yea and thou shalt accuse thy father and mother if they professe the Gospell to the holy inquisitors of the church of Rome that they may be burned for Heretikes if thou be an Emperors son or a Kings son thou shalt rise against thy father and put him downe place thy selfe in his roume as Henry the Emperour was serued by his son if he loue embrace the Gospell and do any thing against the Popes wil and pleasure And whereas God saith Thou shalt do no murther now the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged therfore God hath likewise chaunged his iudgement so that thys commaundement must now be turned thus quite contrary Thou shalt murther kil and burne thy brother mother father sister or else any other whatsoeuer he be if he professe the Gospel and followe Christes lawe And whereas God saith Thou shalt not commit adultry nowe the iudgement of the Pope and the Churche of Rome is chaunged and therfore Gods iudgement is chaunged so that this lawe by the iudgement of the Churche of Rome must now be thus Thou shalt not marry but thou maiest haue a Concubine or a Harlot to commit aduoutrie or fornication withal and thou shalt haue a licence for money of the Pope to doe so and so he shall allowe thée to commit aduoutrie or to playe the whoremonger or Harlot but take héede thou marry not according to the law of God for then thou shalte loose all thy lyuing thou shalte be taken for an heretike and the Pope wil not dispence with thée therfore And wheras God saith Thou shalt not steale now y e iudgement of y e Popes church is changed so Gods iudgement is changed therefore this law must now be after this sort thou shalt steale and rob God of his glorie thou shalt giue the glorie that is due to God vnto his Saints nay vnto stockes and stones yea and if thou chaunce to steale anye mans good care not for the Pope shal pardon thée therfore for the Pope by his power is able to dispence with all the lawes both of y e olde Testament of the new Testament And whereas God said Thou shalte not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour nowe forasmuch as the iudgement of the Romishe Church is changed the iudgement of God is changed therfore this lawe muste be turned an other way and thus it muste be taken thou shalt beare false witnesse against God his word say there is no saluation without the Church of Rome and that the death of Christ is not a sufficiēt sacrifice for our sins if thou chance to bear false witnes against one that professes the gospel thou shalt be heard the Pope shal giue thée his blessing for it thou shalte haue no harme therfore And if thou chance to beare false witnes against any for a little mony thou shalt haue y e Popes pardon for it therfore beare false witnesse and spare not for y e pope the holy church of Rome do giue thée leaue And whereas God sayd Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house thou shalte not couet thy neighbours wife nor his seruant nor his maide nor his Oxe nor his Asse nor anye thing that is his Now this is not Gods commaundement bycause the Churche of Rome doth not allowe it and Gods iudgement is therein changed bycause the Church of Rome hath now chaunged hir iudgement therfore you must turne this lawe vpside downe take it thus thou maist be bolde to couet any thing that is thy neighbors for if thou steale anye thing from hym or take it by vyolence or take thy neighbors wife or his maid lye w t them or lye with thine owne sister and marry hir the Pope wil dispence with thée and pardon thée for money as Pope Martin didde dispence with one that marryed his owne sister Thus this vile and viperous generation haue by their authoritie whiche they say is aboue the Scriptures allowing the scriptures whatsoeuer they list and taking from the same what they thinke good haue turned cleane contrary the commaundements of God into the commaundementes of the Pope whiche you maye plainelye perceiue by their doings and dispensations before mentioned to be the very doctrine of the Diuel And further this Carnal Cardinal sayeth Scripturae ad tempus adaptantur c. Scriptures are applyed to the states of diuerse times so are taken in diuerse senses so that at one time they are expounded according to the current order of the Church but the order being chaunged the sense of the Scripture is likewise changed Howsoeuer they would haue the Scriptures to be chaunged in their meaning the wicked Pope and his presumptuous Prelates are chaunged from al goodnes and truth both in their sayings liuings for according to the time they make the Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ agrée with their doings but