suffered persecution by the Iewes He hath ben hanged on the tree and dyed on the tree and was buryed and rose againe the third day and ascended into heauen the day it pleased him There he eleuated his body and from thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead there he sitteth now at the right hand of the father How then is the bread his body And the cuppe or that which the cuppe conteineth how is that his blood My bretheren therefore are these thinges here called Sacramentes because that in them one thing is seene and an other thing is vnderstoode That which we see in a corporall likenesse but that which we vnderstand to a spirituall fruite He that receaueth the mistery of vnity and keepeth not the bond of neace he receiueth not by him the mistery but receaueth a witnesse agaynst him selfe And no man ought in any thing to doubt but that then euery faithfull man is partaker of the body and of the blood of the Lorde As to baptisme he is made a member of Christ and is not depryued from the company of that bread and of that cuppe also when hee which is constituted in the vnitie of the body of Christ shall depart out of this world before he doo eate that bread and drinke the cuppe for also he is not depryued from the participation and from the benefite of that Sacrament whiche hath found that which the Sacrament dooth signifie Prosper in his booke of sentences He that abydeth in Christ and in whom Christ dwelleth hath taken the meate of lyfe and hath drunke the drinke of the eternitie For he whiche discordeth from Christ doth not eate the fleshe of Christ nor drinketh his bloud Although that he doe take euery daye indifferently the Sacrament of so great a thing according to his iudgement Innocent in his thirde booke of the holy Aultar 4. 13. 14. Chapter Iudas sayth he hath eaten the Lordes breade but he hath not eaten the breade which was the Lorde Saint Hilarie in his 8. booke of the Trinitie The breade which descended from heauen is not receiued but of him which hath the Lorde and which is the true member of him Augustine in his 49. treatise vpon Saint Iohn the 11. Chapter If fayth be in vs Christ is in vs For what other thing sayeth the Apostle Christ dwelleth in your heartes through fayth but that through the fayth whiche thou hast of Christ Christ is in thy heart Augustine vpon Saint Iohn in his 25. treatise and 6 Chapter This is then to eate the meate not that which perisheth but which abideth vnto eternall lyfe Wherefore make ready thou the teeth and the belly beleeue and thou hast eaten c. Saint Cyprian in his Sermon of the vnction of Christ. Our Lorde Iesus Christ hath giuen in the table in the whiche he hath made his last banket with his Apostles the breade and the wyne with his owne hands but he hath giuen his bodye for to be wounded on the Crosse by the handes of the souldiers c. Augustine vpon Saint Iohn in the 26. Homely Sayth All we haue very well this daye receyued the visible meate but it is another thing of the Sacrament and of the vertue of the same From whence commeth it that many doe come vnto the aultar and take to their condemnation that which they receyue For the morsell of breade which our Lord gaue vnto Iudas was poyson vnto him not for that it was euill but bicause the man which tooke it was euill he tooke it euill c. A little after he sayth the Sacrament of this that is to saye the spirituall vnitie whiche we haue with Christ is presented vnto vs at the Lordes table to the one to lyfe to the others to death A little before hee hath sayde He which shall eate shall not die but I doe vnderstande it of him whiche shall haue the veritie of the Sacrament and not the visible Sacrament whiche shall eate him inwardlye and not outwardly whiche shall eate him in the heart and not crashe him with the teeth In what sense the auncient Doctors of the Church haue vnderstoode this place Hoc est corpus meum This is my bodye S. Augustine wryting against Adamantius the disciple of Manichaeus in the 12. Epistle Saith after this manner I maye interpret that this commandement cōsisteth in a signe for the Lord hath made it no doubt to say This is my body when hee gaue the signe of his body In the same place he sayth these three thinges The blood is water Behold my body And the rocke was Christ He teacheth these thinges to be sayde as though he spake by figure in signe and by signification Tertullian in his .4 booke against Marcion Sayth after this sort Iesus Christ after he toke the bread and distributed it to his disciples made it his body in saying this is my body That is to say saith he the signe of my body Chrisostome vpon S. Mathewe in the .83 homily the .26 chapter called the symbole of the supper and signe of the body of Christ. Augustine in his first quinquagesima in his prologue of the 3. psalm Saith Christ receiued Iudas vnto his supper in the which he recommended and gaue the figure of his body and of his blood to his disciples Chrisostome vpon S. Mathew in the .83 homelye Saith When the Heritickes say how shall it appeare that Christ hath ben offered We wyll stoppe their mouthes thus if Iesus Christ be not dead to what ende shall that sacrifice be a signe Saint Ierome vpon the 26. Chapter of S. Mathewe After that he acomplished the mysticall Passeouer or Easter had eaten the flesh of the Lambe with his Apostles He toke the breade which comforteth the heart of man and passed further to come vnto the Sacrament of the true Easter That euen as Melchisedech the highe Priest of the souereygne God hath done in the figure of this in offering of breade and wyne Euen so he representeth the veritie of his bodie and of his bloude Saint Ambrose vpon the first Epistle to the Corinthians the 11. Chap. Forasmuch as we are deliuered by the death of the Lorde hauing recordation thereof in eating and drinking wee doe signifie the fleshe and the bloude the which haue bene offered for vs c. Chrysostome vpon the 22. psalme Christ hath ordeyned the table of his holye Supper to the ende that in that sacrament he doe shewe vnto vs daylye the breade and the wine for the similitude of his bodie and of his bloude Saint Ambrose in his 6. booke of the Sacramentes the first Chapter The Priest sayth Make this oblation to bee acceptable vnto vs the whiche is the figure of the bodie and bloude of oure Lorde c. Chrysostome in the 83. Homelie vpon Saint Mathewe If thou haddest bene withoute a bodie hee woulde haue giuen thee all his signes naked and bare but bicause that thy soule is ioyned to a
¶ THE STAFFE of Christian Faith profitable to all Christians for to arme themselues agaynst the enimies of the Gospell and also for to knowe the antiquitie of our holy fayth and of the true Church Gathered out of the vvorks of the ancient Doctors of the Church and of the Councels and many other Doctors vvhose names you shall see here follovving Translated out of Frenche into English by Iohn Brooke of Ashe next Sandvviche With a Table to finde out all that which is contayned in the booke EPHES. 6. Put on the vvhole armour of God that ye maye stande stedfast agaynst the craftie assaultes of the Deuill Jmprinted at London by Iohn Daye dwelling ouer Aldersgate ANNO. 1577. Cum Priuilegio Sr. Richard Newdigate of Arbury in the County of Warwick Baronet 1709 To the Right honourable and his singular good Lorde and maister Edwarde de Vere Lorde d'Escales and Badlesmere Vicount Bulbecke Earle of Oxenforde and Lorde great Chamberlayne of Englande Iohn Brooke vvisheth long lyfe vvith the increase of honor c. ALTHOVGH VERtue the roote of well doing Right honorable Lorde hath of it selfe sufficient force to withstande repell and ouerthrowe both the open malice and secrete slaunders of euill tongues yet notwithstanding considering howe daungerous yea howe vnpossible a thing it is to escape that poysoned sting of Zoilus and also that nothing hath euer ben so well done but that this Scorpion hath eyther openly or priuily stong I nede not to doubt nay I may be right sure that these my labors shal come into the hands of some more curious than wyse more ready to nippe and tante yea euen withoute fault then frendly to admonishe or amende By occasion whereof right honorable and my singular good Lorde I haue not only thought it expedient for hope of your honours fauourable patronage towardes these also my laboures bestowed in translation But also for respect of my particular duetie towardes your honor to offer and dedicate the same likewyse to your fauorable allowance and well liking For if in the opinion of all men there can be found no one more fitte for patronage and defence of learning then the skilfull for that he is both wyse and able to iudge and discerne truly thereof I vnderstanding righte well that your honor hathe continually euen from your tender yeares bestowed your time and trauayle towardes the attayning of the same as also the vniuersitie of Cambridge hath acknowledged in graunting and giuing vnto you such commendation and prayse thereof as verily by righte was due vnto your excellent vertue and rare learning Wherin verily Cambridge the mother of learning and learned men hath openly confessed and in this hir confessing made knowen vnto al men that your honor being learned and able to iudge as a safe harbor and defence of learning and therefore one most fitte to whose honorable patronage I might safely commit this my poore and simple labours Likewyse remembring howe much and many wayes I am by dutye bounde vnto your honor as also howe vnable I am to discharge the same I haue thought it in respecte also of my behalfe and duty most meete to offer and exhibite such trauelles as my abilitie and skill can reache vnto to your Lordship as pledge and token of my dutifull and vnfained good wil To the ende that such profyt as by this my trauels may growe to my countrey and common wealthes may be receiued vnder your Lordshyppes approbation and defence that all men which doe reape benefyte thereby should owe thankes vnto you in whose duety and good will I am Wherefore hartely requiring and humbly beseeching your Lordeshippe to take on you the patronage and defence of these my labors by translation that by your approbation and well liking others may also the rather like thereof Crauing pardon for this my symple boldnesse or rather bolde symplicitie hoping also of the continuance of your honors accustomed goodnesse towardes mee and instantlye praying to God for your prosperous estate I cease further at this time to sollicite you Your honors obedient seruant Iohn Brooke Vnto the Church and congregation of God which is in L. Guido desireth grace and peace and the mercie of God through Iesus Christ our Lorde And perpetually to perseuere in the knovvledge of the holy Gospell of the sonne of god Amen KNOVVING AND CONsidering the vvarre and combat that yee daylye suffer to mayntaine and keepe the true and pure Christian doctrine of the ancient and true Church of God agaynst a sort and heape of glorious deceiuers vvhich hyde and boast themselues vvith false ensignes of the name and title of the auncient Church and of the auncient Doctors I haue dedicated vnto you my vvelbeloued frendes this present booke entituled The Staffe of the Faith gathered out of the vvorkes of the auncient doctors of the churche and of the counselles and out of many authors to the ende that thereby you may learne vvholy to fight against your ennemies vvith the same staffe vvith vvhich they doe fight agaynst you that is to say the auncientes I doe not tell you hovv this staffe shall keepe you from the danger of your ennemies only I vvill content my selfe in speaking but one vvorde touching the same that is to say that you shall not only obtayne and get victory of your ennemies but also send them avvay vvith their mouthes stopped Therefore I desire you in Gods name that ye be not slothfull nor negligent to study therein often and to haue those sentences therein alledged readily at yovr fingers endes that thereby the kingdome of Iesus Christe be auaunced and the dominion of the deuilles and infidels destroyed and abolished I doe knovve very vvell that manye people haue accustomed to saye vvhen it is spoken vnto them of the auncients speaking vvithout eyther iudgement or reason in saying that as touching the Auncientes they haue nothing to doe vvith them for they vvvere men as they but that they content themselues only vvith the vvorde of god I vvoulde not altogither denie or gainesaye them in that if they vvould not reiect thereby God and his giftes by thinking to reiect men and their doctrine Therefore vve ought to take good heede vnto men vvhen they speake of themselues and also vvhen God speaketh by them The same vve may knovve vvhen their doctrine is confirmable and agreeing to the rule of all right vvhich is the vvord of God the doctrine of the prophets Apostles Furthermore vve vvould not haue you ignorant that the auncient fathers haue ordayned and established a great many of ceremonies and thinges in the churche respecting the time and personnes and the infirmitie of those that dayly come vnto the knovvledge of the Gospell asvvell of Ievves as of panims and Idolaters But they haue done that onely but for a certaine time to the ende they might dravve to the Gospell all nations and let and stoppe the vvay of the Heritickes and ennemies of the catholyke faithe from gayning and vvinning the vveake
