whome the papistes counte no parte of their church but schismatikes conuerted the Moscouites first of all vnto the profession of the name of Christ which yet continue in their religion being neither the true faith nor yet popish religion As for the popish church as it is certeine that it hath peruerted and corrupted all partes of the Latine or Westerne Church with Idolatry and false religion so it shal be harde for the papistes to proue that it hath conuerted any Nation from Gentility to the popish religion except some partes of Germanie and them by force of armes rather than by preaching and reaching as appeareth by the conuersion of Liuonia Anno Domini 1200. of Prussia Anno Domini 1254. and of Lithuania Anno Domini 1386. wherefore I conclude that seeing I haue shewed that our Church holding the true doctrine of the Apostles is that which conuerted all nations to true religion and that the popish church hath not conuerted any people to true religion nor all people to the profession of the name of Christ this chalenger whosoeuer he be do the recant The second article conteyneth 4. demandes 1 I aske of him what Church it was which hath induced the Christian people through the whole worlde to geue most humble credit in all points to the holy bookes of the Byble I Aunswere it was the Church of Christ and not the Popish church which hath commended the bookes of holy Scripture to be beleued of all true Christians where soeuer they be although it be the office of the holy Ghost to open the hartes of men and to forme them that they may beleue the scripture to be true like as it is the office of the scripture or worde of God to trie and examine whether it be the spirite of God that perswadeth vs to beleue any thing so the spirite beareth witnesse to the worde and the worde to the spirite As for the popish church it coulde not induce the Christian people to geue credit to the scripture in all pointes because she is contrarie to the scripture in many pointes and euen in the cheefest pointes of Christian Religion namely in pointes concerning the glorie of God and the saluation of mankinde geuing the glory of God to dead men and dumbe Images and denying the mercy of God pourchased by the onely sacrifice of Christes death to be the onely cause of mans saluation Finally seeing it is manifest by the aunswere to the first article that the popish church did not conuerte all nations to the profession of the Christian faith it is euident thereby that the popish church did not induce all them that are called Christians to geue credit to the bookes of the holy Bible as this chalenger woulde haue it to be thought 2 VVhat Church hath had the discerning seuering of them from other writinges of all sortes THe Church of Christ hath not an absolute authority to allow or refuse bookes of the scripture but a iudgment to discerne true writinge from counterfaicts the word of God of infallible verity from the writing of men which might erre this iudgement she hath not of her selfe but of the holy Ghost as for the popish Church it can not be said to haue this iudgemēt of discerning the scripture of God from other writings not only because she is so blind that she can not discerne betwene the Canonical bookes of the scripture from the Apocrypha writings as appereth by receauing the bookes of the Machabees Ecclesiasticus c. to be of equall authoritie with the bookes of the Law Psalmes c. but also because she is so presumptuous as to compel men to beleue that Customes and traditions writinges of doctors decrees of Popes and Councells are equall with the authoritie of God his worde yea are of force to alter and change the lawe of God and the institution of Christ set forth vnto vs in the scripture And although she boast that she receaueth all the bookes of scripture yet this proueth no more that she is the Church of Christ than was the churches of the Arrians Donatistes Nouatians Euthychans other heretikes which receiued the Bible as well as the Popish church 3 VVhat Church hath had the custodie of them and most safely hath preserued them for the necessary vse of God his people and from the corruption of aduersaries as well of Iewes as heretikes of all sortes THe prouidence of God hath alwayes preserued the Scripture both from the violence of tyrants from the falshoode of heretikes and hath neuer suffred the true Church to be destitute of the necessarie vse thereof But the popish church hath not kept the scripture for the necessary vse of the people which hath so kept it in an vnknowen tongue that the people coulde haue no vse much lesse the necessary vse thereof wherefore if this be a note of the Catholike Church to kepe the worde of God for the necessarie vse of God his people it is plaine that the popish church is not the Catholike Church which hath kept the scripture so that God his people coulde haue no vse thereof And if the only custodie of the scripture from corruption of heretikes be a sure note of the Church why is not the Greeke Church the Catholike Church which vnto this day hath kept the scripture as safely as the popish church why are not other Estern Churches of Asia which neuer acknowledged the Pope or popish religion true Churches which likewise haue preserued the scripture as we haue seen of late that the newe Testament is printed in the Syrian tongue at themperours charges for the encrease of Christian faith among them And finally why are not the Iewes the Catholike Church which haue kept the old Testament in Hebrue more faithfully than euer the Papistes And because they boast of safe preseruing of the scriptures all men that are learned in the tongues can testifie in how corrupt a Latin translation they haue kept the scriptures both of the olde and of the new Testament 4 And let the Protestant declare to me that their Congregation hath had from time to time or euer had right herein or any other Church sauing the Catholike Church and I recant OVr Congregation which is the body of Christ hath euer had both right and possession of the inestimable treasure of the word of Christ her heade as appeareth by this that our Church and Congregation beleueth nothing but that she learneth in it acknowledgeth that all thinges profitable to saluation are sufficiently conteined in it and finally in all thinges submitteth her selfe to the iudgemēt of it But the popish church which beleueth many thinges contrarie to the scripture teacheth many thinges beside the scripture necessary to saluation and refuseth to haue her faith doctrine and ceremonies to be iudged by the scripture neither hath neither euer had any right to the scripture though she haue neuer so many bookes of them in possession Wherefore these thinges considered this chalenger
