felowshyp yea and also a new head they be Cacodoxi that is to say misbeleuing or Kirtodoxi that is say ouerthwart beleuyng and not Rightbeleuyng and Catholike But now gentle reader wey me throughly within the compasse and vniuersalitie of what body or in what vnitie of doctrine and fayth the Romish sort be who by reason of certeine peculiar and straunge opinions of theirs which they professe and mainteine and for their Popish Church set vp vnder the Pope as head of it call themselues onely Catholike Let them say to vs whether the thynges which these men vrge so sore vpon vs were knowen and generall to the Catholike and Apostolike primitiue Church fayth and doctrine Let these Catholikes then which by their owne iudgement are the onely rightbeleuers vpon earth shew vs whether the aūcient Apostolike Church acknowledged Rome to be the head of all the Churches in the world whether all the faythfull seruauntes of Christ must vppon payne of saluation and damnation be subiect to the Byshop of Rome as who hath both the swordes in his hand iudgeth all men and is to be iudged of no man Whether the primitiue and aunciēt Church did pray vnto dead Saintes Whether it accounted them for patrons and spokesmen to God the father Whether it worshypped them with sacrifices holydayes and such other kynd of seruices Whether they builded them tēples or set vp images to them Whether the images of God and the Saintes he profitable and necessarie in the Churches of the Christians whether the soules that be sindged broyled and rosted in the fire of Purgatory be deliuered by yearemyndes and other satisfactions for the dead Whether Christ be worshypped in the Masse and whether it be to be beleued that Christ himselfe is offered there in sacrifice for the sinnes of the quicke the dead whether our owne workes deserue eternall lyfe and whether they iustifie vs also whether the state of Mōkes be the state of perfection or no And whether there were any cloysters of Monkes Nunnes in the Church afore Paule the Heremite of Thebe Antonie and Benet now if these and many other thynges like these were not séene nor knowen as they were not in déede tell vs wherfore ye boast them to be Catholike or how wil you be called Catholike of thē will ye that I tell you most falsly most vniustly sauyng in that your Antichristian kynd For as for the rites and customes which you call and brag to be Catholicke antiquitie hath registred them among Idolatries Cease therefore to delude the simple with your gentle termes of Catholike and Rightbeleuyng The faythfull know who you be Amend therfore and liue lyke true Catholikes with vs not in the Popish Church of Rome but in the true Catholike Church vnder the head Christ who onely is our saluation To him be glorie for euer Amen ¶ The Queene of England hath iustly cōmaunded her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the lawes therof Iustly also hath she bound them by othe to abiure the authoritie and obedience of the Romish Byshop The Bull procedeth in his purposed accusation agaynst the Quéene saying She hath forbidden the Clergie and laitie to acknowledge the Church of Rome or to obey the lawes of it Yea and she hath compelled them to renounce the authoritie obedience of the Romane Byshop by othe appointing penalties and punishmentes to such as disobey the which she hath executed vpō those that haue continued in the vnitie of fayth and the obedience aforesayd But the Quéenes Maiestie euen in this case also hath done nothyng but that the Lord God himselfe hath commaunded her to do which all good Princes among the people of God haue done before her For it is alredy manifestly inough shewed and proued before that by Gods ordinaunce it is lawfull for Kinges and Magistrates to take vpon them the care and orderyng both of cases and of persons Ecclesiasticall Therfore looke what the Quéene hath commaunded her subiectes in this behalfe she hath done but that she ought to do by vertue of her office And wheras she hath commaunded that they should not acknowledge the Church of Rome or obey the ordinaunces therof hath she not cōmaunded that thyng by the appiontment of Gods word for truly God commaūdeth his people in his law that they should not giue eare to such as teach thinges contrarie to his law also he commaundeth the Magistrate that he giue no place either to superstitions or to false doctrines but rather that he roote vp these and restreine the others Ieremy like as the rest of the Prophetes also inferreth and vrgeth the same thyng Among other thynges sayth he thus sayth the Lord of hostes hearken not to the woordes of the Prophetes that prophesie vnto you For they teach you vanitie tell you the visions of their owne hart euen their owne inuentions and not out of the mouth of the lord But it is more clearer then the light of noone day that the Romish Doctors and teachers are not onely such but moreouer most cruell enemyes to the sound doctrine of the Gospell or rather persecuters imbrewed with Christian bloud The Lord hymselfe in his Gospell but specially in Mathew the vij and xxiiij chapters and in Luke the vij chapter hath forbydden vs to giue eare to false Prophetes and false Christes specially which shall come in this last perillous ago He chargeth vs that we should neither beleue them nor folow thē And S. Peter with great grauitie sayth kéepe your selues from this generation Which thyng he intreateth of more plenteously and diligently in his latter Epistle Yea and S. Paule also agréeing with the doctrine of S. Peter describeth the corrupt gouerners of the Church in this last age verely froward men not lightes but firebrandes of the Church and he biddeth the faithfull depart from them If any man desire to sée the places he shal find them in 2. Cor. 6. and in 2. Thes. 2. and in 1. Tim. 4. and 6. and in 2. Tim. 3. and 4. chapters Flée ye from Idolatrie sayth the same Apostle And S. Iohn sayth beware of Idols Besides this it is reueled to S. Iohn from heauen and commaundement is giuen thus my people get ye out of Babylon that ye be not partakers of her sinnes and receyue of her plagues also Uery rightly therfore and accordyng to the commaundementes of God hath the Quéenes Maiestie done in chargyng her subiectes that they should not acknowledge the Romane that is to say the Popish Church nor obey the Popes law or ordinaunces as vtterly wicked or fightyng agaynst the word of God. But the thyng that most of all gréeueth and chafeth hym is that the Quéene hath compelled her ▪ subiectes to renoūce the Pope and his authoritie which in very déede is none at all and the Papacie it selfe by othe Neuerthelesse euen in this behalfe also what hath her highnesse done which the
