if wee would say lodged in the streetes and lanes Furthermore you haue after the like manner that the Pagans haue those little Images named Oscilla pourtraits made after the likenesse of the mouth and you vow to your saints the resemblance of your diseased members and other parts of the body that you may recouer your health and the walles of your Churches are like vnto the walles of the temples of those Aesculapian Gods which were pictured with armes and legs and other parcels of mens bodies which proceeded of the inuention of Hercules of whom the Grecians as witnesseth Arabon haue learned to consecrate vnto their Gods tables and boordes containing the inscription of the diseases whereof they thought they had beene cured through their helpe And your superstition hath ouerflowed so farre that you haue done as much for beasts And Cato maketh mention of the requests and prayers which the Romanes made for the health of their bessts which that poore Gentile mocked Moreouer from whence come your Agnus De is and such other trash to which you attribute so many vertues against all manner of diseases but from the ancient sorcerers and magicians which had wont to make certaine Images for the Angels for the Demons and Planets that they might serue for the like antidote and preseruatiue against dangers We shall neuer haue done I will conclude therefore that you are Gentiles by imitation who adore your Gods after the same manner who lodge your Images reliques on Coushions in the Churches as these did their Gods on the puluinar which was a certaine place in the fore part of the Theater that so they might bee the better seene CHAP. XXVIII Of Reliques VVHO doubteth but Sathan is the author of adoring reliques The Historiographers Ruffinus and Socrates beare sufficient record writing of the body of Babilas Martyre And the conclusions which the Fathers made being assembled in councell at Constantinople in the time of Leo to wit that the worshipping of Reliques was meere Idolatrie declareth sufficiently in what ranke wee ought to place them in the Church of God The third and fourth age after Iesus Christ were ignorant of this new fashion which smelleth altogether of Idolatry S. Austin would not admitte those reliques S. Chrysostome condemneth and reprooueth the same By what gate then haue they entred into Christianisme Such as are skilfull in profane Histories are not ignorant of the transportation of Theseus his bones which Simon remoued from the Isle Scyros into Athens and that Antigonus did in like manner with the reliques of Demetrius which in great pompe and solemnity hee transported from Syria into Grecia And concerning the religious honour wherewith the Gentiles worshipped the reliques of their dead behold here what S. Cyrillus Alexandrin e saith In old time saith he when certaine men had hazarded themselues in the battell of Marathon in defence of whole Grecia and had died valiantly fighting against the armie of Xerxes there was a custome among the Athenians to assemble themselues at their sepulchres and to praise them highlie once in the yeere Moreouer Plato himselfe saith of those that haue liued well and died nobly that they are become like Daemons and that wee ought to serue them after their death and worship their shrines Eusebius also maketh mention of the same Gentiles who made their supplications neere to the shrines where the ashes of those were kept whom they thought to haue beene valiant And in these passages of Eusebius and Cyrillus concerning the Gentiles is this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Ruffinus interpreteth thecas These were the shrines and pots wherein the ashes were kept This inuention therefore hath proceeded from the Gentiles vnto the Christians and these heathenish examples haue beene the cause of this foolish imitation in Constantine the first Christian Monarch whose chiefe occupation was to studie curiously how to finde out the bones and ashes of such as were holden for Saints before whose pottes and cophins the Emperour Theodosius did likewise bow downe himselfe A custome that hath beene renued since in S. Ambroses age where they continued to seeke after them to carie them from place to place and to recommend them to people From this custome which the Pagans had to conserue religiously the spoiles of their Gods for according to Apuleius they did so terme their reliques proceeded the difficulty which was made in granting to the Christians the body of their Bishop Polycarpus thinking that they would make a God thereof and adore the same And Eusebius doth learnedly remarke the answere returned by the Christians protesting that it was not vnto the true God alone that they did this homage And these puluinares or beds finely trimmed in the fore part of the Theater where those reliques were doe they not argue from whence they haue proceeded and to whom the first inuention of this Idolatry ought to be attributed In the time of Paganisme they carried them at Processions they