Rome keepâ— entirely the same faith In which sort the Donatists also would not haue denyed all other Churches to be called Catholike that with their Church of Africa kept entirely the same faith and therefore I said rightly before that the name is now by the Papists Donatistically applyed not only to one particular Church of Rome as M. Bishop falsly repeateth to put the sot if he could from himselfe to me but also as I added to men bearing the name of Catholikes only for communicating with that Church As for vs we apply the name Catholike no more to the congregations of the Protestants then we doe to all that professe in truth the communion of one vniuersall Church The name of Protestants being casuall and arising by occasion in these Northerne parts may haply be inclosed and confined within the bounds of Europe but the Church of Christ cannot be so inclosed and o Aug. Epist 48. Erit Anathema quisquis annunciauerit Ecclesiam praeter communionem omnium gentium cursed is he saith St. Austin that preacheth the Church otherwise then in the communion of all nations No otherwise doe wee preach the Church wee limit it not to our selues wee say the Papists ought not to limit it to themselues There are questions betwixt them and vs but how many Christian Churches are there in the world which neither know them nor vs nor haue euer heard any thing of the quarrels that are betwixt vs How many Churches are there in the East which haue heard of the Pope and his proceedings and will by no meanes endure to hold communion with him He will say that those Churches doe not accord with vs in iudgement of all points of faith Be it so no more did Cyprian and p Aug. cont Gaudent lib. 3 art 10. Quando rebaptizabat Cyprianus ab hâ—reticis venientes Ecclesia CarthagineÌ„sis Episcopus tunc Ecclesiâ— Romanae Stephanus Episcopus in â—odem baptismâ— quem foris accepâ—raÌ„t suscipiebat â—aereticos ambo haec diuersa facienâ—es in vnitate Catholica permanebant Stephanus Bishop of Rome agree in all points and yet they were both members of one Catholike Church How many differences of opinions are there found amongst the Fathers and yet we doe not therefore diuide them into many Churches They may erre and we may â—rre but we beleeue that wheresoeuer the Gospell of Christ is read and published there Christ hath a people to whom hee reuealeth all truth that shall be necessary vnto eternall life In a word they professe the same Christ they reade the same Gospell and Scriptures that we doe and therein our faith both hath beene from the beginning and doth now continue dispersed and spread ouer the whole world W. BISHOP §. 2. SEcondly M. Abbot is much mistaken in his comparison of the name of Iew with the name Catholike for â—o omit first that such examples proue nothing but doe only serue for shew or explication and moreouer that it can hardly be shewed that the name of Iew was a name of such honour at any time for that peoples honourable name was Israelites and were not called Iewes till towards the declination and wane of their estate Neither was it euer any peculiar and proper title of the people of God for God had many good seruants that were neuer called Iewes as may be gathered by Iob the Husitâ— Naaman the Syrian the widdow of Sarepta a Sydonian and by a great number Luc. 4. vers 16. of Prosilites and finally by that which the Apostle teacheth Many Gentiles were saued without the law Rom. â— vers 14. Lastly most vncertaine it is of what name the Prophet Isay speaketh when he saith It shall be left for a name cap. 65. vers 13. of curse All these impertinencies of his example being too too many I doe remit him but cannot pardon his grosse fault in the maine point of the comparison for the name Iew according to the vsuall signification of the word being the name of a certayne people of one race and kindred and hauing a law giuen them by Moyses which should continue only for a prescript time and end at the coÌ„ming of Christ is not like the name of Catholike which is no speciall name of the people of any one Countrâ—y but is attributed and doth agree to all sorts of men of what Countrey or nation soeuer that do embrace the true Christian faith And is inseparably linked and so fast ioyned and riueted with the Christian profession and religion that it shall neuer faile fall or be separated from it so long as Christs faith standeth nor euer be contemned of the faithfull whiles Christs true religion flourisheth which is proued inuincibly out of the very Etymologie of the name Catholike and that according to M. Abbots owne interpretation in the same place who doth expound it to signifie that Church which is through the whole world and shall be to the worlds end If the name Catholike shall continue to the worlds end the true title of the Church who then but miscreants and Heretikes can take it for a name of curse reproch and shame Is it not vntill this day set downe in the Apostles Creede as the honourable title and epithite of the true Church I beleeue the holy Catholike Church Must he then not be rather an Apostata then a Scholler of the Apostles that blusheth not to anouch the very name Catholike to be the proper badge of Apostataes and Heretikes which the Apostles ascribe and appropriate vnto true Christianity If any proude and false fellowes doe vsurpe that name and challenge it to themselues wrongfully as many did euen in S. Augustines time when M. Abbot confesseth it to haue beene in greatest estimation let such vsurping companions be rebuked sharply and conuicted of their insolent and audatious folly but the name Catholike which the Apostles thought worthy and fit to be placed in the articles of our Creede and principles of our religion must alwaies remaine and be among true Christians a name very glorious and desireable We therefore say with S. Augustine We receiue Tract 32. â—â— Iohannem Lib. 1. coâ—t Gaudent c. 33. the holy Ghost if we loue the Church if we be ioyned togither by charity if we reioyce in the Catholike name and faith And they that doe not ioy in that name but mocke at it doc blaspheme as the same most holy Authour intimateth The name Iew being taken in the Apostles sense for one of what nation soeuer that fulfilleth the iustice of the law neuer was nor neuer shall be a name of reproch so that M. Abbot is driuen to hop from one sense of that name to another to make it applyable to his purpose R. ABBOT SVch examples saith he proue nothing but serue only for explication And what of that As though it were vnlawfull for me to vse explication and I were bound to proofe only His first exception then is wholly idle and of no effect
appertayneth be not according to the letter and in common speech called by that name Let him then vnderstand proportionably that the truth of the name of Catholikes belongeth not to the Romish faction who challenge to themselues as the Iewes did to haue gotten by succession the possession of the name and will be commonly so called but it belongeth to vs who though we vse not the word being growen to ill meaning by their abuse yet do maintayne one and the same truth with them who first were called by that name In a word as there is a double sense in the one so is there also in the other and I doe not so hoppe from one sense to another in the one but that I shew a iust â—orrespondence betwixt them both W. BISHOP §. 3. BVt and it please you the Protestants haue the kernell of the name Catholike and we but the shell Why doe they then so bitterly inueigh against it why are they not more willing to extoll and magnifie that renowmed title being of such ancient Nobility Twenty pound to a peny that what face soeuer he set on it yet in his heart he meruailously feareth the contrary himselfe If that faith and religion only be Catholike and Vniuersall as he acknowledgeth that hath euer beene and is also spread ouer all the world and shall continue to the worlds end then surely their religion cannot be Catholike euen by the vniforme confession of themselues who generally acknowledge that for nine hundred yeares togither the Papacy did so domineer all the world ouer that not a man of their religion was to be found in any corner of the world that durst peepe out his head to contradict it Could there be any Church of theirs then when there was not one Pastor and flocke of their religion though neuer so small in any one Countrey And euen now when their Gospell is at the hottest hath it spread it selfe all the world ouer is it receiued in Italie Spaine Greece Afrike or Asia or carried into the Indians nothing lesse They cannot then call themselues Catholikes after the sincere and ancient acceptation of that name which is as himselfe hath often repeated out of S. Augustine Quia communicant Ecclesiae to to or be diffusae Because they communicate in fellowship of faith with the Church spread ouer all the world They must therefore notwithstanding M. Abbots vaine bragges be content with the shell and leaue the kernell to vs who doe embrace the same faith that is dilated all Countries ouer yea they must be contented to walke in the foote-steps of their fore-fathers the Donatists euen according to M. Abbots explication and flie from the vniuersality of faith and communion of the Church spread all the world ouer vnto the perfection of their doctrine which is neuerthelesse more absurd and further from the true signification of the word Catholike then the Donatists shift was of fulnesse of Sacraments and obseruation of all Gods Commandements as hath beene already declared But let vs heare how clearely and substantially he will at length proue their Church to be Catholike R. ABBOT IT pleaseth vs very well M. Bishop that we haue the kernell of the name of Catholikes and in the meane time because your importunity so requireth we are content to leaue the shell to you The kernell serueth vs to feede vpon and it is very tastfull to vs but you haue berayed the shell and therefore we haue no care to meddle with it Our inueighing against it is no otherwise but in respect of your abuse let it be restored to his true vse and we shall be ready to extoll it and where it is so we doe so As for your wager M. Bishop of twenty pound to a peny you haue lost it and you know that you haue lost it because you see that I haue set no other face vpon the matter then by sufficient proofs I haue made good But here he taketh in hand to bereaue vs of the kernell because our faith and religion was neuer Catholike that is was neuer spred ouer the whole world Whereas I on the other side doe tell him that it is only our religion which appeareth to haue beene absolutely spred ouer all the word and none but ours For our religion is no more nor other then is contained in the Gospels and Epistles of the Apostles and because we know that the religion there set downe was spred ouer all the world therefore we cannot doubt but that our religion is that that was spred ouer all the world and though Apostasie hath ouershadowed it yet hath euer since continued in the world As for that which he alleageth to the contrary it is no vniforme confession of ours but a deformed lye of his owne We doe not acknowledge that for nine hundred yeares togither there was not a man of our religion to be found in the world The Papacy indeede did mightily domineer accordingly as it was foretold but yet it could neuer so preuaile to the extirpation of our religion but that euen in the middest of the Papacy it hath