same slauerie still and the third kind of men doe sticke to neither part But haue fallen either to Epicurisme or Atheisme Unto D. Fulke I will heere adde also the breife note upon the margent in our Bible of the Geneva translation where you shall find this annotation upon the margent cap. 16. 19. Meaning the whole number of them that shall call themselues persevere without corruption For true doctrine without true discipline and gouernement is like good corne sowed amonge the thornes that choke it Now if the Lordbisshopes sometime preach which is but seldome yet being Lords ouer Gods heritage rather then ensamples to the flocke what profite cometh thereof eyther to them selues or to their hearers Therfore even the Apostle him selfe sayth I therefore soe runne not as vncertainely so fight I 1. Cor. 9.26 27. not as one that beateth the ayer But I beate doune my body bringe it into subiection least by any meanes after I haue preached to other I my selfe should be reproued For a right good preacher leading a lewd life is like the Angell of Sardis who hauing a name that he lived yet was he dead himselfe and carried his flocke into the same destruction Or like the Angell of Laodicia who beinge rich in worldly wealth yet was he indeed poore miserable blind and naked And verily our owne English Homilie saith The true Church is built vpon the foundtion of the Apostle and Prophets Hom. serm vpon which part 2. it hath allwayes three notes or marks whereby it is knowne Pure and sound doctrine the sacramentes ministred accordng to Christs holy infiitution and the right vse of ecclesiasticall dicipline Here marke that my Lords the Bishops doe say even in the Church Homily that the true Church builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles Prophets hath allwayes this marke or note of right vsing the ecclesiasticalll discipline built vpon the foundation laide by the Apostles aswell as of pure sound doctrine and the Sacraments Ministred according to Christs institution It were good therefore happy for them if they would leaue all their ecclesiasticall discipline which is neither built vpon the doctrine or practise of the Apostles nor vpon any foundatiō which they haue laid in the scriptures And I wish that they and all other that professe the Gospell of Christ in what degree or vocation soever they bee might haue it imprinted in their harts that it is the expresse commandement of God and the words of the holy Ghost which saith of Babilon Rev. 18.4.6 7 Goe out of her my people that ye be not partakers in her sinnes and that ye receaue not of her plagues Reward her even as shee hath rewarded you and giue her double according to her workes and in the Cup shee hath filled to you fill her the double In asmuch as shee glorified her selfe and liued in pleasure so much give ye to her torment and sorrow Goe out therefore and touch no vncleane thing Which words of the holy Ghost and the very commandement of God bindeth not only princes and Magistrats by their authority and lawes but also all Gods people euery one in his estate degree and vocation both to hate detest and vtterly to abhore the filthy whore of Babilon with all her implements and to reward her double according to her workes and in the Cup that she hath filled to vs of superstition Idolatry an innumerable abominations to fill her the double in detestations and abhorring even the very printes and stepes where she hath gone Thus committing my selfe and all Gods people vnto his mercies obtayned vnto vs by Christ Iesus our Lord I end with the prayer for his Maiestie taken out of the publique service appointed for the Church in Queene Elizabethes time after the terrible earthquake whē mens hearts were a wakened out of securitie and trembled at the presence of God And now Lord particularly we pray vnto thee for thy Churches of England Scotland France Ireland that thou wilt continue they gratious favour still towards us to maintaine thy Gospell still amongst vs and to giue it a free passage that it might be glorified And to that end saue thy servant our gratious King Iames grant him wisdome to rule this mightie people long life quietnes round about him detect all the trayterous practises of his enimies devised against him and thy truth O Lord thou seest the pride of thine enimies and though that by our sinnes we haue iustly deserved to fall into their hands yet haue mercie vpon vs and saue thy litle flocke Strengthen his hand to strike the stroke of the ruine of all superstition to double into the bosome of that rose coloured whore that wich she hath poured out against thy saynts that he may giue the deadly wound not to one head but to all the heads of that cruell beast that the life that quiuereth in his dismembred members yet amongst vs may vtterly decaie and wee through that wholesome discipline sweet yoke and comfortable scepter of Iesus Christ may inioy his righteousnes that the Church may florish sinne may abate wicked men may hang their heads and all thy children be comforted Strengthen his hand and giue him a swift foote to hūt out the Buls of Basan deuouring beasts that make hauoke of thy flocke And because this worke is of great importance assist him with all necessary helpes both in giuinge him godly wise and faithfull Councellers as also in ministring to him inferior rulers officers as may sincerely vprightly and faithfully doe their dueties seeking first thy honor glory then the common wealth of his Realmes dominions that we may long enioy thy truth with him and all other thy good blessings which in so great mercie thou hast bestowed vpon us with groweth in goodnes gaine in Godlines and dayly bettering in sincere obedience Amen Hierom. Lib. 2. Epist 2. Paulino Malens aliena verecunde dicere quam sua impudenter ingerere Willing rather with modesty to speake other mens words then impudently to thrust forth his owne T. W. Ierom concerning some Bishops in his time Nihil grande est pacem voce pretendere et opere destruere Aliud niti aliud demonstrare Verbis sonare concordiam re exigere servitutem Volumus et nos pacem et non solū volumus sed et rogamus Sed pacem Christi pacem veram pacem sine inimicitiis pacem in quâ non sit bellū involutum pacem quae non vt adversarios subiiciat sed vt amicos iungat Quid Dominationem pacem vocamus Et non reddimus vnicuique vocabulum suum It is no great matter in word to pretend peace and in deede to destroy it to make shew of one thing and to demonstrate another to talke of concord and indeed to require a servitude We also desire peace and we doe not only desire it but we intreat for it But it is Christs peace it is a true peace it is a peace without enmitie a peace wherein no warre should be infolded a peace which should not bring under adversaries in subjection but joyne friends togeather What Doe we call a Lordship peace Why doe we not giue to every thing his proper name Hierom. ad Theophil adversus Iohannem Ierosolymitanum Tom. 2. pag. 184.
soever the office vocation and charge of preaching of the word is allotted let him speake as the words of God which caveat and lesson ought most carefully to be taken heed unto that no man presume to Preach and teach any thing wherto he hath not expresse word of God for his warrant and except he be most certaine that the same be directly to be avouched out of the sacreed scriptures Which being so what may be thought of the Pope and his dirtie dreggs and traditions Here you see M. Luthers judgment that all traditions which haue not the expresse warrant of the word of God are but dirtie dreggs and Popish traditions And marke it well that what traditions soever is brought into the Church which hath not the expresse word of God for it the same is to be nombred among the Popes dirtie dreggs I say except the same be most certaine and directly to be a vouched out of the sacred scriptures And anon after he saith againe A Prelate or Bishop ought to doe nothing in the Church vnlesse he be certaine and sure of the warrantise thereof by Gods word For God cannot abide to haue his service umbled and mingled at pleasure with every foolish gewgawe and light trumpery You see how this beginnyng of the day light whereby God shewed himselfe agayne unto the world doth cōstantly affirme that a Bishop ought to doe nothing in the Church unlesse he be certaine and sure of the warrantise thereof by Gods word no not to bring in a ceremonie nor a light guegawe for God saith M. Luther cannot abide it nor suffer it to be used in his service And yet not so content he goeth farther saying And therefore we are straightly forbidden not to relie unto nor to allow whatsoever decree or constitution the Bishop list to obtrud and enioyne unlesse they stand upon a sure groūd that the things which they doe are allowed of God yea don of God himselfe and unlesse the be able to say doe this for it is the will and Commandement of God and we haue his expresse word and commandement for our warrant If they be not able to say thus they ought to be accounted as lyers deceavers much lesse ought any Christian to yeelde unto them therein any obedience or subscription No Christian saith M Luther ought to subscribe nor obey to any of the Bishops Canons Subscriptiō unlesse they be able to say do this for it is the will cōmandement of God and we haue his expresse word and commandement for our warrant Thus doth this Angell or messenger of God write who having a liuely faith by this faith he being dead with Abell yet speaketh this unto all the world and even unto England in playne English whereby yee may perceaue he was no sleeping Sardian Angell nor rich luke warme Laodician but like the Angell of Ephesus could not forbeare them which were evill and was himselfe poore with the Angell of the Smirnians and far from the pompe and pride of the Laodician Angell which lived like a Lord and rejoyced he was encreased in riches and had need of nothing But if this excellent messenger of God were now in England and would refuse to subscribe to a number of Canons and many light guegawes which are neither commanded of God nor haue the expresse warrant of the word of God he should surely be turned both out of his preaching and out of his living though many hundred sleeping Sardian Priests and blind unpreaching Ministers should keep their place But let us go forward with M. Luther upon the fift chapter of the same epistle thus he saith When S. Peter or any other of the Apostles came into any Cittie wherein Christians were 1. Peter 5. they ordeyned some one or other of them such as lived honestly and unblameablie and had wife and children and also skilfull in the Scriptures of God to to haue the superintendencie and charge over the rest And them they called Seniors or Elders whom afterward both Saint Peter and also S. Paule