the Lord willinghe yet for the commaundement sake and for necessitie we must obey him The exhortation is to the good and godlie men whome the Lord hath alwayes vsed to styrre vp and prick foreward in his seruice The Commaundement is to the wicked wilfull and vnbeléeuing persons who albeit the beanies and light of trueth apppeareth will not for all that beléeue Wherefore I am of opinion that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 the generall Proposition ende purpose and drifte of Moses is this to exhort and require all such as are the Lordes to haue a regarde to his Commaundements and to feare his name and of this I must speake two manner of wayes First generallie 1. To all that are heere and to such as shall heare heereof heereafter Next perticularlie 2. To certaine persons whom I see in this place and I would they were rather in some other place then heere The first kinde of reuerence and feare to be spoken of generally is appertinent vnto all that looue the Lord who in yeale with perfectnesse in looue with thankfulnesse in great care with earnestnesse ought bothe daylie and continuallie to serue the Lord their God For who defendeth them at all assayes but hée who protecteth them when they are in distresse but onely hée who is able in néede to ease them in myserie to reléeue them in daungers to comfort them in anguishe of soule and heart to deliuer them but onely this whome we should feare whome we should dread whome we should reuerence the Lord our God For this cause in Deuteronomie I finde it thus written Deur 11.18 First that you shall lay vp Secondly the wordes spoken by the Lord. 3. In your heart 4. In your soule 5. You shall binde them as signes on your hands 6. They shal be as Frontlets between your eies 7. Then you shall teach them your children 8. Euen then when thou sittest in thine house 9. Then when thou walkest by the way 10. Then wheÌ„ thou lieft down 11. Then when thou risest vp 12. Then shalt thou write them vpon the postes of thy house and vpon thy gates The reason of this That your dayes may be multiplied that the dayes of your Children may be multiplied in the Land for the Lord sware vnto your Fathers to giue it them so long as the heaueâ—s are aboâ—e the earth Yet there is a condition for this blessing is graunted vpon a bonde wherein Israel was and we nowe his people we bound also Euen to looue the Lord our God to walke in his wayes and to cleaue vnto him c. In the Prophesie of Isaiah Isa 8.19 where as the Lord God dooth most gréeuoustie denounce the heauy Iudgements vpon Iuda Israel and the Affirians for not obeying and seruing the Lord their God At the length the Lord comforteth his people and encorageth the Saintes and wylleth them not to feare albeit they be as signes and wunders to the wicked men and he fetteth downe his will and his purpose of his feare and reuerence in two thinges First In an Inquisition Secondlie In an aunswere to the same The Inquisition is of the wicked men and of Idolaters that say vnto the godlie Enquire of them that haue a spirite of Diuination enquire of them that are Southsayers enquire of them which whisper and murmure The olde Idolaters vpstart Papistes are a lyke in all things and the first kept away the law froÌ„ the people these make ignoraunce the mother of deuotion Then at that tyme this shall be the aunswere made by the godlie Should not a people enquire at their God should you goe from the lyuing to the dead Nay to the Lawe and to the Testimony should you goe and if then you speake not according to that woorde there is no trueth and no lyght in you wherefore they haue first done vs great iniurie I meane the aduersaries of the grace of God the Papistes who haue drawne away not onely the simple and plaine men from the Lord by kéeping the booke of God shut from them but also haue taught them an other lawe of their owne inuentions and contrarie to the lawe they haue receyued of the Lorde O that they had perfectly the Lawe of the Lord in Mathew Where at such time as the Saduces had béene put to silence by our Sauiour Christe and the Pharisées vnderstanding thereof gathered together them selues also to dispute with him Math. 22.34 One among them all an expounder of the Lawe could not temper his affections but boldly rusheth out and speaketh which shall be séene by you in the circumstaunces of the Text. First in a Question The Question mooued by a Scribe Secondlie in a replie to the Question The replie made by our sauiour Christe The Question is the greater moued by the Scribe 1. In the asking 2. In the tempting 3. In the speaking to Christe The Question mooued was Maister VVhich is the greatest commaundement in the Lawe The Aunswer and replie by Christe is this Thou shalt looue whome the Lord thy God Howe 1. With all thine heart 2. With al thy soule 3. With al thy mind And this is the first coÌ„maÌ„demeÌ„t the greatest Moreouer for the aunswer of Christ is twofolde it concerneth The Lorde onely as before is seene in his seruice Man onely which is thus 1. Thou shalt loue 2. Thy neighbor 3. Euen as thy selfe And in these two coÌ„sisteth the Law and the â—…ophets In Marke the Euangelist This same peruerse man the Scribe that did oppose him selfe against Christe after the Question mooued and the replie added the revnto by our sauiour Christe is â—pted to haue spoken discretelie and to haue set downe his opinion bothe soundlie and wiselie concerning this thing And his iudgement was this Maister thou hast saide truelie For there is but one God For there is none other but he And to loue him 1. With all the heart 2. With all the vnderstaÌ„ding 3. With all the soule 4. With all the strength 5. And thy neighbour as thy selfe Is more then all burnt offeringes and Sacrifices In these places rehearsed you plainly sée that in the seruice of the Lord the principall thing required is this That we obey him and his commaundements O how godly and pleasaunt a thing is it for Israel to know the Lord his statutes are in his mouth his Ordinaunces shall make him blessed his séede shall inherite the land he shall not feare by night nor stand in dreade at noone day for the Lord of hoasts is with him the God of Iacob is his defence The Lorde shal be a shéelde to that man and the stay and staffe of peace shal be vpon his head he is sure not to be mooued and to the nethermost hell shall he neuer fall His pathes are pathes of righteousnesse his wayes be the wayes of lyfe Glorie is on his head honour and renowne are a couering for that man happy shall he be for euer and all generations shall remember him
