he had a fowler fall then the rest of the Apostles insomuch as he had thrée times denied yea and also forsworne his Lorde and Master Therefore least by his thrise denying he might séeme put out of his office of Apostleship the Lord on the other side by his thrise cōfessing of his loue and enioyning him his charge receaueth him againe and admitteth him to the office of Apostleship to féede the Lordes flocke together with the rest of the Lordes Apostles For who can say that the féeding of the Lordes shéepe was committed to Peter onely and not to the other Apostles also But Peter was inflamed with singular loue both toward the Lord and toward his Church The same loue doth the Lord require of euery shepheard of the flocke But what I pray you perteineth that to the Bishop of Rome who to speake no worse of him burneth in desire of dominion riches voluptuousnesse The Lord bad Peter féede the Lordes flocke He hath also committed the charge of his flocke to all faythfull ministers that loue him vnfainedly Againe what maketh this to the ratifying of the tyranny of the Romish Bishop To féede is not to aduance mans selfe aboue all power to make kinges and princes subiecte to him and to vsurpe fulnesse of power ouer all mē and all things but to féede is to teach to exhort to rebuke to comfort and to gouerne Christes flocke according to Gods word Shepeheardes therfore are the teachers in the Church which féede the Lordes flock by preaching the Gospell For the foode of Christes shéepe is his word And the shéepe are Christes chosen and the people of god Hereof the shepeheardes are ministers and not lordes subiecte to the chéefe shepeheard Iesus Christ whose onely is and continueth all souereintie all power and all glory as the Lord him selfe expoundeth this matter of the flocke or of the shéepe of the shepeheardes and the maner of féeding in the x. chapt of Iohn and as Peter him selfe also accordeth saying I which am also an elder a witnesse of Christes afflictions and also a partener of the glory that shall be reuealed beseech the elders that are among you feede Christes flocke as much as in you is playing the Bishops or taking care of it not constrainedly but willingly not seeking filthely after gaine but of an earnestly affected mind not as though ye were Lordes ouer the parishes but so as ye may be patterns to the flocke Lift vp your eares here ye Romish Monarkes harken and marke what your owne Peter sayth He nameth not him selfe Lord head or prince but fellowe elder yea and as for the Lordlinesse and other fowle vices wherwith you be so bespotted or rather allberayed he forbiddeth the desire of them And Christ he hath set forth the high shepeheard in singular humilitie and faith to be looked at and him to be serued c. After the same maner speaketh also the Apostle Paule in the Actes of the Apostles to the shepeheardes that were assembled in the Synod of Miletum saying Take heede to your selues and to the whole flocke wherein the holy Ghost hath made you Bishops whom Luke a little before called priestes or elders to feede the congregation of God which he hath purchased with his bloud Againe the same Paule a little afore in the same oration of his declareth after what sort he him selfe had hitherto in that vocation of his fed the Lordes flocke cōmitted vnto him and sayth I haue shunned none of those things that were for your profit but haue preached vnto you and taught you openly and priuately witnessing both to the Iewes and to the Grekes the repentaunce towardes God and the fayth toward our Lord Iesus Christ. It appeareth then by this plaine expositiō of the Apostle more cleerly then the light that according as I haue sayd a litle erst and now againe am glad in repeating the same do gather it out of the Apostles wordes to the end I may the better beate the truth into all mens heades against most shamefull leasinges the flocke or shéepe are the Lordes people or Church For the Apostle sayd Take heede to your selues and to the whole flocke wherin the holy Ghost hath made you Bishops to feede the Church of God. And so the shepeheardes are the teachers ministers that féede the flocke by teaching and preaching openly and priuately And so the foode is rightly sayd to be doctrine and yet not euery doctrine but the doctrine which as Paul sayth teacheth repentaunce to Godward and beleefe in Iesus Christ. This I say is the sound simple and not any strange racked or wrested exposition of Christes wordes feede my sheepe but taken out of the very own wordes of the Lord him selfe and of his Apostles and therefore to be preferred before all other interpretations and none other that disagréeth with this what interpreter soeuer be the author therof be he olde or be he new is to be admitted or receaued Therfore no man néede now to dout that it is out of all dout that by these the Lordes wordes feede my sheepe there is not graunted neither to Peter nor to the Bishop of Rome that fulnesse of power which these men boast of and which they beare the world in hand to be geuen by those wordes I could also alledge other testimonies for our side concerning this maner of féeding out of the Prophets as out of the iii. chapt of Ieremy and the xxxiiii of Ezechiell but that I labour to be short Yet because I will not dissemblingly skippe ouer any thing in this matter I confesse that the Romish Bishop hath also very euident witnesse in the Prophets of his gouernmēt and of his maner of féeding For Zacharie protesteth and sayth The Lorde sayd vnto me yet take vnto thee the tooles of a foolish shepeheard For beholde I raise vp a shepeheard vpon the earth which shall not visite the thing that is cut vp nor seeke the thing that is youthfull or foolishe nor heale the thing that is broozed nor feede the thing that standeth and shall eate the fleshe of the fatter sort breake of their hoofes Woe be to the idoll shepeheard and which forsaketh his flocke and so forth as followeth in the xi chapt of Zacharie Here haue ye a looking glasse ye Romane Bishops wherin ye may beholde and discerne your own phisnomie That the Bishoppes fauourers neither by these wordes of Christ I haue prayed for thee Peter nor yet by these wordes Behold here be two swordes can sufficiently proue that that power is geuen them which they vaunt of NEuer a whit the more do these mē further or beautifie their case when againe in defence of thēselues and their soueraigntie they alledge our sauioures wordes at such tyme as he sayd vnto Peter Simō behold Sathan hath craued you that he might winow you as it were wheat But I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith
publishing of the Gospell they might open the kingdome of heauen to the beleuers and shut it against the vnbeleuers But if these thinges which notwithstāding if I be not deceaued I take to be euident strong inough do not yet satisfie you beholde I will vnfolde this whole matter of the keyes yet an other way though nothing differing from the interpretation which I haue set downe already as in respect of the pith of the matter The worde keyes are also vsed in the Scripture for the care ordering of an householde For the seruauntes whom the master of any house setteth in office haue keyes deliuered vnto thē wherewith to open and shut and to order all the house which thing is wont to be done by the Stewardes or Comptrollers that haue the chéef charge of the house By meanes wherof the keyes also are taken for the very charge the ordering or the gouerning of the house Héere againe I faine nothing of my self I follow the holy Scriptures For in Esay the Lord sayth I wyll lay the key of the house of Dauid vpon the shoulder of Eliachim which shall open and no man shall shut and shall shut and no man shall open And what els is this then if he had said without figure I wil put Sobna out of office and make Eliachim Lord Treasurer and commit the gouernement of the Realme or of king Ezechias palace which charge he shall performe with so great faithfulnesse and authoritie that whatsoeuer he ordaineth shall stand sure and inuiolable and whatsoeuer he disanulleth no mā shall attempt to ratifie In like respect are the keyes of the kingdome of heauen sayd to be geuen to the Apostles and other ministers I meane the gouerning or housholdly ordering of the Church therby to bring mē to the kingdome of heauen or to shut them out of the partenership thereof Which surely can be none other then that which it accoūteth as the chéef namely the message of Gods worde I meane the preaching of the Gospell of Iesu Christ concerning the remission of sinnes and euerlasting life The which truely is so certaine and sure that looke whom the ministers absolue from their sinnes by it they are also assuredly acquit before God and whom the ministers condemne by the worde for their vnbeléefes sake those remain also condemned to destruction before God. And as for these thinges which I haue layd forth concerning the ordering of a housholde by Stewardes that is to say concerning the ordering of the Church by the ministers they are not differing from the worde of god For the Lord in his Gospell rehearseth a parable of a man that went from home and committed the charge of his house to his seruauntes which should be as Stewardes to order his house Which Parable certesse is applyed to the Church the house of God and to the ministers placed in the same that in gouerning it they may chéefly beautifie it with the preaching of the Gospell For in the same Gospell the Lord sayth againe Who thinkest thou is that faythfull and wise seruaunt whom his Lord hath set ouer his housholde to geue them meate in due season But who knoweth not what the meate of the Church is Truely Paule writing to a Bishop that is to say to an ouerséer or steward of the Church sayth Indeuour to yeeld thy selfe an allowable workman vnto God not to be ashamed of and rightly distributing the worde of truth And the same Apostle speaking yet more manifestly of the ministers and the housholde order of the Church sayth Let a man so esteeme you as the ministers of Christ and housholde guides or stewardes of the mysteries of God. Then the which I pray you what can be spoken more fully and plainly in this our case Christ our Lord ordained in his Church ministers and not Lordes ministers or seruauntes I say to be stewardes or dealers forth of Gods mysteries in the Church that is to say of the Gospell and of the thinges that are annexed to the Gospell For so doth the Lord him selfe expound the worde Mysterie in the xiii chapt of Mathew and so doth Paule also in the third to the Ephesians These keyes that is to say this charge houshold order of gouerning the Church which is executed according to the appointment of the Gospell of Iesus Christ did the Apostles receaue and after them all ministers of Churches that be lawfully called to the same office ¶ What is ment in the Gospell by loosing and binding and how Christes Apostles did loose and binde NOw although our Lorde sayd I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and that by the way he made no mention in the processe following of opening and shutting which are the properties of keyes yet did he set down other termes in their stead that is to wit to loose and to binde by which doutlesse he ment to shew the power of the keyes and after what maner the Apostles doe either open or shut heauen with the keyes They open when they vnbinde or let loose for both those thinges come to one point and they shut whē they binde To let loose therefore is to open and to shut is to binde Otherwise to binde is a word of knowen signification For the officer bindeth which at the cōmaundement of his lord casteth a man in prison or by some other way hampereth him in bondes And he looseth which dischargeth a man from bondes or bringeth him out of prison This thing is conueyed ouer from the body to the minde For bondes in the Scripture betoken as well spirituall as bodily imprisonment To loose therefore is to open the prison of sinnes by preaching forgeuenesse of sinnes through Christ who onely releaseth sinnes and bringeth out of prison Which thing shall be the rightlyer vnderstood if we vewe and consider more néerly this saying of the Prophet which the Lord Iesus him selfe expoundeth in the Synagog of Nazareth in S. Luke saying The spirite of the Lord is vpon me meaning vpon Christ because he hath annointed me and hath sent me to bring glad tidynges to the poore to heale them that be hart broken to preach release to the prisoners and recouery of sight to the blynd and to set the broosed at lybertie Héerunto adde also that which the same Lord said in Iohn Like as the father hath sent me so send I you Whose sinnes soeuer you release they are released vnto them and whose sinnes soeuer you retayne they be retayned The sonne of God then sent out his disciples after the same maner that he him self was sent out by the father But the sonne of God according as the Prophet hath auouched was sent to bring glad tidinges to the poore to preach deliueraunce to prisoners Ergo the Apostles also were sent forth to shew glad tidinges and to preach deliueraunce to prisoners Which thing when they do then open they heauen by the keyes and let loose them that were tyde in the bondes
