shall not be to ani purpose in way of answere that anie aduersarie bringe another interpretation of some father vpon the places of scripture alleaged by me beside that which I haue brought For it is not denyed that one and the same place of scripture may be and is often diuerslie vnderstoode not onlie of diuerse fathers but of one and the same father But if he will say anie thinge to the purpose in this kinde he must bringe an interpretation contradictinge that which I haue brought and withall labour rather to prooue his owne doctrine then to impugne that of the catholickes For seeinge it is as all men knowe a farr more easie thinge to impugne anie doctrine thoughe neuer so true then to prooue the same no truth especiallie of faith beinge so euidentlie cleare but that somethinge with shewe of probabilitie may be obiected against it it is not nowe expected that anie aduersarie should stand to answere those authorities of scripture and fathers which I haue alleaged for proofe of the catholicke doctrine or to impugne the same but rather to bring others in proofe of his owne That the iudicious reader may compare our groundes in scripture both together and by the viewe of his owne eie try whether of them be more conformeable to gods sacred worde And wheÌ„ anie one shall haue produced his proofes for protestantisme in like manner as I haue in the behalfe of the catholicke religion if he can so doe yett shall he gaine no more thereby but an euident demonstration against the cheefest groundes of the protestants doctrine that eitherto the true and full decision of controuersies in matter of faith is necessarilie required some other iudgment or tryall then the onlie wordes of holie scripture or else that there is no meanes at all to end matters of controuersies of faith which latter neuerthelesse to affirme is no lesse iniurious to gods wisdome goodnes and power then to say that he hath prouided no sufficient meanes for men to knowe the way to saue their soules For both parties bringinge scriptures for themselues who shall finallie determine whether of them doth applie the sayd scriptures more sincerelie and according to theire true meaninge PILK Your demaundes doe so crosse one another as if your thoughts had been at warres together First you prescribe your aduersarie howe he shall answere you not by bringing another sence of anie father vppon the place of scripture alleaged by you but a coÌ„tradictorie And theÌ„ you forbidde him to answere either scripture or father vrged by you but to fortifie prooue his owne doctrine But you must be coÌ„teÌ„t whether you wil or noe to suffer your aduersary to vnmaske your fraude and to open the vayle of your cunninge dealing both in your doubtfull positions and impertinent allegations by sheweinge the natiue sence of the scriptures euen from the fathers to haue no concurrence with your imaginations but to contradict them and then he will be content to acquainte you with the groundes of his doctrine which either ignorantlie you mistake or purposelie peruert which beinge paralleld with yours the reader may iudge on which side the truth standeth CHAMP Your head is so full of crochets that you imagine my wordes to crosse one another or else you say so onlie to make your lesse heedfull reader to thinke so vppon your creditt I neither prescribe to mine aduersarie how hee should answere mee neither doe I forbidd him to answere either scripture or Fathers alleaged by me as you are pleased to faigne out of your owne braine which notwithstandinge if I hadd donne yett hadd there been no crossinge betwixte those thinges as euerie man may easilie see but I tel him what manner of answere wil be to the purpose and what will not and further I require he should first sett downe his owne beleefe with the proofe thereof out of the scriptures which two thinges doe not crosse one another in anie mans iudgment but yours besides the reasoÌ„ which I geue both for the one and the other is clearlie good and true For your vnmaskinge of my fraude spare it not in gods name and I promise you that if you discouer but one quarter of those blotttes and blemishes in my face that I haue alreadie donne in yours I will hide it for euer that it neuer appeare in publike more But nowe I will hearken howe you wil performe the greate thinges you here promise PILK But this is no parte of your meaninge at all that your reader shoulde trye by the scriptures as the Bereans did and so rest himselfe satisfied CHAMP My meaninge good Sr. is that the reader should searche the scriptures alleaged by me in proofe of the catholicke saith and trâ—e whether he finde them not so as I haue cited them which the Bereans did Whereby he shall finde the chatholicke doctrine to be trulie grounded vppon the holy scriptures and consormeable vnto them as the Bereans did finde S Paules doctrine to