Son of Joseph Which was the Son of Mat-ta-thi-as which was the Son of A-mos which was the Son of Na-um which was the Son of E-li which was the Son of Nag-ge which was the Son of Ma-ath which was the Son of Mat-ta-thi-as which was the Son of Se-me-i which was the Son of Jo-seph which was the Son of Ju-da Which was the Son of Jo-an-na which was the Son of Rhe-sa which was the Son of Zo-ro-ba-bel which was the Son of Sa-la-thiel which was the Son of Ne-ri which was the Son of Mel-chi which was the Son of Ad-di which was the Son of Co-sam which was the Son of El-mo-dam which was the Son of Er. Which was the Son of Jo-se which was ehe Son of Eli-e-zer which was the Son of Jo-rim which was the Son of Mat-that which was the Son of Le-vi Which was the Son of Ma-thu-sa-la which was the Son of E-noch which was the Son of Ja-red which was the Son of Ma-le-lâ—-el which was the Son of Cai-nan which was the Son of E-nos which was the Son of Seth which was the Son of Ad-am which was the Son of God St. Matthew Chap. 24. AND Iesus answered and said unto them Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name Saying I am Christ and shall deceive many and ye shall hear of Wars and Rumors of VVars see that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet For Nation shall rise against Nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there shall be Famines and Pestilences and Earthquakes in divers places All these are the beginning of Sorrows Then shall they deliver you up to be Afflicted and shall Kill you and ye shall be hated of all Nations for my Names Sake And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another And many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many And because Iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But he that endureth unto the end shall be Saved VVhen ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the Holy place who so readeth let him understand Then let them that be in Judea Flee unto the Mountains For then shall be great Tribulation such as was not since the Beginning of the VVorld to this time no nor never shall be and except those days should be shortned there should be no Flesh Saved but for the Elects sake those daies shall be shortned Then if any Man shall say unto you lo here is Christ or lo there believe it not for there shall arise false Christs False Prophets and shall shew great Signs and VVonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. Beloved I have told you before PSALM 74. Great God of Gods forget not those Who thee Reproachfully Despise Remember Lord the Blasphemies Cast on thee by Frantick Foes O! to the wicked Multitude Surrender not thy Turtle Dove Nor from thy tender care remove The Poor by pow'rful Wrong persu'd Thy Covenant bound by Oath Maintain For Darkness overspreads the Face Of all the Land in every place Destruction Rape and Slaughter Reign Let not th' Opprest return with shame But Crown thee with Deserv'd Applause O Patronize thy proper cause Remember Fools Revile thy name O! Let their Sorrows never cease Who blast thee with their Calumnies The Tumults of their Pride who rise Against thee every day Increase The Protestant Instructed and the Errors of Popery Discovered Question WHat ought to be the great Design of all Men in this World Answ So to Serve and Honour God in this Life that we may for ever enjoy eternal happiness in the World to come Quest This indeed is the Interest of every man but since there are so many Religions in the World which of these do you profess Answ The Christian Religion which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and which is commonly called the Protestant Reformed Religion Quest Why is it called the Protestant Religion Answ It is called the Protestant Religion from a solemn Protestation of several Princes and Cities of Germany against the errors and Usurpations of the Roman Church but yet it is no new Doctrine brought into the VVorld but the truth of Christianity Confessed Asserted and purged from the Corruptions of Popery and hath the very same grounds to prove the Truth thereof which the Christian Religion it self hath Quest How do you prove that the Protestant Religion professed at this day is the pure and Ancient Christian Religion Answ 1. Because of its exact Conformity to the Scriptures and the genuine and clear sense thereof 2. In that the Protestant Religion is the very same and exactly agrees with the Faith of the Christian Church in the first three hundred years after the death of our Saviour 3. From the confession of the Papists themselves who own that there have been some in all Ages even in the darkest times of Popery who have Owned Asserted and Died in Defence of the same Doctrines which we now profess as the Waldenses Albingenses Berengatians and others Quest Hath not the Romish Church the Decrees Canons Councils and the Pope himself as their Head to prove the Truth and Certainty of their Religion Answ Though they boast very much of Infallibility yet 1. They never were agreed nor are ever like to agree who this Infallible Judge is whether in a General Council or the Pope himself 2. They have no Rational Certainty of what they believe since they willfully neglect the Holy Scriptures and with a Biind Obedience intrust their Souls with those Men whose Credit and Testimony a Man would hardly trust with a Sum of Money without better Security 3. They have no Bible nor other Authentick Record to prove their Religion but a Mass of dead Traditions that have no Voice nor Sound to be understood untill the Romish Clergy put a sense upon them So that a Man can hardly embrace Popery except he first turn Atheist yea quit all his Religion and Reason at once Quest But do not the Papists damn all the World but themselves confidently affirming that Rome is the Catholick Apostolick Church out of which there is no salvation Answ Their confidence is not at all to be wondred at since it is one of the greatest Arguments they use to prove the most ridiculous Assertions but that the Romish Church can have no possible claim to their being only saved is unanswerable from these Arguments 1. Because we know of no Church which consisteth of all Christians Subjected to one Humane Head nor do we read that our Subjection to the Pope is made a condition of Salvation 2. It is evident that in the Apostles time and for divers Ages since there was a Christian Catholick Church which had no dependence upon the See of Rome 3. There are a greater number in the World who embrace
