Protestants to present thē selues to our Catholique Churches which he according to their blasphemous spirit calleth idolatrous His wordes are these I beleue and confesse that it is not lawful for any Christian to be assistant nether in spirit nor body at the Sacrifices of idolatours nor also to enter into their Temples whilst they are doeing their idolatries and Sacrifices excepte it be to rebuke them in shewinge them their abuses and to teach them the truth as the holy Apostles and Prophets haue done and not for to dissemble as hipocrites For if the body be a creature of God as it is as the soule is the temple of the holy Ghost and member of the mistical bodye of Christ and if it must one day rise agayne and possesse the eternal lyfe with the soule It must also necessarily be that it be altogether geuen vnto the seruice of God in this world with the soule and spirite otherwise they can not be ioyned together after the general resurrection but being seperated the one should be in heauen with God whom he loued and the other in hel with the deuil whom he serued the which is an impossible thinge Therefore I say al those dissimulations to be a verye renouncinge of Christ and of his Ghospel And in lyke manner I beleeue and confesse that all those fayned and false shewes by which the veritye of the Ghospel is hidden and the word of God despysed or by which the ignorant and infidel is confirmed in his errour or by which the weake is offended are not of God but of Sathan altogether contrarye vnto the truth of the worde Therefore we must not halt of both sides but goe vpryghtlye before that greate God which seethe behouldeth and knoweth all thinges euen before they are begonne Loehéere We sée the sentence of their Doctours to the contrarye whoe presse vs so much to goe to their Churches agaynst our consciences If errour finde such zeale what zeale ought truthe to haue If these fellowes eche of them for the defence of their pryuate fond fancies be contente most willyngelye to aduenture anye daunger or extremitye what so euer rather then to come to the true Catholicke Church wherein they were borne and to the which in Baptisme they swore obedience why should such blame be layde vpon vs for standing in defence of our consciences and for refusinge to goe to their churches wherein we were nether borne nor bred vp nor euer persuaded that they had any truth or holines in them This reason only may suffice any resonable man especiallye the Protestant except he wil mislike with his owne doctrine which condemneth me of hipocrisie dissimulation and renouncinge of Christ and his Gospel If I present but my only bodye to the churches of them whos religion I am not persuaded to be trew The which sayinge of his in a sence hath good reason albeit the wordes and meaning be wicked For if there be no man ether so foolish or impious in the world but must néeds thincke that one onelye religion amongst Christians is trew and al other false And if euerye man which hath anye religion and is resolued therein must néedes presuppose this only truth to be in his own religion then it followeth necessarily that he must likewyse persuade him selfe that all other religions besides his owne are false and erroneous and consequently al assemblies conuenticles and publike actes of the same to be wicked damnable dishonorable to God contumelious to Christ and therfore to his cōscience which thinketh so detestable Now then suppose the case thus I know in England certayne places where at certayne tymes and dayes assemblies are made by certaine men in shewe to honour and commend but in my conceate to dishonour dispraise and impugne the maiesty of my most dread soueraigne Ladye the Quéene And I am inuited thither to heare the same by my parentes kinsmen and acquaintance nay I am enforced thither by the greatest autoritie that vnder her maiestye may cōmaunde me Tel me nowe If I should goe thyther vnder anye pretence whatsoeuer of gratefiinge my frendes or by commandement of any her inferior powers can her Maiestie take it well or accounte of me better then of a trayterous catyue for yelding my selfe to stay there to heare them to countenance their doinges with my presence to hould my peace when they speake euill of her to hould my handes whiles they slaunder her and finallye to saye nothing whiles they induce other men to forsake her and her cause And if her Maiestie or anye other Prince in the Worlde could not beare at their subiectes handes any suche dissimulation trecherye or treason how much lesse shall the omnipotent Maiestye of God who requireth and deserueth muche more exact seruice at our handes beare this dissimulation and trayterous dealing of ours if we be content for temporall respectes and for satisfaction of anye mortall power lesse then him selfe to present our selues to such places and assemblies where we shal heare his Maiestie dishonoured his Sonne slādered his holy Woorde falsified his Church impugned his Sayntes and Martirs discredited his Byshopes and Pastours reuyled and all the whole Ecclesiastical Ierarchye rent broken disseuered and turned vpsydowne and his people purchased with his Blood and dearer vnto him then his own lyfe excited and sturred vp against him his ministers and by swéet woordes and gaye benedictiōs slocked