the comming of Christ sauing Iohn Bapâiste and he thirty yeares of age before hee preached was there no churche or was Gods spirite decayed and his trueth vanâuished all this while ⪠God forbid that âee shoulde bee so rashe in iudgement as ânce to thinke so For Gods spirite which âs the coÌforter of the faithful hath instrucâed the churche of God whether it hath appeared or bene hidde whether it hath beene close or open whether in manie or ân fewe euer since the beginning So Christe Iesus hath promised that his spirit shoulde remaine with the children of God though the wicked would not receiue him because they see him not neither knowe him The comfortable Spirite of God doeth woorke saluation âoth adopt into Gods fauoure doth puriââe our heartes doeth moue vs to all good and godlie actions doth comforte vs in al daungers and confirmeth vs to expecte the comming of our sauiour Christ Therfore to this spirite with the Father and the Sonne be all honour laude and praise Papist 16 SHewe me againe whether anie man can be saued except he beleeue the catholike Church and that is it which in the face of all the world hath practised preaching the conuersion of nations to the obedience of the Gospell that hath alwayes had the ministring of the Sacramentes the hearing of matters in coÌtrouersie the orderly succession of Bishoppes vniformitie in solemne ceremonies vnitie in faith that hath in her selfe all holy functions of the spirite a woorking of miracles remission of sinnes the true sense and interpretation of Gods word that is beawtified with diuersitie of states commended by Christ in the Gospell as with virgins martirs with confessors and the rest Prooue vnto me that this is not the true Church or that we be bounde to obey this Church and none other in all controuersies and doubts raised by the difficultie of the scripture or by the vaine contention and pride of heresie And I recant Answeare 16 Suppose that there was neuer any man which would looke to haue saluation by âods mercies in Christ that euer denied âe Church of god So we beleeue that âod hath had his Church euer since the âginning which Church is the Company â the faithfull dispersed through out the âce of the whole earth which church is the âouse of Christ builded vppon the doctrine â the Apostles and Prophets Christ him âfe beeing the heade corner stone Yet âe vtterly denye your Church of Rome to â this true Church of god The reasons âd causes why we will not close handes â agree with your Church be these First âur Church dooth refuse Christ Iesus to â her head in that she setteth vp her Pope â be her head wherin she wil be gouerned â all things euen against gods holy word âerefore your Church is not of god That âhrist is the heade of the true church not â but the spirit of God testifieth that God âath appointed Christ ouer all things â be the head to the Church which is âs body And again The husband is the âyues head euen as Christ is the heade âf the Church and he is the same which âeueth saluation vnto his body Your church appointeth otherwaies to be saueâ by then onely Christes death and passion yea doth persecute Christ in his members taketh away the key of knowledge whiâ is the woorde of God from Gods people for that ye wil not suffer them to haue it â their knowne tongue you feede them nâ with the sweete pastures of the holy scriptures but with the dregges of your blind Ceremonies and vayne traditions yoâ teach them to pray in a straunge languagâ to woorship the creature in steede â the Creator you mixe the woorde of Goâ with your owne deuises not to the benefite of Gods people but to get mony anâ to enrich your selues with the spoile â their soules You sett out all your practises as you call them to sale For of youâ church it is saide Omnia Romae vaenaliaâ All thinges are to bee had for monye aâ Rome The Poet saith That Templeâ Priestes altars sacrifices crownes fierâ frankencense yea heauen is to be soldâ and God him selfe But you giue smalâ credit vnto this author Will you hearâ what one of your approoued doctors saith Roma dat omnbus omnia dantibus omnia Romae cum praecio Rome doth âiue to al men which doo giue all things âo her all thinges are there to be had for âony at Rome Your owne decretales ây That Rome is the head of coueteousâesse and therefore all thinges are there âo be solde Your Popedome is in part âainteined with the tribute of Curtesans âr common stues which is the rewarde of âniquitie Thus you forbid lawfull matriâonie and mainteine open lecherie And âhereas you would haue the worlde to beâeeue that your Church of Rome hath alwayes had the due and right administratiân of the Sacramentes vnitie in faith orâerly succession of Bishoppes euen from Peter vniformitie in solempne