substantial sign to be used in Baptism Answer Read that of Saint Mat. 3.11 I Baptize you with vvater and Acts 10.47 Can any forbid water that these should not be baptized But the Papists use Salt Oyle Spittle and many other Superstitions and Additions which they have made to the Institution of Jesus Christ in Baptisme King James of Famous Memory in his Apology hath these Words The Queen my Mother at my Baptism although I was Baptised by a Popish Arch-bishop sent him word to forbear to use the Spittle in my Baptism which was obeyed it being indeed a Filthy and Apish Trick Her own words were That she would not have a Pocky Priest to spit in her Childs Mouth Quest What do the Papists mean by the Mass which they so often talk of Answ It is the same which the Protestants call the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and the Papists call it the Mass thereby intimating that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is made a Sacrifice and offered up to God which as it is used by them is both Vain and Idolatrous 1. Because by the Death of our Blessed Saviour who was Sacrificed for our Sins Divine Justice is sufficiently satisfied and the Sinner who returns and Repents is fully secured as to his everlasting State Heb. 10.12 This man after he had offered one Sacrifice for Sins for ever sate down at the Right-hand of God 2. The Papists Worship their Mass not only as God but trust in it for Salvation instead of Christ our Saviour Neither doth it excuse them to say that they worship not the Bread or a breaden God but Jesus Christ whom they suppose to be present for this Argument cannot free them from Idolatry no more than it will the Heathen Idolaters who though they worshipped the Sun yet supposed it to be God and so they did Jupiter whom they worshipped And therefore if Papists be not Idolaters there never were any such in the world Qu. Are these all the Points wherein the Papists and Protestants differ Ans No for a Volume would hardly contain the Fopperies of that Apostate Church as denying the Cup in the Lords Supper to the people Pardons Indulgences Pilgrimages and Jubilees their seven Sacraments instead of two appointed by our Saviour forbidding Priests to marry Justification by Works Merit Equivocation and abundance more which if truly understood would make every Protestant abhor both their Church and Doctrine Qu. But is the Apostacy of the Church of Rome such as there is no safe union with her or being saved in that Religion Ans If Rome be that spiritual Babylon mentioned Rev. 18.4 as it is there very plain and evident then are we absolutely commanded to come out of her lest being partakers of her sins we be partakers of her plagues Qu. But though the Roman Church in her Doctrine be directly contrary to Scripture yet how can all this demonstrate that the Pope is the Antichrist so expresly foretold in 2 Thes 3.4 Ans To resolve this question let us consider 1. That the Holy Ghost in Scripture hath been very exact in pointing out Antichrist by such notorious marks and characters as after-Ages might easily know him if they do not wilfully shut their eyes 2. Unless we deny our Senses as Papists do in many things we cannot be ignorant that the Popish Church clearly answers all those marks which are given of him in Scripture even him whose coming shall be after the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath appointed to be used with thanksgiving who sitteth in the Temple of God and exalteth himself above all that is called God who bewitcheth the Kings of the Earth with his Inchantments and is drunk with the blood of the Martyrs of Christ Jesus yea whose Traffick and Merchandize is not only silver and gold but the Souls of men Rev. 18.13.3 This Mystery began to work in the time of the Apostles and he who for a time did withhold his coming that is the Heathen Emperours of Rome hath been long since taken out of the way And 4. It is undeniable that this Adversary can be no single person or of a short continuance but is a Politick Body or Kingdome united in one Supreme Head and with a succession for many Ages 5. It is apparent that these express characters of Antichrist can be applied to no other Enemy of Jesus Christ or his Church under the New Testament either Pagan or Mahometan Qu. But it is said of Antichrist that the Lord will consume him by the breath of his mouth and how can this be applied to the Pope or Church of Rome Ans 1. We know that the Fall of Antichrist must be by degrees as his Rise was and not all at once 2. How have these last Ages of the World been cleared from Antichristian darkness in England Scotland Ireland France Germany Sweden Denmark the Low-Countries c. Qu. But do we not see Popery prevail now in a more than ordinary way in several Countries where the Gospel has been clearly preached Ans This is not so strange if we consider 1. That where the truth is not received in love God doth many times give up men to strong delusions to believe lies 2. Observe that such as imbrace Popery do not do it from Principles of Reason or Conscience but it is the visible effect of a Licentious Age and from an unusual growth of Atheisme and Ignorance for it is not to be admired if those who never really had any Religion