witnes that no mā liuing can be iustified before god And therefore it may bee rightly sayd to these iolly doers of works of super erogation as Christ sayd to the Pharisies It is you that iustify your selues before men but God knoweth your hartes For that which is highly esteemed amonge men is abhominable before God. I knowe right well there are many textes in the holy Scripture to proue that who so will enter into euerlasting life must keep the cōmandements of god and that those which haue kepte the commaundementes shal possesse the kingdome of heauen and that those which haue not kept them shall goe into euerlasting damnation But it is not to be inferred vpō these textes that a man may be instified by his good workes for no man at any tyme doth performe Gods commandements to the full But euen the best of all doe breake them euery day many times For what man is so arrogant as to challenge to himself such sincerity of life that he loueth and hath alwayes loued God with all his hart and his neighbour as himselfe or hath not wished somewhat that was an other mans To be short there needeth no great disputation vpon this poynt for our conscience doth here accuse vs and of it selfe condemne vs. Now then if no man can fulfill the commaundements It followeth that no man can haue euerlasting life by his owne workes but must seek some other iustification than by workes if hee will be iustified before the face of god And in seeking an other iustification he commeth to the righteousnes of fayth which is by imputation through the free bestowed benefite of Christ For like as if a poore detter that were vnable to pay were kept in prisō for a det of ten thousād crowns and his creditor should tell him that if he paid the debt he would set him at liberty or els he should rot in prison he had no redier remedy than to get such a surety as would be so fauourable and frendly to him as to pay the det for him without trusting to his own substance which is vtterly vnable to discharge such a dette In like sort man knowing on the one side that without performing the Law throughout he is in danger of damnation and on the other side that he is not able to perform it hath no other shifte but to repaire to Iesus Christ to take holde of his righteousnesse by faith to the end that the same may be imputed vnto him and that by this meanes his sinnes may be wyped out and himselfe made capable of eternall life And as it may truely be sayd that that detter hath well payd his dette when his surety hath payd it for him euen so may a Christian say that he hath kept and fulfilled the commaundements of God when he doth assure himselfe through faith that Christ hath fulfilled them for him Thus should be vnderstoode those textes of Scripture which inioyne vs to obserue the commaundements to haue therby euerlasting life And after that sort we should make them to agree with the textes before alleadged which say that we cannot be iustified but by faith only By which saying euery man of sound iudgement may easely know that the doctrine of the Protestants is builded vpon the pure word of God and consequently that according to our secōd Maxime it is the most true and auncient and not to bee called new but of such as do not vnderstād it Neither may the Catholicks call this doctrine hereticall according to our third Maxime because it is ratified euen by their owne Canons For thus sayth one of the Canons Ciprian did call vnto him the Byshoppe Satyrus and did thinke that there was not any true grace sauing that which commeth by fayth c. And an other Canon sayth thus Looke where is no fayth there can be no righteousnes for the righteous liueth by faith c. There is another taken out of S. Augustine which speaketh yet more plainly saying thus The Lord purposing to declare playnly that mens sinnes are forgeuen by the holy Spirite which he hath geuen to the faithful and not by their own merites sayth thus in a certayne place Receiue the holy Ghost And immediatly he addeth whose sins ye remit their sinnes shall be forgeuen As if he should say it is the holy Ghost that forgeueth sinne and not you Which Canon doth shew playnly that the merites of good workes do no whit iustify vs and so consequētly that it is fayth onely without works which is that instrumentall cause of our iustification the very efficient cause therof is Iesus Christ working by the holy ghost And if the Romish catholicks themselues did wel vnderstand what they ment when they say cōfes that they be saued by the grace of our redeemer they would neuer depend any more vpon their good workes merits For as sayth an other Cannon Grace is not grace if it be not freely geuen and receiued And hereunto accordeth the saying of Saynt Basile A man sayth he doth then glory whollye and throughlye in God when hee doth not vaunt of hys owne righteousnesse but acknowledgeth himselfe destitute of the true righteousnesse and that hee is iustified thorough his onely fayth in Christ After the same manner speaketh Saynt Ambrose saying Dauid calleth them right happy whome God hath determined to iustify by fayth onely without any paynes taking or without their keeping of the law And in an other place in expounding these words of the Apostle freely iustified by his grace he sayth thus They be iustified freely because that hauing not done any thing nor requited like for like they be iustifyed by faith onely which is the gift of God. I coulde to this purpose alleadge many other canōs aūcient doctors but these may suffice For my purpose is not to build the doctrine of our reformed Religion neither vpon Doctors nor vpon Canons but onelye to rehearce and alleadge some of them to shew vnto the Romish catholicks that in condemning the same so boldly of heresy by the same meanes they vnaduisedly condemne their own canons and doctors And because they doe so greatly brag that they hold the fayth of the Romish Church I mean to proue that they do not so euen by their owne Canons Harken now what a Canon sayth in an Epistle written by Pope Marcell to the bishop of Antioch We beseech you deere beloued brethren sayth he that you neither teach nor allow any other doctrine than that which you haue receiued of S. Peter and of the other Apostles and Fathers For hee is the head of the whole Church to whom the Lord sayd Thou art Peter and vpon this stone will I build my church the seate whereof was first established in your Countrey and afterward remoued to Rome by the commaundement of the lord c. Hereby it appeareth that the fayth of the Romish Church ought to bee grounded vpon the pure and onely doctrine of
water The third opinion is taken out of Galene and other Phisitions which say that mannes body is compounded of fower humors That is of bloud of flewme of melancholy and of choller and therfore say they that are of that opinion it is very like that when the Euangelist sayd that with the bloud there issued water out of the side of Iesus Christ he meant that there issued out fleame which is a watry humor Wherupon they doe conclude that in the Masse water was changed into fleame But this opiniō was condemned by the sayd Pope Innocent in a letter which he sent to the Bishop of Ferrara The fourth opinion is of such as vphold that the water also is changed into bloud as well as the wine Which opinion the said Pope Innocent graunteth to haue in it not most truth but most likelyhode of trueth Because saith he water is often times in the Scripture taken for the multitude of the people so as the vnion which is made betwixt the water and the wine by the transubstantiating of the same water into wine doth signifie vnto vs the true knitting together of Christ with his people by such a bonde as cannot be broken Truely a reason drawen out of a quintisens of the subtilties of Scotus otherwise called Duns Marke here the goodly questions or rather the fonde and heathenish dotages wherin the Schoolemen and the Popes haue wrapped themselues by the meane of their Transubstantiation Likewise also they finde themselues greatly cumbred in answering these other questions that is to wit if a mouse or a rat doe happen to eate the Sacrament of the hoast whether she eat the very body or the accidents only Again whether the Accidentes can be without a subiect and whether Accidentes can be eaten or no. Also whether the Accident without the subiect may haue the tast of the wine and geue nourishment to the body and such other vaine questions whereof they can geue none but very absurde resolutions because the presupposing of transubstantiation is nothing but absurditie Besides this the Canons say not that our Lord Iesus Christ did ordayne the Mas but they affirme that it was S. Iames and S. Basill for these be the wordes of the Canon Iames the brother of our Lord according to the flesh who had the first charge of the Church of Ierusalem and Basil the Bishop of Cesarea whose knowledge in the Scripture hath been renowmed throughout the world haue brought vnto vs the celebrating of the Masse But yet neither S. Iames nor the other Apostles nor the Euangelistes haue at any time spoken of the masse in their wrytings so as there is no likelihood of truth in the report of this Canon that S. Iames should be the inuenter of the Masse Neither were it to any great purpose to say that onely Iames of all the other Apostles was the first foūder and setter vp thereof For had it been a good thing the rest of the Apostles would haue allowed it as well as he and not being good he would haue allowed it no more than the residue did Besides this S. Iames hath no more spoken of it in his Epistle than the other Apostles haue spoaken of it in theirs Neither is it to be beleeued that any of them would adde aught to the ordinances of Christ their Maister And as for S. Basill the Canon hath vnfitly ioyned him with S. Iames to haue helped him to make the mas For he was 350. yeares after S. Iames. Moreouer there are other Canones which doe father the inuenting of euery part of the Masse vpon other foūders As for example the vsing of vnleauened bread and the putting of water into the Challice with the wine they father vpon pope Alexander the first The Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth and the inuention of the Corporace they attribute to pope Sixtus the first The inuention of Gloria in excelsis to pope Telesphorus the first The inuention to vse chalices of golde and siluer which wer wont to be of wood and glasse To pope Vrbane the first The singing of the great Creed at the Sondaies masse to Pope Marke The saying of Confiteor in the beginninge of the Masse To Pope Damasus the first The standing vp of the people when the priest singeth or saieth the Gospell To Pope Anastasius the first The kissing of the paxe to Pope Innocent the first The inuentiō of anthems taken out of the psalmes of Dauid and the Introites and Graduels to Pope Celestine the first The inuention of the nine Kirieleysons of the Alleluya and of the offertorye to pope Gregory the first The Oremus against the Turks Pagans and Infidels which in that time did make great warres vpon the Christianes to Pope Calixte the third The long prayers which are in the secrete words of the consecration to Pope Leo the first and to diuers other Authors So as S Basill is not found to haue done any thing toward the building of the Masse as may appeere by the Historiographers which haue written the liues of the Popes and by the Canones which speake of their particular inuentions Now these Popes that haue inuented and added euery one somthing to the Masse were not al at one time For betwixt the first and the last that are here spoaken of there was more than a thousand yeares which sheweth plainly inough that the Masse is but an inuention of men and therfore deserueth not to be of such estimation as the Romish Catholicks doe reken it For it ought to be sufficient for vs to dwell vpon the holy ordinances and institutions of God and to let goe the inuentions of men seeing that the Scripture forbiddeth either to adde or to diminish aught from Gods word Yea and there are some Canones that seeme to disalow the Mas. For among the rest there is one which cōmaundeth euery man to receiue immediatly after the consecration vpon payne of excommunication so as by that Canon it may be sayd that all such as be nowadayes at Masse are excommunicated euery one saue only the Priest because none receiueth but he only These are the expresse words of the same Canon After the consecration let them all communicate except they will be put out of the church for the Apostles haue so ordayned and the holy Romane Church doth so obserue the same There is also another Canō which forbiddeth vpon the same paine of excommunication that any man should heare the Masse of any Priest which keepeth a Concubine or any other woman These are the words of the Canon We doe commaund moreouer that no man doe heare the Masse of any Priest whom he knoweth assuredly to keepe a Concubine or any other woman in his house for so hath the holy Sinode ordayned vpon payn of excommunication By which Canon it appeareth that a man shal in these daies hardly heare a Masse without putting himselfe in danger of excommunication by reason of the notorious
