against the prescripts of men was verie hardly forgiuen and that not by euerie man So the neglect of singing vpon an holie day in the Church what a sinne was it reckoned But forgetfulnes of God in prosperitie ingratitude towards God other such like sinnes how were they nothing accompted of I could bring forth well nigh sixe hundred such but that I thinke that this which I haue rehearsed is inough for example sake Notwithstanding I will yet relate one or two more that thereby the whole matter may the better appeare If the sacrificing Priest had by chaunce any day omitted his houres of prayer how great a sinne was that thought to bee how scarse pardonable That the same man did keepe a concubine that the same man did wholy abandon him selfe to bankettes to wine to lecherie in that there was no man which was greatly offended So if a Monke had not orderly inough finished his ceremonies good God what trembling quaking was there what anguish of minde finally what feare lest hee should fall into hell But for the same man to beare priuie grudges against his brethren for to detract from other mens fame and good name that was accompted no offence If any man vpon an holy day had done any woorke in the fielde the businesse requisite to bee done what an heinous offence what an inexpiable crime was it iudged But hee that neglecting the Sermon had spent the same day wholy in feastes riottous and reueling bankets in wine in surfeting in dansing in dicing in pastimes and sometime in bralles and fightinges he verely was thought to haue made a faire dayes woorke and to haue kept holy day verie well and deuoutly So if the Bishop shoulde haue made a married man Minister though hee were a godly and a learned man he accompted it a wicked act because it is against the canons and rules of their order though it be permitted by Gods lawes But the same man is nothing at all affraid to choose into the number of Bishops and Prelates much more into the number of Parish Priestes I doe not say now dronkardes couetous caytifes and angrie wretches but besides their extreme ignorance incestuous persons homicides parricides Church robbers dicers sorcerers that I may adde no woorse although the holie Ghoste by the mouth of Paule had flatly forbidden it So greatly doe they swallowe vp a Camel which straine at a gnatte So verely the Iewes thought it a cursed and damnable deed to pull an Oxe out of a dich vpon the Sabboth day but that Christ by speaking the woorde did heale men vpon that day that verely they obiected vnto him as the greatest crime that coulde bee And they that made a religion of it to enter the Iudgement hall namely to the end they might eate the Passeouer pure and cleane without spotte the same men were nothing affraide to crucifie an innocent and guiltlesse man to witte our Sauiour Christ Iesus But let vs returne againe to our purpose Now after that the man hath truely acknowledged his sinnes being moued thereto by repentance hath sorrowed greatly in mind for them hath trembled at the anger iudgment of God against them sighing from the bottome of his hearte hath aspired desired the grace of Christ wee will him to hope well and to be of good cheere we comfort him being sad sorrowfull by proposing setting before him the clemencie greate goodnesse of God who is woont easily to graunt pardon to the penitent to haue respect to the contrite in spirit and to him that trembleth at his sayinges We teach declare that the saluation of all men whosoeuer repent truely from their heart dependeth on the only mercie of God through Christ that Christ hath satisfied GOD by his death for the sinnes of all men and that hee by his punishment hath suffered that punishment which wee did owe to the iustice of God that Christ came into the worlde to saue sinners that Christ gaue him selfe the price of redemption for all that Christ was wounded for our iniquities and broken for our wickednesse that by Christ we were reconciled when wee were Gods enimies that by Christ wee are deliuered from the wrath of GOD that by Christes bloude we are all cleansed from our sinnes that Christ doth daily make intercession for vs at the right hande of God his father that by Christ wee are both sanctified and are the sonnes of God and haue life euerlasting Hitherto tendeth that which our Sauiour saith in Iohn So GOD loued the worlde saith hee that hee gaue his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perish but haue euerlasting life For GOD sent not his sonne into the worlde that he shoulde condemne the worlde but that the worlde through him might bee saued Hitherto also perteineth that of S. Iohn Herein the loue of GOD appeared towardes vs because GOD sent his onely begotten sonne into this worlde that wee might liue through him Herein is that loue manifest not that wee loued GOD but that hee loued vs and sent his sonne to bee a reconciliation for our sinnes Hitherto also belongeth that which S. Paule writeth to the Ephesians and to the Colossians By whome saith hee wee haue redemption through his bloude euen the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace And to the Corinthians For also our Passeouer saith hee is offered vp for vs euen Christ And againe For he which was without sinne made hee sinne that is the price of sinne for vs that wee might bee made the righteousnesse of God by him I will not stande any longer in these testimonies of Scripture For the summe of all is this That GOD through Christ is reconciled vnto vs and that Christ hath satisfied the iustice of God for the sinnes of mankinde This faith therefore is conceiued by the preaching of the Gospell For the Gospell setting downe the reconciliation of God through Christ and the satisfaction of Christ for the sinnes of men doth shew forth hope of saluation and an assured confidence to them that repent After this sorte which you haue hearde doe wee comforte him which is greeued for his offences and sorrowfull for his sinnes For wee speake not a woorde to him of Romish indulgencies of Pilgrimages of Monkes suffragies and other such like trifles We doe againe and againe inculcate and beate into his braine which is repentant for his sinnes Christ onely so as the Scripture teacheth We declare that it is Christ alone whome wee ought to vse as our Spoakesman Attourneie and Sollicitour in appeasing God that Christ is hee alone who both by the sacrifice of his bodie hath satisfied for the sinnes of mankind and in whose onely bloud and merites all mortall men ought to repose the whole trust of their saluation And that there may not remaine any little scruple in
