The Pope Confuted, Part 2 (3 of 3)

The Pope Confuted · Part 2 (3 of 3)

p. 97I hauehave hitherto nowe manifested a cause sufficient enough, except I be deceiued, that moued our Lorde to institute this sacrament of his body and blood in bread and wyne: Namely, to represent the power and efficacie of his most ghostly and comfortable death, not onelyonly to our faith and remembrance, but to our senses also by a most apte similitude. Which similitude beeing not able to be made consonant by any meanes without bread and wyne: hereof therefore commeth it to passe, that reteining bread, we doe admitte here a necessarie figuratiue speeche:A figuratiue speeche necessary in the Lordes supper. whereby wee doe most truely call bread by the name of Christes body, and the body of Christe by the name of the bread of life. For if it might bee lawefull for Lombard too vse this kynde of speeche, In **Sentent. li. 4 dist. 12. There is the true breaking & partition which is made in bread, that is to saye, in forme of bread. And again in the same place, The breaking and portions are made in the sacrament, that is to say, in the visible form, Lōbard And in the same place. * Where part of the body is, there is the whole. &c. But Augustine sayeth otherwise in his 57. epistle. EueryEvery greatnes is lesse in the part, then in the whole.bread, that is to saye, in forme of bread: in the sacrament, that is to saye, in the visible forme: Againe, wheresoeuer part of the bodie is, there is the whole, &c. which can not be spoken of any man without a figure: Why then shall it not bee as lawefull for vsus by the same figure to affirme that bread is the body of Christe, that bread doth signifie the body of Christ as well as Lombarde can winke in his owne proper conceit, and saye, The visible fourme is bread: the forme, that is to say, the bread doth signifie the body of Christe.

It remaineth now that you (holy father) with your cowled cloysterers render vsus a cause likewise, why yee driue the bread out of the sacrament like a runneaway. Why in this case you will not admitte a figure in any case.The cause is sifted out wh the Lord in his supper did institute a sacramēt of his body For this is your doctrine, that in the sacrament no bread is eaten, but the very body of Christe simply, naturally, and really. Go to, what was the cause at the length why the Lorde him selfe should either deliuer vntounto his guestes his owne naturall fleshe to be deuoured, or why doe ye suppose that we ought to beleeue the same to bee true? you will aunswere, that hee did it to the ende hee might feede our frayle, weake, and vncleane fleshe with his most holy fleshe. Of the very same opinion were the Capernaites wandring in the same mismaze long before your dayes: and being offended as Cyrill reporteth with the wordes of the Lord,Cyrill Catechis Mystag. 4. The Iewes not conceiuing the wordes of Christ spiritually being off…nded went backward, bicause they imagined that they were called to the deuouring of mans fleshe. reuol…ed from him. The same answere therefore which they receiued of the Lorde, be yee satisfied withal at this present. The flesh saith hee, profiteth nothing at all: that is to saye, Christe did not meane here his naturall flesh simply, which being borne for vsus, crucified for vsus, and risen againe, doth profite very much in deede, but hee did meane of our eating his body.A comparison betw…t the papistes and the Caperna…s. According to which kinde of eating, if Christ do plainly confesse that his flesh is altogether vnprofitable, will you grounde all the commoditie and profit of the sacrament in the eating of his fleshe? And after this will exact of vsus also that forsaking the very meaning and open exposition of Christ him selfe (who doth testifie that his wordes be spirit and life) should accept this your childish grammaticall construction of the fleshly deuouring naturall fleshe for sounde and catholike p. 98diuinitie?

But here againe will some one of you steppe foorth like a tall felowe, and saye, when the Lorde spake those wordes of his body, he vttered no sillable or terme of signifying. Neither did he speake thus, This doth signifie my body, but did professe simply without all figure, this is my body. But this trymmetra…ne so nicely conned out, Augustine will easely vnlose vntounto vsus.Aug. contra Adimantum cap. 12. Who writing against Adimantus, doth amongest other rules recited in the nature of a signe reckō vp this same very speech in the Gospell.An obiection. Christ sayed not, this doth signifie my body, but this is my body. Ergo, simply it is Christes body. August. doth answere, Paul sayed not the rock doth signifie Christ, but the rock was Christe. Ergo The rock was Christe naturally. The Lorde, saieth Augustine, do…ted nothing to saye, This is my body, when hee gaue a signe of his bodye. Uerily, if he gaue a signe of his body, he could not choose but giuegive somewhat wherein hee might signifie his body, although there bee no woorde significant expressed. In like maner neither was any woorde significant vttered by the Apostle when hee spake of the Rocke,August. de Ciuitate Dei. lib. 18. Cap. 48. Bicause after a certen maner all thinges significant doe beare the names of the thinges signified. As this speech of the Apostle, the rocke was Christe, when as notwithstanding it did signifie Christe. as the same Augustine witnesseth: for the Apostle sayed not, the rocke did signifie Christ, but the rock was Christ, when as neuerthelesse no man ought to doute of the Apostles meaning herein, not that Christe was a very rocke or stone in deede, but that the rocke did signifie Christ. Or if these iolly fellowes will not bee satisfied with this aunswere of Augustine, then let Ambrose aunswere for Augustine: Who setting downe the matter playnely by the woorde of signifying: Bicause, saith he, we be deliuered by the death of the Lorde, beeing myndefull hereof we doe in eating and drinking signifie the flesh and blood, which was crucified for vsus.

But if all the speeches which Christe vsed (which are eueryevery where very plentifull in figures and parables) must bee leueled according too this playne rule of the letter, then let vsus in our entry at the Church doore, worship the doore, bicause in like vtterance of speeche the Lorde sayde: I am the doore, if any man doe enter by me &c. Where appeareth no sounde of any woorde of signifying, whereby he might manifest vntounto vsus that he was not a doore in deede, but did signifie a doore. But in this place I see you forsake your grammer construction, and shrowde your selues vnderunder a figure, and not without cause. And what scrupule is it, I praye you that may let vsus to vse a figuratiue speeche as wel here where he saith. This is my body? Or why shoulde you bee more squemishe at a figuratiue speeche where we are saide to eate Christe, then where we are commanded by the scriptures to put on Christe? Paul doth instruct the Galathians on this wise.Gala…. 3. Al ye that be baptized, hauehave put on Christe: and here you acknowledge a figure: Christ teacheth vsus, that he is the foode of our life, and commaundeth vsus to eate him, affirming that to be his body, & here ye can take no notice of any figure. And why so I praye you? or what reason doth enduce you to this, that in putting on Christe you will seeme altogether spirituall,Christe is none otherwise eatē in the supper, then he is put on in baptisme. but in deuouring Christe altogether fleshly and carnall, preparing your myndes there, and here onelyonly your teeth and belly?

But I vnderstande what scrupule this is that so much altereth your diet. It is bicause in the woordes of the supper a certen speciall commaundement is set downe by Christe, whereby wee be commaunded to doe this in remembraunce of him. Goe to, and doth this seeme cause sufficient enough, why reiecting the figure, you shoulde runne awaye from heauenly diuinitie, p. 99to boyshe grammaticall construction, from the spirite to the letter, from life to the belly? Why then when S. Paul doth not onelyonly make vsus to be cloathed with Christ, but also commaundeth vsus to put him on? When as also he commaundeth vsus to take the sworde into our handes, which by expresse denomination hee calleth the worde of God, and fayth the Buckler wherewith hee chargeth too be furnished,Figurati…e speeches. shall wee therefore stricktly conuer these commaundementes of the Apostles, after the naturall phrase and simple maner of speeche leauing the spirite? May I be so bold (holy father) to demaund of you, when the blessed virgin is commaunded to take the disciple of Christe for her sonne (as is before mentioned) shall wee therefore take him for her naturall sonne borne of her body? Men are counsayled too gelde them selues for the kingdome of God: what shall wee therefore followe the fonde example of Origen in the carnall construction of the letter? The Lord him self doth els where commande to pluck out the eye, if it offende, likewise to cut of the right hande, and the right foote, if they offende: the same Christe also doth by expresse wordes forbidde, that none of his disciples should seeke to be saluted by the name of Lorde or maister, and that none of his seruauntes shoulde presse vp to the highest places and seates in meetings together, is there any one of all your holy crewe that will therefore mangle his body, and cut of any his members or pluck foorth his eyes at this commaundement of the Gospell? or will any of you thinke it matter vnseemely for a bishop to beare rule ouer others? I thinke you wil not: for you will saye, it were a very absurde matter to be done.The absurditie of the lite…al exposition of the speeches and mysteries of Christe. Nowe which of these seemeth more absurde vntounto you, either to cut of the hande or foote from the body, or to take the eye forth of the head, then to deuoure at one morsell a quicke liuing man, whole and sounde tog…ther with handes, feete, eyes and skinne fleshe, blood, bones, yea, his guttes also, nayles, sinowes and muscles, and to swallow him downe into the panche.

And yet notwithstanding, may not all these so many and so monstruouse absurdities which you see plainely with your eyes, and which the very course of nature can in no wise disgest, preuaile with you to call your **Cyril. ad obiecta Theodoreti. Our sacrament doth not affirme the deuouring of a mā, nor leade the mindes of the beleeuers irreligiously to grosse imaginations.grosse and fleshly fat imaginations to the spirituall vnderstanding of these woordes? wherein if you can not finde in your heart to credit your owne senses and reason, nor to yelde to your iudgemet (holy father) yet ought the authoritie of Augustine not so lightly be regarded, who in his booke de Doctrina Christiana, discoursing vponupon the maner of discerning the properties of wordes, whether they be properly spokē, or figuratiuely, amongest other his rules hee setteth downe this for a speciall note, namely:August de doc…rina Christiana li. 3. cap. 10. that where any speech wil seeme to commaund sacriledge, or an haynous and wicked thing, the same speech, should be construed for a figuratiue speech. And least any man shoulde cauill here that this note doth not appertaine vntounto the Euchariste, let Augustine be hearkened vntounto, beeing the expositour of his owne woordes, who doth applie this chiefly too those woordes vttered of eating Christe his fleshe and drinking his blood:August In the for…a…d booke. cap. …6. In which woordes of Christ, saith Augustine, bicause a wicked thing semeth to be commaunded: hereof hee concludeth on this wise. It is a figure therefore, saith he, cōmaunding to participate with the passion of our Lord Iesus, & sweetly and profitably too laye vp within the closettes of our remembrance that Christs flesh was woūded & crucified for vsus? What can bee more manifest then these woordes of Augustine? what more autentyke then his autoritie? which if wee yelde vntounto to be truth in deede, then either mu… you abandon this newe framshapen poppet of Papisticall p. 100transubstantiation, or incurre the blemishe of horrible wickednesse, and withall yelde ouer to many other grosse absurdities, quite against nature and kynde, whether ye will or no.

