sttetch forth the Doctors meaning when you will be so impudent with their wordes The Apostles said In hoc credimus quia a Deo exîsti Quae rogo haec verbi huius admiratio est quod se exisse à Deo professus sit Tanta tam deo propria vos O Sancti beati viri ob fidei vestrae meritum claues regni caelorum sortitt ligandi atque soluendi in caelo in terraius adepti gestacsse per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Dei filium 〈◊〉 ad id quod à Deo exisse dixit nunc primùm vos veri intelligentiam assecutos protestamini In this we beleeue that thou art come out from God What admiration I praie you is this of this word that he professeth that he came out from God so great thinges and so proper to God O ye holie and blessed men which had obteined the keies of the kingdome of heauen for the worthinesse of your faith and haue obtained right of binding and loosing in heauen and earth had you seene done by our Lord Iesus Christ the sonne of God And doe you now first protest that you haue obtained the vnderstanding of the trueth as concerning that he said he came forth from God In these wordes it is apparant that all the Apostles haue the keies as well as Peter and right or authoritie of binding and loosing but that the whole right thereof is in them as though God had resigned his right to them or giuen them equall right with him-selfe S. Hilarie neuer said nor thought The latter sentence toucheth not the cōtrouersy between vs. For we graunt the power of binding and loosing forgiuing and retaining to be ratified in heauen but that the wordes of Christ be of an absolute power properlie to doe that which is the office of God alone we cannot learne by this or anie other saying of Saint Hilarie ALLEN But I will adde S. Chrysostomes testimonie thereunto the rather because our aduersaries doe abuse his wordes sometimes against confession which necessarilie hangeth on the authority of Priesthood in remission and retaining sinnes as anon I shal declare That I be not ouer tediuose I will report his saying in English onelie Those saith he that dwelleth in earth and are conuersant amongst men haue receiued power and commission to dispose and dispense such thinges as be in heauen yea these men haue receieud power such as neither God either gaue to Angelles for it was neuer said to them whatsoeuer you bind in earth it shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer you loose in earth it shall be loosed in heauen Earthlie Princes in deed haue power to binde but that pertaineth to the bodies of their subiectes onelie but that which I now talke of that is proper to the Priests touching the verie soule it selfe and is so ample that it reacheth to the heauens aboue yea that so largelie that whatsoeuer the Priestes doe beneath the verie selfe same God wil allow and ratifie in heauen aboue and so the Lord will confirme the iudgement and sentence of the seruants Thus farre speaketh Chrysostome His words be so plaine that to stand long on them for farther proofe of my matter then the verrie face of the sentence doth importe it were vaine For man maie here rather maruell to see such strange power vpon Christes wordes giuen to the holie order and yet that to be so litle esteemed of wicked men and so litle regarded euen of the honester sort of simple folkes that few either seeke after their iudgement in cause of their soules or duelie honour that power in them which passeth all other prelacie that euer either man or Angell receiued in this great contempt I saie of most holie things wickednes is rather to be wondered at and lamented then by long reasoning to be confuted The sequele of true thinges is so plaine in it selfe the diuerse places of scripture so answere iustlie ech to other the fathers so consonantlie confirme the knowne meaning of the same and the verie tearmes of so many scriptures writen at diuerse times by sundrie of the Euangelists so fall vpon one vndoubted sense that we may rightly conclude the power to be in all cases giuen to the Apostles of remission of sinne FVLKE The wordes of Chrysostome are large enough of themselues although you had not augmented them with your additions and explications beside that you haue altered the number in the text of Mat 16. where in lieth a mysteric For Chrysostome by these wordes spoken in the singular number to Peter prooueth the authoritie that is common to all Priests What soeuer thou shalt binde whatsoeuer thou shalt loose The summe is that the power and dignitie of Priests is exceeding great which maketh a mortall man to come neere to the blessed and incorrupted nature of God as he saieth before But if an absolute and proper power of remitting sins were graūted to them they come not one ly neere but are translated in deede into the diuine na ture which is intollerable blasphemy That the Lord ratifieth in heauen confirmeth the sentence of his seruants giuen vpon earth it is to be vnderstoode that God approoueth the sentence which he before hath appointed them to pronounce As if the Queene in England should protest that shee is content to ratifie and confirme whatsoeuer her embassadour doth in France acding to his commission and the instructions receiued from her thee neither resigneth her authoritie to her embassadour neither giueth him equall power with her selfe but onelie maketh him the interpreter and declarer of her will and pleasure which shee is content to ratifie and not otherwise ALLEN And vpon such knowne termes I make this argument against the aduersaries They truelie and properlie doe remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediatelie ensueth in heauen but Gods pardon vndoubtedlie followeth the priests pardon in remission in earth Claue non errante Ergo they assuredlie remit sins The Maior is manifest the Minor hangeth vpon plaine scripture thrise tolde which first appointed man to loose in earth and then that God shall in the same instant forgiue in heauen God shall confirme the sentence of his seruants saith S. Chrysostome Mans iudgement saith Hilarie shall be as a sentence preiudiciall to God in heauen And thus farre for the wordes of Christ at this present and farther strength shal more and more be gathered vnto them by diuerse partes of all the processe following FVLKE You make such argumentes for your friendes and not against your aduersaries For what aduersarie would you choose vnto your selfe so simple that could not espie these grosse faults of your syllogisme For first your Maior is false which you saie is manifest But you haue not yet prooued that they doe properlie remit sinnes vpon whose sentence in earth the pardon of God immediately ensueth in heauen that is whose sentence on earth is ratified confirmed in heauen That they doe
by anie man and much lesse by words and glosses deuised by a fantasticall head Quod si et i am bodierno die c. Yea and if at this date it could be that anie man by strong testimonie of scriptures were able to prooue unto me that there is not anie thing in the sacrament but bread and wine yet there is no neede that anie man should set vpon me with so bitter minde for I am alas to much inclining to this part as farre as I canperceiue the nature of my olde Adam But by such furies as Carolostadius rageth and is mad about this matter it mooueth me so much that in defending my opinion I am made more stubborne In these wordes Luther being in an heat against Carolostadius a vaine tumultuous person acknowledgeth his owne weakenes of both sides But by our answerer he is charged with his honestie as labouring to peruert the sacrament thereby to hurt the Pope Yet neither anie desire of peruerting the sacrament or end of hurting the Pope is confessed in those words For Luther laboured not to peruert the sacrament but to finde out the trueth if he might not to hurt the Popes person but to oueithrowe the papacie which is the Kingdome of Antichrist although he acknowledgeth that his affection is caried sometimes on the one side sometimes on the other side contrarie to his persuasion Wherein he is an honester man to confesse his owne infirmitie then the answerer is to quarell and cauill with him therefore For the saying which he citeth out of his epistle ad Ioh. Heruagium Printer of Argentine he sendeth vs to seeke it in Gesners Bibliotheca where is onelie the title at the moste but where it is to be found among Luthers printed workes neither he nor we can tell and therefore how honestlie he hath dealt with it I can not saie But to this he ioyneth certaine other sentences of Luthers taken out of a treatise called a defense of the wordes of the supper against the phanaticail spirits of sacramentaries in which treatise it cannot be denied but Luther as he erred in the matter so was he caried farre beyond the bondes of charitie and modestie in declaiming against the contrarie parte yet not also much as the answerer would haue men think by falsifying his wordes and mangling his sentence after his vsuall manner As in the first clause he maketh Luther to saie accursed be their char tie and concord where his wordes be Illa charitas concordia that charitie and concord vnder pretense of which as he vntruely gathered gods trueth