it is Romish is not the true Catholique Religion of CHRIST but the seduction of Antichrist THE PREAMBLE THat which Ireneus an ancient and godly Father of the Church speaketh of all Heretickes that all the Helleborus in the world is not sufficient to purge them that they may vomit out their follie may truely be spoken of the Church of Rome and her adherents that it is a difficult matter if not almost impossible to reclaime her from her errors and to heale her wounds All the balme of Gilead will not do it nor all the spirituall phisicke that can be ministred for there are two sinnes which of all other are most hard to bee relinquished Whoredome and Drunkennesse the one because it is so familiar and naturall to the flesh the other because it breedeth by custome such an vnquenchable thirst in the stomacke as must euer anon be watered with both which spirituall diseases the Church of ROME is infected She is the Whore of Babylon with whome the Kings of the Earth haue committed fornication and who hath made drunke with the Wine of her fornications all the Inhabitants of the Earth In regard of the first Ieremie prophecied of her that though paines be taken to heale her yet shee could not be healed And in regard of the second Saint Paul prophecied that GOD would send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lies that all they might bee damned that receiued not the loue of the truth Notwithstanding though the hope bee as little of the reclaiming of most of them as of turning an Eunuch into a man or making a blacke Moore white yet I haue propounded in this discourse a strong potion compounded of ingredients which if they bee not past cure may purge and cleanse them of their disease and reduce them to the sanity of Christian Religion Which if their queasie stomackes shall eyther refuse to take or hauing taken shall vomit vp againe and not suffer them to worke vpon their consciences yet this benefit will arise that God shall be glorified the truth manifested and all that loue the truth confirmed and they also themselues that are so drowned in error that they will rather pull in others ouer head and eares vnto them and so drowne together then be drawne out of the myre by any helpe shall be conuinced in their consciences of their most grosse apostacie With this confidence towards Gods glorie and the good of his Church though with little hope of recouering them from their obdurate blindnesse I enter into my intended taske desiring the Lord to giue a blessing to these poore labours which I consecrate to my Lord and Master Iesus Christ whom I serue and the Church his Spouse of which I professe my selfe to bee one of the meanest members MOTIVE I. That Religion which in many points giueth libertie to sinne is not the truth but such is the Religion of the Church of ROME ergo c. THe first proposition is an vndoubted truth and needs no confirmation especially seeing S. Iames describeth true Religion by these attributes pure and vndefiled And S. Paul calleth it the mysterie of godlinesse and the doctrine according to godlinesse And herein consisteth an essentiall difference betwixt the true Religion and all false ones so that it must needs follow that that Religion which is essentially the cause and occasion of sinne and openeth a wide window to vngodlinesse cannot be the truth of God but must needs fetch it beginning from the deuill who is the author of all euill The Gospell indeede may by accident be the occasion of euill as S. Paul saith The law is the occasion of sinne for it stirs vp contention and strife and discouers the corruptions of Mans heart and by opposing against them as a damme against a streame makes them to swell and boyle and burst forth beyond the bounds howbeit here the cause is not in the Gospell or Lawe but in the corruption of mans heart which the more it is stirred the more it rageth and striueth to shew it selfe But neuer yet was the doctrine of godlinesse the cause of wickednesse nor the pure and vndefiled Religion of Christ Iesus an essentiall procurer and prouoker vnto sinne 3. This therefore being thus manifest all the question and difficultie remaineth in the second proposition to wit that the Religion of the Romish Church is such as openeth a gappe vnto sinne and giueth notorious libertie and scope to vngodlinesse and that not by way of accident or occasion but necessarily as the cause to the effect Qua data necessariò soquitur effectus as the Logicians speake and therefore being an â—npure and defiled Religion and the mysterie of iniquitie not the mysterie of godlinesse it cannot be that true Religion which Christ our Sauiour brought with him from heauen and left here vpon earth blamelesse and vnspotted like himselfe to be the way to lead vs vnto heauen where hee is 4. That the Romish Religion is a polluted and defiled Religion tending to libertie and loosenesse Let the indifferent Reader iudge by these few instances deriued out of the verie bowels of their Church and being articles of their faith and grounds of their Religion And first to beginne with their doctrine of dispensations whereby they teach that the Pope hath power to dispense with the word of God and with euery commandement of the Law and not onely with the Law but with the Gospell and Epistles of Paul to what horrible loosenesse and lewdnesse of life doth it tend for to omit that it containeth in it open blasphemie by their owne rule which is that In praecepto superioris non debet dispensare inferior the inferiour may not dispense with the precept of the superiour by which the Pope dispensing with Gods lawe is not oneâ—y equalled but exalted aboue God what sinne is there bee it neuer so hainous which there is not libertie giuen to commit by this licencious doctrine 5. Incest But Pope Martin the first gaue a dispensation to one to marrie his owne sister and not his wiues sister only as some of the Romish crue would dawbe ouer this filthie wall because it is in Antoninus Cum quadam eius germana for Siluester Prieriâ— Bartholomeus Fumus and Angelus de Clauafio speake more plainely Cumsua germana that is with his owne naturall sister Another Pope dispensed with Henry the eight to marrie his sister in law and with Philip of Spaine to marrie his owne Niece and Clement the 7. licenced Petrus Aluaradus the Spaniard to marrie two sisters at once and no maruaile seeing it is the very doctrine of the Romish Church that the Pope can dispense in all the degrees of Consanguinitie and Affinitie saue onely with the Father and his daughter and with the Mother and her Son Sodometrie But Pope Sixtus the fourth licensed the Cardinall of Saint Lucie and his familie to vse freely that sinne not to bee named in the
when at any time they are conferred withall about their Religion presently not being able to answer their refuge is to referre vs ouer to their Priests of whose learning and iudgement they haue such a perswasion that though Scripture and reason be against them yet their opinions preuaile more with them then either of these So that hence it is most euident that as the Iewes are bound to beleeue all that their Cachamim teach and not to stand to examine what it is that they teach so the Romanists are bound by their Religion to entertaine into their Creed whatsoeuer is taught them by their ordinary Pastours without all enquirie and search into their doctrines whether they bee true or false And as this is one chiese cause of the Iewes obstinacie against Christian Religion so is it also of that miserable superstition which raigneth in the Church of Rome for if the people were but perswaded that their learned Doctours might erre and deceiue they would certainely suspect their doctrines and try them by the touchstone of the holy Scriptures and so at length might be reclaimed from their errours thus they march together in this point also 20. Againe the Romanists are like vnto the Iewes in their doctrine and practice of praying for the dead for they hold and teach that prayer sacrifice is to be offered for the dead grounding their opinion partly vpon the example of Iudas Maccabeus who as they affirme procured sacrifice to bee offered by the Priests for the dead that had trespassed by taking to themselues the idolatrous iewels of the Iamnites and partly vpon the Thalmudical traditions of diuers of their ancient Rabbines but they haue no ground nor warrant for the same in the word of God for as concerning the bookes of the Maccabees they themselues acknowledge that they are not Canonicall Scripture and for the Scripture we finde no such precept or example in the whole volume of the olde and new Testament neither is it likely that God would haue omitted in the law that kinde of sacrifice for the soules of men where he prescribeth sinne-offerings for bodily pollutions and euery light trespasse if he had thought it necessarie That this is the opinion and practice of the Iewes their practice at this day beareth witnesse for they vse to say ouer the dead bodies a certaine prayer called Kaddish by the vertue whereof as they thinke they are deliuered out of Purgatory especially if it bee said by the sonne for his father and if hee haue no sonne by the whole Congregation on their Sabboth dayes And that this also is the doctrine and vsage of the Church of Rome besides their Bookes their Masses for the quicke and the dead their Diriges and Trentals doe sufficiently testifie And that they fetch this custome from the Iewes may appeare by two reasons first because one mayne argument of theirs which they call a demonstration to proue the lawfulnesse hereof is deriued from the example of the Iewes as we may see both in Galatinus Coccius and our late English Apologists And secondly because as it is confessed by their owne Bredenbachius it is not found in all the writings of the Apostles and Euangelists in the new Testament and we may adde hereunto neither in the olde vnlesse by distorted and misalledged texts which are not worth the answering except onely that fore-named passage of the