word of God then the doctrine of the Romish Catholicks For S. Paule doth teach vs that Christ is the head of the church not a head separated or set away frō it but surely knit and ioyned fast vnto it with all manner of fastninges knittinges that a well vnited and well cōpacted bodye should haue These be his wordes To th end that by following the truth with charitie wee should in all poyntes atteyne to full growth in him which is our head that is to say in Christ vnto whome the whole bodye being throughly knitted and fastned together by all manner of fastninges that may furnish it out doth take bodilye increase of the power that worketh within it according to the capacitye of euery mēber to the full perfecting vp of it self in loue By which wordes euery man may easely iudge that S. Paule ment to portray out vnto vs the great and singular cōiunctiō of the head which is Christ vnto his church in that he sayth that he is knit and fastened to the same by all manner of fastenings requisite to the full furnishing out of a bodye And in an other place he sayth likewise that Christ is the head of the church working all thinges fully in all the members of his bodye which is the church Whereupon it followeth very well that we ought to haue no other head in the church to execute and performe the office of Christ forasmuch as the sayd performance is reseruid to Christ him selfe These be the very wordes of S. paule And he hath put all thinges vnder his feete set him aboue all things to be the hed of the church which is his bodye and the ful furnishing out of him who furnisheth out all thinges fully in all men Also in an other text of S. Paule it is well declared that that church needeth not a liuetenant to hold the place of Iesus Christ her hed For he sayth that lyke as the husband is the hed of his wife so is Christ also the hed of his church And were it meet that a wife should haue a nother man in her husbandes stead would not men say that the wyfe which would needs haue another man to supply her husbāds roome were a whore yes and euē in lyke wise the chast and honest-minded church ought to content herselfe with her hed which is Christ who is well inough able to gouerne the same without a liuetenant specially seing it should be but ill gouerned by such liuetennants as the most part of the Popes haue bene This is the very text of S. Paule For the husband is the hed of the wyfe euen as Christ is the hed of the Church who is also the preseruer of hir bodye Therfore as the church is subiect vnto Christ so lykewise let women be subiect to their husbandes Moreouer when S. Paule maketh reckening of the diuers offices which are in the Church he saith that for the gathering together and building vp of the same Christ hath ordayned Apostles Prophets Euangelistes Shepherds and Teachers and not that he hath appointed a Pope or an vniuersall Shepheard to haue supremacie ouer the vniuersal Church which is dispersed throughout all the world And yet it is very certain that S. Paule would not haue forgotten to haue spoaken of him yea and to haue reckned him in the first place if Iesus Christ had ordayned that there should haue bene a pope in his church to haue bene his lieutenāt These be the very wordes of S. Paul Therefore he hath appoynted some to be Appostles some to be Prophets some to be Euangelists some to be Shepheards some to be Teachers to gather together the Sayntes through their working in the ministery and to build vp the body of Christ And so it appeareth by this text that there needeth no pope for the building vp of the church nor for the work of the ministery but that the offices before named by S. Paule are sufficient for that purpose And as touching the text of Saint Mathew before alleadged whereon the Romish Cotholickes doe build theyr doctrine concerning the Pope saying that Iesus Chryst hath builded his Church vpon S. Peeter the first Pope and geuen him all power ouer the vniuersall Church The Protestances aunswere that the Petra that is to say the rocke which is spoken of there is the fayth whereby S. Peter had most stoutly confessed that Iesus was that Christ the sonne of the liuing god For S. Paule doth teach vs that Iesus Christ is the head corner stone whereon we ought to build And S. Peter himselfe doth witnes that the true beleuers which haue their fayth builded vpon this corner stone christ are as liuing stones conched and cemented together vpon it to fynish vp the building of the lords church And as for the authority which Iesus Christ gaue vnto Peter as it is sayd in the same text They sayd also that he gaue the like to all the rest of his Apostles as S. Iohn witnesseth So as it cannot be inferred vpon this text that S. Peter was ordained to be the onely Soueraygn gouernor of the Christian Church any more then the rest of the Apostles And in an other place S. Paule doth wel declare that S. Peter had no more authority then the other Apostles for hee putteth himselfe in the same degree of apostleship that Peter was And whē he reckneth vp the chiefest Apostles he reckneth first S. Iames then Saynt Peter and in the third place S. Iohn wherein he had greatly ouershot him selfe which cannot be sayd without blaming the holy ghost if the saying of the Romish Catholickes be trew who affirme that S. Peter was the Prince of the Apostles and had soueraygne authority ouer them and ouer the whole vniuersall church These be the uery wordes of S. Paule For he which hath wrought by peter in the office of Apostleship among the circumcised hath like wise wrought by me among the Gentiles and Iames Cephas and Iohn who are esteemed to be the pillers haue knowne the grace which was geuen me Neither doth S. Peeter in his Epistles name himselfe Pope or prince of Apostles or head of the church or Christs vickar but simply an Apostle as the others And when his companions did geue him charge to go preach in Samaria he was so far of from pretēding to haue any princely authority ouer them that he obayd them without gayneseing as it is written in the Actes of the Apostles And therefore it appeareth playnelye by all these sayings that the doctrine of the protestantes is better grounded vpon the word of God then the doctrine of the Romish Catholickes and consequently that it is the most auncient and true according to our second Maxime Let vs now come to the Canons Truely when I read these Canons which I wil reherse hereafter I maruel that pope Engenie the third who authorised the decres of Gratian and commanded that they should be openly red
