amongest these kinde of mē or to their fathers before them any thinge newe or strange that in case there were any y t wolde complayne of their errors and desire the restitution of true religiō suche by and by as inuentors of new thyngs as factious persons to be condemned for Heretiks For Christ was called for none other cause a Samaritane thē for that he was supposed to haue declined vnto a certayne new religion and vnto Heresy And Paule the Apostle of Christe was called before the Iudge aunswer for himselfe vpon Heresy I saith he do worship the God of my fathers accordinge to this waie whiche they cal Heresy beleuing al things that are written in the lawe and the Prophets To be short this whole religiō which Cristiā mē do professe at this daie in the first beginnings therof was called of Heathen men a sette an Heresye thei w t these voyces alwaies filled the eares of Princes to the entēte that thei being ones broughte vpon an opinion conceiued before hande to hate vs to take whatsoeuer shold be said on our behalfe to be factious and Heresy might be caryed from the matter it selfe and from hearinge of the cause But the greater and y e horribler the faulte is so muche ought it to be proued wyth greater and more euident arguments specially in these daies nowe that men haue begonne to giue lesse credite vnto these mens dreames and more diligently to examine their doctrine then afore thei were accustomed For the people of God is otherwyse instructed now then they were when all thinges that were set forth by the Popes of Rome wer taken for the Gospell al religion depended onely vpon their authoritie The holy scriptures are now abroade the writings of the Apostles and Prophets ar abroad out of the which bothe all truth and catholike doctrine may be proued and all Heresye confuted But wheras of all these authorities these men bring not a worde against vs neuerthelesse to be called Heretikes that haue not declined nother from Christe nor frō the Apostles nor from the Prophets it is very iniuriouse and to to greuous With this sword Christ repulsed the Deuill when he was tempted of him with these weapons all loftynesse that auaunceth it selfe agaīst god must be ouerthrowē vāquished For al scripture saith Paul inspired of God is profitable to teach to confute to instruct to reproue y t the mā of God may be perfecte furnished vnto all good workes Thus alwais y e godly fathers fought against Heretiks w t none other weapons but out of y e holy scriptures Augustine when he disputed againste Petylyan the Donatiste heretike Suffer not saith he to be hearde these words amongst vs I saie or y u saiest rather let vs speake thus This saith the Lorde ther let vs leke the Churche there let vs trie out our cause And Ierome saith All those thinges whyche withoute the testimonie of the Scriptures are affirmed as thoe thei were deliuered from the Apostles are beaten downe with the swordde of God Ambrose also vnto Gratian Let the Scriptures saith he be asked the questiō let the Apostles be asked let the Prophets be asked let Christe be asked for the Catholike fathers Byshops in those daies doubted nothing that oure religion myght be sufficiently proued oute of the Scriptures of God Nor at any tyme durste they accounte any man for an Heretike whose errore they coulde not plainely and euidently reproue out of y e selfe same scriptures We therefore do saye for to answer w t S. Paule that according vnto this waye whiche they call Heresy we do worship God the father of our Lorde Iesu Christ we receiue al things y t are writē other in y e law or in the Prophets or in the bokes of y e Apostles Wherefore if we be Heretikes if these men be as they will be called Catholikes why do thei not that thynge whiche thei se the Fathers trew Catholike men in dede alwaies did Why do thei not conuince vs out of the holy scriptures Why do thei not cal vs to be tried by thē Why doe thei not make it appeare that we haue seuered oure selues from Christe from the Prophets from the Apostles frō the holy Fathers Why stagger they why flee thei it is Gods cause Why doubt thei to commit it to Gods worde But if we be Heretikes whiche referre all oure controuersies vnto the holy Scriptures and make oure appeale vnto the selfe same wordes whiche we knowe are sealed by God him selfe and doe preferre them before all thinges that may be deuised by manne what shall we saye to these men what manner of men or by what name were it conuenient to cal these that ar afraide to stand to the trial of the sacred scriptures that is to saie the iudgment of God himselfe and preferre before them their owne dreames and moste colde inuentions and for their owne traditions sake nowe manye yeares haue broken the ordinances of Christ and of the Apostles Sophocles the Poet when he was accused beinge an olde man to the Iudges of his sonnes for a dotarde and a foole and as one that fondely consumed his goodes and therefore seemed to haue neede of a tutor for to purge himselfe of this slaunder came into the courte after he had reade Oedipus Coloneus a tragedie which euen in the selfe same time that he was accused in he had writen wyth great diligence and very elegantly by and by he asked of the Iudges whether that verse seemed to be the verse of a dotinge man Euen so we bicause that vnto these men wee seeme to be madd and are slaundered of them as Heretiks as who woulde say we hadde now nothinge to do nother with Christe nor w t the Churche of God haue thought it shoulde not be vnconuenient nor vnprofytable if wee did plainely and freely declare vnto the worlde that faith wherin wee stande and all oure hope whiche wee haue in Iesus Christ that al men may see what we do holde touchinge euery parte of Christian religion and maye iudge with themselues whether that faith whiche they shall see confirmed with the wordes of Christ with the writinges of the Apostles with the testimonies of the Catholike fathers with the examples of many ages be only a raginge of madde menne and a conspiracie of Heretikes WEe beleue therfore that ther is one diuine nature power which we do cal GOD the same is distincted into thre equa persōs the Father the Sonne the holy Ghoste al of one power of one maiesty of one eternitie of one diuinitie of one substance And all be yt those three persons bee so distincted that nother the father is the sonne nother the sonne is the holy ghoste or the father yet that there is but one God and the same onely to haue created heauen and earthe and all things that are contained within the compasse of heauen We do beleue that Iesus Christe the onely sonne of the eternall father accordinge
these thinges whiche so longe time hath bene openlye obserued and approued in the Churche of God ought now at the laste to be reuoked But we doe certenly knowe that that same worde which by Christ was reueled and published abrode by the Apostles is sufficient as well for our saluation as also to defende al truthe and to conuince al heresie By that same onely we doe condemne all kinde of olde heretickes whiche these men saye we do rayse vp agayne out of Hell the Arrians Eutychians Marcionites Ebions Ualentinians Carpocratians Tatians Nouatians and at a worde all such as haue had wicked opinioÌ„ other of God the father or of Christ or of y e holy Ghost or of any other parte of christian Religion in as much as by the gospell of Christ they are reproued them we doe openly pronounce to be wicked and damned and euen vnto Hell gates doe detest them And not only this but also in case they breake out in any place vtter them self we doe seuerely earnestly correct them with lawefull and conuenient punishmentes We coÌ„fesse in deede that certen newe sectes and such as before hath not ben hearde of as Anabaptistes Libertines Mennonions Zuenkfeldians by by at the springyng of the Gospell did starte vp But we giue thaÌ„kes vnto our God the world seeth now wel inough that we nother haue bred nor taught nor fostered these monsters Reade I praye thee whoe so euer thou arte our bookes they be in euery place to be solde what was euer written by any of oure men that might euidently fauer the madnes of these fellowes No there is no countre so free from these pestilent fellowes as these be wherein the Gospell is freely openly taught But yf menne will consider the very matter diligently rightly this is a great argumente that this doctrine whiche we teache is the truthe of the Gospell For nother is darnell commonly wonte to grow but with some kinde of grayne nor chaffe but with corne By and by after the time of the Apostles what time the Gospel was first spred abrode who knoweth not how many heresies sodenly sprang vp together Whoe euer hearde before of Simon Menander Saturnine Basilides Carpocrates Cherinthus Ebion Ualentine Secundus Marcosius Colorbasius Heracleo Luciane Seuerus And what shoulde we reherse these Epiphanius reckeneth fourescore Augustine moe and that distincte heresies whiche grewe vp together with the gospell Howe then was the gospell no gospell bycause that heresies sprange vp together with it other was Christ therfore no Christ And yet as we sayd this seede buddeth not amongst vs that openly freely teache the gospell AmoÌ„gest our aduersaries eueÌ„ in blindnes in y e darke these pestileÌ„ces doe rise and gather encrease strength wheras truthe is oppressed with tiranny cruelty can not be hearde but onely in corners and in secrete metinges Let them make a profe let them giue free course to the ghospell suffer the truthe of Iesus Christe to shine and to caste forth his beames into all partes they shal see by and by these shadowes at the lighte of the gospell to vanishe awaye euen as the darkenes of the night at the appearyng ot the Sunne For al those heresies whiche these men doe flaunder vs to foster and to nurrishe we dayely whyles they sit still and ar otherwise occupied doe confute and chase awaye Where as they saye that we are fallen into diuerse sectes and that some will be called Lutherans some Zuinglians that we could neuer wel agree amongst our selfs touchyng the summe of our doctrine what I praye you woulde they haue sayde if they had bene in the firste age of the Apostles and of the Fathers when one sayd I holde of Paule an other I of Cephas an other I of Apollo or when Paule reproued Peter when vpon occasion of stryfe Barnabas departed from Paule when that as Origene dothe testifye the Christians were deuided into so many factions that thei retained onely the name of Christians commune to them al els nothing that was like vnto Christian meÌ„ And as Socrates saithe y t for their dissensions sectes thei were scorned openly in stage plaies of the