simplicity of the Euangelike ministery IF any man obiect that these tenures in fee are accompanied with certaine Royalties ciuill iurisdictions secular titles honors and retinewes in which thinges the auncient Nobilitie are an ornament vnto the King and the Countrey and therefore not agreeable vnto the simplicitie of the ministerie which thing the Lord him selfe taught as well by expresse doctrine as especiall example Because indeede such thinges they doe but intangle a man in extearne vanities and solicite their heartes with the cares of this world in the which it becommeth a Bishop to be secure And furthermore for that the Lord himselfe beeing requested to sit but as arbiter betweene two brethren denied the same And againe when the Apostles made the question which of them should bee the greatest hee made aunswere and sayd The Kings of the Gentils raigne ouer them and they which beare rule ouer them are called gracious Lordes but yee shall not be so but he that is greatest amongst you let him be as the least and he which is Prince as he which ministreth By which the wordes and examples of our Sauiour wee are taught that the Ministery of the Gospell hath nothing common with the Common-wealth It may suffice for an answere vnto this obiection which wee haue before noted namely that all this they talke of hath his place in that estate in the which our Sauiour and his Apostles liued not in that common-wealth in the which the chiefe Magistrates acknowledge Christ Iesus their chiefe Lord and soueraigne King For as the Magistrate is of an other calling now in the Church then before he had so is it reason also that the seruaunts of the Lorde should bee of better estate in the Common-wealth then before they were The Magistrate which before was an enemie and a persecutour according vnto the prophesie of Esaias is become a Foster-father of the Church and a religious worshipper of the Lorde Christ vnder whome were it not an absurd thing that the seruaunts of Christ should haue no more honour then vnder a persecutor But because it is not set downe expreslie in the Scripture what of what sort and how great the same ought to bee many mens mindes are heere at a maze and some are of mind so to leaue it as at a dead losse and yet notwitstanding the thing it selfe is not so hard to find out and it is in his owne nature wel enough knowen and that both by the written lawe of God and the vniuersall censure of all nations were it not for the awkewarde interpretation of those scriptures which I haue nowe cited Out of the which notwithstanding there is nothing els directie concluded but that it is not any part of the Ecclesiasticall function to intermedle in ciuil affaires the which indeed is out of all controuersie Neither is that the question but whether the same man that is a Pastor may not togeather with the ministery of the Gospell bee lawfully imployed in politique affaires for the benefite of the Church and good of the Common-wealth For when as the Minister of the church is cittizen also of the common-wealth he ought not thinke any thing not pertaining to him that pertaineth to the Common-wealth so that beeing lawfully called hee may not vndertake some part of the ciuill estate As for that which I lately cited concerning our Sauiour who refused to be an arbiter it is nothing to this question For the spirite of Christ in the mouth of Paul doth plainly teach vs that the meanest of the church are good enough to iudge of earthlie causes for that one day they shall iudge the worlde yea the Angels themselues a iudgement farre greater then this The which seeing the Apostle affirmeth of any Christian is it to bee thought that onely Christ alone was no fit man to take vp a small matter betweene two brethren if they both had bene content to stand vnto his iudgement Wee cannot therefore imagine that our Sauiour Christ simplye refused the office of an arbiter but that hee denied himselfe to bee that iudge which might command both parties to stand vnto his arbiterment And is not this then a slight testimonie for to proue it not lawfull for a Bishop who is both a Cittizen and a subiect to exercise anye ciuill iurisdiction the Magistrate so commaunding him or to execute some other pension of the Common-wealth not abhorring altogeather from his profession beeing furnished with sufficient authority to discharge it That the foure-score and second Canon commandeth him to be disordered who vndertaketh both Prouinces the Ecclesiasticall power and the secular principality for my part I say not against it if so be that it bring no inconuenience vnto the Bishoppes of the Church and that it may bee done with the good leaue of the Prince and without anie great hurt to the Church and Common wealth And thereupon we are also bolde to say that Theophilus and Cyrill Byshops of Alexandria transgressed that Canon of whome Socrates reporteth that of themselues they tooke vnto themselues the principality of that citty In like manner doe the Bishops of Rome when as they improoue vnto themselues those things which are Caesars For when as they are the vassals and subiectes of the Emperour they haue notwithstanding extolled themselues aboue their Lords and aduanced the sheepheardes croysier aboue the royall scepter But for those Bishops which vaile their bonnet to their Soueraigne and obey their Princes in honest and godly things there is not the like reason And many things many times are done in the Common-wealth extraordinarilye so that there can no lawe bee published or made which it is not lawfull for to gain-say at some time or other for the good of the Common-wealth Neither is the other example that they vrge of anye force For had our Sauiour meant to haue inthronized himselfe in that earthly kingdome which he neuer ment yet would hee haue refused that tumultuous course For what power had that part of the people to annoint him King CHAP. XX That it is lawfull for Bishops to heare ciuil causes and to determine vpon them THat Bishops had to deale in ciuill causes when as the parties submitted themselues to their iudgement it is sufficiently known by the writings of the Fathers the works of Iustinian The which although it were a matter of no smal trouble vnto the godlie Bishops yet the iniquitie many times of secular Iudges their delayes demurs and cauils in lawe were such as that the Bishops of meere charity were moued vnto this labour Neither are they therein to be so censured as if they vsurped the place of the ciuill Magistrate for he did it by the consent of the chiefe Magistrate as it appeareth in the writings of Iustinian in his first booke de Episcopali audientia the fourth title where hee commaundeth that there should be that reuerence giuen vnto their iudgement which is due vnto the hiest powers from whome it is not lawfull to appeale
