Diuines of the Prince Elector do most filthely and beyonde all measure depraue Luthers vvrytings so as since Luthers death there haue not bene more foule corrupters of Luthers bookes In the same Councel many times they fal into this argumēt and each side in most spitefull termes obiecte to others this faulte as may be seene if you liste to peruse the pages here noted in the margent And in fine there is promise made as a matter of great importance and one of Hercules labours that the Duke of Saxonie will cause Luthers workes to be printed without corruption Illustrissimus Dux Saxoniae curabit tomos Lutheri sine deprauatione typis excudi which notwithstāding is perhaps a harder thing thē the Duke of Saxonie can perfourme though his power were much greater then it is What speake I of the Lutherans with whom Luthers wordes be autenticall and litle inferior to scripture whereas the very Caluinists and that in Geneua where Caluin is all in all yet notwithstanding haue in their prints corrupted Luthers works whereof Ioachim VVestphalus a Lutheran thus wryteth in his Apologie against the slanders of Caluin I Marueil much sayeth he that Caluin keeping such a doe about this one vvord could not see the most filthy mutations and corruptions of the diuine commentarie of D. Luther vpon the epistle to the Galatians and translated into French and printed at Geneua In one place some vvordes are taken avvay in an other many mo some vvhere vvhole paragraphs are lopte of in the exposition of the sixte chapter tvvo pages and an halfe are lefte out vvhere Luther doth reproue the Sacramentaries there especially those falsifiers tooke to them selues libertie to mutilate to take avvay to blotte out and change some vvhere they remoue the name of Sacramentaries at other tymes they haue put in vvordes such as pleased them and that this vvas done at Geneua vvithout Caluins knovvledge it is not very lykely And touching this very place wherof we treate when Coclaeus obiected it to Bullinger as now M. Martin did to M. W. he answered not denyinge that which was so publyke and notorious but Guperem Lutherum sobrié magis modestaus circumspectius c. I vvoulde to God Luther had iudged and geuen his sentence more soberlye discreetelye and circumspectly of Sainte Iames his Epistle and the Apocalips of Sainte Iohn and certayne other Add we herevnto M. W. owne confession set downe in this preface I confesse sayth he that Luther hath vvritten in a certen place that Iames his Epistle is not to be compared vvith the Epistles of Peter and Paule and that in comparison of them it may be iudged an epistle made of stravv Which a man would thinke were sufficiente to cleare M. Martin and M. Campian and to condemne Luther and M. Whitaker For how or in what comparison coulde Luther so speake but onely to disgrace that epistle in respect of other scripture to make it light and contemptible that is not to make it scripture at all For if he thought it to proceede from the holy Ghost as did the bookes of the Prophets the Gospels and Epistles of Sainte Paule how coulde he without intollerable iniurye done to the holy Ghost so debase that wryting which he beleeued to proceede from his diuine inspiration But M. Whitaker replyeth That vvorde albeit I defende not yet iustly may I say that Luther is iniuried vvhen he is accused to haue reiected as made of stravv that epistle and playnely and simply to haue named it so vvhereas he called it so in comparison especially vvhereas these vvordes are not founde in the bookes of later printes and excepte I by chaunce had happened vpon a most auncient edition I might haue sought long inough in the later Confesse you then that there hath bene such choppinge and changinge in Luthers workes that the one differ so far from the other namely in this very point How standeth this now with your former bold asseueration It is certaine there vvas neuer any one vvorde changed therein And what reason haue you better to credit these later printes sett furth by Luthers scholers then the auncient set furth by the maister and author Luther him selfe But to end this matter may it please you to reade Father Duraeus there shall you be informed in what print and edition of Luther these wordes are to be reade to wit not in the later of VVittēberg corrected and corrupted by the ciuill Lutherans but in the more auncient of Iena a Citie in religion lutherish to but yet after a more exacte and precise order then are those other There may you finde that Pomerane a greate Euangelist among the lutherans touchinge S. Iames Epistle wryteth thus Fayth vvas reputed to Abraham for iustice by this place thou mayest note the error of the epistle of Iames vvherein thou feest a vvicked argument besides that he concludeth ridiculously he citeth scripture against