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heaven_n	jesus_n	lord_n	see_v	7,565	5	3.6443	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17167	A confutation of the Popes bull which was published more then two yeres agoe against Elizabeth the most gracious Queene of England, Fraunce, and Ireland, and against the noble realme of England together with a defence of the sayd true Christian Queene, and of the whole realme of England. By Henry Bullinger the Elder.; Bullae papisticae ante biennium contra sereniss. Angliae, Franciae & Hyberniae Reginam Elizabetham, & contra inclytum Angliae regnum promulgatae, refutatio. English	Bullinger, Heinrich, 1504-1575.; Golding, Arthur, 1536-1606.	1572 (1572)	STC 4044; ESTC S106868	129,668	182

counselling to depose Childericke and to aduaunce Pippin to the kingdome And so was an other horne ouerthrowen by the little horne The third horne which was the kinges of Lombardie was brought lowe at the incensing of the Popes and finally also vtterly wiped away by Pippin and Charles kinges of Fraunce But by the vndoing oppressing of these kinges the wealth of the Bishops of Rome increased and their power waxed strong whom Gods will was to shew by this triple crowne as it were with the fingar to be very Antichristes Thus much concerning the Keyes Armes and Cognisances of the Romane Bishops Now come to my way againe ¶ Of the wordes power and ministery and so is the disputation of the keyes knit vp I Know well inough it offendeth many euen in this discourse that I vse the terme power so seldome and the worde ministerie or ministration so often when notwithstanding the Scripture doth openly geue power to the ministers and it is commonly called the power of the keyes But how small a thing is that I beséech you if it be compared with the fulnesse of power which these men chalenge to them selues openly I graunt in déede that the administration of the Church or if ye like it better of the keyes is called power For the Lord sayth in the Gospell Like as a man that at his going into a straunge countrey left his house and gaue his seruauntes power c. But who knoweth not that the power which is spoken of héere is none other but to do seruice or to minister specially seing that in an other Euangelist it is more effectually opened what maner of power the same is in these wordes to geue his honsholde meate in due season sayth the lord Which thing no man will wrest to the fulnesse of power but he that is past all shame For the Lorde speaketh manifestly of the preaching of the Gospell whereby meate is set before the housholde I meane before the Church of god And when Paule to the Corinthians had termed the preaching of the Gospell the word of attonement by and by expoūding him selfe he addeth that the office or ministration of preaching the attonement was geuen vnto him behold héere he calleth that thing a ministration which he had euen now called the worde And he addeth againe that Christ by the ministers exhorteth men to be at one with god What power I pray you shall the faythfull minister claime by this géere Rightly therefore do some men geue warning that the power by lawe is one thing and the power by ministration is an other The power by lawe is that wherby ech man as an owner hath power ouer the thinges that are his owne subiecte to his owne commaundement and not to an other mans After this sort the Lord hath power ouer the Church who sayth in the Gospell All power is geuen to me in heauen and in earth So is it sayd before that Christ hath the key of Dauid of death and of hell This power is communicated to no creature but remaineth to God alone Therefore except they will be false ministers they will neuer take this power vpon thē But the power of ministration or office is that which the Lord hath committed to the ministers with a certaine limitation and not absolutely For these do not what they list them selues nor as owners of thinges but as their Lord and master hath commaunded them and onely in the same maner that he by his certaine determination hath appointed them to be done and if they do it not or do it otherwise then their master hath commaunded them they shall be but vntrusty seruauntes And so vndoutedly the minister of Christ hath the ministering power of the keyes in the Church to preach the Gospell to the Church and to preach it in such wise as the Lord hath commaunded him to preach and certeinly he shall be a false and vnfaythfull seruaunt to his master if he take vpon him any other power and specially fulnesse of power and preach not the Gospell at all or preach it otherwise then is appointed him Besides this I am not ignorant that Christ gaue the Apostles great power howbeit with limitation and but for the beginning and for a certeine time according as Mathew witnesseth saying And he gaue his twelue Disciples power against vncleane spirites to cast them out and to