or peruert the matters of the Church and bryng thinges into the Church which Gods word hath not allowed and fill all thinges with mens traditions Furthermore we haue notable examples of those Emperours and Princes which accordyng to the Prophesies came into Christes Church and renownced their heathenishnesse and shewed themselues faithfull fosterfathers ouerséers and defenders of the Church Among the first in account is Constantine who for his noble actes and manifold vertewes was surnamed the great This man closed vp the temples of idols and abolished all heathenish sacrifisings In Nice a citie of Bithynia he called a Counsell the greatest of all Counsels and of most authoritie And there he rebuked the Byshops sharply and layd his commaundement vpon them set order in the matters of the Church Eusebius in the life of Cōstantine is not afrayd to terme this Prince a Byshop bycause he did most diligently looke to the matters of the Church If any man require the authors wordes thus they be Cōstantine sayth he imployed his care vpon the Church of god And bycause many were at oddes among themselues in diuers places he beyng ordeined a common Byshop by God sommoned a Dyet of Gods Ministers Neither disdained he to be at it himself to sit amōg them to become a felow of theirs to dispose to all of them the thynges that made for the peace of god Thus much sayth he Behold here is a Councell called not by the Pope but by the Emperour Wherupon when one Ruffinus obiected a certein Councell agaynst Ierome he aunswered saying shew thou me what Emperour commaunded it to be assembled Moreouer the strife of the Byshops had burst further out if this Emperour had not bridled them and brought them to order This Prince by his intermedlyng in matters of Religion of the Church dyd within a while not onely salue them but also greatly further them Which thing the Emperours Valentine Gratian and Theodosius did in likewise as it appeareth in the beginnyng of Iustinians Code And the Emperour Theodosius in Nouellis tit 2 concerning Iewes Samaritanes c. confesseth to Florentius that the searchyng out of Religion is the chief charge and greatest care that belonges to the Maiestie of an Emperour Also the Emperours Leo and Anthemius in L. omnes C. concernyng Byshops and Clerkes haue set downe by name that Ciuill Magistrates were and ought to be iudges of the Byshops And before the reigne of these Archadius and Honorius in L. Quicunque C. concernyng Byshops and Clerkes denounce a Byshop that breakes the common peace to be vnworthy the name of a Bishop and depose him from his Bishoprike and finally will that he shal be banished The Emperour Iustinian about the yeare of our Lord 550 made many lawes openly settyng order in matters of the Church appointyng Byshops Clerkes what they should do And in Nouellis Constit. 123. he commaūdeth the Presidentes of Prouinces that if the Byshops forslow to kéepe conuocations then they should do it and execute the lawes and mainteyne the ordinaunces of the Church Furthermore Charles the great kyng of Fraunce and Emperour and his sonne Lewis the milde published many Ecclesiasticall lawes concernyng the holy doctrine the ministration of the sacramentes and the Ministers them selues Abbot Ansegisus compyled their lawes into foure bookes But it would be too tedious to rehearse and of these lawes therby to shew and proue that which is otherwise sufficiently proued already namely that the charge of Religion and of Church matters perteineth also to Kynges and Quéenes and that it is no monstruousenesse at all though the ciuill Magistrate determine of matters of Religion vnles those so many so mightie and so holy Kynges Princes and Emperours whose examples I haue hitherto alledged were all monsters But no such thyng can sinck in godly mens mindes who doutlesse do rather beleue that Pope of Rome the author of this rayling Bull is a monster both most hideous and most vgly as hath ben sayd also héertofore Which thinges beyng vndoutedly so the vertuous Quéene of England hath done nothing amisse but rather she hath done her dewtie and deserued eternall prayse for succoryng the persecuted and forwéeryed state of the English Church and for takyng vpon her the case of Religion which she hath vertuously disposed hetherto accordyng as she began at the first deposing from their estate and office the bishops that were sworne to the pope which preached the pope and papistry and not Christ our Lorde and his pure Gospell and preferring to their roomes men sworne to Christ our Lorde and to the Quéenes Maiestie which preache Christes Gospell sincerelye through the whole Realme without any corruption of popery The slaunderous Bull rayling vppon these Ministers of Christ lawfully ordeyned by the Quéene termeth them in way of disdaine and reproch lewd preachers and ministers of wickednes But it is well for them for Christ our Lord sayth Blessed are ye when men reuile you and speak all euill against you béelying you for my sake Furthermore the Apostle was not ashamed to name him self a publisher or preacher of the Gospell neyther are they lewde preachers which according to Paules saying deuyde the woord of truth rightly and honestly and endeuour to shew themselues allowable woorkmen afore God neyther are they ministers of wickednesse that do theyr seruice vnto Christ and his Church with all faythfulnesse and singular dilligence I will not say at this present how cruell those bishops whom the Quéenes Maiestie hath deposed frō their estate cast in prison were when they had the law in their owne handes agaynst the faythfull professors of Christ nor how stubbornely they sticked to idolatry and to the Romane Idoll vnto whome they had bound themselues by othe defending most pestilent and manifesterrors and continewing malicious and vnappeasable enemies of the truth of the Gospell in so much as the Quéenes Maiestie neither could vse their seruice nor ought to wink at their rebelliō traiterousnes lewd meaning if she meant to aduaūce maintain the peace of hir realme the welfare of hir people the procéeding of the Gospell Therefore if these men pyned away for sorrow and dyed miserably in prison that is nothing to the Quéenes Maiestie for they may wite it vppon theyr owne vniust stubbernesse ioyned with maliciousnes they may wite it vpon their owne most wilfull rebelliousnesse and in generall vpon their owne wickednes And as for those that be punished or put to death for their owne offences the righteous Lord God geueth sentence vpon them in his owne law saying Their bloud be vpon their owne heades Most excellent and true also is the sentence of S. Iohn Chrisostome No man is hurt but by himself Furthermore Paule in expresse wordes to the Romanes saith Princes are not a terror to them that do well but to them that do euil but wilt thou not feare power thē do the thing that is
counselling to depose Childericke and to aduaunce Pippin to the kingdome And so was an other horne ouerthrowen by the little horne The third horne which was the kinges of Lombardie was brought lowe at the incensing of the Popes and finally also vtterly wiped away by Pippin and Charles kinges of Fraunce But by the vndoing oppressing of these kinges the wealth of the Bishops of Rome increased and their power waxed strong whom Gods will was to shew by this triple crowne as it were with the fingar to be very Antichristes Thus much concerning the Keyes Armes and Cognisances of the Romane Bishops Now come to my way againe ¶ Of the wordes power and ministery and so is the disputation of the keyes knit vp I Know well inough it offendeth many euen in this discourse that I vse the terme power so seldome and the worde ministerie or ministration so often when notwithstanding the Scripture doth openly geue power to the ministers and it is commonly called the power of the keyes But how small a thing is that I beséech you if it be compared with the fulnesse of power which these men chalenge to them selues openly I graunt in déede that the administration of the Church or if ye like it better of the keyes is called power For the Lord sayth in the Gospell Like as a man that at his going into a straunge countrey left his house and gaue his seruauntes power c. But who knoweth not that the power which is spoken of héere is none other but to do seruice or to minister specially seing that in an other Euangelist it is more effectually opened what maner of power the same is in these wordes to geue his honsholde meate in due season sayth the lord Which thing no man will wrest to the fulnesse of power but he that is past all shame For the Lorde speaketh manifestly of the preaching of the Gospell whereby meate is set before the housholde I meane before the Church of god And when Paule to the Corinthians had termed the preaching of the Gospell the word of attonement by and by expoūding him selfe he addeth that the office or ministration of preaching the attonement was geuen vnto him behold héere he calleth that thing a ministration which he had euen now called the worde And he addeth againe that Christ by the ministers exhorteth men to be at one with god What power I pray you shall the faythfull minister claime by this géere Rightly therefore do some men geue warning that the power by lawe is one thing and the power by ministration is an other The power by lawe is that wherby ech man as an owner hath power ouer the thinges that are his owne subiecte to his owne commaundement and not to an other mans After this sort the Lord hath power ouer the Church who sayth in the Gospell All power is geuen to me in heauen and in earth So is it sayd before that Christ hath the key of Dauid of death and of hell This power is communicated to no creature but remaineth to God alone Therefore except they will be false ministers they will neuer take this power vpon thē But the power of ministration or office is that which the Lord hath committed to the ministers with a certaine limitation and not absolutely For these do not what they list them selues nor as owners of thinges but as their Lord and master hath commaunded them and onely in the same maner that he by his certaine determination hath appointed them to be done and if they do it not or do it otherwise then their master hath commaunded them they shall be but vntrusty seruauntes And so vndoutedly the minister of Christ hath the ministering power of the keyes in the Church to preach the Gospell to the Church and to preach it in such wise as the Lord hath commaunded him to preach and certeinly he shall be a false and vnfaythfull seruaunt to his master if he take vpon him any other power and specially fulnesse of power and preach not the Gospell at all or preach it otherwise then is appointed him Besides this I am not ignorant that Christ gaue the Apostles great power howbeit with limitation and but for the beginning and for a certeine time according as Mathew witnesseth saying And he gaue his twelue Disciples power against vncleane spirites to cast them out and to heale all maner of diseases and infirmities For I thinke not that any man will affirme the same power to be geuen to all ministers of the Church together with the keyes considering that we know how that the Gospell being sufficiently confirmed already by such signes they be now no longer common and vsuall in the rest of the Church no more then the ablenesse and vse of sundry tounges But howsoeuer the case stād with that wonderfull power it is most certeine that the Apostle Paule sayd of all maner of power geuen vnto him by the Lord that the same was geuen him to edifie withall and not to destroy Which thing vnlesse euery minister wey very aduisedly with him selfe not onely in vaine but also to his owne great harme shall he dispute of the power that is geuen him and much more daungerously shall he take it vpon him Hetherto I haue made discourse of the keyes with as much bréefnesse and plainnesse as I could Wherby I trust that such as shut not their eyes of malice may perceaue that the keyes are for an other thing then the Papistes face vs withall doutlesse not an absolute ouer thinges in earth and in heauen but an healthfull ministery of Gods worde or of the Gospell of Iesu Christ and the charge and good ordering of the very Church of God And therefore that whē the Lord sayd I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen he gaue not Peter and the Romane Idoll an infinite power which they call the fulnesse of power For when the Lord promised and gaue the keyes he gaue not the keyes of an earthly kingdome but of the kingdome of heauen Which thing is chéefly to be marked in this discourse And in this kingdome in this his Church Christ is the souerein Lorde and abideth King Bishop and supreme head yea and that alone without any copartener or deputie But his messengers or Ambassadors sent to his Church are the Elders rulers and ministers of the congregations As for all power it is onely Christes the King Préest and Head and is not surrendred to any other For he him selfe caryeth yet still and vnto the very end will cary vpon his shoulders the key of Dauid and he will open and no man shall shut and shut and no man shall open and he alone both looseth and bindeth But his Ambassadors or preachers that are sent and ordeined to gather his Church doe preach this Christ the Lord assuring men by the preaching of the Gospell that Christ forgeueth the sinnes of such as beléeue certeinly and bestoweth eternall life vpon them
