200. some 300. Benefices most of which they neuer saw nor knew nor regarded how they were serued or starued what doth hee but shew himselfe rather a Wolfe than a Shepheard This kind of dispensation Saint Bernard in his time calleth a dissipation And Iohn Picas the famous Earle of Mâ—randula in an Oration to Pope Leo the 10. complaineth of as a notorious corruption in the Church in his dayes Now then to conclude the poynt if to maintaine Incest Sodometry adultery fornication periury disobedience to Parents rebellion against Princes and murther be not to giue licence to most horrible and foule sinnes lâ—t all men iudge and then consider what that Religion is to be iudged of which giueth either open or secret dispensation to all these 10. This is the first Romish doctrine directly tending to liberty A second nothing inferiour to the former is their doctrine of popish pardons and Indulgences a doctrine indeed full of all licentiousnes stuft with impiety and letting the reynes loose to all manner of villany For thus they teach that the Pope being Christs Vicar heere on earth hath the keyes of the kingdome of Heauen in custody to admit in by Indulgence or to shut out by excommunication as hee shall see cause and that the merits of Martyrs to wit their workes of supererogation which they haue more then they need for their owne saluation which mixt with the merites of Christ they call the treasure of the Church are to bee dispensed and disposed at his pleasure 11. The limits and largenes of these pardons they stretch so farre that they make them of more force then the death and passion of Christ for as they teach Christs death freeth onely a culpa aterna poena that is from the guilt of the fault and the eternall punishment due vnto it but not a poena temporali from the temporall punishment but these popish pardons acquit and discharge both from the guilt and from the punishment temporall and eternall as some of them affirme and they that mince it finest from the guilt and temporall punishment so that Christs passion commeth short of his Vicars pardon and the seruant can doe more then the Master by their Religion for though the efficacie of these pardons dependeth vpon the merits of Christ yet that is but in part for the Saints merits must be mixed with them or else they alone make no good medicine and the Pope must dispence them or else they are of no value Neither doe they firetch onely to those that are aliue but to the dead also And that not onely in Purgatory but in Hell Out of both which places say they both the suburbs and the Citie the Pope is able to deliuer whom he pleaseth and place them in heauen the seate of the blessed this is the opinion of diuers of them Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence auoucheth almost as much leauing out hell for he saith that the Pope in respect of his absolute iurisdiction may absolue all that are in Purgatory and empty the prison at once marke his reasons for sayth he seeing Gregory by his prayer discharged Traiane from the paine of hell which is infinite Therfore much more may the Pope by communication of indulgences absolue all that are in Purgatory from that punishment which is but finite And for asmuch as Christ may take away all paine therefore the Pope also who is his Vicar may These be the Archbishops goodly reasons the one whereof is meere foolish and friuolous the other blasphemous but howsoeuer it be yet thousands of ignorant persons haue receiued these as their Creed and by them beene seduced to the vtter ruine and destruction of their soules 12. And to that height of impudency are these pardon-mongers growne that they stocke not to promise plenary remission of all sinnes to all that either come on pilgrimage to Rome or miscarry in their iourney or that visite the holy places there especially the 7. priuiledged Churches promising to some 50. to some a 100. to some 3000. yeares of pardon Yea Boniface the eight granted of his bountifull liberality 82000. yeares pardon for euery time saying a prayer of S. Augustine printed in a Table at Venice and that toties quoties Iohn the 22. granted twentie yeres pardon to euery one that doth but bow his head at the naming of Iesus Here is a notable pardon indeed a man may in one day prouide for millions of ages and not onely for himselfe but to helpe his friends out of Purgatory Besides all this their holy Father the Pope vseth to consecrate and hallow an infinite number of Crucifixes and Medailes and Agnus Dei's Holy graines or Beads and such like trash and send them abroad into the world that whosoeuer weareth one of them about him if he bee at the poynt of death and say but in his heart the name Iesus shall haue a plenary and full forgiuenesse of all his sins 13. But what should I rake any deeper into this filthy puddle I might spend much time and trauaile in deciphering the infinite and grosse absurdities of this monstrous doctrine the very naming whereof is a sufficient confutation I referre the Reader to others that haue amply discouered these secrets of the whore of Babylon But to returne to the poynt Is not this a doctrine I pray you of licentiousnesse who would feare to sinne when pardon may be obtayned at so low a rate for bowing the head saying ouer a short prayer visiting a Church creeping to a Crosse wearing a Crucifixe pardon may be purchased for sinnes without number and that for yeares without number What is the height of liberty if this be not But yet they ascend higher for there is a great Mart of all these Indulgences at Rome there you may haue them at a very lowe price rather then goe without yea cheaper than any other ware and lest Rome should seeme too farre to fetch them thence there are petty markets and faires of them in euery Country and the Pedlers that carry about this trash are the Priests and Iesuites Leo the tenth sent Tâ—â—elius about with his Pardons offering to euery one for the payment of tenne shillings and not a penny vnder to set at liberty the soule of any one which they should name in Purgatory And of late it is sayd that the Iesuites brought into England Agnus Dei's by thousands which they sold at what rate they list to poore seduced Papists Peroun the French Cardinall brought with him from Rome many such hallowed and holy things as some say by the sale thereof to helpe to defray his charges which he was at in that costly iourney 14. What should I name vnto you their odious marchandize and setting to sale of all manner of sinne called taxa poenitentiaria Apostolica whereby impunity is graunted to euery sinne be it neuer so grieuous so the party payeth according to the rate for his
Father that is God the word being taken personally and not in the abstract as if the essence of the Deity of the Sonne should bee from the Father which is entirely subsisting in of and by it owne eternall incomprehensible and most glorious nature and this without question was the true intendement of the Councill for els it had not confuted but fauoured the blasphemous heresie of Arrius against whom it was assembled which Caluine and Beza doe not any wayes crosse but onely bring vnto it a fit and fauourable exposition Thus we haue Bellarmine Caluines and Bezaes patrone in this doctrine though full ill against his will and not onely him but Ribera and Gregory de Valentia two other no meane Rabbies both which doe conclude that the Sonne as he is a person is of another but as he is a simple Ens is not of another and that the Essence doth not beget the Essence but the Father the Son so that either they are slanderers of the truth or their Catholike doctrines may bee Atheisme and blasphemy 72. Againe they accuse Caluine of another blasphemy against our Lord and Sauior Iesus Christ to wit that he should make him inferiour to his Father in respect of his Deity This is Arrlanisme indeed as Bellarmine calleth it or Atheisme as Posseuine if it were to bee found in Caluines diuinity or any other but it is as farre from him thus to thinke as it is from their malice to speake the truth This is all that Caluine affirmeth that the Father is God per excellentiam that is after a more excellent manner And what errour I pray you is in this doth hee not speake of the personall relation that is betwixt the Father and the Sonne and not of the nature and essence of the God-head that is in both of equall dignity and excellency This is cleare both by the former article wherein he sloutly auoucheth him to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himselfe and not to receiue the essence of his Deity from his Father and so not to be inferiour to his Father in that respect and also by infinite places in his books where he directly maketh the Son Iehouah equall to the Father in dignity excellency eternity and all other properties of the Deity therefore he speaketh this in respect of the person of Christ in which consideration the Father that begetteth respected with the Sonne that is begotten may truely bee said to haue a certaine priority of order ānd to be God after a more excellent manner Here is now neither Arrianisme nor Atheisme nor indeed any error in Caluines doctrine but malicious lying and slaundering in in these Iesuites accusation 73. Nay that Caluine may bee cleared from all suspition of errour and those fellowes condemned as notorious slaunderers Tollet one of their owne fraternity affirmeth that Athanasius Basil Nazianzene Hilary and Origen all strong maintainers of Christs diuinity and profest enemies to Arrius heresie interpret that place Iohn 14. My Father is greater then I in Caluines sense Maldonate another Iesuite in his commentary vpon Iohn addeth to these Epiphanius Cyrillus Leontius Chrysostome Theophilact and Euthemius as patrones of the same opinion yea and this last Iesuite himselfe subscribeth to their exposition for he sayth that the Father is greater then the Sonne in that respect that hee is the Sonne for the Name of the Father is more honorable then the Name of the Son and the Schoolmen say asmuch as Caluine when they ascribe to the Father authority and to