in the vniuersities procured not the vtter defacing dissanulling of all the auncient Canons there gathered together seing they be so derectly contrary to the doctrine and authority of the popes But it was the prouidence and will of God that it should so be Now then you must first of all vnderstand that the auncient doctors of the church do oftē vse this name of pope which signifyeth a father and in aunciēt time was indifferently vsed to all Bishoppes aswell meane as great But in the end the Boshop of Rome appropriated the same to himselfe alone and from that tyme forth this name of pope hath euer bene taken as it is still in these dayes not for a father but for a supreme head and vniuersall Bishop of all the Christian churches of the world which title of vniuersall is reproued by all the auncient Canons so consequently the estate which the pope of Rome doth take vpon him at this present is condemned For it is well knowne that he nameth himselfe the vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop and that he chalengeth authority ouer all churches and councels Now harken to the very words of a Canō which putteth him to his neck-verse Let no Patriarke at any tyme vse the name of vniuersall For the Patriarke which nameth himselfe vniuersall taketh the name of Patriarke away from all others But Godforbid that any of the faythfull should chalendge honor to himselfe to the derogation of his brethren be it neuer so little Wherefore we besech you of your charity let none of you from henceforth in his letters geue the title of vniuersall to any man any more least ye take away the title due vnto your selues by attributing the same vnduely vnto orhers The next Canon following doth sing the same song which ought to be of so much the more force among the Romish Catholicks for that it is taken out of an Epistle of S. Gregory sēt to the patriark of Allexandria Thus therefore doth he say in expresse wordes Behold euen in the very preface of your letters which you wrote vnto me you go about to cast the proud name of vniuersal pope vpon me euen vpon me I say who haue forbiddē other men to vse it Wherefore I besech your holines euen of your curtesy to do so no more for you take from your selfe to geue to an other without cause why I seek not to aduaunce my selfe in tytles but in manners neither thinke I that I ought to purchase honour to my selfe with the losse of the honour of my brothers for my honor is to honor the vniuersall church and to behaue my selfe vprightly towardes my brethren And I thinke my selfe then most honored whē euery of them hath his due honour yelded vnto him But if your holines name me the vniuersall pope then in attributing the whole vnto me ther is nothing left to others which God forbid wherefore let vs driue away these termes farre from vs which inflame vs with vanity and hurt charity The reason of these Canons is very euident namely for that it is impossible for one man to gouerne the vniuersall church and to be Byshop of the whole world seeing that euen they which are best able do finde themselues greatly combred in the gouerning of one onely Byshoprick well Besides this the title of vniuersal Bishop is to stately and proud to be matched with the true Shepheardes of gods church which ought to walke in humility voyd of al pride and ambition The same thing is verified by a canō in these expres words Whosoeuer desireth supremacy vpon earth shall finde confusion in heauen And he that speaketh of primacie shall not be nūbred amongest the seruātes of god Let euery body therefore study not how he may seem greater thē others but by what means he may most imbase himselfe For hee is not the most righteous which amongst men is most honored but he is most honorable which is most righteous Hereunto agreeth well the Canon which sayth that all churches are equall in authoritye and that the church of Rome hath no superiority ouer other churches This Canon is takē out of S. Ierom and sayth thus We ought not to think that there is any ods between the church of rome the churches of any other place of the world In Fraunce England Affrik Persia the East and the Indies and all the Barbarous nations do honor Christ and obserue one rule of truth If regard bee to bee had of authority the world is greater then the City of Rome Wheresoeuer there is a Byshop be it at Rome be it at Eugubiū be it at Constantinople be it at Rhegium be it at Allexādria be it at Thebes or be it at Garmace it is all of one worthines of one selfsame degree of priesthood The greatnes of Riches or the meanesse of pouerty setteth not a Bishop in higher or lower degree To bee short all of them be the successors of the Apostles Now then it appeareth plainly by these Canons that the pope who in all his bulles doth name himselfe the Bishop of Rome is no greater than another meane Bishop that neither he nor the Church of Rome can claime to themselues any authoritie ouer other Bishops and Churches otherwise than by tiranny and vsurpation And truely besides the forealleaged Canons taken out of S. Gregory who so