cōmuniō of the true Catholick church doe concurr to it and it is not requisite that those that are lawfully seperated frō her either for Schisme or herefie as are the Greekes who erre in the Faith of the procession of the holy Ghost which his Maiestie himself holdes to be an article of Faith the naturall Egiptians Ethiopians who erre in the Faith of the hipostaticall vnion in the qualitie of Eutichians and Monophysites are excluded frō the Bodie of the Church from before the fifth Councell should assist to it And notwithstanding yet euen in these last ages there haue bene Councells Oecumenicall indeede and in the sence whereto his Maiestie imployes this terme when the partes seperated frothe Bodie of the Church whould haue conspired to some re-uniō As that of Lateran vnder Pope Innocent the third where there where with the Pope the Patriarckes of Constantinople and Ierusalem and the legates of those of Alexandria and Antioch and more then 400. Bishops and 70. Archbishops from all the partes of the Church aswell Greeke as Latine And that of Florence vnder Eugenius the fourth where assisted the Greekes with their Emperor and their Patriarke and the Legates of three other Patriarkes and the Armenians and the deputies also of the Ethiopians and in both these they were agreed of all the points of Faith which in these daies are againe put to question From whence it appeareth that the wante of Generall Councells could not make the Church to be lesse acknowledgeable in the last daies then she was in the first Of the effect of Councells for the visibilitie of the Church CHAPT II. The continuance of the Kinges answere AND in the ancient tymes it was a firme bond by which all the mēbers of the Catholicke Church were bound in the frame of one selfe Body which body for this cause was meruailously noble and eminent being so constituted in the view and knowledge of all that none thought they would could haue bene ignorant of her One Faith one policie one Body of the Catholicke Church a frequent visitation of the partes amongst themselues a meruailous consent of all the members an admirable sim pathie THE REPLIE RAther some tyme these were the meanes which heretickes or those Emperors that fauored them made vse of to shake and dissolue the masse and frame of the Body of the Church frō whēce proceeded the complaintes of the Fathers that after things had been once resolued of in the Church they should noe more holde other newe Councells that after the Councell of Nicea euery other Councell was superfluous and that they neuer sawe any good effect of all those Councells as is by S. GREGORIE Nazianzene aboue said And therefore these rich and magnificent amplifications of eloquence were noe impediments but that the Church when Luther began might haue bene not onely as much but more visible illustrious and eminent then she was manie tymes in those ages witnesse the obiections that the Donatists made to saint AVSTIN of the estate of the Church principallie in the East in saint HILLARYS tyme Such was said saint AVS the tyme whereof Hillary hath written from whence thou thinkest to sett ambushes for so manie deuine witnesses as if the Church were thē perished from the Globe of the Earth And saint IEROM because the East striking against herselfe by the ancient fury of her people tore in little peeces the vnseamed coate of our Lord wouen from aboue and that the foxes destroyed the Vine of Christ in such sort as it is difficult amongst the dry pondes and which haue noe water to discerne the sealed fountaine and the inclosed garden therefore I thought I ought to consult with the Chaire of Peter and the Faith praised by the mouth of the Apostles For whereas his Maiestie adds that the Bodie of the Church was then set in such an eminence of view and knowledg that she could not be vnknowne noe not by those that would haue bene ignorant of her this was verie true if you tooke all Catholicke prouinces together and compared them with euery particular Sect and it had place in regarde of those that were within the bosome of the Church which neither then nor since could haue bene ignorant of the Bodie and Societie of the true Church for as much as they all agreed in the hypothesis that the Church ought to be discerned by inimitable and indisputable markes and that those that had them not could not faine to haue them as the communion with the Sea of saint PETER the continued and not interrupted Succession of ministrie and Doctrine the eminencie and vniuersalitie aboue all other Christian Sects taken euerie one a parte and other such like But in regard of those that were seperated from it as heretickes and Schismatickes who would discerne the Church by markes more obscure then the thing itselfe and such as all Sects perswade themselues to haue to witt by the conformitie of Doctrine with the scripture interpreted according to the sentence of euerie particular man there was nothing lesse euident For to those the Church how eminent soeuer she had been hath alwaies been obscure hidden not for the want of her light eminencie but because of their darknes and blindnes This saith saint AVS is common to all hereticks to be vnable to see the thing that in the world is most manifest and constituted in the light of all nations out of whose vnitie whatsoeuer they worke although they seeme to doe it with great care and diligence can noe more profitt them against the wrath of God then the spider webb against the extremitie of colde And againe The Church is not hidden for she is not vnder a bushell but vpon a Candlesticke to giue light to all that are in the Howse And of her it is said The Cittie built vpon a Mountaine cannot be hidd but she is as hidden to the Donatistes who heare so cleere and manifest testimonies which demonstrate her to be spread ouer the whole world and yet had rather blindfold strike against the mountaine then ascend it And other where how can I call those but blinde that see not so great a mountaine and shutt their eyes against the lampe sett vpon the candlesticke Of the comparison of the Pope with the other Patriarkes CHAP. III. The continuance of the kinges answere IF anio one vvere fallen for heresie or Schisme from the communion of one of the Churches I saie not one of the first which vvere the Seates of the fovver Patriarckes but of anie other of those vvhich vvere much lesse as soone as it vvas knovvne he vvas reputed excluded from the communion of all the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE IN the tyme of saint AVSTINE there was yet but three true 〈◊〉 Seates in the Church I meane invested with patriarchall Iurisdiction to witt Rome Alexandria and Antioch Ierusalem hauing obtained noe patriarchall diuision till the Councell of Chalcedon For before it was
caused the diuision of the Church especiallie in the West for whatsoeuer multitude of gouernments haue had place there vnder the title of Empire Kindome Principalitie and Common wealth and whatsoeuer difference of manners languages lawes and institutions that haue raigned there the Church hath bene no more visible in the tyme when the Empire was one and ruled ouer all the East and west then it hath bene vnder this diuersitie of Princes and gouernments Also the vnitie of the Church was not foretold by the Prophets only for the time wherein there should be but one tēporall monarcke in the world if euer that title could haue belonged to anie Prince but also for that tyme wherein there should bee seuerall kinges and Administrators of Estates according to this Prophecie of the Psalmist The Kings and Kingdomes shall agree in one to serue our Lord. Which caused S. AVGVSTINE to saie vnder colour that in the whole world Kingdomes are often deuided yet for all that Christian vnitie is not 〈◊〉 for as much as the Catholicke Church remaines on either part And indeede that the vnitie of the Church depends not from the vnitie of the Empire but from the relation to a visible center of the Ecclesiasticall communion it appeared sufficiently euen in the time of the greatest vnitie and extent of the Empire when the Christians which were vnder Firmus King of the Barbarians in Africa vnder Mania Queene of the Sarazins vnder Cosroes King of Persia states all distinct yea the most part of the time enemies to the Romane Empire And after in Damascus and other neighbouring Prouinces vnder the Kings of the Agarenians did all agree in the vnion and communion of the Catholicke Church For as for the deuisions which are at this daie in the East euery one knowes that that of Egypt and Ethiopia hath begun from the time of the vnitie of the Empire And that of the Armenians likewise as appeares by the decisiōs made against them in the Canōs of the Coūcell holden vnder Iustinian 〈◊〉 And that of the Nestorians and Iacobites which haue yet to this day their sect in Mesopotamia other partes of Asia likewise And as for the Greeke Church it is certaine that although it began to be diuided since the separation of the Empire neuerthelesse the cause of the diuision was not the diuision of the Empire vnder which it perseuered yet manie yeares in vnitie with the Latine but the Schisme betweene the two competitors of the Patriarkship of Constantinople Ignatius and Photius to which to make it the more lasting heresie was added and which the Emperors according as they haue bene good or euill haue indeuoured themselues to fomēt or stopp and there haue not wanted generall Councells euen of the two seuerall Churches to extinguish this diuision when they haue desired it For histories are full of these examples witnes that which was holden at Constantinople vnder the Emperor Basilius for the restitution of Ignatius that which was holden vnder Pope Innocent the third which wee call the great Councell of Lateran to reunite the Greeke church with the Latine and that which was holden for the same effect at Florence vnder Eugenius the fourth at which the Emperor and the Patriarke of Greece assisted in person As also the diuision of the Empire and the rule of the Greeke Emperors after of the Mahometan Princes did not hinder the Churches that acknowledged the Patriarke of the Syrian tongue whom we call Maronites from perseuering in the communion of the Roman Church In such sort as this varietie and diuision of sects in the East can not be attributed to the defect of the vnitie of the Empire since in the time that the Empyre was most vnited these troubles and innouations had such place therein as Socrates and Sozomene doe in the tyme of the Emperor Constantius set the mount Tuscis in Illiria for a bound betweene the quiet peace of the Church and the tempest and turbulencie of hereticks But it ought to be attributed to the want of constancie of the Easterne people or rather to the blessing of God vpon the Roman church which would shew that this prophecie Thou art Peter and vpon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it hath had some more speciall effect for the Sea of S. PETER then for those of the other Patriarkes according to that oracle of the great Leo Besides the stone that our Lord hatt sett for a foundation noe other building shall be stedfast Of the interpretation of these vvords Thou art Peter and vpon this Rock I will build my Church CHAPT III. The continuance of the Kings answere SINCE that time the Catholicke Church in truth hath not ceast to be for it shall allwaies bee and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her who is founded on Christ the true stone and in the faith of PEETER and of the other Apostles THE REPLIE THat some times the Fathers expound these words Vpon this Rock I will build my Church of the Faith of S. PETER and say that the Church was built vpon the confession of PETER And that some times they expound it of the person of PETER and saie that the Church hath bene founded vpon the person of PETER they are not contrarie expositions the one excluding the other but conioynt the one including the other for they intend the Church to speake the Schoole language is built causallie vpon the confession of PETER and formallie vpon the ministrie of the person of PETER that is to saie the confession of PETER was the cause werefore Christ chose him to constitute him for the foundation of the ministrie of his Church By that saith saint HILLARIE the blessed Confession hath obtained his reward and that the person of saint Peter hath bene that vpon which our Lord hath properlie built his Church Soe as to saie that his Church is built vpon the confessio of PETER is not to denie that it is built vpō the person of PETER but it is to expresse the cause wherefore it is built vpon him noe more then to sale with saint HIEROME that PETER walked not vpon the waters but Faith is not to denie that saint PETER walked trulie properly and formallie vpon the water but it is to expresse that the cause that made him walke there was not the actiuitie or naturall vertue of his person but the faith that he had giuen to the words of Christ. And therefore as these two propositions the faith of PETER walked vpon the waters and the person of PETER walked vpon the waters are both true but in a different sence for the faith of PETER walked vpon the waters causallie as the Schooleme sare that is to saie it was the cause that the person of saint PETER walked there and the person of saint PETER walked there trulie properlie and formallie so these two propositions the Church was built vpon
speaking of the Bishops of the hereticks ' It is vnlawfull that they should make ministers who are none themselues Whereby they doe not intend that the Bishops of hereticks who haue drawne their character from the Church be not Bishops as for the impression of the character but that they are none as for the imposition of the authoritie By meanes whereof the English Bishops can pretend noe Episcopall succession from the Church of the antient Fathers as for the succession of authoritie for as much as if the Catholicke Church which was in England and in other places when king Henry the eigth came to the crowne were not the true Catholicke Church the Bishops of the Catholicke communion were not true and lawfull Bishops as concerning authoritie but only as concerning the character and by consequence neither had themselues the succession of Episcopall authoritie nor could transmitt it to those that haue taken it from them By what right saith sainct ATHANASIVS speaking of the Arrians can they be Bishops if they haue bene ordained by those men which themselues doe slander with heresie And contrariwise if the Church that was at the beginning of King Henry the eigth throughout Europe and in manie other partes of the world were the true Church this selfe-same Church hauing disannulled the episcopall authoritie in those from whom the English at this daie pretend to haue had their mission and hauing deposed and anathematized them they had no more lawfull episcopall authoritie by consequēce could not cōferr it to others And besides if that Church were the true Church the English Church at this daie which is gone out from her communion can not be so nor preserue in her the succession of Episcopall authoritie which cannot be transferred out of the Church And for the succession of the character the English according to their doctrine can in noe secte pretend to it for they hold not if they would hold they cannot doe it for as much as they make profession to agree in the faith in the sacraments with the Protestants of France that order conferrs anie other thing then authoritie nor that it imprints anie sacramentall character which is that only which in mission can be transferred giuen out of the Church And so if by their doctrine they could haue the succession of the character they are fallen frō the right of making vse thereof For they communicate with the Puritans of France hold their sheepe for true sheepe and so their pastors for true pastors and for their colleagues and fellowe bretheren Now the ministers of France are not ordained by anie Bishops and so are noe Bishops For hee saith sainct CYPRIAN cannot be a Bishop who succeeding no bodie hath bene ordained of himselfe And not being Bishops haue noe Church since as saith the same sainct CYPRIAN The Church is in the Bishop and the Bishop in the Church and who is not with the Bishop is not in the Church By meanes whereof the English which communicate with them and hold them for their colleagues and fellowe bretheren inuolue themselues into the crime and contagion of all their ecclesiasticall defects and consequentlie fall from all the rightes whereof those with whom they communicate are depriued I add to that that to shew a Church to be successiuelie and representatiuely the antient Catholicke Church it sufficeth not to shew that a part of that Church deriueth the personall successiō of her Bishops from the missiō of the antien Catholicke Church but all the Church that will pretēd the inheritāce successiō of the tittle of catholike must haue the successio of her Bishops deriued frō the 〈◊〉 of the antiēt catholick Church For the Bishops Sea is one as saith S CYPRIAN whereof euerie one holdes his portiō vndiuidedly And elsewhere The Church is one bound togeather by the cement of Bishops adhering the one to the other Now the English doe not pretend alone to cōstitute all the cōmunion of their Church nor to be all the true and pure visible Catholicke Church but doe comprehend into their communion the Protestantes of France as partes of the Bodie of their Church And therefore they canot saie that the Catholicke Church to which they adhere and wherewith they communicate to bee by succession and personall representation the same visible Catholicke Church which was in the time of the fowre first Coūcells Cōtrariwise from this that the other partes of the communion to which the English Church adheres communicate not by succession of persons with the mission of the antient Catholicke Church and consequently are at the least schismatikes it issues that the English which communicate with them cannot cōmunicate with the antient Catholicke Church for none except in error of fact can communicate with the Catholicke Church and with Schismatickes together And finallie I saie that since in all questions of Schismes wee must mount vp to the originall following these wordes of saint AVGVSTINE to the Donatists The question betweene you and vs is where the Church of God should be wee must then begin at the originall why haue you made a schisme The accompt that the English Church will yeeld of the succession of her Bishops ought to be brought to the originall of the Schisme Now therevpon I will aske his Maiestie where the first after the rising vp of Luther and Caluin began in England to separate themselues from the Catholicke Church to imbrace other forme of Religion which they now hold where was this Societie wherein there was together to be found both the succession of Bishops vninterrupted from the first and the succession of doctrine For to goe out from the Church then intituled Catholicke they must range themselues to an other Church which must haue true doctrine and true ministrie by adherence ad communion to the which they might preserue the title of Catholicke and transmitt it to those that should come after them Now where was then this Societie indued with the true doctrine and the true succession of Bishops when the English first separated themselues from the Church intituled Catholike For I will not inquire who is the first from whom she saith that the English Bishops can shew their vninterrupted succession if it be not S AVGVSTIN Bishop of Canterburie whom S. GREGORIE sent thither Nor will I demaund for the preaching of what doctrine S. GREGORIE sent him thither if it were not for the preaching of the same doctrine that was there before the last separation Of the succession of doctrine CHAP. XXIII The continuance of the Kings answere IF the succession of doctrine bee demaunded lett vs mako triall of it THE REPLIE THERE is great difference betweene similitude of doctrine and succession of doctrine Similitude of doctrine is a simple reporte of agreement betweene one doctrine an other but the succession of doctrine properly takē is a deriuation of doctrine continued by a perpetuall vnintermitted chine of teachers and persons taught And
beginning of these last diuisions either perswaded in some pointes by the innouators or ioyned to the partie of the innouators themselues haue attempted to seeke out some accommodation in matter of doctrine and of the vniuersall Religion of the Church to come to a reunion perswading themselues that as the Poet saith all men doe Sinn Without the walls of Troy and 〈◊〉 within It will bee alwaies easie for vs to shew that the desire of reconciliation rather then the knowledge of antiquitie and truth hath caused them to speake this language Of the agreement or disagreement of the English reformers with the Donatists CHAP. XXXI The continuance of the Kinges answere AND therefore the English Church feareth not that she can seeme in the iudgment of sincere arbitrators to haue done anie thinge like to the 〈◊〉 in this separation They out of a iollitie of harte and without anie cause abandoned the Catholicke 〈◊〉 approued by the consent of all nations whereof they could neither blame the faith nor the discipline THE REPLIE NEITHER was the Catholicke Church then actuallie approued by all nations for these prophecies In thy seede shall all nations be 〈◊〉 and This Ghospell must be preached ouer all the world shall not be fullie accōplisht as S. AVGVSTINE notes till the end of the world But it might well be said by 〈◊〉 in regard of other Christian sectes to be spread ouer all nations because the extent thereof was more eminont as it is nowe then that of anie other Christian Societie Neither was she approued by 〈◊〉 men of all the Christian nations For who knowes not how great the multitude of other heresies was when the sect of the Donatists sprange vp and how much greater then when the passages of the Fathers cited in the beginning of this obseruation were pronounced against them Of one side the Arrians possessed almost all the East of the other side the number of the Donatists was such in Africa as they held all at a time Councells of three hūdred Bishops yea euē in the time of S. AVGVSTINE there where whole natiōs that professed christianitie which did not acknowledg 〈◊〉 Catholick Church as that of the Gothes Vandalls And in breefe elghtie or an hundred other sects of Christiās which were then in the world diuided like Sāpsons Foxes by the heads but tyed together by the tayles did all agree to reproue the Catholicke Church And whereas the excellent king addeth that the Donatists could blame neither the faith nor discipline of the Catholicke Church if by blaming his maiestie intend to blame with reason that is not particular to the Donatistes for neuer anie Sect either Schismaticall or hereticall could blame with reason the faith or discipline of the Church But if by blaming he intend accusing and slandring her and beleeuing that they had iust occasion to doe soe who euer blamed the faith and discipline of the Catholicke Church more then the donatists who called themselues the Bishops of thē Catholicke truth and obiected to the Catholickes that they erred in faith in beleeuing that the holy Ghost resided out of the Church and in holding that Baptisme which cannot be administred but by the operation of the holy Ghost might be conferred out of the Church and in the Societie of hereticks who reprocht it to them thāt they violated these oracles One faith one Baptisme It is lawfull to be baptised if thou dost beleeue be yee euery one of you baptised in the remission of Sinnes Christ purgeth his Church by the washing of water in the word Who heares not the Church lett him be as a publican and as a heathen Baptisme is the washing of the regeneration of the Ghost The Church is the close Garden and the sealed Fountaine Who gathers not with Christ scatters And other such like alleadged by them in so great number as Vincentius Lyrinensis cryes out But perchance this new inuention that is to saie the heresie of the Donatists will want defences nay she was assisted with soe great strength of spirit with so many flouds of Eloquence with so great a number of protectors with so much likelyhood with so manie oracles of diuine lawe but expounded in a new and naughtie manner that it seemes to me that such a conspir aice could neuer haue benē destroyed if this same imbraced this same defended this same extolled profession of noueltie had not in the end left the cause of soe great a motion alone and abandoned And as for the discipline of the Church did not they blame it who taxed the discipline of the Church to haue receiued without expiation of preceding pennance those that in the persecution time had denied Christ and communicated in the sacrifices of the Pagans and consequently to haue bene polluted with the contagion of the Pagans who accused her for hauing receaued conuerted heretickes into her communion without giuing them true Baptisme which could not be giuen according to them but in the Church and consequently to haue polluted her communion with the contagion of vnbaptised or vncircumcised spirituallie and so to haue lost the being of the true Church which could not subsist without the true vse of the sacramēts Who made profession in manners of a conuersation of life much better ruled more reformed then that of the Catholickes from whence it is that S. AVGVSTINE forbidds the catholicks to reproche the Donatists with anie other thing but that they were not Catholickes Who called themselues the little flocke of the lord the two tribes of the Kingdome of Iuda who said we hauing nothing and possessing all things wee account our soule to he our riches and by our paines and our blood we purchase the treasure of heauen And in breese who supposed themselues to haue such reason for their separation as they reputed the Catholickes not to be worthie of so much as the name of Christians as hauing lost the true vse of Baptisme whereby men are made Christiās when they spake to them they said Caius Seius Caia Seia O man 〈◊〉 thou be a Christian O woeman wilt thou be a Christian And cryed to them Come o yee ignorant and wretched people who are commonlie called Catholickes And called the Chaire of Rome the Chaire of pestilence and called the Catholicke Church an Harlott and an Adulteresse and chose rather to suffer all kindes of persecutions and false Martirdomes then to communicate with her If I persecute saith Saint AVGVSTINE iustlie him that detracts from his neighbour why should I not persecute him that detracts from the Church of Christ and saith this is not shee but this is an hatlott And againe If the punishment and not the cause made Martirdome heauen should be full of your martirs And against whom contrariwise the Catholickes in matter of doctrine had not one passage of scripture for them but only the Apostolicall vnwritten tradition as S. AVGVSTINE
baptized can come to the remission of originall sinne And of this kinde of necessitie the examples are in small number I call that conditionall necessitie which obligeth not but in case of possibilitie and receiues exception of place time and persons and that againe hath diuers branches For first in regard of Faith there are manie points that are necessarie to be beleeued if a man be in place where he may be instructed in them or who hath time to be informed of them which are not necessary for a man that liues in a wildernesse or so pressed with the instant of death as he hath noe leasure to receiue instruction as that Christ was borne of a virgin that he was Crucified vnder Pontius Pilate that hee rose againe the third daie And manie thinges are necessary to be beleeued and holden for pointes of Faith either by the bodie of the Church in generall or by the order of the ministers and pastors which are the eyes of the Church which are not necessary for euery particular person to knowe and hold to be points of Faith as that the persons of the Trinitie are the same in essence and distinct in subsistence that the Father hath begotten the sonn necessarily and not freely that they are the diuine persōs which produce and are produced and not the essence which doth neither produce nor is produced that the workes of the trinitie without are vndiuided that the only persō of the sonn hath been incarnate and not anie of the others that in Christ there are two substances and one subsistence that the diuinitie was not to him in the steede of a soule but that besides his Bodie and his diuinitie he had a Soule sensible and reasonable that what he once tooke in hypostaticall vnion hee hath not abandoned that the diuell was created good and made hinself euill by the freedome of his will and other such like And in regard of action there are manie things necessarie in case of possibilitie and according to the oportunity of places times and persons which are not absolutely necessarie when the commoditie to accomplish them is wanting as the assistance at Church Seruice the actuall participation of the Eucharist And manie are necessarie to some as mission and imposition of handes to the Pastors of the Church and marriage to those that will haue issue which are not necessary to others And in breefe some thinges are necessary to obtaine Saluation others some to obtaine it more easilie for ones-selfe and others to procure and mediate it for other men some for the constitution of the Church and others for the edification and more ample propagation of the Church some for the simple being of Christian Religion others for the better being that is to saie for the comlynesse dignitie and splendour of Christian Religion I call necessitie of meanes that that is in behalfe of the thinges them selues as that of Sacraments to which god hath graunted power to Conferr some grace and reall operation to saluation that of the Commandementes of the morall lawe whose necessitie is imposed vpon vs by the law of nature that of repenting sins which is a meanes necessarie to obtaine their remission I call necessitie of precept that which is only obligatorie in regard of the Commaundement as the celebration of the first daie of the weeke in memorie of that wherein our lord did rise againe which wee for that cause call our Lords daie and other such like obseruations the omission whereof could be noe hindrance to Saluation but in respect of disobedience and breach of the Commaundement I call necessitie of speciall beleefe that of thoses pointes which all Faithfull if they be not preuented by death are obliged to beleeue with faith expresse distinct and determinate which the Schoolemen call explicit faith as the twelue articles of the Creede I call necessitie of generall beleefe that of those thinges which euery particular man is not obliged to beleeue with a distinct ad explicite faith as the doctrine of originall sin the article or the two wills in Christ the article that the holy Ghost proceedes frō the Father and from the Sonne the beleefe that Baptisme giuē forth of the Church prouided it be in the forme of the Church is true Baptisme and that heretickes which haue receiued Baptisme must not be rebaptised when they returne to the Church and other such like when the simple sort of faithfull people are not obliged to beleeue with a distinct and explicit faith but it sufficeth that they beleeue them generallie in the Faith of the Church that is to saie that they adhere to the Church that beleeues them by whose faith they liue whiles they remaine in her Communion as Children liue by their mothers nourishmēt whilst they are in her bowells I call necessitie of act that of those thinges which euerie particular person is obliged to execute actuallie as to Confesse the name of Christ to forgiue offences done to them to restore the Goods of an other man I call necessitie of approbation that of those thinges which euerie particular man is not bound to execute actuallie but onlie not to contradict them and not to condemne those that doe them nor the church that approoues thē ad not to separate thēselues frō her vpō this occasiō vpō paine of separating themselues frō their owne saluation as the choice to liue in virginitie and single life and other the like Of all which kindes of necessitie the Fathers haue hold 〈◊〉 manie thinges euerie one according to it is degree diuerslie necessarie to saluation as wee shall make manifest in those occasions that will offer themselues wherein to examine them it is not to be conformable to the ancient beleefe and practise of the catholicke church to hold the pointes of doctrine or actiō that the Fathers haue holden to be necessary to saluation according to some of these kindes of necessitie and to reiect the others but to conforme our selues to the ancient beleefe and catholick practise we must hold for necessary to saluation all those things that the Fathers haue holden to be necessarie to saluation in that degree and according to those kindes of necessitie as they haue holden them The fowrth obseruation is vpon the word FATHERS which some when it comes to the effect of their promise to submit themselues to the iudgment of antiquitie would restraine to the first or second age after the Apostles not that they hope to finde in that space of time anie thing in their behalfe but because the Church being then oppressed with persecutions there remaines to vs so fewe writinges of that date and those against persons and about points for the most part so differing from the disputations of this present age as the face of the ancient doctrine and practise of the Church cannot euidentlie appeare to be therein represented Now equitie would that being to compare the state of the Societies of this age wich pretend to the title of
the Catholick Church with the state of the ancient Church wee should looke to take such a time wherein not only our competitors might agree with vs that the Church of the Fathers was still the true Church the true Spouse of Christ she in whom resided the lawfull authoritie to iudge questions in Religion but also those monuments doe sufficiently remaine to vs to manifest throughly all her doctrines and all her obseruations Which can neuer be better chosen for both partes then in the time wherein the fower first Councells were holden that is to saie from the Emperour Constantine who was the first Emperour that was publicklie a Christian to the Emperour Marcian And it seemes to me that his Maiestie hath yielded to this and also more liberallie in some of his writinges hauing extended this space to the first fiue ages For besides that the deliuerie from the yoake and subiection of the Pagans then gaue the Church meanes to speake lowder and to haue more communication with all her partes situated in so manie different regions of the earth and to flourish in a greater multitude of learned and excellent writers which is the cause that there remaine to vs without comparison more monuments of those ages wherein to view the entire forme of the ancient Christian Religion then of the former ages Besides this I saie our aduersaries cannot denie but that church which nursed vp the first Christian Emperours which rooted out the Temples and seruices of the false Gods which exercised the Soue raigne Tribunall of Spirituall authoritie vpon earth by the condemnation which she denounced vpon the fowre most famous heresies in the fowre first generall Councells which were the fowre first Parliaments and Estates generall of Christs Kingdome must bee she of whom it hath bene foretold that Kinges should be her nursing Fathers that the nations should walke in her light and Kings in the brightnes of her rising that euery engine sett vp against her should be destroyed that she should iudge euery tongue that should resist her in iudgment that God had sett watchmen vpon her walles which neuer should be silent by daie or night that the gates of hell should not preuaile against her that whosoeuer should not obey her should be holden for a heathen and a publican and in breefe that she was the Pillar and foundation of truth Shall we loubt Sayth S. Augustin who liued in the betweene-times of these first fowre Councells to sett our-selnes in the lapp of that Church which by succession of Bishops from the seate of the Apostles euen to the confession of all mankinde the hereticks in vaine barking about her and being condemned partlie by the iudgment of the people themselues part lie by the grauitie of Councells and partlie by the maiestie of Miracles hath obtained full authoritie to whom not to giue the preheminence must be an act of extreame impietie or of a headie arrogancie And againe The Catholick Church fighting against all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne all heresies are come forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt From their vine but she remains in her roote in her vine in her charitie Let that then bee holden for trulie anciēt and marked with the character of the primitiue Church which shall be found to haue bene beleeued and practised vniuersallie by the Fathers which liued in the time of the first fowre Councells and principallie when it shall appeare to vs that the things testified to vs by the authors of those ages were not holden by them for doctrines or obseruations sprung vp in their time but for doctrines or obseruations which had bene perpetuallie practised in the Church from the age of the Apostles although perchance there can not be found for euerie of them in particular so expresse testimonies in the former ages as in those of the first fowre Councells because of the fewe writinges which the persecution of those times haue suffered to come to our handes For it sufficeth to assure vs of the perpetuall vse of such thinges that the Fathers of the first fower Councells who had more knowledge of the ages before them then wee can haue doe testifie to vs to haue beleeued and practised them not as thinges instituted in their age but as thinges that haue alwaies had place in the Church and had come to them by a succession of obseruation from the Apostles downe to their time and that there is not to be found in former authors anie testimony against them but contrariwise in all places where there is occasion to mention them agreable and fauorable testimonies that is to saie in breefe that is to be holden ancient by vs which those whom we account ancient haue themselues holden to be ancient The fifth obseruation is vpon the consent of the beleefe of the Fathers which some contentious spirits would haue to be when one selfesame thing is actuallie found in the writings of all the Fathers which is an vniust and impertinent pretence For to haue a doctrine or obseruation to bee trulie holden by the Fathers for vniuersall and Catholicke it is not necessarie it should be in the writinges of all the Fathers who haue not all written of the same matters and of whose writinges all haue not come to our handes but there are two other lawfull waies to secure our selues of them The one is when the most eminent Fathers of euery country agree in the affirmation of the same doctrine or practise and that none of the others that haue bene without note of dissention from the Church haue opposed it As when S. Augustin hath cited against the Pelagians the testimonie of eleuen eminent Fathers all consenting in one and the same doctrine he supposeth hee hath sufficientlie produced against them the Common beleefe of the Catholicke Church and when the Councell of Ephesus had produced tenn Fathers of former ages they conceiued they had sufficiently expressed the consent of the former Church against Nestorius his doctrine Because none saith Vincentius Lerinensis doubtetb but that those tenn did trulie hold the same with al their other bretheren The other is when the Fathers speake not as Doctors but as witnesses of the Customes and practise of the Curch of their times and doe not saie I beleeue this should be soe holden or so vnderstood or so obserued but that the Church from one end of the earth to the other beleeues it so or obserues it soe For then we noe longer hold what they saie for a thing said by them but as a thing said by the whole Church and principallie when it is in pointes whereof they could not be ignorant either because of the Condition of the thinges as in matters of fact or because of the sufficiencie of the persons and in this case wee argue noe more vpon their wordes probablie as wee doe when they speake in the qualitie of particular Doctors but we argue therevpon demonstratiuelie That then
his father who wil not haue the Church for his mother That Christ is not with those that assemble out of the Church That although they should be slaine for the confession of Christ this spot is not washt awaie euen with bloud That he cannot be à martyr that is not in the Church That out of the Catholicke Church one may haue Faith Sacraments Orders and in summe euery thing except saluation That he that communicates not with the Catholicke Church is an hereticke and Antichrist That noe hereticke nor Schismaticke that is not restored to the Catholicke church before the end of this life can be saued if they had belieued that all the Sectes that professe the name of Christ both heretickes and Schismatickes had bene in the Catholicke Church THIRDLY by the word Catholicke Church they did not intend a Church interrupted and intermitting as that of the protestantes which is borne and dyes by fittes like the Tyndarides but such a Church as these wordes of the prophet describe As in in the daies of Noe I swore that I would no more bring the waters of the floud vpon the earth soe haue I sworne I will no more be angrie against thee Thou shalt noe more be called the forsaken I will place my sanctification in the midst of them for euer I will noe more doe to the rest of this people as in tymes past And these of our Lord The gates of hell shall not preuaile against her I am with you vntill the consummation of all ages The Spirit of truth shall dwell with you eternally Let the one growe with the other vntill the haruest that is to saie a Church permanent eternall and not capeable of ruine Wee acknowledge said that great ALEXANDER Bishop of Alexandria one only Catholicke and Apostolicke Church which as she can neuer bee rooted out though all the world should vndertake to oppose her soe she outhrowes disperseth all the wicked assaulth of heretickes And Sainct ATHANASIVS The Church is inuincible though hell it selfe should arise with all the power thereof against her And THEOPHILVS God in all tymes grants one selfe grace to his Church to witt that that Bodie should be kept intire and that the venome of the Doctrine of heretickes shall haue noe power ouer her And Sainct AVGVSTINE in the comentary vpon the 47. psalme God saith he hath founded her eternallie let not heretickes deuided into factions boaste let them not lift themselues vp that saie heere is Christ and there is Christ. And againe But perchance this Cittie that hath possessed the whole world shall be one daie ruined neuer may it happen God hath founded her eternallie If then God hath founded her eternally wherefore fearest thou that her foundation should fall And in the Comentary vpon the 101. psalme But his Church which hath bene of all nations is noe more she is perished soe saie they that are not in her O impudent voice And a little after this voice soe abominable soe detestable soe full of presumption and falshood which is sustained with noe truth illuminated with noe wisedome seasoned with noe salt vaine rash headie pernicious the holy Ghost hath foreseene it And in the treatie of the Christian combate They saie the whole Church is perished and the relickes remaine only on Donatus his side O prowde and impious tongue And in the worke of Baptisme against the Donatists If the Church vere perished in Cyprians tyme from whence did Donatus appeare from what earth is he sprung vp from what Sea is he come forth from what heauen is he fallen And in the third booke against Parmenian How can they vaunt to haue anie Church if she haue ceased from those tymes And in the explication of the Creede to the Cathecumenistes The Catholicke Church is she that sighting with all heresies may be opposed but cannot be ouerthrowne All heresies are come out from her as vnprofitable branches cut from the vine but she staies in her vine in her roote in her Charitie And the gates of hell shall neuer ouerthrow her Behold without colour or fraud what the Father 's vnderstood by the word Catholicke Church to witt a Church visible and eminent aboue all other Christian societies A Church pure from all contagion of schisme and heresie A Church perpetuall and which had neuer suffered nor neuer could suffer anie interruption neither in her faith in her Communion nor in her visibilitie This Church if the most excellent King haue let hin giue her to vs if not lett him receiue her from vs Aut det as saint AVSTINE said to the Donatists aut accipiat Of the proceeding of the Father for the preseruation of the vnitie of the Church CHAP. III. The pursute of the Kinges Answere THe Kinge commendes also the prudence of the religious Bishops who in the 4 Councell of Carthage as it is heere truly obserued added to the forme of the examination of Bishops a particular interrogatory vpon this point And his Maiestie is not ignorant that the Fathers of the ancient Church haue oftentymes done manie thinges by forme of accommodation for the good of peace and to the end to preuent the breach of vnitie and mutuall Communion whose example he protesteth he is 〈◊〉 to imitate and to followe the steps of those that procure peace euen to the Altars that is to saie as much as in the present estate of the Church the integritie of his Conscience will permitt him For he will giue place to none either in extreame griefe he suffers for the separation of the members of the Churdh which the good Fathers haue soe much detested or in his dosire to communicate if it were possible for him with all the members of the mysticall bodie of our Lord Iesus-Christ THE REPLIE IT was not by way of prudence as prudence signifies a human vertue that the Fathers pronounced this decree that out of the Catholicke Church saluation could not bee obtained but by way of decision and as an article of faith For this cause saith sainct AVGVSTINE vpon the Creede The Conclusion of this Sacrament is determined by the holie Church for as much as if anie one be found on t of it he shall be excluded from the number of the Children And he shall not haue God for his Father that will not haue the Church for his Mother and it shall serue him for nothing to haue belieued or done soe manie and soe manie good workes without the true end or butte of the souer aigne good And sainct FVLGENTIVS in his booke of the Faith Holde this firmely and doubt it not that euery hereticke and Schismaticke haptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost if before the end of this life he be not revnited to the Church Catholicke whatsoeuer almes he distribute yea though he should shed his bloud for the name
of Christ cannot be saued And that which the Fathers haue done to hinder the breache of peace and of mutuall communion hath passed noe further then either to tolerate some locall and particular customes which brought more burden then profit as the custome some Africans had not to touch the ground with theire naked feete in the Octaues of theire Baptisme or to endure the manners and conuersation of some vitious men without applyinge the iron corrosiue of excommunication for feare of diuidinge the Church insteede of purginge it from wicked persons From whence proceeded that famous sentence of sainct AVGVSTINE They tolerate for the good of vnitie that which they hate for the good of equitie As for that which they haue done for the reestablishmēt of peace it hath beē extēded to the yeeldinge somethinge in the seuerity of discipline For when Arrian or Donatist Bishops came backe to the Church the Church in fauour of the people which followed them receaued them by a forme of generall rehabilitatiō with facultie to exercise theire Episcopall power Now this was against the ordinary rigor of the Canons And therefore sainct AVGVSTINE hath from thence taken occasion to say Thas as the trees that are inoculated receiue a wound in their barke to giue waie to those branches that should be graffed in soe the Church receiues a wound in her discipline to the end to take in and reincorporate hereticall people which were conuerted and returne together with theire Bishops but not that the loue of peace hath euer transported the Fathers so farr as to yield neuer so little in matters of Faith Contrarywise sainct BASILE witnesseth a That they haue alwaies rather chosen to suffer a thousand deathes then to b betraie one sillable thereof And sainct EPIPHANIVS recited by sainct IEROM saith c That for one word or two contrary to faith manie heresies haue bene cast forth of the Church And S. AVGVSTINE That the thinges contrary vnto faith and good manners the Church doth neither approue them conceale them nor doe them Therefore his Maiestie ought not to haue feared to imitate wholy the zeale of the Fathers for the good of peace and to doe for the restoringe the vnitie of the Church all things that the ancient Catholicke church hath approued practised taught Neither ought he to haue added to his offer the exception of that prouerbe euen to the Altars since our of the true Church such as was that of the Fathers to whose only Conditions wee exact his Maiesties communion with ours there are noe true Altars but only Altars agaiust Altars that is to saie prophane and Schismaticall Altars as those of Ieroboam were and the high places in the time of the law Nor finally should he limit the desire he hath to communicate with all the true members of the misticall bodie of Christ within this Condition if it were possible for it is so possible to communicate with all the actuall members of the misticall bodie of Christ that con trariwise it is impossible except in case of error of fact to communicate with anie one of them but you must communicate either immediately or mediatly with all the rest for the Church is that Societie whereof DAVID said Ierusalem which is built as a Cittie whose participation is in vnitie And sainct CYPRIAN The Catholicke Church which is one is not dismembred nor diuided but keepes herselfe vnited and is glewed together by the cement of the Prelates adheringe the one to the other And sainct AVGVSTINE Those whose Communion is not with all or that doe spread themselues but yet find themselues in some parte diuided it is manifest they are not in the Catholicke Church And againe Whosoeuer defendeth one parte separate from the rest let him not vsurpe the title of Catholicke And in an other place It may be will some one saie that there are other 〈◊〉 of God I knowe not where whereof God hath care but I knowe them not But he is too absurd euen in Common sense that imagins such thinges Of the necessitie of communicatinge with the Catholicke Church CHAP. IV. The pursute of the kinges Answere THese thinges beinge soe the kinge neuerthelesse esteemes that he hath very iust cause to dissent from them who without anie distinction and exception 〈◊〉 presse this Communion THE REPLIE THere is saith sainct AVGVSTINE noe iust necessitie to diuide vnitie and there is saith againe the same Doctor noe assurance of vnitie but in the Church which built according to Gods promise vpon the mountaine cannot be hidden For besides that the examination of the Church is soe easie and soe certaine as sainct AVSTIN saith I haue the most manifest voice of my pastor who expresses to me and pointes me out the Church without anie ambiguitie And againe this is noe obscure question wherein they may deceiue you of whom the lord hath foretolde that they shall come and saie heere is Christ And that the particular examination of Faith contrariwise is soe dangerous and difficult as yet most learned haue deceaued themselues in it And as sainct Ierom cryeth out There is great danger in speakinge in the Church for feare least by a wronge interpretation the Ghospell of Christ may be made the Ghospell of a man or which is worse the Ghospell of the diuell There is further this difference which is that he who hath the Church is sure to adhere to the true Faith though he know not distinctly all the articles thereof and that he is in the waie of Saluation where he that hath Faith and is not in the Church hath noe hope of Saluation If I haue all Faith saith Sainct PAVLE and 〈◊〉 not Charity I am nothinge And Sainct AVGVSTIN He that hath Charitie is secure and none can transporte charity out of the Catholique Church And elswhere If Schismatickes had Charitie they would not rend the bodie of Christ which is the Church By meanes whereof as much as Charitie is more excellent then Faith followinge that oracle of the Apostle but the greater of the three is Charitie soe much the instance of the Church is more necessary then that of Faith Aboue all these thinges saith sainct PAVLE holde Charitie which is the bond of perfection and lett the peace of Christ whereby you haue bene called into one bodie holde the principall place in your hartes And againe lett vs not for sake our Congregation as some haue accustomed to doe And sainct Iude Woe be to those that perish in the Contradiction of Core And a while after people that separate themselues sensuall men not hauinge the Spirit And it is a thinge so acknowledged by the Fathers that they affirme that faith it selfe turnes to increase of damnation to those that possesse it out of the Church yea they holde the cryme of Schisme to be worse then that of infidelitie and Idolatrie Those saith Saint AVSTIN whom
the Scripture should be infallible and necessarily agreeable to its principle to witt either human discourse or priuate inspiration or the authoritie of an externall meane interposed frō God betweene the Scripture and vs as the magistrate betweene the law of the Prince and the people to interpret to vs the wordes to gather the sense and to sorme and propound the conclusions For to saie that one passage of Scripture should be interpreted by an other besides that there be diuers singular texts wherein this pretention can haue noe place this is still to returne to the same difficultie because one will haue the controuerted place interpreted by one passage and the other will haue it interpreted by an other and the very sense of the passage which shal be brought to cleer the controuerted places will againe be brought into dispute and cannot be infalliblie decided but by an infallible meane which must necessarily be one of these three to witt either humane discourse or priuate inspiration or the authoritie of an externall Iudge And from this the verse of NEHEMIAS derogateth not which is accordinge to the impression of Geneua and they interpreted the law by the Scripture for it must be read with Saint IEROME They whilst it was reading vnderstood it the word Mikra neuer hauinge bene employed in the Scripture to signifie scripture but only in the Rabines as Rabby Elias and Munster and wee after them haue other where demonstrated Now as for humane discourse if in the conclusions drawne from principles which are knowne and vnderstood naturally as are the principles of naturall Philosophie and metaphisicke it be subiect to commit so many errors what shall it doe in that whose principles are not knowne and vnderstood but by a supernaturall light DAVID said to God Enlighten mine eyes and I will consider the meruailes of thy law And thereupon Saint IEROME cryes out If so great a Prophet confesse the darknes of his ignorance what shall become of vs little babes And the Scripture teacheth vs that the principles of Faith ought to be vnderstood by the very same authority either mediate or immediate of him that reuealed them Iesus saith saint Luke opened the sense of the scriptures to the disciples And saint IOHN the Lambe was found worthie to open the booke sealed with seauen seales And the Eunuche of the Queene of Ethiopia beinge demaunded by S. PHILIP whether he vnderstood what he read how should I vnderstand said he heere being none to 〈◊〉 it to me And Sainct PEETER The Scripture is not of priuate interpretation And againe There are in the Epistles of our brother Paule things hard to be vnderstood that ignorant and light-minded men 〈◊〉 as the rest of the Scriptures marke as the rest of the Scriptures to theire owne perdition And not only ignorant and light-minded men too glorious Peter but euen the learned and most learned For who where euer more learned then those whose falls S. VINCENTIVS Lyrinensis doth propound for examples of the temptation of the faithfull What Tertullian of whom he saith as many wordes so many Sentences as manie Sentence so many victories What Origens of whom he writes What Christian did not honour him as a Prophet philosopher did not reuerence him as a Maister What Apollinarius of whom he cries out What spirit did euer surmount him in subtilitie excercise and doctrine If soe manie great and admirable personages eminent in pietie and incomparable in all kinde of Science Tertulians Origens Appollinares assoone as they haue withdrawne the raynes of theire Spirit from the guide of the Church to put them to the guidance of theire particular discourse are fallen into so deepe and fearefull precipices and pitts of heresies who shall dare to assure himselfe vpon his owne particular sense concerning the true and infallible vnder standing of the Scripture and that in all the controuersies of Faith in anie one of whiche to 〈◊〉 and make a Sect is to fall from the title of the Church and to loose Saluation in all But why should we haue recourse to arguments where experience speaketh for as naturally all men agree in confessing the conclusions of the Mathematicks because in that kinde of Science humane discourse is infallible so if in the consequences which are drawne by interpretation from Scripture humane discourse were an infallible meanes all men would naturally agree in the conclusions of Scripture Now how farr they are from that the only state of the controuersies of this age doth manifest wherein the Lutherans the Caluinistes the Simple Ana baptists the Seruetians or new Arrians which all professe to tye themselues to the Scripture cannot by the Scripture agree in anie one of theire questions and doe noe more accord one with an other then if they had borne awaie the lawrell from the tombe of Bibrias And as for the inspiration of the particular Spirit besids the danger of those strong imaginations that saint AVGVST calleth prowd and perillous temptations which may be mistaken for inspirations And besides that it is necessarie that the meanes whereby the contentions about the interpretation of scripture are to be decided should be common either in deede or in right to both parties contesting where as the priuate inspiration that one of the parties pretendes is noe common meanes neither in deede nor in right to the other the Scripture aduertiseth vs that the angell of Sathan transformes himselfe into the angell of light and commaunds vs to examine the Spirits and discerne whether they be of God Now by what shall the Spirits be examined to trie whether they be of God If by the Church then we must first know the Church if by the Scripture we must first be assured of the true interpretatiō of the Scripture for to examine them by the Scripture is to examine them by the true sense and by the true interpretation of Scripture And therefore it is not from the particular inspiration of the Spirit of God that we must learne what the true interpretation of te Scripture is since contrarywise it is from the Scripture truly interpreted that we ought to learne whether the Spirit that inspires vs be the true Spirit of God And then these aduertisements of sainct PETER The Scripture is not of priuate interpretation And of sainct AVGVSRINE Hold not priuates truthes least you be depriued of the truth exclude as well the refuge of particular inspirations as the certaintie of humane discourse Now if neither humane discourse nor priuate inspiration be infallible meanes to assure a particular man of the true interpretation of Scripture in euery point of Faith but that he must haue recourse to an externall meanes interposed from God betweene the Scripture and vs as the authoritie of the magistrate betweene the law of the Prince and the people to draw out to forme and to propound the decisions for vs What can this meanes be but
Scripture haue bounded her to a little number of Moores of the Cesarian prouince then we must goe to the Rogatists if to a little compaine of Tripolitans Byzacenians and prouincialls the Maximianists haue gotten her If onlie to those of the East we must seeke her amongst the Arrians Macedonians Eunomians and others if there be others to be found for who can number the particular heresies of euerie nation But if by the diuine and most certaine testimonie of the holie Scriptures she is designed to be in all Nations whatsoeuer is alleadged to vs or from whence soeuer it is alleadged by those that saie heere is Christ there is Christ if we be sheepe lett vs rather heare the voice of our shepheard who saith beleeue them not for these are not tobe found in manie places where she is and she who is euerie where is also wheresoeuer they are And againe My sheepe heare my voice and follow me You haue heard his most manifest voice recommendinge his future Church not only in the psalmes and in the prophets but by his owne mouth alsoe And a little after This is no obscure question and wherein they may deceiue you of whom our Lord hath foretolde that they should come and saie lo heere is Christ behold he is tbere lo he is in the desert that is to saie out of the frequeneie of the multitud beholde him heere in the secret places that is in hidden traditions and darke Doctrines You heare that the Church must be spread ouer all and grow to the haruest you haue the citie of which himselfe that built it said the Cittie built vpon a hill cannot be hidden it is then she that is not in anie single parte of the earth but is well knowne euery where Beholde the markes of the Church that saint AVGVSTINE affirmes to be designed by the voice of the pastor and soe cleerely designed as they neede noe interpreter to the end that the Church beinge knowne by them we may after by the Church be informed of the sense of the other voices of the pastor which neede interpretarion Produce to vs said he something for your cause which cannot be interpreted more truly against you nay which at all needes no interpreter as these wordes In thy seede all nations shall be blest neede no interpreter As these wordes It behoued that Christ should suffer and rise againe the third daie and that in his name there should be preached penāce and remissiō of Sinnes through all nations beginning from Ierusalem haue no neede of an interpreter c. As these wordes And this Ghospell of the kingdome shall be preached through the whole world in testimonie to all people and then the end shall come haue noe neede of an interpreter As these wordes Let both grow together till haruest haue noe neede of an interpretor For when they had neede of an interpretor our Lord himselfe ineerpreted them for euen as when a testator ordaines some one to interpret the difficulties of his testament and that the name o this interpreter being common and equiuocall to manie the testator assignes marks in his 〈◊〉 to make him knowne the clause whereby he designes the markes to know him must be so cleere as they shall need no interpreter since it is by them that he should be knowne to whom it is necessary they should addresse themselues to make them vnderstand those thing that shall neede interpretation So God hauing promised in his testament to giue the interpretatiō of his testamēt to the Church the wordes whereby the markes of the Church are there designed must be so cleere that they shall neede noe interpreter so that by them the Church beinge knowne we may after by the Church learne the vnderstanding of those things that neede an interpreter And therefore the order and course of S. AVGVSTINE was to verifie by places of Scripture which had not need of an interpretor the externall and sensible markes ' of the Church by the externall and sensible markes of the Church the Church itselfe and by the Church the vnderstanding of those places of Scripture which had need of interpretation n This point said he we reade it not plainely and euidētly neither I nor thou but if there were beere some mā indued with wisdome to whom our Lord himselfe had giuen testimonie and that he were consulted with by vs about this question I beleeve we would nothinge doubte to doe as he would 〈◊〉 vs for feare of beinge iudged repugnant not soe much to him as to our Lord Iesus Christ by whom he was recommended Now he giues testimony to his Church And elswhere Whosoeuer then feareth to be deceaued through the obscuritie of this questiō lett him cōsult with that Church which the holy Scripture bath designed without 〈◊〉 ambiguitie But this was when hee disputed with the Donatists who agreed with the Catholicks concerninge the truth of the Scripture for when he disputed with the Manichees or with the Infidells which denied or questioned it then he changed his method and did not proue to them the Church by the Scripture but the Scripture by the Church and to that end he vsed two kindes of proceedinge The one was to put it for a ground that if god haue care of the Saluation of man as without this principle all discourse of Religion is in vaine there can be noe doubt but he hath appointed a meanes howe they might attaine it and that this meanes not cōsisting in thinges knowne by naturall reason for as much as thē naturallie all men would agree in it it is thē of necessity that it should consist in authority and then this ground benig laid to verifie that amonge all the Societies of Religion that bee in the world the onely Catholicke Church hath the true markes of authority The other proceedinge was to propose to them the accomplishment of profecies touching the extirpation of Idolles and the ruyne of the false Gods of the paganes and touchinge the abolishment of the Iewish Ceremonies and the dispersinge of the people of the Iewes and touchinge the comeinge of a newe lawe maker and of a newe Religion and to represent to them that these prophecies were written before the birth of our Lord and kept by the enemies of the Church and were couched in termes soe cleere that it was a wonder that the Iewes which kept them were not persuaded by them but that within the same bookes it was foretolde that theyshould be stricken with blindnes and that in seeinge they should not see And by this meanes to proue to them that these were sacred and inspired from God and then this obtained to shewe them in the same prophecies the markes whereby amongst soe manie Societies which should vsurpe the title of Christian Societies shee was to be discerned to whow appertained the right of beinge the true Common wealth of Christ. And she beinge finally acknowledged to addresse them to
