the Church who then but miscreants and Heretikes can take it for a name of curse reproch and shame Is it not vntil this day set downe in the Apostles creed as the honourable title and epithite of the true Church I beleeue the holy Catholike Church Must he then not be rather an Apostata then a scholler of the Apostles â—hat blusheth not to auouch the very name Catholike to be the proper badge of Apostataes and Heretikes which the Apostles asscribe and appropriate vnto true Christianity If any proude and false fellowes doe vsurpe that name and challenge it to themselues wrongfully as many did euen in S. Augustines time when M. Abbot confesseth it to haue beene in greatest estimation let such vsurping companions be rebuked sharply and conuicted of their insolent and audatious folly but the name Catholike which the Apostles thought vvorthy and fit to be placed in the articles of our creede and principles of our religion must alwaies remaine and be among true Christians a name very glorious and desireable We therefore say with S. Augustine We receiue the holy Ghost if we loue the Church Tract 32. in Iohannem Lib. 1. cont GaudeÌ„t c. 33. if we be joined together by charity if we rejoice in the Catholike name and faith And they that doe not joy in that name but mocke at it doe blaspheme as the same most holy Authour intimateth The name Iewe being taken in the Apostles sence for one of what nation soeuer that fulfilleth the justice of the law neuer was nor neuer shal be a name of reproch so that M. Abbot is driuen to hoppe from one sence of that name to another to make it appliable to his purpose But and it please you the Protestants haue the kernel of the name Catholike and we but the shel Why doe they then so bitterly inueigh against it vvhy are they not more willing to extol and magnifie that renowmed title being of such ancient Nobility twenty pound to a peny that vvhat face soeuer he set on it yet in his hart he maruailously feareth the contrary himselfe If that faith and religion only be Catholike vniuersal as he acknowledgeth that hath euer beene and is also spread ouer al the world and shal continue to the worldes end then surely their religion cannot be Catholike euen by the vniforme confession of themselues vvho generally acknowledge that for nine hundred yeares together the Papacy did so domineer al the world ouer that not a man of their religion vvas to be found in any corner of the vvorld that durst peepe out his head to contradict it Could there be any Church of theirs then when there was not one Pastour and flocke of their religion though neuer so smal in any one country and euen now vvhen their Gospel is at the hottest hath it spread it selfe al the world ouer is it receiued in Italy Spaine Greece Afrike or Asia or carried into the Indians nothing lesse They cannot then cal themselues Catholikes after the sincere and ancient acceptation of that name which is as himselfe hath often repeted out of S. Augustine Quia communicant Ecclesiae toto orbe diffusae Because they communicate in fellowship of faith with the Church spread ouer al the world They must therefore notwithstanding M. Abbots vaine bragges be content with the shel and leaue the kernel to vs who doe embrace the same faith that is dilated al countries ouer yea they must be contented to walke in the foote-steps of their fore-fathers the Donatists euen according to M. Abbots explication and flie from the vniuersality of faith and communion of the Church spread al the world ouer vnto the perfection of their doctrine which is neuerthelesse more absurd and further from the true signification of the word Catholike then the Donatists shift was of fulnesse of sacraments and obseruation of al Gods commandements as hath beene already declared But let vs heare how clearely and substantially he wil at length proue their Church to be Catholike ROBERT ABBOT NOw as of this Catholike Church from the beginning to the end there is as appeareth in the vvordes cited by M. Bishop but Ephes 4. vers 4. One body euen as one Lord one God and Father of al so is there also but one spirit one hope one faith one baptisme one spiritual meate and drinke one religion Let vs then looke out those that haue beene before vs and consider Abel Noë Abraham Isaac Iacob and the rest of the Patriarkes and Fathers Let vs looke to Moises and the Prophets and the whole generation of the righteous and faithful of the old Testament and see what their faith was what was their religion and seruice of God vndoubtedly we find not a Papist among them we finde no shadow of that which they now obtrude and thrust vpon vs vnder the name of Catholike religion They did not worship Idols and Images they did not coÌ„ming after pray to Saints that were dead before them they vsed no inuocation of Angels they knew no Merits nor vvorkes of supererogation They vowed no vowes of Monkery they made no pilgrimage to Reliques and dead mens bones they knew no shrift nor absolution or any of that riffe-raffe-stuffe vvherein the substance of Catholike religion is now imagined to consist But what they did the same doe we as they worshipped God so sauing ceremonial obseruances vve also worship him as they beleeued so by the same spirit of faith vve also beleeue as they praied so vvith the same vvordes we also pray according to the approued example of their life we also teach men to liue therefore no Popery but our religion is the Catholike religion because it is that vvhich the Catholike Church hath practised from the beginning of the world and Popish religion not so The same faith and religion which they followed and no other our Sauiour Christ at his coÌ„ming further confirmed and only stripping it of those tipes and shadowes vvherewith it pleased God for the time to cloth it commending the same to his Apostles simply and nakedly to be preached to the nations They did so They added nothing of their owne they preached only the Gospel promised before by the Tertul. de Praescript Rom. 1. Prophets in the holy Scriptures saying no other thinges Act. 26. v. 12. Lib. 3. cap. 1. then those which the Prophets and Moises did say should come The Gospel which they first preached afterwardes by the wil God as Ireneus saith they deliuered to vs in writing to be the pillar and foundation of our faith Thus then vvhat Christ deliuered the Apostles preached vvhat the Apostles preached they wrote vvhat they vvrote we receiue and beleeue De praescript and beleeuing this as Tertullian saith we desire to beleeue no more because we first beleeue that there is nothing else for vs to beleeue And therefore as S. Augustine saith if any man August cont literas Petili lib. 3. cap. 6. nay if an Angel from
heauen shal preach vnto vs any thing concerning Christ or concerning his Church or concerning any thing pertaining to our faith and life but what we haue receiued in the Scriptures of the law and Gospel accursed be he Our faith therefore because it is that which the Apostles committed to writing is the Apostolike faith and our Church ex consanguinitate doctrinae by consanguinity and agreement of doctrine is proued to be an Apostolical Church c. of this Apostolical Church his Majesty is the supreme gouernour vnder Christ As for M. Bishops religion it cannot be the Catholike religion because it is not that vvhich the Catholike Church that is the faithful of al ages haue practised His faith is not the Apostolike faith because it is not that vvhich the Apostles left in writing They make no mention of the Pope of his Supremacy of his Pardons of worshipping of Images inuocation of Saints Pilgrimages and a thousand such trumperies WILLIAM BISHOP WE agree in this that there is but one faith one baptisme one spiritual foode and one religion in the Catholike Church but M. Abbot is fouly ouer-seene about the time when the true Church beganne first to be called Catholike which was not before Christs time but afterwardes according to that alleaged out of Pacianus an ancient authour who writeth of the name Catholike saying Christian is my name Pacian epist ad Simphor de nomine Catholico Catholike is my surname For when among Christians some beganne to teach false doctrine and to draw others after them into sects they that remained sound did cleaue fast vnto the whole body of the Church were intituled Catholikes to distinguish them from Heretikes that did not joine vvith the vniuersal