Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	apostle_n	book_n	word_n	2,516	5	3.8577	3	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07781	A notable treatise of the church in vvhich are handled all the principall questions, that haue bene moued in our time concerning that matter. By Philip of Mornay, Lord of Plessis Marlyn, gentleman of Fraunce. And translated out of French into English by Io. Feilde.; Traicté de l'église. English	Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623.; Fielde, John, d. 1588.	1579 (1579)	STC 18159; ESTC S107520	167,479	400

shoulde say to the ende it should be deliuered vnto the posteritie so as we haue it there registred by foure sworne Notaries of the holie Ghost and expounded in many Epistles of the Apostles Finally these Registers of the kingdome of heauen haue gathered them together by the common care of the Churches wherein they haue bene kept the which haue witnessed that this worde proceeded from them and thereto haue put to their seale and to the ende that no Scripture myght be made equall vnto them and to take away also the foundation of all heretikes which euery where alledge it and bring in to serue euery turne the traditions of the Apostles the Churches haue brought them into one booke which they call the Canon that is the rule and the Canonical Scriptures See then that in the Christian Church we haue now as was vnder the lawe one rule to iudge the right from the crooked a squire to direct our buylding a compasse to guyde our barke a lawe to iudge controuersies and a God in his woorde to determine all matters which shall arise in the Churches All that is agreeable to this word of God is of God for that it is his owne word All that is not agreeable to this worde is of man and no man hath any voyce in the Churche to make any lawes concerning the seruice of god The sonne of maÌ„ alone God and man hath onely this power of whom it is onely sayd Heare him Al then that is ouer and besides this ought to haue no place in the Church By this worde thus limited within the bookes of the Canonicall Scripture the primatiue Church hath taken away an infinite nomber of traditions which heretiks haue made to passe vnder the name of the Apostles allowing nothing but that which they haue found contained in the foresayde bookes By the same also they haue stopped the mouth of heresies which sprong vp of the noughtie and vnsound interpretations thereof to be short they neuer complained when they had any thing to doe with heretikes who agreed of this Iudge accompting their matter wonne but rather when they vanquished them which refused the same worde forasmuch as it is impossible to finde a Iudge to them that refuse to be iudged of God. Our aduersaries alwaies cry with open mouth The Fathers Fathers Fathers but beholde whereby the Fathers woulde bee iudged and before whome they would pleade This controuersie sayeth S. August requireth a Iudge let Christ then be Iudge himselfe and tel vs himself wherefore he dyed Let the Apostle also be iudge together with him for in the Apostle also Christ himselfe speaketh It is sayde that he hath not spared his owne sonne c. but hath giuen him to the death for vs See then the Iudge before whome he calleth the Pelagians from whome our aduersaries haue borowed their doctrine Against the Donatistes his ordinarie wordes are We haue founde Christ in the scriptures there also must wee finde the Church Also let it not be heard any more betwene vs I say this thou sayest that but rather see what the Lord sayth for we haue saith he the bookes of the Lord to which we both giue consent we both beleeue and keepe Againe the canonicall Scripture is the rule of all The epistles of Bishops gyue place one to an other and Councels are amended and corrected one by an other but that must correct all Also where shall wee feede the sheepe of the Lorde Vpon the mountaynes of Israel these mountaines of Israel are the altars of the Scriptures of god When any man shall preach according to that from thence take taste thereof and all that is not from thence cast it awaye for feare of straying in the mystes And when the Donatistes alleadged Saint Cyprian vnto him of whome notwithstanding hee maketh a great accompt in all his workes and specially through whome he myght haue ouercome them in many matters I sayeth he allowe not the wrytings of Saint Cyprian for canonicall And yet herein I doe him no wrong for not in vayne was this so healthfull a Canon made in which are compreheÌ„ded the bookes which we dare not iudge and through which notwithstanding wee iudge of all bookes as well of infidelles as of Christians That which I finde there agreeable with Scripture I accept it with prayse that which I finde not agreeable to the Scripture by his good leaue I reiect it And there is no doubt sayeth hee in another place but that nowe he seeth all more cleare and bryght then when he was conuersant in darkenes that he will rather be glad to know how comfortable it is for vs that in the writinges of Christian orators and learned preachers a man may finde things to be reproued and that in the writings of those poore fishers that is to say of the Apostles a man shall finde no such thing in them Alledge not therefore to me sayeth he in this case their writings but the Lawe the Prophets the Psalmes the Gospell and the Apostle For from hence it is that I holde the Church is spread ouer all and is not tyed vnto any certayne place And the rule which hee gyueth vs out of the bookes of Cyprian he hath also gyuen out of his owne and out of all the rest and the places also repeated by Gratian in his Decretalles I knowe very wel that Gratian to get credite to himselfe gyueth no lesse aucthoritie to the decretall Epistles of the Pope then to the Canonicall bookes of the scripture impudently corrupting a place taken out of the bookes of Christian doctrine where he speaketh the quite contrarie But this is not worth the confutation And Alfonsus de Castro himselfe who is one of the chiefe pillars of the Papacie doth acknowledge this fault very liuely reproueth him for it The ArriaÌ„s in a more high matter of the Christian faith woulde escape by the Councilles but he alwayes draweth them to this Let vs not alledge saith he disputing against Maximine their Bish neither thou the Council of Ariminium nor I the Councill of Nicee for neyther I am bound to the aucthoritie of that there nor thou to the aucthoritie of this here but let vs dispute by the aucthoritie of the Scriptures which are common witnesses to vs both cause against cause and reason against reason c. All his bookes are ful of such places especially against the Manichees who denyed one part of the Scriptures following the example of Christ who vanquished the Sadduces in the matter of the resurrection specially by the bookes of Moses because they reiected all the others And yet this is he that so astonished all the heretikes of his time that he put them to vtter silence But to the end that they condemne him not for an heretike whome they haue already so sore suspected it is necessarie to see what others doe holde concerning this matter Basil the great woulde that wee examine all doctrines

by this argument as much or more aucthoritie ouer the Scriptures then it I aske of the indifferentest amongest them who shal iudge but the Scriptures And if they iudge the Scriptures who shall pronounce sentence ouer them If the Easte Churches shall then the Romishe Churche hath loste her Cause If the Church of Rome then thys shall hee in another respecte then of keeping the Scriptures If they saye it bee by their pretended prerogatiue of Saynt Peters Seate it is meete that they prooue it by the Scriptures And therefore marke Peters Sea which doeth take vpon it to iudge the Scriptures beyng yet subiecte to the Scripture it selfe Furthermore I praye euerye man to examine this conclusion The Church of GOD hath kept the Scripture The Church beareth witnesse of the Scripture Ergo shee is aboue the Scripture The edictes of a Prince are registred in all his Countries The lawes are gathered together and written by Clarkes All Contractes and bargaines are subsigned by witnesses And yet for all that he that woulde saye that they were aboue the Kinges aboue the lawes contracts hee shoulde make him selfe a laughing stocke If they say that the Lawes of God haue no place neyther more nor lesse then edictes of some Princes except they be agreeable to the worde of God I answere them that it is not the Church of God that hath this priuiledge for shee is the Spouse of Christ and hath learned to obey her husbande without anye examination of his commaundement and must by and by holde her peace assoone as shee heareth his woord For she knoweth also that the wisedome of her husband whose will is the rule of doctrine is not like that of Princes which it is necessarye to examine whether it bee honest and profitable Ciuile or vnciuile but if they be so stiffe for the obteyning of this priuiledge yet let them agree with mee herein that this is that assemblie which hath lyfted vp it selfe aboue all that is called GOD which fearing to bee discomfited by the Spirite of his mouth woulde therefore moussell and stoppe vp hys mouth all that it might The place of Saynt Augustine which they alledge maketh nothing agaynst that which hath bene sayde before I woulde not sayeth hee beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the aucthoritye of the Church constrained or moued me Ni me Ecclesiae Catholicae commoueret authoritas where it is specially to be noted that according to the style of Affricke Commoueret is taken for commouisset that is to say I had not beleeued the Gospell vnlesse the consent of the vniuersall Church had moued mee thereto hee meaneth not that the holy Ghost had not such a style as myght make it selfe sufficientlye knowen from other wrytings of men For he him selfe instructeth vs in this matter in many places Much lesse meaneth hee that the Church shoulde be aboue the Gospell For it is by the Gospell that hee examineth all the Churches of his tyme but rather that the vniuersall consent of the Churches the which receiued such such bookes for the Gospels of Christ made that he could not doubt but that they were so and that the apostles whose names thei did beare were true authours of them No otherwise then as the consent of manye ages acknowledging such and such bookes to be Ciceroes Hippocrates and Platoes doe assure vs that they were theirs These were his very words against the Manichees themselues who denyed part of the holy scriptures in another place Oh vnhappie enemies saith he of your owne soules What Scriptures shal be had in price if the Euangelicall and Apostolicall bee not Of what booke shall men hold the certaine authour if a man doubt that those holy books which the Church holdeth were of the Apostles shoulde not be theirs Who shall knowe whether the bookes of Plato Hippocrates Aristotle Cicero were theirs vnles it be for that froÌ„ their time euen vnto ours alwayes meÌ„ haue bene perswaded that they came froÌ„ hand to hand c. Like as then I beleeue that the books of Manichee are his because men haue beleeued that they came thence froÌ„ hand to hand so also I beleeue the booke of S. Matth. because eueÌ„ vntil vs the church hath so held The questioÌ„ is not theÌ„ in this place whether the writings of the Apostles haue any voice to determine matters in the church for as we haue already shewed S. Aug. teacheth vs that in a M. places but only whether such and such scriptures were the Apostles yea or no. For the heretikes denied not but that the books of the Apostles had such authority as they must be obeyed but they denyed that they were theirs because that if they had once allowed theÌ„ they knew that they must of necessity rest in them And yet they preteÌ„ded that they were neuer a whitte lesse the church then the Romane church doth For they helde that Manichee the chiefe of their secte was the holy Ghoste him selfe But this was a blasphemie not yet knowen to the most damnablest heretikes that euer were that the holye Scripture was subiect to the Church and that without her as one of the Popes ChaÌ„pions of our time saith it hath no more aucthority theÌ„ Esops fables The Iewes haue taught the Gentiles that the Olde Testament was the worde of God and manye of the Gentiles beleeued it better theÌ„ the Iewes The Gentiles haue kept for the Christians many good and auncient bookes and haue taught them that such and such were the authours of them and yet for all that they haue not giuen anye credyte vnto them The bookeseller will teach vs that such a booke is Hippocrates woorke and yet for all that hee shall not be a physitian as Hippocrates was For it is one thing to beleeue the word of any some man an other thing to be the authour of a booke This is that which was saide long agoe by a great learned man That the Church is true or vndouted but as we say by occasioÌ„ because she beleeueth the trueth of the Scripture but the holye Scripture is simplie true of it selfe For it is the trueth it self There foloweth another argument that the Church is before the Scripture Ergo it is aboue the Scripture When we speake of the Scripture we vnderstand the word of God the which at the first was not written and afterward was written aswell by Gods owne finger as by the pennes of his seruants inspired by his holy spirite as we haue before declared But now I would demaund of them from whence they fetch the beginning of the Church If from the creation of man and before sinne entred immediatly after they were created God gaue them a commaundement that they should not touche the tree of knowledge of good and euill and we must not dispute whether they had authoritie aboue this word for why they hauing disobeyed it all the world from man to beastes sighes and grones for it But will they not

