and Congregation bée a buyldyng as Paule declareth and an hasbandrie and vyneyarde as the prophetes testifie and if Christ bée the buylder as is manifest and the HusbandmaÌ„ than hath the Pope no authoritie That euery man is Peter that confesseth Christ with the same fayth that Peter dyd Heare Origen his interpretation discoursing vpoÌ„ this place who was within 235. yeares after christ If wée affirme and confesse sayeth Origene that Christ is the sonne of the immortall God as Peter did then are wée Peters and shall obteyne the same felicitie that hée hath obteyned because our confession and his is all one If wée confesse Christ to bée the sonne of God the father reuealing it too vs it shalbée sayd to eche one of vs Thou art Peter and vpon thée I will buylde my congregation Euery man is Petra a Rocke and lyuely stone that is a follower of Christe of whom they dranke which dronke of the spirituall Rocke following them Upon euery such rocke is the congregation of God buylded If a man ymagine the whole congregation and church to bée buylded vpon Peter only what will yée saye of Iames and Iohn the thundering children and other of the Apostles In déed it was spoken to Peter thou art Peter and vppon this rocke I will buylde my Congregation Notwithstanding it is spoken in lyke manner to all the Apostles and to all perfect and faythfull men because they are all Peters and Rockes and vppon all them and the prophetes is Christes church buylded And the Gates of Hell shall not preuayle ageynst any of them These gates of hell are vyces sinnes and other corruption of mans nature which shall neyther reigne in their mortall bodyes neyther preuayle Doest thou think that the keyes of the Kingdome were onely gyuen to Peter and to â—one other neyther any other should receyue theÌ„ If these wordes were not common to all men as they are I will gyue vntoo thée the Keyes of the kingdome of Heauen how can all those sayings and thinges which are applyed to Peter before bée commune to all men For Christ thus spake in commune to them all whom doo you saye that I am And Peter answered in the name of them all Doth hée not vtter the same in playner woordes In the 20. of Iohn ver 22.23 saying to all the Apostles brething vpon them Receyue the holy ghost whose sinnes yée forgiue they shalbée forgyuen and whose yée retayne shalbée reteyned They were all of lyke authoritie with Peter All they that are imitators of Christ are likewyse called Peters and rockes as Christ and his faythefull of whom spirituall men drinke spirituall drinke Of Christe all his are called Christes or christians according to the Prophet who sayeth hée would saue his Christes As Christe is called rightuousnes and wysdome â–ª so are wée called rightuous because Christ is our rightuousnes and wisdome So are christians named by other properties of god Thus farre Origen with much more Tertullian in his booke of Chastitie who was but 210. yeare after Christ writing ageynst Phisicus the highe Bishop of Bisshoppes who tooke vppon him to forgiue sinne adulterie fornication and other vices sayeth thus Shewe mée examples of the Prophetes and of the Apostles and I will acknowledge thy holynesse diuinitie and godhead If thou canst doo so I will graunt thou canst forgiue sinne If thy office bée onely to teache and mynister then is it not to forgiue sinne How hast thou this authoritie thou presumest of this place But Peter was commaunded to forgyue his brother so oft as hée offendeth which sentence perteyneth to all men The church is not the nomber and rable of Bishoppes This authoritie is of the Lord and not of his seruaunts of God not of any priest Who is without sinne no man Than no man can forgyue sinne Who dare attribute to man that which is proper to God who can loose an other man from death saue onely the sonne of God Hée in his passion delyuered the théefe from death Wherefore if thou followest him in forgyuing sinnes and canst saye thou hast not offended I praye thée suffer for mée If thou bee a sinner how can thy oyle serue both for thée and mée for thy lyght and myne It is in Mat. 9. ver 2. that Christ had power to forgiue sinnes and know mens hartes but thou canst doo neyther If thou presumest proue by scriptures or by miracles as Christe did Thus farre Tertullian with much more Augustine writeth thus vpon this place Uppon this Rocke which thou confessed Peter vpon this rocke which thou acknowledgest saying thou art Christ the sonne of the immortall god Upon this Rocke I will buylde my Congregation that is vppon my selfe the sonne of the immortall GOD vppon mée I will buylde it and not vppon â—hée Men béeing disposed to buylde vpon men sayd I holde of Apollo an other of Paule an other of Cephas