THE GOLDEN BALLANCE OF TRYALL VVherein the Reader shall plainly and briefely behold as in a Glasse of Crystall aswell by what rule all controuersies in Religion are to be examined as also who is and of right ought to be the vpright Iudge in that behalfe Whereunto is also annexed a Counterblast against a masked Companion terming himselfe E.O. but supposed to be ROBERT PARSONS the trayterous Iesuite Vos Vnctionem habetis a sancto nostis omnia 1. Ioh. 2. v. 20. Determinatio solius Papae in his quae sunt fidei non obligat vt praecise est talis ad credendum alioquin staret in casu quod quis obligaretur ad contradictoria vel ad falsum contra fidem Gerson prim part de examinat doctrinarum consider secunda LONDON Imprinted by Iohn Windet for Richard Bankworth dwelling in Paules Churchyeard at the Signe of the Sunne 1603. THE GOLDEN Ballance of Tryall CAP. I. Of the Vncertainety of Iudgements of all Bishoppes seuerally in themselues THE Prophet Dauid sheweth plainely the vncertainty of Iudgement when he telleth vs That all men are lyers The Prophet Ieremie cryeth aloude that the Gentiles in the end of the world shall come to him and shall freely confesse that their fore-fathers inherited lyes and vanitie S. Paule confirmeth the same telling vs that onely God is true and euery man a lyer The Prophet Malachie sheweth the whole matter to haue been verified in the Priestes of the old Law His words are these The Priestes lips shall keepe knowledge and they shall seeke the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hostes but ye are gone out of the way ye haue caused many to fall by the law yee haue broken the couenant of Leui saith the Lord of Hosts yea this is it that the Prophet Ezechiel saith Then shall they seeke a vision of the Prophet but the Law shall perish from the priest counsel from the Elders The prophet Esay sayth The priest and the prophet haue erred by strong drink they are swallowed vp with wine they haue gone astray through strong drinke they faile in vision they stumble in iudgement this is it that Michah saieth The Heades thereof iudge for rewardes and the priestes thereof teach for hire the prophets thereof prophesie for money This is it that the prophet Sophonie sayeth Her prophets are light and wicked persons her priestes haue polluted the Sanctuarie they haue wrested the law This vncertainety of iudgement cannot be denied For Tertullian erred Montanizinge Cyprian Rebaptizinge Origen Cerporizinge Nazianzen Angelizinge Eusebius Arrianizinge Lactantius Millenizinge and the like may bee verified of all the Residue The sentence of two learned papistes highlie renowned in the Church of Rome shall conclude my Theame Iohn Fisher the late Bishop of Rochester hath these expresse wordes Nec Augustini nec Hieronymi nec alterius cutuslibet auctoris doctrinae sic ecclesia subscripsit quin ipsi locis aliquot ab iis liceat dissentire nam in nonnullis ipsi locis se planè monstrarunt homines esse atque nonnunquam aberrasse The Church hath not so subscribed eyther to the doctrine of Austen or of Hierome or of any other Writer but that we may somtime dissent from their opinions for themselues haue plainely shewed themselues to bee men and that they wanted not their errours the Iesuite Ballarmine hath these wordes Sine dubio singuli Episcopi errare possunt aliquando errant inter se quandoque dissentiunt vt nesciamus quisnam eorum sequendus sit Without doubt all Bishoppes seuerally may erre and doe sometime erre indeed and doe also sometime so dissent one from another that we cannot tell in the world which of them we may safely follow Out of the wordes of these Writers whereof the one was a learned Bishoppe and a popish canonized Martyr and the other a Iesuite and Popish Fryer who did dedicate his Booke to the Pope himselfe I gather these singular documents First that the Church of Rome giueth euery one liberty to dissent from Augustine Hieromie and other Writers whosoeuer Secondly that the Fathers haue plainely shewed themselues to be men and to haue had their imperfections accordingly Thirdly that many errours are to be found in the writinges of the Fathers Fourthly that the Fathers doe so dissent one from another that wee cannot tell whome we may safely follow These Fathers therefore seuerally may not be iudges in all matters of faith and religion CAP. II. Of the uncertainety of iudgement of many Bishops euen when they employ their wits and learning to teach one and the selfe same doctrine WE finde in holy Writte that the chiefest of the Priestes and people trespassed wonderfully according to all the abhominations of the Heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had sanctified in Ierusalem The Watchmen of Ephraim sayth Hoseah should bee with my God but the prophet is the snare of a fowler in all his wayes and hatred in the house of his God The Prophets saith Ieremie prophesie lies in my name I haue not sent them neither did I commaund them but they prophesie vnto you a false vision and diuination vanitie and deceitfulnes of their own heart The same Prophet sayth againe in an other place after this manner From the least of them to the greatest euery one is giuen to couetousnes and from the Prophet to the Priest they all deale falsly Their Watchmen saith Esay are all blind they haue no knowledge they are all dumbe dogs they cannot barke Many of the olde writers taught with vniforme consent that the soules of the faithful departed doe not see God vntill the day of generall doome To recite the wordes of a few may suffice for this time Lactantius hath these wordes Nec tamen quisquam putet animas post mortem protinus iudicari omnes in vna communique custodia detinentur donec tempus adueniat quo maximus iudex meritorum facit examen Yet may not any man thinke that the soules of the iust shal forth with after death haue their iudgement for they are all kept in one common prison vntill the time come when the great Iudge shall discusse euerie mans deserts Iustinus Martyr hath these wordes Neque enim ante resurrectionem vitae cuique peractae retributio contingit Iterum vtilitas latroni quod Paradisum sit ingressus haec finit quod fidei commodum re ipsa percepit per quod dignus reputatus est qui sanctorū caetui adiungeretur in quo vsque ad diem resurrectionis remunerationis reseruatur No man hath his rewarde before the day of resurrection The Theefe by going to Paradise had this benefite that he receiued in verie deed the fruit of his faith by which he was reported worthy of the Fellowship of Saintes where hee is reserued vntill the day of resurrection and remuneration Victorinus hath these
in these words Feare me not for I am a man as thou art but I shew my selfe in this likenes because I liued like a beast when I was a wicked Pope Much like stuffe I could recite but I studie to be briefe He that desireth to know more hereof may satisfie himselfe by reading my Suruay In these holy disholy Fathers no sound iudgement can be found Sect. II. Of the Schismes and conflictes which haue beene among the Popes or Bishops of Rome POpe Benedict the ninth was depriued of his popedome and the Bishop of Sabina who after that was called Syluester became Pope in his roome This Syluester was afterward expulst Benedict restored to the popedome again After that the same Benedict was yet againe expulst and the popedome was giuen to Iohn Archdeacon of S. Iohn ante portam Latinam who was after that called Gregorie the sixt This pope being altogether vnlearned caused an other Pope to be made iointly with him that he might execute the Ecclesiastical function which himselfe was not able to do Which thing displeased many and therefore the third Pope was appointed who alone should supply the places of the other two One therefore contending against two and two against one for the Popedome and Gregory being dead Henry the Emperour came to Rome against the two and deposed them by canonicall and imperiall censure and placed Sindegerus the Bishop of Babemberge in the popedome At which time the Romanes promised by solemne oathes that they woulde neuer elect the Bishoppe of Rome without the consent of the Emperour of Rome Many Schismes haue been in the church of Rome and amongst our Romish Bishoppes euen for many years together And thereupon it followeth euidently that the succession of the latter Popes can neuer bee proued constantlie to haue descended without interruption from the former The great Papist Onuphrius Panuinius maketh mētion of no lesse then thirtie Schismes which were all in the Church of Rome Bartholomeus Carranza a lerned Writer popish Fryer reckoneth vp two most notable Schismes in the Church of Rome The former Schisme saith he endured for the space of 64 years during al which time their godly Popedome was at Auinion in France and not one day at Rome though at Rome as they prate God placed their holy seat In the latter schisme three of their holy Bishops were Popes at one and the selfe same time to write Iohannes 24. of that name Benedict 13. Gregorie the 12. From which three striuing and contending like Dogges fighting for a bone I would gladly learne how they cā deriue their holy so supposed successiō of which succession I haue spoken more at large in my book of Suruey Of this Romish Schisme speaketh their own dear Abbot Bernarde egregiously these are his words Tempus faciendi