be thoughe they were boundâ— to beleeue his preachinge without that research PILK But your drifte is after you haue sett the scriptures togeather by the eares to thrust vppon him the authoritie of the Pope who must finallie determine on which side the sence of the scripture bendeth and then I doubte not but you shall winne the day CHAMP My drifte is to make the reader see that the catholike faith hath true grounde in the holy scriptures and if you or anie other will shewe the same for your newe doctrine the reader must necessarilie see that he must finde somes meanes to knowe to whether side the true sence of the scriptures doth trulie agree And if he finde that the Pope who is cheife head of all those to whom our Sauiour sayde he that heareth you heareth me geueth sentence for the allegations on the catholicke side as you confesse there is no doubte but he will If he haue anie true care of his soule he will beleeue and followe that parte PILK For thus you carrie the matter when both parties haue brought scriptures for themselues out the letter of the scriptures not opposinge the letter to the sence as you falselie say I meane but seekinge and takinge the sence from the letter onlie Is not this your doctrine in this verie section you cannot denie it vnlesse you haue a face to say and vnsay at euerie turne Cast vp therefore once more your owne cardes and see what other Iudge you make of controuersies besides the onlie wordes of scripture Therefore either blushe your selfe or if your face be so brasen that you cannot bidd some other blush for you that you either vnderstande not your owne doctrine or are ashamed to acknoweledge and maintaine it I knowe to what end is all this florishe of wordes to raise vppe a little smoake before your readers eies that you may steale away and leaue the difficultie which you knowe presseth you harde vutouched you shall not scape so I wisse PILK If then
dishonour vnless you prooue more solide and sincere in the rest of your booke Which if you doe not I shall much marueyle if euer you be more imployed by your Metropolitane either to defend your owne or impugne the Catholicke doctrine And before I goe anie further with you I would haue you to vnderstande that when I putt downe the position contradictorie to the Catholicke I doe not distinguishe betwixt this or that sect of protestants but include them all that hold or teache against the Catholicke doctrine whether they be Lutherans Zuinglians Anabaptists or Parlamentariās all which with the rest of all the re malignāt broode I vnderstande by the name of protestants Nowe I will goe forwarde with you in this order I will first sett downe the wordes of the Manuall in sections as you haue deuided it then I will putt downe your answere in your owne wordes and lastlie I will add myne owne reply THE PREFACE TO THE READER MANVALL SECTION I. THis briefe treatise courteous reader beinge at the request of a friende speedilie compiled may serue to conuince them of manifest calumnie who no lesse vntrulie then bouldlie doe affirme the doctrine of the Catholicke Romane Churche to be either against holy scriptures or at least to haue no grounde from them And it may also geue satisfaction vnto such as more vppon the confident boldenes of them that affirme the Romane Religion to be destitute of scriptures then vppon anie other reason are drawne either to thinke this to be true or at least to doubte of the truthe of the contrarie PILK He that aduisedlie shall read your Manuall of Controuersies will easilie beleeue you were in haste when you contriued it forgettinge that wise speach of Cato reported by Hierome Sat cito si sat bene For whether it were your great celeritie which is the mother of manie slippes or whether it be the badnes of your cause that admitteth noe iust scarse probable proofe so perfunctorilie and lightlie tanquam canis à nido you haue touched these matters as if of purpose you would haue setled in the mindes of men that which you labour to ouerthrowe So that if poperie haue noe surer footinge in the sacred worde of God then this which you haue found for it then it will appeare noe calumnnie but a manifest veritie that the Roman religion is without grounde of scripture CHAMP Mr. Pilkinton thoughe your wordes be manie as emptie of substance as they are full of falsities and therefore will neither quitte labour nor cost to relate them yett will I sustaine so much paines as to sett them downe as they lye so farr as I shall goe with you I say so farr as I shall goe with you because I intend not to loose so much tyme as to looke thorowe your whole booke As for the slippes therefore you speake of if you shall make good but one quarter so manie in my whole booke notwithstandinge the the celeritie I vsed in compilinge it as I haue allreadie marked grosse and flatt falls in three pages onlie