we admit them all to be true doth conuince vs to haue disgraded Christ of his offices which are these to appease Gods wrath towards vs to pay the ransome for our sinnes to conquer the Diuell to open the Kingdome of heauen to bee supreme head of both men and Angels and such like He may without any derogation vnto these his soueraigne prerogatiues giue vnto his seruants first power to make lawes to binde in conscience as he hath done to all Princes which the Protestants themselues dare not denie then to determine vnfallibly of the true sense of holy Scripture which the Apostles could doe as all men confesse and yet do not make them Christs fellowes but his humble seruants to whom also hee gaue power properly to pardon sinnes Luc. 24. Ioan. 20. Mar. 16. Matt. 28. Whose sinnes you pardon on earth shall be pardoned in heauen and finally to them he also gaue authoritie ouer the whole earth goe into the vniuersall world Ouer part of hell no Pope hath authoritie and when he doeth good to any soule in Purgatory it is per modum suffragij as a suppliant and entreater not as a commander Whether hee hath any authoritie ouer Princes and their subiects in temporall affaires it is questioned by some yet no man not wilfully blinde can doubt but that Christ might haue giuen him that authority without disgrading himselfe of it as he hath imparted to him and to others also faculties of greater authoritie and vertue reseruing neuerthelesse the same vnto himselfe in a much more excellent maner As a King by substituting a Viceroy or some such like deputie to whom he giues most large commission doth not thereby disgrade himselfe of his Kingly authority as all the world knowes no more did our Sauiour Christ Iesus bereaue himselfe of his power or dignitie when hee bestowed some part thereof vpon his substitutes He goes on multiplying a number of idle words to small purpose as that we for one Christ the onely reall Priest of the new Testament ioyne many secondary Priests vnto him which offer Christ daily in the Masse Wee indeed hold the Apostles to haue beene made by Christ not imputatiue or phantasticall but reall and true Priests And by Christ his owne order and commandement to haue offered his body and bloud daily in the sacrifice of the Masse what of that see that question Furthermore he saith for one Iesus the all-sufficient mediatour of intercession they haue added many fellowes to him to make request for vs namely as many Saints as be in the Popes Kalendar yea and many more too For we hold that any of the faithfull yet liuing may bee also requested to pray for vs neither shall hee in haste bee able to prooue that Christ onely maketh intercession for vs though he be the onely mediatour that hath redeemed vs. R. ABBOT Christ by his office is our Prophet our Priest and our King Christ degraded by the Pope As a Prophet he hath declared fully and finally the whole counsell and way of God for the attainment of eternall life As a Priest he hath offered a sacrifice for our redemption and by vertue of that sacrifice is our Mediatour to intreat mercy for vs. As a King he prescribeth lawes whereby to gouerne vs and hauing a Matt. 28.18 All power giuen to him both in heauen and earth exerciseth the same to safegard and defend vs. In all these offices of which M. Bishop speaketh as if he vnderstood not what they meane the Church of Rome offereth most high indignity to the Son of God To take the points spoken of in order as they are first they are iniurious to the kingdome of Christ in that they giue the Pope authority to make lawes to bind in conscience which Christ only hath authority to doe b See hereof part 2. pag. 17.18 To bind in conscience is to tie the conscience and inward man to an opinion of holinesse and spirituall deuotion in the thing which is done so as to account the same a worship of religion whereby God is truly serued and honoured yea and further according to Romish fancies the means of remission of sinnes and the merit of eternall life This whosoeuer doth sheweth himselfe a deceiuer and an Antichrist and the Pope in so doing is found to be he of whom the Apostle prophecied c 2. Thess 2.4 that he should sit as God in the temple of God domineering in the hearts and consciences of them of whom it is said d 2. Cor. 6.16 Ye are the temple of the liuing God If Princes attempt to make lawes in this sort they are therein vniust and presumptuous against God Otherwise to speake of Princes lawes God himselfe bindeth the conscience to yeeld the outward man in subiection to the Prince when notwithstanding the conscience it selfe remaineth free as touching the thing which the Prince commandeth I know that in outward things it is true which the Apostle saith e 1. Cor. 6.12 10.23 All things are lawfull for mee I may doe all things God hath giuen mee no restraint To eat or not to eat to weare such a garment or not to weare it to doe thus or thus it is all one with God I am no whit the better the one way nor the worse the other way Neuerthelesse if my Prince command mee either way God requireth mee to abbridge my selfe of the outward vse of that liberty which he otherwise hath giuen mee and to performe obedience to my Prince yet still retaining inwardly the same opinion and persuasion of the thing in it selfe that I had before and therefore content to tie my selfe outwardly to do thus because I know inwardly that it is indifferent to God either to doe thus or thus The second presumption of the Pope against Christ is in taking vpon him infallibly to determine the sense of holy Scripture By which pretense he most impudently carieth himselfe bringing all abhominations into the Church and corrupting all religion and seruice of God and yet affirming that he doth nothing contrary to the Scripture because whatsoeuer the words of Scripture are yet the sense must be no other but what he list But well might we be thought to be without sense if so senseles a tale should preuaile with vs a thing which in the ancient Church for so many hundreds of yeeres amidst so many questions and controuersies was neuer dreamed of What needed the fathers so much to busie themselues and out of their owne exercise and experience prescribe rules to others for finding out the true sense of Scripture when as a Pope with a wet finger could haue helped them to the certaine and infallible truth thereof Yea why haue we so many Commentatours of the Church of Rome so various and diuers in their expositions and interpretations of Scripture and why doth not the Pope rather by one commentary of his illuminated vnderstanding reconcile all differences dispatch all doubts and resolue at once
locall circumscription it is no instance against M. PER. rule that locall circumscription cannot be seuered from a true body But because he taketh locall circumscription so nicely as we see he doth I would gladly haue him to resolue vs one question thereof and his answer shall shew the nullity of his owne exception He hath told vs a Preface to the Reader sect 2. before that the body of Christ is in one place circumscribed and in another vncircumscribed circumscribed in heauen and in the Sacrament vncircumscribed Now let him tell vs how the body of Christ in heauen hath locall circumscription To speake of Physicall and material heauens it is true of Christ which the Apostle saith b Ephe. 4.10 He is ascended far aboue all heauens and therefore aboue that highest heauen which M. Bishop nameth to vs beyond which there is neither vacuum nor locus properly so called but the incomprehensible habitation of diuine light which our thoughts are in no sortable to conceiue How then is the body of Christ locally circumscribed where yet there is no Physicall or naturall place Let him giue vs answer heereof and then we will answer him that looke what giueth locall circumscription to the body of Christ in heauen the same also giueth locall circumscription to the highest heauen Vnderstand the highest heauen gentle Reader as M. Bishop doth for the vttermost sphere of the materiall globe of this visible world beyond which is that heauen into which we beleeue our Lord Iesus to haue ascended and where we hope to dwell with him This exception being frustrate let vs see the rest where M. Bishop standing nicely and precisely vpon termes of schooles telleth vs that M. PERKINS makes himselfe a common mocking-stocke to euery simple Logician of whom notwithstanding I dare boldly say that hee was as good a Logician as Doctour Bishop is though writing to the people he vsed his words accordingly He saith that quantity is the common essence of euery body and who knoweth not saith M. Bishop that no accident as euery quantity is can be of the essence of a substance as Christs body is Well Sir but yet quantity giueth existence to euery body which is enough to M. PER. purpose and to be the subiect of quantity or indued with quantity is the common and true essence of a body If he will say nay we desire him of his courtesie to take the paines to send vs without quantity the true definition of a body Albeit his reading might serue him to vnderstand that there are few learned men or none at all so strict in termes but that they call by the name of essentiall properties whatsoeuer doth immediately and necessarily issue from the essence of a thing though according to Logicke rules it be no part of the essence thereof And thus M. PERK saith againe that to be circumscribed in place is an essentiall property of euery quantity which saith M. Bishop no man would say that cared what hee said And why Because all numbers saith hee which be quantities haue no relation vnto any place But hee might easily haue conceiued that M. PER. as I said before spake according to vulgar vse which for the most part vnderstandeth quantity of the magnitude and greatnesse of bodies in which meaning it is a property flowing out of the essence of euery quantity not onely to be apt to be circumscribed with a place but to be circumscribed and determined locally according to that meaning of locall circumscription which I haue before expressed Therefore in this sort it is not a meere accident to a substantiall body to be circumscribed but it is proprium quarto modo agreeing alwaies to euery body and to nothing but a body necessarily arising of the dimensions of the length breadth and thicknesse of a body and the deniall whereof is the taking away of the nature of a body As for his allegation of the almightie power of God how idle it is it hath beene c Preface to the Reader sect 8. before declared For God doth not by his omnipotency contradict himselfe neither doth his power serue to make good the fantasticall dreames of giddy headed men to be said to destroy the nature of a thing and yet to leaue it still continuing the selfe-same thing But it is woorth the noting how M. Bishop heere plaieth the micher and stealeth by two allegations vsed by M. Perkins very pertinent to the matter heere in hand It is for the illocality of the body of Christ that M. Bishop pleadeth the omnipotency of God but M. Perkins bringeth in Leo Bishop of Rome saying that d Leo. epist. 70. Nulla ratione extranostri est corporis veritatem the body of Christ is in no sort without the truth of our body This he passeth by without any mention of it as if he had not seene any such thing The words of Saint Austin he vouchsafed to take some knowledge of but applieth them generally to all bodies whereas Saint Austin also spake of the body of Christ making a difference betwixt Christ as God and man e August in Ioan. tract 31. In terra loquebatur tamen in caelose esse dicebat sic venit vt inde non abscederet sic redijt vt nos non derelinqueret Quid miraminâ— Deus hoc facit Homo enim secundù m corpus in loco est de loco migrat cum ad alium locum venerit in eo loco vnde venit non est Deus autem implet omnia vbique totus est non secundum spatia tenetur locis Christ saith he spake vpon earth and yet said he was in heauen the sonne of man which is in heauen He so came as that he departed not from thence he so returned as that he did not forsake vs. Why do ye wonder heereat saith he God doth this For man according to his body is in a place and departeth from the place and when he is come into another place is not in that place from whence hee came but God filleth all things and is whole euery where and is not conteined in â—ace of place Thus doth Saint Austin distinguish the God-head and man-hood of Christ making the body of Christ of the same condition with our bodies so as that it leaueth one place whensoeuer it commeth to another The church of Rome therefore affirming a body of Christ without extention or space of place that is a ghost in stead of a body impugneth the article of our faith whereby we beleeue that he was conceiued and borne of the substance of the Virgin Mary according to the truth and condition of our bodies 5. W. BISHOP By this is confuted also his second instance Christ is ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father therefore his body is not really and locally in the Sacrament This followeth not Chrysost lib. de sacerd because it is in both places at once as Saint Chrysostome in
lambe slaine from the beginning of the world To faith therefore Christ from the beginning of the world was ascended into heauen because they so beleeued in him as if he were already ascended In effect then Christ was the first that ascended into heauen because no other ascended but by the faith of his ascension As for the places cited by M. Bishop they make nothing to the contrary as which belong properly to the question of the resurrection of the dead to signifie that Christ is the first that Å¿ Rom. 6.9 rose from death to die no more and in whom all the rest shal so rise againe but as touching the state of the soules departed it prooueth nothing As touching the being of Christ in heauen Christ vntill his second comming abideth in heauen onely we teach nothing but what hee himselfe hath taught If M. Bishop will call it a locking of him in heauen it is not we that locke him but he himselfe hath locked himselfe who hath told vs that t Iohn 12 8. we shall not haue him alwaies with vs that u Acts 3.21 heauen must containe him vntill the time that all things bee fulfilled which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his Prophets since the world began x Heb. 10.12.13 that he is at the right hand of God hencefoorth expecting or waiting till his foes be made his footestoole To affirme then that Christ is in heauen only and not vpon the earth and that he so abideth vntill the time that he shall come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead is not to locke vp Christ in heauen but to iustifie the words of Christ They may rather be said to locke vp Christ who of their owne heads so tie him by the words of the Priest as it were by a charme to their consecrated hoast as that y See the Answer to the Epest sect 14. so long as the forme of bread continueth he may by no meanes be released though he passe by the stomacke into the draught though he be eaten by mice or dogges or swine though he be cast into the dirt and teach it to be heresie to affirme the contrary Of the meaning of Christs sitting at the right hand of his father I know no difference at all but that all acknowledge it to import the exaltation of the humane nature of Christ to the communion and fellowship of the maiesty and glory of God so as that all creatures both in heauen and earth are made subiect vnto him He referreth vs to Conrad some wizard or other but if that which Conrad saith be not woorth his reporting we hold it not woorth our seeking nor list to looke after euery foole which will sucke fancies out of his fingers ends and then make vs the authours of them As for that which Caluin saith How Christ shall continue or cease to sit at the right hand of God that after the last iudgement Christ shall no longer sit at the right hand of God in that meaning wherein he speaketh it it is very true not for that there shal be absolutely any end of his kingdome which the Angell saith z Luk. 1.33 shall continue for euer and shall haue no end but he shall thenceforth reigne only in personall vnion with the Godhead who now raigneth by delegated office a Iohn 5.22.27 hauing all iudgement committed vnto him in that he is the Sonne of man For wee must vnderstand that God who ruleth and gouerneth the world yet doth it not now immediately by himselfe but vseth thereto the ministery and seruice of men and Angels and performeth all things by meanes But for the execution of this gouernement he hath specially exalted his sonne euen the man Iesus Christ in whose obedience and humbling of himselfe hee tooke that delight as that as it were in hew thereof he would set him vp according to his humane nature b Ephe. 1.21 farre aboue all Principalities and Powers and Might