the definition is a spring of errors and deceites Now if this be graunted in other controuersies experience teacheth vs it must principally be graunted in that of the Church from the false definitions of which are bred all the sophismes and paralogismes which fall out in the rest of the disputation For from the too strict definition that the protestants giue to the Church when they restraine her to the only number of the predestinate proceede the illusions of the obscurity and inuisibilitie of this societie by which all the markes promises and prerogatiues that God hath appropriated to his Church to haue power to iudge all tongues that shall resist her in iudgement not to be ouerthrowne by the powres of hell to be heard vnder paine of anathema to be the pillar and 〈◊〉 of truth are turned into smoke for to haue them in this manner that is inuisiblie is to haue them without vse or rather not to haue them at all And from the definitiō too vaste and indeterminate which they giue her whē they say she is the multitude of those that liue vnder the profession of seruing God in Christ without adding by lawfull and sufficient meanes there ariseth in steede of the Church a medly and chaos of all kinde of heresies Now this they doe as hath bene said to delude the questiōs of the perpetuitie and succession of theire Church for when you demaunde of them where that Church hath bene these 1000. or 1200. yeares whereof God had said That he would build her for perpetuitie that he would espouse her for euer that he would neuer roote her out of the earth that she should noe more be called the for sakē that 〈◊〉 engine addressed against her should be without effect that she should be a plentifull 〈◊〉 atiō a tabernacle that can neuer be carried awaie and whose nailes 〈◊〉 neuer be vnsastned nor her cordes broken in anie time to come that the gates of hell shall neuer preuaile against her that he would be with her to the and of the world They fly to the obscuritie and darknes of the first definition and saie that the Church is the compagnie of the predestinate and consequently that they are not bound to proue her succession because she hath bene inuisible Then when they 〈◊〉 themselues excluded from this refuge and that it is demonstrated to them that the same contracts of God which promised perpetuitie to the Christian Church haue also promised her brightnesse and eminencie that it is declared that in the daies of the new alliance the mountaine of the Lord shall be vpon the topp of all the mountainos and all the hills shall flow to her and shall saie let vs goe vp into the mountaine of the Lord and into the howse of the the God of Iacob and he will teache vs his waies That it is written That the 〈◊〉 should walke in her light and the people in the splendor of her Orient That her seede should be knowne among the people and her posteritie in the middest of the generations That all that should see her should know she was the seede blessed by the Lord. And that the nations should know that God is the sanctifier of Israel when his sanctification should be in the midst of her for perpetuitie Then they haue recourse to the medly and confusion of the second and answere that the Church is the multitude of those that make profession to serue God in Iesus Chr. and by consequence that to maintaine the perpetuitie thereof it sufficeth that there hath alwaies bene a multitude of men making profession to serue God in Christ be it pure or impure Now this shift is one of the shifts that Saint AVGVST witnesseth to be common to foxes and heretickes For as foxes saith S. AVG. haue two holes in theire terriers to saue themselues by one when they are driuen from the other soe heretickes whom the Scripture figures out by foxes when the spouse doth sing Let vs take the young foxes that destroy the vines haue a double issue in theire solutions to scape by one when they are prest and assaulted in the other soe as who will catch them must sett theire netts before both issues and must besiege both theire passages To the end then we may take them and hinder the excellent king from being taken by them we will sett the nettes before both the breaches of this definition and will examine first the 4. inuisible vnions wherein his Maiestie conceiues the essentiall forme of the Church may consist and we will shew that that vnitie which constitutes the formall being of the Church is that of externall vocation and not that either of predestination or of internall faith or of the coniunction of spirits by the offices of charitie and mutuall prayer or of the participatiō of one same hope secōdlie we will make it appeare that this vocatiō in the vnitie of which the essentiall forme of the Church consistes is not the simple professiō of the name of Christ but it is the vocation to saluation by iust and sufficient meanes which are the professiō of the true faith the sincere administratiō of the Sacraments and the adherence to lawfull pastors So as the definition of the Church shall be the Societie of those that God hath called to saluation by the prosession of the true saith the sincere administration of Sacraments and the 〈◊〉 to lawfull pastors Now of this definition the first part to witt that the 〈◊〉 of the Church cōsistes in the vnitie of externall vocation and not in the vnitie of anie inuisible condition we will treat of in the examinatiō of the three articles following where his Maiestie propoundes the internall vnions in the which he pretendes that the essence of the Church may be cōserued And the 2. to witt that the vocatiō wherein the essentiall forme of the Church consistes is not the simple professiō of the name of Chr. but it is the vocatiō by iust and sufficiēt meanes we will reserue to the article of false externall vnions where his Maiesty esteemes that the hereticall societies as the Egyptiās Ethiopiās which denie the distinctiō of two natures in Christ and by this meanes destroy the foundation of the faith are neuerthelesse members and partes of the Catholique Church Of the vnion of the predestinate and byway of adiunction of the visibility or inuisibilitie of the Church CHAP. IX The continuance of the Kings answere THEY are vnited in Christ theire head who is the fountaine of life in the which all those liue that the Father hath elected to redeeme them by the precious blood of his Sonne and freely to giue them life eternall THE REPLIE THE vnion that the predestinate haue in God as they are only predestinate doth not constitute anie actuall Church amongst them but only the vnion they haue one with an other as they are called
And when he saith Tell it to the Church and if he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or a publican And againe the Cittie set vpon a mountaine cannot be hid And in an other place I will pray not onlie for these heere present but for all those that by theire word shall beleeue in me that they may be all one because the world may know that thou hast sent me Euen a blinde man may see that he speakes of an externall and visible Church And when he expresseth the Church by the parable of the barne where the corne is mingled with the strawe and by the parable of the fielde where the corne and the tares should growe together till haruest And by the parable of the nett cast into the Sea where the euill fishes were inclosed with the good And by the parable of the wedding where the hall was full of guests aswell good as badd and by the parable of the wise and foolish virgins which staied for the Spouse in one howse there needes noe Oedipus to vnderstand that he speakes of a visible Church constituted by externall and temporall vocation And when S. Paul saith to Timothee I write these things to thee that thou maist know how thou oughtest to conuerse in the howse of God which is the Church of the liuing God the pillar and foundation of truth And againe In a great howse there are not onely vessells of gold and siluer but also of wood and earth This word to conuerse which cannot haue relation to an inuisible Societie and this word foundation which is not relatiue to truth which hath no neede of foundation but to men to whom the Church serues for a foundation of truth And these wordes of wood and earth doe visibly shew that he speaketh of an externall and visible Church And when he saith in the 6. Chapter of the first to she Corinthians What haue I to doe to iudge those that are without And in the 11. We haue not this custome neither the Church of God And in the 12. God had placed in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly Doctors And in the Epistle to the Ephesians The truth of the wisedome of God is manifested to the principalities and powers in the heauenly places by the Church And againe Christ clenseth his Church by the waching of water in the word And in the exhortation of the Priests of Ephesus Take heede to your selues and to all the flocke ouer which the holy Ghost hath made you Bishops to rule the Church of God And when Saint Iames saith is his Catholicke epistle If anie one of you be sicke lett him call the Priests of the Church and let them anointe him with oyle It is more cleere then the sunne that they spake of an externall and visible 〈◊〉 And in truth how could it be that these prophesies alreadie soe often repeated In the last daies the mountaine of the Lord shall be aboue all the mountaines The Nations shall come to her and saie lett vs goe vp to the Mountaine of the Lord and into the howse of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his waies The people shall walke in her light and kings in the brightnes of her Oriēt Thine eyes shall see Ierusalem a plentifull habitation and a tabernacle that cannot be remoued Theire seede shall be knowne among the people and thire posteritie amongst the generations All those that shall see them shall know that they are the seed blessed by the Lord the nations shall know that I am the holie one of Israel when my sanctification shall be in the middle of them for euer had not bene iliusions and oracles of the Spirit of lyes if the Church should haue consisted only in the hidden and inuisible number of the predestinate into whose knowledge neither men nor angells can penetrate And our Lord himselfe who is the eternall wisedome of the Father had not he bene the most imprudent of all lawemakers to haue left his law exposed to soe manie suppositions deprauations and false expositions whereto the malice of the heretickes of all ages hath subiected it without leauing a depositary to keepe it and a iudge to interpret it or to haue left it an inuisible depositary and an inuisible interpreter But against this inuincible truth there doe arise fiue principall obiectiōs The first is that our Lord said The gates of hell shall not preuaile against my Church frō whence it seemes to followe that the reprobate are noe partes of the Church because the gates of hell doe preuaile against them The Second that sainct PAVL writheth you are arriued to the heauenly Ierusalem to the Church of the primitiues or first borne which are inrolled in heauen from whence it seemes to follow that the Church is only of the predestinate The third that we protest in the Creede I beleeue the Church from whence it is inferred that the Church is inuisible because faith is of inuisible things The fourth that Saint AVGVSTINE saith in some place that onely predestinat Catholicks are true partes of the Church and the true members of the bodie of Christ and puts a distinction betweene those which are in the howse and those that are of the howse and betweene the people knowne in the eyes of God and the people knowne in the eyes of men And the fift That Saint IEROME writes He that is a Sinner and soiled with anie spott cannot be said to be of the Church of Christ. To the first then of these obiections which is that the gates of hell shall not be victorious ouer the Church we saie That the victories which the gates of hell obtaine against particular persons by the vices of theire manners preuaile but against those particular persons that are spotted there with and not against the bodie of the Church for as much as the vices of manners are but iu the persons that commit or approue them and not in the Communion of the Church Those saith saint AVGVST whom the wicked please in theire vnitie communicate with the wicked but those that are therewith displeased communicate not with the wicked in theire actions but with the altar of Christ. For the Church exacts from none of her membres the condition of being vitious to receiue him into her Communion as she exacts from them the profession of the Faith and of the vniuersall ceremonies that she prescribeth to them the participation of her Sacraments and the adherence to her pastors By meanes whereof there is nothing but heresie and profession of error or infidelitie that can be pretended to make the gates of hell victorious ouer the body of the Church because those only cortupt the conditions vnder which the congregation is contracted or gathered and infect the body and masse of the societie for none can enter into anie hereticall societie
without obliging him-selfe to the doctrine whereof it makes profession And therefore saint EPIPHAN interpretes iudicially these gates of hell that shall not preuaile against the Church to be heresies the gates of hell said he are heresies and heresieMasters To the second which is that saint PAVL writes you are arriued to heauenly Ierusalem to the Church of the first-borne which are inrolled in heauen Wee answere he speaketh of the Church triumphant to which he writes that we are arriued in the same sorte as he writes our conuerfation is in heauen that is to saie in hope as when a shipp hath cast his ankor on land which is saith saint AVGVSTINE the symbole of hope it is said to be arriued to land though it be yet in the sea and let vs add that the word first-borne signifies there euen by Caluins owne confession the holy Fathers and 〈◊〉 of the old testament Or if saint PAVL speake there of the Church militant and that by the first-borne he intends the predestinate we 〈◊〉 he calls it the Church of the first-borne not because it containes only the elect but because the elect are no where els I meane the elect inuested in the temporall grace of theire election as we call the parliament of Paris the Court of the Peeres not because it containes none but Peeres but because there is noe place els wherein the Peeres are inuested in theire qualitie of Peeres To the third which is taken from this article of the Creede I beleeue in the Catholicke Church we saie it sufficeth that faith be either of inuisible things or of things apprehended vnder inuisible conditions as those are vnder which wee consider the Church when we beleeue her to be the spouse of Christ the temple of God the mansion of the holy Ghost the gate of heauen the treasuresse of spirituall graces Otherwise to beleeue in Christ had not bene an article of faith while our lord was in this world And neuerthelesse he saith Who beleeues not in the sonne is alreadie iudged And when the Councell of Constantinople puts this confession of Faith amongst the articles of the Creede of the Church I beleeue one baptisme in remission of sinnes they must conclude baptisme to be inuisible against the vniuersall condition of Sacraments which is to be visible signes of inuisible graces To the fourth obiection to witt that saint AVGVSTINF writeth that only predestinate Catholiques are true partes of the Church and true members of the bodie of Christ and distinguisheth betweene them which are in the howse and them which are of the howse and betweene the people knowne in the eyes of God and knowne in the eyes of man we haue three solutions The first solution is that saint AVGVSTINE intended not that only Catholiques predestinate were true partes of the Church according to the formall beinge of the Church which is common to all that are called but according to the finall being of the Church that is to the end and in the fruits for which the Church is instituted I meane saint AVGVSTINE did not intend in those places to define the Church formally and by what she is in this world but finally and by what she shall be in the other Euen as he that saith only good Citizens are true partes of a common wealth doth not define a common wealth formally and by what it is in it selfe but finally and by what it is in the intention of the law-maker And he that saith a true haruest is only the corne that is gathered from the strawe and not the strawe wherewth it is mingled defines not a haruest formally and by what it is in the feild or in the barne but finally and by what it will be in the garner We confesse saith saint AVGVST that whicked men are together with the good in the Catholick Church but as Corne and strawe And againe Wicked men may be with vs in the barne but they cannot be with vs in the garner For that sainct AVGVST doth not esteeme that the formall and precise condition that constitutes men in the Church is that of predestination internall to God and eternall but that of externall and temporall vocation he shewes it when he saith vpon saint IOHN None can enter by the gates that is by Christ to life eternall which is in vision if by the same gate that is to saie by the same Christ he be not first entred into his Church which is his sheepefolde to the temporall life which is in faith And in the place already alleadged vpon the psalmes Our predestination is made not in vs but in God the other three things are wrought in vs vocation iustification and glorification And in his writings against Faustus Men can be inserted into noe name of Religion whether true or false but they must be tied by the common participation of some signes or visible Sacraments Contrarywise the verie same saint AVGVST which distinguisheth betweene those in the howse and those of the howse teacheth vs that all Catholickes both predestinate and reprobate are in the howse that is to saie in the Church Those saith he we cannot denie but that they are likewise in the howse and then that the formall condition which 〈◊〉 the Church is vocation and not predestination but that there are none but the predestinate Catholickes which are of the howse that is to 〈◊〉 that are finall peeces inalienable and inseparable from the howse or to speake in termes of lawe that are goodes that the father of the familie vouchsafes to put into the Inuentory of his howse the other being there but for a tyme and as by waie of loane and not to dwell there 〈◊〉 euer For when the Church shall passe from earth to heauen and from the state of mortalitie to immortalitie only predestinate Catholickes shall remaine there and not the others The Church saith he is the 〈◊〉 the seruant is the Sinner now many sinners enter into the Church and therefore our Lord did not saie the Seruant enters not into the howse but he dwelles not for euer in the howse And againe None can blott from heauen the constitution of God nor can anie blott from the earth the Church of God c. She containes good and euill but she looseth none on earth but the euill and admitts none into heauen but the good The second solution is that this distinction of partes of the Church true and not true and of vessells which are in the howse and not of the howse and of people knowne in the eyes of God and knowne in the eyes of men is not a distinction of Religion but a simple distinction of manners which puts difference betweene the one and the other in regarde of the formall being of the Church and of the externall meanes of vocation which are the profession of the true faith the sincere administration of the Sacramentes and the adherence to lawfull
Pastors but only in regard of internall and finall correspondencie to these externall conditions that is to saie in regarde of the conformitie of manners with the vocation and of the perseuerance in his conformitie of manners They are saith Saint Au so in the howse by the Communion of the Sacraments as they are out of it by the diuersitie of manners And Fulgent after him The good ought not to be seperated from the wicked in the Catholicke Church but by the dissimilitude of manners From whence it followes that when there is question of representing the perpetuitie of the Church for matter of Religion that is for matter of doctrine and Sacramente and of the Communion of Pastors it is an vnprofitable refuge to haue recourse to this distinction of 〈◊〉 and of people knowne in the eyes of God and in the eyes of men and of 〈◊〉 which are in the howse and are not of the howse since this distinction puts noe barre betweene the one and the other people for what concernes Religion but only for what concernes manners For although the list of the chosen is vnknowne to vs in respect of the secret 〈◊〉 and the certainty of election neuerthelesse for what concernes protestation of faith participation of Sacraments and adherence to lawfull Pastors it is alwaies visible if not distinctly yet at least ioyntly with the rest of the called with which in these three cases it constitutes alwaies one and the same Church it not being possible for the elect to be installed in the temporall effect of thiere election and in the estate of saluation vnlesse they make profession to communicate and to be 〈◊〉 vnited in all these things with the visible bodie of the Chnrch. For our Lord cryes out He that shall confesse me before men I will confesse him before God my father And Saint Paul Were beleeue in our hartes to iustice but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with our mouthes to Saluation And Saint August We cannot be saued vnlesse labouring also for the Saluation of others we protest with our mouthes the same faith we beare in oure harts by which meanes so farr is it of that the Church should be lesse visible in regard of Religion in the persons of the predestinate then in the persons of others as contrary wise 〈◊〉 it could be either by error or by infirmitie and feare of persecutiō that the externall and visible profession of the true faith the Syncere administration of the Sacramentes and the adherence to lawfull pastors should faile in the person of all others it would be conserued in those of the predestinat following Saint Pauls maxime There must be heresies that the approued may be made manifest And this testimonie of Saint AVGTSTIN The Church is sometimes obscured and as it were dimmed by the multitude of scandall that is to saie of persecutions but yet euen then she is eminent in her stedfast Champions Onely there is this difference that as the vocation which is the condition that settes men in the Church may be possessed in two sortes the one worthily when it is answered by conformitie of manners and inward deuotion from whence it is that Saint Paul praies for the Thessalonians that God would make them worthie of his holy wocation that is to saie make them answere and perseuer to answere by theire inward disposition the externall vocation wherewith he hath honored them The other vnworthily which is when it is not answered by conformitie of manners and life so there are two waies of being in the Church the one worthie and meritorious when theire manners answere theire vocation and the other vnworthie and without merit when they correspond not Which hath giuen ground to the schoole distintion of being in the Church in mumber and not in merit and therefore in the place where Saint AVGVSTIN introduceth more expressely the distinction of those that are in the howse but are not of the howse nor are the howse which is in the 7. booke of Baptisme against the Donatistes euen there to take awaie all occasion of suspicion that this house could be inuisible he addes the keyes and the power of binding and loosing are giuen to her that is the proprietie and practise of the ministrie and that all are commaunded to heare her and consequently to holde her visible vpon paine of beinge reputed heathens and publicans This howse said he hath receiued the keyes and the power to binde and loose and from thence when she censures or correctes if anie one despise her it is said that he should be to thee as a heathen or a publican And in the booke of the vnitie of the Church where he repeates in euery period the same distinction The Church saith he is not hidden because she is not vnder the bushell but vpon the candlesticke that she may giue light to all that are in the howse and of her it was said the Cittie sett on the Montaine cannot be hidd And in the booke of the waie to Cathecise We must said he instrust and incourage the infirmitie of man against temptations and scandall whether without or within the Church itselfe without against Gentiles or Iewes or heretickes and within against the chaffe of the barne of the Lord. And againe Let not the enemie seduce thee not onely by those that are out of the Church be they pagans Iewes or heretickes but also by those that thou shalt see in the Church euill liuers And in the Comentarie vpon the Epistle of Saint Iohn How can I call those other then blinde that see not so great a Mountaine and shutt theire eyes against the lampe sett vpon the Candlestick And not only in those places but in all his other workes he declares that the Church is perpetually visible yea he pronounces that it is an hereticall position or rather the common foundation of all heretickes to suppose that she is inuisible The Church of the Saints saith he is the Catholicke Church the Church of the Saintes is not the Church of heretickes the Church of the Saintes is that which God hath predesigned before she was seene and exhibited that she might be seene And in an other place It is a common condition of all heretickes not to see the thing in the world that is most cleere contituted in the light of all nations out of the vnitie whereof all that they doe can noe more warrant them from the wrath of God then the Spiders webb from the extremitie of colde And againe She hath this most certaine mark that she cannot be hid she is then knowne to all nations the sect of Donatus is vnknowne to manie nations then that cannot be she The third solution is that besides euen the vse of the finall definition of the Church is a forced vse and where with Saint AVG. was constrayned in the beginning to serue his turne to withstād the fraude of the Donatists but afterward he so
corrected or explained it both in the conference that he had with them in Carthage and in his retractations as there remaines noe more colour to abuse it For Saint AVGVSTINE in his first disputatiōs against the Donatistes finding himself pressed with the arguments that they brought to proue that baptisme could not be giuen by heretickes because heretickes were out of the Church aduised himselfe and particularlie in the worke of the seuen bookes of baptisme from whence this distinction of people knowne in the eyes of God and in the eyes of men is principally taken to helpe himselfe against them not with the formall definition of the Church by which onely infidells and hereticall and Schismaticall Christians are excluded but by the finall definition of the Church that is to saie by the definition of the Church considered according to the finall and future number of those of whom she should be constituted in the other world from which wicked Catholickes are also excluded to the end to inferr from thence against the Donatistes that as euill Catholickes though they were out of the Church defined according to her future permanent and principall being did truly baptise soe heretickes and Schismatickes though they were out of the Church defined according to her present and passant being yet might administer true baptisme And for a foundation of his definition he made vse of Epithetes of Salomon and S. Paul hauing noe spott nor wrinkle and 〈◊〉 her such like elogies of the Church which appertained either to the state of the other world or to the puritie of doctrine But after that the Donatistes abused both this definition and the testimonies from whence it was taken to inferre from thence that the Catholicke Communion which was mingled with wicked men was not the Church he changed his proceding in the conference that he had with them at Carthage and declared that this definition belonged not to the Church considered according to the present and formall being which she hath in this world but accordinge to the future and finall being which she shall haue in the next The Catholicks saith he made it appeare by many testimonies and examples of holy Scriptures that wicked mē are now so mingled in the Church that although Ecclesiasticall discipline ought to be watchfull to correct them both in words and by excommunications and degradations neuerthelesse not onely being hidden they are vnknowne but euen being knowne they are often tollerated for the vnitie of peace and shewed that the testimonies of scriptures did in that manner well agree together to witt that the places whereby the Church is represented with the medly of the wicked signisie the present tyme of the Church as she is in this world and the places whereby she is designed to haue no wicked persons mixt with her signifie the future state of the Church such as she shall eternally haue in the world to come And a little after so the Catholickes refuted the calumny of the two Churches declaring expressely and instantly what they intended to saie to witt that they had not pretended that that Church which is now mingled with wicked men should be an other Church then the kingdome of God that shall haue no wicked pesons in it but that the same one and holy Church is now in one sorte and shall be then in an other now she is compounded of good and wicked men and thē she shall not be soe And in the worke of the Cittie of God made by him after the Conference of Carthage there where the one and other kinde are found that is good euill there the Church is as 〈◊〉 is at this present but where the one only shal be there is the Church such as she is to 〈◊〉 when there shal be no wicked men in her And in the answere to the second Epistle of Gaudentias written also after the said Conference You see that the Church according to Cyprian is called Catholicke by the name of all and it is not without manifestly-wicked men And in the second booke of his retractations I wrote said he 7. bookes of Baptisme against the Donatistes attempting to defend themselues by the authority of the most happie Bishop and Martyr 〈◊〉 in all those bookes where I haue described the Church without wrinckle or spott it must not be takē of the Church as shee in her present being but as being 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 such whē she shall appeare in glorie And againe In my writings to an vnknowē Donatist speaking of the multitude of cockle I said by which are vnderstood all heretickes there wantes a Coniunction which is necessary for I should haue said by which are also vnderstood all beretickes c. whereas I spake as if there were onely cockle out of the Church and none in the Church And neuerthelesse the Church is the Kingdome of Christ from whence the Angells in the haruest tyme will plucke vp all Scandalls which caused the Martyr Cyprian to saie Although we see tares in the Church yet ought neither our faith nor our charitie to be so diuerted as because we see tares in the Church we should therefore seperate our-selues from the Church Which sense we haue also followed els where and principallie against the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 present in the act of the Conference From whence it appeares how much it is to abuse Saint AVGVSTINES wordes against the sense whereto himselfe intendes they should be either corrected or explained to transferr as the protestantes doe that that he spake of the Church considered according to her future and finall being in the other world and applie it to the Church considered accordinge to her actuall being heere and to inferr from thence that she may consist in this world formally in the onely mumber of the predestinate and remaine hidden and visible To the fift obiection which is that Saint Ierom writes vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians The Church is glorions wthout spott or wrinkle or anie such like thing he then which is a sinner and soyled with anie spott cannot be called of the Church of Christ neither subiect to Christ We answere that he meanes not to saie that wicked men are not of the Church which is the body of Christ which fightes heere below but that they are not of the number of the Church which is the bodie of Christ which shall raigne in heauen For soe farr of is it from Saint IEROM to belieue that the promise to be without wrinkle or spott of manners appertaines to the Church considered as she is in this world that he cryes out quite contrarilie against the Pelagians That what the Apostle writes that our Lord will make his Church holy and without spott or wrinkle shall be accomplished at the end of the world and in the consummation of vertues And againe True perfection and without soyle is reserued for heauen when the bridegrome shall say to the bride Thou art wholie saire my
if anie of her members departe from the rule of faith will preferre the loue of truth before the loue of vnitie She knowes that the supreme lawe in the howse of God is the sinceritie of heauélie doctrine which if anie one forsake he forsakes Christ who is truth it self he forsakes the Church which is the 〈◊〉 foundation of truth VVith such separatistes a man truly Catholique neither will nor maic communicate Far what agreement is there betweene Christ and 〈◊〉 THE REPLIE HEERE his Maiestie must giue me leaue to saie that he changeth the way of his disputation and goes out of the lists quite from the state of the question For the question is not whether to obtaine the name of Catholicke to attaine to saluation it be necessary to be vnited with anie one of the members of the Church when it comes to be separated frō truth but whether to obtaine the name of Catholicke attaine to saluation it be necessatie to be vnited with the whole masse vniuersall Bodie of this Church which the Fathers haue called Catholick Neither is it the question whether there may be anie externall and visible societie wherewith it is vnlawfull to commuuicate but whether such a tyme can be wherein there is noe externall and visible Societie wherewith it is necessary to communicate For to saic that all Communion are not to be desired and that there are Congregations wherewith it is not lawfull to Communicate whieh of vs euer doubted it Nay contrarily doe we not daily pronounce anathema against those that Communicate with heretickes or Schismatickes and in that we 〈◊〉 his maiestie to returne to the Communion of the Catholicke Church from that of the Caluinists doth it not proue sufficiently that we holde not that there should be Cōm union helde with all kinde of sects The state thē of the questiō to ouerthrowe our Thesis and cōclude some thinge against vs requires not to proue that there may be Societies wherewith we ought to haue noe Cōmunion for who denies that but to proue that there may come a tyme wherein there can be found noe externall and visible Societie wherewith it is lawfull to communicate and that this tyme beinge come as Luther supposed it to be when he began to pitch his ensignes in the fielde it is necessary to goe forth from all the Religions that are then to be found visible in the world and to make a new Communion and a congregation a parte See heere what is needefull to be proued and in steede of this the excellent kinge aleageth that if anie member of the Church departe from the rule of Faith the Church must preserr the loue of veritie before the loue of vnitie To this answere of his 〈◊〉 we will answere two thinges the first that there is noe incompatibilitie beweene this thesis we must be vnited with the vniuersall bodie of the Catholicke Church And this antithesis if anie member departe from the rule of faith we must not be vnited with it For the one speakes of the bodie of the Church and the other speakes of some one of the members of the Church and the speciall mention os some one of the Church departing from the true faith supposes the staie and perseuerāce of the rest of the bodie of the Church in the faith Now it is with that bodie from whence that parte that forsakes the faith deuides it selfe that wee say we must haue Communion and vnitie and not with the parte that separates it selfe from the bodie for it is not a meanes to maintaine vnitie to haue vnitie with those that deuide themselues from vnitie The second that there is great difference betweene the rightes and 〈◊〉 of the Catholicke Church the preuiledges of particular Churches For the infallible assistance of the holy Ghost was neuer promised to euery particular Church but to the bodie of the Catholicke Church And therefore as the elements are corruptible in their partes but incorruptible in their all soe the Church is corruptible in her parts but incorruptible in her all in such sorte that though some particular Churches may erre in faith and consequentlie cease from beinge Churches neuerthelesse there alwaies remaines one masse of a Churche exempt 〈◊〉 corruptiō soe greate and eminent that she representes and conserues in herselfe the beinge rightes and prerogatiues of all the whole And soe the obligation that we haue to Communicate with the Catholicke Church is one thinge and an other the obligation that we haue to Communicate with particular Churches For with her wee are bound to Communicate necessarily and absolutely vnder paine of anathema and damnation because out of her Communion none can be saued and with others onely whiles they Communicate with her And the pretence of truth cannot be alleadged to make this obligation conditionall since Saint Paule saith the Church is the fouudation of truth And Saint AVGVSTINE within the wombe of the Church truth hath her dwellinge Nor can it be obiected that the supreme lawe in the howse of God is the sinceritie of heauenly Doctrine For besides that this lawe hath her Statutes written and vnwritten following this precept of S. PAVL followe the traditions that you haue receiued from vs whether by wordes or by Epistles And this testimonie of Eusebius The Apostles haue giuen some things by writing and others by vnwritten lawes And this obseruation of sainct CHRYSOSTOME From whence it appeares that the Apostles haue not deliuered all things by writinges but manie things alsoe without writing it is not only necessary in matters contested to haue a lawe but it is needefull besides the lawe to haue a iudge with authoritie able to oblige and subdue the sense of particular persons to interpret the wordes of the lawe which Iudge as we haue alreadie demonstrated cā be noe other but the Church How to vnderstand these wordes of sainct Gregory Nazianzene There is a sacred warre CHAP. XIV The continuance of the Kings Answere THE Church then must flye the communion of those and saie with sainct Gregory Nazianzene that a 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 is better then an infected vnitie And will not doubt to pronoūce with the same blessed Father that there is a sacred warie THE REPLIE THERE is noe doubt of prouing that there may be some societie whose communion must be auoided for none denies it but of prouing that there may come such a tyme wherein there is noe externall and visible societie wherewith we are bounde to cōmunicate Now the places that his Maiestie citeth out of S. GREGORIE NAZIANZENE are soe farre from insinuatinge anie such thing as they affirme the quite contrary For S. GREGORIE saith not these wordes against the externall and visible Communion of the Church of his tyme but against the craftie practises of the Arrians which demaūded vnder pretence of peace to be receiued into the communion of the Church with Confessions of the faith ambiguous and
aduauncinge towards the liuing God And in the volume vpon the psalmes all those who perferr earthlie felicitie before God all those which seeke themselues and not Iesus Christ belonge to that onlie Cittie which is mysticallie called Babylon and hath the diuell for her kinge And to this it is noe impediment that she is described to be clad in purple fore there purple signifies not the coulour of purple but temperall powers dignities and authoritie which are for the most parte in the hands of the wicked rather then of the good the white and shining linnen wherewith the bride is clothed signifieth not the stuffe and colour of linnen but the iustification of the saintes As little is it repugnant to this that she is described to be sett vpon 7. Mountaines for that which followes imediately after and those are 7. kinges shewes that the word Mountaines ought not in that place to bee literally taken but allegorically whether for the seuen sinnes that wee call mortall or for anie other septenary mumber ruling ouer the societie of the wicked The second interpretation celebrated by the Fathers is to expound the destruction of Babylon described in the Reuelation to be destruction of Paganisme and of the honor of the false Gods and the descent of heauenly Ierusalem to be the propagation of Christian Religion for as much as in the tyme of the prophetes from whose wordes this verse of the Reuelation goe out of Babylon my people is taken Babilon was as it were the head of Pagan superstition and also that the word Babylon signifyinge Confusion is more proper then anie other to designe the Religion of the Pagans which was a Confusion of Religions because Rome which in the age of the Apostles was become the head of Paganisme had receiued into her Common-wealth and Religion the worship and Religion of all the Prouinces that she had ouercome From whence it is that Saint AVGVSTINE attributes by a particular title the word confusion to the Religion of the Pagans when he saith We must seeke for Religion neither in the confusion of the pagans nor in the refuse of heretickes nor in the lāguishing of Schismatickes nor in the blindenes of the Iewes And it is noe contradiction to this that the Angell cryes goe out of Babylon my people And a little after and recompence her double for what she hath done to you For this cry is addressed to the elect which were not yet the people of God in act and vocation but in power and in predestination whom God soe calls to drawe them from paganisme and to make them actually his people and Commands them to repay or returne what she hath done to them that is not what she hath done in theire persons for they could not be persecuted by her for the faith if they were not yet seperated from her in faith but in the persons of theire predecessors And therefore Saint AVGVSVINE saith Marke how the people of Babylon are put to death the double of what she hath done is rendred vnto her for soe it is written of her recompence her the double of what she hath done c. And how is the double recompenced vpon her when she might persecute the christians she slewe theire bodies but she brake not theire God Now she is recompenced double for we roote out the pagans and breake theire Idolls And how sayest thou are the pagans put to death how else but in beinge made Christians For if some ancient Fathers haue interpreted the word Babylon to be the Cittie of Rome because of this epithet drunck with the bloud of the Saints and the martires of Iesus whose sufferinges were soe frequent at Rome in the first ages of the Church that it hath bene iustlie said that Rome was not so much a cittie of men as a Church-yard of martires It was the pagan Rome that they intended as the Capitall Seate of the heathen Religion and of the Empire of the Gentiles and not of any Church neither particular nor vniuersall as it appeares by these wordes of Saint IEROME I addresse my speeche to thee ô most puissant towne which hast wiped out the blasphemies written in thy forehead by the confession of Christ Which shewes vs that whilst Rome was pagan she was the same to the Christians as Babylon was in the tyme of the old Testament to the Iewes but that becomeinge Christian she had ceased to be soe and was transformed from Babylon into Ierusalem If any replie that in his epistle to Marcella the same Saint IEROM hath gone soe farr as to applie the name of Babylon to Rome after she was Christian it was not to Rome as the Seate of Religion but to Rome as the seate of the Empire not to the Ecclesiasticall communion of Rome but to the politicke State of Rome not to the Church of Rome but to the Imperiall Court to the Senate to the Pallace and to the troupe of Courtiers Solicitors and Negotiators of Rome and not in matter of Faith but in matter of manners and not in regard of Secular Christians but in regarde of the monkes to whom Rome was a kinde of Babylon because of the diuersions that the noyse the confusion the tumult of men and affaires in soe great a Cittie brought to monasticall deuotion as it appeares by what he adds presently after It is true that in that Cittie there is the holie Church it is true that there are the trophies of the Apostles and of the martyres it is true there is the true confession of Christ it is true there is the faith celebrated by the Apostle and the Christian name euerie day exalted by the depression of paganisme troden vnder foote but the ambition the power and greatnesse of this Cittie to visitt and to be visited to salute and to be saluted to flatter and detract to heare and speake nay to see though vnwillingly so great a multitude of men are thinges farr from the purpose and quiet of those that would followe a monasticall life And againe notinge the same discomodities in the dwelling in Ierusalem If said hee the places of the Crosse and Resurrection were not in a famous towne where there is a Court where there is is a garrison of Souldiers where there are common woemen players ieasters and all thinges which vse to be in other Citties c. it would certainly be a dwellinge much to be desired by Monkes Now if some-times he haue chanced to make vse of this word in his writinges against certaine Priestes and Deacons of the Clergie of Rome who iealious of his fauour with Pope Damasus persecuted him with slanders reproching to him that he had translated the treaties of Didymus an hereticall author that he had conuersed too familiarly with the deuout ladies of Rome and perswaded them to quit theire countrie children and kindred that is the confusion and tumulte of the world to goe as recluses into the Monasteries of
predesigned that she might be discerned and hath bene exbibited that she might be seene And if he can proue that she neuer went forth from the Communion of anie other but that all other went forth from her and shee alwaies remained in her roote visible eminent perpetuall immutable and exempt from all interruption which is a marke which Saint AVGVSTINE testifies to be inseperable from the Church when he writes The Catholicke Church fightinge with all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne All heresies are come out from her as vnprofitable branches out from the vine but she remaines in her vine in her roote in her Charity In truth I saie if the excellent kinge can shewe these 3. thinges I confesse freely that this Collection of passages that out of the Catholick Church none can be saued that whosoeuer is separate from the Catholicke Cburch how laudable soeuer he presumes his life to be for this only Crime that he is separated from the vnitie of Christ he shall not haue life but the wrath of God shall remaine vpō him that he shall not haue God for his Father that will not haue the Church for his mother and that it shall nothinge auaile him to haue 〈◊〉 or done such and soe many good workes without the end of the soueraigne good that out of the Catholicke Church all thinges may be had but saluation that he that Communicates with the the generall Church is a Christian and a Catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichriste that it must be 〈◊〉 and vndoubtedly held that euery hereticke or Schismaticke baptised in the name of the father the Sonn and the holy Ghost if before the end of his life he doe not 〈◊〉 himselfe to the Catholicke Church what almesdeedes soeuer he doe yea though he should 〈◊〉 his blood for the name of Christ can in noe sorte be saued makes not against his Maiestie But if contrarily the excellent kinge cannot proue that the Church to which he adheres hath taken the originall of her visible Communion continued and not interrupted from aboue 60. or 80. yeares and that betweene the tyme of the Fathers from whom that collection of passages hath bene extracted and the tyme of Caluins pretended reformation there hath neuer bene anie Church anie communion anie Societie anie person that hath held iointlie vniuersally those thinges for which England hath deuided herselfe from the visible Communion of that Church wherein she was before then I had need be instructed to apprehend how these passages make not against his maiestie Of the distinction of heretickes and Schis matickes CHAPT XVI The continuance of the kinges answere FOr from all these testimonies there followes onely this consequently that there remaines noe hope of saluation for those who are seperated from the faith of the Catholicke Church or from the Communion of the same Catholicke Church which the kinge as we haue said before grauntes himselfe THE REPLIE THe Collection of the passages that I haue produced doe not put this alternatiuely that amongst those that are seperated either from the faith of the Catholicke Church or from her Communiō there is noe saluation Otherwise in a thinge that the Fathers would should be cleere and manifest they had a perpetuall ambiguitie to witt what it were to be seperated from the faith of the Catholicke Church For there would remaine alwaies this questiō whether the pointes of separatiō were pointes of Faith and the separation might be made vpon such a pointe as the one side would say it were a pointe of Faith and the other that it were not As the Pellagians disputinge against the Catholickes said theire difference was not in a pointe of Faith And the Catholicks said the contrary and as yet to this daie the Zuinglians and the Caluinistes disputinge against the Lutherans theire contestation is not about a point of faith and the Lutheranes saie the contrary But the Fathers absolutely sett Downe this Maxime that out of the Communion of the Catholicke Church there is nōe saluation reducinge all the certainly and euidence of this proposition that out of the Church there is noe saluation to the seperation of Communion It is true that the seperation of Communion may proceede from either of these two causes to witt either from an error in faith in which case those that forsake the Church are called heretickes or from defect in Charity in which case they are called Scismaticks But because those that sinne either in the one or in the other cannot be soe easily conuinced either of the one or of the other as of the seperation of the Communion of this visible Church eminent aboue all hereticall and Schismaticall sectes whom God would be exposed to the view of all Nations and called Catholicke and to whom he hath affected the promises and prerogatiues of the perpetuall assistance of his holy Spirit For this cause the Fathers and the Councells of Africa Saint AVGVSEINE beinge theire Secretary haue pronounced this sentence soe often before particulariz'd by the penns of the precedinge authors that out of the Catholicke Church there is noe saluation without makinge distinction betweene those that seperate 〈◊〉 from the faith of the Church and those that seperate themselues from her communion for as much as all those that seperate themselues visiblie from the faith of the Church seperate themselues also frō her Cōmunion For there are noe declar'd heretickes but they are withall Schismatickes also Onely there is this difference that heretickes seperate themselues from the Faith and Communion of the Church both together and the Schismatickes onely seperate themselues from her communion although there are fewe Schismatickes who to the separation of communion add not the separation of some pointe of faith For as Sea-crabbs when they see oysters open cast in litle stones within theire shells to keepe them from shuttinge againe that they may haue tyme to deuowre them soe when Schismatickes see a breache made in the Church to hinder it from closeinge againe they caste pointes of heresie into theire Schisme and from Schismaticks become accessorily heretickes Wee esteeme said Saint IEROM the difference betweene heresie and Schisme to be that heresie holdes a peruerse doctrine and Schisme for Episcop all dissention seperates men equallie from the Church which difference may well haue place a while in the beginninge but in tract of time there is noe Schisme that doth not forge to it-selfe some heresie to seeme to haue the iuster cause to seperate it selfe from the Church And therefore when the Emperors speake of the Donatists who are those principally for whom his Maiestie added this clause or haue seperated themselues from her communion they taxe them accessorilie of heresie From thence saith the lawe it is happened that from Schisme heresie is bred And when Saint AVGVSTINE disputes against them he proues to thē that they are not onely
rest For how dost not thou denie the future perfection of these prophecies thou that fearest not to denie soe great in 〈◊〉 to which the perfection is due And in an other place Although there are manie kindes of heresies amongst Christians and that all would 〈◊〉 to be Catholickes and call the rest except themselue heretickes there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Church if you cast your eyes ouer the whole worlde more aboundant in multitude and as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in truth then all the rest but of the truth that is an other question That which sufficeth for this dispute is that there is one Catholicke Church to which different heresies impose different names they beinge neuerthelesse all called by their particular 〈◊〉 that they dare not disauowe from whence it appeares in the iudgement of arbiters not possessed with fauour to whom the name of Catholicke whereof they are all ambitious ought to be attributed By which wordes S. AVG. elegantly declares that the Church was not called Catholicke because she was actually and at one selfe same tyme ouer all Natiōs but for this cause amongst others that in multitude of people and in extent of nations she exceeded each one of other Christian societies Of the comparison of the Church with the Cittie builte vpon a Mountaine CHAP. XX. The continuance of the Kinges answere FOr heretofore the Catholicke Church like the Cittie built vpon a Mountaine which could not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not way subiect to be called in question but was euident and certaine to all in such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noe bodie of an vndistracted spirit could doubt of it THE REPLIE IT seemes that the excellent King holdes this word that cannot be hidden to haue reference onely to the Cittie built vpon a Mountaine and will not haue it belong to the Church but by accident that is when she resēbles the 〈◊〉 builte vpon a Mountaine That is to say it seemes that his Maiestie vnderstandes not that this condition to be like a cittie built vpon a Mountaine and by consequent not to be hidden belongs perpetually to the Church but will haue it that the Church sometymes enioyes this condition as when Saint AVGVSTINE writ and sometymes is depriued of it as afterwardes Neuertelesse Saint AVGVSTINE who is the best interpreter that can be of his owne wordes saith that the Church hath this most certaine marke that she cannot be hidd And againe that of her it is said The cittie built vpon the Mountaine cannot bee hidd From whence it appeareth that this Epithete of beeing vnconcealeable belongs not by accidēt to the Church when she shall be found like the cittie built vpon a hill but appartaines to her properly directly and perpetually For where his Maiestie adds that the Church was then soe manifest as noe man in his right wittes could doubt of her that was true and soe is she still at this day in regarde of all those that agree vpon the true markes of the Church that is to saie in regarde of those that accordinge to Gods promises designe the Catholicke Church by the perpetuitie of her continuance and by the eminencie of multitude and extent ouer nations aboue all other Christian Sectes But to all heretickes and schismatickes who reiected those markes and would receiue noe signe for a note of the Church but onely puritie of manners or triall of doctrine of which they attributed to themselues the iudgement by interpretation of Scripture made accordinge to theire sense the Church was not onely doubtfull but altogether hidden It is saith S. AVG. a condition cōmon to all heretickes not to see that thinge which is in the world the most apparent an t built in the light of all nations out of whose vnitie all that they doe though they seeme to doe it with great care cannoe more warrant them from the wrath of God then the spiders webbs against the extremity of colde Of the conformitie or inconformitie of the Donatists and Protestantes in the question of the Church CHAPT XXI The continuance of the kinges answere FOR she vvas not shutt vp in anie corner of the vvorld liyng I knowe not vvhere in the South as the foolish Donatistes affirmed but she vvas spread in leught and breadth ouer all the space of the Earth THE REPLIE THE Donatistes held not that theire Church was inclosed by right and for euer into Africa but onely in fact and for a certaine tyme noe more then the Caluinistes who haue pretended that the true visible Church had bene reduced for manie ages into the Prouince of Albigeois and other boundes and afterward in some valleys of Dolphiny And yet the Donatistes did not make this confession with theire good will but in theire owne defence by constraint Contrarywise they attempted with all theire power to shewe that theire Church was not restrained onely into Africa For this cause they kept a Bishop at Rome whom they had sent to a fewe African Donatistes that dwelt there They had plented a pretended Church in Spanie in the territory of a Lady called Lucilla that fauored them They had made the false Actes of the mock Councell of the Arrians holden at Philipopolis neere Sardica to passe current insteede of the true Councell of Sardica because in the letters of those Bishops amongst the names of the Bishops to whom they were addressed theire was the name of Donatus the false Bishop of Carthage one of the Bishops of the Donatistes party thereby to make it credible that the Councell of Sardica had communicated with them yea when they entered into conference with the Catholickes they grewe to be soe impudent but that it was confounded at the instant as to maintaine that theire communion was spread ouer all the earth Heere first saith Saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the conference that he had with Fortunius the Donatist did he attemps to 〈◊〉 that his Communion was ouer the extent of the earth I asked him there 〈◊〉 whether he could addresse cōmunicatorie letters which we call formall whither I 〈◊〉 appoint and I affirmed as it was manifest to all that by this meanes the 〈◊〉 might be easilie determined c. but because the thinge was euidently false 〈◊〉 out of this discourse by confusion of 〈◊〉 And finally when they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the visible 〈◊〉 of the Church they had recourse to the 〈◊〉 vniuersality and said they communicated inuisibly with all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hidden members of Christ which were spread ouer all the world for it is against them that saint AVG. disputes when he writes It 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God hath other sheepe which I know not but God 〈◊〉 care of them he is too absurde in humane sense that imagins such things By 〈◊〉 whereof theire cause who haue separated them-selues from vs in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ages can be noe waie distinguished in the point of the Church from that of the Donatistes Of the extent of the ancient Catholicke Church
haue alwaies obserued what the authority of the Prelates of the sea Apostolicke hath commaunded And why then when saint GREGORIE the Great to whom I haue brought downe this information as well because the English men deriue from him the originall of their Mission Ecclesiasticall as because Calume propoundes him for true and lawfull modell of the iurisdiction of Popes reprehended 1027. yeares agone Natalis Bishop of Salona in Dalmatia for the fault that he had committed for which he after did penance in deposing Honoratus Archdeacon of Salona notwithstanding Pope Pelagius letters did he write to him that such a disobedience had bene intollerable euen in one of the fower Patriarkes If one of the fower Patriarkes said hee had committed such an act soe great disobedience could not haue escaped without a greeuous scandall And why then when Clementius Primat of Bysacia in Africa had bene accused before the Emperor and sent backe by the Emperor to the Sea Apostolicke doth the same S. GREGORY saie If there be anie faulte in the Bishops I knowe not what Bishop is not subiect to the Sea Apostolicke if a faulte require it not according to the reason of humilitie we are all equall And why then when John Archbishop of Larissa in Thessalia had vniustly and vnworthily condemned Adrian Bishop of Thebes one of the Bishops of his iurisdiction and that the Bishop of Thebes had appealed to Rome from him did S. Gregorie ecclipse the Bishop and Bishopricke of Thebes from the iurisdiction of the Archbishop of Larissa his Metropolitan and declared the Archbishop of Larissa if euer he attempted more to exercise anie act of Metropolitan ouer him interdicted from the sacraments soe as they could not be restored to him except at the howre of death but with the leaue of the Bishop of Rome Wee ordaine said hee that thy brotherhood abstaine from all the iurisdiction which you haue formerly had ouer him and ouer his Church And a while after that if in anie time or for 〈◊〉 occasion whatsoeuer thou shalt attempt to contradict this our statute knowe that we declare thee depriued from the sacred communion soe as it may not be restored to thee except in the article of death but with the leaue of the Bishop of Rome And why then finally when the Patriarke of Constantinople had gotten the vpper hand of the other Patriarkes did he continue to suffer appeals of causes from his iurisdiction to the Popes tribunall and to acknowledge himselfe subiect and inferior to the Pope Iohn priest of Chalcedon saith S. GREGORIE in the cause that he had against our Brother colleague Iohn Bishop of Constantinople hath had recourse according to the Canons to the Sea Apostolicke and the cause hath bene determined by our sentence and againe pronouncing the restitution of Athanasius a priest and a Religious man of Lycaonia who had bene deposed and cast out of his monastery by the same John Patriarke of Constantinople and had appeald to him Wee declare thee said hee to be free from all spott of heresie and a Catholick c. and giue thee free leaue to returne into thy Monasterie and to holde there the same ranke as thou didst before And againe who doubts but the Church of Constantinople is subiect to the Sea Apostolicke which the most Religious Emperor and our brother Bishop of the same towne doe continually protest For as for the word vniuersall Bishop wherein the Bishop of Constantinople desired to participate with the Pope but vnder the Pope and in the Empire of the East forasmuch as Constantinople had bene erected into the title of the second Rome it shall be answered in a chapter by it selfe for the resusall that S. GREGORIE made to vse the title of vniuersall Bishop though it had bene giuen to his Predecessors in the Councell of Chalcedon it shal be satisfied in the same place and shewed that it was because of the euill sence the word vniuersall Bishop might receiue which was to signifie only Bishop and soe exclude the other Prelates from the title of Bishops in chiefe and of ministers and officers of God and to hold them but for committees and deputies of the vniuersall Bishop as the same S. GREGORIE protestes when he faith If there be one that is vniuersall Bishop all the rest are noe more Bishops and not to depriue himselfe from the superintendencie and iurisdictiō ouer all other Bishops of which he cryes cleane contrary If there be anie crime in the Bishops I knowe noe Bishop but is subiect to the Sea Apostolicke if noe crime require it according to the reason of bumilitie we are all equall Of formed letters CHAPT XXVI The continuance of the Kinges answere THEN were alsoe in frequent vse formed letters by the commerce and contexture where of the communion was admirably exercised amongst all the members of the Church how farr soeuer they were distant one from an other in place THE REPLIE IT is true but the center of this communion and of this Ecclesiasticall vnitie which was exercised and entertained by the commerce of formed letters was the Sea Apostolicke and the Roman Church This appeares by S. Ireneus who cryes to the Romā Church because of a principality that is to say as it hath bene aboue manifested because of the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke it is necessary that euery Church should agree This appeares by S. Cyprian who calls the Roman Church the chaire of PETER and the principall Church and the originall of Sacerdotall vnitie This appeares by the lawe of the Emperor Gratian which ordained that the Churches should be deliuered to those that were in the Popes communion Hee ordained saith Theodoret that the sacred howses should be restored to those that cōmunicated with Damasus And a while after and this lawe was indefinitely executed in all nations This appeares by S. Ambrose who writes speaking of his Brothers comeing into one of the citties of the Isle of Sardinia He asked the Bishop of that place whether he agreed with the Catholicke Bishops that is to saie added he with the Roman Church This appeares by S. IEROME who writes to Pope Damasus I am ioyned in communion with thy Blessednesse that is to saie with Peters chaire I knowe the Church is built vpon that Rocke whosoeuer is not in the Arke he shall perish at the coming of the floud he that eates the lambe out os this howse is profane And a while after Whosoeuer gathers not with thee scatters that is to saie whosoeuer is not of Christ is of Antichrist And againe Send me word with whom I ought to communicate in Antioch for the heretickes of Campes with those of Tharses haue noe other ambition but that they might vnder the authoritie of your communion preache the three hypostosies according to the ancient vnderstanding And in an other place The while I cry if anie of you be ioyned to Peters chaire he
is mine Miletius Vitalis Paulinus soe were the 3. Patriarkes of Antioch called say that they communicate with thee if hut one of them had said soe I had belieued it but nowe either two or all three doe lye and therefore I couiure thy Blessednesse by the Crosse of our Lord by the necessarie ornament of our faith by the passion of Christ c. that thou signifie to me by thy letters with whom in Syria I ought to communicate This appeares by Optatus Bishop af Mileuis in Africa who saith At Rome hath bene setled for Peter first the Episcopall chaire in which the head of all the Apoctles Peter hath sate c. to the end that in that only chaire vnitie might be obserued by all least the other Apostles should attribute to themselues each one his seuer all chaire but that be might be a sinner and a schismatick that against that only chaire should erect an other And a little after To Peter then succeeded Linus to Linus Clement to Clement Anacletus to Anacletus Euaristus c. to Damasus Syricius who is at this day our Colleague by which meanes all the world communicates with vs by the commerce of formed letters This appeares by saint CHRYSOSTOME who writes to Pope Innocent Let vs enioy the continuance of your letters and of your charity and those of all the rest which we enioyed before This appeares by saint AVSTIN who saies Cecilianus might well dispise the conspiring multitude of his enemies seeing himself vnited by communicatorie letters with the Roman Church in which the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke hath alwaies sllorisht with other Countries from whence the Ghospell came into Asrica This appeares by Eulalius Bishop of Syracusa who a while after S. Austins death disswaded Fulgentius an Asrican afterward Bishop of Ruspa in Asrica frō goeing to inhabite with the monkes of Egipt in the desertes of Thebaidis because they were not in the communion of saint Peter The countrie said hee whither thou desirest to trauaile a perfidious dissention hath separated them from the cōmunion of the blessed Peter All those Religious men whose admirable abstinence is celebrated shall not haue the Sacraments of the altar in common with thee This appeares by Iohn Patriark of Constantinople who writt to Pope 〈◊〉 in abiuration of Acacius memory Following said hee in all things the Apostolicke chaire wee declare all that hath bene thereby decreed and therefore hope to be in one communion with you declared by the Sea Apostolicke in which there is the integritie of Christian Religion and perfect soliditie promising heereafter not to 〈◊〉 amidst the sacred misteries their names that haue separated themselues from the communion of the Catholicke Church that is to say that consent not in all things with the Sea Apostolicke This appeares by the Emperor Iustiniā who writes in the lawe addressed to Epiphanius Patriark of Constantinople We preserue in all things the estate of the vnitie of the holy Churches with the holy Pope of old Rome And in the lawe addressed to the Pope We haue had care to vnite and submitt all the Bishops of the East to the Sea of your Holynesse 〈◊〉 who are the head of all the holy Churches This apperes by Menas Patriarke of Constantinople who said in the Councell of Constantinople Wee follow the Sea Apostolicke and obey it and communicate with those that communicate therewith and condemne those that it condemnes This appeares by the forme that saint GREGORIE left vs of the abiuration that the Bishopes returning from Schisme to the communion of the Church made into the handes of the Apostolicke Procurators which haue these wordes I Bishop of such a Cittie hauing discerned the trapp of diuision wherein I was caught after a longe and mature deliberation I am returned by Gods grace with my pure and free will to the vnitie of the Sea Apostolick and that I may not be esteemed to returne maliciously or sainedly I vowe and promise vnder paine of falling from myne Order and vnder obligation of 〈◊〉 to thee and by thee to the holy Prince of Apostles Peter and to his Vicar the most Blessed GREGORIE or to his Successors that by anie perswasion whatsoeuer or in anie other manner I will neuer returne to Schisme from whence by our Redeemers mercy I haue bene deliuered but that I will alwaies remaine in the vnity of the Catholique Church and in the Communion of the Bishop of Rome And this finally appeares by the extract of the Councell of 〈◊〉 which is to be read at the end of the latine edition of the Councell of Chalcedon vnder the name of the extract of the Councell of Nicea for the composition of formed letters made by Atticus Bishop of Constantinople but some manuscripts of the sixt Councell of Carthage testifie they were sent into the west by the same Atticus with the other decrees of the Councell of Nicea when the Asrican Bishops requested them of him For this extract ordained that they should take the number of the firste Greeke letters of the names Father Sonn and Holy Ghost the number of the first letter of the Apostle Peters name and of the author that writt and of him to whom he writt and of the bearer of the letter and of the place from whence it was written and the day of Paske and adding them to the number of the indiction which then was currant they should thereof make a summe whose cipher should be added to the Epistle to serue it for a forme and character By meanes whereof when there was noe more occasion to doubt who was either in communion with the Roman Church or saint Peters sea or out of it as the diligence of the Catholicke Emperors and Kings haue in the West left noe subiect of that doubt this many ages the necessity of these kind of letters hath ceased And therefore soe farr off is it that the vse of the letters formed or cōmunicatory whereof antiquity made vse was a marke to shew that the Church was then more manifest then nowe as contrarywise it was a testimonie that she was much harder to be discerned then she is at this present For that which constrained them to vse this meanes was the multitude and confusion of heresies which were then in soe great number and soe mingled in aboade and habitation amidst the Catholicke Church as there was almost noe Towne where there was not to bee found besides the true Church a dozen Sects and heresies and the most of them agreeing in forme and outward worship with the Catholicke Church Arians Donatistes Pelagians Nouatians Macedonians Appolinaristes and other such like plagues Of the pretended excommunications attempted against the Pope CHAP. XXVII BVt against this thesis to witt that the Sea Apostolicke was the Center and beginning of all the formed and communicatory letters the Popes aduersaries obiect three instances first that Stephen Patriarke of Antioch in the false
