The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4 · Chapter 8
The .viii. Chapter. Of the power of the Chirche as touchyng the articles of Faith: and with howe vnbridled licētiousnesse it hath in the Papacie ben wrested to corrupt all purenesse of Doctrine.
NOwe foloweth the thirde place, of the power of the Chirche, whiche partely consisteth in all the bishops, and partly in the Counsels, and those either prouinciall or generall. I speake onelyonly of the spirituall power, whiche is propre to the Chirch. That consisteth either in doctrine, or in iurisdiction, or in makyng of lawes. Doctrine hath two partes, the authoritie to teache articles of Doctrine, and the expoundyng of them. Before that we beginne to discourse of eueryevery one of these in specialtie, we will that the godlye readers bee warned, that whatsoeuer is taughte concerning the power of the Chirche, they muste remember to applye to that ende, wherunto (as Paule testifieth) it was geuen:ii. Cor. x.viii. &. xiii x. that is, to edification, and not to destruction: whiche who so lawfully vse, they thinke them selues no more than the ministers of Christ, and therwithall the ministers of the people in Christ. Now of the edifyeng of the Chirch, this is the only waie, if the ministers themselues endeuour to preserue to Christ his authoritie, whiche can not otherwise bee safe, vnlesse that be lefte vntounto hym, which he receiued of his Father: that is, that he be the only schole-maister of the Chirche.Mat. xvii v. For it is written, not of any other, but of hym alone, Heare hym. The power of the Chirche therfore is not to be sparingly set foorth, but yet to be enclosed within certain boundes, that it be not drawen hether & thether after the lust of men. Herunto it shalbe muche profitable to note, how it is described of the Prophets and Apostles. For if we simply graunt vntounto men such power as they list to take vponupon theim, it is plaine to all men, what a slippery redinesse there is to fall into tyrannie, whiche ought to be farre from the Chirch of Christ.
Therfore here it must be remembred, that whatsoeuer authoritie or dignitie the holy ghost in the scripture geueth either to the prestes, or to the Prophetes, or to the Apostles, or to the successours of the Apostles, all that same is geuen, not proprely to the men themselues, but to the ministerie ouer which they are appointed, or (to speake it more plainely in one worde) wherof the ministerie is committed to them. For if wee goe through them all in order, we shall not fynde that they had any authoritie to teache or to answer, but i… the name and worde of the Lord. For when they are called to the office, it is also enioined them, that they shold bring nothing of thē selues, but speke out of the mouth of ye Lord. And he himself doeth not bryng them foorth to be hearde of the people, before that he hauehave geuē them instructions what they ought to speake,Exod. iii.iiii. to the entent that they should speake nothyng beside his woord. Moses himselfe, the prince of all the Prophetes, was to be hearde aboue the reste:Exo. xiiii xxxi. Deuter. xvi.ix. but he was first instructed with his commaundementes, that he might not declare any thyng at all, but frō the Lord. Therfore it is said, that the people when thei embraced his doctrine, beleued in God and in his seruant Moses. Also that the authoritie of the priestes shoulde not growe in contempt, it was stablished with most greuous penalties. But therwithal the Lord sheweth vponupon what cōdition they wer to be heard,Mala. ii.iiii.….vi. when he saieth that he hath made his couenant with Leui, that the law of truthe shoulde be in his mouth. And a little after he addeth: The lips of the priest shall kepe knowledge, and they shall require the law at his mouth: because he is the angell of the God of hostes. Therfore if the priest will be heard, lette him shewe himself the messinger of God: that is,Deu. xvii x. let him faithfully report the cōmaundements that he receiued of his author. And where it is specially entreated of the hearing of them, this is expressely set, That they may answer accordyng to the lawe of God.