of the Arrians and being brought vp by them had learned that article to beleue the Catholike church which the Arrians would expound to be them selues if afterward by God his helpe this man vnderstood that the church of the Arrians was not the catholike church as he was taught it was but that Athanasius and a few other that were banished and persecuted were the true Catholike church he was bounde to leaue the Arrians commonly called the church and to ioyne him selfe with the secret banished hidde and persecuted church of Christ. But as for your Popish church in that time of blindenesse and error taught not the people that article nor any other but kept them backe from the knowledge as well of that article as of all other thinges that were necessary to their saluation for you taught them nothing els but to pronounce and that full il fauoredly like popingeys certeine latine wordes which they vnderstoode no more than stockes or stones So that the people had no instruction of you no not of the name of God in many places but that they receiued by vncertaine talke of their parentes as it were from hande to hande for how many thousand parishes are there in Englande that within these 60. yeares woulde declare that they neuer hearde sermon in their life As for that they hearde of their seruice they learned as much of it as of the ringing of their belles which was a sounde without vnderstanding Therefore you may be ashamed to speake of teaching the people their belefe and all thinges necessary for saluation when you haue counted it heresie to learne their creede in English or to reade the scripture in English in which is conteined all thing necessary to be knowen for euerlasting saluation Finally because you requier me to shew you that the Christian people of those dayes were bounde to beleue any other church than that which taught them the article of the church and baptised them I trow I will so shew it you that for both your eares you dare not deny it how saye you The Christian people of the Greeke church which were taught by the Greeke church that article of the church and by the same Greeke church were baptised whether ought they to beleue any other church but the Greeke church If you say no then you acknowledge the Greeke church to be the true church which denieth the Popes authoritie if you saye yea Then you are welcome home you recant The 22. article although it be very confuse yet it conteyneth in effect 3. demandes 1 I aske also whether any man for the space of that 1000. yeres of blindenes could be saued out of that secrete and small Church which they say was the true Church if they aunswer me there might be some saued with our Sacraments and in the Communion or fellowship of the Papistes out of the Protestants Church then there was a way to heauen out of Gods Church if they say that none could be saued by our Sacraments out of their close Church then all men yong and old perished for those yeares without any hope of mercy because they could not vnite them selues and be incorporate to that company and Congregation whereof they neuer neither hearde nor coulde by any meanes surmise Therefore let any man aliue proue vnto me that either any man could out of the true Church be saued NO man aliue that knoweth what the true Church meaneth will say that any man can be saued out of the true Church for he that is not a member of the body of Christ caÌ„ by no meanes receiue any benefit of Christ to his saluation Therefore how long so euer the true Church were hidden whether it were a thousand yeres as you beare men in hand that we should say or two thousand yeares it is not materiall this is certeyne that out of this Church none could be saued and though you count it smal as in deede in respect of the world it is but a small flocke and fewe are elected and fewe finde the streit gate of life Luke 12. Matth. 7. 20. yet is the number of it greater then mans eye commonly can discerne As when Elias thought that he only had bene left alone of the true Church God answered that he had yet reserued 7000. that neuer bowed their knee to Baal 1. Reg. 19. And as Esay declareth when the people shoulde be almost all destroyed yet a remnant should be saued which though it seemed to be small yet it should ouerflow and fill all the world with righteousnes Esa. 10. and though it shal be like a gathering of grapes when vintage is ended or the shaking of an oliue tree when men thinke they haue left noâ—hing vppon it yet there be two or three in the toppe amonge the boughes foure or fiue vnder the leaues in the highest braÌ„ches Esay 17. 24. 2 Or that any other company could be knowne for the true and onely Church but our common Catholike societie THe true Catholike Church was neuer so secrete or hidden but it might be knowne of all those that had eyes to see it whose hartes were lightened with the spirite of God and were enstructed by the worde of God that they might vnderstande the trueth and knowe the spouse of Christ from the common strompet of Antichrist 3 Or that all men were damned for a thousand yeares togither because they coulde not finde nor surmise of any other Church then that which practiseth all holy functions which Christ left for our saluation in the world and I recant WE take not vpon vs to medle with God his iudgments whom he condemneth for what causes further then the word of God teacheth vs namely that as many as haue not beleued in the onely sonne of God are condemned for their vnbeliefe other secret causes we remit to his secrete counsell and knowledge And wheras you say that the popish church practiseth all holy functions that Christ left for the saluation of his Church it is most false for first you doe not preach remission of sinnes in the bloode of Christ onely for either you preach not all or else you preach remission of sinnes in any thing rather then the onely merites of Christ as in mens owne merites workes of supererogation pardons masses beggarly ceremonies as holy water auriculer confession c. Secondly you minister not the Sacraments purely according to Christ his institution but either corrupt and defile them with mans traditioÌ„s as you do Baptisme or else cleane chauÌ„ge the vse of them as in the Lordes Supper which you make a Sacrifice an idoll a Priestes breakfast and defraude the people of the one halfe of the sacrament as though you were wiser then he that instituted it in both kindes Thirdly discipline you haue conuerted into tyranny and couetousnes reteyning nothing but the name of it alone Wherefore seeing you exercise no holy function after Christ his institution but cleane contrary to the same and doe
sacrifice for the deade was instituted by Christ at his last Supper which the holy Ghost afterwarde did secretly suggest vnto the Apostles and they as secretly deliuered to the nations For no worde nor halfe worde therof is conteined in their writings which are to vs the only true testimony of their tradition Thus haue these heretikes no grounde of their heresie but shifte from the worde of scripture to secret tradition from tradition to the meaning of scripture from the plaine meaning of scripture to the vnconstant opinions of men from the variable and contrary opinions of men in times past to their owne obstinacy and continuaunce in error in time present yet he woundreth that we are so blinde that we can not see the cleere light of the trueth If Satan transforming him selfe into an angell of light hath so dasled their eyes that they can not see the true light they are iustly plagued because they haue refused the faithfull testimony of Gods worde which only geueth true light vnto the eyes as the Prophet saith and geuen heede to spirites of errors and doctrines of deuils by whom they are blinded in vtter darkenesse though it be with false imagination and dreaminge of light Yet see the confidence of the man he is suer that if we were examined of our conscience what triall of this doubt we woulde wishe there is none we coulde name but his cause might well abide it Why M. Allen we haue testified of our conscience longe agoe that the onely authority of Gods worde written shall satisfie vs as well in this as in all other matters if you were as desirous to satisfie vs as you pretend and as able to performe