Answer to Epistle by Renat Benedict, Section 2
Renats Epistle the Second Section.
THis a lytle I besech you take head and enter in your selues by dilegent reasoning, putting away all mist of affection from you: say I require you by …e mercy of God and Christ Iesus louelove …owardes vsus all? where is it red in the holy write, ather in old Testament or new, that the masse that is the conswete Sacrifice of holy …irk is abhomination, or any thing soūding to Idolatrie? where or in an of so many Counsels holden in the Kirk of God? where in any learned or tryed authorities? Loke? neuer treuly, alledge the place it ye can, which verilie neuer an of you could euer yet do. I me… uel therefore why ye affirme that doctrine with so great clamor, with suche ardence as it is beleued, yea, with so great laboures, to the perrell of so many Christiane soules, and to your own (I feare) perdition: contempning the prudent authoritie of all good and learned men, which doctrine hath no certane probatiō except that ye wold think your owne expolition of the Scripture (that repugneth manifestlie to all cūning mens) yneugh for to conferme a new doctrine of Faith and Religion.
D. Feargussones answer.
ALl mist of affection set asyde, ye require vsus by the mercy of God and Christ Iesus louelove towardes vsus all, to shew you, where the masse is called abhominatione or Idolatrie, in the old Testament or new? whereunto we answer, …e n…me …f the …sse … not in …e Scrip …ris.that when ye find this worde masse ather in the old or new Testament, then shal we proue it to be Idolatrie. This might serue you right wel for an answer, … should be also vntounto you such a desyre … am assured ye were neuer able to ac …plish. But in the meane tyme vntill …d it, list this might apeare rather to … …hift nor an answer: we say and … affirme, that wheresoeuer the …ture (or the thing that is made) is …shipped (in the place of the Creator, …maker of all) that there is Idolatrie …mitted contrary to the cōmandiment …od, who hath said, thou shal worship Deute. 6. mathe. 4.…ord thy God, & hi onelyonly shalt thow …. But in the masse there is worship…read and wine, corruptible Creatu… the place of God the Father, and …te his Sonne, as ye can not deny, …refore it followeth that the masse is …latrie, this argument (which I hauehave The masse Idolatrie…f Gods worde als well old Testa…s new) whē ye hauehave refelled which …e (ad grecas calendas) then shall ye … others. Ye call your abhominable …e the conswete or wonted Sacrifice …oly Church, the wonted Sacrifice of …r Malignant Synagoge of Sathan, …onfesse it to hauehave bene euer since the …es of your Pope Agattho the firste, whose orator Iohn the Bishop of Portu ens to hauehave bene the first that euer song or said a latine masse, Platina the Popes own Gnato in his book, …e vi… Pontificum. affirmeth in these wordes, the Counsel being ended (this wes the 6. general Consel holden in the year of God 681.) that thankes might be giuen vntounto God, that of the two Churches had made one (meaning the Greak and the Latine Church) the octane of Pashe Iohn the Bishop of Portuens in the presence of the Prence and Patriarck, and people of Cōstantinopol celebrated a latine masse… all that were present for the tyme allowing it (so easylie are men deceaued) this long to wit 681. yeare wes the Churche without this Sacrifice which yet differed far from it that wes in our dayes, for it wes almost 7. hundreth yeares after this or euer the people were commanded to worship it, for that wes done by Honorious the 3, who wes Pope the yeare … 3 …ste orde …de …he masse … to be wor…ipped.from our Redemption. 1216. thereafter, when it wes worshipped as a God, the Deuil did find the meanes that this new Idole shoulde be caryed Solempnitlie, throughout all tounes, vponupon a peculyar day dedicat to that Histrionicall gyse, cal … Corpuschristies day. The īstruments …t the Deuill vseth to this labour, were Cor… Christies day.…banus Pope of Rome the 4. of that …e, and a certane Religious woman …d Eua, and it came to pas as ye shal … The aforesaid Urbanus (Pope in …ear from our Redemption 1261.) had Urban… 4… aforesaid supersticious Eua in fami… acquentance▪ before he came to the Eua…tes saite, who feinzeed her self to hauehave …a reuelation from heauen, cōcerning …edication of a Festual day …o the Po … God of bread in the masse, the maner … Circumstances of this reuelation, she … to Urbanꝰ at length, desyring him …rforme her vision, which he did with …elay, cōfirming it with a Bul which …enth I omit. The Churche wes a …sand two hundreth thre scoir and one … without this Idolatrous gyse, this …yte, and muche more could, out of …own Histories (if it were not ouer …some) to shew that all their braging …tiquitie is nothing els but… fals for…lies. Their corrupted knauerie peice … peice crope into the Churche by the … of Sathan their Father, who …urste not shew him self at ones, list he shoulde hauehave bene knowen, and so resisted. But rather transfiguring him self in an Angel of light, as the slacknes of Pastors begouth 2. Cori. 11.to incres, wroght spedylie as a bissie Bishop, vnderunder their handes til at length he had fully broght to pas, the whole misterie of his iniquitie, which the Apostle affirmeth to hauehave bene a working in his dayes, But what nedeth Circumloquution 2. Thes. 2.when few wordes directlie spoken, may spedily end this stryfe. What if I should say with Ambrose. Quicquid non ab Apostolis traditū est Sceleribus plenū est. Ambros… 1. Corin. 