What maner of power the Prophetes generally had, is very well described in Ezechiell:Ezec. iii.xvii. Thou sonne of man (saith the Lord) I hauehave geuē thee to be a watcheman to the house of Israell. Therefore thou shalte heare the worde out of my mouth, and thou shalte declare it to them frō me. He that is commaunded to heare out of the mouthe of the Lord, is he not forbidden to inuent any thyng of himself? But what is to declare from the Lorde, but so to speake as he may boldly boast, that it is not his owne,Hie. xxiii.xxviii. but the Lordes woorde that he hath broughte? The selfe same thyng is in Hieremie, in other wordes. Let the Prophet (saith he) with whom is a dreame, tell a dreame: and let him that hath my woorde speake my worde true. Certainly he appointeth a law to them all. And that is such, yt he permitteth not any to teach more than he is cōmanded. And after he calleth it chaffe, all that is not come from himselfe onelyonly. Therfore none of the Prophetes them selues opened his mouth, but as the Lord tolde hym the wordes before.Esa. vi.v. Ioh. i.vi. Wherupon these sayinges are so ofte found among thē: the word of the Lord, the burden of the Lorde, so sayth the Lord, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. And worthily. For Esaie cryed oute that he had defyled lyppes,Esay. vi.v. Iere. i.vi. Ieremie confessed that he coulde not speake, because he was a childe: What coulde procede from ye defiled mouth of the one, and the foolishe mouthe of the other, but vncleane and vnwise, if they had spoken their owne speche? But this lyps were holy and pure, when they began to be the instruments of the Holy ghost. When the Prophetes are boūd with this religion, that they deliuer nothyng, but that which they hauehave receiued, thē they be garnished with notable power and excellent titles. For when the Lorde testifieth, that he hath set them ouer nations and kyngdomes, to pluck vp and to roote out,Iere. i.…. to destroy and plucke downe, to builde and to plant, he by and by adioyneth the cause: because he hath put his wordes in theyr mouth.
Nowe if you looke to the Apostles: they are in dede commended with many and notable titles, that they are the light of the worlde, and the salt of the earth, that they are to be heard in stede of Christ, that whatsoeuer they bynde or lose in earth shalbe bounde or loosed in heauen. But in their very name they shewe howe muche is permitted theim in their office: that is, if they be Apostles, that they shoulde not prate whatsoeuer they list: but shold faithfully report his commaundementes from whom they are sent. And the wordes of Christe are playne enough, in which he hath determined their embassage:Ma xxviii ix. when he cōmaūded them to go & teach al nations, al those thinges that he had cōmaunded. Yea & he himself also receiued this lawe, and laid it vponupon himself, that it shold be lawful for no man to refuse it. My doctrine (sayth he) is not myne, but his that sent me,Ioh vii.xvi. my fathers. He that was alway the only and eternall coūseller of the Father, & he that was appointed by the Father the Lord and scholemaister of all men, yet because he executed ye ministerie of teaching, prescribed by his owne example to all ministers what rule they ought to folow in teaching. Therfore the power of the Chirch is not infinite, but subiect to the word of the lord, and as it were enclosed in it.
But sith this hath from the beginnyng ben of force in the Chirche, & at this day ought to be in force, that the seruantes of God shold teache nothing, whiche they hauehave not learned of him: yet accordyng to the diuersitie of tymes they had diuers orders of learnyng. But that order which is nowe, muche differeth from those that were before. First if it be true whiche Christe saieth,Mat. xi.xxvii. that none hath seene the Father, but the Sonne, and he to whom it hath pleased the Sonne to shewe him: it behoued verily that they should be alway directed by that eternal wisdome of the Father, whiche wold come to the knowledge of God. For howe should they either hauehave comprehended in mynd, or vttered the misteries of God, but by his teachyng, to whom alone the secretes of the Father ar open? Therfore the holy fathers in old time knew GOD no other wise but beholding him in the Sonne as in a glasse. When I say this, I meane that God did neuer by any other meane disclose hymselfe to men but by the Son, that is, his only wisdome, light, and truthe. Out of this fountaine did Adam, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, Iacob and the other draw all the knowlege yt they had of heauenly doctrine. Out of the same foū tain hauehave also al the Prophetes themselues drawē al the heauēly Oracles that they vttered. For verily this Wisedome hath alway disclosed … selfe by moe waies than one. To the Patriarches he vsed secrete reuelations: but therwithall to confirme their myndes, he adioyned suche signes, that it coulde not bee doutefull to them, that is was God that spake. The Patriarches conueied ouer from hand to hand to posteritie, that whiche they had receiued. For the Lorde left it with them to this entent, that they should so sprede it abrode. But the children & childrens children, by God secretely informyng them, did knowe that that whiche they heard was from heauen, and not from the earth.
