them Let the learned protestant bring foorth and shewe suche a Communion booke or anye leafe lyne or worde of any suche doctrine or any churche or congregation that euer had any authenticall seruice or ministration of the Sacraments other then that which is yet daylye openly practised in the cōmon knowen catholike churche of Christe And I shall then recant and not before Twelfth I demaunde of the learned protestant to knowe cause reason why their congregations do admit and receaue all Bishops priests deacons and other officers spirituall ordered by our catholike Churche as men lawfull and sufficient to preache the worde of God to minister the sacramentes and to exercise al spiritual Iurisdiction in no lesse wise but rather more then if they had bene ordered in their owne priuate congregations whereas the catholike churche of Christ doth not acknowledge any man of their ordering calling to be any whit the more fit for any spirituall function in Christ his church then other cōmon lay men When therfore the learned Protestant shal be able to shewe good cause and reason whye our Catholike Churche hauing by their owne consent and approuing lawfull priestes Bishops and spiritual ministers not to be also the lawful true and catholike churche of Christe I will then recant and not before Thirtene I require of the learned protestant to expresse what furniture furtherance or commoditie to the honor and seruice of God did christianitie or any part of Christendome receaue by his Churche or congregations what temple or churche did you build at any time for your assemblies and seruice of god what Bishopriks for the better gouernment of the church did you founde or procure what vniuersities schooles or colleges did you at any time erect for the maintenaunce of christian doctrine fayth and religion When the learned Protestant shal be able to proue by ecclesiasticall histories and olde auncient writers these thinges to be the monumentes of their conuenticles and priuate congregations of their fayth and religion and not of the common knowen fayth religion and catholike Churche of Christe Then I shal in like maner yeelde and recant and not before Fourthtene Let the learned Protestant name anye one felowship or companye of beleeuers in the whole christian worlde that in all Articles of faith and religion be in one vnitie in one meaning and beliefe and contented also to captiue submit their seuerall meaninges to the iudgementes of their prelates and spirituall gouernours and of one chiefe head and pastor among them in all ecclesiasticall thinges and causes Let I saye the learned protestant name any one company thus agreing among them selues and thus humblye affected in Christian fayth and religion sauing onely the holye and blessed felowship of the common knowen catholike churche of Christe And I will then recant and not before Fyftene Againe I doo demaunde of the learned protestant whether the Lutherans Zuinglians Illirians Caluinists Confessionists Swenkfeldians Anabaptists and suche like be al of one church and congregation or no And if he be able to proue these sectes being of such diuersitie in fayth and religion to make one church and that euery one of them may geue saluation to their felowes being so disagreable one with another in high misteryes and poyntes of fayth and religion or that I ought to beleeue all those rather then the one true catholike churche of Christe or yet anye of these more one then another all of them making such a bolde chalenge of the truth of Gods worde and Gospell When the learned protestant shall be able by good reason or drifte of argument to satisfye these my requestes Then I shall yeelde and recant and not before Sixtene when the protestant shall be able to proue that those persons which in their departure made from the catholike churche of Christe haue more desyre to beare the name of Sectaryes as of Lutherans Suinglians Illyrians Caluinists Swenkfeldians and Anabaptistes then the name of Christians or Catholikes are the true members of Christe his Churche and not heretikes and schismatikes nor yet folowers therein of their forefathers the Arrians whiche toke their names of Arrius the Maniches of Manes the Nestorians of Nestorius the Nouatians the Vigilians the Iouinians Pelagians Eutichians and others Then I shall yeeld recant and not before Seuenthtene I demaunde of the learned protestant whether if the whole space of that thousand yeres of blindnes wherein their Churche laye hid and vnknowen suppressed by papistrie superstition and Idolatrye as they terme it whether they whiche were then baptized and openly professed Christ wer saued or not If the Protestant doo aunswere yea consequently it foloweth that they were saued without the Church of Christe liuing in all ignorance superstition Idolatry as they say If he aunswer no and that there was no saluation out of their hid vnknowen Church then all men of all degrees yong and olde for the whole space of the foresayde thousand yeeres by the Protestants iudgement perished without all hope of Gods mercye and were damned When therefore the learned Protestant shall be able to proue by good reason and argument eyther that ther is a way to saluation without the Churche of Christe or that all people professing Christe perished for so many hundreth yeeres together Then I will recant and not before Eightene Let the learned Protestant make prouf vnto me how their hid vnknowen and secrete churche not hauing in it the doctrine of Christ his Gospell openlye taught no ministration of Sacramentes no spirite of prophecying no discipline of rod or correction no ordering of Bisshops priestes and ecclesiasticall ministers nor yet anye other spirituall function executed in the same for the space of one thousand yeres together Let him proue their hid vnknowen Churche with the lacke of all these thinges to be the true spouse and Catholike church of Christe And I will recant and not before Ninthtene Againe on the other side let the learned protestant proue that it is not the true Churche of Christe that hath in the face of the world for the space of fiftene hundred yeres past exercised preaching the cōuersion of nations to the obedience of the Gospell that hath alwayes had the administration of Sacraments the hearing of matters in controuersie the orderlye succession of Bishops the vniformitie of solemne Ceremonies and the vnitie of fayth that hath in her selfe all holye functions of the spirite as working of miracles remission of synnes the true sense and interpretation of Gods word that is beautifyed with diuersitie of states commended by Christe as with martyrs with confessors holye virgins such other Let the protestant proue vnto me that this is not the true churche and that we are not bound to obey beleue this church none other in all controuersies doubtes vprising eyther by the difficultie of scripture or by vain contention pride of heretikes and I wil yeld recant not before Twentie Moreouer let the
learned protestant proue that the true and catholike churche of Christe may at any time be voyde of Gods spirite which he hath promised to be with his churche for euer saying Et ego rogabo patrē et alium paracletum dabit vobis vt maneat vobiscum in aeternum or falsly to interprete any sentēce of holy scripture or to induce any error among the people or approue vnprofitable and hurtful vsages among the christians or that she suffereth any damnable abuse in her religion without open reprehension thereof Let the learned protestant proue anye of these poyntes And I will then yeelde and recant and not before One twentie If vnitie in faith austeritie of life sharpe discipline great penance muche fasting large almes godly deuotion obedience to higher powers grauitie and true charitie be not more euidentlye exercised and vsed in our common knowen catholike church then in the protestants congregation And contrarywise if discord in religion licentiousnes in liuing contempt of discipline reiecting of penaunce lothsomnes of fasting lacke of zeale and deuotion disobedience to Magistrates Sacrilege Apostacie breaking of vowes vnlawfull lustes wantonnes in all life and maners doo not agree better and more cleere to the protestantes then to the catholikes being the playne signes and fruits of a false churche Then wil I recant and not before Two and twenty Let the learned protestant proue vnto me that their churche congregation might rightlye be called catholike which for the space of a thousande yeres together was so particuler that no man could name any certaine place where their churche was or that it might be called holye which had for so longe time and space neyther the doctrine of Christes Gospell taught in it neyther Baptisme nor anye other Sacrament of Christe vsed to sanctifye them withal or that it could be called one church which assoone as it grew vp and shewed it selfe to the worlde was deuided into so many sundry sects of Lutherans Zuinglians Illiricans Caluinists Swenfeldians Anabaptists and such other or that it might be called Apostolike whiche coulde neuer make an accompt by orderly succession and discent from any one of Christe his Apostles or any other Apostolike man or that their secrete hid and vnknowen congregation was euer of that maiestie or authoriti that it had at any one time or season the true obedience of all christian nations or that it was euer able to assemble and gather vniuersall and generall Councels of all nations christian people or to exercise any discipline or correction vppon offenders throughout all kingdomes and regions professing Christe or that these titles folowing properly applyed by the Scriptures and doctors to the true churche of Christe could euer be chalenged by any right to their hid vnknowen congregation I mean these titles namelye Corpus Christi The body of Christe Sponsa Christi The spouse of Christe Amica Christi The louer of Christ Vnice dilecta Christo Dearely beloued of Christ Columba speciosa The beautifull doue Domus dei The house of God Columna veritatis The piller of truth Ciuitas dei The Citie of God Ciuitas super montem posita A Citie set vppon an hill Fons signatus A spring or fountayne surely signed and sealed Sponsa Agni The spouse of the Lambe Mulier amicta sole A woman clothed with the Sun Habitatio fratrū inuicē a dwelling of brethren all together Mons dei The hill of God Sacra Anchora The holye Anchore Vinea Domini Our Lordes vineyarde Terra viuentium The lande of the liuing Ecclesia magna The great and mightie Churche Archa Noe Noes Arche Vna Sancta Catholica et Apostolica Ecclesia One holye Catholike and Apostolike Churche Domus pacis The house of peace Domus refugij The house of refuge Domus veritatis The house of truth Societas Sanctorum The felowship of holy Saints Nutrix Christianorum The Norishe of the Christians Vxor de latere Christi The Spouse out of Christe his syde sicut Eua de latere Adam like as Eue was out of the syde of Adam Let the learned Protestant make proufe that these moste excellent propertyes and peculier Denominations and Callinges maye possiblye agree to their hid and vnknowen congregations and priuate societies or to any other knowen societie of the whole worlde but onely to the holy societie moste blessed companye and felowship of the common knowen catholike Church of