corps of Christians in faith and religion which M. Abbot before did in plaine wordes confesse see his text afore vvhere he beginneth to argue of the word Catholike And the reason is most perspicuous why the Iewes and their religion could not be called Catholike though it vvere right and according to the wil of God for that time because Catholike signifieth that which is spread al the world ouer and receiued of al nations so was not the law of Moises and the manner of seruing God therein prescribed but vvas peculiar vnto the children of Israel and as it were confined within the limits of one land and country vvherefore it could not be called Catholike and vniuersal And M. Abbot was greatly deceiued or else goeth about to deceiue others when for proofe of communicating with the Catholike Church he recoileth back vnto the beginning of the vvorld Why did he not rather shew that their new Gospel flourished in al countries assoone as the Christian faith vvas planted and that it hath continued in al ages since the Apostles daies vntil our time that had beene to haue spoken directly to the purpose which he seldome vseth But he saw that to be a worke to hard for Hercules and therefore to delude his reader and to lead him from the matter he flieth vp to the old farne-daies of Abel Noē Abraham c. as though they had reuealed vnto them al those particular points of faith which Christ taught his Apostles and the same religion and manner of vvorshipping God that we Christians haue which is flatly opposite to the doctrine of S. Paul who testifieth Ephes 3. v. 4. That the mistery of Christ vnto other generations was not knowne vnto the Sonnes of men as now it is reuealed vnto his holy Apostles and Prophets in the spirit Those ancient Patriarkes as men Hebr. 11. vers 13. looking a farre off at the daies of Christ the light of the vvorld did not discouer so distinctly the misteries of the Christian faith as the Apostles vvho vvere Iob. 6. v. 45. taught by his owne mouth and made to know Ioh. 15. v. 15. al his Fathers secretes and had ¶ * Rom. 8. vers 23. the first fruits of the spirit in best sort to vnderstand them and carry them away To be short our Sauiour hath decided this question and saith in expresse wordes Math. 13. vers 17. Many Prophets and just men haue desired to see the thinges that you see and haue not seene them and to beare the thinges that you heare and haue not heard them Obserue then how absurdly M. Abbot behaueth himselfe in this matter First he vseth tergiuersation in leaping so farre backe from the point of the question seeking communion with the Catholike Church some thousandes of yeares before there vvas any Church Catholike Secondly in auouching the ancient founders of the first world to haue beleeued clearely and particularly al the articles of faith that vve beleeue or else why doth he conclude that the Roman faith is not Catholike because in that old and hoare-headed world some branches of their faith were not sprong vp and of ful growth They did not saith he worship Idols and Images they did not pray to Saints c. But good Sir did they beleeue that al their children vvere to be baptised and that al persons of riper yeares among them were to receiue the holy Sacrament of Christes body yea can M. Abbot demonstrate that they had perfect faith of the most holy and blessed Trinity beleeuing distinctly in three persons and one God or that the redeemer of the world Christ Iesus was to be perfect God and perfect man the nature of man in him subsisting vvithout the proper person of man in the second person of the Trinity which are the most high misteries of our Christian faith I am not ignorant that albeit those ancient Patriarkes and Prophets had not cleare and distinct knowledge of many articles vvhich vve are bound to beleeue yet they beleeued some few of them in particular and had a certaine confuse and darke conceit by figures and tipes of most of the rest Touching these very points vvhereof M. Abbot would haue them vvholy ignorant if his bare vvord without any manner of proof were so powerful I affirme that they held the most of them vvhich I wil not stand here to proue at large for that were Protestant-like to runne from one question to another without order but I wil only giue a touch to euery one of his instances referring the reader for more ful satisfaction to the proper place of those head controuersies First no Catholike euer taught any man to worship Idols let that then passe as a Protestant slander but that Images are to be placed in Churches the examples recorded in the old Testament of hauing them both in their a Exod. 25. vers 18. Tabernacle and in the b 3. Reg. 6. vers 23. Temple of Salomon this sentence of the Psalmist c Psalm 98. vers 5. Adore his foote-stoole and many such like places and resemblances doe argue very strongly that Images are to be worshipped Secondly inuocation of Angels is most plainly practised by the holy Patriarke Iacob the Father of al
from their parents kinsfolkes and friendes being content to liue vpon Gods prouidence and that poore pittance which the impouerished estate of some few Catholikes wil afford them The Protestant Ministers who by their profession are capable of fat benefices headships of houses Deanaries and such like dignities and commodities may be truly suspected to bend their studies that way and to maintaine heresies in hope of gaine and promotion and they who cannot be satisfied with two or three of those great liuings joyned togither or with one Bishoprick alone but would haue Bishoprickes and Deanaries vnited such men may indeede rightly be suspected to make marchandize of mens soules for filthy lucres sake but to impute couetousnesse vnto seminary Priests who haue debarred themselues of al preferment both spiritual and temporal which their Country yeeldeth to men of their profession and can looke for no other promotion there then a halter at Tyburne was no lesse shameful then witlesse impudency Briefly M. Abbot by tearing Gods wordes in peeces and patching it vp againe with his owne wordes ful il-fauouredly and by applying it most absurdly is found to offer as great injury to it as he hath done vnto those holy ancient learned Fathers aforesaid who were by the spirit of God selected to be the principal expounders of it So that finally whether you regard the handling of Scriptures or Fathers you shal seldome light vpon any Diuine that doth performe it more insufficiently shal I say or more perfidiously neuerthelesse he sets such a brasen face on the matter speaketh so confidently conueieth it so cunningly and doth gild it ouer so artificially that the credulous and vnwary reader would thinke him to be some jolly fellow and a rare flourishing writer But be that wil not take vaine wordes for good paiment nor tricks and shifts for sufficient proofes but wil weigh his arguments wel and diligently examine his testimonies he shal quickly discouer M. Abbots weakenesse and finde him to be one of the most shallow and beggerliest writers of these daies for he like a mount-banke indeede to returne his owne wordes vpon him setteth out for fresh and new marchandize the very rif-raf and refuse of other Protestant authors and that which hath beene an hundred times answered vnto by the learned on our side In him therefore is truly verified that witty obseruation of S. Augustine Lib. 1 cont Gaud. c. 39. vttered against the Donatist Gaudentius Nihil assert praeter lassum quassum he bringeth nothing that hath not beene already by his owne comâ—â—nions wearied out and as it were tired by ouer often vsing and 〈◊〉 our party so shaken battered and beaten that it cannot be but a foule â—sgrace among the learned to put into light and to set to sale so base â—erworne thrid-bare and ragged stuffe This I hope wil suffice for a preamble to aduertise the indifferent â—ader what opinion he is to conceiue and carry of M. Abbots writings â—â—e rest I remit to the Treatise it selfe desiring the juditious reader to â—â—are with those manifold difficulties which we that liue in the land haue in this time of persecution both to compose and to print our bookes which duly considered he wil not greatly blame our slownesse if our workes come not foorth so speedily as he may wel expect and we doe greatly desire Almighty God whose glory we seeke and for whom we labour in the conuersion and right instruction of Christian