Militant Church hath a certain primacie in consideration and respect of them ouer whome he is made Primate and chief gouernour albeit when we consider the maiestie of our Maister Christ the very Primate stil continueth altogether a suppliant and an huÌ„ble seruitour to him As for other who vnder the chief ruler haue the charge of particular parishes and Churches committed vnto them they haue also in the same degree and sort a certaine Superioritie which S. Hierom calleth Exortem quandaÌ„ eminentem potestatem In Dial. coÌ„tra Luciferanos a certaine perelesse and high power If he be a Parish Priest he is aboue any other in that parish If he be a Bishop he is aboue any other in that Diocese Of such Rulers S. Paul saith Obedite Prepositis vestris Obey them who are sette ouer you Now it is to be knowen that in any one parish or in any one diocese there neuer was but one ruler at once ordinarily For thence come heresies and schismes saith S. Cyprian because one Priest in the Church for the time Ad Cornel Ep. 3. Lib. 1. and one iudge in Christes stede is not thought to be If then the whole militant Church be also one certaine particular body of a certayne particular administration and condition in respecte of the triumphant Church which is otherwise guided in heauen it must nedes follow that ouer the whole militant house of God one only master and gouernour is set whom we al ought to obey as our chief ruler in earth And so by the superioritie which experience sheweth to belong to one in euerie parish we come by the force of the same reason to acknowledge one chief Postour in the great parish of this world of which kind S. Peter was whiles he liued And that may well be perceiued by the Gospell it selfe For seeing the Euangelist S. Mathew repeting the names of the twelue Apostles saith Primus Cap. 10. Simon qui dicitur Petrus the first is SimoÌ„ who is called Peter and afterwards reckoneth none neither second nor third nor fourth vndoubtedly by calling Peter Primum first he meaneth that he was the first in dignitie and the chiefest among the Apostles and that al the rest afterwardes were to be equallie estemed For to be first where none is put as Second or Third is to be first not by order of numbring but onely by dignitie and preeminence in somuch that the Auncient Fathers expresse the force of this woorde Primus First by calling S. Peter the Prince or chief of the Apostles And certes where there is any in the Church of God first in dignitie and chief in praeeminence there must needes be some primacie Besides if the Bishop of the old law was called in those daies Exod. 22. Princeps populi The Prince of the people and if S. Paul honoured Ananias with that name euen after the death of Christ saying Actor 23. It is written Thou shalt not curse or reuile the Prince of thy people how much more ought he both to be called and to be also beleued to be the chief gouernour and Prince of al Christian people whom Christ hath appointed and sette ouer his familie Ioan. 21. saying Feede my sheepe Onely he must be circumspect that he turne not his primacie into a tyrannie as the GeÌ„tiles and Princes of the world doe How be it this also is to be considered that neither the Prophets nor the Euangelists are wont to be so carefull of woordes as of the sense and things â—hemselues Wherby it commeth to passe sometimes that they geue the name of God to such meÌ„ as haue by participation any diuine or godly thing in them as to Iudges Exod. 22. Psal 81. Ioan. 10. and to whom God vouchsafeth to speake By like meanes it may be verified that some Ecclesiastical persons haue a certaine dominioÌ„ in that respect verely that by participation they receiue a diuine and heauenly thing that is to say that power which Christ their liege Lord and natural Soueraigne indued them withal when he made them gouernours of his familie For among the holy orders of Angels in like manner there is rekened one which is called of S. Paule Dominationes Dominations Coloss 1. not because they haue any dominion or soueraintie ouer other Angels as seruants in subiection vnto them because they reciue that vertue and power of God the onelie true Lord which it pleaseth his Maiestie to haue annexed to that order thereby to geue forth some token and shew of his infinite Lordship and power Wherefore if some man not thinking peraduenture of these controuersies nor weighing rather the thing then the bare word hath at any time expressed the primacy of the Church Dominus Lord staÌ„deth somtime for Sir with this worde Dominion or if any maÌ„ do cal a Bishop by the name of Lord we ought not for any such respect to make an hurly burly as though any proper or true dominioÌ„ were challenged in the Church of one towards an other For as touching that which is properly called DominioÌ„ we defend it not But that there is a primacie in the Church that is the thing which we defend The which Ecclesiastical primacie although it may euidently appere by that which is already said yet it shal not be out of the way to consider how one of those places which are alleaged of our Aduersaries as yf it did vtterly forbid 〈◊〉 Superioritie among the disciples Luc. 22. â—â—th cleerely stablish and confirme the â—â—me For whereas often times there â—ll a strife betweene the Disciples â—ho shoulde be the greater once 〈◊〉 the way to Capharnaum Marc. â— an other â—â—me when the Mother of the sonnes â—f Zebede desired that one of her chilâ—ren might sitte at Christes right and and the other at his left hand Marc. 10. And the third time Luc. 22. after his last â—upper albeit Christ always did dehort â—hem from expectation of that heatheâ—ish kind of dominioÌ„ which was vsed â—n the worlde and alwaies inuited â—hem to humilitie yet he neuer denied â—ut that there should be one in deede â—reater among them and he oftenâ—imes signified that the same should be â— Peter and that as wel when he chose â—im to be the first Apostle as when â—e said Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I wil build my Church and to thee I vvil geue the keiâ— of heauen Math. 16. 17. and paie for thee anâ— mee Yf then you demaund how it happened that this notwitstanding th'Apostles striued who should be greater 〈◊〉 that euen after supper wheÌ„ it had beâ— already said Vpon this rocke I vvâ—â— build my Church I answer that noâ—withstanding S. Peter was most like 〈◊〉 be preferred yet whiles Christ liued iâ— the earth it was in his free choise tâ— haue appointed it otherwise Anâ— when the Apostles saw either S. Peteâ— called Satanas Math. 16. Origen in Math. tractat 5. Ne maior noÌ„ esset
and tHeir successours but also al kinde of primacie For â—he clergy must be altogether vnlike to â—he temporal gouernours To answere this obiection The ansvvere in very deede I doubt not but the end of that dominion which is practised among the gentils ought to be such that it should haue a special eye to thepreseruation of â—he common weale Gene. 10. NeÌ„roth But because at the first beginning Kings and Princes of â—he earth had not that end either only or specially before their eys but desired that dominion and practised it also because it was a pleasaunt and lordlike pleasure to be a prince and because the most part of Princes are prone to the worst therefore our sauiour Christ considering that which was first and which happeneth most oftentimes forbiddeth his Apostles and bisshops such a dominion and superiority as is vsed among the Princes of the earth and not altogeather such as ought to be among them Therefore it is not lawful for vs to desire any primacie for the primacies sake but for the traiuaile labour and end for which the primacie is ordeyned of Christ 1. Tim. 3. For he that desireth the office of a bishop desireth a good worck and not a vaine honour Againe albeit it be true that some wordly princes take the dominion and soueraintie vpon them for the profite of the common weale yet it is more that Christ requireth of his Apostles and Bisshops who are bound noâ— onely to see vnto the common weale but to the Christian common weale of which end no wordly princes could thincke when Christ spake those words because no Princes of the earth had receaued the faith of Christ at that time Wherefore that commaundement was specially geuen to the Apostles that they should direct their primacie and superioritie to the publick commoditie of faithfull men and to the saluation of their sowles to edifie withal 2. Cor. â— and not to destroye Farthermore albeit the King be faithfull and also vertuouse for his own person yet it is not the kinglie but the priestlie power which God chose from the beginning to rule his people withall Rom. 13. For although by his almightie goodnes he ordeined the Royal power and made the state of Kings to serue both his eternal purpose and also the coÌ„mon weale 1. Pet. 2. and willed euen the faithfull to obey them as being sent of God yet we reade not that the making of Kings ouer Gods owne people at the first came of God by the way of his mercifull grace and election but by the way of his angrie permission and iust iudgement Gen. 10. Hieron in quaest Hebrai in suffering thereby the paines of their great synnes to fall vpon them So NeÌ„rod that strong hunter the first King that we reade of either vsurped his kingdom by force or was auaunced to it by euil men without the graciouse appointement of God And when the people of Israël reiecting the gouernment of Samuel the priest 1. Reg. 8. wold nedes haue a King ouer them God accompted himself to be reiected of them doutlesse not because it was a synneful thing to haue a King but because it was a great dishonour to God who had appointed priests to gouern to haue his gouernment changed And it was lesse profit for their sowles to be ruled by a King then by a priest â— Reg. 8. For albeit a priest may be also naught as the sonnes of Samuel were yet he can neuer be so hurtful and slaunderouse to eternal saluation as the King may be partly because the state and as the world hath euer misiudged it the right and law of a King is to be secular and wordly In 1. Reg. lib. 4. c. 2. in so much that S. Gregorie said ea quae in iure regio continentur â—itanda potius quà m imitaÌ„da praedicuntur the things which are conâ—eined in the law that concerneth the Kings are foretold rather that they â—ay be auoided then folowed whereas â—he law and state of a priest is to be spirituall and godly and therefore it is â—lwaies a more perfit state and profession partly also because the making â—f a King had his beginning from the fact and consent of men working only according to the law of nations allowed in dede by God whereas the instiâ—uting of priestes came directly from God him self And who douteth but that it may be soner abused which men by good reason ordeined then that which God aboue al course of reason instituted by grace only In so much that the Iewes being prouided for by God himfelf of a spiritual gouernment did synne greuously and were forsaken of God concerning their act of choosing afterward a temporal King who shuld be aboue their high priest wherevpon Saint Gregorie saith In 1. Reg. lib. 4. c. 1. Meritò se abiectum Dominus conqueritur meritò regiam dignitatem concedit indignatus Tanta quidem erat iniquitas postulaÌ„tium vt cum illud peterent per quod à Deo recederent ex Dei iudicio permitti posset prohiberi non posset Our Lord did worthely lament himself to be abiected He being offended did iustly graunt the Royall dignitie â–ª so great was the iniquitie of the desirers that when they desired that whereby they should goe from God by the iudgement of God it might be permitted but prohibited it could not be But on the other side the first institution of Priests came not to Gods people by their own inuention but directly from God himself Genes 4. â— 22 to whome Abel Noë Abraham Aaron and his successours serued in that office by â—â—e gratiouse election of God vntill â—hrist fulfilling the figure of Melchiâ—â—dech instituted in his last supper â—â—e order of priesthood Lucae 22. according to â—he state of the new testament geâ—ing power to his Apostles to make â—nd by that meane to offer mystically â—is own body and blood witnessing â—hereby how much more he gaue them â—ll manner of necessarie or profitable â—ower ouer the Church his mystical â—odie For yf his priests be so great that â—hey haue taken power to make his â—wne body with their holy mowth as Saint Hierom speaketh shall â—ow any man disdaine Ad Euagrium to be vnder â—hat order which God hath so excelâ—ently honoured This much may be said for the whole order of priesthood But after that the Apostles were made Priests he ordeyned Saint Peter the general pastour anâ— high bishop of his whole flock and he did it with such protestation of loâ—â— and charitie that it must needes be coÌ„fessed euen by the despisers of Christe institutioÌ„ that there was neuer lightly any act don in this world by the sâ—â— of God with shewing of greater loâ—â— toward mankind then at what tyme hâ— himfelf in his own person appointed vâ— a pastour and shepheard Now this pastour being thus greater then the rest is not only primate iâ— a far other sort then the Kings of the vnfaithfull