away to the slaughter house of heresie What Noble man is there in the world which could take it wel if he should sée his frende and much-more his Sonne in the companie of his professed enemye at such tyme principallye as he knoweth that his enemye abuseth him in spéeche and séeketh most his discredit and dyshonour but especiallye if hee should see hym come in open assemblye of the worlde to the barre against him in companye with his aduersarie when his sayd aduersarie cōmeth of set purpose to deface him as heretiques doe to their churches and pulpets to dishonour God I think I saye he could hardly beare it And shal such disdayne be taken by a mortal man for a litle iniurie and discurtesie shewed and shal not the iustice of God be reuenged vppon our trechery and dissimulation in his cause If I geue my seruant but fortie shillinges a yeare yet I thinke him bound to defend me in al poynts and causes to be frind to my frindes enemye to my aduersaries to vphoulde my credit maintayn my honour to resift my detractors and to reuenge him selfe vppon my euilwillers and if he can be content to hould his peace hearing me euil spoken of and to put vp my flander without opening his mouth I wil account him vnworthye to weare my clothe how much more inexcusable shal we be at the dreadful daye of Indgment if we receauing at our Lord and masters handes such extraordinarie pay for our seruice in this lyfe and expecting further and aboue this all that himselfe is
malitiosly and contrary to their own knowledg and consciences If this be trew as it is if God be not vntrew then in what a miserable case standeth many a man in Ingland at this day which take othes receaue sacramēts goe to church and cōmit many a like act directly against their owne consciences and against their owne knowledg nay what a case doe thei stād in which know such things to be directlye against other mens 〈◊〉 and yet doe compell them to doe it As to receaue against theire will to sweare against their wil the like Surely as I am now minded I wold not for ten thowsand worldes compell a Iewe to sweare that theire weare a blessed Trinity For albeit the thing be neuer so trew yet should he be damned sor swearinge against his conscience and I for compelling him to commit so heyneus and gréeuous a sinne But of this sort of Catholikes this is ynough and to much excepte they weare better For they are to be accompted according to S. Paule damned men in this lyfe and therefore noe Christians and much lesse Catholickes There are an other sorte of Catholikes that albeit they doe iudge al other religions besides theire owne false and erroneous and damnable yet doe they not thincke but that for some worldly respecte as for sauinge their offices dignities liberties credytes or the like they may in some of the former thinges at the least wise in goyng to Church for as for swearinge and receauinge I thincke noe Catholicke this day in Europe thincketh it lesse then damnable shewe them selues conformable men to the procéedinges of them of the contrarie religion and doe also thincke others too scrupulous which doe stand in the refusall of the same But to shewe that these men are in a wrong and perilous perswasion builded only on their owne phantasie and therefore to be reformed and that thother men are the onely trew Catholickes and bound to do so much as they do vpon paine of the high displeasure of God eternal domage of their own souls I haue put doune here thes reasons y e folowe which may serue for y e iustifiing of thone parties conscience for the dewe reforming of the other The first Reason The first reasō why I being a Catholicke in minde may not goe to the Churches or seruice of the contrarie relygion is because I perswading my selfe their doctrine to be false doctrine and consequently venemous vnto the hearer I may not venture my soul to be infected with the same For as it is damnable for a man to to kill him selfe and consequentlye deadly sine without iust cause to put his bodye in probable danger of deathe so is it muche more offensiue to God to put my sowle ten thowsād times of more valewe then my bodye in danger to the deadly stroke of false doctrine and heresie espetially séeing I haue no warrant of securitie or scaping but rather I heare God crying to the contrarie Hee that loueth daunger shall perish in the same Nether is it 〈◊〉 for mée to think that I am sure inough frō being infected for that I am groūded inough I am learned suffitiently For what yf God take his grace from the and lett thée fall because thou hast not folowed his counsaile whiche is If thou wilt not be bitté with the snake not to slepe neighe the hedg If thou wilt not be spotted thē not to touche the Pitche Wherfor S. Paul to as good a man as lerned as strong as I am gaue a general rule to auoid and file an heretical man The lyke precepte hée gaue to Tymothie being a Byshope to auoyd a certaine heritique by name Alexander more vehemetly yet he coniureth as it were the Thessalonians in the name of Iesus Christe that they shoulde withdrawe them selues from like felowes The same hée repeateath againe to y e Romans beseching them to note and to decline from suche mē The reasō of this S. Paul vttreth to Timothe Because ther speche crepeth lyke a cāker and they haue subuerted the faith of