Preachers doe daily perpetually beate into the eares and mindes of all men these other innumerable sentences of holie Scripture seeing that they preach the word diligently seeing that they are instant and vrge men in season and out of season seeing that they improue rebuke and exhorte as S. Paule warneth Timothie they are falsly accused to haue hitherto pampered and fostered to much the licentious liuing of the common people And yet notwithstanding that which our aduersaries doe obiect of vice and wickednesse which beareth such a sway in this age is as I saide before truer than I would it were Now albeit there haue bene men alwayes euen from the beginning of the Church which did professe Christianitie rather in name and title than in verie deede of which sorte Hilarie saith thus They pray because they feare they sinne because it is their will pleasure they call them selues Christians because they haue a good hope of eternitie they doe heathenish thinges because present thinges are flattering thinges they remaine not altogether impious because they haue the name of God in some honour they are not godlie because they followe such thinges as are farre from godlinesse notwithstanding I doe beleeue that all vices did scarse at any time beare such a sway in any age as in this our age Wee doe all of vs bragge and boast of our faith but wee doe not declare and shewe forth this our faith by godlie woorkes and by charitie towardes our neighbour Wee all glorie of the Gospell of Christ but wee studie not to liue worthie of the Gospell of Christ Wee teach and preach that wee haue receiued the pure religion of Christ but wee doe not perfourme in deede those thinges which are agreeable to it Wee will forsooth both bee and also bee accounted Christians which name verely ought to make vs somewhat ashamed to breake Gods commaundementes but wee doe not endeuour with all our mind and labour to leade a life after the imitatiō of Christ To be briefe we confesse God in woordes as the Apostle saith but in our deedes wee denie him So it comes to passe that for our sakes and for our sinnes and wickednesse the name of God is dispraised amongst the heathen that Christian doctrine is euill spoken of that religion it selfe is contemned despised For what goodnesse will the Turkes beleeue to bee in that religion whose woorshippers and Professours they see to be contaminated and defiled with all heinous wickednesse O ingratitude woorthie of eternall destruction Howe greatly am I affraid least for this one thing that happen to vs which our Sauiour Christ doth threaten to those cities which after so wholsome doctrine repented not of their horrible sinnes It shal be saith hee more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon and Sodome in the day of iudgement than for you The aduersaries of the Gospell which will not acknowledge their manifest errours and receiue the true doctrine ought not so much to feare this so greeuous and horrible a commination as those which euerie where glorie of the Gospell whome God hath called out of darkenesse into his maruellous light that I may vse the words of S. Peter At the least let those moste sweete admonitions and exhortations of S. Paule moue vs to godlinesse of life I beseech you brethren saith hee by the mercies of God that yee giue vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice holie acceptable vnto God which is your reasonable seruing of god And againe They that are Christes haue crucified the flesh with the affections and lustes thereof And againe That grace of God that bringeth saluation vnto all men hath appeared teaching vs that denying vngodlinesse and worldlie lustes wee shoulde liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present worlde Item Bee yee saith hee followers of God as deare children that ye may walke in loue euen as Christ hath loued vs and hath geuen himselfe for vs to bee an offering and a sacrifice of a sweete smelling sauour to God. And againe Wee are his woorkemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good woorkes which God hath prepared and ordeined that we should walke in them Hitherto perteineth that saying of Christ in Saint Matthaewes Gospell Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good woorkes and glorifie your father which is in heauen I doe omitte almost sixe hundred such like places in the Gospell Those places of Scripture ought verely to moue vs chiefly and before all other which haue the mention of Christes death and punishment ioyned with them Such an one is that saying of Saint Peter Christ saith he his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his bodie on the tree For what doeth he adde That we being dead to sinne should liue to righteousnesse The like place is that to Titus Christ saith he gaue himselfe for vs What doth he adde That he might redeeme vs from all iniquitie and purge vs to be a peculiar people vnto himselfe zealous of good woorkes And to the Galathians Which gaue himselfe for our sinnes But he addeth That he might deliuer and take vs out of this present euill worlde And to the Corinthians Christ died for all He addeth That they which liue should not liue hereafter to themselues but vnto him which died and rose againe for them And to the Colossians Christ hath reconciled you in the bodie of his fleshe through death He addeth To make you holie and vnblameable and without fault in his sight Now whom the diuell who as Iohn saith in the Reuelation seduceth the whole worlde feedeth with an hope of Gods mercie and goodnesse and whom he by that meanes reteineth still in their sinnes and forbiddeth them to feare Gods iustice let those men againe and againe see well what they doe The Lorde is mercifull and gentle saith Dauid in the Psalme But the same man saith The face of the Lorde is against them that doe euill I am the Lorde thy God shewing mercie vpon thousandes saith God in Exodus What is added To them which loue mee and keepe my commaundements I will not the death of a sinner saith God in Ezechiel What followeth But that he turne from his wayes and liue Hee that beleeueth in the sonne hath life euerlasting saith the forerunner of the Lorde in Iohn But Christ in the same S. Iohns Gospell saith They which haue done good shall come foorth into the resurrection of life but they that haue done euill into the resurrection of condemnation Iohn Baptist testifieth of Christ saying Behold that lambe of God which taketh away the sinne of the world But the same Iohn saith Repent yee of your former life and bring foorth fruite worthie amendment of life Peter in the Actes saith We beleeue that wee shall bee saued through the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ But the same Peter saith Amend your liues therefore
and turne that your sinnes may bee put away Christe him selfe in Iohn saith GOD so loued the worlde that he gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perishe but haue life euerlasting But the same Christ in Matthaewe saith Not euerie one that saith vnto mee Lorde Lorde shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but hee that doeth my fathers will which is in heauen Paule saith vnto Timothie Christ Iesus came into the worlde to saue sinners But the same Paule vnto the Corinthians saith Bee not deceiued neither fornicatours nor idolatours nor adulterers nor wantons nor theeues nor couetous persons nor dronkardes nor railers nor extortioners shall inherite the kingdome of God. I would to God I woulde to God that wee would acknowledge in parte and studie to be thankefull for so notable a benefite of GOD in restoring this sacred doctrine and that after so greate ignorance and blindnesse of men in matters perteining to saluation and which are chiefly necessarie to bee knowen Which thing verely woulde come to passe first if wee thinking vpon the infelicitie and olde superstition of former times and beeing as it were astonied at Gods greate benefites would breake foorth into the praises of God into Psalmes and hymnes into spirituall songes singing and making melodie to the Lorde in our heartes giuing thankes alwayes for all thinges vnto GOD euen the father in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ as the Apostle saith Secondly if wee woulde labour to promote and set forward the ministerie of the woorde to keepe honour to defend and manteine godlie teachers if we would labour to helpe and releeue the necessarie studies of the Church Last of all if wee woulde liue godly and holily towardes God