Maccabees which notwithstanding is corrupted both by the Translatour and also the Relatour Iason Cyreneus as is vnanswerably proued by our famous Country-man Doctour Reynolds the word Dead being cogged into the Text by some cunning Iuggler which is not in the Originall wherein lyeth the pith of the argument And therefore it must needes follow that the Romanists doe merely Iudaize herein And for the Fathers which they alledge for the proofe of this article let their owne Cassander giue satisfaction who affirmeth that the ancient Church vsed prayers for the dead either as thankfull congratulations for their present ioyes or esse as restimonies of their hope and desire of their future resurrection and consummate blessednes both in their bodies and soules and this hee proueth out of Cyprian Augustine Epiphanius Chrysostome and ancient Leiturgies 21. Againe they Iudaize in their doctrines of Limbus Patrum and Purgatorie for Purgatorie it hath beene alreadie touched in the former section and for Limbus Patrum it is coâ—sessed by our aduersaries themselues that it is the tenent of the Iewish Rabbines warranted as they say onely by a Text in Ecclefiasticus which being both corrupted in the translation as our worthy Champion Doctour Whitaker hath proued and being also no part of Canonicall Scripture doth plainely shew that it is a mere Rabbinish conceit hatched in their brainsick Thalmud and not bred in holy writ Yet our Romanists lay fast hold on the same opinion without any other certaine ground to build it vpon For as touching the places of Scripture collected by them to proue this assertion they are either so impertinent or distorted that the meanest iudgement may easily discry their weaknesse for either they are deriued from a word of an ambiguous signification as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the speach of Iacob Gen. 37. 35. which signifieth sometimes the graue and sometimes hell by the confession of their great Bellarmine or from a Parable as that place in Luke 16. concerning Abrahams bosome confessed by Maldonate to be parabolicall because bodies are not yet tormented in hell but here is mention of a finger and a tongue or from an allegorie as is that place of Zacharie 9. 11. where is mention made of loosing Prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water which both Salmeron and Bellarmine acknowledge to make more for Purgatory then for Limbus but in truth for neither it signifying literally nothing else but the deliuerance of the Israelites out of the Babylonish captiuity and tipically the redemption of the Elect from the bondage of Sathan and hell which they are liable vnto or lastly are merely impertinent as those places Heb. 11. 39. 4. 1. Reg. 28. 1. Pet. 3. 19 the first whereof intendeth the consummate and perfect blessednesse of body and soule which the Fathers had not attayned vnto The second meaneth not the true Samuel but the deuill in his shape and likenesse and the third is to bee referred not to Christs dâ—scension into hell but to the operation of his Diuinitie which he exercised from the beginning of the world preaching by the mouthes of iust men as both S. Augustine and Aquinas expound the place How can any sound conclusion now be drawne from Texts that are either equiuocall or allegoricall or parabolicall or impertinent and all by their owne confessions Therefore it must needes follow that seeing this doctrine hath no sure foundation in Gods word but is founded vpon the Iewes prophane Thalmud that it is no better then a mere Rabbinish
glory of God and the merits of Christ And therefore the conclusion must needs follow being built vpon an vnmooueable foundation that that Religion which maintaineth such doctrines is not the truth of Christ but the seduction of Antichrist MOTIVE V. That Religion deserueth to be suspected which refuseth to be tryed by the Scriptures as the perfect and alone rule of faith and will bee iudged and tryed by none but it selfe But such is the Religion of the Church of Rome Ergo. THe first proposition in this Argument though it be most true and cannot without any shew of reason be contradicted yet that it may be without all doubt and exception it shall not be amisse to strengthen the same by sound and euident proofes deriued both out of Gods word and consent of ancient Fathers The Proposition consists of two parts first that it cannot be the true Religion which will not abide the alone tryall of the Scriptures Secondly that it will bee iudged and tryed by none but it selfe let vs consider of both these seuerally 2. And concerning the first if the Scripture be the fountaine of all true religion the foundation and basis of our faith the Canon and rule of all the doctrines of faith and the touch-stone to trye truth from falshood then to refuse to be iudged and tryed by the Scriptures alone is plainely to discouer that there is something in it which issued not from that fountain which is not built vpon that foundation which is so oblique and crooked that it dares not to be applyed to that rule and which is counterfeit and dares not abide the touchstone Now that the Scripture is such as I haue said let the Holy Ghost speaking in the Scripture beare witnesse Search the Scripture saith our Sauiour for in them you thinke to haue eternall life and they be they which testifie of me therefore the Scripture is the fountaine of all true religion for what is the Religion of Christians but the right knowledge of Christ Iesus This caused Saint Paul to say I desire to know nothing but Christ Iesus and him crucified Againe the Scriptures are able to make vs wise vnto saluation through faith in Christ Iesus and are profitable to teach to improue to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute and perfect to euery good worke Therefore the Scripture is the onely fountaine of true Religion for what is true Religion but spirituall wisedome and holy perfection the one in contemplation the other in action the one in knowledge the other in practice for these two ioyned together do make a man truly religious but the Scriptures afford both as it is cleare in that saying of S. Paul and may be confirmed by another like speech of Salomon who affirmeth that the commandements of God will make a man to vnderstand righteousnesse and iudgement and equity and euery good path Righteousnesse and iudgement pertaine to knowledge equity and euery good path belong to practice And for this cause Origen compareth the Scriptures to Iacobs Well from whence not onely Iacob and his sonnes that is the learned and the skilfull but his sheepe and cattell that is the simple and ignorant doe drinke that is deriue vnto themselues the waters of life and saluation and therefore where the knowledge of the Scriptures flourished not as among all the Heathen both Romanes Grecians and Barbarians before their conuersion there no true Religion shewed it selfe but their Religion was all false and deuillish for in stead of the true God they worshipped dumb creatures and mortall men yea deuils themselues as Lactantius sheweth All which proceeded from hence that they had not the word of God for their guide which is the onely fountaine and well-spring of true Religion 3. Againe as it is the fountaine from whence so it is the foundation vpon which our faith relieth whether wee take faith for the act of beleeuing or for the matter and obiect of our beliefe Ye are built saith S. Paul vpon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Christ Iesus himselfe being the chiefe corner stone By the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles is meant the Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine as all Expositours that I haue read yea their owne Aquinas and Caietane with one consent auouch and to bee built vpon this foundation is to haue our faith to relye and depend vpon it onely as a house relyeth onely vpon the foundation and without a foundation cannot stand that therefore is no doctrine of faith that is vpholden by any other foundation neither hath that any good foundation which is not built vpon the Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine they build vpon sand that build vpon humane traditions euery stormy puffe of winde will shake the house of that faith but they which heare the word of Christ and keepe it build vpon a rocke against which neither the raine flouds nor windes no not the gates of hell are able to preuaile because they are grounded vpon the rocke which rocke indeede is Christ to speake properly as not onely S. Peter confesseth 1. Pet. 2. 7. but euen Christ himselfe that is this rocke Math. 16. 18. when hee saith Vpon this rocke will I build my Church that is vpon this truth that Christ is the Sonne of God yet the word of Christ may also be called the rocke because it is as firme and durable as Christ himselfe And that wee may know that Gods word onely is the foundation of faith S. Paul telleth vs plainely that faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God If any of them say as they doe that the word of God is not onely that which is written in Scripture but that which is vnwritten deliuered by tradition let them shew as good reasons to proue their traditions to be the word of God as we doe to proue the Scripture and we will beleeue them but since they cannot let them beare with vs if we vnderstand the Apostles words as spoken onely touching the written word and the rather because we haue for the warrantize of our interpretation both S. Paul himselfe in the same Chapter verse 8. when he saith This is the word offaith which we preach Where hee sheweth what is that word which is the ground of our faith namely the word preached And S. Peter who hauing magnified the word of God with this commendation that it endureth for euer presently expoundeth himselfe of what word hee spake saying And this is that word which is preached amongst you That is the word of the Gospell which was not in part but wholy and fully as preached by mouth so committed to writing And thus S. Basil also interprets it for he saith Quicquid est vltra scripturas Whatsoeuer is out of the Scriptures diuinely inspired because it is not of faith is sinne for faith is by hearing and hearing by