Romes persuasion sent abroad proclamations openly and to the whole world ordeinyng that all the Churches of the world should obey the Church and Byshop of Rome The same History writer addeth further that in tymes forepast the same proclamation was not obserued in all pointes and specially not of the Greekes c. The sayd Phocas that made this law was a monster of mankynd a most vnthrifty Prince a most cruell murtherer a thrall of lecherie and all wickednesse as histories beare witnesse and of all kynges the wretcheddest Therfore least the pot might not haue a coâ—â—â—â—fit for it or least like lippes might not alwayes finde lyke lettice he made a constitution euen méete for hym selfe ¶ That the latter Byshops of Rome degenerated vtterly from the first and middlemost Byshoppes of Rome and that they vsurpe the cursed title of full power agaynst all right and reason NOt vnfitly are diuerse godly and learned men of the Church reported to haue sayd that among the latter Byshops of Rome that are worthy to be reckoned among Shepherdes Gregory is the last For as for the hindermost sort that haue folowed after hym they were not sheepefeeders but sheepebyters a few excepted for through their neglecting of Gods worde and their earthly affections they haue not onely in wonderfull wise darkened the clearnesse of the christian doctrine with mens inuentions and traditions but also defiled and marred the simplicitie and purenesse of Gods seruice with vncleane superstitions differing little or nothing from the heathenish wicked Idolatries Many of them haue opeÌ„ly defended corrupt doctrines and the Idolles themselues and other abhominacions and therewithall haue forced them vppon the people Othersome of them treading all discipline and honestie vnder foote haue wallowed themselues in filthy and vnlawfull lustes in ryot and lecherie in vnchastnesse in aduowtrie and whoredome in incest and other horrible offences as it were in the myre of Cocytus and the poole of Stix Others of them haue not refrayned themselues from poysonynges from Necromancie or felowshyp with Deuilles from magik damned in all ages from murtheryng and from treasons All of them for the most part and specially the latter Bishops of Rome being blinded with diuelish desire of soueraintie and swolne and puft vp with such pride as the lyke was neuer heard of haue not bene ashamed before God nor before his aungels and the whole world to aduaunce themselues into that seate by simonie and to intangle themselues in secular kyngdome and therwithall to withdraw themselues from the subiection of kynges and princes ordayned by God to vsurp other mens rightes to beare both the persons of spiritualtie and temporaltie and to chalenge to themselues the iurisdictson of both the swordes to suffer no man to be equall wyth them and much lesse to be aboue them also to deny dutie and honour vnto their betters and to such as are ordayned of God or rather to take it froÌ„ them to theÌ„selues to raigne ouer the Princes themselues and to appoint them lawes and finally to trample them vnder their féete contrary to Gods commaundement and the example of the Apostles But least in this behalfe I may séeme to yelde to affection or to speake these thinges vppon malice or to fayne neuer so little go to let vs stand to the tryall let inquisitioÌ„ be made vppon the liues of the Bishops and read the liues of Iohn the twefth of Siluister the second and Siluester the third of Bennet the ninth of Gregorie the sixt and Gregorie the seuenth of Vrban the second of Paschall the second of Calixt the second of Honorius the second and Honorius the third of Innocent the second Innocent the third of Innocent the fourth of Adrian the fourth of Alexander the third of Gregorie the nynth of Clement the fourth and here I am fayne to stop least I might make a beadroll ouer long and wearisome to the reader for I could name yet mo of the byshops that ensued fewe better then these but too many worser But in thys behalfe it is best to heare the iudgement of some Byshop yet will I not alledge the testimonie of Cardinall Benno and certayne others but of Eberhart Erle of Abensperg who being byshop of Salisburg did in the counsell that was helde at Regenspurg the yeare of our Lord 1240. make a méetly long oration against the tyranny of the Romane byshops which oration Iohn Auentine hath copied out whole into hys history of yearly affayres in the seuenth booke the 683. leafe Among other thing Christ our Sauiour Lord and God leauing saith he his heaueÌ„ly throne became mortall and poore that he might make vs immorand rich And when he had conquered hell and was returning triumphantly into heauen he gaue vs hys peace he left vs his peace and he assigned concord and mutuall loue to be as it were the badge and cognisance whereby his citizens might be discerned from the souldiers of the infernall Ioue And he gaue vs earnest warning to beware of false Christes and false Prophetes namely men that should séeke to raigne ouer vs and to mocke vs vnder the Christian name and byshoply title If we be not blynde we sée a most cruell woolfe in a shéepes skinne vnder the title of the chiefe byshop The Romish flamines haue warre against all Christians being growen great by aduenturing by deceiuing and by sowing warre vppon warre they kill the shéepe they slea they driue peace and concord out of the world they bring vp ciuill warres and household debates from hell and they weakeÌ„ all mens streÌ„gthes dayly more and more that they themselues may leape ouer all mens heades deuour all men and bring all men in bondage They prouide not for their flocke like byshoply shepheardes but rather make hauocke of them with outragious licenciousnes like tyrantes Iustice waxeth skant vngodlinesse couetousnesse desire of honor loue of money and lechery waxe rise Christ forbiddeth vs to hate our enemies and commaundeth vs to loue them Contrariwise the Romish sort vnder great pretence of holinesse commaund men to breake stedfast couenauntes to abuse Gods holy name to deceiue men withall to be vnkinde to such as haue deserued well to recompence good déedes with euill déedes to make warre to quarrell to beguile and to betray Hildebrand the same is Gregory the seuenth a hundred threscore and tenne yeares agoe layde first the fouÌ„dacion of Antichristes kingdome vnder pretence of Religion He was the first that began this horrible warre which is continued vnto this day by his successors First they thrust out the Emperour from the election of the byshops and coÌ„ueied it to the people and the clergie After they had geuen them a mocke also and hist them out of doores now they labour to bring vs also vnder coram and bondage that they may raigne alone Moreouer being nouzeled in custome of bearing rule and hauing throughly wayed the power of themselues and of their aduersaries they will vse the beutifull colour of stablishing the
good and thou shalt receaue prayse of him for he is Gods minister for thy welfare but if thou do the thing that is euyll then be affrayde for he beareth not the sworde in vaine for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on them that do euyll Why then did not these men well whome the Bull bewayleth for so should they doubtlesse haue receyued both prayse reward at the Quéenes hand being a gracious and bountifull prince The Quéene hath done nothing in this behalf which God hath not commaūded to be done afore in his law yea and also which is not ordayned in the lawes of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius L. Quicunque C. concerning Bishops and clerkes as hath bene sayd heretofore Yet will I not here sing the prayses of those that are set vp in the places of them that be deposed by Gods grace do their seruice at this day to the Churches of England peaceably and healthfully Their owne vertue commendeth them sufficiently so as they haue no néed of my prayse ¶ That the Queene of England hath not chosen mens opinions for herself and hir realme to follow but Gods pure word hertofore sought out and receyued by King Edward the sixth nor yet sette foorth bookes of heresie or forced her realme to receiue them THe goodly Bull a Gods name proceedeth on still to lay together the rest of the articles of his accusation against the Quéenes Maiestie in these wordes She hath sayth he commaunded hir subiectes to obserue the wicked misteries and ordinaunces which she hir selfe hath taken vp and obserued according to Caluins setting forth Also she hath set out bookes to hir whole Realme contayning manifest heresie But the lying and slaunderous Bull shooteth wide al the féeld ouer Perchance the Romish sort measure al men by themselues and because they them selues hang wholy vpon men in so much as there be many thousandes to be found among them which both will be called haue a plesure to be called Benedictines of Benet Franciscanes of Frauncis and diuersly and sunderly after many others and will both séeme to séeme to liue and glorie to liue according to these mens ordinances rules or appointmentes therefore they imagine that we also woulde be called Lutherans of Luther Zuinglians of Zuinglius and Caluinistes of Caluine and that we hang wholy vpon these mens ordinaunces but it is not so Paule the Apostle of Christ hath forbidden any such thing to be done in the Church saying to the Corrinthians Euery of you sayth I hold of Apollo I of Cephas and I of christ Is Christ deuided was Paule crucifyed for you or were you baptized in Paules name And againe when one sayth I hold of Paule and an other I holde of Apollo are ye not fleshly Therefore the true Christians will be named but onely after christ As for the names of men be they neuer so excellent we acknowledge them not in this case neither do we regard or receyue theyr ordinances furtherfoorth then they agree in all poyntes with Gods woorde and when we receiue them we receiue thē not for their sakes but for Gods wordes sake And the Quéene of Englands Maiestie neuer receiued of Caluin or of any other excellent and well learned men any ordinaunces to follow nor neuer regarded them and yet by the way if any of them haue taught any thing out of Gods pure woord no godly man can take scorn of for the Quéene in that reformation of hirs had an eye onely to the liuely woord of God deliuered vnto vs by the holy scriptures and so she setled all matters of religion vppon the very woord of God and not vpon any men Dauid speaking of Gods woord sayth in the 119. Psalme Thy woord O Lord endureth for euer in heauen Thy woord is a lanterne to my féet and a light vnto my paths Lord thou art righteous and thy iudgement is rightfull Princes sit together and rayle vpon me because thy seruaunt talketh of thy statutes and because thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors Princes haue persecuted me without cause but my hart standeth in awe of thy woord And Lord seing I stick to thy testimonies bring me not to shame c. That godly prince of blessed memorie and woorthy of immortall glorie King Edward the sixth folowing the examples of Iosias and Constantine the great two of the excellentest princes that euer were in the world began the reformation of the English church For like as Iosias calling a parlament or Couusell of his noble men Priestes and Commons did first cause the law of God to be read openly before them and then obediently refourmed hys whole realme woord for word according to the law that was read And like as Constantine summoned a generall counsell of the teachers and Ministers of the Churches through the whole worlde and sitting downe among them sayd The bookes of the Gospelles and the Apostles together with the oracles of the auncient Prophets do plainly entruct vs of Gods meaning and will and therefore laying aside all enemylike discord let vs take the exposition of our questions out of the sayinges of the Holie Ghost Euen so King Edward summoning a parlament at London of all the Nobilitie Bishoppes and notablest learned men through hys whole realme admitting also the famousest clarkes of other realmes being Gods seruauntes commaunded them to shew by the holy scriptures what was to be followed of him and his realme in so great diuersity of opinions And they executing faythfully the charge which the King had enioyned them did the same time with one consent and according to Gods woord agrée vpon certaine articles which the King did both receiue and publish without delay wyth this title set afore them Articles agréeed vpon by the Bishops and other learned men in the Parlament holden at London in the yeare of our Lord 1552. for the taking away of the diuersitie of opinions and the stablishing of consente in the true religion published by authoritie of the Kinges maiestie Therefore by the labour and endeuor of that godly prince King Edward the English Church was refourmed according to the rule and appointment of the holy scriptures After King Edwardes decease Quéene Marie repealing the same reformation abrogated it for a time And Queene Elizabeth hauing receiued it againe by Gods grace hath eftsoones set it vp in perfect estate And therefore nothing els hath she receiued and deliuered to be kept of hir whole Realme then that hir brother of blessed memorie King Edward héertofore most godlily and wisely thought méet to be receiued and beleued of himself and to be conueighed ouer to his subiectes out of the liuely woord of God as hath bene sayd already whereby it appeareth now most manifestly that the thinges are false and forged which the lying Bull hath bruted concerning wicked misteries with spightfull interlacing the name of Caluine receyued by the Quéenes Maiestie and enioyned to the Realme of England
thūderbolt and no more to be feared then the thunderclappes smokes and mistes of Cacus were to be feared of Hercules as hath bene sayd already afore The blind mā to whom Christ had giuen eye sight was in old tyme cast out of the Synagoge of the Pharisies But that excommunication was so farre from hurting him that from thence forth he was receiued into Christes houshold by the Lord Christ himselfe who in his Gospell prophesying of the thinges that are now accomplished by the Pope sayd They shall thrust you out of their Synagoges Yea and the tyme commeth that who soeuer killeth you he shall thinke he doth God seruice And these thinges shall they do vnto you bycause they haue not knowē the father nor yet me But I haue told these things vnto you to the intent that whē that time is come ye may remember what I haue sayd vnto you Wherfore it hurteth not the Queenes Maiestie a whit that she is sayd to be cut of truly not from the vnitie of Christes body but from the felowshyp of the Popish corporation For were she not cut of from this verely she could not be reckened among the true and liuely members of Christes body neither could she haue God to be her father if she could finde in her hart to be an obedient daughter to the Syr that sitteth vppon mount Tarpey deuouring his owne sonnes and daughters like Saturne For the Lord willeth hys children to get them out of Babylon if they minde to escape the plagues of God and to atteine true saluation And we be not kept in the vnitie of Christes body which is the Church of the liuing God by obeying and reuerencing the Romane Church and the Bishop therof but by true faith in Christ according to the Gospell of god He that wanteth this or he that impugneth this hath no communion at all neither with Christ nor with the Church how much soeuer he pratle of the vnitie of Christes body ¶ That the Pope of Rome doth falsly and tyrannously giue sentence that the Queene of England is depriued of her kingdome and of all right of her crowne AFterward the Pope in his sayd definitiue sentence determineth peremptorily that the Quéene of England is depriued of her crowne and of all right of her crowne and of all other authoritie dominion dignitie and priuilege whatsoeuer But who hath made the Pope a souerein Monarche ouer the whole world to reigne alone and to haue all kingdomes vnder him and to hold all kynges and princes vnder his allegeance as