word of God then the doctrine of the Romish Catholicks For S. Paule doth teach vs that Christ is the head of the church not a head separated or set away frō it but surely knit and ioyned fast vnto it with all manner of fastninges knittinges that a well vnited and well cōpacted bodye should haue These be his wordes To th end that by following the truth with charitie wee should in all poyntes atteyne to full growth in him which is our head that is to say in Christ vnto whome the whole bodye being throughly knitted and fastned together by all manner of fastninges that may furnish it out doth take bodilye increase of the power that worketh within it according to the capacitye of euery mēber to the full perfecting vp of it self in loue By which wordes euery man may easely iudge that S. Paule ment to portray out vnto vs the great and singular cōiunctiō of the head which is Christ vnto his church in that he sayth that he is knit and fastened to the same by all manner of fastenings requisite to the full furnishing out of a bodye And in an other place he sayth likewise that Christ is the head of the church working all thinges fully in all the members of his bodye which is the church Whereupon it followeth very well that we ought to haue no other head in the church to execute and performe the office of Christ forasmuch as the sayd performance is reseruid to Christ him selfe These be the very wordes of S. paule And he hath put all thinges vnder his feete set him aboue all things to be the hed of the church which is his bodye and the ful furnishing out of him who furnisheth out all thinges fully in all men Also in an other text of S. Paule it is well declared that that church needeth not a liuetenant to hold the place of Iesus Christ her hed For he sayth that lyke as the husband is the hed of his wife so is Christ also the hed of his church And were it meet that a wife should haue a nother man in her husbandes stead would not men say that the wyfe which would needs haue another man to supply her husbāds roome were a whore yes and euē in lyke wise the chast and honest-minded church ought to content herselfe with her hed which is Christ who is well inough able to gouerne the same without a liuetenant specially seing it should be but ill gouerned by such liuetennants as the most part of the Popes haue bene This is the very text of S. Paule For the husband is the hed of the wyfe euen as Christ is the hed of the Church who is also the preseruer of hir bodye Therfore as the church is subiect vnto Christ so lykewise let women be subiect to their husbandes Moreouer when S. Paule maketh reckening of the diuers offices which are in the Church he saith that for the gathering together and building vp of the same Christ hath ordayned Apostles Prophets Euangelistes Shepherds and Teachers and not that he hath appointed a Pope or an vniuersall Shepheard to haue supremacie ouer the vniuersal Church which is dispersed throughout all the world And yet it is very certain that S. Paule would not haue forgotten to haue spoaken of him yea and to haue reckned him in the first place if Iesus Christ had ordayned that there should haue bene a pope in his church to haue bene his lieutenāt These be the very wordes of S. Paul Therefore he hath appoynted some to be Appostles some to be Prophets some to be Euangelists some to be Shepheards some to be Teachers to gather together the Sayntes through their working in the ministery and to build vp the body of Christ And so it appeareth by this text that there needeth no pope for the building vp of the church nor for the work of the ministery but that the offices before named by S. Paule are sufficient for that purpose And as touching the text of Saint Mathew before alleadged whereon the Romish Cotholickes doe build theyr doctrine concerning the Pope saying that Iesus Chryst hath builded his Church vpon S. Peeter the first Pope and geuen him all power ouer the vniuersall Church The Protestances aunswere that the Petra that is to say the rocke which is spoken of there is the fayth whereby S. Peter had most stoutly confessed that Iesus was that Christ the sonne of the liuing god For S. Paule doth teach vs that Iesus Christ is the head corner stone whereon we ought to build And S. Peter himselfe doth witnes that the true beleuers which haue their fayth builded vpon this corner stone christ are as liuing stones conched and cemented together vpon it to fynish vp the building of the lords church And as for the authority which Iesus Christ gaue vnto Peter as it is sayd in the same text They sayd also that he gaue the like to all the rest of his Apostles as S. Iohn witnesseth So as it cannot be inferred vpon this text that S. Peter was ordained to be the onely Soueraygn gouernor of the Christian Church any more then the rest of the Apostles And in an other place S. Paule doth wel declare that S. Peter had no more authority then the other Apostles for hee putteth himselfe in the same degree of apostleship that Peter was And whē he reckneth vp the chiefest Apostles he reckneth first S. Iames then Saynt Peter and in the third place S. Iohn wherein he had greatly ouershot him selfe which cannot be sayd without blaming the holy ghost if the saying of the Romish Catholickes be trew who affirme that S. Peter was the Prince of the Apostles and had soueraygne authority ouer them and ouer the whole vniuersall church These be the uery wordes of S. Paule For he which hath wrought by peter in the office of Apostleship among the circumcised hath like wise wrought by me among the Gentiles and Iames Cephas and Iohn who are esteemed to be the pillers haue knowne the grace which was geuen me Neither doth S. Peeter in his Epistles name himselfe Pope or prince of Apostles or head of the church or Christs vickar but simply an Apostle as the others And when his companions did geue him charge to go preach in Samaria he was so far of from pretēding to haue any princely authority ouer them that he obayd them without gayneseing as it is written in the Actes of the Apostles And therefore it appeareth playnelye by all these sayings that the doctrine of the protestantes is better grounded vpon the word of God then the doctrine of the Romish Catholickes and consequently that it is the most auncient and true according to our second Maxime Let vs now come to the Canons Truely when I read these Canons which I wil reherse hereafter I maruel that pope Engenie the third who authorised the decres of Gratian and commanded that they should be openly red
in the vniuersities procured not the vtter defacing dissanulling of all the auncient Canons there gathered together seing they be so derectly contrary to the doctrine and authority of the popes But it was the prouidence and will of God that it should so be Now then you must first of all vnderstand that the auncient doctors of the church do oftē vse this name of pope which signifyeth a father and in aunciēt time was indifferently vsed to all Bishoppes aswell meane as great But in the end the Boshop of Rome appropriated the same to himselfe alone and from that tyme forth this name of pope hath euer bene taken as it is still in these dayes not for a father but for a supreme head and vniuersall Bishop of all the Christian churches of the world which title of vniuersall is reproued by all the auncient Canons so consequently the estate which the pope of Rome doth take vpon him at this present is condemned For it is well knowne that he nameth himselfe the vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop and that he chalengeth authority ouer all churches and councels Now harken to the very words of a Canō which putteth him to his neck-verse Let no Patriarke at any tyme vse the name of vniuersall For the Patriarke which nameth himselfe vniuersall taketh the name of Patriarke away from all others But Godforbid that any of the faythfull should chalendge honor to himselfe to the derogation of his brethren be it neuer so little Wherefore we besech you of your charity let none of you from henceforth in his letters geue the title of vniuersall to any man any more least ye take away the title due vnto your selues by attributing the same vnduely vnto orhers The next Canon following doth sing the same song which ought to be of so much the more force among the Romish Catholicks for that it is taken out of an Epistle of S. Gregory sēt to the patriark of Allexandria Thus therefore doth he say in expresse wordes Behold euen in the very preface of your letters which you wrote vnto me you go about to cast the proud name of vniuersal pope vpon me euen vpon me I say who haue forbiddē other men to vse it Wherefore I besech your holines euen of your curtesy to do so no more for you take from your selfe to geue to an other without cause why I seek not to aduaunce my selfe in tytles but in manners neither thinke I that I ought to purchase honour to my selfe with the losse of the honour of my brothers for my honor is to honor the vniuersall church and to behaue my selfe vprightly towardes my brethren And I thinke my selfe then most honored whē euery of them hath his due honour yelded vnto him But if your holines name me the vniuersall pope then in attributing the whole vnto me ther is nothing left to others which God forbid wherefore let vs driue away these termes farre from vs which inflame vs with vanity and hurt charity The reason of these Canons is very euident namely for that it is impossible for one man to gouerne the vniuersall church and to be Byshop of the whole world seeing that euen they which are best able do finde themselues greatly combred in the gouerning of one onely Byshoprick well Besides this the title of vniuersal Bishop is to stately and proud to be matched with the true Shepheardes of gods church which ought to walke in humility voyd of al pride and ambition The same thing is verified by a