and more-ouer he commandeth that the execution of their iudgements be done by his ciuil iudges By reason of the statute of Praemunire as they call it against the which whosoeuer offend they are punished with is a matter of verie great daunger in England for Church-men to inuade the office of the ciuill Magistrates and therefore there is kept a most circumspeact distinction betweene the affaires of the Ciuil and the Ecclesiastical Court If at anie time anie of the Bishops or anie other of the cleargie are thought meet men to vndertake any ciuill charge they doe it not by the especiall commaundement and commissiō of the King vnder the broad seale of England But those charges are alwayes accompanied with some honour so that they may be accounted rather a help then a hurt to the proceedings of the Gospell as are the offices and dignities of a priuie Counseller a Commissioner a Iustice of peace and such like Neither as I doe thinke will any man of sound iudgement say that those charges are eyther imposed vpon any Cittizen without the chiefe Magistrate or if they be so imposed that they can of any man be deposed or laide aside If any man except that this is more abhorring from the office of a Bishop then was of olde the charge of the poore from the which notwithstanding the Apostles did abdicate themselues because they could not attend vppon that and their owne charge too and therfore vrge that it is not possible for Bishops that they should discharge both charges well for which cause they ought to sequester themselues from the one I answer first that the Apostles did not so far foorth discharge themselues of the poore mans boxe that that they thought it not appertaining to them to haue any further care thereof for they alwayes continued patrons of the poore as doe the Bishops also whom we will not so intangle with ciuill causes that they forsake their owne but that as it especially concerneth their office vpright dealing and sincere charitie may bee maintained among them whose soules health is committed vnto them But how much a godly and diligent Bishop may doe in this matter Austine alone may serue for many examples who wrote so many excellent volumes when as yet he imployed no small part of his time in these troublesome affaires Whose words I will heere infer for that they inforce a sufficient confutation of this their cauill I call the Lord Iesus witnesse to my soule saith hee in whose name I boldly speake these thinges that for so much as concerneth my commoditie I had rather worke euerie day with my hand as it is vsed in wel ordered Monasteries and reserue the other houres free to read and to pray and to exercise my selfe in the Scriptures then to sustaine the tumultuous perplexities of other causes in determining secular controuersies by iudgement or in taking them vp by arbitrement To the which troubles the same Apostle hath appointed vs not of his owne will but of his that spake in him The which notwithstanding we read not that he himselfe susteined for indeed the course of his Apostleship stood not with it Neither did he say If therefore you haue any secular controuersies bring them before vs or appoint vs to giue iudgement of them but those which are least esteemed in the Church set them vp saith he And I speak to your shame is it so that there is not any wiseman among you which can iudge betweene his brother but the brother goeth to lawe with the brother that before infidels Wherfore those wise men which were resiant in some certaine place beeing faithfull and godly not those which discoursed this way and that way for the Gospel sake I say such would hee haue to bee the examiners of those matters For which cause it is no where written of him that he at any time attended vpon any such busines from the which notwithstanding we cannot bee excused albeit wee bee of the number of those which are least esteemed because he would haue those also set vp if wise men were wanting rather then that the controuersies should bee brought into the open and ordinarie Court The which labour notwithstanding we vndertake not without comfort in the Lorde for the hope of eternall life that we may bring forth fruit with patience Thus saith Augustine whose reasons in my iudgement may satisfie any reasonable man verely they satisfie mee neither can I finde anie thing to mislike in this action of his This is one generall maxime in the rules of Christianity That whatsoeuer wee reade in the word of God eyther forbidden beeing not euill of his owne nature or commaunded beeing of it selfe not good in those thinges Christian charitie dispenseth and disposeth of the matter as the time the place and the cause doth require Vnto the which whosoeuer doth refuse to subscribe he doth it of stubborne and froward hypocrisie not of any religion or deuotion he hath of the precept Neyther is the Diuines rule vnknown concerning those things which are bidden or forbidden in the word of God namely That some thinges are forbidden because they are euill and some thinges are euill because they are forbidden suppose for some especiall purpose And againe on the contrary part That there are some things commanded because they are good and some thinges therefore to bee accounted good because they are commaunded by God who requireth such thinges of men for some especiall causes Now those things which are of the first sort and section are vnder a constant and perpetual law and not to be changed by any means but there is not the like condition of the other sort neither do they bind anie man any further then the reason and occasion of the law doth require Examples of this matter wee haue in the obseruation of the Sabaoth and the vse of the Shew-bread of the which it was not lawfull for any man to eate but the Priests onely besides many other things of like nature which we read to be either commaunded or condemned In this our case it is no crime to be a King nor to be a Magistrate a capitall sinne And therfore the reason of the commandement abating the thing it selfe abideth free and it remaineth lawfull for Princes and other Magistrates to be of power to command the Bishops of the Church in a Christian common-wealth those things which would rather be an aide and an ornament then any hurt or impediment to their holy calling I speake of calling in generall not of any one mans calling which haplie may be hindred and shall haue neede of others which may helpe him but of all theirs which are in the same calling vnto whome there ariseth any honour and authoritie from the rest So that if all things be throughly examined and all commodities with all discommodities compared together which may any waies accrue vnto the Church and common wealth I doubt not but that which wanteth in one parte shall be requited
greater ignominy by how much the more fondly they abuse their owne authority and the peoples simplicitie such therefore I must necessarilie and may worthelie accuse of Atheisme and irreligion the rest I cannot excuse of errour and ignorance onely Indeed error and ignorance doe sometime mitigate the guilt of the offender but neuer can it obliterate the staine of the offence It will seeme a hard matter I know vnto some that sacrilege should be openly reprehended and vnto some an absurd thing that in the policy of the Church Bishoppes should be required For there are here in England a certaine number of wicked men and I am very sorie for them who are so farre out of order with that order as if no Ecclesiasticall Discipline were to be had vnder them Amongst whome the quarrell is growen so farre that nowe they deuorce themselues from the communion of the English church as Papisticall and Antichristian and so betake themselues to their priuate and not permitted conuenticles VVhome I could doe no lesse then lightly note in this place because they seem to patronage their odious scisme and mutinous huggor-muggar by the precedent presidents of our foraine Churches O God thou knowest and themselues cannot bee ignoraunt that the first peregrine churches which were heere in England had their Lord Bishop Alasco and these which at this day are vnder the protection of the most gracious Elizabeth doe acknowledge the Bishops of those Diocesses in the which they are and to them they supply But thankes be vnto God