certayne Againe hée saythe to the Romans of the same men By sweete words and gaye blessings they seduce the harts of the Innocent And S. Peter saith of them that they doe allure vnto them vnconstant sowlles Héere nowe I sée the scripture carefully counsailing and commaunding me to auoyd the cōpany and speache of false teachers it putteth downe also the perill if I doe it not which is as 〈◊〉 as the 〈◊〉 of my soul. And on the cōtrarie side I haue noe warrant of 〈◊〉 nor example of good men to 〈◊〉 the same For I doe reade this wryten of farr my betters The Apostles and their schollers were so warye and circumspect in this case in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they would not so mnch as once reason the matter with any of them who endeuored by their lyinges or newe deuices to corrupte the truthe Furthermor I am sure I can neuer take good by hearing them but I am in 〈◊〉 possibilitie to take euill as manye more learned men then I in ould time haue done As Dionisius Alexandrinus confesseth of him selfe and of Origen 〈◊〉 it is knowen many men in England can be witnesies which bothe to them selues and also to other mē séemed the time was so firme and grounded in religion as nothing could moue thē yet nowe they haue proued otherwise Wherfore it cānot be but great sinin 〈◊〉 notwithstanding all this if I shall put my sowle in suche daunger by aduenturing to their companie to their seruice to their sermōs to reading their bookes or the like wherby in any wise I may be corupted The which aduenture what a sin it was counted in the primatiue Church it may apere by the seuer lawes made both by the clergie and temporaltie forthe prohibiting and punishing of the same in that time as is to be sene in the councels and fathers and in the decrées of the good christian Emperors Martian and Iustinian and espetialy of the noble and zelous first christian Emperor Constātine which made it deathe after the condemnation of Arius by the general councel of Nyce for any mā more to read his books therby to aduenture to be poisoned with his heresies And reason For if Dauid had not ventured to behould 〈◊〉 he had not bene entrapped 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 loue and so had not cōmitted 〈◊〉 horrible sins that ensewed 〈◊〉 if Dame 〈◊〉 had not presumed to heare the Serpent talk she had not beue beguiled and if when Luther first began to teache new doctrine the Catholicks at that time had not vouchsafed to geue him the hearing but had auoyded his prechings and preuy conuenticles there had not bene now in the world either Lutheran Swinglian Caluenist Puritā Anabaptist Trinetarie Famelie of loue Adamite or the like whereof now there are so many thowsands abrode all springing of that first
same vp with vs to God the father for the whole world As al the holy Fathers of the primatiue Churche dyd bothe beleue and teach Of the which it shalbe enough at this tyme to aledge one or two Saynt Gregorie therfore the first saythe thus What faythfull man can doute but that in the verye houre of immolation or sacryfice the heauens doe open at the Priestes voyce and that the 〈◊〉 of Angels be present there in that misterie of Iesus Christ And saynt Chrisostome handeling the same saythe At that tyme the tyme of consecration in the Masse the Angels stande by the Priest and the vniuersall orders of the celestiall powers doe crye out and the place nygh to the aulter is full of quires of Angels in the honour of him whoe is there sacrifised And immediatlye after he telleth two visions of holye men whose eyes were by the power of God as he sayeth opened and they in those visions saw the Angels presente at the time of consecration And in an other place he yet more at large explycateth the same sayinge At that tyme deere brother at the time of consecration and eleuation not onlye men do geue out that dreadful cry saying we adore the O Lord ct but also the Angels doe bowe their knees to our Lord and the Archangels doe beseche him for they accounte that a fitt time hauing that sacred oblation in their fauour And therfor as men arc wont to moue Princes the more yf they beare oliue bowes in their handes because by bearinge that kinde of wood they bring into the Princes mindes mercye and gentlenes so the Angels at that time houlding out in their hands the verye self same bodye of our Lord they doe entreate for al mankinde as thoughe they saide We doe entreate O Lord for the men of the worlde whom thow hast so looued that for their saluation thou wast content to dye and in the Crosse to breathe out thyne owne soule For these men we make supplicatiō for the which thou hast geeuen thy owne bloud for these men we pray for the which thou hast sacrificed this bodye of thyne If this be soe then the hearinge of Masse is not onelye worth the venturynge of an hundred Marckes or sixe monnethes imprisonment but also of an hundrede thousande lyues if a man could loose euerye one for that cause sixe tymes And an hundred tymes miserable is that man which for anye worldlye respecte doth depryue hlm selfe of soe greate a benifite as the participation of this sacrifice is Secondlye they loose by goeynge to Church the fruite and grace of sixe Sacramentes as the grace of Confirmation by the Bishoppe whereby the Holye Ghoste was géeuen in the