should be defaced The second sentence in which he derideth the diuers expositiones of Carolostadius Zuinglius and Oecolampadius more by happe then by cunning he hath hit vpon Luthers wordes who yet els where confesseth that the interpretation of Zuinglius and Oecolampadius came both to one end As for Carolostadius fantasie is as much reiected of vs as of Luther and the papists Now come we to the third place wherein it is somwhat long to shew the fooletie of this answerer which wil take vpon him out of another mans notebooke to set downe Luthers wordes as though he had read thē himselfe euen as he plaieth with al other writers sayings almoste that come thorough his fingers olde new Yet to discouer his vaine pride and to shame his fellow papists that boast of his great learning and much reading I will set forth the matter somewhat more at large this is the answerers saying p. 22. And againe in the same worke he hath these wordes To expound the wordes of Christ as the sacramentaries do this is the signe of my bodie is as absurd an exposition as if a man should interpret the scripture thus In the beginning God made heauen and earth that is the Cuckow did eate vp the titling or hedgesparow together with her bones Againe in S. Iohn And the word was made flesh that is a crooked staffe was made a kite This saith the answerer but in deede Luthers wordes are farre otherwise and to another end then to shew the absurditie of our exposition although he haue the wordes of a Cuckow and a crooked staffe a titling and a kite as you shall see plainlie Age verò audiamus quo pacto verbis Christi c. Goe too let vs heare how they take awaie our sense from the wordes of Christ and thrust in their owne They affirme that the word is is all one with the word signifieth as Zuinglius writeth And the word my bodie is the same that the signe of my bodie as Oecolampadius writeth The words therefore and minde of Christ after the text of Zuinglius do sound thus take ye eat ye this doth signifie my bodie after the text of Oecolampadius take ye eate ye this is the signe of my body Now they are as certaine that these sentences are true they do as stedfast lie persist in them in their hartes as a reede is wont to do being shaken hither and thither of the winde as I said Therefore by and by they glorie that we haue no testimonie of scripture that the bodie of Christ is in the Lordes supper but a litle while after they humble them selues againe and desire to be taught and promise that they will followe vs if we shall prooue by scripture that the bodie of Christ is present in his supper And truelie they doe a great and earnest matter but the same thing commeth to passe as if when I had a litle before denied that God created heauen and earth and had subscribed to the opinion of Aristotle Plinie other ethnikes of the eternitie of the world and some man setting him-selfe against me should bring forth that saying of Moses In the beginning God created heauen and earth and I now to confute mine aduersarie should expound the wordes of Mosesthus God that is the Cuckow created that is deuoured heauen and earth that is the titling all and wholl together with the bones and fethers and so should fayne this sentence of the wordes of Moses In the beginning the Cuckow deuoured the titling all and wholl together with the bones and feathers and should vtterlie cast awaie that In the beginning God created heauen and earth would not this seeme to be a peece of cunning Yet truelie not vnworthie nor vnknowne of Iesters Also it should be like as if I would denie the sonne of God to be made man to him that should laie against me that saying of Saint Ihon. 1. The word was made flesh I would answere the word signifieth a crooked stafe and flesh a kite and the sentence is a crooked stafe is made a kite But if my conscience did reprooue me and crie against me Master Martyne you expound the text too peeuishlie and crookedlie but c. and I should keepe in that but vntill shame died my cheekes with redde and yet would say fie on the false traytor take awaie thy but
or testimonie And I doubt not but he was called brother as all Christians are called one of an other but not as Friers are called fratres You adde further out of Saint Ambrose that he ware a blacke hoode and a girdell of lether Ser. 94. so that nothing wanted in him to the verie habit of an Augustine Frier But seeing there are of Ambrose his sermons numbred in all but 93. this bastarde bable where this of the hood and the girdle is written must be set out for a wrangler and he had beene worthy to be set one the pillerie that fayned such a sermon vnder the name of Saint Ambrose to giue creditte to the Augustine Friers Possidonius testifieth that his apparell shooes and bedding were of moderate and competent habit neither too fine and costlie nor too verie abiect or contemptible In which he kept the meane As for the blacke hoode and lethern belte he that liued 40. yeares with him as you say can tell vs nothing of thē so that you haue neither the weede nor the profession of Friers in S. Augustine Where the example of Christ is alledged to vpholde the institution of Iesuites which Master Charke affirmeth to be blaspemous against his Maiestie you confesse that Christ did not whippe him selfe because he had no rebellion in his flesh as you haue and therefore vse mortification of your bodie according to Saint Paules counsell Coll. 3. You shew how wiselie you vnderstand mortification which you referre to the bodie onelie where Saint Paul commandeth vs to mortifie our members which are vpon earth And least you should thinke he meaneth your head your armes or your shoulders he addeth fornication vncleanes lust euill concupiscence couetousnes and such like which be the members of the olde man that must be mortified not the natural body of man or the partes thereof But though you haue no example of Christ whipping himselfe yet you haue of long fasting praying and lying all night one the ground which notwithstanding you thinke we ministers wil not imitate for prayer and fasting we know it to be our dueties hauing not one lie the example but also the commaundement of Christ for it But for lying all night on the grounde we finde no example of Christ. The Euangelist Luke 6. which you quote for it saith that Christ continued all night in prayer but that he lay all night on the grounde he saith not so you declare your selfe as well by this as by many other things to be verie well studied in the scriptures Where Master Charke saith that Christ came eating and drinking did frequent the publicke assemblies and was sometime entertained at great feastes he sheweth the forme of Christes life differing from Iohns the Baptistes which was more austere whose example is more like your profession then that example of Christ although your vocation be nothing answerable to his Concerning pouertie Master Charke asketh what worldly blessing giuen vnto Christ by his father did he at any time abandon how doth his example recommend wilfull pouertie to you Iesuites or to any except you would by vertue of the example haue all men be of your order because all should be followers of Christ and holde it as commaunded or recommended for an example to be followed of all whatsoeuer he hath done before And then the Pope aboue all other by his owne claime must be the poorest of all and become a brother of your beggerlie order To this you an swere by asking if it were not wilfull pouertie for him the was Lord of all to liue of almes Yes verilie he did willingly forbeate to challenge that which was his owne neuertheles it was necessarie for his office to become poore that he might inrich vs with his grace so is it not for Iesuites or any other to whome God hath giuen such benefites as they should not neede to liue of almes You aske further if he that counselled men torenounce all they possessed for his service and to giue all to the poore that would be perfect did not he recommend voluntarie pouertie though he commaunded it not Surelie if the necessitte of his seruice doe require it there is no doubt but that it is euerie mans durie to renounce all that he possesseth But what necessitie compelleth the Iesuites to any such seruice of his but that they may liue of their owne and eare their owne breade As for the place you quote Luk. the 14. is verie Anabaptisticallie applied to actuall forsaking of mens possesons whereas it is manifestlie to be vnderstood of renouncing in affection is not counselled onelie to some but commaunded of necessitie to all euerie one of you saith he which renounceth not all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple For euen as bearing his crosse is necessarie for all Christians so is willfull pouertie and it is impossible for anie rich man to enter into the kingdome of heauen which places if they be vnderstood against actuall possession of worldlie goods what followeth but Anabaptisticall confusion For they are expresse commaundements and denialls to all not lost to the choise of a fewe It remaineth therefore that they be vnderstood of the minde loue affection and truste in wordlie riches not of budelie vse or hauing eiuill proprietie in them Neither doth it follow that the perfection of a Christian life consisteth in wilfull pouertie because our sauiour said vnto the rich yonge man that boasted that he had fullfilled the commaundements If thou wilt be perfect goe sell all that thou haste c. For by perfest he meaneth such a one as the yong man professed him-selfe to be in whome nothing wanted Againe he was further commaunded to follow Christ as his Apostles did and to take vs the crosse Therefore it was no generall counsell to all that desire perfection but a speciall discouerie of that mans worldely affection and hypocrisie which preferred temporall things before eternall felicitie and yet boasted that he had kept the commaundements from his youth And Luke 12. where he willeth his disciples to sell their possessions and giue almes he sheweth the dutie of all men which is not to spare their owne patrimonie but euen to sell their possessions rather then the poore shoud perish for lacke of necessaries yet not to make our selues beggers or to be pinched that other might haue ease but that equalitie might be obserued as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 8. 