as you are to promise we should haue hearde before this time some sentence of scripture to maintaine prayer and sacrifice for the deade not standing vppon voluntary collection but either in plaine wordes or necessary conclusion For there is nothing that we are bounde to knowe nothing that we are bounde to doe but either in expresse wordes or in necessary collection which is as good as expresse wordes it is set forth in the holy Scriptures Beside this you shoulde bring a great preiudice against vs if you coulde bringe the consent and practise of the primitiue pure Church for the space of an hundreth yeares after christ But neither of these doe we looke to see we before see with our eyes the certainety of those thinges whereof now we contend in words and writinges The heretikes of our time and country be yet further vrged vvith the practise of prayers for the deceased their contrary communion is compared vvith the olde vsage of Celebration They are ashamed of the first original of their Christian faith they are vveary of their ovvne seruice they are kepte in ordre by the vvisedome of the Ciuile magistrates and are forced flatly to refuse all the doctors CAP. XII 1 THe chiefe argument that the Church of God vsed in olde time against Pelagius the enemy of Gods grace was this that at the holy altar the Priest prayed to God for to conuert heretikes and infidells to the faith and euill liuers wicked conuersation to vertue and honesty the which prayers had bene to no purpose if the grace of God had not borne the principall stroke in the chaunging of mans hearte But being assured of this as a grounde that the prayer of the Priest in the whole Churches name at the altar can not but beare singular strength and trueth it is necessarily concluded that seeing the publike minister so prayeth that we must needes beleue that God hath mans hearte in his hande and may turne it to the belefe of his worde or loue of his will as he liketh and listeth notwithstanding the perfect freedome of mans will which by Gods grace is neuer perished but alwayes perfected And in this assured foundation of the publike prayers S. Augustine who then was the souldier of grace so triumphed against one Vitalis a Pelagian that he ringeth him this peale Exerce contra orationes ecclesiae disputationes tuas quaÌ„do audis sacerdotem dei ad altare exhortantem populum dei orare pro incredulis subsanna pias voces ecclesiae dic te non facere quod hortatur homo in Carthagiensi eruditus ecclesia etiam beatissimi Cypriani librum de oratione dominica condemna Holde on fellow exercise thy contentious talke against the vsuall prayers of Gods Church and wheÌ„ thou hearest the Priest of God at his altar exhort the people to praye for the misbeleuers scoffe at the holy wordes and make him aunswere thou wilt not pray as he biddes thee And being brought vp in the Church of Carthage condemne withall S. Cyprians worke vpon our Lordes prayer wherein he teacheth the same I tary nowe the longer on this point that thou mayest learne to kepe an heretike at the bay and to fasten thy stroke so surely vpon him that which waye so euer he shifte he shall beare thy blowe vpon his necke and shoâ—lders It is not for our cause taken in hand that I now so much trauell for that is longe sith made sure enough for all the deuills in Hell or their followers in earth But I woulde in this one example of praying for the deade geue the studious a tast of all such wayes as the trueth of all other pointes in controuersy may be both surely defended and so plainly proued and vpholden that the aduersary shall not be able to say baffe vnto any one of the least of all the groundes wherevpon Gods trueth standeth Handeling then our good men as S. Augustine did the like say to them boldely that the same Church which exhorteth the people to pray for the misbeleuers doth geue vs example to pray for the soules departed Vitalis and Pelagius were heretikes for withstanding the one they must needes be as very heretikes for refusing the other It was the greatest extremitie that Pelagius coulde be driuen to by force of Augustines argument to mocke at the priests prayer made at Gods altar and that which then was so foule an absurditie for those false teachers can it be borne out of ours with honestie Vitalis the Pelagian had a foule foyle by S. Augustine â—hen he charged him with the contempt of S. Cyprians authoritie Byshop of Carthage being him selfe a â—hield of the same Church And shall they goe away so smouthly nowe a dayes not only with contempe of their owne English patrons and Apostles but with impudent deniall of all the doctors at once that euer were gydes of Gods Church sith Christes faith was taught It was of Augustine counted a singular arrogancy not to praye in that forme as Gods Church and ministers at the altar both praye them selues and exhorte other to pray and shall it be such prayse for our preachers to erect a new seruice to be checke mate with the olde to controele the rites and vsages of solemne supplication in all countries Christianed and with the
Marsilius of Padua preached in France when VValdo preached at Lyons and there about In England when VVickliffe taught in Bohemia when Iohn Hus and Ieronyme of Prage did florishe 2 Or that it might be called holy which neuer had Baptisme or other sacramentes to sanctifie any of her followers withall IT had the spirite of God to sanctifie the true members of it and it had sacramentes to testifie the same Also did not the Bohemians baptise Were not pauperes de Lugduno baptised c. But if you count their Baptisme no Baptisme why did you not rebaptize in Queene Maries time all those that were baptized by our Church in King Edwards time 3 Or that it should be one which as soone as it grew vp in the world was diuided into so many sundry sectes NOne of vs will graunt you that our Church began first to grow when it was last brought to light and knowledge of the world for it hath continued euen since christ But if there arose or were renewed many heresies with it that is no new matter but an olde practise of the deuill For as soone as the Church of Christ beganne to grow vp after his ascension euen in the Apostles time there were many sectes and heresies As the Iewes that mainteyned the lawe they that denyed the Resurrection among the Corinthians Hymenaeus and Philetus Simon Magus Cerinthus Ebion Marcion Basilides Valentinus Carpocrates c. So that there were many more heresies at the first preaching of the Gospell in and immediatly after the Apostles time then at the last restoring of the publike preaching therof vnto the worlde in our dayes And yet the Apostolike Church was one Church and so is ours at this day one and the same 4 Or that it might be called Apostolike which could neuer coūt by orderly succssion from any Apostle or Apostolike man. YOu are neuer able to answere the arguments that are brought to proue that Peter was neuer Bishoppe at Rome And then where is all your braggs of Apostolike sea and succession c. But be it that Peter was there except you proue succession of doctrine and faith as wel as succession of men your successiō is not worth a straw And our Church which holdeth all the doctrine of the Apostles and none other but the doctrine of the Apostles shall be truely called and founde the Apostolike Church when your with all her succession of Antichristes whore whoremongers heretikes Sodomites blasphemers coniurers c. shabe Apostaticall rather than Apostolicall 5 Or the secret