there are others who being somewhat more milde and moderate in their proceedings doe not altogeather estraunge themselues from the assemblies of their churches but yet they haue the Bishops in emulation also and promise vnto themselues a golden worlde could they but once bring to passe that by a preposterous Alchymy of earthly pollicy they could turne gold into drosse that is Bishops into Presbiters their reuenues into annuities But to them I dare say and can foreshew that they shal bring themselues The whole state Ecclesiastik into deepe disdaine disdaine worse then themselues deserue And whereas the Lord be praised for it we haue now some good Discipline it will come to passe that then they shall haue none at all but voluntary which as soone as it is begone will be gone I omit the tumults and contentions with the which they shall first trouble and turmoyle both heauen and earth But this is plaine and I dare promise them that they which were the first authors thereof will proue their first enemies so sone as vnder these colours they shal haue obtained their desires The calamities of your present churches your selues see and suffer but from whence they arise or what is the true remedy pardon me I beseech you if I speake as I thinke you seeme not to see or conceiue at all Doe you not heare of the turbulent state of other Churches and you know what they were from the beginning Where if they had intertained for a popish Prelat a true BB. for Romish masmongers Euangelique Ministers contented and contenting themselues with the rites and reuenues of their owne Churches no doubt all thinges amongst them had continued more peaceable and prosperous aswell in Church as Common-wealth The like I affirme of other prouinces from whence is exiled the tyrant of Churches But what can be done where the mindes of men are foreseasoned with preiudice and alreadie resolued That to bee ruled by bishops and to be releeued by Tythes and other oblations of the people is a point of Poperie But may I not be so bolde to tell them and I will tell them but the truth that these and such like medicines as they go about to administer vnto the Church maladies are like to prooue but prouocations vnto further mischiefes Admit the drugs they concoct be not simplie offensiue yet is it to be considered and wise men wil consider whether the faintnes and infirmitie of the whole body of the common-wealth may abide the same Here there is need of great wisedome no lesse moderation the which as it may be in many so must it be in one which may execute the same and this is he which is not to looke ouer one part but to watch ouer all not of the whole worlde which neuer any mortall thing or could or can but of one Cittie or prouince so farre forth as the power of man may extend it self And may wee not also more saflie walke in the steppes of the auncient fathers then rashlie to step aside into tracts of our owne treading Now how you will accept of this my libertie I cannot well tell but I hope well of you and commit the whole cause vnto God himselfe This I am perswaded and this haue I learned that in an vnstayed estate it is not the part of a good Cittizen to suspend his censure of the Common-wealth nor of a faithfull Christian to suppresse his opinion of the Church of Christ For mine owne part if in this daungerous enterprise I shall obtaine that onelie which I haue propounded vnto my selfe I shall haue iust occasion to giue thankes vnto my GOD but if it fall out otherwise yet shall I haue discharged my duetie vnto my Brethren and performed my vowe to the Church of GOD. Vnto the whiche I haue hitherto thought my selfe indebted as muche as this comes vnto That a knowen errour ought not to bee ouer-slipped in the silence of mee But put case I doe smale good vpon those for whose sakes especially I haue traueiled in this duetie yet shall their remaine a perpetuall note of that notorious errour vnto all posteritie that they yet at the length may amend that in the which they haue found their Fathers to haue bene faultie London the fourth of the Kal. of Aprill Desirous of your welfare Hadrian Sarauia To the curteous Reader WHosoeuer thou bee gentle Reader into whose hands this booke shall come in any case I would not haue thy minde troubled with this discourse as if we did reuerse som graund Article of thy faith when wee doe but restore for so we holde it behofefull the graue Senat of Bishops into the reformed Churches so called Doe we crosse herein the iudgement of some late writers of great name Why then iudge you and iudge me worthie of double blame if I should be either so frontlesse or so forgetfull at least as to aduenture vpon this contradiction of mine own head suppose ye me at the least backt with the piller of truth the sacred scripture and borne out with the consent of the auncient Fathers and countenaunced with the continued custome of the whole Church What then Will you saye did they whome you cal men of name see nothing I answere they did see indeede that which I see But as they which take vppon them to repaire an old house albeit within dores there bee many pretie romes and necessarye corners which they would willinglie and might well bee
nestled with this as if with that one word he had vtterly ouerthowen that equality which they expected in the French churches and which they thought requisite in all Ministers O griefe to me they made knowen their griefe and pittifull complaining they complained to me thereof But what should I heere do defend him I dared not and yet I liked well the cause of his opinion least I should incur the like suspicion of aspiring thoughts But from that time forwarde that conference gaue mee occasion to search and sift out more narrowlye those matters by my selfe And that which then happened to me I doubt not but is incident to many others with me who in wisedome see also and consider that the authority of Bishops is greatly wanting in ours and al Churches There are some which can indure nor equall nor superiour I giue God thanks I can see my superiour without enuy and sustaine my inferior without contempt But now seeing I am heere in England no man can chalenge my affection as guiltie of a Bishoppricke or as if I seeke dominion ouer my brethren the calling I affect but not to be called And therefore now I dare more boldly and will more freely speake what I thinke then before I thought it requisite neither was it conuenient when I conuersed among brethren neuer-a better Yea but I may seeme in this action to sooth vp the Byshops and seeke their countenance countenance nay then must I seeke further and neuer look the Bishops in the face whose condition in this thankles age is more subiect to the enuie and obliquie of men then my selfe am And indeed if that were all and all but so little it were the part of a warie child and him that would husband his credite to make the most of it rather with safetie and silence to say nothing and with patience and pollicy to expect the issue of these things The which I dare saye I also could haue doone as well as others without displeasure to my selfe or disfauour to anie But what moued me God knoweth men may construe my fact as themselues affect but it is the Lord that iudgeth my soule Notwithstanding let the curteous Reader conceiue my meaning in few words I desire to benefite the churches alreadie and to be reformed to extirpate Scisme where it is rooted and to preuent it where it is rising He that thinketh this cannot be done by these meanes shall haue his own saying for me but yet the euent of