as there is no true fayth nor charitie nor Christ so also we ought not to seeke any saluation but in her And therefore if a man would speake properly we should call the Churche a company onely of those whom God hath chosen to euerlasting life in al times places which is to man inuisible who can not enter so farre as to knowe Gods will neyther the hart of man himselfe but is only visible to God who knoweth those that are his as the Apostle saith hath sealed them with his owne seale Notwithstanding forasmuch as charitie hath commaunded vs to presume particularlie of all those that are called the Churche of Christ that they are of the nōber of his elect that as they are bodily there assembled together so also that they are there spiritually incorporated albeit on the contrarie part the doctrine of fayth generally teacheth vs that the wicked to the end of the world are mingled with the good the Goates with the Sheepe the chaffe with the graine the tares with the good corne yet will we commit vnto God the searcher of hartes the knowledge of the inuisible Church will content our selues to search for the visible in his word into which all they must retire themselues in this world which wil be gathered into the inuisible Churche in the world to come Notwithstanding by the way we will note the differences that are betwene these two The inuisible Church cōtaineth none but the good The visible Church contayneth both the good and the bad to witte that onelye the electe this all those indifferently which are brought into her by the preaching of the trueth And for this cause S. Augustine saith of that that she tooke her beginning by Abel and not by Caine who was the elder and contrarywise of the other he saith that the self same begate Abel Enoch Simon Peter all Christians c. as one people hauing also begotten Caine and Cham Ismael and Esau and Simon the sorcerer with his cōfederates The inuisible Church is partly considered in heauen partly in earth cōprehending aswell those which triumph already with their head Iesus Christ our Lord as those which yet fight here beneath in the earth for his name against the world against themselues which shal fight in the same church after vs The visible church is considered properly to consist in them who not onely fight here in earth for the name of Christ but as well those that fight vnder his name with false markes standerds ensignes And for this cause that is considered euen from the first faythfull vnto the last bringing all the states ages of the church into one this according to certaine places times forasmuch as she is not vniuersally visible and to be seene at one push but according to the ages and in her degrees In the inuisible there is a great many sheepe which neuer were gathered into the visible and contrarywise in the visible a great many wolues which neuer shal be receiued into the inuisible And therefore S. Augustine sayth that there are a great many sheepe without and a great many woolues within and S. Paul saith also they are not al Israel which are of Israel For to be in the church or rather to say of the church is to be vnited with Christ incorporated in the company of the faithfull through true faith towards God and charitie towards our neighbor And there is no doubt but that many here and there vnder Paganisme it selfe had this desire which yet bodily they could not accomplish the which notwithstanding they are bound to doe with all their power as contrarywise to be separated from the church is not onely to be without the assemblie but to haue no participation of Christ nor vnion of faith and charitie with his faythfull Of the inuisible it is sayd that the gates of hell shal not preuaile against her Of the visible that she shal be so troubled that a mā shall not finde faith on the earth that charitie shal be as it were quenched insomuch that the elect themselues if it were possible should vtterly quaile And therefore it is not without cause that we say in our Creede that we beleeue the church For if we ought to hold nothing for certaine but that which we see with these carnall eyes there is no dout but that in all the states ages of the church there should many times be foūd such a confusion as the good graine should be altogether hid vnder the chaffe without any appearance of the Churche and yet notwithstanding this was then whē God sayd to Elias that he had reserued in the same 7000. whereof the chariot of Israel the Seer of the Lord I say he to whom the good people ought especially to haue beene knowen could not outwardly knowe one and euen then there when the state of the Church was such as God could not be serued visiblye but in Iewrie All these differences notwithstanding we do not beleeue two Churches nor two espouses of Christ but we beleeue one onelye considered diuersely one in the blade and the other in the graine one in the threshing floore another in the garner one in the mine another now already fyned the one inwrapped yet in the minglings of the world the other before her husband without spotte or wrinckle Altogether like as by a familie we properly vnderstand the children only although speaking more generally we comprehend the seruants them selues by a Citie we vnderstand the vnion of Cittizens albeit many times one part be at cōtention considered apart by it selfe deserueth not but to be rooted out Returning then to our purpose we will call the visible church the company of those which make profession to serue the true God in Christ of which we haue presently to intreate This Church hath had three principall states or ages one without the lawe then say some of the auncient Fathers when man was but in some sort corrupted by the sinne of the first when he was notwithstanding in some sort a lawe to him selfe naturally felt himselfe conuinced of his sinne that is to say he felt his euil to seeke for remedy for the same although in very trueth this state and age of the Church found it selfe no lesse corrupted then the rest The second was vnder the lawe when it began in such sort to accustome it selfe to sinne that it grewe into a natural habite through the same and then for to shewe the sinne therof the lawe was giuen as a glasse in which she might consider her filthinesse and how farre of she was from that shee presumed to the ende she might returne again to be clensed The thirde was vnder grace in Iesus Christ promised to our first parents by by after their fal and who when the fulnes of time was come was sent of the Father who brought remedy to all them that
