an effect of omnipotency Dicitur enim Deus omnipotens faciendo quod vult non patiendo quod non vult i. For God is sayd to be omnipotent by doing that which he will not by suffering that which he will not 8. From hence it must needes follow that heere can bee no miracle and that not onely because miracles are extraordinary works of God and this change of substances is ordinary in euery Sacrament as they say and miracles are not contrary but aboue or beside nature but this is flat contrary not onely to nature but to God himselfe the Authour and Creator of nature and miracles are alwaies sensible but this is insensible and cannot bee discerned by any outward meanes but also for that no miracle can imply contradiction in it selfe as this must needes doe if it were as they would haue it For when Aarons Rodde was turned into a Serpent it left to be a Rodde and when it turned into a Rodde it left to be a Serpent And when the Water was turned into Wine it left to bee Water it was impossible that it should haue beene both Water and Wine at one time in one and the same respect or a Rodde and a Serpent at once And so of all other miracles there is not one to be found that enwrappeth contradictions Besides all which Saint Augustine concludeth peremptorily that Sacraments may haue honour vt Religiosa but not amazement vt admiranda as miracles And Thomas Aquinas more plainely saith Ea quae contradictionem implioant sub diuina potentia non continentur i. Those things which imply contradiction cannot fall vnder the power of God 9. They reply that they teach no more then Cyprian did thirteeene hundred yeeres since who said that Christ did beare himselfe in his owne hands at the last Supper I answere that Cyprian in that place the rest of the Fathers elsewhere did often vse hyperbolicall speeches to extoll the dignity of the Sacrament and to shew the certainty and efficacy of our communion with Christ and of our spirituall eating of him but they neuer meant so as the Romanists doe that Christ bore his reall naturall substantiall body in his owne hands and gaue it to his Apostles after a fleshly manner For Cyprian expoundeth himselfe in another place when hee saith that Sacraments haue the names of those things which they signifie And Saint Augustine more plainly saith that Christ did beare himselfe in his owne hands after a sort If it had beene really and substantially what neede hee haue added after a sort for this word as they vse to speake in Schooles is Terminus diminutiuus qui realitati vbique detrahit A diminitiue terme which detracteth from the realtie and true being of a thing And this speech Christ bore himselfe in his owne hands after a sort is all one with that in another place After a certaine manner the Sacrament of Christs body is Christs body So that it is playne that when the Fathers said Christ bore himselfe in his owne hands they meant nothing but that he bore in his hands the Sacrament of himselfe and thus this first contradiction is irreconciliable I come to a second and that in the Sacrament which is no lesse palpable 10. It is a principle of their Religion and of the truth it selfe that Christ after his resurrection ascended into heauen and there filleth a place and hath figure forme and disposition of parts and is circumscribed within a certaine compasse according to the nature of a body This is Bellarmines owne assertion and it is consonant to sound doctrine confirmed both by manifest Scripture and vniforme consent of ancient Fathers for Scripture Christ is said to bee like vnto vs and not barely like but like in all things that is both in nature and in the qualities and quantities of nature And to put the matter out of doubt onely one thing is excepted wherin he is not like vnto vs and that is Sinne whereby he is absolutely left to bee like vnto vs in all other things And lest any should thinke that that was true onely whilst he was here vpon earth the Apostle in the forenamed places applyeth it to him being in heauen for hee saith Wee haue not an High-priest which cannot be touched with our infirmities and therefore let vs boldly goe vnto the throne of grace where the Apostles argument were of no force if he were like vnto vs here on earth onely in the state of his humilitie and not also now being in heauen in the state of glory for sinfull man might thus reply True Christ was like our nature whilst he liued amongst vs but now being glorified he hath put off our nature and therefore we dare not presume to come vnto him Yes saith the Apostle he is still like vnto vs and hath not put off our nature but the infirmities of our nature onely which were the sequels of sinne as we also shall doe when we shall be translated into heauen after the resurrection And this Saint Luke more plainely auoucheth when he saith that after he had blessed them he departed from them and was carryed vp into heauen and that whilst they beheld he was taken vp by a cloude out of their sight Where we see plainely a locall motion of Christ from earth to heauen and therefore there must needs be of him a locall situation in the heauens As also Saint Peter in expresse words doeth affirme when he saith that the heauens must containe or receiue him vntill the time of restauration of all things Thus this doctrine is consonant to holy Scripture 11. Now let vs see how it was entertayned by the ancient Fathers thus they write Athanasius When Christ said I goe to the Father he spake of the humane nature which hee haed assumed for it is the propertie of him to goe and come who is circumscribed with certaine limits of places and forsaking that place where it was commeth to the place where it was not Nazianzene saith Wee professe one and the same Lord passible in the flesh impossible in his Godhead circumscribed in body vncircumscribed in deity the same both earthly and heauenly visible and inuisible comprehended in place and not comprehended Againe Christ as man is circumscribed and contayned in place Christ as God is vncircumscribed and contayned within no place Augustine saith Christ as man according to his body is in a place but as God filleth all places Cyril saith Though Christ hath taken from hence the presence of his body yet in the maiestie of his deitie hee is alwayes present Fulgentius saith One and the same Christ a locall Man of a Woman his mother who is the infinite God of God his Father Vigilius the Martyr Christ is in all places according to the nature of his deitie but is contayned in one place according to the nature of his humanity Damascene The difference of natures
in Christ is not taken away by their vnion in one person but the proprietie of each nature is kept safe Leo one of their Popes Christ hath vnited both natures together by such a league that neither glorification doth consume the inferiour nature nor assumption doth diminish the superiour To these I might adde many more but these are sufficient to prooue that this doctrine touching the truth of Christs humanitie now glorified in the heauens that he hath retained our nature with all the proprieties sinne onely and infirmities excepted is concordant both with holy Scripture and with the voited opinions of all reuerend antiquitie 12. Now this doctrine is crossed and contradicted by that other doctrine of theirs touching Transubstantiation and the carnall and corporall presence of Christ in the Sacrament for this they teach that the body of Christ is in the Sacrament with the whole magnitude thereof together with a true order and disposition of parts flesh bloud and bone as he was borne liued crucified rose againe and yet they say that the same body in the Eucharist though it hath magnitude and extention and disposition of parts agreeable to the forme of an humane body neuerthelesse doth not fill a place neither is to bee extended nor proportioned to the place which it possesseth here be pregnant and manifest contradictions Christ hath one body and yet many bodies euen as many as there are consecrated hoasts in the world that is it may be a thousand bodies at once and so his body is one and not one at the same time Againe this body is in heauen in a place and the same body at the same instant is on the Altar without being compassed about with place to be in heauen and to be in earth at one instant are contradictory propositions being vnderstoode of finite substances and not of that infinite essence which filleth all places for they imply thus much to be in heauen and net to be in heauen to be in earth and not to be in earth which be the rules of Logicke and Reason the mother of Logicke cannot be together true Againe at one moment of time to be aboue and yet below to bee remooued farre off and yet bee neere adioyning to come to one place and yet not to depart from another are so meerely opposite to each other that they cannot be reconciled And lastly a body to haue forme magnitude extention and disposition of parts and yet not with these to fill a place is as much as to say it is a body and yet not a bodie it is in a place and yet not in that very same place these are contradictions so euident that it is impossible for the wit of man to reconcile them 13. Notwithstanding the aduocates of the Romish Synagogue labour might and maine in this taske and by many arguments endeauour to reunite these oppositions first by Gods omnipotency secondly by the qualities of a glorified body and thirdly by arguments from the discourse of reason From hence they thus argue All things are possible to God and therefore this is possible neither is there any thing excepted from the omnipotency of God saue these things Quae facere non est facere sed deficere as Bellarmine speaketh that is which to doe is not to doe but to vndoe and doe argue rather impotency then potency of which sort that one body should be in many places at once is not saith he because it is not in expresse words excepted in Scripture as to lye and to denye himselfe are To this I answere first that albeit the Scripture doth not expresly except this from Gods omnipotency to make one body to bee in two places at once yet implyedly it doth for it denyeth power or rather weaknesse to God to doe those things which imply contradiction of which kinde this is for one body to be in many places at once And Bellarmine himselfe saith that this is a first principle in the light of nature euery thing is or is not which being taken away all knowledge faileth Secondly I answere that the power of God is not so much to be considered as his will nor what he can doe but what he hath reucaled in his word that hee will doe for if wee argue from his power to the effect Wee may deuise God saith Tertullian to doe any thing because he could doe it And therefore the same Authour saith Dei posse velle est Dei nonposse nolle God can of stones raise vp Children vnto Abraham saith Iohn Baptist Now if any should hence conclude that any of Abrahams children were made of stones in a proper speech all would thinke him to haue no more wit then a stone And to this accordeth Theodoret when hee saith That God can doe all things which hee will but God will not doe any of these things which are not agreeable to his nature But for to make a body to be without quantity and a quantity to be without dimension and dimension without a place that is as much to say a body without a body and quantity without quantity and a place without a place is contrary to Gods nature and therefore cannot bee agreeable to his will and so hath no correspondence with his power And lastly I answere that it is no good reason to say God can doe such a thing therefore he doth it but rather thus God will doe such a thing therefore he can doe it and thus the Scripture teacheth vs to reason Whatsoeuer pleased the Lord that did hee in heauen and in earth and not whatsoeuer hee could doe but whatsouer it pleased him to do and the Leper said to our Sauiour Christ Master if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane no◠if thou canst thou wilt but if thou wilt thou canst 14. Secondly whereas they obiect that Christs bodie after his glorification is indued with more excellent qualities then any other naturall body by reason of that super-excellent glory wherewith it is adorned aboue all others and thereby as he came to his Apostles the dores being shut and rose out of his graue notwithstanding the stone that lay vpō it and appeared vnto Paul on earth being at the same time in heauen so he is in the Eucharist after a strange and miraculous manner and yet is in heauen at the same time I answere first with Theodoret that Christs bodie is not changed by his glorification into another nature but remaineth a true bodie filled with diuine glory And with Augustine that Christ gaue vnto his flesh immortality but tooke not away nature and in another place That though Christ had a spirituall body after his resurrection yet it was a true bodie because he said to his Disciples Palpate videte feele and see and as his body was then after his resurrection so it is now being in the heauens Secondly that when hee came out of the graue the Angell remoued the stone