Christ And I will then relent yeelde and recant and not before Last of all when these notes folowing being most certayne and sure signes and tokens of Antichristians false Prophetes heretikes and schismatikes mentioned and manifestlye expressed in diuers partes of the scriptures shall by the learned protestant be proued more aptly and truely to agree vnto vs of the common knowen catholike Church of Christe then vnto the protestants of so many sundrye and diuers sects and congregations I shal submit yeelde and recant and not before First signe and token appropriated to Antichristes false Prophetes heretikes and schismatikes in the scripture is their departure from the cōmon knowen catholike churche of Christe wherein they were baptised and first receaued christian faith and religion of the which sygne and token speaketh Thapostle S. Iohn saying Ex nobis prodierunt sed non erant ex nobis nam si fuissent ex nobis permansissent vtique nobiscum They departed from vs but they were not of vs for if they had bene of vs and of our Churche they woulde sayeth Thapostle S. Iohn haue continued with vs still and not haue departed from vs And here nowe the learned protestant not being able to denye that they haue departed from our cōmon knowen catholike church from our fayth and religion wherein they were fyrste baptised and not we departed from them but still remaining in the profession of the same fayth religion that we fyrste receaued he must needes by the dryfte of argument and reason graunt also that this fyrste signe and token of false prophetes heretikes and schismatiks was before spoken of the Apostle S. Iohn onely of them and not of vs. Second sure marke sygne and token of false prophetes heretikes and schismatikes is that they being thus departed from the Catholike church doo of themselues and of their owne authoritie without warrant beinge not sent set vp a newe Gospell a new fayth and religion by preaching of a newe doctrine to assemble and set vp a newe churche and congregation Of this signe and token and great presumption speaketh thapostle S. Paule Quomodo enim praedicabunt nisi mittantur How shall men preach except they be sent And in his Epistle to the Hebrewes he sayeth Nec quisquam sibi sumit honorem nisi qui vocatur a deo quemadmodum et Aaron Let no man take vnto himselfe honoure except he be called of God like as Aaron was Certayne it is that Aaron was called vnto the office and dignitie of a Bishop ordinarily by Moyses and by externall and
he praysed among the worldlings for a wise man who will not suffer himselfe to be ouertroden and made a laughing stocke to euery Rascall With such vayne glorious prayses be suche proude Thrasoes extolled and magnifyed of the more parte and no small number are geuen to flatterie and enhausing of Clawbacks that neuer could that saying of Terence be better verifyed then it is nowe Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit To holde vp mennes yea and their naye in holding with the hare and running with the hounde getteth a man frendes but he that will lay flattery aside and tell the playne truth shall get nothing but hatred Thus in these dayes vice is extolled and vertue contemned Ill rule is made of and good rule neglected O heart dissimuled which vnder coloure to be iust and true canst cloke vnto vs hipocrisie for deuotion ambition for gentlenes couetousnes for competencie crueltie for zeale bolde babling without learning for eloquence florishing Rhetorike without fruite or reason follye for grauitie wilines without wit and fleshly wanton libertie for libertie of the Gospell This is nothing els but the deuils drifte alway couering his poyson vnder some taste of sugar Fallit enim vitium specie virtutis vmbra For the summe and ende of all their false doctrine is nothing els but malice with murther to the ouerthrowe of Christes religion and the true ministers thereof This is their shéepes clothing for an vnhappie reformation Nam impia sub dulci melle venena latent Vnder swéete honye is deadly venome hid O blinde ignorance and ignorant blindnes O cruell damnable mischiefe comming frō the bottomles pit of hell O intolerable furiousnes and heresie more detestable then it may any longer be suffered The great displeasure the extreme vengeaunce the cruell plagues of God hange ouer our heades if this horrible heresie be not shortly remoued from mens mindes O good God howe long wilt thou suffer this intolerable abhomination It shameth me it abhorreth me to thinke that these shamelesse beastes are not ashamed to speake of the moste belssed Sacramentes of Christes Churche who is able to expresse eyther by tonge or penne their wicked abhomination whye haue we a pleasure to forsake the true vnderstanding of Gods moste sacred worde and become folowers and bondslaues of the deuils coūterfeite ▪ and deceiptfull expositions and carnall reasons set out by his ministers who in religion are so deuided that nowe they dreame one thing and now another this day they like to morowe they mislike and one is against another of them euen in the highest misterie of Christe his religion And no meruaile for the deuill is their chiefe head whom they serue and he is full of lyes variaunce diuision and discorde and vnder him their Schoolemasters were Hus Luther Zuinglius Oecolampadius Bucer Melancthon and the Archeheretike Caluine whose heresies are confuted in the Discourse hereafter ensuing These with the rest of that rable did neuer agrée one with another in their doinges there is no vnitie no certaintie at all and therfore such masters such scollers come of them And this diuision this vnconstancie of doctrine was a manifest tokē that they were not the children of our true mother the catholike Churche nor ministers of of Christe but the children of the deuill and ministers of Antichriste yea very Antichristes For whosoeuer sayth S. Augustine is gone from the vnitie of the Catholike Churche he is become an Antichriste These Antichristes haue borne a great stroke nowe too longe time in our Realm of England in whō is no constancie no stedfastnes of religion and doctrine These are they that haue damnably deceued you haue with their damnable preachinges intised you from Churche to Churche from an heauenly Churche to a malignant Church from a louing mother to a flattering harlot from the condition of grace to the state of perdition from truth to falshood from faythfull beléeuing to carnall reasoning from sauing Christe to deceauing Antichriste But good Reader beware be not deceaued and be not ashamed to arise that haste so shamefullye fallen be not ashamed to come home to your mother the Churche sith she is not ashamed to receaue you Let not follye lose the thing that grace hath so preciously offered purchased Let not wilfulnes and blindnes put out so great light as is nowe shewed vnto thée but embrace moste humbly the doctrine of our Mother the Catholike Church so shall you sit in the lappe of so tender a mother which will cherish you into life euerlasting Choose the best whiles choyse lyeth in lot A notable discourse plainly and truely discussing who be the right ministers of the Catholique Churche ¶ The firste Chapter CAluin your Patriarch doth laie to our charge a great and an outragious boldnes saying according to his opinion that we haue introduced or taken in hande the ministerie of Iesus Christe without being called to it by him that did institute Aaron in the saide estate And because that he himselfe can better then I expresse his complaint or accusation I thinke it beste to set foorth his owne writinges which according to his disciples opinions are of great force and vertue His wordes as you may reade are these Seing that the Papistes heare S. Paule saye that no person ought to take vpon him or vsurpe the name and the honoure of Priesthoode but he that is called to it as Aaron was And that Iesus Christe tooke it not vpon him selfe but did obeye the vocation of his father either they ought to shewe that God is the Author and institutour of their priesthood or els they must confesse that they are not called of God seing that of their owne boldenes they haue taken it in hande These are Caluins wordes by the which the reader maye gather that Caluin doeth enioyne vs to render him an accoumpt of oure vocation And although that it be so that by the Ciuill lawe one ought to trye the righte of the possession before he come to demaunde it and the spoyle as we are to him and his felowes as touching oure Temples and Reuennues in manye places ought to be restored agayne before the sute proceede Yet releassing this that the lawe doeth alowe vs we are content to aunswere to his demaund adding this request therto that both you that are his disciples and he doo make readie your papers to aunswere vs the like as touching yours But before I proceede in mine aunswere vnder correction of a man that thinkes to haue suche good eyes me seemeth that his argument is but very simple to sai that of we cannot shewe that God is the Authour of our Priesthood that we should be constrained to confesse that it is not of God seeing that without being called we take it vpon vs For what reason is there I praye you in this for although it were so that of our owne priuate power and authoritie without being called wee shoulde take it vppon vs it shoulde not
vndoubtedly led with the spirite of god in them both For if the Catholike Churche had the true spirite of God in discerning and iudging the true Scriptures of God from the rest not Scriptures why shoulde not we beleeue that same catholike churche gouerned and led by the same spirite in geuing the true sense meaning and vnderstanding of the scriptures Whē ye shal be able to render a sufficient reason of the one and not of the other I shall then yeelde and recant and not before Fourth Let the protestantes make sufficient proufe by auncient writers of the ecclesiasticall historyes what church it is that all these fyftene hundred yeeres past hath continued thoroughout fyrme and stedfast whiles all other conuenticles and congregations aswell of the Atrians as of the Nestorians Maniches Nouatians Vigilians Iouinians and the rest of heretikes of all sortes haue decayed bene conuinced and ouerthrowen that by any other church then by the common knowen catholike Churche of Christe And I shal then yeeld and recant and not before Fyfte If it may sufficiently be proued that any other Churche then the common knowen catholike churche of Christe hath instituted and ordeyned all goodly ceremonies solemne obseruations in the same dayly practised and vsed as the festiuall dayes of Christmas Candlemas Easter Whitsontide the feasts of thapostles and holy Euangelists of S. Michaell tharchangell and of all halowes blessed Saintes the obseruation of the holye fast of Lent and Imber dayes the faste of thapostles and of all the aforesaide festiual Eues beside the weekely fast of Frydayes Saturdayes the rest yet obserued and allowed on both sydes to the honour and glorye of God Then I will recante and not before Sixth let the protestantes shewe what Church from Christe his time hitherto and for the whole space of these fiftene hundred yeres past hath exercised discipline and due correction vpon offenders in all degrees and for that purpose hath not onely prouided and made but