by the Scriptures which were giuen vnto vs by the holie Ghost reiecting whatsoeuer is not agreeable to them as enemie to our saluation And against all heretikes he demaundeth that onely the Scripture be vmpire Chrysostom calleth it the most exact balaunce the squire the rule and iudge of all doctrine And in a certayne other place the same sayeth that the Scripture is the accomplishment of the holie Ghost as Christ is of the lawe and that without it we may not alledge the spirite Irence calleth it the foundation and pillar of our faith Tertullian sayeth Take from heretikes the bookes of Ethnikes and winne so much of them that they will rest vpon the Scriptures and they can not stande Also let the shoppe of Hermogenes shewe that it is written if they cannot let them feare the curse which is appoynted for them that adde to or diminishe To bee short they all dryue to this poynt that to examine all doctrine to maintayne the true to vanquishe the false we must haue no other touchstone no other Buckler or sworde but this And this was the cause in the thirde Councill of Carthage it was forbidden to read any thing in the Church but the Canonicall Scriptures And the Imperiall lawe distinguisheth Catholikes from heretikes by the Apostolicall and Euangelicall doctrine and Constantine the great the first Christian Emperour hauing assembled that famous Councill of Nicee wherein there were three hundreth and eyghtene Fathers to dispute agaynst the heresie of Arrius he prescribed them this rule We haue sayeth he the bookes of the Euangelistes Apostles and Prophetes which instruct vs in the holie lawe By these bookes then it behooueth vs to resolue all doubtes and questions And this rule also was there so exactly kept that one Minister alone Paphnutius by name alleadging the Scripture made all the rest to chaunge their opinion who without any grounde of the Scripture for certayne politike and humane considerations were readie to haue abolished the marriage of Ministers To be shorte Gerson and Panormitane euen when the Popes thunderbolts and lyghtning excommunications were most hotte durst yet say and write that one poore lay man alleadging a text of the olde or newe Testament ought to be preferred before the Pope yea and before a generall Councill erring through ignorance or of malice against the text of Gods worde which ought to bee thought no more straunge then if they had sayde that the worde of God alone hath more wayght then all the Doctors of the worlde together who are nothing else with all their knowledge but ignorance and vanitie I haue bene long in this poynt because nowe a dayes they alwayes speake vnto vs of the fathers and I pray the readers to take a little payne to reade the places themselues because they shall finde them yet more playne and full then the desire that I haue to be short suffereth me to write at large With Isaie the Prophete therefore we call our aduersaries to the Lawe with Abraham to Moses and the Prophetes with Christ to the Scriptures with all the fathers and Christian Doctors to the olde and newe Testament If this Iudge then which heretofore hath decyded all coÌ„trouersies which hath bene so reuerently accepted euen of the greatest parte of heretikes themselues can not please theÌ„ either they must alledge great causes of refusall against it or else all the worlde will holde their doctrine more suspect then the doctrine of al the heretiks that euer were Their first cause of refusing the holie Scriptures is for that they are imperfect But I demaunde of them if they will require any other perfection then a doctrine sufficient to saluation If they content themselues to be saued Saint Iohn hath tolde vs that that which he hath written is sufficient to beleeue in Christ and to haue lyfe in his name and as concerning the things which are omitted S. Augustine pronounceth that he is rash which presumeth to ghesse what they are Saint Paul also sayth that the holy Scriptures are sufficient to make the man of God perfect and wise to saluation That they comprehende sufficiently the rule of faith and whatsoeuer belongeth to the seruice of god Beholde then sufficiently wherewithall to saue them If they wil not coÌ„tent theÌ„selues with saluation but call the Scriptures imperfect because they finde not there the determination of certaine curious questions which they handle in their schooles and yet they doe the Scriptures wrong for there they shall finde their condemnation Moreouer I demaunde of them from whence this imperfection can come Is this of Christ nay rather he is perfection it selfe And seeyng he came to accomplishe our saluation it must needes bee he of whome the Church must wayte for the reuelation of all things He then coulde beyng perfectly wise and woulde beyng perfectly good teache his Church whatsoeuer myght belong vnto her saluation Or is this imperfection of the Apostles but they receyued this woorde of lyfe from his mouth and after hee sent vnto them his holie Spirite to recorde it and to put them in minde thereof in such sorte that they preached saluation to all nations and as Ireneus sayeth that which they preached by mouth they haue left vnto vs by wryting to be the pillar and foundation of our fayth The whole faulte then commeth not that wayes it remayneth then that the whole imperfection bee in men who not fynding in the Scriptures their imperfections they esteeme it imperfect as they that haue swilled in the snowe waters from the mountaynes call those imperfect which haue not wyde and hanging throtes like themselues for that they haue not their superfluous imperfection We finde in the Scriptures the inuocation of one God alone by meanes of Iesus Christ alone but they would find there the inuocation of Saints We there finde that purgatorie cleansing is in the onely blood of Iesus Christ they woulde finde there that purgatorie which they haue taken out of Virgill and Plato We there finde one onely Mediator but they would finde as manie there as there are saints in their kalender They call these things imperfections in the Scripture which are rather so manie infections in their Church Furthermore I demaunde be it that a man thinke that there wanteth something who shall be so hardie after such a workeman to put to his hande to make it perfect If a man saye the Doctors why then quite contrarie finde it onely perfect in it as in a glasse they acknowledge the imperfections both of others and of themselues If they will bryng in the Church through her traditions why it is shee that hath taught vs to cut of by the bookes of this Canon all that we finde not therein and further shee is forbidden to serue God according to her traditions and commaunded to be a scholer of this word and we knowe that this is not the parte of a scholer to vsurpe aboue

dwell there for euer And therefore the priests had no other answere to all the Propheres that reproued them but this The Temple the Temple the Temple of the Lorde But see what the Lorde him selfe answereth vnto them Goe saith he see Shiloh I haue chosen it from the beginning for my house Now see what I haue done vnto it for the wickednes of my people I wil do euen so to the place which I haue giuen vnto you and to your fathers But if you will that I dwell there amende your wayes turne from your euil deedes Nowe if he haue forsaken his owne temple for the iniquitie of the priests besides which he had none erected in the whole world must we tye our selues to the Church of Rome or to any other place seeing that al the Elimates of the world are equally his temple Concerning the succession of persons that is no lesse friuolous then the other In all estates coÌ„moÌ„ weales there is one perpetual sequele of magistrates either by succession or by election Nowe if there be any questioÌ„ of reforming the estate according to the lawes there is no way so ill as to vse these argumentes I am a magistrate as was my predecessour or from the father to the sonne ergo the coÌ„mon wealth hath not to make any reformation None euer douted but that Nero was a tyrant although he was descended from Augustus neither would any man affirme that Commodus was a good prince although Marcus Aurelius was his father In like maner euery one will accord that Manasses defiled the church violated al iustice albeit he was the sonne of good Ezechias and Iosias he reformed the Church the lawes who was the sonne of Manasses himself And the ciuil lawiers themselues which make two sorts of tyrantes the one sort without title the other of exercise that is one sort vniust vsurpers the other vniust gouernors so we also make two kinds of Popes playing the tyrantes ouer the Church one sort which they call intruders which are thrust in there vnlawfully the other abusers abusing their authoritie shewing thereby that that which may fall out in the successioÌ„ of magistrates in the common wealth may also fall out in the succession of prelates in the Church Furthermore if euer any might alledge the succession of pastors they were the Iewes for they were of the house of Aaron from the father to the sonne besides them none might sacrifice Moreouer to them it was promised that they shoulde so continue for euer And hereof it was that when the Prophets exhorted them to reformation they had no other thing in their mouth The lawe shall not perish from the Priest nor the councell from the wise nor the worde from the Prophete But the spirite of the Lorde aunswered them Say not We are wise the lawe of the Lord is with vs For it is in vaine that the pen is made and that there is a scribe The wisemen are confounded And seeing that they haue reiected the worde of the Lord what shal be their wisedome any more Likewise when they boasted to Iesus Christ that they were the seede of Abraham I knowe it well saith he but the deuil is your father And in very deede this successiue hereditarie wisedome crucified Christ and reiected it saluation as also this selfe same successioÌ„ but yet only pretended worshippeth Antichrist eÌ„tertaineth it own perdition Moreouer I demaund what these alledgers of succession would haue aunswered to the Samositans Nestorians Arrians c. who had their beginning coÌ„tinued from the first Bishops euen to theÌ„selues namely froÌ„ Nestorius Samosatenus both which were lawfully called to the patriarchal churches the one to Constantinople the other to Antioche Also what wil they answere to the succession alledged by all the Greeke East Churches to be short to the reformed churches of EnglaÌ„d Denmark Swethen a great part of Almaigne c. through all which there is at this daye this succession from Bishop to Bishop froÌ„ pastor to pastor If they will alledge the Popes supremacie a man may deny it them this is another question If simply succession then they haue lost their cause If that doctrine theÌ„ we gaine this point that the simple succession of persons without the succession of doctrine is nothing worth They alledge that the auncient Doctors haue vsed this argument we deny it not But they must marke therein eyther that this was against heretikes that denyed the holy scriptures or else there was alwayes adioyning the successioÌ„ of doctrine S. Augustine enferreth it against the Manichees but they reiected the greatest part of the scriptures and manifestly the booke of the Actes of the Apostles to the end to deny the descending of the holy Ghoste and to establish Manichee in his place He alledged also vnto them miracles antiquitie c. but he addeth immediatly after You on your part alledge nothing like but onely you holde a promise of the trueth amongst you notwithstanding if you could euidently proue it I suppose it ought to be preferred before succession antiquitie miracles and al things else This is as we dispute against theÌ„ that denye the scriptures by probable reasons by authorities of prophane bookes albeit we hold them not for rules of the trueth Against the Donatists Arrians Pelagians others who accept the scriptures he disputeth by the scriptures In a certaine place he alledgeth amongst other things the succession of 39. Bishops of Rome but this was with this caueat In al this company there was not one Donatist that is there was not one that helde any such doctrine as you do Irenee sayth that they are not alwaies true priests which seeme so to be but they which keepe the doctrine of the Apostles Tertullian presseth the heretikes of his time who for the most part denyed the Scriptures to shewe that their predecessours were the Apostles or the Apostles schollers but by and by afterwards he requireth consanguinitatem doctrinae the consanguinitie or kinred of doctrine preferreth it before all succession that is to say that they onely were not the sonnes of the Apostles but also their doctrines were the daughters of the Apostolical doctrine Chrysostome sayth that the pulpit maketh not a priest but a priest the pulpit To be short a man shal not finde any which hath spoken in any other sense And nowe seeing that none can transferre that to his successour which of right doth not belong vnto him that S. Paul hath forbidden vs to heare the Apostles the Angels themselues preaching any other Gospel then his owne doth it not followe that the successors of the Apostles are reiected if they preache otherwise It followeth then that the succession neither of place nor of persons is any thing worth but onely the succession of doctrine which we haue sayd before to be the true infallible marke of