canō in these expres words Whosoeuer desireth supremacy vpon earth shall finde confusion in heauen And he that speaketh of primacie shall not be nūbred amongest the seruātes of god Let euery body therefore study not how he may seem greater thē others but by what means he may most imbase himselfe For hee is not the most righteous which amongst men is most honored but he is most honorable which is most righteous Hereunto agreeth well the Canon which sayth that all churches are equall in authoritye and that the church of Rome hath no superiority ouer other churches This Canon is takē out of S. Ierom and sayth thus We ought not to think that there is any ods between the church of rome the churches of any other place of the world In Fraunce England Affrik Persia the East and the Indies and all the Barbarous nations do honor Christ and obserue one rule of truth If regard bee to bee had of authority the world is greater then the City of Rome Wheresoeuer there is a Byshop be it at Rome be it at Eugubiū be it at Constantinople be it at Rhegium be it at Allexādria be it at Thebes or be it at Garmace it is all of one worthines of one selfsame degree of priesthood The greatnes of Riches or the meanesse of pouerty setteth not a Bishop in higher or lower degree To bee short all of them be the successors of the Apostles Now then it appeareth plainly by these Canons that the pope who in all his bulles doth name himselfe the Bishop of Rome is no greater than another meane Bishop that neither he nor the Church of Rome can claime to themselues any authoritie ouer other Bishops and Churches otherwise than by tiranny and vsurpation And truely besides the forealleaged Canons taken out of S. Gregory who so will reade his epistle shal find that he vtterly detested this title of vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop from his hart as a wicked title not meete for any but for Antichrist or for his forerunner In one of his Epistles he complaineth greatly to the Emperor Maurice that Iohn Bishop of Constantinople did trouble the Church of God by seeking to vsurpe the title of vniuersall Bishop For to the intent ye may vnderstand the very roote and originall beginning of this discourse you must consider that in those daies and long time before Constantinople was called new Rome and the other in Italy was called olde Rome And because the Emperor of Rome did most commonly keep his residence at new Rome and olde Rome was at that time greatly vexed with the barbarous Gothes Lumbards which warred vpon Italy and destroyed it without doubt the new Rome was then a more flourishing Citie and in higher estimation than olde Rome or any other Citie in all the wholl Empire Wherupon the said Bishop Iohn being of an ambitious dispositiō and minding to aduance himselfe by the dignitie of the Citie whereof he was bishop began to preach and persuade the people and diuers of the bishops that like as the Emperor extended his dominion ouer all the prouinces and countreys of the Empire euen so the Bishoppe of Rome that is to say of new Rome which was then in more estimation than old Rome ought to extend his power and autooritie ouer all the prouinces and countreys of Christendome And truly this Bishop Iohn did so much by his continuall trauell that he caused him selfe
of touching this matter namelye the personall succession amongst those of the Romain Clergy wherof they doe so greatly brag thēselues against the Protestantes and their discipline As touching the first point they say they haue as it were a lineall succession from age to age of Bishops and Shepheards from the Primitiue Church and therefore that they be the true Shepheards that by the contrary reason the Ministers of the gospell which haue had no such succession be false Shepheards But this matter of succession is very easie to be answered For if you looke well into the histories of the Popes and conferre them with the canons both of late yeres and of olde time you shal finde that the most part of the Popes and Bishops came in at the window and not at the dore And that they haue been intruders and vsurpers not lawfull successors And to begin at the beginning the canons doe teach vs as truth is that Bishopricks and Ecclesiasticall offices ought to be bestowed by lawfull election and that it is not lawfull for Bishops and Shepheards to appoint in their latter dayes who shall succeede them but only to geue their opinion to their Churches concerning such as they deeme in their consciences to be most meete to succeede them Thus saith a Canon taken out of the Counsell of Antioch It is not lawful for a Bishop to choose or appoint who shall be his Successor though he be neere his death and whatsoeuer he doth in that case is nothing nor nothinge worth By which Canon it followeth that Pope Clement whom they vouch to be the Successor of S. Peter was no lawfull Pope For there is another Canon which saith if it be worthy to be beleued that S. Peter drawing nie the end of his life tooke S. Clement by the hand and betooke vnto him the Church of Rome choosing him to be his successor Also Pope Damasus who was about the yere of our Lord 371. in the time of the Emperor Valentiniā was made Bishop or Pope of Rome by great hurliburlies wherein there were a hundred and seuen and thirty men slaine in the streetes as Marcillinus doth witnes Pope Iohn the eightth being a woman and therfore not capable of the Popedome was borne in England held the Papacie about two yeres and a halfe Pope Siluester the second was a great Negromanser and came to be Pope by the help of the deuill to whom he gaue both body and soule as it is written in his history and he raigned foure yeares and certaine Monethes Pope Siluester the third was made Pope by tumults and factions For in those dayes as sayeth the history the popedome was growen to such a state that it was geuen to him that would geue most for it or which made most frends and fauour Pope Boniface the eightth was made Pope by faction and bribery hauing first by suttle practises gotten the resignation of his predecessor Pope Celestine a man of a simple Wit whom he caused to be straitly shut vp in prison where he dyed for grief of mind when he saw himself so deceiued and il handeled Wherupon it was sayd by this Boniface a good witnesse of his calling that he entered into the Popedome like a fox raigned like a Lion and died like a dog for he dyed mad Pope Iohn the four and twentieth vsurped the Papacie by force and violence and maintayned himselfe in it by the same meanes and was found to erre in the Christian faith in moe than in fortie Articles so holy was his holines To be short the histories of the popes are full of the wicked dealings and practises which the Popes did vse to attaine to that degree Now therefore I aske you whether these ought to be called lawfull successors of S. Peter and whether those Bishoppes which were consecrated by them were lawfully called or not or ought to be reputed the lawfull successors of the primitiue church whether the Curates and other Priestes that were promoted to holy order and to benefices by such Bishops may be reckned as lawfull successors of the Shepheards and Elders of the Primitiue Church It is very ceataine that they were not For then were the Canons vntrue which say that in all prouisions for persons meete for Benefices there ought to be a lawfull election wherein consideration is to be had of the fitnes of the parties age which is to be chosen and of the grauitie of his manners and of his learning and that as many as haue voyces in the election should be heard vpon paine of making the election of no force and that the party be denoūced as vnworthy and vnmeet to haue a benefice which is furthered or preferred therunto by the fauor or power of the world Neither are such diuelish seruings inforcementes subtilties and fauors to be called lawfull vocations but intrusions inuations vsurpations and wicked and damnable practises The Canons also doe confirme it to be Simonie to geue mony or ought els to be promoted to Orders or to be prouided of a Benefice or to obtayn a benefice in recompence of any temporall seruice And that al aduowsions and presētations made by Popes or Bishops in way of Simonye be naught and of no valure or authoritie Now I leaue it to al people of any discretion to cōclude how the Bishops the priestes of these dayes may be called the lawfull successors of those of the primatiue Church For shall a man find any which geueth no mony for his orders or for the bulles of hys benefice Are not the Bishoprickes Abbyes Pryoryes and other Benefices geuen away now adayes and of long tyme agoe in recompence of temporall seruice yea and sometime for such vnworthy vile seruices as deserue rather punishement than recompence And seeing that the Popes and Byshops thēselues clymbe vp into their high degrees by Symonye must it not needes be that the collations which they make in bestowing the benefices of the patronages vpō other inferior priestes are Simonicall and so consequently voyd according to the foresayd Canons If the Romish Catholickes deny this they must also disauow their own Canons and deny the sonne to haue light And therefore the Romish Clergy are farre from the lawful and continuall successiō of the Shepherds and Priests of the primatiue Church wherein they imagine themselues to to remayn For sure Brybery Simonie and such other like practises are not the doore whereby they ought to enter into the succession of the auncient shepheardes and Elders as they doe But they ought to enter by lawful election made by calling vpon the name of God after dew examination of the party that is to be promotid that he be found meet for that charge who beyng so chosen must thenceforth haue the tokens of the auncient Shepheardes whiche are to preach Gods word purely to minister the Sacraments to mayntayn good discipline and to visite and comfort the sicke as the