continued still yea thousands and hundred thousands as by their owne stories appeareth haue beene murthered and slaine for the profession thereof Yea in the very religion of Popery our religion hath continued for what is Popery but a doctrine compounded of our religion and their owne deuice Our religion hath serued them for a foundation whereupon to build not only their wood and hay and stubble but also the wild-fire and poison of their idolatries and damnable heresies which without the pretence and colour of our religion Christian eares would haue detested and abhorred but therefore dreaded them not because they saw them cloaked with shew of still retaining that which we professe They durst not deny those Canonicall bookes of the old and new Testament which our religion receiueth but to serue their turne they added other bookes not inspired of God to be notwithstanding of like authority with those They acknowledged the Lords praier the articles of the Creede the ten Commandements which we receiue as principles of our religion but they frustrated them by a superstitious custome brought in of reciting them like a charme in an vnknowen tongue They haue neuer denyed the two Sacraments which we teach which were fast rooted in Christian profession but they haue added to them other fiue and made them vp seuen They vsed no other substantiall forme of Baptisme then we doe only they prophaned it with sundry polluted and corrupt ceremonies of humane deuice In their Masse and Sacrament of the Altar the ground of all is that that we doe according to the institution of Christ and example of the primitiue Church They bring bread and wine to the Lords table they sanctifie or consecrate the same with the words of Christ when and where they list they administer the same to the people and all this they take vpon them to doe in remembrance of the Passion Death and
Resurrection of our Lord Iesus This is our religion and herein their example iustifieth vs but their doctrines of transubstantiation and reall presence and concomitancy and sacrifice propitiatory for quicke and dead with the rest of that kinde are additions of theirs whereof the institution of Christ which togither with vs they recite maketh no shew at all If they should haue disclaimed redemption and remission of sinnes by the bloud-shed and death of Christ Christian people would haue defied them therefore they left the name thereof in the Church which is our religion but they defeated the power of it by briâ—ging in a thousand other deuices wherby men should redeeme themselues and purchase the remission of their owne sinnes It is our religion to acknowledge Christ to be the Mediator betwixt God and Man and this they would neuer disauow but to Christ they haue ioyned the Saints also to be our Mediators It is our religion to teach that God is to be worshipped and all spirituall deuotion is to be done vnto him and this they cannot deny but they haue added hereto the worshipping of Saints and Saints Images and thereby haue defiled the worship of the immortall God They deny not grace which our religion teacheth but they put to it the power of nature and free will They dare not but confesse Christ to be the head of the Church which our religion teacheth but they haue added the Pope to be another head and so haue made the Church a Monster with two heads Thus in euery point of doctrine take away those patcheries and additions of theirs which are things not taught vs by the word of God and euen in their religion that which remaineth is our religion the very truth of the Gospell of Iesus Christ For these and such other propositions of true faith the Diuell could neuer abolish out of the Church only by Antichrist he suppressed the knowledge and vse of them and to this wholsome wine put such abundance of his corrupt and poisoned waters as might frustrate the power and effect thereof Wherein notwithstanding he could not so farre preuaile but that the light here and there brake forth by such chinks and lattises as were remaining which many of our forefathers in the time of that Aegyptian darkenesse did discerne and see to their euerlasting comfort and soules health Yea M. Bishop knoweth well that there were in those times both Pastors and Flocks not in one only Countrey but in many who detested those blendings and mixtures of theirs and kept themselues either wholly or for the most part to the entire truth of our religion the light whereof euen then shined vnto them out of the very darkenesse of the Church Which notwithstanding we wonder not that he pretendeth not to know who will seeme not to know that our religion hath spred it selfe into Italie and Spaine when as all the world knoweth that the Inquisition hath shed the bloud of many thousands there only for the profession of our religion Yea the principles of our religion are so residing will they nill they in the very bowels of Popery as that they are forced to vse many sinister courses to drowne and stifle them and to keepe the people from taking knowledge thereof because they see that if there be but winde to blow away the ashes our fire will straightwaies burne amongst them and the flame presently ascend to the consuming of their roofe they see that if men be but stirred a 〈…〉 awaked out of their sleepe they will be forthwith ready out of the very common instinct of Christianity to beeleeue as we doe In Greece in Africa in Asia wheresoeuer the Gospell is there is no other but our Gospell because there is no Gospell but that which the Euangelists and Apostles haue recorded in the writings of the Gospell neither is Christ any where knowen but where he is knowen by that Gospell Therein hath our Gospell beene spred ouer the whole world therein we communicate with the Church of the whole world wheresoeuer this Gospell is free there our religion is not bound but thereby euen amidst errour and apostasie b wisedome is iustified of her children and God Mat. 11. 19. according to the purpose of his grace giueth light vnto euerlasting life As for the Indians lamentable experience haue they had of the Popish Gospell Neuer any Apostle or Euangelist carryed their religion abroade as the Papists haue done thither and they haue cause to wish that the Roman Church had neuer beene so Catholike as to extend to them Vpon some few of the remainder of them they haue forced baptisme some of their ceremonies but they haue taught them nothing of religion nothing of the Gospell of Iesus Christ How otherwise their religion hath beene spred ouer the whole world enough hath beene said already in briefe I say here that they can alleage no age nor time wherein they can make good that it hath so beene We know they can talke at will but farre are they from proofe that their doctrines of the Popes Supremacy his Pardons and Iubilees of Purgatory of Transubstantiation of their priuate Masse and halfe Communion with a number of such other were euer or at any time receiued throughout the whole world CHAP. IIII. That the Church before Christ euen from the beginning was a part of the Catholike Church and that the faith and religion of the new Testament differeth not in substance from the old A BRIEFE DEFENCE OF THE KINGS SVPREMACY ECCLESIASTICALL ANSWERE TO THE EPISTLE NOw as of this Catholike Church from the beginning to the end there is c. to Now whereas he alleageth c. W. BISHOP §. 1. WE agree in this that there is but one faith one baptisme one spirituall foode and one religion in the Catholike Church but M. Abbot is fouly ouer-seen about the time when the true Church beganne first to be called Catholike which was not before Christs time but afterwards according to that alleaged out of Pacianus an ancient Author who writeth of the name Catholike saying Pacian Epist ad Simphor de nomine Catholico Christian is my name Catholike is my surname For when among Christians some beganne to teach false doctrine and to draw others after them into sects they that remained sound and did cleaue fast vnto the whole body of the Church were intituled Catholikes to distinguish them from Heretikes that did not ioyne with the vniuersall corps of Christians in faith and religion which M. Abbot before did in plaine words confesse see his text afore where he beginneth to argue of the word Catholike And the reason is most perspicuous why the Iewes and their religion could not be called Catholike though it were right and according to the will of God for that time because Catholike signifieth that which is spred all the world ouer and receiued of all nations so was not the law of Moyses and the manner of seruing God therein prescribed but was peculiar
followeth that seeing we retaine the same saith and religion whereby the Patriarks and Prophets and other Fathers from the beginning serued God which the Papists doe not as by instance and comparison I then declared and remaineth now to be made good therefore not the Popish faith but our faith must needes be holden to be the Catholike faith This processe is cleare the Reader seeth in it neither winding nor turning and therefore it was but a simple shift of so learned a Doctor against a simple Minister to mocke his Reader with a tale of flying the point in Question where it hath so direct and expresse conclusion He saith that they willingly admit of St. Austins doctrine that that religion and faith is Catholike which is spred ouer all the world c. but I brought nothing out of Austin concerninâ— Catholike faith and religion I only noted out of him why the Church is called the Catholike Church And therefore preposterously and idlâ—ly doth he here vrge me in that sort Proue good Sir that his Maiesty imbraceth and maintaineth that religion which is spred ouer all the world c. and then you may iustly say that he vpholdeth the Catholike religion For of the Catholike faith and religion the conclusion followeth after in due place why then doth he thus preuent the time and like Dauus disorder ali but that he loueth to fish in troubled waters where his deceiptfull baites may be the lesse seene But if we must needes speake here of Catholike faith I will returne to him his owne question Proue good Sir that the Pope imbraceth and maintaineth that religion that is spred ouer all the world that Christians throughout the world are perswaded of that which you call the Catholike faith Bellarmine hath said it and Bellarmines ghost maintaineth it that the supremacy of the Pope for the deposing of Kings and Princes is a Bellar. epist ad Archipreâ—b apud Mat. Tort. Vnum ex praecipuis fidei nostrae capitibus ac religionis Catholicae fundamentis one of the chiefe points of your faith and of the very foundations of Catholike religion Proue now I pray you and bring vs hands and seales for it that we may beleeue you that the Christian Churches throughout Grecia Armenia Aethiopia Russia Palestina and such like are all become drunke and haue entertained this for a point of Catholike faith You will falle M. Bishop in this proofe and therefore why would you so much preiâ—â—iâ—ate your selfe to require the same of vs But Bellarmine himselfe shall free vs from any neede to trauell for this proofe who saith that b Bellar. de notis Eccles cap. 7. Si sola vna Prouincia retineret veram fidem adhuc vere proprie diceretur Ecclesia Catholica dummodo clare ostéderetur â—am esse vnam eandem cum illa quae fuit aliquo tempere vel diuersis in toto mundo Though one only Prouince or Country did retaine