by this argument as much or more aucthoritie ouer the Scriptures then it I aske of the indifferentest amongest them who shal iudge but the Scriptures And if they iudge the Scriptures who shall pronounce sentence ouer them If the Easte Churches shall then the Romishe Churche hath loste her Cause If the Church of Rome then thys shall hee in another respecte then of keeping the Scriptures If they saye it bee by their pretended prerogatiue of Saynt Peters Seate it is meete that they prooue it by the Scriptures And therefore marke Peters Sea which doeth take vpon it to iudge the Scriptures beyng yet subiecte to the Scripture it selfe Furthermore I praye euerye man to examine this conclusion The Church of GOD hath kept the Scripture The Church beareth witnesse of the Scripture Ergo shee is aboue the Scripture The edictes of a Prince are registred in all his Countries The lawes are gathered together and written by Clarkes All Contractes and bargaines are subsigned by witnesses And yet for all that he that woulde saye that they were aboue the Kinges aboue the lawes contracts hee shoulde make him selfe a laughing stocke If they say that the Lawes of God haue no place neyther more nor lesse then edictes of some Princes except they be agreeable to the worde of God I answere them that it is not the Church of God that hath this priuiledge for shee is the Spouse of Christ and hath learned to obey her husbande without anye examination of his commaundement and must by and by holde her peace assoone as shee heareth his woord For she knoweth also that the wisedome of her husband whose will is the rule of doctrine is not like that of Princes which it is necessarye to examine whether it bee honest and profitable Ciuile or vnciuile but if they be so stiffe for the obteyning of this priuiledge yet let them agree with mee herein that this is that assemblie which hath lyfted vp it selfe aboue all that is called GOD which fearing to bee discomfited by the Spirite of his mouth woulde therefore moussell and stoppe vp hys mouth all that it might The place of Saynt Augustine which they alledge maketh nothing agaynst that which hath bene sayde before I woulde not sayeth hee beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the aucthoritye of the Church constrained or moued me Ni me Ecclesiae Catholicae commoueret authoritas where it is specially to be noted that according to the style of Affricke Commoueret is taken for commouisset that is to say I had not beleeued the Gospell vnlesse the consent of the vniuersall Church had moued mee thereto hee meaneth not that the holy Ghost had not such a style as myght make it selfe sufficientlye knowen from other wrytings of men For he him selfe instructeth vs in this matter in many places Much lesse meaneth hee that the Church shoulde be aboue the Gospell For it is by the Gospell that hee examineth all the Churches of his tyme but rather that the vniuersall consent of the Churches the which receiued such such bookes for the Gospels of Christ made that he could not doubt but that they were so and that the apostles whose names thei did beare were true authours of them No otherwise then as the consent of manye ages acknowledging such and such bookes to be Ciceroes Hippocrates and Platoes doe assure vs that they were theirs These were his very words against the Manichees themselues who denyed part of the holy scriptures in another place Oh vnhappie enemies saith he of your owne soules What Scriptures shal be had in price if the Euangelicall and Apostolicall bee not Of what booke shall men hold the certaine authour if a man doubt that those holy books which the Church holdeth were of the Apostles shoulde not be theirs Who shall knowe whether the bookes of Plato Hippocrates Aristotle Cicero were theirs vnles it be for that frō their time euen vnto ours alwayes mē haue bene perswaded that they came frō hand to hand c. Like as then I beleeue that the books of Manichee are his because men haue beleeued that they came thence frō hand to hand so also I beleeue the booke of S. Matth. because euē vntil vs the church hath so held The questiō is not thē in this place whether the writings of the Apostles haue any voice to determine matters in the church for as we haue already shewed S. Aug. teacheth vs that in a M. places but only whether such and such scriptures were the Apostles yea or no. For the heretikes denied not but that the books of the Apostles had such authority as they must be obeyed but they denyed that they were theirs because that if they had once allowed thē they knew that they must of necessity rest in them And yet they pretēded that they were neuer a whitte lesse the church then the Romane church doth For they helde that Manichee the chiefe of their secte was the holy Ghoste him selfe But this was a blasphemie not yet knowen to the most damnablest heretikes that euer were that the holye Scripture was subiect to the Church and that without her as one of the Popes Chāpions of our time saith it hath no more aucthority thē Esops fables The Iewes haue taught the Gentiles that the Olde Testament was the worde of God and manye of the Gentiles beleeued it better thē the Iewes The Gentiles haue kept for the Christians many good and auncient bookes and haue taught them that such and such were the authours of them and yet for all that they haue not giuen anye credyte vnto them The bookeseller will teach vs that such a booke is Hippocrates woorke and yet for all that hee shall not be a physitian as Hippocrates was For it is one thing to beleeue the word of any some man an other thing to be the authour of a booke This is that which was saide long agoe by a great learned man That the Church is true or vndouted but as we say by occasiō because she beleeueth the trueth of the Scripture but the holye Scripture is simplie true of it selfe For it is the trueth it self There foloweth another argument that the Church is before the Scripture Ergo it is aboue the Scripture When we speake of the Scripture we vnderstand the word of God the which at the first was not written and afterward was written aswell by Gods owne finger as by the pennes of his seruants inspired by his holy spirite as we haue before declared But now I would demaund of them from whence they fetch the beginning of the Church If from the creation of man and before sinne entred immediatly after they were created God gaue them a commaundement that they should not touche the tree of knowledge of good and euill and we must not dispute whether they had authoritie aboue this word for why they hauing disobeyed it all the world from man to beastes sighes and grones for it But will they not