13. So that hetherto we haue not willfull pouertie such as is that of the Iesuites by Christes example or counsell commended vnto vs. But you adde further If the Apostles left all proprietie and did liue in common as the seripture noteth c. But the Apostles left not all proprietie allthough they forsooke all thinges For Peter retained the proprietie of his house Matthew made agreat feast of his owne goodes I warrant you Iohn receiued the virgine Mary into his owne to prouide for hir Neither had the Apostles and Christians in
of his manhood thus he saith Quòd vnctio sit secundúm humanitatem nemo qui rectè sapere solet dubitabit quia absque omni controuersia minus à maiore benedicitur That the annointing of Christ should be meant of his humanitie no man doubteth that is of anie right vnderstanding For without all controuersie the inferiour and lesse euer receiueth blessing of the superiour and greater There can be no question then but all soueraigntie and supreme iurisdiction which he exercised ouer the Church being his bodie and spouse in that respect that he was either Priest and Bishop of our soules as Saint Peter calleth him or els as he was out head and pastour it is certaine that all this came vnto him by his fathers sending and the vnction of the holie Ghost and the benediction of the holie Trinitie to which he was inferiour accor ding to his manhood FVLKE That our sauiour Christ by his vnction receaued no gift or blessing of God but in respect of his humanitie it is more cleere then it needed to haue beene declared by the testimonies of Hilarius and Cyrillus but that all soueraigntie and supreame inrisdiction which he exercised ouer the Church in respect that he was Priest and Bishop of our soules or as he was our head and Pastor came onelie to his manhoode as Allen maketh it certaine it is vtterlie false and blasphemous against his godheade For vnto all soueraigntie and authoritie he hath full right in respect of his diuinitie and therefore the Apostle Heb. 3. 5. c. saith that Moses was faithfull in Godds house as a seruant but Christ as the sonne ouer his owne house which was builded by himselfe as God which hath made all thinges For what cause Allen speaking of the soueraigntie of Christ ouer his Church vseth the time past saying he was our Priest and Bishop he was our head and pastour it is easie to gesse seeing he laboureth to establish such a soueraigntie and supreme iurisdiction on earth as is derogatorie to the high authoritie of Christ in heauen But the scripture teacheth vs that he is an eternall Priest Heb. 7. 9. c. that he is the shepheard and Bishop of our soules 1. Peter 2. that he is and shall be to the end of the world the heade of his Church Eph. 1 ALLEN If thou doubt of his Priesthood in this case heare Theodoretus Christus autem quód ad humanitatem quidem attinet Sacerdos appellatus est non aliam autem hostiam quám suum corpus obtulit Christ saith he touching his humanitie was called a Priest and he offered no other hoste but his owne bodie But we maie haue more forcible testimonie hereof in Saint Paull him selfe who in sundrie other places that are knowen professeth euerie Bishop to be elected and chosen out among a number of men to offer sacrifice for sinne And that he is made the supreame gouernour head of the Church in his humanitie yea and in respect thereof is appointed to be the high minister of God the father in pardoning or iudgeing the world it is an assured ground of our faith approued not onelie by the consent of all Doctors but also by the Scriptures euerie where protesting that all power in heauen and earth is giuen to Christ in so much that the Apostle calleth him the man in quo viro statuit iudicare orbem tetratum In which or by which appointed man he will iudge the world All these thinges though they maie seeme to the simple to be farre from the matter yet they be both neare our purpose and necessarie to be laied vp in memorie for the further establishing of our faith in the Article proposed and diuerse other profitable pointes of Christian beliefe now impugned FVLKE We doubt not that Christ was a Priest as touching his humanitie as Theodoret saith but we beleeue that he was a Priest as he was the mediator God and man Fot as some ministeriall partes of that office did require that he should be a man áccording to which nature he might be subiect so other parts of the same office required the authoritie of God For none but God hath authoritie to reconcile man and to bring him into the holiest place into the presence and sight of God whereunto he hath full right of his owne nature and dignitie The forcible testimonies that Master Allen citeth out of the Apostle Heb. 5. 9. haue no force to prooue that Christ is not a Priest as he is God and man although they prooue that he is a Priest as he is man But contrariwise if these scriptures be well marked which the Apostle doth alledge out of the second Psalme Thou art my sonne this daie haue I begotten the and out of the 110. psalme thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchiseà ech they will make euident proofe vnto vs that Christ not onelie in respect of his humanitie but also in respect of his deitie is our eternall high Priest as he is our sauiour our mediator our redeemer as in other places the Apostle sheweth more plainlie and I haue argued purposelie and plentifullie against the slaunderous note of the Rhemistes in my confutation of the Papistes quarreils against my writings pag 64. vnto the end whereunto I referre the reader for more full satisfaction That Christ in his humanitie is made the supreame gouernor and head of his Church we do constantlie bleeue but that he hath this excellent authoritie in respect of his humanitie alone and not in respect of his diuinitie we can not acknowledge For in respect of his diuinitie his person is capable of all honour glorie power and authoritie which in the onelie respect of his humanitie it were not That he is appointed to iudge the world also in his humanitie we confesse according to the scriptures but seeing I haue prooued before that to be iudge of the world is proper to the deitie we must needes confesse that the man Iesus Christ is appointed to be iudge of the quick and the dead not onely as an high minister deputed of God in respect of his humanitie but as God him-selfe of supreame authority in respect of his diuinitie For to holde that Christ is no otherwise iudge of the world but as an high minister as kings and Princes are iudges of the earth as high ministers by deputation onelie of Gods authoritie committed to them and not by right of their nature I see not how it can be excused from grosse Nestorianisme The scriptures which protest that all power in heauen and earth is geuen to Christ are to be vnderstood in deede of the exaltation of his humanitie and crowning of his manhood with glorie and maiestie but thereof it followeth not that Christ enioyeth all that power that is giuen to him by the onelie right of his humanitie For except Christ were God as verilie as he is man he were not able to receiue such a gift which no