will reade his epistle shal find that he vtterly detested this title of vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop from his hart as a wicked title not meete for any but for Antichrist or for his forerunner In one of his Epistles he complaineth greatly to the Emperor Maurice that Iohn Bishop of Constantinople did trouble the Church of God by seeking to vsurpe the title of vniuersall Bishop For to the intent ye may vnderstand the very roote and originall beginning of this discourse you must consider that in those daies and long time before Constantinople was called new Rome and the other in Italy was called olde Rome And because the Emperor of Rome did most commonly keep his residence at new Rome and olde Rome was at that time greatly vexed with the barbarous Gothes Lumbards which warred vpon Italy and destroyed it without doubt the new Rome was then a more flourishing Citie and in higher estimation than olde Rome or any other Citie in all the wholl Empire Wherupon the said Bishop Iohn being of an ambitious dispositiō and minding to aduance himselfe by the dignitie of the Citie whereof he was bishop began to preach and persuade the people and diuers of the bishops that like as the Emperor extended his dominion ouer all the prouinces and countreys of the Empire euen so the Bishoppe of Rome that is to say of new Rome which was then in more estimation than old Rome ought to extend his power and autooritie ouer all the prouinces and countreys of Christendome And truly this Bishop Iohn did so much by his continuall trauell that he caused him selfe
to be proclaymed vniuersal Bishop in a certain Sinode or Counsell wheragainst S. Gregory who was then bishop of old Rome did set himselfe very manfullye And therefore writing againe to the same Emperor Maurice he saith amongst other thinges there written that the name of vniuersal Bishop is a title of pride and pompe which troubleth the church the lawes and the sinodes and the commaundements of Christ And that S. Peter neuer was ne neuer called himselfe vniuersall Apostle And that it was the Emperors duty if he meant that God should long preserue his empire to cut of that sore and to bridle the disease by his authoritie if it could not otherwise be healed Afterward he addeth these words worthy to be noted If any man saith he doe attribute vnto himselfe the name of vniuersall Bishop in the church what will al honest men iudge of him For the estat of the vniuersall Church must nedes fall which God forbid if he fall which is called the vniuersall Bishop Therfore let this blasphemous name be banished from the harts of all Christians whereby the honor of all Priestes is taken away and wrongfully vsurped by one alone And in the Epistle following S. Gregory maketh his mone to the Empresse Constance that the said Emperor Maurice her husband went about to perswade him to leaue of his setting of himselfe against it which I cannot doe saith he for I defend the cause of the Gospell and the Canons and the truth of equitie and humilitie And it is to greeuous intollerable a thing that the sayd Iohn our fellow brother and bishop should seeke to haue the name of bishop to himself alone But what other thing doth he geue vs to vnderstand by this his pride but that the time of Antichrist draweth neare For he followeth the steps of the wicked feend who despising the ioy which he had in common amongst the legions of other Aungels dyd seeke to set himselfe in the hyghest roome to raigne as soueraigne all alone And in an other Epistle the same S. Gregory answering to the whiche the sayd Emperour Maurice had written vnto him which was that hee ought not to bee so precisely wedded to his own will for the terme of vniuersall Bishop for such strife about termes hinder the vnion and peace of the church did disproue his reasons with very good grace saying thus But I beseech your maiestie of your goodnes to consider that of words fondly spoken some doe no harme at all other some doe great harme As for example when Antichrist shall come and call himselfe God that speech is very fond neuertheles as it is fonde so is it also very pernicious If you looke no further thā to the wordes there are but two sillables but if you way the meaning of the wordes it is the full importance of all iniquitie And I dare boldlye say vnto you that whosoeuer calleth himselfe or causeth himselfe to be called the vniuersal priest the same partie through his vaingloryousnes is the foreronner of Antichrist because that by his pride he exalteth himselfe aboue all others I besech you therefore of your good zeale to God-ward to commaund that no cause of offence be geuen by taking vp such a fond title See how S. Gregorye declareth and denowceth him to be the foreronner of Antichrist which doth name himselfe vniuersall Byshop forasmuch as he taketh vpon him the aucthoritye of all other Byshops as wel neere all the Popes of Rome haue done which haue bene since his time And yet to confirme this his sentence better I wil adde the warning which he gaue by his letters to the Byshops of Greece to be well ware that they gaue not the title of vniuersall Byshop to Siriacke Byshop of Constantinople next successor of the said Iohn after his decease good brethren quoth he yee shall vnderstand that the late Iohn who not long since was prelate Passing the bondes of modestie and of the measure of his calling did wrongfully in a Synode vsurpe the proud and pestilent title of Oycumenicall that is to say vniuersall Byshop agaynst God and the Church and to the despight derogatiō of the whole order of Preesthode Wherupon wee wrote twise vnto him that he should not omit any thing which might concerne the peace of the Church exhorting him to leaue that proud name and to submit his hart to the humilitye which our Lord and