people when that as the Emperour Constantine dothe saye ther were so many dissensions braules in the Church that the misery therof might seeme to passe all the other miseries that were before Also wheÌ„ that Theophilus Epiphaniê° Chrysostome Augustine Rufine Ierome all being ChristiaÌ„s al Fathers al Catholikes did striue amongst themselues with most bitter contentions and such as coulde not be appeased when that as Nazianzenus saith the membres of one body one destroied an other when the Easte parte of the worlde was deuyded froÌ„ the West about leuened breade and for Easter matters of no great waighte when in all Councells nowe and then new Creedes and new Decrees wer stamped what trowe ye these menne woulde haue saide in those daies To whiche woulde thei haue chiefly applied theÌ„selfe From which woulde thei haue fledde Which Gospel would thei haue beleued Which would thei haue taken for Heretikes which for Catholikes Now for two names onely Luther Zuinglius what a busines do thei make Only to the enteÌ„t that bicause there is somthing whervpon thei two do not yet agree we shoulde ymagine that bothe of them erred nother of them had the Gospell and that nother of them did teache rightlye and truelie But Lorde what men trowe ye be these that fynde faulte with dissensions amongest vs Do thei all agree amongst themselfe Hathe euery one of them wel aduysed himselfe what waye to folowe Was there neuer no dissensions no braules amongst them How happeneth it then that the Scotistes and the Thomistes do agree no better about merytes of conueniency and merites of duety about oryginall sinne in the blessed virgine about a solemne and a simple vowe why doe the Canonistes say that eare confession is ordained by humayne positiue law and the SchoolemeÌ„ contrary by gods law Why doth Albert Pighius dissent from the Cardinall of Caieta Thomas from Lumbarde Scotus from Thomas Occame froÌ„ the Scot Alliensis from Occame the Nominales from the Reales And although we passe ouer the infinite dissensions of Friers and Monkes wherof some of them doe appoint their holines to be in fishe some in herbes some in shooes some in slippers some in a linnen garment some in a wollen some go in white some in blacke some are shauen broder some narrower some are shodde some are barefoote some girded some vngirded yet they ought to remember that there be some among them that say the body of Christ is present in the supper naturallye againe there be some euen of their owne company also that deny it that there be some that saye the bodye of Christ in the holy Communion is torne and crusshed w t teeth againe there be some that deny it that there be some that write that
perceaued out of what kinred euery man was descendid to be burned and vtterly to be defaced onely to this ende that nothing hereafter should remayne in recorde wherby it might appeare that he were a stranger Euen so doe these men in all pointes when as bicause they would haue all their deuises to be had in as great price as though they had bene deliuered from the Apostels or from Christe leaste that any thyng should at any time remayne that might reproue such dreames and lies other they burne the holy scriptures or craftely conueye them from the people Chrysostome surely writeth very well and agaynst the endeuour of these men excedyng aptly Heretikes sayth he shut vp the gates agaynst the truthe for they know right well if they be open the Churche shall not be on theyr side And Theophylacte The worde of God saythe he is the lanterne of light whereby the thief is espied And Tertullian sayth The holy scripture doth trie out the guyles theftes of heretikes For why doe thei hyde why doe they kepe vnder couert that gospel which Christ would haue to sounde from the toppes of houses Why doe they conuey y t light vnder a busshel whiche ought to stande vpon the candelstike why doe thei repose their trust rather in the blindnes ignorāce of the vnskilful multitude than in the goodnes of their cause Doe they suppose that theyr sleyghts be not yet espied or that they can nowe as thoe they had Gyges ring walke inuisible Assure your selfe now all menne seeth well inough what is within that same storeboxe of the Popes bosome euen this thing onely maye be a good argument y t they deale not vprightly and truely That cause ought of right to be suspected that flyeth the triall light For he that doeth euil as Christ saith seketh after darkenes and hateth the light A cleare cōsciēce offereth him self willingly to the shew that those workes whiche doe procede from God maye be seene They ar not so vtterly blinde but that they see this wel inough that if the scriptures haue the vpper hāde their kingdome is by and by ouerthrowen and that like as it is sayd of the Idols of the Gētyles frō whome in old time they fetched all oracles answers that at the presence of Christe when he came into the world they sodenly became dumme euen so now also at the sight of the gospel al theyr sleightes by and by fall headlong to the grounde For Antichrist is not ouerthrowē but by the clearnesse of Christes commyng We flee not as these menne are wonte to doe to the fyre but to the scriptures nor we doe not besege them with the sworde but with the worde of God thereby as Tertullian sayth we doe nurrish our fayth thereby we doe rayse vp our hope thereby we doe establish our assurāce For we know that the gospel of Iesus Christ is the powre of God vnto saluation and that in hit is euerlasting life And therfore we giue no eare according as S. Paule doth admonish vs no not to an Angel of God cōming from heauē in case he goe about to withdrawe vs frō any parte of this doctrine No as y e right holy mā Iustinus martyr sayth of him self We wold not beleue God himself in case he would teach vs an other gospel For where as these mē doe shake of y e scriptures as things y t cā not speake ar good for nothing and appeale rather vnto God himselfe speaking in the Church in councels y t is to say to their owne fansies opiniōs y t is bothe a very uncertain way to finde out the truth very ful of daunger somwhat like y e heathenysh māner of illudynge the people w t their furious inspirations such a waye as of the holy fathers was neuer approued Chrysostome saythe y t ofte times there be many that bragge of the holy ghoste but certainely sayth he they y t speake of their owne heades doe vntruly boaste thē selfe to haue the spirit of God For like as Christe sayeth he what time he spake out of the lawe and the Prophetes denied that he spake of him self euē so nowe if any other thyng but the gospell be enforced vpon vs vnder the name of the holy ghost we ought not to beleue it for as Christ is the fulfilling of the law the Prophetes so is the Spirite the fulfillyng of the gospell these be the wordes of S. Chrysostome But these menne although they haue not the holy scriptures yet peraduēture they haue the auncient doctors and holy fathers For in this they haue alwayes made their vaunt that all antiquite and the vniuersall consent of al ages was on their side Againe that al our opiniōs ar newe and grene and neuer hearde of before these fewe yeres nowe laste paste Doubtles there is nothing can be spoken of greater weight against the religion of God then when it is accused of noueltie for like as in God him self so in his religion there ought to be nothyng newe neuerthelesse we can not tel how it cometh to passe that from the beginning of the world we haue alwaies seene it in experiēce that as oftē as God wolde as it were kindle and disclose his truth vnto men althoe it were of it self not onely most aunciēt but also euerlastyng yet of wicked men and of such as were enemies therunto it was called grene and newe stuffe A man that wicked bloudy man onely to brynge the Iewes into hatered accused them to the king Assuerus after this sorte Thou haste here saieth he O king a people which in vsing certain newe lawes ar agaynst al thy lawes stobberne and rebellious Paule also at Athens so sone as he beganne to teache and to set forth the gospel was reported to be a setter forth of new goddes that is to say of newe religion And may we not saye they learne of the what māner of new doctrine is this And Celsus what time he wrote of purpose against Christ to the intent that after a more contemptuous māner he might scoffe out the Gospel with a slaunder of nouelty Hath God saith he now at the length after so many ages called himself to so late a rememberance Eusebius saith also that Christiā religion euen from the beginning was called in reproche 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saye new and strange Euen after the same sorte these men doe condemne all things that we doe allow for new and straunge their owne thinges againe whatsoeuer they be they will haue them to be commended as moste auncient And lyke as Necromanciers and Witches at this day such as haue to doe with Deuils are wont to say that thei haue their bookes and all their sacred hidd misteries from Athanasius from Cyprian from Moises from Abel from Adam and also from Raphael the Archangel to the intent that that skil which had proceded frō such authors and inuentours might be