and Dominion and aboue euery name that is named not onely in this world but in that that is to come c Mat. 28.18 giuing vnto him in special manner all power both in heauen in earth that as he had purchased the church with his pretious blood so for the behoofe of the church hee might haue a soueraignty and dominion ouer all creatures to limit their power to determine their courses to command or compell their seruice to doe by them and with them whatsoeuer is to be done till he fully and for euer accomplish the perfection thereof Which being done and the end come and all rule and authority and power abolished there shall be a cessation of that commission because there shal be no further vse therof d 1. Cor. 15.24 he shal deliuer vp the kingdome to God the father and with vs according to his manhood shall bee subiect vnto him that put all things vnder him that God may be all in all Not for that he is not now according to his manhood subiect to the father but he is now in such sort subiect as that for the father in his manhood he exerciseth a kingdome of power for the confusion of his enemies and preseruing of his from the force of them Not for that hee shall not then also raigne for euer God and man but hee shall not raigne in that sort as man because all aduersary power being vtterly abolished and for euer there shall bee no neede of such a kingdome his reigning being thencefoorth the enioying of them whom he hath redeemed purchased not the rescuing or defending of them And thus doth Saint Austin set downe from some ancients a stinting of the kingdome of Christ as now he raigneth e August lib. 83. q 69. Oportet eum regnare donceponat omnes inimicos suos sub peaibus suis quâ—a talis regni quale habent principes armatorum nulla exit causa hoste ita subiecto vt rebellare non possit Nam vtique dictum est in Euangelio Et regni cius non erit finis secundum quod regnat in aeternum secundum autemâ—d quòd aduersus diabolum sub eo militatur tamdiu erit vtique ista militia donec ponat c. postea verò non erit cum pace perpetua perfruemur He must raigne till he put all his enemies vnder his feet because there shall bee no cause of such a kingdome as haue Princes or Captaines of armed men when the enemy shall be so subdued as that he cannot rebell for it is said indeed in the Gospell Of his kingdome there shall be no end according to that he raigneth for euer but according to that we warre vnder him against the diuell so long shall this warfare be till he put all his enemies vnder his feete afterwards it shall not be when as we shall enioy euerlasting peace Thus and no otherwise doth Caluin say that Christs sitting at the right hand of God is but for
we pray that we be not ouercome by the diuell by yeelding our consent to the temptation and so fall into sinne it is true indeed that so we pray but yet because wee know that God doth not so free his elect from temptation but that they are sometimes ouercome and doe consent to the temptation and fall into sinne wee vnderstand further that if God see it expedient thus to let vs fall by temptation yet he will not leaue vs to bee holden captiues therein nor suffer vs so to be tempted but that he be alwaies with vs to deliuer vs from euill that d Psal 37.24 though wee fall yet wee may rise againe whilest he supporteth vs with his hand For whereas M. Bishop saith that M. Perkins much forgetteth himselfe in saying that it is good otherwhiles to be tempted it is he indeed that much forgetteth himselfe in so blameing M. Perkins who intendeth not that temptation is good of it selfe but onely accidentally in respect of the good vse which God maketh thereof turning the poison of one sinne to be a preseruatiue against another and by falling once making a man the more warie not to fall againe And thus S. Austin by the words of the Apostle saith that e Rom. 8.28 all things to Gods elect worke together for good f Aug. de corrept grat ca. 9. Talibus diligentibus deum omnia cooperaÌ„tur in bonuÌ„ vsqueadeo prorsus omnia vt si qui corum deuiant exorbitant etiam hoc ipsum eis faciat proficere in bonum euen so altogether all things as that if any of them swarue and goe aside out of the wâ—y hee maketh that also to further their good g Bernar. de diuers ser 1. An verò ei peccata ipsa non cooperantur in bonuÌ„ qui ex eis humilior feruentior solicitior timoratior cauti or inuenitur For doe not sinnes worke for good to him saith S. Bernard who is found thereby more humble more feruent more carefull more fearefull and warie than before And thus Gregorie verie truely saith that h Greg. Moral l. 2. c. 25. Fit mira dispensatione pietatis vt vnde malignus hostis cor tentat vt interimat inde misericors conditor hoc erudiat vt viuat by the woonderfull dispensation of pietie it commeth to passe that by what the wicked enemy tempteth the heart to destroy it by the same our mercifull creatour nurtureth it to life But the concupiscences and lusts of sinne doe specially serue for this end which God hath left as an enemie within our owne berders to fight against vs for the exercising of our faith and hope that seeing our owne weakenesse and danger in our selues we may the more earnestly call vpon God and depend vpon his power that being vexed and afflicted with the temptations of sinne wee may hunger and thirst after righteousnesse so much the more that being wearied with warre we may the more long after the place of our peace and obteining through his grace the conquest and victorie we may through his mercy obteine the promise of the crowne of glory Thus God i 2. Cor. 4.6 commandeth the light to shine out of darknesse and out of euill worketh good vnto those that are his which M. Bishop also I doubt not would acknowledge but that a malicious spirit of wilfull contradiction carieth him headlong to resist apparent and knowen truth 42. W. BISHOP Finally he saith this clause Amen signifieth a speciall faith concerning all the former petitions that they shall be granted and therefore a speciall faith concerning remission of sinnes Answ It signifieth a speciall hope and confidence to obtaine them but no certaintie of faith vnlesse vpon a condition which is vncertaine that is if wee doe our parts God will not faile of his if wee doe heartily repent vs and vse the Sacrament of Penance duly wee shall assuredly obtaine remission of our sinnes R. ABBOT The Romane Catechisme in this point confirmeth that which M. Amen what it importeth in the Lords praier Perkins saith and maketh good our speciall faith expounding Amen to bee added by our Sauiour Christ a Catec Roman p. 4. cap. 17. sect 4. Cui voci illa quodammodo subiecta sententia est scito tuas auditas esse preces Habet enim vim respondentis illum qui precibus quod velit impetrarit cum bona gratia dimittentis dei Et sect 6 Intelligentes nos iam impetrasse omnia ac sentientes praesentem vim diuini auxilij illud vnà cum propheta canimus Eccâ— dominus adiuuat me c. as Gods answer to this effect Know that thy praiers are heard and that we are to vnderstand it as that wee haue obtained all our desires and feeling the present power of the helpe of God doe sing with the Prophet Behold God is my helper the Lord is the protector of my soule If I be to conceiue Amen to be Gods answer that hee hath heard the praier that I haue faithfully made vnto him then am I to beleeue that God hath forgiuen me my sinnes because that is one part of the praier which I haue made Whatsoeuer poison there is in the Romane Catechisme that M. Bishop sucketh very greedily but this acknowledgement of truth though perhaps vnwarily deliuered he can by no meanes admit As for his vncertaine condition I haue before shewed that it is the ouerthrow of Christian faith and hope which wholly withdraweth our eies from looking vpon our selues and our owne merits that we may rest wholly and only vpon the mercy and goodnesse of almighty God It may well stand with that doubting and feare which elsewhere he requireth but confidence and hope can in no sort grow vpon it 43. W. BISHOP Hitherto M. Perkins hath argued against vs out of the Lords praier now I will briefly shew how the Protestants doctrine contrarieth it I haue in my answer to his obiections touched some points already I adde that one position of their doctrine crosseth three of the first petitions I prooue it thus In euery petion we must be assured as M. Perkins holdeth or at the least haue a good hope to obtaine that wee pray for or else it booteth vs not to pray but according to the Protestants doctrine no man can be assured nay can haue any hope to obtaine the three first petitions for if originall sin do continually dwell in vs and infect all our actions with deadly sinne as they teach Gods name cannot be sanctified in vs that are infected with such an vnclean leprosie neither secondly can God raigne as a King in vs if sinne possesse and command all our members and thirdly Gods will cannot bee done by vs on earth as it is done in heauen if wee cannot keepe his lawes and commandements which they in heauen doe wherefore the Protestants haue no assurance to obtaine the three first petitions who are by their teachers assured that they are not to bee
Sunne and in the Moone and vpon the crosse that is in many places and that c Idem in Ioan. er 31. Cùm ad alium locum venerit in eo loco vnde venit non est When he is come to another place he is not in the place from whence he came and therefore that d Vigil cont Eutich lib. 4. Quando in terra fuit caro Christi non erat vtiâ— in coelo nunc quia in coelo est non est vtique in terra The body of Christ when it was vpon earth was not in heauen and now because it is in heauen it is not vpon the earth that e Ambr. in Luc. l. 1. c. 24. Ergo non supra terram nec interra nec secundum carnem ti quaerere debemus si volumus inuenire c. Stephanus tetigit quia quaesiuit in coele If we will find Christ we must not seeke him in the earth nor vpon the earth nor according to the flesh but in heauen They would neuer haue spoken thus without any limitation or exception if they had beleeued that which M. Bishop heere would make vs beleeue out of the doctrine of the church of Rome that the body of Christ may be in infinite places at once that it may be together both in heauen and earth with forme and without forme both visible and inuisible both circumscribed and vncircumscribed that is to say by a plaine contradiction both that that it is and that that it is not Surely they would haue saied as we doe If it be visible it cannot be inuisible or if it be inuisible it cannot be visible if it haue forme then it is not without forme or if it be without forme how should it be said to haue any forme both these cannot stand together True saith M. Bishop in one and the same maner of existence and being And say I if it be but one and the same body it can at once haue but one maner of existing and being for according to the same or totally to be thus not thus cannot agree to one and the same thing As for his instances whereby hee would take away the improbabilitie of this fancie they are altogether ridiculous Christ saith hee when hee was transfigured had another maner of outward forme and appearance then he had before and after his resurrection when it pleased him hee was visible to his Apostles and at other times inuisible And what then Ergo Christs body may be in many places at once it may together be both visible and inuisible and whatsoeuer pleaseth them But a man may euen as well say M. Bishop is sometimes hot and sometimes cold somtimes asleepe sometimes awake sometimes sober sometimes merrie sometimes like a schollar sometimes like a swaggerer sometimes at Rome sometimes in England ergò hee may at one time be together both asleepe and awake both visible and inuisible both at Rome and in England and in many places at once so that though by Parsons procurement he were fast laied vp in prison yet he might at the same time be personally before the Pope to acquaint him with the appeale of the secular Priests and the exorbitant dealing of the Iesuites against them What will he not call him a dreaming Sophister that should conclude thus Well then let him for his paines take his fellow to him and learne to argue more wisely another time But marke heere gentle Reader that M. Bishop maketh Philosophie a witnesse of this matter We haue thought heeretofore that they rested the same wholly and meerely vpon the omnipotent power of God and haue obserued how their schoole-philosophers when they speake of relation of bodies to their places do except this matter of the reall presence as a matter of irregularity not comming within compasse of the rules of Philosophy but farre transcendent aboue all their learning Now M. Bishop will make vs beleeue that it standeth with good Philosophy and that all their Philosophers haue all this while beene deceiued marrie it is woorth the while to note in what termes and how warily he hath set it downe The externall relations of bodies vnto their places do no whit at all destroy their inward and naturall substances as all Philosophy testifieth You say well M. Bishop and very wisely Indeed it is not relation to a place but the want of relation to a place that taketh away the nature of a body For f Aug. epist 50. spatia locorum tolle corporibus nusquam erunt quia nusquam erunt nec erunt take from bodies space of place saieth Austin and they shall be no where and because they shall be no where they shall not be at all g Cyril de Trinit lib. 2. si corpus in loco omninò in magnitudine in quantitaete si quanta facta esset non effugeret cireumscriptionem If it be a body saith Cyrill then verily it is in a place and hath greatnesse and quantitie and if it haue quantitie it cannot be but that it must be circumscribed h Didym de spâ—sancto l. 2. si spiritus veritatis iuxta naturas corporum circumscriptus est certo spacio alium deserens locum ad alium commigrauit It is the nature of a body saieth Didymus to be circumscribed in a certaine space and therefore by comming into one place it must forsake another You therefore affirming the body of Christ vncircumscribed and hauing no commensuration or space of place and comming into one place without the leauing of another doe thereby vtterly destroy the nature of a body i Ibid. Impossibile est impium ista quae diximus in corporalibus credere It is impossible and a thing impious saith Didymus to beleeue these things concerning bodily substances This was the Philosophy that these Fathers had learned They knew by Philosophy and by trueth that a body must haue extension of parts and one part different and distant from another and place correspondent to euerie part so that where one part is there another cannot be and the whole so limited to one place as that without leauing that place it cannot be in another but neither did Philosophy nor Diuinitie teach them that vncircumscribed body which M. Bishop speaketh of 3. W. BISHOP Secondly Master PERKINS chargeth vs with disgrading Christ of his offices saying that for one Iesus Christ the only King law-giuer and head of the Church they ioine vnto him the Pope not only as a Vicar but as a fellow in that they giue vnto him power to make lawes binding in conscience to resolue and determine infallibly the sense of holy Scripture properly to pardon sinne to haue authority ouer the whole earth and a part of hell to depose Kings to whom vnder Christ euery soule is subject to absolue subjects from the oath of allegeance c. Answer Here is a bed-role of many superfluous speeches for not one of all these things if