they wil not frame their liuings to make thē agrée w t y e scriptures And bycause the Popes conditions and the iudgemente of the Church of Rome is chaunged therefore the meaning and sense of the Scriptures must be chaunged as is before sayde For whereas Christ sayd Blessed are the mercifull for theirs is the kingdome of heauen nowe the meanyng and sense therof ought to be chaunged quite contrarie and say thus blessed are the vnmerciful for theirs is the kingdome of Heauen or else thus vnhappye are the merciful for theirs is the kingdome of Hell And whereas Christe sayde Blessed are the peace makers for they shall bee called the children of God Now according to the time the sense of the Scripture is chaunged bicause the iudgement of the Church of Rome is chaunged and therefore not to be expounded as it was in Christs time So that now it ought to be turned thus Blessed are the peace breakers and they that set men togither by the eares as the Pope doeth and blessed are the rebels that fighte againste their Prince and Country in the Popes quarrel for they shal be called the children of god and the Pope wil giue them the kingdome of heauen And wheras Christ sayth Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorify your Father in heauen Now the meaning thereof is chaunged according to the time therfore now it is thus let not your light shine before men but worke the déedes of darknesse wherby you may please the Diuel your Father And wheras Christ saith Whosoeuer puts away his wife except it be for fornication and marryeth with another cōmitteth aduoutry now for as much as the iudgement of y e Church of Rome is chaunged therfore according to y e time y e meaning of this saying must be changed therfore vnderstand it now thus what Priest soeuer kéepeth his wife and puts hir not away from him though she be neuer so honest shal be coūted
the thurstie to drinke of the well of lyfe for nothing not for his owne workes or desertes Origen sayth most truly forasmuch as all men are shut vp and closed vnder sinne now the saluation of man standeth not in mans merites but in Gods mercie And many such like haue the learned fathers written only to beate vs downe from our owne works to lay hold on Gods mercies and the merites of Christ. S. Bernard writeth excellently hereof my merite saith he is the mercie of God so long as God is not poore of mercie so long can not I be poore of merite if his mercies be great then am I great in merites This is the whole merite of man if he put his whole affiance in the Lorde This same is the Protestants Religion to trust with S. Barnarde in the merites of Christ and mercies of God But they of that wicked Romish religion do trust to their owne workes for belyke they are so holy they néede not Christes merites For they can deserue the kingdome of Heauen by their owne workes which is a most detestable and Diuelish doctrine For marke this well all the déedes and good workes that you can doe are but worldly workes and if you looke to be rewarded for doing of them yet a heauenly rewarde is to good for an earthly worke and a heauenly wages is to much for an earthly seruice It is inough if God gyue you a worldly rewarde for your worldly workes Nay is your worldly workes and seruice that you saie you doo vnto God worthie of the earthly giftes and rewardes that God dayly giues you no I warrant you if a man might aske you that saies you may deserue Heauen by your owne merits what seruice do you or can you do that God stands néede off he is a heauenly King and therefore hath heauenly seruants to wayte vpon him to do his will and to serue him who obeye him in al things offende him in nothing but you are earthly creatures both vnworthie vnable to serue such a king that obeyes him in nothing and offendes him in all things Therefore if you be his seruauntes you are but simple seruantes and serue him but slenderly and as Christ cals you vnprofitable seruants Yet for all that marke the great goodnesse of God though we neither obey him nor are able to serue him yet he vseth vs rather like Sonnes then seruants Hath he not created vs to his owne likenesse that is our soules to the Image of God and our bodies to the likenesse of Christ and doth not he giue vs meate dayly to féede vs clothes to couer vs all things on the earth to maintaine helpe vs now weigh with your selues what seruice doe wée to God or are hable to do vnto him that can deserue al these earthly benefits that he doth dayly bestowe vpon vs No the greatest seruice that wée can do to God is farre vnworthie of the least benefite that God hath done to vs therfore we can not iustly say that we