man for the Sabboth And all thynges are pure to the pure And euery creature of God is good nor can be defiled to good men by the abuse of euyll men The worde of God must be folowed in all respectes aswell in our priuate actions as publike For all thynges are to be done in the name of the Lorde Jesu and to the glory of God Then such libertie as we graunt to our selues in our priuate vse of externall thinges let vs not denye in publike The true spirite of Christ goyng about to ouerthrowe Antichrist ouerthroweth fyrst those thynges whiche are chiefe and peculier vnto him For fyrst the spirite of Christ endeuoring the restitution of Christes kyngdome restoreth first doctrine and discipline which be the chiefe peculier poyntes of Christes kingdome This colourable craft of Satan also must be taken heede of by the which he bringeth to passe oftentymes that eyther we recken those thynges sinnes whiche are no sinnes and those that be sinnes in deede we seeme not to regarde them in our selues Or els agaynst those sinnes which our conscience defyne to be sinnes in deede we vse no suche seueritie as we ought The Lorde graunt that you ryght worshypfull frende may religiously weygh these thinges I knowe you seeke the glory of Christ and I haue harde of you wherein I reioyce that you are carefull of your iudgement so that you dare not strayghtway recken the same for sure and certayne though you seeme to folowe playnely the worde of God thynkyng with your selfe that you are a man and that you maye slyde out of the way Therefore I desyre and beseche you by the Crosse of the sonne of God by the saluation of the Churches whiche are at this day ouerwhelmed with calamities by the desired consent that we shoulde seeke to raigne in all Churches by the peace that is in Christ Jesu Agayne I desyre and beseche you that you do nothyng rashely in this question of Ceremonies You haue seene weake members in the Churches of Saxonie you haue seene also many thinges for the which you geue God thankes Let no man therfore except it be vppon great necessitie cast of those whom the Lorde hath so notablye taken to hym O woulde to God the state of the Churches of Fraunce Italy Poleland were brought to this poynte Let vs in this Realme take most godly heede that we further not vnawares the deuils intentes who throweth in among vs sundry questions controuersies lest we should take in hande to handle the question of settyng forwarde the doctrine of the Gospell and restoryng of discipline and therby to remoue all Drones from Ecclesiasticall and scholasticall ministeries This Sathan when he can not retaine the order of Bishops wholly in seruice vnto hym he goeth about vtterly to abolyshe this order by that occasion so to spoyle the Churches that whyles due stipendes want the holy ministeric may be committed to the vilest of the raskail people Let vs take heede of these cogitations of Satan and let vs withstande them as much as we can by the power of the Lorde and by no meanes vnaduisedly to helpe them forwarde Fewe we are whiche sincerely professe the Lord Jesus and none of vs there is whiche is not oppressed with much infirmitie therefore let vs receyue one another as the Lorde hath receyued vs. Let vs yelde mutually one to another as the Lorde hath yelde to vs whiche sincere and dewtifull loue if it beare stroke among vs we shall be able with one spirite one mouth with our whole myght to discomfyte the body substaunce of Antichrist And so afterwarde without any offence of the good and with certayne edification of fayth among the chyldren of God we maye bryng to passe the vtter defacing of all the markes steppes and shadowes of Antichrist O Lord Jesus thou our onlye peacemaker aswell with the father as betwixt our selues bannish out of our mindes whatsoeuer draweth vs in sunder whatsoeuer darkeneth the clearenes of iudgement among our selues whatsoeuer by any way hyndereth the absolute concorde in thy ministers in defence of thy kyngdome and in destroying the tirannye of Antichrist Powre into our mindes thy holy ghost which may leade vs into all trueth who graunt vs to see and take in hande all one thing but fyrst of all that which is chiefest whereby the strength of thy kyngdome may be restored vnto vs and all thynges pertaynyng to Antichrist may cleane be blotted out of all mens hartes and memory The goodnes and loue of the sonne of God for his infinite loues sake towarde vs vouchsafe to geue vs these thinges to the glory of his name to the saluation of his elect and that the wycked say not styll where is theyr Christ. Amen Deditissimus tibi in domino Martinus Bucerus ¶ Imprinted at London in Powles Churchyarde by Richarde Iugge Printer to the Queenes Maiestie Cum priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ii Tim. iâ— i. Tim. vi Psal. ii i. Tim. iii. Psal. cxlv iii. Esdr. iiii â—hese Maiors â—ede not so â—uch profe â—hese Minors â—e but affitâ—ed and not â—â—oued i. Cor xi Hie â–ª xxix De ciuit dei lib. 19. cap. 17 Ephe. iâ— Ephe. iiâ— â–ª Esai xâ—â—x Aug. Epi xlviii â–ª Epi. cxix â—bid Epi. cxviii Hebre. x. Hebr. v. Epist. cxviii â–ª 1. Cor. ix Note this place of Bed eccl lust lib. 1. cap. 30. and expende his reasons Epist. cliiii De doctr Christ. lib. 2. ca. 40. Deut. 2 i. Cor. xiiii i. Pet. ii Math. xvi Actes xv Math. xv Hom. â—â— in Maâ—h CoÌ„tra Ciâ—â— â–ª graÌ„ lib. iii â–ª ca. li. Ser. 24. de ver Apost â–ª Epi. 48. Instit. li. 4. ca. 10. par 30. 3 Rom. xiiii ii Cor. â—â— â–ª Con. don post collatt cap. 5. c. Psal. cxix ii Tim. iii. i. Cor. xiiii Aug. Ep. 86 Epist. n8 Deut. 〈…〉 i. Ro. xv Epiph. li 3. To. pri Epi. general Aug. Epi. 48. Ezec. xiii i Cor. xi In epi. â—â— â— et cap. â— Ad cassâ—â— Act. x â–ª i. Cor. xi xiiii Eph. lib. 3. To. pri 1. Cor. iiii Ad cass Calu. P. Mar. Of outward apparell Tert. de vir vela Niceph. li. 9 cap. 45. To. pr. con Syn. Gang. i. Reg. ix 〈…〉 Math â—â— Math. xxâ—â— Hie. Epi. Tert. de vel virg Amb. de virg Aug. Epist. 76. Can. 4. li. 2. To. pri Haer. â—3 To. 〈…〉 Câ—â— 2. 1. Cor. i. Caus. 21. q. 4 â–ª Câ—n. 27. Basil. To. 2. Of ministryng apparell De vnâ—â— bapt 〈…〉 cap 9. Ter. de pâ—â— aduer Her Ter. de Idol Aug. epi. 113 Hie. in Gal. cap. 4. Eus. li. 5. ca. 18. eccl hist. 1. Cor. xi Lib. pri aduer pelag Hom. 60. An. do 400. Ezec. xliiii i. Pet. iii. De pallio De cultu foem Ad fab Lib. 2. paâ—â— cap. 10. mart Iulit De pallio â–ª 2 De ciui â–ª dei â—â— 9 â–ª ca. 19. i. Re. xxvâ—â— Act. viii Act. xix 3 D. Bucer Mâ—rk vii In cap. 18. Math. P. Mart â–ª Doct. Ridl Galat. iii. 4. Aug. Epist. 117. De ciuit dei li. 19 â–ª ci 19. Exo. xii i. Tim. iiii â–ª ii Tim. ii Mat. xxiiii ii Tim. ii Rom. ii 2. Pet. ii Hebr. vi De corona milit De idolol De cor mil. De pall Ad fab Cle. recog 7 ii Tim. iiii Ter. de pâ—l Au. gell lib. cap. 15. Epilog â— â–ª Cor. xvi Luk. xix Luk. xix contra lit Petil. li. 3. cap. 4. ii Cor. x. Tit. pri Rom. xiiii i. Cor. viii Math. xxiii ☜ In the articles agreed in the last Sinode Luk. xii Euseb. li. iii. Cap. xxxi In Math cap. 26. Hom. 83. ad popul Ant. Hom. 60. Tit. i. â— 1. Tim. 〈…〉 Phil. i. â— Math. xii a. Mark ii d. Titus i. d. 1. Tim. iiii a.