infallibly what is the certaine meaning of euery place Are those holy fathers loth of their labour or are they so busied in other or greater affaires as that they haue no leasure to attend to such trifles Satisfie vs M. Bishop as touching these matters otherwise we must take this deuise to be as indeed it is the couer of your shame the cloake of your apostasie which can no otherwise be shadowed but by this pretense That the Popes sense is the very trueth of Scripture being notwithstanding wholly repugnant contrary to the words In a word the Pope thrusteth out the lawes of Christ which are expressed in the words of Christ and by his sense setteth vp his owne lawes vnder the name of Christ To giue power to the Pope properly to forgiue sinnes as M. Bishop doth is a wicked blasphemie and an Antichristian exalting of him into the place of Christ When the Scribes said within themselues f Mar. 2.7 Who can forgiue sinnes but God only our Sauiour Christ did not contrary them therein but partly by discouering the thoughts of their hearts and partly by the miracle that he wrought taught them to vnderstand him to be God the Sonne of God and therefore that he had power to forgiue sinnes He hath left it therefore so to be conceiued of vs that power to for giue sinnes belongeth to God only g Cyprian de Lapsis Nec remittere aut donare indulgentia sua seruus potest quod in dominum delicto grauiore commissum est The seruant sai he Cyprian cannot for giue that which by hainous traspasse is committed against the Lord. h Cyril in Ioan. lib. 2. cap. 56. Certè solius reri dei est vt possit à ptceatis homines soluere cui enim alij praeuaricatores legis liberare â peccato licet nisi legis ipsius authori Surely it belongeth only to the true God saith Cyrill to be able to release men from their sinnes for who but the maker of the law can free them from offense that are trespassers of the law As for that which M. Bishop obiecteth that Christ said to his Apostles i Iohn 20.23 Whose sinnes ye remitte they are remitted vnto them and whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained it no more importeth a power of forgiuing sinnes then the ministers k 1. Tim. 4.16 Sauing them that heare him importeth a power of sauing For as the minister saueth not properly by any power of sauing but only by teaching the way of saluation so he also forgiueth sinnes not properly by any power thereof but by preaching the Gospell of remission of sinnes and designing them to whom belongeth this remission God hath made vs not Lords but l 2. Cor. 3.9 Ministers of the new Testament and of the spirit neither hath he giuen vs the power but m cap. 5.18 The ministry of reconciliation for God was in Christ reconciling the world vnto himselfe not imputing vnto them their sinnes to vs he hath committed only the word of this reconciliation namely whereby we preach and testifie in the name of Iesus Christ remission of sinnes and reconciliation to God to all that repent and beleeue the Gospell But this whole cōmission of forgiuing sins shall be the better vnderstood by those instances by which Cyrill exemplifieth the same n Cyril vt supra Erit autem id duobus vt arbitror modis primò baptismo acinde penitentia Nam aut credentes vitae sanctimonia probates homines ad baptismum inducunt indignos diligenter expellunt c. First in baptisme and afterward in repentance Them that beleeue and approoue themselues by holinesse of life the minister addmitteth to baptisme this is to forgiue their sinnes but carefully he repelleth and putteth backe them that are vnworthy this is to retaine them But of this forgiuenesse of sinnes in baptisme we must remember that which S. Austine saith if at least that booke be his o August scal Paradis cap. 3. Officium baptizandi dominus concessit multis potestatem verò authoritatem in baptismo remittendi peccata sibi soli retinuit The Lord Iesus gaue the office of baptizing to many but the power and authority to forgiue sinnes in baptisme he reserued to himselfe only For the noting of which difference he rightly alleageth the words of Iohn Baptist p Ioh. 1.26.33 I baptize with water but he it is which baptizeth with the holy Ghost Now if to baptize with water to the remission of sinnes be to remitte sinnes in that sense which our Sauiour intendeth in that speech and to baptize with water to remission of sinnes importeth no power for forgiuing sinnes but only a ministery for publication and for the applying of Gods seale for exhibiting and confirming thereof it followeth so far foorth that those words of Christ doe not giue to the minister any power properly to forgiue sinnes Therefore Chrysostome though he terme this ministery in some sort a power yet to shew in what sort it is to be conceiued most notably saith q Chrysost in Ioan. hom 85. Quid sacerdotes dico Neque Angelus neque Archangelus quicquam in his quae a deo data sunt efficere potest sed pater filius sp sanctus omma facit sacerdos linguam manus praebet Not the Priest only but neither Angell nor Archangell worketh any thing in those things that are giuen of God but the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost doth all the Priest putteth too but his tongue and his hand The other instance which Cyrill giueth is r Cyril vt suprà Aut ecclesia filijs peccantibus quidem increpant paenitentibus autem indulgent 1. Cor. 5.5 When the minister giueth checke to offendours and to the penitent release Whereof he giueth example in the incestuous Corinthian whom for fornication the Apostle deliuered to Satan for destroying the flesh that the spirit might be saued and afterwards receiued againe that he might not be ouerwhelmed with ouermuch sorow here the Corinthians did forgiue and the Apostle himselfe did ſ 2. Cor. 2.7.10 forgiue and thus the terme of forgiuing hath alwaies his place and vse but this forgiuenesse is disciplinary for reconcilement to the Church it is not forgiuenesse of sinnes spiritually and properly so called though by the ordinance of Christ it must be to the peritent a necessary introduction to the assurance and comfort thereof as t See the Answer to the epistle dedicatory sect 28 before hath beene declared I conclude this point with that which Hierome writeth vpon the words of Christ to Peter u Matt. 16.19 whatsoeuer thou bindest in earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou loosest on earth shall be loosed in heauen for declaration whereof he saith that z Hieron in Matt. 16. Quemodo ibs sacerdos leprosum facit mundum velimmundum non quò sacerdotes leprosos faciant immundos sed quò
of vnderstanding and touch of conscience as might serue to direct him in some sort for morall and ciuill life for the preseruation and maintenance of society amongst men This direction of our life God increaseth and strengthneth much by education and instruction more by the knowledge and vnderstanding of true religion most of all by the grace of spirituall regeneration Were it not that God in mercy had set these bounds bankes to restraine and hold in the rage and fury of vnlawfull and wicked lust the fall of man had carried him into all importunity and extremity of wickednesse and abhomination and the state of men had beene much worse then the state of bruit beasts When God therefore taketh away these props and staies both of grace and nature and leaueth lust to it owne vnbridled and vnruly passage and to the spurres of Satans malicious prouocations what must needs follow but that as the water vpon the rupture of the bankes breaketh foorth with all force and violently beareth downe all that commeth in the way so man setting a side all respect of conscience of modesty and honesty most wretchedly demeaneth himselfe and the further God goeth from him so much the more betaketh himselfe to all most vngodly and reprobate courses When God left a 2. Sam. 11.4.14 Dauid a while to himselfe how fearefully how beyond all expectation did he fall The like we see in Solomon in Ezechias in Peter and other holy men and seruants of God Now b Luk. 23.31 if these things befall in the greene what shal be done in the drie If it haue beene thus with them who haue beene neere to God what shall bee expected of them who are strangers to God and haue no part in the spirit of grace What other waies and meanes God hath for that purpose c Aug. cont Iulian Pelag. l 5. cap. 3. siue deserendo siue alio quocunque vel explicabili vel inexplicabili modo quo facit haec summè bonus ineffabiliter iustus either explicable as Saint Austin speaketh or vnspeakeable we know not onely this we know that he carieth a most potent and mighty hand both inwardly and outwardly in moouing and directing the wickednesse both of infernal spirits men continuing himselfe both most perfectly good and vnspeakeably iust Now the ends and vses whereto God ordereth and disposeth sinne are partly reduced to mercy and partly to iudgement In the former respect Saint Austin saith that d Idem de nat grat cap. 27. Etiam necessarium fuisse homini ad auferendam superbiae vel gloriae occasionem vt absque peccato esse non posset it was necessary for man for taking away occasion of pride and vaineglory that he should not be in case to be without sinne and e Idem de ciu des l. 14. ca. 13. Audeo dicere superbis esse vtile cadere in aliquod apertum manifestumque peccatuÌ„ vnde sibi displiceant qui iam sibi placendo ceciderant that it is profitable for the proud to fall into some open and manifest sin that they may be displeased at themselues who by too well liking of themselues did fall So saith Basil that f Basil serm Quòd deus non sit author malorum Ille sapiens prouidentissimus rerum humanarum dispensator diaboli vtitur ad nostâ—am exercitationem malignitate quâ—mad modum medicus viperae veneno ad salutarem medicamentorum praeparationem as Physicians vse the poison of the Serpent to make thereof a healthfull medicine so God the most wise and prouident disposer of humane things vseth the malignity of the diuell for the exercising of vs g Ambros de paenitent lib. 1 ca. 13. Malitiam eius nobis ad gratiam conuertit he turneth his malice saith Ambrose to be a furtherance of grace vnto vs. And thus Saint Austin again saith that h August de praedest grat ca. 20. Probatur deum vti cordâ—bus etiam â—nalorum ad laudem adiumentum bonorum sic vsus est Iuda tradente Christom sic vsus est Iudais crucifigentibus Christum quanta inde bona praestitit populis credituris God vseth the hearts of euill men to the praise and to the helpe of good men as he vsed Iudas to betray Christ as he vsed the Iewes to crucifie Christ and what great benefites did he thereby performe to them that should beleeue in him i Idem in Psal 93. Illi qui mar tyres persecuti sunt persequendo in terra in caelum mittehant scientes quidem praesentis vitae damnum inferebant sed nescientes futurae vitae lucrum conferebant They which persecuted the Martyrs saith he by persecuting them vpon earth sent them to heauen they knew that they caused them the losse of this present life but they knew not that they yeelded them the gaine of the life to come For execution of iudgement he maketh vse of sinne both in that he punisheth the sinne of one by the sinne of another and in that he punisheth a man himselfe by his owne sinne former by latter and greater sinnes k Greg. Moral lib. 2. cap. 6. Deo ad vsum iusti iudicij iniusta diaboli voluntas seruit The vniust will of the diuell saith Gregory serueth God for the vse of iust iudgement The wicked in holy scripture are called l Esa 10.5.15 the rod of Gods wrath his axe his saw his stafe m Ier. 51.21 his hammer and weapons of war because he vseth their malice and fury to chasten his people for their sinnes and to bring destruction vpon other that are his enemies vntill hauing finished his worke which he hath intended to doe by them he giueth way to the malice of others to be reuenged vpon them also And heere it is duly to bee obserued that in these vses of sin the act that is committed therby is not alwaies sinne in it selfe but becommeth sinne to him that doth it only by the minde wherewith he doth it When the murtherer killeth a man as touching the act he doth nothing but what in due course may lawfully be done Doth not the magistrate put a man to death and is guiltlesse therein Did not the Israëlits without offence slay the Canaanites and Samuell slay Agag the King of the Amalechites The murtherer of a cruell minde practiseth the death of another man God hath iust cause why to deliuer the same man to death and therefore giueth way to the others cruelty against him God is herein free but man is guilty and albeit he doe the thing which God intended yet his wicked and cruell minde remaineth iustly to bee punished n Aug. in Psal 93. si traditio Christi non tradentis animus considerandus est hoc fecit Iudas quod fecit deus pater c. quod fecit ipse dominus c. Ep. 48. Cur in hac traditione deus est pius homo reus
indure of any thing or else voide of due respest vnto the Sonne who are such aduersaries to the Mother whom if they would not reuerence for her owne vertues which were most rare and singular yet for her Sonnes sake who loued her so tenderly they should shew themselues better affected towards her The virgin-mother hoâ— worshipped in Popery and more forward in her praises if they did indeede loue and honour her Sonne as they pretend to doe R. ABBOT Our affection towards our Sauiour Christ consisteth not in the approouing of old wiues dreames but in the keeping of his word We finde not that any of the Apostles or Euangelists either vsed themselues or instructed others to salute the Virgin-mother with the Haile Mary It is recorded in the Gospell indeed that an Angell sent from heauen did so salute her vpon the earth but it is not recorded in the Gospell that we on earth should so salute her being now in heauen As for that which M. Bishop saith of our dispraising her it is vntrue we dispraise her not we a Luk. 1.48 call her blessed as we are taught to doe we acknowledge her a fingular instrument of Gods mercy towards vs in the incarnation of Iesus Christ we mention her as becommeth vs with due remembrance of the vertues and graces that God hath bestowed vpon her but yet wee will make no b Leo 10. apud Pet. Bembum ep l. 8. epist 17. Ne Deam ipsam inani lignorum inutilium donatione lusisse videamini Goddesse of her as the Pope hath done nor commit Idolatry to doe her vndue honor as the Collyridian heretickes did of old and as the Papists now doe Christ loued her tenderly but yet hee meant not to put her in place of himselfe nor appointed vs to seeke at her hands that blessing and grace which God hath giuen vs in him alone And therefore we will not be partakers with the Church of Rome in those sacriledges and blasphemies wherein they call her c Ioan. Michae Enchir. quotidian exercit pag. 120. O nostra singularis mater Aduocata suscipe nos in maternam tuamcustodiam eâ— directionem adopta in filios tibi deuotissimos purga et praeserua ab omnibus vitijs ex orna tua humilitate castitate charitate obedientia caeterisque virtutibus their mother and aduocate praying to her that shee will receiue them into her motherly custody and direction to adopt them to be her deuout children to purge them and preserue them from all vices to adorne them with her humility chastity charity obedience and other vertues d Cap 7. p. 346. suscipe etiaÌ„ per idem cor filij tuâ— vniuersum nâ—strae seruitutis obsequium tuis meritis illud adiungenâ— supple emenda perfice et offer that for her sonnes sake or as they speake by the heart of her sonne she will receiue all the duty of their seruice and adioining it to her merits will supply it amend it perfect and offer it e Cap. 4. pa. 158. per te accessum habeamus ad filium vt per te nos suscipiat purget sane liberet c. Excuset apud ipsum tua puritas integritas culpam nostrae impuritatis corruptionis humilitas tua nostrae veniam impetret vanitate sobrietas gulositati c. copiosa tua charitas nostrorum cooperiat multitudinem peccatorum Domina nostra Mediatrix nostra Aduocata nostra tuo filio nos commenda tuo filio nos repraesenta tuo filio nos reconcilia incorpora that by her they may haue accesse to her sonne that by her he may receiue them purge heale and deliuer them that her purity and integrity may with him excuse the fault of their impurity and eorruption her humility may obtaine pardon for their vanity her sobriety for their gluttony that her abundant loue may couer the multitude of their sinnes O our Lady say they our Mediatresse our Aduocate commend vs to thy sonne represent vs to thy sonne reconcile vs and incorporate vs to him Thus what Christ came to doe for vs towards God because none could doe it but he that haue they set vp the Virgin Mary to doe for vs towards Christ who notwithstanding needed Christ as well as we But because we tender the honour of Iesus Christ and for the loue wherwith he hath loued vs. do hold our selues bound in loue to yeeld him entirely the glory of that that he hath done for vs therefore we renounce all such deuotions which indeed are no deuotions but impieties and prophanations of the faith and religion of Christ whereby the mediation of Christ is either excluded as needlesse or impeached as vnsufficient to doe that for which he was appointed and sent of God But as touching this point of M. Bishops blinde and doting superstition I refer thee gentle reader to the examination of his answer to M. Perkins epistle dedicatory the last part thereof 13. W. BISHOP But let vs come to Christs owne person Whereas the first Adam was at the first instance of his creation replenished with perfect knowledge Ioh. 1. In cap. 2. Luc. v. 52. Col. 2. v. 4. and it is also in holy writ said of the second that the word was made flesh full of grace and truth Yet they commonly teach that our Sauiours soule was subiect to ignorance euen as other mens soules are and that he was in his youth ignorant of many things But what and they spare him not in whom all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge were hidden when he came to ripe yeares and began now to preach let vs for a taste heare some of Caluins sweete obseruations vpon the text of the Gospell Ex Caluin Turcismo lib. 7. cap. 13. Luc. 16. Matth. 7. Iohn 1. In cap. 7. Luc. v. 29. because the purer brethren complaine much that M. Caluins workes are in no greater request Christ saith he * speaketh improperly Matth. 6. vers 18. he vseth harsh and far-fetched similitudes hee wresteth the Prophets words into a strange sense he vseth triuiall and vulgar prouerbs as probable coniectures not as sound arguments which he willeth vs to beare in minde as a thing often practised by our Sauiour in Matth. cap. 12. vers 25. Luc 11. vers 17. he speaketh after the manner of men not out of his heauenly cabinet Mat. 11. vers 21. which is no lesse in plaine English then that he spake vntruly as men doe Matth. 26.39 And very sutable to this he noteth else where that Christ could not get any other to be his Distiples then some certaine poore fellowes of the refuse and dregges of the people Seeme not these execrable notes to issue from the pen of some malicious Iew or ranke Atheist yet are they but fleabitings in comparison of those which follow In his commentary vpon these words of our Sauiour Father if it be possible let this chalice or cup passe from me He obserneth first that