continuallye executed lawes canons and decrees ecclesiasticall by suspension excommunication degradation and such other like Let thē proue this discipline to haue proceeded of the Protestants congregations or to haue continued from time to time in anye other Churche then in the common knowen Catholike Churche of Christe And I will then recant and not before Seuenth let me know of the Protestants what Church hath brought forth for the space of these fyftene hundred yeres past as children begotten of her owne wombe so manye thousandes of blessed Martyrs of stoute and bolde confessors of pure and innocent virgins and of other holye Saintes of al sortes and so acknowledged of eyther partie And if it shall in fine fall out that anye one of them was of the Protestants congregatiō faith or belief whiles they liued here and not of the cōmon knowen faith and religion of the Catholike Church of Christe or that they were approued and canonized for Saintes when they were deade by the protestantes congregation and not only by the catholike churche of Christe I shal then submit and recant and not before Eight Wheras the Apostle Saint Paule testifieth that Christ gaue vnto his Churche some Apostles some Prophetes some Euangelistes some pastors and doctours ad consummationem sanctorum in opus ministerij and so to continue to the edifying of his body the catholike Churche vntill his comming agayne Nowe if the Protestants shal be able to proue by ecclesiasticall historyes of all ages the continuance and vse of the said functions and degrees in their congregations and that by some orderly succession and playne accompt made from Christ his time hitherto thei haue neuer lacked the sayde appoynted officers or that any other church thē the common knowen catholike church of Christe hath had at all times the continuance of the same I shall then recant and relent and not before Ninth whereas the protestants by the drift of reason and argument are forced of the Catholikes to acknowledge and confesse their churche and congregations to haue lyen hydden vnknowen for the space of one whole thousand yeres together without all the foresayde functions and ministrations of Apostles prophets Euangelists pastors doctors of their gospel fayth and religion at the least wise to be openly perceyued and knowen If therefore they shal be able for the space of that whole time to proue by auncient writers of ecclesiastical historyes any other worde Gospell or doctrine to be vniuersally and openly taught any other Sacramentes to be ministred anye other discipline or correction to be practised anye other Iudgementes Decrees Canons or lawes to be exeuted then those which were dayly practised in the cōmon knowen Catholike Churche of Christe I will then recant and not before Tenth forasmuche as the Protestantes doo affyrme their congregations faith and religion to haue bene practised in the primatiue Churche of Christe some of them for the space of the firste three hundreth yeeres as Iohn Caluine some for the space of foure or fyue hundred yeres as Martine Luther and his complices some for the whole space of the fyrste sixe hundreth yeeres as master Iewell and the authours of the Apologie of the Churche of Ingland and therin not agreeing among them selues as the maner of heretikes is I requyre some better stayed and certayne tale of them where and when this sodeyn change from the Protestants religiō to the Papists should be made as in what yere of our Lorde vnder what Pope and Emperour by what persons of name it was so wrought and brought to passe and vpon what occasion what Apostles Prophetes Euangelistes Pastors and doctours of their congregations did gaynesay or withstande the same And who doth make anye mention of this sodeyne and meruailous change of the Protestantes religion to Papistrie what one eccesiastical writer or auncient father of the whole world And when they shal be able reasonablye to aunswere and to satisfye these my demaundes then I will recant yeelde to them and not before Eleuenth Let the learned Protestant shewe me what order of seruice or common prayer what order of ministration of Sacramentes their Churche had before papistrie as they call it preuayled in the worlde Let im shewe me one booke or copie of any Communion or what els you liste that was in Englishe or in anye vulgare or common tonge beside the Hebrewe Greeke and Latine or that lacked prayer for the soules departed or inuocation to Saintes or sacrifice for the sinnes both of the quicke the deade or that charged a number to receaue with the prieste or that he could not els consecrate or say Masse receauing alone or that the people should take the sacrament for breade and wine and not for the reall bodye and bloud of Christe or that they should geue no honour to it or not reserue the same for the comfort of the sicke and diseased people or that denied extreme vnction with the rest of the Sacramentes to be behoufull or necessary for
or stay in any one of them vntill they come ad profundum malorum and to a most playne and open apostacie to be miscreants Turkishe and of Mahomets religion not caring or setting by God nor the deuill neither for heauen nor hell Nowe heresyes being thus ficle and mouing the finall ende of them thus lamentable and horrible in the sight of God Let any learned protestant liuing answere directlye and playnelye without all cauill coloure or fraude of wordes without all vnprofitable and impertinent digressions not onely to this but to al the foresaide signes tokens and demaundes And I shall for company good felowship with them leaue the common knowen churche and the playne way of saluation beaten by our forefathers for the space of these fyftene hundred yeres past and nowe wander with theÌ„ in their vncertaine bypathes through vnknowen desertes rough woods brambles and bryers to seeke in the end we cannot tell what And here to conclude and of my part to minister vnto you some occasion in the relinquishing of these priuate churches and congregations of sectaries to returne to the vnitie and attonement of the common knowen catholike churche of Christe where stabilitie and constancie of fayth and religion is onely to be founde I shall here lay before you the worthy example of the blessed martyr Sebastian by him brought of a loafe of breade to Genserichus then king of the Vandales a furious and a barbarous nation whiche breaking into Affrike they founde there many valiant captayns placed by the Emperour Theodosius the second for the defence and sauegarde of the countrey amonge the rest was this Sebastian by dignitie an earle and a couragious and valiant captayne who with the rest yeelding to the force of Gensericus was as Victor de persecutione Vandalorum writeth for his great wisedome and valiantnes not so muche beloued as feared of the king Genserichus who being an Arrian intended by colour of religion to work his death For Genserichus knowing Sebastian to be a seuere and a perfit christian man conuented him before the Arrian Bishops and vnder the pretence that amitie and frendshippe might be the surer and continue the longer betwixte them Genserichus moued him to become an Arrian and to professe the same maner of beleefe and religion as he and his people were of For answere this holy martyr Sebastian requested Genserichus the king to commaunde a fyne wheten loafe to be brought vnto him and taking it in his hande and here to omit many of his wordes and notable sayinges he requested the king Genserichus to commaund the loafe of breade to be broken in peeces to be ground brought to flower and boulted afreshe to be seasoned with water and salte and baked agayne if then it should in the end proue better bread then it was before he would not faile to accomplishe the king Genserichus his will pleasure but if it were not possible by breaking of the loafe and baking of it againe to better it but to make woorse breade then before he wold not nor could not consent therevnto And in fine suffered death in the defence of the christian fayth religioÌ„ by him alreadye professed and receaued rather then he would condiscend to the impayring infringing or breaking of any part therof And so Genserichus caused this blessed man Sebastian to dye a holye Martyr Thus much I haue brieflye deducted out of the history of Victor to that intent that so apte and familiar an example of so holy blessed a martyr might in these perplexities and doubtes in these ofte changes mutations of religion confort the weaklings of Christ his church and bring them to some more better stay when by this example of Sebastians loaf certain sure we may be that the loafe of the vnitie of Christe his Churche the loafe of his Gospell fayth and religion being by schisme and heresye neuer so ofte broken neuer so finely grynded boulted searced and syfted kneaded baked agayne and agayne they shall neuer be able to better it or to bring it to that perfection which it had before And therfore all their attemptes to the contrarye are moste vayne the only remembraunce of this Sebastians loafe should suffise to confyrme the faythfull to stay the wauering and weaklinges and to plucke the deceaued backe agayne and to cause them in leauing of this their fickle waueringnes of this their proceedinges as they terme it from one secte to another from one congregation to another and from their scatering abrode with Antichriste to stay them selues and to gather them selues with our Sauiour Christ into the vnitie of his common knowen catholike churche where they shal be sure to â—ynd vnitie of religion vniformitie in all ceremonies and obseruances of the same with thattonement of christian fayth throughout in all Sacramentes and articles of our Creede to the pacifying of many contentions and strifes among vs to the quietation of mens consciences causing vs all professours of Christe as brethren here to liue together in quietnes peace and vnitie to the more better assuraunce of the publique estate of this Realme and to the great glorye and honour of almightie God to whom be all prayse honour and glorye worlde without ende Amen FINIS Act. 20. In his booke of Insti ca. 18. Art. 58. Heb. 5. L. Si quis ad se ad leg lul de nil publ c Num. 16. 2. Paral. 26 Math. 5. Ephe. 4. Lib. con haer Canti 1. Canti 1. Lib. 4. contra haeres cap. 65. Ephe. 1. Galat. 1. 1. Cor. 10. Exod. 29. Leuit. 4. Num. 8. 17. Act. 8. 19. 13. Tim. â— A 7. Cip. 1. epist. cap. 6. Gal. 1. Ioh. 6. Mat. 22. Rom. 10. Mat. 15. Cap. 3. Rom. 13. Rom. 13. Cap. 14. Cap. 34. Math. 11. Cod. vt nemo in sua causa iud Ioh. 15. Gen. 20. 1. Ioh. 4. Mat. 28. Mat. 12. 24. Exod. 19. Act. 14. Gen. 20. Gen. 24. Iud. 2. Psal. 18. Sap. 13. Rom. 1. Act. 12. Lib. â— ca. 15. Act. 3. Deut. 16. Act. 10. Li. 8. fo 4. Cap. 6. 10. 12. An heresie of the Puritans Cap. 5. Cap. 3. Math. ca. 10. 16. Psal. 90. Ioh. 6. Ioh. 2. 1. Cor 5. Ioh. 8. Psal. 84. Ioh. 5. Gen. ca. 12 15. 19. 22. 24. Ioh. 5. Mat. 11. Luk. 6 Mat. 15. Dani. 15 Iohn 18. Rom. 1. Iohn 8. Sap. 1. 1. Cor. 10. Iohn 10. Ioh. 20. Mat. 16. 2. Cor. 4. Luk. 16. Mat. 7. In his booke of the true body of Christ in the sacrif written in Latin. Mat. 28. Mar. 16. Act. 20. Heb. 13. Ioh. 14. Certayne and assured signes and tokeÌ„s of false prophetes heretikes and schismatikes 1. Iohn 2. Rom. 10. Heb. 5. Heb. 13. 1. Cor. 1. 2. Tim. 3. Exod. 7.