with Hierome and Iustine Martyr and when he entred into the house the dores being shut that the dores and walls yeelded vnto him a passage as vnto their Creator with Theodoret and Cyrill and that when hee appeared vnto Paul going to Damascus if it was in the aire or on the earth as it may be doubted that then this body was not in heauen at the same instant for farre bee it from vs so to pin vp our Lord in the Heauens that he cannot be where he pleaseth And this is Thomas Aquinas opinion in expresse words which Bellarmine as expresly contradicteth 15. Thirdly by discourse of reason hee thus laboureth to reconcile these contradictions and thus disputeth God being but one simple and inuisible essence is in infinite places at once and he might create another world and fill it with his presence and be in two worlds at one instant and the soule of man is wholy in euery part of the body and God is able to conserue the soule in a part that is cut off from the body therefore it implieth no contradiction to be in two places at once againe one place may containe two bodies and yet be not two places but one as when Christ rose out of the graue the Sepulchre being shut therefore one body may be in two places at once and yet not two bodies but one Lastly there be many other mysteries of religion as strange and difficult to be conceiued as this and yet are beleeued therefore this also is to be beleeued as well as they 16. A miserable cause sure that needeth such defences the weakenesse of these reasons argueth the feeblenesse of the cause for who knoweth not but that there is no similitude betweene the infinite God and a finite Creature nor any proportion betwixt a Spirit and a body and that à posse ad esse from may bee to must bee is no good consequence Adde that one place cannot hold two bodies nor euer did except they were so vnited that in respect of place they made but one And lastly that all those mysteries of Religion which he nameth to wit the Trinity the Incarnation the Resurrection the Creation and Annihilation c. haue their foundation in holy Scripture and therefore are to be receiued as doct ines of truth though transcending the spheare of nature and reason but this strange mysterie of Transubstantiation hath no ground in Scripture as he himselfe confesseth and therefore it is not to be beleeued as the other are without better reasons then he bringeth for the defence thereof but like lips like lettuces such as the cause is such are the defences both nought and weake as any man may see that is not muffled with errour and thus this second contradiction remaines irreconciliable 17. A third contradiction is also in and about the Sacrament which is this they teach that the matter in Sacrament is partly the outward Elements and partly the thing signified and represented by them and that betwixt these there is a certaine relation and similitude as in Baptisme the outward signe which is water and the thing signified which is the bloud of Christ make the matter of that Sacrament or the outward wasting by water and the inward by the Spirit and the relation is as the water washeth and purgeth away all filthinesse of the body so Christs bloud purgeth away both the guilt and filth of sinne from the soule and so in the Eucharist the Elements of Bread and Wine together with the bodie and bloud of Christ are the matter of the Sacrament and the relation is as those elements doe feed nourish and strengthen and cheare the bodie of man so the body and bloud of Christ doe seed nourish and strengthen and cheare the soule vnto eternall life and as those elements must be eaten and digested or else they nourish not so Christ must also be eaten and as it were digested and after a sort conuerted into our substance or else he is no food vnto our soules This is the very doctrine of the Church of Rome and it is agreeable to the truth for Bellarmine thus speaketh Species illae significant quidem cibum spiritualem sed non sunt ipsae cibus spiritualis that is The signes in the Scrament signifie our spirituall foode but they are not the spirituall foode it selfe And in another place he saith that signum in Sacramento reisignatae similitudinem gerit The signes in the Sacrament doe beare the similitude of the thing signified And in the same Chapter hee sayth more plainely that God would neuer haue ordained one thing to signifie another vnlesse it had a certaine analogie or similitude with it And herein he accordeth with the Master of sentences who defines a Sacrament thus To be a visible forme of an inuisible grace bearing the Image of that grace And with Hugo who saith That a Sacrament is a corporall or materiall element propounded outwardly to the senses by similitude representing and by institution signifying and by Sanctification containing some inuisible and spirituall grace And that this relation is in eating and nourishing Bellarmine in another place confesseth in direct words when he saith that That same outward eating in the Sacrament doth signifie the inward eating and refreshing of the soule but is not the cause thereof and that that is so necessarie a condition that without it we should not be partakers of that diuine nourishment And to this agreeth Saint Augustine who plainely affirmeth that if Sacraments had not a certaine similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they were not Sacraments at all And what this similitude is he declareth in another place where hee saith that We receaue visible meate in the Sacrament but the Sacrament is one thing and the vertue of the Sacrament is another And Thomas Aquinas giueth this as a reason why Bread and Wine are the fittest matter of this Sacrament because men most commonly are nourished therewith his words are these As water is assumed in the Sacrament of Baptisme to the vse of spirituall washing because corporall washing is commonly made by water so bread and wine wherewith most commonly men are nourished are taken vp in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to the vse of the spirituall eating By which it followeth that if water did not wash it was no fit element for the Sacrament of Baptisme so if bread and wine doe not nourish they are no fit signes for the Lords Supper and for this cause our Sauiour at the institution of this Sacrament gaue this commandement to his Disciples that they should take and eate and the Apostle calleth it the Lords Supper and the Lords Table 18. This therefore is their own doctrine and it is grounded vpon the truth But listen a little how they contradict this by their miraculous monster Transubstantiation for when they say that the substance of the bread and wine is vtterly
great antiquity And indeed why should it not bee obserued if the Pope cannot erre or if it be not fit to bee obserued how is it true that the Pope erreth not in defining matters of Religion The fourth was ordained by Paulus the second anno 1466. as they themselues will not deny 25. Besides these of the Virgin Mary they haue many other festiuall dayes of the same nature and stampe as the feast of Corpus Christi of the inuention of the Crosse of the dedication of Churches of All soules and a number such like all which are confessed nouelties for in the Apostles times and Primitiue Church during the space of foure hundred yeeres none of these were once heard of The feast of the Crosse was Gregory the fourths inuention anno 828. and Corpus Christi day was first ordained by Pope Vrbane the fourth about the yeere 1264. as confesseth Bellarmine himselfe who of his Apostolicall power gaue spirituall wages and special pardon to all that should personally obserue the houres of this holy solâ—mnity as at Mattens an hundred dayes pardon at Masse asmuch and so at first and second Euen-song at the houres of prime of tierce of sixth of noone of complete fourty dayes apiece and thus in like manner for the whole weeke following 26. The annuall seaâ—ts of dedication of Churches grew from a sinister imitation of Constantine the great who because hee kept a solemne day at the dedication of a certain Church which hee had built therefore it was receiued as a Law for Princes actions are the peoples directions to solemnize euery yeere a holy day vpon the day of the dedication of their Church And all Soules was the deuice of one Saint Odyll who as they write in Cicilia in the I le of Vulcane heard the voyces howlings of Deuils which complained with great griefe that the soules of them that were dead were taken away out of their hands by almes and prayers whereupon this feast was ordained wherein prayer should be made for al Soules And as for this so for the other they deuised strange miracles to win credit vnto them which plainely argueth their nouelty in that they stood in need of miracles to confirme them as for example touching the inuention of the holy Crosse they fable that it was first found in Paradise by Seth the son of Adam to whom Michael the Angell gaue a branch of the forbidden tree which hee planted vpon the graue of his Father Adam which tree beeing after found by Salomon in mount Libanus was translated vnto his house and there beeing worshipped by the Queene of Saba and foretold to bee the tree whereon the Sauiour of the world should bee hanged and by which Ierusalem should bee destroyed was therefore taken downe and buried deepe in the ground by Salomon in which place afterward the Iewes diging a pit for a poole to water their cattell found this tree from which such vertue arose to that poole that the Angels descended to mooue the water so that the first that bathed himselfe therein after the motion was healed of his disease whatsoeuer it was as wee read Iohn 5. Now vpon this tree was Christ crucified which being afterward buried againe in the earth was found out by Queene Helene the mother of Constantine through the discouery of one Iudas a Iew who was conuerted to the Christian faith by the sweet sauour that arose from the Crosse and the quaking of the earth and then that Crosse was discerned from the two other Crosses of the theeues by restoring life to a dead corps whereupon it was laide and the Deuill cryed in the aire that this Iudas had betrayed him as the other had done his Master Christ By these strange miracles they dignisy that holy feast and indeed shew it to bee nothing els but a meere fable and forsooth all this they fetch out of the Gospell of Nichodemus 27. So for the dedication of Churches they tell vs this miracle that when a Church of the Arrians was hal owed by Christian men and the reliks of Saint Fabian Saint Sebastian Saint Agathe brought into it the people being assembled heard suddenly the fearefull gronings gruntings of an hog running vp and downe inuisibly and seeking a passage out of the Church and for three nights together â—umbluâ—g in the roofe with an hideous noise which say they was nothing but the banishing of the Deuill out of that Church by the hallowing and dedicating of it Who would not then obserue deuoutly this feast seeing the benefit is so great that commeth by the thing it selfe whereof it is a memoriall But let vs leaue these tables to their golden or rather leaden Legend of lyes as their owne Canus termeth it and shut vp the point that both these heere named and a number such like festiuall dayes more precisely honoured and obserued in the Romish Church and with greater deuotion t 〈…〉 n Gods holy Sabbath it selfe are new inuentions as sprung vp from superstition so ordained to maintain the same and haue no ground either of true antiquity to countenance them or holy Scripture to vphold them but Iewish fables Apocrypha writings old wiues tales and forged miracles 28. Fourthly I requiâ—e satisfaction for their ceremonies vsed in both the Sacraments as first in the Eucharist their pompous circumgestation of it to bee seene viewed and adored which Cassander acknowledgeth to haue beene Praeter veterem morem mâ—ntem haud longo tempore inductaâ—â— Beside the custome and meaning of antiquity and brought in of late time And Bellarmine also to haue beene first ordained by Vrbanus the fourth their mixture of water with the wine and separation of leauen from the bread came both in from Pope Alexander the seuenth as witnesse both Polidore Virgill and Durantius Yea and Bonauenture doth confesse that this practice of mixing of water cannot bee read of in all the Scriptures nor found in the first institution of the Sacrament Their not breaking the bread out of a loafe but giuing it in small cakes Salmeron the Iesuite acknowledgeth to be contrary to the ancient practice of the Church Their dipping the consecrated hoste in the cup Suarez another Iesuite yeeldeth not to haue beene vsed by our Sauiour Christ and therefore must needs bee an Innouation Their putting the Sacrament not into the hands but into the mouths of the communicants the former Salmeron doth freely confesse to bee an action contrary to the first institution Lastly their various and ridiculous gestures murmuring dopping staring crossing c. with the strange garments vsed by the Priests in the time of their administration Six of Priests in signe of perfection because in sixe dayes God created Heauen and earth nine for Bishops in token that they are spirituall like the nine orders of Angels and fifteene for both in token of the fifteene degrees of Vertues No man can bee so simple but must needs see that they were neuer