generall rule and ende And blessed be God our tymes are here suche that no man in our Churches presumeth to adde to Gods word as acknowledgyng the perfitnes therof to our saluation And that our gouernours in the feare of God eschewe Saules disobedience and by ryghteous clemencie flee the tyrannye of Reboam and through the direction of Gods spirite walke zelously in the pathes of godly Ezechias in all those thinges whiche they fynde wrytten in the booke of Gods lawe to appertayne to his true seruice and worship not so much weyhing the displeasures of worldly potentates as the curses that the most mightie God powreth vpon all suche as truely and sincerely regarde not his religion and glory And blessed be the name of the Lorde for euer that hath stirred vp such Bishops and preachers among vs whiche neyther haue nor do flatter Princes to set vp theyr pleasures aboue the wyll and commaundement of God though some surmise the contrary As Audiam certayne sectaries layde to the Fathers charge of Nicaene counsell that they tooke an order in the troublesome dissention for keping Easter day to please and flatter Constantine the Emperour whereas they dyd it vpon inst consideration and to auoyde scisine Surely the examples whiche you bryng in of wycked Kinges and false Prophetes myght haue well at this tyme in this cause ben pretermitted as whiche concerne matters expressely forbydden or commaunded by God but that you woulde intimate to some not well stayed that the Prince in these thinges suffereth them contrary to Gods word and her lawfull aucthoritie whiche thankes be to our heauenly father for his aboundaunt blessynges most rychly powred vppon her is altogether otherwayes or that all preachers and subiectes obeyng so orderly demaundes are but false Prophetes and flatterers This is very sore iudgement to condemne all your brethren for manpleasers that obey their supreme gouernour vnder god in matters indifferent of whom as you knowe a great number when flatterye was muche more gaynefull refused to do it with no small daunger And if you marke your note well Flatterie hath not ben alwayes the sure marke of false teachers For you shall reade S. Jude foretell of some that should despyse them that were in aucthoritie You shall reade of the Donatistes Rogatians Circumcellions and Papists that are rather disobedient to iust and good lawes of Princes for that as they say they see not in the writinges of the Euangelistes and Apostles any suche example Nowe for the maner and condition of true Prophetes whiche you assure vs is to aduouche alwayes Haec dicit dominus Thus sayeth the Lorde It is maruayle you remembred not in what thynges that was then necessary and wherein it is required nowe Truely you are not so vnskilfull but that you knowe sundry seuerall thinges to be left to their iudgement who may for the more handsome feeding of Christes sheepe and not for their owne purse belly or kitchin say with S. Paule * Other thynges when I come I wyll set in an order Al rites and fassions which euery nation beleuing may stablishe and vse are not distinctly rehearsed in Scripture that the minister may say of euery one of them Thus sayeth the Lorde It is sufficient in suche thinges yf they truely serue to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is seemly order to retayne the which the Church hath power to abrogate olde and make newe lawes Wherein sayeth Doctour Peter Martir these conditions must be obserued ‡ Fyrst that they be not contrary to Gods word Then that iustifitation and remission of sinnes be not sought for in them Thyrdly that the multitude ouerwhelme not the Churche Fourthly that they be not decreed as necessary and not to be changed Last of all that they be not so vrged as yf he sinned dampnablye that sometyme omitteth them without offence or contempt Suche lawes then albeit they be not in playne termes and wordes mentioned in the scripture yet hauing these properties they are not to be reiected as yf they were by no maner of meanes in the worde of God It is a pitifull case to see howe you trouble your selues in comparing Chryst preaching the wyll of his father and the Phariseys teachyng theyr owne traditions as yf any man inforceth nowe mans lawe as part of Gods diuine seruice or as if these orders vppon necessitie of saluation must be receyued and Gods blessed worde froden vnder foote Yet S. Augustine is this bolde touchyng the obseruation of profitatable rites in Christes Churche that he thynketh the contemptuous breaker of Ecclesiasticall orders to be corrected as transgressours of Gods lawes The Apostles you say preached not the dreames of their owne heades and yet for all that they made orders for the Churche whiche continued theyr tymes and season whereof we reade not theyr particuler commission True it is as you report that S. Paule willed not men to followe his deuises neyther preached he hym selfe at any tyme. What then Did he not appoynt temperall rites in the Churche which he had not Verbatim expressely at his masters hands and whiche nowe ceasse and are not in vse The lyke is said of suche doynges of the other Apostles whose constitutions were altered after theyr death You conclude thus Because these thynges haue no commaundement nor grounde in Gods worde therefore you refuse them Fyrst speciall commaundement needeth not in this part of Ecclesiasticall discipline Then edification order decencie aucthoritie of supreme magistrates haue grounde sufficient in the newe Testament and olde Last of al you should haue proued that they had no grounde in Scriptures But that thyng you neuer once touched but ranne a rouyng vpon the Maior to bleare the simple Christians eyes as yf you had sayd much of the matter when you neuer came towarde it Passyng from this fourth reason you frame an obiection vnto your selues as it liketh your selues and aunswere vnto it as you lyste Your obiection is That the Prince commaunding a thing indifferent and profitable for the state of the Churche may be added must be obayed Wherevpon you say it must folowe you disobeyng therein must both your selues offende and be a stumblyng blocke for others In aunswere herevnto howe sclenderly you excuse your selues and auoyde blame howe daungerously you passe ouer other matters it had not ben greatly amisse to haue quietly left but that this place as well as others would haue somethyng spoken of it The aucthoritie you affirme of a Prince in these thinges indifferent is to commaunde theyr good vse and forbyd the contrary Upon which your resolution a man may reason with you thus The good vse of indifferent thinges is gods commaundement whiche a Prince must execute But this may be a good vse of these orders now taken as the contrary is not proued by you so consequently the magistrate may call vpon the execution of the same Touching the Minor this much we haue of your graunt that a time may
God in trueth and veritie forsakyng errour couered with zelous perswasion to the sauyng of theyr owne soules to the reioyce of such Christians to whom they haue ben teachers as good subiectes ought to do to the glory of God To whom be all honour and dominion for euer Amen A briefe summe of the Reasons in the declaration Generall reasons All thynges in the Churche ought to edifie 2. Cor. 13. Iuxta potestatem Ephe. 2. Iam non estis Ephe. 4. Idem dedit 1. Cor. 14. Omnia fiant These orders do not edifie for that they Hynder the simple Make more obstinate the papistes Are monumentes of Idolatrie Deut. xii Ergo. Maior Preceptes of men must not be receyued Deut. 7. Aras eorum Math. 15. Frustra me Esay 29. Appropinquat popul Minor These are preceptes of men Ergo. Maior Offences and superstition ought to be auoyded Math. 18. Videte ne 1. Cor. 10. Omnia mihi Rom. 14. Bonum est non mand 2. Cor. 6. Eandem remunerati Minor These orders offende Ergo. Maior Nothyng muste be brought into the Churche besides or contrary to Scripture for princes plesures Deut. 4. Non addetis Deut. 5. Non declinabis 1. Reg. 15. Domus Saul euertitur quòd declinabat 3. Reg. 12. Reboam amittit x. tribus 4. Reg. 20. Ezechias benedic quòd non declin 3. Reg. 22. Micheas noluit adulari Ezech. 13. Haec dicit dominus Math. 15. 16. Christus praedicat quae pater mandat Math. 28. Apostoli praedicant quae iussit Christus 1. Cor. 11. Paulus tradit quae accepit Phil. 3. Paulus sequendus vt sequitur Christum 2. Cor. 4. Paulus non praedicat seipsum Minor These orders are besydes and contrary to the Scripture c. Ergo. Maior Christian libertie must be maintained whiche Christ hath purchased for vs. Joh. 19. Consummatum est Gala. 3. Christus nos red Particuler reasons In outwarde apparell there ought to be no difference as is proued thus 1. Reg. 9. Samuel was not knowen to be a prophete by Saule 4. Reg. 1. Elias was not knowen by Ochozias seruauntes Math. 3. John Baptist had no such apparell Math. 26. Peter was knowen by his speache Hier. Eustochiū was wylled to haue no notable apparell Hier. Marcella was tolde that at Hierusalem there was no diuersitie of apparell The Cleargie of Rauenna sayde they were to be discerned from the people by doctrine not vesture Cau. 21. q. 4. Holy men vsed meane vyle apparel The minystryng garmentes ought not to be admitted For They were taken from the Jewes or Gentyles Glos. ord in Ezech. 