in expresse wordes absolue many of their sinnes conceiuing in their heartes as it is recorded by Saint Matthew in the historie of the healing of the man that had the palsie that Christ did iniurie to God and committed blaspemie in taking vpon him to remit mans offences whose malitious mindes and cogitations Christ did so reprehend that they might well perceiue by his sight of their inwarde secrets that he was verie God whoe onelie by nature looketh into mans heart and therefore did therebie well insinuate that they could not iustlie reprehend his doings seeing he was God in deede and might as God pardon mans offences Yet that notwithstanding he stoode not with them then vpon the right of his Godhead for the doing of this excellent function which in deede by nature and propertie is onelie perteining to him but he gaue this reason of his doeing that the Sonne of man had power to remit sinnes in earth wherebie me seemeth wherein yet I submit my iudgement to the more learned that he plainlie professed that by power receiued he might in respect of his manhoode and calling forgiue sinners and that in earth as meaning therebie to institute an order and waie how to remit sinnes here in the worlde either by him-selfe or by his ministers at whose sentence past in earth the penitent should be frree by iudgement of God in heauen For so our sauiour two or three times talking of mans ministerie in the remission of 〈◊〉 termeth it loosing in earth and the contrarie binding in earth as also he calleth Gods high sentence in the same cause loosing and binding in heauen Neither doth the interpretation of Saint Hilarie anie whit hinder my meaning whoe vpon that place affirmeth Christ to haue remitted this mans sinnes by the might of his Godheade for it standeth well that one worke should be wrought by the principall cause and yet by the office and ministerie of some secondarie cause appointed by the ordinance of God for the same vse as we see in baptisme to the remission of the childes sinne both the might of God and the ministery of man to concurre at once whereof we shall haue I trust better occasion to speake anon FVLKE It is well that you can make such light account of such as shal obiect against you that it is not lawfull for mā to vsurpe any thing which is proper to god as is the absolute power to forgiue sinnes which none can properlie and absolutelie forgiue but he against whome they be committed Therefore there is a broad difference betweene the power of God and the 〈◊〉 of man in forgiuing of sinnes God doth absolutelie and properlie forgiue sinnes committed against his law and maiestie Man by his appointment doth assure the penitent sinners of his sinnes forgiuen by God and therefore in some phrase of 〈◊〉 is said to forgiue sins as he is said to saue mens soules to whom he preached the saluation by Iesus Christ. The Scribes did rightlie affirme that none could forgiue sinnes but God onelie but they erred in that they did not acknowledge Christ to be God whoe in the person of the mediator euen in that state of humilitie in which he was conuersant vpon earth was no whit abridged of his diuine authoritie but that he might by the same power forgiue sins that he did heale diseases And whereas he saith that the sonne of man had power to forgiue sinnes vpon earth he meaneth not that he had it as meere man but as God and man in one person and that his manhoode was no let vnto him to exercise that power of his Godheade Iohn 3. he saith the sonne of man came downe from heauen and that the sonne of man is in heauen But this is not to be vnderstood of the sonne of man according to his manhood but according to his Godhead as many other such speaches are in the scripture which in respect of the vnitie of the person ascribe to the one nature that which is proper to the other as Act. 20. to feede the Church of God which he hath redeemed with his owne bloode where redemption by his bloode is affirmed of God which is proper and true in respect of Christs humanity Your modestie is commendable that you doe submit your selfe to the iudgement of other in that your conceite of Christes meaning thereby to institute an order c. for the order that he hath instituted and the power that he hath giuen of binding and loosing in earth is els where plainly and purposedlie set forth that we neede not such vnnecessary vnlikelie coniectures to ground it vpon And whereas you affirme that the interpretation of Saint Hilarie doth not any whit hinder your meaning because one worke may be wrought by the principall cause and yet by the office and ministerie of some secundarie I answere the questions is not what may be but what was done in that case whereof Saint Hilaries iudgement is flat against you His words are in Mat. com Canon 8. Mouet Scribas remissum ab homine peccatum Hominem enim tantùm in Iesu Christo confitebantur remissum ab eo quod lex laxare non poteratifides enim 〈◊〉 iustificat deinde murmurationem eorum dominus introspicit dicitque facilè esse filio hominis in terra peccata dimittere Verùm enim nemo potest dimittere pecoata nisi solus Deus ergo quiremittit Deus est quia nemo remittie nisi Deus deus in homine manens curationem homini praestabat nulla ei agendi aut loquendi erat difficultas cui subest totum posse quod loquitur Porro autem vt ipse in corpore positus intelligi possit esse qui animis peccata dimitteret resurrectionem corporibus prestaret ait vt siatis quoniam silius hominis habet potectatem in terra dimittendi peccata c. It mooueth the Scribes that sinne is remitted by a man for they did beholde a man onelie in Iesus Christ and that to be remitted by him which the law could not release For faith alone doth iustifie afterward our Lord looketh into their murmuring and saith that it is easie for the sonne of man on earth to forgiue sinnes But none truelie can forgiue sinnes but God alone therefore he which forgiueth is God be ause no man remitteth but God God abiding in man performed healing to the man and there was no difficultie to him of doing or speaking who hath power so be able to doe all that he speaketh But that he beeing placed in the bodie might be vnderstood to be the same which forgiueth sinnes to mens soules and performeth resurrection to their bodies he saith that you may know that the sonne of man hath power on earth to forgiue sinnes c. Let the reader iudge whether Saint Hilarie doe any whit in these wordes hinder your meaning And yet more plainlie Saint Chrysostome controlleth your meaning and speaketh expresselie and directlie against it in Mat. Hom.
the sonne of man which was proper to him-selfe so he might well giue the other Your argument in à posse adesse which is not worth a strawe among them that knowe that argumentes doe meane That power which God might giue to meere mortall men whoe doubteth but God might also giue to Christ his sonne to exercise according to his humaine nature but that he did exercise the same onelie as man not as God by what argument is it prooued we knowe that in casting out of deuilles he vsed his diuine authoritie and in his owne name commaunded them to come forth and they obeied Marke 1. 27. he raised the dead by his owne authoritie as God and in his owne name Luke 7. 14. Saint Iohn restifieth that of the eternall worde which was made flesh and dwelt among vs he and his fellowe Apostles did see the glorie as the glorie of the onelie begotten Jonne of God full of grace and trueth From whence come you therefore with a Ghospell to teach vs that Christ did forgiue sinnes heale the sicke cast out deuills and doe miracles but as a man onelie by power receiued from God whereby you shew your selfe to be a good procter for the Arrians if those works which were proper to Christ in respect of his diuinitie you wil draw downe to his humanitie so that he raised the dead clensed the leapers c. not otherwise thē by power receiued frō god as Elizeus did or as anie of his Apostles which did al things in his name whose dignitie you are so careful to further that you care not how you abase the honour of their Master al to bring in a popish that is an Antichristian tyrannie ouer mens soules which is blasphemous against the authoritie of God For if the plaine text of the scripture Iohn 20. 23. whose sinnes you forgiue they are forgiuen c. would yeald you so much authority as you would gladly excercise you would not trouble your selfe to make such impertinent and inconsequent collections by which you would haue it seeme as though Christ in respect of his diuine nature was vnoccupied as concerning the worke of our redemption in the world but that he did all thinges in respect of his humane nature by power receiued from God But Saint Augustine you saie prooueth that by the spirit of God in respect of his manhood Christ wrought miracles which although it be not the matter in question yet you drawe S. Austen to another matter then euer was in his meaning For although it be true that Christ did cast out Deuills in the spirit of God as man yet it followeth not that he did not cast out deuills by his owne authoritie as God seeing the workes of the Trinitie are vndeuided and Saint Augustine in the place by you quoted distinguisheth between those sayings that speake of him as in the forme of God and those that pertaine vnto him in respect of the shape of a seruant But an other argument you haue of that the Iewes which seeing themselues thus ouercome in their vaine cogitations waxed afraid and glorifyed God who gaue such power to men That the Scribes and Pharises which first mooued the question of forgiuenes of sinnes were mooued with reuerence of our sauiour Christ or yealded glorie God I finde not but that al the rest of the people glorifyed to god which had giuen such power to men What power saie you to forgiue sinnes The text saith not so but of working such miracles to heale the man sicke of the palsie so that he was presentlie changed from extreame weaknes to perfect strengh whereof as S. Luke reporteth they said we haue seene sirange things to day and as S. Marke rocordeth it they said we neuer