in authoritie per quem reges regnant by whom kinges doo reigne who had Peter if he loued him to féede his shéepe who hath also constitute vnder him féeders vpon the earth some spirituall some temporall O I say that they would diligently looke vpon these wordes A good shepherde geueth his life for the sheepe seriouslye ponder in their minde what a charge is hid in this short sentēce how many thinges princeps pastorum the prince of shepherdes as Peter calleth him doth require of them whom he hath made herdsmen vnder him whose duetie is to be good pastours and faythfull féeders like to their master O that they wold call to their mind that they must at length depart hēce come where it shal be said to euery one of thē Redde rationem villicationis tuae Geue accompt of thy bayliwike Come forth and shew how thou hast fed my flock that I cōmitted to thy handes Thou Bishop howe haste thou visited thy diocesse what Parsons what Vicares haste thou admitted Thou Archedeacon howe often haste thou visited séene euery curate to do his duty how hast thou redressed al enormities and slaunders within thy iurisdictiō Thou parson thou vicare thou curate how hast thou fed thy flock with good ensamples of charitie vertuous liuing with kéeping of hospitality to thy power by preching holsome doctrine in reuerently ministring my Sacramentes Thou king howe haste thou ruled thy Realme What lawes lawes haste thou made for the setting forth of my glorye for the extirpation of heresyes for maintenaunce of equitie for punishment of wronge for prouision that thinges may be solde at a competent price that couetous men make no dearth to their condemnation when I geue plentie Thou Lorde howe haste thou gouerned vnder thy prince Thou man of woorship howe haste thou indeuoured to haue quietnes kepte and the princes lawes to be obeyed Thou Iustice how haste thou ministred right indifferently to all persons Thou Maior or head officer in anye Citie or Towne howe haste thou kept thy selfe cléere from periurie howe haste thou séene good order obserued and al ydlenes dissolute maners to be banished Finally thou whatsoeuer officer or Magistrate thou be howe haste thou regarded the common wealth and preferred it afore thy priuate lucre or commoditie O that these thinges were considered for as sure as God liueth these accomptes will he call vpon straytly None shall escape Cui multum datur as S. Gregorie sayeth multum ab eo quaeretur He that hath muche geuen him shall make a great accompt thereof and muche shall be of him required And at that daye percase he shall recken him selfe moste fortunate and happie that had leaste in this worlde and least to doo And he peraduenture moste infortunate that hath moste to doo in this worlde vnlesse he order it well vnlesse he order it righteously iustly and ordinately Nowe good Reader thou haste hearde that Christe sayeth Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ouibus suis And to put thée out of doubt who is this good shepherde he sayeth Ego sum pastor bonus cognosco oues meas cognoscunt me meae I am the good shepherde which will geue my lyfe for my shéepe by my death to purchase thē lyfe that as I will rise and dye no more so shall they after their bodily death arise at the last day neuer to dye any more but to liue alwayes with my father and me I knowe my shéepe not all onely that they be mine but I so knowe them for mine that I wil be their succour in their tribulations I will strengthen them in their persecutions I will receaue them into my ioye and glorie I knowe them and they knowe me This is then required of the shéepe that they knowe their shepherde Thrée properties must be in euery man or woman that shall haue this worthy name to be called a shéepe of Christe The firste propertie is that our Sauiour sayeth that his shéepe doo know him This knowledge haue Christes shéepe of him that by his godhead he is their father by his manhood he is their brother and by his benefites he is their louing lorde and master They knowe it is he and none other that hath made their peace with God his father Ipse enim est pax nostra for he is our peace Ad Ephesios secundo he hath gotten vs forgeuenes of our sinnes he hath deliuered vs out of the bondage of the deuill he hath purchased heauen for vs he is to vs Turris fortitudinis the Tower of our strength The seconde propertie of Christes shéepe is to heare their shepherdes voyce and to geue no eare to the voyce of any straunger You will aske me peraduenture how you shoulde heare him which although he be verily and bodily héere with vs in the Sacrament of the Aultare yet in his humane forme he is ascended vp into heauen and sitteth on the right hande of his father Wherevnto I aunswere that we must heare his voyce sounding by the mouth of his Churche which is the verye true spouse of Iesus Christe Quam sanctificauit mundans eam lauacro aquae in verbo vitae whom he hath sanctified and purified with the bath of water in the worde of life vt exhiberet ipse sibi gloriosam ecclesiam non habentem maculam aut rugam to make it a glorious Churche to himselfe without spot or wrinkle Ad Ephesios 5. If we heare the church we heare Christe for as the holy Bishop and Martyr Irenaeus writeth in the fortie Chapter of his thirde booke Vbi ecclesia ibi spiritus vbi spiritus dei illic ecclesia omnis gratia spiritus autem veritas where the Churche is there is the spirite of God and where the spirite of God is there is the Churche and all grace and the spirite is truth Wherefore as the same godly father writeth in the forty and thrée Chapiter of his fourth booke we be bounde to be obedient to the Prelates of the Churche his qui successionem habent ab Apostolis to them that haue their successiō from the Apostles Reliquos verò sayth he qui absistunt a principali successi quocunque loco colliguntur suspectos habere quasi haereticos oportet As for all other that go away from the principall succession we ought to suspect them as heretikes These are Ireneus wordes in the place nowe alleaged And Christ sayth him selfe Qui vos audit me audit He that heareth you heareth me Wherfore if we wil heare Christ as his father hath commaunded vs Ipsum audite Heare him Math. 17. then must we heare the Churche The Churche is our moste holy Mother whom we ought to haue in great reuerence and to commit our selues wholly vnto her to heare her and like obedient children to do what she biddeth vs What the Churche holdeth in matters of religion that must we holde what the Churche prescribeth it is our duetie to folowe what the Churche forbiddeth
heresyes of Valentine and suche other whose wordes taken out of his fourth Chapter of the sayde booke I will briefely rehearse Si quae de aliqua modica quaestione disceptatio esset nonnè oporteret in antiquissimas recurrere ecclesias in quibus Apostoli conuersati sunt ab eis de praesenti quaestione sumere quod certum re liquidum est If any controuersie shoulde be of any question were it neuer so litle must it not be méete to haue our recourse vnto the moste auncient Churches in the which the Apostles were conuersant and of them to receaue the playne certaintie thereof It foloweth Quid autem si neque Apostoli quidem Scripturas reliquissent nobis nonnè oportebat ordinem sequi traditionis quam tradiderunt his quibus committebant ecclesias But what if the Apostles left nothing written of that matter must we not folow the tradition of them to whose gouernaunce they committed the Churches Here haue you the minde of Irenaeus who was néere vnto Christ his time for as S. Hierome testifyeth in an Epistle to one Theodora he was Disciple to Papias who was S. Iohn the Euangelists scholler He woulde haue men to be taught of Christe of his Apostles and their successours and not of euery one which rashelye and without lawfull authoritie taketh vpon him to be a teacher Christen men should be obedient to christen ordinaunces and folowe that doctrine that is alowed by them that are lawfully called and haue the censure of doctrine committed to them Such were the Apostles called and put in authoritie by Christe Suche were they to whom these agayne gaue the charge ouer anye faythfull congregation Suche are all they which haue so from time to time béene lawfully called by them that haue power to put others in authoritie and so succéeded in due order els Quomodò praedicabūt nisi mittantur Howe shall they preache except they be sent as it is written in the tenth to the Romanes and sent by them which haue authoritie to sende Did not S. Paule for that purpose leaue Titus in Crete Did he not also geue Timothie charge to laye handes to quickelye on no man To these that be thus lawfullye ordeyned and called to haue cure and charge of soules ye are bounde to geue an eare by these ye must be ruled in matters of religion as obedient children to their spiriritual fathers And this biddeth S. Hierome writing to Nepotian Esto subiectus pontifici tuo quasi animae parentem suspice Be subiect to thy Bishop reuerence him as thy soules father The same lesson teacheth Chrisostome in an Homilye De recipiendo Seueriano where he beginneth thus Sicuti capiti corpus cohaerere necessarium est ita ecclesiam sacerdoti principi populum As it is of necessitie that the body cleaue to the head so it is likewise of necessitie that the congregation cleaue to their Priest and spirituall ruler and the people to their prince And within a fewe wordes after he alleageth for the confirmation of this matter the Apostle writing thus to the Hebrewes in the thirtenth Chapter Obedite praepositis vestris obtemperate eis quia ipsi peruigilant pro vobis quasi pro animabus vestris rationem reddituri Obeye them that haue the ouersight of you and doo as they would haue you for they watch for your sakes as they which shall geue accoumptes for your soules This obedience doth our Sauiour require of all men saying Qui vos audit me audit He that heareth you heareth me This obedience to Christes Churche hath continued throughout all Christendome time out of minde And if the authoritie of the learned and holye fathers ought to beare swaye and preuayle as of right it ought to doo in déede Arrogantium enim hominum est maiorum suorum authoritatem aspernari se illis ingenio vel sapientia anteponere For it is the maner and propertie of proude arrogant persons to contemne the authoritie of their elders and to preferre themselues before themin wit or learning If the consent of all christen Regions should be regarded probabilia sayth Aristotle in the first Chapter of the firste booke of his Topikes quae videntur omnibus vel plurimis Those things are probable which all men or at the least the most part doo iudge to be so If the long continuaunce of time must be of importance In his enim as witnesseth S. Hilarie vpon the hundred and eyghtéene psalme tanquà m in coelo verbum dei permanet in quibus hoc verbum non offenditur In thē doth the word of God abide among whom that worde is not offended If these thrée I saye The authoritie of the learned Fathers The common consent of christian Regions The long continuaunce of time may be a sufficient testimonie for the veritie we haue the true Gospell and the true sense of it Our religion is the very christian religion The order of Ceremonyes that the Catholike Churche doth vse is the right order Our fasting and praying is according to the Scriptures Our Church is the true and lawfull spouse of Christ from the which as many as seperate them selues they are no shéepe of Christes folde they are reprobate persons they are the children of Beliall they are ympes of hell You know what order your fathers kept howe they liued and howe they beléeued You are not ignoraunt howe you haue béene brought vp instructed and trained in the lawes of Christe Whosoeuer goeth about to infringe or breake any part of that godly order of that auncient custome and laudable vsage he is an heretike an enemye to God a murtherer to mannes soule a disturber of the common wealth a subuerter of all honest discipline and therfore moste vnwoorthy to liue among men I haue hearde read and séene manye thinges yet can I not reade heare or sée any worlde more contaminate and proue to all kinde of vices then this our age is And howbeit afore our dayes haue béene in all times and ages men and women verye vitious and monstrous in their liuing yet then vertue was vertue and vice was vice But nowe in our corrupt time we haue lost the true names and vse of all thinges and vertue with vs is taken for vice and contrarily vice is coumpted for vertue They that be studious of modestie obseruers of temperancie and louers of sobrietie they be nowe a dayes called Pinchepennyes and suche that hunger droppeth out of their noses If any be vertuous folowers of the Catholike which is the true religion they be called Phariseys Papists The discrete mā he is called an hipocrite the small talker a foole and an ignorant person On the other side they that leade their liues in all kinde of ryote they be called hansome men men of the right making and suche as can tell howe to kéepe honest mennes companye Agayne the statelyer that one goeth the higher that he looketh and the stouter and malapertlier that he speaketh the more is