base contemptible defaced and disordered Congregation was euer of that maiestie that it might require the obedience of all Nations HOw base and contemptible soeuer it be in the eyes of the wicked despisers of it yet did it not only require but also subdue all nations to the obedience of the Faith so many as were euer subdued in the dayes of the first Christian Emperors and before And sence when it was most defaced by the tyrannie of Antichrist it was of such maiestie that it both required and obteined the obedience of the realme of Bohemia and in processe of time hath obteined the obedience of almost all the nations of Europe If the churche of Rome reteine the like maiestie why doth it not now requier the like obedience of all nations both Christians and Turkes you will saye It requireth but it can not obteine Euen so I aunswere of our Church it hath alwayes bene worthy to requier but it hath not pleased God that it shoulde alwaies obteine 6 Or that it was euer able to gather generall Councels THe foure best generall Councells were gathered by our Church and the Emperors that were defenders of the same and not by the byshops of Rome Neither were they Presidentes in them as it is manifest that other men were Authors of the Canons or distinctions As of the Nicene Alexander Bishop of Constantinople of the Constantinopolitane Nectarius byshop of the Ephesine Cyrillus byshop of Alexandria of the Chalcedonense Anatolius of Constantinople c. and in other generall Councells where the bishop of Rome was president I aunswere as Iohn Patriarche of Antioche did in the Councell of Basile his presidence was Honoraria ad beneplacitum Concilij eis data non authoritatiua nisi ex concessione aut permissione habente vim concessionis aut ex tolerantia that is For honor sake graunted to them so long as it shoulde please the Councell and not of authority but either by graunt or permission being of the force of a graunt or els of sufferance And I conclude as he doth the Pope was neuer President either of honor or of authority but by the graunt or permission of the Councell And how is the Popish church able to gather general Councells at this daye who will come at her calling Except a few Spaniardes and a ioly company of buckram bishops of Italie generall Councells of all the worlde can neuer be gathered but either whē there is a Monarchie or els which is not to be looked for that all the Princes of the worlde will consent together 7 Or exercise Discipline BEcause this demande hath bene aunswered so often before I will saye the lesse nowe The free course of discipline in time of persecution may be hindred As it was in S. Cyprians time when the members of the Church be dispersed but the power of discipline hath alwayes remained and when occasion serued bene executed As the Bohemians excommunicated the Adamites and the ciuill Magistrates punished them by the sworde 8 Or that these names proper by scripture and Doctors of the true Church coulde be euer chalenged by any right to their saide Congregation AS many of these names as are proper to the Church by scripture or Doctors agreeing with scripture haue bene alwayes iustly chalenged of right to perteine to our Church and Congregation I meane these 1 Corpus Christi OVr Church doth rightly chalenge to be the body of Christ which acknowledgeth Christ to be her only head Sauiour Redeemer Priest King Intercessor c. The Popishe church can not chalenge this name because she doth not acknowledge Christ to be theese only and wholly 2 Sponsa Christi THe spouse of Christ heareth the voice of Christ and is ruled thereby so doth our Church therefore she is spouse of christ But the Romish church goeth a whoringe after her owne inuentions committeth grosse idolatry and will in no wise be ruled only by the voice of Christ there she is not the spouse of Christ. 3 Vencidilecta Christo. HOwe tenderly Christ loueth his Church the true members thereof which haue receiued the first frutes of his spirit do better vnderstand in hart thā can be expressed with words howe he abhorreth the whore of Babylon the Romishe Synagoge the Scripture doth plentifully declare 4 Columba speciosa OVr Church expressing the simplicitie of a fayer doue may iustly chalenge this name But the Babylonicall Strompet your church in crafte and subtilitie is more
to wit that euen the same selfe men which shall be purged must afterwarde offer to God the sacrifice of iustice that being once thus amended of their vnrighteousnesse in which their offeringes could not be acceptable vnto God may afterwarde in pure and perfect iustice offer them selues as a most pleasaunt hoste and oblation vnto our lord But this question of purgatory paines I will differ to a further treaty hereafter All this hath S. Augustine VVhereby we may both acknowledge his minde and the Prophets meaning which according to the grace geuen vnto him in the expounding of Scriptures he hath sought out by conference of that place with other the like out of Esay by weying discretly the whole circumstance of the letter finally by comparing of the other meaning which to some might haue bene reckened apte and mete for that place In all which doing he was as farre from rashe iudgement as our newe doctors be from good aduisement But because he referreth vs to the further discussing of the same matter afterward in the named worke it shal be to our purpose not a litle to haue this dictors full minde constant iudgement therein In the xxj booke after much matter vttered and very deepe discussing of the cause he maketh this grouÌ„ded Conclusion Temporales poenas alij in hac vita tantum alij post mortem alij nunc nuÌ„c veruntameÌ„ ante illud saeuerissimuÌ„ nouissimúmque iudiciuÌ„ patiuntur Non autem omnes veniuÌ„t in sempiternas poenas quae post illud iudiciuÌ„ his sunt futurae qui post mortem sustinent temporales nam quibusdam quod in isto noÌ„ remittitur remitti in futuro saeculo id est ne futuri saeculi aeterno supplicio puniaÌ„tur iam supra diximus Temporall paines that is to say punishment which shall haue an end some men suffer in this life some other after their death other some both now then But all this before the day of iudgement that is the greatest and last of all other iudgements not all that be teÌ„porally punished after their departure come into paines perpetuall which shall be after the generall daye for we haue already declared that there be certaine which haue remission in an other worlde that is to say a pardon that they be not punished euerlastingly that had not forgeuenesse in this By these wordes we may be assured that as in the next life there be paines endelesse and perpetuall for the wicked so in the same worlde after our ende here there must needes be some transitory punishment and correction for such of the meane sorte as shall afterwarde be saued And againe he speaketh as I take it of the fier of Conflagration that shall in the latter day purge some that be meane and wast other that be wicked and sende them from that present punishment to further eternall damnation I will recite his owne wordes that ye may perceiue the perpetuall constancy of this excellent mans minde in this matter It shall also be a testimonie sufficient for the vnderstanding of S. Pauls wordes nowe before alleaged Si aedificauerit super fundamentum ligna foenum stipulam id est mores saeculares fundamento fidei suae super aedificauerit tameÌ„ si in fundamento sit Christus primum locuÌ„ ipse habeat in corde ei nihil omnino anteponatur