The Institutes of the Christian Religion — John Calvin

The Institutes of the Christian Religion · John Calvin

The .xix. Chapter. Of the fiue falsly named Sacramentes: where is declared, that the other fyue which hauehave ben hetherto commonly taken for Sacramentes, are not Sacramentes: and then is shewed what manner of thinges they be.

OUr former discourse concerning Sacramentes myghte hauehave obteined thys with the sobre and willing to learne, that they should not ouer curiously procede any further, nor shold without the word of God embrace any other Sacraments beside those twoo which they knewe to be ordeined of y^e Lord. But forasmuch as that opinion of the seuen Sacramentes, being commonly vsed in al mens take, hauing wādered through all scholes and preachinges, hath by very auncientie gathered rootes, and is yet styll settled in the myndes of men: I thought that I should do a thing worth the trauail, if I should seuerally and more nerely searche those other fyue that are commonly adnumbred among the true and naturall Sacramentes of the Lorde, and wyping away al deceitfull color, shoulde set them fourth to be seen of the simple suche as they be, and how falsly they hauehave ben hetherto taken for Sacramentes. First, I here protest to al the godly, that I doe not take in hande this contention aboute the name for any desire of striuing, but that I am by weighty causes led to fight againste the abuse of it I am not ignorante that Christians are Lordes, as of wordes, so of al thinges also, & therfore may at their wil apply wordes to thinges, so that a godly sense be kept, although there be some vnproprenesse in the speaking. Al thys I graunt: although it were better that the woordes shoulde be made subiect to thinges, than thinges to the wordes. But in the name of Sacrament there is an other consideratiō. For they which make seuen Sacramentes, do therewithal geue to them al this definition, y^t they be visible formes of inuisible grace: they make them altogether vessells of the Holy ghost: instrumentes of geuing of righteousnesse, causes of the obteining of grace. Yea and the Maister of the sentences himselfe denyeth that the Sacramentes of the lawe of Moses are properly called by this name, because they did not deliuer in dede the thing that they figured. Is it, I beseche you, to be suffred, that those signes which the Lord hath hallowed with his own mouth, which he hath garnished with excellent promises, should not be accompted for Sacramentes: and in the meane time this honor shoulde be conueyed away to those vsages which men either hauehave deuised of themselues, or at least do obserue without expresse commaundement of God? Therefore either let them change the definition, or let them absteine from the wrongfull vsing of this worde, which doth afterwarde engender false opinions and ful os absurditie. Extreme anointing (say they) is a figure and cause of inuisible grace, because it is a Sacrament. If we ought in no wise to graunt that which they gather vponupon it, then truely we must resist them in the name it selfe, least therby we admitt that it maye geue occasion to such an error. Againe when they would proue it to be a Sacrament, they adde thys cause, for that it consisteth of y^e outwarde signe and the worde. If we finde neither commaundement nor promise of it, what can we do ells but crye out against them?

Now appeareth y^t we brawle not about the worde, but do moue a cōtrouersie not superfluous cōcerning the thing it selfe. Therfore this we must strongly hold fast, which we hauehave with inuincible reson before cō firmed, y^t the power to institute a Sacrament is in the hande of none but of God only. For a Sacrament ought w^t a certaine promise to raise vp & cōfort y^e cōsciēces of y^e faythful: which could neuer receiue this certaintie from man.Esay. xl.xiii. Rom. xi.…xxiiii. A Sacrament ought to be to vsus a witnessing of the good wil of God towarde vsus, wherof none of all men or Angels can be witnesse, forasmuch as none hath ben of Gods counsell. Therefore it is he alone which doth with right authoritie testifie of himself to vsus by his worde. A Sacramēt is a seale, wherw^t the testament or promise of God is sealed. But it could not be sealed with bodily thinges and elementes of thys worlde, vnlesse they be by the power of God framed and appoynted therunto. Therfore mā can not ordeine a Sacrament, because this is not in the power of man, to make that so great mysteries of God should lye hidden vnderunder so base thynges. The worde of God muste goe before, which maye make a Sacrament to be a Sacrament, as Augustine very well teacheth.Homil. in Iol. 5. lxxx. Act. ix.xl. &. x.xxxvi. Moreouer it is profitable that there be kepte some difference betwene the Sacramentes and other ceremonies, vnlesse we will fall into many absurdities. The Apostles prayed kneling: therfore men shall not kneele without a Sacrament. It is sayd that the disciples prayed toward the East: therfore the loking into the East shalbe a Sacrament. Paule willeth men in eueryevery place to lift vp pure handes,i. Tim. ii.viii. and it is rehearsed that holy mē oftentimes prayed with their handes lifted vp: then let the lifting vp of hands also be made a Sacramēt. Finally let all the gestures of the holy ones turne into Sacramentes. Howbeit I would not also muche passe vppon these thinges, if so that they were not ioyned with those other greater discommodities.

If they will presse vsus with the authoritie of the olde Chirche, I saye that they pretende a false color. For this number of seuen is no where founde among the Ecclesiasticall writers: neither is it certaine at what time it first crept in. I graūt in dede y^t somtime thei be very free in vsing y^e name of a sacramēt: but what meane they therby? euē al ceremonies & outward rites, & al exercises of godlinesse. But whē they speake of those signes, that ought to be witnesses of the grace of God towarde vsus, they are contented with these twoo, Baptisme, and the Supper. Least anye man should thinke that I falsely boste of this,Episto. 11…. I will here reherse a few testimonies of Augustine. To Ianuarius he sayth: First I would hauehave thee to holde fast that whiche is the chiefe poynt of this disputation, that our Lorde Christ (as he hymselfe saith in the gospell) hath made vsus subiect to a light yoke and a light burden. Wherfore he hath bounde together the felowship of the newe people with Sacramentes very fewe in numbre, very easy in obseruyng, very excellent in signification. As are Baptisme halowed in the name of the Trinitie, and the Cōmunicating of the body and blood of the Lorde, and whatsoeuer els is sett foorth in the cononicall Scriptures. Agayne, in his boke of Christian doctrine.Lib. iii. cap. ix. Sins the Lordes resurrection, the Lord himself and the doctrine of the Apostles hathe deliuered certaine fewe signes in stede of many, and those most easy to be done, most reuerend in vnderstanding, most pure in obseruing: as is Baptism, and the Celebrating of the body and blood of the Lorde. Why dothe he here make no mention of the holy number, that is, of the number of seuen? Is it likely that he would hauehave passed it ouer, if it had ben at that tyme ordeyned in the Chirch, specially sithe he is otherwyse in obseruyng of numbres more curious than nede were? Yea, when he nameth Baptisme and the Supper, & speaketh nothyng of the rest: doth he not sufficiently signifie, that these two mysteries do excell in singular dignitie, and that the other ceremonies doo reste benethe in a lower degree? Wherfore I say that these Sacramentarie doctors are destitute not onelyonly of the worde of the Lorde, but also of the consent of the old Chirch, how much soeuer they glory of this pretence? But now let vsus come downe to the speciall thynges themselues.

¶Of Confirmation.

This was the maner in olde tyme, that the children of Christians, when they were growen to age of discretion, should be brought before the Bishop: that they shoulde fulfyll that duetie whiche was required of those that being growen in yeres did offer them selues to Baptisme, For these sate among those that were to bee catechized, till being fully instructed in the mysteries of the faith, they coulde make a confession of their faith before the bishoppe and the people. Therfore they that were baptised being infantes, bicause they hadde not then made confession of their faith before the Chirch, were aboute the ende of their childehod or in the beginning of their yeares of discretion presented againe by their parentes, and were examined of the Bishop accordyng to the forme of the Catechisme, whiche they had then certaine and common. And that this doyng, which otherwise ought worthily to be graue & holy, myght hauehave the more reuerence and dignitie, there was added also the Ceremonie of layeng on of handes. So that same childe, his faith beyng allowed, was let goe with solemne blessyng. The old writers do oft make mention of this maner. Leo the Pope writeth: If any returne from heretikes, let hym not be baptised agayn: but (which he wanted among the Heretikes) let the vertue of the Spirite be geuen hym by the Bishops layeng on of his handes.Epist. 39. Here our aduersaries will crie out, that it is rightfully called a Sacrament, in which the holy ghost is geuē, but Leo himselfe dothe in an other place declare what he meaneth by those wordes: Whoso (saith he) is baptized among heretikes, let him not be rebaptized, but with callyng vponupon the Holy ghoste,Episto. lxxvii. lett him be confirmed with laieng on of hands: because he receiued only the form of Baptisme without sanctifieng. Hierome also maketh mētion of it, writing against the Luciferians. But although I do not denye that Hierome somwhat erreth therin, for that he saith that it is an obseruation of the Apostles: yet he is most far from these mennes follies. And the very same also he qualifieth, when he addeth, that this blessing is geuē to the bishops onlye, rather in honor of their presthode than by the necessitie of lawe. Therfore suche laying on of handes, whiche is done simply in stede of blessing, I prayse and woulde that it were at thys daye restored to the pure vse thereof.