ceremonies âebating of matters in controuersie all holy functions commended by Christ as virgins martirs and confessors and that all Churches are bound to obey the Church of Rome in all controuersies and doubtes raysed by the difficulty of the scriptures it shall appeare to all men that these are but vaine ostentations and shewes without truth But you wil aske me who shal iudge this matter for sometimes you stay vpon Counceles sometimes vppon Fathers sometimes vpoÌ customes Truly I would but wishe you and euery indifferent reader to examine whether your masse doe agree worde by worde with the last supper of our sauiour Christe You haue culleâ foorth these woordes Hoc est corpus meum This is my bodie And therevppoâ haue framed your masse The wordes be comfortable if you would take theÌ in a spirituall sense and meaning to signifie vnto vs the bodie of Christe as the godlie Father Augustine doth expouude those same woordes Non dubitauit dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui Our Lord saieth hee doubted not to say This is my bodie when as he gaue a signe of his bodie Likewise Tertullian saith Hoc est corpus meum hoc est figura corporis mei ⪠This is my bodie that is to say This is a figure of my body But what shal I speak of al the abuses of your masse as the consecration the eleuation the aduocation the priuate receiuing the vnknowen tongue the ministration in one kinde keeping the âuppe from the Laie people making it a propiciatorie sacrifice for the quicke and dead which all are moste contrarie vnto Christe his institution in his last supper Furthermore you haue corrupted Baptisme and haue deuised fiue other Sacraâentes more then Christe hath ordained âd appointed in his worde Touhcing your succession of bishopes âd vnitie in religion they are two things âhich sound verie well together If so bee âu can proue your succession out of the âorde
sense and âere not able to expound and interpret his âwn meaning Saint Paule saith That we must to not heare an Angel if he bring aâie thing contrarie to the Gospell Augustine expounding these woordes saith Whether it be of Christ or of his church or of anie thing else whatsoeuer pertaining either to our life or to our faith I wil not onely say if I my self but if an Angel from heauen shal teach vs otherwise then we haue receiued in the bookes of the Lawe and the Gospel holde him accursed An other godly father saith As what Gold soeuer is without the Temple is not sanctified so euery sense and interpretation which is without the holy scripture although vnto some it seeme woonderfull yet it is not holy because it is not conteined in the sense of the Scripture Call to remembraunce I praye you how vntruely and cleane contrarie to the true meaning of the holy Ghost your Church hath interpreted the Scriptures As vpon these woordes Fiet vnum ouile et vnus Pastor your Church giueth this exposition to these woordes There shal be one folde and one shepheard we may not vnderstand it of Christ but of some other minister that ruleth in his roome One saide vnto Pope Leo in the CouÌcel holden at Lateran Behold the Lyon of the tribe of Iuda is come the roote of Dauid c. O most blessed Leo wee haue wayted for thee to be our Sauiour So it is likewise sayde The Pope beeing the light is come into the worlde and men haue loued the darkenesse more then light euery man that dooth euell hateth the light that is to say the Pope and commeth not to the light These woordes are to be vnderstoode of our sauiour Christ who in deede is the Lyon of the tribe of Iuda and commeth of the roote of Dauid who is the lighte that commeth into the world and see how blasphemouslie your Church doth wrest these woordes and applieth them vnto the Pope Againe Pope Sextus affirmeth That hee can neuer be forgiuen whosoeuer he be which accuseth the Pope And thus he reasoneth He that sinneth against the holy Ghost that is to say Against the Pope shall neuer be forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come These woordes of the Scripture are thus to bee taken That they shall neuer haue forgiuenes at Gods hands which sinne against the holy Ghost And the Pope wil haue them to be meant of him I coulde rehearse infinite places to this same effecte and purpose But let the indifferent reader iudge by these fewe places howe vntruely the church of Rome dooth interpret the holy scriptures But let them beware betimes of the heauy iudgmeÌts of god Wo be vnto theÌ that cal good euel euel good darkenes light light darknes sower sweete and sweete sower What is this but to diminish the authoritie of the heauenly woorde of God God dooth sharpely threaten That if anie man shal adde vnto these thinges GOD shall adde vnto him those plagues that are writteÌ in this