scripture vvhich thing the holy Ghost can not abyde vvherefore that epistle may not be numbred amongest other bookes vvhich set foorth the iustice of fayth There may you finde Vitus Theodorus preacher of Norimberg in hye Germanie wryting thus The epistle of Iames and Apocalips of Iohn vve haue of set purpose lefte out because the epistle of Iames is not onely in certayne places reprouable vvhere be to much aduaunceth vvorkes agaynst fayth but also his doctrine through out is patched together of dyuers peeces vvhereof no one agreeth vvith an other Vnto these you may add for your better satisfaction the iudgement of the Centuries noted by F. Campian though not touched by you They say that the epistle of Iames much svvarueth from the analogie of the Apostolicall doctrine vvhereas it ascribeth iustification not to onely fayth but to vvorks and calleth the lavv a lavv of libertie And in the next booke Against Paule and against all scriptures the epistle of Iames attributeth iustice to vvorkes and peruerteth as it vvere of set purpose that vvhich Paule disputeth Rom. 4. out of Genes 15. that Abraham vvas iustified by onely fayth vvithout vvorkes and affirmeth that Abraham obteyned iustice by vvorkes You may add Luther him selfe in his commentarie vpon S. Peter ep 1. ca. 1. fol. 439.440 in the common edition of Wittemberg where after he hath geuen many rules taken from his owne licentious doctrine wherby to discerne the true and canonicall scriptures from false and Apocriphal of them al thus he concludeth pa. 442. Atque inde etiam facile discitur epistolam D. Iacobi nomine inscriptam handquaquam Apostolicam esse epistolam nullum enim prope elementum in ea de his rebus legis Hereby vve easely learne that it is no Apostolical Epistle vvhich goeth in S. Iames his name for there is in it no letter or title of these matters that is of onely fayth confidence resurrection c. whereby we must esteeme of true
a refuter of errors make this a light one had you any part ether of the spirite of S. Paule S. Cipriā S. Austine or such Saintes of the Catholike Church or some zeale and sense of your owne Gospel and religion how could this euer haue slipt out of your penne to cal them most holy who by your doctrine were as far from al true holynes as euer was Scribe or Pharisee to cal thē most holy who had not in them the first stepp or degree where holines beginneth for whereas to holines first of al and principally is required faith in the death and passion of Christ then zeale and feruour in good woorkes to cal a man holy without the first is to commend for strenght and valor a man that hath neuer a sound ioynt or to praise for eloquence such a one whose tongue is cutt out of his head In the number of Christians professors of Christianity there haue bene from the beginning many that haue liued very hard seuere lyues that haue bestowed their goods amōge the poore that after many labours and trauails rare workes of extraordinarie zeale haue at lenght suffered death for the testimony of Christ And this oftentimes chaūced in the primitiue Church within the tyme of the first persecutions before Constantinus Magnus yet if such men liued and died schismatikes that is not beleeuing rightly in the church did euer any true Christian holde them for good holie If I spake vvith the tongue of men and angels saith the Apostle and knevv al mysteries and could moue mountaines if I bestovved al my goods vpon the poore and my bodie to the fier for the testimonie of Christ yet wanting the charitie of my brethren being without ecclesiasticall vnitie it profiteth me nothing wherevpon S. Ciprian They cānot dvvell vvith God that be not in vnitie vvith the Church though they burne amidst the flames being deliuered to the fier or cast to vvild beastes so yeld their lyues yet that shal not be to them a crovvne of faith but a punyshment of infidelitie such a one may be slaine he can not be crovvned he professeth him self such a Christiā as the deuil many times pretendeth him self to be Christ For as S. Austine saith vvhosoeuer is separated from this Catholike Church though he thinke him self to liue verie commendablie yet by reason of this only offence that he is deuided from the vnitie of Christ in his Catholike Churche he shal not haue life eternal but the vvrath of God remaineth vpon him And is al this true of men Christians by profession beleeuing rightly in euerie other article of faith onely erring in a secondarie point against the visible church and is it not much more true when the error runneth so grossly against the first and chief and capital article of Christianitie and that proper and peculier part whēce Christianitie hath his name the death and passion of our sauiour the verie hart life and soule of our religion can a fault against