patiently in afflictions vprghtly towardes our neighbour diligently in our duetie temperately and soberly in our diet and in our clothing honorably towardes our parentes obediently towardes our magistrates masters louingly curteously with all men liberally towards the poore needy to be short if we would liue innocently chastely soberly friendly to our enimies profitably to the Church of God fauorably to the life of men agreably to Religion consonantly to Christianitie conueniently meete for the Gospell and as S. Paule saith Liue worthie of God that is to speake most plainely if we did both loue God with our whole heart and from our verie bowelles and also if wee did beare as great good will to our neighbour as we doe to our selues if we our selues would doe that to no man which we would not haue done to vs if we were such towardes others as we would other men were towardes vs finally if we did helpe and succour alwayes our neighbour either with our substance or with our helping hand or with our good aduise and counsell not regarding euerie man his owne thinges but the thinges of other men if we did studie to profite all men yea euen our enimies to hurt no man no not if we be prouoked lastly if wee would be terrified from sinne and wickednesse rather with the loue of God than for feare if we would not loose the bridle to our lustes if we would doe nothing which ought not to be done But O our execrable abhominable ingratitude we doe not measure and ponder as it is worthie the greatnesse of Gods benefits neither doe we sufficiently consider with our selues how great commodities this doctrine instaured by God hath brought a good while agoe vnto Christendome For in how many errours were we heretofore wrapped in in how great superstitions were wee nusled in to what passe was Christian pietie come vnto was it not come to this point that it was thought a better and a more excellent thing for a man to be called a Franciscane than simply a Christian that wee did attribute much more to mans rites than to Gods preceptes that in obteining saluation we did trust rather to ceremonies than to the fauour and mercie of God or to the merite of Christ that almost altogether excluding Christ whose death was a pacification of Gods wrath against sinne wee did of our selues seeke to satisfie for our owne sinnes that wee did not onely iudge that heauen was due to our merites but also that we did sell our good woorkes of supererogation Finally that leauing and refusing God euerie man did for him selfe woorshippe reuerence adore the idol of his owne hearte I doe omitte and let passe lighter matters how that we did both feare vaine apparitions and shadowes of walking spirites and also how that wee did feigne deuise Purgatorie fire out of Virgils Aeneades how that wee gaue that seruice and honour to mortall men long since departed which should haue bene giuen to God onely how that they whiche were deliuered from the plague gaue thankes to Saint Roch they whiche returned safe from battell gaue thankes to Saint George they which had escaped shipwrack gaue thankes to Saint Nicholas they which had gotte good store of riches gaue thankes to I can not tell what Saint Erasmus they whiche had a plentifull and fruitfull vineyarde gaue thankes to S. Vrban they which were eased from the torment of toothachegaue thankes to Saint Apolline they whiche had conceiued borne children without any greate paine gaue thankes to Saint Margaret For wee of these had plainely made Ethnikall and Heathenish Gods and as the Gentiles in times past were woont to pray vnto Aesculapius and Apollo for the depulsion and driuing away of diseases vnto Mars for victorie vnto Neptune for a prosperous nauigation vnto Iuno for riches vnto Bacchus for plentie of wine vnto Ceres for abundance of corne vnto Lucina for an happie childbirth so wee were woont to begge and craue the like benefites of them whom wee speake of Yea as amongest the Ethnikes in olde time euerie citie or region had their Gods whom they did peculiarly woorshippe for as the Poet saith Cecropia serues as God Minerua wise and Creete Diana dame Hipsiphile soile adores the black-smith Vulcane halt and lame But Sparta woorshippes Iunoes grace Micaena honors Pelops stock The coastes of Menalis serues that Syluan God which Faunus hight And eke Lauinia lande doth woorshippe Mars that warlik wight So at this day Venice hath her S. Marke in whose tutelship she stands Millain hath S. Ambrose Paris hath S. Denis Collin hath the three Kings or the three Magi Francia hath S. Chilian Polonia hath S. Hedeuigis finally other haue other Saintes to defend them Also euerie seuerall companie and order of craftes men hath adopted their peculiar patrons and as it were houshold gods to defend them as for example the Goldsmithes haue got them S. Eulogius the Shoomakers S. Crispin the Fullers S. Seuerus the Painters S. Luke the Physicians S. Cosma S. Damian the Lawyers S. Fuon the Students of artes and liberall sciences S. Catharine If wee would repeate call
¶ A NOTABLE discourse of the happinesse of this our age and of the ingratitude of men to God for his benefites Written in Latine by that godly learned man Iohn Riuius and now newly Englished for the comfort and commoditie of the vnlearned by W. W. Student Iohn 17. 3. This is life euerlasting that men knowe thee to be the onely verie God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ Horat. Interdum vulgus rectum videt est vbi peccat Imprinted at London for Tobie Cooke and Philippe Eede 1578. To the Right Honorable M. Doctour Wilson one of the principall Secretaries to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie and of her Highnesse most honorable priuie Counsell W. W. wisheth increase of all godlinesse in this present life and in the life to come eternall happinesse in heauen THE wonderfull varietie and diuersitie of opinions and iudgements amongst the Philosophers concerning mans summum bonum or chiefest happinesse in this life is not vnknowne to your Honour and other learned men how that some said it did consist onely in vertue othersome in beautie othersome in honour othersome in wealth othersome and that no small summe in pleasure and some in a certeine mixture or medlie of all these It were needlesse to reckon vp in this place all their idle fansies fond dreames about this one point Howbeit I would certifie the simpler sort of this thing how that all of them erred and wandered in bywayes how that euerie seuerall sect and familie of Philosophers shot farre wide of the marke For as S. Paule testifieth They became vaine in their thoughtes and their foolish heart was full of darknesse When they professed themselues to be wise they beecame fooles We Christians that haue bene trained vp in Christes schole haue learned a better profession of our Maister and Sauiour Iesus Christ We know and are taught so to say that God maketh the wisedome of the world foolishnesse We are instructed and so we stedfastly beleeue that the onely true felicitie of this our life and the true happinesse of this our age standeth in the publishing and preaching of Christes Gospell which is to the Iewes a stumbling blocke to the Graecians foolishnesse and to the Papistes new learning but in deede the power of God to the saluation and the wisedome of God to the instruction of as many as are called both of the Iewes Graecians and Papistes This glorious Gospell of our God was first preached here on earth by our Redeemer and Sauiour Christ himselfe then after his ascension it was carried into all partes