booke if anie man shal diminish of the wordes of the booke of this prophesie God shall take away his parte out of the booke of life out of the holy citie and from those things which are written in this boke God grauÌt you true repentaÌce that you may imbrace Christ his worde and escape these threatnings of God. Papist 17 MOreouer let anie man prooue vnto me that the true only church of god may at anie time be voyd of a spirit of falsly interpret any senteÌce of holy scripture or induce any errours among the people or approoue any vnprofitable or hurtful vsage amongst Christians or that she suffreth any daÌnable abuse in her religion without open reprehension thereof prooue any of these proofes And I recant Answeare 17 I Haue prooued before at large that the true Church of God is neuer without the comfort of gods spirit which spirit doeth not visibly and openly in anie forme or substance reueale and shewe him selfe but inwardly ingraffe in the hartes of the elect whether they be manie or fewe the doctrine of the Gospell doth increase true knoweledge in them doth worke true sanctificatioÌ holinesse and doth guide leade them in al good actions I haue proued also that gods true church doth not corrupt and falsly interpret the holy scriptures as your Church of Rome doth in wresting and wringing the sence of the scriptures in comparing it to A nose of waxe a shipmans hose or in calling it A dead and dumbe letter But the true sheepe doth gladly here the voice of the shephearde do acknowledge all thinges to be contained in the scripture necessary for mans saluation doe confesse no hardnesse or difficulty to be in the worde of God But that the holie Ghost doth sufficiently expounde himselfe and one place expresse another The true Church doth not teach the people anie errours anie vnwritten verities any inuentions of her owne braine or anie thing touching doctrine or life which shee findeth not written in the canonicall scriptures doth not approue anie vnprofitable vsages anie fond customes or suffer anie damnable abuses in religion without open reprehension dooth finde faulte and doth openlie inueigh against all thinges which be mixt with Gods true worshippe and seruice by the deuise of anie man whatsoeuer and will alowe nothing to be vsed amongst gods people but onely that which is warranted by the worde of god In this your treatise albeit you speake generallie yet you haue a special meaning But truly euen in that thing wherewith you charge vs you bee most giltie your selfe For if those be worthily called Abuses in religion which be matters of faith and vsed in the Church contrarie to the expresse worde of God so that Christ may be vmpeere lett al indifferent persons iudge whether your Church of Rome or we which professe the Gospell doe more abuse true religion and induce erours amongest the people We say that wee must pray only vnto God in the name of Christ and vnto none other your Church of Rome saith That wee must pray vnto the saints departed and vse them as meanes for vs vnto God. Neuerthelesse God saith Call vpon mee in the day of trouble I wil heare thee Dauid The Prophet saith When I was in trouble I called vpon the Lord and he heard me And againe he saith I will confesse my sinnes vnto the Lorde and so hee forgaue me the wickednesse of my sinne Christ saith Whatsoeuer you aske my Father in my name hee will giue it you Shewe me now by what aucthoritie of scripture you can disprooue this and prooue your inuocation of Saintes we say That it is god onely which forgiueth sinnes that for Christes sake whose blood doth purge vs froÌ al sinne You say that the Pope can forgiue sinne and giue pardon for many hundred yea thousand yeares and that he can doo
thy heade meaning thâ woman Which text the Louanistes woulâ seeme to reforme do put in ipse referring it to Christ You may see into what miseries you woulde bring vs to haue vs to beleue that the Virgin Marie should brusâ the Serpents head whereas the words are to be vnderstanded of the seede of the woman Likewise in the Epistle vnto the Corinthians your olde translation hath these wordes Omnes quideÌ resurgemus ⪠sed non omnes imutabimur Wee shall all rise againe but wee shall not all be changed Which words be vntruely translated for all shall not rise againe because that at Christes comming some shall be founde aliue yet neuerthelesse All must be chaunged and this corruptible flesh must put on corruptioÌ But you wil perhaps say that the fault is not in the translation but in the Printer Why then hath your Church suffered the same translation to haue beene printed so often and hath not corrected these faultes Nay why with your Tridentine generall councell precisely say Let no man be so bolde or presume by any manner of