For what more execrable wickednesse or horror more dete…table may a man not only cōmit,Wick…dnes in eating the Lordes body. but imagine more vnworthy the precious body of our Lord, then in bidding bread and wine adiew out of the sacrament, to supplie in place thereof Christe his naturall fleshe, to be torne with teeth really and corporally, to be deu…ured fleshe,Aug. epist 5…. He that sayth that the body of Christ is at one instant of time both in heauē & ear…h doth vtte…ly cōfounde and dissolue the nature of Christes body. blood & bones, to conuey it so into the stomake, and to swallowe downe mans naturall blood? moreouer in resp…ct of nature it selfe, what can be vttered more grossely absurde & more vnreasonable, then to say that one and the selfe same Christe may sitte in heauen, according to his natural and bodily presence, and at the selfe same time too be handled with hands on earth? that the substance of one selfe body is limitted at one selfe time in one certaine place, & to be conteined in infinite places: that as touching the person, Christ is but one, but hath two kindes of bodies: the one whereof must be onelyonly locall, and al the rest of his bodies not local: to be in a place, & yet to fill no place certen:Absurdities in the Popishe transubstantiation. to be a true & natural body of a natural man, and yet to be neither round, nor broad, neither short nor thick, nor long, neither to hauehave in it selfe any proportion or distaunce of members,Aug. in sermon ad Infantes. Christ did lift vp his body into heauen, frō whence he shal come to iudge the quick & the dead: there he sitteth nowe at the right hande of his father. Howe is the bread his body? and the cup, or that which is conteined in the cup his blood? The…e things brethren, are therefore called sacramentes, bicause in thē one thing is seene, & an other thing is vnderunder…anded. to wit, no distāce frō eye to eye, from eyes to eares, frō head to feet: but wher y^• eies be, there also must be the eares, where the arme is, ther must be the leg, finally the heele, hand, head, & foote must be al one mē mber, & eueryevery of thē supply others place, & altogethers to be one body of Christe full complete, and of all partes absolute in tenne thousande diuerse places at once: and yet all these must make vp but one onelyonly body? And in this doing I praye you, what is els done, then according to the heresie of Eutiches in establishing the diuinitie of Christe too ouerthrowe meane whyles the truthe of his humanitie vtterly, and to choppe together into one confuse mixture God and man, heauen and earth altogether?

Aug. Epist. 57. ad Dardanum.Of which matter let vsus once againe heare what Augustine saieth. Do not dout (sayeth hee) that the man Christe is there nowe, from whence hee shall come agayne: imprinte in thy minde and beleeue stedfastly the Christian faith, that hee is risen agayne from the dead, ascended into heauen, sitteth at the right hand of his father, and shall come from thence, not from any where els, too iudge the quicke and the dead in the very same forme and substance of body, too the which hee hath giuen immortalitie, and from the which he hath not taken nature awaye. According to this nature, he is not to be imagined to bee dispersed eueryevery where. For we must be very circumspect herein, least we do establishe the diuinitie of his manhood, that wee vtterly take away the truthe of his body. For it is no good argument to saye, that as in the nature of the Godhead, hee is eueryevery where as God: likewise we hauehave our beeing, our life, & our mouing in him, yet are not we therefore eueryevery where as he is: for he is after one sorte a man in the godhead, and after an other sorte a God in the manhoode, after a certen peculiar proper & singular maner. For this one person is both God and man: and they both one only Christ Iesus in al places, as he is God… but as he is mā in heauen. &c. You hauehave now a playne demonstration of Augustines iudgemēt, touching the sacramēt of Christs body, no lesse euident in wordes & in reason manifest, then autentick in substāce & authoritie. Unto whose testimony p. 101if nought els were added, I would surely think our selues sufficiently furnished euen with this one, to ouerthrow all the grosse absurdities of that Popish doctrine.

But lest we may not seeme to produce as it were this one alone from amongest al other wryters, but rather one ou… of many: we doo not heere so much vouch Augustine himselfe, as in the name of Augustine specifie the general faith, and common consent of the learned fathers in Augustines time, and in the same Augustine the antiquitie of the doctrine touching that matter, to be considered. For what els did the generall agreement of the Churche proclaime publiquely abroade, what do their wrytinges purport vntounto vsus at this present, what do their bookes testifie els, then the very same which wee professe at this day deliuered vntounto vsus from those our first teachers? amongest all the which the neerer any one liued to that auncient age of the Apostles, so much the further did he dissent from that newfangled toy of transubstātiatiō, I should rather hauehave said d…ousy dreame. The truth wherof beeing iustifiable by many sundry proofes, wil yet appeare much more abū dantly in this, that not one so much of al that primitiue & purer age did euer speake woord of any such adoring of the sacrament, of any such transubstantiation, reseruatiō, carrying abroade, of any such byhangers and fourmes without a subiect, or of excluding the substance of bread: but al ingeneral with one voyce do proclaime that bread and wine is a signe of Christs body & blood:A signe. some call it a figure,A figur… others an exemplar, others a type,A type. some a likenesse and token,A lykenesse. A token. many a memorial,A memor…al. and al with one voice confesse too bee a sacrament of the body:A represen…a…iō A sacrament. of some the body is sayde to bee represented by the bread, of many too bee shewed, of others too be signified, and many also too bee figured.

Tertullian doth by expresse woordes say,Tertul… contra Marcion. l…b. … This is my body, that is to say, this is the figure of my body: and in an other place:O…ig…. Christe did cal bread his body. Origen also no lesse expresly. The churche offreth vppe the shewes of the body and of the blood. Nazianzen hath these words.Naz…nzen. Concerning the table whervnto we do resort, or concerning the tymes and helth and saluation which I do with my mouth receaue from him, &c.

Ambros. de his qui initiantur, cap. 9.Ambr. saith thus. Before the blessing of the words, other kindes are named: after the blessing, the body of Christe is signified. And in an other place: In the type whereof wee doo drinke the mystical cuppe of his blood. Chrysostome also as plainely:Chrys… in Epist. ad Habr. hom. 17. that hee might dayly shew foorth vntounto vsus bread and wine for a similitude of Christs body & blood according to the order of Melchisedech. Chrys. in. Mat. …om. 83.And againe. If Iesus did not suffer death, whose memorial then, & signe is this sacrifice? Cyprian saith,Cypria lib. 2.16 the people is vnderstood in the water in the wyne, blood is shewed forth. Epist. 3.What cā be more manifest then the words of Gelasius?Gelas. contra Eu…ychetem. In this action of mysteries (saith he) is celebrated the Image and similitude of Christes body and blood. Theodoret. Christ dooth not chaunge the nature of bread, but putteth theretoo grace. Theodoret. Dial.Againe in his seconde Dialogue.1. Dialog. 2. For the mystical signes doo not goe foorth from their nature. What shal I neede to cyte Bertram who making a true reporte of the vsage of his tyme,Bertr…. dooth remoue neyther bread nor wyne out of the sacrament, but establisheth the presence therof by these woordes. The bread and wyne is figuratiuely the body and blood of Christe. And immediatly after: The body of Christ, that is celebrated in the Churche by a mystery, is after a certaine maner the body of Christe, and this manner is in a figure & an ymage. I passe ouer here Ba…il who calleth bread an exemplar.… Ioyne with the foresaide wryters Macarius, Macar. hom. 27.who testifying most manifestly of the bread and wyne. The bread (sayeth hee) and wyne is an exemplar of p. 102his …eshe and his blood, and they that communicate of the apparaunt bread doo eate the flesh of the lord… spiritually. Let vsus nowe heare Irene speak…ng of the bread not beeing cast out, but sanctified. The elemental bread, saith hee, taking denomination of the word of God is no more common bread, Iren… aduersus Valentinia. lib. 4 cap. 34.but is made the Euchariste, which consisteth of twoo things, earthly and heauenly: and immediatly after in the same place, what is vnderstood by the heauenly thing, but sanctificatiō which commeth by inuocating the name of God? And by the earthly thing, which commeth foorth of the earth, but natural bread: which also feedeth our bodies aswel as any vsual bread. And againe in his 9. booke. When the wyne powred forth into the cuppe, and the bread being broken doth receaue the worde of GOD, it is made the Euchariste of the body and blood of Christ, from the which the substaunce of our flesh receaueth repast and nourishment.

Of the same iudgeme…t is Iustine the holy martyr liuing in the very tyme and age of Irene, Iustine the holy martyr.who wryteth on this wise. The Deacons do distribute to al that be present to make them partakers of bread, wine, & water, The br…ad and wyn… which passe intoo the no…rishment of our body are c…lled the Euchariste.ouer the which thanksgiuing hath bene pronounced, or els they carry it to those that be absent. Nowe this nourrishement is called amongest vsus the Euchariste, of the which may no man bee made partaker, vnlesse hee bee ioyned with vsus in one and the same fayth and baptisme, and liue after the example of Christe. For wee doo not receaue this as common bread, foreignor common wyne: but as Iesus tooke vppon him fleshe and blood for our saluation sake, That is too say ouer the which thanksgiuing & prayers hauehave bin pronounced.after the same maner we also receauing this Sacramentall foode, by the which our fleshe and blood is nourished by concoction, are taught that it is the flesh & blood of Christ that …ook… flesh vponupon him for our sakes.

I coulde alleadge many sentences besides these out of Athanasius, and more out of Cyril. some out of Epiphanius Dydimus and others many more, al which i… I shoulde re…ken vp particularly, I shoulde skarse make an ende of vouching testimonies: I meane the …estimonies of that auncient and primitiue purer age. By the which may bee seene plaine without all ambiguity that those visible formes and byhangers of bread without any manner of sub…aunce was neuer hearde of as yet: and that the body and blood of Christ was so distributed… in the communion, as that both bread and wyne did neuerthelesse remayne alwayes in this sacrament amongest them: finally that the body and blood of Christe was so conteyned vnderunder the denomination of meate and drinke, that the Churche had alwayes a sacrament,The Churche hath the sacrament of the body alwaies, but hath not alwaies the body without the sacrament according too that saying [You hauehave not me alwaies.] of the body, but not alwayes the body without the sacr…ment, if therefore wee hauehave not the body alwayes without a sacrament: then may any man easily perceaue by the very denomination of a sacrament what hee ought too conceaue of the selfe same body, for as much as the sacrament of the body is one thing, and the very body of the sacrament is an other thing, the one whereof may bee called by the others name, but can not possibly bee one and the selfe same in substaunce. For as his most blessed mother hauing deliuered Christe out of her wombe, is sayde properly and truely too hauehave brought foorth the very natural body of Christe naturally,Christ is otherwise borne into the world, otherwyse eaten in the world. not the sacrament of his body: euen so likewyse this holy sacrament of Christes body, which is produced and made by the only woorde of GOD without mother at al, is called a body by a spiritual construction onelyonly, but can not rightely bee called the substantial and natural body which issued foorth of the virgin, and in the natural sense therof. For although Christ be one and the selfsame in person wheresoeuer hee bee, yet is hee not eueryevery where p. 103according to the natural substaunce, which he receiued of his mother, neither is he eaten as he was borne, for hee was borne a natural man in deede, but hee is eaten not otherwyse then by a mystery significant. In mysteries similitudes of thinges are conteined, but not the substaūce themselues properly. In the mother the woorde was made fleshe: In the Euchariste the flesh of the woorde is made our foode, I say our foode,Aug. in. Ioan. tract. 95 This bread doth require the hū ger of the inward man. not of the mawe nor of the belly but of the minde. Wherevppon this meate is called eueryevery where by the auncient ecclesiasticall fathers, and that not without cause by spirituall meate: as the which is not applyed too the foode of the bodies, but which dooth satisfie the hunger of the inwarde man. For as the hunger which hungreth after Christe is not the hunger of the outwarde body,Cyprian. de coena domini. This bread is foode of the mind not of the body. but of the inwarde man: euen so the fleshe of Christe auaileth nothing too the ease of belly hunger: but all the commoditie thereof serueth for the nourishement of a better life. Otherwyse why woulde the Apostle Paul hauehave sent backe the hungry belly communicantes to their owne house where they might feede at ful,Aug. in. Psal. 103. Again in Ioan. tract. 26 cap. 6. Why doo yee prepare tooth and belly? beleeue and thou hast eaten Psal. 103. This is the bread of the hart, bee thou hungry and thirsty in the inwarde man.Ps 103 except hee had supposed that in that holy assembly some higher mystery had beene handled besides feeding the belly?