he which made it to be set vp Vnder Manasses Idolatrie was so monstrous so publique and so smitter sall that there appeared not any face of the people or Church of God and the cause thereof is by and by added as before to wit that the lawe of God had beene a long time hidden and buried in such sort that none coulde knowe any more what it was And if men marke what was the state of the Church of Israel he shall see that it was nothyng but publique continuall Idolatrie euen from the beginning of their schisme vntill theyr vtter ouerthrowe These impieties then in the visible Church of that time were not as a folly or sicknesse which passeth lightly away but rather which is here clearely seene vnder the raigne of three or foure Kinges the true seruants of God was tanquam lucida quaedam in furiosis interualla that is to say were as certaine good modes and seasons of right reason in a common rage folly This is that time of which the Prophets cried out You you are called by the name of Israel and you sweare by the name of the Lorde but you serue him not in trueth and in righteousnesse You haue said vnto a piece of wood thou art my father to a stone thou hast begotten me You you haue prostituted your selues vnder euery greene tree You haue abandoned me by the space of innumerable dayes and you haue gods according to the number of your Cities c. To be short all the Prophets which were sent euen vntill the comming of Christ and in all the Prophets all the Chapters are in a maner nothing els but testimonies of the idolatries and adulteries of the Church with strange gods who for the same threatten her and signifie vnto her a diuorce if she do not returne vnto the lord In meane while he that shal marke what maner of band companie that was in this time which our aduersaries call the Church vnderstanding the Cleargie the Priests the Scribes the ordinary prophets a man shal find that the true Prophets which were sent frō God had no greater enemies then they were that they were these that imprisoned them put them to death as troublers of the Church yea so farre foorth that our sauiour Christ sayth that it could not be that a prophet must be murthered out of Ierusalē And whē they said vnto them Turne you vnto the law of the Lord reforme the Church forsake your Idolatries burden not the people with so many of your vaine traditions c. they had the selfe same answere that our aduersaries haue We are the temple of the Lord we are the Church we are the watchmen of the people the law shall not perish from the Priest nor the counsell from the wise nor the word from that Prophet our Church whatsoeuer they say cannot faile Come then let vs strike them with our tongue and let vs not harken to their words But the Prophets shew them very wel how the promises of God ought to be vnderstoode Say ye not Here is the temple of the Lord for I haue abandoned Silo which I haue chosen and I wil reiect you also if you continue c. Say ye not that the lavv shall not perish frō the priest c. for for a lōg season Israel and Iuda was without the true God without a Priest without a Teacher c. Seeke therfore the Lord c. Your Priests saith the Lorde haue broken my lavve and they haue defiled my holy places They haue not saide Where is the Lorde thei vnderstood not my word thei haue not knowē me Your Prophets haue prophecied lies saying The Lorde hath saide thus wheras the Lord neuer spake it They haue prophecied in Baal haue gone after the things that are vaine Your watchmen are blind your prophets are snares of the fouler Thou vvilt demaund a vision of the prophet but the lavv shall perish frō the Priest and the counsell from the auncient the night shal be vnto you for a vision c. The Sunne shall go dovvn ouer the prophets the day shal be darke ouer thē They shal all couer their lips because they shall receiue no answere from god Seeke therfore the Lord you shal find him c. Beholde how the true Prophets who in comparison of these prelats were accompted the of scouring and muck of the world beate backe all their vaine presumptions that they had of not being deceyued To be short the Church of that time was throwen downe farre beneath that of Samaria and of Sodom Her prelates were called the princes of Gomorrha her Councils and assemblies conspiracies and coniurations against the Prophets of God her sacrifices whorish and adulterate And of all those that the Lorde sent to exhort them to reformation there can hardly be found any one that a little while escaped the crueltie of this assemblie which drewe all the titles and prerogatiues of the Church to it selfe In the middest notwitstandyng of this horrible confusion God knew his Church For if the Lorde sayth Esai the Prophet had not restored euen a small remnant they had bene as Sodom and should haue ben like vnto Gomorrha And he saith in another place Behold me Lord my children that is to say the disciples that thou hast giuen me Finally when the Iewes would not hearken to the wholesome exhortations of the Prophetes God would euen constraine them by his mercy and therefore sent them euen saluation it self from heauen to witt Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our lord But the Church behaued it selfe towards him euen likewise He had no greater enemies then the Priestes the Scribes the Doctors the Pharisees that is to say as our aduersaries speake the cleargie and those which had the Lawe committed vnto them and those which seemed to be the light of the Iewishe Church If he spake any thing of the reformation of the Church then said they he would destroye the Temple if of the grace of God by the Messias then he blasphemed against the Lawe if of the kingdome of heauen then he strooke at the maiestie of Cesar if he wrought any miracles that was by the deuil if he alledged the Scriptures then they demaunded of him where were the letters of his Doctourship reproching him that hee was a Carpenters sonne To be short all their arguments against Christ are euen the same that our masters vse against vs We are the children of Abraham we are the keepers of the Scriptures It belongeth to vs to expounde them and not to you who haue not receyued holy orders as we haue done And yet notwithstanding all this these were they that with their gloses traditions and vnwritten verities with their successions interpretations and councills most cruelly persecuted him euen to the snatching him out of the hande of the heathen magistrate who iudged him innocent that
