread is changed or transubstantiated into his body so that the bread is not the body of Christ Capernaitically or grossely but sacramentally and spiritually Moreover our Saviour in the 12th Chapter of Saint Johns Gospell saith me ye have not alwayes which were false if he were alwayes inclosed in a wafer cake To this they answer that we have him no more visibly I reply that to have Jesus Christ invisibly is neverthelesse to have him that man should lye that should say he hath no money because it is in his coffer So likewise in the 16th of Saint Johns Gospell ver 17. I goe to the Father saith our Saviour which also were an untruth if he did still remaine in a peece of bread All this they pretend under the shadow of these words this is my body for the meaning whereof they will not receive Saint Pauls exposition who thus delivereth it unto us the bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 And I pray how many times in the Scripture is it said that we are the body of Christ doth it therefore follow that we be transubstantiated into his body We see then into how many blasphemies how many grosse absurdities and contradictions they run into to defend this their fantasticall Transubstantion having no proofe at all for it out of Gods word what they have out of their unwritten word I know not neither doe I care CHAP. XIII Of the sacrifice of the Masse A word or two now of the Idolatrous sacrifice of the Masse Hereupon it was that I first found the Doctors of the Church of Rome at a fault For I often called on them to shew me some passage out of the word of God that commandeth the sacrifice of the body of Christ Jesus but they could none of them ever shew me any Some forsooth will take the institution thereof from those words of our Saviour doe this which they interpret sacrifice my body but this interpretation is of their owne invention Others alleadge that passage of our Saviour this is my body for the institution of it But what if it were such a body indeed as they interpret it which notwithstanding is very false can they conclude because our Saviour said this is my body that he commanded the sacrifice of his body Briefly they cannot alleadge any passage out of the word of God which might prove the institution of this their most idolatrous sacrifice And indeed seeing the sacrifice of the death of Iesus Christ is sufficient what need is there to sacrifice him any more Againe through the whole passage of the institution of the Lords Supper there is not the least signe or mention of any sacrifice neither did the Apostles any worship at
notwithstanding enough left which needs no interpretation which is sufficient to make us wise unto Salvation as the Apostle Saint Paul saith 1 Tim. 3. CHAPTER II. Of the Popes power THe Bishop of Rome calleth himselfe Saint Peters Successour not only as being Bishop of Rome but as being also the Head of the universâ—ll Church Which power he extends so farre as to give and take away Kingdomes to distribute of crownes to dispence with Christians from keeping their oathes and vowes to canonize Saints to give Lawes to the universall Church to forgive sins to take soules out of Purgatory to judge soveraignly and without controle of all points and differences in Religion vaunting that it is impossible for him to erre in faith and for these considerations qualifying himselfe god on Earth the Spouse of the Church and a divine Majesty causing Kings to kisse his feet and making himself a religious worship terming himself Gods Vicar For this cause I have read very carefully Saint Peters Epistles and have compared them with the Popes Buls wherby he thunders down Kings and degrades them publisheth grand pardons but I can finde no concordance at all the one with the other for Saint Peter in his Epistles speaks not any wise of his Superiority not of his power neither is there one word spoken of his Soveraignty or as being head of the Church which is a very strange thing that a Soveraigne should write unto his subjects without mentioning one word that might intimate his Soveraignty I finde also that the Apostles did contest among themselves concerning the priority and that Jesus Christ did decide the controversie not telling them that he had made Saint Peter chiefe over the rest but forbidding them all not so much as to speake of the priority any more Luk. 22. The Kings of the Gentiles saith he exercise Lordship over them but it shall not be so with you Saint Peter having confessed our Saviour to be the Christ the son of the living God our Saviours answer to him is not Tu es Petrus super te Petrum adificabo ecclesiam meam but tu es Petrus super hanc petram c. which rock is Christ Iesus himselfe as it is said 1 Cor. 10. That rocke was Christ and in the second chapter to the Eph. he is called the corner stone and S. Peter 1. cp 2. cals him a living Stone The reason why our Saviour spake to S. Peter alone was because S. Peter had there alone confessed him to be the Christ but the same power that he gave to S. Peter to binde and to loose and to remit sins he gives elswhere also to the rest of the Apostles Mat. 18. 