But when it pleased God, to raise a more apparāt forme of a Chirche, he willed to hauehave his worde put in writing & noted, that the prests shold fetch frō thense what thei might deliuer to the people, & that all the doctrine yt shold be taught shold be tried by that rule. Therfore after the publishyng of the law,Mala. ii.vii. when the prestes are comaunded to teach out of the mouth of the Lord, ye meaning is, that they shold teach nothing straūge or differing from that kinde of learning which the Lord cōprehended in the lawe: and to adde and diminishe was vnlawful for them. Then folowed the Prophets, by whom in dede the Lord published new oracles to be added to the law: but yet not so new, but that they cam out of the law, and had respect vntounto it. For, as touchyng doctrine, they were only expositors of the law, and added nothyng vntounto it, but prophecies of thyngs to come. Those excepted, they vttered nothyng els but a pure exposition of the lawe. But because it pleased the Lord that there shold be a plainer and larger doctrine, that weake consciences might be the better satisfied: he cōmaunded that the Prophecies also shold be put in writyng, and accompted parte of his worde. And hereunto were added the histories, whiche are also the workes of the Prophetes, but made by the endityng of the Holy ghost. I recken the Psalmes among the Prophecies, because that which we attribute to the prophecies is also cōmon to the psalmes. Therfore that whole body cōpacted of the law, prophecies. psalmes & histories, was the word of the Lord to the olde people, by the rule whereof the prestes and teachers euen vntounto Christes tyme were bounde to examine their doctrine: neither was it lawfull for them to swarue either to the right hand or to the left: because all their office was enclosed within these boundes, that they should answer the people out of the mouth of God.Mal. iiii.iiii, Which is gathered of a notable place of Malachie, where he biddeth them to be mindful of the law, & to geue hede to it, euē to the preaching of the Gospell. For therby he forbiddeth them all new found doctrines, and graunteth them no leaue to swarue neuer so little out of the way which Moses had faithfully shewed them. And this is ye reason why Dauid so honorably setteth out the excellence of the law, & reherseth so many praises of it: that is, that the Iewes should couete no forein thyng without it, sith within it was all perfection enclosed.
But when at last the Wisdome of God was openly shewed in ye flesh, that same Wisdome with ful mouth declared vntounto vsus al yt euer can with mans wit be cōprehēded, or ought to be thought cōcerning ye heuēly Father. Now therefore, sins Christ ye fōne of rightousnesse hath shined, we hauehave a perfect brightnesse of ye truth of God, such as ye clerenesse is wōt to be a mid day, when the light was before but dimme. For verily the Prophet meant not to speake of any meane thing, whē he wrote ye God in old time spake diuersly & many waies to the fathers by the prophets:Heb. i.i. but yt in these last daies he began to speake to vsus by his beloued Sonne. For he signifieth, yea he openly declareth, that God wil not hereafter, as he did before, speake somtime by some and sometime by other, nor wil adde Prophecies to Prophecies, or reuelations to reuelations: but that he hath so fulfilled al the partes of teaching in the Sonne, yt they must hauehave thys of him for the last and eternal testimonie. After whiche sort al this time of the new Testament wherein Christe hath appeared to vsus with the preaching of his Gospell euen to the daie of iugement, is expressed by the last houre, the last times, the last dayes: to the ende verely that contented with the perfection of the doctrine of Christe, we should learne neither to fayne vsus any new beside it, or receiue it fained of other. Therfore not without cause the Father hath by singular prerogatiue ordeined the Sonne to be our Teacher: commaunding hym, & not any man,Mat. xvii.v. to be heard. He did in dede in fewe wordes sette oute hys scholemaistership vntounto vsus, when he said, heare him: but in whiche there is more weight & force than men commonly thynke. For it is as muche in effect, as if leading vsus away frō al doctrines of men, he should bring vsus to him only, and commaūde vsus to loke for al the doctrine of saluation at him alone, to hang vponupon him alone, to cleaue to hym alone, finally (as the very wordes do sounde) to harkē to the voice of hym alone. And truely what ought there now to be either loked for or desyred at ye hand of man, when the very worde of lyfe hath familiarly and openly disclosed himselfe vntounto vsus? Yea but it is mete yt the mouthes of al mē be shut, after yt he, in whom the heauēly Father willed to hauehave al the treasures of knowledge and wisdome to be hidden, hath ones spoken, and so spokē as became both the wisdome of God (which is in no part vnperfect) and Messias at whoes hand the reuelation of al thinges is hoped for:Iohn. iiii.xxv. that is to say, that he left nothing afterwarde for other to be spoken.