wil build my Church haue this literal meaning vpoÌ„ the o Peter being first made a rock to th end thou shouldest stoutlie confesse the faith and so confessing it I wil build my Church WHen our Lord first saw Simon the son of Iona beholding him he said thou art Simon the son of Iona Ioan. 1. thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretatioÌ„ Peter that is a great stone or a rocke By these words a new name is before hand promised to Simon wherevpon Saint Chrysostom saith in Ioan. hom 18. Honorificè de eo praedicit Certa â—utem praedictio futurorum imâ—ortalis Dei duntaxat opus est Animaduertendum autem quòd â—on omnia quae euentura ei erant â—oc primo coÌ„gressu praedixit NoÌ„â—enim appellauit eum Petrum non dixit super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam sed dixit Tu vo â—caberis Cephas illud enim maioris erat potestatis nec noÌ„ etiam auctoritatis Christ doth forespeâ—k honorably of him For the certaine foretelling of things to come is the worck only of the immortal God It is to be noted that Christ did not foretel at this first meeting al thiÌ„gs which shuld come to passe afterward to hiÌ„ The promise of the name goeth before the name For he did not cal hiÌ„ Peter neither did he say vpon this rocke I will build my Church But he said Thou shalt be called Cephas For that was both of more power aÌ„d also of more autority Likewise S. Cyrillê° In Ioan. lib. 2. c. 2 Nec SimoÌ„ fore iaÌ„ nomeÌ„ sibi sed Petrus praedicit vocabulo ipso commodè significans quòd in eo tanquam in petra lapidéque firmissimo suam esset aedificaturus Ecclesiam And he telleth a fore hand that his name shal be Peter or a rock and not now Simon signifiyng by the very word that he wold build his Church on him as on a rock and a most sure stone Theophilact and Euthimius are of the same mind In. 1. cap. Ioan. By these fathers we lerne that this prediction or promise of Peters name is a thing which agreeth with the building of the Church which is to come These words then Thou shalt be called Peter are words of Prophecie or of promise A word of promise spoken by God is effectual to worck all those meanes which are necessarie for the performaÌ„ce of it For as when God had once said Sara vxor tua pariet tibi filiuÌ„ Genes 17. Sara thy wife shal bring thee foorth a son that self word as S. Chryâ—â—stom noteth wrought both in Abraâ—am and in Sara the power and habiâ—itie to begette and to conceaue a child In cap. 9. ad Rom. Genes 21. â—otwithstaÌ„ding that naturally through â—ld age they were vnapt therevnto â—ight so these words Thou shalt be â—alled Peter wrought in Simon the â—ffect whereby he might beleue and in due tyme like a rock confesse Christ to â—e the Sonne of Cod how far soeuer he bad naturally bene otherwise from so highe a grace And as though Abraham did accompany with his wife Sara for the begetting of Isaac yet the birth of the child is not imputed to their lying together but vnto the word of promise wherin it had beÌ„ said Genes 17. Rom. 9. Sara shal bring thee foorth a child euen so albeit Simon be made Peter to the end he maie confesse and therefore not without coÌ„fessing Christ to be the Son of God yet his being Peter concerning the efficieÌ„t cause thereof is no lesse to be imputed to this former word of promise Ioan. 1. thoâ— shalt be called Peter then vnto the faithful confessioÌ„ which he made afterward of Christes Godhead For the first cause was the promise and it wrought the second cause of the confession This matter is put out of aâ—â— question if we consider that this promise â—â—ow shalt be called Peter was fulfilled before the confession waâ— made For when Christ chose to hiâ— twelue Apostles then as S. Marcâ— saieth Marc. 3. Luc. â— he gaue to Symon the name of Peter and S. Luke telleth the same thing Whervpon Euthimius writeth Verefimile est apud IoanneÌ„ Chrisstum dixisse vocandum esse PetruÌ„ nunc autem vocare eum Petrum It is like to be true that in Saint Iohn Christ said he should be called Peter and that he now calleth him Peter neither doth God vse to geue the name without geuing also the thing which is meant by the name For his â—alling not words alwaies haue their â—ffect ioyned with them Therefore when Simon was reallie â—amed Peter then was he in deede made the rock And seing he had not as yet confessed the confession which followeth doth not either only or first make him to be the rock But he is alreadie by Christes promise well entred to be made the rocke to th end he maie confesse the more stedilie and surely And therefore his confession is a most sure rock because it procedeth from him who was before made the rock to thend â—he should confesse most stedily Wherevpon when Christ asked whom the faithful said him to be then the rock did his dutie For as Cyrillus saith Peter as being the PriÌ„ce and head of the rest first cried out In Ioan. lib. 12. ca. 64. princeps ca put saying thou art Christ the Son of the liuing God to whom Christ answered and I say to thee thou art Peter to witte of the qualitie of a rock and vpoÌ„ this rock I wil build my Churche Lo Peter cried out or confessed as being the head He was then the head by some meanes euen before his confession that is to say by promise and name This much being graunted the which is the very order and expresse drift of the Gospel it wil farther follow that seing these words Math. 16 vpoÌ„ this rock I wil build my Church depend vpon these other Thou art Peter for they are iÌ„mediatly inferred vpoÌ„ theÌ„ aÌ„d ioyned to them with a copulatiue coniunctioÌ„ Et super hanc Petram and it wil follow I say that these words vpoÌ„ this rock I wil build my Church are to be vnderstanded according to these thou art Peter And seing these words thou art Peter depend no lesse principally vpon the former prophecie and promise of Christ wherein it was said thou shalt be called Peter then vpon the confession which Simon made afterward of Christes Godhead it is certein that the â—ther words also vpoÌ„ this rock I wil â—uild my Church coÌ„cerning the naâ—ure and order of a certain cause efficiâ—nt depend no lesse principally vpon â—hose former words thou shalt be called Peter then vpon the confession of Christes godhead so that the first coefâ—cient cause why the Church is builded vpon this rock is not the present coÌ„fesâ—ioÌ„ of Simon but the vocation and proâ—ise of Christ which was long before made vnto Simon Which thing being â—rue then Christ wil build his Church vpon this
it will follow that the Apostles in their owne persons needed no head but that S. Peter was set ouer them to geue thereby a forme and a paterne that afterward when the personal priuilege of the Apostles shuld cease yet the rest who should be the successours of the Apostles might al obey one who shuld succede in Peters place Luc. 22. By whose assured faith because Christ prayed for it al they might be sure not to erre in the faith By this meanes it is easie to answere the obiections which are made against the supremacie of S. Peter For if S. Paul did aswel preache to the Gentils Galat. ◠as S. Peter did to the Iewes he did it by the office and nature of his Apostleship which was to goe into the whole worlde Matth. 28 and to preache to euery creature 2. Cor. 11. and to haue the care of al Churches lying vpon him And therfore S. Peter did also as wel before as afterward preache vnto the Gentils with no lesse power then S. Paule Act. 15. And S. Paule to the Iewes no lesse then S. Peter For the order power and grace of their Apostleship was equal as the degree and line of brethern is equall But as God preferred in old time the eldest sonne to the priesthood Genes 49 and to a greater power in gouernment not by the force of the brotherhed but by his own ordinance euen so whereas Peter and Paule were equal Apostles yet Peter by the appointment of Christ was the head not by force of the Apostleship but by the will of God to shew that his Church was one by hauing one pastour in it aboue the reast as a Kingdom is one by hauing one King in it or as a house is one by hauing one master in it Again if S. Paule did reproue S. Peter cōcerning circūcision as one that walked not accordīg to the truth of the Gospel in his behauior S. Paul might do it Galat. 2. both because they were fellowes and brethern in the Apostolike office and also for that he had the same holie Ghost which Peter had But we must consyder as Tertullian in his booke of prescriptions doth witnesse that no doctrine of S. Peters was then reproued as false Conuersationis fuit vitium nō praedicationis but onlie his behauiour concerning an outward fact of his in that he hauing freelie eaten before with the Gentills without respect of keeping the Law of Moyses wherein his deede was right good and did witnesse that he belieued the obseruances of the olde Lawe to bind noman yet at the comming of Iewes he did abstein and withdraw himselfe as perswaded that he should do more good to the Iewes if he forbare certain meats to winne his weake brethern Likewise S. Augustine writeth Neque enim negamus in hac sententia suisse iā Petrum Epist 19. ad Hieron in qua Paulus fuit Non itaque tunc eū quid in ea re verum esset docebat sed eius simulationem qua gentes iudaizare cogebantur arguebat Neither truly we do deny but that Peter was now in the same mind that Paul was Therefore he did not then teach Peter what was true in that cause but he reproued his dissembling whereby the Gentils were compelled to plaie the Iewes So that wheras S. Peter was no lesse perswaded then S. Paul that Circumcision ād the ceremonies of the Law must cease as S. Peter himself pronounced at Hierusalē And wheras S. Paul no lesse then hé Act. 15. had tolerated the obseruāces of the law for a time in circūciding Timotheus the question is not Act. 16. whether Circumcision ought to be abrogated nor yet whether it might be at al for a time permitted but whether it might be now any more winked at as hitherto it had bene For S. Paul beleuing the time to be now com that euery man ought to professe his faith openly concerning the abrogation of the old ceremonies did reproue S. Peters outward simulation as by his fact yelding lōger time to the Iewes then was profitable And herein surely S. Peter proued himself to be in deed the head of al the Apostles For whereas Christ had said he that is greater among you Luc. 22. let him be made as the yonger or lesser he in deed accomplisshed that precept and yelded vnto S. Pauls aduise as S. Cyprian S. Augustine and S. Gregorie doe testifie Nam nec Petrus Cyprian quem primum Dn̄s elegit in Epist ad Quintum supet quē aedificauit Ecclesiam suam cum secum Paulus de circumcisione disceptaret postmodum vendicauit sibi aliquid insolenter aut arroganter assumpsit vt diceret se primatū tenere obtemperari a nouellis posteris sibi potius debere nec de spexit Paulum quòd Ecclesiae prius persecutor fuisset sed consiliū veritatis admisit For Peter whom our Lord chose to