counselling to depose Childericke and to aduaunce Pippin to the kingdome And so was an other horne ouerthrowen by the little horne The third horne which was the kinges of Lombardie was brought lowe at the incensing of the Popes and finally also vtterly wiped away by Pippin and Charles kinges of Fraunce But by the vndoing oppressing of these kinges the wealth of the Bishops of Rome increased and their power waxed strong whom Gods will was to shew by this triple crowne as it were with the fingar to be very Antichristes Thus much concerning the Keyes Armes and Cognisances of the Romane Bishops Now come to my way againe ¶ Of the wordes power and ministery and so is the disputation of the keyes knit vp I Know well inough it offendeth many euen in this discourse that I vse the terme power so seldome and the worde ministerie or ministration so often when notwithstanding the Scripture doth openly geue power to the ministers and it is commonly called the power of the keyes But how small a thing is that I beséech you if it be compared with the fulnesse of power which these men chalenge to them selues openly I graunt in déede that the administration of the Church or if ye like it better of the keyes is called power For the Lord sayth in the Gospell Like as a man that at his going into a straunge countrey left his house and gaue his seruauntes power c. But who knoweth not that the power which is spoken of héere is none other but to do seruice or to minister specially seing that in an other Euangelist it is more effectually opened what maner of power the same is in these wordes to geue his honsholde meate in due season sayth the lord Which thing no man will wrest to the fulnesse of power but he that is past all shame For the Lorde speaketh manifestly of the preaching of the Gospell whereby meate is set before the housholde I meane before the Church of god And when Paule to the Corinthians had termed the preaching of the Gospell the word of attonement by and by expoūding him selfe he addeth that the office or ministration of preaching the attonement was geuen vnto him behold héere he calleth that thing a ministration which he had euen now called the worde And he addeth againe that Christ by the ministers exhorteth men to be at one with god What power I pray you shall the faythfull minister claime by this géere Rightly therefore do some men geue warning that the power by lawe is one thing and the power by ministration is an other The power by lawe is that wherby ech man as an owner hath power ouer the thinges that are his owne subiecte to his owne commaundement and not to an other mans After this sort the Lord hath power ouer the Church who sayth in the Gospell All power is geuen to me in heauen and in earth So is it sayd before that Christ hath the key of Dauid of death and of hell This power is communicated to no creature but remaineth to God alone Therefore except they will be false ministers they will neuer take this power vpon thē But the power of ministration or office is that which the Lord hath committed to the ministers with a certaine limitation and not absolutely For these do not what they list them selues nor as owners of thinges but as their Lord and master hath commaunded them and onely in the same maner that he by his certaine determination hath appointed them to be done and if they do it not or do it otherwise then their master hath commaunded them they shall be but vntrusty seruauntes And so vndoutedly the minister of Christ hath the ministering power of the keyes in the Church to preach the Gospell to the Church and to preach it in such wise as the Lord hath commaunded him to preach and certeinly he shall be a false and vnfaythfull seruaunt to his master if he take vpon him any other power and specially fulnesse of power and preach not the Gospell at all or preach it otherwise then is appointed him Besides this I am not ignorant that Christ gaue the Apostles great power howbeit with limitation and but for the beginning and for a certeine time according as Mathew witnesseth saying And he gaue his twelue Disciples power against vncleane spirites to cast them out and to heale all maner of diseases and infirmities For I thinke not that any man will affirme the same power to be geuen to all ministers of the Church together with the keyes considering that we know how that the Gospell being sufficiently confirmed already by such signes they be now no longer common and vsuall in the rest of the Church no more then the ablenesse and vse of sundry tounges But howsoeuer the case stād with that wonderfull power it is most certeine that the Apostle Paule sayd of all maner of power geuen vnto him by the Lord that the same was geuen him to edifie withall and not to destroy Which thing vnlesse euery minister wey very aduisedly with him selfe not onely in vaine but also to his owne great harme shall he dispute of the power that is geuen him and much more daungerously shall he take it vpon him Hetherto I