the true faith yet the same should truly and properly be called the Catholike Church and therefore their faith the Catholike fa 〈…〉 so long as it could be cleerly shewed that the same is one and the same with that which at any time or times was ouer the whole world To proue then that our faith is the Catholike faith it shall be sufficient to proue that it is that which once was spred ouer the whole world Now with the proofe thereof M. Bishop is choked already and all that we see from him now is but a vaine and bootlesse strugling to recouer his breath againe But yet he saith M. Abbot gaue this the slippe and turneth himselfe to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike And was not that M. Bishop a shreud turne for you to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike and was it not very pertinent for me so to doe when you exhorted the Kings Maiesty to the Roman religion vnder pretence of that name Yea but he shuffles from the religion and faith of which the question was vnto the Roman Church But what will he haue vs thinke that there is a Roman Church without faith or religion that a man must shuffle from religion and faith to goe to the Roman Church forsooth he shuffles from the faith professed at Rome to the persons inhabiting the City of Rome to proue that they are no Catholikes and that the Roman Church is not the Catholike Church And doth not he shuffle amisse for you M. Bishop that can shuffle you from being Catholikes and the Roman Church from being the Catholike Church And he that shuffleth you from being Catholikes doth he not also shuffle the saith professed at Rome from being the Catholike faith Are these things so diuided each from other as that they cannot in their order be incident to the same discourse Surely M. Bishop my shuffling will yeeld but a bad game to you vnlesse you can cut more wisely for your selfe theâ— hitherto you haue done If you haue no better cardes then yet we see you will certainly loose all W. BISHOP §. 2. BVt let vs giue him leaue to wander whither his fancy leadeth him that we may at length heare what he would say It is forsooth That the Church of Rome doth absurdly call her selfe the Catholike Church and that Papists doe absurdly take to themselues the name of Catholikes because the Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church but the Church of Rome is a particular Church therefore to say the Roman Catholike Church is all one as to say the vniuersall particular Church Here is a well shapen argument and worthy the maker it consists of all particular propositions which euery smatterer in Logicke knowes to be most vitious besides not one of them is good but all are sophisticall and full of deceit First concerning the forme if it were currant one might prouely it that no one Church in the world were Catholike take for example the English congregation which they hold to be most Catholike and apply Mr. Abbots argument to it thus The Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church but the Church of England is a particular Church wherefore to say the English Church is Catholike is to say a particular Church is an vniuersall His first fault then is in the very forme of reasoning which alone is sufficient to argue him to be a Sophister and one that meaneth to beguile them that will trust him now to the particulars His first proposition the Catholike Church is the vniuersall Church is both absurd because the same thing is affirmed of himselfe for vniuersall is no distinct thing but the very interpretation of the word Catholike and also captious as hauing a double signification For the Catholike Church doth signifie both the whole body of the Church compacted of all the particular members vnited and ioyned together in one in which sense no one particular Church can be called the Catholike Church because it is not the whole body spred ouer all
vaine collections meere mockeries of simple and credulous persons very vnfit to stablish and resolue the conscience of any sober or aduised man CHAP. III. That the name of Catholikes is abused by the Papists and is in their abuse a Donatisticall and hatefull name of faction and schisme ANSWERE TO THE EPISTLE THere was reason why Austin should be moued with the name of Catholike c. to Now as of this Catholike Church c. W. BISHOP §. 1. SAint Augustine indeede was so much moued with the name of Catholike that he alleageth Cont. Epist Fund c. 4. De vera Relig. c. 7. it to haue beene one principall cause which kept him in the lappe of the Church And elsewhere very often exhorteth all Christians To hold the communion of that Church which both is Catholike and knowne also by that very name not only to her owne followers but also to others And the selfe same reason alleaged by M. Abbot himselfe which caused that most holy wise and learned Father to esteeme so highly of that title Catholike is now of great force to perswade all reasonable men to make themselues members of the Roman Church for by ioyning in society of faith with the Church of Rome they shall communicate with the Church spred ouer the whole world because the faith and religion of the Church of Rome hath beene generally receiued all the world ouer as our aduersaries themselues doe confesse The name Catholike is by the Protestants Donatistically applied to their schismaticall congregation that neither are nor euer were scattered all the world ouer but be inclosed and confined within certaine Countries of Europe is the Donatists were within the bounds of Afrike Most sottishly then to vse his owne wordes doth M. Abbot affirme the name Catholike to be applyed by vs of the Roman religion vnto the particular Church of Rome when as we call all other Churches of what Countrey soeuer that with the Church of Rome keepe intirely the same faith Catholike And men of all other nations doe we call Catholikes as well as those who are Romans borne because they all beleeue and confesse the same one Catholike faith that is extended ouer all the world R. ABBOT THe name of the Catholike Church might iustly moue St. Austin to continue in the society thereof when vnder that name a August coÌ„t Epist Fundam cap. 4. Tenet ipsum Catholica nomen quod non sine causa inter tam multas hâ—rescs ista Ecclesia sola obtinuâ—t Catholike he saw the communion of a Church successiuely continued from the time of the Apostles throughout the world and that only communion euery where termed by that name There was reason for him to exhort men b Idem de vera relig cap. 7. Tenenda est eius Ecclesiae communicatio quae Catholica est Catholica nominatur non solum à suis verumetiam ab omnibus inimicis to hold communion with that Church which was thus Catholike or Vniuersall and so called both of the friends and of all the enimies thereof and thereby to be fortified against all hereticall distractions and separations as knowing that to draw them away from this communion should bee to draw them away from the Church of Christ The appellation of Catholikes according to the originall of it as I haue c Chap. 2. § 4. before noted importeth an interest holden by them that are so called in this vniuersall communion without renting themselues by heresie or schisme from the common society and fellowship of the Church In this only meaning is it rightly vsed and they are meere vsurpers of it who take it to themselues without this or in any other sense Now whereas M. Bishop according to that sense as he pretendeth telleth vs that that name is of great force to perswade all reasonable men to make themselues members of the Roman Church he is greatly deceiued himselfe and doth but seeke to deceiue others therein because they wholly faile in the ground of it the Church of Rome being neither Catholike indeede as St. Austin requireth nor so called by any other but only by it selfe Who is there in the world so madde as to call the Roman Church the Catholike Church but only they that are drunke by drinking of the same cup He saith that we confesse that the faith and religion of the Church of Rome hath beene receiued all the world ouer but that is both waies a lye because neither doe we confesse so much neither was it euer so And therefore whereas he saith that by ioyning in society of faith with the Church of Rome we shall communicate with the Church spred ouer the whole world hee againe abuseth his Reader there being at this day no Church in Asia or Africa that holdeth communion with the Church of Rome to say nothing of the Greeke Church and sundry other in Europe that doe detest the fellowship thereof I am not ignorant how they seeke to gull the world in this behalfe and what goodgeons they giue men by telling and writing tales from Rome of d Gentillâ—t in Exam. Concil Trident. Patriarches and Metropolitans of the Aegyptians the Assyrians the Armenians the Aethiopians and such other like comming to Rome to submit themselues and to be reconciled to the Pope these iests are now growen stale these suborned and counterfait Patriarkes haue beene discryed and were they not men absurdly impudent they would neuer practise the like cosenage againe And yet my friend e And. Eudoem adu R. Abbat Respon lib. 3. sect 6. Aegyptius Câ—phtorum Patriarcha à quâ— Aethiopia petit pracepta fidei ad communionem Catholicam nuper Clemente octauâ— Pontifice redijt Cacâ—daemon telleth vs in sadnesse of the Aegyptian Patriarch vpon whom all the Churches of Aethiopia depend his name is neither knowen to him nor me that now very lately in the time of Clement the eight he returned to the communion of their Catholike Church the wise man not considering that thereby he doth intimate vnto vs contrary to other fables and tales which they haue giuen out before that therefore before that time he was a stranger to them Thus by reason that these submissions and reconciliations are still to seeke and the world seeth no appearance nor effect of them they are euery while put to their shifts to deuise new rumours hereof and to stuffe the old coate of some Gibeonite with straw setting him vp vpon a poles end vnder the name of the Patriarch of some farre Countrey so to feede the humours and fancies of them that doe yeeld themselues content to be gulled and deluded by them But against this foolery the Catholike Bishops truly noted against the Donatists that f Collat. Carthag 1. cap. 55. Non in vnum aliquem terra locum ex alijs locis ad Deum gentes venturas esse praedictum est sed in ocis suis â—um adoraturas it was not foretold by the Prophets that the nations should