his vassals or tenauntes at wil so as he might set them vp or thrust them out of their kyngdomes at his pleasure Heretofore when I discoursed vpon Ieremies wordes I haue set thee ouer kynges and kyngdomes c. I haue shewed openly and sufficiently inough so as there néedeth no more at this tyme that the Pope is not set ouer kynges and kyngdomes by God but rather vsurpeth superioritie and power ouer kynges and nations contrarie both to the open example and commaundement of the lord Therfore as now I wil adde no more but this that the Pope doth falsly or rather through mere tyranny without any right or regard of shame chalenge to him selfe this power which the Lord neuer deliuered to any man For the wise Prophet Daniel sayth Wisedome and power belong vnto the lord He it is that altereth the tymes and chaunges of tymes He it is that putteth downe kinges and setteth vp kinges The same thyng also haue Iob and Dauid in his Psalmes affirmed afore him Yea and the holy histories setting forth the same thyng most plenteously declare that God ordeined Saule kyng of the Israelites by the Prophet Samuel and by the message of the same Prophet deposed him agayne for his disobedience and rebellion aduauncing Dauid to his roome a man accordyng to Gods owne hart Agayne vnder Salomon Dauides sonne the kyngdome was rent a sunder and God by the message of his Prophet Ahia gaue ten partes of the kyngdome to Ieroboam and those ten partes of the kyngdome were not taken away from Salomon and his posteritie for any other cause then for that Salomon him selfe had withdrawen his hart from God and allowed his outlandish wiues wherewith to set vp and exercise their Idolatrie But the same Ieroboam is deposed agayne and none other cause of hys deposing by the report of the same Ahia the Prophet then for that he hearkened not to the word of the Lord but according to mans policie vpon a good intent of his owne made him straunge Gods and set vp the same for the children of Israel to worship and cleaued not vncorruptly to the word of the Lord. Other kinges of Israel also were deposed from from their kingdome by God as Baasa Ela Achab such other like and for none other cause then that they had leuer to folow the Idolatrie of Ieroboam then the word of the Lord. Furthermore when Iehu had destroyed Iezabell king Achabs wife and all his posteritie and therewithall made cleane riddance of all the Priestes of Baal yea beaten downe the Temple of Baal and made a draught of it the Lord said vnto him for asmuch as thou hast earnestly executed the thing that is right in mine eyes and done vnto the house of Achab according to all that was in my hart thy sonnes shall sit vppon the seate of Israell to the fourth generatiō I could rehearse many other thinges of this sort no lesse notable then these but that I séeke to be brief as far as the matter giueth leaue And I haue rehearsed these thinges to the end that all men may manifestly perceiue how it is God himselfe and not the pope that createth kinges and displaceth them yea and which remoueth shaketh ouerthroweth repaireth and stablisheth all kingdomes vniuersally and seuerally Now although he haue disposed it by his messengers the Prophetes as by Samuell Ahias Eliseus and others yet is not the Pope called to these matters as those men were neither hath he receiued any commission from God in this case so much as by one little word but rather is commaūded to attempt no such thing Besides this God deposed kinges as it were extraordinarily by the Prophetes not by the high Priestes which were ordeined by God to be in Israell with the kinges least the kingdome and the Priest hode might be set at oddes betwene them selues Therfore although the Pope were the souerein Bishop yet should not the disposing and ordering of kinges belong to his charge Moreouer if a man consider wherefore God deposed those kinges by the meane of his Prophetes the Quéene of England hath wherwith to comfort and confirme her and the Pope hath that which graffeth him into the nomber of false prophetes discorageth him and vtterly ouerthroweth him For Ahias said out of the mouth of the Lord vnto Ieroboam if thou wilt hearken to my commaundementes and walke in my wayes as
A CONFVTATION Of the Popes Bull which was published more then two yeres agoe against Elizabeth the most gracious Quéene of England Fraunce and Ireland and against the noble Realme of England together with a defence of the sayd true Christian Queene and of the whole Realme of England By Henry Bullinger the Elder AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate AN. 1572. ¶ Cum Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per Decennium ¶ To the right honourable and his singular good Lord Robert Dudley Earle of Leicester Baron of Denbigh Knight of the honourable order of the Garter one of the Queenes Maiesties most honourable priuie Counsell c. Arthur Golding wisheth health prosperitie and abundaunce of Gods grace WHat mischiefe hath of late yeares bene attempted against this Realme and how great a flame hath bene kindled against the walles of the Church through the great Treasons that haue bene practised to confound the whole state by reason of the Popes most pestilent Bull your Lordship right well knoweth yea and it is euen yet still so apparant or rather present in all mens eyes as there is no wise man but he trembleth at the dreadfull remembraunce nor simple godly minded man but he wondreth at the marueilous disappointing of the daungers which were sundry times ready to haue ouerwhelmed vs euen in one moment had not God reached out his mercifull hand from heauen in the open face of the world to defend vs For it can not be denied but that therby open defiance hath bene made to faythfulnesse and allegeance honestie and vertue were shamefully defaced Religion and Iustice were openly assaulted neiborod and charitie were trecherously despised God and godlinesse were wickedly impugned our most vertuous and renoumed Princes Maiestie was traiterously impeached her rightfull preheminence diuersly assailed her vnblameable doinges causelesse diffamed her gracious clemencie scornfully abused her noble person priuily pricked at the welfare of the whole Realme daungerously hazarded and the state thereof either intitled to inward Competitors or profered as a pray to forreine enemies Is it not a straunge case that a Romishe Bull or to speake more rightly a childishe bable should be able to worke such inconueniences euen where the Gospell shineth most lightsomely And yet we see that not onely some of the rude and witlesse sort but also many of the greater sort which thought them selues no small fooles ne were in deede no young babes were contented to become such Calues as to runne out of Gods blissing into the warme Sunne and to turne their weapons into their owne bowells at the bellowing of an outlandishe Bull which notwithstanding was but a Leaden Bull a paper Bull a painted Bull and had neither breath mouing nor voyce of it own till the Calues them selues had breathed into it But righteous art thou O Lord God and rightfull are thy iudgemētes They digged a pit for others are fallen into it them selues They layd a snare for thine elected and their own feete be snarled in it Yea thou hast turned their purposed mischief vpon their owne heades Let the Papistes still feele and let all the world still see how it is thou onely that fightest for vs O Lord God of Hostes. Now albeit that the brunt of that abhominable Bull were bent directly at our most gracious soueraigne Lady Queene Elizabeth at her Maiesties Realme and faythfull subiectes yet notwithstāding forasmuch as the matter doth implyingly concerne the whole state of Christes Church which the Romishe Antichrist laboureth to draw away frō the obedience loue of her true husband Christ to the adulterous imbracing of Sathan Henry Bullinger the Elder that godly painfull minister of Christes Gospell in the Church of Zurike being by nation a mere straūger but by Christen Religion a deare brother vnto vs hath as it appeareth by his owne Epistle written this present confutation therof in Latin at the request or motion of certeine of our right reuerend godly Bishops By meanes wherof the case which otherwise had bene more peculiar to our selues is now become cōmon to all the true worshippers of christ For such is the nature bond of holy Religiō that whatsoeuer happeneth to any seuerall mēber of Christes Church the feeling therof disperseth it self into the whole body so as they ioy together sorow together also lay all their forces together to withstand their cōmon enemy to put him to flight by the power of the word of the spirite wherwith they be led gouerned Therfore to the end that such as haue any where ben bewitched by the sorceries of the Romish Circe and her Idolatrous hypocrites may returne to their right wits ceasse to be deceaued and that the simple ignorant may not be seduced by such fond toyes heerafter He learnedly pithely breefly confuteth the vnhonest and shamefull slaunders of that rayling and reprochfull libell defendeth the innocencie of our most vertuous souereigne Lady maintaineth the Religion now stablished by publike authoritie of this Realme disproueth the false vsurped supremacie of the Romane Prelates sheweth the right vse of the keyes which Christ hath cōmitted to his Church bewrayeth the weaknes of the Romish Iupiters thūdercracks and discouereth the horrible crueltie and outrage of the Popes in maintaining their wrongfull vnmeasurable power And heerwithall his desire is that the same his doing may turne to the profit cōmoditie of as many as may be For the accōplishment wherof that our nation in whose behalfe it was chiefly writtē may the more largely plenteously enioy the benefit wherof the first cause hath sprong frō thēselues I haue turned the sayd boke into our own mother toung a worke right necessary profitable for all such as mind to keep them selues true seruauntes to God faithfull subiectes to their prince or can finde in their hartes to loke vpō the light of the truth to their own benefite incomparable comfort For doubtlesse if there be any whom the present experience of our owne times can not moue they shall see it euidently proued by this booke that the fruite which the crediting or receauing of Popishe Buls such other pedlary trash of Rome yeeldeth is nothing els but horrible murther Rebellion slaughter Treason all maner of diuelish mischieuous wickednesse matched with most extreme calamitie hartgreef misery and in the end vnlesse Gods wrath be pacified by timely repentance accōpanied with vneschewable losse both of body of soule Wherfore as well in consideration of the premisses as also presuming vpon the apparant signes of your Lordships former fauour great good will towardes me but specially forasmuch as you are of that most honourable nūber vpon whose wisedome foresight trustinesse pollicie stoutnes God hath ordained the securitie of our most gracious soueraigne Lady of her Maiesties Realme subiectes which more is of his owne Religion and holy word to rest depend I haue takē boldnes to
to determine of ecclesiasticall cases deposing and oppressing the catholicke Bishops and aduauncing and putting in their roomes leawd preachers and ministers of vngodlinesse Moreouer sayth the Bull she hath abolished the sacrifice of the Masse prayers fasting choice of meates single life and all catholicke rites and commaunded bookes that conteine open heresie to be set forth to the whole Realme and wicked mysteries and ordinances receiued and obserued by her selfe according to the appointment of Caluine to be also obserued of her subiectes She hath forbidden the Clergie and laitie to acknowledge the Romane Church or to obey the commaundementes therof yea and she hath compelled them to renounce by othe the authoritie and obedience of the Bishop of Rome She hath layd penalties and punishmentes vpon such as shall disobey and hath executed the same vpon such as haue continued in the vnitie of faith and obedience aforesayd and therwithall also she hath cast the catholicke bishops in prison where they haue ended their daies miserably pyned in much and long languishing and dayly sorow All which thinges are so notorious as there is no roome left for any excuse defence or shift to serue in the matter Wherfore rising now out of the throne of his with sword drawen and pronouncing the extremest sentence against the most vertuous Quéene yea and against all her complices through the whole Realme he denounceth and declareth her an hereticke and a fauourer of heretickes and therfore most proudly determineth her to be strickē through with his curse and cut of from the vnitie of Christes body and moreouer to be depriued of her kingdome and of all right of her crowne of all maner of other preheminence dignitie and priuiledge And not content with this he procéedeth yet further and geueth charge to all and singular the Quéenes Nobilitie and other her subiectes that vnder paine of the sayd curse they obey not hereafter the lawes and commaundementes of their pretensed or supposed Quéene as he termeth her Yea and in what sort soeuer they were sworne vnto the Quéene he assoileth them all of such othe and vtterly dischargeth them of all duetie of subiection fealtie and allegeance Upon all which thinges it followeth most manifestly that by setting that most vertuous Quéene and the noble Realme of England and other nations at oddes among thē selues he doth most cruelly and wickedly put her in hazard both of her foes and of her frendes yea and which is horrible to be heard of her owne subiectes to be trayterously torne in péeces through ciuill warres and most outragious seditions if there were any so mad and so voyde of all godlinesse and manhood as to suffer such that is to wit so deuilishe and hellish furie to be so inspired into them by the inchauntmentes of this venemous beast Hitherto I haue declared what thinges are conteined and set forth in that wicked slaunderous seditious and bloudy Bull. Of which thinges if any man be desirous to haue a more compendious abridgment and yet neuerthelesse as fully presumptuous and shamelesse as that which hath béen shewed already let him heare what maner of title the Bull hath set before it