soules vouchsafe to send his heauenly blessing on our poore trauailes and vpon al them who with good intention shal reade them ouer MASTER ABBOTS EPISTLE TO HIS MAIESTY AMONG the manifold benefits which the diuine prouidence hath yeelded vnto vs by the happy entrance of your most sacred Majesty to the imperial Crowne of this realme we cannot but most especially recognize that vvhich we take to be the pillar and vpholder of the rest the preseruaâ—n of true religion and continuance of the Gospel of Christ â—hich albeit it be a singuler and inestimable mercy of God yet â—ere is found amongst vs a vipers broode a malecontented Samaâ—an generation which neuer ceasseth whining and repining there 〈◊〉 accounting this blessing of God to vs a great wrong to them â—hilest by a Cachexie and corrupt disposition of the stomacke â—ey better brooke the Onions and Garleeke of Aegipt then the â—anna of heauen and bread of Angels and haue eares more deâ—hted with the Mermaides notes and inchanting musicke of the â—oore of Babilon then with the plaine-song of true religion diâ—cted by the simplicity of the word of God Therefore as in the â—ies of our late most gratious Queene they neuer rested working bring this land againe vnder the slauery and bondage of the â—n of sinne so since your Majesties comming to the Crowne â—â—ey haue beene stil plotting the same not only by attempting â—ur Highnesse subjects but also labouring in their Petitions and â—dicatory Epistles to draw your Majesty one vvay or other to â—nsort with them in their damnable and accursed deuises And 〈◊〉 Mount-bankes doe set foorth base wares with magnifical and lofty wordes so doe they with braue tearmes labour to grace a counterfait and bastard faith and in their supplications haue â—â—unted to your Majesty of a religion and neuer rest to commend a religion which indeede in the questioned part thereof is no other but a refined heresie compounded of sundry ancient heresies only clarified by Schoole-tricks from the more feculent and grosse parts thereof THE ANSVVERE TO M. ABBOTS EPISTLE TO HIS MAIESTY VVILLIAM BISHOP THIS Epistle consisting partly vpon vaunts of their owne new-no-religion but more specially in a most bitter inuectiue against ours may for the former part be easily answered because that in al his Epistle he hath not produced one seely proofe of any parcel of it but only auoucheth in a certaine graue Ministerial confidence that their counterfait superstition is the plaine-song oâ— truth directed by the simplicity of Gods word which when he goeth about to verifie an answere shal be giuen him In the meane season we contrariwise take their profession of faith to be no better then a heape of ragged errors raked out of the dunghil of old condemned heresies though freshly trimmed vp and varnished ouer deceitfully with the glosse of Gods word after their owne interpretation And touching their pretended diuine seruice vvere pute it as worthely we may to be a prophane mingle-mangle compounded of some of the old and some of the new by humorous nouellers to please men in authority that they might there by shoulder out their betters and shuffle in themselues though most vnworthy into the highest places of dignity and best benefices of the land This briefly may serue for answere vnto thâ— which M. Abbot speaketh in praise of his owne religion Now to those grieuous and malicious slanders which he powâ—â—h foorth aboundantly against the poore Catholikes The first is â—â—at they are a vipers broode and a male contented Samaritan generation â—ood
accessary if there be any ouersight committed in it it is mine alone and not any other bodies M. Abbots second vntruth is couched in these wordes If your Majesty wil not yeeld them what they desire which are farre wide from that which I wrote for I said not if vve may not haue what we desire vvhich vvere not only a tolleration but a perfect restitution of the Catholike faith but if poore innocent Catholikes should for their conscience sake only be stripped of al their goods depriued of their liberty and liue alwaies in deepe disgrace and eminent danger of their liues without any hope of amendment that then at length God knoweth what necessity may driue them vnto this you see is farre different from that which M. Abbot relateth Now to the third and most spiteful lie of al the rest that if they may not obtaine what they desire by faire meanes then they wil with fire and sworde enforce it which I neither said nor thought as God the searcher of al harts doth best know I only signified a farre off and that vnder these doubtful tearmes God knowes that it vvas not vnlike considering the frailty of mans corrupt nature but that such extreame vsage might perhaps prouoke and stirre vp some impatient and fiery spirits to vndergoe some certaine attempt against some of them whom they tooke to be the principal procurers of their misery which other good Catholikes would be right sorry to see and might peraduenture greatly rue This being the vttermost of my meaning and my wordes in reasonable construction not importing any thing more vvas it not the part of a venimous spider to suck so pestilent poison out of it That vulgar prouerbe to vvhich I alluded Durum telum necessitas or as it is in English Necessity hath no law is approued of al men and the prudent Polititian hath obserued that Patientia laesa vertitur in furorem Patience to much pressed doth turne into fury Out of which and the like Axiomes of the wise and ouer frequent putting them in practise by the vnwise a man of smal prouidence might if not easily foresee yet greatly suspect and feare least such vrgent extreamitie vvithout any hope of redresse vvould make some euil mortified men forget their duty to both God and man and runne head-long into some mischief On the other side al men that doe treate of the methode of perswasion doe instruct him that is to deale in that kinde to propose aswel the inconueniences that may ensue if that be not done vvhich he exhorteth vnto as the commodities that wil arise of the doing of it and vvhen this is performed in decent tearmes and dutiful manner none but wrangling cauillers can take any exception against it Now further to rack and vvrest it into so odious a sense as M. Abbot doth must needes conuince him to be a very virulent calumniator Let vs put the case that those sage Counsellors vvho aduised King Roboam to deale more gratiously with his people then his Father had done before him should after they had vsed other reasons to perswade him thereunto haue added this to moue him the sooner to condescend to his subjects sute That if he did then refuse to grant that their earnest request God knoweth what they might thereupon be moued to doe had they beene vvorthy to be stiled false traitors for their labour if out of their feare of future mishaps they had put their Prince in mind of them beforehand that he might being so warned the better preuent and auoide them Sure I am that the holy Ghost doth cōmend them for vvise and faithful Counsellours and preferreth them farre before those other who encouraged the King to deale more hardly with his people then euer his Predecessour had done before him yet their wordes recorded in the sacred Text seeme not so respectiue as mine are for they willed their Soueraigne 3. Reg. 12. vers 7. To obey the voice of his subjects and to serue them and then they would serue him signifying A contrario sensu that if he did not yeeld vnto their sute they vvould serue him no longer so that the ordinary methode of perswasion approued by al the learned fenced also and fortified vvith the president of so worthy wise men commended in holy Scripture wil serue I hope for this time to shelter me from the tempestuous tongue of M. Abbot I vvil hereafter in the proper place make answere particularly to al his exaggerations outcries and inferences thereupon because he almost in euery part of his discourse is twanging vpon this string If I had ouer-reached in any point of duty I may be wel assured that I should haue most often heard of it he tosseth and tumbleth those few temperate wordes of mine so busily and spitefully which if they be compared vnto the plaine and round speeches which the pillars of their Gospel doe chaunt and sound out in that kinde are not so much as flea-bitings Heare some of their sentences and then judge Their ring-leader Luther defineth in expresse tearmes Luther ad Elect Saxon. Lantgra tom 6. fol. 602. That it is the duty of a subject to rise in armes against his Soueraigne in defence of their religion Yea That they doe grieuously offend and tempt God if in that his cause they vse not their weapons when they may and this to haue beene the resolute opinion of other learned Lutherans their owne Hystoriographer Iohn Sleidan hath recorded Sleidan l. 22. hyst fol. 345. Li. 4. Epistolarū Zwing Oecolamp pag 868. 