torment Be ye ioyfull and reioyce to be enrovvled in their bande for to beare vvith them the yoke of Iesus Christ perseuere valiantly in the doctrine that you haue already receiued for no man can hurt you Ought vve not greatly to reioyce of this that the persecuting tyrantes can doe our bodyes no more hurt then a vvolfe or theefe of the vvoods vvhich can but murther or kill vs Let vs reioyce for our names are vvritten in heauen VVe haue yet this good turne thankes be vnto our good God therefore that the persecutors can do vnto vs no vvorse then to to put and place vs vvith our good God in the company of Angelles and all the blessed soules in heauen VVhat is he that vvould not desire to goe playe vvith so happy a company eternally and vvithout ende Yea to be in glory vvhich the eye hath not seene and eare hath not heard neyther hath entred into mans minde the thinges vvhich God hath prepared to such as loue him Againe forasmuch as they esteeme and court vs so vvicked and abhominable and crye so spitefully after vs as after the vvickedest people of all the vvorld to make vs and our doctrine odious vnto the people They commaund them not to heare or harken vnto vs they make the simple people beleeue vvhen they haue them vnder confession that if they doe not accuse vs they shall be damned Their craft subtiltye and enuye agaynste the truth is to be maruayled at In the meane time I vvould vvillingly that they vvould accord and agree vvith vs to conferre their doctrine vvith ours their crosse and persecution vvith ours their lyfe vvith ours theyr church vvith ours By that means vve should plainly see vvhether they be the childrē of God or vve First of all haue not vve the baptisme purely administred as vve doe reade that the Apostles haue administred it vvithout any inuentions of men but onely according to the vvord of God Let one reade the Scriptures and he shall see vvho it is that hath added to the Sacramentes eyther vve or they Furthermore let men behold the persecutions that they suffer for their doctrine the number is soone counted for there is not one vvhich hath suffred death for their doctrine neuerthelesse Iesus Christ hath promised that his church shal haue persecution in the vvorld saying ye shall be hated of all men for my name Hovv can they be hated of all men sith that they be in all places the best vvelcome Hovv commeth it that one shoulde thinke to doe sacrifice vnto God in putting them to death I did neuer knovve any I doe accord and agree in this that they are often times taken prisoners but it is in the good feastes and bankettes and in the best seates of the table and vvhereas the children of God are burned vvith fire they here are burned throughe the heate of VVine Their innocent fleshe is hevven and cut in peeces but it is at the table vpon their treachers They are rotten and consumed vvith the Goute of Naples insomuch that they fall in peces They are melted and melted againe many times in a yeere Besides all the dangers they put them selues into both day and night to runne after other mens vvyues in great danger of their life And yet some vvill say that they are not persecuted It appeareth that they be for one shall see a great many more among them to dye Martyrs of the paines that vve did speake of euen novv then of their naturall diseases or sicknesses They are then Martyres no man can denie yea but it is of the diuell and vvhat is he that doubteth of it And as concerning their life it is knovven vvell inough and manyfested vnto all men Their good vvorkes and godly fruites vvhat it bringeth in all places destroying and corrupting all the vvorlde asvvell spiritually as corporally This I am sure of that forasmuch as I haue touched and medled but vvith the doore of their kitchin they vvill say I am a vvicked Hereticke But vvhat then Shoulde I hold my peace for their menaces and iniuries No no God forbid but rather I vvill crye vvith open mouth after them bicause they haue so corrupted and destroyed the Lordes Vineyard Alas alas my God vvhat is he that ought not but to lament and vveepe vvith bloudy teares seeing all the vvorld to be so led into the bottome of hell so many poore soules led to perdition O Lord regard thy poore people haue some pitie and compassion on them for vvhom thy sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ hath offred to thee his body and bloud in a sacrifice and suffer not that thy poore sheepe be so put as a pray for to be deuoured of al beastes For vve are dayly assaulted vvith so many ennemyes that sathan riseth agaynst vs for to make vs forsake and abandon our Lord Iesus Christ and to renounce his Gospell One day vve haue vvarre agaynst the Heretickes Anabaptistes an other day agaynst Libertines Epicures Arians Dauidistes and agaynst dissemblers and consequently against the vvorshippers of the fathers through vvhose zeale the children of God are put to death Haue not vve then great neede of vveapons It appeareth yea if vve vvould not be taken in their snares as many at this day are through the iust iudgement of God. Therefore if there be any time to pray or to vvatch it is novve Let vs then vvatch and praye to the end vve may auoyde all those dangers and perseuer and continevve to the ende You haue bene the first of your citie dearely beloued I also doe hope in the Lord you shall not be the last But as you haue bene vntill novv the example and myrror of the poore ignorant people to dravve them to the true light of the spirite I doe hope through the grace of God that nothing shall hinder you to continevve vnto the end on so holy a vvorke For the poore ignorant people seeing the peace and vnitie and the promptnesse and good courage that is in you to receiue the holy doctrine are constrayned through your holy life and conuersation to come vnto the knovvledge of Iesus Christ and consequently to saluation Forasmuch then as the Lord doth vnto you dayly so much good or shevveth vnto you so much of his grace shevving vnto you from day to day his maruaylous vvorkes set to so your handes in the vvorke of the Lord so long as he giueth you time and life that you doe not leaue for your children that shall come after you an euill example of life but instruct them in that holy doctrine that you haue receiued to the ende they may knovve after your death that they had fathers and mothers that feared God and vvell instructed in his vvord and that they haue not receyued the gospell in their mouthe onely but also in their handes And that they vvere not dissemblers but true confessors of the name of God. Dispose and bestovve then vvhilest you haue time so vvell your affayres and
vnto me al ye that are wearye and laden and I will ease you While we haue time let vs doe good vnto all men S. Ambrose vpon the fyrst Epistle to the Romans fyrst Chapter Men haue of custome vsed a miserable excuse saying that by them men may goe vnto God euen as men come vnto kinges by the earles and lordes Is there anye man so mad and so obliuyous of his safety which doth attrybute and giue the honor of a king vnto an earle or lorde for if any such be found which dare saye the same they are worthely condemned as culpable of his maiestie And yet those doe not hold those men gyltye or culpable which doe attrybute the honor of the name of God vnto the creatures And in forsaking the Lord And in forsaking the Lord they doe worship those whiche are seruantes with them As though the seruing of God were worldly gaines For the same cause men doe finde to haue accesse and comming vnto the king by the meanes of the earles and lordes bicause that the king is a man and doth not well knowe whom he ought to truste of his common wealth But for to winne and obtayne the fauor of God vnto whome nothing is hydde for he knoweth the hearts of all men we haue no neede that any doe entreat for to present our supplication but with an humble and lowlye heart Of images Whether it be lawefull to haue them in the temples of the christians MOyses saide Take heede vnto your selues therefore that ye forget not the appoyntment of the Lord your God whiche hee made with you and that ye make you no grauen image of what soeuer it be that the Lorde thy God hath forbidden thee For the Lorde thy God is a consuming fire and a ielous god If after thou haste gotten children and childrens children and hast dwelt long in the land ye shall marrye your selues and make grauen images after the likenesse of what soeuer it be and shall worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord thy God to prouoke him I call heauen and earth to record vnto you this daye that ye shall shortlye perishe from the lande c. Againe The Lord spake vnto you out of the fire and ye heard the voyce of the wordes but sawe no image but hearde a voyce onely And he declared vnto you his couenante which he commaunded you to doe euen tenne verses and wrote them in two tables of stone And the Lorde commaunded me the same season to teach you ordinances and lawes for to doe them in the lande whyther ye goe to possesse it Take heede vnto your selues diligentlye as pertayning vnto your soules for yee sawe no manner of image the daye when the Lorde spake vnto you in Horeb out of the fire least ye marre your selues and make you grauen images after whatsoeuer likenesse it be whither after the likenesse of man or woman I my selfe whose name is the Lorde which giue my power to none other neyther mine honor to the Gods. Thou shalt worshippe no strange God for the Lorde is called ielous bicause he is a ielous God c. Thou shalt make thee no Gods of mettall To whom then will ye liken God or what similytude will ye set vp vnto him shal the caruer make him a carued image and shall the goldsmith couer him with golde or cast him into a forme of siluer plates c. Knowe ye not this hearde ye neuer of it hath it not bene preached vnto you sence the beginning c. To whom nowe will ye liken me and to whom shall I be like saith the holy one lift vp your eyes on hie and consider who hath made those thinges Whome will ye make me like in fashion or image that I may be like him ye will take out siluer and golde out of your purses and waye it and hyre a goldsmith to make a God of it that men may kneele downe and worshippe it yet must hee bee taken on mens shoulders and borne and set in his place that he many stand and not moue Alas that men should crye vnto him which giueth no aunswere and deliuereth not the man that calleth vpon him from his trouble Consider this well and be ashamed Goe into your owne selues O ye runnagates Remember the things which are paste sence the beginning of the worlde that I am God and that there is els no God yea and that there is nothing like vnto me No man can make a God like vnto him for seeing he is but mortall him selfe it is but mortall that he maketh with vnrighteous handes He him selfe is better then they whom he worshippeth for he liued though he was mortall but so did neuer they The Lord hath saide ye shall make you no Idolles nor grauen image neyther reare you vp any pillers neyther ye shall set vp any images of stone in your lande to bowe your selues thereto for I am the Lorde your God. Beware that your heartes deceiue you not that ye turne aside and serue strange Gods and worshippe them Cursed be the man that maketh any carued image or image of mettall an abhomination vnto the Lorde the worke of the handes of the craftesman and putteth it in a secret place and all the people shal aunswere and say Amen The Images of the people are but siluer and golde euen the worke of mens handes The Lorde God sayde ye shall ouerthrowe their aultars breake downe their pyllers cut downe their groues and burn their grauen images with fire For thou art an holye Nation vnto the Lorde thy God. They hewe downe a tree in the woode with the handes of the workeman and fashion it with the axe they couer it ouer with golde or siluer they fasten it with nayles and hammers that it moue not c. All these things are the works of the craftie workeman But the Lorde is a true God a liuing God and an euerlasting king Ieroboam sayde Beholde your Gods O Israel which brought you out of the lande of Egypt And he put the one in Bethel and the other in Dan. And that doing was a cause of sinne Nowe then feare the Lorde and serue him in purenesse and truth and put away the Gods which your fathers serued on the other side of the floude and in Egypt and serue the Lorde But if it seeme euill vnto you to serue the Lorde then choose you this daye whome you will serue c. And the people aunswered and sayd God forbyd that we shoulde forsake the Lorde and serue straunge Gods. The honoring of abhominable Images is the cause the beginning and ende of all euill We ought not to thinke that the Godheade is lyke vnto golde siluer or stone grauen by craft and imagination of man. When they counted themselues wyse they became fooles for they turned the glorie of the incorruptible God to the similitude of the image
thinges that which was secrete is declared and that which is hid is made knowen without any kinde of pryde which is no sacriledge not hauing a necke puffed vp with pride without any contention or enuye with holynesse humilitie with the catholicke peace with christian charitie Irenaeus in his .3 booke .4 chap. What would it be if there were any disputation or debate moued of anye lighte question must wee not haue our recourse vnto the moste auncient churches whiche were in the time of the Apostles and to take of them that which is cleare and certayne for to resolue the debate or question put foorth S. Augustine of baptisme against the Donatistes .3 booke .9 Chapter Honoratus Attuca hath saide forasmuch as Christe is the truth we ought rather to followe the truth then custome The Byshop Castus in the 5. Chapter He that presumeth to follow custome in condemning the truth eyther he is enuyous or wicked towardes the brethren vnto whom the truth is reueled or he is ingratefull towardes God through whose inspiration the church is instructed Trust not in false lying wordes saying here is the Temple of the Lorde here is the Temple of the Lorde here is the temple of the Lorde c But take heede howe ye doe trust in coūsels that beguile you and doe you no good God hath witnessed of his sonne saying This is my deare sonne in whome I delight here him The Lorde hath saide But the prophet which shall presume to speake ought in my name whiche I commaunded not to speake and he that speaketh in the name of strange Gods the same prophet shall dye Moyses saide ye shall doe after nothing that we doe here this daye euery man what seemeth him good in his owne eyes Moyses saide ye shall doe afer nothing that we doe here this daye euery man what seemeth him good in his owne eyes Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I commaunde you neyther doe oughte there from that ye may keepe the commaundementes of the Lorde your God which I commaunde you Beholde I haue taught you ordinances and lawes such as the Lorde my God commaunded me S. Augustine writing vnto Orosus against the Priscillanistes and Originistes .11 Chapter The doctrine of man seemeth to haue reason so long as it is not compared vnto the heauenly knowledge but when the lye approcheth to the truth it is by and by deuoured and destroyed as a sparke of fire and all the teachinges of faulshod and lyinges the whiche nowe are called Idolles Forasmuch as they are made they shal be altogither broken He that commeth from an hie is aboue all he that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earthe he that commeth from heauen is aboue all And what hee hath seene and heard that he testifieth but no man receiueth his testimony howbeit he that hath receiued his testimonye hath sealed that God is true For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. Iesus Christ saith And his wordes haue ye not abiding in you for whom hee hath sent him ye beleeue not Search the scriptures for in them ye thinke ye haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of me My doctrine is not mine but his that sent me If anye man will doe his will hee shall knowe of the doctrine whither it be of God or whither I speake of my selfe He that speaketh of him selfe seeketh his owne prayse but he that speaketh his prayse that sent him the same is true and no vnrighteousnesse is in him He that sent me is true and I speake in the world those thinges which I haue hearde of him If ye continue in my wordes then are ye my disciples and shall know the truth the truth shall restore you to libertie c. I speake that I haue seene with my father and ye doe that which ye haue seene with your father Verily verily I saye vnto you if a man keepe my saying hee shall neuer see death My sheepe heare my voyce and I know them and they followe me I haue not spoken of my selfe but the father which sent me gaue me a commandement what I shoulde saye and what I shoulde speake And I knowe that this commaundemente is lyfe euerlasting Whatsoeuer I speake therefore euen as the father bade me so I speake The wordes that I speake vnto you I speake not of my selfe If ye loue me kepe my commaundements He that hath my commaundements and keepeth them the same is he that loueth me He that loueth me not keepeth not my sayings and the wordes which ye heare are not mine but the father which sent me Many other signes also did Iesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this booke These are written that ye might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God and that in beleeuing yee might haue lyfe through his name Though that wee or an aungell from heauen preach vnto you other wayes than that whiche we haue preached vnto you holde him as accursed As we sayd before so say I nowe agayne if any man preache vnto you other wayes than that yee haue receyued holde him accursed The woman that was a Samaritane sayde vnto Iesus I wote well Messias shall come which is called Christ when he is come he will tell vs all things I haue kept nothing backe but haue shewed you all the counsell of God. Chrysostome in the first homilie vpon the Epistle vnto Titus The Gospell doth contayne all things the things present and things to come honor pietie and fayth c. Saint Hilarie vpon Saint Mathew 14. Canon Euery plant which my heauenly father hath not planted shall be plucked vp by the rootes that is to say all mans traditions ought to be plucked vp by the fauor of the whiche they haue transgressed the commaundement of the lawe And therefore he called them the blinde leaders promising the waye of euerlasting lyfe the which they see not themselues and sayth that the falling hedlong of those blind leaders and their conductors is common S Augustine vpon S. Iohn .49 treatise .9 Chapter Although that the Lorde Iesus Christe hath done many things which haue not bene written as also his owne Euangelistes doe witnesse it that the Lord Iesus Christ hath sayde and done many things whiche are not written neuerthelesse the things haue bene chosen to be written whiche were thought sufficient for the saluation of the beleeuers Of the holy scripture and howe it is lawfull for all men to reade it HAppie is he that readeth and happie are they that heare the wordes of this Prophecie and keepe those things which are written therein for the tyme is at hande Iesus Christ sayeth Happie are they that heare the worde of God and kepe it Thy worde is a lanterne vnto my feete and a light vnto my pathes Gods worde in the
