rock not in dede without the grace of coÌ„fessing but yet not any rather by the force of the confession then of the promise Ioan. 1. For S. Iohn Baptist coÌ„fessed also but because he confessed not as one that was ê“mised to be this rock the Church was not built vpoÌ„ him but to Peter the ê“mise was made before the coÌ„fessioÌ„ and it was the first cause of the coÌ„fessioÌ„ therfore the promise was the chief and first cause of buildiÌ„g the church vpoÌ„ this role If it were so then the whole meaning of these words The vvhole sense of Christes vvords vpon this Rock I will build my Church is this vpoÌ„ him who therefore stronglie and firmly confesseth my true faith because he was before promised to be called this Rocke or which is more vpon him who in part is alreadie this rock and promised to be called this rocke so confesseth my Godhead like a most sure Rocke vpon him I will build mie Church The which most true and certein sense standing the only confessioÌ„ of the faith maketh no man to be this Rocke whervpoÌ„ Christ will build his Church except it be a confession which is wrought by the force of a promise to be called and made a rock going before it The which promise of being assured to be called Peter for as much as it belonged literally to no Prophet to no disciple to no Apostle but only to Simon the son of Iona for that cause Ioan. 1. the whole militant Church is at this tyme promised to be built vpon none other mans faith or confession beside only vpon the confessioÌ„ of S. Peter himself and of those who succede in Peters chaire For as God willing I shal proue hereafter euery bishop of Rome is that for his time vnto the militant Church of Christ which Peter once was Christ then intending to confirme and to make perfit his promise wherein he had said thou shalt be called Peter asked his Apostles whom they thought or rather said and coÌ„fessed him to be S. Peter hauing a reuelation from God the father to thend Christes former promise might be throughly and perfitly verified saith thou art Christ the Son of the liuing God that is to say thou art not only a prophet or a SoÌ„ by adoption but thou art the natural Son of the only true God Here it is principally to be noted that when S. Peter coÌ„fessed Christ to be the Son of God Peter coÌ„fessed the rocke that then he coÌ„fessed the rock of rocks which only Christ is Neither doth any man deny but that these words thou art the Son of the liuing God appertein only to Iesus Christ But our questioÌ„ is not of these words but coÌ„cerning the words which Christ spake afterward vnto Peter For when Peter had confessed the chefe rock then that chefe rock shewed that Peter had played also the rock saying to him after this sort Hilarius de Trinit lib. 6. Simon the Son of Iona thou art happy as S. Peter said Christ to be the Son of God so Christ calleth S. Peter the Son of Iona therby declariÌ„g that as Peter was naturally the Son of Iohn his father so Christ is the natural son of God his father and as Peter speaketh oÌ„ly to Christ at this tyme and to none other person so doth Christ only speake to Peter and to none other person Christ after this meaniÌ„g is alone the son of God aÌ„d SimoÌ„ alone after this meaniÌ„g is Peter Christ goeth forward calliÌ„g Peter happy because flesh aÌ„d blud did not reueale Christes godhead vnto him but Christes father who is in heueÌ„ So that S. Peter oÌ„ly at this time had this high reuelatioÌ„ aÌ„d to hiÌ„ oÌ„ly Christ directeth his words And I say vnto thee that thou art Peter What was S. Iohn or S. Mathew the son of Iona no truly or had any other man in the earth this reuelatioÌ„ at this time beside SimoÌ„ the son of Iona no verely yf we consider the first and most literal sense Thou oÌ„ly art Peter Peter alone is this rock because thou alone both hadst this name ê“mised to the when Christ first sawe thee thou alone haddest it geueÌ„ thee when thou wast chosen an Apostle and thou alone hast now coÌ„fessed me to be God by nature aÌ„d to thee alone I say Thou art Peter It is otherwise most true that Christ is the rock incoÌ„parably aboue Peter Christ the rock and that the whole vniuersal church is built vpoÌ„ Christ far more excelleÌ„tly then any part thereof is built vpoÌ„ any mortal maÌ„ For yf we did not beleue so much of Christ we could not now beleue that he were able by his only word and promise to make Peter also to be a Rock in his kind The confession is a rock It is also true that the confessioÌ„ of S. Peter is a rock aÌ„d in respect also of that confession SimoÌ„ is called Peter And in respect of the same coÌ„fessioÌ„ the Church is built vpon Simon But as vpon one who confesseth because he had before the promise to be called Peter made to him and the name it self geuen him Al things which are true are not euery where principally meant or intended alone of the holy ghost We now seeke the