to be Canonicall and a moste certaine a Psal xix viii and. ix Psal 12. 7. rule of our faithe not so muche because of the common agremente and consente of the Churche as through the witnesse and inwarde perswasion of the holie spirite whiche causeth vs to discerne them from the Ecclesiasticall bookes On whiche although thei bee profitable wee maie not grounde any article of faithe 5. We beleue a 2. Tim. iii. xv and. xvi 2. Pet. 1. that the worde contained in these bookes proceded frō God b Ihon. iii. xxxi 34. and. v. 34. of whō it taketh aucthoritie and not of men c Iho. 15. 11. Act. 20. 27. and for asmuche as it is the rule of all truthe containyng al thynges necessarie to the Seruice of God and our saluacion that d Deut. 12. 32. and. 4. 2. Gal. 1. 8. Apo. 22. 18. and. 19. it is not lawfull for any man no not for Angelles to adde diminishe or chaunge any thing therein Whereby it followeth that neither e Mat. 15. 9 Actes 5. 28. and. 29. antiquitie custome multitude mannes wisedome iudgement statute proclamacion decrée counsail vision or miracle can bee compared with the said holie scripture f i. Cor. 11. 1. 2. and. 23. but that contrariwise all thynges ought to bée tried ruled and reformed by the same And accordyng thereunto wee allowe the thrée Simboles or Credes that is the Apostles Crede the Crede of Nice and Athanasius Crede because thei be agreable to the worde of God .6 This holly scripture a Deu. 4. 12 Mat. 28. 19. i. Ihon. 5. 7. teacheth vs that in this onely and simple substance diuine whiche we haue confessed there are three persones The Father the Sonne and the holie ghost the Father the firste cause beginnyng and original of al thinges the b Iohn 1. 1. 17. 5. Act. 17. 25. Rom. 1. 1. Sōne his worde and euerlastyng wisedome the Holie ghost his vertoe power and efficacie The Sōne from euerlasting begotten of the Father The holie ghoste procedyng from bothe The three persones not confused but distincte and neuerthelesse not deuided but of one onely substaunce eternitie power and equalitie And therein wee also allowe the determination of the auncient Councelles and deteste all suche sectes and heresies as haue been reiected by the holie Doctors as fainct Hillarie sainct Athanasius S. Ambrose S. Cirill 7. We beliue a Gene. 1. 1. Iohn 1. 3. Iud. 6. Col. 1. 16. Hebr. 12. 14. that God in three persones together woorkyng by his vertue wisedome and incomprehensible goodnes hath ereated all thynges not onelie heauen yearth and eche thing therrein containe dibut also the inuisible spirite b 2. Pet. 2. of whiche some are fallen hedlong into perdicion c Psal 103. 20. 21. other some continue in obedience d Iohn 8. 44. That the first beyng corrupt by malice are enemies to all goodnesse and consequentlie to the whole Churche The seconde beyng performed by the grace of God e Heb. 1. 7. 8. are ministers to glorifie the name of GOD and serue to the sauetie of his chosen 8. We beleue a Psal 104. that not onely he hath creater all thinges but that he gouerneth and cōducteth b Pro. 16. 4 Mat. 10. 29 Rom. 9. 11. Actes 17. 24. 26. 24. disposeth and ordaineth according to his will all thinges that come to passe in the worlde c 1. Iohn 2. 16. Ose 13. 9. 1. Iohn 3. 8. Not that he is the aucthour of euill or that any faulte maie be imputed to hym d Psal 5. 5. 119. Iob. 1. 22. seyng his will is the seueraine and infallible rule of all rightuousnes and equitie e Act. 2. 23. 24. 27. But he hath suche wonderfull meanes to vse the seruice of Deuilles and wicked men that he can conuerte to good the euill whiche thei dooe and wherein thei are culpable And f Rom. 9. 19. 20. 11 23. sa confessing nothing to be doen without the prouidence of God we reuerence with all humilitie those secretes that are hidden from vs without further searchyng for that whiche is aboue our reache And rather applie to our vse that whiche is declared vnto vs in the holie scripture to bee the better in quiet safetie g mat 10. 30 Luke 21. 18. because that God to whō all thynges are subiecte so watcheth ouer vs with a Fatherly care that one heare can not fall frō our heddes without his will h Iob. 1. 1. Gene. 3. 15. And in the meane while so bridleth the Deuil and all our enemies that thei can not harme vs without his leaue 9. We beleue that man a Ge. 1. 26. Eccls. 7. 30. Rom. 5. 12. Ep. 2. 2. 3. beyng at the beginnyng created cleane perfite and like to the Image of God is through his owne proper fault fallen from the grace whiche he receiued b Gene. 6. 5 and. 8. 21. and is so estraunged from God who is the fountaine of rightuousnesse and all goodnesse that his nature is whollie corrupt and beyng blinded in spirite and corrupt in harte hath loste all perfitenesse without hauyng any residewe thereof c Rom. 1. 21 and 2. 18. 19. 20. And though he be yet able to discerne good from euil d i. Co. 2. 14 we safe that that light is tourned into darkenesse when he goeth about to knowe God For that by all his reason and vnderstandyng he is not able to reache any thyng nere therevnto e Iho. 1. 4. 5 and. 8. 36. Rom. 8. 6. 7 And although he haue a will that moueth hym to do this or that yet that it is so thrall to synne that he hath no libertie to dooe well but suche as God geueth hym 10. Wee beleue a Gen. 8. 21. Rom. 5. 12. Iob. 14. 4. that all the ofspryng of Adam is infected with suche contagion whiche is the originall synne and naturall vice and not onelie an imitaciō as the Pelagians go about to proue whom wee deteste with their errours And thinke it not néedefull to enquire how synne cometh from one man to an other seyng it suffiseth that that whiche God gaue hym was not to hym alone but to all his posteritie And so that in the persone of hym wee are spoiled of all goodnesse and ouerwhelmed in all pouertie malediction 11. Wee beleue also that this vice is verie synne a Psal 51. 7. Ro. 3. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 5. 12. whiche is sufficiente to condenme all mankinde yea euē new borne children and to so reputed bofore God b Rom. 7. And after Baptisme it remaineth synne as concernyng the fault though the condemnacion be taken awaie from the children of God who of his free goodnesse imputeth it not to them Further c Rom. 7. 5. that it is a peruersitie bringyng for the continuallie the fruites of malice and rebellion so d Rom. 7.
Sathā hath bene the president of some Coūcels blinde men may easely sée that Satan was the president of these assemblies What now then if we doo sette before vs the Councels assembled for a rule since that time that most manifest tyrannie hath oppressed the Church suche as that late Councell of Trent was Yea what if those best and moste approued Coūcels determine nothyng of any of the chiefe pointes of Religiō onlesse it be of one pointe or twaine Agayne what if some be corrupted their Epistels falcified their decrees fayned forged Canons an infinite number cropē into place That fraude Pope Boniface did falcifie the Nicene Councell and crafte of Boniface then Bishop of Rome whiche was perceiued in the time of Augustine in the Aphricane Councell is not vnknowen the which yet a certaine foolishe and most wicked Apostata whose impudencie also is wel knowen went about of late to excuse before thée most noble Prince To conclude what haue not these wicked men attempted and what durste they not take in hande in these Countreis in the whiche thinges were lawfull that they lusted Thus muche then for the Councelles Others doo flie vnto the writinges Those that call moste for the Fathers vvill not allovve the Fathers in all thinges of those that they call the auncient and Catholike Fathers but of so greate a nūber of those whome I pray you shal we choose for we haue but fewe very ancient that is to say vnto the time of Constantine emonge whome the Latines vndoubtedly were the chiefe yet are they such as thei that haue the Fathers in most reuerence will not altogether agrée vnto without many exceptions Then Arius firste occupied the age that folowed vnto the manifest fall of the Romaine Empire and after him Macedonius deniyng the holy Spirit to be God and therefore was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But chiefly Nestorius and Eutyches in the East vnto whom the principall moste excellent wittes did answeare and oppose them selues neither was there any age that had more plenty of learned Bishops The secte of the Pelagians did occupie the West whose dregges to this daye doo still destroy the Churche Here now I require that without the iniurie of any I maye vtter the matter as it is Therefore I demaunde this question VVhiche of the Fathers shall iudge these controuersies which one chiefly or whome of al these Fathers they wil haue for the iudges desciders of these controuersies that are at this daye emongst vs Firste of all thei them selues as becōmeth them well refuse this authoritie for they crie with one voice that they doo bring that whiche the Lorde hath taught The Fathers vvill haue the vvoorde of God iudge and that they will haue their doctrine no farther mainteined then it is proued by the woorde of God written The saiynges of Cyprian Augustine and Chrysostome chiefly of all others are euident in this point wherby they call vs to the onely holy Scripture I will saye a little more also by the licēce of them that haue studied their writinges Euen at that time in Grecia The learned Fathers permitted foule errours did Satan lay the first foundations of the inuocation of the dead the whiche errour the Bishops of moste reputatiō did not onely not resist neither yet other godly and learned men saue for suche faultes but were occupied to set foorthe their eloquence al together in writinge of their prayses Others of lesse learnyng busied thēselues wholy in certaine vaine studies whiche that nation of the Grekes was alwayes ouermuche geuen vnto as to the buildinge of glorious temples for the honoring of the memories of the Martyrs and to the heapynge together of ceremonies Another sort partely of ignorāce partely of couetousnesse and ambition in the ende of a manifest wickednesse did not onely not represse those open superstitions as they did grow but altogether did norish them Howbeit in that time thrée euels did principally reigne first that they that had bene brought vp in Philosophie Three euels in the dayes of those Fathers Philosophicall Diuinitie did not remēber that moste graue and Apostolicall sentence Take you héede least any doo spoyle you through Philosophie For besides that thei had many vaine speculations as in the appliyng to the Angels the imaginatiōs of Plato concerninge the intelligences Platoes superstitious dreames spirites the whiche errour séemeth to haue cōtinued from the Apostles time who cōdemneth plainely the superstition about the Angels they did manifestly wraste the woorde of God vnto those lessons that they had learned of the Philosophers Hereof sprange the opinions of the powre and frée will of man whiche are altogether Aristotelicall Aristotels Diuinitie wherwith at this day the Churche of God is shaken and had bene troden downe longe ago had not Augustine prouoked by Pelagius set him selfe againste it yet to passe many other thinges whiche I would gladly to be couered as the faultes of the Fathers he him selfe also sometimes bearing to highe a faile rusheth vpō the rockes of humane Philosophie Yet was there an other euell the worst of al that like The thirde euell of Allegories as which a deadly disease all mens mindes were infected with a meruelous desire to turne and transforme all the Scriptures into allegories in the inuention whereof euery man thought euery thing in this point to be lawfull to him selfe Origene surely séemeth to Origene haue geuen occasiō to both those euels of folowyng the Philosophers and also of the Allegories whiche was the most vnpure writer as I do take him that euer did write vppon the Scriptures whome though many as he wel deserued did abhorre yet some of the other side had him in great admiratiō because he was very excellent in the knowledge of the languages artes and sciences and some did pursue him rather of enuie then of vpright iudgement But this euell did not staye in the East but spredde through Africke Italy France and Spayne so that all the Scripture was transformed into perpetuall Allegories In the meane reason Pelagius Donatus did arise against whome God set vp Augustine Augustine and caused the chiefe pointes of Christian Religion as of the prouidence Predestination of frée will of faithe and of Iustificatiō by frée grace which were almost oppressed by the Philosophicall Gloses of the Gretian bishops to be knowen and published and yet notwithstandinge at the same time whiche is wonderfull prayer to the dead did growe into vse and also that foolish opinion of single life the which shamefull errours Hyerome is not Hierome ashamed to defende And the multitude of Ceremonies did encrease as Augustine complayneth to Ianuarius and many did honour the Monkes as they had bene Angels especially in Egypt and Syria the most superstitious of all nations and then began prayers to be made for the dead the question of Plato of the fire of Purgatorie did Plato his