serue God in any point but rather that God doth serue our turne in euery point For if we do him any seruice it is only to serue our owne turne for whē we pray vnto God wherin we say we serue God do we then serue pleasure or help him in any thing no it is to helpe our selues to pleasure our selues and to profite our selues For by our praier to God we craue of him those things that we haue néede of and do not proffer him any thing that he stands in néede of Therefore though we saie we serue God when we praie we might more truly say that we serue our selues whē we pray And thus wheras you claime heauen as a due reward for your seruing of God it séemes you claime Heauen for seruing your selues wherein I must néedes saie that you are without all reason or honestie For if I should come to my Prince pray hir humbly vpon my knées that she would giue me a farme to dwel in and then she of hir goodnesse should graunt me my request might not I be thought to be most impudent shameles and without all reason if I should then clayme for knéeling to hir for the farme which she gaue me the inheritance of all hir kingdome yes and well worthie yea and therefore to be quite thrust out of hir kingdome Euen so they that claymes the kingdome of Heauen for their praying and knéelyng to God for their owne profite and commoditie are not onely most impudent shamelesse and vnreasonable but also are well worthie to be thrust out of the kingdome of Heauen Now if our worldly seruing of God if we do serue him can not deserue the worldly benefites that hée doth dayly bestowe vpon vs then our worldly seruing of him can by no meanes deserue the kingdome of Heauen the ioyes wherof are without comparison and euerlasting If a King by chaunce let his gloue fall out of a window should he that takes it vp thinke that he hath deserued therfore that the King shoulde make him heyre of his crowne and kingdome euery one might thinke that he were to sawsie presumptuous and to déere a seruant that woulde clayme such a great gift for such a small seruice a worse rewarde might serue well inough many woulde bée content to do a great deale more for a great deale lesse Nowe if this worldly rewarde is a great deale to much for suche a seruice wherof the King stoode néede then the euerlasting kingdome of Heauen is a wonderfull deale to much for our worldly workes whereof God stands no néede nay which perhappes he mislikes Therefore reuoke this Diuelish doctrine of the Romishe Churche whiche teacheth you that you may deserue the kingdome of Heauen by your owne workes and merites for as it is sufficiently proued before our owne merites deserues the kingdome of Hell and Christes merites onely deserues for vs the kingdome of Heauen And bragge not of your vayne and sinfull workes for the better you estéeme them the worse doth God lyke them and do what you can for your life yet thinke your selues vnprofitable seruauntes For the more you thinke you deserue at Gods hande the lesse I am sure you shall haue at his hande The proude Pharisey and the humble and repentant Publicane may be a sufficient example to you for the proude presumptuous Pharisey thought he had deserued much of God for his workes but the humble Publican thought he deserued Gods wrath for his sinnes Now whiche of these two got more at Gods hands and was the better estéemed of God forsoth the Pharisey that boasted bragged of his good workes displeased God and went away vniustified And the humble Publicane that disabled his owne workes and trusted not to them pleased God and went awaie pardoned So that in any wise refuse your owne merites and trust to the mercie of God and the merites of Christ for if your workes be no better than the
testifie Now séeing the children of God shal be placed in Heauen then surely the Children of the Diuell whatsoeuer the Pope saith must néeds be placed in Hel. Therefore hereby it plainly appeares that all these rebels fighters murderers and bloudshedders to whome the Pope promised the kingdome of Heauen are more like to haue the kingdome of Hell are not they in good case thinke you hath not the Pope serued them well that thus trusted to his promise pardons Assure your selues that you will be so serued if you resist and rebell agaynst your worthye Quéene and if you trust to his promise yea though he dispence with you for your othe and obedience Vrbane and Clement Popes of Rome both at one tyme gaue frée remission of sinnes à pena culpa to all them that woulde warre againste their enimies that were against them one of them being against another and then bothe the Popes curssed their enimies that were against them for