Answer to Epistle by Renat Benedict, Section 1

Answer to Epistle by Renat Benedict · Section 1

Heir followeth Renats Epistle the first Section.

THE louelove of Christ (most cū ing mē) & no small desyre of Saluation vntounto you all, con trinis me to warne and pray you frome the bottome of my hart, that ye intruse not nor bring not in an strange doctrine and vncouth, in the Church of God. Aliene and inpertinent (after the iudgemēt of all wise and good men) to Gods word & consuetude thereof, ather for the fauoure of the people, or for naine and trāsitorie glorie, that is, that ather ye may be estemed the more wise and cūning of some (and receaued as they say in bothe their armes) or els that ye may thereby get and gather to your selues riches. What tempt ye I pray you to do, what is (I beseche you in Christ Iesu) this your beginning, loke p. 4I pray you how great is this your boldnes, to professe a new doctrine against the antiquitie consent and vniuersalitie of Religion, without any plaine testimonies or auctorities of holy Scripture, or of Christiane Authores, ancient and tryed in learning and godlines.

D. Feargussones answer.

IT wold appear at the first sight to i… of small iudgement and learning, that the cause that hes moued you to write, were verray godly and charitable. Forasmuch as ye say that the louelove of Christe, and the saluation of vsus all hes contrined you thereto: but when the mater is tried with treuth, the contrarie will sone appear. It will please you therefore to giuegive vsus leaue a lytle to try what kinde of louelove this is that hath moued you, and what frute it bringeth furth, and then I truste bothe ye and vthers (if ye hauehave eyes to se) shal easylie perceaue this louelove to be preposterus and carnall: I will say no wors til I hauehave better oportunitie, and list that ye should think that we deale to austeirlie with you at the first: I wold ye vnderstude that the Spirit of our God hath c… manded vsus in his Scriptures (verray stratelie) to be war of deceauers and not to harken to fals Prophets, but rather math. 24.to try the Spirites whither they be of 1. I…on. 4 Deuter. 13.Deut 13God or not, yea, and suppose the Prophet shew a wonder or a myrackle, if his doctrine be fals we are forbidden to credeit him. If then we aught not to beleue him to be of God that workes mirackles If his doctrine persuade vsus to Idolatrie how much les oght we to beleue that this is the trew louelove of God that moueth you to write, when as your doctrine and admonition tendis to nothing els through out this Epistle, but to draw vsus from the trew worshipping of oure God in Spirit and veritie to serue him according to manns inuention by Idoles and Idolatrie. And althogh that I wold grant vntounto you, that this your louelove were euen to Christ & god ward without any hipocrysie, yet I dar boldly say that it is als preposterous as Peters louelove wes to Christe whene as he exhorted him to fauor him self & not to suffer the death of the Trose. For the which Christ calleth him Satan, …ath. 16.nether fear I to affirme that Peters louelove to Christ (which ye do se hear damned) p. 5wes als trew louelove as it that moued you to write which suppose it be vnfeinzeit, is nottheles als voide of knowledge as the zeal of Paules brethren, for whome he praycth moste effectuously in his Epistle to the Romans. This much I hauehave spoken Rom. 10Rom 10of the nature of your louelove to Christe, to the ēd that the treuth may appear, and that ignorants be not deceaued with the name of louelove, for trew louelove indeid which proceadis of faith and knowledge. It is dangerous in deid to giuegive haistie credeit to all such as hauehave the name of Christ hipocriticallie in their mouthes: for he him self affirmeth in the Euangle of Mathew that their shal come many and abuise his math. 24name and that so craftelie, that if it were possible they should deceaue the verray elect. These men are we expressedly sorbidden to beleue. The desyre that ye bear to our Saluation is no better nor your louelove, but in all pointes is lyke vntounto the desyre that the Pharisies had vntounto the cō uersion of the Bentiles, for the which the Lord Iesus pronunces an extreme wo against them in these wordes. Wo