the Sonne subauthority What is this but to say that the Father is God after a more excellent manner Now then if this were neither Atheisme nor Arrianisme nor heresie in the Fathers nor in their owne Doctors why should it bee branded with those infamous titles in Caluine I see no reason but that malice is blinde and that the hatred they bare to that good man made them to say and do they cared not what so they might wound his credite thereby 74. Luther is likewise traduced by them as a denyer of the blessed Trinity and that because the word Trinity is said to dislike him for which cause he dispunged out of the Germane Lyturgies this sorme of prayer Sancta Trinitas vnus Deus miserere nostri a notorious calumniation for Luther indeed blotteth out of the Germane prayers a certain forme like vnto that obiected but not so as he setteth it downe for the word vsed in the Germane tongue signifieth rather a triplicity then a Trinity which mooued Luther in a desire to maintaine the pure doctrine of the Trinity as Iunius obserueth to blot out that word thinking it a dangerous matter to vse such a word in so holy and high a mystery By which practice he is so farre from impugning or denying that blessed principle that he sheweth himselfe rather a zealous defender and maintainer thereof and in a word to discouer their falsity and his innocency List how diuinely and soundly and orthodoxally he writeth else-where of that mystery Vnitas Trinitatis est magis vna c. The vnity of the Trinity is more one then the vnity of any creature euen mathematically neuertheles this vnity is a Trinity or the diuinity of three distinct persons that euery person is the whole diuinity as if there were no other and yet it is true that no person is the fole diuinity as if there were no other Againe vpon the transfiguration of Christ Mat. 17. hee thus commenteth Heere the whole Trinity doth appeare to the confirmation of all the faithfull Christ the Son in a glorious forme God the Father by his voyce declaring his Son to be God and the holy Ghost in the bright cloud ouer-shadowing them Againe we beleeue sayth he that there is one God the Father begetting the Sonne begotten and the holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and Son we determine such a plurality in God which is of an vndiuided substāce an indiuisible vnity again the mystery of the Trinity was discouered in the beginning of the world after vnderstood by the Prophets and lastly plainly reuealed by the Gospell when our Saviour commandeth to baptize in the name of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost A number of such like places might bee alledged out of his workes wherein most constantly hee auoucheth that doctrine which our and his vnequall aduersaries accuse him to bee an enemy vnto Let enuy it selfe now bee iudge whether this bee not a slander when as they both falsisy those sayings out of which they would deriue their accusation and conceale those which they knew to bee a iust defence and apologie for his innocency 75. Againe they condemne Beza and Martyr and other Protestants for denying the omnipotency of God and why because forsooth they say Quod facta vt infecta sint facere nequeat Hee cannot make those things that bee done to bee vndone An absurd inference for that
it is Romish is not the true Catholique Religion of CHRIST but the seduction of Antichrist THE PREAMBLE THat which Ireneus an ancient and godly Father of the Church speaketh of all Heretickes that all the Helleborus in the world is not sufficient to purge them that they may vomit out their follie may truely be spoken of the Church of Rome and her adherents that it is a difficult matter if not almost impossible to reclaime her from her errors and to heale her wounds All the balme of Gilead will not do it nor all the spirituall phisicke that can be ministred for there are two sinnes which of all other are most hard to bee relinquished Whoredome and Drunkennesse the one because it is so familiar and naturall to the flesh the other because it breedeth by custome such an vnquenchable thirst in the stomacke as must euer anon be watered with both which spirituall diseases the Church of ROME is infected She is the Whore of Babylon with whome the Kings of the Earth haue committed fornication and who hath made drunke with the Wine of her fornications all the Inhabitants of the Earth In regard of the first Ieremie prophecied of her that though paines be taken to heale her yet shee could not be healed And in regard of the second Saint Paul prophecied that GOD would send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lies that all they might bee damned that receiued not the loue of the truth Notwithstanding though the hope bee as little of the reclaiming of most of them as of turning an Eunuch into a man or making a blacke Moore white yet I haue propounded in this discourse a strong potion compounded of ingredients which if they bee not past cure may purge and cleanse them of their disease and reduce them to the sanity of Christian Religion Which if their queasie stomackes shall eyther refuse to take or hauing taken shall vomit vp againe and not suffer them to worke vpon their consciences yet this benefit will arise that God shall be glorified the truth manifested and all that loue the truth confirmed and they also themselues that are so drowned in error that they will rather pull in others ouer head and eares vnto them and so drowne together then be drawne out of the myre by any helpe shall be conuinced in their consciences of their most grosse apostacie With this confidence towards Gods glorie and the good of his Church though with little hope of recouering them from their obdurate blindnesse I enter into my intended taske desiring the Lord to giue a blessing to these poore labours which I consecrate to my Lord and Master Iesus Christ whom I serue and the Church his Spouse of which I professe my selfe to bee one of the meanest members MOTIVE I. That Religion which in many points giueth libertie to sinne is not the truth but such is the Religion of the Church of ROME ergo c. THe first proposition is an vndoubted truth and needs no confirmation especially seeing S. Iames describeth true Religion by these attributes pure and vndefiled And S. Paul calleth it the mysterie of godlinesse and the doctrine according to godlinesse And herein consisteth an essentiall difference betwixt the true Religion and all false ones so that it must needs follow that that Religion which is essentially the cause and occasion of sinne and openeth a wide window to vngodlinesse cannot be the truth of God but must needs fetch it beginning from the deuill who is the author of all euill The Gospell indeede may by accident be the occasion of euill as S. Paul saith The law is the occasion of sinne for it stirs vp contention and strife and discouers the corruptions of Mans heart and by opposing against them as a damme against a streame makes them to swell and boyle and burst forth beyond the bounds howbeit here the cause is not in the Gospell or Lawe but in the corruption of mans heart which the more it is stirred the more it rageth and striueth to shew it selfe But neuer yet was the doctrine of godlinesse the cause of wickednesse nor the pure and vndefiled Religion of Christ Iesus an essentiall procurer and prouoker vnto sinne 3. This therefore being thus manifest all the question and difficultie remaineth in the second proposition to wit that the Religion of the Romish Church is such as openeth a gappe vnto sinne and giueth notorious libertie and scope to vngodlinesse and that not by way of accident or occasion but necessarily as the cause to the effect Qua data necessariò soquitur effectus as the Logicians speake and therefore being an â—npure and defiled Religion and the mysterie of iniquitie not the mysterie of godlinesse it cannot be that true Religion which Christ our Sauiour brought with him from heauen and left here vpon earth blamelesse and vnspotted like himselfe to be the way to lead vs vnto heauen where hee is 4. That the Romish Religion is a polluted and defiled Religion tending to libertie and loosenesse Let the indifferent Reader iudge by these few instances deriued out of the verie bowels of their Church and being articles of their faith and grounds of their Religion And first to beginne with their doctrine of dispensations whereby they teach that the Pope hath power to dispense with the word of God and with euery commandement of the Law and not onely with the Law but with the Gospell and Epistles of Paul to what horrible loosenesse and lewdnesse of life doth it tend for to omit that it containeth in it open blasphemie by their owne rule which is that In praecepto superioris non debet dispensare inferior the inferiour may not dispense with the precept of the superiour by which the Pope dispensing with Gods lawe is not oneâ—y equalled but exalted aboue God what sinne is there bee it neuer so hainous which there is not libertie giuen to commit by this licencious doctrine 5. Incest But Pope Martin the first gaue a dispensation to one to marrie his owne sister and not his wiues sister only as some of the Romish crue would dawbe ouer this filthie wall because it is in Antoninus Cum quadam eius germana for Siluester Prieriâ— Bartholomeus Fumus and Angelus de Clauafio speake more plainely Cumsua germana that is with his owne naturall sister Another Pope dispensed with Henry the eight to marrie his sister in law and with Philip of Spaine to marrie his owne Niece and Clement the 7. licenced Petrus Aluaradus the Spaniard to marrie two sisters at once and no maruaile seeing it is the very doctrine of the Romish Church that the Pope can dispense in all the degrees of Consanguinitie and Affinitie saue onely with the Father and his daughter and with the Mother and her Son Sodometrie But Pope Sixtus the fourth licensed the Cardinall of Saint Lucie and his familie to vse freely that sinne not to bee named in the