called together by the Emperour Martian Leo the Bishoppe of Rome beeyng there president hee was called Archbishoppe as were the others But the history sayeth that he required the Emperour and the Empresse to gouerne there because that in the seconde Councill of Ephesus Dioscorus the Patriarke of Alexandria abusing his authoritie had approued the heresie of Eutyches whereof then there was question Nowe in that hee demaundeth this fauour it sufficientlye declareth that it was not done vnto him and if this might once bee drawen into consequence as well also must this that Cyrill was President ouer the first councill of Ephesus for all the Bishoppes of Alexandria And in very deede in the fift Councill of Constantinople his successour withstoode it not when Menas the patriarke of that place was there presidēt In the generall Councill of Aquilie S. Ambrose the B. of Millane was president there was not any mētion made of the B. of Rome although this was in Italy But behold the questiō was determined the parties being heard by the determinate sētēce of a coūcill The B. of Rome tooke vpon him a goodly large title of being patriarke ouer the churches of Affrike the schismatikes of Affrike willingly departed to go to him to finde there aid whereupon the coūcil of Mileuitane where S. Aug. was with a good nomber of fathers pronounced all them for excommunicate that had or shoulde appeale beyonde the Sea. The Bishoppe of Rome finding him selfe grieued sent to the sixth councill of Carthage where also Saint Augustine was that he might haue redresse in this matter the which was so long time in debating that Zosinius Boniface and Celestine Bishoppes of Rome succeeded one another during this Councill Aurelius the Archbishoppe of Carthage notwitstanding that their legates were there was president there and in the ende the definitiue sentence was pronounced in this force That the Bishop of Rome should not receiue those that were excommunicated by the Bishops of Affrike neither should he receiue the appellations of those that by them should be cond̄ened that all they which should appeale to him should be holdē for excōmunicated persōs The reasons of this councill contained in the 105. chapter by the letters of the council to Celestine Bishop of Rome are these that there is no coūcil that had so decreed Contrariwise that the Council of Nice had put the Clergie the Bishops of ech prouince vnder the Metropolitan That the grace of the holye Spirite had not withdrawen it selfe from euerye Prouince to discerne the right of all causes That anye myght appeale to a Prouinciall councill if hee felt him selfe grieued that it vvas more credible that GOD vvoulde inspire a great assemblie of ministers in a Councill then one man alone And because that the B. of Rome required to send his legates to be ouer those places to enquire of matters and causes they made answere that they could not find any councill that had so decreed and likewise that they would not suffer it In this council where they had time enough to dreame all their forbidding yet shall you not finde that the primacie was founded vpon anye lawe of God much lesse that which they call the fulnes of power And in very deede for to decide the matter men were not sent to search the scriptures in which S. Augustine who was present there was wel able to haue found it if it had bene there but rather to the foure originals of the coūcill of Nice which were kept in the foure patriarchall Sees In meane while Gratian the Compiler of their decree was so sottishly malicious that reciting this Canon of the Councill of Carthage That men should not appeale beyond the Sea he added vnlesse to the B. of Rome as though the Canon had bene made quite contrary to it selfe all the reasons being heard concluded to the contrary And by this place a man may very well gather what to accompte of their Canons being rehersed with such fidelitie In the Councill of Carthage holden vnder the Emperour Mauricius about the yeere of Christ sixe hundred the matter of the Supremacie was also largely debated because that thē the B. of Constantinople fauoured of the Emperor Mauricius by prerogatiue of the Citye of Constantinople called him selfe Bishop of Bishops and vniuersall Bishop And Mauricius vphelde and ayded him to beate down old Rome because thē the empire was trāslated into the East Italie left for a pray to the Northern people Let a mā read ouer al the Canōs of that council they pronounce a curse not onely vpon the B. of Cōstantinople but generally vpō al those who shall take the title of an vniuersall B. All the auncient doctors who liued during the time of these Councils yea the Latines that yelded very much to the Bishopricke of Rome as being their most neere patriarchshippe doe witnesse the selfe same thing vnto vs Athanasius albeit hee was greatly bound to the See of Rome which had receiued him in his exile he saith that all the Apostles were equal in honour power S. Hierom a minister of Rome he saith If there be any question of the authoritie of all the world the vvorld is greater then one City Wherefore vvilt thou bring the order of the Church into the subiection of a fevve persons Whence cōmeth this presūption Wheresoeuer there is a Bishop be he at Rome or at Agubiū be he at Constātinople or at Rhegiū he is of one and the same dignitie and Ministery Riches or pouertye neither make one superiour nor inferiour Againe there is saith he in euerye Churche a Bishoppe one chiefe amongest the Deacons and another amongest the Elders and all the order of the Churche consisteth in these gouernors It should folow therupon seeing the the question was of vnity that he should adde and say a B. ouer the other Bishops but he speaketh nothing S. August hath written a story which maketh this matter most cleare Donate of the black cotages a Numidian of whō the Donatists tooke their name had grieuously accused Ciciliā the Archbishop of Carthage Constantine the Emperor committed this cause which was merely ecclesiastical to Miltiades B. of Rome to certain other Bishops of Italie Gaule Spaigne Nowe if this had bene his ordinarie Iurisdiction there needed not any Cōmission of the Emperor it had belonged to him to haue chosen vnto himselfe his assistants not to haue receiued them But see further Donate being condemned appealed to the Emperor who sent his appellatiō to the Archb. of Arles either to proue or disalow the B. of Romes sentence I demand then in this fact which in this case is worth a million Where is the Supremacy where is the Iurisdiction without appeale and where is this same knowledge of all appellations this fulnes of power wherof they speak so much And yet this is that Constantine of whom they boast so much who as