to the face of the world The sentence declaratorie of our most holy father Pope Pius the fifth against Elizabeth the pretensed Queene of England and the heretickes that cleaue vnto her Wherby also all her subiectes are declared assoiled of their othe of allegeance and of all other duties whatsoeuer and those that obey her heerafter are wrapped in the same curse ¶ That the foresayd vnmeasurable power of the Romish Bishop is not proued by these wordes of the Lord vnto Peter Peter louest thou me feede my sheepe HItherto you haue patiently heard the Popes sentence or declaration by his Bull against the most vertuous Quéene of England c. and now I pray you be so good as gently to heare me also I will bréefly and plainly shew how there is no truth substance or soundnesse in this Bull and that the cause which the Hope maintaineth and pleadeth against the most noble Quéene is euill and vniust but the case on the Quéenes side very good and rightfull And I will begin at that vnmeasurable power of the Pope which he boasteth of and by force whereof he taketh vpon him to be iudge in this case For that being once ouerthrowen all the whole Bull falleth to the ground together with the iudgement builded vpon this ruinous foundation and so shall the Pope sit in that seate of his not a terrible or iust iudge but an Idoll to be despised yea and to be spit at of all good men and his sentences shall be no more the thunderboltes of Iupiter but counterfait flashes glistering out of a basen in no wise worthy to be regarded Then let that most holy or rather most prophane father tell vs where or by what wordes our Lord deliuered vnto Peter alone and vnto Peters successor the Bishop of Rome that his fulnesse of power that is to say his supreme and most absolute power as well in spirituall as in temporall matters Let him tell vs where or by what wordes the Lord created the Bishop of Rome prince ouer all nations and ouer all kingdomes I am not ignorant of your stincking and vnsauerie fables in this behalfe I am not ignorant what Decretalls haue béene put forth by Gregory the ix Boniface the viij Innocent the 4. Clement the v. Iohn the xxij and such other like to these cōspirators Catilines companions As for me I will not heare those decrées or Decretalls which the famous Lawyer Marsilius of Padwa no lesse aptly than truely sayd to be neither Gods lawes nor mans lawes but proclamations of plaine vniuersall souereintie You say that without any parable at all Christ our Lord gaue the fulnesse of power which ye brag of to Peter and to Peters successor the Pope Bring forth therfore some euident record of this your allegation out of the new Testament Truely ye be not able to bring forth one tittle or one iote of this your allegation And therfore with most wicked lyes and forgeries haue both you and your predecessors now certaine hundred yeares scared and seduced good men that leaned too much vnto you through too light beléef and ouermuch fearfulnesse For where as they haue alledged the wordes which our Lord after his Resurrection did thrise repeate and vrge vpon Peter namely Peter louest thou me feede my sheepe Certes I wonder that both they and you are so past all shame that ye dare bring these thinges for the stablishing of your kingdome or rather your tyranny As who would say we be all of vs blind or blockes voyde of common reason and not able to perceaue how those wordes perteine not to souereintie but to seruice Peter was by this meane to be comforted by the Lord and to be restored to the name and office of Apostle which he séemed to haue lost at the Lordes passion chéefly in this respect because
may not faile c. For too what purpose this sentence pertayneth the Lord himselfe declareth immediatly by the wordes which he addeth saying And when thou art turned againe strengthen thy bretherne Starke mad and geuen vp into a wilfull wicked mynde must he néedes be that wresteth these sayinges to the maintenance of the Popes most wrongfull power which are most manifestly apparant to be spoken to the admonishment and comforte of such as are falne For that place by warning vs before hand doth simply teach vs the same thing which Peter him selfe hath taught vs afterward saying your aduersarie the deuill walketh about like a roaring Lyon séeking whome he may deuour which thing our Lord expressed by saying He hath craued you to winowe you whome withstande you watching by fayth For the Lord in those his wordes vnto Peter teacheth vs not only that thing but also this namely that our standing out in temptations is not by our own strength but by the defence helpe and benefite of Christe our Lord who doubtlesse geueth increaseth and maintayneth fayth in vs which Iohn in his Epistle calleth the victory that ouercōmeth the world Furthermore it teacheth vs that neither the offences which we haue committed nor the incessant and importunate trauailes of Satan against vs must in any wise make vs dispayre when we be exercised with temptations yea or also falne in our encounters considering how Peter the denier yea and forswearer of Christ obtayned forgeuenesse at Christes handes which was done for an euerlasting assuraunce and witnesse that all sinners although they be beguiled by Sathan shall neuerthelesse be gently receyued into fauour if they returne to the Lorde For this is it that Peter beyng himselfe winowed by Sathan but yet gathered vp againe and set vpon his féete and preserued by the protection of Christ shoulde strengthē his brethrē And what I pray you do these things make for the stablishing of the vnmeasurable and most licentious power of Popes It neuer came in the mynde of Christ nor yet of Peter to thinke any thing therof Full of sacrilege therefore is these most corrupt mens exposition whiche they force vppon vs vtterly against our Lordes wordes But what should it make to the proofe of their souereintie though it were neuer so true which they say that the fayth of the Romain church neuer fayled Yet finde we not that the Lord spake any such thing here I haue prayed for thée Peter sayth he that thy fayth may not fayle And although Peters fayth which he had geuen him which also he preached yea and adde further which he preached at Rome be continuall and such as neuer fayleth as truely through Gods grace it florisheth in places innumerable at this day through the whole world and like as also it was neuer vtterly quenched at any tyme what pertayneth that to the Romish Church in these dayes and to the most arrogant supremacie of the same But it is much more easily spokē then proued that the fayth of the Romane church neuer fayled if by her fayth ye meane that simple and vncorrupted fayth which Peter had and taught For to auoyde multiplieng of wordes goe to let indifferent comparison be made what maner of doctrine and fayth Peters was in old tyme and what maner of doctrine and fayth the Romaine churches is at this day vnder the Romane bishops Go too let comparison also be made betwene the maners whole lyfe of Peter and the maners and lyues of the Romish bishops which will néedes be Peters successors And therupō let iudgement be geuen When the Lord after supper as he was goyng to the garden of mount Oliuet bad his disciples sell euen their garmentes and get them swordes and vpon the answer of his disciples how they had two in redinesse sayd they were enowe he did not then deliuer both the swordes as well spirituall as temporall to be vsed in the Church vnto Peter to whome onely and peculiarly he did not then speake For by and by he addeth the cause of this his commaundement saying I say vnto you yet must this Scripture be fulfilled in mée and he was reckoned among offenders verely meaning thereby that he should vppon mounte Oliuet be bound and led away as a transgressor and that his disciples also should be put in extreme hazarde of their liues from which notwithstanding he would deliuer them not by the terror of any sworde but by his owne only voyce or power The Lord then ment another thing yea and a farre other thing than to yeld the vse of the temporall sword and this endlesse authoritie either to Peter or to any other mā Nay rather whē his disciples were redy armed to fight he ment too set before their eyes euē vpō mount Oliuet that in the persecutions which should come vpon thē for his sake they should not be deliuered by the helpe of temporall swordes but by the ayde and worde of their maister Christ saying if ye séeke me let these go their wayes And to this end did the Lord suffer Peter to draw his sworde and to make assault vpon Malchus the bishops seruaunt But what preuayled Peter by that So little did he with that sworde of his deliuer himselfe or his fellowdisciples and much lesse his maister from the present daungers that he had rather turned the bloudy weapons of his enemies vpon himselfe if his maister had not sayd let these go their wayes Then was it Christes protection and not the sword that saued the disciples and euen at this day also as many as be saued in persecution are saued by the same defence Which thing he ment to shew to the eye by those swordes both to them and to vs warning vs couertly by the way that in persecution we must turne vnto Christ and craue his help who is able euen with a worde to asswage any manner of tempestes be they neuer so outragious And to this purpose serued the swordes at leastwise which were brought at this tyme and to this ende to mount Oliuete at the commaundement of Christ. Besides this the Lord expounding his owne woordes turneth hym vnto Peter and sayth put vp thy sword into the sheathe for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword Thinkest thou not that I can presently pray to my father and he will geue me mo then xij legions of angels But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled for so must it bée Séeing therfore that the Lord commaundeth Peter earnestly to put vp his sworde into the scaberd who séeth not that the Lordes bidding of his disciples to cary out swords with them was to the end that now by this sight he might openly and effectually and without all couerture restraine the vse of the sword both from Peter and frō all ministers yea and to plucke it out of their handes when they had taken it already Considering then how the Lord pulled that temporall sword out of the handes of
Peter what wicked féend willeth you Bishops to draw the sworde againe out of the scaberd contrary to the Lordes commaundement to shake it and to misuse it at your owne pleasure Doth it not irke you and shame you to say that by these wordes of of the Lordes is sufficiently geuen vnto you the power of both swordes whē as he hath geuē you so little or nothing at all therof hitherto that he hath euen openly striken the temporall sword out of your handes Now let the whole world iudge whether those Romish gripes haue proued by the foresayd textes of Scripture that Christ hath geuen vnto them the very full power of both the swordes Certesse the testimonies which they haue hitherto alledged out of the Scriptures haue not onely not geuen any thing too them but also taken from them all the thinges which they clayme to themselues against all right and reason Here are expounded these wordes of our Sauiour Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke c. and it is shewed that in thē there is nothyng spoken of the Popes fulnesse of power that the church of Christ is not builded vpon Peter or the Pope THat sword of theirs wherof they made their vaunte being striken out of their hand by and by they make hast to the rocke wherupon the Church is founded and consequently vnto Peter and his keyes For in these and by him they auouch themselues to haue receiued power and most full soueraigntie both of heauen earth And there they blaze out wonders of the building of the Church vpon Peter and of the keyes and wonderfull working power of them alledging for themselues the wordes of our sauiour which are written in the xvi chap. of the gospell of S. Mathew But these men with their sacriledge they are neuer able to cleare themselues or make amends therfore do corrupt this most holy place replenished with healthfull doctrine and consolation Which thing by gods helpe I wil euidently shew to the godly readers by the things that ensew The Lord in that place demaundeth of his disciples whom men take him to bée His disciples aunswer how there be diuers iudgementes and opinions of hym among the people some saying him to be Helias some Ieremy c. And by that question it was the Lordes wil to do them to wit how there haue alway bene alwayes shal be diuersitie of opinions in the world concerning religiō how be it that no man ought to be offended at that diuersitie for we read also the Lordes Apostle hath sayd there must néedes be heresies to the ende that such as be tryed among you may be made manifest And vnto the former questiō the Lord addeth forthwith an other namely what the disciples who had heard Christ now a long while and therefore doutlesse were better séene in matters of Religion thē the common sort were I say what opiniō they themselues had of christ And by this other question of his he shewed that the sure and true confession in matters of Religion is to be asked at the hand of the children of God for they must not wauer as the children of this world do and be sure of nothing nor apply themselues to euery kinde of opinion after the liking and course of this world Truly in many other places of the scripture also is required a singular and true confession of fayth at the handes of euery one of gods children To this question Saint Peter not so much in his owne name as in the name of all the other disciples vttereth a singular confession saying Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God very God I say and very mā euen that same anoynted namely the Messias or Christ that was to come into the world The king I say and priest the mediator pacifier redéemer and saluation of the whole worlde And that this confession is the true and sincere confession Paule also the apostle of Christ sheweth in the third fourth and tenth chapters to the Romaines and in many other places The Lord liking well of this confession sayth vnto Peter Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas geuing to