of yours after fower whole yeres studie in the worke I promise you faithfullie I will commend it to the fire to be forged a newe And thoughe Catholicke religion which you disdainsullie call poperie had no other footinge in holy Scripture then that which I haue sett downe in proofe of it yett will it be better grounded then your protestantisme euen by the iudgment of your owne freindes and myne aduersaries if they will but with one sparke of iudgment and indifferrencie parallel your proofes and myne together PILK First you confesse that the Scripture is not the totall but the partiall rule of your faith therefore that parte of your faith which is with out the compasse of this rule hath no proofe or grounde from it for the rule is that whereby euerie thinge is prooued Nowe the thinges without the compasse of this rule your selfe acknowledge to be manie yea the greatest parte of the Gospell for the least parte is come vnto vs by writinge as others teache and your selfe accorde therefore a small parte of your faith can claime this birth-right from the Scriptures but is auouched by your teachers beleeued by your hearers onlie on the creditt of tradition which euerie one might knowe if anie of your deuines woulde consigne vnto vs a catologue of your traditions A matter that in conscience they ought to doe fith your counsell chargeth to geue equall reuerence to traditions as is afforded to holy scriptures And yett none of you haue performed this taske least your aduersaries should see the pouertie of your religion how naked it is of the protection of scriptures And your selues haue a startinge hole to fly vnto vnwritten verities and traditions when you cannot deriue your doctrine from the written worde of God CHAMP I confesse the Scriptures to be a partiall rule of our faith if we speake of those thinge which are expresslie contayned in Scripture and therefore I say there must necessarilie be a more vniuersal rule of saith thē the expresse Scriptures by which rule we receiue and beleeue the Scriptures themselues to be such And this is true by the iudgment of manie most iudicious protestants Notwithstāndinge the Manuall expresslie teacheth that all articles of saith are contained in scriptures so fair as they testifie the authoritie of the churche and veritie of traditions In which sence the scriptures may trulie be sayde to be a totall rule of our faith Where you say that others teache and I accorde that the least parte of the Gospell is come to vs by writinge For my selfe I answere with as much modestie as I may that you sowlie belie me For I neuer so much as dreamed anie such thinge If you groonde this ficton vppon that which I say I here must needes be a more vniuersall rule of faith then the scriptures vnderstandinge me that moe thinges in number are taught vs by tradition alone then by the written worde which interpretation you seeme to make of my wordes I cannot trulie blame my manner of speach but either your dull or captious vnderstandinge my wordes are plaine that because we beleeue some thinges without expresse scripture as that there is a holy scripture and that it is contayned in these and these bookes which is no where expressed in holy scripture there must necessarilie be some other rule more vniuersall that is which teacheth some thinges besides that which is directlie expressed in the holy scripture You cite in the margent Hosius whom it seemeth you vnderstande in the same manner I say it seemeth for whether it be for negligence or fraude you make no reference for what purpose you cite him neither doe you putt downe his wordes for so might you haue been taken trippinge but I finde nothinge in him soundinge to this purpose Hee hath this indeede that the scripture commaundinge vs to heare our pastonrs with whome Christe promised to be alwayes vntill
the scriptures for decidinge thereof no such thinge but he geueth diuerse rules or markes whereby he that is in doubte whether parte to followe may iudge who hath the true sence and meaninge of the scriptures And after one or two rules he addeth this Vt autem manifestius dicam But that I may speake more plainlie they to witt heretikes haue certayne men of whom they are named for the sect is named of the author but wee to witt the catholikes haue not our name of anie man And a little after answeringe to the same question more fullie he addeth What are we cutt off from the church haue we Archeheretickes are we surnamed of anie man haue we a captayne anie particular man as these haue Marcion these Manicheus a thirde Arrius and other heresies haue theire sect masters As Lutherans haue Luther Caluinists haue Caluin and the like And though we haue the name of anie one â—et is is not of the father of anie heresie but of those who are our pastours and doe gouuerne the churche We haue not Maisters vppon Earth as