But the later age, hauyng in a maner blotted out the thyng it selfe, hath set I wot not what fained confirmation for a Sacrament of God. They hauehave fained that the vertue of Confirmation is, to geue the Holy ghost to the encrease of Grace, which in Baptisme was geuen to innocentie: to strengthen them to battaile, which in Baptisme wer new begotten to lyfe. This Confirmation is celebrate with annoyntyng, and with this forme of wordes, I signe thee with the signe of the holy crosse, and confirme thee with the chresme of saluation, in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the Holy ghost. All this is gayely and trimly done. But where is the woorde of God, that maye promise here the presence of the Holy ghost? They can not bring forth one tittle. Wherby then will they certifie vsus that their chresme is the vessell of the Holy ghoste? We see oyle, that is, a thicke and fatt liquor and nothyng ells. Let the worde (sayth Augustine) be added to the element, & there shalbe made a Sacrament. Let them (I say) bryng foorth this worde, if they will hauehave vsus in the oyle to loke vponupon any thyng but the oyle. If they dyd acknowlege themselues ministers of the Sacramentes, as they ought, we neded to striue no longer. This is the first lawe of a minister, y^t he do nothing without cōmaūdemēt. Go to, let them bring forth any cōmaūdemēt of this point ministerie, & I will not speake one word more. If they hauehave no cōmaūdemēt, they can not excuse their boldnesse full of sacrilege. After this maner the Lord asked the Pharisees,Mat. xii xxv. whether the Baptisme of Iohn were from heauen or from men: if they had answered, from men, thē he had made them confesse that it was trifling and vayne: if from heauen, then were they compelled to acknowlege the doctrine of Iohn. Therfore least they shoulde to much sclander Iohn, thei durst not confesse that it was from men. If therfore Confirmation be from men, it is proued to be vaine and trifling: if they will persuade vsus that it is from heauen, let them proue it.

They do in dede defend themselues with the example of the Apostles, whom they think to hauehave done nothing rashly. That is wel in dede: neither woulde we blame them, if they shewed themselues folowers of the Apostles.Act. viii.xv. But what did the Apostles? Luke reporteth in the Actes, that the Apostles which were at Hierusalem, when they hearde that Samaria hadde receiued the worde of God, sent thether Peter and Iohn: they prayed for the Samaritans, y^t they might receiue the Holy ghost, which was not yet come into any of them, but they were baptized onelyonly in the name of Iesus: when they had prayed, they laied their hands vpō them: by which layeng on, the Samaritanes receiued the Holy ghost. And of this laieng on of hands he diuerse tymes maketh mentiō. I heare what the Apostles did: that is, they faithfully executed their ministrie. The Lord willed that those visible and wonderfull graces of the Holy ghost, which he then poured out vponupon his people, shold be ministred and distributed of his Apostles by the laieng on of handes. But vnderunder this laieng on of hands I thinke there was not conteined any hier mysterie: but I expound it, that they adioyned such a ceremonie, that by the very outeward doyng they mighte signifie, that they commended and as it were offred to God him vponupon whome they laid their handes. If this ministerie which y^e Apostles then executed, were yet stil remaining in y^e Chirch, the layeng on of handes also ought to be kept. But sins that same grace hath cessed to be geuen, whereto serueth the laieng on of handes? Truelye the Holy ghost is yet present with the people of God, without whom being guider & directer, the Chirch of God can not stande. For we hauehave the eternal promise and which shal euer stande in force, by which Christ calleth to him self them that thirst,Ioh. vii.xxxvii. that they may drinke liuing waters. But those miracles of powers, and manifest workinges, which were distributed by the layeng on of handes, hauehave ceassed, neither behoued it that they should be, but for a time. For it behoued that the preaching of the Gospell while it was new, should be gloriously set fourth and magnified, with vnheard of and vnwonted miracles. From which when the Lord cessed, he did not by and by forsake his Chirch, but taught that the royaltie of his kingdome, and the dignitie of his word was excellentlye enough disclosed. In what point therfore wil these stageplaiers say that they follow the Apostles? They shoulde hauehave done it with layeng on of handes, that the euident power of the Holy ghost might by and by shew forth it self. Thys they bring not to passe: why therfore do they bost that the laieng on of hādes maketh for them, which we rede in dede that the Apostles vsed, but altogether to an other ende?

This hath like reason as if a man shoulde teache that that breathing wherewith the Lord breathed vpō his disciples, is a Sacrament wherby the Holy ghost is geuen.Iohn. xx.xxii. But whereas the Lord did this ones, he did not also will that we should do the same. After the same maner also the Apostles layed on their handes, during the time that it pleased the lord that the visible graces of the Holy ghoste shoulde bee distributed at their praiers: not that they which come after, shold only playerlike and without the thing in dede coūterfait an empty & cold signe, as these apes do. But if they proue that in layeng on of handes they folow the Apostles, (wherein they hauehave no like thing with the Apostles, sauing I wote not what ouerthwart wrongfull counterfaiting) yet whense cometh their oyle which they call y^e oile of saluatiō? Who taught them to seke saluatiō in oyle? Who taught them to geue to it the power of strengthning? Did Paule,Ga. iiii.ix Colo. ii.xx. which draweth vsus far away from y^e elements of this world, whiche condemneth nothing more than the sticking to suche pety obseruations? But this I boldly pronounce, not of my selfe, but from the Lorde. Whoso call oyle the oyle of saluation, they forsweare the saluation whiche is in Christ, they denye Christ they hauehave no part in the kingdome of God. For oyle is for the belly, and the belly for oyle: the Lorde shall destroy bothe. For all these weake elementes, whiche decay with very vse, belong nothing to the kyngdome of God, which is spiritual and shal neuer decay. What then? wil some men say: do you measure with the same measure, the water wherewith we be baptyzed, and the bread and wine vnderunder which the Supper of the Lord is geuen? I answere that in Sacramentes geuen of God, twoo thinges are to bee loked vntounto: the substāce of the bodily thing which is set before vsus, and the forme that is by the worde of God printed in it, wherin lyeth the whole strength. In respect therfore that the bread, wine, and water that are in the Sacramē tes offred to our sight, do kepe their owne substance, this saieng of Paul alway hath place▪ i. Cor. vi.xiii.Meate for belly, and the bellye for meates: God shall destroy them both. For they passe and vanish away with the fashiō of this world. But in respect that they be sanctified by the word of God, that they may be Sacramentes, they do not hold vsus in the flesh, but doo truely and spiritually teache vsus.

But let vsus yet more nerely loke into it, how many monsters this fat liquor fostreth and fedeth. These anoynters saye, that the Holy ghost is geuen in Baptisme, to innocence: in Confirmatiō, to encrease of grace, y^t in Baptisme, we are new begotten into life: in confirmation, we ar prepared to battell. And they are so paste shame, that they deny that Baptisme can well bee doone without confirmation. O wickednesse. Are we not therfore in Baptisme buried together wyth Christ, being made partakers of hys death, that we maye bee also parteners of hys resurrection. But thys felowship wyth the death and life of Christ Paule expoundeth to be the mortifieng of our flesh,Ro. vi.iiii and quickning of our spirite: for that our olde man is crucified, that we may walk in newnesse of life. What is to be armed to battel if this be not? If they comp…ed it a matter of nothing, to trede vnderunder feete the word of God: why did they not yet at least reuerēce the Chirch, to whom they wil in eueryevery point seme so obedient. But what can be brought forth more strōg against their doctrine, thā that decree of the Mileuitane councel? Whoso sayeth that Baptisme is geuen onelyonly for forgeuenesse of sinnes, and not for a helpe of grace to come,Acts. viii.xvi. accursed be he. But whereas Luke, in the place which we hauehave alleged, sayth that they were baptised in the name of Iesus Christe, which had not receiued the Holy ghost: he dothe not simply denie that they wer endued with any gift of y^e Holy ghost, which beleued in Christ with hart, and confessed him with mouth: but meaneth of that receiuing of the Holy ghost, wherby the open powers and visible graces were receiued.Act. ii.iiii So is it sayd that the Apostles receiued the Spirite on the day of Pentecost, wheras it had ben long before sayd vntounto them of Christ, It is not you that speake, but the Spirit of my Father which speaketh in you. Beholde all ye that are of God, the malicious and poysonous deceite of Satan. That thyng which was truely geuen in Baptisme, he lyengly saith to be geuen in his confirmation, that he may by stealth leade you vnware from Baptisme. Who now can doute that this is the doctrine of Satan, which cuttyng away from Baptisme the promises proprely belongyng to Baptisme, doth conuey away and remoue them to an other thyng? It is founde (I say) vponupon what maner of fundation this godly annoyntyng standeth. The worde of God is, that al they whiche are baptised in Christ,Gala. iii.xvii. De cons… dist. v. cap. Sp. hauehave put on Christe with his giftes. The worde of the anoynters is, that they receiued in Baptisme no promise, by which they may be armed in batails. That is the voice of the truth, therfore this must be the voice of lying. Therfore I can more truly define this Cōfirmation than they hauehave hetherto defined it: namely, that it is a notable sclander of Baptisme, whiche darkeneth, yea abolysheth the vse therof: that it is a false promise of the deuell, which draweth vsus away from the truthe of God. Or, if you will, it is oyle defiled with the lyeng of the deuill, whiche as it were by ouerspreadyng of darkenesse, deceiueth the eies of the simple.

They adde furthermore, that al the faithfull ought after Baptisme to receiue the Holy ghost by layeng on of handes, that they may be founde full Christians:Verba cap i. de Consecr. dis. v cō. aurel. ca. vt Ieiuni… because he shall neuer be a Christian, that is not chresmed with the Bishopps Confirmation. These be their owne sayinges worde for worde. But I had thought that whatsoeuer thyngs perteined to Christianitie, were all set forth in writyng and comprehended in Scriptures. Nowe, as I perceyue, the trewe forme of religion is to be soughte and learned from ells where than oute of the the Scriptures. Therfore the whole wisedome of God, the heauenly truthe, the whole doctrine of Christ, doth but beginne Christians, and oyle maketh them perfect. By this sentence ar damned al the Apostles, and so many Martyrs, whome it is moste certaine to hauehave neuer ben …hresmed: forasmuche as the oyle was not yet made, which beyng poured vponupon them, they myght fulfill all the partes of christianitie, or rather myght be made christians whiche yet were none. But, thoughe I holde my peace, they doo largely confute themselues. For, howe many of the numbre of their owne people doo they annoynt after Baptisme? why therfore do they suffer suche halfe christians in their flocke, whoes imperfection might easily be holpen? Why do they with so carelesse negligence suffer them to omitte that whiche was not lawfull to be omitted without greuous offense? Why do they not more seuerely cal vpō the keping of a thing so necessarie, and without which saluation cā not be obteined, vnlesse peraduenture some be preuented by death? Uerily when they so freely suffer it to bee despised, they secretly confesse that it is not of so greate value as they boste it.