44. Platina in vita Siluest Durand Rat. diui 3. Poli. li. 4 Ca. 5. de Inuēt ▪ They haue ben abused to Idolatrie Sorcery Coniuryng Men haue an euyll opinion of them Papistes that they are holly Gospellers that they ought not vse them Bucer would haue them away He woulde haue puritatem rituū Peter Martir Doct. Ridley Bishop Jewel They preachers shalbe thought to bryng the peopl◠to Egipt agayne to be partakers of Idolatrie t◠offende the simple to hazarde theyr soules to defy◠theyr consciences The Solicitours of these orders were bluddy persecutours whose purposes be to deface the Gospell ⧠The Examination AS you pretend in your preface that feare lest the Ministers of Gods worde shoulde be brought into contempt was the cause of the vnorderly publishing of these your small reasons So it is well knowen that the great care whiche the chiefe gouernours of this Churche of Englande taketh to preserue true and faythfull Ministers from dispite and reproche moued them to retayne and set forth these orders as whereby theyr hope is Gods dilligent seruauntes accomplishing also other parties of their vocation myght recouer agayne the auncient dignitie of their forefathers and that Gods holy worde Sacramentes nowe by the craft of Sathan somethyng basely esteemed myght also haue theyr due reuerence and honour Herein they haue folowed the steppes of wyse Princes and good Fathers who thought it theyr seruice not only to establyshe sounde doctrine in matters of fayth but also to redresse and ordeyne rytes for discipline and publike quiet as in the godly counsels appeareth Nicoene Calcidon and others But in your considerations howe smally you haue regarded your duetie in this common wealth on this maner to make the worlde wonder at your factions wylfulnes before your superiours yf you thynke herein you haue any reade ouer your reasons it is rather to be lamented and prosecuted with teares then to be blased abrode in wordes and vttered by penne Surely it maye be true here Nos talem consuetudinem non habemus nec ecclesiae dei We haue no such custome nor the Churches of god Leauing then to the iudgement of others whether you run not headlong the ready waye to make your selues iustly and the ministerie also euyll spoken of by not seekyng the peace of the Countrey where you dwell and by not obeyng and folowyng but breakyng and forsakyng those variable orders and maners whereby worldly quietnes at the least is gotten and mayntayned which as S. Augustine sayeth is not the vsage of the Citie of God touchyng maners lawes and ordinaunces whereby the religion of the liuing God is not hurt Leauing I say this and your consideration to the iudgement of others it shall be sufficient at this tyme to weygh the groundes and reasons whiche you vse in refusyng to weare apparell and garmentes not nowe of the Popes Church but of Christes Churche in Englande It shall not be vnnecessary to aduertise the Christian reader that in the declaration there are much paynes bestowed of these discoursours where as very litle needeth to the intent peraduenture other to aduaunce them selues in theyr knowledge of Gods worde or to nip and taunte theyr felowes and betters as vnlearned and fooles For where as fewe or none are ignoraunt that all thynges should be done to edifie no offences shoulde iustly be geuen and Christian libertie should alwayes be defended such lyke Yet in confirming of these vndoubted truthes many wordes are spent when as lytle or nothyng is sayd of that which in this cause and many others contayneth the controuersie that is of the Minor or next proposition As whether these orders do edifie do offende or hurt Christian libertie Wherfore thinke not much if dyuers sentences of scripture tendyng to stablishe one trueth not denyed at this time be briefely collected and aunswered together For those thinges ought and shalbe expended whiche make any thyng at all to the pithe of the matter The fyrst discourse here is of edifiyng or buyldyng the Churche of Christ which all faythfull Ministers do acknowledge to be theyr bounden duetie and seruice accordyng to the graces of God bestowed vpon them and neuer to hinder and plucke downe awhit wherof much more myght be said then is here rehearsed if it were nedefull to wade further in so worthy a matter Herewithall in textes and expositions you woulde not greatly haue enlarged your
booke yf it had not ben to make al gods workemen sauing your selues suspected to the world as pluckers downe and destroyers of Gods most holy Temple buylded vppon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes when as through the grace of God workyng in them by true and sounde doctrine in this apparell and orders manye earnest labourers of the lordes do trauayle to bryng his people to the full knowledge of Chryst howsoeuer you haue entangeled and accombred the consciences of your hearers So then to the two fyrst places that be out of the second and fourth Chapter to the Ephesians no more needeth to be spoken but that all the carefull buylders in this Churche of Chryst whiche haue other commaunded or receyued these lawfull orders fyrst as they haue before time so do still take paynes to amplifie and beautifie the spouse of Christ with the precious iewels of spirituall wysedome And secondly do vtterly forsake vayne vngodly and vnprofitable inuentions of man whiche two thynges you seeme to require by your note in a true preacher and can not denye them yf you be not wylfull to be in very many vsyng this apparell Upon this vniuersall sentence That Christes Ministers must builde vp and not pull downe you determine that Uicars Curates and paryshe Priestes ought to admit no orders whiche may not manyfestly appeare vnto them that they do edifie Geuyng euery man in his paryshe an absolute aucthoritie muche more then they had before the prophecie was fulfilled Kynges shalbe thy Nursefathers and Queenes thy Nurses Yet you fearyng the inconueniences that must nedes folowe so an absurde an opinion remember your selues in the next lynes and saye That yf you myght but conceyue an hope that the vse of these thynges myght helpe forwarde the Lordes buyldyng you woulde not refuse them So one tyme all orders not manifestly edifiyng must be condempned another tyme yf you may hope that they wyll do well you will admit them This your chaungeable opinion well weyed differeth not muche from that straunge saying of the Donatistes of whose number one Ticonius sayde Quod volumus sanctum est What we wyll is holy If you had ben in S. Augustines time when the Church was burthened with humaine presumptions so that the condition of the Jewes was more tollerable as he wytnesseth then the state of Christes Church in those dayes belike you would not haue continued preachyng and ministring as he and other did because those burthens were not at the fyrst dashe cleane taken from your shoulders But he learned and taught other that Multa tolleranda vbi facultus non datur resecandi Many thynges muste be borne when orderly meanes do not serue to cut them of Yea he tryed by experience that some tymes profitable alteryng of such thynges as were long accustomed bread trouble in the Churche by newenes of chaunge as these his wordes testifie Ipsa quippe mutatio consuetudinis etiam quae adiuuat vtilitate nouitate perturbat For the very chaunge of custome as it may do good for the profite thereof so it may make much trouble for the newnes therof Thus this learned father would haue men to expect in alteration done by publike aucthoritie conuenient tyme and season in matters that myght be tollerated without Gods heauy displeasure Here before you shewe what ruine and destruction of gods building these fewe orders lawfully enioyned do make frankely you graunt all these thynges refused nowe of you to be of theyr owne nature indifferent and that they may be vsed or not vsed as occasion shall serue It is harde to say whether this be the mynde of all the shrinking refusing Ministers of London who are knowen herein not to be of one iudgement Yea it is affirmed of you a litle after in your declaration that they be monumentes of Idolatry and so to be vtterly destroyed that they be contrarye to Scripture and so also not to be receyued though Prynces commaunde them A man myght aske of you what vse that is whiche causeth these thynges nowe not to be indifferent the vse that hath ben or the vse that they are nowe appoynted vnto If the indifferencie of these orders hange vpon the vse then we must loke wherevnto they are ordeyned and not wherein they were before abused Nowe are you come to the chiefe poynt of the first argumeÌ„t which is as you say that Christes Church is not edified by these garmentes Which assertion you go about to perswade two wayes Fyrst because the simple Christians are greâ—ued and are redy thereby to fall from Christ. These whom you tearme simple Christians are those who as may well appeare perswade theÌ„selues to haue deepe knowleage in Gods worde to haue growen to so certayne a perfection that they can and wyll sodeynlye iudge of all men and of all doctrine and they thynke them selues to be setteled and quieted in greater matters then these They see weyghtyer thynges in the Church yf they see any thyng at all whereat they may be greeued as other good men are and yet must be contented tyll God graunt fitte and orderly meanes to remoue them with charitie to beare lest the vnitie of Christes Church shoulde be rent vpon euery lyght offence and horrible scisme for trifles be brought in But the simple indeede who are yet to be fedde with mylke who haue not through custome theyr wittes exercised are sore greeued and that iustlye seeyng you not receyue indifferent and comely orders Of whiche sort thousandes are dryuen backe by suche kynde of disobedience as yours is whyles you wylfully withdrawe your selues from your dueties and charge of Gods beloued chyldren and the deare flocke of Christ wherin if you haue taught your Nouices that these ordinaunces such other are superfluous idolatrious and superstitious when they are for decencie and order sake by lawfull aucthoritie thus left vpon whiche teachyng their offence may arise you ought nowe on gods behalfe otherwayes to infourme them But yf they be taught to take these thynges as Gods worde doth prescribe then your wearyng shall not be the woundyng of theyr consciences neyther by Gods grace shal you neede to feare the heauy curse of God wherof you write I pray God it be not as at S. Augustines tyme that this troublyng of the weake come not by the contentious obstinacie of some brethren as is before sayde Secondly You woulde haue vs thynke that the receyuyng of these orders doth not edifie because as you imagine the obstinate papiste shalbe confirmed in his opinion This thyng is easyer and oftener saide of you then proued as yet For truely this may be a meanes rather to wynne the aduersaries from theyr errours when they see vs without superstition or any necessitie turne those thinges to good vses which they fowly abused and heare vs condemne in open preachyng that which they set so much by And vppon this cause it seemeth the Apostles vsed long after Christes ascention the Ceremonies