of the worlde by the Apostles and their successours with such successe that Christes spirituall kingdome was by the scepter of his worde enlarged farre and wide Which thing the deadly enimie of mankind Sathan greatly enuying knowing that the flourishing state of Christes kingdome would be the decaie and downefall of his laboured by all meanes possible to beare downe his scepter and scepter bearers by force and violence which thing he after a sorte brought to passe by raising vp the ten bloudie persecutions against the Christians vnder the ten Tyrantes or Emperours of Rome But the Diuell seeing that this his former policie would not preuaile seeing that the Christians the more they were tormented for their faith the more they grewe and multiplied deuised to deale no more by violence and bloudshed but chaunging himselfe into an Angel of light sought meanes how in time of peace he might withdrawe men by little and little from the true Religion of Christ to the counterfeit and hypocriticall religion of Antichrist This craftie counsell and pestilent practise pleased the subtile Serpent well which wrought this effect that it eclipsed and diminished the fulnesse beautifull light of Christes kingdome which was onely mainteined by the sworde of the spirit that is to say by the worde of god And because he might the more easily leade the people out of the way of trueth his purpose was wholy hitherto bent to ouerwhelme the candle vnder the bushell to darken the light of the Gospell which he brought accordingly to passe by corrupting and infecting the Priesthood with the glorious pompe and vanities of the worlde with the wanton delightes and vaine pleasures of this present life Then euen then he set Antichrist of Rome in his royall seate as his vicar and lieftenant generall there to rule and reigne as God of this world in the children of vnbeliefe bewitching them with strong delusions that they shoulde beleeue lies that all they might be damned which beleeued not the trueth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse This is that man of sinne by which is ment not one particular man but a succession of men as by the beare in Daniel is not ment onely one King of the Persians but a succession of Kinges this I say is that man of sinne and that aduersarie that exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he doth sit as God in the Temple of God shewing himselfe that he is god This is that wicked man whose comming is by the effectuall working of Sathan with all power and signes and lying woonders and in all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse among them that perishe because they receiued not the loue of the trueth that they might be saued By this meanes Sathan lulled as it were the worlde a sleepe for the space of these seuen hundred yeeres last past Now some man will maruell much how the Pope should growe to such an vnbridled authoritie as he hath gotten Surely we can assigne no other cause but this such was the will of God and such was the depth of his secrete iudgement for the contempt of his Gospell Was it not I pray you reuealed to S. Iohn that the purple whoore of Babylon shoulde make all the Kinges and Princes of the earth and the inhabitantes thereof to drinke of the golden cuppe of wine full of the abhominations and filthinesse of her fornication The verie beginning and foundation of Antichristes kingdome was laied euen in the Apostles time For S. Paule writ to the Thessalonians that the mysterie of iniquitie began then to woorke but it was then hindered by the brightnesse and puritie of doctrine receiued in the Primatiue Church Afterwardes it grewe vp by degrees and specially by three steppes First by the great errors of the heretikes in the East Church which Chrysostome doth call the armies of Antichrist Secondly by the lamentable contention and emulation amongst the Christian Bishoppes in the Orientall partes Thirdly by the superstitious deuotion for I will not call it liberall donation of Princes and Emperours For after that the wicked parricide Phocas Emperour of Constantinople had geuen the Primasie or name of vniuersall Bishop vnto Boniface the third the Popes authoritie or rather tyrannie increased excedingly Then they sought not onely to be Lordes within themselues but also to be aboue all higher powers yea aboue the
and benignitie who hath called vs againe vnto the way of trueth when we were wrapped in so many errours who hath conuerted vs from vnpure superstition to sincere religion and pietie who hath reuealed his mysteries which lay hid many ages and who hath disclosed the secretes of his will who hath brought vs vnto the true knowledge of the sonne of God in which knowledge mannes saluation consisteth of whom wee neither had a right opinion neither did wee knowe what a safegard and succour wee had in him who dispelling and beating away all foggie mistes of ignorance in which wee were hath restored vnto vs the light of his Gospell as the Sunne being taken from the earth lastly who hath taught vs to call vppon him truely to worshippe and serue him sincerely and who hath permitted vs being conuerted vnto him to see and behold his glorie as Dauid saith in the Psalmes which we could not see before being blinded with superstition and with the worship of dead men I will make an end after I shall haue added one certeine thing I haue spoken and entreated hitherto of the felicitie or happinesse of this our age and nowe a great while I haue vttered foorth many wordes of this matter But some man will say vnto mee Doe we not see that after this renouation of celestiall doctrine God hath afflicted the world with so many and so great calamities As for example sake with force and rage of tempestes with casualties by fire by lighteninges with scarsitie or dearth of victualles with penurie of all thinges with hunger and famine with the plague and pestilence also with diseases so straunge that their verie names are vnknowen of the Physicians with destructions and deuastations with earthquakes with deluges or floudes of water with incursions of wilde beastes with annoyance of locustes and chiefly with so many so long so cruell so pestiferous so miserable so deadlie and dolefull warres yea and the same most commonly ciuil warres whereby it comes to passe that Germanie doeth destroy her selfe with her owne strength Our aduersaries are not ashamed to assigne the cause both of these and other euils to the religion now instaured And as that wicked Porphyrius coniectured that the cause of the plague which reigned and raged so long in his time was the worshipping of Christ because that Aesculapius and the rest of their gods which would haue succoured them were neglected so at this day these men what harme or ill soeuer happen publikely doe attribute it to the doctrine nowe renewed and reuiued for that the Masse and old auncient ceremonies which might appease Gods ire and which might turne away all euilles from vs were refused and reiected Yea and the Ethnikes in times past transferred the cause of all common casualties and mischances vppon the enuie of the Christians and they thought that the Christians were the cause of all publike destructions and of all discommodities which befell to the common people as Tertullian saith Si Tybris inquit ascendit in maenia si Nilus non ascendit in arua si coelum stetit si terra mouit si fames si lues statim Christianus ad leonem acclamatur Oro vos ante Tiberium id est ante Christi aduentum quantae clades orbem vrbem caeciderunt c. That is to say If Tyber saith