Against Popery, Treatise · Argument 3
THE THIRD ARGVMENT TOVCHING THE SVBiect matter of true religion.
AS theſe meanes hitherto ſpoken of doe mightelie ſpeake againſt poperie, and teach the verie ſimpleſt that are, that it is not of God: ſo alſo doth the matter & ſubſtāce of popery ſpeake as much. For it is partly directlie contratie vntounto, and partlie farre differing from the matter and ſubſtance of that religion which God himſelfe hath commended in his Scriptures, and the which no mā can denie to be acceptable vntounto god. This is manifeſt, firſt of all, becauſe that religion, which the Scriptures commend, is true knowledge of God, of Chriſt Ieſus, of the truth. The Lord ſaith by the Prophet Oſe. I deſire merciemercy and not ſacrifice and the knowledge of god more then burnt offrings. Oſe. 6. 6. Oftentimes alſo the Lord reproueth and complaineth of the ignorance, & want of knowledge in his people, as the cauſe of all euills both which they committed, & alſo which came vpō them, as Ier. 9. 3. and in many other places. S. Peter alſo ſaith in the name of all the Apoſtles, We beleeue and know that thou art the Chriſt, the Sonne of the liuing God, Ioh. 6. 69. Our Sauiour Chriſt ſaith, This is life eternall that they knovve thee to be the onelyonly very God, and him whome thou haſt ſent Jeſus Chriſt, Ioh. 17. 3. He like wiſe promiſeth the knowledge of the truth to all his true diſciples, Ioh. 8. 32. The Apoſtle ſaith, God will hauehave all men to be ſaued, and come to the knowledge of the truth, 1. Tim. 2. 4. And againe he deſcribeth faith to be the knowledge of the truth according to godlines, Tit. 1. 1. He forbiddeth alſo the Corinthians, not to be children in vnderſtanding, 1. Cor. 14. 20. The Epheſians alſo not to be vnwiſe, but to vnderſtand what the will of the Lord is, Eph. 5. 17. Finally, the Apoſtle S. Peter biddeth the Chriſtians to whome he wrote, to ioyne vertue with faith, and with vertue knowledge. 2. Pet. 1. 5. By theſe and many other the like places we ſee, that the Scriptures commend knowledge, as the firſt matter of faith and religion. We ſee alſo what knowledge they doe commend, namely of God, of Chriſt, of the truth according to godlines, of the will of God, of the Scriptures themſelues, and that to all ſorts of men. Now what ſhall we ſaie is the matter of Poperie? Truly to ſpeake according to the nature of things, poperie hath indeede no matter at all, but is a meere vacuitie or emptines for the moſt part. For may it be ſaide that poperie is knowledge, and that of theſe things? No certenly: but it is a principle of poperie, that ignorance is the mother of deuotion. Therefore the whole popiſh Church generally condemneth all knowledge of God, and of the ſcriptures in the common people: prohibiting them the vſe of any part of the ſcriptures (as we hauehave heard before) and teaching and commaunding them onelyonly to beleeue as the Church beleeueth. This they ſaie is ſufficient faith and ſufficient religion. And indeede touching deuotion to their religion, they ſpeake moſt truly. For no man will hauehave any deuotion vntounto it, that knowerh ought of God in the ſcriptures. But to beleeue as the Church, that is, as their Church beleeueth, is neither true faith nor the ſhadow of true faith, but rather of faith in the deuills. The moſt part alſo of them when they teach this faith, hauehave it not, but can onelyonly ſay that they hauehave it, and that they doe beleeue as the Church beleeueth. The moſt (I ſaie) doe onelyonly ſaie that they doe ſo beleeue. They doe not in deede beleeue, as the Church beleeueth. For how can they, ſith they knowe not what the Church beleeueth? Yet are their bare words taken & allowed for currant, good, lawfull faith of Rome. I graunt with griefe, that many amongſt vsus know not the principles of our religion: yet no man alloweth ſuch ignorance, but eueryevery godly man condemneth it, and is grieued for it. But be it that they did in deede beleeue as their Romiſh Church beleeueth, and that they knew as much as the beſt Doctour and all their Romiſh Doctours know touching their religion, yet this is not ynough.