heale all maner of diseases and infirmities For I thinke not that any man will affirme the same power to be geuen to all ministers of the Church together with the keyes considering that we know how that the Gospell being sufficiently confirmed already by such signes they be now no longer common and vsuall in the rest of the Church no more then the ablenesse and vse of sundry tounges But howsoeuer the case stād with that wonderfull power it is most certeine that the Apostle Paule sayd of all maner of power geuen vnto him by the Lord that the same was geuen him to edifie withall and not to destroy Which thing vnlesse euery minister wey very aduisedly with him selfe not onely in vaine but also to his owne great harme shall he dispute of the power that is geuen him and much more daungerously shall he take it vpon him Hetherto I haue made discourse of the keyes with as much bréefnesse and plainnesse as I could Wherby I trust that such as shut not their eyes of malice may perceaue that the keyes are for an other thing then the Papistes face vs withall doutlesse not an absolute ouer thinges in earth and in heauen but an healthfull ministery of Gods worde or of the Gospell of Iesu Christ and the charge and good ordering of the very Church of God And therefore that whē the Lord sayd I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen he gaue not Peter and the Romane Idoll an infinite power which they call the fulnesse of power For when the Lord promised and gaue the keyes he gaue not the keyes of an earthly kingdome but of the kingdome of heauen Which thing is chéefly to be marked in this discourse And in this kingdome in this his Church Christ is the souerein Lorde and abideth King Bishop and supreme head yea and that alone without any copartener or deputie But his messengers or Ambassadors sent to his Church are the Elders rulers and ministers of the congregations As for all power it is onely Christes the King Préest and Head and is not surrendred to any other For he him selfe caryeth yet still and vnto the very end will cary vpon his shoulders the key of Dauid and he will open and no man shall shut and shut and no man shall open and he alone both looseth and bindeth But his Ambassadors or preachers that are sent and ordeined to gather his Church doe preach this Christ the Lord assuring men by the preaching of the Gospell that Christ forgeueth the sinnes of such as beléeue certeinly and bestoweth eternall life vpon them

king yet notwithstādyng he laid aside the gouernement of temporall and worldly thyngs and tooke him selfe to the charge onely of spirituall thynges By reason wherof when Pylate asked hym whether hee were the kyng of Israell or no He denyed not him self to be a kyng but hee addeth an exposition and méekely aunswered my kyngdome is not of this world Whereupon in another place of the Gospell he sayd he came not to be serued that is to wit as a worldly prince but to serue or to do seruice him selfe and to giue his life for the raunsome of the whole multitude For that cause he vtterly refused the iudgyng or diuidyng of the heritage that was desired at his hand and put it ouer from himself to the lawfull iudges not without displeasure saying mā who hath made me a iudge or vmper betwene you And therfore when the people were purposed to haue made him a temporall kyng he fled and by that flight of his shewed that those his ministers must not séeke for worldly souereintie in the Church and much lesse possesse it or by any meanes claime it no nor receiue it or take it vpon them if it be offered Besides this he not onely commaunded to giue vnto Caesar that which is Caesars but also furthermore when the tribute that was wont to be payd to the Magistrate was demaunded of him he commaunded a penny that was taken out of a fishes mouth to be payd for him least he might be an offence vnto others Finally by the space of whole iij. yeares together in which he most faithfully went through with the charge that his heauenly father had put him in trust with accomplished all things enioyned him to the full he neuer gaue any inclyng no not the least that could be of any souereintie or worldly dominiō Unto this holy and most humble example of the Lord there is also further added his most modest doctrine For when he perceiued that his disciples beyng caught and led away with ambition burned altogether with desire of souereintie and striue among themselues for supremacie or prerogatiue or as the Romane Bishops terme it for greaternesse as surely this maladie sticketh fast to the ribbes of them that are atteinted neuer so litle with ambitiousnesse which thyng appeareth by the Romish sort them selues he gaue them a very sore checke and withdrew them from that desire of souereintie beating lowlinesse into them therwithall also mainteinyng the right of the Magistrate ordeined of God and finally committyng the ministration