all heretikes haue God forbidde we haue one in heauen Thou wilte say that they pretende the same But they haue a name that accuseth them and giueth them theire names Thus farr S. Chrisostome whereby it appeareth not onlie how impertinent or fraudulent Mr. Pilkinton is in his allegations but also of what moment the auncient fathers esteemed the argument taken from the surnames of sects for the discouerie of theire heresies and false doctrines PILK Loe in these cases wherein scriptures were produced on both sides the fathers fledd for resolution vnto other scriptures where it appeareth your inferrence to be without coherence that if there be not a iudge without the scriptures God hath not prouided sufficient meanes to saue mens soules seeinge that composinge of controuersies reconcilinge of differencies clearinge of doubtes manifestation of truth is not from without to be fetched but in the testament it selfe to be learned that we may knowe scriptures and them onlie to be the supreme iudge from whence decision of doubtes in matters of faith is to be deriued CHAMP Marke iudicious reader whether this be anie other thinge then that which I sayde in this section One chieâ—e ground of the prosestants doctrine to be that the wordes of the scripture are the iudge of all controuersies For the which Mr. Pilk hotly reprehendeth me of fraude and falsehodde See his wordes a little before at this marke †in the margent and maruell at his witt iudgment and memorie Nowe to the purpose Noe one of all the testimonies alleaged by you doth say that where scriptures are produced by both partes they are sufficient to decide the controuersie Thoughe I doe not denie but for the moste part the inequallity is so greate in the catholike partie as it also falleth out in the cause betweene the protestaÌ„ts and catholikes at this day that anie man of indifferent witt iudgment and desire to find out the truth may see on whether side the scripture standeth But that they are not absolutelie sufficient where there is obstinacie on anie side I shall make your selfe to coÌ„fesse thoughe peruerse enoughe or else I shall much marueill that by the verie example vsed by S. Optatus and S. Aug and approoued here by your selfe Put therefore the case that the children of a deceased father contend aboute the inheritance euerie one of them challenginge it as appertayninge to himselfe in proofe or confirmation of his clayme alleageth the testament and will of his father which he protesteth to be cleare for him and against his competitours beinge rightlie vnderstoode persisting most stifly in his opinion and in deffence of his right clayme as he is perswaded The case beinge putt thus which is the verie same with ours in the controuersy of religion will you say in the sinceritie of your hearte that the sole will or testament of the father is a sufficient iudge to decide this difference and to bringe the parties to an accorde And that there needeth not anie other iudge or arbiter to determine vppon the true sence and meaninge of the fathers will whereby they all pretende to make theire clayme and to grounde theire title you will not I thinke say yea to this question And well I wote that were the case your owne betwixte your selfe your bretheren concerninge a temporall inheritance experience which though shee be the mistres of fooles is not for all that a foolish mistres woulde teach you that it is a meere Paradoxe to maintayne that the sole testament of your deceased father could in this case decide the controuersie amongst you his disagreeinge children So that the example brought by your selfe out of the fathers is prooued to make manifestlie against you Which will yet be much more cleare if the case be putt as it is indeede with vs that these brethren doe not only contend aboute the true sence and meaninge of theire fathers testament but also aboute the testament it selfe the one contestinge the whole writinge contayned in the booke vnder the title of his will to be his true testament another not receiuinge the whole contendeth diuers partes and parcells not to belonge therunto And another yett reiectinge more as it falleth out betweene vs and the protestants Caluin castinge out of the testament of God fiue whole bookes besides some large partes of other bookes which the catholikes belieue to appertayn to his true testament Luther reiectinge besides these diuerse other whole bookes The case therefore beinge thus howe is it possible that the sole written testament of God shoulde decide the controuersie betweene these competitors and bring them to an accorde who doe not agree so much as in what bookes or writinges the testament is contayned so farre are they from beinge at accorde of the true sence and meaninge thereof It is therefore no other thinge to say in this case that the scriptures must iudge all