c. It is now high time to do good for they haue trodē vnderfoot Gods law The beast mentioned in the Reuelation to whome was giuē a mouth speaking blasphemies and to make wars with the Saints sitteth in Peters chaire like a Lion ready to take his pray Now I weene that all wise men well obseruing and pondering with themselues these manifolde and notorious Schismes in the Church of Rome which haue continued aboue fiftie yeares togither and in which sundry Popes cōtending who should be the Pope no one could truly be discerned to bee Pope will be fully perswaded therwith that if Gods holy pleasure had bin to haue tied all people in the worlde to hang depend wholy vpon the Bishops of Rome from time to time in matters touching faith and their euerlasting saluation as vpon those persons whose faith should neuer faile that God I say would haue prouided for the securitie and common good of his people that the same Bishops should haue beene more honest and godly in their liues more peaceable among themselues more free from doing homage to the diuell more constant in their seates and not so doubtfull and vncertaine in their succession that Gods people were many times at their wits end which Pope they should take for Peters successor These men therefore can not bee iudges in Religion Sect. 3. Of the priuiledges falsely supposed to be granted from heauen to the Bishops of Rome AVgustinus de Ancona a religious Frier hath these wordes Papa Vicarius Iesu Christi vice Dei viuentis in toto orbe terrarū spiritualium temporaliium habet vniuer salem iurisdictionem The Pope being the Vicar of Iesus Christ hath in steede of the liuing God vniuersall iurisdiction of all things spirituall and temporall throughout the whole world Bartholomaeus Fumus a famous popish Frier and renowmed Canonist hath these wordes Omnis potestas iurat fidelitatē Papae obedientiam recognoscens ab eo omne quod habet Et si aliquando aliquid imperator douauit Ecclesiae vt de Constantino dicitur non fuit donatio sed restitutio Euery power sweareth fidelitie and obedience to the Pope acknowledging themselues to haue from him all that they haue and if any Emperor as Constantine gaue any thing to the Church it was no gift but restitution Iohn Gerson sometime the Chancellor of Paris singeth the same song in these wordes Consurgit ex aduerso c. There starteth vp on the contrarie side faire spoken and craftie adulation whispering in the eares of Cleargy-men specially of the Pope Oh how great how great is the maiestie of thine Ecclesiastiall power For as all power was giuen to Christ in heauen and on earth so Christ left al the same power to Peter and to his successors Wherefore the Emperour Constantine gaue nothing to Pope Syluester which was not his owne before but onely restored that which was vniustly detained from him Further as there is no power but of God so is there neither any temporal or Ecclesiasticall Emperiall or Regall but of the Pope in whose thigh Christ hath written the King of kings the Lord of lords The Popes owne decrees tell vs plainly that though the Pope be neuer so wicked and carry to hell with himselfe neuer so many people yet may no mortall man reproue him for the same And the reason thereof is this because forsooth hee may iudge all but none may iudge him neither great nor small The Popish parasites the interpreters of the Canons doe ascribe titles yet more magnificall to the Pope yea titles plaine diuine and proper to God alone These are the expresse wordes in the popish Glosse vpon the Decretals Sic Papa dicitur habere coeleste arbitrium ideo etiam naturam rerū immutat substantialia vnius rei applicando alii de nihilo potest aliquid facere So the Pope is said to haue celestiall arbitrement and therefore doth he alter the nature of things by application of the substantiall parts of one thing to another and hee can make of nothing something To haue recited these absurd and prophane assertions
Apostolike rule that they must rather obey God then man I say secondly that though the Priestes be appointed to teach and the people to heare the Priestes in Gods name to commaund and the people to obey yet must all this be done Iuxta legem Dei according to Gods law Neither shall the people for all that contemne the authority of the Priestes but with humility admonish the priestes and tell them why they cannot so doe This lesson if the Papistes cannot be content to learne of me yet I hope they will not disdayne to learne it of S. Hierome seeing their Pope in their Collect vpon his festiuity termeth him Doctorem maximum their greatest Doctor His wordes are these Si Sacerdos est sciat legem Domini si ignorat legem ipse se arguit non esse Domini sacerdotem Sacerdotis enim est scire legem ad interrogationem respondere de lege Sequitur discant legem Dei vt possint docere quod didicerint augeant scientiam magis quam opes non erubescant a laicis discere qui nouerint ea quae ad officium pertinent sacerdotum If he be a Priest let him know the law of God if he be ignorant of the Law hee accuseth himselfe that hee is not the Priest of God For the Priestes office is to know the law and to aunswere to questions of the Law Let the Priestes learne Gods law that they may teach that which they haue learned and let them encrease knowledge rather then riches and let them not be ashamed to learne of the Lay people which know those things that pertaine to the Priestes office Out of these wordes of S. Hierome I note first that many Popes are no Priestes and consequently no Popes indeede though falsely supposed so to be S. Ieromes reason is plaine to euery child because many Popes are very vnlearned and know not the law of God neither preach his word which is the chiefest office of a Priest And who wil or can think that Christ Iesus if he had appointed the Bishops of Rome to rule his whole Church throughout the world and all nations to hang their Faith vpon the popes faith woulde in these dangerous times suffer them to liue dissolutely to be as dumbe dogs that barke not and neuer to preach and teach his word none doubtles that haue any wit sense or reason I note secondly that Priests must know the law of God to this end that they may teach the same And consequently that the Bishops of Rome who neuer preach the word of God cannot be the true Priests of God I note thirdly that the Bishops of Rome if they were true Priests indeed both shold and would encrease their knowledge in the law of God rather then their wealth and possessions I note fourthly that the true Priestes of God must not disdayne to learne of the Laicall sorte which are better learned then themselues I note fiftly that sheepe so called Metaphorically such as Christian people are who haue sence reason and learning and know the voyce of the great shephearde Christ Iesus as himselfe telleth vs may with all humility forsake those shepheardes who eyther for their ignorance cannot or for malice will not feed them with the pure word of God as they ought to doe For wise sheepe will not eate that meat which they know to be deadly poison to them For this cause doe the Popes owne Canons graunt libertie to the sheepe to reproue and accuse their Pastor yea though he be the Pope himselfe The expresse wordes of the Canon are these Oues quae suo Pastori commissae sunt eum nec reprehendere nisi a fide exorbitauerit nec vllatenus accusare possunt The sheepe which are committed to their Pastor may neyther rebuke him nor in any wise accuse him vnlesse hee forsake the faith Loe this Canon made of Pope Eusebius himselfe telleth vs two thinges First that the Pope may erre and forsake the Christian faith Secondly that when he doth so erre the sheepe may then reproue him and also accuse him And I am well assured that if the sheep may reproue and accuse the Pope as the Pope himselfe alloweth to bee done much more may the sheepe reproue and accuse other Bishops priests which are farre inferiour to the Pope See the answere to the second obiection The fift Obiection If the Pope had not authority from God himself to rule the vniuersall Church and to decide all controuersies in the same all the Christian worlde would neuer haue yeelded themselues unto him in matters of Faith and euerlasting saluation The Aunswere I say first that when Constantinus the Emperour departed from Rome to Constantinople the Pope then beganne to put out his Hornes and to chalenge the Emperiall authority in the west partes of the world And his flattering Parasites and greedy Sicophantes by false Pamphlets and glosses laboured to confirme his Lordly Titles These are the wordes of the Canon Constantinus Imperator coronam omnem regiam dignitatem in vrbe Romana in Italia in partibus occidentalibus Apostolico concessit The Emperour Constantine graunted to the Apostolicall man the Bishoppe of Rome his crowne and all royall dignitie aswell in the Citty of Rome and in Italie in all the west partes of the world Loe this was the first steppe to that Lordly Primacy and Antichristian tyranny which the Bishoppes of Rome this day chalenge in the Christian world This I say was the originall of Poperie though it bee a very fable and voide of all credite For Eusebius Theodoritus Socrates Sozomenus Eutropius Ruffinus Victor and other approued Writers who all haue writen the Actes of Constantine most diligently do not only make no mentiō of that gift but withal say plainely that the whole Empire was diuided among the three Sonnes of Constantine and that one of them had all Italie for his parte And Ammianus Marcellinus writeth that Constantius had the dominion of the Citty of Rome and that Leontius was his Lieutenant there Laurentius Valla hath written both learnedly largely against the false Donation of Constantine wherewith a great part of the world hath beene seduced To this I could adde many argumentes but that the Reader may find them in my motiues and Booke of Suruey I say secondly that the Maiestie of the Romane Empire and that liberality which the Romanes exhibited to the Martyres in Exile and otherwise afflicted gaue no small honour to the Cittie and church of Rome For the Councels had euer great respect to the dignity and excellency of Cities in the distribution of Episcopall and Patriarkall seates I say thirdly that the church of Rome kept defended a long time the pure and sincere doctrine of Christ Iesus For Saint Paule was beheaded there Saint Peter crucified there and many Bishops of Rome there put to death for confessing defending the Christian faith And hereupon it partly