were shewed on the Theaters as they vse to doe with the napkin of Chambery which is now transported into Thurin It is the same worship it is the same seruice that is vsed now in your Churches towards the bones of your dead The Turkes and Mahumetans haue also the reliques and ashes of their Saints whom they name Sehidun and yeelde the same honour to them that you doe to yours CHAP. XXIX Of the feast Corpus Christi VVHere haue you found that the bread of the holy Supper ought to be adored And what is the foundation of your adoration Truely Gentilisme is the groundstone and pile whereon you leane which adored one Iupiter Pistor It is true that you haue other presuppositiōs to wit that the bread is changd into the true body and the wine into the true blood of Christ Iesus the body must needs be accōpanied with the blood the blood must needs be accompanied with the body and both being together cannot be without a soule Christs soule cannotbe without the Deity there upon as on the top and finall end of your building you ground this adoration which is the only Helena for whose cause this warre was enterprised Pope Honorius was the author thereof the yeare 1226. Vrbane encreased the same much through eestablishing of the solemne feast of sacri Crustuli as you tearm it the yeer 1264. which was ordained to continue for euer by the councell of Vienne the yeere 1310. And this feast is cōmonly called among you the day or the feast of the holy Sacrament which you beleeue to be the Sacrament of miracles And that day which is so solemn is dedicated for promenying your Hoste too and fro through the townes and countrey with as much mirth gladnes as the Romans were wont to vse in certaine playes wherof Suetonius maketh mention at
market and vpon all the wine that is in the celler immediately thereafter all the bread and wine is changed into the naturall body and blood of Christ Iesus I know none of the Hereticks that beleeued this transubstantiation of the bread touching the wine the Marcites as Epiphanius reporteth did assure themselues that the grace of God powred the blood of Christ into their cup and Marcus their schoole-master made them beleeue that hee changed the wine of the Eucharist into blood You would make the whole world beleeue that there is a transubstantiation of wine into blood made in the Chalice and that you may the more easily deceiue men and blinde the eyes of the simpler sort you bring with you sometimes certaine false miracles and illusions And from these goodlie traditions some wretched creatures haue taken occasion to inuent this mingling of blood that is drawne from young children that they may burne the same with the bread of the Lords holy Supper as the Cataphrygians who as wee reade in S. Austin did inuent a manner of transubstantiation of wine into blood realy corporaly It cannot be vnknowne to you that the decree of transubstantiation was established by two Councels holden at Rome the one vnder Nicolas the second against Berengarius and the other vnder Gregorie the seuenth being both prouinciall and not generall The most ancient of them being a thousand yeeres after the Apostles You would couer the newnesse of this doctrine with antiquity which neuerthelesse can bee but imaginary Wee yeelde to you antiquitie but such a one as is taken from the Marcites and Cataphrygians The vse of leauened or vnleauened bread in the Sacrament was holden a great while to bee indifferent in the Church Wherefore then hath Alexander the first of this name restored the Iewish ceremonie concerning vnleauened bread as if the Sacrament were to bee celebrated after the manner of the Iewes Is not this to follow the doctrine of the Ebionians who taught that the ceremoniall Law of Moyses was necessary vnto saluation Is not this I say to imitate the same that one Symmachus an Hereticke of Palestina had taught before The glosse of the decretall of Honorius the third vpon the word fermentato saith that it is not lawfull to vse leauened bread because it is written Not with old leauen but with the vnleauened bread of sincerity and truth And in your gloses which you haue approued and authorised after the rules whereof the Romish Church liueth and beleeueth we finde that pepper being added to the Sacrament marreth not the transubstantiation of the wheate but contrariwise that leauen marreth the same And in this how differ you from the Hereticke Sabacius who vsed vnleauened bread onely and no other Nicephorus speaking of the Heresies of the Armenians that were followers of the Theopaschites saith thus The same in the Eucharist vse vnleauened bread and not that which is leauened And in the chapter following The auncient Law giuers saith he doe wrongfully boast themselues that the famous Gregorie Bishop of Armenia did leaue vnto them those ceremonies by tradition chiefly the oblation of vnleauened bread and the cup without water because that in like manner in that mysticall supper of our Lords the sacrifice was without leauen