be vntounto math. 23you Scribes and Pharisies, Hipocrites, for ye compas sea and land, to make one of your professione, and when he is made ye make him the child of hell twofold more then your selues. Your admonition moth. 23.in desyring vsus not to intruse an strange doctrine, we verray gladely admit. For as yet we hauehave taught nothing (nether are in tyme cuming mynded to teach) that hes not agreed, and shal fully and i all pointes agre with the infallible treuth of Gods eternall veritie, to the more euident manifestation whereof we hauehave set out in prent a general confession of our Faith and doctrine, with the which who so is not contented, let them shew the cause out of the word of God, and it shalbe amended. Ye name generally all wise and good men to be against our doctrine, & that also it disagreeth with Gods word, and yet in the mean tyme ye bring furth no man for your prufe nor any sentence out of Gods word for your defence. The nixt tyme therefore that ye write let vsus hear these good mennis names that agreeth not with vsus, and the sentences of Scripture that be against vsus (for we can not answer to nameles mē and word les sentences) and then I truste by the grace of God that ye shalbe answered accordinglie, p. 6for preased be God we be rea 1. Peter. 31 Pet 3…ie to giuegive a reckning of that hope that is … vsus, to all men that demandeth it.

There he twa thing… that ye charge vsus …ith, the first is, that we hunt for the fa…r of the people, the nixt that we studie … gather riches, the which accusations …od knoweth are manifest fals. That the …rst is fals, all men may se that are not …ilfully blind, for he that hunteth for the …or of the people must bear with their Fals prechers spekis to the peple plesāt thin thin……ce, the contrary whereof the verray …eid it self testifies in vsus. What persone … persones hauehave we spared to reboke op…enly, of what estate soeuer they were of, …we knew thē to be vicious. And where …e Magistrat is godly we procure at his …nd the punishment of whordome, drō …ennes, blasphemie, I dolatrie, morther, …ift, and all other vices as the worde of …od prescribes. For we know as sayeth …e Apostle, that the Law is good, being …ughfully vsed, so that suppose the Law 1. Timo. 1.…th nothing to do with the iust man, yet … serueth well to punish the lawles and …issobedient, the vngodly & the sinners, …he vnholy and prophane, the murtherers …f Fathers and mothers, the horemongers and buggerers, the liers and periured persones, or to the punishmēt of any vther vice that is contrarie to holsome doctrine, which is according to the glorious Gospell of the blissed God, cōmieted vntounto vsus. And where their is no magistrat that obeyth the voice of God (as to few there be the more to be lamēted) we vse to expell such ꝑsōes as are aboue written, by excommunication out of our Congregations ād from the communion of the faithfull. This is not the meane to win the fauor of the people, I am assured except they be altogether godly, for then the rebuker of their vice is the more belo ued of them, as sayeth Salamon. Reboke Prouer 9.Prov 9the wise and he will louelove thee, and be the contrary he that reboked the wicked purchaseth his hatred, nether fear I to affirme … the … gospellers … t…e ministers.that the greatest nomber of carnall Gospellers in Scotland this day hateth the Ministers of the Euangle, for no vther cause thē for their seueir reboking of vice, for the which I for one, that writeth this answer, am hated to the death, but God is with me, and therefore I fear not who be against me. The second whereof Rom…. 8.ye accuse vsus (I meane the gathering of p. 7riches) is so impudent a lie, that all men …ay perceaue it to hauehave proceaded of the …euil, the author of lies. Thou art neuer …le to proue that euer any Minister in …cotland had a brybe of any man in the …rth for any cause, yea, and I dar say for … own part (and am assured my brethrē …ay say no les for their parts) with Sa…uel whose Ox, whose Asse, hauehave I taken 1 Samu 12… whom hauehave I done wrōg to, or whom …ue I hurt, or of whose hand hauehave I re…aued a brybe to blind myne eyes there…ith, tell me and I will restore it? but so …r absent are we from gathering of rich…, that the greatest