sawe it thus But as for the ordinarie power of making attonement for sinnes which the Priests vsed according to the lawe it was no strange thing vnto them and they had seene it often times before These therefore are the best interpreters of S. Math. which did write by the same spirit But because mans authority with you is many times preferred before god you shal heare what S. Hilarie saith in that place which ere while you affirmed to make nothing against your meaning his interpretation of the text Et honorificauerunt deum quòd tantā dedit potestatem hominib c. is this Conclusa sunt omnia suo ordine cessante iam desperationis timore honor Deo redditur quòd tantam dederit hominibus potestatem sed soli hoc Christo erat debitum solide communione paternae substantiae hoc agere erat familiare All thinges are concluded in due order and the feare of disperation now ceasing honour is rendered to God because he hath giuen so great power to men But this was due onelie to Christ to him alone it was familiar or accustomable to doe these thinges by the communion of his fathers substance These wordes doe plainelie shew that Saint Hilary dissenteth euerie whit from your meaning and that you arme your schollers with no armour of proofe when you wil them to looke for the like power of remitting sins in Christs humanity which he did exercise according to the authoritie of his diuinitie ALLEN Let the proud cogitations of men here attend that so highlie disdaine the ministerie of mortall men in the remission of their sinnes let them controulle the wounderfull wisdome of God which would no otherwise saue the pitifull sores of our soules but by the seruile forme of our owne nature ioined meruelouslie in our person to the worde and eternall Sonne of God the father let them reprehend the vnsearchable secret councell of the holie Trinitie which being of power infinite to worke their wil in al creatures yet would not repaire the world nor remit our sinnes anie otherwise but by the seruice of the Sonne of man let them mislike that flesh blood and the soule of our blessed sauiour being al creatures should ioyne with the onelie almightie creator of all thinger in the remission of all our offences let the presumptuose thus doe and let vs humblie reuerence Gods ordinance and glorifye him in his Sonnes high calling in our kinde through whose singular prerogatiue we shall vndoubtedlie finde exceeding power to be giuen to his bodie and brethren in earth to his moste deare spouse the Church FVLKE The ministerie of mortall men in remission of sinnes no man I hope is so madde to disdaine when Christ him-selfe in so plaine termes hath authorized the same But where you saie that the wisdome of God would no otherwise salue the pittifuli sores of our soules but by the seruile forme of our nature ioined meruelouslie in one person to the word and eternall sonne of God I cannot but maruaile at your Nestorian blasphemie For although it be moste certaine that in the forme of a seruant the wisdome of God preformed that which to the glorie of his iustice was expedient yet that the deitic was altogether idle
to the proper power of God touching the release of the guiltinesse of sinnes although in executing of discipline they maie pardon the exercise of repentance that is appointed for triall of the parties true penitencie or some part thereof which as it is enioyned by the iudgement and discretion of men so they may by the same release it as vpon good cause they thinke conuenient Where you say that Priestes may pardon or retaine mans sinnes of al sortes as wel in the sarcrament of penance al that be confessed as in publike iudgement You thrust in diuerse matters whereof there is neither mention in the text nor anie necessarie collection to be made of them out of it as the sacrament of pennance whereof there is no outward element or signe instituted then your kinde of penance which includeth some peece of satisfaction for sinnes last of all your auricular and particuler confession as though genetall confession and acknowledging of mens sinnes before God might not obtaine remission of sinnes in his sight And as though if anie sinne be not remembred in shrift the priestes remission extendeth not vnto it or if it were remembred and be hypocriticallie concealed yet the remission were good auaileable for al other sinnes that are confessed Againe it is an insolent power you giue them in open Iudgement that they may at their pleasure where Iustice requireth correct the open offender For though you seeme to qualifie their pleasure by iustice yet to ascribe that to their pleasure which is laid vpon them of necessitie what warrant haue you for it For if they maie at their pleasure they neede not except it please them Finallie your argument holdeth not that as in exercising of discipline they maie chastice the offender by the censures of the Church so they may giue due punishment for sinnes 〈◊〉 in shrift Neither are those two endes you alledge true For the chastisement of sinnes pertaineth not to them but to God and the ciuill Magistrate and the iustice of God violated by sinne is satisfied by the obedience and suffering of our sauiour Christ. Wherebie also it should follow that the power of remitting of sinnes were made void and frustrate if men must endure due punishment which you call penance for the satisfying of Gods iustice by sinne violated AILEN The other text of holie scripture containing Christes wordes to Saint Peter seuerallie by certaine notable circumstances of the letter and by wordes of great graunt spoken singularlie to him giueth the chiefe of all his Apostles in more ample termes and beneficiall clauses this power and perogatiue also To him it was onelie said thou art Peter which is as much to saie as a rock for our Master gaue him that name new at his first calling in signification of further intent and purpose which he here vttered and vpon this rocke will I set my Church and hell gates shall not preuaile against it That so said he thus spake in plaine termes Et tibi dabo claues regni caelorum Et quodcunque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum in caelis quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in caelis And to thee wil I giue the Keies of the Kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt binde in earth it shall be bound in the heauens And what thou loosest in earth it shall be loosed in the heauens This promis made vnto Peter and performed no doubt after his resurrection when he committed to him the feeding and gouernement of all his deare flock both yong and olde doth exceedinglie import a wonderfull incomparable soueraigntie and-iurisdiction ouer mens soules For a mortall man to receiue the keies of Christes Kingdome and by them to binde loose to lock out and let in before our Master Christ who had the full iurisdiction therein it was neuer heard of And when the holie Prophets do meane to set out the great and passing power giuen by God the father to his onelie sonne in earth they vse to expresse the same often by the termes of keyes as when the Prophet Esaie saith I will laie the keies of the house of Dauid vpon his shoulder he shall shut and there can none be hable to open and he shall open so that none can shut agiane And Christ him-selfe speaking to his beloued Iohn in the Apocalips saith I am the first and the last I am aliue and was dead before and I haue the keies of death and hell The keies therefore euer signifying power andgouernment of the houshold was giuen to Christ as to whom being the principal and most excellent rectour of his owne Church that he bought so dearelie they moste duelie belong But he communicated vnto Peter as to his speciall stewarde the vse of the same for the gouernment of our soules with exceeding much preheminence both in binding and loosing Yet I do not remember that anie of the olde writers do put anie great difference betwixt the authorities of Peter and the rest of the Apostles concerning the remitting of sinnes which is a thing perteining indifferentlie to the wholl order of priesthood and therfore no more proper to the Pope or Peter then to Priestes and Apostles though Origen noted well that the iurisdiction of Peter seemed by these words to be enlarged aboue the residue by that our sauiour said to him that whatsoeuer he bound or loosed in earth it should be loosed or bound in the heauens where to the rest he spoke of heauen onelie in the singular number I speake onelie of this latter clause of binding and loosing with the keies thereunto belonging For there is no doubt but great preheminence of rule and iurisdiction is promised before in the sametext now recited and els where actuallie giuen vnto him more then to the rest of his breethren Neuerthelesse euen this power of binding and loosing common to all the holie order was in him first seuerally planted for the commendation of vnitie and order as Saint Cyprian sath and so the same authoritie giuen to other might yet after a sort be deriued from his fullnes of power and perogatiue as from a fountaine FVLKE The other text of scripture containing the wordes of our sauiour Christ to Peter seuerallie giueth to him as you saie this power and prerogatiue also As for the not able circumstances of the letter the wordes of great graunt spoken singularlie to him the more ample tearmes and beneficiall clauses let vs examine what they are and whether they be of force to make him chiefe of all his Apostles First to him it was onelie said thou art Peter which is as much to saie as a rock what then ergo he was chiefe of all the Apostles who is so madd to gtaunt the consequence To the sonnes of Zebede onelie it was said that they were Bonarges that is the Children of thunder ergo they had greater authoritie then the rest of the Apostles But of all the Apostles it was said