haue made discourse of the keyes with as much bréefnesse and plainnesse as I could Wherby I trust that such as shut not their eyes of malice may perceaue that the keyes are for an other thing then the Papistes face vs withall doutlesse not an absolute ouer thinges in earth and in heauen but an healthfull ministery of Gods worde or of the Gospell of Iesu Christ and the charge and good ordering of the very Church of God And therefore that whē the Lord sayd I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen he gaue not Peter and the Romane Idoll an infinite power which they call the fulnesse of power For when the Lord promised and gaue the keyes he gaue not the keyes of an earthly kingdome but of the kingdome of heauen Which thing is chéefly to be marked in this discourse And in this kingdome in this his Church Christ is the souerein Lorde and abideth King Bishop and supreme head yea and that alone without any copartener or deputie But his messengers or Ambassadors sent to his Church are the Elders rulers and ministers of the congregations As for all power it is onely Christes the King Préest and Head and is not surrendred to any other For he him selfe caryeth yet still and vnto the very end will cary vpon his shoulders the key of Dauid and he will open and no man shall shut and shut and no man shall open and he alone both looseth and bindeth But his Ambassadors or preachers that are sent and ordeined to gather his Church doe preach this Christ the Lord assuring men by the preaching of the Gospell that Christ forgeueth the sinnes of such as beléeue certeinly and bestoweth eternall life vpon them
many as shal hereafter by Peters example confesse me to be Christ the sonne of the liuing God and by this true fayth settle themselues vpon me the onely foundation all them will I take and acknowledge for my household that is to say for my church And this that is to say Christ the Rocke shall be the only foundation of Gods church in earth and all they shall be members and citizens of this holy church euen as many as beleue as Peter did and settle themselues vpon this foundation of soule health by the same fayth And this is it that the Lord ment by saying And vpon this Rocke will I builde my Church And least any man may doubt of this simple and true exposition of the Lordes wordes considering how diuers wrest them and draw them some one way and some another Behold I will by other places of scripture also confirme and enlighten this exposition aboue recited Surely the scripture doth euery where agréeably witnesse that by fayth onely in Christ we be iustified grafted into Christ and made members of Christ and his church which is the communion of all saintes that is to say of the faythfull resting vpon Christ and that no creature no not euē Peter himselfe much lesse the bishop of Rome cā be the Rocke the head the foundatiō of the Catholike church And least any mā may thinke this thyng hard and varying from the truth forasmuch as it is directly against the decrées of the Romish church Loe I in this case bring in the cleare and vndoubted recordes of the holy Ghost himselfe speaking by the prophetes and Apostles Dauid in the 18. psalme cryeth out saying Who is God besides the Lord and who is the Rocke besides our God And God himselfe in Esay sayth Behold I lay a corner stone in Sion a chosen one a precious one he that beleueth in him and resteth vppon him shall not be ashamed Moreouer also the Apostle Paule sayeth The Rocke was Christ. And agayne Other foundation can none be layde then is layd already which is Iesus Christ. Which thing he expoūdeth yet more fully in his Epistle to the Ephesians Whervnto in all pointes agréeth the witnesse of S. Peter who sheweth out of Dauid that Iesus is that stone or Rocke wherupon it behoueth them to be builded by fayth which will become the house of God or be made pertakers of the churche of christ Which thinges being vndoubtedly so These wordes of the Lord Vpon this Rocke will I build my Church must of necessitie be vnderstoode of Christ alone as who reigneth from heauen in his saintes as the head doth in the members and from whom as the liuely head they be watered with the spirite and sucke lyfe out of hym and through him do liue a lyfe beséeming hym And to be a head as it is most manifestly gathered by the doctrine of the Apostles is to be a Lord and Sauiour and to inspire life into the members that be subiect to the head Neither may the head at any time be from the body without the destruction of the body Seing then that Christ is the onely head of the Church it behoueth him to be alwayes with his Church By reason wherof she hath no néed of any deputie or vicegerent vpon earth For a deputie or vicegerent is the deputie or vicegerent of him that is absent But Christ is euermore present with his Church For he sayth in the Gospell I will be with you euen to the vttermost end of the world will neuer leaue you comfortlesse Our religion therfore willeth vs and the vniforme doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles willeth vs to expound these thinges not of Peter or of the Bishop of Rome but of Christ only Therfore if ye méete with any interpreters be they olde or new that interprete the foresayd wordes of our Lord to be ment of Peter and the Pope the authoritie of the Prophets and Apostles yea and of this selfsame Peter too ought to beare more sway with you than the authoritie of any men els whatsoeuer they be in the world For Christ abideth euerlastingly the foundation of his Church and as for Peter and the rest of the Apostles and the ministers that haue come in their roomes they remaine as workmaisters of this building which build not vpon them selues being mē but vpon this onely and euerlasting foundation according as the Apostle teacheth plainly in the third chapt of the first Epistle