Which beeing true in deede, verified with so many proofes, so many manifest euidences of witn…sses:Rab. Maur. lib. 1. cap. 31. The sacramēt is turned into the foode of the body. By the power of the sacrament we do obtein life euerlasting. what wil these Romish counterfa…cts bring foorth to shadowe their fren…y and to defend their drousy heresy of transubstantiation? For if they do so stricktly restraine the sacred body of Christ, which without all question sitteth nowe in heauen, into and within the sacrament, that there shal remaine no place nor any substaūce at al of bread swee…e nor leauened besides a thing of nought onelyonly, and shadowes of accidentes, what shal that be then, which the auncient fathers doo with so general agre…ment call a signe, a Sacrament, a mystery, a type, an exemplar, an ymage, a seale, a similitude, and a figure of the Lordes body and blood? What is that wherewith our bodies bee fedde and nourished as Iustine reporteth? Are wee nourished with formes and bare byhangers of accidentes? What is that, the fragmentes whereof the Deacons did in olde tyme carry vntoo others,Nicephor. in hist. eccl. lib. 17. cap. 15. and the broken pieces wherof (if any remained after the communion the priests did giuegive to boyes that went too schoole too eate too their breakfaste:The custome of bestowing the fragments in Iustinian his tyme. which custome was frequented in the church in the of …yme Iustinian as Nycephorus reporteth? If in that firste age of the Churche those auncient fathers had but ymagined in their mindes that they did eate the natural body of Christe altogither without bread really, may any man thinke with him selfe that they would hauehave yeelded so litle reuerence to Christ their sauiour, as that the Priestes shoulde hauehave beene permitte… not onelyonly too deuoure the body of our Lord so broken in pieces, but also too deliuer boyes gooing too schoole the crustes and cromines of the leauinges for their breakefastes?

By the which you see (holy father of Rome) vnlesse you hauehave lost your eyes & see nothing, what the doctrine and opinion touching the substaunce and fayth of this sacrament was then in that olde auncient age amongest those Catholike and godly auncient fathers: and howe farre this your newe vpstart chaungeling of …rāsubstantiation doth differre not only from al auncient antiquity, but also from the trueth of the scripture it selfe, which many of your own frate…ny, Impes of this later age did not onelyonly very wisely forsee, but very frankely confesse as your selfe do know wel ynough. For I suppose the name p. 104of the Author or the wordes of the Author at the least bee not vnknowen vntounto you, who albeit neuer durst deny transubstantiation himselfe: yet feared nothing …o v…ter his iudgement thereof freely:Eras…in Ann. in 1. Cor. 7.1 Cor 7 The Churche (saieth hee) did but very lately set down the determination touching transubstantiation: The Churche did lately determine of transubstantiation.for before that, it was thought sufficient that the true body of Christ was conteined really either vnderunder consecrated bread, or by any meanes els, but afterwardes when the churche began to looke more narrowly into the substaunce of the matter, and to enter into more exact consideration therof, it gaue foorth a more resolute determinatiō of the same, &c. To the same effect almost writeth also Iohn Fisher bishop of Rochester not the least Apostle of the Romish church, who in his booke entituled A Defe…ce for the King of England, discoursing vppon transubstantiation and the vse of the sacrament, commeth at the last to this conclusion, to wit, that Trāsubstantiation is groūded more vpō the authoritie aud determination of the church, then can be iustifiable by the scriptures of God & the Gospel. Wherein he did not amisse. For who doth not know that in that first nourcery of the Primitiue Churche, yea, and many hundred yeeres after:When transubstantiation began first. whenas Bede, Bertram, and Rabanus Maurus were liuing in the world, euen vntounto that vnlucky hatching of Hildebrande and Innocent the thi…de, not so much as this name Transubstantiation was euer hearde of, vntill at the length in a Councell hold…n at Laterane in Rome the solemne edicte was established of banishing the substaunce of bread quyt… out of the sacrament.The …aterane councel vnderunder Pope Innocent the thi…d. Anno 1216. For if at any tyme before that councel the church had defyned any certain and grounded doc…rine touching the same: how falleth it out thē that there is such a continual falling …ut amongest thē that folowed after in diuersities of opinion and iudgement about that transubstantiati…n, which some of them do stoutly maintaine, some do vtterly deny it: some do by coniecture think that others wil not graunt vntounto: some others hauehave supposed, some doo so deliuer out that the substaunce of bread & wyne doth remaine.Lombard. lib. 4. dist. 10. Lombarde himselfe doth think that there is a certain enterchaunge, but what manner of enterchanuge that is, whether formal, or substantial or of some other fashion, hee dareth not of himselfe determine any certainty.Gabriel. Likewyse Gabriel Biel sticking fast in the same quauemyre vnable too vnwelde him selfe cleane from out the same, is faine at the length too set downe by a plaine denial, that in the whole Canonical scriptures can not possibly be founde in expresse woordes, whether this transubstantiation dooth beginne by enterchaunging of any somwhat into the body, or do without enterchaunging beginne too bee the body with the bread: the substaunce and accidentes of bread remaining still. What shall wee say to this, that euen by the testimony of Pope Innocent the thirde his owne mouth, were some persons knowen that did affirme, that as the very accidentes of bread did remaine after consecration, so also did the very substaunce of bread remaine withal. Whereby appeareth manifestly that before that late councel of Laterane, was no certaine doctryne established touching transubstantiation. To the lyke effect wryteth Nicholas Cusanus. Nicol…us Cusa…us exercitationum. lib. 6.Some of the auncient fathers, saieth hee, are founde too hauehave beene of this minde, that the bread is not transubstantiated, but is inuested with a certain substaū …e of more high valour.

O notable groundwoorke of transubstantiation, perdy builded vppon none other platte fourme then vppon so brittle a fundation as that ridiculous decree of the Romish Church being so late an vpstarte, as the which was not so much as by name onelyonly euer hearde of or knowen, p. 105which neuer peeped abroade into the worlde, before Satan being let loose out of Hell after the thousande yeeres of his captiuitie, was permitted too raunge openly abroade, and too defile all thinges with abhominable stenche and corruption. For on this wyse dyd Satan after hee was let loose beginne his first practises, very neere the tyme wherein Hildebrande, or not long after him Innocent the thyrd began too prop vp theyr Ierarchie ouer the worlde. O Sacred and Catholike doctrine of Transubstantiation issuing from so gracious a stocke forsooth, and grafted in suche an holy and seasonable a time. O neate and fine forgers of fraude: of whom notwithstanding, if any man will demaunde for the firste Originall of y^• theyr doctrine, they wyll not be ashamed to fetche the pedigree thereof, euen from the very Apostles themselues, and too deduce the auncientie of this theyr transubstantiation euen vntounto Melchisedech: not much vnlike too theyr neere Cozens the Gebaonites, which too colour theyr falshoode shewed foorth theyr olde shoes: so do these Romanists make a shew of the auctoritie of theyr owne Churche, and the same aduaunce alof… as it were Gorgones heade before the eyes and eares of the vnlettered multitude with very solemne protestations. Wherein theyr fraudulent gu…le had not beene altogeather amisse, if that the holy Scriptures had not long before discouered vntoo vsus that same gracious Church of theirs, which they glorifie with the title of Catholike, to bee none other then that abhominable strumpet of Babylon.

And yet for all this, these Gentlemen spare not too claime holde of Christe himselfe also, as an especiall Patrone of theyr error: but not muche vnlike their owne great graundsire Satan, who long sithens gaue assaulte vponupon the same Christ in his owne person with the words of Scripture synisterly wrest after the bare sense of the letter: and as the Iewes doe at this present hacke the Propheticall Scriptures of the old Testament of whom Ierome maketh mention:Hieronymus. lib. 3. Na…. Cap. 17. Who following the bare construction of the letter, sayeth hee, slew the sonne of God. The selfe same almost may seeme very aptly appliable vntounto them, who following the bare letter of the newe Testament, doe change the Sacramentes into Idolles, doe extinguishe the spirite of the Scripture, and doe crucifie Christe with the Iewes a fr…she in his members againe, besides this also because they doe not perceiue sufficient sauetie enough set downe for them in the scriptures, they runne by heapes to the chiefe Fortresse of Gods omnipotent power. What? say they, did not Christe affirme in plaine woordes:The Papistes arguments deduced from the omnipotencie of God. This is my body? shall wee doubt that hee was not able to perfourme that which hee spake? If Christe woulde vouchsafe vponupon his departure from hence to leaue behind him, too his dearely beloued Spouse, some speciall token or remembrance of him selfe: and if hee were of abilitie too leaue insteede of that token himselfe wholy with his Spouse, did hee lacke power too perfourme that which hee spake by woorde?Roffencis contra Oecolampadium. Lib. 3. in Prooe…nio. or shall wee abridge the credite of his power? I doe know that the Omnipotent power of Christs Godhead is able to do very much: but I know also that this Omnipotencie doeth alwayes concurre with his will. Therefore the state of the question heere is not what Christe was able too doe,An answere to the argumente touching the Omnipoten…ie of Christes Godhead. but what hee willed too bee doone. Neither is the controuersie heere touching the abilitie of perfourming, but of the very Action it selfe. Wee doe reade set downe in the Gospell on this wyse: The woorde was made fleshe: where notwithstanding t…e woorde did not therfore put of it owne nature, because it cloathed it selfe with fleshe. Let vsus nowe heare what these doe teache, The bread, say they, is made the fleshe of Christe? Howe so? on suche wyse p. 106forsooth, as leauing the formes only, there may not remaine one crumme of breade so muche. Goe to, how shall this …peare too bee true? Because hee that spake the woordes, is Omnipotent, saye they, therefore it maye bee so, because hee sayde it shoulde bee so. What doe I heare? wyll they foorthwith …etermine the channge too bee therefore made, because it coulde bee made? After the fame maner was the olde Heretique Praxeas wont to frame his argumentes in olde tyme, whome Tertullian answeryng not vnaptly:Tertullian aduersus Praxeam. If we vse these presumptions so disorderly in our talking, wee maye imagine what wee liste of GOD as though hee did it because hee was able too doe it. But wee may not therefore beleeue that hee did all thynges because hee was able too doe all thinges, but wee muste enquire whether hee did it or no. but after this manner (quoth Tertullian) may any man imagine what he list concerning God, as though hee did it in deede, because hee was able too doe it. Therfore if these Romanistes woulde frame theyr Argumentes lyke good Logicians, they must deduce the conclusion, not from that which GOD was able too doo, but from that whiche hee willed too bee doone. For the power of GOD, is his will: and not too bee of power in GOD, is not too will: for whatsoeuer hee willed, the same also was hee able too doe, and dyd it in deede.