much to say as if she meant thus I see many sheperdes in these mountains which haue great aboundance of sheepe I see those of the Romane Church I see Donatistes I see Nouatians or to speake of our time I see one flocke folowe Luther another flocke folowe Zuinglius another folow Caluin another the Anabaptists another the Sacramentaries and so forth diuers others of whom when I demaunde particulerly Whose is this flocke they doo al aunswer me It is of Christ and euery one saieth this is the Catholike Churche euery one doeth saye that he is his felowe that is to saye as touching the guyding of his flock Now it is not possible that they doo all teache the truth considering howe they vary amonge them selues therfore I do desire thee to tell me where thou doest rest thy selfe at noone dayes that is as much to saye teache me which is the true Catholike Churche which doth celebrate the true misterie of the Crosse which is the place where thou wast nayled at noone dayes being nayled both handes and feete Heare nowe the aunswer of Iesus Christe If thou doest not know the place where I rest O moste beautifull among all women folowe thou the pathe that thy flocke hath made before thee setting thy tabernacle or thy lodge hard by the tabernacle of thy Shepherds If we well note and vnderstande this aunswere it will learne vs that that shal suffise to kepe vs frō rūning euer astray The sense is this O thou Christian which art troubled in thy conscience not knowing because of so many heresyes which waye thou shalt goe or howe thou shalt decerne the true religion from other false doctrine take my counsaile the which is to folowe steppe by steppe the flocke that went before thee If that a thousande or two thousand sheepe runne ouer a plaine those that come afterwarde doo not they know well the path that is made before them doo not they discerne the waye that the firste went Yes surely although there be no Sheperd to guide them And if thou doest aunswere that this doth not suffise for I doo see diuers pathes I see the pathe of the Caluinistes the path of the Lutherans and the pathe of those of the Romane Churche but yet doo not I knowe which flocke I should chose To this I answere thus Set thy Tabernacle by the Tabernacle of the Shepherdes and of thy Pastors I mean that I woulde haue thee to leane to that flocke that can leade thee from age to age and from yere to yere vnto the Crosse of Iesus Christ on the which he was nailed at noone dayes and there it is where thou oughtest to quiet thy selfe and thy conscience Then to beginne If thou doest aske the Caluinistes Where is the true fayth the which as they saye doeth consiste in the true preaching of the worde of the Lorde and in the administration of the Sacramentes according to the institution of Iesus Christe they will aunswere It is at Geneua the Lutherans will aunswere At Wittemberge and the Anabaptistes will aunswere at Monasterium The Vbiquitaries they will aunswere At Tubinge and the Trinitaries At Petricone and so consequently of the rest And then pursue and aske farther where it was twentye yeares agone They will say in the saide Cities but if thou come to demaunde of them wher it was a hundred or two hundred yeres agone if they are ashamed anye thing at all to lye they will not aunswere at all for there is none of them that can deny but that Luther who beganne to preache his newe Gospell the yere 1517. was the firste beginner of all these troubles the father of all those that teache this reformed religion Then is it farre frō that place where thy frend was nailed at middaie or where he was crucifyed aboue 1500. yeres agone before the newe Churche was dreampt of And therefore thou maiest easelye perceaue that this flock cannot leade thee to the place that thou doest desire and consequently that is not the flocke that we shoulde folowe Then let vs com vnto the Romane Church demaund where was this flock an hundred yeres agone They wil aunswere thee In Fraunce Spaine Englande Germanie and so ouer all Christendom And if thou aske where it was 500. yeres agone they will say In the saide places And a thousande yeres agone likewise and likewise a thousande and fiue hundred yeres agone This flocke then will not leaue thee by the waye as the others doo but it will leade thee vnto the very time of the death and passion of Christe by continuaunce of one doctrine and by succession of pastors which Salomon doth call the tabernacle of the Shepherdes And therefore this is the place where thou must seeke thy Tabernacle and quiet thy conscience to the ende that thou be not a lost sheepe and that thou be not readie to turne at euery blast of newe doctrine that our newe Coggers of the Scriptures doo set forth to deceaue the simple sheepe ¶ The .5 Chapter THe like vnto this is confirmed by Vincentius Lyrinensis of whom we haue spoken before for he saith in the booke aboue named that that person ought to be estemed a true Catholike that hath nothing in greater commendation then the true religion of the Catholike faith yea although it were the wisest man in the world and the greatest Philosopher the fairest speaker that euer was if he came to speake against the olde doctrine that hath bene taught vs of our forefathers time out of mind we ought saith he to disdaine that learned Clarke with all his philosophie cunning and to hold our selues to the auncient opinion of the Churche the which hath continued vntill this present day And if that nowe one should bring a newe doctrine that was not hearde of before contrary vnto that that hath euer ben taught in the Churche say that it doth not apperteine vnto the state of the Catholike faith that it is no religion but a temptatiō And therfore if we wil be saued we ought to liue and dye in that faith that hath continued by succession of Pastours euen from Christes time vnto these dayes S. Irenaeus a very famous writer in his fourth booke against heresies the. 65. Chapter who was within a fewe yeres of the Apostles Archbishop of Lions writeth the veri like saying that the true faith and the true knowledge of God is the doctrine of the Apostles and the auncient estate of the Church throughout the world according to the succession of those Bishops vnto whom only the Apostles committed the custodye of the Churche throughout the worlde the which sayeth he is come to vs This sayde Irenaeus doeth write in his thyrde booke and seconde Chapiter that he and his felowes did withstande the Valentinians and the Marcionistes which were great heretikes by the traditions of the Apostles that is to saye the doctrine not written but receued from age to age of the Apostles and so continued till
Anotomie of the Masse at my request make another of the ministerie of your congregation If you should see such another as Apelles that would paint a man and that he had drawen his head and without painting the rest of his bodye he had set his feete vnder his eares what would you say to suche a Table Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici Would you not thinke that he was a simple painter or els a great Iester Euen so doo you deserue that one should laugh at youre ministerie For you will ioyne youre Churche if it may be so called vnto the Churche of the Apostles without setting forth any members betweene them You take but scant measure when you will cut of al the Bishops Pastors and doctors that haue bene from the Apostles time til our dayes they being the members that folowe the head of the Churche This maye well be called a newe Religion or to say the truth it is a meere presumption to flye without winges or to clymbe without a ladder And I say to you againe that this is not the waye to folowe the Counsell of the great Shepherde that I mentioned before who doth say to vs that if we will not misse the way of the Catholikes we ought to folow the flocke of those shepe that haue gone before vs that is to saye that we should recken by succession the Pastors that haue succeeded in continuance of one kind of doctrine the which as we haue shewed the Catholike Churche doth and hath euer done ¶ The .12 Chapter AS touching the rest you haue accustomed in your ministerie to vse the imposition or laying on of hands and you saye that it is an auncient and honest Ceremonie In this you say the truth For as we reade of great antiquitie this Cerimonie hath beene vsed aswell in the olde lawe as in the lawe of grace And vnto that did redounde the imposition of handes laid vpon the Wether that was brought to the immolation of the Sacrifice of Moyses lawe to declare that those that are ordeined vnto the seruice of God and vnto the ministerie of the Church ought to retaine the like Ceremonie so the Israelites did laye their handes vppon the Leuites and Moyses likewise did laye his handes vpon Iosua whē he was made a captain of the Israelites who did represent the Church of Christ The apostles haue vsed the like as we find wher we read that S. Peter and S. Iohn did lay their handes vpon the Christiā people of Samaria S. Paule vpon the Ephesians and likewise the Apostles vpon the seuen Deacons vpon S. Paule and Barnabas S. Paule doeth admonishe Timothe not to despise the grace that he had receued by the impositiō of handes that he should set forth the gifte of God that he had receiued with the imposition of the handes of S. Paul vpō him He doth likewise cōmaunde him not to vse this impositiō of hāds without discretiō to the end that he do not cōmunicat with the sin of another Caluin according to these authorities in his institutiō booke Ar. 8. ca. 50. of faith doth cōmaund the like to be vsed in his Churche It doth appere saith he that the Apostles haue vsed no other Ceremonie in the vocation to the ministery but this imposition of handes Now I thinke that thei tooke this custom of the Iewes who did present vnto god by the imposition of hands that that they wold blesse cōsecrate After this sort Iacob Gen. 48. whē he would blesse Ephraim and Manasses he laide his handes vpon their heades Our Sauiour did the like vppon the litle children when he did praye Math. 19. And as I thinke it was all to one ende ordeined in the lawe and therefore the Apostles by the imposition of handes did signifye that they did offer vnto God him that they did receaue into the ministerie althoughe they did vse it likewise with those vnto whom they did distribute the visible giftes of the holy Ghost How so euer it be they haue vsed this solemnitie as many times as they did ordeyne any body to the ministerie of the Churche as we see by example aswell touching the Pastours and doctours as the Deacons Now although there be no special commaundement as touching the imposition of handes yet notwithstanding seeing that we reade that the Apostles did vse it continuallye that which they did vse so diligently ought to be vnto vs as a precept And surely it is a profitable thing to set forth to the people the dignitie of the Ministerie by suche a Ceremonie and to make him know that is thus ordeyned minister that he apperteyneth no more to himselfe but that he is dedicated to the Seruice of God and of his Churche c. Thus seing that Caluin doth confesse the imposition of handes to be so necessary for the ministerie of the Churche and that it is approued aswell by the lawe of nature as by the lawe of Moyses or of the Gospell Answere vs then who was he that laide his handes vpon Caluin to safe conduct the charge of his conscience You will aunswere me Zuinglius or Oecolampadius or the others of his time And if by chaunce one would be so curious as to pursue this demaund mounting a litle higher I meane to know of whom these abouenamed haue receued their blessing and imposition of handes I thinke you will not name the Apostles if you will not haue euery man to laughe at your follye for there is none so simple but doeth knowe that they died aboue 1500. yeres agone And seing that your patriarch hath made vs so goodly an oration as touching this imposition of handes affirming it to be necessarye both by the lawe of Nature the lawe of Moyses and the lawe of Grace howe doeth it come to passe that Zuinglius hath not vsed it to confirme his ministerie ¶ The .13 Chapter If that the good doctour S. Ciprian had bene in these our dayes might he not well haue saide against youre Schollers that which he did write against Nouatus there needed no other but in steede of Nouatus to put in Caluinus or Zuinglius et nomine mu tato de vobis fabula narrabitur Seing that the saide S. Ciprian doth holde affirme that Nouatus oughte to be accompted as no Bishop because he succeded no bodie but rather that he did make himselfe a Bishop without anye imposition of handes Then to what purpose I praye you are ye of the opinion that Caluin and Zuinglius are such faithful ministers considering that they are as far from prouing that confirmation of their ministerie as euer was Nouatus You wil answer me that you haue no nede of the impositiō of hāds of the Papists superstitious Idolaters Infidels But this maketh your cause neuer the better for if you are so scrupulous by nature that it goeth against your cōsciences to come to kneele to our Bisshops you shuld I say in times