Christ her Lord and head and most entire in the faith and doctrine which shee had receiued from him Of this flourishing and best estate we must consider in the next Chapter and therefore I cease here to speake any further thereof CHAP. VII Of the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome and of the testimony of Theodoret concerning the fulnesse of doctrine contained in the Epistle to the Romans and that the Apostle there condemneth Popery of Idolatry in worshipping of Saints and Images ANSWERE TO THE EPISTLE VVE hope you vvill not deny but the Apostle S. Paul vvas one principall pillar c. to Chap. 8. Paul saith and vve say the same that c. W. BISHOP §. 1. WHat a worthy graue Preface he vseth to assure men that we will not deny S. Paul nor his Epistle to the Romans which neuer were called in doubt by any man But good Sir whiles you muse and busie your head so much vpon bables you forget or wilfully mistake the very point of the question Was the Church of Rome at her most flourishing estate when S. Paul wrote that Epistle to the Romans was her faith then most renovvmed ouer all the vvorld as you write nothing lesse for not the ten thousand part of that most populous Citty was then conuerted to the faith and they that had receiued the Christian faith were very nouices in it and stoode in great neede of the Apostles diuine instructions Any reasonable man would rather iudge that the Church of Rome then came first to her most flourishing estate when Idolatry and all kinde of superstition was put to silence and banished out of her when the Christian religion was publikely preached and conntenanced by the Emperours authority which was not before the reigne of Constantine the Great our most glorious countrey-man wherefore M. Abbots first fault is that he shooteth farre wide from the marke which he should haue aimed at principally The second is more nice yet in one that would seeme so acute not to be excused It is that he taketh an Epistle written to the Romans for their instruction and correction as if it were a declaration and profession of their faith when as all men know such a letter might containe many things which they had not heard off before Further yet that you may see how nothing can passe his fingers without some legerdemaine marke how he englisheth Theodorets wordes Dogmatum pertractationem The handling of opinions is by him translated all points of doctrine whereas it rather signifieth some then all opinions or lessons But I will let these ouer-sights passe as flea-bitings and follow him whither he pleaseth to wander that euery man may see when he is permitted to say what he liketh best that in truth he can alleage out of S. Paul nothing of moment against the Catholike faith R. ABBOT WEe see here what great cause there was that his Maiesty should adde the wordes now spoken off And from Christ her Lord and head because it might be doubted what construction they or any other might make of the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome I say that St. Paul wrote his Epistle to that Church when the faith thereof was most renowmed through the world This M. Bishop denieth and will not haue that to be taken for the flourishing and best estate of the Roman Church And why First not the ten thousand part of that most populous Citty was then conuerted to the faith and secondly they who had then receiued the Christian faith were very nouices in it and stoode in great neede of the Apostles diuine instructions So then he will haue vs to vnderstand that then was the flourishing and best estate of the Church of Rome when there were in it the greatest number of Christians and they were so perfect in the faith as that they needed not the Apostles diuine instructions But when was that Not before the reigne of Constantine the Great saith he Well and was it then Nay he saith not so and we may well thinke that he knoweth not well when or what to say Certaine it is that Paganisme abounded in Rome after the time of Constantine who indeede for his time by lawes restrained the publike exercise thereof but yet a Relat. Symmach apud Ambros lib. 5. Epist 30 Diui ConstaÌ„tij factum diu non sletit that act of his saith Symmachus did not long stand good the people returning to their old superstitions and sacrifices vntill that by Theodosius and Gratian the Emperours of Rome they were repressed againe Which lawes of theirs Symmachus the Lieutenant of the city moued the next Emperour Valentinian in his owne name and in the name of the City and Senate of Rome to haue againe repealed who b Symmach vt supra Senatus me querelaruÌ„ suarum iussit esse I egatum c. Vt Praefectus vâ—ster gesta publica prosequor vt Legatus ciuium mandata commendo though he pretended a farre greater number of Senatours to ioyne with him then did as Ambrose sheweth yet cannot be doubted to haue had a great number also partakers with him beside the common multitude of the City whose affection how it stood we may gather by that that Hierome saith not much distant from that time that c Hieron in Esai lib. 16. c. 57. â—psaque Roma orbiâ— Domina in singulis insulis domibusque Tutela simulachrum cereis venerans ac lucernis quam ad tuitionem aedium isto appellant nomine Rome in euery house did with tapers and candles worship the image of Tutela whom they so called for the tuition and defence of their houses though elsewhere he testifie that d IdeÌ„ ad Marcel vt commigret Bethlehem Est ibi sancta Ecclesia c. gentilitate calcata in sublime se quotidiè erigens vocabulum Christianum Paganisme was decaying and the name of Christians arising and growing higher and higher from day to day But if it were yet growing then it was not at full growth and therefore when will M. Bishop say was the most flourishing and best time of the Church there Againe we desire to know of him when the time was that the Church of Rome stoode in no neede of the Apostles diuine instructions May we thinke M. Bishop that euer there was any such time Surely we know now what the cause is why the Apostles diuine instructions are so little set by at Rome They serued the Romans forsooth at first when they were but nouices in the faith but now they are growen ripe and haue no neede to be taught by him May we not thinke him a wise man that thus telleth vs that the Romans then stoode in neede of the Apostles diuine instructions as if there were any time since that they had not the like neede But I would aske him how it appeareth to him that the Romans were then but nouices in the faith The reason which his wordes imply is because
of the blisse of the life to come CHAP. XIIII That the Epistles of St. Paul are loosely and impertinently alleaged by the Papists for proofe of their Popery as namely for Iustification before God by workes for Free-will against certainty of saluation and particular Faith for the Merit of single life for Monkish vowes for Purgatory and prâ—yer for the Dead for Images and inuocation of Saints for the Masse and Reall presence for the Authority of thâ— Church of Rome for Pardons for Traditions for the perpetuall visibility of the Church for Satisfactions and workes of supererogation for seuen Sacraments c. THE TRVE ANCIENT ROMANE CATHOLICKE CHAP. I. That the Church of Rome doth vainely and absurdly challenge to it selfe the name of the Catholicke Church Answere to Doct. BISHOPS Epistle Sect. 3. HEre M. Bishop propoundeth briefely to his Maiestie the summe of his Petition c. to It is therefore a meere Vsurpation c. Doct. BISHOPS REPROOFE Pag. 89. §. 1. MAster Abbot is now at length come from his extrauagant rouing narrations vnto some kind of argumentation Here he will giue a proofe of his valour here we shall soone trie whether he come so wel furnished into the field that he neede not to doubt of the victory as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he 〈…〉 ed of himselfe on whether his speciall skill and force die not rather lie in râ—â—ling at vs and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reader then in any sound kinde of re 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of St. Aug 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the â—ord Catholike we â—â—llingly â—â—mit off to wit That religion is Catholike that faith is Catholike which is spread ouer all the world and hath beene alwaies imbraced and practised euen from the Apostles time to our daies and such is the religion which I would haue perswaded his Maiesty to receiue into his Princely protection To this what saith M. Abbot marry that his Maiesty hath already receiued it How doth he proue that not by any one plaine and round argument directly to the purpose but from the Catholike religion falleth to the Catholike Church and so spendeth the time in most friuolous arguing against the Roman Church of which I made no mention at all Doth he not deserue a Lawrell garland for the worshipfull ranging of his battell and is he not like to fight it out valiantly that thus in the beginning flyeth from the point of the Question Proue good Sir that his Maiesty imbraceth and maintaineth that religion which is spread ouer all the world and that hath continued euer since the Apostles time and then you may iustly say that he vpholdeth the Catholike religion according to your owne explication out of the ancient Fathers But because Mr. Abbot saw this to be impossible he gaue it the sâ—ippe and turneth himselfe to proue the Roman religion not to be the Catholike and perceiuing that also as hard to performe as the other he shuffles from the religion and faith of which the Question was vnto the Roman Church that is from the faith professed at Rome to the persons inhabiting the City of Rome whom he will proue not to be Catholikes and the Roman Church not to be the Catholike Church Doe you marke what winding and turning and what doubling this simple Minister is driuen vnto ere he can come to make any shew of a silly argument R. ABBOT I Doe not maruell that my narrations seeme to M. Bishop to be extrauagant and rouing who hauing set vp his owne marke thinketh all to be extrauagant and rouing that flyeth not by his aime Albeit he is beholding to me for those extrauagant and rouing narrations because they haue ministred him matter towards the making vp of a prety handsome booke which must haue beene much shorter if he had beene tyed to the substantiall points of his owne defence As for the victory that I ominated to my selfe thanks be to God I haue obtained it being become Master of the field and M. Bishop enforced to leaue the maine battell contented now only out of a corner to thrust an ambush that he may make some shew that he is not quite spent I triumph ouer him in his owne conscience being priuy to himselfe what desperate shifts he hath beene faine to vse to how cruell a racke he hath beene forced to put himselfe to make men beleeue that he hath strength enough left to saue himselfe It is but risus Sardonius whereby he iesteth at the simple Minister driuen to winding and turning and doubling it is indeede for his behoofe to haue it taken so but the Ministers proceeding is direct and orderly familiar and sensible to euery mans vnderstanding inferring by due course the very point that doth require proofe The Minister is not so simple but that he can easily discerue the pittifull case of a Popish Masse-monger who being troubled with a vertigo or some other distemperature of the braine thinketh all to be winding and turning about him when there is no turning at all but in his owne head The issue betwixt him and me was Whether his Maiesty doe 〈◊〉 and maintâ—ine the only true Catholike and Apostolike faith To proue that he doth so it was necessary first to explicate what is meant by the Catholike and Apostolike faith Of the Catholike Church it is that the faith is called The Catholike faith For there hath beene one and the same faith from the beginning as shall afterwards appeare but it could not be called the Catholike faith till the Church became the Catholike Church If of the Catholike Church the faith be called the Catholike faith then to shew what is meant by the Catholike faith I was first to shew what is meant by the Catholike Church This I did and 〈◊〉 occasion thereof taxed as due order required the 〈…〉 of the Pope and his complices in vsurping to themselues the name of the Catholike Church and thence terming themselues Catholikes that hauing destroyed their ridiculous and foolish claime there might be thereof no let to the collection whereat I aimed that the Catholike faith is the faith of the Catholike Church that the Catholike Church though becomming Catholike by being spred ouer the whole world yet containeth as a part thereof euen * Aug. de Catechiz rudib c. 19. Velut totus homâ— dum nascitur etiamsi manum in nascendo praemittat tameÌ„ vniuerso corpori sub capite coniuncta atque compacta est quem admodum etiam nonnulli in ipsis Patriarchis in buius ipsius rei signum manu praemissa nati sunt c. as an arme or hand come out of the wombe before the rest of the body the whole Church of God from the beginning of the world that of this whole body of the Church from the beginning to the end there is in substance but one faith and religion towards God that therefore what was the faith of the Patriarks and Fathers from the beginning the sâ—me and no other is now the Catholike faith whence it
