Iesus Christ no nor from his Apostles which are grounded only vpon visions in the aire vpon pretended reuelations and certaine tales farre worse then Apocryphall These notwithstanding are articles of beleefe more to be beleeued observed nay more indeed beleeued and obserued then the worde of Christ and the holy Scriptures But it may be that this is spoken to those three onely those three which were taken apart by our Lord were to learne some particular mystery thereby But that which is only spoken to one of them saith our Lord is spoken vnto all The mysteries and the secrets of God are not of the same nature that others are of They are spoken in the eare but to bee preached on the house tops And indeed thou seest that S. Paul did not sticke to apply these wordes to himselfe and the fathers haue told thee that it concernes all the Apostles And if all the Aposties then also all their disciples and successors all such as haue beleeued their word and haue receiued from them their calling to teach the word wee may say all Christians all the faithfull all the sheepe of our great sheepheard For saith he my sheep heare my voice Ioh. 10. they vnderstand not the voice of a stranger they flie backe from him We may say the very Catholike vniuersall Church For it is said vnto her Harken ô daughter Ps 45.10 consider and incline thine eare And how often hath it bin told vs that that which is said to Peter is said to all his successours and to the whole Church And for what reason should it not hold herein also To bee short when our Lord saith vnto his Apostles Hoc facite do this thou drawest from thence a perpetuall institution of a Sacrament of a sacrifice when God therefore saith here solemnly Hunc audite Heare him What right hast thou to restrain it to these few and to some peculiar mystery to the end that all thinges may be lawfull vnto you With what face canst thou deny that these words doe containe a lesson which is to bee continuall and vniuersall vnto the ende of the world how to limit the faith and life of a Christian within the compasse of Christ his voice of Christ his lawe of Christ his schoole which is the only Lawgiuer the only Master and only teacher in his Church But there is more in it yet for this lesson is more necessary for vs then it was then for them or at any other time whatsoeuer since his Apostles For vs I say on whome the last ages are come for vs whom so many ages by a consequent so many forestalled in their iudgement haue preuented by anticipat opinioÌ„s by inueterated customs by presidents of antiquitie by renowne and maiestie which wil offer to part stakes with the Godhead and make themselues to be heard aboue the sonne of God aboue the Father himselfe For is there almost any age that hath not brought forth its own teachers Any teacher that would not haue his priuat opinions his owne inuentions I might say heresies And is there any of them that hath not built his own stubble on Christs fouÌ„dation sowne his owne tares in Christs field And how may al this be remedied Onely by this word alone Heare him heare none other let euery other voice be suspected by you Vnto him that sear cheth for the truth doubteth of his way and seeketh life he who is the truth the way and the life which also wil teach them doth of his own accorde offer himselfe And where then shall wee seek him This againe was an easie matter for his Apostles which had him at hand which were dayly in his company and did as it were draw it out of his breast For S. Paul likewise to whom it was yet graunted to heare him though in lightning in thunder But whither sendest thou vs to heare him He which is asceÌ„ded into heauen and fitteth at the right haÌ„d of the Father will not descend from thence vntill he comes to iudge the worlde And in the mean time what shal become of our doubtings Await patiently our Lord is not so farre from thee as thou imaginest Say not in thy heart Rom. 10. v. 6 7. 8. who shall ascend into heaven That is to bring Christ from aboue Or who shall descend into the deepe That is to bring Christ againe from the dead The word is neere thee This is the word of faith The Gospell which we read by the grace of our God which we preach Iesus Christ hath not left vs Orphans Hee hath not beene preuented by death hauing death in his owne power He is not dead without making a Testament nor gon from earth vp into heauen without a last will By his Testament he speaketh yet at this day and did speake in all the ages past and giueth his law to his family A Bastard he is or vnthankful that doth not heare him It is his Gospell and his holy Scriptures in the which he liueth and teacheth and iudgeth and beareth rule in his Church This Gospel by whose rule hee directeth the faithfull correcteth and reproueth the hereticks and vnbeleeuers and putteth a difference between the one and the other Of which S. Ireneus tels thee That Gospell which the Apostles haue preached haue they since given and delivered vnto vs tradiderunt in the Scriptures by the will of God to bee the foundation of our faith Then is it not by occasion only or by their owne instinct as some would make vs Beleeue August de â—onâ—enâ— â—vang l. 1. S. Augustin All that which our Lord