the bodie so pollute and contaminate a man that he becometh with al his supposed holines an infidell vvicked prophane an enemy of God and a damnable creature and can such sacriledge against the head be so light and contemptible that the offender remaineth notwithstanding faithfull a good Christiā and most holie S. Paule in the beginning when the law of Moyses was not yet quite abolished nor the gospel so vniuersallie and clearlie published said of the Galatians who would haue ioyned the law with the gospell O ye sensles Galatians vvho hath bevvitched you not to obey the truth Beholde I Paule tell you that if you be circumcided Christ shal profite you nothing and though an Angel of heauen teach you so that is preach you workes wherebie you should be withdrawen from Christ anathema be he that is the curse of God light vpon him how thē may a Christian that ether loueth or feareth Christ thus extenuate the fathers error being by M. W. declaration in substance the self same by reason of circumstance farre more haynous the light of the gospel spread more larglie the truth of doctrine more deepely rooted the law more vndoubtedlie abolished and euerie part of Christian religion more clearly acknowledged and professed wherefore in this I take M. Whit. inexcusablie rather for a Pagane then for a Christian when he saith The fathers by their penitentiall vvorkes derogated from Christ and thrusting them selues into his roome ascribed to their ovvne inuentions the satisfying of Gods vvrath and remission of their sinnes and yet for al this calleth them sanctissimas most holy whereas this being true they were the most impious and detestable men that euer the sunne saw Luther in his booke aduersusfalsò nominatum ordinem episcoporum describing his iustifiing faith writeth thus although wickedly yet agreablie to his owne doctrine and the common doctrine of the protestants Marke me saith he vvhat is Christian faith Christian faith is to beleeue that by no vvorkes but by onlie faith in Christ as thy mediatour and by mercy in him geuen thee freely thou art iustified and saued Gal. 1. so as a man despaire of all his ovvne strength vvorkes and endeuours and depende altogether of an other mans merites and an other mans iustice Iudaical faith is to entend to be iustified to blot out thy sinnes and be saued by thy ovvne strength and merites Rom. 10. by this Christ is cast avvay To like effect he writeth in his second commentarie vpon the Galatians expounding these wordes his qui natura non sunt dii seruiebatis ye serued them vvhich by nature vvere not gods vpon these words he maketh this question and thus solueth it is it all one in S. Paule to depart from the promise to the lavv from faith to vvorkes and to serue gods vvhich by nature are not gods I ansvvere vvhosoeuer falleth from the article of iustification he becommeth ignorant of God and is an idolater And therefore it is al one vvhether he returne to the lavv or to the vvorshipping of idols al is one vvhether he be a monke a Turke a Ievv or Anabaptist for this article once taken avvay there remaineth nothing but mere error hipocrisie impietie idolatrie although in shevv there appeare excellent truth vvorship of God holines c. Yea speaking expresly of the auncient fathers and in respect of this special matter he most wickedly but most plainly adiudgeth them to hell fier for their wicked faith in this verie cause I speake not saith he against the papistes for their life but for their faith because they vvil not come to God by only faith but by faith and vvorkes and therfore if the fathers those old papistes liued now I would speake vnto thē as I do to these new papistes thus stand his wordes Si illa facies veteris papatus c. if that face and forme of old papistrie stoode novv if that discipline vvere
obserued novv vvith so much seueritie rigour as the heremites as Hierome Austine Gregorie Bernard FrauÌ„cis Dominike many others obserued it litle perhaps should I profite by my doctrine of faith against that state of papistrie yet neuertheles after the example of Paule inueighing against the false Apostles in apparance most holy and good men I ought to fight against such Iustice vvorkers of the papisticall Kingdome and say though you liue a chast life and vvearie your bodies vvith much exercise yea though ye vvalke in the humilitie and religion of Angels yet are ye bondmen of the lavv of sinne and the deuill ye are to be cast out of the house because you seeke for iustice and saluatioÌ„ by your vvorkes and not by Christ Thus Luther and this being the general doctrine of the Protestantes in al their treatises of iustification and M. W. pretending to be of the number supposing the fault to be true which he layeth to the fathers if he folowed the iudgment of S. Paule S. Ciprian