4that is, whatsoeuer is not giuen vntounto vsus by the Apostles, is full of iniquitie, or as he sayeth in an vther place. Nos nou… omnia que Christus non docuit iure damnamus …bro. 4. de Uirgi…bus.quia fidelibus via Christus est. Siigitur Christus non docuit quod docemus… etiam nos id detestabile iudicamus. that is, we iustlie damp all new thinges that Christe hath not taught, because Christe is the way to the faithfull. If therefore Christ hath not taught that thing which we teache, yea, euen we our selues do iudge it detestable. First therefore because your …se wes neuer giuen nor ordeined vntounto vsus by the Apostles I with Ambrose affirme it to be … of iniquitie. Secondly, because it is a … doctrine which Christ neuer taught, …stly damp it, that Christ neuer taught … subsequentes s…al declare? where …euer Christe or any of his Apostles …o a man? when they Elected and ad…ed him to the ministerie of the church …pe potestatem celebrandi vel sacrificandi Sūma an gelica folio. 319.…iuis et mortuis. as your Idole Bis…s sayeth to you, their shawelinges, …n ye receaue the beastes marke with …er to by and sell the marchandrise of Apoc…. 13.… great hoore of Babilon. These word…ey say whē the Chalice is giuen you, …ther with the Paiene, the bread and …ine, take thou authoritie or power …lebrate or say masse for the quick and Suido de monte Ro cher…i ma nipulo curato… trac tatu. 5. de ordine. Cap. 4.…ead, yea, so heighly are these wordes …ed of your Doctors, that if the Bis… omit the saying of them for his part …e prosering of the aforesaid thinges, …he that is to be ordeined omit the …hing of the thinges profered, that all …r noght, where commanded Christe …t ye should deuore all alone, standing …n alter with your back to the p…ple? …ere are ye cōmanded to lift the bread your heades that the people may commit Idolatrie with it. Where are ye cōmanded to dissagyse your selues lyke players or fooles with shauē crownes, long wide sarkes aboue your clothing, and shorte peies lyke cotes of Armoure aboue all▪ Where are ye cōmanded at the ministra…i on of the Sacrament, some tymes to i…ke and some tymes to nod, to slepe a while The tryfling toyes of the Popes masseand walk another, now to cry out with a loud voice, and thē to quhisper that you… taill may not hear you, to put bothe your handes to your eares and then to streiche them out as the Daw doeth whē she raxeth her in the morning. Why speak ye in a strange langage (contrar to the mynde 1. Cor. 14.o… the holy Ghoste) that the people vnderstandeth not? when ye hauehave told me who learned you these iugling castes, thē will I assay what reckening ye can giuegive of the rest. Fynally I wold ask at you, if the thre thousand persones that Peter by the word of God conuerted (of whom we read in the Second Chapiter of the Actis. 2.Actes) were of the Church of God or not ye dar not deny but that they were of the Church. If then the masse be the wonted Sacrifice of holy Church (as ye wolde make men beleue) I wonder that they …itted it. For the holy Ghoste for our …rning by the …en of Lucas hath moste …gentlie registrat their excercise which The excer ceis of the primatiue Churche.…at after they had receaued the word, … were baptised continued in the Apo… doctrine, sele wship breakig of bread …yers, to be shorte get me one word …tion of a Sacrifice offered for sinnes, … the death of Christ) in all the Actes …he Apostles or in any part of the new …ament by Gods people, and I will …t your argument trew, but vntounto the …e that ye proue your arguments out … word of god, ye must apardone me … can not beleue you, no, not suppose Sal…. 1.