with his owne rodde and to shew that he careth not what he saith so that it serue his present turn howsouer it crosse him otherwhere Yet further Caluin noteth elsewhere that Christ could not get any other to be his disciples then some certaine poore fellowes of the refuse and dregges of the people Marke the text gentle Reader vpon which Caluin giueth that obseruation o Luk. 7.29 Then all the people that heard and the Publicanes iustified God being baptised with the baptisme of Iohn but the Pharisees and the interpreters of the law despised the counsell of God against themselues and were not baptised of him Heereupon hee saieth p Calu. ibid. Hoc quidem primo aspectu Euangelij gloriam valde obscurat immò deformat quòd discipulos Christus nō nisi ex faece populi quisquilijs colligere potuit qui autem sanctitate vel doctrina praestabant ipsum repudiabant sed dominus hoc initio specimen edere voluit ne vel illius aetatis homines vel posters Euangelium aestimarent humana probatione This at first sight obscureth the glory of the Gospell yea disgraceth it that Christ could get no other disciples but of the dregges and refuse of the people and that they who excelled in learning and holinesse did refuse him But God by this beginning would giue token that neither they then nor others afterward should esteeme the Gospell by humane approbation Now why doth M. Bishop dislike of this obseruation What doth he finde that Christ had Popes to be his Disciciples or that like a Pope he had Cardinals fellowes to Kings and Emperours to attend him The Pharisees could say by way of preiudice against him q Ioh. 7.48 Doth any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees beleeue in him but this people which know not the law contemptuously pointing at them which n Idem de bono perseuer ca. 14. Quoniam vt crederent non erat eis datum etiam vnde crederent est negatum followed him are cursed Yea our Sauiour Christ himselfe saith to his father r Matt. 11.25 I thanke thee O father Lord of heauen earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent of this world and hast opened them to babes See heere the wise the Prudent the Rulers the Pharisees they all refuse Christ but the people the poore babes sinners ſ Matt. 9.10 21.32 publicans and harlots they are noted to receiue him And is M. Bishop offended that these are tearmed dregges and refuse or whatsoeuer they were doth not his wit serue him to vnderstand that Caluin speaketh comparatiuely according to the conceite of the world which held these to be but refuse and dregges in comparison of the other Had he neuer read the words of the Apostle t 1. Cor. 1.26 Brethren yee see your calling that not many wisemen after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weake things of the world to confound the mighty and vile things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen and things which are not to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should reioice in his presence Harken heere M. Bishop foolish things weake vile despised things that are not what are these in account but dregges and refuse God hauing so disposed that it might appeare that the calling of his grace is not afforded according to any degrees of worldly titles What shall we then hold it but a pange of a distempered braine which M. Bishop sheweth in his censure following seeme not these execrable notes to issue from the pen of some malicious Iew or ranke Atheist Yea but these he telleth vs are but flea-bitings in comparison of those that fellow And what are those forsooth vpon the words of our Sauiour u Matt. 26.39 Father if it be possible let this cup passe from mee Caluin obserueth first that this praier of Christ was vnaduisedly made But that is first according to M. Bishops woont a meere vntruth Praier vnaduisedly made is a matter oferrour and sinne but this Caluin calleth x Caluin ibid. Votum abruptum fuisse fatemur Votum illud subitò elapsum castigat ac reuocat a desire abruptly conceiued which by and by more plainely he tearmeth a desire sodeinely passing from Christ which may be without sin and so was in Christ being drawen out of his pure and vndefiled soule only by horrour of his passion and extreme importunity of his greefe y Mat. 26 37. He began faith Saint Mathew to be sorrowfull and grieuously perplexed z Mar. 14.33 He was afraid saith Marke and in great heauinesse and said My soule is verie heauy euen vnto death Now being thus infinitely surcharged with griefe euen vnto deathes doore his agony being such and so crushing the whole power of nature as that a Luk. 22 44. his sweat was like droppes of blood trickling downe to the ground he praieth as Saint Marke speaketh that if it were possible that houre might passe from him Abba Father all things are possible vnto thee take away this cup from me O my Father if it be possible let this cup passe away from mee thus by instinct of vncorrupted nature shrinking backe from the feeling and experience of that to which notwithstanding by voluntary obedience he both before and then present did submit himselfe saying Neuerthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt be done b Caluin ibid. Eadem vehementia praesentem coelestis decreti memoriam illi abstulit vt non reputaret in ipso momento se hac lege missum esse generis humani redemptorem The same vehemency of griefe saith Caluin tooke away from him the present remembrance of the heauenly decree so that in the very moment hee did not weighwith himselfe that vpon this condition namely with condition of drinking this cup hee was sent to be the Redeemer of mankinde By which words Caluin doth not import that Christ had habitually forgotten Gods decree but that by meanes of the excesse of his griefe hee did not for the present actually fixe his minde vpon it c Ibid. sicut saepegrauis anxietas caliginem oculis obducit ne simul in mentem veniant omnia as saith he great heauinesse doth often cast a mist before the eies so that all things come not to minde at once Now M. Bishop reporteth these words as if Caluin had said that Christ absolutely had forgotten the decree then which hee intended nothing lesse and not contented therewith hee addeth another falsification that he remembred not for the time that he was sent to be the Redeemer of mankinde whereas Caluin addeth with this condition namely with condition of vndergoing that heauy burden So far was Christ heere from forgetting that he was sent to be the Redeemer of mankinde as that his words may
church that is assembling themselues together to performe religion and seruice to their God This was the state of the church in the captiuity of Babylon when Ierusalem was burnt to the ground the temple destroied the people of God carried away into strange lands and heere and there dispersed amongst the heathen nations The like befell them by the tyranny of Antiochus euen in their owne land their temple being defiled their religion interdicted and euery one commanded to be slaine that would not renounce the law of God Now to apply all these things to the state of the church of Christ it was first oppugned by professed enemies who sought wholly to root out the name of Christians and to abandon the faith of Christ vtterly out of the world Thus did the Iewes first and after them the Heathens persecute the whole profession of Christianity and by the importunity of their cruelty did many times so obscure and darken the face of the church as that for the most part it was hardly to be seene Whosoeuer were found to giue open testimony to the name of Christ were martyred and slaine the rest for feare of the like danger either fled into wildernesses and solitary places or else had their meetings very couertly and secretly that they might not be espied Yea their sauage and barbarous fury so far preuailed as that they seemed to themselues to haue gotten a perpetuall victory ouer the name of Christ and did set vp pillars of marble as trophees thereof whereof it is said that some monuments are yet remaining vntill this day Thus albeit many thousands there were who heere and there dispersed and scattered continued steadfast in the faith of Christ and in many places couertly gathered themselues together for the exercise of their faith yet the Church to the sight of the enemies therof was inuisible neither could they in a manner take knowledge of any against whom their malice might any further proceed But when by the prouidence and mercy of God the sword of those tyrants was wrested out of their hands this inuisible church soone came to light againe and began to enioie outward state and honour and the Saints who seemed to haue beene dead and buried in euerlasting reproch and shame became renowmed and glorious in the world and as they were indeed so began they in the opinion of men to be exalted vnto heauen From thencefoorth we affirme that the church hath neuer ceased to be eminently and apparantly visibly to al the world so far are we from saying that which Bellarmine as the master and M. Bishop here as the scholar do impute vnto vs Å¿ Bâ—llarm de notis eccl cap 9. Ecclesiam visibilem a multis seculis perijsse c. docent omnes that the visible church for many ages was quite perished out of the world How can we be taken to say that the church was perished for many ages who doe hold that for those many ages whereof we speake Antichrist according to that that was prophecied of him did t 2. Thess 2.4 sit as God in the Temple that is to say the church of God If we say that Antichrist sate that is dominated and tyrannized in the church the visible church then surely we deny it not to be the visible church wherein Antichrist did sit We confesse that the church in all that time hath beene apparant to the eies of all men the whole world saw it Turkes and Saracens fought against it and did their vttermost to root it out that the name of Christians might no more haue beene heard of amongst men But we say withall that the visible church by the vsurpation of Antichrist was become for the most part as the temple of God in the daies of u 2. King 2â— 4.7 Manasses replenished with idolatries and abhominations or as the church of the Iewes at the comming of Christ euen x Mat. 9.36 like sheepe without a shepheard burdened with humane traditions and wanting the free aire of the word of God whereby hee ministreth the breath of euerlasting life As y Ierem. 3.20 the wife that is rebellious and vnfaithfull to her husband z Prou. 2.17 which forsaketh the guide of her youth and forgetteth the couenant of her God so was the state of the Church shamefully polluting her selfe with manifold fornications whiles she proftituted herselfe to the embracings of the Romane adulterer and yeelded to him the obedience and seruice which she should haue reserued vnto Iesus Christ Shee was the mother indeed by whom God through baptisme brought foorth children to himselfe but being though by nature a mother yet by affection a step-mother when she had brought them foorth shee poisoned them or else hated and put them from her if any refused to drinke of her cup and to approoue those adulteries and sorceries wherewith their father her husband and Lord was dishonoured by her And many such were there through the whole decourse of the desolations of Antichrist whose eies God opened some more some lesse to see the filthinesse of their mother who though happily by education they were not wholly without some aspersion of the errors and superstitions of their times yet abhorred those Idolatries and abhominations whereby the Church had broken her faith to God and made way so much as in her lay for her full diuorce and separation from him For God forbid that we should thinke that the spirit of trueth was wholly departed from the Church or that the couenant of Baptisme was voide on Gods behalfe sealing none vnto him but that amidst those ruines he had still his remnant which not in name onely but in trueth were the Church of Christ For as in a common pestilence though it rage neuer so sore yet it infecteth not all and many whom it doth infect yet are not deadly infected but many by preseruatiues escape and others by strength of nature expel the venime in botches and sores so as that life is still preserued euen so in that generall pestilence and infection which the breath of Antichrist had blowen abroad through the church howsoeuer it were vniuersally dispersed yet it tainted not all and many that were touched with it yet drunke not so deepe of the whore of Babylons cup as to surfet and die thereof and albeit they might seeme in a maner to bee drowned in common errours yet reteined that fundamentall doctrine of true faith in Christ whereby they keept the head aboue water to receiue the breath of life and through the fire of repentance by harty praier vnto God for remission of all their sinnes and ignorances whether knowen to them in their end or remaining vnknowen passed vnto eternall life a See Simon Goulart Catalog test veritatis Many such there were in the bosome of their church euen in their monasteries and religious houses to whom God reuealed the light of his truth Who b Ezech. 9.4 mourned and cried for all the abhominations that were