of Moises and that in the Temple to wynne to Chryst the obstinate Jewes The histories Ecclesiasticall also haue diuers experiences howe much our auncient fathers increased Christes Churche by such godly pollicie Hence it was that they plucked not downe all the Jewyshe Sinagoges and Heathenyshe Temples but turned them to the seruice of God that they altered theyr feast dayes that they chaunged their rites to Godlye purposes And that this myght be done it appeareth by S. Augustine to Publicola saying Cum vero ista vel in honorem veri dei conuertuntur hoc de illis fit quod de ipsis hominibus cum ex sacrilegis et impiis in veram religionem mutantur When these thinges be conuerted vnto the honour of the true God it is of them as it is of the parties them selues whan they were before committyng sacrilege and impietie nowe they be conuerted into true religious persons These fathers thought not them selues in suche thynges vnder the commaundement which God gaue his people to practise in the land of Canaan therfore durst not with an herotcal spirite destroy all that the Heathen had inuented before But dyd Vindicare tanquam ab iniustis possessoribus in vsum suum clayme to theyr owne ryght vse as it were from the iniust possessours such lyke thynges as you talke of in this declaration Neyther dyd almyghtie God wyll his people to ouerthrowe the Cananites images and aulters leste those Gentyles shoulde be made more obstinate in their false religion as you alleage the cause but rather as the text declareth leste Gods seruauntes shoulde thereby fall vnto their idolatrie For they were charged not to bryng that heathenyshe people to Gods true seruice but to rote them cleane out of the land which they had so wickedly polluted Wherfore you do wrye this place from his naturall sense Upon this text you adde a note in the margent That al monumentes of Idolatrie must be destroyed signifing what your auditours and readers shoulde iudge of these orders which yet you your selues sometimes acknowledge to be indifferent and maye be vsed when occasion shall serue If these thynges required at your handes be preciselye vnder that commaundement of God to his people enteryng the lande of Canaan then is all this controuersie at an ende Proue that and al is done It woulde helpe you very much in this matter to consider that there is great difference betwixte those thynges that were meerly inuented of the Heathen to the worshyp of Idols and to maynteyne idolatrie and those that haue ben abused of papistes specially these fewe thynges beyng first institute for no such intent From this argument of not edifiyng wherein you would haue vs rather yelde to your saying then be perswaded by your reasons you fall to speake against pollicie without the compasse of Gods word vnder the which you would comprise these orders not impius wicked And for want of matter thorow your spirite of ironie you must as you do to the Prince the Counsayle the Byshops the learned men â— wyse geue also to the aduertisementes theyr gyrde and nip whiche very prudently thinketh it well yf Ministers receyuyng these orders teache and protest for what ende and purpose they take and vse the same wherby others may learne what difference there is nowe when these thynges are set forth for decencie and order and the tyme when suche lyke were inforced as the seruyce of God What fault you fynde with this rule you declare not Peraduenture you thinke those garmentes yet stayned with Idolatry and therefore not to be receyued by any protestation wherein you are contrary to your selues to all learned men and to the scriptures Or els you thynke not this declaration suffient in these thinges indifferent that they be not vrged of necessitie that they be onlye appoynted for decencie and order wherevnto you maye adde more circumstaunces yf you wyll but they are contayned vnder those two whiche yf the Minister both holde hym selfe and diligently declare to other he may with discharge of conscience obey his Prince knowyng that comelynes and order edifie the Churche of Chryst. Well the aduertisements must be defaced with the infamous title of the inuention of man and such lyke And vpon what reason shall this be done Forsoth it is lyke the wysdome of them that woulde haue ymages you say in Churches to exercise theyr strength in refraynyng from the worship of them whiche thyng is agaynst the wysdome of God Deut. 7. You shoulde haue done the dueties of discrete preachers yf you had vttered this your vnlykely lykelyhood to them that stande in so fonde defence of ymages whereof what the doctrine of this Realme is it is publykely declared And as for these orders all obedient men well vnderstande that they are not geuen to trye any mans perfection Neyther do they passe the wysdome of God whiche in the Scriptures willeth all thynges to be done decently and orderly whiche graunteth the godly magistrate aucthoritie of makyng ecclesiasticall lawes whiche hath geuen also power to the Churche whiche promiseth his spirite to Synodes yea for ordeynyng rytes and maners But to beate downe this pollicie of mans brayne you say very lytle nay nothyng at all to the purpose that in thinges neyther commaunded nor forbydden we must not folowe our owne phantasies lest we heare In vayne do they worship me teaching doctrines the preceptes of men These preceptes of men wherewith the Prophete and the Apostle saye God is not worshipped were such as Chrisostome wryteth whiche the seniours had made newe other wayes then Moyses commaunded and preferred them in Gods seruice before the lawe of the Lord and added them to Gods worde as iudgeyng it otherwayes vnperfect for the saluation of Gods people On this maner no man at this tyme vrgeth these orders That holsome lawes of godly magistrates whiche seruing God as S. Augustine affirmeth they make not onlye for humayne societie but also for Gods religion which furthermore he truely tearmeth Clensing instrumentes of the Lordes barren floure profitable terrours commodious admonitions healthsom boundes medicine right phisical That these I say are not to be thought the preceptes of man it needeth not to call together here all the auncient felowship of fathers Doctour Bucer vpon this place may teache you the same who most godly pronounceth thus Quicquid homo statuerit quod quomodocunque ad vsum proximorum faciat c. Whatsoeuer man shall decree whiche by any meanes may make to the vse of his neighboures for that the same is deriued from the rule of charitie as be lawes ciuill domesticall statutes ceremonies and rytes whiche Christian men vse thereby to teache or heare Goddes worde more commodiouslye or to praye and about the Lordes Supper and Baptisme yea whatsoeuer shalbe a furtheraunce to passe our lyfe here more profitablye and decently That thing ought not to be esteemed as a tradition or precept of man though
be when these thinges in Christes Churche may haue their good vse But whether that tyme be nowe or nay there are preiudices agaynst you of the like tyme heretofore of the whole parliamēt of the Clergie of the most part of protestants papistes As for that power whiche you expounde God hath geuen to Princes whether it contayne all their aucthoritie and iurisdiction as you rehearse it it shall not be narrowly scanned at this tyme. Neyther thankes be geuen to God doth the Prince of pleasure but for further commoditie of her subiectes require this subiection of yours which howe lawfully you withdrawe God knoweth and will iudge Ueryly this your declaration in that day will not be your defence when the Lorde shall lyghten thynges that are hyd in darkenes and make the counsell of the hartes manyfest Also we all nkowe or ought to knowe in what cases we shoulde put in vse that saying of S. Peter * We ought more to obey God then man And therefore we sticke not in these thynges to shewe gratefull hartes as of those men who acknowledge them selues by the meanes of suche a Prince deliuered out of those miserable cases We are affrayde to stryue contentiouslye about the varietie of kynge Salomons wyues garment thinges outwarde lest we should hurt her inward beautie as S. Augustine thynketh to become seruauntes of the Churche a Queene so pearelesse The bondes and limittes whiche you appoynt for true obedience of subiectes to theyr princes are very narrowe daungerous For oftentymes the Subiect ought to obey in thynges not forbydden by God and commaunded by lawe though he do not playnly perceyue eyther for what good end they are required or to what ende