the appearance of a visible Congregation can hardly bee imagined When our Sauiour had selected out his Apostles they then were termed by the name of a Flocke but yet by their Master they were called but a little flocke where the Rhemists do confesse that in the beginning it was little indeed At the death of Christ when his body hanged on the crosse for our sakes and his Disciples were all fled no man daring to shew himselfe Mary and Iohn and a fewe women were all the faithfull that now appeared vpon earth and afterward while the Apostles their followers walked very priuately or were assembled in a chamber the Priestes and Scribes and Pharisees were they who ruffled it in the streetes and bore the sway in the Temple so that if a weak body had enquired for the Church he might rather haue been directed to them who had the Law and the Altars and all sacred things in their custody then to any other When Steuen had been stoned and for feare of the persecution which was at Ierusalem the Disciples were all scattered besides the Apostles it may well be presumed that for a time they which remained in the citie where Steuen had lost his life did not walke very openly Truth it is that after these things the Church was better setled and the truth was more spread but yet neuer was there any such priuiledge bestowed vpon it but that in the dayes of persecution or some grieuous apostacy the faithfull might bee brought to a small visibilitie Our Sauiours wordes intend so much when alluding to the time of his second appearance to iudge the quicke and the dead he asketh Neuerthelesse when the Sonne of man commeth shall he find faith on earth as meaning that very little should then bee found in comparison of the Floodes and Ocean of iniquitie which euery where should abound But God to the end that he might not haue vs ignorant but warned before hand into what straights the Church should bee brought informeth vs by Saint Paul that the Lord shall not come except there first bee an apostacie or reuolt or falling away wherein Antichrist with great pride and disdaine should shew himselfe This is solemnly spoken of by the Apostle and by all both old and new intreating of it is obserued to some matter of great note that is to say some maine declining from somwhat Many of our Papists fearing to touch this sore which can in no case turne them to good would haue that interpreted to note nothing else but the slipping of diuers regions countries from their subiection to the Romane Empire But Gregory Martin and the other Rhemistes being ouercome with the euidence of truth are heere a little more honest then ordinary and speake to other purpose Indeed they cannot tell how it will be taken at other Papists hands that contrary to the custome of their fellowes in a matter of such moment they should giue way vnto vs and therefore they doe vse these words in vvay of excuse â— Be it spoken vnder the correction of Gods Church and all learned Catholiques But to the poynt concerning the Apostacie they deliuer this It is very like that this great defection and reuolt shall not bee onely from the Romane Empire but especially from the Romane Church and withall from most poynts of Christian Religion in the Margent it is and from most Articles of the Catholique Faith Heere they would haue vs take the Romish beleefe for the Christian Religion and Catholique faith but that deserueth a long pause we rather obserue out of them that this reuolt is in matter of faith and not onely from the Empire then which Glosse nothing can be truer Well then if there must bee so egregious an Apostacie it will follow that Antichrist so domineering as by the Apostle he is described will not bee negligent so to represse the publike seruice of God that it shall not carry any liuely head or countenance where hee hath to doe So that certainely our Rhemistes yeelding to this Exposition doe in substance confesse so much as that the apparancy of Gods Congregation in the time of the great defection must bee mightily ecclipsed Now the Lord to the end hee might establish his faithfull and arme them to expect this paucitie of beleeuers and inconspicuousnes of his Church and yet not be discouraged for that which should bee past present or to come And againe that there might bee no doubt in a matter of this moment letteth vs further know that the woman fled into the wildernesse where shee hath a place prepared of God It is not doubted of betweene the Romanists and vs but this Woman doeth represent the Church concerning whom being in the wildernesse it doth manifestly follow that for the time of her abode there which the Almightie had decreed she should not be discerned that is by her enemies who did would chase her notwithstanding it is not to be doubted but shee knew where her selfe was If the Romanist therefore and persecuting aduersary did not euer see the Professors of the Gospell it was no wonder the woman was to remaine in the Wildernesse a part and hidde from