see D. Bancrofts suruey pag. 219. verbum Deiprouoco But to resume my former heads Since then this reuealing spirit is not afraid to expunge out of the sacred Canon of Scripture such bookes as Apocriphall wherin it owne Religion is euidently impugned since it alloweth only such expositions of confessed Scripture as best sort to the supporting of it owne errours since it betrampleth all authorityes of Councells and Fathers who expound Gods word differently from it Since it hath beene the custome of all Heretikes to withdraw themselues to the weake retyre of only Scripture and their owne spirit interpreting the Scripture thus making a circular motion where from point to point there is a true progression but from the first point no progression at all since this Spirit engēdreth contrarieties in doctrine in the enioyers of it through ech mans misconstruction of Scripture Since the Scripture it selfe is of that abstruse sublimity as that Man without Gods directing grace cannot lay any true leuell thereto To conclude since the exorbitancy pride and petulancy of this Spirit is such as it expecteth in the end that all men should receaue from it as from a second Moyses the tables of our Euangelicall Law Non * Tert. de Orat. agnosei poterit à Spiritu sancto spiritus inquinatus What then remaineth but that my selfe carefull of my saluation should for euer after become iealous of the truth of that Religion which I find to be seated vpon those groundes and only those grounds which euery heresy promiscuously challengeth to it selfe And that relying on Gods holy visible Church vpon which he hath (p) Matt. 18. ◠Tim. 3. entayled his spirit of Truth I may interpose her infallible authority as an Isthmos or firmeland to stop the entercourse of the two mayne Oceans I meane the Scriptures abysmall profoundity and this Priuate spirits floating and boundles vncertainty But inough of this subiect of which as potentially inuoluing all other Controuersyes within it selfe I haue drawne I confesse for my fuller satisfaction certaine notes in some few scattered Papers THE II. MOTIVE That the Prophesyes of Scripture confirme the Catholike Religion and refute Protestancy PROPHESYES are diuine and infallible Predictions of thinges future future in respect of vs who measure all actions with the yard of Tyme but present in the eyes of God with whome there is neither tyme past nor tyme to come both being confounded in the depth of his owne Eternity Infallible as proceeding only from him who by his power disposeth all thinges as shall best please him by his Prescience forseeth distinctly all things so disposed as things present in the cleare glasse of his own essence And by his Will vouchsafeth that men shall warrant the certainty of his foreknowledge Prescientia Dei (a) Tert. l. 2 contr Marcion tot habet testes quot fecit Prophetas Now of the Prophesyes recorded in the old Testament I will take into my consideratiō only two The inditers of which according to the iudgment of (b) In Psal 3◠conc 2. S. Augustine as foreseeing Controuersyes and doubts in fayth to come spake more clearely of the Church then of Christ himselfe The first shall concerne the propagation of the Church of Christ and the conuerting of Kinges heathen and kingdomes to it faith touching which I will insist in those places of Scripture whose true sense and interpretation is acknowledged for such both by the Catholikes and by our Protestants Priuate spirit the alleadging of which texts is the more forcible since the confessed sense of Scripture is the soule as it were which informeth the body of the Letter Of this first point the Prophet I say thus speaketh The (c) 60. Iles shall waite for thee meaning the Church their Kinges shall minister vnto thee and thy gates shal be continually open neither day nor night shall they be shut that men may bring to thee the riches of the Gentils c. And againe speaking of and to the Church he further thus sayth Thou (d) Ibid. shalt sucke the milke of the Gentils and the breasts of Kinges Kings shal be thy noursing Fathers and Queenes thy Mothers And further Enlarge (e) 54. the place of thy tents spread out the curtaines of thy habitation for thou shalt increase on the right hand and on the left thy seed shall possesse the Gentils and inhabite the desolate Cittyes To the truth of which conuersions of Heathen Kinges and Countreyes to the fayth of Christ the Kingly Prophet speaking in the person of God to the Church thus accordeth I (f) Psalm 2. will giue thee the Heathens for thy inheritance and the ends of the