of the word to his disciples without any hope or mention of souereintie at all Therfore when in the xvii of Mathew Peter had payd a péece of twentie pence for the Lord and himselfe to those that demaunded but ten pence and that therby he had put the rest of the disciples in suspicion as though Peter should be aduaunced aboue all the rest of them or be made primate among them in the kyngdome of heauen or in the gouernement of the Church they began to dispute of the matter among them selues and eche of them accordyng to mans infirmitie gaped after that hyghest degrée of souereintie But what sayd the Lord and what did he in that debate of his disciples He tooke a child vnto him and setting him in the middes of them sayd Uerely I say vnto you except ye turne and become like children ye shall not enter into the kyngdome of heauen Therfore whosoeuer humbleth himselfe as this child he is greatest in the kyngdome of heauen Which is all one as if the Lord had sayd vnto them ye striue for preheminence which of you should be gréeted as greatest of all But I tell you for a certeintie except ye turne your myndes from such ambitious disputations that sauour of nothyng but pride and pompe and turne your selues in lowlinesse vnto me and my example yea and vnto the simplenesse of this little boy whom you sée here ye shal be so farre from greatnesse and gloriousnes in that kyngdome of myne that I will not so much as take you for my Disciples Uery truly sayth S. Chrisostome in his 59. Homely vpon Mathew litle childrē know not how to enuy nor how to gape for vaineglorie nor how to desire preheminence of dignitie neither are they any whit the statelyer if ye prayse them or honor them What then aunswereth the Lord to the question of his Disciples Who soeuer sayth he becommeth like a child by puttyng away naughtie affections but chiefly ambition and desirousnesse to beare rule truly the same is greatest in the kingdome of heauē Upon which place Chrisostome sayth agayn Thou séest how he hath taught that preheminence of dignitie is not to be coueted in any case And so forth Agayne in the 20. chapter of Mathew when the mother of Zebedies children came vnto the Lord with her sonnes Iames and Iohn and made sute for them that they might haue the highest roome and chief authoritie about him in his kingdome so as he should place them next him selfe the one on his right hand and the other on his left for looke who they be that are next about a kyng and garde his person in sittyng on either side of him those are counted chief men in the Realme like as at this day those be called Legates a latere or from the Popes side whō the Byshop sendeth from Rome with full power and authoritie The Disciples hauyng forgotten the thynges which the Lord had taught them afore mistrusted eftsoone that those two brothers should be preferred before them all By reason wherof enuying them they began to take pritch at it and to contend agayne among themselues for the preheminēce The Lord therfore calling them to him sayd ye know that the kynges of nations reigne ouer them and they that be great exercise authoritie vpon them It shall not be so among you but he that will be great among you let him become your seruaunt and he that wil be chief among you let him be your vnderlyng like as the sonne of mā is come not to be serued but to serue and to giue his life for the redemption of many Most trimly and effectually hath the Lord herein seuered the Ecclesiasticall ministerie from the ciuill authoritie And iustly doth he challendge and yeld to the Magistrate that which belongeth to the Magistrate without derogatyng or takyng any thyng from him and conueying it to him selfe and his and likewise shew the ministers what they also ought to do Ye know sayth he that there be Princes or Magistrates ordeined among people and among the Gentiles so as there is no neede that you also should be made rulers ouer nations I mynde not to make warres with the Romanes and to put downe their presidentes and Tetrarkes to set you vp in theyr roomes which thyng notwithstandyng the Iewes beleued that Christ should haue done and therfore when he aunswered not their expectation they acknowledged him not to be the Messias Princes haue their