nomber of vsus hauehave …ed in great penurie, without all stipēd …e tuelf monethmonth, some eight, and some …lf a year, hauing nothing in the meane …me to susteane our selues and our fami…es, but that which freindes hauehave giuen …s, and that which we hauehave borrowed of …eritable persones vntil God send it vsus … repay them. Ye strife fast to shift this …ut from your selues to vsus, but I muste …alken you vp because herein ye appeare …o me to be fast a slepe. HaueHave ye forget the …saciable gredines of your Popes the Antichristes of Rome & of you his chapmen. Remember your self (omitting the rest for tediousnes) of Pope Iohn the 23. of that name, called before Iacobus Caturcensis, and of Clement the. 5. of that name called before, Bertrandus …ottho. The one of these I mean Iohn left behīd him in his treasure more aboundance of gold as sayeth Baptista Platyna nor any that euer wes Bischop of Rome did before Pope …o ne… treasour …. thowsand peices off gold.him, some sayth 25. mylzeon but I will write the least, which is. 25. M. pecis of gold, the other I meane Clement at his coronation, which wes at Lyons in France (for then wes the court of Rome trāslated to France by this same Clement) lost of his attyre stroken from his hors by a certane fall of the toun wall by which also Iohn the Duke of Bertanzie and diuers others were slaine. In this tumult I say your holy father Clement Clementio Carbounkle: worth sex thowsand crow nis.lost a Carbunkle, worth, as sayeth the same Platyna, sex thousand crounes.

Remember your self who are gatherers of riches, Christ and his Apostles who had not so much as to rest their head vpō to pay their tribute: nor gold nor siluer in Math. 8. Ibid. 17. Actis. 3.Matt 8possession, & we his ministers that suffereth affliction and penurie, and whither p. 8this faute of couetousnes may iustly be …de to our charge or youres, I bid you …ember your self againe, yea, and more …er I dar be bold to say that these same …o forenamed Popes had more riches Two Popes …cher in geir thē all the ministeris of Scotland & Ingland… all the Ministers of the Euangel in …tland and Ingland bothe are valze… of in temporall gear at this houre. …ither wes it Aristippus or Diogenes …t hunted for riches, Diogenes that …d on erbes or Aristippus that wai… on the Court of Dionisius? So whi …r is it we Ministers of Gods worde …t liueth in penurie, as I hauehave said, ta… vponupon vsus the indignation of Princes …ether with the hatrede of the People, …speaking of the veritie, & ar nothīg els … as shepe appointed to the slaughter, Psal. 44.Ps 44…yring nothing for all these foresaides, … that we may be suffered to reteane the …w worshipping of our God and his …ist, as we are taught in the Scriptu…, whither is it we or ye impudent and …meles shauillinges that hunteth for …hes, we that speaketh the treuth frelie …ithout respect of persones, or ye fals …tterers who for the mantenāce of your …lleis careth not to go to euerlasting dā nation. It wes more lyke that baallcs chaplanis (that eat at Iesabels table) serued Mammō, then Eliah ād the hundreth Prophets that for the tyrranny of this cruell Quene durst not walk abrode, but were fed in caues (by Obadiah Ahabes stewart) vnderunder the ground. But ye do well to charge vsus with lies, because ye 1. Reg. 181 Kgs 18hauehave nothing iustly to accuse vsus of. Ye ask of vsus what we attempt to do, we assure you (by the grace of God) to rute out supersticious and pestilent Papistrie, and in place thereof to plant sincere and whol some veritie, conteined in the booke of God. Ye desyre vsus to looke to our beginning, God be preased we hauehave laide our compt long ago, what this laubour wil cost vsus or euer we begouth to put out Luke. 14.Luke 14handes to it, nether commoned we with fleshe nor blood in this case. Ye affirme …. 1.that this is a great boldnes of vsus to professe a new doctrine, contrarie to antiqui tie, cōsent and vniuersalitie of Religion, hauing for vsus nether Scriptures nor ancient Authors, if this your affirmation were trew, certanly our boldnes were to great. It is an easie mater to you to speak so, but ye will not find it so easy to p. 9proue. It hath bene the wonted and ac…stomed vse of Sathan, from tyme to …me, to sclander the treuth with noual…e, and deck falshead with antiquitie & …nsuetude, persuading men that the doc…ine of Saluation is suche newfangled …tasie, as neuer hath bene hard before …ny place. Thus did the wise and cun…ng Philosophers of Athenis call, Pan…s doctrine. May we not knowe (said Actie. 