A TREATISE OF SCHISME Shewing that al Catholikes ought in any wise to abstaine altogether from heretical Conuenticles to witt their prayers sermons c. deuided into foure Chapters whereof 1. Conteineth sundry reasons to that purpose grounded for the most part vppon Scriptures and Fathers 2. Examples out of holy Scripture 3. Examples out of ecclesiastical histories 4. Answeres to the chiefe obiections By Gregorie Martin Licentiate in Diuinitie DVACI Apud Iohannem Foulcrum 1578. HIc Tractatus est planè Catholicus nostris imprimis hominibus hoc schismatis tempore pernecessarius Ita testor Gulielmus Alanus S. Theologiae Doctor Professor ¶ THE PREFACE to the Reader COnstantius Emperor father vnto Constantine the great offered vnto his nobilitie this Condition That as many as would offer Sacrifice vnto the Idols shoulde haue both accesse vnto his royal persō dwel in his Court and haue offices great honour in the common wealth They that would not thus doo shoulde haue no accesse vnto his person no familiaritie with him should beare no office in the common wealth but should be banished the Court and also be depriued of such offices and honours as presentlye they did enioy Forthwith the whole Court is deuided in two partes wherby the Emperour easily might perceue eche mans mind faith truth religiō for the true Christians were by and by readie humbly to depart rather thē by tarying to violate their faith for world lye honor Then Constantius opening his secrete purpose blameth the dissembling sort calleth them dastardes faint harted Cowardes traitors vnto their God and his truth and flatterers vnto their Emperour men vnwoorthy to liue in his seruice For howe wil ye kéepe faith vnto me your master saith he that haue violated your faith vnto the eternal God ye are cōuicted of periurie vnto God howe can yée be true vnto man The others he commended highly for their cōstancie pietie true faith he iudgeth thē woorthy to haue rule charge of earthly thinges that had shewed thē selues faithful to god They are saith he like to be true vnto their Emperor that haue shewed them selues true and faithful to God he committeth the custodie of his owne person to them the charge gouernment of the Empire he layeth in their handes the rest he did vtterlye banishe as pernitious flatterers turne-coates and hipocrites Verily the fact was heroical woorthie the father of Constantine it was the very way to trye true men from flatterers faithful seruaunts from false deceauers For he that wil not sticke to violate his faith his religion his conscience towardes God for lukers sake who can thinke that such wil be faithful and trusty vnto man Great therfore is the ouersight of our dayes wherein he that can best dissemble he that can violate his faith vnto God and his Churche for worldlye preferment is taken for most trustie and faithful he that wil come to the Church although it be neuer so muche against his conscience he that wil receaue their what shal I cal it although he wisheth it in his belye that deliuereth it is thought to be best to be trusted with the greatest affaires weightiest busines about the prince But this good Emperour iudged them vnwoorthie to haue charge about men that made no consciēce to violate their faith vnto god But one wil say Naaman the Assirian was permitted by Elizeus the Prophet to goe with the king into the temple where Idolatrie was and yet neuer impaire his conscience euen so may we go to the Churche for obedience sake without hurting our conscience or violating our fayth to God. If Elizeus gaue him leaue as you gesse which yet the text proueth not to goe to doo his master temporal seruice not in respect of religion but according to his office it was as you confesse but by leaue of the prophete whom God did wil then to be obeyed but he that is Elizeus nowe doth geue you no such leaue but doth commaund the contrarye whose voyce you are bounde to obeye els this example of Naaman wil condemne you For if he durst not doo so much as his temporal office vnto his master in the temple without the prophetes leaue how dare you doo an acte of religion to further heresie against the expresse cōmaundement of him who is greater in office then Elizeus Moyses gaue the Iewes libellū repud◠a letter of diuorce not that it was so frō the beginning but propter duritiā because of the hardnes of their heartes because of the imperfection of the Iewes for the olde lawe brought nothing to perfection gaue no grace but was a time of infancie but now infancie is passed into mans age and grace is geuen more aboundantly to men The time a time of perfection that wil admit no such