Apocrypha Apocrypha of other Ecclesiasticall bicause they woulde haue them Read in the Churche but yet not to be alleaged as sufficient authoritie to confirme our faith as Augustine in his booke Deciuitate Dei 18. ca. 38. declareth that in the bookes of Kinges mention is made of names and bookes of certaine Prophetes but he addeth that thei are not recited in the Canon and that those bookes which we haue are sufficient to instruct vs in all poinctes of godlines ¶ Of expoundinge the holy Scriptures of the Doctors Councels and Traditions Cap. 2 THe Apostle Peter saide that the 2. Pet. 1. The true interpretation of the Scripture holy Scriptures are not of any priuate interpretation Wherefore we doo not allow al kinde of interpretations neither doo we acknowledge that sence of that Romaine Church as thei cal it which simply God wote the defendors of the Churche of Rome would compell euery man to receaue but we accept that interpretation onely as true whiche is gathered out of the Scriptures themselues that is of the proprietie of that tounge in the whiche they were writen and examined according to the circumstance and so expounded as they may agrée with many other like and vnlike places not swaruinge from the rule of Faith and charitie but may moste auaunce Gods glorie and mans saluacion Therfore we dispise not the holy Fathers expositiōs Greke or Latine neither doo we The holy fathers expositions reiect their disputations or treatises of holy thinges as longe as they agree with the Scriptures Howbeit we disalow after a modest sorte their iudgementes when they are espied to write thinges not agreyng or cōtrary to the Scriptures Neither thinke we that we doo them any iniurie in so doynge seinge they all with one consent are of this minde that they woulde not haue their writinges to be of equall authoritie with the Canonicall Scriptures but wille vs so farfoorth to allowe thē as they consente with the Scriptures biddinge vs to receaue those thinges which agrée with Gods woorde leaue that whiche swarueth from the same In like maner ought we to esteme the decrées or Canōs of Councels Wherfore Councels we iudge it of small force in controuersies of Religion or matters of faithe to be vrged with the bare sentēces of the Fathers or with Decrées of Councels much lesse with receaued customes or with cōtinuance of time For we admitte none other iudge in VVho is our Iudge in matters of Faith matters of faithe then God himselfe pronouncinge in his holy Scripture what is true what false what to be folowed what to be auoided So that we are satisfied with the iudgements onely of spirituall men whiche iudgemēts are taken out of the woorde of God Ieremie and other Prophetes did vtterly condemne the Councels of the Priestes holden againste the lawe of God earnestly admonishing vs not to heare those Fathers who walking in their owne inuentions haue gone astray from the path of Gods lawe We refuse also Mennes Traditiōs Mennes Traditiōs which notwithstandinge their glorious titles as though thei came of God his Apostels deliuered to the Church by expresse woorde of mouth and as it were by the handes of Apostolike men geuen to Bishoppes their successours yet being conferred with the Scripture doth dissent from them which argueth that they were neuer made by the Apostles scolers For as the Apostles taught not cōtrarie doctrine one to the other so their scolers published not repugnant doctrine to the Apostles nay it were rather impious to affirme that the Apostles in their life time by woorde of mouthe did appoint thinges contrary to their owne writinges Paule plainely affirmeth that he taught one kinde of doctrine in all Churches And 1. Cor. 4. againe he saieth We write none other thinges vnto you then that you reade 2. Cor. 1. or know In an other place he witnesseth that he and his Disciples that is 2. Cor. 12. to witte they that folowe his Apostolike steps doo walke all in one waye and doo all thinges together with one spirite The Iewes had in time paste traditiōs of the Elders but they were confuted by Christe sayinge that the Mat. 15. Marc. 7. kepinge of them was an hinderance to Gods lawe and that God was woorshipped in vaine by them ¶ Of God of his Vnitie and of the Trinitie Cap. 3. WE beleue and teach that there There is but one God is one God in essence or nature subsistinge by himselfe sufficient in all pointes of himselfe inuisible without a body infinite eternall maker of all thinges both visible vnuisible the soueraigne good euer liuinge geuinge life and preseruinge all thinges omnipotente of perfecte wisedome gentle mercifull iuste and true but we detest their Heresies that would haue more Gods then one For it is plainely written the Lorde thy God is one I am the Lorde thy God thou shalte haue none other Gods before Deut. 6. Exod. 20. me I am the Lorde and there is none other ther is no God besides me Am not I the Lord and there is none Esay 45. other but I alone a iuste and sauinge God there is none but I I am Iehouath Iehouah a merciful and gracious Exod. 34. God of longe sufferinge aboundinge in goodnes and truthe We beleue notwithstandinge and teache that the same God of infinite The Trinitie power beynge one God indiuisible is distinguished inseparably and vnconfusely into the Father the sonne and the holy Ghost so that the father begat the sonne from the beginnyng the sonne was begotten by vnspeakeable generation the holy Ghost procedeth from them both and that from the beginning and is to be adored with them bothe so that they be not thrée Gods but thrée persons consubstantiall co-eternall and coequall distincte touching their Substance the one goinge before the other in order but yet without any maner of inequalitie for by nature or essence thei be so vnited that they be one God and haue one diuine essence common to the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost For the Scriptures hath taught vs a manifest distinction of persons by the woordes whiche emonge all other thinges the Angel spake to the blessed Virgin The holy Ghost shal come vppon thée the Luc. 1. power of the most high shall ouer shadow thée that holy thinge whiche shal be borne of thée shal be called the Sonne of God In the baptisme also of Christ a voice was heard frō heauē speakinge of him This is my beloued Sonne Mat. ◠The holy Ghoste appéered in the likenesse Ioh. 1. of a Dooue when the Lord himself bidde his Disciples Baptise he cōmaunded them to Baptise in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Mat. 28. Ghost Also in another place of the Gospell he saide My father shal sende you Ioh. 14. the holy Ghost in my name Againe he affirmeth the same sayinge When the comforter shall
come whome I will Ioh. 15. sende vnto you from the Father euen the spirite of truthe whiche procéedeth of the Father he shall testifie of me to be shorte we receaue and allow the Apostels Créede whiche teacheth vs the true faith We condemne therfore the Iewes with al blasphemers of the holy Trinitie whiche we ought to honour We condempne also all Heresies and Heretikes teachyng that the Heresies Sonne and the holy Ghoste is God by name onely Also that there is in the Trinitie a thinge created and seruing or subiecte to the other to be short that there is in it any inequalitie of more or lesse or that the Trinitie hath one bodie or is facioned like a bodie differinge in maners or will or confuse or solitarie as though the Sonne and the holy Ghoste were nothinge else but the affections and proprieties of one God the Father as Monarchici the Nouatians Praxeas Patripassians Sabellius Samosatenus Aetius Macedonius Anthropomorphitae Arius and such like did thinke ¶ Of Idolles or Images of God of Christe and of Sainctes Cap. 4. BEcause God is an inuisible spirit Images of God the Father of an infinite essence truely he cānot be expressed or represented by any Image or any māner of Science In consideration wherof we feare not to call the images of God as the Scripture doth mere lies We reiecte therefore the Idols not of the Gentils onely but the Images of Christians also For albeit Christe did take vpon him our humaine nature yet he toke it not Images of Christe for that intent to geue a paterne to caruers and painters He denied that Math. 5. he came to breake the lawe the Prophetes but by the lawe and Prophets Deut. 4. images be forbidden He deuied that his corporal presence should profite his Esay 40. Church he promised that he would be alwaies with vs by his spirite who then would thinke that the shadow or Ioh. 16. image of his bodie shoulde profite the Godly any maner of waies And seing that he abideth in vs by his spirite we 2. Cor. 3. are doubtles the temples of God But what agréemēt hath the temple of God with Idolles And seing that the blessed 2. Cor. 6. Images of Sainctes Act. 3. 14. Apo. 14. 