Last of all they determine that this holy annoynting is to be had in greater reuerence than Baptisme:Cap. De his vero, Dist. eadem. because this anoynting is peculiarly ministred by the handes of the chefe Bishops, but Baptisme is cōmonlye distributed by eueryevery prest. What maye a man here say, but that they are vtterly mad, which so flatter their owne inuentions, that in comparison of them they carelesly despise the holy ordināces of God? O mouth that robbest God, darest thou set a fat liquor onelyonly defiled with the stink of thine owne breath, and enchaunted with murmuring sounde of wordes, against the Sacramēt of Christ, and to compare it with water hallowed with the word of God? But thy wickednesse accompted this but a smal matter, vnlesse thou didst also preferre it aboue the same. These be the answers,Trestle, Apollo among y^e Heathen gaue answeres & Prophecies at a threefooted boord or trestle Lib. iiii. Senten. Dist. vii cap. ii. of the Holy see, these be y^e Oracles of the Apostolike trestle. But some of them, euen in their owne opinion, begonne somewhat to qualifie this vnbridled madnesse. It is (say they) to be worshipped with greater reuerence: peraduenture not for the greater vertue and profitte that it geueth: but bicause it is geuen of the worthier men, and is made in the worthier part of the body, that is, in the forehed: or bicause it bringeth a greater encrease of vertues, although Baptisme auaile more to forgeuenesse. But in the first reason do they not bewraye themselues to be Donatistes, whiche measure the force of the Sacramente by the worthinesse of the minister. But I will admitte, that Confirmation bee called y^e worthier by reason of the worthinesse of the Bishops hand. But if a man aske of them, from whense so great prerogatiue hath ben geuē to Bishops, what reason will they bring beside their owne lust? The Apostles alone vsed that power, which alone distributed the Holye ghost? Are the Bishops alone Apostles? Yea, are they Apostles at all? But lette vsus also graunt them that: why do thei not by the same argumēt affirme, that Bishoppes alone ought to touche the Sacrament of the blood in the Supper of the Lorde: which they therfore denye to lay men, because the lord gaue it to the Apostles alone? If to the Apostles alone, why do they not conclude: therfore to the Bishops alone? But in that place they make the Apostles, simple prestes: but now the gyddynesse of their hed carrieth them an other way, sodeinly to create them Bishops. Finallye Ananias was no Apostle,Actes. ix.xvii. Dist. ix. cap. Peruenit. to whom yet Paule was sent, that he shoulde receiue his sight, be baptised, and be filled with the Holy ghoste. I will adde this also to the heape: If by the law of God this was the proper office of Bishops, why hauehave they ben so bolde to geue it away to common prestes? as we rede in a certaine epistle of Gregorie.

As for their other reason, howe triflyng, fond, and foolishe is it, to cal their Confirmation worthier than the Baptisme of God, because in it the forhead is anoynted with oyle, and in Baptisme the hynder part of the hed, as though Baptisme were done with the oyle and not with the water? I call all the godly to witnesse, whether these loselles do not endeuor them selues to this only end, to corrupt y^e purenesse of the Sacraments with their leauen. I hauehave alredy spoken this in an other place, y^t in the Sacramētes, that which is of God scarcely glimmereth through at holes, among the rout of the inuentions of men. If any man did not beleue me therein, let him now at least beleue his owne maisters. Loc, passing ouer the water, and making no accompt of it, they hyely esteme the onelyonly oyle in Baptisme. We therfore on the contrarye syde doo saye, that in Baptisme the forehed also is dipped in water. In comparison of this, we esteeme not your oyle worth one piece of dong, whether it be in Baptisme or in confirmation. If any allege y^t it is sold for more: by this adding of price, the goodnesse (if anye were in it) is corrupted: so muche lesse may they commend a most filthy deceite by theft. In the third reason they bewray their owne vngodlynesse, while they prate that in confirmation is geuen a greater encrease of vertues than in Baptisme. By the laying on of handes the Apostles distributed the visible graces of y^e Spirit. In what thing do these mens fat liquor shewe it selfe fruiteful? But away with these qualifiers, that couer one sacrilege with many sacrileges. It is like the Gordian: whiche it is better to breake in sonder, than to labor so much in vndoing it.

But now when they see themselues destitute of the word of God and probable reason, they pretend as they are wont, that it is a most auncient obseruation and stablished by consent of many ages. Although that were true, yet they wynne nothing thereby. A Sacrament is not from the earthe, but from heauen: not from men, but from God alone. They must proue God to be the authour of their confirmation if they wil hauehave it taken for a Sacrament. But why do they obiect antiquitie, whereas the olde writers, when they mynde to speake properly, doo no where recken moe Sacramentes than twoo? If a fortresse of our faith were to be sought from men, we hauehave an inuincible tower, that the old Fathers neuer acknowleged those for Sacramentes which these men do lyengly faine to be Sacramentes. The olde writers speake of the laying on of handes:Lib. iii. de bap. contra. Donat. Cap. xv…. but do they cal it a Sacrament? Augustine plainly affirmeth that it is no other thing than praier. Neither let them here bark against me with their stinking distinctions, that Augustine meante that not of the layeng on of handes vsed to confirmation, but whiche was vsed to healing or reconciliation. The boke remaineth and is abrode in the hā des of mē. If I wrest it to any other sense than Augustine himself wrot it, I giuegive them leaue after their ordinarie maner to oppresse me not onlye with rayling, but also with spitting at me. For he speaketh of thē that returned from Schisme to the vnitie of the Chirch. He denieth that thei neded to be newlye baptized: for he sayth, that the layeng on of handes sufficeth, that by the bonde of peace the Lord maye geue them the Holye ghost. But for asmuche as it might seeme an absurditie, that the layeng on of handes should be done of new rather than Baptisme: he sheweth a difference. For (sayth he) what other thing is the layeng of handes, than prayer vponupon a mā? And that this is his meaning, appeareth by an other place, where he sayeth: Hande is layed vponupon heretikes amended, for the coupling of Charitie,Lib v Cap. xxiii which is the greatest gifte of the Holy ghost, withoute whiche whatsoeuer holye thynges are in mann they a uayle not to saluation.

But I would to God we did kepe still y^e maner whiche I hauehave said to hauehave been in the old tyme, before that this vntimely deliuered image of a Sacramēt was borne: not that it should be such a confirmatiō as they faine, which can not ones be named without iniurie to Baptisme: but a catechizyng, whereby children or they that were nere to the age of discretion didde declare an accompt of their faith before the Chirch. But it should bee the beste manner of Catechizing, if a forme were written to that vse, conteinyng and familiarly setting oute a summe in a maner of al the articles of our religion, in which the whole Chirch of the faithful ought without controuersie to agree: that a chylde beyng ten yeres olde shoulde offer himselfe to the Chirch to declare a confession of his faithe, should be examined of eueryevery article, and answer to eueryevery one: if he were ignorant of any thing, or did not vnderstande it he might be taught. So shoulde he, before the Chirche witnessing and beholding it, professe the onelyonly, true, and pure faithe, wherewith the people of the faithfull dothe with one minde worship the one God. If this discipline were at this day in force, truly y^e slouthfulnesse of some parentes would be whetted, who do carelesly neglect instruction of their children as a thing nothing belonging to them, whiche then withoute open shame they could not omitte: there should be among christian people a greater consent of faith, and not so great ignorance and rudenesse of many: some should not bee so rashly carried away with new and strāge doctrines: finally all should hauehave as it were a certayne orderly instruction of christian learning.

Of Penance.

In the next place they set Penance, of which they entreate so confusely and disordredly, that consciences can beare away no sure or sounde thing of their doctrine. We hauehave alreadye in an other place declared at large, what we had learned out of the Scriptures concerning repentance, and then what they also teache of it. Now we hauehave this onelyonly to touch, what reason they had that raised vp the opinion, which hath heretofore reigned in Chirches and schooles, that it is a Sacramente. But first I will brefely saye somwhat of the vsage of the olde Chirche, the pretense whereof they hauehave abused to stablishe their fayned inuention. This order they kepte in publike penance, that they whiche had fully done the satisfactions enioyned them, were reconciled with solemne laying on of handes. That was the Signe of absolution, whereby both the sinner him selfe was raised vp before God with truste of pardon, and the Chirch was admonished gently to receyue him into fauor, putting awaye the remembrance of his offence. This Cyprian oftentimes calleth,Epi lib. i ep. ii. to geue peace. That this doing mighte bee of greater dignitie, and hauehave more commendation among the people, it was ordeined that y^e Bishops authoritie shold alway be vsed for y^e meane herein. Frō hense came y^t decree of y^e secōd councel at Carthage: Be it not lawful to a prest at y^e Masse publikely to recōcile a penitēt. And an other decree of y^e coū cel at Arausiū. Let those, which in time of their penāce departout of this life, be admitted to y^e Cōmuniō w^tout y^e laieng on of hādes vsed in recō ciling: if they recouer of their sicknesse let them stand in y^e degree of penitētes, & whē y^e time is fully expired,ca. xxxiii. let them receiue of the Bishop y^e laiēg on of handes vsed in recōciling. Againe y^e decree of the thirde councel at Carthage: Let not the prest without the authoritie of y^e Bishop, recōcile a penitent. All these tēded to this end, that y^e seueritie which they woulde hauehave to be vsed in y^e behalf, should not w^t to much lenitie grow in decay. Therfore they willed the Bishop to be iudge of it, which was likely that he would be more circūspect in y^e examinatiō thereof. Howbeit Cyprian in a certaine place sheweth, that not only the Bishop, but also the whole Clergie layed their handes on him. For thus he sayth. At the ful tyme they do penance, then they come to the Communion, and by the layeng on of handes of the Bishop and the clergie, they receiue power to partake of the Communion. Afterwarde by processe of tyme it came to this poynt, that beside publike penance they vsed this ceremonie also in priuate absolutions.Decret. 26. que. 6 Hereupon came that distinction in Gratian betwene publike and priuate reconciliation. I iudge that same olde vsage of which Cypriane maketh mention, to hauehave ben holy and healthfull for the Chirch, and I would that it were at this day restored. As for thys later, although I dare not disallow it, or at least speake more sharpelye against it, yet I thinke it to be lesse necessarie. Howsoeuer it be, yet we se y^t the layeng on of hādes in penāce is a ceremonie ordeined of men, not of God, which is to be set amōg meane things & outward exercises: and those verily which are not to be despised, but which ought to be in a lower degree, than those y^t are cōmēded vntounto vsus by y^e word of the Lord.