master hath taught vs Whereof forasmuch as he held scorne we haue vsed the lyke admonitions vnto our brother Siriacke his successor But sith wee see that Antichrist the enemy of mankinde beginneth to shew himselfe opēly by his foreronners in this latter tyme and that the preestes themselues which ought to resist him by their holy humblelyfe be the partyes that serue him for his foreronners by intitling thēselues with his proud name of vniuersall I beseech yee yea and charge ye that none of you at any tyme receyue admit write allow written or subscribe vnto that title But that as becommeth the seruauntes of the almighty God euery of you keepe himselfe pure and cleare from this venemous infection without yelding of him selfe to the deceitfull craftines of the enemy for surely that title tendeth to no other end but to the hurt and diuision of the Church and to the slaunder of you all as I haue sayd before because that if he onely as he imagineth is the vniuersall Byshop it followeth that you be no Byshops There are yet diuers other like sayings in the writings of S. Gregory which I could here alleadge but these which I haue here before set downe may suffice in mine opinion to declare and shew vnto the Romish Catholicks by the authority of that god doctor whom they themselues take to haue beene one of the greatest worthiest of all the Popes in respect whereof they haue surnamed him the great S. Gregory that the name and office of the Pope which is nothing else but an vniuersall and supreme Byshop or shepheard ouer all other Byshops and Priestes is condemned as the name and office of Antichrist or of his forerunner and as a title and estate full of pride iniury diuision and contempt of Gods commaundemēts and of the holy decrees and counsels which haue bene holde before that tyme. But now that we haue made S. Gregory to fight sufficiētly against the popes that were his successors let vs returne to our Canons to shew that S. Peter was neuer pope that is to say prince or soueraine ouer the Apostles I will only alleadge one Canon which saith that S. Paule and S. Peter were equal yea euen at the same time that they were both at Rome and that the one was no way greater than the other whereof it followeth that S. Peter was no more pope than was S. Paule Now S. Paule was neuer pope nor euer reputed so to be by the very maintayners of the popedome themselves For these be the very words of the Canon
part of this sentēce seemeth to forbidde a good deed for it sayth receyue not the sinner Vnderstand therefore that this is spoken by a figure taking the sinner for the sin to the ende that thou admit not any sinne Thus haue you heard the very wordes of S. Augustine which doe very well declare vnto vs as well by the rule as by the first example which he setteth downe that the eating of the flesh and bloud of christ in his supper ought to be vnderstoode spiritually sacramentally and not after the manner of the cannibals which is vtterly voyd of all humanity and good manners as those transubstantiatiers would make vs beleue And whereas the catholickes vphold that this sacramēt ought not to be distributed vnto the lay people but by halfes which they doe terme vnder one kinde the same is expresly cōdemned by their owne canons as hie treason towardes god For you shall here what a canon sayth which is taken out of the decrees of Pope Gelasius It is done vs to vnderstand that some hauing receyued the holy sacrament of the body do abstayne from the cup of the holy bloud which thing they ought not to do for in asmuch as it is euident that in so doing they entangle themselues in I wot not what a kind of superstition they ought to receyue the sacrament whole togither or els to abstayne from it altogither For the deuiding a sunder of one selfe same mistery can not be done without great trechery And furthermore where as the most part of the lay catholikes do content themselues with the receyuing of the sacrament onely once a yeare which is at Easter they are condemned by the canons which declare that those are not to be taken for catholikes which receyue not three times in a yeare These be the very wordes of a cannon taken out of the councell of Agatha The laye people which receyue not the Lordes supper at Christmas at Easter and at whitsontide let them not bee taken ne reputed for Catholikes Thus may all men perceyue iudge with what manner of passion these catholikes are caried away which do so boldly condemne the Protestants as heretiques for their doctrine concerning this poynt of the supper of the Lord and so do spitefully name them Sacramentaries as though they denied this sacramēt For in so doing they do also vnawares condemne their owne cānons which otherwise they esteme so greatly that many of them do attribute more authority vnto those Cannons than to the holy scripture saying that they be the determinations of the holy mother church wherunto they ought to sticke bicause the scripture is to obscure and may be taken both wayes But indede it is nothing so for the scripture hath but one sence which is easy to be found out of a man that is willing to learne by conferring one text with another But the cannons are in many cases quite contrary one to another I know full well that too shift off these contrarieties the schole men say that we must always hold vs to those that were last made But I answer them that that is asmuch to say as we must alwayes hold vs to the worst For euery man of sound iudgement may always easely perceyue that the ancient cannons are better than those of latter tyme. And further to abate the authority of their canōs by their canōs thēselues I say that the cannons do will vs to serch the vnderstāding of the obscure textes of the scripture in the scripture it selfe And those which seeke it elsewhere