22. spirites heauēly Sainctes would in no wise be woorshipped and were against Images while they liued here vpon earth is it like that they beynge nowe Sainctes in Heauen and Aungelles are pleased with their Images to the which men boowe their knée put of their cappe and otherwise honour To the ende that men might be instructed in Religion and put in minde of diuine matters and their saluaciō Christ hath commaunded that his Gospell should be preached he hath not licensed Marc. 16. Images are not Lay mens bookes vs to painte Images to teach Lay mē with pictures he ordained his Sacramentes also but hath no where appointed Images to be erected Moreouer whether so euer we turne our face the liuely true creatures of God are before our eies whiche beyng well marked as it is meete they shoulde doo much more moue the beholder then all the Images or vaine immoueable rotten and dead pictures of al the men in the worlde Of these the Prophete spake full truely They haue eies and sée not c. Therefore we allowe the Psalm 115. Lactantius iudgement of Lactantius that auncient Doctor saying There is no doubt but that there is no Religiō where so euer an Image is We affirme also that Epiphanius that blessed Bishop did wel Epiphani ' Ierome whiche findinge in a Churche porche a vealle wheron was painted the image as it were of Christ or of some Sainct cut it in péeces carried it away with him because contrary to the auctoritie of the Scripture as he saide he sawe the Image of Christes humaine nature hange on the Crosse wherfore he cōmaunded that no more such vealles should euer after be hāged in Christes Churche as be against our Religion quoth he but rather that that scrupulositie should be taken away whiche is vnwoorthie of the Church of Christe not méete for faithful people Furthermore we approue this sentēce pronoūsed of S. Augustine of true Religion Augustine cap. 55. Let vs not compte it Religiō to woorshippe the woorkes of mens handes for the craftes men that forge such things are muche more excellent then their handie woorkes whome not withstandinge we ought not to adore or woorshippe ¶ Of Adoration seruinge and callinge vppon God by our onely mediator Iesus Christe Cap. 5. WE teache menne to honour and woorshippe the true God God onely is to be adored and vvoorshipped Mat. 4. onely We geue this honour to none other accordinge to the commaundement of the Lorde Thou shalt honour the Lorde thy God and him alone shalte thou serue Verely all the Prophetes haue vehemently inuaide agaynst the people of Israell bicause they woorshipped strange Gods and not the onely true God But we teache that God is to be woorshipped as he himselfe hath taught vs to serue him that is in Spirite and trueth and not with any superstition but with sinceritie of hearte accordynge Esay 66. to his woorde least he saye to vs at Ierem. 7. any time Who required this at your handes Paule auoucheth that God is Act. 17. not woorshipped with mens handes as though he néeded any thinge We call vppon him onely in all daungers and affayres of our life and that by God onely is to be called vppon for Christes sake alone Psalm 50. the intercession of our onely mediator Iesus Christe for we are thus expresly commaunded Call vppon me in the daye of trouble and I will deliuer thée and thou shalte glorifie me Moreouer the Lorde hath moste bountifully promised vs sayinge Whatsoeuer ye Ioh. 16. shall aske of my Father he will geue it you Againe come vnto me all ye that Math. 11. labour and are heauie laden and I will refreshe you And againe How Rom. 10. shall they call vppon him in whome they haue not beleued we then that beleue in God onely call vppon him onely and that for Christes sake onely For there is one God saieth the Apostle and one mediator betwixt God 1. Tim. 3. and man Christe Iesus And againe If any man sinne we haue an Aduacate 1. Io. 2. with the father Iesus Christe the righteous wherfore we neither Adore the Sainctes in Heauen neither woorshippe Sainctes should not be Adored or called vppon neither call vppon them ne yet acknowledge them to be in Heauen as our intercessors or mediators to God For God suffiseth vs our onely Mediatour Iesus Christe wherefore we geue not to any other the honor due to God and his Sonne because he hath plainely saide I will not geue my glorie Esay 43. Act. 4. vnto an other And Peter teacheth Amonge men there is geuē none other name vnder Heauen
18. 19. 2. Cor. 12. 7 as the hollest though thei resiste are not vnspotted of infirmities and faultes while thei liue in this worlde 12. We beleue that from this corrupcion and generail condemnacion in whiche all menne are plunged a Exod. 9. 16. Rom. 9. 22. God draweth out those whom in his euerlastyng and vnchaungeable counsaile he hath chosen through his onely goodnesse and mercie in our Lorde Iesus Christe without consideracion of their workes leauyng b Rom. 3. 2. 9. 23. 2. Tim. 2. 20 Tite 3. 5. 7. Ephe. 1. 4. 2. Tim. 1. 9. the reste in the self same corrupcion and condemnacion to shewe his iustice in them as he causeth the richesse of his mercie to shine in the firste For the one are no better then the other till GOD hath discerned them accordyng to his vnchangeble counsaile whiche he hath determined in Iesus Christe before the creacion of the worlde Neither is any able of his owne proper vertue to obtaine this goodnesse c Ier. 10. 23 Ephe. 1. 45 seyng that naturally we can not haue so muche as one good mocion affection or thoughte till God preuente vs and dispose vs therevnto 13. Wee beleue that in the same Iesus Christe all that is requisite to our saluacion hath been offered and communicate vnto vs a 1. Cor. 1. 30. Ephe. 1. 6. 7 Col. 1. 13. 14 Tite 2. 14. who beyng geuen to vs for our saluacion became to vs immediatlie wisedome rightuousnesse sanctificacion and redemption so that declinyng from hym wee forsake the mercies of the Father whiche ought to be our onely refuge 14. We beleue that Iesus Christe beyng the wisedome of God a Iohn 1. 14. Philip. 2. 6. and his eternall soonne hath taken our fleshe on him to the ende that beyng GOD and manne in one persone b Heb. 1 17. 2. Cor. 5. 21 yea man like to vs of bodie and soule subiect to passions sauyng that he is cleane from all spotte c Act. 13. 13. Rom. 1. a. 8. 3. 9. 5. ii Cor. 5. 21. Phil. 2. 7. Heb. 2. 14. 15. 5. a. And as concernyng his manhod that he was the true séede of Abraham and Dauid d Mat. 1. 18. Luke 1. 35. though he were conceiued by the secrete power of the holie Ghoste Wherein wee deteste all those heresies that of old time troubled the Churches and namely also the Deuillishe imaginacions of Seruet who altributeth to our sauiour Christe a phantasticall God hedde in that he termeth it to be the idea and patron of all thinges and nameth him the personall or figuratiue Soonne of God and finallie forgeth hym a bodie of three vncreate Elementes and so mingleth and destroieth bothe the natures 15. We beleue a Math. 1. Luke 1. Ihon. 1. 14. i. Tim. 2. 5. and. 3 16. Hebre. 5. 8. that in one onely persone that is Iesus Christe the twoo natures are truely and vndiuidedlie conioigned and knitte and eche nature neuerthelesse remainyng in his distincte propertie So that as in this coniunction the diuine nature retaining his propertie remaineth vncreat infinite and filling all things b Luc. 24. 38. 39. Rom. 1. 4. Philip. 2. so the humaine nature remaineth finite hauyng forme measure and propertie yea and though Iesus Christe in risyng againe haue made his bodie immortal yet toke he not away the truth of his nature And thus we so consider of his Godhedde that wee spoile hym not of his manhod 16. We a Iohn 3. 16 15. 13. beleue that God in sendyng his soonne mynded to shewe his loue and inestimable goodnesse towardes vs in deliuerynge hym to death and raisyng him again to fulfill all iustice and to obtaine vs euerlastyng life 17. We beleue a 2. Cor. 5. 19. Heb. 5. 7. 8. 9. 9. that by the onely Sacrifice that our Lorde Iesus offered on the crosse we are recōciled with God b 1. Pet. 2. 24. 25. to be holden and reputed iuste before hym for that wée can not please hym or be partakers of his adoption but in that he forgeueth burieth our faultes c Heb. 9. 14 Ephe. 5. 26. 1. Pet. 1. 18 19. So we proteste that Iesus Christ is our whole and perfecte wasshyng that in his death we haue full satisfaccion to discharge vs of those faultes and iniquities wherein wee offend send and that wee are deliuered by none other meane 18. We beleue a Psal 32. 1. Iohn 17. 23. Rom. 4. 7. 8 8. a. b. c 2. Cor. 5. 19 that all our iustice is grounded in the forgeuenesse of our synnes whiche is also our onelie felicitie as Dauid saieth b 1. Tim. 2. 5 1. Ioh. 2. 1. 2 Rom. 5. 19. Act. 4. 12. Wherfore we reiect all other meanes of iustificacion before God and without presumyng on any vertues or desertes we simply hold on the obedience of Iesus Christ whiche standeth vs in stede as well to couer all our faultes as to finde fauour before God And in effect we beleue that straiyng neuer so little from this grounde wee can finde t is where no reste but are continually moued with vnquietnesse for that we are neuer in quiet with God till we be fully resolued to be beloued in Iesus Christ séeyng wee bee worthie to bee hated of our selues 19. We beleue a Ro. 5. a. b. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 45. 6. 7. Ephe. 2. 13. 14. 15. that by this meane wee haue libertie and priuilege to cal vpon God with full assuraunce that he will shewe hym self to bee our Father For wee could haue none accesse to the Father if wée were not directed by this mediatour And to bee exalted in his name it behoueth vs to hold our liues of hym as of our hedde 20. We beleue a Rom. 1. d. Gal. 2. d. Iohn 3. 15. that we are made partakers of this rightuousnesse by faithe onelie as it is saied that he suffred to obtain our saluacion that who soeuer beleueth in hym should not perishe b Mat. 17. Iohn 3. 16 17. 10. 20 21. And that this is dooen for that the promises of life which are geuē to vs in hym are made fitte for our vse wée feele the effecte thereof when wee accepte theim not doubtyng that beyng assured by the mouthe of God we shal not bee frustrate thereof c Rom. 1. 17 3. 24. 25. 28. 30. 4. a. b. c. Gal. 2. d. So that righteousnesse whiche we obtaine by faithe dependeth on the free promises by whiche God declareth and testifieth that he loueth vs. 21. We beleue a Ephe. 2. 8. 1. Thes 2. 5. 1. Cor. 2. 12. 2. Pet. 1. 3 4 1. c. that we are illumined in the faithe by the secrete grace of the holie ghoste so that it is a frée and particuler gifte whiche God bestoweth vpon suche as seemeth to hym good in suche wise as the faithfull haue not wherein to glorie beyng doubly beholden in that thei were
God onely knoweth not he but blindely I leaue this blinde guide and ignorant Doctor stumbling ignorantly in darknes and teachynge in ignorance he seeth not what It is a world to beholde how shamefully they disagrée about Hoc est Corpus Disagremēt about the vvoordes of Consecration meum This is my Bodie some say they be not the woordes of Consecration but that Christe did Consecrate whē he Blessed most parte denie that some saye by the woorde Hoc this is meante Bread not his Bodie some his Bodie and not Bread some nether Bread nor his Bodie but Indiuidüum vagū indiuidüum in genere indiuidüum entis indiuidüum insignitū Indiuidüum indiuidui I know not what phantasticall vnknowen vncertaine vnsensible thinge Vouchsafe good gentle Reader to peruse the answeare of the godly learned pretious Iuell and reuerende father in Christe B. of Sarum to Articl 24. M. Hardinges Indiuidum vagū and thou shalte finde vij or viij sundrie opinions or expositions aboute these woordes of Consecration Hoc est Corpus meum this is my Bodie which argueth either their blinde ignorance or their obstinate malitiousnesse Thus all men may sée howe they dissent in Trāsubstantiatiō one of the Articles of their beliefe I néede not to declare the vehemencie of Pope Gelasius to The Sacrament in bothe kindes haue the Sacrament ministred in both kindes affirminge that he which deuided the Euchariste when he taketh the one parte absteyneth frō the other doth wickedly committeth sacrilege For you know that Pope Innocentius thought it no sacrilege but highe seruice to God to commaunde that the Cuppe shoulde not be ministred to the Laye people It were to long to shew how pitifully thei dissent how vncōstantly they answeare when they be vrged with absurdities which necessarilie foloweth their Transubstātiatiō It were to tedious to trouble your Disagremēt about the Masse good eares with the iarring discorde of Pope Leo who helde it vnlawfull to saye any more then one Masse in one Churche in one daye and our later Popes who defende it to be meritorious to say a Trētall of Masses in one forenoone in one place whereas in déede one halfe Masse were to manie It were bootelesse to put you in remēbraunce that you shall finde very few or none but mislike some pointe or other of Popishe inuentions some the Latine seruice some praier to Saincts some the Popes Supremacie