Heretickes and so here was all cursing but small blessing for both partes were cursed if the Popes curses maye goe for cursses I praye God they were not all curste of God as I feare they were they fought all in so good a quarell nowe I would faine knowe which of these Popes pardons was the best for both of them could not be good thoughe they mighte bothe be noughte for both the Popes coulde not haue the spirite of God though they both might haue the spirite of the Diuell for such proude and presumptuous Prelats that stroue for the kingdome of this world might wel haue the spirite of pride the spirite of arogancie and the Spirite of Sathan but the spirite of God out of doubt they had not These holy fathers were so lowly patient and humble that neyther of them woulde giue ouer least the one of them shoulde séeme to be more méeke than the other Was not Gregorie the seconde a good holye religious Pope thinke you that did not onely withstande the Emperours deputie by force of armes but also wrote into all parts that neyther for feare nor entreatie they should obey the Emperours commaundement in taking of Images and pictures of Sainctes out of the Churches for the auoyding of Idolatrie but woulde haue Images erected set vp and worshipped contrarie to the word of God whiche holy Father with his vehement persuasions withdrewe the people of Italie so from the obedience of the Emperour Leo that they woulde haue chosen them a newe Emperour This Pope Gregorie neuer learned this of Christe our maister but of the Diuel his maister to withstād the Emperour in euil things much lesse in lawful godly things as the plucking downe and abolishing of Images whiche God doth expressely commaunde neither learned hée of Christ but of Sathan to make subiectes refuse and resist their ruler and gouernour Therefore séeing he hath done that that he hath not learned of Christ he can not therefore be Christes Disciple nor the Uickar of Christ. Was not Pope Zacharie a good and vertuous Pope that assoyled Pypin and the other Frenchmen and discharged them of their othe and allegiance to Childericke their lawfull King and authorized and confirmed Pypin to be King in his maisters place I maruel of whome he learned this to take a kingdome from one and to giue it to another no man may saie that he did euill in so doing for if one shoulde say so straight way the Pope woulde make him an Heretike Naye Doctour Harding séemes rather to commende him in it than otherwise who sayeth that if the Pope gaue away the kingdome of Fraunce from the Prince he did it to the intent to feare him a pretie deuise to feare a King to pull the Crowne Imperiall from his heade and to make him a Monke and set an other in his place Christ himself nor Peter the first Pope had neuer such a tricke to feare a King withall And after this Pope Zacharie had made Pypin King of Fraunce then he suffered the same King to kisse hys féete and to goe on foote by his horse thrée myles Christ neuer roade but one day in all his life and yet he had neuer a king to doe him such seruice then as this Pope Zacharie had yet he was as high both by byrthe and degrée as this proude Pope was Pope Iohn the eightéenth was taken prisoner by the Emperour whose eyes were first put out and after put to death by the meanes of Pope Gregorie the fifth Are not these Popes worthyly called the Uicars of Christ trowe yée that are so farre vnlike to Christ in all their doings for Christ made the blinde to sée but these Popes put out mens eyes and made them blinde Christ saued a Womans life that ought to haue dyed by the lawe these Popes put men to death that ought to liue by the lawe Christ gaue life to Lazarus that was deade and the Pope giues death to them that are in health and aliue If the Pope and Christ bée so farre at discorde at the last day as their doctrine and doings doe differ at this day they are not like to dwell both togither in one place Was not he a mylde and mercifull Pope that would not be pacified with the Venetians vntill Dandalus that was after Duke of Venice did humble himself and did lie vnder the Popes table with a chaine about his necke it séemes that the Pope was something furious and harde to please that by none other submissiō would be reconciled I neuer heard that any were constrained to pacifie Christes wrath after this sort all the time that he was here on Earth What say you to that Pope that did set the Emperiall Crowne vpon the heade of the Emperour Henrie the sixth with his foote and with his foote did cast the Crowne off againe saying withall I haue power to make Emperours and to vnmake them againe at my pleasure Marry