doctrine and practice that the Church of Rome by worshipping of Images is guilty of heathenish and abominable Idolatry 27. Concerning the Reliques of our Sauiour Christ and the Saints whereof their Church hath infinite numbers there is no lesse Idolatry committed to them then was before vnto Images For first some of them confesse that Reliquiae eodem modo atque imagines sunt adorandae Reliques are to bee worshipped after the same manner as Images And therefore if there be Idolatrie in the one it must also be needs in the other for whether the worship be not to be restrained to the Image and Relique but to be referred to the things whereof they are representations and parts as the forenamed Iesuite thinkes with some other or whether it is to be confined to the matter of the Relique and forme of the Image without further relation as Bonauenture Aquinas yea and Bellarmine himselfe with many other seeme to auerre yet it is Idolatry both waies because in both religious worship is giuen to the Creatures in the one simply in the other respectiuely which indeed some what qualifieth the heate of the disease but doth not at all cure the roote of it 28. Secondly others are of opinion that there is greater cause of worshipping Reliques then Images for say they a man cannot worship an Image but his thoughts must needs be caried vp to the contemplation of him whose Image it is but reliquia solùm adorantur ratione contactus quo sunt quodammodo sanctificatae consecratae Reliques are to be worshipped onely in respect of their touching of Christ or the Saints by which they are after a sort sanctified and consecrated and therefore they may be worshipped simply by themselues by reason of that sanctification without Christ or the Saint of whom they are said to be sanctified Here the former qualification for Images is taken away from Reliques and therefore the Idolatry is more grosse yea in regard of this contaction some of them are not ashamed to say that the very wormes of the bodies of the dead are to be worshipped with a right intention and with a sincere faith Thirdly not to stand vpon priuate opinions the determination of their representatiue Church the Councill of Trent doth proue the worshipping of Reliques to be Idolatry for it doth not onely condemne those which refuse to giue worship and honour to them in any respect but euen those also which opis impetrandae causa To obtaine helpe by them doenot honour them Now hence thus I reason to put our trust and confidence in any creature is Idolatry but to seeke for helpe at the Reliques of Saints is to repose trust and confidence in creatures therefore by necessary consequence the worship of Reliques is Idolatry because thereby they seeke for helpe and so the Church of Rome is by the sentence of their owne Councill guilty of this foule sinne and this Councill of theirs is guilty before God and man of protecting maintaining and authorizing the same a farre greater guilt then the former by how much according to the rules of Law the Author of a sinne is euer more guilty then the Actor 21. Fourthly their practice doth make this more euident for as Cassander ingeniously confesseth In these last times too much is attributed to the Reliques and memories of Saints in so much as the better sort of men and those that were most zealous haue placed the summe and substance as it were of Religion in searching out such Reliques adorning them with gold and Iewels and building temples and memorials for them and the worser and wickeder sort haue reposed false confidence in the foolish and superfluous worshipping of them Here we sâ—e the practice both of the better and the worser sort of people that is indeed of all for the most part in the worship of Reliques the one esteeming it the chiefest part of Religion and piety and the other relying wholly vpon it as the onely meanes for the purging away their sinnes and so an occasion to harten them in the same because they thinke as long as they performe this dutie they may sinne freely If any man say that the ignorance and misdoings of some is not to bee imputed as an errour to the Church I answer that it is not some but all generally for the most part that are thus affected and therefore Cassander condemnes both good and bad as guilty of this crime But graunt that many are otherwise minded yet for all that it cannot be denied but the greater part are in this ranke and that is inough to proue their Church Idolatrous because according to the Logicall axiome euery denomination is to be taken from the greater part neither is it a personall errour but a dogmaticall position deriued from the grounds of their Religion as from the Councill of Trent which alloweth to worship them Opis impetrandae causa for to obta ne helpe of them and from the rest of their great Diuines Some of whom would haue them to bee worshipped with the same worship with Images some with a greater reuerence then Images ob contactum and they that mince it finest with a religious reuerence which they call adoration and veneration in all which is that in a sort either openly or couertly allowed by their doctrine which is practised by their people 30. But let vs search a little further into their practice The custome of the Church of Rome is to take the bodies ashes or bones of Saints out of their graues and to adorne them with gold and siluer silke veluet and such like and to carry them about in publike processions and supplications and to shew them to the people to be touched kissed gazed vpon and adored as a singular and meritorious seruice to God is not this Idolatry They teach that God doth tye his grace and vertue to those Reliques whereof they are partakers that adore them with due reuerence and offer precious gifts vnto them yea they promise vnto such many indulgences and Pardons for sinnes Is not this Idolatry Againe they teach that their prayers are better and more effectuall and acceptable vnto God if they bee made before the Reliques of Saints and therefore their practice is in times of necessity to goe a pilgrimage to such places where the most famous Reliques are because they are perswaded that their prayers shall bee there soonest heard of God yea they make men beleeue that the Eucharist hath a great deale of holinesse added vnto it if Reliques of Saints bee included within the Altar Is not this Idolatry They light vp candles and set vp before them Tapers which S. Ierome calleth Idolatriae insignia the Ensignes of Idolatry and cause them to burne euen at noone day and that as they say in resemblance of the golden candlesticke which alwayes burnt before the Arke Exod. 2. 5. but indeede rather in imitation of the heathen who vsed to burne Tapers
bare assertion without Scripture 29. As touching their crossing of it wee need fetch no other proofe then from the Councill of Trent which in expresse words denounceth Anathema to those that make this faith whereby wee beleeue the remission of our sinnes a necessary ingredient into true repentance and yet it propoundeth reconciliation and remission of sinnes to such as doe repent let all the world therefore know to the eternall shame of the Romish Religion that remission of sinnes and reconciliation by their doctrine may bee obtained by repentance without faith then which what can bee more opposite to the Gospell of Iesus Christ 30. If they reply that they make faith the foundation of repentance I answere why doe they then exclude it out of repentance is the foundation no part of the house yes it is the chiefest part either therefore it is not the foundation of repentance or els it is necessarily required to the essence of it one or the other must needs bee false but heere is the mystery of this iniquity by faith they meane nor a beliefe of the remission of our sinnes by the bloud of Christ which is the true Euangelicall faith but a generall perswasion of the truth of their Religion and a particular conceit that he which performeth the worke of penance in the three parts thereof shall thereby obtaine pardon of his sinnes and reconciliation with God 31. Secondly whereas hee sayth that wee doe not satisfie for the eternall but for the temporall punishments of our sinnes either heere in this life or in Purgatory hee speaketh nothing for the clearing of their doctrine from opposition to the Gospell for the Gospell teacheth that Christ our Redeemer hath made a full and perfect satisfaction for the sinnes of all the world yeelding a sufficient and worthy recompence and contentment to God for them and therefore they which say that wee must giue any manner of satisfaction our selues whether for the temporall or eternall punishment due vnto them doe euidently crosse the doctrine of the Gospell And this Aquinas one of their owne illumined Doctors doth in effect confesse when hee sayth that the passion of Christ was a sufficient and super abundant satisfaction for the sinne and guilt of punishment of mankind his passion was as it were a price or paiment by which we are freed from both these obligations to bring in then the foggy mist of humane satisfactions is to eclipse and darken the glory of Christs all-sufficient redemption 32. Thirdly whereas hee findeth fault with Chytraus for saying without proofe that auricular confession is not commanded of God and yet hee himselfe doth not proue it is we might driue out one naile with another and returne vpon him his owne answere but I reply further that diuers of his owne fellow Doctors haue auouched asmuch for Maldonate Erasmus the glosse in Gratian and Gratian himselfe and Rhenanus with diuers others are of the same minde as may appeare in the texts quoted in the margent whose wordes I forbeare to set downe because I shall haue occasion to handle the same in a more proper place one thing I cannot omit that the testimony