some Purgatorie some Iustification by woorkes some ministring in one kind some sole receauinge some crepinge offering to Images some the makyng the picture of God the Father and the most parte Pilgrimage pardons Reliques with such like trumperie howbeit they will openly defende the doctrine of the Romish Churche boldly talke their pleasure against the reprouers thereof Hereby thou maiste perceaue good Christian reader what credite should be giuen to thē who would accuse vs of discorde when they themselues agrée not emonge them selues but with shame inough be at great variance for their Princely Supremacie for the frée election sure confirmation and absolute iurisdiction of their holy Father the Pope for the glorious erecting of their wodden images for their meruailous miracle of their straunge Transubstantiatiō for the vnnatural presence of Christes Bodie in their hoste for the coniuringe Woordes of their diuine Consecration for the sacrilege robbing of the lay people of the Cuppe for to often sayinge of their Idolatrous Masse for the greatest misteries highest pointes strōgest keies and chiefest Articles of their opinions Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum It is a foule faulte to rebuke an other for that wherein thou thy selfe most offendest If they answeare that the truth of their doctrine is one albeit in some pointes a few dissent and sauour a little of errours so ascribe the blame to men and not to Religion it might please them to alledge the same excuse for our defence For as here in this confession thei may reade the Articles of our doctrine dissent not one from the other If thē any cominge out of Egipte desire to woorshippe God in the forme of a Calfe as the Egiptians did or beinge lately weaned from the breste of Gentilitie longe to lap some sower whigge of Paganisme or beyng turned from Iudaisme delight in sundrie of Aarons gorgious ceremonies or beynge conuerted from Papistrie smell fulsomely sauer ranckely yea stinke filthelie of some dunge of Poperie blame the mē and not the truth For wine is not to be dispraysed bicause dronkerdes distemper thēselues therewith nor meate to be refused for that gluttons surfaite thereby The vndoubted veritie of God his woorde is pleasaunt meate and comfortable drinke to that Christian soule whiche doth hunger thirste after rightuousnes albeit the queasiè stomackes of the vngodly cannot brooke it or the infirmitie of weakelings wil not kéepe al but caste vp some that it receaueth As for vs it may plainely be perceaued by this little treatise that we dissent not in any Article of our beliefe in any mater of saluation or damuation but rather in ceremonies in trifelinge and indifferent thinges yea in such sort that notwithstādyng we al consent in this that they may be altered remoued and quite abolished without any great hinderāce to Christ his Church Thus haue I giuen thée warning good Christian reader of two daungerous snares wilfull Ignorance and slaunderous Reportes wherwith thy craftie enemy Satan woulde intangle thée and withholde thée from cōminge to the truth Now then it resteth that thou wilfully doo not blindefield thine eies from beholding the clere light of the Gospel least wittingly thou stumble into perilous ginnes nor lightly open thine eares to beleue forged slaūders least thou be faste tied with the stronge cheynes of diuelishe illusions but that thou willingely marke the proufes on bothe sides indifferently heare what we teache and so vprightly iudge our cause whiche thinge that euen the simplest might the better doo I haue done mine indeuour faithfully to trāslate out of Latine into English the Confession of the Christian faith cōpiled by the generall consent of sundrie Christian Churches as by the title thou maist vnderstande I liste not at large to cōmēde their godly Zeale who woulde not couetously hoorde vp from their poore bretherne so greate a treasure but liberally deuide it emong them to the enritchinge of their soules with heauenly riches for so thei might lose the chiefest parte of their deserued prayse by the folye of a slender cōmender Neither minde I to extoll the woorthinesse of their woorke for pure Golde cōpared with rustie brasse preferreth it selfe and néedeth no prayser This onely I affirme that by readyng this booke the learned may refresh his memorie with profitable repetinge of that he hath bene taught the vnskilfull may learne that he neuer knewe the faithfull maye be confirmed in the truth the infidell reclaymed from his errour the Parent the Childe the Maister the seruaunt the Prince the subiect
instructed to serue God to labour in his vocation to fulfill his duetie so that muche profite may ensue to all except any mā beyng blinded with the darke miste of superstition idolatrie disdayne to reade the truthe whome iustly we maye accuse of wilfull ignorance or els beinge wedded to his lewde phantasie cōdemneth before he readeth who declareth him self to be of a malitious frowardenesse stubbernlie bente against Christe and his woorde God if it be thy will conuert all such from theyr sinfull waies God giue them the spirite of wisdome to consider that it is harde for them to kicke againste the pricke God soften their stonie hartes least the preachyng of thy Gospell be to them Odor mortis in mortem a sauour of death vnto death and eternall damnation God indue vs all with his heauenly grace not onely to heare and reade this vnfallible truth but to beleue it also that beleuing it we may openly professe it and openly professing it may cōstantly continue therein constantly continuynge therein may leade our liues accordingly to the profite of our countrie the edifiynge of thy Churche the defacinge of Hippocrisie the rootinge vp of iniquitie the establishinge of thy woorde the aduaunsinge of thine honour and our soules Saluatiō Graūt this O mercifull Father for thy déere sonne Iesus Christ his sake to whome with thée and the holy Ghost be praise and glorie for euer and euer Amen q I. O. FINIS To the moste renoumed Prince Lewes of Borbon Prince of Condey c. and other famous and noble Dukes Marqueses Erles Barons Lordes of the Nobilitie that embrace the true Gospell of Christe in the realme of Fraunce Theodorus Beza Vezelius a minister of the Church of Geneua wisheth grace and peace from God the Father and our Lorde Iesus Christe I Present vnto thée most renoumed Prince and to the VVhat is true nobilitie residue of you that are made noble by the true knowledge of Christe through the mercie of our most mercifull and heauenly Father the bookes of the newe Testament which were translated into Latine by me a fewe yeares by passed are now againe perused by me with as great fidelitie and diligence as I could possible and set foorth with certaine briefe summaries of the doctrine therein cōprehēded a present vnto the Churches of God of whome you are the tutors fosters and norishinge Fathers by the The noble are the norishers of the church decrée of the moste Christian Kinge would to God so profitable as I truste vnto you it shal be pleasant and acceptable For why should not I promise my self this of you who haue so stoutely and constantly declared before the whole worlde that you are not ashamed of the Gospell of Christe and to whome I woulde knowe rather then to you whiche doo not onely approue allowe the doctrine here taught but set it at libertie and restore it shoulde I dedicate these my poore trauayles But what néede we these trauayles shal some say Beholde therfore I will recite the reasons more at large that haue moued me hereunto Those men are altogether intollerable and in no case to be suffered who for the desire of Nouelty doo cōdemne Antiquitie may not be Antiquitie like as also those are woorthie great reproche whiche can finde condemned onely for desire of Noueltie taste in nothinge but in that whiche is olde and auncient For I praye you were they not al once new which now are olde auncient And this can not be denied of any that will confesse the truth without contention that euermore in all worlde 's there were some Errours are olde that either of ignorance or of set purpose did darken and obscure the manifest truth of God And also this is euidēt though God did neuer so seuerely punishe the infidelitie of the worlde that he did leaue his Churche vtterly destitute of the true knowledge of his woorde yet that there was not alwaies the like measure of knowledge no not in those things the are the chiefe pointes of our Religion So that some most false and daūgerous errours are very auncient in so muche that Paule him selfe of olde time did write vnto the Thessalonians sayinge Nowe the misterie of iniquitie is already in workinge And Iohn saide that euen then were many Antichristes in the world Antichriste is olde Howbeit no man can easely finde sure and certaine remedies for these euels The wante of the woorde is the cause of all errour and diseases saue onely that knoweth the right and true causes of them the whiche causes in déede are many but they flowe all as it were foorth of one fountaine that is because that men turne from the woorde of God frō the woorde I saye that is conteined in the bookes of the Prophets the Apostles vnto theyr owne dreames and inuentions For that light beyng once taken away the whiche who so doth not sée to be the onely and singuler light seeth nothinge at all what can folow but that like blinde men they shoulde grope in darkenesse Neither are they in any wise to be hearde that are of a contrarie opinion For what say they doo not the Heretikes pretende the woorde of God therefore stande we néede of some one rule whereby the false interpretations of the woorde whiche sometime is ambiguous and doubtful maye be discerned from the true But What rule will serue what rule shall this be One sorte doo here obtrude vnto vs that their most vaine name of Catholike or Vniuersall whiche at all times Catholike and in euery place and with all men hath bene receiued Of whome if thou goe further to aske the question what is so Catholike there of necessitie they muste sticke faste in the myre when the demaūde is made of the most parte of the matters that are in cōtrouersie Another sorte set before them selfes the Councels olde Canons to whom Councelles and Canōs they geue glorious titles as though thereby the concorde of the Churche might be recouered but all in vayne for I doo thinke that no man is now so ignorant but that he doth know that many Synodes and Councels I doo speake of them that are not openly cōdemned haue decreed euen in thinges concerning doctrine not onely darkely but also vnlearnedly Wherfore oftentimes the Prouincials haue bene corrected by the Generall and yet the Prouinciall hath sometimes iudged more vprightly then the General And that the truth was so euery one maye easely perceiue that can compare Gāgrensis Gangrensis Synode taught more purely of the Sacramentes c. Counsell with many that they call generall I passe ouer that thinge whiche the very History of those times doth moste manifestly proue that in those which we may call the best times if they be compared with the latter there was partly such ambition of the Bishops partly suche a vaine babling ignorance and of many of them suche an open and desperate malice that verie