For now to enter into the particular matter of their religiō. Firſt the Scripture teacheth vsus oftē times, that there is but one God, one Lord, one Mediatour betweene God & man, Chriſt Ieſus▪ but poperie teacheth that there are many gods, & many mediatours. For doth it not cōmunicate the peculiar properties of God, the vbiquitie or vniuerſall preſence, and ſuch like vntounto the body of Chriſt? and doe they not ſo make an other god thereof? doe they not attribute the doing thereof to ſeuerall ſaints for ſeuerall countries, diſeaſes, and other ſeuerall affaires, which is onelyonly proper to God, whereby they make ſo many ſeuerall gods, as their are ſaints in their Kalender? doe they not alſo aſcribe power to forgiue ſinnes vntounto the Pope, and to eueryevery ſhauen prieſt, which yet God challengeth onelyonly to himſelfe, and which alſo their forefathers acknowledged to be God his owne due? Yea doe they not in their Decretals, Diſtinctions, Canons, and ſuch other bookes allowed by generall authoritie of their Church, in moſt plaine words write that of him which is a ſo the onelyonly prerogatiue-royall of God? verely it can not be denied. For proofe hereof to the reader, I will ſet downe ſome of their owne words, that no man may challenge me of a ſlander, neither the pope himſelfe bring any action againſt me for belying his holines. Theſe therefore are the words of the gloſſe vponupon the diſtinction. Jn canone Quanto de tranſlatione epiſcopi, titulo 7o. Papa dicitur hasere c…leste arbitrium, & ideo etiam naturam resum immutat, ſubſtantialia vnius rei applicando a…ij: Et de nihilo poteſt aliquid facere, & ſententiam quae nulla eſt aliquam facere, quia in his, quae vult, c…est proratione voluntas. Nec eſt qui ei dicat, curitafacis? Ipſe enim poteſt ſupra ius diſpenſare, & de iniuſtitia facere iuſtitiam, corrigendo iura & mutando: Nam plenitudinem obtinet poteſtatis. That is (that I may interpret theſe wordes, to let the moſt ignorāt ſee what blaſphemies popery teacheth.) The Pope is ſaid to hauehave ā heauēly power: & therefore he changeth the nature of things by applying the ſubſtantiall properties of one thing to an other. And he can make ſomething of nothing: and that ſentence which was none (or nothing worth) to be ſomewhat (or of force) becauſe in thoſe thinges that he will, to him will is for reaſon. Neither is there anie man that may ſay, why doeſt thou ſo? For he can diſpenſe aboue right, and of that which is iniuſtice make iuſtice, correcting and changing lawes, becauſe he hath full authoritie. Who doth not ſee by theſe wordes that they make the Pope another God? for to change the nature of thinges, as God turned Lott his wife into a pillar of ſalt, made Baalam his aſſe to ſpeake, and gaue Nebuchadnezzar the heart or qualities of a beaſt, to make ſomething of nothing, to make iuſtice of iniuſtice, as God is ſaid to ferch light out of darknes, to make his owne will ſufficient reaſon, to diſpenſe aboue right, to correct & change lawes, to hauehave ful authority to do al theſe things, is it not proper vntounto God? An other alſo of their doctors ſaith, Excepto peccato, Papapoteſt quaſi omnia facere quae Deus poteſt. Sinne excepted, the pope can doe in manner all things thai God can doe. Iohannes alſo Capiſtranus (a fit name for one ſo well worthie of an halter) of the authoritie of the Pope, and of the Church. p. 93. B. writeth to the ſame effect, Vbi quaeritur ad quid protenditur authorit as Papae, reſpondeo breuiter, quòd ad omne bonum & nullū malum; eſt enim quaſ…. Deus in terris, maior homine, minor Deo, plenitudinem obtinens poteſtatis. That is, If it be asked, how farre the pope his authoritie extendeth, I aunſwer briefly, that it extendeth to all that is good, to nothing that is euill, for he is as God in the earth, greater then man, and leſſe then God, hauing full authoritie. Marke good reader, how they are not aſhamed euen to attribute theſe words vntounto him, whereby the Apoſtle doth deſcribe Antechriſt. 2. Theſſ. 2. 4. ſaying that he ſhould ſitt as God &c. So God will hauehave themſelues to acknowlenge the Pope to be Antichriſt, though they intend no ſuch thing, but rather to make him God, or at the leaſt pewfellow with God. In their Decretalls alſo they write, that the Pope is neither god nor man, but the Viccar of God, and mixt or compounded of God and man. Oftentimes alſo they aſcribe vntounto him all power aſwell in heauen and hell, as in earth. But for further view of the monſtrous blaſphemies of the Pope, I refer the reader to the large deſcription of him which is in the booke of Martyrs, in the verie end of King Henrie the 7. his reigne, & in the verie ende alſo of the firſt volume, where plentifully are laid downe both their wordes of him, and alſo the places of their owne bookes quoted, in which any man may finde them. By theſe things it is euidēt that although they think great ſcorne to be charged, to teach that there are many Gods, yet in truth by communicating that vntounto other, which is God his onelyonly due, they teach as much. God himſelf hath ſaid, that he will not giuegive his glorie to any other, but they ſcotch not, they feare not to giuegive it to manie other.