them The euidence of which matter is such that as Master Fox obserueth for feare of diuers things in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn whereof this may worthily be one scant any Popish Writer for many yeares together durst aduenture to comment any thing vpon the Apocalyps vntill our Rhemistes being desirous to shame the Pope and themselues with all who are wise and adventured to set pen to paper Hauing then a purpose to set forth and corrupt the New Testament partly by their Translation but most of all by their Annotations they could not choose but say somewhat of the Reuelation although they professe that it is as sparingly as may be and as briefly which is not for that the Volume of the Rhemish Testament groweth great as they would colour it but for feare least they should too much lay open their owne weakenesse which while that Booke is in the Bible will neuer bee concealed Howsoeuer therefore through their Volume in many maine matters they bee very silent where they should most speake as of the Question of imputed righteousnesse where the Apostle doeth most handle it a sore argument of their owne conscience distrusting their cause and euen sinking vnder the waight of that chapter yet here God ouer-ruling them to say the truth as hee did Caiaphas they interpret the woman to be the Church flying from the great persecution which shall be in the time of Antichrist Indeed to keepe peace with their Lord and Mastes the Pope they will not haue this flight to bee but in the very ending of the world and so they would fetch it with a backe Racket that the woman should continue so in secret but three yeares and a halfe which to keepe all vpright they assigne
when the Commonwealth of the lewes was much setled into what straight was it brought when Dauid complained Helpe Lord for there is not one godly man left for the faithfull are fayled from among the children of men This being spoken as it is most probable in the dayes of Saul aster the dayes of Samuel and the slaughter of the Priests how was it euen in Iudah and Ierusalem when Esay cried out that the whole head is sicke and the whole heart is heauy from the sole of the foot vnto the head there is nothing whole therin The estate of the Church being then most miserable and all depraued not onely in manners but in Religion Idolatry being plentifull as is manifest by the wordes in the same vision For they shall beâ— confounded for the Okes which you haue desired and yee shall bee ashamed for the Gâ—rdens you haue chosen which intendeth the trees and pleasant places where they vsed their superstitions Call to mind the dayes of Ieremie when hee sayd Runne to and fro by the streetes of Ierusalem and behold now and know and inquire in the open places thereof if yee can finde a man or if there bee any that executeth Iudgement and seeketh the Truth and I will spare it And those of Ezechâ—l testifying in this sort I sought for a man among them that should make vp the hedge and stand in the gap before mee for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none These things were spoken of Iudah and Ierusalem where alone at that time was that Church which was the Israelites for their grieuous sins being long before caried away into captiuitie You may adde to this if you will the complaint of Micah Woe is mee for I am as the Summer gatherings and as the Grapes of the vintage there is no cluster to eate my soule desireth the first ripe fruites The good man is perished out of the earth and there is none righteous among men they all lie in wait for blood euery man hunteth his brother with a net If the Priests people had not almost generally gone astray and the whole face of the visible Church had not seemed to bee defaced would these Prophets thus haue particularized that one godly man was not left and that one was not to bee found who had not declined from truth Wee doubt not but in those times the Lord had many faithfull ones in secret as hee had seuen thousand in Israel when Elias liued of whom neither the enemies of the trueth nor scant that Prophet did take any notice The marke in the forehead is sometime knowne to few but onely to him that imprinted it there yet this is a good holde for the Elect The Lord knoweth who are his But vpon what might those who were Gods secret chosen outwardly build when diuers times the Princes and people had corrupted their wayes and the Temple it selfe was polluted and made a sinke of Idolatrie For wee finde that things stood vpon those termes in the dayes of Manasse when in the House of the Lord euen that house whereof the Lord had said In Ierusalem will I put my Name hee built prophane altars and in the two Courts of the House of the Lord hee built Altars for all the hoste of Heauen Iudge where in those dayes was the glorie of the visible Church or where it was a prettie while before that when the Priest Vriah was as ready to set vp in the Temple an Altar after the fashion of that which was in Damascus