literal and first maening of these words vpoÌ„ this rock I wil build my Church and not of these thou art Christ the son of the liuing God In his Reply fol. 221. And yet M. Iewel professing to dispute of these words vpoÌ„ this rock I wil build my Church priuily conueieth the disputation from them vnto those other Thou arte Christ the Sonne of God But I beseech the good Reader to marke the point and not to suffer him selfe to be deceiued in so weightie a mater At the length to gather al my reasons togeather I saie that the most literal sense of these wordes vpoÌ„ this rocke is to signifie that vpon S. Peter as vpon a man called by office to coÌ„fesse the true faith Christ wil build his Church First Vocaberis 1. because he alone is promised to be called Peter Secondly Imposuit nomen 2. because he alone at the choise of the twelue is named Peter Thirdly because Christ speaketh to Simon the sonne of Iona alone Tibi saying Et ego dico tibi and I say to thee Therby shewing that the words which follow belong to S. Peter alone Fourthly because Christ speaketh againe to him and of him alone saying Tu es Petrus Thou art Peter Tu es I suppose there is a difference betwene I am Peter and thou art Peter Most true it is that Christ is Peter that is to say a rocke And most true it is that Simon in confessing Christ to be the sonne of God confessed the principal and only natural rocke But now that truth is not first of al and chieflie vttered by Christ although it were before vttered by SimoÌ„ but of Christ it is now said most literally thou art
is an Apostle but as he is the primate of the Apostles propter Apostolatus sui primatum for the primacie of his Apostleship If he be not Primate in deede he doth not signifie that which S. Augustine teacheth For all mystical significatioÌ„s in Gods word be built vpon a real truthe Gen. 8. Noë by offering cleane beasts vpon the altar did signifie the death of Christ Therefore in deede Noë did offer vppon the altar Let it be taught to be a feined thing that Noë did offer those beasts and that dede of his can not be a figure of Christes death For that which is not reallie true is the figure of nothing Therefore seing the primacie of Peter is the cause why he beareth the person of the Church and why he hath the Church built vpon him it is not only true that Peter is the primate of the Apostles and therby of the whole Church Note but also he is at the least in the order of nature first the primate before he doth beare the figure of the Church For as if a man do beare the person of Glocester in the Parleament because he is Burges of that Citie it is most necessarilie true that he is first Burges before he doe so beare that person euen so if Peter beare the figure of the Church because he is the primate he is surelie the primate before he beare the general person of the Church WheÌ„ I say he is primate before I meane not in time but in course and order of nature For first Peter is considered as made primate and then we afterward consider that vpoÌ„ his primacy the person of the Church is layed although both things be done at once Seing then Peter could not beare this general person but only for those whose officer and primate he was it is euident In Ioan. Tract 12â— that by this reason of S. Augustine Peter was the general officer of the whole militant Church euen of S. Iohn and of S. Iames also in such respect as he toke the keies for them Not yet the keies of their Apostleshippe which they tooke for them selues but the keies of the chiefe pastoral office Ion. 21. within which the Apostles also were coÌ„teined in that respect as they were shepe aÌ„d of that one flock in earth which was wholy committed to Peter Thus haue we many reasons whie S. Peter aboue al others was the rocke 1. the excellency of his faith 2 the excellency of his glorie 3. the vnity of the Church built vppon him being one 4. the signifying of Christ to be the one euerlasting shepherd 5. the eschuing of schismes 6. the receauing of Ecclesiastical power for the whole Church Which reasons if they be deepeâ— pondered 7. they proue not only that he was once the Rocke but that also an other like him must still be the Rocke whose excellent faith may direct the faithfull whose glorie maie cause the Churche to be gloriouse whose vnitie maie kepe the flocke one and kepe away schismes and signifie stil the vnitie of one euerlasting head and one mysticall bodie whose generall office may receaue power to be distributed to euerie other member in the outward ministerie of the Church as euery one hath neede thereof for the building vp of the Church of God Ephes 4. For the building of the Church vpoÌ„ this rock which S. Peter is goeth still â—â—rward as it once began sithens al the â—uilding is not yet ended but is euerie â—ay a working Endeuour once M. Ieâ—el to answer these reasons of the Fathers