most famous places and that be shall worke strange signes and wonders we conclude on the contrary part that antiquitie multitude succession and miracles are rather at this day the markes of the seat of Antichrist of that whore then of Christ and of his chaste spouse of whome Christ hath giuen vs this one marke He that is of the trueth heareth my voyce He that is my Disciple abideth in my word That the holy scripture is the vndoubted touchstone to try the puritie of doctrine which is the marke of the pure Churches CHAP. 4. OVr aduersaries doe therevpon obiect vnto vs that doctrine as a common argument and that euery one saith that he hath the pure doctrine on his side and therefore that it can not be alledged as a mark of the pure Churches I answere that this is in deede a common bragge of all heretikes but it is not alwaies a common marke but peculiar and proper to the pure Churches For both the true Christians and heretikes may haue antiquitie multitude succession and miracles as we haue already proued but there is none but the sound and Catholike Church that can haue trueth true doctrine which consisteth in faith and charitie forasmuch as she is one and if the other boast of it they haue nothing else but the sound the which by and by vanisheth if it be once put to the touch Likewise we see commonly that they which pleade together pretende euery one that ryght is on their side In meane time who wil say that seeing both twaine saye they haue right that there is no question to dispute of the right but only that he which is in possession should keepe it He that should say so he should make him selfe a laughing stocke should often times giue authoritie title to the vniust possessor against the right owner For besides the opinioÌ„s of parties there are aduocates to debate the right lawe that must iudge thereof Now for to decide the matter wherof there is questioÌ„ thanks be to God we haue a good Iudge The question betweene vs is of the pure seruice of god Now it is not in mans power to iudge howe God must be serued much lesse for a poore pesaunt to make bookes how Princes should be dutifully serued For betweene man man there is alwaies a proportion but betweene man and God there can be none For it is God alone which ought only to be heard in this matter not men whose ordinances of the seruice towards god is for their own turne serue only for their owne phantasies This is the cause why God himselfe would be the onely law giuer vnto his people giuing theÌ„ a law which containeth whatsoeuer he requireth of men aswel in general as in particular And to cut of al mans inueÌ„tioÌ„s he expressely forbiddeth theÌ„ to adde any thing thereto or to take any thing therefro for he saith that he will be serued according to his pleasure and not according to that which is good in mens eyes which he hath knit vp for vs in one worde I will obedience not sacrifice The Priests were men very oftentimes they could not content themselues with this but the example of the sonnes of Aaron may be an horrour vnto euery one who for offering straunge fire vnto the Lord not being commauÌ„ded they were consumed with fire sent from heaueÌ„ And whilest men haue loued their owne inuentions they haue loden the people with traditions ceremonies and gloses and whereas the lawe was giuen to conuince them of sinne to the ende they might seeke mercie in Christe they haue founde out other meanes for their saluation But God by his Prophets which he hath sent from time to time betweene the publishing of the law the Gospel hath alwaies helde them to the lawe To the lawe and the testimonie saith Esai hide my lawe amongst my Disciples And if they speake not according to this worde the morning light shall not be giuen vnto them And because they obserued not this sacrifice it was turned to them into a curse God was readie to make a diuorce with his people therefore to cutte of at one blowe all their madnesses Malachi recommendeth to the Church the obseruation of the law and the ordinances giuen from Moses vntill the comming of Elias that is of Iohn the forerunner of Iesus Christ See then the lawe of the Church euen vntill the Gospel of grace was giuen whereof the Prophetes were expositers by which a man may distinguishe the false seruice from the true without hauing anye recourse to the long possession thereof which had but small authoritie to giue power to Ismael him selfe agaynst Israel To be short he of whom it is only said Heare him to teach vs by his example hath giuen so great authority to the lawe that he will haue the people thereby to iudge whether he be Christ or no Search saith he diligeÌ„tly the Scriptures for you thinke that by theÌ„ you shal haue euerlasting life and they are they which beare witnes of me The iudge of the world attributeth so much to the laÌ„w that he wil haue the world to iudge by the same law whether he be the true Messias a deceiuer of the people or the sauiour of the world And why so because it is not the word of Moses nor of Esai nor of any men but euen his who sent him Nowe by the comming of our Sauiour Christ the holy scriptures haue lost nothing but rather haue the greater authority God which hath spoken to our fathers sayth the Apostle sundry times in diuers maners hath in these last times spoken vnto vs by his owne sonne This soÌ„ne is God himselfe this is that esseÌ„tial word this is he by whose coÌ„ming the Church waiteth for the manifestation of al things The word then that proceedeth froÌ„ him ought to haue an infinite absolute authority theruÌ„to must meÌ„ adde nothing For it is the infinite wisedome of the infinite father and can teach vs whatsoeuer is necessarie for our saluation And seeyng he hath so loued vs that he came into the world to dye for vs he would not then hide from vs the worde of life To be short he came to lighten vs in darkenesse and hath promised neuer to forsake vs He hath then left vs some light to guide vs and seeing he is that same light it selfe it is such a light as we following it we cannot be deceiued Nowe this then is that same written word of God which is the true image of that essentiall worde in which he hath imprinted all that is necessarie for vs to the glorie of God and all that is expedient for our saluation The Apostles receyued this worde from his mouth to preache the same to all the worlde and herein they were true and faithfull Ambassadors Agayne the spirite of God through which they preached indited it and taught them what they

the master If the Pope doe it he is no longer a scholer of Christ but in this poynt he declareth himselfe to be Antichrist lifting vp himselfe aboue all that is God and by such a like gate the Alcoran of Mahomet hath entred into the worlde The more safe way then is to followe this worde and to beleeue that that perfect lawegiuer hath gyuen vnto vs a perfect lawe by the mouth of his Sonne to the which we ought a great deale lesse to presume to adde any thing of our owne then to that which was deliuered to Moses And if there were neuer founde Paynter which durst take vpon him to finishe the image of Apelles nor Poete the Aeneides of Virgill which were but the woorkes of vayne men what man shall bee so arrogant vnlesse it be that sonne of perdition which dareth put to his hande to the worke of him which hath made man and all that which a man loueth and beholdeth in this worlde Their seconde refufall is that the holie Scripture is obscure and thereupon they call it doubtfull a dead letter a letter which killeth a matter of contention and not the voyce of the Iudge riddles or darke speaches and such other like names whereof their bookes are full yea one of the great Masters of this tyme could not abstayne from saying that Paul went so farre beyonde himselfe that he entangled himselfe with many matters But the holy Ghost calleth the Scripture the Testament couenant And we know that a good prince dealing with his subiects wil not haue them to be circumuented and caught in words as also a good father making his last wil endeuoreth to set his children at one and not to sowe discord and to giue occasion of going to law quarels amoÌ„gst them The presumption then ought to be on the contrarie to witte that he which hath vouchsafed to saue his people so mercifully and which onely may be called a true father hath also deliuered his couenaunt in as cleare tearmes and expresse clauses as he coulde And in deede in all our Scriptures the Ethnikes haue not blamed any thing so much as to great playnenesse of them which is farre otherwise then that they woulde make men beleeue that they are riddles or darke speaches Agayne I demaunde of them whether the obscuritie of Christian doctrine be in the matter it selfe or in the maner of handling it In the matter they dare not saye for there is nothing more cleare and more simple then the doctrine of saluation and this is the answere of Origen to Celsus who blamed the simplicitie of it because that it must be such as it was because it was not such a philosophie as was brought to a little nomber of men as that of Pythagoras of Plato or of Aristotle but a saluation taught and preached to the whole world which the whole world great small learned and vnlearned might easily comprehende If it be in the maner of handling such obscurity of anye authour must arise eyther of ignoraunce or of malice Of ignoraÌ„ce because that that which a man vnderstandeth but darkely a man can not teache plainely Of malice when wee will boaste our cunning and not teach it as Aristotle sayeth that hee did expressely in those same bookes of his naturall philosophie which yet notwithstanding all the worlde boast to vnderstand and as also certeyne other authours of profounde Sciences in our tyme haue done of set purpose Nowe of ignorance there can bee none in that wisedome which hath spoken to the Apostles nor in that spirite which hath inspired them Of enuious malice there can be as litle in him which dyed to accomplish our saluation and in them which haue published the same euen vnto their suffering after him It remaineth then for to auoide these blasphemies that either ignorance or much rather malice bee in our aduersaries and not in him which is wisdome and goodnes it selfe Againe I demaunde whether in their iudgement is more obscure the Gospel or the Prophets They will not saye I am sure that it is the Gospell for then litle children would laugh them to scorne And moreouer Saint Peter sayeth The Prophets were as shining candles in a darke place in steade whereof Christ is the true Sunne and that light that lighteneth euerye man that commeth into the worlde Moreouer both in the one and the other we finde Christ in the one promised in the other giuen in the one to come in the other come in the one foretolde in the other speaking him selfe of him selfe It is therefore sure that the doctrine of saluation in Iesus Christ is lesse darke in the Gospell then in the Prophets in the Newe Testament then in the Olde which is expounded and declared by the Newe Nowe Dauid sayeth that this woorde is vnto him as a lanterne for hys feete and not onely a lanterne but which serueth to leade him in the path yea in the path it selfe which can not leade astray That by the same hee is more wise then they that are elder Contrariwise Esaye pronounceth that the watchemen of the house of GOD who thought them selues verye cleare sighted were blinde because they had no regarde thereto Moreouer Christ sendeth not his hearers to the gloses of the Rabbins to traditions to the Thalmud to the Lawe not written wherewith the Pharises were puffed vp but to the Scriptures to the Lawe written and hee neuer alledgeth Testimonyes from anye other place Saynt Luke also prayseth those of Beroa which searched them and they which searched them found there their saluation whereas they which gaue them selues egarly to the speculations of men crucified him It followeth then that by a more strong reason wee ought at this daye to searche our saluation in the Scriptures hauing the Olde and Newe Testament together the shadowe and the body the starres and the sunne the messages of saluation and saluation it selfe If anye man yet finde obscuritie in the doctrine of saluatioÌ„ I leaue it to be iudged of all which of the two is more plaine eyther that which is in the worde of him which is the light of light or in the blindenesse of those whose spirits naturally are nothing else but darkenesse But putting the case there were such great obscurite as they say let vs see a litle by whome they would make it brighter Shall it be by the doctors Nay rather contrariwise as we shall see hereafter they reioyce not but in the brightnesse of this sunne What theÌ„ shal it be by the Church But the Church is the moone a body shadowed and darke of it selfe which hath no light but that which it giueth her What then shall it be Thomas shall it be Scotus shall it be Bricot and a rablement of such like I report me to al men of iudgement whether they darken or make more bright the woorde of god It remaineth then that we search in this light the light