We doe not therfore extenuate heere the singuler and incomprehensible power of Christ in working myracles: so also neither are myracles to be newe coyned where no myracles bee nowe: Forasmuche as myracles are wrought not for the behoofe of the beleeuing persons properly, but in respecte of the vnbeleeuers, nor are at any time vsually frequented, but for some great and vrgent causes, or some notable necessitie, too strike a terror into the heartes of the beholders, whom a man is willing to winne to the faith: I woulde very faine learne then of these men, what cause or commoditie may be alledged in this Action, why the Lorde sitting with his Apostles shoulde by the Omnipotencie of his power transpose the substaunce of bread intoo the substaunce of his owne fleshe too bee eaten. Namely, sithens neither the Apostles did neede any suche myracle, being already before established in faith: yea though they had needed it, yet did the Lorde very grauely forewarne them, that his fleshe shoulde not profite them any whit at all? Moreouer neyther was any of them carried into any amazed admiration, or straunge adoration of any thing doone by the Lord in that Supper. Besides this also neither do any of y^e Euangelistes make report of any myracle wrought heere, but doe describe the maner and story of the action simply, without al astonishment of the beholders. And by what faith I praye you may wee conceaue in our mindes a myracle of hidden transubstantiation, where no thing appeareth too any mans sight that we may wonder at, where no degree of a myracle may eyther appeare to the senses, or bee comprehended by reason? But you wyll say, that the senses may not be credited heere: bee it so: so neither may no credite bee geuen too eueryevery drowsie dreame of eueryevery doting Dotterel: but our imaginations must be guided by the right line of Gods worde. And in this same very woorde of God, if any thing occurre eyther figuratiuely or doubtfully spoken, as the naturall propertie of the very speaches them selues is alwayes too bee obserued, so that construction of woordes is to be shunned of all others chiefly, which is preiudiciall too the sinceritie of the whole Scriptures, and which throweth men downe headlong into open & horrible impietie. And what can be more horribly wicked, then to destroy p. 107the true and naturall humanitie of Christe, and too drawe Christe himself maugre his head into blemish of offence?

Both which must needes ensue vponupon this,A double impī e… in transubstan…iation. that these transubstantiators doe forge vntounto vsus. For if that holy body of Christ, which in the nature of his manhood is of the same mettall that our bodies be, euen by the very lawe of naturall humanitie is conteyned with all the proportion therof within one onelyonly precinct of heauen, if I say, these men may disperse abroad the same body in many places, at one instāt of time, placing it in no certain place: doubtlesse Christ neuer brought with him this nature from out the Uirgin Mary, forasmuche as to be in infinite places, at one instant of time, cannot in any respecte agree with the nature of humanitie, but is proper and peculiar to the Godhead only. And by the same reason shall the trueth of the Scripture lye, which hath made no difference betwixt the humanitie of Christe and our humanitie in the thinges whiche properly apperteine too the properties of **August Epist. 57. ad Dardanum. The Lord gaue immortalitie to his body, but did not take away humanitie from it. The same August. contra Faustum Manichaeum. Lib. 20. Cap. 11. Concomitance hath no place in the Sacramental presence. August. contra Faustum Manichaeum Lib. 20. Cap. II. Christe according to his corporall presence could not be in the Sunne, and in the Moone, and vponupon the Crosse, at one time. Christe shall come againe, euen as he was seen to ascende vp into heauen, in the same forme and substaunce of flesh, vntounto the which he hath geuen immortalitie, but hath not taken away humanitie.manhood, sinne only excepted, neither doeth that their foolishe & most doltish shift of concomitance as they tearme it, helpe thē ought at all. For to admit this to be true, that wheresoeuer the glorious body of Christe is present that his Diuinitie is not absent there: yet doth it not hereupon folow by the same kinde of arguing backwarde, that his corporall presence is alwaies coupled togeather personally with the presence of his diuinitie.

The second … of transubstantiation.An other kinde of impietie appeareth in this, that Christe shalbe inforced by this meanes to commit manyfest transgression agaynst the holy commaundements. For it this heauenly banqueter did set before his guestes none other maner of substaunce too bee eaten and drunken, but the very fleshe and blood, of the same naturall body, which hee tooke of his mothers nature, then could he not choose but incurre a iuste reproche of crime,Christe is prou…d a trespassor of the …th… law, if hee had giuen his blood to be drunken. nor by any meanes auoide the guilte of breaking his fathers commaundement, sithens the law it selfe not in one place only, ne yet obscurely commaundeth by especial wordes, you shall not eate the blood with the flesh. And again in an other place,Genesis 9.Gen 9 Whosoeuer hee bee that eateth any blood, I wyl euen set my face against that person, and wyl cut him of from amongst his people. Moreouer yeelding the cause thereof, hee inferreth foorthwith: Because the life of all fleshe is in the blood. Leuit. 17.Lev 17Wherevppon I hauehave saide too the children of Israell. None of you shal eate the blood of any flesh, whosoeuer eateth it, shall bee cut off. And afterwardes likewise in Deuteronomie repeating the same again & againe,Deut. 12.Deut 12 he sayth: OnelyOnly bee sure that thou eate not the blood, for the blood is the life: therefore thou maiest not eate the blood with the fleshe.

Nowe therefore what maner of …uersion not obseruation of Gods lawe is this? what a disagreemente and vnlikenesse is this betwixt the olde Testament and the newe? That which the father forbiddeth, the sonne commaundeth: that which not onelyonly nature doth vtterly condemne, but also the fathers commaundement by most special law hath abolished, shal Christ the sonne of God the most seuere keeper of the lawe bring the same againe into vse? God forbid, hee neuer did it hee neuer willed it, he neuer thought it, neither was hee able to commit so p. 108grosse an absurditie without great prediudice of the law and nature it selfe, neyther doe thou imagine euer any suche thing in thy minde, gentle Reader. Christ… did neu…r bryng in any suche enormitie, but the Pa…ists a dete…table and sauadge kinde of people, altogeather contrary to Christes meaning, and contrary too all lawe and rule not only of all nature, but of Scripture it selfe. They doe gnawe vppon the woord…s as vppon the fleshe of the letter, which if be construed in their right sense, nothing can be more heauenly: but yf carnally, nothing c…n bee more damnable. But if wee will needes bee so precise about the woordes of Christ…, Why then by the same Argument of Christes omnipotencie, let vsus turne Peter into a Rocke of Stone… and a Stone into Christe, and Christes fleshe into Table meate. For neither when he called bread his body, which hee woulde geue for vsus (noting thereby the power and eff…cacie of his passion) did these woordes tende to that ende, to institute some transmutation of Creatures by any hidden myracle: or that departing out of the earth with his body, to leaue his body behinde him, (or else why shoulde hee commaunde it too bee eaten, if his will had beene too hauehave it reserued for a token?) but Christe did vnderstande by these woordes an other maner of thing, being matter of farre greater and deeper mysterie. For he deliuered a Sacrament which being vnderstoode spiritually doth geue life:Augustin. in Psal. 98. This body which you see, s…all you not eate, nor drink that blood which they shall shed that shall crucifie me: Beholde I hauehave deliuered you a mysterie, which being spiritually vnderstoode, doeth geue life.Ps 98 but be…ng carnally vnderstoode… doeth kyll. For flesh (according too the testimonie of Christe him selfe) doeth not pro…ite any thing at all.

But howe can it bee ap…ly saide that this moste holy fleshe doeth pro…ite nothing at all? What? did not the fleshe of Christe borne for vsus, baptized for vsus, and slaine for vsus, profite? Yes truely very muche. But our treatise heere concerneth not the very substaunce of his flesh, nor y…t his heauenly Actions in the fleshe, but only our fleshly eating of his naturall fleshe in this Sacrament, which shoulde auaile vsus nought at all too eternall life, t…ough wee eate thereof with our mouthes a thousande times: whereof the Lord himselfe meaning to aduertise the Capernaites not altogether obscurely, who did wrest these wordes to the carnall and fleshly sense and meaning of eating, saide vntounto them these wordes:Iohn .6. My woordes are spirite and life. The fleshe doeth not profite at all.

Howe these words of Christ [the flesh profiteth nothing] ought to be vnderunder…tood.Which wordes doe tende too this construction at the last: You doe conceiue of these woordes which I spake touching the eating of my fleshe too too grossely and carnally, and farre otherwise then my meaning is: for I did neither speake them in any suche sense, as that I would inuite you to the deuouring of my person: for what can bee more absurde? Neither did I take vppon mee this fleshe too any suche ende, as too fill your throates and belies therewith: For what commoditie shoulde thereby redownde vntounto you? that was not my meaning, but too the ende I shoulde geue the same to bee slaine for your sakes: which slaughter of my fleshe beyng apprehended of you spiritually by faith, and inwardly disgested within your heartes, shall refreshe you much more effectually, then Moyses refreshed your bellies with his Manna: for it shall reuiue you with a liuely life, not perishable and temporall, but eternall: and it shall satisfie your hunger, not that hunger which will bee hungry again, but which shall replenish you being full fed with euerlasting felicitie in such wise as that you shal from thence foorth neuer bee hungry any more. Whereupon those his woordes are not without cause called spirite and life, not wherewith p. 109he turned bread into fleshe, but where…ith he represented the efficacie of his fleshe which was slaine for vsus, and of his blood which was shedde for vsus, vnderunder the mysteries of bread and wine: And on this wise in deede the fleshe of Christ, not in that sense as it is eaten, but in that whereby our faith is reposed in him, is become altogi…her profitable vntounto vsus.