thee also of other matters after the same sorte I pray the amongest the whole numbre of olde Bishoppes and fathers where did euer any one of them teach thee either to say a priuate masse whiles the people loked on or to lifte vp the sacrament ouer thy heade in the whiche thyng all thy religiō is at this day contayned or to mangel Christes sacraments and contrary to his ordinance expresse wordes to deceaue the people of the one parte And that I may come ones to an ende of all the fathers whiche any one of them dyd teache the to dispose the bloud of Christ and merites of the holy Marters and as it were marchaundise to sell thy pardons in a common market and all the corners of purgatory These kinde of men ar oft times wonte to talke muche of their hidde and depe learnyng and of their manifolde and great variete of reading Let them therefore now bring out somwhat if they can wherby it maye at the leaste appeare that they haue readde and knowe somewhat They haue cried it out lustily in all companies where they came that all partes of their religiō were auncient and approued not only of the multitude but also by the consent and continuāce of all nations and times Wherfore let them at one time or other shew this antiquitie which thei speake of Let thē make these things to appere whiche ar spred as they say so far so wide Let them proue that al Christian nations haue agreed vnto their religion But they flee as we sayde a litle before euen them selfs from their owne decrees and those thinges whiche so fewe yeares paste they had established to remaine for euer in so shorte time haue made to be of none effect I pray you then how shold they trust in the fathers in the olde coūcels in the wordes of God They haue not O mercifull God they haue not those thinges whiche thei boaste themselues to haue nother antiquitie nor vniuersalitie nother the consent of all places nor of al times And therof they themselues although they would rather haue the matter dissembled ar not ignorāt Yea somtimes thei sticke not also plamly to confesse it And therfore thei say that the constitutions of olde Councels and fathers ar of that cōdition that somtimes they may be chaunged for according to the diuersitie of times diuerse decrees ar conuenient to be had in the Church And thus they couer thē self vnder the name and title of the Church and with a counterfaite shadow doe scornfully abuse the simple wretched people And a meruayle it is that either mē should be so blinde as they can not see these thinges or if they doe see them that they be so pacient as they can thus easily endure them and with so quiet a minde But in asmuche as they haue abolished and repealed those auncient decrees as thinges that ar now become ouer olde and worne out of vse peraduenture thei haue set other in their place that be better and also more profitable For they ar wonte to say y t not euen Christ himselfe or his Apostles if they should liue agayne coulde deuise a better or a more holyer waye to direct the Church of God then that wherby it is gouerned now at their hādes Trewe it is in deede that thei haue put other in their places but accordyng as Hieremias said chaffe in steade of wheate and as Esay saythe Those thynges whiche God hath not requyred at their hāds They haue stopped vp all the vaynes of the springyng water and they haue digged broken and durty pittes full of slyme and filthines whiche nother haue anye cleane water nor ar able to contayne it They haue taken from the people the holy communion the worde of God from whence shoulde haue come all comforte the true worshyppe of God the right vse of sacramētes and of prayer Agayne thei haue giuen vnto vs of their owne store wherewith in the meane season we might chiere oure selfes salte water creame pottes spittell palmes bulles Iubiles pardonnes crosses smoky incēce and an infinite nombre of ceremonies and mere mockes as Plautus saythe meerly to be mocked at In these thynges haue they fixed theyr whole religion With these thinges they taught that God might be well appeased that with these Devils be driuen awaye That with these mens consciences were confirmed For these forsothe be the ornamentes and denty storeboxes of Christian religion These in the sight of God be pleasant and acceptable that these thynges might be auaunced vnto honor it behoued that the ordinances of Christ and of the Apostles should be taken out of place And as the wicked kynge Hieroboam in time paste after he had taken awaye the true worship of God and had brought the people to the worshipping of golden calues leaste that afterwardes they shoulde peraduenture haue chaūged theyr mindes and slipping from him haue returned agayne vnto Hierusalem to the Temple of God he exhorted them with a long oration vnto constācie sayng These o Israel ar thy gods after this sorte your God hath commaunded that you should worshippe him It should be a paynefull and a troublesome thing for you to vndertake so long a Iorney and euery yeare to goe to Hierusalem to the intent to honor and to worshippe God After the same māner in all pointes these men when that for theyr owne traditiōs sake they had ones made voyde the law of God least that the people should afterwardes opē their eies and slippe an other waye and finde at others handes a more certayne course for their saluation O how often haue they cried This is y t kynde of worshippyng that pleaseth God and whiche he doth streightly require at our handes and wherewith he will be appeased in his anger By these thinges the agrement in the Church is conserued with these thinges all sinne is cleansid and consciences ar made quiet whoe that shal forsake these thinges he leaueth himself no hope of eternall saluatiō It is a paynefull and a troublesome thyng for the people to looke backe vpon Christ vpon the Apostles vpō the olde fathers euer more to be attentife what their will and commaundement is This I warrant you is the very way to bring the people of God frō the weake elementes of the world from the leauenne of scribes Pharises and from mans traditions It behoved that the ordenaunces of Christe and of his Apostles should be thruste out of place that these might be accepted in theyr stede O this was a sufficiēt cause why that good olde doctrine whiche many ages had bene approued should be abiected and a new forme of Religion should be brought into y e Church of God Neuerthelesse what so euer it is these men crie still Nothyng must be chaūged with these thinges mens mindes ar satisfied these thinges ar decreed by the churche of Rome that church can not erre for Siluester Prierias saith y t the Church of Rome is the squire rule
aucthority of y e Church of Rome by the same aucthorite haue theyr power strēgthes and also in their statutes y e Popes aucthorite is plainly and manifestly excepted If they thinke good to allow these thinges to what purpose are Councels called But if they determine to make them of no force wherefore be they left vncancelled in their bookes But let it be so hardely y t the Pope alone is aboue all Councels that is to say let some one parte be more then y e whole let him be of greater power of more wisdome then all his fellowes together Yea and though Hierome say nay let the aucthorite of one Citie be greater then of the whole world But what if he neuer saw nothing pertaining to these matters and neuer read neither the holy Scriptures nor the olde fathers nor his owne councels What if he as in time past Pope Liberius did should fall away to the Arrians Or as Pope Iohn not many yeares past should haue a wicked and a heathenishe opinion of the life to come of the immortality of soules Or as Pope Zosimus dyd afore time with the councell of Nice so he shoulde also now falsifie other coūcels for y e auācemēt of his powre and aucthoritie and those things which were neuer no not so much as thought those he should say were debated and decreed by the holy fathers and should as Camotenses saith the Popes are wont ofte times to doe violently racke the Scriptures to procure vnto himselfe the fulnesse of all power What if he abandone y e Christian faith and become an Apostata like as by the testimony of Lyran mani Popes haue done Trow ye y t notwithstanding all this the holy Ghost will knocke at his breast and kindle in him wil he or no yea altogither against his wil such a light as he can not erre Or shall he neuertheles be the fountaine of all law shall the whole treasure of wisedome and vnderstanding be foūd in him as it were in a iewel box or if these things be not in him may he be able in so great matters to iudge rightly and conuenienly Or if he can not iudge doth he require that all thinges should be referred vnto him What if the Abbots and Bysshops that are the Popes aduocates dissemble not at all but openly take vpon them to be enemies of the Gospel and wil not see that which they doe see and violently constraine the Scriptures and wittingly and aduisedly depraue and falsefy the worde of God and those thinges which are euidently and properlye spokē of Christ and can not be applyed to any other person doe filthilye and lewdely turne them vpon the Pope What if they saye that the Pope is all and aboue all Or that he can doe all thinges y t Christ can doe or that the Pope and Christ haue one chayre of state to giue iudgement in and one consistory or that he is that same light that came in to the worlde the which Christ pronounced only of hymselfe and that he that is an euill doer hateth and slyeth that light or that all other Bysshops haue receiued of his fulnesse To conclude what if they should not colorably or darkely but euidently and flatly make a decre contrary to the expresse worde of God Trow ye that whatsoeuer these men say that shall be straight waye the Gospell Trow ye this shal be gods army trow ye Christ will be present there Trow ye that the holy Ghost wil swimme in these mens tongues or that thei may say truely of themselues It hath semed good vnto the holy Ghost and to vs For so the Petrus a Soto and his puefellow Hosius are not afraide to affirme that the very same councell wherin Christ was adiudged to death had the spirit of prophecy the holy spirit the spirit of truth and y t it was not false nor a lye that which those Byshops said We haue a law according to the law he ought to dye and y t thei iudged for so Hosius doth write y e truth of y e iudgemēt And y t the same decree wherin they pronounced y t Christe was worthy of death was iuste to all respectes It is surely a merueilouse case y t these mē cā not pleade for thēself maintaine their own cause onlesse w tal they become the patrones of Annas and Caiphas For thei that will say that the very same councell wherein the sonne of God was most despitefully condemned to the Crosse was a lawefull and an vpright councell what councell I pray you will they allow to be corrupted But their councels in manner all of them being such as they bee it was necessary for them to giue this sentence of the councell of Annas and Caiphas But suppose ye that these men will restore vs the Church againe the selfe same being iudges that are themselues accused Will these men abate their ambition and pride wil they cast out themselues or giue sentēce against themselues that Bisshops shall not be vnlearned or that Bysshops shall not be sluggishe bellies or shal not heape benefice vpon benefice or shall not take vpon them to be Princes or shall not make warres Thinke you that Abbots the Popes dere children will make a decree that a Monke that seketh not to gett his liuing with his own labour is a theefe or that it is not lawefull for him to liue other in Cities or in places of much resorte or of other mens goodes and that a Monke ought to lye vpon y e grounde and to sustaine his life with herbes and pease apply himself to learning dispute pray worke and prepare himselfe to the ministery of the Church Surely euen as sone wyll the Pharisees and Scribes reforme the temple of God and of a den of theeues will restore it vnto vs to be an howse of praier There were some amongest them that espied out diuers errors in the Church as Pope Adriane Aeneas Siluius Cardinall Poole Pighius and others as we saide before They helde afterwardes a Councell at Trente euen in the same place where it is now holden There assembled diuers Bishops Abbots and others to whome the matter appertained they were alone whatsoeuer passed among them there was no man to gainesay it for as for our mē they had vtterly shut thē out from al conferēce There they satt in great expectation of the worlde sixe yeares the first sixe monethes as though the matter had been very nedefull they decreed many thinges of the holy Trinitee of the father of the Sonne of the holy Ghost good things in deede although for that time not very necessary Neuerthelesse in all thys meane tyme amongest so many errors so euident so oft by their owne mouthes confessed so manifest what one error did thei euer correct frō what kynde of Idolatry did they w tdraw the people What superstition did they take away What parte of theyr pompe and tyranny haue they abated