came I will it not deny that the West and Occidentall Churches did so greatly reuerence the Church of Rome and many times to appease controuersies and dissentions had recourse to it as to the Mother Churche and auncient Nurse of the Faith But for all this they neuer ascribed this prerogatiue to the Bishoppe of Rome that hee could not erre neyther euer did they acknowledge him to be the sole and onely iudge in questions and controuersies of religion This to bee so one onely testimonie will suffice For S. Cyprian an auncient Father a very learned Bishoppe and blessed Martyr although hee greatly honoured the Church of Rome and the Bishoppes therof for respectes aboue mentioned yet was he so farre from acknowledging the supposed prerogatiue of the Bishoppe of Rome that his faith could not faile or that hee was the sole and only iudge in questions and controuersies of religion that hee flatly reiected his opinion contemned his definitiue sentence and derided his iudiciall decree calling him blinde bussarde and arrogant Prelate The controuersie was this whether they which were baptized of Heretiques ought to bee rebaptized or not The mater and Saint Cyprians words are set downe at large in my Booke of Motiues And the matter it selfe is partly already proued in the Chapters afore going and shall bee more fully confirmed in the Chapters following CAP. V. Shewing that Prouinciall Councels may erre THAT Prouinciall Councels may erre euen in matters of Faith it is so cleare and manifest that famous and verie learned Papistes affirme the same to witte Adrianus who was sometime Pope himselfe Iohannes-Gerson sometime Chauncellor of Paris Almainus and Alphonsus both of them renowmed Papistes For they all hold as the Iesuite Bellarmine graunteth that the infallibility of iudgement touching matters of faith resteth solely in the church and generall Councels this assertion being confessed by great learned Papistes were enough to satisfie the indifferent Reader if more could not be said Saint Cyprian assembled in councell togither with fourescore learned bishops defined against the truth that such as were baptized of Heretiques ought to be baptized againe This decree is extant in the first tome of Councels and is this day reputed for a grosse errour throughout the christian worlde The Prouinciall Councell holden at Iconium decreed with Saint Cyprian and his fellow Bishops that rebaptization was lawfully ministred to those that were baptized of Heretiques The Councell of Sardis erred grossely condemning two Catholike Bishops Iulius the Bishop of Rome and Athanasius the Bishop of Alexandria The third Councell of Carthage decreed the Apocryphall bookes of Tobias Iudith Baruch Wisdome Ecclesiasticus and the Machabees to be Canonicall But the Councell of Laodicea which was confirmed in the sixt generall Councell condemned that decree long before it was made and denied the said bookes to be Canonicall The Councell of Varmes decreed that secret theft should be knowne and tried by the deliuerie and receyuing of the holy Eucharist Which is a notorious error and a wicked decree as the great papist Aquinas witnesseth in his Theologicall summe The Councell of Rome celebrated by Pope Stephanus disanulled all orders giuen by Pope Formosus and the Councell of Rauennas called by Pope Iohn disanulled the Actes of the Councell vnder Pope Stephanus In fine a Councell holden at Rome vnder Pope Nicholas decreed and enforced Berengarius to confesse the same that the true body of Christ was broken with the Priests hands and consumed with the teeth of the faithfull And yet is this a notorious error manifest to all the worlde Wherefore the Popish Glosse to saue the credite of the decree of the Pope and Councell if it would bee addeth these wordes for explication sake Nisi sanè intelligas verba Berengarii in maiorem incideshaeresim quam ipse habuit ideo omnia referas ad species ipsas Nam de Christi corpore partes non facimus Vnlesse thou vnderstande soundly the wordes of Berengarius thou wilt fall into a greater heresie then hee had and therefore thou must referre all things to the formes For of Christ bodie no partes are made Loe the Popish glosse saith plainly which is the truth in deed that Christ bodie cannot bee broken or diuided into partes And for all that the Pope with his popish Councell enforced Berengarius to beleeue the contrarie and to cōfesse the same The Apostles words are these Christ being raysed from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him But certes if the true bodie of Christ Iesus be broken in deede and torne in peeces with mans teeth then doubtlesse must it bee corrupted and Christ himselfe must die againe This veritie doth so gall the Papists that the Iesuite Bellarmine who is the mouth of all the Papists is inforced will he nill he to confesse the truth vnawares These are his owne wordes which I wish the Reader to marke attentiuely Certum est semper fuit Christi corpus incorruptibile nunc existens non posse frangi teri nisi in signo siue sacramento ita vt dicatur frangi ac teri cum signum eius id est species panis frangitur teritur Sequitur verum Christi corpus ibi praesens existens frangitur teritur non tamen inse sedin signo It is and euer was certaine and without doubt that Christs bodie now being incorruptible cannot bee broken and torne but in the signe or Sacrament So that it may be said to be broken and torne when the signe thereof that is to say the forme of bread is broken and torne The true bodie of Christ there present is broken and torne yet not in the bodie it selfe but in the signe thereof Thus writeth our Iesuite most Christanly but vnawares agaynst himselfe if his words be well obserued I therefore note first that by Bellarmines owne confession Christs bodie is now immortall and incorruptible I note secondly that Christs bodie can not now bee broken in deed but onely in the signe or Sacrament thereof I note thirdly that Christes bodie is truly said to be broken as our Iesuite affirmeth because the signe of his bodie is truly broken Out of whose wordes and graunt this proposition is inferred of necessity to wit that Christ bodie is truly said to be present to the faithfull and to be truly eaten of them when the signe of Christes bodie is truly present and truly eaten of them Againe it must needs follow vpon the Iesuites grant and exposition of the Romish faith which is a wōder to bee heard that when Christ vttered these wordes to his Apostles this is my bodie his meaning and the true sense of the wordes was this This is my bodie that is to say this is the signe and Sacrament of my bodie The reason hereof is euident because Christes naturall and true body can no more be truely eaten then it can be truely broken And
Chapter hoping by Gods grace to vse such perspicuitie in handling this difficult question as shal bee to the contentment of all indifferent Readers CAP. VIII Shewing who is the right Iudge of the holy Scripture and word of God ALbeit the holy Scripture be the infallible rule of Faith and the true Touchstone by which all doctrines are bee examined and tryed as is already proued yet will controuersies neuer haue a peaceable end vnles some speciall iudges bee appointed to decide and determine the same For as the old Prouerbe saith So many heads so many wittes Out of one and the selfe same Scripture one man gathereth one sense an other man an other sense For the perspicuous vnderstanding wherof I put downe these Paragraffes The first Paragraffe The examination of doctrine is of two sortes the one is priuate the other is publike Priuate examination is that vpon which euery man doth build and stablish his owne faith For as the Prophet sayeth The iust man shall liue by his faith And as the great Popish Doctor Aquinas writeth the former obiect of our faith or that which wee formally belieue is God himselfe or that which God hath reuealed to vs and not that which man telleth vs. For sayeth hee faith doth not yeelde assent to any thing but because it is reuealed of God The publike examination of doctrine pertayneth to the common consent of the Church for the peaceable gouernance thereof For GOD is not the Author