are the very scholemasters of errour These are the very wordes of a cannon What is more vngodly than to hold an vngodly doctrine and not to beleue those that are most wise and learned But all such do fall into this kind of ignorance as make not their recourse to the wordes of the Prophets to the writing of the Apostles and to the authority of the Euangelistes to learne the knowledge of the truth in any obscure poynt but will needes trust to their own wit And therefore they become scholemaisters of errour because they list not to be disciples of the truth Which cannon in very deede doth deeply in few wordes condemne the scholedeuines that make more accompt of the authority of the Cannons and doctors of the church than of the very text of the scripture which they accompt to be to obscure And true it is that some textes of the scripture are in some places very darke howbeit there is no text so obscure but it may be made playne by other textes of the same scripture Specially if they resort not to the cannons and decretalls but to the Hebrue text for the the olde testament and to the Greeke text for the new testament as S. Augustine doth teach vs who sayth in this wise Such as vnderstand the latine tongue must for the better vnderstanding of the whole Scriptures haue the knowledge of two other languages more that is to wit of the Hebrue and of the Greek to the end they may haue recourse to the very fountayne of the originall coppies when the diuersitye of the Latin rranslations doth breede any doubte And hereto accordeth a Canon which sayth thus Like as the trueth of the things that are contayned in the old Testament ought to be examined by the Hebrue books Euen so the truth which is written in the new Testament ought to be made playne and cleere by the Greek bookes I besech you what can be braied aagaynst this Canon by the whole herd of these Asses which are so bold as to say that the Hebrue and Greeke tongues be the Languages of Heritickes and therefore doe vtterly reiect and condemne them Do they not by the same meanes condemne the canons and auncient doctors And if they condemne them Are they to bee holden for good Catholickes Well let vs come now to speake of the Masse Of the Masse The viii Chapter THe difference betwixt the Masse and the Supper of our Lord is great For the Catholick schoolemen which vnderstand what the masse is for all of them vnderstand it not doe say that it is a Sacrifice whereby the Priest offereth vp the body and the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto God for the soule health both of the quick and of the dead Which Sacrifice is accompanied with diuers other parcels as accessaries that is to say with diuers prayers and diuers texts taken out of the gospels and epistles of the new Testament and with divers verses taken out of the Psalmes of Dauid and other bookes of the olde Testament and interlarded throughout with many and diuers Ceremonies And this goodly omnigatherū hath bene patched together at many Sondry tymes by dyuers Popes And that is the cause why the Catholickes do put the masse among the cōmaundementes of their holy mother Church For this commaundement Thou shalt heare masse vpō the Sondayes and vpon other feastfull dayes inioyned is the first
in authoritie vnder them that we may leade a quyet and a peaceable life in all godlines and honesty For that is acceptable before God our Sauiour And it is not for any man not only to exempt himselfe from obaying the prince but also to deny to pay him tribute seeing that our lord Iesus Christ did pay it and hath commaunded to pay it S. Paule doth also witnes the same thing saying that the duty of conscience commaundeth vs to pay tribute to princes because they be the ministers of God and serue thereunto Therfore geue vnto euery mā sayth he that which is due vnto hym Tribute to whome tribute belongeth custome to whō custome pertaineth duty to whom duety belongeth and honor to whom honor is due To be short next after God wee owe to the Prince all obedience honour and feare neither ought wee to thinke it straunge that God shoulde haue the cheefe preheminence seeing that the prince is but his minister and seruant and that the Liefetenant ought not to goe before him which putteth him in office nor the seruant before the master And that was the cause why Daniell said so boldly vnto the king Darius that he had made no fault in disobaying his commaundement which he could not haue obayed without offending both God and his own conscience Also it was for the selfesame cause that the obedience which the people of Israell did yeald vnto their king Ieroboham which caused Calues of golde to be made and commanded the people to honor them is condemned by the word of god For in matters of Religion we ought to hold the generall rule which S. Peter teacheth saying We must rather obay God than man. The reason hereof is the same that is alleadged by S. Paule namely That we be redeemed or bought with the precious bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ which is a thing of so great and excellent price that we ought not to turne away from the saluation which he hath purchased vs for any thing in all the world We haue heretofore alledged some of the decretall Epistles of the Popes Gelasyus Innocēt the third and Bomface the eight by that which they haue done their indeuour to thrust down emperours kinges and other Princes far vnderneath them but the auncient Canons speake farre otherwise for by them euen the Pope himselfe whensoeuer he cōmitteth any fault ought to be corrected and punished by the Emperour as Pope Leo the fourth auoweth and confesseth in his epistle written to the Emperor Lewes which epistle is made canonicall If we haue done sayth he any thing which wee ought not or haue not performed the equity