they wyll come as dayly experience in common wealthes do shewe But belyke you wyll haue euery man to vnderstande as much as the Prince and councell knoweth and intendeth or els you wyll set the subiect at his choyse Moreouer here is perylous auctoritie graunted to euery subiect to determine vpon the Princes lawes proclamations and ordinaunces that when they shall see them many tymes otherwayes then they are in deede vnprofitable then shall they nay they must not do and accompyshe the same If you restrayne this to matters Ecclesiasticall you helpe your selues neuer awhyt For euery Minister there hath not full power to make and abrogate Ecclesiasticall lawes nor yet knowledge well to iudge of them This is therfore scarse to geue example of true obedience to God and man For in not obeying man in such thynges indifferent whose vse you can not shew nowe to be wicked you obey not God whose minister man is But I omit here longer to resite your wrytyng in this poynt for good considerations Which I thynke your selfe better aduised hereafter wyll expende The fyfth and last reason generall that moueth you vtterly to refuse the receyuyng of apparell yet continued and declared is the consideration of Christian libertie whiche thereby you thynke shoulde be manifestly infrynged and so forth And here you triumphe in your textes how Christ hath delyuered vs from the bondages of ceremonies and law As touchyng Christian libertie the faythfull man must knowe that it is altogether spirituall and parteyneth only to the conscience whiche must be pacified concernyng the lawe of God and nexte well stayed in thynges indifferent This libertie consisteth herein not to be holden tyed with any religion in externall things but that it may be lawfull before God to vse them or omit them as occasion shall serue This perswasion a godly man must alwayes retaine kepe safe in his mynde but when he commeth to the vse action of them then must he moderate and qualifie his libertie accordyng to charitie towarde his neyghbour and obedience to his Prince So though by this knowledge his mynde and conscience is alwayes free yet his doyng is as it were tyed or limitted by lawe or loue Herevpon a well learned man saith ‡ It is sufficient in Christian libertie to vnderstand that before God it is no matter what meates or what clothes thou vse though in thy whole lyfe thou neuer eat flesh and though alwayes after thou vse in apparell one colour and fassion So hath another Quo ad sensum et doctrinam semper profitendū adiaphora esse libera non quo ad usurpationem A Christian man must alwayes professe that indifferent thynges as muche as appertayneth to vnderstandyng and doctrine are free and not touchyng theyr vse Nowe then forasmuch as these garmentes are among thynges indifferent we may easylye knowe how they are free as parteynyng to our conscience and yet notwithstandyng we may be obedient to lawes without impairyng of Christian libertie But to the weyghyng of your reasons Fyrst the Lorde God be praysed the religion of Chryst standeth in no such daunger as you beare men in hande it doth by puttyng men in mynde to trye those constitutions that the wyse men of the whole Realme haue well hoped wyll serue to some good purpose in this congregation of Chryst. Then no wyttye or Godly man can iustly iudge our religion to be but Prynces pleasures yf Prynces through great deliberation make lawes for the Church call vppon the practize of the same You are not ignoraunt what this smelleth of that is either of Donatistrie or Papistrie which sectes thynke alwayes the true catholiques to geue to much to Princes and Magistrates when as by Gods worde they acknowledge them to be supreme gouernours not onlye to see lawes framed by the Cleargie put in vse but to disanul the naughtie and to decree good and godly Thirdlye he hath traueyled but simplie in Scripture who reasoneth from the abolyshyng of Moyses ceremonies to the pluckyng of all good orders out of the Churche For though Chryst beyng the body of all those shadowes hath fulfylled them so that we neede not to feare the curse pronounced vpon all them that do not abyde in all thinges that were written in the lawe yet we are not forbydden to vse some one of them yf it myght edifie the Churche of Chryst. And yf they be by all wayes forbydden yet no learned man wyll gather that no decent fassyons are needefull in the Churche Last of all who seeth not that these few orders now to be obserued are not inioyned as figures or shadowes of any thyng to come but as some meanes yf it myght be for a tyme to set forwarde the buyldyng of God The ende of these groundes is this That you fearyng these garmentes shoulde be thought necessary you vtterlye refuse to admit them This opinion of necessitie which you phantasie neyther was annexed to these at the begynnyng neyther any wyse or learned man in this Church maynteyneth it neyther is it nowe by any meanes confirmed but playnely the contrary is protested taught and done Howe vnnecessarie soeuer you woulde make men beleue that vniformitie in outwarde apparell among Ecclesiasticall ministers were as by the whiche you woulde
proue they can not be knowen yet you can not be ignoraunt but that suche thynges were vnder Ecclesiastical discipline Wherof euen touchyng apparell and ornamentes Ciprian folowing his maister Tertullian saith after great commendation therof Hanc sectari salubre est et auersari ac negligere laethale To folowe this discipline it is a healthsome thyng but to turne from it and neglect it is as daungerous as death In this tyme Tertullian sharpely reprehended a Byshop that suffered a wydowe to syt without a vayle in the Church among other wydowes Eusalius also a Bishop dyd cast Eustathius a Priest out of the Churche because he vsed an apparell Qui sacerdotem non deceret whiche was not comely for a Priest to weare The whiche Eustathius afterwarde was condempned of the councell in Gangra for doyng manye thynges otherwayes then the order of the Church was and for alteryng his apparell I leaue here to rehearse the seuenth general councell with the decrees of sundry good Byshoppes that haue taken order for theyr Cleargies apparell because this thyng only is intended at this tyme to shewe howe litle the examples brought by you conclude that thyng which you woulde Saul you say dyd aske Samuell where was the Seers house when as Samuell himselfe was the Seer or Prophet As yf Samuell myght not haue on hym the Apparell of a Leuite though Saule thereby dyd not knowe hym to be a Prophete If God stirred vp a Prophete among the Leuites as Samuell was we reade not therefore that he altered his apparell This seemeth rather against you thus That Samuell though a singuler Leuite yet in the number of them that went alyke was not knowen to haue that gyft he had Touchyng Elias whom Ochozias seruauntes meetyng knewe not to be Elias the prophete It maketh nothyng agaynst this but that the Leuites myght haue and vse a distinct apparell Yea it appeareth rather that Ochozias the kyng dyd knowe hym hearyng the description of his apparell by his seruauntes And what a kynde of reasonyng is this Straunge seruyngmen dyd not know Elias to be Elias when they met hym Ergo he was not apparelled as other Ministers Dr Ergo his apparell helped not to make hym knowen Garmentes make not the person knowen by name but his common function not his particuler and speciall gyft What nede you to bryng in S. John Baptist who as he was singulerly called to prepare the way of the Lorde so had he his meate dyet and garmentes singuler This is wonderfull shyft to seke out extraordinary persons leaue the ordinarie state of Gods ministers to searche what was done in troublesome tymes of the Churche and leaue the peaceable gouernement of the same to alleage what a prophete beyng persecuted dyd weare and so necessaryly inferre what we may do in quietnes and peace But from S. John Baptist doynges one myght as your common kynde of reasonyng is reason against that you defend thus Saint John wyllyng the Pharyseys to repent neuer mentioned the castyng away of theyr supersticious apparell Ergo abused apparell may be reteyned styll But Peters example you suppose helpeth your matter muche who was knowen in the hygh Priestes hall by his tongue and not by his coate Neyther dyd Peter preache after the ryngyng of a bell neyther sayde any seruice appoynted neyther made sermon in Churche or pulpyt and yet for all that you and godly men wyll thus do Truelye there was then no lawe of any godlye Magistrate to induce Peter thervnto If it had ben so wayghtie a poynt of religion to differ from false Christians in outwarde apparell to the which ende all your force is bent it is marueylous that we haue no such example in the Apostolyke Churche Here next are brought in of you two women lyuyng solitaryly in a kynde of banyshement to confirme what the publique state of the Cleargie eyther myght or dyd weare Hierome you say dyd councell Eustochiū a virgin to weare apparell Nulla diuersitate notabilis notable by no diuersitie Myght not this virgin notwithstandyng weare the attyre proper for virgins though she dyd not differ notably from all other virgins If this Eustochium were a mayde that publiquely in the presence of the Church toke vppon her to kepe her virginitie as diuers then were perswaded to do then had she the vayle But yf she for to auoyde the continuall troubles of those tymes mynded to lyue sole and in a solitarie place she myght weare as best lyked her herselfe The lyke may be aunswered of Marcella and those worthy queers of Munkes syngyng in theyr owne language at Hierusalem in those wretched dayes of whom there