expresse tearmes teacheth O miracle O goodnesse of God! he that sitteth aboue with his Father at the very same instant is touched with the handes of all men Real presence denied by our beleefe of Christs ascension and giueth himselfe to them that will receiue and embrace him See more of this in the question of the blessed Sacrament where M. PER. citeth the very same authorities which he heere repeateth see my answer to to them there R. ABBOT It is a true argument and very consequent Christ is ascended into heauen and there sitteth at the right hand of God the father therefore hee is not really and locally in the sacrament The connexion is Saint Austins a August in Ioan tract 50. Conuersatus est secundum corporis praesentiam quadraginta diebus cum discipulis suis eis deducentibus videndo non sequendo ascend it in caeluÌ„ non est hîc He is ascended into heauen and is not heere as touching the presence of his body Saint Austin saith that because he is ascended therefore as touching his body he is not heere M. Bishop saith that notwithstanding his ascension he is still heere according to his body Whether now may we thinke is more likely of these two to bee beleeued But M. Bishop to saue himselfe will set Chrysostome and Austin together by the eares Forsooth Chrysostome reporteth it as a miracle that he who sitteth aboue with his father at the very same instant is touched with the hands of all men and giueth himselfe to them that will receiue and embrace him What Chrysostomes minde was in this behalfe appeareth by that which otherwhere he saith that b Chrysost op imperf hom 11. In vasis sanctifacatis non est verum corpus Christi sed mysterium corporis eius continetur in the holy vessels not the true body of Christ but the mystery of his body is contained And by this mystery of his body Saint Austin saith that e August epist 23. Secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est after a certaine maner it is the body of Christ and Cyprian saith that d Cyprian de resurrect Christi Quod videtur nonane virtute Christs corpus censetur in name and power it is accounted the body of Christ. As therefore Saint Austin saith that e August in Psal 33. conc 2. Ipse se portabat quodammodo cum diceret Hoc est corpus meum Christ did in some sort beare himselfe in his owne hands when he said This is my body in some sort he saith or after a sort not verily and indeed so Chrysostome intendeth that he who sitteth at the right hand of God is after a sort touched in the Sacrament with the hands of all the partakers thereof not as touching the reality but as touching the mysterie of his body yet so wherein consisteth the miracle which Chrysostome mentioneth as that he indeed giueth himselfe spiritually and by faith to all them that are truely willing to receiue him And in what meaning Chrysostme spake those words we may easily conceiue by other words which he vseth in the very same place f Chrysost de sacerd lib. 3. Dum conspicis dominum immolatum Sacerdotem sacrificio incumbentem ac preces fundentem tum verò turbam circumfusam pretioso illo sanguine intingi ac rubefieri etiamnè te inter mortales versari atque in terra confistere censes annon potiùs evestigiò ad caelum transferris annon omnem ca niâ—câ—gitationem abijcreâ—s mente â—ura circumspieâ—â—quae in ceâ—â— sunt O miraiu um O dâ—â— bemgintatem qâ—â— cum patre sursum sedet in illo ipsotemporis articulo on nium manibus pertractatur aâ— sâ—â—pâ—â— tradit wâ—â—tibus ipsum excipere accâ—mâ—lecti fit autem id nullis praestigijs sed apertis acâ—â—reumspâ—tientibus circumsistentium omnium occutis When thou seest the Lord offered the Priest leaning to the Sacrifice and powring foorth praier and the people round about died and made red with that pretious blood doest thou thinke that thou art amongst mortall men or standing vpon the earth Art thou not foorthwith lift vp to heauen Doest thou not cast away all carnall cogitation and with pure minde behold those things which are in heauen aboue Then vsing the words which M. Bishop hath alleaged he addeth And this is done not by collusion but so as that the standers by with open eies behold all that is done Let M. Bishop now tell vs doe the standers by with open eies see Christ offered Are they made red with the bloud of Christ Must they thinke that they are indeed carried vp to heauen and are not vpon the earth If he cannot deny but that these words are vsed by excesse and vehemencie of speech to drawe the mindes of his hearers to diuine and heauenly meditation of the mysteries then in hand can hee deny but that wee haue iust cause to vnderstand the other words in the very same sort The other testimonies cited by M. PER. out of Vigilius Fulgentius Austin doe make the same good because they shew that Christ according to his manhood is not really vpon the earth M. Bishop biddeth vs see his answeres to those authorities but as yet we doe not see them and if euer we do see them we shall see him as wise or rather as wilfull in them as he hath beene in all the rest 6. W. BISHOP Thirdly he reasoneth thus The Church as it is beleeued is not seene In that we beleeue the Catholike Church it followeth that it is inuisible because things seene are not beleeued We answer that the persons in the Catholike Church are and euer were visible euen to Iewes and Heathens who persecuted them but the inward indowments of those persons that is their faith hope and charity their assistance by Gods spirit and such like Christian qualities are inuisible to be beleeued And euen as a man is truely said to be visible though he consist aswell of an inuisible soule as of a visible body so the Church is visible for the vsible persons visible teaching and administring of Sacraments in it albeit the inward qualities of it be not visible R. ABBOT a Origen in Cant. hom 1. Ecclesiam coetum omnium aduerte sanctoâ—um Et hom 2. Ecclesia ante constitutionem mundi sic enim dicit Paulus sicut elegit nos in Christo c. The holy Chatholike church is the company of Gods saints whom he hath elected in Christ before the foundations of the world and b Gregor in Cantic cap. 3. Secundum praescientiae suae gratiam Christus sanctam ecclesiam de in aeternum permansurissanctis construxit whom he hath by the grace of his foreknowledge appointed to continue with him for euer It is c Ephe. 1.23 the body and d Reuel 21 9. Spouse of Christ e Reuel 5 9. redeemed and f 1. Pet. 1.2 sprinkled with his bloud g
words diuers of the ancient fathers i Tertull. de carne Christi propè finem Origen in Luc. hom 14. Ambros in Luc. 2. lib. 2. Hierom. cont Pelag. l. 2. Tertullian Origen Ambrose Hierome hold to be most properly verified in the birth of Christ who opened the wombe that was not opened before whereas for all other the wombe is first opened by carnall copulation Heereupon Tertullian saith that k Tertul. vt supra Virgo non virgo virgo quantum à viro non virgo quantum à partu the virgin Mary was both a virgin and not a virgin a virgin as touching man not a virgin as touching child-bearing that is a virgin as free from hauing the wombe opened by man not a virgin as free from hauing the wombe opened by birth of childe So Saint Austin saith that l August de fide cont Manich. cap. 22. Maria non incongruè propter partum dicitur mulier virgo verò quòd virilem nescierit conuentionem neque pariendo virginitas eius corruptasit Christ as God our Mâ—diator yet the God head it selfe suffereth not shee may not vnfitly be called a woman in respect of her child-birth and a virgin for that she know not the company of man neither was her virginity corrupted by bearing child What will M. Bishop now say that all these were heretikes and did deny that the mother of Christ continued a virgin Let him say what he will but we will hold him for a sorry fellow that concludeth breach of virginity of that opening of the wombe As touching the fourth article that Luther affirmed the Godhead it selfe to suffer it is a lie These are but deuices of Gifford and Knogler and such other base hungry staruelings who to gaine fauour make collections and conclusions of their owne and then affirme them of our men That Christ according to his diuine nature also is our Mediatour euen whole Christ both God and man hath beene before iustified in answer to the seuenth section of his preface to the Reader But to inferre that therefore the Godhead it selfe suffereth is as good a reason as to say that because the man dieth therefore the soule is mortall But saith M. Bishop the chiefest act of Christs mediation consisteth in his death True and what then If then saith hee the Godhead of Christ doe not suffer that death it hath no part in the principall act of Christs mediation As if he should say the chiefest act of a faithfull and good subiect is to die for his Prince and country if then the soule it selfe doe not suffer that death it hath no part in the chiefest act of a faithfull and good subiect Would he take it patiently to heare another man to reason in this sort If he would not why doth he himselfe thus play the wiseman and mocke simple men that are not able to perceiue his fraude It is the man that dieth though he die not in the soule but in the body and it is Christ God and man that suffereth though he suffer not in the God head but in the manhood m Vigil cont Eutych lib. 2. Passus est deus in vnione personae non est passus in proprietate naturae siquidem possionis iniurias etiam diuinitas pertulit sed passionem sola etus caro persensit God suffered by vnion of person saith Vigilius but in propriety of nature he suffered not the Godhead did beare the iniuries of the passion but the flesh onely did feele the same Though the soule it selfe die not yet it is the soule that exposeth the body vnto death and though the Godhead suffered not yet it was the Godhead that yeelded the manhood to suffering and death n Heb. 9.14 offering himselfe without spot vnto God by his eternall spirit as the Apostle speaketh The rest of his quarrels being most impudent and shamelesse fictions are already handled in the thirteenth and fourteenth sections of the answer to the preface 9. W. BISHOP 5. Descended into hell the third day hee arose againe from the dead It is worth a mans labour to behold their goodly variety of expositions about Christs descending into hell Beza followed of Corliel our Country-man 2. Apolog. ad Sanct. thinkes this to haue crept into the Creed by negligence and so the French Hugonots and Flemish Gues haue cast it cleane out of their Creed but they are misliked of many others who had rather admit the words because they be found in Athanasius Creed and also in the old Roman Creed expounded by Ruffinus but they doe most peruersly expound them Caluin saith that Christs suffering of the paines of hell on the Crosse is signified by these words but he pleaseth not some others of them because Christs suffering and death also goeth before his descending into hell and the words must be taken orderly as they lie Thirdly diuers of them will haue it to signifie the laying of Christs body in the graue but that is signified plainely by the word buried Wherefore some others of them expound it to signifie the lying of his body in the graue three daies which M. PER. approueth as the best but it is as wide from the proper and literall signification of the words as can be For what likenesse is there betweene lying in the graue and descending into hell Besides Caluin their great Rabbin misliketh this exposition as much as any of the rest Lib. 2. Instit cap. 16. sess 8. and calleth it an Idle fancy Fourthly Luther Smideline and others cited by Beza art 2. doe say that Christs soule after his death went to hell where the Diuels are there to be punished for our sinnes thereby to purchase vs a fuller redemption which is so blasphemous that it needes not any refutation As ridiculous is another receiued of most Protestants that Christs soule went into Paradise which well vnderstood is true For his soule in hell had the ioyes of Paradise but to make that an exposition of Christs descending into hell is to expound a thing by the flat contrary of it All these and some other expositions also the Protestants haue deuised to leads their followers from the ancient and only true interpretation of it to wit that Christ in soule descended vnto those lower parts of the earth where all the soules departed from the beginning of the world were detained by the iust iudgement of God till Christ had paied their ransome and were not admitted into the kingdome of heauen before Christ had opened them the way thither R. ABBOT We hold Of Christs descending into hell that all the articles of our Creed are so to be vnderstood as that our faith may make vse thereof concerning our selues and not onely concerning others It is a very barren and cold construction which M. Bishop maketh of the descending of Christ into hell that his soule descended into the lowest parts of the earth to bring from thence the soules that were detained there by the
iust iudgement of God till Christ had paid their ransome But marke how wisely he setteth downe the matter All the soules saith he departed from the beginning of the world What all the soules without exception the soule of Cain of Esau of Ismael and of other such infidels and reprobates Well though he write he knoweth not what we must take his meaning by that that his fellowes say a Greg Marti Discouery chap. 7. sect 6. that the Patriarchs and other iust men of the old Testament were in some third place of rest called Abrahams bosome or Limbus patrum till our Sauiour Christ descended thither deliuered them from thence So then not all soules but the soules of the iust were deliuered by Christs descending into hell But what is it the meaning of Christs descending into hell that he descended into a place of rest Surely M. Bishop will haue but very bad rest if he haue no better then is any where to be found in hell He vpbraideth vs with the improbability of diuers expositions made of this article but surely this is aboue all other a madde exposition to say that Christ descended into hell that is into Abrahams bosome into a place of rest Let him not presse vs with the authority of mens names for the iustification of it Saint Austin knew their names as well as he and they could not so much preuaile with him but that he freely professed that b August epist 99. Ne ipsos quidem inferos vspiam scripturarum locis in bonum appâ—llatos potuti reperire Quod si nusquam in diuinis authoritatibus legitur non vtique sinus ille Abrahae id est secretae cuiusdam quietis habitatio aliqua pars inferorum credenda est c. si in illum Abrahae sinum Christum mortuum venisse sancta scriptura dixisset non nominato inferuo eiusqÌ„ doloribus miror si quisquam ad inferos eum descendisse asserere auderet he could no where in Scripture finde hell spoken of or named in good part and saith that because it is not so read in any diuine authority therefore Abrahams bosome which is an habitation of quiet rest is not to be beleeued to be any part of hell And if the Scripture had said that Christ being dead went into Abrahams bosome not mentioning bell or the sorowes thereof I woonder if any man would dare thereupon to say that hee descended into hell So in another place he saith c Idem de Genes ad lit l. 12. c. 33. Illud me nondum invenisse confitetor inferos appellatos vbi iustorum anima requiesâ—â—nt c. Et ideo quomodo apud inferos eum Abrahae sinum credamus esse non video I doe not finde it any where called hell where the soules of iust men doe rest and I doe not see how we may beleeue that Abrahams bosome is in hell And this he obserueth out of the story of the Gospell where it is that we read of Abrahams bosome d Ibid. Videmus inferorum mentionem non esse factam in requie pauperis sed in supplicio diâ—itis We see that there is no mention made of hell in the rest of the poore man but in the punishment of the rich Thus strange it seemed to Saint Austin and vnprobable which now forsooth wee must take to be a very Catholike construction that Christ descended into hell that is to say into a place of rest But this placing of Abrahams bosome to be a part of hel was the deuice of Marcion the hereticke who borrowed it from the Poets dreame of the Elysian fields Tertullian therewith vpbraiding him that e Tertull. cont Marc. lib. 3. Vester Christus posi decursum vitae pocticetur apud inferos in sinu Abrahae refrigerium Et lib. 4. Mercedem refrigerij apud inferos determinat eis positam qui legi prophetis obedierint their Christ promised to the Iewes after life ended rest in hell in Abrahams bosome and did determine a reward of rest in hell for them that obeied the law and the Prophets So doth Origen bring in the Marcionite heretike alleaging that f Origen de recta in deum fide dialog 2. Ait in inferno Abraham fuisse non in regno caelorum Ex eo quòd illi cum diuite colloquium intercesserat simul fuisse intelligitur Abraham was in hell not in the kingdome of heauen For by that they talked one to the other it is vnderstood saith he that they were together But Origen answereth him that g Ibid. Ingentem hiatum qui nominatur non attendisti Medium enim illud inter caelum terram hiatum vocat he listeneth not to the great gulfe that is there said to be betwixt them which he expoundeth to be the middle space betwixt heauen and earth as importing that Abraham was in heauen Hee obserueth also that the rich man is said h Ibid. Erigens oculos suos tollere verò oculos in caelum visitatum est to lift vp his eies and men vse saith he to lift vp their eies to heauen The very same reasons Tertullian also vseth to shew that i Tertul. vt supra lib. 4. Aliud inferi vt puto aliud quoque Abrahae sinus Nam magnum â—it intercedere inter istas regiones profundum transitum vtrinque prohibere sed nec alleuasset diâ—eâ— oculos quidem de longinquo nisi in superiora Hell is one thing and Abrahams bosome is another because it is said that a great depthis betwixt those places and no passage betwixt the one and the ether and the rich man would not haue lifted vp his eies being far off but to a higher place He expoundeth it therefore to be the receptacle of the soules of the faithfull now departing where they enioy rest and peace till the time of the resurrection not in heauen as hee thinketh but yet higher than to be any part of hell Amisse indeed in that he excludeth it from being a part of heauen but yet destroying that Popish fancy whereby it is made a part of hell For we beleeue that the soules of the faithfull goe immediately to heauen and because in their departure they are said to goe to Abrahams bosome therefore we beleeue that Abrahams bosome is in heauen nothing being thereby imported but what Christ saith in the Gospell k Mat. 8.11 They shall come from the East and from the West and from the North and from the South and shall sit downe with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of God So saith Origen that l Origen in Genes hom 11. Omnes sancti qui de quatuor terraepartibus veniunt in sinum Abrahae portantur ab Angelis all the Saints which come from the foure parts of the world are caried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome In like sort Saint Austin saith of Nebridius a faithfull man deceased m August Confess lib. 9.