time to time howe they are groūded vpon mans lawe and that which wee call positiue They holde that S. Peter was crucified vnder Nero in the yeere of our Lorde 69 and that Clement succeeded him Others say that Linus succeeded him then Saint Iohn yea and Iames himselfe If we beleeue those bookes supposed to bee Clements they shoulde haue obeyed Clement as head of the Church for he succeeded as they saye in Peters Authoritie he ought to haue no lesse authoritie then the popes at this daye who can dispense with Paules epistles A wonderfull case that the primitiue Church when they made the Canon of those bookes that should haue authoritie in the Church that they should rather put in those bookes of Iames and Iohn then of Clement the principall heire and successour of the holy ghost by the vertue of Saint Peters chaire A wonderfull matter further that this Clemēt made so smal accompt of succession so necessary in the Church seeing that in his epistle which he writeth to Iames Bishop of Ierusalem he calleth him our Lordes brother the Bishoppe of Bishops and gouernour of the Church of Ierusalem and of all others throughout all the worlde But yet a more wonderfull matter that they shoulde bee found so impudent in the light of good learning that at this day shineth as to foūd the papacie vpon those gaye bookes of Clement in which there are so many falsehoodes Clement writeth to Saynt Iames after Peters death and teacheth him the institution of our Lorde when as the Scripture witnesseth that S. Iames was martyred long before in Ierusalem and that as long as hee liued he was to teach Clement such matters and not to learne them of him And yet this is one of the notablest authors that they can alledge But let vs proceede We holde the Apostles Creede from the beginning of the Christian Church And we there finde the Catholike church But this article of the faith that pope Boniface the eight made is not therein That if we will be saued we must acknovvledge the pope to be the soueraigne Lord. Saint Cyprian saith That there is but one Bishoppricke of vvhich euery Bishop holdeth his parte vvholy vvithout any diuision Also that none of his time either called or made him selfe Bishoppe of Bishops eyther made through tyrannie his companions subiect to his obedience Also he complaineth that certaine prophane men and Schismatikes vvith drevve them selues to the bish of Rome who saith he hath none but certaine desperate wicked fellovves that stay vpon him making thē selues beleeue that the Bishops of Affricke haue lesse povver then the Bishops of Rome And in very deede he calleth not Stephen Cornelius bishops of Rome other thē brethren cōpanions handleth Stephen rudely enough in manye places To be short a litle after his death the church of Affricke decreed in the councill of Carthage that none should be called the prince or chiefe of ministers or the first Bishoppe but onely according to the dignitie of Cities the Bishoppe of the first See. Irenee very liuely reproueth Victor the Bishop of Rome who through a certaine shamelesse ambition had excommunicated the Churches of Asia for disagreeing about the Passeouer The Ministers saith he vvhich haue helde the eldershippe of the Church ouer vvhich thou novv doest gouerne Anicetus Pius Higinus c. haue not done as thou hast done neither they also vvhich vvere vvith them Tertullian who otherwise is wont to attribute verye much to Saint Peter scorneth the Bishop of Rome his great ambition which then began to shew it selfe albeit in a certaine place he maketh a long narration of the praises of the Church of Rome yet he teacheth not neither neere nor farre of that which is the principall to wit that it was the infallible seat of the holy Ghost by Peters successiō And yet these are for all that the very firste of all antiquitie and in whose time the Church of Christ more florished then at any time In the time of Constātine as the church had more liberty so it had also more ambition then Bishops begā first to think on miters that before time thought nothing els but to be martyrs That same famous Council of Nice was then called together by Constantine the Emperour to the ende to decide the matter of Arrius The B. of Romes deputies were there but they sate onely in the fourth place Yea one decree was there made by which certaine limits were attributed to euerie patriarke ouer which the Canon gaue them equall authority which the Bishop of Rome was wont to haue ouer the neighbour Churches of his citie They went about by infinite meanes to corrupt the canons of this councill as the histories do witnesse vnto vs But Cusan the Cardinal alledging this Councill acknowledgeth the trueth in these words By this we see saith he how much authoritie the Pope hath gotten in our time against the sacred auncient constitutions and altogether through the lēgth of time and custome of a slauish subiectionall obedience And yet in meane time Iulius with standeth it not neither doe his Legates alledge to the fathers of the Councill their Tibi dabo I will giue vnto thee nor their Pasce oues meas Feed my sheep for as yet they were not studyed so deeply therin but they rested onely in the ordinance of the Councill which afterwardes was confirmed by the Councils of Antioche and of Constantinople And this was about the time that they woulde deuise the donation of Constantine to pope Syluester confuted by so many learned men so long time agoe that none but such as are ignorant will beleeue it But if they will beleeue the original which is kept in Vaticā in the popes library in goldē letters let thē also beleeue these words which are written added in the end Quam fabulā longi tēporis mēdacia finxit that is to say in the proper words of ill latine This is a fable which an old lye hath forged Or if they wil therin beleeue the legend of Pope Syluester then let them also beleeue that which it sayeth that then was hearde a voyce from heauen saying Hodie effusum est venenum in Ecclesiam that is to say At this day poyson is shedde into the middest of the Church In the first and seconde Councill of Ephesus Cyrillus and Dioscorus Patriarches of Alexandria did gouerne there though the Bishoppe of Rome there had his deputies And it forceth not to saye that the seconde was not lawfull For this can not be knowen but by the yssue but it sufficeth that in the beginning and then when men thought that it was verye lawfull and that in such a time as the ceremonies were kept there Leo the Bishoppe of Rome neyther his deputies did not there striue for the chiefe place because they thought it to haue no good grounde In the Councill of Chalcedon
most famous places and that be shall worke strange signes and wonders we conclude on the contrary part that antiquitie multitude succession and miracles are rather at this day the markes of the seat of Antichrist of that whore then of Christ and of his chaste spouse of whome Christ hath giuen vs this one marke He that is of the trueth heareth my voyce He that is my Disciple abideth in my word That the holy scripture is the vndoubted touchstone to try the puritie of doctrine which is the marke of the pure Churches CHAP. 4. OVr aduersaries doe therevpon obiect vnto vs that doctrine as a common argument and that euery one saith that he hath the pure doctrine on his side and therefore that it can not be alledged as a mark of the pure Churches I answere that this is in deede a common bragge of all heretikes but it is not alwaies a common marke but peculiar and proper to the pure Churches For both the true Christians and heretikes may haue antiquitie multitude succession and miracles as we haue already proued but there is none but the sound and Catholike Church that can haue trueth true doctrine which consisteth in faith and charitie forasmuch as she is one and if the other boast of it they haue nothing else but the sound the which by and by vanisheth if it be once put to the touch Likewise we see commonly that they which pleade together pretende euery one that ryght is on their side In meane time who wil say that seeing both twaine saye they