to the Corinth And let this be our brazen wall Neither fighteth it against this that in the Apocalips the Citie of God is sayd to haue twelue foundations and the names of the twelue Apostles written in them For sayth Paule there can none other foundation be layd then is layd already notwithstanding forasmuch as in the laying of this foundation that is to say in the preaching of Christ the Apostles were Gods workfellowes bestowed their trauell faythfully theraboutes therfore that Citie is sayd to haue twelue foundations For otherwise the Apostle in his 2. chapt to the Ephesians sayth You are fellow citizens wyth the sainctes and Gods houshold meyny builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets whereof the corner stone is Christ Iesus him selfe in whom the whole buildyng beyng semented together groweth to a temple in the Lorde vpon whō you also are builded to be a dwellyng place for God through hys spirite And what man that hath his right wits will after these thinges séeke for manifester Wherfore let all of vs beware of that rotten and tottering foūdation which the Court of Rome striueth to set vnder vs. We will yet héerunto adde the wordes of our Lorde that follow after least any thing of this place may remain vndiscussed And the gates of hell sayth Christ shall not preuayle agaynst it By which wordes is declared the power and victoriousnesse of Christ and of his Church of fayth The gates of hell are all kinde of powers that are against it yea euen the power of Sathan which of all other is the strongest and noysomnest to the faythfull And therfore it is sayd that no force be it neuer so mighty whether it be of Sathan him selfe or of the world or of any other aduersary power vnder heauen or in hell shall preuaile against Christ the Rocke and the Church that is builded vpon the rocke which howsoeuer it be tempted and persecuted must notwithstanding at length ouercome in Christ through fayth For the Lord him selfe hath sayd The prince of this world is already condemned and cast out And againe Be of good cheere I haue ouercome the world And Iohn the Apostle All that is borue of God sayth he ouercommeth the world and the victory that ouercommeth the world is this euen your fayth Also who is he that ouercommeth the world but he whych beleueth that Iesus is the sonne of God So I say this place is opened plainly inough by laying together
Ministers seruing for the same purpose Therfore render vnto euery mā his dew tribute to whom tribute is due Custome to whom custome is due awe to whom awe is due honour to whom honour is due The same Apostle willeth subiectes also to obey their Princes that is to wit their lawes and ordinaunces not onely that they may by their due obedience escape the punishments which Princes execute vpon the disobedient but bycause it is Gods will we should do so and we must yeld obedience to his commaundement except we had leuer to fall into the hand of Gods vengeance although princes punish vs not And this is it that the Prophet ment by saying ye must obey not onely for feare but also for conscience Also they that resist the Magistrate procure themselues damnation And truly this obedience stretcheth so farre that if the Prince néede thy seruice in the warres for the defence of his Realme against inuasions thou owest euen thy body to thy Prince yea and thy life and therefore much more thy goodes These are the thinges these I say are the thinges that all subiectes owe to their souereines by the allowance and commaundement of God and therfore the Englishmen also owe the same thinges to their Quéene True it is in déede that S. Peter sayd we must obey God rather then men howbeit that is in such things as are commaunded expresly against God and his word But the politike or ciuill gouernement is stablished and not infringed by Gods word And most of all it is stablished if the Princes be godly For the Princes that gouerne their people quietly and enforce not their subiectes to any wicked thinges but honour Gods seruice spread it abroad more more are well liked of God and helped by him And truly this obedience of the subiectes which God hath inioyned them kepeth them in their dewtie and perswadeth them that they attempt not any thing against their Prince or Magistrate As for those that rise against their Prince either by priuie practise or open force and breake the common peace they are not onely disobedient but also traytors and hated of god And yet it is the thing that the Pope in his Bull not so much teacheth as by his manaces indeuereth to inforce the noblemen and commons of England vnto The noble Realme of England through Gods grace cleaueth well together in lawes spirituall and temporall and the subiectes therof enioy peace and publike profite by the benefite of their most gracious Quéene Therfore not to be willing hence forth to obey her as the Pope would haue it what els is it then to trouble the state of the whole Realme and consequētly to stirre vp rebellion and sedition wickedly and to procure themselues assured and greuous damnation at Gods hand But heare how God hath alwayes hated seditious persons and how greuously also he hath euermore punished seditiōs Chore Dathan and Abyron with their complices raised a sedition against Moses the chaplein of Gods people But the earth opened and swallowed them vp with their housholdes and all that euer they had A right dreadfull example surely to the intent that none should hereafter ryse agaynst their Princes any more The Israelites also raysed an insurrection agaynst the same Moses in the wildernesse But for their so doing they were shet out of the land of promise and by the space of xxxviij yeares together ouerwhelmed with sundry calamities tyred and forspent with dayly trauelyng in the desert and at length also in sundry times consumed and made away