and the wine pure which things notwithstanding the Catholick Church doth not alow in any waies Concerning vs we doe not impugne the mixtion of the Chalice but onely the condemning of such as doe not mingle it For we haue alwaies acknowledged that the most auncient Fathers vsed wine mingled with water in the Sacrament and we reade not that the Churches of Armenia were euer excommunicated for that to wit for vsing of pure wine Behold what he hath said here Furthermore like as the Messalians dipped the bread in the wine so also in the breaking of your Eucharist which is done after that the Agnus Dei is sung you mingle the third part thereof with the supposed blood of your Chalice The councell of Constance hath taken away the cup from the communion which you terme Laicall The Manicheans also vsed but one sort in the celebration of their Eucharist as Leo and Gelasius Bishops of Rome do witnesse and of this last Gratian maketh mention in his rapsodies The same Manicheans maintained that all things which appeared outwardly in Christ were but meere accidents May it not be that you haue learned from those that the forme figure colour and waight of the bread remaine still in the Sacrament without their owne substance There remaineth nothing fit to finish your picture but to mingle cheese with bread as the Artotirites did CHAP. XIV Of Purgatorie PVrgatorie springeth from the heresie of the Catharians against whom Epiphanius hath learnedly written And although Purgatorie be the chiefe patrimony of the Romish Clergie and the onely foundation of Masses yet it is vnknowne to the Church that was vnder the Law to the Church that is vnder Grace being without all warrant without any likely-hood how little so euer it be CHAP. XV. Of Miracles THe Donatists would haue proued their errors by Miracles which appeareth in Saint Austins writes Iustin Martyr and Athenagoras say that those be Hereticks that worke Miracles in their Churches and that to doe Miracles is no signe and demonstration of Gods true seruice S. Chrysostome saith There can be no other proofe of Christianity then the holy Scriptures the signes are now abolished and will rather bee found among false Christians CHAP. XVI Of Praying to Saints VVe doe honour and worship the Saints but it is in imitation This is S. Austins maxime honor andi sunt propter imitationem Wee doe not call vpon them nor pray to them that they may become intercessors and aduocates for vs at Gods hands we retaine and follow onely their good life and doctrine by holding and reputing them blessed in heauen We know that worship belongeth to God onely all manner of creatures being excluded We will not produce your arguments here neyther yet our defences wee should neuer haue done I will aske you this onely how can you with an vpright conscience deny the harmony that you haue with the Melchisedechians and Sethians who worshipped the Saints as you doe And where can you shew that this inuocation hath beene taught in the Primitiue Church or yet many ages after Verily in the Primitiue Church all gifts were thought to proceed from Iesus Christ alone no mention was made eyther of Saints or Angels contrariwise it was the doctrine of Hereticks of the Basilidians and of the Ophites who called on the Angels in their operations as if the earth had beene deuided among them and assigned vnto them certaine names and sought to appaise them by certaine composed formes namely this as Ireneus writeth O tu Angele ab a te or opere
Some haue drawne the etymologie from the sending of presents or table seruices which we call Messes and it seemeth that Lampridius hath iested a little thereat And those dry Masses that are sung at womens churching that are risen out of child-bed are they not like vnto the Nephalia domesticke sacrifices wherein the vse of wine was forbidden The Gentils had their The smophoria Demeteria of Ceres the Panathenea of Minerua the Aphrodisia of Venus the Pammylia of Osiris so likewise haue you as many Masses as there are Saints registred in your Kalender You terme your Masses vnbloudie sacrifices and without bloud but how can they be such sith they haue bereft so many millions of their liues Concerning your priuate Masses whereinto you haue changed the generall communion the Epigrammatist mocketh them CHAP. LII Of the Confiteor IN vaine doe you attribute the inuention of the Confiteor of the Masse vnto Pontian and Damase Bishops of Rome and in this we challenge you of falshood seeing this ceremonie was inuented a thousand yeares before them It is theft to depriue any authors of their inuentions by attributing the same vnto others which are onely their imitators Numa was the first that aduanced both the theorie and practicke thereof for as we read in good authors he thought that the consciences of the sacrificers were well purged through the confession which they made vnto the Gods and Goddesses and that without the Confiteor the sacrifice could not be lawfully celebrated We will not enter into the