History of the First Ten Persecutions, Treatises 4 · Treatise 1
A TREATISE, Of the Uniuersall Bishop.
AMBITION is a reproueable fault in all men especially in men who are Preachers of the humilitie of Christ: Yea, and the time wherein ambition got the greatest vpper-hande in the Church, was the time wherein the Antichrist sate in the Temple of God, extolling himselfe against all thing that is called God. When I reade the confession of Augustine, I finde no fault that hee damneth in himself (before his conuersion) more vehemently, than the fault Augustin. Confess. Lib. 6. cap. 6of ambition, and desire of vaine glory: comparing his owne estate with the estate of a begger whome he saw at Millane ouercome with wine. In some things hee was like vntounto that begger, in other things he was vnlikethee was like in this, that the begger was both miserable and he rejoyced in his miserie: the like Augustine saith of himselfe, that hee likewise was miserable. and delited in his miserie: but the difference stood in three thinges: The begger was drunken with wine, but Augustine was drunken with a desire of vaine glory: Secondly, the money wherewith the begger had bought the wine wherewith he was ouer-come, hee had gotten it by begging: but the vaine glorie wherewith Augustine was ouer-come, he had gained it by flatterie and lies: Thirdly, the drunken begger, when he had slept a short time, his drunkennesse departed from him: but the desire of vaine glorie was daylie augmented in Augustine, vntill the time came that God would renewe him according to his owne likenesse, When this vile sinne defiled the chaire of Constantinople, and the chaire of Rome, greater desolation followed than was vnderunder the reigne of Honorius, when the towne of Rome was set on fire: or vnderunder the reigne of Arcadius, when Constantinole was shaken with earth-quake.
The short Treatise which I set foorth cōcerning the supremacie of the B. of Rome, in the 3. Centurie, was to declare, that the foresaid supremacie was not countenanced with such antiquitie as the Remane Church do brag of: but now is the due time, & proper place, to speake more largely of the magnifick stile of ye Uniuersall bishop.
In this Treatise, God willing, I shall declare, that the honourable title of Uniuersall Bishop is only due to Christ: Secondly, that the bishops of Rome sought this preferment vnhonestly: and when they had obtained it, they fsed it more vnhonestile & tyrannously: and thirdly, that he who vsurpeth this honour due to Christ only, may justly bee called the Antichrist: Not that I hauehave intention to confound these two Treatises of the Uniuersall bishop, and of the Antichrist, but onelyonly to make the one a prerparation to the other.
Nowe the Great and Uniuersall Bisoph of our foules, as holie Scripture describeth him, is hee onelyonly who hath broken downe the partition wall, and who hath made both Iewe & Gemile one House-holde and familie of God, and hee who hath made them both Ephes. 2. 14both one Sheep-folde, like as there is but one great Shepheard, Ioan. 10. 26& he who giueth his life for his Sheep, & who knoweth them all by their names, and who giueth vntounto them all eternall life. This Ibid. vers. 3 11. & 28descriptiō pointeth out vntounto vsus no man except Iesus Christ, the Son of God only. The B. of Rome is so far from conferring eternall life vntounto all the Sheepe of God, that he knoweth not them all by their names: yea, further than this, no bishop of Rome euer knew all the Sheep of God in the town of Rome by th…ir names: how much lesse could they know all the Sheep of God dispersed vponupon the face of the whole world?
It may bee objected, that like as Christ conferreth his owne names vntounto his seruants, whom he hath appointed to gath…r his Sheepe to his Sheepe-folde: so in like manner, without sacriledge and robberie they may accept the names of Christ: as Matth. 5. 14namely Christ, hee calleth his disciples the Lights of the world, yet it is perfectly knowne, that Christ only is the true Light, who Ioan. 1. 9lightneth eueryevery man, who commeth into the worlde. To this I answere, That it is the labour of curious & idle men, to dispute vponupon names, whē as in substance & matter there is no disagreement. No man doth offend when the Apostles are called lights, because they are neither equalled nor matched with Christ, but only the liberality of Christ is commended, who out of ye plenitude of his light bestoweth a portion vponupon his seruants, to conserue light in the house of God. But when the B. of Rome is called Uniuersall Bishop, so many other prerogatiues are linked with this title, that he is equalled with Christ: as namely, That he is a lawgiuer, he cānot erre in matters of faith, he may dispense with the law of God, he may correct ye very testamentall legacy of Christ, & ordaine the holy Sacrament of ye Supper to be otherwise administred than the institution of Christ beareth. Nowe is ye question not of words only, (which oft times being lenified & mollified by ye dulcenesse of tolerable interpretations, are ouer-passed for the peace of the Church) but the question betwixt vsus and the Romane Church is of matter & substance, and of the very honour only belōging to Christ. If it had bene ye purpose of Christ to make mortall man on earth his Vicare he had done to yt person as Pharo did to Ioseph, that is, he had plucked ye ring from his own finger, & put it vponupon ye finger of his Vicare, so that ye sight of Gen. 41. 42Christs ring (that is, of power to cōfer eternall life to all Christs Sheepe) had beene an vndoubted token, that Christ had indeed constituted him his Vicare on earth.