it were at one morsell And as thoughe all these thinges had not been ynoughe they woulde haue had the whole Realme also to be tributary vnto them and out of it moste vniustly they did exacte an yerely rent So costlye forsooth was the frendship of the Citie of Rome vnto vs. But in as much as by crafty meanes and with lewde sleightes thei wrested out these things from vs there is no cause why the same againe by lawefull meanes and good lawes might not be taken from them Yea if our kings in those times of darknes ledd by some opinion of their coūterfet holines of their owne accorde and liberalitie gaue them those thinges for Religion sake yet afterwardes when the errour is espied of other kinges that haue the same aucthoritie they may be taken away for that gift is of none effect that is not approued by the will of the gyuer but that can not seeme to be a will which is darkened and empeched with errour Thou haste heard Christian reader that it is no new thing y t at this day Christian Religion being restored to his former estate and as it were newe borne againe be slaulderously and shamefully spoken of For the same thing happened vnto Christ himselfe and to the Apostles Neuertheles least thou shouldest suffer thy selfe to be ledde out of the waye and to be deceiued with these outraging clamors of our aduersaries wee haue sett forth before the the whole course of our Religion what wee dooe beleue of God the Father what of his onely sonne Iesus Christe what of the holye Ghoste what of the Church what of the Sacramēts what of the Ministery what of the holy Scriptures what of Ceremonyes and what of euery parte of a Christian mans profession We haue declared how that we doe detest al olde Heresies the which other the holy Scriptures or the auncient Councels haue condemned as pestilences and poysons of mens soules and that as much as we can possiblie we doe call home againe the discipline of the Church the which our aduersaries haue vtterly brought to nothing and doe punishe according to the auncient lawes of our forefathers all losenes of lyfe and licencious manners and that with such seueritie as the cause doth require and so farre as our power will stretche that we doe vpholde the state of kingedomes in the same condition that we founde them without empairing or chaunging any thing and doe maintaine to the best of our power the Maiesty of our Princes safe and sounde that wee haue forsaken y t Church which these men had made a den of theeues and wherein they had left nothing sounde or sauering of the Church of God and which by their owne testimony had erred in many thinges none otherwise then as Loth in time past wēt out of Sodoma or Abrahā out of Chaldey not of a desire to cōtend but by y e commaundement of God himselfe and y t we haue sought out of the holy Scriptures which we knowe can not deceiue vs a certaine constant forme of Religion and are now retourned vnto the primitiue Church of the Apostles and of the auncient fathers y t is to say to the first originall and to the beginnings and as it were to the very fountaines of Christes Church True it is in dede y t for the accomplishemēt hereof we haue not attended vpon the aucthoritie or consent of the councel of Trente in which we coulde not hope to see any thinge vprightly and orderly done specially where all mē are sworne to one man where our Princes Embassadors ar cōtemned where none of our diuines mai be heard where men ar euidently enclined vnto partes and to ambition but according as the holy fathers in tyme past and our predecessors haue done oft time we reformed our Churches by a councel gathered in our owne prouince and that as touching the yoke and tirannye of the Bysshop of Rome vnto whome wee ought no dutye and in whom there is no resemblance either of Christ or of Petre or of an Apostle or in any point of a Bysshop according as it behoued vs we haue shakē of and cast away And last of all how y t we doe agree amongest our selues in all the principles and articles of Christian Religion and with one mouthe and one spirit doe worshippe God and the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ. Wherfore good Christiā reader in as much as y u seest the reasons causes both of our doings touching the restitutiō of Religiō amōgst vs also of our departing from the fellowship of these men thou oughtest not to maruaile if y t we had rather obey our Iesus Christ then men Paule dyd admonishe vs that we shoulde not suffer our selues to be caried out of the way with these variable doctrines and thal specially wee should flye from them that woulde sowe any dissension from that doctrine which wee had receiued from Chryste and from the Apostles Their iuggeling toyes euen as the owle at the rysing of the Sunne beginne alredy to fall and flye away at the presence and light of the Gospell And although they were pyled and heaped vp euen to the highe skyes yet they fall downe againe vpon the least occasion and in manner of their owne accorde For thou oughtest not to imagine that al these things are happened at a blind auenture or by chaūce for it was goddes will that maugre the malice in maner of all men the Gospell of Iesus Christ shoulde be spredde in these dayes throughout the worlde Wherefore men beyng admonysshed by gods worde haue of their owne accorde applyed themselues to the doctrine of Christe Wee surely haue not sought to wynne vnto our selues either glory either riches either pleasure eyther ease thereby For all these thinges our aduersaries haue in great aboundance and we also what time we were amongest them had such thinges more largely and more plentifully Neither doe we abhorre from peace agrement but for conseruation of worldly peace we will wage no warres w t God Doubtles saith Hylarius the name of peace is sweete but peace saith he is one thing and thraldome is an other For to assent which is the thyng that these men doe seeke for that Chryste shoulde bee commaunded to sylence that the truthe of the Gospell shoulde bee betrayed that wicked errours should be dissembled that the eyes of Christian menne shoulde be blered that men should manifestly conspire agaynst God is not an establyshment of peace but a moste horrible couenant of thraldome There is saythe Nazianzene a certayne kinde of peace vnprofitable ther is a profitable discorde For we muste allowe peace with an exception so farre as it is laweful and so farre as we may For otherwise Christ himself brought not peace into the world but a sword Wherefore yt the Pope will haue vs to be friendes agayne with him lette him firste reconcile himselfe with God For hereof saythe Cyprian scismes doe aryse bycause the head is not sought for
and menne retorne not home to the fountaynes of the holy Scriptures and the commaundementes of the heauenly doctor ar not kept For that sayth he is not peace but warre nother is he that is disseuered from the gospell ioyned to the Churche but these menne doe only set to sale the name of peace to their owne gayne for that peace which thei so muche require is nothyng but the ease and satisfaction of idle beallies For all these matters might be ended well ynough amongest vs if ambition bellychere and licencious liuyng were no hinderance therto FroÌ„ hence cometh all the sorowe their minde is vpon their platters This is hit they crie and make all this buysines for that thinges euill gotten they might more filthily and lewdly maintaine Al Pardoners Dataries Collectors Bawdes and others that thynke gayne to be godlines and serue not Iesus Christ but theyr own bellies doe greuously complayne of vs at this day For in time paste this kinde of men had good dayes in the olde worlde But nowe what so euer increase cometh vnto Christe that thinke they turneth them to losse This is hit whereon the Pope himself complaineth at this daye that charitie forsoth is waxen could bycause his rentes ar lesse nowe then they were wonte to be Thus he bringeth vs into hatered al that he maye and rayleth vpon vs and condemneth vs for heretikes to the intent that they whiche vnderstande not the matter should thinke there were no worse men vpoÌ„ earth Yet we for all this nother ar nor ought to be ashamed of the gospell For we regarde more the glory of God then the estimation of menne We knowe that all these thinges which we doe teache ar trewe neyther can we either vse violence agaynst the knowlege of our owne conscience nother yet present our selfs as witnesses agaynst God For if we denie any parte of the gospel of Iesus Christe before menne he on the other side will denie vs agayne before his father Now if there be any that will be offended and maye not endure the doctrine of Christe they be blinde themself and leaders of suche as ar blinde Neuerthelesse the truthe must be preached and set forthe by our open profession of the same and patiently we muste loke for the Iudgement of God to come In the meane while let these menne take heede what they doe let theÌ„ haue some regarde of their owne saluation and let them ceasse to hate and to persequute the gospell of the sonne of God leaste at the length they finde him to be the punisher and reuenger of his owne cause God will not suffer himselfe to be mocked Men doe see all ready how the matter goeth This flame the more it is kepte vnder so muche the more and more it breaketh out and flyeth abrode Their vnfaythfulnesse shall not deface the fayth of God but if they dispose not themselfe to laye awaye this hardnesse of their hartes and to receyue the gospell the Publicanes and sinners shall goe before them into the kingdome of God God and the father of our Lord Iesus Christ open all their eyes that they maye see that same blessed hope whereunto they ar called that we maye all together in one worshippe that same onely and true God and that same Iesus Christ whome he sente downe to vs from Heauen To whome together with the Father and the holy Ghost be giuen all honor and glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS IMPRINTED AT LONDON by Reginalde Wolfe Anno 1562. Tertull. in Apologeticâ— Trew religion was alwaies slauÌ„dered amonge men Cor. Tacitus Tertul. in Apologetico cap. 7. C. Plinius Act. 26. Epiphanius Marcion ex Tertull. Aelius è Lactantio Euse. li. 5 ca. 2 Tertul. 