porteÌ„tur tales Veniet caminus inceÌ„det ligna foenuÌ„ stipulam ipse inquit saluus erit sic tamen quasi per ignem Hoc aget caminos alios in sinistram â—eparabit alios in dexteram quodammodo eliquabit If any man erect vpon the foundatioÌ„ woodde hay or straw that is to say worldely affections vpon the groundewarke of his sayth if yet Christ be in the foundation and beare the greatest stroke in his harte so that nothing be preferred before him such may well be borne withall for the fiery fornace shall come burne the wood hay and stooble shall be saued as the Apostle saith though it be for all that through the fier that fornace then shall parte some to the lift hande and try forth other if a man may so tearme it to the right hande 2 The first place is geuen vnto Augustine because he is in a maner confessed to be a patrone of some of our opinions though he be not of all This doctor in his 20 booke de ciuitate dei is saide to expound the texte of Melachy as M. Allen hath doen of the paines of purgatory But reade the place with indifferent iudgement who so can and will and he shall plainely perceiue that Augustine speaketh not of M. Allens purgatory which is said to be immediatly after mens death but of certaine purging paines which he supposeth some shall suffer at the last daye of Gods generall iudgement and yet he is so vncertaine of that exposition that he doubteth whether this purging whereof the Prophet speaketh may not be vnderstoode of that seperation which shal be of the godly from the wicked in that daye Howbeit 21. booke cap. 13. of the same worke he concludeth very cleerely that some suffer temporall paines after this life This maye not be denyed but how vnconstant Augustine was in his error appereth by this that sometime he doubteth whether there be any such matter other whiles he seemeth plainely to deny all other receptacles of the soules departed beside heauen and hell For both in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium cap. 69. de octo Dulcitij in quaestionibus quaest 1. he sayeth that as it is not incredible that such a matter may be after this life so it may be doubted whether it be so or no. Likewise in his booke de fide operibus cap. 16. he hath these wordes speaking of that texte to S. Paule 1. Corinthians 3. Siue ergo in hac vita tantum homines ista patiuntur siue etiam post hanc vitam talia iudicia subsequantur non abhoâ—ret quantum arbitror a ratione veritatis iste intellectus huius sententiae Whether men suffer these things in this life only or whether such iudgements follow after this life also the vnderstanding of this sentence abhorreth not as I thinke from the waye of trueth Againe in Hypognost contra Pelagianos lib. 5. he acknowledgeth the kingdom of heauen for to receiue the godly and hell fire for the punishment of the wicked but a third place sayth he we are altogither ignoraunt of neither doe we finde it in the holy Scriptures He writeth against the Pelagians that imagined a third place for the rest of infants that were not baptised but the same reason serueth as well against the popish purgatory because we finde it not in the holy Scriptures to the like effect he writeth de verbis Apostoli sermone 14. where he acknowledgeth the right hand and the left hand of God that is the kingdom of heauen and the paynes of hell the midle place he vtterly denyeth wherein infantes may
delicat teachers of our time that vnder pretence of preaching the Gospell auouching the glory of God and the grace of our redemption haue serued mens lustes abandoned the olde austerity of Christian life and rased out of the peoples hartes the feare of Gods iudgements were foreseene by the holy Apostle Iudas And he calleth them Impios transferentes Domini nostri gratiam in luxuriam VVicked men turning the grace of our Lorde vnto wantonnesse and lust Against whome also S. Paule made this exception that they shoulde not in any wise by the freedome of our redemption chalenge any liberty of the fleshe Notwithstanding Christes passion then we must not otherwise thinke but to suffer for our owne sinnes not as helping the insufficiencie of his merites but as making our selues apte to receiue that blessed benefit which effectually worketh vpon no man but by meanes nor serueth any to saluation but by obedience of his will and worde For if Christes death shoulde worke accordinge to the full force of it selfe it woulde doubtlesse suppe vp all sinne and all paine for sinne it might wipe away death both of this present life and eternall it woulde leaue neither Hell Purgatory nor paine the price and worthinesse thereof being so aboundaunt that it might being not otherwise by the vnserchable will and wisedome of the sufferer limited saue the whole worlde But now ordinary wayes by Gods wisedome appointed for the bestowing of that excellent medicinable cuppe as S. Augustine termeth it and condicions required in the parties beside Christes death doth not discharge vs of satisfaction for our sinnes nor of any other good worke whereby man may procure his owne saluation 2 The sufficiency of Christes passion is compted a light argument to M. Allen but the weight thereof shall not withstanding beaâ—e doune all the blasphemous doctrine of Popery He sayth thereby we cloke falsehoode and licentious liuinge The Lorde knoweth that he â—claundereth vs Then he will frame our argument therof as he list but there in he doth vs too much wronge But thus we reason in deede Christ hath payed the full price of our sinnes therefore there is no parte of the price left to be payed by vs Christ hath fully satisfied for our sinnes therefore their remaineth no satisfaction for vs Christ hath suffered for our iniquities therefore we are healed by his stripes And yet we neither exclude repentance nor the true fructes thereof which are good workes but rather we establish them For Christ hath payed the price of their sinnes that repente and beleue in him that follow his steppes that walke in his precepts but neither our repentaunce nor our fayth nor good workes deserue any thing onely the death of Christ is all our merite and the onely meane by which the same is applied vnto vs and we receiue it is our fayth thus the scripture teacheth thus we beleeue And as for that vaine amplification of M. Allen that the full force of Christes death woulde suppe vp all sinne death hell and paine we may see there by how Sathan deludeth heretikes to extende the benefits of Christes death vppon a fonde supposition beyonde the limittes of his will not to allow the same to stretch so farre as Gods determination hath apointâ—d it Christ hath satisfyed for our sinnes yet we must make satisfaction our selues Christ by his suffering is become a cause of saluation to all that beleiue in him yet euery man by good workes must procure his owne saluation These are the enemies of the crosse of Christ which glory in their owne shame whose ende is confusion 3 And I am not a frayde to vse the word Satisfaction with Cyprian Oâ—â—gen Ambrose Augustine and the rest of that blessed fellowship VVho right wel knew the valew of our redemption and the force of that satisfaction which our Sauiour made vpon the Crosse. I dare well leaue these pety diuines and speake with the grand capitanes of our faith and religion And I woulde to God I coulde as well in any part come after them in example of Christian life VVho not so much in worde as in the course of all their conuersation lefte vnto vs perfect paterns of great and greuous penaunce