Polycarpus the martyr Clemens a Grecian flourished vnder the two Vespasians Domitian and Nerua He was the Disciple of Paule called his fellow labourer as he himselfe witnesseth and as Dorotheus sayth one of the 70. disciples He first preached the Gospell at Metz in Frāce Pantaleon pag. 7. Maior Munster Afterwards was made Bishop of Sardis now called Triaditza Dorotheus in the lyues of the 70. Disciples Lastlye bishop of Rome the 3. in succession and was martyred vnder Traian anno 103. in the thirde persecution by tying an anker about his necke and throwne into the sea He obtayned the dignitie of the seate 9. yeares 2. monethes 10. dayes Martinus Polonus in his lyfe Gregorius Turonicus pag. 21. Platyna in his lyfe Ignatius a Grecian byshop of Antioch the yeare of our Lorde .99 seconde in succession after Peter the disciple of S. Iohn the Euangelist and Apostle flourished chieflye vnder Nerua and Traian was martyred as he testifieth of himselfe at Rome in the thirde persecution the historie saith that as Traian returned from the victorie of his enimies the yere 109. and threatened death to the Christians Ignatius came towardes him and confessed himselfe a Christian wherefore he was straight apprehended and bounde with fetters and caried to Rome and deuoured with wild beasts Euseb lib. 3. cap. 33. shewing his owne Epistle howe he was bounde and fettered and garded with a great troupe of souldiers and inclosed with ten Leopardes Gregorie of Tours pag. 21. Martin the Polonian in the lyfe of Traian Pantaleon pag. 9. Onuphrius Panuinus pag. 16. Irenaeus a Latine Doctor the seconde bishop of Lyons in Fraunce and successour of Pothynus the disciple of Polycarpus the martyr bishop of Smyrna Florished vnder Commodus the yeare .175 Pantaleon pag. 13. He was sent into France by the sayde Polycarpus and was commended by the martyrs there vnto Elutherius the 13. byshop of Rome and confuted there certaine heretikes Euseb lib. 5. cap. 4. cap. 18. He reprehended sharplye Victor successor of Elutherius in the sea of Rome bicause he had excommunicated the Christians of Asia and Greece Euseb lib. 5. cap. 23. Hee was martyred at Lyons vnder Seuerus in the v. persecution or according to Sulpitius Seuerus the sixt in the yeare 184. Gregorie of Tours pag. 22. Martin the Polonian in the life of Seuerus He was present in the Councel of Palaestine with Polycarpus Theophilus Narcissus and Bacchylus the noble and learned Byshoppes of Asia Platyna in the lyfe of Victor the first Tertullian Priest a Latine Doctor byshop of Carthage in Aphrica flourished in the yeare 202. vnder Seuerus and Antoninus He wrate many learned workes but at length by reason of a schisme risen of emulation betweene him and the Romane Clergie he fell from the truth into the Montane heresie Hieronymus in cataloge Nicephorus lib. 4. cap. 34. He wrote an Apologie for the Christians alledged by Euseb lib. 2. cap. 2. Origen Priest a Grecian Doctor flourished in the yeare of our Lorde 235. the Disciple of Clement of Alexandria whom also he succeeded in the schoole and instructed many in the fayth which afterwarde became martyrs In his youth his father was martyred vnder Seuerus who being in prison he often visited and therfore was in great daunger of his person and woulde haue suffred martyrdome if his mother had not hindered him being growen in age he gelded himselfe to the intent he might the freelyer be at his studie He wrate many things of which there are not all extant Hieronymus in Catalogo He liued till the time of Gallus and Volusianus Emperors and died in the 69. yeare of his age and lyeth buried at Tyrus Suydas Euseb in the whole 6. booke Cyprianus a Grecian Bishop of Carthage flourished in the yeare of our Lord 355. vnder the reigne of Decius Pantaleon pag. 21. Hee was a great enimie of the Arians and other heretikes His opinion that he helde of rebaptizing the heretikes was the occasion of falling at square with Stephan the first bishop of Rome He was present at the first Councell of Carthage Euseb lib. 7. cap. 3. Pantaleon pag. 22. Eusebius a Grecian Bishop of Caesarea in Palaestine flourished in the yeare of our Lorde 325. vnder the raigne of Constantine the great Pantaleon pag. 25. By his familiaritie with Pamphilus the martyr he was surnamed Pamphilus Hee wrate manye workes of which certayne are extant Hieronymus in Catalogo Hee was highly esteemed of the great Constantine as appeareth by the Epistles which the Emperour wrate vnto him Socrates lib. 1. cap. 6. Lactantius Firmianus a Latine Rhetorician flourished in the yeare of our Lord 340. vnder the reygne of Constantine the great He wrate against the Gentiles and confuted their errors Hieronym Pantaleon pag. 27. Athanasius the great a Grecian Byshop of Alexandria successor of Alexander flourished in the yeare of our Lorde 340. vnder Constantine the great He had much adoe with the Arians and was thorow them twyce expelled his Bishoprick once by Constantine Socrates lib. 2. cap. 13. Another time by Iulianus Theodoret lib. 4. cap. 9. At length he died vnder the reign of Valens Emperour of the East Hilarius a Latine Bishop of Poictiers in Fraunce flourished in the yeare of our Lorde 345. vnder the reigne of the sonnes of Constantine the great He was driuen in exyle by the Gouernour Socrat. lib. 3. cap. 8. He wrate many goodly workes of the which many are extant He liued vntill the time of Augustine Hieronym Augustin Epistol 89.64 Basile a Grecian Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia very familiar with Gregory Nazianzene flourished in the yere of our Lord 370. vnder the reign of Valentinian and Valens He was a great enimie of the heretikes and confuted them in manye workes Valens after he banished all the true Christians of the East for his renoume spared him yet he went of his own accorde into exile Camerar in Catalogo Pantaleon pag. 26. Gregorie a Grecian Bishop of Nazanzum called the diuine flourished in the yeare 371. vnder Valentinian and Valens although he was elder thā Basil Camerar in catalogo He wrate many goodly works and was a great Oratour He liued 90. yeares a long and quiet lyfe More of his vertues looke in the aforenamed author Epiphanius a Grecian Byshop of Cyprus flourished in the yeare 375. vnder the reygne of Valens He wrate eyght bookes against the heresies in the Greke tongue He was great enimie of Origen and Chrysostome He excited the people of Constantinople agaynst the sayde Chrysostome More looke Socrates lib. 6. cap. 11. Sozomen lib. 7. cap. 26. Ambrose a Latine Bishop of Millaine flourished in the yeare 376. vnder the reygnes of Valens in the East and Gratian and Valentinian sonnes of Valentinian in the West Pantaleon pag. 31. He was a noble man and gouernour of the whole prouince of Millaine and made Bishop after the death of Auxentius After exiled by Iustina mother of Valentinian infected with the heresie of Arius He sustayned great troubles and
body he hath giuen thee in the sensible thinges the things which are comprysed by the spirite S. Ambrose in his booke of the Sacraments the 1. Chapter Thou doest receiue the Sacrament for the similitude of the flesh and of the bloud of Christ but thou obteynest the grace of his true nature And in receiuing the bread in that meate thou art partaker of his deuine substaunce c. And he sayth afterward Euen as thou hast receiued at baptisme the similitude of death so likewyse thou hast drunke in that Sacrament the similitude of the precious bloud of Christe c. Bede vpon the .22 chapter of S. Luke After he had ended the solemnitie of the ancient Passeouer the which he made in remembraunce of the auncient deliueraunce out of Egypt he passed foorth to the newe solemnitye the which the church desireth to celebrate in remembraunce of her redemption to the ende that putting the Sacrament of his flesh of his bloud vnder the likenesse of bread and wine in steede of the flesh and of the bloud of the Lambe he sheweth himself to be him vnto whome the Lord hath sworne and wyll not repent thou art a priest for euer c. It followeth after bicause that the breade doth fortefie the flesh and that the wine causeth the bloud in the flesh the bread is referred mistically to the body of Christ and the wine to his bloud c. Druthmarus Monke of S. Benet in his commentary vppon Saint Mathew The wine refresheth and augmenteth the bloud for that cause the bloud of Christ is not vnproperly figured by the same in asmuch as all that commeth vnto vs from him doth make vs glad with a true ioye and increaseth all our goodnesse c. A little before he sayth The Lord gaue vnto his disciples the Sacrament of his body in remission of theyr sinnes and for to keepe loue and charitie to the end that hauing remembraunce of that deede he would doo alwayes in a figure that which he ought to doo for them and shoulde not forget that charytie This is my body that is to say in Sacrament c. Origen vpon Leuiticus in the .7 homely Knowe that these are figures which are wrytten in the holy bookes and therefore they ought to be examined as spiritually and not as carnall and to vnderstand the thinges which are sayd For if you doo receiue those thinges here as carnall they doo hurt you and not nourish you for the letter which killeth is not only found in the old testament but also in the Gospell in the new testament The letter killeth him which considereth not spiritually the thinges which are spoken For if thou follow according to the letter that whiche is sayd except that you doo not eate my flesh and drinke my bloud that letter killeth Wylt thou that I doo aledge vnto thee an other letter of the Gospell which killeth He which hath not a sword saith he let him sell his coate and buy one Doest thou see that letter is of the Gospell but it killeth truely if thou receiue it spiritually it kylleth not but in the same is the quickening spirite and therefore receiue spiritually the thinges which are spoken be it in the Lawe or in the Gospell For the spirituall man iudgeth all thinges but he him selfe is iudged of no man c. Denys in the ecclesiasticall Hierarchia Saith The Byshoppe after that hee shall haue ended by preaching the heauenly giftes he consecrateth and blesseth the holy misteryes and that which he before hath preached he setteth before euery one couert and hidde by venerable signes and tokens And after that he hath shewed his heauenly gyftes in all reuerence he turneth him selfe to the holy communion of them admonishing all other to communycate and after that the holy communion is receyued of euery one rendring thanks vnto God he maketh an end of the mistery Obiec Hoc est corpus meū this is my body Aunswere When God gaue the circumcision to Abraham he made his couenant before the circumcision and yet he called the circumcision his couenant or alliance saying Hoc est pactum meum This is my couenant S. Paule expoundeth the same saying Abraham hath receyued the signe of circumcision as a seale of the righteousnesse of fayth God sayd to the Prophet Ezechiel thou sonne of man take a tyle stone and laye it before thee and describe vpon it the citie of Ierusalem after he saith this same is Ierusalem Hoc est corpus meum Augustine vpon Leuiticus 9. .7.57 also he wryteth agaynst Adamant The thing whiche signifieth hath of custome bene called of the name of the thing which is signified As it is wrytten the seuen eares are seuen yeeres The Scripture sayth not that they signifie seuen yeeres And the seuen kyne are seuen yeeres and many such thinges In lyke manner sayth S. Paule that the Rocke was christ and not that it signified Christ but as if it had ben him in very deede the which notwithstanding was not Christ by substance but by figuration c. Augustine wryting to Boniface Epistle 23. If the Sacraments haue no certayne similitude or agreeing with the things of which they are sacramentes they shall be in no maner of wyse Sacramentes For they take oftentimes the names of the things themselues by reason of that similitude As the Sacrament of the bodie of Christe is after one fashion or maner the bodie of Christ and the sacrament of the bloude of Christ the bloude of Christ Also the Sacramente of Fayth is the fayth Irenaeus agaynst the heretike Valens in his 4. booke 34. Chapter The breade with the which wee render thanks vnto God although that it be of the earth yet neuerthelesse when the name of God is inuocated and called vpon it is not the common breade but of giuing of thankes hauing two things in it the one earthly and the other heauenly c. Gelasius writing against Eutyches and Nestorius and also to the Counsell of Rome in the Chapter Comperimus de consecrat Distin. 2. The Sacramentes of the bodie and of the bloude of the Lorde Iesus Christe which we take they are heauenly things whereby we are made partakers by them of the diuine nature And yet neuerthelesse the substance of the breade and of the wine remayne there still and trulye the image and the similitude of the bodie and of the bloude of Christ are celebrated in the doing of the mysteries Then that is euidently shewed vnto vs which we must fele in Iesus Christ our Lorde yea the same which we protest celebrate and are in his image to the ende that euen as the natures are conuerted and chaunged into the diuine substance by the meanes of the holye spirite and yet neuerthelesse they abyde in their natures Also the same principall ministerie whose efficacie and vertue is trulye represented vnto vs by the things whereof it consisteth whiche abide