But y^e Romanistes & y^e scholemē, (which hauehave an ordinarie custome to corrupt al things w^t wrōg expoūding them) do here very carefully trauail in fynding out a Sacramēt. Neither ought it to seme any maruel, for they seke a knot in a rush. But where they hauehave it best, they leaue a thing entāgled,Libr. 4. Sen. di. 22. cap. 2 in suspēse, vncertaine, & cōfounded & trobled w^t diuersity of opiniōs. Thei say therfore either y^t y^e outward penāce is a Sacramēt, and if it be so, y^t it ought to be takē for a signe of y^e inwarde penance, that is, of the contrition of hart, which shalbe y^e thing of y^e Sacramēt: or that they both together are a Sacrament, not twoo Sacramentes, but one ful one. But, that the outwarde penance is only the Sacramēt: the inwarde is both the thing & the Sacramēt: and y^t the forgeuenesse of synnes is the thing & not the Sacrament. Let them which kepe in remē brance the definitiō of a Sacrament which we hauehave aboue set, examine therby y^t which these mē cal a Sacrament, & they shal fynd y^t it is not an outward ceremonie ordeined of the Lord for the cōfirming of our faith. If they cauil y^t my definitiō is not a law which they nede to obey:Libr. 3. que. vet. testam. let thē heare Augustine, whō they faine y^t thei esteme as most holy visible Sacraments (sayth he) were ordeined for carnal mens sakes, y^t by degrees of Sacramētes they may be conueyed frō those things y^t are seen with eyes to those thinges y^t are vnderstāded. What like thing do either they thēselues see, or can they shewe to other in y^t which they call the Sacramente of Penance? The same Augustine sayth in an other place: It is therfore called a Sacramēt,Sermone de bapt. infant. because in it one thing is seen, & an other thing is vnderstāded. That which is seen, hath a bodily forme: y^t which is vnderstanded, hath a spiritual frute. Neither doe these things in any wise agree with the Sacrament of penance, such as they faine it, where there is no bodily forme y^t may represent a spirituall frute.

And, to kil these beasts vpō their own fightīg place, if ther be any Sacramēt here to be sought, may it not be much more colerably said y^t y^e absolutiō of y^e prest is a Sacramēt, thā penāce either inward or outwarde? For it might redily be said, y^t it is a ceremony to assure our faith of y^e forgeuenesse of sines, & hath a promise of y^e keyes as thei cal it, Whatsoeuer ye shal bide or lose vpō earth, shalbe boūd or losed in heauen. But some mā wold hauehave obiected, y^t y^e most part of thē y^t are absolued of y^e prestes, obteine no such thing by such absolution: wheras by their doctrine the Sacramentes of the newe law ought to worke in dede that which they figure. This were but to be laughed at. For, as in the Supper, they make a doble eating, a Sacramental eating which is egally common to good and to euil, & a spiritual eating which is only propre to y^e good: why might they not also faine y^e absolutiō is receiued twoo wayes? Yet could I not hetherto vnderstād what thei meant w^t this their doctrine, which we hauehave alredy taught how farr it disagreeth frō y^e truth of God, whē we purposely entreated of y^t argument. Here my mynde is only to shew, y^e this dout withslādeth not, but y^t they may cal y^e absolutiō of the Prest a Sacramēt.Lib. iii. que ver. Testam. De bapt. paruul. Libr. v. de bapt. contra. Donat. For they might answere by y^e mouth of Augustine, that sanctificatiō is without y^e visible Sacrament, & the visible Sacrament without inwarde sanctification. Againe, y^t the Sacramentes doe worke in y^e only elect y^t which they figure. Againe, that some do putt on Christ so farr as to y^e partaking of y^e Sacramēt, other some to sanctificatiō: y^e one, the good and euil egally do: this other, the good only. Truly they hauehave more than childishly erred and be blinde in y^e clere sunne, which trauailing with great hardnesse, yet espyed not a thing so playne and open to eueryevery man.

Yet least they should waxe to proude, in what part soeuer they set the Sacrament, I deny y^t it ought rightfully to be taken for a Sacramēt. First, because there is no special promise to it, which is the only substāce of a Sacramēt. Againe, because whatsoeuer ceremonie is here shewed fourth, it is the mere inuention of men: wheras we hauehave alredy proued that the ceremonies of Sacramentes can not be ordeined but of God. Therfore it was a lye and a deceite which they hauehave inuented of y^e Sacrament of penance.Lib. 4. Sen. dist. xiiii. cap. i. De peni. disti▪ i. cap. ii. Thys fayned Sacrament they hauehave garnished w^t a mete commendation, calling it a seconde borde after shipwrecke: because if a man hauehave by sinning marred the garmēt of innocence whiche he receiued in Baptisme, he may by penance repaire it. But it is the sayeng of Hierome, Whoes soeuer it be, it can not be excused but y^t it is vtterly wicked, if it be expoūded after their meaning. As though Baptisme be blotted out by sinne, and is not rather to be called to remembrāce of eueryevery sinner, so oft as he thinketh of the forgeuenesse of sinne, that he may therby gather vp himselfe, and recouer courage, and strengthen hys Fayth, that he shal obteine the forgeuenesse of synnes which is promised him in Baptisme. But that which Hierome hath spoken hardly & vnproperly, that by penance Baptisme is repaired (frō which they fal away y^t deserue to be excōmunicate from the Chirch) these good expositors drawe to their wickednesse. Therefore you shall moste fittly speake, if you cal Baptisme the Sacrament of penance, sithe it is geuen for a confirmation of grace, and seale of confidēce, to them y^t purpose repentance. And least you should thinke thys to be our deuise,Decret. xv. que. i cap. firmissime. Marce. l.iiii. Luke. iii.iii. beside this that it agreeth with the words of the Scripture, it appeareth y^t it was in the olde Chirch commonly spoken like a most certaine principle. For in the boke of Fayth to Peter, which is sayd to be Augustines, it is called the Sacrament of Fayth and of penāce. And why flee we to vncertaine sayenges? As though we could require any thing more plaine, thā that which the Euāgelist reciteth: that Ihon preached the Baptisme of repentance vntounto forgeuenesse of synnes?

Of extreme vnction as they cal it.

The thirde fained Sacrament is extreme vnctiō, which is not done but of y^e Prest, & that in extremes, (so thei terme it) & with oile cōsecrate of the Bishop, & with this forme: By thys holy anointing, & by his most kind mercy, God pardō thee whatsoeuer y^• hast offēded by seing, by hearing, by smelling, feling, tasting. They faine y^t there be twoo vertues of it, the forgeuenesse of sinnes, & ease of bodily sicknesse if it be so expediēt: if not, the saluation of the soule.Iames. v.xiiii. They say that the institution of it is set of Iames, whose wordes are these. Is any sicke among you? Let hym bryng in the Elders of the Chirch, and let them pray ouer hym, anointing him with oyle in the name of the Lorde: and the prayer of Fayth shal saue the sicke man, and the Lord shal rayse hym by: and if he be in synnes, they shalbe forgeuen hym. Of the same sorte is thys anointing, of which we hauehave aboue shewed that the other layeng on of handes is, namely a playerlike hypocrisie, whereby without reason and without frute they woulde resemble the Apostles.Marc. vi.xiii. Marc rehearseth that the Apostles at their first sending, according to the commaundement whiche they hauehave receiued of the Lord, raised vp dead mē, cast out deuils, cleansed leprous mē, healed the sicke, and y^t in healing of the sicke they vsed oyle. They anointed (sayth he) many sicke mē with oyle, and they were healed. Hereunto Iames had respect, when he commaūded the Elders to be called together to anoint the sicke man. That vnderunder such Ceremonies is conteined no hyer mysterie, they shall easily iudge which marke how great libertie the Lorde and his Apostles vsed in these outwarde thinges.Ioh. ix.vi. Math. ix.xxix. Luk. xviii xlii. Act. iii.vi. &. v.xvi. &. xix.xii, Psal. xlv.viii. The Lord going about to restore sight to the blinde mā, made cley of dust & spittle, some he healed with touching, other some with his word. After the same maner the Apostles healed some diseases with the word only, some with touching, other some with anointing. But it is likely y^t this anointing was not (as al other things also wer not) causelesly put in vre. I graunt: yet not y^t it shold be a meane of healing, but only a signe, y^t the dulnesse of the vnskilful myght be put in mynde from whense so great power proceded, to thys ende that they should not geue the prayse therof to the Apostles. And, that the Holy ghost and hys gyftes are signified by oyle it is a common and vsual thing. But that same grace of healinges is vanished awaye, like as also the other miracles, which y^e Lord willed to be shewed for a tyme, wherby he might make y^e new preaching of y^e Gospel maruelous for euer. Therefore though we graūt neuer so much, y^t anoynting was a Sacramente of those powers which wer thē ministred by y^e hands of y^e Apostles, it now nothing perteineth to vsus to whom the ministratiō of such powers is not cōmitted.