de notis eccles cap. 7. Si solae vna prouincia retineret veram fidem adhuc verè propriè diceretur ecclesia Catholica dummodo clarè ostenderetur eam esse vnam eandem cum illa quae fuit aliquo tempore vel diuersis in toto mundo if one only countrey should retaine the true faith yet the same should truly and properly be called the Catholike church so that it might cleerely be shewed to be one and the same with that which hath been at any time or times ouer the whole world For by this rule nothing hindreth but that our church though now it be not receiued generally in the greatest part of the Christian world yea if it were but in one onely country yet may truely and properly be called the Catholike church if it be prooued to be one and the same with the church which at any time heeretofore was spred ouer all the world But that our church is the same with that which at the first was spred thorowout the world it is very euident as Tertullian teacheth vs to prescribe g Tert. de praescript adu haeret In eadem fide conspirantes non minus Apostolicae deputantur pro consanguinitate doctrinae by consanguinity or agreement of our doctrine with the doctrine of that church For by the Gospell which the Apostles preached the church was founded thorowout the whole world h Iren. lib. 3. cap. 1. Quod quidem tunc praeconiauerunt postea per dei voluntatem in Scripturis nobis tradiderunt fundamentum columnam fidei nostrae futurum The gospell which the Apostles preached they afterwards by the will of God deliuered to vs in the Scriptures to be the foundation and pillar of our faith The same Gospel deliuered to vs in the Scriptures we receiue we adde nothing to it we take nothing from it as we finde it so we teach it Our faith therefore is the same with the faith of that church which at the first was planted thorowout the whole world There is no cause then for vs to forsake our owne church or to thinke that the same began with Friar Luther as this dreamer imagineth which by so plaine deduction is approoued to be the same with the first church and consequently to be truely and properly the Catholike Church Finally saith he they beleeue no church in all points of faith But doth his wisedome finde it in the articles of the Creed that we are to beleeue any church in all points of faith The church how farre to be beleeued in points of faith We are taught there to beleeue that there is a holy catholike Church which is the communion of Saints but nothing doe we finde there of beleeuing any Church in all points of faith We beleeue the Church in points of faith so farre as she yeeldeth herselfe like a faithfull and obedient spouse to be guided by the voice of her Lord and husband Iesus Christ But if the Church preferre her owne will before the word of Christ as the proud harlot of Rome doth it should be a wrong to Christ to beleeue the Church and a way to set vp humane errour in stead of diuine truth It is not the voice of the Church but the word of the written Gospell which God hath appointed as Irenaeus euen now hath told vs to be the foundation and pillar of our faith For the words of the Church are many times the words of errour and vntruth and therefore if we should relie our saluation vpon the credit thereof wee should indeed relie vpon an vncertaine ground and erring guide but the word of the Gospell is alwaies one and the same without any variablenesse or vncertainty and therefore safely may wee relie our saluation thereupon Now therefore it cannot be said but that wee alwaies beleeue one holy catholike Church according to the profession of faith specified in the Creed though sometimes and in some things we doe not beleeue that is credit the visible Church as touching points of faith because the Church sometimes teacheth vs to beleeue otherwise than God hath taught Which though it seeme strange to M. Bishop in that language which he hath learned to speake yet to vs it is not strange who in the Canonicall histories of the Churches both of the old and new Testament do so often see them diuerting and turning from the right way As for that hee saith that our learned masters doe commonly cashiere out of the Creed the addition of the cōmunion of saints it is but a fruit of the harnessing of his face and he is therefore bold to say it because he hath learned not to be ashamed of any thing that he list to say That by the Saints are there meant al good Christians all the faithful whether aliue or dead we will not denie Communion of Saints implieth neither Purgatorie nor praier to saints but that either praier to saints or praier for soules in purgatorie belong to this communion of Saints we neuer yet learned and are too old to learne it now For as for the Saints in heauen i Aug. de vera relig cap 55. Honoramus eos charitate non seruitute honorandi propter imitationem non propter religionem adorandi We honour them with loue as Austin saith but not with seruice to follow them by imitation not to adore them by religion and therefore not to pray vnto them Further entercourse as yet there is none betwixt them and vs because k Esay 63.16 they know vs not nor are acquainted with vs nor can we any way acquaint them what wee say vnto them Now beside the Saints triumphant in heauen wee acknowledge none but those that are militant vpon the earth because the holie Ghost diuideth the whole body of the Church into l Eph. 1.10 Col. 1.20 those that are in heauen and those that are in earth and pronounceth them all m Reu. 14.13 blessed that are dead in Christ as who rest from labours and sorrowes and thereby are discharged from all Purgatorie paines But if there be any soules in Purgatorie to which all good Christian soules should yeeld and affoord their helpe to doe them ease and this be one matter of the entercourse and communion of Gods Saints why doth the Pope violate the communion of Saints by withholding from those tormented soules that helpe and ease which he is able to affoord them Surely if he cannot doe them ease then is he an impudent liar and a notable impostour and cozener of the world If he can do it then is he a cruell wretch that without compassion suffereth poore souls to lie broiling in those fierie flames But we rather approoue the former member of this diuision and take him for a liar both for that without warrant hee thrusteth in Purgatorie into the articles of our faith and with lesse warrant challengeth the same for a iurisdiction to himselfe 13. W. BISHOP 10 The forgiuenesse of sinnes
ouerthroweth with a distinction taken as he saith from the best authours but hee saith it very falsly and vnhonestly not being able to bring one good authour for the approouing of it The word religious saith he is ambiguous and principally signifieth the worship onely due to God but it is taken some other time to signifie a worship due to creatures And as well he may say that the word mariage is ambiguous and principally signifieth the bond that is betwixt the husband and the wife but yet is with the best authours taken some other time for that affiance that is betwixt the fornicatour and the harlot so that lawfully may the one enioy the other because there is betwixt them a bond of mariage We are told that religion in Ecclesiasticall vse belongeth onely to God and that no seruice of religion is to be done to creatures and he telleth vs that religion belongeth principally to God but that there is religion also belonging to creatures yea euen to vile and abominable idols And what maruell is this whenas wee see the Valentian Iesuit distinguish in like sort of idolatry that because S. Peter nameth l 1. Pet. 4.3 abominable idolatries therefore we should vnderstand that there are idolatries which are not abominable and that m Greg. de Valent de idolat lib. 2. c. 7. Quid attinebat ita determinatè cultus simulachrorum illicitos notare si omninò nullos simulachrorum cultus licitos esse censuisset some idolatrie is lawfull Surely religious worship giuen to creatures is no other but idolatrie but yet forsooth wee must not condemne it because all kinde of idolatrie is not to bee thought vnlawfull These are men of sharpe wits and can if yee will put them to it distinguish God out of heauen and Christ out of the Creed or by a distinction can bring a great number of gods into heauen and a great many Christs into the Creed As for vs wee take the fathers before alleaged to be herein ingenuous and honest as we are and that they did not intend with one breath to appropriate religion vnto God and to blow it from him with another Albeit not onely vnder the name of religion but vnder the name of worship also they haue affirmed the same to belong to God onely as namely u Cypria de exhort martyr ca. 2. Quod Deus solus coiēdus sit that God onely is to bee worshipped o Origen cont Cels lib. 1. Cultus adoratio nulli creaturae concedi potest absque diuinitatis iniuria that worship and adoration can bee giuen to no creature without iniurie and wrong to God p Hieron◠aed Ripar adu Vigilant Ne solem quidem Lunam non angelos non archangelos non Cherubim non Seraphim omne nomen quod nominatur in praesenti seculo in futuro colimus adoramus that we worship neither Sunne nor Moone neither Angels nor Archangels neither Cherubim nor Seraphim nor any other name of any creature that is named either in this world or in the world to come Therefore of the Virgin Marie Epiphanius saith q Epiphan haer 79. Collyrid Sit in honore Maria Pater Filius Sp. Sact adoretur Mariā nemo adoret Let Mary be in in honour elt the Father Sonne and holy Ghost bee worshipped but her let no man worship and Ambrose r Ambros de Sp. Sancto l. 3. cap. 12. Maria erat templum Dei non Deus templi ideo ille solus adorādus qui operabatur in tēplo Marie was the temple of God but not God of the temple and therefore he onely is to be worshipped who wrought in the temple Thus the fathers knew no religion they knew in religion no worship but what belongeth to God alone and M. Bishops distinction both in the one and in the other was wholly vnknowen vnto them But it is woorth the while to note how the said distinction such as it is is applied by him to pictures and images Religious worship saith he doth sometimes signifie a worship due to creatures for some supernaturall vertue or qualitie in them But good Sir tell vs what supernaturall vertue or qualitie is there in your images and pictures If any religious worship be due vnto them you tell vs that it must befor some supernaturall vertue or qualitie in them If there bee no such then how shall religious worship bee due vnto them May we not thinke that you haue sent vs a very naturall distinction that giueth supernaturall vertue and qualitie to stocks and stones But if supernaturall vertue qualitie doe yeeld a title of religious worship how is it that ſ Reu. 19.10 the Angell refused to be worshipped of S. Iohn and t Act. 10.25 the Apostle Peter of Cornelius seeing it cannot bee doubted but that there was a supernaturall vertue and qualitie in them Well hee will tell vs that the next time in the meane while he giueth vs leaue to thinke their Romish fauorites to be very naturally affected that conceiue so supernaturally of the deuisers of such blinde and witlesse tales As for that he saith that they doe not binde God and his hearing of vs to certaine things and places because they hold that God may be worshipped in all places hee saith no more than Ieroboam hath in effect said before for the setting vp of his idols no more than the Pagans and Heathens conceiued that their gods were in heauen and therefore that in all places they might pray and sacrifice vnto them Notwithstanding as they thought that to pray before their Images was a more speciall and solemne deuotion and they had there the heauenly powers more neerely present vnto them so haue they beene affected in Poperie and haue thought those praiers to bee most effectuall which they haue made in the presence of filthy idols and to that end haue taken great paines to goe long iourneies and pilgrimages vnto them But saith M. Bishop the sight of such holy things doth breed more reuerence and deuotion in vs and better keepe our mindes from wandering vpon vaine matters He should haue said if hee would haue spoken as the truth is that they breed superstition and errour rather than reuerence and deuotion that they cause God and his Saints to bee contemned in that stoliditie and blockishnesse of dumbe idols or at leastwise doe hold the minde so intangled heere vpon the earth as that it hath not power and libertie of affection to ascend to heauen as hath beene u Of Images sect 5.8 before sufficiently declared and needeth not heere to bee repeated His coupling of Churches and Images is like x Deut. 22.10 the yoaking of an oxe and an asse because Churches haue their vse for yeelding conueniencie of place and assemblie for praier for hearing of Gods word and ministration of his Sacraments for which vses onely it is that they are holie but Images haue no vse at all to
is sinne it being the vse and worke of our warfare a Heb. 12.4 to fight against sinne and the grace and power of God assisting vs whereby we ouercome sin He alleageth that S. Iames calleth it only temptation and then first sinne when it conceiueth and I answer him that S. Paul calleth it sinne before it be temptation b Rom. 7.8 sinne wrought all maner of concupiscence in me and therefore in temptation it is sinne See heereof the question of originall sinne handled at large before and of this place of S. Iames the sixt section 33. W. BISHOP Now to conclude this passage if you please to heare to what height of perfect obseruance of the Commandements the Euangelicall Preachers haue brought their followers in Germany vnto by teaching the Commandements to bee impossible and that onely faith iustifieth and that good works haue no reward in heauen and such like Iacobus Andreas a famous Lutheran shall enforme you De planetis who writeth thus That the whole world may see these men alienated from the Papacie and to put no confidence in works De Planetis therefore they doe no good worke at al. In stead of fasting they feast and are drunken day and night in lieu of Almes they oppresse and pill the poore they haue changed praying into cursing and blaspheming the name of God so prophanely that no Turkes nor Saracens commit the like impietie against Christ for humilitie there raigneth pride disdaine crueltie and riot in apparell c. and much more to the same purpose And that this truth may be confirmed by the testimony of two sound witnesses Musculus a man of no smal account among them thus reporteth of his brethren in the Lord. De prophetia Christi Such now adaies is the condition of the Lutherans that if any man list to behold a great number of Knaues robbers malitious persons coseners vsurers and such like deceiuers let him but enter into a Citie where the Gospel is taught and there he shall finde good store of them and a little after Surely it is true that among Heathens Iewes Turkes and other Infidels none can bee found more vnruly and that lesse esteeme of honesty and vertue than the Euangelicall brethren with whom all things passe currant and nothing almost is blamed except vertue For the diuell hath shaken off all their bands and turned them loose R. ABBOT And what M. Bishop are there not thinke you The vertuous conuersation of Papists as many knaues in Rome as in any city of the Lutherans What are there no Minions Courtisans there that serue for the vse of the Pope his Cardinals Did you not remember what was said of Rome by one of your owne Poets Viuere qui sanctè cupitis discedite Roma Depart from Rome all yee whose care is to liue holily Did you not consider that it was easie for vs to retort your words to your selues and to say If you please to heare what good effects the Popish doctrine of iustification by works doth bring foorth looke to the Iesuits Catechisme to Watsons Quodlibets and to the rest of those bookes of the same argument written by Popish Priests concerning the Iesuits who are the Puritane-Papists and the verie quintessence of their religion and yet are there described to be no other but Epicures Atheists fornicatours Sodomites coseners traitours proud malitious contentious couetous and what not Now wee know that the Iesuites will say that you are as leaud and naught as you haue described them to be Like will to like and get you both together there is no such goodnesse in either of you as that you should take vpon you to question our goodnesse And if I should rippe vp this matter of your vertues to the full I should but cause a lothsome and filthie stinke troublesome both to my selfe and to the Reader Therefore I rest my selfe with that answer that I haue a Sect. 15. and of satisfaction sect 19. before giuen vpon the like occasion Onely I must note it for one of M. Bishops Sycophants tricks that hee reckoneth it amongst our doctrines that good works haue no reward in heauen 34. W. BISHOP Hauing done with the Creed and ten Commandements we must now come to our Lords praier Master PER. beginneth with it thus The Lords Praier is a most absolute forme of praier now in this wee are taught to direct our praiers to God alone Our father c. and that onely in the name and mediation of Christ for God is our father onely by Christ therefore to vse any mediation of Saints is needlesse Ans We allow our Lords praier to be a most perfect forme of praier yet hold that many other sort of praiers may be made vnto God very acceptably as sundry other praiers vsed by Christ and set downe in the Gospell doe teach vs and therefore to argue that because one praier of Christs making is directed to God that no other may bee made to any Saint is very childish Wee gather praier to Saints out of S. Pauls requesting the Romans and Corinthians and others to pray for him and out of the mediation of the woman of Cananea to Christ for her daughter and the Disciples speaking to Christ for her with such like both out of the old and new Testament For if it had been either needlesse or bootlesse to haue praied vnto God any otherwise than in the name and by the mediation of Christ then S. Paul would not haue requested the helpe of mortall mens praiers to God for him and if poore sinners praiers may helpe vs much more may the intercession of the glorious Saints do who are in far greater fauor with God See the question of intercession of Saints Againe if that only forme of praier were to be vsed neither were it lawfull to pray to Christ himselfe neither could it bee prooued thereby that we should praie in Christs name For there is no expresse mention of Christs name neither any petition for Christs sake For God may bee truely called our Father in that he immediately createth and giueth vs our soules which is more than our bodies that we receiue from our carnall fathers R. ABBOT If the Lords praier be a most perfect forme of praier The Lords praier excludeth praier to Saints as M. Bishop alloweth it to bee then are we perfectly thereby directed both to whom and for what we are to praie It cannot bee called a most perfect forme of praier wherein there is any want of either of these things To adde any thing to that that is perfect is to denie the perfection of it and to take away any thing from it is to make it maimed and vnperfect Seeing then by the most perfect forme of praier we are instructed to pray no otherwise but to God onely it followeth necessarily that praier to Saints is vnlawfull because it is exorbitant from that most perfect forme M. Bishops exception heereto is