with horrible kindes of death Also in the booke of Iudges the Ephraemites made an vprore against Iephthe who had deserued well at their handes But through the vengeance of God for their vngracious rebellion and vnthankefulnesse there were slaine of them about a xlij thousand What befell in Dauids time to Absolon Seba the sonne of Bithri when they rebelled seditiously against their lawfull king Dauid it is better knowen then that if may séeme requisite to be setforth in many wordes There are in the holy Scriptures and the wordly histories of sundry kingdomes many exāples to be seene no lesse horrible then these of seditious persons that were most greuously confoūded by the lord For the Lord being rightuous and a louer of order and peace neuer spared any such And to the intent I may also bring somewhat out of latter tunes there is a notable example of the punishment of traiterous rebellion and disobedience and periurie in king Rafe of Rinfield chosen king of Romanes at the cōmaundemēt of pope Gregorie the vij against the Emperour Henry the iiij lawfully ordeined of God and succeding in the Empire by descent from his aunceters who were very good Princes The said Gregorie had prophesied out of that chayre of his in the Easter wéeke that the same yeare which was the yeare of our Lord .1080 the false Emperor should dye adding this protestation further neuer take me more for Pope but plucke me from the Altar if the false Emperour be not dead betwene this and Whitsontyde Which prophesie like as was the prophesie of Caiaphas was fulfilled in déede howbeit after another meaning then the Pope thought of For the false Emperour Rafe who was created Emperour by the Pope against Henry whom the Pope had deposed discharging all his subiectes of their faith and obedience towardes him was wounded to death the selfe same yeare Thrise before had he traiterously fought with Henry to his owne losse and now trusting to the prophesie of his blessed dad Pope Gregorie the vij he repayred his power againe the fourth tyme and in the moneth of October encountered with the army of Henry in the fieldes of Misnia where he was put to shamefull flight agayne and receiued a very great losse and blouddy slaughter In the same battell the right hand of the sayd Rafe was striken of of the which wound he dyed within a few dayes after leauing the Empyre which he had receiued of the Pope fulfilling the prophesie of the Pope his creator It is reported sayth Abbas Vspurgēsis in the 238. leafe of his Chronicles that Rafe now drawing towardes his end and beholding his right hand cut of gaue a sore sigh and said to the Bishops which by chaunce were present Lo this is the hand wherwith I tooke mine othe of allegeance to my Lord Henry the Emperour And behold now I leaue both his kingdome and this present life Sée whether you that made me mount vp into his chayre of estate haue led me a right way which thing other storywriters report in these wordes it was by your impulsion that I haue fought so often vnluckely Looke you to it whether you haue led me a right way or no. Ge your wayes performe your first faith plighted to your king for I shall go to my fathers Now ye honorable Péeres of England and thou noble Realme of England in generall learne ye by all these
and that he cōdemneth those to eternall death which beléeue not or which gainstand the Gospell The self same Ministers do féede with Gods word the Church that is gathered vnto Christ comfortyng the weakeharted quickenyng and thrusting foreward the slothfull confirming the wauerers exhortyng all men euermore vnto continuall prayers to the lawfull vsing of the Sacramentes too the dewties of godly conuersation and most of all to charitie and mercy and in all thinges by all meanes with singular faythfulnesse and diligence endeuering to bryng and preserue the Churche safe and sound vnto Christ whiche doutlesse is the very true and wholesome vse of the keys of Gods kyngdome euen the natiue and holy stewardshyp charge and well orderyng of Gods Church ¶ Here is expounded that place of Ieremy I haue set thee ouer kynges kingdomes c. and it is shewed how the same maketh nothyng to the proofe of the Byshop of Romes tyranny which he exerciseth agaynst kynges and kyngdomes LEt vs procede further that we may also espye how truly the Pope of Rome vaunteth himself alone to be ordeined prince ouer all nacions and all kyngdomes Here agayn I am not ignorant what the decrées and decretalles cheefly of those Byshops whose names I haue cyted afore doe crake and belk out with open mouth concernyng this matter But we will haue no toyes we will haue them shew vs by Christes expresse wordes that the Byshops of Rome are lawfully ordeyned Princes ouer all nacions and all Realmes by the ordinance of Christ our Lord not by the ordinance of any men A few yeares past Austin Steuchus of Eugubie the Librarikéeper of the sea of Rome and besides that a Byshop also a man otherwise that had read much but yet for all that smally séene in the holy Scriptures and moreouer a most filthy flatterer of the Romish Bishops did put forth a booke agaynst Laurence Valla in the defence of Constantines Donation worthy to be spitted at of all godly men and méete to be trampled in the myre with dirtie féete In this booke among other thynges in the xv Diuision First of all sayth he it standes you in hand to know that Constantine did not giue by name those fewe Townes and those fewe Cities which are called the patrimonie of the Church but he gaue the whole West part of the world and so departyng from the Citie did as it were giue place to a greater Prince then hym selfe that is to wit to the Pope assuryng him selfe that Rome it selfe was the head and dwelling place of godlinesse wherein it were vnlawfull for any man to reigne besides the souereine of Religiō for any two men to