Espouse any Religion that may serve their Interest or Lust 3. There is no such great slavery exercised over the body under Turkish bondage as there is over the Reasons and Consciences of men under the Popish Yoak so that they have no way to be convinced of their Errors since they must not see with their own eyes the most clear discoveries of truth that can be made to them either in the Scriptures or any other Books Lastly though Popery seem to encrease yet it 's clear that they get but little advantage thereby and it seems only to make way for its utter ruine and destruction So that if the Pope be not Antichrist yet we may challenge Antichrist to do worse and wickeder things than he Qu. Certainly there can be but little encouragement for men to turn Papists if they rightly understand what Popery is Ans No question but there is great blindness upon their minds since the whole frame of it is but the driving on of a Politick Interest They shut up the Scripture to keep the people in the dark their Religion not being able to endure the light they set up an Infallibility to hold them under a blind obedience they pick their pockets by their Doctrines of Merit and Purgatory yea notwithstanding their high pretences to Charity it is such a Religion that no man can be damn'd except he be poor neither can any rich
and Princes have been forced to kneel and kiss their Toes nay they asserted that all Kings were Slaves and in subjection to them and that all must be judged by the Pope but he by no man Psalm 88. LOrd sit not still as deaf unto our Cries For lo Our Enemies in Tumults rise Even those who thy Omnipotence deny And hate thy Name advance their Priests on High Dark Councils take and secretly contrive Our slaughter whom thy mercy keeps alive Come say they let us with incessant strokes Hew down this Nation like a Grove of Oaks Till they no longer be and Israel dye Both in his Race and Ruin'd Memory They all in one Confederacy have made A solemn League supply d with forreign Aid Hence Idumeans who in Gomades stray And Shaggy Ishmaelites that live by prey Th' incestuous race that bred are on the Lake Of salt Asphaltes savage Thieves who take Their Name from servile Hagar they who dwell In Geba Ammonites who peace expel Oh! say they let 's these Israelites destroy And all the Cities of their God enjoy O! let them like a Wheel be worried round Like chaff which whirlwinds ravisht from the Ground As Woods grown dry with Age imbrac'd with Fire Whose Flames above the singed Hills aspire So in the Tempest of thy wrath pursue And with thy Storms thy troubling Foes subdue O fill their Hearts with Grief their Looks with shame Till they invoke thy late blaphemed Name Confound them with eternal Infamy That they through anguish of their Souls may dye That Men Jehovah's wonders may rehearse The Great Commander of the Universe Mens Brains fryed eaten Children torn in Peices Infants thrown to the dogs swine Woemen Carried on Piks Rosted alive Some tyed and slain Hang'd by the Privitie Burnt in a barn A Brief and True Account of the Cruelties and Persecutions Committed by the Papists upon the Waldenses and Albingenses and other Protestants in Piedmont Savoy and the Valtoline from the Year 1160 To the Year 1656. VVHen by the just Judgment of the Almighty All the World wondred after the Beast and the Kings and Princes of Christendom established the Authority of the Pope and Church of Rome appointing to slaughter and destruction such as denied the horrid Blasphemies and Errors maintained by them It occasioned many good Christians to detest their Superstitions as unknown to the Apostles and the Primitive Church And the first we read of was one Berengarius who boldly and faithfully published the True Religion contained in the Scripture and discovered the falseness of the Romish He lived about the time of William the Conqueror his coming into England about which time his Followers being taken notice of as dissenting from many of the Common received Opinions of those times they were branded with the odious Name of Hereticks About Twenty years after this one Peter Bruis was a famous Preacher among them who taught them publickly a long time at Tholouse in Savoy In a short time after they were grown to so great a multitude that the Popes of Rome were resolved if possible by any means to extirpate and destroy them To which end they at first incited several of the most learned of their Party to write against them and warned divers Princes to have a care of them and to banish them out of their Territories The first then that flung away the Spiritual Keys and began valiantly to brandish the bloody Sword of Persecution against them was Pope Alexander the third who began therewith to hack hew and murder the poor Waldenses so named from Peter Waldo or Waldo of Lyons in France who appeared very couragious in opposing the many Corruptions of the Romish Church as Holy Oyl Consecrated Images Popes Indulgences Candles Merits Auricular Confession the Supremacy of the Pope false Miracles Purgatory Praying for the Dead Prayers to Saints extream Unction and many other Fopperies of the Popish Communion This Persecution of Waldo and his Followers who were encreased to a very great number began in France in the Year 1060. Waldo being compell'd to fly into the Mountains of France among the Savage Inhabitants to whom he taught his Doctrine others fled into Picardy from whence they were called Picards several into Flanders and Alsatia and thereby for the safety of their Lives they spread their Doctrine into all places King Philip of France being incited by the Ecclesiasticks raised Arms against them and destroyed Three Hundred Gentlemens Houses and likewise several Walled Towns And those that fled into Flanders escaped little better for they were persued and many of them for their Religion put to Death And the Bishops of