A Reply to an Answer Made by Doctor Whitgift, Reply · Part 32 – Part 33
The reply vntounto the next ſection in the. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. pages.
WHereas vntounto the Admonition prouing out of the thirde of S. Mathew / that preaching muſte goe before the myniſtring of the ſacramentes / you anſwere firſt / that it is agaynſt all Logicke to conclude a generall rule vponupon a particulare example: you ſhall vnderſtande that that which Iohn dyd in that poynt / he dyd it not as a ſingular perſon or as the ſonne of ʒacharie / but as the myniſter of the goſpell / and therefore it appertayneth as well to all other myniſters as vntounto hym. For as it is a good concluſion / that for ſo much as Peter in that he is a man / is borne to hauehave / and by common courſe of nature hath two legges / therefore Iohn and Thomas and all the reſt hauehave ſo: euen ſo for ſo much as Iohn by reaſon of hys miniſtery had neede firſt to preach / then to baptiſe / it followeth / that all others that hauehave that miniſtery committed vntounto them muſt do the lyke. Secondarely you ſay / that it doth not appeare that he preached immediatly before he baptiſed them with water. And yet S. Mathew after that he had ſhewed that he preached repentaunce (which the other Euangeliſtes call the baptiſme of repentance) he addeth that then the people were baptyſed of him / which alſo may appeare in the Actes / where S. Paule noteth thys order to hauehave bene Act. 19. 5.kept. For although betwene the ſtory of hys preaching and that which is ſayde of hys baptiſing / there is interlaced a deſcription of hys dyet and of hys apparel / yet theſe wordes (then came vntounto hym. &c.) muſt needes be referred vntounto the tyme which followed hys preaching. And where as you ſay / that it is manyfeſt that our ſauiour Chriſt was baptyſed without preaching: I would know of you what one worde doth declare that / when as the contrary rather doth appeare in S. Luke / which ſeemeth to note playnly that our ſauiour Chriſt was baptiſed / 3. Luk. 21.when the people were baptyſed. But the people (as I hauehave ſhewed) were baptyſed immediatly after they heard Iohn preach / therefore it is lyke / that our ſauiour Chriſt was baptyſed / after that he had heard Iohn preach. And it is very probable / that our ſauiour Chriſt which dyd honoure the myniſtery of God by the hand of men ſo farre / as he would voutchſafe to bee baptyſed of Iohn / would not neglect or paſſe by hys myniſtery of the word / being more precious then that of the ſacrament / as it appeareth by Iohn that our ſauiour Chriſt was preſent 1. Iohn. 26.at hys ſermons / for ſo much as S. Iohn doth as he was preaching to the people poynt hym out with the finger / and told them that he was in the middeſt of them which was greater then he. And there is no doubt / but thoſe words which our ſauiour Chriſt ſayd before hys ſupper / although they are gathered by the Euangeliſtes into ſhort ſentences / were notwithſtanding long ſermons / touching the fruite of hys death and vſe and ende of that ſacrament. And thys order of Actes. 2. Act. 8. 12. 38. Act. 9. 17. 18. Act. 10. 34. Act. 16. 15. 33. Act. 20. 7.preaching immedyatly before the myniſtring of the ſacramentes / is continually noted of S. Luke throughout the whole ſtory of the Actes of the Apoſtles. But I will not preciſely ſay neyther yet doe the authors of the Admonition affirme (as M. Doctor ſurmyſeth of them) that there muſt be preaching immediatly before the admyniſtration of the ſacramentes. Thys I ſay / that when as the lyfe of the ſacramentes dependeth of the preaching of the worde of God / there muſt of neceſſitie the worde of God bee / not red but preached vntounto the people / amongſte whom the ſacramentes are myniſtred. And foraſmuch as I hauehave proued before / that no man may myniſter the ſacramentes but he which is able to preache the word / although I dare not affirme / that there is an abſolute neceſſitie / that the word ſhould be preached immediatly before the ſacramentes be myniſtred / yet I can imagine no caſe / wherein it is eyther meete or conuenient or elſe almoſt ſufferable / that the ſacramentes ſhould be myniſtred without a ſermon before them / for the myniſter being as hee oughte of neceſſitie to bee / able to preache / oughte ſo to doe. And if it be ſayde that hys health or voyce will not ſerue hym ſometymes to preache / when he is able enough to myniſter the ſacramentes: I ſay that eyther he ought to begge the helpe of an other myniſter hard by / or elſe there is leſſe inconuenience in deferring the celebration of the ſacrament vntill hee bee ſtrong enough to preach / then miniſtring it ſo maymedly and without a ſermon / wherby it is ſene / how iuſt cauſe M. Doctor hath to cal theſe blynde and vnlearned gatherings / which he with hys Egles eye and hys great learning can not ſcatter / nor once moue.