It seemeth vntounto me nowe, that I hauehave spoken sufficiently of this matter, if I an…exe one thing more. Whervnto I woulde verie faine heare what aunswere these Laterane breade flesh makers will make: who thinke it not sufficient to turne breade and wine into a Sacrament of the bodie and blood by the diuine power of the woorde, vnlesse by a certaine kinde of Alcumie they poure foorth substaunce of things from out one substance into an other,The Popish Alcumie. and so produce out of the substaunce of breade and wine, a certaine contrarie nature of mans flesh and blood, and make thereof some certaine quinte essence. And goe to nowe, to yeelde thus much to their Alcumistical chaunge, to wit, that nothing remayneth in the Sacrament besides the onelyonly substaunce of the bodie and blood: I come nowe not to enquire in what mynute of time, in what instant of pronouncing the woorde this transubstantiation taketh his first commencement of being created: For the Popes themselues cannot yet agree vponupon this poynt. This thing do I demaund. After that this same bodie of our Lorde being once deuoured by vsus,Uerie grosse enormities and ab…u…d impossibilities proceede …ut of the doctrine of t…ā subs…antiation. doeth passe once downe into the bowels, and resteth within our bodies, whether it remaine whole there without all kinde of disgestion, or whether the substaunce of that fleshe doe growe through naturall concoction into and increase the substaunce of our fleshe? If they graunt this: it must needes then come to passe thereby, that the vndefiled and pure fleshe of Christ swallowed vy vsus, and conuerted into the substaunce of our mortal and corrupt nature,O…i…en. c …. …5. in Mat. The sanctifi…d bread according to the materi…ll part thereof doth passe downe into the b…lly, and is throwne out into the draught. C…pri… …e coe…a. But our coniu…tion with him doeth neither con…ound the pe…sons, nor vnite the …ubstanc…s, but doth make our a…fections agreeable, and couple togither our willes. must become one and the selfsame flesh with our corru…t fl…sh. For **D…m…s. de Orth. side. li. 4. ca. 14.as bread and wine (according to the test…mon…e of Damascen) by eating and drinking, is transposed into the bodie & blood of the person that eateth and drinketh: euen so the flesh and blood of Christ, if they bee receyued really, as they tearme it, into our bodies, must needes be transubstantiat…d & vnited into our owne flesh and blood. Hereof therefore must it folow of verie necess…ie, that the …lesh of Christ being nowe made our fleshe shall be sinfull flesh, which were horrible to bee spoken, yea not onelyonly sinfull: but also as our fleshe doeth corrupt and waxe rotten withall, so the same corruption must of necessitie happen vntounto the flesh of Christ as well as into ours (if according to D…mascene, we bee concorporate and made one bodie with Christ) which is quite contrarie to that mysticall prophecie of the Psalmy…t, whereby wee are taught that Christ his most hol… fleshe is dignified with …uch an especiall est…te and condition, that it should alwayes continue free from all maner of corruption,Psal. 15. Thou shalt not giuegive thy holy one to see cor…uptio…. &c.Ps 15 not to inferre here any mention meane whiles of that which cannot bee gainesayde of them that are dayly conuersant with their sacred …akes. I meane euen those cakes also that be so curiousl… kept in Pixe for a season, after they hauehave blessed them: which holy cakes vsu…lly wax mo…ldie and rotten, and shi…er to dust being scarce toucht with their fingers. Wherein either the body of our most blessed Sau…our mu…t suffer this v…speakeable iniurie, or else it mu… needs bee confessed, that this their framsh…pen chaungeling Transub…tantiation must be matter ridiculous, matter of p. 110nought, or surely no matter at all.

Beholde here (if it may please y…ur holy fath…hood) somewhat vttered concerning many partes of your doctrine. Wherein you see nothing sounde almost, no…hing cleare, yea nothing that is not of all par…es de…iled wi…h monstrous errour…. And yet after all these so horrible and vns…eakeable blasphemies doe you require to be accounted for a father and a principall so…raine of the Churc…? Whereof no man that knoweth you, may wi…h sa…e conscience acknowledge you for so much as a reasonable member. And is your shamelesse impudencie crawled so aloft to the toppe gallant, yea aboue al whoor…sh shamelesnesse? moreouer doth your insolent arrogancie so farre exceede all impudencie, that ye shame no…hing at all… with more then Turkish crueltie to hale harmel…sse a…d in…ocent sheepe of the Lords flocke, as euerie of them is most sounde, and of a most vnde…iled fayth, to the stake, and to condemne th…m for Heretikes? and with them also no lesse infamously accuse kings and Queenes as accessaries, harborers, recettours, and supporters of Here…es? Whereas your selfe meane whiles swa…ming on al par…s with so many, so monstrous, and more than her…ticall …rrours do so ex…crably exceede all the whole crew of Heretiques, and do so alone like an Ar…hringleader surp…sse al other Her…tikes,Th… … t…e A…c…heritike o… all he…etiqu…s. that (to speake at a w…d…) …his your Papisme can s…eme scarc… ought else then a plai…e canker and ga…ing gulfe, deuouring a…d swal…owing vp all true and Christian religion.

B…t I surc…as… now, and make here an …nde of cont…nding with you alb…it this is not a …ō …ntion, but a de…nce rather, not entred into of any vnaduised temeritie, but vndertaken vponupon great and vrg…nt caus… …nd n…c…ssit…e. Wherein if wee shall seem… to hauehave desen…ed our cause so…what more eage…ly thā may se…me agreeable with the l…nitie of ou… na…ures, or to hauehave repr…u…d you somew…at more bitterly then you would willingly heare of, pleaseth it your holinesse to accept these speeches as not vttered by vsus, but to be the verie wordes of truth it selfe. Neither do wee sillie faythfull members of the vniuersall Catholike Church complayne agaynst you, but the Scriptures of God do mainteine our quarel herein, and in our behalfe doe bende their whole force agaynst you: the verie voyce of the Lord,2 Thes. 2. Whom Christ shal consume with the breath of his owne mou…h.2 Thess 2 the verie breath of Christes owne mouth, togither with the whole armie both of Christs Church, and of heauen, and with these also all the holy companie of heauen, do not only vrge this disputation against you, but also doe ioyne in league preparing all togethers greater forces agaynst your triple royaltie. For the selfe same will either vtterly roote you ere it bee long from out that maiestical Sea, which you do against al equitie and right vsurpe most iniuriously: or else you must of fine force throw into vtter exile the selfe same Scriptures, and banish withal Christ himselfe, and his Apostles, from out all and euerie Church. I doe knowe that the Church is molested many times, with many great and grieuous assaults and conflictes of encounterings: and many times infected with diuerse noysome diseases and stench of contagious corruptions: to the clensing and curing whereof, I thinke it needefull to applie milde and gentle maner of speeches and conference,If any man will be contencious, the Church of God hath no …uch custome. as becomm…th modest and mild dispositions. So earnestly alwayes hath our affection loathed that cap…ious snatching and quareling amongest the learned.

But yet this your pes…iferous poyson of impietie (holy father of Rome) linked with such sauage phalarisme, wherwith you hauehave not only de…iled the very welsprings & purest source of all Christian religion, but also vtterly spoyled and defaced it, is such, that it cannot bee cured nowe with any milde potion of medici…able restoratiue. You hauehave forced the afflicted estate of tormented Christians p. 111to such a lamentable extremitie with your horrible crampes and execrable crueltie, that you are not now any more to be confuted with arguments as an heretique, but as Antichrist himselfe the most butcherly bloodsucker of Christians, to be abhorred and accursed with the general detestation of all the godly: insomuch that whatsoeuer person be not from the bottom of his heart, your professed enemie, can in no wise bee in league with the glorie of Iesus Christ.

For as much therefore as the matter is come to this passe:An exhortation to the Pope. and that your tottering state standeth in worse case nowe than any man can expresse: what better prouision may you make for your selfe, or what more wholesome counsel may I giuegive vntounto you, then that ye reclaime your selfe speedily, and returne againe betimes? Whither shal I returne, wil you say? Returne, Romane ruffler, from whence you are fallen. Returne to humilitie, to the which you bee called. Returne againe vntounto the charge wherevnto you are appoynted. If the Lorde hauehave called you into his Uineyarde, hee hath called you to toyle and labour, not to scrape riches togither: to ministerie and submission, not to maistrie and soueraintie. Bestowe cost, and dresse the Lordes vineyarde therefore, doe not spoyle and moyle the Uineyarde. For it is no Uineyarde of yours, which though were your owne, yet ought you not roote and turne it vp with such boarishe sauagenesse. For it is the Lordes Uineyarde and not yours: Who if hauehave waged you amongest other his woorkemen, returne therefore to your worke, and holde you contented with your place, and vaunte not your Peacockes taile more than becommeth your plumes: and be satisfied with your penie, whether you come in the first houre, or the last houre of the day: one kinde of payment is due to euerie woorkeman alike. There is no prerogatiue amongest woorkemen. The Lordes benignity is extended to al alike. Therfore if you be wise, let your Romain Sea content you, bicause you are placed in Rome: and permit others that be ouerseers ouer others, to gouerne their owne prouinces. And would God the Lorde woulde once vouchsafe imprint such an heart in you, as might earnestly & seriously ponder these things, and that you might returne from whence you are fallen. The time was when this your Citie of Rome was famous and noble, replenished with most woorthy woorshippers of Christ: adorned with excellent wittes and most commendable conuersation of life: notably magnified with the blood of glorious martyrs: most aboundantly flourishing with godly and learned Bishops: who employed all their industrie and endeuour to none other ende, then to the publique peace and tranquilitie of the Church.

Restore againe this peace vntounto vsus (holy father) if you may, and this you may easily doe, if yee wil depart from that proude primacie, which you nowe stande vponupon altogether agaynst all Gods lawe, agaynst all mans lawe, and quite contrarie to the example of all the auncient fathers. Lay downe that peruerse imperious obstinacie: vaile lowe your stately topgallant, and shake off that vnweldie clogge of Lordlinesse, which you hauehave vndertaken, the weight whereof is able to ouerpeyse, I say not your shoulders, but the strongest shoulders of the stoutest man in the worlde. Let errours giuegive place to truth. Let humaine glorie assubiect it selfe to the glorie of Christ. Let the Romishe Broker call backe againe his Romish counterfeyt trash, which he hath foysted into the Church without any warrant of the Scriptures, I meane Masses, Sacrifices, Satisfactions, Pylgrimages, Image-worshippers, false doctrine: Monkish vowes, Purgatorie merits, Routes of Regulars, combersome clogges of consciences. Let him p…mit Kings and Monarches to p. 112inioy their owne soueraintie ouer their Kingdomes and territories, and to amende their errours. Let him restore general Councels to their auncient liberties, without the which can no sure meanes bee founde for establishing the truth.