…ere ane Angel as ye are but a man. … to your generall Counsels, my faith …ot builded vponupon them, nether am I …nd to beleue one iote of them, further …hey aggre with Gods word, for they …beleueth or taketh any counsel but of …, hath an extreme wo pronounced …nst them. by the Spirit of God in …e wordes. Wo to the rebellions chil…, …say. 30.sayeth the Lord, that take counsel, … not of me, and couer with a couering, … not by my Spirit that they may lay sinne vponupon sinne. And in few wordes except these foure, to wit, the first Counsell Nicen holden against Arrius, and gathered Generall counsels.by the Empreoure Constantine, and by no Pope, for many hundreth yeares after the Bishopes of Rome, were but Prechers of the word of God, hauing no further dominion then their own diosies did streich. The nixt general Coūsel wes gathered by the Empreoure Graciane, against the Herisie of Macidonins and Endo…us, and wes holden in Constantinopol. The thrid wes holdē in Ephesus▪ vnderunder the Empreour Theodorieꝰ against the Herisie of Nestorius. The fourth in Chalchedō vnderunder the Empreour, Martiane against the Herisie of Eutiches, except these foure, all the rest for the moste part are suspect to me, because your Popes were iudges in them their selues. Therefore seing the wise man hath counselled me otherwise, namely, not to go to Law with the Iudge forasmuch as he Eccle…. 8.will giuegive sentence according to his owne honor, it were but Foly then to subiect my Faith to the iudgement of these counseles whereof Antichristes hauehave bene hea des and Iudges. The controuersie then being betuix vsus Christians, & you papi…es, ye striuing for the tyrannical domi…ion and vainglorie of your Pope, and …e certitude of his Counsels, and we for …e eternal heauenly glorie of our Christ, …d the veritie of his holy Euangle. Let … men iudge whither it be right to ad…t the Pope Arbiter in his owne cause, … whither he oght to be iudged by the …ord of God, and Gospel of his Christe, … whome all power is giuen in heauen, math. 28.…d in earth whose word that he hath spo …n, shall iudge vsus all in the last day. I …re not to affirme that the mater oght …e tryed by the Scriptures, howsoeuer …tichrist bragge of his owne authoritie, …t moste …iustly he vsurpeth ouer mē as These …o dis or … ten in th… book th… is cal… … trauaga… …es cōmu nes …o 1. de … rita…e et o… bedienti… Chap. 1.… Law doeth witnes, in these wordes. …nes Christi fideles de necessitate Salutis … sunt Romano pontifica qui vtrū que gladium …et et omnes iudicat a n…mine …utē iudicatur …t is, all that be faithfull Christianis … the necessitie of Saluation are subiect … the Bishop of Rome, which hath bothe …e swordes (that is spiritual and tempo …) and iudgeth all men, and to be iudg… of no man: what I beseche you may …e loke for at those Counsels▪ whereof this tyrant is iudge, euen this (in my iudgement) that when all the adulterers … pretty …eand hooremongers of Scotland and all vther Countries giueth their general cō seut to put doun al …ordales and villany, that then a generall Counsel whereof the …ope is head and iudge (with his Creatures, the carnall Caroinalles and their a…s, for…e slaues and mōstrous …ytiar Bishopes) shal aboli…e and put doun al superstitiō & Idolatrie. Meruell nor therefore why we affirme this doctrine or oures, I meane the Euangle, with so great clamoure and laboure, not to our own perdition and others, as ye suppose, but rather to our Saluation, yea, we …we that damnation abydeth vsus, if Cor. 9.that we preach not the Euangle, whiche also we are commanded to cry and not to …. …8.ce…s from speaking and bearing witnes to the treuth, which we hauehave bothe hard …s. 4.and …ene, nether do…th our doctrine repugne (as ye wold make men beleue) to all good and cunning men, as I trust the vnaffec…onat Reader shal perceaue, but we …e nor vponupon men, but vponupon the treuth of God, con…nge eure …elues to Cor. 2.k…w nothing but Iesus Christe (not him that hingeth in a cord or halter ouer your altars sumtyme til he be woormeatten and not worth the holding adiudged to the fyre) no, but him we confesse that wes made (not of white corne) but of the …ede of Dauid, according to the fleshe, yea, Rom. ….euen him that wes crucified, and declared …ightylie to be the Sonne of God touch…g the Spirit of Sanctification by the Resurrection from the dead. ye bragge muche of Doctors and learned men to be …pon your syde, but hitherto we hauehave ne…her hard their names, nor yet any autho cities out of their writings for your prufe And that it may appeare how fals this …our accusation is, althogh I hauehave no …ede of Doctors, yet do I infer some, and …al godwilling infer mo hereafter, as that occasion shal be offered. As to your …clandring with noualtie our faith and …octrine, I hauehave alreadie in the first Sec…on answered, and partlie by occasiō also … this. The doctrine that we professe & …ach, to hauehave bene from the beginning, … hauehave alreadie prouē, and that the scope thereof is onelyonly to teache men to knowe the Eternal the Father of our Lorde Iesus, to be the verie onelyonly trew God, and that he whom he sent, is the Sauioure of the world. In this doctrine alone consisteth lyfe euerlasting, as witnesseth the Ioh. 17.Lord IIesus, and this is lyfe eternal that they knowe thee to be onelyonly verie God, and whom thow hath sent, Iesus Christ, this doctrine we hauehave professed at this present doeth, and shall by Gods grace, confesse vntounto the end in dispyte of Satan and his Uickar your Pope & Antechrist.