3. Apologetico 1.2.3 7.8.9 Sueton. Tranquil in Nero. 1. Timoth. 4. Slaunders deuysed by Papistes A generall aunswere Slaunders that tende towardes blasphemye muste be coÌ„futed Ioan. 8. Act. 26. Quadratuâ— Iustinus Molitol Tertuli and others Pius the .iiii. Why thys Apology was writen â–ª Aunswer to the obiectioÌ„ of Heresye Act. 24. Tertul. in Apologetico 2. Timoth. 3. 2. Cor. 10. 2. Timoth. 1. De imitate Eccle. cap. 3. The same sentence is fouÌ„de against Maximum Byshop of the ArriaÌ„s lib. iii. ca. xiiii vpon the first Chapter of Agge Act. 24. The doctrine coÌ„monly receaued in the Churche of Englande Of God Of Christe Aug. tract 5â— in Ioannem Act. 3. Aug. tract 3. in Ioannem Ad DardanuÌ„ chen li 3. Fulgentius ad Regem Trasimundum Of the holy Ghooste Of the Churhe Christ hath no vniuersall depute De simplicitate Praelatorum Ad EuagriuÌ„ De simplicitate PraelatoruÌ„ 1. Tim. 3. Gregor in Regist. Li. 7. Epist. 69. cap. 47. Gregor lib. 4 Epist. 76.78 80. lib. 7. Epist. 95. The callinge of Ministers The authoritie of Ministers The keys of the kingdom of heauen 2 Timoth. 3. De poenitent dist 1. ca. uerbum Dei Luc. 11. Mat. 23. Mat. 16. Matrimony of Ministers â–ª In Titum primo hom 11. Theophyl ad Titum 10. Eu. li. 10. ca 5. In monodia sua super Basilium 1. Timoth. 4. Platina in uita Pij 2. Of the canonicall scriptures The Sacraments of the Churche The number of SacrameÌ„ts Baptisme The Lordes Supper Chrisostom ad Ephes. ser. 3. cap. 1. De Cons. dist 1. cap. omnes Dist. ca. secularis De consecra dist 2. ca. peracta Bothe kyndes appertaine to the people De Consecra Dist. 2. ca. com perimus The presence of Christe in the Supper Transubstantiation vnknowen to the Fathers In Ioan. cap. 6 De sacra li. 4. cap. 4. In Dialogis primo .2 In sermone ad infantes De Consecrat Dist. 2. ca. qui manducant In Mat. 15. Luc. 22. De Consecra .1 ca. Quando De coeno Domini In Io. tra 50. Abuses of the Lords supper Libro de Ceremoniis ecclesiae Romane How the merits of Christ ar applied vnto vs. Ad Rom. ca. 3. lib. 3. Purgatorye Aug. in psa 85 In Enchiridion cap. 67. De ciuit Dei li. 21. ca. 26. CoÌ„tra Pelagianos lib. hypognosticon 5. Of Ceremonies Ad Ianuarium epist. 119. Prayer in our owne tonge August in Psa. 18. Of intercession and worshipinge of Saintes Hier. 2. c. 11. Bernardus Of original sinne Of redemptioÌ„ by Christe The sacrifice of Christe is perfect Of good workes Of the resurrection Dist. 36. Lector In glosa Dist. 8â— Presbyter A DetestatioÌ„ of Heresye Heresies that rise with the Gospel ar not bredd by the Gospell The cause of heresies Dissension amongst those that professe the Gospell ys no certen note of heresie Sectes and Dissensions of the Papists De merito câ—â— grui coâ—â— dig ni Stephan Gaâ—â—diner in the Diuels sophi Richard Faber Recantatio Berengari Scholae Glosa GuimaÌ„dus do con dist 2. Ego Beren â–ª Thomas Gardinerus De consecra dist 2. Species in Glosa The agremeÌ„t of Papistes Euery conseÌ„t is not a true token of the Churche of God Impietie in times paste obiected againste Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
onely men may repose there conscyences In them all those thinges what soeuer are necessarye vnto oure saluation as Origen Augustine Chyrsostom and Cyryl did teache are fully and plentifully contained These be the myght and powre of God vnto saluation these be the foundacion of the prophets the Apostles whervpon is builded the Churche of God these be the moste certaine rule whereby the Churche of God in case it do stagger or erre may be directed and to the which al doctrine of the Churche ought to bee called to his triall Against the which no lawe no tradition no custome is to be hearde no not if Paule him selfe or an Aungell from heauen shoulde come and teache an other way We doe receaue the sacramentes of the Churche that is to say certen holy tokens ceremonies which Christ woulde haue vs to vse that in them he might set before our eies the mysteries of our saluatiō and more strongli confirme that faith whiche we haue in his bloude and seale vp his grace in oure hartes And these we doe call w t Tertullian Origen Ambrose Augustine Hierome Chrysostome Basile Dionyse and other Catholike fathers Figurs Signes Badges paterns counterpanes formes seals tokens Similitudes examples Images Remembrances and memories And we doubt not also to say with the selfe same fathers that they be certaine visible words seales of righteousnes badges of grace and we doe expressly pronounce that in the supper vnto suche as doe beleue there is truly deliuered the Body Bloude of the Lord the flesh of the son of God quickning our soules the foode of immortalite grace trouth life that y e same supper is the cōmunion of the body bloode of Christ by the partaking wherof we are quickned we are norished fed vnto immortalite and by the which we ar ocupied we are vnited grafted into y e body of Christ that we might dwell in hym and he in vs. Of Sacraments which are proprely to be reckened vnder that name we do acknowledg twoe the sacramēt of Baptisme and the sacrament of Thankes giuing for so many do we find deliuered consecrated by Christe approued of the olde fathers Ambrose Augustine And that Baptisme is a sacrament of Remission of sinnes and of that same wasshing wherby we ar clensid in the bloud of Chryst and from this sacrament no mā that will professe the name of Christe nother yet the young Infantes of Christian men in asmuche as they ar borne in sinne and do appertayne vnto the people of God ought to be put backe We do acknowledg the Lordes supper to be a sacrament that is to say an apparant symbole signe of the body and bloud of Christ wherin is set after a manner before our eis the death of Christ and his Resurrection and whatsoeuer he did here in his humane body to the intent we should gyue thanks for hys death and our deliuerance y t by often resorting vnto the sacramentes we shoulde continually renew the remembrance therof that we might be fedde with the trew body and bloode of Christ to the hope of resurrection and of lyfe euerla 〈◊〉 that we might be most assured that the bodye 〈◊〉 Christe is the same thing towardes the nourishing 〈◊〉 our soules y t breade wine is in y e feding of our bodies Unto this bāket ought al the people to be biddē that altogither might be partakers one with an other and might yelde an open signification and testimony of the felowship thei haue amongest them selfe and of that same hope whiche thei haue in Christe Iesu. Wherefore in case there were any that would only be a looker on abstaine from the holy communion such y e olde fathers and the Bishops of Rome in the first age of the Church before that priuate masses came vp did excommunicate as a wycked and a Heathen man neither was there any Christian man in those daies that toke vpō him whyles other men gased on to communicate alone Suche a decree Calixtus in time paste dyd make that after the consecration all shoulde communicate vnlesse thei had rather stande without the Churche dores for so saithe he hath the Apostles ordeined the holy Church of Rome doth holde Unto the people also what time thei come to the holy communion we saye bothe the partes of the sacrament ought to be giuen for so Christe commaunded it and the Apostles in al places did ordeine it and al the olde fathers and catholike Byshops did folow it And y t if any man do the contrary he committeth as Gelasius saith sacrylege and that oure aduersaries suche as at this day reyecting and abolyshing the holy communion without gods worde without any authoritie of the olde Councells without any Catholike father yea and without reason do defende priuate Masses and the dismemberinge of sacraments and do it not onely contrary to the expresse commaundement and will of Christe but also contrary to al Antiquitie do moste wickedly therin and are cursed theues and commit sacrilege We say that the breade and wine are holy and heauēly misteries of the bodye and bloode of Christe and that in them Christe himselfe the true breade of eternall lyfe is so presently deliuered vnto vs y t we do truly receaue his body and bloode through faith Neuerthelesse we do not so speake it as though we supposed that the natures of breade and wine were vtterly chaunged and came to nothinge as many in these laste ages haue dreamed though hetherto thei could neuer wel agre among themselfe of their dreame For Christe neuer went about to make that a wheaten cake should cast away his own nature and put vpon hit a certeine newe Godheade but rather for to chaunge vs and as Theophylactus speaketh to transelement vs into his bodye What maye be more plainely spoken then that whiche Ambrose sayth The bread wine are the same thyngs that thei were and are chaunged into an other thing Or whiche Gelasius saith It ceaseth not to be the substance of breade or nature of wine or whiche Theodorete saithe After the sanctification the mystycall signes caste not away theyr owne propre nature for thei remaine in their owne former substaunce figure and kinde or whiche Augustine saith That whiche you se is the breade and the cup the whiche thing euen your eies do tell you but that which your faith comminge to be instructed dothe require the breade is the body of Christe the cup his bloode or whiche Origen saith That breade which is sanctified by the word of God as concerninge the matter goeth into the belly and is cast into the withdrawing place Or which Christe said not onely after the consecratiō but also after the Communion ended I wil drinke no more of the frute of the vyne for it is certaine that oute of the vine cometh Wine not bloode Nother yet in