he runne and flowe ouer the walles if Nilus doeth not ouerflowe and water the fieldes if the heauens haue stoode still if the earth hath moued if famine if pestilence haue come amongst men they crie out streightway Away with the Christians haue them hence to the Lions I beseeche you before Tiberius that is before the comming of Christ what great destructions and calamities fell vpon both the whole world and also vpon the citie of Rome it selfe c. Wee will heere bring in nothing concerning the causes why God doth afflict the world with so many and sundrie calamities for the tractatition and handling of that matter doeth not perteine properly to this argument which we haue in hand This I say briefly that these calamities of the world are no lette and impediment why this our age should bee lesse happie for the renouation of the heauenlie doctrine For if wee will iudge aright and truely the benefite which God bestowed vppon vs in the restitution of the Gospell it is so great that looke what calamitie soeuer chaunceth it is easily ouerwhelmed with the greatnesse of the benefite and it scarse appeareth especially amongst them which haue any care and regarde of their owne saluation For these men because they knowe assuredly that this is life euerlasting that wee acknowledge the true GOD and Iesus Christ whom he hath sent they esteeme so much this notice and knowledge of the true God and of his sonne Iesus Christ that in comparison of this one thing they set naught by all humane and earthlie thinges whether they be good or bad And seeing that they are throughly persuaded to haue God friendlie and fauourable vnto them for Christes sake they doe easily contemne and despise all other things they doe easily suffer all aduersitie miserie yea they do not feare dread no not death it selfe They knowe that their sinnes are pardoned and forgiuen them for Christ that they are reconciled vnto God that they are adopted to be the sonnes of God that the inheritaunce of eternall life is promised vnto them they haue learned to call vpon God truely and vnfeignedly These thinges they so much esteeme and make so greate account of that whatsoeuer befalles to them they beare it patiently and with a quiet minde yea though the brused world should slide and fall and ruines rush vppon their heades vnwares as the Poet saith yet they would not bee affraide or dismaide awhit They well remember that they haue no stedfast seate nor sure dwelling place in earth but that they are here in exile and banishment and that they liue heere as Pilgrims and straungers Therefore they alwayes sigh deepely and desire feruently that eternall and celestiall countrie and they vse this worlde as though they vsed it not as the Apostle teacheth vs to doe They doe beleeue that death is not the finall end of life but a beginning of blessed immortalitie and a passage out of this world vnto the father Wherefore they desire both with S. Paule to bee dissolued and also with Simeon to departe hence in peace In the meane space whatsoeuer happeneth they suffer it stoutely and with a good courage They put all their hope and trust in Christ alone Neither for all that are the godlie no whit moued either with publike euilles or priuate calamities for they cā not put off the nature of man and they can not refuse the common sense of nature but they doe iudge that our sinnes haue deserued them and they reckon that in respect and consideration of Gods will all thinges are to
Pilgrimages instituted for religion and deuotion sake What say they else The vse of images say they is acceptable and gratefull to God and we doe well to fall downe flat before them calling vpon the Saintes whome they represent These verely are plaine and euident inough neither neede they any larger explication Let vs therefore goe on forward to the rest We must firmely and stedfastly beleeue say they that there is after this life a Purgatorie for soules departed in which is payed the punishment as yet due for sinnes Notwithstanding they may be succoured and holpen by the sacrifice of the altar by prayer by fasting by almes deedes and by other workes of the liuing as also by indulgencies that they may the sooner by that meanes be deliuered and set free from thence Now verely that appeareth plainely which I saide in the beginning what the aduersaries and enimies of the Gospell goe about namely to take quite away at once all faith all godlinesse all holinesse all religion yea the pure and sincere seruice of God finally to burie and ouerwhelme Christ him selfe the authour of mans saluation also to thrust vpon vs their owne vaine dreames the foolish fantasticall and doting deuises of men yea doctrines of Diuels as the Apostle calleth them to the end that we should herafter direct all the actions of our life by the rule and squire of the Popes will nothing at all regarding either what God willeth and commaundeth or what he prohibiteth and forbiddeth vs to doe whome the Papistes because they are flat Epicures doe neither wishe to be mercifull vnto them nor feare him when he is displeased with them But let vs render immortall thankes vnto God the eternall father of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ which hath suffered the follie and madnesse of the Papistes to be so manifested at this day that no man now can doubt any more what opinion and persuasion all of vs ought to haue of them For they are indeed deceiuers of mens mindes as S. Paule saith vnto Titus and men that turne away from the trueth yea verely as the same Apostle saith vnto Timothie men that resist the trueth as Iannes and Iambres withstood Moses But they shall preuaile no longer For as the madnesse of those Magicians was then euident to all so the madnesse of the Papistes is now reuealed to all men For as they are indeed so they are also accounted of all men seducers and deceiuers the enimies of the crosse of Christ Epicures which haue their bellie for their God which minde earthly thinges which bewitch men that they may not beleeue the trueth Wherefore seeing that this madnesse of the Papistes is now manifested to all men no man can doubt but that no Christian ought to haue any societie and fellowshippe with such kinde of persons And if perhaps any man heretofore hath doubted of it let him now verely cease to stand in doubt any more knowing the impietie of their doctrine by which they labour to ouerthrow quite from the foundation our Christian Common wealth Fooles they are and mad men which with the Giants wage warre with God him selfe and hope to haue good successe in the matter seeing that it is moste truely spoken of the wise man There is no counsell nor wisdome against the lord But that I may come now at the length vnto that for which I haue spoken these thinges of the follie and madnesse of the Papistes we ought woorthily all of vs to giue as greate thankes to the immortall God as wee can either conceiue in minde or vtter in woordes for the renewing of Ecclesiasticall doctrine and for the disclosing of almost innumerable errours superstitions and vices commonly tearmed abuses Now what kinde of errours and how great haue beene heretofore in the Church if any man be ignorant of them he may with a litle labour coniecture what they are euen out of the bookes which the enimies of the Gospell haue written out of which wee haue brought foorth these few for a shew They doe not vnderstand at all what faith is what the Gospell is what absolution is finally what Christ is They teach that men ought onely to beleeue whatsoeuer the chaire of Rome