there hath been these Orders of Ministers in Christs Church Bishops Priests and Deacons which Offices were evermore had in such reverent estimation that no man by his own private Authority might presume to execute any of them except he were first called c. And Bishop Bramhall affirms with great assurance Among all the Eastern Southern and Northern Christians who make innumerable multitudes there neither is nor ever was one formed Church that wanted Bishops among all the Western Churches and their Colonies there never was one formed Church for 1500 years that wanted Bishops If there be any persons so far possessed with prejudice that they choose rather to follow the private dictates of their own Phrensy than the perpetual and universal practice of the Catholique Church enter not into their Secrets O my Soul. Bishop Bramhall Consecration of Protestant Bishops vindicated p. 431. of his Works printed at Dublin And you know the Church of Englands practice at this day which admits of no Calvinian Ministers into her Clergy without Episcopal Ordination NOTE Thus it appears by an Induction of all the several Denominations of Christians that in Cranmers opinion there could be no such National or Catholique Church extant upon the face of the earth anno 1556. as that which the Church of England defines Article 19th The visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same So that his saying I reverence the Authority of the Catholick Church was but an illusion or vain pretence to avoid the Censure of Heresie his Catholique Church at that time being like Terra incognita in our Maps not as yet found out What tolerable excuse Good Reader canst thou invent for this Reformer have Lutherans Papists Calvinists Anabaptists Socinians Greek Church c. all those things that of necessity are requisite to the preaching of Gods pure Word and due Administration of Sacraments according to Christs Ordinance If so then shew me a solid reason if thou canst why a Church of England man should not receive the Sacraments of all or any of these Sects If the Church of Rome have all those things that of necessity are requisite c. how or where shall Cranmer appear at the day of Judgment If she have not then how is she a Member of Christs visible Church as Protestants say she is A corrupt Member perhaps you will call her but if she wants any thing necessary or essential to a Christian Church she is no Member at all If she errs only in matters not Fundamental or non essential as is confessed by very learned Protestants she is secure still but thou art not secured from Schism If she holds all things necessary to Salvation and no Error that destroys the Christian Faith she may be saved and what more wouldst thou have But whether she does or does not hold any Errors destructive of Salvation I pray who shall be Judge Answer that short Question if thou wouldst say any thing to the purpose What Authority had Cranmer to call the Pope Antichrist more than the Pope had to pronounce him an Heretick He swore Obedience to the Pope which the Pope never did to him He divorced Queen Katherine styling himself Legatus a Latere as you may find in Burnet A. But he appealed to a General Council what did he mean by that B. Nothing but to divert the proceedings of the Court for he valued the Authority of General Councils as little as he did that of the Catholick Church A. Pray make that out B. Burnet acquaints you page 176. 1 Vol. He viz. Cranmer said some General Councils had been rejected by others and it was a tender point how much ought to be deferred to a Council And as all God's Promises to the people of Israel had this Condition implyed within them if they kept his Commandments so he thought the Promises to the Christian Church had this Condition in them if they kept the Faith Therefore says Burnet he had much doubting in himself as to General Councils and he thought that only the Word of God was the Rule of Faith which ought to take place in all Controversies of Religion This be said in the year 1534. NOTE The word of God admits of various Interpretations the Question is Who shall determine which is the true Interpretation a General Council or Cranmer 's private Spirit in Opposition to that Council But his Opinion of General Councils appears further from the XXI Article of the Church of England viz. General Councils when they are gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of men whereof all be not governed by the Spirit and Word of God they may err and sometime have erred in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things Ordained by them as necessary unto Salvation have neither strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture NOTE But who shall take upon him to judge of the Decrees of General Councils whether they be Consonant to Scripture or not shall any single Person Or any particular Church Where is the Modesty of that Shall any inferiour Authority take upon it self to contradict or reverse the Decrees of a Superiour If so then why may not any single Minister or Bishop of the Reformed Church protest against the Judgment of a Protestant Convocation If he may not do it without Censure how shall the Church of England being but a particular Church take upon her self to damn and contradict the Faith of all the rest of the Christian World A. Shew me where she assumes any such Authority B. Read her XIX Article viz. as the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and manner of Ceremonies but also in matters of Faith. Then see the third part of her Homily against peril of Idolatry and observe these words So that Laity and Clergy learned and unlearned all Ages Sects and Degrees of Men Women and Children of whole Christendom an horrible and most dreadful thing to think have been at once drowned in abominable Idolatry and that by the space of eight hundred years and more NOTE Here the Doctrine of the Church of England that Christ had no Church upon earth for the space of eight hundred years and more before Cranmer The same Homily teaches further viz. and at the last the learned also were carried away with the publick Error as with a violent stream or flood And at the second Council of Nice the Bishops and Clergy decreed that Images should be worshipped and so by occasion of these stumbling Blocks not only the unlearned and simple but the learned and wise not only the People but the Bishops not the Sheep but also the Shepherds themselves who should have been Guides in the right way