colour to refuse the old common translation of the Bible To conclude you persuade the world if you haue authoritie not onely to allowe what translation ye list but also as your owne Canonistes doe auouch that the Pope the heade of your Church can at ãâã pleasure dispense against the Lawe of God against the Lawe of nature against the Apostles against all the commaundements of the olde and newe Testament That hee is Christes Lieftetenaunt not onely ouer thinges in heauen ouer thinges in earth and ouer things ââ hell but also ouer the angels both good and badde whereas the true Church of God hath not at any time made her selfe ââudge ouer the worde and lawe of God ãâã alwaies hath vsed subiection vnto the âââe grounding all her religion and faith ââon the same worde And this you must needes confesse vnlesse you will denie a knowen trueth that we whose religion you doe so vehemently withstande haue alwayes perswaded the people not to beleeue vs one iotte further then we bring the woorde of God for our warrant And whereas you further enquire what Church hath had the custodie of the Bible and hath most safely preserued it I must needes say that God of his singuler mercie towardes his Churche by his diuine prouidence hath alwayes preserued his woorde to the comforte of his children as he preserued Elias in the wildernesse Daniel in the Lions denne the three children in the fornace Howe I pray you hath the Byble bene preserued by your Churche sith the whole worlde can testifie howe you haue burned the olde and newe Testament whiche thing is yet freshe in mans memorieâ Did not Cutbert Tunstall being then Bishop of London cause the newe Testament to be burned at Pawles crosse in London as your Churche learned of Iehoakim king of Iuda who threw the boke which the Prophete Ieremie by Goddes commaundement had indited conteining the wrath of God against Iuda into the fier But you will say the Testamentes were falselie and vntrulie translated and therefore were burned If that had beene the cause it had bene your partes rather to haue disclosed and quoated forth the erroures and to haue amended the faultes Doeth the mother cast away the milke wherewith the children shoulde be nourished for that sometimes motes doe fall into it but rather culleth forth the moates giueth the Milke to the children euen so you ought to haue done What faultes were I beseech you in that translation you neuer noted anie if there had bene as indeede there were none why haue not you set forth a better what doctour of your Churche or fauorer of your Romishe Religion hath written in whose workes can not be found some errour yet we burned them not but are content to giue them the readinge and do reuerence them so farre as they agree with Gods truthe Further if ân Angell should speake or write we ought not to beleue him Iudge you nowe laying away all affection whether your Church ââ ours doe better esteme of the Bible or ââ the better preserue the same Papist SHew me why our common knowen church did not as well corrupt the text of the Testament as the true religion contained in the same Shewe me why she kepte not as trulie and as faithfully the true sense of Gods woorde as she preserued the worde it selfe Shewe me why we shoulde beleeue the Papistes as ye tearme them for the worde it selfe and yet we shoulde beleeue you Protestantes for the meaning of the worde rather than them Shewe me why you beleeued our Churche telling you this to be Gods booke and will not credite her aduouching this to be the true and vndoubted sense of the same booke and last of all shewe me why you beleeued the elder knowen Churche affirming this to be the word and doe not beleeue her affirming Luther to be an Heretike Shewe me good reason or Scripture for these poyntes and I recant Answeare YF you meane by your common knowen Churche the Churche of Rome as you will easily assent therevnto then your Church is more common than true For triall whereof it is plaine and that by Saint Barnarde that the pastoures of your Churche of Rome keepe not the spouse of God whiche is his Churche but they destroy her They keepe not the flock but they kill and deuoure And one whiche writeth of your Church in that great and solemne assemblie at Constance saieth They did quenche the spirite they did dispise the voice of the prophetes they persecuted Christ in his members and it was altogether a persecuting churche Barnard in an other place likewise crieth out O miserable Rome which in the time of our Elders hast brought foorth the lightes of worthie Fathers but in our dayes hast brought forth the monstruous darkenes shamefull and slanderous to the time to come An other calleth Rome a schoole of errour a temple of heresie And your old friend Thomas Becket