Basill nor with Gregorie Nazianzen nor with Ambrose in this matter but with the Lord will I holde And yet I tell you that euen these men Contra Idola Ambrosius Lib. de spiritu sancto cap. 12. Denieth it law full to pray to the Virgin Marie named by me are contrarie to them selues For Athanasius sayth in his booke of Prayer that Mens fons est orationis 1 The minde is the fountaine and well spring of Prayer And to the same vpon the fiftie and fowre Psalme he sayth Promptae semper in hominum praecationes Dei aures sunt 1 That is The eares of the Lord are alwayes open to the prayers of men By which his Testimonies he is contrarie to the other places of praying to Saintes for first Athanasius referreth all to the spirite of man and secondlie The Fathers haue not defended the praying to Saintes giueth all audience to the Lord and none other And Basill in his booke De vita solitaria is verie flat against him selfe he speaketh much in other places against praying to Saints For this he saith Ora ad Deum cum timore et animi humilitate That is Pray vnto God in feare and all humilitie of the minde You sée prayer made by him to God excludeth all other For it went a lyttle afore Pete ex fide semper quod binum est operans 1 Aske by faith doing that alwayes which is good Faith excludeth héere praying to Saintes séeing that Faith and beléefe is not to be reposed in them I may say the same of Gregorie Nazianzen and of Ambrose and Ambrose him selfe is flat against praying to Saintes and against all prayers that are to be made to the Virgin Marie as appeareth in his booke Lib. 3. De spiritu sancto ca. 12 Non quicquam adorandum praeter Deum sicut Scriptura dixit Dominum Deum tuum adorabis 1 There is nothing to be worshipped but God He giueth an other reason For it is written in the scripture Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God Wherefore I am of opinion that some Miscreant and wicked man moued by the Spirite of error hath enterlaced and in many places corrupted the good sayinges of the Fathers with euill opinions Tertullian in his Apollogie Cap. 17. sayth We must worship this onely one and true God who with his worde hath made the heauens and the elementes and all spirituall bodies in the same Epiphanius Lib. 3. against the Antidicomarianites and against the worshippers of the Virgin Marie hath many excellent sayinges concerning this thing to whome I referre you Gregorius Nazianzen in his Oration to the Subiects that were affrayde sayth thus Christus tanua et reconciliatio hominum ad Patrem factus 1 Christe is made the doore and the reconciliation of man vnto his Father Cyrill vpon Iohn Lib. 7. Cap 3. sayth That an entraunce is made vnto the kingdome of heauen all onely by Iesus Christe Wherefore I doo request you to reade that learned Theophilact in his Epistle to them of Colossa and Augustine to Honoratus Cap. 10. and the same in his booke of True Religion and they will satisfie you in this Question of praying and to whome to pray Wherefore I will conclude with two reasons drawne out of the Scriptures Psal 51.6 Iob. 14.4 Pron 24.16 Rom. 3.10 The first is this They which sinne as wée doo can not be helpers of vs in our prayer for all prayer is to them that are holie and perfect but the Saintes haue sinned and sinne as we doo Ergo Psalm 3.8 Esa 27.3 Hos 13.4 we haue no cause to pray to them but to the Lord that can helpe vs. Also it is euident that prayer is not to be giuen to any but such as can helpe themselues and other Now the Saints can helpe neither themselues nor any other but Christe Iesus onely must doo it Then no prayer is to be giuen to them for this is the nature of prayer and such things are to be required herein 1. First we must pray to God for he heareth the prayers of the whole world 2. Secondly to one that is able and can doo all thinges which onely is God 3. Thirdly that he be a worthy Person to whom we pray and so is none but the Lord. 4. Fourthly that he be no creature least we derogate from the creator so that the dead haue no portion or inheritaunce in our prayers but onely the Lord. Now therefore I will conclude that Israell must all onely serue the Lorde his God and none other neither in heauen neither in earth neither aboue the heauens neither vnderneath the earth is there any one to whom we must giue homage but onelye to him Then take the Cuppe of salnation into your handes and call on the name of the Lorde Sanctifie your selues and drawe néere to his Tabernacle A stronge Towre is the name of the Lord he that runneth to him shal be saued In Ierusalem is saluation and on the heads of the Goodly is strengthe no falsehood is found in the wise and no halting in those that feare God Though the world doo delight in Chariots and the Kinges of the earth in their Horses and great men in theyr strength yet will we onely call vpon the name of the Lord we wil say glory to the highest and prayses vnto him in the vppermost heauens we will offer sacrifice of thankes giuing vnto our God and paye our vowes to the Almightie we will singe to the Lord a new songe and Sion shall not staye to prayse her God we will singe with Moses and prayse the Lorde with Aaron in his holy assemblye we will not giue his powre vnto man nor the strength of his arme vnto a Forrainer our Crownes shal be set vpon his heade and we will fall downe to him as to our God we will giue blessing and glorie and honour vnto him that sitteth on the Throne for euer and euer and all the Beasts of the earth shall subscribe vnto vs. But as for you you haue not knowne the Lord the God of Iacob hath not béene your defence you haue giuen his honour to the great Beast and the Oragon hath frayed you so that you haue his markes of blasphemie in your foreheads you haue serued that great whore and bowed your knées to the Woman of sinne Therefore shall your portion be without the Gates of the holy Cittie and you shall not sée the Lambs and his face for euer In the Vinepresse of his wrathe shall you bee troden to péeces and if you repent not your portion shal be Fier and Brimstone for euermore You are the sonnes of the bloody Fathers that haue killed the Prophets you are the Children of the cursed séede You are of the posteritie of Amelech vnworthie to liue among Israell You are the reliques of Iebus and of the remnaunt of the Hittites that haue béene prickes and thornes in the sides of the righteous men You are the Chemerims
