same booke confuteth it selfe so plainlie as none vvith reason can esteeme it worth a straw For in that verie booke the author thereof who soeuer he were alleageth S. Austens opinion and confuteth the same These are the wordes quod quam vis licet de eius salute Augustinus potuit dubitare credo quidemilli qui dixit quacunque hora peccator ingemuerit conversus fuerit vita viuet because although S. Augustine doubted of his saluation yet do I beleeue him that said at what houre soeuer a sinner shall repent and be converted hee shall live These are the wordes of this vvriter which doubtlesse cannot be S. Augustines because S. Austen would never speake of him selfe as of a strange third person and purposelie confute himselfe as this author confuteth Augustine Besides this S. Augustine in his bookes of confession doth vtterlie condemne confession of sinnes vnto Priestes as I haue prooved in the chapter of auricular confession but alas the Papistes as they haue but one onelie place of the Machabees for their forged pugatorie so haue they but onelie this place of S. Augustine for their popish confession And therefore no marveile if they invent poore miserable shifts to have them both reputed authentical if it would be The 9. Preamble THe cheefest and principall thing that seduceth and maketh so manie wilfull papistes is this gentle reader for certaintie when so ever anie one of what degree calling or condition soever shall become a papist and yeeld himselfe to the slanedome of popish religion that person must bye and bye prosesse ipso facto to beleeue and imbrace all the popes decrees of faith and maners as the verie selfe decrees of the holie ghost and also to obey his ordinances and censures as the lawes of God and not of man their reason whereof is because as they say the holie Ghost doth so direct couduct and guide the Popes tongue and pen that he can neither define commaund or write anie thing in iudiciall and difinitiue maner but it must perforce proceed from the holie ghost out of which falslie supposed ground two most pernicious euils follow of necessitie The one that whensoeuer anie difficultie doubt or controversie ariseth about anie matter of religion then by and by the Papistes consider first of all what the pope holdeth whether it be in the decrees decretals the sixt booke Clementines extravagants and that done they will coine one distinction or other by which they vvill racke the meaning of the question difficultie reason father or scripture propounded to agree with that which the pope holdeth For they wil neuer examine the popes decrees by the scriptures fathers or coūcels but the fathers or councels scriptures by the Popes faith constitutions practise for if anie can once say the Church that is the pope holdeth so then is the controversie at an end he shall be demed an heretike that proceedeth one iot further for their canon law hath made it sacriledge to dispute of the popes power Read the first chapter the other that none may or dare reade either the scriptures trāslated into their vulgar tongue or any expositours vpon the latine Bible or anie booke of controversies or anie writer whosoeuer in anie matter of religion popish writers onelie excepted vnlesse they first haue a licence from the pope which license is neuer graunted but to special persons vpon speciall considerations And out of this sharpe vnchristian and diabolical prohibition issueth the third euill to wit that not one papist among ten thousand knoweth anie thing perteining to religion save onely a few special pointes of popish doctrine For they are taught that to beleeve as the fable of the Colier teacheth them is sufficient the devil as cardinall Hosius reporteth disputed with a poore colier asking him how he beleeved I beleeue said the colier as the church beleeueth then the deuill demaunding how the Church beleeued the colier answered in this maner I beleeue as the church beleeueth and the church beleeueth as I beleeue there he rested and would not remoue one iote At the same stay are all papistes this day who beleeue as the church of Rome beleeueth though they cannot tell how it beleeueth but onelie in a generall and grosse maner and so they often times beleeue they know not what Marrie our English papistes for feare of the statute dare not stand vpon this beleefe though it be their staie indeed but flee to another bulwarke as they deeme it to wit it is against my conscience when yet in verie deede they can no more tell what conscience is then they know what the romish church beleeveth The 10. Preamble THe religion this day established by godlie lawes in this realme of England is the aunciēt christian catholike and apostolike doctrine which was taught by Christ and his apostles practised in the primitive church euer continued in the heartes of the faithfull vntill this houre and shal no doubt to the worlds end And though the common people for the greater part call it the new religion yet is that a meere childish vanitie and the popish doctrine the new religion in verie deed For the old Romish