¶ An Apology or defence for the Christians of Fraūce which are of the Euāgelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them Whereby the purenes of the same Religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance is euidently shewed not onely by the holy scriptures and by reason But also by the Popes owne Canons Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate And are to be sold at his Shop vnder the gate 1579. Cum Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ¶ To the right high noble Prince Henrye the second king of Nauarre Prince of Bearn Duke of Vandome and Albret Earle of Foyze Arminack Agenois Bigorie Marle c SYR it is not without cause nor without exaumple that I dare take vpon mee to dedycate vnto your highnes this litle Apologye which contayneth a defence of the reformed Religion and of the Professors of the same For in asmuch as your Maiestie hath euen from your youth vndertakē the defence therof with the hasard of your life gooddes for the same I could not more fitly preferre the iustification of so holy a cause to any than to your Highnes who haue alwayes maintayned the same not onely in words but also by deedes and that with most noble and Princely courage following the renowmed footsteps of the late Queen of Nauarre your mother whose godlynes curtesie and other heroicall vertues are consecrated for euer to most honorable eternitie And I haue beene led to take vpō me this defence to dedicate it to your Maiestie by the example of many good and godly men in the Primitiue church who in their times wrote diuers Apologies in defence of the Christians against the misreportes and illusions of the heathen and did put them vp to the Romayn Emperors that were in those dayes who notwithstanding that they were heathen Princes and ignorāt of the true Religion were moued by them to succor the Christians and to surcease the persecutions that were made against them Quadratus and Aristydes wrote Apologies in their times in defence of the Christians against the heathen and dedicated them to the Emperor Adrian who hauing reade them and perceiuing therby that the Christians worshipped the great God which gouerneth all the world and that in the exercising of their Religion they did not any thing that was preiudiciall to the lawes of the Romain Empire but rather prayed for the prosperitie of him and of his Empire sent a Proclamation to Fundanus the gouerner of Asia wherin he forbad the persecuting of thē any more as in respect of Religion and commaunded that the slaunderers of them should be sore punished And moreouer he caused diuers faire churches to be builded in many places without any Images pictures or portratures greatly allowing the doctrine of the Christians for that it forbiddeth the painting and portraying of God the worshipping of Images or the hauing of them in their churches Likewise Iustine the Philosopher wrote in his time two Apologies that are come to light in defence of the Christians against the false accusations of the heathen whereof he dedicateth the one to the Senate of Rome the other to the Emperor Antonine the godly who being moued therat made a generall law wherby he restrayned the heathen from their false blaming of the Christians for the earthquakes and other publike calamities willing them to impute them to their owne sinnes for he sayd that the Christians worshipped the great God more deuoutely than the heathen themselues worshipped the multitude of their Gods. And he prohibited all men aswell Magistrates as priuate persons to persecute the Christians any more or to slaunder them with accusations or false crimes commaunding them to obserue the foresayd proclamation of his father and Predecessor the Emperor Adrian in all pointes Also Melito the Bishop of Sardis wrot an Apologie in defence of the Christians against the Heathen which he dedicated to the Emperor Marke Antony the Philosopher who was moued therby to fauor the Christians and to cause the persecutions to cease which had bin made in the Prouinces of the Empire without his knowledge and commaundement by the Gouernors and other Magistrates which abused the mildnes and clemency of their Prince as a number doe in these dayes Yea and this good Emperor finding by experience that the Christians were the good and welbeloued seruants of the true God for he wan a great battell against the Marcomannes and Quades by the only prayers of a Legion of Christian Soldiars that were in his army not only forbad the persecuting of the Christians by open Proclamation but also gaue leaue to become Christians to as many as would willing and commaunding that all such as accused any man alonly in respect of Christian Religion shold be greeuously punished as cosoners and slanderers and that no Christian should be compelled to change his Religion Many others besides these as Tertulian and Appollinaris haue pleaded and mayntayned the same cause by setting forth Apologies which haue greatly auayled yea euen with the Heathen Emperors of their times who to say the truth as heathenish as they were haue treden out the way to the Princes of our dayes which beare the titles of Christians and Catholicks to shew them what vprightnes and modesty they ought to vse in the case of Religion Forasmuch therfore as our reformed religiō is blamed and outragiously defaced nowadayes by such as neither do nor wil vnderstand it I after the example of so many good persons haue set my hand to the pen to shew by this short defence that the same is not only grounded vpon Gods pure word and consequently agreeing with the Christen Religion of the primatiue Church but also that it is warranted by the very Canons of the Popes themselues and of the Church of Rome And I am sure that your maiestye being naturally enclined to the peace of Fraunce will not onely take more pleasure