we deteste we haue made mention of them almost in euery Chapiter briefly recitinge reiecting them Men shall easely gather this also that we doo not by any wicked Schisme seuer or cut of our selues from Christ his holie Churches of Germany France Englande and other Christian Nations but that we well agrée with all and euery one of them in the truthe of Christe whiche here we haue acknowledged For albeit there is some varietie in diuers Churches aboute the vtteringe and settinge foorthe of their doctrine and aboute rites or Ceremonies Varietie of Ceremonies and dissent in trifels whiche they receaue as a meane to edifie their Churches yet that varietie neuer seemed to minister cause of dissention and Schisme in the Church For in suche matters the Churches of Christe haue alwaies vsed their libertie as we may Reade in the Ecclesiasticall Historie The Godly in time past thought it sufficient if they agreed Agrement in the chiefe pointes of their faith in the true meaninge thereof and in brotherly loue wherefore we truste that Christes Churches when they shall perceaue and finde that we consente in all Articles of our holy and eternall Gods doctrine in the true vnderstandinge thereof in brotherly loue with theim and chiefely with the auncient Apostolike Churche will likewise willingly agree with vs in those matters for the chiefest cause whiche moued vs to publish this Cōfession was to séeke obtaine and once obtayned to keepe peace concorde and mutuall loue with the Churche of Germany and other foraigne Countries who be as we throughly perswade our selues so kind so sincere and perfect that if any of our doinges haue perhaps not bene well vnderstoode hetherto of diuers they will herafter hearing this our plaine Cōfession not count vs Heretikes nor condemne our Churches whiche are true Christian Churches as impious But in especiall we professe that we are alwaies readie if any man require it more at large to declare all and eche particular thinge that here we haue proposed yea and to yeelde and giue them most hartie thankes and to obey them in the Lorde which can teach vs better doctrine by the woorde of God to whome be prayse and Glorie The firste of Marche 1566. All the Ministers of all Christe his Churches in Heluetia subscribed their names whiche be at Tygur Bern. Scaphonse Sangall the Court of Grisons and they whiche be ioigned in leage with them on this side and beyonde the Alpes Milhous and Bienne To whome the Ministers of the Churche of Geneua haue associated them selues also A briefe and plaine confession and declaration of true Christian Religion c. ¶ Of the holy Scripture and of the true woorde of God Cap. 1. WE beleue and confesse The Canonical Scripture is the vvoorde of God that the Canonical Scriptures set foorth in the olde new Testament by holie Prophetes and Apostles is the verse true woorde of God and that thei haue sufficient authoritie not of men but of them selues For God himselfe spake to our forefathers the Prophets and Apostles and speaketh yet to vs The Scripture is sufficiēt to instructe vs in al godlines by his holy Scriptures wherin the catholike Churche of Christe hath at full set foorth what so euer may truely instructe vs bothe how we should beleue to be saued and what life we shoulde leade to please God for the which cause he hath expresly commaunded that nothinge be added to his woorde or diminished from the same We thinke therfore that in these Scriptures we ought to séeke true wisedome and godlines reformatiō and gouernment of Churches instruction to gouerne our selues in all godlines to be shorte the proufe of doctrine reproufe or confutation of al errours with good admonitions accordinge to that sayinge of the Apostle The holy Scripture is geuen by the inspiration of God and is profitable to teach to improue c. 2. Timoth. 3. And againe these thinges I wryte to thée sayeth he 1. Timoth. 3. that thou mayst know how thou oughtest to behaue thy selfe in the house of God and 1. Thes 2 when you receaued of vs the woorde of the preachinge of God ye receaued it not as the woorde of mē but as it is in déede the woorde of God The Lord himselfe saide in the Gospell you are not they which speake but the spirite Mat. 10. Luc. 10. Ioan. 13. of my father speaketh in you therfore he that heareth you heareth me but he that dispiseth you dispiseth me Wherfore when this woorde of God The preach ynge of Goddes voorde is the vvorde of God is preached in the Church by preachers lawfully therto called we beleue that the very true woorde of God is taught and receaued of the faithfull and that we ought not to imagine or to looke for frō heauē for any other woorde of God nor consider the preacher so muche as the woorde it selfe whiche is preached For albeit the preacher be euell sinfull The preachers sinne maketh not Gods vvorde the vvorse The invvard vvorkinge of the holye ghost disanulleth not the outvvarde preachyng Ier. 31. 1. Cor. 3. Ioan. 6. yet the woorde of God remayneth still true and good Neither doo we thinke that the outwarde preachinge is therefore to be compted vnprofitable because the true Religion dependeth of the inwarde lightninge of the holy Ghost or bicause it is written no man shall teache his neighbour for all men shall knowe me he is nothinge whiche watereth or planteth but God which geueth the sucrease For albeit no man come to Christe excepte he be drawen of his heauenly father and illuminated with the holy Ghoste yet we know that God wil haue his woord preached by some outwarde meanes also For he could haue faught Cornelius by his holy spirite or by an Angel without Peters ministerie yet not withstanding he sent him to Peter of whome the Angell speakinge sayeth He shall tell thée what thou muste doo For he whiche inwardly illuminateth by geuinge his holy spirite to men cōmaundeth also his Disciples sayinge Goe ye into all the world and preache the Gospel to euery creature as Paule preached the outward woorde to Lydia a sellar of purple at Philipie but inwardly the Lorde opened the womans harte And the saide Paule speakinge elegantly by degreese as it were Rom. 10. at the length inferreth Then faith is by hearinge hearinge by the woorde of God Howbeit we acknowledge that God can illuminate whom when he will euen without the outwarde ministerie suche is his omnipotent power but we speake of the ordinary waye showed to vs by Gods commaundement and declared by examples We detest therefore the Heresies of Artemon of the Maniches of Heresies the Valentinians of Cerdo and the Marcyonites who eyther denied the Scriptures to be of the holy Ghoste or els disalowed some part therof or māgled and corrupted them Not withstanding we plainely affirme that certaine bookes of the old Testament are called of some anncient writers
euerlasting Also Math. xviij It is not my fathers will that any of these little ones should perishe Lette Christ therefore be our glasse wherein wee maie beholde our predestinacion wée shall haue a testimonie plaine and sure inough that wée are writtē in the booke of life if wee take parte with Christe and if he be ours and we his knit together with the bondes of true faith when we be tempted about predestinacion Temptatiōs about Predestination then the whiche temptacion there is scase any more daungerous let it be our comforte that Gods promises are generall to the faithfull saiyng Aske and ye shal receiue euery man that asketh receiueth And to cōclude Luke xi lette vs reioyce that with the whole churche of God wee praie Our father whiche art in heauen c. That we are also by Baptisme ingraffed in Christes bodie and fedde in the church oftimes with his flesh and blood to the obtainyng of life euerlastyng With these comfortes we being strēgthened are willed by Paule to worke our saluacion with feare and tremblyng ¶ Of Iesus Christ true God and perfecte man the onely sauiour of the worlde Chap. 11. WE beleue and teache that the sonne of God our lorde Iesus Christ is true God Christe from the beginnyng was predestinate of his father to bee the sauiour of the worlde and that he was begotte not onely when he tooke fleshe of the virgine Marie and before the foundaciō of the worlde was laied but euen before all eternitie and that of his Father after an vnspeakeable sort For Esay saith xxxv What man shall declare his generaciō And Mich. v. His goyng forthe hath been frō the beginnyng and frō euerlastyng And Ihon in the Gospell Cha. j. In the beginnyng was the worde the worde was with God and that woorde was GOD. c. Therefore the Sonne touchyng his diuinitie is coequall and of one substaunce with the Father true God not by name or adoption or any dignitie onely but in substaunce and nature as Ihon the Apostle saieth 1. Ioh. 5. This is the true God and life euerlasting and Paule Heb. j. He hath made his sonne heire of all thynges by whō he made the worlde beyng the brightnesse of the glorie and the ingraued forme of his persone and bearyng vp all thynges by his mightie worde for in the Gospell the Lorde hymself hath said Glorifie thou me O father with thine owne self with the glorie which Ihon. xvii I had with thee before the world was It is written Ihō v. That the Iewes sought to kill Christ bicause he called God his father making himself equal with God we deteste therefore the impious doctrine of Arrius and al the Arians Heresies againste the soonne of God but chieflie the blasphemies of Michaell Seruetus a Spaniarde and all that take his parte whiche blasphemies against the sonne of God Satan by thē hath as it were brought from helle and moste impudentlie and impiously doeth sowe abrode in the worlde Wee beleue also teache that the self same Christ being true man had fleshe also eternall soonne of the eternall God was made the soonne of manne also of the sede of Abraham and Dauid not by carnall copulation as Hebion said but conceiued moste purely of the holy ghoste and borne of Marie who notwithstandyng continued a virgine as The virgin Marie Math. i. Ihon. i. Hebre ii the storie of the Gospell diligently setteth out vnto vs and Paule saieth he chose not Angels but the seede of Abraham Ihon the Apostle likewise saith He that beleueth not that Iesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God The fleshe therfore of Christ was neither fantasticall nor broughte downe from heauen as Valentine and Martion dreamed Furthermore our lorde Iesus Christe had a soule not voide of sēce reasō as Appollinaris thought Iesus Christ had a soule indued with reason neither had he fleshe without a soule as Eunomius taughte but a soule indeed with reason and fleshe with all her senses by the whiche senses he felt and suffered true vnfained tormentes griefes at the time of his passion Mat. xxvi as he hymself saied My soule is verie heauie euen to the death and in Ihon the .xij. Now my soule is troubled c. Wee acknowledge therefore twoo Twoo natures in Christ natures a diuine and humane in our one Lorde Iesus Christe and further saie that thei bee ioyned or knitte together not confounded or mixte but rather that the propertie of their natures remain safe in one persone vnited or ioyned together for that wee worshippe one Christe our Lorde and not twoo I saie one true GOD and true man as touchyng his diuine nature of like substaunce with his father as Heb. 4. touchyng his humanitie of like substaunce with vs menne and like in all poinctes exceptyng synne For as wée doe abhorre from the Nestorians opinion Heresies makyng twoo of one Christ and breakyng the vnitie of his persone so we willynglie deteste the madnesse of Eutiches and Molothelites or Monophistices who deny the propertie of his humain nature Neither doe we teach that Christe his diuine nature did suffer Christ his diuine nature suffred not neither is his humaine nature euery where or that he as touchyng his humain nature remaineth to this daie on the yearth or that his humanitie is euery where neither do we thinke or teach that Christe had no true bodie after it was glorified or that then it was deified and so deified that it kept not the properties of a bodie and soule or that it was chaunged all together into a diuine nature and begā to be onely one substaunce Wherefore we allowe not the fonde foolishe quirkes of Schuenkfeldius Heresies and suche like subtile disputers nor their intricate obscure reasonyng of this matter wherein thei agree not emong them selues Further more we beleue that our Lorde Iesus Christe suffered and died in deede for vs in the fleshe as Peter saieth Wee 1. Pet. 4. Christe touching his humanitie suffred in deede deteste therefore the Iacobits and the Turkes moste impious madnes who abhorre the passion of Christe In the meane while wee denye not but that the Lorde of glorie according to Paules woordes was crucified for vs. For 1. Cor. 2. deuoutlie and reuerentlie wee reade and vse the cōmon propertie of speach drawen out of the scriptures and vsed of all the olde writers in expoundyng and recōcilyng the places of the scriptures whiche seme to disagree Wee beleue and teache that the same our Lorde Iesus Christe did rise from the dedde in the self same true fleshe in the whiche he was crucified and died and Christe his resurrection that he raised not vp an other bodie in steede of that whiche was buried nor that he became a spirite whereas before he was fleshe but that he kept stil his true bodie Therfore when his disciples thought that thei sawe the spirite of the