his word cherished nourished vp in the faith and she at the first giuing vs sucke and afterwards more fast and strong meate through the Communion of Christ his bodye in the Supper we are more and more vnited to him and by this meane inuested into that heauenly inheritance It followeth then that she is the pure Church and true mother who bringeth foorth vs her children through Baptisme regenerateth norisheth vs through the worde knitteth vs to Christ and so a-amongst our selues one to another through the Sacrament of his Supper that is to saye shee is the true mother in which the worde of God is purely preached and the Sacraments according to the same worde duely administred In the Church of Iuda and Israel Circumcision occupied the place of Baptisme the Passeouer of the Supper the worde of God alwayes keeping his place as the ordinarie nourishment of the children of God and therefore we see that after their entrie into the land of Canaan Iosue being admonished by the Lord to repaire those faults committed in the desert made the people to be circumcised and bound them by an othe if they would be his people to keepe the word of God that is to saye if they would bee his Church Likewise Iosias after so great confusions and mingle mangles when he would reforme the Church in which there was not so much as that visible marke which circumcision had left in the flesh we see that he began there first digging vp as it were the law which had bene buried published the same and made the people to sweare solemnly vnto it And cōsequently he caused a Passeouer to be proclaymed in these woordes Celebrate the passeouer of the Lord your God as it is written in the booke of this couenant that is to say according to the ordināce of the Lord your god Esdras also after he was returned frō Babylon for to reedifie the temple and to restore the Church he began at these foundations he expoundeth the lawe vnto the people and maketh thē to sweare in the forme of that couenant and after to nourish and fortifie them in the hope of their saluation to come he restoreth againe the true vse of the Paschall according to those things sayeth he which were written in the booke of Moses To be short al the true seruants of God after that there came any great scattering of the Church being willing to redresse it they haue alwaies before al other things restored these markes no otherwise then a good Captaine who after a great slaughter confusion raungeth his men into an aray and planteth his standerds in some high place to the end they may shew them selues to all sides Iesus Christ who is the true husband hath giuen vs no other markes to knowe his espouse by For this cause that he calleth the Church his wife he teacheth her her duety which is to obey his worde and not to hearken to the voyce of a straunger not to lose the tokens nor to defile the Iewels and pledges of her mariage but marke how he speaketh in expresse wordes He that is of the trueth heareth my voice And againe My sheepe heare my voice and I knowe them and they followe me and in another place Ye heare not because you are not of god The pure wife and Church then of the trueth is onely she which heareth the voyce of Christ Not a voyce in the ayre or an imaginatiue voyce but that voyce which hath it Echo out of the scriptures and which will resound vntill the end to witte the same that is pronounced by the mouth of his Prophets Apostles vpon which Saint Paul teacheth vs that the Church is founded Christ Iesus being the chiefe corner stone This is the cause why sending foorth his Apostles to erecte the Christian Churches he saith vnto thē Goe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father c. and teaching them to keepe all that I haue commanded you And in the Actes we reade that the faithfull continued in the doctrine of the Apostles in the Communion breaking of bread in prayers which is no other thing but a briefe description of the true Church of Christ instructed by the worde in true faith and knit together in true charitie through the Communion that is in him The which thing S. Ambrose teacheth vs saying that the Catholique Church is that where God speaketh with his seruāts and S. Augustine also whē he placeth the ministerie of ministers pastors of the Church in the word of God Sacramēts Let vs yet adde hereunto the third mark of this church albeit it be not of the substance but outward to wit the lawful vocation of pastors ministers of the Church which haue the administration of the things aforesaid For seeing that there is question of preaching be it by the word or by the Sacraments which are vnto vs as a word that may be felt and that to preach it behoueth that the ministers be sent it is very necessary that the Church of God haue an order to send forth their pastors But more shal be seene of this point in another place We wil call then the true pure Churches all those wherein we finde the worde of God and Sacraments purely and lawfully administred that is to say as Cyprian saith according to the institution of the Lorde And we nothing doubt to communicate with them that God is there president howsoeuer in some certaine pointes of doctrine there haue bene some errour and in the outward policie some abuse and corruption and impuritie in maners for it behooueth that alwayes we resort thither when the chiefe pointes of the foundation of our saluation be there truly taught seeing we are men the Churches are compounded of men as speache and language consist of syllables and letters of the qualities of which men as long as the Church is in this world she is alwayes a partaker As concerning the false and impure Churches they are not so easely to be defined Trueth soundnes and right are but of one sort but errors diseases crookednesses are without nomber Againe there are many kindes degrees of impure Churches notwithstanding we can say in one worde that al those Churches are impure in which the word of the Lord and his Sacraments are impurely ministred that is are administred both against the honor of God and the saluation of our neighbour and because that the whole Gospel is nothing else but faith and charitie and whole Christ nothing but head and body we may make two principall kindes thereof calling those Heretikes which erre in the faith doctrine of Christ those schismatikes which sunder themselues from charitie and from the communion of his body which is the Church yea although they agree otherwise to the trueth of doctrine in all pointes Nowe as there are many pointes in the