called Bishops whereby we may note that Bishops were none others then the very same that were Elders Touching this purpose we read in the Historie of S. Martine how a certaine man came into a place in Aphrica and there in a poore Cottage found an elderlie man whom they thought to haue been some playne Countriman Within a while they saw many people come flocking to him to whom he preached and expounded the word of God wherby they perceaved that he was their Pastor or Bishop For in those dayes there was no difference either in apparrell or manners betweene the Bishops and the residue of Christians In which saying of M Luther these three things are to be observed First that there was no differēce in the word of God and by the doctrine of the Apostles between a Bishop and an Elder or Minister or as he is now called a Parish Priest in the latin word taken out of the Greeke Presbyter for in the new Testament as you haue heard before he is never called Sacerdos that is to say a Priest as in all the old Testament it is ever englished But heer you see plainly by the judgmēt of M. Luther that a Bishop by the word of God and doctrine of the Apostles is nothing else but the Minister of a Parish And you heard before how precisly and violently he rejected whatsoever ordinance in the Church hath not the expresse word of God and commandement for it And therefore he saith touching all constitutions of Bishops without this expresse warrant we ought to take them for lyers deceavers and by no meanes to subscrib unto them Seeing this he speaketh not onely of Ceremonies and other traditions but even of the goverment orders of the Church as in the same place within a few words he plainly and vehemently expresseth For saith he there is nothing so pernicious nothing so monstrous 1 Pet 4.11 nothing so beastly as to goe about to governe the Church of God without the warrant of Gods owne word and worke And therefore S. Peter saw great reason to ad this much thereby to teach how the Church ought to be governed And in the fift chapter he doth in a mannner repeate the same againe for taking occasion from the care and diligence that every Bishop and Pastor ought to haue of every particular within his owne flocke In chap 5 Heereby saith he we may well perceiue and know that a Bishop is even the same that is here ment by an Elder And therefore it is not true which some say that a Bishoprick is a dignitie and a Bishop onely he that weareth a forked Miter Episcopacie is not a name of dignitie but of Office Which thing he also affirmeth in divers places as in his booke contra Papatum he saith Bishops wheresoever they be in all the world are equall to our Bishops or Parish Ministers and Preachers Of none can it be said one is
him Tell me saith Harpsfield were not the Apostles Bishops Brad No except you will make a new definition of a Bishop that is giue him no certaine place Harps Indeede the Apostles office was not the Bishops office for it was vniuersall But yet Christ instituted Bishops in the Church as Paul saith He hath giuen Pastors Prophets c. so that I trow it be proved by the scripturs the succession of Bishops to be an essentiall poynt Brad The ministery of Gods word and ministers be an essentiall point But to translate this to the Bishops and their succession is a plaine subtiltie And therefore that it may be plaine I will aske you a question Tell me whether that the scriptures know any difference betwene Bishops Ministers which ye call priests Harpsfield No. Brad Well then goe on forwards and let vs see what ye shall get now by the succession of Bishops that is of Ministers which cannot be understood of such Bishops as Minister not but Lord it Wherein every Reader may obserue these things First that the Apostles were not Bishops for that a Bishop must haue a certaine place and a flocke to feede wherein he must be resident And not like an Apostle or Evangelist to travell from flocke to flocke from place to place Secondly by the scripture there is no difference between a Bishop and a Minister which is so cleere and manifest that the very Papist himselfe is driven to coÌ„fesse it Thirdly that it being true which the most rankest Papist for shame cannot denie that by the scripture Bishops Ministers differ not Then the glorious succession of the Pope and all his Diocesan and Lordbishops are utterly overthrowne For as M. Bradford saith What Lordly estate can any Bishop get when he ought not to differ from the poore and meane estate of a Minister Fourthly that they are Papists which will haue a Minister of the Gospell to be called a Priest for tell me saith Bradford whether the scripture know any difference between a Bishop and a Minister which you call a Priest Heereunto I will annexe some few sayings out of M. Iohn Bale Bale who being in Germanie wrote divers bookes and sent them hither wherby England receaved great light knowledg and was of such name note in Germanie that Pantalio that learned Germaine in his Ecclesiasticall Chronicles setteth him downe among the three speciall Englishmen which together with Bucer Peter Martyr preached the Gospell in England during King Edwards time To whom Queene Elizabeth in her very young dayes when she had translated a booke of French into English sent â—omilies Yet will I hereunto adde one place out of our owne English Homilies appoynted to be read publikely in our Churches at this day Our Saviour Christ saith our English Homilie against wilfull rebellion teaching by his doctrine that his kingdome was not of this world did by example in flieing from those that would haue made him King confirme the same expresly also forbidding his Apostles and by them the whole Cleargie of all princelie dominion over people and Nations and he with his Apostles likewise namely Peter Paule did forbid unto all Ecclesiasticall Ministers dominion over the Church of Christ which words are there referred to these places of scripture Math. 20. d 25. Mar. 10. f 42. Luk. 22. e 25. Math 23 a 8. Luke 9 f 46. 2 Cor 1. d 24. 1 Pet 5.1.2.3.4.5 Seeing therefore Christ and his Apostles both by their example practise course of their whole life and also by their doctrine and all the cheifest of the auncient Fathers in the Primitiue Church likewise by their doctrine practise of life And seeing all the principall lights of the Gospell which God hath set up from time to time in the deepe darknes of Antichrist together with all the godlie Martyrs lights of the Gospell both in other Nations and specially in this our owne Realme of England do so vehemently set forth the deformitie and require reformation of those abuses in this treatise mentioned and spoken of yet in our Churches in England remayning unreformed Doe my Lords the Bishops trow you which stand so fircely in defence of those shamefull enormities against such a cloud and multitude of witnesses being the most learned holy men and Martyrs Doe they yet I say expect till the beasts of the feild the foules of the ayre and the very stones of the streete should crie for reformation What is it possible to thinke that they themselues doe not see and know that the Pluralitie of benefices Nonresidencies the horrible abuse of excommunication and such like are untollerable thinges in a Christian Churche Yet not one of these they list to amend I will hereunto joyne the prayer of that excellent learned man Doctor Fulke in his Sermon at Hampton Court Fulk in Queene Elizabeths time printed dedicated to the Earle of Warwike in which having proved most learnedly the Pope to be the very Antichrist spoken of by the Apostle and Rome to be undoubtedly the whore of Babilon spoken of in the Revelation concludeth his sermon with this prayer saying Let us therefore pray unto Almightie God instantly that all men in their vocation may seeke the utter overthrow and destruction of Babilon that Princes and Magistrats may according to the Prophesies of them hate her with a perfect hatred and utterly abolish whatsoever belongeth to her that they may reward her as she hath rewarded us and giue her double punishmeÌ„t according to her workes and in the cup of affliction that she hath powered forth for us they may power forth double as much to her And looke how much she hath glorified her selfe and lived in wantonnes which was without measure so much they may bestow upon her of sorrow and torments That Preachers and Ministers of Gods word may playnlie and without dissimulation or halting discover her wickednes and earnestly to vrge whatsoever hath need of perfect reformation that all subiects may continue in holy obedience first to God and then to their Prince to the advancing of the honor glorie of God through Iesus Christ c. And surely all men without exception which wil be saved by Christ must in their vocation and degree not coldly but fircely fight against Antichrist And specially now when the first Angell hath powred out his Viall upon the throne of the beast so that his kingdom waxeth darke Rev. 16.10 Even now all men ought to seeke the overthrow and the utter destruction of Babilon and not to be weried with the tediousnes of time nor to giue over for the pleasures worldly profitts of this life And not to say as the wicked did in the dayes of the Prophet Malachi What profit is it that we haue kept his commandement Mal. 3 14 15 16.17 and that we walked humblie before the Lord of hosts Therfore we count the proud blessed even they that worke wickednes are set up and they that