869. With Luther in that point agreeth Zwinglius another of their great Rabbines affirming That if the Emperor or any other Prince oppresse the Gospel the people ought to resist them which if they doe not but suffer the Prince to foile the Gospel they thereby become as guilty of that hainous crime as the oppressors themselues Iohn Caluin surpasseth the rest for he declareth * Caluin in cap. 6. Dan. v. 22. 25. Al Kings that goe about to suppresse the Gospel to rebel and rise against God and thereby to depriue themselues of al Kingly authority Yea to be vnworthy the name of men and that their subjects ought rather to spit in their faces then to obey them I let passe for breuities sake vvhat Goodman and the English bretheren at Geneua decreed concerning rebelling against our Queene Mary of happy memory and what Knoxe and Buchanan preached taught and practised against another blessed Queene Mary of Scotland But M. Iewels opinion in this case is vvorthy to be chronicled who liuing vnder a Prince of his owne religion yet to make it euident to the world what the Protestants constant opinion thereof is doth deliuer * In the first part of his defence pa. 16. 17. That subjects indeede are bound to obey their Princes how be it not in al thinges but so farre as Gods glory is not touched wherefore the Noble men of Scotland that vvere then vp
we are justified not by faith alone but also by good workes That in extremity of sicknesse we must cal for the Priest to anoile vs with holy Oile That we must confesse our sinnes not to God alone but also vnto men these and diuers such like heades of our Catholike faith formally set downe in holy Scripture the Protestants wil not beleeue though they be written in Gods vvord neuer so expresly but doe ransacke al the corners of their wits to deuise some odde shift or other how to flie from the euidence of them Whereupon I conclude that they doe not receiue al the written word though they professe neuer so much to allow of al the bookes of Canonical Scripture Lib. 2. de Trinitate ad Const For the written word of God consisteth not in the reading but in the vnderstaÌ„ding as S. Hierome testifieth that is it doth not consist in the bare letter of it but in the letter and true sence and meaning joined togither the letter being as the body of Scripture and the right vnderstanding of it the soule spirit and life thereof he therefore that taketh not the written word in the true sence but swarneth from the sincere interpretation of it cannot be truly said to receiue the written word as a good Christian ought to doe Seing then that the Protestants and al other sectaries doe not receiue the holy Scriptures according vnto the most ancient and best learned Doctors exposition they may most justly be denied to receiue the sacred vvritten word of God at al though they seeme neuer so much to approue al the Bookes Verses and Letters of it vvhich is plainly proued by S. Hierome vpon the first Chapter to the Galathians Now to draw towardes the end of this clause not only neuer a one of M. Abbots assertions whereby he went about to proue them selues and their Church to be Catholike is true as hath beene shewed before but ouer and besides his very conclusion conuinceth himselfe euen by the verdict of himselfe to fal into the foule fault and errour of the Donatists Our faith saith he because it is that which the Apostles committed to writing is the Apostolike faith and our Church by consanguinity and agreement of doctrine is proue to be an Apostolical Church c. and is the only true Catholike Church c. see you not how he is come at length to proue their Church to be Catholike Page 16. Line 5. Ex perfectione doctrinae By perfectnesse of their doctrine vvhich was as he himselfe in this very assertion noted a plaine Donatistical tricke reproued by S. Augustine whom in that point he then approued What doating folly is this in the same short discourse so to forget himselfe as to take that for a sound proofe which he himselfe had before confuted as heretical we like wel of Tertullians obseruation That our faith ought to haue consanguinity and perfect agreement with the Apostles doctrine but that is not the question at this time but vvhether our doctrine or the Protestant be truly called Catholike that is whether of them hath beene receiued and beleeued in al nations ouer the world that is to be proued in this place M. Abbot if he had meant to deale plainly and soundly should not haue gone so about the bush and haue fetched such vvide and vvilde windlesses from old father Abrahams daies but should haue demonstrated by good testimony of the Ecclesiastical Histories or of ancient Fathers vvho were in the pure times of the Church the most Godly and approued Pastours thereof that the ProtestaÌ„ts religion had flourished since the Apostles daies ouer al Europe Afrike and Asia or at least had beene visibly extant in some one country or other naming some certaine Churches in particular which had held in al points their faith and religion vvhich he seing impossible for any man to doe fel into that extrauagant and rouing discourse which you haue heard concluding without any premises sauing his owne bare word that in the written word There is no mention made of the Pope or his Supremacy nor of his Pardons c. Belike there is no mention made of S. Peter nor aught said of his singular prerogatiues It hath not peraduenture That whatsoeuer be should loose on earth should be loosed in heauen The other points were touched before and shal be shortly againe But I would in the meane season be glad to heare where the written word teacheth vs that Kinges and temporal Magistrates are ordained by Christ to be vnder him supreme Gouernours of Ecclesiastical affaires because M. Abbot made choice of this head-article of theirs for an instance that the written word was plaine on their â—ide he should therefore at least haue pointed at some one text or other in the new Testament where it is registred that Princes are supreme gouernours of the Church Nay are temporal Magistrates any Ecclesiastical persons at al or can one that is no member of the Ecclesiastical body be head of al the rest of the Ecclesiastical members or is the state Secular higher and more worthy then the Ecclesiastical and therefore meete to rule ouer it though they be not of it to say so is to preferre the body before the soule nature before grace earth before heauen or is it meete and decent that the lesse worthy-member should haue the supreme command ouer the more honourable vvhere the Christian vvorld is turned topsy-turuy that may be thought meete and expedient but in other places that wil not be admitted for currant vvhich in it selfe is so disorderly and inconuenient without it had better warrant in the word of God then that new position of theirs hath ROBERT ABBOT NOw vvhereas he alleageth that al his Majesties most roial Progenitours haue liued and died in that vvhich he calleth the Catholike and Apostolike faith Ambros lib. 5. epist. he plaieth the part of Symmachus the Pagan sophister who by like argument vvould haue perswaded Valentinian the Emperour to restore their Heathenish Idolatry and abhominations We are to follow our Fathers saith he who with happinesse and felicity followed their Fathers Aug. psal 54. Thus men haue hardned themselues in their heresies saying What my parents were before me the same wil I be But his Majesty wel knoweth that in matter of religion the example of parents is no band to the children L. 2. epist 3. but the trial thereof is to returne to the roote and original of the Lordes tradition as Ciprian speaketh not regarding what any before vs hath thought fit to be done but what Christ hath done who is before al. It is not vnknowne to his Majesty that there should be a time when Apocal. 17. vers 13. the Kinges of the earth shal giue their power and kingdome to the beast vntil the word of God be fulfilled and with the whoore sitting vpon many waters Vers 14. should bende themselues to fight against the Lambe Wherein if any of his Progenitours