of confusion but of peace The Second Paragraffe As the examination of doctrine is of two sorts so are the examiners and the iudges of two sortes also that is to say publike and priuate The Publike iudges are all the Ministers of the Church by what name or title soeuer they bee called The priuate Iudges are all the faithfull seuerally by themselues in all matters pertayning to Faith and the saluation of their owne soules That all the faithfull are priuate Iudges it may be easily proued by many textes of holy writte First by this text of S. Iohn beleeue not euery spirit but trie the spirits if they bee of God Secondly by this text of S. Paule trie all thinges and keepe that which is good Thirdly by this text of the same Apostle the spirituall man iudgeth all thinges These texts the two famous Papistes Nicholaus de Lyra and Dionysius Carthusianns expounde of thinges pertayning to saluation which say they all the faithfull are able to trie And which is to bee wondred at the Iesuite Bellarmine vnawares confesseth the same These are his expresse wordes Duo vel tres congregati in nomine Christi obtinent semper quod petunt a Deo nimirum sapientiam lumen quod sufficit eis ad cognoscenda ea quae ipsis necessaria sunt Sequitur itaque siue pauci siue multi siue priuati siue Episcopi congregentur in nomine Christi omnes habent Christum praesentem adiuuantem obtinent quod eis conuenit obtinere Two or three gathered together in the name of Christ do at all times obtaine that of God which they desire at his handes to witte Wisedome and vnderstanding which is sufficient for them to know those thinges which are necessarie for them Therefore whether fewe or many whether Priuate persons or Bishoppes bee gathered in the name of Christ they all haue Christes presence they all haue Christes helpe they all obtayne that which is meete and conuenient for them Thus sayeth our Iesuite And doubtlesse it is meete for euery one to know all thinges necessary for his saluation it can not be denied Out of these wordes I note first that whosoeuer are gathered together in Christes name they all obtayne of GOD so much vnderstanding and knowledge as is necessarie for Saluation I note secondly that God is as well present in the assemblie of priuate men as in the Synode of Bishoppes I note thirdly that God helpeth priuate men and is present with them at all times euen as hee is with Bishops Whereupon I must needes inferre that the thinges concluded by secular persons in their assemblies for matters pertayning to their soules health doe no lesse proceed from GOD then doe the Decrees of Bishoppes And consequently the Iesuite will hee nill hee must perforce confesse that priuate secular and meere Lay-men can and may iudge in matters of Religion in matters of Faith in matters concerning their own soules health And all this is nothing else in deed but euen that which Christ himselfe hath plainly taught vs. Where two or three sayth Christ are gathered togither in my name there am I'in the midst of them I proue the same doctrine because Christs sheepe as Christ the great sheepheard telleth vs know his voyce and follow him but will not follow a straunger This place doubtlesse doth conuince For if the sheepe know the voice of the sheepheard as Christ saith they do then must the sheepe perforce iudge of the voice of the sheepheard For otherwise it will follow that a man cannot discerne that which hee knoweth Melchior Canus faith plainly that the holy Ghost teacheth euery one all things necessarie to saluation This veritie is confirmed by an other testimonie of our Lord Iesus if any man sayth he will do his will the will of God hee shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speake of my selfe Loe the knowledge of Gods word proceedeth from the doing of his will But the doing of Gods will pertaineth to all both great and small as well to priuate lay-men as to ecclesiastical persons though they be the Bishops of Rome And for this cause sayth the great Papist Panormitan his words you may reade in the sixt chapter of this discourse that the iudgement of a meere lay-man must be preferred before the iudgement of the Pope if that priuate lay-man haue better reasons gathered out of the old and new Testament then are the reasons of the Pope See the aunswere to the Obiection in the fourth Paragraffe and note it will To conclude holy Writ telleth vs that the Bereans did search the Scriptures to see if they were according to Saint Paules doctrine And let this suffice for the iudgement of priuat persons and meerlay-men Now that all ministers Archbishops Bishops and other pastors of the Church may iudge of the sense of the holy Scripture it is a thing so cleare and manifest as little or nothing need be said thereof For Saint Paule saith that Bishops by which worde he vnderstandeth all the Ministers of the Church must haue great care that false doctrine be not taught This the Papists freely graunt of Bishops denying the same in other inferior ministers of the Church But I will proue the assertion to be verified of all ministers in generall First because Saint Paul committeth the gouernment of the church to al the ministers in differently calling them Bishops that is ouerseers of the
flocke or superintendents Take heed saith he to your selues and to all the flocke ouer the which the holy Ghost hath made you Bishops or ouerseers Lo he tearmeth the Ministers of the citie Ephesus Bishops For of one onely citie there could bee but one onely Bishop or chiefe Minister But let vs heare what a great popish Doctor telleth vs. Nicholaus de Lyra hath these expresse wordes Vos spiritus sanctus posuit Episcopos id est ministros Sub nomine enim Episcoporum intelliguntur alii Ecclesiae ministri Vnde Episcopus Gracè superintendens est Latinè The holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops that is to say Ministers For vnder the name of Bishops the other Ministers of the church are vnderstoode Wherefore a Bishop in Greeke is Superintendent in Latin Thus writeth Lyra the great papist whom sir Thomas Moore a famous popish so supposed Martyr tearmed a great Clearke and he was so in deed but our late Romish papists cannot abide that their Bishops be called Superintendents Secondly because Christ himselfe spoke the same wordes to all his Apostles in generall which he said to Peter in the person of all Hee made them all Apostles as well as Peter they had all equall power not onely of order but of iurisdiction also as well as Peter had the same This their owne great learned schoole-doctor Victoria affirmeth to be so These are his expresse wordes Apostoli omnes habuerunt aequalem potestatem cum Petro quam sic intelligo quod quilibet Apostolorum habuit potestatem Ecclesiasticam in toto orbe ad omnes actus ad quos Petrus habuit All the Apostles had equal power with Peter which I thus vnderstand that euerie one of the Apostles had power ecclesiasticall in the whole worlde and to all those acts to which Peter had the same Saint Cyprian hath these expresse wordes Hoc erant vtique caeteri Apostoli quod fuit Petrus pari consortio praediti honoris potestatis sed exordium ab vnitate proficiscitur vt Ecclesia vna monstretur The same were the rest of the Apostles doubtlesse that Peter was endued with equall felowship both of honour and of power But the beginning proceedeth from vnitie to shew the Church to be one The Papists would wrest these wordes to be restrained onely to the power of consecration But hearken I pray you how the the same doctor confuteth them Nec audienda est glossa dicens hoc debere intelligi in ordine dignitate consecrationis non in potestatis plenitudine vt patere potest ipsam epistolam diui Cypriani legenti Neither must wee hearken to the Glosse which sayth that this to be vnderstoode in the order and dignitie of consecration not in the fulnesse of power as it is euident to him that shall read the epistle of S. Cyprian Couarruuias the Popes famous Canonist albeit he would very gladly defende the Popes pretensed power make only Peters power ordinary and independent yet can he not deny that our Lord Iesus gaue equall power to all his Apostles These are his expresse words Etenim iuxta Catholicorum virorum authoritates communem omnium traditionem Apostoli parem ab ipso Domino Iesu cum Petro potestatem ordinis iurisdictionis acceperunt ita quidem vt quilibet Apostolorum aequalem cum Petro habuerit potestatem ab ipso Deo in totum orbem in omnes actus quos Petrus agere poterat For according to the authorities of catholike Writers and the common traditions of all men the Apostles receyued from our Lord Iesus himselfe equall power with Peter both of order and iurisdiction insomuch doubtlesse as euery Apostle had equall power with Peter from God himselfe and that both ouer all the world and to all actions that Peter could do Out of these graue testimonies I note first that all the Apostles had equall authoritie with Peter I note secondly that all the Apostles had power ouer all the world euen as Peter had I note thirdly that what art soeuer Peter could do euery other Apostle could do the same I note fourthly that the iurisdiction of euerie Apostle did extend as farre as Peters did I note fiftly that Christs speaches to Peter in the singular number did argue no superioritie of iurisdiction but did onely signifie the vnitie of his