religion is this day holden and observed in this Realme which thing is proued at large throughout my second booke for example the profession of the romish Capuchenes is not a new profession in religion but the old franciscan profession newlie reformed and therefore doe they terme themselues the reformed franciscanes which yet the other corrupt and dissolute franciscans will not acknowlege and euen so in our case the religion now established in England is not a religion opposite to the first old Romish religion but the old Romish religion newlie reformed and purged from the corruptions and abuses crept into the same From which auncient and pure religion the pope and his adherents are departed like as the franciscans are also gone from their old popish franciscan profession The 11. Preamble THe ignorant papistes that is all papistes or verie few excepted doe greatlie loth and abhorre the christian catholike religion now established in this land by godlie lawes in a godlie maner And this they doe vppon a ground falslie so supposed by reason of their ignorance therein their falslie conceiued ground is that our religion contemneth good workes and iustifieth the most wicked liuers vpon earth which if it were as they imagine then were it indeede a great motiue to dislike of our religion But gentle reader it is a most notorious slaunder doubtlesse as I shal evidentlie proue vnto thee Hieronymus Zanchius writeth thus Primi affectus regenerationis ac spiritus sunt amor iustitiae legisque divinae odium peccati The first affects or fruites of regeneration and of the spirit are loue of iustice and of the law divine and hatred of sinne and a litle after he saith thus Fily Dei diligunt faciunt iustitiam filii autem diaboli amant
his written disputations abridged by Robert Persons his brother Iesuite defendeth and approoveth another opinion plaine opposite to all yet rehearsed and maketh in deede the Popes pardons not woorth a button which is the cause as I probably coniecture that the third and last part of his disputations is not permitted as yet to come abroade and either will never be published or wholly omitted or at least changed before it come abroad The Councell of Trent speaketh very slenderly and coldly of the Popes pardons The third Conclusion TO give pardons as the Pope doeth is a straunge and newe doctrine of a most damnable Religion which neither Christ nor his Apostles ever taught or practised This I will proove as I doe other things by the expresse testimonies of the Popes owne renowmed Doctors that so all the worlde may perceive and beholde Papistrie confuted and confounded by papistrie it selfe Sylvester reputed and as it were surnamed absolutus Theologus hath these verie wordes Indulgentia nobis per Scripturam minimè innotuit licet inducatur illud Apostoli si quid donavi vobis sednec per dicta antiquorum Doctorum sed modernorum The Popes pardons saith the Popes owne deare Doctor were never knowen to us by the Scriptures although some alleadge Saint Paul for that purpose neither were they knowen by the auncient Fathers but onely by late writers Antoninus in his first part hath the verie wordes alreadie cited and holdeth the selfe same opinion with fryer Sylvester Petrus Lombardus who with great diligence collected into one volume all worthie sentences of the auncient fathers and therefore was surnamed the Master of sentences maketh no mention of the Popes pardons at all as which he could not finde notwithstanding his painefull industrie imployed in that kinde of exercise For as Sylvester truly writeth the olde writers were not acquainted with any such thing The like may be said of S Cyprian S. Augustine S. Hierome Nazianzene and others of antiquitie for which cause Durand Caietain and sundrie other schoolemen affirme the popes manner of pardoning to be a newe thing in the Church of God Neither can Dominicus Soto deny the same indeede albeit he busieth him selfe more then a little in the Popes defence if it would be Yea the originall of popish pardoning is so very young as their famous martyr and bishop M. Fisher in his aunswere to M. Luthers articles was enforced to admit the newnesse and young age of the same and to yeeld this reason in defence thereof to wit that purgatorie was not so well knowne at that time to the Church as it is nowe which saying I weene is true indeede because purgatorie and pardous were not heard of in olde time and nowe onely knowen by vaine grosse and sensuall imaginations O worthie pardons O brave purgatorie O holy pope of Rome what stronge reasons what forcible arguments what grave authorities are alleadged in your behalfe Let us heare with attention the finall resolution hereof set down by Sylvester and Antoninus for their holy father the pope Quia inquiunt Ecclesia hoc facit servat credendum est ita esse Because the Church this doeth and thus observeth we must beleeve that it is so Loe a short and sweete conclusion as if they should say though we can proove the popes pardons neither by Scriptures nor by fathers nor by reasons yet