authorised to all other Churches I am not so copious as to afford to euery leasing of M. Abbot a new phrase wherefore the Reader I hope will beare with my rudâ—nesse if I call sometimes a lye by the name of a lye It is an vntrue tale that the Donatists ordayned Bishops from Cartenna for they could not abide that place but esteemed it to be Schismaticall as you haue heard before He doth misreport S. Augustine who saith Quò ex Africa ordinare paucis Lib. 2. cont Câ—â—scon c. 37. vestris soletis Episcopum You Donatists are wont to order and send a Bishop thither to your few companions out of Africa not from Cartenna in Mauritania Neither doth the Catholike Church appoint that euery Bishop should goe to Rome to take holy Orders and from thence to be sent to other Catholike Countries but in euery other region where be three Catholike Bishops they may be lawfully consecrated albeit for vnities sake and to prâ—serue due order they bee confirmed by the Bishop of Rome the supreme head vnder Christ of the Catholike Church R. ABBOT PVt Africa here in steede of Cartenna and M. Bishop hath no shift to auoid this point of resemblance betwixt the Romanists and Donatists The Donatists designed the fundamentall place of the Catholike Church in Africa as the Papists doe at Rome The Donatists laboured the extent of their communion into all other Countries as also the Papists doe a Optat. lib. 2. Sed habere vos in vrbe Roma partem aliquam dicitis In the Citty of Rome it selfe as Optatus witnesseth the Donatists bragged that they had a part that ioyned with them They had there a Bishop of their owne to assemble and gouerne that part of theirs insomuch that Optatus in the same place reckoneth sixe Bishops of that faction Victor Bonifacius Encolpius Macrobius Lucianus Claudianus who had there succeeded one another Of the manner of the appointing of these Bishops St. Austin saith in the place by me cited to M. Bishop b Aug. cont Crescon lib. 2. cap. 37. Romanorum Ecclesia quò ex Africa paucis vestris ordinare soletis Episcopum To Rome for those few followers that you haue there you are wont to order and direct a Bishop out of Africa Out of Africa saith M. Bishop not out of Cartenna in Mauritania True it is if Africa be in speciall vnderstood but I not waighing the matter so strictly vnderstood Africa more largely as the third part of the world and in that signification Mauritania and therefore Cartenna in Mauritania is a part of Africa Well let Cartenna be put out and take Africa as indeed it was meant for c Theo lâ—ret haeret fabul l. 4. de Donatist Regio quae olim Lybia nunc autem Africa appellatur that Countrey which of old was called Lybia and in which meaning St. Austin noteth that Mauritania Caesariensis where Cartenna was d Aug. Epist 48. Mauritania Caesariensis quaÌ„do nec Africam se vult dici c. refused to be called by the name of Africa from this Africa the Donatists ordered and established Bishops ouer that part which they had at Rome and so said I from Rome by the Papists order must Bishops now be authorised to all other Churches Now M. Bishop seeing that Africa being thus put in steede of Cartenna the resemblance would somwhat touch their Church of Rome bringeth a very poore and silly shift for the auerting of it The Catholike Church saith he he meaneth the Roman Church doth not appoint that euery Bishop should goe to Rome to take holy Orders and from thence to be sent to other Catholike Countries No more say I did the Catholike Church of the Donatists binde men to come into Africa to be ordered Bishops there but it was enough if by Bishops of their communion he were ordered otherwhere For whether it were by sending some to order Bishops where none were or by sending Bishops already ordered it may either way stand which St. Austin noteth as a matter of their conceipt that e August de vnit Eccles c. 13. Ostendant esse praedictum solam Africam remansuram quocunque Episcopi ex Africa â—â—tierer tur out of Africa Bishops should be sent into all places And thus the same St. Austin although in the place alleaged he mention no more but the ordering of a Bishop to be sent to Rome out of Africa yet in another place declareth it to haue beene indifferent with them either f August ad Quodvult hâ—rel 69. In vrbe Roma Montâ—nses vocantur qu bus 〈◊〉 ex Africa solâ—nt Episcoâ—um mittere aut â—inc illuc Afri Epicopi corum pergere si fortè ibi cum ordinare placuisset to send a Bishop to Rome out of Africa or that the African Bishops should goe to Rome if they thought good to order a Bishop there namely because there were no other Bishops there of their communion by whom otherwise he might be ordered Whereas therefore M. Bishop saith that Bishops may lawfully be consecrated in any region where be three Catholike Bishops he saith no more for their Popish Bishops then the Donatists acknowledged of theirs and therefore in this point of the resemblance there is no difference at all betwixt the Donatists and the Papists Albeit by reason of that which M. Bishop confesseth that all Bishops must be confumed by the Bishop of Rome it may bee truly said that Bishops are made at Rome only because they are not taken to be fully and absolutely Bishops till they be confirmed there Which confirmation is not for vnity and order as M. Bishop pretendeth but for extortion and couetousnesse the Pope being wont to make infinite aduantage and profit to himselfe thereby neither is it giuen by the supreme head vnder Christ as he stileth the Pope but by a Nimrod and proud vsurper ouer the Church of Christ W. BISHOP §. 4. THe fourth point of the comparison is most absurd for the Donatists were so farre from thinking them Catholikes that kept communion with the Church of Cartenna that they detested and abhorred their company as Schismatikes Neither doe we call any men Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Rome if it be taken for that particular Church which is contayned within the walles of Rome but because that communicating with that Church in faith and religion they doe communicate with all other of the same faith which are spred all the world ouer R. ABBOT I Said the Donatists I should haue said the Rogatists who were but one part of the Donatisls as I haue before obserued the Rogatists I say would be taken to be Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Cartenna and euen so will the Papists be accounted Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Rome For the Rogatists expounding the word Catholike of integrity and perfection of faith as before we haue seene and affirming a Aug. Epist 48. Persuadere
conaris solos remansisse Rogatistas qui Catholici rectè appellandi sant c. Et vos esse solos in quibus fidem inuâ—niat filius hominis cum venerat themselues only to be Catholikes and that with them only Christ at his comming should finde faith left it as consequent that none could bee called Catholikes but by communicating and ioyning with them Now they did but apply to their Schisme at Cartenna those thinges which the Donatists in common held concerning their Church in Africa who said of themselues that b Collat. Carthag 3. cap. 22. Apud nos est vera Catholica with them only was the true Catholike Church c August de vnit â—ccles c. 13. Velut pro se commemorant quod ait Dominus Filius hominis veniens putas inueniet fidem in terra that with them only Christ should finde faith whence it should remaine that in their communion only men were to beare the name of Catholikes Now whether we looke to the Rogatists for Cartenna or to the Donatists for Africa the Papists are like them both who pleade the same for their Roman Church that they did for the other two that men are Catholikes for keeping vnity of faith and agreement therewith But M. Bishop telleth vs that they doe not call men Catholikes for keeping communion with the Church of Rome if it be taken for that particular Church which is contayned within the walls of Rome Where we see how true it is which Optatus saith that d Optat. lib. 2. Memoriam custodem oportet habere mendacem a lyar needeth to haue a good holding memory for he himselfe a little before speaking of that particular Roman Church to which he attributeth the priuiledges of stability in faith and superiority in gouernement aboue all other Churches hath told vs that St. Hierome e Part. 1. § 2. affirmeth men to become Catholikes by holding the Roman faith and that Tertullian Epiphanius Optatus and Austin doe proue their Churches to be Catholike and themselues to be Catholikes by declaring that they doe communicate with the Church of Rome and did condemne their aduersaries to be Schismatikes and Heretikes because they did not communicate with that Church If it bee true which hee hath told vs thus before that men become Catholikes by communicating with that particular Roman Church why doth he here tell vs the contrary that they doe not call men Catholikes for that cause The reason is because he speaketh no otherwise then as Optatus obiecteth to Parmenian the Donatist f Optat. lib. 1. Omnis pro tempore nihil pro veritate All for the time and present shift and nothing for the truth Well let vs heare what it is for which men with them are called Catholikes Because that communicating with that Church the particular Roman Church in faith and religion they doe communicate with all other of the same faith which are spred all the world ouer So then men are not g Aug. Breuic Collat. cum Donat l. 3. c. 2. Quia communicant Ecclesiae toto orbe di 〈…〉 Catholâ—ci meritò sunt vocantur Catholikes now as of old because they communicate with the Church dispersed ouer the whole world but because in the communion of the Church of Rome they coÌ„municate with the Church of the whole world But what if the Church of the whole world doe not hold communion with the Church of Rome as when the East and West Churches haue beene diuided and when Arianisme had ouerflowed in a manner the whole world whence was the name of Catholikes to be taken then Yea to speake of later times before the Portugals and Spaniards had gotten the Indies or discouered the new world and before Ignatius Loâ—ola had hatched his cockatrices broode which braggeth of so great conuersions there attayned vnto when neither the Greeke Churches in Europe receiued the Roman faith and out of Europe scant any Church at all how could it then be said that men were called Catholikes for that in communicating with the Church of Rome they communicated with the Church spred ouer all the world And sith they say that all other Churches may erre and only the Church of Rome hath the priuiledge of perpetuall truth put case that all other Churches doe erre how shall the name of Catholikes be continued but only for holding correspondence with the particular Church of Rome Yea how is it that he seeth not that he meerely circumuenteth and ouerthroweth himselfe For if a man be a Catholike for coÌ„municating with the Church of the whole world and it be by communicating with the particular Church of Rome that he communicate with the Church of the whole world then it is by communicating with the particular Church of Rome that the name of a Catholike doth belong vnto him To be short M. Bishops former acknowledgement iustifieth the resemblance as I haue set it downe and yet the Donatists if they could haue had their way would neuer haue doubted to say of their Church as M. Bishop doth here of his that men should be called Catholikes not for communicating with their African Church as it was contayned only within the bounds of Africa but for that in communicating with that Church they communicated with all other of the same faith spred wheresoeuer in the world Neither could the one nor can the other assume to themselues that they were or are spred ouer the whole world and therefore neither could the one nor can the other take vpon them to be Catholikes but only each for communion with their owne Church W. BISHOP §. 