was none a minister in the Church of Christe as farre as can be gathered For Munkes in those dayes were none of the Cleargie And yet in some places Collegiate Munkes had their habite as appeareth in the councell of Chaldedon and in Epiphanius Nowe foloweth somewhat that seemeth to touche the Cleargie that is That the Cleargie of Rauenna as you report wrytte to Carolus Caluus that they shoulde not differ from the people in apparell but doctrine c. Fyrst yf you wyll let these wordes be referred to the first auctour therof that is to Celestinus Byshop of Rome as you partly graunt and then consider howe they further your purpose Celestinus about the yere of our Lorde 430. writte to to the Bishops of Fraunce against certaine that brought in vpon superstition Nouitatem vestium contra morem Ecclesiasticum Newe kynde of apparell contrary to the Ecclesiasticall maner folowyng the outwarde letter of the Scripture that is they woulde be Amicti pallio et lumbos praecincti Couered with a cloke and gyrte about their loynes Which thynges because you spyed there you lefte out these wordes betwixte your two sentences alleaged Nam si studere incipiamus nouitati traditum nobis a patribus ordinem calcabimus vt locum superuacuis superstitionibus faciamus For yf we begyn to studye vppon noueltie we shall treade vnder foote the order deliuered vnto vs from our fathers and so make rowme for superfluous superstitions Nowe yf you wyll set together all these circumstaunces you shall perceyue all to make agaynst you Fyrst Celestinus meanyng is of them that would serue God rather in garmentes then with puritie of hart Then he speaketh agaynst those that commyng out of the Laitie wyll vse styll lay apparell Last of all against those that seke innouations in suche matters contrarye to long prescribed vsage and order Reade his wordes in his Epistle and you shall not denie this If it please you to vrge the wordes that we are to be discerned from the people not by apparell but by doctrine you wyll remember that here is such a comparison as this Non misit me Christus baptizare sed Euangelizare Christ hath not sent me to baptise but to preache the Gospell and yet Paule baptised So they myght be seperate from
the people by apparell but chiefely it woulde be done by doctrine and puritie of lyfe Why you fled to father these wordes vpon Celestinus but rather to haue them appeare to be the Cleargies of Rauenna which was 400. yeres after Celestinus was dead some may thinke that you feared to put men in mynde that order in outwarde apparell was so auncient or that you woulde haue no helpe at the Popes hande or that you well knowe that the place made altogether agaynst you After this you bring in a patch of Gratians decrees Caus. 21. quest 4. that godlye men in olde tyme went in base and vyle apparell This is a Non sequitur But see what smal helpe you haue at Gratians handes Fyrste all that tract is agaynst the gorgeous costlye lyght apparell of the Cleargie which all godly men deteste in all kynde of apparell Then the place you recite is referred to the Prophetes tymes and thereabout as appeareth in Basill Thirdly there is this decree of the. 7. counc Nullus eorū qui. c. Let none of them that are numbred among the Cleargie haue any vnseemly apparell whether he lyue in the citie or walke on his iourney But let hym vse the stoles or syde garmentes whiche are graunted to Clarkes You may reade there also the decrees of Zacharias and Leo very auncient Byshoppes of Rome that none of the Cleargie shoulde weare the apparell of laye men Last of all howe farre Basilius Magnus was from your mynde in this matter though you alleage his name here it appeareth in many places of his workes but specially in the aunswere to the. 22. Interrogatorie of the longer rules where after discourse he hath these wordes Ex quo quidem illud continget ▪ c. Whervpon this shall come to passe that we shall haue a common fashion among vs all in our apparell and that therby the Christian may haue a singuler and peculier lesson Yea a litle after he saith that it shalbe to them Veluti pedagogi disciplina as the discipline of a scoolmaster to withdraw men frō some of theyr wicked dedes Thus then neyther Samuel nor Elias neither Iohn nor Peter neither Hierome Celestine nor Basil make anye whyt at all agaynst vniformitie of outward apparell in Ecclesiasticall persons howesoeuer you do abuse theyr auctorities but rather stablyshe and confirme the same Before aunswere be made to the foure thinges that moue you agaynst the ministring apparell the reader maye be admonished to beholde what rehearsall you make of superfluous apparell and other superstitious thinges whiche ought not at this tyme to be in any question for that vppon iuste groundes god by his magistrate hath deliuered vs frō them Fyrst of all then you iudge that because these two thynges that remayne come from the Jewes Gentyles which yet you do not fully proue they ought vtterly to be refused And yet for all that S. Augustines saying is in these thinges true Regula verissima et inuiolabilis veritatis ostendit c. The most true and inuiolable rule of trueth doth shewe that in all men meanyng of heretikes that thyng is to be improued and amended which is false and vitious that is to be acknowledged receyued whiche is true and right But let vs weye this reason further that woulde perswade vs to vse nothing that was inuented by wycked and vnbeleuyng aucthours You your selues say out of Polidor we knowe that God toke from the Egiptians linnen vestures abused of them and appointed the same for his owne seruice and we vnderstande that the Church of Chryst before the tyrannie of the Bishop of Rome dyd chose certayne rites and orders from the Jewes whervpon it may be truly thought that it is no great matter from whom that thyng fyrst commeth that serueth to godly vse Moyses appoynted tentes though Hercules had his tithes Christ appoynted his memoriall to be kept in bread wine though bread was offered before to Mithra Who brought in mariages to be celebrate in Churches a Bishop of Rome Who vsed the ring fyrst in weddyng the Heathen Whence are tythes taken vp till this day from the Jewes Whence were Seniours in the primitiue Churche and yet still from the Jewes Easter day and Whitsuntide generall counselles toke from the Jewes Besides Sundayes our fathers feared not to decree certayne Holydayes though the Gentyles had their solemnities Tymes of fastinges are appoynted though Martian the Heritike made lawes therof But what neede long searching in this matter when Saint Paule institute a feast in Christian Churches about the Communion tyme though the Gentiles there away had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common bankettes in theyr ydoles temples And the Gowne that you your selues would so gladly minister in seemeth to come eyther from Turkes or Papistes It is like the age was neuer before this that men made them selues scrupulous whence that thyng was taken whiche myght serue in common wealth or Churche to some profitable ende Well be it as Polidore Glossa ord and Hierome saieth that the Egiptians vsed linnen clothes yet Hierome findeth no fault with all the Cleargie of his tyme who al vsed such white apparell as appeareth in the confutation of the Pelagians who layde to his charge and other theyr apparel ornamentes as contrary to God Quae sunt rogo inimicitiae contra deum si tunicam habuero mundiorē Si episcopus presbiter et diaconus et reliquus ordo ecclesiasticus in administratione sacrificiorum candida veste processerint c. What enmitie I pray you is this against God yf I haue a more cleane coate yf the Byshop Priest and Deacon and the rest of the Ecclesiasticall order at the administration of sacrifice go in white apparell It appeareth Saint Hierome chargeth them as Pelagians who speake agaynst white garmentes in the Churche Neyther were these vestures in pryce only in the occidental Church but also in the orientall Churche as Chrisostome sheweth playnely in a Sermon to the people of Antioche wyllyng the Priestes to take diligent care to whom they dyd minister the Sacrament of Christes body and bloud saying Hoc vestra dignitas est c. This is your worship this is your safetie this is your crowne and not because ye go rounde about in the Church in a white and a shining garment So then in those fathers dayes men dyd not cauill agaynst theyr whyte vestures in the Churche because they were fetched from the Heathens or Jewes Here one thyng must not be omitted that S. Hierome in the same place where he speaketh of the Egiptians lynnen clothes hath also these wordes Porro religio diuina alterum habitū habet in ministerio alterum in vsu vitaque communit The religion of god hath one habite in the ministration and another in common vse and lyfe As for Platinas Albe it is not here to be spoken of neyther do men take for lawes whatsoeuer Durandus