would that wee should haue concerning his â—â—tieÌ„s and his sayings he hath commanded saith he to his Apostles to write it as with his owne hands As if therefore hee had writtten it himselfe if wee read it wee heare himselfe And S. Cyrill addeth All that Cyril l. 12 in loh c. 68. which they haue thought to suffice as well for manners as for doctrine Will we bee more able then they S. Iohn also the beloued Disciple of our Lord Ioh. 20. v. 31. These things are written not casually not by humane instinct but that you might beleeue that Iesus is that Christ that son of God and that in beleeving yee might haue life through his name And this beleeuing truely presupposeth hearing according to the wordes of the Apostle Faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God The Gospell hath succeeded the law but as the truth succeedeth the shadow and manhood infancie that the doctrin might be made cleane and the condition of the Church amended God not being content that his lawe had bin written with his owne finger commaunded also that it should bee written in a booke that they should look in it that euery houshold from their first yeares should bee instructed in it Truly Christ the son of God our only lawgiuer hath in like manner prouided for his Gospell being to
worship them call vpon them is there any thing in all this wherof God may complaine To whom doth this honour redounde but to him his Saints beeing glorified in their images he in his Saintes But know thou will he answere thee that God as he is a Spirit so he will haue such as worship him in spirit and truth he wil be worshipped as he himselfe hath commanded and not after the fansies of men Know also that an image is a teacher of lies Habak 2 v. 18. and maketh of men beasts and confoūdeth those that are inclined therevnto and as for those Masters that haue giuē you images insteede of Masters they did this since the time that they are become ignorant and carelesse and haue bin dispensed withall for not preaching my Gospell dumbe Pastors as they were themselues they haue givē thee these dumbe preachers But frō the beginning it was not so before the law and vnder the law for the space of fower thousand yeares the church of God hath had no images To haue them or not to haue them as some particular liverie did then put a difference betweene the beleeuer and the infidell Yea and for eight hundred yeares together since the time that by mee grace was come into the world in the better part of Europe in France it selfe there were none of them I therefore say vnto you Of the ignorance of your Masters doe not you make your knowledge make not your Christianitie of the imitation and emulation of Paganisme The word of the Lord standeth fast for ever That which once he hath ordained hee never superannuateth nor disanulleth Let another proceed I know Lord that thou art the Lambe which takest away the sinnes of the world But wee are told also of a certaine fire at our going out of this world wherein wee must be purged and must for all this pay and make euen our rekoning what must I beleeue in this matter And therevpon hee will tell thee all that which the holy Scripture teacheth vs hast thou not read what my Prophets say That I was wounded for your transgressions Esai 53. v 5. and broken for your iniquities that the chastisemēt of your peace was vpō me God which is al iustice all mercy will he haue the same debt paid twise Zacharie saith There shall be a fountaine opened to the house of David Zacharie 13. v. 1. to the Church for sinne for every vncleanesse whatsoeuer and I verily am this fountaine a fountaine that neuer dryeth vppe to what purpose serues thy fire if this water doe suffice And that this water is not sufficient who can say it without blasphemie But yet if thou wilt haue a fire also heare what Iohn the Baptist saith Matth. I baptize thee with water and with fire Thy spirit indeed with a spirituall fire euen with mine own spirit And here thou wilt reply for thou art for bidden to yeeld But S. Augustine and S. Gregorie doe not they speak of a fire to the which wee must goe when wee depart out of this world Doe not they say thee it is not altogether incredible that there is one and that it may be true And at all aduentures hath it not beene a good thing to keepe the soules in such aw For how many faire Churches haue beene founded thereby how many cloisters Chappels and Masses And will you then haue the olde doubts of those men to be vnto you as articles of faith The fables of Platonikes as truth The fictiōs of Poets as sound diuinitie Our Lorde moreouer will say vnto thee He that beleeueth in the Sonne hath life euerlasting he is already gon from death to life hee that beleeueth not in him the wrath of God remaineth vpon him hee is already condemned and shall not see life Betweene these two where canst thou finde any place for this Purgatorie And then will the Sonne of God say vnto thee againe Do not stand vpon that which the Doctours tell thee thereof They could never create it From the beginning it was not so If it had beene from the beginning there is no question but the Church of Israell would haue made vse of it by so much the more because that fountaine for the cleansing of sinne was not as then opened And yet for foure thousand yeares together is there any one word spoken of it Amongst so many sacrifices and those of so many fashions is there any one word spokē of such sacrifices as were for the dead or for their sinnes And if it had been created since that time would then the Apostles haue hidden it from vs would they haue told vs. Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth they do rest from their labours If wee confesse our sinnes God is faithfull and iust The blood of his Son Iesus Christ doth purge and cleanse vs from all sinne This Purgatorie then is a strange fire in the Church such a one as quencheth her naturall heate her confidence in the merit of the Redeemer And therefore That which the Lord hath paid and quitted for vs so dearely so fully the faithfull mā needs not to buy it againe Let no servant of God therefore sel it him againe Let another also come that perhaps hath looked more deepely into it and say Master I knowe that thou hast bin made an oblation on the tree of the Crosse wiped out and vtterly abolished the handwriting that was against vs. And neuerthelesse we are told that thou art every day offered vp euery day sacrificed in Masse and herevpon is all this stirre To what opinion therefore shall we stand fast and hereupō he wil tel thee Hast thou not read what Esay saith of me His soule shall bee made an oblation for sinne The soule of the Sonne of God At what rate thē dost thou reckon her and knowest thou not that I haue giuen my flesh for the life and my blood for the remission of the sins of the world In comparison of this price all your pretended Oblations can amount to nothing Knowest thou not also that likewise all the other sacrisices of the Law are fulfilled and abolished in this one onely And here either blown vp by tradition or forestalled by custome thou wilt reply but would then our Fathers for so long time together haue made so great account of the Masse and all for nothing Why then art thou not then really with thy flesh and bones sacrificed therein every day Did not men speake of this oblation even in the time of good S. Gregorie not aboue six hundred yeares after thine incarnation The ill disposed facilitie of men in accommodating themselues to infidelitie hath brought in these things And this carnall wisdome hath beene found to be but naturall and is rightly convicted of folly before God The outward worship of Iewes and Gentiles consisted in sacrifices and when they haue been brought to the Christian faith they were willing to content them with the word
leaue this world to withdraw his voice together with his flesh from vs. hee hath perpetuated it vnto vs in his Gospell He hath giuen vs EuaÌ„gelists Apostles whose pens he hath inspired In them by them if thou wilt hee speaketh vnto thee thou needest not climbe vp into a mountaine for it or enter into a cloud or be ouertaken with feare thou needest only his bountifulnesse and grace alone of him I say speaking in these Euangelists his heauenly father telleth thee as well now as then Heare him â—â—are him in them As well as our Lord at euery table where his Sacrament is celebrated according to his institution telleth thee yet throughout the whole world Hoc facite Doe this And communicateth vnto thee on the one part his Spirit in his word on the other his body his flesh and his blood in his holy table Which also is the reason why every one of these good ancient fathers in al those conflicts of heresies did in times past betake themselues to this testament did therein take couÌ„saile from the mouth of Iesus as in old time froÌ„ God in the Arke and did therehence carie awaie healthfull answers to the peace of their conscience and the pacification of the Church Miserable men that we are if some meÌ„ had said vnto vs heare Plato hearken vnto Aristotle wee would vnderstand it so Opt S. Aug. that he had directed vs to their books and would goe to buy them at the Stationers nor would wee any way trouble our selues to seeke their persons either in Hell or in their feined Elisian fieldes But when it is said vnto vs Heare Christ we begin to wauer make as if we were very idiors but indeed are malicious aske where hee is Herevpon marke what Optatus saith that great African Doctour contesting against the Donatists Opt. Milevit l. 5. contra Parmen You Donatists say yea we Catholiks say Nay In the midst of your yea and our nay mens soules are in doubt None will beleeue you nor vs also because therefore that we are at ods we must seeke iudges The Christians saith he are the parties themselues the heathen cannot conceiue our mysteries And therfore can there be found no iudgement on earth Must wee seeke it in heaven Note here the question marke how hee answeres it But what go wee to seeke for in heaveÌ„ seeing we haue a Testament in the Gospell So long as the father is present hee chargeth every one of his childreÌ„ what they are to do There is as yet no need of any testament And so Christ gaue to these Apostles their charge whilest yet he was on earth But as an earthly Father seeing himselfe to be neere the graue maketh his will for to preuent and end all controversies betwixt his children