be firste and vppon whom he did build his Church did not when Paul did striue with him about Circumcisiō afterward chalenge or attribute any thing to him self insolently or proudlie and saye that he had the primacy ād that he ought rather to be obeyed of Nouices and after commers neither did he despise Paul for that he was before a persecuter of the church but he did admit the counsail of truth By which wordes we perceiue that S. Cyprian did not iudge this reprouing of S. Peter to be any argument against his supremacie but only to be a witnesse of S. Peters humilitie and mekenesse But as it was in deed true that S. Paul had once persecuted the Church so was it also true that S. Peter held the Primacie although as S. Cyprian hath noted he did not then allege it S. Augustine likewise confesseth De baptis cont Donat lib. 2. cap. 1. In scripturis sanctis didicimus Apostolum Petrū in quo primatus Apostolorum tam excellenti gratia praeeminet aliter quam veritas postulabat de Circumcisione agere solitum à posteriore Apostolo Paulo esse correctum We haue learned in the holy scriptures that the Apostle Peter in whom the Primacie of the Apostles appeareth aboue the rest by so excellent and gratiouse fauour that he accustoming to doe otherwise concerning Circumcision then the truth did require was corrected of Paule who was admitted after him to be an Apostle S. Gregorie stablisheth S. Peters supremacy the more by the very same example of his humilitie in bearing gently the correction of his fellow Apostle Quatenus qui primus erat in Apostolatus culmine Gregorius in Ezech. Hom. 18. esset primus in humilitate That he who was chief in the top of th' Apostleship might also be chief in lowlinesse Ecce à minore suo reprehenditur reprehendi non dedignatur non ad memoriam reuocat quòd primus in Apostolatum vocatus sit Behold Peter is reproued of his inferiour and he disdaineth not to be
he as the head of all Bishops had it specified to him before they had it For whereas their authority is shewed to haue ben geuen in the eighteÌ„th chapiter of S. Matthew Matth. 18. and in the twenteth of S. Ihon Ioan. 20. the authority of S. Peter is described and promised in the sixtenth of S. Matthew Matth. 16 and it depended of the promise of Christ wherin he said thou shalt be called Peter or the rock the which promise was made as it appereth in S. Ihon not only before the Apostles were chosen Ioan. 1. but also before they were called to be the Disciples of Christ Ad iubaianum In consideration whereof S. Cyprian might boldly say Petro primus Dominus super quem aedificauit Ecclesiam vnde vnitatis originem instituit ostendit potestatem istam dedit vt id solueretur in terris quod ille soluisset Our Lord did first geue vnto Peter vpon whome he built his Church and from whome he did institute and shew the original or beginning of vnity this power that what soeuer he did loose it should be loosed in the earth Notevvel When one hath first that right and power alone which afterward others haue if there be any ordinary power of that thing at al it must nedes be in him who hath it first Ordinary Order For whereas all ordinary power dependeth chefelie of order and whereas in order nothing can be before that which is first First one seing S. Peter had first of all the right of the keyes of the kingdom of heaueÌ„ in himself alone Matth. 16. and seing the power of the keyes that is to saie of forgeuing and of reteining synnes is ordinarily in the Church it caÌ„not be otherwise but that ordinary power was first in S. Peter alone Augustin in Ioan Tract 124. If the pordinary power of binding aÌ„d loosing be once in one pastour alone it must stil coÌ„tinue coÌ„cerniÌ„g that degree in one alone if it shal at the least remaine stil the same power For if it be geuen to many and be equal in them al it is not now the same which was promised and geuen first to Peter alone Monarchie aristocratie democratie but an other kinde of power euen as the gouernment of one prince differreth in kind froÌ„ the gouernment which is equally common either to manie or to the whole people Seing it is cleere that the Apostles had the same power ouer the sheep which S. Peter had coÌ„cerning the exercise of all manner of binding loosing Ioan. 20. preaching and baptising and yet their autoritie could not be the ordinarie power which is in the Church because they were manie wheras the ordinary power was ê“mised before to one alone it doth insue Mat. 16. that they had their authority delegated aÌ„d specially appointed to them extraordinarily The Apostles povver vvas delegated for their liues only Therefore although they fed the flock of Christ as wel as S. Peter yet they did it by delegatioÌ„ and by special coÌ„missioÌ„ wheras S. Peter alone was the ordinarie chiefe shepheard according to whose patern there must still be some one appointed to feed Christes whole flock No man is at this day that which the Apostles were No man is able to write vs an other Gospel or to increase the Canonical Epistles or to warrant that he receiued the first fruits of the holy Ghost Rom. 8. as the Apostles did That authority died with them and came to none other after them aÌ„d consequentlie it was not ordinarie but onely was committed to a few during their owne liues But the ordinary authoritie of this highe administration beganne in one alone and therefore it must continew still in one alone There must be still one Rock Matth. 16 beside and aboue all petite Rockes There must be still one shepheard Ioan. 21. besyde and aboue many petite shepheards There must be still one greater then other Luc. 22. who may be made as the yonger and for whose faith Christ hath prayed to the end he may strengthen his brethern And verily seing as S. Bernard saith there is most perfection in vnitie De consid lib. 2. and in al diuision some imperfection is included shal we thinck that Christ hath chosen to gouern his Churche in earth rather in an vnperfit then in a perfit sort Again sitheÌ„s the state of the new testament must needs be more perfit then the state of the Lawe which brought nothing to perfection Heb. 7. and yet seing in the Law the ordinary Pastour was one high Priest aÌ„d Bishop as Aaron and his sede after him hauing manie synagoges and Leuits vnder his supreme gouernmeÌ„t Num. 3. what reason can beare that the state of our visible Church should lacke also in earth one highe priest and bishop ouer manie particular parishes and dioceses Thus haue we both natural reason the exaÌ„ple of the Law and the institution of Christ for one cheefe Bishop And that this was the mind of all the auncient Fathers also it appeareth most euidentlie because they geue such a reason whie the Church was built vpon S. Peter the which reason without an extraordinarie appointement of God caÌ„ neuer agree but onlie to one shepheard who may be aboue the rest I say without an extraordinarie appointment of God for that the Apostles being manie vvhy tvvelue Apostles gouerned equally and being all equal did gouern the church in a maruelouse vnitie and concord as if thei had ben al but one man The which spirit of vnity Christ gaue them that his institution of twelue equall gouernours for the time might wel appere not to be slaunderouse or hurtful vnto his Churche For he would neuer haue sent manie with equal authoritie into the whole world except he had ben able to make them gouern with one minde spirit aÌ„d hart But seing it were stil a miraculouse thing to see twelue and much more to see manie thousand bisshops and rulers being al equal stil to gouern the whole Church in their equal authoritie without schisme as the Apostles did that Apostolike authority being only instituted for the better publishing of the faith doth now cease and one shepherd is ordinarily alone set ouer al by whose general power it may appere that Christes Churche is but one For that is the reason which S. Cyprian bringeth why Christ built his Churche vppon S. Peter Ecclesia quae vna est super vnuÌ„ qui claues eius accepit Ad Iubaianum voce DnÌ„i fundata est The church which is one was fouÌ„ded by our Lords voice vpon one who toke the keies therof De simplicitate praelatorum And againe QuaÌ„uis Apostolis omnibus c. tamen vt vnitatem manifestaret vnitatis eiusdem origineÌ„ ab vno incipienteÌ„ sua authoritate disposuit Although Christ after his resurrection geueth to al the Apostles like power and saith As my Father sent
that which wee vse 14. Victory in persecution is ours 15. Yea we are persecuted of the ProtestaÌ„ts our childern as of whome they were baptized aÌ„d in whose vniuersities they were brought vp aÌ„d now thei turn the weapoÌ„s which we gaue theÌ„ against vs. 16. Antiquitie aÌ„d the practise of the primatiue Church is agreable to that of our tyme. 17. The name of Catholiks by their confession is ours 18. The continuall succession a bishops we doe shew and they can noâ— so much as pretend it Rom. 3. Generally what haue they which wâ— lack haue they a faith iustifiyng so haue we but not iustifiyng alone Galat. 5. Iacob 2. but iustifying with charity which is as it were â—he life of faith Ergo their iustificatioÌ„â—f faith alone is a deade righteousnes â—urs is it which quickeneth to life eâ—erlasting Haue they two SacrameÌ„ts We haue seuen 1. Pet. 2. Haue they an inwarde â—riesthod whereby Christ is offered in â—heir harts we haue an inward and â—n †Isai 61. 66. 1. Tim. 4. Heb. 10 outward whereby he is offered â—oth in our harts and in our hands Do â—hey beleue that Christ with one Saâ—rifice paid our rauÌ„som for euer Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 10. 11. We beâ—eue it and shew to the eye vnder the foorm of bread the self body sacrificed and by offering and eating it sacramenâ—ally with our mouth we are made partakers of the redeÌ„ption which is in it Is Christ with them the head and â—astour of his Church Ioan. 10. Ephes 1. We do not onely beleue so but we shew it to be so by the real figure of one chief head aÌ„d Pastour of his particular flock in earth Heb. 10. whereby the eternall thinges are liuely represented Doe lay men with them receaue the communion vnder both kinds euen so doe they with vs by dispensation of the See Apostolike in Austria and in diuerse other parts of Germany both without schism and also without iniury of an other truth which must confesse one kind to conteine as much as both and therefore to suffise alone And both kindes were instituted of Christ Math. 26. rather to shew by an vnbloody sacrifice the nature of Christes bloody sacrifice where his sowle and blood was a part from his body and fleshe then that any more is either conteined or distributed by both Ioan. 19. then by one alone Heb. 13. Haue you Mariage in great price Not in so great as we who teache it to be a Sacrament which by the outward and visible signe of mutuall consent in faithfull persons signifieth the gratious vnity of Christ and of his Churche and whiles it signifieth such a singular grace Ephes 5. it partaketh of the grace whereof it is the signe Yea but you allow Mariage in all kind of men what Euen in those Math. 19. who haue gelded them selues for the kingdom of heauen For they onely who make the vow of chastity can iustly be said to geld them selues for the kingdom of heauen Vvho geld theÌ„selues for the Kingdom of heauen For he that absteineth from Mariage without any vowe he is not yet gelded sithens he maie lawfullie marie But whoso hath gelded himself for the kingdom of heauen is meant to be no more hable to marie by the right of Gods law and in very conscience theÌ„ he is able by the course of nature to haue a child who either is borne or by force is made an Eunuche For these three kinds of Eunuches Christ doth compare together Math. 19. expresly geuing vs to vnderstand that it is both praise worthy to vow chastity and when it is once vowed that by Gods owne law there is no more possibilitie to return to the vse of mariage then it is possible for a gelded man to be restored again to that which he lacketh By these few examples it may appere that you haue no maner of thing praise worthy which we lack whereas we haue a great nuÌ„ber of things both good and laudable VVhat thiÌ„gs the protestaÌ„ts lack and many of them very necessary all which you lacke You haue no insufflations no exorcism no holy oyle in baptism no holy Chrism in bishopping no externall priesthood no publik sacrifice no altars no censing no lights at your seruice no Images in your Churches no adoration no reseruation of Christes body no Eremits no MuÌ„kâ— no virgins vealed and consecrated no vnwriten traditions no communion with Saints or with faithfull sowles by praying to the one or for the other no Stations no pilgrimages no confession of synnes to the priest no forgeuenes by the priest no temporall satisfaction inioyned nor the same remitted by pardon no holy water no holy vestments no Reliques of Martyrs no extreme vnction no place of purgatory where their synnes may be released after this life who died in charity but yet not without the det of temporall purgation You say falsely that all these thinges are naught Galat. 