hath deliuered out in tradition doth deliuer out and shall deliuer out They will haue men to make choyce of meates contrarie to the doctrine of the Apostle yea without the case of offence They doe allowe and wonderfully commend to all men inuocation vpon dead Saintes which thing commeth very neere to idolatrie They doe approue woorshipping of images Pilgrimages to holy places as to Rome to Treuirs to Compostella and such like They doe confidently affirme and hold that there is a Purgatorie from whence indulgencies and pardons may release deliuer vs And who can rehearse the whole rable of those doctrines which they teach all which are full fraught both with impietie and superstition Who hereafter will not maruell and wonder at the blindnesse of the Papistes in this so happie an age in which after most grosse mistie darkenesse of errours wherein we went all astray there is restored by the great bountifulnesse of God a certeine light vnto the world Indeede all Gods benefites bestowed vpon vs ought to excite and stirre vs vp to be thank full vnto him but yet that principall and singular benefite of God in instauring the doctrine of the Church than which there could no greater gifte be giuen to men on earth I say that onely benefite is it which of all other wee ought chiefly to maruell at which we ought moste to celebrate and for which before all thinges wee ought to be thank full And the greater the blindnesse of the enimies of the Gospell is so much the more verely doe they owe vnto the immortall God whose eyes of the mind God hath opened in this age to acknowledge and behold the trueth and veritie But in this felicitie and happinesse of our age great and incredible is the ingratitude of men to God at this day which I am constrained to confesse not without great sorrowe and griefe Of which argument and matter I haue within these fewe dayes last past compiled a booke being happely moued and stirred vp thervnto by the absurditie and impietie of a certeine writing which the enimies of the Gospell published abroade in Printe which booke of mine most deare friend I thought good to consecrate and dedicate vnto you though it be vnpolished and written Extempore and that for these two causes both for to declare my good will towardes you and also for your famous godlinesse towardes God and singular care of Christian religion which zeale and feruent affection I doe againe againe pray from my hearte vnto God that he woulde daily more and more augment and encrease in you The sonne of God our Lorde and Redeemer Iesus Christ keepe and preserue you with all yours safe and sounde
the image of S. Apolline that they might not be troubled with the tooth ache They fell downe flat vpon their knees before these Saintes pictures they fixed their eyes firmely and stedfastly vpon them they spake with them they kissed them they requested what they would of them Now how much this thing doeth differ from idolatrie let other men iudge For whereas they say that they doe not worship the pictures them selues but the persons after whose similitude likenesse those images are either painted or grauen and to whose names they were consecrated it is no good shift For the Gentiles which were giuen to the worshipping of idols were in the same minde that they would say that they did woorshippe pray vnto and reuerence them the likenesse of whose countenaunces those images did expresse and represent vnto vs which thing also Plato if I be not deceiued doth mention in a certeine place The same men in those dayes attributed no lesse yea rather if wee will confesse the trueth more authoritie to those feigned and forged fables of Saintes which falsly they call the golden Legend sith that as one of their owne Popishe flocke testifieth it was written Ab homine ferrei oris plumbei cordis that is to say of a fellowe that had an yron face a leaden hearte also they gaue no lesse credite to the historie of Lombardus than they did to the most certeine word of God and to the Scripture giuen by inspiration of god Yea they esteemed more the authoritie of mans traditions than of Gods precepts of the Decretals than of the Gospell of custome than of veritie The same men at those dayes if perhappes they had vowed to any Saint one dayes fast and hunger or a Pilgrimage for to recouer their health finally if they had bound them selues with the promise of any vow whatsoeuer they tooke greate care to performe it most deuoutly and holily But that which they had promised in their Baptisme to renounce the Diuell and all his pompes that I may vse the wordes of Arnobius they neuer thought to performe the faith of such a vow neither did they heere thinke that they were greatly bound by any religion to pay such a vow and promise The same men at those dayes that they might obteine pardon and remission of their sinnes vsed to runne to Rome there to walke those stations in the citie which other men did vse in visiting after the manner certeine Chappels and Oratories there they obteined with a greate summe of monie the Popes bull to the end that they both tarying at home falling downe before the altars and images of Saintes at set times and dayes of the yeare might be made partakers of such pardons as well as if they had bene present in the citie of Rome to haue walked their Romish stations The same our auncestours heeretofore thought that they did pacifie and satisfie God sufficiently for their sinnes by fastinges watchinges lying vpon the ground and such like trifles and follies which breede in mens mindes nothing but superstition when as truely when all is done there can be no other satisfaction but the onely death of the sonne of God who as S. Iohn saith is the one onely propitiation and reconciliation for our sinnes Neither doe I speake these wordes as though I did mislike dissallow euery chastening of the bodie if any man labour or goe about by this meanes that is by fasting by abstinence from meates by sobrietie by godlie studies and good exercises to represse to tame and as it were to bridle the violent rage and fiercenesse of the flesh which waxeth too lasciuious and exulteth too immoderately for I doe deeme that chiefly to be allowed of and thinke it to be verie necessarie but I doe reprehend and finde faulte with the froward and peruerse opinion of men which did beleeue that almost onely such thinges were of vertue and power to satisfie for sinnes and which imagined that the whole seruice of God and true godlinesse did consist well nigh in these alone when as in the meane time in this hardnesse streightnesse and austeritie of life they beeing touched and girded but with a worde woulde oftentimes rage furiously like madde men woulde burne in desire of reuengement woulde stirre vp tumultes and Tragoedies in a matter of nothing that I may adde nothing more greeuous So little true and sincere pietie towardes God was there in those trifles which pretended such an honest and goodlie shewe The same men in those dayes if they had bene daily present at the sacrifice of the Masse if they had bene both at morning and euening prayer chiefly if they had bene sprinkled with holy water vpon holy dayes in the solemne procession of supplicantes or if they had tasted at all in the Church as the fashion is of consecrated hallowed salt howsoeuer otherwise they did leade their life they iudged now all to be safe sure as men who hauing all the spottes of their wickednesse and iniquitie put away if they were polluted and defiled with any were now by such an aspersion of water or tast of salte beecome pure on