of the law towards your subiects we are ready to amend our fault by the iudgement of your selfe or of your commissioners for if we which should correct the faultes of other men do worsse then they we be not the children of the trueth but which thing I speake with great grief we be masters of error more thā others Wherfore we most hūbly besech your maiesties clemency to vouchsafe to send hither some commissioners of yours such as feare God to informe you of our behauiour and to make as diligent inquisition thereof as if your imperiall maiestie were here present in proper person and to search out the trueth by peecemeale not onely of the thinges afore mentioned but also of all other matters which may haue bene reported vnto you So as by that meanes al things may be determined by lawfull examinatian of the case and nothing remayne to be discussed and decided hereafter By which Canon it appeareth playnely that the Emperour of Rome hath power and authoritye to inquire of the misbehauiour and misdealings of the pope and that he may by lawful iudgement condemne and punish him when he doth amisse We do also read in S. Gregory who is esteemed for one of the best Popes that in his epistle which he wrote to the kings of fran̄ce of Englād and of the westerngothes he did alwaies call them his children But when the wrate to the Emperor which raygned in his tyme whose name was Mawrice hee called him his Lord and spake very humbly vnto him as vnto hym that was his soueraygne declaring that he did and would obay the sayd Emperors most mylde commaundementes for those be his termes that he vseth There are other Canons also by the which all power of Soueraintye is attributed vnto princes as well ouer the lay people as ouer the clergye and ouer the goodes both of the one and of the other These be the very wordes of the Canon S. Peter in fishing found tribute in the mouth of a fish because that the church ought to pay tribute of such outward good as are sene to al mē And the case so standeth that for his tribute he was commaunded to pay not all the whole fish which he had caught in fishing but onely the peece of siluer which he had founde in the mouth of the fish which he had caught because the church it selfe or the preheminence of the place ought not to be geuen to Emperours and Kinges nor to be put in subiection to their power But surely as I sayd before that which was found in the mouth of the fish is commaunded to be geuen for the tribute of Peter and of the Lord because wee ought to pay tribute vnto princes of the outwarde goods of the church according to the auncient custome to the end they may mayntayne defend vs in good peace and quietnes By which canon it appereth that princes may as well rayse tribute vpon men of the Church as vpon the lay people although they may not take authority in deuine matters further than to cause obedience to be geuen to the commaundements of God as it is sayd in an other Cannon in expresse wordes When Emperors make wicked lawes to maintayne falshood agaynst the trueth it serueth to trye the true beleuers who are crowned with martirdom for perseuering in the truth But when they make good lawes and edictes to mayntayne the truth agaynste the falshood the persecutors are strickē in fear by it and such as vnderstand the truth do amend themselues Whosoeuer therefore doth refuse to obay the edictes of the Emperoures and princes that mayntayne the true doctrine doe procure themselues great punishment but as many as refuse to obay the edicts made agaynst the will of God winne to themselues great reward Eor euer since the tyme of the prophets all kinges are blamed which haue not prohibited and rooted out from amongst Gods people all such thinges as haue bene set vppe agaynst his commaundements And these which haue prohibited thē and rooted them out are highly praysed aboue al others Nabuchodonosor being an Idolater did make a trecherous proclamation that all men should worship his Image But those which refused to obay the vngodly law dealt faythfully and holyly With this Canon agreeth an other canon taken out of S.
the Imperiall Crown of pure golde inriched with precious stones his Scepter his mantell of Purple and his other Imperiall Robes and the Imperiall dignitie of commaunding the men of warre with all other things concerning the glory maiestie of the Empire Geuing also to others of the Romain Cleargie the dignitie preheminēce and authoritie of Senators Lords of the Empire and Consuls willing them to ride on horseback with white footeclothes apparrayled like Senators to the end that the Cleargie should be furnished with the like titles of honor in all poynts as the Lordes and men of warre of the Imperiall Court were Also they make the same Emperor to acknowledge himself to be Pope Siluestars Footeman or Lackay in holding his stirrop and his bridle when he moūted on horseback And moreouer to declare that he would remoue his Imperial seate to the Citie of Bizance which he was thē purposed to builde and to name it after his own name that is to say Constantinople to geue place to the Pope because it was vnmeet that where the seate of the Priestly kingdome and of the supreme head of christen Religion was set by the Emperor of heauen there also should be set the seate of the Emperor of the earth And therfore that he willed and commaunded that the same donation should stand in force and be inuiolablye obserued vntill the ende of the world beseeching and adiuring all the Emperors Lords of estate Princes Senators and People that should come after him euen before the dreadfull iudgement seate of God neuer to breake the same vpon payne of euerlasting damnation And to haue both S. Peter and S. Paule their enemies both in this world and in the world to come and to be burned and consumed