the authoritie of Gods word in so muche that as Ieremye saith the nūbre of Gods now dothe cōteruaile or rather excede the nūbre of the cities and the wretched people knoweth not towardes whiche of them it behoued them most to turne themselfe not bicause that albeit they be so many that they can not be numbred yet vnto euery one of thē thei haue apointed a seuerall office what they shal procure what they shal giue what they shall bring to passe but also bicause that bothe wickedly impudently they cal vpon the virgin Mary that she would remembre how she was a mother that she should cōmaunde her sonne and put in vre the authoritie that she hath ouer him We say that mā is borne in sinne leadeth his life in sinne That no mā can say truely My hart is cleane y t the most iustest mā is an vnprofitable seruant that the law of God is perfect requireth of vs a perfect and a ful obediēce that we in this life by no meanes cā satisfie the duety y t thereto doth appertaine Nor that there is any man that by his owne strēgth can be iustified in y e sight of God therfore that our onely sanctuarie and refuge is to the mercye of our Father through Iesus Christ to thintēt we may assuredly perswade our selfs y t he is the propitiatiō mercie sacrifice for our sinnes that w t his bloud al our spottes ar wiped away that he hath pacified al thinges with his bloud shedde vpō the crosse that he with that one and onely sacrifice whiche ones he offered vpō y e Crosse hath throughly perfected all thinges for this cause what time he was dyeng he sayd It is finished as thoe he wold signifie therby that the Raunsome for sinne of all mankind is payed This sacrifice in case there be any mā that thinke it not sufficient let them goe hardely seeke out a better We truly both bicause we know ther is but one we ar cōtent w t one loke for none other bicause it was to be offered but onely ones we doe not cōmaunde it to be repeted also bicause it was ful perfect in al respects we haue not instituted a cōtinual successiō of sacrifices Now although we say we haue no confidēce in our workes and doynges doe grounde the whole course of our saluatiō in Christ onely neuerthelesse we say not therupon y t we may liue loosly and wātonly as thoe it were inough for a Christian man to be dipped onely in y e water to beleue y t nothing els is to be looked for at his hande Trew faith is liuely and can not be idell Wherefore thus we doe teache the people that God hath called vs not to giue our selfs to excesse and our owne luste but as Paule sayeth vnto good workes to thintent to walke in them y t God hath drawen vs out of the powre of darkenes for to serue the liuyng God for to cut of the remaines of sinne for to worke our saluation in feare and trembling that the spirit of sanctification might appeare to be in our membres Christ him self thorough fayth to dwell in our hartes To cōclude we do beleue y t this self same flesh of ours wherin we doe liue albeit whē it is dead it turneth into duste yet at the laste day it shall returne agayne to life through the spirite of Christ which dwelleth in vs. In that daye what so euer in the meane time we suffer for his sake Christe will wipe from our eyes all maner of teares and we by him shall enioye life euerlasting and be with him for euer in glory So be it These be those heresies for the which a good parte of the world is cōdemned at this daye vnheard Wherfore they ought rather to haue brought their action agaynst Christe agaynst the Apostles agaynst the holy Fathers for these thinges haue not onely procedid frō them but also by them they were establyshed onles perauēture these men wil say the whiche also perhaps they will not sticke to say that Christ did not ordeyne the holy cōmmunion to thintent it should be distributed among the faithful or that the Apostles of Christ and the old fathers sayd priuate Masses in euery corner of theyr churches somtimes ten somtimes twēty at ones in one day or that Christ the Apostles did restrayne al the people from the Sacrament of his bloud or that euē that thing whiche at this day is done euery where amongst them and is so done that who that doeth otherwise they cōdemne him for an Heretike is not called of Gelasius their owne man sacrilege or that these be not the wordes of Ambrose Augustine Gelasius Theodorete Chrysostome Origene that bread and wine in the Sacraments remayne the same thinges y t they were before That whiche is sene vpon the holy table is bread that it ceasseth not to be the substance of bread and nature of wine that the substāce and nature of bread is not chaunged that the self same bread for so muche as apperteyneth to the matter goeth downe into the belly is caste out into the priuy place of withdrawing Or that Christ the Apostles and holi fathers did not praye in that tonge whiche the people did vnderstand or that Christ by y e one only sacrifice whiche he offered ones did not perfectly finishe all thinges or that that sacrifice was vnperfect so that now we haue neede of an other All these thinges thei must nedes say onles perauenture they had rather saye that all lawe and right is conteyned in the treasury of the Popes bosome or as one of his hyerlinges parasytes douted not in time paste to say that he might dispens agaynst the Apostles against the Councels against the Canōs of the Apostles and that he is not bounde by these examples ordinaunces and lawes of Christ. These thinges haue we learned of Christe of the Apostles and holy Fathers and the same we doe faithfully teache the people of God and for the same at this day we are called of him forsothe that wil be the prince of Religion Heretikes O mercyfull God Doe you conclude therfore that Christ him selfe and the Apostles and so many fathers haue together all erred doe you conclude that Origen Ambrose Angustine Chrysostome Gelasius Theodorete were men that abandoned and forsooke the Catholike fayth Doe you conclude that so perfect agrement of so many Byshops and learned men was nothyng els but a conspiracie of Heretickes Or els that that thyng whiche at that time was commended in them is now condemned in vs and that whiche in them was catholicke is now onely bicause men haue chaunged theyr fantasies sodenly become Schismatike or that whiche ones was trew nowe by and by bycause it pleaseth not these men shall be false Wherfore let them bryng forthe an other Gospell or let them shew causes wherefore
him Tertullian O sayth he how miserable are wee that in these dayes are called Christians We liue lyke Gentiles vnder y e name of Chryst. To conclude bycause wee will not rehearse all Gregory Nazianzene of the miserable state of his time speaketh thus We are now hated saith he amongst y e Gentiles for our vyces also we are made now a spectacle not only to Angels to meÌ„ but also to al wicked meÌ„ In this case was the church of God what time y e Gospel began first to shine what time the raging fury of Tyrauntes was not yet cooled or the sword drawen away from ouer the neckes of the Christians And no meruaile at all for it is no new thing that men be men though they be called Christians But these men y t so hainously accuse vs do thei in the meane season thinke nothing of themselues Thei that haue leisure to loke so farre both what is done in Germany what in Englande haue thei either forgotteÌ„ or can thei not se what is done in Rome Ar we accused by theÌ„ of whose life no maÌ„ caÌ„ speake w t honesty reuereÌ„ce We do not take vpoÌ„ vs now at this time to bring to light to the shewe of the worlde those doings which ought rather together with the Authors of them to be buried our religioÌ„ our shamfastnes our blusshiÌ„g dothe not bere it Neuertheles he y t coÌ„maundeth al men to call him Christes vicare head of y e Churche who heareth these things to be done at Rome who seeth it who suffereth it more we wil not add of what qualitie thei be he may easly consider with himself For let him call to remembraÌ„ce let him consider y t thei be his Canonystes that haue taughte the people that simple fornication is no synne as thoughe thei had learned that doctrine of Mitio in Terence where he saith It is no faulte beleue me for a yong man to lye with a harlote Let hym consider that thei be his men that haue decreed that a Preeste for fornication oughte not to be remoued from hys benefice let him remeÌ„ber that Cardinall Campegius Albert Pighiê° mani others of his affinity hath taught y t that priest liueth much more holily and more chastely y t kepeth a concubine then he that hath taken a wife in matrimony We trust he hath not yet forgotteÌ„ y t at Rome there be many thousandes of common harlots that he gathereth of them yearely by y e way of imposition about thirty thousand ducats Wherfore he can not forget y t in Rome opeÌ„ly he occupieth baudery of most filthy gaine filthely wickedly feedeth hys own delite I pray you were al things at Rome other sounde or holy ynough what time as Ione a woman of perfect age rather then of life was Pope toke vpon her to be head of y e Church after that two yeres together she had applied her selfe in y t holy seat vnto other mens lustes at the last in going a Procession aboute in the Citie in the sight of the Cardinalles and Byshoppes was openly deliuered of child in the strete But what shoulde wee speake of concubines and bawdes For that is now at Rome a common and an open no vnprofitable sin For harlots now a daies sit there not as in times past w tout the citie w t their heads couered muffeled but dwell in pallaices wander in y e market place w t open face as though it were not onely lawful but also commendable for them so to do what nedeth any more Their letcherous lustinges ar now wel ynough knoweÌ„ to all the world S. Bernard touching the Popes family eueÌ„ of y e Pope himself speaketh frely and truly Doth thy court saith he receiue good men It doeth not Euill men there goe forewardes good men go backwards And whosoeuer he was that did write that same Thre parted work which is ioyned to y e CouÌ„cel of Lateran The excesse saith he at this daie is so great not only in Clerks and Preests but also in prelates byshops y t it is horrible to here of But these things are not onely common and therefore by reason of custome and continuance of time allowed as the rest of these mens matters are in maÌ„ner al but also olde and now stinking ripe For who hath not harde what Petre Aloisius the sonne of Paul y e third did vnto Cosmus Cherius byshop of Fauense or what Ihon Casus Archbyshop of Beneuento the Popes legate at Uenice wrote of that horrible fylthinesse wher as euen that thing which ought not to be heard of out of any mans mouthe he dothe commend with most filthy wordes and diuelishe eloquence Whoe hathe not hearde how that N. Diazius a Spaniarde being sent from Rome into Germany for that purpose traiterously and wyckedly kylled Ihon Diazius hys brother a mooste innocent and holy man onely bicause he hadde embraced the Gospell of Iesus Christe and woulde not returne to Rome But these thinges will thei say maie soÌ„times happen in a wel ordered coÌ„mon welth whether y e magistrates wil or no by good lawes ar punished Be it so