this vseth our reverend English Father M. Nowell in his great Catechisme Nowell Catech. where commending and speaking of the Discipline of the Primitiue Church he saith But this Discipline since long time past by litle and litle decayed as the manners of men be corrupt and out of right course specially of the rich and men of power which will needs haue impunitie and most free libertie to sinne and doe wickedly But to returne to Ierome ye see wherevnto the superiority of Bishops was come even then and what fruite this corne of evill seed being then but newly sowed hath brought forth vnto this day a man may easily judge And this is the cause why Ierome so often as hath been before declared putteth the Bishops in remembrance that they are greater then other Elders or Ministers by custome and not by any truth of the Lords appoyntment and that they ought to rule in common But the Discipline liked them much better whereby they might haue free liberty to sinne and that no man might dare or be so bould to reproue them much lesse to punish them Yet Ierome in his Epistle to Nepotian is bould with the Lordship of Bishops saying Illud etiam dico quod Episcopi sacerdotes se esse noverint non dominos This also I say that Bishops should know that they be preists and not Lords And further he saith to Nepotian Negociatorem clericum et ex inope diuitem et ex ignobili gloriosum quasi quandam pestem fuge A man of the Clergy saith Ierome that is an occupier and that is become of a poore man a rich man and of a man of low degree to be a man of honorable estate flye from such a one as it were from a certaine pestilence And touchyng his owne estate he saith being then one of the most famous christian Pastors in the whole world and in many things greater better learned then Augustine Altaris oblatione sustentor habens victum et vestitum his contentus ero et crucem nudam nudus sequor I am susteined by the offring of the Altar and having food and rayment Epistlo 11. and being a naked fellow my self I follow the naked Crosse of Christ And in his Epistle to Augustine he saith Ego in paruo tuguriolo cum monachis id est cum compeccatoribus meis de magnis statuere non audeo I in my poore litle cottage saith he with certaine monks that is to say sinners dare not determine of high matters You see how far Ierom was from Lordly estate he lived not in a Princly Pallace but in a poore litle cottage Yet for the excellencie of his fame and learnyng inferior to none which then lived For proofe whereof and for the worthynes of the matter I will set downe one example though I shall make there in a litle digression Algasia a gentle woman of Fraunce dwelling at the least as far from Ierom as England from the Iles of Canarie hearing of his excellent learnyng and knowledg in Divinity sent purposely vnto him from the borders of the Ocean sea and the furthest part of all Fraunce and passing by Rome she sent unto him dwellyng at Bethleem to be resolved in divers poynts of the scripture Among which the Eleaventh question was how she should vnderstand the words of the Apostle speakeyng of Antichrist 2 Thes 2 ca. In answering which question Ierom saith Ad Algas q. 11 Nec vult aperte dicere Romanum inperium destruendum quod ipsi qui imperāt aeternam putant vnde secundum Apocalipsim Iohannis infronte purpuratae meretricis scriptum est nomen blasphemiae id est Romae aeternae Nether would the Apostle saith Ierom say in plaine termes that the Empire of Rome should be destroyed which they that raigne there thinke to be eternall where upon accordyng to the Revelation of S. Iohn in the forehead of the purple coulered whore there is written the name of blasphemie that is of Rome eternall A religious and right noble Lady In which discourse diuers things of speciall note are worthy to be observed As first the great zeale carefull diligence of that Noble gentlewoman seekyng so far to know and understand the scriptures O that our Ladyes and gentleweomen of England were so carefull to seeke after God that their soules might liue Secondly that she passed by Rome beyng right in the way to Bethleem with the proud Pope which boasteth himselfe to haue all knowledg within the coffer of his owne breast together withall his colledge of Carnalls and seeketh after Ierom the poore Minister of Bethleem Thirdly of how great fame poore Ierom was for his knowledg and learnyng in Divinity Fourthly that the name of Rome eternall is the name of blasphemie which is written upon the forehead of the purple coulered whore Now to returne againe to the state of the Church in Ieroms time leaving him to his poore cottage with his Monkes Hom. against peril of Idolatry part 2 let us see in what lordly estate Augustine liued and what his judgment is concernyng the same of whome it is written in the Homilie of our English Church that he was the best learned of all the Auncient Fathers And Possidonius testifieth of him Posid de vit Aug cap. 31. how excellent and dilligent a Preacher he was Verbum Dei usque ad ipsam suam extermam aegritudinam impraetermisse alacriter et fortiter sana mente sanoque consilio in ecclesia praedicavit He preached the word of God in the Church saith Possidonius without pretermission with sound mind and advised judgment even vnto the time of his extreame sicknes Where marke the word impraetermisse without pretermission how far the Lord Bishops are from this dilligence in our dayes Now touchyng this matter Augustine saith lib de Pastor cap ◠Vnde enim vivitur c. It is of nessitie saith he to take so much as the Pastor may be able to liue on and charitie requyreth so to be given unto him not as though the gospell were a thing to be sould and that should be the price thereof which they take that preach it for so they should indeed sell a great thing for a smale price but they ought to take of the people the sustentation of their necessitie and of the Lord a reward of their stewardship But let us heare what Augustine and all the Bishops of that parte of the world with him not onely say but also in full assemblie decree in the third Counsell of Carthage And first touchyng their titles Canon 26. Carth Coun 3. Vt primae sedis Episcopus c. We decre say they that the Bishop of the first seate shall not be called the cheife preist or hie preist or any such manner of thing but onely he shal be called Bishop of the first seate And marke that they say nor any such manner of thing And also these words but onely by which two wordes they clearly
Lord and other a Servant Where Luther useth this word vel parochis which must needes be englished either after the Popish phrase Parish priests or in better English parish Ministers Which you see heere M. Luther maketh as great a Lordbishop as a Diocesan Bishop or Bishop of a Diocese and unto this rule he pulleth downe the proud Pope himselfe and so breaketh the necke of his Popedome For he saith that Bishops in all the world are not other in right and truth but Parish Ministers and that the one ought not to liue like a Lord and the other like a Minister or servant And upon the 5 chapter of Peter aforesaid he saith Furthermore S. Peter calleth it peculiarly the flocke of Christ In chap 5 2. as though he should say Thinke not that the flocke is any of your owne ye are but onely Servants and Ministers to looke unto it ye ye are no Lords nor Masters over it And further afterward he saith For we haue but one Lord Iesus Christ and he it is which governeth over soules Elders Pastors haue no further charge then to feed And heere in one word S Peter overthroweth all the kingdome of the Pope and concludeth that no Bishop hath any authority so much as in one word to clogg and tye the consciences of the faithfull to the observation of their precepts For they themselues ought to be servants and Ministers and to say thus saith the Lord and these be the words of Christ it is not we the words are none of ours and therefore ye ought to doe that which is here commanded According to that which Christ saith Luke the 22. The Kings of the Gentiles reigne over them and they that beare rule overthem are called gratious Lords but ye shall not be so Contrary whereunto the Pope boasteth and brageth saying we ought to be Lords and to us onely it belongeth to excercise cheife rule and supreme authoritie The second thing that I speake of to be observed in the former saying of M. Luther is this That the state of Bishops in those dayes was such that a Bishop could not be knowen by any Lordly countenance or attendance from a plaine man of the countrie The third thing is that in his apparell he differed nothing from the common sort of men he had not on his head as our booke of Martyrs of a certaine Bishop saith a Geometricall that is to say a square cap although his head be round nor a white rochet vpoÌ„ his blake coat nor a priests cloke nor a formall gowne For by those Mathematicall marks he must needs then haue been knowen froÌ„ a plaine man of the Country as that foresaid Bishop in Africa was not Yea though he had been an unpreaching Prelat and so could not haue been knowen by his preaching But let us heare what M. Luther further saith In our booke of Martyrs many thinges are specified which are most worthy to be noted concernyng him Fox Edition 1570 to 2. pag 976. Election of Ministers ought to be by the Church to whom they belong but for brevities sake I will onely obserue this one thing namely that he affirmeth the voyces of the people ought not to be severed from the choosing of Ecclesiasticall persons in which poynt all the auncient Fathers doe with one voyce agree with M. Luther they were also chosen themselues in that manner and so caused other to be chosen And so likewise all the Protestant writers and lights of the gospell do generallie affirme in their writings that by the law of God and by the holy Scriptures it ought to be still observed in the Churches of God And yet at this day it is exploded out of many Churches as namely here with us that professe the Gospell as a thing that cannot stand with a Christian common wealth wherein I will onely recite the wordes of our booke of Martyrs and one worthy sentence and also one notable example out of auncient Fathers and so leaue it to the consideration of the Christian reader and to the consciences of all christian Magistrats that profess the Gospell with myne owne prayers to God that this Apostolicke order of chosing of Ministers may be againe restored to all Christian Churches Fox pa. 5 ed. 1570. col 2 After which time of the Apostles saith our booke of Martyrs the election of Bishops and Ministers stood by the Cleargie and the people with the consent of the cheife Magistrate of the same place and so continued during all the time of the Primitiue Church till the time and after the time of Constantine the fourth Emperour which Emperour as writeth Platina and Sabellicus Enead 8 lib 6 published a law concernyng the election of the Romane Bishop Platina Sab. Ene 8. lib 6 that he should be taken for true Bishop whom the Cleargie and people of Rome did chose and elect without any tarying for any authoritie of the Emperour of Constantinople or the deputie of Italie so as the custom and fashion had ever been before that day anno 685. And a non after in our booke of Martyrs it is thus written â—owsons â—â—uralities of â—enefices likewise vowsons and pluralities of benefices were things then asmuch unknowen as now they are pernicious to the Church taking away all free election of Ministers from the flockes of Christ Heerunto I add touching this matter as I promised first a most worthy senteÌ„ce out of Cyprian who florished about 260 yeares after Christ He in his 68. Epistle saith â—yprian Epi â—8 iuxsta â—amelium Plebs obsequens preceptis Dominicis et Deum metueÌ„s a peccatore preposito seperare se debet nec se ad sacrilegi sacerdo tis sacrificia miscere quando ipsa maxime habeat potestatem vel eligendi dignos sacerdotes vel indignos recusandi Quod et ipsum videmus de diuina auctoritate descendere vt sacerdos plebe praesente sub omnium oculis deligatur et dignus atque idoneus publico iudicio ac testimonio comprobetur The people beyng obedient unto the commandement of God and fearing God ought to seperat themselues from a wicked Pastor or Minister and not to joyne themselues to the sacrifice of a sacrilegius Priest seeing the People it selfe cheiflie hath power either to choose priests that are worthy or to refuse those that be unworthy which thing we see doth come from the authority of God that the Priest may be chosen in the presence of the people that he which is worthy and meete for the place may be allowed with a publicke judgment and testimony And a litle after he concludeth saying Et sit ordinatio iusta et legitima que omnium suffragio et iudicio fuerit examinata And let the ordination be just and lawfull which is tryed by the judgmeÌ„t and voyce of all Athanasius And now as I said take one example namely of Athanasius the great The confession of whose faith is read in our Churches of England