For what can bee more auayleable for the maintenaunce of the trueth, then that where Religion is free, there also shoulde all voyces bee free, and such Councels summoned, which shoulde bee lawfull, not a stolne Councell: where matters might bee decided by free voyces, not by extort speeches: by vpright, and sincere, and freer determinatiōs of the learned, not by procured affections, not by practises of confederates, nor by the foreiudgements of men, but by the onelyonly authoritie of God: and where the best approued and auncient orders of the fathers might bee obserued, that it might bee lawfull for euerie person to vtter freely what hee thought without feare, without peril, not where all must bee measured after the lust of one person alone. But nowe where all men are enforced to sweare vntounto the woordes of one man, and all voyces rack…e to satisfie the appetite of one person, which person so ruleth the rost, that no man shall bee admitted to bee present, but suche as shall thinke as hee thinketh: and that it shall not bee lawfull lykewise for anie to determine ought, but which shall bee consonant to his will. What successe, I beseeche you, may anie man surmise to bee hoped for in such Councels, but such as shal tende to the breach and dissolution of the libertie of the Churche? And shall seeme not to aduaunce the glorie of Christ, but to enhaunce the onelyonly tyrannous loftinesse of mans ambicious Lordlinesse, to the vtter ruine, ouerthrowe, and rooting out of all sincere and most pure Religion. By reason whereof it behooueth you, holy father of Rome… to take so much the more especiall regarde, that veyling that proude bonnet of greedinesse to beare soueraintie, and altogether abandoning this straunge neuer heard of noueltie of heathenish ambicion, yee reclayme your selfe wholy to that auncient, and more moderate humilitie of the most auncient, most true Catholike and Apostolique Church. Examples bee extant euerie where, whiche may endure you to bee better resolued. Whether you enter into dewe consideration of the life of Christ, what can bee more milde? or whether yee beholde the platte formes and proceedings of the Apostles, what can bee more contrarie? more repugnant? and more vnlike the course of your Court? Let vsus come one degree lower to the next succeeding age after the Apostles, what shall a man finde in those graue fathers of the Primitiue church, that is not altogither discrepant to these your outragies and disorders? But to make no long rehearsal, we will for examples sake, put you in remembrance of one man alone, a verie godly person, namely, that notable ornament of the Church Cyprian, whom I thought good to vouch by name at this present, not so much bycause you should read his wordes,Cyprian writing to Iubaianus of the baptisme of Heretiques. as that by him you might learne the maner of the auncient discipline, and the most excellent integritie of that age. For in his Epistle written to Iubaianus, he maketh this report. Wee, sayeth Cyprian, as much as in vsus lyeth, doe not conten…e with our companions, and our fellow Bishops, with whom wee doe ioyne in godly concorde and Christes peace: especially for that the Apostle saith: If any mā amongst you be thought to be contentious, wee hauehave no such custome, nor yet the Church of God. The louelove and charitie of the minde, the honour of mutual societie, the bonde of fayth, and the vniforme agreeablenesse of Priesthoode, is preserued amongest vsus in pacience and lenitie.

Moreouer the same Cyprian in his Preface which p. 113hee prefixed before the councel of Carthage: Look… Aug. de Baptismo contra Donatistas lib. 3. Cap 3. vouched out of Cyprian.It remaineth nowe that eueryevery of vsus particularly pronounce what we think, foreiudging no man, neither reiecting any man, though hee thinke otherwyse then we do. For neyther hath any of vsus taken vppon him too bee a Bishoppe ouer Bishoppes, nor hath enforced any of our fellowe Bishoppes too any necessitie of obedience by any tyrannous constraint for as much as eueryevery bishoppe is endued with his proper peculiar iudgement according too the freedome of his owne liberty and power, as that hee may not bee iudged of an other, howe then may him selfe iudge any other person. But let vsus all depende vppon the iudgement of our Lorde Iesu Christ who onelyonly and alone is of power both too appoint vsus superintendentes in the gouernement of his Church, and to iudge vsus according to our vsage & proceedinges therein. &c. Heere nowe hauehave you set downe before your eyes a president (yf I bee not deceaued) not vnfit, and a commendable ymage of auncient & Apostolique modesty, which floorished long sithence amongest our graundesyres, the first and principal guides and capteynes of Christes Churche. Untoo the which rule of humilitie if you coulde addresse that your intollerable hawty courage: (which you might easily doo if yee woulde) and wo…lde frame your selfe too marche in order amongest your other felowe Bishops: certes these troublesome commotions and disordered factions of most pernitious vproares, wherewith the peace and concorde of Christians is so lamentably shaken and rent asunder at this present, woulde easily be quailed, or for the more parte woulde surely growe much more calme. But these thicke clowdes cease not as yet too threaten dayly farre more daungerous tempestes: and from whence they proceede, I know not, except they grow frō out these stinking bogges of that Romishe ryot onelyonly, and those pestilent drugges of Papisticall doctrine, which woulde once content it selfe too bee refourmed, and reduced to the rule of Euangelical simplicity, there woulde bee no hurly burly in the worlde nowe, no outragious factions woulde molest oppressed common weales at this present. Al which enormities woulde easily, & at once be silent and calme, if you alone woulde vouchsafe too bee quiet. Albeeit why doo I exhorte you heerevntoo, that am sure shal little or nothing preuaile with you? for may any man conceaue by ymagination of minde that you wil become in any respect other then you hauehave yet hithertoo alwaies bene, one whome either feare of God may breake, or charitie bend back again, or whome reason or any wholesome counsel may euer allure too amendement? And woulde God wee coulde obteine so much at your handes by our earnest requestes, louing aduertisementes, or by any other way else whatsoeuer. But bicause I do see your minds so throughly bent against the speeches and voices of all men, I surcease hee…e to deale any further with you (O holy father) and leauing you nowe in the plaine field, I will turne the rest of my communication too others, euen too all those whosoeuer the churche of Christe dooth possesse for industrious and faithful embracers of true pyety.

An humble petition too the Princes & the peeres & states of Christēdom.But aboue al others chiefly I doo appeale vntoo you, O yee renoumed prin…es and noble potentates & peeres of the world, vppon whome Gods diuine liberality hath powred foorth this prerogatiue of supplying his place in al manner of affaires ciuil, politique, and ecclesiasticall: for I am throughly persuaded that it apperteineth vntounto you to foresee that Christian common weales suffer no dammage nor detriment, and to prouyde that nothing may bee committed by violence and fraude, that may obscure the glory of Christ, that may ouerthrowe the peace of the people, or preiudice their sauety. Wherefore I hū bly beseech you, for the louelove you beare to the state wherin the Lord hath aduaunced you, to beare chiefe souereignty p. 114heere on earth, bee yee careful againe and againe, that the fraudulent practises of the enemies preuaile not more then your power and authority. You can by no meanes forget the treacherous troubles wherewith this Calidon boare hath moiled your nations, with what an vnmerciful slaughter. with what a monstruous butchery hee hath deuoured the seely flocke of the Lorde these many yeeres now, with howe incredible calamity hee hath oppressed your sobiectes, and howe horribly iniuriouse hee hath behaued himself against your own persons, states, & seignories. For amongst the whole order of your puissant estate, what one Prince hath beene of long tyme nowe so mighty in power, in whose kingdomes the Popes practises coulde not preuaile further then your renowme & authority,The Popes power ouer princes against al equitie and right. in the which hee hath not deuoured more of your owne subiectes with faggot and tortures, then any of you durst preserue from his tyranny? In the which hee hath not enioyed more friendly hartes & more faithful subiects then you your selues hauehave? but why doo I speake heere of your subiects, whenas I do see none more humble and obedient vassalles vntounto him, then your selues? For when you punish them, whome he commaundes you to punishe: when you committe to fire & flame at his commaundemēt and lust, whome hee condemneth too the stake: when you do more eagerly and more straightly exequute the lawes of his inquisition more then your owne lawes: when yee bid battel to your owne subiects without any cause, without any their fault, or misdemeanor by the only iustigation and procurement of the Pope, seeking the sackes and blood of your friēds, for your deadly enemies sake, herein what seeme you els then bondslaues too him, whose souereignes and Lords behoued you to be?

Which albeit may seeme it selfe matter most detestable and most vnwoorthy your excellent renowme, yet I wil not much impute the same too any your cowardyse, as to your tymorousnes, rather ne yet so much to your tymorousnes, as too the general ignoraunce of those barbarous tymes. For I do knowe by what crampes and pernicious practizes they crept into the hartes of princes at the first: Namely, vnderunder the beautiful countenaunce of the Churche, with a false vysor of religion by crooked conueyances wrything and wresting the testimonies of holy scripture hither and thither: with which bugbeares blazing Gorgones head as it were, they had so vndermyned al the most mighty potentates of the worlde, that they might easily induce them to beleeue that all thinges were well and godly atchieued, whatsoeuer were vndertaken by the commaundementes of those holy fathers, which coulde not erre by any meanes possible. And euen heerehence loe stepte foorth vppon the stage the first prolocutor of al this whole tragedy. But this present age no we requireth other maners: Neither coulde the olde prouerbe bee more truely verified at any tyme so much as nowe, to witte Truth is the daughter of time. For what so cloudy ignorance can possibly ouerwhelme the senses of any sensible man so much as that in this so manifest a sunneshyne of Euangelical glory, hee can not easily conceaue by ymagination, that this ecclesiasticall monarchie of the seruauntes of Christ was neuer erected by Christ the founder thereof, ne yet euer at any time permitted of him, but many tymes forbidden, & most grieuously rebuked eueryevery where. Yea it wold be matter of no greate difficulty too deli…er by manifest demonstration from out their owne recordes and registers, the very first tyme and chiefe original Author vnderunder whome this pompouse pryde of pontifical Lordelynesse began too growe into some credite. Namely, sithence wee reade i… History written by Platina theyr owne Countryman and domesticall witnesse on this wyse. Boniface the thirde, sayeth hee, a Romaine borne did p. 115obteyne of Phocas the Emperor (yet not without great contention) that the Sea of the Apostle Peter (which is the head of al Churches) should be so called and reputed of al men: Platina vppon the lyfe of Boniface in the yeere of our lord. 511which soueraignty the Church of Constantinople did trauaile to procure vntounto it self. Whose challenge many Princes fauoured meanwhiles and affirmed, that the chiefe Sea ought to be resiaunt in that place where the chiefe state of the Empyre was at that tyme.

By the which it may easily appeare vntoo you what you ought too do. For if the chiefe foundations of this Sea be grounded vppon no lawe nor ordinaunce of God, as is declared before, but propt vp by mans appointment onelyonly: what shall let I pray you, why that stately chaire, which receaued no prerogatyue of superioritie from God, but onelyonly from you at the first, shoulde not stoupe nowe againe and lay downe these Peacocks plumes by your general assent and commaundement? If beeing carried on the blinde side long agoe, your selues were the firste donors of this primacy, altogither against the wil of christ: what more notable exployt may you bring too passe at this present, then to reuoke backe that gifte (as AEsopes litle byrdes did sometymes plume away their owne feathers from the chattering crowe) which was either extorted from you against equitie and right, by treachery & mischief, or procured by fraud and villanie? For why beeing nowe better aduised and endued with more heauenly vnderstanding may ye not more rightfully supplant that, which without cause ye did of old tyme plant vnlawfully? albeit why do I say that you may,A Rule of the cyuil law. The free borne dooth not loase his freedome, neither dooth he preiudice the cause of freedom… which doth binde himselfe to be a bondman by wryting. sithence very necessity exacteth it of you as of duty, vnlesse ye had rather become slaues to this false counterfait Pope, then seruauntes to Iesus Christ.