1. praeterquaÌ„ quod accepistis but once we receaued theÌ„ of our auncestours and we iustifie theÌ„ by Gods word and by the bookes of the auncient Fathers If we our selues had once had other things and so had cast away those other and taken these as you haue taken Note vppon your own heads naked tables in stede of adorned altars praying toward the south in stede of praying toward the East mariage of priestes in steade of chastity vulgar tungs in stede of holy and learned the sacrifice of praysing God by bare words in stede of Masse which praised him by the consecration of Christes owne body with other like matters then in dede there had ben cause why we might haue feared our owne dedes and inuentions But seing we made no new religioÌ„ but kepe the olde Philip 2. humilitie obedience and the keeping of vnity is our fault if we haue any Of such faults I beleue noman shall geue accompt but rather of pride Rom. 1. 2. Cor 3. Galat. 5. of disobedience of breakiÌ„g vnitie of makiÌ„g schismes and of troubling the Churche Neither can it be iustlie replied of you that you doe toward vs in changing our religion Dissimile as Christ and the Apostles did toward the Iewish synagoge For Christ changed his owne Religion whereof himself was Lorde and not onely theirs But Luther is not that toward Christ which Christ was toward Moyses neither hath Caluin that power to alter the state of Christes Churche which Christ had to alter the Law It must be vnderstanded that in all Religions there is a law which prescriâ—eth in what maner God shal be serued The chief point of Gods seruice coÌ„sisteth â—n publike Sacrifice The Sacrifice deâ—endeth of the Priesthod for of whatâ—oeuer order the priest is there after he maketh his sacrifice whervpon S. Paul said Heb. 7. The priesthod being transferâ—ed or changed it must nedes be â—hat the law be transferred or chaÌ„ged also Now from Adam til Christ â—here
thou Isai art Peter Moreouer Thou and This doe answere one to the other Super hanc Both are Pronounes both shew a thing reallie present to the vnderstanding of the hearer As therefore Thou apperteineth most certainely to S. Peter so doth also the Pronoun this Thou art Peter and vpon this rock which thou art I wil build my Churh Petrus and Petra doe most literallie agree Petram in so much that in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which name Simon Peter is called doth signifie a Rock And in Latine Petrus is named of Petra as if a man said in English thou arte stonie or of the nature of a Rock and vpon this stone or rock I wil build my Church Who can denie but Thou and This stonie and stone â–ª be referred al to one person Hitherto I haue considered thou Conference this and rock seuerally Now let vs ioyne them altogether It is first sayed thou art Peter to the intent it might be knowen whereunto the word this rock belongeth For the nature of the Pronoun is The Pronoune most properly to declare a certainty either presently pointed vnto before the eye or next of al named and described Thou art stony and vpoÌ„ this stone Which this If not this which was last named For albeit Christ be aboue al things the rock aÌ„d corner stone 1. Cor. 10. Ephes 2. yet he was not at this time named so This rock doth refer it self to one certain rock which is poiÌ„ted vnto one way or other But no material rocke is pointed vnto naturally and in deede for no such was then present or minded therefore it is a Rocke by a Metaphore which is described He is a rock by a similitude And seing it is not only sayd I wil build vpon a rocke but also vpon this rocke that rock must be vnderstanded to be such a one as before was shewed But none was before shewed except he were named for at this time al that is shewed is shewed by words so that for as much as it was saied in wordes to S. Peter only Thou art Peter or a rocke when it foloweth vpoÌ„ this rocke it must needes be meant most literally Vpon thee vpon thee wil I build my Church Yet not absolutely vpon thee as thou art a bare maÌ„ but as thou art Peter and thou art Peter to th' end thou shouldest confesse mee to be the sonne of God And thou diddest confesse mee because I promised thee that thou shouldest be called Peter and because my father did reueale it to thee therefore vpon this rocke vvhich thou arte made by Grace I will build my Church It is said in the time to come Aedificabo In Cant. conticoruÌ„ expsello I wil build which declareth a building as yet not perfitly made but onely promised as also Theodoretus hath noted But the Church was built vpon Christ the great rocke concerning his diuine nature from the beginning and concerning his humaine nature from the first moment of his incarnation Wherfore that kind of building Gods Church vpon Christ was already past Likewise the confession of S. Peter was already made and past But the building whereof Christ speaketh is to come I will or shall build my Church vpon this Rocke Therefore this rocke is meant chiefly at this time S. Peter in such respect as he may no lesse hereafter confesse the true faith then he had done alreadie EcclesiaÌ„ meam Mark these wordes my Church It was Christes Church alreadie It was his when he spake the words and before also He therefore doth not now speak of planting or founding it vpon him self but of making one to be the Rock and Head thereof who hitherto was not the Rock and head but onely by promise and hope For whiles Christ was visible vpon the earth he gouerned al things not onely by his power but also by his visible presence by preaching and gouerning the flocke in his owne person being for the time the visible Rock and Head But when it pleased him to dedepart out of the world then he sayed to S. Peter Ioan. 21. Pasce agnos meos pasce oues meas Feede my lambes feede my sheepe At which time that power of being the head stone of Gods Militant Churche Holy scriptures are conferred nexte vnto Christe was moste perfectlye geuen which was before minded when â—t was said vpon this Rock I will â—uilo my Church For to be the Pastour and Gouernour of Christs flock and by the open confession of the faith to keepe it from straying into false doctrines and heresies that is to be the rock wherevpon Christ wil build his Church Who seeth not that so long as the chief shepherd is acknowleged and obeyed Cyp. ep 3. lib. 1. all Christendome must needes beleue and say one thing Now by beleuing and woorshipping one truth the Church is built vp from the lowest to the highâ—est from earth to heauen To shewe that this Rock is meant of S. Peter it foloweth Et tibi dabo and to thee I will geue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen Behold if this Rock were not meant to be S. Peter Christ should in his wordes runne in and out speaking now to S. Peter and now to him selfe He beginneth with S. Peter saying thou art Peter he endeth with him saying and to thee wil I geue the keies betwen which two sayings these wordes vpon this rocke do stand Which being so reason would that we drawe not the middle wordes from the first and the last but that we saye S. Peter concerning his office wherby he beareth the keies to be this Rock wherevpon Christ promiseth to build his Church The property of a rocke is to withstand al tempestes of fluddes and winds Math. 7. and so neither to faile it selfe and to strengthen the house built vpoÌ„ it But Christ said in an other place to S. Peter Luc. 22. Ego rogaui pro te vt non deficiat fides tua et tu aliquaÌ„do conuersus confirma fratres tuos I haue praied for thee that thy faith faile not and thou being once coÌ„uerted strengthen thy brethern Behold thou art Peter because of my promise Holy scriptures are coÌ„ferred and therby thou diddest receiue the gift of the right faith which thou hast coÌ„fessed of mée I haue prayed that thy faith may not faile yea it shal be so farre from failing that I bidde thée when thou art conuerted to stablish confirme and strengthen thy brethern For of all thy Brethern thou art the chief and the stroÌ„gest Rock through my prayer Yf then it be out of all question that S. Peters faith doth not faile and that he hath power to strengthen his brethern seeing these are the properties of a Rocke not to faile it selfe Math. 7. but to strengthen the whole howse built vppon it against raines fluddes and windes it is euident by the order of Christes wordes by Grammar by
is an Apostle but as he is the primate of the Apostles propter Apostolatus sui primatum for the primacie of his Apostleship If he be not Primate in deede he doth not signifie that which S. Augustine teacheth For all mystical significatioÌ„s in Gods word be built vpon a real truthe Gen. 8. Noë by offering cleane beasts vpon the altar did signifie the death of Christ Therefore in deede Noë did offer vppon the altar Let it be taught to be a feined thing that Noë did offer those beasts and that dede of his can not be a figure of Christes death For that which is not reallie true is the figure of nothing Therefore seing the primacie of Peter is the cause why he beareth the person of the Church and why he hath the Church built vpon him it is not only true that Peter is the primate of the Apostles and therby of the whole Church Note but also he is at the least in the order of nature first the primate before he doth beare the figure of the Church For as if a man do beare the person of Glocester in the Parleament because he is Burges of that Citie it is most necessarilie true that he is first Burges before he doe so beare that person euen so if Peter beare the figure of the Church because he is the primate he is surelie the primate before he beare the general person of the Church WheÌ„ I say he is primate before I meane not in time but in course and order of nature For first Peter is considered as made primate and then we afterward consider that vpoÌ„ his primacy the person of the Church is layed although both things be done at once Seing then Peter could not beare this general person but only for those whose officer and primate he was it is euident In Ioan. Tract 12â— that by this reason of S. Augustine Peter was the general officer of the whole militant Church euen of S. Iohn and of S. Iames also in such respect as he toke the keies for them Not yet the keies of their Apostleshippe which they tooke for them selues but the keies of the chiefe pastoral office Ion. 21. within which the Apostles also were coÌ„teined in that respect as they were shepe aÌ„d of that one flock in earth which was wholy committed to Peter Thus haue we many reasons whie S. Peter aboue al others was the rocke 1. the excellency of his faith 2 the excellency of his glorie 3. the vnity of the Church built vppon him being one 4. the signifying of Christ to be the one euerlasting shepherd 5. the eschuing of schismes 6. the receauing of Ecclesiastical power for the whole Church Which reasons if they be deepeâ— pondered 7. they proue not only that he was once the Rocke but that also an other like him must still be the Rocke whose excellent faith may direct the faithfull