the pure Church Concerning miracles if a man speake of those which were wrought either in the publication of the lawe by Moses or in the confirmation of the Gospel by Iesus Christ his Apostles it is certaine that they were generally wrought aswel for the Samaritans as for the Iewes for heretikes as for sincere sound professours for the pure churches as for the impure forasmuch as the onely question is towards one to shewe the true God giuing forth the lawe towards the others the true Christ promised in the lawe whom both the one the other make profession to receiue worship And therefore this argumēt is common to both two Concerning the other which they alledge specially in that same state in which we say Antichrist heareth dominiō I say they are false in effect because they heare witnesse to falshood but if they had any true yet they are not therefore sure testimonies of the trueth The heathen had their deuilish miracles in the temples of their false gods some in effect true as may appeare by all their histories Simon Magus who would be ack nowledged for Christ wrought miracles So likewise did Apollonius Tianeus and Apuleus of Madaure But these for the most part might be illusiōs the which the deuil wrought to abuse fooles hauing nothing as S. Augustine saith more agreeable to this then their outward senses But God wrought those great miracles among the Samaritanes in their strongest Idolatrie as when he made the Assyrians to be eaten of Lyons for to reuenge his contēpt among his enemies not to authorize the faultes abuses of the people He wrought some in the time of those heresies next before the cōming of Christ to shewe the power of his name to al nations Yea it should not seeme straunge when he will worke such in lands newly found for to vāquish the deuils which reigned there Al this then is too litle to be a marke of the pure Church vnlesse the churches of the Samaritans the heretikes of the former times had bene pure churches This is that which S. Augustine answered to the Donatists which would proue their doctrine by miracles You alledge sayth he miracles in which a man is not to be heard in respect of the place but in regard of his desire We wil not proue our church neither by succession of Bishops neither by the authoritie of councels nor by the nūber of miracles nor by visions nor dreames All such things are to be allowed so farre foorth as they are done in the Catholike Church but they proue not that the Church is Catholike for that dependeth vpon the scriptures Our Sauiour Christ hideth not this from vs that he wil cast into euerlasting fire those that haue wrought miracles in his name This is not then as our aduersaries say a gift that sanctifieth them that do them It is also foretold vs that many false Christes shall come with miracles to seduce if it were possible euen the elect And S. Paul saith that Antichrist shal come according to the efficacie of Sathan in all power signes miracles of deceit This then is as litle a gift of the spirit sāctifying and purifying the Church This is more for some of these miracles shal not be altogether false in effect but onely in their end that is because they tend to a false end to establish the seate of Antichrist as saint Augustine hath taught vs vpon this place and Saynt Iohn Chrysostome when hee saith that there are miracles not onely of illusion but true and effectuall tending to bring in falshood Now if miracles approue the puritie of the Church and the trueth of doctrine then Antichrist hath gained his cause if not it is so farre of that the miracles wrought vnder the Papall sea ought to be alledged for confirmation of puritie that rather quite contrary seeing that no other miracles are promised before the comming of Christ but his owne we should suspect that the Romane Sea is that prodigious sea of Antichrist which was before foretolde vs Let vs folow thē amiddest these difficulties the instruction that Iesus Christ hath giuen to all Christians in the person of his Disciples There were miracles wrought before his birth but none were nere accōpanying his owne birth therfore there could be no abuse in it In his life time there were an infinit sort wrought of which they were made eye witnesses he being fastened to the crosse dead buried afterwardes they sawe him eate and drinke with them But of al those famous Magiciās their inchantments died with them neither was there euer one raysed vp againe For it was inough for him to say vnto them at his departure You haue seene the singular miracles which I haue wrought You ought therefore no more to doubt that I am that same anoynted which was promised vnto you Contrariwise he sendeth them to the Prophetes to Moses to the Psalmes and to be short to the holy Scriptures to the ende they may there marke what they haue seene and what was therefore told them by the Spirite of God and that what he had foretold them was now also accomplished Touching reuelations and visions which are a kinde of miracles we haue the plaine text which decideth this matter If there shall arise saith the Lorde amiddest thee a false propher or a dreamer of dreames and that the signe or miracle which he hath told thee come to passe saying Let vs followe straunge gods c. hearken not to the words of this Prophet c. There are then both Prophets and visions true in effect and yet false in theyr ende and triall which triall is doctrine as is to be seene in this place Lykewyse when Saint Iohn to the ende to keepe vs from false prophetes exhorteth vs to proue the Spirites by and by he addeth Hereby shall you knowe the Spirit of God Euery Spirite that confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the fleshe is of God c. that is to say proue the spirites by the doctrine which they preach Therefore Saul Cayphas haue prophecied but as S. Augustine saith as Balaās Asse once spoke and yet for all that they myght haue once spoken the trueth For the deuil him selfe to couller his lying some times speaketh trueth We conclude then that all the foresaide markes are not the infallible markes of the sounde and pure Church First because they be not substantial but outwarde Secondly because they are common aswell to falsehood as to trueth But that they may be markes they ought to put a difference Thirdly they neede to be proued and approued by another marke to witte doetrine to be short seeing it is said that in the ende Antichrist shall come and seduce the greatest part of the people and that he shall sitte in the Temple of GOD that is to saye in the Churche it selfe and in one of the