and not our mother as the first Eue was who engendred her children dead to Saluation but as the second Eue who engendred her children liuing From whence it is that saint AMBROSE and saint HIEROME call the Church the true Eue mother of the liuing And how then is it that hereticall sects who amongst the conditions vnder which they receiue men into their communion oblige them to hold killing doctrines should attribute to thēselues the title of a Church Hee teacheth vs that the Fathers of the Earth will not giue their children a Scorpion for an egge or a Serpent for a Fishe And how then is it that the Church should giue hers poyson insteede of wholesome food or that hereticall sects whose wine saith saint HIEROM is the furie of Dragons and the incurable furie of Aspes should bee Churches Hee teacheth vs that the Church is the Waie the Gate and Entrie into the Kingdome of Heauen yea for this cause himself often calls it the Kingdome of Heauen it is then of the Essence of the Church that Saluation might be therein obtained and the waie howe to come to the Kingdome of Heauen and consequently that amongst the conditions vnder whose obligation she receiues men into her communion there be none repugnant to Saluation Now contrarywise it is of the Essence and of the definition of hereticall and Schismaticall Societies that amongst the conditions vnder which they receiue men into their communion there are conditions repugnant to Saluation otherwise they could not be hereticall Schismaticall And so it is of the Essence and of the definition of the Church not to be hereticall and it is of the Essence and of the definition of hereticall Societies contrarywise not to be Churches nor partes of the Church and they cannot be called Churches nor members of the Church but falselie and equiuocallie as a dead member that is cutt off from the Bodie is noe member but equiuocallie and by abuse of speeche of as a dead man or a man either formed in picture or raised in a Sculpture is noe man but equiuocally by abuse of speech By meanes whereof it is to erre against the Essence and definition of the Church to hold them for Churches or to reckon them in the totalitie of the catholick Church and to this all the Fathers agree Heresies saith Clemens Alexandrinus are equiuocallie called Churches And saint CYPRIAN Nouatianus doth as Apes doe who would seeme to be men though they be not soe so will he seeme to haue a Church though he haue none And againe When the Nouatians demaunded beleeuest thou the remission of sinns by the holie Church they lye in their Interrogatorie for they haue noe Church And the Elibertine Councell If anie one passe from the Catholick Church vnto heresie and returne againe to the Church c. And the Councell of Sardica Wee cast out of the limtts of the Catholicke Church those that affirme Christ to be God and not verie God And saint HIEROME Heretick make in their Church by false appellation that which they made when they were yet heathen And againe Noe hereticall congregation can be called the Church os Christ. And elsewhere In what Church hath he beleeued in that of the Arrians but they haue none And in the same worke If thou hearest in anie place of men denominated from anie other then from Christ as Marcionites Ualentinians Montagniers or Campites knowe that there is not the Church of Christ. And Optatus Mileuitanus Out of the onelie Church which is the true Catholick Church others amongst hereticks are esteemed to be and are not And againe There is one onely Church which cannot be amongst you and amongst vs it remaines then that she must be in one place And S. AVGVSTINE you are with vs in the creede and in the other Sacraments of our Lord c but you are not with vs in the Catholique Church And againe There is one Catholique Church vpon which other 〈◊〉 impose other names although themselues be all called by particular names which they dare not disauowe From whence it appeares in the iudgement of Iudges not preoccupate with fauour to whom the name of Catholicke whereof they are all ambitious ought to be attributed And elsewhere The Church of the saints is the Catholique Church the Church of the Saints is not the church of Hereticks She hath bene predesigned before she was seene and hath bene exhibited that she might bee seene And in the Booke of Faith and of the creede Neither do the Hereticks belonge to the Catholick church because she loues God nor the Schismatickes because She loues her neighbour And in the Booke against the Fundamentall Epistle In this Church finallie the name of Catholique detaines me which this Church alone amongst so manie and so great heresies hath so preserued as when a stranger askes where they assemble to the Catholick Church there is noe hereticke dare she we his Temple or his howse And in his Treatise vpon saint IOHN All hereticks and Schismaticks are gone out from vs that is to saie are gone out from the Church Faustinus was not President to a Church but to a faction The holie Ghost hath not glorified Christ with a true glorie but in the Catholick Church for elsewhere addeth hee be it amongst hereticks be it amongst Pagans his true glorie vpon earth cannot bee And vpon sainct MATTHEW Jewes and all other hereticks which doe indeede confesse that there is a holy Ghost but denie that he is in the bodie of Christ which is his onely Church no other certainelie but onely the Catholicke are without doubt like the Pharises who though they did confesse that there was an holie Ghost yet denied him to be in Christ. And in the Booke of the method to cathecise the not instructed Wee must saith hee garnish and animate the infirmitie of man against temptations and scandalls be it without or be it within the Church 〈◊〉 against Gentiles or 〈◊〉 or hereticks and within against the Strawe in the Barne of our Lord. And againe Let not the Enemie seduce thee not only by those that are without the Church whether Pagans or Iewes or Hereticks but euen by those that thou seest in the Church euill liuers And in the fowrth Councell of Carthage where he assisted in person Let not the Conuenticles of Hereticks be called Churches but mock-Councells And the verie lawe of the Emperors Hereticks rashlie presume to call their Conuenticles Churches Now if this haue place in other heresies to witt that the beeing and title of a Church is denied to them how much more in that of the Eutychians that is to saie of the Egyptians and Ethiopians which destroy not the walles the roofe and the couering onely but the foundation of the Edifice of Faith vpon the which all the other partes of the doctrine are built to witt Christ the corner stone and maintaine
alone and from belonging to her alone noe more then when in a common weale the factious part and which separated it-selfe from the state and reuoltes against the true preseruers of the Estate come to be deuided from that which remaines in the lawfull administration of the Estate this diuision hinders not the part which restes vnited with the Estate from preseruing the right and title of the vniuersallitie of the cōmon-wealth and those thinges which are done by it alone from being accounted to be done by the whole Bodie of the common-wealth Whose whole being is preserued in this part alone the other by the desertion thereof hauing lost all the part it had in the name and effect of the common-wealth Of the sence wherein the Roman Church is called Catholicke CHAP. IX The continuance of the Kinges answere TO attribute to themselues the title of Catholicke as proper to themselues alone THE REPLIE WHEN wee vse this traine of Epithetes the Catholicke Apostolicke Roman Church we intend not by the word Roman the particular Church of Rome but all the Churches which adhere and are ioyned in communion with the Roman Church euen as by the Iewish Church wee intended not the tribe of Iuda only but the lines of Leui and Beniamin and manie relikes of the lines which were ioyned therewith For S IOHN BAPTIST was of the tribe of Leuy and sainct PAVL of that of Beniamin Anna of the tribe of Aser and neuerthelesse they were all of the people of the Iewes and of the Iewish Church but they were called Iewes and Iewish people because of the adherence and communion that they had with the principall Tribe which was that of Iuda Soe all the other Churches which communicate with the Roman in what soeuer part they are constituted are comprehended vnder the common word of the Roman Church when wee saie the Catholicke Apostolicke and Roman Church because they hold the Roman Church for the center and originall of their communion And in this sence saint AMBROSE saith that his brother inquired if the Bishop of one of the citties of Sardica where he desired to be baptised consented with the Catholicke Bishops that is to saie added hee with the Roman Church And in this sence saint HIEROME saith that the Church of Alexandria glorifies her selfe that she participates with the Roman Faith And in this sence Iohn Patriarke of Constātinople writes to Pope Hormisdas Wee promise not to recite amongst the sacred mistiries the names of those which are separate from the communion of the Cathoick Church that is to saie that consent not in all thinges with the Sea Apostolick And in this sence Beda vseth these words Our mother the Roman Church In this same sence they comprehend vnder the Greeke Church not only the natuaall Greekes but the Russians and Muscouites although they be distinct in nation and in language from the Greekes yea euen haue their Seruice in a tongue quite different for asmuch as they adhere to the Creeke Church Not that the particular Roman Church may not also in a certaine regard be called Catholicke For the word Catholicke is taken in three sortes to witt either formallie or causallie or participatiuelie Formally the only vniuersall Church that is to saie the Societie of all the true particular churches vnited in one selfe same communiō is called catholicke Causallie the Roman church is called Catholicke for as much as she infuseth vniuersalitie into all the whole bodie of the Catholicke church That it is soe to cōstitute vniuersalitie there must be two thinges one that may analogicallie be insteede of matter thereto to witt the multitude for where there is no multitude there can be noe vniuersalitie And the other to be in-steede of forme thereto to witt vnitie for a multitude without vnitie makes noe vniuersalitie Take awaie saith sainct AVGVSTINE the vnitie from the multitude and it is a tumult but bring in vnitie and it is the people And therefore the Roman Church which as center and beginning of the ecclesiasticall communion infuseth vnitie which is the forme of vniuersalitie into the Catholicke Church and by consequent causeth vniuersalitie in her may be called catholicke causallie though in her owne being she be particular noe more nor lesse then the Galley to which all the other Gallies of a Fleete haue relation of dependancie and correspondencie is called the Generall although she bee but one particular Galley because it is she that by the relation that all others haue to her giues vnitie to the totall and generall bodie of the Fleete And finallie particular Churches are called Catholicke participatiuely because they agree and participate in doctrine and communion with the catholicke Church And in this sence the Church of Smyrna addresseth her Epistle To the Catholick Church of Philomilion and to all the Catholick Churches which are throughout the world Of the causes wherefore the Roman Church hath cutt of the rest from her communion CHAP. X. The continuance of the Kings answere AND to exclude from their communion all the rest which dissent from them in anie thinge or refuse the yoake of slauerie THE REPLIE THE most excellent King may be pleased to remember two things one that antient authors haue written that oftentimes for one only word contrarie to Faith manie heresies haue bene cast out of the bodie of the Church And the other that the societies of the Egiptians and Ethiopians haue not bene excluded out of the Church for refusinge that which his maiestie call the yoake of slauerie that is to saie the Superintendencie of the Roman Church but for hauing imbraced the Sect of Eutyches who with all his partakers was cutt off from the Church by the Councell of Chalcedon and that euen to this daie they are all readie and haue often offerred to acknowledge the Pope whom they confesse to bee the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles if they might be receiued into the communion of the Roman Church without obliging them to anathematize Eutiches and Dioscorus And as for the diuision of the Greeke Church the true cause thereof hath bene the Schisme fallen out betweene Ignatius lawfull Patriarke of Constantinople whom the Pope preserued in his communion and Photius intruded into the Patriarkship by the fauour of the Emperor to which Schisme the Greekes added for an obstacle of reuniō as the crabb cast the stone into the oyster to hinder it from shutting itselfe againe the difference of the procession of the holy Ghost and of Schismatickes became flatt heretickes This was the true cause of the seperation of the Greekes and not the yoake of slaueries of the Roman Church of the which neither Jgnatius nor anie of his Catholicke Predcessors had euer complayned Of the sence wherein the hereticks belonge not to the Catholick Church CHAP. XI The Continuance of the Kings Answere AND so on the suddaine to pronounce presumptuouslie that they belonged not in anie thing to the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE This deniall is
in our owne wordes or in the wordes of her head our Lord Iesus Christ I thinke wee ought rather to seeke her in his word from him that is truth and well knowes his owne Bodie And a while after I would not haue the Church demonstrated by humane instructions but by diuine or acles And againe Let vs then seeke her in the canonicall scriptures He did not intend that to seeke the Church in the scriptures betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists was to seeke the doctrine of the Church in the scriptures that is to saie to examin by the scriptures the point of doctrine which was contested betweene the Church and the Donatists but to seeke the markes and externall and visible characters of the Church in the scriptures to the end that the Church being discerned by those markes the truth of the doctrine contested might be after knowne by the disposition of the Church For the vnderstanding whereof it must be noted that there were two questions betweene the Catholickes and the Donatistes the one of the Bodie of the Church to know on what party either of the Catholickes or of them the true societie of the Church resided The other of the doctrine of the Church to witt the which they or the Catholickes held the true doctrine concerning the Baptisme of heretickes The first question then which is of the Bodie of the Church saint AVGVSTINE wills it should be iudged by the scripture alone for as much as in the precise controuersie wherein the question was which of the two societies was the Church the voice of the true Church cannot be discerned But the second question which is that of the doctrine contested betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists he would haue it decided by the onlie deposition of the Church as a faith full guardian and depositarie of the Apostolicke tradition To seeke then according to saint AVGVSTINE betweene the Catholickes and the Donatists the Church in the Scriptures was not to search the doctrine of the Church in the contentious points of Faith in the Scripture but to seeke the visible markes and notes by which the Church ought to be exteriorly discerned in the Scripture For the Donatists to proue that their Church was the true Church and not the Catholicke Church alleadged human actes and human proofes to witt that the Catholicke Church had receaued into her communion without anie expiation and purgation of preceding pennance those that had deliured the holie Bookes to be burnt and had sacrificed to the false Gods in the time of persecution and therfore that she was polluted with their contagion and was perished And then that the onely faction of Donatus which had remained pure from this contagion was the true Church And saint AVGVSTINE contrariwise saith that against all these words which were human proofes and words for if he that ordained Cecilianus had deliuered vp the holy Bookes in persecution time it was a thing to be proued by human testimonies that is to saie by actes of notaries and clerkes euen prophane the Catholickes had the wordes of Christ wherein the workes of the Church were described to witt that she ought to be visible eminent vniuersall perpetuall and that to examin the Church according to these markes it was to seeke her in the words of Christ and to examine her according to the production of the Donatists it was to seeke her in humane wordes What are saith hee our words wherein wee must not seeke her c. All that wee obiect one against an other of the deliuerie of the holie Bookes of the sacrificing to Jdolls and of the persecutions those are our wordes And a while after I would not that the Church should be demonstrated by human instructions but by diuine oracles for if the holse Scriptures haue designed the Church to be in Africa alone and in a smalle number of Roman inhabitants making their conuenticles in Rockes and mount 〈◊〉 and in the howse and territorie of a certaine Spanish Ladie then whatsoeuer records can be produced there are none but the Donatists that haue the Church If the Scripture assigne it to a little number of Mauritanians in the 〈◊〉 prouince you must goe to the Rogatists If in a smalle troupe of Bizacenians and Tripolitans prouincialls the Maximinianists haue mett with her If those of the East alone wee must seeke her amongst the Arrians Macedonians Eunomians and others if there be others for who can number the heresies as proper and particular of euerie particular Prouince But if by the diuine and most certaine testimonies of the Canonicall scriptures she be designed in all nations whatsoeuer they produce and whensoeuer it be produced by those that saie there is Christ if wee be 〈◊〉 let vs 〈◊〉 heare the voice of our Shepheard saying beleeue them not For euerie one of those is not to be found but this which is ouer all is to bee found in the selfe same places where the others are And therefore lett vs seeke her in the holie Canonicall scriptures The places the of the scripture where S. AVGVSTINE would haue the Donatists to seeke the Church are these In thy seede all the nations vpon the earth shal be blessed The children of the forsaken shal be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 number then those of her that hath a husband This Ghospell must be declared ouer the whole world and then the end shall bee I am with you to the consummation of ages And other such like And the arguments that he bringes to manifest the Church by the Scriptures are these The cittie of God saith he hath this for a certaine marke that she cannot be hidden she is thē knowne to all nations the sect of Donatus is vnknowne to manie nations then that is not shee Item You haue the Church which ought to be spread ouer all and to growe till the haruest You haue the Cittie whereof hee that built it hath said the Cittie built vpon the mountaine cannot be hidd It is she then that is most euident not in anie one part of the world but ouer all And other the like But as for the point of doctrine I saie againe and I saie it boldlie that saint AVGVSTINE neuer intended either that the question of the Church betweene the Catholiques and the Donatists should be tryed by the doctrine nor that the article of the doctrine contested betweene thē should be decided by scripture but that the point of the Church should be examined by the externall and visible markes that of the externall and visible markes by the Scripture and the difference of doctrine by the reporte of the Church that is to saie by the tradition of the Apostles is to denie that in disputatiōs against other heresies whē pointes are handled which are heere esteemed to be expresselie treated of by the canonicall Scriptures but that hee often called vpon their iudgment For who doubtes but that where the Scripture is cleere
expresse wee must haue recourse thereto But wee said that he neuer thought neither in generall that all things belonging to Religion were treated off in scripture nor in particular that the contention betweene the Catholickes and the Donatists concerning Baptisme was of that quality And wee maintaine that for soe manie yeares wherein hee combated with them about this article when there was quēstion of Searching the cause to the bottome hee neuer produced one proofe out of Canonicall scripture Indeede he hath often alleadged places of Scripture to make some approaches to it and to beate downe certaine defences to solue by scripture the arguments that the Donatists brought out of Scripture to maintaine that the custome of the Church in the point contested was according to Scripture in as much as According signifies not against the Scripture to establie generall theses and preparatiues to proue the propositions that had some simpathy and affinitie with that which hee disputed As for example he doth indeede proue by scripture that what is sound and intire amongst heretickes must not be repeated againe when they returne to the Church but that Baptisme is sound and intire amongst them he doth noe were proue by Scripture He proues indeede by Scripture that there may be ecclesiasticall thinges out of the Church but that Baptisme is of that number he nether doth nor can proue by Scripture He proues indeede by scripture that it is against the commaun dement of God if heretickes haue receaued the Baptisme of Christ in their owne partie to rebaptise them for wee also reade that our Lord answered Sainct PETER Hee that is wholie washt neede washe but his feete But that heretickes receiue the Baptisme of Christ in their Sects and not 〈◊〉 polluted and prophane washing which is all the knott of the question he noe were proues by scripture For as hee notes elsewhere Peter of whom this is written had not bene baptised by heretickes he prooues indeede by scripture that they who are out of the interior and Spirituall vnitie of the Church as Judas and wicked Catholickes doe not for that leaue to conferr true Baptisme but that they who are neither inwardlie nor outwardlie in the Church who are out of the vnitie of the profession of Faith and of the communion of the Sacraments of the ecclesiasticall bodie can conferr it he proues noe where by scripture And in Summe the thinges which belong to the Solutions of arguments to probable and coniecturall preparatiues to shewes of possibilitie and non repugnancie to soften and dispose the spiritt of the Readers he doth indeede prooue by scripture but the impression of the last forme the assumption and hypothesis of the sillogisme the proofe of this precise and speciall point that Baptisme whereof Sainct IOHN cryes None may receaue anie thinge except it be giuen him from heauen That Sainct PETER saith to be administred into remission of Sinnes That Sainct PAVL calls the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holie Ghost and whereof hee writes One faith and one Baptisme And againe All they that are baptized haue put on Christ That this Sacrament I saie may be conferred out of the Church which is the fullnes of Christ which is the sealed Fountaine which is the only dwelling of the holie Ghost which is shee alone that hath receiued the keyes and the authoritie to remitt sinnes that this can subsist amongst hereticks who haue neither faith nor guift from heauen nor the holie Ghost you can neuer finde that in soe maine yeares as saint AVGVSTINE the principall opposite and ouerthrowe of this heresie hath contested her he hath neuer manifested nor could hee nor he hath not pretended to proue by anie passage of Scripture but by the only vnwritten traditions of the Apostles and the generall practise and vniuersall attestation of the Church Wee must saith hee obserue in these thinges what the Church of God obserues The question now betweene you and vs is which of yours or ours is the Church of God And againe Wherefore although in truth there be noe example to be produced of this out of the 〈◊〉 Scripture yet we leaue not to maintaine euen in this case the truth of the Scriptures when we obserue what hath bene approued by all that Church that the authoritie of the canonicall Scripture recommendeth And in an other place This is neither openlie nor euidentlie read neither by you nor by me c. But if anie one indued with wisdome and recommended by the testimonie of our Lord Iesus Christ were to be found in the world and that hee had bene consulted by vs vpon this question wee ought noe waie to doubt to doe what he should tell vs for feare of being iudged repugnant not so much to him as to our Lord Jesus Christ by whose testimonie hee had bene recommended Now he giues testimonie to his Church And in the worke of Baptisme against the same Donatists The Apostles saith hee haue prescribed nothing in this matter but this custome ought to be beleeued to haue taken the originall there of from their tradition as there are manie thinges which the vniuersall Church obserues and which are therefore not without cause beleeued to haue bene commaunded by the Apostles although they be not written From whence the contrarie appeares to what his maiestie pretends to inferr from this passage to witt that the scripture only destitute of the vnwritten Apostolicke tradition cannot decidè all pointes of Faith nor refute all heresies For the point in agitation betweene the Catholicks and the Donatists concerning the truth realitie of the baptisme giuen by hereticks was a point of faith and wherein obstinate error would make an heresie The proofe of this is first that the doctrine of Baptisme importes so much to the faith as where there is noe true baptisme there is noe true Church S PAVL teaching vs that God clenseth his Church through the washing of water in the word Now there where the Church is destroyed there is destroyed this article of the Faith of the Creede I beleeue the bolie Catholick Church And secondlie that the vnitie of Baptisme belonges so to faith as S. PAVL saith there is one faith and one Baptisme And that the creede of Cōstātinople setts amōgst the Articles of the Confession of the Faith We 〈◊〉 one baptisme in the remission of sinns in such sort as if the Donatists erred in disanulling the baptisme of heretickes and rebaptizing them they destroyed the faith of the vnitie of baptisme and anathematised the character of Christ which had alreadie bene imprinted in the baptized by baptisme And if the Catholicks erre in approuing the baptisme of heretickes and in not rebaptisinge them when they came to them they sinned against the Faith of the necessitie of Baptisme for the constitution of the Church and consequently had noe Church And neuerthelesse neither could this point of Faith be proued nor
besides that antiquitie affirmes that the Apostles haue giuen manie thinges by tradition vnwritten to their disciples his maiestie himselfe testifies that he is farr frō their opinion that beleeue the vniuersall historie of the primitiue Church to be all contained in the sacred but onlie little Booke of the Actes of the Apostles Of the indefectibilitie of the Church CHAP. XXVII The continuance of the Kings answere THE King Confesseth that his Church hath separated her selfe in manie points from the faith and discipline that the Roman Bishop doth at this daie hold and defēd with might and mayne But the King and the English Church 〈◊〉 not interpret that to be a defection from the antient Catholicke saith but rather a returne to the antient Catholicke faith which in the Roman Church had bene admirablie deformed in manie kindes and a conuersion to Christ the only master of the Church THE REPLIE AND euen this confirmes our intention to know that there is at this daie noe Catholicke Church a thing directly against Gods promises or that this that wee haue is shee For there could be noe other Catholicke Church but her that was in the time of the first 〈◊〉 Councells Now shee if shee haue bene interrupted and she hath bene soe if ours which hath succeeded her haue bene wanting in faith and in vnion with Christ without which a Societie cannot be a Church the English Church which succeedes her not by an vninterrupted continuance cannot be the same Church For what Aristotle saith of Common-wealths may also be said of the Church to witt that when a common-wealth hath interrupted the successiue continuance of her being it is noe more one common wealth in number but an other common-wealth Soe if the antient Catholicke Church hath interrupted the successiue continuance of her beeing she is noe more one and not being one shee is noe more a Church for the Church is one or none And therefore the Fathers cry out that if the Church be once perished she can noe more be borne againe If in S. CYPRIANS time saith saint AVGVSTINE the Church perished from what Heauen it Donatus fallen from what Sea came hee forth what earth hath sprunge him vp For to saie that the English Church accounts not her separation from the faith and from the discipline of the Pope a defection from the antient Catholicke faith but a returne to the antient Catholicke faith and a conuersion to Christ is not the question viz. whether the English Church be conuerted to the antient Catholicke Faith For as it hath bene aboue shewed the name of catholicke is not a name of simple beleefe but of cōmunion By meanes whereof the English Church might haue all Faith euen to the remouing of mountaines yet if she communicated not with the Catholicke Church she could neither obtaine the title of Catholicke nor the reward of life eternall but should be schismaticall and excluded from saluation And therefore the state of the question in this which is presented is not whether the English Church be return'd to the true faith but whether the Church which possesseth at this daie the name of the Catholicke Church hath lost the being of the Catholicke Church which she cannot haue done if in things important to saluation and constructiue or destructiue to the being of a Church she haue not varied from that of the time of the fowre first Councells which wee on both sides confesse to haue bene the true Church that is to saie if she haue not taken awaie from the practise of the Church of those ages some thing necessarie to saluation and without which saluation cannot be obtained or if she haue not added to the practise of that Church something repugnant to saluation and with which life eternall cannot be obtained From whence it appeares that the office of the English Church in this question is to shew not that she hath returned to the ancient Faith which would alwaies exact the necessitie of a preceding dispute to witt that the Church from whence she went out hath diuerted her selfe from it for the proofe of the auersion should precede the proofe of reuersion but that the Church which wee at this daie intitle Catholicke hath soe diuerted her selfe from the faith of the Church of the time of the fowre first Councells which both they and wee hold to haue bene the true Church as she hath lost being and the iust title of a Church and that saluation can noe more be obtained in her And our office is contrariwise to maintaine that the Church which is at this daie differs not in anie thinge that can destroy saluation and make her loose the beeing and the title of a true Church from the ancient Catholicke Church and that all the points that our Aduersaries obiect against vs as such and for which they take occasion to separate themselues from vs vnder pretence that in our communion Saluation cannot be obtained haue bene holden by the ancient Church Of the sense wherein the Fathers haue intended that their doctrine had bene holden from the beginning CHAP. XXVIII The continuance of the Kinges answere AND therefore if anie one in consequence of this obseruation Will inferr from thence that the English Church because she reiects some of the decrees of the Roman Church is departed from the antient Catholicke Church the King Will not graunt him that till hee haue first proued by solid reasons that all things that the Roman teach haue bene approued from the beginning and ordained by the antient Catholicke Church And that noe man can doe this now nor in the time to come at the least that till nowe noe bodie hath done it is a thing é as certaine to the king and to the Prelats of the English Church as that the Sunn shines à t noone daies THE REPLIE NEITHER is it the question as I haue alreadie manie times said whether the English Church haue departed from the doctrine of the antient Catholicke Church but whether our Church be soe farr strayed from the doctrine of the antient Church as she can noe more be reputed one felfe same Church with the antient Church and that we can noe more communicate with her without losse of Saluation For if she be still the same Church and that amongst the conditions vnder the obligation whereof her communion is participated there be noe doctrine nor custome which is opposite to Saluation it is certaine that out of her Societie though one should haue Faith sufficient to remoue mountaines yet they can neither possessé the Saluation nor title of the Catholicke Church Neither is it the question to knowe whether all thinges that the Roman Church holdes and principallie those which she holdes to be necessary for Saluation haue bene holden by antiquitie and in this qualitie which would be a longe and thornie disputation because of the diuersitie of the acceptions of the word necessarie vnder the ambiguitie whereof there would alwaies remaine a thousand cauills and
himselfe confest in these wordes The Apostles saith hee in truth haue prescribed nothing of this but this Custome ought to be beleeued to haue taken originall from their tradition as there are manie things that the vniuersall Church obserueth which art with good reason beleeued to haue bene giuen by the Apostles although they be not in writing Was this to pretend to seperate themselues from the Church out of iollitie of hart and without anie cause and neither to blame the faith nor discipline of the Church Of the authoritie of the rest of the Christian people which denied to the Church the title of Catholick Chapt. XXXII The continuance of the Kings Answere THE English haue separated themselues by a cruell necessitie from that Church that infinite Christian people that I may speake as modestly as I possiblie can doe not 〈◊〉 to be the true vniuersall Church THE REPLIE THat the English Church hath bene iustly forced by a cruell necessitie to depart from the Catholicke Church wherein alone the stocke of vnitie doth reside as our very aduersaries dare not saie that the bodie of Catholicke vnitie was to be found in anie other Societie when the English nation deuided themselues from her saint AGVSTINE will not avow who saith that there is no iust necessitie to deuide vnitie And lesse S. DIONISIVS of Alexandria who was much antienter then saint AVGVSTINE who writes Thou oughtest rather to suffer all kinds of death then to deuide the Church of Christ. For whereas his maiestie adds that an infinite number of Christian people doe not grant her to bee the true vniuersall Catholicke Church if these people can shew that there was an other to whom this title belonged when Luther came into the world wee will confesse her not to be soe but if it be not in their power not only to shewe but to faine an other then this must be shee For the Catholicke Church is perpetuall and their contradiction that are departed from her can not raise anie doubt of her title more then the contradiction of the antient Arrians and other hereticks could cause the antient Catholicke Church to loose this title For in that only that they haue departed from her and cannot shew that she hath departed from anie of all the other Societies which are in being they testifie that she only is the true Catholicke Church that is to saie the true stocke and originall roote of the Church from whom all others by their Schismes and diuisions are departed and gone forth Of the testimonies of our writers CHAP. XXXIII The continuance of the King answere AND that maniē of your writers themselues haue a longe while agoe ingeniousliē confessed to haue much varied from the antient in the dogm'as and in the forme of discipline and to haue patched and tacked together manie new thinges to the old manie euill thinges to the good THE REPLIE THOSE writers haue bene such as I haue aboue described as Erasmus Cassander and others who partly in presumption and partlie in ignorance of antiquitie and partlie to gratifie those Princes in whose fauour they haue taken penn in hand haue written thinges which would confound their faces if they were to maintaine them before anie that were versed of purpose in the studie of Antiquitie Of the begging of the principle contained in this hypothesis CHAPT XXXIV The continuance of the Kings answere WHICH is alreadie so knowne to all the world as it is noe longer in thé power of anie to denie it or to be ignorant of it THE REPLIE THIS is to take for a principle of disputation that which is the subiect of the controuersie for not only all Catholickes but also all the Christian Societies in the world more antient then the authors of this diuision and who haue noe interest neither for the one part nor for the other and if they had anie would haue it rather against the Church from which they are separated then for her doe maintaine that all the principall pointes that the pretended reformers calumniate in the Roman Church are of the true faith and of the true discipline of the antient Catholicke Church Of the temporall causes of the separation of England CHAP. XXXV The Continuance of the Kings Answere ADD to this that the Church of England had found the yoake of the Roman Bondage so hard vpō her for some ages past being incrediblie tormented frō daie to day with new vexations oppressions and vnheard of exactions as 〈◊〉 only cause before iust iudges may seeme to be able to free her from suspition of Schisme and as S. AVGVSTINE saith speaking of the Donatists wicked dismembring For sur ely the English haue not separarated themselues for iollitie of heart from brotherly charitie as the 〈◊〉 did THE REPLIE IF it may please your maiestie to call againe to memorie the historie of the Schisme of England you will finde that all those thinges which were alleadged for pretence of the Churches diuision haue noe waie bene the cause thereof contrariwlse that the English Church was more flourishing when this separation happened and the King of England and his clergie more affectionate to maintaine the Faith and communion of the Roman Church then euer they had bene before as appeares by the Booke that he made in defence of the Church against Luther the originall whereof he sent to Rome with these verses such as they are addressed to Pape Leo written with his owne hand Harrie the English King at once doth recommend This worke Leo to thee which publick proofe shall lend To shew which way his faith and friendship both doe bend But that it was the amorous passion of that King who to satisfie the appetite which transported him would cause a iust mariage to be broken and marrie her that he loued his first lawfull wife and by whom he had issue being yet liuing to which the Pope conceaued that he could not with a safe conscience giue consent This was the true and onely cause of all this Iliad of euills From hence gusht all these teares Of the comparison of the English Church with the Iudaicall CHAP. XXXVI The continuance of the Kings answere NOT for feare of the 〈◊〉 which was eminent but did not yet presse them like the tenn tribes of the people of the Iewes but after hauing suffered manie ages after the 〈◊〉 of vnspeakable greeuances they haue finallie shaken from their shoulders that insupportable burthen which neither their strength was longer able to beare nor would their conscience permitt them to doe it THE REPLIE HERE I might content myself with saying that what was ordained and approued by God in the separation of the ten tribes of Israell from the Kingdome of Iuda was the only di uision of State and not that of Religion For God as saint AVGFSTINE saith commaunds neither Schisme nor heresie And by consequence what pretence soeuer is added of present and not future euill there can be noe consequence
the state of the Question 437 XXVI Of the inuention of order in the iustification of the reformation before the proofe of the deformation 438 XXVII Of the indefectibilitie of the Church 439 XXVIII Of the sense wherein the Fathers haue intended that their doctrine had bene holden from the beginning 441 XXIX Of the exceptions that the Kinge produceth to shewe that he hath not separated himselfe from the Church 442 XXX Of the demannds made for Reformations since the fiue last ages 443 XXXI Of the agreement of the English reformers with the Donatists 444 XXXII Of the authoritie of the rest of the Christian people which denied to the Church the title of Catholick 446 XXXIII Of the testimonies of our writers 447 XXXIV Of the begging of the principle contained in this hypothesis ibid. XXXU Of the temporall causes of the separation of England 448 XXXVI Of the comparison of the English Church with the Iudaicall ibid. XXXVII Of the comparison of the Charitie of the antient African Church and the moderne Roman Church 462 XXXVIII Of the innocencie of the Church in the matter of conspiracies against his maiestie ibid XXXIX Of the writings of the illustrious Cardinall Bellarmin 463 An admonition to the Reader COurteous reader for so I will esteeme of thee whosoeuer out of a true desire of vnderstāding the truth takest this learned work into thy hands to peruse it with iudgment and yet without preiudice vouchsafe before thou begin the perusall thereof to take these few obseruations from me First whereas the most eminent authour thereof had proiected to diuide it into twelue seuerall bookes or partiall treatises and died before he could make a compleat end thereof being often diuerted from it by manifold employments which his high estate calling was subiect vnto by some more necessary dispute writings which the cōdition of France did then affoord his frinds either not marking this his proiect or because all the work was not ended neglecting that diuision set is foorth reparted into six bookes only and those so vnequally sorted that the first book alone is in the French edition farre bigger then all the other ensuing fiue bookes taken together This vnproportionable partition we haue amended in this English translation as we might easily do by the citations or quotations with which the authour himself bordered his margent for in them he sometimes referres him self to such a chapter of the second seuenth eleuenth twelft booke whereby he sufficiently insinuates into how many bookes he intended to diuide this his excellent worke at what matter euery booke should take its beginning which his intention we haue obserued in this that now we present to thy view that the fit diuision of matters therein handled may make it more intelligible and lesse tedious Secondly the humour of the French demanded for their satisfaction that the many places which are cited out of learned holy and classicall autours hould not only be faithfully translated in the text but also placed at large in their originall languages in the margen that the learned reader might without recourse to the seuerall volumes which required a copious library whereof few are furnished out of hand examin the faithfullnes of the trāslatiō cōsequētly how fitly the alleged authority made for the purpose But this humour not yet for ought I haue seen much raigning in our country we haue thought it sufficient to cite the places only in the margen which are fully expressed in the text the rather because the excellent translatresse copy which we haue faithfully expressed contayned no more and more beseemed not her translation as not desiring to make shew of skill in greek and other such learned languages but only of that which was sufficient for her assumpt that it is of a faithfull translation according to the significant expressement of the French Thirdly we haue not presumed to alter or change any one word of her translation but in some few places where the French allusions could not be so well vnderstood if they were expressed in English properly corresponding thereunto for euery tongue hath some peculiar graces and elegancies which be lost in the translation yf they be put word for word And yet this haue we done as we sayde very seldome and that especially in the word Church wich we English men vse deriued from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the house dedicated to our Lords seruice which tropically we vse also to signify the congregation of the faithfull most solemnly and vsually made in the Church The French expresse it by the name of Eglise from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocatus ad professionem fidei the company of the faithfull called by Christ to professe his lawe by which word they secundarily or tropically vnderstand and call the Church or house of prayer So in the name of S. Peter in Frenche S. Pierre which word also signifies a rock or stone in French as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greek and Cephas in Syriak do but in our English we haue no such allusion No other change but in these few and such like haue we made neither was it needfull the translatresse hauing so fittly and significantly expressed the autours meaning that it would haue been lost labour to striue to do it better and rather marring then mending so perfect an expression Lastly I desire thee gentle reader to beare with the faults of the presse The printers being Wallons and our English strange vnto them it was incredible to see how may faults they committed in setting so that in ouerlooking the proofes for the print the margins had not roome enough to hold our corrections and do what we could yet the number of our corrections being so many a great many of them remayned vncorrected by the fastidious fantasy of our workman Yet we iudge there is no fault that may hinder or change the sence but is amended and for the rest we desire thee to pardon vs considering how hard it is to make a stranger here to expresse our ortography Farewell in our Lord and he of his goodnes giue thee grace to take profit by reading these learned discourses Thy Wellwisher in Christ Iesus F. L. D. S. M. APPROBATIO TRanslatio haec operis excellentissimi quod eminentissimus Cardinalis Perronius pro fides catholicae doctrina ad potentissimum Regem ac Dominum nostrum Jacobum totius Britanniae Franciae Hiberniae Monarcham summa cum cruditione pariter modestia conscripsit facta a nobilissima quadam Heroina prouinciae nostrae serenissimae Reginae Dominae nostrae Mariae 〈◊〉 Borboniae dicata per omnia fideliter concordat cum ipsa autoris mente verbis sententiis Qua propter dignā eam 〈◊〉 quae typis tradatur vtex tanti Praeceptoris accuratissimis cloquentiaque incomparabili vestitis disputationihus fructum copiosum capiatur Anglia nostra qualem vniuersa Gallia cum perpetua Magni autoris veneratione se percepisse protestatur
2. Decemb. 1631 F. Leander de S. Martino sacrae Theologiae Doctor Hebraeae linguae in alma Academia Duacena professor Regius Benedictinorum conuentus S. Gregorij Angliae Prior. THE LETTER OF THE LORD CARDINALL OF PERRON SENT TO MONSIEVR CASAVBON INTO ENGLAND SIR the letter that you deliuered to Monsieur de la Bodery was deliuered to me by him euen as I was vpon my departure for a voyage into Normandy and since my returne from thence I haue bene almost perpetuallie sicke which hindered me from answering with more speede Now that my disease begins to be at some truce with me I will paie the arrerages of this delaie and will first thanke you for the good office that you haue done me in shewing the letter I writt to you to the most excellent king of great Brittaine and in procuring me an interest in his fauour I will striue so to husband it by my humble seruice s and particularlye by celebrating his prayses which is the only fruite that good and vertuons kinges such as hee doe gather from allthe labours and thornie cares that the burden of a kingdome loades them with as his maiestie shall haue noe cause to be sorrie that it be declared to after ages how he hath honord mee with his well wishes ād how I haue had his 〈◊〉 in reuerence and admiration As for the translation of the verses of Virgill whereof you writt to me that he desires a Copie that which I sent you being lost I deferr yet for some daies to acquit myself of that dutie because I haue put it to the presse with the addition of a part of the fowrth which I haue ended expresselie for his maiestie sake to inlarge my presēte to him As soone as those few Copies which are in doing shall be finished I will not faile to addresse one of them to you to offer vp to him on my behalfe The third point of your letter yet remaines which is that his Maiestie was astonisht at those wordes in my letter That excepting the title of Catholicke I knew nothing wanting in him to expresse the figure of a perfect and compleate Prince and that he pretendes that since he beleeues all thinges that the Ancientes haue with an vnanimous consent esteemed necessarie to saluation the title of Catholique cannot bee donied him Now as on the one side I can not but greatlie praise his maiesties pietie and Christian humilitie in not disdayning to submitt his iudgement adorned with so manie lightes naturall ād acquired to that of those cleare beames of antiquitie imitating therein the wisdome of that great Emperor Thodosius who thought there was noebetter meanes to agree the dissentions which disturbed the Church of his time then to exact from either part an answere whither thy beleeued that the Fathers which had flourish'd in the Church before the separation had bene orthodoxall and that being confessed to summon them to submitt themselues to whatsoeuer they should be found to haue beleeued so on the other side there are manie obseruations `to be made vpon this Thesis before wee passe to the hypothesis which since I Cannot represent to his maiestie I shall be gladd to informe you of them for your particular satisfaction The first is that the name of Catholicke is not a name of beleefe simplie but of Communion also else antiquitie would not haue refused that title to those Which were not separated from the beleefe but from the Communion of the Church nor would they haue protested that out of the Catholicke Church the Faith and Sacramentes may be had but not Saluation Out of the Catholicke Church saith S. Augustin in his treatie of Conference with Emeritus a man may haue orders hee maie haue Sacraments he may sing Alleluya he may answere A men he may keepe the Gospell he may haue and preach the faith in the name of the Father of the Sonn and of the holie Ghost but he can no where finde Saluation but in the Catholicke Church And in the Booke De vtilit credendi There is a Church as all men graunt if you cast your eyes ouer the extent of the whole world more full in multitude then all the rest and as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in the doctrine of truth But of the truth that is an other question that will suffice for this search that there is one Catholicke Church vpon which seuer all heresies impose seuerall names whereas they are all call called euery one by his particular name which they dare not disauow from whence it may appeare to the iudgment of anie arbiter that is not prepossessed by fauour to whom the name of Catholicke where of all are ambitions ought to bee attributed And in the Booke against the fundamentall Epistle Then to omitt this wisdome which you denie to bee in the Catholicke Church there are manie other things which doe most iustlie retaine me in her bosome the consent of people and nations retaine me therein the authoritie begūn by miracles nourished by hope increased by charitie confirmed by antiquitie retaines me therein the succession of Prelates euen from the verie seate of Peter to whom our Lord deliuered his sheepe to be fedd after his Resurrection euen to the present Bishops seate retaines me therein and finallie the verie name of Catholick retaines me therein which not without cause this Church alone amongst so manie heresies hath in such sorte obtained as though all heretickes would be called Catholiques neuerthelesse when a stranger askes where the Catholicke Church doth assemble there is not one 〈◊〉 that dares shew his 〈◊〉 or his howse And in his treatise of Faith and of the Creede Wee beleeue the holie Church and that Catholick for heretickes and schismatickes call their Congregations Churches but hereticks beleeuing of God false thinges violate faith and Schismatickes separate themselues from brotherly charitie by vniust diuisions allthough they beleeue the same things that we beleeue and therefore neither can the hereticke belonge to the Catholicke Church because she loues God nor the schismaticke because she loues her neightour And in the Booke Of the vnitie of the Church All those that beleeue as hath bene said that ouer Lord IESVS is come in the flesh and is risen againe in the same flesh wherein he was borne and hath suffered and that he is the sōne of god god with god ād one with the Father and the onlie immoueable word of the Father by which all things haue bene made but yet dissent so from his bodie which is the Church that theire communion is not with the whole or is spread in deed but yet is in some part found to be separate it is manifest they are not in the Catholick Church And Prosper his scholler Hee saith hee that Communicates with this vniuersall Church is a Christian and a Catholicke but he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist And for this cause wee see that the Fathers denied the title
with that modesty and submission which is due to the person and worth of so high and mighty a Monarch and with that learning and solidyty that might be expected from so great a maister of truth as that most eminent Cardinall was in behalf of so glorious a cause as is the doctrine of the catholique Church THE L. CARDIN PERRONS REPLIE TO HIS MAIESTIES ANSWER TO THE LETTER WRITTEN TO MONS CASAVBON THE FIRST OBSERVATION Reduced into an abridgement by the Kinge THE name of Catholicke doth not simplie designe Faith but also Communion with the Catholicke Church for this Cause the Fathers would not suffer that those should bee Called Catholickes which had separated themselues from the communion of the Church though they retained the Faith thereof For there is one only Catholicke Church out of the which Faith and Sacramentes may be had but not Saluation To this end there are manie places alleaged out of S. AVGTSTIN OF THE VSE OF THE WORD CATHOLIQVE THE ANSVVERE OF THE KINGE CHAPITRE I. TO beleeue the Catholicko Church and to beleeue the Communion of Saintes are put distinctly as diuers thinges in the Creede and it seemes the first was ptincipallie inserted to discerne the Iewish Synagogue from the Christian Church which ought not to be as that was inclosed within the lymittes of one only nation but to be spread in length and breadth through all the regions of the world And therefore the reason is not manifest enough why in the beginning of this obseruation it is said that the title of Catholicke designeth Communion These two thinges are very neere one an other but different notwithstandinge as wee haue shewed THE REPLIE WHEN the Philosopher FAVORINVS disputed against the Emperor ADRIAN and that his hearers were amazed and reproached it to him that he suffered the Emperor to confute him and yielded to him he answered them should not I yield to a man tha commaundes twentie legions Soe if there were noe question in this worke but of humane philosophie secular learninge it should be easie for me to stop my selfe at FAVORINVS boundes and to abstaine to contest with his maiestie or to resist him But since heere wee treate of his interest who hath not legions of men but of Angells and which hath for his title THE KINGE OF KINGES AND LORD OF LORDES and from whom this excellent Kinge himselfe makes profession to holde in Fee his life and Crownes that is to saie the cause of IESVS CHRIST and of his Kingdome which is the Church I will promise myselfe from his Maiesties bountie that he will not mislike where it shall be needefull that I resist and contradict him with all the respectiue libertie that the lawes of disputation yield me Then for the argument of the Creede I will saie after I haue kist my weapones three thinges for my defence FIRST that it is vncertaine whither the cause of the Communion of Saintes be an article aparte or an explication of the precedinge cause and a declaration that the Catholicke Church consistes not in the simple number of the faithfull euery one considered a parte but in the ioinct Communion of all the bodie of the faithfull in such sorte as both clauses make but one article as it seemeth sainct IEROM RVFFINVS and Sainct AVGVSTINE who haue omitted the latter haue esteemed it The SECOND that it is vncertaine whether it signifie the Communion that the faithfull liuinge haue one with an other or the Commerce that the Saintes of the triumphant Church doe exercise with the Saintes of the militant Church by the prayers that the Saints of the triumphant offer for the Saints of the militant and the commemoration that the saints of the militant make of the saints of the triumphant which is that that wee in our Liturgie call to communicate with the memory of the Saintes And the THIRD that whatsoeuer it signifie it is most certaine that the word CATHOLICKE was not added to that of the Church to distinguish the Christian Church from the Iewish Synagogue which had neuer borne the name of Church in qualitie of a title of a Religion when the creed was Composed and by consequence did not oblige the Christian Church to take the Epithete of Catholicke to bee discerned from that from which in all cases she had bene suffieientlie distinguished by the title of Christian but it was added to discerne the true Church from hereticall and schismaticall Societies which vsurpe equiuocally and by false markes the name of Church for that our Lord was the first that affected and consecrated the word ECCLESIA which we vsually translate in Englishe Church to signifie a societie of Religion whereas before neither it nor the Hebrewe word that answeres to it had anie other vse but that which prophane authors giue it which is to signifie Assemblies conuocations Generall Estates as when DEMOSTHENES said to ESCHINES thou wert dumbe to the assemblies where the greeke word is Ecclesijs the conuocations or general meetings And as when Aristotle called the conuocations of Creete ecclesias And as when the Scholiast of HOMER said Iupiter gathered together Ecclesias the Assemblies of the Gods It appeares first by the testimonie of MOSES who forbids bastardes to enter into the Church of Israell And of DAVID who singes I hate the Church of the malignant And of S. STEPHEN who said MOSES was in the Church in the solitarie place that is to saie with the multitude of the people in the desert It appeares secondlie by the testimonie of S. IEROM and of S. CYRILLVS who interpretinge this verse of ESAY Thou shalt bee called by a new name that the mouth of our Lord shall pronounce Doe affirme that this new name must be the name of Church It shall noe more saith S. IEROM be called Ierusalem and Sion but it shall receiue a new name that the Lord shall impose vpon it sayinge to the Apostle PETER thou art PETER and vpon this PETRA or rock I will build my Church And S. CYRILL It shall be noe more called Synagogue but the Church of the liuinge God And finallie it appeares by the verie testimonie of our aduersaries that not only in all the textes of the old Testament where the Greeke translation of the Seuentie vse the word Ecclesia but also in all those of the new where that word hath relation to anie other multitude beside the Christian Church they expresse it by Congregation or Assemblies And if since the cōminge of IESVS CHRIST and the edition of the creede the Fathers haue sometymes called the Synagogue by the name of Ecclesia or Church it hath bene by anticipation to shew the successiue vnitie of the one and other societie but not that the Iewish Church while it lasted hath euer vndertaken to attribute to herselfe the title of a Church in the qualitie of a title of Religion Neither consequently when the creede was composed was there neede of an
Epithete to distinguish the Christian Church from her for as the starr that the authors call Lucifer although it be the same with that that is called Vesper yet when it goes before the Sonne it beares one name and when it followes him it hath an other soe although the Iewish congregation hath bene in some sorte one same societie with the Christiā Congregatiō neuerthelesse whē this societie hath gone Before her SVNNE which is CHRIST she hath borne one name to witt the Synagogue and when she followes him she beares an other to witt the Church And therefore when our Lord said to S. Peter Dic ecclesiae tell it to the Church and if he heare not he Church let him be to thee as an heathen or a publican And when S. LVKE relates that HEROD sett himselfe to Persecute quosdam de ecclesia some of those of the Church and when saint Paul writes I teach it so in all the Churches And againe bee without scandall to the Iewes and to the Gentiles and to the Church of God And when S. Iames proclaimes If anie one be sicke lett him call the priestes of the Church And when S. Ireneus saith there haue bene sacrifices among the people there are sacrifices in the Church they thought they had sufficiently distinguished without anie other additiō the Christian Church frō the Iewish Synagogue And contrariwise when the Church of SMYRNA in an age neighbouringe vpon that of the Apostles intitles her Epistle to the Church of PHILOMILION and to all the a Diocesses of the Catholique Church that are throughout the world And when CLEMENT ALEXANDRINVS writes There needes not manie wordes to shewe that the mocke-Councells of heretickes are after the Catholicke Church And when TERTVLLIAN saieth Marcion gaue his money to the Catholique Church which reiected both it and him when he strayed from our truth to heresie And when sainct CYPRIAN aduertised the Bishops of Africke that passed in to Italie to acknowledge and hold fast the roote and matrice of the Catholicke Church And when Saint EPIPHANIVS reporteth that vnder the persecution of DIOCLESIAN those that held the ancient Churches called themselues the Catholicke Church and the Militians the Church of the martyres And when the Emperor CONSTANTINE ordained that all the Oratories of the Heretickes should be taken from them and presently after deliuered to the Catholicke Church they pretended not by the word Catholicke to distinguish the Christian Church from the Iewish but to distinguish the great and the originall bodie of the Church from the particular and later sectes Yet wee acknowledge that the word Catholicke in distinguishing by hervniuersalitie the true Church from the hereticall and schismaticall sectes distinguisheth her alsoe by accident from the Iewish Synagogue as a speciall difference in distinguishing her species from other species of the same genders doth also distinguish it from that of other genders though that be not her proper office for the word reasonable discerninge men from birds fishes serpentes and other beastes leaves him not vndiscerned accessarily from plantes metalls and stones But we maintaine the expresse and direct end for which the Surname of Catholik hath bene added to the Church I saie to the Church and not to the figures of the Church hath bene to distinguish it from hereticall and Schismaticall sectes If I should this daie by chance enter into a populous towne saith S. PACIANVS an author celebrated by sainct Ierom and finde there Marcionistes and Apolinarians it must be reade Apellecians Cataphrigians Nouatians and other such like which call themselues Christians by what surname should I knowe the Congregation of my people if it were not intitled Catholicke and againe Christian is my name Catholicke is my Surname that names me this markes me out by that I am manifested prodor non probor by this I am distinguished And sainct CYRILL of Ierusalem an author the same age expoundinge the creede For this cause saith he thy faith hath giuen thee this article to holde vndoubtedlie and in the holie Catholicke Church to the end thou 〈◊〉 flie the polluted 〈◊〉 of heretickes And a little after And when thou comst into a towne inquire not simplie where the temple of our Lord is for the other heresies of impious persons doe likewise call theire dens the temples of the Lord neither aske simplie where the Church is but where is the Catholique Church for that name is the proper name of this holie Church And sainct AVGVSTINE in his booke of the Faith and the creede Wee beleeue saith he the holie Church and that Catholicke for the heretickes and Schismatickes name also theire Congregations Churches but heretickes beleeuing in God in a false manner violate the faith and Schismatickes by theire vniust Diuisions seperate themselues from brotherlie Charitie although they beleeue the same thinges that we beleeue therefore the hereticke appartaineth not to the Catholicke Church because she loues God nor the Schismaticke because she loues her neighbour So that it amazeth me that I haue had soe little industrie to explaine myselfe as to haue giuen his Maiestie occasion to answere that the reason for which I had said in the beginninge of my first obseruation that the word Catholicke was not a title of simple beliefe but of communion was not enough manifest For hauinge alleaged these fower places of sainct AVGVSTINE Schismatickes appertaine not to the Catholicke Church although they beleeue the same thinges with vs. Those that disagree soe from the bodie of Christ which is the Church as theire communion is not with all or that it spread it selfe but is found separate in some part it is manifest they are not in the Catholicke Church There is a Church if you cast your eyes ouer the extent of the whole world more aboundant in multitude and also as those that know themselues to be of it affirme more sincere in truth then all the others but of the truth is an other disputation Diuision and dissention makes you heretickes and peace and vnitie makes vs Catholickes And hauinge accompanied them with these wordes of sainct VINCENTIVS 〈◊〉 O admirable conuersion or change the authors of one selfe opinion are called Catholiques and the followers of it beretickes And with those of sainct PROSPER 〈◊〉 that communicates with the vniuersall church is a christian and a 〈◊〉 catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist It seemed to me that I had sufficiently shewed that the title of Catholicke is not a simple title of beliefe but of communion also It is true I expected not that a question that had bene anciently moued and adiuged euen with the interuention of the authoritie of Emperors should againe haue bene contested against and put into dispute For in the controuersie of Catholickes and Donatistes vpon the word Catholicke before the decision whereof as sainct Austin saith the Church was neuer