whose glorie maie cause the Churche to be gloriouse whose vnitie maie kepe the flocke one and kepe away schismes and signifie stil the vnitie of one euerlasting head and one mysticall bodie whose generall office may receaue power to be distributed to euerie other member in the outward ministerie of the Church as euery one hath neede thereof for the building vp of the Church of God Ephes 4. For the building of the Church vpoÌ„ this rock which S. Peter is goeth still â—â—rward as it once began sithens al the â—uilding is not yet ended but is euerie â—ay a working Endeuour once M. Ieâ—el to answer these reasons of the Fathers and the lack of reason in your syde shal straight appere Words you can â—atch together as other hereticks haue â—lon before you but the examining of â—n authority with the reason thereof doth straight confound you The Authorities alleaged by M. Iewel to proue that S. Peter was not this Rock proue against himself that S. Peter was this rock although they proue that there was an other kind of rock also besyde him which thing we deny not The VII Chap. Ievvel The old Catholike Fathers haue writen and pronounced not any mortal man as Peter was but Christ himself the Sonne of God to be this Rocke Sander There are two parts of this proposition the one that Christ is this Rock Which we graunt to be most true and how it is true we shall see hereafter The other part of M. Iewels assertion is that no mortal maÌ„ as Peter was is this rock This part I say he neither proueth nor is able to proue For I shewed before that aboue twenty auncient Fathers haue taught and haue confirmed it by reason that Peter was this rock But let vs heare M. Iewel speake for him self Ievvel In locis veteris Testam Gregorius Nyssenus saith Thou art Peter And vpon rhis Rock I wil build my Church He meaneth the confession of Christ For he had said before thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Sander It is not here said that Peter was not this Rocke which was the chiefe thing that M. Iewel ought to haue proued Yea I say farther it is not here said that Christ was this Rocke which was the other part of â— Iewels assertion But only Nysseâ—us saith that Christ meaneth to build â—is church vpoÌ„ the coÌ„fessioÌ„ which Peter â—ade of hiÌ„ And verely I beleue so to But Christ meaneth not to build his Church vpon the confession without al â—espect of S. Peter but vpon the conâ—ession which Peter had and alwaies should make whiles in feeding Christes flock he should alwaies teache theÌ„â—he true faith of Iesus Christ So that â—f the confession of S. Peter be this rock then S. Peter who maketh it is much more this rock For no mans act of confessing can be greater then himself is sithens it cometh from his soule aÌ„d hart as froÌ„ a certein spring or fouÌ„taine where God hath planted the grace thereof Such Arguments then M. Iewel bringeth to proue his fond assertion as if he should say there commeth Eloquence from the man but the man is not eloquent For he woulde proue that S. Peter who maketh the confession is not the Rock because his confession which commeth from him is the Rock Whereas it is no lesse true thâ— if Peters confession be the Rock Peter himselfe is also much more the Rocke then it is true that if a mans Oratiâ—â— be eloquent himself also is eloquent For the vertue which either the oration or the confession hath was before in the man himself and proceded from him Ievvel lib. 2. de Trinit So saith S. Hilarie Haec eâ— vna foelix fidei petra quam Petrus ore suo confessus est This is that only blessed Rock of faith that Peter confessed vvith his mouth Sander When shal we haue honest dealing in you M. Iewel Did you not promise to proue that the Rock spoken of in these words Vpon this Rock wil I build my Church was Christ and not Peter But S. Hilarie speaketh not
in al pointes equal with Peter If you say the word Primus first serueth only to kepe the order of nūbring and not any whit to prefer Peter before the rest I answere that whē Primus the first doth only stande to kepe the order of numbring sith the number at this time is twelue S. Mathew should haue gon forward with the second the third and the fourth vntil he had come to twelue But nowe seing he doth not so Primus is rather meant the first in dignitie then in order onely And surely it is worth the noting that where as S. Andrewe came to Christ before S. Peter Ioan. 1. and brought afterwarde his brother Simon to Christe yet S. Peter is set alwaies not onely before S. Andrew but before al the reast In so much that wheras the other Apostles are neuer named orderly but after diuerse sortes yet S. Peter keepeth alwaies the first place After Peter sometime Andrewe is placed next as in S. Matthew Math. 10. Marc. 3. Act. 1. sometime Iames as in S. Mark sometime Iohn as in the Actes of the Apostles And the Church as well in the Canon of the Masse as in the Litanies ād processions placeth S. Paule nexte vnto S. Peter But euermore in al these varieties howsoeuer the order of the other Apostles be changed seing S. Peter is without exception euery where preferred before them al certainely that his primacie cometh neither by chance nor by the choise of the writer but by the very councel and will of the holy Ghost who thereby sheweth S. Peter to haue bene absolutely the first and chiefe euen by the appointment of Christ himselfe which no Euangelist might alter or change Which to true the authoritie also of the auncient Fathers doth euidentlie conuince First because out of primus the first they haue deriued Primatus which signifieth the chiefe authoritie and not onlie the first place in order accordinglie as S. Augustine teacheth In Ioan. Tract 124 S. Peter to haue represented the whole Churche propter primatum Apostolatus for the primacie or chiefedom that I may so speake of the Apostleship Dionys c. 5. de Eccles Hierarc Cyrill lib. 12. in Ioan c. 64. Chrysost in Ioan. Hom. 87. Hierom. in lib. 1. ad Gal. ca. 2. Math. 10. And consequentlie therevnto they call S. Peter commonlie Principem Corypheū caput verticem ducē os Apostolorum the prince or chiefe of the Apostles the head the top the guide and the mouth By which words they declare themselues to take primus the first for princeps the chiefe and for maximus the greatest which word S. Hierom also vseth so that the meaning of S. Matthew is The chiefe is Simon who is called Peter Thus it is euident by the word of God that Peter being chefest al the Apostles be not equal with him except perhaps anie mā who is not chiefe can be equal with him who is chiefe If you aske The question wherein Peter was chiefe or what he could doe more then his followes I say that question also is curiouse It becometh him who will obey the Gospel to belieue that S. Peter is the first or chiefe as he readeth in the Gospel without demaunding why or how he should be chiefe But yf the questiō were demaunded humbly thus I would thincke it might be answered In the nature and order of the Apostleship The ansvvere euery Apostle was wholy equal with all the followes of his owne order The which is not only true in the Apostles but also in Bishops in priests in Kings in Dukes in Knightes or in any other state of men For there is a certain reason why a man is either an Apostle or a King or a duke the which reason must nedes be common to all that be of that degree and state But there may be an other thing coincident to some degree of men the which although it be not necessarie for their being yet it is necessarie for their well being And so whereas of twelue Apostles euery one is equal in that office with the other yet it was necessary for their good cōtinuance in peace and vnity Optatus lib. 2. de schis Donatist that one should be chiefe among them lest whiles euery one shuld draw a diuerse way the whole Church which ought to be but one body should be torne in pieces and be diuided into manie companies or bodies Thus whereas al the Apostles were equal by the nature of their vocation one was set ouer the rest by the prouidēce of God Matth. 10 and he was so set ouer thē that he was euen at the first choise though that wer not throughly percaeued vntil Christs resurrectiō made first of al and appointed for most of all that there might be no momēt in the which vnity should be missed in the Church This reason is allowed of S. Cyprian who hauing said cōcerning the nature of the Apostleship De vnitat Ecclesiae The rest of the Apostles wer the same thīg which Peter also was being all indued with equal fellowship of honour and power addeth immediatlie sed exordiū ab vnitate proficiscitur vt ecclesia vna mōstretur But the beginning procedeth from vnity to thēd the Church may be shewed one S. Hierom likewise hauing said Aduersus Iouin li. 1 albeit al the Apostles toke the keyes of the kingdom of heauen and the strēgth of the Church be fastened equally vpō thē al addeth īmediatly tamen propterea inter duodecim vnus eligitur vt capite constituto schismatis tollatur occasio Yet therfore amōg the twelue one is chosen that a head being made the occasiō of schism may be taken away Lib. 2. de schism Donatist Optatus ys of the same iudgemēt affirming that there is one singular chair wherein Peter did sit that in it vnitie might be kept of al men lest the other Apostles might euerie man chalenge a Chaier to himself Epi. 82. ad Anastasiū Leo the great confesseth the same truthe saying that whereas the choise of al the Apostles was like yet is was geuen to one that he might be aboue the rest If then all were equal in office and yet one was set ouer them to kepe vnity he was not thereby an Apostle more then they but he was greater then they Not greater in his office or in his Apostolike power but greater in his prerogatiue of being head and of making all thē to be as one whiles they were all content to obey him alone rather then to make a schism But now let vs ad to their doctrine an other truthe which is that all the Apostles were so confirmed and stablished in grace by taking the first fruits of the holy Ghost Rom. 8. that it was not possible for them to erre in faith or to seduce others For Christ said vnto them Ye know the spirit of truthe Ioan. 14. because he shall tarie with you and he shal be in you Hereupon
Christ committed anie particular companie of the faithfull men who then liued to any one apostle or disciple who might be resideÌ„t with theÌ„ alone as their only Pastor The partes and meÌ„bers of Christes whol militaÌ„t flock which are now made here aÌ„d there were instituted by th'Apostolike and Ecclesiastical authoritie not surely without the special prouidence and inspiration of the holy Ghost Tit. 1. Act. 14. Leo. ep 87 but yet not immediately by Christ but through his wil by mans authoritie And therefore the bounds of any parrissh or diocese may for probable causes be changed againe by an other man Greg. li. 2 ep 31. who hath such like authoritie to change the bounds of parisshes as they had who first made them Particular flocks then are voluntarie and likewise particular pastours But one flock and one pastour is of absolute necessitie in the earth aÌ„d so doth S. Cyprian witnesse Deus vnus est Christus vnus L. ep 8. vna Ecclesia Cathedra vna super PetruÌ„ Domini voce fundata There is one God and one Christ and one Church aÌ„d one chaire fouÌ„ded vpoÌ„ Peter by our Lords voice Behold One Chaire this one chair which is fouÌ„ded vpon Peter must nedes be ment of the one pastoral preeminence which Christ him self did institute in the militant Church This mater standing so shal we say that the Church of Christ continueth in the earth or no If it doe continue shal Christes owne absolute institution continue aboue the vertuouse but yet voluntarie institution of men or shal the good and voluntarie institution of maÌ„ preuail more theÌ„ the most perfit institutioÌ„ of Christ Men made many particular flocks according as they thought most conuenient for this or that place and they did set ouer them many particular pastours somwhere a Priest and somewhere a Bishop Christe made in al but one militant