S. Augustine al Catholike ChristiaÌ„s he must needes accompt them aduersaries of Christ prophane and wicked cast out eternally from the face of God if he folowed the vniuersal sway of his owne doctrine teaching only faith and iustification thereby he could not but with Luther hold them for impious hipocrites bondmâ—n of sinne and the deuil idolaters vvithout knovvledge of God as il as any monke Turke Ievv or Anabaptist And certainly no monke except perhaps some Apostataes as Luther him self Bucer P. Martir or such founders of this new Gospel liuing in his order thought euer so ethnicallie of Christes passion as by M.W. iudgment S. Ciprian and those fathers did And therefore I see not how he so excusing the fathers in this point and calling it a light error or none at al caÌ„ him self be excused from plaine Atheisme whether he be arraygned before his lawful Iudges S. Paule S. Ciprian S. Austine and their successours Catholike Bishoppes or before Luther that Apostata vvhom he honoreth for his father the rest of that coÌ„fraternitie except perhappes he wil pleade in his defence that he knew not this which is so coÌ„monly knowen to al and so to quitte him self of so foule impietie wil condemne him self of notorious ignorance But howsoeuer he shift the matter M. Martins charge standeth vndischarged that to say that the fathers tooke from Christ ascribed to them selues the office of his mediatorship satisfaction and remission of sinnes and iustice before God and yet to cal them most holie is as plaine a coÌ„tradictioÌ„ as to say such a man seeth most sharply yet both his eyes are out of his head he geueth consaile excelleÌ„t wel in any coÌ„trouersie of law mary his head for al that is a mile of from his shoulders And yet to mende the matter presently and fast vpon the former talking of the same thinge he stumbleth in to an other contradiction as grosse as the other For labouring to make our faultes more odious and to seuer vs as far as may be from the fathers thus he writeth the fathers vvrite sometimes that it is our part to do satisfactioÌ„ vnto God that God is pacified vvith our satisfactioÌ„ that thereby vve promerite him and redeeme our sinnes vvhich albeit they are not verie conueniently spoken yet by these they vvould haue no other thinge vnderstood or signified theÌ„ that pardon of sinnes and Gods grace vvas to be requested and craued of vs vsinge also those external actions of penance teares fastes vvatchinges almes vvhich thing may appeare by Ciprian alone in many places most euideÌ„tly in his 55. epistle in his booke against Demetrian and in his sermon de lapsis what sense you deuise and frame to your self I know not nether skilleth it greatly but surely the discourse of S. Ciprian and his words be as much against you as possibly may be deuised and especially in the places by you quoted to geue the reader a tast of your sinceritie thus he there writeth By satisfaction and iust mourning our sinnes are redeemed and our vvoundes by teares are cleansed our lord is to be prayed vnto our lord is to be pacified by our satisfaction let euerie man confesse his sinnes vvhile his confession may be admitted vvhile satisfaction and pardon geuen by the priestes is acceptable before God let our soule prostrate her self before god and satisfie him by sorovvfulnes let vs pacify gods vvrath and indignation by fasting lamentation mourning as he him self hath vvarned vs. The prophete Daniel by fasting endeuoured to deserue gods fauour and the like haue done al humble vvel-meaning and innocent men Thinkest thou that God is so easely pacified vvhom vvickedly thou hast denied Thou must pray and intreate him earnestlie thou must spend the day in mourning the night in vvatching lamentations prostrate on the ground in ashes and hearecloth thou must imploy thy self vpon iust vvorkes by vvhich sinnes are purged thovv must geue much almes by vvhich soules are deliuered from death In this sort the faith florished in the Apostles tyme. in this sort the first faithful Christians kept Christes coÌ„maundemeÌ„tes to be short for a great part of that treatise de lapsis runneth after this maner thus he endeth the same he that thus shal do satisfaction to God c. being heard and holpen of God shal not only deserue pardoÌ„ of him but also a crovvne in heauen Thus S. Ciprian which how it should most clearly make against satisfaction and workes satisfactorie M.W. knoweth belike for I gladly professe my self therein to vnderstaÌ„d nothing But graunt we the conclusion let S. Ciprian speake meane as you would haue him looke a litle backe consider how palpably you contradicte your self for if it be most euident that S. Ciprian meante vvel though he spake not so conueniently if he vnderstoode nothing els but that vve ought to request pardon