Church I note sixtly that the late Bishops of Rome do falsely and insolently arrogate to themselues plenitudinem potestatis the fulnesse of power I note seuenthly that all this is cōnfirmed by the opinion of Catholique Writers and by tradition of all generally For all these seuen points are expressely contained if they bee well marked in the authorities alreadie alledged The selfe same doctrine is confirmed by the testimonie of Saint Austen in sundrie places of his workes In one place hee hath these wordes Clauses non vnus homo Petrus sed vnitas accepit Ecclesiae Not one onely man Peter receyued the Keyes but the vnitie of the Church In an other place hee writeth thus Ecclesiae Cutholicae personam sustinet Petrus cum ei dicitur adomnes dicitur amas me pasce oues meas Peter representeth the person of the Catholique Church and when it is sayde to him it is sayde to all Louest thou mee Feed my sheepe This poynt is prooued more at large in my booke of motiues The third Paragraph Although Councels both may erre and de facto haue erred as is alreadie proued yet to auoyd dissention and to establish peace in the Church free and godly generall Councels are and euer haue beene the ordinarie way and meane to condemne heresies errours and superstitions crept into the visible Church and to decide controuersies in Religion at such times and in such places as they could safely and lawfully be assembled brought together I say first free and godly generall Councels such as were the Councell of Nice the Councell of Ephesus the Councell of Constantinople and the Councell of Chalcedon which Councels the Church of Englande doth highly reuerence and christianly admit as agreeable to the holy Scriptures wishing that Councels might this day bee assembled with like freedome and called or summoned by the like authoritie For the Nicene Councell was appoynted by the authoritie of Constantinus surnamed the great to condemne Arrius who denied the consubstantialitie of our Lord Iesus the sonne of God affirming him to bee pure man Theodosius the younger called the Councell of Ephesus to confound the cursed heretique Nestorius who affirmed Christ to haue two persons and the blessed Virgin to bee onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mother of Christ but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mother of God The Councell of Constantinople was called by the authoritie of the Emperour Theodosius the elder to confounde Macedonius who denied the diuinitie of the holy Ghost And the Councell of Chalcedon was assembled at the commaunde of Martianus the Emperour to condemne Eutiches
seruiunt Domino in quantum reges sunt cum ea faciunt ad seruiendum illi quae non possunt facere nisi reges In this therefore do kinges serue God as they are kings when they do hold those things which none can doe but onelie kinges Where me must seriously obserue this reduplication of S. Austen kings as kings as a point of great importance For kinges as the same father teleth vs serue God two waies as they be men and as they be kings As men they serue God in liuing a Christian and godly life but as king they serue God in making godly lawes for the punishment of blasphemers idolaters heretiks and all kind of malefactors And this is that which S. Austen saith none can doe but kinges as rhey are kinges Yea this is that which the Prophet Esay telleth vs when he saith That kinges shall bee the nurcing Fathers of the Church and Queenes her nurces For albeit the Ministery of feeding of preaching the worde and administration of the Sacramēts pertaine onely to the ministers neyther may the meere ciuill Magistrate in any wise meddle therewith yet for all that it is most true that the prouision for the foode the ouersight that the children of God bee duely fed and that the Ministers doe exercise their functions in vigilant dutifull manner belongeth to the ciuill independent and absolute Princes For this respect is it that kinges and Queenes haue the name of Nurses not to nourish their children in ciuill matters and corporall foode onely but as in ciuill so also in spirituall that is In lacte verbi Dei in the milke of the worde of God For though the execution pertain to the ministers yet the prouision direction appointment care and ouersight which is the sepreme gouernment belongeth onely soly and wholy to the Prince as is already proued Now to the question proposed in the former Paragraffe vz. What remedie is to be had when a free and lawfull general Councell cannot be had To this question I answere that when any controuersies shall arise to the disturbance of the Peace of the church then euery absolute and independent ciuill Magistrate must commaund his Archbishop Bishoppe and other learned Ministers within his territories and dominions to come together and to celebrate a Nationall Councell or Synode and then and there to debate discusse and decide the controuersie in religion And he must charge them as did the religious kinges Dauid Salomon Iosaphat Ezechias Iosias and the rest of whom mention is already made to haue the fear of God before their eyes and carefully to examine all doubts difficulties contentions and controuersies in religion according to the infallible rule of the holy scripture This done the same ciuill independent magistrate must call together his wife and graue Counsellers and after mature deliberation had with thē confirme whatsoeuer shal tend to the aduancement of Gods glory and the peace of his church And withall he must publish sharpe penall statutes against all such as shal with disloyall contumacy violate and transgresse the same Thus did the good kings Reccaredus and Constantinus and this is this day most prudently and christianly obserued in the church of England God be thanked for it For first the Archbishops Byshops and other learned Ministers come all together in the Conuocation-house and there dispute discusse determine set down what they finde conuenient for the Peace of the Church and correspondent to the infallible rule of Gods word Secondly this done they present the same to her most excellent Maiesty most humbly crauing her royall assent for the confirmation therof Thirdly her Maiesty after consultation had with her graue Counsellers doth confirme and authorise by vertue of her royall and princely prerogatiue whatsoeuer seemeth expedient for the godly gouernment of her louing subiectes and withall enacteth necessary penall lawes against the insolent contumacy of seditious and disloyall people This godly and most christian maner of proceeding in religious causes is so liuely set downe before our eyes in the honourable fact of the Noble Spanish king Reccaredus as it is able to penetrate the very heart and throughly to perswade euery one that shall ponder the same seriously and in the feare of God This religious king Reccaredus in the year of our Lord 585. cōmāded al the Bishops with in his dominions of Spaine and Galicia to come together in his royall Citie of Toledo to confute and condemne the Arrian heresie When they were come thether the king sate downe in the middest of them and declared the cause that moued him to call them together After that hee enacted a publike Edict for the inuiolable obseruation of all the decrees of the counsell straitely charging aswell the Clergie as the Laitie to obeye and keepe the same Lastly hee subscribed his owne name and that before all the Bishoppes who in their due places subscribed after the king These are the expresse wordes of the king set down in the end of the said Edict Flauius Reccaredus rex hanc deliberationem quam cum sancta definiuimus Synodo confirmans subscripsi I Flauius Reccaredus the king confirming this consultation which wee haue defined with the holy Synode haue subscribed thereunto The next that subscribed after the king was Mausona the Metropolitane Bishoppe of the Prouince of Lusitania After him subscribed Euphemius the Archbishoppe of Toledo The residue followed in order as in the Councell is to be seen These particular subscriptions I note as a matter of great moment against the Papistes who will grant no prerogatiue or royall place to kinges in time of ecclesiastical Synodes Out of these wordes contayned in the kinges subscription I note first that the king confirmed the councell Secondly that the king subscribed to the Decrees of the Councel Thirdly that the king subscribed before all the Bishops Fourthly that the king decreed and defined the controuersies together with the Bishops To which I adde for the complement in the fift place that the councell was called and the Bishoppes assembled at the kinges commaundement For so saith the Councell Cum pro fidei suae synceritate idem gloriosissimus princeps omnes regiminis sui Pontifices in vnum conuenire mandasset c. When the same most glorious prince for the sincerity of his faith had commaunded all the Bishops within his dominions do come together to Toledo c. This was the practise of godly Princes aboue a thousand yeares ago when royall Prerogatiues were not brought into thraldome by popish tyranny An Obiection The councels which the Emperour called together were plenary and generall but those which you speake of are but Prouinciall or National The latter may erre the former are euer directed by the holy Ghost The Aunswere I say first that generall councels both may erre and de facto haue erred as is already proued I say secondly that the holy Ghost doth direct two or three gathered together in his