properly in their being doe demonstrate vnto vs that onely Christ abydeth altogither wholy and in his veritie The Councell of Nice Let vs not staye here belowe on the breade and wyne whiche are sette on the Lordes table but let vs lift vppe our spirites on high through fayth Let vs consider that the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the world is in that holy table the whiche is not offered in sacrifice by the Priestes after the manner of beastes And in taking his precious bodie and his bloude let vs beleeue that they are the signes and tokens of our resurrection And for the same cause we eate not much but a little to the ende we may know that the same is not ordeyned for to fill our bellye withall but for to serue to sanctitie and holynesse c. Saint Ambrose in his booke of those which are dedicated to the mysteries Before the consecration one kinde or likenesse is named but after the consecration the body of Christ is signified Christe sayth that his bloud before the consecration is called an other thing but after the consecration is signified the bloud of Christe c. S. Ciprian in his sermon of penitent sinners Speaking of the mayd which did vomit out the Sacrament The drinke sanctified in the bloud of the Lord issued out of the polluted entrailes Chrisostome wryting to Caesar the Monke Before the consecration of the breade we doo call it bread but when the grace of God hath sanctified it by the priest it is deliuered from the name of bread and is exalted to the name of the body of the Lorde although that the nature of the bread abydeth alwayes and is not called two bodyes but one body of the sonne of GOD. Augustine vppon S. Iohn in his 80. homelye Iesus Christ sayth not that you are cleane bicause of the baptisme by the which you haue ben washed but he sayth it bycause of the word which I haue sayd vnto you That is for none other cause but that the word doth wash and clense you in the water If one doo take away the word what shall the water be but water Which if the word be ioyned to the element it shall be made a Sacrament and the word it selfe is made as visible from whence commeth so great vertue to the water that in touching the body it washeth the hart but by meanes of the word Not alwayes bicause that the word is pronounced but bicause that one beleeueth For in the worde it selfe truly there is a difference betwene the sound passing and the vertue abyding The Rubrycke wrytten in redde letters whiche is called cautela Missae If the body of the Lord be found within the armorye or pyxe to be rotten or mustye through to great moystnesse of the armorye or through to great negligence in not changing it If none can be founde which wyll receiue it that the sayd body of the Lorde be burned and the asshes put in a certayne halowed place Item if the sayd body of the Lorde be found within the sayd armorye to be eaten parte of it with Myce or Spiders if none can bee found which wyll receiue it that it be burned and the asshes put in a halowed place Item if any that is sicke who hauing receiued the sayd body of the Lord and through the infirmitie of his stomacke is constrayned to vomite it vp agayne if none can be found which wyll take that refection that the sayd body of the Lorde be burned and the asshes put into an halowed place S. Peter aunswereth to the same in his sermon Thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption S. Paule sayth asmuche in his sermon that he made to the people of Antioche saying He whome God raysed agayne sawe no corruption also God hath raysed him from death for to returne no more to corruption How our Lord Iesus Christ according to his Humanite cannot be but in one place S. Ambrose wryting vpon S. Luke in his 10. booke We ought not to seeke thee vpon earth nor in the earth nor according to the flesh if we wyll finde thee For we may not knowe now Iesus Christ after the fleshe S. Stephen did not seeke him vpon earth who did see him at the right hand of god But Mary which sought him in the earth had not the power to touche him Stephen hath touched him for he sought him in heauen Augustine in his 2. Quinquagesima psalme 54. Vntill such time as the heauen shal end the Lord shall be alwayes on high but the truth of the Lord is here with vs For it must nedes be that the body with which he rose agayne be in one certayne place but his truth is spread abroad euery where Augustine wryting to Dardanus in the 67. Epistle Doubt not that Iesus Christ as touching his manhod is not there where we doe looke for him And doe remember that which we confesse in our crede That he rose agayne and ascended into heauen and that he shall come from thence and not from any other place to iudge the quick and the dead And he shall come according to the witnesse of the Angell as they haue seene him ascend in that same visible form and in the same substance to the which he hath giuen immortalitie But he hath not taken frō him his nature according to the forme and substance of his body we must not think that he is dispersed euery where for we must take heede so to affirme his deytie that we destroy not his humayne nature Therefore it followeth not that all which is in God is God. Augustine vpon S. Iohn in his 30. treatyse The body of Christ is raysed vp from death and it must needes be that it is in one place If ye then be rysen agayne with Christ seeke those thinges which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the righ hand of god Thinke on the thinges which are aboue but not on those which are on earth Iesus Christ sayth I am yet a little while with you and then goe I vnto him that sent me Also the poore ye haue alwayes with you but me ye shall not haue alwayes My little children yet a little whyle am I with you ye shall seeke me and as I sayd vnto the Iewes wheither I goe thither can ye not come Again I go to prepare a place for you I wyll returne agayne and receiue you euen vnto my selfe that you may be there where I am also I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away For yf I goe not away that comforter wyll not come vnto you But if I depart I wyll send him vnto you I came out from my father and came into the world Againe I leaue the world and goe to my father Also the Angell sayde vnto the women I knowe that ye seeke Iesus whiche was crucified he is not
here for he is rysen as he sayd come and see the place where the Lord was layde Behold my handes and my feete for it is euen I my selfe handle me and see for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands his fete And while they looked stedfastly vp to heauen as he went behold two men stode before them in white apparell which also sayd ye men of Galyle why stand ye gasing into heauen This same Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shall so come euen as ye haue seene him goe into heauen Also whom the heauen must contayne vntill the time that all thinges be restored That we ought not to take from the lay people the wyne of the supper Gelasius Pope of Rome of consecration in the seconde distinction chapter Comperimus c. We haue vnderstoode that some men receyuing only the bodye of the Lorde doe abstayne themselues from the Cup who forasmuch as they sinne by superstition ought to be constrayned and compelled to receyue the Sacrament wholy or else to reiect it altogither For the diuision of this mysterie cannot be without great sacriledge Iesus Christ commaunded in his supper and sayde Drinke ye all of this For this is my bloude of the newe testament The Counsaile of Basile hath ordeined that the laye people shoulde communicate the supper in two kindes Saint Cyprian in his Sermon of penitent sinners Howe shall we exhort the people to shed their bloude for the confession of Christ if we doe denie vnto them the bloude of him when they ought to fight Or howe can we make our selues capable to drinke the cuppe of Martyrdome except that we suffer our selues firste to drinke of the cuppe of the Lorde That we ought not to keepe the breade of the supper nor to carie it here and there Saint Clement in his 2. Epistle to Iames. And of the consecration in the 3. Distinction Chapter tribus c. So many hostes ought to be offred at the Aulter as shall be sufficient for the people And if any remaine we ought not to keepe it vntill the next day but through the diligence of the clarkes with feare and trembling ought to be receiued and eaten Origen vpon the 7. chapter of Leuiticus The Lorde hath not ordayned or commaunded that the bread should be kept vntill the morrowe the which he gaue vnto his disciples but sayd vnto them take ye and eate c. And in this he commaunded not to carry the bread by the wayes it may be that by the same is conteyned a mysterye that is to say that alwayes thou oughtest to bring forth the newe breade of the worde of God whiche thou bearest within thee Iesus Christ sayth Take and eate In which sense we ought to vnderstand the auncient Doctors when they haue sayde we offer we sacrifice in calling the supper a sacrifice S. Augustine writing against Faustus the 8. Chapter The Hebrues sacrificing the brute beastes did exercise themselues in the prophecie of the sacrifice which Iesus Christ hath offered And nowe the Christians in the oblation and communion of the bodie of Iesus Christ doe celebrate the memorie of the sacrifice already ended Chrysostome in his first tome vpon the 8. Chapter of Saint Mathew in the 16. homily For this cause these reuerende and salutarie mysteries which we celebrate in all the congregation of the Church are called Eucharistiae that is to saye a giuing of thankes for they are the remembrance of many benefites and doe shewe the verye heade of the heauenly loue towardes vs and doe make vs alwayes render thankes vnto God. The Prophet Dauid in the 50. Psalm Offer vnto God thanks giuing c. Irenaeus in his 4 booke against the heresies Chap. 32. 33 34. He hath willed that we shoulde offer often the gift at the aultar and without intermission The aultar then is in heauen for thither our prayers and oblations are addressed and directed to the temple as S. Iohn saith in his Apocalips And the temple of God was open and the tabernacle For beholde sayth he the tabernacle of God in the whiche I doe dwell with men S. Cyprian in his 2. boke of Epistles the 3. Epistle vnto Cecill We must not welbeloued brother that any man thinke that one ought to followe the custome of some men whiche haue thought or iudged that we must offer the water only in the Lordes cuppe we must aske of those whō they haue for example For if in the sacrifice which is Christ we must followe none but Christ truly then we must heare and doe that which Christ hath done and commaunded to be done Inasmuch as he sayth in his Gospell if you doe whatsoeuer I commaunde you I will call you no more seruauntes but my frendes And that Iesus Christ ought to be onely hearde the father himselfe doth witnesse it from heauen saying This is my welbeloued sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him Wherefore if Christe ought to be only hearde we ought not to regarde that whiche another before vs shall thinke good to be done But that he who is before all that is to saye Christ hath done first For we must not followe the custome of man but the veritie of god forasmuche as he sayeth by his Prophete Esay They worshippe me in vayne teaching doctrines whiche are but mens preceptes And the Lorde himselfe repeateth the same in the Gospell saying ye doe reiect the commaundement of God for to establishe your owne tradition But yet he hath sayde in another place Whosoeuer shall break one of these least commandements teacheth men so to doe he shall be called the least in the kingdome of heauen Then if it be not lawfull to breake the least of all the commaundementes of God howe much lesse shall it be lawfull to breake these so greate so excellent and so properly appertayning to the Sacrament of the passion of the Lorde and of our redemption Or to chaunge it thorow the ordinance and tradition of men to an other thing than to that to the which it hath ben godly instituted For if Iesus Christ be the very souereygne Priest of God the father and if he hath bene the first offered sacrifice to God his father and hath commaunded to doe this in remembraunce of him he shall doe truly the office of Christ which shall followe that which Christ hath done And if he doe begyn to offer in the Church to God the father according as he shall see that Christ him selfe hath offered then he shal offer vnto God a full and whole sacrifice Furthermore if one kepe not that faithfullye which is spirituallye commanded the discipline of all religion and truth is ouerthrowne S. Augustine in his booke of fayth vnto Peter Chap. 16. In that sacrifice which we doe vse there is giuing of thankes
downe from the father of lights Saint Paule also We are not able of oure selues to thinke anye thing that is good as it were of our selues but our abilitie commeth of God. Agayne vnto the Romaynes I knowe that in me that is to saye in my fleshe dwelleth no good thing For to will is present with me but I finde no meane to performe that which is good for I doe not that good thing which I woulde but that euill doe I which I would not Also the naturall man is not able to perceyue the thinges of the spirite of God for they are but folishnes vnto him neyther can he knowe them bicause they are spiritually discerned And 1. Cor. 12. God worketh all things in euery man. Agayne No man can say that Iesus is the Lorde but by the holy ghost Also Dauid Euery man liuing is altogither vanitie And in the 8. Chapter of Genesis The heart of man is enclined to euill euen from his youth To the Ephesians We were naturally the children of wrath euen as well as other Gregorie vpon the 7. psalme vpon the versicle Anima mea c. Forasmuch as freewill is corrupted in our first father we haue not the power to will well if we bee not ayded with the grace of God. Saint Hierome in his commentarie vpon Ieremie Chapter 23. Forasmuch as the heretikes haue accustomed to promise felicitie and to open to sinners the kingdome of heauen saying thou mayest imitate the maiestie of God so that thou be withoute sinne bicause thou hast receyued the power of free will and the intelligence and vnderstanding of the lawe by the which thou mayst obtayne that which thou wouldest Euen so the sayde heretikes doe abuse the poore simple people through fayre wordes and chieflye the yong women charged wyth sinnes who are caryed here and there with euery kynde of doctrine deceyuing thorowe flatterie all those which heare them Augustine in the 30. booke of his homilies Homilie 41. Let vs not consent vnto those which thorowe great pride go about to eleuate and extoll free will the whiche so doing doe bring more euill than good and seeke nothing but to ruinate and destroy man but let vs consider meekely that which the Apostle speaketh It is God that worketh in vs both the will and also the dede euen of his free beneuolence Let vs giue thankes vnto the Lorde our redeemer which without any merite preceding hath healed vs of our wounds sores and hath reconciled vs vnto God and redeemed vs from captiuitie and reduced and brought vs from darkenesse into light and called vs from death to lyfe c. Of merite and of good workes By grace are yee made safe throughe faith and not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes least anye manne shoulde boast himselfe For we are his workemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good workes which God ordeyned that we shoulde walke in them S. Ambrose in the first booke of Cain and Abel Chap. 7. It is the deede of a dull and slowe heart to attribute to his proper vertues that which is good or that whiche he doth obtayne of God and not to the author of grace but to esteeme himselfe to bee the author of his goodnesse There is another kinde of sinne yea lesse but of equall arrogancie and pryde that is