assertion that God can not make those things that bee done to be vndone doth not destroy but build vp the omnipotency of God seing as Bellarmine himselfe acknowledgeth Facere contradictoria non est efficere sed deficere to doe things contradictorie is not to effect and doe but to faile and vndoe and therefore an argument of impotency rather then of omnipotency and for that cause Pererius another Iesuite auoucheth the same doctrine with vs in these words God is said to be omnipotent not onely because he can do whatsoeuer is contained in the world but also because nothing is impossible vnto him except that which to be done implieth contradiction what an impudent flander then is this to say that wee deny Gods omnipotency by affirming that hee cannot make that to bee vndone which is done especially seeing wee say further with Tertullian and Saint Augustine that therefore God cannot do it because he will not do it he cannot therefore deny himselfe not make that to be vndone which is done because hee will not and he will not because it would rather be an argument of weakenes then a power in him so to doe 76. Againe they challenge Caluine of denying the immortality of the soule And why thinke you Because they would make him to say that the soules of the iust are kept in certaine secret receptacles till the day of Iudgement and doe not till then inioy the presence of God Another palpable slander for first Caluine doth not say so secondly if hee did yet it doth not follow thereupon that hee denyeth the immortality of the soule for the first let Caluine first speake for himselfe and then let his aduersaries also speak for him Touching the place where the soules of the iust remaine after death he affirmeth plainely in diuers places that they liue with God and enioy the happy felicity of his kingdome though their perfect happinesse is deferred till the second comming of Christ when their bodies and soules shal be re-united and made partakers of the same blessednes This he testifieth not in one or two but in many places how therefore can they lay to his charge that opinion touching secret receptacles where soules are reserued till the day of the resurrection 77. Mary sayth Bellarmine in two respects first because he maketh Christ alone to haue entred into the Sanctuary of heauen and there to present the prayers of the people resting in the vtter court to God secondly because he sayth that the Saints departed are ioyned together with vs by faith therefore sayth Bellarmine He must needs deny that they see God seeing where faith is there is not sight But his conclusion in both is false though the premises be true for as the Atrium or vtter Court of the Temple to which Caluine alludeth was a part of the Temple so by proportion the vtter Court of Heauen is a part of Heauen witnesse their owne Ribera expounding that place of Exodus whereunto Caluine alludeth and therefore Caluine if hee did say so doth not banish the iust soules out of Heauen but onely placeth Christ our high Priest betwixt God and them But what if hee speake onely of the Saints liuing and not departed and meane by the vtter Court not any part of Heauen but the Church militant heere on earth If this be true what shamelesse slaunderers are these fellowes to wring a sense out of Caluine whereof there is no show in the words let the place be consulted and viewed and their malice and impudency will appeare most notorious 78. Againe that faith which hee speaketh of in the second place is nothing else but their stedfast beliefe and expectation of the resurrection of their bodies which liueth in the faithfull soules separated from this mortality vntill the full accomplishment of their happinesse aswell as in the Saints militant neither can I conceiue any absurdity in this that the Saints departed should haue faith in this respect seeing they must needs haue hope which two Theologicall vertues are so perplexed together that one cannot bee without the other and therefore Clemens Alexandrinus calleth hope the blood of faith and Saint Paul sayth 1. Cor. 13. that faith and hope shall cease together when charity shall suruiue and remaine If then the Saints departed hope for the resurrection of their bodies why may they not bee said also to beleeue it and yet for all that be in heauen too 79. Neither is the other place obiected out of Caluine by Bellarmine any whit repugnant to this doctrine for though he sayth that it is a foolish and rash part to dispute curiously what the place is that the Saints possesse in Heauen and whether they inioy the full ioyes of heauen or no yet in the very same place hee affirmeth that they are in the presence of Christ in Paradise and that they onely expect the fruition of that promised glory which their bodies also shal be possessors of at the comming of Christ 80. Thus we haue heard Caluine speake for himselfe Let vs now heare his enemies speaking for him in this case then which there cannot be a stronger argument of his innocency and in this two may stand for all Bellarmine is the first hee directly confesseth that Caluine placed the soules of the Saints in heauen euen before the comming of Christ and to him subscribeth Fenardentius another Iesuite who affirmeth that this was Caluines opinion that the faithfull when they should depart out of this world doe behold God neere vnto them and as it were set before their eyes And thus Caluine is quit from this enditement by the witnesse of his profest aduersaries 81. Secondly let it be granted which neuerthelesse can no wayes be prooued that Caluine held this opinion touching the residence of soules in some secret place yet it doth not follow that therefore he denyed the immortality of the soule For then Origen Iustine Martyr Tertullian Irenaeus Lactantius Victorinus Chrysostome Theodoret Theophilact Ambrose Bernard and diuers others of the ancient godly Fathers should be enwrapped within the same errour who all held that opinion touching soules departed and yet were as farre from gain-saying or once imagining any opposition to the soules immortality as these backbiting Shemiâ—s are from charity and truth 82. Another lowde and lewde slander of theirs against our Religion is that it maintaineth and warranteth rebellion and disobedience against lawfull Princes Which if they could prooue wee would confesse that our Religion was naught seeing Gods word commandeth euery soule to be subiect to the higher powers but yet not worse then theirs which is without all contradiction guilty of this crime which they impute vnto vs as hath beene prooued but let vs heare their proofes they are of two sorts first from the doctrines of some of our learned writers and secondly from the practice of our professors In the first kind they obiect Caluine Beza Luther Knox Buchanan
200. some 300. Benefices most of which they neuer saw nor knew nor regarded how they were serued or starued what doth hee but shew himselfe rather a Wolfe than a Shepheard This kind of dispensation Saint Bernard in his time calleth a dissipation And Iohn Picas the famous Earle of Mâ—randula in an Oration to Pope Leo the 10. complaineth of as a notorious corruption in the Church in his dayes Now then to conclude the poynt if to maintaine Incest Sodometry adultery fornication periury disobedience to Parents rebellion against Princes and murther be not to giue licence to most horrible and foule sinnes lâ—t all men iudge and then consider what that Religion is to be iudged of which giueth either open or secret dispensation to all these 10. This is the first Romish doctrine directly tending to liberty A second nothing inferiour to the former is their doctrine of popish pardons and Indulgences a doctrine indeed full of all licentiousnes stuft with impiety and letting the reynes loose to all manner of villany For thus they teach that the Pope being Christs Vicar heere on earth hath the keyes of the kingdome of Heauen in custody to admit in by Indulgence or to shut out by excommunication as hee shall see cause and that the merits of Martyrs to wit their workes of supererogation which they haue more then they need for their owne saluation which mixt with the merites of Christ they call the treasure of the Church are to bee dispensed and disposed at his pleasure 11. The limits and largenes of these pardons they stretch so farre that they make them of more force then the death and passion of Christ for as they teach Christs death freeth onely a culpa aterna poena that is from the guilt of the fault and the eternall punishment due vnto it but not a poena temporali from the temporall punishment but these popish pardons acquit and discharge both from the guilt and from the punishment temporall and eternall as some of them affirme and they that mince it finest from the guilt and temporall punishment so that Christs passion commeth short of his Vicars pardon and the seruant can doe more then the Master by their Religion for though the efficacie of these pardons dependeth vpon the merits of Christ yet that is but in part for the Saints merits must be mixed with them or else they alone make no good medicine and the Pope must dispence them or else they are of no value Neither doe they firetch onely to those that are aliue but to the dead also And that not onely in Purgatory but in Hell Out of both which places say they both the suburbs and the Citie the Pope is able to deliuer whom he pleaseth and place them in heauen the seate of the blessed this is the opinion of diuers of them Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence auoucheth almost as much leauing out hell for he saith that the Pope in respect of his absolute iurisdiction may absolue all that are in Purgatory and empty the prison at once marke his reasons for sayth he seeing Gregory by his prayer discharged Traiane from the paine of hell which is infinite Therfore much more may the Pope by communication of indulgences absolue all that are in Purgatory from that punishment which is but finite And for asmuch as Christ may take away all paine therefore the Pope also who is his Vicar may These be the Archbishops goodly reasons the one whereof is meere foolish and friuolous the other blasphemous but howsoeuer it be yet thousands of ignorant persons haue receiued these as their Creed and by them beene seduced to the vtter ruine and destruction of their soules 12. And to that height of impudency are these pardon-mongers growne that they stocke not to promise plenary remission of all sinnes to all that either come on pilgrimage to Rome or miscarry in their iourney or that visite the holy places there especially the 7. priuiledged Churches promising to some 50. to some a 100. to some 3000. yeares of pardon Yea Boniface the eight granted of his bountifull liberality 82000. yeares pardon for euery time saying a prayer of S. Augustine printed in a Table at Venice and that toties quoties Iohn the 22. granted twentie yeres pardon to euery one that doth but bow his head at the naming of Iesus Here is a notable pardon indeed a man may in one day prouide for millions of ages and not onely for himselfe but to helpe his friends out of Purgatory Besides all this their holy Father the Pope vseth to consecrate and hallow an infinite number of Crucifixes and Medailes and Agnus Dei's Holy graines or Beads and such like trash and send them abroad into the world that whosoeuer weareth one of them about him if he bee at the poynt of death and say but in his heart the name Iesus shall haue a plenary and full forgiuenesse of all his sins 13. But what should I rake any deeper into this filthy puddle I might spend much time and trauaile in deciphering the infinite and grosse absurdities of this monstrous doctrine the very naming whereof is a sufficient confutation I referre the Reader to others that haue amply discouered these secrets of the whore of Babylon But to returne to the poynt Is not this a doctrine I pray you of licentiousnesse who would feare to sinne when pardon may be obtayned at so low a rate for bowing the head saying ouer a short prayer visiting a Church creeping to a Crosse wearing a Crucifixe pardon may be purchased for sinnes without number and that for yeares without number What is the height of liberty if this be not But yet they ascend higher for there is a great Mart of all these Indulgences at Rome there you may haue them at a very lowe price rather then goe without yea cheaper than any other ware and lest Rome should seeme too farre to fetch them thence there are petty markets and faires of them in euery Country and the Pedlers that carry about this trash are the Priests and Iesuites Leo the tenth sent Tâ—â—elius about with his Pardons offering to euery one for the payment of tenne shillings and not a penny vnder to set at liberty the soule of any one which they should name in Purgatory And of late it is sayd that the Iesuites brought into England Agnus Dei's by thousands which they sold at what rate they list to poore seduced Papists Peroun the French Cardinall brought with him from Rome many such hallowed and holy things as some say by the sale thereof to helpe to defray his charges which he was at in that costly iourney 14. What should I name vnto you their odious marchandize and setting to sale of all manner of sinne called taxa poenitentiaria Apostolica whereby impunity is graunted to euery sinne be it neuer so grieuous so the party payeth according to the rate for his
enforcement to take vengeance on those parts which had done her the mischiefe and to eate them also with many other filthy circumstances which I shame to speake of but in conclusion to make vp the matter with a miracle two midwiues were brought from heauen to Mistresse Nunne by the ghost of Henry Murdach the Archbishop of Yorke which discharged her of her childe without paine and carryed it forth with them to heauen with lie and all so that it was neuer after seene Is not this penance thinke you able to terrifie any one from committing the like sinne or rather might not this Nunne say as another of her sexe and profession said after she had had three Bastards which proued great Clarkes and learned men in the Church that it was a happy scape which brought forth three such worthy bastards so this might call her Sonne an happy Sonne which was honoured with so great a miracle But let the Popes lawes bee broken or his triple Crowne touched and he shall smoake for it that dares do this 25. Their fourth doctrine tending apparently and by necessary consequence to loosnesse is their doctrine of vowed chastity whereby they enioyne single life and prohibite matrimony to certaine kinds of men and women to wit such as enter into holy orders teaching and maintaining that for such it is better to go to harlots then to marry and that to go to a harlot now and then is but a sinne of infirmitie as Pighius calleth it but to marry is no better then a resolued deliberate or continuall incest vtterly without all shame What an occasion or rather a cause this point of Romish doctrine hath beene of horrible silthinesse and wickednesse of life wofull experience in all places where the Romish Religion beareth sway manifestly declareth For to omit that this doctrine is but an vpstart doctrine in respect of true antiquity brought in first by Pope Seritius three hundred and eighty yeares after Christ who was the first that made any restraint of Priests marriages as it is confessed by Polidore Virgill the decree on the Canon law and Clictoueus and yet tooke not effect vntill the time of Gregory the seuenth called Hidlebrand in the yeare one thousand seuentie and foure as also to omit that this doctrine is both contrary to the precepts of holy Scripture and practice of holy men both vnder the law and vnder the Gospell for vnder the lawe both Priests and Prophets were married and vnder the Gospell both Apostles and Disciples had their wiues and after them Bishops and Prestbyters and the doctrine of the Scripture is Marriage is honourable among all men and