it appeares so by the Popes giuing away the kingdome of Fraunce from Childrike the King to Pypin that was but his subiecte But whether the Pope hath this power from Christ being his Uicar or from the Diuell being his Deputie he doth not tell vs. Pope Iohn the twelfth was slaine in aduoutrie Pope Benedict the ninth lyued without lawe or reason and defyled the seate of Rome with all kinde of shame and in the ende he tooke mony and solde the Popedome Platina sayth Popes then were elected not for their learning holynesse but in respect of mony and friendship If you lacke an other holy and méeke Pope loe here is Pope Iuly who is not worthy to bée lefte out This same Pope Iuly loued Porkes fleshe maruellous well whose Phisition gaue warning to the Popes Steward for that it was hurtful for the Popes gout that he should set no more Porke before him But when the Pope perceyued the sayde Porke to be lacking in his accustomed seruice where is my Porke said he and when the
can not doe For thoughe God be called Omnipotens Almightie yet he is not Almightie bycause he can do al thinges but bycause he can doe all that he will or woulde doe whych the Pope can not do for all he taketh himselfe to bée a God for if he could this our realme of England shoulde not haue béene so long in quyet as it hathe béene And if Christe and the Pope make or haue one Consistorie or Iudgement seate then hereby the Pope maye be copercioner and fellow Iudge with Christe at the daye of Iudgement and iudge both the quicke and the deade But if then the Pope shoulde be so contraâ—ie to Christe and so muche hys enimie as he is here the controuersies of all matters and crimes from the beginning of the Worlde will not be determined and iudged in one daye For one daye woulde be little ynoughe to trye whiche of them shal sitte the vppermost for if he be ther then as haughtie and proud as hée is and hathe bene héere he will scarcelye suffer Christe to sitte aboue him for he that hathe sitâ—e aboue Emperours and kings and hathe made the Emperours necke his foote stoole wil be loath I beléeue to sit beneath Christ that was so poore as he was Nay if his power be aboue all the powers in Heauen and in earth as is before declared you shall sée that the Pope will goe neare to thrust Christ besides his seate and sitte there alone and be Iudge and al himselfe And if the authoritie of the Romaine Churche and the Pope is more than Gods worde as Siluester Prierias doeth write Then when Christ shal sit in iudgemente at the laste daye and hathe seuered the Shéepe from the Goates and bidde the blessed Shéepe to come into the kingdome of heauen and sente the curssed Goates into Hell the Pope maye come in then by hys aucthoritie and say to Christ by your leaue sirra a little séeing you haue giuen iudgement by your lawe I will nowe giue definitiue sentence by my lawe whiche is more than Gods worde And then the Pope maye say Come backe againe yée curssed that Christ bad to go to Hell and looke that yée go into Heauen for I haue appointed it for you to dwell in and you blessed that Christe hath willed to goe into Heauen come backe againe or I wil fetche you and sée that you goe into Hell for that is the place that I haue appointed for you to dwell in And thus maye the Pope by his aucthoritie whiche is more than Gods worde as Prierias sayeth controll and vndoe all Christes doings and sende the godly to Hel and the wicked to Heauen and he himselfe to be in Heauen like a God that liued on the earth like a Diuel What Hel-houndes are these that would make vs beléeue that the Popes power and aucthoritie is more than the word of God But if the Pope in a maner can do whatsoeuer God can doe or if he haue all power giuen hym in Heauen and in Earth as he sayeth then why did Pope Boniface the eight suffer Scaira wyth his souldiours to set fire on the gates of his pallaice and to breake downe the dores and windowes where he was in Aruagium and to enter vpon him and to rifle him of all his goods iewels and Treasure which was suche a deale as Christe and all hys Apostles neuer had And why then did he suffer them to sette him on a wilde and vnbroken colte with his face towardes the horsse tayle and the colte to runne vp and down with him vntil he was almost breathlesse and why did he suffer himselfe to be imprisoned by the sayde Scaira thrée dayes and to be almoste famished for meate thys holye Father that coulde commaunde the Angels to carry mens soules to Heauen I maruell that he did not commande them to come out of Heauen to deliuer him out of prison and out of his enimies handes But be bolde he woulde haue done it if he coulde