eyght of Genesis where God doth saye Increase and multiplye and replenishe the earth If you doo saye that this is a foolishe opinion I confesse it to be so but that very Churche which hath condemned this heresye of theirs doeth likewise condemne yours When the deuil determined to fight with Christe he thought he could in no wise ayde him selfe so well as with the holy Scripture perswading him that the best way for him to shewe him selfe to be the sonne of God was to breake his necke castinge himselfe downe from the Pinnacle of the TemTemple And he did alleage this text saying as it is written That the Angels of God shoulde so preserue him that he shoulde not hurt his foote against the stones folowing that Dauid saide And if I should go about to write al the places of Scripture that the heretikes haue alleaged to mainteyne their horrible errours I thinke surely I might make a bigger booke then the Bible ¶ The .24 Chapter YF that the sonne doo hate the father or the father the son or if the wife doo hate the husband or the husband the wife they may take the word of God yll vnderstoode to defende their cause for he doth cōmaunde vs that we shall hate those that are neerest vnto vs as vnder the payne of not entring into Paradise if we doo contrarye But this ought to be vnderstoode that we ought not to preferre the loue of any creature howe neere soeuer they be to vs before the loue of god In like maner he that will saye that we shoulde not eate of the blud of those beasts that ar smothered he may soone alleage the Scripture for it which doeth saye That at the Councell that the Apostles helde at Ierusalem being present the holye Ghoste this ordinance was made as we reade in the .15 Chapter of the Actes And if that one should take in hande to bring all the places of scripture that the heretikes haue alleaged to mainteyne their opinions I dare boldly saye that he shall fynde it an endlesse piece of worke For amonge so great a number of false prophetes there hath bene very fewe or almoste none but they haue sought to mainteyne their opinions by Scripture drawing the places as it were by violence to a depraued and a corrupte sense being this the maner of interpreting of the Scriptures called at this day the pure worde of God by those that haue professed to be as long as they liue enemies to the trueth The learned and auncient Doctour Epiphanius in his fyrst booke against heresyes doeth alleage as touchinge this matter a verye familier example saying that if some good Caruer had made the Image of a king adorned with manye Iewelles and precious stones and that another should come afterward and should take the same Iewels precious stones and make with them the Image of a Foxe or a Dogge and that he should saye Beholde here is the Image of a king woulde not euery body laugh him to scorne and say that he did it in mockerie or els that he were mad Yes surely for although they be the same Iewelles and that very stuffe wherewith was made the Image of the kinge yet because that this other workeman hath taken them awaye and fashioned them after another sorte it ought no more to be called the Image of a king but the picture of a foxe or a dogge Euen thus is it with the holye Scriptures whiche were lefte vs by the Apostles and Prophetes for to paint in riche coulours the Image of the great kinge of glorye but seeinge that you take those precious stones from the Image of this kinge and doo appropriate them vnto the Image of a foxe making them serue to cloake youre heresyes withall it ought no more to be called the worde of God nor the holye Scripture but the woorde of menne and false doctrine And therefore yf you will haue it to beare the fyrste name you must set it in the fyrst estate that is to saye that it ought to be interpreted by him that did firste indite it It is not by the will of man sayth S. Peter epist. 2. Ca. 1. That the prophecie was brought but by the inspiration of the holy Ghoste that holye persons haue spoken c. I knowe well that you attribute the intelligence of the Scripture vnto your Sinagog But howe shall we beleue that the holy Ghoste doth dwell more in you then in all the vniuersall Churche which hath continued from the passion of Christ vntil this time I pray doo so much as aunswere me if you my masters be the lodging of the holye Ghoste where did he make his residence before ye were borne I know already your aunswere the which is In the heartes of the faithfull And where were those faythfull Marye where the holy Ghoste was Answer thus still and ye shal be sure that ye shall not be ouertakē for it is as good as to playe Handie dandie and so ye shall accomplishe the olde Prouerbe the which sayeth It is as farre from Douer to Caleys as from Caleys to Douer But to the ende that all the worlde may see the great hazarde of eternall damnation that those runne into that are so ready to beleue euery body thinking that they are assured of their health forasmuche as those that seduce them say beholde there is the Scripture it is the pure worde of God and the verye Gospell I will set forth some heresyes that haue bene in times past condemned by the Catholike Churche the which notwithstanding haue bene aswell yea and more largelye confyrmed by Scripture then you can confyrme anye of yours ¶ The .25 Chapter THe Catholike Church continually hath faythfully holden and doeth hold that our Sauiour Iesus Christ is true God and man hauing taken naturall fleshe in the wombe of the virgin Marye whollye like vnto ours as touching the corporal essence that is to saye excepted onelye sinne the which bodye he did fourme of the verye fleshe and substaunce of his mother by the operation of the holye Ghoste who hath wrought so notable and excellent a woorke that two contrary or diuers natures are miraculouslye ioyned and vnited in one person without confusion or conuersion of the one substaunce into the other but by coniunction and vnion of them both called by the diuines Hypostatique This doctrine hath euer beene receaued and holden by the Churche in equall degree of trueth and reuerence with the rest of the poyntes of religion which nowe you seeke to abolishe And notwithstanding this diuers Ministers and Preachers deriued from the sacred consistoryes of Valentinus Photinus Manes Theodorus Nestorius Apollinaris Eutichus Macharius Eutiocheus besydes a great number of other famous heretikes that I cannot here name haue sought to teache the contrarye saying that they were sent from him that sent the Apostles to refourme the Churche not by the Traditions of men which you call Papisticall but by the pure worde of god For euen like you
my masters did Valentinus and his felowes begin the refourmed Churche taking vpon them the correction of all the Magistrates and Fathers in times past saying that they did abuse the people because that they taught that Iesus Christe had taken fleshe and bloud of the Virgin Marye saying that this was a great errour the whiche ought to be refourmed and that the people shoulde beleeue that he brought his bodye from heauen and that he caused it to passe through the wombe of the virgin Marye as the water doth through the chanell This Gospell was very straunge yet the saide Valentinus did not want Scripture as you haue to confyrme it interpreting it euē as you do interprete here in Fraunce He did alleage for his text the thirde of Iohn where Christe doth saye No person is ascended to heauen but he that did descende from heauen And therefore did he mainteine that seing Christ is in heauen and descended from heauen that he tooke no fleshe of the virgin Marye Nestorius another notable heretike did linke his Gospel to Apollinaris opinion in this case seperating the manhood from God and saying that the sonne of man ought not to be called GOD for seeing saide Apollinaris that this man is descended from heauen it doth folowe that he tooke no fleshe of the virgin and besydes this Christe saith I am descended from heauen not to doo my will but the will of my father Here he doeth not speake as one that is God for if it were so he woulde haue no other will but the will of his father and so he doth speake like a mā And he sayeth that he is descended from heauen for the which cause this same Valentinus did take the conclusion of this Gospel to his aduantage for the third authoritie that is written in the fyrste to the Corinthians where S. Paule sayth the fyrst manne is of earth earthlye the seconde is of heauen heauenly The which passage or place is as fyt to serue Valentinus opinion as al the places that you and all those that holde your opinion can alleage ¶ The .22 Chapter ANother Minister likewise called Apollinaris folowed after these sent by the said master and yet according to his saying he did preache the pure word of God affirming that the Churche ought to be reformed which had beleued that the two natures were conteined in Iesus Christe that the true religion was to beleeue as it is written in the first of Iohn that the word was in deede becom flesh or cōuerted into fleshe And to confyrme this he did alleage the said place wher S. Iohn doth say And the worde was made flesh whē the Catholikes did reply against him saying that that verbe or word tooke fleshe and not as touching the conuersion of one substance into another he did fortifie his Gospell with another text where S. Iohn doth write of the mariage at Canaa where the water was chaunged into wine that is to saye as touching the verye substaunce of the water which was turned into wine Euen so sayth he that it became at the very Incarnation of Christe alleaging that that we haue sayde And the word was made fleshe Arrius whiche was the moste famous heretike that euer hath beene did pretende to verifye an other Gospell and his was that our Sauiour Christe had not taken at his Incarnation a perfecte soule as other men haue but that he had only a body and that his diuinitie did supplye the absence of his soule Of this opinion was Apollinaris Theodorus Mossnestenus and Nestorius came after and they did blame the Catholike Churche because it did teache the sayde vnion called as I haue sayde Hipostaticque that is to saye of the two natures in one person And they did alleage for their argument a very subtill reason the which was that God did inhabite within the body of our sauiour as he did within a Temple that is to say by grace and not by being vnited together And therefore euen as it were a great follye to say that God is a Temple that so it is to saye that God is a manne This Gospell did seeme verye newe yet did not they want Scripture to mainteyne it and that more plainer then euer I coulde see anye place to mainteyne your heresyes Christe did saye vnto the Iewes Vndoe this Temple and in three dayes I will builde it againe He meant it by the Temple of his bodye saith S. Iohn Then the bodye of Iesus Christe is the Temple of god god is not his tēple See whether this be not a notable argument to deceaue the simple man that is not vsed to reade howe the doctours expounde these hard places And moreouer they did alleage S. Paule in the fyrst to the Colossians where he doth saye that the plenitude or fulnes of diuinitie doth dwell in Iesus Christe corporally they doo alleage this place greatly to their purpose to proue that God is a Temple that is to saye by grace and not being vnited For the thirde place they take the. 8. of Iohn where Christe doth saye He that hath sent me is with me and he hath not left me alone And therefore Theodorus his felowes did conclude that there was no more vnion betweene the diuinitie and humanitie of our Sauiour then there is betweene God and vs. Of the which S. Paul doth speake where he sayeth He that is ioyned to God is made one spirite with him ¶ The .27 Chapter IT doeth suffise that one maye see by these felowes howe soone one that is yll disposed may alleage scripture in corrupt sense to mainteyne suche heresyes as these the whiche I will not stay to confute for thankes be to God they doo not reigne nowe for they haue perished and their auauthours as you shall and your folowers if ye doo not repent in time And besydes this our doctours haue fullye aunswered by textes of Scriptures these olde heresyes as you may see in al the auncient ecclesiasticall writers and confuted them not onelye with pithye reasons but with the true worde of God and the authoritie of diuers generall Councels And if I haue noted here some part both of their authours and of them to shew how they did seeke to confyrme their damnable opinions I doo it only to warne the simple people that they shoulde not so soone geue eare to false Pastors which haue nothing in their mouthes but the holye Scripture and the pure worde of God couering the cuppes of their poyson with the golde and pretious stones which they haue taken from the Image of the eternall kinge to painte those subtill Foxes that will leade them all to damnation And therefore in the name of God I doo desyre those that are not much vsed to reade the Scriptures nor to heare how the Churche and the Doctours doo expounde the harde places to beware howe they reade them for feare of falling into errour taking onely the letter which manye times hath a contrarye sense