the Apostles our true Fathers And that as many as intend to follow that fayth must neither teach nor beleue any other doctrine The Catholicks then of these daies which still imbrace so many doctrines inuēted by the Popes of our times and by other superstitious men long time after the Apostles and after Pope Marcell as Purgatory the Mas an infinite nūber of other traditions doe no whit followe the fayth of the Romish thurch which thing is moste certayne and true if ye haue an eye to the church of Rome that was in olde time For as for the church which is now a dayes wherin the Popes haue patched vp so many decretals and canons and brought in such an infinite number of new doctrines not onely differing but quite contrary to the word of God I will not deny but that the Romish Catholickes of these dayes doe follow the fayth of that Church ¶ Of the things which the Romish Catholicks do recken and esteeme to bee good workes and are not The fourth chapter I Haue could you here before that the Romishe Catholickes and the Protestantes doe disagree about the defining of good works For the protestants accoūt those onely to be good workes whch concerne the obaying of Gods commaundements But the Catholicks do not onely recken those to be good works which concern the obaying of the commaundementes of God but also those that concerne the obaying of the traditions commandements of mē Of which traditions say they some haue bene instituted by Iesus Christ and his Apostles And because there is no mention made of them in the holy scriptures they haue recourse to a distinction inuented by the Sophisters saying that there are two sortes of the worde of God the one written and the other vnwritten And vnder this kind of the vnwritten word of god they would comprehēd the most part of their traditions But this distinctiō is very easely answered Namely that those traditions which they call the vnwritten word of God as holy water Lent the worshiping of the crosse the hallowing of altars and such other like be repugnant to the written word of God And that if there be any vnwritten word of God the same cannot bee repugnant to that whych is written as these traditions be Also it is to bee found by the wrytings of Historiographers and other Authors who they were that first did set forth such traditions and therfore they are not to be fathered vpon the vnwritten word of God. Thirdly it is not to be denied but that the written word of God is perfect and sufficient to saluation And therfore that no article of fayth ought to be fathered vpon the vnwrittē word but only at the most some such points as concerne the order and gouernmēt of the Church But yet vnder pretēce of the same distinction the Papistes thinke that to say and heare Mas to sing and say Suffrages for the dead to geue legacies and Offerings vnto Priestes to goe on Pilgrimage to Saints to offer Candles vnto them and to fall flat before the Images of them to abstaine at certayn times in the yeare from eating of flesh to liue solitarily within a Cloyster and to weare their Garmentes after some straunge fashion and other such like things be good workes and meritorious to gayne Paradise And the reason why they doe recken all these thinges to be good works is partlye because they do pretend that god hath commaunded them by his vnwritten word as before is sayd And partly for that say they it is a work of perfection when one doth not onely all that which God commaundeth but also more than he doth commaund For by this meanes they do so aboūd in good works that many of them do more than are needfull to saluation may therfore spare some part of them to other good Christians which do to few in recompence of their temporall gooddes which they receyue of them But hereunto the protestants do answere that it is sufficient for a man to do the commaundements of God without charging himself farther sith ther yet was neuer man that could performe them throughly much lesse doe more Notwithstanding the Protestants graunt it to be true that commonly men doe more than they are commaunded but their so doing is but sinne and in the mean while they leaue the commaundementes of God vndone And therefore this doing of more than God commaundes is not so great a vertue as the Romain Catholickes esteeme it to be For seeing it is not to be denyed but that the commaūdements of God are perfect as the Author of them is perfect so it must needes follow that they comprehend al good works and so consequently that all such workes as are repugnaunt to the worde of god and hys commaundementes are not good Agayne it is good reason that we should esteeme all things to be good whiche God commaundeth and account those thinges for ill which hee forbiddeth without going any farther For it is he that hath set the difference betwixt good and ill and betwixt vice and vertue and which hath imprinted the knowledge thereof in mans vnderstanding euen from hys creation By reason whereof whereas we deeme it good to honour one God to loue our neighbor not to do otherwise then we woulde be done vnto these such lyke do proceed depend vpon the ordinaunces of God which hath set that order and distinction in the things of the world So as by consequēt vertue is good and vyce is yll because that God hath so ordained stablished that order in the nature of men And therefore we cannot call those good works which appeare not to be good works by his word and ordinaunce neither may mans iudgement so much presume of it self as to terme that a good thing which he is not sure to be so by the ordinaunce of god For to be desirous that God should allowe those things for good which our fancy dremeth to be good without hauing any warrant thereof by the ordinaunce of God were an imbasing of the Creator beneath the Creature Moreouer the protestants do say that if a man might win heauen by these pretended good workes as the Romish Catholickes hold opinion it would then be much more easy for the rich men to attayne to it than for for the poore For the rich haue better wherewith to cause Masses to be sayd and to be liberall in giuing to priestes and to mayntayne long iorneys on pilgrimage and to buy good fish that they may the better forbeare flesh in the lent tyme and to doe such other like workes So as by this reckning the gates of heauen should be open to the riche and shut against the poore by reason whereof the wealthy men should bee happy both in this worlde and in the world to come and on the contrarye part the poore should bee vnhappy but that were agaynst reason For cleane contrariwise it is certaine that heauen is open rather
founded this doctrine is that they haue imagined it to be a stayning and defiling of the Churchmen which doe handle sacred thinges to be married In so much as there hath bene some of thē which haue termed second marriages by the name of honest fornicatiō And yet for all their forbidding of Priestes to be married they haue allowed thē to keep concubines as we haue sayd before in the fourth chap. By meanes whereof they haue geuen them leaue to transgresse Gods commaundemēt which saith thou shalt not commit adultery by taking from them the liberty of Marriage which god doth allowe to all persons But if it should be asked them wherfore priestes whom they esteme holy and sacred persōs should not vse marriage which they call a sacrament what would they answere For sacramentes are meetest thinges for sacred persons And if marriage be a sacrament as they holde opiniō it is can it defile those which participate the same Truely it is as absurd a thing to say that a Sacrament can defile as to say that whitenesse can make blacke Thus doth it followe that God is better honored and his ordinances are more sincerely obserued by the doctrine of the Protestāts than by che doctrine of the catholicks The doctrine of the Protestantes is clerly founded vpon the holy scripture whereby Marriage is commaunded to all such as haue not the gift of stayednes as before is sayd in the fourth chapter For when God ordayned mariage first of all at the creation of world he gaue this generall rule It is not good for man to be alone Also S. Paule geuing an other generall rule thereof sayth thus For the auoyding of whoredome let euery man haue his wife and euery woman her husband And in an other place he sayth that to forbidde mariage is a deuilish doctrine And how thē can the followers therof a vow that their doings in that behalfe are acceptable vnto God Therfore it is easy to iudge whether of the parties are best grounded vpon the word of God namely whether it bee the Protestantes who hold opinion that the celebration of Marriage is lawfull to al people and at al seasōs or the Romish Catholickes which mayntayne that it is not lawfull for Priestes Monkes and Nunnes nor ought to be celebrated in the lent aduent or the foure ember weekes There be Canons also which doe flatly cōdemne the doctrine of the romish Catholickes in this poynte and which affirme that marriage ought not to be forbiddē to men of the church which thing was also maintayned by a good Byshoppe named Paphnutius although himselfe was neuer married in the first generall counsell holdē at Nice in the countrey of Bithinia In the raigne of the Emperor Constantine the great which opinion of his was followed by consēt of al the counsel These are the words of the Canō The counsel of Nice intending to correct the liues of the Ecclesiasticall persons made certayn lawes called Canons in consulting wherupon it seemed to incline to the bringing in of a law to forbid Bishops Priests Deacons and Subdeacons to lye with theyr wiues which they had taken in marriage before their entring into holy orders Then Paphnutius standing vppe spake agaynst it saying that marryage is an honorable thing and that it is chastity for a man to vse the company of his owne wife And so he perswaded the Counsell not to make any such law alledging this reason both right graue and of great importāce namely that it might be an occasion of fornication to the ecclesiasticall persons thēselues or to their wiues Such matter did Paphnutius alleadge notwithstanding that he himselfe was neuer married and his aduice was allowed by all the counsell in so much that there was no law made then cōcerning that article but the matter was left at liberty for euery man to do as he listed Loe here a very notable and aūciēt canon which hath euersince bene obserued and kept in the eastern churches which would neuer suffer themselues to be bound to the vow of single life And if the westerne churche of Rome had done the like Priests had neuer filled the world with so muche whoredome and wickednesse as they haue done And vnto this Canon of the counsell of Nice is agreeable the fifteth chap. of the Apostolick canōs which are allowed for good Catholick in the Decrees of Graecian where it is sayd thus If any Byshop priest deacon or Subdeacon or any other man of the order of Priesthood doe abstayne from marriage or from eating flesh or from drinking of wine not to make his mind more apt to the exercises of godlines but as in way of misliking them forgetting that God hath made bothe male and female and that all his creatures be good thinges and so thereby blaming and slaundering that which god hath created let him be corrected or deposed and put out of the Church By which Canon is condemned not onely the prohibition of mariage vnto priestes but also the forbidding of men to eat flesh vpō certayn daies whereunto doth well accord that which S. Athanasius did write to one Dracontius a Moonke who refused to be a bishop because he imagined that the Monkes life had more holines in it by reason that the Moonkes dyd obserue more scrupulously the prohybition of marriage and the eating of certayne meates Well then sayth he let not such things be alleadged to thee by such as counsell thee to shunne the charge of a Byshop For I haue knowne Byshops which haue bene great fasters And Monkes which haue bene great eaters And Bishops which haue dronk no wine Monks great drinkers of wine Byshops which haue bene workers of miracles Monks which haue wrought none Agayne diuerse Byshops haue abstained from marriage and many monks haue bene maried and had children And contrariwise there haue bene many Byshops maried and bene fathers of children and many Monkes vnmaried And there haue bene clergie men that haue eaten and drunke and Moonkes which haue fasted For both of them be lawfull and none of them both is forbiden but euery mā may lawfully chose which he listeth Whereby this good doctor doth playnly declare that in his time marriage was not forbidden to menne of the clergye nor to any monks And in like manner the auntient Canons accurse al those which in exalting virginity do condemne marriage These be the wordes of the Canon Whosoeuer keepeth virginity or single life as in derogation of marriage cursed bee hee because his folowing of virginity is not for that it is good and holy And in very deed the true virginity is that which consisteth in the mind rather than in the body as witnesseth an other Canon saying It is much better to haue the soule a virgin than the flesh yet wer it good to haue them both so if it may be But if wee cannot bee chaste to the worldward let vs yet at the lest be chast towardes