to say of those which doe not denie God to be the distributer of goodnesse but doe thinke the goodnesse which commeth vnto them is bicause of their prudence and wisedome and that the merites of all other vertues are giuen vnto them of right And for that cause it is sayde agaynst those which haue receyued the heauenly grace that they doe not esteeme themselues in no wise to bee vnworthy to haue suche goodnesse of God When the Lorde thy God shall begyn to consume his people here in thy presence saye not in thine heart the Lorde hath brought me in to possesse this lande for my righteousnesse c. S. Barnard in the fyrst sermon of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Beleeue not that thou canst throughe any workes merite eternall life except it be giuen thee freely For who is that which can make him cleane being conceiued of filthy seede but only he which is altogeather cleane And so that which is done cannot be vndon But bicause that God doth not impute it it shall be as though it had neuer bene done Whiche the Prophet considering speaketh in this sort blessed is the man vnto whome the Lord imputeth no sinne But as concerning good workes it is most certaine that none hath them of him selfe for if the humayne nature being yet entire and whole coulde not holde it selfe in his estate how much lesse can it rayse it selfe when it is already corrupted But we doe knowe very well concerning this eternall life that the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be shewed vnto vs Yea when man shall suffer them all togeather For mans merites are not suche as by them eternall life shoulde of right be due vnto them or that God doth iniury and wrong vnto some men if he doe not giue it For although I should not say that all merites are the giftes of God in somuch as man is more bound vnto God for those merytes then God is vnto man yet what are all the merites in respect of so greate glory S. Barnarde of free will. What hast thou that thou hast not receyued art thou created art thou healed art thou saued whiche of them hast thou of thy selfe whiche of them is not impossible for free will thou couldest not create thy selfe when thou wast not made nor iustifie thy selfe when thou waste a sinner c. Agayne in the same booke But if that will vpon which all merites doe depende was not in Saint Paule by what meanes did he presume that the crowne shoulde bee kept for him which he calleth the crowne of righteousnesse But it is bicause that whiche is promised thankfully is of right demaunded as a thing due Finallye he sayth I knowe him in whome I haue beleeued and am persuaded that he is able to keepe that which I haue committed to his keeping He doth call the promise of God the thing kept and therefore he hath beleued him which hath promised it confidently he doth aske agayne the promise the promise I say done through mercye but the which ought nowe to bee restored through righteousnesse The crowne then whiche Saint Paule hath striued for is the crowne of righteousnesse but it is of Gods righteousnesse and not of his This is trulye a iust thing that he doth restore that whiche he hath sayde but he oweth that whiche he hath promised and that is the righteousnesse of the whiche the Apostle did presume euen the promise of God. S. Barnarde vpon the Canticles sermon 47. Wherefore is that That is to the ende it doe
made miserable bicause that we haue proued what power we haue without god Beholde man was made good and through free will he was made euill Then when shall the wicked man be a good man in forsaking God through free will. He being good coulde not kepe himselfe good Nowe he being euill can he make himselfe good When hee was good he coulde not keepe himselfe good And when he is euill he sayth I do make my selfe good What doest thou being euill when thou art lost being good except that he which continueth alwayes good doe not repayre and amende thee Augustine writing vnto Paulinus 106. Epistle What is he which shal seperate vs from that masse or burthen of perdition and from that fight but only he which is come to saue that whiche was lost Of whome also the Apostle being asked say who is he that doth iudge or discerne thee where if man say it is my fayth it is my will it is my good worke It may be answered him agayne and what hast thou that thou hast not receyued If thou hast receyued it why reioycest thou as though thou hadst not receiued it And yet neuerthelesse all this is sayde not that man shoulde reioyce but hee that reioyceth shoulde reioyce in the Lorde and not of workes to the ende that none doe exalte himselfe not that good workes are frustrate thorowe that faythfull cogitation Howe is it that God will rewarde euery man according to his deedes And that vnto euery man which doth good shall be rendred prayse honor and peace but bicause that workes are of grace and not grace of workes for faith which worketh by loue is nothing worth if the loue of God bee not spreade abroade in our heartes by the holy Ghoste which is giuen vnto vs yea we haue not that faith if God doe not deale to euery man the measure of faith c. Augustine writing to Valentin 46. Epistle Euery good gift and euery perfecte is from aboue and commeth downe from the father of lightes and let no man say that the grace of God is giuen vnto him eyther by the merites of workes or by the merite of his prayer or by the merites of his faith And that he doe not esteeme that to be true which the Heritickes say that the grace of God is giuen vnto vs according to our merites the which is altogither false But the grace and mercie of God doth conuerte man of whom the Psalmist sayeth The mercie of my God shall goe before me to the ende that he that is an infidell be iustified that is to say that of an infidell he be made a righteous man and that he doe begin to haue good merites the which God shal crowne when the world shall be iudged Augustine in his booke of the true definition of faith There is neyther Saint nor righteous man which is without sinne and yet neuerthelesse he leaueth not of nor ceaseth therefore to be holy and iuste inasmuche as through affection hee holdeth sanctification for we are not holy through the force and strength of mans nature but we doe obtayne sanctification through the grace of God whiche dooth ayde and helpe our purpose And therefore all the Saintes truely doe declare them selues to be sinners for truely they haue inough for to lament and bewayle And although that their consciences doe not rebuk them yet they haue to lament bicause of the nobilitie and vnconstancie of nature subiecte to preuarication S. Ierome against the Pelagians A certayne man of our writers hath very well affirmed the Philosophers to be the Patriarkes of Heriticks to haue defiled the puritie of the Church through peruerse doctrine insomuch as that they doe not knowe that which they speake of mans fragilitie or weakenesse Whereof should earth and ashes bost them selues In asmuch cheifely as of them the Apostle speaketh saying I see another law in my members c. And againe I doe not that good thing which I would but that euill doe I which I would not If he doe not that which he woulde how can that be true whiche is sayde that man may bee without sinne if he will By what reason may he be that which he will when the Apostle affirmeth that he cannot accomplishe and fulfill that which he desireth When I shall thinke my selfe to be come to the ende of vertues then shall I but beginne the onely perfection of men is to acknowledge them selues imperfect Chrysostome in his imperfect worke Chapter 6. If euery one doe consider the motions or mouinges of his flesh he shall be founde to do no goodnesse for all goodnesse is accomplished of vs in gainesaying and speaking against our selues bicause that the nature of the fleshe is contrary to goodnesse S. Ierome against the Pelagians firste booke Then are we righteous when we doe confesse our selues to be sinners and our righteousnesse is not of our owne proper mertie but consisteth in the mercy of God for the Scripture saith the righteous man is an accuser of him selfe in the beginning of the worde S. Barnard in his .5 Sermon of dedication Who shall be saued Say the Apostles to the Sauiour And he saide vnto them things which are vnpossible with men are possible with god This is all our trust this is all our consolation this is all the reason of our hope but we whiche are already certayne and sure of the possibilitie what doe we determine of the wil Who knoweth whither he be worthy of loue or hatred Who hath knowen the minde of the Lorde Or who was his counseller Now it is here necessary for vs that fayth doe helpe vs It behoueth here that the truth doe ayde vs insomuche as that which is hid from vs in the heart of the father be reueled vnto vs by his holy spirite and that his spirite in giuing witnesse doth perswade our spirites and mindes that we are the children of God that he doth perswade vs in calling in iustifying vs freely through faith c. Gregory in his morales .22 booke 6. Chapter There are also some men who in doing any good thing doe forget incontinently their sinnes and doe fasten the eye of the hart in the consideration of the good works that they doe therby doe esteme thinke themselues already holy wherefore among the goodnesse that they do they take away the remembrance of their faults in the which peraduenture they are yet stil wrapped who if they did consider diligentlye the rigours of the Iudge they woulde more feare their euils then they woulde reioyce of their imperfect goodnesse They ought to regarde rather that they are debters of thinges that they ought to doe that they haue not payed by their good workes the parte already due And so after the manner of the trauayler we ought by no manner of meanes to regarde or marke what way we haue walked in but what way we haue yet to
goodnesse are of God yea faith it selfe Againe the Apostle saith I haue obtayned mercie O true confession He doth not say I haue obtayned mercy bicause that I was faithful but to the ende that I should be faithfull I haue obtayned mercie Let vs come vnto the first works of Paule Let vs behold Saule which did wax madde let vs behold him in his crueltie let vs behold him breathing out his threatnings and thirstie after bloude This was the way of Paule Christ was not yet his way what had he in his heart What had he but euill Giue me his merites Whiche if we doe searche his merites they shall bee merites of damnation and not of deliuerance Augustine vpon the wordes of the Lorde Sermon 40. The medecine of the soule is the only propitiation for the sinnes of all that is to beleeue in Christ c. Afterwarde he saith wherefore doe the children of God whiche beleeue in him liue for they are borne of God by the adoption of grace whiche is through the faith of our Lorde Iesus Christ And therefore welbeloued it is not without cause that our Lord and Sauiour saith that same to be the only sinne of which the holy Ghost rebuketh the world to wete because they haue not beleeued in him He would then that the world should be reproued only of that sinne that they doe not beleeue only in him to wete because that in beleeuing in him all sinnes are pardoned he woulde that to be imputed by which all the other are assembled And therefore in beleeuing they are borne of God and are made the children of God for he hath giuen vnto them the power saith he to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name c. Chrysostome vpon the .25 chapter of Saint Mathewe 2. Tome .2 homilye Come ye blessed of my father inherite ye the kingdome prepared for you from before the beginning of the worlde bicause that you haue giuen that which you cannot haue receiue that which you shall possesse eternally for one graine that you haue sowen vpon earth you shall haue an hundreth folde asmuch in heauen For the kingdome of heauen hath not bene created suche as the righteousnesse of man could merite it but such as the power of God might prepare it for if he woulde haue created the kingdome of heauen according to the merites of mans righteousnesse Truely he would haue created it after mans workes but bicause that nowe he hath not ordayned the reward of Saintes according to the reward of men but according to his greatnesse therefore hath he prepared the kingdome of heauen in heauen before that he created the saints in heauen S. Barnarde vpon the first sermon of the Annunciation of the virgin Marie The testimonie of our conscience is our reioycing sayth the Apostle not such testimonie as the proud Pharisey had in his wicked thought and seducing his master which bare witnesse of him selfe whiche witnesse is true which the spirite doth witnesse vnto our spirite For I doe beleeue that this witnesse consisteth in three things First and aboue all things it is necessarie to beleeue that thou canst not haue remission and forgiuenesse of thy sinnes but throughe the indulgencie of god Secondly thou canst not haue any good workes except he himselfe doe giue them vnto thee Finallye that thou canst not merite eternall life for any workes and it must be giuen thee freely c. Afterwardes he sayth For we doe well know that as for eternall life the afflictions of this lyfe are not worthie of the glorie which shall be shewed vpon vs although that one only man doth abide and suffer al. For mans merites are not suche that for them eternall life shoulde be due of right or that we shoulde saye that God doth vs wrong if he doe not giue them vs by reason of them For though I shoulde holde my peace that all merites are the gifts of God insomuch that for them man is more indebted to God than God is to man What is that that all the merites doe in respect of so great glorie To conclude what is he that is more excellent than the Prophete vnto whome the Lorde doth giue so excellent a witnesse saying I haue founde a man according to mine owne heart And yet he had neede to saye vnto God Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant c. Let no man then deceyue himselfe for if he will thinke well he shall finde without all doubt that he can not with ten thousande men go to meete him whiche commeth agaynst him wyth xx thousande But these things which we haue now spoken of are not yet altogither sufficient but wee must the rather holde them for a beginning and foundation of fayth Therefore if thou beleeue that thy sinnes cannot be put or blotted out but by him agaynst whome onely thou hast sinned thou doest well But adde yet one thing more to wete that thou beleeue also that thy sinnes by him are pardoned Beholde the testimonies and witnesses which the holy ghost doth giue into our heartes saying thy sinnes are pardoned thee For euen so doth the Apostle think that man is iustified freely through fayth In lyke maner as touching merites if thou beleeue that one cannot haue them but by him it sufficeth not vntill such time as the spirite of fayth doth witnesse that thou hast them through him Euen so it is necessarie that thou haue also witnesse to wete that thou doest come therevnto thorowe Gods liberalitie For it is he which pardoneth sinnes which giueth merites and yet neuerthelesse doth giue agayne the rewarde For all his testimonies are most assured For as to the remission of sinnes I doe hold the passion of our Lord for a most strong argument For the crye of his bloude hath had greater force than the bloude of Abel in as much as he doth crie in the heartes of the electe remission of all sinnes For he was deliuered to death for our sinnes And there is no doubt but that his death is more puissant and of greater force to doe good than our sinnes are to doe euill As touching good workes his resurrection is an argument for me which hath no lesse vertue For asmuch as he is rysen againe for our iustification as touching the hope of reward his ascention serueth for a witnesse for he is ascended for our gloryfication Thou hast these three things in the psalm saying Blessed is the man vnto whome the Lorde imputeth no sinne And in another place blessed are the men whose strength is in thee Also in an other place Blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen and receiuest vnto thee that he maye dwell in thy courte such is the true glory I say which is within for that dooth departe from him whiche dwelleth in our heartes through faith But the sonnes of Adam seeking the glorye which