haue right that there is no question to dispute of the right but only that he which is in possession should keepe it He that should say so he should make him selfe a laughing stocke should often times giue authoritie title to the vniust possessor against the right owner For besides the opiniōs of parties there are aduocates to debate the right lawe that must iudge thereof Now for to decide the matter wherof there is questiō thanks be to God we haue a good Iudge The question betweene vs is of the pure seruice of god Now it is not in mans power to iudge howe God must be serued much lesse for a poore pesaunt to make bookes how Princes should be dutifully serued For betweene man man there is alwaies a proportion but betweene man and God there can be none For it is God alone which ought only to be heard in this matter not men whose ordinances of the seruice towards god is for their own turne serue only for their owne phantasies This is the cause why God himselfe would be the onely law giuer vnto his people giuing thē a law which containeth whatsoeuer he requireth of men aswel in general as in particular And to cut of al mans inuētiōs he expressely forbiddeth thē to adde any thing thereto or to take any thing therefro for he saith that he will be serued according to his pleasure and not according to that which is good in mens eyes which he hath knit vp for vs in one worde I will obedience not sacrifice The Priests were men very oftentimes they could not content themselues with this but the example of the sonnes of Aaron may be an horrour vnto euery one who for offering straunge fire vnto the Lord not being commaūded they were consumed with fire sent from heauē And whilest men haue loued their owne inuentions they haue loden the people with traditions ceremonies and gloses and whereas the lawe was giuen to conuince them of sinne to the ende they might seeke mercie in Christe they haue founde out other meanes for their saluation But God by his Prophets which he hath sent from time to time betweene the publishing of the law the Gospel hath alwaies helde them to the lawe To the lawe and the testimonie saith Esai hide my lawe amongst my Disciples And if they speake not according to this worde the morning light shall not be giuen vnto them And because they obserued not this sacrifice it was turned to them into a curse God was readie to make a diuorce with his people therefore to cutte of at one blowe all their madnesses Malachi recommendeth to the Church the obseruation of the law and the ordinances giuen from Moses vntill the comming of Elias that is of Iohn the forerunner of Iesus Christ See then the lawe of the Church euen vntill the Gospel of grace was giuen whereof the Prophetes were expositers by which a man may distinguishe the false seruice from the true without hauing anye recourse to the long possession thereof which had but small authoritie to giue power to Ismael him selfe agaynst Israel To be short he of whom it is only said Heare him to teach vs by his example hath giuen so great authority to the lawe that he will haue the people thereby to iudge whether he be Christ or no Search saith he diligētly the Scriptures for you thinke that by thē you shal haue euerlasting life and they are they which beare witnes of me The iudge of the world attributeth so much to the lāw that he wil haue the world to iudge by the same law whether he be the true Messias a deceiuer of the people or the sauiour of the world And why so because it is not the word of Moses nor of Esai nor of any men but euen his who sent him Nowe by the comming of our Sauiour Christ the holy scriptures haue lost nothing but rather haue the greater authority God which hath spoken to our fathers sayth the Apostle sundry times in diuers maners hath in these last times spoken vnto vs by his owne sonne This sōne is God himselfe this is that essētial word this is he by whose cōming the Church waiteth for the manifestation of al things The word then that proceedeth frō him ought to haue an infinite absolute authority therūto must mē adde nothing For it is the infinite wisedome of the infinite father and can teach vs whatsoeuer is necessarie for our saluation And seeyng he hath so loued vs that he came into the world to dye for vs he would not then hide from vs the worde of life To be short he came to lighten vs in darkenesse and hath promised neuer to forsake vs He hath then left vs some light to guide vs and seeing he is that same light it selfe it is such a light as we following it we cannot be deceiued Nowe this then is that same written word of God which is the true image of that essentiall worde in which he hath imprinted all that is necessarie for vs to the glorie of God and all that is expedient for our saluation The Apostles receyued this worde from his mouth to preache the same to all the worlde and herein they were true and faithfull Ambassadors Agayne the spirite of God through which they preached indited it and taught them what they
denie that the old and new testament had equall authoritie with this commaundement If they take it after sinne entred God blameth and conuinceth our first parents of their faulte and this is the Lawe And after he promiseth vnto them the seed which shall bruise the head of the serpent this is the Gospell Beholde them then dead in sinne by the Lawe and as it were newe borne by the promise of Christ to come in whome they hoping after this woorde were made the beginning of the Church without this they had bene lost with all their posteritie Wherefore whether we fetche the Church from before the fall of man she hath no power aboue the word of God but is iudged by it and therefore the cōclusion is false Or whether we deriue it after yet the word is before the regeneration of the Church that is to say before the Church and that antecedent it selfe shal be false Moreouer this is an ill argument It was the first in time Ergo the first in authoritie For we haue a hundred Cities in Fraūce more auncient then our first kings and yet notwithstanding without any gainesaying they obey their lawes And the word of God of it selfe is giuen to commaunde wheras the Church is placed in the world but to obey And though it be so that the word of God be in power eternall yet it is most certeine that it must be last in this action because that before he commaund it must needs be that it should first create some men whom it might commaund This then is nothing but plaine sophistrie which is not worthy to be heard in the Church Moreouer I demaund of them whē they make this argument whether they meane to speake of the whole Church comprehending al the states and particulars of the Church into one or whether they speake of particular Churches or of the church of Rome alone If thei vnderstand the whole Church as it is like they do then they speake nothing that makes for them for the church of Rome the whole Church are things farre differing before that Rome was or any Wolfe there gaue suck more then 700. yeres the law of Moses was published in the Church If they speake of particular Churches the Cast churches wil demand the same prerogatiue and by the self same argument they wil set themselues aboue the church of Rome For they are before them in time as euery man knoweth If the church of Rome alone by the vertue of the institutiō of Christ yet they are to bring forth the titles and