must we beleeve them because the Church that is the pope saith so who can not erre which saying gentle Reader both hath bene and is the sole and onely foundation of all notorious Papistry The 4. Conclusion THE Popes manner of pardoning argueth aswell inordinate affection of filthie lucre as also want of charitie His want of charitie is prooved and convinced in that he can deliver as his religion teacheth all soules out of purgatorie with his word and neverthelesse suffereth them to abide most bitter torments so many yeeres in that affliction For the papistes holde that the paines of purgatorie are as great and painefull as be the torments of hell and that they differ accidentally in this only because the paines of purgatorie shall once have an ende but the paines of hell never Thus writeth Sylvester Prieras Sicut potest Papa liberare à poena peccatorum debita in hoc mundo omnes qui sunt in mundo si faciant quod mandat etiamsi essent millies plures quà m sunt it a liberare potest omnes qui sunt in purgatorio siquis pro eis faciat quod iubet As the Pope can deliver al in this world from paine due for sinne in this world if they doe that which he appointeth though they were thousands more then they be even so can he deliver all that are in purgatorie if any doe that for them which he commandeth and lest any man should thinke that impossible or a verie difficult matter which the Pope requireth to be done Sylvester in another place telleth us that it is a thing most easie These be his wordes Indulgentiae simplicitèr tantum valent quantum praedicantur modò exparte dantis sit autoritas ex parte recipientis charitas ex parte causae pietas Pardons are simply worth so much as they are preached so there be autoritie in the giver charity in the receiver piety in the cause or motive But so it is that the souls in purgatory be in charity by popish confession for else they could not be out of hel and that the pope hath authoritie as also that he graunteth his Pardons for good and godly causes I suppose no Papist will denie if they doe my argument is the stronger and my selfe shall easily agree there to Bartholomaeus Fumus confirmeth this point when he thus writeth Papa posset liberare omnes animas Purgatorij etiamsiplures essent si quis pro eis faceret quod iuberet peccaret tamen indiscretè concedendo The Pope could set at libertie all the soules of Purgatorie though never so many if any would doe that for them which he appointed marrie he should sinne by his undiscreete pardoning And the popish schole-doctor Viguerius proceedeth further and avowcheth it to be neither inconvenient nor against the justice of God these are his expresse wordes Nec est inconveniens quòd Papa Purgatorium posset evacuare non enim per hoc aliquid detraheretur Divinae iustitiae Neither is it inconvenient that the Pope can harrowe hell for that doeth nothing derogate from the iustice of God Nowe to say that he can this doe but yet doeth it not to keepe him selfe from sinne is altogether vaine and frivolous For first he should no more sinne in delivering all then he doeth in setting one onely at libertie as is alreadie prooved by Sylvester and Viguerius Againe plenarie Pardons are so common at the houre of death as none that either have friendes or money are or can be destitute thereof which yet is a poynt more undiscreete then the other by their owne
in the nature of the thing but only by the mercie of God in that it pleased the maiestie of God to assigne eternall paine for the one and temporall for the other For both of them deserve eternall paine of their owne nature because they are against God And in another place the same Iosephus writeth in this manner Durandus tamen alij permulti hanc sententiam impugnant affirmantes peccata venialia esse contra mandata haec opinio videtur modò in scholis communior But Durand and many others impugne this opinion auouching veniall sinnes to be against the commaundement and this opinion now adaies seemeth to be more common in the scholes where note by the way out of the word modo now adaies the mutabilitie of tomish religion THE NINTH ARTICLE of Dissention THe councell of Trent Thomas Aquinas Bellarminus and manie other papistes affirme matrimonie to be properlie a sacrament of the new testament and to conferre grace But Durand denieth it either to give grace or to be properlie a sacrament So Alphonsus a Castro and Petrus a Soto denie it to bee properlie a sacrament of the new Iawe And Melchior Canus having sundrie others of his opinion as he saith holdeth matrimonie to be a sacrament yet not everie matrimonie to be so but only that matrimonie which is celebrated a ministro ecclesiastico sacris et solennibus verbis by the minister of the church in sacred and solemne words The like dissention is among Papistes about the matter and forme of the said sacrament For Iosephus Angles reciteth fiue severall opinions for and concerning this one point of popish doctrine And Melchior Canus beholdeth such varietie in this matter as he reputeth him a mad man that wil beleeve their