Augustine who in expounding the texte of S. Paule where it is said that he which resisteth the Prince resisteth the ordinance of God speaketh in these termes He that resisteth the higher power doth resist the ordinance of god Yea but what if he commaund vnlawfull thinges truly in that case thou must not obay him Consider the degrees euen of mens lawes If the ordinary iudge commaund a thing he ough to be obayed but not if the gouernour command the contrary And in this case thou despisest not the inferior maiestrate but of the two thou chosest rather to obay the superior wher in the inferior maiestrate ought not too find himselfe greued for that his superior is preferred before him Moreouer If the gouernour commaunde one thing and the Prince an other or rather if the Prince commaund one thing and God commaund the contrary what will you say to that God is the highest power O my soueraine Lord I beseech you to pardon me you may cause me to bee put in prison but god hath power to put me in hell fire In this case thou must arme thy selfe with the buckler of fayth whereby thou shalt be able to beat back all the firy dartes of the deuill Now then these Canons maynetaine the doctrine of the Protestants which affirme that next vnder God we ought to yeeld all obedience to the Prince yea although he were an Infidell or a Runeagate as Iulian the Apostata was of whom the canō speaketh thus Albeit that Iulian the Emperour was an Apostota or backslider yet had he christen souldiers that serued vnder him whom whensoeuer he commāded to march forward in battaile for the defence of the common weale they obayed him But when he commaunded them to marche agaynst the Christians thē they acknowledged the Emperour of heauen And in good soothe so little is the Pope in abled by the auncient Canons to bereaue kinges and princes of their Realmes and principalities that he cannot so much as geue away a Bishopricke in any Realme without the consent of the pruste vnder whose dominion the same is as it appeareth by an Epistle of Pope Leo the fourth sent to the Emperours Lotharius and Lewes by the which he doth intreat thē to consent to bestow the Bishopricke of Rets vpon one named Colon. These be the very wordes of the Canon Seing the church of Rets hath bene so lōg tyme without a Shepheard it is requisite that it should bee ayded by your maiesties authority and maintained by the power of your gouernement Wherfore after our most hūble salutatiō vnto you we beseech your clemency to vouchsafe to graunt the gouernement of the sayed church vnto Colon your humble deacon that by your maiesties licence we may with Gods helpe consecrate him Byshop of the same And if it stād not with your liking that he should be Bishop of that church then we beseech your highnesse that he may haue the Churche of Tusculan which is now vacant so that being by vs consecrated Byshop he may geue thankes to almighty God and to your jmperiall maiesty And it is not to be doubted but the both in the time of the same Pope Leo and before his tyme also it was the ordinary custome not to receiue any Byshop without the consent of the prince vnder whose dominion the bishoprick was According whereunto it is sayd thus in an other canon speaking of the same matter in these termes Forasmuch as we know that the church of God cannot be maintained without Shepheardes we beseech your maiestye as we are bound to do to vouchsafe of your imperiall wisedome according to the custome in all auncient time obserued to geue vs licēce by your maiesties letters patentes to prouide one and we will therein obay your will and by Gods helpe consecrate him that shal be chosen To be short not onely these foresayd canons but also many others do witnes vnto vs that nother any Byshoprick nor yet the Papacy it selfe may be geuen to any without consent of the Prince so farre off is the Pope frō hauing authority aboue the Prince And whosoeuer will read S. Gregory especially in the Epistle which hee wrote to Mawrice the Emperoure shall finde that he doth often tymes geue the Emperoure thanks for prouiding such such a church of a good and meete shepheard and how he declareth in diuers places that hee is and will be obedient to the lawes and cōmaundementes of the Emperoure as we haue towched here before ⧠Of the authoritie of the Pope and of the succession and discipline in the order of the cleargy The xi Chapter THe Romish Catholickes hold opinion that the Pope is the supreme head chiefe Shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of all the churches of Chistendome as vicar generall of our Lord Iesus Christ And this doctrine they build vpon a likelihood of great conueniency that Iesus Christ which is in heauen should haue a liuetenant here below vpon earth to pardon the sinnes of the repentant to prouide Curats and Shepheardes for the perticuler churches when they happen to be vacant and to make lawes and Canons to rule all christēdome in matters of religion ecclesiastical pollicy They say also that this authority ouer all the churches of the world was geuē to S. Peter the first pope of Rome and so consequently to to his successors for because our Lord Iesus Christ sayd vnto him Thou art Peeter and vpon this rocke will I build my church and the gates of hell shall haue no power agaynst it And I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whom soeuer thou bindest vpon earth he shall bee bound in heauen and whomsoeuer thou losest vpon earth shabbe losed in heauen But contrarywise the Protestants affirme that Iesus Christ alone is the supreme head chiefe shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of the vniuersall Church whiche is disparsed throughout the world and that when he went vp into heauē he did not appoint any vickar or liuetennant to keepe his place nother in deede was it needefull For he that is absēt himselfe hath need of a liuetenant but as for him he is neuer absent from his church but is and alwayes will be with it by his spirite deuine power vnto the end of the world So as to say that Christ hath neede of a liuetēnaunt vpō yearth as though he could not execute his office vpon yearth for all his being in heauen is as much as to bereue him of his Godhead which of it owne nature hath no lesse power and abilitie on earth and in hell then in heauen where his manhode is resident Wherof it inseweth according to our first maxime that the doctrine of the Protestantes in this poynte is better thē the doctrine of the Romish Catholicke because the honor that belongeth to Iesus Christ is better yelded vnto him by that then by the other Lykewise the doctrine of the protestantes is much better grounded vpon the
to be proclaymed vniuersal Bishop in a certain Sinode or Counsell wheragainst S. Gregory who was then bishop of old Rome did set himselfe very manfullye And therefore writing againe to the same Emperor Maurice he saith amongst other thinges there written that the name of vniuersal Bishop is a title of pride and pompe which troubleth the church the lawes and the sinodes and the commaundements of Christ And that S. Peter neuer was ne neuer called himselfe vniuersall Apostle And that it was the Emperors duty if he meant that God should long preserue his empire to cut of that sore and to bridle the disease by his authoritie if it could not otherwise be healed Afterward he addeth these words worthy to be noted If any man saith he doe attribute vnto himselfe the name of vniuersall Bishop in the church what will al honest men iudge of him For the estat of the vniuersall Church must nedes fall which God forbid if he fall which is called the vniuersall Bishop Therfore let this blasphemous name be banished from the harts of all Christians whereby the honor of all Priestes is taken away and wrongfully vsurped by one alone And in the Epistle following S. Gregory maketh his mone to the Empresse Constance that the said Emperor Maurice her husband went about to perswade him to leaue of his setting of himselfe against it which I cannot doe saith he for I defend the cause of the Gospell and the Canons and the truth of equitie and humilitie And it is to greeuous intollerable a thing that the sayd Iohn our fellow brother and bishop should seeke to haue the name of bishop to himself alone But what other thing doth he geue vs to vnderstand by this his pride but that the time of Antichrist draweth neare For he followeth the steps of the wicked feend who despising the ioy which he had in common amongst the legions of other Aungels dyd seeke to set himselfe in the hyghest roome to raigne as soueraigne all alone And in an other Epistle the same S. Gregory answering to the whiche the sayd Emperour Maurice had written vnto him which was that hee ought not to bee so precisely wedded to his own will for the terme of vniuersall Bishop for such strife about termes hinder the vnion and peace of the church did disproue his reasons with very good grace saying thus But I beseech your maiestie of your goodnes to consider that of words fondly spoken some doe no harme at all other some doe great harme As for example when Antichrist shall come and call himselfe God that speech is very fond neuertheles as it is fonde so is it also very pernicious If you looke no further thā to the wordes there are but two sillables but if you way the meaning of the wordes it is the full importance of all iniquitie And I dare boldlye say vnto you that whosoeuer calleth himselfe or causeth himselfe to be called the vniuersal priest the same partie through his vaingloryousnes is the foreronner of Antichrist because that by his pride he exalteth himselfe aboue all others I besech you therefore of your good zeale to God-ward to commaund that no cause of offence be geuen by taking vp such a fond title See how S. Gregorye declareth and denowceth him to be the foreronner of Antichrist which doth name himselfe vniuersall Byshop forasmuch as he taketh vpon him the aucthoritye of all other Byshops as wel neere all the Popes of Rome haue done which haue bene since his time And yet to confirme this his sentence better I wil adde the warning which he gaue by his letters to the Byshops of Greece to be well ware that they gaue not the title of vniuersall Byshop to Siriacke Byshop of Constantinople next successor of the said Iohn after his decease good brethren quoth he yee shall vnderstand that the late Iohn who not long since was prelate Passing the bondes of modestie and of the measure of his calling did wrongfully in a Synode vsurpe the proud and pestilent title of Oycumenicall that is to say vniuersall Byshop agaynst God and the Church and to the despight derogatiō of the whole order of Preesthode Wherupon wee wrote twise vnto him that he should not omit any thing which might concerne the peace of the Church exhorting him to leaue that proud name and to submit his hart to the humilitye which our Lord and master hath taught vs Whereof forasmuch as he held scorne we haue vsed the lyke admonitions vnto our brother Siriacke his successor But sith wee see that Antichrist the enemy of mankinde beginneth to shew himselfe opēly by his foreronners in this latter tyme and that the preestes themselues which ought to resist him by their holy humblelyfe be the partyes that serue him for his foreronners by intitling thēselues with his proud name of vniuersall I beseech yee yea and charge ye that none of you at any tyme receyue admit write allow written or subscribe vnto