again If they cannot abstaine let them marrie for it is better to marrie then to burne Yea and Saint Paul giueth order concerning the wiues and children of Bishops which had beene needlesse if they might haue none And lastly to omit that this prohibiting of marriage is called by Saint Paul one of the doctrines of deuils euery one of which might be a sufficiēt argument not only to euince the vnsoundnesse of this doctrine but also to demonstrate how likely itmust needs be to occasionate sinne comming not from God and therfore not likely to haue his blessing to follow it but from the deuill and therfore most likely to serue for the aduancement of his kingdome Notwithstanding to omit all these and to refer them to a fitter place let vs weigh this matter in the ballance of reason and wee shall easily find that a great breach is hereby made for mens vnruely and vntoward affections to burst forth into horrible and damnable sinnes 26. For first the gift of Continency is no common but a rare and singular gift which God bestoweth not vpon all but vpon some few this proposition is prooued by that aphorisme of our Sauiour All men cannot receaue this thing saue they to whom it is giuen and in the next verse He that is able to receaue it let him receaue it Whereby he insinuateth that who so euer taketh vpon him the vowe of chastity not being able to performe the same sinneth in so doing It is proued also by Saint Paul in this conclusion Euery man hath his proper gift of God one this way another that way for speaking of the gift of continencie he wisheth that all men were as he himselfe but seeing they are not so therefore he leaueth it free to marrie for such as haue not that gift But the Romish Clergy together with the infinite orders of religious Votaries are not few but many and those chosen promiscuously without any respect had whether they be endowed with that gift or no therefore being vnable to containe and forbidden to vse the lawfull remedy ordained by God they must of necessity fall into lawlesse and vnordinate lusts besides seeing that euery man that will be hee neuer so defamed for incontinency and so by experience knowne to be voyde of that same excellent gift may become a Votary and on the contrary our Sauiour saith euery man cannot receaue this what hope can there be of chastity among these men Is the gift of chastitie indeed so common that euery man may haue it that will Is it so ordinary that it is communicated to thousands of Priests Monkes Friars and Nunnes yea to innumerable of that order in all places why then what meant Cassander a learned diuine of their owne to say that the world was come to that passe that a man could scarce find one of an hundred that kept himselfe free from incontinency And Erasmus that the number of Monkes and Priests that liued in whoredome and incest was innumerable weigh the reason now in his iust termes they that cannot containe must needs burst forth either into secret or open vncleannesse But of infinite Romish votaries few or none haue that gift to containe therefore the rest must necessarily fall into either secret or open vncleannesse let any man iudge now whether this doctrine doth not directly tend vnto loosenesse 27. If any alleadge that this gift of continency may bee obtained by fasting and prayer I answere two things First If it may be thus obtained it is a signe that they vse but little the same holy exercises seeing fewe among them doe attaine vnto it Secondly I answere that continency is in the number of those gifts which may be denyed to a man salua salute without danger of his saluation because it is not necessarie to saluation nor common to all Gods children but peculiar to some Now the promise of our Sauiour aske and yee shall haue is meant of things necessary to saluation and not of particular and speciall gifts Thus Paul prayed thrice that the pricke in the flesh the messenger of Sathan might be remoued from him and some say this was concupiscence yet he was not heard in that which he prayed for because hee might be saued without it as it appeared in the answer giuen vnto
against thy selfe or of thy selfe but the equiuocatour doth both first against his Neighbonr when by a false suggestion he perswadeth him to beleeue an vntruth and of his neighbour when hee reporteth that of him which is vntrue and secondly of and against himselfe by confessing himselfe to be that which he is not or denying himselfe to be that which hee is Equiuocation then is a plaine breach of this Commandement and therefore a lye at the least The Prophet Ieremy interpreting this precept as the manner of the Prophets was giues it affirmatiuely thus Thou shalt sweare in truth c. And the Prophet Dauid saith that the righteous man speakes in truth Now what is it to sweare or speake in truth Azorius the Iesuite will tell vs that It is either for the confirmation of a truth or in a probable opinion of that to be true which we sweare or speake But the equiuocatours speach or oath is neither for the truth nor from the truth and therefore a lye if not grosse periury Againe the Prophet Dauid sets downe this as one note of a righteous man that he speakes the truth from his heart but the Equiuocatour either speaketh not the truth at all or at least speaketh not from the heart whereby he is euidently conuinced to be none of those that shall dwell in Gods Tabernacle or asend into his holy Mountaine Lastly when as Saint Paul was taxed by some false brethren to be carnally minded because promising to come to Corinthus he came not doth he excuse himselfe by equiuocation saying that he promised one thing and minded another no but he protesteth that he was minded as hee spake and that his word was not yea and nay but simply yea which proueth first that all our speach must be simple and plaine without equiuocation and secondly that such as abuse their speach in such sort are fleshly minded men full of lightnesse and vanity And thus we haue a full verdict of Philosophers Popish diuines Fathers and Scriptures and therefore why may not sentence bee pronounced and the equiuocator adiudged guilty both of lying and periury two sinnes which the law of God of Nature and Men haue alway condemned 12. Againe what more contrary to the lawe of God and man then adultery and fornication But the religion of the Church of Rome doth directly maintaine and allow both these by tolerating Stewes places of common whoredome open and knowne Strumpets prostituted to filthinesse and that not onely in all other places of the Popes Dominion but euen in Rome vnder his Holinesses owne nose and by his authentical approbation neither can this be imputed vnto them as a corruption in manners onely and not as an errour in doctrine for they not onely vphold these places and persons of infamy by their practice and winke at them by neglect of due execution of iustice but they are growne to that impudency that they allow maintaine and approue them by their doctrine as things necessary and commodious in a Common wealth and albeit they condemne them generally as sinnes yet they approue them againe as necessary and profitable as if there were any necessary profit or profitable necessity of sinnes which Saint Paul calleth the vnfruitfull workes of darknesse Ephes 5. 11. And thus with their owne mouthes they condemne themselues in that which they allow being Iudges of themselues and proclaimers of their owne shame 13. Their doctrine is this that a lesser euill is to bee permitted to the end that a greater may be auoyded and therefore brothel houses to be suffered lest all places should bee filled with filthy lusts and this their position they defend first by the testimonie of Saint Augustine in his Booke De Ordine secondly by deprauing and corrupting that place of Scripture where it is forbidden that there should bee any harlot in Israel thirdly by diuers reasons to wit if harlots were suffered to be free and at liberty without these Stewes they would sinne more licenciously and that by their first restraint to that one place they may be made ashamed and so at length conuerted and that knowne harlots are to be tolerated lest violence should be offered vnto honest Matrons and lastly they are not ashamed to reckon whoredome and fornication amongst those things which of their owne nature are not euill because the Apostles place it among things of that nature to wit bloud things strangled and things dedicated vnto Idols These bee their goodly reasons whereby they maintaine Stewes but no maruaile if they maintaine them seeing their holy Father the Pope is in some sort maintained by them The Romish harlots pay saith Agrippa vnto the Pope euery wecke a Iuly which is a certaine kind of Coyne for their liberty they prophane Gods word by a filthy Comment for take away say they harlots out of the Common-wealth and all places will abound with whoredomes whereas neuerthelesse the Common-wealths of Israel endured long without that stain where notwithstanding an harlot was not permitted It is recorded also that the harlots in Rome pay vnto the Pope a yearely pension which amounteth sometimes to thirtie thousand sometimes to fortie thousand Ducats Pope Paulus the third is said to haue had in his Tables the names of 45000. Curtezans which payd a monethly tribute vnto him And therefore not without great cause if gaine may be a sufficient cause did Pope Sixtus build a noble or famous Stewes at Rome as Agrippa witnesseth for seeing such large reuenewes arise to the holy Fathers purse by the meanes of strumpets why should they not be there maintained where not as Saint Paul saith godlinesse is gaine but gaine is godlinesse and all Religion is turned into lucre as Mantuan a Fryer Carmelite of their owne saith Ven alia nobis Templa sacerdotes altaria sacra coronae Ignis thura preces coelum est venalâ—â— Deusque With vs are all things to be bought and sold Priests Altars Temples Sacraments new and old Crownes Incense Prayers yea Heauen and God for gold Adde to these Whoredome Sodomitry and Incest and all manner of sinne and then there is a full square number But I would faine know how these holy Fathers can free themselues from the name and imputation of notorious bawdes seeing he is by all law esteemed a bawde that maintaineth harlots exposing them to the lust of others for gaine then which what can be more vilde and base 14. As touching the testimony of Saint Augustine and their other reasons I answere in a word first that when Saint Augustine wrote that Booke he was but Catecheumenus a nouice in Religion not well instructed in Christs Schoole and besides that it doth crosse the doctrine both of himselfe in other Books of more mature iudgement and also of the holy Scripture for he himselfe affirmeth elsewhere that the good which commeth of euil as a recompence must not be admitted and the Scripture condemneth to hell all
thereof 18. This is Bellarmines But to the first I answere That though the people ought to doe so that is adore vpon condition which notwithstanding is a thing neuer heard of before in any diuine worship and implieth necessity of danger yet because not one amongst a thousand doe so hauing neuer heard that distinction once named in their liues nor vnderstanding what it meaneth therefore they are for this neuer a whit freed from Idolatry To the second I answere that oftentimes the Priest hath neither actuall nor vertuall intention for what intent had the Monke Bernhardine that poysoned the hoast to the intent that he might poyson the Emperour Henry of Lucenburgh as he also did at the instigation of Robert King of Sicily What intent had that Priest that either did or would haue poysoned Pope Victor the second as witnesseth Baronius or those Priests that poysoned William Archbishop of Yorke for hee was poysoned at the Masse by the treason of his owne Chaplins both with that which was in the Chalice If the Priest bee an Athiest as many of the Popes themselues were what intention haue they of consecrating Christs body when they beleeue not that Christ hath a body or that there is a Christ now liuing in the heauens and sitting at the right hand of his Father to be present in the Sacrament or what intention can they haue to doe that which the Church doth when as they beleeue not that there is a Church but that all Religion is a fable and a matter of policy Here must needes be grosse and notable Idolatry by their owne confession for I argue Ex concessis that is out of their owne grounds So that we must iustly conclude notwithstanding all their distinctions and shifts that the Church of Rome in worshipping the consecrated hoast and that with such worship as is due vnto God is guilty of Artolatry that is of worshipping a piece of bread in stead of God then which what can be more Heathenish and palpable Idolatry 19. Secondly wee indite them of Idolatry for that they teach that Images are to bee worshipped with diuine worship and in their practice they giue vnto stockes and stones the honour which belongeth vnto God For this is their doctrine that the Images of the blessed Trinity and of Christ and of the Virgin Mary the mother of Christ and of other Saints are to be had and retained especially in Churches ijsque debitum honorem venerationem impertiandam and that due honour and worship is to be giuen vnto them they be the words of the Councill of Trent Now what that due honour and worship is that is a great question among them some thinke it is the same which appertaineth to the persons whom they represent as if it be the Image of God or Christ then it is to be worshipped latria that is with the highest degree of worship if of the Virgin Mary then with a little lower degree called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if of the Saints then with the lowest which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this is the tenet of many of their Rabbies as reporteth Vasques the Iesuite to wit Aquinas Caietane Bonauenture Alexander Coster and diuers others Others thinke that the Image is not to be worshipped at all but onely the Samplar before the Image Of this opinion were Durandus Alphonsus de Castro and some others but it is confuted by Catharine and vtterly reiected by Bellarmine A third sort were of opinion that Images ought to bee worshipped in themselues and properly with a lesse honour then the Samplar and therefore that no Image was to be worshipped with Latria Of this opinion were Peresius Catharinus Sanders Gabriel c. But the Councill of Trent which is their Church in the wordes of the decree and Bellarmine which is their chiefe champion doe manifestly incline to the first opinion for this is the summe of his propositions First that the Images of Christ the Saints are to be worshipped not onely by accident and improperly but euen by themselues and properly so that they doe limit the worship as they are Images and not onely as they stand in stead of their patternes Secondly that in truth and deed Images may be worshipped with the same kind of worship which belongeth vnto their patternes improperly and by accident and so with Latria in that condition Thirdly and lastly that though this be true yet especially in the pulpits and before the people it is not to be said that Images are to bee worshipped with this kind of worship but rather the contrary Heere is excellent diuinity the people must not bee taught the truth nay the contrary rather which is a lie and that in the pulpit beholde here a doctor of lies and that by his owne confession whilst he goeth about to maintaine Images which Habacuk calleth doctors of lies Hab. 2 18. 