right thereof and then they cannot bring forth one that hath so much as any outward shewe To be short all this is nothing els but a manifest dotage for if they looke to the beginning of the Church they shall finde neither Rome nor the Pope neither the See of S. Peter nor consequently any authoritie aboue the word of god If they looke to the beginning of Rome they shall there finde the word the law the prophets expositors of long time before and therefore an authoritie farre aboue their church But in this a man may see the poore defence of their Church when for the establishing thereof the word of God must fall downe which is the foundation of the pure Church Now in this whole disputation they can not finde one onely word out of the auncient doctors for there was neuer yet any heretike so mōstrous which durst set it forth till the Councill of Constance where it was first set out by the doctors of the Church of Rome There was the question moued concerning the taking away of the cup of our Lord from the people expresly against the institution of the Sonne of god There could not one place be found out in the Scriptures which might fauour directly or indirectly plainly or darkely so damnable a sacriledge Iohn Hus called them to the holy Scripture and they knewe well that that was full against them Then first they began to aduise of those goodly Maximes or groūds which they haue mainteined euen vntil this day that the Church is aboue the holy Scripture that the Scripture hath no other authoritie then that which the Church giueth it that the Scripture is as they say De bene esse of the wel being but not of the essence or being of the Church that such should be the interpretation as seemeth good to the Church to be short that the word of God was more long and large then the word written and that the Church is more worthie thē it to which some haue sithens added that the Church should be in better case if there were no Gospell written These are the intolerable blasphemies which sprang vp in this councill who also were authors of one other goodly canon forsooth that ouerthroweth al christianitie That we must not keepe faith or promise with heretikes Iohn Hus notwithstanding presseth them yet somewhat more neerely Though it were so saith he that the Church should be aboue the word of God to which you shal neuer haue me to agree Shew me yet that the minde of the auncient Church was euer so that it euer so ordeyned or so interpreted Name me one onely auncient doctor which is not wholly and plainly against it That it is so yea our owne canons do excommunicate all those which cōmunicate not vnder both kinds therefore to communicate vnder one is not to be partaker of the communion but of excōmunication To this argument they yet find another shift more mischieuous then the former that albeit that of one commandement of the Gospel there be at this day another interpretation then was in the auncient Church notwithstanding that that meaning which is receiued in the Church must be accepted as the way to saluation in asmuch as the holy Ghost hath inspired it to the Church That is to say that the Pope his mainteyners according to their good pleasure may cry downe all the auncient interpretatiōs of the Scripture as coynes are and put them into the Mint to make theirs currant Also that as the iudgement of the Church is changed in the Scripture so we must presume that the iudgemēt of God is changed And therefore when that good man Iohn Hus could not content himselfe with these horrible blasphemies their last argument was the halter the hang man to cast him into the fire To make Gods spirit chāgeable his word a nose of waxe God himselfe inconstant in his purpose changing himselfe according to the vanitie ambition of men wil there be founde in the traditions of the Pharisees in the speculations of the Cabalists and Thalmud in the Alcoran of Mahomet any such execrable blasphennes as these are I leaue to the iudgement of euery one whether the spirit of God or the spirit of Satan ruled there in those coūcills That there can be founde no other Iudge of the controuersies of this time but the holy Scripture and how
in the olde Church euen by the testimony of Paynims Finally by the cōsent of al the people they lay their hands vpon thē they giue thē aucthoritie to preach which is the only ceremonie that the Apostles vsed by imitation of the Church of the Iewes after which they began to administer the word sacraments in the Church This is that the auncient Canons saye That the minister of the Church must be ordeined by the election of the Clergie by the consent of the people That a Bishop should not be chosen vvithout a nomber of bishops c. At the request of the Clergie that is to say of the elders vvith the consent of the people Againe that they which are come to a bishopricke by mony or fauour they should not be holden for Bishops neyther haue any right to ordeyne others Nowe wee report our selues to the church of Rome it selfe who are more canonically elected they or we whether these canons haue not bene altogether contemned amongst them for the space of more then these 800. yeres If the questiō be of bishops either ordeyning or ordeyned they come to their Byshoprickes eyther through fauor of the princes court or else by the subtilties of the court of Rome or by paying of mony And there be who are made bishops for the seruice of theyr predecessors before they were borne at that time when it was doubtful whether they should be male or female man or womā The thing it self speaketh euery man seeth it knoweth it before I can speake of it If of the examination which is made by this a mā may iudge what it is like to be whē he seeth a great part of the bishops of the church of Rome that know not whether their Masse be in Greke or Latine their liues are so knowē I touch not those few that behaue thēselues better that theyr Cardinals chosen in the time of Pope Paul the thyrd for a reformation confesse in theyr articles that for theyr wicked liues and horrible outrages the name of God was blasphemed throughout all nations If of the consent of the people which S. Cyprian so much requireth which we see so wel put in practise in the person of Eradius that was S. Augustines successor they present their bishops to the people not to haue their consent to approue thē but to cause thē to worship them for fashion sake only and not altogether in good earnest Now if we come to the simple priestes the ignorant bishops do yet make them of the most ignorant and of the most vitious worse then themselues so that the time whereof the Prophet complayneth hath endured a long time in the Church that whosoeuer would might consecrate his hand We ministers therefore at this day haue the same succession that their bishops had For from the first that reformed the Churches no man could take it away vnto this they haue further added the continuall successiō of the true doctrine But their vocation is farre better and more canonical for besides that they were ordeined by those that the church of Rome had ordeined they are ordeined according to the example of the Apostles and auncient canons which Antichrist and his mainteyners haue vtterly disanulled wheras examining the election of the Romish bishops you shal haue much a do to find one that may rightly be called a bishop Against this which hath bene said nothing can