of all our thoughtes and that wee conclude that if wee see nothing the faulte thereof is in our eyes and not in the light They alledge that the Scripture is doubtefull because that Satan alledged it vnto Iesus Christ I aunswere that there is no lawe that a man may not reiect by this argument for all lawes are subiect to be alledged both by good bad But let them also marke that by the same Iesus Christ stopped his mouth Also your Sauiour Christ hath spoken in parables and similitudes we know that similitudes are to make cleare and not to darken and I make their owne consciences iudges whether those parables of Christ so expouÌ„ded as we haue them in the scriptures tend to any other end When he would teach vs who is our neighbour he maketh it playne by the similitude of the man descending from Iericho what the kingdome of heauen is by the similitude of the sower what the vocation of the Gentiles is by the prodigall childe and so likewise of other I aske if by these parables we may iudge more clearely or more darkely whether all the gloses or long coÌ„mentaries of the Pharises were able so clearly to expound this matter But they will say you cannot deny but the there are manye darke places for S. Peter himself saith that there are such in the epistles of S. Paul nay but rather we may say that forasmuch as there are only certaine places darke it followeth contrariwise that the Scripture is not darke For this is an euill argument to reason from some to all and hee that sayeth that vpon a garment there are blacke spottes he sayeth by consequence that that garment is not all blacke And as concerning those we say that the light of the Scripture is sufficient for to giue them such light as they neede not dwell anye more in darkenesse vnlesse it be those whome the God of this worlde hath blinded in their vnderstanding as Saynt Paul sayth to the end they should perish that the lyght of the Gospell shoulde not shine vnto them or as Saynt Peter sayeth in the selfe same place which they alledge to the vnstable and vnlearned which peruert the Scriptures to their owne destruction This is the sentence of all the auncient fathers with whome wee conclude thys poynte There are sayeth Saynt Augustine handling this matter certaine harde places in the Scripture and yet notwithstanding there is no other thing but that which is expounded in most expresse wordes in other places whereby the holy Ghoste hath wonderfully measured and tempered the holy Scriptures to the ende that those cleare places shoulde serue healthfully to satisfie the hunger of the readers and those darker places shoulde encrease their appetite to take away all contempt but in that that is spoken clearly in the Scriptures they shall finde all things which conteyne fayth and the waye to liue well to witte hope and charitye And hee that will haue more examples hereof in the foresayde places he alledgeth more Saynt Ambrose There is sayth he much obscurity in the Propheticall writings he speaketh namely of the Prophets but if thou knocke at the doore of the Scriptures with the hand of thyne owne vnderstanding thou shalt gather the sense of the darke places and the woorde of God it selfe shall be that that shall open it vnto thee The most obscure and darke then that is therin may be made plain by it selfe S. Basill If wee be commanded to doe any thing and we knowe not howe let vs take the LORD for our guyde who sayeth vnto vs Searche the Scriptures and let vs followe the Apostles who asked him selfe of the interpretatioÌ„ of those thinges which hee had spoken vnto them and of those thinges which hee hath spoken to vs in one place let vs learne to vnderstand those things which he hath spoken in another This is that which Marsilius of Padua disputed against the Pope 300. yeeres agoe that the Lawe of the Gospell is sufficient perfect and plaine of it selfe immediatly to direct vs to euerlasting saluation and to turne vs away from the path of miserie But to theÌ„ which finde nothing in the light but darknes I feare that it is to no purpose to alledge plaine places out of the auncient doctors The mischief is that we finde not in the Scriptures in any place neither the Masse nor Purgatory neither the papacie nor the power of one man alone ouer the whole Church and such other inuentions of the prince of darkenesse and therefore we accuse Gods worde to be darke to the ende we may fetch these goodly doctrines from thence by meane of some colde Allegorie that wheresoeuer this light shineth not vnto vs in the Churche wee shoulde knowe that there is nothing but darkenesse But yet see a farther matter then the former for it is so farre of that they will accept the Scriptures for their iudge that they them selues will bee Iudges ouer the Scripture If the Churche saye they had not kept the Scriptures and witnessed of them they had bene of no more authoritye then any other writing Therefore the Churche is Iudge ouer the Scripture and not the Scripture ouer the Churche First I demaunde what that Churche is which hath kept the Scriptures whether this bee onelye the Christian Churche or the Iewish Churche also Nowe wee knowe that the Olde Testament was deliuered from hand to hande vnto vs by the Iewes and therefore the auncient doctours called them the booke keepers of the Churche For they were so curious that they would enter euerye tittle and poynte both the accentes and letters and made a Register of them Therefore the Iewishe Churche was iudge of the Olde Testament when Iesus Christ came and therefore to verye euill purpose our Sauiour Christe sendeth the people to the Scriptures who might more safely haue bene sent to the high Priestes and Pharisees But these Iudges of the Scriptures they iudged Christe to death the Schollers and Students of the Scriptures acknowledged him for their lyfe And at this daye euen by this argument the Iewes shoulde winne the victorye It followeth then whether they renounce this Sophistrye or whether they will mainetayne it that they renounce their Saluation Consequentlye I demaunde of them Whether the Church of Rome aloue haue kept the Scriptures or other Churches also They can not saye that it was the Churche of Rome or the Latine Churche alone For the Ecclesiasticall storye wytnesseth that the Primitiue Churche gathered the Canon of the Registers of those Churches which were founded by the Apostles and to which the same Apostles had written Nowe there is but one Epistle written to the Romaines and all the rest are written to the Easte Churches In like maner the Gospell of Iohn was kept at Ephesits and that of Saynt Marke at Alexandria c. If then the Easte Churches had a greater parte in keeping the Scriptures then the Romaine and therefore

denie that the old and new testament had equall authoritie with this commaundement If they take it after sinne entred God blameth and conuinceth our first parents of their faulte and this is the Lawe And after he promiseth vnto them the seed which shall bruise the head of the serpent this is the Gospell Beholde them then dead in sinne by the Lawe and as it were newe borne by the promise of Christ to come in whome they hoping after this woorde were made the beginning of the Church without this they had bene lost with all their posteritie Wherefore whether we fetche the Church from before the fall of man she hath no power aboue the word of God but is iudged by it and therefore the coÌ„clusion is false Or whether we deriue it after yet the word is before the regeneration of the Church that is to say before the Church and that antecedent it selfe shal be false Moreouer this is an ill argument It was the first in time Ergo the first in authoritie For we haue a hundred Cities in FrauÌ„ce more auncient then our first kings and yet notwithstanding without any gainesaying they obey their lawes And the word of God of it selfe is giuen to commaunde wheras the Church is placed in the world but to obey And though it be so that the word of God be in power eternall yet it is most certeine that it must be last in this action because that before he commaund it must needs be that it should first create some men whom it might commaund This then is nothing but plaine sophistrie which is not worthy to be heard in the Church Moreouer I demaund of them wheÌ„ they make this argument whether they meane to speake of the whole Church comprehending al the states and particulars of the Church into one or whether they speake of particular Churches or of the church of Rome alone If thei vnderstand the whole Church as it is like they do then they speake nothing that makes for them for the church of Rome the whole Church are things farre differing before that Rome was or any Wolfe there gaue suck more then 700. yeres the law of Moses was published in the Church If they speake of particular Churches the Cast churches wil demand the same prerogatiue and by the self same argument they wil set themselues aboue the church of Rome For they are before them in time as euery man knoweth If the church of Rome alone by the vertue of the institutioÌ„ of Christ yet they are to bring forth the titles and right thereof and then they cannot bring forth one that hath so much as any outward shewe To be short all this is nothing els but a manifest dotage for if they looke to the beginning of the Church they shall finde neither Rome nor the Pope neither the See of S. Peter nor consequently any authoritie aboue the word of god If they looke to the beginning of Rome they shall there finde the word the law the prophets expositors of long time before and therefore an authoritie farre aboue their church But in this a man may see the poore defence of their Church when for the establishing thereof the word of God must fall downe which is the foundation of the pure Church Now in this whole disputation they can not finde one onely word out of the auncient doctors for there was neuer yet any heretike so moÌ„strous which durst set it forth till the Councill of Constance where it was first set out by the doctors of the Church of Rome There was the question moued concerning the taking away of the cup of our Lord from the people expresly against the institution of the Sonne of god There could not one place be found out in the Scriptures which might fauour directly or indirectly plainly or darkely so damnable a sacriledge Iohn Hus called them to the holy Scripture and they knewe well that that was full against them Then first they began to aduise of those goodly Maximes or grouÌ„ds which they haue mainteined euen vntil this day that the Church is aboue the holy Scripture that the Scripture hath no other authoritie then that which the Church giueth it that the Scripture is as they say De bene esse of the wel being but not of the essence or being of the Church that such should be the interpretation as seemeth good to the Church to be short that the word of God was more long and large then the word written and that the Church is more worthie theÌ„ it to which some haue sithens added that the Church should be in better case if there were no Gospell written These are the intolerable blasphemies which sprang vp in this councill who also were authors of one other goodly canon forsooth that ouerthroweth al christianitie That we must not keepe faith or promise with heretikes Iohn Hus notwithstanding presseth them yet somewhat more neerely Though it were so saith he that the Church should be aboue the word of God to which you shal neuer haue me to agree Shew me yet that the minde of the auncient Church was euer so that it euer so ordeyned or so interpreted Name me one onely auncient doctor which is not wholly and plainly against it That it is so yea our owne canons do excommunicate all those which coÌ„municate not vnder both kinds therefore to communicate vnder one is not to be partaker of the communion but of excoÌ„munication To this argument they yet find another shift more mischieuous then the former that albeit that of one commandement of the Gospel there be at this day another interpretation then was in the auncient Church notwithstanding that that meaning which is receiued in the Church must be accepted as the way to saluation in asmuch as the holy Ghost hath inspired it to the Church That is to say that the Pope his mainteyners according to their good pleasure may cry downe all the auncient interpretatioÌ„s of the Scripture as coynes are and put them into the Mint to make theirs currant Also that as the iudgement of the Church is changed in the Scripture so we must presume that the iudgemeÌ„t of God is changed And therefore when that good man Iohn Hus could not content himselfe with these horrible blasphemies their last argument was the halter the hang man to cast him into the fire To make Gods spirit chaÌ„geable his word a nose of waxe God himselfe inconstant in his purpose changing himselfe according to the vanitie ambition of men wil there be founde in the traditions of the Pharisees in the speculations of the Cabalists and Thalmud in the Alcoran of Mahomet any such execrable blasphennes as these are I leaue to the iudgement of euery one whether the spirit of God or the spirit of Satan ruled there in those couÌ„cills That there can be founde no other Iudge of the controuersies of this time but the holy Scripture and how