deepenesse of Confession which we approue it being grounded vpon the word of God I will onely demand of you with what face darre you be so bold in the Confiteor of your Masse as to ioyne the creatures with the creator CHAP. LIII Of the nine Kyrie Eleysons TO pray to the Lord that he would haue mercy on vs should be an ordinary thing amongst vs but let it be in a language that we vnderstand And why may we not vse this forme at infinite times rather then nine times And this number of nine hath it not bin drawne out of the Pythagoricall Cabale The imitation and not the inuention therof ought to be imputed to Gregorie the first of that name seeing many ages before that Tullus Hostilius successor to Numa did establish a certaine law touching this number and ordained a nouendiall sacrifice for a remedie against monsters and prodigious sights And this nouendiall ceremonie is not without some mysterie the vse thereof was frequent among the Idolaters whether it had beene in the Lemurall sacrifices or magicall enchantments thinking that the vertue of this number was such that ghosts and fearefull visions of the night were chased away thereby Sathan required of his followers an abstinence from that which is lawfull in marriage and a respite from their marriage bed for nine dayes space and namely of such as were dedicated to the seruice of Ceres This is it which we intend to proue to wit the agreement that is betweene you and the Gentils CHAP. LIIII Of the odde number of the Collects of the Masse SVch as haue sung Masse know that the vnity and number of three fiue and seuen are duly obserued and that very seldomly it is extended so far as nine in the orations that are said after the Kyrie eleyson or gloria in excelsis which you terme Collects to the end that the memorie of the Masse-monger may not wauer in such along reckoning And of whom haue you learned these manner of doings but of the Gentils who were of the opinion that God delighted in this od number This law was diligently obserued in their sacrifices and it was knowne by the number vnto what Gods they were offered vnto the infernall or vnto the celestiall for to these last the number was equall and to the first inequall And we will remarke by the way that according to the beleefe of those silly people the number of three was the Prince of all the inequall numbers as indeed it is most frequent in your Masses and chiefly when you go about to signe your Masse bread whether it be before or after the consecration The Poets likewise haue remarked that the sorcerers had the same in great account aboue all other numbers which was obserued also in the sacrifices that were made to the Goddesse Muta where this number of three was obserued The number of seauen also was not forgotten and such as were of a most strict conscience reputed themselues to be very cleane if they had washed them seauen times in the sea or salt water such as your holy water is at this day and they did reuerence this number so much that it was worshipped and inserted in the Catalogue of the Goddesses vnder the name of Tritonia virgo It was vsed also in magicall sacrifices but was not so frequent as the number of three CHAP. LV. Of washing of the Hands in the Masse CLeanlinesse is commendable if it be voyd of all superstition And it is knowne vnto all men how bitter the reproofes of Iesus Christ were against the washing and purification of the Pharisies wherein they thought that the chiefe part of godlines consisted a custome which was thought by the Idolaters to be so religious that they held it a great offence to appeare before their Gods either to doe sacrifice or to pray vnlesse they had first beene clensed and washed both in their bodies and garments I will submit my selfe to that which the Poets say and in euery corner of the fields I heare some tidings thereof and in the meane season you ought not to be ignorant that God hath no regard to our bodies if they bee well purged prouided that our consciences be cleane in faith hope and charitie a cleanlinesse that ought not to be sought and cannot be found else where saue onely in the bloud of the sonne of God our mediator And to returne to our Massing purifications of whom haue you learned to wash your hands three times during the action of the Masse but of the auncient Romanes Your first purging preceedeth the Masse The second is vsed to the end that you may the more worthily touch your God after the consecration the last is after the communion of the bodie and bloud wherein notwithstanding you wash onely the thumbe and the finger next thereunto of both the hands by which fingers you are chiefly serued in handling of your mysteries CHAP. LVI Of Silence at the Canon THe Goddesse Muta was worshipped in old times The promise of silence sayth Tertullian was duely obserued in all their mysteries and chiefly in the Samothracian and Eleusinian sacrifices named Orgia so termed because prophane persons and such as were thought to be polluted were forbidden to come vnto them The Bookes of the Sibyls were not perused and that by expresse commandement but by the tenne