reigne in that one Citie to whiche he knew Peter the Prince of the Apostles and head of Religion to be come he counted it a haynous matter specially if the earthly Prince should beare the cheefsway in the Citie And in his xvi Diuision It could not be sayth he that two princes should reigne in one Citie specially in this respect that worldly matters would haue ouermated holy matters Namely it would haue happened as it is in the Prouerb that riuers should haue ronne agaynst theyr streames Also in the 90. Diuision This is the Maiestie and prerogatiue which Peter gaue vnto Rome that lyke as she was Lady of all landes so she should reigne ouer all Religion and all thynges should be ruled at her becke Agayne in his 94. Diuision he reckeneth vp all the myghtyest kyngdomes of the West as Fraunce Spayne England Denmarke Portingale and all the residue all which are subiect to their holy and vniuersall mother for so speaketh he the Church of Rome And least he might ouerslyp any thyng at length in his 103. Diuision he addeth But what should I alledge any more to proue by this kynde of Argumentes the most auncient and welnere almightie power of the Church of Rome ouer all kyngdomes and kinges and the most auncient possession of the same Consideryng that the auncient monumētes of all the Byshops are full of the highe power wherwith they ruled the whole world at their commaundement holdyng the souereintie of all Realmes c. These thynges wherby he hath put all the kyngdomes of the world vnder the Pope and Churche of Rome could not satisfie and content that lying and blasphemous clawbacke but he must also with extreme shamelessenesse and horrible wickednesse make a God of that wicked wight the Bishoppe of Rome For in his 26. Diuision he sayth that the faythfull worshyp the sonne of God him selfe in the Pope and that they honour not so much hym as a mortall man as in him euen God hym selfe who hath made him his deputie vpon earth Agayne in the 67. Diuision 141. leafe Thou hearest sayth he how the hygh Byshop which is called God was by Constantine estemed as god And ye must vnderstand that this was then done when he endowed him with that noble graunt for euen then dyd he worshyp him as God then dyd hee as much as lay in hym bestowe godly honour vppon hym as Christes vicare and Peters successour and then did he reuerence him as the liuely image of christ Thus sayth he And such blasphemous and wicked writynges doth Rome yeld vnto vs Which thynges I haue hitherto mencioned to the end I might disclose vnto all men the extreme vnrecouerable madnesse of the Pope him selfe and of his houshold together with their wickednesse where through they beyng most heathenish shamelesse men are not afrayd euen in the sight of the whole world as well of Angels as men to vsurpe vnto them selues the very Godhead it selfe and all the kyngdomes of the world and to spit out whatsoeuer commeth at their tounges end This Steuchus was also a Byshop and yet he was not ashamed to offer so blasphemous writinges to the Church yea to dedicate them to S. Peter But let them bryng vs some one sentēce or at least wise some one word of Christ or his Apostles whereby they may shewe and auouch vnto vs that Christ authorized the Pope to be souereine of all kyngs kingdomes No they cannot bryng me oneiote out of all the new Testament And therfore they flée vnto Ieremy for succour But euē this mans holy writyngs also do they defile béeray corrupt with their poyson For the Prophet speaketh of the ministration of the word and not of any Lordyng of his owne For the Lord calleth authorizeth and sendeth Ieremy to the charge of preachyng For he sayth to him by expresse wordes Before thou camest out of thy mothers wombe I sanctified thée and appointed thée to be a Prophet vnto nations Afterward when Ieremie excused him selfe by his tender yeares and vnenured childhode the Lord harteneth and comforteth him promising to be present with him and to speake by his mouth For in the Lordes wordes it foloweth behold I haue put my wordes in thy mouth For so read we also that the Lord spake after the same maner in old
neither presented the good intent of his hart or the likinges of his owne will for seruices vnto God nor stifly vrged them vpon other men to be kept but persisted simply and vncorruptly in the way of the Lord according as he himselfe sheweth in the 119. Psalme But king Saul put him selfe quite out of Gods fauour bycause he ouerslipped the commaundement of God and folowed the thing which the good intent of his owne hart counselled him vnto For he had reserued for sacrifice the thyng which God had commaunded him not to reserue for sacrifice but vtterly to destroy and put away Wherupon the Prophet Samuell sayd vnto Saul Doth the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice so much as in obeying his voyce Behold to obey is better then to do sacrifice and to hearken is better then the fat of Rammes For disobedience is as the sinne of Soothsaying or witchcraft and stubbornesse is as the wickednesse of Idolatrie And for asmuch as thou hast despised or reiected the word of the Lord he hath reiected thée also that thou shalt not be kyng They that be wise haue in these short wordes what to thinke of the thynges that mē chuse to folow at their owne pleasure in cases of religion namely that they be neuer a whit better then very witchcraft and Idolatry which of all wickednesses are most heynous afore god And I pray you to what purpose is the obedience inioyned vs which we owe not to the Pope and to Popery but to God and the magistrate to their lawes to be short wherfore are we commaunded to eschew Idolatrie and all straūge Religions if euery one of vs may chuse and do what we list But these thinges are now more apparant thē that they néede to be set out with any mo wordes ¶ That Kinges and