18. c. John 20. 23. Likewise in the second chapter to the Ephesians all the Apostles are set for the foundation of the Church being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets See also Revel 21.14 And certainly if the Apostles had understood that Iesus Christ had given S. Peter the Superiority never would they again after that have contested betweene themselves for the preheminence as they do in Luk. 22. one day before the death of the Lord. The Apostle S. Paul also in Galat. 2. saith that he withstood St. Peter to the face which sheweth sufficiently that he was nothing subject to S. Peter and in the same Chapter a little before he saith That the Gospell of uncircumcision was committed to him as the Gospell of circumcision was unto Peter here we see them fellow-labourers together Saint Peter was to preach to the Jewes and Saint Paul to the Gentiles In that same chapter also S. Paul sets the Apostle S. James before S. Peter saying James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars So also S. John in the first chapter of his Gospell sets Andrew before Peter where he saith Philip was of Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter and in the 1 Cor. 9. The Brothers of the Lord and Cephas and in the 8. of the Acts of the Apostles the Apostles send Peter and Iohn to preach in Samaria Oh what a brave thing it were now a dayes to see many Bishops assemble together and send the Pope to preach in England or elswhere They object that our Saviour said to St. Peter three times Feed my sheepe true but they cannot inferre from thence that he made him the head of the universall Church for our Saviour said not to S. Peter feed thou my sheep alone or as a Soveraigne and indeed the same commission is given to all the Ministers of Gods Word in the 20. of the Acts Take heed therefore saith S. Paul unto your selves and to all the flocke over the which the Lord hath made you over-seers to feede the Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne bloud and in the 1 Pet. 5. Feede the flocke of Christ which is among you Jesus Christ then speaks to S. Peter alone because that a little before he had denied him and he only had need to be restablished in his commission that had failed in it Another reason why our Saviour repeats the words thrice is because that he had denied him thrice he draws from him three confessions to remedy his treble denyall which done he did againe establish him in the charge of a Shepheard of his flocke from the which he might plainly perceive that he had fallen Neverthelesse I will not deny but that S. Peter might be the chiefest among the Apostles in age zeale cloquance c. but by no meanes in superiority of jurisdiction wherby to have power to command them However put the case that S. Peter had beene the chiefe of the Apostles and their Superiour what doth that make for the Pope of Rome They say S. Peter died at Rome which is indeed very doubtfull neverthelesse put the case he did dye there for I may say then that the Bishop of Jerusalem ought to be the head of the Church for our Saviour Christ farre greater than St. Peter dyed at Ierusalem Where is the least mention in all Gods Word that S. Peter did leave one to succeed him in the charge of his Apostleship and as the head of the Church And when S. Peter was dead in all reason and conscience if any should succeed him ought it not to be the Apostle S. Iohn that excellent Apostle which Iesus loved rather then Linus S. Pauls Disciple Moreover by all the Histories of the lives of the Popes it appeares that the people of Rome did choose their Bishop who seeth not hereby that the Bishop of Rome was not the head of the universall Church for who gave the people of Rome power to give a head to the Church of the whole world and to set up Linus above the Apostles In an elective Kingdom when a King is to be chosen every quarter of the Kingdome and every commonalty sends it's Deputies to make the election the voyces of one city cannot conclude of any thing wherin the
whole Kingdome hath interest Nay I say more though S. Peter had been the head of the Church and though he had resided at Rome and had left his charge to the Bishop of Rome which are all such presuppositions as they shall never be able to proove yet hath the Pope long since fallen from his charge and consequently lost his honour by comporting himselfe quite contrary to S. Peter and to a spirituall Pastour being become a temporall Monarch having amassed unto himself such an aboundance of riches that the Superiours and Kings of the Earth are poore in comparison As for his Doctrine the Chapters following shall be imployed to shew that it is absolutely contrary to the Doctrine of the Apostles Again S. Peter never made himself a religious worship but contrariwise in Acts 10. v. 25. he hinders Cornelius from worshipping him saying Stand up I my selfe also am a man S. Peter never indeavoured to set himself above God as doth the Pope glorying that he can dispence with men from keeping their vowes made unto God He that can dispence with a servant from obeying his master must be greater then the master The Pope dispenceth with men from obeying Gods commands doth he not then make himselfe greater then God He dispenceth also with Subjects from keeping their oath of allegiance which they have sworne to their Soveraigne inciting therby to rebellion He permits a man to marry his Neece and his wives sister things absclutely against Gods expresse command in the 18. 