wine c. And what manner of conclusion can we draw out of these words but that they are figured and hyperbolicall whereby is signified the great plentie and abundance of wine and milke that was to be in the land of Iuda at the deuiding thereof After this manner hath the whole antiquitie vnderstood it and neuerthelesse you would corrupt and peruert the sense thereof vnder the authoritie of Rabbi Cohana who by the asse hath vnderstood say you the Messias into whose body and blood the wine was to bee transubstantiated In conscience is this to speake reuerently of the holy Sacrament Ought you not to be ashamed of such conclusions But how should you be so sith you haue no brow CHAP. XIX Of the eleuation of the Hoste IN the old Testament there was some peace offerings which they vsed to lift vp on high a ceremonie that signified the eleuation of Christ on the wood of the Crosse. And may it not be from thence that you haue learned to lift vp high the round Host after your consecration Howsoeuer it bee your Doctors know not whereof to take holde whether in regard of the signification of this eleuation of the Hoste or for that of the Chalice seeing as yet they haue not determined whether it ought to be lifted aloft couered or vncouered And let vs see how well they are versed in the Scripture Some doe attribute this manner of doing vnto Dauid of whom it is written in these words naughtily translated out of the Hebrew Et ferebatur manibus suis whereas the text beareth that he behaued himselfe like a foole among the hands of those that would haue taken him Durandus will haue this ceremonie to be grounded on that which is written And I if I were lift vp from the earth will draw all men vnto me Another that he may the sooner haue done writeth that the Pope hath so decreed and hath also granted many indulgences vnto those that shall worship the Hoste considering the great miracles that haue beene wrought which neuerthelesse one of your schoole-men being of a better conscience spareth not to say that they haue beene deuised by the Priests that they might terrifie the people the more and keepe them vnder the yoake of this beleefe in stead of teaching them to worship one only God S. Paul speaketh nothing of this adoration neyther yet is there any mention made throughout the whole antiquitie And what hold now might Arrius Eutiches and others take of you if they were aliue againe CHAP. XX. Of Incensing THe perfuming with sweete incense was very frequent in the Church of Israel and was likewise an institution of God But the Leuiticall seruice being suppressed why haue you restored it againe Yet if you did vse the same simply the sinne would be the lesser but when as you craue of God that in recompence of the Franckincense he would bestow on vs the riches of his mercies and compassions the gifts of his holy Spirit is not this to attribute the remission of sinnes to the incense Likewise in the liturgie that is attributed vnto S. Iames you pray to God that he would receiue the same and bee pleased therewith for the same purpose CHAP. XXI Of kissing of the Bishops shoulder IT is likewise a custome among you that the Bishops Masse being finished which is sung with greater state then the ordinary ones are to kisse the Bishops shoulder Behold what your Doctors say the one a Pope and the other a Schoole-man to wit that by this kissing of the shoulder is signified that the Bishop is that Pontife vnto whom according vnto the figure of the Law the right shoulder of the holesome peace offerings belonged and whose domination is laid vpon his shoulder And who would not laugh at these so subtile and feriall allegories CHAP. XXII Of Lights THe like may bee said of lights God commanded in his law the fire vpon the Altar shall burne thereon and neuer be put out And what did that signifie but that the fire that consumed the holocauste was a shadow and type of the afflictions and torments whereby the body of Christ was consumed because of our sinnes And the perpetuitie of this fire what else did it signifie but a perpetuall enioying of the fruits proceeding of the afflictions and torments aboue mentioned which the faithfull doe suffer And how can you gather your lights and torches from thence To be briefe wee will not insert here that which your Canons and one of your Schoole-men teach who would set this Marchandize to sale as vpright wares we shall say onely that the ceremoniall Law hauing beene a pedagogue vnto the Fathers to leade them vnto the contemplation and taking hold among those shadowes of the light of the truth which is our Sauiour Christ Iesus it is folly yea impietie to restore them and bring them in vse againe seeing that Christ Iesus hath suppressed them CHAP. XXIII Of Celibate AS for singlenesse of life you are directly commanded the same concubinate is also permitted among you which is so farre from being