vpon Iohn sayth thus Whereas they were all asked the question Peter alone answered Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing God and it is sayd vnto him Vnto thee will I geue the keyes as though he alone had receaued the power to binde and loose when notwithstanding he both spake it alone for them all and receaued them with them all as bearing the person of vnitie and one did therfore both speake and receaue because there is vnitie in all The same wordes repeateth he againe in his 124. treatise vpon Iohn And in his ▪ 50. treatise he sayth when Peter receaued the keyes he represented the holy Church The same thinges auoucheth the blessed Martyr Cyprian in his little worke concerning the simplicitie of Clerkes Furthermore if we shoulde graunt any thing to be geuen héere singularly vnto Peter what is that to the Pope of Rome He hath not yet proued him selfe to be Peters heire and successor In his owne Decrées in the sentences of Hierom and Chrysostom in the xl distinction he shall finde that which will put him to his trumpe wring him by the eare and cut his combe Neither doth he which sayth that in Peter the keyes were geuen to the whole Church approue the Romish toyes ¶ Here is expounded the mysterie of the Armes cognisances of the Romane Bishops bearing brauely in their scutchions a triple crowne with a payre of Keyes BEfore I depart from hence I will glauncingly and bréefly set forth the thinges which séeme to perteine peculiarly to the keyes not of the kingdome of heauen but the keyes which the Bishops of Rome take to them selues and which they blaze abroad in their Armes that is to wit by painting and stamping them commonly in a scutchion and vnder an helmet yea and by fastening them vnto all their Bulls For vnder those armes and cognisances of theirs after the maner and fashion of scutchions and helmets doe they shadowe the fulnesse of their power and blaze it abroad to the knowledge of all men For the scutchion it selfe beareth the armes of the house of the Bishop that sitteth in the Sea. And ouer the scutchion stand two keyes a crosse so set that in stead of an helmet or crest they beare vp or haue set vpon the shéeld and keyes a triple crowne or cap of mainteinance which according to the interpretation of Austin Steuchus they them selues call their Royaltie The cap of mainteinance it selfe sheddeth out little Labells such as are hanging at Bishops Miters And all these thinges which were vtterly vnknowen to the Apostles and the first Bishops of the Romane Sea are according to the arte of Haraldrie made significatiue to shew forth the puissance or power of this king kingdome of all other the greatest The shéeld it selfe which beareth the armes of the Bishops linage sheweth that the kingdome and the power of the kingdome belongeth to him whose armes those be and which presently sitteth in that Sea. And the two keyes set crosse aloft vpon the shéeld like as also their two swordes doe according to their holy and misticall diuinitie betoken that vnmeasurable power of theirs which extendeth it selfe foreward and backward through the whole earth and aduaunceth it selfe also aboue the very cloudes euen into heauen In the meane while it was Gods good will to teach wise men by such fatall badges who and what maner a one this prince is verely euen the same of whom S. Iohn hath written in his Apocalips saying And I saw an other beast comming out of the earth and hauing two hornes like vnto the Lambes But those two hornes are Préesthood and Princehood and both of them belong to Christ the Lord who is continueth alone both King and Préest for euer For he is that Lābe of god Therfore it is piththely sayd that those hornes which the beast taketh vnto him are not the Lambes hornes for the Lambe kéepeth his still and lendeth them to no man but like the Lambes hornes For the Bishop will haue all men beleue that by Peter Christ hath geuen them equall power with him selfe that is to wit Préesthood and Princehood and so prate they in those tyrannicall Decretalls of theirs which thing for all that is but of their owne making neither haue they receaued any such thing of Christ or yet of Peter Furthermore their Royaltie or Crowne hath Labells hanging at it yea euen bishoply labells flaring about and wrythed with the keyes to the sides of the crowne meaning therby that this prince is no cōmon prince but both a prince and a préest Yea the crowne which this préestly king prince and Emperor beareth is not single and one but triple such as neuer any Monarkes wore that men can read of were they neuer so puissant neither are there any princes liuing at this day that weare the like And who I pray you would dout that there were a great mysterie in these thinges if it were not such a one as knoweth not that the matters of these men are stuffed with mysteries like the holy letters of the Egyptians This triple crowne therfore signifieth that he which beareth it is Lord of Lordes and King of Kinges or rather that he is the only prince vpon earth which hath power in earth in heauē and in purgatory vnder the earth or more verely which is king of heauen of the earth of the vnfortunate Ilandes or of the new found land Purgatory And this crowne is not of lesse value then the crownes of other kinges but much statelyer wrought with wonderfull cunning and garnished and beset with iewels and things of great price that at least wise euen therby they might do men to vnderstand that that power of theirs hath not his match in all the world but in all pointes surmoūteth all others Again