Satan It is sayde say they God created man to his owne image therefore we ought to haue Images Also no man lighteth a candle for to hide it vnder a bushell Therefore we ought to set Images vpon altars Also God is named maruellous in his Saintes therfore we ought to beholde his glorie in Images I aske of them what man he is that will rest him selfe vpon a sentence giuen vpon these proofes for Images Nowe there are an infruite number of the like where a man may plainely see the style of the spirite of Antichrist alleadging the Scriptures much worse then Satan did to our Lorde Iesus Christ To be short if a man will not iudge in a Court by former sentences is there any reason to refuse the selfe same order in matters of conscience and against the sentences themselues that a man knoweth to haue beene giuen the parties being therein neither hearde nor called But admitte that the holy Scriptures be the rule to compasse all doctrines they will yet aske me foran ende in so great contrarietie which is amongst vs who he shal be that shall expound and apply them Concernyng vs we are parties against them and as couching them they are parties against vs who shall be iudge here then for saye they Let the Scripture be so great a Iudge as men would haue it yet it speaketh not for to determine and pronounce the sentence To this I answere first that when a man is assured of the squeere in the measure or of the compasse in the shippe there is no Mason so sclender witted which doeth not knowe in applying it which is straight and which is crooked nor Mariner so vnskilfull that doeth not perceyue whether the shippe keepe her right course or noe And therefore let them onely graunt vs to guide the preceptes of our saluation accordyng to the rule of saluation conteyned in the olde and newe Testament and we will therein submitte our selues not onely to a free and lawfull Councill but also to learned and vnlearned to the ministers and common people and to all Christians for whose saluation it was written who by them selues shall finde in this worde the iudgement of the worde and shall pronounce definitiue sentence for the same Furthermore in euery arte there are certayne principles and groundes whereupon vndoubtedly depende all the rest Geometry hath her Axiomes Physicke her Aphorismes and the Eiuill and Canon lawe their generall rules by which they will scanne all difficulties which shal aryse in their lawes Nowe say I that diuinitie also hath her rules grounds and the lawe of God hath her certaine principles able to decide al controuersies which are amongst vs yea and those so much the more strong and easie as we are most assured that there is no kinde of doubt contradiction or contrarietie in them to make them voyde or vnstable Nowe we haue three sortes of differences or controuersies with the Church of Rome the one sort consisteth in thinges playnely forbidden in the worde of God the other in things which are not commanded and the last in the interpretation of certaine pointes which are eyther forbidden or commaunded which both of vs receyue but diuersly Concerning the first kinde we haue a rule in the lawe of God that we must rather obey God then man. This is so easie that euen litle children may comprehend it When then we shall see that men command one thing and God another we cannot doubt which we ought to obey By this rule we cut of images reliques and all kinds of idolatrie which are committed in the Papacie which are expressely forbidden in an hundred places of the word of God. Concerning the second we haue an other rule God is the onely lawgiuer vnto his people Thou shalt not saith he neither adde nor diminish from my lawe Christ saith God will not be serued according to our traditions but according to his commaundements S. Iohn and S. Paule say that the holy Scripture is sufficient for our saluation Chrysostom saith Where the Scripture holdes it peace there man must holde his peace S. Hierome Pratling without proofe of the Scripture ought to be of no credite This is a rule commonly giuen to all peoples and wherof also the people are capable Let the people now read the old new testament and let them marke if they finde any one worde directly or indirectly secretly or plainely which speaketh nie or farre of of the sacrifice of the Masse of Purgatorie of the inuocation of Saintes and such other points which are in controuersie betwene vs Contrary wise if they shall not finde therein from line to line that Christ is the onely sacrifice once offered vp for all that there is one onely washing in the bloud of Christ that there is one onely God to be called vpon in the name of Iesus Christ If they finde there the doctrines which we coÌ„demne then let them condemne vs and cry fagot and fire against vs If not then let them be iudged by the rule which is afore touched which they haue abused and haue caused men to search their saluatioÌ„ in those thinges which the Doctor of their saluation hath not taught them consequeÌ„tly wherin they can finde nothing but destruction Yea I say more that if the learned would take paines to read after the holy Scripture the doctors of the primitiue Church they shal not find there any one word therof or if they do find any such place it shal be in such sort that they shal be in more doubt theÌ„ if they had spoken nothing Whereof then they will of them selues conclude forasmuch as Christ his Apostles haue taught nothing thereof nor the primitiue Church hath beleeued nothing nor they that came long after haue written any thing but that which is doubtful that these are such things whereof we ought not onely to doubt with the doctors but also whereof the Church ought to keepe silence with Iesus Christ As for example 400. yeres after the death of Christ the Church knew not what it was to call vpon Saintes there was not found one word in the auncient writers vulesse it were for the condemnation of those which did it according to the imitation of the Painims in seruing their gods Of Purgatorie the first doctors of the Church speake not one word S. Augustine who was long after sometimes saith that there was one sometime that there might wel be one sometime that it was no great matter whether there were one or whether there were none And S. Gregorie who was after him he began to beleeue by certeine visions that there was one and this was 500. yeeres after the death of Christ Of the Masse it was altogether like for we may marke the beginninges proceedinges and increase peece by peece euen vntill our time and yet forsooth these were made articles of our faith and for these men burned the Christians for which euen by as good reason they

might haue burned all the primitiue Church By this one onely rule therefore comprised in a fewe wordes and easie for euery one to vnderstand wee cutte of the Masse Purgatorie prayers for the dead inuocation of Saints the Pope his pardons indulgences and almost all that hath troubled Christendome for this long time But to defeate this rule they would drawe certaine places by the haire to the end to make vs to finde therein their lewd inuentions As for example It shall not be forgiuen in this world nor in the world to come Ergo there is a purgatorie which must be vnderstood as S. Marke hath expounded it by these words It shal neuer be pardoned according to the Hebrew phrase Also if Moses and Samuel were before me to pray for this people I would not forgiue them Ergo say they we must pray vnto Saints Whereas quite contrary by the plaine words of the text a man shall rather gather that it is a vaine thing to call vpon them and the meaning of the Prophet is cleare that as God saith If Moses and Samuel were aliue and should intreat as sometime they did for the sinnes of that people they were become so heinous that yet he would not forgiue them To be short euen altogether like as it was that Ieremie in the chapiter aforegoing when he had made earnest prayer vnto God for the people he answered him that if Moses himselfe who was most deare vnto him should praye vnto him for this people he would not heare him Againe sometime they haue certaine Allegories to proue these matters by But we demaunde of them whether these doctrines are necessarie to saluation yea or no If they be necessarie then we haue another certaine rule That the word of God is cleare to saluation For that same light it selfe is come downe from heauen for to teach vs that hath it not done darkely or about the bush The holy Ghost came downe vpon Christ in the likenes of a doue and vpon the Apostles in great brightnesse their doctrine therefore was plaine and euident and they were not doctors or teachers of darknes Let them therefore alledge one plaine and manifest place not bring places wrested from their proper meaning and altogether from the purpose and we are readie to yeld vnto them And this is the rule which S. Hierome gaue That Allegories darke places proue nothing And S. Augustine saith That al that perteyneth to saluation is plainely and clearely set downe in the Scripture and that that which is darke in one place is plaine and cleare in another Now as concerning the third point we haue a rule which all the auncient fathers haue giuen vs That the holy Scripture is the light to it selfe And that which is darke in it is plaine by it selfe in another place and that therefore the determination of all matters must be drawne from the conference of such places where they are handled Besides we haue two markes to direct our selues by to which the whole Scripture tendeth and they are the glorie of God and charitie towardes our neighbour Moreouer we boldly admittte all the doctors of the auncient Church for the interpretation of matters belonging to this thirde kinde namely in the places and treatises where they expresselye handle them And wheresoeuer they are or shall seeme to be contrary we willingly referre therein our selues to euery man according to his owne common sense and meaning that shal haue readde the holy Scripture As for example there is a controuersie betwixte vs whether these wordes This is my body be a figuratiue speache or no. First of all I conferre or waye together the places of the Euangelistes and I finde in Saint Luke This Cuppe is the newe Testament in my bloud which cannot be expounded without a figure and I knowe that flesh and bloud are both of like importance in the Sacrament Further I consider that the question is here of a Sacrament and that this is the accustomable maner of speaking common to all Sacraments The rocke vvas Christ this is one place Baptisme is regeneration that is another c. Finally I finde in S. Augustine these words In figuratiue speaches saith he alwayes keepe this rule If it be a maner of speach that according to the letter commaundeth thee to do that which is good or forbiddeth thee to do that which is euil streight way thou mayest iudge that there is no figure For thou hast found there the scope and butt of the Scripture to wit the glorie of God charitie But if thou shalt take it according to the letter and it seemeth to commaund thee to do that which is euil or to forbid that which is good then thou shalt streight way iudge that in very deede there is a figure For example saith he Except you eat my flesh and drinke my blood you haue no life in you According to the letter it seemeth that Christ commandeth vs a foule an heinous thing This therefore saith he is a figuratiue maner of speache by which he commandeth vs to communicate with the passion of the Lord thorowly to fixe in our memorie that his flesh was pierced and crucified for vs When I see then that it is in such sort figured that S. Augustine himselfe alledgeth it vnto vs for example of figuratiue speaches I resolue my selfe that this with other textes of Scripture conferred in like sort together proue such maner of speaches in the matter of the Supper cannot be otherwise taken but figuratiuely Nowe by these rules then shal the matter of the supper iustification of faith and workes free will and such other be determined which stand vpon the interpretation of the textes of Scripture which both the one and the other would drawe to their owne meaning and intention I demaunde then of euery Christian man what we may iustly attribute more to the iudgement of the auncient fathers for where we haue a plaine forbidding from God euery one will agree vnto vs that men can doe nothing and that there neede no interpreters Againe where we haue no coÌ„maundement from his mouth there it lesse behoueth for where there is no text there can be no glose Those matters then remaine out of which these commaundements are taken and interpreted diuersly in which we most gladly admit the interpretations of the doctors of the primitiue Church and the most notable in all ages To conclude then this article we say that the infallible marke of the pure Church is the pure doctrine therof duely administred and the vndoubted touchstone of pure doctrine is the pure worde of God conteyned in the holy Scripture which God hath deliuered to be the rule of his Church That the same is perfect and to be vnderstood of those that desire their saluation yea aswell of it selfe as conferred with it selfe albeit for the decyding of controuersies founded vpon the same we wyllingly admit the interpretations of the most auncient Briefely