diuorce no such licence as you séeme to say Naaman thassirian had who was but a Proselite or a Catechumene Also there were no such weaklinges to take scandale at his presence in the Temple of Remmon as are here in the Sinagoge of heretikes You may not therfore draw this example of Naaman to coulour your offence no more then may these that now doo put away their old wiues and take new vse this example of the old law to cloake their aduoutry For vnlesse your righteousnes doo excéede that righteousnes of the Scribes Pharises ye can not enter into the kingdome of heauen Also heresie schisme are two most gréeuous sinnes yet distinct according to that whereto they are directlye opposite of them selues as heresie of it self is repugnant vnto faith Schisme opposite vnto the vnitie of the ecclesiastical charitie And therfore like as fayth and charitie are two diuers vertues although whosoeuer lacketh faith is also voide of charitie So Schisme and and heresie are two diuers vices although who that is an heretike is also a schismatike yet not euery Schismatike is an heretike as teacheth S. Hierome Inter schisma haeresim hoc interest quòd haeresis peruersum dogma habet Schisma ab ecclesia seperat c. Betwéene Schisme and heresie these are the oddes That heresie hath alwayes a peruerse opinion against an article of fayth Schisme seperateth from the Churche yet like as the losing of charitie is the very high waye towardes the losing of a mans faith according to that of S. Paule A quibus quidam aberrantes conuersi sunt in vaniloquium From which some wandring charitie and such like are resolued into brablinges So is Schisme the high way into heresie although at first Shisme may be vnderstoode somewhat diuers from heresie it selfe yet in th ende there is no Schisme that doth not coyne forth-with some heresie to haue a colour to reuolt from the Church And therefore commonlye the sinne of Schisme hath bene more gréeuously punished in the Scriptures then infidelitie or Idolatrie For we reade that the sinne of Idolatrie was punished by the sword by mans
their prayers and seruice were al one with ours as it is in déede cleane contrary yet they in opinion and otherwise being not Catholike al is nothing woorth Ignatius Nemo bonum dixerit qui bonum malo admiscet No mā can cal him good that mingleth good with that which is naught S. Austen of the Donatistes Catholikes vnum alleluia resonamus we sing one Alleluia many other thinges he reckoneth wherin they agrée but because they wer schismatiks out of the Church it auaileth not And super illud ps In multis erant mecum In many things they were with me he reckoneth vp many Sacramentes and ceremonies in quibus omnibus saith he erant mecum sed non omninò mecum in schismate non mecum in haeresi non mecum Sed in hiis paucis in quibus non mecū non prosunt eis multa in quibus mecū In al the which thinges they agreed with me but not with me altogether in schisme not with me in heresie not with me And for these fewe wherein they are not with me those many doo nothing auaile them wherein they are with me So Luther of the Zuinglians whom I alleage non ad authoritatem sed ad confusionem nostrorum Catholicorum Not for his authoritie but that our Catholikes may be ashamed to sée the heretikes iudgement in this point better then theirs frustrà illi in deum Patrem filium spiritum sanctum Christum seruatorem credunt omnia inquam haec nihil illis prosunt quandò hunc vnum negant articulum eumque falsi insimulant dum de Sacramento Christus ait Hoc est corpus meum They in vaine beléeue in God the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost and Christ our Sauiour al this I say doth auaile them nothing Wheras they denie this one article and accuse it as false when Christ saith of the Sacrament This is my body S. Ambrose Vinci illi vel facilè possunt vel facilè vitari quorum prima propositione omne consilium pectoris proditur At verò hi quibus multa nobiscum paria sunt facilè possunt innoxias mentes soli Deo deditas fraudulenta societate percutere dum malorū suorum virus per bona nostra defendunt Nihil enim periculosius his haereticis esse potest c. vndè vehementer nobis cauendum est nè se vel sensibus vel auribus nostris huiusmodi aliquid latenter insinuet quia nihil tà m cogit in mortem quà m sub obtentu fidei fidem violare They may eyther be ouercome easily or easily auoyded by whose first proposition or sentence al the purpose of their heart is disclosed but they that haue many thinges equal with vs may easily by false felowshipp wounde simple soules that thinke no harme and are geuen onely to please God whiles they defende