20. Chapters of Leviticus Faults committed against the Pope are many of them accounted so hideous that they are not to be pardoned under a great summe of mony or it may be two or three years pilgrimage but as for sins which tend only to Gods dishonour as swearing blasphemy Sabbath-breaking and so though they be fâ—atly forbidden in Gods holy Word yet if they doe not any way intrench upon the Popes prerogative not derogate from his supremâ—cy theseare esteem'd but petty faults half a dozen pâ—â—er nosters and two or three ave Maries are a suâ—ficient satisfaction for a thousand such sins Briefly he boasts himself to be above the Church and saith that the Church is above the Word of God by this reckoning then the Pope is two degrees above Gods Word Moreover in the Councels where the Pope is present the holy Scripture is set at his feet as it was in the last Councell of Lateran I leave any reasonable man to judge whether by this it appeareth not plainly that he tramples under his feet the Word of God To conclude when I reade in the second Epistle of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Thessalonians That there shall come a man which is called the man of sinne and the sonne of perdition that shall call himselfe God and exalt himselfe above God boasting himselfe in signes and miracles And in the 17. of the Revelation of the great Whore that is cloathed in scarlet that seduceth Kings and maketh them drunke with the bloud of her fornication that hath her habitation in the City seated on seven mountains that is to say the City of Rome I have searched every where but can find none to whom this may be so truly applyed as to the Pope of Rome CHAP. III. Of the worshipping of Images THe third abuse which I have taken notice of in the Church of Rome is the service which they doe unto Saints departed this life The Councels of the Church of Rome namely the second Councell of Nice command that Images be adored At Paris a little before Lent you may see the people goe in procession to the Image of our Lady to have permission to eat butter The women come and rub their Chappelets on the feet of the I mages they light them torches at mid-day they kisse them they make coursies to them they bring them presents and carry them all about in procession with great solemnity Nay more then that you may see many Images of Saints that never were As of the three Kings Saint Christopher Saint Margaret Saint Martiall Saint Vrsuline Saint Longis Saint Catherine and many other such like fantasticall Saints that never were in the world Many prayers likewise there are which they mumble out before such their dumbe petty-gods as that unto the crosse Ave Lignum triumphale c. and diverse others which prayers if they intend them to Gods honour they must also cause those things to which they speake to understand what they say unto them No man except he be franticke will speake to the Kings Image with a conceit that thereby he doth the King any honour All these inventions serve on purpose to lull the people asleep in ignorance wherefore they call Images the books of the ignorant they themselves also hide them in time of Lent which is the time of their devotion that they may not hinder their devotion That which causeth all this misery is that they take away from the common people the holy Scripture for having forbidden them Gods Word it was most necessary for them to finde them out somewhat or other to muse on for this end they take out of the table of the commandements which they deliver unto the people the second commandement wherein God forbids the worshipping of Images and the making of the likenesse of any thing in heaven or in earth Deut. 5.8 Thus they doe in some places clip and crop the word of God and in other some patch it and peece it wherby to make it answerable to their owne inventions As I cannot therefore but pitty the miserable estate of those people who are thus kept in darknesse and ignorance so I cannot but most justly condemne the intollerable usurpation of their Leaders who to serve their owne unsatiable avarice hating the glorious light of Gods word endeavour by all meanes to eclipse the same and thereby bring themselves and all such as are carried away with their lives and doctrine without Gods great mercy to everlasting destruction CHAPTER IIII. Of Prayer and serving God in an unknowne tongue ONe of the most deadly and most dangerous abuses of the Church of Rome in my judgement is their praying to God in a language that oft times the person that prayeth understandeth not for S. Paul in the 1. to the Corinthians chap. 14. ver 15. willeth us to pray with understanding How can we expect that God should grant our requests if we our selves doe not know what we would have True indeed God understandeth all languages but in prayer God hath not so much regard to the tongue but to the heart which cannot be then well disposed when it knowes not what the tongue doth say For the tongue is given unto men to testifie the thoughts of their hearts so that he who prayeth not knowing what he saith doth not expresse his thoughts by his words by this meanes he doth as it were act a Comedy before God There is no Prince that will suffer a man to prate thus
