vs expresly that the two tables written with the finger of God contained all the wordes which the Lord spake to them in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly Fiftly God commanded that the king of the Israelies so soone as he should be established in his throne should write out the Deutronomie or law repeated in a book according to the example which the priests of the Leuiticall tribe should giue him that he might meditate therein all the dayes of his life Sixtly Iosue made a couenant with the people and gaue them a law in Sichem and wrote all the wordes in the booke of the law VVhich words were nothing else but a repetition of the couenant written by Moses which couenant Iosue was commanded to obserue so strictly that he might neither decline to the right hand nor to the left And the same law contained all those precepts ceremonies and iudgements which God commanded Moses to teach the people of Israel Locus secundus Ne addas quicquam verbis eius Dei ne forte arguat te inueniaris mendax Thou must ad nothing to Gods words lest he reprooue thee and thou be found a lier This text Saint Hierome vnderstandeth of the holy scriptures to which no man may ad any thing bee it more be it lesse The scriptures therefore are most perfect and absoute and containe euery doctrine needfull for vs to know Locus tertius Ad legem magis ad testimonium Quod si non dixerint iuxta verbum hoc non erit eis matutina lux To the law and to the testimonie If they speake not according to this word there is no matutine or true light in them Loe they that refuse to be taught of Gods prophet who is the mouth of God and seeke helpe at the dead which is the illusion of Satan are here reprooued as men void of knowledge and as blind leaders of the blind And withall they are charged to seeke remedie in the word of God where his will is declared They and wee must euer in all doubts and difficulties haue continuall recourse to the law of God which law is here tearmed the testimonie because it is the testification of Gods will toward man because there is set downe what God requireth of vs because we may find in it whatsoeuer is necessarie for vs to know For the Prophet ioyneth the testimonie with the law not as a thing distinct from it but as an explication of the same As if he had said yee must in all doubts haue recourse to the law of God because it is the testimonie of his holy will Saint Hierome yeeldeth the like sense and interpretation of this place these are his wordes Si vultis nosse quae dubia sunt magis vae legi testimonijs tradite scripturarum Quia si noluerit vestra congregatio verbum domini quoerere non habebit lucē veritatis sed versabitur in erroris tenebris If ye will know the things that are doubtfull ye must haue recourse to the law and to the testimonies of the scriptures For if your people will not seeke Gods word they cannot attaine the light of truth but shall walke in the darknesse of errour Locus quartus Mementote legis Mosis serui mei quam mandaui ei in Horeb ad omnem Israel Remember the law of Moses my seruant which I commanded to him in Horeb to all Israel Marke these wordes seriously because they proue euidently the question now in hand For this Malachias being the last of Gods Prophets and foreseeing by the spirit of God that the Israelites should bee without Prophets a long time euen till the comming of Christ doth here exhort them diligently to be mindfull of the law of Moses As if he should say the time is at hand when ye shall be destitute of Prophets and therefore yee must marke well what the law saith and doe according to the prescript rule thereof But what is the reason why hee maketh no mention of the Prophets doubtlesse because all things as you haue already heard are fully comprised in the written word of the law For although the law and the Prophets were vntill Iohn the one foretelling Christs comming by word the other by tipes and figures yet was the doctrine of the Prophets nothing else in deede but an explication of the law and consequently Malachie willing the Israelites to remember the law of Moses doth thereby sufficiently insinuat the doctrine of the Prophets as who are nothing else but the interpreters of Moses For from the law they might neither turne to the right hand nor to the left That the law containeth the whole Christian doctrine necessarie vnto saluation two famous popish doctors Lyra and Dionisius Carthusianus doe testifie whose wordes shall be alledged expresly when I come to the places of the new testament Ex nouo Testamento Locus primus Haec scripta sunt c. These are written that you may beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God and that in beleeuing yee might haue life through his name Here the reader must obserue seriously with me that this Gospell was written after all other scriptures of the old and new testament euen when the canon of the scriptures was complet perfect and fully accomplished viz. almost an hundred yeeres after Christ ascention into heauen about the fourteenth yeere of the raigne of Domitianus then emperour VVhich obseruation being well marked all the sottish cauils of the papists will easilie be auoided Now let vs see how the auntient fathers doe vnderstand this place of scripture Saint Cyrill hath these wordes Non omnia quae Dominus fecit conscripta sunt sed quae scribentes tam ad mores quam ad dogmata sufficere putarunt vt recta fide operibus ad regnum coelorum perueniamus All things which our Lord did are not written but those things onely which the writers deemed sufficient as well for manners as for doctrine that by a right faith and good life we may attaine the kingdome of heauen Saint Austen hath these wordes Cum multa fecisset dominus non omnia scripta sunt electa sunt antem quae scriberentur que saluti credentium sufficere videbantur VVhen our Lord had done many things all were not written but so much was chosen out to be written as was thought to be sufficient for the saluation of the faithfull Loe gentle reader so much is comprised in the holy scriptures as is necessarie for our saluation as well in those things which concerne our life and manners as in things concerning faith and doctrine VVhich if the papists will graunt vs they may keepe their vnwritten traditions vntill Gods people haue need thereof For I see not why they should enforce vs to admit them except they were necessarie either for faith or at the least for good maners both which notwithstanding