was able to finde out the name of the blessed Trinitie By reason whereof the people stoode in a manunering supposing it was a newe Doctrine Your Massemongers and Idoll Préests durst not preach of it for feare of dulling the peoples heads with so great and déepe Mysteries And diuers of your Church of Roome doo thinke that this Doctrine is to hie a Doctrine for the people yet what colour so euer you all haue and beare of zeale and Religion I sée plainlie that you doo but cast away the soules of men for you reade in an vnknowne tongue you condempne your selues for you speake flatlie against the trueth you doo but dissemble in this waightie Article of our faithe and of the Trinitie and how cunningly soeuer you glose and do ceitfully soeuer it be that you colour your imquitie the Lord shall reueale it and we doo knowe it alreadie Wherefore I will first of all begin with this pointe of our faithe this ended I will come to the rest In all which I promise that no new doctrine shal be taught you or vaine matters opened to you or any doubtfull thinge deliuered to you But for that which I speake I will giue you a good and sufficient warrant out of the booke of God Thus I beléeue therefore and thus I teache all that faithfully will beléeue to hold and kéepe this ground of saluation for euer which is This reuerend doctrine of the Trinitie is in all holy and sacred wise to be read of euery person that vvilbe saued That Trinitie in Vnitie and Vnitie in Trinitie is to be woorshipped For there is the father who created all there is the sonne and he redéemed all and there is the spirit the holie Ghost that dooth sanctifie all The Father is made of none neither made nor created nor begotten The Sonne is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten The holy Ghost is of the Father and of the sonne not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding And as in the Scriptures all things that are taught vs are of thrée sorts Either put in and set downe for man to beléeue and not to sée as was the heauen and the earth made of nothing by the Lorde Either to beholde and containe by faithe as is our redemption by Christ either which is last sensiblie to perceiue and naturally to take héede of and beware as is our obedience and disobedience in the commaundements of the Lord The naturall man is lead by reason and sense the godly is directed by faithe and hope So I am of opinion that the carnall and grose man is not able to comprehend the depth of this Christian veritie for that he referreth all thinges to the senses which deceiue him or to the outwarde apparaunces which ouerthrowe him or to naturall reasons which ouâ—e come hun or to materiall and visible apparitions which are alwayes drawing and with holding him so that as he measureth his faith by his sight and the truthe by his corporall and palpable blindnes so is he neuer able to attaine vnto the liuely perfect trueth which riseth of faith is giuen by the Lord. For my owne part I am not of your opinion which deuide your selues from the Church by your foolishe â—â—nes of Catholiques Iesuites Seminaries by which as by sâ—les coates you haue béene alwayes known amoÌ„g the righteous you shinke that this doctrine is haroÌ„e If it be it is no â—â—â—aile in you for you be hard hearted vnbeléeuing persoâ—â— you thinke that the depth thereof caÌ„not be attained vnto The vvilful and blinde are more more blinded by God in euerie thing that euery chyld coÌ„trolleth I easily grauÌ„t you this for séeing you serue not the Lord aright in matters wherin children sée your grosenes wherfore should you presume to search the depth of this secrete you thinke that the people is not able to coÌ„prehend this doctrine I think so too for at your hands they caÌ„not be taught at all your selues are ignorant In the scriptures they caÌ„not learne for you kéepe close the booke of the Lord and you hide these Misteries froÌ„ them But they be carnal you worldly it is therfore ouer hard meat for them to féede on They then be as you are no marueile if the blind leading the blind they both fall at length wherefore lye you still snorting in your Closets rather inglutted with surfetting and riot then experienced in articles of your faith and lie there so loÌ„g as you list suffer your own people to die for want of the light as you haue done rather then as ruÌ„nagates and maisterles men to trouble vs in EnglaÌ„d The Pope hath alwayes been knowne to be Antitichrist in sending foorth such as dysturbe common vvealthes I tell you the plainest Preacher that we haue caÌ„ vtter doctrine you caÌ„not coÌ„prehend and now as you fit dumbe mute speaking nothing you shal be witnesses in your own coÌ„sciences that I will speake no other thing then the trueth Therefore I make protestation of my faith vnto you in this manner There is in the Trinitie thrée persons but one God the persons be these the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost In dignitie none desire to rise higher then the other in power they are equiualeÌ„t none goeth beyoÌ„d the other in glory they are glorious none is worshipped more then is the other Such as is the Father in diuinity such is the SoÌ„ne also in his exceltencie as the Father the SoÌ„ne is in theyâ— brightnes so is the holy Ghost equal vnto them in his highnesse Maiesty which power Principality which right Honour and renowne which hath béene with them from all beginning is common and proper to all thrée Thrée be they in person one and all onely one in Goodhead In béede the Father died not but the Sonne died for vs â—he Sonne was begotten of his Father before all worldes the Father was not begotten of the Sonne The Spirite the holy Ghost protéedeth from them bothe the Spirit the holy Ghost is of them bothe the Spirit the holy Ghost is with them bothe The Father the SoÌ„ne procéeded not of the Spâ—rit yet are they vnited so in the Godhead as the one is not aboue the other neither is there superiority in the one more then is in the other The Rabbines were pitthy and vvittie in many thinges though scrupulous and superstitious in som things The Hebrew Rabbines doo assigne and expresse the Trinitie by this name God which is with them Iehouah This the Gréekes call Tetragrammaton which is a name or word of fowre Letters to outward she we yet there are but thrée indéede for He is put in twise as in the second in the fourth place By these thrée Letters they doo expresse the Trinitie Iod betokeneth Principium 1 A beginning aptlie sheweth the Father that began and created all The second Letter He signifieth To be or to lyue and declareth the SoÌ„ne which is