Mayence and Strasburgh raised great persecutions against those which fled thither there being Five and Thirty Citizens of Mayence burned in one Fire and Eighteen in another who suffered Death with very great constancy and at Strasburgh at the instance of the Bishop Fourscore were likewise burnt for professing the same Truth and yet by the exhortations constancy and patience of these Martyrs there were such multitudes who entertained their Doctrines that in a few Years after in the County of Passau and in Bohemia there were above Fourscore thousand persons that made profession of the same Faith Some of them likewise fled into England for shelter but were more barbarously and cruelly put to death at Oxford by the Papists there than ever any Christians were before that time for matters of Religion and Three years after Pope Alexander the Third made a Decree in the Council of Tours in France that these Gospellers and all their Favourers should be Excommunicated and that none of them should buy or sell according as it was foretold in Revel 13.17 At Colen in Germany Four Men and Two young Women were discovered hid in a Barn and the Papists not being able to diswade them from the Truth The Men were all tyed to the Stake to be burnt but the Romanists pretending to pity the young Women perswaded them to recant but they perceiving their design got out of the hands of those that held them and voluntarily leapt into the Fire where they were burned with them about this time a Proclamation was published in Aragon whereby it was made Treason to relieve these poor Christians or to suffer them to live in that Country and liberty was given to all people to abuse them at pleasure without being punished for the same But these people still encreasing the Pope was resolved to suppress them by all means possible and therefore about the Year 1201. He set up the Bloody Inquisition which with its Racks Tortures Fire and all manner of Cruelty hath destroyed an innumerable company of Good and Holy Men. And in the same Year a noble Knight called Eunandus and one of the Waldenses was burnt at Paris and the persecution still continuing the people of Daulphine flying from their barbarous Enemies sheltred themselves in the Caves upon the Mountains but their cruel Adversaries having notice thereof persued
leave one Protestant Rogue living but would utterly destroy every one that had but a drop of English Blood in him yea they vowed they would not leave one English Beast alive nor any of their breed Alas who can comprehend the Sighs the Groans the trembling and Astonishment of these poor Innocent Souls to find themselves so suddenly surprized and that without Remedy What Shrieks Cryes and bitter Lamentations were there of Husbands Wives Children Servants and Friends howling and weeping finding themselves without all hope of deliverance from their present wofull Miseries and Calamities For by these and all manner of Cruelties and Barbarities which Hell it self could invent the Irish and English Papists murdered and destroyed in a few Months near Three Hundred Thousand Protestants as it is commonly computed without any manner of provocation but only because they were Protestants whose deaths the Divine Vengeance in a short time after recompensed upon several of the chief Murtherers many thousands perishing by the Sword and the Plague that followed it and the rest without doubt unless they heartily repent will receive the reward of their wickedness PSALM 54. LOrd for thy Promise sake defend And thy All-saving Shield extend O hear our Cries Which with wet eyes And sighs to thee ascend For Cruel men our lives pursue And who thy Statutes never knew Suppress our Foes O favour those Who to our Souls are True With Vengeance recompense their hate And in an instant ruinate Then will we bring Our Offering And thy great Acts relate Thy name for ever Praised be Who from those snares hast set us free For lo Our Eyes Our Enemies Desir'd Destruction see Spanish Invasion Martyrs burnt Burning of London Gunpouder Treason Sr. Godfry murderd Traytors Executed The Cruelties Plots and Treasons of the Papists against the Protestants in England with a brief account of the late Horrid Plot. AFter having briefly epitomized the bloody Cruelties and slaughters of this Monster of Rome and his Vassals throughout Europe let us now return home and see if our own Countrey has escaped better than our Neighbours Englishmen are generally accounted to be of a mercifull nature and pitifull disposition apt to be touched with the miseries of others and are not in their own natures bloody barbarous or Cruel what then may be the cause of those dreadfull marks of Rage and Fury that have been seen among us How has this Fair Island been made an Acheldama a Field of Skulls and Martyrs bones All this we shall find proceeds from corrupt principles of Religion I doubt not says a worthy Divine but Papists are made like other men nature hath not generally given them such Savage and Cruel Dispositions but their Religion hath made them so I am loth to say it and yet I am confident it is true that many Papists would have been excellent Persons and verie good men if their Religion had not hindered them if the Doctrines and Principles of their Church had not spoiled their natural Disposition Good God! that any thing that is called Religion should so presently strip men of all Humanity and transform the mild and gentle Race of Mankind into Wolves and Tigers It is Popery that alters the Nature of Englishmen and makes them act like Turks Infidels or Barbarians its principles infect the Blood and invenome the Soul instead of being weak and humble it makes them Proud and Arrogant instead of performing the Commands of Christ it makes men obey the Pope though never so contrary to Religion If our Blessed Saviour says Hurt no man pray for your Persecutors submit to