which is Peter The same Augustine vpon the .xxi. of Iohn sayeth this congregation can not fall bycause it is founded vpon the Rocke of the which Rocke or Petra Peter hath his name for Petra which is the Rocke hath not his name of Peter but Peter of Petra the Rocke As Christ hath not his name of a Christian but a Christian of Christ. Thus farre Augustine with many mo reasons Christ is the end of my fayth sayeth Ambrose vpon the ninth of Luke the end of my fayth is the Sonne of god Wherfore beléeue as Peter did that thou maist bée blessed The grace of Christ is great which hath communicate almost all his names with his Disciples Christ is the light of the world the lyuely bread and the Rocke and yet his Disciples are the light of world Wée are all one bread 1. Cor. 10. ver 17. Neyther did Christ deny his Disciple the strenght and sowndnes of this word bycause hée had the constancy of his fayth of Petra The Rocke is the fayth in Iesu and fayth is the foundation of the church If thou beest a Rocke thou shalt bée in the church bycause the church is buylded vpon the Rocke Thus farre Ambrose And after this sense doo all the Gréekes and Latines interprete this place Hell gates shall not preuayl against this fayth this rocke and against such as confesse Christ with as good a fayth as Peter did The Metaphor is taken of the Gates wherein the Iewes Gentiles exercised their Iudgementes as appereth in Moses and Iob. And bycause wicked Iudges did there gyue false sentences absolued the offenders and condemned the innocentes therfore false Iudgement and Tyrannicall Iudges and iniurious Magistrats are called Hell gates that is the Gates of death the Iudgement seates of death Origen and Ambrose vnderstand by Hell gates all vices Such a strong rocke such a valiant membre of Christ and such a lyuely stone of Christes congregation was Ieremy whom God sayd hée woold make a strong defenced Towne an yron Piller a Walle of stéele
heauen confusion neyther shalbée nombred amonge the seruauntes of god Hierome sayeth that wheresoeuer a man be Bishop whether at Rome Engubie Constantinople Rhegij Alexandria Thebes or Guarmaria the office is all one the merite all one and degrée all one Who soeuer sayeth Gregorie calleth himselfe the vniuersall priest or desireth to bée called so is a foreronner of Antichrist reade Gregorie Epistola 76.78.79.83.92.194 Here endeth the first Discours THE SECOND DISCOVRS wherein is proued that neyther Peter nor the Pope is the head of Christes Church AS wée haâ—e hitherto proued in the former Oration or discourse that Peter was not at Rome So let vs in this seconde Treatise conclude that neyther hée neyther the Pope neyther any of his Successoures is the heade of the Churche neyther the Church or Seate of Rome to bée preferred before others As out of the head and brayne which is the seate of the senses whereof ryseth all knowledge as the Philosophers and Phisitians write and also as of synowes wherewith the partes of the body are knit and coupled togither procéedeth the lyfe vitall and all mouinge Euen so from our head Christ the fountaynes of grace are deryued and flowe to water our soules the synowes and sensible doctrine to instruct the mynde and the spirit of regeneration to renewe the whole man As the heade and brayne minister too the whole body féeling and moouing so is Christ the head of distributing to euery man seuerall gyftes of the Spirit Hée that is the head of the church which is the body of Christ must néedes gyue lyfe spirite moouing bâ—eing senses féeling vnderstanding grace and all gyftes of the holy ghost but the Pope can gyue none of these Therefore the Pope is not the heade of the church Hée that can not forgyue synnes is not the heade of the Churche The Pope cannot forgyue synnes Ergo hée is not the heade of the church â–ª Solus Deus condonat peccata Onely GOD forgyueth sinne The Pope is not God Ergo hée forgyueth no sinne As the man is the head of the Wooman so is Christ the heade of the church This Church are all the faythfull of all ages the faithfull before the floode the faythfull after the floode The Faythefull before Christ the faythfull after christ If a wooman should haue twoo Husbandes to her head were shée an honest woman were shée not an Adultres were shée not to bée diuorced Ergo if the Romishe Churchâ— haue twoo heades Chryste and the Pope Shée is a Strumpette an Harlotre a Curtesane and the Churche of Satan Moreouer Christe is zeleous ouer his congregation hée will haue no fellowes hée is sufficient alone hée néedeth not the Popes ayde The Popes head may be dronke Christes is alwayes sobre his franitique Christes perfect his phantasticall Christes substanciall his feble Christes stronge his mortall