flock which should consist both of Iewes and Gentils and did set ouer it Saint Peter one general shepheard And there was made euen in earth after Christes ascension one sheepcote Ioan. 21. Ioan 10. and one shepheard Shall now these many flocks and manie shepheards which men appointed coÌ„tinue stil aÌ„d shal not the one flock and the one shepherd which Christ assigned much more continue Forasmuch as a flock of sheep is one by the force of one pastor if the pastor in earth be not one the flock in earth is not one Credo vnam Ecclesiam But al meÌ„ beleue one militaÌ„t church which is the flock of Christ in earth therfore al men ought to coÌ„fesse one militaÌ„t shepheard of the same flock in earth also For although the Churche be one moe wayes then by one shepherd yet if Christ had not meant that his Churche should be one flock not only for hauing one faith one baptisme Ephes 4. or one spirit but also for hauing one shepheard he would neuer haue said There shal be made one sheepcote and one shepheard Ioan. 10. But now seing he faith I haue other sheepe which are not of this fold to wit of the Iewes synagog and I must bring those and they shal heare my voice and there shal be made one fold or flocke and one shepheard it is euident that as the Iewes and the Gentils beside the vnitie to come in heauen are one fold and one flock in this world euen so that they haue one temporal shepheard in this world beside Christe the euerlasting shepheard Which thing sith it is so is it possible that any Protestant wil be so iniuriouse to Christ as to preferre the good institution of S. Paule who planted one Church at Corinth Rom. 16. Act. 14. an other at Ephesus and the third at Athens before the absolute and perelesse institution of Christ who in the whole earth plaÌ„ted one great Church wherof he made one great shepheard vnder himself the vniuersal shepheard I see that the Protestantes talke much of Gods word but the word they speak of is writen in no Gospel They will haue many flockes and many shepheards to continue stil neither doe we denie it because it was so instituted by the Apostles but the Catholikes wil much more haue all these flocks to be only one church in earth because thei are al to be reduced vnto the obedience of one chiefe shepheard in earth which was the institution of Christ Either let the text be named where Christe did institute many parishes aÌ„d many dioceses or seing there is none such and on the other side seing we bring a plain text where it is said to one pastour Ioan. 21. feed my sheep let not the order vertuouslie taken afterward by the Apostles be so mainteined that the former appointment of the Sonne of God be thereby made voide Either let both orders take place as with the Catholikes they doe or if one of the two shal needs be disapointed let vs rather haue in al but one chiefe shepheard as Christ immediatly left the mater then to haue many and not to haue one Moreuer to what other thing doth al the whole order of the Church tend in earth but only to an vnity The vvhol gouernmeÌ„t of the militant Churche teÌ„deth to vnitie Why is one Curate in a parish set ouer many families and houses Why is one Bishop in a diocese set ouer many parishes Why is one Primate or Metropolitane in a prouince set ouer many Bishops Why are al the primates of one quarter of the world reduced vnder one Patriarch but only euermore to shew that the gouernmeÌ„t of the Church teÌ„deth by many midle vnities Ep 82. ad AnastasiuÌ„ Thessal to one supream pastoral vnity in this life WhervpoÌ„ Leo saith Magna dispositione ê“uisuÌ„ est vt esseÌ„t in singulis prouincijs singuli quoruÌ„ inter fratres haberetur prima senteÌ„tia rursus quidaÌ„ in maâ—oribus vrbibus coÌ„stituti sollicitudineÌ„ suscipereÌ„t amplioreÌ„ per quos ad vnaÌ„ Petri sedeÌ„ vniuersalis Ecclesiae cura conflueret nihil vnquam a suo capite dissideret It was ordeined with great prouidence that there should be in euery prouince one whose iudgemeÌ„t or senteÌ„ce might be chief among the brethern And again that certain being apoiÌ„ted in the greater Cities See M. Ievvel vvho hath the cure of the vniuersal Church should take greater charge by whom the cure of the vniuersal Churche might flow togeather to the one seat of Peter and that nothing might at any time dissent froÌ„ his head Lo by may primates the cure of the whole cometh to him who sitteth in S. Peters See which is at Rome Again seing al Ecclesiastical inâ—â—itutioÌ„ and gouernmeÌ„t of the Church came from Christ one way or other it must needs be Cyp. lâ—b 1. epist 3. that euery bishop hath the portioÌ„ of the flock which he gouerneth assigned to him by some order or other takeÌ„ by Christ himself But Christ by his own expres worâ— assigned not that S.
are one But this one say you of whome S. Augustine here speaketh is Christ himself I confesse but Christ hath his chaire and seate at the right hand of his Father in heauen and therefore S. Augustine calleth not his chaire now the chair of vnity wherein euen euil mē are constrained to speake good things For in Christes own chaire at Gods right hand there sitteth nor euil nor good man beside himself The chair of vnity is in the earth The chair then of vnity wherein euil men speake good things must be a chair placed in earth wherein one pastour may sitte who may for the rate of his measure and ministery make other good pastors to be for the time one in hī being one euen as Christ maketh all good pastours that euer haue bē or shal be to be for euer one in him most singulary being one Is there then an other kind of vnity among pastours beside that euerlasting vnity of all good men in Christ Yea verily ād of that other kīd of vnity S. Augustine saith Ibidem Imo verò Dominus in ipso Petro vnitatem cōmendauit Multi erant Apostoli vni dicitur Pasce oues meas Absit vt desint modò boni pastores sed omnes boni pastores in vno sunt vnum sunt Yea our Lord hath also commended vnity in S. Peter himself There were many Apostoles and it is saied to one feede mie sheepe God forbid there should nowe lack good pastours but al good pastours are in one they are one thing Thus Vnity is in s. Peter beside the vnity which is in Christ we haue also found an vnitie in Saint Peter and that vnitie was not onely to tarie for his own tyme but to be preserued in the Churche for euer There is a temporall vnitie in Saint Peter and in his successours by the which vnitie we come afterward to enioye the euerlasting vnitie which is in Christ. For Saint Peter as the same S. Augustine doth witnesse bare the figure of the whole Churche Epist 165. and that In Ioan. Tract 224 propter Apostolatus sui primatum by reason of the primacy of his Apostleship Therefore as the Apostles haue continually successours in their bishoplie and pastoral ministery so hath S. Peter the prince of the Apostles a continual successour in his primacie and in his chaire of vnitie concerning the force of which succession S. Augustine iustly saith Contra epistolam fundamē In Ecclesia me tenet ab ipsa sede Petri Apostoli cui pascēdas oues suas post resurrectionem Dominus commendauit vsque ad praesentem Episcopatum successio Sacerdotum Among other things which stay me in the Churche the succession of priests from the very seat of Peter the Apostle to whom our Lord commended his shepe to be fed after his resurrection the successiō I say of priests from Peters seat to the present bishoprik doth stay me in the Churche Is there any man so proud or so wel liking with him self who if S. Augustine were now aliue woulde not be glad to follow his iudgement in stablishing his faith and conscience He being within litle more then fower hundres yeres of Saint Peters tyme The succession of S. Peter staied S. August yet so much wondered at the continuance of Saint Peters chaire in the right faith whereas all other successions had bene spotted with heresies and schismes that he confessed the succession of Bisshoppes in that Chair of Peter to haue stayed him from being either a Maniche or an Arrian or any other thing sauing a Catholike For he sawe the promise of Christ so fulfilled in the successours of Saint Peter he saw the doctrine of veritie so wel fortified in the Chaire of vnitie that it was no small force to strengthen him in his faith In so much that he saied in an other place Si ordo Episcoporum sibi succedentium considerandus est Epist 165. quantò certius verè salubriter ab ipso Petro numeramus cui totius Ecclesiae figuram gerenti Dominus ait super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Et portae inferorum non vincent eam Petro enim successit Linus Lino Clemens c. If the rew of bishops one succeding to the other is to be considered how much more safely and in dede healthfully doe we number from Peter him self to whom bearing the figure of the whole Churche our Lord saieth vpon this Rock I wil buid my Churche Matth. 16 and the gates of hel shall not ouercome it For Linus succeded to Peter Clement to Linus and so he goth forward vntil he come to pope Anastasius who was bisshop of Rome in S Augustines tyme. Who after all the popes reckoned vp in order concludeth thus In hoc ordine successionis nullus Donatista Episcopus inuenitur In this order of succession no Donatist Bisshop is found If S. Augustine after four hūdred yeres proued the Donatists to be far from the doctrine of veritie because in the chair of vnity no Donatist was bishop or because no bishop A fortiore who succeded in S. Peters chair was a Donatist what shal we say after a thousand fiue hundred yeres Lette vs reckon vp all the popes from Saint Peter himselfe vntill we come to pope Pius the fifth who in our dayes sitteth in S. Peters chaire and is notable for vertue learning holinesse and the grace of working miracles and in all that order of succession we shall finde neuer a Lutheran neuer a Zuinglian neuer a Caluinist neuer an Anabaptist or a Swenkfeldian Who is then so madde as to go from S. Peters Chaire to whom our Lorde commended his sheep to be fed to the vpstart Chaire of Luther Ioan. 21. Caluin or Zuinglius to none of whome nor to anie predecessours of theirs our Lorde is readen to haue cōmended his sheep except he be more like vnto the heretical Donatists then vnto the moste wise and learned man S. Augustine who after the Apostles had scant euer his match in discerning the true faith from falsehod and heresie or hypocrisy from the Catholike religion He presseth the Donatists euerie where with the breache of vnitie And think you that when they shuld come to talk with him he would onely say generally to them Maisters you are to blame because you are gon from Christ the onely one Pastour If he should haue come no nere to the mark he shot at they would quickly haue answered The talk of the Donatists Syr we loue Christ and beleue him as wel as you We hold him for our onely one Pastour we obey his voice why burdē you vs with forsaking him It is you that haue other Pastours for you flee to the seat of Peter and to his successours whereas we content our selues with the euerlasting Pastour Iesus Christ. I trow we are not without one Pastour so long as we haue him for our Pastour But now S. Augustine talketh not only