Let this therefore be a stedfast principle: yt there is to be had no other worde of God, wherunto place should be geuen in the Chirche, than yt which is conteined first in the law and the Prophetes, and then in the writinges of the Apostles: & that there is no other manner of teaching rightly, but according to the prescription and rule of ye word. Hereupon also we gather, that ther was no other thing graūted to ye Apostles, but that which ye Prophetes had had in olde tyme: that is, that they should expounde the olde Scripture, and shewe that those thinges yt are therein taught are fulfilled in Christ: and yet yt they should not do the same but of the Lorde, that is to saye, the Spirite of Christe going before them, and after a certaine maner enditing wordes vntounto them.Mathe. xxviii.xx. For Christ limited their embassage wt this condition, when he commaunded them to goe and teache, not such thinges as they themselues had rashly forged, but al those thynges that he had cōmaunded them.Mat. xxiii viii. And nothing could be more playnly spokē, thā that which he saieth in an other place: but be not ye called maisters for onelyonly one is your maister, Christe. Then, to emprint this more depely in their minde, he repeteth it twise in thesame place. And because their rudenesse was such, that they could not cōceiue those thynges that they had heard and learned of the mouth of their maister,Ioh xiii….xxvi. &. xvi.xiii. therfore the Spirite of trueth is promised them, by whō they should be directed to the true vnderstanding of al thinges. For ye same restrayning is to be diligētly noted, where this office is assigned to the Holy ghost, to put them in minde of al those thinges yt he before taught them by mouth.
Therfore Peter, who was very wel taught how much he might lawfully do, leaueth nothing either to himselfe or other, but to distribute the doctrine deliuered of God.i. Pe. iiii.xxi. Let him yt speaketh (saieth he) speake as the wordes of God, yt is to say, not doutingly, as they are wont to tremble whoes own cōscience misgeueth them, but wt sure cōfidēce, which becō meth ye seruāt of God furnished wt assured instructiōs. What other thing is this, but to forbidde al inuentions of mans minde, frō what hed soeuer they hauehave proceded, that the pure word of God may be heard & learned in ye Chirch of ye faithful? to take away the ordināces or rather the fained deuises of al men, of what degree soeuer they be, that the decrees of God onelyonly may remaine in force? These be those spirituall armures, mighty through God to cast down holdes:ii. Cor. x.iiii. by which ye faithful seruātes of God may throwe down coūsels, & al height that aduaunceth it selfe against the knowlege of God, & may leade al knowlege captiue to obey Christ. Loe this is the soueraigne power, wherwt it behoueth ye Pastors of the Chirch to be endued, by what name soeuer they be called, that is, that by the worde of God they may wt cōfidēce be bolde to do al things: may cōpel al the strēgth, glory, wisdome & height of the world to yeld & obey to his maiestie: being vpholdē by his power, may cōmaunde al euē frō the hiest to the lowest: may bilde vp the house of Christ & pull down the house of Satā: may fede the shepe & driue awai the wolues: may instruct & exhort the willing to learne▪ may reproue, rebuke & subdue the rebellious & stubborne: may bind, & loose: finally may thūder & lightē, if nede be: but al things in ye word of God. Howbeit there is, as I hauehave said, this differēce betwene ye Apostles & their successors, yt the Apostles wer ye certaine & authētike secretaries of the Holy ghost, & therfore their writinges are to be estemed for the Oracles of God: but the other hauehave none other office, but to teache yt which is set fourth & writtē in the holy Scriptures. We determine therefore, yt this is not now left to faythfull ministers, that they may coyne any new doctrine, but that they oughte simply to cleaue to ye doctrine, wherunto ye lord hath made al mē wtoute exception subiect. Whē I say this, my meaning is not only to shew what is lawful for al particular mē, but also what is lawful for the whole vniuersal Chirch. Now as touching al particular mē: Paul verily was ordeined by ye Lord Apostle to ye Corinthiās: but he denieth yt he hath dominiō ouer their faith.i. Cor. i.xiiii. Who now dare take a dominion vponupon hymselfe, which Paule testifieth yt it belōgeth not to him? If he had acknowleged himselfe to hauehave this libertie of teachīg, yt whatsoeuer ye Pastor teacheth he may therin of right require to be beleued: he wold neuer hauehave taught the Corīthiās this discipline,i. Cor iii.xiiii.xxix. yt while twoe or three Prophetes speake, ye rest should iudge, & if it were reueled to any yt sate, ye first should hold his peace. For so he spared none, whoes authoritie he made not subiect to ye iugemēt of ye word of God. But, wil some mā say, of ye whole vniuersall Chirch ye case is otherwise. I answere yt in an other place Paul meteth wt this dout also, where he saieth, yt Faith is by hearing, & hearing by ye word of God.Rom. x. Truly if Faith hang of ye word of God only, hath respecte vntounto & resteth vponupon it alone, what place is there now left to ye worde of the whole world? For herin no mā may dout, yt hath wel knowen what Faith is. For Faith ought to be staied vpō such assurednesse, wherby it may stande inuincible against Satā, & al the engines of the hells, and against ye whole world. This assurednesse we shal no where find but in ye only word of God. Againe, it is a general rule, which we here oughte to hauehave respect vntounto: yt God doth therfore take frō men the power to set fourth a new doctrine, yt he only may be our scholemaister in heauenly learning, as he only is true which cā neither lye nor deceiue. This rule belongeth no lesse to ye whole Chirch, than to eueryevery one of the faithful.