ignorance and vanitie wherein we are all borne can vaunt them selues that they are able to walke vprightly without this worde Our aduersaries for to auoyd this place do lessen the sinne of Adam as much as they can lyking rather to accuse God of â—uiltie who for byting of an Apple through simple disobedience hath punished al mankinde and to make of no effect the Crosse of his dearely beloued Sonne whom he hath deliuered to death for the reconciliation of the worlde then to confesse that the Church can erre in the matter of saluation But the doctors of the Christian Church and those that are most sound amongst the Iewes themselues doe teach vs farre otherwise to wit that the sinne of Adam was specially in this that he was turned wholly from God and that he more beleeued the promises of the deuill then the threatnings of his Creator that he pretended to make him selfe equall with God that he sought his felicitie and his knowledge without him and without his worde To be shorte that this was an heresie so neere to infidelitie and a sinne linked with so many sinnes that none other but the Sonne of the eternall God by the only sacrifice of his death coulde be able to repaire and redeeme it Hee forsooke sayth Saint Augustine his God for to be of him selfe and such condemnation followed his pride that he who otherwwyse had a spirituall fleshe had nowe a carnall soule Some man will say that this was a great punishmeÌ„t but he that shal think it great cannot be able to measure what a great iniquitie that was to sinne seeing it was so easie for him not to haue sinned For as Abrahams obedience is praised because when he was commaunded to offer vp his sonne being a thing so hard which notwithstanding he obeyed euen so also as great and as incomprehensible a disobedience must it be in Paradise where the commaundement had not any kinde of difficultie Now the obedience of Abraham saith the Scripture proceeded from faith whereof it is that he was called the father of the beleeuers The disobedience then of Adam proceeded from infidelitie whereof it is that he is father of all infidelitie which since that time hath bene and is in all mankinde See then for the first sort of the Church in which one shall see nothing but a growing and continuance from worse to worse euen till the second as maye be seene in the corruption confusion which was in the time of Noah and Abraham and amongest the Israelites in Egypt where GOD reprocheth them that they were bestayned and defiled with all kinde of idolatrie Nowe the whole seconde state of the Church to wit vnder the lawe is full of such like examples God made a couenant with his people of Israel to be their God and that they should be his people the promises of this same couenant they are very great and excellent I will walke in the middest of you I will haue my tabernacle amongst you for euer my name shal be in Ierusalem I haue sanctified it to the ende it may be there alwaies I will answere betweene the two Cherubins But alwayes this condition was set to this couenaunt If you shall be my people if you shall serue me if you shall walke in my commaundements if you shall aske counsell at my mouth c. otherwise he sayth first I wyll chastice you with my roddes to cause you to returne vnto me but if you shall make no accompt of it he addeth straightway afterwards I will reiect the people that shall forsake my lawe I will cast of Iuda from before my face as I haue reiected Israel I wil reproue the Citie of Ierusalem which I haue chosen the house whereof I haue said my name shal be there Euen as I haue done to Silo sayth he euen so will I doe to you yea euen vnto you This is that that the Spirite of God sayth in the time of Asa by the Prophet Azarias The Lorde is with you because you are with him If you seeke him you shall finde him If you forsake him he vvill forsake you And a little after he addeth Wherefore haue ye beene so long time without the true God without a Priest without a Teacher and vvithout the Lawe c. Nowe when the Lorde sayth in a thousand places If ye shall forsake me he putteth not downe any false matter nor impossible thing but a thing that not only oftentimes commeth to passe and is possible but also is so easie and so ordinary or rather so natural to euery assembly of men that in this same Church here which may enioy the manifest presence of the Lord and may heare his voyce when it tooke counsell at his mouth we see by a great many of examples Aaron was a Prophet and a litle after was made high Priest he had seene the wonderful works of God though he had seene them both day and night to go both before behinde him yet notwithstanding he made vnto himself a golden Calfe and he saith vnto the people Beholde O Israel the gods which brought thee out of Egypt If in this question they will vnderstand by the Church the people behold then a strange Idolatrie if they wil vnderstand as they speake the Cleargie then beholde not onely Idolatry but the Church of God euen prostituted to Idols that is to say beholde an adulterous wyfe prouoking her husband as much as lyeth in her to make a diuorce from her Vnder the iudges also so many tyrants as there were which oppressed the Church of Israel so many markes there were of their adulteries Gedeon himselfe after he had felt the power of God by his hand he made an Ephod and the people went a whoring after it Michas also did euen the like the spirite of God hath told vs the cause thereof because that there was not any to gouerne in Israel euery one did that which was right in his owne eies for that the word of the Lord was rare and scant in this time amongst them They had notwithstanding the law of God the arke of the couenant but the mischiefe was that they did neither reade it nor take couÌ„sel of it Now this is not only said Haue the light but walke in it follow it In the daies of Saul it is said that no man sought the Lorde in the arke of the couenant that is to say that no man toke counsel of God in his word and herein we may see the iudgement of God when the Arke was taken by the Philistines to wit that it was for the contempt of God and his worde Vnder Joram Baal was worshipped in Iuda euen vntil the time of Ioas who renued the couenant with the Lorde Vnder King Achas there was a straunge altar euen within the Temple it selfe vpon which he sacrificed to false gods and Vriiah the Priest was