things mother of fooles will one day make it plaine howe good and profitable my meaning was and in the meane while the Church if it beware not maye receiue that detriment which it cannot repaire The ground of our saluation is to know God whom hee hath sent Iesus Christ our Lorde and Sauiour the Bishop of of our soules But as in euerie thing which men goe about whether weauing caruing or any other craft of the which either the Citie or the ciuill Magistrate hath any care that it should bee well done there must bee a decent order kept and a diligent ouer-sight had of the works the which by how much the more curious it is by so much the things themselues doe flowrish the better and continue the longer So likewise in Religion the same order and ouer-sight ought to be had if we wil haue the same to flowrish amongst vs or to continue pure and intemerate for euer But that al men doe not agree about the maner of ordering and gouerning the Church why should that trouble the quiet of anie peace-able man Doe yee not know that the more profitable and necessarie a thing is to bee vsed the more lets and delaies are made by the enemy either to infect or els to interrupt the vse thereof Was there euer at any time anie thing so cleare and manifest among men that was out of all controuersie How then knowest thou this that thou knowest nothing Or how commeth it in question among men whether a man seeth or doth that which in very deede hee both seeth and doth Without controuersie there is no part of Philosphie or precept of Diuinitie no point of Religion which hath not bene called into controuersie This sore traueile hath God giuen to the sonnes of men that they might be exercised therein But the vanitie of mans will detracteth nothing from the veritie of anie thing And therefore goe to gentle Reader be doing with the sequell and doe well by it THE PRAEAMBLE THe surprising of the Bishop of Rome his tyrannie to whose scepter a croisier all churches and kingdomes and empires were enthralled is now of late growen so hotte that now a daies all Primacie and the name of Primacie is found guiltie not guiltie and thought worthie to bee exiled the Church of Christ wisely For by that meanes all the tyrranie of Prelates may be subdued But they are farre wide in my iudgement The Tarquines once exiled Rome the very name of King becam odious amōg them as if for-sooth with the name of those tyrants tyrannie had ceased But were they not afterwardes and then iustlie thralled and threshed as men thresh corne with more more kinds of tyranny then if they had retained still the soueraine name of Kings and their princely authoritie Neither indeed is there any tyrāny at all in the name of a King but in the nature of a Tarquine And the like wee may iustlie say in this action that the pride and tyranny with the which the Church of Christ was wearied and wasted was not in the Primacie of Bishops and Archbishoppes but in the persons which did abuse their authoritie and going beyond their commission extended the bounds of their Prouince further then might lawfully stand with the modestie and moderation of christian Religion by which meanes indeede the power of Rome is become excessiue and insupportable But shall I now vppon this bare presumption indite of tyranny the more auncient forme of Church pollicie and so many godly men or rather Gods amongst men of rare learning sincere liues and sound Religion Or shall I condemne of error those sacred and religious Synodes in the which holy men of God did ratifie that auncient pollicie of the Church which with reuerence as they ought they receiued of their godlie predecessors Farre bee that sinne from my thoughts as far as is this impure age from their perfections For albeit I am not ignorant that both Fathers and Councels may erre if they enact against the will and word of God notwithstanding it followeth not that therefore they erred in this But if so be we were thus equally affected towards others and our selues that as we know a natural infirmitie to be vniuersallie infused in the natures of all men so with all we wold acknowledge the same to be particularlie imprised in our selues also we would then more diligently search and prie into the reprehension of our selues rather then of others But now it is far otherwise with vs. Is
that must be left between God and their conscience Forbid any man the Communion God forbid Is it not to be wondered that they which confesse that the Minister hath power of binding should not consider that the same Minister hath the like power of loosing also Doe they not know that there is the like reason of them both or can they not conceyue that the effects being contrary they are performed of the Pastor with contrary actions It is without all controuersie that sinners are loosed by the Ministers when remission of sinnes in the name of Christ is pronounced to the faithfull But when as by the same power the wrath of God and vengeance eternall is denounced against the vnfaithful and that they are denied the sweete comfort of the holy Sacraments who doubteth but that they are bound in like sort Is it not abhorring from the duety of a faithfull Pastor to let in Wolues into his masters sheep-fold so is it also if he thrust not out those which are closely crept in If so be it so fall out that any man fall from the faith after baptisme or when he confesseth Christ with his lips that he deny him in his life and within himself crucify agayn the God of life What is there here no part of the Pastors office to be perfourmed He shall restrayn they will say the disobedient release the penitent Very good But seeing these things cannot be done but with contrarie facultyes as to the penitent he shall pronounce the sweete promises of Gods mercy and receiue him into the Church So to the disobedient hee shall denounce all the dires and execrations of Gods wrath that he is a recreant from the kingdome of God that he is exiled the Citty and forbidden the house of God and he shall deny the dogge returned to his vomit the bread of the children of God Wherfore as a faithfull dispenser of the mysteries of God baptiseth none that was once an infidel without some publique confession of his faith so neyther doth he receiue to the Communion a notorious sinner without apparant conuersion of life This is olde Diuinity But to spend many words in the confutation of this conceit is no part of my meaning neither would it quite for cost this only cause would require a whole quire of conclusiōs that too painful a course for so needles a discourse This onely seemeth to me a sufficient confutation thereof that it is a new and an vnexpert error crossing the aduised iudgement of all auncient Diuines that I vrge them not with the Heathen more holy then themselues with whom there was alwayes great difference betweene things sacred and prophane But if Popish Prelates haue heretofore abused and abuse at this day the lawful power of the church by their lawlesse tiranny shall their vnlawfulnesse make a lawfull thing of none effect Together with religion a lawe was made which excluded the irreligious from religion since the worlde began And is not then the condition of the Church present to be pittied being now come to this stay that when as it ought to be the schoole of vertue it wil not endure the censure of conformity And that which to the Heathen men rude and vntaught in the true worship of God seemed most beautifull in it selfe and no lesse beneficiall to the common wealth should altogether of vs Christians be neglected as needelesse