to heare the sound of these Canons than the sound of those which haue so often times terribly thundered to the destruction of this desolate kingdome of Fraunce but also be moued to maintaine the same Religion constantly more and more and to be a meane to the French king our soueraign Lord for the reliefe and quietnes of such as professe the same For if the heathen Emperors whom I haue named afore haue vouchsafed to releeue and fauor the Christians in their times without hauing any further knowledge of the Christian Religion than that it contayned not any thing contrary to the Ciuill Lawes how much more ought we to hope for the like at the handes of our most Christian king by your intercession specially seeing that our Religion thanks be to God contayneth not any doctrine which may not well beseeme good Christians and which tendeth not to the aduancing of kings and of their estates as
Augustine who in expounding the texte of S. Paule where it is said that he which resisteth the Prince resisteth the ordinance of God speaketh in these termes He that resisteth the higher power doth resist the ordinance of god Yea but what if he commaund vnlawfull thinges truly in that case thou must not obay him Consider the degrees euen of mens lawes If the ordinary iudge commaund a thing he ough to be obayed but not if the gouernour command the contrary And in this case thou despisest not the inferior maiestrate but of the two thou chosest rather to obay the superior wher in the inferior maiestrate ought not too find himselfe greued for that his superior is preferred before him Moreouer If the gouernour commaunde one thing and the Prince an other or rather if the Prince commaund one thing and God commaund the contrary what will you say to that God is the highest power O my soueraine Lord I beseech you to pardon me you may cause me to bee put in prison but god hath power to put me in hell fire In this case thou must arme thy selfe with the buckler of fayth whereby thou shalt be able to beat back all the firy dartes of the deuill Now then these Canons maynetaine the doctrine of the Protestants which affirme that next vnder God we ought to yeeld all obedience to the Prince yea although he were an Infidell or a Runeagate as Iulian the Apostata was of whom the canō speaketh thus Albeit that Iulian the Emperour was an Apostota or backslider yet had he christen souldiers that serued vnder him whom whensoeuer he commāded to march forward in battaile for the defence of the common weale they obayed him But when he commaunded them to marche agaynst the Christians thē they acknowledged the Emperour of heauen And in good soothe so little is the Pope in abled by the auncient Canons to bereaue kinges and princes of their Realmes and principalities that he cannot so much as geue away a Bishopricke in any Realme without the consent of the pruste vnder whose dominion the same is as it appeareth by an Epistle of Pope Leo the fourth sent to the Emperours Lotharius and Lewes by the which he doth intreat thē to consent to bestow the Bishopricke of Rets vpon one named Colon. These be the very wordes of the Canon Seing the church of Rets hath bene so lōg tyme without a Shepheard it is requisite that it should bee ayded by your maiesties authority and maintained by the power of your gouernement Wherfore after our most hūble salutatiō vnto you we beseech your clemency to vouchsafe to graunt the gouernement of the sayed church vnto Colon your humble deacon that by your maiesties licence we may with Gods helpe consecrate him Byshop of the same And if it stād not with your liking that he should be Bishop of that church then we beseech your highnesse that he may haue the Churche of Tusculan which is now vacant so that being by vs consecrated Byshop he may geue thankes to almighty God and to your jmperiall maiesty And it is not to be doubted but the both in the time of the same Pope Leo and before his tyme also it was the ordinary custome not to receiue any Byshop without the consent of the prince vnder whose dominion the bishoprick was According whereunto it is sayd thus in an other canon speaking of the same matter in these termes Forasmuch as we know that the church of God cannot be maintained without Shepheardes we beseech your maiestye as we are bound to do to vouchsafe of your imperiall wisedome according to the custome in all auncient time obserued to geue vs licēce by your maiesties letters patentes to prouide one and we will therein obay your will and by Gods helpe consecrate him that shal be chosen To be short not onely these foresayd canons but also many others do witnes vnto vs that nother any Byshoprick nor yet the Papacy it selfe may be geuen to any without consent of the Prince so farre off is the Pope frō hauing authority aboue the Prince And whosoeuer will read S. Gregory especially in the Epistle which hee wrote to Mawrice the Emperoure shall finde that he doth often tymes geue the Emperoure thanks for prouiding such such a church of a good and meete shepheard and how he declareth in diuers places that hee is and will be obedient to the lawes and cōmaundementes of the Emperoure as we haue towched here before ⧠Of the authoritie of the Pope and of the succession and discipline in the order of the cleargy The xi Chapter THe Romish Catholickes hold opinion that the Pope is the supreme head chiefe Shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of all the churches of Chistendome as vicar generall of our Lord Iesus Christ And this doctrine they build vpon a likelihood of great conueniency that Iesus Christ which is in heauen should haue a liuetenant here below vpon earth to pardon the sinnes of the repentant to prouide Curats and Shepheardes for the perticuler churches when they happen to be vacant and to make lawes and Canons to rule all christēdome