iuste what is euill and vniuste Therefore wée confesse that it is a good and a holie lawe Rom. 2. The lawe of nature and that this lawe was bothe written with the finger of God in the hartes of men and is called the lawe of nature and also that it was grauen with the finger of God in the twoo Tables of The twoo Tables of Moyses Three kinde of lawes Moises and at large expounded in his bookes we deuide it for plaines sake into three partes Whereof the first is the Morall lawe whiche is conteined in the tenne commaundementes The seconde is the Ceremoniall Lawe which intreateth of Ceremonies and Exod. 20. Deute v. worshippyng of God The third is the Iudiciall Lawe whiche consisteth in Ciuill matters Wee beleue that in this Lawe of God the will of God and all necessary God his law is perfect preceptes for our whole life is fullie taught for otherwise God would not forbid to adde any thing to his lawe or to take ought therfro Neither would Deut. 4. 12. he haue had commaūded to walke vprightly in this law declinyng neither to the right nor left hande We teache also that this Lawe is not geuen to man to the ende he should be iustified why the lawe was gyuen by the keepyng and obseruyng it but rather that by the knowledge of the lawe he might acknowledge his infirmitie sinne and condēnacion and dispaire of any helpe by his owne strēgth might be conuerted to Christ through faithe For the Apostle saieth plainlie The lawe causeth wrath And Gal. iij. Ro. iii. iiii By the law cometh knowledge of our synnes For if there had been a lawe giuen whiche could haue giuen life surely rightuousnes should a been by the lawe but the scripture concludeth all vnder synne that the promes thorowe faithe in Iesus Christe should be giuen to theim that beleue wherefore the lawe was a schole master to bring vs to Christe that wée made bee made rightuous by faith Neither could nor yet any flesh is able to satisfie the law Fleshe cannot fulfill the lawe of God and to fulfill it for the weakenes that is in our fleshe and still remaineth in vs euen to our laste gaspe Againe the Apostle saieth that whiche Roma v. the law could not bicause it was weakened by the fleshe that God performed by sendyng his owne soonne in the forme of fleshe subiecte to synne Therefore Christe is the perfection of Roma x. the Lawe and hath fulfilled it for vs who as he did beare the cursse of the lawe while he was made accursed for our sakes so he maketh vs by faithe Gala. v. partakers of his fulfillyng the Lawe his rightuousnes and obediēce beyng accepted as though it were ours In this respect therefore the lawe of God In what respect the law of God is abolished is abolished in that it dooeth no more condemne vs nor cause wrathe to fall vpon vs For we are vnder grace not vnder the lawe Moreouer Christ hath fulfilled all the figures of the Lawe wherefore the shadowe ceassed when the bodie came for that now in Christ wee haue the truthe and all fulnesse Notwithstandyng we dooe not therefore disdain or dispise the lawe for we remember the woordes of the Lorde saiyng I came not to breake the lawe Math. v. and the Prophettes but to fulfill thē We knowe that in the law is shewed sundrie kindes of vertues and vices we are not ignoraunt that if the lawe be expounded by the Gospell it is profitable to the churche and therefore we affirme that the reading therof ought not to bée banished out of the churche For although Moises face was couered with a Vele yet the Apostle affirmeth that Vele to be taken awaie and abolished by Christe Wee condemne all that the olde and newe heretikes Heresies haue taught against the lawe of God ¶ Of the Gospell of Iesus Christe of his promises Of the spirite and of the letter Chapit 13. THe Gospell doubtlesse is cōtrarie to the Lawe for the lawe causeth wrathe declareth the curse but the Gospell preacheth grace blessyng Ihō i. Ihon. i. saieth the lawe was giuen by Moises Our forefathers had promises of the gospell but grace and truthe sprang by Iesus Christ Yet notwithstāding it is moste certain that thei who were before the lawe and vnder the lawe wer not altogether destitute of the Gospell For thei had maruelous large promises of the Gospell as these The séede of the Gene. iii. Gene. xxii Gene. xlix Deut. xviii Actes iii. woman shal breake the serpentes hed and in thy féede shall all nacions bee blessed The scepter shall not be taken awaie from Iudah vntill Silo come The Lorde shall raise vp a Prophette from the middest of his brethren And surely wee acknowledge that Two kindes of prounses our forefathers had two kindes of promises reueled to them as wée haue to vs Some were of yearthly matters as are the promises of the land of Canaan of victories and suche as are to this daie made to vs concernyng our daiely bread Some other were then and now also be of heauenly and eternall thynges that is to witte of gods grace of remission of synnes and life euerlasting by faithe in Iesus Christ Our forfathers had in like maner not onely outward and yearthly but also Spirituall and Celestiall promises in Christe For of saluacion speaketh Peter i. Peter i. The Prophetes haue inquired and searched who prophesied of the grace that should come vnto vs. c. Of this also the Apostle Paule writeth Ro. i. The Gospell of GOD was promised before by gods Prophetes in the holie scriptures Hereby then it is euidente that the old fathers were not quite destitute of all the Gospell But although thei had the Gospell What the gospell properly is after this sorte in the writynges of the Prophetes wherby thei obtained saluacion in Christ by faithe yet the gospell is properly called that glad and happie message by the whiche first by Ihon Baptiste then by Iesus Christe hymself our Lorde afterwarde by his Apostles and their successours it was preached to the worlde that GOD had nowe performed that whiche he promised from the beginnyng of the worlde in sendyng or rather giuyng to vs his onely soonne and in hym attonement with the father forgiuenes of synne all fulnesse and life euerlastyng Therefore the Gospell is truely called that historie whiche is written of the fower Euangelistes declaryng how these thinges were doen and fulfilled of Christe and what he taughte and did And that thei whiche beleue in him haue all aboundaunce of grace The preachyng and writing of the Apostles wherein thei shewe vnto vs how the sonne of God is giuen to vs of his father and in hym all life and saluacion is in like maner truely said to be the doctrine of the Gospell So that euē to this daie if it be sincerely preached it loseth not so worthie
a name The preaching of the gospell is called The spirite and the letter ii Cor. iii. also by the apostle the Spirit the seruice of the Spirit because that it is made of great efficacy liuely by faith in the eares or rather in the hartes of beleuers by the holy ghost illuminating thē For the letter whiche is contrary to the spirit doeth surely signifie euery outward thyng but chiefly the doctrin of the lawe whiche causeth wrathe to vnbeleuers and prouoketh to synne without the aide of the spirit and faith woorkyng in their mindes For the whiche cause the Apostle calleth it also the ministerie of death For here vnto belōgeth that saiyng of his the letter killeth but the spirite quicekneth The false Prophetes preached the gospell corruptly mingelyng the Lawe therewith as though Christ could not The heresies saue vs without the lawe Suche as the Hebionites are said to be who sprang of the heretike Hebeō Suche wer the Nazareans whiche were in olde tyme called Minei whom euery one we cōdemne Preachyng the Gospell purely teachyng that by the spirite alone and not by the lawe beleuers are iustified But of this matter we will intreate hereafter more at large in the title of Iustificacion And albeeit the Preachyng of the Gospell compared with the Pharises The doctrine of the Gospel is not newe but a moste auncient doctrine doctrine of the Lawe séemed when it was firste preached by Christe to bée a newe doctrine whiche Hieremie also prophesied of the new Testament yet in verie déede it was not onely then and now is olde doctrine as now adayes Papistes call it newe comparyng it with their longe receiued doctrine but also is the moste auncient doctrine in the worlde For God from the beginnyng predestinated she worlde to be saued by Christe Whiche predestinacion and eternall counsaile of his he hath opened to the worlde by the Gospell whereby it is manifeste that the Religion and doctrine of the Gospell is the eldest of all that euer was is or shal be Wherefore we saie that all thei are fouly deceiued and speake vnsemelie of Gods euerlastyng counsaile whiche affirme that the Gospell and this religion is sprong vp of late and is a faithe scase thirtie yeres olde In whō that saiyng of Esay the Prophete Esaie v. is fulfilled Wo be to them that speake good of euill and euill of good whiche put darkenesse from light and light from darkenesse and that putte bitter for swéete and swéete for sowre ¶ Of repentaunce and the conuersion of man Chap. 14. THe Gospell hath ioigned vnto what repentaunce is Luke xxiiii it the doctrine of Repentaūce For so saied the Lorde Repēpentaunce and remission of synnes muste bée preached in my name to all nacions By repentaunce we vnderstande the amendement of the mynde in the sinfull man prouoked therevnto by the preaching of the Gospell and inward woorkyng of the holie ghoste and receiued with true saithe wherby the synner doeth straite waie acknowledge his naturall corrupcion and all his synnes reproued by the woorde of God and beeyng hariely sorie for the same doeth not onely bewaile his iniquities but beeyng ashamed thereof confesse theim but also with disdaine deteste them mindyng earnestlie to amende and alwaies indeuouryng to leade an innocent and vertuous life as long as he liueth And this assuredly Repentaunce is a true conuersion from satan to God is vnfained repentaunce to wit a true conuersion to God and all goodnesse with a spedie departure from satan and all euill We also plainly affirme that this repentaūce is the mere gifte of God and not the worke of our Repentaunce is the gifte of God ii Cor. ii strengthe For the Apostle biddeth a faithfull minister diligētly to instruct theim whiche resiste the truthe assaiyng if God at any tyme will giue thē repentaunce that thei maie knowe the truthe Moreouer