After thys M. Doctor accuſeth the authors of the Admonition / as though they ſimply condemned reading the ſcriptures in the church / and thys accuſation he followeth in many wordes and in dyners places / wherein as in a number of other places of theyr booke the authors of the Admonition hauehave cauſe to renew that olde complaynt of Theodorus / which is / that whenſoeuer any thing is ſayde that is vnpleaſant / that is by and by expounded otherwyſe then it is ment of hym that ſpeaketh it: ſo that that which is geuen with the ryght hand / is receiued with the left. For the authors of the Admonition declaring theyr vtter miſlyking that there ſhould be in ſtead of a preaching miniſter a reading myniſter (if I may ſo call hym) and in ſtead of preaching / reading / are vntruely expounded of M. doctor / as though they condemned all reading in the church. And heere he maketh hym ſelfe worke / & picketh a quarell to blot a great deale of paper / & to proue that which no man denyeth / for beſydes thys treatiſe he ſpeaketh afterward of it in halfe a ſcore pages / euen from the. 159. page vntill the. 1…0. page / and ſo lighteth vsus a candel at noone dayes. It is a token of a nature diſpoſed to no great quietneſſe / which rather then he would not ſtriue / ſtriueth with hym ſelfe. And although the cauſe be iuſt and good which he defendeth / yet I will note in a word or two / how as though there were pitch or ſome worſe thing in hys handes / hee defyleth whatſoeuer he toucheth. Firſt therefore he aſketh / and ſo / that he doth moſt boldly and confidently affirme it / whether the word of God is not as effectual when it is red / as when it is preached / or whether reading be not preaching. In which two queſtions / although the one of them confuteth the other (for ſo much as if reading be preaching (as he ſayeth) then the comparyſon of the profite and efficacy betwene one and the other / is abſurde) yet I will anſwere to both. I ſay therefore that the word of God is not ſo effectuall red as preached. For S. Paule ſayth / that fayth commeth by hearing / & hearing of the word preached / 10. Rom. 14.ſo that the ordinary and eſpeciall meanes to worke fayth by / is preaching and not reading. And although reading doe helpe to nouriſh the fayth which commeth by preaching / yet thys is geuen to the preaching cath exochen, that is by excellency / and for that it is the excellenteſt and moſt ordinary meanes / to worke by / in ye hartes of the hearers. The beholding of the creatures / & the conſideration of the making of the world and of Gods wiſdome / and wonderfull louelove appearing in them / doth nouriſh and ſtrengthen fayth / and yet may it not therefore in efficacy be compared to the preaching of the word of God. And to know that the worde of God preached / hath more force and is more effectuall then when it is red / it is to be obſerued whereunto the preaching is compared. It is called a lifting or heauing vp of our ſauiour Chriſt. Lyke vntounto the diſplaying of a banner / as the ſerpent Iohn. 3. 14.was lift vp in the wildernes. As therefore that which is lyfted vp on hygh / is better and eaſelyer ſeene of a great company / then when it ſtandeth or lyeth vponupon the grounde or in ſome valley or low place: ſo the preaching of the goſpell doth offer ſooner and eaſlyer the truth thereof vntounto the fayth (which is the eye of the hearer) then when it is red. The ſame alſo may bee ſayde in that the preaching 2. Tim. 2. 15.is called a cutting of the worde of God / for as when the meate is cut and ſhred / it nouriſheth more then when it is not ſo / ſo lykewyſe it is in preaching and reading. And that whiche is brought by the authors of the Admonition / and ſo ſcornefully hurled away of Maiſter Doctor / that S. Paule compareth 1. Cor. 3. 