and the lack of reason in your syde shal straight appere Words you can â—atch together as other hereticks haue â—lon before you but the examining of â—n authority with the reason thereof doth straight confound you The Authorities alleaged by M. Iewel to proue that S. Peter was not this Rock proue against himself that S. Peter was this rock although they proue that there was an other kind of rock also besyde him which thing we deny not The VII Chap. Ievvel The old Catholike Fathers haue writen and pronounced not any mortal man as Peter was but Christ himself the Sonne of God to be this Rocke Sander There are two parts of this proposition the one that Christ is this Rock Which we graunt to be most true and how it is true we shall see hereafter The other part of M. Iewels assertion is that no mortal maÌ„ as Peter was is this rock This part I say he neither proueth nor is able to proue For I shewed before that aboue twenty auncient Fathers haue taught and haue confirmed it by reason that Peter was this rock But let vs heare M. Iewel speake for him self Ievvel In locis veteris Testam Gregorius Nyssenus saith Thou art Peter And vpon rhis Rock I wil build my Church He meaneth the confession of Christ For he had said before thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Sander It is not here said that Peter was not this Rocke which was the chiefe thing that M. Iewel ought to haue proued Yea I say farther it is not here said that Christ was this Rocke which was the other part of â— Iewels assertion But only Nysseâ—us saith that Christ meaneth to build â—is church vpoÌ„ the coÌ„fessioÌ„ which Peter â—ade of hiÌ„ And verely I beleue so to But Christ meaneth not to build his Church vpon the confession without al â—espect of S. Peter but vpon the conâ—ession which Peter had and alwaies should make whiles in feeding Christes flock he should alwaies teache theÌ„â—he true faith of Iesus Christ So that â—f the confession of S. Peter be this rock then S. Peter who maketh it is much more this rock For no mans act of confessing can be greater then himself is sithens it cometh from his soule aÌ„d hart as froÌ„ a certein spring or fouÌ„taine where God hath planted the grace thereof Such Arguments then M. Iewel bringeth to proue his fond assertion as if he should say there commeth Eloquence from the man but the man is not eloquent For he woulde proue that S. Peter who maketh the confession is not the Rock because his confession which commeth from him is the Rock Whereas it is no lesse true thâ— if Peters confession be the Rock Peter himselfe is also much more the Rocke then it is true that if a mans Oratiâ—â— be eloquent himself also is eloquent For the vertue which either the oration or the confession hath was before in the man himself and proceded from him Ievvel lib. 2. de Trinit So saith S. Hilarie Haec eâ— vna foelix fidei petra quam Petrus ore suo confessus est This is that only blessed Rock of faith that Peter confessed vvith his mouth Sander When shal we haue honest dealing in you M. Iewel Did you not promise to proue that the Rock spoken of in these words Vpon this Rock wil I build my Church was Christ and not Peter But S. Hilarie speaketh not
is altogether in question betwen vs. How then can that be a mark sufficient to shew an other thing to vs which it self is not sufficientlie knowen of vs All which reasons notwithstanding the confidence of our cause is such that I may graunt the woorde of God what soeuer it be to be a sufficient marke whereby Gods Churche may be knowen And then I say that euerie way Gods word standeth more on our syde then against vs. For yf you meane by God worde Gods vvoorde first vvith vs. the writen letter of the olde and of the newe Testament we are before you in that behalfe because you haue no assured Copies thereof which were not preserued by the former Christiās whome yee call Papists of thē you toke as your baptism so your Bible By them not only the old and the new testamēt but also the works of the auncient Fathers were copied out printed and layed vp in libraries ād in other places whence they came to your hands If then the hauing of Gods woorde proue a true Churche that is the more true Church which had it first specially seing we came not by it priuily or violently but receaued it euē at the Apostles hāds For after that day wherein S. Peter and S. Paule deliuered Gods word to the faithfull Romans the Church of Rome hath alwaies kept it safe without either leesing or corrupting it Again we beleue and acknowlege more of the Bible then you doe More of Gods vvoorde vvith vs. by the bookes of Toby of Iudith of Wisedom of Ecclesiasticus and of the Machabees All which we accompt for Gods own word according to the cōsent of many auucient †Aug. de doct Christia lib. 2. c. 8. Gelasius in Synode 70. episco Cōcil Florēt in fine-Trident Session 3. Fathers