then men goe not to seeke him in his tombe but in this will wherein he speaketh as if he liued and though dumbe yet is vnderstood so indeed Christ he that hath made the TestameÌ„t is in heaven but let vs seeke his will in his Gospell as in his testament For even these very things which some of you do now hee did euen at that time see you do them And as at that time he did foresee them as being God euerlasting vnto whom all things are knowne from eternity so without doubt hee hath manifestlie prouided against them he hath preuented all chances and anticipated all tricks and cauils heare also S. Augustin Optatus his Country-man which either had learned it of the other or was inspired by the same spirit We are brethren why striue wee one with another Our father died not without a Testament he made a will and then died died rose againe Men do pleade concerning the succession of the dead vntill the will be brought forth It being brought forth every one is silent that it may be opened rehearsed The Iudge harkeneth at tentiuely the Advocates holde their peace the Cryers cause silence the people stands in suspeÌ„se whilest that the wordes of the deceased are a reading who lyeth in his tombâ— without feeling and yet his words haue their force Christ is seated in heaven shall he bee contradicted in his Testament August in Psal 21. Open then and let vs read we are brethreÌ„ why are we at variance Let vs appease our anger our father hath not left vs without a Testament His Gospels A Testament saith S. Basill Basil de Fide vnto which nothing ought to be added It would be false nay sacriledge The Apostle saith he by a worldly example forbiddeth vs exprestie to adde any thing to the holy Scripture wheÌ„ he saith And notwithstanding no maÌ„ reiecteth the Testament of a maÌ„ or addeth any thing therevnto if it hath once beene established Wherefore we haue alwaies knowne that we must flie from every voice and all meanings which are beside the doctrin of our Lord. Beside saith he and not against And now in the mouth of these three witnesses shall not our speech be confirmed vnto you God will haue it hath appointed that his well beloued Son should be heard Heard here beneath so long as he conuersed here in his owne person and heard in his holy Gospell sealed vnto vs by his Apostles by the will of the Father and the commaÌ„dement of the Sonne since that he hath been lifted vp from this world Heard doe you tell vs in his Gospell I you to heare him Then behoveth it vs to reade May we do so without being excommunicated or anathematised A book so dangerous full of ambushes full of snares HOW the world is changed nay euen the very voice of the Church since the time of these good fathers That the law of our Lord which is to decide all our controuersies should be esteemed of in these daies as a matter of question and this Testament which ought to bring to an agreemeÌ„t the most contentious brethren as a bundle of contradictorie clauses Could this Testament euer haue beene altered Seeing that we agree in this that it could not what remaines then but that this alteration proceeds not from the truth of the thing but from the malice of the persons Thy father hath made a wil doth it not concern thee to see what hee leaueth thee and vnder what title to know also what things he chargeth thee to doe Were hee the greatest stranger in the world wouldst thou not be so curious as to reade it Hee that would conceale it from thee yea and keepe thee from reading it couldst thou beleeue he did this without fraud And being curious in euery other thing wilt thou be negligent in this Thou that seemst to bee a quicke fellow and wouldst bee esteemed of for such a one in all thy businesse wilt thou in this bee an idiot lesse then a babe Canst thou doe this without a contempt to God Canst thou doe this if Gospell and an eternall life Tell mee in thy conscience if thou hadst lived in
the time that our Lord conversed here in his flesh and hadst had the grace to acknowledge him to bee that Christ that Sonne of the living God wouldst thou haue made any difficultie or thought it to be any grievous fault or an execrable deede to heare him preach Wouldst thou not on the contrary haue gon to seeke after this divine worde euen in the midst of the wildernesse Whatsoever the Scribes and the Pharises had said vnto thee wouldst not thou haue had thine attentiue care linked to his sacred mouth And behold when he was to ascend vp into heaven for to lift you vp thither after him hee hath sealed the same vnto you in his Scriptures in his Gospels which for the greater part are nothing but his Sermons his speeches set downe by writing that thou maist read them and read them againe more distinctly more cleerely chew and chew them againe at your ease written expresly by sundry Evangelists that for thine instruction the one may giue light serue for an interpreter to the other And yet shall men make you beleeue that the pen and stile of his Evangelists and Apostles though ledde by the same Spirit by that Spirit which was promised vnto them was to bring into their memory all that which he had told them hath connected this sauing this quickning word into a dead letter a murthering and