6.the preaching vntounto planting and watering / is a very notable place to proue that there is no ſaluation / without preaching. For as the huſbandman receyueth no frute / vnleſſe he both plant and water that which is planted: euen ſo there is no ſaluation to be looked for / where there is no preaching. And to thys alſo may bee well referred that the preaching is called of Saynt Luke an opening of the ſcriptures 24. Chap. 32.whereby it is declared / that they be as it were ſhutte / or claſped / or ſealed vp vntill ſuch tyme as they bee by expoſition and declaration of them opened. It may bee that God doth ſometymes worke fayth by reading only / eſpecially wher preaching cannot bee / and ſo hee doth ſometymes without reading by a wonderfull worke of hys ſpirite: but the ordinary wayes whereby God regenerateth hys children / is by the word of God / whiche is preached. And therfore Salomon Prou. 29. 18.ſayeth / that where Propheſie (whiche is not a bare readyng / but an expoſytion and applycation of the ſcriptures) fayleth / there the people pearyſhe. It is true / the woorde bothe preached and red / is all one / as the fyre couered wyth aſhes / is the ſame when it is diſcouered. But …s when the fire is ſtyrred vppe and diſcouered / it geueth more heate then when it is not: ſo the word of God by preaching and interpreating (as it were ſtyrred vp & blowen) maketh a greater flame in the harts of the hearers / then when it is red. The reaſon wherof is not in the word / which is al one red & preached / but in y• … pleaſeth the Lorde to worke more effectually wyth the one / then with the other / thereby approuing and authoryſing that meanes and wayes / which he eſpecially ordayned for vsus to be ſaued by.
Of infinite examples take one of the Enuche / which although he had bene Actes. 8.at Ieruſalem / and returning home / was reading of the Prophet Eſay / yet he beleeued not / vntill Phillip came and preached vntounto hym / which I neyther ſay to diſalow reading of the ſcripture (which is very profitable) nor yet to ſtrengthen the handes of the papiſtes / which to banyſhe the reading of the ſcriptures / obiect the hardneſſe and difficultie of the ſcriptures / as M. Doctor doth moſt ſlaunderouſly & vnbrotherly ſurmiſe of the authors of the Admonition: but that it may appeare / what a groſe and a palpable error thys is / that the reading of the ſcripture ſhould be as effectuall as the preaching of it / which God hath appoynted to be the eſpeciall and ſingulare meanes to ſaue thoſe / whome he hath appoynted to ſaluation. And what is thys elſe but to condemne the wiſdome of God in ordeyning paſtors and doctors to bee contynuall functions in the churches: and in ſo carefully commending them vntounto the church of the which notwithſtanding there is no vſe / if reading be as good as preaching. And although thys be very groſe / yet in the. 163. page where he goeth about to ſhew the profite of reading the ſcriptures in the church / he is yet more abſurde. For there he ſayeth / that it may bee / that ſome men be more edifyed by the ſimple reading of the ſcriptures / then by ſermons. In deede if a man ſleepe the ſermon tyme / and wake the reading time / or be otherwyſe deafe at the one and attentife and heedye at the other / I will not deny / but he may be more edifyed at the ſimple reading / then at the ſermon / vnleſſe it be in thys and ſuch lyke caſe / I know not how it may be tute that M. Doctor ſayth. And in deede it is as much to ſay that it may be / that the meanes that God hath ordayned to bee the fitteſt and meeteſt to call men to ſaluation / is not the fitteſt & meeteſt meanes / which a man ſhould not once ſo much as thinke of / without trembling and ſhaking eueryevery ioynte of hym. And now I thinke by thys tyme M. Doctor knoweth hys anſwere to hys ſecond queſtion / which is whether reading / be not preaching. And if this be not ſufficient that I hauehave ſaid / I would aſke gladly of hym / whether all readers be preachers / and whether whoſoeuer readeth / preacheth: for if it be true (which he ſayeth) that reading is preaching / then that is lykewyſe true / that all thoſe which read preach / and ſo a childe of 4. or 5. yeares olde / is able to preach / becauſe he is able to reade. And leaſt he ſhoulde ſeeme to be thus euill aduiſed without ſome reaſon / in the. 159. page he aſketh whether (if a man wryte hys ſermon / & after reade it in the boke) that readyng be preaching. Heere is hard ſhift. What if I graunted that it is preaching / yet I deny that therefore he that readeth an other mans ſermon preacheth: and further I ſay / that if there be any ſuch / as being able to preach for his knowledge / yet for fault eyther of vtterance or memory can not do it but by readyng / that which he hath written: it is not conuenyent / that he ſhould be a myniſter in the church. For S. Paule doth not require only that the byſhop or miniſter 1. Tim. 3. 