Magistrates and Governours The Pope and his Doctrines say Kill every man that is not of your Religion Curse those that disobey your Commands Kill Stab or depose your Kings or Govenours This is the Doctrine and these are the Principles and Commands of the Romish Church It is some hundreds of years since this Bloody Beast of persecution began to shew his Fangs and armed Claws in this Kingdom and it was almost as soon perceived and testified against by some good men in those times For in the Year one Thousand Two Hundred John of Salisbury declared against the Corruptions and Superstitions of the Romish Church and plainly discovered the oppression of the burden of the Pope and his Ravenous Clergy and after him John Grostead Bishop of Lincoln wrote to the Pope and admonished him for which he had like to have lost his life yet the Pope did only hitherto shew his Teeth and could not take his full swinge in Blood and Murther which he afterward attained to But since the Papists impertinently urge against us the Newness of our Religion and that it was not known before Martin Luthers days we shall produce much more early Testimonies against the Errors and abuses in the Romish Church For we find in the Year 884. John Patrick Erigena a Britan who was ordained the first Reader in Oxford by King Alfred was afterward Condemned and Martyred by the Pope for writing a Book concerning the Sacrament And in the year 960. many Ministers and Divines wore the mark of the Beast in their faces being by the Popes order Branded in the Faces with hot Irons for Dissenting in many things about the Mass Purgatory Monkery and the like and for saying that Rome was Babylon and that Cloisters were the Nurses of Sodomy In the year 1126. one Arnold and Englishman and a Preacher of the Gospel was Butchered at Oxford for Preaching against the Pride of the Prelates and the wicked lives of the Priests In the Year 1160. the poor Persecuted Waldenses came hither for succour but instead thereof they were Persecuted Condemned Burnt Whipt and stigmatiz'd for their Religion both at Oxford and other places After which almost in every Year it pleased God to raise up several Learned and worthy men to testifie against the Horrid Corruptions of Rome both by Speaking Writing and Disputing against them As in the Year 1170. Gualo and Gilbert Foliot Doctors of Divinity and after them Silvester Gerald Alexander a Divine Gualter Maxes Arch Deacon of Oxford Sebald Archbishop of York William Stringham Doctor of Divinity Roger Bacon Fellow of Merton Colledge a Divine and Mathematician John Scotus the Great Scotch-man and about the same time Doctor John Wickliff Jeoffery Chaucer William Wickham Bishop of Winchester and many other Learned men All these gave ample Testimonies by their publick Writings against the many Corruptions evil Doctrines and Superstitious Worship of the Romish Church with the hazard of their Lives Honours Liberties Estates and Fortunes so that many were persecuted and some were burnt in the Reign of King Henry the second 1174. and in the Year 1380. Vtred Bolton and John Ashwerly endured Persecution and a while after John Ashton Walter Bruce John Pateskul and Doctor Crump were persecuted and William Sawtree a Divine of Oxford was martyred and William Swinderly was Burnt in Smithfield In the Year 1407. William Thorp was Burnt and Lawrence
and profess the Christian Religion and have no Communion with Rome than there are Papists 4. It is the prerogative of Jesus Christ alone to be Head of his Church for as there is one Faith and one Lord Jesus Christ so there is but one body which is his Church united to him as her head Eph. 4.3 4. Psalm 2.6 Quest What are some of those Errors brought in by the Pope and his Clergy which occasioned the Protestants departure from their Communion Answ There were several Errors and Extravagancies Introduced both in Doctrine and Discipline one of their Doctrines was that of Purgatory which they affirm is a place next door to Hell where the Torments are as extream as those of Hell it self but not eternal in this place they say the Souls of the Faithful are purged some for a hundred some for five hundred or a Thousand years till they are delivered by the Prayers Masses Popes Pardons but especially by the Money of their Friends or Relations Quest What say the Protestants to this Answ They say it is Blasphemy to believe that Men are purged from sins in this place since the bloud of Christ is the only purgatory for our Sins Besides there is no ground in Scripture for any such belief St. Luke 16.23 In Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torment c. St. Matt. 28.12 They shall sit down with Abraham c. in the Kingdom of Heaven but the other shall be cast into utter Darkness where shall be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth Mark 26.16 He that believeth shall be Saved and he that believeth not shall be Damned Quest What other Errors do they maintain Answ The Doctrine of Transubstantiation for they say that in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Jesus Christ is corporally present and that there is a change of the Substance of the bread and wine into the natural body and blood of Christ Quest What answer the Protestants Answ That this Doctrine is contrary to many plain Testimonies of Scripture it overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to very gross Idolatry and great Superstition and besides it contains a multitude of absurdities and contradictions For 1. Then must our blessed Saviour hold himself in his own hands yea devour and eat up himself and yet still sit whole and entire at the Table with his Disciples 2. The body of Jesus Christ must be in a Thousand places at the same time 3. His whole body must be in the mouth of every Communicant at once 4. His whole body must be less in quantity than the least Limb of his body 5. His body