report in their Writinges are grieuously offended with them because they will not consent to their vnnaturall attempts for inuasions treacheries rebellions most cruell Spanish conspiracies wherein themselues being entangled and plunged ouer head and eares they endeuour to set the Lay-Papistes on like mad dogges to barke bite and deuoure their ghostly fathers and deare friends They terme the secular Priestes Mal-contentes factious seditious irreligious Apostataes yea knaues villaines and rebels forsooth to Prince George Blackwell king Henry Garnet and Emperour Robert Parsons And all this is done for not allowing say the Priests of a Trayterous Archpriest set vp in preiudice aswell of the Church of Rome as of the common Weale of England And no maruel seeing as the said Priestes doe write the Iesuites came into England by the instigation of the Diuell These Iesuites make it an vsual practise to publish scandalous libels and trayterous Pamphlets eyther without names at all or vnder the names of others or at least by such two letters bare lie and nakedly as may bee applied to many indifferently and no wayes to the true authors of the libels In which kind of coggery Robert Parsons the Iesuite whome the secular Priestes terme a notorious lyer a brasen faced Fryer a known cozener a sacrilegious Bastard an incestuous villain a cursed Fairie bratte and bloudthirsty traytor seemeth to excell all others This goodly Fryer Parsons of whose sactimony more at large in my Anotomie of Popish tyranny hath lately published or caused to be published a most scandalous libell against a godly learned and very famous man M. D. Sutcliffe as also against M. Willet a very learned and graue Writer Which rayling Libel the saide worthy men as I heare haue already confuted to the Libellers euerlasting shame and confusion if he doe not repent in time In the saide scandalous libell and ridiculous Pamphlet the Libeller termeth himselfe E. O. like a masked counterfait Companion as he is indeed and doth in the said impudent libell combine my silly selfe to my disparagement as he supposeth with those worthy men But I repute it to my great credite as who freely acknowledge that I am altogether vnworthy to bee coupled with such famous and worthy Writers That which hee imputeth to me may iustly and with al facility be retorted against himselfe as in due place God willing shall appeare CAP. II. Of the resolution and determination of the masked Companion E. O. THE swaggering diuine and hote spurmate E. O. telleth the Reader in his Preface that hee was once determined to haue adioyned me poor soule to the vertuous graue and famous Writers M. D. Sutcliffe and M. Willet but he altered his purpose if wee may beleeue him for these two respectes First for certaine considerations to himselfe well knowne as yee must suppose but may not in any wise be disclosed to the world Secondly because the confutation of my worthy workes as hee scoffingly termeth them is already vndertaken and must bee published if it shall be thought necessary Thus discourseth this counterfeit companion remember well his words Concerning this determination I thinke it very expedient to notifie to the Reader these fiue materiall adiuncts First that I published in Print to the view of the world my booke of Motiues in the yeare 1593. my suruey of Popery in the yeare 1596. and my hunting of the Romish Foxe in the yeare 1598. In the first of these Bookes I offered publike dispute with what Seminarie in England soeuer no one or other excepted whosoeuer protesting in the same worke to proceed so sincerely as if I could by the aduersarie be conuinced eyther to alledge any Writer corruptly or to quote any place guilfully or to charge any author falsly I would neuer require credite at the Readers handes neither in that booke nor in any other I protested likewise in the saide book that if any Papist in England or else where in Europe coulde truely and substantially confute the same I would once again embrace the late Romish religion thogh I did then and still do hate and detest the same as the mortall poyson of my soule Secondly that about two yeares after the publication of my Motiues I did essoones in my Suruey of Popery challenge all English Iesuites and Seminaries to aunswere my said Bookes promising vnfainedlie vnder my hand that if any of them could yeeld a sufficient answere in their defence I would doubtles subscribe vnto his doctrine Thirdly that all Iesuites and Seminaries notstanding all the former challenges haue beene silent aboue eight whole years and neuer yet durst aduenture to frame any aunswere to any one of the saide bookes and to publish the same to the view of the world At the last in the end of the yeare 1602. a shameles Pamphlet and scurrilous libell is published by an odde masked companion who naming himselfe E.O. hath set a broach a rude lying hotch-potch of Omnigitherum I know not well how to tearme it or what to make of it But I hope in God to turn it topsie toruie ere I make an end Fourthly that if the Iesuites or Seminaries could haue framed any true and sincere answere nay any likely or colourable answere to all or to any one of the said Bookes they would haue done it vndoubtedly and that many yeares ago Fiftly that when the said counterfaite E O. beareth the world in hand that now at the last in the yeare 1603. the confutation of the said books is vndertaken he doth but bestirre himselfe with might and maine to dazell the eyes of the simple Readers and of others that shall heare thereof that they may still bee seduced with Popish Legerdemain from time to time and not behold the Sunne shining at noone tide Who all must receyue in the end the iust reward of their folly euen the flappe of a Foxe tayle I proue it by these euident and insoluble reasons First because he saith the confutation must be published if it shal be thought necessary For I pray you is not this a merry iest The Iesuites and Seminarie Priests haue consulted now for the space of eight yeares fully complete and ended and haue all that time deuised how to frame some colourable answere at the least to all or some of the saide bookes and in the end of the yeare 1602. haue vndertaken the confutation thereof but for all that cannot yet tell whether it bee expedient to publish the said confutation or no. Oh sweet Iesus are these men the great Statists of the world are these men the skilfull Polititians that must manage all Europe are these men our learned diuines are these men they indeed vppon whose doctrine and guiding all Lay-Papistes doe depend and on their shoulders doe hang their soules and their saluation doubtles they may preach this goodly sermon to Wisemen and repute themselues for very noddie and starke fooles Secondly because after E. O. and his complices haue tossed and turned volued and reuolued all the parts
vnderstande the primatiue Church which is most truly and properly called the ancient Church VVhich Church doubtlesse knewe no Popish inuocation of Saintes as I haue proued in my Suruey For aunswere to which booke or to any of the rest published now many yeares ago neither this hote-spurre mate E. O. nor any other English Iesuite or Iesuited Seminarie dare for their lugges encounter with mee So then there is a sweet harmonie but no discord at all in the writings of maister Sutcliffe of maister Gough and of my selfe In an other place this Libeller sayth that I holde auricular confession to haue beene established in the yeare 254. and doe but proue it by my bare worde onely This is a lie with a witnesse For I haue proued it in the second booke of my motiues and that by the testimonie of Iosephus Angles a Popish Frier and Bishop of Bosana euen in the second to me of that worke which he dedicated to the pope himselfe Sixtus Quintus These are the expresse wordes Ante Concilium Later erat Haereticum negare necessitatem confessionis negantes tamen non erant Haeretici Ratio est quia nondum erat ab Ecclesia declaratum Before the Councell of Lateran it was hereticall to denie the necessitie of confession but they were not Heretiques that denied it The reason is because the Church of Rome had not declared it to be an article of faith In the said second booke of Motiues in the ninth Chapter and fift conclusion the Reader shall finde these expresse wordes Albeit popish auricular confession be so magnified with Papists that euerie one is commaunded vnder paine of damnation to beleeue the same as instituted by Christ himselfe yet was it not an article of popish fayth for the space of one thousand and fiue hundred yeares after Christ. These are my expresse wordes in that place Here I heartily desire all people that are careful of their saluation especially such as are deuoted to the Iesuites and I craue it for the tender mercy of God in the bowels of Christ Iesus to marke attentiuely what I shall sincerely deliuer as I will answere God at the dreadfull day of generall doome I therefore say first that the author of this lewde Pamphlet and scurrilous libell intituled the detection of vntruthes who concealeth his name not daring to auouch it to the world but seemeth to be Robert Parsons the Iesuite alias Bastard Cowbucke expelled out