etiam vestrae innotescat sanctitati Caput quae caput est omnium sanctarum EcclesiaruÌ„ Neither doe we suffer anie thing that doth apperteine to the state of the Churches how manifest aÌ„d vndoubted so euer it be which is called in question but the same is also notified to your holines The Pope is head of all holie Churches who is the head of al holy Churches If the Pope be head of al holy Churches and therfore be made priuie to all ordinances aÌ„d lawes which apperteine to the state of Churches it must needes follow that the Church wherof a King or Emperour shal be suprem head is no holy Church but a profane Synagog aÌ„d a malignaÌ„t congregation such as those of the Arrians Donatists and Pelagians were who obeyed not the Bisshop of Rome nor suche bisshops as were of his fellowship Vvho vvas the supreme head of the Heretikes but either Iulianus the Renegate or Valens or the Kings of the Gothes and of the Vandals as the Histories of the Church doe witnesse Here the order and place requireth that I should declare also how Phocas the Emperour An. Dom. 609. in the time of Pope Bonifacius the third pronounced the See of Rome head of al churches but the Protestants not able to deny the storie sai that now first the See of Rome began to be accoÌ„pted the head of al Churches A false assertion Which thiÌ„g shal appere as true as the rest of their doctrine is For S. Gregorie being before Bonifacius An. Dom. 607. Lib. 11. epist 54. saith of the See of Rome Apostolica sedes omnium ecclesiarum caput est The Apostolike See is Head of all Churches Before him also the Bishop of Patara An. 538. being a Grecian said of Syluerius the Pope Ille Papa est super Ecclesiam muÌ„di totius He is Pope ouer the Church of the whole world An. 534. IustiniaÌ„ writing to Ioannes the Pope as I alleged before calleth his holines caput omnium Ecclesiarum Head of al Churches An. 486. Eugenius the Bishop of Carthage being an African had said before Iustinians time as Victor writeth Romana ecclesia caput eÌ„ omniuÌ„ ecclesiaruÌ„ Lib. 2. de persecut Vandal The Roman Churche is the head of all Churches Yea Prosper had writeÌ„ before Eugenius Sedes Roma Petri An. 460. De ingratis quae pastoralis honoris facta caput muÌ„do Rome the See of Peter which is made vnto the world An. 446. In natiuit Petri Paull the head of pastoral honour Leo the great being elder theÌ„ Prosper preached thus Roma per sacraÌ„ B. Petri sedeÌ„ caput orbis effecta Rome by the holy seat of Peter is made the head of the world â–ª and again ê‘quos vniuersalis ecclesiae cura ad vnaÌ„ b. Petri sedeÌ„ coÌ„fluit Ad Anastas ep 82 By whoÌ„ the cure of the vniuersal church floweth to the one See of Peter that nothiÌ„g might at any time dissent from his head Now the fourth general CouÌ„cel An. 456. albeit it was not elder in yeres then Leo yet coÌ„sisting of 630. Bisshops gathered out of the whol world it is worthy to be harkened vnto of al the ChristiaÌ„ flock as of most auÌ„cient and perelesse authoritie This great Councel making relatioÌ„ to Pope Leo of such things as had bene done there Act. 3. Sancta magna c. writeth to him Tu quidem sicut membris caput praeeras Thou wast ouer vs as the head is ouer his meÌ„bers And wheras the Church is coÌ„pared to a vineyard Isai 5. they there coÌ„fesse that vnto Pope Leo vineae custodia à Saluatore commissa est The keping of the vineyeard is committed of our Sauiour Note here gentle Readers that this famouse great and learned Councell referreth the matter to our Sauiour and not vnto Phocas or to any mortal man The keeping of the vineyard is committed to the Pope of Rome by our Sauiour himself An. D. 426 Lib. 12. in Ioan. c. 64 If we shal goe yet higher when Cyrillus confesseth S. Peter to haue ben caput Apostolorum the head of the Apostles doth he not confesse the successors of S. Peter who are the Bishops of Rome to be much more the heads of the successours of the Apostles which al bishops are Shall we goe from Cyrillus to S. Ambrose An. D. 308 who writing vpon S. Pauls epistle to Timothe In c. 3. 1. epistol ad Timoth. calleth Damasus the bisshop of Rome the ruler or gouernour of that Church in his tyme which Church is named of S. Paul the howse of God the pillour of truthe meaning that Pope Damasus was gouernour of the whole Militant Church and not only of any one parish or Diocese And what other thing is it to be a teÌ„poral ruler of Gods whole Church Tripar li. 4. c. 15. but to be the temporal head thereof Saith not Sozomenus that pope Iulius curaÌ„ gessit omniuÌ„ propter sedis propriae dignitatem He toke the cure of all for the worthinesse of his own See where al is comprised what can be excepted Optatus An. D 370 Lib. 2. de schism Donatist who proueth S. Peter to haue beÌ„ head because he was called of Christ Cephas a rock for the rock or foundation is that vnto the house which the head is to the body doth thereby refer the primacie of S. Peter and of his successours to Christ him selfe An. 300. If I shal goe now to the Councel of 300. Bisshops held at Sinuessa where although Marcellinus had confessed him selfe to haue done Idolatrie yet all the Bisshops answered Prima sedes non iudicabitur à quoquam Tom. 1. Concil the first See shal be iudged of no man wil it not therby appere that the See of Rome beig the first See was not preferred to that honor by any mortal maÌ„ otherwise he that had pÌ„ferred it might also haue iudged it but was made head of al churches by him who said to S. Peter vpon this rock I wil build my Churche Matt. 16. It is not therefore Phocas but Iesus Christ who making S. Peter the temporal fouÌ„dation and head Pastor of the church made the Bisshop of Rome his successour as I haue declared before Let vs now goe forward with other good Emperours aÌ„d KiÌ„gs shewing that not Phocas alone but others also after hiÌ„ honoured the See Apostolike as the highest power in the church of God ConstaÌ„tinus the fourth being a most Catholike Prince Beda de sex aetat mundi procured the sixth general Councel to be called aÌ„d therin coÌ„fessed himself to haue woÌ„dred at the relation of Pope Agatho as if it had beÌ„ the voice of Peter Act. 18. Synod 6. The same Emperor in the time of Benedictus the second Pope of that name decreed An 688. Platina in vita Benedict 2 vt deinceps queÌ„ clerus populus exercitusque Romanus in PontificeÌ„ delegisset
threatenings of the Emperour what neede is there of men who haue the title of bishoppes When hath it bene heard of since the beginning of the world Note when did the iudgement of the church take his autority frō the Emperor or whē at any time was this acknouleged for a iudgemēt There haue ben very many synods hertofore many iudgements of the Church haue ben kept But neither the Fathers went about to persuade these things to the prince nor the Prince did shew himselfe curiouse in the matters of the Churche Paule the Apostle hadde frinds in Cesars howse and did salute the Philippians in their name in his letters yet did he not take them as his fellowes in iudgement By this ye may perceaue that no Emperours at al were they neuer so good no County Palatines or secular Lords be they neuer so much faithful as Constās was ād those of th' Emperors house of whome S. Paule speaketh haue yet any right or power Philip. 4. to sitte presidents in Ecclesiastical matters otherwise then to kepe ciuil order and peace but onlie those to whom God hath committed the cure of sowles In so much that Athanasius douteth not by name to call Constantius the foreruner of Antichrist because he being a secular prīce intermedled with the spiritual gouernment of the Churche Quid igitur Constantius quod Antichristi non sit In epist vbi antè omisit aut quomodo ille in aduentu suo non repererit sibi expeditam viam ad dolos ab isto praeparatam Siquidem in locum ecclesiasticae cognitionis suum palatium tribunal earum caufarum constituit séque earum litium summum principem authorem facit What hath Constantius then omitted that doth not appertain to Antichrist Or how shal not Antichrist when he cometh finde a fitte way for him to all deceits prepared by this mā ▪ For in steede of the Ecclesiasticall iudgement The part of Antichrist he appointeth his palace to be the place of iudgement for their causes and maketh himselfe the chiefest prince and bearer out of those controuersies Ibidē vbi antè And againe Grauia sunt ista plusquam grauia sed tamen istiusmodi quae congruant in eum qui Antichristi imaginem induerit Quis enim videns eum in decernendo principem se facere Episcoporū praesidere iudicijs Ecclesiasticis non meritò dicat illū eam ipsam abominationem desolationis esse quae à Daniele praedicta est nam cùm circumamictus sit Christianismo caet These things are greuous and more then greuous but yet they are such as doe well agree to him who hath put on the the Image of Antichrist For who seing him in making a decree to take vpon him to be prince of the bishops and to be president in Ecclesiastical iudgemēts may not worthely say that he is the abomination of the desolation which was foretold by Daniel The property of antichrist For when he being clothed with Christianitie doth both enter into the holie places and also being there doth spoile Churches abrogate the Canons vsing force to make men obserue and keepe his commaundements who will at anie tyme dare say that this is a quiet tyme to the Christians and not rather a persecution and such a persecution as neither hath ben before nor perchance no man will at any tyme make again but that sonne of iniquity which is Antichrist Thus haue we the determinate sentence of Athanasius of Athanasius I say the most notable bishop that euer was for vertue and lerning since the Apostles time And his sentence is that the Christiā Emperor and the like is of any Christian Prince who taketh vpō him to be prince of the bishops in making a decree and to be president in Ecclesiasticall iudgements is a mēber of that abominable desolatiō wherof Daniel prophecied Can any plainer sentence be wished for to conclude my present purpose Neither was this doctrine only meant of an heretical Emperour for the Catholike Emperour Constans is praised for not medling with Church matters Philip. 4. Yea S. Paule is alleaged not to haue communicated the Church matters with those good Christians of Cesars howse I know with what wranglers I haue to doe They wil bring examples to shew that some Emperours haue sitten in general Coūcels as Constantine the great Martianus ād some others But I answere that they satte to kepe good order and to preserue peace and quietnes among the bishops speciallie because the Archeheretikes were commonly themselues great Prelates as being the patriarches of Antioche or of Alexandria or of Constantinople Who yf the Emperour were not present would vse force in the stede of holy scriptures as Dioscorus did In the schismatical Ephesine Coūcel and Eusebius of Nicomedia in the tyme of the Arrians For the preseruing thē of ciuil and ecclesiastical peace the Emperour was present ād not as supreme iudge in Ecclesiasticall causes S. Ambrose noteth and thincketh that euen an heretical Emperour comming to yeres of discreatiō wil be hable to consider In epi. 32. VVhat maner of bishop M. Horn i◠qualis ille Episcopus sit qui Laicis ius Sacerdotale substernit what manner of bishop he is who layeth the priestly right vnder the laye mens seete And yet by geuing of the most proud and most intolerable title of supreame Head or gouernor in al ecclesiastical causes to lay princes al the religiō vsed now in England wholy standeth What bishoppes then are those of England who making the secular prince their head putte the priestly right vnder his feete S. Augustine being fully persuaded that nothing could be greater then a priest in the house of God therevpon concludeth that Moyses must nedes haue ben a priest for saieth he nunquid maior sacerdote esse poterat August in Psalm 98. Could he be greater then a priest Yea Marie saith M. Horn he might haue ben a King or a secular Prince But S. Augustine knew no such diuinity And yet the worlde toward the comming of Antichrist is growne so wise that these men haue found now that euery Emperor King Prince or Duke who hath any temporall state of his owne is greater euen in Ecclesiasticall causes then the lawfull successour of S. Peter This I say is the diuinity of England For therein our countrie maketh a peculiar Secte of his owne wherein they disagree euen from their fellow Caluinistes But lette them loke to it as well as they will they shal finde it a badge of Antichrist as Athanasius hath plainlie affirmed And when the daie of triall commeth it shall euidentlie appeere that those are most faithfull subiects to the prince who geue him his due place of honour in Gods Churche without derogation to that heauēly power of bishops which Christ himself came down from hauen to plant and whom he hath set euen ouer the Kings themselues Ioan. 21. as being the sheepe of their foldes Theod. lib.