But if this power of the Chirche, which we hauehave spoken of, be compared with that power, wherof the spirituall tyrantes, that hauehave falslye called themselues Bishops and Prelates of religion, hauehave in certayne ages past bosted themselues among the people of God, the agreemente shalbe no better than Christ hath with Beliall. Yet it is not in this place my purpose to declare in what sorte and with how wicked meanes they hauehave exercised their tyranny: I wil but rehearse the doctrine, which at this day they defende, first with writinges, and then with swerd & fyre. Because they take it for a thyng confessed, that a general Coūcell is the true image of the Chirche, when they hauehave taken this principle, they do without dout determine, that such counsels are immediatly gouerned of the Holy ghost, and that therfore they can not erre. But whereas they themselues do rule, the counsells, yea and make them, they doe in dede chalenge to themselues whatsoeuer they affirme to be due to the Coū cells. Therfore they wil hauehave our Faith to stande and fall at their will, that whatsoeuer they shal determine on the one side or the other, maye be stablished and certayne to our mindes: so that if they allow any thing we must allowe the same without douting: if they condemne any thyng we must also holde it for cōdemned. In the meane time after their own lust, and despising the worde of God, they coyne doctrines, to which afterwarde they require by thys rule to hauehave Fayth geuen. For they also say that he is no Christian, that doth not certainly consent to all theyr doctrines as wel affirmatiue as negatiue: if not with expressed yet with vnexpressed Faith: because it is in the power of the Chirche, to make new articles of the Fayth.
First let vsus heare by what argumētes they proue yt this authoritie is geuen to the Chirche: and then we shal se how much that maketh for them which they allege of the Chirch. The Chirch (say they) hath notable promises, that it shal neuer be forsakē of Christ her spouse, but that it shalbe guided by his Spirite into al truth. But of the promises which they are wont to allege, many are geuē no lesse to eueryevery one ye faithful particularly, thā to the whole Chirche vniuersally. For though the Lord spake to the .xii. Apostles,Math. xxviii xx. Ioh. xiiii.xvi. whē he said: Behold I am with you euē to the end of the world: Again: I wil aske my Father, & he shal geue you an other cōforter, namely the Spirite of truth: yet he made the promise not only to the whole nūber of the .xii. but also to eueryevery one of them: yea to the other disciples likewise, either those yt he had alredy receiued, or those yt should afterwarde be added to them. But whē they expoūde such promises ful of singular cōfort, as though they were geuē to none of ye Christians, but to the whole Chirche together: what do they ells, but take away frō al Christians that confidence which they all ought to receiue therby to encourage thē? Yet I do not here deny, but yt the whole felowship of the faithful furnished with manifolde diuersitie of gyftes, is endued with much larger and more plentifull treasure of the heauē ly wisdome, than eche one seuerally: neither is it my meaning, yt thys is so spoken in common to the faithful, as though they were al alike endued with the Spirite of vnderstanding and doctrine: but because it is not to be graunted, to the aduersaries of Christ, yt they should for the defense of an euill cause wrest the Scripture to a wrong sense. But, omitting this,i. cor. i.xii. I simply cōfesse yt which is true, yt the lord is perpetually presēt with his, & ruleth them wt his Spirite. And yt this Spirite is not the Spirite of error, ignorance, lyeng or darkenesse: but of sure reuelation, wisedome, trueth, & light, of whō they not deceitfully may learne those thinges that are geuē them,Eph. i.xviii. that is to say, what is the hope of their calling, & what be the richesse of the glory of the inheritaunce of God in the saintes. But wheras the faythful, euen they that are endued with more excellent giftes aboue the rest, do in thys fleshe receiue onelyonly the firste frutes & a certaine tast of yt Spirite: there remaineth nothing leeuer to them thā knowing their own weakenesse, to hold themselues carefully within the boundes of the worde of God: least, if they wander farr after their own sense, they by & by stray out of ye right waie, in so much as they be yet voide of that Spirite, by whoes only teaching truth is discerned from falshode.Phi. iii.xi For all men do confesse with Paule, that they hauehave not yet atteined to ye marke. Therfore they more endeuor to daily profiting, than glory of perfection.