sée how plainely I will determine this controuersie You say you may worship Images I say you ought not worship Images Then what Iudge will you make choice of The Lord our God shall be our Iudge there is no acceptioÌ„ of persons with him and the Lawe and the Prophets will we call as witnesses and the holy Scriptures shall decide this matter Then the QuestioÌ„ is mooued héere whether you may woorship Images haue them in your Churches yea or no This QuestioÌ„ is two folde Affirmatiue for some alow of Images such were the Gnostickes the Carpocratians the Pythagoreans the Maniches and with them do you holde who of you some are Iesuites some Papists some Seminaries some of one sect so me of an other Or it is Negatiue and those that deny it are the whole Senate and assembly of good men who be the learned Fathers the graue Doctors of the Churches of olde the whole number of reformed Churches in the world and our Churches of England at this day and the state thereof that deny these your whorish and Idolatrous abhominations Then it remayneth eyther to affirme this as you dâ—â— or to deny it styll which we maintaine For there is not the most grosse Heretique but hath some colour of scripture for his Heresie That the trueth may appeare and for that you are subtill and glosing persons insinuating and créeping into the mindes of men deceyueable and peruerters of the trueth alledging Scriptures for your heresies and falsifying the manifest and vndoubted Veritie I will take this order and way to aunswer you first we will examine your places of Scripture next we will trie whether they be duely and truely alleadged yea or no. answer 1 A man of your side to name Harding that Apostata that twise reuolted and denied the trueth and at last dyed in his dampnable errors That at the first in the raigne of King Henrie the eight helde with the Pope that afterwards was a Protestant professed the Trueth that in King Edwards dayes most stoutly and most couragiously at Paules Crosse in London spake against the Pope afterward was a Turne coate and denied Christe and withstoode the Trueth this Weather cocke this Bifrons Ianus that had two faces for bothe yéeres as Harding had two tongues for bothe times In his hereticall Pamphlet and in his Treatise of Images which he cast foorth vnto the people of England to peruert them there he is of this opinion Hard. Diu. 1. of Images Concerning the antiquitie and originall of Images they were not first inuented by man but commaunded by God brought into vse by tradition of the Apostles allowed by the aucthority of the holie Fathers and by custome of all ages sith Christe beeing vpon the earth c. VVhat sacriledge vvyll not these men commyt in corners that openly vvyll laye vntruethes vpon the Lord and charge him vvith contrarieties A most dampnable and sacriligious opinion Images of God why they are all forbidden by him Images of antiquitie whose originall was good the good Fathers in olde tyme the good Patriarches of auncient memorie neuer had any brought into vse by tradition of the Apostles why where in what place what booke what EuaÌ„gelist what Epistle what writing of theirs doo you finde it in If any of you all whome you thinke to be so learned and so néere the Pope be able out of any good autenticke auncient and holie Father of olde to she we vnto me that the Apostles vsed Images I will subscribe to your opinion so that eyther they or you can prooue it by their owne writinges the Apostles them selues These were the argumentes of the old hereticks the Capocratians the Gnostickes and others now they are they rai sed froÌ„ the nethermost hell againe to come helpe the Pope the Iesuites his Scholles But we will procéede Maister Harding hath reasons and the verie same which you vse therefore I will aunswere bothe him and you And albeit much hath béene spoken by the reuerend Father the L.B. of Sarisbury and most diuinely and most heauenly set downe concerning this matter Yet for that he was for his time and we liue in ours and because the Lord is tyed to no one thing and you also are to be satisfied nowe and for that those excellent men of olde haue not shut vp euerie plaine way in dooing good but that the same as yet lyeth open to those that passe by I must and will aunswer that place of Scripture which you bring for your purpose and it is this Ob. In Exod. 25. God commaunded Cherubins two of them to be made of pure golde which were before the Mercie seate c. Resp You must nowe conclude Ergo Images Ergo your Images Ergo all Images are lawfull The Schoole boye will tell you A Particulari ad Vniuersale non esse argumentandum 1 From a Particular thing and from that which is speciall to a generall there can no argument be framed Also it was lawsull then Ergo it is nowe it followeth not It was in vse Ergo it is in vse now holdeth not It was so and so in that time and at that present Ergo it may at this present also is no sequell Yet I doo request and I charge you too in the name of the Lord that you enter farther into examination of this matter then shall you finde that how socuer Maister Harding for preferment and honour which he receyued in ample manner at the Popes handes hath reuolted yet that by the Grace of God we will aunswere him most fullie and you also so that you shall not but wilfullie deny the trueth God when he pleaseth is a lawe sufficient by his word to doo all and by his word a sufficient lawe to stay all thinges commaunded I might aunswere you as Tertullian dooth in his booke De Idololatria And as the Bishop of Sarisbury that reuerend Father dooth Which is That God can dispence with any thing and is a lawe of him selfe Yet if you examine the place you shall sée how deceyueablie you deale with vs. For first these Cherubins are Cherubins they were not Images as are yours Secondly they were before the Mercie seate within the inner Vaile which is the holiest of all into which the hie Préest entered as for any other it was not lawfull for them to enter therin Those tipes and figures of thinges that were to come in the lawe are now abrogated because they be fulfilled and therefore the Vaile rent in peeces to signifie howe all things were accoÌ„plished For the first Tabernacle was made wherin was the Candelsticke and the Table and the Shew bread the other had the golden Censer and the Arke of the Testament ouerlayde with golde round about there was the golden Pot with Manna and Aarons Rod that budded and the Tables of the Testament and ouer the Arke were the glorious Cherubins shadowing the Mercie seate And these saw no man but the