wryteth though yet out of his wordes no such necessitie nede to be gathered as you would haue to folowe Besides this it is not thought reason sufficient to detest the Surplesse or other apparell because they may serue also for some signification For the apparell of Christian men woulde be suche as it myght speake or as it were preache some part of godlynes to them selues and others So it seemeth S. Peter woulde haue women to order theyr attyre So Tertullian saieth Ipse habitus sonat The habite it selfe geueth a lesson So in another place Cur mores meos habitus non pronuntiat Why doth not the apparel shew forth my maners So S. Hierome sayeth Tanta debet esse c. Such knowledge learning should be in the Priest of God that his goyng mouyng and all thinges should by some signification speake He ought to conceyue the trueth in his mynde and to sounde out the same in his habite and apparell that whatsoeuer he doth whatsoeuer he speaketh it myght be doctrine to the people To this purpose hath Clemens Alexand. and Basill spoken but it shall not be nedefull nowe to rehearse their testimonies when as by these we may perceyue that vestures may haue their good significations and yet are we not bounde to beleue euery fonde meanyng as suche ydle brayned Durandes do bryng or collect Wherfore if you would haue waighed what god Christ S. Paule and many godly men haue done in thynges inuented by Panims and misbeleuers you woulde not for the fyrst aucthours refuse a commoditie but vse to Gods glory that whiche others abused to his dishonour saying to them as Tertullian said to PalliuÌ„ a vesture of ydolatours Gaude pallium quia melior de philosophia dignata est ex quo Christianum vestire caepisti Reioyce O Pallium that a better kynde of philosophie hath vouchsafed to receyue thee since thou hast begon to clothe a Christian. The next let that stoppeth you from wearyng these garmentes is that they haue ben abused to Sorcerie Coniuring and Idolatry and yet when a man hath perused that whiche you haue vttered in many wordes there is no more sayde agaynst any apparell nowe remaynyng then that the Surplesse serued to make holywater without the whiche you say no cyrcle coulde be kept These be but silly sleightes to dasell the eyes of the weake on this maner to make so huge a crye in so small a matter Yf a papist had you in handelyng whose wyckednes is shameful and religion most vnpure he would byd you loke ouer your booke better when you say holywater cannot be made without a Surplesse Well admit the Surplesse was vsed not only to make holywater but also some time to coniuryng must it therfore neuer serue to good vse againe Shall we make this lawe vpon your head that such thinges as haue once serued to wycked purposes can neuer be set vp in good place agayne What and yf men coniure in theyr vsuall apparell What if men coniure with the robes scepter and crowne of Princes What yf men coniure in the name of the Lorde or other Princes names Shall we of necessitie throwe away all these thynges as polluted with seruice of the deuill Howsoeuer you woulde make a purgation of these thynges surely wyse men both hath and can turne that to serue the glory of God whiche once serued to bad vses It is a notable saying of S. Augustine touchyng the maner of the Citie of God in the apparell and diet of them that are made citizens thereof that it chaungeth nothyng Si non est contra diuina praecepta yf it be not contrary to Gods commaundementes Vnde ipsos quoque philosophos quando Christiani fiunt non habitum vel consuetudinem victus quae nihil impedit religionem sed falsa dogmata mutare compellit Wherevpon it compelleth not the Philosophers when they are made Christians to chaunge theyr apparell and dyet which hynder not religion but their false opinions This was the practise of the Churche of God which nowe belyke you woulde turne vpsyde downe and yet a halowed and christened bell you can well beare to ring to a Sermon you can be content Dirige money be conuerted to preachynges solemasse priestes be made good preachers you woulde not be displeased yf Monasteries to be plucked downe were conuerted to good vses If you loke on your Churches and Pulpyttes you shall fynde that they were horribly abused Be not therefore herein to rashe in vtterly condemnyng those thynges which wicked men framed for a tyme to theyr phantasie But sorcerers and coniurers you say for theyr instrumentes must needes haue helpe of these thinges You make men marueyle howe they coniured before Chryste came whence the woman that raysed vp Samuell had her instrumentes consecrate howe Simon Magus in the Apostles tymes wrought all his wonders and what Priest made holywater for the sonne of Sceua the Jewe and howe nowe among the Painims and Turkes men are able to worke theyr feates though none be there in Surplesses to helpe forwarde theyr worke You shall fynde it therefore otherwyse then you say that coniuryng and sorcerie wyll continue but to well without these garmentes There is a thirde thyng that stirreth you to refuse this apparell and that is the opinion whiche men had and haue styll as you do thinke with your selues of these garmentes Whether the blynde papiste the weake papiste and simple Ghospeller as you tearme them haue these opinions nowe aduouched it is rather phantaâ—â—ed of some then beleued of the best part Peraduenture you shewe what you haue taught them to suppose of these matters and therfore trustyng that they haue learned theyr lesson you conclude thus of euery one of theyr myndes And if it were so that they had such estimation of these garmentes you harde out of S. Augustine the maner of Christes Church to be to refourme theyr false opinion by holsome and sounde doctrine For there is no maner of order that men can take wherein some may not haue a fonde opinion As the Phariseys had in washyng theyr handes in theyr apparell and yet the thynges are not taken away by the Gospell As also nowe some haue in fastyng dayes the Sundayes fysshe dayes almes gathered for the poore in Sermons at buryals and such others and yet it is not thought expedient that suche thynges out of hande shoulde be altered Concernyng Doctour Bucers iudgement in this matter of garments you fyrst alleage a saying of his but when to whom where and of what particuler apparell you declare not In deede this good father in the begynnyng of his letter to Byshop Hooper hath that he woulde haue ben at some great coste so that this controuersie eyther had neuer ben moued or very speedyly repressed and extinct And in fewe lines after he wisheth to beare some hard penaunce in his body so that they were orderly put away not by priuate
the same as they may rightlye of them by whom chiefelye all Romyshe religion with superstition and errour was through the spirite of God bannyshed this Realme Well howesoeuer it hath pleased you for spite agaynst some one to bryng a great number of very godly in obloqui and suspition yf the thynges required be indifferent in themselues and not so horrible daungerous for this Churche at these dayes as the prudent and chare ouerseers iudge euen as it were in the syght of Chryst to whom they must render an accompt for his deare flocke what matter is it who they be that call vpon you to accomplyshe your duetie Unlesse you thinke that no man ought to make general lawes in the lyke cases but let euery Curate be supreme gouernour in his owne paryshe Which loose imagination what inconuenience it wyll drawe with it you may well consider Howe innocent handes they haue from the bloud of all Gods Saintes who vnder a most godly vertuous and pure regiment deale with you al maner of wayes that you slippe not from your loyall obedience yea though they shoulde vse towarde some of you charitable seueritie terrible lenitie auengement medicinal as S. Augustine setteth out the true ecclesiastical discipline not only the wise within this Realme vnderstande but the enemies also without confesse But because your enemies as you surmize put you in mynde of your duetiful subiection you wyll not be cowards you saye yeeldyng your weapons to your aduersaries handes As yf by wearyng this apparell the sword of Gods worde were wrested out of your handelyng where as you knowe well enough in these orders you may manfully caste downe strong holdes ouerthrowe imaginations and euery hygh thyng that exalteth hymselfe agaynst the knowledge of God and bryng into captiuitie all vnderstandyng to the obedience of Christ yea and take vengeaunce of all disobedience as S. Paule describeth at large the faythful preachers weapons and fyght Nay God graunt this vndiscrete dealyng of yours be not a voluntarye throwyng awaye of your weapons in deede marueylous daungerous also to Christes people committed to your charge whyles you open thus a gappe for hirelynges to creepe in and defende not your flockes from the great peryls of heynous errours and vngodlynesse of lyfe because some hauyng interest aswellas you in your sheepe shewe vnto you an orderly poynt or two Last of all you request two thynges The one That you may kepe your conscience vndefiled This your petition in some thynges touchyng the worshyp of God myght haue his place But in these matters which you call indifferent what is it that shoulde defyle you the thyng itselfe or your weake opinion of it The thing itselfe doth not pollute you For as S. Paule sayth to the pure all thynges are pure And agayne Nothyng is common or vncleane of itselfe Nowe as concernyng your weakenes thankes be to God that which the same S. Paule reporteth of the Corinthes may be verified of you We all haue knowledge And We are sure that an Idoll is nothyng in the worlde and that there is none other God but one It were to be wyshed and would to God there were no examples now of it that none of them which pretende herein a straytnes of conscience dyd strayne a Gnat and swallowe a Camell Next you require freedom to teach your flockes by doctrine This thyng your bounden obedience may easylye obtayne where as by your owne wylfulnes you depriue yourselues therof Then you would go before your sheepe in that which you haue taught If it be as farre as becommeth your owne persons and degree you shall deserue thankes whensoeuer you perfourme it â–ª For though it chaunce so oftentymes that many thynges are to be taught of themselues indifferent yet in your example it shall not be lawefull for you to vse them before your paroeces as you