in matters of religion ecclesiastical pollicy They say also that this authority ouer all the churches of the world was geuē to S. Peter the first pope of Rome and so consequently to to his successors for because our Lord Iesus Christ sayd vnto him Thou art Peeter and vpon this rocke will I build my church and the gates of hell shall haue no power agaynst it And I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whom soeuer thou bindest vpon earth he shall bee bound in heauen and whomsoeuer thou losest vpon earth shabbe losed in heauen But contrarywise the Protestants affirme that Iesus Christ alone is the supreme head chiefe shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of the vniuersall Church whiche is disparsed throughout the world and that when he went vp into heauē he did not appoint any vickar or liuetennant to keepe his place nother in deede was it needefull For he that is absēt himselfe hath need of a liuetenant but as for him he is neuer absent from his church but is and alwayes will be with it by his spirite deuine power vnto the end of the world So as to say that Christ hath neede of a liuetēnaunt vpō yearth as though he could not execute his office vpon yearth for all his being in heauen is as much as to bereue him of his Godhead which of it owne nature hath no lesse power and abilitie on earth and in hell then in heauen where his manhode is resident Wherof it inseweth according to our first maxime that the doctrine of the Protestantes in this poynte is better thē the doctrine of the Romish Catholicke because the honor that belongeth to Iesus Christ is better yelded vnto him by that then by the other Lykewise the doctrine of the protestantes is much better grounded vpon the
still spight of all the corruptinges and darckninges of this world and of the maintayners of them And in very deede God who gouerneth the doings of all men in the world by his prouidence hath reserued still in this miserable world a great number of good and honest mē and of such as loue vertue And like as in the foresayd time of the Ciuill warres among the Romaynes Tacitus sayth that that age was not so barrayn of honest men but that it brought forth some good examples so also may we say that euen in this age of oures how much soeuer it be infected and corrupted yet hath God of his gratious goodnes reserued many still which to follow the pure Religion and vertue haue constantly indured pouerty losse of their goods the cruell murthering of their children kinsfolke and frendes banishment out of their Countrey absence from their houses and an infinite number of other aduersities and inconueniences Which thing geueth vs assurance that our Lord god will alwayes maintayne a certayn number of good men here below which shall imbrace vertue by maintayning good lawes and discipline and follow the light of the truth which abideth inuincible for euer and shall scatter the mistes and cloudes that set themselues agaynst it The worthy iudgement of that great monarch Darius king of the Medes and Persians will neuer slippe out of the remembrāce of men For this king hauing vpon a time made a royall feast to all the Gouernors Captaynes and other Officers of his Dominion which was so great that it extended ouer a hundreth and seuen and twenty Prouinces was contented to heare a disputatiō between three young Gentlemen of Iury that were attendant vpon his own person Of whom the one maintayned that nothing is stronger than wine because that commonly it ouercommeth aswell the great as the small Another sayd that nothing was stronger than a king because that with one only word of his mouth he can make men to be slayne Cities to be razed and Fortresses to be beaten down when he listeth And the third named Zorobabell a gentleman of the bloud royall descended of the line of Dauid vpheld that truth is strongest of all things because it contynueth in force euerlastingly and shall raigne for euer and euer Darius hauing heard this disputation and knowing well how it is most certayne that truth is the thing of greatest strength and of longest contynuance in all the world gaue the prize to zorabable as to him that had been of best opinion and gaue him great giftes and priuiledges aswell for himselfe as for all his wholl nation commaunding that from thence forth Zorobabell should be called the kinges Cosen Which iudgement of this great king ought to be wel considered of all persons and specially of kinges and Princes that they may geue themselues earnestly to the seeking out of the truth in all thinges as well in case of Religion as in Ciuil and worldly affaires and esteeme it more strong and inuincible thā any force of man. For certainly there is neither king nor Emperor fire nor sword payne nor tormēts that euer could quench the truth or ouercome it But forasmuch as in these dayes many men are doutfull in the case of Religiō where they should seeke the truth I will not here forget the rule which the great Emperor of Rome Constantine did set down at the cosicell of Nice in Bithinia for the decyding of the points of doctrine which were to be handeled and treated of there For hauing assembled the Councell together to determine vpon the doctrine that Arrius had sowed at that time When he had made the Bishoppes to take their places euery one in his degree which were to the number of 318. besides the Elders and Deacons that accompanyed thē who were aboue 500. he sate him down among them in a low chaire and made this Oration to them well beseeming his Maiestie and godlynes My Lords and fathers quoth he forasmuch as God hath vouchsafed to put down the cruell Princes by my hand and to geue peace to the world vnder my raign it is meete that you also in this holy assembly should doe your indeuoures to set a stable vnitie and cōcord in the Church For it were to euill an