that title But that as becommeth the seruauntes of the almighty God euery of you keepe himselfe pure and cleare from this venemous infection without yelding of him selfe to the deceitfull craftines of the enemy for surely that title tendeth to no other end but to the hurt and diuision of the Church and to the slaunder of you all as I haue sayd before because that if he onely as he imagineth is the vniuersall Byshop it followeth that you be no Byshops There are yet diuers other like sayings in the writings of S. Gregory which I could here alleadge but these which I haue here before set downe may suffice in mine opinion to declare and shew vnto the Romish Catholicks by the authority of that god doctor whom they themselues take to haue beene one of the greatest worthiest of all the Popes in respect whereof they haue surnamed him the great S. Gregory that the name and office of the Pope which is nothing else but an vniuersall and supreme Byshop or shepheard ouer all other Byshops and Priestes is condemned as the name and office of Antichrist or of his forerunner and as a title and estate full of pride iniury diuision and contempt of Gods commaundemēts and of the holy decrees and counsels which haue bene holde before that tyme. But now that we haue made S. Gregory to fight sufficiētly against the popes that were his successors let vs returne to our Canons to shew that S. Peter was neuer pope that is to say prince or soueraine ouer the Apostles I will only alleadge one Canon which saith that S. Paule and S. Peter were equal yea euen at the same time that they were both at Rome and that the one was no way greater than the other whereof it followeth that S. Peter was no more pope than was S. Paule Now S. Paule was neuer pope nor euer reputed so to be by the very maintayners of the popedome themselves For these be the very words of the Canon
taken out of S. Ambrose S. Peter and S. Paule haue preheminence aboue all other Apostles by speciall prerogatiue But yet is it vncertayne whether of them two were preferred before the other For I think that they were both equall in deserts likewise in their deathes and passions and also that they liued in like deuotion of faith and finally came Both together to the glory of martirdome And I beleue that it hapned not with out some cause that they both suffered martirdome in one day in one place and vnder one persecuter for they suffered in one day that they might goe together in company to Christ and in one place to the end that Rome should not want either of them both vnder one persecuter that both of them might be partakers of one cruelty The day therefore was ordayned for their desert the place for their glory and the persecuter for their vertue And they both suffered martirdome at Rome the soueraign Lady and head of all nations to the end that where the head of superstition was there should rest the head of holines where the princes of the Gentils dwelt there should remayn the Princes of the Church By which Canon it may easely be iudged that S. Peter was in nothing to be preferred before S. Paule that both were equal in all respects which sheweth plainly that S. Peter was neuer head of the Church neither in respect of nature nor in respect of ministration For if he had been thē should as much haue been sayd of S. Paul according to the Canon And so by consequence we should say that the Church had then two heads like a monster a thing that were to absurde strange I know wel that such as imagine the gouernment of the Church to be like the gouernment of a kingdome doe thinke it meete that there should be one supreme head and gouerner and that the same should haue Cardinals as great Princes of his court Archbishops somewhat in lower degree than the Cardinals and Bishops as inferiors to the Archbishops and so consequently Abbots Priors Channons and Curats ech in degree vnder other And in good sooth this order of holy gouernment hath a fayre outward shew but there is one thing that marreth all which is that it hath no foundation in the word of God which doth not teach that there is any inequalitie amongest the Shepheards but that they ought to gouern their Churches with one common consent by Gods word making assemblies or meetings which are cōmonly called Sinodes or Councels for the same purpose if need require And moreouer that they ought to submit themselues to the Ciuill Magistrate And the very Canons themselues doe agree herewith specially one Canon which is taken out of S. Iherom seeing that in the time of the primitiue Church there was no difference betwixt a priest or an elder and a bishop and that the Church was then gouerned by the common councell of the elders Let vs heare the very words of the Canon In olde time an Elder and a Bishop were all one thing till scismes and parttakings crept into Religion by the deuils inspiration and that folke began to say I hold of Paule and I of Apollo and I of Cephas Vntill this time the Churches were gouerned by common aduice of the Elders But after that euery man began to brag of his own disciples whom he had baptised and not of Christ then it was ordayned that in euery Church one of the Elders should haue authoritie ouer the rest to take away the seede of scizme Wherefore like as the Priests know that by the custome of the Church they be put in subiection to the party that is set in authoritie ouer them So let the bishops know also that wheras they themselues are of more authoritie than the Priest it is not by the ordynance of God but by custome and that they ought to gouerne the Church by common aduise Which Canon in very truth is very notable specially for that it doth euidently shew that all the degrees and dignities which are infinite at this day in the Church of Rome are not grounded vpon the expresse ordinance of God but only vpon the positiue law of custome for looke what the Canon speaketh of Bishops is much more by all reason to be spoken of Cardinals Patriarches Archbishops and other dignities seeing that the office of a Bishop wherof the holy Scripture maketh mention was instituted long time before the dignities of the Cardinals and the others And hereupon it followeth that men should not make so great reckning of any of these great and pompous dignities which are founded but onely vpon custome which ought not to be of any or at least wise of very litle authoritie in the Church of God as shal be declared more at large in the last chapter of this booke As touching the residue if it be alleaged that the Bishop of Rome had in olde time and still ought to haue cheefe authoritie and preheminence at the least wise in the assemblies of coūcels and Sinodes the answere is that he hath nothing to doe with the matter for the Ecclesiastical histories and the acts of the auncient councels as that of Nice holden in the time of Constantine the Emperor doe witnesse vnto vs that the Bishoppe of Rome was so far of from ouerruling the coūcels that he tooke his place in sitting but as fourth in degree which is a good way offe from the first and cheef place as he did at the generall councell of Nice But forasmuch as in this point of the Popes Supremacie the Romish Catholicks chiefly the Canonists doe maintaine the authoritie of the Pope by meanes of a donation and of certaine prerogatiues which they affirme to haue been graunted vnto the Pope by the Emperor Constantine the great I will here a litle examine the truth of the matter I say therfore that this donation and graunt of prerogatiues inregistred by Gratian in his decrees is a thing inuented of pleasure and altogether false and that it neither is like nor possible that the Emperor Constantine did at any time make such a pretended gifte or graūt of prerogatiues as may easely be perceiued by the histories of his time And for proofe of this matter ye must first vnderstand that in their sayd surmised donation they make the Emperor Constantine to say within foure dayes after he was baptised that he wold haue all the Bishops and Priestes of the Romayn Empire to acknowledge and hold the Bishop of Rome for their head in like sort as the iudges of a Realme doe holde their king and that he should haue greater authoritie than the Emperor himselfe Geuing vnto Siluester the vniuersall Pope and to his successors his Imperiall Pallace of Lateran which is at Rome and the Citie of Rome it selfe with al the Prouinces Places and Cities of Italy and all the west part of the Empire together with
among the number of the Gods the Emperor Dioclesian who dyed at that time and had resigned vp the Empire about a ten yeres before Now then seeing that the Senate was at that time in so great authority as to canonise Dioclesian the greatest enemie and persecuter of the Christians that euer was in despite of Constantine being then Emperor Consul and a Christian I leaue it to your discretions to cōsider how they wold haue suffered the thing which this pretended donation speaketh of namely that Siluester should haue been set vp as soueraigne Lord ouer the Senators themselues and ouer all the West Empire and that the rest of the Clergie should haue been made fellow like and equall with the Senators Consuls States of the Empire Surely they would no more haue suffered it than the Presidents and Councellars of our Parliament would nowadaies abide to haue a minister of the Gospell set ouer thē to controll them Or the ouerseear of a Consistory to be made fellow with them And yet furthermore the history doth witnes vnto vs that this Constātine the great did leaue vnto his sōne Constantine for his part the Realmes such ordinances doe burthen mennes consciences and they that obay them doe seeme rather to play the Iewes than to vse the liberty of Christians These be the very words of a Canon taken out of S. Augustine Vndoutedly I am of opinion that the traditions of the Church ought to be cut of as soone as oportunity may fitly serue thereunto For although it appeare not that they are contrary to the faith yet notwithstanding the slauish burthen of them doth oppresse Religion which God of his mercy hath apointed to be free with the celebration of few Sacramentes and those very cleare In so much that the state of the Iewes is more tollerable thā the obseruation of so many traditions For though they know not the time of their libertie yet doe they not submitte themselues to any Sacramentes at the presumptious and fantasticall appointment of man. Which Cnnon doth well declare how much they be wedded to their own affection which in these dayes doe kindle coales in all places and condemne all those of heresie which doe leaue the traditions of men to betake themselues to the word of God. For with what coūtenance dare they call it heresie not to beleeue in the inuentions of Popes seeing that euen their own Canons doe wil vs to forsake the traditions of men If this be heresie then ought they to burne their Canon Law. Moreouer it is very easie to be proued by their own Canons that al the decrees and ordinaunces of the Popes are either superfluous or wicked For if they agree accord with that word of god they are superfluous because it ought to suffise vs to obserue the ordināces of god which haue no need to be ratified and authorised new againe by men And if they be contrary or repugnant to the ordinances of God then ought they to be reiected as wicked as the auncient Canones themselues doe witnes These be the very words of an auncient Canon attributed to Pope Vrbane Ye must vnderstand that the Pope of Rome may wel make new ordinances in such things as the