man that by nature is a like sinner and by vse of hearing manie faultes can not much maruell at oures and by office there is moste secret and carefull ouer vs what should we talke of other impediments where this comfortable motion is so great What comforte can be more then to haue such a friende who for that I ioyne with him yea euen mine owne soule to his after the dearest manner and moste secret sorte must needes be to me a full staie of conscience a witnesse of my sorowfull heart an intercessour for my sinnes a suretie before God for my amending a minister in my reconciliation and one that vnder Christ as Saint Clement also saith shall both beare my sinnes vpon himselfe and take charge of me to saluation in which case me thinke surelie man is after a sorte set in maruelous quietnes and almost discharged euen of himselfe and his owne custodie whiles he giueth ouer his owne aduise and iudgement and whollie hangeth in earth vpon him whome God hath appointed to be his pastour and gouernour of his soule Therefore good reader call vpon Christ for encrease of faith and beleeue onelie this ordinance of God was of infinite wisedome and high prouidence prouided for thy sake and it can not be burdenous vnto thee Christ shal giue thee courage and heart to withstand the contrary temptations and to serue him though thou forsake thy selfe To vs therefore confusion of face for our sinnefull life and to him honour and glorie euerlasting Amen FVLKE You doe well to confesse that shame is but small ales where a man is brought into a fooles paradise of so easie remission of his sinnes for so light a confession before one man as sinfull and perhaps more sinfull then he and bounde as you saie by office to secrecie But the comforte you speake of is vaine and miserable though all confessors were learned and able to giue good counsel as not one among an hundereth of your hedge Priests fryers are For how can he be a suretie before God for an other mans amending when he cannot be surety for his owne reformation He may well beare other mens sinnes vpon himselfe and take charge of other mens saluation to his owne damnation when he preacheth not Christ the onely propitiation for our sinnes but will so be a minister of reconciliation that he will robbe Christ of his glorie and the people of their saluation In which case in deede you set men in a maruelous and mischeuous securitie and almoste discharge them euen of themselues as youre owne wordes are and of their owne custodie while you make them giue ouer their owne aduise and iudgement and wholly to hang in earth vpon you not vpon Christ whome God hath appointed to be the Pastour and gouernour of their soules euen ypon earth though he be in heauen and they vpon the earth Therefore good reader marke how blaspemoussie these Popish dogges would haue thee to hang thy selfe whollie vpon them in earth as the onelie Pastours and gouernours of their soules by which they exclude Christ altogether from any feeding or gouerning of our soules vpon earth and debar all Christians not onelie from depending whollie vpon Christ as they might and doe but from hanging any thing at all vpon him in earth seeing they will haue men to hang wholly vpon their cōfessor on earth as though god had made any such pastors gouernours of mens soules as should put Christ out of office challenge the whole trust of mens saluation vnto themselues These be the right lims of Antichrist that chalenge the chiefe honour of God vnto themselues which is faith and hope of saluation to be reposed on them for what other thing is it that a man should quiet him selfe by be discharged of himselfe his owne custodie and wholy hang vpon his gostlie Father but to beleeue in him to put his whole faith hope confidence of saluation onelie vpon him while he is vpon earth And for this matter he is content to accept onelie faith because he hath no other argument to perswade thee but remember that faith commeth by hearing of the worde of God which abhorreth and accurseth al confidence reposed in man And therfore confusion of face be to al blasphemous papists not onelie for their sinnefull life but also for their abhominable heresies and to god be al glorie honour and dominion in Christ Iesus our Lord for euer euer Amen THE SECOND PARTE OF THE TREATISE CONCERning the Popes pardons The author by iust causes was mooued to beleeue the trueth of this doctrine of Pardons before he knew the meaning of them and afterward found them of greater importance then he toke them before to be THE FIRST CHAP. ALLEN OF the high power of remission and pardoning of sinnes giuen by Christ to his onelie spouse the Church in the Church in the persons of her holy Bishops and priests as a thing annexed to the wholl order and to be exercised in the sacrament of penance vpon all men that be of their seuerall iurisdictions and humblie shall submit themselues by confession of their faultes to their iudgements I haue alreadie spoken so much as may suffice for the satisfying of the sober and iust reproofe of the contentious And now because as well the course of my former matter as the speciall neede of these daies driueth me thereunto I will make further search and triall of the right of that challenge which as well the high priest as other principall Pastours and Bishops make by the force of their Prelacie and keye of iurisdiction ouer and aboue the power of orders touching Pardons and Indulgences Whereof whiles I doe intreate the more attention and heede I require of thee gentle reader because here all the lamentable tragedie and toile of this time first did begin and here haue al those that perished in the late contradiction of Core principallie fallen And in no article of Christian faith euer more offence hath bin receiued of all sortes almoste euen of the wise then in this one of the Popes pardons FVLKE WHen you haue heard what were these iust causes which he pretendeth you shall plainlie see that the authors faith was not grounded vpon Gods word but vpon humane presumption and therefore deserueth to be called rather a fansie then a faith Likewise when you shall haue read ouer the whol treatise to the ende you shall perceiue though you read no confutation that he hath not any warrant either out of the holie scriptures or out of the auncient fathers for any Popes pardons such as he should take vpon him to defende For that the Church of God and pastours therof haue power to release them that are bounde and vpon perswasion of their repentance to remit or pardon some part of the triall appointed for them it is no question betweene vs but of the popes pardons graunted vnder his Leaden Bulls for remission of sinnes but a poena culpa
place of Saint Matthew spoken first and principallie to Saint Peter and then to other Apostles vniuersallie Now if anie list be assured by the Doctours interpretation that the wordes of our Sauiour of binding and loosing doe directlie giue power to the pastours of his Church to punish the offenders and release their sentence of seueritie againe let them read Saint Augustines 75. Epistle where they shall finde much of this matter and thus amongst other thinges spiritalis poena de qua scriptum est Quae ligaueritis in terra erunt ligata in coelo ipsas animas obligat The spirituall punishment whereof Christ spake when he said what-soeuer you binde in earth it shall be bound in heauen do fast binde the soules themselues And Saint Chrysostome disputing excellently vpon these wordes of binding or loosing compareth the iurisdiction of Princes temporall vnto the spirituall power herein and maketh this to excell that as farre as heauen passeth the earth and the soule in dignitie surmounteth the bodie If anie King saieth Chrysostome should giue vnto some subiect such authoritie vnder him that whome whosoeuer he would he might cast into prison and againe release him when he list all men would account that subiect moste happie But he that hath receiued not of an earthlie King but of God him selfe a power that passeth that other as farre as heauen is from the earth and the soule excelleth the bodie I trow him euerie man must both wonder at and highlie reuerence Thus farre said the Doctor acknowledging that as some by Princes grauntes maie prison or pardon the bodies so the Priestes maie punish mens soules and loose or pardon them againe For the proofe whereof he applieth fitlie both the woordes of Christ spoken to S. Peter aud the like afterward to all the Apostles concerning binding and loosing FVLKE Whether all the