earth for thy pessession That these places besides diuers others are vnderstood of the enlargment of Christs Church and the conuersions of Kingdomes and Nations vnto it is warranted by the marginall annotations of our own English (g) Frinted in the yeare 1576. Bibles no lesse agreeable to the particuler iudgments of (h) Vpon Ieremy Oecolampadius that learned Protestant D. Whitguift (i) In his defence p. 466. late Archbishop of Canterbury D. (k) In his answere M. VVilliam Reynolds Whitaker and all other graue Writers The next point which heere presenteth it selfe to be wayghed is to consider whether the foresayd predictions of the dilatation of the fayth of Christ and conuerting to it Kinges and kingdomes haue beene accomplished in the Protestants Church or in the Catholike and Roman Church for the clearing of which point we will begin with the tymes from Luthers first change of Religion and so ascend by degrees to the age of the Apostles in the discouery whereof we are to recurre to Ecclesiasticall Writers And thus the ground of beliefe touching this point is heere remoued from Scripture to man yet man is heere belieued to wit in relating whether the true or false fayth was then taught and brought in by reason of the Scripture And first that these Conuersions propagation of the Church any tyme for the space of these last thousand yeares euen vp to the dayes of Boniface the third and Gregory Bishops of Rome were not performed in the Protestant Church is ouer euident from all Ecclesiasticall historyes and records and from the voluntary confessions of learned Protestants so as to find the cōtrary in any approued Authors we may wel make the subiect of our desire but not of our expectation And first for Historyes we Protestants cannot produce any one authenticall history or narration notwithstāding some late effectles attempts of our own Nation in that nature being still in labour of that which I feare will neuer be borne intimating so much And which is more the Protestant Ecclesiasticall Writers do euen particulerly set downe and relate the conuersion of many Countryes made by catholiks euen to their own mayn preiudice heerin But the better to enleuen our discourse with examples where I will omit the subiecting of many vast Countryes to
continued in the world but by the Ministery of the Pastours and Doctours In like sort touching the continuall administration of the Sacraments the same is more particulerly euicted from the cleare wordes of our Sauiour and S. Paul seeing by the help of them we shal show (*) 1. Cor. 11. the Lords death vntill be come A point so euident that it lyeth out of the way of all Contradiction and therefore we Protestants in plaine wordes mantaine That the absence (f) Doctor VViles in his Synopsis pag. 1. of the Sacraments doth make a nullity of the Church And againe in D. Whâ—takers (g) Centra Duâ—aâ—â—m l. 3. p. 249. phrase That the administration of the word and Sacraments being present doth constitute a Church being absent doth subuert it and againe as the same Doctour (h) Vbi supra pag. 260. styleth them that they are Ecclesiae essentiales proprietates Thus do we and Catholikes ioyntly teach that not at sometymes only the Church of Christ being his intemerate immaculat spouse is to enioy Pastours Doctours and the vse of the word and Sacraments at other tymes to be wholy destitute of them ague-like hauing thus accesses and remittings but that at all tymes in all ages in al seasons the Church without any interruption is to continue in it full Orbe by euer enioying the foresayd meanes of mans saluation Now this being the true and confessed sense of all sides of the former Prophesyes We are to examine if in the Protestant Church the administration of the word and Sacraments haue for any ages or yeares beene interrupted since such an interruption being once proued it then ineuitably followeth that the Protestant Church is not that true Church of Christ which is delineated and descrybed in the former wordes by the Apostle To euict this our Aduersaryes the Catholikes do instance in the last hundred years before Luther vrging that if any such administration of the Word Sacraments had been in that age some one history or other would haue mentioned the Pastours and Doctors of those dayes But all historyes and relations of that age say they are most silent therein What answere can we giue heereto To produce any one Historiographer of that age but intimating so much we are not able Shall we then say as some of vs haue not beene ashamed to suggest that the Pope did