praescript It hath ben alwaies the fashion of all heretikes as Tertullian saith to destroye other mens buildings as to vndoe that which other men doe Ipsum opus eorum non de suo proprio aedificio venit sed de veritatis destructione nostra suffodiuÌ„t vt sua aedificent Their very worck riseth not of their own building but from the destroying of the truthe They vndermine our things that they may build vp their owne And Hippolytus thinketh the seale of Antichrist to be nego In Homi. de consum mat sec I deny For as saith he the deuil did exhort the Martyrs to deny their God who was crucified so at the last day the seale of Antichrist and of his members shal be Nego creatorem coeli terrae nego baptisma nego adorationem à me Deo praestarisoliatam I deny the maker of heauen and of earth I denie baptisme I deny the adoration which I was wont to doe vnto God Thus in the old tyme whereas the Apostles preached Christ to be true God and man VVHat the old hereticke deny Arrius denied his true Godhead Marcion and Valentinus and Manicheus denied his true manhood Apollinaris is denied his true sowle the Monothelits denied his doble will the Donatists the Continuance of the vniuersality of his Church the Pelagians the necessity of Gods grace and the like may be said of all other heretiks whose opinions alwaies detracted some perfection from Christ or from his Church Now I will shew that the Protestants doe the like in our tyme. For whereas the vniuersal Church as wel by the preaching of the Apostles as by the witnesse of Gods writen word was in possession of a publike sacrifice of priesthood of seuen Sacramentes as of most vndoubted instrumentes of grace and of diuerse other godly and diuine orders and Canons haue they any other Gospell any other Churche or any other doctrine then that which consisteth in deniyng Hovv many things the Protestants take avvay froÌ„ the Churche Ioan. 1. and in taking away that which was before The holy scriptures and Churche tawght that a man being iustified is both really deliuered from his synnes and really receaueth faith hoape and charity Thei deny our synnes to be taken away by the lamb of God who came for that purpose saying they tary still but onely that they are not imputed They teache also that no iustice is at all made in vs by spreading charity in our harts Rom. 5. whereas S. Paul saith iusti coÌ„stituentur multi many shal be made iust But they only say iustice is imputed to vs. Again they fiue Sacraments of the seuen They deny that baptism remitteth our synnes or that baptisme is necessarie to children which are born of Ghristian parents Augustin epist 106. Which was the heresie of the Pelagians They deny the vse of holy oyle and of chrism They deny the reall presence of Christes body the adoration and reseruation thereof the transubstantiation of the bread into his body the vnblody sacrifice of Christes supper the communion of one kinde to be sufficient and consequently they deny that whole Christ in vnder eche kinde and the mingling of water with the wine And that one may receaue alone that Aultars are lawfull that there are Priestes of the newe Testament that Bishops are of any higher degree then Priestes that there is any one bisshoppe chief of all other that Priests can forgeue synnes but onelie may preache that they are forgeuen that it is lawfull to appoint certaine daies of fasting or the abstinence from certain meates for obedience although God both willed Adam to absteine from a certain frute Genes 2. and the Iewes to absteine from certain meates They deny that it is lawfull to pray to the Saints in heaueÌ„ or to pray for the faithful which died in Christ wherein they deny any communioÌ„ of praier betwene the faithful which are aliue and their brethern who liue out of this worlde with Christ They deny the infallible authority of generall CouÌ„cels the visible succession of bishoppes the place of purgation after this life the remaining of paine after the synne is forgeuen the chaÌ„ging or pardoming of the said paine by the high bisshop the vse and moderate honour of Images the signe of the healthfull crosse the making of a vowe to liue chaste or to renounce all propriety of goods or to liue in obedience the reuerence don the reliques of the blessed Martyrs the vse of praier in the holy tungs the vniuersall tradition of vnwriten verities and to be short theiÌ„ deny the bookes of the old Bible such as are not in the Canon of the Iewes These things and many other like whiles they deny what other thing do thei theÌ„ pul down the religioÌ„ of Christ which hath ben a building these fiften hundred yeeres And therein they prepare a way to Antichrist who in the end must deny all that they as yet leaue vndenied For if they should openly deny euery whit 2 Thes â— then the mystery of iniquity should not be a working and many simple men should not haue bene deceaued by them who now are deceaued because they pretend to refoorme and not to take away Christes religion But when the tyme is ripe then the iniquity which is now begun must be fulfilled and so is the whole religioÌ„ destroied I would this were not true And yet it is possible that euery Protestant knoweth not so much because Satan the great capitaine of their army keepeth his Counsel to himselfe knowing that how much the closer he worketh the more hurt he is like to doe But God through mercy detecteth his snares aÌ„d warneth them Genes 1â— 6. who wil be saued to flee into the hil with Loth and to the ship of the Churche with Noe there to prouide for their eternal saluatioÌ„ which our Lord graunt through his bitter passion Amen Finis Librum istum de primatu Romani Pontificis Petra Ecclesiae vniuersalis legerunt viri sacrae Theologiae Auglici idiomatis peritissimi quibus iudico meritò tutò credendum esse vt fine periculo imo summa cum vtilitate euul gari possit Cunerus Petri P.S. Petri Louanij 25. Februa Anno. 1566. A BRIEF SOME OF THE chief points of this treatise THE preface conteineth the marks of the true Church The difference betwen a dominion and a primacy 17. The Apostles strife coÌ„cerning superiority is declared 25. 26. 27. That there was one greater among the Apostles 20. vsque 37. To be a ruler and as a minister do not repugne 46. 47. The preeminence of priests aboue Kings 51. 52. caet A King can not be supreme gouernor in all ecclesiasticall causes because by right and Law he can not practise al ecclesiastical causes 61. 64. 67. The highe priest is preferred before the King by Gods lawe 72. 74. 76. The euil life of a bishop taketh not away his authority 78. 79. The differences betweÌ„ the bisshop of Rome and temporal princes 80. vsque 88. That Moises was a priest 83. 84. 85. The literal sense of holy scripture 96. The promise to be called Peter was the first cause why the church was built vpon him 110. The Protestants can not tell which is the first literal sense of these words vpon this rock I will build my Churche 135. How Peter beareth the person of the Church 165. The obiections against S. Peters supremacy are answered 219. vsque 230. How Christ loued Peter aboue others 237. The Church neuer lacked a visible rock 270. 271. The whole gouernment of the Church tendeth to vnity 299. Why S. Peter died at Rome 313. 313. S. Augustins minde touching the supremacy of the Pope of Rome 348. vsque 372. A priest aboue the Emperour in Eeclesiasticall causes 378. The oth of the roial supremacy is intolerable 383. CoÌ„staÌ„tine baptized at Rome 391 Phocas did not first make the See of Rome head of al Churches 405. vsque 410. Why Antichrist is permitted to come 423. Hereticks depart from the Catholik Church 469. Hereticks being once departed out of the Churche haue newe names 471. Why amoÌ„g the Catholiks some are called Franciscans Dominicans caet 477. Heretiks can neuer agree 479. The short reigne of heretickes 489 caet Hereticks preache without coÌ„mission 496. Heretiks doe prefer the temporal reign or sword before the spiritual 499. They are the members of Antichrist who withstand the external and publike sacrifice of Christes Church 518. Hereticks depriue Christ of his glorious inheritaunce in many nations together 517. The intolerable pride of heretikes in making themselues onely iudges of the right sense of Gods word 530. The ProtestaÌ„ts teache the same doctrine which the old hereticks did 553. The Protestantes are the right meÌ„bers of Antichrist in that they spoile Gods Church of very many gifts and graces and articles of the faith 560. FINIS Faultes escaped in the printing Page Line Faultes Corrections 10. 10. shephead shepheard 23. 22. them because them but because 98. 22. resurrection by resurrection by 103. 24. confession Being confession being 106. 13. stedfastnes of stedfastnes or of â—16 9. and promised aÌ„d being promised 145. 8. and in that and that 177. 21. the thing the man 186. 6. rocke of rock or 195. 14. sbme some 208. 23. vvhen Augustine vvhen Augustine 209. 11. hy me by me 214. 1. to true to be true 2â—9 17. in omnibus in ouibus 26â— 1. to the the 273. 15. vvas vvere vvas vvhere 281. 6. the pordinary the ordinary 382. 7. can gouern can not gouern 426. 14. CoÌ„essours Confessours 430. 13. teache teache 432. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 408. 1. out the out of the 496. 2. rom from 516. â— hauen heauen 539. 22. S. Saule S. Paul 553. 21. bishops bishop I F RESPâ—â—ITE VOLATILIA COELI ET PVLLOS CORVORVM