be alledged vnlesse it be that these first reformers of the Church Iohn Hus Luther Zwinglius Decolompadius others from whom ours are descēded they were not bishops but onely priestes doctors To this we answere That a Minister a Bishop in the primitiue Church were al one and that if there be any difference at this day in their titles and myters yet that in their essentiall dignitie they differ not a whitte S. Paule sayeth to Titus I left thee in Candie to the end thou shouldest ordeyne elders in euery citie And afterwards willing to shew him howe he shoulde gouerne there he addeth For it behoueth that a Bishop be faultlesse c. Also it is sayd in the Actes That he sent to seeke the Elders or Seniors of Ephesus But marke the waighty exhortation he maketh to them Take heede sayth he to your selues to the vvhole flock ouer vvhich the holy Ghost hath made you Bishoppes or ouerseers In the Epistle to the Philippians he saluteth the Deacons and Bishoppes of that citie that is to saye the auncients S. Peter also exhorting the Bishops or elders Feede saith he the flock vvhich is committed vnto you hauing an eye ouer them as Bishoppes or ouerseers c. And in deede where Saint Paul rekoneth vp the names of all the degrees in the Church he maketh no mention of bishops but onely of pastors and doctors to the elders it is said Feede teach doe the duetie of Bishops It is then most apparent that elders whome you call priests Bishops were all one And Ireneus also calleth Anicetus Pius Hyginus Bishops of Rome no otherwise then by the name elders This is that S. Hierom saith in a certayne Epistle handling this matter Among our ancients Bishop elder vvere both one but the one is the name of age the other of office or dignitie as the Apostle hath plainly shevved vs. And in another place Before one sayd I hold of Cephas I of Apollo c. all things vvere gouerned in the Church by the cōmon aduise of the Seniors or elders Aftervvardes to auoyde Schismes aduise vvas giuen that one should be chosen aboue others But as on the one side the elders are subiect vnto him so on the other side they must knovv in that that he is aboue the elders it is by custome and not by the Lords ordināce S. Ambrose expoūding the 4. of the Ephe. where the degrees of the Church are largely handled The Bishops sayeth he vvere called at the first Elders vvherupon one succeeded another c. And vpon Timoth. A Bishop is none other but a chief elder S. Gregory in his epistles calleth the Bishops Elders Cardinalles that is to saye the chiefe and Iustinian the Emperour in his Deconomical lawes calleth them Reuerende because they differ nothing from Elders in their essential dignitie but only in this that they kept the first place in the administratiō of Gods seruice that is to saye in order and Ceremonie Gratian in his decretals saith plainly That the superioritie of the Bishop and the distribution of his dioces is from mans lavve not from the institution of the Apostles Peter Lombarde repeateth it in the same wordes And M. Iohn of Paris a doctor of the Sorbonists of the order of Iacobins in his booke of the kingly papal power which the whole facultie of diuinitie approued at that time goeth further For concerning the essentiall
shoulde say to the ende it should be deliuered vnto the posteritie so as we haue it there registred by foure sworne Notaries of the holie Ghost and expounded in many Epistles of the Apostles Finally these Registers of the kingdome of heauen haue gathered them together by the common care of the Churches wherein they haue bene kept the which haue witnessed that this worde proceeded from them and thereto haue put to their seale and to the ende that no Scripture myght be made equall vnto them and to take away also the foundation of all heretikes which euery where alledge it and bring in to serue euery turne the traditions of the Apostles the Churches haue brought them into one booke which they call the Canon that is the rule and the Canonical Scriptures See then that in the Christian Church we haue now as was vnder the lawe one rule to iudge the right from the crooked a squire to direct our buylding a compasse to guyde our barke a lawe to iudge controuersies and a God in his woorde to determine all matters which shall arise in the Churches All that is agreeable to this word of God is of God for that it is his owne word All that is not agreeable to this worde is of man and no man hath any voyce in the Churche to make any lawes concerning the seruice of god The sonne of mā alone God and man hath onely this power of whom it is onely sayd Heare him Al then that is ouer and besides this ought to haue no place in the Church By this worde thus limited within the bookes of the Canonicall Scripture the primatiue Church hath taken away an infinite nomber of traditions which heretiks haue made to passe vnder the name of the Apostles allowing nothing but that which they haue found contained in the foresayde bookes By the same also they haue stopped the mouth of heresies which sprong vp of the noughtie and vnsound interpretations thereof to be short they neuer complained when they had any thing to doe with heretikes who agreed of this Iudge accompting their matter wonne but rather when they vanquished them which refused the same worde forasmuch as it is impossible to finde a Iudge to them that refuse to be iudged of God. Our aduersaries alwaies cry with open mouth The Fathers Fathers Fathers but beholde whereby the Fathers woulde bee iudged and before whome they would pleade This controuersie sayeth S. August requireth a Iudge let Christ then be Iudge himselfe and tel vs himself wherefore he dyed Let the Apostle also be iudge together with him for in the Apostle also Christ himselfe speaketh It is sayde that he hath not spared his owne sonne c. but hath giuen him to the death for vs See then the Iudge before whome he calleth the Pelagians from whome our aduersaries haue borowed their doctrine Against the Donatistes his ordinarie wordes are We haue founde Christ in the scriptures there also must wee finde the Church Also let it not be heard any more betwene vs I say this thou sayest that but rather see what the Lord sayth for we haue saith he the bookes of the Lord to which we both giue consent we both beleeue and keepe Againe the canonicall Scripture is the rule of all The epistles of Bishops gyue place one to an other and Councels are amended and corrected one by an other but that must correct all Also where shall wee feede the sheepe of the Lorde Vpon the mountaynes of Israel these mountaines of Israel are the altars of the Scriptures of god When any man shall preach according to that from thence take taste thereof and all that is not from thence cast it awaye for feare of straying in the mystes And when the Donatistes alleadged Saint Cyprian vnto him of whome notwithstanding hee maketh a great accompt in all his workes and specially through whome he myght haue ouercome them in many matters I sayeth he allowe not the wrytings of Saint Cyprian for canonicall And yet herein I doe him no wrong for not in vayne was this so healthfull a Canon made in which are comprehēded the bookes which we dare not iudge and through which notwithstanding wee iudge of all bookes as well of infidelles as of Christians That which I finde there agreeable with Scripture I accept it with prayse that which I finde not