cases cannot be cleared from Incest for this is the rule of supputation by the Canon law which is most fauourable to them Quo gradu remotior distat à communi stipite eodem etiam inter se distant In what degree the person furthâ—st remoued is distant from the stockâ— in the same degree they are distant from one another Now put the case after this manner ABRAHAM ISAAC IACOB IVDA PHARES ISCAH ISMAEL Here in this Scheme or figure Iscah is by their own rule in the first degree from ISMAEL and therefore by their doctrine ISMAEL may marry ISCAH which is most notable and apparent Incest for brethren and sisters are but one flesh and so Isaac and Ismael are both one flesh as Iudah said of Ioseph Frater noster est caro nostra est he is our brother and our flesh And therefore Ismael is vnto all Isaacs posterity as it were their Father and they vnto him in stead of Children and so by consequent cannot marrie not onely within the fourth degree but euen vnto the thousand degree if it were possiâ—le For Adam if hee were now aliue could not find a woman in the whole world to marry lawfully withall without committing Incest neither is this a conceit of our own deuising but the expresse rule of the word of God for Leuit. 18. 12. 13. wee are forbidden to vncouer the shame of our Fathers sister or of our Mothers sister but all our predecessours in the right line are our fathers and mothers though they he neuer so sarre remooued and therefore to marry with their brothers or sisters stands guilty of Incest by 〈…〉 law For which cause also Iustinian decreeth that Amitam licet adoptiuam c. It is not lawfull to marrie our Fathers adopted sister nor our Mothers adopted sister because they are held in place of Parents and the law in the Digests is plaine and pertinent Amitam quoque materteram item magnam amitam materter am magnam prohibemur vxorem ducere quamisis amita magna maâ—â—rter a magna quarto gradit sunt We are forbidden to warry our Auxt either by Father or Mothers side yea our great Aunt though she be in the fourth degree Thus by all â—awes the Popish doctrine that it is lawfull for any to marry beyond the fourth degree is a plaine maintenance and allowance of Incest 20. Againe who knoweth not but that theft is condemned by all lawes except it be by the lawes of Platoes imaginaries CoÌ„mon-wealth or the Anabaptistical positions of some later heretikes who would haue propriety of goods taken away and a communitie of all things brought vp but the Papists by their doctrine not onely tolerate some kind of theft but euen maintaine and allowe it as lawfull For thus writeth Maldonate a learned Iesuite and of great authoritie Poore men saith he doe not commit theft when being pressed with extreame necessity they take that which is another mans because marke his Anabaptisticall reason the thing at such a time is not properly another mans but common to the life of man being in danger c. And to prooue this hee abuseth an excellent sentence of Saint Ambrose who speaking of the communitie of charitie and not of propriety saith Esurientis pauis est quem â—â— retines nudorum vestimenâ—uÌ„ est quod â—â— recludis miserorum paecunia est quam tu in terram defodis It is the poores bread which thou retainest his garment which thou lockest vp and his money which thou hy dest in the ground But he speaketh as any man may see not to encourage the poore to lay hands vpon rich mens substance but to stirre vp the rich to the workes of charitie neither to excuse a poore man from theft if he steale from the rich but to accuse the rich of theft if out of his wealth he do not powre forth to the necessitie of the poore Neither is this the opinion of one Iesuite onely but it is backed and barred by the approbation of another of no meane credite For thus writeth Emanuel Sa in his Aphorisines Ego inquit c. I saith he am of the same mind with them which thinke that it is lawfull for a poore man priuily to purloine from a richman which is bound to helpe him and doth not Here be two brethren in euill concurring in the defence of one and the same sinne for if to steale be not an offence for a poore man why doth the law say in generall Thou shalt not steale Let them shew the exception and exemption of the poore from the law or let them confesse to their eternall shame that they are maintainers of those that breake Gods law Besides if as Saint Augustine and all other learned Diuines confesse it bee not lawfull to lye though it bee to the sauing of our liues then it must needs follow that it is not lawfull for a poore man to steale though it be for the sauing of his life for theft is a sinne that bringeth more damage with it then an officious lye can doe which is vttered not for hurt of another but for the preseruation of our selues 21. Besides these Cardinall Tollet another Iesuite a man of high dignity and authority in the Romane Church approueth by his verdict another kind of theft worse then those before specified for he alloweth in some cases the vse of false ballances and falsification of wares his words are these There is saith he a man that either by reason of vniust dealing of the Magistrate or the malice of the buiers conspiring together to pull downe the price or some other reasonable cause cannot sell his wine at a iust price when the case thus falleth out then may this man either lessâ—n his measure or mingle water with his wines and so sell it for pure wine and require the full price as if the measure were compleate prouided that he doe not lye which neuertheles if he doe it is no pernitious lye nor mortall nor binding to restitution In like manner it is lawfull to sell other silke in stead of Granado silke and Italian in stead of Greeke and so after the same proportion all other wares These bee the braue positions of that renowned Cardinall wherein how apparently hee doth contradict the written word of God let any indifferent vmpier iudge by comparing this his doctrine with these sentences of the Scripture here ensuing Diuers weights are an abomination to the Lord and deceitfull ballances are not good A true weight and a ballance are of the Lord and all the weights of the bagge are his worke Diuers weights and diuers measures both these are euen abomination to the Lord yee shall not doe vniustly in iudgement in line in weight or in measure yee shall haue iust ballances true weights a true Ephah and a true Hin I am the Lord your God c. Thou shalt not haue in thy bagge two manner of weights a great and
when at any time they are conferred withall about their Religion presently not being able to answer their refuge is to referre vs ouer to their Priests of whose learning and iudgement they haue such a perswasion that though Scripture and reason be against them yet their opinions preuaile more with them then either of these So that hence it is most euident that as the Iewes are bound to beleeue all that their Cachamim teach and not to stand to examine what it is that they teach so the Romanists are bound by their Religion to entertaine into their Creed whatsoeuer is taught them by their ordinary Pastours without all enquirie and search into their doctrines whether they bee true or false And as this is one chiese cause of the Iewes obstinacie against Christian Religion so is it also of that miserable superstition which raigneth in the Church of Rome for if the people were but perswaded that their learned Doctours might erre and deceiue they would certainely suspect their doctrines and try them by the touchstone of the holy Scriptures and so at length might be reclaimed from their errours thus they march together in this point also 20. Againe the Romanists are like vnto the Iewes in their doctrine and practice of praying for the dead for they hold and teach that prayer sacrifice is to be offered for the dead grounding their opinion partly vpon the example of Iudas Maccabeus who as they affirme procured sacrifice to bee offered by the Priests for the dead that had trespassed by taking to themselues the idolatrous iewels of the Iamnites and partly vpon the Thalmudical traditions of diuers of their ancient Rabbines but they haue no ground nor warrant for the same in the word of God for as concerning the bookes of the Maccabees they themselues acknowledge that they are not Canonicall Scripture and for the Scripture we finde no such precept or example in the whole volume of the olde and new Testament neither is it likely that God would haue omitted in the law that kinde of sacrifice for the soules of men where he prescribeth sinne-offerings for bodily pollutions and euery light trespasse if he had thought it necessarie That this is the opinion and practice of the Iewes their practice at this day beareth witnesse for they vse to say ouer the dead bodies a certaine prayer called Kaddish by the vertue whereof as they thinke they are deliuered out of Purgatory especially if it bee said by the sonne for his father and if hee haue no sonne by the whole Congregation on their Sabboth dayes And that this also is the doctrine and vsage of the Church of Rome besides their Bookes their Masses for the quicke and the dead their Diriges and Trentals doe sufficiently testifie And that they fetch this custome from the Iewes may appeare by two reasons first because one mayne argument of theirs which they call a demonstration to proue the lawfulnesse hereof is deriued from the example of the Iewes as we may see both in Galatinus Coccius and our late English Apologists And secondly because as it is confessed by their owne Bredenbachius it is not found in all the writings of the Apostles and Euangelists in the new Testament and we may adde hereunto neither in the olde vnlesse by distorted and misalledged texts which are not worth the answering except onely that fore-named passage of the Maccabees which notwithstanding is corrupted both by the Translatour and also the Relatour Iason Cyreneus as is vnanswerably proued by our famous Country-man Doctour Reynolds the word Dead being cogged into the Text by some cunning Iuggler which is not in the Originall wherein lyeth the pith of the argument And therefore it must needes follow that the Romanists doe merely Iudaize herein And for the Fathers which they alledge for the proofe of this article let their owne Cassander giue satisfaction who affirmeth that the ancient Church vsed prayers for the dead either as thankfull congratulations for their present ioyes or esse as restimonies of their hope and desire of their future resurrection and consummate blessednes both in their bodies and soules and this hee proueth out of Cyprian Augustine Epiphanius Chrysostome and ancient Leiturgies 21. Againe they Iudaize in their doctrines of Limbus Patrum and Purgatorie for Purgatorie it hath beene alreadie touched in the former section and for Limbus Patrum it is coâ—sessed by our aduersaries themselues that it is the tenent of the Iewish Rabbines warranted as they say onely by a Text in Ecclefiasticus which being both corrupted in the translation as our worthy Champion Doctour Whitaker hath proued and being also no part of Canonicall Scripture doth plainely shew that it is a mere Rabbinish conceit hatched in their brainsick Thalmud and not bred in holy writ Yet our Romanists lay fast hold on the same opinion without any other certaine ground to build it vpon For as touching the places of Scripture collected by them to proue this assertion they are either so impertinent or distorted that the meanest iudgement may easily discry their weaknesse for either they are deriued from a word of an ambiguous signification as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the speach of Iacob Gen. 37. 