as the King Ahaz was ready to commaund it And then the Prince and Priests conspiring there was scant any kinde of grosse Idolatry which was not plentifully committed Ahaz himselfe making his sonne to goe through the fire after the abominations of the Heathen And least it should bee thought that the people at least did amend somewhat which was amisse in the very next chapter it is witnessed in generall Yet Iudah kept not the Commaundements of the Lord their God but walked according to the fashion of Israel which they vsed And by most probabilitie this outrage vnder Ahaz was the time against which Esay so inueighed in the Vision before remembred These things are so plaine that the greatest pillars of the Papacie cannot deny them and therefore they are forced to another shift as the Rhemists when they say That there is a great difference betweene the Christian Church and the Iewes ours resting vpon better promises then theirs which is a very poore euasion in as much as euery Diuine may know that there be as large and many promises that the Church of the Iewes should last vntill Christes appearance in the flesh as there bee that the Congregation of Gods Saints shall continue among the Gentiles vntill the day of Iudgement And â—auing onely for the time of the Babylonish captiuitie there was one set externall place of Gods eminent seruice that is the Temple at Ierusalem supported with such words This is my rest for euer heere will I dwell 〈◊〉 and In Ierusalem shall my name 〈◊〉 euer the like whereof throughâ—â— all the continuance of the New Testament is not warrantable oâ—â— of the Word for any one place whâ—â—â—euer Now it cannot bee so much as superficially maintained out of the Scripture that Rome it selfe hath any such promise but rather out of the Reuelation of St. Iohn there are many substantiall matters which make to the contrary But because by the strong shot of Trueth they bee beaten from the Bulwarke of the Iewish Synagogue and flye to the next hold of the later Testament let vs follow them thither VVhen our Sauiour Christ was borne and for the most part afterward till he was baptized where shall we conceiue was the visible Church The Scribes and Pharisees possessed all the shew and they were no better then blinde leaders of the blinde The Priesthood was long before and after bought and sold and in Christs owne time it is euident out of the Scripture that the highest spirituall dignitie going by yeares Annas and Caiphas and other vnworthy men of that rabble did enioy it Vpon the birth of Iesus they were not glad who should haue most reioyced in it but all Ierufalem was troubled at it And how they persisted afterward till Christ did manifest himselfe fully may bee guessed by diuers circumstances which the Euangelists do mention after his birth But when hee came first into the world of whom doe we find speech made but of some Shepheards in the field of Simeon an old man of Anna a most aged woman both ready to goe into their graues of Ioseph and Marie Zacharias and Elizabeth and very few others and of these some might bee soone dead others might liue out of the way at Bethlehem or Nazareth or in Aegypt and the Shepheards were in the fieldes about their Trades but where there was
Fellowes to inuent and deuise touching vs whereas we vtterly disclaim these and the like positions as execrable and vngodly yea that Mounti-bank which once before I mentioned hath not blushed to asseuere that we so teach as that by our doctrine the Protestants are bound in conscience neuer to ask God forgiuenesse of their sinnes and that They are bound in conscience to auoid all good works as also that We make God the only cause of sinnes and hold that God is worse than the diuell So shamelesse was this fellow growne that hee neither knoweth nor careth what hee saith and yet many a poor Papist abused and gulled by the diuels deceiuing instruments doth swallow such Gudgeons and runneth away with these things beeing as verily perswaded of them as that the gospel is true Such a hand the seminary Priests haue ouer their disciples that they may not read our Books to see whether these obiections be true or no neither may they hear ought to the contrary Now if they thus vse vs who can speak for our selues will any man maruell that those who professed the Verity two or three hundred yeers since doo taste of the malignant aspersions of those Times The Romanists notwithstanding all this which hath been said doo not yet so leaue vs but once more further adde that none of all those which hitherto haue been named or can be named but in some knowne consessed and vndoubted opinions did vary from you and therefore they and you may not bee said to bee all of one Church Our Masters of Rhemes doo think that this lieth hardly vpon vs and therefore thus vauntingly they vrge that They will not put the Protestants to prooue that there were 7000 of their Sect when their new Elias Luther began but let them proue that there were seuen