But they wil take exception, & say yt whatsoeuer is particularly attributed to eueryevery one of ye holy ones, ye same doth throughly & fully belong to ye Chirche it selfe. Although this hath some seming of truth, yet I deney it to be true. God doth in dede so distribute to eueryevery one of ye members ye giftes of his Spirite by measure, yt the whole body wanteth nothing necessarie, whē the giftes are geuē in cōmon. But ye richesse of the Chirche are alway such, yt there euer wāteth much of yt hiest perfection, which our aduersaries do bost of. Yet ye Chirche is not therefore so lefte destitute in any behalf, but yt she alway hath so much as is enough. For the Lord knoweth what her necessitie requireth. But, to holde her vnderunder humilitie and godly modestie, he geueth her no more than he knoweth to be expedient. I know what here also they are wont to obiecte, that is,Ephe. v.xxv. i. Tim. iii xv. that the Chirche is clensed wt the washing of water in the worde of life, yt it might be without wrincle and spot, and yt therfore in an other place it is called the piller and stay of truth. But in the first of these two places is rather taught, what Christ daily worketh in it, than what he hath allredy done. For if he daily sanctifieth, purgeth, polysheth, wypeth from spottes all them that be his: truely it is certayne that they are yet besprinkled with some spottes and wrincles, and that there wanteth somwhat of their sanctificatiō. But how vayne and fabulous is it, to iudge the Chirch alredy in eueryevery part holy and spottlesse, wherof all the members are spotty and very vncleane? It is true therefore that the Chirche is sanctified of Christe. But onelyonly the beginning of that sanctifieng is here seen: but the ende and full accomplishment shall be, when Christe the holiest of holy ones shall truely and fully fill it with his holinesse. It is true also that the spottes and wrincles of it are wiped awaye: but so that they be daily in wiping awaye, vntill Christe with his comming dooe vtterlye take awaye all that remaineth. For vnlesse we graunt this, we must of necessitie affirme with the Pelagians, that the righteousnesse of the faithfull is perfect in this life: and with the Cathani and Donatistes we muste suffer no infirmitie in the Chirch. The other place, as we hauehave ells where seen, hath a sense vtterly differing from that which they pretende. For when Paule hath instructed Timothee, and framed him to the true office of a Bishop, he sayeth yt he did it to this purpose, yt he should knowe how he ought to be hauehave himselfe in ye Chirch. And yt he should with the greater religiousnesse and endeuor bend himselfe thereunto, he addeth that the Chirch is the very piller & stay of truth. For what ells do these wordes meane, but yt the truth of God is preserued in ye Chirch, namely by the ministerie of preaching? As in an other place he teacheth, that Christ gaue Apostles,Eph. iiii.xi. Pastors and Teachers, that we should no more be caried about with eueryevery winde of doctrine, or be morked of men: but that being enlightened with the true knowledge of the Sonne of God, we should altogether mete in vnitie of Faith. Wheras therfore the truth is not extinguished in the world, but remayneth safe, yt same cōmeth to passe because it hath the Chirche a faithful keper of it, by whoes helpe & ministerie it is susteined. But if this keping standeth in the ministerie of the Prophetes and Apostles, it foloweth yt it hangeth wholy herupō, if the word of the Lord be faithfully preserued & doe kepe hys puritie.