hardily But w t what good lawes were these beastes punished Peter Aloisius after he had don those vylanous deedes whiche wee spake of was alwaies in special fauour and in the bosom of his father Paul y e third Diaziê° after he had killed his brother by helpe of y e Pope was violently pulled away least he shold haue bene punished accordinge to good lawes Ihon Casus Archbyshop of Beneuento liueth yet and liueth euen at Rome and in the eies and sight of the moste holy Thei haue killed of our brothren an infinite numbre onelye bicause thei beleued truli and sincerely in Iesus Christ onely bicause they beleued truely and sincerely in Iesus Christ but of that huge multitude of whores whoremoÌ„gers and adulterers whome did they euer I saye not kil but other excommunicate or at any time laye hande on Ar I praye you lecherous lustes Adulteries Baudery whorhuntings Murders Incests and other more wicked doynges no sinne at Rome Or if they be sinne maye it be that in the Citie of Rome in the towre of holines of the vicare of Christe of the successor of Peter of the most holy Father they should be so easily and so mildly suffered as thoe they were no sinne at all O holy Scribes and Pharisees vnto whome this holines was neuer knowne O holines and Catholike faith These things Petre neuer taught at Rome Paul liued not at Rome after this maner They did not openly maynteine baudery they did not exacte any impositions or taxes vpon harlots They did not allowe that open adulterers and murderers should goe vnpunished They did not receaue them nother into their bosomes nother into Councell nor into theyr family nor into the assembly of Christian meÌ„ These men truly ought not so
slaunderousely agaynste vs yet thys one thynge they can not saye that wee haue aparted our selues either from the word of God or from the Apostels of Christ or from the primityue Churche But we haue alwayes estemed the firste age of the Church to be catholyke y e which was in tune of Christ and of the Apostles and of the holy fathers Nor wee doubt not to call y t Church the arke of Noe the spouse of Christ the piller and perfect stay of the truth or vpō the same to repose the whole course of our saluation It is doutles an odyous thing for any man to forsake y t felowship whereunto he hath accustomed himselfe but specially of those men which although they be not yet at the least seeme to be are called Christiās And to say truth concerning their Church euen for the names sake bicause y t in time paste of what sorte so euer it be now the Gospell of Iesus Christ was truly purely set forth in it we doe not so greatly contemne it nor would not haue forsaken it but only of very necessitie and y t very much against our willes But what if an Idole be raised vp in the Church of God that same desolation whereof Christ did prophecy shoulde stande openly in the holy place What if a strong theefe or a pyrate get the possessiō of y e Arke of Noe Doubtles these mē as often as they preach vnto vs y e Church they make themselfes onely to be the Church and all those tytles they chalenge to themselfes and so they triumphe euen as they did in tymes paste that cryed The temple of the Lord The temple of the Lord or as the Pharasies and Scribes did when they boasted themselfes to be the sonnes of Abraham Thus they deceiue the simple w t a vaine apparance of gay thinges and seke vtterly to oppresse vs with y e very name of the Church euen lyke as if a theefe when that he had entered vpō an other mans house and had other violētly thrust out or murdered y e owner therof should afterwardes chalenge it for his owne and keepe out of possession the right heire or if Antichrist after y e he had goten himselfe into possession of the temple of God should say afterwardes that it were his owne that it appertained nothing vnto Christ. For these mē wheras in the Church of God they haue left nothing lyke to gods Churche yet they will seeme to be maintainers and defenders of the Church euen altogether as Gracchus in tymes paste defended the treasure of Rome what time as with launching out of large gifts and vndiscreat expenses he vtterlye consumed cast it away There was neuer nothing so wicked or so farre against reason that vnder the name of y e Church might not easily be couered and defēded For euen the waspes also doe make honycombes and the wicked haue theyr assembles and fellowshyppes together lyke vnto the Church of God But not whosoeuer are called the people of God are by and by the people of God Nor all that are descēded from their father Israell ar all Israelytes The Arryans y t were Heretiks boasted themselues that they only were Catholykes for the reste they called them al sometyme Ambrosyans sometime Athanasians sometyme Iohannites Nestoriās as Theodoret saith although he wer an Heritike yet he couered himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 y t is to say with a certain apparance cloke of the right faith Ebion although he agreed in opiniō with the Samaritanes yet as Epiphanius saith he would be called a Christian. And the Mahometans although it be euident out of all hystories and can not deny themselfes but that they came of Agar the bondwoman yet they had rather as though they were descended out of the stocke of Sara a free woman and the wife of Abraham be called Sarracens for the reputation of the name and of the stocke Thus the false Prophetes of all ages which did withstand the Prophets of God as Esay as Hieremy as Christ as y e Apostles had nothing more rife in their mouthes then the name of the Church Nether for any other cause did they so bitterly turmoile them or call them runnawaies and forsakers of their profession thē bicause they had gone from their fellowship and obserued not the ordiānces of the elders And in case we wil folow the iudgement of those men onely by whom the Church was gouerned at that time haue no respect other to God or to his woorde or to any other thinge doubtles it cā not be denied but that the Apostles in as much as they declined away from the high Byshops priestes that is to say from the catholyke Church and contrary to their willes cried they neuer so much brought in an innouation a change of many thinges in religion were rightly condemned and according to law Wherfore like as thei writ of Hercules y t in wrastling with Anteus the Gyaunt he was faine to hoist him vp from the earthe his mother before he could ouercome him so our aduersaries must be lifted vp frō this mother of theirs that is to say from this counterfait shape and shadow of the Church which they mass themselues w tall for otherwise they can not giue place to y e word of God Wherfore Ieremye saith Boast not your selues so much that the temple of God is amongst you that is but a vaine confidence for these be saith he y e words of lies And y e Angel in the reuelatiō Thei say saith he thei be Iewes but thei be the Synagoge of Satan And Christ what time the Pharasies bosted themselues of the stock and kinred of Abraham You sayth he are of your father the Deuill for you doe nothing resemble your father Abraham As thoughe he shoulde saye thus You are not the men which you desire so much to be taken for you deceiue the people w t counterfait tytles and abuse the name of y e Church to the ouerthrowing of the Church Wherfore this they ought first euidently and truely to haue proued that the Church of Rome is y e true and the right beleuing Church of God and that the same according as it is gouerned by them at this day doth agree with the primitiue Church of Christ of the Apostles and of the holy fathers which no mā doubted to bee the Catholike Church True it is in deede in case we could haue beleued that ignorāce error superstition worshipping of Idols mans inuentions such as many times are contrary to the holy Scriptures either pleased God or were sufficiēt to the obtaining of euerlasting saluation or if we coulde haue perswaded our selues that the worde of God was writē only for a fewe yeares and then to be put out of all authoritie or that at any time the saiynges and ordinances of God shoulde stande at the discretion of the will of mā that whatsoeuer God sayde or commaunded
adiudged to be more glorious and more heauenly Euen so these men to the ende that their religion which they themselues haue hatched and that not so long agoe to themselues might be the eassier and better set forth vnto men that eyther were fools in deede or little cōsidered what they did and where about they went are wont to say that it came vnto their handes from Augustine from Hierome frō Chrisostome frō Ambrose from the Apostls from Christ himselfe For right wel thei know that ther is nothing more plausible vnto the people thē these names or better accepted of y e common sortes of men But what if those thinges which these men would haue accounted to be new be founde to be most auncient Againe what if those thinges in maner all which these men so hyghly set forth with the name of antiquitie after that they haue been well and diligently syfted shall be founde at the last to be but grene and new Truely the lawes and Ceremonies of the Iewes although that Aman did accuse them of nouelty yet vnto any man that considered them truly and vprightly thei coulde not appeare to be new for thei were written in most auncient tables And Christe although many supposed that he did declyne from Abraham and from the olde fathers and that he brought in a new Religiō of his owne heade yet he answered truely If you beleued Moises you should beleue mee also for my doctrine is not so new as you take it Moises a most auncient aucthor whom you doe esteme aboue all men did speake of mee And. S. Paule Although the Gospell of Iesus Christ be reputed of many to be new yet it hath saith he a most auncient testimony of the law and the Prophetes As for our doctrine the which we may cal more rightly the Catholike doctrine of Christ is so far of from all nouslty that the olde God of all ages and the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ hath commended it vnto vs in moste auncient monuments euen in the Gospell and in the bookes of the Prophetes and of the Apostles So that now it can not seeme new vnto any man except there be any to whom either the fayth of the Prophetes or the Gospell or Christ himselfe seemeth to be newe But in case their Religion bee so auncient and so olde as they woulde haue it to appere wherefore doe they not proue it oute of the examples of the primitiue Church out of the auncient fathers out of the olde Councels Why lyeth so olde a cause abandoned so longe tyme wythout a defender as for Sworde and Fyer they haue had alwayes at hande but of olde