it is come to passe by the goodnesse of God that none of all the princes in the world weareth such a crowne but onely the Bishop of Rome For so was it Gods will to shew openly by this peculiar marke that this prince thus capped with a triple crowne is the very same whom Daniell in his vij chapter termeth the little horne For the little horne in déede is the bishop and shepeheard which is bedecked with humilitie and whom God hath forbidden to reigne as a lord This little pretie horne springeth vp among the tenne hornes For whē the Romane Monarchie which is the olde beast was diuided and decayed there appeared vp a little slender horne and a despised one among the rest and swept away thrée of the other hornes By doing wherof he purchased him self power For the Bishops of Rome at the beginning of their créeping vp dispatched thrée princes First Gregory the second of that name pluckt vp Leo the third Emperor of Constantinople one of these thrée hornes by procuring his Exarke to be slaine in a hurlyburly at Rauenna and dispatching the Emperor quite out of Italy Afterward Pope Zachary draue Childericke king of Fraunce to decay by

vsurpyng monstruously the place of supreme head And finally which hath presumed to dispose parsons of churches other Catholicke Priestes and to make constitutions in cases Ecclesiasticall deposing and oppressing the Catholike Byshops and aduauncing or restoryng wicked preachers and ministers of vngodlinesse to the roomes of those that be deposed c. This ye may sée is the fayre Helene for the winnyng of whom the Romish Byshops haue made warre in Christendome now these certeine hundred yeares agaynst all Christen Kinges and Princes This is the ground of all their grief verely this is the onely cause for which they haue turmoyled the whole world and cease not to turmoyle it euen at this day that is to wit in so great light of the Gospell which now shyneth bright and triumpheth through the whole world a most assured proofe of inuincible shamelesnesse and wilfulnesse For the Lord without any parable and most manifestly in the Gospell sayth to the pastors of Churches The kings of the Gentiles reigne ouer them but so shall not you Neuerthelesse the Byshop who will séeme to be the Prince of pastors despising or rather trampling that so manifest commaundement of the Lord vnder his féete is not ashamed to take vppon him all power as well in spirituall as temporall matters And what els is that but to wype away all shamefastnesse and openly and wickedly to rebell agaynst God and to outface him with saying to him but we will do so and not simply but also farre further yea and more to But I haue shewed euidently inough afore that all pastors of Churches are called and ordeined by Christ not to beare rule but to serue in all thinges Monstruously therfore doth the seruaunt of seruauntes which is excluded from all Lordship and appointed onely to do seruice vsurpe to him selfe the thyng that is peculiar onely to souereines whom God hath set in authoritie For if the thyng be sayd to be done monstruously which is done either agaynst nature or Gods expresse ordinaunce I pray you what can be deuised more monstruous than that he whom the Lord of all thinges of whom commeth all power and dominion hath cast downe as the basest seruaunt of all and put farre vnderneath the footestooles of all Lordes should not onely take vpon him the chayre of estate which God hath graunted onely to kynges but also moreouer deuise himselfe a throne which he will haue séeme to be exalted aboue the thrones of all kinges and mountyng vp into the same without remembraunce of his own base estate deuilishly vaunt himselfe to the whole world not now as a King or Emperour onely but also as chief Byshop that obteineth both the swordes and all power both in heauen and in earth Here is that dubbleshapped monster here here is séen that deadly and detestable that horrible also and wonderfull monster which is blased in the holy Scriptures by the title of the great whore which fitteth vppon many waters and vppon the scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemie But for a kyng or a Quéene to be called a head as well in spirituall as temporall matters within their owne Realme it is no monstruousnesse at all bycause the Lord hath so ordeined it in Gods word Princes be called the heades of the people so the thing can not be sayd to be done mōstruously agaynst nature which is done according to Gods will word With Kyngs I ioyne Quéenes also and not without cause least the Pope perchaunce might surmyse that women are excluded from reignyng or that it is a monstruous thyng if a woman should reigne For we know that the thinges which the Apostle speaketh concernyng the obedience of wiues and the silence of women in the congregation of God are not to be wrested vnto reigning For it is certein that the Lords Apostles impeached not the