whome you haue canonized for a Saint saith Our holy mother of Rome is become an harlot and hath prostituted her self that is hath set her selfe open to euerie man for reward And what neede we goe farre one of your owne nest in the late councell of Trent sheweth his iudgement of your Churche of Rome They haue brought to passe saieth he that godlinesse is turned into hypocrisie and that the sauoure of life is turned into the sauour of death Woulde to GOD they were not gone with one generall consent from religion to superstition from faith to infidelitie from Christ to Antichrist from God to Epicure saying with wicked heartes and filthie mouthes there is no god Truth seketh not to be shrouded in corners I haue noted before a fewe places amongst many in which you haue corrupted the text of the Byble You seeme to vrge this matter instantly that your Church hath kept and
aduocate with the Father âesus Christ the righteous and he is the propiciation for our sinnes and not for âurs onely but for the sinnes of the whole world By the which words we â taught that Christ our sauiour is not onâ the mediatour of our redemption but also â our intercession doth plead our cause wâ god Why would you haue vs to take Chrâ his office froÌ him as you do by inuocatiâ praying to saints in making theÌ meanâ for vs seeing that the Saintes departâ know not our estate vnderstande not oâ infirmities as Esaie the prophet doth wânesse saying Though Abraham be ignorant of vs Israel know vs not yet thoâ O Lord art our Father our redemeâ thy name is for euer Wherevppoâ S. Augustine giueth this note Thoâ seest here saith he that neither Abrahâ nor Israel knewe after their death whâ the estate was of their posteritie And iâ the same chapter he saith I am certainely perswaded that the dead knowâ no more what we do here in earth theâ we being in earth knowe what they doâ in heauen Touching seruice in an vnknowne speech howe can it stande with the Apostles doctrine If the Trumpet saith Saint Paule geue an vncertaine sounde who shall prepare himselfe to battaile Also in the same Chapter Let â thinges bee done in the congregatiâ to edifying howe are the people âlified whiche vnderstande not what is âoken But to make the matter more âaine the Apostle saith further I had raâer in the Church to speake fiue words âth my vnderstanding that I mighte âso instruct others then ten thousande âordes in a straunge tongue You aske âso who preached against the Churche â Rome for the space of a M. yeares âuly euen from time to time God had his âhurche which reproued your grosse idoâtries And for a taste I will name you a âwe The Monkes ⪠of Chester which âere not idle bellied Monkes but payneâll Preachers and lyued not vppon the âeate of other mens browes but by their âne handy labour whom your Monkish âugustine sent into Englande by Pope âregorie did finde meanes to murder âost cruelly by incensing the king to make âarre against them Sabellicus saith in the âare of our Lord 1111. the Bishop of Fluâce beganne to teache preach Antiârist then to be born to be manifest ârnulphus a godly Precher inueying aâainst the abominatioÌs of your Church was priuily hanged in Rome by youâ cleargie men This is no tale but recoâded by your owne histories A councâ was holden in king Steuens time vndâ Theobaldus Archebyshoppe of Caunteâ burie charging the Byshoppes that thâ people shoulde learne the Lordes prayeâ and the Creede in Englishe Gherarduâ and Dulcinus both being preachers affiâmed the Pope to be Antichrist and Româ to be Babylon In the same yeare king Henrie the seconde made Lawes at Claredowne in Normandie abolishing thâ Popes authoritie taking away appellations and Peter pence In the citie of Tolouse in the yeare of our Lorde 1178. a great number both men and women professoures of the true religion were by the Popes commissioners coÌdemned to death There were certaine christen people called Valdenses or Leonistes true professoures of the Gospell as appeareth by the articles of their religion which liued in the yeare of our Lorde 1170. And of these godlie Christians speaketh one of your owne writers who saith thus The secte of these Leonistes hath a great shewe of pietie or godlinesse because they liued iustly and vprightly before men ând doe beleeue all thinges very well âhich concerne God and all the artiâes which be contained in the Creede ânelie they doe speake ill of and doe âate the Churche of Rome I will not âeake of king Iohn who detesting your Romishe doctrine was poysoned by a âayterous Moonke at Swinested Abbey ân Lincolneshier I let passe Iohn Wickâiffe person of Literworth who reade the âiuinitie lecture in Oxenforde a zealous ârofessour of all the pointes of doctrine which we now mainteine Whose bones your