censured a base and beggarly vassal for shewing my selfe sorrowful for my Princes misfortune what stile deserues he for such outragious reproches bealched forth against the highest Bishop of Christes Church Now whereas M. Abbot boldly auerreth That thereby his Majesty hath learned to cast off the yoke of bondage by which other Princes are enthralled to a beast sauing his reuerence I answere that other Kinges nourished in countries accounted as ciuil to say the least as Scotland vvil not change that their bondage vvith his Majesties supposed liberty and freedome because they hold it farre better to enjoy the direction and assistance of the Bishop of Rome for the vniforme and peacible gouernement of their Clergy according vnto the ancient Canons of the Church then either to take it into their owne handes or to cōmit it to the discretion of Consistory Ministers or to any other sort of late deuised Ecclesiastical plat-formes Godly wise and vnderstanding Kings vvil no doubt consider that some who perswade them to cast off such yokes are very false Parasites no sound and true harted subjects because it is said of Kinges out of il counsel in the second Psalme Let vs breake their bandes and let vs cast from vs their yoke vvhereas contrariwise in the same place the spirit of God speakes thus to Princes Apprehendite disciplinam Receiue discipline that is obserue al good orders and take correction least that our Lord waxe angry with you and then you perish from the right way And if they themselues should so much forget their duty to God and respect to his holy Church as to seeke the vtter ruine and subuersion of it yet very reason teacheth them that it is farre more safe orderly and expedient that there should be one only supreme Pastour assisted with the graue counsel of some of the wiser sort of euery Christian country as the Popes holinesse is with the counsel of his most graue wise and learned Cardinals to controule and correct them then to be left to the mercy of the Ministers of euery country and to the tumultuous reformation of the rash and giddy multitude who by the cōmon consent of the best learned Protestants must take their Prince in hand and belabour him if he goe about to oppresse the Gospel as hath beene before proued To proceede is it not a rare pranke of a parasite to auouch that an ancient student in diuinity must needes stand dumbe like an Asse before his Majesty and not be able to answere him one word in his owne profession but the Church the Church the Fathers the Fathers I vvish hartily that his excellent Majesty would match me with no meaner a man then Doctor Abbot he that professeth himselfe able to stoppe al mens mouthes to alleage not only the Church and the Fathers but the Scripture the Scripture and by his Highnesse authentike judgement approue him to haue the better cause that can pertinently cite most plaine texts of Scripture for their religion I make no doubt but the Protestant part notwithstāding their common craking of the vvord of God should goe to the ground Marry vvhen vve auouch holy Scripture for vs in as expresse tearmes as can be deuised they wil not yeeld but deuise most extrauagant glosses to fly from the euident testimony of Gods most holy word whereupon we are compelled to make recourse vnto the definition of the Church of God Iob. 16. v. 13. Which is guided by the spirit of God vnto al truth and vnto the learned commentaries of the most ancient holy and juditious Fathers vvho vvere for their times appointed by the holy Ghost to rule and instruct the same his Church that seing how they vnderstood the holy Scriptures vve may by their euen and vnpartial line and square direct our judgement in the true sence of holy Scripture vvhich is the principal cause why we rely so much vpon the Church and Fathers and for vvhich he so scornefully vpbraideth vs vvith the Church the Church the Fathers the Fathers And here to returne one of M. Abbots sharpe wordes vpon himselfe vvhat a dissembling hipocrite was he to say that when al was done we could not make any thing good by either Church or Fathers Sect. 9. 10. when as he himself doth plainly confesse that S. Augustine S. Hierome Epiphanius and diuers other Fathers be flat for vs and is driuen roundly to deny their authority and to preferre the opinions of condemned Heretikes Iouinian Vigilantius and Aërius before these most renowmed Doctors and Pastors As grosse and palpable an vntruth is that vvhich followeth That the Catholikes be not heauily persecuted by the state whereas al their goodes and chattels be vvholy confiscate and two partes of their landes their bodies at pleasure subject to prison there to lie without baile or mainprise their persons daily in danger of death for receiuing or any vvay maintaining their Pastours to omit al other their oppressions which be almost innumerable but belike because al Catholikes be not by most cruel death suddainly made away this Minister of bloud accounteth their persecution light and easie And vvhereas he so enlargeth the short and smal persecution of their bretheren I doe offer to joine with him in this issue that more Catholike Priests Religious men and others haue beene tormented murthered and most despitefully slaine by men of their religion within the compasse of two Realmes France and England during the only time of Queene Elizabeth her raigne then were of Protestants and men of al other Sects for a thousand yeares before in those countries yea take to them also al Spaine and Italy The Donatists and al other sectaries doe suffer persecution as S. Augustine truly saith for their obstinate folly vvhat of that ergo whosoeuer suffereth persecution for his religion is a foole what a foolish reason in this then were the Apostles and al the best Christians fooles But M. Abbot saith We be children and can yeeld no reason for that we suffer but what ignorance affordeth vs to wit we must cleaue to the Church and follow our fore-fathers Surely that were a foule fault that we as children should obey our Mother the holy Church and follow the faith and religion of our fore-fathers But first it is most palpably false that we can yeeld no other reason for our religion as our bookes euidently doe conuince Then if we had no other reason but that one it alone were sufficient for it is an article of our Creede to beleeue the Church and S. Paul assureth vs 1. Tim. 3. vers 15. That the Church is the pillar and ground of truth vvhereupon this is receiued as a principle of faith among the ancient Fathers allowed euen by Protestants themselues That he that hath not the Church to his Mother shal neuer haue God to his Father he therefore that cleaueth fast vnto the firme pillar of the Church and followeth her precepts as of a most faithful Mother can neuer goe astray
proofes for the Princes supremacy the Emperours some times called general Councels ergo they were supreme gouernors in causes Ecclesiastical a doubty argument as you may perceiue by the like A Lord calleth for his tenants being carpenters to build him a house ergo that Lord is the chiefest carpenter in the country If that Lord be not taken for supreme judge in the carpenters occupation though he had ful power to assemble the carpenters together vvhy shal the Emperour be esteemed chiefe gouernour in Ecclesiastical causes for that he hath authority to cal Ecclesiastical persons together Againe al men know that Ecclesiastical persons are in al temporal causes subject vnto temporal Princes who therefore may command them to meete together to compose contentions risen about spiritual causes vvhereby the temporal peace of his country is also much hindred and this may be wel done vvithout any pretence vnto soueraignity ouer them in spiritual matters so that if it were graunted that the Emperour had authority to cal general Councels yet it vvould not follow thereof that he were supreme head in Ecclesiastical causes much lesse can he be taken for supreme gouernour because the Popes gaue vnto the Emperours the cōmon and vsual wordes of courtesie as M. Abbot afterward very childishly reasoneth But let vs come to the ground-worke of the question I affirme then that though Emperour or King for the temporal command he hath ouer his spiritual subjects