As touching the Apostle Peter, to whom the feeding of Christs Sheepe was recommended, it is to bee considered, that Peter in th…se words, Feede my Sheepe, was not preferred to the rest of the Ioan. 21.Apostles: yea, rather, it was a great benefit to Peter to be restored to the dignitie of his Apostleship, from which he had fallen by his three-folde deniall of Christ, and to be made equall againe with the rest of his brethren. But the Romane Church can neuer heare a word of Christ spoken to Peter, but it soundeth in their eares, as if Christ were breathing the superioritie of Peter ouer the rest of the Apostles. So did Pope Leo, the first with the grandour of his speaches, so oft iterate that one sentence, Tu es Petrus, & super hac petra, &c. that is, Thou art Peter, and vponupon this rocke Matth. 16I will build my Church: as if the whole world should hauehave stowped at the roaring of him who was a Lion only by name. Neuerthelesse, whatsoeuer Leo speaketh in the loftinesse of his partiall conceits, the opinions of the ancient Fathers hauehave ouer-swayed the conceits of Leo: And wee are fully perswaded, that Christ recommended the feeding of his sheepe to all his Apostles, as well as he did to Peter.
Then let the name of the high Bishop, and great Sheepheard of our soules, only remaine with Christ, who is only worthie of such high dignitie: For like as many comforters came out of Hierusalem, to comfort the two sisters, Martha and Marie, who lamented for the death of their brother Lazarus, yet there was but onelyonly one great comforter, to wit, Iesus Christ, who could raise Lazarus out of the graue, & restore him to life again: I…an. 11Euen so, there are many bishops, but there is only one great and vniuersall Bishop, who can conferre eternall life to all that beleeue in him. Let this royall garment bee laide vp in the Kinges wardrope, and let none other man honour his owne bodie with it: Let this oyle of consecration be kept in the Lords Sanctuary, and let not the flesh of a stranger be annointed with it: Let this inaccessible dignitie remaine as a fixed starre in heauen, wherevnto Exo. 30. 33no mortall man can reach his hand: Let the death, resurrection, ascension, and glorious sitting of Christ in heauen, at the right hand of his Father, budding foorth better fruite than the rodde of Aaron did, testifie, that this honour of the great Bishop of our soules belongeth only to Christ: And finally, Let him who onelyonly is called the King of kinges, the Lord of lordes, the Prince of Prophets, bee counted also the Bishop of all bishops, who is worthie to be glorified for euer, AMEN.
VponUpon the necke of this Treatise, if the next Treatise, cōcerning the Antichrist, be subjoyned, let no man maruell: For in my opinion, when the Popes hyrelinges cast themselues downe at his feete, they testifie, that they will bee subject vntounto him, as to the only Vicare of Christ vponupon earth, as to the Uniuersall bishop of the Church, as to him that cannot erre in the Decrees of Doctrine concerning Faith, and finallie, as to whome onelyonly it is lawfull, as he listeth himselfe, to determine of Religion, and Christian Discipline: So that these outwarde submissions of the bodie, doe then appertaine to Idolatry, when they are testimonies, that the minde attributeth more vntounto a creature than is meete: But the miserie of all miseries is this, that as it were by hereditarie succession, euerie man, who is seated in the chaire of Rome, shall also hauehave right to gouerne the affaires of the whole Church how beit they bee not good common Christians, let bee good Bishops: and by the testimonie of their owne writers they be ambitious, auaritious, contentious, and libidinous monsters.
Surelie, before wee should conferre the glorie of CHRIST to such vile persons, it were better that men should sacrifice their life for the honour of CHRIST: For euen the LACEDEMONIANS, when they were commanded to render their children, answered to the MACEDONIANS, Si grauiora morte imperatis, mori volumus: that is, If yee commaunde thinges more grieuous than death, wee will choose rather to die, to wit, than to obey such commaundementes: And the verie Asse of Balaam is set downe vntounto vsus as an example of striuing against the vnlawfull Numb. 22commaundementes of vnlawfull prelates, because the sword of the Angell of GOD is more terrible than the staffe of Balaam: And albeit with Balaams Asse wee were thrise beaten with the staffe, yet it is better to remember the by-past euilles which wee hauehave suffered, than with the rich glutton to bee tormented not onelie with the sense of present paine, but also with the Luke 16remembrance of bypast pleasures, which wee hauehave moste vnrighteously abused.