and councels whereas you call them Apocrypha and so make them vnable to decide any controuersie about religion Thirdly we doe not only graunt the Hebrew text of the old testament such as may appeare vncorrupted and the Greek text of the new testament to be Gods word but we also acknowlege with the aūciēt Fathers the †Iustin in Apol. 2. Ireneus li. 3. c. 25. Euseb de praeparat Euang. li. 8. c. 1. Aug. ep .8 Greek translatiō of the Septuagīts Moe copies of Gods vvord ād with the †Sessio 3. Tridentine Councel the cōmon Latin translation which so many hundred yeres hath bene diligentlie expounded and preserued in the Latin Churche to be of ful authority Where as you geue small credit to either of these translations except by your iudgement they agree with the first Hebrew and Greek copies We then haue Gods woorde in moe authentik tungs and copies then you haue Fourthly we preach expound interpret and translate Gods word in all maner of tungs Better vse of Gods vvord better then you because we doe these things not only by internal but also by such external vocation and commission as may be shewed to haue sprung from the Apostles by the lineal and ordinary succession of our bishops and priests Whereas you can fetch no higher commission then from the common weale which neuer receaued authority of Christ to make priests or to send preachers ād yet how shal they preache Rom. 10. if they be not sent Concerning that you reade Gods word to the people at you Church seruice tyme in the vulgar tungs Of Gods vvord in vulgare tungs it is no perfection at all on your syde For yee lack thereby the vse of the better tungs as of the Greek and Latin which were sanctified on Christes crosse Luc. 23. Ioan. 19. as for all other holy vses so most specially for to serue God withall at the tyme of Sacrifice wherein he requireth the very best in euery kind to be offered vnto Malac. 1. him as to our dreadful Lord and louing father And who douteth but that a lerned a holy and a common tung is more honorable then a barbarouse a prophane and a priuate tung In so much that in respect of the whole body of the Catholike Church wherewith we specially communicate in our seruice and praiers the vulgare tungs are much more to be accompted strange or vnknowen which strange tungs onely S. Paule doth least regard then the common tungs 1. Cor. 14. which were alone deliuered to the very first Christian Churche by the Apostles themselues in the East and west not regarding the infinite multitude of vulgare tungs which were in particular prouinces of the same countries the Greek and Latin Church For of the Greek tung vsed in the East Churches and of the Latin vsed in the west Churches it came to passe that it is al one to say the Greek or the east Church the Latin or the west Churche And surely seing Christ being vpō the Crosse whence the paterne of al◠prayer and oblations is to be taken sithens the Sacrifice which we offer◠saith Cyprian is the passion of our Lord whereas he knewe right well Li. 2. epi. 3 that the common people of the Iewes the pure Hebrew tongue being either lost or much decayed in cōmon speache euery daie more ād more after the captiuitie of Babylon could not vnderstand him Math. 27. Psal 21. did yet recite the beginning of the Psalme My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee in Hebrew and did not either by and by or at al interprete the same in the vulgar tongue need we to doubt but that after his example we may doe the like in those tongues at our seruice whiche Priests ād Clerks do vnderstād though the common people doe not vnderstand the same VVe vse also vulgar tungs in our seruice But lest there should be any one iote wherin to passe Gods Catholik Church we also haue in certaine countries the vse of vulgar tongues in the Churche seruice as in Dalmatia it is to be sene at this daie and the like is said to be in Assyria and in Aethiopia the Christians of which Countries doe acknowledge the Supreamacie of the Bisshoppe of Rome And although by this very meanes Vulgar tungs cause barbarousnes those Countries are become the more barbaous for thereby the Priestes and Preachers can not reade either the Greek or the Latin Doctours yet this good ariseth to the whole Churche of their losse that it both hath all degrees of tungs to wit both lerned and vulgar in her praiers and by the example of those barbarouse countries she warneth the other more ciuil parts to auoid that mischief whereby those other men fel into that reproche of barbarousnes Moreouer those Countries some of which neuer knew any better then their own natiue tung haue their seruice in the vulgar tungs by mere force and necessity Necessity forceth those coūtries to vse vulgar tūgs and that allowed by the good dispensation and toleration of the See Apostolike without breache of vnity whereas the Protestāts hauing once had