20. This is the summe of their doctrine Out of all which these three conclusions doe arise First that the blessed Trinity that sacred and incomprehensible deitie by their doctrine may be pictured on a wall and worshipped in or at an Image yea that such an Image ought at least improperly bee worshipped with the same worship that is due vnto God himself as whē they picture God the Father in the similitude of an old man God the Son in the likenes of a yong child God the holy Ghost in the likenesse of a Doue which the Scripture in the second Commandement condemneth as Idolatrie and that the intendment of that Commandement is not against the Images of false gods onely as the Romanists would haue it but also of the true Iehouah Moses the best expounder of himselfe teacheth most plainely Deut. 4. 16. when hee saith Take heed that you make not to your selues any grauen Image or representation of any figure for you saw no Image in the day that the Lord spake vnto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire and the Prophet Esay confirming the same exposition saith To whom will you liken God or what similitude will yee set vp vnto him Esay 40. 18. as if he should say it is impossible to represent God by any likenesse or similitude If they reply that they worship not the Image but God in the Image I answer First that the very Image of God is an Idoll by this Commandement and therefore the erecting of it to a religious vse is Idolatry Secondly that it is false which they say that they worship not the Image but God in the Image for their doctrine is contrary as hath beene shewed and their practice is contrary as shall be declared hereafter Thirdly though it be true which they alledge yet the worshipping of God before an Image is Idolatry for when the children of Israel worshipped the two golden calues at Dan and Bethel they were not such calues to worship the outward calues but
to some puritie doth approoue and confirme all these grosse opinions of the Schoole Diuines for thus it decreeth that it is good and profitable humbly to inuocate the Saints and to fly to their prayers and succour for the obtayning of blessing from God in Christ And that wee may see the meaning of this Decree the Romane Catechisme which was made by the commaundement of the Bishop of Rome doth more expressely affirme that the Saints are therefore to be called vpon because they pray continually for the saluation of men and God bestoweth many benefits vpon vs for their merit and grace sake and that they obtaine pardon for our sinnes and reconcile vs into the fauour of God And for the refining Iesuites they haue not yet refined this errour for Coster writeth that the Saints are to be inuocated both that they may mediate our cause to God and also that themselues may helpe vs. Viega another Iesuite saith that they are as it were the dores by which an entrance is opened to vs vnto the most holy places in heauen Osorius another of the same stampe affirmeth that God giueth vs all good things by the intercession of the Saints And lastly to make vp the messe Bellarmine himselfe that is more wary then all the rest doth not blush to say that Gods predestination is helped supported by the prayers of the Saints because God hath determined to vse their prayers for the effecting of mans saluation Behold here a Map of the Romish doctrine Who can now choose but account them Idolaters when they thus teach the people That all blessings descend vpon them by the meanes of the Saints and so encourage them to repose their confidence in their merits 69. But from their doctrine let vs come to the practice of their Church and we shall see this more cleerely and heere some few examples shall serue for a taste for to propound all in this kinde would bee both tedious and needlesse Thus therefore in their publike Seruice Bookes Rosaries and Breuiaries they pray vnto the Saints To Saint Paul Vouchsafe to bring thy humble suppliants to heauen after the end of this life to whom thou hast reuealed the light of truth To Saint Iames the greater Haile ô singular safeguard of thy pilgrims bountifully heare the prayers of thy seruants helpe them that worship thee and bring them to heauen To Saint Thomas thus Vouchsafe to establish vs thy suppliants in his faith by handling of whoÌ„ thou deseruedst to acknowledge to be God To Saint Iohn Haile ô holy Apostle of our Lord Iesus Christ I intreat thee by his loue who chose thee out of the world that thou wouldest deliuer me thy vnworthy seruant from all aduersitie and from all impediments of body and soule and receiuing my soule at the houre of death wouldest bring me to life euerlasting To Saint George thus Hee saue vs from our sinnes that wee may rest with the blessed in heauen Here Saint George is made a Sauiour and that from sinne and so either Christ is cleere put out of his office or George ioyned with him in his office Againe to Saint Erasmus Graunt that by thy merits and prayers we may ouercome all the snares of our enemies and be freed from the pouerty of body and minde and from eternall death To Saint Christopher O glorious Martyr Christopher bee mindefull of vs to God and without delay defend our body sense and honor thou that deseruedst to carry in thine armes ouer the Sea the Flower of heauen cause vs to auoid all wickednesse and to loue God with all our hearts To Saint Cosmus and Damianus O most holy Physicians who shine in heauen most cleerely by your merits preserue vs both from bodily plague and disease and also from the death of the soule that we may liue in grace vntill we enter into heauen To Francis the Fryer thus O Francis sunnes light singular crucified Saint c. beâ— thou to vs the way of life make satisfaction for vs alway shew to Christ the marks of thy wounds This Frier Francis they make equall to Christ and therefore they say that Christ imprinted his fiue wounds vpon him as if he also were to suffer for the world and redeeme mankind and that they were alike in all things as those blasphemous Verses of two shamelesse Iesuites Turselline and Bencius doe declare 70. What should I trouble thee gentle Reader with any more of this trumpery their Bookes are full of such-like prayers if any please to read them and that we may plainely see that they put their trust and confidence in them not onely the words doe sufficiently signifie but also the liberall indulgences their Popes haue annexed to the deuout sayings of such Orisons As Pope Sixtus hath promised eleuen thousand yeeres pardon to them that shall say a certaine prayer before the Image of the Virgine Mary beginning thus Aue sancta Mater Dei c. But to leaue the rest of the Saints and to come to the blessed Virgine whom with Epiphanius we blesse and honour but in â—â— casâ— worship it is a wonder into what an abominable Idoll they haue translated not her for shee abhorres their impietie but the Idea and fancy of her which they haue deuised in their owne braynes for they call her the Queene of heauen the Mother of mercy the Gate of Paradise the Life and hope of a sinner the Light of the Church the Lady of the world the Aduocatresse and Mediatrix of mankinde yea they say that the death and passion of Christ and the holy Virgine was for the redemption of mankinde and that she also must come betwixt God and vs for the remission of sinne and that her Sonne and she redeemed the world with one heart as Adam and Eue sold the world for one apple And thus they ioyne the Virgine Mary with Christ in the office of our redemption and so make her equall with him which were somewhat tolerable if they could stay there but they climbe higher in impudency and not onely match her with Christ but set her aboue him For they tell vs of a vision How Christ preparing to iudge the world there were two Ladders set that reached to heauen the one red at the top whereof Christ sate the other white at the top whereof the Virgine Mary sate and when the Friers could not get vp by the red Ladder of Christ but euermore fell downe Saint Francis called them to the white Ladder of our Lady and there they were receiued And a late Iesuite hath set forth to the view of the world certaine Verses wherein he preferres the milke of our Lady in many respects before the bloud of Christ yea they subiect Christ now raigning in the heauens to his Mothers command as it is sung in some of their Churches O happy Virgine that our sinnes dost purge Eâ—treate thy Mother and thy Sonne doe
that some sinnes cannot bee committed but a toto composite by the whole man And if the bodie doe not sinne as well as the soule I wonder why it is punished both in this life with corporall diseases and plagues and after death with putrefaction and depriuation of life and in the day of iudgement with eternall torment in hell fire Secondly if it were so that a dead carkasse had no relique of sinne in it yet in that it was an instrument of sinne it is lyable to temporall punishment which is the chiefe ground of Purgatory as hath beene shewed And therefore I conclude that either the body goeth to Purgatory as well as the soule or else a full satisfaction is not made for the temporall punishment or at least that the fire of Purgatory is but an imaginary and witty conceit to keepe men in some awe and to maintaine their owne pride and pompe 53. Next vnto Purgatory is Prayer for the dead which is both the mother and daughter of that fire for as it is vpheld by Purgatory a weake and imaginary foundation so it vpholdeth Purgatory a paper building neuerthelesse it is ouerturned by it owne poyse and weight For this they teach That the prayers and suffrages of the liuing doe nothing profite those that doe enioy blessednesse as the Martyrs and such like according to that of Saint Augustine Iniuriam facit martyri qui or at pro martyro He doth wrong a Martyr that prayes for a Martyr nor the damned whether they be in the lowest Hell as reprobates or in Lymbo as vnbaptized Infants but onely the soules in Purgatory And yet notwithstanding they both alledge the authorities of ancient Fathers to prooue the prayer for the dead who prayed for those whom they assured themselues to be in heauen and also by their owne doctrine and practice declare that they haue vsed to pray for the damned As touching the Fathers Nazianzene prayed for Cesarius and Ambrose for Theodosius Valentinian and Saint Augustine for his mother And in the ancient Leiturgies of the Church prayers were made for Patriarks Prophets Martyrs and the blessed Virgine Mary her selfe yea for the Popes also as for Pope Leo for example and yet they thought all these to be in the state of blessednesse as it appeareth in the same places where these prayers are expressed and therefore Cassander their iudicious reconciler calleth those prayers Testimonies of charitie towards the dead congratulations of their present ioyes and professions of their faith and hope concerning the immortality of their soules and resurrection of their bodies not supplications for their releasement out of Purgatory as our Romanists imagine Now hence thus we reason If the Fathers prayed for them who were in possession of blessednes then their testimonies serue nothing for their purpose who affirme that soules in Purgatory are onely benefited by such prayers and if soules in Purgatory bee onely benefited by such prayers as they say then they deale impertinently and deceitfully to bring in the testimony of the Fathers for maintenance of such prayers in the one bewraying the imbecillitie of their cause in the other the weaknesse of their iudgements and in both crossing themselues in that which they would build vp as the builders of Babel did Neyther doth this onely bewray their fraude in misapplying the authorities of the Fathers but also it implyeth a playne contradiction for they teach that though wee ought not to pray for the soules of the Saints that are in heauen yet wee may pray for the resurrection and glorification of their bodies which notwithstanding are not tormented in Purgatory but asleepe in their graues And so it followeth that by their doctrine we may not pray at all for the Saints departed and yet wee may pray for their bodies which are the one halfe of them And againe we may not pray for any that are dead except they be in Purgatory and yet we may pray for the bodies of the dead that are not in Purgatory but in their graues 54. If they reply as Bellarmine doth that we may pray for the Saints in Heauen not for releas of any paine but for increase of their glorie either of their soules presently or of their bodies futurely at the Resurrection then I say they contradict themselues againe For how doe the Praiers of the liuing doe no good to any but those that are in Purgatorie whereas they are meanes to increase the glorie