Councels and Fathers no worde at all And surely it had been altogether against reason to begin at these bloody and cruell reasons if they could haue founde any gentyler and mylder argumentes But if they haue in deede such truste in Antiquitie wythout any maner of counterfeiting why did Iohn Clement a Countrie man of oures not many yeares paste in the syght of certaine honest men and men of good credit teare and cast into the fyer certaine leaues out of a most auncient Father and a Greeke Bysshop called Theodoret in the which he dyd euidently and expressely teache that in the Sacrament the nature of bread was not taken away And that at such tyme as he thought no other example coulde be founde in anye place why dothe Albert Pighius denye that Sainct Augustine that olde Father dyd holde a right opinion of Originall synne or of such mariages as are contracted after a vowe professed And where as Augustine affirmeth it to be perfecte Matrimonye and can not be reuoked why sayth he that he dothe erre and is deceiued that he vseth no good Logike Why did thei now of late in y e printing of y t aunciēt father Origene vpō y e Gospel of Iohn leaue out y e whole sixt chapter wherin it is very credible or rather certain y t he taught many things touching the Sacramēt cōtrary to their doctrin so had rather set forth y e boke in maner maimed thē being perfect it shold reproue their errors Is this to trust to ātiquiti to teare to suppresse to māgle to burne the bookes of the auncient fathers It is a worlde to beholde how wel these men doe agree in Religion with those fathers of whom they are wont to bragge to be on their side The olde Councell called Eliberinum decreed that nothing that y e people worshipped should be painted in Temples An aunciēt father Epiphanius saith that it is an horrible wickednes and an offence vntolerable If any man should set vp so much as a painted Image though it were of Christ himselfe in the Churches of Christian men These mē as though there were no Religion without them haue filled their Church and eueri corner of them with painted and grauen Images The olde fathers Origen and Chrysostome do exhorte the people to the reading of y e holy Scriptures to bye bookes to reason of matters pertaining to religion among themselues in their own howses the husbandes with their wiues the parentes with ther Childrē Cōtrariwyse these mē do condemne the Scriptures as dead elementes and by all meanes they can possibly restraine the people from them The auncient fathers Cyprian Epiphanius and Hierome say that if any hath made a vowe to liue an vnmaryed lyfe and afterwardes leadeth his lyfe in vncleanes and can not restraine the flammes of his lustinge that it is better for him to mary a wyfe and to liue chastely in wedlock And the selfe same Matrimony the olde father Augustine determineth to be lawful and good nor ought not to be reuoked These men contrariwise such as haue once bounde themselues by now although afterwardes he burne in lusting although he hunt after Hores although neuer so filthely damnably he defile himselfe yet they will not suffer him to mary or if perchaunce he do marry they deny it to be matrimony affirming y t it is much better and more godly to keepe a Concubine or a Harlot then to liue in that state That auncient father S. Augustine did complain of y e multitude of vaine Ceremonies by y t which he sawe how euen in those daies mens mindes and consciences were oppressed These mē as though God delyted in nothing els haue encreased ceremonies so out of al measure that now in their Churches holy seruice they haue left in maner nothing els Augustine an olde father denyeth y t it is lawfull for a sluggishe monke to liue in ydlenesse vnder a colour pretence of holines to liue vpon other mens labours such as liueth after y t sort an old father Apollonius saith they be like vnto theeues These men haue shall I say heardes or flockes of monkes whych albeit thei doe vtterly nothing neither trouble themselues so much as to counterfait or to beare any face of
in pieces in maner all not onlye the ordinances but also the certaine principles concernyng doctrine of the primitiue Church and that without tariyng for any generall Councell But where as they say that it is not lawful for any man to appoint any new order without a Coūcel who I praye you hath prescribed these lawes vnto vs or where haue they founde this decree It was folishly done of Agesilaus the kynge who beyng ones acertained of the minde and pleasure of the hyghe Iupiter woulde needes present the whole matter agayne vnto Apollo for to know whether he were of the same minde that his Father was But we should doe more foolyshlye a greate deale in case that when we doe heare God him selfe speakynge moste playnely vnto vs in the holye Scriptures and vnderstande his will and pleasure if I saye afterwardes as though al this were nothing we would refarre the whole matter to a councell The whiche is nothing els but to searche whether menne be of the same minde that God is and whether menne will allow by their authoritie the commaundementes of God What I praye you shall not the truthe be truthe or shall not God be God except a councell will and commaunde it so to be If Christe would haue handeled the matter so frō the beginnyng that he woulde haue taught or sayde nothing without the consente of the Bysshoppes and woulde haue referred ouer hys whole doctrine vnto Annas and Cayphas where should the fayth of Christ be at this day or who shoulde euer haue hearde of the gospell Peter forsothe of whome the Pope is wonte to speake more often and with more reuerence then of Iesus Christe did boldely withstande the sacred councell and sayde it was better to obeye God then men And Paule what time he had ones receyued the gospell into his minde and that not of men nor by man but only by the wil of God did not counsell with flesh and bloud nor dyd not referre the matter vnto his kinsemen or brothern but went by and by into Arabia for to publishe by the authoritie of God Gods misteries We surely doe not despyse Councels or assemblies and conferences of Bysshoppes and learned menne Nother haue we done those thinges that be done altogether without Bysshoppes or without a coūcell The matter was handeled in full parlament with long deliberation and in a greate assemblie But as touchyng this councell whiche Pope Pius dothe at thys tyme counterfetly set forthe wherein men beyng nother called nor hearde nor seene ar so lightly condemned what we maye loke or hope to gette thereby it is not harde to gesse Nazianzenus longe agoe when that in his tyme he sawe menne that came to suche assemblies to bee so blinde and so obstinate that they were caryed after their owne affections and foughte rather for victorie then for truthe pronounced in playne wordes that he neuer sawe good ende of anye councell What woulde he saye nowe if he were a liue at this daye and shoulde vnderstande what these menne wente aboute For in that tyme all though they were gyuen to partes yet bothe mennes causes were hearde and manifeste errours by the common consente of all partes were taken awaye These menne agayne neyther will suffer the cause to bee freelye debated nother will endure to haue anye thyng chaunged howe many errours so euer there be For that is a thyng whiche they ar wonte often and with out all shame to boaste of that their Churche can not erre that in hit there is no blemyshe that there is nothyng to be graunted vnto vs or yf there be anye thyng that the iudgement thereof appertayneth vnto Bysshoppes and Abbots they be the directers of those matters they be the Churche of God Aristotel saythe that bastardes can not make a citie But whether the Churche of God maye be made of these fellowes or no let them consider for surely nother be they lawfull Abbots nor right Bysshoppes But let them hardely be the Churche lette them be hearde in coūcels let them only haue authoritie to giue a voyce Neuerthelesse in times paste when the Church of God if it be compared with their Churche was resonably wel gouerned as Cipryan sayth bothe Elders and Deacons some parte also of the common people were called to the hearyng of Ecclesiasticall causes But what if these Abbotes and Bysshoppes haue no knowledge What yf they vnderstande not what religion is and what opinion they oughte to haue of God What if law be loste of the preeste coūsel of the Elders What if the night as Micheas saythe be vnto them in stede of a vision and darkenes in stede of forseyng thynges to come What if all the watchemen of the Citie as Esaye sayth ar become blinde What if the salte hath loste his strēgth and his taste and as Christ sayth is good for nothyng not so muche as to be caste out vpon the dunge hill Forsothe they will committe all thynges to the Pope whoe can not erre But that to beginne withal is a folishe deuise that the holy ghost should flie away in haste from the holy Councell to Rome to the intent that if he doubte or sticke in anye thyng and not be able to winde him selfe out he mighte take counsell of some other spyrite I wote not who better learned thē him self For if the case stande so what needed it that so many Byshops should in this time at so great charges and through so long iorneys be summoned to come to Trent It were yet a much more wiser better way sure I am it were bothe shorter and more commodious for them rather to put of all thynges to the Pope and to repayre at the firste dasshe to the heauenly determination of hys sacred breaste Moreouer it is agaynste equitie to put ouer oure cause from so manye Bysshoppes and Abbottes to the iudgemente of one man speciallye of hym whoe standeth accused by vs of moste weyghtye and greuous offences and as yet hath not brought in his answer who also hath condēned vs without iudgement before wee were once called to bee iudged What trow ye that these be things of our own deuise Or is not this y e order of their Councels at this day Or be not all thinges committed ouer from y e holy Councels vnto the Pope alone in such sort that as though so many voices and subscriptiōs serued to no purpose he alone may adde chaunge diminish take away alow release and againe restraine what him lyfteth Then I pray you of what maner of men were these words spoken Or why did the Bishops and Abbots not long agoe in the last Coūcell of Trente decree after this manner at thende of their constitutions Sauing alwaies in al things the Authorite of the Apostolicall seat Or why doth Paschale the Pope write of himselfe so arrogantly As though saith he any Coūcels had prescribed a lawe vnto the Church of Rome wheras all Councels both are made by