not the scriptures onely but the fathers also doe denie Locus secundus Non enim subterfugi quo minus annuntiarum vobis omne consilium Dei For I haue not spared to shew vnto you the whole counsell of God This portion of scripture is vnderstood of things pertaining to our saluation as two famous popish writers Nicholaus Lyranus and Dyonisius Carthusianus doe contest with me Carthusiauus hath these wordes Sed cum alibi scriptum sit quis consiliarius eius fuit sapiens quoque dixerit quis homini poterit scire consilium Dei quomodo potuit Paulus omne consilium Dei annuntiare hominibus respondendum quod non simpliciter de omni consiliâ—â— Dei intendit sed de omni consilio Dei quantum ad humanam spectai salutem Quemadmodum etiam ait saluator omnia audiui à patre meo nota feci vobis But seeing it is written else where who hath beene his counseller and seeing the wise man also saith what man can know the counsell of God how could Paul shew vnto men all the counsell of God answere must bee made that he meaneth not simply of all the counsell of God but of all the counsell of God so farre foorth as appertaineth to mans saluation As our sauiour also saith all things which I heard my father I haue notified vnto you Lyra teacheth the very same doctrine I omit his words for the regard I haue to breuitie By whose iudgement it is most euident that the whole counsell of God touching our saluation is contained in the holy Scriptures And it will not helpe the papists to answere or say that all the counsell of God was preached but not written For first the Apostle saith he was called to be an Apostle seuered into the Gospell of God which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures Secondly he auoucheth plainely that he taught none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come to passe Thirdly Lyranus and Carthusianus two renowmed papists tell vs that all necessarie doctrine is contained in the precepts of loue Carthusianus hath these words Omnia precepta documenta hortamenta legis ac prophetarum ordinantur ad horum obseruantiam mandatorum virtualiter continentur in cis sicut conclusiones in primis principijs All precepts documents and exhortations of the law and the prophets are ordained to the keeping of these coÌ„mandements and are virtually contained in them as conclusions in the first principles Lyranus hath these words Propter hoc omnia mandata legis monitiones non sunt nisi quaedam explicationes istorum duorum mandatoruÌ„ Quia omnia ordinantur ad dilectionem dei proximi similiter doctrina prophetarum ad hoc ordinatur For this cause all the commandements of the law and all admonitions are nothing els but certaine explications of these two commaundements Because all things are ordained to the loue of God and of our neighbour and in like manner the doctrine of the prophets is referred to the same end Fourthly the Iesuit Bellarmine telleth vs that the books of the prophets and Apostles are the infallible rule of faith These are his expresse words Illud in primis statuendum erit Propheticos Apostolicos libros iuxta mentem ecclesiae Cath. olim in Conc. 3. Carthag nuper in Conc. Trid. explicatam verum esse verbum dei certam ac stabilem regulam fidei This must be set downe for a ground and sure foundation that the bookes of the prophets and Apostles according to the mind of the Catholike Church declared aforetime in the third counsell of Carthage and of late in the counsell of Trent is the true word of God and the sure and stable rule of our faith The same Iesuit in another place hath yet more manifast and cleere words which are these Quare cum sacra scriptura regula credendi certissima tutissimaque sit sanus profecto non erit qui ea neglecta spiritus interniâ—soepe fallacis semper incerti iudicio se commiserit VVherefore seeing the holy Scripture is the most certaine and most secure rule of faith he is not well in his wits doubtlesse who hauing neglected the same shall commit himselfe to the iudgement of the internall spirit which often deceiueth and neuer is sure or found These words of our Iesuiticall Cardinall if they be well marked will not onely confound himselfe who elswhere teacheth the contrarie doctrine but also euidently proue the controuersie now in hand For first he saith that the bookes of the Apostles and Prophets rightly expounded are the infallible rule of faith Secondly that the holy Scripture is the most safe and most secure rule how to beleeue Thirdly that he is mad whosoeuer will giue credit to the inward spirit and not stay himselfe vpon the written word All which doubtlesse confound him and his Iesuiticall broode as who will not relie vpon the written testimonies of Gods truth but seeke after vnwritten falshoods and vanities and ground their faith vpon the same Fiftly S. Austen teacheth the selfesame truth when he telleth vs flatly that nothing is contained in the Gospell and epistles of the Apostles which is not also comprised in the law and the Prophets These are his expresse words In eo tanta praedicatio prenuntiatio noui testamenti est vt nulla in euangelica atque Apostolica disciplina reperiantur quaâ—uis ardua