of their soules and to procure the consummation of their bodies glorie also As for their practice in praying for the damned Damascene reporteth that Gregorie the Pope absolued Traiane and a Martyr Falcenilla from the paines of hell and also relateth out of the historie of Palladius that Saint Maehary demanded of the dead skull of an Idolater whether the Praiers of the liuing did good vnto them in Hell or not to whom the skull should answere When thou offerest vp Praiers for the dead we in the meane time feele some refreshing The like wee read of Iudas in the Legend of Saint Branden. Bellarmine indeed reiecteth this Tale of the skull as a Fable but yet he gain-saith not the deliuerie of Traiane by the praiers of Gregorie But Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence approoueth the first as an authenticall Storie so doth Aquinas the last and frameth this answere thereunto that the soules of the damned receiue no mitigation of their paine by the Praiers of the liuing but onely a certaine vaine and deceitfull ioy and the Schoole men deuise strange reasons how this should be brought to passe some saying that Traian by the vertue of Gregories Praiers returned to life and did penance and so obtained pardon and glorie others affirming that his soule was not simply absolued from the guilt of punishment but that his paine was suspended vntill the day of Iudgement others imagining that his soule was not freed from Hell but from the torments of Hell so that he should remaine there but should feele no paine And lastly Bernardine reiecting all these opinions and concluding that Traian was not definitiuely condemned but conditionally to wit the diuine Wisdome fore-seeing that Gregorie should pray for him and therefore to haue deferred his damnatorie sentence Thus they labour in by-paths that forsake the way of Truth and wander they know not whither But to the point either that is false that soules in Purgatorie are onely helped by the Praiers and Sacrifices of the liuing or this that by them the damned may be either released or refreshed 55. Lastly both the Doctrines of Purgatorie and Praier for the dead are directly crossed by their Canon of the Masse for there those dead persons for whom Praier is made are said to rest in Christ and to sleepe the sleepe of peace and yet here they say that none are to be praied and sacrificed for but those onely that are in Purgatorie What is there then any rest in Purgatorie is to
be tormented restlessely in those burning flames which in their iudgement are equall for extremitie and anguish excepting onely continuance to the paines of Hell to be at rest and to sleepe in peace is Purgatorie become a Paradise and the skirts of Hell the suburbes of Heauen this is new strange Doctrine and yet this must needes bee if both their practice of praying for the dead in their Masse and their doctrine of the same in their bookes bee true 56. Concerning inuocation of Saints it is intangled with diuers absurd contrarieties for first if it bee true which the former Doctrine requires that wee must pray for the Saints which are in blisse that their glorie may bee increased then it is false that wee must pray vnto them For if they stand in need of our Praiers as they doe if by them their glorie is increased then they should pray vnto vs aswell as wee vnto them and if they stand in need of our helpe being in Heauen how can they helpe vs being on Earth if we be Mediatours for them how are they Mediatours for vs True it is that here below one man prayeth for another because they stand in need of one another but by another Doctrine which is also the truth the Saints enioy the sight and presence of God and therefore are most blessed for in him they enioy all sinnesse of ioy and glorie so that nothing can bee added to that happinesse which in their soules they enioy and therefore one of these two necessarily are false either we must not pray vnto them or we need not pray for them 57. Againe they a leage testimonies out of the olde Testament to prooue the inuocation of Saints as that Praier of Moses Remember O Lord Abraham Isaac and Iacob thy seruants and Ier. 25. If Moses and Samuel stand before mee my soule should not bee to this people and Gen. 48. 16. and Iob the 51. 2. Machabees 15. with diuers others and yet they teach that before Christ there was no Saint in Heauen but all in Lymbo Now if they were in Lymbo and could not help themselues vntil the Mediatour came how could they help others and if they did not enioy the presence of God themselues how could they be certified thereby as by a glasse of the necessities and Praiers of the liuing so that it must needes follow that either the Saints were not praied vnto or else if they were then they were in Heauen and not in Lymbo Especially seeing Bellarmine confesseth that the Saints in Lymbo did not ordinarily know the necessities of the liuing that being a prerogatiue of perfect blessednesse neyther tooke care of humane affaires nor were protectors of the Church as the Saints in Heauen are Bellarmine indeede seeing this absurditie acknowledgeth that for the reasons afore alleaged it was not a custome in the olde Testament to direct their Praiers purposely to the Saints but in their praiers to God to alleage the merits of the Saints but herein hee both crosseth himselfe and all his fellowes for if it be so why doth he and they produce testimonies out of the olde Testament to prooue their inuocation which is made directly vnto the Saints 58. Lastly they affirme that no Saints may bee worshipped publikely that is in the name of the Church vnlesse hee be canonized by the Pope for the auoiding of misprision and yet they confesse that none were canonized till 800. yeeres after Christ by Pope Leo the third and also that it is lawfull priuately to worship any of whose sanctity I haue an opinion now I would gladly know if this bee a way to auoide mistaking why was it forborne so long or why is it not vrged priuately aswell as publikely if canonization were necessary 800. yeeres after Christ to auoide mistaking then there was much mistaking before or else this remedy would not haue beene hatched and if it was necessary in the publicke seruice then is it much more in priuate deuotions seeing priuate men are more propense to false suppositions then a whole congregation is and so this new doctrine of canonization not onely condemneth the Idolatry offormer times in the inuocation of Saints but also openeth a wide doore to priuate superstition in that kind and so indeed crosseth and vndermineth it selfe for Bellarmine confesseth out of Sulpitius that the people did long celebrate one for a martyr who after appeared and tolde them that hee was damned and Alexander the third reprehendeth certaine men for giuing the honour of a martyr to one that dyed drunke and no doubt but many such Saints are in their Martyrologe at this day notwithstanding their canonization so that by canonizing they preuent mistaking by giuing liberty to priuate inuocation they giue occasion if not cause of mistaking then which what can be more contradictory 59. Againe when they barre all children that are vnbaptized out of Heauen and confine them to Limbo there to endure the punishment of losse for euer doe they not contradict another doctrine of theirs which teacheth that men dying without the baptisme of water if they haue baptismum flaminis vel sanguinis that is either suffer martyrdome for Christs sake or bee regenerated by his Spirit and so haue a desire to bee initiated by that Sacrament but are preuented by some meanes may notwithstanding goe to Heauen for if want of baptisme bee a sufficient cause to keepe from Heauen then it is so as well in men growne as in infants and if it bee not a sufficient cause to shut vp Heauen gates against men of yeeres then how can it be to yong infants especially seeing infants by their doctrine are equall to men in two things first that they may bee martyrs as well as they as the children whom Herod slew in Bethlâ—em are celebrated in their leiturgies and secondly that they may bee sanctified as well as they as Iohn Baptist was in his mothers wombe and in these two are precedent vnto them first that they are void of actuall transgressions with which men of yeeres are infinitely stayned and so neerer to Heauen then those and secondly though they haue no desire of baptisme in themselues yet they are deuoted thereunto both by the desire of their parents and by the purpose and intent of the Church And therefore all considerations being equall in the persons and the oddes remaining if there be any on the infants side it can bee no lesse then a direct contradiction that children vnbaptized cannot bee saued and men vnbaptized may bee saued for it implieth thus much in effect that the outward baptisme of water is necessary to saluation and yet the outward baptisme of water is not necessary to saluation 60. Againe concupiscence in the regenerate is denyed by them all to bee in it owne nature sinne and yet they all confesse that it is malum an euill and vitium a vice Is any thing naturally euill which is
out of the way and yet the state of the Romane Empire vnder the Emperours is made by them the whore of Babylon and the seat of Antichrist and so the Romane Empire by their doctrine is both vtterly abolished before the raigne of Antichrist and yet is not abolished at all 63. Againe they teach that Enoch and Eliâ—â— must come and preach against Antichrist and at length conuert the Iewes and yet they also affirme that the Iewes shall receiue Antichrist for their Messias If the Iewes shall receiue him for their Messias how shall they bee conuerted by Enoch and Elias to the true Messias And if they shall be conuerted how doe they receiue him for their Messias If they shall be conuerted before Antichrists comming and then fall away from Christ then this could not be done by Enoch and Elias who by their doctrine must come in Antichrists time and yet it seemeth by them they must be called before because Bellarmine confesseth that Antichrist must be an Apostate and the head of the Apostacy but the Iewes cannot make an Apostacie before they be called Againe if they shall bee conuerted in Antichrists time how shall Antichrist raigne three yeeres and an halfe when all his Subiects shall be taken from him And lastly if they shall bee called after the destruction of Antichrist as indeed they suppose theÌ„ how can that be seeing the destruction of Antichrist shal not be but immediately before the end of the world euen fiue and fortie daies and no more Shall a whole Nation bee conuerted in so short a time and being conuerted continue no longer to make profession and practice of their conuersion Thus one absurditie being granted a thousand follow 64. Besides they say that Antichrist shall bee borne of the Tribe of Daâ— and yet the Iewes shall receiue him for their Messias Whereas notwithstanding it is a manifest and confessed thing that the Iewes looke for their Messias out of the Tribe of Iuda and not out of the Tribe of Dan. To stoppe which gâ—p they are driuen to say that indeed he shall truly rise out of the Tribe of Dan but shal faine himselfe to be of the Tribe of Iudah and of the familie of Dauid As if the Iewes were so credulous to beleeue his report without proofe or that they kept so sleight an account of their Genealogies in which neuer any people were more scrupulous or as if a distinctioÌ„ of their Tribes remained to this day their Genealogies being defaced so long since by Herod and themselues scattered through all Countries of the world Either therefore he must be of the Tribe of Iuda in truth more then by a counterfeit simulation or else the Iewes will neuer receiue him 65. Lastly they teach that Ierusalem is to bee the seat of Antichrist and the Iewes his peculiar Subiects and yet they also confesse that hee shall bee the last Emperour of Rome though not called by that name and therefore that the Romanes shall bee his Subiects From whence I thus conclude that if the Romane Empire bee the Dominion of Antichrist then it is not likely that hee should bee the expected Messias of the Iewes nor that Ierusalem should be his seat for neuer any Romane Emperour kept his Imperiall residence in that Citie and if the Iewes bee his Subiects and Ierusalem the seat of his Kingdome then it cannot bee that hee should be the last Emperour of Rome 66. And thus much of Antichrist in generall Now of the Bishop of Rome in particular who if he be not as we constantly beleeue this very Antichrist yet as Gregory their owne Pope confesseth is his fore-runner because hee claimeth to himselfe the title of Vniuersall Bishop Concerning the Pope their presumption is that hee cannot erre in any case in those things which pertaine to faith nor yet which concerne manners when he teacheth iudicially and speaketh out of his Chaire and yet they doe not deny but that hee may bee an Heretike This is confessed by most Popish Doctors as Bozius who saith that he may be an Heretike yea write teach and preach heresie And Victoria that in dispensing against the Decrees of Councils and former Popes he may erre and grieuously sinne And Occham that many things are contained in the decretals which sauour of heresie And it is so faintly denyed by Bellarmine that his denyall is almost as good as a confession for he saith that it is probable and may godlily be beleeued that the Pope cannot be an Heretike Hee doth not resolutely auouch it but only coniecturally expend his opinion but yet denieth not but that hee may erre in some causes as a priuate man And it is a Decree of their owne that the Pope may bee found negligent of his owne and his brethrens saluation and draw innumerable people with him into hell This grosse and manifest contradiction they labour to couer by a silly and ridiculous distinction for thus they creepe betwixt the barke and the tree The Pope may erre as hee is Man but not as he is a Pope Orthus He may erre in his priuate opinions but not è Cathedra by way of definition Or thus Hee may erre when hee instructeth a particular Church but he cannot when he purposeth to direct the Vniuersail Church Or thus Hee may erre in the premises but not in the conclusion But this is a senselesse and ridiculous shift For first if hee may write teach and preach and decree heresie as out of Occham and Bozius and erre in his Dispensations as out of Victoria then he may erre iudicially and è Cathedra for these are iudiciall exercises of the Chaire Secondly if the Pope may be an Heretike as he is a Man and haue a sound saith as he is a Pope then as hee is a Man hee may goe to hell and as he is a Pope to heauen but both muâ—â— goe to heauen or to hell together therefore both of them either erre or not erre together and if he erre in his owne priuate iudgement how can hee but erre in his publike determinations which are but fruits of his iudgement especially seeing the maine promise whereupon this infallibilâ—â—ie of the Popes Chaire is grounded was made not onely to the Office but also to the person of Peter Luk. 22. 32. I haue prayed for thee that thy faith may not faile as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth and Augustine Chrysostome Theophilact and others of the Fathers expound it as a personall priuiledge without any mention of his Office neuerthelesse let it belong to his Office if that will doe them any good then I say What reason is there that the priuiledge of Peters person should not be deriued to the Pope as well as his Office seeing they clâ—ime the latter by the same title by which Peter had the former and if Peters faith could not faile neither in himselfe nor in his Office by vertue of that promise then the Pope if he be