Euangelistes and Prophetes haue not spoaken of But in the matters that are openly resolued by the Lord himself or by his Apostles or by the auncient Fathers that followed next vnto them the Pope of Rome cannot make any law at all but ought rather to maintain that which is already ordayned yea euē with spending of his bloud and his life For if he should take vpon him which God forbid to destroy that which the Apostles and Prophets haue taught in so doing he should shew himselfe to doe amisse not to geue sound iudgement Vpon this Cannon it is worthy to be noted that the Popes authority extēdeth not so farre as to deale with any thing which the Doctors aunciēt fathers of the Church haue taught as it is farther auouched and proued by the Cannon following attributed to Pope Zosimus whiche sayth thus As touching the statutes of the fathers the authoritie of the Seate may neyther ordaine any thing contrary to them nor chaunge any thing in them for antiquitie ought to be inuiolably rooted amōg vs as beyng honorable by the decrees of the fathers By which Cannons of Pope Vrban and Pope Zosimus it doth playnely appeere that the auncient Cannons such as those be whiche we haue alleaged in this book to confute the errors of the Romish church ought to be of greater authoritie than the decrees and ordinaunces of the latter Popes of our dayes of their councels which haue no power to disanul or altar any thing in the statutes and doctrine of the auncient fathers And as touching the authority which the Pope attributeth vnto hym selfe concerning power to dampne soules and to send them into hell by great troopes without beyng lawfull for any man to say vnto him why doest thou so and to excommunicate outlawe and accurse whome he listeth a man may beat down all these hornes of hys with this vnanswerable argument taken out of his owne Canons that such as are true members of Christ and of hys Church cannot be condempned nor put out of the Church by any kinde of excomunication enterditing or accursing that if any faythful Christian happen to be wrongfully excōmunicated or accurssed by the Pope or by any other priest yet notwithstanding hee is neuer the more out of the Church but remayneth alwaies a member of the same These be the very wordes of a canon touching that poynt When any man departeth from the truth from the feare of God from the fayth and from Charitie truely truely thē goeth he out of the compas of the Church But contrariwise if any man be excommunicated and thrust out of the Church by vniust Iudgement it is certayne that if hee were not gone out afore that is to say if he haue not done any thing that deserued it he is not hurt by such excōmunication for often times he which is driuē out remayneth still within he that seemeth to be within is neuerthelesse without This Cannon teacheth vs a very good and holy doctrine which is to hould and retayne the pure doctrine of the truth the feare of God fayth charitie then not to feare the excommunications or thunderbolts of the Popes or Bishoppes the which in these dayes they do rather vse against such as will not allow their errors than against wicked liuers and such as giue occasion of offence because no man is able to put vs out of Gods Church if we cast not out our selues through our vices Now if vices and errors be the thinges which driue a man out of the Church of God are there in these dayes any people in the whole world which are more out of the Church than those which think to driue out others There remaine yet two pointes to treate
by their meanes hath brought forth all the abuses errors and corruptions that be in the world so as men cannot abide any reformation or amendment Furthermore in old time bishops and other Ecclesiasticall persons had none other ordinary talke and communication no not euen at their feastes and banquets but of pointes of the Scripture according to a Canon made in the third Councel of Tolleto which saith thus Because that most commonly there is nothing but telling of idle tales at the table therefore for the reuerence of God and Priestes the holy and vniuersall councell decreeth that Priestes shall vse to reade some parte of the holy Scriptures at their meales For by that meanes the soule may wel be edefied and vnprofitable fables layd aside I doe aske now shall ye finde this Canon well practised and obserued in these dayes No but ye shall find the cleane contrary as euery man doth see and know The Bishops and Pastors of olde time tooke not the state of a Bishop to be a degree of honor and dignitie but a chardge of great waight painfulnes but they esteemed it to be an honorable thing in a Pastor to be learned of good knowledge Harken what the canons doe speak therof He that desirerh a Bishoprick desireth a good work By these wordes the Apostle meant to teach vs what a Bishoprick is namely that it is a title of worke and not of worship For it is a greeke word which signifieth that he to whom the charge of a Bishoprick is cōmitted is as an ouerseer of all such as are committed to his chardge and that he ought to haue a care of them And another Canon sayth thus That man is to be counted most vile which is in highest degree of honor if he doe not also excell all others in knowledge and holines Nay contrariwise in these dayes euery man seeth that to be a Bishop is a title of honor and dignitie voyd of all other chardge than to make good cheere and to keep a Bishoply table causing a kinde of seruice to be sayd in the Church by some chapline of his for fashion sake But to be a man of knowledge of good life and of playn meaning is a vile and a disdainfull thing The Bishops thēselues laugh such people to scorne and cannot abide to haue them about them Touching ecclesiasticall goods for the which our Clergy men contend in these dayes with tooth and nayle let vs see a litle how the men of olde time did vse them and how they ought to be vsed by the auncient Canons First of all according to these Canons they ought not to possesse any lands nor any other temporall goods but onely the tithes and offrings These are the very words of a Canon taken out of S. Iherome The Churchman ought to shew himselfe to be such a one as possesseth the Lord and is possessed of the lord He that possesseth the Lord and sayeth with the Prophet the Lord is my porcion can possesse nothing but the lord And if he possesse any other thing the Lord will not be his porcion As for example if he possesse siluer gold lands or moueables the Lord disdaineth to be his porcion amongst these things Also if I be the porcion of the Lord and the meeteline of his heritage I haue no part with the other tribes but as a Leuite Priest I liue of the tenths and seruing at the altar I am found by the offerings of the altar hauing my food and clothing I content me therwith and naked I follow the naked crosse Now I do aske of you how wel this Canon is performed in these dayes Haue not the clergy men all the best goodliest possessions rentes and reuenewes that are to be found ouer and besides their tithes offerings If the case concerne the demaunding of tithes they can skil to say that they belong to them as to those that hold the place of the Leuites to whom by the old law of Moyses the tenthes ought to belong But if it bee put to them that they ought not to posses any landes or temperall inheritaunce as indeed the leuites did not because it was forbidden them by the law They will not then be Leuites anye longer nor say that they represented them It is not amisse to cōstrue it to most aduantage that they may bee gathering on all handes thereby As touching tithes and offerings let vs now see how the bishops and priests did vse the tenthes in old tymes and how they ought to vse them now according to the canons That is that they owght to deuide the reuenew of the tenthes and offeringes into foure partes Whereof one fourth part was to be geuen to the Byshop to mayntayne him his family that he might keepe hospitality for straungers an other fourth part was to goe to the priestes and clergy of his Church an other fourth part was to be bestowed vpon the poore and the last fourth part was to be imploied in the repairing of his churches Harken to the expres words of a canon taken out of S. Gelasius which sayth thus All the reuenewes and offerings of the Church ought to be deuided into foure partes if the value thereof will beare it as is found to haue bene decreed long agoe Whereof one part belongeth to the Byshop an other to the Clarkes the thyrd to the poore and the fourth is to be imployed in building And an other Canō speaketh thus It is the custome of the Apostolicke Seate to commaunde the new made Byshopes to deuide all the reuenewes of his Bishopricke into foure partes the one part for himselfe and hys family and to the keeping of hospitality an other for the clergy the third part for the poore and the fourth for the repayring of Churches Thus you see how the tenths and offerings were bestowed in old time But in these dayes the distribution imployment of them is farre otherwise for the Priests vse the partition of the Lyon taking all to themselues and leauing no part to the poore And yet haue we seene euen in our time that these auncient Canons haue bin set in force againe by the statutes of Orleance in the raign of the late king Charles the ninth in the yeare 1561. for there is a branch of that statute which saith that the fourth part of the tenths shall be distributed to the poore of euery Countrey where they are leuyed But the Clergiemen haue so wel handled the matter by setting themselues against it by their appeales that the said branch could neuer yet be put in execution nor attaine any effect at all so charitable are they towards the poore And yet by the auncient Canons the tenths are named the tributes of the poore And therefore those which doe not pay their tithes well be counted gilty of the death of the poore which die for want and necessitie How much more gilty then are they which can