35. which signifieth sometimes the graue and sometimes hell by the confession of their great Bellarmine or from a Parable as that place in Luke 16. concerning Abrahams bosome confessed by Maldonate to be parabolicall because bodies are not yet tormented in hell but here is mention of a finger and a tongue or from an allegorie as is that place of Zacharie 9. 11. where is mention made of loosing Prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water which both Salmeron and Bellarmine acknowledge to make more for Purgatory then for Limbus but in truth for neither it signifying literally nothing else but the deliuerance of the Israelites out of the Babylonish captiuity and tipically the redemption of the Elect from the bondage of Sathan and hell which they are liable vnto or lastly are merely impertinent as those places Heb. 11. 39. 4. 1. Reg. 28. 1. Pet. 3. 19 the first whereof intendeth the consummate and perfect blessednesse of body and soule which the Fathers had not attayned vnto The second meaneth not the true Samuel but the deuill in his shape and likenesse and the third is to bee referred not to Christs dâ—scension into hell but to the operation of his Diuinitie which he exercised from the beginning of the world preaching by the mouthes of iust men as both S. Augustine and Aquinas expound the place How can any sound conclusion now be drawne from Texts that are either equiuocall or allegoricall or parabolicall or impertinent and all by their owne confessions Therefore it must needes follow that seeing this doctrine hath no sure foundation in Gods word but is founded vpon the Iewes prophane Thalmud that it is no better then a mere Rabbinish
that the Spirit of God witnesseth vnto our spirits that wee are the sonnes of God Neither is this witnesse of the Spirit a doubtfull and vncertaine certificate for Saint Paul in the words going before calleth it the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father and not the spirit of bondage to feare any more When therefore God doth shead abroad his Spirit into our hearts crying and making vs to cry Abba Father in faithfull not formall prayer that is a certaine testimony to our spirits that we are the sonnes of God For as Saint Ierome well noteth Wee neuer durst call God our Father but vpon conscience of the Spirit dwelling in vs. Neither doe we euer vpon this ground call God our Father but withall we are or ought to be perswaded that we are his children 15. Againe why doth hee say in another place that all they which beleeue the Gospell are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise Are Gods children sealed and can they not see nor know the Seale Is not this one vse of a seale to confirme a couenant assuring the certainty of the performance thereof to him to whom it is made Yea doth not Saint Iohn say Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in vs because he hath giuen vs of his Spirit And againe doth not the holy Ghost so ascribe this knowledge of iustification and saluation on to a mans selfe that he denyeth it to all others To him that ouercommeth I will giue a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saâ—â— he that receiueth it What is this white stone but the absolution and remission of a sinner what is the new name written in it but the childe of God This no man knoweth but he that hath it therefore he that hath it knoweth it What can be more plaine And yet this is the exposition almost of all Diuines vpon that place To omit all other testimonies doth not the Scripture now teach this doctrine touching the certainty of saluation 16. I but saith Bellarmine all Gods promises for the most part are conditionall and no man can certainely know whether he hath performed the condition and therefore cannot assure himselfe of the promise To which I answere that albeit in regard of our infirmitie we are not able to fulfill the conditions required in Gods promises yet wee are assured that we shall fulfill them through him that strengthneth vs and so as the Apostle Paul said in one place Wee can doe nothing no not so much as thinke a good thought Yet in another place he saith I can doe all things through Christ that strengthneth me So may we say of our selues We cannot do anything of our selues yet in Christ Iesus wee can doe all things By his might wee can keepe his Commandements though not perfectly yet so as our defects are made vp by his perfection and our endeuours accepted in his mediation for his sake it is giuen vnto vs not onely to beleeue in him but also to suffer for him and by his neuer-fayling grace and euerlasting loue we are assured that we shall perseuere vnto the end And therefore Origen saith that it is impossible that that which God hath once quickned should either by himselfe or any other be killed Thus there is no condition required of the children of God but they are assured that they can performe it though not in full measure and by their owne strength yet in that measure which God will accept and by the strength of his Spirit which dwelleth in them and sanctifieth them to doe his will And thus this third Antithesis is nothing empeached by Bellarmines cauill 17. The Gospell telleth vs that there is but one onely propitiatory Sacrifice in the world which is Christ Iesus the Sauiour of the world who offered vp himselfe once and no more for to take away the sinnes of his people But the Church of Rome teacheth that euery Masse is a propitiatory Sacrifice for the quicke and the dead and that euery Priest as often as he saith Masse doth offer vp Christ vnto God the Father as a Sacrifice for sinne 18. Bellarmine here distinguisheth againe and saith that indeede there is but one onely propitiatory Sacrifice in the world to wit that which was once offered vpon the Crosse but yet that one Sacrifice may be reiterated in mysterie by the same high Priest Christ Iesus by the hands of a carnall Priest And againe he in another place distinguisheth this Sacrifice into bloudy vnbloudy saith that there was but one bloudie Sacrifice of Christ and that on the Altar of the Crosse but there are many vnbloudy sacrifices of the same Christ in their dayly Masses And lastly that the sacrifice of the Masse is but an application of the Sacrifice of the Crosse vnto mens soules for the actuall remission of sinnes purchased by Christ vpon the Crosse 19. Here is much adoe to little purpose three distinctions and all not worth a rush for all of them are mutually contrary to each others and vaine and friuolous in themselues first if the sacrifice of the Masse bee a repetition of the sacrifice of the crosse then it is not an application of it for it is one thing to reiterate and another to apply and therefore if the Priest doth reiterate it then hee doth not apply it and if hee doth apply it then hee doth not reiterate for to reiterate is to doe againe that which was done before and to apply is to make vse of that which was done but not to doe it againe Beside if the masse bee a repetition and application of the sacrifice of the crosse then how is it an vnbloudy sacrifice can that bloudy sacrifice bee repeated and applied after an vnbloudy manner that is asmuch as to say it is a sacrifice and yet not a sacrifice especially no propitiatory sacrifice seeing as the Apostle speaketh without the shedding of bloud there is no remissioÌ„ of sinnes Againe if the masse be a repetition of that bloudy sacrifice of Christ on the crosse then it is a repetition of Christs death and a crucifying of him againe for the sacrifice of Christ and the death of Christ is all one and if it bee so then it must needs be bloudy aswell as that for the repetition of a thing is the doing of the same thing againe And lastly if it bee an application of it then it cannot bee a repetition of it nor indeed the same in specie with it for the application of a thing is not the thing it selfe in any reason and thus these distinctions are at ciuill warre with each other and indeed like deadly enemies doe cut each others throats 20. But let one of their own learned masters Peter Lumbard conclude this point for vs who saith that Christ dying vpon the crosse offered himselfe is sacrificed dayly in the Sacrament because in