saye that we oughte to folowe those that conforme them selues moste vnto the pure worde of God that will come to one ende for if I doo demaunde of you how we shall know whiche do conforme theym selues moste vnto the truthe you aunswere me that it must be done by the grace of the holye Ghoste sent by the Lorde yf with a true hearte he is inuocated of the faythfull Seeing you knowe so well the way how to agree together howe comes it to passe that you haue not vsed it this fortie or fiftie yeres which are the precinctes of the time since your auncient Churche beganne seeing that you haue assembled so manye times together why haue ye not prayed vnto the Lorde to sende the spirite of truth to make peace amongst his Apostles I thinke that you are not so vnshamfaste that you will denye the quarels and debates that haue risen amonge you I doo not saye in light wordes but in great battailes in rayling processes in horrible excommunications sent from the Churches of the Lutherans vnto the Caluinists and from the Caluinists vnto the Lutherans as I haue set foorth at large in the booke that I made of the Sacrament and therefore ye are greatlye ouerseene that ye haue not inuocated the spirite of the Lorde as Caluin hath taught you in his Cathechisme to the ende that you may come to some accorde ¶ The .29 Chapter NOwe to turne againe to our former purpose if it were so that of our owne free deliberation we were minded to forsake our Catholike religion the iniurious disputations that you vse amonge your selues were sufficient to make vs to suspende oure iudgement without leaning to anye of both parties vntill that we coulde see you more resolute in youre opinions being the hardest matter the knowing in what countrey the residence shoulde be kepte for that matter You haue geuē absolute sentence saying that the Catholike Churche hath erred euen from the Apostles time vnto this present in praying to God for the soules of those that are deade constituted in a thirde place called Purgatorye You shoulde me thinke at the least allowe a thirde place although it be not that to receaue the soules of those whose consciences you haue so troubled that they knowe nowe neither what is their faith nor of what religion they should be for whē they reade Luthers workes they are Lutherans whē they meete with Caluins workes they are Caluinists and at the last they do not know which side in deede is the truest being both false and therfore I think it were good that a sequestration were made that neyther God nor the Deuill might haue parte of their soules till there were a farther inquirye made of suche a number of sects and that some good and honest arbitratour might geue iudgement as concerning which partie hath moste right And in the meane while I beseeche God to open so the eyes of the people that they maye see both youre errours and their owne and that through the aboundaunce of their sinnes he permit them not to fall into an Heathenisme vnto the which you doo seeke to drawe them with so manye contrary Gospels ¶ The .30 Chapter IT doth appere well by that that I haue saide howe the assuraunce of your vocation to the ministerie is but founded vpon sande forasmuche as you doo seeke particulerly a contrary meaning euery one to his owne perticuler sense being not this the waye that an extraordinarye minister sent from God shoulde vse to confyrme his doctrine for this hath beene the custome of all olde heretikes as I haue alreadye sayde There is a verye great difference betweene setting foorth the Scripture to refourme ones religion to reforme ones conditions for when there is any questiō of the refourming of ones maners there is no neede to regarde whether the doctrine be newe or olde for as the Apostle sayth let euery man take it to his owne sense but when it is to be talked of as touching ones fayth the Catholike ought greatlye to beware of singuler interpretations and to holde them as very suspitious He ought to folowe the sentence that is holden and taught by the auncient Catholike Churche without making any accompt of all these new deuises for euen as when one will repaire an olde house he dares commit it to anye Mason although his cunning be but small but if the foundation must be touched he will seeke the best masters he can fynde Euen so when one will correct me for my euill life or conditions although that it be so that he that seeks to reforme me be not of the wisest of the worlde and that he alleage to me some place or figure of the Sceipture not altogether to the purpose yet all this ought to turne to me to one effect for I know his meaning although he cannot well expresse it the which is to haue me chaunge my naughtie life and to leaue my yll conditions But when he shall come to touche my fayth and to perswade me from that that all my auncetours did euer holde frō that that the Catholike Churche deriued from the Apostles hath holden and doth holde and from that that both the Scripture and the generall Councels and all the auncient doctours teache and affyrme In the repayre of this foundation I ought to trust none but euen the verye best I meane not one or two but all these that I haue named And now if you say that they maye all erre I praye remember the olde prouerbe that saith He is a foole that thinkes that he onely is wise and all the other fooles and that it is more agreable to reason that one onely should erre then one great multitude for as thei say commonly two eyes see more then one and fowre more then two ¶ The .31 Chapter OVr Sauiour Christe did approue his vocation after another sort thē you doo yours Searche saith he the Scriptures for they beare witnes of me he doth not say that they ar Iudges as you saye for you will haue none other arbitrator but the word of god You knowe that they are two different thinges to beare witnes and to be a Iudge yet the scriptures of the old Testament doo conteine not only the veritie of the doctrine of our Sauiour Christ but therwithall the very sufficient probation of his person to teache vs the true worde of God to ouerthrow destroy the whole kingdome of Sathan as it is plainlye seene by those that list to looke vppon the oracles of the olde patriarchs and Prophetes It is written in the third of Genesis that God saide vnto the woman that her seede shoulde breake downe the serpents head And likewise in the said booke ther is mentiō made of this diuine seede of Abraham in the. 15. and. 53. Chapters of Esay in the. 2. Psalme Dauid doth talke of it And in like maner Daniell Moyses Aaron with al the rest of the prophets in their sacrifices haue very
iust a quarell Did not Michaell Seruet who was once master Caluins derling rather desyre to suffer at Geneua then he wold confesse that Christe was God and yet notwithstanding his great patience or to say the truth deuillishe obstinacie cannot be sufficient to make him a Martyr nor to perswade you to beleeue his doctrine There is a certaine minister of the Lutherans called Ioachim Westphall who in a woorke of his doth mocke at Caluin who did vaunt that within these fyue yeres aboue an hundred had suffred death to sustayne the Gospell of Geneua he doth aunswer him at large prouing that the sect doctrin of the said place ought not to be approued for the multitude of false martyres for the Anabaptists whom he doth iustly condemne haue had of their sect a great many more for in lesse then three yeres there hath suffred a great number more thē euer there did suffer of Caluinistes in fyueteene And to conclude this matter the sayde Westfal doth say that the diuel hath his Martyrs euen as wel as god with whom like a good Sergeant he doth marche geuing the vauntward vnto the martyrs of the Caluenistes that haue suffered at Geneua So that if one demaund of the Lutherans whyther goe those that dye in the religion of Caluin of Beza or of the Anabaptistes they saye To the Diuel And if one demaund of the Caluenists in like maner Whither go the Anabaptists and the Lutherans they say in likewise To the diuel And who would put the like question to the Anabaptists I am assured they would say as the others To the Diuel For my part I beleeue you I assure you all three And seeing that ye agree so wel that one serue for an others harbēger we were very fooles if we should stay your passage but let you go al to the diuel for companie for I thinke if you were al gone our debates would cease and hel would be so ful that the diuel would long for no more ¶ The .33 Chapter THere is a certayne minister of the Lutherans called Heshusius the which within these three yeres hath made a booke agaynst Caluine Peter Boquin Theodore de Beza and Guliel mus Elcimalcius he sayth amongst other things that Carolstadius Zuen feldius Caluine and Beza doo shewe wel the vncertayntie of their fayth by the diuersities of opinions that there is amongst thē the which fault saith he doth proceede of this that they haue forsakē the true sense of the scripture to folowe the opinions of their owne heades And in that very booke the sayde Author doth giue the lye to Caluin because that in that he wrote agaynst the abouenamed Westphal he sayth that Martin Luther and his adherentes did acknowledge him as their brother the which thing he mainteynes to be false Thus seeing ye agree together like dogges and cattes and that al these sects haue confirmed their false doctrine with the shedding of their owne blood it is best to conclude as we haue said before That it is not the payne nor the torment that doth make the righteous martyr except we should say that diuers contrary messaungers are sent from one master the which is notoriously false for that good king from whom the truth doth come in deede hath so good a memorie that he doth neuer send contrary messangers but rather his faythful seruauntes doo al with one voyce and one accorde honour him as the father of our Sauiour Iesus Christe ¶ The .34 Chapter SOme of your godly sect to verifie that the vocation of your ministery doth come of God doo set before our eyes the holynes of those newe Christians that is to say how they neuer sweare but yea for yea and no for no that they do no wrōg to no man that they do neither rob nor steale but that they are cōtent with that that god hath sent thē that they ar very charitable to the poore then seeing that our Sauior doth say that one shal know the tree by the fruit we ought to cōfes sai they that the tree being good the fruit is good that is to say their religion is good seing that by the grace of god it doth produce such swete pleasant fruit I answer you first to this that our sauior doth not geue general rules but that that most commonly doth happen as when he sayth that of the abundāce of the hart the mouth speaketh woulde you affyrme by this that his meaning was vniuersally God forbid that he that is the author of al truth should meane so starke a lye Do you not remember what speach he did vse to the Phariseys when he said This people do honor me with their mouthes but their harts are farre from me you see that this sentence is contrarie to the other if you do not vnderstand it as I haue said that is to say that many times a mā doth vtter that that is in his hart as a Ruffian takes great pleasure to talke of quarels a proude person to talke of hautie enterprises a couetous man to talke of ryches or gaynes and so it is of al other sinnes But with al this a man may not affyrme truly that hypocrisie doth neuer reigne in their harts whose mouthes are ful of Gods word The Iudges of S. Susan had not they God and his lawes in their mouthes and the diuel in their hartes We haue a law said the Iewes and Pharisees agaynst Christ and according to this lawe giuen vs by Moyses he ought to dye The zeale of Iustice did sound in their mouthes and hatefull enuy did dwell in their hartes And therefore you see many times that man doth speake contrary to that that he thinketh and euen so it is of the sentence of our Sauiour whē he sayth that by the fruite one shall know the tree For many times naturally the fruite is good although the tree be worth nothing as the famous liues and workes of diuers heathen Philosophers doo witnesse of whom the holynes and scrupulositie of conscience was suche that I do beleeue assuredly that at the day of Iudgmēt a great number of Christians which leade Paynims liues wil be confounded with the example of those men that knew not god Thus of the first the fruite is good but the trees are worth nothing for their religion was false Idolatrous applying as S. Paul doth say the trueth of God to vnrighteousnes And as for the secōd the trees are good beeing graft vppon the true Catholique Religion but the fruites doo degenerate from the stocke ¶ The .35 Chapter IF that the sence of this Prouerbe be harde for you to disgest I am content to stay vntill your stomacke be somewhat better assuring myself that you can interprete it no waye vnto your aduauntage There is nothing more certaine then the good tree to beare good fruite if one doth not make him change his owne nature but if one doo graffe vpon it some Crabstocke