to him although he understandeth all languages And indeed we can hardly reprove a man more sharply then by telling him friend thou knowest not what thou sayest Thus then they both mocke God and lose their labour The abuse is yet farre greater in the reading of the Epistle and Gospell to the people in the Church in Latine whereof most of them understand not so much as one word How can they then yeeld obedience unto such doctrines as they understand not Is not this the curse which God Almighty denounceth by his Prophets I will henceforth speake to this people in another tongue and with other lips and so they will not understand me saith the Lord 1 Cor. 14.21 Isa 28.11 And the Apostle Saint Paul saith that in the Church he hadrather speake five words with understanding that thereby he might teach others also then a thousand words in an unknowne tongue 1 Cor. 14. And in the same Chapter a little before he saith Except ye utter by the tongue words easie to be understood how shall it be knowne what is spoken for ye shall speake unto the ayre therefore if I know not the meaning of the voyce I shall be to him that speaketh a Barbarian and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian unto me See then an admirable Religion for they speake to stocks and stones which understand no language and to the people least they should understand what they say they speake altogether in Latine The people indeed gee to see the Masse but they cannot understand a word of it nay and very often the Priests themselves have much adoe to understand it But say they we reade the Masse in Latine that strangers also may have benefit thereby A pretty hypocriticall excuse it is indeed for suppose there be ten twenty or more strangers in a Church is it fit that they should have service read in a language which they know and all the rest of the people sit like fooles and understand never a word Besides if they did meane as they pretend surely in such a City as Paris they would have in a Church for strangers to resort unto the service read in Latine and in all the rest in their owne countrey language which they all understand They also absolutely forbid any man to reade the holy Scripture without a speciall Licence from the Pope or his Factor and to translate it into the vulgar tongue which is as much to say as that they will not suffer a childe to read his Fathers will and that God Almighty is become suspected as if he had given us his word to deceive us The Apostle Saint Paul when he sent Epistles to the Ephesians Corinthians Philippians c. He writ unto every of them in their owne tongue to the end that all might reade and know what he writ unto them And I pray why may not we now reade those same Epistles in our owne language as well as they read them in theirs Whereupon also the Apostle Saint Paul in the 1 Thess 5. I charge you by the Lord saith he that the Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren So likewise Acts 17. ver 10. the Bereans are commended for that they searched the Seriptures daily whether those things were so which Saint Paul preached unto them Saint Paul in the 2 of Timothy Chap. 3. prayseth his Disciple Timothy because that from a childe he had knowne the holy Scriptures In a word this is a new startup invention and such a knavery as is seldome heard of to forbid the people to reade the word of God lest they should become heretickes whereas indeed it is only to maske them with ignorance for feare lest by the light of Gods Word their Religion should plainly appeare to be as it is indeed full of grosse errours and hypocrisie In those countries where the Inquisition is bawdy-houses are licensed and the Pope doth gather out of them great summes of money for tribute â—oolish pamphlets and immodest Love-bookes are printed cum privilegio but if they finde but one Bible either Italian Spanish or the like 't is accounted a crime which deserveth no lesse then death and a case worthy of the Inquisition And certainly had it not been for the reformed Church that is to say purged from Popery the Bible had long since been buried in oblivion and no mention made thereof For as theeves hate the light lest their evill deeds should be discovered so doe those Doctors of the Church of Rome labour to obscure the light of Gods Word lest their hypocriticall inventions and new found devilliâ—h plots whereby they serve their owne unsatiable lusts should bee brought to light CHAPTER V. Of the Invocation of Angels and Saints departed this Life THe Invocation of Angels and Saints deceased hath indeed a