The Romane Church, after the six hundreth yeere of our Lord, had the wisedome of dogs, who are wiser in senting than in barking: for they knew that ambition was ambition, and that verie fewe climbed vp to the papale dignitie by vertue, but rather by procuration, friendship, bribes, and other vnlawfull meanes, but fewe durst barke against their doinges, as dogges will not barke against men with whome they are familarly acquainted: yea and men, whome neceslitie of the extraordinary lewde conuersatiō of P…pes, compelled at some times to barke. Onuphrius the Aduocate of all cuill causes, is ready with snurling words to reproue the reprehenders of them, and by impudent deniall of the veritie of the historie, to blind-folde the eyes of the simple and ignorant Reader.
Nowe is the way of righteousnesse made rough and difficill, and the broad way is smoothe and easie, and many walke therein: But whensoeuer it pleaseth God, to exercise the faith of his Saincts with difficill times, it is not to mooue them to forsake a good course, but rather to be well shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace. Indeede incase the course of vngodlinesse Ephes. 6be made rough and difficill, then the Lord hath set thorny hedges in our way, to the ende that wee may rep…nt, and returne to our owne husband againe, from whom we hauehave wandered. And Hose. 2happie is he, who can discerne the way, and the cause wherefore the Lord hath made it either rough or smoothe.
Now is the time come, wherein Church-men are become like vntounto carnall Iewes, who loathed MANNA, and the waters of the spirituall Rocke, and the cloude of God, and the holy Tabernacle: yea, and the flesh-pots of Aegypt are laide in ballance with all the treasures of the goodnesse of God, bestowed vponupon a carnall people: Euen so, Church-men at Rome, after the sixe hundreth yeere of our Lord, began to loathe the humilitie of Christ, the patient suffering of the Apostles, the riches of faith, and other spirituall treasures, which were the glorious ornamentes of the Primitiue Church, whereunto are preferred the riches and honours Nazian. orat 38. in Chr… sti natiuita….of this world, justly called by Nazianzenus, foreign, that is, Precious dungue.
IN the second head of this TREATISE, it followeth to be declared, that the bishops of Rome sought this dignitie of Papal supremacie vnhonestly, and vsed it tyrannously and impiouslie, after they had obtained it. Concerning the seeking of it, Philip Morney, that Phoenix of FRANCE (from whom I am not a shamed L…b myster. iniquitat…s.to borrow many things in this TREATISE) hee prooueth, by the testimonies of Paulus Diaconus, Freculfus, Regino, Anastatius, Hermannus Contractus, Marianus Scotus, Sabellicus, Blondus, Pomponius Laetus, Platina, Author compilationis Chronologicae, and Otho Episcopus Frisingensis, that Bonifacius the third begged at the handes of the Emperour Phocas, that the Church of Rome should be called the head of all other Churches. Hee who sought this supremacie was a flatterer: hee at whose handes it was sought, was a traitor, a parricide, and the vile excrement of all gouernours: and the time wherein he sought it, was at that time wherein the wordes of Gregorie the first, vttered against Ioannes foreign, bishop of Constantinople, were in recent remembrance, to wit, That whosoeuer did vsurpe such a magnificke stile to be called Uniuersall Bishop, hee was the fore-runner of the Antichrist. But seeing the time was nowe come wherein the purpurate Harlot was to sit vponupon the Citie of seuen Mountaines; in her first entrie she laieth aside all shamefastnesse and modestie, she wipeth her mouth, and saith, shee hath committed none iniquitie: ambition so blindeth her eyes, that vnconstancie is counted no fault, and taking deepe roote in her heart, hideth from the eyes of her mind the sight of heauen, and all heauenly vertues, such as humilitie, modestie, constancie, and vprightnesse of a siable and vnwauering heart.
The preheminence that God licenciateth to bee sought ouer brethren, is like to the preheminence of Moses ouer the Elders: he ascended higher vponupon the mountaine of God than they did: and when he came downe againe from the mountaine of God, his face shined with greater splendor of celestiall glorie, than Exo. 34. 29the faces of others did. Would God Pastors could striue to attaine to such preheminence: for the striuing for prerogatiue of places, hath bred many vnnecessary and vnfruitfull contentions Naz. orat. 13 post reditū.in the Church, as an ancient Father hath well marked.