Their longe watching and wailinge their straunge weyelde and waste habitation their rough appareling their hard lying their meruelous fasting their perpetual praying their extreme voluntary pouerty and all this to preuent Gods iudgement in the worlde to come for those small infirmities and offensies of their fraile life may make our aduersaries ashamed of them selues that neither will followe their blessed steppes nor yet which is the greatest signe of Gods anger towardes them that can be like it and allowe it in others 3 Touching the worde of Satisfaction vsed by the olde writers I haue shewed before that they vsed it not in that sense which the Papistes doe And I confesse with M. Allen that they not onely knew but also haue expressed the valewe of our redemption by Christ in such words as it is not possible that the Popish satisfaction can not stand with them Against the valew of which redemption if they haue vttered any thing by the worde of satisfaction or any thing els we may lawfully reiect their auctoritie not onely though they be doctors of the Church but also if they were angels from heauen There heartie bewayling of their sinnes and fructes of true repentaunce that they shewed not to iustifie them selues thereby but to humble them selues before God and to cause their light to shine to his glorie we praye God we may follow not to set vp our righteousnesse but to the prayse of his name An euident and most certaine demonstration of the trueth of Purgatory and the greuousnesse of the paines thereof vttered by the prayers and vvordes of the holy doctors and by some extraordinary vvorkes of God beside CAP. XII 1 ANd we also that by Gods grace and great mercy be Catholikes must needs here conceiue singular feare of Gods terrible iudgments which of iustice he must practise vpon our wickednesse that liue nowe in pleasure and worldely welth after such a carelesse sorte that men may iudge we haue no respect of the dredfull day nor care of Purgatory which in wordes we so earnestly mainteine The deepe and perpetuall feare whereof caused our elders not only to leade their life in such perpetual paine but further forced them to breake out in bitter teares and vtter most godly prayers that they might escape the iudgement of God exercised by the paines of Purgatory at the ende of our shorte and vncertaine life Some of them I will recite that our hartes may melte in the necessary foresight of that terrible time and the heretikes be ashamed to deny that which so constantly in worde and worke they euer professed For feare of this fire to come holy S. Bernarde maketh this meditation O vtinam magis nunc daret aliquis capiti meo aquas oculis
membres of our common body and howe being practised by one it serueth before God for an other either in this life or the next our holy father Athanasius by his authoritie might well be a proofe sufficient but he is content to declare it vnto vs by an example and such an example that beside the matter may further put vs in remembraunce of the deuotion of our elders in an other point which the studious reader may marke by the waye thus then he sayth Quod in pauperes collocatur beneficiuÌ„ omnis bonae retributionis est augmentum Itaque pro defuncto oblaturus eundem serues scopum quem qui pro paruulo filio adhuc imbecillo infante interim dum puer aegrotat affert ceram oleum thimiama in templum Domini magna fide acceÌ„dit pueri nomine neque enim puer hoc faceret cum ignoret diuinae regenerationis constitutiones Sic cogitet etiam eum qui in domino morteÌ„ obijt posse offerre ceram oleum caetera quae in redemptioneÌ„ offerri soleÌ„t The benefit bestowed vpon the poore is a soueraigne ground of Gods rewarding And in thy oblations for the departed haue alwaies the same inteÌ„t scope that a father hath practising for the recouery of his sicke child being yong tender VVho for his sick son bringeth into the Church of our Lord God waxe oyle incense and with deuotion and faith lighteth them in the boyes behalfe for that the child him selfe being wholy vnskillful â—f the ordinauncies of our Christianity would neuer go about any such thinge euen so must a man thinke of the deceased persons case that he may doth offer as in an other maÌ„s person waxe oyle such like as coÌ„monly for redeÌ„ptioÌ„ are offered VVith proofe of our matter in hande here may be noted beside the vsuall oblation of thinges apperteining to the mainteinaunce of Church light and lampes setting vp of tapers of singular deuotion for sicke persons representing of our goods and Gods creatures from prophane vse of daily occupation to Gods honour in the temple the vndoubted hope that all faythfull people had as well to procure fauour to them selues thereby as mercy to other for whose sakes they did it and especially that in this mans age that was so auncient these tokens of loue and duety towardes our Lorde and shew of their homage by such externall actes were taken as peculiar ordinauncies and solemne constitutions of our Christianitie These thinges though the hedge of my cause forceth me to let them lightly passe yet as I go by I must needes beholde as steppes of olde maners with some mourning to say the trueth and no litle sorow in the contrary comparing of our corrupte conditions The reader as he list may perchaunce with more leasure or at leaste with lesse iniury to other weye the wonderfull waste that sinne and heresie hath wrought in our dayes of darknesse And wheÌ„ he considereth these thinges that be now of most men counted meere madnesse to haue bene liked allowed preached auouched sent out in solemne workes and writings to the vewe of the world and the sight of all posterity from the very heart spring of the ChristiaÌ„ Church by Athanasius the great O Lord what a mighty man in worde and worke do I nowe name him do I name whose memory is blessed in Gods Church in whose lappe our weeryed mother once before as she hath bene often in a maner learned to take her rest from the forsaken children whose only worde with out all proofe though he neuer speaketh but with weight of reason woulde beare ouer all these pety Protestantes put together so said Tully comparing the Epicures with Plato and Aristotle much more bouldly may I payse all heretiques in the worlde with this mans onely worde Him therefore such a man and so great a pillor of faith when the Catholike shall see proue and allow and practise those same thinges which our maisters of sectes can not abide but most abhorre and by him take a sure taste of his whole time shal he not wounder with all wise men at our downefall so deepe shall he not meruaile vnder one name of Christianitie that goeth yet common to our dayes with those happy times past to be such diuersitie of case and conditions that the one vnder so glorious a name must be nothing else but a cloked paganisme but yet I woulde not he shoulde occupie ouermuch his minde in this consideration till he see the whole ranke of Gods holy host and all the blessed bande of Martyrs and Sainctes stande with vs for the full defense of trueth and the common Church their mother and ours 4 The laste parte of this Chapter hath a boysterous bragge of two great doctors authorities Gregory Nyssene Athanasius the great but they stande both vppon either the credit or iudgement of Damascene neither of which we esteeme so much that we neede greatly regarde them Counterfecting was so common in those dayes and before them to maintaine such errors as coulde not be proued by scripture For to passe ouer that which Tertullian writeth in his booke de Baptismo of the priest of Asia which was conuicted to haue fayned certaine writings of S. Paule to Tecta was not the Nycene Councel the first and the best corrupted with counterfect canons by the Byshoppes of Rome to maintaine their vsurped authoritie in the dayes of S. Augustine which was plainely espied and confuted in the Councell of Carthago 6. cap. 4. 