diuina proecepta promissa quae illis etiam libris veteribus desint In the old testament the new testament is so largely preached and foreshewed that nothing can be found in the discipline or doctrine of the Gospell and of the Apostles although they be hard and diuine precepts and promises which are wanting in those old bookes This being so it followeth of necessitie that all things needfull to saluation are contained in the Scriptures For S. Paule preached all the counsell of God S. Paules preachings are contained in the doctrine of the prophets the doctrine of the prophets is contained in the law the law was written with the finger of God Ergo à primo ad vltimum all things necessarie for our saluation are contained in the written word of God Locus tertius Because from thine infancie thou hast knowne the holy Scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVhich are able to make thee wise vnto saluatioÌ„ throgh faith which is in Christ Iesus Thus saith S. Paul But doubtlesse if so much be written as is able to make vs wise to saluation we stand in need of no more it is ynough Let the papists keepe their vnwritten traditions to themselues let vs relie vpon the written truth Let vs be wise vnto saluation contenting our selues with that which it pleased God to reueale in his written word and let them be presumptuous and curious to follow mans inuentions and to beleeue vnwritten vanities The second reason drawne from
so I conclude that mortall and veniall sinnes as they be such are not distinguished intrinse cally and essentially but onely in respect of Gods grace which assigneth one sinne to the paine or torture of death and not another Thus writeth this famous popish bishop who was a man of high esteeme in the counsell of Constance Whose onely testimonie if his words be well marked is able to confound the papists and to strike them dead For first he telleth them plainely that euery sinne is mortall of it owne nature Secondly that no sinne is veniall saue only in respect of Gods mercie Thirdly that God may most iustly iustissimè condeme vs for the least sinne we do Note seriously gentle reader the word iustissimè Fourthly that mortall and veniall sinnes are the same intrinse cally and essentially and differ but accidentally that is to say they differ in accident but not in nature in quantitie but not in qualitie in mercy but not in deformitie in the subiect but not in the obiect in imputation but not in enormitie saue onely that the one is a greater mortall sinne than is the other For as Gerson auoucheth we may iustly be damned for the least sinne of all howsoeuer other papists doe flatter themselues in their cursed deformed venials Seuenthly because sinne in generall is the transgression of Gods law as S. Ambrose defineth it yea euery word deed or desire against Gods law as S. Austen describeth it Their words are set downe in the fourth article of this discourse Eightly because the Iesuit Bellarmine vnawares confesseth the same against himselfe These are his owne words Respondeo omne peccatum esse contra legem dei non positiuam sed aternam vt Aug. rectè docet Omnis enim iusta lex siue à deo siue ab bomine detur ab aterna dei lege deriuatur Est enim aterna lex vt malum sit viol are regulam I answere that euery sinne is against the law of God not positiue but eternall as Austen teacheth rightly For euery iust law whether it be given of God or of man is deriued from the eternal law of God For the eternall law is that it is euill to offend against the rule These are our Iesuits owne words which as euery child can easily discerne doe euidently confute himselfe and his Romish doctrine For first vnder euery sinne must needs be contained their veniall sinnes or els some sinnes shall be no sinnes which implieth flat contradiction Secondly he telâ—eth vs that euery sinne and consequently veniall sinnes are against the eternall law of God Thirdly he graunteth that they are not onely besides the law sed contra legem but euen against the law Fourthly hence it is cleere and euident that the law eternall is the chiefe and principall law of all other laws seeing from it all other lawes are deriued Ninthly because the papists cannot possibly yeeld any sound reason why in the sinnes of theft one shall be mortall and another veniall For example sake let vs suppose one at one time to steale so many egs as will make a mortall sinne by Romish doctrine another at another time to steale so many as will make a venial sinne by the same doctrine then I demaund of our papists Why God cannot iustly condemne the theefe to hell that stealeth but so many egs and for all that can iustly condemne him to eternall torment that stealeth but one only egge aboue the said number For this must they doe and a good reason here of must they yeeld which I am well assured they can neuer do or els confesse euery sinne to be mortall and so against their wils to subscribe to mine opinion Answere ô papists if ye can if ye cannot then repent for shame and yeeld vnto the truth The seuenth Article Of popish vnwritten traditions THe papists beare the world in hand that many things necessarie for mans saluation are not conteined in the holy scriptures of the old and new testament and consequently that none can be saued but such as beleeue their vnwritten traditions and what their Pope telleth them For the exact knowledge whereof I put downe these propositions The first Proposition with the first reason THe written word or holy scripture containeth in it selfe euery doctrine necessarie for mans saluation I prooue it by the manifold texts both of the old and new testament by the authoritie of the holy fathers and by the the testimonie of renowned and best approoued popish writers Ex testamente veteri Locus primus Ye shall not add to the word