grace not deluding their soules with a fond expectation of other mens deuotions Sure it is that the opinion of purgatorie and prayer for the dead must of necessitie nourish a presumption of veniall sinnes at the least which our doctrine adiudgeth to hell without repentance aswell as any other and because few are able to distinguish betwixt mortall and veniall sinnes but iudge them veniall which are to Gods iudgement mortall as their Iesuite Coster confesseth when hee sayth that that may seeme a light offence vnto man which is haynous in Gods sight therefore it must needs also bee in danger to breed a secret presumption of mortall sinnes also And so whilest they haue a blind conceit of the suburbes which is Purgatorie they cast themselues into the Citie it selfe which is hell 34. Lastly this may be demonstrated to the conscience of any not preiudiced with a blind zeale to the Romish Church by this reason for that neyther Purgatorie nor Prayer for the dead can directly be proued out of Scripture as hath bin proued before concerning Purgatory and is apparent concerning prayer for the dead there being neither precept nor promise nor direct example in the whole volume of Gods Booke for the same as is confessed by their owne Bredenbachius and besides hauing no sound foundation in the consent of ancient Fathers as hath beene also prooued but being founded vpon vaine apparitions and strange reuelations of soules departed which many of the Fathers were of opinion could not bee as testifieth Maldonate one of their owne Iesuites for feare lest vnder that colour we should be drawne to superstitions and others thought that Deuils did faine themselues to be the soules of dead men as witnesseth Pererius another Iesuite yea and some of their owne Doctours haue beene perswaded that all apparitions about Churches are eyther demoniacall or phantasticall whereas on the contrarie our doctrine of two places is direct in Scripture and was neuer denied by any authoritie either of olde or new Diuines I meane possitiuely that there is a Heauen and a Hell wherefore this wee may safely beleeue and repose our soules vpon but to entertaine the beliefe of the former is as dangerous to the conscience as doubtfull to the vnderstanding seeing hee that doubtingly vndertaketh any action is condemned as a sinner because hee doth it not in faith Faiths obiect being Gods Word alone and not the vncertaine coniectures of humane opinions much lesse the vaine apparitions of dead ghosts 35. Againe their doctrine of the absolute necessitie of baptisme excluding thereby infants from Heauen and confining them to a Prison in the brimme of Hell there to indure the euerlasting punishment of losse is a dangerous doctrine both in respect of pietie towards God and charitie towards our neighbour and certaintie to a mans conscience and consequently our doctrine that holdeth the contrarie is more safe in all those respects For touching pietie it is a great imbasing to Gods mercie and a detracting from the glorie of his grace to thinke that Almightie God should in iustice cast away the infinite myriades of vnbaptized infants or that his sauing grace is so tyed to the outward Sacrament that he cannot or at the least will not saue any without it the first of these is confessed by many of the learned Romanists themselues to be à Dei misericordia alienum not agreeable to the mercie of God which exceedeth not onely the deserts but euen the hopes of men The second is confirmed by a due comparing of the olde couenant of the Law with the new couenant of the Gospell for if it be true that children dying vnder the Law vncircumcised were saued by the faith of their Parents as Saint Bernard thinketh yea and is also agreeable to the tenure of the Scripture for many children dyed in the Wildernesse without the Sacrament of Circumcision it being omitted for those fortie yeeres by Gods own allowance and Dauid hearing of the death of his childe before hee had receiued the outward character of Circumcision as may be gathered out of the Text. did solace himselfe with this confidence that the childe was saued Then it must needs follow if the same priuiledge be not granted to the children of Christian Parents that the couenant of the Gospell is not so large as the couenant of the Law nor Gods mercie so bountifull to Christians as to Iewes nor the merits of Christ so effectuall after his comming in the flesh as they were before by all which the glorie of the Gospell and grace of Christ is much defaced and the vnbounded Ocean of Gods mercie limited and stinted 36. Touching charitie is it not an vncharitable conceit to despaire of the saluation of poore infants dying without Baptisme and that both towards the infants themselues who though they are borne in originall sinne yet are innocent from actuall transgressions and towards the Parents who being themselues within the couenant hereby are depriued of that chiefe comfort of the couenant which is that God is not onely their God but the God of their seed and towardes the Church that hereby is robbed of a great part of her children and made vnable to present young infants to her Husband Christ Iesus Children are little beholding to them for this doctrine Parents lesse and the Church the mother of the faithfull least of all And indeed so farre is it from charitie that it is full of damnable crueltie 37. Lastly touching the perilous consequences that follow vpon this doctrine I need name but these three to wit first that it maketh God more mercifull to men of yeeres then vnto tender infants for they teach that men of yeeres as Valentinian the Emperour may be saued by the Baptisme of the Spirit or by the Baptisme of bloud which is Martyrdome though they want the Baptisme of water but infants albeit they may haue the Spirit of sanctification euen in the wombe as Iohn Baptist had and may be Martyrs according to their opinion as the children that Herod caused to be slaine yet if they want the Sacrament of water they adiudge them peremptorily to be banished from Gods presence for euer Now then children and men being in the same predicament either the one must be admitted to Gods fauour aswell as the other or it must needs follow that God is partial and more fauourable to the one then the other If they say that men though they haue not the act of Baptisme yet they haue votum a desire vnto it which being intercepted by some sodaine accident is supplied by inward grace I answere with Bellarmine that as another mans sinne was the cause of the damnation of infants so other mens faith sufficeth them vnto baptisme Why should then the desire of one man be of more efficacie to his saluation then the desire and purpose of the Church for the saluation of infants To this purpose their owne learned Schooleman sayth that
the child before it bee baptized is in some sort partaker of the Sacrament of Baptisme euen by the faith of the Church which hath vowed him thereunto And Bonauenture as hee is reported by Cassander sayth that infants are disposed vnto Baptisme not according to any act of their owne but according to the act of other because the mercie of God imputeth to them as their owne will the will of another Insants therefore stand still in as good case in euery respect as men of yeares if not in better both being vnbaptized and the one dedicated to God by their owne desire the other by the purpose desire of the Church and therefore either these may bee saued aswell as they or else God is not so mercifull to them as to these which is no lesse then impietie to thinke and blasphemie to pronounce 38. Another wicked consequence that followeth vpon this doctrine is that it maketh God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost euen that blessed Trinitie that is the fountaine of all truth and goodnesse to be lyars and teachers of vntruth For God the Father sayth to Abraham I will bee thy God and the God of thy seed And that this is not to bee vnderstood of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh onely to wit the Iewes but much more of his seed according to the Spirit which are faithfull Christians may appeare both by that which is in the verie same place where it is called an euerlasting couenant and by Saint Pauls testimonie who affirmeth that the blessing of Abraham was to come on the Gentiles through Christ Iesus aswell as on the Iewes God the Sonne sayth Suffer little children to come vnto me for of such is the Kingdome of Heauen plainly affirming that the Kingdome of Heauen is pertaining to little children and not barred vp against any as our Romanists teach it is against such little ones as dye without baptisme Our Sauiour saith without exception that the Kingdome of Heauen belongeth vnto them they as it were to make him a lyar bring in an exception and say that except they bee baptized not Heauen but Lymbus belongeth vnto them And the holy Ghost by the mouth of Saint Paul sayth That the children of beleeuing Parents are holy the reason is because the root is holy and therefore the branch must needs be holy and if children may be holy before they be baptized then by the same rule they may goe to Heauen before they be baptized for as no man without holinesse can see God so with holinesse none can be banished out of the sight of God And thus this doctrine giueth the lye to euery person of the blessed Trinitie 39. If they say that it is our Sauiours doctrine that except a man be borne againe of water and the holy Ghost hee cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heauen and therefore all those generall promises are to bee restrained by this exception if they bee baptized I answere out of Bellarmine that God is not tyed to his Sacraments but can saue them by his especiall grace as also witnesse diuers others of their learned Doctours And therefore whereas our Sauiour saith Except a man be borne againe c. it must needs be vnderstood by another exception to wit of cases of necessitie where Baptisme cannot be obtained and is not contemned for not the want but the contempt of Baptisme is damnable 40. The third and last inconuenience that ariseth from this doctrine is that it is the mother of diuers strange paradoxes and grosse absurdities as not onely of Lay mens Baptisme yea of Pagans and that in scorne but also of changing the true element into lee or broth or puddle water and that which is most strange of baptizing the childe in the mothers wombe before it bee borne or ripping vp the mothers belly in case the child be in danger of death c. some of all which absurdities are held by them all and all by some Is it not then more safe to hold that opinion which is more respectiue to Gods glorie agreeable to Christian charitie and free from all these dangerous consequences 41. To conclude omitting many other of their doctrines which might easily bee shewne to stand in the same case of dangerous tenure and hath in part alreadie beene manifested as their doctrine of set fasts implicite faith veniall sins dispensations with others more I propound for the last instance that doctrine of doctrines the verie groundcell of their ruinous Religion touching the veritie authoritie and singularitie of their Church which they vaunt and bragge to be the onely true Catholike Church of Christ and to haue a preeminence ouer the Scriptures and without the which to be no possibilitie of saluation that there is no safetie in these positions many reasons will euince as first if it should bee true that out of the bounds of that Church none could bee saued then those famous Churches of Asia which were in Pope Victors time that opposed themselues against the predominance of the Church of Rome were all damned wherein flourished many holy Martyrs that gaue vp their liues for the testimonie of Iesus Then Saint Cyprian and all the Bishops of Carthage to the number of fourescore that in a Councell at Carthage set themselues against Pope Stephen and his Councell were damned and Saint Cyprian must bee no longer a Martyr but a Schismaticke and then S. Augustine with the whole Church of Africa and troupes of Martyrs and Confessors should not bee crowned with blisse but tormented in hell for they reiected the yoke of the Bishop of Romes authoritie and would not admit that any should make appeales from them to Rome This horrible and vncharitable inconuenience doth arise from that dismall doctrine The Church of Rome is the onely Catholike Church and out of it there is no hope of saluation now that these holy and heauenly Martyrs and Confessors of Iesus Christ were out of it appeareth by their most receiued definitions of a Catholike and a Schismaticke A Catholike faith Bellarmine is he that is subiect to the one Pastor the Pope whereby hee makâ—th the essentiall forme of a Catholike to be his vnion and coniunction with his head the Pope and a Schismatike sayth Tollet is hee that doth separate himselfe from the head of the Church and the Vicar of Christ I assume but Cyprian Augustine and those other famous Bishops did not acknowledge any subiection to the Pope but separated themselues from his dominion therefore they were by their doctrine no Catholickes but Schismatickes and consequently out of the Church and so out of saluation a damnable conclusion 42. Secondly they peremptorily auouch that none of vs being not members of their Church can bee saued we on the contrarie charitably beleeue that many of them that are ignorantly members of their Church if they hold the foundation of Iesus Christ and depend vpon his merits not their owne