Christes immortall Hée that maketh him self the head of the Church hée must make him self her husband but what an husband is the Pope Surely an adulterer if hée presume too take an other mans wyfe Is not the Church Christes wyfe ThaÌ„ is shée not the Popes because that shée can not haue two husbands at once If hée bée an adulterous head ergo hée is Antechrist Howe coulde Peter bée Pope at Roome when as it was not lawfull nor permitted to teache but priuatlie in houses Where was his authoritie where were bothe his swoordes Temporall Spirituall Neyther had hée the Temporall to represse Nero his tyrannie neyther the Spirituall to rule the Clergie Was not Paule as good as Peter Did hée not resist him to his face Was Paule inferiour to any of the Apostles Howe chaunceth it that Peter could not rule them that put him to deathe where was the mightie power of M. Pope Is hée the head of the Church whom Christ calleth Sathan Is not that Satanas church which Satan ruleth But Peter is called Satan Ergo that church which Peter ruleth is the church of Satan But saye the Papistes Our Churche is founded vpon Peter Then is the foundation vitious the buylding odyous the pillers which are the colledge of Cardinalles very rotten and corrupt and the pallace of Prelates pestilent and all that they do beastlie sensuall carnall of Antechrist For Christ sayeth to Peter Awaye Satan hence Dyuell for so signifyeth the Hebrewe woorde thou offendest mée thou sauorest of earthly thinges and not of heauenly If the head be Dyuelish what are the members what is the body The Romishe churche is the body is this churche without spotte or wrincle is this of God is this the piller of truthe is this the Kingdome of God Naye it is as Petrarche writeth the sinke of sinne and pudle of Godes yre A denne of Wolfes Lyons Foxes Dragons and Tigres Peter sauored of earthly thinges and sought earthly thinges and so doo the Popes Did not Peter moue Christ that they might make in the mount where Christ was gloriously transformed thrée tentes hée sauored of none other thing then of earth And did Pope Leo any other thinge when hée answered Peter Bembus a learned Cardinall alledging a sentence out of the Ghospell to him that it was knowen well ynough in all ages how much that fable of Christ did profit the Popes and their successours and adherentes And that ye shall vnderstand that the Church is neyther founded vppon Peter nor of any other man sainct Paule sayeth that Christ is only the foundacion And Christ when the Apostles did stryue for superioritie y preeminencie sayd to them reprouing their ambition that hée that presumed to be highest should be lowest and a minister too the rest Which woordes declare that Christ woulde haue no superioritie amonge his Apostles Did not Peter deny Christ thrée tymes Is hée woorthie too bée the head and steward of his family that denyeth his Master that sweareth that hée neuer knewe him Such are Peters Successors for they sweare that they neuer knew such a beggerly body as Christ was For saye they Christ was poore wee bee riche Christ a begger and had nothing wee haue the whole worlde And it is prophecied by Dauid of vs Omnes subiecisti sub pedibus eius oues boues pecora campi To the Pope God hathe layd all thinges vnder his feete sheepe oxen and all cattell Peter did fyght and cut of Malcus eare the Popes cut of the Emperours heades fyght with them subdue them and treade vppon them Theire foundation is the sword fyre fagotte tyrannie and all iniquitie This sword Christ bad Peter put vp they drawe it and shaketh it ouer all Nations Where proue they that Peter was the cheifest of the Apostles where proue they him too bée the best or such a one as all the other shoulde obey was hee the Uicegerat of Christ can he doo all that Christ can doo who was reproued of Paule the least and lowest of all the
against the hole land against the Preistes Kinges people and the mighty Princes of Iuda and such Tyrauntes Ieremy intreateth of in the end of his fystenth chapter If euery good man bée a lyuely stone as Peter him self writeth and all the congregation a Spirituall howse and the howse of God the piller and ground of truthe and lykewyse Christes own body and the fulnesse of him that filleth all thinges Than is not the Pope Cardinalles and Clergie the church and pillers in whom dwelleth no vertue Neyther Peter had any other keys than Adam Seth Noe Melchisedeck Abraam Iob Moses and all the faythfull had from the beginning The keys of the Kingdome of heauen are the opening and interpretacion of the Scripture What keye sayeth Tertullian in the .iiii. booke against Mar. had the Doctours of the Lawe saue interpretation Tertullian inuehing ageinst the Eustix affirmeth the