may cal them together vvhen there is just cause yet the soueraigne summoning of al Bishops Ecclesiastical persons to a general Councel doth not properly or principally belong to the Emperours but vnto the chiefe Pastour among them for very reason teacheth euery judicious man by induction through al societies it is most manifest that the chiefest member of any corporation or assotiation hath by instinct of nature that priuiledge of calling together the rest of that cōpany and corporation wherefore the lay Magistrate that is no proper member of the Ecclesiastical congregation cannot in natural reason and equity haue that power of assembling the Clergy together Besides no Christian Emperor had euer yet so much as temporal dominion ouer al Christendome those Christians then that were not his subjects at al could not be called together by his authority That their Empire vvhen it was at the largest vvas not so large as the bounds and limits of Christian religion S. Leo himselfe is witnesse in these wordes Sermon 1. in Natiuit SS Apost Petri Pauli Rome being made head of the world by the Chaire of S. Peter doth rule ouer more Countries by heauenly religion then by earthly dominion Againe since the Emperours became Christian not one hundred yeares together scarse did one Emperour command ouer al the Empire but lightly one gouerned in the East another ouer the West I would then gladly know to whether of them it belonged to cal general Councels or whether the Church of God must be destitute of such Councels vntil that matter were agreed vpon Further the calling of national prouincial Councels doth according vnto S. Augustine and Antiquity Aug. Ep. 217. Cal. lib. 4. Instit c. 7. n. 8. allowed therein by M. Caluin and the great hundred of * Centur. 4. c. 7. col 534. Magdeburge appertaine vnto the Primates and Metrapolitans of the same nation and prouince therefore by the like proportion it doth not appertaine to the Emperors but vnto the chief Patriarke of the Church to cal a general Councel That S. Leo on vvhose authority M. Abbot here doth stand tooke S. Peter first and after him the Bishops of Rome to be such I wil briefly proue thus he vvriteth Out of the whole world one Peter is chosen Serm. tert de Assumptione sua to haue chiefe charge of the vocation of the Gentils and is placed ouer the other Apostles and al the Fathers of the Church so that albeit there be among the people of God many Priests and many Pastours yet doth Peter peculiarly gouerne them ouer whom Christ doth principally raigne so that al temporal Princes who vvil not deny Christ to raigne ouer them must by S. Leos verdict acknowledge themselues subject in spiritual cases to S. Peter and his successours The same he doth confirme at large in an Epistle to the Bishops of the prouince of Vienna where he concludeth in these wordes To which S. Peter whosoeuer doth deny the primacy Epistola 87. he cannot in any sort diminish his dignity but puffed vp with the spirit of pride he doth drowne himselfe in the gulfe of hel Now least any man should take exceptions against S. Peters successours the Bishops of Rome though he vvould graunt the supremacy vnto S. Peter I adde that S. Leo in that second place doth rather speake of his owne authority vnder the name of S. Peter impugned then by Hilarius Bishop of Vienna then of S. Peters owne time Yet for more cleare demonstration of it Sermon 2. de anniuersario Assumptionis suae take these his wordes The disposition and order of truth doth continue and blessed Peter perseuering in the fortitude of a rocke hath not forsaken the gouernement of the Church which he vndertooke Peter I say doth to this day hold on and continue stil and liueth in his successours which he confirmeth in an hundreth places of his Epistles by me for breuities sake omitted contenting my selfe vvith that which he vvriteth in one letter vnto Anastasius Bishop of the Thessalonians to whom you shal see what authority he giues Epist 82. ad Anastasium Like as saith he my predecessours haue giuen to your predecessours euen so doe I following their example delegate vnto your charity the roome or charge of my gouernement that you imitating our mildenesse may helpe vs in the care which we owe vnto al Churches by the institution of God principally and that you may in a sort represent the presence of our visitation vnto prouinces farre distant from the Apostolical See of Rome For by reason of your nearenesse to them you may more readily see what matters and in what manner either you your selfe may by your diligence compose or else reserue vnto our judgement vvhere going on according to the Canons of the holy Fathers made by the spirit of God to vse his owne wordes he giues to that Bishop of Thessalonia dignity and authority ouer many Metrapolitanes of diuers prouinces That none be chosen without his priuity but al confirmed by his authority Canon 6. Item That if among the Prelates there happen to be question of greater affaires which God forbidde that cannot be ended by the prouincial Synode the Metrapolitan shal then prouide to instruct your brother-hood of the state of the whole businesse and if the parties being present it cannot be appeased by your judgement let it whatsoeuer it be be referred to our knowledge Canon 7. vvhere he giueth him Authority to cal Bishops before him and a Councel also if
greedinesse and couetousnesse of their familiars their bretheren their nephewes vnder which name commonly goe their bastards but because they asscribe to marriage as the old Heretikes did Bellarm. de Cler. lib. 1. cap. 19. pollution and vncleanenesse which cannot stand with the sanctity and holinesse of the Priestly function WILLIAM BISHOP IF M. Abbot did not euery vvhere almost shew himselfe to be a shamelesse man and one that careth not how corruptly so he may somewhat colourably cite the ancient Fathers sentences this passage were alone more then sufficient to proue him to be no better then a cosening counterfeit In these few lines there are foure euident vntruthes vttered by him The first is that a man is not repelled from being a Bishop for hauing wife children but only for feare of dilapidation of the Church goods This is most euidently false for though the feare of spending the Church goods vpon prophane vses be one cause vvhy it is not expedient that a Bishop or Priest should be maried yet the more principal reason thereof is the purity of the single life and the freenesse of it from al such vvorldly affaires and temporal troubles as are necessarily linked vvith the care of prouision for wife children This you heard before out of S. Leo who was predecessor to Pope Pelagius the first by more then an hundred yeares These be also the reasons of S. Augustine and S. Hierome vvho vvrote thereof vvhole volumes against the Heretike Iouinian and were giuen first by S. Paul himselfe when he teacheth that 1. Cor. 7. vers 31. he who is without a wife is careful for the thinges that pertaine to our Lord how he may please God but he that is with a wife is careful for the thinges that appertaine to the world how he may please his wife and is diuided And Vers 32. Vers 34. the woman vnmaried and virgin thinkes on the thinges that pertaine to our Lord that shee may be holy both in body and spirit See the more special groundes of the single life of clergy-men wherevpon euen by the confession of M. Abbot himselfe Page 42. A law was made in the Church of Rome by Pope Siritius who was 150. yeares before Pelagius that al Priests and Deacons should either be chosen single men or else promise to abstaine wholy from the company of their wiues which is also decreed in the second Councel of Carthage holden about the same time where the holy Bishops there assembled doe say Canon 2. That we may keepe that which the Apostles did teach and Antiquity herselfe obserued giuing al men to vnderstand that the single and chast life of the Clergy vvas taught by the Apostles and obserued in most pure Antiquity It being then so notorious and wel knowne a thing that whosoeuer would be a Bishop must needs refraine from the company of his wife no caution was required for that by Pope Pelagius because there was no question or doubt of it And M. Abbot dealeth deceitfully to argue out of the not mentioning of that vvhich was vnderstood of al men as necessary to be presupposed and is in most of the Canons of the very same