perfectly treated of no more then before the questions of the Arrians the Trinitie had neuer bene perfectlie treated of the thesis or tenet of the Catholickes was that the word Catholicke was a word of Communion and not a word of Simple beliefe The Christian Africans are called saith Saint AVGVSTIN and not with out good right Catholickes protesting by theire proper Communion the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And againe wee shew by the testimonie of our Cōmunion that wee haue the Catholicke Church the thesis of the Donatistes contrariwise was that the word Catholicke was not a word of Cōmunion but of beliefe and obseruation of precepts The Donatistes saith Saint AVSTIN answered that the word Catholike was not deriued from the vniuersalitie of nations but from the fulnes of the Sacramentes that is to saie from the integritie of the doctrine And in the Epistle to VINCENTIVS Rogat Thou thinkest said he then to saìe some subtile thing when thon interpretest the name of Catholicke not from the Communion of the whole world but from the obseruation of all the preceptes and diuine Sacramentes And againe you are those that hold the Catholicke faith not from the Communion of the whole world hut from the obseruation of all the preceptes aud diuine Sacramentes And the iudgement that was made vpon this difference was that the word Catholicke was a title not of simple beliefe but of Communion also After a contention of 40. daies saith OPTATVS Mileuit speaking of the first disputation of the Donatistes the finall sentēce of the Bishops Eunomius and Olimpius whcih were the Bishops deputed to iudge the possessiō of the word Catholicke betweene the Catholickes of Africa and the Donatistes was that that was Catholicke that was spread throughout the world And Saint AVSTINE speaking of the Conference of Carthage The Commissarie said he answered that he could not by 〈◊〉 attribute the name Catholicke to anie other then to those to whom the Emperor from whom he had his Commision had attributed it And in an other place citing the law of the Emperors made vpon this Conference The Emperors said he haue forbidden that those that vsurpe the name of Christians out of the Communion of the Catholicke Church and will not in peace adore the author of 〈◊〉 should dare to possesse anie thing vnder the title of the Church And againe The Emperors of our Communion haue ordained lawes against all heretikes now they call heretickes those that are not of theire Communion amongst which you are And after disputing with the same Donatists Thou askest said he of a stranger whether he be a pagan or a Christian he answeres thee a Christian thou askest him whether he be a catechumenus or one of the faithfull least he should intrude himselfe vnlawfullie to the Sacraments he answers thee one of the faithfull thou askest him of what Communion he is he answers thee a Christian Catholicke CHAP. II. Of the Conditions of the Catholicke Church The pursuite of the kings answere NOw the King belieues simplie without colour or fraude that the Church ōf God is one only by name and effect Catholicke and vniuersall spread ouer all the world out of which he affirmes himselfe there can be noe hope of Saluation he condemnes and detestes those which either heeretofore or since haue departed from the faith of the Catholicke Church are become heretickes as the Man ichees or from her Communion and are become schismatickes as the Donatists Against which two kindes of men principally sainct AVGVSTINE hath written the things alleaged in this obseruation THE REPLIE TELESIVS a Stripling of Greece hauing won the prize and victorie of the Combate in the Pythian games when there was question of leadinge him in triumph there arose such a dispute betweene the diuers natiōs there present euery one being earnest to haue him for theire owne as the one drawing him one waie the other an other waie insteed of receiuing the honor which was prepared for him he was torne and dismembred euen by those that stroue who should honor him most Soe happenes it to the Church All those that beare the name of Christians auow that to her only appertaines the victory ouer hell and that whosoeuer will haue parte in the prize and glory of this Triumph must serue vnder her ensigne But when they come to debate of the true bodie of this societie then euery sect desirous to draw her to themselues they rent and teare her in peeces and in steed of embracing the Church which consistes in vnitie they embrace schisme and diuision which is the death and ruyne of the Church The cause or rather the pretext of this euill comes from two faultes that the aduersaries of the Church commit in the distinction of the word Ecclesia or Church which makes the possession vncertaine and disputable The one is the fraudulent restriction of the terme of the Church to the only inuisible number of the predestinate by which when they feele themselues pressed to represent the succession of theire Church they saue themselues like Homers Aeneas or Virgils Cacus in obscuritie and darknes The other is the equiuocall and captious extension of the same word Church to all Sectes which professe the name of Christ by which when they see themselues excluded from the refuge of theire inuissble Church they haue recourse from darknes to confusion and confesse that there hath bene alwaies a visible Church but sometymes pure in faith and sometymes impure that is to saie now a Church and now noe Church And therefore I attribute it to a singular care of the prouidence of God that his Maiesty saying he beleeues the catholicke Church hath added as to preuent all theses shiftes without colour or fraude For to beleeue the catholicke church without colour or fraude is to beleeue her in the sence that the Fathers haue beleeued and vnderstood her the Fathers I say which haue lest vs these sentences pronunced sometymes as in the hypothesis against the Manichees and Donatists but as in the thesis against all kindes of heretickes or schismatickes in generall that out of the Catholicke Church there is noe saluation that whosoeuer is separate from the Catholicke Church cannot haue life and other such like which his Maiestie protested to approue Now first by the word Catholicke Church these Fathers haue beleeued and intended such a Church as these wordes of Esay 〈◊〉 In the last daies the Mountaine of the Lord shall be on the topp of all the Mountaines and all the hills shall flowe to her The people shall walke in thy light and the kings in the brightnes of thy Orient Theire seede shall be knowne amongst the people and theire kinge in the middest of the nations And these of our Lord The Citie built vpon the mountaine cannot be hid Tell it to the Church and if he heare not the Church let him be to thee as
the Donatists doe heale from the wound of infidelity and Idolatrie they hurt them more greevously with the wound of Schisme And for a proofe of his saying he alleadgeth the example of Core Dathan and Abiron and other Schismatickes of the old Testament who were all sent quicke into hell and punished more greevouslie then the Idolators Who doubtes saith he but that was committed most criminally that was punist most seuerelie And therefore as the ancient heretickes haue alwaies against the vnitie of the Church pressed and Cryed out the Faith the Faith soe the ancient Fathers against the diuisions of heretickes and Schismatickes haue alwaies pressed and cried out the Church the Church He shall iudge saith S. IRENEVS those that make Schismes in the Church ambitions men not hauinge the honor of God before theire eyes but rather embracing theire owne interests then the vnitie of the Church and for little and light causes deuidinge the great and glorious bodie of Christ. And a little after For in the end they cannot make anie soe important a reformation as the euill of the Schisme is pernicious And sainct DENIS of Alexandria writinge to Nouatian Certainly all thinges should rather be indured then to consent to the diuision of the Church of God those martyrs beinge noe lesse glorious that expose themselues to hinder the dismembringe of the Church then those that suffer rather then they will offer Sacrifice to Idolls And sainct CYPRIAN Doe those that assemble themselues without the Church of Christ suppose Christ to bee with them in theire assemblie Allthough they should be dragged to death for the confession of the name of Christ yet this spott is not washt awaie from them with bloude the inexpiable and inexcusable crime of discord is not purged vith death t selfe he cannot be a martyr that is not in the Church And sainct PACIAN Although saith he Nouatian hath bene put to death yet hath he not bene crowned Wherefore not because it was out of the peace of the Church out of concord out of this mother whereof whosever will be a martyr must be a portion And Saint CHRYSOSTOME nothinge stirrs saith he so sharpely the wrath of god as the diuision of the Church so as when wee haue done all other kindes of good workes wee shall deserue no lesse cruell punishment deuidinge the vnitie and fulnes of the Church then those that pierced and deuided his owne blessed bodie And S. AVGVSTINE Out of the Catholike Church all thinges may bee had except Saluation etc. They may haue and preach the faith in the name of the Father the sonnne and the holy ghost but they can noe where haue Saluation but in the Catholicke Church And a little after I saie more if a man out of the Church suffer the enemie of Christ I saie not his Catholike brother that desires his Saluation but the enemie of Christ if he suffer him without and that he being out of the Church the enemie of Christ saie to him offer incense to Idolles adore my Gods and for not adoring them he be put to death by the enemie of Christ he may well shedd his bloud but he cannot obtaine the Crowne And in an other place Being constituted out of the Church and separated from the heape of vnitie and the bond of Charitie thou shouldest be punisht with eternall death though thou shouldest haue bene burnt aliue for the name of Christ. Aud againe I goe not to worship the diuells I serue not stockes and stones but I am of Donatus his partie What will it serue thy turne that the Father is not offended since he will reuenge the Mothers 〈◊〉 And in his worke against the Aduersarie of the law and the Prophets If he heare not the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or publican which is more grieuons then if he were stricken by the sword consumed with flames exposed to wilde beastes And in the booke of Pastors The diuell doth not saie let them be Donatistes and not Arrians be they heere be they there they appartaine to him that gathers without any distinction Let him saith the diuell adore Idolls he his mine let him remaine in Iewish superstition he is myne let him abandon vnitie and enter into such or such an heresie he is myne And in the profession to be made by the Donatistes returninge to the Church Wee thought it had not imported in which part we had held the Faith of Christ but thanckes be to our Lord that hath taken vs in from the diuision and taught vs that it belonhgs to God who is one to be serued in vnitie And FVLGENTIVS the second Sainct AVGVSTINE and the Phenix borne a new out of his ashes Out of this Church neither doth the title of Christian warrant anie bodie nether doth baptisme conferr Saluation nor can they offer a Sacrifice acceptable to God nor receiue remission of Sinnes nor obtaine life eternall For there is one only Church one only doue one only well beloued one only sponse And againe Beleeue this stedfastly without doubting that euery hereticke or schismaticke baptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost if before the end of his life he be not reconciled to the Catholikke Church what almes soe euer he geueth yea though he should shed his bloud for the name of Christ he cannot obtaine saluation Faire but fearefull lessons for those who thinke that in what communion soeuer they be so they beleeue in Christ they may be saued Of the marks of the Church CHAPTER V. The continuance of the Kinges answere AMongst the proper markes of the Church the King confesseth that that is greatly necessary but his Majesty is not of opinion that it is the true forme of the Church and as the philosopher termes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein it consisteth THE REPLIE Neither is it necessarie that a condition for to be the marke of anie thing should be the essentiall forme of the thing for then we should haue noe marke of anie substantiall thing For we know not the essentiall forme of anie one of them except only of man and for more then three thousand yeares the true essentiall forme of man was vnknowen witnes the ieast of Diogenes vpon the definition of a man giuen by Plato And therefore Saint BASILE reprocheth it to Eunomius who had boasted that he knew the essence of the Father that he knew not soe much as the essence of the ground whereupon he walked euery daie and that what comes to the knowledge of men are but accidents Neither on the other side is it necessary that the essentiall forme of a thing should be the marke of the same thing Nay contrarywise to be the essentiall forme of anie thing and to be the marke of the same thing are commonly repugnant and incompatible conditions For the marke doth demonstrate the thing to the sense and the
essential forme doth shewe it to the vnderstandinge the marke designes the thing in the existence the essentiall forme designes it in the offence The marke teacheth where the thinge is and the essentiall forme teacheth what it is the marke is sooner knowne then the thing and contrarywise the thing is sooner knowne then the essentiall forme of the thing for the thing defined as Aristotle saith preceedes in knowledge the definition that is to saie the whole is knowne before the resolution of the thing into his essentiall partes And therefore to saie that the eminencie of the Communion is not the essentiall forme of the Church hinders it not from being a marke of the Church and a marke likewise not only greatlie necessary but absolutely necessary She hath saith Saint AVGVSTINE this most certaine marke that shee cannot be hidden shee is then knowne to all nations the Sect of Donatus is vnknowne to many nations therefore that is not shee Againe on the other side to saie that the doctrine is the essentiall forme or belongeth to the essentiall forme of the Church makes not that 〈◊〉 it should be a marke of the Church for a marke must haue three conditions The first is to be more knowne then the thing since it is it that makes the thing knowne the second that the thing neuer bee found without it And the third as we haue said elswhere that it be neuer found either alone if it be a totall marke or with its fellowes if it be a marke in part without the thing Now the truth of doctrine in all instances thereof is much harder to be knowne then the societie of the Church I said in all instances thereof because to know the right of the cause of the Church in one particular question with one or other Sect sufficeth not to knowe the Church by the doctrin but it is necessary to know the truth of the doctrine of the Church in all her particularities contested by heresies as well past as present before we can 〈◊〉 by vertue of the examination of the doctrine where the true Church is For there needes no more but that shee goe wrong in anie one controuersie to make her fall from the title of the true Church Now who is he that can vaunt to know the integritie of the doctrine of the Church in all her instances and to haue made the examination against euery one of the other societies by infallible and insoluble proofes to all theire answeres and by inuincible and irrefutable answeres to all theire obiections And if anie could doe this who knowes not that the simple people and ignorant and rusticall persons of whose Saluation neuerthelesse God hath the same care that he hath of the learned and to whom the markes of the Church should be equally common since they are equallie obliged to obay her are not capable of this examination For the rest of the people saith Saint AVGVSTINE it is not the quicknes of vnderstandinge but the simplicity of beliefe that secures them And by consequent who seeth not that they must haue other markes to know the Church by then that of her doctrine to wit markes proportionable to theire capacitie that is to saie externall and sensible markes as 〈◊〉 antiquitie perpetuitie and such like euen as children and ignorant persons must haue externall and sensible markes and other then the essentiall forme of a man to know and discerne a man from other liuing creatures By what manifest marke cries out Saint AVGVSTINE speaking in the person of a Catechumenist by what demonstration shall I that am yet little and weake and cannot discerne the pure truth from the manie errors know the Church of Christ to which I am constrained to belieue by the euent of soe manie things heeretofore presaged for these causes saith he the Prophet goes forward and as it were collecting methodically the motions of that spiritt saith that she is foretolde to be that Church which is eminent and apparent to all And a little after and also because of the motions of these little ones who may be seduced and diuerted by men from the brightnes of of the Church our Lord goes before them saying The Citie built vpon the Mountaine cannot be hidd And indeede how is it that Esaie should prophecy that In the last daies the Mountaine of the Lord should be on the topp of all the Mountaines and that all the hills should flow to her and that the Nations should come and saie let vs goe vp into the Mountaine of our Lord and into the howse of the God of Iacob and he will 〈◊〉 vs his waies if the only marke to know assuredly the howse of the Lord that is to saie the Church were the especiall knowledge of his waies And how should Sainct PAVL say God hath placed in the Church Apostles Prophetes Euangelists Pastors and Doctors c. to the end we should be noe more little children blowne about with euery winde of doctrine if he had not giuen vs other markes to know the Church then the puritie of doctrine Besides suppose the doctrine to be the marke of the Church it must be either the doctrine contested betweene the parties that pretend the title of the Church or the doctrine not contested now it cannot be the doctrine not contested because both sides haue it And lesse yet the doctrine contested for while the truth of the doctrine is contested it remaines vndecided of which side it is and the certaine and assured decision cannot be made but by the Church by which meanes it is necessary that duringe the cōtestation of the doctrine there must be other markes to know the Church by which being acknowledged the question of the doctrine may be decided And you cannot saie that the contested doctrine can be decided by Scripture only for besides that there are matters of Religion which are not anie waie touched by the Scripture ās that whereof Saint AVGVST speaketh The Apostles in truth haue prescribed nothing of that but this custome which was opposite to Cyprian ought to be belieued to haue taken its originall from theire tradition Saint IEROME protests that the Scriptures consist not in the reading but in the vnderstanding and that by a wrong interpretation the Ghospell of God may be made the Ghospell of a man nay which is worse the Ghospell of the diuell Wherefore to iudge surely of the doctrine by the Scripture it is necessarie to be first assured of the interpretation of the Scripture and that by an infallible meanes For all the conclusions of Faith which are not found in termes expresse and incapable of ambiguitie in the Scripture but are drawne by interpretations to make them conclusions of Faith and decisions infallible and equall to the authoritie of theire principles must be drawne from it by an infallible meane Now there are but three waies whereby we may pretend to be assured that a conclusion drawne from
spouse markes of the place where he dwells she saith Least I be as hidden amougst the flockes of thy competitors that is to saie saith saint AVGVSTINE of those that being in the beginninge with thee would assemble without not thy flocke but theire stocks For what is this but to saie that the Church demaundes marks of her spouse not to be discerned from all kinde of things but to be discerned only from the societie of heretickes which beare by false markes the name of Christ and the title of Churches And secondly it is not necessary that the markes in parte that is to saie those that taken separatlie haue not the entire office of markes may not be found euery one a parte without the thing marked but that the thing may not be found without euery one of them nor they taken iointly and altogether without the thing whose marke they are And therefor the argument of the markes in parte separated is good to argue negatiuely and to saie with sainct Austine against the Donatistes The Church hath this most certaine marke that she cannot be hidden she is then knowne to all nations the sect of Donatus is vnknowne to manie nations then that is not she Or with saint IEROM against the Luciferians Hilarius being dead a deacon he could ordaine no Priest after him now that is noe Church that hath noe Priestes or with the same saint AVGVSTINE against all heresies in generall euerie heresie that sitts in corners is a concubine and no matron But the argument of the markes in part taken iointlie is good to argue both negatiuely and affirmatiuely and to conclude with saint AVGVSTINE Suppose then that I omitt this wisedome that you denie to be in the Catholicke Church there are many other thinges that retaine me most iustlie in her lappe The consent of people and nations retaines me The authoritie begun by miracles nourished by hope increased by charitie confirmed by antiquitie retaines me The Succession of Prelates since the sea of Peter to whom or Lord consigned the feeding of his sheepe after his resurrection to the present Bishops Sea retaines me and finallie the very name of Catholicke retaines me which not without cause this Church alone amongst soe manie and soe great heresies hath so maintained as when a stranger askes where they assemble to comunicate in the Catholicke Church there is no hereticke tha dare shew him his owne temple or his owne howse From what places of the voice of the sheepeheard the markes of the Church ought to be taken CHAPTER VI. The continuance of the Kinges answere The king hath learnt from the reading of the holie Scripture and all the Fathers heretofore none excepted held noe otherwise that the true and essentiall forme of the Church is that the sheepe of Christ doe heare the voice of theire pastor THE REPLIE To heare the voice of the Pastor is the office of the sheepe but not the essentiall forme either of the Church or of the sheepe For the essentiall forme of the Church I meane essentiall forme analogically as that of the supposts constituted by aggregation is vnitie in the meanes of vocation to saluation and the essentiall forme of the flocke is the communion and participation to this vnitie The name of Church saith saint CHRISOSTOM is a name of agreement and vnion And saint AVGVSTINE God is one the Church is vnitie nothing agreeth with this one ' but vnitie But if the essentiall forme of the flocke were to heare the voice of the Pastor doth not he heare the voice of the Pastor that heares her voice of whom the Pastor said by the mouth of Esay Thou shalt iudge euerie tongue that resisteth thee in Iudgement And by his owne mouth The gates of Hell shall not preuaile against her And whosoeuer heares her not shall be held as a heathen and a Publican And by the mouth of saint PAVL He hath placed in the Church Apostles Prophets Euangelists Pastors and Doctors c. that we may no more be little children fleeting and wauering with euerie wind of Doctrine And doth not saint AVGVSTINE cry out The truth of Scripture is held by vs when we doe that which pleaseth the vniuersall Church whom the authoritie of the same scriptures recommends And againe There are manie thinges that the vniuersall Church obserueth and which therefore are lawfullie belieued to haue bene deliuered by tradition of the Apostles although we finde them not written And then againe to heare the voice of the Pastor is it not to heare it according to true vnderstanding for doth not TERTVLLIAN pronounce An adulterate glosse doth as much outrage to the truth as a false penne And doth not Saint Hilarie saie The heresie is in the vnderstanding and not in the Scripture the sense and not the word becomes the crime And doth not saint Ierome write The Ghospell is not in the words but in the sense And doth not saint AVGVSTINE cty out All the heretickes which receiue the scriptures thincke to follow them when they follow theire owne errors And in an other place Heretickes were no heretickes but that misvnderstanding the Scripture they defend obstinately theire owne false opinions against the truth thereof And againe Manie things are spoken by Christ in the Scriptures in such a manner as the impions Spirits of heretickes who will needs teach before they are taught are thereby lead into error And vpon saint Iohn The heresies and peruerse doctrines which intangle Soules and cast them headlong into hell haue theire birth no where but from good Scriptures euilly vnderstood And so is not the question still to whom it belongs to iudge infalliblie of the true sense of the Scripture Moreouer the first voice of the shepheard that the Fathers summond the sheepe to heare is it not that whereby he designes the markes of his Sheepefolde that is of his Church I haue said saint AVGVSTINE the most manifest voice of my pastor who recommends and expresses to me his Church without anie ambigiutie I must blame myself if for the wordes of men I straie from his floke which is the Church since principallie he admonishes me saying My sheepe heare my voyce Now which is this voice of the pastor wherein Saint AVGVSTINE will haue vs seeke for the markes of the Church but that wich expresses not the doctrine contested betweene him and his aduersaries which was that of the truth of the baptisme giuen by hereticks but the prerogatiues of eminencie perpetuitie vniuersalitie and other externall and sensible markes and conditions promised to the Church If the holie Scriptures saith saint AVGVSTINE haue designed the 〈◊〉 only in Africa and in a little medly of men dwelling in the rockes and Mountaines neere Rome and in the howse and territorie of a spanish Ladie though whatsoeuer other pamphlets may be produced there are none but the Donatists that haue the Church if the
For first the word Ecclesia Church is deriued from a verbe which signifies to call and not to predestinate frō whence S. Paul confirming the vse of this etymology inscribes his first to the Corinthians To the Saints called And in the epistle to the Ephes. he saith One bodie and one Spirit as you are called in one hope of your vocatiō And in the epist. to the Coloss. Lett the peace of Christ rule in your harts by which you are called in one-selfe bodie And secondly the Church is a Societie and there is this difference betweene a simple multitude and a societie that the societie adds to the partes of the multitude a condition and a certaine caracter as it were in vertue whereof they may cōmunicate together Now predestination as it is simple predestination puts nothing into the persons of the predestinate and is not made in them but in God only and by consequent doth not make them actually partes of the Church Our predestination saith S. AVGVST is not made in vs but in God the three other things are made in vs vocation iustification and glorification For that that is alleadged out of saint Paul that God knowes those that are his and hath marked them with his signet must be vnderstood that he hath marked the predestinate in himselfe that is to saie in his eternall determination and not in them as an Architect who designes in his spirit certaine stones that he will imploy in his building markes thē not by this mentall designation in them but in himselfe and makes thē not by this simple determinatiō actuall partes of his building I meane to be briefe that the vniō that cōstitutes men in the Church is in thē now the vnion that the predestinate haue in God as they are simplie predestinate is not in thē but in God alone And so it is not the vnion of predestination but that of vocatiō that cōstitutes men in the Church Thirdly S. Paul teacheth vs that the Church is the bodie of Christ and that by analogie to an organicall body God saith he constituted him head ouer all the Church which is his bodie And againe I accomplish that which wātes of the passions of Christ in my flesh for his bodie which is the Church Now it is of the essence of an organicall bodie as it is organicall to be composed of diuers offices members and parts If all the members saith S. Paul were one member where should the bodie be And by this reason the schoolemen proue that the heauens are not animated or liuing bodies because they are not organicall bodies and they proue they are not organicall bodies because they are not made vp of heterogeneall and different partes in cōposition and cōplexiō And therefore it is of the essence of the Church to haue distinction of members organs and offices is the Church doth not arise from the hidden and eternall predestinatiō for then the not predestinate could not be ministers and pastors of the Church but from externall and tēporall vocation And by consequent it is in the externall visible and temporall vocation and not in predestination which is internall to God hiddē and eternall that the being and essentiall forme of the Church consists Fowrthly the same Saint Paul saith that God hath tempered the honor of the members that there might be no schisme in the body Now the predestinate are not capable of schisme as they are predestinat but as they are called so it is not predestination but vocation that frames the bodie of the Church Fiftly he affirmes the Church to be our mother the superior Ierusalem saith he that is 〈◊〉 saie Ierusalē taken not accordinge to the lowlynes of the legall 〈◊〉 but according to the height of the Euangelicall sense is free which is our mother And he addes that it is of her that 〈◊〉 writes Reioyce thou barren woman that bringst not forth children Now the Church doth not engēder vs by predestination for God alone is the author of predestination and not the Church but by vocation and consequently it is vocation and not predestination that cōstitutes the Church in the state of a Church mother of the faithfull Moreouer the knowledge of being Children to the mother is before the knowledge of being Children to the father by the interposition of the mothers authoritie saith saint AVG wee are perswaded of the true Father For that that Aristotle writes That in certaine partes of the vpper 〈◊〉 where women were common they discerned the children by the resēblance they had to theire fathers was good for those people where that similitude had place but we in whose nature the image of God is soe defaced by the spott of originall sinne as we can noe more be knowne to be his children by vertue of naturall similitude only there is noe other meanes for vs to pretend to this quality but that we are regenerated by him in our spirituall mother which is the Church his only spouse And for this cause the Ancientes are soe carefull to saie that he shall not haue God for his Father that denies the Church for his mother and that if any be out of the Church he shall be excluded out of the mumber of the children and to exhort the Christians to doe like the Xanthians in taking the Surname of theire mother that is to say the title of Catholicke We receiue the holy Ghost saith Saint AVGVSTINE if we loe the Church if we be knitt in one bodie by charitie if we reioyce in the Catholicke name and faith Now the certaintie of being Children to the Church cannot serue vs for a meanes and path way to come to the perswasion of being the children of God if the definition of the Church consist in the hidden and inuisible secret of predestination For by this definitiō contrarywise we must be assured to be Children of God and comprehended in the Rolle of the predestinate before we can be assured that we are the Children of the Church So the definition of the Church ought to consist not in the hidden and inuisiblie condition of predestination but in the externall and visible condicion of vocation Also we see that our Lord who was the God-father of this Societie and gaue it the name of the Church in that sense that she ought to beare it hath neuer vsed that name neither he nor his Apostles but to designe a visible Societie constituted by externall and temporall vocation For when he saith Vpon this rocke I will builde my Church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her And I will giue thee the keyes of the the kingdome of heauen this word in the future tense I will build shewes he speakes of a Church constituted not by prestination which was established from all eternitie but by externall and temporall vocation And the word keyes which signifies the authority of the ministery confirmes it
the Scriptures in that they were with me we both celebrated the martyrs feastes in that they were with me we both frequented the solemnity of Easter in that they were with me but they were not with me in all things in schisme they were deuided from me in heresie they were deuided from me in manie things with me and in few deuided from me but because of these few thinges wherein they were deuided from me the manie things wherein they were with me profited them nothing And so it is vnprofitable to those societies whereof his Maiestie speaketh to obtaine the name of Churches that they be vnited in most pointes necessary for saluation if they be not vnited in all and particularly in the knowledge and acknowledgement of the true Catholicke Church and consequently not supposing her to be visible The fowrth battaile is that the vniuersall distinction of things necessarie or not necessarie to saluation cannot be assuredly made by the iudgement of euery particular person but it dependes of the iudgement of the Church For there is noe Sect but belieues that those thinges which they hold are only necessary to saluation and that all which others hold ouer and aboue are either pernicious or superfluous Pelagius and Celestius saith Saint AVG. desiring fraudulentlie to auoid the hatefull name of heresies affirme that the question of originall sinne may be disputed without danger of saith And Saint AVGVSTINE contrarywise cryes out that it belongs to the foundation of faith We may said he indure a disputant which 〈◊〉 in other questions not yet diligentlie examined not yet established by the whole authoritie of the Church theire errors may be borne with but it must not passe soe farr as to attempt to shake the foundation of the Church And Luther speakinge of the controuersies of the Reall presence vnder both kindes and of the orall manducation of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist Zuinglius and Oecolampadius said he alleadge that the question betweene them and vs is a light matter and a little difference not worthie that by occasion thereof Christian charitie should be broken But LVTHER contrarywise cryes out Eternallie cursed be this concord and this charitie because it doth not only miserablie rend the Church but after the diuells fashion mockes her And againe I take to witnesse God and man that I agree not with the Sacramentaries that is with the Zuinglians and Caluinists nor euer did agree with them nor by the helpe of God 〈◊〉 will agree with them and that I desire my handes may be cleane from the bloud of all those whose soules by this poyson they haue turned from Christ and slaine And a little after We will auoid them we will resist and condemne them to the last breath as Idolators corrupters of Gods word blasphemers and seducers So that before we can be assured of entire vnitie in things necessarie to saluation we must heare the iudgement of the Church and consequently suppose her to be visible The fifth battaile is that it is not euough for the constitution of a Church that the persons where of it consistes should be vnited among themselues in matters necessarie to saluation if they be not also deuided from the externall communion of all other societies which holde things repugnant to saluation For it sufficeth that we be vnited with anie Congregation which belieueth anie one point repugnant to Saluation although we be well perswaded in all the rest nay and euen in that alsoe to be excluded from the participation of the Church for whosoeuer communicates in matter of Religion with anie Societie is answerable for all the pointes vnder the obligation whereof he receiueth men to his communion From whence it ariseth that a multitude of men of diuers externall communions such as his Maiestie hereafter propounds as a number of men of the Roman Communion a number of men of the Greeke communion and a number of men of the Ethiopian Communion cannot constitute a common Church for as much as though they are vnited in the beliefe of most things necessarie to saluation neuerthelesse there are things repugnant to saluation wherein some of them are vnited by the bond of theire externall Communions with the body of theire Sects which externall vnion though the internall went not with it is sufficient to depriue them from the participation of the Church The sixth battaile is that the vnitie of faith which enters into the essentiall definition of the Church is not simply the vnitie of internall faith but the vnitie of externall faith For the vnitie of faith which concurrs to the formall constitution of the Church is that which serues for a foundation to the commerce of Ecclesiasticall Charitie that is to saie by meanes whereof the members of the mysticall bodie of Christ may acknowledge and embrace one an other as brothers and members of one and the same bodie Now this is the vnitie of exteruall and professed faith and not that of hidden and internall which serues for nothing neither for 〈◊〉 nor for saluation if it be not made manifest and externall For our Lord cryes out Hee that will confesse me before men I will confesse him before God my Father And saint PAVL We make confession with our mouthes to saluation And saint AGVST We cannot be saued vnlesse labouring also for the saluation of others we professe with our mouthes the same faith which we be are in our hartēs And againe Peraduenture said he some one may saie there are other sheepe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I am not acquainted with but God hath care of them But he is too absurd in human sense that can imagine such thinges And finally the seuenth battaile is that the vnitie of faith euen externall and professed 〈◊〉 not for the constitution of the Church if the vnitie of the visible and Sacramentall Communion with the originall body of the Church and the vniuersall societie of the true pastors be not added to it You are with vs 〈◊〉 Saint AVGVSTINE to the Donatists in baptisme in 〈◊〉 Creede in the other Sacraments of our Lord but in the spirit of vnitie in the bond of peace and finally in the Catholicke Church you are not with vs. And Saint IEROM There is this difference betweene schisme and heresie that heresie holdes a false doctrine and schisme for Episcopall dissention equallie separates men from the Church Of other inuisible vnions CHAP. XI The continuance of the Kinges answere THey are vnited by the coniunction of spirits and by the offices of true Charitie and aboue all by that of mutuall prayers They are finally ioyned by the communion of one selfesame hope and by the expectation of one promised inheritance THE REPLIE NEITHER can there be a true Communion of Spirits where the visible and sacramentall Communiō of bodies is excluded that is to 〈◊〉 where the parties doe noe admitt one an other to the Communion and participation os the
presumption aboue their fellowes of whose predestination they haue not the like certaintie and makes them lesse diligent to stand vpon theire guarde and to practise this commaundement of our Lord watch and pray for feare least you enter into temptation And therefore as the prince of the Roman harpe sings God by his wisdome from wans nature frayle The whole successe of future thinges doth vaile The fowrth that S. AVGVST the greatest doctor in the point of predestinatiō that hath bene since the Apostles yea the organ and the voice of the primitiue Church in this questiom teacheth vs that this beliefe is full of presumption and preiudiciall to saluation Although saith he that the iust are assured of thereward os 〈◊〉 perseuerance yet they are incertaine of their perseuerance for who is he 〈◊〉 men that knowes he shall perseuere in the workes and progresse of iustice to the end if he be not made certaine thereof by some reuelation from him who by a iust and secret iudgement instructs not all but deceiues none And in an other place Who is he among the faithfull that will presume during this mortall life to be of the number of the predestinate for it is needefull that that be concealed in this world And a little after Many like things are said for the profit of this secret least peraduenture some might be puft vp and that euen those that runn well might feare while it is vncertaine whither they shall arriue And againe Such presumption is not profitable in this place of temptations where the infirmitie is soe great as assurance might begett pride And thus much is said in regarde of 〈◊〉 It restes nowe to solue the obiections of the places of Scripture that the aduersaryes of the Church alleage against this doctrine They saie thē that Saint Paule writes the spirit of God giues testimonie to our Spirit or accordinge to the greekes helpes our Spirit to testifie to vs that we are the children of God and if children heires It is true but they tell vs not that he addes presently after this conditionall clause if we goe forwarde in our sufferings They saie he writes I am certaine or accordinge to the greeke I am persuaded that neither death nor life etc. can seperate vs from the charitie of Christ. It is true but they tell vs not that he speakes there of all the predestinate in generall into whose number he putts himselfe and those to whome he writes by a figure which the grāmarians call syllepsis and accordinge to the rule not of Faith but of Charitie which wills that in all thinges concealed from vs we should iudge in the better parte They saie he writes The vocation and the guiftes of God are without repentance It is true but there he speakes of the generall calling of the people of the Iewes made in the olde Testament were of he saith God hath not 〈◊〉 because yet one daie he will recall their nation into the bosome of the Church And euen those that stretch this passage by analogy to the callinge of particular persons either explicate it of vocation accordinge to predestination which is as much vnknowne as predestination it selfe or they intend that the guifts and vocation of god are without tepentance on his parte that is to saie that God neuer withdrawes himselfe from vs vnlesse wee withdrawe ourselues from him And therefore as Saint Paule saith the vocation and the guists of god are without repentance soe Saint Peter saith take paines to secure your vocation and election by good workes They saie he writes we haue the pledge of the holie Ghost in our hartes It is true but it is not sufficient for our assurance to obtaine the inheritance of life eternall that we haue this pledge if we be not as well assured not to loose it a thinge that Saint Paul is soe farr from assuringe vs that contrarily he cryes out quenche not the spirit They saie Saint Iohn writes perfect charitie driues awaieseare It is true but besides that Saint Iohn speakes there of perfect Charitie which euery particular man ought to desire but not presume he hath it for feare of loosinge it in loosinge humilitie the feare that saint Iohn pretendes to be excluded by this excellent Charity is as Sanit AVGVSTINE saith 〈◊〉 feare that is the feare of loosinge the grace of God for feare of the paine of eternall fire and not the filiall feare which is the feare of looseinge the grace of God for the loue of God himselfe and for feare of being depriued and seperated from his presence And therefore as S. Iohn saith in the place cited by them perfect charitie castes out feare Soe he saith in an other place Thou hast lost thy first charitie remember from whence 〈◊〉 art salien and doe thy first workes And againe Holde that thou hast least thy 〈◊〉 be taken from thee And from this is nothinge derogatory that which they obiect that the 〈◊〉 of this certaintie makes men despaire of theire saluation For betweene the certaintie of saluation and despaire there is a middle way which is hope that while it lastes as it ought alwaies to laste in a Christian man is incompatible with dispaire and sussizeth to comforte vs and hinder vs if we perseuer in it from being confounded And although it imprint not in vs an infallible certainty of our saluation for then it were theologicall saith and noe more hope yet it causeth in vs morall faith which we call confidence by the meanes of likelyhoodes coniectures that the good motions wherewith god inspires vs giue vs of our predestination Learne in part saith Saint AVGVSTINE condiscite as S. PAVL 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the goodnesse and straightnes of your course that you belonge to the predestination of diuine grace And againe you thē alsoe ought to hope from the father of lightes from whom descendes euerie excellent guift and euerie perfect present the perseuerance to obaie and aske it of him with dailie prayers and doeing so confide not to be excluded from the predestination of his people since it is himselfe that giues vs grace to doe it And a little after Of life eternall saith he which God who is noe lyer hath 〈◊〉 before all times to the Children of promise none can be assured till this life be finished but he will make vs perseuer in him to whom we saie euerie daie leade vs not into temptation that is to saie as it ariseth from the protestation of the preceding period but we ought to hope that he will make vs perseuer in him to whom we saie euerie daie leade vs not into temptation Of the inequalitie of these two phrases to communicate with the Catholicke Church and to communicate with some member of the Church departing from the rule of faith CHAP. XIII The continuance of the Kinges answere BVT the king adds that this very Church
Palestina These were all complaintes which still remain'd within the limites of theire manners and neither touched the faith of the Roman Church nor the succession of saint Peter nor the communion of the Apostolicall Sea nor the very person of the Pope And indeede how could saint IEROME applie these wordes of the Reuelation Goe out of Babylon to the Cittie of Rome for anie thinge concerninge faith and Religion He that cryes out in his apologie against RVFFINVS Which faith is it that he calls his that that the Roman Church holdes or that that is contained in Origens bookes if he answere that that the Roman Church holdes then we are Catholickes And in the Epistle to THEOPHILVS Patriarche of Alexandria Know that we haue nothinge in greater recommendation then to conserue the statutes of Christ and not to transgresse the bounds of our fathers and alwaies to remember the Roman faith praysed by the mouth of the Apostle whereof the Alexandrian Church doth glorie to partake And in the Epistle to DEMETRIAS When thou wert little and that the Bishop Anastasius of 〈◊〉 aud happie memorie gouuerned the Roman Church a cruell tempest of 〈◊〉 risen out of the Easterne partes attempted to pollute and corrupt the 〈◊〉 of that faith which had bene commended by the mouth of the Apostle but this 〈◊〉 Pope Anastasius riche in a most plentifull pouertie and iu an Apostolicall care brake the pestilent head and stopped the hissinge mouthes of 〈◊〉 Hydra And because I feare yea I haue heard saie that the budds of this venimous plante doe still liue and springe vp in some I thought it my 〈◊〉 to admonish thee in a deuout zeale of charitie that thou keepe fast the faith of Saint INNOCENT his sonne and Successor in the Apostolicall Chaire And in the Epistle to Pope DAMASVS I am chayned in communion with thy blessednesse that is with Peters Chaire I know the Church is built vpon that rocke if anie eate the lambe out of that howse he is prophane And a little after I know not Vitalis I reiect Meletius I am ignorant of Paulinus whosoeuer gathers not with thee scatters that is to saie whosoeuer is not of Christ is of Antichrist Far then was hee from holdinge the Church of Rome for Babylon and the Pope for Antichrist since he held whosoeuer did not communicate with the Pope for Antichrist The third exposition is of them who interpret the allegoricall Babylon to be the Monarchy of the Turkes who with its false Prophet Mahomet haue possessed all the citties and particularly those of the seuen Churches of Asia to which S. Iohn addressed his reuelatioÌ„ and which hath giuen vp her soule to the perished beast that is to saie hath againe takeÌ„ the office and ranke of the pagan Emperors blasphmers and persecutors of the name of Christ and hath vsurped the Seate whither theire succession had bene transferd to witt Constantinople and who is clothed with purple that is hath the Emperiall power and authority whose simbole in Saint Iohns tyme was purple and which is seated be it literally vpon seuen Mountaines for Constantinople hath seuen Mountaines as old Rome had for moderne Rome hath nyne Or be it accordinge to the allegoricall interpretation of Saint Iohn vpon seuen kings that is to say vpon the seuen Empires that followe the impietie of Mahomett And in briefe which hath soe many other affinities with the Babylon in the ReuelatioÌ„ as OECOLAMP and BVLLINGER are constrayned to giue her two seates and conâ—â—â—â—uâ—e two Antichrists one in the weste and an other in the East Now which of these expositioÌ„s answeres the precise inteÌ„tion of the Author or whether the perfect accoÌ„plishment of these thinges be yet to come and should be vnderstood of a Societie which shall not arise till after the Ghospell haue bene actually preached to all the nations of the world as all ancient writers are agreed that the Monarchie of Antichrist which the ProtestaÌ„ts esteene to be one thinge with the Babylon of the Reuelation shall not come till after that tyme it is not heere our purpose to examine But in summe that that Babylon where of the reuelation speaketh can be seriouslie taken for the cittie of Rome the antithesis that saint IOHN makes of Babylon and Ierusalem which teacheth vs that as the Ierusalem described by the same Reuelation is not a locall cittie soe Babylon described by the same Reuelation is not a locall and corporall cittie takes from vs all colour to belieue it And therefore ARETHAS who beinge a grecian and a schismaticke as he is held to bee had had more interest to interpret this passage of Rome resolues in the end that it cannot be vnderstood neither of Rome nor of Constantinople but of the state of this corruptible world It appeares saies he vndoubtlie by this place that the thinges which are heere foretolde should neither be vnderstood of Babylon nor of olde nor newe Rome that is Constantinople nor of any other cittie but of all this corruptible world And that she may be taken for a Church which in the beginninge was a true Church of Christ and since growne false and adulterate bearinge neuerthelesse still the title of a Church the figure of Babylon which was from the beginninge founded by Nimrod a pagan and infidell and after alwaies perseuered in paganisme and in the open profession of infidelitie till the fall of her Empire cannot beare it Contrarywise that which saint IOHN saith that all those whose names are not written in the booke of life haue worshipped the beast vpon which the harlott sitts seemes to insinuate that he speaks of the societie of all the reprobate of what soeuer Secte Religion and profession they haue bene as well Iewes Gentiles Heretickes Schismatickes as euill Catholickes and not of any determinate Communion Yet we avowe neuerthelesse that the Fathers haue some-tymes turned the wordes of Isay and Ieremy from whence those wordes of the Reuelation are takeÌ„ to make vse of them against the particular Sect of the Arrians As when OSIVS and after him S. ATHANAS say the Scripture cryes out depart depart goe out from her and touch not her vncleanesse Withdrawe you from the midst of them separate your-selues froÌ„ theÌ„ you that carrie the vessells of our Lord. But besides that they haue neuer preteÌ„ded that this precept should be exteÌ„ded to all the multitude of ChristiaÌ„s and that there might come a tyme wherein there were noe externall CoÌ„munion visible and eminent out of which it should be vnlawfull to goe forth which is that which is in question There is great difference betweene the conceites allusions that the Fathers made vpon the allegoricall expositions of the passages of the Scripture and the proper and direct vnderstandinge of the same passages which is that onely from whence we may argue seriouslie And therefore when the Donatists in the conference of Carthage would haue made vse of the same wordes against the
apostasy to wit whether hee meane the reuolte of the people from the Roman Empire or the reuolte of 〈◊〉 Christians from the Religion of Christ to that of Mahomet or the reuolte of the Iewes from vnder all the temporall principalities within whose estates they are dispersed to revnite themselues in a newe monarchie vnder theire pretended Messias that is to saie vnder Antichrist As little will I stand to examine whether this temple of God wherein the sonne of perdition shall sitt be to be vnderstood by the materiall temple of Ierusalem when Antichrist shall haue caused it to be reedified as Sainct IRENEVS cont haeres lib. 5. cap. 30. protestes in these wordes When Antichrist shall haue laied desolate all things heere in this world and shal haue raigned three yeares and a halfe and shall be sett in the temple at Ierusalem then the Lord shall come from Heauen And as it seemes to be gathered from the relation of the speech of Sainct PAVLE to those wordes of DANIEL spoken of the Iewish temple and cited by our Lord vpon the speeche of the locall temple of Ierusalem the abhomination of desolation shall be in the temple from whence it is that auntient writers note that Iulian the Apostata one of the figures of Antichrist would haue attempted to reedifie it Or whether it be to bee vnderstood by the Iewish nation whom God had first chosen for his liuinge temple in which Antichrist shall place his throne followinge this prophecy of our Lord to the Iewes I am come in the name of my father and you haue not receiued me if an other come in his owne name you will receiue him Or whether it be to be vnderstood of nations heeretofore Christian in who temples now turned into mosqueas now there Mahomet the fore-runner of Antichrist sitts and that one daie shall ioyne with the Iewes to receiue Antichrist It is sufficīet that all the fathers are agreed vpon two thinges the one that Antichrist shall be the pretended Christ and Messias of the Iewes Antichrist saith Saint HILLARIE shall be receiued by the Iewes And Saint CYRILL of Ierusalem saith he shall deceiue the Iewes as beinge the Christ expected by them And Saint IEROM Wee know that Antichrist shall be the Christ of the Iewes And S. CHRYSOSTOME Christ argues the imposture of the Iewes by the expectation of Antichrist in that they not receiued him that qualified himselfe as sent from God and him that shall not acknowledge God but glorifie himselfe to be the soueraigne God they will adore And Saint AVGVSTINE Christ by these words if an other come in his owne name you will receiue him signifies that the Iewes shall receiue Antichrist And againe The Iewes shall fall into his nett of whom our Lord hath said I am come in my fathers name and you haue not receiued me an other shall come in his owne name and you shall receiue him And of whom the Apostle writes that the man of sinne and the Sonne of perdition shall be reuealed who shall oppose and exalte himselfe aboue all that shall be called God And S. CYRILL of Alexandria speakinge to the Iewes in the person of our Lord you shall receiue for as God I know all things him that shall come vnder a selfe title And THEODORET The Iewes which haue crucified our Lord because he called himself the Sonne of God shall giue creditt to Antichrist that shall call himselfe h the great God From whence it appeares that neither Antichrist shall take the title of a Christian nor his faction the title of a Church although they possesse many peoples and nations which haue before possessed the name of a Church since all the Fathers agree that he shall be receined by the Iewes The other thinge wherein the Fathers agree is that this apostacie shall bringe noe interruption to the course and visible succession of the Catholicke Church that is to saie it shall not hinder but that there shall be alwaies a Christian Societie illustrious and eminent aboue all false and pretended Churches from whose communion it shall be forbidden to departe as Saint AVGVSTINE declares in these wordes If the Church should not be heere till the end of the world why did Christ saie I ame with you to the end of the world And in an other place speakeinge of the very comeinge of Antichrist whose raigne hee deemed should be but three yeares and a halfe Let none imagine saith he that that little while that the Diuell shall be vnbounde there shall be noe Church vpon the earth And shortly after disputinge whether while that short space of tyme lasted the diuell should be so vnbound as that he should hinder anie from entringe into the Church either Children by baptisme or men by Conuersion but said he We should rather belieue that euen then there will not want people both to goe out of the Church and to come into the Church for certainly both fathers will be soe couragious as to giue baptisme to theire children and those that then beginn first to beleeue will be soe constāt as they will cōquer this stronge one euen although he be vnboūd Whereby he shewes plainely that he speakes not of a Church hidden and vnknowne but of a Church visible and exposed to the eyes and knowledge of men The sowrth obiectiō is that the woeman that had brought forth him that ought to rule the nations fledd into the wildernesse And againe that two winges of a great Eagle were giuen to the woeman to flye into the wildernesse For these two retreates into the wildernesse are but one retreate repeated by two seuerall descriptions betweene the which is inserted the fall of the diuell to shewe the the cause of the reuenge that he would haue exercised vpon the woeman From this retreate then they conclude that the Church shall then be inuisible But besides that the same answeres alreadie propounded against the argumentes which are drawne from the allegoricall expositions of the reuelation are alsoe of force against this allegation what shall hinder vs from interpretinge this passage with Saint AVGV of the blessed virgin who brought forth him that ought to rule the nations and who is described crowned with starrs because she was descended from the race of the twelue Patriarches who in Iosephs dreame were sigured by ste starrs and who is represented enuironed by the Sunne because according to the translation of the seuentie which is that the Apostles haue followed the Psalmist singeth He hath pitched his tabernacle in the Sunn And who shall hinder vs from sayinge the wildernesse wither she flew was heauen into which she was assumed after her death which the Grecians call wildernesse because it is exempt from all generation wherefore Pindarus calleth the heauen a desert or wildernesse in these verses If thou of combates honor mean'st to singe Seeke not when daie on the horizon stayes A
Schismatickes but alsoe heretickes Thou art said he to Gaudentius both a Schismaticke by sacriligious dissention and an hereticke by sacriligious doctrine But the principall difference that wee obserue is that all call those that haue begunne with dissention in faith and to whom Schisme hath but the place of an accessory heretickes and those that haue begunne with schisme and to whom heresie is come accessorily after the schisme as the feuer after the wound Schismatickes Of the agreement of the ancient Catholicke Church with the moderne CHAP. XVIII The continuance of the Kinges answere ANd heere most Illustrious Cardinall his Maiestie requires from you that you will represent to your selfe how great Difference there is betweene Saint AVGVSTINS tyme and this of ours how the sace and all the exterior forme of the Church to saie nothinge of the interior is changed THE REPLIE THis is the request that I would myselfe most humblie make to his Maiestie to witt to sett before his eyes the estate of the Catholicke Church in the tyme of Saint AVGVSTINE and of the fower first Councells A Church that belieued a the true and reall presence and the orall manducation of the Bodie of Christ in the Sacrament vnder the kindes and within the Sacramentall kindes as Zuinglius the principall Patriarch of the Sacramentaries acknowledgeth himselfe in these wordes From the tyme of Saint AVGVSTINE that is 1200. yeares agoe the opinion of corporall flesh had alreadie gotten the masterie A church that in this qualitie adored the Eucharist not onely with thought and inward deuotions but with outward gestures and adorations actually reallie and substantiallie the true and proper bodie of Christ. For I will not speake now of Transubstantiation for which I reserue a treatise apart A Church that belieued the bodie of Christ to be in the Sacramēt euen besides the vse and for this cause kept it after Consecration for domesticall communions to giue to sicke persons to carry vpon the Sea to send into farr prouinces A Church that belieued that the communion vnder both kindes was not necessary for the integritie of participation but that all the Body and all the blood was taken in either kinde and for this cause in domesticall communions in communions for Children in communions for sicke persons in communions by Sea in communions of penitentes at the hower of Death in communions sent into farr prouinces they distributed it vnder one kinde A Church that belieued that the Eucharist was a true full and intire Sacrifice it alone succeedinge all the Sacrifice of the lawe the newe Oblation of the newe Testament the externall worshipp of latria of the Christians and not onely an Eucharistiall Sacrifice but alsoe a Sacrifice propitiatory by application of that of the Crosse and in this qualitie offered it as well for the absent as for the present aswell for the communicantes as for the non-communicantes as well for the liuinge as for the dead A Church that for the oblation of this sacrifice vsed Altars both of wood and stone erected and Dedicated to God in memory of the martyrs and consecrated them by certaine formes of wordes and ceremonies and amōgst others by the in shriuinge theire relickes A church wherein the faithfull made voyages and pilgrimages to the bodies of the said Martirs to be associated to theire merites and helped by theire intercessions prayed the holy martyrs to pray to God for them celebrated theire Feastes reuerenced theire relickes made vse of them to exorcise euill spirites kissed them caused them to be touched with flowers carried them in clothes of silke and in vessells of gold prostrated themselues before theire shrines offered sacrifices to God vpon theire tombes touched the grates of the places where theire relickes were kept tooke and esteemed the dust from vnder theire relickaryes and went to pray to the martires not onely for spirituall health but for the health and temporall prosperity of theire families carried theire Children yea theire sicke cattell to be healed And when they had receiued some helpe from God by the intercession of the said martyrs hunge vp in the temples and vpon the Altars erected to theire memory for tribute and memoriall of the obtayninge of theire vowe images of golde and siluer of those partes of theire bodie that had bene healed And when the godly and learned Bishops of the ancient tyme reporte these thinges they celebrate and exalt them as soe many beames flashes and triumphes of the glory of Christ. A Church which held the apostolicall traditions not written but cōsigned viua voce and by the visible and ocular practise of the Apostles to theire successors to be equall to the Apostolicall writinges and held for apostolicall tradions all the selfe same thinges that we acknowledge and embrace in the qualitie of apostolicall traditions A Church that offered prayers both priuate and publicke for the Dead to the end to game ease and rest for them and to obtaine that God would vse them more mercifullie then theire sinnes deserued and held this custome for a thinge necessary for the refreshinge of theire soules and for a doctrine of apostolicall tradition and placed those that obserued it not in the Cataloge of heretickes A Church that held the fast of the 40. daies of Lent for a Custome not free and voluntary but necessary and of Apostolicall tradition and reckoned amongst heretickes those that obserued it not and duringe the tyme of Lent as in a generall mourninge of Christians forbadd the Celebration of weddinges and the solemnisations of marriages A Church that out of Pentecost held the fast of all the Fridaies in the yeares in memory of the Death of Christ except Christmasse day fell vpon one which she excepted namely as an apostolicall tradition For I speake not of wednesdaies supplyed in the west by satturdaies A Church that held the interdiction made to Bishops Priestes and Deacons to marry after theire promotion for a thinge necessary and of apostolicall tradition A Church that held marriage after the vowe of virginitie a sinne and that by apostolicall tradition and reputed religious men and religious weemen that married after the solēne vowe of single life not onely for adulterers but for incestuous persons A Church that held the l minglinge of water with wine in the Sacrifice of the Eucharist for a thinge necessary and of diuine and Apostolicall tradition A Church that held the exorcismes exsufflations and renunciations which are made in baptisme for sacred Ceremonies and of Apostolicall tradition A Church that besides baptisme and the Eucharist which were the two initiatinge-Sacramentes of Christian Religion held Confirmation made with the Chrisme and the signe of the Crosse and allowed onely to Bishops the power
to conferr it Marriage for a true and proper Sacrament Pennance for a true and proper Sacrament and vocall Confession to the Pastors of the Church for one of the Conditiōs necessary to this Sacrament Order for a true and proper Sacrament and Extreame Onction for a true and proper Sacramēt which are the seuen Sacramentes that the Roman Church acknowledges and the Greeke Communion alsoe makes profession to embrace with vs. A Church which in the Ceremonies of baptisme vsed oyle salte waxe lights exorcismes the signe of the Crose the word Epheta and other thinges that accompanie it to testifie by oyle that in baptisme wee are made Christians that is partakers of the vnction of Christ by salte that God contracted with vs in baptisme an alliance for euer followinge the stile of the Scripture which calls eternall alliances alliances of salte by the light that Christ is the light that enlightens all men commeinge into the world by exorcismes that baptisme puts vs out of the Diuells possession by the signe of the Crosse that it is the Death of Christ that giues strength to all Sacramentes by the word Epheta that God accomplisheth spiritually in vs by baptisme what he wrought corporally in the deafe and dumbe man A Church that esteemed baptisme for persons of full age necessary with a conditionall necessitie and for children necessary with an absolute necessitie and for this cause permitted lay men to baptise in danger of death A Church that vsed holy water consecrated by certaine wordes and ceremonies and made vse of it both for baptisme and against inchantments and to make exorcismes and coniurations against euill spirits Frō whence it is that S. Gregory the great who though he were after the first fower Councells yet not to be excepted against by English men who tooke the originall of their mission from him ordained when Englad returned backe from paganisme to Christiā Religiō that the temples should not be demolished but expiated by the sprinkling of holy water A Church that in the oeconomy of Ecclesiasticall ministrie held diuers degrees the Bishop the Priest the Deacō the Acolite the Exorcist the Reader and the Porter and consecrated and blessed them with diuers formes and ceremonies And in the order Episcopall acknowledged diuers seates of iurisdictīo of positiue right to witt Archbishops Primates Patriarckes and one supereminent by diuine law which was the Pope without whom nothing could be decided appertayning to the vniuersall Church the want of whose presēce either by himself or by his legates or his confirmation made all Councells pretended to be vniuersall vnlawfull A Church wich held a succession of Bishops not interrupted since the first mission of the Apostles for an essentiall condition of her reputed those who had it not or that communicated with those that had it not for Schismatiks and cul pable of the same Curse with Core Dathan and 〈◊〉 A Church that held the distinction of Bishop and Priest and namely in the acte of ordinatiō for a thing of diuine law and Apostolicall tradition and condemned as hereticks those that held it not A Church that held free will for a doctrine of faith reuealed in the holy scripture that held that faith onely without Euāgelicall works is not sufficient for saluation that wicked men perseuering to the end were reprobates but not predestinate to euill that the certainty that particular men presumed to haue of their predestination was a rashe bouldnes A Church wherein their seruice was said throughout the East in Greeke and through the west aswell in Africa as in Europe in Latine although that in none of the prouinces neither of Europe nor Africa except in Italie in the citties where the Roman colonyes resided the latine were vnderstood by the simple people but onely by the learned In briefe a Church that vsed either in gender or in species either informe or in analogie the very same ceremonies vvhich are the vvords vvell knovven the all men vvhich the Catholique vseth vniuersally at this 〈◊〉 obserued the distinctīo of the Feasts and ordinary daies the distinction of Ecclesiasticall and lay habits the reuerence of sacred vessells the custome of shauing and vnction for the collation of orders the ceremonie of vvashing their hands at the Altar before the consecration of the mysteries the kisse of peace before the 〈◊〉 pronounced a part of the seruice at the Altar vvith a lovv voice and vvheard made processions vvith the relickes of the martyrs accompained the dead to their 〈◊〉 vvith vvax tapers in signe of ioy and future certainty of their resurrectiō had the pictures of Christ and his Saînts both out of Churches and in Churches and vpon the very altars of martyrs not to adore them as adoration signifies di nine vvorship but to reuerence by them the souldiers and champions of Christ vsed the signe of the crosse in all their conuersations imprinted it on the forehead of their catechumenists painted it on the portall of all the hovvses of the faithfull gaue the blessing to the people vvith their hand by the signe of the Crosse imployed it to driue away evill spirits proposed in Ierusalē the very Crosse to be adored on good friday vsed incense in their Synaxes not particularly incēse of Arabia but indifferently odoriferous gummes for they held not incense for sacrifice as in the tyme of the lawe but for a simple ceremony designed to represent the effect of prayers described by these wordes of Dauid Let my prayer arise euen as incense into thy presence And by these of the Reuelation The smoke of the incense of the prayers of the Saints ascended from the hand of the Angell before God And finally a Church which held that the Catholicke Church had the infallible promise that she should be perpetually visible and eminent in her communion perpetually pure and vncorrupted in her doctrine and in her Sacramentes and perpetually bound and cōtinued in the succession of her ministrie and that to her onely belonges the keeping of the Apostolicall traditions the authority of the interpretation of scripture and the decision of controuersies of Faith and that out of the succession of her Communion of her doctrine and of her ministrie there was neither Church nor saluation Beholde what the excellent King when it shall please him to consider it at sufficient leasure shall finde the Catholicke Church to haue bene in the tyme of saint AVG. and of the 4 first Councelles Let his Maiestie see whether by these features he can knowe the face of Caluines Church or of ours Of the conformitie or inconformitie of the sense wherein the word Catholicke hath bene cōmon to the ancient Catholicke Church and to the moderne