keys to bée gyuen generally to all the which euery man whan hée departeth hence carieth with him Wherfore who so euer confesseth his sinnes repenteth and beléeueth in Christ hath these keyes wherwith hée openeth the locke and entereth intoo heauenly felicitie Euery man may bynde and loase him self Augustinus de doctrina lib. 1. cap. 8. sayeth Too binde is too perseuer in errour too procede in vyce too louse too repente him of his sinne beléeue that here in earth his sinnes shall bée forgiuen him And this is too bynd and louse The second Obiection Hée that giueth authoritie too the Church is supreme head But the Pope giueth authoritie to the church ergo hée is supreme head I deny your assumption called otherwyse the Minor. Wée proue it say they by S. Augustine who sayeth I wold not beléeue the Scriptures if the catholique church should not moue mée I answer This church that Augustine speaketh of is not the church of Rome and therfore the Pope giueth no authoritie to the church If Augustine had meaned the church of Rome then their argumeÌ„t myght haue semed to haue had a good ground But Augustine meaned the church of Christ as the Crede it self expoundeth it What is the Catholique Church The Crede answereth and interpreteth in these words A communion societie or companie of all Saincts and Godly men Nowe if Rome bée all the world and a communion of Saincts only then is it the only Church but it is neyther all the world neyther a communion of Saincts therfore it is not the Church Are shamefull synners Saincts horrible offenders Holy Augustine meaned by the Catholique Church Christ and his Disciples and the consent of all them which sawe Christ which heard him and his Disciples and therfore is it called in the common Crede of Nice the Apostolique church If Augustine did imagine that the Scriptures should take authoritie of the church it had bin an absurditie considering that there is no congregation so perfect no company so holy no men so pure which do not dayly desire God too forgyue them their offences as they forgyue them that offend against them If wée saye wée sinne not wée are lyers and there is no truth in vs. Let vs proue both by Reason which is the Lawe of Nature infixed in man Naturally and by Scripture that the Church doth take her authoritie of the Woord and not the Woord of the Church If Cleantes and other Philosophers as Tullie testifieth affirme partly by the Naturall motions of their myndes no doubt moued by inspiration that there is a GOD partly by the presciencie and foreknowledge of the thinges to comme partly by the commodities which proceede of the temperature of the ayer the plenty abundance of all thinges necessary for mans vse partly by tempestes thunder inundacions hayle lightening earthquakes stormes wonders miracles blasing starres eclipses of Sonne and Moone of the reuolution of the heauens of the constant and certein course of the fixed Starres and Planettes Than must wée confirme with Dauid and Paule that Gods power nature and diuinitie is knowen by visible thinges subiected to our senses If Dauid and Paule proue by the naturall courses of the heauens that there is a God neyther any people to bée so ignorant any Natiâ—n so rude any country so Barbarous which haue not heard their voyces for Dauid sayeth Their sound are gone through all the world Or as it is in the Hebrew Their rule course is knoweÌ„ through all the world By a figure the sound voyce is attributed in the .19 Psal. to the heauens bycause they declare vntoo vs with their constant course mouing and other meruelous dispositions constellations and influences that there is a god And by this meanes Paule proueth the Gentyles to bée without excuse bycause they might haue knowen God by his creatures and dyd knowe but dyd not glorifye him as god By these it is euident that the heauens and Gods woounderous workes are not the causes why there is a God but God is the cause of them and they are as witnesses and testimonies that there must néedes bée a god And bycause al the Scriptures teache nothing else but God to bée the maker defender and gouerner of all wée are assured that they are the true scriptures bycause they agrée with this lawe of Nature wyth this Heauenly description and celestiall disposition wherby there is vnderstand to bée a god If Dauid and Paule prooue the diuinitie power and prouidence of God by his creatures so must wée allowe the scriptures by the same meanes bycause they differ not from the discourse Wherefore the church taketh no authoritie of it selfe but of God nor the scriptures any power of men whiche are full of erroures Wée knowe Moses Danyels Salomons Iobs woorkes and the rest of the scriptures to bée of force bycause they