thereof then the matter were not so great but in this we do forsake the first four General Councils which none ever forsook We renounce all Canonical and Ecclesiastical Laws of the Church of Christ we renounce all other Christian Princes we renounce the Unity of the Christian World I suppose he means by inventing to our Selves a Church of England divided from all the rest of the Christian World and so by leaping out of Peters Ship to be drowned in the unstable Waters of Heresie Sects Schisms and Confusions For the first General Council of Nice acknowledged Sylvester the Bishop of Rome his Authority to be over them by sending their Decrees to be ratifyed by him The Council of Constantinople did acknowledge Pope Damasus to be their Chief by admitting him to give Sentence against the Hereticks Macedonius Sabellius and Eunomius The Council of Ephesus acknowledged Pope Celestine to be their chief Judge by admitting his Condemnation upon the Heretick Nestorius The Council of Calcedon acknowledged Pope Leo to be their chief Head and all General Councils of the World ever acknowledged the Pope of Rome only to be Supream Head of the Church under Christ And now shall we set up another Head or one Head in England and another in Rome 3. We deny all Ecclesiastical Laws which do wholly depend upon the Authority of the Apostolick See of Rome 4 We renounce the Judgment of all other Christian Princes whether they be Protestants or Catholicks Nay by this argument Nero and Herod must have been Heads of the Church of Christ The Emperour must be Head of the Protestant Church in Germany And the Church of Christ must have never a Head at all till about three hundred years after Christ Fifthly The Kings Majesty is not susceptible of this Donation Ozias for medling with the Priests Office was resisted by Azarias thrust out of the Temple and told that it belongs not to his Office. Now if the Priest spake truth in this then is not the King to meddle in this business if he spake amiss why did God plague the King with Leprosie for this and not the Priest King David when the Ark of God was bringing home did he place himself in the head of the Priests Order did he so much as touch the Ark or execute any the least Office properly belonging to the Priestly Function or did he not rather go before and abase himself amongst the people and say that he would become yet more vile so that God might be glorified All good Christian Emperors have evermore refused Ecclesiastical Authority for at the first General Council of Nice certain Bills were privily brought unto Constantine to be ordered by his Authority but he caused them to be burnt saying Dominus vos constituit c. God hath ordained you Priests and hath given you Power to be Judges over us and therefore by right in these things we are to be judged by you but you are not to be judged by me Valentine the Good Emperor was desired by the Bishops to be present with them to reform the Heresie of the Arrians but he answered Forasmuch as I am one of the Members of the Lay people it is not lawful for me to define such Controversies but let the Priests to whom God hath given the charge thereof assemble where they will in due Order Theodosius writing to the Council of Ephesus saith It is not lawful for him that is not of the holy Order of Bishops to intermeddle with Ecclesiastical matters And now shall we cause our King to be Head of the Church which all good Kings have abhorred the very least thought of and so many wicked Kings have been plagued for so doing Truly my Lords I think they are his best Friends that disswade him from it and he would be the worst enemy to himself if he should obtain it Lastly If this thing be farewel all Unity with Christendom for as that holy and blessed Martyr St. Cyprian saith all Unity depends upon that holy See as upon the Authority of St. Peters Successors for saith the fame holy Father all Heresies Sects Schisms have no other Rise but this that men will not be obedient to the chief Bishop and now for us to shake off our Communion with that Church either we must grant the Church of Rome to be the Church of God or else a Malignant Church If you answer she is a Church of God and a Church where Christ is truly taught his Sacraments rightly administred c. how can we forsake how can we fly from such a Church certainly we ought to be with and not to separate our selves from such a one If we answer The Church of Rome is not of God but a Malignant Church then it will follow that we the Inhabitants of this Land have not as yet received the true Faith of Christ seeing we have not received any other Gospel any other Doctrine any other Sacraments than what we have received from her as most evidently appears by all the Ecclesiastical Histories wherefore if she be a Malignant Church we have been deceived all this while and if to renounce the common Father of Christendom all the General Councils especially the first Four which none renounce all the Countreys of Christendom whether they be Catholique Countreys or Protestant be to forsake the Unity of the Christian World then is the granting of the Supremacy of the Church unto the King a renouncing of this Unity a tearing of the Seamless Coat of Christ in sunder a dividing of the Mystical Body of Christ his Spouse limb from limb and tayl to tayl like Sampsons Foxes to set the Field of Christs holy Church all on fire and this is it which we are about wherefore let it be said unto you in time and not too late Look you to that The End of the First Dialogue containing the History of the First Reformers and Anti-Reformers The Second treats of the Reformation it self and the natural Fruits thereof Jealousy and Distraction amongst the People Decay of Sincerity c. Now Reader wer't thou to choose thy Religion consider which of these two Guides thou wouldst follow Cranmer or the Bishop of Rochester the former having no Mission from Heaven nor major Vote of the Convocation to authorise his Reformation nor yet any great mind to dye a Martyr for the same the later frankly exposing his Life to Stemm that Inundation of Sacriledge Schism and Confusion that was breaking in anno 1535. FINIS