Gentils through fayth and therefore preached before hande the Gospell vnto Abraham saying in thee shall all the Gentiles be blessed so then they which be of fayth are blessed with faythfull Abraham For as many as are vnder the deedes of the law are vnder the curse For it is written Cursed is euerye man that continueth not in all things that are written in the booke of the lawe to fulfill them And that no man is iustified by the lawe in the sight of God it is euident For the iust shall lyue by fayth and the lawe is not of fayth but the man that shall fulfill those things shall liue in them Nowe Christ hath redeemed vs from the curse of the lawe when he was made accursed for vs. For it is written Cursed is euery one that hangeth on a tree That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Iesus Christ and that we might receyue the promise of the spirite through fayth But the Scripture hath concluded all things vnder sinne that the promise by the fayth of Iesus Christ shoulde be giuen to them that beleeue c. For ye are all the sonnes of God by fayth in Christ Iesus Galat. 3. De poenitentia Distinction 3. chap. which beginneth Totam c. And we are iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus whome God hath set forth to be a pacification through fayth in his bloude to declare his righteousnesse in that hee forgiueth the sinnes that are passed Without fayth it is impossible to please God. In whome euen nowe though yee see him not yet doe ye beleeue and reioyce with ioye vnspeakable and glorious receiuing the end of your faith the saluation of your soules c. And God which knoweth the heartes bare them witnesse in giuing vnto them the holy Ghost euen as he did vnto vs and he put no difference betwene them and vs seing that with faith he purified their heartes S. Ierome vpon Sophon Chapter 3. They doe seeke the righteousnesse the which is not but Christ alone Iesus Christ sayeth Daughter bee of good comfort thy fayth hath made thee whole Agayne Beleeue ye that I am able to doe this And they sayde vnto him yea Lorde Then touched he their eyes saying according to your fayth bee it vnto you Also Daughter be of good comforte thy fayth hath made thee whole goe in peace Also What shall we doe that wee might worke the workes of God Iesus aunswered and sayd vnto them This is the worke of God that ye beleeue on him whom he hath sent Likewise all things are possible to him that beleeueth The wages of sinne is death but the gyft of God is eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lorde If thou shalt confesse with thy mouthe the Lorde Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raysed him vp from death thou shalt be saued For the beleefe of the heart iustifieth and to confesse with the mouth saueth a man. Who soeuer beleeueth on him shal not be ashamed But ye are of him in Iesus Christ who of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written He that reioyceth shoulde reioyce in the Lorde This is the name that they shal call him euen the Lorde our righteous maker To him giue all the Prophets witnesse that through his name all that beleeue in him shall receyue remission of sinnes For among men there is giuen none other name vnder heauen whereby wee must be saued Ye are gone quite from Christ as many as are iustified by the lawe and are fallen from grace Let no man esteeme of himselfe more then it becommeth him to esteeme but that he discretely iudge of himselfe according as God hath dealt to euery man the measure of fayth How shoulde I then aunswere him or what wordes shoulde I finde out agaynst him yea though I be righteous yet will I not giue him one worde agayne but meekely submit my selfe to my Iudge If I will iustifie my selfe myne owne mouth shall condemne me If I will put forth my selfe for a perfect man he shall proue mee a wicked doer for that I shoulde be an innocent my conscience knoweth it not yea I my selfe am weary of my life Thou hast graunted me lyfe and done me good and the diligent heede that thou tookest vpon me hath preserued my spirite c. If I doe wickedly wo is me therfore If I be righteous yet dare I not lift vp my heade so full am I of confusion and see mine owne miserie What is man that he shoulde be cleane what hath he which is born of a woman whereby he might be knowen to be righteous Beholde there is no trust in hys Saintes yea the very heauens are not cleare in his sight Howe much more then an abhominable and vile man which drinketh wickednesse like water But how may a man compared vnto God be iustified Or how can he be clean that is borne of a woman We are all as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnesse are as the clothes stayned or a menstruous cloth There is not one iust vpon earth that doth good and sinneth not Verely in the Lord is my righteousnesse and strength To him shal men come but all they that thinke scorne of him shal be confounded And the whole seede of Israell shall be iustified and praysed in the Lorde The Lorde helpeth me therefore shall I not be confounded I haue hardened my face like a flint stone for I am sure that I shall not come to confusion Mine aduocate speaketh for me who will then goe with me to lawe My righteous seruant shall with his wisedome iustifie and deliuer the multitude for he shall beare away their sins c. We being iustified by his grace should be amde heires according to the hope of eternall life Yet darest thou say I am giltlesse Tushe his wrath cannot come vpon me behold I wyll reason with thee bicause thou darest say I haue not offended O howe euill will it be for thee to abyde it when it shall be knowen how oft thou hast gone backwarde Doubtlesse our owne wickednesse rewarde vs but Lorde doe thou according to thy name thoughe our transgressions and sinnes be many and haue sinned against thee They that put their trust in me shall inherite the land and haue my holy hill in possession Be it knowen â—nto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached vnto you the forgiuenesse of sinnes and that from all sinnes from which you could not be iustified by the lawe of Moyses by him euery one that beleeueth is iustified And of his fulnesse haue all we receyued euen grace for grace Which he predestinated before them also he called and whoÌ„ he called them also he iustified
truth the virgin was a virgin and honoured neuerthelesse she was not put forth to be worshipped but she hirselfe worshipped him who according to the fleshe proceeded and was borne of hir Augustine in his booke of the care and sorowfulnesse that men ought to haue for the deade Chap. 13. If the soules of the deade were present with those of the liuing when we doe see them in dreames they woulde speake vnto vs And without speaking of others my holy mother who hath followed me by sea and by lande for to liue with me woulde not forsake me one night God forbydde that through the most blessed life in which she is it shoulde chaunce that she woulde not comfort hir sorrowfull sonne when I haue any anguishe in mine heart whome she loued dearely whome she would neuer see sorrowfull But truly that which holye Dauid sayth is true My father and mother haue forsaken me but the Lorde hath taken me vp If then our fathers haue forsaken vs howe are they present at our affayres or doings And if our parents are not present who are they among the dead which doe knowe what we doe or suffer The Prophet Esay sayth Thou art our father for Abraham knew not vs neyther is Israell acquainted with vs If the worthie Patriarkes were ignorant or knewe not the things whiche the people of the worlde did which were engendred and begotten of them vnto whome that people were promised that he wold come of their lyne and stocke bicause they haue beleeued in God and was promised that the people themselues shoulde come of their roote or stocke Howe is it possible that the deade shoulde knowe and helpe the affayres of the liuing Howe doe we saye that it happened well vnto them which are departed to die before that the euilles shoulde come which are come after their decease if it be so that after their death they perceyue all things which shall happen in the calamitie of mans lyfe Shall it be possible that wee can erre in saying and thinking those to be in rest which are tormented with the lyfe of the liuing whiche is full of ingratitude What is that then that God promised vnto the most holyest king Iosias for a great benefite That is that he shoulde die before the euils whiche shoulde happen vnto that place and vnto that people should come and that to the end he shoulde not see them The words of the Lorde are these Thus sayeth the Lorde God of Israel as touching the wordes which thou heardest bicause thine heart did melt and thou didst humble thy selfe before the Lorde when thou heardest what I spake agaynst this place and the inhabiters of the same howe it shoulde be destroyed and made accursed and tarest thy clothes and didst weepe before me of that also I haue hearde sayth the Lorde And therefore see I will receyue thee vnto thy fathers and will fet thee vnto thy graue in peace thyne eyes shall see none of the euill which I will bring vpon this place Iosias being afraid of Gods threatnings did weepe and rent his clothes and beleeued all the euilles to come by the death which shoulde come bicause that by that meanes he shoulde rest in peace in suche sort that he shall not see all those things Then the soules of the deade are in one place where they see not the thinges which are done or chaunced in the lyfe of men S. Ierome in his commentary vpon Ezechiel .16 Chapter The righteousnesse of the righteous shall be vpon him and the wickednesse of the wicked shall dwell vpon him euerye one shall die in his owne sinne and shal be saued through his righteousnesse And the Iewes doe saye in vayne Abraham is our father forasmuch as they haue not the workes of Abraham and if there bee any thing whereon we must put our trust let vs haue our hope and trust in the Lorde onely for the man is cursed whiche putteth his trust in man yea though he be holy yea and also a Prophet We doe reade in the Scripture put not your truste in Princes nor in the sonnes of men And againe It is good to truste in the Lorde rather then in Princes not only in the Princes of the worlde but also in the Prelates of the churche who if they be righteous will saue only their soules God sayde vnto Abraham in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed S. Paule saith that the seede is Christ Among men there is giuen none other name vnder heauen whereby we must bee saued but by the name of Christ Seke the Lord while he may be found and call vpon him while he is nie The time shall come that whosoeuer that calleth on the name of the Lorde shall be saued He is ritche vnto all that call on him Augustine in his manuell .22 chapter And of the wordes of the Lord 40. Sermon All my hope is in the death of my Lord his death is my meryte my refuge my health my life and my resurrection Epiphanius in his .3 booke the 2. commentarye Speaking of the Christians whiche committed Idolatrye with the dead bodyes sayth many thinges and the like vnto this haue bene done in the world for the seduction of the deceiued not that the Saintes are a cause of offence to any man But bicause that the thoughtes of men cannot be kept quiet but are peruerted and turned into euil For although that the Virgin Marye be dead and buryed her sleepe is in honor and the death in chastitie and the crowne in Virginitie or be it that shee hath bene killed as it is written the sword shall pearce throughe thy soule among the Martyrs that is hir glory and the holy body of her by whome the light is come into the world in prayses or be it that shee doe continewe For it is not impossible to God to doe all that he wyll for the ende of her is not knowen of any man we must not honor the Saints besides the deutye but we must honor the Lorde of them Then let that error of the seduced cease for Marye is not God and hath nother body from heauen but of conception of man and of woman disposed neuerthelesse according to the promise as the body of Isaac Chrysostome of the seuen Machabees 2. homilye Speaking of the seuen Machabees Staye not vpon the ashes of the bodyes of Saintes and of the relikes of their fleshe and to all the bones which are consumed by the time But open the eyes of faythe and beholde the hidden thinges of the heauenly vertue and of the grace of the holye spirite and shining of the clerenesse of the heauenly light Yet Michael the Archangell when he stroue against the deuill and disputed about the body of Moyses durst not blame him with cursed speaking but sayth the Lorde rebuke thee Moyses the seruant of the Lorde dyed there in the land of Moab