shew of devotion and humility but it is never the lesse contrary to to the word of God which flatly forbids us to give any divine service or worship unto Angels as in the second Chapter of Saint Pauls Epistle to the Colossians Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen We beleeve in God alone and the same Apostle Saint Paul in the tenth Chapter of his Epistle to the Romanes forbiddeth us to worship any other then him in whom we beleeve how saith he shall they call on him on whom they have not beleeved And our Creed teacheth us to beleeve in the Father the Sonne and the Holy-Ghost but not in any creature whatsoever So likewise in the two and twentieth of the Revelation when Saint John fell downe to worship before the feet of the Angell the Angell forbad him saying see thou doe it not for I am thy fellow-servant worship God Saint James in the first of James ver 6. Willeth us to pray in faith and the Apostle to the Romanes 14. Chapter tels us that whatsoever is not of faith is sinne wherefore the Invocation of Saints cannot be done in faith because it is not grounded on the word of God for the same Apostle in the tenth of the Romanes saith that saith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God and none of the Doctors of the Church of Rome could ever produce any argument out of the word of God whereby to prove that religious worship which they give unto Angels or Saints deceased either lawfull or necessary Againe if it be necessary for us to pray to Saints it must likewise most necessarily follow that they must know our hearts and thoughts for how should they else discerne hypocrites from such as pray in sincerity Which is quite contrary to Gods word in the second booke of the Chronicles chap. 6. ver 30. thou onely saith the wise King Solomon knowest the hearts of the children of men Likewise to say that the Saints see all things in the face of God as in a glasse were to prophecye having no warrant from the word of
ruling their children and their owne houses well So likewise in the 11. verse commandeth that their wives be grave not standerous sober faithfull in all things and in the seventh Chapter of the 1 to the Corinthians to avoid fornication let every man have his owne wife and let every woman have her owne husband Note here the word every to the end that neither Priests nor any other may be excepted Likewise to avoid fornication this commandement is made unto all such as are subject to fall into fornication so that Priests are no way exempted from it for they also being but flesh and bloud are subject to the like infirmities as others are We reade also that the Prophets and chiefe sacrificers were married Likewise we reade that the Apostle Saint Peter was married for in the 1. Chapter of Saint Marke there is mention made of Peters wives mother Now in the Church of Rome Marriage is forbidden Clarkes and Priests If a Priest doth wantonly dally with a wench in the open streets no man regards that for at Rome the Prelates goe publikely into the bawdy houses but to see a Priest or Capuchin or such like married it were a thing very prodigious They object that the Priests have made a solemne vow to abstaine from Marriage but have they not also made a vow to keep Gods commandements that forbid fornication and that commandeth us to marry rather then to burne Vowes indeed are good when they promise good things and such as are in our power to performe but it is not alwayes in mans power to abstaine from fornication A single life is without question very good and commendable but in those only which have the gift of continency the which either none at all or very few have attained unto Moreover where is the least Commandement in all Gods Word whereby honest Marriage is forbidden either to those of the Clergy or others No no this certainly was invented for the better maintenance of the Popes dignity for the Pope having been at great charges in erecting of bawdy-houses in Rome and elsewhere it was necessary for him to find out some devise to get resort thereunto by the forbidding those of the Clergy to marry who now are far better customers then any other CHAP. VIII Of Purgatory THe Purgatory of the Church of Rome hath this maxime for its foundation That by the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we are discharged and delivered from the guilt and punishment of our sinnes committed before Baptisme but as for sinnes committed after Baptisme it is left to us to satisfie Gods justice in this life by such penances as the Church shall thinke fit to enjoyne us and afterwards in afire which they call Purgatory which torment is mitigated and shortened by the prayers and offerings of the Living and by the Popes Indulgences Surely the proofe of this doctrine they have out of their unwritten word for there is not so much as mention made of any such matter in Gods Word However hereby they have amassed infinite riches unto the Popes Treasury because these Masses and Indulgences by the which they say this torment is mitigated and shortened are sold at a very high rate for they never say any