euery part and holy as the Canon lawe teacheth The same men if peraduenture they had not so duely obserued those fastes which were proclamed at set dayes and times of the yeare did now thinke that they did offend more greeuously than if they had violated and broken the commaundements of God him selfe On the contrarie side if they had kept and obserued these fastes they were persuaded that they had now deserued and merited remission of sinnes that they honoured God with as greate an honour as might be that they had giuen to God a godlie worshippe and an acceptable duetie So greate superstition was there in these thinges which men had instituted and ordeined The same men if they had iterated and repeated to a certeine number of beades the Lordes prayer and the wordes of the Angel saluting the virgin Marie yea and that slouthfully and as it were doing an other thing onely to fill vp their number and to make a sounde without sense they did beleeue that they had now incredibly delighted Gods eares that they had pacified and appeased Gods wrath that they had truely praised God that they had duely prayed vnto him The same men of that time if they had continued all their life long to increase their wealth by any meanes whatsoeuer to heape vp goods and riches by right or by wrong to circumuent and defraud their neighbour to robbe and spoile the poorer sorte by vsurie if at the length when they laie on their death bed they had either taken order for the image of some Saint to be placed in the Church or by their last will and Testament had geuen I cannot tell what little legacie to the poore they thought that they did depart out of this life pure and
commend vnto vs as namely the feare of God repentance trust in God loue towardes him from the whole heart the confession and propagation of the Gospell calling vpon God in trouble and aduersitie thankesgeuing in prosperitie cheerefulnesse in miseries and afflictions perpetuall praise of God iustice and vpright dealing towardes thy neighbour diligence and painefulnesse in thy office duetie sobrietie temperance chastitie and such like And those which are next in place to these to ouercome anger to put away hatred to represse the desire of reuenge to refuse glorie to loue our enimies to blesse them which curse vs to doe good to them which hate vs to pray for them which hurt vs raile vpon vs and reuile vs to recompense an iniurie with a benefite to giue meate to the hungrie drinke to the thirstie almes to the needie to interteine and receiue straungers into thine house to couer and cloath the naked to visite the sicke to admonishe him that is in an errour to teache and instruct the ignorant to helpe the perplexed and doubtfull man with thine aduise and counsell to make enimies and those that disagree friendes againe to comforte the afflicted and such like What other thing doth the Apostle S. Paule teache but that we should alwayes endeuour not trusting to our owne strength but chiefly to Gods assistance and labour to liue godly iustly innocently vprightly holily chastely soberly temperately profitably to the Church of God friendly for the life of men agreeably to Christianitie and in summe to liue worthie the Gospell of Christ He willeth vs to walke in newnesse of life and not to serue sinne any more to offer vp our bodies a liuely holy and an acceptable sacrifice to God to crucifie our flesh with the affections and desires thereof to keepe our selues immaculate and vnspotted of the world He warneth and exhorteth vs that we be renewed in the spirit of our minde and that we put on the newe man which is created to the image and similitude of God in righteousnesse and true holinesse that we be followers of God as deare children that we walke worthie of God and as becommeth Saintes supporting one another through loue endeuouring to keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace being courteous and tender hearted one to another He biddeth vs to tame alwayes and to represse our naturall viciousnesse and our wicked affections neither to waxe proud and loftie in prosperitie nor to be too much deiected and cast downe in aduersitie whatsoeuer we doe to doe all to the glorie of God no man to regard his owne things but rather those thinges which are other mens Moreouer to be such that no man may be offended at any time with vs but that we prouoke others by our good example vnto godlinesse and vertue Finally he exhorteth vs that we pray without ceasing that in all things we giue thankes to God that we alwayes sigh after heauenly things and despise humane and earthly thinges Euerie where verely both this same Apostle and the rest doe deterre dehort vs from whoorehunting from obscenitie and filthinesse of wordes from hatred and heartburninges from spitefull enuie from vaineglorie from ambition from auarice from pride from surfeting and gluttonie and from all other vice and wickednesse And before all things they doe perpetually inculcate that faith which looke what an one it is within such an one doeth loue towardes our neighbour shew it forth represent it to be without Thus you haue heard what be the duties of a Christian man and the workes which are truely good acceptable in deede to God and which God hath ordeined that we should walke in them as S. Paule saith to the Ephesians And these verely are those good workes which both giue euident testimonie of our faith declare our minde to be gratefull mindfull of Gods benefites towardes vs commend vnto Infidels our Christian profession which allure inuite our neighboures to the studie of godlinesse If these thinges had bene in former ages diligently daily inculcated into the eares mindes of all men truely there had not so many superstitions so many vices abuses crept into the Church as there did of which now we will goe on forward to speake and to intreate of the rest which remaine behind But first let vs say somewhat of the Pope the God vpon earth as the Papistes doe call him They were drowned in a deepe and great errour which were persuaded throughly that the Bishop of Rome was by Gods law head of the catholike Church the high Priest of Christian religion the vicar of Christ and successour of S. Peter as it were a certeine God amongst men partaker of both natures with Christ and superiour to an vniuersall Synod or generall Counsell to whom it was lawfull to broach a newe doctrine which was contrarie to the doctrine of the Gospell to make a new article of our faith in the Creede to prescribe vnto all men a new forme and manner of liuing who lastly might commaund euen the Angels themselues as his garde attending his becke and who might at his pleasure thrust out of Heauen whome he would yea those that were guiltlesse and had neuer deserued it I omitte and let passe howe that he commandeth that all the decrees of the Apostolicall seate shoulde bee receiued as if they had bene confirmed and ratified by the diuine voyce of Peter himselfe that he will haue vs to beare the yoke put vpon vs by the holy seate yea though it be scarse tollerable that he doth suffer him selfe to be reproued and rebuked of none though he doeth leade an innumerable sorte of soules to Hell with him that he doeth take away in the Supper of the Lord rites instituted by our Sauiour Christ that he transferreth to his owne constitutions that glorie which is due vnto God alone that he goeth on still to manteine and defende doctrines of Diuels for so doeth the Apostle call them concerning forbidding of marriage concerning the vse and choyce of meates and finally concerning such like thinges that he glorieth that both the swordes are giuen to him that he challengeth vnto him selfe the power both of the celestial terrestriall Empire according vnto that saying Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terra that is All power is giuen vnto mee in Heauen and in earth that he affirmeth himselfe to haue the right of translating the Monarchie which Cesar now obteineth to be brief that he compelleth religion to serue his profite that hee ruleth and reigneth like a King that he encreaseth his dominions by warres that he possesseth and holdeth straunge cities by force by fraud finally by any pretence whatsoeuer in summe that he desireth him selfe to bee set both aboue the Scripture and the Church and almost aboue God him selfe that hee maketh a gaine of