manie called it in question yet as for him 〈◊〉 reiected it not The Councell of Constantinople surnamed 〈◊〉 held longe after condemned it And Photius the Patriarke of Constantinople yet later saith It can hardly be iustified from Arrianisme which makes it to be 〈◊〉 that it is not the same writinge which bore that name in Saint Epiphanius 〈◊〉 or that it hath since bene salsified by the Arrians Neither doth that booke 〈◊〉 either expressely or equiualently that all Bishops are in a sort oecumenicall He saith no more but this speakeinge collectiuely to all Bishops and not distributiuely to euery Bishop Wee write these thinges for confirmation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of you to whom the episcopat is committed ouer all But if the had said it what could followe of that doth not Saint AVGVSTINE say that the 〈◊〉 all charge is common to all Bishops and for all that doth hee forbeare to protest in the same place that the Pope is supereminent in a more high 〈◊〉 As 〈◊〉 saith hee cease not to rore about the pastures of our Lords 〈◊〉 and to seeke euerie side for in-letts to snatch awaie the sheepe bought at soe high a 〈◊〉 and that to vs all which exercise the office of Bishops the pastor all charge is common although thou art 〈◊〉 in a higher degree And in an other place that in the Roman Church there hath alwaies flourisht the 〈◊〉 of the Apostolicall chaire Of the comparison of the Pope with other Bishops CHAPT XXV The continuance of the kings answere BVt then the ordinary 〈◊〉 shewed that it was very true and a thousand examples of history may yet easily demonstrate it THE REPLIE ANd wherefore then that we may begin this information in the age of Saint 〈◊〉 which was the first age after that of the Apostle and end it in that of Saint 〈◊〉 the great whom Caluin will haue to be the 〈◊〉 true and lawfull Bishop of Rome when Saint IRENEVS disputes against the Valentinians doth he cry with the Roman Church because of a more powerfull principalitie that is because of the principalitie of the apostolicall Sea it is necessary that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should agree for that by this more powerfull principalitie Saint IRENEVS meant not the 〈◊〉 principality of the Cittie of Rome but an other more powerfull principality to 〈◊〉 the Spirituall principality of the Apostolicall Sea wee haue 〈◊〉 both from the same Saint IRENEVS who in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 period called the Roman Church the greatest and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rome 〈◊〉 the two most glorious Apostles 〈◊〉 and Paule And from Saint AVGVSTINE who saith In the Roman 〈◊〉 hath alwaies flourisht the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Apostolical seate And from Saint PROSPER Saint 〈◊〉 second soule who writt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the apostolicall 〈◊〉 hath added more greatenesse to Rome by the Tribunall of Religion then by that of the Empire And why then when VICTOR had excommunicated the Churches of Asia the lesser vpon the question of Easter day which they obserued not according to the vniuersall tradition of the Apostles but according to a locall and particular tradition which had bene instituted for a tyme in their Prouinces did not the same Saint IRENEVS reproche to him that he could not doe it and that he had noe more power to cast them out of the Church then the other Bishops onely admonishe him as it shall appeare hereafter that he should not for soe small a matter cut of soe manie and soe great Churches He exhorted him said EVSEBIVS not to cut of all the Churches of God which held the tradition of this ancient custome And RVFFINVS translatinge EVSEBIVS He reprehended him said hee to haue done 〈◊〉 to cutt from the vnitie of the bodie soe manie and soe great Churches For as for the slaunders wherewith EVSEBIVS and RVFFINVS hereticall Authors the one an Arrian and the other an Origenist both enemies to the Roman Church doe poyson this history they shall be answered hereafter and it shall be shewed that the censure of VICTOR was soe iust that it was after followed by the Oecumenicall councells of Nicea and Ephesus And why then when TERTVLLIAN priest of Carthage in Africa was fallen into the heresie or rather frensie of Montanus doth he write that Praxeas had inforced the Bishop of Rome who did before acknowledge the prophesies of Montanus Prisca and Maximilla and by this acknowledgement brought peace to the Churches of Asia and Phrigia to reuoke his letters of peace already published and cease to 〈◊〉 the spirituall guiftes persuadinge him to belieue false thinges of these prophets and of their Churches and opposing to him the authority of his predecessors For the Montanists of Asia and Phrigia haueing been excommunicated by the Catholicke Bishops and Metropolitans of their Prouinces what right could the Pope haue to receiue them into his communion and to grante them peace if he were not head and superintendent of the whole Church and principally according to the ancient Ecclesiasticall discipline which held that noe Bishop except he were superior could receiue to his communion those that had been execmmunicated by their owne Catholicke Bishops And why then when the same TERTVLLIAN declaimes against the decree of Pope Zepherinus which ordayned that Adulterers hauing done penance 〈◊〉 be receiued into the communion of the Church doth he call him though whith a 〈◊〉 and hereticall scorne the great high priest and the Bishop of Bishops and the good 〈◊〉 and the blessed Pope I heare saith he that an Edict hath been propounded and certainely peremptorilie to witt that the great high priest and the Bishop of Bishops saith I pardon the crimes of adulterie and 〈◊〉 to those that haue performed their penance And againe thou dost sweeten thy sermons with all the allurements of mercie that thou canst good shepheard and blessed Pope and in the parable of the sheepe thou seekest thy Goates And why then when the blessed Martyr CORNELIVS had been created Pope did Saint CYPRIAN say that the Emperor Decius bare with more patience to see a competitor arise in the 〈◊〉 then to see an high priest of God constituted at Rome or according to the oldest and best Copies thē to see an high Priest constituted his riuall in Rome alluding to the two titles that the pagan Emperors assumed the one of Emperor and the other of high Priest and comparing the concurrence that the Emperor receiued in the quality of Emperor hy the creation of a riuall in his Empire with the concurrence that he receiued in the qualitie of high priest by the creation of a Bishop of Rome And wherefore doth he call the 〈◊〉 Church the Chaire of Peter and the principall Church and the originall of the 〈◊〉 all vnitie They durst saith he saile to Rome and carrie letters from prophane and Schismaticall persons to the chaire of Peter and to the principall Church from whence the sacerdot all vnitie
although the Ecclesiasticall Canon forbidds to rule the Churches without the sentence of the Bishop of Rome And likewise Zozomenus a greeke author alsoe and of the same tyme with Socrates IVLIVS saied he reprehended them that they had secretly and priuily altered the faith of the Councell of Nicea and for that against the lawes of the Church they had not called him to the Synod for there was a Sacerdot all lawe which imported that all things which were done without the aduice of the Bishop of Rome should be inualid And why then when Eusebius of Nicomedia vsurper of the Bishopricke of Constantinople and firebrand of the Arrian faction and the other Arrians his complices sawe that the deposition of Saint ATHANASIVS that they had packed in the councell of Antioche was argued of nullitie because the Popes authoritie did not appeare therin Did they aduise themselues to repaire this defect to preuent the Pope and to pray him to calle the cause to his tribunall EVSEBIVS saith Socrates haueing done in the councell of Antioche what he listed sent an Embassador to JVLIVS Bishop of Rome requiring him to be iudge in the affaire of ATHANAS and to call the cause before him And this not after the voyage of S. ATHANAS to Rome as Socrates and Sozomene and the Protestants with them pretend but before as IVLIVS recited by S. ATHANASIVS saint ATHANASIVS himselfe and THEODORET doe writness ATHANASIVS said IVLIVS is not come to Rome of his owne motion but haueing bene called and hauing receiued 〈◊〉 from vs. And saint ATHANASIVS EVSEBIVS and his partie writt to Rome that is to 〈◊〉 to the Pope they writt alsoe to the Emperors CONSTANTINE and CONSTANT C. that is to saie to CONSTANTINE Emperor of the Gaules whose residence was at Treuers and to CONSTANT Emperor of Itali and Africa whose residence was at Millen but the Emperors reiected them and as for the Bishop of Rome he answered that we should keepe a Councell where we would And in an other place The Eusebians writt to IVLIVS and thinkinge to terrifie vs demaunded of him that he would call a Councell and that himselfe if he would should be the iudge thereof That is to say they demaunded either that the Pope would keepe a Councell out of Rome in which the cause might be iudged in the presence of his Legates or that he should iudge it himselfe at Rome if he pleased And a while after But when they heard the newes of our arriuvll at Rome they were troubled not expecting our comeing thither And THEODORET Assoone as ATHANASIVS receiued the citatior from IVLIVS he transported himselfe in diligence to Rome And why then when the same IVLIVS obiected to the Arrians the enterprise of the Councell of Antioch did he reproch them that against the custome of the Church they had deposed saint ATHANASIVS in the Councell of Antioch without attending first for a decision from Rome Are you ignorant said Pope IVLIVS in the second answere to the Arrians recited by saint ATHANASIVS that the custome is that we should be first written to and that from hence the iust decisions of things should proceede And therefore if there were anie suspicion conceiued against your Bishop there you must haue written to this Church A manifest argument that the request that the Arrians a while after the Councell of Antioch had made to the Pope to call the cause of ATHANASIVS before him and to call a Councell to iudge it or to iudge it himselfe if hee would was noe newe attribution of iurisdiction to the Pope as the aduersaries of the Church imagine but a truce of their rebellion to the Popes iurisdiction For how could the Pope haue reproached to the Arrians that the Councell of Antioch against the ancient custome of the Church had deposed saint Athanasius without stayinge for a decision from Rome if the Pope had not had right to iudge the cause of saint Athanasius but since the Councell of Antioch And how could the Arrians themselues haue inserted 15. yeares after these wordes in the false letter that they inforced Pope Liberius to write against saint Athanasius I haue following the traditions of the ancients sent on my behalfe Lucius Paule and Aehanus Priests of the Roman Church into Alexandria to Athanasius to cause him to come to Rome that we might ordaine himselfe beeing present vpon his person what the discipline of the Church exactes if this right had bene from the newe attribution of the Arrians and not from the ancient tradition of the Church and euen from that that IVLIVS newly came from speaking of For the things which wee haue receiued from the blessed Peeter I doe signifie them to you But let vs againe goe forward with our interrogatories And why then when the articles of the Eusebians against S. Athanasius were brought to Rome did the Pope vpon the accusation of one of the parties as the common iudge adiourne or giue them both a day and that following the Ecclesiasticall Canon Julius saith Theodoret following the Ecclesiasticall lawe commannded the Eusebians to present themselues at Rome and gaue assignation to the diuine Athanasius to appeare in iudgement And why then when those greate Prelates Athanasius Patriarke of Alexandria Paule Bishop of Constātinople MARCELLVS primate of 〈◊〉 in Galatia ASCLEPAS Bishop of Gaza in Palestina LVCIVS Bishop of Andrinopolis in Thrace who had bene accused of diuers crymes some Secular As Athanasius of the crymes of manslanghter and Rape and other Ecclesiasticall as the same Athanasius to haue caused a Chalice to be brokē And Asclepas to haue ouerthrowne an Altar and had bene deposed from their seates by diuers councells of Thrace and of Asia and had bene heard at Rome did the authors of the Ecclesiasticall histories say that the bishop of Rome restored them forasmuch as to him because of the dignitie of his sea the care of all thinges appartained IVLIVS Bishop of Rome said Socrates because of the priuiledge of his Church armed them with couragious letters and sent them backe into the East and restored to eache of them his place rebukeinge those that had 〈◊〉 deposed them And Sozomene the Bishop of Rome haueing examined their complaints and found that they agreed touchinge the decree of the Councell of 〈◊〉 receiued them into his communion as conformable and of the same beliefe And because that to him for the dignity of his Sea the care of all things belonged he restered to euery one of them his Church For as for the out ragious letters that those of the East that is to say as it shall appeare heereafter the Bishops of the Patriarckship of Antioch and their complices who were Arrians writt against IVLIVS in hate because he had broken their Councell and restored saint Athanasius I meane to confute them particularly in an other place It shall suffice nowe that I say two thinges one
of Alexandria did saint AMBROSE write to him that hee should after he had iudged it procure his iudgement to be confirmed by the Pope Certainly said hee wee conceaue that you should relate the affaire to our holie brother the Bishop of the Roman Church for we presume that you will make noe iudgement that can displease him And a litle after To the end that we hauing receaued the tenor of your acts when we shall see that you haue iudged soe as the Roman Church will vndoutedly approue it we may reape with ioy the fruite of your examination And why then when it appeared that EVAGRIVS Successor to PAVLINVS had bene euill ordained for as much as Paulinus only had imposed his handes vpon him and that Flauianus by this occasion remained without a competitor did Theophilus send a legation to Rome to put Flauianus againe into the Popes grace and Flauianus an other to obtaine the restitution of communion with the Pope THEOPHILVS saith Socrates hauing sent the priest I sidorus appeased Damasus you must reade Anastasius that was offended and represented to him that it was profitable for the concord of the people to forgett the fault of Flauianus and soe the communion being restored to Flauianus the factions of the people of Antioch a while after that is to saie vnder Pope Innocent the first were reconciled And Sozomene speakinge of saint IOHN CHSOSTOME Archbishop of Constantinople who had a little before bene a priest of Flauianus and for that cause affected him IOHN saith he praied Theophilus to labour with him and to helpe him to make the Bishop os of Rome to be propitious to Flauianus and to this end there were deputed Acacius Bishop of Beroe and Isidorus And THEODORET although for his partiality he be not altogether to be credited in this cause speaking of the Emperor THEODOSIVS his voyage to Rome The Emperor said he exhorted them to extinguish this vnprofitable contention for you must reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and represented to them that Paulinus was alreadie dead and that Euagrius came not by lawfull meanes to the Prelacye And a little after Then vpon the exhortation of the Emperor those of the west promised to lay aside all bitternesse and to receaue the Ambassadors that Flauianus should send which the diuine Flauianus hauing learnt he sent to Rome a legation of most famous Bishops and priests and Deacons of Antioch for all which the chiefe was Acacius Bishop of 〈◊〉 in Syria renowned through all parts of Sea and land But here is too much of this historie lett vs passe on to the rest And why then when Saint AMBROSE Archbishop of Milan a cittie where the Emperors of the west made their residence speakes of his brother Satyrus doth he saie that when he had escaped Shipwracke and was cast vpon the Isle of Sardinia he inquired of the Bishop of that place whether he agreed with the Catholicke Bishops that is to saie as himselfe adds with the Roman Church And why then when he excuseth the custome of washing of feet which was practised in the Church of Milan although it was not vsed in the Church of Rome doth he crye We follow in all things the type and the forme of the Roman Church And againe The same Peter is our warrant for this obseruation who hath bene Bishop of the Roman Church And why then when he or the author that was of his tyme of the comētary that is attributed to him vpon the first Fpistle to Timothie explaines these wordes of the Apostle to conuerse in the howse of God Doth he write that Pope DAMASVS was the Rector of the Church Although saith he the whole world belonges to God neuerthelesse the Church is called the howse of God of which at this day Damasus is the Tector And why then when OPTATVS Mileuitanus that is Bishop of 〈◊〉 in Africa whom saint AVSTIN calls a Bishop of reuerend memory and whom Fulgentius honors with the title of a Saint disputes Thou against the Donatists doth he saie to Parmenian a Donatist Bishop canst not denie but that thou knowest that the Episcopall chaire was first sett vp in Rome for Peter in which seate wassett the head of all the Apostles Peter whereof also he hath bene called Cephas soe saith he to allude to the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies he head ressembles the Hebrow Cephas that is to saie a stone from whence this Apostle was named to the end that in this onely chaire vnitie should be preserued to all least the other Apostles might attribute to themselues each one his particular chaire but that he should be a Schismaticke and a Sinner that would against the onely chaire set vp an other And for what cause after he had cited the catalogue of Popes from saint PETER euen to his tyme doth he inferr from thence the Donatists could haue noe chaire and consequently noe Church since they had noe communion with the Bishop of Rome Giue vs said he an accompt of the originall of your chaire you that will attribute to your selues the holy Church But you 〈◊〉 quoth hee that you haue alsoe some parte at Rome but this is a braunch of your Error sprunge out of a lye and not from the roote of truth for in the end if Macrobius be inquired of soe was the name of the false Bishop that the Donatists kept at Rome where he sitts there can he answere in the chaire of Peter which 〈◊〉 he knowes not soe much as by sight And a while after From whence is it then that you attempt to vsurpe to yourselues the keyes of the Kingdome you that fight against the chaire of Peter by your bould and sacrilegious presumptions And why then when saint AVSTIN an African as well as he pressed the same Donatistes did he saie to them In the Roman Church there hath alwaies flourished the principalitie of the Apostolique Sea And againe Reckon the 〈◊〉 euen since the seate of Peter and in this order of the Fathers see who hath succeeded one an other this is the Rocke that the prowde gates of Hell shall neuer ouercome And in an other place considering the Popes as successors of saint PETER according to the other interpretation to witt according to that of the figure of the Church In this order of Fathers said he that is to saie from Saint Peter to Pope Athanasius there is not one Donatist And in his disputations against the Manichees In the Catholicke Church I am detained by the Successiion of Prelates from the Seate of Peter to whom our Lord gaue his sheepe to feede after his resurrection vnto the present Bishops seate And why then when the Empresse Eudoxia wife to Arcadius Emperor of the East seeing her husband would cause Theophilus to be degraded from the Patriarkship of Alexandria but delaied because saith the Emperor
Councell of Sardica excommunicated Pope Julius because he had admitted saint ATHANASIVS into his communion The second that saint HILARY proclaymed anathema against Pope Liberius because he had receiued the Arians into his communion And the third Dioscorus Patriarke of Alexandria in the false Councell of Ephesus excommunicated the Pope saint Leo the first because he had condemned the heresie of Eutyches And from hence they conclude that the Pope was not then the center and originall of Ecclesiasticall communion since that as the Pope excommunicated the other Patriarkes Archbishops and Bishops soe the others reciprocally excommunicated him And therefore it is best to blocke vp their obiections before we passe further To the first then of these obiections which is that Stephen Patriarke of Antioch excommunicated Pope Iulius because he had receiued saint ATHANASIVS into his communication we bring three answeres The first answere is that it was not Stephen Patriarke of Antioch that made this excommunication but it was all the Bishops assembled at the false Councell of Sardica which pretended to be the true and whole oecumenicall Councell of Sardica forasmuch as they said the three hundred Catholicke Bishops which constituted the true Councell of Sardica were fallen into the communion of Marcellus whom they held an hereticke of the heresies of Sabellius and of Paulus Samosatenus and thefore imagined that the true and intier authoritie of the oecumenicall Councell of Sardica was deuolued to them Nowe there is greatdifference betweene saying that a Councell that pretendes to be oecumenicall and conceaues it selfe to represent the vniuersall Body of ihe Church should vndertake to excommunicate a Pope that they suppose to haue fallen into heresie and that a particular Bishop Archbishop or Patriarke should vndertake it The second that the false Councell of Sardica which committed this presumption was an Arian Councell and whose entreprise consequently cannot be drawne into example nor make any president against the discipline of the Church For what meruaile is it that the Arians who trode vnder foote the diuinitie of Christ who is the inuisible head of the Church should likewise tread vnder foote the authority of his principall lieuetenant that is to say the Pope who is the visible head of the Church And the third that in the same tyme that the false Councell of Sardica spitt in the face of heauen and excommunicated not only the Pope but 〈◊〉 SVS-CHRIST himselfe and all his Church in reiecting the communion of them that held him to be consubstantiall with the Father the true Councell of Sardica compounded of more then three hundred Catholicke Bishops acknowledged the Pope for head of the Church and writt to him It seemes verie good and conuenient that the Prelates of all the Prouinces should referre the affaires to their head that is to saie to the Sea Apostolicke of Peter To the second obiection which is that after that Liberius being cast out from the Sea of Rome by the Arians and ouercome with the induring a farr banishment and manie corporall persecutions vexations sorgott himselfe so farr as to subscribe the condemnation of saint ATHANASIVS and to receiue the Arrians into his communion saint HILLARIE reciting the Epistles of the same Liberius insertes these clauses This is the Arrian treacherie this I haue noted I that am noe Apostata And againe Anathema for my parte to thee ô Liberius to thy Complices And a while after Anathema to thee the secōd third tyme ô wicked Liberius we bring fower answeres The first answere is that though it be certaine and not to be doubted that this is written by an ancient author and of saint HILLARIES tyme as besides the antiquitie of the manuscriptes which are to be sound in sundrie libraries it appeares both by the manner of that stile which fullie agrees with that of saint HILLARIES age and by manie things which are there recited which could not haue bene knowne but by the authors of saint HILLARIES age neuerthelesse it is not equally certaine that it is S HILLARIES Contrariwise there are fower cōiectures which seeme to intimate that either it should be Hillaries the Luciserian deacon of the same tyme with saint HILLARIE or some other authors of the same Sect and age which haue supposed it and made it passe vnder the name of saint HILLARIE or that the Parentheses which are inserted into Liberius his Epistles that he cites which also are inserted in forme of notes and marked with signes of a crosse at the head and enuirond with semye-circles and written in an other character are not saint HILLARIES but some exemplaristes of that age The first coniecture is that these Parentheses condemne the Faith of the Councell of Sirmium which Demophilus caused Liberius to signe that is the Faith of the first Councell of Sirmium which did not err but in the omission of the word Homousion for Demophilus as the Illustrious Cardinall Baronius hath obserued abhorred the Faith of the Second which denied both Homousion and Homoeusion and calls it an Arrians treachery where saint HILLARY contrariwise to spare and husband the demy Arrians which held the first confession and to oblige them to bandie against the compleate Arrians which held the second stiled in his workes of the Synodes The faith of the first Councell of Sirmium or rather the first faith of the Councell of Sirmium orthodoxall and Catholicke And saith speaking of the Bishop Eleusius Bishop of Cyrica and of the other demy Arrians which embraced it except the Bishop Eleusius and a few others with him the ten Asian prouinces wherein I dwell for the more parte doe not know God truly And it will not serue for an antidote for this that Monsieur de Feure who published that worke saith that the Arrians yet made another profession of Faith composed at Sirmium in the presence of the Emperor in the yeare of the Councell of Arimini where they abolished the word Substance For this last confession of Faith was made after Liberius his falle and not before as some haue thought not considering that Liberius suffered two banishements confounded by Socrates but distinguished by Sozomene The one when hee was confined into Beroe in Thrace which began according to Amianus Marcellinus account and that of Sulpitius Seuerus the yeare wherein Arbitio and Lollianus were consulls that is fower yeare before the Consulate of Eusebius and Hypatius vnder which the Councell of 〈◊〉 was held and lasted according to saint ATHANASIVS and 〈◊〉 two yeares And the other by which he was simplie cast out of Rome which sell out after the Councell of Arimini because Liberius refused to consent to it They report saith Sozomene speaking of those who described more truly the history of the Councell of Arimini that the Arrians constained the Bishops to signe their confession and cast out of the Church manie which resisted it and in the first place Liberius Bishop
that the Arrians spread the rumor that Liberius had condemned Consubstantialitie The Arrians said he spread the rumor that Liberius had condemned the word consubstantiall Neuerthelesse for as much as saint IEROM speakeing of Liberius his exile writeth Liberius Bishop of the Roman Church hauing bene sent into exile for the Faith all the Clerkes swore they would receiue noe other but Felix hauing bene substituted in the priest hood by the Arrians manie periured themselues and at the end of the yeare were cast forth because Liberius ouercome with the wearynesse of his banishement and signing the hereticall impictie entred into Rome in the forme of a Conqueror And in an other place Fortunatianus Bishop of Aquilea is in this reputed detestable that he first solicited Liberius who was gone into banishment for the faith and inclined him and induced him to signe the heresie We followe the opinion of those that hold that during the tyme interposed betweene the returne of Liberius and the death of Felix Liberius remained fallen from the Popedome and that Felix was then true Pope For there is noe doubte but that the Clerkes which were cast forth with Felix because saith saint IEROM Liberius hauing signed the hereticall impietie was 〈◊〉 into Rome like a Conqueror were the orthodoxall and Catholicke Clerkes of the Roman Church who did materially periure themselues because they abandoned Liberius but not formally because Liberius first abandoned himselfe And in the third tyme which began after the death of Felix which if we beleeue Sozomene followed soone after the returne of Liberius Liberius not onely abiured that which the Arrians had constrained him to doe but made himselfe so constant a protector of the Catholicke Faith and cause and so despised all the persecutions of the Emperor as the Roman Church after the death of Felix and all the other Churches of the Catholicke communion with her did receiue and acknowledge him with an acknowledgement equiualent to rehabilitation for Pope In which appeared two actes of the prouidence of God with had appeared in saint Peters fall One that as saint Peter in the rising from his fall confirmed his Bretheren so Liberius in rising from his confirmed all the Bishops of the Catholicke Church shewing them the way rather to suffer a thousand persecutions then to signe the Councell of Arimini And the other that as the Fathers noted that God permitted saint Peter to fall that he might learne by his owne example to vse mercie to those that should fall and not to vse that rigor to them that the Nouatians would afterward haue introduced so God permitted that Liberius should fall into the communion of heretickes to the end that being restored he might learne by his owne example and serue himselfe for an example to others not to shutt the gates of Episcopall cōmunion from those Bishops that should fall into the same faulte when they should come to repentance and not to vse that rigor toward them that afterward the Luciferians would haue introduced Now it was in this meane while to witt when the Roman Church abiured Liberius because he had receiued the Arrians into his communion and ceased to acknowledge him for Pope and had reduced themselues into the obedience of Felix that saint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is abouesaid these parenthesis be his adhering to the Roman Church abiured him also and anathematized him not with a iudiciary but with an applicatory and abiuratory anathema and by consequence the obiection which is drawne from it is not onely vnprofitable but impertinent For what meruaile is it if in this meane while to witt when the Roman Church herselfe abiured Liberius and withdrew herselfe from his obedience and ceased to acknowledge him for Pope and tooke Felix his part saint HILARY adhering to the Roman Church did abiure him and anathematize him also not with a iudiciary anathema but with an executory and abnegatory 〈◊〉 and tooke likewise the parte of Felix to whom the orthodoxall Clerkes and inhabitantes of the cittie of Rome had ranged themselues The great and admirable DAMASVS who was after successor to Liberius in the Popedome and whom the Greekes called the diamond of Faith had not he bene one of those that had withdrawen themselues from the communion of Liberius and had transferred themselues to that of Felix and so what wonder is it if Liberius owne successor and all the true Roman Church with him hauing ceased to acknowledge Liberius for Pope and hauing abandoned and anathematized him that is to saie with an executory and abiuratory anathema and hauing acknowledged Felix his Competitor for true and law full Pope S. HILARY also in their imitation ceased to account Liberius for Pope and anathematized him not with a iudiciary but with an executory and abiuratory anathema in withdrawing himselfe from his communion and passing to that of Felix And finally the fowrth and last answere is that as in tyme offchisme and duplicity of Popes S. HILARY following the orthodoxall and Catholicke part of the Clergie of Rome adhered to Felix and anathematized Liberius so in the tyme of the vnitie of Popes the same S. HILARY testifies that all Catholickes acknowledged the Pope for head of the Church For he reportes the epistle of the Councell of Sardica wherein the Bishops of the Councell writt these wordes to Pope Iulius Liberius predecessor It shall be esteemed verie good and conuenient if from all prouinces the Bishops should referr the affaires to their head that is to saie to the Sea Apostolicke of Peter And thus much of the second obiection there remaines third To the third obiection then which is that Dioscorus in the false Councell of Ephesus did not content himselfe to excommunicate 〈◊〉 the Archbishop of Constantinople but went so farr as to excommunicate Pope Leo who vpeld him Wee answere three things first that it was not vnder his owne name that Dioscorus Patriark of Alexandria decreed this excommunication but vnder the name of all the false Councell of Ephesus which had bene called in the qualitie of an Oecumenicall Councell and which intitled it selfe an Oecumenicall Councell By meanes whereof this instance toucheth not the question whether another Bishop Archbishop or Patriark may excommunicate the Pope but whether a Councell Oecumenicall pretēding that the Pope is fallen into heresy may excōmunicate him The second that Dioscorus was deposed for this presumption in the Councell of Chalcedon and depriued for all eternity not onely of the title of Patriark but also of the title of Christian and Catbolicke in such sort as this example is so farr from making against the Pope as it falls vpon their heades that alleadge it And the third that there was so great difference betweene the enterprise of excōmunicating the other Bishops Archbishops Patriarkes and presumption of excommunicating the Pope as although Dioscorus Patriark of Alexandria was an Arch-hereticke and that he had approued in a full Councell the heresy of Eutiches and
condemned the orthodoxall doctrine and had excommunicated and not onely excommunicated but put to death Flauianus Archbishop of Cōstantinople who maintayned the true faith Neuerthelesse these things were not set amongst the principall causes of his deposition but the presumption that he had committed in vndertaking He and his false Councell to excommunicate the Pope and the contempt that he had added to it in not comeing to yeild reason for this presumption to the Councell of 〈◊〉 Dioscorus saith Anatolius Arch-bishop of Constantinople speaking to the Councell of Chalcedon hath not bene deposed for the faith but because he had excommunicated my Lord the Arch-bishop Leo and that hauing bene thrice cited he would not appeare And the Councell of Chalcedon in the epistle to Pope Leo saith After all these things he hath extended his 〈◊〉 euen against him to whom the guarde of the Vine is committed by your Sauiour that is to saie against thy Holynesse and hath mediated an excommunication against him that striues to vnite the bodie of the Church or according to the other 〈◊〉 against thee who makest haste to vnite the bodie of the Church that is to saie against thee that holdest the bodie of the Church in vnitie For with the Greeks it is a common phrase to saie to haste themselues to doe some thing in steede of saying to doe some thinge As when the Emperor IVSTINIAN writt to Pope Iohn surnamed Mercury We haue made haste to submitt and 〈◊〉 all the Prelates of the east countries to your Sea insteede of saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Prelates of the East to your Sea And as when the Councell of 〈◊〉 said Anthymus made haste to cast vs into a worse tempest insteede of saying Anthymus hath cast vs into a worse tempest CARD PERRONS REPLIE TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITANIE THE SECOND BOOKE CHAP. I. Of Councells The continuance of the Kinges answere TO this were added alwaies and as often as they were needefull Councells truly Oecumenicall and not as vve see they haue bene often since Oecumenicall by name but indeede assembled onely out of some prouinces of Europe THE REPLIE AND euen this also very often when there was noe neede of thē as the Councell of Arimini compounded of more then 400. Bishops the second Councell of Ephefus called from all the Regions of the world but assembled by hereticall Emperors or gouerned by the abettors of heretickes and from the vnlawfull celebration whereof the one held without the Popes authority and the other against it the successe teacheth vs that as much as Councells are profitable whē the temporall authority seconds the Ecclesiasticall as much are they pernicious when temporall authority vndertakes to performe the office of Ecclesiasticall authority Iointlie that as in human bodies the multitude of medicines is not a signe of health soe in the Ecclesiasticall bodie the multitude of Councells is not a signe of well being witnesse the complaintes of S. Gregorie Nazianz. vpon the multitude of Councells holden after that of Nicea of which he saith that he neuer sawe good come of them that is to witt as much because when the hereticall Emperors medled with the affaires of the Church the ambition to please them which was crept in among the Bishops thwarted the iudgments of the Synod as because the holding subsequent Councells vpon the same matter of those preceding them was to wound and to weaken the authority of the preceding Councells And then howe could the celebration of Councells haue bene a meanes to make men assured of the communion of the true Church if generall Coūcells lawfully assembled that is according to the externall solemne and vsuall waies might erre in faith as the Protestants pretend and had not the infallible assistance of the holy Ghost but that a particular man esteeming his opinion agreeable to the sense of Scripture and that of the Councell differing from it might yea ought to preferr his iudgement before that of the Councell For whereas his Maiestie saith that the Councells holden in the last ages haue bene Oecumenicall in name but in effect assembled onely from some prouinces of Europe he may obserue if he please that there are two sortes of Oecumenicall Councells the one Oecumenicall indeede the other Oecumenicall in right I call those Councells Oecumenicall in deede which haue bene assembled from all partes wherein the succession of the Episcopall character is preserued whether those parts haue remayned within the Body of the Church or whether they haue bene cutt of from it I call those Councells Oecumenicall in right which are compounded onely of those partes which haue remayned within the body and Societie of the Church and to whom onely as such belongs the right to iudge in matters of Faith as the Councell of Sardica at the which there assisted not the Bishops of the Patriarkeshipp of Antioch because they were Arrians And the second Councell of Nicea at which the Cophtes that is the naturall Egiptians and Ethiopians assisted not because they were Eutychians Now both these kindes of Councells are of equall authority as concerning certainty in decisions of Religion for all the bodie of the true Church being there representatively both in the one and the other the assistance of the holy Ghost is there equally infallible But in regarde of euidence the authoritie of Oecumenicall Councells in deede is more powerfull and eminent in the behalfe of those men which are deuided from the Church then that of Oecumenicall Councells in right For in Councells Oecumenicall in right there are none but Catholicks that are assured that all the body of the Church is there assembled whereas in Councells Oecumenicall in deede each of the parties cōtesting is of agreemēt that all the Body of the Church is there represented And the medley of hereticall or Schismaticall Bishops that is prouided with the onely succession of the Episcopall character but cut of from the communion of the Bodie of the Church hinders not but that in such councells the holy Ghost may worke by the common note of the Assemblie because the true Church receiuing those Bishops there for the effect then present into her charitie and into her communion while they are ioyned with her to the end to seeke meanes to assemblish vnitie she re-enables and restores to them for the tyme of the assemblie the authoritie of the exercise and of the Iurisdiction of their order whereof before there remayned to them nothing but the character To say then that some of the Councells of the latter age haue not bene Oecumenicall because the Greekes or Ethiopians did not assist there is not a valuable exception vnlesse it first appeare that the Greekes or Ethiopians are true and lawfull partes of the Church and haue not bene iustly cutt off and deuided from the Catholicke communion For it sufficeth to make a Coūcell generall and vniuersall in right that all the partes that remaine actuall within the Body
the cittie of Rome besides that she was head of the Empire of the West a thinge which was common to her with the two other citties of Alexandria and Antioch each in the behalfe of their ancient territorie had yet this condition more aboue the rest that she was also the head of the vniuersall Bodie of the Empire soe the finall and absolute Sea of S. PETER which he constituted at Rome besides the Patriarchall iurisdiction and as correspondent to the Empire of the West in which it agreed with the other Patriarchall Chaires had yet more the degree of head of the Church and Prince of the Patriarkes in which he was superior to the other patriarchall Thrones And when there was question of things that went beyond the Patriarchall iurisdiction that is of greater causes and which concerned the vniuersall Churches as were causes of Faith or of the generall customes of the Church or those of the finall deposition of Bishops or those of iudging the verie persons of the Patriarkes exercised Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction ouer them iudged both of their iudgements of their persons For S. PETER hauing purposed to followe in the distributiō of spirituall iurisdictions the order alreadie established in the distribution of temporall iurisdiction it must followe that the same proportion that was betweene the seate of Rome the seates of the other two Empires in case of politicke secular iurisdictiō must likewise be maintained betweene the Sea of the Bishop of Rome and those of the other Patriarkes in case of Ecclesiasticall spirituall iurisdiction that for two causes the one occasionall remote to witt the secular dignity of the cittie of Rome which had moued S. PETER to sett the spirituall soueraigntie of the Church in that place where alreadie the temporall soueraigntie of the common-wealth was setled the other neere formall immediate to witt the spirituall dignitie of S. PETER for the eminencie whereof it was fitt that he that was the head of the episcopall societie should establish his finall absolute Throne plant the stock of his direct succession in that place where the stocke principall Seate of the human temporall iurisdiction was alreadie planted As the Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian note in these wordes The primacie of the Sea Apostolicke hath bene established both by the merit of Peter who is the Prince of the Episcopall societie and by the dignitie of the cittie and by the sacred authoritie of the Synod Now there was this difference betweene the seate of the cittie of Rome and the seates of the other prefectures in matter of secular temporall iurisdiction that not only the Emperor of the Roman common-wealth commaunded the Prefects and Presidentes of the other Seates but also that the cittie prefect of Rome besides the iurisdiction of his ordinary territorie which was limitted in regarde of iudgement in the first instance to a certaine number of prouinces had yet as head of the Senate and vicar to the Emperor the right of examining by appeale the causes of all the prouinces of the Fmpire For when Augustus and the Emperors following establisht or re-establisht the office of Prefect of the cittie of Rome they gaue him power to iudge of the appeales of all the prouinces of the Roman circle as the interpreter of the notice of the Empire and euen the aduersaries of the Roman Church doe acknowledge alleadging be it well be it euill these words of Mecenas reported in Dion that the Prefect of the cittie shall iudge of the appeales and prouocations of all the Magistrates aboue mentioned And those of Statius addressed to the cittie prefect vnder Domitian Jnque sinum quae saepe tuumfora turbida quaestu Confugiunt legesque vrbesque vbicunque togatae 〈◊〉 longinquis implorant iura querelis And those of an epistle from the Senat to the iudges of Carthage reported by Vopiscus in the tyme of the Emperor Tacitus All appeales shall belong to the cittie Prefect which shall yet proceede from the 〈◊〉 and ordinarie Iudges And these of an other epistle of the Senat to the Iudges of Treues and to the Antiochians Aquileyans Milaneses Alexandrians Thessalonians Corinthians and Athenians The right of appeale hath bene vniuersallie decreed to the Prefecture of the cittie And these of an epistle of Tiberianus The appeales from all the powers and from all the dignities are returned to the cittie Prefect And these from a lawe of Constantine to Iulian the cittie Prefect Wee will not that the iudges from whom the appeale shall remitt the causes to our clemencie but they shall haue recourse to the sacred auditorie of thy grauitie to whom we haue committed our Vicarship which was after abolished by the translation of the appeales to the Pretoriall Prefects from whence wee haue a lawe of Constantius in the Theodosian-Code which ordaines the Prefect of the Pretory of Italie to examine the appeales from Sicily from Sardinia from Calabria from Prussia and from the prouinces now called Lombardy and adds for the cittie Prefect informed by our answere hath bene aduertised to depart from it By meanes whereof as the cittie of Rome besides that she is head of the Empire of the West leaues not to haue dominion ouer the heades of the two other Empires or to reduce the matter into more strict termes as the Prefect of Rome in the first ages of the Empire besides the ordinary iurisdiction that he had ouer the prouinces of his territory yet left not as Vicar to the Emperor and head of the Senat to iudge of the appeales os all other prouinces so the Pope beside the iurisdiction he had in qualitie of Patriark of the West ouer the prouinces of the patriarkship os the West yet lest not as head os the Church and successor of saint PFTFR and principall Vicar of Christ to haue the supereminence and generall superintendence ouer all the other prouinces To the Roman Church saith saint IRENEVS because of a more mightie principalitie that is to saie as hath aboue appeared because of a principalitien ore mightie then the temporall it is necessarie that all Churches should agree And saint CYPRIAN The Roman Church is the Chaire os PEPER and the principall and originall of the Socerdotall vnitie And Sainct Athanasius They haue had noe reuerent esteeme that Rome was the Sea Apostolick and metropolitan of Romania And saint GREGORIE Nazianzene The ancient Rome treads rightlie in the faith houlding all the West bound by the healthfull word as it is conuenient for her to doe that ruleth all the world And sainct IEROM a priest of the Church of Antioch and disciple of S. Gregorie Nazianzene writing to Pope Damasus I know the Church is founded vpon that stone whosoeuer eateth the lambe out of that howse is profane And a little after I know not Vitalis I am ignorant of Miletius I reiect Paulinus whosoeuer gathers not with
oppressed inclosed as the most part of the faithfull were constrained to hide themselues in caues and places vnder ground to auoid the persecutions tyrannies of the infidells Iointlie that wee say not that S. PETER remained alwaies fixed and tied to Rome while he was Bishop thereof but that he went from tyme to tyme planting the Ghospell in the lesser citties and placing Bishops ouer them and that during these voyages he administred the Roman Church by the ministrie of Linus and Cletus whom he had there establisheth for his Coadiutors which is the cause for which if wee belieue Russinus they are sometimes reckoned in the order of the Bishops of Rome before S. CLEMENT and sometymes after him And whereas the Iewes prayed S. PAVL when he came to Rome to informe them of the sect of the Christians which they obiect to vs they would not haue done if saint PETER had already bene Bishop there Wee answere that they prayed S. PAVL to informe them not of the sect of the Christiās but of the opiniō that he whom they reputed to be greatly versed in the Iewish doctrine had of them Otherwise how could S. PAVL say in his epistle to the Romans aboue fower yeare before his arriuall at Rome your faith is declared through the whole world To the sixt obiection which is that S. LVKE who hath written the historie of the Apostles speaketh not of the voyage of S. PETER to Rome we answere S. LVKE purposed to write particularlie the actes of saint PAVL his master and not these of the other Apostles For except that which past betweene the death of our Lord and the conuersion of saint PAVL where he treates the historie of the Apostles in cōmon to make it serue for a foundation to the particular relation of the actes of S. PAVL and except the discourse of the conuersion of Cornelius which hee adds there for as much as this conuersion was the ouerture of the Ghospell to the Gentiles for whose vocatiō S. PAVL had bene called S. LVKE doth not after that to the end of his booke make mention of anie other Apostle vnlesse in as much as hee was in the place where S. PAVL was and yet he omitts the voyage of S PAVL to Ierusalem to visit S. PETER S. PETER S. PAVLES meeting at Antioch and the right hand of association giuen by S. PETER S. IAMES S. IOHN to S. PAVL the voyage of the same S PAVL into Galatia which caused Beza to saie Luke hath omitted manie thinges and principallie S. PAVLES voyage to the Galathians And therefore so farr is S. IEROM from making vse of S. LVKES silence to weaken the credit of S. PETERS staie at Rome as contrariwise he argues the staie of S. PETER at Antioch and at Rome to shew how S. LVKE hath passed manie thinges vnder silence and takes this foundation for a certaine and vndoubted principle of historie Finallie saith S. IEROM we haue learnt that Peter was the first Bishop of the Church of Antioch and that from thence be was transferred to Tome which Luke hath vtterly omitted To the seauenth obiection which is that S. PAVL speakes of the enterview betweene S. PETER and himselfe both at Ierusalem and Antioch but speaks of no meeting betweene S. PETER and him at Rome which was the famousest cittie of the world wee answere that the epistle to the Galatiās which is the onely place where S. PAVL speaks of the enterviews betweene S. PETER and him to dissipate the reproaches that they that would seduce the 〈◊〉 laid vpon him that he had not bene instituted Apostle by Christ but by S. PETER by the other Apostles who gaue him their right hands for associatiō was written if wee belieue S. CHRYSOSTOME before the epistle to the Romans and then we must not thinke it strange that S. PAVL touched nothing there of the enterview of S. PETER him at Rome since it was written before the voyage of S. PAVL to Rome To the eighth obiection which is that S. IOHN makes mention of the kinde of death of S. PETER but makes noe mention of the place of his death we answere two things the one that S. IOHN makes mentiō of the kinde of S. PETERS death not of of the place where because the kinde and not the place of the death of S. PETER belonges to the explication of this prophecie of our Lord When thou shall be olde thou shalt stretch forth thy hands And the other that so farre is this clause of S. IOHN from weakning the beliefe of S. PETERS death at Rome that it fullie confirmes and authoriseth it For S. IOHN hauing writt his Ghospell manie yeares after the martyrdome of S. PEEER and hauing explained and proued this 〈◊〉 os our Lord thou shalt stretch forth thy hāds by the kinde of S. PETERS death without specifying it particularly it must be that when S. IOHN 〈◊〉 his Ghospell the kinde of S. PETERS death was knowne and euidēt to all partes of the Church Now the kinde of S. PETERS death could not be knowne to all partes of the Church but the place of his death must likewise be knowne to them nor could the place of S. PETERS death be knowne to all the Church bee anie other then Rome For how could it háppen that not onely all the ancient authors yea those that writt in the next age after S. IOHN as S. DIONISIVS of Corinth S. IRENEVS Caius Tertullian infinite others but the very stones also the inscriptions of the sepulchres of S. PETER S. PAVL which were yet preserued and publickly shewed at Rome in the tyme of Caius should witnesse with a cōmon voice that S PETER had bene martired at Rome that noe other Church but the Roman did euer glorie in his Relicks and his martirdome if frō the time wherein S. Iohn writt his Ghospell the place of S. PFTERS death had bene knowne to all the partes of the Church had bene anie other then Rome And therefore what remaines in all the texts obiected to vs from scripture which agrees not perfectly with the Chronology of the Church concerning the history of S. PETER Saint PAVL affirmes that three yeare after his conuersion he trauelled to Ieru salem to visit S. PETER consents not that exactly with our computatiō which reckons the conuersion of S. PAVL the first yeare after the death of our Lord the voyage of S. PETER to Antioch the fifth S. LVKE reportes that S. PAVL being come to Ierusalem for the distributiō of the almes during the famine which began the eleauenth yeare after the death of Christ found S. PETER there prisoner doth not that wholie agree with our Chronologie which supposes that the Episcopall Seate of saint PETER at Antioch was seauen yeare fiue compleate two imperfect The same S. LVKE writes that S. PETER withdrawing himselfe
from Ierusalem at his deliuery which was the second yeare of the Raigne of Claudius went into an other place that is to saie into an other place proper to goe out of Iudea from the iurisdiction of Herod such as was Ioppa where those vsed to imbarke that would saile to Rome into the west doth not that excellently agree with S. IEROMS computatiō who reports that S. PETER came to Rome the second yeare of the Empire of Claudius For that S. LVKE saith onely that he went into an other place expresses not whither but leaues him seauen yeare after without mention it is not to abandon the historie of S. PAVL his master The same S. LVKE testifies that S. PETER was againe at the Councell at Ierusalem holden for legall causes Fitts not that iust with that that Suetonius saith that Claudius draue the Iewes from Rome which raisd tumults for Christs cause to that that Orosius notes that this banishment was in the ninth yeare of Claudius that is the eighteenth yeare after the death of Christ which was the verie yeare of the Councell S. IOHN expounds this prophecie of our Lord to S. PETER Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and aen other shall girde thee by the kinde of S. PETERS death and adds that our Lord foretelling enigmaticallie the martirdome of S. PETER said to him follow mee doth not this agree with that Tertullian saith speaking of the Roman Church Happie Church in which the Apostles haue shedd all their doctrine with their bloud in which Peter is equalled to the passion of our Lord And with what S. AMBROSE writes that S. Peter being come forth of Rome to flie persecution our Lord appeared to him and said I goe to Rome to be crucified againe S. PETER insinuates in his first epistle that he writt it from Babylon many greeke copies contrarily date it from Rome Is not this solued by that that Eusebius and S. IEROM saie that S. PETER calls Rome allegorically Babylon for as much as Rome was then in regard of the Iewes the same as the Asian Babylon had bene in the tyme of the Prophets He adds the salutation of MARKE The Church said hee which is in Babylon and Marke my sonne salute you doth not that agree both with the vse of the word Marcus which was a Roman name and not a Babylonian and with these wordes of Papias auditor of S. IOHN reported by Clemens Alexandrinus Marke being requested at Rome by the bretheren writ a short Ghospell which Peter hauing read approued For whereas Erasmus saith that S. IEROM attributes the name of ` Babylon to Roms in choller for as much as hee had bene euill intreated there and will haue that Babylon whereof S. PETER speakes to be the Asirian-Babylon These are two childish ignorances the one not to know that S. IEROM had alreadie interpreted that Babylon whereof S. PETER speakes to be Rome both in his commentarie vpon Esay and in his catalogue of the Ecclesiasticall Authors written long before the euill intreaty that he receiued at Rome which happened vnder Syricius And the other not to know that when S. PETER writ this epistle Iosephus witnesseth there were then no Iewes in Babylon But this is enough of the instances of scripture lett vs proceede to those of the Fathers which consist in fower principall obiections The first that Clemens Comanus writes to IAMES brother of our Lord Bishop of Ierusalem the death of S. PETER at Rome a thing repugnant saie the obiectors to scripture which witnesseth that IAMES was martired longe before the death of PETER The second that S. IEROM writes that S. PETER was crucified in Iudea The third that S. AVST affirmes that the history of the battle of S. PETER and Simon Magus at Rome proceeded from an opinion or as they saie from a fabulous narration And the fowrth that in the order of PETERS successors some place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before Clement some after to which they farther add for the banquet and confectes after the Feast that Eusebius and the Legend vpon which they charge vs that we found the Papacy contradict one another for as much as Eusebius saith that S. PETER was crucified and the Legend saith he was beheaded To the first of these obiectiōs which is that Clement writing to IAMES brother to our Lord declares to him the martirdome of S. PETER Wee answere three things first that that epistle is apocripha and supposed for though it was translated frō Greeke into latine by Ruffinus that it is cited by the first Councell of Vaison which was holden vnder the Emperor 〈◊〉 the third contayning manie good doctrines neuerthelesse it is certaine thar the Greeke originall of the recognitions of Clement to which it was annexed relatiue was apocripha had bene either supposed or corrupted by the Hebionites The second that the Bishop of Ierusalem to whom this epistle is addressed was not IAMES the Apostle brother to our Lord but Simon brother successor in the Bishoprick to IAMES the Apostle intitled the brother of our Lord whom this epistle calls IAMES brother of our Lord according to the custome the Hebrewes had to beare manie names sometimes to inherit names one from an other as it appeares both by the repugnancie of the tyme of the death of the Apostle IAMES brother of our Lord which Ruffinus interpretor aduocate for his epistle who had translated the Ecclesiasticall history of Eusebius could not be ignorāt of by the inscription in the which the author of the epistle intitles him to whom he addresses it IAMES brother of our Lord and Bishop of Ierusalem intitles him not Apostle which he could not haue forgottē to doe in that place if it had bene the Apostle IAMES brother to our Lord. And the third that those that obiect this strayning forth a gnat swallow a Camell that is in thinking to taxe the ignorance of others in the matter of the Chronologie of the Fathers discouer their owne in the historie of the Scripture for the Apostle S. IAMES whose martirdome they saie the Scripture reportes was the Apostle IAMES brother of IOHN martir'd by Herod in the twelfth of the Actes not the Apostle IAMES brother of our Lord who was ten yeares after still in Jerusalem and of whose death the Scripture neuer speakes in anie part of it the Church hauing learnt what she knowes of it not from the Scripture but from Josephus and from Hegesippus and from Clement Alexādrinus from Eusebius from S. IEROM who testifie that IAMES the Apostle brother of our Lord dyed vnder the Pontificate of Ananus the young and in the seauenth yeare of the Empire of Nero. To the second obiection which is that S. IEROM writes that S PETER was crucified in Iudea we answere that S. IEROM doth no where write that S. PETER was crucified in
Nicea and of the third Canon of the Councell of Constantinople inferred thereupon thus it appeares from hence that all primacie and principall honor hath alwaies bene 〈◊〉 to the Bishop of Rome a thing that amazes me that the Greeke Schismatickes and 〈◊〉 amongst the rest did not perceiue it For Nilus Archbishop of Thesalonica disputing against the Pope saith If the Canon of the Councell of Nicea had distributed the Climates of the earth to euerie one of the Bishops-Generall so he calls the Patriarkes and had determinately setled nothing vpon the Sea of the Pope but had contented itself with saying that he had receiued the primacie there had bene some reason to esteeme that all the earth had bene vnder him And neuerthelesse not onely the Councell of Constantinople ordaines that the Bishops should not exceede their limitts but that according to the Canons of the Councell of Nicea the Bishop of Alexandria gouerned onely the affaires of Egipt And the Bishops of the East that is of the Patriarkship of Antioch onely the affaires of the East And the Councell of Chalcedon ordaines to the Bishop of Ierusalem the three Palestina's And to him of Constantinople Asia minor Pontus and Thrasia and the Barbarous prouinces that is to say Russia and Muscouia without euer goeing about either that or anie other Councell to sett out a part to the Bishop of Rome nor prescribe limitts out of which he might not exercise his authoritie But euen the Councell of Nicea speakes of the Bishop of Alexandria with restriction assigning him the prouinces of Egipt Libia and Pentapolis and of the Pope without restriction leauing him the waie free and assigning him noe limitts nor anie determinate number of prouinces The customes said the Canon obserued from antiquitie in Egipt Libia and Pentapolis are to be maintained to wit that the Bishop of Alexandria haue the power of all those things for as much as this is also accustomed to the Bishop of Rome By meanes whereof it remaines in the libertie of the Reader to supplie the word ouer all the Church and to expresse the Canon in this sence that the customes obserued from antiquitie in Egipt Libia and Pentapolis should be maintained to wit that the Bishop of Alexandria haue the power of all those things for as much as this is also accustomed to the Bishop of Rome ouer all the Church For what was this custome practized by the Bishop of Rome but that whereof saint IRENEVS speakes when he saith to the Roman Church because of a more mightie Principalitie it is necessarie that all the Church should agree And saint AVSTIN when he writes In the Roman Church hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke And Socrates when he affirmes that the Ecclesiasticall lawe bare that uo decrees might be made in the Church without the sentence of the Bishop of Rome And Sozomene when he notes that to the Bishop of Rome because of the dignitie of his Seate the care of all things apportained And so who sees not that the intention of the Councell was net to compare the Bishop of Alexandria with the Pope formallie but anologically that is to saie that the intention of the Councell was not to compare the authoritie of the Bishop of Alexandria ouer the prouinces of Egipt Libia and Pentapolis with the authority of the Pope ouer anie determinate territorie but to compare the authoritie of the Bishop of Alexandria ouer the prouinces of Egipt Libia and Pentapolis with the authority of the Pope ouer the whole Church It is certaine that in this clause for as much as this is also accustomed to the Bishopof Rome there is an omission which should be supplied either by the extent of an vniuersall word of particular restriction Now that the designe of the Councell was not to compare the Sea of Alexandria as head of the particular Prefecture of Egipt with the sea of Rome as head of an other particular prefecture but to compare the Sea of Alexandria as head of the particular prefecture of Egipt with the Sea of Rome as head of all the Empire the decree of the Councell of Chalcedon which shall be spoken of hereafter shewes it when it saies designing the temporall cause of the priuiledges of the Church of Rome The fathers yeilded the priuiledges to the Sea of the ancient Rome for as much as that Cittie helde the Empire And the Confronting of these wordes of Socrates The Ecclesiasticall rule bare that no lawes should be introduced into the Church without the sentence of the Bishop of Rome with these of the Bishops of Egipt to the Councell of Chalcedon Permitt vs to attend the ordination of our Archbishop to the end that according to the ancient customes we may follow his sentence And againe It is the custome in the prouinces of the prefecture of Egipt to doe noe such ting without the sentence and ordinance of the Archbishop of Alexandria confirmeth it For to saie that there could be nothing established in the vniuersall Church without the sentence of the Bishop of Rome and to saie there could be nothing established in the prouinces of the Prefecture of Egipt without the sentence of the Bishop of Alexandria was it not to make the Bishop of Alexandria that in the prefecture of Egipt that the Bishop of Rome was ouer the whole Church And therefore the Councell saying simplie for as much as this is also accustomed to the Bishop of Rome and not specifying where nor bringing in 〈◊〉 restriction what should hinder vs from supplying ouer all the Church and from answering that the intention of the Councell was to ordaine that the Bishop of Alexandria who in Egipt Libia and Pentapolis was as Vicar bred from the Sea of saint PETER who had there established his second selfe that is to saie his sonne and welbeloued disciple the Euangelist saint MARKE should haue the superintendencie of the Ecclesiasticall affaires in all these prouinces for as much as the Bishop of Rome to whom as Sozomene saith because of the dignitie of his Seate the care of all things appertained had it generally ouer all the Church or if they will presse vs to reduce the enthymeme of the Councell into the forme of a complete sillogisme what can hinder vs from reducing it into this The same priuiledges that the Bishop of Rome hath in regard of the whole Church the other Patriarkes haue proportionablie euery one in reregard of his Patriarkship Now the Bishop of Rome hath this priuiledge that to him because of the dignitie of his Sea the care of all things pertaines and that without him nothing can be decided of things which concerne the gouernment of the vniuersall Church the Bishop of Alexādria then ought to enioy by proportion the same priuiledges in the prouinces of his Patriarkship that is to say in the prouinces of Egipt Libia and Pentapolis