as Athanasius also a fewe of the best sort with him at Rome during the time that the Arriās beeing fauoured of Constantius the Emperor spoyled and infected his Church of Alexandria And euē so likewise we at this daye in right are of the poore Church of Fraūce of Italie and other places which Antichrist holdeth by the throte to cause thē to abandon their saluation And assoone as Antichrist and his mayntainers shal be gone with al the infection which they haue brought into the church we shal be altogether ready to draw neere vnto thē to ioyne with them as nye as euer wee did and to runne to the Churches with them there to reioyce together for their deliuerance Let the wolfe be gone out of their fold behold vs al ready to enter in In meane time we wil pray vnto god to driue him away that it wil please him to deliuer thē from vnder his claw will shew thē this mercie we wil enforce our selues all that we can to deliuer thē To be short we are kuit with them in doctrine if they haue regard to the aunciēt doctrine of the Church of Rome but we cōdēne that of the popes where with he oppresseth their consciences Also we are in true charitie for what greater charity cā there be in the world thē to rid the world of such a one But we renounce that Tyranne which strangleth their soules and seeing that God by his singular grace hath deliuered ours frō him we proclayme opē warre against him for their sakes with all our heartes These things beeing wel considered it is very easy for vs to distinguish who are schismatikes that is to say the aucthors of that separation which was made in our time in the west churches either we or our enemies The canon lawe sayeth that Schisme must not be considered neither in the nomber nor place but by the cause that he is a schismatike which is the cause of schisme not he which beginneth the separation euen altogether like as he which denyeth the lawe is the cause of processe and not he which first beganne Now we haue required the pope and his prelates to reforme the Church according to the Scriptures and to the auncient forme desiring to remaine vnited with our brethren and in steade of agreeing vnto vs they haue excommunicated vs without euer hearing vs The prelates therefore of the Romaine Church are the Schismatikes and not we who demaunde nothing else but Reformation to make vs at one Also the Canon sayeth that the essentiall and materiall cause of all Schisme is want of charity Nowe for our parts we haue offred our liues to death to recouer our brethren from errour and contrariwise the prelates of Rome to drawe vs frō that they say we are what earnest request soeuer we could make they would yet neuer graunt vnto vs a free Councill But when they haue called vs to their assemblies it was to burne vs and not to teach vs and all their Councils were but conspiracies to kill vs and not consultations to heale vs And therefore the lacke of charitie is in them and so consequently the cause of Schisme Also the Canon lawe teacheth vs that is to saye the Pope him selfe That the Pope which suffreth a controuersie to waxe olde in the church concerning saluation he is one that seeketh after deuision heresie And that if he be required to helpe it by a generall Councill and do it not of Apostolique which he should be he maketh him selfe an Apostata and Schismatike That as from such a one the Cardinalles Prelates Priestes peoples and prouinces ought to separate them selues for that asmuch as lyeth in him he suffreth the people children that are borne to growe vnder two heads into two churches That all those that winke in that matter specially hauing a charge and a calling to withstand it they are partakers with his faulte and are schismatikes as well as hee notwithstanding all their othes homages obligations which they haue made vnto him And in deede by the counsell of the diuines of Paris folowing the foresaid coūsell king Charles the sixte declared him selfe his realme all his subiects to be separated from the cōmunion of pope Iohn the 22. afterwards by the same counsell cut of him selfe from the obedience of Benedict the thirtenth from Gregory the 12. admonishing and requiring all princes to do the like For that saith he in his protestation they will mainteine diuisions in the Churche by their tretcheries and vvill not submit themselues to the ordinarie meane of a free councill and to the determination of the church Now it was eight score yeeres agoe that this strife began in the Church after threescore yeres or thereabouts it was spread ouer all Europe The princes and people called still for a free councill and alwayes sometimes by one meane sometimes by another the Popes went scot free During all which time they sought all the wayes they could for their liues ordinary extraordinary to make an end of vs They therefore their mainteiners though the saluation of Christendome was not in controuersie as now it is are by their own canons foūd schismatikes they who haue winked at it fautors of schisme they who haue with drawē themselues frō their obedience admit that their Popes had bene sometime heads of the Church no Antichrists are grounded in the trueth exempted from all suspicion of schisme and blamelesse of all the mischiefes and disorders which through schisme haue arisen in Christendome Now cōtrariwise if as we hold the Pope be Antichrist the papall doctrine contrary to saluatiō in Iesus Christ and al the seruice that they do in al the churches that acknowledge him which they cal the church of Rome polluted with idolatrie thē there needs no longer disputatiō whether men do well to separate thēselues from him or no but rather to conclude ful and wholly That we are traitors to God who hath created vs to Christ who hath saued regenerated vs to the Church who hath borne vs to be short to our brethren to our selues if we protest not against his blasphemies if we withdraw not our selues from his obedience if we renounce not his cōmunion to be shorte if we do not our vttermost to make him knowē to euery one and to deliuer the world from his tyrannie Hereupon thei obiect vnto vs that Moses for the idolatry cōmitted amongst the people of Israel to the golden Calfe separated not himself I graūt it But they must adde that Moses chid Aaron chastised the people ground the golden calfe into powder and cast it into the water There was no cause then that he should flye Idolatrie because hee coulde driue it out Nowe wee will not bee more scrupulous then Moyses Let them suffer vs to beate their Idols to powder to cast Idolatrie out of their Church and