for our sinnes at Gods hand and craue his grace vsing vvithal these externall actions of penance fasting vvatching almes why sayd you immediatly before that Ciprian vvith the other fathers corrupted the doctrine of penance why sayd you that they greuously erred somevvhat diminished the force of the death and bloud of Christ by vvhich only our sinnes are expiated how is it not a sensible lye when you say that by their penitentiall vvorkes they derogated not a litle froÌ„ Christes death attributed to much to their ovvne inuentions when you haue quitted theÌ„ of that superstitious opinion of merite satisfaction which commonly you obiect to them how can the actions seeme any way reproueable to any maÌ„ except he be worse then Epicurus or Diagoras do these holie actions being done with a good minde and intent such as you now graunt to the fathers corrupt the doctrine of repentance doth fasting in it self derogate from Christes death doth watching detract from his passioÌ„ do almesdedes
and anguish vpon euerie soule of man that vvorketh euill of the Ievv first and of the Gentil but glory honour and peace to euery one that vvorketh good to the Ievv first to the Gentil for there is no acceptiō of persons vvith God by which wordes also he clearlie refuteth that distinctiō of media and causes efficient wherein M. whit seemeth well to please him selfe and twiteth M. Martine with ignorance thereof for when he layeth in indifferente balance good workes and euill and so maketh one the cause of heauen as the other is the cause of hell to which effect the place is flat and euident M. W. must be content to geue ouer that inuention how dearely soeuer he esteeme it except he wil say that sinnes are the meanes but not the cause efficient of damnation That heauen cometh of mercy S. Paule sheweth at large in the first and second chapter to the Ephesians that it cometh of iustice the same S. Paule sheweth when he saith There is laid vp for me a crovvne of iustice vvhich our lord vvill render to me in that day a iust iudge and not only to me but to them also that loue his comming when he saith in iust iudgement God vvil render to euery man according to his vvorkes and iustice requireth that as God should punishe the vvicked so he should revvard the good it were iniustice to do otherwise as he sayth to the Hebrues That heauen commeth by adoption and of inheritance M.W. sayth it and though he proue it not we beleeue it because it is true but that it is not gotten by vvorkes and trauayls this we deny because it is false and S. Paule refuteth when he compareth the crowne of heauen to a pryce or garland which is proposed to wrestlers runners or such like thereby declaring thus much that as the first is gotten by running and labouring so is the second by payne and wel working and the same our Sauiour signified when he sayd The kingdome of God suffereth violence and the violent beare it avvay The same is proued by that ordinarie phrase wherein heauen is called merces operum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hyre paiment vvages stipend or pryce of vvorks The same is proued by S. Paule whereas though the worde properly sound in the better part yet for truth of doctrine he vseth it indifferently as well for the payment of eternall damnation which sinners receaue for their iniquities in hell as the contrary payment of eternall saluation which good men receaue for their holines in heauen So he saith in the epistle to the Hebrues that all preuarication and disobedience hath receaued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iuste retribution and payment as afterward in the same epistle that Abrahā Isaac Iacob and Moyses for Christs loue susteyned all affliction hoping for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iust retribution or paiment and in the same chapter he putteth the beleefe of this pointe as a first principle in Christian religion for so he speaketh He that commeth to God must beleeue that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that vvill repay men for their good vvorkes which point sith you haue not yet learned it foloweth that you are very greene and a mere nouice in Christian religion And S. Austin whose iudgement agreeing with S. Paule I trust you will esteeme as wel as before you did Luthers in sundrie places expounding these wordes of S. Paule 2. Timoth. 