But that the reders may better vnderstande, vponupon what pointe thys question chefely standeth, I wil in fewe wordes declare what our aduersaries require, and wherin we stande against them. Where they say that the Chirche can not erre, it tendeth herunto, & thus they expounde it, that forasmuch as it is gouerned by the Spirite of God, it may goe safely without the worde: yt whether soeuer it goeth, it can not thinke nor speake any thing but truth: yt therfore if it determine any thing wt out or beside Gods worde, the same is no otherwise to be estemed than as a certaine Oracle of God. If we graūt yt first point, that the Chirche can not erre in thinges necessarie to saluation, this is our meaning, that this is therfore because forsaking al her own wisdome, she suffreth her selfe to be taught of the Holy ghost by the word of God. This therfore is the difference. They set the authoritie of the Chirch without the worde of God, but we wil that it be annexed to the worde, and suffer it not to be seuered from it. And what maruel is it, if the spouse and scholar of Christ be subiect to her husbande & scholemaister, yt the cōtinually and ernestly hāgeth of his mouth? For this is the order of a wel gouerned house, yt the wife should obey the authoritie of the husbande: & thys is ye rule of a wel ordered schoole, yt the teaching of ye scholemaster alone should there be heard. Wherfore let the Chirche not be wise of her selfe, not thinke any thing of her selfe: but determine the ende of her wisdōe where he hath made an ende of speaking. After thys maner she shal also distruste all the inuentions of her owne reason: but in those thinges wherin it stādeth vpō the word of God, she shall wauer with no distrustfulnesse or doutyng, but shall reste with great assurednesse and stedfast constancie. So also trusting vponupon the largenesse of those promises that she hath, she shal hauehave whereupon aboūdantly to susteine her fayth: that she maye nothyng doute that the best guide of the righte way the holy Spirite is alwaye presente with her: but therewithall she shall kepe in memorie what vse the Lord would hauehave vsus to receiue of his holy Spirite.Ioh. xvi.vii. &. xiii. The Spirite (sayth he) which I wil send frō my Father, shal leade you into al truth. But how… because (sayeth he) he shal put you in minde of al those thinges that I hauehave tolde you. Therfore he geueth warning that there is nothing more to be loked for of his Spirite, but that he should enlightē our mindes to perceiue the truth of his doctrine. Therfore Chrisostome saieth excellently well. Many (sayeth he) do boste of the holy Spirite:Sermo. de sanc, to & adorand. Spiri. Iohn. xii.l. &. xiiii.x but they which speake their own do falsly pretēde that they hauehave him. As Christ testified that he spake not of himselfe: because he spake out of the law & the Prophetes: so if any thing beside the Gospel be thrust in vnderunder the title of ye Spirite, let vsus not beleue it because as Christ is the fulfilling of the law & the Prophetes: so is the Spirite, of the Gospel. These be his words. Now it is esy to gather, how wrōgfully our aduersaries do, which bost of the Holy ghost to no other ende, but to set fourth vnderunder his name strāge and foreine doctrines from the word of God: wheras he wil wt vnspeakable knott be conioined wt the worde of God, & thesame doth Christe professe of him when he promiseth him to his Chirch. So is it truly. What sobrietie ye Lord hath ones prescribed to his Chirch, ye same he wil hauehave to be perpetually kept. But he hath forbidden her, yt she should not adde any thing to his worde, nor take any thing frō it. This is the inuiolable decree of God and of the Holy ghost, whiche our aduersaries goe about to abrogate, when they faine that the Chirche is ruled of the Spirite without the worde.
Here againe they murmure against vsus, & say that it behoued that the Chirch shold adde some things to ye writinges of the Apostles, or yt they thēselues should afterwarde wt liuely voice supply many thinges which they had not clearly enough taught, namely sith Christ said vntounto them. I hauehave many thinges to be said to you, which you can not now beare: and yt these be the ordinances,Ioh. xvi.xii. which wtout the Scripture hauehave ben receiued only in vse & maners. But what shamelessenesse is this? I graūt the disciples were yet rude, & in a maner vnapt to learne, whē the Lord said this vntounto them. But wer they then also holdē wt such dulnesse, whē they did put their doctrine in writing, yt they afterward neded to supply with liuely voice yt which they had by fault of ignorāce omitted in their writinges? But if they were already led by the Spirite of trueth into al trueth whē they did set fourth their writinges: what hindred yt thei hauehave not therin conteined & left written a perfect knowledge of the doctrine of the Gospell? But goe to: let vsus graunt them that which they require. Only let them point out what be those thinges yt it behoued to be reueled without writing. If they dare enterprise that, I wil assaile them with Augustines wordes:Hom. in Ioh. xcvi that is, When the Lord hath saied nothing of them, which of vsus dare say, these they be or those they be? or if any dare say so, wherby doeth he proue it? But why do I striue about a superfluous mater? For a very childe doeth knowe, that in the writinges of the Apostles, which these men do make in a maner lame and but half perfecte, there is the frute of that reuelation which the Lorde did then promise them.