very childish and vaine that other praiers may be made vnto God very acceptably and that other praiers are vsed by Christ and set downe in the Gospel because in other praiers there may bee nothing and in the praiers set downe in the Gospel there is nothing but what is consonant and agreeable to this form For though praier be conceiued in other words yet it varieth not from this forme so long as wee pray to no other but to whom in this forme wee are directed nor for any other thing but what in this praier is concluded And albeit M. Bishop can alleage that in the Gospell and otherwhere there are other praiers vsed and set down beside the Lords praier yet in the whole course of Scripture can hee finde vs no example of any praier but to God alone If hee did bring vs example of praier to Saints somewhat it were but now it is idle that he alleageth that there are praiers in other words But he telleth vs that they gather praier to Saints out of S. Pauls requesting the Romans Corinthians others to pray for him And well indeed they may if they can prooue that S. Paul in the same sort praid to the Romans others to pray for him as they pray to the Saints in heauen to pray for theÌ„ But if that which S. Paul did were but a familiar request of mutuall charitie wheras their praier to Saints is a seruice of religious dutie and hee did beseech them onely as fellow members of the same body to giue assistance to his praiers not as Mediatours as they make the Saints to obteine for their sakes the acceptance thereof then doth M. Bishop shew himselfe a ridiculous man that will draw from the one of these a conclusion of the other Or if he will needs confound the one of these with the other it shall be well that his disciples that craue the help of his praiers do take their ghostly father and set him vp like sweete S. Rood and deuoutly kneele downe and pray vnto him But if to craue ech others praiers be piety and to doe that ech to other which they doe to the Saints be damnable idolatrie then it is apparent that they gather that which was neuer sowed and doe colourably alleage these instances for the abusing and blinding of simple men As for a Matt. 15.22 the woman of Canaan we reade that she praied to Christ for her daughter but we doe not reade that her daughter praied to her and wee finde that by her praier she shewed her compassion but that shee tooke vpon her any power of mediation wee doe not finde b Chrysost ex varijs in Math. locis hom 17. Vide prudentiam mulieris non rogat Iacobum non obsecrat Ioannem neque pergit ad Petrum nec intendit ApostoloruÌ„ chorum non quaesiuit mediatorem sed pro omnibus illis poenitentiam accepit comitem quae aduâ—cati locum in pleuit sic ad summum fontemperrexit But whereas hee addeth the disciples speaking to Christ for her hee sheweth little discretion therein because it appeareth not that they spake for her but onely requested their master to send her away as being offended at her importunate crying And so little helpe is there out of this example for praier to Saints as that Chrysostom rather giueth vs hereby a note to except against it Behold saith he the wisedome of this woman she requesteth not lames she intreateth not Iohn she goeth not to Peter she looketh not to the company of the Apostles she seeketh for no mediatour but in stead of them all she taketh repentance for her companion which supplied the place of an aduocate and so went to the well-head And whereas he hath before demanded of her c Ibid. Dic mihi mulier quemadmodum ausa es cùm sis peccatrix iniqua accedere ad Chrisium Ego inquit nouâ— quid agam c. propterea descendit propterea carnem assumpsit honâ—o factus est vt ego ei audeam loqui Tell me woman how durst thou being a sinfull and wicked woman thus come to Christ he bringeth her in answering I know what I doe therefore descended he from heauen therefore did hee take flesh and became man that I might be bold to speake vnto him It should seeme then that it is a point of godly wisedome neither to goe to one Saint nor other but to goe directly to Christ himselfe and not to be terrified by the conscience of our sinnes because for that purpose he became man that wee might be bold to come to him and to seeke of him the remission thereof But M. Bishop addeth another wise reason and well beseeming his learning If it had been either needlesse or bootlesse to haue prated vnto God any otherwise than in the name and mediation of Christ then S. Paul would not haue requested the helpe of mortall mens traiers vnto God for him As if S. Paul when hee requested them to pray for him did intend that they should pray otherwise for him than in the name and by the mediation of Iesus Christ He praieth for them and they pray for him not to be heard ech for others sake but all to be heard for Christs sake d Aug. cont epis Parmen l. 2. c. 8. Sic oratio pro in uicemmembroruÌ„ omniuÌ„ adhuc in terra laborantium ascendit ad caput in quo est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris Thus as Austen saith the praier of all the members labouring vpon the earth ech for other goeth vp to the head who is gone before into heauen in whom is the propitiation for our sinnes Now therefore M. Bishop very vainly inferreth that if poore sinners praiers may helpe vs much more may the intercession of the glorious saints because poore sinners praiers doe not helpe vs by way of mediation but onely in louing care they ioyne themselues to pray with vs that we may both be helped for Christs sake whereas Popish intercession of Saints intendeth not so much that the Saints should pray for vs for Christs sake as that Christ should accept vs for the Saints sake As for the fauour of the Saints wee know God fauoureth vs no lesse than hee fauoureth them being redeemed with the same bloud and by one spirit sealed to the same hope and no more will hee suffer an elect to perish on earth than he will suffer a Saint to perish in heauen Whatsoeuer M. Bishop will plead for their fauour sure we are that they haue no fauour in this respect and therefore without assuming any thing to themselues they haue left vs to depend vpon Christs fauour as they haue done Now heere againe see saith he the question of the intercession of Saints whereas he hath taken paines to skip ouer that question also and hath said nothing of it But remembring himselfe hee goeth further heere and saith that if that onely forme of praier were to be vsed neither were
expected or hoped for nor they cannot according to their owne rules from their heart make the said petitions being out of all hope to obtaine them R. ABBOT There is a notable picture of the regenerate man in the holy woman Rebecca when a Gen. 25 22.23 the children stroue within her and the Lord said vnto her Two nations are in thy wombe and two maner of people shall be diuided out of thy bowels and the one people shall be mightier than the other and the elder shall serue the yonger For so are there in the faithfull the old and the new man the flesh and the spirit somewhat whereby they are the children of God and somewhat wherby they are still the children of this world The originall leprosie still cleaueth vnto vs but it is begun to be clensed and the strength of it is abated already Sinne still possesseth and dwelleth in our members but we do not say as M. Bishop falsly pretendeth that it hath the commanding of them b Aug. de peecat mer. remiss l. 2. c. 7. Nunc ei similes esse tam coepimus per primitias spiritus adhuc dissimiles sumus per reliquias vetustatis proinde in quantū similes in tantum regenerante spiritu filij dei in quātum autem dissimiles in tantum si ij carnis seculi Illinc ergò peccare non possumus hinc verò si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus nosi so◠decipimus c. We are now like vnto God saith S. Austin by hauing the first fruits of the spirit and we are still vnlike vnto him by the remnants of our old state So far therefore as we are like him so far are we by the spirit of regeneration the sonnes of God and so far as we are vnlike him so far are we the children of the flesh and of the world On the one side therefore we cannot sinne but on the other side if we say that we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and there is no truth in vs. Now then semblably wee answer M. Bishop that according to that we are renued and by the spirit of God are become the sonnes of God the name of God is sanctified in vs his kingdome is begun in vs and we doe his will in earth with ready will as it is done in heauen But by the remainder of the corruption of flesh and of the old man there is a let that Gods name is not perfectly sanctified in vs his kingdome taketh not full place in vs neither doe we his will in such measure as we ought to doe Yet we pray that the old man the body of sinne may more and more be destroied that the worke of Gods kingdome may more and more be fulfilled in vs that we may more and more keep his commandements and do his will not only with ready will but without all let and hinderance fully and perfectly as they in heauen doe Herein we pray that we may increase from day to day and we beleeue that God heareth vs and granteth our request and will goe forward with his good worke till he bring vs in heauen to the perfection of it so far are the Protestants from being out of hope of the obtaining of these three first petitions as M. Bishop fondly dreameth 44. W. BISHOP In the fourth we aske aswell to be made partakers of Christs blessed body in the Sacrament which is the food of our souls as for our daily corporall sustenance For so do the ancient fathers expound that petition as namely S. Cyprian in oratione Dominica S. Hiero. in 6. Matt. S. Amb. li. 5. de Sacra c. 4. where he hath these memorable words of the blessed Sacrament that before the words of Christ it was bread but after it is the body of Christ Why then saith hee is it called heere bread he answereth that it is called bread not simply but supersubstantiall bread For so doth the Greeke word Epióusion signifie as well as daily it is saith he not such bread as passeth into our body but it is the bread of eternall life that vpholdeth the substance of our soules Now you may be well assured that Protestants who will not beleeue any such bodily presence doe not pray to God to giue it them R. ABBOT Wee wot well that sundry of the ancient Fathers haue expounded this petition Reall presence fondly collected out of the Lords praier not onely literally of corporall foode but also mystically of the participation of the blessed Sacrament wherin Christ is spiritually offered and giuen vnto vs to be vnto vs the bread of euerlasting life Of this we will not contend with the fathers onely we would know of M. Bishop if this daily bread bee vnderstood of the Sacrament how is it that the people with them are not called and vrged to the daily participation of the Sacrament that daily they may be partakers of this bread accordingly as they are taught to pray Or if without the receiuing of the Sacrament a man may be partaker of the spirituall food of the body and bloud of Christ as by their construction of this petition compared with their practise it may seem they do confesse then they must acknowledge that there is no necessitie of their reall presence to make vs partakers of the body and bloud of Christ Which although I do not see how M. Bishop should well and hansomly auoid yet he thought good here to put in one place for the same reall presence of Christs bodie his choise notwithstanding being so smal as that he hath brought vs one that saieth nothing for him yea in very truth saith altogether against him The words of Ambrose are these a Ambr. de Sacram l. 5. cap. 4. Ante verba Christi quod offertur panis est vbi Christi verba deprompta suerint iam non panis dicitur sed corpus appellatur Before the words of Christ that which is offered is bread but when the words of Christ are vttered it is not now termed bread but it is called the body M. Bishop falsifieth the words but taking them as they are what doth hee finde in them for assertion of the reall presence Is it anie proofe of reall presence to say that the Sacrament is called the body of Christ Now as it is called the body of Christ so is it also called supersubstantiall bread not for that that it is really to the mouth belly but for that that it signifieth and presenteth to our faith And this doth Ambrose himselfe immediately declare when hee addeth b Ibid. Non iste panis est qui vadit in corpus sed ille panis vitae eternae qui anima nostrae substantiam fulcit for it is not this bread which passeth into the body but that bread of eternall life that vpholdeth the substance of our soule Where when he deuideth the bread of eternall life from that which goeth into the bodie hee plainly sheweth that
in it euen as the badde may not abide it R. ABBOT The Protestants doe so well indure to heare the words of Gods spirit as that they haue made speciall choise therof as the principall weapon wherewith to fight against the superstitions and abominations of the Papists Whose absurd dotage as many other waies so in their Aue-Marie most notably appeareth in that of a salutation to the virgin Marie being present they haue made an inuocation of her being absent and thinke it a matter of great merit and deuotion to vse it like a charme by saying it ouer thus or thus many times at once which the Angell spake but once M. Bishop allegeth for it the old Catechismes but he neither telleth vs what Catechismes he meaneth nor how old they are which if he had we should easily haue descried the vanity of his speech For if by old Catechismes he meane as he should the Catechismes of the ancient fathers and primitiue Church he is therein found a liar because in those Catechismes there is nothing of it But if by old Catechisms he meane any that haue beene of latter times vnder the darknesse of Popery he abuseth his Reader who in case of Religion looketh for satisfaction euen from the first age because what was not then a part of religion can be no part of religion now the truth of Christ being one and the same from the beginning and for euer The words he saith are the words of the holy ghost and so say we but we say that the words of the holy ghost may be abused as here they are against the purpose and meaning of the holy Ghost They are the words of the holy Ghost which Christ vsed to the Apostles a Luk. 24.25 Fooles and slow of heart to beleeue all that the Prophets haue spoken and will M. Bishop therfore say that we may vse those words for inuocation of the Apostles He allegeth againe that it is prophecied that all generations should call the virgin Mary blessed and we deny it not but we may call her blessed in the meditations of our own hearts and in speaking of her to them that heare vs though we speake not idlely as to her that heareth vs not Be it that the words were composed by the Archangell penned by the Euangelists commended to the reading of all good Christians as other words of scriptures are be it that the sense of them is most comfortable vnto vs yet what is all this to prooue that these words are to bee vsed for a deuotion and seruice to the virgin Mary specially in such sort as Popery hath vsed them in a strange and vnknowen tongue which could yeeld no comfort of the sense nor remembrance thereby of the incarnation of Christ nor perfourmance of thanksgiuing or congratulation towards God That purest antiquity which he allegeth is but corrupt nouelty and leud forgery The Liturgies of Basill and Chrysostome are very falsly so termed and yet in Basils Liturgie there is no mention of the Aue-Mary Of Chrysostomes Liturgie there are so many different copies published one by Leo Tuscus another by Erasmus another by Pelargus who also testifieth that hee hath seen a fourth as that if Chrysostome did leaue any yet no man is able to say of any of them that this is it The sermon of Athanasius in Euangel de Deipara is by b Nann epist nuncupatoria praefixa oper Athanasij In tertiam classem relegaui omnes supposititios libros quos Athanasij non puto Nannius their own translatour put amongst the ranke of bastards and counterfets The name of Deipara was not so famous in the time of Athanasius as to be prefixed in the title of a sermon neither could it haue wanted memorable testimony in the councell of Ephesus if it had been then knowen for his Ephrems works as c Hieron in Catalog script ecclesiast Multa syro sermone composuit Hierome saith were written in the Syrian tongue If M. Bishop can shew them in the same tongue yea or ancientlie translated into the Greeketongue we can giue the better credit that they are his indeed Otherwise we know that they haue been in hucksters handling neither can we but be suspicious of that iugling and foisting which we finde to haue been so vsuall and common with them And if M. Bishop will haue vs to take it for Ephrems worke let him tell vs who is the translatour of it Gerardus Vossius who translated and published the works of Ephrem by the warrant of Pope Sixtus the fift whereas he putteth his name to so many as hee translated putteth no name to the Sermon which M. Bishop citeth shewing thereby that it is not in Greeke and therefore importing it to be a counterfeit He saith that these can with no more reason be denied to be theirs then the rest of their works But I answer him that though there were no other reason yet it is sufficient reason for vs to bee suspicious of these because in them some things are set downe whereof in the rest of their vndoubted workes and in the infinite volumnes of antiquitie which are approoued and acknowledged there is no token to be found As for Bernand he liued in latter times of great apostasie and corruption In that truth which he reteined he is a good witnesse for vs against them but hee can be no witnesse for them to make good those corruptions which hee drew from the time wherein he liued And yet neither is his testimonie cited out of any of his owne works but from another I know not whom and therefore is the lesse to be regarded to say nothing that the speech is ridiculous and fond for why should wee imagine that the Angels triumph and the heauens congratulate that the earth leapeth for ioy and hell trembleth at the deuout saying of the Aue-Mary more then when wee say deuoutly Our Father which art in heauen c Surely good Christians will reiect such absurd dotages and idle dreames though with bad Christians al is fish that commeth to net and what custome offereth they are readie to entertaine neuer regarding to consult with the word of Christ for warrant of that they doe 47. W. BISHOP Now let vs come to the last part of the Catechisme which is of the Sacraments where M. PER. doth briefly repeat his arguments vsed before against the reall presence I might therefore send the Reader vnto the first Chapter of this booke for the answer but because the matter is of great importance I will heere againe giue them a short answer First saith hee the reall presence is ouerthrowne out of these words hee tooke bread and brake it ergo that which Christ tooke was not his bodie c. A simple ouerthrow Christ indeed tooke and brake bread but presently after blessing it made it his body by these words this is my bodie R. ABBOT I might send the Reader saith M. Bishop vnto the first chapter of this booke for the