great antiquity And indeed why should it not bee obserued if the Pope cannot erre or if it be not fit to bee obserued how is it true that the Pope erreth not in defining matters of Religion The fourth was ordained by Paulus the second anno 1466. as they themselues will not deny 25. Besides these of the Virgin Mary they haue many other festiuall dayes of the same nature and stampe as the feast of Corpus Christi of the inuention of the Crosse of the dedication of Churches of All soules and a number such like all which are confessed nouelties for in the Apostles times and Primitiue Church during the space of foure hundred yeeres none of these were once heard of The feast of the Crosse was Gregory the fourths inuention anno 828. and Corpus Christi day was first ordained by Pope Vrbane the fourth about the yeere 1264. as confesseth Bellarmine himselfe who of his Apostolicall power gaue spirituall wages and special pardon to all that should personally obserue the houres of this holy solâ—mnity as at Mattens an hundred dayes pardon at Masse asmuch and so at first and second Euen-song at the houres of prime of tierce of sixth of noone of complete fourty dayes apiece and thus in like manner for the whole weeke following 26. The annuall seaâ—ts of dedication of Churches grew from a sinister imitation of Constantine the great who because hee kept a solemne day at the dedication of a certain Church which hee had built therefore it was receiued as a Law for Princes actions are the peoples directions to solemnize euery yeere a holy day vpon the day of the dedication of their Church And all Soules was the deuice of one Saint Odyll who as they write in Cicilia in the I le of Vulcane heard the voyces howlings of Deuils which complained with great griefe that the soules of them that were dead were taken away out of their hands by almes and prayers whereupon this feast was ordained wherein prayer should be made for al Soules And as for this so for the other they deuised strange miracles to win credit vnto them which plainely argueth their nouelty in that they stood in need of miracles to confirme them as for example touching the inuention of the holy Crosse they fable that it was first found in Paradise by Seth the son of Adam to whom Michael the Angell gaue a branch of the forbidden tree which hee planted vpon the graue of his Father Adam which tree beeing after found by Salomon in mount Libanus was translated vnto his house and there beeing worshipped by the Queene of Saba and foretold to bee the tree whereon the Sauiour of the world should bee hanged and by which Ierusalem should bee destroyed was therefore taken downe and buried deepe in the ground by Salomon in which place afterward the Iewes diging a pit for a poole to water their cattell found this tree from which such vertue arose to that poole that the Angels descended to mooue the water so that the first that bathed himselfe therein after the motion was healed of his disease whatsoeuer it was as wee read Iohn 5. Now vpon this tree was Christ crucified which being afterward buried againe in the earth was found out by Queene Helene the mother of Constantine through the discouery of one Iudas a Iew who was conuerted to the Christian faith by the sweet sauour that arose from the Crosse and the quaking of the earth and then that Crosse was discerned from the two other Crosses of the theeues by restoring life to a dead corps whereupon it was laide and the Deuill cryed in the aire that this Iudas had betrayed him as the other had done his Master Christ By these strange miracles they dignisy that holy feast and indeed shew it to bee nothing els but a meere fable and forsooth all this they fetch out of the Gospell of Nichodemus 27. So for the dedication of Churches they tell vs this miracle that when a Church of the Arrians was hal owed by Christian men and the reliks of Saint Fabian Saint Sebastian Saint Agathe brought into it the people being assembled heard suddenly the fearefull gronings gruntings of an hog running vp and downe inuisibly and seeking a passage out of the Church and for three nights together â—umbluâ—g in the roofe with an hideous noise which say they was nothing but the banishing of the Deuill out of that Church by the hallowing and dedicating of it Who would not then obserue deuoutly this feast seeing the benefit is so great that commeth by the thing it selfe whereof it is a memoriall But let vs leaue these tables to their golden or rather leaden Legend of lyes as their owne Canus termeth it and shut vp the point that both these heere named and a number such like festiuall dayes more precisely honoured and obserued in the Romish Church and with greater deuotion t 〈…〉 n Gods holy Sabbath it selfe are new inuentions as sprung vp from superstition so ordained to maintain the same and haue no ground either of true antiquity to countenance them or holy Scripture to vphold them but Iewish fables Apocrypha writings old wiues tales and forged miracles 28. Fourthly I requiâ—e satisfaction for their ceremonies vsed in both the Sacraments as first in the Eucharist their pompous circumgestation of it to bee seene viewed and adored which Cassander acknowledgeth to haue beene Praeter veterem morem mâ—ntem haud longo tempore inductaâ—â— Beside the custome and meaning of antiquity and brought in of late time And Bellarmine also to haue beene first ordained by Vrbanus the fourth their mixture of water with the wine and separation of leauen from the bread came both in from Pope Alexander the seuenth as witnesse both Polidore Virgill and Durantius Yea and Bonauenture doth confesse that this practice of mixing of water cannot bee read of in all the Scriptures nor found in the first institution of the Sacrament Their not breaking the bread out of a loafe but giuing it in small cakes Salmeron the Iesuite acknowledgeth to be contrary to the ancient practice of the Church Their dipping the consecrated hoste in the cup Suarez another Iesuite yeeldeth not to haue beene vsed by our Sauiour Christ and therefore must needs bee an Innouation Their putting the Sacrament not into the hands but into the mouths of the communicants the former Salmeron doth freely confesse to bee an action contrary to the first institution Lastly their various and ridiculous gestures murmuring dopping staring crossing c. with the strange garments vsed by the Priests in the time of their administration Six of Priests in signe of perfection because in sixe dayes God created Heauen and earth nine for Bishops in token that they are spirituall like the nine orders of Angels and fifteene for both in token of the fifteene degrees of Vertues No man can bee so simple but must needs see that they were neuer
malice in this kinde and surely I thinke that labour might be well bestowed in searching this stinking puddie to the bottome and discouering their malice so to the beholding of all that men might see their poyson and beware of such Serpents and high time it is to lay hand to this plough for a double danger ariseth from this dealing of theirs First it confirmeth their owne followers in their hatred against the truth and the professors thereof For they are perswaded that whatsoeuer is written or spoken by a Priest or Iesuite is certainly true it being allowed as all their writings commonly are by the authoritie of the Church and the Censors and visiters appointed for that purpose and therefore account it a deadly sinne once to call the credit thereof into question And secondly it inueigleth and seduceth many vnsettled Protestants Whilest reading such lying Pamphlets they are either not able to discerne their falshood or not carefull to examine the truth by contrarie euidences to preuent both which dangers it would be a worke much beneficiall to the Church of God and profitable to the cause of Religion if some zealous Protestant would vndertake this taske in a ful iust volume to decipher their malice and discouer their slanders to the ful but I leaue that to the guidance of Gods wisedom proceed in my purposed discourse to the next point 98. Their last trick is forgerie for when neither by treacherie nor cruelty nor periurie nor lying nor slaÌ„dering they can worke their wils but that their Religion groweth euery day more odious then others at last as the most desperate practice of alâ—â—he rest they fal to forging like Physicions that seeing their patient in a desperate case minister vnto him desperate medicines that shall either ridde him of his disease or of his life and that quickly such a medicine is this which if it take not place to cure their sicke Religion it will doubtlesse vtterly ruine and vndermine the foundation thereof and depriue it of the vitall spirit And this last wee haue rather cause to hope then they the first seeing it hath pleased God to reueale to the world the mischieuous mysteries of their Indices expurgatory which whosoeuer shall but duly consider must needs iudge their cause to lye a bleeding and ready to giue vp the ghost when they are driuen to such miserable shifts for the defence thereof 99. The common Lawes and ciuill Courts punish forgerers with slitting their noses branding their foreheads cutting off their eares pillorie imprisonment and diuers other such like fearefull censures the Ecclesiasticall Lawes are as seuere against such persons and the very Heathen Tully condemned Gabinius as a light and loose person for infringing the credit of the publike Records of the Citie and commendeth Metellus as a most holy and modest man because when hee saw a name but blurred in the tables he went to Lentulus the Pretor and desired a reformation thereof and a better care to be had in their custodie By all which we may see how great and odious a crime forgerie is and in what ranke they are to be reputed by all Lawes that defile their consciences with so foule a sinne 100. Of which that the Church of Rome is guiltie is so manifest that none that hath either read their Bookes of Controuersies with iudgement or seene their three chiefe Iudices Expurgatorij one of Rome another of Spaine the third of Antwerp can make any question And if any desire to be fully satisfied concerning their dealing in this kind let them haue recourse to Doctor Iames his learned and laborious discourse where he shal see this wound searched to tho quicke and the corruption thereof discouered to the whole world and so searched and discouered that by all their wit