the poyson of their owne euil by such good thinges as they borowe of vs for nothing can be more perillous then such heretikes Whervpon we must be very circumspect that no such thing enter in secretly and swéetly into our senses or eares for nothing doth driue a man so forcibly to death as vnder the colour of faith to destroy fayth or by séeming a good Christian man to persuade heresie Let vs therfore say with Dauid Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem non communicabo cum electis eorum With men that woorke iniquitie I wil not communicate with their chosen brethren I wil neither make nor meddle with them that séem the best of them and most sanctish or Angelical Oleum peccatoris non impinguet caput meum Their swéet oyled words shal not drop vpon my head ¶ The sixt Obiection TO come to their praiers onely séemeth a smal thing and to forsake Parentes wife children c. is very much And therfore if presence onely wil excuse the matter it séemeth more expedient to yéelde ¶ The Aunswere HEre be two pointes th one whether lesser pointes of religion may be neglected presupposing them to be litle or lesse thother howe farre we may be affected toward flesh and bloud when they hinder faith and religion To the first The truth is it is no smal point For if Catholike Christians haue alwaies auoided the company of heretikes in euery place and in euery thing by the Apostles cōmaundement if the Catholike seruice not only of an heretike but of a schismatike c. as before appereth by my examples scriptures is it a smal matter to frequent their conuenticles in the Church whose seruice Sermons ministration of Sacramentes are as heretical as them selues are in most articles heretikes But presupposing it to be so let vs consider of lesser pointes generally If a man should tel you out of S. Austen that we ought rather to dye then to make a venial lye or to dissemble venially against the truth you woulde wonder Wel let that be perfection rather then necessitie This is certaine the lesser the thing is for the which we susteine persecution propter iustitiam for righteousnes the more heroical and meritorious the fact is S. Iohn Baptist for telling Herode of his vnlawful wife it is a smal thing in respect of death to holde ones peace S. Laurence for the Church goodes to the poore Manye for not deliuering Church-bookes Bibles ornamentes in the time of Dioclesian Chrisostome for rebuking the pride of Eudoxia the Empresse Babilas before him for excommunicating the Emperour a murderer Not as though these were smal thinges but many so estéeme them and thinke it were better to yéelde or at the least not meddle then to deale in them S. Austē hauing amplified the glorious martirdome of Eleazarus and the Machabées before the time of grace for refusing swines fleshe not the greatest point of their lawe declareth howe more necessarye it is that we sustaine any death pro Eucharistia pro Baptismo for the blessed Sacrament for Baptisme for any other article of the newe lawe As for Images onely accompted a smal point among cold Catholikes howe many of al estates prelates nobles suffered either death or banishment in the time of seuen Emperours that wer Imagebreakers They considered that Quicunque totam legē obseruauerit offendit autem in vno factus est omniū reus Whosoeuer kéepeth al the law besides and offendeth in one point he is made giltie of al. They remembred that she was the true mother which would haue the whole child or no part thereof abhorring from the diuision of it He that wil dye for the blessed Sacrament and wil not for purgatorie or indulgences diuideth Christe and the lawe of his Church He that mainteyneth al Catholike articles to death and yet boldly communicateth with heretikes he is content to be halfe a Catholike and deuideth the childe But remēber what our Salomon threatneth by his seruaunt Iohn Noui opera tua fidem charitatem patientiam I knowe thy workes and faith