5. FInally the fift is as false as the fourth and in the same sort to be confuted True it is that the Donatists thought that none could be saued out of their congregation which is almost a common position of euery sect and heresie but most sure it is that there is no saluation out of the true Church of Christ no more then was out of the Arke of Noe in the generall deluge wherefore whosoeuer doth not communicate with the Church of Rome which is the chiefe member thereof in society of Faith and Sacraments is out of the state of grace and saluation according to that of S. Hierome to Pope Damasus I following no chiefe but Christ ioyne my selfe to Epistola 7. tit 2. the communion of Peters chaire vpon that Rocke I know the Church to be built whosoeuer doth eate the Paschal Lambe out of this house he is prophane he that is not found within the Arke of Noe shall perish c. where there is much more to this purpose R. ABBOT THe Rogatists as touching their Church of Cartenna and the Donatists as touching their Church of Africa were of minde that howsoeuer a man beleeued he could not be saued vnlesse he did communicate with their Church This M. Bishop acknowledgeth to be true and if this be true what hindereth but that the resemblance standeth good The Papists
habent neque ille suis nomen indit aut à suis recipit sed omnes vt antea consuetâ— more Christiani nominantur Neuer any people tooke name of their Bishops but of the Lord in whom they beleeued We haue not taken names from the holy Apostles our Masters and Ministers of the Gospell of our Sauiour but of Christ we both are and are called Christians but they who deriue the originall of their faith from any other doe worthily beare the names of their authours as to whom they doe belong When as therefore we all were and were called Christians of Christ Marcion the inuentor of heresie was worthily exploded The other which remained with him by whom Marcion was exploded retayned the name of Christians but they who followed Marcion were no longer called Christians but Marcionites And thus Valentinus Basilides Manicheus and Simon Magus gaue names to their followers and thence it came that some were called Valentinians other Basilidians other Manichees other Simonians other Cataphrygians of their Countrey Phrygia other Nouatians of Nouatus Thus Meletius being eiected by Peter a Bishop and Martyr named them that followed him not any more Christians but Meletians In the same sort when Alexander eiected Arius they who cleaued to Alexander remayned Christians but they who went away with Arius leauing the name of Christians to Alexander and his were thenceforth called Arians Moreouer euen now after the death of Alexander they who are of the same communion with Athanasius the successor of Alexander and with whom Athanasius himselfe is ioyned in communion they all still keepe the same marke he neither giueth any name to them nor they to him but all as before according to the accustomed manner are called Christians This place I haue set downe at large that the Reader may see that Athanasius here could not haue omitted the name of Catholikes there being such occasion to draw it from him if it had been then in vse and that the common names of opposition were then not Catholikes and Heretikes but Christians and Heretikes euen as Cyprian also vseth it saying of Stephanus x Cyprian ad Pompeium Qui haeretâ—coruÌ„ causâ—m contra Christianos contra Ecclesiam Dei esscrere conatur He goeth about to maintaine the cause of Heretikes against Christians and against the Church of God the word Catholike being neuer found in either of them personally taken or substantiuely as before was said but only that Athanasius mentioneth one surnamed y Athanas Epist ad solitariam vitam agentes Faustinus Catholicus homo genere Bithyâ—us opinionibus haereticus Catholicus an Arian Heretike and a persecutor of the faith We may therefore well thinke that there was little discretion riueted to M. Bishops head that would tell vs that the name so taken is so fast ioyned and riueted with Christian profession and religion as that it cannot be separated from it for if it were not so riueted then how commeth it to passe that it is so now The originall thereof was as we may well coniecture by occasion of the heresie of the Donatists who challenged the name of the Church to a part in Africa or elsewhere which were followers of Donatus against whom they that defended the Church Catholike were thereof in processe of time termed by the name of Catholikes The first vse then of the name of Catholikes stood in opposition betwixt Catholikes and Donatists albeit custome soone transported it to make a generall opposition betwixt Catholikes and Heretikes Now the name thus arising accidentally and only by occasion who doubteth but that without preiudice of Christian profession it may by occasion be let fall againe And what greater occasion can there be then the Popish abuse thereof who make a Catholike to import the same in effect now that a Donatist did then For with them a Catholike is no otherwise taken but for a Roman Catholike and because the whole Church is not Roman but a part only what is this Roman Catholike but one who vnder the false name of a Catholike diuideth himselfe from the whole Church as the Donatists did to cleaue to a part thereof What is the name of a Catholike then with them but a Donatisticall name schismaticall and factious and therefore wicked and hatefull and in their sense wholly to be abandoned out of the Church of God Hereby it may appeare how idlely M. Bishop saith that the Apostles did ascribe and appropriate the name Catholike to true Christianity for although they taught vs to beleeue the Church to be Catholike that is vniuersally extended through the world yet did they neuer teach neither was it for a long time after them accustomed that true Christians were called by the name of Catholikes and therefore without wrong to any thing which the Apostles taught we may rightly say that the name according to the Popish abuse thereof is become the proper badge and marke of Apostataes and Heretikes And therefore although if we had beene in the time of Austin we would with him z August in Ioan. tract 32. Catholico nomine fide gaudemus haue reioyced in the Catholike name and faith yet now we cannot with the Papists reioyce in the name of Catholikes and without any blasphemy we reiect it because vnder that name they haue diuided themselues from the Catholike Church and haue destroyed the true Catholike faith Who though they be no other but proud and false fellowes as M. Bishop speaketh and meere vsurping companions and their insolent and audacious folly haue beene both rebuked and conuicted yet doe still impudently and infinitely persist in their absurd claime and doe leaue vs no way but only to desist from the communion of the name which we cannot free from that abuse Now whereas I say further that a Rom. 2. 28. the Apostle denyeth the name of Iewes to them who yet according to the letter were so called because of the circumcision of the flesh and applyeth the truth of the name to them who were so according to the spirit albeit according to the letter they were not so named M. Bishop very discreetly answereth that the name Iew being taken in the Apostles sense for one of what nation soeuer that fulfilleth the iustice of the law neuer was nor shall be a name of reproch But what is this I pray to that that I say Doe my words import that the name of a Iew in that sense is or hath beene a name of reproch When I say that the Apostle applyeth the truth of the name to the faithfull would he conceiue me that the Apostle applyeth to them a name of reproch My words plainly signifie that the name in vulgar and literall construction applyed to them who by propagation of nature are the seede of Abraham is become a name of reproch and shame but that as it hath implication of spirituall circumcision and conformity with Abraham it is a name of honour though they to whom it
which he seldome vseth But hee saw that to bee a worke too hard for Hercules and therefore to delude his Reader and to leade him from the matter he flieth vp to the old farne-daies of Abel Noe Abraham c. as though they had reuealed vnto them all those particular points of faith which Christ taught his Apostles and the same religion and manner of worshipping God that wee Christians haue which is flatly opposite to the doctrine of S. Paul who testifieth That the mistery of Christ vnto Ephes 3. vers 4. other generations was not knowne vnto the sonnes of men as now it is reuealed vnto his holy Apostles and Prophets in the spirit Those ancient Patriarkes as men looking a farre off at the dayes of Hebr. 11. v. 13. Christ the light of the world did not discouer so distinctly the mysteries of the Christian faith as the Apostles who were * Ioh. 6. v. 45. taught by his owne mouth and made to know a Ioh 15. v. 15. all his Fathers secrets and had b Rom. 8. v 23. the first fruits of the spirit in best sort to vnderstand them and carry them away To be short our Sauiour hath decided this question and saith in expresse words Many Prophets and iust men haue Math. 13. v. 17. desired to see the things that you see and haue not seene them and to heare the things that you heare and haue not heard them Obserue then how absurdly M. Abbot behaueth himselfe in this matter First he vseth tergiuersation in leaping so farre backe from the point of the question seeking communion with the Catholike Church some thousands of yeares before there was any Church Catholike Secondly in auouching the ancient founders of the first world to haue beleeued clearly and particularly all the articles of faith that we beleeue or else why doth he conclude that the Roman faith is not Catholike because in that old and hoare-headed world some branches of their faith were not sprong vp and of full growth They did not saith he worship Idols and Images they did not pray to