Then as yet your Images are not lawfull And if Paule saide rightlie 1. Cor. 10.20 The things which the Gentils doo offer they offer vnto Diuels If that Iohn is to be credited 1. Ioh. 5.21 Filioli custodite vos a simulachris My Babes keepe you free from Images Let these peruerters of the truthe the Papists take heede If in the Reuelation Apoc. 18.4 the people of God are commaunded to depart and to get them out from among them least they be partakers of theyr synnes It is then high time to looke to you high time to abhorre you high time to flie from you least we also perish togeather with you O that your harde harts were not hardened that your iniquities were not ingrauen with a Diamonde that you were not iustly blinded for your obstinacie that the Lord had not cast you off that wilfullie you reâ—â—â—ted not the truthe that your throats were not open Sepulchers that you were not swifte to shed blood that your waies were not execrable and that you had not denied the Lord to his face I tell you and I tell you in gréefe that which I tell you You haue a two edged sword in your hand and it is drawne and you come heather to wounde vs with all Arrowes and coales of fire are in your mouthe to spit them out against the Saints Serpents tongues are with in you and the poyson of Aspes is in your lippes to infect all those are pure in hart Truelie you are the reprobate Siluer which God hath reiected Iere. 6.30 We haue offered the preatious Stones vnto you as Hogges you treade them vnder your feete Math. 7.6 Our holie things haue we cast vnto you you runne away from them as Dogges As the waxe so shall you be before the Lord for it and melte at the heate of his fierie countenance Psal 68.3 As fier on the Mountaines deuoureth the wood so shall you perish in his furie Psal 83.15 with the Bitte and with the Snaffle shall the Lord breake in sunder your Iawe boanes Psal 32.12 And be you assured that the axe is alreadie put vnto the roote of the trée and the heauie iudgement of the Lord God approacheth yea it is at hand if you returne not Images why their names are abhomination to the Lord. Images why Psal 16.4 They that make them are fooles and infatuated their doctrine is a doctrine of vanitie Psal 16.4 Iere. 10.8 Images why the names of them shal be â—oted out from off the earth and they shall not be remembred any longer Zach. 13.12 O therfore feare the Lord and he will loue 〈◊〉 the sonne least he be angry and you peâ—ish from off the Lande if once his displeasure fall O then happy are all they that put theyr trust in him Tell me of all you that are here which of the innumerable people and Nations vnder heauen hath the Lord our God spaced that haue vsed Imageâ— whether the Sidmians that worshipped Astaroh or the Ammoriâ—â— which serued Melcom or the men of Accaron who adored Baal zebub or the Philistines that held of Dagon or you or the Romans that gaue themselues ouer to all Idolaâ—â—â—â— then stand in a we and sinne not examine with your owne harts and be still One thing I will tell you and admonish you off The Fathers haue determined to giue sentence vpon you the best and the generall Councels that are good and holy haue condempned you our Church of England and all the reformed Churches in the world haue deâ—â—â—ede and set themselues against you and you are not able to stand to your opinions and therefore there is a gréeuous fall prepared for you and it is at hand I would that you called to minde the words of Cyprian Cyp. Tract 4. De vani Idolor Vans igitur omnium Deus neque enim illa sublimitas potest habere consortem cum sola omnium â—eneat potestatem 1 There is one Lord God of all and his highnes will not admit an equall seeing that he hath onely power ouer all Lactantius Firmianus albeit in many things he wrote well yet in this aboue the rest he is moste principally commended who in his second of his Institutions hath this saying 2. Inst lyb De origine erroris 2. Cap. 19. Deus supra hominem est nec in imo positus sed in summa regione quaerendus est quare non act dubium quin religio nulla sit vbicunque simulachrum est 1 God saith Lactantius is aboue man and he is not to be sought after heere on earth but abooue on high in the highest heauens Wherefore wee doubt notall to pronounce and saye that in that place there is no manner of religion at all whereas any Image or Idoll is founde Gregorius is of this opinion Omne manu factum adorare non licet Lib. 9. Indict 40. Epist 9. Cypr. aduer Demetr that is It is not lawfull to adore and fall downe to any thing that is made with hands Cypâ—ianuâ— against Demâ—â—ris 〈◊〉 didâ—vâ—rite very shaâ—pâ—y and merueleus whetly against this Idoll worship and after many reasons at the lengthe dooth bring in that place of Scripture to prooue his assertion which I haue now in hande for it is written saith Ciprian 〈◊〉 Deâ—â—is tuum adâ—rabis The Fathers are vvholie bent against Images in euery place 〈◊〉 all 's soli serniâ—s that is Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and thou shalt serue him onely I could say much vnto you out of the Fathers and shewe you your grosse errors by the iudgement of so learned and reuerend men but bothe the time dooth rall me backe and my purpose is not to compile a volume and the other Articles which you holde doo require that I should spées delie runne ouer this that I may also saye something of them This I say vnto you Lib. 5. de Iust Lib. 4. Lib. 11. Cap. 16. reade Lactantius in his fifth booke of True righteousnesse he will enforme you sufficiently reave Origen against Celsus he will teache you perfectly Reade Cyrill vpon Iohn he will instruct you directly Turne vnto Athanasius against the Gentilles you shall learne prensely forget not at your leasure to séeke to Clemens to Iames brother of our Lord Liber 5. Epist 44. for he hath done euerie thinge there mosse exactlie Or search out Augustine to Maximus where he flowteth and laugheth at their Paganisme there shall you finds how purely he instructeth them how sharplie he reprehendeth them how fiercely he striketh them and how â—uâ—â—tingly he forewarneth them to auoide the heauy hande of God in worshipping of Images and so leauing you to the force and strength of these men I leaue you for this time to consider better of this Article The second point in the third parte of the fyrst diuision There followeth now in my firste part the second point remayning in my thirde diuision namely that there is