England vpon this false principle We must obeye a lawe Saint Austen writeth of Seneca one familier with Saint Paule but a dissembler for feare of Nero. Eò damnabilius fecit colendo Idola quòd ea quae fallaciter egit sic tamen egit vt veraciter egisse existimaretur He did it meaning his woorshipping of Idols so much the more damnably because that which he did onely for a shewe yet so he did it that he would be thought to haue done it truely and from his very heart Here you may remember olde Eleazarus that would not séeme to breake anye litle point of Gods lawe but dye rather a most cruel death It is a famous historie done before the time of grace and therefore shal condemne our dissembling Catholikes nowe in great pointes for feare of smal dammages Non namque aetati nostrae dignum est fingere vt multi adolescentes arbitrantes Eleazarum transisse ad vitam alienigenarum decipiantur c. It is a thing vnwoorthy of our age to dissemble whereby manye yonge men thinking that Eleazarus is reuolted to the life and Religion of Gentiles maye be deceaued through my example But it is possible that thy conscience is indifferent to both religions and so thou art excused from doing against thy conscience Nunquid fons de eodem foramine emanat dulcem amaram aquam Doth a fountaine out of one and the self-same springe gushe foorth swéete and sower water truth and heresie vnitie and schisme Nemo potest duobus dominis seruire No mā can serue two masters And Non potestis bibere calicem Domini calicem dęmoniorum Quae participatio iustitię cum iniquitate aut quę conuentio Christi ad Belial aut quę pars fideli cum infideli You cannot drinke of our Lordes cupp and the cupp of deuils What partaking hath righteousnes with iniquitie or what agrement is there betwéene Christe and Belial Or what part hath a faithful mā with the faithlesse or infidel And what foloweth Propter quod exite de medio eorum seperamini dicit Dominus immundum ne tetigeritis ego recipiam vos ero vobis in patrē For the which cause goe out from amonge them and seperate your selues from them saith our Lorde and touche not that that is vncleane and I wil receue you and wil be to you a Father As much to say if you wil folow my religion onely I am your Father your god c. Otherwise Coangustum est stratum ita vt alter excidat pallium breue non potest duos tegere The bed is narowe so that thou must néedes fal out and a short blanket cannot couer two Which Saint Hierome doth interprete of Christe who is as it were Sponsus animae nostrae The Spouse wedded to our soule And therfore can not abide adulterum simul secum in codem strato an aduoulterer together with him in the same bed He wil alone haue vs or not at al. Si Baal sit Deus sequimini eum sin Dominus sit Deus scquimini illum Quousque claudicatis in vtramque partem If Baal be God folowe him If our Lorde be God folowe him Howe long limpe you on both sides Vna fides vnus Deus vnus Dominus One faith saith S. Paule one God one Lorde The natural Mother Catholica Ecclesia saide not to Salomon Diuidatur Let the childe be deuided but al or none The Samaritanes woorshipped the true God schismatically and withal their owne bables but it is saide Ioh. 4. of the Iewes that had the true woorshipp of one God Catholikes as it were Non coutuntur Iudaei Samaritanis The Iewes kéepe no companye with the Samaritanes Againe those preceptes Non arabis boue asino Non texes vestimenta ex lino lana non miscebis duo semina in agro tuo Thou shalt not plough with an oxe and an Asse together Thou shalt not weaue garmentes of both linnen and woollen Thou shalt not mingle two diuers séedes in thy fielde and the like What is the signification but Vae duplici corde Woe be to the double hearted And Vir duplici animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis A double harted man is vnconstant in al his waies And Vir ingrediens duas vias non habebit successus And Cor prauum scandalizabitur in eis A man that goeth in two wayes shal not go forwarde and a wicked heart shal stumble in them And that which is terrible Disperdam de terra eos qui iurant in deum in Melchom I wil destroy thē that swear by God and their wicked king For so Melchom doth signifie by God in hart by their prince in behauiour which serue both depende vpon both c. In malitia sua lętificauerunt regem in mendaciis suis principes They haue de lighted the king in their naughtines princes by their lying or dissembling Of such men as learne to dissemble of their naughty pastors S. Austen saith Si indifferentem habuero errorem tuū attendit qui fortis est putat nihil esse ire in haeresim quando aliquod cōmodum de seculo reduxerit vnde mutetur Statim mihi dicit fortis ille periturus hâc hâc deus est Quid interest homines inter se litigantes hoc fecerunt vbicunque colendus est deus If I shal thinke thy error indifferent and that it is al one to doo this or that he that is otherwise stronge marketh it and thinketh it is nothing to runne into heresie when some worldlye commoditie shal appere whereby he maye be altered and chaunged by and by this stoute man saith vnto me God is both here and there what difference is there men by iangling among them selues haue made al this adoe God is to be woorshipped in euery place or congregation It is scandalous and maketh thy brother to sinn which is a very weightie