Councell of Pope Martin hath ordayned as much Pope Elutherius hath ordayned that none sholde keepe himfelfe through superstition from eating of any meates whiche are agreable to mans nature Let no man therefore condemne you about meate and drinke or for a peece of an holy day or of the newe Moone or of the Saboth dayes which are nothing but shadowes of things to come but the bodie is in Christ Let no man wilfully beare rule ouer you by humblenesse and worshipping of Aungels aduauncing himselfe in those things which he neuer sawe rashlye puft vp with his fleshly minde c. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ and are free from the ordinances of the worlde Why as though ye yet liued in the worlde are ye yet burdened with traditions of them that say touch not taste not handle not which all peryshe with the vsing of them and are after the commaundementes and doctrines of men Which things haue in deede a shewe of wisedome in voluntarie worshipping and humblenesse and in not sparing the bodie yet are of no value but appertayne to those thinges wherewith the flesh is crammed The bodily exercise profiteth little but godlynesse is profitable vnto all things In the first booke of the historie tripartite Chap. 10. The holy Bishop of Cypres Spiridion sayth that freely he dare eate fleshe in Lent when others doe abstayne from it bicause he was a Christian sayth he Let vs not therefore iudge one another any more but vse your iudgement rather in this that no man put a stumbling blocke or an occasion to fall in his brothers waye I knowe and am fully certified through the Lorde Iesus that there is nothing vncleane of it selfe but vnto him that iudgeth it to be vncleane to him it is vnclean But if thy brother be grieued with thy meate nowe walkest thou not charytably Destroy not him with thy meate for whom Christ dyed Cause not your commoditie to be euill spoken of For the kingdome of God is not meate and drinke but righteousnesse peace and ioye in the holy ghoste c. But why doest thou iudge thy brother or why doest thou despise thy brother for we shal be all brought before the iudgement seate of Christ He that eateth eateth to the Lorde for he giueth God thankes And he that eateth not eateth not to the Lorde and giueth God thankes Meate maketh vs not acceptable to God for neyther if we eate are we the richer neyther if we eate not are we the poorer But take heede least by any meanes this liberty of yours be an occasion of falling to them that are weake c. Wherefore if meate offend my brother I will eate no fleshe while the world standeth bicause I will not offend my brother The Lord sayd vnto the Prophet Esay crye nowe as loude as thou canst Leaue not of lift vp thy voyce like a Trompet and shewe my people their offences and the house of Iacob their sinnes For they seeke me dayly and wil knowe my wayes euen as it were a people that did right and had not forsaken the statutes of their god They argue with me concerning right iudgemente and will pleade at the lawe with their god Wherefore faste we saye they and thou seest it not We put our liues to straitnesse and thou regardest it not Beholde when ye fast your luste remayneth stil for ye doe no lesse violence to your detters Loe ye faste to strife and debate and to smyte him with your fyste that speaketh vnto you Ye faste not as sometime that your voyce might be heard aboue Thinke ye this faste pleaseth me that a man shoulde chasten himselfe for a daye and to writhe his heade about like a hoke in an heary clothe and to lye vpon the earthe Should that be called fasting or a daye that pleaseth the Lorde But this fasting pleaseth not me tyll the time be thou loose him out of bondage that is in thy danger that thou breake the othe of the wicked bargaynes that thou let the oppressed goe free and take from them all manner of burthens It pleaseth not me till thou deale thy breade to the hungrye and bring the poore fatherlesse home into thy house when thou seest the naked that thou couer him and hyde not thy face from thine owne fleshe Origen vpon Leuiticus 10. homely 16. Chapter If thou wilt faste as Christ commaundeth thee and humble thy soule it is conuenient that thou doe it all the time of the yeere yea doe the same all the dayes of thy life for to humble thy soule neuerthelesse if thou haste learned of the Lorde our Sauiour that he is gentle and lowly of hearte then if thou wilt faste after the commaundementes of the Gospell and keepe in thy fastinges the euangelicall lawes the which the Sauiour hath commaunded to faste in such manner But if thou do fast annoynt thine head and wash thy face c. Wilt thou that I doe shewe vnto thee what fasting thou must faste fast from all thy sinnes take no meate of malyce take no meate of pleasure be not to hotte with the wine of luxurye fast from doing euill abstaine from euill wordes keepe thy selfe from euill thoughtes touch not the breade of thefte of wicked doctrines couete not the meates of false Philosophy which doe seduce thee from the truth Such fasting pleaseth God but to abstaine from meates which God hath created for the faithfull to take with giuing of thankes and to doe the same with them which haue crucified Iesus Christ it cannot please god The Pharyses were offended with Christe bicause that his disciples did not faste vnto whom he aunswered that the wedding children cānot mourne as long as the bridegrome is with them Those then doe faste which haue lost the brydegrome we which haue with vs the bridegrome cannot faste but therefore we saye not this that we woulde let slacke the brydle of christian abstynence This is verily the Christian libertye to faste alwayes not through supersticion of obseruance but by vertue of continencye For howe can they keepe them selues chaste and not defiled and marred if they bee not holpen and sustayned through the ayde of continencye Howe shall they vnderstand the Scriptures Howe shall they studye in knowledge and wisedome Shall not that bee through the continencie of the bellye and of the mouth howe shall euery one make himselfe chaste for the kingdome of heauen if he doe not cut awaye the affluence of these meates The Christians then haue that reason to fast Augustine in the .86 Epistle written to Lasulanus In the diuine and Apostolicall scriptures and also throughout the newe testament in feruentnesse of courage beholding it I doe see fasting to bee commaunded but I do not finde it to be defined by Gods commaundement or of the Apostles in what time or day we must fast or not fast wherefore by this I doe vnderstande that the commaundement to fast
Bennet the .8 appeared damned after his death in a monstruous and horrible likenesse hauing an heade and tayle like vnto an Asse and the residewe of the body like vnto a Beare saying that he did shew himselfe after such sorte bicause that being Pope he hath liued beastly The yeere 457. The counsell of Carthage was holden in which S. Augustine ruled In the same a lawe was made vpon the appellations in Ecclesiasticall iudgement The Pope required that it might be lawfull to euery one that woulde to appeale vnto his seate And to the end that he might obtayne that which he demaunded did committe falshode in alledging a decree of his owne inuenting the which sayd that it was made in the counsell of Nice After that the lye of the Pope was knowen through the doublenesse of the Councelles brought from Constantinople the request of the Pope was refused denied The counsell of Ariminum or Rimino which was holden by .60 Byshops was generall condemned the counsell of Nice And did erre with Arius who was before condemned by the word of God in the said counsell In like manner the .2 counsell of Ephesus hath erred with Eutyches and Dioscorus The counsell of Carthage in which that holy man Cyprian was present with .86 Byshoppes that is to saye almost all the Byshoppes of Africa Numidia and of Mauritania decreed that Baptisme ministred by the Heritickes ought not to take place but that those which haue bene baptised by them should be baptised agayne The whiche sentence was afterwardes condemned as it appeareth in the .5 distinction chapter Quare S. Augustine writing against Maximian bishop of the Arians Lib. 3. Chapter 14. I ought not to preferre the Councell of Nice nor of Ariminum as though I shoulde preferre them before the Scriptures For by the authoritie of the same I am not bounde neyther thou likewise by the other But by the authorities of the holy Scriptures and not of men what soeuer they be But witnesse vnto both a lyke as the thing with the thing the cause with the cause reason with reason c. We ought also to obserue the decrees of Pope Alexander the 3. of Gelasius of Nicholas the 2. of the Councell of Illyberis of Toledo of Carthage of Chalons of Calcedonia the Lateran the which haue forbidden to take money and gyftes for the satisfaction of sinnes for baptisme for the temples for the sacramentes and giftes of god And haue ordayned that none shoulde be promoted and ordained in the Church by money and rewardes and that he shoulde be holden for an Apostate and not for an Apostolike which shall obtayne the seate of Rome eyther with money or fauour The Councell of Orleans hath determined that the poore the sicke and the weake shoulde bee nourished and clothed by the Bishoppes and that the Monkes shoulde possesse nothing of their owne Iohn Gerson in his first part of the examination of doctrines The first veritie shoulde be so sure that euery simple man not authorised might be so well instructed in the holy Scriptures that one ought rather to beleeue his assertion in the cause of teaching than the doctrine of the Pope For it appeareth that rather we should beleeue the Gospell than the Pope If then such a man doe teache any veritie which is contayned in the Gospell there where the Pope cannot greatly erre it is manifest of whether one ought to preferre the iudgement By and by afterwardes he sayth If it shoulde happen that there shoulde be a generall Counsell assembled in which such a man were present which is well instructed in case the greatest part should declyne through malice or ignorance to the opposition of the Gospell such a lay man may be obiected agaynst the sayde generall Counsell Panormitan in his Chapter Significasti extra de electionibus who was present at the Counsell of Basill and of Constance In matters which concerne the fayth the saying of a lay man ought to be preferred before that of the Pope if his saying be more probable by better authoritie eyther of the olde or newe Testament than that of the Pope Thomas of Aquino in the somme 3. parte 46. addition 6. article Bicause that the church is buylded vpon faith and the Sacramentes it appertayneth not vnto the ministers of the church to make new articles of the faith or to make newe Sacramentes or to chaunge or take awaye those that are made for that is the excellency and puissance which appertayneth onely vnto Iesus Christe which is the foundation of the churche The counsell of Gangres in Galatia doth curse those which abide not in the faith of the Lorde and which doe make euery day newe constitutions The Canons and Decretals of the Popes in the .9 distinction chapter Noli and chap. Ego and chap. Negare and .24 Q. 1. chapter Non afferamus We must holde our selues vnto the holy Scripture and not vnto the sayinges of men how holy soeuer they be Origene vpon the Prophet Ieremy in the first homilye It is necessary for vs to call to witnesse the holy Scriptures for vnto our senses and allegations without those one ought not to beleeue S. Ierome vpon S. Mathewe That which is spoken without authorytie of the Scriptures through the like facilitie may be despised as it is saide Saint Augustine vpon S. Iohn 46. treatise Chap. 10. Verily in sitting vpon Moyses seate if they doe teache the lawe of God it followeth that God teacheth by them but if they will teach that which is theirs heare them not neyther do them For truly such people do seeke the things which are their owne and not of Iesus Christ S. Cyprian vnto Cecill 2. booke of his Epistles 3. Epistle If you doe whatsoeuer I commaunde you I will not call you seruauntes but frendes and also that Christ ought to be onely hearde the father hath witnessed it from heauen saying this is my deare sonne in whome I delite heare him Wherefore if it bee so that Christ alone ought to be hearde we ought not to haue regarde what that is that others before vs haue thought good to be done but that which Christ which is before all hath don For we must not followe the custome of men but the veritie of God forasmuch as the Lorde speaketh by Esaye the Prophet saying They doe prayse me highly with their lippes teaching the commaundements and doctrine of men And againe in the Gospell ye haue made that the commaundement of God is without effecte through your tradition And therfore dere brethren if any of our predecessors either through ignorance or through simplenesse hath not obserued and kept that which the Lorde hath taught vs to doe by his example or doctrine the same maye be left of through the simplicitie therof and it may be pardoned him through the mercie of the Lorde But it cannot be pardoned vs which are now admonished and instructed of the Lorde
anathematisations if they will not be chastised nor corrected with corporall punishment and after confiscation of their goodes malgre their heades to consent vnto vs who doe will and commaunde thinges better agreable vnto God. And againe a little after he saith For our will is that by this and other tongues those which giue good eare vnto the holy bookes ought to be ware of the malice of the interpretors and that they doe not onely vnderstand the letters but also taste well the thinges therein contayned and receiue it throughly and vnderstande the moste holy sentences to the ende they may learne better that which is best and be no more deceiued erring and fayling in the ende For there is nothing so excellent as for to haue affiance truste in God Therefore we haue opened vnto them all tongues for the reading the holy bookes to that ende that if all by order do embrace the science and knowledge of them they may be the more diligent to learne that which is the best Forasmuche as it is most euident that he whiche hathe ben and is nourished and instructed in the reading of holy bookes is more prompte and ready to discerne and receiue that which is the best to receiue correction and to be conducted and leade into goodnesse then he that vnderstandeth none of all this depending of the only name of religion and staying him selfe as to the anker of respecte and soueraigne refuge thinking that the scyence and true knowledge of God is in the only calling of the secte This then whiche hath pleased vs and which is declared by this holy lawe shall keepe aswell thy glorye as those whiche are vnder thy obedience And also shall keepe and obserue them which shall succeede in the honor of thy magistrate and ruler And shall not suffer that the Iewes doe contrary or against those thinges but shall vtterly put to exile and banish al those that shall resiste or attempt to let this ordinance punishing them first by corporall punishment afterward confiscating theyr goodes to the ende they may not eleuate them selues against God and the imperial maiestie more insolently through a foolishe and rashe boldnesse and vse their Edictes towardes the presidentes of the prouinces considering our law to that end that knowing those thinges they may set them foorth in euery towne and village and that they may knowe that they ought necessarily to obserue these thinges by them whiche doe feare our indignation and displeasure S. Ierome in his Proeme of the Prophete Ieremie What other lyfe can there be without the knowledge of the Scriptures by the which Christ also is knowen who is also the lyfe of the beleeuers Saint Ambrose in his .35 Sermon The Lorde doth witnesse that the reading of the Scriptures is lyfe saying The wordes that I speake vnto you are spirite and lyfe Moyses sayde What is he that causeth that all the Lordes people doe prophecie and that the Lorde doth giue them his holy spirite c. As for me I am no Prophete nor Prophetes sonne but a keeper of cattell c. Eusebius bishop of Caesaria in his Ecclesiasticall historie lib. 6. Chapter .11 Alledging the Epistle of Alexander bishop of Ierusalem agaynst Demetrius and rebuking him thus sayeth That which thou hast added in thy letters thou sayest that it was neuer seene that the lay and secular people shoulde dispute of the fayth in the presence of the Bishoppes I maruayle what moued thee to affirme a lye so euident In asmuch that as often as there is founde any man that is sufficient and apt for to giue good counsayle and to instruct the people the Byshops haue accustomed to desire him to doe it as oure brother the Byshop Neon did vnto Euelpius in the Citie of Laranda and the Bishop Celsus vnto Paulinus in the Citie of Iconium and the Byshop Atticus vnto Theodosius in the Citie of Sinnas And there is no doubt but that the other Byshops may doe the lyke in their diocesses when they finde any one whiche is a man for to profite the people Chrysostome vpon the first Chapter of Genesis 8. homilie I desire most earnestlye and doe praye that ye may be all in the order of doctors and not only to be hearers of our wordes but also that ye woulde report and declare vnto others our doctrine and that ye wold correct those that doe erre and go astraye to the ende they may returne into the way of truth as