This supremacie aforesaid so vnhonestly sought, was vsed tyrannously & vnrighteously. Pope Bonifacius the fourth dedicated the Temple called Pantheon, wherein all the Gentile gods were worshipped: this Temple, I say, he dedicated to the Virgine Marie, and to all the Martyrs, rather changing, than correcting, the vile abomination of Idolatrie. Honorius the first, in the sixt generall Councell, was found to hauehave bene an Eutychian heretique, The Popes, Martinus the first, and Eugenius the first, Vitalianus, and Adeodatus, were so puft vp in pride, that they counted the Bishops of R…uenna heretiques, onelyonly for this, because they receiued not their ordination from the Bishops of Rome, & were not subject to their authoritie: And this heresie they called foreign. Pope Sergius 1. obstinately refused to subscribe the decrees of the sixt generall Councell, partlie because in it the doctrine and lawes of prohibition of marriage to men in spirituall functions, was damned, and partlie also, because the Bishop of Constantinople was equalled in honour with the bishop of Rome. Constantinus the first, and Gregorius the second, were the first open, and auowed traitors against the Emperours: the one of them rased the name of the Emperour Philippic…s out of charters: the other assoyled the subjects of Italie from the oath of all edgeance to the Emperour Leo Isaurus, because these two Emperours d…tested the worshipping of Images. What villanie was in Pope Stephanus the thirde, who perswaded CAROLVS MAGNVS, king of FRANCE, to repudiate his wife BERTHA, the daughter of DESIDERIVS king of LOMBARDIS? abusing in moste impudent manner the wordes of holie Scripture, What fellowship hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse? and what communion hath light with darknesse? 2. Cori…t. chap. 6. vers. 14. In that place the Apostle is giuing counsell to Christians, who are disposed to marrie, not to couple themselues in matrimoniall band with infideles: but the counsell of the Apostle, to them who are alreadie married, euen with infideles, is this, If any brother hauehave a wife, that beleeueth not, if she be content to dwell with him, let him not for sake her, 1. Cor. 7. 12. So that albeit Bertha, the daughter of Desiderius, had bene an infidell, shee beeing willing to cohabite with her husband, there was no reason to repudiate her. But now the bishops of Rome are become wiser than the Apostles of Christ and they bid repudiat the wife, with whome the Apostle Paul in expresse wordes biddeth a Christian man cohabite. It is more intolerable that Suphanus the third calleth Bertha an infidell: was she not baptised in the name of Christe was not her father Desiderius, & before him Aistulphus, partakers of the Lordes holie Sacramentes? was not Rachis, the brother of Aislulphus, so deuout, according to the superstitious forme at that time, commended in the Romane Church, that hee forsooke his kingdome, and entered into a Monasterie, there to leade his life? But the bishops of Rome are become so prodigall of their reproachfull speaches, that all persons are counted Infideles, who followe not absolutely all the conceites of their changeable mindes. Pope Adrian the first, with aduise of a great Councell, ordained, that no man should bee consecrated bishop of Rome, before hee had receiued investment by staffe and ring, by the Emperour: but Gregorius 7. by the contrarie, cursed them who receiued inuestment from the Emperour, anno 1073. These two popes speak contradictory things, yet they must be counted holy Fathers, who cannot erre. Pope Leo the third, tooke vponupon him boldnesse to change the Empire, and to proclaime Charles the Great, king of FRANCE, to be Emperour in the West. And Baronius, the moste in…pt expounder of Scriptures, of anie learned men of late dayes, defendeth this doing of L…o, by a place of Scripture, The moste High beareth rule Baron. tom. 9. ann. 800. art. 6. 7. 8.ouer the kingdome of men, and giueth it to whome hee will, Dan. 4. 22. Daniel in that place speaketh of the Eternall GOD, who indeede is moste high, and giueth the kingdomes of the worlde to whome hee pleaseth: but Baronius applieth this to the bishop of Rome, as if hee were moste high, and had the kingdomes of the worlde at his owne dispensation, to giuegive them to whome he pleased: So saide the Deuill of himselfe, (Luke 4. 6.) but hee lied, for hee had no such power: and Baronius, attributing this power vntounto the Pope, lieth as impudentlie as the Deuill did. sergius the second, with his brother Benedictus, for gaining vanta e vntounto themselues, were not ashamed to sell bishoprickes, and to preferre men to spirituall offices: not for the worthinesse of their giftes, but for the weight of their numbered money: and so the chaire of ROME was filthilie spotted with simonic. Yea, it came to passe, that the prid…, and simonicall auarice of the bishops of ROME brangled their late vsurped authoritie: so that AVGVIBERTVS bishop of MILLANE, with allowance of many bishops of ITALIE disclaimed the authority of the bishop Anastat. in Serg. 2. Morneus myst. iniqu.of ROME, and with great difficultie after the issue of two hundreth yeeres, was the chaire of MILLANE reduced againe to the obedience of the bishop of ROME, in the dayes of Pope Stephanus the ninth.