must at the same time be broken and unbroken and must at the same time ascend and descend and lastly must be subject to putrefaction and many other Absurdities And therefore those words This is my Body are to be understood that this doth signify and represent my body and upon the same account Christ is called a Rock a Door a Vine and yet none can be so sensless to think that Jesus Christ was turned into any of these Quest VVhat other Errors are they charged with Ans That the Scripture ought not to be set forth in the Common Tongue but that it is dangerous for the people to read the Bible lest they fall into Heresie Qu. What do the Protestants answer to this Answ That the true Reason of this is because if they suffer the People to read the Scripture it would make them abhor the Popish Religion as being absolutely contrary thereunto For the Scriptures exhort all to be diligent Readers thereof and our Saviour saith vvhat say the Prophets and Apostles concerning this Search the Scriptures Joh. 5.39 Seek ye the Book of the Lord and read Isa 34.16 They were more noble in that they searched the Scriptures dayly Acts 17.11 They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them Luke 16.29 Let the word of God dwell richly in you Col. 3.16 Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Eph. 6.17 From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.15 Except you utter Words easy to be understood how shall it be known what is spoken 1 Cor. 14.9 16. Qu. What other erroneous Doctrines do the Papists hold Answ The praying to Angels to the Virgin Mary and the Apostles and Saints departed Quest VVhat say the Protestants to it Answ They say That the Papists by praying in that manner do give to the Angels and Saints departed the highest religious Worship and Adoration that is possible and so are guilty of fearful Idolatry and that we ought to go to God in the mediation of Christ alone neither have we any ground to believe that the Saints in Heaven know our particular Persons wants necessities or desires and the Scripture seems contrary to all this Call upon me in the day of trouble Psal 50.15 Say Our Father which art in Heaven Luke 11.2 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only Mat. 4.10 Let no man beguile you into a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels Col. 2.18 There is one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Through him we have access unto the Father Eph. 2.18 Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Col. 3.17 VVhatsoever you shall ask in my name I will do it John 14 3. Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel know us not Is 63.13 Thou sendest man away his Sons come to Honour and he knows it not they are brought low but he perceives it not Job 14.21 St. John fell down to worship before the Feet of the Angel then saith he see thou do it not for I am thy Fellow Servant worship God Rev. 22.8 9. Cornelius fell down at St. Peter 's feet and worshipped him and Peter said stand up I my self am also a man Act. 10.25 Quest Do not the Papists affirm that we ought to pray for the dead Answ Yes but the Protestants answer They that dye in the Lord need not our prayers and they that dye in their sins can have no benefit by them and that the reason why the Popish Priests uphold this Error is because they get so much money by it Lastly we have no Command from God no promise to be heard no Example in Scripture for praying for the dead or praying to Saints Read 2 Sam. 12.21 Now the Child is dead why should I fast and pray Blessed are they that dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 Qu. Do the Papists hold that all that dye without Baptism are undoubtedly damned and shut out of Heaven Answ Yes But Protestants say that is false for then 1. The Penitent Thief could not be saved contrary to that of St. Luke 23.43 2. A multitude of Infants must be damned for the neglect of their Parents which is a cruel and uncharitable censure contrary to Gen. 17.7 1 Cor. 7.14 Rom. 4.11 Mat. 19.14 Quest Is water the only visible
man miscarry if he will part with his Silver to save his Soul so that it is fitted for a most wicked and licentious life since men may sin at the highest rate and not endanger their souls for if they have money the Popes Pardon clears them from the greatest Villanies so that though they are never so guilty they can with their last breath solemnly call God to witness that they are as Innocent as the Child unborn Qu. Since the Popish Religion is such a compound of Humane Policy and framed to make men depend upon the Pope and be subject to his power though against their Sovereigns Interest we may wonder that so many Princes do with one consent joyn their power to support his Throne Ans This indeed seems to be a very strange infatuation and we can give no other reason for it but that it is the secret Judgment of God to give them thus up according to what was foretold in Rev. 17.17 For God hath put it into their heart to agree and give their power to the Beast until the words of God be fulfilled for else there is nothing more destructive to their Power and Interest than such a Spiritual Sovereign as the Pope pretends to be Qu. How doth it appear that the Popish Religion is so destructive to the power of Princes and the Interest of their Kingdomes Ans It is undeniably clear from their own Doctrines and Principles 1. They assert that the Pope may dethrone Kings and give their Kingdomes to others that he can absolve and free their Subjects from all Duty and Allegiance to them yea he can bind and loose their Consciences at his own pleasure 2. It is such a Religion as expresly frees and exempts all Ecclesiastical persons from the Laws of their Natural Prince so that they cannot be judged for the most horrid and notorious Crimes that can be committed by them 3. It makes the Princes and Rulers of