bands of the Church be medicinable if the partie list to take them Doctors doe dour seing there is a sin vnto death not to be praied for And S. Paul layed such a band vpon Alexander the copper smith that he desired the Lord to requit him according to his workes which could be no lesse then eternall damnation without hope of true and faithfull repentance for which Esaw found no place though he sought the blessing with teares For true repentance is not a matter of mens list but an excellent gift of God That case excepted it is out of question that the Church hath power as well to loose as to binde what or whome soeuer and God in heauen doth ratifie that which the Church vpon good cause doth on earth And therefore to prooue this whereof there is no doubt there needed neither Ambrose Augustine nor Chrysostmes authoritie to be cited except it be to shew how prodigall you are of proofe where there is no neede and howe drie and barren where there is most necessitie vnlesse you will haue your wordes and sayings go without al warrantize as euen in this section that this power or iurisdiction as you call it is giuen principallie to Peter that the sacrament of penance is grounded vpon Christes words spoken to his Apostles after his resurrectiō which of the Doctors affirmeth Contrariwise Chrysostome in the place by you cited as you your selfe confesse doth fitlie applie the words of Christ spoken to Saint Peter and the like to al the Apostles concerning binding and loosing vnto all priests alike therefore no principalitie in Peter For these and such like matters of controuersie the Doctors serue not your true but you would haue the ignorant suppose that as you can cite the Doctors full and direct for manie thinges whereof we doe not contend so in all matters of contention the Doctors are full on your side But if anie papist haue but halfe an eie he will or maie espie your insirmitie though you doe neuer so cunninglie dissemble it ALLEN Againe Saint Cyprian and other holy bishoppes of Affrike which had inioyned long penance to certaine that had fallen in time of persecution from their faith for flatterie or feare of the worlde and had thought to haue giuen them anie Indulgences peace or pardon for that then they called dare pacem which we now tearme to giue a Pardon til the houre of death came Statueramus saie they vt agerent diu plenam poenitentiam we had verilie determined that they should haue done out all their full inioyned penance but now vpon other great respectes we doe agree to giue peace of pardon to those that haue earnestlie done some penance alreadie and lamented bitterlie their former fall But marke well here by what authoritie they chalenge this power and what they doe chalenge They chalenge pardie power to giue penance to the offenders and they claime by right the release thereof Againe they clearelie take vpon them in consideration of the fault to inloine what they list and how long they list and vpon like iust respect by their wisdomes to pardon some peece of the same againe either after death or else if good matter mooue them long before But by what Scripture doe they claime such iurisdiction that they maie giue discipline to offenders euen without the 〈◊〉 of penance onelie by their iurisdiction and right of regiment and then by their onelie letters to giue them in absence peace and pardon of their inioyned penance againe Saint Cyprian and all his honorable fellowes shall answere you in the same place for there they giue a reason of that their proper right Quia ipsepermisit qui legem dedit vt ligata in 〈◊〉 is etiam in coelo ligata essent solui autem possent illic qui hic prius in Ecclesia soluerentur That is to saie he doth permit vs who made this lawe that whatsoeuer we bound on earth should be bound in heauen and those thinges should be loosed in heauē aboue which the Church here beneath releaseth before Let vs therefore be bolde also to answere our aduersaries with the said holie Fathers if they aske vs by what right the Pope or Bishoppe giue pardon or what is that he doth forgiue by his pardon let vs answere for them and for our Mother the Church that they pardon onelie the penance inioyned or other paine due for greeuous sinnes after they be remitted in the sacrament of penance And that they maie so doe by good authoritie we alleadge Christes owne worthines with the named holie Fathers whatsoeuer you binde in earth it shal be bound in heauen and if you loose it in earth before it shall also be released in heauen But vpon this practise of Gods Church I will charge them further hereafter FVLKE This authoritie of Saint Cyprian is no more necessarie then the former of Chrisostome Augustine Ambrose For we doubt not but the Church with the gouernours thereof haue sufficient power by Christes graunt to release such time of penance or parte therof as is enioyned to offenders to prooue their repentance and to
soules of that parish so well hang to gether these blasphemous dreames of Saints merites and Christes satisfaction seperated from the act of his passion claimed to be at the Popes and prelates disposition The aboundance of one releiuing the lacke of another whereof Saint Paull speaketh is no communication of merites nor anie thing like vnto it but a participation of the gifts of God in this life As for merites of Saintes what should we speake of thē or whence should they haue them when mercie is their crowne as Saint Ambrose saieth Finallie howsoeuer you abase the dignitie and authoritie of inferrior ministers in graunting of pardon the auncient Church admitted them to reconcile in the absence of the Bishoppe or in case of necessitie as diuerse Cannons doe shew Wherefore if this power of pardoning were anie such a thing as the auncient discipline the popish Priestes should not be wholie excluded from it ALLEN And yet the Bishops themselue haue not in this case so full power and prorogatiue being but rulers of portiones of Christs Church as he hath whome Christ appointed to be his owne Vicare through his whole dominion For as Christ tht head of the whole bodie is annointed farre more plentifullie then all his bretheren so doubtles he that occupieth his seat of iudgement throughout the whole earth to whome not onelie the affaires of all priuat men but also the confirmation and gouernement of all his brethren Bishops of what dignity so euer they be doth belong Vpon whome Christ hath laide the foundation of his Church and to whome he seuerallie gaue the keies of heauen with moste ample authoritie both to loose and binde feede and gouerne all the sheepe of his folde It is this man no doubt that hath the full treasure of the holie communion of Saints to bestow with maruelous authoritie ouer mans soule with wonderfull might in binding and exceeding grace and mercie in loosing This is the man of whome Saint Bernard saith alluding to Iosephs preheminence in Pharos house constituit eum Dominum Domus suae Principem omnis possessionis suae He hath made this man the Lord of all his house and the Prince of his wholl possession This man therefore representing Christs owne person through the wholl Church and hauing the cure and regiment of euerie one of Christs sheepe may moste lawfullie donare aliquid in persona Christi shew mercie to any man in Christes behalfe none being exempted from his iurisdiction nor any of the churches treasure restreinea from his disposition FVLKE The Pope graunteth to the Bishops as it pleaseth him a shadow of this power of pardoning reseruing the rest to himselfe for his owne aduantage and pre ferment The reasons here alledged to prooue that no Bishop hath so great preheminence in pardoning as the Pope are all petitions of principles which as they are here barelie affirmed so it shall be sufficient for me flatlie to denie them as that the Pope is Christs Vicar heade of the Church occupieth Christs seate of iudgement hath the foundation of the Church laied vpon him hath the keies of heauen seuerallie and so of all the rest Neither is S. Bernard a late writer sufficient to giue the Pope the steuardship of Gods house as Ioseph had of Potiphar the Egiptian therefore he hath no more power to pardon then any other Bishop admitting he were Bishop of Rome and not Antichrist which hath no power at al but vsurped tyrannie ouer Gods house ALLEN But because I cannot ground this my meaning better then vpon a generall Councell I will reporte the decree of the moste holie assemblie holden at Lateran more then three hundreth yeares since vnder Innocentius the thirde by which not onelie this doctrine of Pardons is approoued but also the superfluttie thereof and such disorder as was therein through couetousnes of euill persons or lacke of authoritte in the giuers is corrected with a declaration who be the onelie lawful ministers in such remissions of inioyned penance Thus goeth the decree Quia per indiseretas indulgentias atque superfluas quai quidam Ecclessarum Praelati facere non verentur claues Ecclesiae contemnuntur poeniientialis satisfactio eneruatur decernimus vt cum dedicatur Basilica non extendatur indulgentia extra annum siue ab vno solo siue à pluribus Episcopis dedicetur ac deinde in anniuersario