determinately cause all such narrations both of former tymes and of that age aboue instanced concerning Protestancy to be suppressed thereby to bury in obliuion all memory of Protestant Religion It is a phantasy it is a dreame The personall faults and vices of some Popes are (i) So was Gregory the seaâ—eÌ„th wrote against by Bâ—nno Benedictus 3. by the Councell of Constance Eugâ—nius 4. by the Councel of Basil and sâ—m others recorded in Historyes yet to be read Is it then probable that the Popes were so solicitous to extinguish all remembrance of the Protestant Payth and yet content to suffer the lesse warrantable liues of themselues and their Predecessours to be recorded for all posterity Againe in the Canons of the CouÌ„cells of euery age there is frequent mention made of particuler heresyes which then embroyled the Church condemned by the sayd Councells Can we then thinke it possible to speake morally not metaphisically that the Pope and the Councells should be so distracted in iudgment as carefully to register all other impugned Heresyes and on the other side as carefully to suppresse all arysing opinions of Protestancy It is improbable it is absurd Lastly besides that the particuler subiect of all Ecclesiasticall historyes in the relation of new doctrins recorded in the sayd historyes are not the writinges of Husse Wykcliffe and others wherin they first disgorged forth some few pointes of Protestancy yet extant euen to these dayes So transparent in a cleare eye the former answere is Or shall we secondly labour to euade our Aduersaryes pressing vs by clayming Waldo VVikcliffe Husse and such others for pastours of the Protestants Church in their tymes Durum telum necessitas our challenging of them ryseth from our extreme want and penury It is most cleare that the foresayd men were no true Protestants since not only they euer retained most of the points of Catholike religion comparting with vs Protestants only in three or foure articles but also they broached diuers errours vniustify able in our owne and our Aduersaryes iudgments with which their owne writinges do still vpbraid them So much haue some of vs (k) Pox Act. Mon. pag. 618. p. 85. diuers other ProtestaÌ„ts wronged the reputed honour of our owne Church by pretending those former Heterogeneous and mongrill Sectaryes to be true meÌ„bers therof Againe suppose them to be entyre ProtestaÌ„ts it but iustifyeth the being of ProtestaÌ„t Doctors Pastours only for their own tymes we not being able to instaÌ„ce the like for diuers ages before them But sooner shall the seas ebbing and flowing forsake the moones course then the true Church of Christ be depriued but for one age yeare or day of her Pastours and an answerable administration of the Word and Sacraments Or shall we say that in the age aboue instanced as also in many other ages before there were Pastours and Doctours of the Protestant Church notwithstanding by reason of the tyranny of the Pope they were latent and vnknowne How inexplicable or rather contraditory is this Did those Pastours conceale their owne fayth through seare of persecution the strongest pulse which beateth in weakest mindes ioyning in outward show with the supposed Idolatry of the Church of Rome Then were they dissemblers forsakers of their owne Religion and no good members of the Church Ore (*) Rom. 10. fit confessiâ— ad salutem Did they openly professe notwithstanding the imaginary rage of their enemyes their fayth and exercise the Word the SacrameÌ„ts Then by so doing they were made most eminent for what Church is better known theÌ„ that Church which liueth vnder the hatches of persecution resembling the Sunne which is best subiect to the eye in it lowest descent Or what man can for his religion be persecuted which is not knowne Eye-witnesses heereof are those Countryes wherein the Catholike religion at this day suffereth pressures tribulations But to draw towards an end the doctrine of the Churches inuisibility mantayned by many of vs Protestants is a Supersedeas to all our former answeres since it irrefragably euicteth the want of Pastours and Doctours and consequently an interruption of the Word and Sacraments except we wil misapply to the Pastours and Doctours those words of Tacitus Eo ipso praefulgebant quod non visebantur For if the Protestant fayth for many ages was absolutly extinct and no such religion was then mantayned in any Countrey then followeth it that there were neither men in the world to preach the Word and minister the Sacraments according to that religion nor any to heare it preached or receaue theÌ„