of Baliol Colledge in Oxford for his illegitimation libelling and factious dealing who will affirme or denie anie thing as his owne deare brothers the secular Priestes write of him hath incurred the censures of their church and is become an excommunicate person for publishing this lewde libell and slaunderous Pamphlet I proue it because the generall councell of Lateran celebrated in the yeare 1515. prohibiteth vnder the paine of excommunication to print or cause to be printed any booke or scripture whatsoeuer in any Cittie or Diocesse wheresoeuer vnles the same be first diligently examined by the Bishop of the same Diocesse or by his Deputie and subscribed by their owne hand And it will not serue the Iesuites turne to say or pretend for his excuse that the pope hath dispenced with their sect to print bookes and libels at their pleasure For a generall councell hath power to make constitutions which the Pope is bound to obey but the Pope hath no such power ouer the councell to which he is and must be subiect This doctrine is flatly decreed in two famous popish generall Councels Constance and Basill Yet to this day was it neuer heard of in the world that an inferiour could make lawes to tie his superior or by his owne power exempt himselfe or others from the obedience hee oweth to the lawes of his superior I say secondly that this shameles Iesuite must of necessitie condemne himselfe in his own conscience when he sayeth that I affirme auricular confession to haue been established in the yeare 254. and l proue it by an euident demonstration For though I made mention of the time in three seueral bookes to witte in my Motiues in my Suruey and in my hunting of the Romish Foxe yet did I that but obiter in the two latter bookes referring the Reader to my first Booke that is to my Booke of Motiues In which booke I handled the question indeede and decided it by popish approbation there affirming in expresse wordes that Popish auricular confession was not an article of Popish faith for the space of one thousand fiue hundred yeares after Christ. Which number is set down without figures in that place and so lesse subiect to falshood or corruption But in the other bookes the number is put downe in figures and so more easily subiect to alteration especially seeing my self was distant from the Presse well neare two hundred miles I say thirdly that to obiect to me my reuolt from falshood and my returne to God with remorse for mine errours which this libeller recounteth for want of better matter doth nothing else but argue his owne imperfection and insufficiency to defend the matter hee tooke in hand CAP. IIII. Of the finding out of the endes of the Gordian knot I Say first that Gordius as stories doe relate was first a poore husbandman and afterwarde elected to be the king of Phrygia by the oracle of an Idoll who being made king caused his yokes to be hanged vp in the temple of Iupiter and the cordes to bee knit in such knots that it seemed a thing impossible to vntie or loose the same I say secondly that this masked libeller E. O. or if ye will Parsons that trayterous Iesuite seemeth greatly to fauour Gordius his knot because forsooth as Gordius by the helpe of an Idol became of a poore husbandman a mighty Prince so hee by treasonable plottinges with the King of Spaine forsooth one day of a poore Fryer to be made the Viceroy of England For which end he bestirreth himself to deuise such knots of bloudy treacheries as hee thinketh mans power not able to resist or vntie I say thirdly that all the difficultie in vntying this knot consisteth precisely and specially in this because forsooth I say in my Suruey that the Bishops of Rome were godly men till S. Austens time and long after him and yet withall I doe charge Pope Siricius to haue published wicked doctrine and Pope Sozomene to haue falsified the councell of Nice This is the knot that as our Iesuite E. O. thinketh cannot bee vntied If I can find out the endes of this knot a more large subiect saith he must be prouided for my learning to worke vpon A worthy reward of so mighty a Personage for the vnfolding of one silly knot Well I vndertake in Gods name to find out the ends of this knot expecting that E. O. will for his credites sake performe his promise made herein For the clearing of which difficultie and vnfolding of which knot I desire the
will see what is best If it bee done it must be verie short and rather made to describe the man then to vnfold at large his doctrine For if it bee long neither the time nor commoditie of transporting vp and down nor the securitie of doing it can be correspondent That shall bee done on my part which may be This gentle Reader is there whole narration which for the exact examination and confutation thereof I will repeate by particular members one after an other euer adding a particular seuerall answer to the same The Iesuite Concerning the answere to the wrangler I am euen as I was before vncertaine what were expedient The Answere To these wordes I answere first that the Iesuites haue beene long buzzing about an answere to my bookes and haue vsed as great speede therein as hee that shoulde driue a snaile from Paris to Rome For after my bookes haue beene eight or nine yeares in their handes and vnder their malicious censure they are still at the same poynt where they began That is to say they neither haue made neither can they make any answere to my bookes I answere secondly that though the Papists be greatly troubled about my bookes and doe often consult among themselues how to frame some aunswere therevnto yet can they not this day tell what is expedient for them to doe in that behalfe But euery wise man can easily discerne that if the truth were on their side and that they could confute the doctrine laid downe in my bookes they would vndoubtedly performe the same The Iesuite The man desireth nothing but wrangling And besides that which I feare most is that which I haue seene by experience in other his writings that is exceeding and outragious choller The aunswere To these wordes I answere first that if I did but wrangle they might with facilitie haue aunswered me so many yeares ago Secondly that the Priestes and Iesuites are of a verie shallow iudgement and small reach if they can not tell in eight whole yeares what to answere to a wrangler or wrangling disputation Thirdly that the Iesuite as is confessed alreadie can not yet tell what is expedient to be done in that matter Whereupon it followeth of necessitie that it is a matter of great moment and of no smal importance For otherwise a man of rare wisedome and deepe iudgement such as our Iesuites vsually be especially those Iesuites who are elected to be prouincials and rulers of all others within a whole Prouince could not but know in much lesse time then 8 or 9. yeares what were fit meete expedient to be done concerning the answering of my bookes And yet as this great father of wisdom freely granteth he is still as vncertain as he was afore what aunswere were best to be made Fourthly that our father Iesuite lieth flatly vpon his head when he saith that hee feareth nothing more then my exceeding and outragious choller For first he and his brethren do not spare at all to write against their owne brethren the secular Priests who shew more choller in one leafe of paper then I haue done in all my Bookes Againe he and the other Iesuites doe disgorge more choller agaynst the Seculars in the least page they haue written then my selfe haue done in all my bookes Hereof none can be ignorant that shal seriously peruse my booke intituled the Anatomie of Popish tyrannie The Iesuite Whereby he will be moued to vtter not onely vll imperfections which he knoweth of our fellowes but also those things which ought to be most surely sealed vp The Answere I answere first that hereby euerie one may see that the Iesuites and their fellowes are full of notorious imperfections which they feare shall be made knowne vnto the world Secondly that if the Iesuites be guiltie in their own consciences of greater crimes offences then the secular Priests haue discouered to the world then certes they are so farre from being Saints that they are more like the Diuels of hell Thirdly that they haue damnable practises among them which must be sealed vp and not be made knowne vnto the world But hereof Watson the secular Priest seemeth to haue spoken sufficiently in his Quodlibets My book of Anatomie will tell them more Fourthly that the Iesuite doth vnawares confesse me to be an honest man For it must needes bee the part of an honest man to speake nothing of his enemie but onely that which he knoweth to be true The Iesuite The man being past all grace and shame The Answere I say first that it is no maruaile if this lewde Iesuite write thus of me to his felowes couertly seeing both hee and his fellowes write most bitterly and impudently against their owne brethren the secular Priests men of better deserts by many degrees then themselues Secondly they are arrant traitors cruell murderers impudent lyars notorious coozeners full of enuie pride malice and all vices vnder heauen as the secular Priests write of them and consequently this Iesuites tongue can not or at least ought not to be of credite against any man Thirdly all that this rayling impudent companion can truly say of me is