controuersies then to say that the controuersie it selfe must be iudge of the controuersie which is more then madnes to thinke For the controuersie beinge not onlie what the scripture saith or meaneth but also what is scripture it is all one to say that scriptures must iudge and decide all controuersies and to say the controuersies themselues must decide all controuersies Againe seeinge you Mr. Pilkinton seeme to geue so much to holy scripture as to be able and sufficient to decide all doubtes and determine all differences in matter of faith Why doe you not hearken vnto them when they send you to the churche and to the pastours and doctours thereof as to liuelie iudges hauinge the keyes of knowledge to vnderstande the scriptures But you desiringe nothinge lesse then to come to a iust and competent tryall of your cause holde your selues close to that principle by which the most detestable vile and contemptible heretike that euer was may maintaine his heresie without beinge conuinced thereof as I toulde you
more subiect to errour nowe then shee was at that tyme. Therfore that which Driedo saith is that the primatiue churche by reason of the colledge of the Apostles had power to deliuer newe doctrine of faith which the succedinge church hath not but hath infallible authoritie to teache that faith which shee receaued of the Apostles And this you might easilie haue seene to haue been Driedoes Doctrine if you had taken but anie ordinarie heede to his wordes PILK Neuertheles to passe by this to graunte that S. Augustin a Catholicke and a Bishoppe woulde not beleeue the Gospell but that the authoritie of the churche moued him is euerie motiue to beleeue a rule of faith Nothinge lesse For the rule is that whereunto faith is lastlie resolued which is not into the authoritie of the churche as your best diuines teach but into the scriptures CHAMP You might well haue past by all this indeede and also that which followeth had you not rather chosen to fil your paper with your impertinencies to the publishinge of your owne small iudgement If you take the rule of â—aith so strictlie as it contayneth onlie that whereunto faith is lastlie resolued you will make onlie God reuelinge his verities to be the rule of faith and then you must exclude not onlie the churche but the scriptures also But if you take it for a true ground of beleefe then that testimonie which so moueth to faith as it ingendreth faith in vs may trulie be sayde to be a rule of faith such a motiue S. Aug saith the churche is PILK And there vppon Cameracensis speakinge of this place of S. Aug saith that it proueth not that he beleeued the gospell thoroughe the churches authoritie as by a Theologicall principle whereby the gospell might be prooued true but onlie as by a cause mouinge him to creditt it as if he shoulde say I woulde not beleeue the gospell vnles the holynes of the churche or Christes miracles did moue me In which sayinge thoughe some cause of his beleeuinge be assigned yet no former principle is touched whose creditt might be the cause why the gospell shoulde be beleeued CHAMP It appeareth well you vnderstande not what Cameracensis saith or else that you care not what you say so that you say somethinge He saith the scriptures are not prooued by the authority of the churche as by a Theologicall principle or argument ab intrinseco but as a motiue from authority or ab extrinseco which is that all men say and which I only desire to prooue by S. Augustines testimonie For if the church be a motiue to beleeue the scriptures it must necessarilie be before the scriptures and consequentlie be a more vniuersall rule cause or motiue of faith and beleefe then the scriptures PILK Bellarmine saith that S. Aug. speaketh these wordes of the authoritie of the churche as of a cause propoundinge what is to be beleeued and not of the foundation of faith But the proposition of the churche is not the rule and resolution of faith but onlie a condition requisite of beleeuinge as Valent. teacheth in 22. tom 3. de obiecto fidei CHAMP It is a most irkesome and importunate thinge to haue to doe with with an ignorant aduersarie that knoweth not what he shoulde either prooue or denie Such an one you shewe your selfe to be For if you take from the scripture which you trulie teache to be a rule of our faith the authoritie to propose manifest and testify articles of beleefe see howe you will make it a rule of faith Seeinge therefore you geue to the churche these thinges without which the scriptures are not a rule of faith why should you deny it to be also a rule of faith But the churche you say is not the foundation or resolution of faith I speake in your owne phrase thoughe improperlie that you may vnderstande and therfore is it not anie rule thereof If this argument conclude anie thinge it will also prooue the scriptures to be noe