and writinges rarell out the tyme working with such improbity of libour and toyle theâ—pyders webb which is so easily swept away Laborâ—ose nihil agunt to say with Seneca The Pope and the Church thus far proceed They declare only what bookes be Scripture or not Scripture among many Apochriphal writings and which construction of true Scripture among many suggested senses thereof is the intended meaning of the Holy Ghost Thus they neither make nor vnmake Scripture nor impose any sense vpon it which afore it had not but only declare which afore it had And thus by this meanes they assume no more to themselues then any priuate Protestant practiseth by the help of his reuealing spirit But what Must it needes be inferred that the Pope and the Church for such their proceeding seeke to be aboue the Scripture Then may it be alike concluded that the Iudge is aboue the Law since he expresseth what is Law and which is the true meaning of the Law-giuer therein All that hence may be truely deduced is this viz. That the Pope and the Church is not aboue Scripture which with all reuerence they affect but aboue the Iudgments of priuate men expounding the Scripture But heere to make an end of the Catholiks mistaken doctrines I cannot but call to mind how I was seueral tyms accustomed to charge the Priests and others of their Religion appearing before me with the defence of the former absurdityes though I confesse I did then well know what their learned men did hold therein And I do assure the Reader that the Priestes being expostulated heereof did seeme halfe amazed at these my strange demandes Yea one of the Priestes a bold and resolute man thus answered me My Lord if you demand of me and others in earnest whether these senseles positions be our do Irines it seemes you know not what the Catholik Church teacheth heerein and then it is strang his Maiesty should place you in seate of iudgment against vs to punish vs for that ReligioÌ„ your selfe not knowing the doctrine which the sayd religion teacheth An answere blunt and without respect yet not much to be disliked since it is a wronge to truth to be outfaced and depressed with calumnyes Towards the Auncient Fathers we haue seuerall peculiar deportments first we stryue to breake through their authorityes with sleighty euasions this fayling next to breake downe their authorityes by open disclayminges Thus in the former manner we proceed diuers wayes First when any place of a Father is obiected against vs we endeauour so loath we are to make an absolut departure from them if possibly it could be auoyded to interprete the Fathers words in some other sense then they are vrged by our Aduersaryes or intended by the Fathers Thus where (r) Lib. 4. de Trinit cap. 〈◊〉 4. Augustin (s) Lib. 6. desacerd Chrysostome (t) In psal 38. Ambrose (u) Lib. 6. contra Parmenianum others do teach that the Sacrament of the Excharist contayneth in it selfe a true and proper sacrifice Our Brethren in answere heereto say these Fathers meaning only to be that the prayer powred out by the faythfull at the tyme of the Communion are Spirituall Sacrifices But this is but a shadow of an answeare since the Fathers affirme literally that the body and bloud of Christ without the least intimation of any prayers being offered vp in the celebration of the Eucharist is a proper and true sacrifice Quid gratiùs offervi saith (x) V bi supra Augustine aut suscipi possit quà m carâ— sacrificij nostri corpus effectum sacerdotis nostri Next if the place of the obiected Father be so perspicuous as that it will receaue no other tincture of Interpretation then what the naturall colour of the sentence will properly beare we then labour to oppose another Father against him in the said poynt or if possibly we can the said Father aginst himselfe by vrgiâ—g some seeming contrary sentence our of him all this to disualew in the Readers eye the authority of the said Father Thus where Basill is produced in defence of TraditioÌ„s D. (y) Lib. de sacra scriptura p. 670 Whitaker answereth thereto pretending some other contrary place out of Basill saying Basilius secumpugnat After the same manner D. Whitaker (z) V bi supra pag. 6.6 auoydeth S. Augustins authority touching Traditions saying Although Augustine in this place may seeme to fauour Traditions yet in other places he defendeth earnestly the â—erfection of the Scriptures An vnworthy aspersion vpon the Fathers as if they were of that wauering irresolution in their fayth as to mantayne meere contrary doctrynes at one and the