example if after the ouercomming of our enemies the publick peace should now be disturbed by the controuersies and disagreementes of the Shepheards of the Church a thing that would minister occasion and matter to the vngodly to mock our Religion to laugh it to scorn Now then sith we be to treat here of diuine matters we must tak the doctrine of the holy Ghost for our rule and resort to the bookes of the Euangelistes Apostles and Prophets which teach vs what opinion we ought to be of concerning Gods holy law Therfore setting aside all stoutnes of contention let vs seeke the resolution of our questions in the word that is inspired by God. After this short and notable speech made by that great Emperor the Councel was held and the doctrine of Arrius was throughly debated by the only word of God and in the end iustly condemned by those holy Fathers as vtterly contrary to a number of expresse places of the holy Scriptures which auow vnto vs the Godhead and euerlastingnes of the sonne of God which thing Arrius did wickedly deny But I must tell you by the way that in this speech of Constantines we haue three dueties to marke which doe wel beseeme a great Prince The one is to be inclyned to publicke peace and tranquillitie and to procure the maintenance thereof by all lawfull meanes Another is to loue the truth aboue al things chiefly in cases of Religion And the third is to seeke the same truth in the Scripture inspired by God. Now I beseech God of his gracious goodnes to make your Maiesties vertue godlines to shine forth dayly more and more in those holy dueties and to cause your Royall highnes to grow greater and greater in all his heauenly giftes and in all honor and felicitie Dated the 15. day of February the yere of our sauiour Christ 1578. The author of this Apology his Song THe Pope of Rome a thousand Canons bendes Agaynst the Church which doth Gods word imbrace And stoutly forth his own Decrees he sendes The soueraign Lords commaundements to deface Or rather quite and cleane away to chase Presuming proudly for to beare chiefe sway In mannes saluation euery kinde of way He thinkes ere long that noble fort to win And tryumphing aforehand in despight Of heauenly truth he sets him down within Gods Temple boasting euen in open sight Himselfe as God and striues with al his might To maintayne still his Lordly soueraintie Aswell aboue as vnderneath the Skie But thou O Christ our King omnipotent Reach out thine arme and with thy skilfull hand Lay holde vpon the Canons that are bent Agaynst thee by the Romish Tirants band And turne them back at him that hath them
reformed Religion which they tearme new is a sauage Religion fond and full of follies and errors and they will needes be beleeued in the matter vpoÌ„ their bare word without proouing any part of that which they speake But as those kinde of people are commonly ignorant and malicious and moreouer possessed with ambition and beastlines so doth it appeare that their mouthes are euer stil open euen when their ouerarrogant ignorance is beaten down by good reasons and allegations And when they haue done all that they can for their last refuge they are fayne to runne to the exception of prescription saying that the Romish Religion hath been receaued and obserued in Fraunce euer since the first setting vp of the kingdome euen since the great king Clowis who was the first Christian king and that it is not like that God would leaue the world so long time which is more than a thousand yeares in error and ignorance But what if it be denyed that their Religion such as it is this preseÌ„t was obserued in the time of Clowis or of Charlemayn or of many other kings of Fraunce which haue beene since that time How would they prooue that which they haue sayd And if the contrary be proued to them by wrytings of auncyent Bishops and Doctors of Fraunce by the which it doth appeere that in this Realme in olde time they did hold the same Religion or uery neare the same which the Protestants doe in these dayes what will they answere then And were it not also very easie to proue by the Historiographers which haue written the liues of the Popes and also by the decrees of the Popes themselues that the most part of their ceremonies and traditions whereof at this day they make more account than of Gods word haue bin inuented and brought into the Church by the Popes of later times long since Charlemayn And therefore they which sayd that the Romish Religion such as it is at this present hath been obserued in FrauÌ„ce euer since the beginning of the kingdome there doe greatly mistake their markes and cannot verify their saying but the contrarye is easie to be prooued But let vs put the case how be it without graunting it that the thing which they say is true and that this Romish Religion is of the vttermost antiquitie that can be Must the truth of God therfore forgoe his right by the exception of prescription Noe truely For if by the Ciuill law there be no prrscription agaynst a king how much lesse then may it be against the king of kinges And put the case again without graunting it that prescription ought to take place against God yet were it not reason thinke you to recken the lapse of time according to Gods measuring thereof Now it is certayn that with God a thousand yea and twelue hundred thousand yeares are no more than an hower or a quarter of an hower and therfore by the lapse of so litle space of time prescription can take no aduantage But all men of sound iudgemeÌ„t will alwayes grauÌ„t that as time doth not change the truth into vntruth nor vntruth into truth So also of consequence we must not admit a ReligioÌ„ for true and good vnder colour that it hath indured long time seeing that the exception of prescription is not to be admitted in such caces For els if the Romish Catholickes will needes sticke