consideration as appereth by our Sauiours Vae Vae mundo à scandalis Vae illi per quem veniunt scandala Woe be to the world by reason of stumbling blockes Woe be to him that maketh other men to stumble And Qui scandalizauerit vnum ex pusillis istis credentibus in me bonum est ei magis si circundaretur mola asinaria collo eius in mare mitteretur He that is an occasion why any one of these litle ones that beléeue in me doo stumble or sinne it were good for him if a mil-stone were hanged about his necke and that he were cast into the Sea. Pusilli Litle ones are they that beléeue wel and meane wel and gladly would doo for the best but are easilye moued to relent by authoritie or example Here remember once more olde Eleazarus who therfore chose to dye because yonge men should not be bolde to breake Gods lawe saying Olde Eleazarus did so why may not we but O woorthy Eleazarus it was required onely of
of their age if they doo not forbid them and teache them the contrary if they sende them to schooles or vniuersities where they must néedes heare and sée and doo that they shoulde not c. Nuptię cum infidelibus prohibentur et cum hereticis Mariage with Infidels and with heretikes is forbid because of the daunger in peruerting one the other Et contractę discindi poterunt ac debent illę quoad vinculum istę quoad cohabitationem si cohabitare non liceat sine iniuria Creatoris And being contracted maye notwithstanding and ought to be sundred th one to be no mariage the other not to liue together at al if they cannot liue together without iniurie of their Maker that is if th one wil néedes make thother offende God. Nolite iugum ducere cum infidelibus Drawe not in one yoke with Infidels Which is most properly spokē de coniugibus et 1. Cor. 7. and Tertullian ad vxorem and thecclesiastical historie of a vertuous godly matrone that departed from her husband And our Sauiour him selfe Qui reliquerit vxorem propter me centuplum accipiet He that forsaketh his wife for my sake shal receaue a hundred folde Qui non oderit non est me dignus He that hateth her not for my sake is not woorthy of me And Moyses Si vxor quae est in sinu ruo If thy wife that fléepeth in thy bosome wil persuade thée error cast thou the first stone at her If the wife and her husbande may not kéepe company because the one is a wicked infidel or heretike of whom it is saide Et adhęrebit vxori sue And he shal cleaue to his wife And if the sonne must vppon paine of damnatiō forsake the Father and the daughter her mother because they are of a contrary beliefe for Qui diligit eos plus me and Qui non odit patrem et matrem non est me dig He that loueth them better then me yea he that doth not hate father and mother in this case is not woorthy of me Putatis quia pacem veni mittere non dico vobis sed seperationem Thinke you that I came to sende peace vpon the earth no I tel you truth but diuision and dissension meaning that for his sake the son should leaue his father the daughter her mother the wife her husbande one frende forsake another If I say this be so much more heretical conuenticles are to be abhorred Al opē professors of heresie or knowen heretikes are ipso facto excommunicati in so doing they are excommunicate forthwith without further sentence as appereth in Councels decrées et in bulla coenę domini In their praiers and sermons their professiō is manifest ergò then especially we must absteine from them quia participare cum excommunicato in diuinis etiam catholicè graue peccatum est because to communicate or to be partaker with an excommunicate person in thinges pertaining to Gods seruice albeit after a catholike maner as whē the Pelagiens had al their seruice and ceremonies catholike is by the iudgement of learned diuines and the consent of the Churche a gréeuous sinne howe much more gréeuous is it to communicate with them when their seruice and maner of praier is wholly heretical Yea the first case de reseruatis in bulla Coe Domini est hęresis comprehendit eos qui praesumunt legere libros hęreticorum quique imprimunt et domi habent et demùm omnes fautores hęreticorum ergò à pari to frequent their conuenticles where they pray preach is comprehended It is excōmunication to enter into the Iewes Sinagoge at the time of their ceremonies wherin euery day as S. Hierome writeth they pronounce a solemne curse contra Iesum Nazarenū against Iesus of Nazareth so they cal him of contempt despite The like is said of y eschismatical Grecians in Venice much more is it to be conceued of haunting heretical conuenticles wher the blessed Sacrament the vicar of Christe are impudently blasphemed much more I say