because we finde not this puritie in the Church of Rome but the quite contrary neyther the lawe of God obeyed by made subiect to the wyll of the Pope and his vpholders we holde the Church of Rome most impure and we marke the Pope that gouerneth there for a notable marke of Antichrist lyfting vp him selfe aboue GOD for that he setteth the lawe of God behinde his owne commaundements and vaine inuentions That the visible Church may erre yea and that in matters of fayth and those which concerne our saluation CHAP. VI. BEcause our aduersaries knowe very well that they can not defende neyther by the holy Scripture nor by the example of the primitiue Church the false doctrine which beareth swaye amongst them in the most principal points of Christian religion yf a man should examine them by piecemeale therefore they haue thought good to defende all at once to wit to maintaine that the Church can not erre especially in matters that doe concerne saluation For say they seeing that Christ is the head of the Church he guideth the same by his spirit and this spirit is the spirite of vnderstanding which inspireth into her in time and place all that is necessary for to leade her in such sort that she can not erre But as they defeÌ„ding this bulwarke assure themselues to defende all theyr Babylon so is it also as certaine that this being once wonne they can not any longer stande When they speake of the Church in this matter they vnderstand properly the Cleargie represented by a generall Councill and not the common people of whom they make no state the which thing many of themselues condemne as repugnant to holy Scripture notwithstanding I am content in this matter to speake after their maner to the ende to auoyde all cauils and starting holes Iesus Christ is the head of the Church as of one body not of that there nor of this here neyther of one nor of other but of all Churches alike Now this head is vnto the Church as reason vnto a man to wit to rule to guide the same by his commaundement Now so far forth as desire doth obey reason the body the head man is in good case his senses his mouings accions are in theyr perfection there is nothing in him which sauoureth not the good gouernment of reason Contrariwise when the desire will cast of obedience to reason and wil not be subiect to his gouernement but giueth it selfe to drunkennesse riot and all kinde of excesse then entreth he into a distemperature of all his body the vitall partes are therewith offended he loseth one member one sense after an other sight hearing and all the powers depart away from him To be short by the iust iudgement of God reason it selfe oftentimes is taken from him because he made no accompt to obey it I say that the selfe same may fall out and many times doeth fall out in the Church Now so farre forth as the Church doeth obey vnto Iesus Christ her head he arkeneth vnto his commaundements which is reason it selfe followeth his gouernement which is set foorth in the Scripture she can not erre in the path of saluation shee is sound pure and perfect and also he taketh pleasure to leade her and inspireth into her his holy Spirite to the ende to inlighten her in the middest of darkenesse it selfe But when she treadeth his gouernement vnder her feete and maketh no accompt to hearken vnto him but presumeth to be wyse ynough of her selfe to gouerne her selfe then is it no marueile if she fall as it were in pieces and lose one sense after an other if her eyes leade her into the pit and if the spirit of God abandon himselfe and forsake her because shee made no accompt of the worde with which he is inseparably ioyned knit together For as it is most certaine that Christ doth not suffer his flocke to erre so is it also as certaine on the other part that he doth not accompt any for his sheepe but chose which heare his voyce and those heare his voyce which hearken vnto him speaking in the Scriptures and making them clearely to vnderstand his will. God hauing first sent his Prophets hath nowe in the ende sent from heauen his owne worde which hath sayd to vs Search the Scriptures and this is that same worde also which hath sent the holy Spirite to the Apostles If we then wyll feele the Spirit it behoueth that we heare the word for the Spirit is sent from the word but the cleargie of Rome doe make no accompt of this word In stead of hearkening vnto it it will be heard afore it in steade of obeying vnto it it will make commaundements of it selfe in respect of which those of Gods haue bene neglected yea it hath abolished cut of certaine commaundements wholy and that openly It followeth then that it can not boast neither of the spirit neither of the leading thereof forasmuch as this spirite proceedeth from the sending of the essentiall word who hath left vs his word in the holy Scriptures So we see the a king wil coÌ„municate his authoritie to a parliameÌ„t to the end to make them obey his lawes to distribute them to his people but if the parliameÌ„t shal abuse them to the end to make it self obeyed aboue the king and the lawes themselues he will straightwayes take his authoritie from it Nowe God and his lawe in respect of the Church are farre greater then these for there can be no proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite And therefore is it any wonder if he haue taken from the prelates of the Church of Rome the gifts of his spirit when they woulde giue authoritie to their vaine traditions aboue the lawe it selfe and that vnder the shadow of his Spirite We say that the spirit and the word are inseparably ioyned and knit together and that without great sacriledge they cannot be separated forasmuch as Iesus Christ who is the word it self hath so taught vs When that same coÌ„forter shall come that same spirite I meane of trueth he shall leade you saith he into all trueth for he shall not speake of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall heare that shall he speake He shall glorifie me for he shall receyue of mine and shall shewe it vnto you and shall bring all thinges to your remembrance which I haue tolde you c. If this spirite heare the worde and speake nothing of his owne by a more strong reason the Church shoulde if she be gouerned and lead by the same spirite He sayth also vnto his Apostles I vvill be vvith you till the ende of the vvorld This he vnderstandeth by the vertue of his spirite but he had sayd before in the selfe same verse Teaching them to obserue al things vvhatsoeuer I haue commaunded that is to say my worde And therefore Saint Paul preaching the word both by liuely voyce

and also by writing doeth neuerthelesse call his ministerie The ministerie of the spirite because it is the spirite that giueth efficacie and power to this worde The Scripture is called the olde and newe Testament or Couenaunt and in all couenaunts there are conditions of both parties Concerning the olde we see that the saw was kept in the Arke vpon which God manifested his presence vnto his people when he gaue them counsell and in all that time wherein the people forsooke the lawe of God to serue Baal we see that God likewise aunswered not vnto their demaundes not vouchsafing to assist those by his spirit which made no accompt of his word And as concerning the newe Beholde my couenaunt that I make with them saith the Lord My Spirite that is in thee and my vvordes vvhich I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seede for euer c. He ioyneth the spirite with the worde in plaine wordes as if the couenaunt were conceiued in these woordes My spirite shal be in thee but marke this that the wordes that I haue put in thy mouth do not depart out of thy mouth for euer Neither ought we to saye that this is to much to abase the spirite of God to bring it backe to the worde For this is alwayes to measure God by himselfe and this also is the onely measure that he hath giuen vs. For if spirites are to be discerned by doctrine as Saint Iohn teacheth vs and doctrine as we haue already proued by the worde conteyned in the holy Scriptures it followeth then that the spirite of God must be considered in the holy Scriptures the which were left vnto vs by the Apostles and gathered by the primitiue Church to the ende that there wee might haue a liuely portraiture and drafte of the Spirite who had taught the Apostles according to the word to discerne the spirites of Sathan who without any allowance of this worde durst teache false doctrines in the Church The Church then is ledde by the Spirite of God in the vnderstanding of his will but in asmuch as she searcheth for it in his worde that is to saye to him that searcheth the will of the Lord in his word the Spirite is therein giuen vnto him for an interpreter But to those that make no accompt of the text there needeth no interpreter and therefore to those that neglect the worde to followe their owne inuentions the Spirite of God is not giuen for an interpreter For the spirite of man and the Spirite of God are not mingled together vnlesse that a man forsake his owne spirit and his owne fancies to be ledde and conducted by the Spirite of god To all those therefore that alledge the leading of the Spirite without the word we wil answere with Saint Iohn Chrysostome that which followeth Many saith he boast of the Spirit but they which bring their owne pretend the spirite falsely As Christ witnesseth that he spake not of himselfe in asmuch as his doctrine was taken out of the Lawe and the Prophetes in such sort if any man bring vnto vs vnder the title of the spirit any doctrine not conteyned in the Gospell we beleeue it not For as Christ hath fulfilled the Law and the Prophetes so the holy spirite hath fulfilled the Gospell Now Chrysostome had in hand in this Sermon to extoll the Spirite for there he taught that the holy Ghost ought to be worshipped as the true god And yet notwithstanding Chrysostome thought it no abasing to the Spirit when he measured it according to the Gospell no more then did our Sauiour Iesus Christ when he measured it according to the Lawe and the Prophets They obiect vnto vs that GOD is sure in his promises and that therefore hee keepeth the couenaunt that hee hath made with his Church We aunswere that in verye deede the worde of GOD endureth for euer but in all these sayd couenauntes there is alwayes a condition If ye keepe my vvorde how soeuer through his mercy he many times beareth long with our iniquities And therefore we must not conclude God is sure therefore the Church cannot erre But much rather to say Seeing that the Church erreth so greatly and so oftentimes forsaketh hun it must needes be that God is sure in his promises and full of mercye For it is certaine that very often hee keepeth his couenaunt with her how corrupt and diseased soeuer she bee and euen then when she prouoketh him to a diuorce so as she treadeth the contracte of marriage vnder her feete and when she hath enlarged her bedde as the Prophete sayth to all commers as it maye plainely be shewed in all times and states of the Church When our aduersaries will proue that the Church is before the Scripture they beginne it at Adam This therefore is the place from whence we must beginne God hauing created Adam he forbad him to eate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill that is to saye He commaunded him to order all his affections and desires according to his holye will and to seeke all his felicitie and all his knowledge in this onely point of cleauing vnto god If he did not he signified vnto him by this that he shall die the death that is to saye he shal be separated from God which is the soule of our soule as our soule is in our bodies In this couenaunt we see a plaine condition Adam altogether full of graces as hee was then loued rather to followe his fantasie then to be ordred according to the worde of God and to hearken rather to the voyce of Sathan then of his Creator Iust punishment followed vpon him and vpon all his posteritie man remayning corrupted not onely in his body and outward senses but also in his reason and in his vnderstanding in such sort that reason it selfe for the most part serued to no other ende but to make them so much the more vnreasonable and vnderstanding nothing but to make them searche curiosities that might withdrawe them from their saluation And yet for all this we may marke in our foolish vnconstancie the constant loue and goodnesse of our Creatour towardes vs his vnworthy treasures when he promised euen presently after to our first parents the seede that should brufe the head of the serpent in which alone they might obtaine mercy This then was a conditionall couenaunt broken of mans part by the sume of the first Adam and repayred againe in the person of the second by the assured goodnes and onely bountie of the Creator Now if this Church euen from her first roote was thus polluted if from her beginning euen then when she was full of knowledge and incegritie and when she enioyed the presence of God she failed so shamefully because she turned away from the worde of her God to her owne desires can it be that any man nowe a dayes in obscuritie