which I speak vnto you neither shall ye take any thing away from it Againe thus That which I command that only doe thou to the Lord. Neither add any thing nor take any thing away Againe thus Only be thou strong and of a valiant courage that thou mayest obserue and doe according to all the law which Moses my seruant hath coÌ„manded thee Thou shalt not turne away from it neither to the right hand nor to the left Bee carefull that ye keepe all things which are written in the booke of the law of Moses that ye decline not from them neither to the right hand nor to the left By these manifold texts we may see euidently that the holy scriptures are most perfect and that nothing may bee taken from them neither any thing added to them But doubtlesse if all doctrine necessarie for mans saluation were not sufficiently conteined in them then of necessitie many things should be added to them Bellarmine the mouth of all papists answereth to these and the like places that they are not spoken of the written word precisely but of Gods word generally which is partly written and partly vnwritten Non ait inquit ille ad verbum quod scripsi sed quod ego precipio He saith not quoth our Iesuite to the word which I haue written but which I command But doublesse this is a miserable shift and a very childish answere For first God himselfe wrote his owne wordes in two tables of stone and then deliuered them to Moses Yea after Moses had broken the said tables in his vehement zeale against Idolatrie God commanded Moses to hew two other tables of stone like to the first in which he writ againe the wordes that were in the first tables and commanded Moses to put them vp in an arke of wood Secondly Moses expounded the law of God to the Israelites at large VVhich large explication of the law God himselfe commanded him to write and to giue the same to the Israelites that they might put it in the side of the arke of the couenant and there keepe it for a witnesse against them Thirdly God commanded Iosue to keepe and obserue all things which were written in the booke of the law which Moses had deliuered to the Leuites charging him to meditate therein day and night that he might doe according to the same Fourthly Moses telleth
in the name of all papists being as it were their mouth saith all that can be said in defence of late Romish religion Out of whose words I note first that all thing necessarie for all men and all women old men yoong men maids and babes rich and poore noble and ignoble are set downe and conteined in the holy scriptures Secondly that all things contained in the written word are necessarie for all people Thirdly that those things which are not contained in the written word were neuer preached openly to all people but secretly to some few persons in secret corners peraduenture to our Iesuits and Iesuited popelings sauing that their sect was not then hatched as which is not yet eighty yeeres old Fourthly that those things which are not contained in the scriptures and written word are not necessarie for all people but onely for Iesuits and papists to bring them to perdition Fiftly that seeing on the one side all things needfull for all men and all women for yong and old rich and poore noble and ignoble are contained in the scriptures and seeing withall on the other side that all things in the written word are necessarie for all people marke well what I say gentle reader for I build my worke vpon that foundation which the Iesuit hath laid it followeth by necessarie consequution that all people ought seriously to read the holy scripture as also that they may safely contemne all vnwritten traditions as nothing needfull or pertaining to them But let vs heare our Cardinall Iesuit once again speake for himselfe and for the honour of this holy father the Pope These are his expresse words At in nouo testamento quia Christus impleuit figuras prophetias etsi multi non intelligant sententias scripturarum intelligunt tamen ipsa mysteria redemptionis etiam rustici mulieres But in the new testament because Christ hath fulfilled the figures and the prophesies although many doe not vnderstand the sentences of the scriptures yet doe they vnderstand the mysteries of our redemption euen the common countrey fellowes and the very women Thus writeth our Iesuit affirming that euen women and the very rustickes of the countrey doe vnderstand the scriptures so farre forth as pertaineth to the mysteries of their redemption and I pray you why then doth the Pope debarre them from the reading thereof VVhat more knowledge is needfull ouer and besides the mysteries of mans redemption It is all the knowledge which Saint Paule desired to haue who as he saith of himselfe esteemed not to know any thing among them saue Iesus Christ him crucified I therfore conclude by our Iesuits owne free graunt that it behooueth all men and women children and maids diligently to read the holy scriptures seeing they may vnderstand therein all the mysteries of their redemption viz. all knowledge necessarie for their saluation VVhich knowledge is so necessarie as nothing can be more Ye saith God by the mouth of his seruant Moses shall lay vp these my words in your heart and in your soule and bind them for a signe vpon your hand that they may be as a frontlet betweene your eyes And ye shall teach them your children speaking of them whē thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest downe and when thou risest vp And thou shalt write them vpon the posts of thine house and vpon thy gates But our papists obiect against vs that when the fathers exhort all men and women to read the scriptures they speake as pulpit-men agreeably to their audience and the peoples default but not as teachers in the schoole making exact and generall rules to be obserued in all places