Prymatyue Church as Saynte Luke sayeth and now in our tyme as Saynte Cypryan proueth are bestowed vppon vs by the same the seuen gyftes of the holye Ghoste Set out by Esaye the Prophet in his eleuenthe chapter They loose also the grace of Preisthood soe greatlye commended by S. Paul to Tymothye when he chargeth him soe earnestlye not to neglect the sayd grace Also the grace of Matrimony which S. Paul soe much extolleth when he calleth this sacrament a great sacrament Also the grace of extreme Unction which is soe great as S. James sayeth besids the healing many times of the bodye it also remitteth the sicke mans sinnes And so in lyke manner the grace of the other two sacramēts of Penance and the Aulter whereof I wil say a word or two immediately Al thes graces they loose being cut of by their going to the Protestants churches frō these sacramēts which are nothing else but cōduits of grace The which losse of what valew it is a man may gesse by that which al deuines with on accord doe proue y t on droppe of grace is more worth then al y e world estéemed in it selfe besids Thirdly they loose by going to church al the benifit of y t keies of the church or of the auctority of binding and loosing of sinns graunted by Christ to y t gouernours of the same Church For the explication of the which we must vnderstand that Christ hauing newlye made the mariage betwéext his déere spouse and him selfe I meane the Church and hauinge now sealed the same with his owne bloud and being inforced to depart from the said new maried spouse of his towching his visible presēce for a time he deuised how to shew vnto her how greatly he loued her and to leaue some notable pledge testimony of his singuler great affection towardes her The which he finally resolued could be by noe other meanes better expressed then if he should leaue al his aucthoritie with her the which he had receaued of his Father with making publyque proclamation to all the world that What so euer she should forgeue in earthe towchyng sinne the same should be forgeuen in heauen and what soeuer sinne the Churche should retaine or not forgeue in earth the same should neuer be forgeuen in heauen And againe that with what authoritye God his Father sent him with the same he sent her gouernours the Apostles and theyr successors And againe he that should not here and obey the Church should be accounted as a heathen and publicane By the which speeches of Christ our fore fathers haue alwayes vnderstoode that Christe gaue vnto the Churche a visible tribunal seate in earth for the forgeuing or retayning of sinnes vnto the which al Christians must resorte by submission and humble confession of their sinnes if they thinke euer to receaue forgeuenes of the same at Christes hys handes in heauen For soe we read that in the primatiue Churche they confessed their sinnes vnto the Apostels of whom saynt Luke writeth thus Manye of the faythful came to the Apostles confessing and reueling their owne actes And thrée hundred yeres after that S. Austen testefieth of his time saying Doe you suche penance as is wont to be done in the Church that the Church may praye for you Let no man saye I doe it secretly I doe ìt with God alone God which hath to pardon me knoweth wel how that I doe repent in my hart What therfore with out cause was it sayde to the Priestes that which you loose in earth shal be loosed in heauen therfore in vayne were the keyes geuen to the Church And in an other place againe more néerlye touching the humour of our men now a dayes he sayth There are some which thinke it sufficiēt for their saluation if they doe confesse their sinnes only to God to whom nothing is hidden and to whom no mans conscience is vnknowen For they will not or els they are ashamed or els they disdayne to shew them selues vnto the Priestes whom not withstanding God by Moyses his lawegeuer did apoint to discerne or iudge betweene leprye and leprye But I would not
that thou shouldest be deceaued with that opiniō in such fort that thou shouldest ether by noughty shame or obstinate disdayne refrayne to confesse before the substitute or Vicegerent of our Lord. For whom our Lord did not disdayne to make his substiute his iudgemente must thow be contente also to stande to This benifit therefore of the keyes of the Church and of receauing remission of their sinnes by the same which Catholickes doe thincke to be the greatest benifit of their religiō do they loose that goe to the Protestants Churches besids al the good instructions wholesome councels and vertuous admonitions which Catholickes doe receaue in confession at their ghostly fathers hands then the which things they finde nothinge more forcible to bring them to good lyfe especially if they frequente it often as all 〈◊〉 Catholickes in the worlde nowe doe Fourthlye they loose the infinite benefite of receuing the blessed sacramēt of the aulter the pretious Body and Bloud of Christ being the foode of our soules and as Christ sayeth The bread that came downe from heuen to geue lyfe vnto the world To the worthye eating of which heauēly bread Christ promiseth infinite reward saying He that eateth my flesh and drincketh my bloud hath lyfe euerlasting and I wil rayse him againe at the last day And agayne He that eateth me shal lyue through me Upon which