haue done it And therefore you maye perceiue that he promiseth you more by hys Pardons than he is able to performe for if the Pope hath suche power to pardon you and to forgiue you your sinnes and to sende your soules by Aungels to Heauen then the Pope woulde haue helped himselfe out of prison and thraldome Therefore you maye sée if you wil sée that he tels you that he can doe a greate deale more than he can do for if he coulde deliuer mens soules from Hel he were able to deliuer his owne bodye out of prison And iâ— he be able to bring other mens soules from Earthe vnto heauen where he was neuer then he were as able to bring his own body out of prison to his own house where he hath bin And thoughe the Pope hathe suche greate and high aucthoritie as he hath he claimeth it not but by the aucthoritie of the Scriptures or by excellente and learned argumentes As thus the Sun is higher and greater than the Moone therefore Pope Innocentius sayeth that the Pope is greâ—er and higher than the Emperour this is that holy and méeke Pope that sayde that either he woulde lose his Mitre or else he woulde pul the Emperours Crown from his head Maister Harding to excuse the Pope withal said This is not a reason but a similitude To whom Maister Iewel the Bishop of Salisburie aunswereth as followeth This thing may easilye be graunted for in deede it is a similitude vtterly voyde of either Witte or Reason But who taughte the Pope so childishlye to playe with similitudes thereby to aduaunce himselfe and to abase the Emperour of the Worlde who tolde him that the Pope is the Sunne and the Emperour the Moone or that the Emperour is so farre inferior to the Pope as the Moone is inferior to the Sunne Isodorus that liued 600. yeares before Pope Innocentius the third sayth quite contrarie By the Sunne saith he we vnderstande the kingdome and by the Moone wee vnderstande the Priesthoode whereby he giueth vs to vnderstand contrarie to the iudgement of Pope Innocentius that as the Moone is inferior to the Sun so is the Pope inferior to the Emperour And here is another excellent argumente to proue the Popes aucthoritie both of the Spiritualtie and Temporaltie Peter sayde to Christe Lo heere are twoo swords Therefore Pope Boniface sayeth that the Pope hathe power both of the Spiritual Sworde and of the Temporall Sword Uery wel gest Maister Pope euen so one may say that by as good aucthoritie Lo here are two daggers And then a straunger to him that hath the Daggers may starte straighte-way in and say Marry therefore I oughte to be Lord Chauncelor of England and the Archebishoppe of Canterburie The Pope can lacke no power if suche conclusions may serue his turne Marke what a trimme exposition one of the Popes pâ—n men to maintaine the Pope in his Godhead hathe made vpon a verse of the eighte Psalme attributing
dayly increased for kill they neuer so many yet let them tell them they shall finde them mo in number And so doth no other religioÌ„ in the world but it therfore there is no better marke wherby to know the true religion the church of Christ than by persecution by increasing thereby And hereto Tertullian agréeth who saith Crudelitas vestra nostra gloria est Your crueltie is our glorie your earnest crueltie is an entisement and a prouocation to this sect as often as ye recken vs ye find vs mo mo the seede is Christian bloud Thus it appeare that the Gospell of Christ growe and spring by being troubled persecuted so as I said doth no other religioÌ„ But the Popes doctrine would decrease if they should not trouble and persecute When the Emperour Adrian had yéelded to graunt one church within the cittie of Rome certaine of his priuie CouÌ„sel aduised him in any wise not to do so for that they said if the ChristiaÌ„s might haue but one church within the Citie the whole people would al become Christians and thereby their idols churches should be forsaken EueÌ„ so if y e Princes that holde on the Pope his religion would cease froÌ„ their killing murthering burning tormeÌ„ting of the professors of the gospel suffer them quietly to teach preach the gospel that would to haue the Bible the coÌ„mmunion in the Churches surely the Bible would driue away al y e images the CoÌ„munioÌ„ would quite ouerthrow their Masses y e truth of Gods word would vtterly confound abolish the Pope al his false doctrine Which the Pope knowes wel inough therfore he kéepeth the Kings Rulers not only in errour blindnesse but also persuadeth theÌ„ to be persecutors of theÌ„ that professe the Gospel And as Christ is mercifull so the Pope is cruell not to the wicked but to the godly for the Pope kil them that professe