17.…ey) what this new doctrine is, where… thou speakest? And certanly the rude …ultitude are easylie persuaded that it is …, for as sayeth Tertuliane. Ueritas pe…rina The trenth is ane stranger ō earth.est in terris. that is to say the veri… is a stranger vponupon the earth, & it is no …nder althogh a stranger be misknow …, so althogh the treuth appear vntounto you … be new doctrine (that so lōg hath bene …ssaled vp in falshead) I meruell not. …ut I wolde ye knew that we teache no …her doctrine then is conteined in the …w, the Psalmes, the Prophets, and the …uangel, yea, euen that same that. S. 1. Ihon. ….…ohn testifieth to hauehave bene, Ab initio. Tertuli… in his Apologie for the christ… … the Gentil……hat is, from the beginning. Moreouer …e offer vntounto you with the aforesaid Ter …liane, that the oldest religione (whither oures or youres) preuale. Ye boste …uch of antiquitie, but when the mater is tryed it will appear that ye hauehave lytle for you, yea, your moste precious geare & oldest constitutions will appeare, to be that thing that they are in veray deid, to wit, beggerly cerimonies inuēted by the foolhardy and rashe conceat of man, with out the warrand of Gods worde, or any exemple of that first or primatiue Church moste happely planted by the Apostles & reuled by the holy Ghoste, for long after the primatiue Church, and many hūdreth yeares after that the word wes preached in Rome, yea, of poore preachers of the Gospel, or Bishopes call them as ye list, and then Archebishopes, and last Patriarc…es (for be theis degries they ascended to the beastes saite) there wes in Rome Th…e … i… …ome: o… euer there … …ne Pope…st. 66. in nomber, or euer there wes a word that any man durste clame to him self the name of vniuersal Bishop or head of the Church, after so many Boniface the thrid of that name, obt…ed of Phocas the traytor, that slew his master, Mauritius the Emperour togither with his wife …. t… … …is the …ste Pope.and children, of this bloody Iudas, the ambicious beast, Boniface obteined (I p. 10say) to be called the head of all Bishopes and the Churche of Rome the mother of all Churches, and this wes done in the year of God, sex hundreth and seuen, or therby. This long the Church of God …ked this monstrous head from whome … the rest of his successors and you Papi…s their members, all poysone descen…ed, as frō the natural head of mans bo…y ather good nutrimēt or euil humors …scendeht to the rest of the members. …he visible head of your kingdome is no …der, iudge ye then of the mēbers there…, and incres of the body. For after that with great contention (as sayeth Plati…) this mater wes granted by the afore…d traterous vsurper of the impyre, yet …d verie few for a long time acknowledg …his tytle of the head of the Church to ap…rteane to any one earthlie mā, but rather …ithstude it to the vttermost of their now …s, and this chiefly did for the most part …l the Churches of Grecia, and of the …ast, lykewise did mony vther Churches …ntill that the strength of this beast wes …uch as at lenth compelled them tirranni …ally to cōmit fornication with her, after …hat she had shaken of the zock of lawfull obedience to Kings and Empreours (as their proud Decries whiche afterward I wil inter shal proue) and had exalted her self aboue all that wes called God, and so sat as one that promised vntounto her self nether Thess. 2sorow nor wedowhead, but rather cō …innal prosperitie, ād might do whatso say. 47 poca. 18euer she lyketh, as these wordes followig Taken out of your own law shal testifie. …apa dicitur habere celeste arbitrium et ideo c…am naturam rerū immutat substānalia vnius re… applicando ali… / et de nihilo potest aliquid facere / et sententiam que nulla est aliquam facere / quia in his que vult ei est pro ratione voluntas / nec est qu… e… dicat cut ita facis / ipse enim potest supra …us dispensare / et de iniusti…a facere iusticiam corrigendo iur… et mutando nam pleitudinem obtinet potestatis.

