Ceremonies of the Monstrous Popish Mass, Part 2 · Chapter 26
Of the thinges that are to be conſidered in this Crede, concerning thoſe matters which we are preſently in hand withall. CHAPTER XXVI.
a WE hauehave already ſpokē ſomwhat largelie, of the ſinging & ſilēce of the crede in the Maſſe. In the Maſſe booke, it is commaunded to be ſaid on this feſtiuall day, and on the octaues thereof. There is concerning the recitall of the Creede, a Decree in the third Councel of Tolede, ſolemnized in the dayes of pope Pelagius the ſecond: which expreſlie commaundeth, That it ſhould be recited and deliuered verie loudly before the Lordes prayer, throughout all the Churches of Gallice and Spaine, after the maner of the Eaſt Churches, and Councell of Conſtantinople: to the end that the faith might be manifeſted, and hauehave teſtimonie, ſo that the hartes of the people which were purified by faith, might go & receaue the bodie and blood of our Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt. Which Decree, manifeſtly confirmeth that which we hauehave alreadie ſpokē hereof elſewhere. There is alſo a Decree in the Councel of Baſil, againſt ſuch as ſhould ſay it by halfes, as I hauehave oftentimes ſene them do,Ex lib. Con, when I went to Maſſe being then very yōg. Our Prieſts ſong the creede after the Almain maner, which they called the Almaine crede, & it went no further then to, & homo factus eſt, & there they ended it. They vſed it when they had haſt to their dinner, and were wearied to ſay the Creede out at length: and no doubt of it, they deale ſo with it euen at this day, for all the decreé of the Counſell of Baſill.
b This aduertiſſement concerneth the iollie ſhew of the countenance & ſleight of the handes, which Sir Gurdegobreſſe muſt hold & maintaine.
c A Creatour, is more proper and vſuall, then a maker: and the Greeke word is ſo ſet downe for that purpoſe. And therefore ſeeing it is ſo, that God is the creatour of all thinges, and conſequētly the Gouernour and Guider of them, and vpholdeth and mainteineth them, why runne the prieſts to creatures, and other what ſoeuer they are, whether it be to men, or women Saintes, but to him alone, if they take him for the creatour, & father, and all the reſt, for creatures. For, to pray to any other then vntounto God, is againſt this Article. For, prayer without faith, cannot be right. Now, none of vsus all confeſſe in this Creede, which conteineth the very whole ſome and effect of Faith and Chriſtian religion, that we beliue in any other then in God the Father, the Sonne, & the holy Ghoſt. No, we do not ſay that we beleue in the Church her ſelfe: But only that we do beleue the Church. For, there is a difference betwene that that we beleue of the Church, and that which we beleue of God the Father, of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghoſt, & in them: in whom, we ſay we beleue: that is to ſay, that we put our whole truſt and confidence in them, but not in the Church. For, it, is compoſed of men: and as the Prophete ſayeth, curſed is that man, which putteth his truſt in man. Wherefore, we onelyonly ſay, that as we put our truſt in the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghoſt: we beleue alſo that ther is a Church, that is to ſay, an holy aſſemblee, by reaſon of this affiaunce that it hath in the Father▪ the Sonne, & the holy Ghoſt, by whom it is ſanctified, and ſtayeth it ſelfe vponupon one God, who is father vntounto it, by the louelove of his ſonne Ieſus Chriſt, through the ſanctification of the holy Ghoſt. Then is it not God, neither the Father, nor the Sonne, nor yet the holy Ghoſt, nor any parte or member of the Deitie, no not the Angels them ſelues: but are all creatures. And therefore, if it be not lawfull to beleue in them, neither is it lawfull to call vponupon them in ſteed of God, and of our Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt our Lord, and giuegive them the honour which apperteineth to God alone, if we will not gaine ſay the whole volume of the word of God, the Church it ſelfe, and the faith thereof: I meane not the Popiſh church, which is not pleaſed with ſuch a faith, but the true auncient Chriſtian Church.
d Againe, this onelyonly Article, by which the true Church confeſſeth Ieſus to be the onelyonly Lord, & true Chriſt, the onelyonly true and naturall Sonne of God, is of it ſelfe ſufficient enough to ouerthrow not onelyonly the Maſſe, but alſo all the reſt of the Popiſh doctrine and religion, For, if he be Chriſt, he is the very anointed of the Lord, our very King, high and euerlaſting Biſhop, and Prieſt, and true Prophet, who freed vsus from the power and tyrannie of Satan, from ſinne, death, and hell, as our very true King, and reconciled vntounto his Father, by the ſacrifice of his death (which is ſpoken of in the Articles following) as our true ſacrificer, who onelyonly hath power to do it, & our alone Mediatour and Aduocate: and plainely reuealed and manifeſted to vsus the whole will of God, not onelyonly as a Prophet, but as the very true ſonne of God, comming from the boſome of his Father.Iohn 1.14. And therefore we neede none other doctrine and reuelatiō, nor yet mens traditions, for our ſaluation: neither yet any other Sacrifice, Sauiour, Redeemour, Mediatour, Aduocate, and patron, to God for vsus. For, as there is none other, that is very God and very mā, but he alone: Euen ſo likewiſe can none other performe this office. And this is the cauſe of that incarnation, which was ſpoken of a litle before: by which, the ſonne of God, being one and the ſelfe ſame God, and of the ſelfe ſame ſubſtance with the Father, tooke vponupon him mans nature, & was made man,Iohn 1. 1. Tim. 2, 3. to the ende that both God and man, might in him, be conioined and reconciled.
e If the doctrine of tranſubſtantiation be true, and ſuch as doth admit and allow, the carnall preſence of Ieſus Chriſt in the Maſſe, this Article of Ieſus Chriſt his Aſcenſion into heauen is falſe, or elſe the body of Ieſus Chriſt is no true body. For it is not ſaid that he hid him ſelfe, and became inuiſible, continuing here below vponupon earth, but that he is Aſcended into heauen.
f There is none other comming of Ieſus Chriſt in the fleſh, and in proper perſon, ſpoken of throughout the whole Creede, ſaue onelyonly theſe two which hauehave hetherto bene here ſpoken of. There is here no mention made of this inuiſible comming, of the hoſte of the prieſtes, nor yet of this carnall preſence, deuiſed by them of the Popiſh church. Seeing then it is ſo, why are they iudged for heretiques, which beleue all that is conteined in that Creede, neither yet deny any thing that is thereof conteined throughout the whole volume of the holy Scriptures, wheron it is groū ded? Contrarywiſe, why are they taken for Catholikes, and faithfull Chriſtians, which beleue it not, but beleue, mainteine, & teach all to the contrary, denying both by their doctrine and workes, that, which they here confeſſe with their mouths, as we might preſently ſhew from point to point, if we had not already, very largely and plainely handled the ſame in our Dialogues vpō the common Creede, called the Apoſtles Creede.