at this day and holden for undoubtedly true in all the Churches of Christendome who lived in the most tumultuous time times of greatest contention that ever was in the Church even in the time of publike broyles and strife between the Arrians the Catholiques when the manner of election by the people must needs if ever be most dangerous unto the quietnes of the common wealth unto the estate of Kings and Princes Yet when Athanasius was chosen Bishop of Alexandria and the matter brought in questioÌ„ before the Emperour whether he was lawfully chosen which his enimyes denyed the Synod of Alexandria make rheir Apologie for his defence in these words Aiunt igitur post obituÌ„ Episcopi Alexandri cum paucissimi essent qui Athanasii mentionem facerent Synod Alexandr apol 2 sex vel septem Episcopos clanculum et in loco obscuro eum in presulem elegisse c. Nos autem contra cum tota civitate et universa provincia testamur omnem multitudinem populuÌ„que Catholicae Ecclesiae in vnum coactum quasi in speciem unius corporis et animae clamoribus vociferationibusque postulasse Athanasium Ecclesiae Episcopum dari They say that after the death of Bishop Alexander when there were very few which made any mention of Athanasius six or seaven Bishops privily and in an obscure place did choose him to be Bishop But we contrary wise with the whole Cittie and generally with all the Province doe testifie that the whole multitude and people of the Catholique Church beyng gathered to gether in one as it were in the forme of one body and soule with exclamations and out cryes requyred to haue Athanasius to be given unto them the Bishop of their Church If six or seaven of our Lordbishops with their traines of twentie thirtie or fortie horse apeece should meet together about an election with such of their frends as they could gather togeather in their assemblie trow you the thing might be sayd to be don obscurely and in a corner or may we thinke that those christian and most mightie Emperours had neither witte nor knowledg how to governe their coÌ„mon wealthes Or that Athansius the great and all the excellent Fathers of the Primitiue Church and Luther and Zninglius and all the lights of the Gospell set up by Gods wonderfull worke in this our age for the casting downe of Antichrist and the great whore of Babell upon all the golden Candlestickes in Germanie Helvetia Savoy France Scotland and the Lowcountryes and many other places understaÌ„d not what by the word of God ought to be done in the election of Bishops and Pastors and onely the Lord Bishops of England by their Lordly looks upon their learned bookes or by some secreat inspirations haue the contrary reveled unto them But if all the christian Emperours and all the auncient Fathers did thinke this manner of election might well stand with the godly goverment of the Common wealth and ought not to be altered and that both the election of Bishops Pastors and Ministers and excommunication also ought never to be don without consent of the people even wheÌ„ the Bishops were growne up to be litle petie Lords and the regiment of a Bishop was crept to the limits bouÌ„ds of a Dioces and over whole Cityes where by the reason of the exceeding greatnes of the multitude there must needs follow great sturres and troubles with what facility and easines might this order be brought in agayne if the Bishops were reduced unto the pristinat estate appoynted unto them by the word of God and by the holy scriptures namely to be the Bishop or Pastor of one congregation onely Upon which poynt I will set downe breifly the words of that excellenr light Francis Lambard joyned by God with Luther in Germanie touching the limits of a Bishops regiment F. Lambard together with the right of election of the Pastors and excommunicatioÌ„ of the offendors and of Zuinglius the first light set up by God among all the golden caÌ„dlesticks of Helvetia This noble and famous Francis Lambard in the preface of his booke intituled The sum of Christianitie translated into English and dedicated unto the most Noble Queene Anne mother to our late Soveraigne Queene Elizabeth In his Epistle to the Noble Prince of Lausanna he saith Nor you shall not marvaile that I sayd there be many Bishops of one Citie for verely every Citie hath so many Bishops as it hath true Evangelists or Preachers for every Preacher of the truth I say of the truth that doth not preach lyes decrees inventions dreames lawes and counsells of men but the most pure and simple word of God is a true Bishop although he be not called so of many the Church of God hath no other Bishops but these And a non after he saith For verely every Parish ought to haue his proper Bishop the which should be chosen of the people and confirmed by the Comminalty of the Church of every place and to doe this thing they haue no need of letters rings seales tokens and such other of this kind very much used cleane contrarie to the word of God And so long they should be accounted for Bishops as the preach most purely the Gospell of the kingdome of God From the which if they swarue one iote teach strang doctrine they ought to be deposed and put out of theÌ„ by whom they were elect and chosen that is to say of the comminalty of the Church a forenamed and other more fit for the purpose to be elect And in the fift chapter in the sayd booke of the Summe of Christianity he hath these words It is the most greevous crime by no meanes to be suffered that many childreÌ„ of perdition do depriue the people of God of their right iust title that is to choose them a Pastor And afterward he saith All Canon of the world caÌ„not lawfully choose one Bishop of the Church of Iâ—suâ— Christ And agayne he sayth Deacons of the Church be those that the faithfull choose for to gather and distribute to the poore the almes of the faithfull And a non after The Church of God hath no Ministers besides these Bishops and Deacons Zuinglius Artic 8 explanat Now to the words of Zuinglius he in a certaine place sayth thus A multis iam seculis ad nostra usque tempora quae sit Ecclesia certamen fuit ortum nimirum ex regnandi cupiditate Nam hoc sibi quidam arrogarunt ut se dicerent esse Ecclesiam c. There hath been contention what a Church is from these many ages untill our times which verily hath risen from the desire of bearing rule For some men haue arrogated this unto themselues to say that they are the Church that all thinges might be ordered by their hand But omitting the devises of men wheroÌ„ som in this cause doe rest we will write of the Church out of the holy scriptures and the minde of
the spirit A Church therfore I do finde is taken 2 wayes in the holy scriptures First for the cōpany of all those who in asure firme faith do beleiue in Christ their only head This is scattered through the universall world Who knows this church Only God But what shall we say of the Pope Cardinalls and Bishops which come togeather into a Counsell Are not they also the Church the Church militant I answer they are only members of this Church if so be it that they beleiue in Christ acknowledg him for their head If they beleiue not they belong not to the Church at all So farr of it is that they should be the church Synods But thou wilt say they are a Church Representatiue Of this I find nothing in holy scriptures out of mens devises any man may fayne any thing We rest on the holy scripture against which thou wilt not attempt any thing if thou be a christian Secondly a Church is taken for the severall congregations A visible Church which conveniently meet together in some one place for the hearing of the word and receaving of the Sacraments The Grecians call these Parikias Parishes Of this manner of a Church Christ speaketh Mat. 18. saying Tell the Church And so Paul useth the name of the Church 1. Cor. 1. To the Church which is at Corinth etc. And Furthermore afterward Quid audio Episcopus ne solus excommunicare potest Putabam Ecclesiae esse datū What doe I heare May a Bishop alone excommanicat I had thought that had been appoynted to the Church But perhaps they will say a Bishop onely is the Church Christ saith tell the Church doth a Bishop then or an Abbot signifie the Church Excommunication belongeth not to one man whatsoever person he be but to the Church For Christ sayd not we should refuse the company of a man when he had contemned an admonition or twayne therfore one onely man cannot excommunicat but then at the last when he hath despised the admonition of the Church therefore no man but that Church can excommunicat wherin he dwelleth which by his sinne hath offended vnto the Church the Pastor of the Church belongeth this right of pronouncing sentence of excommunication against the offender And further he saith Tradunt excommunicationem ab Episcopo latam Ecclesiae esse excommunicationem Art 31 Sed observandum supra ea quae octavo articulo diximus Ecclesiam in scripturis accipi aut pro omnibus christianis qui in istis terris visibiliter nunquam conveniunt soli Deo noti atque in hac ecclesia omnes sunt qui Deo patri per Christum fidunt et nituntur et haec est ecclesia quam in articulis fidei profitemur aut pro singulis quibusque ecclesiis quas paraecias vocant Conventiculum ergo et conspiratio personatorum istorum Episcoporum sub ecclesiae nomine comprehendi non potest nec id possunt ex scriptutris ostendere quod ipsi sint ecclesia etiam sirumpantur Ecclesia ergo nequaquam sunt Cui ergo ecclesiae offendens pcccator indicari debet Ad ecclesiam universalē Christus nimirum nos ire non mandat nam haec nusqua hic coit corporaliter They hold that the excommunication by the Bishop is the Churches excommunication But saith he those thinges are to be observed which before we haue spoken in the 8 article that the Church in the scriptures is eyther taken for all christians which upon the earth do never visibly meet together