both to the right hand and to the left hand contrarie to the word of God I appeale to your owne consciences I referre my selfe to that spirite which I knowe euen nowe pricketh you The profession of Iesuites and the name of theÌ„ was taken of two sundrie per sons the profession vpoÌ„the ererection of a college by a Pope the name is taken was before the erection of the house almost 1050. yeares for they be Iesuites of Iesus Haeret. fabularum Compend 10. lib. 4. and in the same tel me whether I charge you wroÌ„gfully yea or not Where haue you warrant for that profession which some of you here professe Why are you seuered from men by an other name and wherefore haue you that same vnheardof title of Iesuites what Prophete what Apostle what good and auncient dustoâ—â—e of the Primitiue Church sinde you this in The time will not permit me now but hereafter I will shewe your originall at large But yet tell me what authoritie what warrant what Scripture you haue for your whippings and your shauings Truely they are good marks for you to be knowne by as of such as be right Priestes of Baal Who as you whippe your selues so they also launched them selues to be séene of men Or you be like vnto the Donatistes of whome Theodoretus Bishop of Cyrus speaketh For they fat vp them selues like Porklings before they dye and offer vp sacrifices to them that are aliue and whip one an other oftentimes One merrie pretie conceited thing I do remember written of them by the same Theodorete which thing a yong Gentleman is said to haue done Now it fell out that many of them vpon a time assembled together being like vnto madde men and in a phrensie The Arrian in killing of him selfe the Donatist in his madnesse doing the same and the Iesuite in whipping of him and shortening his time agree al in one fell vpon a noble and couragious young Gentleman and among them one reached vnto him a naked sword and bid him runne him thorowe for he was wearie of his life the young youth aunswered that he was afraide to doe any such déede and then peraduenture if I should doe it your companions also would kill me But they forced him at length the Gentleman vpon condition condescended so that they would be all bound with cords that he might be in feare of nothing They also yealded to that This Gentleman bound them fast then tooke he the sword of them which done he would not runne vpon them or kil them but tooke whippes and whipped them For my owne part of a trueth I commend this young man and I would that our grayheaded Fathers in this Realme were of his minde Not that I doe desire they should drawe out the sword to cut you off but bicause you are so well vsed to whippings as being a profession of your owne to doe it I would councell them to haue a care of the same and no withered armes in the tryall of this matter Nowe if you like your owne countrie cordes better than ours they shall doe a good deede to shippe you ouer to Rome againe There can be no better lawe to tame them then is the same to which they are sworne â—â—d is so well allowed of them from whence you came Then can you not complaine of vs for we haue done no more vnto you then you would haue vs doe no nor then you do vnto your selues And weout al dout if you should be touched according to your deseruings I do not finde howe you should escape w e your liues the both seditiously come hither to raise vp her Maiesties subiectes and tumultuously spread abroad rebellious pamphlets and with so horrible sacriledge to the Maiestie of God cause our people to refuse comming to the Church Thrée which if both her Maiestie were not merciful and our learned and sage Fathers willing also to heare of your conuersion and amendment are able to cut you short enough for euer séeing Rome or the Pope any more For my owne part The false Churches vse fire and â—aggot in much crueltie therefore the true Church may vse some discipline and some sharp punishmeÌ„t with out tyrannie I will not add willingly affliction to affliction or griefe vnto griefe yet what we suffered in those bloudie and late dayes the world knoweth and for the bread and good kéeping you finde in the Towre you trussed vs vp at the Gallowes and fiered vs at the stake The Lord graunt that it be not layde vnto your charge But thankes to our Lorde God that hither to hath saued vs from you I hope that for his names sake he will deliuer vs still In déede you beginne to bussell nowe and by little and a little to shewe your heades in this Realme but your hope shall be turned to distrust and your day you looke for to an vnknowne day and what so euer it be that you trust vnto whether to the hollowe heartes of England The church was nener without one Achitophel some Doeg or other or one Iudas to betray it or to the faire prontifes of those that sent you â—uer or to some Oracle you haue by which you haue receiued courage or to the foreigne powers which haue bewitched you or to the trayterous attemptes that haue bene practised or to the seditious tumultes which the Pope and Spaine haue raised or else to what so euer it is you trust I tell you plainely you are beguiled you are deceiued you are blinded you are infatuated and your Counsel is brought to nought You may retire wel enough with your companions for of a truth as Achior saide to Olofernes captaine of the armie of Assur Iudeth 5. so can we and so will we answere you If we haue done no great sinne or committed no euill in the sight of our God whereby we haue prouoked him he shall fight against you all But if we haue then if we repent not the Lord will surely deliuer vs into your handes and if there be none iniquitie in vs it is best for you and for your confederates to goe by and to returne backe for I tell you the Lord will fight for vs. Nowe if it should come to passe that God should deliuer vs into the handes of forainers and into she handes of the wicked God not man is to be feated when man commâ—â—deth haâ—â—is coâ—tratie to God yet will we say as Shadrach Meshach and Abednego saide to Nebucadnezar We woulde neither obey them nor their commaundement but let the Lord do what semeth him good in his eyes And in the meane season as wee depende vpon the Lorde our God that made both heauen and earth So also wee will not cease to crye out against you to desire the Lorde to deale with you accoâ—ding to the iniquitie of your inuentions Psal 28.5 To disperse your lying lippes and your deceiptfull tongues Psalm 12.3 To reward you seuenfolde into your