of Rhenanus is so plaine that our aduersaries not able to giue answere sufficient vnto it haue by their peremptory authority said Deleatur let it bee blotted out as they deale also with Polidore Virgill in the like point and with all other that stand in their way 33. Lastly the redeeming of penance by the purse though Bellarmine shuffle it ouer neuer so cunningly yet is so palpable an abuse and so contrary to the doctrine of the Gospell that the very naming of it is a sufficient declaration of the foulnesse of that Religion which maketh a mart of sinne and setteth repentance which is the gift of God to sale for a little earthly drosse and exchangeth punishment due to the body and soule for a little pinching of the purse 34. The Gospell teacheth that marriage is permitted and set free for all men both Priests and people and that the prohibition of marriage and meats is a doctrine of Deuils But the Romish Religion forbids marriage to a great part of men to wit Priests and Monkes and commands to abstaine from certaine meates vpon certaine dayes 35. Bellarmine excepteth and saith by a distinction that when the Apostle sayth Marriage is honourable amongst all men hee meaneth not all in generall for then it should bee honorable betwixt the father and the daughter the brother and the sister but onely those that are lawfully ioyned together which they that are bound with a vow cannot bee 36. It is a strange fore-head but no maruaile seeing it is the fore-head of the whore of Babylon when the Scripture sayth Marriage is honorable amongst al men to exempt their Votaries from this honour as if they were not in the number of men but beasts and as the assertion is strange in impudency so the reason is more strange in folly for though the father may not marry the daughter nor the brother the sister without incest yet the father may marry and the daughter may marry and the brother and the sister also so that they take those that are not prohibited by the Law of God and nature Now let him shew that Gods Law forbiddeth Votaries to marry and then hee sayth something to the purpose but by his owne confession together with many of his pew-fellowes the prohibition of marriage is no diuine but humane ordinance and institution yea the Councill of Trent it selfe calleth it but an Ecclesiasticall Law and therefore not a Law of God but a decree of the Church 37. Adde to this impudency and folly his crossing of all antiquity for in the Councill of Nice Paphnutius alleadgeth this place of Scripture against those that went about to take away the vse of marriage from the Clergie and in the sixt generall Synode it is expressely applied to the same purpose And Ierome in defence of Charterius a married Bishop produceth the same text 38. As touching Chrysostomes speech to Theodorus the Monke alledged by Bellarmine though it seemeth a little to fauour them at the first view yet in another place he cleereth himselfe from that suspition for he saith plainely that Marriage is so honourable and precious that a man with it may ascend into the sacred Chaire of a Bishop What hath Bellarmine got now by Chrysostomes testimony Surely this If all that Chrysostome saith bee sound doctrine then it is an error in the Church of Rome to inhibite all that are consecrated by holy Orders from the vse of the marriage bed For by Chrysostome Bishops may marry Saint Augustines testimonies alledged by him in the one and twentieth Chapter are little to the purpose for in the first he saith plainely that the Church of God doth not forbid marriage but onely preferre virginitie before it as a greater good and in the second hee approoueth onely abstinence from
foreheads 2. That the Religion of the Church of Rome is not so safe as ours may appeare by comparing our principall doctrines together and first to begin with the Sacrament That the bodie of Christ is truely really and effectually present in the Eucharist both they and we hold grounding vpon that text of Scripture this is my bodie but concerning the maner of this presence the Romanists hold that it is by transub stantiation we by a spirituall presence which notwithstanding is true and reall both in relation to the outward signes and to the faith of the Receiuer Now see the dangers that arise from their doctrine which are not incident to ours 2. First if there be not a corporall presence of Christ and a reall Transubstantiation as they suppose then this doctrine leadeth to horrible and grosse Idolatrie for they must needs worship a piece of bread in stead of Christ And this not onely if their doctrine bee false but being supposed to bee true in case hee that consecrateth be not truly a Priest or haue not an intention to consecrate as oftentimes it falleth out for in both these cases by the grounds of their owne Religion there is no change of substances and therefore as much danger of Idolatrie as eyther of a false Priest or of a true Priests false intention But in our doctrine there is no such danger and yet as true reall and powerfull an existence of Christs bodie in the Sacrament as with them if not more seeing the more spirituall a thing is the more powerfull it is according to the rules of reason for wee are not in danger to worship a creature in stead of the Creatour but wee worship the Creatour himselfe euen Iesus Christ our Redeemer who is there present after a spirituall manner and that as reuerently deuoutly and sincerely as they doe a piece of bread 3. Secondly by this doctrine our aduersaries incline to fauour the Capernaites who had a conceit of a corporall and fleshly eating of Christs bodie and giue iust cause to the Pagans to slander Christian Religion to bee a bloudy and cruell Religion Whereupon the Fathers to crosse the one and stop the mouth of the other taught that Christs speech in the sixt of Iohn was to be vnderstood spiritually and not carnally and that it was a figure and not a proper speech But our doctrine doth giue no such occasion eyther to the Heretikes on the one side or to the Pagans on the other neyther hath it any consanguinitie with the Capernaites and yet wee retaine as certaine and powerfull a participation of our Sauiours bodie and bloud as they doe I know they thinke to escape from this rocke by a distinction of visible and inuisible eating as if the Capernaites dreamed that Christ would haue his bodie to bee eaten visibly but they inuisibly that is say they spiritually which indeed is no cuasion for an inuisible eating is a true eating As when a blind man eateth or a seeing man in the darke and cannot therefore be called a spirituall eating but a corporall neyther doth this free them from approching neere to the Capernaites though they somewhat differ from them nor from giuing iust cause of offence to the Heathen from both which our doctrine giueth full and perfect securitie 4. Thirdly and lastly their doctrine of transubstantiation doth not onely countenance but confirme the ancient heresies of the Marcionites Valentinians and Eutychians that impugned the truth of Christs humane nature for they taught that he had not a true but a phantasticall bodie and what do our aduersaries but approue the same indeede though they seeme to detest it in word when they teach that his bodie is present in the Sacrament not by circumscription nor determination but by a spirituall and diuine presence quomodo Deus est in loco as God is in a place which is asmuch as to say that his bodie is not a true bodie but a spirituall bodie that is indeed a phantasticall bodie Againe the bread which they say is the bodie is not bread in truth but in shew after it is consecrated for there is nothing of bread but the mere accidents without a substance according to their doctrine and so it is in all reasonable construction no better then a phantasticall thing seeming to the outward sense to bee that which in truth it is not Why may not those Heretikes then reason from these doctrines thus If Christs bodie be a spirituall bodie in the Eucharist and the bread be phantasticall bread then why might not his bodie be so also when he was on the earth But the former is true by your doctrine O ye Romanists therefore why may not the latter which is our doctrine be also true But none of these Heretikes can haue any such aduantage from our doctrine which teacheth that Christ in respect of his humane nature is resident in the heauens circumscribed by place and that hee is present in the Sacrament by the efficacie of his inuisible and powerful grace after a spirituall manner as Saint Augustine speaketh and that both the bread remaineth bread after consecration and the bodie of Christ remaineth still a naturall bodie after the resurrection retaining still the former circumscription as Theodoret auoucheth this taketh away all aduantage from Heretikes which their doctrine doth manifestly giue vnto them For these causes Petrus de Alliaco the Cardinall doth confesse that from our doctrine no inconuenience doth seeme to ensue if it could be accorded with the Churches determination And Occham that it is subiect to lesse incommodities and lesse repugnant to holy Scripture Thus wee see that in this first doctrine touching the Eucharist there is more securitie and lesse danger in our doctrine and Religion then in theirs 5. I come to a second point which is touching the merits of works whereby the Romish Religion doth cast men into three eminent dangers which by our doctrine they are free from First of vaine glory for when a man is perswaded that there is a merit of condignitie in the worke which hee hath wrought how can he choose but reioyce therein and conceiue a vaine-glorious opinion of his owne worthinesse as the proud Pharise did when he bragged that he had fasted and prayed and payd his tithes seeing it is impossible but that the nature of man which is inclinable vnto vaine-glory and selfe-loue if it haue a conceit of any selfe-worthinesse should bee puffed vp with a certaine inward ioy and pride and therefore Chrysostome taketh it for wholesome counsel to say that wee bee vnprofitable seruants lest pride destroy our good workes 6. Secondly of obscuring and diminishing Gods glorie and Christs merits For where merit is there mercie is excluded and where something is ascribed to man for the obtaining of saluation there all is not ascribed vnto Christ and although they colour the blacke visage of this doctrine with a faire tincture to wit that all