to the Iudgement of prescription for the allowance of a Religion then must they make good the religion of Mahomet which hath already lasted aboue a thousaÌ„d yeres which thing I am sure that none of them will doe how passionate soeuer they be otherwise And if it be demauÌ„ded wherefore god hath so long tyme suffered the error of Mahomet amoÌ„gst the Turkes Persians Arrabians Sirians the other Esterne and Southern people of Asia and Affrica among whom the Apostles and disciples of Iesus Christ preached the Gospell and plaÌ„ted so many fayre Churches there is no other answere to be made vnto it but that god hath done it by his secret iudgement wherof we are ignorant Full well we know that he hath done it for good and a iust cause to good purpose because he doth nothing but that which is good and iust But it doth not become vs to search any deeper for the perticuler causes which haue moued him so to doe neither ought we to be inquisitiue of his priuities and secret diâ—gâ—mentes The same also is to be answered to such as say that it is not likely that God would suffer the people of Christendome to erre so long as since the masse hath had his full scope For to be short seing that God is the truth it selfe and that his word is true it is much better to yeld God his due honor by sticking onely to his word then to refort to custome and prescription of time to authorise the traditions of meÌ„ Iesus Christ himselfe doth teach vs playnely enough that we ought to reiect the traditions of men although they be neuer so auncient and grouÌ„ded vpon prescription of time out of minde and that we ought alwayes to haue recourse back to the pure word of God which shal last for euer notwithstanding al customes prescriptioÌ„s which are agaynst it For in reprouing the traditioÌ„s of the Pharisies which had then bene receiued allowed of long time he exhorteth his disciples to cast them of and to returne back agayne to the pure word of God and to the naturall meaning thereof saying you haue heard how it was sayd to the meÌ„ of old time c. As for the auncient Canons they are so cleare and expresse in this case as is possible therfore it shall suffice me to translate them here simply These be the very wordes of the CanoÌ„ An ill custome is no les to be reiected shunned then a pestilent infection because that if it be not the sooner plucked vp the wicked do serue their turne with it as it were by right of priuiledge insomuch that the sundry disorders and dyuers vsurpatioÌ„s which are not repressed out of hand begin anon after to be receiued for lawes and are alwayes obserued as priuiledges By which Canon wee may well note the pernicious effectes of ill customes which cause vs to receiue vice in steade of vertue and euill in steade of good wherof our miserable world hath to many examples as well in causes of Religion as in matters of pollicie and law For in these dayes men defend nothing more earnestly than the abuses and errors which are in all estates vnder pretence that they haue taken root by long custome and contynuance of time which haue suffered them to passe in force of lawes and Priuileges Another Canon taken out of saint Gregory sayth thus If a man happen to obiect custome against vs we must consider what the Lord sayth I am the way saith he the truth and the life He doth not say I am custome And truely as sayeth
and bound it with an othe that he did beleeue that those of Meryndoll and Cabryers were better and more honest people than himselfe or any of his other subiectes And what will you infer of this will you say now that this good king was a Protestant or that he mislyked the Romayn Religion I think there is no man so shameles that dares say so For his life and actes do shew that he was very well minded towardes the church of Rome In maintenance wherof he held great warres in Italy against the Venecians and other Princes that vsurped vpon the patrimonies of the Church But he was a good king and did acknowledge that God had put the Scepter in his hand to minister iustice to all his people and not to condemne the accused without hearing their answere nor to iudge of a matter of importance by the consciences of others but meekly to geue hearing to al matters brought before him not to condemne those thinges for euill which may shew themselues to be good I therfore cōclude thus that those which in these dayes doe so presumptuouslye condemne the reformed Religion without knowing any deserued cause or without hearing such as professe the same vnder color of the condemnatiōs done already by the Popes by the councell of Trent and by the Sorbonistes doe shew therby the great forgetfulnesse of their duty of iudging vprightly And that they cary to slack a hand on the bridle of their conscience in suffering it to depende vpon the phantasticall iudgement of others Lactantius Fyrmian speaking to Constantine the great who was the first christiā Emperor did greatly cōplayn and bewayle that the Paganes and Idolaters of his time did condēne the Christian Religion and had it in disdayn without knowing what christian Religion was and without reading their bookes to vnderstand it These be the very words of Lactātius I doubt not most mighty Emperor Constantine but that if this my work wherby I shew that the Creator of all thinges is the Gouernour of the whole world doe fall into the hands of these vnlearned Religious folke they by reason of their great superstition which maketh them too too impatient will assault me with iniuries spitefully fling the booke to the grounde before they haue read so much as the beginning of it imagining that they should defile thēselues with such a crime as could neuer be wyped out again if they should ether reade it or heare it red patiently Neuertheles I beseech them in duty of humanitie not to condemne my wrytinges if it may