or contemned as erronious But to returne to the principall issue in this controuersie albeit the ministery of the Gospell committed to the pastors of the Church be one and the same in them all yet in this third part concerning the diuerse degrees of authority which first the Lord himselfe constituted and afterwardes the Apostles continued there is great ods betweene them and no small inequality to be found among them Amongst the which there is no controuersie but that the Apostles haue the first degree of dignity Euangelists the second Prophets the third Pastors and Elders the fourth Doctors the last For as the authority of an Apostle was greater then of an Euangelist or a Prophet of a Prophet greater then of a Bishop or an Elder so was the authority of Titus and Timothie who were both Elders and Bishops greater then was the authority of those Elders whom by theyr Apostolique commission themselues had created in euery Towne And albeit the Baptisme of Christ be one and the same by whome so euer it be administred whether of an Apostle of the highest or of an Elder of the lowest order and the doctrine of the Gospell is neither better nor worse which is deliuered of these or of those Notwithstanding good order of gouernement doth not permitte that the authority of al should be all alike or that the like cōmission should be granted to these and them the constant and continued custome of the Church ministery deriued from the Apostles time and vnrepealed vnto this day doth euince the same The first creation of the twelue Apostles and the seuenty Disciples doth containe a manifest demonstration of this whole matter For that the beginnings of the old and new Church might accord First the twelue Apostles were elected to be the first Patriarches and progenitors of a newe people but afterwards when the haruest was greater then the labourers and the kingdome of Heauen already began to suffer violence as the Lord ioyned with Moyses in the old Testament seuenty Elders to assist him in the gouernance of his people so in like manner vppon the like occasion our Sauiour added vnto the twelue Apostles seuenty other Disciples And so in the first infancy of the Church we may see how the Lord ordained two diuerse degrees of Ministers whom when he distinguished in number and disseuered into distinct companies did he not declare that in honour and authority they were not equall not all of a company The which thing verily he would neuer haue done had hee once knowen and he should know that it had beene a sin for Ministers to be diuerse in degree and not equal in dignity And these were the first preachers of the Gospell vnder the Lords direction whiles himselfe was yet resident among them But after hee ascended into Heauen he raysed vp Prophets also in the Church when as at Whitsontide hee poured forth of his spirite whereby he might make his Disciples as miracles not onely for theyr manifold languages but also for theyr diuine wisedom and fore-knowledge But in processe of time when the number of Churches increased and multiplyed exceedingly so that themselues were now no more able to ground and gouerne them they took vnto them of theyr followers and made them theyr fellow labourers Who although they were of rare faith and rype giftes yet were they the schollers and followers of the Apostles and Euangelists much inferiour to theyr maisters But when as not onely the number of the Churches but the multitude of beleeuers increased still aboue number then were there ordayned for seuerall Churches
the old Testament framed to him selfe a peculiar cōmon wealth the which although afterwards it might receiue diuerse formes of gouernement yet he did alwaies so prouide for the honour of the Priesthood that they alwaies retained that degree of dignity which the Lord would haue them maintain among the people of God God vnder the Gospell hath impropriated no peculiar people neyther hath he planted any certaine forme of gouernment He sent vnto all nations preachers of the Gospell priuate men without any warlike accutrements Them he appointed not to alter any form of gouernment least they might seeme to be sent rather for the subuersion then for the conuersion of the Gentiles And yet this hindereth not but that they may take vppon them a greater state and better beseeming the worthines of theyr calling where Religion it self is aduaunced by publique authority and in wisedome is made the ground-work both of the lawes and the common wealth In the old lawe the Priests Honor was especially set downe what how great after what sort in what things it should consist In the new Testament that limitation coulde not bee layd forth because it could not would they neuer so faine be like it selfe or the same among all people in all places at all times But as good christians doe take vnto them selues many other imitable examples out of the old Testament and the law of nature and the orders of nations by the which they may the better be brought vnto a ciuill conformity and a conformable ciuility of life so likewise ought we to doe in this case The minority vnder-reckoning of the ministery is not so held in the iudgements of those christians that haue their cōsciences acquainted with diuine causes but in the sight of carnall professors and the censure of the Churches enemies All indifferent harts eies may see and conceiue that how much greater Christ is then Moyses and the Gospel more excellēt then the law so much more honorable is the Euangelike ministery then the Aaronicall Priesthood the which we are abundantly taught by the manifest arguments of the Apostle Paul we may very well learne by the manifold Sermons of our Sauiour Christ Of old among the people of God it was for good cause held a great matter for any man to be like vnto Moyses or Elias For after the receite of the law and his familiar conference with God in the mount the face of Moyses is sayd to haue ben so radiant with passing all wonderous bright some rayes that the eyes of the amased Israelites by no means might indure the Sun bright lustre of his resplendent countenaunce After him was Elias no lesse honored and renowmed as well for his wonderfull acts atchieued in the zeale of God his law as also for his miraculous end translated aliue into the Paradise of Heauen Notwithstanding all this the Apostle in his latter to the Corinthians doth learnedly maintaine that the Ministery of Moyses was of the letter and of death but the Ministery of the Gospell of the spirite and of life and so much the more glorious As for the rest our Sauiour himselfe preferreth Iohn Baptist alone before all the Prophets whom he affirmeth to be more then a Prophet and yet he resolueth that the least Minister of the Church is greater then hee And therefore if Christ may be Iudge the least Minister of the lowest degree in the Church is more honorable to be honored more in his office then are any or al the Priests of the old Testamēt As for the low titles the Lord gaue to his Ministers for bidding the glorious insignes of honor as of Lord Father and Doctor I aunswere that it was not done that the Ministers should be of lesse honor among the people then were of old the Priests Leuits or that they should be debased beneath all estates be of no esteem in a christian common wealth but rather that they might retain a lowly an humble conceit in so lofty so honorable an estate For vnlesse the Lord in wisdome should temper keep vnder the ouer-weaning waiwardnes of mans nature euen in his dearest seruantes Such is the excellency of the