and policy they shal neuer be able to hide the filthines thereof notwithstanding that the Reader that hath not that booke may haue a little taste of their dealing and assurance of the truth of this my proposition I will offer vnto his view a few instances of their forgerie and those so plaine and palpable that by no colourable excuse they can be auoyded 101. Forgerie is committed two wayes first by counterfeiting secondly by corrupting counterâ—â—iâ—ing 〈…〉 Records and corrupting true Touching counterfeiting take foure instances in sâ—eed of fourescore and those out of Bellarmine onely first those â—â—elâ—e Treaâ—isâ—â— intitled â—◠〈…〉 Christi operibus are resolutely censured by Bellarmine to bee none of Cyprians and yet the same Bellarmine alleadgeth them ordinarily to proue many points of his Religion vnder Cyprians name as to proue the Virgin Marie to bee without sinne and Baptisme to be necessarie to saluation and that the Sacraments containe grace in them and that there are more Sacraments then two with diuers other points Secondly the Commentaries vpon Pauls Epistles ascribed vnto Saint Ambrose are censured by Bellarmine peremptorily to bee counterfeit And yet the same Bellarmine produceth them to proue traditions Peters supremacie Limbus Patrum that one may be holpen by anothers merit and that Antichrist is a certaine man and in a word most questions controuerted Thirdly liber Hypognosticon Bellarmine concludes that it is none of Saint Augustines yet hee alleadgeth it as Saint Augustines to proue Euangelicall Councels so Liber ad Orosium is confessed by Bellarmine to bee none of Saint Augustines and yet hee is alleadged by him in another place to proue the Booke of Ecclesiasticus authenticall Lastly the Commentaries vpon the Epistles that goe vnder the name of Saint Ierome are iudged by Bellarmine to bee none of his and yet he produceth testimonies out of them to proue the necessitie of traditions Peter to be the rocke of the Church and that children may without their parents consents enter into a religious Order And this is ordinarie not onely in Bellarm but in all other of their writers as you may see particularly and plainly discouered in Doctor Iames his Treatise touching the corrupting of Scripture Councels and Fathers by the Prelates and pillars of the Church of Rome By which wee may note First their conscience in that they know them to be Bastards and yet obtrude them as true borne Secondly their fraud in that when they make little for them or it may be against them then they brand them with counterfeit but when they speake on their behalfe then they are as true as steele and thus with a blunder of counterfeit Fathers they dazle the eyes of the ignorant but the wise will iudge discreetly and learne to discerne the Lion by his paw 102. Touching their corrupting of true Authors I will vrge against them but foure examples as in the former but those most famous and three of them corrupted by their most famous Iesuite Bellarmine The first is of Chrysostome in his seuenteenth Homily vpon Genesis where he readeth Shee shall obserue thy head and thou shalt obserue her heele whereas as Philip Montanus a
learned and iudicious Diuine of their owne confesseth in the originall tongue of Chrysostome it is read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shee which is also agreeable to the Hebrew and Greeke fountaines of the Bible O but because this reading in the translated Copie maketh for the worship of the Virgin Mary therefore in our Iesuites diuinitie it must be preferred The second is out of Chrysostome too in his Sermon of Inuentius and Maximus whom Bellarmine to proue that the relickes of Saints ought to be worshipped bringeth in thus speaking tumulos Martyrum adoremus let vs worship the sepulchres of Martyrs whereas indeede the word in Chrysostome is adornemus let vs adorne and garnish their sepulchres as both the originall Greeke and the Latine translations that are of any standing doe read it The third is of Cyril who is not onely changed and altered but plainly dismembered by them for whereas hee writeth thus excellently concerning the power of faith This faith which is the gift and grace of God is sufficient to clense and purge not onely them which find themselues somewhat ill but also those which are verie dangerously diseased c. The Spanish Index hath censured him and commanded these words to bee blotted out with this peremptorie charge Extextu deleantur illa verba The fourth and last is of Cyprian in his Booke De bono patientiae where for gustatam Eucharistiam they read to maintaine the idolatrous circumgestation of the Eucharist gestatam contrarie to their owne copies as on the contrarie in Leo ser 14. de passione for gestemus Bellarmine readeth gustemus and thus they turne Cat in panne as the Prouerbe saith and with the Apothecaries art put quid pro qu◠103. Thus they handle the Fathers putting words into their mouths that they neuer spake nor meant and that in no few places of their writings And as for later Writers their Iudices Expurgatorij are sufficient testimonies of their purging expunging wiping out and foysting in what they list into their Bookes it is a profest allowed and maintained practice of theirs which at the first was kept in darknesse as a worke of darknesse by secret conueyance but after that by Gods prouidence it came to light is now publikely defended as a thing not onely lawfull and commendable in it selfe but also profitable for the Church of God so that there needs no further proofe of their forgerie and falsification in this kind seeing we haue confitentes aduersaries Onely for a conclusion let vs a little consider the reasons that are vsed by these good men for the defence of this their dealing 104. One May an English Priest out of Gretzer Posseuine the author as it is supposed of the grounds of the old and new Religion in the latter end of that Booke taking vpon him to answere Master Crashaw that laid to their charge the same crime that I now doe answereth three wayes First that it is a practice both lawfull and commendable Secondly that if it be vnlawfull we are more guiltie of it then they And lastly though they meddle with new Writers yet the Fathers workes are sincere and free from all corruption 105. To whom I reply briefly thus that as touching his last answere which concerneth the Fathers it is manifestly false as I haue alreadie discouered in foure particulars and is by Doctor Iames in his Booke in many more and I doubt not but shall be more fully ere long made knowne to the world and therefore though that there was no rule prescribed by the Councell of Trent for the purging of the Fathers as of yonger Writers Yet it followeth not but that they might doe it without rule which also Gretzer the Iesuite perceiuing to be true seeketh to mend the matter by a fine distinction by which indeed he matres it vtterly and that is that the Fathers workes as they are Fathers need no purging but being considered as Sonnes their words may bee corrected and censured by the Church or not as Fathers but as Fathers-in-law for when they feed the Church with sound and wholsome doctrine they are Fathers if otherwise Fathers-in-law thus by this fine distinction he granteth that when a Father speaketh any thing which they account false doctrine he may be corrected or rather corrupted for then they esteeme him not a Father but a sonne nor a true Father but a Father-in-law so that it is apparently false which our new Author affirmeth that none of the Fathers are corrected by them 106. Secondly touching his middle answere that if it be a fault we are more guiltie thereof then they I answere that that is as false as the former for let it bee granted that some Bookes are corrected by some Protestants yet first they are the deeds of priuate persons and not the acts of the Church not at all approued much lesse authorized by the Church as theirs are nay all of sounder iudgement in our Church doe asmuch condemne that practice in our owne as in any else Secondly such corruptions or corrections are not frequent with vs but rare and seldome I dare boldly say for one place altered by vs in any Writer there are twentie by them as their owne expurging Iudices doe beare witnesse and for this I challenge any Iesuite or Romish Priest whatsoeuer to the encounter Thirdly most of those Bookes which they lay to our charge to haue beene corrupted by vs as Augustines Meditations Granadoes Meditations The conuersion of a Sinner The Christian Directorie Osianders Enchiridion with other more are not corrected in the originall themselues but in their translations into our Language some things are left out some added some changed and altered as the Translators thought good whereas they corrupt the verie Texts and originall Copies of most Writers without difference Fourthly we seldome alter or change any Booke in the translation but withall we eyther confesse in the beginning of the said Bookes or professe in the publishing of the same this correction or alteration but they haue practised this in secret by certaine Enquisitors appointed to that purpose the mysterie of which art was long hid from the World and had still lien in darknesse had not the prouidence of God for the good of the Church first discouered the Belgicke Index by mere accident to that godly and bright starre of our Church Iunius who made it presently knowne to the world and at this day few there are that vnderstand the mysteries of that art so closely and cunningly doe they conuay their matters as for the Books themselues they do seldome or neuer acknowledge their correction in the forefront and beginning of them as wee doe but by all meanes labour to hide and conceale the same Lastly though some amongst vs haue more rashly then wisely falsified some Writers of lesser note in some few things yet they haue not meddled with the Fathers nor Councels neither haue