fortibus pax necessaria est nec morientibus sed viuentibus communicatio a nobis danda est c. That is At this present peace is necessarie not to the weake but to the strong and the communion is to be giuen not to the dead but to them that are aliue c. And after this Cyprian giueth Pope Cornelius a great charge concerning the soldiers that were then in armes that before they went to the battaile they should receiue the supper of the Lorde In Sophonianâ— Proph. both in breade and in wine Ierome is a sufficient witnesse for his tyme of this who both allowed of receiuing it in both kinds and commaunded all other to do it Therfore I shal néede to wade no further in confuting and gainsaying you whome both the Scriptures and the fathers Pope Leo did make a petition and in the same did commaund that none shuld digresse from the Apostles you do ergo and all good men of all times for this grieuous sacriledge haue condemned Wherfore it followeth My wordes shal be in your heart In this graue vehement yet short commaundement from the Lord from Moses and for the lawe of the Lorde and for the kéeping of the same I haue to obserue especially this That customes of men antiquitie in matters of waight Chanons of Bishops decrees of Popes opinions of fathers constitutions prouinciall and fond ceremonies obserued of olde are not to be allowed of against God And as euery good and faithfull Christian ought to beléeue this so is it not possible that your religion for you call it religion should stande if you helde not vppon the vaine customes and foolish inuentions of your auncesters I knowe right well that I haue in many your articles sayde something against this your vayne authoritie yet haue I nowe more occasion Against this vaine sacrilegious vsurped authoritie did Vrban Pope 25. Cyprian to Pompeius against Stephanus Augustine to Paulinus inueyghe much as I see you more diuelishly bent and more hautily at this present to lift vp your heades For if the pryde of your father the Pope were not in you or that it did not burst out at this present in your faces when you heare the trueth auowched and your lyes impugned wee could conceiue some good opinion of you and thinke that of ignorance you did that you doe but nowe that wée sée howe you kicke and spurne against the quicke and against the worde of the Lorde and his commandements oppose the decrees constitutions of your Popes wée plainly perceiue that of malice you withstande vs of disdaine you contemne vs of an euill heart you fight with vs and as carelesse and faithlesse persons you thrust in your selues for to controll vs. Dist 21. C. in no uo Testam What if Anacletus that presumptuous Herod in his Epistle to the Bishops of Italy vaunted of his Popedome and royall state which he set vp aboue others as mistresse and Quéene of all the worlde shall wée therefore thinke that his lawes can moue vs or his Decretals concerne vs or his counterfeit holynesse delude vs so that we also though he haue bewitched others shoulde nowe againe be inchaunted with his deadly cup of poyson I tell you no wee serue the God of heauen wee serue the Lorde of hostes and we knowe it is better to obey God than you what De maioritate obedientia folit howe where when what time did the Lorde euer saye as Innocentius 3. sayd the second Nimrod of the earth that the sacerdotall dignitie was aboue the imperiall crown and maiestie of the Lordes annoynted And because that one man sayde that as the Sunne was higher and greater then the Moone so the Pope is greater and higher then the Emperours Shall wee for him and his saying obey all that he did I tell you no but whatsoeuer the Lorde commaundeth that will we doe For that same decree of Pope Leo the fourth at the Councell holden of threescore and twelue Bishops may not preuaile with vs wee regarde not his edict nor cursse doe what he can and the thing that hee and all the other agréed vnto was a damnable thing For it was thus enacted Si quis dogmata mandata sanctiones c. If any man shall violate and breake the ordinances Ex conc 4. Leonis Papae 4. decrees appointmentes constitutions and edictes inacted by the see of Rome for reformation of any thing that same man shal be accursed Nowe I tell you that that same prowde Peacock is he that togither with his shal be vnfeathered and accursed to wee wil be safe in the name of the Lorde and dwelt in peace vnder his winges all the Hornets of Rome shall neuer sting vs. Thinke you that wee are moued at Adrian Pope Adrianus Papa Synodo apud Trecas for all his seuere lawe made Quòd nulli liceat vel addere aliquid vel demere de decretis Pontificum Howe it is lawfull for no man to adde or detract from the decrees of the Bishops of Rome You cannâ— shewe me any one Pope by the space of 400. yeares after Christ but he hath been tainted for his pride for som damnable and grosse sinne You may feare and you may feare in déede for it is a fearfull thing to you all to take awaye she reuerende maiestie from the soueraigne God and giue it to a cursed man as your predecessours and you haue done And I am assured and I knowe that no one Pope from the beginning of your Popedome within the compasse of these thousand yeares hath liued so vertuously or behaued him selfe so reuerently or done that he did so Christianly or raigned so peaceably among men but that he still incroched and mounted vp with Icarus winges a great deale higher then be ought to haue done and at length hath melted and béene tumbled downe very soudenly which assuredly hath béene the greate and heauie iudgement of God vppon your Prelates that the pryde and moste hautie looke of the whore of Rome might be detested of the worlde Hath not euery one for these your deformities abhorred you Verily at this time the gouernement of the worlde which sometimes you had is taken from you For who can suffer it and who wil tolerate your presumptuous hearts what are your decrées as antentike as allowable as sounde as good as holye as trewe as vndoubted as strong and as cerâ—eine as are the writinges of the Apostles In veritie Epistola 2. Anacleti episcopis Italie so haue all your Bishops sayde and what by armes what by force what by treacherie what by collusions and deceit and what by thretenings and manaces Dist 63. Ego Ludouicus Dist 63. Cap. Constitutum In Iob. lib. 35. Cap. 10. they haue attained to all that they haue attained It made the Emperour Ludouicus the first to stoope to the Bishops It made Henry the first and Otto the firste to subscribe vnto him and they both