to the blessednesse of the most holy Pope for as much as he is the head of all the most holy Ministers of God And by the places aboue cited of saint GREGORIE the great which witnesse that the Pope confirmed euen then that is to saie fiftie yeare after Iulian the former the election of the Bishop of the first Iustinianea and sent him the Archiepiscopall mantle and the reuocation of the Vicarship of the Sea Apostolicke and iudged by appeale of the causes of his Bishops chasticed him himselfe when he had misiudged But in summe whatsoeuer the sence of this addition of Russinus bee it imports little to knowe it For hauing bene excommunicated for his errors in saith by the Pope and the Roman Church who doubtes but if he could insert into his translation anie thing to the Popes preiudice he hath done it It 〈◊〉 before the Councell of Nicea which wills that to euery Church the prerogatiues thereof be preserued the Roman Church was she whereof S. IRENEVS cryes out to this Church because of a more mightie principalitie that is to saie because of a principalitie more mightie then the temporall it is necessary that all the Churches should agree It was she that S. CYPRIAN called the Chaire of Peter and the principall Church from whence the 〈◊〉 all vnitie proceeded It was she of whom S. IEROM writt I know the Church is built vpon this stone whosoeuer eates the lambe out of this howse is prophane It was she of whom S. AVSTIN said In the Roman Church hath alwaies 〈◊〉 the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke It sufficeth that before the Councell of Nicea which ordaineth that the ancient customes should remaine entire the law Ecclesiasticall sorbad to canonize Churches that is to 〈◊〉 to make canons touching the generalitie of Churches without the sentence of the Bishop of Rome that the Ecclesiasticall custome bare that the finall depositions of Bishops could not be proceeded to without attending the decision from Rome and that from the tyme of the Emperor Gallienus that is to saie more then sixtie yeares before the Councell of Nicea the Churchmen of Egipt desiring to accuse Dionisius Bishop of Alexandria their Patriarke went vp saith saint ATHANASIVS Patriarke of the same Sea of Alexandria to Rome and accused him before 〈◊〉 Bishop of Rome It sufficeth that presently after the same Councell of Nicea when S. ATHANASIVS Patriarke of Alexandria Paul Bishop of Constantiuople Marcellus Primate of Galatia Asclepas Bishop of Gaza in Palestina had bene deposed by diuers Councells of the East Iulius Bishop of Rome restored to euery one his Church because to him saith Sozomene for the dignitie of his Sea the care of all things appertayned It sufficeth that after the death of ATHANASIVS Pope Damasus confirmed the ordination of Peter Patriarke of Alexandria successor to the same saint ATHANASIVS and restored him to his Sea of Alexandria It sufficeth that in the Councell of Sardica holden for the defence of the Councell of 〈◊〉 whereat assisted besides more then three hundred other Bishops the same Osius that was President at the Councell of Nicea the same saint ATHANASIVS which had helped to frame the acts of the Councell of Nicea the same Protogenes Bishop of Sardica which was at the Councell of Nicea the Episcopall appeales to the Pope were authorized by a written lawe and the Bishops of all the prouinces exhorted to referr the affaires to their head that is to saie to the Sea of the Apostle PETER It sufficeth that in the Councell of Lampsacus in Asia the Macedonians purposing to returne to the Catholicke Church sent their Legats from Asia to Rome to protest obedience to the Pope to oblige themselues to come vp to his Tribunall or to the iudges delegated by him in all causes that should be attempted against them It sufficeth that in the Councell of Tyana in Cappadocia Eustachius Bishop of Sebastia in Armenia who had bene deposed by the Councell of Melitina the Metropolitan cittie of Armenia bringing letters of restitution from Pope Liberius was receiued without forme of processe and had place as a Bishop in the Councell It 〈◊〉 that when the Emperor Constantius had caused S. ATHANAS Patriarke of Alexandria to be deposed in a Councell of more then three hundred Bishops of the East and West he thought he had not satisfied his desire if the thing saith Amianus Marcellinus were not confirmed by the authority whereof the Bishops of the eternall cittie are superiors It sufficeth that when the same Canon of the Councell of Nicea which is now in question was renewed in the Councell of Constantinople the other Patriarkes and Primats were forbidden to meddle beyond their diuisions Let the Bishop of Alexandria said the Synod gouerne onely what belongs to Egipt and let the Bishops of the East that is to saie of the patriarkship of Antioch admister onely to the East where neuer Coūcell interdicted the Pope from medling in matters which were out of his patriarkship Cōtrariwise the Pope in importāt occasiōs hath alwaies takē notice of the ecclesiasticall affaires of the Empire of the East iudged by appeale the causes of other patriarkships the Catholicke Councells of the East thēselues yeilding to be solicitors executors of his sentences oppositely neuer anie of the other Patriarks once attempted to examine the Ecclesiasticall causes of the Empire of the West and of the patriarchall diuision of the Pope It sufficeth that in the Mileuitan Councell holden by the Bishops of Asrica and by S. AVSTIN amongst others it was affirmed that the Popes authoritie was of diuine right and drawne from the authoritie of the holy Scriptures and then not to be restrained to the simple patriarkship of Rome but vniuersall and such as the law of the Emperor Valentinian the third describes it when it calls the Pope the Rector of the vniuersalitie of Churches And the Emperor Iustinian when he writes that the Pope is the head of all the most holy ministers of God And the Bishop of Patara in Lycia one of the prouinces in Asia when he saith to the same Emperor Iustinian that there were many kings and princes in the world but there was noe one of them that was ouer all the earth as the Pope was ouer the Church of all the world It sufficeth that in the generall Councell of Ephesus when the Fathers had executed the sentence of deposition that the Pope had pronounced at Rome against Nestorius when they should haue passed to the cause of Iohn Patriark of Antioch the Councell reserued the iudgement thereof to the Pope and that according to the ancient custome and tradition Apostolicall It sufficeth that in the false Councell of Ephesus after Dioscorus Patriarke of Alexandria and his pretended generall Councell had deposed Flauianus Archbishop of Constantinople and Theodoret Bishop of Syre Flauianus saith the Emperor Valentinian
Eustathius he begins the twentith chapter of his second booke with these words In this time Marcus hauing for a short space holden the Bishops Sea of Rome after Syluester Iulius tooke the gouernment of the Sea of Rome and Maximus after Macarius of that of Ierusalem From whence it appeares manifestly either that the word Iulius which is in the precedent booke where Sozomene saith speaking of the Councell of Nicea Iulius Bishop of Rome because of his age was not there is a note which slipt out of the margent into the text and that Sozomene had simplie said as Eusebius The Bishop of Rome because of his age was not there or that insteede of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee must reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saie ancient or venerable But because we haue handled this matter more at large elsewhere to witt in the preface composed by vs at Rome but published without our name before Gelasius of Cyzica wee will heere content ourselues to remitt the Readers to that and the while wee will examine the place of Sozomene Sozomene then saith 〈◊〉 writes At this Councell assisted of the Seas Apostolicke Macarius Bishop of Ierusalem Eustathius Bishop of Antioch Alexander Bishop of Alexandria and as for the Bishop of Rome he was not there because of his age but in his steede there assisted Vito and Uincentius Priests of the same Church This is true but so farr of is it that from hence it followes that Sozomene puts the Popes Legats in the fourth place As contrarywise it is euident euen there that he attribures to them the first For being constrained to followe the tract of his discourse which obliged him since he had purposed to speake of the Apostolicke Prelate which assisted at the Councell to beginne with those that were there in person before he would make mention of those which were there but by their Legats he â—â—erted of set purpose the order of the enumeration and began with the fourth and last of all the Patriarkes which was the Bishop of Ierusalem who was then but a Patriarcke of honor and then went vp increasing to him of Antioch who was the third and then came to him of Alexandria who was the second to the end to keepe the last place of the progresse for the Popes Legates Now what could be done more expressely and with more note to testifie the primacie of the Pope A man that being to describe an Emperiall diet where the Emperor assisted but representatiuelie would begin with the Princes of the Empire who had assisted there in person but to keepe the greater dignitie to the Emperor would inuert the order of the other Princes and would saie rising from the last to the first of the Princes of the Empire there assisted at the Emperiall diet the Marquese of Brandenbourg the Count Palatine the Duke of Saxony the Archbishop of Collen the Archbishop of 〈◊〉 the Archbishop of Ments and the Kinge of Bohemia and as for the Emperor he was not there but deputed two Vicars there to hold his place should hee in doeing so giue the last ranke to the Emperor or the first For that the order reported in Sozomene was the inuerted order and not the direct order of the Sea of the Patriarkes it appeares both by the confession of Caluin who cryes out Amongst the Patriarks Ierusalem hath â—enâ— the last and by all the Ecclesiasticall histories which teach vs that Ierusalem was the fourth of the patriarkships and Antioch the third and Alexandria the second And by the Canons of the Councell of Nicoa it self which setts Alexandria before Antioch and Antioch before Ierusalem And by the expresse report that Socrates made of the direct order of the Councell taken by the very synodicall booke of S. ATHANASIVS which is thus Osius Bishop of 〈◊〉 Uito and Vincentius Priests Alexander of Egipt Eustathius of great Antioch Macarius of Ierusalem In which Catalogue Sainct ATHANASIVS and Socrates put Osius the Bishop and Uito and Uincentius Priests as holding but one and the same place in the first ranke And Alexander Patriarke of Alexandria who was the second Patriarke in the second place and Eustachius Patriarke of Antioch who was the third Patriarke in the third And Macarius Patriarke of Ierusalem who was the fourth Patriarke in the fourth place But they will replie that Eusebius and after him Theodoret and Soâ—omene make mention but of two Legats of the Pope Vito and Vin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and consequently that S. ATHANASIVS and Socrates could not place Osius Vito and Vincentius as being all three Legats to the Pope in one same place to this replie then the answere shall be that the Popes 〈◊〉 accustomed to send two sortes of Legates to the generall Councells celebrated in the East the one Bishops taken out of the bodie of the Roman Patriarchall Church As Arcadius and Proiectas Bishops to the first Councell of Ephesus Iulian Bishop of Pozzoly to the second Paschasinus Bishop of Lilybea to the Councell of Chalcedon and the other Priests taken out of the body of the particular Roman Church 〈◊〉 Vito and Vincentius to the Councell of Nicea Archidamus and Philoâ—elius to the Councell of Sardica Phillip to the first Councell of Epheâ—â—â—â— Boniface to the Councell of Chalcedon And the reason of this was that the body of the 〈◊〉 Church was neuer at the generall councells celebrated out of the 〈◊〉 of the West but the Pope held at Rome a Councell of the Bishops of the West whose resolution he sent by a legation to the Councell of the other Patriarchall diuisions assembled in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 confirmed by a Councell holden afterward that which had bene decided at the Councells of the other patriarchall diuisions assembled in the East And from this concourse arose the absolute title of generall Councell The Legats then that the Pope sent to 〈◊〉 the voice of the 〈◊〉 Church to the 〈◊〉 Councells assembled in the East were of two sortes the one taken from the body of the Bishops to represent in generall the whole bodie of the 〈◊〉 Church that is to saie 〈◊〉 the person of the Pope as of the other Bishops of the West and the other Priests and Deacons taken from the 〈◊〉 Clergie of the Roman Church to represent particularly the 〈◊〉 and person of the Pope And this was some times the practise of those of the East in the westerne ex pedition For when Flauianus Patriarke of Antioch sent his embassage to Rome to recouer the grace of the Pope hee added to it besides the Priests and Deacons of the Church of Antioch Acacius Bishop of Beroe in Syria one of the Bishops of his patriarkship who was saith Theodoret head of the legation and some other Bishops of the same diuision to the end to shew the consent of his patriarchall Church with his particular Church But let vs leaue those of the East and returne to the Pope The Pope then
called by him or at his instance but for 〈◊〉 much as that Councell which was a particular Councell had vndertaken as compounded of Arrian Bishops who violated all order and discipline to decide things that concerned the vniuersall Church ordayning in hate to saint ATHANASIVS That euery Bishop that after he had bene deposed by a Synod should continue still to performe episcopall functions without hauing bene first reestablisht by an other greater Synod should be incapable of restitution and that the lawes of the Church bore that there could noe decrees be made in the Churches that is to saie as Caluin himself interprets it for things regarding the vniuersall Church without the Sentence of the Bishop of Rome he reproacheth it to them that they had exceeded the power of a particular Councell That is to saie had decided the affaires which concerned the generall gouernement of the Church without hauing inuited him to assiste at it either by himself or by his Legats A thing that if we were stript of all other argumentes would sufficiently shewe the Popes authoritie for if the absence of the Pope alone and not of anie other Patriarke or Metropolitan were an impediment to the makeing of decrees to oblige the vniuersall Church how can it bee but the Pope must be head of the Church and Superior of the other Patriarkes To the third obiection which is that saint IEROM speaking of a certaine Councell holden amongst the Gaules cryes What Emperor hath commaunded this Synod to he assembled From whence they inferre that the Emperors onely called the generall Councells Wee answere it is a very Sophisme for the Councell whereof saint IEROM spake was not a generall Councell but a particular that Ruffinus pretends to haue bene holden in Gaule against saint HILLARY Nowe wee agree of all sides and Caluin himselfe confesses it that the Metropolitans Primates and Patriarkes called particular Councells And the Councells of the westerne Church holden at Rome by Pope DAMASVS in the tyme of the heresie of the Macedonians by Pope Celestine against the heresie of the Nestorians by Pope LEO against the heresie of the Eutychians by Pope Agatho against the heresie of the Monothelites inforced the most obstinate to confesse that the Pope if not as head of the vniuersall Church yet at least as Patriarke of the West called the Patriarchall Councells of the westerne Church and not onely called the Patriarchall Councells of the Westerne Church but alsoe when there was neede caused to be called extraordinarily the nationall or prouinciall Coūcells of such a Natiō or Prouince of the West as he thought to be necessarie as it appeares for Africa frō these wordos S. AVGVSTINE The Ecclesiasticall necessitie enioyned vs by the Reuerēd Pope Zosime Bishop of the Sea Apostolicke had drawne vs to Caesaria And for Macedonia Achaia and Thessalia from these of Pope LEO to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica his Legat in those prouinces If There be anie maior cause moued for which it shal be necessarie to cause an Episcopall assemblie to be called let it suffice thee to call two Bishops of euery Prouince such as the Metropolitans shall choose And for Spaine from these of the same LEO Wee haue sent letters to our bretheren and fellow Bishops of Arragon of Carthagena of Portugall and of Galitia and baue declared to them the assemblie of a generall Councell that is to saie generall for Spaine In which place they must not cauill vpon the word Councell and conuert it into Counsell For the first Councell of Bracara reporting the same historie saith By the commaundement of Leo the Bishops of Arragon Carthagena Portugall and Andaluzia held a Councell amongst them But besides the spirituall authoritie were it of Metropolitans Primates and Patriarkes for the calling of particular Councells be it of the Popes as wee pretend for the calling of generall Councells the temporall authoritie of the Emperors was alsoe requisite aswell to auoid state iealousies and hinder suspitions of conspiracies against the Empire as to take order for the Charge of transportations Staples and prouisions and to furnish the costes of the voyages which the Churches then newlie out of the persecution of the Pagans could yet hardlie beare And therefore when there was question of calling not onely generall Councells of all the Earth but alsoe the generall Councell of the Westerne Church the temporall authoritie of the Emperors concurred with the Spirituall authoritie of Popes for the execution of the conuocation The Emperor Valentinian saith Pope Sixtus the third tymefellowe to saint CYRILL hath commaunded by our authority that the Synod should be called And when there was question of calling Nationall Synods if it were within the countries of the Empire the authoritie of Emperors or of their lieuetenans was allso required and if it were within the ecclipsed countries or not depending from the Empire that of the Kings of the nations where it was to be celebrated must be ioyned thereto as when the first Councell of Bracara in Spaine was called it is said it was called by the commaundement of the glorious King Ariamira or according to others Theodomina And when the second Councell of Tours speakes of the first Councell of Orleans holden vnder Clouis it is said it was done at the request of the most inuincible king Clouis And when the second Councell of Mascon was holden vnder King Gontran it was ordained that the ordinarie Nationall Councells should be celebrated from three yeare to three yeare and that the care to cause them to be assembled appertained to the Bishop of Lion and the disposition to the most magnificent Prince Now if the temporall conuocation of Nationall Councells made by the Emperors or by the Princes of the Nations were 〈◊〉 impediment but that the spirituall conuocation of the same Councells might be due to the Primats of the Nations Why should the temporall conuocation of generall Councells made by the Emperor be an impediment why the authoritie to call them spiritually that is to saie in behalfe of spirituall and ecclesiasticall power might not belong to the Pope For that then as we haue newlie said the authoritie of Emperors was necessary and 〈◊〉 to make the decisions of Councells executorie by the Secular arme and by the ministers and officers of temporall iustice who otherwise would not haue labored to punish corporallie those that should contradict And that is the cause wherefore the Fathers of the Councells were soe carefull to sett this title in the forefront of their acts The most holie and generall Councell called by the authoritie of the most religious Emperor to the end to make their decrees executorie temporallie and by the ministrie of the Secular Tribunall but not to make them obligatorie in conscience and spirituallie For when was it saith saint ATHANASIVS that the iudgement of the Church hath euer taken authoritie from the Emperor And indeede who can doubt but that
after the death of Siluerius after which the Clergie of Rome for the benefit of peace had accepted him had bene persecuted and vnworthily vsed at Constantinople by the Emperor with whom he was constrained to spend his life in exile because the Gothes vnder the conduct of their new King Totilas had againe taken Rome whereto would this turne but to the glorie of Uigilius and to the shame of the Emperor For saith not Nicephorus that the Emperor repented it and doe not the same actes shew that he sent the principall ministers of his Empire to Uigilius to praie him to returne And that Uigilius during this persecution remained so constant that he would neuer giue anie waie to the Emperors violences but deposed in Constantinople it self Theodorus Archbishop of Cesarea the principall Gouernor of the Emperor and excommunicated Menas Patriarke of Constantinople and all that adhered to him Did it not throughlie shew the confidence he had in the dignitie of his Sea Wee decree thee saith hee ô Theodorus late Bishop of Cesarea by the publication of this sentence depriued aswell of Sacerdot all honor and of the Catholicke communion as of all Episcopall power and function and wee ordaine that thou shalt heereafter applie thy-self to nothing but to the teares of pennance by which hauing obtained remission of thy crimes thou maist recouer if thou deseruest it the place of 〈◊〉 and of communion with me or after my death with my successor And thou Menas Bishop of the cittie of Constantinople which art inwrapt with the same crime with all the Bishops Metropolitans and Micropolitans c wee suspend you from the sacred communion till eache of you acknowledging the error os his preuarication haue blotted out before vs his proper fault with a competent satisfaction And this that he cries out numbring Theodorus his crimes Thou art come in despising the authoritie of the Sea Apostolicke which had pronounced interdiction by vs into the Church where there hung the Emperors Edicte 〈◊〉 there hast celebrated the solemnity of Masse And this that he adds Wee haue charged the Ministers of the most clement Emperor to signifie to him from vs that he ought not to communicate with those which haue by vs bene excommunicated least he thereby runne which God forbid into a grieuous sinne Doth it not shew that the Pope in excommunicating the other Bishops Archbishops and Patriarks did not onelie pretend to separate himselfe from their communion but to separate them and cutt them of from the communion of the Church And as for the persecution of the Empresse which happened long before and for an other cause to witt forasmuch as Vigilius after his predecessor Siluerius was dead and that he was become true Pope would not keepe the promise that he had made and secretlie accomplisht to her during his Antipapacy to admitt Anthymus and the other Eutychians into his communion What greater glorie could Uigilius receiue then that whereof S. GREGORIE speakes when he writes Pope Uigilius constituted in the Royall cittie that is to saie at Constantinople publisht a sentence of condemnation against Theodora then Empresse and against the Acephales And what more visible punishment could the Empresse receiue then that whereof Victor Tunonensis writes The ninth yeare after the Consulship of Basilius the Empresse Theodora enemie to the Councell of Chalcedon strucken her whole bodie ouer with the wound of an vniuersall canker that is to saie with leprosie prodigiouslie ended her life For whereas the same Uictor who was a Schismaticke and tooke part with Rusticus the Deacon and other Roman Clerkes reuolted against Pope Vigilius and against the fifth generall Councell writeth that the Bishops of Africa that is to saie the schismaticall Bishops of Africa for the Catholicke Bishops of Africa tooke the other part excommunicated Vigilius there hath alreadie bene two things spoken of concerning this the one that they held not Uigilius for true Pope but for an intrusiue Pope because he had vsurped the Papacie his predecessor Siluerius being yet aliue as it appeares by this that the same Victor placeth a little after amongst the nullities of the fifth generall Councell the vice of the creation of Uigilius who had said he 〈◊〉 ordained Bishop of Rome Siluerius being still aliue And the other that Pope Siluerius had alreadie long before excommunicated Uigilius for hauing intruded himselfe into the Papacie in these termes Doe thou then receiue and those that consent whith thee the sentence of paine of condemnation and know that being condemned by vs by the iudgement of the holy Ghost and by the Apostolicke authoritie that the name and office of Sacerdotall ministery is taken from thee And againe 〈◊〉 Siluerius Pope of the cittie of Rome giuing consent to all the statutes I haue signed this decree of Anathema against the vsurper Uigilius By meanes whereof the act of the Schismaticall Bishops of Asrica against Uigilius was rather a renouation and an application of the excommunication of Pope Silutrius then a primitiue and originall excommunication To the third example which is that Sigebert writes that Pope Innocent the first and the Bishops of the West suspended themselues from the communion of those of the East for the quarrell of Saint CHRYSOSTOME from whence the Protestants inferr that when the Pope excommunicated the other Bishops Archbishops or Patriarks he separated himselfe from their communion and did not separate them from the communion of the Church Wee haue three answeres the first that it is a ridiculous thing to alleadge for the testimonie of the historie of Pope Innocent and of S. CHRYSOSTOME Sigebert who writt seauen hundred yeares after them and who was an open enemie to the Sea Apostolicke and partaker with the Emperor Henry the fourth against Pope Gregorie the seauenth and his successors The second that Pope Innocent the first did not suspend himselfe from the communion of those of the East but suspended those of the East from the Ecclesiasticall communion the which although they still continued in fact with some of their Diocesans according to the custome of Schismatickes this hindred them not from being suspended by right and that they should send to demaund restitution of the Pope as it appeares by these words of the same Innocent in the epistle to Boniface Knowe saith he speaking of those of Antioch that we haue receiued them into our bowells least the members which had a long while required health should be excluded from the vnitie of the bodie And in the epistle to Maximianus What we haue done in the behalf of those of Antioch we will doe it in the behalfe of others if they will accomplish the same treaties and conditions and send as those did to beseeche by a solemne legation that the communion might be restored to them And in the Epistle to Alexander Patriarke of Antioch I haue diligentlie inquired whether the cause of the blessed
and in cutting it of doth not onely cutt it of from the communion of the head onely but from the communion of the whole bodie or that the stocke and roote in cutting of some branche cuts not of it selfe from that but cutts that of from it selfe and in cutting it of cutts it not of onely from the communion of the roote but from that of the whole tree And therefore we alsoe see that in all the breaches of communion which haue bene betweene the Roman Church and the other Churches there hath happened fower things The first that when other Churches haue separated themselues from the Roman all the Catholicke Churches haue alwaies remained vnited with the Roman and haue separated themselues from those which haue forsaken her The second that when it hath bene the Roman Church which hath excōmunicated others all the Catholicke Churches haue forsaken them or if they not thought the cause of the excommunication grieuous haue had recourse to the Roman Church with remonstrances and intercessions to beseeche her to suspend and reuoke her censure as it appeares both by the words of S. IRENEVS to Pope Victor vpon the excommunication of the Asians he exhorted him not to cutt of all the Churches of God 〈◊〉 held the tradition of this ancient custome And by those of Dionisius Bishop of Alexandria to Pope Steuen vpon the condemnation of the Bishops of Cappadocia I haue said hee written beseeching him for all these things or occording to the other translation beseeching him for them all And by these of Socrates vpon the Popes censure against Flauianus Patriarke of Antioch Theophilus Patriarke of Alexandria hauing sent the Priest Isidorus appeased Damasus you must reade Anastasius his indignation and represented to him that it was profitable for the concord of the people to forgett the fault of Flauianus and soe the communion hauing bene restored to Flauianus the factions of the people of Antioch were soone after revnited And by these of the Councell of Carthage vpon Pope Innocents sentence against Theophilus Patriark of Alexandria for S. CHRYSOSTOMES cause It had bene agreed vpon that concerning the dissention of the Roman and Alexandrian Churches Pope Innocent should be written to that both Churches may obserue the peace that our Lord hath commaunded For why should it be ordained that Pope Innocent should be written to and not Theophilus Patriarke of Alexandria but because it was the Pope that kept the key of the Ecclesiasticall communion and that it was the Roman Church to whom it belonged to receaue the Alexandrian Church into her communion and not to the Alexandrian Church to receiue the Roman into her communion And in briefe that it belonged to the Roman Church to prescribe to the Alexandrian the lawes of the revnion and not to the Alexandrian to 〈◊〉 them to the Roman as Theodoret witnesseth that it happened a while after in these words Iohn being dead those of the West would neuer admitt the communion nether of the Egiptians nor of those of the East nor of the ` Bishops of Bosphorus and Thrace till they had inscribed the name of this admirable personage into the rolle of the Bishops his predecessors And the third that when the separation hath continued those that were excluded from the communion of the Roman haue alwaies bene cast out from the communion of the other Catholicke Churches and reputed for heretickes or schismatickes as it-appeares euen in the busines of the Asians excommunicated by Victor whose Sectaries were afterward constrained to abiure their heresie in these termes I anathematize all heresie and particularlie that of the Quartodecumans And the fowrth that when the deuided partes were to be revnited the other Churches haue alwaies sent to take and demaund their restitution into the commnnion of the Roman Church and that the Roman Church neuer sent to take or demaund that of other Churches Those of the West saith Theodoret speaking of Flauianus Patriarke of Antioch promised to laie by all bitternesse and to 〈◊〉 the Embassadors that Flauianus should send Which the diuine Flauianus hauing heard he sent a legation of famous Bishops and Priests and Deacons of Antioch to Rome And Socrates The communion hauing bene restored to Flauianus the parts of the Church of Antioch were soone after reunited And Pope Innocent the first writing to Alexander Patriarke of Antioch vpon S. IOHN CHRYSOSTOMES cause I haue diligentlie in quired whether the case of the blessed Bishop Iohn had bene satisfied in all pointes and hauing found by those of your 〈◊〉 that all things had bene accomplished according to our desire I haue by the grace of God admitted the communion of your Church And 〈◊〉 treating of the same matter Iohn being dead those of the West would neuer admitt the communion neither of the Egiptians nor of those of the East nor of the Bishops of Bosphorus and Thrace that is to saie of the diuision of Constantinople till they had inscribed the name of that admirable personage into the rolle of the Bishops his predecessors and scarcely esteemed Arsacius who had succeeded him 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 saluted and as for Atticus successor to Arsacius after manie legations and 〈◊〉 for peace they finallie receaued him but when he had first added the name of Iohn to the other Bishops And Pope Leo in his Epistle to Anatolius Patriark of Constantinople concerning the Bishops of the false councell of Ephesus Wee will said hee that by our Legats the care of the affaire being communicated to thee it be ordained that those that with full satisfaction shall condemne their euill actions and rather chose to accuse then to defend themselues shall enioy the vnitie of our peace and cōmunion And else where But as for those that haue more grieuously sinned if they after such satisfactiō as it shall seeme it ought not to be refused c. let the things be reserued to the more mature determination of the Sea Apostolicke And Pope Hormisdas tyme-felowe with the Emperor Iustin in his Epistle to Epiphanius Patriarke of Constantinople You must said hee put on my person and of those that shall 〈◊〉 with you in communion and by you to the Sea Apostolick informe vs by your letters therein 〈◊〉 therein the tenor of the libells which they shall haue presēted And againe Which we thought wought to impose vpon you laying our charge vpon your diligence because you haue giuen noe small proofe of your resistance to hereticks And Victor of Tunes reporting the same historie The Emperor Iustin reunited those of the East c. with 〈◊〉 satisfaction for those of the West And the Emperor Iustinian nephew and Successor to Iustin in the Epistle to Pope Iohn surnamed 〈◊〉 Wee haue hastned to submitt and vnit to your Holynesse Sea all the 〈◊〉 of the East Countries And certainelie if the Pope had holden noe other ranke in the ecclesiasticall communion then the other Patriarkes
Bisop of Aptunge they first obtained a iudgement of seauentie Bishops in Africa against him Then discerning that Cecilianus dispised 〈◊〉 iudgement as well because it was giuen against an absent person as because as saint AVSTINE saith that he sawe himselfe vnited by communicatory letters with the Roman Church in the which adds the same saint AVGVSTINE hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie of the Sea Apostolicke and with the other Countries from whence the Ghospell came in to Africa they resolued to pursue beyond the seas a new iudgement Now they seared the Popes Tribunall both in generall because all Italie had bene trobled with persecutions vnder the Empire of Dioclesian by meanes whereof they figured to themselues that there would be manie Bishops that had bowed or bent and consequentlie would supporte the cause of Ceci 〈◊〉 and in particular if wee beleiue the Donatists in the conference of Carthage because the Pope Melchiades was suspected by them as a complice as they pretended of the same crime or one equiualent to that of him that ordained Cecilianus They began said saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the Donatists of the conference of Carthage to charge Melchiades of the crime of Treason and to 〈◊〉 that their superiors had shunned his iudgement because he was a Traytor For these causes then that is to saie be it for the suspition that they had in common against all Italie be it for that they had in particular against the Pope they addressed themselues to the Emperor Constantine who then was resident amongst the Gaules and besought him to giue them iudges from amongst the Gaules because in that prouince whereof his Father Constantius had had gouernment there had bene noe persecution which was to refuse in generall all the prouinces where Dioclesians persecution had taken place amongst which Italie was one of the principall Your Superior saith Optatus Mil. presented to the Emperor yet ignorant of the affaire the request which followes Wee beseeche thee ô excellent Emperor Constantine because thou art of a iust race whose father amongst all the Emperors neuer practised anie persecution and that the Gaules are freed from this crime for in Africa there are contententions amongst vs let there be giuen to vs Iudges from amongst the Gaules And what meruaile is it if they addressed themselues to Costantine since after they had recourse to the Emperor Iulian the Apostata a pagan and an infidell prince the Emperor Constantine amazed and angrie with this proceeding reproached it to the Donatists and obiected to them that they would receiue iudgement from him who himselfe did attend the iudgement of Christ. He durst not saith saint AVSTINE iudge the cause of a Bishop And Optatus Mileuitanus from whom S. AVGVSTINE borrowed this historie Hee answered them saith hee with a spirit full of indignation you aske of me iudgement in this world of me I saie that doe my self attend the iudgement of Christ that is to saie you would haue me constitute my self for a Iudge of the Ministers of Christ I that doe my self attend the iudgement of Christ. Which was the same protestation that he made afterward at the Coūcell of Nicea in these wordes repeated by our glorious CHARLEMAINE To me who am constituted in a lay condition it is not lawfull to iudge of Bishops And this the Emperor Ualentinian renewed in these wordes repeated by saint AMBROSE and by the same CHALEMAINE Your businesse ô Bishops is farr aboue vs and therefore treate amongst you of your causes And that S. ATHANASIVS remēbred to the Emperor Constatius in these termes What hath the Emperor in common with the iudgement of Bishops And againe when did the iudgements of the Church take their force from the Emperor And saint MARTIN to Maximus This is a new and neuer heard of impietie that a secular iudge should iudge a cause of the Church And this was the first protestation of irregularitie made by the Emperor Constantine against the Donatists to witt that leauing the waie and the ordinarie progresse of the iudgments of the Church they had recourse to him to obtaine Iudges and which hath bene alwaies followed since by the pious and religious Catholicke Emperors This request neuerthelesse of the Donatists that the Emperor reiected as a iudge he beleiued that hee ought not altogether to reiect as an arbiter and compounder of the busines but thought it to bee to purpose in some sorte to make vse of the arbiterment that the Donatists referred to him to assaie to reconcile them to the Catholickes whose communion he held and for that occasion assured himselfe that he ought to be auowed and agreed vnto by them And therefore desiring on the one side to preserue the forme of the ordinarie iudgements of the Church on the other side being constrained to giue some waie to the hardnes of those that he desired to bring backe by faire meanes he remitted them frō the Gaules to Rome to be iudged by the Pope Melchiades with the assistance of three Bishops of the Gaules that he caused to trauaile thither Maternus of Cologne Rheticius of Autun and Marinus of Arles that they might be wittnesses and warrants of the sinceritie of his proceedings I haue ordained saith the Emperor in his Epistle to Melchiades euill inscribed to Mechiades and to Marcus that Cecilianus with ten of his accusers and ten of his abetters that is to saie ten Africā Bishops which opposed him and ten of Africk Bishops which maintained him trauelled so farr as to Rome that in your presence ioyning with you Rheticius Maternus and 〈◊〉 your Colleagues whom for this effect I haue enioyned to trasport themselues to Rome he may be heard so as you shall know that it belonges to the most religious lawe I haue said in the Epistle euill inscribed to Melchiades and to Marcus for there it must be read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well because Marcus was not Bishop of Rome till after Siluester Successor to Melchiades as because if this Marcus had bene anie other then a Bishop the Emperor would not haue said ioyntlie with you your colleagues Rheticius Maternus and Marinus And if he had bene Bishop hee had not directed 〈◊〉 letter to Melchiades Bishop of Rome and to Marcus without adding to it the qualitie of Bishop These three Bishops of the Gaules then hauing bene vpon the nomination of the Emperor admitted by the Pope and called by him to the Councell of Rome became iudges of the right of the affaires Now to whom doth it not heereby appeare quite contrarie to that which the Caluenists pretended to inferr For first if the Emperor as he protests himselfe had noe right to iudge the causes of Bishops howe could hee in right giue them Iudges I saie in right and not in fact for as much as the Emperor could well giue them Iudges in fact and whose
this be obserued of Bishops that those which haue bene depriued of the communion in their prouince might not appeare to be restored rashlie and duely to the communion by your Holynesse And the Greeke text contrarywise makes two diuers clauses of this traine whereof he referrs the first to the Pope and not to the Councell of Nicea and distinguisheth them by the word then which is an aduerbe of illation in these termes For if it appeare that he hath had care to extend his caution euen to clerkes and laymen by how much stronger reason would he haue is to be obserued in regard of Bishops Let not those then that haue bene suspended from the communion in their owne prouince appeare to be hastilie and otherwise then is fitt restored to the cōmunion by your Holynesse Now that the reading of the Greeke edition be the true one it appeares by the branch following which is Likewise also the impudent flightes of priests and inferior clerkes let your Holynesse as a thing worthie of you reiect them Which supposeth a precedent prayer to the Pope particularly made for the Bishops The fourth patterne shall be taken from the middle of the same petition where the Greeke text contayning the grace of the holy Ghost shall not want to euery prouision the latine exemplifiers of the Greeke word which fignifies there prouision some of them haue made prouidence and other some prouince For that there it must be read prouision and not prouince it appeares by the clause that followes which saith And principally since it is permitted to euery one if he finde himselfe agreeued at the sētēce of the iudges to appeale to the Synod of his prouince The fifth patterne shal be taken frō the end of the same Epistle where the Greeke text saith For as for the wretched Apiarius hauing already bene for his infamous crimes cast out of the Church of Christ by our brother Faustinus we are no more in care for as much as by the meanes of the approbation and direction of your Holynesse for the preseruation of brotherly Charitie Africa will suffer him no longer which is the true sence of the Bpistle where the Fathers intend to expresse that the Pope will noe longer permitt that Apiarius to whom by the first iudgement of Faustinus his 〈◊〉 of the African Bishops reuiewing the cause with him it had bene granted to remaine in Africa and so exercise there in anie place he could or would the office of priesthood prouided it were not at Sicca hauing bene by the second iudgement condemned and excommunicated yea by the very month of Faustinus his Holinesse legate should remaine in Africa and exercise anie priesthood there which sence also the protestants haue followed as well in the Greeke as in the latine of the last impression of the Councells of Africa which they haue made in Germany And the latine edition contrarywise saith transferring the speech to 〈◊〉 For as for our Brother Faustinus Apiarius hauing bene already cast out of the Church for his enormious crimes we are assured sauing the probity and 〈◊〉 of your Holynesse that brotherly Charitie will not permitt that he be 〈◊〉 longer borne with in Africa Now this translation is both against the Greeke text which referrs the speeche to Apiarius and not to Faustinus and against the expresse intention of the Councell which might well cōueniently desire the Pope not to permitt anie longer that Apiarius should remaine in Africa but not desire him no more to keepe a Legat in Africa principally according to the opinion of those that will haue it that the Councell of Carthage where Genetlins presided was celebrated vnder the Empire of Valentinian the third who begun to be Emperor but the yeare after the Consulship of Uictor and Castinus vnder the which according to them this letter was written and that Faustinus the Popes Legate assisted at it And against the testimonie of Leo the first who was created Pope eight yeares after the death of Celestine who makes mention of a Bishop called Potentius who was his Legat in Africa For as for the clause wee are no more in care of it which wants in the Greeke printed copies it is in the ancient greeke copies commented by Zonara and by Balsamon And as for the word probity which is read in the latine text it may be it is a deprauation of the Greeke word which signifies 〈◊〉 which also the Germans haue retained in the new edition as well Greeke as latine of their Conncells But it is alreadie a longe while since this digression began to exceede the proportion of the other partes of my worke And therefore the feare to abuse the Readers patience obligeth me to conclude and to pray them to excuse me if I haue suffered myselfe to be carried beyond what was my purpose at the beginning of the chapter The importance of the matter shall recompence the defect of the proportion which perchance in these kindes of searches will not be displeasing to spiritts curious of antiquities Of the Question of Appeales treated of in the sixth Councell of Carthage CHAPT X. THE fifth instance of Caluin against the Popes authoritie is taken from the dispute that happened about the matter of Appeales in sixth Councell of Carthage and consists in this that Apiarius priest of the cittie of Sicca in Africa hauing appealed to the Pope from a sentence that the Bishops of Africa had giuen against him And the Bishops of Africa hauing complained of this Appeale the Pope sent them the canons of the appeales made in the Councell of Sardica and directed them to them vnder the title of the canons of the Councell of Nicea for as much as the Councell of Sardica was an appendix of the Councell of Nicea By meanes whereof the African's not finding these Canons in the Copies of the councell of Nicea that they had with them deputed some into the East to see if they could finde them in the copies of the Easterne Churches and not hauing found them there and besides finding themselues much aggreeued as the frequent appeales which those that had badd causes cast in from their Iudgments besought the Pope that he would not more so easily receiue Appeales from the church-men of their prouinces Now this instance hath bene after manie ages the principall engine of the aduersaries against the Popes authoritie as it appeares both by the vse that the Schismatickes of the mock-Councell of 〈◊〉 made of it to the end to oppresse the innocence of Arnulphus Bishop of Orleans which the Pope maintained And by the calumnies where with Zonar as and Balsamon Greeke Schismatickes vniustly charge the memorie of Pope Zosimus for hauing alleadged the canons of the Councell of Sardica vnder the title of the canons of the Coūcell of Nicea And finally by the proceedings of the protestants who in this slander haue followed and surpassed them For not only
condemned the Faith of the Coūcell of Nicea and the person of S. ATAANASIVS Now it happened that in the addresse of the Epistle of this false Councell of Sardica the Arrians amongst the Bishops of their communion inserted the name of Donatus Bishop of the Donatists of Carthage for as much as this Donatus besides the heresie of the Donatists was also infected with that of the Arrians The Donatists then thinking they might inferr from thence that their communion had in former tymes bene spread out of Africa by this meanes auoid the reproaches that the Catholickes of Africa made to them that their Church was imprisoned within the lymitts of Africa and consequently was not Catholicke aduised themselues to call in and supprese secretly in Africa all the copies of the true Councell of Sardica which had bene brought thither by Gratus Catholick Archbishop of Carthage and to sowe in their steedes the copies of the false Councell of Sardica which had bene addressed to Donatus his competitor and wrought so in it that in the time of saint AVGVSTINE and of the sixth councell of Carthage as it shal be heereafter proued by many places of S. AVGVSTINE there were to be found in Africa none of the copies of the true councell of Sardica but only those of the false councell of Sardica The seauenth Aduertisement shal be that the African Fathers neuer went so farr as to make anie decision or anie decree vpon the Article of the Episcopall Appeales contrarywise before the cōming of the copies frō the East all their proceeding was to beseeche the Pope to cause their contentes to be obserued with protestation the while to practise what was sett downe in his Legates Instructiōs And after the copies had bene brought out of the East so farr were they from making anie decree vpon the Article of the Bishops Appeales as they hindred not those of Simple priests For after the death of Pope Boniface vnder whom the copies of the East were brought into Africa Apiarius being fallen into new crimes for which he was againe condemned by a Councell of Africa and Pope Celestine vpon a pretence of Appeale hauing againe sent Faustinus his Legate into Africa to cause a newe Councell to be holden there where Apiarius did not only forbeare to hinder it but also to obay the Popes Bill of Appeale assembled a new Councell where in his Legates presence Apiarius his cause was againe put to triall and they did not awake the contention of Appeales but vpon the occasion that was giuen them by the subsequent and vnexpected confession of Apiarius who vanquished by the remorse of his owne conscience voluntarily discouered all the infamous crimes whereof he was accused This confession then hauing renewed in the spirit of the Africans the memory of the greeuances that they receiued by Appeales which in steede of seruing as they ought for a shield for innocence when the raynes were let too loose serued for a Shield for incorrigibilitie and impunitie they tooke occasion from thence to write an Epistle of complaint to the Pope But yet euen then they passed not so farr as to make anie decree of the Episcopall appeales but contained themselues within the simple lymitts of complaints petitions and Remonstrances Which the Bishops of the Councell of Constantinople surnamed Trullian that the Greekes call the sixth generall Councell acknowledged when they said wee receiue the Canons made by the holy Fathers assembled at Sardica and at Carthage words which shewed plainely that they beleeued not the Councell of Sardica to haue bene disabled by the decrees of the Councell of Carthage The eight and last aduertisement shall be that the end issue of the affaire was that after all these contentions searches and proceedings the Pope remained in full and intire possession of the Right of the Episcopall Appeales of Africa and that the Africans were satisfied that what they hadnot found in the Councell of Nicea was contained in the Councell of Sardica whose Canons vpon this occasion they inserted into the Canon law of their prouinces and in summe that all the African Church continued and perseuered in the practise of yielding Episcopall Appeales to the Sea Apostolicke and in the communion and obedience of the Pope as long as Christianitie lasted in Africa This is the history Apiarius priest of Sicca a cittie of the prouince of Numidia in Africa after he had bene condemned deposed and excommunicated by the African Bishops in a cause that he had against Vrbanus Bishop of Sicca cōplained to Pope Zozimus that he had appealed to him that the Africans would not suffer the cause to passe beyond Sea Pope Zozimus vpon this occasion sent into Africa the rule of the Councell of Sardica vpon the matter of Appeales which consisted in two Articles wherof the one contained that the Bishops after they had bene deposed by the Councells of their Prouinces might appeale to the Pope the other contained that the Priests which had bene deposed by the Councell of their Prouince might haue their cause reuiewed by the Bishops of the next Prouinces which was the point that concerned Apiarius his controuersie For whereas the rule of the Councells of Africa imported that the Priests should be iudged by the Bishop of their Diocesse and by six Bishops of the same Prouince and that in case they would appeale from it they might not appeale but to the Primat and to the Councell of their Prouince to the end that the cause might be determined within the Lymitts of that particular Prouince where it had bene begun The Councell of Sardica ordained that after they had bene iudged by the Primat and the Councell of their Prouince they might appeale to the Primat and to the Councell of one of the next Prouince Which thing being applyed to Africa to witt that it might be lawfull to euery Priest of Africa to appeale from the Primat and from the Councell of his Prouince to the Primat and Councell of one of the next Prouinces Apiarius pretended that it belonged to the dignitie and the Priuiledge of the Sea Apostolicke that it might be in the power of him that was a Numidian Priest to choose amongst the Churches next the Prouince of Numidia the Roman Church although it were out of the continent of Africa before anie of the rest because besides the neighbourhood that Tertullian expresses by these words If thou beest a neighbour to Italie thou hast the Roman Church whose authoritie is neere and at hand to vs she hath the prerogatiue and preheminence of dignitie aboue all the rest Now it happened that the Pope sent into Africa these canons of the Councell of Sardica vnder thé title of the Canons of the Councell of Nicea For the mention of the Councell of Sardica inserted into some Latine copies of the sixth Councell of Carthage is a quotation of the copists which slipt out of the Margent into
no more receiue those to the Communion that haue bene excommunicated by vs And a while after That so those that in their owne Prouince haue bene depriued of the Communion may not seeme to be rashlie and vnfitly restored to the Communion by your Holynesse And this request they propt vp with fiue reasons The first that the Councell of Nicea had forbidden that those which had bene excommunicated in one Prouince should be receaued to Communion in an 〈◊〉 Your Reuerence said they will easilie acknowledge that this hath bene so defined by the Councell of Nicea for although it seemes to restraine the caution to inferior Clerks and to lay men by how much strōger reason did they intend it allso to Bishops A thing that the heate of contention drew from their mouthes and which is directlie against S. AVGVSTINE who saith speaking of Cecilianus Archishop of Carthage who had bene deposed by a Councell of seauentie African Bishops assembled at Carthage Hee might contemme the conspiring multitude of his Enemies because he knew himselfe to be vnited by communicatorie letters to the Roman Church in which hath alwaies flourisht the principalitie of the sea Apostolick and from the other Countries from whence the Ghospell first came into Africa And against the Councell of Nicea it selfe which precisely limitts the words to Priests and Laymē which hauing bene excommunicated by their Bishop could not be receiued to Communion by anie of the other Bishops of the same Prouince For whereas the African Fathers inferr that if the Councell of Nicea spake these words of Priests and Laymen they must be much more intended of Bishops this is formally opposite to saint AVGVSTINES foundatiō who saith that Cecilianus tyme-fellowe with the Councell of Nicea might haue appealed beyond Sea because hee was not of the number of Priests and other inferior Clerkes but of the number of Bishops They did not handle the cause saith hee of Priests Deacons or other inferior Clerkes but of Bishops which might reserue their causes to the iudgement of the churches beyond Sea The second that the Councell of Nicea committs the causes as well of Bishops as of Priests to the Metropolitan which is true for the iudgement of Priests in the second instance and of Bishops in the first But not for the iudgment of Bishops in the last instance as appeares by the testimonie of saint ATHANASIVS who had assisted in person at the Councell of Nicea which alleadges for his defence an Epistle where Pope Julius writes that the Councell of Antioch and other Councells of the East could not depose ATHANASIVS from the Bishopricke of Alexandria without expecting the decision of the church of Rome Are you ignorant saith hee that the custome is that they should first write to vs and so from hence should proceede the iust decision of causes and therefore if there were anie suspition conceiued against the Bishop there that is to saie of Alexandria they must write to the Church heere that is to saie to the Church of Rome The third that the grace of the holy Ghost shall not be wanting to euery prouision or to euery Prouince to discerne the equitie of causes and that it is not credible that God should inspire the Justice of the triall to one only man what soeuer he be and denie it to an infinite number in a Councell A certaine proofe that they spake of the causes of equitie and iustice as well ciuill as criminall and not of causes of faith of which contrarywise they had written a yeare or two before to Pope Innocent vpon the subiect of Pelagius and Celestius his cause which was a cause of Faith Wee doubt not with the helpe of Gods mercie who will vouchsafe to heare thee praying and to guide thee consulting but those that hold these peruerse thinges will more easily yield to the authoritie of thy Holynesse deriued from the authoritie of holy Scriptures And Pope Innocent to themselues Alwaies and as often as matters of faith are handled I conceiue that all our Bretheren and colleagues can haue no reference but to Peter that is to saie to the author of their name and dignitie The fourth That it was very hard to assure beyond Sea iudgements because of the difficultie of causing witnesses to passe the seas How can said they the Iudgements beyond Sea be certaine wherein the necessarie persons of witnesses for the debilitie of sexe of age or manie other hindrances interuening cannot appeare An euident Argument that they spake of particular and personall causes And the fifth that it had neuer bene taken from the African Church by any decree of a Councell that Appeales should goe out of Africa and that to send Legats from Rome into Africa to iudge them vpon the place it was not constituted by any Councell A thing the ignorance whereof they might well excuse forasmuch as they had no more then in Africa the true copies of the Councell of Sardica but only as had bene aboue shewed those of the false Councell of Sardica composed by the Arrians and publisht by the Donatists which gaue ground to all this question The second request was that the Pope should no more grante them clerkes executioners so were certaine clerkes of the Roman Church called committees to cause to be executed with the helpe of secular power and of the imperiall forces that is to saie by the strength of Vshers Sergeants and Souldiers the iudgements of the Pope or of his Legats a thing which prouoked much murmure in Africa For although the malice of the African Poeple who after they were fastned in the hate of anie Ecclesiasticall person would hardlie lett goe their hold did sometymes make this remedie necessarie Neuerthelesse the abuse of those which did too violently applie it did often conuert it into a pretence and occasion of complaint as S. AVGVSINE testifies in an Epistle to the same pope Celestine when he saith speaking of Anthony Bishop of Fussala in Numidia who had appealed to the Pope from the iudgemēt which the inhabitantes of Fussala had caused to be giuen against him He threatens them saith hee with secular power and with the furie of souldiers as if they should come to execute the iudgements of the Sea apostolike in such sort as the miserable inhabitants being Christians and Catholiks feared more grieuous vsage from a Catholike Bishop then they did when they were hereticks from the lawes of the Emperors For these causes then the African Bishops besought the Pope to grant no more Clerkes executors to those which demanded them That you will not also said they send your clerks for executors to all those wich demaund them nor permitt that wee should seeme to introduce the typhe or smoky meteor of the age into the Church of Christ which propounds the light of simplicitie and the daie of humility to those that desire to see God Calling the force and military violence with which those executors did
Iustinian himselfe in the Sea of Constantinople in the steede of Eutychius and deceased twelue yeares after the death of Iustinian And it derogates not from this that Balsamon reiects all the Nomocanons that is to saie all the marriages of lawes and canōs which haue bene made before that of Photius And amongst the rest one Nomocanon which distributes the lawes and canons into fiftie titles For be it that he speake of that of Iohn Patriarke of Constantinople surnamed Scholasticus be it that he speake of an other later he reiects it not for not hauing bene antient enough but for being too antient for as much as manie lawes of the Emperor Iustinian which are there inserted haue ceased to be in vse hauing bene abrogated by the later Emperors yet lesse is this repugnant to it that the canons intituled from the Apostles are quoted in this synagogue vnder the number of eigthie fiue canons Whereas Doonisius exiguus and after him Cresconius report but of fiftie For bsiedes this that the greeke code of Dionisius as hath bene aboue noted was very lame and defectiue it is certaine that the Greekes both before Theodoret and before Dionisius Exiguus retained eightie fiue as appeares by these wordes of the councell of Constantinople surnamed Trullian Wee ordaine that the eightie fiue canons which haue bene receaued and confirmed by the holie Fathers who haue preceded vs and haue bene giuen vs by them vnder the name of the canons of the holie and glorious Apostles remaine from hence forward 〈◊〉 and vnmoueable And by the councell of Constantinople holden vnder Nectarius in the cause of Agapius and of Bagadius more then sixtie yeares before Theodoret that the councell Trullian canoniseth in these wordes Wee seale also the canons of the holie fathers which reassembled thēselues anew in this religious imperiall cittie vnder Nectoirius Archbishop of the same cittie vnder Theophilus Archbishop of Alexandria Which coūcell holden vnder Nectarius in the cause of Agapius and Bagadius cites the seauentie sixth Canon of the Apostles for I will not renewe the difference that hath bene since Pope Gelasius betwene the greeke and latine church in regard of these Canons intituled from the Apostles It sufficeth to defend the antiquitie of this Synagogue that from before the time of Theodoret the Greekes held eigthie fiue canons for Apostolicall canons and this may be said touching the sixth obiection lett vs dispatch the two others The seauenth obiection that the Popes aduersaries propound against the authoritie of the canons of the Councell of Sardica is that Pope Adrian the first in the epitomy of the canons that he addresses to Charlemaine saith that the Canons of the councell of Sardica are not to be found amongst the Greekes and that Pope Nicholas the first in his Epistle to Photius Patriarke of Constantinople and to the 〈◊〉 writes The Councell of Sardica which you saie you haue nott To this obection then wee answere two thinges the one that if Photius who was author of the schisme which lasts to this daie betweene the greeke and Latine Church should haue said by malice and to couer his intrusion in to the Patriarkship of Constantinople which he had vsurped vpon 〈◊〉 true and lawfull Patriarke that the Greekes had not or receiued not the Councell of Sardica it were noe great meruaile no more then that the Bishops of Egypt writt to the Emperor Leo to couer their heresie that they knew not the Synod of the hundred fifteen fathers that is to saie the first generall Synod of Constantinople in the which neuerthelesse Timothie the first their Patriarke had assisted and presided For Photius hauing intruded into the Patriarkship of Constanstinople against the Canons of the Coūcell of Sardica which forbad Laymē to vsurpe ecclesiasticall charges there is noe doubt but he would willingly haue auoided that which condemned him And the other that it is a mistaking in Pope 〈◊〉 who deceaued himself vpon the Epitomy of the Canons of Pope Adrian who was deceiued vpon Dionisius his collection For not only the Councell of Constanstinople surnamed Trullian that the Greekes intituled the sixt generall Councell which was more then an hundred and fiftie 〈◊〉 before Pope Adrian more thē two hundred before Pope Nicolas 〈◊〉 before Photius that Photius himself canoniseth registers it in his 〈◊〉 as an vniuersall oecumenicall Coūcell writes Wee seale also the 〈◊〉 that haue bene publisht by the fathers assembled at Sardica Carthage by those which reassembled thēselues the second time in this Religious and imperiall 〈◊〉 vnder Nectarius Archbishop of this imperiall Cittie and Theophilus 〈◊〉 of Alexandria But Photius himself in his Nomocanon insertes allmost 〈◊〉 euery title the canōs of the coūcell of Sardica those particularly of the Episcopall appeales to the sea Apostolike after Photius Simō 〈◊〉 Zonara Balsamō Alexius Blastares Harmenopolus other later 〈◊〉 Canonists The eigteenth last obiection that the aduersaries of the church make against the authoritie of the canōs of the coūcell of Sardica 〈◊〉 that the practises of episcopall appeales which are the subiect of the third fourth and fift Canon of the Coūcell of Sardica hath bene long 〈◊〉 to the Easterne Church For proofe whereof they alleadge six 〈◊〉 the first is that Socrates speaking of Cyrill Bishop of Hierusalem who had appealed from the Councell of Palestina holden vnder Acacius Archbishop of Cesarea to a greater iudgment that is to saie to the iudgement of the Councell of Seleucia saith that Cyrill practised the first and 〈◊〉 one of this kind of proceeding making vse against the custome of the ecclesiasticall Canon of appeales as in a lay iudgement The 〈◊〉 that the first Councell of Constantinople that was called the 〈◊〉 generall one ordained that after the Synod of the Prouince the 〈◊〉 of the Patriarkship might examine in the second instance of the 〈◊〉 of Bishops but that if after the Synod of the Patriarkship anie one 〈◊〉 dare to importune the eares of the Emperor or of secular Princes 〈◊〉 disquiet the generall synod that he bee no more receaued to pursue his 〈◊〉 The third that the Emperor Iustiniā saith that frō the sentēces of the Patriarkes there is noe appeale no more then from the sentences of the Prouosts of the Pretory The fourth that the Emperor Iustinian ordaines that if a Clearke attempt anie Cause against his Bishop 〈◊〉 bee iudged by his Metropolitan and in case the one of the parties 〈◊〉 to obey the iudgement the Patriarke of the diocese shall end 〈◊〉 The fifth that the Emperors Leo and Constantine declared that the sentence of the Patriarke was not subiect to appeale as being the Prince of Ecclesiasticall iudgements And the sixth that Photius in his Nomocanon saith there is noe appeale from the sentence of the Patriarkes To the first then of those obiections which is that Socrates saith that Cyrill Bishop of Jerusalem was the only and