and plain-dealing men The case then thus standing this practice of theirs cannot be termed Christian policy but plaine subtlety to giue it no worse a name 110. His last reason is drawne from the practice of the Church of God in all ages which hath alwaies forbidden the Bookes of Heretikes to be read and condemned them to the fire and to this purpose he produceth diuers fit and pertinent authorities to which I answere first that he fighteth herein without an aduersarie for we confesse that this was a necessarie and commendable practice to prohibit condemne burne and abolish all such Bookes as tend to the corrupting of the Christian faith and also to preuent them in the birth that they may not come to light but yet for all that this alloweth not their purging and paring of Bookes for they cannot giue vs one example in all antiquitie of this dealing except it bee drawne from Heretikes whose practice it hath beene to depraue the Scriptures themselues and the Decrees of Councels and the Bookes of ancient Fathers as witnesseth Bellarmine in many places of his workes and Sixtus Senensis and almost all other of their side III. Secondly the Fathers condemned onely the Bookes of Heretikes but our holy Inquisitors condemne not onely those whom they call Heretikes as Caluine Luther Beza Melancthon but mangle and purge the Fathers themselues and their owne deare children whom they dare not condemne for Heretikes as this Author himselfe confesleth those they chop and change wriâ—he and wring bend and bow as they list which is so much the more intolerable because being profest Romanists they durst not vary from the receiued opinions of the Church of Rome except mere conscience inwardly and some forcible reason outwardly mooued them thereunto 112. Thirdly and lastly the Fathers when they condemned any Heretike or hereticall Booke did it openly to the view of the World and not secretly in a corner not ascribing vnto them other opinions then they held eyther by adding vnto or detracting from their writings But our Romish correctors like Owles flye by moonshine and so closely câ—rtie their businesse that they would haue none to discry them yea they denie and abiure this trade I meane in respect of the Fathers and in a word they make almost all Authours to speake what they list for if any thing dislike them deleatur let it be wiped out or at least mutetur let it bee changed or addatur let something bee added vnto it that may change the sense and turne the sentence into a new mâ—ld of all these their Iudices Expurgatorij afford plentifull examples so that they can no wayes colour their forgerie and false dealing by the examples of the Fathers or Primitiue Church For this is a new tricke of legerdemaine of the Deuils owne inuention found out in this latter age of the World which hath beene verie fertile in strange deuices 113. Now then to conclude and to leaue this Priest with his vaine and idle reasons to be fuller confuted of him whom it more neerely concerneth and whose credit is touched by him Hence two necessarie conclusions doe arise one that they are guiltie of forgerie and corrupting of Authours by their owne confessions and secondly that they adde hereunto impudencie and shamelessenesse which is alwayes the marke of an Heretike and that first in defending their owne vniust and false dealing by reasons as if their wits were able to maintaine that snow was blacke and the Crow white and secondly in translating the crime from themselues vnto vs without all shew of reason not caring what they say so they say something for the honour of their mistresse the whore of Babylon and defence of her cause 114. Now then seeing it is manifest that they labour to vphold their Religion by these vniust vngodly and deuillish practices as treason crueltie periurie lying slandering and forging this conclusion must needes bee of necessarie consequence that therefore their Religion is not the truth of God nor their Church the true Church of God It is the iudgement of their owne learned Iesuites touching this last crime that wee may conuince them out of their owne mouthes that forging of false Treatises corrupting of true changing of Scriptures and altering of mens words contrarie to their meaning be certaine notes of heresie what can the Church of Rome be then lesse then hereticall that not onely doth all this but now at length professeth and maintaineth the doing thereof as lawful and profitable MOTIVE XIII That Religion the doctrines whereof are more safe both in respect Gods glorie mans saluation and Christian charitie is to bee preferred before that which is not so safe but dangerous But the doctrine of the Protestants Religion is more safe in all those respects and of the Papists more dangerous ergo that is to be preferred before this and consequently this to bee reiected THe first proposition is so euident and cleare that our aduersaries themselues will not deny it neither can it by any good reason bee excepted against for as it is in bodily physicke that medicine is alwayes preferred which bringeth with it lesse danger to the life of the patient and if it misse curing cannot kill so is it in the spirituall physicke of the soule which is Religion that doctrine deserueth best acceptance which is most safe and least dangerous for the soules health And as desperate medicines if they bee applyed by a skilfull Physicion argue a desperate case in the patient so desperate doctrines proue a desperate cause Neyther will any wayfaring man when two wayes are offered vnto him the one whereof is full of manifold perils and the end doubtfull the other safe from dangers and the end certainly good not choose rather the safer and certainer way and leaue the other so men like Pilgrimes trauelling towards the heauenly Canaan the way of Poperie on the one side and of Protestancie on the other being seâ— before them if they bee well in their wits will choose rather that way which is both the safer in the passage and the certainer in the end There is no doubt then in this first proposition and therefore let vs leaue it thus naked without further proofe and come to the second and examine whether our Religion or the Romish is the safer that all men may imbrace that which by euidence of demonstration shall appeare to be so and resuse the contrarie and here notwithstanding all the former pregnant arguments whereby the falsitie of their Church and Religion is plainly discouered wee put our selues againe vpon a lawfull tryall and referre our cause to the iudgement not of twelue men but of the whole world that if our euidence bee good wee may obtaine the day and the mouthes of our aduersaries may be stopped if not we may yeeld as conquered to bee led in triumph by them to Rome yea to the Popes owne palace to kisse his feet and receiue his marke on our
this to rely vpon for his saluation then the other Thomas Aquinas seeing this ascribeth an infinitie to humane satisfactions in respect that they are informed by grace but therein hee crosseth both all his fellowes and their doctrine it selfe for if they be infinite then they must needes answere aswell for the eternall punishment as for the temporall which they denie 13. Thirdly they themselues cannot agree about their satisfactions as whether they bee by precept and commandements or only by counsell and perfection and not commanded whether the vertue of satisfying bee in the outward or inward act or in both whether they serue to take away the temporall punishment onely or the gilt of the sinnes or the punishment of hell excepting the eternitie whether they be so necessarie that there can bee no absolution without them or that a sinner may be absolued by his contrition and confession without penal satisfaction and lastly whether the least satisfaction be sufficient for the greatest temporall punishment or that a due proportion is to be obserued All these intricate questions are exagitated in this doctrine some holding one thing some another without any iust and sure resolution what a dangerous thing is it then to relye vpon these vncertainties which they themselues are not able to bring into grounded principles how much safer is it to repose our selues wholly vpon that blessed satisfaction of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ in which neyther Romanist nor Protestant could euer find any ambiguitie or doubt but that it is of absolute necessitie for mans saluation of infinite efficacie to appease the wrath of God and of proportionable dignitie to the iustice of God 14. Lastly after they haue with one hand stretched the worthinesse of their satisfactions to the highest straine yet they pull them downe againe with the other and make them of no force for let the satisfaction bee what it will yet the Popes pardon can dissolue the bonds thereof for it is a ruled case in their Religion that all satisfactorie punishment may bee released by a pardon and this pardon may bee obtained by saying not onely ouer certaine prayers visiting certaine Churches worshipping certaine relickes and kneeling to certaine pictures c. but also by disbursing certaine monie out of their purses that may come to the Popes purse and coffers Behold now the greatest danger of this doctrine thy satisfaction is released and made no satisfaction and it is released by him of whom thou maist iustly doubt whether hee hath authoritie so to doe and whether he may erre in doing it hee doth it de facto not examining whether thou bee truly penitent or no but whether thou hast payd thy penitentiall tax or no and that which is worst of all hee so granteth it that it is alwayes reuocable at his secret pleasure so that satisfaction is made no satisfaction by the Popes pardon the Popes pardon is made no pardon because it is bought with monie thy monie perish with thee that thinkest this gift of the holy Ghost can bee obtained with monie and the mony is cast away because the Pope may both erre in his pardoning and also reuoke his pardon when he list without giuing any notice of the cause vnto the partie what securitie can a Christian conscience find in these vnsure principles How much safer a course is it to rely vpon Christs satisfaction onely which is a true satisfaction indeed not