excluded from the Church that it is euen admitted vnto the holy table witnesse your decrees drawne out of some councell But to the end that you bee not letted for lacke of proofes one of your Popes hath made prouision and hath grounded his chastitie vpon that which the Lord spake Sanctifie your selues therefore and bee holy for I am the Lord your God as if holinesse did consist onely in celibate Wee shall adde vnto the premisses that celibate proceeded from the Esseans a very famous sect among the Iewes and not only celibate but Monachisme also whereof the statutes are altogether conforme to the rules of the Esseans as it may be seene in Eusebius CHAP. XXIV Of the Iubilee GOD did institute the Iubilee for the libertie of slaues for the abolishing of debts and for restoring againe of those that were put from the possession of their fathers inheritances And although that litterally this institution belonged to the policie of Israel as well for the possessions as to vphold and keepe the distinction and separation of their of spring which otherwise might haue beene confused yet so it is that this ceremonie aymed a little farther to wit at Christ who is the end and scope of the Law in whose person there is full libertie and ioy promised and giuen to vs which the faithfull shall inherit after the painefull trauels of this life And why doe you prophane with your pretended Iubilee this holy figure already accomplished by our Messias We haue spoken therof in the conformities which are betweene you and Gentilisme here wee shall adde onely that you set vp Iudaisme againe and that you attribute vnto the golden hammer wherewith the Pope beateth one of the gates of S. Peters temple at Rome called Holy at the beginning of the Iubilee that which
coeternall with God If it be so behold two Gods in your Church as well as among the Manicheans For that which hath no begining is God The consequence followeth seeing that the Empyreal heauen is eternall it is God You will obiect vnto vs that all doe not agree with Steuchus This may be true but where doth the Pope censure this matter Where is the scraping out hereof in your Index Expurgatorius Truely this silence maketh vs suspect that in holding your peace you haue all agreed with him therein And if any of vs had spoken and written so what tempests what thundrings should we haue heard ouer our heads CHAP. II. Of the body of Christ Iesus ANd how haue you spared the body of Iesus Christ You haue deified the same by making it inuisible altogether spirit without place without dimensions and to bee in all places wheresoeuer any sacrifice is offered after your manner This is to make the body of Christ with the Eutichians equall with the diuinitie for to be in diuers places at one moment and to bee euery where are the markes of diuinity What Haue not Marcion and the Manicheans taught that the body of Christ was but counterfeit and phantasticall Basilides followed their footesteps This is the same that you teach vnto your flocks And that body hid according to your doctrine vnder the accidents of bread and wine in the Eucharist can not stand but through a phantasticall doctrine in an imaginary body And what manner of body I beseech you which is voide of all its owne qualities and essentiall properties Euery true body is in some place is furnished with its owne dimensions otherwaies it is not a body It belongeth vnto you therefore to bee aduised by what means you may escape and purge yourselues from Marcionisme and Manicheisme You confesse that Christ is in heauen contained within a place and that hee is likewise in the Sacrament of the Eucharist but without any place is not this as much as if you had said that this sacramentall body is more glorious spirituall heauenly then the body which is in heauen and is glorified by the Father Herein you agree with the Hereticks called Helcesceans who maintained that there was many Christs or at least two whereof the one dwelled in heauen and the other vpon earth Some of your Doctors conforming themselues to the Abbot Eutiches haue not beene ashamed to write that Christs body is neyther creator nor creature but something betweene them both which your Canonists hold likewise to be true of the Pope O monster If S. Austin were aliue he would answere you that which hee hath written namely that euery substance that is not God is a creature and that which is a creature is not God as being a thing inferiour to God Mahomet in hss Alcoran holdeth that Christ was neuer crucified or if hee was that it was without cause Alanus following that which the Councell of Trent ordained saith that the blood of Christ Iesus that was shed before hee was crucified in mount Caluarie is the ratification and foundation of the eternall and new Testament of the Sonne of God whose body without all shame he affirmeth to haue beene offered vp at the Supper before his passion Dare you confesse it If you hold the affirmatiue what neede had Christ to shed his blood the next day following