cleargie tooke vp manie yeares after his death and burned them I coulde name Iohn Husse and Ierome of Prage Bohemians whome the Emperour and your Pope sent for vnto the councell holden at Constance vnder their safe Conductes to come and goe in safetie yea though they prooued verie notablie their faith which word by worde agreeth with the true religion now set foorth Neuerthelesse contrary to promise their owne hands seales most violently they coÌdemned theÌ for heretikes burned them And to salue this sore bleare the worldes eies they afterwarde decreed that Fides cum haereticis non esset seruanda that is That faith ought not to be kept with heretikes Gods name be thanked it may sufficiently be proued that in all ages there were some which defended the truth against your tyrannie But to come to the Pope this word Papa is a generall name vnto all learned men and therefore doth not pertaine onely to the sea of Rome Saint Augustine Saint Hierome writing one to another calleth each other Papa though one of them was conuersant in Iewrie the other at Hippo in Aphrick But to the matter You woulde knowe what wee mislike in the Popes gouernment and what Pope declined first from his Forefathers faith and steppes The Popes or Bishopes of Rome for the space of three hundred yeares after Christ did for the most parte suffer martyrdome vnder the wicked Emperours for the testitimonie of Christ and the doctrine in these daies published At which time they did not rule but were ruled After that they liued other three hundred yeares and more in a calme time and in greate quietnesse by Gods prouidence vnder Constantine the greate and the godâ Emperours his successors Which time âeeing expired and accomplished they âeeing pricked forwardes through pride ând ambition did beginne to claime supeâioritie ouer their fellowe Bishoppes ând also to decline by little and little from âhe perfecte rule of God his holy woorde ând veritie And in steede thereof magnified and extolled them selues and âheir own inuentions traditions not stryâing and contending who should excell or âoe before one an other in pure and âincere doctrine and holinesse of life But âather who coulde woorke moste mischiefe and iniurie one towardes an other of them seeking one to depriue an other of theire Bishopprikes and often times of lyfe in taking one an other out of their graues and also cutting of one an others âingers and poisoning one another and ân making Lawes decrees and ordinanâes one against an other there beeing sometymes two or three Popes at one time in doctrine vnsound in life wicked and in this hurley burly the Churche of Rome continued a verie long time both before and after Hildebrande Neuerthelesse this Hildebrande beyng yet Cardinall as one of your owne Cardinals reporteth did beate Pope Alexander with his fist and kept him in
of God and your vnitie to agree âith Christs veritie and Gospell But is ât this rather truely verified of your sucâssion which was vttered by Pope AâriaÌ Succedimus non Petro in pasceÌdo âd Romulo in parricidio We succeade âaith hee not Peter in feeding but Roâulus in murdering Succession of place âuaileth not one strawe if you cannot in âke maner proue the succession of Christ âs true doctrine The idolatrous priestes â al ages might verie wel haue boasted of âccession of place And so might the Phaâsees which bragged somuch of their temâle and of their succession euen from Moâes and yet they were fouly fallen awaye âroÌ the sincere pure Law of God worâhipped god in vain teaching the precepts ând doctrine of men You claime your sucâession from Peter the blessed Apostle of Christ for that as you saie he was Bishope of Rome If nowe you can proue that your religioÌ is the same that Peter taught written by the spirit of truth for the comfort of the true Church of God conteined in the newe testament of Christ Then not onely I but all which defende the same truth with me will willingly ioyne handes with you But and if you can not proue your doctrine by gods worde you must theÌ pardoÌ vs in that we wil not take your part against Christ I woulde to God that you woulde vnfainedlie sect forthe to the vse of gods people that religion which the Apostle Paule I will not say Peter for that there is no warraÌt in the scriptures for his beinge at anie time in Rome planted amongst the Romanes Which faith true religion the Apostle commendeth in theÌ âª Then surely we woulde not onely goe but ruÌne with you to the building of gods temple and woulde lay to our handes and our harts To this effect spaketh S. Ciprian that alwaies wee builde our faith succession and whole religion vpon a sure stedfast foundation If saith he The pipes of the cundit which before ran with aboundaunce happen to faile doe wee