Masse for any person deceased except he or his friends doe give somewhat to the maintenance of the Church No no such speciall graces as these are not for such poore people as are not able to purchase them Concerning this Purgatory we reade nothing neither in the old nor new Testament but on the contrary we reade of divers persons who by death have immediately entred into Paradise and there rested in peace Witnesse the good old Simeon in the 2d. of Saint Luke who had a promise after having seen the Messias to depart in peace Likewise Saint Paul in the 2â— of Timothy 4. witnesseth that after having fought a good fight he was to receive a crowne of righteousnesse The soule of poore Lazarus in the 16. Luke is carried immediately after its departure out of the body into Abrahams bosome where it is comforted whilest wicked Dives is grievously tormented in hell-fire Our Saviour said to the penitent theefe that was crucified with him this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise It is manifest then that he went not into Purgatory The Angell of God in the 14. Chapter of the Revelation pronounceth Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works doe follow them Doe they rest from their labours how are they then tormented in a terrible blasting fire Againe the Apostle Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5. saith That if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternall in the heavens Now I doe much admire how the Apostle should be so far overseen as to forget Purgatory which they imagine to be between these two Moreover we reade in the first Chapter of Saint Johns first Epistle that the bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne and in the 2d. Chapter to the Colossians we reade that God hath forgiven us all our trespasses How is it then that these blasphemers dare to accuse God of so high an injustice as to exact the payment of those debts which are already paid and to scorch his poore children in a hot burning fire for the punishment of those sins which he hath already freely forgiven us in Jesus Christ Thus to deale with our very enemies were inhumanity how then can we imagine that the God of heaven who is goodnesse it selfe should doe thus with his servants I confesse that God after having pardoned our sinnes ceaseth not to chastise us in this life to amend us and to keep us alwayes in awe of his Majesty These punishments are none other then fatherly chastisements and corrections If God did not thus correct us he would punish us more in not correcting us for the sinner that is not thus recalled from his evill wayes snorts in his wickednesse and luls himselfe asleep in his sinnes but I shall never beleeve that the most just and onely wise God after having freely forgiven us all our sinnes in Jesus Christ should afterwards take pleasure to torment us thousands of yeares in a terrible hot burning fire Besides if there be a Furgatory why may not the death and passion of our Saviour Christ Jesus be sufficient to deliver soules from thence as well as the Popes Indulgences and if the Pope can draw soules out of Purgatory at his pleasure I must needs judge him a very uncharitable person to let so many thousands lye there in such grievous torments for want of money to buy Indulgences As for those passages which they alleadge out of the Scripture to prove this their imaginary Purgatory they are all spoken allegorically and figuratively As that same passage which they have out of the 12â—â— Chapter of Saint Mathew that the
all which is a thing most necessary in every sacrifice and more especially in a sacrifice newly instituted for a president and example for the future Moreover the Apostle Saint Paul in the 10th Chapter to the Hebrewes saith that we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all We see then plainly that the death of our Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus is the onely sacrifice which he himselfe offered up unto God for all our sinnes so that it is meere foppery in us to presume to sacrifice that body againe in such a tragicomaediall manner as that of the Masse which hath already been received as a sufficient sacrifice for all our sins Likewise in every sacrifice that which they sacrifice ought to be consecrated that which they pretend to sacrifice is the Lords body which cannot be consecrated for who can consecrate the Sonne of God so likewise the thing consecrated which they sacrifice in the Masse cannot be the bread for they say that it is no more bread after the consecration and although they should say that it were bread after the consecration yet so it is that neither bread nor any other creature can be thought a reasonable sacrifice for our redemption Certainly this was invented onely for the maintenance of a company of lazie lubbers which they call Priests for take away the sacrifice of the Masse and they have no imployment and truly by this meanes I thinke they get as much as might competently maintaine them were it not for the Popes bawdy houses which consume most part of their revenues CHAP. XIV Of the taking