promises of Christ our forfathers of the Primatiue church haue alwayes most earnestlye exhorted al men to the often receauinge of this blessed sacrament alleaging innumerable cōmodities of y e same and prouing by experiēce that the frequēting of this Sacrament is the chéefeste meanes to come to al grace zeale féelinge and lyfe in spiritual matters And on the contrarye parte that the abstayninge from the same is the right way to al spiritual miserye and for the soule of man to wyther away drye vp and starue euen as the plant dothe that lacketh moysture The which we sée nowe by experience in manye a thousand who for lacke of the foode of this blessed Fountayne of grace are as dead in al spiritual cogitations and déedes as a starued stake in the hadge from bearing of flowers and their myndes so ouergrowen with the rancke wéedes of Carnalitye that there is noe difference betwixte them and a brute bullocke for as much the one foloweth his passions as the other Whereby we sée what a losse it is to depryue them selues from the vse of this Sacrament Fiftlye they loose al the merit of their good déedes what soeuer For as S. Gregorie sayeth Euen as none receaued their peny in the Gospel but they onely which had labored within the compasse of the Vineyarde soe no man shal receaue any reward for any good deede of his except he haue donne it within the vnitye of the Church So that if a man should doe neuer so many good déedes geue neuer so manye almes nay as S. Cyprian proueth if a man should suffer neuer so many thinges for Christ yea death it selfe yet if he were out of the vnity of the Catholick Church he shal haue no rewarde therefore And not onely this but if a man be in anye mortal sinne what soeuer as long as he abydeth in the same without repentance and confession al deuines hould that he looseth the rewarde of al his good déedes And the reason is because noe worke can be meritorious of it selfe but onely by reson of the grace from whence it procéedeth but by euerye mortal sinne which a man committeth he losseth grace and much more by goeinge out of the vnitye of the Church And therefore in such men vntil they repente there can be noe hope of anye reward for any good woorke which they shall doe Sixthely they lose the benefit of Communion of Saintes which we protest to beléeue in our Créede That is they haue no parte of the Sacrifices oblations prayers fastinges almes other good woorks done within the Catholique Church which all other Catholiques haue Finallye they being cut of and deuided from the vnitie of the other members they take parte of no influence whiche cōmeth from the head to the bodye that is from Christ to the Churche nomore then a mans hande once cut of doth take blood norishment spirit or lyfe from the arme from which it is now separated as most learnedly S. Austen dothe discourse Wherfore they must néedes wither awaye and make drye wood for hell fyre and as good for them it were in effect to be of anye other relygion as of that whereof they take not one iote of commoditye And to all these myseries they are driuen onely by going to the protestants Churches THE Nynthe Reason THE Nynthe Reason whiche Catholiques may yelde for their refusal of going to the Church may be the example of all men from the beginning which haue had any care or Conscience toward their own religion not only good men of whom I haue geuen diuers examples before but also al others how false erronious soeuer their religion were yet did they alwayes procure to separate them selues from them of the contrarie religion in the acte of prayer and from the Templs Sinagogues Churches Dratories and conuenticles of 〈◊〉 same Soe we reade of the Gentils which thought it to be a great sinne and polution to enter into the Iewes Synagogues or Christians Chnrches The like we read alsoe of the Turkes at thys daye Soe al heretiques from the beginning as soone as they had framed any newe relygion eftsons they erected new oratories to them selues and refused to come to those of other relygions as the Arians Denatists and the rest had their Churches and places of prayer dstincte from the Catholiques whose Churches they detested and auoyded together with their doctrine And soe the Anabaptistes at this daye refuse to goe to the Lutherans Church and the Lutherans to the Trinitaries In like wise the Puritans of our time in Englād refuse to come to the Protestantes churches And the Protestants in oother countries doe vtterly denye to present them selues to Catholique Churches alleginge their consciencs for the same and affirming it to be danmable hipocrisie in them that for feare or for any other temporal repect doe yeld to doe the same against their fayth and conscience Wherby it apeareth that they goe quit against their own docttrine and example in England which obiect the same to Catholiques as disobedience obstinacie and rebellious dealing which in other countries they them selues both teach and practise I wil for mor manifestation of this matter put downe here the very wordes of one of them translated out of french and printed in England and dedicated to y t Lord Tresurour by John Brooke the authors name is John Gardiner a Protestant whoe in his Cathechisme or as he calleth it Confession of his faythe maketh it a great heynous sinne for