disanulled by any act eyther of God or man not pardoned but performed not purchased by monie but by faith which is more precious then gold and lastly not reuocable by any power in heauen or in earth but standing firme as an euerlasting foundation for the saluation of the elect 15. Touching Antichrist whether side doth more incline to take part with his Apostacie and is in most danger to bee inthralled to his dominion let any indifferent man iudge for wheras it is granted by all both Romanists and Protestants yea and Fathers also that Antichrist should bee a Monarch clayming an vniuersall iurisdiction throughout the whole World and should also challenge to himselfe an infallibilitie of iudgement Protestants abhorring all such manner of subiection and renouncing all such power in any creature cannot possibly fall into the Antichristian gulfe But Papists professing the Pope to be the sole Monarch of the Church and his iudgement to bee of infallible truth in the defining of matters of faith must needs bee in more danger to bee in Antichrists Kingdome we cannot be slaues to Antichrist because we admit no gouernment like vnto his in the Church nor any such peremptorie power of not erring in the gouernment But they professing a gouernment and a power in that gouernment so agreeable to the state of Antichrist may suspect themselues to bee fallen into that Apostacie as they are indeed ouer head and eares Our religion then is more secure in this respect whereas theirs by their owne principles hath some affinitie and correspondence therewith and Antichrist himselfe may be in their Church but cannot by any probable coniecture be in ours 16 Againe for the Article of Inuocation of Saints the Romanists that hold the affirmatiue are in many respects subiect to many more and greater dangers then the Protestants which hold the negatiue for first if their doctrine bee not true they manifestly detract from the glorie of the Creatour and giue the same vnto his creatures Whereas if our doctrine bee false wee onely detract from the glorie of the creatures and giue it vnto the Creatour Now by how much it is a greater sinne to doe iniurie to the Creatour then to the creature by so much the more dangerous is their doctrine then ours and as it is safer to ascribe that glory to God which is due to man then to man that that is due to God so is there more safetie in our doctrine then in theirs 17. Secondly in respect of charitie if they erre in this opinion then doe they turne the holy Saints of God into abominable Idols and so offer that wrong vnto them which they being iealous of Gods glorie of all things most detest as the examples of Paul and Barnabas and of Peter and the Angell declare but if wee erre wee onely being iealous that Gods glorie may not be communicated to any other depriue them of a little worship which wee thinke belongeth vnto God and in the meane while esteeme them as blessed Saints and honour them by praysing God for them imitating their godly examples and keeping an honourable remembrance of them in our Churches Now in charity whether is a greater wrong to the Saints to turne them into Idols that is into deuils or for zeale of Gods glorie to take from them a little of their due honour 18. Thirdly in respect of conscience if they doe sinne in this it is the horrible and fearefull sinne of Idolatrie which being spirituall adulterie causeth a diuorce
iudgement because there must be by their doctrine aswell contrition in heart as confession in the mouth or else no pardon can follow but a Priest cannot discerne of the heart Nay further many if not most of their Romish shauelings are vnable to iudge of the nature and qualitie of sin much more of the quantitie and degrees thereof so consequently can neither impose a iust or proportionable satisfaction without which no releasement nor make the partie vnderstand the ease hee standeth in that hee may take vpon himselfe voluntarie penance or if need bee purchase indulgence from the Pope In all which respects it is danger to trust our soules vpon such a slipperie foundation but hee that confesseth to God his sinnes and expecteth pardon at his hand onely is sure that hee discerneth the secrets of the heart and that he shutteth and no man openeth and openeth and no man shutteth and therefore if hee absolue though all the World condemne hee is on a sure ground and if hee condemne though all the World acquite hee is in a miserable case In this doctrine there is no vncertainty but strong comfort to the penitent sinner and terrour of conscience to the obstinate and vnrepentant 30. If they say that the absolution of a Priest is certaine vnlesse there bee a barre in him that confesseth because our Sauiour saith Whosoeuers sinnes you remit they are remitted and whosoeuers sinnes yee retaine they are retained I answer that first de facto the Priest may erre but God cannot Secondly he cannot choose but erre in absoluing if the penitent doe erre in confessing which hee is verie likely to doe and thirdly that when God purposeth to absolute a sinner no barie can hinder the performance thereof yea hee infuseth grace into his soule to hate his sinne and power to forsake it Is it not better then to trust vnto God then to man and safer to confesse our sinnes to him that hath absolute power to pardon them then to a Priest whose pardon depends vpon the vncertaintie of a mans true confession These things be so cleare that no reasonable man can doubt of the truth of them 31. Lastly confession to God hath manifest and vndeniable grounds in holy Scripture but auricular Romish confession to a Priest is by the iudgement of their greatest Clarkes taken vp onely by a tradition of the Church and not by any authoritie of the olde and new Testament witnesse their Canon Law Panormitane Peresius Petrus Oxoniensis Bonauenture Medina Rhenanus Erasmus with many more and though the new Iesuites and Rhemists auouch the contrarie yet they but therein crosse their fellowes as learned and wise as themselues and yet are not able to alleadge any one direct proofe of their opinion Now is it not a safer practice to build vpon Scripture then tradition that is vpon God then man And to chuse that kind of confession which no man doubteth to be warranted from God rather then that which the Patrones thereof themselues are at variance from whom it commeth who that hath eyes seeth not which of these is rather to be chosen 32. Touching Purgatorie it breedeth diuers dangerous consequences as to their holy Pope first who taketh vpon him to haue plenarie power ouer all creatures especially ouer the soules in Purgatorie which the Canonists call peculium Papae the Popes peculiar for it proueth him eyther to bee a lying Prophet or a cruell Tyrant if hee haue full power ouer them why doth hee let so many thousand poore soules lye frying there without release His suffering them to continue in that cruell torment argueth him either to want power to relieue them or mercie to put that power in execution both which are vnbeseeming qualities for Christs Vicar If they reply against this as Antoninus doth and say that in respect of his absolute Iurisdiction he may absolue all that are in Purgatorie but if we regard the orderly execution thereof in that respect the Pope may not nor ought so to doe I say againe But why ought hee not if it bee in his power is it for feare to fill Heauen too soone with Saints but that would be a great blessing for then the consummation of all things would the sooner come or is it for feare lest the iustice of God should be fully satisfied by a proportionable punishment But the Popes indulgence can helpe that for hee hath in his Treasure-house such a surplussage of Saints merits that can serue to make good whatsoeuer is wanting in their behalfe and the Pope by their doctrine hath authoritie to dispence dispose of these merits at his discretion Or is it for feare lest purgatorie should bee emptied and so hee should lose one part of his Kingdome But our Sauiour contented himselfe with heauen and earth to be vnder him and his dominion and Saint Paul attributes to his regiment things vnder earth that is in hell and wil his Vicar needs haue a larger dominion then his Master But indeed this is the true reason For if hee should make a goale deliuerie out of this infernall prison then his chiefest sway were gone yea and his reuenue too It stands vpon him therefore not to bee pleased to deliuer any out of these paines vnlesse he bee well pleased for his paines and if hee bee so then the soules shall flye out of that place to heauen in whole troupes as they say they did at the Prayer of a certaine holy man c. In their leaden Legend this danger lighteth vpon the head of their head the Pope which according to their doctrine can by no meanes be auoided it were better then for him to forgoe his profit which ariseth by purgatorie then to vndergoe such foule discredit 33. Another dangerous consequence ariseth hencefrom to all the professors of Religion in generall that is a feareful presumption and securitie of sinning when they are perswaded that after this life they may be released from the paines of purgatorie by the prayers almesdeeds Masses and other meritorious workes of the liuing for who would bee afraid to sinne or carefull to make his saluation sure in this life with feare and trembling when hee beleeueth that by giuing a summe of monie at his death for Masses and dirges to be sung for his soule he shall be certainly deliuered out of purgatory This must needs cast men into manifest presumption if not of all sinnes yet of veniall sinnes and ordinarie offences which are to be purged by that fire as they teach Is not our doctrine more sound and safe that informeth vs that such as die in their sinnes sinke downe to the lowest Hell as hopelesse after death to bee relieued by anything that can bee done for their sakes by the liuing doth not this teach men betimes to bee wise and to finish vp the worke of their saluation before the night come and make their peace with God whilest they are here in the way of