agreeable to the Scripture by his good leaue I reiect it And there is no doubt sayeth hee in another place but that nowe he seeth all more cleare and bryght then when he was conuersant in darkenes that he will rather be glad to know how comfortable it is for vs that in the writinges of Christian orators and learned preachers a man may finde things to be reproued and that in the writings of those poore fishers that is to say of the Apostles a man shall finde no such thing in them Alledge not therefore to me sayeth he in this case their writings but the Lawe the Prophets the Psalmes the Gospell and the Apostle For from hence it is that I holde the Church is spread ouer all and is not tyed vnto any certayne place And the rule which hee gyueth vs out of the bookes of Cyprian he hath also gyuen out of his owne and out of all the rest and the places also repeated by Gratian in his Decretalles I knowe very wel that Gratian to get credite to himselfe gyueth no lesse aucthoritie to the decretall Epistles of the Pope then to the Canonicall bookes of the scripture impudently corrupting a place taken out of the bookes of Christian doctrine where he speaketh the quite contrarie But this is not worth the confutation And Alfonsus de Castro himselfe who is one of the chiefe pillars of the Papacie doth acknowledge this fault very liuely reproueth him for it The Arriās in a more high matter of the Christian faith woulde escape by the Councilles but he alwayes draweth them to this Let vs not alledge saith he disputing against Maximine their Bish neither thou the Council of Ariminium nor I the Councill of Nicee for neyther I am bound to the aucthoritie of that there nor thou to the aucthoritie of this here but let vs dispute by the aucthoritie of the Scriptures which are common witnesses to vs both cause against cause and reason against reason c. All his bookes are ful of such places especially against the Manichees who denyed one part of the Scriptures following the example of Christ who vanquished the Sadduces in the matter of the resurrection specially by the bookes of Moses because they reiected all the others And yet this is he that so astonished all the heretikes of his time that he put them to vtter silence But to the end that they condemne him not for an heretike whome they haue already so sore suspected it is necessarie to see what others doe holde concerning this matter Basil the great woulde that wee examine all doctrines
because we finde not this puritie in the Church of Rome but the quite contrary neyther the lawe of God obeyed by made subiect to the wyll of the Pope and his vpholders we holde the Church of Rome most impure and we marke the Pope that gouerneth there for a notable marke of Antichrist lyfting vp him selfe aboue GOD for that he setteth the lawe of God behinde his owne commaundements and vaine inuentions That the visible Church may erre yea and that in matters of fayth and those which concerne our saluation CHAP. VI. BEcause our aduersaries knowe very well that they can not defende neyther by the holy Scripture nor by the example of the primitiue Church the false doctrine which beareth swaye amongst them in the most principal points of Christian religion yf a man should examine them by piecemeale therefore they haue thought good to defende all at once to wit to maintaine that the Church can not erre especially in matters that doe concerne saluation For say they seeing that Christ is the head of the Church he guideth the same by his spirit and this spirit is the spirite of vnderstanding which inspireth into her in time and place all that is necessary for to leade her in such sort that she can not erre But as they defēding this bulwarke assure themselues to defende all theyr Babylon so is it also as certaine that this being once wonne they can not any longer stande When they speake of the Church in this matter they vnderstand properly the Cleargie represented by a generall Councill and not the common people of whom they make no state the which thing many of themselues condemne as repugnant to holy Scripture notwithstanding I am content in this matter to speake after their maner to the ende to auoyde all cauils and starting holes Iesus Christ is the head of the Church as of one body not of that there nor of this here neyther of one nor of other but of all Churches alike Now this head is vnto the Church as reason vnto a man to wit to rule to guide the same by his commaundement Now so far forth as desire doth obey reason the body the head man is in good case his senses his mouings accions are in theyr perfection there is nothing in him which sauoureth not the good gouernment of reason Contrariwise when the desire will cast of obedience to reason and wil not be subiect to his gouernement but giueth it selfe to drunkennesse riot and all kinde of excesse then entreth he into a distemperature of all his body the vitall partes are therewith offended he loseth one member one sense after an other sight hearing and all the powers depart away from him To be short by the iust iudgement of God reason it selfe oftentimes is taken from him because he made no accompt to obey it I say that the selfe same may fall out and many times doeth fall out in the Church Now so farre forth as the Church doeth obey vnto Iesus Christ her head he arkeneth vnto his commaundements which is reason it selfe followeth his gouernement which is set foorth in the Scripture she can not erre in the path of saluation shee is sound pure and perfect and also he taketh pleasure to leade her and inspireth into her his holy Spirite to the ende to inlighten her in the middest of darkenesse it selfe But when she treadeth his gouernement vnder her feete and maketh no accompt to hearken vnto him but presumeth to be wyse ynough of her selfe to gouerne her selfe then is it no marueile if she fall as it were in pieces and lose one sense after an other if her eyes leade her into the pit and if the spirit of God abandon himselfe and forsake her because shee made no accompt of the worde with which he is inseparably ioyned knit together For as it is most certaine that Christ doth not suffer his flocke to erre so is it also as certaine on the other part that he doth not accompt any for his sheepe but chose which heare his voyce and those heare his voyce which hearken vnto him speaking in the Scriptures and making them clearely to vnderstand his will. God hauing first sent his Prophets hath nowe in the ende sent from heauen his owne worde which hath sayd to vs Search the Scriptures and this is that same worde also which hath sent the holy Spirite to the Apostles If we then wyll feele the Spirit it behoueth that we heare the word for the Spirit is sent from the word but the cleargie of Rome doe make no accompt of this word In stead of hearkening vnto it it will be heard afore it in steade of obeying vnto it it will make commaundements of it selfe in respect of which those of Gods haue bene neglected yea it hath abolished cut of certaine commaundements wholy and that openly It followeth then that it can not boast neither of the spirit neither of the leading thereof forasmuch as this spirite proceedeth from the sending of the essentiall word who hath left vs his word in the holy Scriptures So we see the a king wil cōmunicate his authoritie to a parliamēt to the end to make them obey his lawes to distribute