What? say they, did not Christ put out of controuersy what soeuer the Chirche teacheth & decreeth,Mat. xviii xvii. when the cōmaundeth him to be taken for a heathen man and a Publicane that dare saye against her? Firste in that place is no mentiō made of doctrine, but only the authoritie of the censures is established for correcting of vices, that they which hauehave ben admonished or rebuked should not resist her iudgement. But omitting this, it is muche maruell, that these losels hauehave so litle shame, that they dare be proude of that place. For what shal they get therby, but yt the consent of the Chirche is neuer to be despised, whiche neuer consenteth but vntounto the trueth of the worde of God? The Chirch is to be heard, say they. Who denieth it? forasmuch as it pronounceth nothing but out of ye worde of the Lorde. If they require any more, let them know that these wordes of Christ do nothing take their part therin. Neither oughte I to be thought to muche contentious because I stande so earnestly vpō this point, That it is not lawful for the Chirche to make any new doctrine, that is, to teach and deliuer for an Oracle any more than yt which the Lorde hath reueled by hys worde. For men of sounde witt doe se how great daūger there is, if so great authoritie be ones graūted to mē. They se also howe wyde a wyndowe is opened to the mockynges and cauillations of the wicked, if we saye that that whiche men hauehave iudged is to be takē for an Oracle among Christians. Beside that, Christ speaking according to the cōsideratiō of his own time, geueth thys name to the Sinagoge, that his disciples should afterwarde learne to reuerence holy assemblies of the Chirche. So shoulde it come to passe yt eueryevery citie and village should hauehave egall authoritie in coyning of doctrines.
The examples which they vse, do nothing helpe them. They say that the Baptising of infantes, proceded not so much from the expresse commaundement of the Scripture as from the decree of the Chirche. But it were a very miserable succor, if we were compelled to flee to the bare authoritie of the Chirche for defense of the Baptisme of infantes: but it shal in an other place sufficiently appeare yt it is farre otherwise. Likewise whereas they obiecte that yt is no where founde in the Scripture, which was pronounced in ye Nicene Synode, yt the Sōne is cōsubstantial wt the Father: therin they do great wrong to the fathers, as though they had rashly cōdemned Arrius, because he would not sweare to their wordes, when he professed al that doctrine which is cōprehended in the writinges of the Prophetes & Apostles. This word, I graūt, is not in the scripture: but whē therin is so oft affirmed, yt there is but one God, againe Christ is so oft called the true & eternall God, one with the Father: what other thyng do the fathers of the Nicene councell whē they declare yt he is of one substance, but simply set out the naturall sense of the Scripture? But Theodorite reporteth yt Constantine vsed this preface in their assemblie.Histo. eccle. li. … Cap. v. In disputations (sayeth he) of diuine maters, there is a prescribed doctrine of the Holy ghost: the bokes of the Gospels and of the Apostles, with the Oracles of the Prophetes, do fully shewe vsus the meanyng of God. Therefore layeng away discorde, let vsus take the discussinges of questions out of the wordes of the Spirite. There was at that tyme no man that spake agaynst these holy monitions. No man toke exception, that the Chirche might adde somwhat of her own: that the Spirite reueled not all thynges to the Apostles, or at least vttered them not to those that came after: or any suche thyng. If it be true whiche oure aduersaries would hauehave: fyrste, Constantine did euil, that toke from the Chirche her authoritie: then, whereas none of the Bishops at that time rose vp to defend it, this was not without breach of their faith: for so they were betraiers of the right of the Chirche. But sith Theodorite reherseth that they willingly embraced that which the Emperor saied, it is certaine that this newe doctrine was then vtterly vnknowen.