distinction Distinct 28. expresly deliuered and also in two other vvhole distinctions going next before His second false tricke is in the citation of the glosse and that a very foule one for he chops it off in the middest leauing out that which wil marre al his market The glosse saith vpon that caution against dilapidations that it is to be vnderstood when be that is chosen to be a Bishop doth loue his wife and children so tenderly that it is to be presumed he would for their sakes dilapidare the Church goods c. otherwise a man is not repelled for wife and children to wit for that point of dilapidations whereof the glosse there speaketh This to be the sence any vnderstanding man vvould easily perceiue if the glosse had gone no further But it addeth as it were to meete with M. Abbots cauil Dum tamen longa continentia praecesserit A man that hath a wife may be admitted to be a Bishop putting in good surety that he wil not dilapidare the Church goods yet with this prouiso That he hath long before liued continently that is refrained wholy from the company of his wife as it is before said in the Canon Priusquam of the same distinction See how expresly the glosse excepts that which M. Abbot auoucheth it to affirme His third false tale is That the Church of Rome now wil by no means admit maried men to be bishops priests which is not true for in those very cases vvherein they vvere at any time admitted before they vvould be admitted now that is If there were want of other able men and some such eminent learning and vertue in a maried man as were not to be found in a single then he might be made both Priest Bishop so that he and his wife would liu◠continently for there is no Canon of the Church to the contrary His fourth lie is a luculent and bright one That we forsooth asscribe pollution and vncleanenesse to marriage as the old Heretikes did for neither Cardinal Bellarmine vvhom he quoteth nor any other Catholike doth teach the act of matrimony to be the worke of the Deuil or damnable sinne as the Manichees and some other Heretikes did Nay he declareth there plainly that it may be without any sinne at al though most commonly concupiscence beare to great a sway in it both preuenting the rule of reason and somewhat exceeding the measure of it as a Lib. 14. de Ciuitat c. 17. Item lib. 5. cont Iulian. cap. 8. 10. S. Augustine testifieth and doth make a man more dul and heauy to spiritual exercises and not so pure holy as the office of a Priest doth require as b Hier. lib. 1. cōt Iouinian S. Hierome and c Chrysost l. 6 de Sacerdot S. Chrysostome doe witnesse And that a man thereby is made lesse holy and pure both in body and spirit S. Paules owne vvordes doe intimate ¶ 1. Cor. 7. vers 34. The woman vnmarried thinketh how shee may be holy both in body and spirit so that within the compasse of not many lines M. Abbot le ts flie two cast of lies and yet as it were not content vvith so few he interlaceth three other lies to furbish and smooth vp the rest The first is that now a daies married men are not repelled from Bishopricks to auoide dilapidations which is false For that is one cause as I shewed before and is also touched euen by that most renowmed Father Bellarmine euen in the same place cited by M. Abbot De Clericis lib. 1. cap. 19. in his fifth reason vvhere he teacheth That the marriage of Bishops and Priests doth hinder much that hospitality and tender care of the poore which men of the Church ought to haue for the
care of prouiding for wife children doth wholy extinguish or greatly diminish their good house-keeping and prouiding for the poore as the lamentable experience of our very time doth sufficiently instruct vs. What if some Popes or other Clergy-men haue beene too forward to satisfie the greedy couetousnesse of their carnal friends that is their owne fault contrary to the prouident order and law of the Church and if the corrupt nature of man be so inclinable to fauor them that be next in bloud to them was it not right vvisely ordained by our Church that Clergy-men should haue no wiues and children for that men naturally doe loue them most dearely and vse al meanes to prouide for them But how carelesly herein doe the Protestants carry themselues vvho doe encourage and as it were push their Clergy-men forward to haue wiues and children vvho being thereby clogged with the cares of this world bidde adieu to al courteous and plentiful hospitality and leaue the poore to shift as they can for themselues for they haue more then enough to doe to prouide for their owne wiues and children The second lie is shuffled into the parenthesis taken out of Platina to vvit That vnder the name of nephewes commonly goe their bastards vvhich is not in his authour but a most malitious slander deuised of his owne head and auouched without any testimony and therefore to be contemned The third is in that he maketh Platina to affirme it to be a common thing with the Popes which he only noteth for a special fault in some few Is this man worthy thinke you the sacred title of a Diuine or of the common name of an honest man vvho doth in manner nothing else but sow lies together and that sometimes so thicke that for euery line neere hand there is onelie or other vvas his meaning trow you to giue instruction to the ignorant and satisfaction to the learned as often he vaunteth or rather to blinde the simple and to feede the vaine folly of the ouer credulous Protestant Prouerb 10. Qui nititur mendacijs saith the vvise man hic pascit ventos Idem insequitur aues volantes He that relieth on lies doth feede the windes that is may please vaine and light heades He doth also follow birdes flying in the aire that is doth feede the humour of hawty wauering and vnsettled spirits but can neuer giue contentment or satisfaction to any graue modest and discreet man who doth flie from a crafty and subtle liar as from the very off-spring of that Serpent which with lying deceiued our first mother Eue. But goe on vvith your lies seing it wil be no otherwise ROBERT ABBOT THE Emperours of Rome Theodosius and Valens according vnto the doctrine of the ancient Church of Rome Petri Crinit de honest disciplina lib. 9. cap. 9. Vpon care of preseruing the religion of the high God did forbidde the making grauing or painting of the Crucifix and commanded it vpon penalty to be abolished wheresoeuer it was found But now not the making â—nly but also the vvorshipping of the Crucifix is a matter of high religion in the same Church of Rome WILLIAM BISHOP VERITAS non quaerit latebras Truth is not ashamed of her selfe nor coueteth to hide her head in corners vvhen shee may with safety be suffered to shew her face publikely That decree of the Christian Emperour Theodosius is extant and to be seene in the very corps of the ciuil law vvhat needed then M. Abbot to runne vnto a late obscure authour called Petrus Crinitus Peter with the long haire to seeke that which is of so good record in so famous a volume thinke you that it is without some mistery that he being thirsty would leaue the fresh fountaine and runne to drinke of the dirty puddle Latet anguis in herbae There is a padde in the straw A strange longing he had to finde out some cauil against any part of the doctrine of the Church of Rome and because that could not be by the true and ful report of the Catholike Emperours decrees he would needs fly to some broken relation of he cared not whom to blinde his vnwary reader vvithal The decree then as it vvas made by the Emperour and standeth Authentikely in the Code maketh much for the honour of the Crosse for he commanded That the signe of the Crosse should not be ingrauen Lib. 1. Codi tit leg Cùm sit nobis or painted on the pauement Ne sacrum signum pedibus calcaretur that the holy signe of the Crosse might not be trodden vnder feete Which said decree of Theodosius the elder the Emperour Tyberius the second one of his Godly successours vnderstanding wel vvhen he espied a Crosse cut in marble lying on the ground he commanded it to be lifted vp saying Paul Diaconus lib. 18. Rerum Romanarum We ought to blesse our fore-head and breast with the Crosse of our Lord and we treade it vnder our feete In what high estimation the signe of the Crosse was vvith that most bright mirrour of Emperors Constantine the great and how gloriously it was placed in their Diademes Pallaces and publike places no man can be ignorant that is acquainted with their Hystories And somwhat I haue said thereof already in the question of Images therefore I doe here omit to speake any more of a matter so euident I might here by the way blame M. Abbot not only for his deceitful dealing but also because he forgetteth vvhereabout he goes for his drift here is to teach that S. Peter and S. Paules successours the Bishops of Rome did of old teach another doctrine then these of later yeares doe now of vvhich number of Bishops Theodosius the Emperour was none but many such faults as this I let passe vvittingly or else I should neuer make an end And vvhereas he addeth That these Emperours did forbidde the making of the Crosse according vnto the doctrine of the ancient Church of Rome Obserue first that it is so said only without any proof and besides it is auouched very impudently as being flat repugnant vnto the knowne and notorious practise of Constantine the great their late and most famous predecessour Now to the next ROBERT ABBOT Greg. lib. 9. Moral ca. 1. 