Wherefore awake yee most puissant Princes and most renoumed Potentates, let your wysedome rayse it selfe out of this slumber at the length. Repulse this outrage and impudency. If the due…iful consideration of your honorable estates, and of eueryevery of your particular liberties may little preuaile with you, yeeld you thus much yet at the least to your Christe, vntoo whome yee owe all that you hauehave, that yee take compassion of his poore distressed Churche, that yee deliuer the lyues of your subiectes from bloody butchery, and their consciences from heathnishe impiety, and that yee willingly faster not within the bosome of your common weales woolues whelpes too the rauenouse deuouring of the same. Your whole natyue country dooth humbly beseeche you, the whole society of al the godly dooth desire you, yea with salte teares doth request you that yee wil once at the length after so many and merciles slaughters and flammes of the godly, vouchsafe too open the vowelles of your mercy towardes the preseruation of the trueth, towardes the safe keeping of simple innocency… towardes the free deliueraunce of sounde doctrine which hath beene long ynough nowe oppressed: that beeing so by your boun…eous consideration freed from al feare, they may bee recomforted and recouer courage againe. It lyeth in your honours too assuage these franticke and furiouse tumultes. For performance whereof wee doo not require you to rush vppon the common enemy, & reuenge the butchery of your subiectes with force of armes. There hath bin of warlyke inuasions more then ynough… there hath bene too too great an effusion of Christiā blood. But the request that our humble petition maketh to your honors is this, which wil neuerthelesse redounde in eche respect as glorious too your estimation, as profitable for the general sauety of al the godly. Namely, that of your authorities royal and imperial, yee will vouchsafe too p. 116let bee proclaimed a general Summons for a generall councel, according too the example of your famous auncestors, which assembly may proceade to the exact determination and voices of the best learned and grauest fathers, with such vprightnesse and integritie, as that the same councel may bee no lesse free, then general.A Challeng for a general councel, wherein …he whole state and cause of the Popes authoritie may bee decyded by free voyces of the learned. In the which let the Pope of Rome bee enforced too iustifie his monarchicall chaleng and doctrine by due authorities and good proofes of doctrine: Who if bee able to iustif…e by sufficient testimonies of holy scriptures, let him enioy his souereignty: but if hee faile in his proofes, let him hauehave his deserte. In this so forlorne a calamity of al thinges what can bee demaunded of you either more commodiouse, or more commendable for your royal mindes? but if there remaine no hope of such a general councel too bee assembled: yet that eueryevery of you with in your seueral dominions at the least will not disdaine too put that in vre which ought hauehave beene accomplished in that generall councel: namely: that erroures may bee amended… that the pure and liuely welspringes of true and sincere doctrine may bee restored too their auncient integritie (abandoning and banishing intoo vtter exyle all manner pilfe, dregges, and patcheries of the Romishe ryot) that your subiectes may freely frame their conuersations and consciences according too the holy direction of sacred scriptures, and not after the Popes decrees: and that it may bee sufficient for the same subiectes too bee subiect too their owne natural and liege Lordes and Princes only. For els I see nothing whervnto this Romishe Reueller may be emploied with in any your Prouinces, vnles it be to stir vp seditiōs & vproares. In case the state of the christiā cōmō weale were such at this present, as it was of old, whē the church being as yet greene was in subiectiō vnderunder the authority of Ethnick princes, then might the ayde of Bishoppes bee implored for the ordering of the matters apperteyning to the church. But nowe sithence it hath pleased the heauenly maiesty too vouchsafe those same princes, whome hee hath called intoo his Churche, too become Christians, as the which doo no lesse dutyfully mynister vntounto Christe, then the Bishoppes them selues: I see no cause too the contrary why the same Christian princes which beare soueraignty in states politique, shoulde not also beare souereignty in the congregation of Christians. So that there may seeme no cause to remayne nowe why this pontificall monarchy shoulde so presumptuously vsurpe any such prerogatiue in any their dominions, that ought not to become subiect to the laweful Magistrates in eueryevery of their seueral prouinces.

An exhortation to the common people of Christendome.And thus much hithertoo touching the requeste, that I thought good to sollicite your most excellent maiesties. That which nowe remayneth to bee spoken, I wil turne too the residewe of the people of Christendome as many as be brethren and ioynt Cytiziens with me, coupled togither in one and the selfe same fellowship of Baptisme al and eueryevery of whome I doo likewyse pray and beseeche that they take heede againe and againe, that they suffer not themselues too bee haled backwarde from the truthe by any suttle, slye, inveigling nor any gloriouse tytle of names bee they neuer so plausible. As there is nothing more safe and more souereignable then syncere religion, which dooth display abroade direct too the right way of the true vndoubted saluation, so doth there no thing more easily deceaue and wounde more deadly, then counterfait hypocrisie creeping vnderunder the couert of false fayned holines, & her cozen germaine Solemne superstition: Euen as that lying Prince of darkenes doth neuer deceaue more dangerously, then when hee putteth on the vysor of an Angel. So that so much the more vigilant and careful p. 117we must bee, lest being circumuented with rashe and temerarious foreiudgement, more then enduced by stayed consideration of minde do wee embrace false doctrine for the truth, Antichrist for Christe,1. Iohn .4. the slaying fleshly sense of the letter, for the spirit and trueth Proue the spirites, Ephes. 4.Eph 4saith Paule,Matt. 10.Matt 10 whether they be of God,1. Thes. 5.1 Thess 5 and be not carried away with eueryevery blast of doctrine. Whereupon the matter it selfe doth require this point chiefly in deed, that with the Euangelicall simplicitie we ioyne serpentine prudence, which may be able too discerne spirites, which may proue all thinges, which may holde fast that which is good, which vnderstandeth aptly to distinguish betwixt light and darkenesse, betwixt falshood & truth: finally that may be so simple that wee offer fraude to no man, and withall be so prouident that we may shunne the suttletie of the guylefull. Nowe this will be brought to passe without any great difficultie, if setting parcialitie and greedines of affections apart, we depend wholy vpō the mouth of our heauenly maister, not vppon mens decrees, nor vponupon consent of multitude, ne yet vponupon commō custome of times and people: and if we do so reclayme our whole heartes to the scriptures, that, as Hillary doth giuegive counsell, wee suspende our vnderstanding vppon the wordes of the Lorde, and not imagine that to be written which our selues hauehave taken holde of, before we reade it with our owne eyes, nor that wee attribut… so highly to the imaginations of our owne fansies, as that with toothe and nayle wee defende that which wee hauehave once entred vponupon: but that we search first by carefull inq…isition those thinges which we do holde. And therefore wee be commaunded to search the scriptures, vntounto the which it behoueth to assubiect al our determinations altogether, & not to wrest the scriptures to the fansies of our owne imaginations. There may be many and sundrie persons so grossely blockishe and so bluntishe of iudgement, who wil allowe of nothing at all, but that which they hauehave receiued of their forefathers, and which by olde custome hath beene frequented: as though the forefathers coulde not possibly erre, or as though truth were wont to be the mother and not the daughter of time. Which order if we shalbe enforced to obserue, to wit, that wee accept of nothing to bee safe and sounde in matters of religion, but that which hath beene priuiledged by custome of elder yeeres after this rule, surely neither Paul nor Peter, neither any one of the Apostles at all, should euer hauehave beene a Christian, neither shall any the Turkes hereafter bee conuerted into our faith, being so many yeeres enured & nooseled vp in their owne errors.

Go to nowe, I woulde faine learne of these felowes that doo so stoutly stande vponupon the imitation of their forefathers,Customes of time and imitation of forefathers is neither to be allowed of al, nor in any respect, nor yet in al things. what aunswere they will yelde touching Antichriste: whether he is yet to come, or when hee commeth, where they will saye his kingdome shall bee planted? If they will affirme that it shall bee in the Churche: what seasons of that churche whyles Antichrist beareth swaye, will they describe vntounto mee, whether it shalbe the churche of truthe or of errour? And howe can it otherwyse bee, but that as long as Antichrist reigneth and possesseth the heartes of men, the truth must bee suppressed for a season, and errour must possesse the greater part of the churche. And where will these men place the churche of Christ then? Whether mounted aloft vponupon the toppe of a hill, which shalbe famous and glorious in all mens eyes? or shrowding close in some corner rather: when as persecution surrounding al places with horror, the woman cloathed with the sunne shalbe faine to flee into the wildernes: when the saintes must be ouercome: when the strumpet being drunken with the blood of the saintes shall triumphe in her maiestie: where shall nowe become p. 118this publique, I saye, this publique euerlasting victory of truth, which many persuade them selues to enioy in the church? What shall become of that churche which can not erre, when the sainctes shalbe slayne in the churche? when that false Prophet shall rule the roste eueryevery where? when he shall defyle all places with the blood of the holy ones? when as also the very elect shall be in great hasard to be seduced? finally when as so merciles a gulf shall swallowe vp the godly, that the very horrour of the perill shall procure the ende of all euils long before the determined tyme? when as the childe of perdition shall be shryned in the temple of the Lorde? all which if we see plainely accomplished alr…ady, and that it can not bee denyed but that Antichrist hath sitten long sithence in the Temple of God, and with all is reuealed: what mad men, are they nowe that goe about to persuade vsus toothe vsages of the fathers, and custome of the tymes which were subiect vntounto the tyranny of Antichriste? which also bragge so lustely vppo… their pontificall Papane succession, neuer empayred nor vndiscontinued since the very age of the Apostles, in as much as Antichriste hath reigned so many yeeres nowe in the Churche of God?See the book… of Iohn Frācisce Pi…us Mirandul… called Staurostico…, concerning the signes of the crosse falli…g lat…ly from heauen, from the Germaines …n the time of Maximilian the Romaine k…ng. Anno 1501. And also againe 1504. But if they wyl deny, that this enemy of Christe is not as yet come, O miserable and to much forlorne estate of seely Christians. For if within these fewe yeeres, synce the tyme that Crosses were fastened first vppon the garmentes of Christians, namely in the tyme of Maximilian the Emperour, so incredible hauocke hath beene made of Christian martyrs, by the onelyonly butchery of the Pope of Rome, as is skarse credible too bee beleeued: Certes if soo many thousandes of Christians hauehave beene swallowed vpp and deuoured with soo manye, and soo monstruouse tortures heretofore for Christe and the Gospels sake in these peacible and calme regimentes of Christian princes, what shall poore Christians expect to befall them hereafter vnderunder the tyranny of Antichriste?