be before they doe perfectly vnderstand them For if it be allowed by order of law that Churchrobbers Traytors and Poysoners shall speake for thēselues and argue in their own defence and that it is not lawfull to condemne any of them without examination of his cause It is not againste reason that I should intreate those into whose hands this booke shall happen to reade it or heare it read throughout and to deferre their iudgements vntil they haue read it to the end But I know well the wilfulnesse of that kinde of people to be such as I shall not obtayne this suite of them For they be afrayd least the force and strength of the truth should ouercome them and make them yeald vnto vs and to agree with vs That is the cause of their roaring storming least they should heare vs and of their shutting of their eyes least they should see the light which we bring vnto them wherein they shew the litle assurance that they haue in their own fond reasons For they dare neither vnderstand nor enter into disputation because they know they shall soone be vanquished By reason wherof it commeth to Passe that through their shunning of all manner of scanning and sifting of things by disputation They driue discretion quite away And force and fury beare the sway As sayth Ennius And because they are bente to condemn and vtterly to oppres such as they well know to be innocent they be vnwilling that their innocencie should appeare because they deeme it a greater iniquitie to condemne the innocencye that is apparant thē the innocēcy that cōmeth not to tryall Or rather as I sayde afore they are afeard that they should haue no power to condemne vs if they should heare vs. This was the inuectiue which Lactantius wrote against the heathē in his time who condemned the Christians without hearing them Which reason I wil vse against the impatient catholicks desiring them not to shew them selues like vnto those heathen men in being so obstinate as to shutte their eares from hearing and vnderstāding the doctrine which they so condemne persecute without knowing what it contayneth But if those angry Catholicks which oppose themselues as aduersaries against our reformed Religion and so boldly condemn it wold temper their choller passions with such moderation as to geue place to reason and to set naturall discretion in due place and preheminence Truely I durst make thē iudges of this cause and I am wel assured that they would iudge farre otherwise than they haue done hetherto or doe yet And in deed if the loue of truth haue any place in their harts as I beleue it hath I beseech them euen before God and for the truthes sake to vouchsafe to examine this present defence with setled iudgement and to consider of it without affection For I protest vnto them that I will vse such modestie in my wordes as none shall iustly haue cause to accuse me of rigor First therfore I presuppose that betwixt the Romish Catholickes and the Protestantes there is disagreemēt of doctrine in many poyntes yea euen in the most principall as I will shew hereafter But yet neuertheles both the one and the other doe acknowledge generally the vnitye of the person of Iesus Christ in two natures not confounded The holy Trinitye of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and the holy Scripture of the olde and new Testament and therefore they bothe may in this respect be called Christiās howbeit the one more aptly then the other as shall appeare by that which I will say hereafter Now that wee may the better treate of the poyntes which are in question and that all men may the more playnly iudge thereof we will distinctly examine the reasons which are to be considered in this discourse and are commonly alleaged on both sides for the mayntayning of the doctrine of either party and so by comparing the contrary reasons and alegations together the truth will the more apparantly shew it selfe because light is thē most apparant and bright when it is set nigh to his contrary ¶ Of three Maximes groundes or rules whereby a man may iudge of the poyntes of religion which are in questiō The first Chapter FOrasmuch as the whot Catholickes accuse the Religion of the protestantes to be wicked new and heretical and therfore cannot brooke the society of such as professe the same we hope to shew
taken out of S. Ambrose S. Peter and S. Paule haue preheminence aboue all other Apostles by speciall prerogatiue But yet is it vncertayne whether of them two were preferred before the other For I think that they were both equall in deserts likewise in their deathes and passions and also that they liued in like deuotion of faith and finally came Both together to the glory of martirdome And I beleue that it hapned not with out some cause that they both suffered martirdome in one day in one place and vnder one persecuter for they suffered in one day that they might goe together in company to Christ and in one place to the end that Rome should not want either of them both vnder one persecuter that both of them might be partakers of one cruelty The day therefore was ordayned for their desert the place for their glory and the persecuter for their vertue And they both suffered martirdome at Rome the soueraign Lady and head of all nations to the end that where the head of superstition was there should rest the head of holines where the princes of the Gentils dwelt there should remayn the Princes of the Church By which Canon it may easely be iudged that S. Peter was in nothing to be preferred before S. Paule that both were equal in all respects which sheweth plainly that S. Peter was neuer head of the Church neither in respect of nature nor in respect of ministration For if he had been thē should as much haue been sayd of S. Paul according to the Canon And so by consequence we should say that the Church had then two heads like a