nothing else in deede but that I haue renounced lately inuented popish Religion For the olde Roman religion practised in the primatiue church I allow and defend in al my bookes and will perseuere in the same God willing vnto my liues ende It is the superstition and Idolatrie of latter yeares crept into the Church of Rome by little and little the originall whereof I haue proued in my booke of Suruey agaynst which proofe this proude Iesuite can say nothing that I impugne condemne in all my writings Fourthly this rayling fellow hath graunted alreadie that I will vtter nothing of them but known truths consequently I must haue some grace and honestie left by his owne confession The Iesuite Neuerthelesse for this matter as ye shall all agree For I doubt not but so manie and such will see what is best The Answere Loe they that haue consulted how to answere my bookes are not onely many in number but also of the best iudgement and reputation among them For you heare his wordes so many and such will see what is best And yet these men so many and so worthie haue not in so many yeares found out any answere to my bookes But as he truly sayth they see what is the best to be done As if he should haue said the best is to passe ouer the matter with silence as wee haue done heretofore For his doctrine is sound grounded vpon the Scriptures Councels Fathers and the practise of the ancient Church and we are not able to gainsay the same It is better to sit still then to rise vp and fall The Iesuite If it be done it must be verie short and rather made to describe the man then to vnfold at large his doctrine For if it belong neither the time nor commoditie of transporting vp and downe nor the securitie
of doing it can be correspondent That shall be done on my part which may bee The answere I say first that here the Iesuite graunteth vnawares that he and his felowes are but wranglers and flat coozeners as who will post ouer the aunswere to my bookes with cunning shifts and impudent leasinges not daring to intermeddle with my doctrine For ye see hee putteth a caueat not to vnfolde my doctrine But it is the doctrine indeede that they should vnfold and not to stand vpon the person of the man But the doctrine is Noli me tangere they dare not deale with it I say secondly that they said before I was a wrangler and therefore they would not or list not to deale with mee But now they thinke it better to reuile my person then to dispute against my doctrine Truth is they list to deale with neyther of hoth and for this cause is it that whatsoeuer be done herein must be very short That forsooth they may send it vp and down from one place to another secretly as they did this letter and tell their silly seduced Popelinges that they haue done this and that I cannot tell what But plaine dealing were better Farewell gentle Reader FINIS Psal. 116. v. 11 Iere. 16. v. 19 Rom. 3. v. 4. Mal. 1.8 Ezech. 7 v. 26 cap. 22. v. 26 Esa 28. v. 7. Micah 3. v. 11. Soph. 3. v. 4. Roffensis art 32. aduers. Luth. pag. 420. Bellarm. de conciliis lib. â— cap. 2. 2. Par. 36. v. 14. Hos. 9. v. 10. Iere. 14. v. 14. Iere. 6. v. 13. Esa 56. v. 10. Lactan't lib. 7 cap. 21. Iustinus q. 60 q. 76. ad Orthod Victor in Apocalips Caietan in quinq lib. Mosis Canus lib. 7. cap. 1. de locis Canus lib. 8. cap. 5. Argumentum ad hominem Causa 17. q. 4. cap. si quis suadente Carranza in summa consiliorum Platina in vita Sergii 8. Carranza vbi supr fol. 369. Platina in vitis Pontificum Carranz vt supr Martinus Polonus in Chroni an 1007. The Pope in his Pontificalibus forgetteth the name of his churches Polonus an 1042. Repent yee Popes of Rome Martinus Polonus an 1042 This solemne promise was not long kept Onuphr in Chron. Carranz in summa concil p. 370 p. 373. Bernard ad Gauf epist. 125 August depotest ecclesiast q. 45. in quaest 2. Fumus in aurea armilla verbo Papa 7. Gers. de potest eccles consid 12. part 3. Oh what a blasphemie is this Grat. dist 40. cap. si Papa Glossa lib. 1. decretal tit 7. cap. 3. Victor de potest papae concilâ—â— p. 151. Grat. dist 40. cap. si Papa Caus. â— q. 7. cap. oues Soto in 4. s. d. 22. q. 2. art 1 Canus de locis Viguerius de virtute fidei Lyra in 16. cap. Mat. Iosephus Angles in 4. s. par 2. q. de excom art 4. dific 1. Gers. in serm de paschat part 3. Alphon. a Castro lib 3. aduers haeres prope finem Alphons vbi supra Bellarmin de-Rom pontif lib. 4. cap. 14. A subtle but falsely coyned distinction Canus de locis lib. 6. cap. 5. in fine Alphonsus lib. 1. cap. 4. aduers haeres Loe the Pope erred publikely not as a priuate person Note this wel it is a point of weight Luke 22. v. 32 Rom. 10. v. 10. 2. Tim. 1. v. 19. Ioh. 17. v. 9. Ioh. 17. v. 20. August in quaest mixt is q. 5. to 4. Origen hom in mat A reason insoluble let it bee well marked Panormit apud Syluest de fide § 9. de cone §. 3. Alphons lib. 1. de haeres cap. 4. Bellarm. lib 4. cap. 3. de Rom Pontif. Mat. 23. v. 2. 3. What it was to sit in Moses chaire August tract 46. in Iohan. in med tom 9 Priests must onely be obeyed when they teach Gods law Hilarius in ps 158 Pag. 698. Lyra in 23. cap Mat. Carthus in 23 cap Mat. Deut. 17. v. 9.10.11 A very weigh tie obiection see the answer Note the second obiectioÌ„ Lyra. in ca. 23 Mat. Lyran. vbi supra Dionysius Carthus vbi supra Deut. 17. v. 10 Malach. 2 v. 7 Malac. 2. v. 6 Deu. 17. v. 9.10 Bellarmine de Pontif. Rom. lib. 4. cap. 1. Deut. 16. v. 18. Note this point well Canus lib. 3. cap. vlt. p. 108. Lyran. in 17. cap. Deut. Lo papistrie is confuted by papists euen of the best sort Note well gentle Reader The hie priest of the old law erred Mat. 26. v. 64. 65. 66. 67. Note well this Dilemma Leu. 24. v. 14 Act. 5. v. 29. Act. 4. v. 19. Hier. in 2. cap. Aggaei The Popes now a days do not preach at al 1. Cor. 1. v. 17. Esa. 56. v. 10. Ioh. 10. v. 4. 1. Pet. 2. v. 25. Caus. 2. q. 7. Cap. oues Loe the sheep may rebuke accuse the shepheard Dist. 96. cap. Constantinus The very originall of Poperie Ammianus lib. 15. The Church of Rome was once the true nurse of the faith Vide epist. Cyprian ad Pompeium Bellarm. lib. 4. de Rom. Pontif cap. 2. Concil Carthag sub Cypriano Euseb. hist. eccles li. 7. cap. 6 Aug. ep 163. lib. 3 contra Cresconium cap. 34. tom 7. Concil 3. Carthag can 47. Conc. Laodic can 59. Con. Varmac can 3. Aquinas p. 3. q. â—â— aâ— 6. ad 3 Platina Sigebertus palmerius De consecrat dist 2. cap. egâ— Berengarius Rom. 6. v. 9 Bellarmin de concil lib. 2. cap. 8. in fine Col. 917. O reader mark this point wel for the loue of God Mar. 14. v. 53. Mat. 26. v. 65. Concil Later 1. cap. de fide Cath. 1. Basil. hexa hom 1. Ambr. hexamer lib. 1. cap. 5. tom 4. August lib. 11 de ciuitate ca. 32. Aquinas 1. p. q. 61. art 3. Canus de locis lib 5. cap. 5 pag. 169 The popish so supposed diuine seruice may not safely be beleeued Concil Constant sess 13. Concil Basil. sess 30. 1. Cor. 11. v. 25 Conc. Trident sess 8. de reformat Panormit de elect cap. Significasti prope finem Note this doctrine well See the last end of the second Chapter Deut. 1. â— Deut. 31. ver 19.24 Deut. 9.10 Ios. 1. v. 8. 2. Tim. 3.16 2. Pet. 1.21 Num. 23.19 Dionys. Areopag de diuinis nominib cap 1. in initio August Epist. 19 ad Hier. August de bono viduitatis cap. 1. tom 4. Bellarm. de verbo Dei non scripto lib. 4. cap. 12. tom 1. col 196. Who is the Iudge of the Scripture Some iudge must be appointâ—d for vnity sake and externall peace of the church Abakuk cap. 2. v. 4. Aquinas 2.2 q. 1. art 1. 3. 1. Cor. 14. v. 33. 1. Iohn 4. v. 1. 1. Thess. 5. v. 21 1. Cor. 2. v. 15. Lyra Car. thus in comment sup 1. Cor. 2 Bellarm. lib. 2. de conciliiâ— cap. 2. A point worthy to be marked See the wordes of Melchior Canus in the end of this discourse Mat. 18. v. 18. Iohn 10. v. 4. Canus de locâ— lib. â— cap. 8. p. 29. Iohn 7. v. 17. Vide. sup cap. 6 Act. 17. v. 11. 1. Tim. 1. v. 3. Act. 20. v. 28. Lvr. in Comment in hunc locum Victor de potest ecclesiae relect 2. Conc. 3. 4. p. 84. Cyprian de simplic Prelat p. 113. Victor vbi supra Couart tom 1 part 2 § 9. p. 242. Col. 4. prope finem Aug. in serm Petri Pauli apud Canum Aug. in lib. de agone Christi cap. 30. tom 3. Socrates lib 1. cap. 6. Euagrius lib. 1. cap. 3. Sozomen lib. 7. cap. 7. Theodoret. lib. 1. cap. 7. Sigebertus an 386. August epist 162. p. 472. Aug. de Baptis cont Donat. lib. 1. cap. 7. tom 7. Exod. 32. v. 19 20.21.22.23 Iosue 5.6 â— Nomb. 27. v. 17. 1. Par. 24. 1. Par. 25. 1. Par. 26. 1. Reg. 8. v. 63. 1. Reg. 4. 1. Reg. 2. 2. par 19. 4. Reg. 18. 2. Par. 29. 2 Par. 10. 2. Par. 11 2. Par. 29. v. 11. 2. Par. 34. Eusebius Caesariens de vita Constantini August epist. 48. ad vincent August epist. 50. ad Bonifac Esa. 49. v. 23. The aunswere to the question proposed in the third Paragraffe In ipso initio concilii tolet tertii Habentur in a Tomo conciliorum Ecclesiae Emeritensis Metropolitanus Gerson prim parte de examinat doctrinar consider 5 1. Iohn 2. v. 27 Import consider p. 14. In my Motiues lib. 2. cap. 1. Preface p. 10. The first lie of E. O. P 37. The second lie of E.O. Suruey p. 338. Aquinas 2. â— q 98. art 1. ad 3. Aquinas 2.2 q. 110. art 1. The formality of a lie August lib. de mendacio cap. 3. ad Consenti tom 4. P. 44. The 3. lie of E.O. Lib. 2. cap. 9. conclu 5. Ios. Angles in 4. s. q. de coÌ„ses P 255. Mat. 23. v. 3. Aug. de vnit eccl cap. 12. Canus de locis p. 137. Bellarm. de iustific cap. 20. col 2235·