Popish superstition doe say that it is an ordinarie matter A wonderful superstitiō that is nourished by Images so apparent that it cannot be denied Now if this were a scandall taken and not giuen they might in some sort bee excused but it is eūidently not onely occasioned but caused by reason that both the doctrine is inuolued with so many intricate questions and distinctions that it is impossible for an ignorant person to discerne thereof and also because the Image it selfe as the Prophet Habacuck telleth vs is a teacher of lyes For which cause as Polidore Virgil reporteth the Fathers of all vices condemned the worship of Images for feare of Idolatrie the most execrable vice of all The second offence is to the vnconuerted Iewes who are most zealous in this point of the Law against Images insomuch as Iosephus reports of them they did hate the verie Images of men in their Heathenish Trophees as being forbidden them by God Now it is well concluded by a iudicious obseruer of the Westerne Religions and without doubt is a most true obseruation that there is no one thing in outward respects that doth ingender in the Iewes such a detestation of Christian Religion and keepe them from being conuerted as the worship of Images in the Church of Rome for they and that by good reason may thus dispute If this Religion of Christians were of God then they would not oppose themselues to the expresse Commaundement of God in worshipping Images which he hath so plainly forbidden but they oppose themselues to Gods Commandement and worship Images therefore their Religion cannot bee of God Hence it is as the former learned Relator doth report that at Rome though all the Iewes in the Citie are constrained once a yeere to come to a Christian Church and there heare a Sermon for their pretended conuersion yet when as a Fryer before the beginning of his Sermon holdeth vp a Crucifix and prayeth vnto it in their open sight they are more alienated from the Christian faith by this odious spectacle then all the reasons and arguments that he can vse are able to perswade them to the same Behold two dangerous and fearefull scandals which arise from this doctrine one to their owne weake ones of which our Sauiour saith that it were better for a man that a milstone were hanged about his necke and that hee were throwne into the Sea then that hee should offend one of them the other to the obstinate Iewes whose conuersion shall be so beneficiall to the whole world as that Saint Paul calleth it life from the dead Now our Religion is farre from giuing any such offence to one or other either in this or any other point thereof if it bee not vtterly misconstrued and misconceiued 24. Againe in their worship of Relickes there is no securitie at all both in feare of Idolatrie which may bee well committed to them if they bee true in giuing them a higher measure of adoration then they themselues allow of which is easio to bee done by the ignorant multitude and also in feare of worshipping false relickes in stead of true whereof there is no small number in the Church of Rome as hath bin alreadie declared and lasty in feare of neglecting the true members of Christ by a too sumptuous prodigalitie towards the bones of I cannot tel what dead men or other creatures as is most vsuall in their Church and that in great excesse in which respects it is without question a more safe course that all such Relickes were buried vnder the earth with due honour of Christian sepulture then that they should thus indanger both godly pietie Christian charitie And this is the conclusion of their Cassander who sayth that it is more safe rather honourably to burie those corruptible relickes and to draw the World to the worship of their spirituall relickes which neither time can corrupt nor fraud counterfeit 25. Againe they hold and teach that traditions are to bee honoured with equall affection and deuotion as is due vnto the olde and new Testament and that there are many things belonging to the doctrine and faith of Christianitie which are neyther expressely nor obscurely contained in the Scriptures And therefore by their owne confession they build many doctrines of their Religion vpon tradition onely without Scripture and acknowledge that without tradition many of them would reele and totter The Protestants hold the contrarie and constantly affirme that the Scripture is an all-sufficient directorie and a most absolute and perfect rule for faith and manners and therefore that wee ought not to relye our faith vpon any thing but Scripture alone Now let vs consider and examine whether of these two doctrines are more safe for a man to repose his soule vpon And that our doctrine is so may appeare first by the nature of the question it selfe which is controuerted betwixt them and vs for the question is not whether the Scripture bee the Word of God or no therein wee shake hands as an vndoubted truth but whether traditions bee the Word of God or no the affirmatiue they hold wee the negatiue and that by great and strong grounds which our aduersaries themselues cannot deny but that they carrie great shew of reason and probabilitie Now whether is the safer course to relye our faith vpon those principles that are vnquestionably Gods Word or vpon those that are controuerted disputed and called in question Any man that goeth about to buy a purchase will sooner venture vpon such a title which was neuer called in question nor can indeed bee doubted of then vpon a broken disputable and vndecided title he will looke twice vpon his pennie before he part with it in such a case lest caueat emptor proue him to bee of little discretion and teach him to repent when it is too late This is the case of euerie Christian wee are to buy the truth and not to sell it as Salomon counselleth Now who will not that hath any graine of wisedome in his heart rather lay out his monie that is his soule and conscience which as Augustine calleth it is numisma Dei Godscoyne because his Image is imprinted therein for the purchase of that truth which is without all exception in the holy Scriptures then for that which is said to be in traditions but mixed with many doubts and ambiguities It is a rule in Law that abundans cautela non nocet a man cannot be too warie in making sure his title to any thing whatsoeuer How much more then should it preuaile in cases of conscience where the damage is not of house and land but of our soules which to euery man ought to be more precious then the whole world Here is an euident direction for our choice if we eyther loue the truth or our own soules which must liue by it 26. Secondly it may appeare by the perpetuall certaintie of the holy Scripture and variable
A RETRACTIVE FROM THE ROMISH RELIGION Contayning THIRTEENE FORCIBLE MOTIVES disswading from communion with the CHVRCH of ROME Wherein is demonstratiuely proued that the now Romish Religion so farre forth as it is Romish is not the true CATHOLIKE Religion of CHRIST but the seduction of ANTICHRIST By THO. BEARD Doctor in Diuinity and Preacher of Gods holy Word in the Towne of HVNTINGTON 2. Thess 2. 10. Because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued therefore God shall send them strong delusion to beleeue lies LONDON Printed by WILLIAM STANSBY and are to be sold by Henrie Fetherstone 1616. TO THE TRVELY VERTVOVS AND WORTHY KNIGHT SIR OLIVER CROMWEL T. B. wisheth encrease of grace and all happinesse SIR THERE bee many particular respects that mooue me to be bold to set your name in the frontispice of this work As first your sincere loue to true Religion and the Professors thereof Secondly your true detestation of the Romish Synagogue and the malignant influences of those wandring Planets that infect the aire of our Church and seeke by mining poysoning and other deuillish practices to turne our Jerusalem into Babel Thirdly for that your selfe with your religious Lady worthy children and brethren and great family haue beene a long time the principall auditors of my vnworthy ministery wherein many of these points haue been deliuered vpon occasion that you may see them here more fully discoursed and so be the better confirmed in the truth And lastly the particular obligations of loue and duty wherwith I am bound vnto you for many extraordinary fauours and kindnesses receiued These be the motiues that haue moued mee to select your selfe principally aboue all others to dedicate these motiues vnto For the which I desire no more patronage and protection then the truth of the seuerall points contayned therein doe deserue Let them stand vpon their owne legs or fall and perish I know they shall encounter with many bitter oppositions and sharpe aduersaries who will be ready to sift euery sentence and to find a knot in a bull-rush but my shelter is the buckler of truth and the brazen wal of a good conscience with which being armed I hope through Gods aide that I shall be as willing and able to entertayne the re-encounter if any assault be made as I was willing to giue this on-set I confesse that these are not the tithe of the arguments that might be produced against the Romish religion yet I doubt not but that euen these few may serue both to discouer the falshood thereof and to confirme and strengthen those that stagger and are weake in the truth the Lord accompanying these endeuours of his seruant with his blessing as I hope and pray that he would be pleased to do These motiues such as they are I willingly desire may be graced by your name hoping that your name shal no way be disgraced by them accept them therefore as tokens of my sincere loue to your selfe and