If Christ our Paschall Lambe was offered vp in the Supper it behoued him to haue made satisfaction vnto his Father and that our redemption was accomplished there And what neede was there if it be so that hee should suffer the morrow after And when you alledge those closed gates whereof mention is made in the Gospell where you would haue two bodily substances to concurre together in one onely place is not this to ground your selues on the same argument which the Manicheans abused to the end that they might ouerthrow the truth of the humane nature that was in Christ What large and ample matter should S. Hierome finde here to speake and say vnto you Cum dicit Manicheus similis Manicheorum Dominus non resurrexit in corporis veritate vt scias non verum fuisse corpus clausis ingressus est ianuis Nos quid dicemus Domine libera animam meam de labijs iniquis à lingua dolosa And if this be true behold the article of the incarnation abolished and the truth of the body of Christ Iesus ouerthrowne at least since his resurrection The ascension shall be nothing but the changing of a visible and limited nature throughout all its dimensions into an inuisible substance and which is more spirituall and Angelicall and his second comming shall not be to returne and come back againe realy and substantially but without any remouing from beneath here hauing beene inuisible euer since his resurrection vntill his returning to become visible like some iugler But when will you leaue reauing And the arguments which you draw from posse ad esse are fitter for the Manicheans and Euticheans then for those that say that they professe true Christianity And call to remembrance that which Vigilius wrote against the substantiall presence of Christs body in the Eucharist Caro Christi quando in terra fuit non erat in coelo nunc quia est in coelo non est vtique in terris The Nestorians made a separation betweene the two natures in Christ you doe in like manner when you will not acknowledge him to be mediator both according to the one and the other nature The Monothelites gaue vnto Christ but one will onely which the Iesuits haue confirmed by condemning of vs that haue written the contrarie Alanus hath written that Christ did neuer sacrifice after the manner of Aaron It is as much as if hee had said that he neuer shed his blood Truth it is indeede that Iesus Christ is a Priest after the order of Melchisedec a dignitie which hath a relation vnto his person but that doth not hinder his sacrifice to bee bloody as were those of Aaron otherwise wee should not as yet be reconciled to God CHAP. III. Of Christs Soule VVE beleeue that Christs Soule being for a certaine season separated from the body was in Paradise and not in the Lymbus set vp and builded by you in the fourth mansion of the infernall Palace S. Austin and Ireneus haue in like manner taught the same that we hold and beleeue in our Church Notwithstanding Bellarmine gathereth out of Durandus his words that Christs soule is yet still in hell Is not this all one with that which the Christolites said to wit that this glorious soule of our redeemer remained still in hell CHAP. IIII. How men are saued THe whole Scripture teacheth vs that the being the life and grace fauour and goodnesse which are poured downe by God on vs
the auncient heretickes did abuse euen as you doe that which the Apostle sayth And we speake wisedome among them that are perfect This was the ordinarie defence and argument of the Carpocratians witnesse Ireneus Bishop of Lion although that in this passage he doth not place those that were perfect as opposites vnto ideots This is it which S. Athanase remarketh against the Arians concerning those bragges of Arrius who blinded the eyes of his followers with these goodly titles in shew Electis Dei secundum fidem peritis Dei ita didici ego Montanus ioyned with the old and new Testament certaine other obseruations of his pretended paraclete is not this the very same that was said of that holy Ghost that was carried by post from Rome to Trent in a cloake-bagge CHAP. XI Of the Church THe Donatists tyed the Church to a certaine place as for you you tie it to Rome and to a counterfeit succession of persons say that the generall assembly is composed onely of such as follow the Romish Church as mother and Mistresse of all the Churches and doe acknowledge the Pope to be successor to Peter the Prince of the Apostles and vicar of Christ Iesus Hearken vnto S. Hierome The Church doth not consist in walles but in the sowndnesse of doctrines Wheresouer true faith is there is the Church also And they do Christ Iesus great wrong to tye him to the Temple of Rome hee that departed from his temple that was builded in Ierusalem because of the wickednesse that was committed among the Sacrificers Whosoeuer therefore would know which is the true Church of Christ saith Chrisostom let him finde out the same by the Scriptures And S. Austin We haue found Christ in the Scriptures we must finde the Church