It grieued the bishops of ROME, that they were bound by the constitution of Adrian the first, to hauehave the allowance of the Emperour to their election: and therefore by degrees they endeuoured to shake off that yoke of bondage. Stephanus ye fourth was elected without the fore-knowledge of Ludovicus 'Pius: but he pacified the Emperours wrath by his comming to FRANCE. Pascalis the first, in like manner, was chosen bishop of Rome, without the foreknowledge of the Emperour. Neuerthelesse, by his letters sent to the Emperour Ludouicus, he excused himselfe, and ratified the constitution of Adrian. In like manner, Leo the fourth, following the example of his predecessors, was admitted without the fore-knowledge of Lotharius: hee likewise excused himselfe to the Emperours sonne Ludouicus, pretending that the sudden incursion of the Saracenes was ye cause mouing the people to precipitate his election, and hindering himselfe to make due aduertisement to the Emperour Lotharius, in whose time he was elected. But the issue after following declared, that all these excuses were nothing else, but a seeking of occasions how to shake off the yoke of the Emperours subjection. Was not the chaire of Rome abused, the worlde mocked, and the Christianitie exponed to the derision of Heathen people, when Pope Ihonne the eight, of the feminine sexe sate in the Apostolicke chaire, taking the greater libertie to play the Harlot, because shee had an vncontrolled preheminence? Onuphrius, in counting this to bee a fable, rather than a true Historie, is not vnlike to ye Philosopher, who denied, that the Heauen was vnderunder a continuall motion, and turned about by a circulare reuolution: So doeth Onuphrius take libertie to brangle the credite of all ancient Histories. Philip Morney notably discouereth the falsehood, and shifting excuses of Onuphrius, who alleadgeth, that this fable of a feminine Pope sprang vp by occasion of a libidinous Pope, called Ioannes, the twelft, who had three notable Harlots attending his lust, namely, Ioanna, Raineria, & Stephania: Now (saith Onuph.) all things being ordered according to ye pleasure of Ioāna, as if she had bin Pope, of this proceeded ye rumor of a feminine pope. But Philip Mor. citing ye testimony of Lintprandus, proueth, that ye cōcubines of Joānes 12. were Raineria & Stephania, but no mētion is made of Ioanna, as one of ye Popes concubines, but only of one named Anna, ye Popes nice, not his concubine: so that Onuphrius, in prouing the Historie of the feminine Pope to bee a fable, hee is founde himselfe to bee fabulous, and an inuenter of lies.
Nicolaus the first, suffered Lodouik the second, the sonne of Lotharius, to goe on foote, and to leade his bridle while as the Pope was riding on horse-backe: which proude fact, Platina cannot excuse better, than to count Nicolaus so venerable a man, that he was accounted of all men as a god. In like manner, hee compelled Lotharius, prince of Loraine, and brother to Lewes 2. to forsake his newe married wife, Valdrada, and to adhere againe vntounto his first wife named Thiethberga, vnderunder paine of cursing. This is the first time wherein the bishop of Rome durst take boldenesse to threaten the princes of FRANCE with his cursinges. So the bishop of Rome, who fished in all muddy waters, partly by the intestine discord of the posteritie of Charles the Great, and partly by their faults, he increased his owne estate mightily: so that hee became like vntounto a mightie Hunter, who goeth to the Forrest of intention to pursue one beast onelyonly, neuerthelesse his dogges doe no sooner barke, but all the beasts in the Forrest are agaste, and with feare and trembling looke when they shall be pursued. This is that Pope whome ye Romane Church hath honoured with the reuerende name of the third Helias: but he was vnlike vntounto the first Helias, and more vnlike vntounto the seconde Helias, to wit, vntounto John Baptist: The first Helias girded vp his loynes, and ranne before Achab, vntill he came to Jzreel: But Pope Nicolaus suffered 1. Reg. 18. 46the Emp. to goe on foote, and to leade his horse by the bridle: The seconde Helias came to prepare the waye of the Lord: but pope Nicolaus, whome they call the third Helias, prepared a way to his successours, and to the standing of the popedome, because hee was like vntounto a Citie of refuge vntounto all men, who appealed from their owne ordinarie Iudges, willing once fullie to possesse the chaire of Rome into that priueledge to bee Iudges of all appellations.