same tyme. Another sleight vsed by vs is that if the Father vrged in defence of any Catholyke poynt can be deprehended to haue maintayned any one acknoledged errour then we vsually reiect the said Fathers authority in all poynts of Catholyke Religion This chiefly taketh place in the produced testimonyes of Cyprian Tertullian and Origen euery one of them mantayning their peculiar errour This euasion is most weake except we could proue that these Fathers are condemned by the ioynt consent of other Fathers for their houlding of Catholyke doctrynes which is impossible to proue as well as they were written against by other Fathers touching their acknowledged Errours Another of our Sleights or Subtiltyes toucheth Mission and Vocation of Ministers which the Scripture teacheth to be visible according to those words of the Apostle No (a) Hebr â— 5. man taketh to him the honour of Pryesthood but he that is called of God as Aaron was which calling in the Apostles tymes was only by Imposition (b) 2. Timâ— 1. of Bishops hands Now then when we are charged by our Aduersaries in the first planting of Protestancy to want this lawfull Vocation and Mission since no man did either send vs nor from any did we receaue this Imposition of hands we to extricate and free our selues out of this Labyrinth haue excogitated out of the delicacy of our wit or rather extreme Necessity a new kynd of calling honouring it with the title of an Extraordinary and immediate calling from God Without any authority of man therein And so our first broachers of Protestancy do challeng this to themselues besydes that our doctrine of the Inuisibility of the Church potentially implyeth the same Answerably heerto Caluin thus saith Quia (c) So alleadged to say by Lasciuius a protestaÌ„t in his book de Russarâ—â—Ì„ c. religiâ—nâ— p. 2â— Papa tyrannide c. Because through the tyranny of the Pope the true order of ordination was interrupted therefore in these dayes we haue neede of a new helpe and this guyft is altogeather extraordinary Likewyse D. Fulke (d) Againest Stapleton Martiall p. 2. The Protestants that first preached these last dayes had likewyse extraordinary calling A sleight inuented to free our selues from the authority of the visible Church of God examining this our
to the word of God And again In the Communion-booke there be things of which there is nâ— reasonable sense there is contradiction in it euen in necessary and essentiall points of Religion the holy Scripture is disgraced in it c Others of them (k) In the Suruey p. 20. 24. say thus The Communion booke of England is not agreable to the word of God in many thinges A third (l) Certain confiderations printed anno 1605. fol. 10.11.12 thus censureth of it The Protestants Communion-booke and seruice iâ— naught it hath grosse and palpable repugnancy in it This dislike of the Puritans of the Communion-booke is so euident that D. Couell (m) In his exam pag. 179. their aduersary and allowing the Communion book thus setteth down their iudgement heerein The Communion-booke is boldly despised grosse errâ—urs and manifeâ—t impietyes meaning in their opinion are in the Communion-booke Thus much of the Communion-booke Touching our English translations of the Scripture we find the Puritans most violent headlong in condemning of them Answerably heerto diuers of (n) In the abridgmeÌ„t of a booke deliuered by certaine Ministers to the King pag 11. and 12. the Ministers with one consent thus write of the english Translation A translation that taketh away from the Text that addeth to the text and this somtymes to the changing or obscuring of the meaning of the Holy Ghost And againe A translation which is absurd and senseles peruerting in many places the meaning of the holy Ghost M. Burges (o) In his Apology sect 6. speakes in this sort of the English Translation How shall I approue vnder my hand a Translation which hath many omissions many additions which sometimes obscureth sometymes peruerteth the sense being sometymes senseles sometyms contrary M. (p) In his aduertisment to the Bishops Broughton the great Hebrician thus sayth The publike translation of the Scripture in English is such as it peruerteth the Text of the old Testament in eight hundred fourty and eight places and it causeth millions of millions to reiect the new Testament and to runne into eternall flames Thus he D. (q) In his answere to M. VVillam Reynolds pag. â—25 Whitaker though fauouring the English Translation of the Bible as much as possibly he may thus confesseth I haue not sayd otherwise but that somethings