which are only knowne unto God and in this Church are all they which beleeue in God the Father and cleaue fast vnto him through Christ and this is the Church which we acknowledg in the articles of our faith or else it is taken for every perticular Church which they call parishes Therefore the conventicle and the cloked conspiration of these disguised Bishops cannot be comprehended under the name of the Church Synods neither can they proue it by the scriptures that they be the Church though they would burst therefore it is cleare that they be not the Church unto which the offending sinner ought to be shewed for it is manifest that Christ doth not command us to go tell the universal Church for this Church never meets together bodily And agayne he saith Quis enim omnes pios congregare posset restat ergo ut ecclesiae iubeat Christus indicandum peccatorem quam paraeciam vocamus For who can gather together all the faithfull therefore it can be taken non otherwise but that Christ commandeth the offender to be iudged by the Church which we call a parish Now let us goe forward to heare what the rest of the excellent lights and Angells or Messengers which God hath raysed in this our age set up upon the golden candlesticks among which Christ himselfe walketh in Germanie Helvetia Savoy France c. concernyng the pulling downe of the whore of Babell and the reformation in the poynts of religion a foresayd Wherin if there be any that thinke some speaches before or hereafter to be uttered be over bitter let them marke what M Luther sayth upon the Epistle of Peter a foresayd Now their be many sayth he that can well inough abide to haue the Gospell preached so that their might be no exclayming and speakyng against the Wolues I meane so that the Preachers in their Sermons would forbeare exclayming and taunting against Prelats But although I Preach sound doctrine and that which is true and though I feed and teach my charg the sheepe well and rightly yet is not that sufficient for it is further requyred at my hands to keep the sheep from danger and to haue a carefull regard unto them that Wolues come not among them to driue them away out of their fertile and wholesome pastures For to what purpose is my building if when I haue couched and orderly layd my stones an other straight wayes come and hurle them downe as fast agayne and I seeyng him forbid him not The Wolfe is well enough contented that the sheepe be well fed and fatted in good Pasture because the fatter they be the pleasanter and daintier pray he thinketh to make of them But that Doggs should incessantly barke and baule at him that he cannot abide Such barking doggs they cannot abide but dumb doggs they can beare well enough with all The next light set vp among the golden Candlesticks of Germanie to shew forth the darknes of Antichrist and the blindnes of the Romish Babilon was M. Bucer Bucer pag 2148 edit 1570. col who for his learned excellency was sent for by K. Edward the Sixt and appoynted to be the Divinitie Reader in Cambridg of whom M Fox in our booke of Martyrs saith He brought all men into such admiration of him that neither his frends could sufficiently prayse him neither his enimyes in any poynt find fault with his singuler life sincere doctrine How earnestly M
a holy Senat of Elders which dilligently warned theÌ„ that transgressed in the Church corrected them sharply yea and excluded them out of the Ecclesiassticall fellowship namely if they perccaved that there was no hope of a mendment to be looked for in them But in the latter times the Popes Bishops tyrannically taking that kind of punishment into their hands and excercising it sacrilegiously contrary to the first institution haue turned an wholsome medicine into an hurtfull poyson making it abominable both to the good and bad Behold what fruit this alteratioÌ„ of Gods order ordinaÌ„ce in the Church hath brought by taking away the Eldership from the Church or Congregation and committing it unto the Bishops who by their Lordly authority tyrannically saith M. Bullinger tooke it from the Church into their owne handes and that even in some places where the light of the Gospell is set upon the golden candlesticks thereof whereby they haue turned an wholsome medicine into an hurtfull poyson making it abominable both to the good and bad as in all Queene Elizabeths time we might see heere in England that by their Lordly power oftentimes for such a trifling matter as an honest Magistrat would haue been a shamed to laye a man by the heeles they were not a shamed to commit a christian to the Devill And shewing what the Elders were he sayth Wherefore the Elders in the Church of Christ are either Bishops or otherwise prudent learned men added to Bishops that they may the more easily beare the burden layd upon them Decad 5 sermon 3 and that the Church of God may the better and more conveniently be governed For Paule saith The Elders that rule well let them be counted worthy of double honor most specially they which labour in the word and doctrine 1 Tim â— There were therefore certaine other in the Ecclesiasticall function who albeit they did not teach by and by as did the Bishops yet were they present with them that taught in all businesses Perhaps they are called of the same Apostle elsewhere Govenours 1. Cor. 1 â—â— that is to say which are set in authority concernyng discipline and other affayres of the Church And in this poynt with Bullinger M. Peter Martyr most playnely agreeth He that ruleth well etc. Martyr in Rom. 1 2 This me thinketh saith M. Martyr is most fitlie to be understood of Elders not in very deed of them which had charge of the word and of doctrine But of those which were appoynted as assistants unto the Pastors they as being the discreter sorte indeed with a greater zeale godlines were chosen out from among the laitie Their office was cheifly to attend unto Discipline c. And touching the Lordship of Bishops where it is objected against theÌ„ that think Bishops should be no Lords that they would mainteine the Anabaptisticall opinion which deny Magistracie and the authoritie of Kings and Princes M. Bullinger confuteth the Anabaptists with the selfe same reason and scripture whereby he proveth that Bishops should be no Lords Decad 2 sermon 9 And unlesse that Christians saith Bullinger when they are once made Kings should continue in their office and governe kingdoms according to the rule and lawes of Christ how I beseech you should Christ be called King of Kings Lord of Lords Therfore when he said Kings of nations haue dominion over them but so shall not ye be He spake to his Apostles who stroue among themselues for the cheife and highest dignitie As if he should haue sayd Princes which haue dominion in the world are not by my doctrine displaced of their seates nor put besids their thrones for the Magistrats authority is of force still in the world and in the Church also The King or Magistrate shall reigne but so shall not yee ye shall not reigne ye shall not be Princes but teachers of the world and Ministers of the Churches Thus breifely saith he I haue answered to the Anabaptists obiections And againe upon the very same matter in like sort in the 5 Decade and 2 sermon citing the lik place of Peter Not as though ye were Lords over Gods heritage saith he Peter speaketh not of any Empire and Lordship yea by expresse words he forbids Lordly dignitie For even as he is appoynted of the Lord a Minister and an Elder not a Prince and a Pope so also he appoynted no Princes in the Church but Ministers and Elders who with the word of Christ should feed Christs flocke And upon that place of Luke the 22 The Kings of the Gentiles raigne over theÌ„ they that beare rule over theÌ„ are called gratious Lords c. Decad 3 sermon 3 This simple and playne truth saith M. Bullinger shall coÌ„tinue invincible against all the disputations of these Harpyes The most holy Apostles of our Lord Christ will not be Lords over any man under pretence of religion yea S. Peter in playne words forbiddeth Lordship over Gods heritage and commandeth Bishops to be examples to the flocke Marke how M. Bullinger applyeth this place of scripture and how bitterly he speaketh agaiÌ„st the Lordship of Bishops calling them Harpyes that is monstrous birds having maiden visages and talens of a mischevous and marveilous capacitie But before in the same sermon he sayth In the order of Bishops and Elders from the beginnyng there was singular humilitie charitie and concord no contention or strife for prerogatiue or titles or dignity For all acknowledg themselues to be the Ministers of one Master coequall in all thinges touching office or charge He made them unequall not in office but in gifts by the excellencie of gifts And therfore in the first Decad second sermon he saith Did not Christ himselfe refuse a crowne upon earth And did not he that is Lord of all minister Doth not he himselfe disallow that any Minister should seeke any prerogatiue no not in respect of Eldership He that is greatest among you saith he let him be as the youÌ„ger He therefore commandeth an equallitie amongst them all And therefore S. Ierom iudgeth rightly saying that by the custom of man and not by the authoritie of God some one of the Elders should be placed over the rest and called a Bishop wheras of old time an Elder or Minister Bishop were of equall honor power and dignitie And it is to be observed that S. Ierom speaketh not of the Romish Monarchie but of every Bishop placed in every Citie aboue the rest of the ministers And to answer the objection which is made in defence of the Lordbishops that they take not upon them civill offices and Lordly dignities but by their Princes Magistrats it is layd upon them and given them he saith Shall we beleiue that Peter would haue receaved secular power with imperiall goverment if the Emperour Nero had profered it him No in no wise for this word of the Lord tooke deepe roote in his inward bowels But it shall not be so