as appereth by the Apostles distinction de fornicariis huius mundi and si is qui frater nominatur est fornicarius Of them whom he calleth fornicatours of this world infidels or Paynims and of christian brethren that are fornicatours of thē he meant not but of this latter Nè commisceamini cum illis Kéep no company with them c. but more of this comparison hereafter Here commeth to hand another reason Scripsi vobis non commisceri si is qui frater nominatur est fornicarius aut auarus aut maledicus c. cum eiusmodi nec cibum sumere I wrote to you not to kéepe company with anye such as being a Christian man is a fornicatour or couetous or foule speaker with such a one I say not to take meate And 2. Thessal 3. generallye Denunciamus autem vobis fratres in nomine Domini Iesu Christi vt subtrahatis vos ab omni fratre ambulante inordinatè c. We earnestly and precisely declare vnto you brethren that you withdrawe your selues from euerye brother that liueth vnorderly And Per epistolam hunc notate nè commisceamini cum illo Geue me a note of him by your letters and kéepe no company with him Why vt confundatur to shame him He talketh of lesse sinnes then heresie And is it the waye to shame heretikes and so to reclaime them whē their sayinges and singings are honoured with our presence To absent our selues is no doubt a confusion to them and doth astonish them although they be obstinate Euery Catholike must confesse that the Church of Christ vpon earth is visible the members wherof must néedes be tyed together aliquo signaculorum vel Sacramentorum visibilium consortio with some societie of visible signes or Sacramentes as S. Austen saith èrgò they that secretly in heart are Catholikes and visibly in Sacramentes and ceremonies communicate with heretikes flatly declare the they are not to be accompted of Christes visible and onely Church which place being wel vrged must néedes condemne them by their Catholike opinion of the visible Churche For if al should hide their faith how should the Churche appere If others doo God be thanked innumerable and they doo not how are they the children of one mother the members of one body Or what priuiledge haue they wheras it is necessary that many alwaies doo protest visibly their religion to be exempted from that opē profession They cannot possibly cauel against it for Reliqui mihi septem millia qui non curuauerunt genua ante Baal I haue left me seuen thousand that haue not bowed their knées before Baal An heretical obiection for their inuisible Churche is meant of them that in Hierusalem euen then serued God openly in the Temple when Elias complained that in Samaria amonge the tenne Tribes Relictus sum ego solus Or he spake it of the good men in the tenne Tribes S. Austen Collat.
great charitie and loue No man offendeth against the one and winneth the other And S. Ciprian Confessor Christi nec dici nec esse iam potest qui ecclesiam Christi negauit Nam cùm Paulus dicit Erunt duo in carne vna Sacramentum hoc magnuÌ„ in Christo ecclesia quomodò potest esse cum Christo qui cum sponsa Christi atque in eius ecclesia non est He can neither be called nor be in very déede a Confessor of Christe that hath denied the Church of Christ For wheras Paule saith They shal be two in one fleshe This is a great Sacrament in Christ and the Church howe can he be with Christe that is not with the spouse of Christ and in his Church And S. Hierome ad Damasum of the Churche of Rome which he alwaies maketh one with the catholike Church Qui tecum noÌ„ colligit spargit Hoc est qui Christi non est Antichristi est He that gathereth not with thée scattereth that is He that is not with Christ perteineth to Antichrist Marke Qui cum ecclesia Romana non colligit He that gathereth not with the Church of Rome what is that to say Qui christi non est He that is not with Christ sée howe they runne stil together And S. Ambrose speaking of the Luciferians schismatikes onely no heretikes saith that they had not fidem in Christum any true faith in Christe Quia etsi fidem erga deum tenerent tamen erga dei ecclesiam non tenerent Etenim cùm propter ecclesiam Christus passus sit et Christi corpus ecclesia sit non videtur ab eis exhiberi Christo fides à quibus euacuatur eius passio corpusque Christi distrahitur Because albeit toward God they kept their faith towarde the Churche they did not kéepe it For whereas Christ did suffer for the Churche and the Churche is the body of Christe it séemeth that they doo not beléeue in Christe by whom his passion is made fruitlesse and the body of Christe distracted in péeces And therfore he praiseth his brother Satyrus excéedinglye