monster a thing that were to absurde strange I know wel that such as imagine the gouernment of the Church to be like the gouernment of a kingdome doe thinke it meete that there should be one supreme head and gouerner and that the same should haue Cardinals as great Princes of his court Archbishops somewhat in lower degree than the Cardinals and Bishops as inferiors to the Archbishops and so consequently Abbots Priors Channons and Curats ech in degree vnder other And in good sooth this order of holy gouernment hath a fayre outward shew but there is one thing that marreth all which is that it hath no foundation in the word of God which doth not teach that there is any inequalitie amongest the Shepheards but that they ought to gouern their Churches with one common consent by Gods word making assemblies or meetings which are cōmonly called Sinodes or Councels for the same purpose if need require And moreouer that they ought to submit themselues to the Ciuill Magistrate And the very Canons themselues doe agree herewith specially one Canon which is taken out of S. Iherom seeing that in the time of the primitiue Church there was no difference betwixt a priest or an elder and a bishop and that the Church was then gouerned by the common councell of the elders Let vs heare the very words of the Canon In olde time an Elder and a Bishop were all one thing till scismes and parttakings crept into Religion by the deuils inspiration and that folke began to say I hold of Paule and I of Apollo and I of Cephas Vntill this time the Churches were gouerned by common aduice of the Elders But after that euery man began to brag of his own disciples whom he had baptised and not of Christ then it was ordayned that in euery Church one of the Elders should haue authoritie ouer the rest to take away the seede of scizme Wherefore like as the Priests know that by the custome of the Church they be put in subiection to the party that is set in authoritie ouer them So let the bishops know also that wheras they themselues are of more authoritie than the Priest it is not by the ordynance of God but by custome and that they ought to gouerne the Church by common aduise Which Canon in very truth is very notable specially for that it doth euidently shew that all the degrees and dignities which are infinite at this day in the Church of Rome are not grounded vpon the expresse ordinance of God but only vpon the positiue law of custome for looke what the Canon speaketh of Bishops is much more by all reason to be spoken of Cardinals Patriarches Archbishops and other dignities seeing that the office of a Bishop wherof the holy Scripture maketh mention was instituted long time before the dignities of the Cardinals and the others And hereupon it followeth that men should not make so great reckning of any of these great and pompous dignities which are founded but onely vpon custome which ought not to be of any or at least wise of very litle authoritie in the Church of God as shal be declared more at large in the last chapter of this booke As touching the residue if it be alleaged that the Bishop of Rome had in olde time and still ought to haue cheefe authoritie and preheminence at the least wise in the assemblies of coūcels and Sinodes the answere is that he hath nothing to doe with the matter for the Ecclesiastical histories and the acts of the auncient councels as that of Nice holden in the time of Constantine the Emperor doe witnesse vnto vs that the Bishoppe of Rome was so far of from ouerruling the coūcels that he tooke his place in sitting but as fourth in degree which is a good way offe from the first and cheef place as he did at the generall councell of Nice But forasmuch as in this point of the Popes Supremacie the Romish Catholicks chiefly the Canonists doe maintaine the authoritie of the Pope by meanes of a donation and of certaine prerogatiues which they affirme to haue been graunted vnto the Pope by the Emperor Constantine the great I will here a litle examine the truth of the matter I say therfore that this donation and graunt of prerogatiues inregistred by Gratian in his decrees is a thing inuented of pleasure and altogether false and that it neither is like nor possible that the Emperor Constantine did at any time make such a pretended gifte or graūt of prerogatiues as may easely be perceiued by the histories of his time And for proofe of this matter ye must first vnderstand that in their sayd surmised donation they make the Emperor Constantine to say within foure dayes after he was baptised that he wold haue all the Bishops and Priestes of the Romayn Empire to acknowledge and hold the Bishop of Rome for their head in like sort as the iudges of a Realme doe holde their king and that he should haue greater authoritie than the Emperor himselfe Geuing vnto Siluester the vniuersall Pope and to his successors his Imperiall Pallace of Lateran which is at Rome and the Citie of Rome it selfe with al the Prouinces Places and Cities of Italy and all the west part of the Empire together with