4. My resolution is at hand I haue fought a good fight I haue consummate my course I haue kepte the fayth concerning the rest there is layd vp for me a crovvne of iustice vvhich our lorde vvill render vnto me in that day a iust iudge neuer maketh doubte of this veritie He vvill render sayth S. Austin being a iust iudge for he can not deny the revvarde vvhen he seeth the vvorke I haue fought a good fight that is a vvorke I haue consummate my course that is a vvorke I haue kepte the fayth that is a vvorke there remayneth to me a crovvne of iustice this is the revvard but in the revvard thou doest nothinge in the vvorke thou art a doer but not alone the crovvne commeth to thee from him the vvorke from thy selfe but not vvithout his helpe And agayne VVhy vvill God render to me a crovvne of iustice because he is a iust iudge VVhy a iust iudge because I haue fought a good fight I haue consummate my course I haue kepte the fayth therefore being iust he can not but crovvne these thinges By these vertues sayth the same doctor imparted to vs from God a good lyfe is ledde in this vvorlde and lyfe eternall the revvarde thereof is repayed in the next for here these vertues are in acte there in effecte here in vvorke there in revvarde here in office there in ende And he doubteth not to call them the very pryce whereby as I may say we buy heauen with which worde you are so much offended And that this iustice nothing diminisheth gods mercy or this purchase our adoption as you very simply imagine the same doctor in very many places teacheth To note one for all explicating the place of Timothee before touched God vvill render to me sayth he a crovvne at that day a iust iudge He said not he vvill geue but he vvill render vvhen he gaue he vvas merciful vvhen he shal render he vvil be a iudge because mercy and iudgement shall I singe to thee ô Lorde but forgeuing our offences he made him selfe a debtour of a crovvne there I obteyned mercy our lord therefore is mercifull first but aftervvardes he vvill render a crovvne of iustice Is not a crovvne sayth he els-where disputinge this matter more at large rendered as due to good vvorks yet because God vvorketh those good vvorkes in vs therefore he crovvneth vs in mercy c. This may serue to informe you a litle in the state of this question and for your further satisfaction I referre you to the Catholike new Testament in English especially those places whence you commonly fetch your arguments agaynst this necessary parte of Christian lyfe and fayth Finallie I say you vnderstand not your self and your owne doctrine when you write that such vvorkes though they be not causes efficient of saluation yet are they necessarily to be done except vve vvil be excluded from grace and glorie For how stādeth this with your doctrine of only fayth how wil that alone serue the turne if now of necessitie good workes must come to helpe forth the matter Thinke you that impertinent distinction of causa efficiens medium can serue you the whole course of your doctrine whole bookes and cōmentaries of your maisters brethren being against you some there are sayth Flacius Illyricus vvho drousely vvayghing the matter thinke this to be the cōtrouersie properlie betvvene vs the papistes vvhether good vvorks
styl that parcel but most vvanted it and manifest it is that the Ievves nether in our time keepe so honorably the translation of the 70. in their sinagoges much lesse did they keâ—pe it in S. Iustines daies vvhen as appeareth by the vvhole discours and manifest vvordes of this author in this same place they much more detested it The third a ligno is vvanting in al greeke and hebrevv bibles is only reserued in our ecclesiastical Breuiarie certaine Doctors as Tertullian Lactantius Cassiodorus and S. Austin vvho notvvithstanding so readeth it as though it vvere the common reading in the churches of Africa in his time and maketh no mention of any other reading vvhere those vvords should be leaft out And from S. Hieroms time vntil our daies very probable it is that these errors and corruptions haue multiplied not only for the general and particular reasons already touched but for this especially that whereas since that time the Iewes obstinacie barbarousnes impietie and ignorance in their owne tonge hath much increased the Christians notwithstanding haue not had any great occasion to handle much or exercise that language therefore haue had smaler regard to bookes written therein without which as first of al they perfectly receaued the Christian faith and planted it in these partes of Christendome so without it haue they as perfectly continued in the same and now enlarged it euen to the extreme corners of the world and without the which they haue for these thousaÌ„d yers liued most christiaÌ„ly as Saintes christianly as Saintes finished their teÌ„poral liues after liued with Christ for euer And now touching M. W. question demaunding how the Church hath faithfully conserued the bookes of scriptures who thus findeth fault with the hebrew bibles as corrupt I answere as before that the Church hath most faithfully conserued the scriptures albeit not in this or that tonge which the wanton curiositie of euery fantastical heretike