7. And in the Africane Councell were there not three faulse quaternions founde added to the 5. Councell of Constantinople which was espied in the 6. Councell of Constantinople Act. 3. 12. If men woulde be so bolde with generall Councells thinke you that they woulde be afrayde of Gregorius or Athanasius writings And what maner of a Sermon of Athanasius was that which was reade in the 4. action of the 2. Nicene Councell Of the image of Christ and the miracle done in Berytus that when a Iewe strake the image there issued out water and bloude what a shamelesse lye is that which Pope Adrian in his epistle writeth that CoÌ„stantine was clensed of a leprosie and baptised of Syluester at Rome contrary to the Historie of Eusebius who liued in Constantines time and knew him what faulsyfying of authorities is there to proue the worshipping of images out of Gregorie Nissene Basilius Magnus Athanasius and Ambrosius Chrysostome Cyrill and Hieronym with diuerse other in that leude Councell wherfore except you coulde alleage their sayings out of their owne workes I will neuer trouble my selfe to aunswere them although if they were there true authorities there is no cause why we shoulde beleeue either of them both in an article of faith with out the authoritie of the word of god Their time had diuerse errors superstitious ceremonies which they being occupied in fighting against greater heresies that then sprang vp of the Arians Macedonians
dayes they thinke they haue a good argument against the Catholikes Therefore they woulde father transubstantiation vpon this Councell the adoration of the Sacrament vpon that Pope indulgencies vpon that byshop c. For they be as saulcie with Gods Church Councells chiefe gouernors as we be with the Iacke strawes of Geneua And yet when they haue traualed to their heartes ake they can finde no one thing first inuented by any of them whome they falsely name to be the authors thereof But well seeing it is so stronge an argument of heresie to haue the ofspring of a later author with plaine prouisò of Gods Church for his markinge let vs adde so much strength to our cause to haue the father of the contrary falshood knowen and noted of the antiquity by his name 3 If you haue not a better vnderstander then you are a rule giuer your rule is false for though you hedge it in with many conditiōs yet you leaue out the chiefest which is that the opinion it self be cōtrary to the truth first preached by the Apostles or else it is no heresie though it may be truely fathered vpon any man priuate or publike sooner or later And here I muse why you put in the condition of a priuate man belike if the Pope inuent a new doctrine because he is a publike person that can not erre it must not be taken for heresie In your second rule except you vnderstand that the opinion of him which is withstāded be new and of his owne inuention the withstanding thereof no not by good men maketh it not false They that defended that heretikes should not be rebaptised were withstoode by Cyprian and all the Bishops of Africa who were notwithstanding their error in the vnitie of the Church yet were they not heretikes nor their opinion heresie because it was not of their inuention but of the word of god And wheras you affirme that we can not find any of those thinges inuented by them by whome we say they were inuented though we trauail vntill our hartes ake I aunswere though you seeke vntill your head ake lye vntill you haue worne your tongue to the stumpes you shall neither finde those things in the word of God nor to haue any other authors thē the writers of your owne sect haue named to be the fathers of most of them And that you charge vs with like saucines towards your Prelates that you vse toward the Iacke strawes of Geneua if you had not thereby confessed your selfe to be a saucy Iacke you might haue giuen vs occasiō to think no lesse of you For although perhaps you count the chief teachers of that Church for Iacke strawes yet the worlde can testifie that there is more grauitie and modesty in the lightest persons of all that Church then hath appeared of many Popes and Cardinalls of your Church of Rome 4 Epiphanius that notable man in his booke that he wrote for the confutation of all the heresies that were before his time and in other of his workes too nameth an obscure fellowe one Aërius to be the first author of this heresie that prayers and sacrifice profiteth not the departed in Christ. But what maner a fellowe he was and how lickely to be the founder of such a schoole thou shalt perceiue best by the writers wordes When Aërius coulde not obteine the byshopricke of Eustathius deposed after that he was once perfectly well skilled in Arius doctrine he inuented new sectes of his owne affirming that there shoulde be no offering for the departed and of him loe the scholars were called Aërians Let not the simple whome I woulde helpe in this cause be deceiued by the liknes of these two names Arius and Aërius for this later was the author of their secte and was a follower of the first called Arius in his doctrine beside And of the same sect and sectmaister S. Augustine thus sayeth following Epiphanius The Aërians were so named by one Aërius who taking snoffe that he coulde not get a byshopricke fell into the heresie of Arius first and then added therevnto other heresies of his owne makinge saying that we shoulde not offer sacrifice for the deade nor obserûe the solemne appointed fastes of the Church but that euery man should abstaine when he liste And there both he and Epiphanius doe recken moe of his holy opinions which I omit For it is enough for our purpose and to confunde all the heretikes of our dayes that this opinion was noted as it spronge vp in the primitiue Church for heresie and the authors not onely condemned as heretikes in that point but in many other thinges beside For I neuer reade of nor yet knewe any heretike but if he once mistrusted the catholike Church the Deuill was hable to perswade with him as well in a numbre of matters as in one And that is the cause that any man seduced falleth from one falshood to an other till he wholy be drowned in the waues of tempesteous doctrine And when he commeth once at the bottom then God knoweth he setteth light by the matter contemneth it and is often past recouery as it is sayde Peccator cum in profundum venerit contemnit Euen so did this Aërius first through ambitious pride fall to the Arians sect but because he counted it nothing glorious to be a scholar he woulde be a maister and that of a misheuous matter and a matter repugnāt to the sense of all Christes Church which before his preaching generally as after receiued and faithfully vsed prayers and oblation for the deade Of which consent of the vniuersall worlde and the heretikes follye in withstanding the same the sayde Epiphanius sayeth thus I will report his wordes in Latine because they sounde very well though him selfe wrote not in that language Assumpsit ecclesia in toto mundo assensus est factus antequà m esset Aërius qui ab ipso appellantur Aëriani quis autem magis de his nouit hic ne seductus homo qui etiam superest nunc an qui ante nos testes fuerunt c. Thus in english The Church hath receiued this trueth through the wide worlde it was sattled in all mens mindes before Aërius was borne or any of his secte that be nowe called Aërians And who I pray you is most like to knowe the trueth of these thinges this false wretche yet liuinge at this daye or else the faithfull witnesses that were before our time Beholde here you worshipfull maister ▪ you may suerly take greate cause of comforte in his liuely worde mary Sir he might haue bene an Archbishoppe in our dayes for he loued neither fasting nor praying He was fayne to be an heretike for anger because he coulde not be made a bishoppe then who now if he were in this happy age when the light is more plentifully powred vpon the people might haue bene promoted at Caluins decease to the ouerlooking of Geneua But his opinion was