agrée with the rule of nature They are witnesses but no authours If a Lawyer aunswere by the Lawe hée dooth his dutie but if hée aunswere of his own brayne it is nought neyther will any man beléeue him Hée is a wicked Iudge that attributeth more to hys owne witte and will than to the lawe This doth the Pope contrarie to all the auncient Doctours and vertuous writers who affirme no man to bée beléeued onlesse hée alleadge the scriptures If an Ambassadour goe from one Prince to an other and be commaunded neyther to adde to his commission nor diminishe hée is a traytour if hée doo How much more the Pope who by his false embassage dooth not onely adde and diminishe where hee lusteth but also chaungeth peruerteth correcteth depraueth and abolissheth the Scriptures setting vppe hys owne constitutions and braynelesse Decréees The Prince to whome this Embassadour is sent cannot tell whether his commission is true or no but by conferring of the other Princes letters out of the which he must haue the truthe So must wée runne to the scriptures and trye by them whether the Pope and other impure spirits doo well in vsurping such authoritie The Church may bée a
but Christ prayed for Peter ergo Peter could not erre I deny the proposition which you call the Maior for Christ prayeth for all men as well as for Peter and also for them that persecute him ergo by your argument all men should bée head of the Church yea euen they that persecute Christ as the Pope doth Augustine wryteth that Peter figureth all Christians the vniuersall Church ergo when Christ prayed for Peter that hée should not erre hée prayed also for all Christians and for the vniuersall church that it should not erre And that this is Christes meaning ye shall vnderstand by the often fall of Peter after this prayer of Christ for hée denyed Christ thrise was also reproued of Paule after this prayer The tenth Obiection Peter féede my shéepe these woords giue too Peter a superioritie I answer that Christ did commaund Iames and Iohn with the rest of the Apostles to doo the lyke Did they not féede the shéepe of Christ also Did not Iames preache at Hierusalem and Iohn at Ephesus Moreouer Paule exhorteth the elders of Ephesus too féede the flock and church of God committed too their charge wherfore too féede Christes shéepe is as well proper too all men that haue the gift as too Peter Of this matter reade Ambrose in his pastorall The .xj. Obiection As Christ came too doo the will of his Father so must you doo the will of your mother the churche of Rome I answer that you call the church of Rome the Pope his Cardinalles but Christ calleth his church generall and not speciall a communion of Saincts and not a rable of Bishoppes as Tertullian writeth Catholique and not Priuate For Christ sayeth wheresâ—euer there be two or thrée gathered together in his name there is hée among them yea though they bée Laye men as Tertullian noteth Is the Pope the churches sonne or is hée her father If her sonne what a sonne is hée that vsurpeth and preferreth him self before his mother Therfore sayeth Augustine God will not acknowledge him self to be his father that will not confesse the church to be his mother If her father ergo not her child You say the Pope is the head I answer that when the Pope is cut of by death where is your head is it not dead where is the body is it not dead But the body that is the Church lyueth alwayes eyther Militant or Triumphant or rather both Ergo wée must looke for an other head that can not dye euen Christ aboue The .xij. Obiection Had not Pope Paschalis in the yeare of Christ .1100 a girdell hauing seuen keyes and seuen seales in token of his seuenfolde power according to the seuenfolde grace of the holy Ghost of binbing loosing shutting opening sealing resigning and iudging I answer that it is blasphemy to compare the Pope with the holy Ghost Is not hée Antichrist that attributeth to him self all the giftes of the holy Ghost The .xiij. Obiection No Councell may bée called without the Pope I answer to this obiection on this wyse Wée reade that Christ called the first councell willing the Apostles not too departe out of Hierusalem but to looke for the promise of the Father In the election of the seuent deacons which was the second councel Peter did not call the councell but .12 Apostles called the multitude The thyrd councel was called in the .15 of the Actes Where it apereth that Iames was the chéefe and not Peter Was the Pope called to any of these councels Nay surely they neuer knew him And many yéeres after Christ all the councels til the Pope began to rule were gathered togither by the Emperours Kiâ—â—es princes and other magistrates The .xiiii. Obiection Omnino definimus declaramus