dedicationis tempore quadraginta dies de iniunctis poenitentiis indultaremissio non excedat intra hunc quoque dierum numerum indulgentiarum literas praecipim is moderari quae pro quibuslibet causis aliquoties concedantur cùm Romanus Pontisex qui plenitudinem obtinet potestatis hoc in talibus moderamen consueuerit obseruare That is to saie Because the keies of the Church be contemned and sacramentall satisfaction is much weakened by certain indiscreete and superfluous Indulgences the which certain Prelates of the Churches are ouer bolde to bestowe we decree that hereafter at the dedication of any Chappel no pardon be giuen more then for one yeare whether it be dedicated by one bishop or moe the that there be noremissions afterwarde in the yearelie celebrating of the said dedications more then of fourtie daies of enioyned penance The like also to be obserued in all other common instruments by which for other good causes and holie purposes pardons shall be giuen seeing the Bishoppe of Rome himselfe who hath the fullnes of power herein vseth customably so to moderate the letters of pardons that proceede from him By which holie Councell you may perceiue not onelie that the Bishoppes of Gods Church may giue pardons but that the Bishoppe of Romesright is much more ample in this case then theirs can be and especiallie how carefull the Church euer hath beene to purge all corruption of doctrine or vsage crept into the worlde thorough the disorder of mans misbehauiour how wicked the indeuours of some euill disposed persons be who cease not vnhonestlie to attribute that to the Church of Christ which shee hath euer sought to redresse in the euill manners of them that haue disgraced the doctrine of trueth and made contemtible the moste profitable practize of holie thinges by their misuse of the same FVLKE Seeing you can ground your meaning no better as you your selfe confesse then vpon this popish Lateran Councell all indifferent readers may see how weake and latelie laid ground and foundation it hath To omit your translation of Basilica for a Chappell which rather signifieth a Cathedrall or Princelie Church I will consider what you gather out of this Councell First that Bishops may pardon nay rather that Bishoppes then did pardon Secondlie that the Bishop of Romes right is more ample nay rather that euerie Bishoppe of olde did graunt larger pardons then the Pope vsed to graunt who vsed not to passe one yeare in dedication and 40 daies in all other occasions For according to that moderation the Bishop of Rome did vse all
whose honour the good men make themselues so tender These wordes then doth Saint Paull vtter of his trauaile taken for the Churches sake Now I doe reioyce in my passions or tribulations taken for your sake and I fullfill those things that doe want of Christ passions in mine owne flesh for his bodie which is the Church Thus said Saint Paul Wherby you see that not onelie the want of one member may be supplied of the heade of the bodie but that ech member may helpe the insufficiencie of an other member Whereby for all that we may not conceiue that there is any lacke or insufficiencie on Christs parte or passion which was so full and abundant of it owne valure that by it selfe alone without the helpe of all mans merits or other creatures it was a sufficient price for the sinnes of all the worlde and moe if moe might be But the lacke that this his passion was not in effect so forcible and so fullie in all mens cases was the want of some paines and passion in his bodie the Church by which she and euerie of hers were bound to conforme them-selues vnto Christ by taking paines in their flesh and suffering together with Christ their head For so long Christes passion wanteth his due effect in vs though it were neuer so full and sufficient in it selfe as we do not conforme our selues to his paine tribulation taken for vs. Therfore though Christ in his owne person suffer now no more yet he doth suffer and dailie shall suffer till the worlds end in diuers members of his holie bodie as the heade saith Saint Augustine suffereth when the finger aketh and as Christ him selfe charged Saint Paul that he persecuted him when he onelie molested his members And so long as the Church militant trauailesh here in earth so long hath Christ our Maister somewhat to suffer to make his passion effectuall in such as shall be saued and in that sense some peece of his passion in euerie of the faithfulls bodies must be supplied By all which holie paines of the head himselfe principallia and of the holie members of his bodie who wrought not onelie for themselues but expreslie meant to benefit other by their workes as the Apostle confesseth of himselfe we neede not to doubt but the lacke of many a poore member of this blessed incorporation is dulie supplied and the want of worke satisfactorie in some recompensed by the abundance of paines and penance of others For this is the blessed cause of such as be in the Church of God in the fellowshippe of the faithfull in the knot of those members whereof our sauiour is the head that is to saie in the holie communion of Saints in which as some do lack so other some by Christs gift do abound and are able to procure mercie for the needie and to satisfie God for their poore breethrens sinnes And yet all this entercourse of benefits and mutuall helpes passeth not from the head to the members nor from one member of the bodie to another but by the ordinarie meanes of Christes appointment as by sacraments sacrifice and sundrie waies of his seruice and that not without the ministerie of men in whome he hath out the word of his reconciliation to whome he hath committed his keies to keepe his sheepe to feed his mysteries to dispose and to whome finallie he hath giuen full power both to binde and loose FVLKE Of all the auncient doctors and learned of the Church whose writinges haue come to our hands it is great maruell no one could see the increase of the Churches treasure in this texte of Saint Paull But seing they saw not all thinges let vs consider in what expresse wordes Saint Paul vttereth your meaning Where is mention of the treasure of the Church in this texte where is mention of the merit of Saintes where is mention of the remaines of Saints satisfaction ouer and aboue their owne necessitie where is mention of the wante of satisfying Gods iustice for temporall paines If there be neuer a worde of all these thinges in what expresse wordes doth Saint Paul vtter your meaning First he reioyceth in his afflictions which he suffered for their sake because they tended to the confirmation of their faith and example of Constancie Secondlie he sulfilleth those thinges that want or remaine of Christs passion in his owne bodie this argueth no insufficiencie of Christes passion you confesse for his parte but the wante of some paines in his bodie the Church so farre wee agree with you for Christ was to suffer in his members the saints and they are by suffering to be made conformable vnto him that they might reigne with him but that these sifferinges were satisfactions vnto Gods righteousnes for temporall paine to make the passion of Christ effectuall to themselues or vnto other Saint Paull saith not in expresse wordes neither shall you euer be able to prooue by a true syllogisme out of this place or anie text in the scripture that he meaneth But Saint Paull saieth he suffereth for Christes bodie which is his Church namelie to confirme the faith of the Church as all the olde Fathers doe expound it and as he doth a best expound himselfe 2. Cor. 1. 6. but to satisfic for paine not satisfied by Christes death he neuer saith ne meaneth In tribulationibus saith S. Ambrose vpon this text quas patiebatur exultare se satetur quia profectum 〈◊〉 videt in side credentium Saint Paull acknowledgeth that he reioiceth in the affictions which he suffered because he seeth his profit in the faith of the beleeuers And the words of S. Paul are plaine when he saith that he suffereth for the Church according to that dispensation which was committed vnto him which was to edifie the Church in the faith not to redeeme the Church by his sufferings S. Augustine speaking of the suffering of martyrs and the effecte of them and comparing them with the passion of Christ thus writeth Ille nobis non 〈◊〉 nos saluos saceret nos sine illo nihil possumus facere ille se nobis palmitibus praebuit vitem nos habere preter illum non possumus vitam postremo etst fratres pro fratrib moriantur tamen in fraternoruam peccatorum remissionem nullius sanguis martyris funditur quod fecit ille pro nobis neque in hoc quid imitaremur sed quid gratularemur He had no neede of vs that he might saue vs we without him can do nothing He hath giuen himselfe to be a vine to vs the branches we be side him can haue no life Finallie although breethren do die for their breethren yet the bloood of no martir is shed for the remission of his brcethrens sinnes which he did for vs neither hath bestowed vpon vs herein anie thing that we should follow but that we might reioycein In these wordes Augustine denyeth that Christes passion wanted the paines aud pas sions of martirs to be fullie