Magistrates doe lawfully punish yea and also put to death such as breake the true religiō and disobey holy lawes And so this discourse is shet vp ANd although the sayd latter Article of our aduersaries namely that no mā ought to be punished for breaking of the Religion of the Gospell or for neglecting of such good lawes as they themselues estéeme not for good may easly be iudged by the premisses which we haue alledged out of Austē yet notwithstanding least any thing may remaine doutfull and vndiscussed I will by short and euident Argumentes proue that the Magistrate may lawfully punish yea and put to death such as breake the true Religion and set themselues agaynst holy lawes The Manichées and Donatistes in tyme past as hath bene sayd afore were of opinion that no man was to be punished or put to death for his Religion But the holy Scripture commaundeth the Magistrate expresly that he should not spare false Prophetes but rather it willeth all such as rebell against God against his lawes and against the holy iudges to be put to death without any mercy The places are most manifest in the Scriptures and well knowen to all men Read in Deut. chap. 13. and 17. In Exode is rehearsed this law He that offereth sacrifice to any God sauing onely the God of Israell let him be rooted out And least any mā perchaūce may say that these be but Iudiciall lawes and therefore perteine nothing vnto us Paule expresly sayth The law is not made for the rightuous but for the despisers of the law and for such as know no subiection for vngodly men and sinners for wicked men and Idolaters c. Surely the blasphemer is in Leuiticus ouerwhelmed stoned to death In the booke of nōbers he that gathered stickes is put to death for breaking the Saboth for contempt of Religion Also there be certein thousandes of them slayne which had set vp the golden calfe and worshipped it Helias the great Prophet of God slew certeine hundredes of the false Prophetes in the brooke Kyson at the notable sacrificing vpon Mount Carmel Heliseus at the Lordes commaundemēt annoynted Iehu kyng to roote out the house of Achab and therwith to sacrifice all the Priests of Baal together Ioiada the holy Priest of God slew the Quéene Athalia with the sword for her wickednesse And kyng Iosias the deare beloued of God executed sore Iustice vppon the bones of the false Prophetes in burnyng them to shew vpon them being dead what they had deserued when they were aliue S. Austen in hys treatise vpon the xj of Iohn disputing against the Donatistes sheweth out of the scripture by the example of Nabuchodonozor that Christen princes did iustly punish the Donatistes which made light accompt of Christ and hys doctrine Among other thinges If King Nabuchodonozor sayth he gaue glorie vnto God for deliuering the thrée children out of the fyre yea and so great glory that he sentfoorth proclamations of it ouer all his dominion how should not these our Christian Kinges be moued which behold not thrée children deliuered out of a flame but themselues deliuered from hell fyre when they sée Christ by whome they be deliuered to be blowne vp in Christians and when they heare it sayd to a Christen man say thou art no Christian. Such thinges will they do yet such thinges will they not suffer for sée what maner of thinges they do what things they suffer They kyll soules and are punished in bodye They make eternall deathes and find fault that they suffer temporall deathes Thus much sayth he In the new Testament we haue most euident examples of Christes chiefe Apostles Peter and Paule of whom the one did cast downe Ananias and Zaphira for their lying and for their counterfeiting of religion and the other made Elimas blind as it had bene by putting out his eyes because he peruerted the right wayes of the lord Neyther makes it any great matter whether a man be slaine with a sword or a cudgel or a stone or a potsherd or with a woord Killing is killing by what meane or with what instrumēt so euer it be done And God wrought by hys Apostles who in denouncing Gods iudgement against wicked persons killed them or punished them in their bodies by the woord The same thing doth God by the sentence sworde of the magistrate For it is Gods vengeance committed to the magistrate to be executed or layed vpō offenders therfore it is he that punisheth putteth to death by the magistrate And truely Kinges and magistrates haue therefore receyued the sword at Gods hand yea euen in the church that they may maintaine publike quietnesse and punish al such as trouble the peace But experience witnesseth that the publike quietnes is disturbed by fals teachers wherupon it followeth that they may or rather ought to be punished by the purse in their body or with losse of life according to the desert of the trespasse or offence Moreouer it is certaine that the Magistrate hath receiued power to strike blasphemers whoremungers murtherers rebelles and
wicked persons with the sword Now séeing that false teachers be blasphemers and draw men away from the truth vnto lying and destroy them both body and soule why should not the magistrate punish such There be many lawes of most godly Christen princes published in the case of religion which geue commaundement to punish idolaters apostataze heretikes and wicked men I will rehearse one among many of the holy Emperor Constantines for he writing vnto Taurus P. P sayeth It is our pleasure that in all places and all cities the temples shall out of hand be shut vp and al libertie of offēding taken away from vnthrifts by prohibiting them from comming there any more Also we wil that all men abstein from sacrifising And if they chaunce to commit any such thing let them suffer execution by the sworde and seaze vpon their goodes as forfeyted And if the rulers of Prouinces neglect to punish the offences we will that they themselues