zeale to the truth for which I desire no other requitall but an augmentation of your zeale to the same truth and a greater detestation of that Religion which already you abhor The Lord of his mercy encrease in you more and more all spirituall graces for your soules health and multiply his blessings temporall vpon your head and crowne you with glory and immortality eternall in the life to come Your worships most affectionate and deuoted THO. BEARD REVERENDIS DILECTISQVE IN CHRISTO FRATRIBVS Pijs ET FIDELIBVS Euangelij Ministris per omnem Britanniam constitutis gratia pax à DEO PATRE DOMINO nostro IESV CHRISTO NOn estis nescij fratres 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Christo quanta nos Euangelij Ministros tùm verborum maledicentia tùm animorum odio insectentur Cleri Pontificij cohors colluuies vniuersa Sua in nos omnis generâ—â— tela quidem venenata confertim conijciunt famam nostram canino dente studio allatrant atque admordent quin ipsas adeo gulas nostras quidem eas nobis incisuri appâ—tunt si illorum in nos maleuolentiae par ad facinus potest as responderet nomen ipsum ministri perinde atque veteribus Iudaeis Samaritae illis itae putet foetet vt sine nausea indignatione illud ne nominare quidem possunt Huiuscemodi conuitijs contumelijs libricorum passim plaerique omnes referti onustique sunt Cuius si intestini inexplebilis odij rationes libeat perquirere quinque istas quas ordine percensebo praecâ—teris insigniores ex ijs principem hanc reperietis Quod Clerus hic Pontificius Monachorum cum primis fraterculorum locustae illae sunt in Apocalypsi commemoratae quae caudis similiter vt scorpiâ— cuâ—pidatis de infernalis putei fumo prodeuntes terminitam quinque mensium spatio homines excruciandi potestatem accepere Quâ— ex re fit vt vbi possunt quidem valent ibi ferro flammaque in nos grassentur vbi autem hoc illis non licet linguas calamos exacuant atque distringant consimili planè atque ille â—ngenio praediti de quo est apud Poetam Et si non aliquà nocuisset mortuus esset Haereticorum enim vt est scriptum ab Hieronymo hoc semper cacoâ—thes fuit vt conuicti de perfidia ad maledicta se conferant Sequitur hanc causam isthaec altera Quod luci cum tenebris nulla societas nullum commercium intercedat Ac nos quidem lucis Ministri sumus qui adomnes quibus non sponte oculi caecutiunt Euangelij claritatem quaqua versum diffundimus Illi contratenebrarum satellites sunt qui dum scripturarum lectione plarosque arcent prohibent dum fidem quam vocant implicitam nos Carbonariam tanquam apprimè salutarem maximeque necessariam praedicant commendant densissimis sane crassissimisque tenebris hominum animâ—â— circumfundunt Istis porro causis annumeranda est haec tertia quod nullum tam capitale odium solet esse atque quod religionis causa suscipitur tum nos religionis illiâ—â— praecones sumâ—â— quae illorum superstitioni vsque adeo aduersa est nulla vt ratione conuenire nalla conciliari arte inter sepossunt Ex quo id existit quod nec Turcas quidem Iudâ—â—s nec ipsos adeo Ethnicos quamuis Christiani nominis hostes infestissimos pariter vt Protestantes Euangelij Ministros detestentur Cuires indicio est illa quam Hispanicam appellant inquisitio testis etiam locuples Româ— ipsa in qua sub ipsius sane ore Pontificis Turcis Iudaeis tuta consuetudo atque periculo omni libera immunis negotiatio est siquem autem nostrae religionis vel leuissimè suspectum esse contingat â—um vel aperta vi vel occultis insiaijs ad internecionem vsque persequuntur Quid autem causae est quaeso quod tanta in nos solos immanitate furoreque
God in them and therefore the worship of them is called the feare of Iehouah and yet they are branded for Idolaters in that respect The like I might say of the golden Calfe in the wildernesse and of that Image which Micha erected Fourthly and lastly that the true God worshipped in or before an Image is made an Idol because as Saint Augustine saith they that worship God in any other sort then he hath appointed worship not him but that which they had fayned that is an Idoll of their owne fancy and therefore the Scripture saith when the Iewes worshipped God in the golden Calfe they turned God into the likenesse of a beast which eateth grasse 21. The second conclusion to bee obserued is that by their doctrine the Images of Christ are to be adored with such worship as is belonging vnto Christ himselfe though improperly and that this worship is to be bounded within the compasse of the Image without relation to the Samplar By which is euident First that by their owne confession they are Idolaters improperly and secondly that trust and confidence is to be put in such an Image vowes and prayers and sacrifices to be made vnto it for all these are parts of diuine worship which must be confined to the Image and so they are not improperly but properly Idolaters and then by this we may see that the caueat inserted in the decree of the Councill of Trent is but a meere sophistication for whereas the decree saith that Images must be so worshipped that trust and confidence be not placed in them in affirming that some ought to bee worshipped with Latria they enioyne plainely that men should repose their trust and confidence in them and thus they bewray the fraud of the decree and their owne secret impiety 22. The third conclusion is that same Hyperdulia or extraordinary reuerence which they say is due to the Image of the blessed Virgin and that Dulia or common seruice which they assigne to the Images of other Saints is no lesse then Idolatry let them extenuate the matter neuer so much by titles and distinctions for it is religious worship all which is due vnto God onely Reuel 19. 10. and 22. 9. The Angel would not suffer Iohn to performe any outward worship vnto him nor so much as prostrate himselfe before him but commanded him to worship God and yet Iohn knew him to be but an Angel and therefore meant not to giue him any thing but outward reuerence yet he refused it vpon this ground that all religious worship both outward and inward belongeth onely vnto God So Mardochee the Iew refused to bow the knee to Haman the Agagite because the honour which was giuen vnto him was more then ciuill for he was made a petty God and therefore in the fragments of Hester this reason is giuen by himselfe I did it because I would not preferre the honour of a man before the glory of God and would not worship any but thee my Lord therefore the bowing of the knee or prostrating of the body after a religious manner is due onely vnto God and is part of diuine worship to bow the knee and prostrate the body after a ciuill manner is lawfull to Kings and Princes and others that are either exalted in gouernment or endued with excellent gifts and graces of God but to doe the same in a religious respect is proper onely to God because it presupposeth the knowing of the heart an omni-presence and an infinite power to helpe And thus this same Hyperdulia and Dulia wherewith they worship the Image of the Virgin and other Saints is open and plaine Idolatry and the rather because it is seldome or neuer seuered from Latria that is the inward worship of the soule which as they say is onely due vnto God as by their practice more plainely shall appeare 23. Thus we see the morrow and mystery of their doctrine discouered now let vs take a view of their practice And first what worship can bee more performed vnto God then they giue vnto their Images they kneele to them they pray to them they vow vowes to them they offer offerings to them they sweare by them they prostrate their bodies before them let Polydore Virgill one of their owne sworne fauorites who would not we may presume speake any thing too lauishly of his owne but rather bee sparing in their disgrace describe their manners Men saith hee are growne to that madnesse that this part of piety is little differing from flat impiety for there are very many of the rude and ignorant which worship the very Images of wood or stone of marble or brasse or pictures painted vpon the walls not as figures but euen as if they had verily sense and doe put more trust in them then they doe in Christ or other Saints to whom they are dedicated Thus doth this man describe the practice of their Idolatry and much more might be found in him to that purpose but that the Spanish Censours haue taken order by their Index Expurgatorius that he shall not doe them much hurt But if this mans testimony will not serue the turne let vs heare another of the same ranke a man of great learning and iudgement Cornelius Agrippa who thus complaineth The corrupt manner and false Religion of the Gentiles hath infected our Religion and hath brought into the Church Images and pictures with many vaine ceremonies of externall pompe none whereof was found amongst the first and true Christians Hence wee began to bring into our Churches dumbe Images and to place them vpon Gods Altars with great reuerence and whither we account it vnlawfull for a man the true Image of God to ascend thither we translate senselesse Images to them we bow our heads giue kisses offer lights hang vp gifts apply myracles buy pardons of them To conclude to them we goe a pilgrimage to them we make vowes them we inwardly worship and not only outwardly adore neither can it be vttered how great superstition that I may not say Idolatry is nourished amongst the rude and ignorant people in Images the Priests winking thereat and reaping thereby no small gaine to their purses Adde vnto these Cassanders testimony another learned man of an indifferent spirit It is more manifest saith he then that it needeth any long explication that the worship of Images hath too much preuailed and that the affection or rather superstition of the people hath beene too much fauoured in this regard so that Christians seeme to be nothing inferiour to Pagans in the adoration which they vsed to exhibite to their Idols and in the vanity which they shewed in making and adorning their Images And a little after he bringeth in a saying of Gabriel Biell to this effect The blockish errour of certaine men is so great and they are so affected to Images that they thinke that some diuine grace or sanctity resideth in them by which