and times To which I answere first that the truth must be spoken as well in the pulpit as in the schoole Secondly that the doctrine in pulpit is and ought to be as exact absolute and necessarie as the doctrine in schoole The sole and onely difference is or ought to be this viz. that the pulpit hath euer the pricke of exhortation annexed which the schoole wanteth For the preacher may not speake at randon in the pulpit but euen there must he haue the girdle of truth about his loynes Thirdly that holy Dauid regarded no such popish distinction when asking whereby a yong man shal clense his waies he answereth thus By studie meditation and keeping of the law of God Neither the godly men in Berhaea when they daily searched the scriptures euen to examine the doctrine of the Apostles by them Our papists obiect likewise that S. Paule will haue women to liue in silence and not to chat and prattle of the scriptures I answere that though S. Paule will not permit women to teach publickely before men yet doth he neither forbid them to read the scriptures nor yet to teach priuately when due circumstances doe occurre For the same Apostle elswhere commaundeth mothers to teach godly things to their children So Salomon the wisest child that euer was among the sonnes of Adam one Christ euer excepted confesseth plainely and humbly what doctrine his mother Bethsheba taught him So Priscilla wife to Aquila the Iew born in Pontus expounded the scriptures to the Iew Apollo borne at Alexandria a very eloquent man So Timothie was throughly instructed in the scriptures by his mother Eunice and by his grandmother Lois By which notable example it is euident and cleare to euery one that neither mothers must forbeare to teach nor yet young babes forbeare to learne the holy scriptures The third Proposition Traditions must be examined by the holy scriptures which is the true touchstone of veritie and then onely admitted when they are found to be consonant to the same For proofe of this proposition the very name or word Canonicall is of it selfe sufficient For Canon is a Greek word which signifieth a rule and there upon those bookes are called the Canonicall scriptures which are the rule of our faith And consequently whatsoeuer is not consonant to the scriptures the same ought to be reiected as pernitious and swaruing from the rule of our faith For this cause doth the Prophet Esay send vs to the law and to the testimonie there to trie the truth For this cause doth the Prophet Malachie exhort the people euer to be mindfull of the law of Moses For this cause doth the Prophet Dauid tell vs That Gods word is a lanterne to our feet For this cause saith S. Peter That Gods word is a light shining in darke places vntill the day-starre arise in our hearts For this cause did Christ himselfe exhort the Iewes to reade seriously the holy scriptures For this cause said Christ That the Pharisies erred because they knew not the scriptures For this cause did the men at Berhaea trie the truth of S. Paules doctrine by the scriptures For this cause doth S. Iohn exhort vs not to beleeue euery
spirit but to trie the spirits if they be of God For this cause doth S. Paule pronounce him accursed that preacheth any doctrine not contained in the scriptures For both S. Austen and S. Basill doe expound that place of the written word And the truth thereof is alreadie prooued because the Apostles taught no needfull doctrine which they did not after commit to writing S. Cyprian would not yeeld to Stephanus then bishop of Rome in the controuersie concerning rebaptization but sharpely reprooued him for leaning to tradition and demaunded of him by what scripture he could prooue his tradition For in his daies it was not ynough to alleadge tradition for the proofe of any doctrine And much lesse was it a rule in Saint Cyprians time to follow the bishop of Romes definitiue sentence in matters of faith and doctrin Though our sottish and blind papists in these latter dayes doe admit and reuerence his sentence euen as the holy Gospell See S. Cyprians words in the first proposition VVhen the Arrians would not admit the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was not found in the scriptures the fathers of the counsell did not then alleadge traditions for proofe thereof neither did they say that many things must be beleeued which are not written but they answered simply That though that word were not expressely written yet was it virtually and effectually contained in the scriptures This assertion is euident by the testimonie of Saint Athanasius whose words are these Sed tamen cognoscat quisquis est studiosioris animi has voces tametsi in scripturis non reperiantur habere tamen eas eam sententiam quam scripturae volunt Although the expresse words be not found in the scripture yet haue they that meaning and sence which the scripture approoueth and intendeth as euery one that studieth the scripture seriously may easily vnderstand Origen giueth counsell to trie all doctrines by the scriptures euen as pure gold is tried by the touchstone His words are set downe at large in my booke of Motiues and they are well worth the reading Tertullian hath these words Id esse verum quodcunque primum id esse adulterum quodcunque posterius VVe must know that that it is the truth whatsoeuer was first and that that is counterfeit whatsoeuer commeth after the first S. Austen hath many golden sentences and worthie testimonies to this end and purpose One only I will here recount where he hath these wordes Nemo mihi dicat ô quid dixit Donatus aut quid dixit Parmenianus aut Pontius aut quilibet illorum quia nec Catholicis episcopis consentiendum est sicubi forte falluntur vt contra canonicas dei scripturas aliquid sentiant Let no man say to me oh what said Donatus or what said Parmenianus