Ecclesiasticall calling that the conceit thereof might easely ouercharge light mindes with lofty thoughts sodenly ouerturne rash heads into ruined estates But as humility is taught them in their inglorious titles so is their excellency taught vs by their magnificall statues For are not these they which are called the Salt of the earth the Light of the world Stars in the firmamēt Angels and Legats Stewards dispensers of the mysteries of God Ministers of the spirit of life what and how great is that honor and power they haue receiued of the Lord that they can binde and lose in earth what things are bound and losed in Heauen that they can remit and retaine sins that they can open and shut the highest Heauen Can there be any thing giuen to men more Honorable in this mortality As for the vse of those names Doctor Lord Father we will speake therof hereafter Now that I may determine this disputation of those things we haue here set downe I conclude That christian people are no lesse deuoted to their Pastors in al duty then were of old the Israelites to their Priests and Leuits And Where christian religion is publikely authorised that there the same degree of honor is to be giuen to the Ministers in the common welth which was vsed to the Priests Prophets among the people of God But if so be it so fall out that among vngodly people vngracious Magistrats there be no reuerend regard had of this honor due to the Minister that there the professors be not offended therewith seeing the worthines of ther Ministery is such as that no iniury of man can any waies diminish it For it becommeth them to be at this point with themselues that if so be the honor due to their ministery be giuen them they may reioyce in the religious godlines of the faithfull towards God but if it be denied them they may not grieue thereat as if them selues had lost any thing Neyther are they greatly to contend with the Magistrate for their right especially at any intempestiue season but they are to commit their causes vnto God and with Paul to expect a more conuenient time to expostulate In the mean while let them pray vnto God that he would vouchsafe thē better mindes that would be accounted for good christians The chief care of a faithfull Pastor must be this to gaine many soules vnto Christ not much riches or many honors First let them seek the kingdome of God and al these things shal be cast vppon them Wherefore seeing there are many parts of that honor which is due to the Minister I will chiefely prosecute those which the ciuil society of life doth require in a christian cōmon wealth and that aboue all others which consisteth in the maintenance of
Ministers a thing neuer so much in controuersie as at this day Of the which we will first heare what was the opinion of those fathers which liued in time next after the Apostles CHAP. XI The iudgement of the Fathers concerning the oblations of the faithfull I Wil first begin with Origen who liued vnder Seuerus about two hundred yeares after our Sauiour Hee vppon the eighteenth Chapter of Numbers in his eleuenth Homily writeth thus It is behooueful and it is also beneficiall that first fruits should be offered vnto the Priestes of the Gospell For so hath the Lord also ordained that they which preach the Gospell should liue of the Gospell and they which serue at the altar should also be partakers of the altar And as this is due decent so of the contrary part I account it both vnmeete and vndecent and vngodly also that he which worshippeth God and entreth into the Church of God and knoweth that the Priests and Ministers do wait at the altar and attend eyther vppon the word of God or the Ministerie of the church should not offer vnto the Priestes the first things of those fruits of the earth which God hath giuen by bringing forth his Sonne and sending foorth his raine Neither can I thinke such a mind to bee mindfull of God neither that hee thinketh or beleeueth that God hath giuen the fruits he hath receaued which hee so hordeth togeather as if they were none of Gods For if he beleeued they were giuen him of God hee would also acknowledge that in rewarding the Priests he therby honored God for his gifts And moreouer that these things the better to be obserued may bee taught by the word of God let vs heare what the Lord saith in the Gospell Wo be vnto you Scribes and Pharises ye hypocrites which tythe Mint that is pay tythe of Mint Cummin and Ane-seeds and let passe the greater things of the Law Hypocrites these thinges ought yee to haue done and not to haue left the other vndone c. The same authour proceedeth in the same booke How then dooth our righteousnes exceede the righteousnes of the Scribes and Pharisies if they dare not tast of the fruits of the earth before they haue offered the first fruits vnto the Priestes and the tythes are set forth for the Leuits and I doing none of these things doe so abuse the fruits of the earth as that the Priest knoweth not of them the Leuite is ignoraunt of them the altar of God doth not taste of them Ireneus the Scholler of Polycarpus in his fourth booke the foure and thirtie chapter writeth of the sacrifices and oblations of Christians the which thing hee also in many other places remembreth whereby the custome and opinion of the church at that time concerning that matter may the beter appeare The words of the holy Father are these VVherefore we ought to offer to God the first fruits of his creaturts as Moses saith Thou shalt not appeare emptie in the sight of the Lorde thy God that in what things a man hath shewed himselfe thankfull in those things he which is deputed ouer him might thank fully receaue that honour of him And that kind of oblation is a 〈…〉 ain allowed For there were oblations there and there are oblations heere also There were sacrifices among the old people there are sacrifices in the Church also but the manner of them is onelye altered seeing that nowe these are offered not of bond slaues but of free-men For there is one and the same Lorde but there is a seuerall forme of seruile oblations and a seuerall forme of them which are free that euen by these oblations also there might appeare some token of our liberty For there is nothing idle or endlesse with him without some signe or sense And for this cause indeed they did consecrate theyr tenthes but they which haue obtained their libertie doe dedicate to the Lords vse al things that they haue chearfully freely giuing those things which are of lesse account hauing indeed a greater hope that widowe and poore woman casting in heere all her substance into the Lord his treasurie c. Afterwardes in the same chapter hee addeth this Wherefore seeing the church offereth with singlenes for iust cause is the gift thereof accepted as a pure sacrifice before God Euen as Paule also writeth vnto the Philippians I was euen filled after that I had receiued of Epaphroditus that which cam from you an odour which smelleth sweete a sacrifice acceptable and pleasant vnto GOD. For wee ought to offer oblations vnto God and in all things to be found thankefull vnto God our maker offering the first-lings of those his creatures in a pure mind and faith without hypocrisie in a ferme hope and feruent loue And this oblation the church onely doth present pure vnto the Creator offering vnto him of his owne creatures with thankes-giuing c. And againe in the same chapter But we offer vnto him not as hee needed our offerings but to shew our selues thankefull vnto him for his bountie and to sanctifie his creatures For as God hath no neede of those th