circumcision in the time of the Apostles began that medley in the Christian religion S. Peter himself winking at it S. Paul calleth this to make the Crosse of Christ of none effect S. Augustine in many places calleth it heresie Now from hence it came that the disciples of the circumcision who went to preach the Gospell to many peoples of the East and of the South there reared vp Churches in such sorte that the doctrine of grace was mingled with the lawe the shadowes with the bodie whereof it is that many yet doe hold circumcision with baptisme I speake nothing of the infinite heresies which put vp their heades vnder diuers names making their seuerall factions but of that which then came to passe in the bodies of the most flourishing Churches which afterwardes greatly encreased and multipled On the other side the people which were called from Paganisme to Christ then principally when the Church had some litle rest consequently lesse zeale care and puritie comming out of such a bottomelesse pit of Idolatrie they coulde not altogether forsake their old customes They had builded many beautiful Temples to their Idoles and it seemed a goodly thing vnto them to dedicate them vnto Saints Martyrs In stead of their hunting places they honored the reliques of Saints in place of the Images of Mars of Iupiter of Ianus they tooke pleasure to haue those of S. Paul of S. Peter c. And wheras they had a custome to make for their fathers that died praiers sacrifices lights following the opinioÌ„ of Plato coÌ„cerning purgatorie they willingly coÌ„tinued it least they should fal froÌ„ their humanitie therin only changed the forme The pastors some of them because they were come out from the same Paganisme thought it good other some did beare with it least they shoulde at the beginning goe backe hoping in time vtterly to remoue it from them as S. Paul did the ceremonies of the law from those of the circumcision and to coÌ„uert their zeale humanitie into a better custome Iusomuch that their successors ascribing impudeÌ„tly to much to their predecessors not examining the reason that moued them to beare with these things they coÌ„tinued it of theÌ„selues builded so much vpoÌ„ this rotteÌ„ fundatioÌ„ that superstitioÌ„ came to this that we see it at this day The vanitie of the one part the humane wisdome of the other hath brought vs to this and he that shal wel consider what man is how an old custome that hath but a litle shew may preuaile how much it wil cost the changing he wil easly grauÌ„t that those which haue to bring in a thorow mutatioÌ„ do think to haue gained much wheÌ„ they could bring to passe to change the principal in forsaking as seemed to them certaine accessories as in our time we our selues haue proued not regarding that the deuil knoweth so wel how to husbaÌ„d theÌ„ afterwards whilest we are negligent to water the true plants that in the end they come to be quite stifeled choked By these means errors first entred into the churches of the EthiopiaÌ„s Syrians ArmeniaÌ„s Grekes Russians ScythiaÌ„s c. for the more part But which is more by the selfe same meanes entred Mahomet with his doctrine who about the declining of the Romane Empire found out the controuersies of the Iewes Christans ioyned himself to a Monke of the heresie of Nestorius named Sergeus who coined his Alcoran in such sort that many ChristiaÌ„s of Nestorius heresie partly seeing his force partly because it seemed that he coÌ„sented with them in the essence of Christ they left of to go forward in the true religion the Iewes for the circumcision ceremonies which he left freely vnto theÌ„ and the safetie which he promised them by force of armes receiued him in the beginning as their Messias Beholde then how heresies entred into the christian Church that those so encreased as it easely coÌ„meth to passe alwaies when good decaieth and euil encreaseth that from heresie they came euen vnto infide litie yet notwithstaÌ„ding these Churches were there founded by the Apostles receyued the holy scriptures beleeued saluatioÌ„ in Christ except those which haue cleaued vnto Mahomet which haue lost the name of the Churches haue a successioÌ„ of their bishops patriarks folowiÌ„g in good order haue an ordinary vocatioÌ„ in their ministerie hold a great sort more countries theÌ„ those that haue acknowleged that Pope Now I demaund of the prelats of the Church of Rome whether that these Churches haue erred in the matters which concerne saluation or no. They wil say that they haue erred in the matter of saluatioÌ„ because that they haue reiected Images because they worship not the bread because they communicate vnder both kinds because their ministers marry because they knowe not any thing concerning Purgatorie c. To be short because they doe not only erre in many not able articles as these are but aboue all because they do not acknowledge the domination of their Pope which is to heare themselues speake the principal article that men ought to beleue to the end to be saued It foloweth then by their own coÌ„fession that the Christian Catholike visible Church hath no such priuiledge by the comming of Christ which doth exempt it froÌ„ being deceiued erring yea in that which coÌ„cerneth saluation notwithstanding al that promises and pretended couenants which we haue already mentioned before But if now it do not erre in the matter of saluatioÌ„ then it must needes follow that the Church of Rome it self must erre which hath so long time excoÌ„municated and cut of froÌ„ saluation as much as in her lieth so many peoples nations which haue not erred in the way of saluation and which is more that she is iustly excoÌ„municated by the foresaid Churches for those daÌ„nable doctrines which they condemne in her To this they wil answere vs that these Churches had no such priuiledge as the Church of Rome and that the See of S. Peter hath this prerogatiue being the chiefe amongst the Apostles that it coulde not erre Without entring into the bottome of these goodly preteÌ„ces which shal be gauged in the chapter following it must followe then that those Sees which had so great authoritie as that of Ierusalem which is called the seat of God could not erre That the Church also of Christ being there gathered together had this prerogatiue seeing that Christ the head of the Church there preached accoÌ„plished the worke of saluatioÌ„ Likewise that the Church of Antioch must haue it much more then that of Rome seeing that that was the first See of S. Peter the first Church where the name of a ChristiaÌ„ was heard And yet Ierusalem which crucisted Christ the Christians of Palestina of Antioch of the countries round about in the iudgement of the church of Rome are out of the way of saluation It followeth then that Saint Peters See preteÌ„ted to

prayed to God acknowledged his owne infirmitie and hereof also it came that hee that esteemed more of him selfe then al his companions should stumble and fall more shamefully then all they The Churche of Rome therefore shoulde rather drawe this conclusion from thence which is more agreeable to the text that as he trusting to much to himselfe renounced God and did worse then all the rest so likewise it maye doe when it is made to beleeue that it can not erre And therefore it should followe that according to his example it should weepe at the crowing of the cocke and acknowledge all the faultes thereof Thirdly if this followe Christ prayed for Peter Ergo the Church of Rome which is founded by him can not erre then must it followe also that the Churches which were founded by the other Apostles can not erre For Iesus Christ drawing neere to his Crosse prayed most earnestly for his Apostles and for all those which shoulde beleeue in him through their preaching to the end they might be one in the Father in him that is to say that they might be inseparably knit vnto him And yet the Romish Churche hath excommunicated them as heretikes and hath holden them as cut of from saluation It foloweth then either that this conclusion is false Iesus Christ prayed Ergo it can not erre or else that hee ment the inuisible Church against which hell gates cannot preuaile Fourthly S. Paul vnderstood not this subtiltie forasmuch as we see that hee admonisheth the Romanes called from amongest the Gentiles that they should not proudly aduauÌ„ce them selues against the Iewes vnder this shadowe that they were entred into their place For saith he the naturall branches were cut of through vnbeleefe and thou art engrafted in by faith and if God haue not spared them take heede least he also spare not thee that is to say take heed that thou fal not from faith as they haue done he meaneth then that he thought them not to be without the compasse of the danger Neither did Cyprian likewise writing to the clergie of Rome saying That the praise which S. Paul attributed to the Church of Rome that their faith was made knowen throughout the worlde shoulde be turned to their shame if they did not perseuer to inherite this faith Nor S. Hierom also wheÌ„ he saith That after that couetousnes was entred into the Church as it was into the Empire the Law should perish from the Priestes and the vision from the Prophets Nor all the ancient fathers when they tooke Rome for that Babylon in the Apocalyps for the seat of Antichrist as we shal see hereafter And therfore they should doe a great deale better to followe their olde glose vpon this place of S. Luke that as in praying for him he saith O Peter I haue kept thee that thy faith shoulde not faile euen so also comforte the poore weak ones by thy example of repentance to the end that by their sinnes they fall not into despaire but that they hope for mercye as hath bene shewed vnto thee Finally besides all these foresaide reasons betweent the Antecedent Christ prayed for Peter the consequent The Church of Rome can not erre there are infinite thinges to proue betweene these two sentences to wit That S. Peter was head of the Apostles of the church That he was at Rome That he was B. there That he particularly founded any church there That he had this prerogatiue aboue the rest that he coulde not erre That he either tyed it or coulde tye it to that chaire either for the popes or for the Romish Church The which things ought first to be plainely proued before we can come to any such conclusion Let vs come then to ours following our promises and notwithstanding their obiectioÌ„ of this place let vs conclude with the holy Scriptures and the practise of all times this present disputation Our Lord Iesus Christ hath deliuered to his Church the holy Scripture as a compasse to a shippe for to conduct and guide it to Saluation Looking vnto this compasse she can not be deceiued for it sheweth alwayes vnto her her marke whatsoeuer winde do driue her and not looking vnto it she can not but erre and goe out of the way no more then all the pilots or Shipmasters of the world together know without a good coÌ„passe to keep their course one only houre To the churches which follow his worde he hath promised theÌ„ the presence of his spirit From these which make no accompt of it he withdraweth him selfe accompting theÌ„ vnworthy of his presence which disdaine to harken to his voice Hereof it is that the Church in all her estates and places hath greatly erred gone out of the way but more this then al the rest which hath bene more bold to intermedle without the leading of the worde which hath most presumed of her owne abilitie to witte the Romishe Church If she haue no other priuiledges and promises then the visible and vniuersall Church there is no doubt but she may erre For we haue seene by her owne confession that she hath erred euen in the matters of saluation in her most notable meÌ„bers If she haue any speciall priuiledge as that which shee alledgeth of Saint Peters Seate yet for all that as wee haue proued that exempteth her not neither from errour nor heresie But to the ende men may see howe vaine and weake this foundation is whereupon they woulde builde an article of so great weight it followeth that wee examine those titles by vertue whereof shee pretendeth this priuiledge That the Pope or Bishop of Rome is not head of the vniuersall visible Church by any right of the lawe of god CHAP. VII WHen we demaund of our aduersaries vpon what their traditions are founded which they make equall with the articles of our fayth which haue not anye shewe of foundation in the holye Scripture they answere vs that they are the ordinances of the Church If hereupon wee will beate them downe alledging that the Church must be gouerned after God his will conteyned in his woorde and that such doctrines are not agreeable thereunto they reply that the Church can not erre in the matters of Saluation If wee proue farther vnto them by the discourse of all times that often tymes shee hath abandoned the pure seruice of God to follow her owne inuentions euen vntill shee hath bene defiled with al abhominable idolatries they reply that the Romish church hath this particular priuiledge that it can not erre because it is S. Peters seate the head of the Apostles of al the Church And therfore by this meanes all the controuersies in a maner that we haue with theÌ„ come to be brought to this question Whether the B. of Rome or the sea of Rome for they are different in themselues be head of the church In this quality there is attributed to the pope power to change the