or Pontius or any of them because wee must not consent euen to Catholicke bishops if it so fall out that they erre in any point and speake against the canonicall scriptures Saint Chrysostome surnamed the golden mouthed doctor agreeth vniformely vnto the other fathers in many places of his workes One onely period shall for the present suffice where he hath these golden wordes Quomodo autem non absurdum est propter pecunias alijs non credere sed ipsas numerare supputare prorebus autem amphoribus aliorum sententiam sequi simpliciter presertim cum habeamus omnium exactissimam trutinam gnomonem acregulam diuinarum inquam legum assertionem Ideo obsecro oro omnes vos vt relinquatis quidnam hinc vel illi videatur deque his à scripturishaec etiam iniquirite et veras diuitias difcentes eas sectemur vt aeterna bona assequamur How can it but be absurd that in money matters we will not credite others but will tell the money our selues and for all that in affaires of greater importance which concerne the health aud saluation of our soules we can be content simply to follow the iudgement and opinion of others especially when wee haue the most exact ballance squire and rule of all things I meane the plaine testimonie of Gods lawes I therefore pray and beseech you all that you will reiect what this man or that man thinketh and search the truth out of the scriptures that learning true riches we may follow them and so attaine eternall life Behold here gentle reader a most excellent and Christian exhortation a very godly and golden aduiso giuen vs by this holy father If wee will not saith he trust others to tell our money but for surenesse will tell it our selues much lesse should wee trust others and much lesse depend vpon their iudgements and sayings in matters touching our saluation but our selues must learne and know such things by diligent reading of the holy scriptures Neither must we beleeue what this or that man saith but what we find to be true by painefull studie of the holy scriptures Now let vs heare attentiuely what the best approoued papists teach vs concerning this important and most weightie controuersie Franciscus à victoria a learned schoole-man and Spanish popish frier yeelds his opinion in these expresse wordes Propter quas opiniones nullo modo debeà us discedere à regula synceritate scripturarum For which opinions we may in no wise depart from the rule and synceritie of the scriptures Againe in another place he hath these words Non est mihi certum licet in hoc conueniant omnes quia in scriptura non habetur I doe not thinke it sure and certaine although all writers agree thereunto because it is not to be found in the holy scriptures Melchior Canus another learned schoole-doctor and renowned popish bishop confirmeth the same doctrine in these words Fatemur non audiendos esse sacerdotes nisi docuerint iuxta legem domiui VVe graunt that we must not giue eare or hearken to the priests except they shall teach vs according to Gods law Loe the papists affirme plainely that no doctrine is sound or to be receiued but that onely which is tried to be true by Gods word Neither may we beleeue the doctrin of any popish priest vnlesse it be agreeable to Gods law Now doubtlesse if the Pope will be tried and iudged by this doctrine which his best doctors haue published to the world the spirit of God hauing enforced them thereunto we shall soone agree in all controuersies of religion And certes this their doctrine is so certaine and euident that the Iesuit Bellarmine singeth the same song with them which my selfe could not easily haue beleeued if I had not read his owne testimonie in his owne booke These are his expresse words Sine dubio singuli episcopi errare possunt aliquando errant inter se quandoque dissentiunt vt nesciamus quisnam eorum sequendus sit It is without all doubt that all bishops seuerally may erre and sometime doe erre and doe so disagree among themselues that we
should raign 1000 yeeres after the generall resurrection Basilius another holy father saith that Zacharias the sonne of Barachias slaine betweene the altar and the temple was father to S. Iohn the baptist These absurdities the papists are this day ashamed to hold and yet did these fathers receiue them by Apostolicall so supposed tradition as their own famous doctor Andradius graunteth willingly Fiftly popish tradition telleth vs that all the bishops of Rome one after another haue taught succesiuely the selfesame doctrine with S. Peter Howbeit their own deere doctor and religious frier Nicholaus de Lyra auoucheth plainely roundly and boldly to the whole world that many bishops of Rome haue fallen away from the faith and become flat Apostataes And least this my narration be thought strange vnto many that our holy fathers the Popes should be Atheists or Apostataes and that their own deare brethren in high esteeme among them would neuer so write of them I will deale plainely in this important point and after my wonted manner set downe his owne expresse words Thus doth he write Ex quo patet quod ecclesia non consistit in hominibus ratione potestatis vel dignitatis ecclesiasticae vel secularis quia multi principes et summi pontifices et alij inscriores inuenti sunt a side apostatasse Propter quod ecclesia consistit in illis personis in quibus est notitia vera et confessio fidei et veritatis VVhereby it is euident that the Church doth not consist in men by reason of power or dignitie either ecclesiasticall or secular because many princes and Popes and others of the inferiour sort are found to haue beene apostataes and to haue swarued wholie from faith For which cause the Church consisteth in those persons in whom there is true knowledge and confession of the faith and of the truth Thus writeth this learned papist whom their owne so