the world to execute with a blind obedience whatsoever the Pope commands them not leaving them the liberty to judge whether it be right or wrong 4. It strikes at the very Foundation of all Religion and Piety which is the greatest security to Government and the strongest obligation to all Civil and Moral Duties for if a man commit the most horrid acts of wickedness such as Murther Adultery Incest Rape Sodomy c. yet an ordinary Priest by the Almighty power of the Pope can dispense with them all the price of them being rated and appointed which being paid the Priest can give full pardon and absolution for the same 5. It is a Religion that expresly teaches that a man is not bound to repent presently of the most heinous sin it being sufficient if it be done before the last moment of his life 6. It destroys truth righteousness and honesty among men since it allows and warrants Equivocation and Perjury both in Oaths and words and that a man may swear in such doubtful terms as may be directly contrary to the intent of him that gives the Oath whereby an Oath cannot be an end of Controversie Lastly it is a Religion which in its Principles is destructive to Humane Society for it triumphs delights and glories in those monstrous Prodigies of mischief Blood and Cruelty which we would think Humane Nature would tremble at and which seem rather to have been acted by Devils transformed into the shape of men than by any who have the least pretence to the name of Christians witness the Massacres of France and Ireland and the bloody Persecutions in the Netherlands Germany Spain Piedmont and most Countries in Europe Therefore from such a Religion and all the cursed effects thereof let us beseech Almighty God to deliver us and our Posterity for ever Amen PSALM 64. THou great Protector hear our cry Save from our dreadful Enemy O vindicate From their close hate Who for our Souls in ambush lye From their blind rage protect Who Truth and thee reject Who whet their tongues more sharp than Swords Their Arrows draw even bitter words To wound th' upright With fierce delight When time to their desire accords They on a sudden shoot Nor fear Divine pursuit Confirm'd in skilful malice they Conspire and Nets in secret lay And say what eye Can this discry First counsel take and then betray On mischief set their hearts Pursu'd by wicked Arts. But God shall let his Arrows fly Wound in the twinkling of an eye Each shall be stung By his own Tongue And with that fatal poyson die The Image Of Antichrist The Image of ANTICHRIST Or The Vsurpations of the Pope and Church of Rome over Kings Emperours c. ABOUT Five Hundred Years after the death of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ one Phocas who had Murdered his Master Mauritius Emperour of Constantinople and his Children first Advanced the Bishops of Rome to be Universal Bishops and Heads of the Church at which time they were endowed with these large Possessions and Donations which they call St. Peters Patrimony and which they falsly assert to be the Gift of Constantine the Great After this the Church of Rome growing Great Mighty Rich and Proud at once lost its Humility and Purity of Religion and assumed Politick and Tyrannical Principles which caused her Defiled hands to lay afide the Sword of the Spirit and to make use of the Temporal Sword which she used to the Deposing and Murthering of divers Kings Princes and Emperours I. For after they had once tasted the Sweetness of Wealth Ease and Prosperity the Popes began to swell in Pride and Pomp and the more they Flourished in this World the more the holy Spirit of God forsook them so that in a short time those Bishops who were Poor Mean indigent persecuted and wanting all things began to Triumph over Princes to tread upon the Necks of Emperours and to bring the heads of Kings under their Usurped Authority They were carryed upon Mens Shoulders in all manner of Magnificence as if the earth were not good enough to bear them they were honoured as Gods on earth and Sovereign Princes Dukes and Lords c. went Bare-headed before them And not only so but through their Pride and Ambition they grew so great Apostates from Christians that of being Persecuted they became Persecutors of others and at last were so Great enemies to God and Religion that the Pope may now be justly Reckoned and Accounted the Antichrist or Man of Sin so long before spoken of by St. Paul in Thessalonians 2.2 II. This pride and insolency of the Pope and his Clergy appeared in several Instances which might be given of it but out of the Multitude we shall only Collect some few to shew what Slavery and Bondage both Princes and people were formerly subject to under this Antichristian Yoke About the Year 1158. Frederick Emperour of Germany Marching into Italy the Pope hearing of it went with his Clergy to meet him As soon as the Emperour saw
Redman and six others grievously persecuted In the Year 1417. the Lord Cobham was Burnt in St. Giles Fields John Purey and Will. White and Richard White were burnt Peter Clark a Divine of Oxford for maintaining publickly the Doctrine of Wicklif was forced to fly but was taken beyond Sea his Tongue cut out then hanged and afterwards burnt Roger Ovely was hanged and Quartered In the Year 1447. Humfery Duke of Glocester was murdered by the Papists for being a favourer of Wicklif and other Preachers of the Truth and divers others were many ways persecuted for the sake of Religion before the rising of Luther God having in all Ages raised up some to Testifie to the Truth and to maintain the purity of the Gospel And besides these Divines Learned and great men there were several other good men of a meaner quality who openly owned the Truth and suffered for the same and as the number of the professors grew greater who now began to be called Lollards so Persecution grew hotter and the Rage and Malice of the Papists