lyst Meete is it that Christian people heare dyuers tymes of the freedome of conscience in meates places tymes and dayes and yet neyther you nor they ought to disturbe politicall order lawfully taken Whiche disturbaunce of publique quiet in rites and ordinaunces which may be for the varietie of places diuers and yet to be straytly obserued what a great offence it is not only the Scriptures may teache you the vsage of Christes true Church but also the determination of this Church in Englande both agreed vpon in kyng Edwardes dayes also testified and subscribed by them themselues who nowe woulde gaynsay theyr owne doynges then The wordes which the whole Sinode were well pleased withall whervnto all the Cleargies handes are set to be these It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or vtterly lyke for at all tymes they haue ben dyuers and maye be chaunged accordyng to the diuersities of Countreys tymes and mens maners so that nothyng be ordered agaynst the worde of God VVhosoeuer through his priuate iudgement wyllyngly and purposely doth openly breake the traditions and ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnaunt to the word of God and be ordeyned and approued by common auctoritie ought to be rebuked openly that other may feare to do the lyke as one that offendeth agaynst the common order of the Church and hurteth the auctoritie of the Magistrate and woundeth the consciences of the weake brethren After these Godly mens iudgementes yf you go before your flocke in this quiet maner your example veryly shall edifie much Thus therfore if we al shalbe faithful wise seruauntes geuyng our maisters housholde theyr duetie of meate in due season and also be founde by our Lorde when he commeth so doyng happy shall we be and we shall haue our portion not with the hypocrites where is weepyng and gnashyng of teeth but with the blessed in the kyngdome of the most mightie God which is kyng of kynges and Lorde of Lordes to whom be honour and rule euerlastyng Amen Ephes. 4. But let vs folowe the trueth in loue and in all thynges growe vp into hym which is the head that is Christ. Phil. 3. Neuerthelesse in that wherevnto we are come let vs proceade by one rule that we may be of one accorde A prayer to be said dayly of a Christian man for the Churche Promissam pacem tua nunc ecclesia Christe Insano mundi turbine pressa petit â–ª Euigila tandem fluctus compesce furentes Fac tibi non pereant quos pater ipse dedit THe Churche O Christ thy spouse opprest with worldly spight Thy ioyfull peace doth craue by thee to her behight Awake sweete Lorde awake and styll this raging sea That thyne elect he saude whiche once were geune to thee FINIS Doctissimo viro D. Martino Bucero Theologiae in Academia Cantabrigiensi professori Regio Thomas Cantuariensis AFter my hartie salutations ryght welbebeloued Master Bucer I haue read that booke whiche ye haue sent to Doctour Peter Alexander concernyng the controuersie betwixt Master Hoper and the
howe can it be but that he which promised to blesse all the workes of our handes whiche we take in his name wyll denye his blessyng to these signes seyng he hath no where forbydden such a vse of them as we haue expounded and hath made vs Lordes of the Sabboth and all other thynges of this worlde But yf we graunt that these thynges which I haue spoken concernyng the vse of such signes may be it is surelye the part of brotherly charitie commaunded vs by God to leaue such vse of suche signes in such a Churche free to the iudgement and conscience of that congregation excepte we see an open abuse eyther of superstition as if these thynges were vsed as conteynyng in themselues some part of godly worship of themselues or of contention as if they displeased the greater and better part of the Church or of gettyng of good wyll of some men whom in these thynges we ought not to gratifie because they therby go about to bryng a seruitute vnworthy for Christian men It was euident at Saint Paules tyme by the most cleare Scriptures of God that the vse of dayes meates al other externe thynges was made free and it was a sure token of infirmitie in fayth to doubt therof yet the holy ghoste pronounceth that such weaklinges ought to be receyued not to the troublyng of their cogitations and not to be contemned of the stronger in fayth and that in these thynges it myght be graunted to euery one to be sure of his owne sense seyng that the Lord had receyued these weaklynges Nowe if the holy ghost woulde haue men to yelde so much to them which were in a manyfest errour inasmuch as they depended vpō him in the chiefest necessary partes of sincere religion what ought to be graunted to these concerning the free vse of external thinges whom we can not conuict of any errour by Gods worde For howsoeuer I examine and expende those your two arguments that is They are the imitation of the Aaronicall priesthood and the markes of Antichristes priesthood and therfore ought to be eschewed of them that loue Chryst yet that thyng whiche you woulde is not hereby concluded For to imitate Aarons ceremonies is not of it selfe vitious but only then when men vse them as necessarie to saluation or to signifie that Chryste is yet for to come to take fleshe vpon hym For yf by no meanes it be lawfull to vse those thynges whiche were of Aarons Priesthood or of the Gentyles then is it not lawfull for vs to haue Churches nor Holydayes For there is no expresse commaundement by worde in the holy Scriptures of these thynges It is gathered notwithstandyng from the example of the olde people that they are profitable for vs to the increase of godlines which thing also experience proueth For any thing to be a note of Antichrist is not in the nature of any creature in it selfe for to that end nothyng was made of God but it hangeth altogether of consentyng to Antichristes religion and the professing therof The whiche consent and profession beyng chaunged into the consent and profession of Christianitie there can sticke in the thynges them selues no note or marke of Antichristes religion The vse of Belles was a marke of Antichristianitie in our Churches when the people by them were called to Masses and when they were rong agaynst tempestes nowe they are a token of Christianitie when the people by them are gathered together to the Gospell of Christ and other holye actions Why may it not then be that the selfe same garment may serue godly with godly men that was of wicked signification with the vngodly Truely I know very many ministers of Christ moste godly men who haue vsed godlye these vestures at this day do yet vse them So that I dare not for this cause ascribe vnto them any fault at all muche lesse so heynous a fault of cōmunicating with Antichrist for the whiche fault we may vtterly refuse to Communicate with them in Christ. The Priestes of deuils did celebrate in theyr sacrifices the distribution of bread and the cuppe as Iustinus Marter and Tertullian make mention What let is there why we may not vse the same ceremonies also you wyll say we haue a commaundement of the Lorde touching this Ceremonie Uery well And by the selfe same it appeareth that same thyng to serue among the children of God to the seruice of Christ whiche the wicked abused in the seruice of Deuylles yf the commaundement of Chryste be added thereto But it is the commaundement of Chryst that in our holy actions we institute and vse all thynges so as comlynes and order be obserued that fayth may be edified Nowe yf any Churche iudge and haue experience such as I doubt not there are many this day in Germanie that the vse of suche vesture bryngeth some commendation to the holy ministration and thereby helpeth somwhat in the way of comelynes order to the encrease of fayth what I pray you can be brought out of the Scriptures why that Church is not to be left to her owne iudgement in this matter neyther therfore to be contenmed or to be called into question for her iudgement sake That Church veryly will kepe in these thynges a meane agreeable to the Crosse of Christ and wyll diligently attende that no abuse crepe into it If therefore you wyll not admit suche libertie and vse of vesture to this pure and holy Churche because they haue no commaundement of the Lorde nor no example of it I do not see howe you can graunt to any Churche that it maye celebrate the Lordes supper in the mornyng and in an open Churche especially consecrate to the Lorde that the Sacraments may be distributed to men kneelyng or standing yea to women aswell as to men For we haue receyued of these thynges neyther commaundement of the Lorde nor any example yea rather the Lorde gaue a contrary example For in the euènyng and in a priuate house he dyd make his supper and distributed the Sacramentes and that to men only and sitting at the table But it wyll be obiected that in England many vse vestures with manifest superstition that they do noryshe and confirme in the people superstition Euen so it may be aunswered very many abuse all this whole Sacrament as also Baptisme and all other Ceremonies Therefore let vs withstande this mischiefe and vanquishe it vtterly Wherevnto though it may be that the takyng away of vestures maye helpe somethyng yet to dryue away all this mischiefe it wyl not suffise Nay the Priestes them selues must be fyrst remoued and in their roumes placed faythfull ministers in the kyngdome of Chryst suche as be learned in deede and godly affected To this therefore to this I saye muste we chiefely endeuour our selues that the hartes of the people may be purged by fayth whiche fayth is fyrst begon and increased by the hearyng of the worde of God this hearyng is brought by the