Saints c. But good Sir did they beleeue that all their children were to be baptised and that all persons of riper yeares among them were to receiue the holy Sacrament of Christs body yea can M. Abbot demonstrate that they had perfect faith of the most holy and blessed Trinity beleeuing distinctly in three Persons and one God or that the Redeemer of the world Christ Iesus was to be perfect God and perfect Man the nature of man in him subsisting without the proper person of man in the second person of the Trinity which are the most high misteries of our Christian faith I am not ignorant that albeit those ancient Patriarkes and Prophets had not cleare and distinct knowledge of many articles which we are bound to beleeue yet they beleeued some few of them in particular and had a certaine confuse and darke conceit by figures and tipes of most of the rest R. ABBOT I Was neither deceiued my selfe M. Bishop neither did I goe about to deceiue others the case being so plaine as that a man of vnderstanding cannot easily be deceiued therein If the Catholike Church be but one from the beginning to the end and of this Church from the beginning to the end there be but one faith as hath beene shewed who is so blind as that he seeth not that the Catholike faith now must be the same with the faith of all the Patriarchs and Fathers since the world beganne It was not Catholike then because it was peculiar only to some few whom God enlightened or to one only nation which he specially selected but it was the very same which afterwards became Catholike by being preached and spred ouer the whole world Now then most cleare it is that if our faith be the same with the faith of Abel of Enoch of Abraham and the rest of those times then our faith is the Catholike faith euen the faith which the Apostles preached through the world and if the faith of Popery be not the same then is Popery falsly termed the Catholike faith M. Bishop blameth me for recoiling to the beginning of the world and telleth me what it is that I should haue proued when by recoiling if I must so call it to the beginning of the world I proue that which he requireth howsoeuer he vnder pretence of calling for proofe would make his Reader beleeue that he seeth no proofe But he well enough seeth the worke too hard for Hercules as he calleth it by this proofe very readily dispatched for if there be but one faith of the Church from the beginning to the end and our faith be that which was in the beginning then is our faith that which was spred ouer the world and shall continue to the end As though saith he they had reuealed vnto them all those particular points of faith which Christ taught his Apostles and the same religion and manner of worshipping God that wee Christians haue I answere him that all particular points of faith were reuealed vnto them but not all circumstances of all particular points nor so clearly as to vs and the same religion and manner of worshipping God in substance was deliuered vnto them though in outward rites and ceremonies we differ from them Christ was a Apoc. 13. 8. the Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world b Aug. Epist â— ChristuÌ„ DeuÌ„ in carne venturum morituruÌ„ resurrecturum in coelum ascensuruÌ„ c. inque illo remissionem peccatorum salutemque aeternam credentibus futuram esse omnia gentis illius promissa omnes prophetiae Sacerdotia Sacrisicia templâ— cuncâ—a omninò Sacramenta sonuerunt All the promises of that time saith St. Austin all the Prophecies the Priest-hood the Sacrifices the Temple and all the Sacraments did tell them that Christ should come God in the flesh that he should die that he should rise againe and ascend into heauen and that all that beleeue should haue remission of sinnes in him These are particular points of faith and these they beleeued albeit the manner and circumstances of the Birth the Life Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ were not reueiled vnto them as they are in the Gospell liuely described and set forth to vs. For as in the first draught of the painter there is to be discerned the whole feature proportion and parts of the body which he hath in hand to paint which remaine afterwards by filling and garnishing to bee brought to full and perfect forme so the whole frame of Christian faith was in the beginning made knowen to the Patriarchs and Fathers of the first world though the same remained more and more clearly to be reueiled vntill by the comming of Christ it should receiue full and perfect light It skilleth not therefore which he saith that those ancient Patriarchs did not so distinctly discouer the mysteries of Christian faith as the Apostles
and dignity to the King and yet preferre the things that are managed by the Priest before those things that are managed by the King Albeit I alwaies adde that to the King as without the Church belongeth the care and ouersight of those things that pertaine to the sauing of soules and to the furthering of his subiects in the grace of God and in the way to heauen so as that in this respect there is no cause why the Priest should be accounted superiour to the King And this our Princes haue done and still doe and yet the world with vs thanks be to God is not turned topsie-turuy but our state standeth vpright and prospereth maugre the hearts of all Romish malignant traitours and enemies that haue sought the ruine and ouerthrow thereof CHAP. V. That faith and religion cannot be safely grounded on the example of Fathers and forefathers and that the Popish factours notwithstanding doe in this behalfe abuse the credulity of ignorant men ANSWERE TO THE EPISTLE NOw whereas he alleageth that all his Maiesties most royall Progenitours to sect 4. You talke M. Bishop of many vrgent c. W. BISHOP §. 1. PAgans and Heretikes doe now and then like Apes counterfait true Christians And no maruaile for their great Master Sathan doth transfigure himselfe sometimes into 2. Cor. 11. vâ— â—4 an Angell of light and did alwaies and yet doth labour to be like vnto the Highest but it is easie to espie their Esay 14 v. 14. apish tricks and to returne their fond subtleties vpon their owne heads Simmachus played but the part of a foolish sophister when he pleaded so with the Emperour Valentinian We are to follow our Fathers for the Emperours father and nearest Predecessors were no Pagan Idolaters but professed Christians as all men know who are conuersant in those ancient histories To the point of the proofe I answere in briefe that it is a most found inducement among vs Christians and to be dearely regarded of all To follow the foote-steps of our fore-fathers in beleeuing if they before haue not degenerated from their Ancestors The base and ground of it is this As God is more ancient then the Diuell and Christ Iesus then all Heretikes so was the true seruice of God and the right faith of Christ planted sowne and tooke fast roote before Heresie and Idolatry sprong vp which hath firme testimony from our Sauiour who teacheth That the good seede was first sowne by the Father Mat. 13. v. 24. of the houshold and the cockle after and ouersowne by the enemy Whence it followeth perspiculously that they who doe hold the same doctrine inuiolably which was embraced by them of that stocke who were first conuerted to the Christian faith are true and sincere Christians Those children then who follow the holy steps of their Catholike Progenitors ascending from Sonne to Father succâ—ssiuely till they arriue at the first Christians in that Country are true Christians and they that doe not succeede their Predecessors in their faith and religion but either are fallen themselues or doe follow others who before fell from the faith of their fore-fathers are vndoubtedly slipt into errour and infidelity By which discourse it is euident that I tendered a most reasonable request vnto his Maiesty that he would imbrace and countenance that religion which all his Progenitors euen to the first Christian among them had liued and dyed in because they were all Catholike and not one of them can be named who changed the religion of his fore-fathers yet this notwithstanding Simmachus the Pagan vsing the like argument in shew was not to be heard the difference is because his fore-fathers for whose Idolatry he pleaded had before forsaken the true and sincere worship of the one liuing God and therefore their children were not to continue in their Idolatry but to returne vnto their former Ancestors true piety So were the Donatists children of whom S. Augustine cited by M. Abbot speaketh not to follow their Fathers in that sect and heresie but to leaue their late corrupted parents in their new doctrine and to looke backe vnto their grandfathers ancient faith and religion from whose integrity their Fathers were degenerated Euen as now a-daies we exhort men that had or haue parents turned Protestants not to be led away with their erring Parents opinions but happily to receiue their forefathers ancient faith from which their Fathers reuolted vnaduisedly And so shall they returne vnto the roote and originall of our Lords tradition as S. Cyprian speaketh because they shall returne to that saith which was receiued from hand to hand euen from the Apostles our Lords most trusty and sacred messengers and cleauing fast to that shall not need to regard what any man hath thought fit to be done or said against it R. ABBOT PAgans Idolaters and Heretikes and of Heretikes the Papists namely are in this pretence of their Fathers and forefathers all alike and doe alike alleage the example of their fathers for warrant of irreligion and apostasie from God M. Bishop to make good their vse of it taketh vpon him to rectifie the rule and so to propound it as that it shall serue for a most sound inducement among vs Christians and to be dearely regarded of all And how is that Marry to follow the footesteps of our forefathers in beleeuing if they before haue not degenerated from their Ancestours Which if of his breaketh the force of his rule and is so farre from giuing a carefull man any sound inducement for setling his conscience in religion as that it casteth him rather into a further perplexity whilest he cannot but be in doubt whether those fathers whom he is wished to follow haue degenerated from their Ancestours or those Ancestours from other or those other from other that were before them In the iudgement and triall whereof if men haue not some certaine rule to be directed by they are easily blinded and led into errour whilest all Pagans and Heretikes and Papists pretend each for themselues that all their forefathers euen from the beginning were such as they are and haue their colours and shewes of antiquities whereby to perswade that they were so But yet to explicate and strengthen his rule he layeth this for the ground of it that as God is more ancient then the Diuell and Christ Iesus then all Heretikes so was the true seruice of God and faith of Christ before heresie and Idolatry Which ground of his we willingly admit and are most well content to build vpon it We hold it for certaine and infallible which Tertullian prescribeth against Heretikes that a Tertul. de Praescript Ex ipso ordine maniâ—estatur id esse Dominicum verum quod sit prius traditum id autem extraneum â—aâ—sum qâ—od sit posterius immissum that is of the Lord and the very truth which was first deliuered that strange and false which is afterwards brought it and b Idem cont Marc.