for not communicating with them This point is much to be considered of them that easily abhorre such as blaspheme Christe but thinke it is a smal matter or rather knowe not what it is to resist or discredite that Church And therfore an Arian they would abhorre perhaps a Marcionist an Ebionite that helde heresies directlye against Christ not a Lutheran a Zuinglian a Caluenist c. that blaspheme the Church But hitherto I haue proued that they are to be auoided alike Now that they are more to be shunned and abhorred when S. Austen writeth thus in the former comparison of Christ and his Church Obscuriùs dixerunt Prophetae de Christo quà m de ecclesia puto proptereà quia videbant in spiritu contra ecclesiam homines facturos esse particulas de Christo non tantaÌ„ litem habituros de ecclesia magnas coÌ„tentiones excitaturos The Prophetes spake more darkly of Christ then of the Church therfore I suppose because they foresaw in spirit that men would make partes against the Church and that they would not striue so bitterlye concerning Christ but concerning his Church they would rayse great tragedies Doth he not meane that the heresies against the Church should be more perillous then against the person of Christ because the prophets arme vs against theÌ„ more strongly informe vs more plainly Again more dauÌ„gerous because vnder the name profession of Christ they seduce the sooner which I handled partly in my aunswere to the third obiection and wil say more to the obiection folowing but this one argument must of force conuince The AriaÌ„ and other auncient heretikes ech denyed but one article of ChristiaÌ„ faith being in al other pointes Catholike these men besides the renewing of many olde condeÌ„ned errors which are wel knowen they shake most pointes of ChristiaÌ„ Catholike religioÌ„ standing al vpoÌ„ negatiues scoffing schoolmasters preachers of al licentious libertie of whoÌ„ may be saide that which Leo magnus writeth of the Manichées who were alwaies accompted somwhat more then heretikes CuÌ„ in cunctis peruersitatibê° multiformeÌ„ teneat principatuÌ„ diabolê° arceÌ„ tameÌ„ sibi in istoruÌ„ struxit insania latissimaÌ„ in eis aulaÌ„ in qua se exultantiùs iactaret inuenit vbi noÌ„ vnius prauitatis specieÌ„ sed omniuÌ„ simul erroruÌ„ impietatuÌ„que mixturaÌ„ generaliter possideret Quod enim in paganis prophanuÌ„ in IudÄ™is carnalibê° coecum etc. hoc in istos quasi in sentinaÌ„ quandaÌ„ cuÌ„ omniuÌ„ sordium concretione confluxit Whereas in al peruerse wicked professioÌ„s the deuil bereth rule many waies yet he hath built his topp towre in the madnes of these good felowes and hath found in theÌ„ a very large court wherein he might make mery vaunt him selfe as in whom he had possession not of one kind of naughtines but a general mixture of al errors impieties together for that which is prophane in the Gentiles blind in the carnal Iewes that same with al other filth clammed together hath runne into them like streames into a sinke And surely for their life and maners reade S. Paule ep Iudae foretelling the nature of later heretikes you shal sée that al concurre in ours But I had rather proue my coÌ„clusion by the multitude of their errors S. Austen de origine animae ad Vincentium hauing reckoned vp eleuen of his false articles Haec inquit si pertinaciter singula defendantur tot haereses facere possunt quot opiniones numerantur Quocircà considera quà m sit hoc horrendum vt omnes sint in vno homine quÄ™ damnabiles essent in singulis singulae These saith he eche one by it selfe if they be stubbornly defended maye make so many heresies as there be opinions in number And therfore coÌ„sider what a horrible thing this is for al to be in one man wheras euerye one in diuers men were damnable His place aboue alleged is like to this Now if a man would scanne Luthers opinions and Caluines howe manye errors shal he there finde in one of theÌ„ that were eche one by it selfe damnable in diuers men and very manye haue béene alreadie condemned in others And therfore if Arius for one error by their owne confession ought to be abhorred let them consider quà m horrendi sunt illi what horrible heretikes they are and how much to be abandoned in whom so many heresies doo concurre so many that it is very like Antichrist himself named arnoumai I deny al is next whose next foreruÌ„ners these are in denying al and in omni seductione iniquitatis as S. Paule saith iis qui pereunt in al deceipt of iniquitie to them that perish for of those olde single heresies it was saide in the Apostles time Misterium iam operatur iniquitatis The misterie of iniquitie doth worke or is in woorking