S. GREGORIE alleadgeth this lawe it is not to applie it to the meritt of Steuens cause but to shewe that Steuen ought to be drawne in iudgement before the Councell of his Prouince and not before the Councell of an other prouince And indeede how could S GREGORIE haue pretended that in maior causes that is to saie wherin there were handled either the finall deposition of Bishops or matters of Faith the Patriarks sentences not to be subiect to appeale he that cries out Do not you know that in the cause that John the priest had hee meanes John a priest of Chalcedon who had bene condemned for a matter of faith at Conctantinople against our brother and Colleague Iohn Bishop of Constantinople he hath had recourse according to the canons to the Sea Apostolick and that it hath bene defined by our iudgement To the fifth Instance which is that the Emperors LEO and Constantine saie that the Sentence of the Patriarke is not subiect to appeale and is not to be retracted by an other Iudge as being the Prince of Ecclesiasticall iudgement Wee saie that those two Emperors who haue written since the Schisme of the Greeke Church speake of the Patriarke by excellencie that is to saie of the Patriarke of Constantinople whom they beleeue to holde the place of Pope in the East for they esteemed the sentences of other Patriarkes to be subiect to appeales but they beleeued that the sentences of Patriarkes vniuersall that is to saie according to them of the Pope and of the Patriarke of Constantinoplee whom they associated with the Pope in the Right of vniuersall Patriarke for as much as Constantinople was a second Rome and the Patriarke of Constantinople for this occasion according to them a second Pope were not subiect to appeale This appeares both by the tenth Article of the sixth title were they saie the iudgement of all Metropolitanshipps and Bishopricks belonge to their proper Patriarke but to him of Constantinople it is lawfull to confirme and reforme and determine the contestations bredd in other Seas And by Balsamon who writes vpon the fifth canon of the Councell of Antioch that this comdemnation is ment of Synods not subiect to appeale as of the Pope and of the Patriarke of Constantinople To the sixth and last Instance which is that Photius saith that from the Patriarks there is noe appeale wee answere it is not Photius that speakes for Photius inserts not in his Nomocanon but the only texts of the constitutions of the Emperors without mingling anie thing of his owne but that these are the words of the constitution of Iustine vnckle to Iustinian to which wee haue aboue answered who saith alluding to the eighth lawe of the fourth title of the code for against such Episcopall sentences as it hath bene ordained by our elders there is noe appeale Of which words the Greeke Bookebinders or Exemplifiers haue made for against the sentences of such Bishops that is to saie of the Patriarks there is noe appeale Together that if Photius the author of the Schisme that still continues betweene the latine and Greeke Churches had written these words to defend the inuasion made vpon the Sea of Ignatius true and lawfull Patriarke then aliue and to hinder the appeale that Ignatius had put in against Photius and his pretended Synod to the Pope 〈◊〉 taking effect it would haue borne noe weight But so farr 〈◊〉 it from being soe as not only Photius but after him Simon Logothetae Zonara Balsamon Alexios Blastares Harmenopolus and other greeke canonists insert into their collections the canons of the Couucell of Sardica and particularly the third fourth fifth by which the Episcopall appeales of all the prouinces are yeelded to the Pope but also that vnder the verie title of the retractation of the sentences of Bishops vnder which he registers this constitution of Iustine he quotes third fourth fifth canon of the Councell of Sardica which ordaine that the Episcopall appeales should be remitted to the Pope For to this that Zonara to preserue the Easterne appeales to the Patriarke of Conctantinople saith that the Councell of Sardica in making the Rule of the Episcopall appeales intended to yeeld noe more to the pope but the westerne Appeales Wee saie besides this that this exceptiō defaulketh not Africa which made a parte of the westerne prouinces and was subiect to the Prouost of the Pretory of Italie it is against the precise intention of the Councell of Sardica which publisht this Rule expresselie to abrogate the canon of the Councell of Antioch and to iustifie the restitution that Pope 〈◊〉 had made of saint ATHANASIVS Patriarke of Alexandria and of Paule Bishop of Constantinople of Marcellus primate of Ancyra in Galatia and of Asclepas Bishop of Gaza in Palestina who had bene deposed from their Seas by the Councells of Tyre of Hierusalē of Antioch other Easterne Coūcels Iuliū saith Zosom receiued Athanasius Bishop of Alexādria Paule Bishop of Constātinople Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra in Galatia Asclepas Bishop of Gaza in Palestina and Lucius Bishopp of Andrinople into his communion and because that to him for the dignitie of his Sea the care of all things belonged he restored to each of them his Church And elsewhere speaking of the Fathers of the Councell of Sardica they answered that they would not seperate themselues from the communion of Athanasius and of Paule and Principally for as much as Iulius Bishop of Rome had examined their cause and had not condemned them And therefore Balsamon seeing that this euasion could not subsist hath inuented an other which is that the councell of Sardica had indeede yeelded to the Pope the appeales of all Bishops but that Constantinople hauinge since bene erected to the title of the secōd Rome the right of appeales hath bene deuided betwene the Pope and the Patriarcke of Constantinople Those thinges said Balsamon commenting the third canon of the councell of Sardica which are heere defined of the Pope ought also to bee extended to the Patriark of Constantinople because by diuers Canons he meaneth the canons of the councell of Chalcedon and of the conncell surnamed Trullian by which he pretendes that he Bishop of Constantinople was made equall to the Pope excepting precedence he hath bene honored with priuiledges in all things equall to those of the Pope And againe commenting the fift canon of the same councell of Sardica This priuilege belongeth not to the Pope alone that it should be necessarie that euerie condemned Bishop haue recourse to the Sea of Rome but it ought also to be vnderstood of the Sea of Constantinople And Nilus Archbishop of Thessalonica The twētie eight canō of the councell of Chalcedō and the thirtie sixt of the sixth synod honoring the Sea of Constantinople with the same priuiledges as the Sea of Rome yeelde also manifestlie the 〈◊〉 to the Sea of Constantinople And so much for the Councell of Sardica CARDINALL
the confession of PETER and the Church was built vpon the person of PETER are both ioyntly true but in different sence for the confession of PETER is the causall foundation of the Church that is to saie it is the cause for which the Church is built vpon the person of PETER rather then vpon that of anie other Apostle for as much as the primacie of this confession not proceeding nor preuented from or by anie humane instruction but proceeding immediatlie frō the pure reuelation of God the other Apostles being silent not knowing what to answere was the cause in fauour whereof Christ chose preferring him before all others saint PETER to constitute him the foundation of his Church And the person of Peter is the formall foundation of the Church that is to saie him vpon whose ministrie by preferring him before all others Christ hath built and edified his Church But the differenc of these two expositions is that the one is immediate and the other mediate the one direct and the other collaterall the one literall and the other morall the one originall and perpetuall and the other accessorie and temporall the one consigned from the beginning and the other introduced by occasion For before the Arrians were risen vp that is to saie before the age of Constantine and of the first Councell of Nicea the interpretation that was current in the Church was that not of the confession of PETER but of the person of PETER As when 〈◊〉 saith in his Booke of Prescriptions against heretikes Was there anie thing cōcealed from Peter who was called the stone of the building of the Church And ORIGEN See what is said to the great foundatiō of the Church and the solid stone vpon which Christ hath built his Church And elsewhere Peter vpon whō the Church of Christ hath bene built against which the gates of hell shall not preuaile And in the comentarie vpon the Epistle to the Romans trāslated by saint HIEROME When the Soueraigne authoritie of feeding the Sheepe was giuen to Peter and that vpon him as vpon a stone the Church was built the confessiō of anie other vertue was not exacted of him but onlie that of Charitie And S. CYPRIAN Peter whom the Lord chose first and vpon whom he built his Church And againe God is one and Christ is one and the Church is one and the Chaire is one built by the voyce of our Lord vpon Peter But after the coming of Constantine when the Arrians had lifted themselues vp against the diuinitie of Christ the Fathers finding no passage in the scripture more expresse to proue vnto them that IESVS CHRIST was the sonn of God not by adoption but by nature then this Confession of sainct PETER Thou art Christ the Sōne of the liuing God in which they held that the word liuing had bene expressely inserted to shew that IESVS CHRIST was the sonn of God by generation for as much as to engender as saie the Philosophers is proper to liuing thinges they tooke care as much as was possible for them to 〈◊〉 the dignitie of this confession And because that in fauour thereof and for it S. PETER had bene constituted foundation of the Church they licensed themselues to call it by Metonimy that is to say by translation of the name from the effect to the cause the foundation of the Church that they might haue the more occasion to declaime against those that destroyed it in reproching thē that they ruined the foundatiō of the Church that is to saie the confession in fauour whereof and for whose cause he that had made it had bene constituted foundation of the Church but neuerthelesse to shew that they intended not in doeing this to exclude the person of PETER from being the formall foundation of the Church that which the same fathers had said in one place of the confession of PETER as causall foundation of the Church they said it in an other yea often times in the same place of the person of PETER as formall foundation of the Church This appeares by saint HILARIE who disputing in his workes of the Trinitie against the Arrians after he had said This faith is the foundation of the Church by this faith the gates of hell are disabled against her this faith hath the keyes of the heauenlie Kingdome Adds immediately after to declare that this should be intended of the saith of sainct PETER causallie and meritoriouslie but of his person formallie that is to saie that this confession hath only bene the meritorious cause for which sainct PETER hath receiued these things but that it is the person of PETER that hath properly and formallie receiued them This is hee that in the silence of all the other Apostles acknowledging beyond the capacitie of human infirmitie the Sonn of God by the Reuelation of the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Confession of his blessed faith a supereminent place And a little after Hee hath confessed Christ to be the Sonn of God and for that he is called blessed This is the Reuelation of the Father this is the foundation of the Church this is the assurauce of eternitie from hence he had the keyes of the Kingdome of 〈◊〉 from hence his earthly iudgments become heauenly And a little before After the confession of the Sacrament the blessed Symon is submitted to the edification of the Church receiuing the keyes of the heauenly Kingdome And in his comentaries vpon the verie place of the words of IESVS CHRIST The confession of Peter hath receaued a trulie worthiereward And a little after in the title of a new name blessed foundation of the Church and worthie Stone of her edification that destroyed the lawes of 〈◊〉 and the gates of the deepes and all the prisons of Death O blessed Porter of heauen to whose arbitrement the keyes of the eternall entrie are deliuered whose iudgments on earth haue authoritie to preiudge in heauen And elsewhere Christ had so great a zeale to suffer for the Saluation of human kinde as Peter the first Confessor of the Sonn of God the foundation of the Church the Porter of the heauenly kingdome the iudge of heauen vpon earth disswading him he called him by the name of Satan And soe sainct CHRYSOSTOME interprets it that is to saie sometimes of his faith Upon this stone said hee that is to say vpon the faith of this confession And sometimes of his person Hee promiseth saith he to make a fisherman more solid then anie kinde of stones And vpon the fiftith Psalme heare what he saith to PETER That Pillar that foundation and therefore called Peter as made a Rocke by faith And againe that Pillar of the Church that basis of the faith that be ad of the Apostolick flock And saint CYRILL doth euen the same sometimes of his faith He hath said hee called the immutable faith of Peter his disciple a Rocke and sometimes of his
carnally that Peter that should tell them knew them 〈◊〉 FOR that in the sixth of S. IOHN S. PETER answeres in common for all the Apostles Wee beleeue and knowe thou art Christ the Sonn of the liuing God besides that the Latine editions haue not the word liuing Wee saie it was a later thing for as much as when sainct PETER answered Wee beleeue and know that thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God hee had bene alreadie constituted head and Prince of the other Apostles and in this qualitie he answered alone for all the rest as sainct CYRILL testifies in these wordes By one that presided or that was preeminent all answered and had alreadie receiued the promisses of our Lord that vpon him he would build his Church As S. CYPRIAN declares in these wordes Peter speakes heere vpon whom the Church had bene built And therefore as the Apostles had part in the primacie of this confession only by adherence and non-repugnancie so our Lord gaue them part in the authotitie he had giuen to S Peter by adherence and communication with S. PETER that is to saie vnder condition of cōmunicating and adhearing and remayning in vnitie with saint PETER And yet this part that he promised and gaue them in the rule and ministrie of the Church was afterward to witt as in right in the eighteenth of saint MATHEW What yee bind on earth shall be bound in heauen And as the installment into the possession in the twentith of saint IOHN Receiue the holie Ghost whose sinns yee forgiue shall be forgiuen to the end to shewthat to sainct PETER ōly the cōditiō of being a Rock that is to sa rule and foundation of the building of the Church had bene principallie and originally giuen and that afterwards it was extended to the other Apostles it was by aggregation and association and by communicating and adhering with him and as hauing relation and correspondence to him as to the Center and middle forme of the veritie of the Church For as God gaue first his spiritt to Moyses and after tooke of the Spiritt that he had giuen to Moyses and gaue thereof to the seauen tie two Elders not that God tooke awaie from Moyses anie portion of the spiritt that he had giuen him not that the spirit of God was diuisible but to the end to establish and shew a relation of vnitie dependencie and adherencie of the seauentie two Elders to Moyses Soe in some sort for I compare not the two histories wholie our Lord gaue first the whole authoritie of the ministrie and the Chaire Apostolicke to saint PETER alone I intend as in right and not in actuall possession which he receaued not till after the Resurrection and after 〈◊〉 it to all the twelue Apostles in common to the end to shew the relation of dependencie vnitié and adherence that they ought to haue with saint PETER whom vpon this occasion Macharius an antient Egiptian diuine calls the successor of Moyses Afterward said hee to Moyses succeeded Peter to whom the new Church of Christ and the true priesthood hath bene committed Which hath caused the Fathers to saie that there was but one Chaire which was the Chaire of PETER but that in this Chaire all the Apostles were placed to witt by the adherence communion and vnitie that they had with S. PETER In the Episcopall Chaire saith saint OPTATVS Mileuitanus there is sett the head of all the Apostles Peter from whence he also hath bene called Cephas to the end that in this only Chaire vnitie might be preserued in all least the other Apostles should attribute to themselues euery one his Chaire a parte but that he might be a Schismaticke 〈◊〉 that against this onelie Chaire should erect an other And therefore also the surname of PETER by which this Condition of being the foundation of the rule of the Church is designed hath bene giuen to him only to beare it in the title of a proper name and not to anie other Apostle to show that to him by excellencie and eminencie ouer all the rest appertained the thing whereof he alone bore the name For since our Lord should by the word PETER designe the condition of being the ministeriall foūdation of the Church for what cause should he affect it to Peter alone to beare it in the title of a proper and ordinarie name and not giue it to anie other if he were not to bea foundation of the Church in an other manner then the rest Which S. BASILL hath in such sort acknowledged as desiring to shew the difference which is betweene the substance and the hipostaticall proprieties of anie subiect he alleadgeth for example of the substance the substāce of humanitie which is commō to PETER PAVL although said he the appellations be different yet the substance of Peter and Paule and of all men is one and alleadgeth amongst the examples of the hypostaticall indiuiduall and incommunicable conditions of PETER that is to saie which are particular to him onely and are not common to him with saint PAVL nor with anie other the condition of being the foundation of the Church Because said he the names of men signifie not their substances but the proprieties whereby each of them is designed in particular From thence it is that when wee heare the name of Peter we vnderstand not his substance c. but conceiue the sence of the proprieties which are perticular to him For as soone as wee heare this word wee vnderstand Peter the Sonne of Ionas he that was of Bethsaida he that was Brother to Andrew he that of a Fisherman was made an Apostle he that 〈◊〉 reason of the supereminencie of his Faith receiued vpon him the edification of the Church AND for this same cause to saint PETER onely there hath bene conferred singularlie separately and apart the authoritie of the rule of the Church and to all the rest onely in common and ioyntlie with him to the end to shew that he was the originall the source the center and the beginning of the vnitie of the Church and that no other out of his Communion could exercise the rule and ministrie thereof but that the rest had right to exercise it it is onely as associated and aggregated with him and as grafted and inserted vpon him For our Lord neuer said singularly to anie of the Eleuen Thou art Peter and vpon this Rocke I will build my Church and I will giue thee the keies of the Kingdome of heauen nor I haue praied for thee that thy faith shall not faile And finallie Thou being conuerted confirme thy Bretheren nor louest thou me more then these feede my sheepe But only hath said in generall to all the Bodie of the Apostles sainct PETER being Colleague present and comprehended therein that which he had said before to saint PETER alone as to the head That which yee shall binde on earth shall be bound in heauen and they
PETER debated the Primacie with him noe longer but yeelded him Presidencie This appeares as well by the text of the history where there is noe tracke of respect giuē to S IAMES but to S. PETER onlie as by the time wherein S. IAMES was created Bishop of Hierusalem For the first act that the Apostles did after the Ascension of our Lord was the substitution of MATHIAS insteede of 〈◊〉 in the historie whereof sainct CHRYSOSTOME saith these words And Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius testifie that the promotion of saint Iames to the Bishopricke of Hierusalem happened afterward By meanes whereof the Apostles could not in that action that is to saie in the election of MATHIAS yeeld Presidēcie to saint IAMES because of the Bishoprick of Hierusalem And the same is confirmed both by this that saint CHRISOSTOME had written vpon the twentith chapter of saint MATTHEW Marke said hee how this same Iohn that latelie made such demaunds after wholie yeeldes the Primacie to saint Peter And by this that he adds presently after the place obiected This mā saith hee speaking of saint PETER first constitutes a doctor and saith not wee are enough to teach far was he from vaine glory And a little after he takes the first authoritie of the affaire as he that had all other put into his hands for to him Christ had said And thou being once conuerted confirme thy bretheren And by this that he protests in the beginning of his discourse Peter saith hee both as full of 〈◊〉 as hauing receaued from Christ the flocke into his keeping and as the first of the Colledge alwaies first beginns to speake To the thirteenth obiection which is that saint CHRISOSTOME writes vpon the fifteenth of the Acts that the principalitie was committed to Iames It is true but he speakes there onlie of the Principalitie of the Hierosolomitan Church if indeede the greeke word doe in that place intēd principalitie and not beginning and that the sence be not that IAMES had bene establisht from the beginning that is to saie that he was of the ancient Apostles and not of the new as saint PAVL and neuerthelesse that he tooke noe exceptiōs to S. PAVL for speaking betweene S. PETER and him For what soeuer that Greeke word signifies it is certaine it can signifie nothing but the principalitie of the particular Church of Hierusalem and not the principalitie of the vniuersall Church which S. CHRISOSTOME himself testifies elswhere to haue bene grāted to saint PETER in these words For if anie one aske me said hee how did Iames obtaine the Sea of Hierusalem I will answere that Christ hath constituted Peter Master not of that Sea but of all the world And againe Christ had foretold Peter great things and had put the whole world into his hands and had pronounced martirdome to him and she wed him greater loue then to the rest And indeede S. CHRISOSTOME alleadgeth not this principalitie to shew the modestie of saint Iames in this that he was not offended that saint PETER had spoken before him but to shew the modestie of saint IAMES in this that he was not offended that saint PAVL spake betweene saint PETER and him A manifest proofe that he treates not of the vniuersall principalitie but of the principalitie of the particular Church of Hierusalem of which he makes mention in this place because those that had moued the trouble for which the Coūcell was holden were the Iewes and Pharisees of Hierusalem conuerted to Christianitie who were iealous to see that the Gentiles were receaued into the Church without obliging themselues to the obseruation of the lawe And because saint IAMES had more especiall credit in their behalfe because he was not only their Bishop but Bishop of the Cittie which but a while before was Metropolitan of the lawe and consequently it seemed he should be touched with a more strict interest to the obseruation of the lawe then anie other and also that he had not gone about with sainct PETER and sainct PAVL to receiue the Gentiles into the Church and by this meanes had not lost his 〈◊〉 in the behalfe of the legalists It was saith sainct CHRYSOSTOME a profitable prouidence that those thinges were done by those that were not to reside in Hierusalem and that he that taught the Hierosolomitans was not refusable and that his opinion might not be departed from For these causes then sainct IAMES had by accident a greater authoritie in the behalfe of the authors of this Scandall then the other Apostles to preserue the which he did saith saint CHRISOSTOME that which those ought to doe that are constituted in great authoritie that is to saie he suffered saint PETER to speake more seuerelie and himself spake more gentlie But that compared simplie with saint PETER hee was either equall or superior in iurisdiction saint CHRISOSTOME is so farr from hauing euer thought it that contrariwise he cries out a lowde Peter was the Prince of the Apostles and the mouth of the disciples and the head of the Colledge and for this occasion Paule went vp to visitt him letting the rest alone And a little after Christ put into his hands the Prouostship of his bretheren and vpbraids him not with his deniall of him nor reprocheth him with what was past but saith to him if thou louest me be president of they bretheren and the same loue that thou hast in all things shewed to me and whereof thou hast boasted shew it now and that life that thou hast said thou wouldst laie downe for me laie it downe for my sheepe And in the homilie thirtith three vpon saint MATHEW The first and the Corypheos of the Apostles was a man ignorant and without learning And in the homily fiftie fift Not onely the Apostles were Scandalized but also the Corypheos that is to saie Soueraigne of them all Peter And in the second booke of the Priesthood Christ committed the care of his sheepe to Peter and Peters Successors And in this doe all the rest of the Fathers agree aswell Greeke as latine Thou seest saith saint GREGORIE Nazianzene amongst the disciples of Christ all sublime and worthie of election that one of them is called the Rock and that the foundations of the Church are committed to him and the other is more beloued and leanes vpon the bosom of Iesus and the rest suffer the difference And saint AMBROSE The Lord said hee by these words louest thou me more then these asked the question not to learne but to teach being readie to be himself exalted into Heauen which was he whom he would leaue to vs for the Vicar of his loue And a little after And because that of them all he onlie protests he is preferrd before them all And elsewhere With a full floud of teares the Churches Rocke Did cleanse his Crime at crowinge of the Cocke And S. EPIPHANIVS Christ hath appointed Peter to be the guide and leader of his
that in Christ there is but one Nature that is to saie confound and steepe the Essence of the humanitie in that of the diuinitie Doth not sainct AVGVSTINE crie out Those that beleeue not that Christ is come in the fleshe c. and that he is risen againe in the same Bodie wherein he hath bene crucified and buried although they should be in all the countries ouer the which the church is spread are not in the Church How can then the true Church haue cōmunion with this Sect and how can this Sect bee a member and a true part of the Church And how can it bee that of the Roman Church which holdes the contrarie doctrine and of this Sect there should be framed one common Bodie of the 〈◊〉 Church and to goe about to ioyne them together in one selfe-same Societie of a catholicke Church and more to add vnto them all other hereticall and schismaticall sects How is it anie other thing then to goe about to ioyne like Mezentius dead bodies with liuing bodies and to make of the spouse of Christ of the doue of Christ which is the only catholicke Church a monster and a Prodigie compounded of all the impious horrible and contradictorie heresies that haue rent the Coate and mysticall Bodie of Christ and to putt communion betweene Christ and Beliall and betweene light and darknes The Catholicke Church then is not a Masse and common Societie which containes in it the confusion of all Sects and of all the multitude of those that are called Christians but it is a particular Societie amongst all those Societies which beares the name of Catholicke or totall Church not because it containes in deed all the rest You will saith Optatus Mileuitanus to the Donatists bee alone all the whole 〈◊〉 are not so much as in the whole And saint AVGVSTINE Whosoeuer defends a part separate from the whole cannot vsurpe the title of a Catholick but because she containes them in right and holds habituallie the place of the whole in regard of them For the Church holds the place of the whole habituallie in regard of hereticall and schismaticall Sects and by her eminencie for as much as none of the other considered euerie one a part equalls her in number and in multitude Howbeit saith Saint AVGVSTINE that there are manie heresies of Christians which would be all called Catholickes There is neuerthelesse one Church if you cast your Eies vpon the extent of the whole world more aboundant in multitude and because vnto her alone belonges the prerogatiue of being successiuely spread ouer the whole earth in beginning from Hierusalem whereas none of the others hath the priuiledge but that the most part of them like that kinde of Ape which the Greekes call Callithrix cannot liue but in that climate and vnder the same influence wherein they were bredd And beyond this because all the rest hauing gone forth from her and she hauing as saint AVGVSTINE saith still remained in her stock and roote holdes the places and right of the whole in regard of all the rest noe more nor lesse then that part of the tree in which the life stood and roote rests holdes the place of the whole habituallie in regarde of those that haue bene separated from it They vnder st and not saith hee that amongst the Sects of the Christians there is one true and wholesome and in sort Germinall and radicall Christian societie from whence they haue separated themselues And finallie because all the rest are obliged if they will obtaine saluation to reinsert and reincorporate themselues into the bodie of the Catholick Church Holde most stedfastlie saith FVLGENTIVS that noe heretick or schismatik if he bee not reconciled to the Catholick Church before the end of his life can bee saued Otherwise if all the hereticall and schismaticall Societies which professe the name of Christ might iustlie enioy the title of the Church and were actuallie parts of the Church wherefore had the Fathers imployed these sentences against hereticks and schismaticks That 〈◊〉 of the Church there is noe saluation that out of the Church there may be had the faith and Sacraments and all thinges else Saluation excepted that who hath not the Church for his Mother cannot haue God for his Father that hee that communicates with the vniuersall Church is a Catholicke and he that communicates not therewith is an hereticke and Antichrist And howe could the excellent King himselfe haue protested That he beleeues without colour or fraude that the is one only Church in deede and in name Catholicke and vniuersall spread ouer the whole world out of which there can be 〈◊〉 Saluation hoped for and condemneth and detests those that heretofore or since haue seperated themselues either from the Faith of the Catholicke Church and are become heretickes as the Manichees or from her communion and are become Schismatickes as the Donatists if the Catholicke Church did comprehend all the Hereticks and all Schismaticks among which there was neuer anie more pernicious then those that destroy the human nature of Christ the only organ of our Saluation as the Egiptians and Ethiopians doe For whereas his maiestie auowes that the frame contexture of the Church is alreadie longe agoe dissolued dissassēbled betweene thē vs but adds in regard of externall forme S. IOHN in saying to vs If anie one bring thee not this doctrine saie not so much to him as well bee it with thee for whosoeuer shall say to him well be it with thee shall communicate in his wiched works forbidds vs all communion as well internall as externall with thē And elsewhere we haue alreadie shewed that when externall and Sacramentall communion is interdicted on both sides that is to saie where there is a reciprocall excommunication and an erection of Altar against Altar there cannot be vnitie either internall or externall If wee be in vnitie said S. AVGVSTINE what makes two Altars in the Cittie And Sainct CYPRIAN The Church which being Catholick is one maintaines herself whole and is ioyned together with the cement of Prelates adhering to one another But against these decisions of the scripture and Fathers there doe arise fowre obiections The first that the word Church doth grammaticallie signifie assemblie and consequently that all assemblies are Churches and so all Christian assemblies are Christian Churches Now this obiection is good in gramar and to interpret prophane authors but not in diuinitie nor to interpret christian Authors amongst whō the word Church hath noe more this vast and large Grammaticall signification as it had before For as when Hormodius and Aristogiton had freed the common wealth of Athens from the slauerie of the thirtie tyrants the Athenian Senate to consecrate their names and to make them reuerenced to Posteritie ordained that from thence forward they should neuer be imposed vpon or communicated to anie other Soe after our Lord had giuen to his
man that is to saie a veritable man and then that a Church leaues not to be truly a Church although she be not a true Church it is a Sophisme of the truth of the essence to the truth of the word and of the word verus to the word Verax there being none so young a scholler but knowes that to speake vniuocallie whosoeuer is truly a man is a true man for as much as being and truth are conuertible from whence it is that sainct AMBROSE vseth these wordes true Israelite and trulie Israelite as termes equiualent And that sainct AVGVSTINE saith Euerie soule is by that a soule by which it is a true soule And therefore as the Fathers affirme that there is none but the Catholicke Church that is a true Church From thence saith sainct AVGVSTINE it appeares that the true Church is concealed from noe bodie Soe they also saie that there is none but the Catholicke Church that is truly a Church If you did teach saith sainct AVGVSTINE to the Manichees that mariage were good but virginitie better as doth the Church which is trulie the Church of Christ the bolie Ghost had not predesigned you And whereas it is replied that a man for being lesse or more sound leaues not to be a man and soe that a Church for being lesse or more pure leaues not to be a Church it is an other manifest Sophisme for health is not the essentiall forme of a man nor sicknes the priuation of the essentiall forme of a man but an accident which consequentlie may receaue more and lesse whereas puritie of faith according to his maiesties owne confession is the essentiall forme of the Church and the impuritie of Faith the priuation of the essentiall forme of the Church By meanes whereof noe Societie can hold among the conditions of her Communion and doctrine impure in Faith and contrarie to saluation but shee looseth at the same time the being and title of a Church And therefore the diuersitie of the communions whereinto the Church was deuided when Luther rose must not be alleadged for a pretence to be ignorant where the true Church then was For since the Church ought to be perpetually visible and eminent and that then there were noe Christiā communions visible in the world but ours that of the Grecians vnder which are cōprehended the Muscouites the Antiochians that of the Egiptians Ethiopians which is but one that of the Armenians that of the Nestorians that it is of the essence of the necessirie of the Church that she should be pure and impolluted in faith and that all those others by the common confession of vs and of the Protestants are heretickes and corrupt it is not needefull to goe to Delphus to learne that either the Church was perished which as wee haue aboue shewed could not be or that it was our communion which was the Church Of the qualitie wherein the Catholick Church attributes to herself the name of the whole CHAP. VIII The continuance of the Kings answere AND therefore the most excellent King is much amazed when hee sees the Churches which haue bene members of the whole Bodie drawe to themselues all the right of vniniuersalitie THE REPLIE IT hath alreadie bene aboue shewed that by the Catholicke Church the Fathers neuer intended the Masse and totall conclusion of the multitude of Christians but a speciall societie distinct from the beleefe and from the communion of all hereticall and schismaticall sects and which in regard of the Masse and generall confusion of all the multitude of Christians held actuallie but the place of a part and held only the place of the whole actuallie in regard of the particular Churches which were comprehended in deede in her communiō For there was neuer anie age since the apostles built the church but there haue bene some heretickes which haue gone forth from the Bodie of the Church neuerthelesse making profession of the name of Christ They haue gone forth from vs saith S IOHN but they were not of vs. And S. IVDE Cursed bee they for they perish in the contradiction of Chore people which separated them selues men animalls hauiug not spiritt And S. AVGVSTINE All hereticks and Schismaticks are gone forth from vs that 〈◊〉 to saie saith hee are gone sorth of the Church But amongst this difference of societies making profession of Christian Religion there was alwaies one more eminent in multitude then the rest which hath alwaies remained in her stocke and roote and from whence all the rest are gone forth to whom also the name of Catholicke nath bene preserued not because she held actuallie the place of whole in regard of the rest but onlie of all habituallie as the stocke in regard of the boughes which haue bene pluckt off for as much as in all the separations she remained in the same estate wherein all the Bodie was before the separation and consequentlie hath iustlie inherited the name of totall Church and succeeded onelie in the right and application of the whole as being she alone that represents it The Church saith S. AVGVSTINE Combating against all heresies may be resisted but she cannot be ouerthrowne all heresies are gone forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt off from their vine but she remaines in her roote in her vine in her charitie the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her Which amazeth me that is maiestie should be amazed that the Churches which haue heretofore bene members of the whole Bodie should drawe to themselues all the Right of the vniuersalitie For the word Catholicke was neuer common to all Christians but onely to a part of Christians to witt to that wherein there remained the actuall totalitie of that which rested in the iust possession of the title of the Church and which in regard of the partes separated retained noe more the effect but only the right of the whole as representing her that before each separation was the whole And therefore so farr was S. AVGVSTINE from extending the totalitie of the Catholicke Church to the multitude of all the sectes of Christians as contrariwise after hauing reported the opinions of the eightie eight heresies he adds What the Catholicke Church holdes against all these thinges is a superfluous demaund since it is sufficient for to knowe that she holdes the contrary to these thinges And a while after There may also be or be made other heresies besides these which are reported in this worke of ours whereof who shall holde anie one shall be noe Catholick Christiā And elsewhere The Catholick and the heretick are deuided the one against the other And againe They cannot beginn to be Catholick till they haue left to be hereticke And therefore when the hereticall Sects separate themselues from the Catholicke Church and deuide themselues from the part that consents not to heresie they hinder not the title os Catholicke nor the Right of vniuersalitie from being preserued in her
stranger askes an hereticke where they assemble to communicate in the Catholicke Church none of them dares to shew his Temple or his howse And the reason the title of catholick was not an allurement wherewith heretickes drewe ignorant persons to them but the firme bond by which the true Church drewe to her and retained in her communion all the true faithfull called to the hope of life eternall and amongst other this Eágle of doctors S. AVGVSTINE who saith That I omitt this sincere wisedome which you beleeue not to be in the catholicke church There be manie other reasons which doe most iustlie retaine me in her lappe the consent of people and nations retaines me the authoritie begunn by miracles 〈◊〉 by hope increased by charitie confirmed by antiquitie retaines me the succession of Prelates euen from the Sea of Peter to whom our lord committed his sheepe to be fedd after his resurrection vntill the present Bishop detaines me And finallie the verie name of Catholicke retaines me And a little after these so manie and so great most deare bondes of the Christian name doe iustlie detaine faithfull men in the Catholick Church although for the slownes of our vnderstanding of the defect of meritts in our liues truth doth not yet shew her else with manifest euidence Of the cases wherein the Communion in vow with the Catholick Church may be imputed as actuall CHAP. XV. The continuance of the Kinges answere BVT this notable calamitie is particular to the last times whereto wee are arriued that the Catholick Church which must bee communicated with either reallie and by effect or at the least voluntarily and in vowe is 〈◊〉 illustrious at this daie then antiently she was and lesse exposed to the view of men and more subiect to bee contested THE REPLIE ARISTOTLE that great Philosopher which steeped his pen say the Greekes in sece in steede of inke teacheth vs that the cittie is before the cittizen to witt not in prioritie of time for a cōmon-weale can not be without a cittizen but in prioritie of nature that is to saie that the being of the cittizen dependes from that of the cittie and not the being of the cittie from that of the cittizen from whence it appeares that the forme that giues being in the first place to the cittie and then by participation to the cittizen must reside in the cittie in the most perfect manner that it can reside and not in the most imperfect And soe although it suffice to preserue to a cittizen the being of a cittizē that in default of being able to participate actuallie in the communion of the common wealth as when he is hindred by anie locall obstacle either of beeing in a strange prison or remayning in a strange countrie he commnicate there habituallie and in desire which is an imperfect manner of communicating it sufficeth not that the communion where by the common wealth is framed and preserued in being should be a simple habituall communion and in vowe but it is necessarie that it should be a true and actuall communion For when a Cittizen is hindred by anie locall impossibilitie from communicating actuallie with his Common wealth he leaues not to preserue the being of a cittizen prouided that hee communicate therewith habituallie that is to saie in vowe and in desire and communicate not in a politicke communion with anie contrarie societie But when the communion of the bodie of a common-wealth comes to be dispersed and that there is noe more anie comerce or actuall communion in the estate then the common wealth is extinct and hath noe more being and the communion that is habituall and in desire of the cittizens dispersed and noe more communicating one with an other cannot preserue it Now euen that ought to be said of the Church whereof the Psalmist singes propheticallie Hierusalem which is built as a cittie whose participatiō is in vnitie to witt that although the cōmunion habituall and in vow sussice for a particular person in case of impossibilitie for the actuall to make him imputatiuelie a member of the Church that is to saie to cause this imperfect communion to serue him to saluation in default of the other Neuerthelesse the Church cannot be framed nor preserued in the beeing of a Church by a communion only habituall and in vowe but by a reall and actuall communion The which as soone as it comes wholie to cease and to perishe in the Church the Church perisheth and ceaseth to be And therefore this distinction of actuall communion and communion in vowe serues well to shewe that anie one may be imputatiuelie in the Church without participating actuallie in the visible communion of the Church prouided that this defect come from an imposibilitie of participating therein actualie but not to shew that the bodie of the Church can subsist and preserue the being and true title of a Church without visible and actuall communion For contrariwise that this imperfect manner of being in the Church serues to his saluation that is hindred by anie locall obstacle from being able to be there actually it is because the true and actuall communion which as in the Church is imputed to him by the desire that he hath to participate thereof which could not be imputed to him if it were not reallie some where and besides this desire of participation must be stript from all other impediments sauing that which proceedes from loand corporall imposibilities in such sort as all those which are not withheld by distance of place or other like obstacle ineuitable to them from participating in the actuall communion of the Church cannot be said to communicate there in vow nor to be there imputatiuely For nothing dispenceth with men for communicating with the Catholicke Church onely in vow and in will and not reallie and by effect if it be not the exclusion of time and place and besides in the article of death noe more then anie thing can excuse a man from being baptised onelie in vow and in will and not reallie and by effect but the condition of being excluded by the impossibilitie of time and of place and also in the Article of death from the meanes how to be baptised And because when the obstacle proceedes from externall impediments onely that if there were local or temporall commoditie he that communicates with the Church in vowe would communicate therewith actuallie this desire of communion may be imputed for true communion and called a communion in vow But when the obstacle proceedes from internall impediments from him that pretendes to communicate there in vow as of repugnancie to the beleefe and to the discipline and the lawes vnder the conditions whereof the Catholick Church receiues into her communion those that she receaues thereinto in such sort as all corporall obstacles being taken awaie and hee being in place where hee may assist at the Catholicke Church communicate with her hee will not doe it this conditionall
desire of communicating with her in case she would change the conditions of her communion cannot be called communion in vowe but discommunion otherwise there would be no heretickes that would not communicate with the Catholick Church for there is noe hereticke but would offer to communicate with her prouided she would change the clauses and conditions of her communion and would reforme her self to the conditions of his Sect. To communicate then in vowe with the Catholicke Church is not to be hindred from communicating reallie therewith by any obstacle proceeding from him that communicates therewith in vowe nor by anie condition that he reproues in the Catholicke Church nor by being vnited in communion with anie other Sect whose cōmunion is repugnāt to the doctrine of the Catholicke Church For whosoeuer cōmunicates with another sect wherewith the catholike Church communicates not can not be said to cōmunicate in vowe with the Catholicke Church And therefore S. AVGVSTINE speaking of some good people who sometimes are vniustlie excōmunicated cast sorth of the Church affirmes that they cease not to enioy the friute of the communion of the Church that is to saie that they are reputed to communicate with the Church in vow when there is on their parte noe obstacle from communicating actuallie therewith and that they make noe congregation of 〈◊〉 out of the Church Often times also saith hee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 permitts that honest people should be cast out of the Christian congregation by some ouer turbulent sedition of carnall men which 〈◊〉 to them done when they 〈◊〉 it patientlie for the peace of the Church and attempt no innouation of Schismes nor of 〈◊〉 they teache men with how true affection and with how great sinceritie and charitie God must be serued Of such men then the purpose is either to returne the tempest being ceased or if they be not permitted whether because the same tempest continues or whether least by their returne there may arise the like or one more cruell they yet preserue the will to serue euen those to whose motions and perturbations they haue giuen 〈◊〉 defending without anie congregation of Conuenticles to the death and helping by their testimonie the faith which they know to bee preached in the Catholicke Church Those the Father which sees them in secrett will crowne in secret From whence it appeares that those which cōmunicate with anie other Societie separate from the Church and hold anie other doctrine but that which is held in the Catholicke Church who are hindred from communicating with the Catholicke Church by obstacles proceeding on this part and by repugnancie to the conditions vnder the obligation whereof people are receiued into the Catholicke Church cannot bee said to communicate in vow with the Catholick Church Of the equiuocation of termes diminutiue imployed for negatiues CHAP. XVI The continuance of the Kings answere BOTH lesse exposed to the viewe of men and most subiect to 〈◊〉 THE REPLIE THE Poets faine that the Cyanian or Simplegade Islandes which are two Isles in the Mediteranean Sea doe sometimes meete together and ioyne themselues in such sorte as they seeme to bee but one therefore Homer calls them wandring and Pindar animated because they are described so moueable and vagabond The same may be said of the visible and inuisible Church of the Protestants to witt that sometimes they propoūd them as two Churches distinct separate sometimes they drawe them together and make them communicate together and compound of them one selfe-Bodie and Societie For when the oracles of the Prophetts Apostles are produced to thē touching the perpetuall puritie and integritie of the Church and that they are demaunded where all these promises haue bene fulfilled since soe manie and soe manie ages their 〈◊〉 refuge is to frame two Churches the one visible and the other inuisible and to saie that the puritie of Religion hath alwaies bene preserued in the inuisible which hath remained exempt from the contagion and from the abhominations of the visible but that it hath bene extinguished and abolished for a longe time in the visible And then as this ecclipse according to them is ceased and that they come to cast their eyes vpon anie companie which begins to hold visible that which they beleeue their inuisible Church inuisiblie to haue held then they constitute noe more but one Church and one communion of the visible Church and of the inuisible Church Now what other Protestants doe vnder the terme of inuisible Church his maiestie is brought to doe it vnder these wordes lesse exposed to mans viewe and more subiect to contestation by which noe other thing can be seriouslie vnderstood but that when Luther came into the world the true Church was wholie inuisible and not only that she was wholie inuisible but that she was wholie perished For if when Luther came into the world amongst manie Societies that contested for the title of the Church there had bene one lesse illustrious and eminent then she had antiently bene but yet visible which ought to be discerned from the rest by this essentiall marke that in the pointes wherein she differed from them she hath for her the worde of God Where did that Church reside Lett them giue it to vs that wee may giue ourselues to it But if she were inuisible and that before the coming of Luther there were a flocke vnknowne in the eyes of men but knowne to God which held the same doctrine that Luther brought besides that I will aske how the members of that Church could be saued not making anie profession of their Faith since our Lord saith who shall denie me before men I will denie him before God my Father And sainct PAVL Wee beleeue with our hartes to iustice but wee confesse with our mouthes to Saluation This Church then when Luther rose vp had no neede to receaue anie change in the pointes which are at this daie in controuersie nor to take anie instruction from Luther or his disciples but onelie to declare her self and with her Gyges Ring to make herselfe from inuisible visible And to cry out this is my beleefe this was the doctrine that I held before Luther spake Now this is soe farr from benig soe as Luther protests that none before him euer discouered the truth 〈◊〉 the doctrine that he hath declared And all those that came thither perswaded by the preaching of him and of his disciples and without euer bragging of the precedent possession of the same doctrine neither had this sufficed for the same Church must haue said Luther hath not yet passed forward enough hee is not yet arriued to the whole summe of my doctrine For wee know how much 〈◊〉 and Zuinglius haue added to the doctrine of Luther And so there not being when Luther came into the world a Societie neither visible nor inuisible which held Luthers doctrine and much lesse Caluins in the 〈◊〉 controuerted betweene them and vs it must necessarily followe
that the Church was then perished for since the excellent King will haue it that the only assured marke to discerne which either of the Church which hee calls English or of ours is the true Church be it that which is the essentiall forme of the Church and that he pretends to be doctrine it is necessary that he suppose that the difference which are betweene the Church that hee calls English and ours be questions which take awaie the essentiall forme of the Church and destroy the being of a Church And by consequence that that of the one or other Societie which errs in these pointes shall bee depriued of the essentiall 〈◊〉 of a Church and destitute from the being of a Church And then if when Luther came into the world there were noe Societie neither visible nor inuisible which held that that the English Church holdes at this daie in the pointes disputed betweene her and vs it followes there was then noe Church Of the authoritie of the worke intituled imperfect CHAP. XVII The Continuance of the Kings Answere AND therefore the excellent King thinkes that he ought with soe much the more Care in so great a floud of different opinions withdrawe himselfe into the mountaines of the holie Scripture THE REPLIE WHEN Nauplius King of the Island of Euboea now called Negrepont would at the returne frō the Seige of Troy cause the fleete of the Greekes to be shipwrackt to reuenge the death of his Sonn Palamides hee sett by night torches in forme of a beacon vpon one of the mountaines of his Island at the foote whereof the Sea was full of bankes cliffes and rockes so to drawe their shipps by the hope of a safe hauen to runn hazard and perish in those shores Soe whenantient heretickes whom saint AVGVSTINE calls mountaines for Shipwracke would cause the Catholickes to make shipwracke in Faith the more their doctrines haue bene pernicious and mortall the more they haue adorned and illustrated them with texts and lampes of the scripture This appeares in the heresie of the Arrians who painted and coloured their error with more then fortie passages of the Bible and by this art attempted to call men backe from the externall and sensible markes of the Church which could not bee pretended by false ensignes by those who had them not to reduce them to the only marke of the scripture the interpretation whereof by their subtletie they made subiect to as manie deceipts as there were wordes But aboue all this is verified in the writer from whom his Maiestie borrowes this language who was one of the most passionate Champions of the Arrians For though he cites these wordes without naming the Father neuerthelesse both the termes wherein they are couched and the tracke of those who haue alleadged them before him to witt Caluin in some of the prefaces to his institution the author of the Booke of the Eucharist in the preface to his worke cannot suffer vs to doubt but that they were taken from the author of the worke intituled Imperfect falselie attributed to Sainct CHRYSOSTOME Now that this Author was not onelie an open Arrian but one of the most eager and violent Champions of the Arrians it appeares by this that he calls the Trinitie triangular impietie and the doctrine of the homousians that is to saie of those that held the Consubstantialitie of the Father and the sonne Heresie Not but that I knew well that he is sometimes alleadged euen by Catholickes with the title of saint CHRISOSTOME vnder whose name he had bene first printed at Basle But because it is one thinge to alleadge him in places where hee disputes not against the Church wherein he is excellent and aboue all in the discourse of manners and an other to alleadge him in the places where hee combates with deliberate purpose against the doctrine of the Catholicke Church of his age as he doth in that from whence the words are taken which his maiestie produceth For behold the expresse termes of the passage When you shall see the impious heresie which is the armie of Antichrist sett in the holie places of the Church then let them which are in Iudea flie into the Mountaines that is to saie let them that are in the christian Societie haue recourse to the scriptures And a little after The Lord then knowinge that so great a confusion of things should arriue in the last daies for this cause commaunds that the Christians who are in the Christian Societie being willing to receaue the stedfastnes of the true faith should haue recourse to noe other thing but to the Scriptures otherwise if they cast their eyes elsewhere they shall be scandalized and perish not discerning which is the true Church Now that by this impious heresie and by this Armie of Antichrist he intends the Catholicke Church and the communion of them which beleeue the equalitie of the Father and the sonne he plainelie shewes when he saith in the same Homilie that the great spirituall euills which haue come vpon the Church haue happened in the time of Constantine and Theodosius and that the armie of Antichrist is the heresie and the abhomination of desolation which hath since them possest the holie places of the Church that is to saie the Basilickes that Theodosius cōmaunded to be deliuered vp to the Catholickes And whē he saith in the former Homilie that the heresie of the Homousians that is to saie of those that hold Christ to be consubstantiall which his Father Fights not only against the Church of Christ but euen against the other heresies which hold not the like And in the nineteneth Homilie when hee calls the worshippers the Trinitie Those that honor the triangular impietie Whereby it appeares that this passage if so farre from giuing fauour to his Maiesties intention as contrariwise it manifestes how dangerous a thing it is to seeke to reduce the markes of the Church to the onelie doctrine drawne from the scripture by the interpretation of euerie particular person since the Arrians in the point which of all others should be most expresse in the scriptures for the catholickes to witt in the point of the diuinitie of Christ for if there be anie thing cleree in a Testament it should be the qualitie of the testator refused all the other markes of the Church and all the other waies of disputation and burnt with desire to fight by the onely texts of the Scripture disarmed from the traditions of the Church Of the vnderstanding of these words of S. Augustine to seeke the Church in the words of Christ. CHAP. XVIII The continuance of the Kings answere AND to seeke according to the Councell that S AVGVSTINE heretofore gaue to the Deuatists the Church in the Words of Christ. THE REPLIE WHEN S. AVGVSTINE said in the booke of the vnitie of the Church there is a question betweene the Donatists and vs where the Church is what shall wee thē doe shall wee seeke her
the contrarie heresie confuted by Scripture only destitute of the helpe of tradition And although Optatus Mileuitus in the beginning had attempted it neuerthelesse the successe hath made saint AVGVSTINE who hath gone further in this question see and confesse that to compose it there was a necessitie of hauing recourse to the vnwritten Apostolicke tradition And what saint AVGVSTINE alleadgeth in generáll against Petilianus must not be obiected against this If anie one of Christ or of the Church or of ought belonging to the faith or to life declare 〈◊〉 then this that you haue receaued in the legall and Euange licall scriptures let him be anathema For himselfe declares elsewhere as it shall appeare hereafter that this word of S. PAVL further signifies against or to the preiudice of The Apostle faith hee hath not said more then but further for if he had said more then hee had condemned himselfe He that desired to come to the Thessalonians to supplie what was wanting in their Faith Now hee that supplies adds that which was not in the thing but takes not awaie what was therein before Of the vnderstanding of the words of S. Chrysostome in the thirtie third homilie vpon the Acts. CHAP. XIX The continuance of the Kinges answere EVEN soe S. CHRISOSTOME as well elsewhere as of deliberate purpose in the thirtie third homilie vpon the Acts handling this question how the true Church may be discerned amongst manie Societies which attribute this name to themselues doth teach that there are two instruments to iudge and decide this question First the word of God and afterward the antiquitie of the doctrine not inuented by anie late bodie but alwaies knowne since the beginning of the Church when she was but breeding THE REPLIE THERE are fowre 〈◊〉 to be made vpon this Article the first that sainct CRYSOSTOME giues not this Rule to discerne the true Church from all societies that differ from her in what point soeuer but onlie to discerne her from those that differ from her in the point of Christs diuinitie wherein it is noe wonder if the scripture be more cleere and expresse then in anie other The second that this marke to discerne the Church he giues not to those that are alreadie preoccupated with the opinion of anie of the Christian sects but to the Pagans which were not anticipated with passion for anie of the parties that combated about the pointes of Christs diuinitie and for this reason might seeme to iudge the more impartiallie The third that sainct CHRYSOSTOMES ayme is not to treate seriouslie there of the markes of the Church with the Pagans but to stopp their mouthes and to shew that whereas they said that they would turne Christians but that they knew not on which part to range themselues these were but pretences and not true language The fowrth that hee stopps not there but acknowledging that this meanes because of the subtletie and shiftes of hereticks is not sufficient requires and exactes an other that is to saie that hee reduceth in the last instance all the summe of the question to this point that that is the true Church which hath remained stedfast and immutable in her communion and from whence all the others are gone forth and that came forth from none A Pagan saith hee comes and saith I would turne Christian but I know not to whom I ought to adhere for there are amongst you manie strifes seditions and tumultes I know not which opinion I should choose nor which I ought to preferr euerie one saith I followe the truth whom shall I that am vtterlie ignorant in the Scriptures beleeue seeing both sides as well the Catholickes as the Sects of the Arrians as it shall appeare heereafter protest the same thinge That certainly answereth hee makes much for vs for if wee saie wee must beleeue reasons thou shalt not without cause be troubled but if wee saie wee must beleeue the Scriptures and they be simple and true it is easie for thee to iudge thereof if anie one conforme himselfe to them he is a Christian if anie striue against them he is farr from this rule But what will become of it saith the Gentile if the other coming also saie the scripture affirmes this thinge and thou saist it affirmes an other thinge and that you wrest the scripture into diuers parts each drawing the vnderstanding of the words thereof to his owne side c. Then saith S. CHRISOSTOME we will inquire of the Pagan if what he saith be pretences and excuses and aske him ifhe condemne the Gentiles Hee must saie some thinge for he will not desire to come to vs till first he condemne them wee will aske him then for what cause 〈◊〉 condemnes them for he will not condemne them without cause It is manifest that he will saie because their Gods are Creatures and are not the vncreated God This 〈◊〉 well answere wee for if this 〈◊〉 found in other heresies a clause which euidently shewes that he spoke onely of those heresies which opposed the 〈◊〉 of Christ which were those where with the East was afflicted and wee affirme the contrarie what neede more words Wee all confesse that Christ is God but see who combats against it and who combates not against it wee call him God and pronounce of him thinges worthie of God that he hath power that he is not seruile that he is sree that he doth all thinges of himself and they the contrary And then finallie seeing that this attempt succeeded not sufficiently It is not possible saith hee but he that heares without preoccupation should be perswaded For as if there were a Rule according to which all thinges should be squared there were noe neede of great consideration but it would be easie to discerne him that should make wrye lines Euen soe is it nowe But wheresore then would he saie doe they not see it Preiudication and human causes doe manie thinges that replies 〈◊〉 they saie also of vs. And how can they saie it for wee haue not seperated ourselues nor haue made noe schisme nor diuision in the Church Wee haue noe heresiarchs wee name not ourselues after the name of anie man wee haue noe leaders as to one Marcion to another Manicheus to an other Arius to an other an other heresi-founder But if wee take the appellatiō of anie particular it is not from those that began anie heresie but of those that preside ouer vs and gouerne the Church Wee haue noe doctors vpon earth God forbid wee haue one alone in heauen This also will hee saie the others likewise affirme it but the name that they beare answereth hee to witt of Marcionites or of Manichees or of Arrians conuinceth them and stopps their mouthes By which words it appeares that the last analysis and resolution of the question is all determined in this point that that is the true Church which hath remained vnmouable and stedfast in her communion from whom all the
others haue gone forth and is gone forth from none which is also the marke that S. AVGVSTINE 〈◊〉 it when he saith The Catholicke Church combating against all heresies may be opposed but she cannot be ouerthrowne all 〈◊〉 are come forth from her as vnprofitable branches cutt off from their Vine but she remaines in her vine in her roote in her Charitie And S. PACIAN Bishop of Barcelona before him when he writes Now to knowe whether she hath bene principallie built vpon the foundation of the prophetts and of the Apostles in Iesus Christ the corner stone Consider whether she began before thee whither she hath growne before thee if she be not withdrawne from her first foundation whether in separating herselfe from the rest of the Bodie she haue not constituted to herselfe her Masters and her particular instructions if she haue argued anie thing vnaccustomedlie if she haue formed anie point of new right if she haue declared to her Bodie the diuorce of peace then lett her be esteemed to be departed from Christ and to be constituted forth of the prophetts and Apostles And therefore although the point of the assentiall deitie of Christ deserue to be more cleerelie exprest in Scripture then anie other as the qualitie of the Testator ought to bee more cleerelie exprest in the Testament then anie other neuerthelesse for as much as the heretickes by their malice and subtletie shift off the places of Scripture alleadged to this purpose the Fathers after they had tried all their strength to bring them backe to reason by Scripture were constrained seeing they could not make them yeeld vp their weapons by that waie to chāgetheir battery haue recourse to the authoritie of the Church Behold saith saint ATHANASVS wee haue shewed the succession of our doctrine from father to sonn you new Cayphas what Progenitors of your phrases and your termes will you bringe vs And saint HILARIE Lett vs consider soe manie holie fathers what will become of vs if wee anathematize them for we bringe thinges to this point that if they haue not 〈◊〉 Bishops we are none since we haue bene ordained by them And the same saint ATHANASIVS It is sufficient that these things are not of the Catholicke Church and that the Fathers were not of that beleefe From whence it appeareth that if the point of Christs diuinitie had neuer bene exprest in Scripture they held the light of the perpetuall testimonie of the Church for a sufficient proofe of this article For whereas saint CHRISOSTOME compares the Scripture to a Rule according whereto all things should be squared besides this that according signifies there not against he intéds that Scriptures rule all thinges either mediately or immediately that is to saie either by it selfe or by the meanes whereto it remitts vs as hee testifies himselfe in these wordes From whence it appeares that the Apostles deliuered not all thinges in vriting but also manie thinges vnwritten Now either of these are worthie of equall credit Of the Rules to iudge admitted by sainct Chrysostome and S. Augustine CHAP. XX. The continuance of the Kings answere THese two Rules to iudge the King with the English Church embracing them with an earnest desire pronounceth that hee acknowledgeth that doctrine finall ie both to be true and also necessarie to saluation that running from the Springe of the holie Scripture by the consent of the ancient Church as by a channell hath bene deriued downe to this time THE REPLIE NEither doe saint CHRISOSTOME and saint AVGVSTINE restraine the meanes to iudge of all the doctrine of the Church to these two onelie meanes by exclusion of the third to witt of Apostolicke Tradition since saint AVGVSTINE saith this is plainelie read neither by thee nor by me And againe The Apostles haue prescribed nothing in this yet the custome opposit to Cyprian ought to bee beleeued to haue taken originall out of their tradition as it is in manie thinges that the vniuersall Church doth obserue And for this cause indeede well beleeued to haue bene commaunded by the Apostles though they haue not bene written And that saint CHRYSOSTOME saith that from thence it appeares that the 〈◊〉 haue not giuen all thinges in writinge but some also without writinge whereof both sortes are in like manner worthie of creditt And elsewhere It is not in vaine that the Apostles haue giuen it by tradition to offer sacrifice for the dead they know how much aduantage and profitt encreaseth to them thereby Neither is the question in the disputation which is now handled betweene his maiestie and vs of the examination of the right but of the examination of the fact that is to saie wee are not to inquire by conferring the conclusions of Faith with their principles which of the English doctrine or ours is the truth which is a question of right whose triall besides that it must be long goes out of the listes frō the state of the questiō that we treate of But to inquire by the continuāce cōformitie with the aunciēt Catholicke Church whether our Church be the same Church as was in the time of S. AVGVSTINE and of the fowre first Councells which is a question of fact in which must be handled not what ought to be beleeued but what hath bene beleeued For his maiestie being of agreement that there was an obligation of communicatiō with the antient Catholicke Church which flourisht in the time of the foure first Councells and that whosoeuer was separate from the communion of that Church was an hereticke or a Schismaticke And the question is whether I might except from the praises of his maiestie the title of Catholicke which is the first cause of this comparison consisting in the knowing not whether the Church of those ages had beleeued well or euill which is a question of right but whether the Church of the last ages from which his maiestie or those that haue bene before him haue separated themselues be the same Church by an vninterrupted succession both of persons and of doctrine as that was in the time of S. AVGVSTINE which is a question of fact and capable of being proued by historie alone soe as the subtletie of spiritts can finde noe shift for it now to leapefrom the question of fact to the question of right And in steede of examining whether the Catholicke Church of this time had the same beleefe in the pointes controuerted betweene vs and our aduersaries as the Church in the time of the foure first Councells had to dispute whether the Church of those ages hath beleeued well and with what reseruations and mollifications her beleefe must 〈◊〉 receiued it is to goe forth from the state of the question and to change the order and meanes of the disputation Of the application of the Thesis of this obseruation to his Hipothesis CHAP. XXI The continuance of the Kinges answere THen to make an end of this discourse the