And by what greater reasō do they make a Sacramēt of this anointing, than of al other signes that are rehearsed to vsus in the Scripture▪ Why do they not appoint some Siloah to swymme in,Iohn. ix.vii. Act. xx.x. wherinto at certaine ordinarie recourses of tymes sicke men may plunge themselues? That (say they) should be done in vaine. Truely no more in vayne than anoyntyng. Why do they not lye along vponupon dead men, because Paule raysed vp a dead childe with lyeng vponupon hym? Why is not cley made of spittle & dust, a Sacrament? But the other wer but singular examples: but this is geuē of Iames for a commaundemēt. Uerily Iames spake for the same time, when the Chirch yet stil enioied such blessing of God. They affirme in dede y^t there is yet stil y^e same force in their anointing… but we finde it otherwise by experiēce. Let no mā now maruel how thei hauehave w^t such boldnesse mocked soules, which they know to be senslesse & blinde when they are spoyled of y^e word of God, y^t is, of their life & light: sith they are nothing ashamed to go about to mocke y^e liuing and feling senses of y^e body. Therfore they make themselues worthy to be scorned, whyle they bost y^t they are endued w^t the grace of healinges. The Lord verily is present w^t his in al ages, and so oft as nede is he helpeth their sicknesses no lesse thā in olde tyme: but he doth not so vtter those manifest powers, nor distributeth miracles by the handes of the Apostles: because this gift both was but for a tyme, and also is partly fallē away by the vnthankfulnesse of men.

Therfore as not w^tout cause y^e Apostles hauehave by y^e signe of oile opēly testified, y^t the grace of healinges cōmitted to them was not their owne power, but y^e power of y^e Holy ghost: so on y^e other side they are wrōgdoers to y^e Holy ghost,Math. iii.xvi. Iohn. i.xxxii. which make a stinking oile & of no force, to be hys power. This is altogether like as if one would say y^t al oyle is y^e power of y^e Holy ghost, because it is called by y^e name in Scripture: that euerye doue is the Holy ghost, because he appered in y^t forme. But these thīgs, let them loke to. So much as for this presēt is enough for vsus, we do most c…rtainly perceiue y^t their annointing is no Sacrament: whiche is neyther a Ceremonie ordeined of God, nor hath any promise. For when we require these twoo thinges in a Sacrament, that it be a ceremonie ordeined of God, & that it hauehave a promise of God… we do there w^tal require that y^e same Ceremonie be geuen to vsus, and y^t the promise belong vntounto vsus. For no man doth affirme y^e Circumcision is nowe a Sacrament of the Christian Chirch, althoughe it both was an ordinance of God, and had a promise knitt vntounto it: because it was neither commaunded to vsus, nor the promise which was adioyned to it was geuē to vsus wi…h the same conditiō. That the promise which they proudely bost of in their annointing, is not geuen to vsus, we hauehave euidently shewed, and they thēselues declare by experience. The Ceremonie ought not to hauehave ben vsed, but of them that were endued with the grace of healinges, not of these butchers that can more skill of slayeng and murthering than of healing.

Howbeit althoughe they obteyne thys, that that which Iames commaundeth concerning annointing agreeth with thys age (which they are most farr from) yet euē so they shal not hauehave much preuailed in prouing of their vnction wherwith they hauehave hetherto annointed vsus.Iames. v.…iiii Iames wylleth that all sicke men be annointed: these men infecte with their fatt liquor, not sicke men, but corpses half dead, when the lyfe lieth alredy laboryng at the toppe of their lippes, or (as they themselues terme it) in extremes. If they hauehave in their Sacramente a present medicine, wherby they may either ease the sharpenesse of diseases, or at the least may bryng some comfort to the soule, they ar to cruel that do neuer heale in time. Iames willeth that the sicke mā be annointed of the Elders of the Chirch: these men allow no anointer but the pety sacrificing Prest. Wheras they expounde in Iames presbyteros the Elders to be Prestes, and fondly say that the plurall number is there set for comlynesses sake: that is but trifling: as though the Chirches at that tyme abounded with swarmes of sacrificing Prestes, that they mighte goe in a long pompous shewe to carrie a pageante of holy oyle. When Iames simply biddeth that sicke men be annointed, I vnderstande by it none other annointing but of common oyle: and none other is founde in markes rehearsal. These men vouchesaue to hauehave none other oyle, but that which is hallowed of the Bishop, that is to say, warmed with much breathing on it, enchaunted with much mumbling, and with the knee bowed nine times saluted in thys maner: thrise Haile holy oyle: thrise Hayle holy chresme: thrise Hayle holy balme. Oute of whom hauehave they sucked such coniurations? Iames sayth: that when the sicke man is annointed with oyle, and prayer hath ben pronounced ouer hym, if he be in sinnes they shalbe forgeuen hym: namely, that the giltinesse being taken away, they may obteine release of the peine: not meaning that sinnes are put away with fat liquor, but that the prayers of the faithful wherby the afflicted brother is commended to God, shal not be vaine. These men do wickedly lye, that by their holy, that is to say, abhominable annointing, sinnes are forgeuen. Loe how gayly they shal preuaile, when they hauehave ben at large suffred to abuse the testimonie of Iames at their pleasure. And least we should nede to trauaile lōg in profe hereof, their own chronicles do discarge vsus of this hardnesse. For thei report that Pope Innocentius, which in Augustines time gouerned y^e Chirch of Rome, ordeined that not only Prestes, but also all Christians should vse oyle to annoint for their own necessitie and others. Author hereof is Sigebert in his Cronicles.

Of ecclesiasticall Orders.

The fourth place in their register hath the Sacrament of Order: but the same so fruteful, that it bredeth out of it selfe seuen litle Sacramentes. But this is very worthy to be laughed at, that wheras they affirme that there be seuen Sacramentes, whē they go about to rehearse them they recken vp thirtene. Neither can they allege for themselues, y^t they are but one Sacrament, because they tende all to one Presthode, and are as it were certaine degrees vntounto it. For sith it is euident y^t in euerye one of them are seuerall Ceremonies, and they thēselues say that there be diuerse graces: no mā can dout but that they ought to be called seuē Sacramentes, if their opiniōs be receiued. And why striue we about it as though it were a thing doutefull, forasmuch as they themselues doe plainly and seuerally declare seuen? But first we wil brefely knitt vp by the way, how many and how vnfauorie absurdities they thrust in vntounto vsus, when they goe aboute to commende to vsus their Orders in stede of Sacramentes:Libr. 4. Sen. dist. xxxiiii. cap. 9. & then we wil se whether y^e Ceremonie which Chirches vse in ordering of ministers, ought to be called a Sacramēt at al. They make therfore seuē ecclesiastical Orders or degrees, which they garnish with the name of a Sacrament. Those be, dorekepers, Reders, Exorcistes, Acoluthes or folowers, Subdeacons, Deacōs, Prestes. And vii they say that they be, for the seuenfolde grace of the Holy ghost, wherew^t they ought to be endued y^t are promoted vntounto them. But it is encreased & more largely heaped to them in their promotion. Now y^e nūber it selfe is hallowed w^t a wrōgful expoūding of Scripture. whē they think y^t thei hauehave red in Esai vii vertues of y^e Holy ghost wheras both in dede Esay there rehearseth but six,Esa xi.ii. Ezec. i.x. Ro. i.iiii. & viii.xv. & also y^e prophet mēt not to cōprehēd them al in that place: for he is ells where as wel called the Spirite of lyfe, of sanctification, of adoption of the children, as he is in y^e place called the Spirite of wisdome,The first is the opinion of Hue, the other of William of Parise, Isidorus lib vii. Dist. 21. &. disti. 33. cap. Lect. &. cap. Ostiarius. of vnderstanding, of coūsel, of strength, of knowlege, & of the feare of the Lord. Howbeit some sutteler mē make not seuen orders, but nyne, after y^e likenesse (as they say) of the Chirche triū phing. But among them also there is strife: because some would have y^e shauing of the clergie to be y^e first order of al, & Bishoprike the last: other some excluding shauing altogether, recken Archebishoprike among the orders. I sidore otherwise diuideth them? For he maketh Psalmis…es & Reders to be diuerse: he apointeth y^e Psalmists for sōges, & the Reders to y^e reding of y^e Scriptures, wherw^t the people may be instructed. And thys distinctiō is kept by y^e canons. In so great diuersitie what wil they hauehave vsus to follow or flee? Shal we say y^t there be seuē orders? So teaceth y^e master of y^e schole: but y^e most illuminate doctors do otherwise determine. Againe they also disagree among themselues. Moreouer the moste sacred canons call vsus an other way. Thus forsoth do men agree, when they dispute of Godly maters without the worde of God.

But thys excedeth all follye, that in eueryevery one of these they make Christ fellow with them.Iohn. ii.xv. First (say they) he executed the office of dorekeper, when he did with a whip made of cordes, dryue the byers and sellers oute of the temple. He signifieth himselfe to be a dorekeper, when he sayeth.Ioh. x.vii Luke. iiii xvii. Mar. xvi. xxxiii. Ioh. viii.xiii. Ioh. iii, iiii. Mac. xxvi xxvi Mathew xxvii.l. Eph. v.ii. I am the dore. He toke vponupon hym the office of Reader, when he red Esay in the Sinagoge. He did the office of an Exorcist, when touching the tong and eares of the deff and dumme man, he restored to hym hys hearing. He testified himselfe to be an Acoluthe or folower in these wordes, He that foloweth me, walketh not in darkenesse. He executed the office of Subdeacon, when beyng girded with a linen cloth he washed the disciples feete. He did beare the persone of a Deacon, when he distributed hys body and blood in the Supper. He fulfilled the office of Preste, when he offred himselfe vponupon the crosse a sacrifice to his Father. These thinges can not so be heard w^tout laughing, y^t I maruel y^t they were written w^tout laughing, if yet they wer mē that wrote them. But moste notable is their sutteltie wherewith they play y^e Philosophers about y^e name of Acoluth, calling him a Ceroferar, a taper bearer with a worde (as I thynke) of sorcerie, truely such a one as was neuer heard of in al nations and languages, wheras Acoluthos in Greke simply signifieth a folower. Howbeit if I shold earnestly tarry in confuting these men. I should my self also worthily be laughed at, they are so trifling and very mockeries.

But that they may not be able yet stil with false colors to deceiue euē very silly women, their vanitie is by the way to be vttered. They create with great pompe and solemnitie their Reders, Psalmistes, Dorekekers, Acolutes, to execute those offices, wherunto they appoint very children, or those whome they call lay men. For who for the most part lighteth the candels, who poureth wine and water into the cruet, but a childe or some base fellow of the laitie, that maketh hys gayne thereof? Doe not the same men sing? Doe they not shutt and open the Chirche dores? For who euer sawe in their temples an Acoluthe, or a Dorekeper executing his office? But rather he that when he was a boy dyd the office of an Acoluthe, when he is ones admitted into the order of Acoluthes, cesseth to be that which he beginneth to be called, that they may seme to wil of purpose to cast of the office whē they take vponupon them the title. Beholde why they hauehave nede to be consecrate by Sacramētes, and to receiue the Holy ghost, namely, y^t they may do nothing. If they allege for exercise, that this is the frowardnesse of tymes, that they forsake & neglect their ministeries: let them therw^tal cōfesse that there is at this day in the Chirch not vse nor frute of their holy Orders, which they maruelously aduance, & that their whole Chirch is ful of curse: because it suffreth tapers & cruets to be handled of childrē & prophane mē, which none are worthy to touche but they that are consecrate Acoluthes: and because it committeth the songes to childrē, which ought not to be heard but of a hallowed mouth. As for their Exorcistes, to what ende do they cōsecrate them?Actes. xix.xiii. I heare that the Iewes had their Exorcistes: but I se that they were so called of the exorcismes or coniurations whiche they vsed. Of these counterfait exorcistes who euer heard it spokē, that they shewed any exāple of their professiō? It is fayned that they hauehave power geuē them to lay their handes vponupon mad men, them that are to be catechised, & mē possessed with deuils: but they can not perswade the deuils that they hauehave such power, because the deuils doe not onelyonly not yelde to their commaundementes, but also vse commaunding authoritie ouer them. For a man can scarcely fynde eueryevery tenth of them, that is not led with an euil Spirite. Therfore whatsoeuer thinges they babble concerning their pery Orders, are patched together of folish and vnsauory lyes. Of the old Acoluthes, & Dorekepers, & Reders, we hauehave spoken in an other place, when we declared the order of the Chirch. Our purpose here is only to fyght agaynst that new foūd inuētiō of the seuēfold Sacrament in ecclesiastical orders. Of which there is no where any thyng red, but amōg these foolysh praters the Sorbonistes and Canonistes.

Now let vsus cōsider of y^e ceremonies which thei vse about it. First whō soeuer they receiue into their order of soldiars, they do w^t one common signe entre them into Clergie.cap Dupl xii quest. i For they shaue them in y^e crown, that the crown maye betokē kingly dignitie, because Clerkes ought to be kīges, that they may rule thēselues & other. For Peter speaketh thus of them, Ye are a chosen kynde,i. Pet. ii, ix a kyngly presthode, a holy natiō, a people of purchace. But it was sacrilege to take to thēselues alone that which is geuē to the whole Chirch, & proudely to glory of the title which they had takē frō the faithful.Lib. …iii. Senten. Dist. xxiiii. cap. Duo sunt. Peter speaketh to y^e whole Chirch: these fellowes wrest it to a few shauē mē: as though it were sayd to them alone, be ye holy: as though they alone wer purchaced by the blood of Christ: as though they alone were by Christ made a kyngdome & presthode to God. Thē they assigne also other resons: the top of their hed is made bare, y^t their mind may be declared to be free vntounto the Lord, which w^t opē face may behold y^e glory of God. Or y^t they may be taught y^t the faultes of their mouth & their eyes must be cut of. Or y^e shauing of their hed is y^e putting away of tēporal thynges, & y^e heary cōpasse about y^e crowne are y^e remnantes of goods y^t are reteined for their sustēance. Al in signes: because forsoth the beile of y^e tēple is not yet cut in sōder. Therfore being persuaded y^t they hauehave gaily discharged their duties, because they hauehave figured such thīgs by their crowne, of y^e very thinges in dede they performe nothing at al. How lōg wil they mocke vsus w^t such false colors & deceites?Libr. 4. Sen. dist. 24. ca. 1. The clergie by shearing of a few heares do signifie y^t they hauehave cast away y^e abūdāce of temporall goods, that they beholde the glory of God, that they hauehave mortified the luste of the eares and eyes: but there is no kinde of mē more rauening, more senslesly dul, more lustful? Why do they not rather truely performe holinesse, than with false and lyeng signes counterfait a shewe of it?

Moreouer when they say that the crowne of the Clergie hath the beginning and resō from the Nazarites: what other thing do they allege, than that their mysteries are sprong out of the Iewish Ceremonies, or rather that they are mere Iewishnesse? But wheras they further saye, that Prisilla, Acyla, and Paule hymselfe, taking a vow vponupon them did sheare their heds,Act. xviii.xviii. that they might be purified: they bewraye their grosse ignorāce. For it is no where red of Pricilla: and of Acyla also it is doutful: for that same shearing may as wel be referred to Paul as to Acyla. But, that we may not leaue to them that which they require, that they hauehave an example of Paule: the simpler must note, that Paule did neuer sheare his head for any sanctification,i. Cor. ix.x. but only to serue the weakenesse of his brethren. I am wont to cal such vowes the vowes of charitie not of godlinesse: that is to say, not taken in hande for any seruice of God, but to beare with the rudenesse of the weake: as he hymselfe sayth, that he was made a Iewe to the Iewes. &c. Therefore he did this, and thesame but ones, and for a shorte tyme, that he myghte for a time fashion himselfe to the Iewes.Num. vi.xviii. These men, when they wil without any vse coū terfait the purifienges of the Nazarites, what do they ells but rayse vp an other Iewishnesse, when they wrōgfully couet to folow the old Iewishnesse? With the same religiousnesse was y^t decretall Epistle made,Cap. pro hibemus Disti. xxv. i. Cor. xi.iiii. which, according to the Apostle, forbiddeth clerkes y^t they shold not suffer their heare to grow, but shere it roūde lyke a boowle. As though the Apostle, whē he teacheth what is comly for al men, were careful for the rounde shearing of the Clergie. Hereby let the reders cōsider, of what force and worthinesse are those other mysteries that follow, into which there is such an entrie.

Whense the shearing of Clerkes toke beginning, appeareth sufficiētly euē by Augustine alone.Austust de oper. monach in fine, Item in Retract. Wheras at that time none suffred their heare to growe, but nice men, & such as coueted a smothenesse & trimnesse not mete enough for men: it semed to be a point of no good example, if that were permitted to the clergie. Therfore Clerkes were cōmaūded either to sheare their head or to shaue it, that they should not beare any shewe of womanlyke trimming. But this was so common, y^e certaine mōkes, that they might the more set out their own holinesse with notable and seueral attire from other men, did let their heare growe long. But afterwarde when the fashion turned to wearing of heare, & certain nations were added to Christiādome which alway vsed to weare lōg heare, as Fraunce, Germany, & England: it is likely y^e clerkes did euerywhere sheare their heds, least they should seme to couet the gaynesse of heare. At the last in a corrupter age, whē al old ordinances wer either peruerted or gone out of kinde into superstition, because they saw no cause in y^e shearing of y^e clergie (for they had reteined nothing but a folishe coūterfaiting) they fled to a mysterie,Libr. 4. Senten. disti. 24. ca, 8, which now they superstitiously thrust in vntounto vsus for y^e approuing of their Sacrament. The dore kepers at their cōsecratiō receiue y^e keies of y^e Chirch, wherby they may vnderstād y^t the keping of it is cōmitted to thē. The reders receiue y^e holy Bible. The exorcistes receiue y^e formes of exorcismes, which they should vse ouer mad and them that are to be catechised. The Acolythes receiue the tapers & cruet. Lo these ar the ceremonies, wherin (if God will) there is so much secret power, that they may be not only signes and tokens, but also causes of inuisible grace. For this they require by their definition, when they will hauehave them taken among the Sacramentes. But to make an ende in fewe wordes, I say it is an absurditie that in their scholes and canons they make these lesser orders Sacramentes: whereas euen by their owne confession that teache this, they were vnknowen to the primitiue Chirch, and deuised many yeares after. For Sacramentes, sith they conteyne the promise of God, can not be ordeyned of Angels, nor of men, but of God alone, whoes office alone it is to geue promise.

There remayne three orders, whiche they calle the greater. Of the whiche, Subdeaconrie (as they call it) was remoued into that number, sins that the route of the smaller ones beganne to growe. But because they seme to hauehave a testimonie for these out of the word of God, they do peculiarly for honors sake, call them holye orders. But nowe it is to be sene, howe crokedly they abuse the ordinances of God to their pretence. We will begyn at the order of Presthode or the sacrificers office. For by these two names they signifie one thyng, and so they call them to whom they say that it perteineth to offer vponupon the altar the sacrifice of the bodye and blood of Christe, to pronounce prayers, and to blesse the giftes of God. Therfore at their consecration they receiue the patine with the hostes, for tokens of power geuen to them, to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. And their handes are anointed: by which signe they ar taught, that they hauehave power geuen them to consecrate. But of the Ceremonies we shall speake hereafter. Of the thyng it selfe I say: it so hath no title of the worde of God which they pretende, that they could not more wickedly corrupt the order set by God. Fyrst verily this ought to stande for a thyng confessed (which we hauehave affirmed in entreating of the Popishe masse) that they are all wrong doers to Christ, which cal them selues sacrificyng prestes, to offer a sacrifice of appeasement. He was appointed and consecrate of the Father a prest with an othe, accordyng to the order of Melchisedech,Psal. Cx.iiii. Heb v.vi et. vii.iii. without any ende, without any successor. He ones offred a sacrifice of eternall satisfactorie cleansyng, and reconciliation: and nowe also beyng entred into the Sanctuarie of heauen, he maketh intercession for vsus. In hym we are all sacrificyng prestes, but to praises and geuyngs of thanks, finally to offer vsus and ours to God. It was his singular office alone, with his offryng to appease God, and to purge sinnes. When these men take that vponupon them, what remaineth but that their sacrificyng Presthoode is vngodly and full of sacrilege? Truely they are to wicked, when they dare garnish it with the name of a Sacrament. As touchyng the true office of Presthode, which is commended to vsus by the mouth of Christe, I willyngly accompt it in that degree. For therin is a ceremonie, fyrst taken oute of the Scriptures, then suche a one as Paul testifieth not to be vaine nor superfluous, but a faithfull Signe of spirituall grace.i. Timo. iiii.xiiii. But wheras I hauehave not set it for a thirde in the number of Sacramentes, I did it because it is not ordinarie and common among all the faithfull, but a speciall rite for one certaine office. But sith this honor is geuen to the Christian ministerie, there is no cause therfore why the Popish sacrificérs should bee proude.Mathe. xxviii, xix. Mar. xvi.xv. Ioh. xxi.xv. For Christ commaunded distributers of his Gospell and mysteries to be ordeined, not sacrificers to bee consecrated. He gaue them commaundement to preache the Gospel and to feede the flock, not to offer sacrifices. He promised them the grace of the Holy ghost, not to make satisfactorye purging of sinnes, but rightly to execute and to mainteine the gouernement of the Chirch.

The ceremonies agree very well with the thing it selfe. Our Lorde when he sent forth the Apostles to preache the Gospell, did blow vppon them.Iohn. xx.xxii. By which Signe he represented the power of the Holy ghost whiche he gaue vntounto them. This blowyng these good mē hauehave reteined, and as though they did put forth y^e Holy ghost out at their throte, thei whisper ouer their silly prestes that they make, Receiue the Holy ghost. So leaue they nothing which they do not ouerthwartly counterfait: I wyl not say like players (which vse their gesturinges neither withoute arte nor withoute signification) but like apes, which counterfait eueryevery thing wantonly and without any choise. We kepe (say they) the example of the Lord. But the Lorde did many thinges which he willed not to be examples to vsus.Ioh. xx.xxii. Iohn. xi.xlii. Mat. ix.v Iohn. v.viii. The Lord said to the disciples, Receiue the Holye ghoste. He sayd also to Lazarus, Lazarus come forthe. He said to the man sicke of the palsey, Rise and walke. Why do not they say the same to al dead men and sicke of the palsey? He shewed a profe of hys diuine power, when in blowing vpō the Apostles he filled them w^t the grace of the Holy ghost. If they go about to do the same thing, they enuiously counterfait God, and do in a maner chalēge him to striue with them: but they are farr frō the effect, and do nothing with thys foolish gesturing but mocke Christ. Uerily they bee so shamelesse, that they dare affirme that they geue the Holy ghost. But how true that is, experience teacheth, which cryeth oute that so many as be consecrated prestes are of horses made asses, of fooles made madmen. Neither yet doo I stryue with them for that: only I condemne the ceremonye it selfe, which oughte not to hauehave ben drawen to bee an example, for asmuche as it was vsed of Christe for a singular signe of one miracle: so farre is it of, that the excuse of folowing hys example ought to defend them.

But of whō receiued they the annointing? They answer that they receiued it of the sōnes of Aaron, frō whō their order also toke beginning. Therfore they had rather alway to defend them selues with wrongfull examples,Lib. 4. Sen. di. 24. ca. 8 et in canon. dist xxi. ca. i than to confesse that themselues hauehave deuised that which thei vse without cause. But in the meane tyme they consyder not, that while they professe them selues the successors of the sonnes of Aaron, they are wrongdoers to the presthode of Christ, which alone was shadowed and figured by all the olde sacrificing presthodes. In him therfore they were all conteyned and fulfilled, in him they cessed, as we hauehave somtimes already repeted, and the Epistle to the Hebrues without helpe of any gloses testifieth. But if they be so much delited with y^e ceremonies of Moses, why do they not hastily take oxen, calues, and lambes to make facrifices? They hauehave in deede a good part of the olde tabernacle and of y^e whole Iewish maner of worshippīg: but yet this wāteth in their religiō, that they do not sacrifice calues and oxen. Who can not see, that this obseruation of annoynting is much more hurtfull than Circumcision, specially when there is adioyned superstition and Pharisaicall opinion of the worthinesse of the worke? For the Iewes did sette in Circumcision, trust of righteousnesse: these men doo set in anoynting, spiritual graces. Therfore while they couet to be counterfaiters of the Leuites, they are made Apostataes from Christe, and do putt them selues from the office of Pastors.

This is (if God will) the holy oyle y^e printeth the marke that can not be raced out. As though oyle coulde not be wyped awaye with dust and salt, or if it stick faster, with sope. But this marke is spiritual. What hath oyle to do with the soule? HaueHave they forgotten that which they oft chaūt to vsus out of Augustine, that if y^e word be taken from the water, it shalbe nothing but water, & that it hath this from the word that it is a Sacrament? What worde will they shew in their fat liquor? Will they shew the cōmaundemēt y^t was geuen to Moses,Exo. xxx.xxx. concerning the anointing of the sonnes of Aarō? But ther is also cōmaūdemēt geuē, of y^e coa…e y^e ephod, the hatt, the crown of holinesse, with which Aaron was to be garnished, and of the coates, girdles, and miters, wherewith the sonnes of Aaron were to be clothed. There is commaundement geuen to kill a calfe, and burne the fatte of him for incense, to cutt rammes and burne them, to sanctifie their eares and garmentes with the blood of an other ramme, and innumerable other obseruations, which being passed ouer, I marnell why the onelyonly anoynting of oyle pleaseth them. But if they louelove to be sprinkled, why are they rather sprinkled with oyle than with blood? Forsoth they goe about a witty thing, to make one religion of Christianitie, Iewishnesse, and Paganisme, as it were of patches sowed together. Therfore their annointing stinketh which is without the salt, that is, the word of God. There remaineth layeng on of handes, which as I graunt in true and lawfull Orderings to be a Sacrament, so I deny y^t it hath any part in this play, where they neither obey the cōmaundemēt of Christ, nor hauehave respect to the ende wherunto the promise oughte to leade vsus. If they wil not hauehave the signe denied them, they must apply it to the thing it selfe, whereunto it is apointed.

About the order also of Deaconrie I woulde not striue with them, if that same ministerie which was in the Apostles tyme and in the purer Chirche were restored to the vncorrupted state thereof. But what like thing hauehave they whome those men faine to be deacons? I speake not of the men (least they shoulde complaine that the doctrine is wrongfullye weyed by the faultes of the menne) but I affirme that for those whome they deliuer vsus by their doctrine, they vnworthily feiche testimonie from the example of them whome the Apostolike Chirch ordeined Deacōs. They say that it perteineth to their deacons to stand by the prestes, to minister in all thinges that are done in the Sacramentes, namelye in Baptisme, in the chresine, in the patine, in the chalice: to bryng in the offrynges and lay them vponupon the altar, to make ready the Lordes table, and to couer it: to carry the Crosse, to pronounce and sing the Gospell and Epistle to the people. Is here any one worde of the true ministerie of Deacons? Nowe lett vsus heare the institutyng of them. Uppon the Deacon that is ordered, the Bishop alone layeth his hande. He laieth a prayer boke and a Stoale vponupon his lefte shoulder, that he may vnderstande that he hath receyued the lyght yoke of the Lord, wherby he may subdue to the feare of God those thyngs that perteine to the left side. He geueth him the texte of the Gospell, that he maye perceiue himselfe to be a publisher of it. And what belong these thinges to Deacons? They doo euen like as if a man wold say that he ordeined them Apostles whom he appointed only to burne frankincense, to trimme the Images, to swepe the Chirches, to catche mise, to driue away dogs. Who could suffer such kinde of men to be called Apostles, and to be compared with y^e very Apostles of Christ? Therfore let them not hereafter lyengly say y^t those be Deacōs, whom they institute only for their enterludelike plaies. Yea & by the very name it self they sufficiently declare what maner of office they hauehave. For they call them Leuites, & will hauehave their order & beginning referred to y^e childrē of Leui. Which I geue thē leaue to do so that thei do not afterward garnish them with y^e fethers of other.

Of Subdeacons to what purpose is to speake? For wheras in dede they were in olde tyme appointed for care of the poore, they assigne to them I wote not what triflyng busynesse, as to bring the chalice & the patine, the litle cruet with water, and y^e towel to the altar, to powre water to washe handes. &c. Now wheras they speake of receyuyng & bringing in of offrings, they meane those which they deuoure as abandoned to their holy vse. With this office very well agreeth the forme of theyr consecratyng. That he receiue of the Bishop, the patine & the chalice: of the Archdeacō, the cruet with water, y^e manuale, & such other baggage. Within these trifles they require to hauehave vsus confesse that the Holy ghost is enclosed. What godly mā can abide to graūt this? But, to make ones an ende, we may determine the same of them that we do of the rest. Neither nede we to repete further those thynges that are aboue declared. This may be enough to teache the sober and willyng to learne (whome I hauehave taken in hand to instruct) y^t there is no Sacrament of God but where is shewed a Ceremonie ioyned with a promise: or rather veryly but where is a promise sene in a Ceremonie. Here is not foūd one syllable of any certain promise: therfore it were in vaine to seke a Ceremonie to confirme the promise. Againe of those ceremonies that they vse, it is not red y^t any one is institute of god. Therfore here cā be no Sacramēt.

Of Matrimonie.

The last is Matrimonie, which as all men confesse to be ordeined of God, so no man vntill the tyme of Gregorie euer sawe that it was geuen for a Sacrament. And what sober man would euer hauehave thought it? It is a good & a holy ordināce of God: so tyllage, carpentrie, shoemakers craft, barbers craft, are lawfull ordinances of God, and yet they are no Sacramentes. For there is not only this required in a Sacrament, that it be the worke of God, but that it be an outwarde Ceremonie appoynted of God to confirme a promise. That there is no suche thyng in Matrimonie, very chyldren also can iudge. But (say they) it is a Signe of a holy thyng, that is, of the spirituall conioynyng of Christe with the Chirche. If by this woorde Signe, they vnderstand a Token sett before vsus of God, to this ende to raise vp the assurednesse of our Faithe, they are farre besyde the truthe. If they simplye take a Signe for that which is brought to expresse a similitude,i. Cor. xv xlii: I wyll shewe howe wittyly they reason. Paule sayth, As one starre differeth from an other star in brightnesse, so shalbe y^e resurrectiō of y^e dead. Lo here is one Sacrament.Mat. xiii.xxxi. et xxxiii, Esa. …l.xi Esa. xlii.xiii. i. Thess. v.ii. Ioh. xv.i. Ioh. x.xi. Christ sayth, The kyngdome of heauen is lyke to a grain of mustardsede. Lo here is an other. Againe, The kingdom of heauē is like vntounto leauē. Lo here is y^e third. Esai saith, Behold, the lord shal fede his flock as a shepherd. Lo here is the fowerth. In an other place, The Lord shall go forth as a Gyant. Loe here is the fifth. Finally what end or measure shal there be? There is nothyng but by this meane it shal be a Sacrament. Howe many parables and similitudes are in the Scripture, so many Sacraments there shalbe. Yea and theft shalbe a Sacrament, because it is written, the day of the Lorde is lyke a thefe. Whoe can abyde these sophisters prating so foolishly? I graunt in dede that so oft as we see a vine,Antycira, where groweth De… lebor, a good purgation for phrentike heades. it is very good to call to remembrance that whiche Christ sayth, I am a vine, ye be branches, my father is the vinedresser. So oft as a shepherde with his flocke cometh toward vsus, it is good also that this come to our mynde, I am a good shepherd, my shepe heare my voice. But if any man adde such similitudes to the number of Sacramentes, he is mete to be sent to Antycira.

But they still laye fourth the wordes of Paule, in which he geueth to Matrimonie the name of a Sacrament:Ephe. v.xxix. he that loueth his wife, loueth hymselfe. No man euer hated his owne flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, euen as Christ doth the Chirch: because we are members of hys body, of his fleshe and of his bones. For this, a man shall leaue hys Father and mother, and shal cleaue to his wife, and they shalbe two into one fleshe. Thys is a great Sacrament: but I saye in Christ and the Chirch. But so to handle the Scriptures, is to mingle heauē and earth together. Paule, to shew to maried men, what singular louelove they ought to beare to their wiues, setteth fourth Christe to them for an example. For as he poured fourth the bowells of his kindenesse vponupon the Chirch which he had espoused to himselfe: so ought eueryevery man to be affectioned toward his own wife. It foloweth after, He that loueth his wife, loueth himselfe: as Christ loued the Chirch. Now, to teache how Christ loued the Chirch as himselfe, yea how he made himselfe one with hys spouse y^e Chirch, he applyeth to hym those thinges which Moses reporteth that Adam spake of him selfe.Gene. ii.xx…i. For when Eue was brought into his syght, whom he knew to hauehave ben shapen out of his syde: This woman (sayth he) is a bone of my bones, and fleshe of my fleshe. Paul testifieth that all this was spiritually fulfylled in Christ and vsus, when he sayeth that we are membres of his body, of his fleshe, and of his bones, yea and one fleshe with hym. At lengthe he addeth a concludyng Sentence, This is a great mysterie. And least any man shoulde be deceiued with the doble signifyeng of the woordes, he expresseth that he speaketh not of the fleshely conioynyng of man and woman, but of the spiritual mariage of Christe and the Chirch. And truely it is in dede a great mysterie, that Christe suffred a ribbe to be taken from himselfe, whereof we might be shapen: that is to say, whē he was strōg, he willed to be weake, that we might be strengthened with his strength:Galat. …i.xx. that now we may not our selues lyue, but he may lyue in vsus.

The name of Sacramente deceiued them. But was it rightfull that the whole Chirch should suffer the punishment of their ignorance? Paul said Mysterie: which word when the translater might hauehave lefte beyng not vnused with Latin eares, or might hauehave translated it a Secrete: he chose rather to put in the worde Sacrament, yet in no other sense than Paule had in Greke called it Mysterie. Now let them go and with crieng out raile against the skil of tōges, by ignorance whereof they hauehave so long most fowly been blynde in an easy mater, and suche as offreth it self to be perceiued of eueryevery man. But why doo they in this one place so earnestly sticke vponupon this litle word Sacrament,i. Tim. iii ix. Eph. i.ix. and some other tymes do passe it ouer vnregarded? For also in the first Epistle to Timothe the Translater hath vsed it, and in the selfe same Epistle to the Ephesians: in eueryevery place for Mysterie. But let this slippyng be pardoned them: at least the liers ought to hauehave had a good remēbrance.Lib. iiii. Sen. Dist. xvii. Cap. iiii. & in Dec. xxvii. quest ii. cap. Cum Socretas. Gloss cap …e… diui. Ibi. Decr. Lib. iiii. Sent. dis. xxxiii cap ii. et ī Decre. xxxii. quaest. in. ca Quicquid. For, whē they hauehave ones set out Matrimonie with title of a Sacrament, afterward to call it vncleannesse, defyling, and fleshly filthinesse, how gyddy lightnesse is this? How great an absurditie is it to debarre prests from a Sacramēt? If they deny y^t they debarre them frō y^e Sacramēt, but frō the lust of copulation: they escape not so away frō me. For they teach y^t the copulatiō it self is a part of y^t Sacramēt, & that by it alone is figured the vniting that we hauehave with Christ in conformitie of nature: bicause man and womā ar not made one but by carnall copulatiō. Howbeit some of thē hauehave here founde two Sacramentes: the one of God and the soule, in the betrouthed man and woman: the other of Christe and the Chirch, in the husband and the wife. Howsoeuer it be, yet copulatiō is a Sacrament, from which it was vnlawful that any christian should be debarred: Unlesse peraduenture the Sacraments of christiās do so yll agree, that thei can not stand together. There is also an other absurditie in their doctrines. They affirme that in the Sacrament is geuen the grace of the Holye ghoste: they teache that copulation is a Sacrament: and they denye that at copulation the Holy ghost is at any tyme present.

And, because they would not simply mocke the Chirch, howe long a roaw of errors, lyes deceites, and wickednesses hauehave they knitte to one error? so that a mā may say, that they did nothing but seke a denn of abhominations, when they made of matrimonie a Sacrament. For when they ones obteyned this, they drew to themselues the hearing of causes of matrimony: for it was a spiritual mater, which profane iudges might not medle with. Then they made lawes, whereby they stablished their tyrannie, but those partlye manifestly wicked against God, and partlye most vniust toward men. As are these: That mariages made beetwene yong persones without consent of their parentes, shoulde remayne of force and stablished. That the mariages be not lawfull betweene kinsfolkes to the seuenth degree: and if any suche be made, that they be diuorced. And the very degrees they faine against the lawes of all nations,Deuter. xviii.vi: and against the ciuile gouernement of Moses. That it be not lawfull for a manne that hath putte awaye an adulteresse, to mary an other. That spirituall kinsfolkes maye not bee coupled in mariage.Gossibs. That there be no mariages celebrate, from Septuagesime to the vtas of Easter, in three weekes before Midsommer, nor from Aduent to Twelftide. And innumerable other like, which it were long to reherse. At length we must crepe out of their myre, wherein our talk hath nowe taried longer than I woulde. Yet I thinke I hauehave somewhat profited, that I hauehave partly plucked the lyons skynnes from these asses.

The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4 · Chapter 19

p. 148The .xix. Chapter. Of the fiue falsly named Sacramentes: where is declared, that the other fyue which hauehave ben hetherto commonly taken for Sacramentes, are not Sacramentes: and then is shewed what manner of thinges they be.