be further proceeded against Some Tradesmen in London were brought before these Commissioners in May and were perswaded to abjure their Opinions which were that a man regenerate could not sin that though the outward man finned the inward man sinned not That there was no Trinity of Persons that Christ was only a holy Prophet and not at all God that the Baptism of Infants was not profitable That Christ took no Flesh of the Virgin c. One of those who thus abjured was commanded to carry a Faggot next Sunday at Saint Pauls where there should be a Sermon setting forth his Heresie But there was another of these extream obstinate Joan Bocher commonly called Joan of Kent she denied that Christ was truly incarnate of the Virgin whose Flesh being sinful he could take none of it but the Word by the consent of the inward man in the Virgin took Flesh of her These were her words They took much pains about her and had many Conferences with her but she was so extravagantly conceited of her own Notions that she rejected all they said with scorn whereupon she was adjudged an obstinate Heretique and so left to the secular Power This being returned to the Council the good King was moved to sign a Warrant for burning her but could not be prevailed on to do it He thought it a piece of Cruelty too like that says Burnet which they had condemned in the Papists to burn any for their Consciences Cranmer was employed to perswade him to sign the Warrant He argued from the Law of Moses by which Blasphemers were to be stoned he told the King he made a great difference between Errors in other Points of Divinity and those that were directly against the Apostles Creed That these were Impieties against God which a Prince as being Gods Deputy ought to punish as the Kings Deputies were obliged to punish Offences against the Kings Persons These Reasons did rather silence than satisfie the young King who still thought it a hard thing as in truth it was says Burnet to proceed so severely in such cases So he set his hand to the Warrant with tears in his eyes saying to Cranmer that if he did wrong since it was in submission to your Authority you shall answer for it to God. This struck the Archbishop with much horror so that he was very unwilling to have the Sentence executed Her Crime was nothing else but that she had read the Bible and interpreted it according to that Judgment of Discretion which Cranmer allow'd to every one But he and Ridley took the Woman then in custody to their Houses to see if they could persuade her But she continued to carry her self so contemptuously that at last the Sentence was executed on her the second of May next year and she was burnt This Action saith Burnet was much censured as being contrary to the Clemency of the Gospel and was oft made use of by the Papists who said it was plain that the Reformers were only against Burning when they were in fear of it themselves And the Womans Carriage made her be lookt on as a frantick person fitter for Bedlam than a Stake Two years after this one George Pare a Dutchman was burnt for saying that Christ was not Very God. In all the Books published in Queen Marys days justifying her Severity against the Protestants these instances were always made use of and no part of Cranmers Life exposed him more then this did Burnet p. 111 112. 2. vol. He tells us moreover It was said he had consented both to Lamberts and Ann Askows Death in King Henrys Reign who both suffered for Opinions which Cranmer himself held now in King Edwards days Burnet ibid. And now Reader observe the Excuse which Burnet makes for him One thing was certain that what he did in this matter flowed from no Cruelty of Temper in him but it was truly the effect of those Principles by which he governed himself ibid. p. 112. It is plain that the Reformers were only against Burning when they were in fear of it themselves No body can judge of Heresie but themselves A. Now I pray what were the Words of his Mission and Consecration both as Priest and Bishop B. His Priestly Function was given him in these Words Accipe Potestatem offerre Sacrificium Deo Missásque celebrare tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis in nomine Domini Amen Take thou Power to offer Sacrifice to God and celebrate Mass both for the living and the dead in the name of the Lord. Amen Accipe Spritum sanctum quorum remiseris peccata remissa sunt quorum retinueris retenta sunt Tunc interrogat Episcopus promittisne mihi Successoribus meis Reverentiam Obedientiam Respondet Presbyter Promitto c. that is Receive the Holy Ghost whose Sins thou dost remit they are remitted whose Sins thou dost retain they are retained Then the Bishop demands Wilt thou promise to me and my Successors Reverence and Obedience The Priest answers I promise A. Had he no other Priesthood but this I ask this question not without some admiration at this Reformer B. None but this A. Then by these Priestly Orders he had received no Power but to celebrate Mass for the quick and dead and in Christs name to bind and absolve Sinners c. B. True and accordingly had officiated for many years until the first or second year of Edward 6. when he was discharged of that Office. A. Who discharg'd him B. I cannot undertake to answer all the difficulties of that Question But you know King Edward was then Supream Ordinary of the Church of England although but a Child of nine years old and Protestants will tell you Cranmer was no longer obliged to such Priesthood having found out the Impieties and Corruptions thereof A. No longer obliged to such Priesthood you say he had no other besides what was delivered to him in these words Accipe Potestatem offerre Sacrificium Deo Missásque celebrare tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis c. B. They are the express words of the Roman Pontifical whereby he was ordained Priest as Dr. Burnet confesses A. * The Natural Body and Blood of Christ are in Heaven and not here in the Sacrament it being against the truth of Christs natural Body to be at one time in more places than one saith the Church of England Rubrick after Communion Service Then what Priesthood had he to abolish the Mass to reform Altars into Communion Tables and the real presence of Christs Body and Blood into a real absence or to read Communion Service without a Communion as Protestants do upon most Sundays and Holidays B. As for these things perhaps he had some extraordinary Inspiration and perhaps not you press too hard with your Questions as if you had found out the blind side of the Reformation What he wanted of Priesthood you know was supplied to him by Act of Parliament Remember Mr. Kings Admonition