them to his people but if the parliamēt shal abuse them to the end to make it self obeyed aboue the king and the lawes themselues he will straightwayes take his authoritie from it Nowe God and his lawe in respect of the Church are farre greater then these for there can be no proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite And therefore is it any wonder if he haue taken from the prelates of the Church of Rome the gifts of his spirit when they woulde giue authoritie to their vaine traditions aboue the lawe it selfe and that vnder the shadow of his Spirite We say that the spirit and the word are inseparably ioyned and knit together and that without great sacriledge they cannot be separated forasmuch as Iesus Christ who is the word it self hath so taught vs When that same cōforter shall come that same spirite I meane of trueth he shall leade you saith he into all trueth for he shall not speake of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall heare that shall he speake He shall glorifie me for he shall receyue of mine and shall shewe it vnto you and shall bring all thinges to your remembrance which I haue tolde you c. If this spirite heare the worde and speake nothing of his owne by a more strong reason the Church shoulde if she be gouerned and lead by the same spirite He sayth also vnto his Apostles I vvill be vvith you till the ende of the vvorld This he vnderstandeth by the vertue of his spirite but he had sayd before in the selfe same verse Teaching them to obserue al things vvhatsoeuer I haue commaunded that is to say my worde And therefore Saint Paul preaching the word both by liuely voyce
vs wherein it consisted If they can not then it followeth that all the Apostles were ministeriall foundations as well as he and not founded vpon him and so likewise must it be of all the Churches which were founded by them as Saint Ierome saith vpon the seconde Chapter to the Galatians And according to this S. Paul saith that the faythfull are buylded vpon the foundation of the Prophetes and Apostles Christ being the chiefe corner stone And he gloryeth that he had preached the Gospel in many places without buylding vpon the foundation of any other Saint Iohn likewise That the Citie of God is set vpon twelue foundations wherein are the names of the twelue Apostles of the Lambe Whereof it followeth that all the Apostles are the foundation of the Church aswell one as another and moreouer that Saint Paul hath buylded without any foundation not building vpon Peters ministerie or else the Peter was not that foundation Againe we demaunde of them if this ministerie consist not in the edifying of the Church by the preaching of the Gospel Forasmuch as the Apostles which were all preachers of saluation in Christ were therein master buylders and all they are buylders which buylde vpon the foundations which were layd by them vpon that liuing rocke Nowe if they were all master buylders why then Saint Peter was not the foundation for he coulde not be both the foundation and a master buylder both together It followeth in the selfe same place Tibi dabo c. I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen That which thou shalt binde in earth c. Of this text we further drawe two contrary propositions Theirs is Christ hath giuen here to Peter alone the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and so consequently to the Bishop of Rome and to his successours Ours contrariewise is that Christ here hath promised the keyes to all in the name of Peter and hath giuen them to all his Apostles and after them to all those which lawefully exercise the Ministerie of his Gospel If we knowe what is meant by the keyes and what it is to binde and to loose it wil be easie for vs to iudge whether of these two propositions be true Christe Iesus pronounceth Wo be to you Doctors of the lawe because you haue taken away the keye of knowledge ye haue not entred in your selues and those which woulde wyllyngly haue entred in ye haue forbidden Nowe these Doctours were those who had charge to teach the worde of god These keyes then are no other thing but the charge to preache the kyngdome of heauen and to open the gate thereof by the preaching of the Gospel And concernyng byndyng and loosing Saint Iohn expoundeth what they meāt by these wordes to retayne and to remit sinnes the which is not done but in preaching the forgiuenesse of sinnes displayed in Iesus Christe to all those that beleeue the preaching of the Gospel The keyes then is the charge to preach the woorde to bynde and to loose is the effect of this word which to one sorte turneth to their saluatiō to the other to their greater damnation Whereupon Saint Paul calleth his Ministerie The Ministerie and word of reconciliation and else where The Ministerie of vengeaunce vpon the disobedient which Esai before had called the acceptable yeere of the LORD and the daye of vengeaunce Nowe forasmuch as no one alone can exercise this Ministerie in euerie place nor towards all It followeth therefore that one alone can not haue these keyes nor this charge of byndyng and loosyng which by the comming of Christie extendeth it selfe to all places They demaunde then wherefore it was saye to Peter I will giue thee IESUS Christe had sayde vnto all Whome thinke ye that I am And he in the name of all had answered Thou art Christ c. And therefore in his name he promiseth to all his Church the power of the keyes which he promiseth also afterwardes to all in the eyghtenth Chapter and after his resurrection deliuered them to all the Apostles equally and without any difference in these wordes Receiue the holy Ghost To all those to whom you shall remit their sinnes they shal be remitted c. That then that was promised here in these wordes I will giue vnto thee c. and not I doe giue thee which sheweth the time to come was then fully accomplished universally to all as in the person of Peter it was there promised to all To be short If as Saint Gregorie saith Saint Peter was not head of the Apostles til it was after his repentance in vaine then do they vpon this place trouble their braine pretending that by that place this power was giuen vnto him And if they will say that the same was meāt there by the keyes promised vnto him by the deliuerance of the keyes which was after his repentance giuen vnto all we conclude that they were here promised vnto all The which we saye not to the ende to derogate any thing from S. Peter whose readines to confesse the sonne of God and zeale toward our Sauiour was incomparable but to discouer the subtiltie of the Pope and of his poleshorne generation that of the keye of knowledge giuen to Saint Peter hath made a key of power and of the preaching of the worde a tyranny ouer all the princes and people of the earth and of the kingdome of heauen a temporall monarchie notwithstanding that there is nothing more cōtrarie to the whole doctrine that Christ hath taught his Apostles As for the auncient doctors they haue vnderstoode it no otherwise then we doe Saynt Cyprian Our Lord in the person of one man gaue the keyes to all to shewe the vnitie of all The others neuerthelesse were euen the same that Peter vvas companions in like equal honour in equall povver but he vvould begin by one man to shevv that the Church is one Saynt Hierome expounding this selfe same place The ignorant Bishops and elders sayth he tooke hereby occasion to vsurpe I know not what maner of Pharisaicall authoritie thinking that they had power to bynd and loose at their pleasure But to bind loose ought to be no other thing but to declare by the word of God Gods sentence Beholde then the Pope in the stead of Cephas a Caiphas euen by the difinitiue sentēce of S. Hierom a minister of the Romane Church And else where All the Apostles had one the selfe same iudicial povver For Christ after his resurrection sayth vnto them Receiue the holy Ghost vvhose sinnes ye shal remitte they shal be remitted in heauen c. All the Church likevvise in his elders Bishops but specially Peter receiued it to the ende that euery one should vnderstand that he that separateth himselfe from the vnitie of faith cannot be absolued from his sinnes nor enter into heauen He sayth from the vnitie of fayth not from the vnitie of Peter nor