with you And touching the election of Bishops and Ministers this bright starre fixed in the right hand of Christ sayth Decad 5 sermon 4 Titus 1. 1 Tim. 5. They which think that all power of ordayning Ministers is in the Bishops Diocesans or Archbishops hands doe use these places of the scripture For this cause I left thee in Creta sayth Paule to Titus that thou shouldest ordaine Elders in every Citie And agayne Lay hands soddainly on no man But we say that the Apostles did not exercise tyranny in the Churches and that they themselues a lone did not execute all things about election or ordination other men in the Church beyng excluded For the Apostles of Christ ordeyned Bishops or Elders in the Church but not without communicating their Counsell with the Churches yea and not without having the consent and approbation of the people And a litle after he saith So undoubtedly Titus though it were sayd unto him Ordayne Elders in every Citie yet he understod that hereby nothing was permitted to him which he might doe privatly as he thought good not having the advise and consent of the Churches Wherefore they sinne not at all that shaking of the yoke and tyrannie of the Bishops of Rome for good and reasonable causes to recover that auncient right graunted by Christ to the Churches And as for Archdeacons he coupleth them with the filthy vermine of Monks Decad 5 sermon 3 saying And when wealth increased there were Archdeacons also created that is to say overseers of all the goods of the Church They as yet were not mingled with the order of Ministers or Bishops and of those that taught but they remayned as stewards or factors of the goods of the Church As neither the Monks at the begining executed the office of a Priest or Minister in the church For they were counted as lay men not as Clearks and were under the charge of the Pastors But these unfortunat birds never left soaring untill in these last times they haue climed into the top of the Temple Archdeacōs and haue set themselues upon Bishops and Pastors heads And touching the Leviticall apparell and the Lordly estate of Ministers he precisely cōcludeth thus The misticall attire and garments of the Priesthood he neyther did commend to his Apostles nor leaue to his Church Decad 3 sermon 18 but tooke them away with all the Ceremonyes that are called the middle wall betwixt the Iewes and the Gentiles The Lord himselfe and his Apostle Paul will haue the Pastors of his people clad with righteousnes and honestie and doe precisely remoue the Ministers of the Church from superioritie and secular affaires Now if the Lord himselfe and his Apostle do precisely remoue the Ministers of the Church from superioritie and secular affaires I wish it might also be remembred precisely followed which the Kings Majestie saith in his first booke to his Sonne our Noble Prince for saith our gratious King Basilic dorō 1 part In any thing that is expresly commanded or prohibited in the booke of God you cannot be over precise Decad 5 sermon 4 And for a full conclusion in this matter M. Bullinger saith That order or function instituted by Christ in the Church sufficeth even at this day to gather governe and preserue the Church on earth yea without these orders which in these last ages new inventions hath instituted For that doth the thing it selfe witnes and the absolute perfection of the Primitiue Church a voucheth it And therefore at the last he useth this exclamation Oh happie had we been Sermon 3. if this order of Pastors had not been changed but that auncient simplicitie of Ministers that faith humility and dilligence had remained uncorrupted But in processe of time all things of auncient soundnes humilitie and simplicitie vanished away whilest some things are turned upside downe some things either of their owne accord were out of use or else are taken away by deceit some things are added to c. The authors desire Whereunto I will ad the exclamation of myne owne soule saying Oh happy should we bee if it might please his gratious Majestie to restore unto his poore subjects of England the auncient orders of the Ecclesiasticall Ministers set downe by Christ and his Apostles without any other orders which mans invention hath instituted for that order and function sufficeth even at this day to gather governe and preserue the Churches of God upon earth without any of these orders and such like which mans invention hath brought in namly Archbishops Diocesan Lords Archdeacons Deanes Commissaries Officialls which are brought in by mans invention not once mentioned in the scripture And so I will proceed to M. Musculus set up also as an excellent light of God among the golden Candlesticks Musculus of Tigurie and the Swicers I haue already shewed out of Musculus that in playne wordes he sayth That the device of men pag 14.15 that Bishops should be greater then other Ministers was such a mischeife to the Church that we may thank the custome thereof for all the wealth pride and tirannie of our Princely and riding Bishops and for the corruptions of all Churches which if the aūcient Fathers did now see The Devils invention they would no doubt acknowledg it not to be the device of the holy Ghost as it was pretended But of the Devill himselfe to take away the true Ministery of the Church of God set downe by Christ and his Apostles Now further in his booke of Common places Tit. Of the Ministery of the word of God he saith It is not meete that a Bishop do convert the power of his Ministery to other Churches but to Minister faithfully in the same wherein he is elected and confirmed like as it was not convenient for the Apostle to convert his Apostleship to a Bishopricke and to be restrained to one Church onely As also it is unto Iames. The like is to be said of Titus Tim. Mark Evāgelists Chry. Tit. 1. which is falsly attributed unto the Apostle Peter Wherefore let the Bishops looke to themselues which wheras they doe not lawfully Minister in one Church yet they do extend their power not to a few Churches but unto whole Provinces also Let them read Chrysostome upon the Epistle to Titus the first chapter By Cities he sayth Indeed he would not haue a whol Iland committed unto one man but every man to haue his charge and care alone And a non after he saith Yea the impudencie and state of Bishops is become so great that a nomber of Bishoppricks be swallowed up in the gurmandise of som one Metropolitan Bishop such as there be many now a dayes And the Bishop of Rome even like the Devill paynted with his wide mouth devoureth up all the Bishopricks and Churches of the world And a litle before he saith They that boast themselues to be the successors of the Apostles ought not to extoll themselues
scripture there are no more degrees or orders of them that are appoynted to preach the word of God but Pastors Doctors Wherein these are his words Zanchius cōfes fid cap. 25. Art 9. Plures autem ministrorum verbi ordines a Christo in Ecclesia institutos non agnoscimus quam quos Apostolus in epistola ad Ephesios ex pressit c. We doe not acknowledg more orders of Ministers of the word instituted by Christ in his Church saith M. Zanchius then those which the Apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians hath expressed That is Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors Doctors of which the first three Christ would not haue to be appoynted to any certaine places but now heare now there either to collect or plant Churches which the Apostles did or to water nourish and confirme those Churches which the Apostles had so planted and gathered together which the Prophets and Evangelists did and therefore might not be perpetuall in the Church but the two latter Christ would haue to be consecrated unto Churches that were certaine to governe preserue them that is to say Pastors and Doctors and that to be observed unto the end of the world which therefore we use to call perpetuall and ordinarie Ministers Of which in the next Article he saith Art 11 The Doctors did only teach and the Pastor did not only teach but also Minister the Sacraments and governe the Church By these you may plainly see M. Zanchius judgment that Christ hath appoynted in the Church no mo orders of them that preach the word of God but only Pastors Doctors which should remaine as perpetuall ordinarily called in the Church of which the one did only teach and the other which is the Pastor both preach and Minister the Sacraments and governe the Church And although afterwards he would defend or as he himselfe termeth it excuse those Fathers others which brought in more orders into the Church yet in the same chapter he saith that all those thinges were turned to tyrannie and ambition and concludeth with these words Quae causa est cur quo propius acceditur in iis etiam ordinibus ministrorum ad simplicitatem Apostolicam eo magis etiam nobis probetur atque ut vbique accedatur dandum esse operā iudicemus Which is the cause saith he why we iudge the neerer men come to that simplicity of the Apostles even in those orders of Ministers in the Church the more it is to be allowed and approyed and that in every place men ought to endevor themselues to attaine unto it Is it most evident that Zanchius condemneth and not justifieth the Lordship of Bishops in our time And the titles Metropolitans Archbishops Diocesans and the rest which long since haue been brought in by custom not by any truth of the Lords appoyntment according to old Ieromes saying Which words and judgment of Ierom Zanchius in the 11. Article commendeth alloweth and acknowledgeth himselfe to be fully of the same opinion And in the 25 chapter and the eleventh Aphorisme he endeth thus Interim quēadmodum non improbavi patres in ea re de qua est questio Sic etiam non possum nostrorum Zelum non amare qui ideo illa nomina oderunt quia metuunt ne cum nominibuus vetus eti am ambitio et tyrannis cum ruina Ecclesiarum revocetur In the meane time saith Zanchius like as I haue not condēned the Fathers in this matter in which the question is of the names and titles of Archbishops Metropolitans and so forth so also I cannot but loue the zeale of our men which therfore hate these names least with them the old tyrannie and ambition with the destruction of the Churches should be brought in agayne Can he be called a favorite of them which loveth them the better that hate those names Or can he be acounted to alow of those fūctions which saith as you haue heard before that the simplicitie of the Apostles alowed not of them Which simplicitie he saith is best to be alowed and in every place men should endevour to attaine unto it Although the Fathers did it for honest causes saith he perteyning to that time in which age the discipline of the Church kept them under from the wealth pompe and pride wherein they afterward lived and now liue For the Ecclesiasticall persons were bound by their Discipline Cap. 25. Art 38 Huius partes hae erant praecipuae c Of which Discipline the principall parts were First that they should abstaine from many pleasures delights which otherwise in laye men might in some sort be tollerated such as are many fleshly delights braue pompe great cheare costly housholdstuffe a great company of temporall servants and such like But howsoever he handle the matter beside which 1 Having set downe the true and lawfull Ministerie of the Gospell Theses Genevenses 71 which the Sonne of God ordayned and by his spirit divided into severall functions it now remaineth that we adioyne the false Ministerie of the same to the end that contraries being laid one against another