lib. 3. Illic pronuncianda est regulae â—nteruersio vbi posteritas inuenitur that where any after-faith is found there is to be pronounced the peruerting of the rule of faith Now therefore in question of religion the triall of truth shall be to haue recourse to that which was first deliuered or as Cyprian expresseth it c Cypâ—ian l. 2. Epist 3. Ad radicem atque originem traditionis Dominicae reuertatur to returne to the roote and originall of the Lords tradition and thence to secure our selues what we are to beleeue and what to doe that we may be saued To the same purpose I alleaged other wordes of Cyprian in the same place that d Ibid. Si soluâ— Christus audiâ—ndus est non debemus attendere quid aliquis ante nos faciendum putauerit sed quid qui ante omnes est Christ prior fecerit Neque enim hoâ—â—nis consuetudinem sequioportet sed Dei veritatâ— sith Christ only is to be heard according to that which the Father proclaimed from heauen concerning him This is my beloued sonne c. heare him we are not to regard what any man before vs hath thought fit to be done but what Christ hath done who is before all for we must not follow the custome of man but the truth of God Which wordes or the most of them as fitted my occasion being by me set downe in a distinct letter that they might be knowen to be Cyprians wordes M. Bishop in transcribing my text hath changed into his common letter that they might be thought to be but mine owne wordes knowing well enough that otherwise by the credit of the authour they would giue the Reader a preiudice against all that he hath here said We see that Cyprian teacheth vs first of all without respect what men haue done to looke to that which Christ did and thereby to iudge of all the custome of men But M. Bishop like the Crabbe that goeth backward teacheth a man to looke first what his father did and then his grandfather and then his great grandfather and so the rest that out of the custome of men he may learne what is the truth of Christ Those children saith he who follow the holy steps of their Catholike Progenitours ascending from sonne to father successiuely till they arriue at the first Christians of that Country are true Christians But what if the first conuersion of a Country be not aright as befell to the e Abb. Vrsperg in Chronico Valâ—ns Ariana persidiae saucius suae partis sautores illuc direxit praedicatores qui venientes rudibus ignaris illiâ—ò perfidâ—ae suae viruâ— insundunt Gothes whose conuersion was to Arianisme in the time of the Arrian Emperour Valens how then shall his rule stand good of ascending from sonne to father till we arriue at the first Christians of that Country Will he say that such doubtlesse beleeue aright because they beleeue as they did who first were conuerted in that Country If he alleage that he speaketh of following the holy steps of Catholike progenitors he maketh himselfe ridiculous because it is the question whether the Progenitours be Catholike and their steps holy and to be followed or not and he for triall hereof referreth vs to them that were in that country first conuerted who haply were corrupted at first by them by whom they were conuerted This case we put concerning the conuersion of our nation whereat he aimeth by Austin the Monke who though he brought hither the Christian religion yet brought it somewhat blended and sowred with the leauen of humane traditions and inuentions so that to receiue religion as he brought it is to receiue the corruption which he also brought which being growen since as in corruptions it falleth out from a little scabbe to a foule leprosie yet shall the foule leprosie be coloured and defended by the example of the scabbe This case being put M. Bishops rule is out of ioynt because we are come to the first conuerted of our nation and we doubt of some default in their conuerters which we the more suspect for that we f See the Answere to the Epistle sect 31. finde the Britaines who had beene formerly and anciently Christians refusing at that time to meddle with them Here then we are new to seeke and are forced to make further enquiry whether the faith of Christ as it was taught here first by that Romish Monke were in any such sort defiled or not But that being granted that a country is at the first rightly and truly conuerted to the faith of Christ how shall the posterity after so many generations haue infallible assurance that they hold inuiolably the same doctrine which they embraced who were first conuerted What rolles what records haue we certainly and particularly to informe vs that our fathers and fathers fathers and their fathers and forefathers from the beginning haue without adding or detracting without change or alteration either of phrase or meaning beleeued and practised thus and thus Will he send vs to the Chronicles and Stories of our country to be certified hereof To say nothing that euery one that seeketh assurance of his faith cannot studie Chronicles for the finding of it suppose a man hath read them all what is he the nearer inasmuch as Bellarmine hath taught vs to say of them all that g Bellarm. de Effect Sacram. l. 2. c. 25. Quòd historici quidam meminerint c. non potest parere fidem nisi humanam cui potest subesse falsum they breede but humane beleefe wherein there may be falshood Of the greatest matters many times they say least they deliuer things many times vnperfectly and often we may rather gather from them the priuate affection of the authour then any testimony of publike faith To the deuices of their owne times they apply the phrases of former times and corrupt the meaning of former times by speaking in the language of their owne times We finde many times differences and disagreements amongst them and that reproued by one which is approued by another Sometimes we descry lyes and tales wilfully deuised and falsly fathered vpon the times and persons that haue beene before and guilefully thrust into ancient bookes for the gracing of superstitions that haue growen of latter times and other writings and stories suppressed and made away which taxed such superstitions as they did arise Many vncertainties there are many difficulties and perplexities in this course and vnpossible it is for them that are the authors of it to set downe out of any records any perfect forme of their owne faith whereof a man can but reasonably satisfie himselfe that it hath beene vniuersally and vniformely receiued of all our fathers and continued wholly the same without alteration from the first conuerted till our time M. Bishop therefore by referring men in question of religion to their fathers forefathers doth but send them a long iourney in the darke not seeing which
That we are not to imitate our fore-fathers descendeth to the subsequent to wit That his Maiesties Progenitours Kings of England and Scotland were not of our Roman faith which he will proue hereafter at more leasure that is to say neuer For he doth not deny but that the religious and holy man Augustine sent into our country by Gregory the Great Bishop of Rome to conuert our Ancestours the Saxons and English to the Christian faith did then teach the same Roman faith which we now professe so that aboue this thousand yeares by his owne confession his Maiesties Progenitours haue beene of our Catholike Roman faith and religion and very few Kings now liuing I weene can deriue their pedegree much further Afterward he doth rake out of the chanels of Bale Iewel Hollinshead and such like Page 198. late partiall writers which any man not past all care of his reputation would be ashamed to cite for sufficient witnesses in matters of controuersie wherein they themselues were parties that there was great disagreement betweene Augustine the Italian Monke as he speaketh and the Churches of England and Scotland whereas venerable Bede a most approued authour and neare vnto those times who did as most diligently trace out those matters so record them most faithfully he I say whose authority is sufficient to put downe an hundreth late writers interessed in the cause affirmeth that there was no variance betwixt them in any one article of faith but only in some few points of ceremonie namely in these two Vpon what day the feast of Easter was to be kept Beda lib. 2. histor cap. 2. and about the rites of Baptisme For S. Augustine offered them to beare with all other their different rites if they would yeeld vnto him in these two points Vt Pascha suo tempore celebretis That yee would keepe Easter-day at the due time appointed by the Councell of Nice and minister the Sacrament of Baptisme after Euseb in vita Const lib. 3. 17. Epiphan lib. 3. Haeres 70. the manner of the Roman Apostolike Church And concerning these two points who can thinke but that the Sacrament of Baptisme was like to be administred in those daies in the most renowmed City of Rome after a more decent and deuout manner then among the Britans that liued in a corner of the world Now for the other of keeping the feast of Easter the fourteenth day of the first Moone with the Iewes It was many yeares before condemned in the first most famous generall Councell of Nice and therefore it cannot be denyed but that those Britans were either very ignorant in the Canons of the Church if they knew not so solemne a decree or else too too contentious and wilfull in refusing to yeeld vnto it A third clause was added by S Augustine that the Britans would ioyne with him and his fellowes Beda ibidem in preaching the word of God vnto the English nation which also argueth yet more strongly that they agreed together in all articles of faith or else they would not haue required their helpe in instructing others in matters of faith And this is not only registred by S. Bede that holy Historiographer but also reported by their owne late writers Hollinshead and * M. Godwine Volum 1. page 103. * Page 6. in his Catalogue of the Bishops of England S. Bede also witnesseth further in the place aboue said that the same Britan Christians euen then confessed that they did perceiue that to be the true way of iustice which Augustine did preach Furthermore the principall Preachers and most godly men that liued not long before S. Augustines arriuall among the Britans as namely S. Dulcitius and S. Dauid were brought vp at Rome and one of them the Popes Legate too as the aduersaries Iohn Bale in their liues themselues confesse Whereupon it followeth clearely that not only for these later thousand yeares but also in the former hundreths all his Maiesties Ancestors both English and Britans embraced and maintayned the same Catholike Roman faith which we now doe R. ABBOT MAster Bishop kindly threapeth vpon me that I denie not but that Austin the Monke sent hither by Gregory Bishop of Rome did then teach the same Roman faith that they now professe whereas I doe not only deny it to be so but also doe bring a Answ to the Epistle to the King sect 31. diuers instances to proue directly that it is not so Of those diuers let one only here suffice The religion brought in by Austin the Monke continuing here till the time of Charles the Great though it approued the hauing of Images yet condemned the second Nicene Councell for that it approued the worshipping of them The thing by Roger Houeden is thus reported that b Roger. Houeden Annal. p. 1. Anno 792. Carolê° Rex FraÌ„corum misit Synâ—dalem librum ad Britanniam sibi à Constantinopoli directum in quo libro beu proâ— dolor multa inconuenientia verâ— fidei coÌ„traria reperiebantur maximè quòd penè â—mnium Orientalium Doctorum non minus quà m trecentorum vel â—o amplius Episcoporum â—nanima assertione confirâ—atum fuerit Imagines adorari debere quod omninò Ecclesia Dei execratur Contra quod scripsit Albinus EpistolaÌ„â—x authoritate diuinarum Scripturarum mirabilitèr affirmataÌ„ illamque cum â—odâ—m libâ—o ex person 1 Episcoporum ac Principli nostro 〈…〉 â—rancorum 〈…〉 t. in the yeare 792. Charles the King of France sent ouer into Britaine a synodall booke or booke of a Councell directed to him from Constantinople in which booke alas for woe many things were found inconuenient and contrary to true faith specially for that by agreement of all the Easterne Doctors no lesse then three hundred Bishops and more it was decreed that Images should be worshipped which thing the Church of God wholly accurseth Against which saith he Albinus wrote an Epistle wonderfully strengthened by authority of holy Scriptures and brought it together with the booke to the King of France in the name or behalfe of our Bishops and Peeres The Roman faith which Austin brought condemned that Nicene Councell Tho Roman faith which M. Bishop bringeth approueth that Councell for so hath he done in his c Sect. 12. Epistle to the King Therefore the Roman faith which M. Bishop bringeth is not now the same that Austin brought He cannot doubt but that Austin being sent hither by Gregory did teach the same faith here which Gregory himselfe taught at Rome But the faith which Gregory taught at Rome shall be shewed if God will in this booke in many particulars to haue beene contrary to that faith that is now taught from Rome As for our writers Bale Iewell Hollinshead and such like I cite them not as sufficient witnesses in matters of controuersie as he vainly cauilleth but I name them only as recording matters of history which they haue taken out of former stories and writers when mine owne Library