Answer to John De Albines, Answer to discourse · Chapter 37 · Answer (1 of 2)

Answer to John De Albines · Answer to discourse · Chapter 37 · Answer (1 of 2)

p. 303The XXXVII. Chapter.

AT laſt it ſeemeth by your paines taken in this Chapter, you be thought your ſelfe, that foraſmuch as hitherto onelie in bare and naked wordes, you had vaunted and bragged your Religion to be the ancient Religion: that it was needefull for you euē for ſhame before you made a full end of your booke, to yeeld vsus ſome reaſons and grounds, or at leaſt ſome ſhew & colour, of your ſo lewd and bold boaſting. And therefore here now at laſt, to that ende you hauehave muſtered the bare names of a few ancient fathers, very prouidently leauing your Readers to the examining of your quotations, amōgſt whom not one of an hundreth you knew, either for lacke of ſkill or will, leaſure or bookes, could and would turne to the places in the authours themſelues. You thought (belike) your credit to bee ſuch, that they muſt needes beleeue that you cite thē truely and faithfully: and that becauſe you ſo roundly hauehave huddled them togither, that therefore alſo out of all queſtion they ſpake and wrotefully for you, in the points you alleadge them for. What ſmal cauſe there is either for you to looke thus to bee truſted, or for any to yeelde you ſuch credit herein, wee ſhall ſee anone, when wee come to the examining of your quotations. In the p. 304meane time, what ment you by this, thus onelyonly when all commeth to al, to countenance theſe 4, points: your Ceremonies in baptiſme, confeſſion before the ſacrament, praiers to the Saints departed, and praier for the dead? Are theſe the greateſt matters of your religion in queſtion? Or doeth it eſpecially depend vponupon theſe 4, and the coū tenancing of theſe? Or was your prouiſion ready for no more, that but once in all your booke, you ſeeming to ſet downe the authorities whereupon you ground your religion, you would take the paines to go no further then to theſe 4, points? Indeed in your next Chapter you excuſe your ſelfe and ſay, that you would hauehave gone likewiſe on to confirme the reſt, but for being tedious to your reader. Truely he is much beholden to you, for your diſcreet kindnes towards him, y^t hauehave not ſpared to be tedious vntounto him in al the reſt of your book, in troubling of him with ſuch a number of proud brags, of the antiquity and catholikenes of al your religion (as you hauehave) and with many needles and friuolous long diſcourſes beſides, and now when you came to the point indeed, which of all other was moſt materiall, and wherein both for his ſatiſfaction and your owne credit, it ſtood you vponupon moſt to enlarge your ſelfe, then thus to ſhift him of, with as good as nothing, bearing him yet in hand, that but for his eaſe, you both could and would hauehave ſaied inough. This is a common tricke amongſt you, thus to cozen and abuſe your ſimple readers, to weary them with things needles, and then to ſlip ouer with ſome ſuch ſhift as this, matters moſt needful. Wel concerning that which either you hauehave ſaied here for theſe 4, points, or that which after you pretend, if you had liſt you could hauehave eaſily ſaied for the reſt; this I would hauehave the reader diligently to note and marke, that but for two places vainely alleaged to proue your confeſſion, that you neither hauehave alleaged any teſtimony of ſcripture at all for the proofe of theſe, nor yet that you ſo much as ſay after you could or would for the reſt. Which argueth that euen in your owne conſcience, the beſt ground and countenance that your popiſh religion hath, either in theſe points, or in the reſt, is but from earth, and not from heauen, from men, and not from the holy ghoſt. For if you had beene able with any good colour to hauehave coūtenāced either theſe points, or any of the reſt, out of Gods owne booke and writen word, the reader may think that neither your zeale to your religion, nor yet your boaſting ſpirit, which hitherto hath ſhewed it ſelfe ouerflowing in you, either would or could hauehave ſuffered you, thus much to the preiudice p. 305your whole cauſe, cleane to hauehave forgotten, ſo much as once to go about it. But to ſay the trueth, ſeeing it is confeſſed by your betters, not onelyonly that this, but the moſt of all the reſt of the points of your Religiō, which we ſtriue with you for, are grounded but vponupon tradition (as I hauehave ſhewed out of Soto againſt Brentius, Caniſius fift Chapter of his Catechiſme, and Lyndans 100. Chapter of the fifth booke of his panoply before) you are the honeſter man, and y^e more a great deale to be liked, for your thus ſecretly confeſſing the ſame with them. Now yet by this, the Reader may plainely vnderſtand, what hath indeede beene the reaſon, why in all your booke hitherto you hauehave laboured ſo much as you hauehave, to grace and countenance tradition and the expoſition of the doctours, and withall hauehave ſpent ſo much time, in diſwading the appealing to the Scriptures, for the ending of the controuerſies betwixt vsus. You were wiſe enough (it ſeemeth) to ſee where your ſtrength lay, and from whēce would riſe your bane, and therefore who can blame you for leaning, as you doe, altogither to the one, and ſhunning the other? But then in reaſon yet you ſhould call your Religion no more diuinity, but humanity, no more Theologie but patrologie: and plainely confeſſe indeede from whence you hauehave all your figge leaues, rags and clouts, to couer your ſhame and nakednes. Truely theſe you hauehave (whatſoeuer in this reſpect you pretend) not from the right and ſound Apoſtolique tradition (which alwaies was either expreſſed in Scripture, or at leaſt cōſonant vntounto it) nor from the ancient holy fathers rightly vnderſtood, and when they taught (as it was of themſelues acknowledged to be their duties) with ſound warrant from the ſcriptures (as I hauehave ſundry times ſhewed already) but onelyonly from forged, or corrupt tradition, and from the fathers either miſunderſtood, or erring as men. So that vnwriten verities or rather forgeries, ſentences of fathers miſtaken, or their verie errours whereof they would hauehave beene aſhamed, if they had had the meanes to helpe them to ſee them that you hauehave; are the groundes, pillers, and bewties of your church and Religion. And this we are alwaies ready to iuſtifie againſt you before the whole world, by ſound and inuincible proofe out of the vn doubted word of God (interpreted according to the ſame rules of interpreting it, that the holy and ancient fathers themſelues hauehave followed, in confuting all heretiques in their times by, and which they hauehave likewiſe commended to others alwaies to be obſerued) and out of the vndoubted writings of the ancienteſt and beſt fathers p. 306them ſelues. Wee are therefore verie well content to liue and die in that Church and Religion, which we are ſure we are able thus to iuſtifie, and we enuy not you, but rather heartely lament and pittie you, that yours hath no better grounde then it hath.

But to let theſe thinges paſſe, and to proceede to the ſcanning and examining of that which you hauehave ſet downe in this Chapter; you beginne with an arrogant and falſe bragge, that all ancient doctours, Greeke and Latin ſince the Apoſtles times, and all the Chriſtiās of y^e foure quarters of the world, that were in thoſe daies, made their promiſes and vowes &c. as you doe now. You are wonderfull generall (Maſter Albine) and your words are very confident and ſwelling; ſhal we thinke that you are a mā of that learning and reading, y^t you ſpeake all this vponupon your owne knowledge? why then hauing ſuch a cloud of witneſſes, & ſuch an army royall, alleage you ſo few of them? nine or ten be the moſt whoſe names you hauehave brought vsus in al this Chapter, and theſe you hauehave brought forth vponupon the ſtage dumbe, or tongue-tied, if we wil here them ſpeake, we muſt take the paines to attend vponupon them, by your direction, at an other time, and ſurely in other places then you hauehave pointed vsus, we muſt heare a good ſort of theſe ſpeake for you, or elſe we ſhal neuer finde them willing, to yeelde either you or your cauſe, any one word good or bad. As for vowes and promiſes, which you make to God, vnleſſe thereby you meane onelyonly ſuch vowes and promiſes, as both you and we make in our baptiſme, to renounce the Diuell and al his works &c. for then you hauehave not ſo much as named vsus one father, Greeke or Latin, nor yet any one Chriſtian of any of the foure quarters of the world, you ſpeake of. And indeede you hauehave amongſt you, ſuch raſh, fooliſh, vndiſcreete, and ſuperſtitious vowes and promiſes a number, for the which you could not, nor cannot truely alleadge any ancient and holy father or Chriſtian indeede, thereinto giuegive you any countenance. Such bee you vow of ſingle and chaſt life, vniuerſally amongſt you tyed to holy orders, your vowes and promiſes to God, ſome of you alwaies, & ſome for a time, to abſteine with opinion of holines and merit, from fleſh and whitmeate, your vowes of pilgrimage, to cōmit idolatry at this! Saints ſhrine & picture, or at that, and a number of like ſtampe; of which kinde of vows & promiſes, if you meane, I ſay firſt, your glory in thē is your ſhame, for theſe are but plaine wil worſhips, condemned by Chriſt Mat. 15. p. 307and by Paul Coloſſ. 2. & the very bronds & marks of ſuch, as according to S. Pauls propheſie, in the later daies ſhould depart frō the faith, & giuegive heede vntounto ſpirits of errour and doctrine of Deuils. 1. Tim. 4. And further I ſay ſuch vowes were better neuer made, thē made, & being made, they are of y^e nature, & dangerous conſequence, that the beſt way were firſt to repent of the folly and raſhnes in making of them, & then rather quite to giuegive them ouer, thē with ſuch ſuperſtition and impiety to ſeeke to keepe them, as is vſed & breaks forth thereby ſhamefully amongſt you. For it is plentifully proued, both out of ſcriptures and out of Ambroſe in y^e ſecond canon of the eighth coūcel of Toledo, that oathes that cānot be performed without ſinne are vnlawfull & not to binde. And you cannot be ignorant, that Gratian, cauſa 22, queſt. 4, produceth many teſtimonies out of the fathers to the ſame end, and y^e namely out of Iſidor there, he hath noted & ſet downe this, for a good rule in ſuch caſes as theſe of yours be. In malis promiſsis reſcinde fidem, in turpi voto, muta decretū, quod incautè vouiſti ne facias, impia eſt promiſsio quae ſcelere adimpletur, that is, in euill promiſſes performe thē not, in a filthie vow change thy purpoſe, y^e which raſhly thou haſt vowed doe not, it is an vngodly promiſe w^c is fulfilled w^t ſin. And rather then men y^t hauehave vowed & promiſed a ſingle life, through the force of inward cō cupiſcence, ſhould burne and fal either to fornicatiō, adultery, or any other vncleannes or filthines of the fleſh (w^t were as heauē & earth & all the world knowes cōmō fruits of your prieſtly vow of ſingle life) the anciēt Doctours that you brag of here ſo much, would hauehave thē to marry and to repent of their raſh vow: as it is euident in Cyril in his third & 16. bookes vponupon Leuiticus, in Cyprian li. 1. Epiſt. 11. in Epiphanius himſelfe cōtra apoſtolicos l. 2. and in Auguſt. de bono coniugali: & de ſanctâ virginitate, cap. 34.

But by the vowes and promiſes that you ſpeake of, ſeeing you cite no fathers for any other, I will take it that you meant onelie thoſe y^t you vſe to make to God in Baptiſme. Now thē, yet therein vnderſtand, you ſtriue without an aduerſary. For we in our baptiſme doe as ſolemnly make thoſe vowes and promiſes to God, to renounce the Deuill, the world & y^e fleſh w^tall their fruits, to beleeue in God and ſerue him all the daies of our life, as euer any of you did, or doe. But you ſay further, that al theſe holy Doctours & Chriſtiās you ſpake of, at their baptiſme did vſe thoſe very ceremonies y^t you doe, with the ſelfeſame exorciſmes, adiurations and annoyntings, p. 308which you doe vſe in your Catholique church, which we call papiſticall; for the proofe of the trueth whereof, you name vsus certaine places out of Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen, Chryſoſtome, Auguſtine, Baſil, and Arnobius: what are theſe all the ancient doctours and Chriſtians, ſince the Apoſtles time that you ſpeake of? Though it were graunted you, that theſe ſeuen in theſe places, were for your ceremonies which you vſe in baptiſme, yet this were farre from all that you ſpake of before. Thus (to beginne withall) eueryevery bodie may ſee, that you are a far mightyer man in bragging, thē you dare ſo m…h as to make ſhew you are, in prouing all you ſay. But to paſſe by this fault, herein you hauehave committed a ſecond fault worſe then this firſt. For whereas you alleadge theſe fathers here, to coū tenance your whole pompe of ceremonies now vſed by you in Baptiſme, there is not (you know well enough, or elſe you are not ſo cū ning in theſe places, as you would hauehave men thinke you are) the halfe of your ceremonies & faſhions, ſo much as barely mentioned by them, in theſe places. Exorciſme, abrenuntiation, croſſing, thriſe dipping, and anointing, are all that I can finde any of theſe in any of theſe places to hauehave mentioned; but that they vſed the ſelfeſame exorciſmes, adiurations and anointings that you now vſe (as you ſay) I finde not. Your Chriſme that you anoint withall, muſt hauehave, as you hold, balſom in it: and in them I finde onelyonly mention of oyle and none of any balſom, & your formes of exorciſing and adiuring, ſet downe in your ſeruice bookes, are not found in any of theſe places, nay it is well enough knowen they are of younger yeares by a faire deale. But what are theſe few ceremonies (the names whereof and vſe whereof, in ſome ſort they had common with you) to al the ſolemnity of ceremonies that you vſe now? To trauell no further for the matter, let vsus but take a view of your rites and ceremonies in this caſe, as they are ſet downe in your late Catechiſme, by the decree of the councell of Trent, and Pius the fift Biſhop of Rome, writen and publiſhed for the inſtructiō of your pariſh Prieſts, what and how to teach their people: and we ſhall finde that theſe places, doe not mention the one halfe of them, by farre. There firſt, they are deuided in three rankes or ſortes, the firſt is of them that you by authority of that councell, vnderunder paine of being anathematized, muſt vſe before the partie to be baptiſed come to the font: the ſecond is of ſuch as be vſed in the baptizing of him, and the third is of ſuch as be vſed after. Of the firſt ſtampe be theſe: conſecrating of the water, p. 309with the oile of miſticall vnction, of Eaſter day and Whitſonday, that ſhall ſerue for the whole yeare after, as there ſhal be occaſion to vſe it, the ſtaying of the party without the Church dore, vntill he either by himſelfe or his Godfather for him, promiſe the forſaking of the ſeruice of Sathan, and his yeelding to enter into Gods ſeruice and family, and being aſked what he would hauehave, anſwere be giuen, that he would hauehave baptiſme: which being knowen, thē it is ſaied further, that he is to be inſtructed in the Catheciſme, and is to anſwere it by himſelfe, or his godfather, which done, then in religious words and praiers, exorciſme or adiuration to expell the deuil, and to weaken and ouerthrow his power in him, muſt be vſed, a little ſalt muſt be put into his mouth, the ſigne of the Croſſe is to be made vponupon his forehead, eies, breſt, ſhoulders, and eares, and laſtly with the prieſts ſpettle, his noſtrels and eares, muſt be anointed. Now theſe things thus finiſhed, then he is admitted or brought to the font, where next follow the rites of the ſecond order, which there are thus ſet downe, then is he thriſe aſked whither he doe abre…ounce the deuill &c. And thriſe he or his godfather make anſwere abrenūtio, I doe abrenoūce; and then likewiſe he is aſked, whither he doe beleeue the twelue articles of the Chriſtian faith, whereunto anſwere is made, credo, I beleeue; and laſtly, whither he will be baptized is demaunded, wherunto anſwere being made, volo, I will: he is baptized in the water in the font, in the name of the father, the ſonne and holy Ghoſt, either being dipt into the water, or by hauing water poured or ſprinkled vponupon him, according to the maner and faſhion of the Church in that countrey, where the party is baptized. Where is alſo further ſhewed, that it was the minde of that holy councel, that at the moſt there ſhould be but one godfather, and one godmother, thus to anſwere and vndertake for the baptized, both becauſe the order of diſcipline and inſtruction thorough a multitude of maſters might be troubled, and alſo becauſe it was meet ſo to prouide, leaſt otherwiſe betwixt too many, ſuch ſpirituall affinities ſhould grow, as might hinder mariadge amongſt men, too much. For as the writer of that booke further ſaieth, moſt wiſely by the Church it was decreed, that there ſhould grow ſuch affinity not onelyonly betwixt the baptized and baptizer, but alſo betweene the baptized and the ſureties, and the baptized his true parents, that thenceforth none of them might marry togither. That alſo may not be forgotten, that there alſo it is ſhewed, that the naturall parentes of the party to bee p. 310baptized, may not ſo promiſe & anſwere for him, y^t ſo y^t rather it we… appeare, how farre this ſpirituall education differs frō the carnall. Belike the authour of this Catechiſme, & the councell & Pope y^t ſet him a worke, & cōmāded y^e publiſhing of his booke, had quite forgottē, that S. Paul ſaieth to naturall parēts, yee fathers bring vp your childrē in inſtructiō & informatiō of the Lord Epheſ. 6. ver. 4. or elſe they were at a flat point, they cared not whatſoeuer hee had taught. Now your Ceremonies of the luſt ſort (as he ſetteth thē out) are theſe, baptiſme miniſtred & finiſhed, the baptizeds crowne of the head is to be annointed with the holy chriſme, a white garment, or at leaſt, a white ſudariolū, that is handkerchiefe or cloth to wipe away ſweat withall, is to be giuen him, a burning waxe candle is to be put into his hand, & laſtly, his name muſt be giuē him. Now, I pray you, what are y^e 5. things aforeſaied, mentioned in theſe places, to ſuch a nūber as theſe? And yet the Tridentine coūcel, whoſe mind this authour plainly ſet out, thought al theſe ſo neceſſary can. 13. de Sacramētis, that it pronoūceth him accurſed, that ſhall cōtēne, omit, or take vpō him to alter any of theſe. And y^e more is (as it is euidēt by your own doctors, Durād, Dorbel, Herolt & others) you obſerue not theſe rites & ceremonies, w^t the opiniō y^t eccleſiaſticall cōſtitutions of ſuch matters, ought only to be obſerued w^tal, y^t is, in h…lding ſtilfaſt y^e doctrine of Chriſtiā liberty in your cōſciēces, & obſeruing thē for decēcy, cōlines & edification, w^tout opinion of holines, neceſſity & merit therin, for y^e better maintenāce of order & peace in y^e church, but moſt groſly, ſuperſtitiouſly, & idolatrouſly hauehave you taught mē to impute to a nūber of them, as nāely to your exorciſm, annointing, & croſſing ſuch force & efficacy, as y^t not only you hauehave made thē to encroch far vpō the vſe & effect of baptiſm it ſelf, but alſo you hauehave, & do, attribute ſo great, & ſo many ſpiritual graces & effects to thē, y^t litle or nothing is left, as ſpeciall to baptiſme. Nay who is ſo ſimple, but y^t he ſeeth, y^t theſe & ſuch other rites & ceremonies amōgſt you (though it be neuer ſo euident y^t they be but of humane deuiſe & inuentiō) are more carefully vrged & obſerued, thē y^t very order that expreſlie it ſet downe in the ſcriptures thēſelues, about & concerning y^e adminiſtratiō of y^e ſacramēts: if it were not thus, you durſt not ſo cōtrary to y^e doctrine & order of S. Paul 1. cor. 14. appoint & vſe rather (as you do) an vnknown tongue in y^e miniſtring of thē, then a lāguage y^t the people might vnderſtād & be edified by, & ſo ſay amē w^t vnderſtāding to your praiers & thākſgiuing. Nether durſt you thus to ad to y^e lords ordināces, & accurſe thē y^t omit any of your additiōs, in the mean time, take vpō you quite cōtrary to the words of Chriſt, drink ye al of this, to bereaue y^e p. 311cōmō people of the cup, to the ſacramēt of Chriſts body & bloud, w^tall by your new found tearme and doctrine of concomitance, peruerting quite the vſe & end of y^e ſacrament, in making it a ſacrament of y^e life & glory of Chriſt, whereas by his ordinance it is a ſacrament of his death and abaſement for our redemption vponupon the Croſſe. In taking therfore bread a part, & calling it his body brokē; & afterwards wine, and tearming it his bloud ſhed for many to the remiſſion of their ſins, it was his purpoſe y^t by the vſe of this ſacrament, vntill his cōming againe, his Church ſhould ſet forth his death and paſſion, and ſo the ſeparation of his body & bloud, the one frō y^e other: & you by this your deuiſe, inuented for the maintenāce of your Helena tranſubſtātiatiō, make it to ſerue to a quite contrary end, nāely, to teach the coniunctiō ſtil of his body and bloud together, and ſo to be a ſacrament in effect to deny his death & paſſion. Of you therfore it may again moſt iuſtly be ſaid, y^t once Chriſt ſaid of your right forefathers, the Scribes and Phariſees in his time, you are they y ſtrein a gnat and ſwalow a camel, and y^t for your owne traditions make no reckoning of the commandements of God. Mat. 15. & 29. & Mar. 7. And certaine it is, that whiles you and others (of whō you hauehave learned al theſe ceremonies of yours) hauehave takē vponupon you, thus to adde vntounto Chriſts ordinance of baptiſme, ſuch a nūber of needles ceremonies, eſpecially vrging thē and vſing them as you doe, al theſe wel… therupō directly follow, you ſeeke to make the day light of the new Teſtament, euen as darke as the night of the old, by your new foūd figures and types, you ſtrongly lead mē to think y^t the ſimplicity of Chriſts inſtitution of this ſacrament was not decent and ſufficiently ful of maieſty, for the dignity of ſuch a ſacrament, you by the multitude and pompe of your ſolemne ceremonies, darken and obſcure theſe things y^t are eſſential & neceſſary thereunto indeed, you take the effects & inward graces, apperteining to y^e right vſe of baptiſm, frō it, & cōmunicate thē w^tout, other commādement or promiſe from God, to things but of mēs inuētion: & laſtly, forcibly you thereby occaſion mē to think, y^t the integrity, & fulnes of this ſacrament dependeth vponupon theſe. Howſoeuer therfore you would ſeeme, from ſundry places in Aug. here quoted by you, to fetch credit for them, yet theſe things being true which I hauehave ſaied, as they are, & they well conſidered, ſeeing in Auguſtines time, it is certaine, that neither there were ſo many, nor thoſe that were, ſo ſuperſtitiouſlie were then vrged or vſed, we may be ſure that hee would, if he were now aliue to ſee and vnderſtand all theſe thinges, moſt vehemently write and ſpeake againſt you therein. For ſpeaking but of the rites and ceremonies, and the maner of vſing p. 323of them that were in his time, hee greatly ſhewed his diſlike then, both of the multitude and maner of preſſing them vponupon men: ſaying, Hoc nimis doleo &c. I cannot but extreamly ſorrow for this, that many things, which moſt holeſomly are commaunded in the diuine books, are leſſe cared for, and all things are full of ſo many preſumptions, Epi. 119. And further he addeth in the ſame Epiſtle, touching the ſame, & quamuis iſta contra fidem non ſint &c. and though theſe things be not againſt faith, yet wheras the mercy of god would hauehave religion free, burdened with moſt few, and moſt manifeſt ſacraments to be obſerued, theſe with ſeruile burdens to preſſe it, that more tollerable is the ſtate of the Iewes, who although they knowe not the time of their liberty, yet they are ſubiect to the burdens of the law, and not to humane preſumptions, and therefore his opinion in the ende is flat of all ſuch, that aſſoone as may bee, without all doubt, they be to be cut off, in the ſame Epiſtle alſo. Yea Pope Stephanus, as he is cited of Gratian, diſt. 63. Quia ſancta, ſpeaking of humane orders aboue the election of Popes, ſaieth plainely, that if any of his predeceſſours did ſome things, which then might be faultles, and after they were turned into errour and ſuperſtition (which is the cauſe of theſe your ceremonies which we miſlike in you moſt flatly) ſine tarditate antiquâ, & cum magnâ authoritate deſtruantur a poſte…s, that is, without any ſlacknes and with great authority let them, of them that come after be deſtroied: which aſſertion of his, he doeth ground vpō y^e example of good Ezechias, in breaking y^e braſen ſerpēt which Moſes had made &c. And whereas you, vnderunder your Tridentine curſe, would binde all churches to the ſtrict obſeruing of all theſe your ſolemne ceremonies: you know, or at leaſt ſhould, that that is contrary to the ancient doctrine of Chriſtian liberty in ſuch things, and to the practiſe and experience of the primitiue Church. Annicet and Polycarp, the Eaſt Church, and the Weſt (you know) a long time freely differed about the time of the obſeruation of Eaſter, and yet pacem (ſaieth Irenaeus) in vniuerſâ eccleſiâ &c. that is, both parts throughout the whole church, kept and maintained chriſtian peace, Euſeb. lib. 3. cap. 23. and ſo likewiſe there hee ſhewes, that there had beene a long time great difference, about the faſt before Eaſter, both for the time of the cōtinuance and otherwiſe, & yet that thereby rather in his opinion, the vnity of faith was cōmended then hindred. And of Gregories anſwere to Leander, touching the dipping of the baptized once or thriſe (the anſwere being as it was & p. 313is reported by your owne Gratian, de conſecr. diſt. 4. that howſoeuer the party was once or thriſe dipped, it was to be counted baptiſed, you might learne that there is no ſuch neceſſity as you imagine, to hauehave generally throughout the whole church of Chriſt, one preciſe forme of rites & ceremonies to be kept, that touch leſſe the ſubſtātial parts of the ſacrament, then this did. That Gregory could ſay (to fortifie that anſwere of his) in vnâ fide nihil officit ſanctae eccleſiae conſuetudo diuerſa, that is, the diuerſity of cuſtome or faſhiō doeth not hurt the church, continuing in one faith. And our Cronicles doe plainely teſtify, that neither Eleutherius, biſhop of Rome, about the yeare 180. (though king Lucius here ſent vntounto him for the Roman lawes to frame his people by) would binde him thereunto, nor yet the foreſaied Gregory anſwering Auguſtine the Monks queſtion, would tie him then, for the ordering of the church here, to the Ceremonies and cuſtomes of Rome. But the firſt ſent Lucius, for his direction, to the lawes of God, being without exception, and not to the Romā laws, which might (he confeſſeth) be reproued, and the other in his anſwere to Auguſtines third demaund, how it came to paſſe y^t the faith being but one, the ceremonies and cuſtoms were ſo diuers, as that there was one maner of maſſe at Rome, & an other in Frāce, wils him without reſpect of place, out of many churches, to chuſe the beſt orders. And who ſo will reade Socrates 5. booke and the 18.19.20.21 & 22. Chapters of the ſame, he ſhall there finde not onelyonly in a number of things diuerſe faſhions, rites and ceremonies, noted by him to hauehave bene in the churches of Chriſt (inſomuch that in the 21. Chapter not onelyonly he writeth, that altogither truely and in al obſeruances of godly praiers, two churches could not be found, that did fully agree amongſt themſelues) but alſo, that this notwithſtāding, y^e vnity of faith, & chriſtiā peace was preſerued & maintained amōgſt them. The like may be ſeene in Zozomens 7. booke & 29. Chapter. Your owne Tridentine Catechiſer of your pariſh Prieſts could ſee (as I noted before) that touching dipping the party to be baptized in water, pouring it vponupon him, or ſprinkling him with it (ſo that eueryevery one follow therein that order, that hee ſeeth in vſe in the Church wherein hee is) it is not materiall which way be vſed, for which of them ſoeuer be vſed, ſo (ſaieth he) this ſacrament may rightly be miniſtred. So much the ſtranger is it, that both you here and he there, & your whole Tridentine councel, ſhould ſo peremtorily ſeeke to bind all churches and perſons, to the ſtrict keeping and obſeruing of p. 314all your foreſaied rites and Ceremonies, in the ad miniſtring of the ſame.

Further cōcerning this point, I muſt tell you, that for your pleaſure I hauing turned to theſe places, which you quote for this purpoſe, as I finde, by comparing of yours with them, that they mētiō, you hauehave many that they ſpeake neuer a word of in theſe places (as namely your conſecrating of your water and Chriſme ſo lōg before, your dealing with the party at the church dore, your putting of ſalt into his mouth, your dreſſing his noſtrels and eares withſpettle, and your giuing him a waxe cādle burning into his hand) ſo thereby and by view of ſome other places in them, I plainely ſee, that you hauehave now giuen ouer the vſe of ſome, which then were vſed, vponupon the like ground that the reſt were, which you would ſeeme to hauehave from them. For firſt Tertullian in his booke de coronâ militis (which is the ſecond place you quote) as there he mentions thriſe dipping, renouncing of the Deuill, his pompe and Angels, which you would ſeeme to allow and vſe with him, ſo he ſaieth, that being taken from out of the water, we taſt before hand the temper of milke and honie, and from the time of our baptiſme, for a weeke, we abſteine frō daily waſhing, and all theſe doeth he ground a like, ſaying Harum & aliarum diſciplinarum &c. that is, of theſe diſciplines, if thou requireſt the law of the ſcripture, thou ſhalt finde none, tradition ſhall be pretended to be the authour, cuſtome the confirmer, and faith the obſeruer; & yet you hauehave left theſe two laſt long ago, for any thing, that I can learne. And Auguſtine, an other of your authours in this caſe, in three of the places named by you mentiōs exufflation which you hauehave giuen ouer, as he doeth ſome other, that you retaine. And the ſame authour vponupon the 65. Pſalme ſhewes, that in their exorciſme they vſed fire, becauſe it is writē in y^e Pſalm, paſsing through fire and water thou ſhalt come to a refreſhing: and in his 4. booke ad cathecumenos, de Symbolo, lib. 4. cap. 1. he ſaieth, that before baptiſme, was vſed beſide the Catechiſme, exorciſme, praier and canticles: in ſufflation, ſackcloth, bowing of the neck & humility of the feet. And Hierom vponupon the 55. of Eſay, and againſt the Luciferians ſhewes further, that then was vſed the taſting of wine and hony. Wherefore if the doctours and fathers, mentioning of ſome of your ceremonies, binde you to thinke the vſe thereof lawfull and neceſſarie ſtill, why ſhould not their authoritie bee of as great force for theſe, which you ſee, they ground p. 315aſwell as they doe the other? And if their mentioning and thus grounding of theſe notwithſtanding, you will be at liberty to leaue theſe, why may not we aſwell be at our libertie to leaue off ſome of the other, that we finde moſt needles, and moſt to hauehave beene abuſed by you, to obſcure and darken the ſimple inſtitutiō of this ſacramēt? Wil you follow the fathers as farre as you liſt, and leaue them when you liſt, and may no body but you doe ſo? Moreouer in looking (vponupon this occaſion) into the monuments of antiquity, and the writings of the ancient fathers, I muſt needes aduertiſe thee (Chriſtian reader) that I finde great variety, in the enumeration of ceremonies about this ſacrament in them, and likewiſe great oddes betwixt the opinion and conceite, that ſome of the fathers ſhewe they had of them, from that that others, of as good credit as they, had: whereby it is euident, not only y^t they were not vſed alike al in eueryevery place, but in ſome places and times more, and in ſome leſſe: but alſo that ſome vſed them to one ende, and ſome to another. So that no certaine rule either for the ceremonies themſelues, or for the maner or ende of the vſe of them, can be deduced from thence. Whereupon it muſt needes follow, that for any thing writen by the ancient fathers hereof (ſo that the eſſentiall parts and things belonging hereunto, which hauehave expreſſe warrant from the inſtitution thereof, be obſerued firſt, and then next according to the practiſe and example of the Apoſtles, and the times next after them, neceſſary inſtruction and explanation to and of the right vſe thereof, with conuenient praiers and thankeſgiuing, meete to be vſed in ſuch an action bee vſed, and that alſo in due time and place, by, to & before fit perſons) any Church of Chriſt in any kingdome by the prouinciall authority that it hath, may freely reiect ſo many of the other rites & ceremonies as it ſhall thinke good, and likewiſe reteine ſo many of them, as ſhe findeth may fitly bee reteyned for order and comelineſſe, without placing any opiniō of neceſſity, holineſſe or of merit in them. And therefore, foraſmuch as our Churches carefully hauehave taken this courſe in theſe three points, and follow the ſame in trueth, there is nothing, that theſe fathers that you hauehave named, conſent vponupon, about the adminiſtring of this ſacrament, but we fully doe obſerue the ſame. And here in Englād eſpecially what fault can you find? Of the 5. things your fathers mentiō we reteine & vſe, though not with any ſuperſtitious intentiō (as you do) 2 of thē: the reſt we hauehave cut of according both to S. Auguſt. aduiſe, & your pope Stephanus iudgement before noted, becauſe p. 316the multitude before was too great for the time of the Goſpel, & they were growen into groſſe abuſe amongſt you. No eſſential or neceſſary thing to bee done is omitted with vsus, and wee hauehave beſides fully inough, for the time of the new Teſtament wherin we liue, in which time it is more likely in ſuch ceremonies. rites and faſhions for vsus to erre, rather in retaining too many, then in aboliſhing too many.

But becauſe neither you ſhal ſay, nor your reader thinke, y theſe fathers, whoſe names you bring vsus, to countenance al your ceremonies, which you vſe about baptiſme, are ſo ful & faſt of your ſide therin, as you pretend: I wil vouchſafe ſo much further paines, as particulerly to examine al your quotations out of them. The firſt man you name is Tertullian, and in him you ſend vsus to two places; for your anointing and abrenuntiation, to his booke de reſurrectione carnis: and for thriſe dipping, to his booke de coronâ militis. Wherin it ſeemeth a little you miſtooke your notes: for there is no mention of abrenūtiation that I can finde in the former place, in the later indeede there is: but you quote the former for it & not the later at all. Whereby any man may ſee, you tooke your quotations vponupon truſt, and neuer tooke the paines to turne to the places in the authours themſelues, and that ſo it came to paſſe, that that which you ſhould hauehave fathered vponupon the later place (through ignorance) you hauehave attributed to the former. Anointing, I find mētioned in the former place (I grāt) but neither the matter nor form of your anointing, can I either find ther or in any other place, quoted by you for it. And in the other, I cō feſſe he mētioneth thriſe dipping, but to what purpoſe is y^t, to iuſtifie your ceremonies or maner of baptizing, ſeeing (as I hauehave noted before, out of your Tridētine cathechiſm) in this point you are ſo indifferent, whither it be miniſtred by dipping, powring, or ſprinkling, & neuer once there preſcribe, this faſhiō of thriſe dipping as neceſſary? Your ſecond authour is Cyprian, who (you ſay) in the ſecond volume of his Epiſtles, Epiſt. the twelfth doeth write, that the holy Chriſme was giuen vntounto children that were baptized. Wherein your note gatherer abuſed you. For doubtleſſe in that Epiſtle there is not one worde, either of Chriſme or anie other Ceremonies about baptiſme. Indeed in the 12, Epiſtle of his firſt book of Epiſtles, he ſpeakes of anointing the baptized with oile, but holy chriſme he calleth it not. But to ſpeake the trueth, both Tertullian and he, hauehave not onelyonly in their workes ſundry times mentioned Chriſme and anointing of the baptized; but they went too farre p. 317both in vrging the neceſſity thereof, and in attributing vntounto it ſuch diuine grace as they did: inſomuch, that it is not without cauſe of the learned thought, that therin they were both the ſchollers of Mō tanus. But certaine it is, of whomſoeuer they learned thus to vrge this ceremony, to the obſcuring & preiudicing of the vſe and effects of baptiſme, as too groſſely they did, in tying rather the gift of the holy Ghoſt to ſanctifie and regenerate to it, thē to baptiſme, they neuer learned it other of Chriſt, nor of any ſound Chriſtian, nor may any Chriſtian more think himſelfe bound to vrge it, and vſe it as they did, becauſe they did ſo, then he is bound to be a Montaniſt, becauſe Tertullian was ſo, or to holde rebaptization of them, that before were baptized of heretiques, becauſe Cyprian did ſo. Your nexte man is Origen, to whoſe 12. Homilie, without any further additiō, and to diuerſe other places of his workes (without naming vntounto vsus any of theſe places) you ſend vsus, for abrenuntiation and the ſigne of the Croſſe to bee made in the baptiſed his forehead, wherin it was your hap, to ſhew as great negligence and ignorance as might bee. For Origen wrote many times 12. Homilies (as it is to be ſeene in his works) whereas it ſhould ſeeme by your kind of quoting of him, that you thought he had done ſo but once, and yet in none of theſe 12. Homilies that he wrote, finde I theſe two ceremonies mentioned, and as for the diuerſe other places in his works, that you ſpeake of, when you ſhall vouchſafe to name them, your anſwere will bee as eaſily made. Next is Chryſoſtome, of whom you alleage two places, his 12. Homily vponupon the firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians, cap. 4. and his firſt Homilie vponupon the firſt Chapter to the Epheſians, and both theſe onelyonly for renuntiation. In the firſt whereof, there is mention of the ſigne of the Croſſe made in the forehead, but not expreſſely in Baptiſme, and in the other there is mention of renuntiation indeede, but ſo there is not at al in the former: wherby againe one may ſee, how you neuer turned to theſe places and read them your ſelfe: and beſides it is euident, that either through ignorance or negligence, or both, you father that vponupon your former noted place, which you ſhould attribute to the later: as here, that vponupon Origen, which you ſhould hauehave left to Chryſoſtom, and ſo ſhew your errour in both. But what were all this (if you had not beene at all thus ouerſeene) againſt vsus, or for you more, then for vsus; ſeeing both theſe ceremonies or rites, are reteyned and vſed amongſt vsus, in farre better maner then with you. Now followeth Auguſtine, out of whom you p. 318quote vsus, in Pſalm. 31. Aug. lib. 15. contra Iulianum Pelagianum. lib. 1. cap. 2. Item de nuptiis & concupiſcentiâ. lib. 1. Cap. 20. In Iohannem tract. 33. In Canonicam Iohannis, tract. 3. & tra. 6. & de Eccleſiaſt. dogmatibus Cap. 31. De Symbolo lib. 1. cap. 7. & lib. 2. Cap. 11. & libro de his qui initiantur ſacris, that is, eleuen places in all, wherein yet you hauehave more groſſely ſhamed your ſelfe, then in the former. For firſt of all in theſe eleuen places, there are but three, wherein I finde any mention of any of your ceremonies, and that is, in his firſt booke and ſecond Chapter againſt Iulian, in his firſt booke and twentieth Chapter de nuptiis & concupiſcentiâ, and in his thirty one Chapter de Eccleſiaſticis dogmatibus: and lay all theſe three togither, and there are mentioned onelyonly three, that is, exorciſme, exufflation and abrenuntiation, whereof we vſe one aſwell as you, namely abrenuntiation, and as for the other two, thereof you your ſelues hauehave but the firſt, and therefore why may not we aſwell, giuegive ouer both the other, as you hauehave done the firſt of them. Secondly, you ſend vsus indefinitely to his fifteene booke (as you did before to Origens twelfth homily) not telling vsus what 15. booke you meane, thinking (belike) that he had neuer wrote but once 15. books of one title, wheras eueryevery one, that is acquainted with his works, know the contrary. If you ſay you meant his 15 booke againſt Iulian, then therein you ſhew as much ignorance: for againſt him, he wrote but 6. Thirdly, you father vponupon Aug. two books de ſymbolo, & one de his qui initiantur ſacris, whereas indeed in al Auguſtines tomes, there are no books y^t ſimply & barely beare thoſe titles, to be found. He wrote one book de fide & ſymbolo: & 4 de ſymbolo ad cathecumenos: but in no 7 nor 11 Chapters of any of theſe, is there any thing for your purpoſe, but none at al he hath writen, that in title cōmeth any thing neare the other, you father vponupon him. But I imagine, that if your eie-ſight, or memory, had not failed you, you ſhould and would hauehave quoted theſe not in his name, but in Ambroſes. But yet then you took your mark amiſſe alſo. For he hath no bookes neither, that ſimply cary theſe titles. Indeed he hath writen fiue de fide ad Gratianum, and one de fide orthodoxâ, contra Arrianos, and a booke he hath writen, de his qui initiantur myſteriis, and fiue de ſacramentis, but in no ſeuenth nor eleuenth Chapters of any of his bookes de fide or ſymbolo, hath he any thing to ſerue your turne. Neuer man therefore, was ſo abuſed as you (Maſter Albine) were (I thinke) in taking p. 319ſo few quotations of credit. I would therefore henceforth aduiſe you, vnleſſe you be euen reſolued vtterly to leeſe your credit, truſt no more thus either other mens eies or fingers. Well, Baſil and Arnobius are yet behinde, let vsus ſee if you hit any rightlier of your places out of them: you cite Baſils 15 and 75 Chapters de Spiritu Sancto, and Arnobius vponupon the 27 Pſalme: Neither of which you hauehave rightly quoted. For there are but 30 Chapters in al Baſils booke de Spiritu Sancto (as Eraſmus hath tranſlated him, & cauſed him to bee publiſhed) and Arnobius vponupon the twenty ſeuen Pſalme, hath not at all mentioned any ceremony about baptiſme, Baſil in his fifteene and twenty ſeuen Chapters of that booke, and Arnobius vponupon the ſeuenty fiue Pſalme, make mention of abrenuntiation, & of ſome other ceremonies, before mentioned by the other fathers: but yet neither theſe, nor all the other laied togither, that you hauehave named, either in the places mentioned by you, nor any where elſe, mention al the ceremonies which you vſe, by far, though you would by your lowd bragging make your reader beleeue they doe. Thus you ſee, vnleſſe you had beene diſpoſed vtterly for euer to ſhame your ſelfe, you could not in ſo few quotations, eſpecially not ſet on your margent, but in your lines as they are, the better to preuent wrong applying of them, hauehave beene taken with thus many groſſe ouerſightes. May not any man (worthilie thinke you) hereby iudge, that howſoeuer the names of the fathers are familiar with you, that yet you are a verie ſtranger in their workes indeed? Of twenty places, you hauehave alleadged aright and to the purpoſe, ſcarſe fiue, and of ſeuen fathers (belike becauſe you would not deale partiallie with them) your happe hath beene, one waie or other, to erre in quoting of euerie one of them. Surelie you are worthie to bee truſted vponupon your bare word, without any further examination of your quotations an other time, you hauehave dealt ſo faythfully and vprightlie in theſe. And to conclude this point withall, as though you had moſt rightly quoted, and that they moſt pregnantlie had iuſtified all your Ceremonies as you vſe them, you confidently tell your reader, that if hee will reade theſe places hee ſhall finde, that they did vſe the verie Ceremonies, that you doe vſe, and wee ſo much myſlike. Thus yet you coulde ſet a good face on the matter, though you could doe little elſe.

But in good earneſt, is it your meaning, by theſe places to make mē p. 320before that none are to be accoūted rightly baptiſed, vnles vntounto him, all theſe your ceremonies, which you talke of be vſed? What ſay you then to Chriſts baptiſme, and the multitudes baptiſed by Iohn in Iorden, and after by the Apoſtles, ſometimes in one day, in water that was next to hād? Sure I am, that none of your ceremonies that you ſtriue for here ſo much, which we miſlike, was vſed then to anie of them: and yet I am ſure neuer were any with theſe ceremonies of yours, better baptized, then theſe were. Nay to preſſe you a litle further, if theſe ceremonies were ſo neceſſarie as you pretend, how chā ceth it, that aboue 600. yeares after Chriſt (that is long after any of the fathers you hauehave named to countenance them withal) we read in Bedaes ſtory, ſo often mētion as we do, of ſo great multitudes, here in England, by famous Biſhops baptiſed in one daie in common riuers? It is vnpoſſible that they ſhould baptiſe ſo many in ſo ſhort time as that ſtory ſhewes they did, and yet vſe to eueryevery one, all the ſolemnity of ceremonies, that you here thus pleade for. It is cleare thē by that practiſe, that for all this, and whatſoeuer elſe any where, either theſe, or any other doctour, before that time had writen hereof, that then there was no ſuch danger imagined to bee in omitting of theſe, as your Tridentine coūcell now, would make men beleeue there is.

But for a general anſwere to al that you, or any of your ſide, hauehave or can alleadge out of any father, either for the iuſtifying your kinde of vſing theſe your ceremonies, or any of the other three points that follow in this Chapter (as long as you are not able to warrant your doings and opiniōs therin, by the ſcriptures, which we are ſure you ſhall neuer be able to doe) by the fathers leaue, though they were as pregnant for you as you pretend (which they are not neither) & that by the direction and aduiſe of the beſt of themſelues, we will & may chuſe, for all their writings, whither we will like any whit the better of them or no. For Hierom ſaieth, that all things which mē ſeeke out and inuent at their owne pleaſure, without authority and teſtimony of the ſcripture (as though they were the traditions of the Apoſtles) the ſword of God cutteth of. VponUpon the firſt of Aggei. And Origen in his firſt homily vponupon Hierom, confeſſeth, that their iudgements without witnes of the ſcripture were of no credit. And Hierom againe vponupon the 98. Pſalme writeth, that all which they ſpake, they were to proue by the ſcriptures: and vponupon the 23. of Mat. he ſaieth plainely, that which hath not authority from the ſcriptures p. 312as eaſily is deſpiſed as approued. And Chryſoſtome vponupon the 2. to Tim. Hom. 9. ſaieth, if there be any thing either to learne or to be ignorant of, we ſhall learne it in the ſcriptures. And as for all other authority, Hilary ſaieth in his 7. booke of the trinity, that it is ſhort, darke & troubleſome. And as for Auguſtine, he of all the reſt, hath moſt plainely taught vsus this, in his 19. Epiſtle to Hierom, and alſo in his 111. epiſtle to Fortunatian, where he plainely ſhewes, that hee gaue no further credit to any mans writings, then he found them agreeable to the ſcriptures: and therefore de baptiſmo, contra Donatiſtas li. 2. cap. 3. he refuſeth to be preſſed either with the authority of Cyprian, or any other man, or councell further, then by the canonicall ſcriptures their iudgements are approued: and he teacheth Paulina in his 112. epiſtle, not to follow his authority, or to beleeue a thing becauſe he hath ſaid it, but to beleue the canonicall ſcripture. We ſaie therefore with him lib. 1. cap. 22. de peccatorum meritis & remiſſione: let vsus yeeld & cōſent vntounto the holy ſcriptures, which can neither deceaue, nor be deceaued: & againe I require the voice of the ſheepheard, read me this matter out of the Prophets, read it out of the Pſalms, read it out of the law, read it out of the Goſpel, read it out of the Apoſtles writings: in his book de paſtoribus c. 14. and ſo likewiſe conclude with him, I owe my conſent without gainſaying onelyonly vntounto the canonicall ſcriptures.. cap. 61. de naturâ & gratiâ, and according to theſe bookes of the ſcriptures, we hauehave learned of him to iudge freely of all other writings. lib. 2 cap. 29. contra Creſconium. The fathers are full of ſuch places, whereby any man may ſee, that by their very good leaue, we are not to be preſſed to beleeue or receaue any thing, not taught in the ſcriptures, vponupon their bare authority, and therefore theſe and ſuch like places in them conſidered, if you would hauehave had their names, & the places you cite in them, to hauehave in ſadnes, bred any ſound credit to any of theſe foure points you alleadge them for, either ſhould you hauehave warrāted them, by good proofe out of the ſcriptures your ſelfe, or hauehave ſhewed vsus how they proued them conſonant, at the leaſt, to the ſame.

Howbeit becauſe you ſhall not abuſe the Reader, to make him thinke, that the fathers you name for theſe matters, are further of your opinion then they be indeede, as I hauehave not refuſed to examine your opinion, and the places you ſend vsus vntounto for your ceremonies, ſo will I, for the Chriſtian readers ſake, take the paines to deale w^t p. 322you for, & in al your other 3 opinions, of confeſſion, praier to Saints & for the dead, & w^t it your ſeueral quotations, ſet down for the proofe of the ſame. To go on therefore according to my courſe begun: for confeſſion before the receiuing of the ſacramēt, you ſaie firſt, our ſauiour Chriſt doeth teach vsus, that the eccleſiaſticall miniſters hauehave authority to binde and to forgiue ſins: and for proofe hereof you ſet in your margent Iohn. 20. & Mat. 16. I am ſure here by confeſſion, that you ſpeake of, you meane your auricular confeſſion, wherof your Tridentine councel taketh ſuch care, that that in the 6, 7, and 8, Canon thereof, touching this matter, it ſolemnely anathematizeth al thoſe, that hold auricular confeſſion not to be neceſſary to ſaluation, by the law of God, ſaying that it is but the deuiſe of man. Which they there hauehave defined to be a ſecret reckoning vp vntounto the prieſt, of al mortal ſins at the leaſt, with al their circumſtances, whereof by due premeditation the party can hauehave any remembrance, whereunto they bind all perſons aboue certaine yeares, of both ſexes, at leaſt once in the yeare, and that namely in lent, before their receiuing at Eaſter. Now this confeſſion, your ſchoolmen and doctours do teach, muſt be made ſo fullie and exactly, that no ſin nor circumſtance thereof muſt be cō cealed, for then therby al the labour is loſt, and the abſolutiō fruſtrated from al the reſt. Which doctrine cannot chuſe, but a number of waies proue a needles and a deſperate tormenting of cōſciēces. For firſt it laieth vpō them an ineuitable neceſſity, not onelie to doe, that which God neuer required at their hands, but alſo that, which either is ſimply impoſſible vntounto thē to doe, for the multitude of their ſins and circumſtances thereof: or elſe impoſſible for them to doe in ſuch maner, as that they can ſatiſfie themſelues, that they hauehave omitted no piece of due premeditation to call all their ſins & the circūſtances thereof, that they ſhould cōfeſſe, to their remēbrāce, which a nūber of your owne ſide moſt deuoutly giuē to doe this in y^e beſt maner, hauehave bene enforced to confeſſe. Yet this confeſſion before the ſacrament (though indeed it bee a thing that hath no ground or warrant at all in the Scriptures) but was (as both Iohannes Scotus libro 4. ſententiarum Diſtict, 17. art. 3. and Anton: part 3. hiſtatit. 19, doe confeſſe) firſt impoſed as neceſſary by the Lateran councel, in Innocēt the thirds time, about the year of the Lord one thouſand 2 hundred and fifteene, you here would ſeeme to coūtenāce by two places of ſcripture, co begin withal. But your betters hauehave thought otherwiſe, of this your kinde of confeſſion. For your gloſſe de paenitentiâ p. 323Diſtinct. 5. Cap. in principio confeſſes plainely, that it came in rather by ſome tradition, then either by authority of the olde teſtament or new, which tradition (he ſaieth) yet ought to binde the Weſt Church to vſe it, though not the Greekes & Eaſt Church which hauehave it not. And Beatus Rhenanus in his notes vponupon Tertullians booke of repentance, foraſmuch as hee findeth not therein anie mention hereof, not onelyonly gathered that it was not in vſe then, but alſo hee ſheweth, that he thought it came in after & grew of the miſlike of the inconueniences of the continuance of publicke confeſſions made in the publicke aſſembly in the hearing of al the congregation vſed ſeuerally in the former times. And Soto cōtra Brētiū reckoneth vp both your other two points following of praying to Saints, and for the dead, & this alſo, amongſt the things groūded but vponupon the vnwriten word or tradition. You had therefore delt both more wiſely and more ſimply & honeſtly, if of theſe and ſuch other great Rabbins of your ſide, you had learned to fetch the ground of this your confeſſion from any where els rather, then from the ſcriptures. But ſeeing you will ſeeme to hauehave found that ground for it there, which they could not, let vsus a little conſider, how f…ly now the places you quote, ſerue your turne. You meane, I am ſure, both by your words and quotations, that Chriſts doing and ſaying to his Apoſtles ſet downe by Matthew & John, in the places you quote in theſe words: to thee (ſpeaking namely in the firſt place to Peter) I wil giuegive the keies of the kingdōe of heauē, & whatſoeuer thou ſhalt binde in earth, ſhal be bound in heauen, & whatſoeuer thou looſeſt in earth ſhal be looſed in heauē. And in the other, he breathed vpō thē and ſaied, receiue yee the holy Ghoſt, whoſe ſins yee remit, they are remitted, & whoſe ſins yee retaine, they are retained. Wherby indeed it is euident, that our Sauiour firſt promiſed to Peter in the name of al the reſt, & after gaue to al his faithful Apoſtles, firſt the gift of the holy Ghoſt and then power and authority to vſe the …eies of the kingdome of heauen, to binde and looſe, and to remit & retaine ſinnes, which power and authority they moſt faithfully and effectually vſed, whiles faithfully they preached ſaluation to the penitēt beleeuer, and denoūced damnation to the impenitent vnbeleeuers, with all duety (as they ſaw cauſe) vſing the cenſures of the Church of admonition, rebuking, ſuſpending and excommunicating, though they were neuer acquainted with your auricular confeſſion. And likewiſe the ſame power is exerciſed by p. 324the Lords faithfull miniſters in his church ſtill, not by the helpe of your eare-ſhriſt, pardons but by their faithful preaching of the will of God, ſacraments miniſtring, and vſing of the other cenſures in due time and place. They hauehave a miniſtry of teſtification and declaration, by the rule and light of the ſcriptures, thorow the ſhining of Gods ſpirit in their hearts, to aſſure them that rightly vnderſtand them and beleeue them, of that aſſuredly: which God only doeth properly, abſolutely and principally. But you ſeeme in thus alleadging of theſe places, firſt, ſo thinke that the power and authority y^e Chriſt here gaue his Apoſtles to binde and looſe &c. inueſteth them ſtreight with power and authority to binde eueryevery man to make vntounto them your auricular confeſſion: whereas we neither read that any did ſo vntounto them, nor that they for all this, euer exacted any ſuch thing at any mans hands, that they dealt withall: and ſecondly, you ſeeme to take the power giuen them, and from thē deriued to other miniſters here, to be ſuch, that they properly and abſolutely ſhould hauehave power to pardon ſinne. &c. which is abſurd and blaſphemous for you once but to imagine. For ſo can none forgiue ſinnes, but God onelyonly. How can you ſay or thinke, that a Prieſt properly or abſolutely can abſolue one of ſinne, ſeeing he may not ſo much, as pronounce or declare a ſinner to be pardoned of God, vnles he be contrite, penitent, and faithfull indeede. Now God onelyonly and the party are priuy to this, whither theſe thinges be ſound and right in the heart or no, for an hypocrite can make a ſhew to deceaue man withall in theſe (you know) vnles therfore we will thinke that we hauehave power to abſolue him whom God yet condemneth, our pronouncing of pardon or abſolution to thoſe that ſeeme ſuch vntounto vsus, muſt be but conditionall, if they be ſuch in deede as they make ſhew for, and therefore neither is, nor can it be proper or abſolute. Ambroſe libro 3. de Spiritu Sancto ca. 19. by that of Iohn, proues the godhead of the holy ghoſt, for that he can and doeth forgiue ſinnes: which were no good argument, if by that place, Chriſt meant to giuegive miniſters power and authority properly and abſolutely to doe it, vnles it be lawful to think, that they are very Gods. But marke, I pray you, your kinde of reaſoning from theſe places: Chriſt gaue to his Apoſtles power and authority (giuing them the holy Ghoſt) to bind and to forgiue ſins, ergo auricular confeſſion before the ſacrament thereby was enioynes: this is your argument, or elſe you ſaie nothing in all this for your ſelues againſt vsus. For we deny not, but moſt willingly confeſſe, that p. 325by theſe places it is certaine, that Chriſt gaue vntounto his true miniſters, to whom he gaue the holy Ghoſt, power and authority as miniſters to doe this. But what is this to authorize your prieſtes, which are no miniſters of his ordinance, and to whom hee hath not giuen that ſpirit to doe this? Or what is this if they had authority to doe it, either to that which they take vponupon them, or to enforce a neceſſity of ſuch auriculer confeſſion, as you practiſe and pleade for?

Herein it is with you, as it is in other points of your religion, you are deceaued, and after ſeeke to abuſe and deceaue others, with the ambiguity and diuerſity of acceptions of confeſsion. For that is a common tricke with you, when you finde either in ſcripture or father, y^t there is but the word mentioned, that by any ſtretching maie reach to your meaning, to alleadge that ſtreight, as flat, full and pregnant for your purpoſe, when as indeede, if the circūſtāces of the place he looked into, it is as far from countenācing your opinion as may be. So in this caſe, you finding in ſcripture ſome mention of confeſſiō of ſinnes, and ſundry examples of the ſame, and likewiſe in the fathers, you finding that they exhort and perſwade men to confeſſe their ſinnes, you by and by imagined that your auricular confeſſion muſt needes be that, that they ſpeake of, or at leaſt (your learning not ſuffering you ſo to imagin) you contrary to your owne knowledge and conſcience (as it ſeemeth) could be contented to doe what you could, to make your Reader ſo to thinke. Wherefore to arme him hereafter againſt your ſubtlety, or the cunning of any of your fellowes in this point, and ſo to giuegive him a triacle to preſerue him from the danger of your popiſh poiſon in this caſe, let him know and vnderſtand, that there hauehave beene and be, many kinds of confeſſing of ſinnes ſpoken of, both in ſcriptures and fathers, and yet you neuer the nearer for yours. For Auguſtine, de verbis Euangelii, hom. 8. very pretily, according to his maner ſaieth, that confeſſion is tither laudis or fraudis, that is, of praiſe or of fraude: by the former vnderſtanding that kinde of confeſſion, whereby we thankfullie acknowledging, what God hath beene or is vntounto vsus, we burſt forth into lauding and prayſing his holy name therefore, whereunto the faithfull ſeruants of God are oftentimes exhorted in the ſcriptures, as for example, Pſalme 33. in theſe words, confeſſe vntounto the Lord in harpe, and in a pſaltery of ten ſtrings ſing vntounto him. And Dan. 3. in theſe, confeſſe vntounto the Lord that he is good, and that p. 326his mercy is for euer, which kinde of confeſſion in our Churches we alwaies publickly vſe, both before and in the receiuing of the Sacrament, which wee teach to be a Sacrament euen to prouoke vsus ſo to doe, for our free and full ſaluation purchaſed for vsus by the death of Chriſt. And the other is the generall; to all kyndes and ſortes of confeſſion of ſinnes, which he tearmeth frawde, becauſe by all ſinne God or man, or both, are wronged of that which is due vntounto them. Otherwiſe ſome diſtinguiſh confeſſion, into confeſſion of fayth and confeſſion of maners: of the firſt whereof, ſayeth Chriſt (Matthew the tenth) hee that confeſſeth mee before men, I will confeſſe him before my father which is in heauen: and of this Saint Paul ſpeaketh, ſaying, with the heart man beleeueth to righteouſneſſe, but with the mouth confeſſion is made to ſaluation, and this is farre more playnely in vſe with vsus alſo then with you. For in all our publicke aſſemblies ordinarily (as it is wel knowen) according to the three auncient Creedes, in engliſh, that all preſent may vnderſtande vsus, wee make confeſſion of our faith. And as for the later, which is confeſſion of our maners, there is no kinde of ſo confeſſing taught and commended vntounto vsus, either in the olde Teſtament or new, either to God or man, priuate or publicke, but wee vſe it, allowe it, and exhort one an other vntounto it, in farre better ſort and maner then you doe. Yea to go one ſtep further with you, there is no kynde of ſo confeſſing our faultes, by the conſent and vniforme practiſe of the auncient fathers approued vntounto vsus, but therein alſo both before the receite of the Sacrament, and at other times (as occaſion ſerueth) wee are farre before you, how ſhort ſoeuer wee come of you, in allowing your auricular confeſſion, which is the onelie kinde of confeſſion, that you plead here for. For looking firſt into the ſcriptures, and then into the ancient fathers, theſe are the onelyonly kinds of ſo confeſſing agrees on, & by one conſent of them, needful to be practiſed. Firſt that eueryevery one of Gods people ſhoulde by the due meditation dailie of his lawe, ſo bring all his ſinnes originall and actuall, ſmall and great, publicke and ſecret, to his remembrance, that in trueth hee may ſaie with Dauid, Pſalme fiftie one, in reſpect of them all, in ſome good meaſure, I knowe mine iniquities and my ſinne is alway before mee: that ſo with a contrite heart, hope of Gods mercy, and purpoſe of amendment, hee maie confeſſe them vntounto God, both priuately and publickely, generally and particulerly alſo, vponupon iuſt occaſions we p. 327all, with the Scriptures and fathers allow, teach and practiſe. For it is well knowen in reſpect of this kinde of confeſſion of ſins, wee teach with Salomon, prouerb. the twenty eightth, hee that hideth his ſinnes hee ſhall not proſper, but he that confeſſeth them and forſaketh them, ſhall hauehave mercy. And therefore beſide our often confeſſing our ſinnes vntounto God againſt our ſelues in priuate, in all our ordinary prayers either at home in our families, or in publicke, in our aſſemblies and congregations, eſpecially before the receiuing of the ſacrament, we make humble confeſſion of all our ſinnes and vnworthineſſe, generally vntounto God. Thus did Dauid Pſalme thirty two and fifty one, thus did Daniel, Daniel the ninth, and Ezra: Ezra the ninth: yea thus did the publican Luke the eighteenth, they that were baptized of Iohn in Iordan, Matthew the third, and the beleeuers that we read of Actes the nineteenth, verſ. eighteenth and nineteenth, confeſſe their ſinnes before God. This we count a neceſſary fruit of repentance, a good meanes to humble vsus in the preſence of God, and a way to aduaunce both the iuſtice and mercy of our God. And to this, we knowe both the Scriptures and fathers all with one conſent exhort vsus, but eſpeciallie amongſt the fathers, Chryſoſtome is earneſt to perſwade this kinde of confeſſion of ſinnes to God, aboue all other, as it is to be ſeene in him, vponupon the fifty Pſalme, hom. 2; vponupon Matthew, hom. 3; vponupon Geneſis hom. twenty; and vponupon the twelfth of the Hebrues hom. the thirty one; and elſe where often in his works. As for particulerly confeſſing of our ſinnes vntounto God in the preſence of the congregation, (as I ſayed before) alſo, vponupon iuſt and due occaſion, that is vrged, taught and practiſed amongſt vsus. But then it is, but when one falleth into ſome ſuch notorious and great ſinne, publickely knowen to the offence of the Church, for the which hee deſerueth to bee excommunicated. And this is either voluntarilie yeelded vntounto, and done by the partie that hath ſo offended, to ſhew the better his repentance: or it is by authoritie impoſed vponupon ſuch, for the terrour of others, and ſatiſfaction of the congregation offended. And hereof in Scripture we hauehave example. For Achans ſinne that ſo troubled the congregation, once being knowen and ſo publicke, by Ioſua hee is commaunded to giuegive glorie to God, and ſo before Ioſua and the people, hee confeſſeth his ſinne at the appointment of Ioſua: Ioſua the ſeuenth: it ſeemeth likewiſe that the inceſtuous Corinth did, driuen p. 328thereunto by the authoritie and force of that cenſure that Paul and that Church layed vponupon him 1. Corinthians. 5. and 2. Epiſt. ſecond and ſeuenth Chapters. And at the rebuke of Samuel the people particulerlie confeſſed their ſinne in deſiring a king. 1. Samuel and twelfth, and at the rebuke of Ezra we read alſo voluntarily they came, that had contrary to the law of God maried ſtrange wiues, and publikely confeſſed their ſinnes and amended that fault. Ezra the tenth: of ſuch examples of particuler publicke confeſſing of notorious knowen faults, the eccleſiaſticall ſtories are full: whereof ſome yeelded thereunto voluntarily, who were alwaies beſt liked of, and others by order of eccleſiaſtical cenſures were brought thereunto. And for this kinde of publicke confeſſing of our ſinnes to God alſo, it cannot bee denied, but herein wee are far beyond you, in conforming our ſelues therein far more then you, to the ancient preſidenes thereof, found both in Scripture and other antiquity. Indeede I muſt needes confeſſe, that I finde in the writings of the fathers, eſpecially in Cyprian, ſermone de lapſis, in Tertullian de paenitentiâ, and in Origen vponupon the thirty ſeuen Pſalme, that they counted it a commendable thing, and an argument of greater feare of God and louelove, if men would not onelyonly thus confeſſe their notorious publickely knowen ſins, but alſo their ſecret notorious ſinnes, yea then very purpoſes onelyonly to hauehave committed ſuch ſinnes. But withall I finde that they ſaw ſuch inconueniences to ariſe hereof, that firſt they counſelled ſuch therein to be directed firſt, by ſome godly diſcreet miniſter, when they ſhould ſo doe and when not: and ſecondly are long they were driuen to thinke it needfull, for the prouenting of ſome inconueniences, onelyonly to enioyne them ſome publicke puniſhment, concealing the particularity of ſuch their ſinnes: and thirdly I finde, y^e by Leo his time, this was thought to much alſo. For he in his ſeuenty eight Epiſtle, and as he is alleadged by Gratian de paenit. Diſtinct. 1. Cap. Quamuis. ſheweth his flat miſlyke thereof, determining it to bee farre better, that the confeſſion bee made onelyonly to the miniſter. But in the Greeke Church long before Leo his tyme (as it appeareth in Zozomen libro. 9. cap. 35. hiſtoriae tripart) this publiſhing of ſinnes by publicke confeſſion, or by enduring of ſome enioyned puniſhment publickely, was giuen ouer and one appointed in Conſtantinople to heare the confeſſions of ſuch as came vntounto him: which order alſo, as it there appeareth p. 329was by Nectarius biſhop there, cauſed to be giuen ouer, by occaſion that a noble womā confeſſed, that ſhe had lyen with a Deacon there, in the Church, whiles ſhe was doing there the things y her cōfeſſour had enioyned her. So that to go on, by theſe and other ſuch places more in the fathers, I finde, that ſecret confeſſion of ſinnes to a miniſter indeede is ancient, and alſo I muſt needs confeſſe, I finde, the fathers often exhorting-men ſo to confeſſe their ſinnes; but yet then (good Chriſtian reader) thou muſt vnderſtand, that it was …either vſed nor vrged, but in certaine caſes, as when otherwiſe the party could not tell how to comfort himſelfe vnderunder the burden of his ſinne, or to get out of the ſnares and fetters thereof. It was neither taught nor vrged then as an ordinance of God to bee kept vnderunder paine of damnation, as it is in the Church of Rome, neither yet were they vrged to make ſuch an exact enumeration of all their ſinnes, and the circumſtances thereof; as that Synagogue now teacheth. For then durſt not Nectarius (as is aforeſaied) hauehave abrogated that order, and hauehave thence forth left eueryevery one whē he communicated, iudicio conſcientiae ſuae (as Zozomen there plainely affirmes he did) neither before that could one confeſſour hauehave ſerued for all the Chriſtians in that great and famous City, where I read in Iuſtinians time, there were ſixty miniſters. But this is the plaine trueth, it was vſed and exhorted vntounto, as a good profitable order to be vſed ſo long, and ſo far forth: as they ſaw it needful, and a furtherance to vertue and godlineſſe. And this is certaine, the fathers by Albine here cited for auricular confeſſion, ſpeake onelyonly either for publicke confeſſion, of publikly knowen notorious ſinnes, before the receit of the ſacrament: or elſe onelyonly to perſwade men, when they feele themſelues ſicke of ſinne, and grieued with the burden thereof in conſcience, then to confeſſe ſuch their ſinnes vntounto ſome godly diſcreet miniſter, that hath both ſkill and will to comfort their diſtreſſed ſoules. In which caſe and maner wee allow and like aſwell as they, that men ſhould ſo doe, and it is a thing much vſed and practized amongſt vsus. There is laſtly a confeſſion of ſinne of one brother or Chriſtian, to an other whom he hath offended, to breed reconciliation againe betwixt the parties, taught by Chriſt, Matthew the fift, and eighteenth Chapters, Luke the ſeuenteenth and Iames the fifth: allowed both by ſcriptures and fathers with one conſent: and this before the receit of the ſacrament, and at all other tymes wee teach and vſe as very neceſſary. p. 330Other confeſſions then theſe we neither finde taught nor practized in the old Teſtament nor new, nor yet vrged by any of the ancient fathers you name, either in the places by you remembred, or elſe where; and therefore you hauehave but beene abuſed, and now ſeeke by the ſound of their names to abuſe others, whiles you would make men beleeue, becauſe they ſpeake of ſome of theſe kindes of confeſſing of ſinnes or other, in theſe places, that therfore they ſpeak for your Lenten ſhrift, or auricular confeſsion, which was not ſo much as once thought of by any of them, nor for many hundreth yeares after the lateſt of thē, by any other writer of credit. The queſtion indeede betwixt you and vsus then in this poynt is not, whither ſinnes be to bee confeſſed at all before wee receiue. For yee ſee moſt willingly we confeſſe ſundry wayes they may and ought: but this is it, whither ſuch particuler and ſpeciall confeſſion of all our ſinnes and the circumſtances thereof, that we can poſſibly by due premeditation had thereof remember, in ſecret to a Prieſt, be by Gods ordinance abſolutely neceſſarie to remiſſion of ſinnes, for all of both ſexes once in the yeare at the leaſt or no. Wee holde the negatiue, and you the affirmatiue. That ſinnes hauehave beene, and may agayne bee in ſecret confeſſed to ſuch as be faithfull miniſters, and that the ſo doing ſome tyme, is very good and profitable, wee deny not, you ſee: but either to imagine ſuch a neceſſity as you teach thereof, or to bynde to ſuch a full enumeration of all at anie tyme, are the thinges wee ſaie which you can neuer proue, either by Scripture or father. For your owne Gratian, brings ſundry authorities before that Lateran coū cell, when firſt this your opinion of the abſolute neceſſity thereof, to ſaluation was aggreed vponupon (as you may reade in him de paenitentiâ Diſtinct. 1.) ſome for the neceſſity, and ſome to the contrary thereof, and in the end Cap. Quamuis: concludeth thus: to which of theſe opinions one ſhould rather ſticke, I leaue to the readers iudgement, for both partes (ſayeth hee) hath aſtipulatores ſapientes & religioſos viros, that is, fauourers, men that are both wiſe and religious: and Panormitan a great Doctour of yours diſputeth the matter, that your confeſſion is not by Gods lawe but by mans. And Chryſoſtome that ſucceeded Nectarius, ſo liked his predeceſſours act, of abrogating the order of ſecret confeſsion to the confeſſour, that he in his fourth ſermon of Lazarus ſaieth: Caue homini dixeris peccata, ne tibi opprobret &c. that is, p. 331take heed that thou tell not thy ſinnes to man, leſt hee vpbraide thee with them, neither confeſſe them to thy fellowe ſeruaunt, that hee may publiſh them, but confeſſe them to God the Lorde: and the like he writeth hom. 31, vponupon the 12 of the Hebrues, and vponupon the fiftieth Pſalme (as he counteth) and elſe where often in his workes. And as for your ſpecial and particular enumeration of all ſinnes, and their circumſtances that poſſibly can be remembred, Beatus Rhenanus, a frend otherwiſe of yours, in his notes vponupon Tertullians booke of repentance, reporteth, how that euē for the vexation and torment of conſciences that that bread, one Geilerius a Carthuſian monke, wrote a booke, which he entituled de morbo confeſſionis, of the ſickneſſe of cōfeſſion, againſt the moroſity & ſcrupuloſity, brought in by Thomas and Scotus and other ſchoolemen: of whoſe minde for that point, Beatus Rhenanus ſheweth himſelfe to be. And howſoeuer a number of your Prieſts, by their fruites hauehave made it appeare, that of all other they would be loth that young women ſhould not come to auricular confeſſion vntounto them, yet I can tell you, Baſil in his no queſtion thinketh it not very decent, that ſuch ſhould come alone, but rather aduiſeth that the yoūger by the graue elder women ſhould make their ſtate knowen, that by thē they may receiue comfort or direction what to doe: as they ſhall neede.

But yet, becauſe I would be loth to omit any thing either to cauſe you (Maſter Albine) to thinke that you hauehave ſaied or alleadged any thing of weight to iuſtifie this your kinde of confeſſion withall, or to cauſe the reader to ſuſpect, that theſe fathers, whoſe names you hauehave brought vsus for this purpoſe, in theſe places, ſay more directlie for you, then they doe: let vsus particulerly examine your quotations, alwaies remembring the ſtate of the queſtion, as it is in this point betwixt vsus. Your firſt man is Cyprian in his fift ſermon de lapſis: wherein his purpoſe was to perſwade them, that had either grieuouſly fallen from Chriſtianity to idolatrie, or that had but a ſecret purpoſe for the ſafety of themſelues ſo to doe, effectually to repent thereof, in perſuit of which his purpoſe in the ende hee commeth to that (which it ſeemeth you ayme at) to note it as an argument of greater fayth and better feare in ſuch that will (though they hauehave but thought ſo to fall) yet ſorrowfully and playnelie confeſſe the ſame before the Lordes Prieſtes, and ſo making exoniologeſin, that is, publicke confeſſiō of their conſciēce ſhew forth the burdē of their minde, ſeeking holeſōe phiſicke, though, p. 332for their ſmall woundes in compariſon: and therefore a little after, he there earneſtly exhorteth eueryevery ſuch offender, in purpoſe or performance, to confeſſe their fault therein whiles they be here, whiles their confeſſion and repentance may be acceptable with the Lorde. Which place ſerueth wel to proue, that then of ſuch notorious faults there was vſed and lookt for publicke and ſorrowfull confeſſion. But what is this to the enumeration of all ſinnes remembred in ſecret in the eare of a Prieſt? Sure I am, in that ſermon before he came to theſe wordes, contrary to your doctrine and practiſe in this very point, he teacheth, that veniam peccatis quae in ipſum cōmiſſa ſunt, ſolus poteſt ille largiri, qui peccata noſtra portauit &c. that is, he onelyonly can giuegive vsus pardon for our ſinnes, that bore our ſinnes &c. adding ſtreight, man cannot be greater then God, neither can he being a ſeruant, by his indulgence, remit or forgiue that, which is grieuouſly cōmitted againſt God, leaſt ſo to him that is fallē this fault come vntounto his other, that he forget that it was ſaied lōg ago Hier. 17. curſed is that man that hath his truſt in man. And therefore both immediatly and thorow that ſermon, he is earneſt to moue them that were fallen, to fly to God in prayer, in weeping, and mourning. Now indeede both for their better direction to turne vntounto the Lorde effectually, and for the further declaration and teſtification of their repentance to be vnfeyned, he would hauehave confeſſion of ſuch their falles to be made with all ſorrowfulnes before the Lords Prieſts. Let this doctrine therefore of his onelyonly be receaued, and your auricular confeſſion will come ſhort home. For if none but ſuch y^t hauehave ſo fallen as he there ſpeakes of, ſhould confeſſe ſuch their falles: and that onelyonly to that ende that he teacheth, without all opinion when they hauehave done, that any can abſolue them but God, your confeſſours and ghoſtly fathers (as you tearme them) might be ſet a begging for any liuing they could get by hearing of confeſſions. The next you alleadge is Origen vponupon the 37. Pſalme, and in his 2. Hom. vponupon Leuiticus: wherin indeede he coūſelleth thoſe that hauehave fallen into any greeuous ſinne, though ſecret, yet to ſeeke out ſome diſcreet and ſkilful Phiſition, to open their diſeaſe and diſtreſſe of minde vntounto that according to his counſell and aduiſe they may doe: either in publickly confeſſing of them, or otherwiſe in repenting of them; and this is the moſt that can be made of any thing fated by Origen, in theſe two places: but this his coūſel may bee followed thorowly, and yet you come very ſhort of prouing the neceſſity, by gods p. 333law of your auricular confeſſion, or ſpeciall and preciſe enumeration of all the ſinnes and circumſtances thereof in the eare of a Prieſt. The phiſicke that they fought at the Prieſtes handes in theſe caſes, was direction how to repent, and to recouer comfort vnderunder the burden of their ſinnes, by the meanes of ſuch comfortable doctrine and coūſell, that he ſhould giuegive them out of the booke of God: and the thing that you ſeeke for at their hands is abſolution, to be pronounced by them vntounto you for your ſo confeſſing. So that neither for matter to be confeſſed, nor for the ende thereof, hauehave you any warrant and countenance from them. After Origē, Auguſtines 2. booke de viſitatione infirmorum is produced, in which booke, the authour threatneth dānatiō to ſuch as hauing ſinned, ſhunned the iudgement of men, & yet tooke not occaſion, by the conſideration of Gods iudgement, which they could not ſhunne, to repent and amend: but if they iudged and amended themſelues, he doeth not ſo. Allen will not ſtand to it, that thoſe bookes were Auguſtines, writing of this matter. And Eraſmus cenſure therof was, that it is ſermo locutulei, nec docti, nec diſerti, that is, it is the ſpeech of ſome pratler, neither learned nor elequent: yea hee addeth what forehead or minde had they, that thruſt vponupon vsus, ſuch writings vnderunder the name of Auguſtine. And the diuines of Louain ſay flatly, it was none of his, & therfore with farre more credit to your cauſe might you hauehave let this teſtimony alone, and neuer hauehave mentioned it. But whoſoeuer were the authour thereof, no more can be grounded thereupon, but that be thought it good, to further the repentance of the party, that hee ſhould confeſſe his ſinne, that he had fallen into and offended Gods Church withal, to the miniſter, that by him he might be dealt withall by correption, admonition, or conſolation, as he ſaw good. And the edge of his ſpeech is not ſimply againſt ſuch as did refuſe to confeſſe their ſinnes to Gods miniſters, but onelyonly againſt ſuch, as refuſing ſo to doe, did not repent, for he ſaieth ſi ea confiteri aut emendare noluerint, and againe, ſi in malo permanſerint, that is, if they will not confeſſe them, nor amend, and if they continue in euill. Beſides, if the words in the place quoted by you, be well marked, it wil therby ſufficiently appeare, in that there were then ſo many reaſons that ſtaied men (as there by that authours wordes, it ſeemeth there were) from cōfeſſing to the prieſts, y^t it was not then thought, that ſo to confeſſe ſinnes, was ſo neceſſary as you would now pretend yours to be. If it had beene either thought to be ſimply neceſſary p. 334by Gods law, or it then had beene thought and knowen to be a ſet law of the Church, to confeſſe ſinnes in ſecret to the miniſters, why hauehave not you, nor yet any of your ſide, brought vsus any anciēt doctor, y^t euer vſed either of theſe reaſons to perſwade men vntounto it. Cyril in his 12. booke vpō Ioh. cap. 56. is y^e fourth man you cite for this purpoſe, which place if you had euer read, you ſhould hauehave found him to ſet down this firſt, as a moſt ſure principle, that only God is he, that muſt looſe a man from his ſinnes, for to whom elſe (ſaieth he) ſhall it be lawfull to deliuer transgreſſours of the law, but vntounto the authour of the Lawe himſelfe? Which poſition if it were receaued, there would be ſmal haſt made to your eare ſhrift. But then indeede it followeth in him, how then did Chriſt giuegive this diuine power to his Apoſtles? Whereunto his anſwere is, that he gaue it them becauſe he gaue them the holy ghoſt, & becauſe the holy ghoſt by thē forgaue ſins: which he ſheweth the holy ghoſt did, by vſing their miniſtry, to baptiſe men and to bring them to repentance, by rebuking of ſinners, and by ſhewing them fauour againe, as Paul dealt with the man of Corinth. So that you ſee his doctrine is there, that men come to hauehave their ſins forgiuen them, by the holy ghoſts vſing our miniſtry effectually to bring men to repentance: where to make auricular confeſſion to men of all their ſinnes is not reckoned vp as anie meanes whereby in the Apoſtles, or by the Apoſtles, the holy ghoſt forgaue anie their ſinnes, but to preach the worde, to miniſter the Sacraments, and to vſe the cenſures of the Church, in due ſeaſon are noted to bee the meanes. Hee ſendeth vsus there, you ſee, to the example of Pauls dealing with the man of Corinth, of whoſe repentance and receauing againe into Gods Church, and ſo to a liuelie hope of the forgiueneſſe of his ſinnes wee reade, but that either Paul or anie other miniſter had him before them to bring him to this, by auricular confeſſion, wee neither reade nor can beleeue, and therefore Cyril is rather quite againſt you, then any thing for you in this point, in that place. Now laſt of all, is Hierom vponupon the tenth of Eccleſiaſtes, where all that he ſaieth is this, if the Serpent the Deuill priuilie bite anie and infect him (none being priuy thereunto) with the poiſon of ſinne, if he that is ſtrucken holde his peace and repent not, nor will confeſſe his wounde to his brother or maſter, the maſter that hath a tōgue to cure him, eaſily cannot profitte him: who of vsus denie this, that hee that will neither ſpeake and repent, nor thus by confeſſion ſeeke p. 335for better phyſicke at the hands of the ſpirituall phyſitian, then he cā giuegive himſelfe, cannot eaſily be profited by ſuch a phyſitian? Yea that more is, we ſay and holde, that hee that will neither repent betwixt God and himſelfe, nor yet ſeeke to thoſe to ſhew his eſtate, that are appointed to teach him how to repent, is in a moſt fearefull caſe. But yet againe we ſay, that they, that in ſuch ſecret ſinnes, whereof Hierom plainely ſpeaketh, will with Dauid acknowledge their ſinne vntounto God, and not hyde their iniquitie. Pſalm. 32. but forſake it, they ſhall hauehave merciemercy, Prouerb. 28. though they neuer bewraie thoſe their ſinnes to anie Prieſt or miniſter. Neither hath Hierom, nor any other of theſe fathers, in any of theſe places, ſaied any thing to the contrarie. What are you therefore the nearer, for anie thing that they hauehave ſaied, to proue the neceſſity of vniuerſall and ſpeciall enumeration of all ſinnes that can bee remembred, w^t all the circumſtances thereof, in the eare of a Prieſt, though otherwiſe neuer ſo well confeſſed to God and repented of. Yea what hauehave any of them ſpoken in any of theſe places, either to proue the neceſſity or vniuerſality of your kinde of confeſſion, which are the thinges you ſhould hauehave proued by them, or elſe you proue nothing in queſtion, or to the purpoſe? For let confeſſion of ſinnes vntounto them be free, as it was in their times, and in ſuch caſes, as mē cannot otherwiſe ſo well, get eaſe, remedy and comfort againſt their ſins, we are very well contented with them, to perſwade men, that it is a very good and profitable way for them, in ſickneſſe and in health, to confeſſe vntounto ſome diſcreete miniſter or miniſters, what ſinnes they be that ſo trouble them, that ſo aduiſe by them, may be miniſtred vntounto them accordingly. And this is the vtmoſt that any of theſe places can hauehave, ſo much as any ſhew to helpe you vntounto: which is as farre from yours, as chalke is from cheeſe, you hauing made it, as you hauehave, a matter of abſolute neceſſity, and hauing ſtretched it to ſuch a full ſpeciall recitall of all, and that by all perſons and ſexes at an appointed time of the yeare, as you hauehave alſo. But enough of this matter, now therefore let vsus go on and ſee, whither you hauehave anie better holde in the fathers, for the other two pointes behinde.

The next is, praying to Saints in paradiſe, to helpe vsus with their prayers. For the which you alleadge onelie the names of foure, Origen, Chryſoſtome, Auguſtine, and Hierom: of which there is not one indeede, that in any of his vndoubted & known p. 336works to be his, that ſo much as mentioneth praying vntounto them. For whereas you here hauehave quoted vsus three places of Origen, for this your purpoſe, the two later, I cannot thinke were his. As for the laſt out of his 8. booke of Eccleſiaſt. there are no ſuch bookes fathered vponupon him, either in any of his Tomes, that I euer yet could ſee, nor yet attributed vntounto him by Tritenhemius, who reckoneth vp al that he was acquainted withall of his. And as for that, you alleadge out of his ſecond booke of Iob, I graunt whoſoeuer was authour of thoſe tractes, hee concludeth the ſecond tract with a groſſe popiſh prayer to Iob. But certaine it is, thoſe tracts or bookes were neuer Origens, nor that prayer of his making or liking. My reaſons are theſe, firſt, the authour thereof ſheweth himſelfe an Arrian in the firſt tract, Eraſmus hath obſerued, that theſe of Iob, were neuer but in latin, whereas he wrote all his in Greek: and laſtly, becauſe he himſelfe (if that praier were his) ſhould be contrary to himſelfe. For againſt Celſus lib. 8. (which bookes are his vndoubtedly) he anſwering the arguments of Celſus: that it cannot offend the high God, if the inferiour Gods (whom Celſus called daemones) being his frends, be worſhipped with inuocation, to prouoke them to ſollicite mens cauſes with the high God (which argument that heathen wretch there coūtenāceth with the faſhiō in Princes Courts, to ſollicite the Prince, by ſuch as are about him, euen for all the world, as you vſe to doe, your praying to Saints) telleth him, that one God is to bee praied vntounto in the name of Chriſt Ieſus. And as for the Saints and Angels (ſaieth he) though they be Gods frends, yet onelyonly God is to be pleaſed: and pleaſe him, and then alſo yee pleaſe theſe, pag. 760. and 774. Now in the other place, which is the firſt you cite, nāely out of his 3. Homily vponupon the Cāticles, al that he ſaith, ſauouring any whit for this your purpoſe, is this, that hee ſaieth, it is not inconuenient to ſay, they pray for vsus: wherof likewiſe, cap. 13. vponupon Ioſua, and vponupon the Epiſtle to the Romans he ſpeaketh doubtfully and ſtammeringly, as one not fully reſolued that it was ſo, and therefore confidently to be aduouched and taught: which I thinke was the ſowing of ſome ſeede towards this opinion of yours. But who is ſo ſimple, but he may ſee, that though this were granted to be an vndoubted and certaine thing, that they pray for vsus, yet thereupon it followeth not, that we here muſt, or may pray vntounto them? And that Origen himſelfe neuer gathered ſo thereupon, it may appeare ſufficiently by his foreſaied anſwer to Celſus. But howſoeuer, it is p. 337knowen well enough, that Origen was not thought, of the ancient fathers thēſelues an authour of y^e credit, that whatſoeuer he taught or thought, ought ſtreight to be receaued as true and ſound. For it appeares plainely in Epiphanius, Tom. 2. haereſi 64. and in his epiſtle to Iohn of Hieruſalē, that his opinion of him was, that he was not ſound in doctrine, and Hierom ad Oceanum ſaieth flatly of him thus, I hauehave prayſed Origen as an interpreter, but not as a teacher, his witte, not faith: and further he ſaieth of him, Beleeue mee that hauehave experience, his doctrines are poyſoned, diſagreeing from the ſcriptures, offring violence vntounto them. And Euſebius out of Aegeſippus lib. 3. cap. 32. noteth, that vntounto thoſe times (about which he began to floriſh) the Church remained a pure and vndefiled Virgin, but then errours as though they had conſpired ſo to doe, burſt into the Church, as into an empty houſe, with naked and bare face and head. But yet for any thing that either you hauehave noted out of Origen, or that I can eſpy elſewhere in any of his vndoubted writings, for this matter, he can be charged no further, but for ſetting abroach and a foote this queſtion, whither the Saints praied for vsus or no? Whereupon ſhortly after, and by obſeruing that ſundry miracles were done, men praying vntounto God by the tombes of martyrs, it began more ſtrongly to be thought, that the ſoules of ſuch in heauen, did much with God for men here in earth, in ſo much that thereupon it grew to be an vſe, to go vntounto martyrs in priſon, to requeſt their praiers, when they were departed to God. So that by Cyprians time, which was not long after, theſe thinges began, for he died Anno Dom. 249. (as it appeareth in his lib. 3. epiſt. epiſt. 18. & lib. 1. epiſt. 1.) it was taken for ſo reſolute a trueth of him, that they could and would remember their olde frends here, y^t he in theſe places vſe there exhortatiōs to the faithfull brethren aliue, that in any eaſe they would remember out another, when anie of them were dead. But yet for all this, finde I not, y^t in any of theſe times, or long after, any teacher allowed and of credit in Gods Church, was ſo bold, as therefore either to pray vntounto them when they were dead, or to teach others ſo to doe. And yet you confidently here further ſend vsus to Chryſoſtomes 8. homily vponupon the epiſtle to the Epheſians, to Auguſtines to booke & cap. 21. againſt Fauſtinus (you ſay, but you ſhould hauehave ſaied Fauſtus) and to S. Hier. againſt Vigilātius, there to read, prayer vntounto them, by them taught and iuſtified. I wonder that you were not aſhamed thus ſhamefully p. 338firſt to bee abuſed your ſelfe, and then thus to ſeeke to abuſe your Reader. For let him reade, and reade againe and againe, all theſe places, and I aſſure him he ſhall not finde one worde or ſillable vttered in any of them in the allowance of praying vntounto them. In the firſt place, Chryſoſtome according to his maner, doeth ſollace himſelfe much about Paules cheine and impriſonment, but not a worde is there vttered by him of praying, either vntounto Paul or to any other Saint, nor yet of their praying for vsus. And in Auguſtines twenty one Chapter of his twenty booke againſt Fauſtus (if you had taken the paines to reade the Chapter) you ſhould not onelyonly hauehave found no mention at all there of praying vntounto them, but very much there ſet downe by him directly againſt your faſhions in honouring of them. For there firſt, he flatly condemneth as idolatrous, dedicating altars vntounto them, offering ſacrifices vntounto them, and their ſhrines, and worſhipping of them with any diuine honour, & ſheweth that ſuch as any of theſe waies honour them, are either by ſound doctrine reproued, that ſo they maie amēd, or ſhūned: which are moſt notoriouſly practiſed by you, in dedicating Churches and Chappels vntounto them, calling them by their names, in running a pilgrimage not onelie to their reliques, but to their pictures, and there offering before thē what you thinke good, and moſt groſſely in praying vntounto them, which if it bee not a ſpeciall point of diuine honour, nothing can bee. And then he ſheweth what honour it is, that is to be giuen them and no other, namely, the honour of louelove and ſociety, as wee honour therewith, holy men here aliue (though then, therewith ſo much the more deuoutly, as their ſtate is more bleſſed) and the keeping of their memories (to prouoke the better others to imitate them) with religious ſolemnity: and elſe where hee ſeemeth to like verie well that they ſhould bee honourably both thought of and ſpoken of, that they ought decently to bee buried, and hauehave their tombes and ſepulchers kept and preſerued, and that it was lawfull thereby, to pray vntounto God for ſuch things as were lawfull, & that mē ſtood is neede of: and laſtly, the furtheſt that euer he went either in this place or any where elſe was this, that hee thought ſome good came by their praiers, to ſuch as thus honoured them, or rather GOD in them. And further then thus neuer went Hierom againſt Vigilantius. So that all this while, we cannot finde ſo much as praying vntounto Saints, either in Origen indeede, or in Chryſoſt, Auguſtine, p. 339or Hierom, once mentioned in theſe places you quote: that they pray for vsus, and that their prayers may doe vsus ſome good, is the moſt wee finde in any of them: which though it were graunted you, yet thereupon it followeth not, that we are to pray to them, as I hauehave ſaied. For if that be a part of their duety, by God looked for at their hands, ſuch is their ſtate of perfection there, that we may bee ſure that they neede not (as mē here ſubiect vntounto infirmities doe) by vsus to be put in remembrance of their duetie. And againe, ſeeing wee hauehave neither commaundement in Gods booke to direct vsus, example to leade vsus, nor promiſe to encourage vsus to praie vntounto them there, eſpecially prayer beeing, as it is, a ſpeciall ſpirituall worſhip, for the making whereof vntounto God onelyonly in his worde, wee hauehave all theſe three, whatſoeuer they doe or can doe for vsus, wee dare not without warrant from God, yea contrary to the direction that we hauehave from him in this point, take this honour of praying to him alone, from him, to giuegive it to them. Yea wee cannot but ſee, theſe thinges conſidered, that if wee ſhould, therein wee ſhould neither honour them nor GOD aright, and that in very deede our doing ſo, could not be obedience to GOD, but diſobedience, not proceede of faith, but rather of lacke of faith in him, and ſo would be both a diſhonour of GOD, and then alſo indeede wee finde, that GOD hath ſaied vntounto vsus flatly, Call vponupon mee in the daie of trouble, ſo will I deliuer thee, and thou ſhalt glorifie mee. Pſalme 50. And that hee is a Lorde ſo iealous of his owne glorie, that hee will not giuegive it to another, he hath plainely taught vsus, Eſaie 42. And therefore ſeeing Chriſt (of whom when he ſhould come, the very woman of Samaria had learned, that hee ſhould teach vsus all things. Iohn. 4.) teaching his Diſciples to praie (Matth. 6. and Luke 11.) hath taught them no otherwiſe to praie, but to him, to whom when they prayed, they might firſt ſay, Our father which art in heauen, & then concluding their praies, adde, for thine is the kingdome, the power and the glory, for euer & euer: we being ſure, that without blaſphemy we can neither beginne nor end our praiers thus, we dare not direct our praiers to any Saint or Angell, but onelyonly to God. We are ſure he is able both to heare our prayers, and to graunt our requeſtes, becauſe hee is almighty: and that hee is willing ſo to doe, wee hauehave aſſurance, as long as wee aske according to his vvill: the firſt of Iohn and the fift, becauſe he is mercifull and true, and faithfull in all his promiſes. p. 340And therefore we thinke it is a ſure way, to run to him, and to truſt to him, in all our needes and neceſſities. If we would hauehave an aduocate either of mediation or interceſſion vntounto him, wee hauehave one for all, euen Ieſus our Lord and ſauiour. For as Paul firſt teacheth vsus, ther is but one God, ſo likewiſe in the ſame verſe he aſſureth vsus, there is but one mediatour betweene God & mā, which is the mā Chriſt Ieſus. 1. Tim. 2. and Iohn ioyning with him in his firſt epiſtle & ſecond Chapter, pointeth him only vntounto vsus to be our aduocate with the father. And he being the ¹ fountaine of al grace & mercy, the ² authour and finiſher of our faith, ³ the dore of the ſheepfold, ⁴ the way, truth & life, his ⁵ name being the onelyonly name wherby commeth ſaluation, ⁶ and he being he, but by whom (he himſelfe hath tolde vsus) none cōmeth vntounto the father (¹ Iohn. 1. verſ. 14. & Coloſ. 1.19. ² Heb. 12.2. ³ Iohn 10.7. ⁴ Iohn. 14. verſ. 6. ⁵ Act. 4 12. ⁶ Iohn 14.6.) eſpecially ſeeing he hath allured all that are heauy loaden and weary to come vntounto him, Mat. 11.28. he being of that property y^t we know he is, not to break a brokē reed, nor to quēch the ſmoking flax, Eſa. 42. ve. 3. and yet able perfectly to ſaue thoſe y^t come vntounto God by him, ſeeing he euer liueth to make interceſſion for them He. 7.25. We know and are ſure we ſhould doe him the greateſt wrong that may be, conſidering alſo, that he hath vponupon his word aſſured vsus, that whatſoeuer we aske the father in his nāe beleeuing we ſhal obteine it, Mat. 21, 22. and Iohn 14.13. If wee ſhould leaue him at all, one ſo able and willing eueryevery way to ſerue our turn alone, to run vntounto any Saint or Angel of his. And therfore as we dare make our praiers to none but vntounto God, ſo dare we vſe no other mediatour or aduocate vntounto him, but onelyonly Ieſus Chriſt our Lord and ſauiour. We are ſure it ſauoureth ſtrongly of lack of faith in vsus in him, if not of flat Antichriſtian blaſphemie, once but to imagine, that any be Saint or ſhe Saint in heauē, or Angell, wil be readier to take compaſſion of vsus, or that we may be bolder to vſe any of their interceſſiōs to God, thē his. For in al things he became like vntounto vsus his brethren, that he might be merciful, and a faithfull high Prieſt in things concerning God, that he might make reconciliatiō for the ſinnes of the people, for in that he ſuffered and was tempted, he is able to ſuccour them y^t are tēpted Heb. 2.17.18. For we hauehave not a high Prieſt which cannot bee touched, with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things in like ſort tempted, yet without ſinne, let vsus therefore go boldely vntounto the throne of grace, that wee p. 341may receaue mercy and finde grace (through him) in time of neede, Heb. 4.15.16. And let vsus take heede in this caſe, whiles we follow your example, in leauing him and running to Saints, to pray for vsus, we commit not the two euills, that the prophet Ieremy chargeth the people of Iſrael withal, Ier. 2.12. & 13. that is, forſake the liuing fountaine a foūtaine of liuing waters, to dig vntounto our ſelues pits, euen broken pits that will hold no water. For as thē he ſaieth in reſpect of theſe two faults, O yee heauens be aſtonied at this, & bee affraide & confounded (ſaieth the Lord) ſo worthily may we ſay in reſpect of this your folly and double ſinne in this point. For though to leſſen ſomewhat your ſinne herein, you would ſeeme to plead onelyonly for praying vntounto the Saints in paradiſe to helpe you with their prayers; that nothing indeede can help you. For not onelyonly for theſe reaſons is euen that abhominable and vnlawful, but certaine it is, that you in your practiſe (as I hauehave ſhewed at large in my anſwere to your publiſhers preface) moſt groſſely and Antichriſtianly, pray vntounto the Saints themſelues, thorough their merits to procure you the thinges you ſue for. Yea you are gone ſo farre, that according to the multitude of your neceſſities, the varietie of occupations, and the diſtinctions of regions and cuntries, you hauehave appointed the Saints to their ſeuerall offices and limits, therein imitating the idolatrous heathē, who imagining y^t there were many Gods, thought it good to know eueryevery one of their offices, y^t accordingly they might vſe them, as Auguſt: de ciuitate Dei, lib. 4. & 22. noteth. And eſpecially as touching the bleſſed Virgin Mary, vnderunder pretence of your louelove and deuotion towards her, you hauehave ſo forgot your duety & Religion towards her ſon, that all the titles proper to her ſonne, you hauehave inueſted her withall, calling her Mediatris, Saluatris, gate of heauen, queene of heauen, and your only hope & refuge: yea you hauehave not ſtucke, calling vponupon her, to cry vntounto her ſaying, commaund thy ſonne, vſe the right of a mother, & ſo ſhewe thy ſelfe to hauehave the authority of a mother. And yet if you would confeſſe the trueth in this point, you both ſhould and would acknowledge, that you hauehave learned thus to honour her & the other Saints, neither of ſcripture nor of any ancient father, but of curſed & condē ned heretiques, whatſoeuer either you here, or any of your fellows elſe where pretend to the contrary.