pronuÌ„ciamus omnem creaturam subesse Romano pontifici de necessitate salutis We define declare and pronounce that euery creature must be vnder the Pope of necessitie or els it cannot be saued I answer that saluation commeth nether from the East nor the west neither from Rome neither from priest prelate nor Pope but from God only Your welth and riches giue you aucthoritie you are rich in reuenues but poore in heauenly treasures Blessed bee the poore in sprite you are arrogant and presumptuous since that venym I meane riches entred into the church as the Lord Cobham sayde whom the Archebishop of Caunterburie Thomas Arundell asked what hée meaned by that venyme I meane sayd hée your Possessions Lordeshippes and Iurisdictions For than cryed an Aungell in the ayre as your owne Cronicles make mention wo wo wo Nowe euen this daye is venyme powred into the church Chryst was méeke and mercifull the Pope is proude and a Tyraunt Christ is poore and forgaue the Pope is riche and a malicious murtherer Rome is the nest of Antichrist and out of that filthie nest come out vncleane birdes Prelates Priestes Monkes Cardinalles which are the body of Antichrist and the pilde Fryers the Tayle which couer his most filthie parte For they preache lyes and therfore are the tayle behinde The xv Obiection Ieremie prophecieth of the church of Rome saying beholde I haue set thée ouer all Nations and Kingdomes to pluck vp and to breake downe and buylde and to plant I aunswere that God commaunded Ieremie to pull vp the wéedes of superstition and to pull downe all the monumentes of Idolatrie But the Pope draweth this godly sentence to the defence of his vsurped power peruerting the mynde of the holy ghost and deprauing the Text of Ieremie and by this Text hée vsurpeth that hée may pull down the Gospell and set vp his decréees roote out the truthe plante heresie or superstition as it is written of him in another place Diruit aedificat mutat quadrata rotundis The xvi Obiection Iohannes de turre cremata a holy Cardinall writeth thus Papa est Rex Regum Dominus dominantium verus Dominus totius orbis iure licet non facto The Pope is King of Kings Lord of Lordes and the true Lord of the whole world by right though not in déede And that Constantinus when hee gaue him Rome restored to him but his owne for the Pope as S. Iohn writeth of Christ in propria venit sui eum receperunt Hée came into hys owne and his owne receyued him I aunswere Is not hée Antichrist that peruerteth the Scriptures and that eyther addeth or taketh awaye but hée taketh awaye Non and attributeth the Texte to him selfe whiche vtterly peruerteth the Text. Ergo hée is Antichrist What a presumptuous Prelate is hée that calleth himselfe King of Kinges and Lord of Lordes If yée reade the letter sent to Cardinal Poole by Stoxâ—ye Bishop of London and Tunstall Bishop of Durham and the booke of Obedience written by Stephan Gardner Bishoppe of Wynchester which all were ranck Papistes ye shall vnderstand that they proue that the Pope is not the heade of the Church
companies with him into hell there to be plagued for euer no man may reproue him bycause that hée that iudgeth all may be iudged of no man In eadem dist c. 2. If the Pope be accused his predecessor is sufficient After Pipinus Carolus the first Emperour of thatname the Pope ruled al crowned Emperours deposed them at his pleasure In so much that Iohn the .12 Pope of that name in the yeare of Christ .962 which Iohn was killed taken in adultrie gaue this othe to Otho the first Emperour of the Germains Dest 63. To the my Lord Iohn Pope I King Otho do promise thée and swere by the Father and the Soâ—ne and the holy Ghost and the trée of the liuely crosse and by the reliquesof saints that if I shal come to Rome I wil exalt the Romish church hir gouerner 12. quest 4. Clericus In the time of Otho the third Emperour of the Germains it was decréed by perlement that none of the stock line of the Romans should euer bée Emperour but only some of the Germains And therfore Gregory a Saxon the first Pope of that name graunted that the Emperour should be elected by vâ—j electors which were the Duke of Saxony County Palatine Marchio Brandeburgensis the bishop of Mense Colonie Treuers the King of Boemia as Arbiter in the yere of Christe .995 Here may you sée how that out of the Romain Empire the Garmains Empire the Popes are deriued The Pope had the whole in effect the Emperours were but at the Popes plesure For the Pope had the marow the Emperour the bones the Pope the corn the Emperour the chaff the Pope was the Sun the Emperor the Moone who taketh his light might of the Pope The Pope had Italy Sardinia Sicilia Naples in a maner al. The Emperour Germany but alwais