successions in kyngdomes ne disordered not the accustomed maner of inherityng in kyngdomes Also we know that mention is made in the Bible of the noble Quéene of Saba to her great prayse for her much conference with Salomon Neither will I now say any thyng of Delbora that Iudged Israell of other Princely Ladyes Truly Esay not onely sayd And Kynges shal be thy foster-fathers but also added And Quéenes shal be their nurces they shall bow downe themselues before thée c. Esay 49. ¶ How it is no monstruousnesse for the Queene of England and consequently for all ciuill Magistrates to determine in cases Ecclesiasticall or to vndertake and beare the charge of Church matters as to depose euill Byshops and to set vp better in their roomes NOw then it is out of dout that the sayd most vertuous Quéene is supreme head or souerein Lady in that her Realme ordeined of God himselfe and set ouer the puissant Realme of Englād except it be false which the Lords Apostle and chosen vessel Paule hath sayd Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers For there is no power but of God and the powers that be are ordeined of god Therfore who soeuer resisteth power resisteth Gods ordinaūce And they that resist shall purchase dānation to themselues Seyng now that all men know these thinges to be most true it foloweth there withal not onely that the Quéene of Englād is Quéene by Gods ordinaūce but also that the byshop that resisteth her setteth himselfe naughtely agaynst her prouoketh Gods greuous iudgemēt agaynst himselfe But forasmuch as the Pope thinkes it a monstruousnesse that a king or a Quéene or any ciuil Magistrate in a cōmō weale should determine of Ecclesiasticall cases put down naughtie Priestes or Bishops aduaunce set vp better in their steddes and take vpon him to beare the charge not onely of temporall affaires but also of spirituall or Ecclesiasticall matters Lo I will proue and shew by euident and inuincible argumentes and examples of holy kynges howbeit briefly that the same thinges are parcell of their dewtie and therfore that the Magistrate doth then by Gods law and accordyng to the commaundement of the euerlastyng God and that the Bishop of Rome snatcheth them to him selfe and to his rable tyrannically and wickedly agaynst God playeth the Antichrist in pluckyng them from those to whom God hath giuen them That God in any wise would and that he hath ordeined from the beginnyng that Kynges in their kyngdomes and Magistrates in their common weales ought to take vpon them the care euen of Religion and to looke faithfully vnto it and to order it diligently accordyng to the rule of Gods woord this is the greatest proofe that God in hys law doth straitly commaund a copie of the law to be deliuered to the Prince of his people therby to dispose all his affaires And in the same law he commaundeth the Magistrate to make examination of doctrines and to restrayne yea and to smyte such as withdraw mē from God and such as teach stubbornly agaynst the law These thinges are to

no equitie willeth to condemne a partie that is vnconuicted yea and vtterly giltles in the offence that he is charged with For by Gods owne iudgement he is an vniust a partiall and a wicked Iudge whosoeuer he is that condemneth a person which is vnconuicted yea and cleare to and dischargeth or acquiteth a person that is conuicted and found giltie in déed Truely by law Iudges heare the enditementes of the accusers and likewise on the other side the aunswers of them that be accused and yet he that is accused runneth not in any danger by law so long as the articles of inditemēt be not lawfully prooued but rather if he cleare himselfe of the articles of the enditement by lawfull and euident aunswer he is discharged of all domages and acquit of al fault Now forasmuch as it is certainly apparant by the thinges aforediscoursed that all the accusations wherwith the pope hath hetherto charged the Quéene of England and which he hath alleaged by hys Bull are disproued by iust open euident reasons or aunswers and therefore that her royall Maiestie is not conuicted of any of the faultes that be layd against hir It is also certaine and sure therewithall that the popes definitiue sentence against that giltles Quéene vnable to be conuicted of any of the crimes layd to hir charge is both most partiall and most vniust and that the Pope which taketh vppon him as a Iudge in thys cace is a most wicked and abhominable iudge And yet I wil not say that euen he the pope hath contrary to all right reason made himself both accuser iudge in thys case and hath bables out what so euer came at hys tounges ende and what so euer he listed but proueth not ne confirmeth not any whit of hys case ¶ That the Queene of England is not an hereticke and therefore not stricken with the popes curse nor cut of from the vnitie of Christes bodie ALthough the Bull be now sufficiently confuted and the