before their Images in the Temples of their Gods and therefore me thinkes it is strange that Bellarmine should make this an argument why Reliques are to be worshipped because Tapers and Candles are set vp before them wheras rather he should conclude that Idolatry is cōmitted before them because of this Againe in their solemne oathes they touch not onely the Bible but the Reliques of Saints so deuide the religion of an oath which is a principall part of Gods worship betwixt God and them against which a plague is denounced by the Prophet Zephany Zephan 1. 5. And it is also condemned by the Prophet Ieremie Ier. 5. 7. And a reason is giuen of it in Chrysostomes 12. Homily vpon S. Mathew at least if it be Chrysostomes He that sweares by any thing beside God deifies that thing and thereby makes himselfe an Idolater Is not this then Idolatry Lastly whereas in former times where lesse superstition preuailed they placed the Reliques of Saints vnder the Altar as Ambrose witnesseth of the Reliques of Geruasins and Protasius Ille Christus videlicet super altare qui pro omnibus passus est isti sub altari qui ipsius redempti sunt sanguine Christ was vpon the Altar who suffered for all the Reliques of them vnder the Altar who were redeemed with his bloud yet now as Cassander well notes contrary to the ancient custome their practice is to place the bodies of Saints vpon the Altars which place is only proper for the body of Christ Is not this horrible Idolatry And yet Bellarmine would hence proue that they are to be worshipped because they are placed vnder the Altar because forsooth the Altar is to be worshipped but what if the worshipping of the Altar be Idolatry too as without question it is if the Altar be a dead creature and a heape of stones or wood This is to adde drunkennesse to thirst and to couer a filthy wound with a more filthy plaister besides the first bringers in of that custome though they placed them vnder the Altar in a religious manner yet neuer meant that they should bee worshipped by those that approched vnto the Altar or that they did conferre any sanctity to the Eucharist Thus we haue a short view of their superstitious and Idolatrous practice in this point 31. Fiftly and lastly that they may be voyd of all excuse and pretext an infinite number of their thus worshipped Reliques are meere false and counterfait not true members parts or remainders of any Saints but fained impostures of couetous Priests and often the members not of men but of baser creatures At this day saith Cassander when the world seemeth to be full of Reliques it may bee feared lest vpon diligent examination most detestable frauds and impostures be found out as it appeared sometime to S. Martin who found a place honoured in the name of an holy Martyr to be the Sepulcher not of a Martyr but of a wicked Robber This kinde of cousonage began to spring in Augustine and Gregories times for the one complaineth of certaine Hypocrites that caried about and boasted of the members of Martyrs si tamen Martyram if so be they were Martyrs And the other affirmeth that certaine Greeke Monkes being found digging vp the dead bodies of men in a certaine field of Rome confessed that they meant to carrie their bones into Greece as the Reliques of Saints 32. But since Popery grew to perfection this is also growne to such a height of impudencie that it is a wonder to heare what strange Reliques are to bee seene in the world S. Peter being buried whole in one place to wit at Rome in the Vaticane as Baronius writeth yet is found halfe in another to wit in via Ostiensi as Onuphrius testifieth and for all this a part of him is to be seene at Constantinople as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth Nay further besides these three places his head is reserued in a fourth to wit in the Laterane Church at Rome by Onuphrius testimony And besides this whole head another piece of his head in the Church of Saint Praxis by the same Author and in a fixt place one of his iaw-bones with his beard is kept for a monument this is at Poytiers in Fraunce as witnesseth Caluine his teeth are not confined to his iawes nor yet at one place but to bee seene in many places at Rome in the Church of S. Vincent and Anastasius and the holy Crosse and S. Sauiour and S. Lawrence without the walls his braine is to be seene at Geneuah at leastwise if a Pumice stone be his braine for it is nothing else Many of his bones are to be seene at Treuers a piece of his shoulder at Rome in the Church of the holy Crosse a toe in the Church of S. Praxis and the ioynt of another in England at the Lady of Walsingham as Erasmus testifieth as it were of a Giants toe these with many moe be the Reliques of S. Peter all which are held in great honour and worship of them Now either S. Peter must bee a Monster or many of these counterfait Reliques 33. But S. Peter is not alone in this for Christ himselfe is abused three praepuces or foreskinnes of his are showne and worshipped in three diuers places so foureteene nailes when as he felt but three three coats whereas hee had but one and that without seame for the which the souldiers cast losts two titles that were set vpon the Crosse foure poynts of the speare wherewith his side was pierced fiue Linnen clothes wherwith he was wrapped and many such like trumperies Nay there is scarce a Saint that is any thing famous to whom they do not faine two or three bodies Saint Barbaries head is to be seene in so many places that sure she must needs haue beene a monster if all those were true members Saint Apollonia had so many teeth being all soueraigne medicines for the tooch-ache that when King Edward labouring of that disease sent through England for all her teeth to be brought vnto him two or three hogsheads could not hold them that were found out It is reported and recorded of a certaine Relicke-monger that boasted that hee carried about in a box some feathers of the holie Ghost Now another merry companion stealing away these feathers foisted in in their roome certaine coales The other not perceiuing the coozenage the next day began to vaunt of his holy relickes and to shew them to the people which stood ready by to adore them with great reucrence but when he opened his caske he found nothing but coales whereat being nothing amazed like a skilfull Artisan he turned Cat in the pan and told the people that those coales were taken from vnder the Grediron of Saint Laurence when he was broyled to death thus any thing will serue their turnes for relickes when need requireth and so more then Aegyptian is the
must needs be a wil worship deuiâ—ed by their own braines and not warranted by the word of God which is also confessed by Eckius in his Enchiridion and insinuated by the Councill of Trent when in setting downe that decree it alleageth no Scripture but onely the ancient custome of their Church consent of Fathers and decrees of Councels 45. But to the poynt I say that seeing by the rule of Gods word we find but two kinds of worship one religious and diuine contained in the first Table the other ciuill and humane inioyned in the second If therefore the worship of Saints be not a meere ciuill worship belonging to the second Table of the Law then it must needes be religious and pertaine to the fiâ—st and so consequently Idolatrous This twofold worship and no more is approued by Saint Augustine who by that distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putteth difference betwixt the worship that must bee giuen to God and that ciuill honour which is due vnto men for by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee meaâ—eth that kind of worship and honour which wee may and must performe to those that excell either in place of authority or in gifts and graces of God which is meerely humane and ciuill and by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that dâ—uine worship which the creature oweth vnto the Creatour onely and that former is that which he alloweth onely to the Saints and that in that acception of the word which is before specified to wit as it is a ciuill and humane worship as appeareth more euidently by that which he affirmeth in another place in these words Colimus Martyres eo cultu dilectionis societatis quo in hac vita coluntur Sancti Dei homines sed illos tanto deuotiùs quantò securiùs post incerta omnia superata In which words it is plaine that the kinde of the worship exhibited to Saints triumphant and Saints militant is all one but the extension of it is greater to the one then the other according to tâ—e proportiâ—n of gifts and graces more apparent in one then the other 46. But the Romish Doctours and principally the Iesuites adde a third kinde of worship yea a fourth to these two albeit therein they neither agree with themselues nor with their fellowes as it commonly falleth out when men build vpon their owne fancies a rotten foundation and not vpon the word of God which is the ground of truth For Bellarmine saith that there is a ciuill worship due vnto men for some ciuill respect and there is a religious worship due vnto Saints in respect of their Sanctity and holinesse which he calleth dulia and a diuine worship proper onely vnto God which he calleth latria and that middle hee subdiuideth into two degrees the first he saith is dulia propriè dicta so properly called which agreeth to the Saints and the second Hyperdulia which belongeth onely to the humanity of Christ and the blessed Virgin his Mother and so hee maketh foure distinct kinds of worship whereof two are without the compasse and reach of Gods Commandements and therefore I know not where to place them except in the diuels The like doctrine is deliuered by Vasques another Iesuite and Canisius and almost all the rest of that Iesuiticall raâ—ble but marke their harmony Bellarmine saith that this worship