of tyrannie That Saint Peter was the first amongst the Apostles eyther it was for his age or for his zeale as Marsilius of Padua sayeth or for his aboundance of grace as sayth Cusan the Cardinall and before him S. Augustine And admitte that he were president in their assemblies what shoulde there followe of this In all companies there is a chieftie of order but that doth not therefore import that there shoulde be a chieftie of power nor any superioritie in respect of the one ouer the other In the empire of Germanie there are seuen Electors The Archbishop of Mentz and the Countie Palatine are the chiefest the one amongst the Ecclesiasticall persons the other of the ciuil Haue they therfore power ouer their fellow Electors to wit ouer the other princes that haue not that degree That is a toye Also there is no wel gouerned assemblie where some one is not president to propound the matters they haue in hande to gather the voyces to pronounce sentence according to them Shall such a one therfore establish and dispose all at his pleasure all the worlde will say contrary Also Peter was president among twelue persons that by the electio of the Apostles and not otherwise Whosoeuer therefore will conclude that it is very good that in all coÌ„panies there be some one to gouerne their actions and to keepe order the conclusion shal be very good But that therfore the Pope as his successour should gouerne ouer all the worlde this should be no more order but the coÌ„fusion of the whole world Moreouer as it hath bin notably disputed long ago against the Pope If S. Peter according to the decree of Anaclet cited by Isiodore was elected president by the Apostles it followeth not that his successour should bee ouer the successors of the Aposties vnlesse he be chosen by their successors themselues For Saint Iohn myght haue had better successours then Saint Peter all which together myght haue had power to choose one to gouerne And these are those personall dignities which descende not from the father to the sonnes and are not tyed to one chaire but depend vpon the common consent of those which haue instituted them according to that which Cardinall Cusan durst well saye that if by consent of the Christian Church the Bishoppe of Treues were chosen president of the Church he shoulde haue farre more ryght then the Bishoppe of Rome who hath it not but through sufferance and that the Bishoppe of Rome should be bound to acknowledge him for such a one and to yeeld him obedience We see then by the Scriptures that S. Peter was neuer ordeyned head of the Church by Iesus Christ that he was neuer taken for such a one also was neuer acknowledged in this qualitie or office by the Apostles as also we finde not that in any one Councill that euer the Pope hath alledged I meane within 500. yeres after Christ Iesus one onely place of scripture wheÌ„ the primacie was builded WhereupoÌ„ we conclude with all antiquitie that the Pope in respect that he is Peters successor cannot be called the Ministeriall heade of the Church that he is equal to all other Bishops that the primacy which he exerciseth is not in any wise founded vpoÌ„ Gods law and consequently that all the articles which are founded thereupon for which as necessarie to saluation the Popes haue brought to confusion all Christendome haue not any foundation in Iesus Christ That the Pope or Bishop of Rome is not the Ministeriall head of the vniuersall Church by any right of mans lavve hovv he hath vsurped this title and povver CHAP. VIII BVt forasmuch as there is question of the succession of Saint Peter hauing seene in what it consisteth let vs see nowe what titles they bring forth to the ende they may be receiued into possession They alledge euery where that S. Peter was at Rome and hereof they conclude at one iumpe that the Pope is head of the Church We might denie that he was at Rome the which they can not proue by the holy Scripture whereof euery one may see what the foundation is of so wayghtie a buylding But contrariwise we finde great coniectures that he was neuer there of which wee were not the first searchers out but the greatest personages that were in many ages before vs Betwixt the death of our Lorde and the death of Nero there were 37. yeres By the holy Scripture it appeareth that Peter was at Hierusalem twentie yeeres after From thence he came to Antioch where Gregorie sayth that he was seuen yeres and Eusebius sayth 25. He that shall beleeue Eusebius he coulde not be martyred vnder Nero though he himselfe saye it For betwixt the passion of Christ the death of Nero there was but thirtie seuen yeeres and by Eusebius accompt there must be at the least xlvi yeeres And if we shall beleeue Gregorie there remaine but ten yeres during which time Peter could be at Rome But forasmuch as Peter and Paul were seene in Ierusalem S. Paul writing a long Epistle to the Romanes woulde he haue abstayned from him if he had bene there then Likewise he saluteth a great nomber of persons without making any mention of him Besides he writeth many Epistles from Rome in some of which a man shal finde some places that necessarily should haue made mention of him And in one place he complayneth that all had forsaken him beyng a prisoner for the Gospel And the 2. Epistle to Timothie was written the same yeere where a little after S. Paul was beheaded by the commandemeÌ„t of Nero. To be short whether S. Peter were at Rome before S. Paul or after If before as their legend sayeth that Saint Paul arriued there after that they two together had such combats agaynst SimoÌ„ Magus whence commeth it that Saint Paul did not salute him in his Epistle to the Romanes Whence also commeth it that he maketh no mention of him in the other Epistles and which is more whence commeth it and howe can that accorde to that which S. Luke sayeth in the Actes That the Iewes sayd vnto Paul that they had vnderstoode nothing of him and they desire him to declare vnto them his opinion of that sect agaynst which euery man spake Is this credible vnto any that S. Peter who came thither before and was the Minister of Circumcision that he had taught them nothing of him Also whence commeth it that S. Paul who is wont diligently else where to rehearse their meetings as when they mette at Antioch maketh no mention of this meeting being in one of the most famous Cities in the worlde Nowe if Saint Peter came thither after Saint Paul besides that it is a great maruell that no mention is made thereof yet then the legende is false whereupon the primacie is founded and as it is false in one poynt so it may be in another Moreouer the Legende

buyld altar against altar for by Christ his comming all the earth is made the Lordes altar Our ministers who haue begonne this woorke haue the same calling that our aduersaries pretend for they were elders and doctors ordeined as they were and by them and they haue done nothing but followed their calling whereas the others had vtterly abandoned it And they which followed theÌ„ afterwards had a much better calling then our aduersaries for besides that they were ordeyned by those first who had authoritie to do it they were ordeined according to the practise of the Apostles and auncient Canons which are neglected in the Church of Rome Moreouer besides this ordinarie vocation the extraordinarie wonders which God hath wrought in these last times by their Ministery in the fauour thereof maye sufficiently witnesse that they do the worke of God and not of men FINIS 2. Tim. 2.19 August vpâ—â— the 64. Psal. August lib. 1 de Baptism contra Donatist cap. 16 August homil in Ioan. 45. ca. 20. lib. 5. de bapt c. Rom. 9.6 Mat. 16. Mat. 24.11 Luke 8.8 Mat. 28. Galat. 3.28 Ephe. 2.14 Apo. 21 13 Cypri de simplicitate prelatorum August passim contra Don atistas Mat. 13.47 1 Tim. 3.15 1. Tim. 2.20 August lib. 7. cap. 51. de Baptismate libro de vnitate ecclesiae cap. 4. Cant. 4.6 Isa. 1.21 1. Tim. 3. Ier. 3.12 Ezech. 18.23 2. thess. 2. Rom. 9.10.11 cap. Augustin pastin contra Donatist Iosue 1.18 19. cap. 2. King. 23. 2. Chr. 34. 2. Chro. 35 Nehem. 8. 9.3 Esdras 7.6 Ioh. 18.37 Ioh. 8.47 Ephe. 2.20 Matth. 28.19 Marke 16.15 Actes 2.42 Ambros lib. de salubr cap. 7. August contra Cresco GraÌ„mat lib. â— cap. 11 c. Rom. 10.15 Ezech. 16.20 Ezech. 23.37 Mat. 23.15 Ezech. 15.48 Ezech. 16. Nomb. 16. August contra FaustuÌ„ lib. 19. ca. 11. Antiquitie Iob. 8.8 Iob. 32.7 August super Psal. 64. Dan. 8. Mar. 10.4 Yert de virginibus velandis Cipr. lib. 2. epist. 3. De seipso ad Pompeian episto 9. in episto ad Quirin in sentent episco in â–ª August de Bapt. lib. 5. cap. 23. Ignatius ad Philadelph canon Consuetud dist 11. L. Quae ab initio D. de regulis iuris Multitude Exod. 23. Mat. 7.13 Luk. 12.32 Deut. 4 2â— 7.17 9.1 11.23 Augustin super psal 128. Gen. 6. 1. Reg. 29.10 1. Kin. 22.8 Iere. 4. Iere. 18.18 Isai 53. Thedoret lib. 2. cap. 16. Mat. 24. Amos. 3.12 Iere. 3.16 Succession of place Apo. 12.6 c. Glossa communis in esi versiculum Deies was a litle town not farre froÌ„ Rome Plutarch in Themist Dion lib. 41. Appian in libic Plorus cap. 49. 2. Chro. 33 Psal. 33. 2. Chro. 7. Iere. 7. 26. Succession of persons Zackar in tractatu de regimine principum Bald. de Schism Ierem. 8.8 Io. 8.44 August contra epist. fundam cap. 4. Idem contra petib ca. 16. August epist. 156. Iren. lib. 4. cap. 44. Tertull. de prescript aduersus hereticos Miracles Titus Liuius in many places Augustine de vtilitate credend cap. 16. 2. Kin. 18.24 August lib. de vnitate Ecclesiae cap. 46. Mat. 7. Mat. 24. 2. thess. 2. Hierom. vpon the 7. of Mat. Chrisost vpon the 1. epist. 2. thess. August lib. 20. cap. 19. De ciuitate Dei. August super psal 9. Luk. 24. Reuelations Deut. 13. 1. Iohn 4. August lib. 2 ad Simplic quae 1. Iere. 33.22 Iam. 4.12 Deut. 12.8 32. Iere. 7.21 1. SaÌ„ 15.22 Prou. 30. Iere. 7.21 Isai 8.20 Mal. 2. 4 Osc 2. Mat. 17. Ioh. 5.39 Luk. 16.16 Luk. 24. Hebr. 2. Iohn 4.25 Matth. 17. Augu. epist. 166. lib. de vnit Eccles cap 3. 16. per totum aduersus Donatistas August de pastoribus cap. 4. August contra Cresconium lib. 2. cap. 21.32.38 lib. 5. cap. 17. de baptism coÌ„tra Donatist August 13. ad Hieron in prolog lib. 3. de Trinitat distin lib. Canoni Lib de doct Christ 2.18 August contra MaximinuÌ„ ArrianuÌ„ lib. 3 cap. 14. August contra Faustum Manich. lib. 11. cap. 5. Basilius contra Eunom Apol epist. lib. 2. Idem epist. 8. Chrisost in 2. Cor. homi 13 in fine IdeÌ„ in ferm de sancto ader spiri Irenaeus lib. 5. cap 1. Concil Carthag 3. L. Cunctos populos C. de summa Trinit side Catholic Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 8. Hist tripar lib. 2. cap 5. lib. 1. cap. 14. L. Abbas Panormitanus in cap. signif extrauag de electis Gerson part 1. de exami doctr Isa. 8.20 Luk. 16. Iohn 5.39 The scripture is perfect sufficient to saluation Ioh 20 3â— And Augustine vpon that place 2. Tim. 3. Marsil lib. intitul defensor pacis part 1. cap 9. Ioh. 16.13 Iren. lib. 3. cap. 2. Mat. 15.9 Iohn 8. The scripture is plaine and manifest to saluation Xanctes in lib. 1. de Atheist Origen contra Celsum 2. Pet. 1.19 Iohn 1.9 Psal. 119. Isa. 56.10.11 Iohn 5.39 Luke 24. Actes 17. Iohn 1 8. 12. Luke 10. Luke 8. Mat. 13. Luke 15. 2. Pet. 3.16 1. Cor. 4. 2. Pet. 3.16 August libr. 2. de doctr Christ cap. 2 libr. 2. cap. 9. Ambro. in Psal. 119. serm 8. Basil lib. 2. de Baptism quest 4. Marsilius de Padua in lib. defens pacis parte 1. cap 9. The church is not iudge ouer the Scripture Contra epist funda cap 5. August lib. â—3 contra Manich. â—ib 28. cap. 2. Wolffgang Herman Marsil de Padua part 2. cap. 19. Whether the Church be before the Scripture Nicol. Cusan Cardin. epist. 2. de vsu Communion ad Bohem Hossius Cardin in Petroco confess Concil Trident session 5. cap. 2. Cardinal Cusan epist. 2. 3. ad Bohem. August in the 2. booke of Baptisme against the Donatists August cap. 3. 16. de vnitat c. Acts. 4.19 Deut. 4. Ioh. 20. 2. Tim. 3. Matth. 15. Ier. 16.12 Chrysost in sermo de sancto adora â–ª spirit August de cura pro mortuis gerendo August in euchirid ad Laurentium cap. 67. 68. lib. de side operibus si ad Dulc. q. 1. passim Matth. 12.31 Mark. 3.28 Luk. 12.10 Hieron in cap. 4. ad Galat. Augustin lib. 2 de doctrin Christ cap. 24.9 August loco codem Ambr. in Psa 119 serm 9. Basil lib 2. de Baptism quest 4. Luk. 12. August lib. 3. de doctr Christ cap. 15. Petrus de Aliaco lib. de recoÌ„mend scriptur Marsil Pataui 2. p. cap. 2. The spirite the worde are insepably ioyned together Ioh. 16.13 Ioh. 14.26 Mat. 28.20 2. Cor. 3.8 Isai 59.21 1. Ioh. 4. Chrysost seâ— de sanct ador spi The church which was before the lawe hath erred Genesis 3. Iesuita Graecensis in asseti Rom. 5.19 August liâ— 14. de ciui Dei. cap. 1 15. Ezech. 20. The church vnder the lawe hath erred Exo. 19 4. Leui. 26.12 Deu. 28. 29.12 Psal. 68. 2. Chr. 33. 2. Chro 7. 1. Sam. 2.30 1. Reg. 2.27 2. Reg. 23.27 Ierem.

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