away the cup in the Sacrament THere are yet many errours in the Church of Rome but the most abusive and injurious errour in my opinion is the taking away of the cup in the Sacrament from the Laity contrary to our Saviours institution and to the practise of the Apostles who gave the people the holy Communion under both signes The first institution of the Sacrament was when our Saviour tooke the cup and blessed it and gave it to his Disciples saying drinke ye all of this Now if in these words drinke ye all of this our Saviour speaks to none but the Pastors or Ministers of the Church it must consequently follow that the commandement to eat which is in the aforegoing words appertaine also to the Pastors onely and then there is no commandement at all whereby the Laity is commanded to receive the bread And it is cleare that the Apostles receiving the Sacrament of our Saviour received it not then as Pastors but as Sheep and Disciples And though they had received it as Pastors and Ministers of the Church did not our Saviour thanke you when he said unto them doe this as oft as ye doe it in remembrance of me intimate unto them that they ought to administer it unto the people in the same manner as he did administer it unto them The Apostle Saint Paul understandeth it so as you may see by that commandement which he gives the Corinthians in his 1. Epistle Chap. 11. Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eat of that bread and drinke of that cup. It is manifest that this commandement both to eat of that bread and drinke of that cup is made unto those that ought to examine themselves but every one ought to examine himselfe before he come to receive that holy communion therefore every one ought to receive both that bread and that cup whereof Saint Paul speaketh And in the beginning of that same 1. Epistle to the Corinthians it appeareth that Saint Paul did write to all the people of Corinth excepting none that did call upon the name of the Lord Jesus These are the words Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And surely it is somewhat considerable that the Church of Rome seemeth by this meanes to labour to deprive the people of eternall life For the Doctors of the Church of Rome conceive those words of our Saviour in the 6th of Saint Johns Gospell Except ye eat the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye have no life in you to be spoken of the Sacrament of the Eucharist And if it be so it is manifest that in taking away the cup from the Laity they deprive them of eternall life Their excuse for this is that the bread is in the body so that in eating the body they drinke the bloud also To the which I answer that to receive the bloud so in the Sacrament is not to drinke it but our Saviour saith expresly Except ye drinke c. And if in eating the body they drinke also the bloud the Priest doth by this reckoning drinke twise once when he swallowes downe the body and againe when he drinks off the cup. They produce likewise certaine passages of the Scripture wherein it is spoken of the breaking of the bread without mentioning the cup I answer that in those passages as it is not said that the people should receive the cup so neither is it said that the Priests should receive it If then by these passages they will gather that the people are not obliged to take the cup I may also from thence gather that the Priests are not obliged for there is no more spoken of the one then of the other Besides we reade in the 2d of Sam. chap. 9. that Mephibosheth did eat bread at Davids table may we conclude from thence that he never dranke because it is not expressed The manner of the celebration of the Lords Supper ought to be taken from our Saviours first expressed institutions and formall commandement The originall spring of this grosse abuse proceedeth from pride and ambition for by this meanes those of the Clergy raise their dignity farre above the people whom they exclude from one halfe of the Sacrament and doe hereby make themselves in this respect equall unto Kings who together with them receive the Sacrament under both signes And the Pope hath a prerogative above all men else in that he doth sucke the wine out of the Calice with a quill Thus have we briefly discovered the manifold and great abuses of the Church of Rome and how strangely they delude the common people with their imaginary and idolatrous services how absolutely contrary to Gods holy word are all their tenets and how through the whole profession of their Religion they seeke infinitely Gods dishonour and are wholly bent for the advancement of the Popes dignity I beseech Almighty God to give us his blessed Spirit to discern betwixt good and evill and so to relye upon the merits of our Saviour Christ Jâ—sus by a lively faith that at length we may obtaine that immortall crowne of glory prepared fâ—r all faithfull persons in Christ Jesus our Lord to whom with the Father Almighty and the glorious Spirit be ascribed and given all possible praise thanksgiving and obedience for ever and ever Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS