The Bee Hive of the Romish Church, Part 1 · Chapter 8
The viii. Chapter. Declaring that the Church of Rome hath likevvise borrovved manye things of the levves, vvhichwhich shee doeth set forth and holde as articles of the faith.
The holy Ro. church borrowes many thīgs of the Iewes.NOwe, as touching the Iewes, shee hath not forgotten to followe them sundrie wayes: and that is apparant ynough, in that which our master Gentianus hath declared in this worke. For hee will mainteine, that the Transubstantiation of the bread into the very body of Christ, and the changing or turning of the substāce of the wine into his verie blood, maye bee proued by the testimonies of the Iewishe Rabbines. And that is without doubt: for one of their Rabbines named, Rabbi Moses Hazardan, writing vppon the 136. Psalme, where the Prophet saith, O Lord thou giuest all fleshe their foode, saieth thus: This texte doth fully and wholy agree with that which is saide in the 34. Psalme: Taste, and see howe pleasant the Lord is. For the bread or meate which he giues to eueryevery man, is his fleshe: and with the tasting, or with the eating, it is turned into flesh Out of this hath a good Monke & a Catholike writer concluded, That this Iewish Rabbin did well vnderstand Transubstantiation:Petrus Galatinus in his booke Of the Secrets of the Catholike truth. in the 6. chap. of the 10. boke which he doth yet againe cō firme by another, named Rabbie Cahana, who vttereth maruelous & wōderful speculations, vpō that texte of Moses, where Iacob did promise to his sonne Iuda, an vnspeakable & vnmesurable quantitie of wine & milke, by these wordes: He shal binde his foales to the vinetree, and his asses to the noble vine branches: he shal wash his clothing in wine, & his mantle in the bloud of grapes: his teeth are whiter than milk. For out of these woordes of Iacob, doeth the foresaid Rabbi conclude, That the asse doeth here signifie Messias, into whose bodie and bloud the wine shal be changed. See nowe, is not this a strong & an inuincible foundation, against which the gates of hell can not preuayle? For that agrees euen as well together, as a fiste in Gentianus nose.
Besides this, are established out of these Rabbines, the suburbes of hel, and by them declared, That ye holy Fathers are lodged there, against the comming of Messias. For that could the Rabbines finely fish out of that, which is written in the book of Ecclesiastes: aThis you shall …de written in one of their bookes called Midiasc…h…l…t, which is▪ to say, The explanation of the Ecclesiast…s, or sentences of Salomon. Eccle. 7.13.There are some iust, which are killed in their righteousnesse. Doeth not this serue wel for the purpose?
Furthermore, out of the Thalmoode is proued, that Marie, our Lorde IESUS Christes mother, was conceyued without original sinne. For one of their Rabbines called Rabbi Iudas, Simons sonne, doth so speculate, saying, That the bIn the boke called Galirasepa, which is to say, The explaner of the hidde or secret thīgsmatter wherof the mother of the Messias should bee generate, was formed before that Adam fell, and so preserued from generation to generation, without polluting. And this doth he teache out of the Psalme, wherein is written: O Lorde, seeke out the plante which thy right hand hath planted. Is not that merue…ously well alledged, & the naile hit right on the head? Verily, it may verie well be compared with an other doctrine of theirs, where they saye, That God in the beginning did make two Whale fishes, a male and a female, and fearing least they should bring forth a monstruous generation, he killed the one, and so laid him in pickle against the comming of Messias:Reade Munster in his Hebrewe Dialogue of Messias. at which time he will kill the other likewise: and then shall the Iewes make a banket thereof, and hauehave noble cheare: for the one Whale fishe they shall eate freshe, and the other well powdred. And I maruell, whether they will not bid our deare mother the holy Church of Rome to their banket. But in that they may well inough beare one with another: it is inough for vsus to k…ow, that they hauehave likewise established the foū dation of their beleefe and doctrine vppon the Thalmoode of the Iewes: which is a meruelous great booke, wherein all their Caballes, that is to say, all the doctrines & monumentes of their Rabbines, all their dreames and visions, al their profound and bothomles speculations, & strange iestes, are heaped vp together like a dunghill. But nowe, for that we shall not neede to rehearse eueryevery thing particularly, it is most true, that the nation and Caballa of the Iewes is the best grounde, and the truest well spring of all the ceremonies of the holie church of Rome. For that is specially set forth & noted in the booke of Dec…ees, where it is written. That she hath borowed her Ember dayes of the Iewes, Cap. Ieiunio. dist. 76.whose order and māner (saith the text) is the original spring whervnto the holy church must sticke fast.
Yea (I pray you) who is so grosse and dull of witte, that can not conceiue of him selfe, that shee hath had of the Iewes the verie example or paterne, wherby she hath made and counterfeited, so manie faire & goodly ordinances, statutes and ceremonies? Whereby shee hath workmanlie wrought all her silken, gilce, and embrodered copes, vestementes, and myters, euen as with a fine needle: & al the riche relikes, prounking iewels, altars, candlestickes, candles, and torches: and to be short, al the goodly ornaments, which you may see in the church, were made by the exāple & paterne of them. And their Sancta Sanctorū, that is to saye, The Holie of Holiest, or The most Holie place vponupon earth, which she hath pacte vp at Rome, in a corner of a chappell, at S Iohn de Laterane: whereof hath she gotten that, but onelyonly of the Iewes, in whose Temple at Hierusalem, the innermost & most secret place where God did sometimes appeare, called in their language, Roodes radaschim, that is to saye The holie of holiest? For in place of that, they had there the Arke of the promise, with the couering, called The MercieMercy seat, or Propitiatorium: wherein was kept a viole with Manna, and the florishing rod of Moses: which thinges our deare mother the holy church of Rome can not come by: and therefore hath she set vp another chest, with relikes in it, wherein she doeth keepe very gingerly and deuoutly, the foreskinne or Circumcision of our Lord Iesus Christ, with his slippers, and his nauell skinne, as plainly appeareth by the verses, which stand written before the same place, which are these vnderunder written:
Circumcisa caro Christi, sandalia clara:
Ac vmbilici, viget hîc praecisio chara.
That is to say:
The foreskinne of Christ,
And his slippers likewise:
With the skinne of his nauell,
In this cofine lies.
Read ouer and peruse the decrees throughly in the 1. dist. de co…secrat. and speciall… the 2. chap. Item the dist. 21.23.77. throughly, and many other mo. Item peruse throughly the booke of Durandus, and specially where he speakes of sacrifices and altars.Now, after all this, hauehave we not borrowed of the Iewes, euen our holie father the Pope, and all our Priestes and Deacons: yea, all our Temples, Churches, offerings and sacrifices? ye… marie hauehave we: or else all the holy fathers and Popes hauehave falsly lied in their heartes, which hauehave scraped together the bookes of the decrees: yea, and then must Durandus, What? doe I speake of Durandus? yea, (I say) all our stoute Catholike doctours hauehave dallied with vsus, whereas they giuegive vsus to vnderstande, that they hauehave borrowed all that of the Iewes. But what is this to the purpose? Trulie we hauehave learned in their Phariseis seate and Synagogue, That such must bee hanged, which breake the Emperours placarde: and will rather depende vponupon Iesus Christ, than vponupon the ordinance of the Church. HaueHave not the Doctors of Louen likewise borrowed of them the name of Rabbottenu, Touching this lo…ke vponupon the scripture. Iohn. 12.12. Matth. 23.7.or Rabbini, that is to say, Magistri nostri, which soundeth in our mother tongue, as much as Our masters: prouided alwayes, that men may not say Nostri magistri, for that were herisie, but we pronounce it after the Iewish phrase, setting Nostri after Magistri, as if we should say, Masters ours, and not Our masters. Item, that men must set them at the vpper ende of the table? and the killing of Prophetes and Martyrs, and th…n make them goodlie tumbes? for therefore it is that they do mainteine the shrines of the Martyrs in such praier and worship, in witnes (as Christ himselfe said) that they are the children of them which hauehave murthered the Prophets of God,Mat. 27.6.29.31.32. and the martyrs or witnesses of Christ Iesus, and wil follow the steppes of their forefathers, but it is not needfull to rehearse all things particularly, considering that the holie Church hath set forth a generall rule hereof in the booke of decrees. For in the same text, where it is sayde, That they hauehave learned of the Iewes to annoynt their altars, and to trimme them with many proper things, is argumented and reasoned thus:Cap. consecrat. Si qualiter ergo de consec. dist. 1. Seeing that the Iewes which did but serue in a shadowe and darke figure, did notwithstanding all those things: howe much more ought we being by dutie bound to doe the like: to whom the verie truth is manifestly reuealed. Whereby men may plainly perceiue, that is verie lawful for the holy Church: yea, and that of duetie she ought to doe all things, whatsoeuer the Iewes hauehave done heretofore. So that it is no maruell, that she hath of her selfe set vp so many newe ceremonies, and sacrifices, and brought in so many Patrones & Baalims, Baalim, is as mu…ch to say in Hebrew as a Capteine, a defender, a master, or such like: and therefore they did name dead persons and other creaturs which the people did choose to be the…r patrones or capteines, and aduocates, Baalim.builded altars, and erected chappels in all high places and wayes: and that she doth daily kill the Prophetes, and doeth crucifie Christ again in his members. For seeing the Iewes hauehave done so, she is much more bounde to do it. And vponupon this point is the before alledged text verie plaine and cleare, saying thus: Hereby it doeth appeare, that men may alledge and bring in good arguments and instructions vponupon the examples of the Infidels. Which doth serue our purpose verie well, to the setting forth of this our purpose, considering that hereby is apparaunt, that matter which we hauehave in hand, to wit, that our mother the holy Church, is not subiect to anie Bible or woorde of God: and muche lesse to anie Councels or Popes decrees: but may dongue her grounde with all kinde of dyrte, and may make her Bee hiue fatte.