the synfull woman mencioned in the Gospell who wasshed Christes fete with her teares and Peter who wept bitterly be wailyng Luke vii and. xxii his deniall of Christe doe plainly declare vnto vs what maner of minde the penitent should haue when he earnestly lamenteth his sinnes which he hath committed The prodigall sonne also and the Publicane mencioned in the Gospell and compared with the Pharisie are fitte examples for vs to imitate in confessing our sinnes The prodigall sonne saied Father I haue synned against heauen in thy sight nowe I am not worthie to bee called thy soonne make me as one of thy hiered seruauntes The Publicane not beyng so bolde as to lifte vp his yies to heauen knockyng his breast cried O God bee mercifull to me a synner These penitent offendours we doubt not but that God receiued againe to his mercie and fauour For Ihon the Apostle saith If we acknowledge our i. Ihon. i. synnes he is faithfull and iuste to forgiue vs our synnes and to clense vs from all vnrightuousnes If wee saie we haue not synned wée make hym a lier and his woorde is not in vs. Wée beleue that this plain and frée confessiō which is made onely to God either priuately betwixte God and the offendour or openly in the Churche when the generall confession of synne is recited dooeth suffice and that it is not necessarie to obtaine remission of synnes by confessyng our offences Popishe confession with whisperyng in a Priestes eare or by hearing his absolucion while he laieth his handes vpō our heddes For of suche maner of repentaunce there is founde in the holie scriptures neither any commaundement ne yet example Dauid protested saiyng I acknowledged Psal xxxii my synne vnto thée neither hid I myne iniquitie from thée I thought I would confesse against my self my wickednesse vnto the Lorde and thou diddeste remitte the punishmente of my synne The Lorde also teachyng vs to praie and eke to confesse our iniquities saied Thus shall ye praie Our father which art in heauen c. Math. vi Forgeue vs our trespasses as we forgeue theim that trespas against vs. It is therefore necessary that wée confesse our faultes and that wee reconcile Note our selues to our brother if we haue offēded hym Of the whiche kind of confession Iames the Apostle speaketh saiyng Acknowledge your synnes Iames. v. one to another How bee it if any what priuate Confession is allowed man beyng oppressed with the burthē and temptacion of doubtfull synne would aske counsaile and seeke comfort priuately either of the minister of the church or any other learned in the Laws of God wée disalowe it not In like maner we greatly commēde that Publike confession generall and publike confession of sinnes whiche is accustomed to be rehersed as we saied before in the Churche and holy assemblies Many babble maruelous thynges of the Keies of the kyngdome of God The forged keyes of the kyngdome of heauen and forge thereby swoordes speares scepters crounes and absolute auctoritie ouer the greateste kingdomes to
teache howe ministers but inwardly he moueth the hartes of his electe to Faithe by the holie ghoste And therefore wee ought to referre all the glorie of this benefite to God But of this matter we haue spoken in the firste chapiter of this declaracion Verely God hath vsed frō the what kynde of preachers god hath alwayes sent beginning of the world the beste men of all albeit many of them were simple in worldlye wisedome and philosopie yet passing other in the knowlege of true diuinitie as the Patriarkes Patriarches with whome God talked ofte times by his Angels For the Patriarkes were Prophettes or Teachers in their tyme whō God would haue liue twoo or three mennes liues to th ende that they might be as it wer fathers lightes of the worlde Moises and the Prophettes followed them who were most famous throughout al the worlde What neede I to rehearse that after them our heauēly father sent his only begotten sonne a most perfect teacher of the worlde In whom was hid that diuine wisedom which he deriued vnto vs by the preaching of his most holy plain and of all other most perfecte doctrine For he chose to hym Disciples whom he made Apostles who goyng out into all the quarters of the world assembled euery where congregaciōs by the preachyng of the Gospell then in all Churches thei ordeined by gods commaundemente pastours and teachers by whose successours he hath to this daie instructed and gouerned his Churche As therefore God sent to his people in the olde tyme Patriarkes Moises and the Prophetes so to those to whom he hath geuen his newe Testamente he hath sent his onely begotten sonne with Apostles and Doctors of the Churche Furthermore the ministers of the newe Testament be called The names of ministers i. Cor. xii Ephe. iiii by sundrie names For thei are called Apostles Prophetes Euāgelistes Bisshops Elders Pastours and doctours The Apostles remained in no one certaine place but gathered sundrie Apostles Churches throughout the worlde whiche when thei had now dooen thei were no longer to be called Apostles but eche man became a Pastour in his owne churche The prophetes in time Prophetes paste foreseyng thynges to come were called Seers who were expounders of the scriptures also as some be euen now adaies Euangelistes were writers Euāgelistes of the historie of the Gospell and preachers also of the glad tidynges of Christe his Gospell As Paule bidde Timothe doe the worke of an Euangeliste Bisshops are superintendendentes Byshopps and watchemen of the church whiche geue to it sustenaūce and prouide for all necessaries Elders are aūcientes and as it were Senators and Elders fathers of the Churche gouernyng it with wholsome counsaile Pastours Pastours doe bothe keepe the Shepefolde of the Lord and prouide for thynges necessarie Doctors dooe teache and preache the true faith and vnfained godlines Doctors Wée maie therefore now call the ministers of the Churche Bishops Elders Pastours and Doctors Afterwarde in processe of tyme the Popishe orders ministers of the Churche had many other names For some wer made Patriarkes som Archbishops some Suffragans also Metropolitans Archedeacons Deacons Subdeacons Bēnettes and Collettes Crorcistes Singers Dorekepers and I wotte not what as Cardinalles Prouestes and Priers Fathers minores maiores But we passe for none of those orders neither what ones thei wer nor what now thei be The doctrine of the Apostles concernyng ministers is sufficient for vs. In like maner seing that we knowe assuredlie that Monkes and their orders Monkes were ordained neither of Christ nor his Apostles We teache that thei nothyng profite naye that thei dooe muche harme to the Churche For although in tyme paste when thei were solitarie and gatte their liuyng with their handes and were a burthen to none but in all places obeied the ministers of Churches as laye menne did thei were to be tollerated yet now what thei are all the worlde espieth perceiueth Thei adioyne to their orders I knowe not what vowes and lead a life cleane contrary to their voues So that the verie beste of theim maie be nombred emong those of whō thapostle spake ij Thes iij. We heare that there are some whiche walke emong you inordinatly and worke not at al but are busie bodies Such therefore in our Churches we neither haue neither by our doctrine ought to suffer in Christe his Churche But no manne ought to vsurpe the honour of the ministerie of the church Ministers should be called chosen to that office that is to saie by briberie or crafte or by his owne arbitriment to take vpō hym their offices Let them bée called and chosen by the lawfull election of the Churche that is to witte let them be chosen with aduisement by the cōgregacion or by those whiche are appoincted to that office in the Churche and that orderly without trouble sedicion or contencion But let not euery man without regard be chosen but onely méete menne of sufficient godlie Howe should be chosen to the ministerie learnyng of godlie vtteraunce and wisedome ioigned with simplicitie To be short suche as are famous for their modestie and honest life accordyng to the Cannon of the Apostle made by the Apostle i. Tim. iij. and Ti. j. And let suche as are chosen be made of the Elders with publike praier and laiyng on of handes Here we condemne all those who of their owne accorde thruste themselues into the ministerie not beynge chosen sent or ordained We cōdēne all vnmete ministers not vninete ministers indued with giftes necessarie for a shepherd that should fede his flocke Howbeit we acknowledge that the harmlesse simplicitie of some shepherdes in the olde churche did some tymes more profite the Churche then the greate exquisite and fine or delicate but a little to proude learning of some others Wherfore we reiecte not now adaies the good simplicitie of certaine so that thei bee not altogether vnskilfull of God and his worde Christe his Apostles called all those that beleued in Christe Priestes but not in respecte of Priestes the ministerie but because through Christe all the faithfull beyng made Kynges and Priestes maie offer spirituall sacrifices to God There is then a greate diuersitie betwene Priesthod A difference betwen preist hode and ministerie and the ministerie For Priesthode is common to all Christians as euē now wee declared the ministerie is not so Neither haue wée cleane taken awaie the ministerie of the Churche when we cast the Popish Priestehode out of Christe his Chuche Truelie in the newe Testamente of Christe there is no lenger any suche priesthod as was in the olde Testament whiche had an outwarde annointyng holie garmentes and verie many Ceremonies that were figures of Christe and no maruell sithens that Christ fulfillyng thē all at his comyng abolished them He therefore alone remaineth a prieste foreuer from whom least we withdrawe any thyng that is proper to hym wee call no
and are no more called onely water bread and wine but also regeneracion or the wasshyng of renouacion also the bodie and bloude of the Lorde or sacramentes of the bodie and bloude of Christ Not that the signes are chaunged into the thynges signified and that thei cease to be that whiche thei are by their owne nature for then thei should not be Sacramētes nor signes but onely the thynges signified but therfore the signes beare the names of the thinges because thei are misticall tokens of holie thynges and the signes and thynges signified are ioigned together sacramentallie I saie thei are ioigned or vnited by a misticall significacion by the will and counsaille of hym who ordained Sacramētes For water bread and wine are not common but holie signes and be that instituted water of Baptisme did not institute it to the intent that the faithfull should bée wasshed with the water of Baptisme onely And he that commaūded in his supper to eate bread and drinke wine ment not that the faithful should take the bread and wine onely without a misterie as thei eate breade at home in their houses but also that they shoulde spiritually bee partakers of the thynges signified and be in déede by faithe wasshed from their synnes and fedde in Christ through faithe Therfore we allowe not those who attribute the sanctifiyng of the Sacramentes Heresies to I knowe not what Caracters and to the recityng or to the vertue of woordes promised of the consecrater or of him that hath an intent to consecrate or els to accidentall thynges which are deliuered to vs neither by woorde nor by example of Christe nor his Apostles Nether dooe wée allowe their doctrine who speake of the Sacramentes as though thei wer cōmō signes not signifiyng som weightie matter or not of greate vertue or efficacie Neither allow we those who so muche regard the