14. GREGORY Bishop of Rome taught That al the merit of our vertue al our righteousnesse is but vice and vnrighteousnesse if it be stricktly examined it needeth therefore praier after righteousnesse saith he that whereas being sifted it would quaile it may by the only mercy of the Iudge stand for good Bernard in Annot. 1. De lib. Arbit Grat. In fine Trident. sess 6 cap. 16. Yea and Bernard by the same doctrine of the Church of Rome saith That mens merits are not such as that eternal life is due vnto them of right or that God should doe wrong if he did not giue the same they are the way to the Kingdome saith he but not the cause of obtaining the
must be a pure body most cleane from al contagion of sinne wherefore not this body of ours which cannot be without sinne must needes be vtterly consumed and a new spiritual body framed This was one principal foundation of Proclus enormious opinion in which the Protestants jump with him that whiles this body of ours liueth sinne is neuer rooted out of it It may be say they as also Proclus there said before them checked or cropped in vs or not imputed to vs but it cannot whiles we liue be cleane purged and rooted out Finally this very argument of Proclus which M. Abbot would father vpon Methodius is in the ensuing discourse of Methodius towardes the end crossed and confuted vvhere he teacheth out of the same Apostle That by the law of the spirit of God and through the vertue of Christes grace that sinne which was in our bodies is condemned to death that is ouercome vanquished and killed These arguments taken out of the most material circumstances of this discourse as of that which goeth before it and doth immediately follow after with the principal assertion in it self set downe both in the beginning and ending of it must needes perswade any indifferent reader that M. Abbot vvas wonderfully carelesse of his credit to thrust out such an impudent assertion so contrary to al likenesse of truth that any man that wil but haue the patience to reade ouer so long chapters may most easily discouer the falshood of it One poore colour M. Abbot found out to deceiue himselfe and others that it was no continuation of Proclus speech Because forsooth Proclus seemeth to confute Origens exposition of the coates of skinne which God made for Adam Origen tooke them to signifie this body of ours Proclus not so but only to notifie the same bodies to be then first made mortal but this shadow of a reason is so simple that it vvil not fray a babe For it often falleth out that the scholler of an erronious teacher vvil not vvholy agree with his master but though he follow him in the maine point of his doctrine yet he vvil haue some one tricke or other of his owne aboue him so Proclus albeit he stood stoutly to Origen in the denial of the Resurrection of the same body in substance vvhich was the head controuersie yet did he dissent from him in the exposition of the coates of skinnes vvhich was but an appendix to the other But this proues not Proclus discourse to be that of Methodius nay it plainly disproues it for Methodius giueth a third interpretation of those skinnes differing from both the other vvhich is also farre more litteral then the other two to wit That the skinnes were made by God for our first parents to couer their nakednesse and to keepe them from the cold To conclude this Section seing there be so manifold great and plaine reasons against M. Abbot and he hauing no better shelter for his surmise then that silly shift vvhich you haue heard of the diuers interpretation of the skinnes seemeth he not to be past al shame and vvorthy to be thrust into an Asses skinne that hereupon takes an occasion to insult against me as though he had gotten a mighty victory Page 52. these be his wordes Now where were M. Bishops wits that could thinke that these were the wordes of Proclus Surely be read the place very early in the morning before he had his ful sleepe or late after supper when he should haue beene in bedde or else he borrowed them from some of his Masters the Iesuites who make as little conscience what they say as he doth We must be content with such stuffe as he can yeeld vs The broker can afford no other wares then he himselfe had receiued of the marchant See how pleasant and plentiful the man is vpon very smal aduantage nay vpon no aduantage at al but only vpon the displaying of his owne grosse ignorance or too too great ouersight I am so farre off from taking this vpon the bare report of others that besides the diligent reading of the Latin translation of Epiphanius I haue looked also into his owne Greeke text vvhere I finde the same distinctions First Proclus wordes with this title Proclou tou Autou the wordes of Proclus himselfe and after them an entire continuation of the same vvithout any signe of interruption for more then foure ful leaues And then in another distinct seperation Loipon tou Methodiou the rest or that which followeth is of Methodius Betweene which two partitions al the discourse is of Proclus owne deuise out of which M. Abbot draweth for their defence some sentences and being ashamed as good cause he had of such a shameful Patrone he vvould gladly haue fathered that badde discourse vpon Methodius a reuerend Catholike Bishop see and wonder at the blinde folly of Protestants that blush not to maintaine Heretikes opinions very stoutly and yet are ashamed of the name and company of the Heretikes themselues Either let them hardly auouch those authours vvorthy to be respected imbraced and followed or else hartily and happily giue ouer forsake and detest those their damnable opinions which made them vnto al holy and learned Antiquity exceeding odious Othervvise they maintaining the very selfe same errours must needes in the end proue vnto al vpright and wel vnderstanding men in like manner infamous and be no lesse hated and auoided of al good Christians then their founders and masters vvere before them Thus farre of Proclus the Originist vvhom M. Abbot would by a strange metamorphosis haue transformed into Methodius an auncient Catholike Bishop Now I come vnto his 34. Section vvhere to trounch me and vpon occasion of my speeches to traduce al English-Catholikes he powreth out a foule turbulent flood of vaine and currish eloquence These are my vvordes vpon which he runneth a very rude and jarring descant WILLIAM BISHOP AND when they shal see no hope of remedy the state being settled Page 225. and a continual posterity like to ensue of the same nature and condition God knowes what that forcible weapon of necessity may constraine and driue men to at the length ROBERT ABBOT IN this period M. Bishop thought to shew himselfe a politike wise-man and contrary to his owne expectation (a) Who told him so al his fellowes condemne him for a foole they had but one special secret amongst them and he hath plaid the part of Tom-tel-trouth to reueale it What M. Bishop are you such a blabbe that you cannot keepe your owne and your fellowes counsel but must needes out with it And had you no other body to whom to discouer it if you must needes so doâ— but thus bluntly to blunder it out to the King But be of good cheare man let not this discomfort you too much satisfie your friendes and assure them (b) Which they esteeme as much as of a straw vpon our word that vve knew your mindes before we knew you were no changlinges