or any one either then or in all ages before him that was in all points of his belief What the old Fathers taught we may haue time heerafter to shew but for other of later time it is most easie to manifest that all those whom before I haue named did generally for all main matters teach the same that we now doo teach There is no Papist who can truely and without calumniating them or faining things vpon them demonstrate that in causes which touch the substance of faith or the foundation of Christian Religion they did dissent from vs. Hee that will try this let him look on the Declaration of Walther Bruite which I before mentioned and let him read it set down by himself and not reported by other And what did that learned Lay-man deliuer there which was not the belief of Wicklef and the rest of the English professing the Gospell in those Times But if there bee in some petty matters yea questions of some reasonable moment difference of opinion between them and vs shal wee not therefore bee of the same Church with them or they with vs Yes verily for otherwise many of the antient Fathers should not bee of the Communion of Saints or Catholick Congregation with those who came after them and amended their errors for was not Lactantius spotted with the Millenary infection and Cyprian with the matter of re-baptizing Had not Austen an opinion of the necessity of the Eucharist to bee administred to children and that infants being dead without Baptism were not onely depriued of the fruition of heauenly ioies but were damned to the pit of hell and to euerlasting torments And what man religiously affected will suspect but that although S. Cyprian and the other African Bishops assembled in a Councell did concerning the new baptizing of those who were already baptized by Hereticks determine clean contrary to Cornelius and the rest of the Italian Bishops yet they should not bee of the same faith in generall and of the same holy Church whereof Cornelius was Saint Austen can thus write concerning Cyprian Whereas that holy man Cyprian thinking otherwise of Baptisme then the matter was which was afterward handled with most diligent consideration established did remain in the Catholique Vnity both by the plentifulnesse of his charity a recompence was made and by the sickle of his suffering there was a purging In another place hee saith The authority of Cyprian doth not terrifie me but the humility of Cyprian doth refresh mee He meaneth that if that worthy man had liued to haue seene more light in that argument or to behold what the succeeding time had reuealed and concluded in that behalfe hee would in great humility and meeknes of heart haue conformed himself and yeelded vnto it which may iustly seeme for a true defense of the Waldenses Io. Wicklef Iohn Hus or any other seruant of God who might seeme in matters of small moment to vary from vs. And thus I trust that by this time it appeareth to euery one who will not wilfully cloze his eies and stop his eares against an apparant truth that God hath at all times had his Children holding the verity of Christian Religion and not approouing of the filthy Superstitions and sacrilegious Idolatries of the abominable Antichrist of Rome So that it is a most fond collection that either the Popish Conuocation or Confusion are the right and vndoubted Spouse of Iesus Christ or else that for one thousand yeeres together there was no Church in the world They doat much vpon themselues and on the opinion of their beauty who in such intolerable deformities doe predicate and magnifie their Synagogue as the vnspotted wife mysticall body of our most blessed Sauiour Truth it is that intending to blinde the ignorant and to abuse the simple they labored by all externall pomp and shew to giue to their hypocrisie outward formality a settled opinion of pietie sanctitie and for that cause there was no corner of the braine of man or rather of men in many Ages succeeding together vnsought to procure glory to that which in it selfe was very vnglorious Their care therefore was to conuert the eies of all persons on their externall hue which was maruellously adorned and garnished to the sense with their Crosses set vp or carried before some Prelates with the triple Crowne of their Popes in the red Hats of their Cardinals the precious attire of some in their Churches their prodigious apparel abroad the diuers color'd Couls of their Monks such singing chanting with Organes such ringing of Bells such trimming of Images and many more such sensible matters as that neither the Iewes nor the Gentiles had the like And among al this if true Religion in diuers were present it is not to be maruelled at if shee were scant seene or if no notice were taken of her for her poore and vntrimmed or vngarnished hue for her naked simplicity and vnpainted integrity It was the commendation giuen to Salomons Beloued by whom the Church is represented that the Kings daughter is all glorious within her beauty consisting