so well exacte the tenthes keep all to themselues and geue naught to the poore Let vs harken I pray you how the canons doe thunder against such kind of people as doe withhold the goods of the needy The tenths saith the Canon are the tributes of needy soules so that if thou payest wel thy tithes thou shalt not only receaue aboundance of fruites but also health of body and soule He that payeth them not is an vsurper of other mennes goods And looke how many poore folke doe die for want of sustenance in the place where he dwelleth of so many murders shall he be gilty before the seate of the eternall iudge for conuerting of the thinges to his own vse which are appointed for the poore And surely the Church of old time could so ill away with such an abuse in the Clergie as is the withholding of the goods of the poore that it wold neuer haue suffered it But contrariwise by the auncient Canons the Bishops and the rest of the Clergie should haue been constrayned to succor the poore and needy with the gold and siluer of the Church and to imploy it rather in this work of charity than in making of faire buildings and in repayring of Churches These are the words of a Canon taken out of S. Ambrose The Church hath gold not to hoord it vp but to distribute it to the needy To what end should a man keepe that which serueth him to no purpose Do we not know what a great quantitie of gold and siluer the Assiriens tooke out of the temple of the Lorde were it not much better that the priestes should bestowe it to the releefe of the poore and needy than that the wicked enemye should spoyle it and carry it away will not the Lord say vnto yov wherefore haue ye suffered so many needy folke to dye for hūgar For thou hadst gold wherwith thou mightest haue bought them meate wherefore hast thou suffered so many Captiues to be led into bondage and to be killed by the enemy for lack of beyng redeemed It had bene much better for thee to haue saued the vessels of lyfe then the vessels of mettall Thou shalt not know what to aunswere vnto this for what wilt thou say That thou wast afrayd least the Tēple of God should not haue bene well garnished I say vnto thee that the Sacramentes haue no neede of gould The thinges which are not to be boughte for golde are neuer the more acceptable for the golds sake The redemption of Captiues is the ornament of holy thinges And truely these are the precious vessels which do saue mens soules from death That is the true treasor of the Lord which couereth that whiche his bloud hath couered And the next Canō following taken out of S. Iherom sayth thus The glory and reputation of a Bishop is to pinch himselfe to inrich the poore and it is a shame for a Priest to seeke riches to himselfe Many build vp the walles and in the mean while do pul downe the pillors of the Churche The marble glistereth the Lampe shyneth and the aulter is garnished with precious stones but of all this while there is no account made of the seruaūts of god To receiue the goodes which ought to be distributed to the poore and to be desirous to keepe them vnspent is a poynt of to great forecast or els of to great fearfulnes but to conuert any part of it to a mans owne vse is a fault whiche passeth the crueltie of the greatest theeues of the worlde Marke this definitiue sentence which this good doctor S. Ierom hath pronunced agaynst such as withhold the goodes of the poore and bestow them to their own vse Oh good lord howe full of suche theeues is this world at this day which are cōdēned by this sentence of S Ierom. At leastwise the most part of my masters of the Clergy can not wash their handes of this crime of deteining and vsurping the goodes of the poore except they will deny the Canons heretofore alleadged which are grounded vpon al reason and equity and haue bene holily obserued in the primatiue church I doubt not but that many of the clergy will thinke this little discourse of tyme which I haue made touching their discipline very hard and greuous But I beseech them to suffer their affections to geue place to the truth Their owne Canons shal serue me for a lawfull defence and excuse in this case For by them we be taught neuer to conceale the truth but bouldly to speake it vpon payne to be accounted oppressors of the same and allowers of error These are the wordes of a canon of Pope Innocentes The errour which men do not resist seemeth to bee allowed And the trueth which is not defended is oppressed If a man neglect to resist the vnruly it is as good as a mayntayning bolstering of them neither can the party be excused of suspition of secret society which neglecteth to withstand the crime that is manifest There is also another canon which sayth thus That party is gilty of the fact which is careles to correct the thing that he may amend For it is written that not only those are partakers of the misdeede which commit it but also they that consent thereunto And he that condemneth such as goe astray sheweth himselfe to hate their misdoinges and he leaueth no gap for himselfe to leape out at which challengeth those that start out of the way By which canon we ought all of vs to learne not to winke at vices and misdealings And therefore my maysters of the clergy may if it please thē make themselues a wholesome medicine of the things which I haue spoken heretofore concerning their manners and discipline And like as they spare not to exclaime against the Protestants howbeit wrongfully that they are the cause of the ciuill trobles in Fraunce and so consequently of the corruptions and disorders that are bred of them So set them bethinke themselues a litle of their own doeings and they shall finde by the Canons which I haue alleadged heretofore that in their own orders there are as many abuses and corruptions as possibly can be But now that I haue spoaken sufficiently of the Pope and of the Romish Clergie let vs now enter into theire Purgatory ⧠Of Purgatorye The xii chapter THe Romain Catholicks doe hold opinion that there is a certaine place within the earth which is not altogether so low as hell whether the soules of the good Christians which are dead doe goe to purge them of their sinnes by tormentes of fire and other rigorous paynes and that euery deadly sinne should by desart haue seuen yeares of purgation if the term of yeares were not shortned by masses suffrages and pardons And for this cause they doe hold opinion that it is needfull to cause a great number of masses and suffrages to be sayd for them that be dead and to the same end to geue
reformed Religion which they tearme new is a sauage Religion fond and full of follies and errors and they will needes be beleeued in the matter vpoÌ„ their bare word without proouing any part of that which they speake But as those kinde of people are commonly ignorant and malicious and moreouer possessed with ambition and beastlines so doth it appeare that their mouthes are euer stil open euen when their ouerarrogant ignorance is beaten down by good reasons and allegations And when they haue done all that they can for their last refuge they are fayne to runne to the exception of prescription saying that the Romish Religion hath been receaued and obserued in Fraunce euer since the first setting vp of the kingdome euen since the great king Clowis who was the first Christian king and that it is not like that God would leaue the world so long time which is more than a thousand yeares in error and ignorance But what if it be denyed that their Religion such as it is this preseÌ„t was obserued in the time of Clowis or of Charlemayn or of many other kings of Fraunce which haue beene since that time How would they prooue that which they haue sayd And if the contrary be proued to them by wrytings of auncyent Bishops and Doctors of Fraunce by the which it doth appeere that in this Realme in olde time they did hold the same Religion or uery neare the same which the Protestants doe in these dayes what will they answere then And were it not also very easie to proue by the Historiographers which haue written the liues of the Popes and also by the decrees of the Popes themselues that the most part of their ceremonies and traditions whereof at this day they make more account than of Gods word haue bin inuented and brought into the Church by the Popes of later times long since Charlemayn And therefore they which sayd that the Romish Religion such as it is at this present hath been obserued in FrauÌ„ce euer since the beginning of the kingdome there doe greatly mistake their markes and cannot verify their saying but the contrarye is easie to be prooued But let vs put the case how be it without graunting it that the thing which they say is true and that this Romish Religion is of the vttermost antiquitie that can be Must the truth of God therfore forgoe his right by the exception of prescription Noe truely For if by the Ciuill law there be no prrscription agaynst a king how much lesse then may it be against the king of kinges And put the case again without graunting it that prescription ought to take place against God yet were it not reason thinke you to recken the lapse of time according to Gods measuring thereof Now it is certayn that with God a thousand yea and twelue hundred thousand yeares are no more than an hower or a quarter of an hower and therfore by the lapse of so litle space of time prescription can take no aduantage But all men of sound iudgemeÌ„t will alwayes grauÌ„t that as time doth not change the truth into vntruth nor vntruth into truth So also of consequence we must not admit a ReligioÌ„ for true and good vnder colour that it hath indured long time seeing that the exception of prescription is not to be admitted in such caces For els if the Romish Catholickes will needes sticke to the Iudgement of prescription for the allowance of a Religion then must they make good the religion of Mahomet which hath already lasted aboue a thousaÌ„d yeres which thing I am sure that none of them will doe how passionate soeuer they be otherwise And if it be demauÌ„ded wherefore god hath so long tyme suffered the error of Mahomet amoÌ„gst the Turkes Persians Arrabians Sirians the other Esterne and Southern people of Asia and Affrica among whom the Apostles and disciples of Iesus Christ preached the Gospell and plaÌ„ted so many fayre Churches there is no other answere to be made vnto it but that god hath done it by his secret iudgement wherof we are ignorant Full well we know that he hath done it for good and a iust cause to good purpose because he doth nothing but that which is good and iust But it doth not become vs to search any deeper for the perticuler causes which haue moued him so to doe neither ought we to be inquisitiue of his priuities and secret diâ—gâ—mentes The same also is to be answered to such as say that it is not likely that God would suffer the people of Christendome to erre so long as since the masse hath had his full scope For to be short seing that God is the truth it selfe and that his word is true it is much better to yeld God his due honor by sticking onely to his word then to refort to custome and prescription of time to authorise the traditions of meÌ„ Iesus Christ himselfe doth teach vs playnely enough that we ought to reiect the traditions of men although they be neuer so auncient and grouÌ„ded vpon prescription of time out of minde and that we ought alwayes to haue recourse back to the pure word of God which shal last for euer notwithstanding al customes prescriptioÌ„s which are agaynst it For in reprouing the traditioÌ„s of the Pharisies which had then bene receiued allowed of long time he exhorteth his disciples to cast them of and to returne back agayne to the pure word of God and to the naturall meaning thereof saying you haue heard how it was sayd to the meÌ„ of old time c. As for the auncient Canons they are so cleare and expresse in this case as is possible therfore it shall suffice me to translate them here simply These be the very wordes of the CanoÌ„ An ill custome is no les to be reiected shunned then a pestilent infection because that if it be not the sooner plucked vp the wicked do serue their turne with it as it were by right of priuiledge insomuch that the sundry disorders and dyuers vsurpatioÌ„s which are not repressed out of hand begin anon after to be receiued for lawes and are alwayes obserued as priuiledges By which Canon wee may well note the pernicious effectes of ill customes which cause vs to receiue vice in steade of vertue and euill in steade of good wherof our miserable world hath to many examples as well in causes of Religion as in matters of pollicie and law For in these dayes men defend nothing more earnestly than the abuses and errors which are in all estates vnder pretence that they haue taken root by long custome and contynuance of time which haue suffered them to passe in force of lawes and Priuileges Another Canon taken out of saint Gregory sayth thus If a man happen to obiect custome against vs we must consider what the Lord sayth I am the way saith he the truth and the life He doth not say I am custome And truely as sayeth