oâ— Saints is Cultus and therefore an acte of Religion though in a secondary respect Vasques denyeth it flatly to be an act of Religion at all but of sâ—me other vertue Thomas Aquinas Bonauenture Gabriel and Albertus are of mind as testifieth Vasques that it is one and the same kind of worship wherewith wee honour men aduanced in ciuill dignity and the Saints and that the difference is in the degrees of proportion not in diuersity of kind And in this they fully consent with vs as also with Saint Augustine and with the truth but this is contradicted by Bellarmine Vasques and all the rabble of the Iesuites as may appeare in the places before quoted 47. Paluda nus makes three kindes of Hyperdulia the first due to the humanity of Christ for it selfe the second to the blessed Virgin the third to the rest of the Saints but as for dulia that he applyeth onely to that honour which we owe to all reasonable creatures except the damned but this is crossed by all the rest Againe Durandus as Vasques reporteth is of opinion that the worship of Saints departed and men in ciuill dignity proceedeth from one and the same vertue and differeth onely in the act applyed vnto the degrees of excellency But Bellarmine Vasques and all of that stampe renounce vtterly that opinion as I haue shewed Lastly Vasques that acute Iesuite as they brag of him affirmeth that the worship of Saints is not an act of Religion and yet in the same Chapter he calleth it cultus sacer religiosus A holy and religious worship then which what can be more contradictory for if it be a religious worship then must it needs be a worship of religion and an act of religion and if no worship of religion then no religious worship for coniugata by the rule of Logicke se inuicem ponunt tollunt And that which iâ— to bee noted aboue all the rest hee is constrained to deuise a new speciall habite of vertue to which this worship of Saints may be referred neuer heard of before neither in Morall Philosophy nor yet in diuinity and that without name and so without nature and being except in the Iesuites braine onely Thus wee may see how errour like Proteus turneth it selfe into many shapes and at last is strangled with it owne halter 48. But that this outward adoration of Saints departed is Idolatrous appeareth ouer and aboue that which hath beene said by these reasons first because they ascribe vnto them a presence not onely in one place but in all places where they are worshipped secondly a power of hearing seeing and helping and thirdly an ability of knowing and seeing the heart all which imply an infinite power and such as is properly diuine And therefore it is nothing but a vaine shift when they say they giue diuine worship to God and no more but a certaine kinde of seruice to the Saints when in truth they giue that which is Gods to the Saints besides touching kneeling and prostrating the body in a religious manner Peter refused to haue it done vnto him by Cornelius and the Angell rebuked Iohn twice for offering it vnto him if it had beene lawfull sure they would not haue refused it for neither did Cornelius take Peter to be a God but for a holy man nor Iohn the Angell for the Creator but for an excellent creature as euidently appeareth in the Texts and therefore they intended not to worship them as Gods yet because the manner of their worship was more then befitting a creature hauing in it a
Sacrament is really changed into the body of Christ and the wine into his blood if this be true 12. Againe to proue their doctrine of concomitance that is that whole Christ is vnder both formes of the Sacrament Bellarmine produceth examples out of Surius Vincentius and Alexander Aleusis where miraculously out of the bread being broken blood plentifully flowed to the view of the beholders which if they were true as may very wel be doubted yet euince not that doctrine for those miracles might be wroght rather for the coÌ„uictioÌ„ of profane irreligious receiuers confirmation of Christian Religion against all enemies therof whether Infidels or Heretikes then for the proof of the reall presence or coÌ„comitance of both parts of the Sacrament vnder one signe but that they were not true wee haue iust cause to suspect seeing the eldest of those miracles are litle aboue a hundred yere old at what time true miracles were vtterly ceased in the Church falseones were foisted into their roomes as witnesseth Lyranus who sayth that the people in his time were notably deceiued by false miracles forged by Priests and their complices for gaine and Canus who affirmeth that writers in his time forged many things of purpose and suggested false miracles to pamper the peoples humor and to gaine credit to Religion and in that respect taxeth diuerse graue authors for their pronenesse in satisfying the peoples appetite and Agrippa who sayth that the writers of histories making godly lies did counterfeit Reliques frame miracles and deuise terrible fables let these goe then amongst the rest for at least suspected if not conuinced falshoods 13. Further for the proofe of their Canonization and inuocation of Saints it is a wonder to see how many wonders they haue deuised For to omit that which Cardinall Baronius reports as a truth out of Guillerinus and Vincentius touching Saint Fulbert that because he was a most deuout worshipper of the Virgin Mary therefore shee came vnto him in his sicknesse and gaue him her brests to sucke as also how shee came to Saint Bernard in his sicknesse to visit him accompanied with Saint Lawrence and Saint Benedict and to omit how Saint Dominick caused the Deuill to hold the Candle â—o him till it burnt his fingers which Canus brandes with the stampe of a ridiculous fable and how Saint Dunstone pulled the Deuill by the nose or by the lip as some other say with a paire of Pincers which beeing as ridiculous as the former yet is allowed by the Iesuit Delrio for truth to omit also how their Saint Francis had the fiue wounds of Christ printed in his flesh by an Angell with the nailes sticking therein and continually bleeding till his dying day that hee vsed to ride in the aire in a fiery chariot talking with Christ and Mary and Iohn and accompanied with innumerable Angels and that the birds would heare him preach with great deuotion and a wolfe was conuerted by him whom he called brother wolfe and ledde him about with him in his iourney as also to omit how Saint Denis had his head stroken off and after carried iâ— two miles in his hands the like to which is written of Iustinian the Monke Saint Othisa Saint Fulcian and Saint Victorice and how Saint Nicholas in his infancy lying in his cradle of himselfe faiâ—ed Wednesdayes and Frydayes and would not take suck and how Saint ` Patrick caused a stollen sheepe to bleat in the belly of him that had eaten it and how Saint Bede preached to the stones and they answered his prayer and said Amen venerable Bede 14. To omit I say all these and many more as beeing ordinary and common tales in euery mans mouth I will onely commend vnto the Readers admiration some few more rare and yet no whit lesse strange as for example a Parrate being like to bee surprized by a hauke flying ouer the shrine of Saint Thomas of Canterbury cryed miraculously Saint Thomas helpe moe and presently the hawke fell downe dead and the Parrat escaped so the famous Virgin of Lauretto when as a certaine man was on the ladder ready to bee hanged being accused falsely for purloyning his masters hawke assoone as hee did but thinke of her in his heart and desire her helpe the hawke came foorth with iâ—ngling in the aire and houering ouer his head and at last light vpon the gallowes and so freed the poore man from the halter Saint Christophers staffe beeing pitched into the ground began presently to beare leaues whereupon eight thousand men were conuerted to the faith of Christ A Nunne called Beatrix running away with her Paramour liued certaine yeeres in a publike brothel-house but because shee was a deuout worshipper of our Lady our Lady her selfe supplied her roome in the Nunnerie and was taken for Beatrix all the time of her absence Saint Christines tongue was cut out of her head and yet shâ—e spake notwithstanding and her brests beeing cut insteed of blood milke issued Saint Brice beeing accused to bee the father of a base childe caused the said child being but thirty dayes old to speake and confesse that Brice was not his father the same also is said to carry hote coales in his bosome without burning his flesh or clothes Saint Aidus espying eight wolues that were sore hungry gaue them eight lambes of meere compassion which afterwards by prayer bee obtained lafe and found out of the wolues bellies Saint Adrian beeing called vpon by a boy that was beaten the Masters hand was stayd in the aire so that hee could no more touch him 15. What should I tell you of Saint Patrick that droue with his staffe all the venemous beasts out of Ireland or of Saint Roch who beeing sicke of the pestilence in a wood was fed by a hound that brought him euery day bread from his masters table or of Saint Lupe or Low who shut vp the Deuil in a tankard all night that came to tempt him so that he howled and brayed most hideously and in the morning the holy man let him out or of Saint Dunston whose Harpe hanging on the wall sounded melodiously without touching this Antheme Gaudent in coelis animae sanctorum and of Saint Martin who beeing saying Masse a tongue of fire came and sate vpon him as it did vpon the Apostles or of Saint Germaine who comming to the sepulchre of one of his disciples beeing a good while dead asked him how hee fared and if he would no longer goe with him to whom the other answered and said that hee was well and that all things were to him soft and sweet and that hee would no more come hither or of Saint Barbara who turned the sheepe of a certaine sheepheard that bewraied her to her father that sought for her into locusts But if you would haue a lye with a latchet looke into the Legend of the Annunciation of our