from the vnitie of the Bishop of Rome Also the elders ministers of the Gospell haue the same right office which the priestes of the lawe had in the case of those that were Lepers They remitte then or holde sinnes according as they iudge shewe that they are remitted or holdē before god Saint Augustine The Lord calleth the keyes of the kingdome of heauen the knowledge and vertue to discerne those who are worthy to be receyued or else to be shut out of the kingdom Now howsoeuer it semeth at the first sight that he gaue this povver to Peter alone yet vve must acknovvledge vvithout all doubt that he hath giuen it to all the Apostles as it appeareth after his resurrection vvhen he sayth vnto them That vvhich ye remit in earth c. Also It is sayd vnto him I vvill giue thee the keyes as though that povver had bene giuen to him alone but as he ansvvered for al so he likevvise receyued the keyes together vvith all as bearing the person of the vnitie He is named therefore alone for all forasmuch as there vvas vnitie amongst all And therefore Augustines ordinarie maner of speache is that in Peters person the keyes are promised to all and in the person of all them to all the Ministers of the Church Leo the Bishoppe of Rome at the time that this question was handled disputing with the Byshops of Constantinople although in his workes he hath left sufficient shewe of the traces of ambition yet he speaketh not otherwise thereof This povver sayth he of the keyes is likevvise passed ouer to all the Apostles and transferred to all the gouernours of the Church And in that it is particularly recommended vnto Peter it is because the example of Peter is set forth to all the gouernors of the Church In euery place therfore where men iudge according to the equitie of Peter there Peters priuiledge is founde but contrariwise it hath no place where Peters equitie is not found Hitherto then we find not the keyes of power but of knowledge only to wit the ministerie of the Gospell the which is common to al ministers and so likewise are the keyes which are thereto annexed This is that which is repeated by Gratian in the Decretals That Saynt Peter receiued no more povver then the other Apostles and by the chiefest Canonists in the Decretalles themselues That the povver of bynding and loosing in vvhich is founded al the iurisdiction of the Church proceedeth immediatly from Christ not immediatly frō S. Peter or his successors the which also Cardinal Cusan maintained in the time of the Council of Constance against those which alledged the key of power pretended by the Pope But let vs go yet somwhat farther They holde that the power of bynding and loosing is practised principally in their sacrament of Penance when their priest inioyneth satisfaction and afterwards giueth absolution to those that haue satisfied Nowe I demaund of them whether it be God that forgiueth or the priest that giueth absolution They will saye it is God that forgiueth and that the priest by his worde doth declare it the which the master of the sentences prooueth very wel by many places drawen out of the auncient Fathers in his fourth booke following that which Chrysostom saith that in these things Neither man Angel nor Archangel cā do any thing And in very deede this is an assured Maxim of Christian religion as he there sayth That none can take avvay sinnes but Iesus Christ alone vvho is the lambe that hath borne the sinnes of the vvorld Now if God be he which bindeth looseth I demaund what more power can remaine in the Pope who doeth neyther the one nor the other And whether we may not come to the conclusion of Marsilius of Padua That the Pope cārelease no more neither from the punishment nor frō the fault then any other poore priest Also If God then exercise his authoritie as Saint Ambrose saith and the priest his knovveledge in doing his office by the key of discretion What shall remaine for the Pope to do vnlesse he will breake in vpon the authoritie of God what key remaines for him not hauing any office to exercise vnlesse it be the key of indiscretion To conclude then the interpretation of this place of S. Marthew according to the force of the wordes the conference of the scriptures the analogie or proportiō of faith the opinion of the aunciēt Doctors the Canōs thēselues of the Romish church Iesus Christ is the stone or rather the liuely rocke vpō which the Church is founded by the ministery of the Apostles who were no other but master Masons To this church which is one vnder the name of Peter who answered for all the power of the keyes was promised to open the gate of the kingdome of heauen to all those which obey the preaching of the gospel Al they which exercise the ministery of the Gospel haue these keys so farre forth as their ministery extends it cannot be attributed to thē that do not exercise any whereof it ensueth that it is so farre of that the Pope should haue thē alone or al the rest frō him that the poorest priest doing his dutie in his parish hath thē better thē he And if because this word was spoken to Peter they wil restraine this place to Peters person I say then that it is rashly done of thē to extend to all the Bishops of Rome that which was spoken to Peter Or if they wil be yet of this tough opiniō thē they must permit that these words Come behinde me Sathan thou art an offence vnto me which follow in the verses next after spokē to Pet. alone must be vnderstood of him al his pretended successors wherof must folow this special priuiledge that the successors of Peter none others may become deuils that the Church of Rome is becōe in Christēdome the stone of offence because for taking care for nothing but the great things of the world it hath forsaken those which are of God. They make an argument afterwardes by another place Ioh. 21 it is sayde three times to S. Peter Louest thou me then feede my sheepe Therefore he was vniuersal pastor of the Church If they concluded he is cōmaunded to feed therefore he was a pastor of the flocke of Christ the cōclusion were good But that therfore he was an vniuersal pastor or the pastor of pastors there is nothing in the text from whēce they may fetch it To feede sayth their owne glose vpon that word is to teach by word by example not to gouerne ouer al the world How it was said to all the Apostles Teach go ye into the whole world Also Euen as my father sent me so send I you Therefore it was said vnto all Feede my sheep S. Paul saith in many places That he is the Apostle of the Gētiles