rule of faith For it is neither foundation nor resolution of faith if you vnderstande the first and chiefe foundation or last resolution as I tould you before vnles you will make it to be God himselfe But if you take foundation for that which doth grounde our faith in a certaine and sure kinde of infallible testimonie in which sence al men speake that knowe what they speake theÌ„ are both the scriptures and the churche also foundations and groundes of our faith PILK And surelie if S. Aug had meant that the authoritie of the churche had beene this rule which is your inference he had excluded all other rules For he that saith I would not beleeue excepte the authoritie of the churche moued me establisheth one cause remoueth the rest But this none of you dare accorde vnto is as farr from S. Aug. meaninge as your next wordes are from truth If therefore the authoritie of the churche be a sufficient motiue for a motiue it is which none of vs euer denyed but that it is a sufficient motiue neither canne you prooue nor yett S. August anie where auoucheth CHAMP S. Aug. wordes which are to be beleeued before your bare negation are most cleare that without the testimonie or authoritie of the churche he hadd not beleeued the Gospell and consequentlie that the churche was cause rule and motiue of his beleefe not in that degree that God is the rule or foundation of our faith for so we shoulde make S Aug. as sencelesse as Mr. Pilkinton but in the like kinde or degree that the scriptures are but yett before the scriptures because he beleeued them for the churches authoritie And therefore you see S. Aug. to say that which the Manuall saith that there is some other rule of faith before and more vniuersall then the scriptures seeinge that for it and by it the scriptures are beleeued MANVALL SECTIO 8. The second thinge to be noted is that they which beleeue nothinge but that which is prooued by scripture are euidentlie conuinced to beleeue nothinge at all For they that cannott beleeue that there is an holy scripture or what bookes be holy scripture cannott beleeue anie thinge because it is prooued by scripture for it is euident that before they beleeue anie thinge because it is prooued by scripture they must first beleeue that there is a holy scripture and what bookes are scripture But they that beleeue not anie thinge but that which is prooued by scripture cannot beleeue that there is a scripture nor what bookes are holy scripture For neither of these two canne be prooued by holy scripture Therefore they that beleeue not anie thinge but that which is prooued by scripture cannott beleeue anie thinge att all This argument is a playne demonstration and compelleth the protestants either to confesse that they haue noe faith att all or to acknowledge this their position to witt that nothinge ought or can rightlie be beleeued but that which may be prooued
by scripture to acknowledge I say this position to be false which notwithstandinge is one mayne grounde of all theire religion PILK When a souldier that killed Marius came to cutt of his head he drewe out his sworde and told him hie est gladius quem ipse fecisti for Marius formerlie had been a cutter The groundes that you haue layde cutt the throate of your faith but raseth not the skinne of the protestants For I haue shewed before that scriptures doe sufficiently prooue themselues to be the worde of God and these and these bookes to be such whereon it followeth your conuincinge demonstration that protestants beleeue nothinge att all to be a windy friuoulous discourse whereas such conclusions may be drawne from your principles as will prooue vulnera in capite canis you will not easilie licke them hole CHAMP Remoue the sworde first from your owne throate whiâ—hâ—â— presseth to harde and after may you atteÌ„pt to pietie your aduersarie with it You haue hitherto made a 〈…〉 able shewe of anie proofe but of your owne in reâ—lible ignorance and impertinencie ioyned with wilfull stande to deâ—eâ—â—e your reader If you defend your proâ—estaâ—â—s no better then hitherto you â—â—â—ue they will be euidentlie concluded to belieue nothinge att all by the argument proposed which 〈…〉 e you cannott tell where to begin to solue oâ— anâ—weâ—e you make a Thrasonicall and glorious shâ—we of contempt of it as manie of yours 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 elie your grand maister Calluine when 〈…〉 most prest and hath least to say for himselfe Are you nâ—â— ashamed to lett myne argument stand as a â—â—â—phey against you your heresie without saying one worde in answere of it idlie supposinge that you haue sayde somethinge to it before But seeinge you dare not sett vppon mine argument to satisfi it which you should first haue donne lett vs see what incurable woundes you geue vnto me out of myne owne principles PILK For they that relie theire