the Gospell whom God would haue preserued and not killed but harlots fornicators aduouterers Sodomites and incestuous persons which God appointeth to be executed stoned to death he preserueth maketh much of maintaine Christ saued a woman from being stoned to death y e had deserued to die by the law but the Pope cleane contrarie burneth kilteh murther them that ought to liue both by Gods lawe and mans lawe If Peter were Pope of Rome as some of you beléeue then marke how his doings did differ from the Popes practises for Peter did giue sentence of death against Ananias Saphira his wife the children of the Diuell so were suddenly stroken to death by the powre of God for lying but the Pope his Prelates pronounce sentence of death agaynst the children of God and burne them for speaking of truth And thus the persecuting Pope will néedes be contrarie to Christe do and say what we can Therefore if Christ be good as he is then the Pope is euill as he is for that they be so contrarie for Christe was méeke and mercifull the Pope is proude a tyrant Christe was poore y e Pope is rich Christ was in subiectioÌ„ to Emperours Kings y e Pope maketh the Emperours Kings his subiects seruants the Iewes did offer to make Christ a King but he refused it the Pope maketh himselfe a King of Kings and no man doth offer it Christ was the Author of peace the Pope is the author of wars Christ forbad sinne the Pope doth licence to sin Christ preached the Gospel the Pope suppresseth y e gospel Christ was persecuted killed the Pope doth persecute kill Therfore as Christ is the sonne of God so is y e Pope the child of the Diuel vnlesse he turne frame himself to the fashioÌ„ of Christ otherwise theÌ„ he doth This I hope is sufficieÌ„t for you to know of whose church they are y e do murther persecute eueÌ„ of the church of the Diuell for he was a murtherer from the beginning for as I saide murthering persecuting are badges of the Diuels church but let y e Pope be assured y t God is not only angrie with him for this his cruel murthering and persecuting but also wil pluck downe his pride at leÌ„gth for if God were angrie with king Saule put him from his kingdome bicause he killed not Gods enimie king Agag according to his coÌ„mandement then you néede not doubt but y e God is angrie with the Pope will put him out of his Popedome that killeth his friends contrarie to his commaundement And though the Pope call them Heretikes burne them bicause they will not woorship images and idols and obey his Diuelish lawe yet they are the children of God and though he burne their bodies he can not hurt their Soules But if they be Heretikes that put away idolatrie whiche God doth commaunde them then what is the Pope and his Prelates that doe sette vp Images and committe idolatrie whiche God doth forbid but though the Pope call them Heretikes that hée persecutes for professing of the Gospell and sayth they be damned yet Christe is of a contrarie opinion for he sayth Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake for theires is the kingdome of Heeauen Nowe if the kingdome of Heauen be theirs that are persecuted for righteousnesse then they that the Pope persecutes for testifying the Gospell which is trueth and righteousnesse are sure to haue the kingdome of Heauen though the Pope tell vs they are damned And if the kingdome of Heauen be theirs that the Pope persecutes then surely the kingdome of Hell is the Popes that thus doth persecute them So that by Christes owne wordes the Pope though he say hée can saue whom he will and can gyue the kingdome of Heauen to whome he liâ—te is so nie dryuen that he himselfe is like to dwell in the kingdome of Hell And no maruell for he hath bene so lyberall in gyuing to so many the kingdome of Heauen that thereby he hath quite dispossest him selfe of Heauen and therfore he is very lyke to dwell in Hell Wherfore if you woulde auoyde Hell haue no desire to burne your bretherne nor to persecute the professours of the Gospell for thereby you prouoke Gods wrath and also increase his kingdome and get the Diuels fauour decaye the Popes kingdome There is no striuing against God it can be no good bulwarke that is builded with bloud Suffer the house of God by the preaching of the Gospel to be builded for what soeuer you pluck downe in y e night he will builde it more to againe in the day and God will ouerthrow in the daie whatsoeuer you builde in the night For when the wicked Emperour Iulian in dispite of Christ had giuen the Iewes leaue to build repaire their Temple the Princes power assisting them no power séemed able to withstand their purpose Then God himselfe from