inuisible thynges ment by the Sacrament that thei despise the visible thynges in the Sacramentes beleuyng that it is superfluous for them to receiue the signes because thei imagine that thei enioie alreadie the thinges ment by thē Such heretikes the Messalians are named to bee Neither doe we allowe their doctrine who teache that grace and the thynges signified are so tied to the signes and encluded in them that whosoeuer receiueth the signes outwardlie bee partakers also what maner of man soeuer he bee of the inwarde grace and spirituall thinges signified by the Sacramentes Notwithstandyng as wée dooe not ponder the worthinesse of the Sacramentes The Sacrament is not the worse for the vitiousnes of the receauer by the worthinesse or vnworthinesse of the ministers so we compte theim not better or worse for the vertue or vice of the receiuers For we acknowledge that the worthinesse of the Sacramentes doe depende of faithe and of the mere goodnes of God For as the woorde of God remaineth the true worde of God wherein not onely the bare wordes are rehersed while it is preached but all thinges signified by the wordes are offered of God Albeeit wicked and Infidelles heare the wordes and vnderstande them but yet enioye not the thynges ment thereby because thei receiue theim not with a true faithe Euen so the Sacramentes consistyng in the worde the signes and thynges signified remaine true perfect Sacramentes not onely signifiyng holie thynges but also God offeryng them the thynges signified althoughe vnbeleuers receiue not the thynges offered This cometh to passe not through the defaulte of the geuer or of God the offerer but of men receiuyng without faithe and vnworthely Whose incredulitie maketh not Roma iii. the faith of God of none effect or force Furthermore seyng that in the beginnyng where it was declared what sacramentes were wée brieflie shewed to what ende thei were instituted wée neede not tediouslie to reporte that whiche wee haue ones saied It followeth therefore that wee seuerallie treate of the Sacramentes of the new Testamente ¶ Of holie Baptisme Chapi 20. BAptisme was firste inuented Christ ordained baptisme and sanctified of GOD Ihon beeyng the firste that baptised Christe with water in the riuer of Iordane Afterward this office was committed to the Apostles who Baptised also with water The Lorde in plaine woordes commaunded them to preache the Gospell Math. 28. Actes ii and to Baptise In the name of the father and of the sonne and of the holy ghost Peter also answered in the Actes to the Iewes demaundyng of him Act. ii what thei should doe Let euery one of you bée baptised in the name of Iesus Christe for the remission of your synnes and ye shall receiue the gift of the holie ghoste Wherefore Baptisme is called of many the firste signe of gods people because by it his electe begin to retaine to the liuyng Lorde There is but one Baptisme in the Churche of God wherewith it is sufficient once to be Christened For Baptisme once One baptisme receiued doeth indure all our life lōg beyng a perpetuall sealyng of our adoptiō For to be Baptised in the name of Christ is to be written to be entred what it is to be baptised and receiued into the couenaunte and familie yea and into the inheritaunce of God his children yea euen now to be named by the name of God that is to be called the child of God to be purged also from the dregges of our synnes and to haue frely sundrie graces of God to leade a newe and innocente life Baptisme dooeth kéepe in memorie and renewe God his benefites bestowed on mankinde For wee all are borne in the filthines of sinne and are the children of wrathe but God who is riche in mercie dooeth clense vs from oure sinnes frelie by the bloud of his soonne in whom he maketh vs by adopcion his soonnes knitteth vs to him with an holie couenaunte enricheth vs with sundrie giftes that wee maie be able to liue a newe life Al these benefites are sealed with Baptisme for inwardlie our soules and myndes are regenerate purified and made newe of GOD by the holie ghoste but outwardlie wee receiue the seale of his large giftes in water by the whiche those greate benefites are represented and as it were laied before our yies to beholde Therefore wée are Baptised that is we are wasshed and sprinckeled with visible water For as water maketh cleane our filthe doeth refresh we are baptised with water and coole our fainte and burnyng bodies so the grace of God doeth purge our soules from stinkyng synne after an inuisible sorte or spiritually God also separateth vs by the Sacraments of Baptisme from all other religions and from all other people and dooeth consecrate vs a peculier people to him and as his owne proper gooddes whē therefore we are Christened wée confesse what we are bonde to doe by baptisme our faithe and are bound to God to obeye hym to mortifie our fleshe and to leade a newe life and are inrolled in the holie roule of Christe his souldiers to fight
flesh that is corporallie eaten profiteth nothing It is the spirit that quickeneth and the wordes whiche I speake vnto you are spirite and life Now as wée muste in eatyng swallowe doune the meate into our stomackes that it may inwardlie worke shewe his strength in vs wheras beyng put without our bodies it doeth vs no good Euen so is it necessarie that we receiue Christ by faithe that he maie be made ours and he liue in vs and wee in hym For he saieth I am the breade of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleueth in me shall neuer thirste And againe he that shall eate me he shall also liue through me and abide in me and I in hym By this it is manifeste that we vnderstande not by spiritual meate I knowe not what maner of imagined meate but the self The receiuing of christ his bodie same bodie of the Lorde whiche was crucified for vs whiche notwithstandyng is receiued of the faithefull not bodilie but spiritually by faithe And in this matter wée followe in all pointes the doctrine of our sauiour Iesus Christ whiche he taught This eating Ihon. vi what eating of Christe is necessarie to saluation of the fleshe and drinkyng of the bloud of the Lorde is so necessarie to saluacion that without it no manne can be saued Wée maie also eate and drinke A spirituall eatynge of Christ with out the Samentes spirituallie the bodie and bloode of Christe although wee receiue not the supper of the Lorde as ofte as wée beleue in Christe To this ende parhaps belongeth that saiyng of Augustine Note Aug. Why preparest thou thy tethe bealie Beleue and thou haste eaten Beside the former spirituall eating A sacramentall eatinge of Christe there is also a Sacramental eating of the Lordes bodie whereby the faythfull is not onelye spiritually and inwardly made partaker of the true bodie and bloode of the Lorde but outwardly also by comming to the Lords table receaueth the visible Sacramēt of the bodie and bloud of the Lorde When the faithful beleued he receaceaued quicknyng nourishmēt before whiche he still enioyeth therefore when nowe he receaueth the Sacrament he receaueth therwith muche norishment to his soule For he continueth in continuall receauinge of the Lorde his bodie bloud In so much Faithfull receauers receaue not the sacramentes onelye but Christ also that his faith is more and more kindled increased and with spirituall fode refreshed For while we liue fayth continually increaseth in vs. And he that outwardlie receaueth the Sacramentes with a true faith euen he receiueth not the signe onely but enioyeth the thynge it self also ment by the Sacramēt as we haue declared Furthermore he obeieth the Lorde his institucion and commaundemente and with a cherefull harte giueth thankes for his and all mankindes redēption remembryng faithefullie the Lordes death and witnessyng the same before the churche of whose bodie he is a mēber It is confirmed or sealed also to theim that receiue the Sacramentes that the bodie of Christ was betraied and his bloud shedde not onely generally for men but also particulerly for euery faithfull receiuer whose meate Note and drinke it is to life euerlastyng But he that without faithe cometh to the holie Table of the Lorde receiueth Vnfaithfull receauers receaue but the bare signes the Sacramente onely and not the thyng mente by the Sacramente whereby commeth life and saluacion and suche eate vnworthely of the lorde his table Now thei that eate vnworthely Vnworthie receauers of the Lordes breade and drinke of his Cuppe vnworthely are giltie of the bodie and bloude of the Lorde eatyng and drinkyng their owne damnacion For when thei come not with a true faithe thei doe slaūder and like vilaines despise the death of Christe and therefore eate and drincke their owne damnacion Wherefore wée dooe not so knitte Christe his presence in his Supper and ioigne together the Lords his bodie and blood with the bread and wine that we affirme the bread to be the bodie of Christe but after a Sacramentall maner Neither saie wee that the bodie of Christe lieth hidden corporally Heresies vnder the breade or that it oughte vnder the forme of breade to bee worshipped or that who soeuer receiueth the signe he also receiueth the thyng it self The bodie of Christ is in heauen on the right hande of his father Wee must therefore lifte vp our hartes and not fire set our mindes on the bread Neither ought wee to worshippe the Lorde in the breade and yet the Lords is not absent from his churche when it celebrateth his supper The soonne beyng absente from vs and runnyng Note this similitude his race in the firmament is notwithstandyng present emong vs by his vertue How muche more Christe the soonne of rightuousnesse beyng absent from vs touchyng his bodie whiche is in heauen is present with vs not bodily but spirituallie by his liuely working in vs And as he hath declared that he would be presente with vs in his laste supper Ihon. xiiij xv xvj Whereby it foloweth that we haue no supper with out Christe yet that we haue a misticall Supper without bloudshed euen as our aunciēt fathers haue termed it We are also admonished in the celebracion Other endes of the Lords Supper of the Lordes supper to bee mindfull of whose bodie we are made mēbers in cōsideracion thereof to agree with all our brethren to liue an holie life and not to defile our selues with wickednesse and straunge religions but to continue in true faithe to the ende of our life to indeuer to excel in holinesse of liuyng It is mete therfore A preparyng of our selues before we come to receauinge of the lords supper that mindyng to come to the supper we first trie our selues accordyng to the Apostles commaūdement chiefly of what faithe we are whether wée beleue that Christ is come to saue sinners and to call them to repentaunce and whether eche man beleue that he is one of that nomber who beyng deliuered by Christe is saued throughe him and whether he haue determined to amende his synfull life and to liue godlie to continue by Gods helpe in true Religion in concorde with their The beste kinde of celebrating christ his Supper brethren and to giue God hartie thākes for their deliueraunce c. Wee iudge that to be the plainest and beste maner or waie of celebratyng the lord his Supper whiche cometh nereste to Christ his institucion and the doctrine of the Apostles that is to witte which consisteth in declaryng or preachyng God his woorde in Godlie praiers in imitatyng Christe his doynges in eatyng the bodie and drinkyng the blood of the Lorde also in the fruictfull remembraunce of his death in saithfull The supper of the Lorde should be celebrated in both kindes thankes giuyng ioinyng them selues in Godlie felowship to the vnitie of the bodie of the Churche Wee disalowe