Answer to John De Albines, Answer to discourse · Chapter 21
The XXI. Chapter.
YOu doe coniure vsus by the name of the liuing God, to receiue your Goſpel and pure word of God, or els you doe threaten vsus, that you will ſhake off the duſt of your feete in teſtimonie againſt vsus, becauſe that vvee will not beleeue your words. But in this matter ye doe alleage a wronge text: for we were very ſimple, if we ſhould forſake or remoue the foundation of our Church, vponupon ſuch an occaſion, as I vvill ſhevv by this diſcourſe that doeth followe. I am ſure that you are not ignoraunt, howe that Luther, after he began to preach his Gospell was not founde barren: for immediatelie after his beginning, he did ingender another Goſpeller, that is to wit, Andrew Coralſtadius, and from thence was produced another called Zuinglius, and of Zuinglius, Oecolampadius. Then, Thomas Muncerus, conſidering, that he had no leſſe the gift of the spirit then the reſt, hee beganne to forge a newe Gospell of the Anabaptiſts, vvith the which hee thought to gratifie the Towne of Milhouſe, vvho had receaued alreadie the Goſpel of Luther. But the Senate of that towne, beeing vvearied already with two manie ſtraunge Gospels, they aduertiſed Luther you firſt Apoſtle of it. And he wrote to them againe, that Thomas Muncerus ought not to be receiued, if hee could not proue his vocation by ſome miracle. And if you demaund where I hauehave founde this, I ſaie to you, not in the workes of ſome lying Papiſt, but in the Commentaries of your deare Hiſtoriographer maſter*a Lib. 8. fol. 4. Sleydon, vvho hath ſo good a grace in his writing, and is ſo mooued with the trueth of his ſpirit,aEither you had wondrous ill hap for your quotations, or elſe your printer was too bad, for it is lib. 5. that he doeth omit nothing in his Hiſtorie, but that, that doeth go againſt himſelfe, and the profeſſours of his religion. I doe wiſh thoſe that doe vnderſtande the Latin, to reade this anſwere of Luther in the Commentaries themſelues, and for the reſt, I vvill ſet it forth, tranſlated, not by mee, but by a miniſter of your ovvne ſect, called Robert Preuoſt, vvho dvvelleth in a ſegnorie of Berne. According to his tranſlation, the vvordes arebAnd Luther had reaſon ſo to aduiſe them, firſt becauſe he had no lawful ordinary calling, and then becauſe the doctrine which hee ſet abroach was contrary to the ſcriptures, which is not our caſe. theſe. Luther was of opinion, that the Senate of Milhouſe ſhould doe very wel and wiſely, to demaund of Muncer, who had giuen him commiſsion to teach, and who had called him vntounto it. If hee ſay, that it is God, let him demaunde of him, to ſhew ſome ſigne or miracle to proue his vocation: and if hee coulde not doe it, that they ſhould baniſhe him: for it is common to God, to declare his vvill by ſome miracle, at anie tyme, when hee vvill hauehave the common cuſtome and order changed.
Theſe are the words of Luther. We ought to yeelde that that is right to euerie bodie, & not depriue anie mā of the praiſe that he doth deſerue. And ſo I ſay, al the Catholicke Church is bound to giuegive praiſe & thanks to Luther, for the memorable good & wiſe coūſel that he hath giuē, for he hath taught vsus, how we ſhal expel & ouerthrow, not only the hereſies that he did preach vntounto vsus, but likewiſe yours, & thoſe of al the reſt. For if it be ſo, that euerie time that God wil chaunge the ordinarie cuſtome (ſuch as ours) to an extraordinary (ſuch as yours) there ought miracles to be ſhewed by thoſe that come extraordinarily. By this good & godly aduiſe, we know, that Martin Luther, nor none of you all, vvhichwhich doe come extraordinarily, as he did, doe come from God, but rather from the prince of darkenes. duplicate page duplicate page Caluin doeth confirme this opinion of Luther, as touching the vocation of the miniſterie: for vponupon the third Chapter of Saint Luke, in his harmonie, hee doeth ſaie thus, None ought to attribute vntounto himſelfe by authority any office, foraſmuch as it is great temeritie: ſuch perſons did nothing of them ſelues, except it were, being called to it by God. Of this we gather, we ought to enterpriſe nothing of our ſelues: for if that the great Prophets hauehave attended to be called of God, what are thoſe, that in theſe daies take it vponupon them of them ſelues? we ought to anſwere, that they are preſumptuous fellowes. &c. like vntounto Caluin and his fellowes.
The XXI. Chapter.
IN this Chapter, to your purpoſe the onelyonly thing you bring vsus, is, the counſell that Luther gaue to the towne of Millehouſe, for the triall of Muncer the Anabaptiſt, which you ſend vsus, by your quotation, to ſeeke for, in the 8. booke of Sleidon; and there it is not, but in the 5. but this is your happe with moſt of your quotations. His counſell was, that they ſhould will him to proue his calling to be of God by ſome miracle; becauſe it is common with God, to declare his will by ſome miracle, when he will hauehave the common cuſtome and order broken. Proue that we either in our doctrine or gouernment of our church doe breake the common cuſtome and order taught in the church for theſe, in the writen word, as Muncer did, and then follow Luthers counſell and ſpare not. It euidently appeareth in that booke, that Muncer was a monſtrous fantaſticall Anabaptiſt, and that in Luthers iudgement he taught not onelyonly many abſurde thinges, contrary to the word: but that alſo peruerting all good order, and pollicie of Church, and common weale: he meant nothing more, then force, theeuerie, and other ſuch villanie: and yet pretended for his defence, extraordinary calling and reuelations; and therefore no maruel, though Luther gaue this counſell, for the ſifting of ſuch a wretch. In trueth the newnes of your doctrine conſidered, in compariſon of that taught in the word, and the ſtrangeneſſe of the order of your Church, from that of Chriſtes, in the primatiue time thereof; leade vsus rather more iuſtly to followe this counſell of Luther againſt you, then any thing in vsus can truely moue you to vrge it, againſt vsus. Which if we ſhould doe, certainely either ſhould we finde you as voide of miracles, as you finde vsus; or at leaſt you would be driuen to alleadge ſuch monſtrous, vaine, and lying miracles, as that now I thinke you your ſelues would be aſhamed to tell. Indeede the time hath beene, when you would bragge of the miracles ſet downe in your Legends (amongſt which S. Dunſtans catching the Deuil by the noſe in the ſhape of a woman, with a paire of tonges, and ſuch like, good ſtore are reckoned vp) and when we were told great wōders of the bloud of Hales, which proued in the ende, the bloud of a ducke; and of great miracles done in this place, or that place, by the images of this Saint, and that: but this was in the night of deepe and black darkenes of ignorāce. For now that the ſunne of the Goſpel ſhineth abroad, we heare little noiſe of your apparitions and viſions, and other ſuch antichriſtian miracles, that there was ſo great talke of before. It ſeemeth now that either your ſpirits are coniured into a dead ſleepe, or that you hauehave loſt your old gift of working miracles. Belike yet in that you make thus much of this counſel of Luther; when they came from you ſo readily, and your Church had ſuch a dexterity, and was ſo fruitful in bringing of thēforth; it was becauſe God would hauehave the world to vnderſtand, that indeed you were ſetting abroach a new doctrine; and a faſhion of Gouernment, which neither agreed with the ancient and cuſtomable doctrine of his Church, nor yet with the olde order of the ſame; and that therfore you thought it needfull by ſuch meanes, to confirme your commiſſion in ſo doing. Wherfore, make as much of this counſell of Luther, as you wil, it wil proue in the end to touch you more, then vsus. You cite alſo a ſaying of Caluin in his 3. Chapter of his Harmonie vponupon Luke, but to what purpoſe? For who of vsus euer either in word or deed contraried that ſpeach or doctrine of his? that is the thing that we obiect againſt you, that of your own heads ye hauehave deuiſed a nū ber of offices, and orders in your Churches, that God neuer gaue allowance vntounto: and beſides that you hauehave ſet vp a number of pointes of doctrine, forged but in the ſhop of mans vaine braine, not onelyonly not agreing to the word writen, but diuerſly and wonderfully diſagreeing. And as for vsus, we ſtand vponupon that point with you, that wee neither take office in hand, without ſufficiēt calling thereunto from God, nor teach things, that we hauehave not good warrant for from his writē word. In the reſt of the Chapter, there is nothing but ſcoffing at Luther and Sleydan, ioyned with malitious ſlaundering of the one to hauehave bred, not onelyonly Coralſtadius, Zuinglius, and Oecolampadius (whereof he needed not to be aſhamed if it were ſo) but alſo Muncer the Anabaptiſt; and the other to be a partiall Cronicler: which are things eaſie for you to ſpeake, but impoſſible for you to proue: and therefore therein vntil you bring further proofe, you are worthy no further anſwere. And therefore, as yet for any thing you hauehave ſaied, you were beſt follow our counſell, and receiue the Goſpel which we preach vntounto you; leaſt the duſt we ſhake off of our feete againſt you, proue a witneſſe againſt you in earneſt, at the day of iudgement.