Adrian the second, by those same meanes, increased his papal authoritie, by which Bonifacius the third had first grounded the popedome, namely by flattering of a notable parricide Basilius Emperour of the East, who had traitorously slaine the Emperour Michael, who had made him associate with himselfe in gouernement. This Emp. Basilius so highly aduanced Adrian, that in the eight generall Councell, assembled in Constantinople, for deposition of Photius, and restitution of Ignatius, no man was permitted to hauehave ingresse to the Councell, except hee who first subscribed to the supremacie of the bishop of Rome. Morecuer, the Emperour Basilius procured, that the Bulgarians should be subject to the Pope of Rome, and not to the Patriarch of Constantinople. How beit this ordinance, violentlie extorted, contrarie both to equitie and custome, could not continue long.
After Adrian succeeded pope shonne the ninth, who restored Photius, at the desire of Basilius Emperour of the East. This inconstancie of pope Ihonne the ninth, who restored Photius, whom his predecessor, Adrian the second, had deposed, furnisheth occasion to Baronius, to affirme, that this is the pope, who was supposed to hauehave beene of the foeminine sexe, in respect of the inconstancie of his flexible and effeminate minde: and so much the more, because that pope Ihonne the ninth not onelyonly restored Photius to his place againe, but also ramuersing his affection againe, he cursed Photius, because hee had gathered a Councell at Constantinople of 380. bishops, wherein hee annulled the decrees of the preceeding Councell, vulgarlie called the eight Generall Councell. Moreouer, it was ordained in this Councell conueened by Photius, that the pope of Rome shoulde accept no man into his fellowship, whome the patriarch of Constantinople had excōmunicated: by this decree cutting off all appellations from Constantinople to Rome. This fact so grieued the pope, that hee cursed Photius, whome before hee had restored to his office againe. Heere I leaue Baronius and Onuphrius, reckoning one against another concerning the feminine pope: Baronius saith, it was pope Ihonne the ninth, whose inconstancie gaue occasion to the rumoured opinion of the feminine pope: Onuphrius saieth, it was the inconstancie of a libidinous pope Ihonne the twelft, following all the desires of an harlot: but if either of them had written truelie, it had beene more competent in such a sense to hauehave saide, that there had beene manie femenine popes, rather than one onelie.
The barbarous crueltie of Stephanus the sixt (other reckon Stephanus the seuenth) against Formosus, Whose dead bodie he raised Platin. in …ita Steph. 6out of his sepulchre, and cut off his consecrating fingers, and cast them into Tiber: Is there any fact of vnnaturall inhumanitie practised amongst the Indianes and Aethiopians, comparable to this? Onuphrius counteth this Historie also to bee a fable, as if his impudent deniall of euerie vnhonest fact, done by the bisshops of Rome, were able to derogat… credit to all auncient Histories. But what shall bee thought of the opposite decrees of Councels gathered by Formosus & Stephanus, no lesse repugnant one vntounto another, than light is vntounto darknesse? Shall it bee thought that these opposite Councels were indited by the holie Spirit, as if the holie Spirit coulde bee repugnant vntounto himselfe?