king answeres to the first obseruation that it can not be applied to the Hipothesis proposed without manie defects For so farr is this English Church from hauing departed from the faith of the ancient Catholicke Church which she honours and reuerences as she is not so much as departed from the Faith of the Roman Church in as much as she consents with the Catholicke Church THE REPLIE I Appeale from Phillip to Phillip that is to saie from the most excellent King to himselfe for what doth my first obseruation import yea according to the abridgement that this maiestie hath made of it but that the name of Catholicke doth not only denote faith but also communion with the Catholick Church and therefore that the antient writers would not suffer those to be called Catholickes who had separated themselues from the communion of the Church although they retained the Faith thereof Now how then is it that the most excellent King alleadgeth to shewe that this obseruation cannot be applied to his Hypothesis without manie errors that he is not departed neither hee nor his Church from the faith of the antient Church For the obseruation wherein it is handled being that to be Catholicke it is not sufficient not to be separate from the Church of the Catholicke faith but also not to be separated from the communion of the Catholicke Church is it not fussicient to applie it to the Hipothesis and to except the most excellent Kinge from the title of Catholicke that his Maiestie hath separated himselfe not from the Faith if soe be he had not done soe but frō the onlie cōmunion of the Catholicke Church And if the most excellent King saith that she from whom he hath separated himself is not the same Catholicke Church as she was in the time of the Fathers and of whom the Fathers said that out of her communiō the title of Catholicke nor the reward of saluation could not be obtained must he not shew that there is an alteration happened in thinges which are of the essence of the Church and without which the verie being of the Church cannot be preserued and besides this that he must finde out and cause to appeare an other societie wherein the succession of the doctrine and of the ministrie both of the communion and of the prerogatiues of the antient Catholieke Church hath continued and whereto he hath ranged himselfe to the end that adhering thereto he may saie that he hath not separated himselfe from the communion of the antient Catholicke Church but is returned into it Of the personall suceession of the Bishops CHAP. XXII The Continuance of the Kings Answere IF wee seeke for the succession of persons wee haue in being the name of Bishops and the succession vninterrupted from the first THE REPLIE IT sufficeth not to constitute the personall successiō of Bishops that some are entred in the steede of others but they must bee entred with the same forme and with the same conditions essentiall to a Bishopricke that their predecessors entred withall Noe more then it sufficeth to make the Priests of Ieroboa Successors to the true Leuiticall Priests that he had driuen awaie that they came into their places not being come in with cōditions necessarie to succeede thē And therefore whether the mission of the Bishops which are at this daie in England be a true ecclesiasticall mission made by ecclesiasticall authoritie and with the iust ecclesiasticall formes or rather a politick mission I forbeare to dispute Onlie I will saie that there are two kindes of successions in the personall continuance of a Bishops Sea the one the succession of authoritie and the other the succession of the character Whereof it is 〈◊〉 that the English according to the principles commō to them and vs haue not the one and it is euidēt that according to their owne particular principles they cannot haue the other For there doe meete together or concurr according to vs two conditions in Episcopall mission the one concerning the collation of authoritie the other concerning the impression of the character which comes from the part of the sacrament of order which wee conceaue to imprint a Seale which cannot be blotted out Now the condition which concernes the character which we will heere call sacramentall mission may well be preserued out of the Church for as much as the character cannot be blotted out and consequently may be giuen though vnlawfullie yet reallie out of the Church by them that haue carried it out of the Church But that which cōcernes authoritie which wee will call notwithstanding the barbarisme of the word authoritatiue missiō although it cānot be giuen in the Church without the other yet it cannot be carried awaie nor giuen with the other out of the Church and may be taken awaie by the Church from them to whom she hath giuen it when she shall iudge it necessarie to depose or degrade them As the Councell of Sardica deposed Narcissus Menophantus and others who notwithstanding left not to preserue the character of the sacrament euen as the officers of a prince when they ioyne themselues with a faction of rebells may carry with them the Seale and the character of the Patent of their offices and preserue it out of the state and out of the common wealth but they cannot carrie 〈◊〉 the authoritie of their office with them And therefore when they that haue bene degraded by the Church or ordained out of the Church returne to the Church the lawfull authoritie to exercise their function must be restored to them either by a particular rehabilitation or by a publicke declaration that the Churches makes to receaue them into her communiō with the exercise of their charges which serues them for a generall rehabilitation As when the Arrians returned to the Catholicke faith the Church restored to their Bishops the lawfull authoritie to administer the Bishop ricks whereof the ecclesiasticall lawes had depriued them and rehabilitated them all at once by the publicke declaration that she made to admitt them with the function of their charges From whence it appeares that they that are ordained out of the Church and by an other societie then by the true Church although they be indeede Bishops as for the Character of the Sacrament neuerthelesse they are not Bishops as for the function of authoritie and as manie times as they shall pretend to vse their authoritie without being rehabilitated by the Church soe often they commit sinn and sacriledge Let vs consider saith S. HILARY speaking of the Fathers of the Coūcell of Nicea what wee doe doe wee that anathematize them c For if they haue not bene Bishops we cā be none And S. ATHANASIVS It is impossible that the ordination of Secūdus as made by the Arriās should haue anie force in the Catholicke Church And S. HIEROME There are at this daie noe Bishops in the world sauing those that were ordained by the Synod And the lawe of the Emperors
without him in Coūcells And then when the conditiōs requisit for the libertie of a Councell shall be resolued vpō what fruite cā be drawne from it if it be not agreed before it be assembled that all that is decreed there must be holdē for infallible For if after such a Councell shall haue bene celebrated it rest still in the choyce of euery particular person to iudge whether the Councell shall haue iudged conformablie to the word of God who knowes not that this is not to submitt their iudgment to a Councell but to submitt a Councell to their iudgement and so to 〈◊〉 things noe further aduanced after the celebration of a Councell then before Now how is it that those who hold that the vniuersall Church may erre should hold that the authoritie of a generall Councell should be infallible which hath noe authoritie of infallibillitie but in as much as it represents the vniuersall Societie of the visible Church where of it is the voice and organ and of all the pastors where of it beares with it the tacit deputation And how can those hold that the vniuersall Church should be infallible cannot erre that hold that indeede she hath erred and that after soe manie ages there was noe visible part of the Church which hath not bene plunged in a pitt of errors repugnant to saluation and contrarie to faith But whether his maiesties offers ought to be examined in a formall Councell or in a verball conference wee are readie to assist at it and to shew that the English Church in pointes contested betweene vs and her hath neither Succession nor Similitude of doctrine with the Church of the time of the first Councells Of the reduction of the Disputation to the State of the Question CHAP. XXV The continuance of the Kinges answere THe English Church is readie to yeeld an accompt of her Faith and to proue by effect that the designe of the Authors of the Reformation vndertaken in this Prouince hath not bene to build anie new Church as the ignorant and malicious haue slandered her but to re-establish her that was fallen in the best manner that might bee THE REPLIE IT is not the question in the proceeding that wee haue framed to knowe whether the ayme of the Authors of the Reformatiō of England hath bene to make a new Church or to restore that which was fallen and to sett it vp againe in a better forme although the subsequent words of his maiestie where he saith that the action of the English Church hath bene a returne to the ancient Catholick Faith and a conuerfion to Christ the onlie master of the Church testifie that it hath bene a new refection and re-edification of the Church For noe it hath bene a new refection and re-edification of the Church For noe Societie in whose faith there is an auersion from Christ and from the ancient Catholicke beleefe can possesse the beeing and the name of a Church But in Summe howsoeuer it be it is not that that is the question in the proceeding that we haue framed but only to knowe whether the Catholicke Church when the English portion separated it selfe from her had so degenerated from the ancient Carholicke Church which was in the tyme of the first fower Councells in thinges importing the ruine of Saluation and the destruction of the being of the Church as she was noe more the same Church as she had bene in the time of those ages And consequently that it was noe more necessarie to obtaine the title of Catholicke and the participation of Saluation to communicate with her but contrariwise was necessarie to be seperated from her and not to commnnicate with her It is that that is the question it is that whereabout we must combat and to shewe some condition some doctrine or custome holden in the Catholicke Church at this daie that may be pretended to be repugnant to saluation and which destroyes the being of the true Church that hath not bene in the Catholicke Church in the time of the fower first Councells Of the inuention of order in the iustification of the reformation before the proofe of the Deformation CHAP. XXVI The continuance of the Kings answere NOw they haue iudged amongst the best that which had bane giuen by the Apostles to the breeding Church and which had bene in practise in the age neerest them THE REPLIE NEither is it the question of what they haue iudged but of the change that is happened betweene the ancient Catholicke Church and the morderne and of the importance of this change that is to saie whether there be happened anie change betweene the estate of the ancient Church the estate of the Church of the last ages of such importance as for that people might be permitted to separate themselues from her communion Which cannot be if some thinge haue not bene taken awaie from the forme of the antient Church which was necessarie to saluation or added thereto which was rèpugnant to saluation For if the moderne Catholicke Church were yet the same Church in matters of Faith and saluation as it was in the time of the fowre first Councells whatsoeuer reformation they haue pretended to make hauing separated themselues from her they cannot possesse the title of Catholicke whereof the question is nor obtaine saluation for as much as saith S. IRENEVS No reformation can be made that is of such importance as the crime of schisme is 〈◊〉 Besides It must bee first determined whether the Catholick Church were deformed in matters of faith and saluation before the English Church can be thought to be reformed in being seperated from her For the English Church could not seperate herselfe from the Catholick Church whereunto before she was ioyned in communion if first it did not appeare to her by proofes necessatie and demōstratiue that saluation could not be obtained in the Catholicke Church that is to saie she coulde not proceede to reforme her selfe in separating herselfe from her whole till it must first appeare to her that the whole from whence she separated her selfe were deformed and with a deformation incompatible with saluatiō Now that could not appeare that betweene the antient Catholicke Church of the time of the first fowre councells which wee on both sides graunt to be the true Church and whereof there remaines to vs monuments sufficient to instruct vs of the integritie of her doctrine and of her Sacraments and ceremonies and the Catholicke Church of this time there had happened opposition in matters importing gaine or losse of Saluation And therefore it is to that time that we must cōfront the state of the Church of this time and not leaue the ages of the fowre first Councells of whose estate wee haue more light and monuments then of the preceding ages to goe vp to those of whose estate we 〈◊〉 recourse not to finde therein more conformitie but to finde therein lesse instruction For as for the Church in the time of the Apostles
shiftes But whether all thinges that they obiect to vs as repugnant to saluation and as occasions sufficient to cause separation from our communion haue bene holden by the Catholicke Church from the time of the first fowre Councells For in case they haue bene so it is cleere that it is sacriledge in them to separate themselues for their occasion from our communion Not but that if this point were once cleered it would be easier for vs then his maiestie conceaues to proue that all thinges that the moderne Catholicke Church holdes as necessary to saluation haue bene holden for such and in the same ranke of necessitie by the antient Catholicke Church in the time of the first fowre Councells but because the lawes of disputation doe not permitt vs to ingage our selues to the triall of this point before the cleering of the other for feare of goeing out of the listes of the question and of confounding the order 〈◊〉 the conference For whereas his Maiestie adds that they haue bene approued ordained frō the beginning it hath bene manifested in the third obseruation of our Epistle that to conuince that a thing haue had place from first ages it is sufficient because of the fowre writinges of of that date that persecutions haue suffered to come downe to vs to proue that it hath bene holden by the Church of the first fowre Councells and that the Fathers that then liued testifie to haue receiued it not as a thinge of a newe institution but as a thing deriued to them by an vninterrupted succession from the age of the Apostles to the Church of their time and that none of the preceding authors saie the contrary His Maiesties owne selfe being agreed with vs in this as hath often alreadie bene repeated that the only little Booke of the Acts of the Apostles is verie farr from contayning all the historie of the primitiue Church Of the exceptions that the Kinge produceth to shewe that he hath not separated himselfe from the Church CHAP. XXIX The continuance of the Kings answere FInallie the King adds that it is a great crime to separate ones selfe from the Church but that he hath anie thing common with that crime either hee or his Churchh ee 〈◊〉 denes for saith his maiestie wee fly not but we are driuen away THE REPLIE AND why then doe Ministers soe earnestly exhort their hearers rather to indure all kindes of death then to communicate in our Synaxes And why then when they would dehort those of their partie from marrying with Catholickes doe they alleadge those words of sainct PAVL What communion is there of the faithfull with an Infidell And ioyne also in their prayers the Turkes Papists and other Infidells And why then doth his maiestie alleadge for a reason not to communicate with vs these words of the reuelation Goe forth of Babilon my people for feare of communicating with her sinns For to offer to communicate with vs when wee shall haue corrected those thinges that our Aduersaries pretend to haue bene deformed in our Church who sees not that that is not to offer to returne to vs but to desire that wee should returne to them And what sect hath there bene in the world that hath not offered to communicate with the Catholicke Church prouided that the Catholicke Church would renounce those pointes for which they were at difference that is to saie soe she would loose the condition of being the Catholicke Church Of the demaunds made for Reformations since the fiue last ages Chapt. XXX The continuance of the Kings Answere AND your illustrious dignitie knowes as he that is well informed thereof how manie and how great personages in pietie and doctrine haue desired at least for this last fiue hundred yeares the reformation of the Church in the head and in the members How manie greuous complaints of good kinges and princes haue there bene heard deploring the estate of the Church in their ages But what hath it auailed For wee see not that hitherto there hath bene anie one of those thinges corrected which were esteemed before all others to bee fitt for correction THE REPLIE THOSE demaundes of reformation in the head and in the members propounded before the last deuisiōs of the Church haue bene demaundes of reformation not in the doctrine of Faith and of the sacraments or vniuersall ceremonies of the Church but in manners and in the practise of ecclesiasticall discipline which euen these words of reformation both in the head and members principallie vsed in the time of the Councells of Constance and of Basile testifie Now as there is great difference betweene complayning of the personall practise of Iustice and of the exercise of the Officers of a Kingdome and desiring the reformation thereof and betweene complayning of the lawes ordinances and constitutions of the state soe there is great difference betweene complayning of the conuersation and manners of Ecclesiasticall persons betweene complayning of the doctrine and institutions of the Church For when the corruption to speake by hypothesis is in the doctrine or in the sacraments or vniuersall ceremonies of the Church none can remaine in the communion of the Church without participating in that contagion but when it is in the manners and in the practise of discipline those onely that committ the faultes are culpable therein and not the rest who tolerate them as sainct AVGVSTINE saith for the good of vnitie that which they detest for the good of equitie And to whom the more frequent and fowle such scandalls are by soe much the more is the meritt of their perseuerance in the communion of the Church and the martir-dome of their patience as sainct AVGVSTINE calls it For this only Sacrifice of choosing rather to support the remayning in communion with such persons then to rent the coate of Christ and to separate themselues from his Church to auoid their Societie is the most pleasing Sacrifice that can be offered vp to God Now the Church hath alwaies not only since the last ages but from all antiquitie bene filled with such like complaints For while she shall remaine in this world she shall alwaies singe this verse of the Canticle I am black but I am louelie That is to saie black in manners 〈◊〉 louelie in doctrine our Lord hauing deferred till his second Coming the making her glorious and without sport And not only so but euerie one in his time hath alwaies beleeued himselfe to bee in the worst age of the Church for manners and for the practise of discipline because they sawe the euills of their owne time and did but heare the historie of other times whereof the relation doth not soe liuely touch the eares as the sight touches the eyes But neuerthelesse neither the euill hath alwaies gone on increasing nor the good alwaies diminishing but according to the diuersitie of the ages the Church hath bene either more or lesse pure in manners For as for those that in the
drawne from this example for the desertion of the Catholicke Church God saith saint AVGVSTINE bad that these tribes should be separated not to diuide the Religion but the Kingdome and that 〈◊〉 this meanes vengeance might be taken vpon the Kingdome of Iuda But for as much as the ordinarie refuge of those that separate themselues from vs is to haue recourse to the Symptomes of the Iewish people and to inferr from thence the same conclusions of possibilitie of errour and licence of separation for the Christian Church and that to contradict this wee haue not onely promised to shew that there neuer happened anie accident to the visible Iewish Church wherefore they either ought or could separate themselues from her communion but also that if anie such thing had happened the cōsequence thereof could not bee applied to the Christian Church which is grounded vpon other contracts and vpon other prerogatiues It is best for vs here to quitt vs of our promise and to search the question to the bottome both concerning the Thesis and the Hypothesis In regard then of the Thesis the aduersaries 〈◊〉 Catholick religion set this foundation that the Church in all times is subiect to the same Symptomes and to the same accidents there vpon argue thus The visible Church hath had three periods the first vnder nature the second vnder the lawe and the third vnder Grace Now vnder the two first she hath bene corrupted and consequētly vnder the third she may be soe Which is as if one should saie there are three periods in the progresse of the generation of man The first during the which man liues onlie the life of plantes and is yet touched with noe other instinct then simple appetite which the Philosophers call naturall common to herbes aud trees which seemes to correspond to the condition of the first period of the Church wherein she had yet noe lawe or rule but the simple lawe of nature The second during which he liues an animated and sensitiue life which is proportioned to the state of the people of the Jewes because as man in this second progresse harh noe other knowing facultie but that of the sence which is common to him with beastes so all the obiects which were manifestlie propounded to the Iewes and all the promises which were literallie made to them were of sensible thinges And the last wherein man takes possession of the life trulie human and reasonable and is adorned and enobled with intellectuall knowledge which hath analogy with the state of the Christiā Church where the faithfull are consecrated to God by a perfect lawfull forme of religion and sticke noe longer in terrestriall and materiall obiectes but exalting their thoughtes and their hopes doe nourish intertaine themselues with spirituall and incorruptible promises Now vnder the first and second of those periods the imperfect soule of man which wee call an Embricn is subiect to perish corruptible and mortall the soule of man therefore vnder the third period is not incorruptible immortall For to preduce for a reason of exception and dissimilitude that the forme of a man during all the three periods of this progresse is not one selfe same forme the reason of the 〈◊〉 is void for as much as the diuersitie of Gods promises where it so falls out hath noe lesse power to varie the Symptomes of the Church during the three periods of her being then the diuersity of formes to varie the conditions which accompanie the three periods of the generation of man Now that the promises made to the Church vnder the last period which hath bene establisht as S. PAVL saith vpon better promises then the former be wholie different both in eminencie perpetuitie from those that haue bene made to her vnder the two first what Christian can call it in question God first in regard of eminencie and multitude did he not saie to Abraham in thy seede that is to saie as S. PAVL expoundes it in Christ shall all generations be blessed And againe thy seede shal be as the starrs of heauen and as the sands of the Sea And Aggeus describing the future estate of the Church vnder the Enigma of the re-edification of the temple doth hee not saie The glorie of this last howse shall be much greater then that of the first And the Spouse in the canticles speaking of the Jewish Church doth she not singe our Sister is little and she hath yet noe breasts that 〈◊〉 to saie is not yet in state to bringe forth and nurse vp children And doth not 〈◊〉 crie out Reioyce thou barren woman that bearest not children and thou that art no mother cast forth cryes of ioy For the children of the forsaken shall be much more in number then hers that hath a husband And a while after Lengthen the cords of thy pauillions and settle their posts for thou shalt penetrate on the right band and on the left and thy seede shall inheritt the nations And againe Cast thine eyes about thee and behold all these are assembled for thee they are come for thee thy sonns shall come from farr and thy daughters shall be borne vpon shoulders And doth not S. AVGVSTINE disputing against the Donatists crie out Feare you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Jews should aske you where is that accomplished that your Paul hath 〈◊〉 of your Church reioyce thou barren woeman that thou bearest not and cast out cryes of ioy that thou hast noe children for the children of the forsaken are more in number then hers that hath a husband Preserring the multitude of the Christians before that of Iewes if your little number be the Church of Christ. And S. HIEROME against the Luciferians Where are these too Religious or rather too prophane persons that affirme there are more Synagogues then Churches And therefore doth not the same S. AVGVSTINE elegantlie compare the historie of the different times of the Church to that of the birth of Iacob for as much that as Jacob in his Birth thrust forth first one arme and then his head and then all his Bodie so the Church before she was borne first thrust forth one arme that is to saie a little part of her societie which was the Synagogue and then her head which is Christ and then all her Bodie which is the Christian Church But against that the aduersaries of the multitude of the Church alleadge that our Lord calls his Church A little flocke cōmaūds to enter into the straight gate it is true but it makes nothing for them for that our Lord calls his Church a little Flocke it is in regarde of her birth at the time where of she was the least the basest and most contemptible of all societies and not in regard of her progresse which himselfe compareth to that of a graine of mustard-seede which being at the beginning the least of all seedes becomes in the increase the greatest of all plantes We
to corruption and that what is incorruptible is also reciprocallie impassible and inalterable what wonder is it then that the wayfarring preparation of the Religion of the Iewes which was corruptible and subiect to perish before it came to the terme of corruption haue tryed manie passions manie accidents manie changes that before it perisht it haue vndergone manie weaknesses Sincopes and faintings that this antient decrepite howse which was one daie to be ruined as the Apostle speaking of the old lawe teacheth vs that that which weares and growes old approacheth to ruine haue somes times bene amazed and shaken that this light that was finallie to be extinguished buried vnder a profoūd night and in perpetuall darknes haue sometimes bene obscured and dimmed and haue suffered defects and ecclipses And contrariwise that the state of the Christiā Church that the scriptures declare and prophecie to be incorruptible and not subiect to perish should be freed from all the passions preserued from all these accidens and dispenced withall and warranted from all these interruptions But we haue insisted too long vpon the thesis let vs now come to the hypothesis which is of the estate of the Church vnder the two first periods and principallie vnder that of the Iewish lawe For in regard of the defects of the Iewish Church the aduersaries to Christianitie make nine notable obiections which wee will confute in order one after an other The first is taken from the historie of Aaron Aaron saie they founded the Idoll after which the people Idolatrized It is true Aaron not yet inuested with the high Priesthood founded the golden calfe after which the people that 〈◊〉 to saie by Synecdoche a part of the people Idolatrized for Philo the Iew doth particularly saie that the maladie had not seised them all But neither Moyses who was the visible head of the Israelites Church and in whose onely person resided till then the high Priestood nor the whole bodie of the Leuiticall tribe destined to the future guard of the Temple and to the ordinarie ministrie of the lawe were touched with this crime For as soone as Moyses cryed If anie one belonge to our Lord lett him ioyne with me All the tribe of Leui gathered to him to roote out the Idolaters From whence it is that Moyses giues these praises to Leui It is he that hath said of his Father and of his mother I haue not seene them And who hath not acknowledged his Brothers and hath noe more knowne his children for they haue kept thy wordes And that God himselfe saith by the ministrie of Malachy The lawe of truth hath bene in the mouth of Leui and in his lipps there was noe forwardnes he hath walked with me in peace and equitie And that Philo the Iew searching wherefore the Townes of refuge had bene taken of the tribe of the Leuites saith that one reason was because the Leuiticall tribe destined to guard the temple had slaine the worshippers of the golden calfe And therefore saint PAVL citing the same historie reduceth it to the number of some To the end saith he that you become not Idolaters as some amongst them were to shew that this act was not vniuersall For that the sinn was imputed in generall to all the people it was not because they had all participated in it but because they had not endeauored to reuenge and punish it in the act And yet this action was not a iudiciarie action of the Church or a rituall custome of the Synagogue but a tumultuary seditiō of the people which was extinguished the same daie consequently could not be reckoned for an interruptiō of the Iewish Church for as 〈◊〉 as the brute of the tumulte of the Idolators was raised Moyses came downe from the mountaine to remedie it Now what proportion is there betweene the tumulte of a daie and such like clowdes of the Iewish Church whose longest lasted but the twentith part of an age by consequence gaue noe occasion to saie of the Iewish Church that that Cornelius Tacitus saith of the common-wealth of Rome vnder Tiberius Who is he that hath seene the common-wealth the pretended ieterruptiō of the Catholicke Church which according to the cōputation of her Aduersaries hath bene ecclipsed in faith erred in saluation aboue four hundred then yeares as they saie of Epimenides that he fell into a sleepe yong awaked old soe she fell a sleepe yong to witt īmediatly after the death of the apostl awaked old that is to saie vpō the end in the last waue of the world The secōd obiection is takē from the historie of the symptomes which hapened to the Iewish church betweene the time of Moyses that of Dauid where it is said one while that Micheas mâde an Idoll that six hundred men of the tribe of Dan hauing taken it placed it in Lais a cittie of the Sydonians possessed by them an other while that Gedeon made an Ephod in Ephra and that all Israel went a whoring after it An other while that Israel transgrest and abandoned the Lord. An other while that in the time of Hely the word of God was precious that is to saie rare An other while that in the time of Saule the arke had not bene required that is to saie according to the innouators glosse God had not bene consulted in his word But for the historie of Micheas soe farr is it off that from the act of Micheas which was but a particular act noe more then that of the six hundred Israelites of the tribe of Dan there can bee anie inference drawne that the visible seruice of God was the extinguished in all the people of Israel as Luther affirmes that this historie fell out either at the latter end of Iosua or vnder the gouernment of Othoniel an excellent seruant of God wherein none can pretend that the true seruice was extinguished in Israel And the historian noting that this idoll remained in the cittie of Lais as longe as the howse of our Lord remained in Silo testifies that the howse of God and the seate of the true seruice of God was then in Silo. And whereas the people of Israel tooke occasion to goe a whoring after the Ephod of Gedeon and that the historie of Iudges saith All Israel went a whoriug after it it must be vnderstood of the Israelites of the cittie of Ephra natiue place of Gedeon and others neere to it and that it is written in diuers places of the same history that Israel preuaricated and serued false Gods it is to be vnderstood by Synecdoche of a part for the whole following this sentence of S. AVGVSTINE The scripture hath this fashion of reproofe that the word seemes to be addressed to all yet concernes but some of them And indeede in the historie of Josua not only the scripture saith The children of Israel violated the commaundement and tooke
of the Anathema But God himselfe pronounceth Israel hath sinned and hath transgressed against my alliance they haue taken of the anathema and haue stollen it and haue lyed and haue hidden it amongst their stuffe and Israel cannot subsist before his enemies but shall fly before them for he is polluted with the anathema And notwithstanding there was but one onely man in al Israell and he yet vnkowne that had committed this crime to witt Acham And whereas it is said in the first of Samuel that in the time of Eli the word of God was precious that is to saie rare the author speakes not there in anie sort of the lawe or of the written word but of the oracles and visible predictions that God had accustomed to giue by the prophets as by these words And there was noe manifest vision may appeare And whereas it is said in the first to the cronicles that in the time of Saule the Arke was not required that is to saie according to the innouators glosse that God was not consulted with in this word This is a wrong interpretation of the word requisiuimus which intends not there inquired of but required and hath not reference to the word of God but to the Arke and signifies noe other thing but that in the time of Saule they had not yet required the Arke from the cittie of Kiriath Jearim The third obiection is taken from the complaint of Elias Elias said the Aduersaries of the Church complained to God that his Altars were beaten downe and his prophetts slaine with the sword and that he was left alone and they likewise sought him to put him to death And God answered him that he had reserued to 〈◊〉 seauen thousand Whereof Elias conceaued he had knowne none And this when God could not be serued visible but in Iudea the Church as they conclude was then inuisible But how longe will they stūble at one 〈◊〉 stone and not learne to distinguish betweene the kingdome of Israel were was the seate of schisme and heresie the kingdome of Iuda where was the seate of the true Church It is writtē that the herbe called Eringus hath this hidden propertie that if amongst a companie of Goates there be anie one that takes a leafe of it betweene his teeth that Goate will immediatlie stopp and with him all the Flocke so as it is not possible to make anie one of thē goe forward till first the leafe be pluckt out of his mouth Soe after one of the aduersaries of the Church hath apprehended anie falshood or absurditie all the rest as by a certaine charme doe soe stopp and stumble at it as it is not possible to make them goe forward vnlesse you call back the first author yea out of his graue to contradict himself and to recant publickly Melancton being inquired off 〈◊〉 the Church was twelue or thirteen hundred yeare agoe since from that time by his accompt our communion was corrupted with Idolatrie and impietie had recourse to the historie of Elias to whom said hee for a while the true Church was vnknowne and iuuisible After this all those that haue handled the same questiō without inquiring whether this solution were true or false without taking care to examin the place haue soe tied themselues to it as at this daie it is their onely and common refuge in this extreamitie It doth not importe vs answere they to knowe where the residence of the Church was in the ages whereof you inquire Elias who was a prophet was also ignorant for a time where she subsisted wee then may well be ignorant of it who are neither Prophets nor the children of Prophets For he complained that he was left alone but of whom did Elias speake when he said They haue 〈◊〉 thy Prophets with the sword Was it not of Achab and of Iesabel and where was it that he said he was left alone was it not in the Kingdome of Israel Now if saint AVGVSTINE speaking of the Christian Church it selse hath had reason to saie what an absurditie is it not to consider that the Church increasing and multiplying ouer all the world might suffer persecution by the kinges of some Nations when she did not suffer it by the rest wherefore may not wee cry out What an absurditie is it to transferr what belōges to the Kingdome of Israel where the true Church was persecuted to the Kingdome of Iuda where she was visible florishing and eminent For so fart of was the Church then from being tied and restrained to the Kingdome of Israel as contrariwise the true Seate the only seate the soueraigne seat of the seruice of God and of the visible exercise of Religion wherein only sacrifices might be lawfullie celebrated the center of vnion and ecclesiasticall communion the heart if I may saie so and roote of the Church was Situate out of the iurisdiction of Israel Nay more then so all the sacerdotall order all the 〈◊〉 of Leui all the high-priests priests and ministers to whom onely belonged the dispensation of the misteries and ceremonies all the magistrates and officers of the Church all the Pastors and ordinarie Doctors without which she could not be visible nor retaine her iust markes and Sacraments then made their residence out of the Kingdom of Israel And to proue this threescore yeares and more before Elias began to prophecie the Kingdome of Israel had bene deuided into two Kingdomes the one contayning the tribe of Iuda which was without comparison the greatest and most principall that of Beniamin to which was also ioyned the linage of Leui all intire with infinite particulars of the other Tribes who desired to serue God purelie holding the title of the Kingdome of Iuda vnder the dominion of Roboam the true and naturall heire the other cōprehending the rest of the tribes possessed by Jeroboam a rebell an vsurper possessed vnder the restrained name of the Kingdome of Israel By meanes whereof these two peoples haue alwaies had their estates and their kings aparte yea their religiōs also for the more part deuided For to Jeroboam succeeded Nadab to Nadab Baasa to Baasa Ela to Ela Zambri to Zambri Amri to Amri Achab All not only schismatickes but Idolators and infidells Elias then as subiect to Achab complained that these Relickes of the Church which remayned in Israel these fewe of the faithfull which were left in the territorie of Achab and which were wont euerie yeare to goe vp to professe and to exercise their Religion in the Kingdome of Iuda where the Temple and Priesthood was had bene rooted out by the tyrannie of Queene Iesabel And frō the departing frō thence there are men which cōclude without scruple of this feare there was thē noe visible Church in the world But heare the historie of the seperatiō of these two kingdomes He raigned saith the historie of the chronicles speaking of Roboā ouer Iuda ouer Beniamin The Priests also the Leuites which
were vnder the iurisdictiō of Israel came to him out of all the citties which had bene giuen to him for their habitation leauing their possessiō and their inheritance and passing and inhabiting in Iuda and in Hierusalē because Ieroboā had driuen them out hee his Successors least they should attend to the seruice of our Lord hauing appointed priests of the high places to sacrifice to the diuells and to the calues that he had caused to be sett vp Frō other places also of all the tribes of Israel those that sett their hartes to seeke the God of Israel went vp to Hierusalem to offer their sacrifices before the Lord God of their Fathers Whereto Josephus adds these words as pronounced by Hieroboam in forme of an oration to the people of Israel I thinke said hee none of you are ignorant that there is noe place where God is not and that he reserues not to himselfe anie appointed seate but that euery where he heares those that pray to him and casts his eyes vpon all that serue him For this reason I haue not thought fitt to suffer you to goe so farr to worship and with so much paines and also in an enemie cittie as Hierusalem is The temple that is there was built by a mortal man neither more nor lesse then myselfe Therefore I haue consecraced for you two Calues of Golde the one in Bethel and the other in Dan that goeing thither according to the ease and oportunitie of the neighbourhood you may there worship God more commodiouslie Besides you shall want noe priests and Leuites whom I will establish from amongst you that you may haue noe more neede of the tribe of Leui nor of the familie of Aaron Behold then that the Church was then so farr from being confined to the Kingdome of Israel as the Metropolitan Seate of the religion seruice of God which was Hierusalem the place where sacrifices ought to be celebrated which was the temple the soueraigne tribunal of the adoration which was the Altar the succession of Dauid from whom the Messias was to come the high priest and all the sacerdotall and Leuiticall Estate which administred and represented the vniuersall Bodie of the Church did remaine following the election and institution of God in the partes of the Kingdome of Iuda and out of that of the Kingdome of Israel Which the holie Ghost had longe before declared by the mouth of the Psalmist in these termes not onlie historicall but also propheticall He hath saith hee reiected the tabernacle of Ioseph and hath not chosen the tribe of Ephraim that is to saie the kingdome of Israel which was called Ephraim for as much as Ieroboam as saith S. HIEROME who first raigned there was of the tribe of Ephraim but hath chosen the tribe of Iuda and the mountaine of Sion which he loued And after by that of Ezechiel in these Sonn of man saith the Lord take a peece of wood and write vpon it Iuda and the children of Israel which are vnited to him and of his fellowshipp and take an other and write vpon it The word of Ioseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and all the families of Israel and of all those which are vnited to him And therefore the historie of Tobie saith that when all those of the tribe of Nephthali went to the golden calues that Ieroboam king of Israel had made Tobie only fled the companie of all the rest and went into Ierusalem to the temple of the lord and there worshiped the Lord God of Israel offering all his first fruites and his tithes And therefore our Lord when the Samaritan said to him our Fathers worshipped in this mountaine that is to saie in the mountaine of Samaria and of Gerassim and yee affirme that in Hierusalem is the place where wee ought to worshipp answered that Saluation was on the Iewes side And for this same cause S. PAVL alleadging his extraction from Abraham according to the flesh notes particularly that he was issued from the familie of Beniamin as signifiing that he was extracted from the societie of those in whose communion resided the true Bodie of the Church The tribe of Iuda saith S. AVGVSTINE and the line of Beniamin had remained in the societie of the Temple the Tribe of Leui which was that of the Priests the tribe of Iuda which was the royall line and the line of Beniamin Those only staied on Hierusalems partie and in the communion of the Temple of God when the separation had bene made by the reuolt of Salomons seruant Doe not then imagine that it is of little weight that the Apostle adds issued from the tribe of Beniamin For it is as if he should haue said communicating with Iuda and not being depriued of and separated from the temple But behold yet more which is that the complaint of Elias is soe farr from verifying this pretended interruption and this generall ecclipse of the Iewish Church as contrarywise it appeares that at the same time at the same howre at the same moment that Elias lamented the persecution of Achab the true Religion florisht in Iudea with more glorie puritie and splendor then euer she had done since the first Salomon which was the figure of her true spouse and the author of the materiall Temple till the other that was declared to be greater then Salomon that is to saie vntill our Lord who built the spirituall Temple of the Catholicke Church For in the same time that Achab and Iesabell persecuted Elias Iosaphat sonn and Successor to Asa raigned in Iuda And to proue it soe the historie beares that Josaphat came to the crowne of Iuda the fowrth yeare of the Raigne of Achab King of Israel Now thete were six yeares and more of Achabs gouernement expired when Elias made his lamentation For the great drought whereof the hebrewes assigne the beginning to be in the third yeare of Achab and which lasted three yeares and six moneths according to the report of S. IAMES was then precisely finished so as the complaint of Elias not only falls out in the time of Iosaphat but meetes exactly with the reuolution of the third yeare of his Empire which was iust the same 〈◊〉 wherein he celebrated that famous circuit and if I dare so stile it that walking Parliament and those great daies of Religion where the most notable Princes of his estate and the principall priests and Leuites were appointed to trauell through all the citties of his Kingdome Behold the 〈◊〉 wherein Elias complaint happened Now what Iosaphat was frō the beginning to the end of his life how hee walked intirely in the way of Asa his Father without turning from it in anie thing but doeing what was pleasing to the Lord how the Seruice of God was holily celebrated and administred vnder his authoritie how the Almightie was with him because he trode in the stepps of Dauid his Predecessor and trusted not in
this cause soe abhor Achaz as being dead although his owne sonn succeeded him they did not 〈◊〉 him in the sepulcher of his Fathers THE fifth obiection is taken from the foure hundred Prophetts that Achab caused to come and prophecie before Josaphat who were all found false prophetts and Micheas alone a true Prophet But neither did this fall out in the kingdome of Iuda where was the seate of the Church but in the kingdome of Israel neither were those Prophets of the colledge of the Prophetts of Baal and of the qualitie of those of whom before Elias had said Take all the Prophetts of Baal and let not one man escape And of whom afterward Elias said to Ioram sonn of the same Achab What is there betweene me and thee Goe to the Prophets of thy Father and of thy mother And therefore when Iosaphat would cause Micheas to come hee asked him is there not heere one Prophet of the Lord to distinguish him from the Prophetts of Baal by this word of the Lord which is the same difference which Iehu afterwards vsed when being desirous to put Baal's Priests to death he said Take beede least there be anie of the seruantes of the Lord amongst you but lett the seruant of Baal be only heere The sixth obiection is taken from the historie of Manasses an Idolatrous Prince and who caused all manner of abominations and false worshipp to be practised in Hierusalem and Iuda But besides this that hee came afterward to repentance and then draue awaie all the Idolls and all the false Gods from Hierusalem and commaunded the people of Iuda to serue God euen then when he exercised his greatest impieties the church and the multitude of Gods true seruants were not for all that inuisible Contrariwise the scripture saith that he shedd so much innocent blood as Hierusalem was filled there with euen vp to the throate By meanes whereof although there had then bene no solemne assemblies in the Synagogues of Iuda and that all publicke exercise had bene suspended there yet the slaughter of the faithfull yet warme still breathing and the voyce of their blood which smoaked and cryed for vengeance as that of Abel before heauen and earth permitied not that the true Religion should be vnknowne and inuisible there For as manie executions and martirdomes as there were so manie sacrifices of praise and sweete smell were they soe manie professions of Faith soe manie sermons so manie seales and sacraments of the true beleefe which refresht and confirmed the memorie of the doctrine of saluation euen in the spiritts of those that persecuted it for as much as all men knew and themselues protested the cause wherefore they were banisht pursued and martyred For the Church is not only illustrated by her Lillies but also by her roses that is to saie she is not only euident by her quiet and peaceable exercises which are the congregations to heare and adore the word of God and to communicate in the sacramentes but also by her militarie exercises dyed in blood which are the martyrdomes and the executions suffered for the defence of the Faith which doe often no lesse increase her fame and renowne in the times wherein she is oppressed then in the seasons wherein she enioyes more calme quiet and fulfills without hindrance her ordinarie and accustomed workes Soe as S. AVGVSTINE saith she is then eminent in her most stedfast champions THE seauenth obiection is taken from the transmigration of Babilon during with time they pretend that the visible communion of the Iewish Church was interrupted But who knowes not that the Iewes during this exile had the true externall exercise of their religion wherein they wrought their Saluation performed the visible obseruation of all their worships seruices and ceremonies except of the Sacrifice alone which could not be offered but in the Temple and were euidently distinguished from other nations witnes these wordes of Aman to Assuerus There is a people 〈◊〉 ouer all the Prouinces of thy Kingdome and diuided into manie partes that practises new lawes and ceremonies And these of the historian Manie other nations and sects ioyned themselues to their religion and to their ceremonies For that this historie fell out in the time of the transmigration it appeares by this that it is said that Mardocheus was one of those that had bene transported from Hierusalem in the time of Nabuchodonosor and of Iechonias And it is not cōtradictorie to this that Assuerus writes that Amā was a Macedonian and would haue betraied the Empire to the Macedonians For the copie of the same epistle reported by Iosephus sixteene hundred yeares a gone hath it Allophilus that is to saie a stranger And that the Greeke Latine Edition saith a Macedonian it proceedes from the Syriacke translation of the same Epistle made after the death of Alexander after which all strangers in Asia were called Macedonians as at this daie all those of the west are called Frankes there From whence it is that the Syriacke edition saith that Assicerus was cloathed in a Macedonian habit that is to saie in the habit of a stranger THE eight obiection is taken from the writings of the Prophetts who often deplored the dessolation of the seruice of God in their people But either they spake of the portion of the Kingdome of Israel diuided from that of Iuda and of the faction of the schismaticall Israelites who were no more the Church and to whom God protested by the mouth of Ieremie that he had giuen the libell of diuorce Or if they spake of that of the Kingdome of Iuda S. AVGVSTINE teacheth vs that they spake prophetically and by an analogie of time of the future Estate of the Iewish people such as they should be after the death of our Lord Or if they spake by Synecdoche and according to the stile of preachers who censure the vices of particular persons in generall termes to the end to reproue as S. AVGVSTINE saith of S. HILARY the more seuerelie that which they reproue more vniuersallie that is to saie that they spake of certaine particular persons who either abandoned the Religion of their Fathers some to followe that of the Pagans that sacrificed to Idolls some to followe that of the Schismatickes who sacrificed in the high places or if they remained in the true religion and communion liued wickedlie there as concerning manners They collect saith S. AVGVSTINE speaking of the Donatists he might haue added the Caluinists to them either ignor antlie or fraudulentlie the places of Scripture which are spoken either of the wicked which are nimgled with the good vntill the end or of the destruction of the first people of the Iewes and would wrest them against the Church of God that she may seeme to haue failed and to be perisht from the whole earth The ninth and finall obiection is taken from the comdemnation that the Iewish Church made of the Sauiour of
is for whose innocencie not with standing diuers write is alwaies grounded vpon the fact and not vpon the right that is to saie pretending they were not complices nor consenting thereto and not maintayning the action to be other then damnable and detestable Contrarywise that they are iustified by this waie be it true be it false for it is hard in such a case to impose a lawe vpon the suspition of absent persons it is a manifest testimonie that the action is abhorred and comdemned And when as his maiestie adds that the Roman Church enrolls them in the catalogue of martyrs if anie pariicular men defend their supposed innocencie hyperbolically it is alwaies vpon this supposition whether true or false that they were not complices in the fact But as for the Roman Church I neuer yet heard tell that she hath canonized anie martir of the seauenteenth age Of the writings of the illustrious Cardinall Bellarmin CHAP. XXXIX The continuance of the King answere THe Cardinall Bellarmine himself I will saie it against my will but I saie truth amongst the protectors of the Paricides holdes the rancke of the head of a faction who newlie againe to the end to allure the excellent King hath imployed this argument of wondrous efficacie to perswade that the Kingdome of England belonges to the Pope and that the kinge of England is subiect to the Pope euen in temporall thinges and in his Feodary I omitt the other complaintes of the kinge and the English Church as well old as newe which now haue noe neede of commemoratiō THE REPLIE THE protestation that I haue made non to handle anie thing in this worke but what is purely spirituall obligeth me not to vndertake the defence of the Illustrious and most learned cardinall Bellarmine but in cases of this qualitie It sufficeth me for the rest to saie that himselfe aduertises the Readers that what he propounds os the indirect authoritie of the Pope in temporalls he propounds it not as a doctrine of faith and whereof either side must be held vnder the paine of excommunication or anathema by meanes where of this question should not hinder the reunion of those who desire to returne to the Church For as for the annuall present that it is written England waswont to make to the Sea Apostolicke if his maiesties Predecessors would by anie marke of publicke acknowledgment testifie their particular deuotion towards saint PETERS Sea that could bring noe more dimunition to their temporall glory then the submission of Alexander the great brought to him when he prostrated himselfe before the high Priest of the 〈◊〉 lawe or that of the Emperor Iustinian the second when hee prostrated himselfe in Asia before Pope Constantine making this acknowledgement not to men but to God who saith by the mouth of Esay to his Church whereof saint PETER in his Successors is the head and visible figure Kings shall worship thee with their face on the ground Contrarywise it will be found that the kings of England haue bene more esteemed and feared since then then euer they were before Iointlie that whensoeuer it shall please this great king to make so faire a present to the Church as to giue her his heart and person I assure my selfe the Pope will shewe if these temporall acknowledgements bee displeasing to his Maiestie that it is himselfe as S. PAVL saith that he desires and not the things that belong to him The end of the first Part. Contra literas Petil l 2. c 95 Epist. 1 52 De side ad Petr. c. 39. Epist. 48. Cap. 29. Cap. 33. Cap 4. Cap. 23. a Gen. 12. 26. b Gal 3. l sa 2. c Matt 14. De vnit Eccles. ca. 2. 3. alibi Isa. 60. 62. 54. a Matth. 16. 18. 1. 〈◊〉 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c 〈◊〉 b De Symb. Catec l. 1 c. 5. Contr. Iul. l. 5. 2. Vincent Lirin c. 42 Epist. 118. De Bapt. cont Don. l. 4. c. 6. 〈◊〉 c. 24. In Ioan. lib. 11. cap. 27. a Hier. adu Luciser b Ruffin in Symbol c August de fide symbol de Symb. ad Catec d Demost e Arist. polit 2. Deuteron 23. Psal. 25. Act. 17. Hieron in Esai c. 62. Cyril ibid. Matth. 18. Act. 12. 1. Cor. 4 1. Cor. 10. Iacob 5. Iren. cont Valen. lib. 4. c. 34. Euseb. histor eod l. 4. cap. 13. b Tertull. cōtra Marcion lib. 4. c. 4. Clem. Alex Strō lib. 27. Tertull. cont Marc. lib. 4. cap. 4. a Epiph. haer 65. b Euseb. de vita Constant l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sympr 〈◊〉 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cateches 15. 〈◊〉 Aug. de 〈◊〉 Symb c. 10. De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symb c. 10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. c. 〈◊〉 Vm. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 9. Prosp. de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dei 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ang. Collat Carth. l 3 August ibid. Aug. ib id g Aug. Epist 48. g. Aug ibid a Optat. Mileuit cont Parm 〈◊〉 1. b. Aug. b reuin col l. 3. c. In Ioan. ttact 6. d Aug. Psal. 57. e. Aug. de pastor c. 13 Esai 2. 〈◊〉 60. 〈◊〉 61. Matth. 5. Matth. 18. 〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chris in Esai hom 4. idem in Esai c. 2. Aug. de vnit Eccles c. 14. Aug. cont Parm. l. 2. cap 3. Cont. lit Petil lib. 1. cap. 104. Cypr. de vnit Eccles. Ibid. Ibidem Ibidem Ibid. Hier. cont Lucifèr Hler. cont Lucif 1. 〈◊〉 Carth. 4. c. 1. Aug. ep 152. Idem ep 50 Ibidem Ibidem Cant. 4. Esai 1. Esai 52. Ose. 2. Matth. 16. Tim 3. 2. Corinth 6. 2. Ioan. Hier. cont Lucifer 〈◊〉 l. 1. Idem l. 2. De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 7. De vera relig cap. 6. De side symb c. 10. a Concil Carth 4. 〈◊〉 1. b Aug. ep 15 2. c De 〈◊〉 ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4 d Cyp de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e 〈◊〉 f 〈◊〉 g Aug de gest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h Prosp promis 〈◊〉 i 〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 19. 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 5 a 〈◊〉 54. b 〈◊〉 92 c 〈◊〉 37 d 〈◊〉 8. e 〈◊〉 16. f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i Alex. ep ad Alex. Theodoret 〈◊〉 k E Eulex l 1. cap. 4. l. Athan. orat n Theof ad Epiph apud Hierom. Ep. 67. Ang. Psal. 101. Ang. de agō Christ c. 29. 1. De bap cont Dol 3. c. 2. Cont. Parm. l. 3. capt 3. De Symbol ad Catech l. 〈◊〉 c. 5. Anguso de vnit Eul. c. 6. Aug. de Symb ad Cathech l. 4. c. 10. Fulg. de sid ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 39. A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aug 〈◊〉 50. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 122. 〈◊〉 epist ad Pupp Aug de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 3 c. 101. De Pastor c. 13. a Cont. Parm. l. 2 cap 11 b Cont. Parm. l 3. cap. 4. c De vnit Eccl c. 10 c De vnit Eccl c. 〈◊〉 d Ibid. c 20 e
of the Church his mother the cursed and vncleane birds shall peck it out Of the exclusion of hereticks from the Bodie of the Catholick Church CHAPT VII The continuance of the Kings answere THE Roman Church then the Greeke the Antiochian the Egyptian the Abyssine the Musco uite and manie others are members more excellent in truth in doctrine and sinceritie of faith the one then the other but yet members of the Catholicke Church whereof the Masseand contexture as for externall forme is alreadie long agoe dissolued and disassembled THE REPLIE AND what shall then become of that his maiestie lately said that the specificall forme and essentiall marke of the Church is truth of doctrine and that there is noe communion betweene light and darknes and betweene Christ and Belial And that he that leaues Christ who is truth it self leaues the Church which is the foundation of truth if not onlie the Greekes Antiochians and Muscouites who are hereticks in the point of the processio of the holie Ghost which the most excellēt King doth with vs hold for an article of Faith which in this qualitie is inserted into ATHANASIVS his Creede and into the Creede of the Coūcell of Cōstātinople as it is read in the westerne Church which his maiestie professeth to imbrace but also the Egiptians and Ethiopians which followe the sect of Eutyches anathematised and cast out of the Church by the Councell of Chalcedon neere twelue hundred yeares ag oeād 〈◊〉 in the doctrine of the person of Christ which is the fundamentall doctrine of the Church and that whereof S. PAVLE saith None can laie 〈◊〉 other foundation besides Christ are Churches and partes of the Catholicke Church A Lacedemonian answered an inhabitant of the Isle of Delphos who told him that the woemen were not deliuered of Child in their Isle but trauelled out of it to be brought to bed and that their dead were not buried there but that they were carried forth of it to their Sepulcher And how then is it your countrie said hee if you be neither borne nor buried there Soe how is it that the Sect of hereticks and namely those of the Egiptians and Ethiopians with whom the Coūcell of Chalcedon forbidds vs to communicate vpon paine of Anathema and of whom saint Iohn himself tells vs If anie one confesse not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh he is a seducer and Antichrist And againe If anie one bring not this Doctrine receiue him not into your howses and saie not to him well be it with thee for whosoeuer saith vnto him well be it with thee communicates in his wicked workes should obtaine the being and title of the Church that is to faie of the Spirituall countrie of the Faithfull if to be borne in the grace of God and to breathe their first aire of spirituall life wee must first goe forth of their Societie and if to obtaine Saluation and to rest in peace after death wee must first renounce their communion God said to the Church by the mouth of Salomon Thou art wholie faire and there is noe spott in thee that is to saie as for doctrine and conditions of communion And by the mouth of Esaie None incircumcised or vncleane shall anie more passe through thee that is to saie None that publickly professe a polluted or impure doctrine Hee saith by the mouth of Ezechiell describinge the future state of the christiā church I will establish an alliāce of peace with my sheepe and will cause the euill beastes of the Earth to cease Which the Sibilla seemes to haue expressed in these words repeated by Virgill and that sainct AVGVSTINE saith might fitlie be applied to the Church Serpents shall cease swoll'n vp with th'impure blood Of poysenous herbes in their deceiptfull bud And how then should the mock Councells of hereticks which sainct HIEROME calls Denens of wilt beasts whose doctrine he calls the wine of 〈◊〉 mingled witd the gall of Aspes be Churches partes of the Church or how should the Church to whom God hath spirituallie giuē the same prerogatiue thar the historians attribute corporallie to the Isle of Creete to witt that it can suffer noe venomous beast in it that is to saie noe dogmatizing heretick communicate her name and societie with the venemous sects of heteticks Hee saith by the mouth of Osea I will espouse 〈◊〉 in faith And by that of Sainct PAVLE the edification of God is in faith And the most Excellent King himselfe protesteth that the essentiall forme of the Church is faith And how then can the sects not only of the Egiptians and Ethiopians but of all the hereticks which makes as saith S. PAVLE a Shipwracke of faith be Churches and in the Church Hee saith by his owne mouth the gates of hell shall not haue victorie ouer the Church And S. EPIPHANIVS and S. HIEROME interpret those Gates of Hell to be heresies And how then can it be that the hereticall societies into whose communion wee cannot enter without yeelding our selues tributarie to the gates of hell should be Churches and partes of the Church For though vices in manners belong also to the powers of hell neuerthelesse because the vices are but in the persons of those that committ them and not in the communion of the Church for as much as the Church exacts not from anie of her members the condition of being vicious to receaue them into her communiō they shall but conquer those particular persons that are spotted therewith and not the Church of the which God hath said by the Prophets Hierusalem shal be called the cittie of truth and the mountaine of the Lord of Hostes and the sanctified hill And by an other the howse of Israel shall noe more from 〈◊〉 forward be foyled whereas heresie infects the communions of the Societie where it remaines none being to enter into anie hereticall societie without obliging themselues to the doctrine where of she makes profession and vnder whose condition she receaues men into her communion and by consequent makes the gates of Hell victorious ouer the congregatiō wherein shee remaines He cōmaūds vs to hold those that heare not the Church for Heathens and Publicās he forbidds vs then from accounting the societies of heŕeticks which heare not the Catholique Church for Churches and partes of the Church but for Societies of 〈◊〉 and Heathens He saith to vs That whosoeuer gathers not with him scatters the hereticks then that gather not with him gather not but scatteŕ and so their assemblies are noe more Churches but dispertions He cries out to vs by the Organ of saint PAVLE That whosoeuer declares against what we haue receiued should be an anathema Hee wills then that heretickes should be held by the Church for anathema and consequently excluded from the communion both internall and externall of the Church He teacheth vs by the same Oracle that the Church is our mother