increased In the Reign of King Henry the fifth 1413. Sir Roger Acton John Brown John Beverly and Thirty six more were all put to Death in St. Giles Fields and John Claydon and Richard Turning Benedict Vlman and several others were burnt and many Imprisoned In the Reign of King Henry the sixt William Tailor one of Wickliffs followers was burnt in Smithfield Henry Web and Henry Florence were Cruelly whipt and about an hundred and twenty men and Women suffered persecution many of them were burnt William White was Martyr'd and at the same time two were burnt at Colchester Richard Hoveden a Citizen of London was Martyr'd for the same cause near the Town and several more severely whipt and terribly handled Thomas Baily and Richard Wiche both Ministers were burnt one in Smithfield and the other on Tower-hill In the Reign of Edward the fourth John Goose was Burnt and in H nry the sevenths Regn one Jean Boughton of Fourscore years old was burnt in Norfolk another person was Burnt in Smithfield several were likewise stigmatized and many did penance William Tilsworth was Burnt in the Town of Anasham where they forced his own Daughter to set fire to Faggots that were to Burn her Father and two Years after Thomas Bernard and John Melton and one Roberts were Burnt in the same County of Buckingham Thomas Chace after many Cruel Usages and hardships was Murthered in Prison Thomas Norris was burnt at Norwich and Lawrence Guest at Salisbury and a Woman at Chipping Sadbury with several other persons in the Reign of King Henry the seventh In the Reign of King Henry the Eighth the Flames increased very much and abundance Suffered in every place In the Year 1511. Willam Sweeting and John B ewster were burnt in Smithfield the same year William Carder Robert Harrison and Agnes Grebel were burnt they forcing the Husband and Daughter of the Woman to come in as Witnesses against her After this one Mr. Style with his Book of the Revelations and twenty five more were Burnt five other Persons were accused for reading an Heretical Book which contained many Damnable Opinions and what should this Book be but only the Evangelists in English In the Year 1514. Richard Hun was murdered in the Lollards Tower and afterwards burnt John Brown John Stileman and Thomas Man were burnt in Smithfield Robert Cousin was Burnt at Buckingham Christopher Shoemaker at Newberry Richard and Robert Bartlet and John Scrivener were likewise burnt and the Children of John Scrivener were forced to set fire to their Father For it was usual with them to compell Children to accuse their Parents and Parents their Children Husbands their Wives and Wives their Husbands Intimate Friends Brothers and Sisters to accuse one another and many Hundreds were likewise forced to recant and abjure against their Consciencies or else be Burnt There were two things about this time that very much increased the professors of the Gospel in England One was the appearance of Martin Luther in the World who boldly owned the Truth and loudly Declaimed against the corruptions of the Romish Church Another thing was the Art of Printing which now began to be common whereby the True Religion was the more easily promulgated and Dispersed through every Countrey and in all Languages This Allarum'd the Pope and his Debauched Clergy who were afraid to have their wicked Doctrines and Practices discovered to the people and thereupon they began to rage and bestir themselves raising Persecution and making destruction and Slaughter in all places throughout the Kingdom against the Lutherans as they were now called In the Year 1519. several Protestans were apprehended at Coventry and imprisoned in filthy and nasty Dungeons six of whom were afterwards burnt Robbert Silkeb and Thomas Harding were burnt shortly after One Sigal Nicholson a Stationer at Cambridge was hung up by the Privy-members for having Luther's Books in his House several likewise abjured and the Body of William Tracy Esq in Glocester-shire because he had left nothing for Masses for his Soul was taken out of the Grave and Burnt two Years after his Death Richard Brafield a Monk of Bury after he had been whipt and most Cruelly handled in Prison and Gagged Beaten and bound and Degraded after a very shamefull manner was Burnt with much Cruelty in London continuing half an Hour alive in the Flames for want of Wood and when his left arm was burnt he rubbed it with his right hand and it fell down in the Fire he continued in Prayer without moving to the last moment several were imprisoned and fed with Bread made of Saw-dust some were set in the Stocks with Horse-leaches on their Legs and their hands so manacled with Irons that the Flesh grew higher than the Irons and with Iron Collars about their Necks and many were Racked till they were Lamed John Tewsbury James Bainham Valentine Sheafe and his Wife John Bent and one Trapnel were all Burnt about the same time three were hanged in Chains for Burning the Image or Rood of Dover Court John Frith Andrew Honor Thomas Bennet William Tindall John Lambert William Leiton and Collins a Lawyer were burnt and Robert Packington Murdered Doctor Barns Thomas Garret William Hieron were burnt in Smithfield John Potter was murthered in Prison Robert Testwood Anthony Parker and Henry Filmer were burnt at Windsor About five hundred persons in and about London either dyed in prison or were burnt in Smithfield In the Year 1541. Damlip Dod Sary were Slain One Henry at Colchester Kerby and Clark at Ipswich and Bury were burnt In the Year 1546. Mistris Ann Askew one of the Ladies belonging to Queen Katherine Parr because she would not confess any other Ladies was put upon the Rack and the Lord Chancellor himself being more Cruel he acted then the Executioner ordered her to be wracked to the utmost she was afterward Burnt in Smithfield and at the same time and place were likewise Burnt