From the 900. yeere of our Lord, vntill the 1000. yeere, the bishops of Rome were so farre degenerate from the manners of their ancient predecessors, that whereas the auncient bishops of Rome, attending the holie exercises of prayer and exhortation, contemned dignities offered vntounto them: now by ambition and bribes they striue for the Popedome: and when they hauehave gotten it, as cruell tyrants, they contende, with hatefull malice, euerie one against the fame of another: and laying aside diuine worship, they follow the lusts of their owne hearts, the more securelie, because their is no man to restraine their inordinate desires. This Platina writeth of them in the life of Sergius the third. Plati. in vit. Sergii 3.The moste part of them were like vntounto Monsters, whose natiuitie, like as it breedeth sorow in the harts of their verie parents: so in like manner it is some mitigation of their heartes griefe, when the Monster hastily dieth. This second comfort God g…ue vntounto the world. Few of these ambitious, auaritious, and libidinous Monsters continued long in the popedome. I will not anticipate the Historie, but shortly I hope thus farre hath beene declared, that the Romane Church sought this preheminence vnhonestly, and abused it vilely by simonie, idolatrie, heres… treason, tyrannie, schisme, and all kinde of inhumanitie, which one of them could practise against another: And that they hauehave casten behinde their backe that holie forme of preparation for entering into spirituall functions vsed of olde, to wit, that their spirituall senses were well exercised with seeing of Heauenlie sightes, with hearing of Angelicall hymnes, with feeling the opetatiue vertue of the coale taking from the Altar of God, and Isai. 6.touching their lippes, and so being well prepared and furnished with celestiall grace, they entered into spirituall callings, assisted with the grace of God, that commeth from aboue. But now the preparation is turned to riches and money, where with if a man be well surnished, albeit he were like vntounto Ioannes the thirteenth, that is, a man who is perjure, the verie childe of the d…uill, the brother of Iudas, and a man whose name will remaine in perpetual execration: yet such a man furnished, as said is, with riches and money, may bee promoted to the popedome. Now is leuen eaten in time of the passeouer and hee who calleth himselfe the Vicare of Christ, hee climbeth to that office by the leuen of sin. And truely, like as the types and figures of good thinges, cannot equall in goodnesse the thinges that are figurated by them: euen so, the figures of euill things were not so much to bee abhorred as the euill things themselues represented by types & figures. He who commanded to purge the olde leuen, to the end, that wee might bee an holie lumpe, hath vtterly forbidden vsus 1. Cot. 5. 7to enter into holy callings by vile and vnhonest meanes.
NOw followeth the third head of this TREATISE, as a preparation to the TREATISE following, to prooue that the chaire wherein the Uniuersall Bishop sitteth, is the chaire of the Antichrist, which I prooue by this argument, The chaire that extolleth it selfe aboue Christ, is the chaire of the Antichrist: but so it is, that the chaire wherein the Uniuersall Bishop sitteth, extolleth it selfe aboue Christ, Ergo, it is the chaire of the Antichrist. The first part of the argument is proued by the wordes of the 2. Thes. 2. 4Apostle, writing to the Thessalonians: The second part of the argument I prooue by this reason, That chaire which taketh vponupon it power to dispense against the lawe of God, extolleth it selfe aboue Christ: but so it is, the chaire of the Uniuersall Bishop arrogateth power to dispense against the lawe of God: as namely, in the matter of Marriage, licentiating a man to marrie his brothers wife, and others to marrie women of their nearest consanguinitie: Ergo, the chaire of the Uniuersall Bishop is the chaire of the Antichrist. Heere let vsus remember, that no lawe can bee dispensed withall, but either by the same authoritie, by which it is made, or by a greater: But the lawe of God is manifestly annulled in many points, corrected, and dispensations giuē against it by the chaire of ROME, as shall bee declared heereafter, GOD willing: what can bee saide of it then, but that it is become the seate of the Antichrist?
Concerning the stile of the Antichrist, which I minde to attribute to the bishop of Rome, especially since the yeere of our Lord 666. I admonish the Reader, that hee bee not deceiued with the generalitie of the worde Antichrist: which albeit it may be attributed to Infideles, Heretiques, and to all them who obstinately 1. Ioan. 2. 18 and 22. 1. Ioan. 4. 3contende against the doctrine of the person or office of Christ: yet doeth this name most properly belong to the principall ring-leaders and authors of that great defection from the faith, fore-tolde by the Apostle Paul, 1. Tim. 4. For like as Dent. 18. 13 Apocal. 2. and …. Malac. 3. 1when Moses in Holy Scripture is called a Prophet, and faithfull Pastors are called Angels, this hindereth not Christ from being called the Great Prophet, & the Angell of the Couenant: Euen so, when Heretiques, who gainsay the diuinitie of Christ, or veritie of His humane nature, are called Antichrists, this hindereth not, but the chaire which hath chiefely blinded the world with errours, and hath poysoned kings and people with the cuppe of Nazianz. Cygnea Carmin.her fornications, to bee called the seate of the Antichrist. Nazianzenus in a generall sense, counteth Arrius, whom hee pointeth out by the stile of a recent Apostate, and Nestorius, by whose opinion the natures of Christ were diuided, to be Antichrists. But Chrysostome, in a proper sense, supposeth him to bee Antichrist, who should treade vnderunder foote the Romane Empire: like as the Romanes had subdued the kingdome of the Macedonians, Chrysost. 2. Epist. Thess. 2. Homil. 4.and …he Macedonians had subdued the kingdome of the Persians, and the Persians had vndone the kingdome of the Babylonians: Euen so (saith Chrysostome) the Antichrist shall vndoe the dominion of the Romanes: and in ende, the Antichrist shall bee 2. Thes. 2. 8consumed by the Spirit of Christs mouth, and shall be abolished with the brightnesse of His comming.