dignitie of the ministerie which he calleth the power of the ecclesiastical gouernmēt ouer the people he maintayneth that the priests are equal to the Popes thēselues he proueth it because in their orders they vse the same words that they vse in the orders of bishops Apostles Receiue the holy Ghost vvhatsoeuer ye bind on earth shal be boūd in heauen c. To be short Cardinall Cusan himselfe maintaineth that the popedome the state of Bishopricks that is to say al their degrees both great smal they are not ordeyned of God but of men That all Priestes according to the ordinance of our Lord are equal that they were likewise ordeined of men for the better to wit to auoyde diuision But whē this better was turned into worse this which men had ordeyned to bring m̄e to God serued to turne thē away frō God then the cause ceasing these positiue lawes should also cease mē should be brought to the first institution And therfore marke saith he that in time of necessitie whē the Pope hath excōmunicated with an euill purpose the least priest may absolue him whosoeuer he be frō his excōmunication Behold therefore that in that the B. is aboue an elder it is but frō mans lawe for order which is no longer order when it is the cause of disorder Consequently we saye that those elders haue power to laye on their handes and to ordayne pastors That they had so in the Apostles tyme it is most cleare Neglect not sayth Saint Paul the gift that is in thee which is giuen to prophecie with the imposition of the handes of the Eldership that is to say of the assemblie of Seniors or elders And againe Timothie ordeined him selfe forasmuch as a Bishop elder were al one if by the scripture the Byshops take this power to themselues aswel might the Ministers Elders if they deny it to the ministers elders they deny it to themselues In deede in the olde time this argument was cōmon in the Church He might baptize he might minister the Lordes body ergo he might lay on his hands Also when they ordeined an elder the B. holding his hand ouer his head al the other elders drew neere layd on their hands together held them vpō the head of him whō they so ordeyned as it appeareth in many places of Gratians decretals which was to keepe their right in giuing of orders to shew that although the Bishop had the charge of this action that notwithstanding it was equall amōgst thē that he could not do it of himselfe alone And certaine of their owne haue disputed this same question 300. yeres since And if the ambition of Bishops the negligence of the Ministers Elders haue confoūded all thinges abolished the order of the church we must labour as much as wee can to bring it in againe And if the Bishoppe of a companion which he ought to be is become a tyrant ouer the ministers elders why it belongeth to those that are true ministers and elders to exercise the duetie which is left vnto them And if the primacie of the Bishop brought in by men haue led men to perdition which order we do not altogether disalowe if it be rightly obserued why then by the equalitie of ministers and Elders instituted of God they must bee brought againe to saluation To be short the first Bishops of the Christian Church were but elders and our first ministers were elders the elders by the institutiō of the Apostles had authoritie to lay on their hādes according to which also ours were ordeined ministers therefore ordeined by them are well ordained and their vocation can not in any wise be cauilled at or slaundered Nowe if any thinke them contemptible in comparison of the great prelates of the Church of Rome Caiphas in deede was reuecenced of the worlde whereas Cephas had neither golde nor siluer Paul being a persecuter was in great credit and Paul being an Apostle gotte his liuing with his owne hands Also God is wont to confoūd the great and mightie things of the world through thinges which seeme small And many of ours followe the pouertie of Christ which might be honoured yea and were so sometimes amōgst the chiefe vpholders of Antichrist It is not therfore to the purpose to aske miracles of vs for the approuing of our calling For if we must shew some then must they also for that is ordinarie But if by vertue of their calling they haue taken vpon them to preache newe doctrine why then let them suffer vs by vertue of the same to restore the auncient And if they say it is ours that is newe and not theirs why then there is no more question of our calling but of our doctrine and therefore we must passe through all these suburbes and come directlye to the conference of these two In meane time these were the goodlye fetches that hyndered the fruite of the conference at Poissy from whence all Fraunce wayted for some singular good thing yet this is that vpon which at this day the Iesuites do ground their principall defence When any say vnto them Shew me purgatorie and transubstantiation and the inuocation of Sayntes or any thing which draweth neere to the Scriptures they saye vnto vs Worke miracles Euen so likewise Satan said vnto Iesus Christ If thou be the sonne of God cast thy selfe downe from the toppe of the pinacle c. being as ready to haue turned vnto him if he had done it as if he had done nothing But our Sauiour who could haue done greater things confuted him onely by the scriptures So likewise the Pharises aske him for signes albeit he wrought inow those wonderful But if he cast out deuils this was say they by the power of the deuil If he did thē in earth they aske thē frō heauen if the heauen it selfe should speake to giue authoritie to his vocatiō thē they said What thūder is this Likewise they say vnto him vpon the Crosse If thou be the sonne of God helpe thy selfe c. and when he stept out of the Sepulchre ouerth wart those gross-headed watchmen they said that he was stolne away To be short euen so in asking miracles of vs nowe they are wholy bent to say if we should do them that we were the Antichrists which should deceyue the worlde by signes miracles that therfore we ought not to be beleeued But as the Pharises whē Christ suffered vpon the Crosse in steade of asking him miracles had done a great deale better to meditate vpon this place of Isaie He was wounded for our transgressions he was smitten for our iniquities and with his stripes were we healed So should it be much better for our masters to searche out of the holy scriptures the true markes of Antichrist and deepely to thinke vpon this great miracle which God hath wrought in our