3 The like do they touching the Mediatour: For they teach that there are manie Mediators, yea ſo many as there are Saints, and a great many more. Yea they teach that the Virgine Marie is not onelyonly a Mediatour, but alſo a Mediatour aboue Chriſt himſelfe. For proofe I will note their owne words, but yet onelyonly in Engliſh for breuities ſake. Thus therefore they ſpeake to the Virgine Marie as I do faithfully trāſlate their words in a certaine horarie &c. Reioyce O celeſtiall matron, triumphantly praiſe God thy Sauiour, which hath made thee ſingular. Thou waſt content to be called the handmaid of Ieſus Chriſt; but as the diuine law teacheth, thou art his Ladie; For right and reaſon requireth that the mother ſhould be aboue the Sonne. Therefore aske humblie and commaund loftilie that he guide vsus, that are here in the euening or twilight of the world vntounto the ſupreame kingdom; And againe in the ſame place. Thou alone art without example, whome god hath choſen to be Mediat our betweene God and man, the repairer of the world, the end of deſtruction, the waſhing away from ſinnes, the way of counſell, the truſt of reward, the ladder of hèauen, the gate of paradiſe. In their common praiers alſo they call her the mother of grac… the mother of merciemercy, and they pray her to defend them from their enemies, and to receiue them in the houre of death. Againe they call her the certai… hope of them that are in miſerie, the mother of Orphanes, the Sauiour of the oppreſſed, the phiſick of the ſicke, all to all. What can be more contrarie to the doctrine and matter of religion? for this is not onelyonly to make her another Mediatour, but alſo another God: and indeed if ſhe be another Mediatour, ſhee muſt alſo of neceſſitie be another god: becauſe there cā be no Mediatour, which is not alſo god. Neither▪ is this much to be marueled at, for they alſo pray to god to be heard, not onelyonly for the blood of Chriſt, but alſo for the blood of the Martyres. Yea of Thomas Becket, which was no Martyr, but iuſtlie put to death for his inſolēctreaſon. Yea they teach that eueryevery mā muſt alſo be his owne Sauiour, that is, merit his ſaluatiō by his own good works, ſo that whereas the Scripture teacheth vsus, that a man is onelie iuſtified and ſaued by a true and liuelie faith in Chriſt Ieſus, Poperie teacheth that a man is iuſtified not by ſuch a faith alone, but alſo by workes partlie of himſelfe, and partly of other.
4 So the Scripture teacheth that Chriſt Ieſus is a perfect Sauiour, which hath redeemed vsus from all iniquitie, and that with once offring vp of himſelfe, once I ſay for all and for euer, but popery teacheth, that he hath onelyonly ſatisfied for ſinnes before Baptiſme, and that he muſt dailie be offred vp, by the hands of ſome greaſie prieſt. The Scripture teacheth, that there is certainely no cōdemnation to them that are in Chriſt Ieſus, that they that louelove the brethren are of the truth, and ſhal before him aſſure their hearts, that they ſhall neuer periſh out of the handes of Chriſt Ieſus, &c, but poperie teacheth that it is preſūption for any mā to ſay that he is aſſured of theſe things. The Scripture teacheth vsus that Chriſt his humanitie is in heauen, and ſhalbe in heauen till his ſecond cōming vntounto iudgement, but popery teacheth vsus that it is euen now vponupon the earth, & that in manie places at one and the ſame time. The Scripture teacheth vsus, that Chriſt his bodie glorified doth ſo retaine the eſſentiall qualities of a true bodie, that it may be diſcerned to hauehave both fleſh & bones by our outward ſenſes. Luk. 24. 