supposed martyr sir Thomas Moore called a great clearke as he was indeed whose words are well worthie to be engrauen in marble with golden letters For by his iudgement it is cleare and euident that not they who sit in S. Peters chaire are euer the true and lawfull successors of S. Peter but they only and solely that confesse and preach S. Peters faith and doctrine as also that their receiued maxime vbi Papa ibi Roma vbi Roma ibi ecclesia catholica is false vaine and friuolous VVe therefore this day impugne nothing in popish proceedings but the selfesame indeed which famous popish doctors reproued afore our time and that in their publicke writings published freely to the whole world VVhich thing whosoeuer will seriously ponder as my selfe haue done that man must perforce detest and abhorre all popish superstitious trumperie But of this argument I haue discoursed at large in my booke of Motiues Sixtly popish tradition telleth vs that the blessed virgine Marie the true mother of true God and true man was conceiued without originall sinne and that the bishop of Rome did for that end ordaine a feastiuall day of her conception to be kept vpon the eight of December But by your leaue Aquinas their owne Angelicall Doctor affirmeth resolutely that she was conceiued in originall sinne Yea their other holy doctor and deare frier Bernard doth very sharpely reprooue the Cathedrall Church of Lyons because they obserued the feastiuitie of the conception of the blessed virgine and the calleth that their practise the noueltie of presumption the mother of temeritie the sister of superstition and the daughtet of leuitie That done he addeth these words Hoc non est virginem honor are sed honori detrahere This is not to giue honour to the virgine but to take honour from her Yet Pope Sixtus the fourth did institute the feast of the conception Seuenthly popish tradition telleth vs that the emperour Constantine worthily surnamed the Great was baptised at Rome in a font there remaining to this day my self haue seene the same Howbeit Hieronymus Eusebius Socrates Theodoritus Sozomenus Cassiodorus and Pomponius doe all affirme very cōstantly that he was baptised at Nichomedia Eightly popish tradition hath brought flat idolatrie into the Church teaching to adore them as saints and Gods friends who were known heretickes and professed enemies to God and his Church This to be so their owne deare friend and brother Platina will tell them when he affirmeth the dead corps of Hermannus to haue been worshipped for a saints reliques at Ferrara the space of twentie yeares together who for all that was an hereticke as the same Platina auoucheth VVhere two speciall things are to be obserued seriously first the vncertainetie of vnwritten traditions secondly the danger in giuing credit to the same Now it remaineth for the better contentation of the reader to make answere to such obiections in defence of popish traditions as the papists haue euer in their mouths and boast of them as if they were insoluble The first Obiection VVe doe not know which bookes of the scripture are canonicall and which are not but onely by the vnwritten traditions of the Church And yet is this a matter of faith and very necessarie vnto saluation The answere This is that mightie obiection wherein the papists glorie and boast beyond all measure and say more rashly than wisely that it can neuer be truly answered I therefore shall desire the gentle reader to ponder well my words and then to iudge of the matter as right reason shall prescribe My answere is this First there is great ods betweene the primitiue Church and the Church of late daies VVhich to be so the famous popish doctor Durandus will contest with me For the Apostles as Durand saith wisely heard Christs doctrine saw Christs myracles and were replenished with the holy ghost and consequently they must needs be fit witnesses of all that Christ did and taught But these adiuncts cannot be rightly ascribed to the late bishops of Rome and their cursed Iesuited brood Secondly the old testament was deliuered by the Iewes and confirmed by Christ and his Apostles and therefore as the papists admit that tradition and withall doe reiect their other manifold vnwritten traditions which the Iews in their Talmud affirme to be of Moses euen so doe we receiue this tradition and reiect all vnwritten traditions contrarie to the same Thirdly the bookes of the new testament are but an exposition of the law and the Prophets as I haue alreadie prooued in the first proposition of this present article And consequently it may be discerned and tried by the same as the godly Bereans tried S. Paules preaching Fourthly when we affirme all things necessarie for our saluation to be comprised and contained in the scriptures we then speake of them as they are acknowledged and agreed vpon both among the Iewes for the old Testament in the which the new is comprehended and ioyntly for the old and new throughout the Christian world And