in the deepe pit of hell amongst the deuils and the vngodly folke And the date of this pretensed donation is this Geuen at Rome the third of the Kalends of April in the yere of the fourth Consulship of Constantine Augustus And also in the fourth Consulship ot Gallicanus This in few words is the whole sūme of the pretended donation made by the Emperor to the Pope and to the Cleargie of Rome Wherupō the doctors of the Ciuill Law take maruailous paines in discussing whether it be auaileable or not and whether Constantine might so greatly diminish the Empire seeing that say they the title of Augustus is geuen vnto him to the intent he should increase and not diminish the Empire And whether he could geue greater authoritie to the Pope than he himselfe had seeing that by the rules of the law no mā can graunt to another more right than he hath in himselfe And whether he could force or constraine his successors to obserue this donation considering that by the Ciuill Law like against like hath no power These doctors say I haue taken great paynes to resolue this question and diuers such like vpon that matter but all in vaine for it ought first to be prooued that there was such a gifte made before they disputed whether it be lawfull and auaileable or not But we may easely gather by the histories that it is but a surmised and a forged graunt and that there was neuer any such But the holy order of the Cleargie hath alwayes taken it to be a holy kinde of fraude to enter vpon the goods of the lay people by such meanes Therfore to resolue the sayd dout by the history you must vnderstand that this donation is reported to haue beene graunted in the time of Constantines fourth Consulship after his baptisme as if they had been both at one time when as those times were farre asunder For his fourth Consulship was in the yeare of our Lord three hundred and eighteene and his baptisme was more than twenty yeares after and therfore the diuersitie of the times doth discouer the falsenes of the donation Besides this it could not be done in any of both those times for afore the time of his baptisme Pope Siluester was already dead as the histories do well proue which doe witnesse that for the great desire which Constantine had to be baptised in the Riuer of Iordaine in Iury he deferred his Christning by reason of the great affayres wherwith he was continually kepte occupied vntill the latter ende of his life at which time perceiuing himselfe to be very ill at ease out of all hope of being able to trauaile into Iury to be baptised in the Riuer of Iordaine he caused himselfe to be christened in Nicomedia And therfore this pretended graūt could not be made by constantine after his Baptisme as the donation it selfe doth beare men in hand to pope Siluester who was dead before that tyme Neither could it be done in the tyme of constantines fourth consulship For at that tyme and moe than ten yeres after he had a fellow in the Empire named Licinius who held the East part of the Empire and Constantine himselfe held the west partes according to the custome of the Romain Empire then receiued which was to haue two Emperors at once as were Dioclesian and Maximian and also Galerius Maximinus and Constantius Chorus the one commaunding in the East parts and the other in the West And therof as some thinke did grow the custome of paynting the Imperiall Eagle with two heads Now then in asmuch as Licinius remayning at that time in the East countreys as in his own parte of gouernement was a Heathen man and a deadly enemy to Constantine who was a Christian It followeth in reason that if Constantine should haue geuen vp the Empire of the West to the Pope he could not haue made his account to haue remoued his Imperiall seate by and by into the East for he had reckned without his hoast but it would haue behooued him first to haue put down Licinius ere he could assure himselfe of the Empire of the East as in deed he did afterward by force of armes But that was more than ten yeares after his fourth Consulshippe But who would thinke Constantine to haue been such a foole as to spoyl himselfe of the West Empire to geue it to the Pope and to content himselfe with the East Empire which he had not nor could assure himselfe to haue considering how vncertaine the issue of waar is Moreouer about the same time of Constantines fourth Consulship there was Ciuill warres in Rome betwixt Constantine himself and Maxentius who had set vp himselfe as an vsurper in the Citie of Rome through the ayde of the Pretorian Soldiars By reason whereof considering that Maxentius was a great enemy to the Christians and had on his side an infinite number of the greatest men within the Citie It doth well appeare that that time was vtterly vnmeet for Constantine to aduance Pope Siluester and the Romaine Clergie so greatly as this pretended donation would make vs beleeue And truely in the very same yeres of this fourth Consulship the Senate of Rome did canonise and inrowle