fitly stande with the happy case of all those that dye in the fauour of God and assurance of their saluation though they abide sharpe but sweete paine of fatherly discipline for their better qualifying to the ioyes prepared for them and all other the elect So that nowe the mouing of these doubtes hath so litle aduantaged our aduersaries that it hath somewhat geuen occasion of further declaration of our matter then otherwise perchaunce we shoulde haue had 6 The last obiection that you list to trouble your head with all is that voyce which was heard from heauen Apoc. 14. of the blessed state of them that dye in the Lord in the meaning of which you wrest and wrigle like a snake that is smitten on the head but you can not auoyd the strife First you vnderstand it onely of Martyres that dye in the Lord and call Augustine to witnesse thereof As I will not deny but Martyrs are specially comforted by that voyce so I wil affirme that it is to the common comfort and rewarde of all the faythfull in Christ who as they liue in Christ so they dye in christ And witnesse hereof I will not take of flesh and blood but of the holy Ghost Rom 14. None of vs liueth vnto him selfe neither doth any dye vnto him selfe for whether we liue we liue vnto the Lorde and whether we dye we dye vnto the Lorde And the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. nameth the faithfull that are a sleepe in Christ and 1. Thes. 4. them that are deade in christ Wherefore in despite of the deuill and the Pope this blessing apperteyneth to all them that dye in the Lord Iesus Christ as true members of his body and not to them onely that shedde their bloud for christ True it is that all they that would liue godly in Christ Iesus suffer persecution but not all to the death else who are those innumerable Saincts that no man can number of all nations and tongues which S. Iohn sawe Apoc. 7. who are likewise in happy and blessed rest without all maner lacke or hurt hunger thirst or heate but when you are weary of that interpretation you wring out an other that they in purgatory also be happy because they be sure of saluation at last and the rest from labours is either the rest from sinne or else no more but ioy of conscience witnesse of this exposition is the canon of the Masse The witnesse the matter and he that vseth it are all of like credit But if I might pose your conscience M. Allen can you call that a happy rest which is ioyned with such torment misery as you beare men in hand is in purgatory Haue you forgotten that you sayd yere while of Tabitha and Lazarus that it was a benefite for them to be deliuered out of purgatory into this life and is it now a blessing to be dispatched out of this life into purgatory And as for that which you allege out of the canon of your masse declareth that your masse was patched togither of many peeces of diuers colours For you pray for the rest of them whome you confesse to be at rest in Christ you wish easement for them whom you affirme to sleepe in peace As though in Christ were not perfect rest as though in peace there were torment and this exposition you your selfe are weary of also and turne agayne to your former and then backe againe to the latter An vnconstaâ—t man is vncerteyne in all his wayes yet all were litle worth if this place helped not to proue purgatory also For the payne of purgatory is a sweete payne a happy rest a fatherly discipline And yet as Augustine sayth it is but for small faultes or as you say for great faultes that by penance are made small And is God such a mercifull father to punish small faultes so extremely in his children whom he pardoneth of all their great and heynous sinnes O blasphemous helhoundes An aunsvvere to their negatiue argument vvith the Conclusion of the booke CAP. XVII 1 BVt yet one common engine they haue as well for the impugnation of the trueth in this point as for the sore shaking of the weake walles of the simples faith allmost in all their fight that they kepe against the Catholikes VVhich though it be not stronge yet it is a marueillous fit reasoning for so fonde a faith For if thou caste an earnest eye vpon their whole doctrine thou shalt finde that it principally and in a maner wholy consistithe in taking awaye or wasting an other faith that it founde before so that the preachers thereof must euer be destroyers pluckers downe and rooters vp of the trueth grounded before VVill you see then what a Protestants faith and doctrine is deny onely and make a negation of some one article of our belefe and that is a forme of his faith which is lightely negatiue There is no free will there is no workes needefull to saluation there is no Church knowen there is no chiefe gouernour therof there be not seuen sacraments they doe not conferre gratiam geue grace Baptisme is not necessary to saluation Christ is not present on the aultar there is no sacrifice there is no priesthood there is no aultar there is no profit in prayers to sainctes or for the deade there is no purgatory Christ went not downe to hell there is no limbus finally if you liste goe forwarde in your negatiue faith there is no hell there is no heauen there is no god Doe you not see here a trimme faith and a substantiall looke in Caluins Institutions and you shall finde the whole frame of this wasting faith There is nothing in that blasphemous booke nor in their Apologies but a gathered bodie of this no faith For so it must needes be that teacheth no trueth but plucketh vp that trueth which before was planted Is it not a prety doctrine that Caluine makes of the sacraments when he telleth not the force of any of them all but onely standeth like a fearce monstruous swhine rooting vp our fathers faith therein CAP. XVII 1 IT vexeth you at the very hart that we require the authority of the holy Scriptures to confirme your doctrine hauing a playne commaundement out of the word of God that if any man teach otherwise then the word of God alloweth he is to be accursed And therfore you runne to a childish kinde of Sophistry to say that our argument is negatiue A perlous point that almost all the Papistes thinke them selues more then Chrisippus or Aristoteles when they tell vs that our argument is ab auctoritate negatiuè Alacke poore logicke All knowledge that christian men haue of heauenly thinges is grounded vpon the authority of Gods word therefore as it is no good logicke to conclude negatiuely of one place or booke of Scripture this is not conteined in it therefore it is not true so of the whole doctrine of God wherein all truth necessary to saluation is