the best of the worlde yea whollye without spot or sinne as some of you doo affyrme yet were not they sufficient to moue vs to chaunge our religion nor to forsake that that our forefathers haue taught vs for although it be so that our Sauiour Christe was as iust and as innocent as any can be hath beene or euer shal be yet neyther his holy life nor the Scriptures that he did alleage to proue his comming by the authoritie of the Prophetes nor the testimonie of S. Iohn Baptist all these thinges together wer not sufficient to perswade the Iewes to forsake their old lawes and to receaue the Gospell without the testimonie of the great miracles that he did in their presence He doeth confesse this plainely where he sayth If I had not done in their presence the workes and miracles that neuer any had done they should haue no sin This sentence is moste notable and woorthy to be grauen in the heartes of all Catholikes to assure their consciences which are troubled with such diuersitie of opinions For although it were so that you my masters were the honestest men of the worlde sent from God to teache and preache a true doctrine yet shoulde we be excusable before God for not receauing of your commission euen as the Iewes had bene for not receuing of our Sauiour Christe if he had not done so manye miracles For we knowe no cause why you shoulde be more priuileged then Christe And seing that you haue shewed nothing to verifye it this waye and that the Scriptures make no mention of your vocation nor you shewe no miracles and that your liues are at the least as yll as ours what moues you to be so bolde and so vnshamefaced as to threaten vs with eternall damnation if we receaue not your hereticall doctrine the which is so full of discordes and diuisions that one maye easilye gather by this from whence it came and whither it doeth leade one although yee haue nothing in your mouthes but the Gospell the worde of the Lorde and as S. Augustine sayde vnto your semblables Sola personat apud vos veritatis pollicitatio I say no more at this time but that I beseeche God to drawe you as nere to vs as you are farre from vs and to inspire youre mindes to turne to the flock of Christ the which both to your owne harme and ours you haue forsaken FINIS ¶ An offer made by a Catholike to a learned Protestant wherein shall appere the difference betwixte the open knowen Churche of the Catholikes from the hidde and vnknowen congregation of the Protestants FIrste seeing it cannot be denyed that our Sauiour Christe before his departure and Ascension did commit the charge and gouernment of his Churche the testimonie of his word the truth of his Gospell the ministration of his Sacramentes to his Apostles and Disciples that not only for them selues but to their successors Bishops and priests to none other saying onely vnto them Euntes docete omnes gentes Goe ye and teache all people and nations of the worlde baptising them in the name of the father and of the sonne and of the holy ghoste teaching them to obserue and keepe all thinges which I haue commaunded you Further Thapostle S Paule being at Miletum in executing of his charge and gouernment gaue this admonition to the bishops and priestes there assembled before him saying Attendite vobis et vniuerso gregi Take hede vnto your selues and vnto the whole flocke of Christe in the which the holy ghoste hath ordeyned you bishops Regere ecclesiam dei to gouerne the church of God. And in the thirtenth Chapiter of his Epistle to the Hebrews he doth commaunde al other sortes of men without exception of Emperours kinges Queenes princes to obey their bisshops and priestes saying Obedite Praepositis vestris et subiacete eis ipsi enim peruigilant quasi rationem pro animabus vestris reddituri Obey your Prelates and doo what they appoynt you for they doo watche as men that shall render accoumptes for your soules Seeing that by the testimonies before alleaged it can not be denyed but that the charge and gouernment of Christe his churche the preaching of his doctrine the administration of his Sacraments was by him committed to his Apostles disciples and to all Bishops and priestes as Successors of them to plant christian fayth and religion in his catholike churche vniuersally throughout all nations coastes and quarters of the worlde Seeing this is by the playnnes of the sayde Testimonyes of suche an vndoubted truth that it cannot be denyed Nowe let the learned Protestant affyrming princes to be the supreme heades of the Church eyther shewe by some suche other like playne testimonyes of the scriptures that our Sauiour Christe did committe the chiefe charge and supreme gouernment of his Churche to Emperours kinges Queenes and princes to plant christian fayth religion in the same or that anye one of Christe his Apostles or disciples did conuert any people lande or countrey from their Idolatry Ethnike kinde of liuing to Christian fayth religion by preaching the doctrine of the Protestantes as of onely fayth to iustifye the contempt of good workes and that they be all vncleane in the sight of God the denyall of free will of the reall presence of Christes bodye in the holy Eucharist of the sacrifice of the moste blessed Masse the abolishing of Christe his Sacramentes of all grace and goodnes by them cōferred vnto vs then I shal yeelde and recant and not before Seconde Christe his Catholike Churche being on this wise planted by Thapostles disciples of Christe by Bishops and priests the successors of them had at all times a special care and regarde not onelye of preaching Gods worde but also of the preseruation of the same worde and Gospel by writing of the sacred Bible and holy Scriptures and did discerne iudge them from all other writinges prophane or authentique of all sortes What Churche hath had from time to time the custody of the sacred scriptures and moste safely hath preserued them for the necessary foode of Gods people and from the corruption of the aduersaries aswel Iewes and Gentiles as schismatikes and heretikes of all sortes but onely the common knowen Catholike Church of Christ When therefore the learned Protestantes shal be able to bring proufe to the contrarye that their priuate conuenticles and congregations were the firste bringers forth of this sacred Bible and the worde of God written the chiefe preseruers and defenders of the same in all times and ages from all Iewes Gentiles heretikes and schismatikes Then I will as I saide before reuolte and recant Thirde shew me good reason why ye protestants doo beleeue our catholike churche enfourming and telling you this to be the word of God written the true Bible and sacred Scriptures and doo refuse to credite her in the true sense and vnderstanding of the same Scripture she being
visible vnction Moyses himselfe was extraordinarilye called and sent of God approued by miracle as it appereth in the fourth Chapiter of Exodus And therfore the Apostle S Paule nameth Aaron and not Moises to signifye that all extraordinary vocations by miracles as Moyses was are nowe ceassed and that we must from hencefoorth be ordinarilye called by externall vnction as Aaron was When therfore the learned protestant shal be able to proue their iust and due vocation ordinarily or extraordinarilye to proceede of God and not onely of man I shall then yeelde and recant and not before Thirde signe token of false Prophetes heretikes and Schismatiks is that they being first departed from the catholike churche and secondarily not called doo forthwith al of them selues preache and teach contentiouslye and seditiously against the doctrine before time taught of the common knowen catholike churche of Christe as against the Sacraments of Christe his Churche by a flat denyall of manye of them against the reall presence of Christe his bodye in the holy Eucharist against the blessed sacrifice of the Masse propitiatorye both for the liue the deade against penaunce and worthy fruites therof by fasting watche prayer and all straightnes of life against vowes inuocation of Saintes prayer for soules departed and finally agaynst the churche it selfe flatlye denying that Christe hath here vpon the earth any Spouse or visible churche here to be heard speake perceaued or seene The Apostle S. Paule in admonition geuing vnto vs to beware of this sygne and token sayeth Doctrinis varijs et peregrinis nolite abduci Be not you led and caried awaye with these diuers and straunge doctrines so termed of Thapostle S. Paule because they are not agreing but contrary to the receaued and common knowen doctrine of Christ his catholike churche When therfore the learned Protestant sâ—al be able to proue that they and their congregations are not the raysers vp of these contentions and strifes by their preaching of these straunge doctrines but we that are members of the catholike Churche Then I will submit and recant and not before Fourth signe and token of false prophetes heretikes and schismatikes is Schisma in ecclesiam introducere To bring into the churche of Christe by their doctrine schisme diuision and seperatioÌ„ of one member from another and of the whole misticall body from the true heade Iesus Christe For whereas the health and saluation of Christe his flocke people doth moste chiefely consist in peace concorde and vnitie they therfore which by schisme doo deuide and disperse his flock and of one societie and felowship before do make many and diuers they innot sparing nor preseruing in vnitie the flock of Christe are become raueâ—â—ng wolues Thapostle S. Paule knowing the great daunger and hurt vprising of schisme doth moste humblye beseeche vs with all diligent circumspection to auoyde the same saying Obsecro vos fratres per nomen domini nostri Iesu Christi vt idipsum dicatis omnes et non sint in vobis schismata sitis autem perfecti in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia I beseeche you brethren by the name of our Lorde Iesus Christe that ye all say one thinge and that there be no schismes among you but be perfect in one minde and one meaning Nowe if the learned protestant shal be able to proue that wheras about the time of three score yeres and aboue we were al not onlye here in this Realme but vniuersallye in all other Realmes professing Christe of one Churche of one fayth and religion and of one vnitie therein if he shal be able to proue that this late schisme whereby we are so deuided and dispersed that some are become Lutherans some Zuinglians some Caluinists some Puritans and Anabaptists did proceede from vs and from the common knowen Catholike Church of Christe and not whollye from their priuate Churche and congregations and of the deceptfull and false doctrine by them preached and taught I shall then stay no longer but yeeld and recant and not before Fyfte signe and token of false prophetes heretikes and schismatikes is disobedience Et non obedire sed resistere eis qui praesunt in ecclesia dei And not to obey but resist those which doo beare rule and gouerne in the church of God of the which sort of men the Apostle S. Paule geueth vs warning saying Quemadmodum Iamnes et Mambres restiterunt Moysi ita et hi resistunt veritati homines corrupti meÌ„te reprobi circa fidem Like as Iamnes and Mambres did resist Moises euen so do these resist the truth being men of corrupt mind and reprobates in faith Now when the learned protestant shal be able to proue that this rebellion and disobedience to all Bisshops prelates and ecclesiasticall gouernours is to be found in the catholike churche and not in the priuate churche congregations of the protestantes Then I shall yeelde submit and recant and not before Sixte signe and token of false prophets heretikes and schismatikes is the ficklenes weak slippernes of errors heresies Quòd quaelibet haeresis prae catholicae fidei peepetua firmitate facile transit ac perit For that euerye heresye in comparison of the stabilitie and perpetual continuance and firmnes of the catholike fayth doth soone perish and passe away Thapostle S Peter in speaking of these false prophetes sayeth Magistri mendaces superducent sibi celerem perditionem et perditio eorum non dormitat These lying masters doo bring vppon them selues a quick and speedie ouerthrow and their destruction shall not be slacked nor slowed The truth of this testimonie is to be tryed by all sectaries and sortes of heretikes that euer haue bene as of the Nicolaites Arrians Donatists Maniches Pelagians Iouinists Nestorians Nouatians Sabellians and the rest of heretikes whose errors and heresyes being neuer so stoutly vpholdeÌ„ by Emperors kinges and princes yet by generall councels and censures of Christe his catholike churche they had in fyne their iust condemnation and ouerthrowe What shoulde I here make mention of the Lutherans and protestants of our time When the Lutherans here in this Realme haue taken their iust ouerthrowe already for the great desyre the protestants had to preferre the doctrine of the Oecolampadians Suinglians and Caluinists The Suinglians and Caluinists with the rest sectaryes of all sortes are nowe here in this Realme at the very neere and like poynte they being nowe readye to yeelde vp the ghoste and to tylte vp their heeles for the great desyre the common and baser sorte of the people haue to be Precisians and Puritans And they being winked at of the Magistrats there be no small number of all degrees and sortes of men that doo further and fauour them in this their attempt to the great increase of theÌ„ It cannot therefore be denyed but that all sectaryes and heresyes are on this wise mouing sitting and euer passing from one secte to another without any long time of continuance