among the number of the Gods the Emperor Dioclesian who dyed at that time and had resigned vp the Empire about a ten yeres before Now then seeing that the Senate was at that time in so great authority as to canonise Dioclesian the greatest enemie and persecuter of the Christians that euer was in despite of Constantine being then Emperor Consul and a Christian I leaue it to your discretions to cōsider how they wold haue suffered the thing which this pretended donation speaketh of namely that Siluester should haue been set vp as soueraigne Lord ouer the Senators themselues and ouer all the West Empire and that the rest of the Clergie should haue been made fellow like and equall with the Senators Consuls States of the Empire Surely they would no more haue suffered it than the Presidents and Councellars of our Parliament would nowadaies abide to haue a minister of the Gospell set ouer thē to controll them Or the ouerseear of a Consistory to be made fellow with them And yet furthermore the history doth witnes vnto vs that this Constātine the great did leaue vnto his sōne Constantine for his part the Realmes such ordinances doe burthen mennes consciences and they that obay them doe seeme rather to play the Iewes than to vse the liberty of Christians These be the very words of a Canon taken out of S. Augustine Vndoutedly I am of opinion that the traditions of the Church ought to be cut of as soone as oportunity may fitly serue thereunto For although it appeare not that they are contrary to the faith yet notwithstanding the slauish burthen of them doth oppresse Religion which God of his mercy hath apointed to be free with the celebration of few Sacramentes and those very cleare In so much that the state of the Iewes is more tollerable thā the obseruation of so many traditions For though they know not the time of their libertie yet doe they not submitte themselues to any Sacramentes at the presumptious and fantasticall appointment of man. Which Cnnon doth well declare how much they be wedded to their own affection which in these dayes doe kindle coales in all places and condemne all those of heresie which doe leaue the traditions of men to betake themselues to the word of God. For with what coūtenance dare they call it heresie not to beleeue in the inuentions of Popes seeing that euen their own Canons doe wil vs to forsake the traditions of men If this be heresie then ought they to burne their Canon Law. Moreouer it is very easie to be proued by their own Canons that al the decrees and ordinaunces of the Popes are either superfluous or wicked For if they agree accord with that word of god they are superfluous because it ought to suffise vs to obserue the ordināces of god which haue no need to be ratified and authorised new againe by men And if they be contrary or repugnant to the ordinances of God then ought they to be reiected as wicked as the auncient Canones themselues doe witnes These be the very words of an auncient Canon attributed to Pope Vrbane Ye must vnderstand that the Pope of Rome may wel make new ordinances in such things as the Euangelistes and Prophetes haue not spoaken of But in the matters that are openly resolued by the Lord himself or by his Apostles or by the auncient Fathers that followed next vnto them the Pope of Rome cannot make any law at all but ought rather to maintain that which is already ordayned yea euē with spending of his bloud and his life For if he should take vpon him which God forbid to destroy that which the Apostles and Prophets haue taught in so doing he should shew himselfe to doe amisse not to geue sound iudgement Vpon this Cannon it is worthy to be noted that the Popes authority extēdeth not so farre as to deale with any thing which the Doctors aunciēt fathers of the Church haue taught as it is farther auouched and proued by the Cannon following attributed to Pope Zosimus whiche sayth thus As touching the statutes of the fathers the authoritie of the Seate may neyther ordaine any thing contrary to them nor chaunge any thing in them for antiquitie ought to be inuiolably rooted amōg vs as beyng honorable by the decrees of the fathers By which Cannons of Pope Vrban and Pope Zosimus it doth playnely appeere that the auncient Cannons such as those be whiche we haue alleaged in this book to confute the errors of the Romish church ought to be of greater authoritie than the decrees and ordinaunces of the latter Popes of our dayes of their councels which haue no power to disanul or altar any thing in the statutes and doctrine of the auncient fathers And as touching the authority which the Pope attributeth vnto hym selfe concerning power to dampne soules and to send them into hell by great troopes without beyng lawfull for any man to say vnto him why doest thou so and to excommunicate outlawe and accurse whome he listeth a man may beat down all these hornes of hys with this vnanswerable argument taken out of his owne Canons that such as are true members of Christ and of hys Church cannot be condempned nor put out of the Church by any kinde of excomunication enterditing or accursing that if any faythful Christian happen to be wrongfully excōmunicated or accurssed by the Pope or by any other priest yet notwithstanding hee is neuer the more out of the Church but remayneth alwaies a member of the same These be the very wordes of a canon touching that poynt When any man departeth from the truth from the feare of God from the fayth and from Charitie truely truely thē goeth he out of the compas of the Church But contrariwise if any man be excommunicated and thrust out of the Church by vniust Iudgement it is certayne that if hee were not gone out afore that is to say if he haue not done any thing that deserued it he is not hurt by such excōmunication for often times he which is driuē out remayneth still within he that seemeth to be within is neuerthelesse without This Cannon teacheth vs a very good and holy doctrine which is to hould and retayne the pure doctrine of the truth the feare of God fayth charitie then not to feare the excommunications or thunderbolts of the Popes or Bishoppes the which in these dayes they do rather vse against such as will not allow their errors than against wicked liuers and such as giue occasion of offence because no man is able to put vs out of Gods Church if we cast not out our selues through our vices Now if vices and errors be the thinges which driue a man out of the Church of God are there in these dayes any people in the whole world which are more out of the Church than those which think to driue out others There remaine yet two pointes to treate