vnderstand in these short wordes what and how great the force of true fayth in Christ is namely euen to iustify and make blessed that is to say to make pertakers of eternall life which thing the apostle sheweth in large wordes in his Epistles to the Romaines Galathians Ephesians in other places Furthermore the Lord immediatly addeth frō whence commeth that same so excellent fayth saying flesh bloud hath not opened it vnto thée but my father which is in heauen Fayth then hath not his originall in vs or of vs but is geuen vs from heauen by the father of lyght according as the Apostle witnesseth in many places and the Lord himselfe saith in Iohn No man commeth vnto me except my father draw him Moreouer this fayth grafteth vs in Christ and maketh vs Christians for there followeth in the Lordes wordes And thou art Peter namely for confessing of the rocke Petra now what a rocke is there is no man but he knoweth And in the scriptures it is euery where Metaphorically applyed vnto God because he is the strength the stedinesse the refuge and the foundation of the faythfull wheruppon they rest and in whom only they be preserued Of this Petra rocke was Simon the sonne of Ionas called Peter which name implyeth as much as if a man shoulde say grounded vpon the rocke God and grafted into Christ the sonne of God stedfast and so consequently a Christian for the doctors interpreters of holy scripture do terme Christians Peters also because that beyng setled by fayth vpon the rocke Christ they draw stedinesse strength and lyfe out of him so as through the operacion of Christ they be all their lyfe lōg stedfast in fayth honor Christ with all kind of vertues And Peter himselfe also expounding this mysterie vnto vs sayeth Christ the rocke is the lyuing stone forsaken in deede of men but chosen and precious vnto God vpon whom we also as liuely stones are builded that we may be a spirituall house offeryng spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God through Iesus Christ. Whosoeuer are not such Peters or stones there is no cause that they should glory at all of the name of Peter or Christians for they continue that which they bée euen the children of this world There followeth yet further in the Lordes wordes And vpon this Rocke will I build my Church By which woordes Christ ascending from the particular to the generall and deliuering an vniuersall lesson to his Church declareth most manifestly that these thinges belong not to Peter alone or to his disciples onely but to the Catholike that is to the vniuersal church wherof the foundacion Rocke and head is Christ vpon whom being builded by faith she shal obtayne saluation As if the Lord had sayd not onely Peter is so called of me the Rocke but also as
many as shal hereafter by Peters example confesse me to be Christ the sonne of the liuing God and by this true fayth settle themselues vpon me the onely foundation all them will I take and acknowledge for my household that is to say for my church And this that is to say Christ the Rocke shall be the only foundation of Gods church in earth and all they shall be members and citizens of this holy church euen as many as beleue as Peter did and settle themselues vpon this foundation of soule health by the same fayth And this is it that the Lord ment by saying And vpon this Rocke will I builde my Church And least any man may doubt of this simple and true exposition of the Lordes wordes considering how diuers wrest them and draw them some one way and some another Behold I will by other places of scripture also confirme and enlighten this exposition aboue recited Surely the scripture doth euery where agréeably witnesse that by fayth onely in Christ we be iustified grafted into Christ and made members of Christ and his church which is the communion of all saintes that is to say of the faythfull resting vpon Christ and that no creature no not euē Peter himselfe much lesse the bishop of Rome cā be the Rocke the head the foundatiō of the Catholike church And least any mā may thinke this thyng hard and varying from the truth forasmuch as it is directly against the decrées of the Romish church Loe I in this case bring in the cleare and vndoubted recordes of the holy Ghost himselfe speaking by the prophetes and Apostles Dauid in the 18. psalme cryeth out saying Who is God besides the Lord and who is the Rocke besides our God And God himselfe in Esay sayth Behold I lay a corner stone in Sion a chosen one a precious one he that beleueth in him and resteth vppon him shall not be ashamed Moreouer also the Apostle Paule sayeth The Rocke was Christ. And agayne Other foundation can none be layde then is layd already which is Iesus Christ. Which thing he expoūdeth yet more fully in his Epistle to the Ephesians Whervnto in all pointes agréeth the witnesse of S. Peter who sheweth out of Dauid that Iesus is that stone or Rocke wherupon it behoueth them to be builded by fayth which will become the house of God or be made pertakers of the churche of christ Which thinges being vndoubtedly so These wordes of the Lord Vpon this Rocke will I build my Church must of necessitie be vnderstoode of Christ alone as who reigneth from heauen in his saintes as the head doth in the members and from whom as the liuely head they be watered with the spirite and sucke lyfe out of hym and through him do liue a lyfe beséeming hym And to be a head as it is most manifestly gathered by the doctrine of the Apostles is to be a Lord and Sauiour and to inspire life into the members that be subiect to the head Neither may the head at any time be from the body without the destruction of the body Seing then that Christ is the onely head of the Church it behoueth him to be alwayes with his Church By reason wherof she hath no néed of any deputie or vicegerent vpon earth For a deputie or vicegerent is the deputie or vicegerent of him that is absent But Christ is euermore present with his Church For he sayth in the Gospell I will be with you euen to the vttermost end of the world will neuer leaue you comfortlesse Our religion therfore willeth vs and the vniforme doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles willeth vs to expound these thinges not of Peter or of the Bishop of Rome but of Christ only Therfore if ye méete with any interpreters be they olde or new that interprete the foresayd wordes of our Lord to be ment of Peter and the Pope the authoritie of the Prophets and Apostles yea and of this selfsame Peter too ought to beare more sway with you than the authoritie of any men els whatsoeuer they be in the world For Christ abideth euerlastingly the foundation of his Church and as for Peter and the rest of the Apostles and the ministers that haue come in their roomes they remaine as workmaisters of this building which build not vpon them selues being mē but vpon this onely and euerlasting foundation according as the Apostle teacheth plainly in the third chapt of the first Epistle to the Corinth And let this be our brazen wall Neither fighteth it against this that in the Apocalips the Citie of God is sayd to haue twelue foundations and the names of the twelue Apostles written in them For sayth Paule there can none other foundation be layd then is layd already notwithstanding forasmuch as in the laying of this foundation that is to say in the preaching of Christ the Apostles were Gods workfellowes bestowed their trauell faythfully theraboutes therfore that Citie is sayd to haue twelue foundations For otherwise the Apostle in his 2. chapt to the Ephesians sayth You are fellow citizens wyth the sainctes and Gods houshold meyny builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets whereof the corner stone is Christ Iesus him selfe in whom the whole buildyng beyng semented together groweth to a temple in the Lorde vpon whō you also are builded to be a dwellyng place for God through hys spirite And what man that hath his right wits will after these thinges séeke for manifester Wherfore let all of vs beware of that rotten and tottering foūdation which the Court of Rome striueth to set vnder vs. We will yet héerunto adde the wordes of our Lorde that follow after least any thing of this place may remain vndiscussed And the gates of hell sayth Christ shall not preuayle agaynst it By which wordes is declared the power and victoriousnesse of Christ and of his Church of fayth The gates of hell are all kinde of powers that are against it yea euen the power of Sathan which of all other is the strongest and noysomnest to the faythfull And therfore it is sayd that no force be it neuer so mighty whether it be of Sathan him selfe or of the world or of any other aduersary power vnder heauen or in hell shall preuaile against Christ the Rocke and the Church that is builded vpon the rocke which howsoeuer it be tempted and persecuted must notwithstanding at length ouercome in Christ through fayth For the Lord him selfe hath sayd The prince of this world is already condemned and cast out And againe Be of good cheere I haue ouercome the world And Iohn the Apostle All that is borue of God sayth he ouercommeth the world and the victory that ouercommeth the world is this euen your fayth Also who is he that ouercommeth the world but he whych beleueth that Iesus is the sonne of God So I say this place is opened plainly inough by laying together
and that he cōdemneth those to eternall death which beléeue not or which gainstand the Gospell The self same Ministers do féede with Gods word the Church that is gathered vnto Christ comfortyng the weakeharted quickenyng and thrusting foreward the slothfull confirming the wauerers exhortyng all men euermore vnto continuall prayers to the lawfull vsing of the Sacramentes too the dewties of godly conuersation and most of all to charitie and mercy and in all thinges by all meanes with singular faythfulnesse and diligence endeuering to bryng and preserue the Churche safe and sound vnto Christ whiche doutlesse is the very true and wholesome vse of the keys of Gods kyngdome euen the natiue and holy stewardshyp charge and well orderyng of Gods Church ¶ Here is expounded that place of Ieremy I haue set thee ouer kynges kingdomes c. and it is shewed how the same maketh nothyng to the proofe of the Byshop of Romes tyranny which he exerciseth agaynst kynges and kyngdomes LEt vs procede further that we may also espye how truly the Pope of Rome vaunteth himself alone to be ordeined prince ouer all nacions and all kyngdomes Here agayn I am not ignorant what the decrées and decretalles cheefly of those Byshops whose names I haue cyted afore doe crake and belk out with open mouth concernyng this matter But we will haue no toyes we will haue them shew vs by Christes expresse wordes that the Byshops of Rome are lawfully ordeyned Princes ouer all nacions and all Realmes by the ordinance of Christ our Lord not by the ordinance of any men A few yeares past Austin Steuchus of Eugubie the Librarikéeper of the sea of Rome and besides that a Byshop also a man otherwise that had read much but yet for all that smally séene in the holy Scriptures and moreouer a most filthy flatterer of the Romish Bishops did put forth a booke agaynst Laurence Valla in the defence of Constantines Donation worthy to be spitted at of all godly men and méete to be trampled in the myre with dirtie féete In this booke among other thynges in the xv Diuision First of all sayth he it standes you in hand to know that Constantine did not giue by name those fewe Townes and those fewe Cities which are called the patrimonie of the Church but he gaue the whole West part of the world and so departyng from the Citie did as it were giue place to a greater Prince then hym selfe that is to wit to the Pope assuryng him selfe that Rome it selfe was the head and dwelling place of godlinesse wherein it were vnlawfull for any man to reigne besides the souereine of Religiō for any two men to reigne in that one Citie to whiche he knew Peter the Prince of the Apostles and head of Religion to be come he counted it a haynous matter specially if the earthly Prince should beare the cheefsway in the Citie And in his xvi Diuision It could not be sayth he that two princes should reigne in one Citie specially in this respect that worldly matters would haue ouermated holy matters Namely it would haue happened as it is in the Prouerb that riuers should haue ronne agaynst theyr streames Also in the 90. Diuision This is the Maiestie and prerogatiue which Peter gaue vnto Rome that lyke as she was Lady of all landes so she should reigne ouer all Religion and all thynges should be ruled at her becke Agayne in his 94. Diuision he reckeneth vp all the myghtyest kyngdomes of the West as Fraunce Spayne England Denmarke Portingale and all the residue all which are subiect to their holy and vniuersall mother for so speaketh he the Church of Rome And least he might ouerslyp any thyng at length in his 103. Diuision he addeth But what should I alledge any more to proue by this kynde of Argumentes the most auncient and welnere almightie power of the Church of Rome ouer all kyngdomes and kinges and the most auncient possession of the same Consideryng that the auncient monumētes of all the Byshops are full of the highe power wherwith they ruled the whole world at their commaundement holdyng the souereintie of all Realmes c. These thynges wherby he hath put all the kyngdomes of the world vnder the Pope and Churche of Rome could not satisfie and content that lying and blasphemous clawbacke but he must also with extreme shamelessenesse and horrible wickednesse make a God of that wicked wight the Bishoppe of Rome For in his 26. Diuision he sayth that the faythfull worshyp the sonne of God him selfe in the Pope and that they honour not so much hym as a mortall man as in him euen God hym selfe who hath made him his deputie vpon earth Agayne in the 67. Diuision 141. leafe Thou hearest sayth he how the hygh Byshop which is called God was by Constantine estemed as god And ye must vnderstand that this was then done when he endowed him with that noble graunt for euen then dyd he worshyp him as God then dyd hee as much as lay in hym bestowe godly honour vppon hym as Christes vicare and Peters successour and then did he reuerence him as the liuely image of christ Thus sayth he And such blasphemous and wicked writynges doth Rome yeld vnto vs Which thynges I haue hitherto mencioned to the end I might disclose vnto all men the extreme vnrecouerable madnesse of the Pope him selfe and of his houshold together with their wickednesse where through they beyng most heathenish shamelesse men are not afrayd euen in the sight of the whole world as well of Angels as men to vsurpe vnto them selues the very Godhead it selfe and all the kyngdomes of the world and to spit out whatsoeuer commeth at their tounges end This Steuchus was also a Byshop and yet he was not ashamed to offer so blasphemous writinges to the Church yea to dedicate them to S. Peter But let them bryng vs some one sentēce or at least wise some one word of Christ or his Apostles whereby they may shewe and auouch vnto vs that Christ authorized the Pope to be souereine of all kyngs kingdomes No they cannot bryng me oneiote out of all the new Testament And therfore they flée vnto Ieremy for succour But euē this mans holy writyngs also do they defile béeray corrupt with their poyson For the Prophet speaketh of the ministration of the word and not of any Lordyng of his owne For the Lord calleth authorizeth and sendeth Ieremy to the charge of preachyng For he sayth to him by expresse wordes Before thou camest out of thy mothers wombe I sanctified thée and appointed thée to be a Prophet vnto nations Afterward when Ieremie excused him selfe by his tender yeares and vnenured childhode the Lord harteneth and comforteth him promising to be present with him and to speake by his mouth For in the Lordes wordes it foloweth behold I haue put my wordes in thy mouth For so read we also that the Lord spake after the same maner in old