answer and yet in this booke there is no such chapter where his answer should be found But touching the reall presence M. Perkins argueth out of the words of Christ to this effect that Christ brake that which he tooke and that which hee tooke was bread and not his body and therefore that it was bread and not really his body which hee brake it being absurd that Christ should bee said to breake himselfe and therefore remaining that that which hee brake was the Sacrament only and not himselfe To answer this M. Bishop wee see is somewhat hardly bestead and forceth the words of Christ to another order than the Euangelists and S. Paul haue obserued in the deliuering of them Yea hee crosseth the Canon of the Masse of rather setteth the Canon of the Masse at variance with the institution of Christ In a word hee saith hee knoweth not what and and cannot tell what to say The Euangelists and the Apostle constantly and with one consent put blessing before breaking but he saith that Christ first brake and then blessed He saith that it was bread which Christ brake but if it were bread which Christ brake then what is it which the Priest breaketh If it be bread then there is no transubstantiation If it be not bread then he swarueth from Christs institution Hee maketh Christ to breake the host before consecration but the Masse-priest breaketh it not till after consecration How then shall the Masse-book and the Gospell be thought to agree together All this it seemeth he runneth into because he cannot tell how it should be said that Christ did breake himselfe which was the thing that M. Perkins vrged But let him reconcile these differences and then send vs a more perfect answer otherwise we must hold him for a simple man that could not auoid such a simple ouerthrow 48. W. BISHOP Againe M. Per. 2. Christ said not vnder the forme of bread or in bread but this that is bread is my body Answ It is false to say that this word Hoc This doth demonstrate bread for it is of a different gender from it both in Latin and Greeke and if he had said that that bread had been his body his word was so omnipotent that it had beene of force to make it his body so that M. Perkins maketh a false constraction which nothing helpeth his error R. ABBOT His exception as touching the different gender is excepted against I will not say by his Grammar rules for I will not shame him so much as to send him to his Grammar but by their glosse of the Canon law which telleth him that a Extravag de schismat c. dudum in glossa Neutrum adiectiuum de omni genere praedicatur the adiectiue in the neuter gender is spoken of euery gender Though therefore the particle demonstratiue This be in the neuter gender in the Greeke and Latin tongue yet that hindereth not but that bread being of the masculine gender may bee demonstrated thereby And so the ancient fathers vnderstood it that b Tertul. cont Marcionem l 4. Panem corpus suum appellans Christ called bread his body euen c Cyprian l. 1. epist 6. Corpus suum panem vocat de multorum granoruÌ„ adunatione congestum bread made of many cornes he calleth his body that d Theodoret. Dialog 1. symbola signa quae videntur appellatione corporis sanguinis honorauit he honoured the visible signes with the name of his body and blood that e Orig. de rectae in deum fide Corporu sanguinis signa imagines â— anem poculum ministrauit he ministred bread and wine for signes and tokens of his body and bloud that f Cyprian de vnct Chris In mensa in quae vitimum cum Apostoâ—is participauit conuiuiuÌ„ proprijs manibus tradidit panem vinum he gaue to his Apostles at his last supper bread and wine and in a word that g Aug. ser ad Infant Quod autem fides postulat instruenda panis est corpus Christi bread is the body of Christ. Now if there be no bread then it cannot bee said that bread is the body or that it is called the body of Christ If bread be called the body of Christ then is it necessarily imported that there is bread which is so called Which because it cannot be before consecration therfore after consecration there must be bread to be and to be called the body of Christ And beyond this the omnipotent force of the word of Christ doth not extend it selfe Hee thereby maketh the bread his body not as h Iohn 2.9 of water hee made wine so as to be no longer water but as i Iohn 1.14 the word was made flesh and yet still continued to be the word k Theodoret. vt supra Non naturam mutans sed naturae gratiam adijciens not changing nature as Theodoret expresseth it but adding grace vnto nature Albeit to dispute here what the word of Christ had been of force to doe is fantasticall and idle what hee did intend to doe is manifest and plaine vnto vs. He purposed to institute a Sacrament and l Aug. epi. 23. si sacramenta similitudinem quandam non haberent earum reruÌ„ quarum sunt sacramenta omninò sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerunque reruÌ„ ipsaruÌ„ nomina acciâ—iunt sacraments haue a resemblance of the things whereof they are sacraments and by reason of that resemblance they commonly take the names of the things themselues Christ therefore according to this accustomed maner calleth the Sacrament of his body and bloud by the name of his bodie and bloud and saith of bread This is my body and of the Cuppe This is my bloud and not in name enely but m Cyprian de resurrect Christi Quod videtur nomine virtute Christi corpus censetur in power and effect they are to the faithfull receiuer the same that they are called Heerein the force of Christs word is seene that to so weake and simple creatures he addeth so rich and vnspeakable grace and by so slender meanes worketh so great effects whereby he maketh vs poore creatures of the earth to become one with himselfe in heauen But if M. Bishop will deny the meaning to be This bread is my body we desire him to declare a better meaning and to tell vs certainly whereto to refer This which if he can define we will hold him for a wiser man than any hitherto hath been amongst them After much tossing this matter to and fro needlesse here to be stood vpon their great Master Bellarmine commeth to strike the matter dead and telleth vs that the meaning is n Bellar. de sacram Eucharist l. 1. c. 11. Hoc id est substantia sub his spectebus contenta This that is the substance contained vnder these formes But his wisedome might haue seene that the question
Prolog Quod vtique non ad diuinitatem eius sed ad carnem relatum est quae sitientium corda populorum perenni riuo sui sanguinis inundauit Which saith Ambrose is not referred to the godhead of Christ but to the flesh which did water and refresh the hearts of the thirsty people with the euerflowing streame or riuer of his bloud And thus S. Austin saith of Manna that it signified h Aug. in Ioan. tract 16. Hunc panem significauit Manna hunc panem significauit Altare dei Sacramenta ill fuerunt in signis diuersa sunt in re quae significatur pariasunt the same bread euen the body of Christ that is signified in the table of the Lord they are both Sacraments saith he in signes they are diuers but in the thing signified they are equall and alike Now if without any reall presence the faithfull in Manna did eat the flesh of Christ and in the water of the rocke did drinke the bloud of Christ then it followeth that there is no necessitie of the reall presence to our eating the flesh of Christ and our drinking of his bloud But I would yet further aske him how the reall presence maketh our Sacrament of greater grace and perfection then the old seeing the body of Christ is thereby made subiect to bee eaten of wicked and vngodly men who receiue no grace by it yea of swine and dogs and mice as they affirme which are not capable of any grace For if the very receiuing of Christs body into our bodies doe worke effect of grace then should grace bee wrought in these also But if the effect of grace be to be attributed vnto faith then the reall presence is needlesse because faith touching the Sacrament but as the hemme of Christs garment vpon earth receiueth vertue from the body of Christ in heauen to heale to feed and strengthen vs vnto eternall life That which hee bringeth for confirmation of his argument belongeth nothing therto Christ saith he preferreth the meat that he was to giue to his disciples before that of Manna which their fathers had eaten in the wildernesse And who doubteth thereof when as our Sauiour saith i Ioh. 6.48.51 I am the bread of life The bread which I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world for who doubteth but that Christ or the flesh of Christ is to be preferred before Manna but that this flesh of Christ is to be eaten in the Sacrament really with the mouth and into the belly this place prooueth not Christ there compareth not their sacrament with ours but he compareth their sacrament as the signe with himselfe as the thing that was signified thereby k Augu. cont Faust. Manich. li. 12 c. 29. veterem figuram carnalitèr accipâ—entes mortui sunt Which signe or figure they who vnderstood no otherwise but carnally died and perished but they who vnderstood the same aright vnderstood Christ therein they did eat the flesh of Christ and drinke his bloud as before was said and obteine life by his name l Aug. in Ioan. tract 26. Visibilem cibum spiritualiter intellexerunt spiritualiter esurierunt spiritualiter gustauerunt vt spiritualitèr satiarentur The visible food saith Austin they vnderstood spiritually they spiritually hungred after it they spiritually tasted it that spiritually they might be satisfied So do we in our Sacrament and without any reall presence it is life to vs euen as it was to them 57. W. BISHOP Secondly Christ promised to giue to his Disciples his flesh to eat and his bloud to drinke and when they marueiled how that could be hee assured them Ioh. 6.55 that vnlesse they did eat his flesh they should not haue life in them and further certified them that his flesh was truely meat and his bloud truely drinke whence it is most plainely deduced that he who neuer faileth of his promise gaue them his true flesh to eate R. ABBOT We grant his conclusion that Christ gaue to his disciples and further giueth vnto vs his true flesh to eat but the question still is how or in what sort we eat it Christ indeed hath taught vs that a Iohn 6.55 his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drinke indeed but will M. Bishop say that they are meat and drinke to the body that the body is nourished and fed with the body and blood of Christ and that the same is turned by digestion into the substance of our bodies If not then it cannot be said that with the body wee eat the flesh of Christ and drinke his blood but this must necessarily be vnderstood to be an action of the minde Therefore Cyprian saith that for the doing hereof b Cyprian de caena domini Haec quoties agimus non dentes ad mordendum acu imus sed fide syncera panem sanctum frangimus we doe not sharpen our teeth to bite but with sincere faith we breake the sacred bread and Austin questioneth c Aug. Cur paras dentes ventrem crede manducasti why preparest thou thy teeth and thy belly beleeue and thou hast eaten and defineth it d Idem in Ioan. tract 26. Qui manducat intus non foris qui manducat corde non qui premit dente to be eating within not without to be eating with the heart not crushing with the teeth And otherwise to vnderstand it of eating the very flesh of Christ with the mouth what is it but the grosse error of the Capernaits literally vnderstanding the words of Christ because they were no other but carnall men e Tertul. de resurr carnis Durum intolerabilem existimauerunt sermonem eius quasi verè carneÌ„ suam illis edendam determinassâ—t They thought his speech to be hard intollerable saith Tertullian as though he had determined that they should verily eat his flesh But if they had been intelligent hearers and men spiritually minded they would haue discerned by the other words of Christ the true meaning of this speech For when he attributeth the same to beleeuing in him that he doth to the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood that f Iohn 6.47 whoso beleeueth in him hath euerlasting life he plainly giueth to vnderstand that the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood is to be expounded by beleeuing And so doth S. Austin construe it when hee saith g August in Ioan tract 26. Credere in Christum hoc est manducare panem viuum qui credit manducat To beleeue in Christ that is to eat the bread of life he that beleeueth eateth Againe when he perceiued their repining at his words he saith vnto them h ver 61.62 Doth this offend you What then if ye shall see the sonne of man ascend where he was before i Aug. vt supra ille putabant eum erogaturuÌ„ corpus suum ille autem dixit se ascensuruÌ„ in
whereby his agents and factours z vers 3. THROVGH COVETOVSNES VVITH FAINED VVORDS MAKE MERCHANDISE OF a Reuel 18.13 THE SOVLES OF MEN b Tit. 1.11 SPEAKING THINGS VVHICH THEY OVGHT NOT FOR FILTHIE LVCRES SAKE The first fault that he findeth heere is the dismembring of Gods word and renting of it in peeces with which peeces odly and idlely patched together he maketh vp saith he as it were a poore beggers cloake rather than any testimony of Scripture Now may we not thinke that this man was very destitute of examples of my abusing of holy Scripture that vpon such a pretence as this would bring in such an example as this is I name Elymas the sorcerer seeking to peruert the streight wayes of the Lord I note the place where it is said that he did so I mention Mauzzim as the god of Antichrist according to the exposition of sundrie of the Fathers I direct the Reader where it is that the Scripture maketh mention of him I tell what the worke of Antichrist shall be I expresse it by the words of the Apostle Peter which are a Prophecie of the time of Antichrist that by himselfe and his he shall priuily bring in damnable heresies and through couetousnesse with fained words shall make merchandise of men And that this merchandise shall be of the soules of men I forgate to note it but should haue done out of Reuel 18.13 where the soules of men are reckoned amongst the merchandise of the whore of Babylon And how this shall be done I note by the words of the Apostle concerning such deceiuers and false teachers that they speake things which they ought not for filthy lucres sake Is this now that dismembring and renting of Gods word in peeces that he complaineth of Surely I haue not dismembred the word of God but it seemeth his vnderstanding is dismembred that can no better conceiue what it is to dismember the word of God He is greeued that the word of God fiteth so rightly to describe the Master whom he serueth and for whom hee hath yeelded so farre to engage his owne soule But saith he the words hang vntowardly together for if his Maiesty should be perswaded to aduance the idoll Mauzzim the God of Antichrist he could not establish heresies priuily brought in And why so For that false God saith he will wholly oppose himselfe against Christ and openly professe idolatry and compell others to doe the same And euen so doth the Pope euen so I say the Pope doth wholly oppose himselfe against Christ persecute the faith of Christ tread vnder his feet the lawes of Christ openly professe idolatry and compell others to doe the same But he is said priuily to bring indamnable heresies not because he doth not openly professe them but because he bringeth them in vnderhand by goodly pretences and colourable shewes by fained faire glossing words hiding therewith so much as he can the iniquity and impiety that is contained in them In which sort Saint Paul saith that c 1. Tim. 4.1.2 the spirits of errour shall speake lies in hypocrisie so that though the doctrines which they teach be doctrines of diuels yet they shall colour them with faire pretences of piety and religion that they may not seeme to be that that indeed they are For in this sort the Pope deliuereth all his lies colouring all with the pretence of the name of Christ He is the vicar of Christ and whatsoeuer he doth he doth it by the authority of Christ He setteth vp faires and markets for selling and buying forgiuenesse of sinnes and we must thinke that he doth it by a power receiued from Christ He teacheth men to commit idolatry in the worshipping of images but he beareth them in hand that therein they honour Christ and the seruants of Christ It would be too long fully to discouer how Babylon being d Reuel 17.5 the mother of the whoredomes and abominations of the earth yet doth all in amystery e 2. Thess 2.7 a mystery of iniquity as the Apostle calleth it giuing her poison in a golden cup and by golden termes commending those things whereby shee impiously prophaneth the true worship of God Whereas M. Bishop saith that Antichrist will not suffer any God to be worshipped but himselfe it is a fable Hee shall not deny the worshipping of God but f 2. Thess 2.4 he shall exalt himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped So hath the Pope done lifting vp himselfe aboue God in that hee taketh vpon him to dispense against the Law of God to repeale what God hath established to vnsay what Christ hath said and to say otherwise what he list verifying in himselfe that which S. Hierom saith of Antichrist g Hieron in Dan. cap. 7. Eleuatur supra omne quod dicitur Deus cunctam religionem suae subijciens potestati He shall subiect all religion to his owne power Nothing is Gods word but as he expoundeth it no article of faith is to be taken but as he declareth it nothing to be approoued for religion that hath not warrant from him and what he list to warrant must be taken for religion M. Bishops third exception is vpon a false ground These words saith he are most falsly and fondly applied to vs Romane Catholike Priests for that false god of Antichrist shall not be aduanced by the Romans but fought against and foiled by them A meere fancie for that h Part. 2. in the defense of M. Perkins Prologue pag. 39. c. Rome is Babylon and the Pope Antichrist hath been alreadie proued and that must stand till by M. Bishop it be disproued The words of Daniel The Galls and Romans shall come vpon him c. belong not to Antichrist but to Antiochus who though in his outrage and furie against the Temple and people of God he prefigured the abomination of desolation that should stand in the holy places of the Church and the prophecie of Daniel be so farre forth to be extended both to the one and to the other yet in the same prophecy had many things otherwise proper to himselfe which to apply to Antichrist is most ridiculous and vaine and that the rather for that there is mention made of some nations therein which were being in the time of Antiochus and the prophecy in them was accomplished i Dan. 11.41 the Edomites the Ammonites and Moabites wherof there is now no more name or remembrance vnder heauen that the prophecy of Antichrist should be expected to be verified in them 23. As for couetousnesse and desire of filthy lucre and making merchandise of soules for the satisfying thereof it properly concerneth Romish Priests It is well knowen to the world by what meanes they haue formerly gotten the riches of the world into their hands By the same meanes now do Seminary Priests feed their bellies and cloath their backs if not in such maner as they desire it is but with