shall haue the same punishment The same things almost are cōmaunded by the proclamations of Theodosius and Ualentinian in the Code of Theodosius in the second title and also by Ualentinian Martian in the Code of Iustinian in the xi title of the first booke Eusebius in hys iii. booke of the life of Constantine copyeth into hys story the whole epistle of the Emperour Constantine published against heretikes The same Constantine whē he had borne with the Arrians a great while howbeit without the fruite that he looked for at the length perceiuing them to be wilfull cōmaunded that they should be banished for euer and taken for diffamed persons their bookes burned those to be punished that concealed the same By the way I acknowledge that there is a measure to be vsed in punyshing and a consideration also to bee had betwene those that offend of a mischéeuous and malicious stubburnesse and those that sticke too much to their owne opinion against the true religion through a simple missewéening without purpose to do harme For in thys case al vniustice and cruelty is to be eschewed like as also it is a thing most of al to be abhorred that those which are religious indéed of a sound opinion yea and enemies of al idolatry superstition and heresies should be punished vnder pretēce of false religion Of which matter I haue entreated in my other bookes specially in my fift booke against the Anabaptistes Out of which I haue taken out these thinges put them in here But all these thinges are done to this purpose because that the Bull hath alleaged it against the Quéenes Maiestie as an article of accusation not of the meanest importance that she hath layd penalties and punishments vpon such as were disobedient and executeth the same vpon those that haue perseuered in obedience of the Romish sea as though in so doing she outraged wrongfully and cruelly agaynst innocentes and such as had deserued no such thing and so sinned haynously The Bull procéedeth yet further in lying and sayth that the catholike byshops haue ended their dayes miserably by pyning away for sorow in prison How fond a report this is the very thing it selfe witnesseth which is commonly knowne to all the people of the whole Realme Nay rather as I haue learned by men of very good credit the popish byshops are handled curteously in England and far otherwise then they haue deserued For some of them soiorne at theyr libertie in the houses eyther of the Archbishop or of some of the byshops and now then sit at their owne tables where they fare daintely without penny cost Other some dwel as much at liberty as may be eyther in theyr owne houses or in theyr frendes houses a very few that is to wite such as are vtter enemies of the Gospell and of all godlines troublesome persons and men that can away with no quietnesse are in déede put in prison least they might sette all thinges in a broyle where they walke at libertie enough and are not dead and pyned away for sorow but aliue and lustie and passe away theyr time merely These being alate the champions and hastelers of the popish crueltie did oftentimes vppon very light suspitions catch vp godly men that professed Christes Gospell and tormenting them a long time like butchers with lothsumnes of prison darknes fetters famin and racking at the last put them to most cruell death The bishop of Rome a Gods name complayneth that these men are misintreated because they be kept in prison and therwithall he condemneth that most mercifull Quéene of cruelty By these thinges that haue bene hetherto declared it may euidently appeare to all men that the Quéene hath not offended at all in so doing but hath in all these thinges executed hir office to hir singular prayse Therfore in the Bull he concludeth hys accusation with these wordes That all the sayd thinges are so notorious as there can be no excuse defence or vnsaying in the matter he bewrayeth hys shamelesse saucinesse ioyned with as shamefull foolishnes For the Quéene vnsayeth nothing she excuseth nothing she séeketh no starting hole at all she denyeth not that she hath done as she hath but fréely confesseth it and she is neyther ashamed nor affrayd for the knoweth sayth and auoucheth that the thinges which she hath done she hath done lawfully iustly and according to hir office the which of all defences is most effectuall and with the strong blast of it bloweth away this most vaine Bull. And as for the things which she hath not done or which she hath done otherwise than the Bull quarelleth they defend themselues by theyr owne soundnes without a maintayner And thus haue I hetherto in all this discourse of mine cut a sunder the sinewes of the foresayd definitiue sentence of the Bul that was published by pope Pius the fift ageinst the most gracious Quéene of England for first we shewed that the popes fulnesse of power aforesayd by vertue wherof he hath vttered his sentence is but forged and counterfet and therfore that the sentence also being pronounced by authoritie that is forged no authoritie at all is most vaine Secondly aunswering somewhat largely to euery article of the accusation layd in by the Bull against the Quéene for which he pronounceth sentence agaynst hir and wiping away the coulerablenesse of the slaunders I haue shewed that all and eueryone of those articles are most false that the Quéene hath not offended at all in any of the thinges whereof she is accused but rather hath in all of them discharged hir dutie to hir singular prayse Upon al the which premises concluding also the whole latter part of this our discourse I say and auouch it to appeare more clearely than the Moone light that the sayde difinitiue sentence which Pius the fifth hath geuen against the Quéene of England is most partial and vniust For iust iudges pronounce their sentences according to law and equitie But no law