Which beeing, as you see, more manifest then the sunneshine in midday, plucke vp your heartes therefore you men and brethren and fellowe souldiours in Christe. and according to your wisdomes atchieue an enterprise worthy your wisedomes, not whereūto vnaduised custome doth entise you, but which truth it self doth sweetely perswade you: hauehave regarde vntounto not that whereunto better and more considerat times doe prouoke you: that yee may not seeme to be more willing to wander in the wayward course of their errours, then with these to be endued with sounder vnderstanding and knowledge. For here is matter of no smal emportāce & peril (beleue me) hādling, in hande, yea, so much the more daungerous, by howe much the more your insufficiency to attaine the knowe…dge of the truth is supported by great abundance of supply and helpe. For albeit your forefathers did erre in olde time, yet is their excuse more colourable then yours: If they, being at any time carried away by suttle practises of their Popes, were affectionated to fables, according to the barbarous grossenesse of those dayes, either bicause they were not instructed more soundly, or bicause those helpes and aydes of bookes and good literature, was not as yet extant from out the Printers shoppes, or els bicause that childe of perdition was not yet reuealed: this may be lesse cause to maruell of your forefathers ignorance: yet them selues also bee in that respect somewhat the more pardonable. But now in this so cleare and orient a glasse of discouering all thinges, so many helpes and aydes of speaking and hearing, beeing already prepared for your behoofe: sithence nowe the spirite of the mouth of Christ hath discouered, displayed abroade, and p. 119portrayed out this Antichris…e in his very liniamentes and liuely colours as it were, so that the eyes of all men may plainely discerne him: and that there can not be any man so blinde, except such a one as will of set purpose close his eyes fast, but that hee must needes manifestly discerne this horrible traitour of Chris…e. Certes no man can possibly beare any zeale or fauour towardes him, but he that will be a notorious crea…hour in deede, and will likewyse partake with him in the selfe lake of perdi…ion. And for this cause the Angell in the Apocalipse doth with so terrible a threatening call vsus away from him,Apoc. 17.Rev 17 denouncing the cup of Gods wrath and of eternall destruction to all them, whosoeuer did receiue the marke of the beast in their forehead or hande.

By reason whereof, behoueth vsus to bee so much the more earnestly industrious to attaine by diligent search, First, what and what maner of beast this is: next, to shunne all his acquaintāce & familiaritie with our whole bodies & soules, whereby no man may …out or bee ignoraunt hereof, to wit, in howe perillous a case they stande, who cleaue so obstinately to their predecessors s…eppes, that they allowe that thing onelyonly, not which is true in it selfe, but which hath bene embraced by the well liking and custome of men. Which sorte of men, if any remaine amongst vsus, I doe most hartely desire, that, if they will not vouchsafe to heare or reade our wrytinges & bookes, they wil yet at least hearken vntounto Cyprian. Who speaking of custome sayeth on this wise, that where truth is absent, custome is nought els but an olde age of error. Or at least let them hearken vntounto A…gustine, who preferring truth before custome.Aug. de vni…. baptis. li. 3. cap. 8. dist. 8. Ver…. Whē truth is reuealed (saieth he) Let custome giuegive place, let no man preferre c…stome before reason and truth, bicause reason and truth doth alwayes exclude custome. Finally let them hearken vntounto Christe him selfe, who onelyonly is to bee harkened vntounto, who hath saied, I am the waye, the truth, and the life: but neuer saied I am custome.

Therefore we may not respect what hath vsually byn accustomed, but what ought to bee done: not what hath beene done of olde, but what is well done. Neither ought truth of religion bee measured by continuance of time, not by number of yeeres, but by substance of arguments: nor by Chronologie,Chronology Chronicles of time. but by s…unde diuinitie, not by computation arithmetical, but by weight of reason substantiall. And therefore Augustine saied very wel, namely, that in the stablishing of faith and authoritie of doctrine in the churche ought no accompt to bee made what men saye, but what the Lorde him selfe onelyonly sayeth in his worde. Which when Ambrose likewise agreeing, calleth all thinges **Ambros. li. 2. De viduis. Wee do rightfully condemne al things which Christe hath not taught, bicause Christ is the waye to the faithfull. Therefore if Christ did not teach that which we teache, wee iudge thesame to bee detested. &c.newe, whatsoeuer the Lorde Christ hath not taught, and affirmeth that the same ought of right to bee condemned, bicause, sayeth he, Christe is the waye to the faithfull. Whereupon Cyprian doth admonish not vnfitly: Let vsus not regard what any of our forefathers thought good to do before time, but what Christ hath done first, who is before and aboue all others.Ciprian. dist. …. Si solus.

But bicause here commeth place to treate of antiquitie, vponupon the which the Romish religiō doth vaunt it selfe so gloriously, let these honest men therefore bring foorth their bookes, that they may by good proofe iustifie once at the length in deede y^• which they magnifie so mightily in wordes. For I do heare what they braye abroade with open mouthes, to wit, that the boundes prefixed by our forefathers in olde time ought not be remoued: and that their church is such a one, as beeing established by the space of many yeeres now, by anciēt custome of the forefathers, p. 120by allowed authoritie of continuall custome and consent of most auncient fathers, euen from the first beginning of the primitiue churche, hath euer hitherto enioyed vndiscontinued possession. Go to, and what fathers be they a Gods name, whose boundes they …rie out ought not be remoued? Surely if vnderunder the name of fathers they meane these first fathers the Prophetes, Christ him selfe, & the Apostles: we do reteine the same their boūdes inuiolable as well as they: if they vnderstand the order of fathers next vntounto them,The Papane Monarchie hath no maner war…āt of time or antiquitie. namely Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, and others of the same sor…: truly this may not be denied, that very many things, which be deliuered by vsus, are ratified with their agreable consentes… But bicause these same fathers did as men faile in some pointes, we do by their own commaundemēt referre our selues ouer to the sacred …ountaines of holy scriptures, which must be beleeued without all exception.

But if vnderunder that name of fathers they will point vsus to their popes & skulles of shauelings & mūkes: we make no reckoning of thē at al. For it is out of all ambiguitie, by whose instruction most of thē did speake. Amongst the number of whom, if any happened to be of sounder iudgement, yet coulde they not pearce into the bowels of the truth, either through the vnlucky darkenesse of that age, or through the cruel tyranny of other. But if they meane the fathers, to wit, the grandfathers and great grandfathers of this later age, I doe aunswere, that there neuer wanted in this age some, sithence this Romishe An…ichriste began first to crawle alofte, that did both write, speake, and set them selues agains… those wolues, but being either surprised by violence, or seduced by general errour, could not vn…wyne them selues out of tha… laberin…h of darkenesse.

You hauehave heard now, good men and brethren, most faithful citizens of the churche, and inhabitauntes of the Christian common weale as much as I thought good at this present to speake, and necessarily too aduertise you touching the Pope of Rome and his imperiall lordlines. And I dout not but it is apparaunt inough vntounto you, how the toppe gallant of this See, hath climbed vp to all her stately power and lof…nesse at the first, without all warrant of Gods lawe, without any iust reason or grounde, but cleane contrary to the expresse wordes of Christ, contrary to the naturall and liuely purport of the Gospell, contrary to the most auncient canons, and contrary to the publique libertie and freedome of the church. You do vnderstand, if you wil make a iust cōputation of the yeeres, what …ime, and by whose practise this notorious Monarchie was erected at the first, by what pollicies and driftes, by what craftie kinde of deceiuablenes, and hypocrisie, by how manifolde flippery deuises, it crawled vp vntounto so monstruous a masse by litle and litle, and being mounted aloft, and by processe of time enthronized in state, into howe incredible a mountaine of soueraintie, it hath swollen and pufte it selfe vp. You doe see how wickedly and treacherously the Pope of Rome & his deere dearlinges the Cardinalles, hauehave not only raked vp that kingdome, which they doe most iniuriously deteigne, but also to what end and with what affection they maintein the same at this present, not that truth may raigne, but that true religion may be brought to nought. You do see that, as long as this Monarchie may beare vniuersall controllership, there is no place of refuge, left for sincere religion, for freedome of consciences, nor yet for free coū cell and sounde aduise in Churches.

You doe see that from the very first time that this detestable and deadly ambition of bearing rule, burst out an open Roade into the churche, with howe many and howe merciles …laughters Christendome hath beene rent in peeces, and into what narrowe straightes it is pen… p. 121vp at this present, with howe many and manifold conquestes, with continuall successe almost, the sauadgenesse of the Turke hath preuailed against vsus. You doe see, that nothing can be preserued from the bloody butchery and broyling of Christians, wheresoeuer the Pope is receiued: neither can I discerne any end of all …hese mischieues any where, vnlesse these proude Prelates will content them selues within their owne limites and listes, & yelde ouer the royalties and all their authoritie of soueraintie to Monarches and kinges: and them selues resume againe that which is their owne, namely the function of preaching: teaching not the things that are of men, but which are of God: seeking not the thinges which are their own, but which are of Iesu Christe. If this could be obteyned of them with their good willes, nothing could be more honourable: But for as much as we may not so much as hope for any such thing at their handes: the remedy hereof reboundeth back vntounto you, chiefly and aboue others to you that are princes, that eueryevery of you according to your auncient generositie, authoritie, and pietie, doe first pacifie this troubled estate of religion within your owne dominions, restore that which is crazed and ruinous, and reforme that which is defiled and corrupte. Next it toucheth you that be Bishops and Pastours, that eueryevery of you direct your particular flock carefully, soundly, and godly towardes the kingdome of God. Last of all, it concerneth you that be subiectes, that eueryevery of you doe dutifully acknowledge your humble obedience to your owne Princes and Magistrates in the Lorde.

Heere then you see that you be forewarned and admonished, who neuerthelesse for your singular and most excellent wisdomes neede not any our admonition. Therefore I make an ende here, both of speaking and admonishing: if I may be so bolde to adde hereto this our protestation. If any man be able to produce one word so much out of the authoritie Euangelicall, whereby the Lorde Iesus did yelde any maner of soueraintie or preeminence to his disciples, I do not gainsay, but they may yelde thē selu…s to the Popes authoritie whosoeuer will. But if there be nothing in the whole scriptures, that the Lorde him selfe doth either more carefully aduise, or more earnestly forbidde, then that any of his disciples by seeking any preeminence at all, should raise him selfe aboue any his fellowes, restraining thē by all maner of meanes frō all maner of superioritie whatsoeuer, prouoking them to the humble example of his owne humilitie: Do you then deliberatly and maturely determine in your heartes now whether you will rather march vnderunder the standard of the Lambe him selfe, your grand captaine to the goale of euerlasting felicitie, or receiuing the marke of the beast, throwe your selues headlong into vnrecouerable perdition together with this most arrogant popish Prelate. The Lord Iesus, euen the same supercelestiall peacemaker of heauen and earth, enspire your hearts and mindes with the spirite of his grace in the things that belong to his peace, vntounto the glory of his name & the preseruation of his church: the same Lorde Iesus also encrease your honourable estates, and preserue you in all the waye of truth for euer and euer. Amen.

FINIS.