condemning letter that thou mightest abhor it and flie from it and cast it into the fire I thy selfe because of it why then what needed this worde haue bin giuen vnto vs in writing by the will of God as S. Ireneus told vs before and by the commandement of Christ as S. Augustin repeated it but that it might be reade And why should it be read lesse then the law and the Prophets by al beleeuers S. Peter called Prophesying a candle but the Gospel a Sun a full midday such a lighte as can admit no increase Truely our Sauiour wrought miracles enough in the which his diuinity appeared both effectually and euidently And for all this yet sendeth he the Iewes to the law the Prophets Search saith he the Scriptures Ioh. 5. And we finde not that they reply vnto him we are forbidden them S. Paul also exercising his Apostleship among the Iewes commeth into a Synagogue of the citie of Berea Act. 17. as he was powerfull in the holy scriptures hee preached vnto them that Iesus is the Christ What doe then those of Berea They were not ignoraunt of that so notorious vision which S. Paul saw in the way to Damascus they might likewise haue laid a foundation on such signes and miracles as confirmed his sayings And neverthelesse the Euangelist Saint Luke telleth vs that they received the word with all readinesse but by what meanes Searching the Scriptures daily whether those things were so to wit as S. Paul had preached vnto them And this is the reason why S. Luke telleth vs that they were more noble men then those which were at Thessalonica by this liue lie faith which they with a zeal mixed with knoweledge did draw out of the reading of the holy Scriptures Whence also it is that hee addeth that many of them beleeved and of honourable womē which were Grecians Women therfore at that time were not reproued but commended by the Euangelist by the holie Ghost himself for hauing read conferred and searched the holy Scriptures And that also that they might iudge of the doctrin and preaching of S. Paul that excellent Apostle Now what is it that the Gospell coulde since haue done vnto vs what euill hath it done to Christendome that we should feare or abhorre the reading thereof Truly whē as S. Iohn telleth vs these things are writtē that ye might beleeue Ioh. 20. v. 31. He telleth vs cōsequently that they are written that yee might read them and read them for to beleeue them and therfore they may be vnderstoode of vs they are not ambiguous they are fit of themselues to perswade vs and to make vs beleeue Whenas also S. Paule directed his Epistles to the churches of Rome of Corinth of Galatia of Ephesus of Philippi c which consisted of al ages sexes and conditions his purpose was not to exclude any one from them he hath admitted al of vs thereunto vnto those Epistles notwithstanding in the which hee treateth most deeplie and profoundly of the deepest and profoundest articles of the Christian faith and none of vs wil wrong him so far as to thinke that his intent was thereby to destroie them he being so powerful and so zealous in their instruction The like is also to bee thought of S. Peter and S. Iames the other Apostles But speake wee also of the church in these primitiue times Of what folly doe we accuse her which tooke so great a care to cause the newe testament to be translated into all languages that all mē might be able to vnderstand it Into the Latine the Syrian the Arabian the Egyptian the Ethiopian the Persian the Indian the Scythian the Sauromaticke the Gothes language And for what manner of men shall wee take S. Hierome and S. Chrysostome which turned it into the Sclavonian and Armenian tongues commending so expresly the reading thereof vnto all persons Chrysost Hom. 3. de Lazaro In Ioh. Hom 29. De verbo Esay Hom 2. In opere Imperf Homil 42 In Matt. Hom. 2. In Ioh. Homil. 16 In Genes Hom. 12.13.21 The one of them so farre as to say that they are the instruments of every Christian mans trade that hee ought and can no lesse want them then an artificer the implements of his shop that he must spare no cost for to buy them that hee ought to haue thē alwaies in his hād and not referre himselfe either to Monke or Clergie man but on the contrary hee ought to preiudice and iudge the sermōs of the Preachers I and his own too Ad Col. Hom 9 ad Thess Hom. 3. by reading before hand the same place which is expounded vnto them ought also to arme himselfe against the Arrians all other hereticks because it shall so happen saith he and repeats it at sundry times that then when Antichrist shall bee come with his army of heresies there shall bee left no other meanes to knowe the truth or true Christianitie by but onely tantummodò Chrysost in Opere Imperf Hom 9 by the Scriptures No more at all by visions nor by miracles The reader may find on that same subiect many homilies in the which hee can never bee cloid almost whole ones together which wee need not bring in here Origen S. Basil S. Ambrose S. Augustine S. Hierom say euery one the same also When as thē men spake of of the Scriptures quite otherwise at this day and vse as many inhibitions for to remoue vs from them as these good Fathers had exhortations for to bring vs neere them when as men tell vs as vnto little