Quéenes innocencie defended and declared and the popes outragious tyranny cruell wrong and excessiue vnindifferencie layd foorth so as his most vniust definitiue sentence may easely and by very good right be ouerpassed despised yea and laughed at yet shall it not gréeue me euen for an ouerplus to peruse it againe in sifting it by péecemeale The same hath chiefly fower points First the pope declareth and denounceth the Quéene of England to be an hereticke and a bolsterer of heretikes therfore that she is stricken with his curse and cut of from the vnitie of Christes body But it hath bene shewed in many woords already that the Quéene is a catholike and Christian princesse and not giltie of any heresie or crime Wherupon it followeth that the pope by his condemning of so giltles and rightbeleuing a Prince bewrayeth and vttereth himself what he is namly euen one of those of whome Peter hath sayd They despise higher powers presumptuous are they and stubbern and feare not to speak euill of them that be in authority c. A few yeares past the reuerend Bishops of England dyd setfoorth a godly and learned Apologie in the third chapter whereof chiefly they shew howe the Realme of Englande hath no aliance at all with heretickes or heresies In the same they plainly and stedfastly professe their fayth and openly declare themselues to be of a sound and christian religion eloquently and truely washing away all the accusations and slaunders of the papistes It is more manifest then that it néedeth to be reported with many words what the Doctors diuines ministers of the Church of Christes time haue thought to be heresie and whome they haue demed to be heretickes As for the law of Lucius the thirde concerning the suppressing of heresie which is registred by Gregory the ninth in the thirde booke of decretalles the seuenth title concerning heretickes wherby the popes deuise and shape all their iudgementes and condemnations Wise men and godly men haue alwayes déemed it tyrannicall contrary to the iudgements of holy and religious antiquitie and therfore we thincke it not woorth the naming and we estéeme all the decrées that be formed and pronounced according to the same to be tyrannicall Yet notwithstanding I can not stay my selfe but I must néedes at thys present rehearse the opinion of the auncient writer Tertullian concerning this matter In his booke of the veyling of Virgins Heresies sayth he are ouercome not so much by newnesse as by truth What so euer fauoureth otherwyse than of truth the same is heresie yea though it be euē auncient custome And againe in Prescriptions of heretikes Heresies sayth the same author are termed of the Gréeke woord as in respect of the choyce which a man vseth eyther in the mayntayning or in the receyuing of them And therefore he sayth that an heretike is condemned in himselfe because he hath chozen the thing wherein he is condemned But it is not lawfull for vs to do any thing vpon oure owne head nor to choose the thing that an other man hath brought in of hys owne head We haue the Lordes Apostles for our warrant who chose not any thing of theyr owne head to bring in but faythfully deliuered ouer to all nations the discipline that they had receyued of christ And therfore if euen an Angell from heauen should preach any otherwise vnto vs we would hold him acursed Thus far Tertullian Wherfore séeing that the Quéene hath chozen nothing of hir owne head to deliuer to hir subiectes but onely hath betaken to them propheticall and Apostolicall truth of the scriptures to be followed hir maiestie is vtterly discharged of the crime of heresy And séeing that the romish opinions and the popish rites and ceremonies differing from our opinions and ceremonies are nothing els but opinions inuented by mens owne braynes selfchozen ceremonies Let the Romanistes consider to whether of vs the crime of heresy may iustlyest be imputed and to whome it sticketh fastest Besides this the Imperiall lawes commaunde all that be vnder the Empyre to follow that religion which S. Peter deliuered to the Romanes And it addeth We pronounce that such as folow this law embrace the name of catholike Christians and that the rest are to be taken for heretiks iudging them to be mad and out of their wits But the Quéene wil haue nothing to flourish in hir realme but the Apostolike doctrine ergo she is a catholike and not an heretike neither fauoureth she heretikes nor can abide to haue heresies taught in hir realme nor cherisheth such as be stayned w the spotte of heresy but rather euen for the same cause she hath banished the romish traditions and popish ceremonies out of her whole Realme least she might be sayd to beare with any thing against the Apostolike doctrine and Christian Ceremonies And therfore the thunderclap of that Tarpeian or Romane Iupiters curse wherewith he will haue the Quéene to séeme to be striken through is but a blockish