faith vppon humane testimonies originallie are conuinced to haue no faith att all for faith commeth by hearinge and hearinge by the worde of God But you papists relie your faith vppon humane testimonies originallie when you ground it on the authoritie of the churche which you say is a more vniuersall rule and more auncient then the scriptures Now then make the conclusion as pleaseth you CHAMP I graunte your proposition or maior and deny your minor For where learned you to terme the authoritie of the churche humane testimonie seeinge the holy ghost stileth the churche the house of God the piller and grounde of truth your conclusion therefore is blowne away like a fether So that the wounde which you thought woulde prooue so grieuous is not so much as the blowe of a litle childe Spitt therefore vppon your handes take better hold and strike more manfullie or else geue your bill to another But so hoodewinkt you are either with ignorance or malice that strikinge at your aduersarie you hitt your selfe For whilst you say with S. Paule that faith commeth by hearinge hearinge by the worde of God you prooue that the scripture or the word written which is not hearde but reade is not the first meanes of our saith but the worde of God preached as S. Paule sayth in the same place which was before the scriptures PILK From hence commeth all this warr that we will not grounde our faith vppon the totteringe wall of humane authoritie as you doe but cleaue fast to the sacred scriptures beleeuinge nothinge as Paule taught but that which was written in Moises and the prophetts which we reioyce to haue made the meane grounde of our religion CHAMP A stoute Champion I wisse that after the first blowe and that a verie weake one casteth downe his armes and thinkinge to ouerthrowe his aduersarie with wordes falleth to raylinge as if he hoped to gaine the victorie rather by his stinkinge breath then by strength of hande stroakes You hauing been att the schoole of the father of all falsehoode haue learned to call the churche of God and the infallible authoritie thereof the totteringe wall of humane authoritie which the holy ghoste by the mouth of this Apostle stileth the piller and ground of truth wherby as by manie other passages you shewe what honour and respect you beare vnto the holy scriptures seeinge you dare so disdainfullie debase the house of God which they so highelie prise and extoll You farther glorie in that you beleeue nothinge but which is written in Moises and the prophettes whereby you prooue your selfe to be a Iewe and no Christian Either retract this Iewishe proposition of yours or blotte out of your Bibles the whole newe testament that you may be knowne to be noe Christian and that you may fill vppe the measure of your grande mayster Martin Luther who hath longe since cast out diuers bookes out of the newe testament besides those he hath reiected out of the oulde You seeme to father this your fowle doctrine vppon S. Paule thoughe you dayne him not the honour of S. Paule but why doe you not poynte att the place where he teacheth it If S. Paule had been of this minde that you woulde seeme to make him of in vayne did he write his Epistells in vayne did the rest of the Apostles and Euangelists write theire workes Againe suppose S. Paule had written anie such thinge in his letters or Epistles howe woulde you make anie man beleeue that Epistle to be his and therefore to be canonicall scriptures vnlesse you will vse the authoritie of tradition and the churches testimonie All the witt and cunning you haue yea thoughe you borrowed all that of the rest of the ministers in the worlde will not shape a sufficient answere to this question PILK And which if we coulde not prooue yett canne we not be conuinced to haue noe faith because they are principles against which none dare open his mouth that anie way woulde haue himselfe to be counted a Christian as S. Aug. spake For as other artes and sciences are sufficientlie knowne credited without proofe of theire principles so matters diuine are perfectlie and demonstratiuelie persuaded vnto vs from this indemonstrable principle of the holy scriptures saith Clemens and are not prooued by iudgment but comprehended by faith CHAMP Why doe you say which iâ— we coulde not prooue as thoughe you had some meane to prooue it without traditions and the churches authoritie But they are principle you say and therefore not to be prooued The scriptures are principles of faith in deede in a certayne degree but they are not prime principles which onlie are to be beleeued for themselues without anie further proofe vnles as I toulde you before you will make them to be God who onlie is to be beleeued for his owne proper veritie and all other verities for him And when you say out of S. Aug. that none dare open their mouth against them that will be counted a