there also CHAP. XII Of Baptisme VVHo hath taught you that Baptisme taketh away onely the sinnes that are past and secureth vs only from the first shipwracke but the Marcionists the Messalians and Euchites as Epiphanius writes You doe attribute with them the vertue of Baptisme vnto sinnes that are past and to the Sacrament which you terme Penitence the washing and purging of other offenses in case wee should fall againe therein through weakenesse which is in stead of a table to saue vs from this shipwracke The Messalians taught that man was not made perfect through Baptisme The Iesuites hold that this is no sure pledge vnto vs that our sinnes are forgiuen vs. This moued Marcion to reiterate the same to his followers And although Baptisme be not renued in the Romish Church yet so it is that she vseth the Chrisme in her pretended Sacrament of confirmation to make those that are annoynted become more skilfull in spirituall combats that they may become wholly and perfectly Christians Qui nunquam erit Christianus saith the Canon nisi qui confirmatione Episcopali fuerit chrismatus Would you heare any thing more horrible then this and namely when confirmation is preferred to Baptisme the institution of men to Christs Theodoret writes that the Messalians were the authors of crosses and exorcismes for said they the childe at his birth is accompanied with his Demon who cannot bee chased away but through coniuration And what Know you not very well that it is forbidden by the Law of God to vse charmes coniurations and exorcismes of any creatures whereby any vertue or dignity aboue the course of nature is attributed vnto dumbe things We are not ignorant that this manner of coniuring was practised in the Church in S. Cyprian and S. Austins time let vs rest notwithstanding on that which Christ Iesus and the Apostles haue done and not on the Fathers when they are destitute of Gods word And what neede haue children to be exorcised seeing they are members of Gods euerlasting couenant You haue a certaine coniured oyle ordained of purpose for baptising of little children And of whom haue you learned this manner of doing but of the Hereticks Marcus Marcosius and Valentine as Epiphanius witnesseth And to the end that corruption and abuses might take the greater increase it hath beene permitted vnto women to baptise according to the error of the Marciomists Quintillians Cataphrygians Montanists Pepuzians Priscillians and Artotyrites although the ministration of Baptisme belong vnto a part of the preaching of the Gospell and that all things ought to be done with comelinesse and good order in the Church Was it euer permitted by the Law of God vnto women to minister the Sacraments or Sacrifices that were ordained in the first Church of the Israelites Is there any signe how little soeuer it bee of any permission in the new Testament of Christ Iesus by which this female sexe is licenced to doe so It is written in the historie of Moyses that his wife Sephora being moued with a womanlie furie tooke a sharpe knife or stone and cut away the foreskin of her sonne but that was done without any commandement and through a rash vsurpation of that which belonged no wayes vnto her And S. Austin hath expresly forbidden women to doe the same following the councell of Carthage where hee had beene present which did the verie same You cannot deny therefore that you insitate those Hereticks and most of all the Pepuzians who permitted the Priesthood vnto women seeing that through a supposed necessitie you agree that a part of the Ministerie should be discharged by them You haue gone on further for this expresse manner of Baptisme that was appointed by Christ Iesus in the name of the three persons of the most blessed Trinitie is changed and you haue taught that Baptisme is lawfully minished although it were vsed after this forme Baptiso te in nomine Patris filij Spiritus Sancti Beatae virginis Mariae The Marcosians in the administration of Baptisme vsed some Hebrew and strange words that the hearers might be astonished thereat as Ireneus writes and namely this Syrian word Etphethah You doe worse for not onely in the administration of Baptisme but in your whole seruice you speake strange languages and mingle the same with certaine words that amongst a thousand Priests there is not one that can pronounce them well let be to vnderstand them This spittle this saliue and holy water are of their inuentions and of your imitations CHAP. XIII Of the Lords Supper AS the holy Apostles receiued it from our Lord so haue they deliuered the same vnto vs and so will wee keepe it We will not enter in discourse touching that which may be said and written of the Eucharists our intention is only to declare vnto you that you haue borrowed from the Hereticks or the Hereticks from you many things that belong not to the institution of this Sacrament Ioh. Scotus saith that the Priest hauing an intention to consecrate saying the fiue words vpon all the bread that is in the