veritas vita non dixit ego sum consuetudo sed veritas That is You will peraduenture set some auncient custome against me but it is to be noted what God saith It is saide by him I am the way the trueth and the life and GOD did not say I am the custome but I am the trueth Wherefore Augustine saide well Ad Casulâ—num Praesbyterum Dist 11. Can. consuetud Consuetudinem laudamus quae contra fidem catholicam nihil vsurpare dignoscitur That is We allowe and commend that custome that is not knowne to haue vsurped any thing at any time contrarie to the true and Catholique faith Therefore I aunswere you here if you can proue to me out of the Scriptures those Articles and pointes of religion which you affirme you holde by custome I will yelde and condiscend to your opinions otherwise I am of the minde these learned Fathers are of That we must beléeue the truth before all your customes and if you doe not thinke that my iudgement is sound you shall giue me leaue to offend to erre and to goe out of the way with them There is nowe remayning the last thing yet as good and necessarie a thing as any other and it is this God saith thus My words shall be in your heart what his words the words of the Lord You will heare no word at all Is it so and the Lordes wordes howe hardly are you drawne to heare them at this present Why how in what manner where shall we lay them vp where shall we repose them In your heart and in your soule they should be laid vp And I do ensure you sithence my last being in this place and from the time that I haue séene so dissolute and lewde behauiour among you and howe pyningly and howe vntowardly and howe scornfully and howe irreuerendly howe hautily and howe disdainefully you stand here before the Lorde before his Angels in his Church before vs I am not onely astonied vpon the wickednesse and sinne I sée within you as I am amazed at the heauie iudgements of the Lord that hang ouer you Contempt of his word It was neuer noted but in Castawayes Irreuerend behauiour when the word is preached It was neuer séene but in the reprobate vnséemely demeanor and disdainfull lookes vpon the Prophetes You finde it not all onely saue in the Baalites and Chemerims or Saducées or Pharisées or in some such like vnto to them Wherefore you are of that froward generation and those vntoward sprigges That claue and rent in sunder that gnashed their teeth Actes 7. and fell vpon Stephan when they heard his preaching Why 2. Pet. 1.23 Matth. 13.33 Ephe. 6.17 Mark 4.32 Iere. 5.14 Ezech. 3.33 Wherefore for what cause should this be so The worde of the Lorde is that which assureth The worde of the Lorde is the leauen that leaueneth The word of the Lord is the sword that striketh The worde of the Lorde is the graine that increaseth The worde of the Lorde is the fire that inflameth The worde of the Lorde is the honie that sweetneth Howe then shall you escape the iudgements of God the fierce wrath of the highest the furie of his countenaunce the displeasure of our God that both vnwillingly doe come to heare and so like men of Bedlam and as if you were possessed by some foul fiende rage and byte when you vnderstand the trueth Then if not for Gods cause yet for your owne safetie regarde and marke this reason taken out of the former scriptures alledged That thing which bringeth death with it and destruction and confusion for euer is neither to be done or allowed or committed by any godly man nor by you The contempt of Gods worde your irreuerend behauiour in this sacred place bringeth death with it and destruction and confusion for euer if you repent not Ergo This vnseemely dealing in you which bringeth with it all these inconueniences should be done or allowed or committed neither by any godly man nor by you Consider then weigh and regard where and before whom you stand Here is the Lord that seeth you here be his Angels that behold you 1. Cor. 11.12 For whose sakes also you should do the things that are comely And vndoubtedly a greater comfort should there be none to the godly man or to any one vnder heauen then to féede vpon the trée of life then to drinke of this spirituall drinke Deut. 32.2 Mark 4.14 Psal 119.104 Ier. 23.29 Esai 55.1 the word of God This Why It is the rayne that bedeweth It is the seede that groweth It is the rule that leadeth It is the axe that heweth It is the fountaine that springeth It is the well that draweth the water of life to all that come that heare that beléeue that will be saued Then receiue to your comfort comprehend vnto life attaine vnto saluation heare and refuse not that the Lorde may blesse you For there is a verie comfortable reason and a strong conclusion gathered out of this place thus That which bringeth life and is commaunded by God is to be doone of all to be allowed and to be obeyed without exception The worde of the Lorde doth bring in life and is that which is commaunded by God vnto all Ergo The word of the Lord and the Gospell of trueth which is preached is to be heard of al and of you without exception His worde 2. Sam. 22.31 Psal 12.7 it is pure it is immaculate it is tried in the fire it will followe all them that hope and trust in him His wordes they are chaste and milde speaches they are seuered from the earth Psal 18.33 and purged more then seuen times His wordes his wayes They are not polluted wayes but they are leaders vnto life and the Lord is a protectour of all those that trust in him As for you I sée it as for you I doe well perceiue it as for you you doe declare it That you are none of those that haue his statutes before you His lawe is not regarded by you the bright morning starre hath not shined on you You you walke according to the wayes of them of Gomorrah You you trust in Pharaoh and in his mightie power you repose all on the Popes shoulders not on GOD You you are comforted in Herode his pleasaunt Oration and swéete style hath bewitched you You you are protected vnder the shadow of the great beast in the reuelation to whom the most of the Kinges of the earth doe â—â—ll downe and giue worship you you are angrie with Caine you you are hardened as was Sehon you you are the sonnes of the fathers that haue cast stones at the Prophetes you you are bouldened with Zedechias you you are still and you will be Sacrificers stil to the Quéene of HeaueÌ„ you you are peruerted as were false Prophets you you are proude and stately as were the Scribes you you couer sinne with sin as the Iewes dyd you you