may be better manifest 2 In the true Ministery of the Gospell there are three things which distinguish the same from the false The one that the authoritie of their callings proceed from the Sonne of God as being ordained either immediatly by himselfe or mediatlie by his Apostles The other is that the calling be lawfull that is such a calling as is squared according to the prescript lawes of the doctrine and Discipline of the Apostles The third is the prescript administration of the holie callings Now all these we advouch to haue been by litle and litle utterly overthrowne by the Papisticall tyrannie which with the Apostles we may iustly call the mysterie of iniquitie 3 And first we affirme that the callings of the Popish Cleargy which they expresse by that proud title of Hierarchie are in part altogether false that is such as haue at the first been invented by man and afterwards became meerelie diuelish and in part counterfeite that is such as onely retained the names of true callings which they abolished indeed 4 These functions following we hold to be altogether false and destitute of all true foundation namely the Primacie of the Bishop of Rome over all Churches the Cardinalship Patriarkship Archiepiscopalship breifly that whole Episcopall degree of Lord Bishops over their fellow Elders I wish the reader well to marke the first three poynts not to forget the fourth set downe by speciall name that is that these functions or offices following are utterly false and haue no manner of true foundation that is to say the office of Popes Cardinals Patriarkes Archbishops and to be short the whole Bishoplike degree over the rest of the Elders or Ministers The like may be sayd of Lausannae and the Universitie therof and so in many other parts of Savoy But I will onely ad some few sayings of Calvin Viret Beza
Bishop Because so the order prescribed by Gods word in the ordination of such persons is omitted and violated as it may most plainly appeare Even because all the right and voyce giving both of the Ecclesiasticall Senat and of the christian people is most wretchedly taken away from them by this meanes in this kind of Ecclesiasticall callings and with great tyrannie and abuse translated to one certayne man the Bishop The Lord God of his great mercy amend these corruptions which are yet and are defended in his Churches which surely will at length draw 〈…〉 great ruine of Gods Church and will make the holy Ministery of Gods words either mercenary or altogether contemned and base Which God turne away D. 〈◊〉 Answer to the Count. Laval quest 3. After him we will ad D. Tilenus his iudgment unto the Earle of Lavall in France Who demanding whether the calling to the Ministery be necessary and from whom Calvin had his calling Tilenus answeren First that it is necessary And then that Calvin had his calling from the Church of Geneva and from Farell his predecessor who had also his from the people of Geneva who had right and authoritie to institute and depose Ministers For so declareth S. Cyprian saying that the people obeying to the commandements of God should seperat themselues from a wicked guid Câ—pr epist 〈…〉 and not to meddle with the sacrifices of any Sacrilegious Priest considering that the sayd people haue chiefe authoritie to make choyse of worthy persons and to reiect the vnworthy This was so practised by the people of Geneva and in divers other parts of Evrope where in these latter times they did forsake those sacrilegious Priests and sacrifices of the Pope for to establish faithfull Ministers and proclamers of the Gospell To be short the Reformed Churches had their calling and sending partly from God and partly from the people and partly froÌ„ the Church of Rome From God as the chiefe cause from the people as by lawfull instruments from the Church of Rome as by a corrupt instrument God gaue the essence and the forme interior to this sending the reformed Church gaue testimonies and approbations and the exterior forme the Church of Rome hath added thereto abuses and corruptions which our suceeeding Ministers haue renounced There resteth now for further proofe of these matters before spoken of to rehearse the judgment and words of divers of our owne English writers and blessed Martirs which agree with those Fathers and lights of the Gospell in other Countries before cited And first having sufficiently spoken alreadie of Wicklife that first light of the gospell set up with us in the middest of the Antichristian darknes L. Cobham Fox pa 669 edit 1570 I will begin with the noble Martir the Lord Cobham who in defence of the sayd Wickliffe saith As for that vertuous man Wickliffe whose iugdments ye so highly disdayne I shall say heere for my part both before God and man that before I knew that despised doctrin of his I never abstained from sinne But since I learned therein to feare my Lord God it hath otherwise I trust been with me somuch grace could I never find in all your instructions And what the doctrine of Wickliffe was and how like a Lordly Prelat he lived I referre the reader to that which hath been before spoken of him pag 57. But the Lord Cobham beyng charged with the decrees of holie Church answerd I know none holier then Christ and his Apostles And as for that determination I wote it is none of theirs for it standeth not with the scriptures but manifestly against theÌ„ If it be the Churches as you say it is It hath been hers onely since she receaved the great poyson of worldly possessions not afore And a non after agayne he saith For since the venime of Iudas was shed into the Church ye never followed Christ neither haue ye stand in the perfection of Gods law Then the Archbishop asked him what he meÌ„t by that venime The Lord Cobham said your possessions and Lordships For then cried an Angell in the aire as your owne chronicles mention woe woe woe this day is venime shed into the Church of God Heere you see plainely by this noble Martirs iudgment that the Lordship of Bishops and their possessions was the very curse of God vpon the Church and the very poyson that turned her froÌ„ And in his Practise of Popish Prelats Prelats appoynted to preach Christ Pract. of prelats pa 342 may not leaue Gods word and Minister temporall offices but ought to teach the lay people the right way and to let them alone with all temporall busines And aftherward he saith They that haue the oversight of Christs flocke may be no Emperours Kings Duks Lords Knights temporall Iudges or any temporall officer or under false names haue any such dominion And a none after he saith Mathew the 20. Christ called his Disciples unto him and said Ye know that the Lords of the heathen people haue dominion over them and they that be great doe exercise power over them howbeit it shall not be so among you But whosoever wil be great among you shall be your Minister and he that will be chiefe shall be your servant even as the Sonne of man came not that meÌ„ should Minister unto him but for to Minister giue his life for the redemption of many Wherefore the officers in Christs kingdom may haue no temporall dominion or iurisdiction nor execute any temporall authoritie or law of violence nor haue any like manner among them And in his booke of Obedience he saith Let Kings take their dutie of their subiects and that necessary unto the defence of the Realme Obed. of achr pa 124. let them rule the realmes themselues with the heelp of lay men that are sage wise learned and expert Is it not a shame aboue all shames and a monstrous thing that no man should be found able to governe in a worldly kingdom saue Bishops and Prelats that haue forsaken the world and are taked out of the world and appoynted to preach the kingdome of God Christ saith that his kingdom is not of this world Ioh. 18. Lvke 12. Vnto the young man that desired him to bid his brother to giue him part of the inheritance he answered who made me a judge a devider among you No man that layeth his hand to the plough and looketh backe is apt for the kingdom of heaven Luke 9. No man can serue two Masters but he must despise the one Mat 6. To Preach Gods word is to much for halfe a man And to Minister a temporall kingdome is to much for halfe a man also Either other requyreth an whole man One therefore cannot do both well And after in the same booke he saith An other sort of the Prelats are of the Kings secret Counsell 16 pag 152. Woe unto the Realmes where they are of the Counsell as profitable are
they verily unto the Realmes with their Counsell as the Wolues unto the sheepe or the Foxes unto the geese And therefore in another place of that booke he saith As thou Canst heale no disease except thou begin at the roote 16 pag 114 even so canst thou Preach against no mischeife except thou begin at the Bishops Which saying of M. Tindale agreeth well with that the Prophet Ieremie saith From the Prophets of Ierusalem is wickednes gon foorth into all the land Iere 23 25. From the false Prophets before Christ as from the fountaine wickednes went forth over all the land and so from the false Bishops of the new Testamēt as from the roote wickednes groweth over all the Churches And speaking of these false Bishops M. Tindall saith They say that Peter was cheife of the Apostles verily as Appelles was called cheife of the Painters for his exeellent conning aboue other Pract. of prelats pa. 343. even so Peter may be called cheife of the Apostles for his activitie and boldnes aboue the other but that Peter had any authority or rule over his brethren and fellow Apostles is false and contrary to the scripture Christ forbad it in the last even before his passion and divers times before and taught alwayes the contrary as I haue rehearsed But saith M. Tindall the Popes kingdome is of this world For there one sort are your Grace your Holines your Fatherhood another my Lordbishop my Lord Abbot my Lord Prior c And in his defence of the English translation against that famous Papist More speaking of the names of Bishops Elders and Priest he saith All that were called Elders or Priests if they so will were called Bishops also though they haue devided the names now which thing thou maist evidently see by the first chapter of Titus and Acts 20. other places moe And when he layeth Timothie unto my charge how he was young then he weneth that he hath won his guilden spurres But I will pray him to shew me where he readeth that Paul called him Presbyteros Preist or Elder I durst not then call him Episcopus properly as he doth For these Overseers which we now call Bishops after the Greeke word were alwayes byding in one place to governe the Congregation there And touching unpreaching Ministers thus he writeth In what case stand they then expo Mat. 5 that haue benefices preach not Verely though they stand