S. Paule sayeth Exhort one another and edifie one another c. And a little after he sayth God would not that the Christian shoulde bee onely content with himselfe but that he do also edifie others and not only with doctrine but also with good lyfe conuersation c. Chrysostome vpon the .2 Chapter of Genesis .10 Homilie He which hath the care to teach and instruct his neyghbour doth not so muche good vnto his neighbor as he getteth gret gayne vnto him selfe when hee shall receyue double rewarde and obtayneth of God great retribution c. In the same place he sayeth moreouer If we do vnderstand rightly those things we may being at home in our houses and taking the holy Scriptures after we haue well dyned or supped to take the profite and giue spirituall meate vnto the soule For as the bodie hath to doe with sensible meates in lyke maner also hath the soule neede to refreshe it selfe dayly with spirituall meates to the ende that the same be corroborated and made strong agaynst the assaultes of the flesh and agaynst the continuall battayle by the which we are constrayned that it may resist it And it is to be feared least the soule should be brought into seruitude and bondage if we will be slothfull any thing at all Chrysostome vpon the first Chapter of Saint Mathew 1. Tome 2. Homilie You that are here present aunswere me I pray you what is he among you who if one demaunde of him a Psalme can say it without booke or any other parcell of the holye Scripture There is not one and yet this euill is not only here but for bicause you are slothfull and negligent in spirituall things so much do you surmoūt through feruentnesse the fire vnto diuelish things For if any man will demaunde or aske you foolishe or as men call them merye songs or songs of bawdrie they shall finde many which moste diligentlye haue learned them which they will sing very willingly But yet they would defend such crimes saying I am not a Monke I am maried and haue care of children of my house keeping Truely it cometh thereby that you doe corrupt and marre all thinges togither as a plague bicause that you doe thinke the reading of holy Scriptures to belong only vnto the Monkes where it is a great deale more necessary and needefull for you then for them For those whiche are in the middest of the battayle and which doe receiue continually wounds vpon
woundes suche people haue more neede of Gods medicine or helpe c. Chrysostome vpon the .21 Chapter of S. Mathewe 39 homily And when he was come into the temple the cheefe priestes and the elders of the people came vnto him as he was teaching and sayde By what authoritie doest thou these thinges and who gaue thee this power They declared that there was some which did giue power vnto men be it corporall or spirituall As if they had said thus thou art not engendred of the sacerdotall family the Senat hath not permitted thee to doe this Ceasar hath not giuen it thee but if they had beleeued that all power is from God they woulde neuer haue asked who hath giuen thee this power knowing that euery good gift and euery perfect gifte is from aboue and commeth downe from the father of lightes and that a man can receiue nothing at all except it be giuen him from heauen Of the assemblies and congregations of the faithfull Saint Hilary against Auxentius I Praye you O ye Byshoppes whiche doe thinke your selues to be so what suffrages haue the Apostles vsed for to preach the gospell with what power were they ayded for to preache Christ and as it were to change all Gentils from images to God haue they taken any dignitie of the palace in singing of Himnes Psalmes vnto God in prison being in yrons and chaynes and afterwarde to be whipped and scourged Did Paule assemble the Churche of Christ by the Kings Edicte when he was as a spectacle in the theater He did defende himselfe as I beleeue by Nero or Vespasian or Decius through whose hatred and malice the confession of the heauenly preaching hath flourished they nourishing and keeping themselues with their owne handie labour in assembling themselues togither within chambers and secret places and by the stretes and villages did enuiron and compasse about almost all people by lande and by water against the decrees and ordinaunces of the Senators and Edictes of the Kings Tertullian in his Apologie against the Gentiles .29 Chapter This assemblie of the Christians should be very vnlawfull if it were like or equall vnto the vnlawfull things it shoulde bee worthilye condemned if it were complayned of as of a faction or sect But whome haue we endammaged or hurt by our assembling and meeting togither wee are the very same as when we were all dispersed asunder euerye one by himselfe not hurting any man When wyse men and good and faythfull people doe assemble themselues togither we must not call that a faction or sect but rather a court And on the contrary we must applye the name of faction vnto those which hate good mē that crie agaynste the bloude of the innocents vnder colour of their vnitie and for defence of their hatred forasmuche as they doe esteme and iudge that the Christians are the causes of all losses and common mishaps If the riuer Tyber mounteth or swelleth aboue the walles If the riuer Nylus doe not descende vppon the fieldes If the heauen doe stande still If the earth tremble If there be famine or pestilence by and by they crie after the Christians for to cast them into the lyons denne Saint Luke declareth in the Actes the order of the primitiue Church that the faythfull assembled themselues oftentimes in the fieldes saying thus On the Saboth day we went out of the citie besides a ryuer where they were wont to praye and wee sate downe and spake vnto the women which resorted thither c. They assembled themselues togither in the night within chambers for to preach the word celebrate the Lords supper as it appeareth by that which is written And the first day after the Saboth the disciples being come togither fo to breake breade Paule preached vnto them redy to depart on the morowe and continued the preaching vnto midnight And there were many lightes in an vpper chamber where we were gathered togither c. And when the dayes were ended we departed and went our wayes and they all brought vs on our way with their wyues and children till we were come our of the citie and we kneeling downe on the shore prayed c. Tertullian in his Apologie 39 Chapter We coming and assembling our selues togither doe pray for the Emperors for their seruants and for the magistrates for the estate of the worlde for peace c. We are assembled to make commemoration of the diuine scriptures we doe feede and nourishe the fayth with voyce and holye wordes we hope well we plant and graffe most stronglye our fayth and doe trauayle much to imprint in the hearts the discipline of the commaundements c. Tertullian in his Apologie 30. Chap. We christians haue our eyes eleuated vnto heauen and our handes streched out bicause they are innocente and the heade bare and vncouered bicause we are not ashamed and we doe it without bydding For we doe pray with the hearte we pray alwayes for all the Emperors that God would giue them long life and assured empyre and a trusty and sure house mightye in battayle a faithfull counsell good people a quiet worlde and all that man and the Emperour can desire I may not demaunde and aske these thinges but of him of whom I doe know I shal obtaine them for it is he onely that will giue it and I am he that ought to require it that is to say his seruant which doe honor him and which haue in reuerence him only which am killed for his doctrine and discipline and whiche doe offer the best and greatest sacrifice that he hath commaunded that is to saye the prayer that proceedeth from a chast body and from the innocent soule and from the holy ghoste Not with little graines of incence of small valew nor also with the teares of the tree of Arabie nor those two drops of wine neither the bloud of a wicked man that desireth his owne deathe c. Plinie in the .10 booke of his Epistles 317. Epistle The Emperor Traianus did sende him a commaundement commaunding him to make enquirye of the faithfull and of their manner of liuing and afterward to persecute them Plinie did write againe vnto the Emperor that after he had throughly enquired yea with most cruelty and tormentes vntill suche time as he deliuered them into the handes of the hangmen to see them executed he neuer did finde anye other thing but that the faithfull haue accustomed to assemble them selues togither at certayne times in the morning before daye and when they were come togither they did sing prayses and psalmes vnto Christe as vnto god c. If any wyll see more amplye these thinges let him reade the ecclesiasticall history and there he shall finde howe the faithfull did assemble them selues in the mountaines in caues and dennes for feare of persecutions As it is declared in the historye of Theodorite after this manner When that the faithfull
Lazarus from death from that day foorth sayth he they consulted togither to put him to death Iesus therefore walked no more openlye among the Iewes but went thence into a country nye to the wildernesse In like manner when Iesus sayde yer Abraham was I am Then tooke the Iewes vp stones to cast at him but Iesus hidde him selfe and went out of the temple and passed euen through the middest of them and wente his way Thou doest nowe knowe how that they which see these thinges or which doe heare them for they see them not as it is written ought not to burne those which speake thinke things contrary vnto suche as the Lorde hathe made and taught For when Iohn suffred martyrdome and that his disciples buryed his body Iesus hearing thereof departed thence by shippe into a desert place and euen so the Lorde doth his thinges and also teach them But would to God they were so ashamed that they would not declare their furor but vnto men and that more and more throughe their madnesse men should not see them rebuke and check the sauiour blaspheming agaynst him But the same the Idiotes and fooles could not suffer althoughe they are rebuked of them selues not to knowe onely the gospell for this is the occasion of our departing and fleeing of which the euangelistes doth make mention and of which our sauiour hathe vsed and we must also thinke suche thinges to haue bene in holy men For that which is nowe written of the sauiour after the fashion and manner of men the same is commonly deputed vnto mankinde He hath taken those thinges that are ours and hath shewed and declared the passions of our infirmitie the which Saint Iohn wryteth thus They soughte to take him but no man layde handes on him bicause his houre was not yet come For before that the same was come hee sayde vnto his mother woman what haue I to doe with thee myne houre is not yet come And he sayd vnto those which were called his brethren my time is not yet come And agayne at the time of his passion he sayde sleepe hencefoorth and take your reste for behold the houre is at hande and the sonne of man is betrayed into the handes of sinners But he did not suffer him selfe to be taken before the time was come also he did not hide him selfe but gaue him selfe vnto his aduersaryes and enemyes In like maner the blessed Martyrs did keepe them selues from temporall persecutions and when they were sought for they fledde into secrete places But when they were found out they gaue them selues to martyrdome beholde the wordes of Athanasius a Martyre of Iesus Christe That the magistrates that persecute the faithful vnder coulour of religion shall be tormented with eternall paines HEare therefore O ye kings and vnderstande ye therefore ye Iudges of the endes of the earth Learne and giue eare ye that rule the people glorifie your selues in the multitude of nations For the power is giuen you of the Lord the strength from the hiest whiche shall trye your works and search out your imaginations howe that yee being officers of his kingdome haue not executed true iudgemente haue not kept the lawe of righteousnesse nor walked after his will. c. Heare O ye heades of the house of Iacob and ye leaders of the house of Israell Should ye not knowe what were lawefull and right But ye hate the good and doe that is euill ye plucke of mens skinnes and the fleshe from the bones ye eate the fleshe of my people and flaye of their skin ye breake their bones ye choppe them in peeces as it were into a cauldron and as fleshe into a pot c. And a little after hee saith O heare this ye rulers of the house of Iacob and ye Iudges of the house of Israell ye that abhorre the thing that is lawefull and wrest aside the thing that is straighte yee that buylde vp Sion with bloud and Ierusalem with doing wrong O ye Iudges ye giue sentence for giftes O ye priestes yee teache for lucre O yee Prophetes ye prophecye for mony c. Lactantius Firmianus in his diuine institutions Lib. 5. Chap. 24. writing vnto the Emperour Constantine All that whiche the wicked Princes doe against vs God doth permit and suffer it to be done And yet neuerthelesse the most wicked persecuters in whom the name of God hath bene had in derision and mockery ought not to thinke therefore to scape vnpunished for they haue bene as ministers of his wrathe agaynst vs Truelye they shall be punished by the iudgemente of God bicause that after receiuing power they haue abused it aboue all measure and by that meanes are waxen growen into greate pryde agaynst God and haue vnfaithfully troden vnder their feete his eternall name Therefore he promiseth that he will with all speede be auenged of them and roote out of the earth all wicked beastes But although that he hath accustomed to aduenge the vexations and tormentes done vnto his people and especially in this worlde neuerthelesse he doth commaund vs to attend and tarye patiently in this worlde vntill the celestiall iudgement at which day he will rewarde or punishe euery one according to theyr workes Wherefore the wicked people and cōmitters of sacriledge ought not to hope that those whom they haue so handled shall be despised vnreuenged The reward shal come vnto the rauening wolues who haue tormented the simple and righteous soules that neuer offended But as for vs let vs onely trauayle that nothing be punished in vs by men but onely righteousnesse let vs endeuor our selues with all our strength to serue God and to be auenged of that whiche we suffer and to receiue our rewarde Saint Barnard in his sermon of the conuersion of Saint Paule Oh Lorde God these are the chiefeste and first that persecuted thee whom men see to loue the hiest seates and romes in thy church and whiche bare the greateste rule They haue taken the arke of Sion they haue occupied and vsed the castle and afterwards haue frankly and by power set al the citie on fire their conuersation is miserable the subuersion of thy people is pitifull and woulde to God that they should not hurt but in that onely part peraduenture there wil be some who wil be aduertised and admonished with the exhortation of the Lorde who will beware of following their example and who wyll keepe the commaundements according to that which is sayde whatsoeuer they byd you obserue that obserue and doe but after their workes doe not But nowe holy orders are giuen for an occasion of moste filthy gayne and doe esteeme and thinke gayne to be pietie and godlynesse The Prophet Esay sayth O Lord our God though such Lords haue domination vpō vs as knowe not thee yet grant that wee may hope onely in thee and keepe thy name in remembrance Thy rulers