not serche to the heade c ⪠The priests of God ⪠âââing gods commaundements must doe the same that if the truthe haue fainted or failed in any point we turne to the very originall of our Lord and to the traditions of the Gospell and of the Apostles that from thence the reason of our actions or doings may arise from whence the order it selfe and originall first began Thus wee may say of your vnitie in faith your vniformiâie in ceremonies your holy functions If you can proue confirme these thinges by manifest places of the holy scriptures for my parte I will recant ând be of your religion But though you âr an Angel would perswade me to the coÌtrarie without the testimonie of Gods worde God assisting me with his spirit I will not beleue you I marueile why you will seeme to mainteine these matters seâng it is most repugnanc to the truth The âeade Capitaines of your religion and Doctours of your Church do not agree in âhe vnitie of your religion but do disâent in the principle pointes thereof Some âaye That Christes naturall body euen âhe same which was borne of the virâin Marie is receiued in the Sacrament âome denye saying that so soone as the forme of the bread is grated with the teethe straight way the body of Christ is caught vp into Heauen One sayth That a mouse may eate the body of Christ an other sayth That a mouse can not eate it and to dissolue these questions the cheefe piller of your church euen Petrus Lombardus saith What the mouse doth take or what she eateth God knoweth I can not tell And noting further the disagrement of your church men he saith Some men iudge thus some say thus some haue written thus some graunt thus some others haue taught thus that the verie substance of the bread wine remaine still And if a question saith he were moued what maner of conuersion or chaunge this is whether in forme or in substaunce or in some other manner I am not able to discusse An other saith How the body of Christ is there whether it bee by chaunging of something into it or Christes body beginne to bee there together with the bread both the substance and the accidents of the bread remaining still without chaunging it is not founde exprest in the canon of the Bible Innocentius the thirde Pope of that name sayth that there were some which sayde that as after consecration there remayned the very accidentes or formes of âreade so likewise the verie substance of the same breade remaineth still Marke howe the pleasâânt and swete âarmonie and concordaunce of your âhurch of Rome doeth agree and hange âogether as coÌcerning these weightie cauâs I thinke you iudge this transubstanâation a matter of faith You may see âen howe you agree or rather disagree â the vnitie of faith Concerning your âiformitie in your so manie superstitious âuiteles and tedious Ceremonies and âaditions of your owne inuentions it âay easily be veiwed and seene by the maâfold sectes of your religious stoare and âble of your heremites your Ankers âd Ancresses your recluses your holy âonkes of Benettes order of Cluniacenâs order of Lazarits order of Saint âieronimus order of Saint Gregories âder the order of the shadowed valley of âsaphattes order of the Humiliats orâr of the Celestines order of Gilberânes order of Iustinians order of the Charter house Monks of the Templaries order of the Iacobites order the Monks of Mount Oliuete Maries bretheren the order of the Flagellatours the Starred Monkes some white some black some graie some maled so called for thaâ they did weare male cotes next their skin the order of Iesuites and a greate company of orders besides these Of Friers somâ were called crosse bearers some Carmelitâ or white Friers some Minorities or greâ Friers some obseruant Friers some Mendicant or begging Friers some Dominicke some Franciscans so called of Sainâ Frances whose coule as Thomas Aquine faith had power to remoue sinne I omitte your Channons your Virgiâ Nunnes of all sortes but such as had nâ oyle in their Lampes your Nominals your reals I might make a long discourse here in describinge the varietie of this religions crue and companie not only in ceremoniall matters but also in matters of faith and doctrine But I trust all the world doth knowe howe they haue bene bewitched with such kind of sorceries and therefore I should but wast labour and lose time You aske further Whether wee bee bounde to obey your Church of Rome and none other in all controuesies and doubtes raised by the difficultie of the Scriptures or by the vaine contention of heresies Hereby you seeme to chalenge two thinges not onely a prerogatiue or preheminence aboue all other churches but also the interpretation of the scriptures solely and wholy to appertaine vnto you But I pray you tell me from whence you had this