power giuen them of god Wherby you vnderstād that there is no cause why you should striue among your selues for souereintie For you sée that those which are in office already shall continue still in their charge Thus much sayd the Lord concernyng ciuill gouernemēt Now foloweth also concernyng the ministerie of the Church It shall not be so amōg you For I haue not chosen you to make you princes of landes but rather seruantes of the Churches not Lordes I say but preachers to publish the word of glad tydinges and to shyne before the people in example of holy lyfe Therfore I will not haue you once thinke of bearing rule or wish to reigne like princes of this world it shall not be so among you Howbeit for asmuch as ambitious pride had brought the Disciples this farre here also like as afore he commendeth lowlinesse vnto them saying whosoeuer will be great among you c. Neither is there any cause why the Romish sorte should now a dayes blere our eyes with their stile of Seruant of the seruants of God which the Pope vseth For that style is a forged style and the lowlinesse of these men is but a counterfet or hipocritly lowlinesse For the very experience of many hundred yeares witnesseth that in all the whole world there are none that can worse away with doyng seruice than this kynde of men Nay rather they will be worshipped for soueraines and kynges of kynges Or if they be the seruauntes of Gods seruauntes in déede why offer they their feete to be kissed euen of Gods princes And the Lord to moue them the more euidently addeth his owne example to his foresaid cōmaundement saying Like as the sonne of man is not come to be serued c. This is a notable saying for it is as much as if he had sayd If I which am your Lord and master and the liuyng sonne of the liuing God to and kyng of kynges sue not for ne chalendge not to my selfe any worldly preheminēce vpō earth as who am come into the earth to serue all mens turnes euen with the losse of my lyfe truly you ought to be ashamed of it that you which are but wretched men and no better then thralles are notwithstandyng not afrayd to gape after souereintie These thynges these thynges I say as dreadful thunderboltes not onely shake but also turne vpside downe that seate of the Romishe Byshops which they haue most boldly shamelessely exalted aboue the thrones of all kynges vnder pretence of Peter and of the graunted souereintie and vnmeasurable power which they say they receiued of Christ. And whereas the Lord vttered these thynges to his Disciples once or twise very earnestly and so forcibly as they could not be vttered more forcibly yet had ambition and desire of prerogatiue takē so déepe rootes in the mindes of the Disciples accordyng to the corruption of mās nature that at the Lordes last Supper when they vnderstode he should depart out of this world they fell againe to striuyng for the supremacie and prerogatiue then most of all that is to wit who should be chief vpon earth and preferred before all others in the Church when the Lord was gone away and receiued vp into heauen But the Lord inueyeth not sharply against his Disciples ne casteth them of as they had deserued for renewing their former errour now the third tyme and for by inforcyng it by harping still vpon it after he had so euident instruction and disprofe of their souereintie but salueth the disease of both them and of all other in the church that are atteynted with the same vice And first of all he repeteth the same argument which he had obiected agaynst them in the 20. of Mathew saying There is no reason why you should striue for superioritie For the Princes that reigne at this tyme in the world neither are now nor shall hereafter be put down for me For the Magistrate continueth still in his former state dignitie He shall reigne but so shall not you reigne By the way also and as it were glauncingly he shadoweth out the office of princes saying And they which haue power ouer them are called Good Gracious that is to say they be ordeined of God to the end they should do good to their subiectes For the Apostle sayth The Magistrate is Gods minister for thy welfare For Princes are not a terrour to such as do wel but to such as do ill And what could be sayd more piththily and strongly in this case that which is sayd already or rather now twise repeted but so shal not you By and by he addeth an ordinaunce after what sort the Ministers must behaue themselues in their Ecclesiasticall charge saying He that is an elder among you let him become felow to the yonger That is to say he that hath gotten a greater roome in the Church is endewed both with sundry giftes and also with singular authoritie in respect of his old age and his experience in matters let hym not vaunt himselfe for those singular giftes but let him be wise after a lowly maner as if he were some young man without experience and as yet raw in so great a charge Also he that is a Prince 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Capteine Ruler or Gouerner let him assure himselfe that he hath not gotten a souereintie but a ministerie and therfore let him behaue himselfe as a Minister Unto these he addeth also other reasons whereby to lay forth to the eye that Apostolicke men are called not to reigne but to serue Greater sayth he is the prerogatiue of him that sitteth at the table then of him that serueth him which sitteth But the Church beyng called by the Lord to a spirituall feast sitteth downe And you serue the Church of that spirituall foode Ergo the Church is as your Lady and mistresse and you are the seruauntes of this mistresse but not her maisters and much lesse her souereines Hereunto agayne he ioyneth his owne example I am sayth he as a seruaunt among you Seyng then that I which am your Lord do neuerthelesse serue you it is a shame for you which be but seruauntes to thinke of Lordyng it in the Church considering how my most humble example is dayly before your eyes vtterly abhorryng from all desire of souereintie Furthermore he addeth this also Surely it is straunge that you should striue among your selues for superioritie considering how that I haue hetherto ben subiect to many and sundry afflictions Wherof you your selfe can beare witnesse vnto whom some part of my temptations and afflictions hath redounded Wherefore ye might rightlyer conferre among your selues of bearing the crosse and of patience than of Lordshyp superioritie Notwithstandyng he annexeth here agayne a comfort least their hartes might fayle them at the mention of afflictions And therefore he knitteth vnto it a declaration of heauenly rewardes that shal be liberally giuen vnto those in the euerlasting countrie which get
the Colossians and finally with the histories which openly beare record that euen the laymen receiued handled the bread and cup of the Lord with their bare handes certein hundred yeares after this Sixtus Besides this in the same Epistles there is open manifest mention made of Clementes iourney which booke neuerthelesse euē the very Decrées of Gratian do reiect among the authenticall writynges Yea and Thelesphorus commendeth the seuen wéekes fast before Easter forbidding also the eating of flesh Which thing againe how well it agréeth with the doctrine of the Apostles and with the doinges it is to be knowen by the thinges which S. Paul hath written in the 2. chapter to the Colossians and in the 4. chapter of the first Epistle to Timothie and which Socrates hath left written in his Ecclesiasticall historie in the 5. booke and xxii chap. but most of all which are taken out of Irenaeus by Eusebius in the 5. booke and xxvi chapter of his Ecclesiasticall historie Moreouer in those Epistles Calixtus is reported to haue ordeined the imber fast at foure seasons of the yeare Which thing others referre to other authors or founders And among this stuffe this is a thing that can not be read without laughter that Eusebius the predecessour of Melciades doth with so great statelinesse commaund the feast of the finding of the holy crosse to be solemnized the vi day of May. For some declare that the crosse was not yet found at this time but a xx yeares after by Helene the mother of the Emperour Constantine Agayne how superstitious péeuishe and fond géere are commaunded in the same Epistles namely that Nonnes should not touche the holy vessels As who should say there had ben any Nunnes as yet in those dayes the first comming vp of whom is referred to farre later times Many other thinges of this sort do I passe ouer willingly least I might make my readers to cast vp their stomakes For in these Epistles there be very many thinges so foolish so farre agaynst reason so full of superstition and so full of ambition that all men which haue eyes may gather therby that they be counterfettes and specially for asmuch as there is very seldome or no mention at all made in all the booke through out of vncorrupted fayth in Christ yea or of Christ himselfe our redemer of the treasures which the father hath giuen vs in him which thinges are the naturall markes of Apostolicall writinges Now although there be many thinges in them not vnprofitable to be read yet are the same thinges to be found in other men set forth more purely and without any paringes cankerfretted with the filthinesse of mans traditiōs Furthermore it is very well knowen that those first most pure tymes of the Church were not acquaynted with so many ceremonies so many decrées and so many constitutions as are found vrged vpon Gods Church in those Epistles For the holy and deuout folke of old time had not yet forgotten the Apostolicke Counsell that was held at Hierusalem wherin not onely Peter playnly would not there should be any yoke layd vppon the frée neckes of the faythfull but also moreouer it séemed good to the holy Ghost and to the whole primitiue Church of the Apostles that there should not any burthen be layd hereafter vppon the faithfull This story is knowen to be writtē in the xv chapter of the Actes of the Apostles But if our aduersaries will nedes procede to mainteine that these are the very Epistles of those men vppon whom they be fathered we haue aunswered a little afore how they be of no authoritie against the doctrine of the Gospell and the Apostles and therfore we admit them not in disputation Notwithstanding by the way we haue better opinion thā so of so great learned men and of so holy Martyrs of Christ neither will we in any wise stayne and deface their honorable names and blessed memoriall with such maner of gewgawes wherof out of all doubt there neuer came any in their mindes no not euen in their dreames ¶ Also that the latter Byshops of Rome vntill Gregorie the first vaunted not of any fulnesse of power nor of their supremacie ouer beyng aduaunced aboue kinges and kingdomes NEuerthelesse we must néedes graunt that from the tyme of Constantine the great who did set the Churches in peace not onely the Bishops of Rome but also the Bishops of other Churches through the worlde began to step aside from the playne footesteppes of their predecessors and claue not so carefully to the simple doctrine of the Apostles and therfore admitted mo ceremonies into the Church then beséemed and furthermore intermeddled them selues in worldly affaires and applyed them selues to much vnto them yea inuēted new names and offices of dignitie and brought such other thinges of the same sort into the Church which made way for worser thinges This saw that famous Poet Baptista Mātuanus who intreatyng of the times of Constantine the great among other thinges wrate thus Most noysom poyson sprang of honny sweete A right faire word is Rest a pleasaunt name is peace But yet from peace shall flowe more losse Dishonour shame reproche and miserie Then could from cruell warre For out of kynde the auncient vertue shall degenerate c. But howsoeuer the Bishops as well of Rome as of other Churches began to grow worse and worse yet were they still ignorant of that Romish Monarchie or rather tyrannie which is defended at this day For that I may alledge nothing hether out of the aunciēter writers of Gods Church doth not S. Hierome in his Epistle to Euagrius and in his Commentaries vpon S. Paules Epistle to Titus most manisfestly make the Bishop of Rome and the very Church of Rome it selfe equall with all other Byshops and Chuches in the world Doth he not openly say that the Churches in old time were gouerned by the common aduise of the elders Doth he not most piththely shew out of the Scriptures that elders and bishops be all one thing and that the one is not the name of age and the other of office Doth he not playnly say that Bishops were preferred before elders elders made subiect to Bishops by custome of the Church and not by appointment of God Wherfore it were truly a wonder why Epiphanius agaynst the Arrians should recken vp this thing for an heresie which Ierome vrgeth with so many and so piththy wordes but that others giue me warnyng that Epiphanius was to gentle in charging other folkes with heresie Truly in this case to speake with reuerence of so great a learned mā he wrongfully misreported the giltlesse contrarie without authoritie of the holy Scripture But if any man list to heare Ieromes owne wordes behold I will briefly rehearse the thinges that make to this purpose We must not sayth he to Euagrius esteme the Church of Rome to be one the Church of the whole world to be another Both Fraunce and Britaine and Affrike and