among the number of the Gods the Emperor Dioclesian who dyed at that time and had resigned vp the Empire about a ten yeres before Now then seeing that the Senate was at that time in so great authority as to canonise Dioclesian the greatest enemie and persecuter of the Christians that euer was in despite of Constantine being then Emperor Consul and a Christian I leaue it to your discretions to cōsider how they wold haue suffered the thing which this pretended donation speaketh of namely that Siluester should haue been set vp as soueraigne Lord ouer the Senators themselues and ouer all the West Empire and that the rest of the Clergie should haue been made fellow like and equall with the Senators Consuls States of the Empire Surely they would no more haue suffered it than the Presidents and Councellars of our Parliament would nowadaies abide to haue a minister of the Gospell set ouer thē to controll them Or the ouerseear of a Consistory to be made fellow with them And yet furthermore the history doth witnes vnto vs that this Constātine the great did leaue vnto his sōne Constantine for his part the Realmes such ordinances doe burthen mennes consciences and they that obay them doe seeme rather to play the Iewes than to vse the liberty of Christians These be the very words of a Canon taken out of S. Augustine Vndoutedly I am of opinion that the traditions of the Church ought to be cut of as soone as oportunity may fitly serue thereunto For although it appeare not that they are contrary to the faith yet notwithstanding the slauish burthen of them doth oppresse Religion which God of his mercy hath apointed to be free with the celebration of few Sacramentes and those very cleare In so much that the state of the Iewes is more tollerable thā the obseruation of so many traditions For though they know not the time of their libertie yet doe they not submitte themselues to any Sacramentes at the presumptious and fantasticall appointment of man. Which Cnnon doth well declare how much they be wedded to their own affection which in these dayes doe kindle coales in all places and condemne all those of heresie which doe leaue the traditions of men to betake themselues to the word of God. For with what coūtenance dare they call it heresie not to beleeue in the inuentions of Popes seeing that euen their own Canons doe wil vs to forsake the traditions of men If this be heresie then ought they to burne their Canon Law. Moreouer it is very easie to be proued by their own Canons that al the decrees and ordinaunces of the Popes are either superfluous or wicked For if they agree accord with that word of god they are superfluous because it ought to suffise vs to obserue the ordināces of god which haue no need to be ratified and authorised new againe by men And if they be contrary or repugnant to the ordinances of God then ought they to be reiected as wicked as the auncient Canones themselues doe witnes These be the very words of an auncient Canon attributed to Pope Vrbane Ye must vnderstand that the Pope of Rome may wel make new ordinances in such things as the Euangelistes and Prophetes haue not spoaken of But in the matters that are openly resolued by the Lord himself or by his Apostles or by the auncient Fathers that followed next vnto them the Pope of Rome cannot make any law at all but ought rather to maintain that which is already ordayned yea euē with spending of his bloud and his life For if he should take vpon him which God forbid to destroy that which the Apostles and Prophets haue taught in so doing he should shew himselfe to doe amisse not to geue sound iudgement Vpon this Cannon it is worthy to be noted that the Popes authority extēdeth not so farre as to deale with any thing which the Doctors aunciēt fathers of the Church haue taught as it is farther auouched and proued by the Cannon following attributed to Pope Zosimus whiche sayth thus As touching the statutes of the fathers the authoritie of the Seate may neyther ordaine any thing contrary to them nor chaunge any thing in them for antiquitie ought to be inuiolably rooted amōg vs as beyng honorable by the decrees of the fathers By which Cannons of Pope Vrban and Pope Zosimus it doth playnely appeere that the auncient Cannons such as those be whiche we haue alleaged in this book to confute the errors of the Romish church ought to be of greater authoritie than the decrees and ordinaunces of the latter Popes of our dayes of their councels which haue no power to disanul or altar any thing in the statutes and doctrine of the auncient fathers And as touching the authority which the Pope attributeth vnto hym selfe concerning power to dampne soules and to send them into hell by great troopes without beyng lawfull for any man to say vnto him why doest thou so and to excommunicate outlawe and accurse whome he listeth a man may beat down all these hornes of hys with this vnanswerable argument taken out of his owne Canons that such as are true members of Christ and of hys Church cannot be condempned nor put out of the Church by any kinde of excomunication enterditing or accursing that if any faythful Christian happen to be wrongfully excōmunicated or accurssed by the Pope or by any other priest yet notwithstanding hee is neuer the more out of the Church but remayneth alwaies a member of the same These be the very wordes of a canon touching that poynt When any man departeth from the truth from the feare of God from the fayth and from Charitie truely truely thē goeth he out of the compas of the Church But contrariwise if any man be excommunicated and thrust out of the Church by vniust Iudgement it is certayne that if hee were not gone out afore that is to say if he haue not done any thing that deserued it he is not hurt by such excōmunication for often times he which is driuē out remayneth still within he that seemeth to be within is neuerthelesse without This Cannon teacheth vs a very good and holy doctrine which is to hould and retayne the pure doctrine of the truth the feare of God fayth charitie then not to feare the excommunications or thunderbolts of the Popes or Bishoppes the which in these dayes they do rather vse against such as will not allow their errors than against wicked liuers and such as giue occasion of offence because no man is able to put vs out of Gods Church if we cast not out our selues through our vices Now if vices and errors be the thinges which driue a man out of the Church of God are there in these dayes any people in the whole world which are more out of the Church than those which think to driue out others There remaine yet two pointes to treate