Transubstantiation Exploded, Part 1 · Paragraph 3
PAR 3.
What a kind of Religion Popery is.
HOw be it were the cause you maintayne good, the fortune you sustaine could in no sort prejudice you, either in your conscience, or your credit. For to follow Christ naked is an honour and an ornament to a Christian: and Solomon hath left this for one of his divine essayes, that the *a… 9▪ ….race is not to the swiftest, nor the battaile to the strongest, nor yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill, nor the greatest preferment to the b…. …. foreign.worthiest. The golden bishopricke of Carthage fell to the lot of leaden cConcil a…. rica… in subscript sub Bo…ace … Celesti… … … p… …55.Aurelius, and little Hippo to great St. Austine, of whom we may truly say concerning Hippo, as it was said of d…. m… … …x Euripid…s q…am E… pides ex. … … ….Euripides concerning his familiarity with Archelaus, that Hippo was better knowne by S. Austine then St. Austine by Hippo. Let it not seeme strange that men of meaner worth set the best leg forward, and outstrip their betters now adayes: when in the ancient and better times of the Church Damasus the schollar was advanced to the first See, and eHieren ad Damasum papam epist. 143, 144, 145 146, &c.Ieromie his Master (to whom even after he was Pope he expounded many difficult places of Scripture) ended his dayes in his Cell at Bethlem. And Gregorie Nazianzen the learnedest of all the Greeke fathers and surnamed the divine in the sharing of preferments in Capadocia could get but the poorest and most incommodious Bishopricke in all that province: about which he expostulates with Saint Basil. A rich stone is of no lesse worth when it is locked up in a Epist. 31.wicker kasket, then when 'tis set in a Bishops mytre. The wise Historian observed that the statues of fTacit: annal: eo praefulgebant quod non visebantur.Brutus and Cassius were the more glorious and illustrious, because they were not brought out with other Images in a solemne procession at the funerall of Germanicus. And in like manner men of excellent endowments when they are neglected in states, are by so much the more inwardly reverenced by how much they receive the lesse outward honour, and advancement. Cato was in the right who said he had rather men should question why he had no statue or monument erected unto him, then why he had. For certainely men honour them more who aske why such and such men are not preferred, then they who enquire why such men are preferred, or what worth is in them correspondent to the titles they beare. But whats this to your either advancement or disesteeme in the See of Rome; Saint Cyprian teacheth us that if a man suffer death in an erroneous beliefe, being fallen away from the truth, his suffering is not corona fidei but paenaperfidiae, not a crowne of faith, but a punishment of his perfidiousnesse. It is just that they who wrong their native soyle should be disrespected in forraigne countries. Had you continued in the universitie of Oxford, you might have beene not only according to your name, faber a Smith, but even Aurifaber a gold-smith to forme many pretious vessels for Gods Sanctuarie, whereas now since your revolt from your Religion, and departure out of this kingdome you have turned silver-smith, like those in the Acts that Acts. 19. 14.made shrines for Diana, they for Diana of Ephesus, you of Rome, or rather, like Alexander, foreign a Copper-smith. Aeneas when he left Troy, carried his Father, and his gods out with him: … you when you forsooke your countr… left your mother and your religion a… behind you, and you have ever sin… spent all your time in maintaining a… propagating by your tongue and pen… a Religion, which is where it diff… from us, nothing else but a cento … gSee the booke of the 3. confirmities Whitaker. Cont 2. de not. eccle. q. 5. C. 7. Rivet summa. cont. q. 1.hotch-potch of diverse heresies and superstitions. A religion which loosene… and dissolveth all bonds of vowes, a… religious obligations by papall dispe… sation, or Iesuiticall aequivocation: … religion which sacrilegiously robbe… God of his honour, Christ of his praerogatives, and Princes of their soveraignty. A religion which blasphemous… derogateth from the sufficiency o… Scripture, impiously mutilateth both the ten Commandements, (cutting ou… the second) and the Sacrament (taking the cup from the laitie:) praesumptuously addeth to the Apostles creed as many more new Articles, Idolatrously worshipeth Images, pictures, shrines, reliques, the Crosse, and the consecrated wafer, superstitiously halloweth creame, spittle, medals, and beades, &c. A religion whose last resolution of faith is into the Pope, who hath beene oftentimes an heretike and sometimes a necromancer. A religion which warranteth subjects to take armes against their hBellar. l. … de Rom po…. c. 7. Sipri… cipos conentur …vertere pop…lum a sule possunt … … privari suo daminio, et non licet christianis solerare regem infidelem … hereticum. vid. Bulla… Pauli cons. Hon. 8. … Pij. 5. cont. Eliza, et l Card. Alani cuitit An admonition to the nobilitie of England & Ieland concerning the presēt warr… made for the execution of his holinesse sentence against & Elizabeth. Clement. 8. his Bull and letters to Tyron Set downe at large in my L. Carew his booke tit. pacata: Hiber. l 3. c. 18.Soveraigne, canonizeth i… the Iesuites chatechisme Apolog. Garneti Amphitheatrum honoris et lit. Card. Commensis ad Parreum perduellionis reum et ca…al. mar…y. Jesuit. c…messig. et nom. excus. lutes.parri…des, and crowneth traytours with the garlands of martyrs. A religion which dispenseth with incestuous marriages and sins against nature, sets a rate upon all kTaxa Camere Apostol wess. cont indulg.crimes and draweth a revenew from the sinkes of all impuritie (stewes and brothels) a tribute farre worse then that of Vespasian ex lotio. Had I contested with you in our meeting at Paris about any of these no lesse unexcusable then unsufferable impieties of your Romish pseudocatholike faith, into what an agonie should I have put you; when conferring rather then disputing with you according to the lawes praescribed by the company calmely and peaceably about one of the most plausible tenets of your Trent Creed, in which you make most show of Fathers and brag of Scriptures, you were foiled in every argument: and driven t… much perplexitie and miserable esc… patories, as I will presently make it appeare after I have acquainted the reader with the issue of other former conferences in France, which occasioned this with you.