sayings whose words for better credite sake are these Lege magistrum D. Tho. Scotum Bonav Richard Palud Durand caetero sque scholae theologos nisi statim eorum pendentes ac vacillantes animos deprehenderis tum vero me aut stultum aut temerarium iudicato Nam cum quaerunt an matrimonium conferat gratiam id quod maxime eo loco finiendum erat non definiunt tamen sed in his referunt quae in hominum opinione sunt posita In materia item forma huius sacramenti statuenda adeo sunt inconstantes varij adeo incerti ambigui vt ineptus futurus sit qui in tanta illorum varietate discrepantia rem aliquam certam constantem exploratam conetar efficere Read the master S. Thomas Bonaventure Richardus Paludanus Durandus and other schoole divines if by and by thou doest not perceiue their wavering and doubtfull mindes then iudge me either a foole or a rash fellow For when they enquire if matrimonie confer grace that which was especially to be defined that define they not at all but onely tell what others thinke therein and in determining the matter and forme of this sacrament they are so unconstant and various so uncerten and ambiguous that he may be deemed a foole who in such their variety and dissent will establish any constant doctrine Here gentle reader thou maiest behold the dissention of papistes even in their sacraments and matters mostimportant The tenth Article of dissention PAnormitanus Abulensis Gerson Almaine Cusanus with all the fathers of the counsell assembled at Constance affirme every generall councell to be aboue the Pope as I haue proved in the 4. chapter and third conclusion But all our Dominicanes Iesuites and seminaries doe with open mouthes avouch the contrarie as their writings and experience this day teacheth vs. The eleventh article of dissension THe Iesuites and seminaries tell us that the Church consisteth in those popes who sit by materiall succession in Peters chaire at Rome how badde soever their lives be and how erroneous soever be their private opinions but their owne great doctour Nich. Lyranus doth sharpely impugne that their sottish assertion telling them that many popes have forsaken the christian faith and become atheists therefore that the church doth not consist in the materiall succession of men but in the faith of Peter and doctrine which he preached Read his words in the third chapter and fourth conclusion The like dissention is amongst papists about the popes dispensation in matrimonio ratonon consummato as is alreadie prooved in the fifth chapter read and peruse the chapter The twelfth Article of dissention MAny papists as Aquinas Richardus Paludanus Marsilius pope Gregorie all his canonists do hold that a simple priest by vertue of the popes dispensation may lawfully and effectually minister their sacrament of confirmation VVhich opinion Covarruvias recordeth and iustifieth in these wordes Tertio probatur simplicem sacer dotem posse ex Rom. pontificis dispensatione sacramentum hoc confirmationis ministrare auctoritate D. Gregorij qui permittit vere concedit licentiam presbyteris ubi desunt Episcopi ministrandi sacramentum confirmationis quod si fieri iure non posset vir doctissimus sanctissimus minime permisisset It is prooved thirdly that a simple priest may vpon the popes grant administer this sacrament of confirmation by S. Gregories authoritie who permitteth and indeed giveth license unto priestes where bishops want to doe the same But his opinion and practise is stoutly impugned by other great papistes to wit Bonaventura Alphonsus Durandus Scotus Maior and pope Hadrian who all avouch that pope Gregorie was a man and therefore might erre and erred indeed egregiously what greater and more important dissention can be then this for confirmation is a sacrament with the papistes The thirteenth article of dissention ALbertus Magnus Thomas Aquinas Ioannes Maior Bonaventura Almain Richardus and other papistes affirme that every of their 7. orders is a sacrament VVhereupon I might inferre right consequently that the papistes have by iustnumber 13. sacraments in all But their Durand doeth reiect this common opinion as foolish and improbable Yea Victoria Iosephus Angles Caietanus and Petrus Lombardus their master of sentences are no small patrones of Durandus his opinion Iosephus Anglus writeth thus Non est erroneum affirmare cum Dur ando solam or dinationem sacerdotis esse sacramentum ordinis reliquas vero ordinationes sacramentalia esse quia Ecclesia hactenus non declaravit oppositum neque eius opinio scripturae sacrae sanctorum auctoritatibus contradicit It is not erroneous to affirme with Durande that onely priesthood is a sacrament and that the sixe other are meere sacramentals because the Church hitherto hath not declared the contrarie neither is this opinion contrary to holy scripture or to the doctrine of the fathers Victoria hath these wordes Sienim aliqui ordines non sunt iuris divini ut certo constat deminoribus non est dubitandum quin collatio illorum committi possit non Episcopo For if some orders be not de iure divino as it is certen of