ngs which come from vs so we haue need to offer some thing vnto God Irenaeus calleth Almes and oblations good actions as also Cyprian calleth them good workes Paule beeing their Author who calleth them good deedes and distributions and good workes 1. Tim. 6.18 Tit. 3.14 Heb. 13.16 and Sacrifices with the which God is wel pleased Many other thinges of the like import might bee cited out of the same Authour But let vs attend vnto that of Cyprian in the like sense the wordes some-what altered who in his foure and thirtie Epistle writeth thus of the Readers whome hee had ordained Nowe you shall vnderstand that wee haue appointed for them the honor of an Elder that they should bee honoured with the same fees that the Elders are and that they should deuide the allowaunce for euerie moneth in equall portions The fees which were deuided euerie moneth vnto the Priestes hee calleth the honour of the Presbyterie But out of his sixtie Epistle wee may also make some estimate of what wealth the Church of Carthage was namely by a certaine contribution made by the Cleargie and layitie of that place For there were collected no lesse then an hundred sestercees which they sent to the Bishops of Mauritania to redeeme captiues beeing also readie to send more if need were The wordes of Cyprian are these VVee haue sent vnto you an hundred sestercees That is 2500. ducates at the least or vnles that may seeme to great a sum for that time 2500000 which were gathered heere in the Church ouer the which I am president by the fauour of God the contribution beeng made by the Cleargie and people that are amongst vs the which you shall dispose there according vnto your best indeuours And in his sixtie sixe Epistle he writeth thus The tribe of Leuie which attended vpon the
this without any iust knowledge or further trial of the cause a quicke course must be taken the Chequer if it were the Chequer swopt at al. But if the Church-men were found ready to renounce all Popery and to receiue the true profession of Christ his religion what cause was there lefte or what occasion might be found why Bishops and Pastors should be expelled their parishes possessions vnlesse haply they did reckon the Church goods among the other heresies which error is already confuted But where now shall I lay the blame vpon the ignorance of the Ministers or the auarice of certaine Officers No doubt they were both in great fault But certaine craftie vngodly men who not in the zeal of godlines but for the desire of goods presuming of a pardon for the contempt of all religion ioyned themselues vnto vs and while they would seem the more serious fauorites of the Gospell they became the most sacrilegious instrumentes of this mischiefe so that the same which of som was thought to be done of error or ignorance in these was brought to passe of a malitious wickednes For who can excuse them of most hainous sacrilege who vnder colour of reformation in some partes of Germany the Low Countries haue made a pray of whatsoeuer was giuen for holy necessary vses to the Church and Church Ministers With due reuerence I acknowledge the chiefe Magistrates as the chiefe patrons of religion and I hold it alwayes lawfull for them according to their royal right to make lawes for the Church and Church goodes alwayes prouided that they so take not the matter vpon themselues that they take al vnto themselues For it is not the part of a patron to spoile his clyent neither was it euer heard of before these dayes that any Christian Magistrate brought into his Chequer all the Church goods made no bones therof They which vpon occasion rifled the Church onely of some small part therof that when the Chequer was in some great consumption are but euil spoken of for their labour in all histories What then may we iudge of thē who haue set the cards drawne the Church of euery penny I name none But I mean them who by their example haue giuen the hint to their neighbors and set them a patterne of an holy robbery Lord how like are these ranke professors to Iulian the recreant or the Turkish tyrant which make no difference betweene thinges sacred prophene how vnlike to any Christian Magistrate so far as I know either of this age or our fore-fathers But is it a foule matter for sacrilege to be obiected to a Christiā Magistrate a more filthy thing is it to be committed Chap. II. What Sacrilegeis THere are some found now adaies not far to seek who thinke that no sacrilege can now bee committed because the difference betwene sacred prophane in externe thinges was taken away by the death of our Sauiour which seemeth to mee not the iudgement of a Diuine but the opinion of an Atheist For albeit to the holy all things are holy and to the prophane all things prophane yet that distinction of things is not taken away which they haue in their appointed vse There was alwayes among all nations a great difference put betweene those thinges which were dedicated vnto diuine seruice and those thinges which serue men for their common vses Thinges for the most part take their denomination from their ende for the which they were ordained So priuate men haue their treasure and the common-wealth her treasure If you doe respect the matter they are both of one nature namely gold and siluer and whatsoeuer else is of any price but if you respect either the end or the possessor you shall finde a great difference betweene them The end of a priuate man his treasurie is the commoditie of a familie but the end of the publike treasure is the benefite of the Prince and the whole Country In like manner the treasure which is giuen or gatheted to the worship of God it hath his proper end diuerse and distinct from both those before mentioned the which ende seeing it is sacred it giueth the name also to the treasure and it is called sacred Furthermore because the inuiry is greater which is committed against a Prince or a publike state then if the same be done against a priuate mans person or his estate therefore the robbing of a priuate treasure is called plain Theft but of the common treasure a Robbery of the commonwelth So likewise how much the more horrible the offence is which is committed against God then against man so much more detestable is the direption of the sacred treasurie then common theft or the robbing of the cōmon treasurie For which cause they call that also by his proper name Sacrilege which is commonly defined to bee the theft of a thing sacred The deformitie of which theft is so much the more notorious by how much the more sharper punishments God himself as also the laws of al nations haue deuised against the same Albeit the definitiō cōteineth not only things sacred to the worship of the true God but of false gods also for that it is the conscience that maketh the sacrilege an opiniō of the holy godhead contemned But how all those goods the Romish Cleargie did possesse vnder the title of the poore the Church haue beene translated to priuat prophane vses I need not tel for it is too manifest Chap. III. The reasons with the which they commonly excuse their Sacrilege BVt sacrilegious persons and their patrons will not onely maintaine themselues with their theft but they will maintaine their theft that is was well and worthily done for the ouerture of the Pope and the inuestiture of the true Church Their reasons are these That the goods of the Church did serue to Idolatry prophane vses the which beeing taken away they could by lawe deuolue no man but onely to the common treasury of the which the Christian Magistrate hath the care and custodie And as the godly Emperours Constantinus Theodosius Honorius and Areadius hauing by their lawes put downe the Idolatry of the Gentiles had the places and reuenues of their temples and their prebends in their owne power to dispose of them as they thought best and that without any sinne of Sacrilege so likewise at this day the Papacie being exiled the goods annuities of Munks Nuns and Masse-Priests may be chalenged by the same right to the Christian Magistrate But that wast goods pertaine to the common treasurie by way of excheate it is a knowne point in the lawe and a common case Neyther were the Bishops of olde of this opinion that the Church had nay right to those goods which were destinate vnto the seruice of Idols so that it may seeme a verie straunge thing to vs that at this day there should be found any faithfull Minister of the Gospel which should once