39. But poperie teacheth that it is ſo altered and chaunged, that neither by ſight nor by taſte nor by touching and feeling it can be diſcerned to hauehave any more fleſh and bone, then a peece of bread, yea then a wafer cake, as thinne as a paper. The Scripture forbiddeth all grauen or painted Images of any thing whatſoeuer and whereſoeuer to be made and worſhiped, or anie waies religiouſly to be bowed vntounto, but popery commaundeth the making and worſhipping of Images of things in heauen, and in earth, materiall and ſpirituall, viſible and inuiſible, knowne and vnknowne, liuing, and without life, euen of the materiall and woodden croſſe of Chriſt▪ The Scripture forbiddeth all detraction from, and all addition vntounto it ſelfe, binding this prohibition with a commination of a fearefull curſe, to anie that ſhall ſo doe: but poperie hath not feared to cut of the whole ſecond commaundement, and many other thinges, neither to adde whole bookes to the Cannon of the Scriptures. The Scripture condemneth all praiers of the mouth in anie vnknowne tongue without vnderſtanding and affection: but poperie teacheth that in praier, and all other things opus operatum, the worke done, howſoeuer it be done, with affection or without affection, is meritorious: and that all praiers of all perſons, and in al places muſt be in the latine tongue, albeit they that pray vnderſtand neuer a word and may as well be taught to ſay O Deuill which art in hell, as Our father which art in heauen, yea and ſo they oftentimes pray for ought they knowe to the contrary. For howſoeuer the Pope hath canonized Thomas Becket, & (as it is ſaid) Edmund Campian, & other of that traiterous neſt for Saints: yet their treaſons for which they were iuſtly cut off by the ſword of the ciuill magiſtrate and their damnable hereſies, and horrible blaſphemies whereof they ſhewed no repentance, doe rather condemne them for diuells in hell, then commend them for Saints in heauen. The Scriptures commend the obſeruation of the Lord his day aboue all other daies, condemning alſo the obſeruation of any other day in like ſort perpetuallie, but poperie commandeth more holidaies now then were euer commanded by God himſelfe in the time of the law, and that to be kept as ſtrictly as the Lords daie it ſelfe. The ſcripture teacheth, that al things are cleane to the cleane, but poperie maketh ſuch difference of meates, drinkes, apparell, &c. and teacheth that at ſome times all fleſh is polluted, that it defileth whoſoeuer eateth thereof, more then ſwearing, fornication, and ſuch like things, as God himſelfe hath expreſſely forbidden. The Scripture commaundeth to gather vp the baſeſt of God his creatures, that nothing be loſt: but poperie commandeth vponupon Sh…oue-tuſeday, that whatſoeuer of the beſt fleſh be left, it ſhould be caſt vntounto the dogges, and …o vtterly loſt, rather then ſaued for the good of any man. The Scripture teacheth vsus onelyonly to call vponupon God in the dare of our trouble, and to praie onelyonly to him when we may call, Our Father which art in heauen: but poperie teacheth vsus to pray to the virgin Marie, Saint Peter, Saint Iohn, Saint Swithin, &c. yea to the eyes, noſe, mouth, &c. to the neckerchiffe, girdle, &c. of the virgin Marie; as is manifeſt by ſome of their olde printed praier bookes. The Scripture teacheth by ſentence, and example of Prieſts, Leuites, Prophets, Apoſtles, &c. that marriage is honourable in all men, though as holy as Adam was before his fall: but poperie teacheth vsus that at ſometimes of the yeare marriage is vnlawfull for all men, and at all times for the miniſters of the word in regard of their holy function. The Scripture teacheth vsus that eueryevery ſoule ought to be ſubiect to the higher power, and to honour the King, &c, and that whoſoeuer reſiſteth ſuch power, reſiſteth the ordinance of God: but poperie teacheth vsus that the cleargie is exempted from all ciuill power, and may not be called before any ſuch magiſtrates, neither be puniſhed by any ciuill laws. To finiſh this argument drawne from the repugnancie of the matter of poperie to the Scriptures and that religion which they commend, I muſt euen ſay as the Apoſtle ſaith, Heb. 11. 23. What ſhall I ſay more? the time would be to… ſhort to tell of Gedeon, Baruch, &c. ſo, I ſay, muſt I ſay, what ſhal I ſay more▪ long time would be too ſhort, and much paper too little to ſet down all the repugnancies and contrarieties of the matter of Poperie, and of the matter of that religion, which is commended vntounto vsus in the ſcriptures. Can both therefore be of God, and acceptable vntounto God, that is, alvvaies the ſame, and in whome there is no chaunge, nor ſhadow of chaunge?