coueteth We haue the true word and gospel of Christ though perhaps we haue not ten words in that laÌ„guage which our Sauiour spake And then why may we not haue the law the prophetes though there were neuer an hebrew bible in the vvorld Againe vnreasonably demaundeth he of our church for hebrevv bibles vncorrupt vvhich perhaps neuer had any such and neuer vndertooke to keepe the vvord of God in that language more then in Arabike or Syriake no more then she vndertooke to keepe S. Matthevves Gospel in hebrevv or S. Paules epistle to the hebrevves But if she deliuer faithfully to the Christians that vvhich she receaued of Christ and his Apostles touching al parts of Christian faith and religion be it vvritten or vnvvritten in one language or other she performeth that vvhich Christ committed to her charge and vvhich is sufficient for the saluation of euery Christian and vvhereby she proueth her selfe to be the House and Church of the liuing God the sure Piller and ground of truth the Spovvse of Christ and faythful mother of al Christians M. D. Whitgift thinketh it vntolerable that the English ministers should appoint vvhat maner of apparel is coÌ„uenient for them selues to vveare vvhat ceremonies or rites should be vsed in their poore Seruice He by many arguments taketh from them al authoritie in such matter vvil haue the vvhole Ministerie altogether to depend be directed by the superior magistrates the Quene and the Lordes of her CouÌ„cel Then hovv much more vntolerable is it that some one or other single minister should appoint the vniuersal Church gouernours thereof in what maner and fashion the word of God must be kept in what language as it were in what kind of paper or parchement he wil haue it written As if some busye headed felow in a coÌ„mon welth not contented to be ruled preserued by his Prince in true religion iustice and quiet possessioÌ„ of his owne should farther take vpon him to prescribe vvhat maner priestes hovv qualified and in vvhat Vniuersitie brought vp should preach vnto him the vvord of God minister the sacraments vvhat sort of men should exequute vnto him iustice and examine his cases of law by what capitaynes of vvhat byrth countrie and experience by vvhat kind of defence open force or secret policie fight by sea or rather land strength of horsmen or footemen he vvil be mainteined in peace and quietnes And vvhat meaneth he to require for pure bibles in any language of our Church vvhich he holdeth for Antichristian and the prelates thereof and al other Catholikes for members of Antichrist For vvhiles he thus thinketh vvhat soeuer bibles hebrevv or not hebrevv Greeke or Arabike vve offer him he can by reason yelde no more credite vnto them then to our latin no more then to our traditions or any other thing proceeding from vvarrant and credite of such professed enemies of Christ as vvel and learnedly proueth S. Austin in his booke de vtilitate credendi Much more agreable to reason ChristiaÌ„ diuinitie is it for him and his to resort to their ovvne church of elect predestinate or hovv so euer he list to terme them vvhich hath so florished these many hundred yeres by vvitnes of their ecclesiastical stories by report of M. Fox in his Actes and monumentes Let him resort to the brethren of Lions to VVycleffe and the VVycleffisâ—es to Robert Rigges Iohn Puruey Henry Crompe Iohn of Chlum Iohn Scut William Havvlam Richard VVich Iohn Hus alias Iohn Goose the Hussites and Thaborites of Bohemia and such other vvho as they tel vs vvere glorious pillers doctors and maintainers of their church and Protestant-gospel and like glistering starres shined in the face of the ChristiaÌ„ world And that I tye him not to particular meÌ„ or one only prouince of Bohemia in many other prouinces and kingdomes of the world hath their church continued as most confidently writeth D. VVhitgift against T. C. who framing an argument against the Archbishops authoritie draweÌ„ from this supposition VVhat if the vvhole church be in one prouince or in one realme vvhich hath bene and is not vnpossible to be againe M. D. VVhit answereth it thus To your supposition if the vvhole church c. I say that if the skie fal you may catch larkes as the common prouerbe is making it as vnpossible a case to haue the church of Christ in one only kingdom as it is vnpossible for the skie to fal And presently in the same page Do you not knovv that the church of Christ is dispersed thorough the vvhole vvorld and can not novv after Christs ascension be shut vp in one kingdome much lesse in one prouince except you vvil become Donatistes He that is not vvilfully blinde may see in to vvhat straightes you are driueÌ„ vvhen you are constrained to vse such impossibilities for reasons And M. VV. in this booke telleth vs that there neuer wanted mightie