Many thinges are written of the Antichrist, who deceaueth people in errour, so that they misknowe the Antichrist when hee is come, no lesse than the nation of the lewes misknew CHRIST Iren. cont. Valent. li. 5.when He was manifested in the flesh. They write, that he should bee of the Tribe of DAN, that hee shoulde bee borne in BABYLON, and hee shoulde bee brought vp in CORASIM and BETHSAIDA, that SATHAN shoulde ouer-shaddowe his mother, and poss…sse her, that hee should re-edifie the Temple of HIERVSALEM and that the people of the IEWES should adher… vntounto him. But all these opinions are grounded partlie vponupon a wrong interpr…tation of Scripture, and manie of them are sh…owded …alselie vnderunder the name of AVGVSTINE, Bisshop of HIPPO: but it is knowne that RABANVS, Archbishop of MENTZ, was the compiler of that foolishe TREATISE, De Antichristo, whereinto the fore-mentioned opinions are contained, and not AVGVSTINE. More-ouer, they Censura Lovan.say, that the Antichrist shoulde bee one particulare man, opposite to Christ, whose continuance in fighting against the Saincts shoulde not exceede the space of three yeeres and an halfe.
But what madnesse is it to referre the secrete beginning, the open tyrannie, the reuelation and destruction of the Antichrist to the person of one singulare man, which is a worke working from the dayes of the Apostles, vntill the second comming of Christ: The argument whereby some Papistes woulde make it to s…eme probable, that the Antichrist is one singulare man onelie, is taken from the force of the prepositiue article, foreign. A childish argument indeede, as who woulde saye, that it were not lawfull to praye in anie chamber, except in one on…lie, in respect of the prepositiue article set before foreign, in these wordes, foreign: that is, Enter into thy Matth. 6. 6chamber. The time of the continuance of the Antichristes persecution, three yeeres and an halfe, is borrowed from Augustine, who supposeth, that the horne which shall speake words against August. de ciuitate Dei lib. 20. ca, 22 Danie. 7. 25the moste High, and who shall chaunge times and lawes, as thinges giuen vntounto his handes, vntilla time and times, and the diuiding of a time: by this horne, I saye, Augustine supposeth the Antichrist to be presented: how beit others more judiciously hauehave referred this prophesie to Antiochus Epiphanes, who blasphemed God, chaunged Sabbo…hs and Festiuall dayes, yea, and by his impious lawes, presumed to abrogate the law of the Almightie God: and immediatelie after such presumptuous attempts, 1. Mach. 1. cap. 6. vers. …6.God shortened his dayes, for within the space of three yeeres, and some fewe dayes, hee ended his life in moste miserable manner.
They hauehave no better grounde to affirme that the Antichrist shall be of the Tribe of Dan, than this, Because the Tribe of Dan is not reckoned amongst the rest of the Tribes, Apocal. 7. yet this was not done to exclude this Tribe from the sauing marke of Christ, but to giuegive place to the Tribe of Leui, and not to exceede the number of twelue Tribes: for Holie Scripture, which commendeth the faith of Barak of the Tribe of Nephtali, and Gideon of the Tribe of Manasse, and Iphtah of the Tribe of Gad, commendeth also the faith of Samson of the Tribe of Dan, Hebr. cap. 2. vers. 11.
One thing I cannot passe by: The inuenters of such fables, that the Antichrist shoulde bee of the Tribe of Dan, borne in Babylon, &c. in some thinges hauehave ouer-seene themselues miserablie: namelie, when they affirme, that the Antichrist shall build the Temple of Hierusalem, and shall sit there in the Temple of God, and the nation of the Iewes shall adhere vntounto him, and immediatelie after this, the ende of the worlde shall come, and Christ shall destroye the Antichrist by the Spirit of his mouth. Roman. 11. 26. and 31 32Heere marke the great contradiction that is betwixt the prophesie of Paul, concerning the conuersion of the Iewes, before the seconde comming of Christ, and the foolish opinion of Papistes: Paul saieth, that the Iewes shall bee conuerted to the true faith before the Great daye of the LORDES seconde appearance: but Papistes saye, that the Iewes shall bee adhering to the Antichrist, when Christ shall come to judge the worlde, and to destroye the Antichrist, by the brightnesse of his comming. These two opinions cannot both consist: therefore, let the fable inuented by men fall, that place may bee giuen to the trueth of God, who is blessed for euermore,
AMEN.