at the Altar yet are they excommunicate cast out of the living Church of Allmightie God And againe he saith Bishops and Preists that preach not are none of Christs nor non of his anoynting Obedi of achr pag 135 expo Mat 5 but servants of the beast whose marke they beare And touching the Election of Ministers he sayth Every man then may be a common preacher thou wilt say and preach every where by his owne authoritie Nay verely No man may yet be a common Preacher saue he that is called and chosen therto by the common ordinance of the Congregation And for Pluralities thus he speaketh even to the King and his Lords Now I appeale to the consciences of the Kings grace Pract. of prelats pa. 374. and his Lords what answer they will giue when they come before Christ in the last iudgment for their robbing of so many parishes of Gods word with holding every man so many chaplines in their houses with Pluralities of Benefices Obed. of achristi man pag 122. Now furthermore let us heare what this excellent light of the Gospell saith of the Oath yet in our spirituall Courts called the Oath Ex officio his words are these Let them iudge and condemne the trespasser under lawfull witnesses and not breake up into the consciences of men after the example of Antichrists Disciples and compell them either to forswere themselues by the Allmightie God and by the holy Gospell of his mercifull promise or to testifie against themselues Which abomination our Prelats learned of Caiaphas Math. 26. saying to Christ I adjure or charge thee in the name of the lyving God that thou tell us whether thou be Christ the Sonne of God Let that which is secret to God onely whereof no proofe can be made nor lawfull witnes brought abide unto the comming of the Lord which shall open all secreats If any malice breake forth that let them iudge onely for further authoritie God hath not given them And agayne in the same booke he saith I warned the Iudges that they take not an ensample how to Minister their offices pag 178 of our spiritualty which are bought and sold to do the will of Satan but of the Scripture whence they haue their authoritie Let that which is secret abide secret till God open it which is the iudge of all secreats For it is more thē a cruell thing to breake up into a mans heart and to compell him to put either soule or body in ierperdie or to shame himselfe If Peter that great piller for feare af death by forswering forsooke his Master ought we not to spare weake consciences And heerein I cannot but presently joyne the wordes of our booke of Martyrs where M. Fox with M. Tindall soūdeth the trumpet of most vehement words against the abomination of this Oath Ex officio where he saith Fox pa 625. edit 1570 The like law and statute in the time of Dioclesian and Maximinus was attempted as before appeareth pag 117 And for the more strength was written also in Tables of brasse to the intent that the name of Christ should utterly be extincted forever And yet the name of Christ remaineth where that brasen law written in brasse although it differ in manner and forme from this statute Ex officio yet to the end and crueltie to spill the bloud of Saints there is no difference betweene the one and the other Neither is there any diversitie touching the first originall doer and worker of them both For the same Satan which then wrought his uttermost against Christ before he was bound up the same also now after his loosing out doth what he can though not after the same way yet in the same intent For then with outward violence as an open enimy he did what he could Now by amore covert way under the title of the Church he impugneth the Church of Christ ussing a more subtile way to deceaue under gay pretended titles but no lesse pernitious in the end whereto he shooteth as well appeareth by his bloudie statute Ex officio But to returne to M. Tindall one thing more I will set downe of his and so goe forward vn to other lights of the Gospell set up among the golden Candlestickes of England where he discourseth of the words Church and Congregation used in the translation of the new Testament saying An answ to Sir Thomas More Dial p 250 col 2 Wherefore in as much as the Clergie as the nature of those hard and indurat Adamantstones is
put on the Surplice and the rest of the Popish apparell as our booke of Martyrs sheweth D. Brooks Lord Bishop of Gloucester commeth to him with these words saying B Put of your cap M. Ridley put upon you this surplice Ridley ib pa. 1934 pag 1935 ed. 1570. Not I truely B But you must Rid I will not B You must therefore make no more a doe but put this surplice upon you Rid Truely if it come upon me it shall be against my will Br Will you not do it upon you Rid No that I will not Br It shall be put upon you by one or other Rid Doe therin as it shall please you I am well contented with that and more then that the servant is not aboue his Master If they delt so cruelly with our Saviour Christ as the scripture maketh mention and he suffered the same patiently how much more doth it become us his servants And in saying of these wordes they put upon the said D. Ridley the Surplice with all the trinkets appertayning to the Masse and as they were putting on the same D. Ridley did vehemently inveigh against the Romish Bishop all that foolish apparell calling him Antichrist that apparell foolish and abominable yea to fond for a vice in a playe Wherin these fiue things are to be observed in this peece of dialogue First that none of all the Popish attire is named but the Surples and that is named three times that it might not be forgottē Secondly that M. Ridley compares those Popish garments to the attire that in scorne and dispite Herod and the rest of the crucifiers put upon Christ Which thing as you heard before M. Iohn Husse speaketh of saying That when they put the white garment upon him he could not but remember how Herod put the white garment upon Christ to scorne him with all Thirdly that he compareth the very crueltie thereof with the cruell and shamefull dealing against Christ As likwise our booke of Martyrs saith of M. Hooper when he was driven by Ridley and the rest Acts Mo. pag. 667. edit 1570 to weare the popish apparell Thus saith our book of Martyrs He had upon his head a geometricall that is a foure squared cap able it that his head was round What cause of shame saith Master Fox the strangnes thereof was that day to that good preacher every man may easily iudge Fourthly that the same rod of Gods correction was now layd upon M. Ridley which he and the rest of the Bishops had laid upon their fellow Elder M. Hooper Fiftly how vehement the spirit of God stirred him up to detest the surplice and the rest of the Popish apparell calling the Pope Antichrist the surplice with the rest of the Popish apparell foolish and abominable and to fond for a vice in a playe Alas that ever the good learned preachers of the word of God should be compelled either to loose their Ministery or else to be attyred like vices and fooles in playes But let us go forward and heare what this noble witnes and Martyr of God saith in other poyntes of reformation now desired In his treatise wherein is conteyned a lamentation for the change of religion in England Acts Mo. pag 1946. edit 1570 he saith There are in the Papistrie an innumerable rablement of abominations Among which he setteth downe by name dispensations and immunities from all godly Discipline lawes and good order pluralityes and totquots and as he saith a thowsand moe O that dispensations of Nonresidencies pluralities vnions and totquots which M. Ridley nombreth among the rablemēt of Popish abominations were out of England and restored unto the Pope which he so often calleth Antichrist and to his spouse the Church of Rome which he calleth the very whore of Babilon And for the name of Priest in his disputation at Oxford he saith There are but two onely orders of Preisthood allowed in the word of God namely the order of Aaron and the order of Melchisedech but now the order of Aaron is come to an end by reason it was unprofitable and weake Hebr. 7. And of the order of Melchisedech there is but one Priest alone even Christ And generally of all matters of religion speaking of the Church of Rome before she plaied the harlot Acts Mo pag 1939. edit 1570. and maried her selfe to Antichrist he saith If ye will know how long that was and how many hundred of yeares to be curious in poynting the precise number of yeares I will not be to bold But thus I say so long and so many hundred yeares as that sea did truely teach and Preach that Gospell that religion exercised that power and ordered every thing by these lawes and rules which that sea receaved of the Apostles as Tertullian saith the Apostles of Christ and Christ of God So long I say that sea might haue been called Peter and Paules chaire and sea or rather Christs chaire and the Bishop therof Apostolicus or a true disciple and successor of the Apostles How happie were we all our Bishops if by this rule of M. Ridley they might be called Apostolici and true Disciples and Successors of the Apostles which cannot be till every thing be ordered by these lawes and rules which they receaue from the Apostles the Apostles of Christ and Christ of God Cranmer Now although I haue alreadie spoken of Cranmer yet heere agayne I cannot but compare him to Solomon with his many hundred wiues who at the last drew him to Idolatry and all abominations So Cranmer being married to many hundred Churches was at the last driven to subscribe to all abominations of Popery For well may we compare the many hundred wives and concubines of Solomon unto the multitude of Churches subject unto an Archbishop pag 929. ed. 1570. And rightly no doubt it is spoken by one of the blessed Martyrs in our booke of Actes Monumēts that it is as lawfull for a lay man to haue two wiues at once as for a preiq to haue two benefices And Cranmer being the elect child of God with Solomon at the last detested the foulnes of his owne fall First he fired his owne hand for subscribing to all the abominatiōs of Antichrist and so entred through the fire of torments into euerlasting ioye with Christ Iewell The like may be sayd of Iewel Bishop of Salisburie who although he did beare much with the injquitie of the to follow but children and infants And in another place he saith They use them as the marchants use his counters somtime they stand for an hundred pounds somtime for a penie This is the objection which unto this day is commonly made against the reformation which many good men desire to be made according to the original of the primitiue Churches which objection you see heere with what derision M. Iuell rejecteth it as though therby they counted Christ and his Apostles as children and