so this tradition is not excepted but virtually implied in our affirmation Fiftly the scriptures canonicall are discerned from not canonicall euen of themselues like as light is discerned from darkenesse hardnesse from softnesse and sweetnesse from bitternesse Thy word ô Lord saith the Prophet is a lanterne to my feet and a light vnto my pathes VVe haue a right sure word of prophesie saith S. Peter whereunto if ye take heed as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place ye doe well vntill the day dawne and the day-starre arise in your hearts Yet most true it is that the faithfull onely can discerne it For as the Apostle saith If Christs gospell be hid it is hid in them that perish in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which beleeue not least the light of the Gospell of the glorie of Christ should shine vnto them And the same Apostle elswhere teacheth vs that the spirituall man iudgeth all things VVhich text two famous papists Lyranus and Carthusianus doe expound of things partaining to our saluation S. Iohn is consonant to S. Paule affirming that the vnction which the faithfull haue receiued doth teach them all things Yea Christ himselfe saith That his sheepe doe heare his voice And he addeth that they follow him because they know his voyce But doubtlesse if Christs sheepe that is the faithfull and Gods elect people doe know his voice and therefore doe follow him then by a necessarie consequence they can know Christ speaking to them in the holy scripture and so can discerne holy writ from prophane fables or stories Melchior Canus a famous papist maketh this case cleere his words are set downe in my Golden ballance Sixtly the formall obiect of our faith is veritas prima the first veritie or God himselfe as Dionysius Areopagita telleth vs. Yea Aquinas that famous papist surnamed their angelicall doctor teacheth the selfe same doctrine Non enim fides inquit diuina alicui assentitur nisi quia est à Deo reuelatum For diuine faith saith Aquinas will not yeeld assent to any thing vnlesse it be reuealed of God VVhich truth of doctrine Saint Austen confirmeth in these golden wordes Iam hic videte magnum sacramentum fratres sonus verborum nostrorum aures percutit magister intus est Nolite putare quenquam hominem aliquid discere ab homine Ad monere possumus per strepitum vocis nostra si non sit intus qui doceat inanis fit strepitus noster Quam multi hine indocti exituri sunt quantum ad 〈◊〉 pertinet omnibus locutus sum sed quibus vnctio illa intus non loquitur quos spiritus sanstus intus non docet indocti redeunt Magisteria forinsecus adiutoria quaedam sunt admonitiones Cathedram in coelo habet qui corda docet Sequitur interior Magister est qui docet Christus docet inspiratio ipsius docet Vbi illius inspiratio illius vnctio non est forinsecus inanitâ—r perstrepunt verba Now brethren behold here a great sacrament the sound of our wordes pierceth your eares but the master that teacheth you is within Thinke not that man learneth any thing of man we preachers may admonish by the sound of wordes but if he be not within that teacheth in vaine is our sound how many will goe hence vntaught For mine owne part I haue spoken to all but to whom that vnction speaketh not inwardly whom the holy Ghost teacheth not within they goe home vntaught as they came The outward teachings are some helpes and admonitions but he sitteth in his chaire in heauen that teacheth the heart The master is within that teacheth it is Christ that teacheth it is his inspiration that instructeth VVhere his inspiration and his vnction is not there the outward noise of words is in vaine Thus writeth this auntient and learned father with many moe wordes to the like effect By whose doctrine we may learne sufficiently if nothing else were said that howsoeuer men teach how soeuer Paul plant or Apollo water yet will no increase follow vnlesse God giue the same I therefore conclude that we doe not beleeue this booke or that booke to be canonicall because this man or that man or the Church saith soe but that the scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it hath in it selfe that dignity which is worthy to haue credite that the declaration of the Church doth not make vs beleeue the scripture but is only an outward helpe to bring vs thereunto and that wee therefore indeed beleeue the scripture and this or that booke to be canonicall because God doth inwardly teach vs and persuade our hearts so to beleeue For certes if wee should beleeue that this or that booke is canonicall scripture because the Church saith so then should the formall obiect of our faith and the vltimate tearme into which our faith is resolued be man and not prima veritas or God himselfe as Areopagita and Aquinas teach vs. And it will not helpe the papists to replie out of Saint Augustine That he would not haue beleeued the Gospell vnlesse the authoritie of the Church had mooued him thereunto For S. Austens wordes are these Nisi authoritas ecclesiae me commoueret I would not haue beleeued the Gospell if the authoritie of the Church had not iointly mooued me therunto For wee must note that there is a great difference betweene mouere and commouere Mouere is to moue absolutely and a part by it selfe but commouere is to moue respectiuely and together with another thing So Saint Austens meaning is nothing else indeed but that the authoritie of the Church did outwardly concurre with the inward motion of the holy Ghost to bring him to the faith of the Gospel Now Saint Austens meaning is this and and none other viz. that he maketh much more account of the vniuersall Church than of Manichaeus and his complices because the Church did first moue him to heare the Gospel preached and to giue some credit to the same I say some credit because the Churches authoritie did onely moue him to beleeue the Gospell fide humana non fide diuina with humane faith not with faith diuine For this diuine faith with which we Christians doe beleeue the Gospell proceedeth not from the outward teaching of man but from the inward instruction of the holy Ghost as I haue out of the same Austen already prooued Yea the selfe same father declareth in the same chapter that he speaketh of himselfe as being a Manichee not as being a Christian. What faith Saint Austen wouldest thou say to him that should answere thee I doe not beleeue it but for the authority of the Church And this sense is confirmed because S. Austen coÌ„fesseth in the very same chapter that the authoritie of the Gospel is aboue the authoritie of the Church And in the chapter aforegoing after he hath told vs what kept him in