ought to be reuersed vnto their lawful vse for the which they first serued The Arke of the Lord was taken of the Philistines and prophaned but it did not therefore cease to be sacred to God being receiued againe from the Philistines it was no lesse to be esteemed then it was before The vessels and ornaments of Solomons temple were translated by Nabucadnezar to Babylon the which things beeing laid vp in the Temple of his Gods after his manner he vsed them religiously But Babylon beeing conquered Cyrus in the right of a conquerour might haue praied vpon them yet when he once knew that they afore-times pertained to the holy worship of the most holy in the temple of Solomon he abstained from them and cōmanded that they shuld bee restored to their former vse againe More wisely or more religiously done least hapiy hee might haue incurred the same crime of cursed sacrilege for the which the Lord had iustly punished prophane Balthasar his predecessour By the which it may appeare that what things are once destined to the vse of the Church are sacred vnto God for euer not is it lawful at any time to distract them to foraine vses CHAP. V. A distinction of those Church-goods which the Church of Rome possesseth at this day BVt when as all the goods which we see in the Church of Rome are not of the same kind we cannot giue the same iudgement of them al. There is therfore a threfold difference of them alwaies to be remembred In the first order I place those which our godly Fathers gaue to the Church for the maintenance of the Pastors and the relief of the poore In the second order I place those which were granted to the church for superstitious vses as for Masses Dirges Monks and Nuns morow Masse-priests And in the last order I place those infinite donations pernitious to the Common-welth which were either rashly made by Kings and Emperors or wrongfully extorted from them by force or fraud of which kinde are the inuestiture of those Ecclesiasticall fees which were giuen by godly Princes to the churches the which when as by that title they do pertaine to them of right yet the BB. of Rome doth chalenge the whole right therof to himselfe But these things seeing that by the lawes both of God man they pertain to Kings alone that which is Caesars is to be giuen to Caesar The Lord hath forbidden ministers to be Kings ouer their churches therefore in the 22. of Luke he purgeth that humor in the heads of his Apostles with this Aloes The Kings of nations rule ouer them and they which haue power ouer them are called bountifull but it shall not be so with you that is you shall not be Kings with which magnificent titles of bountifull and gratious they flatter them which haue smal cause bearing the heauy yoke of their cruell dominion Wherefore in this case christian Kings may lawefully reuerse what-soeuer the Bishop of Rome hath vnlawfully raked to himselfe by fraud or by force But heere I require discretion and moderation to bee vsed that Caesar do not so reuerse those things which are Caesars that together he fal to rifle those things which are Gods Indeed the cleargy of Rome hath rauisht them both but they are not worthy whom the christian Magistrat shuld imitate neither is he a mā of worth that wil punish theft with sacrilege What things the error of our fathers gaue to superstitious vses they ar void I confesse supestition and idolatry being taken away the godly Magistrat may dispose of such goods as hee shall thinke good neither hath the church any right to chalenge in these And yet if the authority of the former law aleadged and the counsel of the learned father Augustine be of any worth those legacies which were giuen for the celebrating of masses the nourishing of Monks may be conuerted to some better vse by the which the memory of the testator may be solemnized in another a more lawful kind In the 16. of Numb the censors with the which the 250. rebels offered vp incense as Priests in sin vngodlines were notwithstanding hallowed before God and therfore that in no wise they might afterwards be imploied in any common vses he commanded them to be drawn into brode plates for a couering to the altar So were the instruments which the irreligious abused conuerted to a sacred and a religious vse The which commandement indeed althogh it be not general yet it conteineth therein an especiall instruction by the which we are taught what ought to be done in such a case Augustine in his 154. Epistle to Publicola is of opinion that the Idols Idol-temples groues which were put down were not to be diuerted to any priuate vse but to bee conuerted into publike seruices and the honor of the true God that the like thing may be done by them which is done in the men themselues who are conuerted from a sacrilegious impious people to the true religion of the liuing God Least otherwise it might seem to be done not of conscience but for couetousnes But seing the law of God prescribeth nothing in this matter and whatsoeuer Moses hath written therof concerneth the people of Israell in perticular I make it no matter of religion why the Magistrate may not determine herein as it shal seeme best to his godly wisedome Nor doe I disauow the decree of the Emperours Honorius and Theodosius but I aduise al Princes and other chiefe Magistrates who haue earst reformed Churches or shall here-after that this one thing be alwais wel considered of them namely that Churches were but robbed of their rights by Monestaries when they gleaned to themselues the duty of tythes and oblations which things christian Princes and people haue consecrated of old to the honor of their Pastors the comfort of the poore For they preposterouslie take vpon them the gouernement of Churches contrary vnto the order of the ancient Church and vnder the title of voluntary pouerty these gathered that to themselues which was giuen to the poore for necessity CHAP. VI That the goods of Monks are not all of one kind AS in those goods which the Pastors and rectors of the Church possesse I haue shewed that ther is great difference so neither are we to think that the goods of Monks are all of one sort It were to long to repeat how they came to so great wealth neither is it needfull onely this I wuld haue wel noted that whatsoeuer the Monks possessed which of right was due to the Pastors of the church that al that did pertaine to the first order of church-goods which I before noted the which indeed after the subuersion of Monasteries are not to be taken for wast so long as there is anie Church remaining Wherevpon I infer that all popish idolatrie being put down onely those things which maintained either tyranny or idolatry do deuolue by right to the Chequer the