Confutation of the Popes Bull, Part 2
That the Bishoppes fauourers, neither by these wordes of Christ, I hauehave prayed for thee Peter: nor yet by these wordes, Behold here be two swordes: can sufficiently proue, that that power is geuen them which they vaunt of.
NEuer a whit the more do these mē further or beautifie their case, when againe in defence of thēselues and their soueraigntie, they alledge our sauioures wordes at such tyme as he sayd vntounto Peter:Luk. 22. Simō, behold Sathan hath craued you, that he might winow you as it were wheat. But I hauehave prayed for thee Peter, that thy faith may not faile, &c. For, too what purpose this sentence pertayneth, the Lord himselfe declareth immediatly by the wordes which he addeth, saying: And when thou art turned againe, strengthen thy bretherne. Starke mad and geuen vp into a wilfull wicked mynde must he néedes be, that wresteth these sayinges to the maintenance of the Popes most wrongfull power: which are most manifestly apparant to be spoken to the admonishment and comforte of such as are falne. For that place, by warning vsus before hand, doth simply teach vsus the same thing which Peter him selfe hath taught vsus afterward, saying: your aduersarie the deuill walketh about like a roaring Lyon, séeking whome he may deuour (which thing our Lord expressed by saying, He hath craued you to winowe you, whome withstande you watching by fayth. For the Lord in those his wordes vntounto Peter, teacheth vsus not only that thing, but also this: namely, that our standing out in temptations, is not by our own strength, but by the defence, helpe, and benefite of Christe our Lord, who doubtlesse geueth, increaseth, and maintayneth fayth in vsus,1. Iohn. 5. which Iohn in his Epistle calleth the victory that ouercōmeth the world. Furthermore it teacheth vsus, that neither the offences which we hauehave committed, nor the incessant and importunate trauailes of Satan against vsus, must in any wise make vsus dispayre, when we be exercised with temptations, yea or also falne in our encounters: considering how Peter the denier, yea and forswearer of Christ, obtayned forgeuenesse at Christes handes: which was done for an euerlasting assuraunce and witnesse, that all sinners although they be beguiled by Sathan, shall neuerthelesse be gently receyued into fauour, if they returne to the Lorde. For this is it that Peter (beyng himselfe winowed by Sathan, but yet gathered vp againe, and set vponupon his féete and preserued by the protection of Christ) shoulde strengthē his brethrē. And what I pray you do these things make for the stablishing of the vnmeasurable and most licentious power of Popes? It neuer came in the mynde of Christ nor yet of Peter, to thinke any thing therof. Full of sacrilege therefore is these most corrupt mens exposition, whiche they force vppon vsus, vtterly against our Lordes wordes.
The fayth of the Church of Rome neuer fayled.But what should it make to the proofe of their souereintie, though it were neuer so true which they say, that the fayth of the Romain church neuer fayled? Yet finde we not that the Lord spake any such thing here. I hauehave prayed for thée Peter, (sayth he) that thy fayth may not fayle. And although Peters fayth which he had geuen him, which also he preached, yea and (adde further) which he preached at Rome, be continuall, and such as neuer fayleth as truely, through Gods grace, it florisheth in places innumerable at this day through the whole world, and like as also it was neuer vtterly quenched at any tyme): what pertayneth yt to the Romish Church in these dayes, and to ye most arrogant supremacie of ye same? But it is much more easily spokē then proued, that the fayth of the Romane church neuer fayled, if by her fayth, ye meane that simple and vncorrupted fayth which Peter had and taught.Comparison betwene Peters fayth and the Romish fayth. For to auoyde multiplieng of wordes, goe to: let indifferent comparison be made, what maner of doctrine and fayth Peters was in old tyme, and what maner of doctrine and fayth the Romaine churches is at this day, vnderunder the Romane bishops. Go too, let comparison also be made betwene the maners & whole lyfe of Peter, and the maners and lyues of the Romish bishops, which will néedes be Peters successors. And therupō let iudgement be geuen.
When the Lord after supper, as he was goyng to the garden of mount Oliuet, bad his disciples sell euen their garmentes and get them swordes:Christes bidding of his disciples buy thē swordes. and vponupon the answer of his disciples how they had two in redinesse, sayd they were enowe: he did not then deliuer both the swordes as well spirituall as temporall, to be vsed in the Church vntounto Peter, to whome onelyonly and peculiarly he did not then speake. For by and by he addeth the cause of this his commaundement, saying: I say vntounto you, yet must this Scripture be fulfilled in mée, and he was reckoned among offenders, verely meaning thereby, that he should vppon mounte Oliuet be bound and led away as a transgressor, and that his disciples also should be put in extreme hazarde of their liues: from which notwithstanding he would deliuer them, not by the terror of any sworde, but by his owne only voyce or power. The Lord then ment another thing, yea and a farre other thing, than to yeld the vse of the temporall sword, and this endlesse authoritie either to Peter, or to any other mā. Nay rather whē his disciples were redy armed to fight, he ment too set before their eyes, euē vpō mount Oliuet, that in the persecutions which should come vponupon thē for his sake, they should not be deliuered by the helpe of temporall swordes, but by the ayde and worde of their maister Christ, saying: if ye séeke me, let these go their wayes. And to this end did the Lord suffer Peter to draw his sworde, and to make assault vponupon Malchus the bishops seruaunt. But what preuayled Peter by that? So little did he with that sworde of his deliuer himselfe or his fellowdisciples, (and much lesse his maister) from the present daungers: that he had rather turned the bloudy weapons of his enemies vponupon himselfe, if his maister had not sayd, let these go their wayes. Then was it Christes protection, and not the sword, that saued the disciples: and euen at this day also, as many as be saued in persecution, are saued by the same defence. Which thing he ment to shew to the eye by those swordes, both to them and to vsus: warning vsus couertly by the way, that in persecution we must turne vntounto Christ and craue his help, who is able euen with a worde to asswage any manner of tempestes, be they neuer so outragious. And to this purpose serued the swordes, at leastwise which were brought at this tyme and to this ende to mount Oliuete at the commaundement of Christ.
Besides this, the Lord expounding his owne woordes, turneth hym vntounto Peter and sayth:Matth. 26. put vp thy sword into the sheathe, for all they that take the sword, shall perish wt the sword. Thinkest yu not that I can presently pray to my father, and he will geue me mo then xij. legions of angels. But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled? for so must it bée. Séeing therfore that the Lord commaundeth Peter earnestly to put vp his sworde into the scaberd: who séeth not, yt the Lordes bidding of his disciples to cary out swords with them, was to the end that now by this sight, he might openly and effectually and without all couerture, restraine the vse of the sword, both from Peter, and frō all ministers, yea and to plucke it out of their handes when they had taken it already? Considering then how the Lord pulled that temporall sword out of the handes of Peter: what wicked féend willeth you Bishops to draw the sworde againe out of the scaberd, contrary to the Lordes commaundement, & to shake it, and to misuse it at your owne pleasure? Doth it not irke you and shame you to say, that by these wordes of of the Lordes, is sufficiently geuen vntounto you the power of both swordes, whē as he hath geuē you so little or nothing at all therof hitherto, that he hath euen openly striken the temporall sword out of your handes? Now let the whole world iudge whether those Romish gripes hauehave proued by the foresayd textes of Scripture, that Christ hath geuen vntounto them the very full power of both the swordes. Certesse the testimonies which they hauehave hitherto alledged out of the Scriptures, hauehave not onelyonly not geuen any thing too them: but also taken from them all the thinges which they clayme to themselues against all right and reason.