they serue and worship God and Baal together The Popish fastynges are not wynges and helpes of prayer nor an humbling of our selues wherby our amendement is declared but meritorious workes and playne hipocrisie And if they be compared with the fastyngs of the auncient Church they shal be found to be nothyng lesse than fastings But it wéerieth me to rehearse the fondnesse of these men in this behalfe This onely do I say or rather repete at this presēt which I haue said already That the vertuous princesse Quéene Elizabeth Kyng Edward haue abolished the abuses and superstitions of prayer and fastyng and not the true praying and true fastyng it selfe And it is straunge that the Bull alledgeth also the choise of meates If he know not how diuersly yea and also with how great libertie they were vsed in old tyme without any blame at all Let him read Socrates in the fifth booke and xxij chapter of his Ecclesiasticall history or the ix booke and xxxviij chap. of the Tripartite historie Among other things these are left in writyng And for asmuch as noman is able to shew any commaundement written concernyng this thyng it is apparant that the Apostles left it frée to euery mans will and choyse to the intent that no man should do the thyng that is good for feare or by compulsion Thus much is there We simply folow the thinges which we know to be deliuered to the faythfull by the Lord and hys holy Apostle The Lord sayth what soeuer entereth in at the mouth goeth down into the belly is cast out into the priuie But the things that come out of the mouth procede out of the hart be those thyngs that defile a man c. Math. 15. And the Apostle sayth Let noman iudge you in meate or drinke c. Also all thynges are cleane to the cleane but vnto the vncleane and the faithlesse all thynges are vncleane Moreouer as for the choyse of meates the Apiciusses or masters of gluttonie which are appointed and interteyned for the nonce haue a greater regard or speciall care at this day to come by the finest meates in the Court of Rome in Byshops palaces and in the dennes or Cloysters of Monkes than is had any where els in the vniuersal world And therfore we leaue them this fattie discourse vntouched Let belly Gods intreate of belly matters But I maruell more with what face these men beyng most vncleane and stinkyng of filthynesse the bondslaues of lustes and vnreasonable lecheries can make any mention of single lyfe What maner of single lyfe was in the religious houses of England and why the noble Prince Kyng Henry the viij emptyed them and ouerthrew them euery chone truly I had leuer it should be knowen by the Centuries of the reuerend Byshop of Ossoria in Ireland then by my declaration For I willingly spare chast eares Finally I say with the Apostle Honorable among all men is wedlocke and the vndefiled bed And agayne It is better to mary then to burne and for auoyding of fornication let euery man haue his wife Also if thou mary a wife thou sinnest not and if a mayden mary she sinneth not For it was lawfull euen for the Apostles who were busied in the ministerie to leade their Christian wiues about with them And all antiquitie auoucheth that many of the Lordes Apostles and specially Peter were maryed men And Paule more then once expresly sayth Let a Bishop be the husband of one wife hauyng faythfull children Yea and he calleth their doctrine a doctrine of deuils which forbid mariage like as also which forbid meates I know that our aduersaries wrest this place from themselues to the old heretickes Tatian Montane and others But the Prophet speakyng most effectually sayth Forbiddyng not Condemnyng The old heretickes condēned meates mariage vniuersally But our aduersaries condēne not meates mariage but restreine the frée vse of thē bynding men from them by wicked lawes Properly therfore the Apostle spake of them And what speake they of Catholicke ceremonies wheras if they did terme them aright they should call them superstitious and Idolatrous ceremonies These men bewray their owne shamelesnesse matched with wickednesse chiefly in this point that they foully deceiue the simpler sort by pretendyng the terme Catholike vnto all their errours They sticke to the terme and imagine I wote not what a singular holynesse and truth in themselues when in very déede they be not Catholikes but Cacolykes that is to say mischieuous wolues or shéepebyters settyng forth thinges particular and not vniuersall that is to wit burdenyng silly soules with the Decrées and deuises of certeine men both few in nomber and which were conspired to do mischief The Church is called Catholike that is to say Uniuersall bycause it is not onely found in some one place but also is spread abroad both through the whole vniuersall world and through all ages and also bycause there be no mo Churches without this For there is but one true Church which is the Catholike Church There is but onely one body vnder the one Christ in whom onely is saluation Wherupon it foloweth that there is no saluation but onely in the Church Therfore the Church of Rome lyke as also the Church of Antioche or of Alexandria or of any other place is not the Catholike Church For they be but members of that vniuersall body if so be that they be by one faith and one doctrine knit into this vniuersalitie as in the body vnder the head Christ. The Catholike Church then comprehendeth the Church of the fathers before Christes comming and our Church after his comming and consequently all the Saintes or faithful folkes of all places tymes and to conclude in one word of tymes past tyme present and tymes to come all which are one Catholike or vniuersall body vnder one Catholike or vniuersall head Christ. And so the Catholike faith doctrine is that which is preached and heard in this Catholike Church attributyng all thinges to Christ the onely head of saluation and depending wholly vpon the word of God and directing and gouerning all her matters by the same Therefore those be Catholikes in déede which in what place soeuer or in what tyme soeuer they be are in the felowshyp of this one body vnder the onely head Christ beyng all of one fayth and doctrine attributing their whole saluation vnto Christ alone dependyng wholly vpon his holy and most soothfast word These also are called Orthodoxi or Rightbeleuing that is to say of right opinion or iudgemēt and of sound doctrine accordyng to Gods word But as for them that are not in the compasse of this body vnder the fore sayd onely head Christ that they may draw life out of him and therfore are of a diuerse or rather of a contrarie doctrine and fayth deuising to themselues a new fayth a new doctrine a new
felowshyp yea and also a new head they be Cacodoxi that is to say misbeleuing or Kirtodoxi that is say ouerthwart beleuyng and not Rightbeleuyng and Catholike But now gentle reader wey me throughly within the compasse and vniuersalitie of what body or in what vnitie of doctrine and fayth the Romish sort be who by reason of certeine peculiar and straunge opinions of theirs which they professe and mainteine and for their Popish Church set vp vnder the Pope as head of it call themselues onely Catholike Let them say to vs whether the thynges which these men vrge so sore vpon vs were knowen and generall to the Catholike and Apostolike primitiue Church fayth and doctrine Let these Catholikes then which by their owne iudgement are the onely rightbeleuers vpon earth shew vs whether the aūcient Apostolike Church acknowledged Rome to be the head of all the Churches in the world whether all the faythfull seruauntes of Christ must vppon payne of saluation and damnation be subiect to the Byshop of Rome as who hath both the swordes in his hand iudgeth all men and is to be iudged of no man Whether the primitiue and aunciēt Church did pray vnto dead Saintes Whether it accounted them for patrons and spokesmen to God the father Whether it worshypped them with sacrifices holydayes and such other kynd of seruices Whether they builded them tēples or set vp images to them Whether the images of God and the Saintes he profitable and necessarie in the Churches of the Christians whether the soules that be sindged broyled and rosted in the fire of Purgatory be deliuered by yearemyndes and other satisfactions for the dead Whether Christ be worshypped in the Masse and whether it be to be beleued that Christ himselfe is offered there in sacrifice for the sinnes of the quicke the dead whether our owne workes deserue eternall lyfe and whether they iustifie vs also whether the state of Mōkes be the state of perfection or no And whether there were any cloysters of Monkes Nunnes in the Church afore Paule the Heremite of Thebe Antonie and Benet now if these and many other thynges like these were not séene nor knowen as they were not in déede tell vs wherfore ye boast them to be Catholike or how wil you be called Catholike of thē will ye that I tell you most falsly most vniustly sauyng in that your Antichristian kynd For as for the rites and customes which you call and brag to be Catholicke antiquitie hath registred them among Idolatries Cease therefore to delude the simple with your gentle termes of Catholike and Rightbeleuyng The faythfull know who you be Amend therfore and liue lyke true Catholikes with vs not in the Popish Church of Rome but in the true Catholike Church vnder the head Christ who onely is our saluation To him be glorie for euer Amen ¶ The Queene of England hath iustly cōmaunded her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the lawes therof Iustly also hath she bound them by othe to abiure the authoritie and obedience of the Romish Byshop The Bull procedeth in his purposed accusation agaynst the Quéene saying She hath forbidden the Clergie and laitie to acknowledge the Church of Rome or to obey the lawes of it Yea and she hath compelled them to renounce the authoritie obedience of the Romane Byshop by othe appointing penalties and punishmentes to such as disobey the which she hath executed vpō those that haue continued in the vnitie of fayth and the obedience aforesayd But the Quéenes Maiestie euen in this case also hath done nothyng but that the Lord God himselfe hath commaunded her to do which all good Princes among the people of God haue done before her For it is alredy manifestly inough shewed and proued before that by Gods ordinaunce it is lawfull for Kinges and Magistrates to take vpon them the care and orderyng both of cases and of persons Ecclesiasticall Therfore looke what the Quéene hath commaunded her subiectes in this behalfe she hath done but that she ought to do by vertue of her office And wheras she hath commaunded that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the ordinaunces therof hath she not cōmaunded that thyng by the appiontment of Gods word for truly God commaūdeth his people in his law that they should not giue eare to such as teach thinges contrarie to his law also he commaundeth the Magistrate that he giue no place either to superstitions or to false doctrines but rather that he roote vp these and restreine the others Ieremy like as the rest of the Prophetes also inferreth and vrgeth the same thyng Among other thynges sayth he thus sayth the Lord of hostes hearken not to the woordes of the Prophetes that prophesie vnto you For they teach you vanitie tell you the visions of their owne hart euen their owne inuentions and not out of the mouth of the lord But it is more clearer then the light of noone day that the Romish Doctors and teachers are not onely such but moreouer most cruell enemyes to the sound doctrine of the Gospell or rather persecuters imbrewed with Christian bloud The Lord hymselfe in his Gospell but specially in Mathew the vij and xxiiij chapters and in Luke the vij chapter hath forbydden vs to giue eare to false Prophetes and false Christes specially which shall come in this last perillous ago He chargeth vs that we should neither beleue them nor folow thē And S. Peter with great grauitie sayth kéepe your selues from this generation Which thyng he intreateth of more plenteously and diligently in his latter Epistle Yea and S. Paule also agréeing with the doctrine of S. Peter describeth the corrupt gouerners of the Church in this last age verely froward men not lightes but firebrandes of the Church and he biddeth the faithfull depart from them If any man desire to sée the places he shal find them in 2. Cor. 6. and in 2. Thes. 2. and in 1. Tim. 4. and 6. and in 2. Tim. 3. and 4. chapters Flée ye from Idolatrie sayth the same Apostle And S. Iohn sayth beware of Idols Besides this it is reueled to S. Iohn from heauen and commaundement is giuen thus my people get ye out of Babylon that ye be not partakers of her sinnes and receyue of her plagues also Uery rightly therfore and accordyng to the commaundementes of God hath the Quéenes Maiestie done in chargyng her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Romane that is to say the Popish Church nor obey the Popes law or ordinaunces as vtterly wicked or fightyng agaynst the word of God. But the thyng that most of all gréeueth and chafeth hym is that the Quéene hath compelled her ▪ subiectes to renoūce the Pope and his authoritie which in very déede is none at all and the Papacie it selfe by othe Neuerthelesse euen in this behalfe also what hath her highnesse done which the