him why he did so to whom the Diuell answered that there was a man called Christ which was hanged on the Crosse in feare of whom as oft as he saw the signe of the Crosse he fled from it for which cause Saint Christopher perceiuing that Christ was a greater King renounced the Deuill and betooke himselfe to the seruice of Christ and was called Christopher whereas before his name was Reprobus He that would read a merry tale indeed let him read the Legend of Saint Christopher As for a fearefull tale let him goe to Saint Brandons Legend all the old wiues tales that euer were told in a chimney corner are not to be compared to these two 19. It is no newes amongst them for Images to speake nod the head shake the hand sweat and such like or at least for some crafty Priest to worke these feates to delude the people The Image of the blessed Virgin Mary is sayd to haue spoken diuers times to Saint Bernard when she bad him good morrow whereupon the good man should answere that she broke the Canons of the Church because it was forbidden that a woman should speake in the Church To Saint Hyacinth who flying from the Tartarians the Image thus cryed vpon him with a loud voyce O my sonne Hiacinthus doest thou escape the hands of the Tartarians and leauest me and my sonne to be cut in pieces and trampled vnder feet To whom Hiacinthus answering O glorious Virgin this thy Image is too heauy how shall I he able to carry it The Virgin replyed Take it for my sonne will lighten the burden And to Alexius who staying long in the Church-porch the Image of our Lady spoke and bade the Sexten let him in So the Crucifix is sayd to haue spoken to Thomas Aquinas when he was praying before it in great deuotion Thou hast written well of me Thomas what reward therefore wilt thou haue And to the Councill at Winchester gathered together about the question oâ— Priests mariages in these words Take Dunstans wayes vnto you for they are the best Polidore Virgill otherwise a strong Papist yet smelâ— out this to be Dunstanes legerdemayne and so may any other that hath not lost his senting and thus we haue two talking Images that the Heathen might not goe before them in this who by Bellarmines confession out of Valerius Maximus had two also that spoke the one of Iuuo Moneta at the taking of Veyes which being asked in iest by a Souldier whither she would goe to Rome answered that she would the other of Fortune who vttered these words Yee haue rightly seene mee O nation and rightly dedicated mee 20. But that Images vsed to beck and mooue their heads and stir their hands there are so many examples that it would be lost labour to stand vpon them onely the image of Saint Nicholas at Westchester may discouer the trick of all the rest for at the burning of it in the Market-place of the city there was discouered this trick of fast and loose the Image was made with such a deuice that if one standing behinde did pull a certaine string which was in the back part thereof it would mooue the hand as if it blessed the people The like may we thinke of that Roode of Poyters which when William Longshampe Bishop of Ely lay a dying did piteously weepe and lament so that the teares fell downe from his eyes as it had been a floud of water but no meruaile for as they say it was the accustomed vse of that Roode alwayes to mourne when a Bishop departed A pretty story there is in one of the Legends of the Virgin Mary of a woman who prayed deuoutly to that Image for the deliuering of her sonne out of prison and when shee saw that her prayers preuailed nothing shee tooke away from the Virgin her sonne out of her armes and carryed it home whereupon our Lady presently went to the prison and deliuered the womans sonne out of hold then the woman sayth the tale brought backe the Virgin Maries sonne and gaue it her againe saying O blessed Virgine now thou hast restored my sonne vnto mee behold againe thy sonne vnto thee and so both parties were well pleased 21. For Purgatory and prayer for the dead there be infinite tales deuised of all which we may giue the same censure which Saint Augustine doth of lying myracles that they are vel figmenta mendacium hominum vel portenta fallacium spirituum either fictions of lying men or wonders of deceitfull spirits of the first kind was that reported by diuers authors of certaine Priests that dwelling not far from the sea side tooke a number of sea-crabs and tyed vnto each of them light and so put them vpon dead mens graues in the Church-yards to make the poore country people beleeue that Spirits did walke but in one place the legerdemaine was deprehended for the Carpenters and Masons comming the next day after all Soules night to worke found among the timber and broken bricks some of the Crabs with their candles on their backs extinguished whereby the knauery of this miracle was discouered Of the second kind it may be was that recorded by Saint Gregory in his Dialogues if that booke be his as is iustly doubted for he telleth there a tale of a Beare which was commaunded to keepe the Hermite Florences sheepe a thing not sauouring of Saint Gregories spirit or if it did then it argueth him to haue been too credulous of lying reports as he is taxed by their own Canus of a soule appearing vnto a Priest that bathed himselfe often in a water officiously pulling off his shoes with an earnest desire to enioy his prayers and oblations for his deliuerance which being performed when he returned to the bath and found the soule no more there hee concluded that his prayers had deliuered him out of Purgatory 22. In one of these two ranks are all the strange stories published by these Dialogues Beda Brigitta Dionisius Carthusianus touching walking ghosts for eyther they were iugling tricks of imposters to deceiue the simple or deceits of deuils to delude the learned and this may in no poynt more playnely be proued then against Priests mariages for the disgracing whereof and aduancing single life aboue it an Idoll at Winchester must speake as before hath been shewed The Emperour Lewes the second must be tormented in Purgatory because he would not regard the admonitions of Gabriell the Archangell against Priests mariages Emma mother to Saint Edward King of this land must goe bare-foot vpon nine burning plowshares of yron to try her chastity and Alwynes the Bishop of Winchester with whom she was suspected to haue committed fleshly villany but she was borne ouer them betwixt two Bishops so that she needed not to hurt her feet A yong Nunne being got with child by a yong Monke two Midwiues must come from heauen being sent by Henry
Murdach then lately Bishop of Yorke and discharge her of her childe without paine and take it from her so that it was neuer seene more very likely for a priuy or a fishpond might meet with it by the way as it had done a number more in former later times A thousand such lies as these shall you find in their Legends and martyrologies and other bookes insomuch that Espensaens a learned Bishop of their owne doth freely confesse that no stable is so full of doung as the Legends are full of fables yea that very fictions are contained in their portesses and Canus another learned writer that the Pagan Histriographers did more truely write the liues of Emperours then the Christians did the liues of Saints and that in the golden Legend there are monsters for miracles rather then true miracles and that hee which wrote this booke was a man of a brasen face and a leaden heart 23. Thus it is euident by the confession of many learned of their owne side that these bee lying tales coyned as holy deceits as some of them terme them but more truely as deuilish deuices not to maintaine the truth but errour for how can that bee the truth which standeth in need of lying to maintaine it Caietane a Cardinall and a great learned diuine sayth that the credit of the Romish miracles dependeth vpon the report of men who may deceiue others and bee deceiued themselues and Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence calleth the visions of Bernard and Briget touching the conception of the Virgin Mary fantastick visions and mens dreams why should wee then beleeue them to bee true when as they themselues beleeue them not 24. If they obiect and say why may not these miracles be as true as those which are reported by many of the ancient Fathers and seeing famous miracles haue beene in all ages of the Church why should these last ages bee suspected for falsity more then the former I answere first that those Fathers themselues which were reporters of such miracles yet did repose no such confidence in them as to build their faith vpon them as the Romanists doe for Saint Augustine sayth Quisquis adhuc c. Whosoeuer yet seeketh aften wonders that hee may beleeue is himselfe a great wonder who when the world beleeueth doth not beleeue and in another place Contra istos mirabilirios c. Against these miracle-mongers my God hath made mee wary saying there shall arise in the last dayes false Prophets working signes and wonders that they might lead into errour if it were possible the very Elect. And Chrysostome or whosoeuer els was the author of those learned homilies on Mathew proueth that the true Church of Christ cannot bee discerned or knowen by signes or other meane but onely by the Scripture and that the working of miracles is more found among false Christians then true Tertullian sayth plainly that the Heretikes did raise the dead cure maladies foretell things to come the same is affirmed by Chrysostome Ierome Eutheâ—ius Theophilact as witnesseth Maldonate the Iesuite by which it appeareth that the Fathers thought miracles were not to bee regarded except they were wrought for the confirmation of the truth and that a miracle was to bee examined by the doctrine not the doctrine by a miracle and therefore that they are not any proper and true markes of the Church as the Romanists make them nay that they are rather markes of Antichrist and his Church as both our Sauiour and Saint Paul plainely auouch so that by this their great bragge of miracles they giue vs this strong aduantage against them that their Pope is Antichrist and their Church Antichristian which otherwise wee should want 25. And secondly I answere that they themselues reiect diuerse miracles of the fathers as fantastick visions and mens dreames so doth Antoninus call the vision of Bernard and Briget in the question of the Virgin Maries conception and Canus taxeth Gregory and Bede with this that they missed the marke now and then who wrote miracles talked of and beleeued among the vulgar that is which they receiued by heare-say and not by any eye-witnesse or sound proofe now why should wee be restrained from that liberty towards the rest which they take towards Gregory and Bede especially seeing many of their miracles are such as no reasonable man would euer beleeue and deserue rather the splene then the braine as for example Saint Ierome reporteth this to bee one of Saint Anthonies miracles how Anthonie trauailing in the wildernesse to seeke out Paul the Hermite met with a Centaure halfe a man and halfe a horse who spoke to him and shewed him the way and by and by when the Centaure was gone meeteth him another Monster like a Satyre with a hook nose and hornes on his head the lower part of his body like a goat offering him a branch of palme whom Anthony asking who he was he answered I am a mort all creature an inhabitant of the wildernes such an one as the Gentiles deluded with error called a Satyre and I am come as an Embassadour from my flocke to beseech yon to pray to God for vs whom wee know to bee come for the saluation of the world whose sound is gone through the earth if this bee true that there are such monsters or if they bee that they beleeue in Christ and so may bee saued let vs beleue then all that euer the Poets haue written of Ixion Polyphemus Pan Silenus other such like moÌ„sters Gregory Nissen writeth touching Thammaturgus that the Virgin Mary and Saint Iohn camedown from heaueÌ„ to him taught him his creed which is as likely to bee true as that which the Poets write of Apollo that taght Aesculâ—pius the rules of Physick or the Rabbines of the Angell Sanbasser that was Adams Schoolmaster 26. Saint Bernard in the life of Malachias if at least that booke bee Saint Bernards telleth vs of Malchus the teacher of Malachias how hee restored hearing to one that was deafe and how the patient confessed that when the holy man put his fingers into both his eares hee felt as it were two pigges issuing out of them Againe hee reporteth that a certaine Prior of the Regular Friers seing Malachie the Bishop to haue many seruants but few horses gaue vnto him the horse that hee rode on which beeing a restie iade and setting hard at the first the Bishop found him so but ere hee had ridden farre by a wonderfull change hee prooued a very excellent and precious palfrey ambling most sweetly the like tale wee reade in the Dialogues ascribed to Gregory of a horse which a Noble-man lent to Pope Iohn which beeing a very gentle sober nagge when as afterward the noble mans wife should bee set vpon him hee pust and pranced and stampt most strongly disdaining that a woman should sit vpon his backe which had carried the