The Practice of Prelates, Part 1
¶ Peter was not greater then the other Apostles, by any aucthoritie geuen hym of Chryst.
THey saye that Peter was chefe of the Apostles, verely as Apelles was called chefe of painters for his excellent conning aboue other, euen so Peter may be called thefe of ye Apostles for his actiuitie ād boldnes aboue the other: but that Peter had any aucthoritie or rule ouer his bretheren & fellow apostles, is fals & cōtrary to the scriptur. Christ forbad it the last euen before his passion, ād in dyuerse times befor, and taught always the contrary, as I hauehave rehersed.
Thou wylt saye: thou canst not see how there shuld be any good ordre in ye kingdom, where none weare Better then other, and where the superiour had not a lawe ād authoritie to compell the inferyour with violē ce. The world truly can se none other way to rule, then with violence. For there no mā absteyneth from euel / but for feare, because the louelove of ryghtuousnes is not written in theyr hartes. And therfore the Popes kingdome is of thys worlde. For there one sorte are your Grace, your Holynesse, your fatherhod: An other, my lorde bisshop my Lorde Abbot, my Lord Priour / An other / master doctour / father, bachelar / master parson / master vicar, and at the last commeth in simple sir Iohan. And eueryevery man reygneth ouer other wyth myght and hauehave eueryevery ruler his pryson his iayler / hys chaynes / hys tormentes / euen so much as ye fryers obseruauntes obserue that rule, and cō pell eueryevery man eyther with violence aboue ye cruelnes of the heathē tiraūts, so yt what cometh ones in, maye neuer out for feare of tellyng tales out of scole. They rule ouer the bodye with violence and cōpell it whether the harte wyll or not, to obserue thinges of their owne making.
But in the kyngdom of God it is contrarye. For ye spirite that bringeth thē thether maketh thē wyllyng & geueth thē luste vntounto the lawe of God, & louelove compelleth them to worke / and louelove maketh everye mans good and all that he can do, commune vntounto hys neyghbours neade. And as every man is strōge in that kingdome, so louelove compelleth him to take the weake by the hande / and to helpe him, and to take him, that can not goo vppon his shulders and beare him. And so to do seruice vntounto ye weaker, is to beare rule in that kyngdome.
And because Peter did excede the other apostles in fervēt service towarde his brethern, therfore is he called (not in the scripture but in the vse of speaking) the chefeste of the Apostles, and not that he had any dominiō ouer thē. Of which truth thou mayest se all thy practise in the A…tes of the Apostles after the resurrectiō. For when Peter had bene & preached in the house of Cor +nelis an hethē mā, the other that were circūcysed, chode hym, because he had bene in an vncyrcumcised mās house and had eatē wt hī, for it was forbyddē in ye lawe, neyther wist they yet yt y• hethē shuld be called. And Peter was fayne to gyue accountes vntounto thē (which is not tokē of superiorite) ād to shew thē how he was warned of the holy gost so to do Actes. xi.
And Actes the .xv. whē a counsell was gathered of the apostles ād dyscyples aboute ye cyrcūcysiō of the hethē, Peter brought forth not hys cōmaundemēt and the auctoryte of hys vycarshyppe, but the myracle yt the holy gost had shewed for the heathen / how at the preaching of the gospel, the holy gost had lyghted vppon thē and purytyed theyr hartes thorow fayth, and therfore ꝓ…ed that they ought not to be circumcysed.
And Paule & Barnabas brought forth the myracles also that God had shewed by thē / amōg the heathē, thorow preachyng of fayth. And thē Iames brought forth a ꝓphecy of the olde testamēt for the sayde partie: And ther with the aduersaries gaue ouer their hold / and they cōcluded wyth one assent by ye auctorytie of the scripture & of ye holy gost, yu ye heathen shuld not be circū cised / and not by the commaundement of Peter, vnderunder payne of cursing, excommunycatyon interdytyng and lyke bogges to make foles and chyldren afrayed wyth all.
And Actes. viij. Peter was sent of ye other apostles vntounto the samaritanes / which is an evident token that he had in iurisdiccion ouer them (for then they coulde not hauehave sent hym) But rather (as the truth is) yt the congregacion had auctorytie ouer hym and ouer all other pryuate Parsons, to admitte them for ministres and send thē forth to preach whether so euer the sprite of god moued them / and as they sawe occasyon.
And in the Epystle vntounto ye Gallathians thou seist also howe Paule corrected Peter when he walked not the ryght waye after the truth of the Gospell.Galla. ij. So now thou seyst that in the kingdome of Chryst, and in his churche or congregation, and in his coū sels,Scripture is the chefest of the apostles. the ruler is the scripture approued thorowe the myracles of the holy gost and mē be seruaunts onelyonly▪ and Chryst is the heade and we all bretheren: And when we call men oure heades, yt we do not, because they be shorne or shauen, or because of theyr names, parson, vicar, bisshoppe, pope: But onelyonly because of the worde which they preach. If they erre frō the worde / then may who soeuer God moueth his harte, playe pauil▪ and correct hī. If he wyl not obeye the scripture / then hauehave hys brethern aucthoritie by the scripture to put hym downe & to sende hī out of Chrystes church amonge the heretikes which preferre their false doctryne aboue the true woorde of Chryst.