…hese wordes are written in the firste boke of that …laiphemoꝰ wolome gather ed by one Raymond, and called the decre talis of Gregorie the 9. in the 7. tytle and …. chapiter there o…, the tytle is called, De translatione Episcopi. the chapiter begin … ▪ with this word, Quanto. These wor …es I did find in deid in many notable writers that writeth against your Pope, but because I delyte not to make report (much les to commit to writ) any thing by here say, and also, that firste when I p. 12red them, it appeared an incredible mat…r to me that euer the Deuill culd so far …ind any man that he wold break furthe in this plaine blasphemie, so grossie that all men may perceaue it) I therefore deserred the writing of them vntill I did find out these same decretales wherein I … these wordes before writtē and there… toke boldnes to affirme that whiche I …d se and reid, the inglish wherof is this, … neir as I could translate it. It is said that the Pope hath a heauenly iudgemēt, … therefore changeth the natur of things, applying the substance of one thing to an other, and of nothing he can make something, ād of the sentēce which w…s noght …he can make it somewhat worth, for in O diuellishe presumption.…ose things that he list, his wil standeth …r reasone, nether is there any man that …ay say vntounto him, why doeth thou so? … he may dispence with the Law, and of …ustice, may make iustice, in amending … changing the Lawes, for he hath gotten the fulnes of power. which of you …re so shameles as to stand in the defence …f these wordes? or rather who seeth not …hat this is that same mouthe that the …rophet Daniel affirmeth, should speak Daniel. 7▪Dan 7presumptions things, this is the plesand doctrine that procedeth from this monster, whose beginnig ye hauehave hard, whose incres and grouth to the hight I coulde declare, out of their own Histories (if it were not tedious) whereout of ye might easylie perceaue how fals…ie antiquitie, by them, is applyed to their new forged reti gion in the deap dongeon of Sathans workehous, and practised by them, his members and Luftennēts, hear in earth. But when they find in our Congregations that thing vsed which Gods worde hath not taught vsus, then boldlie accuse vsus of noualtie, and vntounto that tyme, best it is to hold their peace list they be found ini…st accusers. As to the Doctors I nether contemp them, nor yet do I builde my faith vponupon them, because they were but men, and in their writinges many thinges a…is to be found, as Augustine (indeid the verie best of them in my iudge ment) testifieth in diuers places & chiefly in his retractations, in these wordes … …n his Re…tatiōs…re non possum nec deb…o … …ut in ipsis inato…s … ita multa esse in tam multis opus… lis meis que posiunt iusto iudic…o et nulla te meritate culpare. Beholde freinde that p. 11Augustine doeth not deny that there be many thinges in his volonies that may by iust iudgement, and without all temerite be found faut with. Fynally because of all that hitherto ye hauehave written, and I hauehave answered, ye hauehave inferred no …rufe of Scripture but naked wordes of …our owne. In this case I say with …. …uod de Scripturis nō habet auctor… …erome▪ vponupon … ▪ … 23. Chap▪…adem facilitate contempn…tur qua probatur. That is to say that thing which hath not his authoritie out of the Scriptures, als easylie as it is prouen, als easylie may it be reiected.