of which by the way I haue saied somewhat before concerning the impure single life of Priestes concerning the superstition hypocrisie and tyrannie of the mendicant or begging Friers to be briefe of Pharasaisme in the Frieries and Monasteries of Epicurisme in the Collegies of Canons of Iudaisme in Ecclesiasticall rites of Paganisme in the life and manners of the Christians of the former age of so many snares of mens consciences of the feigned miracles of Saintes almost sixe hundred such like deuises But I hope that euerie man will by these few which we haue spoken of easily coniecture the rest which remaine which are very many For as I suppose I haue shewed sufficiently what hath bene the state of Christianitie now of late yeares and many ages past and I haue declared what superstitions what faultes what abuses haue crept into the Church I beseech God the father of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ that as he hath restored the light of his Gospell to those which heretofore were compassed with the thicke cloudes of errours so he woulde open the eyes of the aduersaries of the Gospell that they may be conuerted from darkenesse to light from the power of Sathan to God finally from the vaine superstition of their auncestours and forefathers to the worshippe of true godlinesse Amen The second parte of this Discourse Wherein is declared what hath bene amended and corrected by our men in Ecclesiasticall doctrine NOW will we come to the second part of this booke and we will briefly declare what hath bene nowe at length amended and reformed in the doctrine of the Church First therefore it is plaine and euident to all men at this day that from the beginning of the worlde till now there hath alwayes beene one and the same way to obteine saluation by namely by the sole and onely trust and confidence in Christ whome the godly did beleeue should come as the Sauiour promised to Adam and to the old fathers euen from the originall of the worlde whom we now beleeue to be come alreadie at a determinate time and to haue brought saluation vnto mankinde For our faith also at this day is the very same with the faith of the Patriarchs Prophetes and finally of the whole people of Israel in times past because they expected and wayted for that to come which we doe beleeue to be alreadie done Now though we conceiue in our mindes that the holinesse of the Patriarches was exceeding greate whiche without all doubte was singular and most notable notwithstanding they were saued by no other meanes but by faith in the Redeemer of mankinde then promised to them now exhibited to vs who is the sonne of God our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ So that the holy fathers were not as yet Christians in woorde but in deede they were Christians by reason of our common faith and beliefe in Christ whome they did hope would come whome wee doe beleeue to be come long agoe Therefore all men must looke for saluation from this one and onely Christ neither is there among men any other name giuen as S. Peter saith whereby we must be saued For to this Christ giue all the Prophetes witnesse that through his name all that beleeue in him shall receiue remission of sinnes Seeing these things are so who would not maruell much at the blindnesse of the Christians both in our memorie and in former ages which did attribute that to mans merites which is due vnto Christ alone For that can not bee denied which we haue before declared more at large to witte that mortall men did not heretofore trust so much to the goodnesse clemencie bountie mercie and grace of GOD alone nor so much to the satisfaction of Christ onely for our sinnes as they did to the dignitie and woorthinesse of their owne woorkes For whitherto tend so many rites and formes of woorshipping GOD found out and ordeined by men so many will woorshippes so many fraternities so manifold varietie of Masses moreouer Pilgrimages Pardons a Monasticall life voluntarie beatings and also whippinges of our owne bodie hungers watchinges lyinges vppon the bare ground and who can rehearse all Whereto say I doe wee beleeue that all these thinges did tend but to the obteining of forgiuenesse of sinnes to the satisfaction for offences to the deliuerance from eternall death briefly to the obteining of saluation and blessednesse So now men ascribed their saluation not to the sonne of God our Lord Redeemer Iesus Christ who by his owne bloudshed satisfied for the sinnes of the worlde and pacified the wrath of God but to the worthinesse of their owne woorkes and to their owne merites and vertues Now as the people of the Iewes in olde time were of that minde that they thought the Leuiticall ceremonies and the sacrifices of the lawe were auayleable to the remission of their sinnes the Prophets in the meane time shewing them a farre other vse of the lawe and warning them of that future sacrifice of the Messias which the Leuiticall sacrifices did shadowe so the men of the former age obserued and kept superstitious rites for that they were thoroughly persuaded that God by them was reconciled that he by them was satisfied for our sinnes our men at this day condemning this so impious a persuasion and testifying that all men obteine peace with God and pardon of their sinnes and that all receiue saluation only by faith in Christ For not mans ceremonies but that seede of the woman promised to Adam doeth breake and bruse the heade of that olde Serpent which as Iohn saith in the Reuelation is called the Diuell and Sathan that is the sonne of God our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ is he alone which doeth destroy the workes of the Diuell to witte sinne and death Not the Leuiticall sacrifices but that lambe of God whom Iohn Baptist pointeth to with his finger is he that taketh away the sinnes of the world Not by our merites and desertes but through Christ is remission of sinnes preached vnto vs as the Apostle saith Not mans satisfaction but the sonne of God him selfe as S. Iohn testifieth is the reconciliation for our sinnes We haue obteined reconciliation not by the intercession of Saintes but by our Lord Iesus Christ as S. Paule doeth witnesse For this is he alone which may reconcile vs to God being the onely Mediatour betwixt God and men as the same S. Paule saith Not he that buyeth and redeemeth the Popes bulles but he that beleeueth in the sonne as our Sauiour saith in the Gospell of S. Iohn hath eternall life Man is not iustified by his owne woorkes but by the grace of God freely through the redemption which is in Christ Iesus as saith the Apostle No man is saued by his owne good deedes but by the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ are wee saued as saith S. Peter in the Actes I suppose that I