in the English translation might be amended To conclude this point we find that at the Conference at Hampton Court before the Kinges Maiesty D. Reynolds the foreman for the Puritans openly refused to subscribe to the Communion-book because sayd he it warranted a corrupt false translation of the Bible Thus far of this second point Now in the last place let vs take a short view how we that are moderate and Parlamentary Protestants doe censure of the Puritans M. (r) Powell in his considerations Powell censureth the Puritans to be notorious and minifest Schismatiks out off from the Church of God M. (s) In his enist dedic pag. 3. Parks auerreth thus The Puritans seeke to vndermine the fouÌ„dation of fayth And further he thus sayth The Creed it (t) Vbi supra selfe which alwayes hath beene the badge and cognizance whereby to discerne and know the faythfull from vnbelieuers c. is the maine point in question betweene vs and the Puritans D. Couell (u) Exam pag 71. speaking of certain hot and fyrebrand Ministers thus wryteth The first english Ministers so far dissented that some bookes and the greatest part of Christendome was filled with irreuerent vnholy and vnnaturall Contentions c. I will close this poynt with the testimony of a great (x) In the Suruey of the pretended discipime c. 5. c. 24. cap. 3â— Pillar of our church who thus chargeth the Puritans They peruert the true meaning of certaine places both of Scriptures and Fathers to serue their owne turnes And againe the said Authour saith of them The word of God is troubled with such choppers changers of it finally to leaue out diuers other such passages he further thus complayneth The Caterbrawls pittisull distractions and Confusions among the Puritans proceed of such intollerab e presumption as is vsed by peruerting and false interpretation of holy Scripture And thus far for some tast not setting downe thereof the hundred part of our recriminations vsed against the Puritans But before I come to the Catastrophe and end of this Scene I am to put the Reader in mynd that as auoyding prolixity vnwilling to launce deeper into our owne wounds I passe ouer first How the very names of Lutherans Caluinists Protestants and Puritans are not inuented by the Papists or out of malice by ech others Aduersaryes but euen of Necessity to distinguish the different doctrine of euery Professour as D. Whitakew (y) In his answere to to M. Reynalds prafat p. 44. and x Conradus Schlusselburge do acknowledge (z) In his catalog hâ—retic p. 866. Secondly I passe ouer the infinite bookes written by forraine Protestants one against another amounting to the number of foure hundred and aboue as is euident to any one who will peruse Iudocus Coccius his Thesaurus tom 2. Hospinan his historia Sacramentaria part altera and the yearly Catalogues of Bookes returned from Franekford Thirdly I pretermit to show how the Contentions of forraine Protestants only for matter of Religion haue beene so violent as that they haue prohibited (a) Vide Hospinan in historta Sacram. part altera fol. 393. sale of each others Bookes haue appointed (b) Hosp vbi supra Articles of Visitation concerning the apprehending of ech ones Aduersaryes and which is more not forbearing to (c) Hosp vbi supra fol. 395. Ofiander epitom cent 16. p. 7â—5 enter into open armes and hostility Lastly I passe ouer to mention the Books made by English Protestants one against another touching these questions following 1. Of Christs descending into Hell 2 Of Bishops and Ceremonyes 3. Concerning the sufficiency of our Redemption by our Sauiours bodily death vpoÌ„ the Crosse or whether that his further suffering in Soule the paynes of Hell was also needfull 4. Concerning Vniuersality of Grace 5 Concerning the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of Vsury 6. Touching the Innocent partyes marying againe in case of diuorce vpon Adultery besydes some others the number of all which will amount to seuerall scores All this I say I passe ouer but I cannot passe ouer but obserue and therat smyle the subtle deportments of vs Protestants in this matter of our Dissentions Since when we wryte one against another we with great intemperance of words do deepely charge our Aduersaryes other Protestants with obscuring the Gospell of Christ and laboring to maintayne their owne darknes of Ignorance eue in the fundamentall poynts of Christian fayth as is showed But when we Protestants are vpbrayded by our Aduersaryes the Catholyks for such our diuisions in matters of fayth then the Case is altered and we beare it out