subiect to the Pope Wher it is in Daniel that they shal be ioyned togither by mans séede it is meaned that they shalbée as it were both one but they shal not be otherwise ioyned theÌ„ yron can be with clay By mans séede is meant that vnfaithful knot of amity which was is betwéen the Emperour the Pope which was oftentimes but mere dissimulatioÌ„ For wée sée that the Emperors were compelled for feare to obay the Pope as in treading of the Henries and Fredericks with Ludouique others How oft did Honorius Gregory the .9 Innocentius take truce with Frederike the ij euer brake their promis This was Humanum semen and the Popes Empire as I said before which rose out of the Romain empire began then to be reuiled made manifest when he toke vppon him to make Emperours depose them at his pleasure Notwithstanding he wrought secretly before in al the Popes in a maner And that the Pope is Antechrist Paul proueth bycause he sitteth in the Temple of God taketh vpon him to serch mens consiencis for the purpose he made auriculer coÌ„fession to know euery mans thought And therfore Boniface brought out two swods on a solemne feast day in the yere of Christ .1030 wherby it is manifest that the pope is head both of the spiritual teÌ„poral sword dominion The temple wherin this knaue the pope sitteth reigneth is the hole meÌ„ber of theÌ„ that beare the name of christiaÌ„s though they be the church of Anti. whoÌ„ he gouerneth ruleth for to sit in this place is to rule Wherefore here you sée that the Pope doth inuade the kingdome of Christe as Christe prophecied They sayeth hée meaning the Popes shall come in my name and saye I am Christ. That is I am king and head of the Church How can Paul call the Church of Christ the church of Antichrist How can the Temple of God be called the Temple of Antichrist If the Pope had called this Temple the Temple of Antichrist all men would haue abhorred him But Paule calleth it as the Pope doth the Temple of God declaring that the Pope would call his Sinogoge and malignant church by a glorius name to delude the people as he calleth his doctrine EuaÌ„geliuÌ„ Sempiternum et Euangelius speritus sancti And the Sadduces cal theÌ„ selues rightuous men notwithstaÌ„ding they were most vnrightuous And the Popes so altre theyr names to deceue the people for if he were Impius they called him Pius If nocent Innocentius If a malefactor Boniface If vnmercifull Clement and thus they called vice vertue and twined blacke into whyte In like maner now the Ievves call themselues the people of God who are not his people The Pope vsurpeth that name as he doth in calling himselfe Christes vice gerate and that his priestes in confession sit in gods sceate It may be obiected that Mahumet is Antechrist whose story and lyfe I haue noted vpon Daniel I answer that he sitteth in that Temple that calleth it the Temple of God but denieth Christe neither doth hée secretly or openly call Christ his God but onely a prophet Neither commeth he out of the Romain Empire but rose onely of himselfe neither sitteth he at Rome Neither taketh he vppon him to forgiue sinne But the Pope seacretly calleth himselfe in that he presumeth to forgiue sinne ergo the Pope No man can forgiue sinne but God only the Pope presumeth to forguiue sinne ergo the Pope is he that sitteth in the Temple of God boasting himselfe and triumphe aboue all that is God The Turke began in Arabia the Pope at Rome The Pope is a false Christ that is such one as that bosteth himselfe to haue the same authoritie that Christ had when he was in earth that faineth himselfe to do all that Christe can do and more as to make of iniury iustice of nothing something to restore a defamed man to his name agayne and such other thinges like vntoo these Neither is euery euill Christian Antechrist but hée onely is Antichrist that fayneth himself to do all that christ can doo to bée his vicegerent in earth to sit in his place As of late ther was one that fayned himself king Edward said that he was so who was a false knaue Neither is the Turk that Antichrist that vsurpeth all that is God but worshipped of the Turkes as a Sainte as of late men did worship the Uirgin Mary and other Saintes Neycan the Iewes or Turkes be false christes or Antichristes when they doo not feigne them selues to worship Christ as the sonne of God he that refuseth Christ cannot nor wil not receiue a feinned christ Neither is he Antichrist or a false christ that is an enimy of christ But he that vsurpeth the power of christ that maketh himselfe equal with christ or aboue him in some points and notwithstanding would seme to be a christian in words though he deny him in déedes Is not hée a false christ a faigned christ a pseudo christ that would séeme