2.ſhould be learned in the myſteries of the goſpell / & ſuch a one as is able to ſet downe in wryting in hys ſtudy the ſenſe of the ſcripture / but one which is apt and fitte to teach. And the Prophet Malachie ſheweth / that he muſt hauehave the Malach. 2. 7.law not in hys papers / but in hys lippes / noting thereby / that it is neceſſary to hauehave the gift of vtteraunce / and Eſay the Prophet ſaying that God had geuen Eſay. 50. 4.hym the tonge of the learned / doth thereby declare / that it is not ſuffycient that he be well inſtructed in the myſtery of ſaluation / but that he hauehave alſo the gift of vtterance. Afterwarde M. Doctor aſketh whether S. Paule dyd not preache to the Romaines when he wrote vntounto them. No forſooth hys wryting to the Romaines was no more preaching / then S. Paules hand or hys penne / which were hys inſtrumentes to wryte with / were hys tongue / or hys lyghtes / or any other partes / which were hys inſtrumentes to ſpeake with. And S. Paule hym ſelfe Rom. 1. 15.wryting to the Romaines / putteth a difference betwene hys wryting & hys preaching / when although he wrote vntounto them / yet he excuſeth hym ſelfe that he could not come to preach vntounto them / ſaying that he was ready as much as lay in hym to preach vntounto them. But ſayeth he / was not the reading of Deuteronomie preaching? No more then the reading of Erodus. Heere be good proufes. It is generally denyed / that reading is preaching / and Mayſter Doctoure without any proufe / taketh it for graunted / that the reading of Deuteronomie is preaching. All men ſee / how pityfull reaſons theſe be. And in the. 162. page he alledgeth that in the Actes S. Luke ſeemeth to meane by reading preaching. But what dealing Cap. 15. 21.is thys / vponupon a ſeeming and coniecture / to ſet down ſo certenly and vndoubtedly / that reading is preaching / & then there is no one letter nor ſillable that vpholdeth any ſuch coniecture. For S. Iames ſayth that Moyſes (meaning the law) red eueryevery Saboth through out eueryevery towne in the ſinagogue / was alſo preached / or had thoſe that preached it / ſetting forth the order which was vſed in all the churches amongſt the people of God: that alwayes when they met vponupon the Saboth dayes / they had the ſcriptures firſt redde / and then preached of and expounded / which is that the authors of the Admonition doe deſire / and therefore complayne for that after reading followeth no preaching / which any indifferent man may eaſely vnderſtand by that that they ſay: In the olde tyme the worde was preached / now it is ſuppoſed to be ſufficient if it be red.
But Mayſter Doctor heareth with hys left eare / and readeth with hys left eye / as though hys right eye were pulled out / or hys ryght care cut of. For otherwyſe the other wordes which they hauehave touching thys matter / myght eaſely hauehave bene expoūded by the argumēt & matter which they handle. Of myniſtring of the ſacramentes in priuate places & by women / I hauehave ſpoken before / there remayneth therefore only in thys ſection / to ſpeake of the deacons / that they ought not to miniſter the ſacramēt. Which although I hauehave done partly before / & partly afterward will do / when I ſhall ſhew that it appertayneth not to them to miniſter the worde / and therefore not the ſacramentes (being things the myniſtery whereof ought not to be ſeuered) yet I will in a worde anſwere thoſe arguments that M. Doctor bryngeth for to proue that they may myniſter the ſacramentes. Whereof the fyrſt is / that Phillip in the. 8. of the Acts baptyſed. There is great doubt amongſt wryters / which Phillip that was that S. Luke mentioneth in Actes. 15. 21.the eyght chapter of the Acts of the Apoſtles: But I graūt him to be y• Phillip / that was the deacon & anſweare that he was no deacon then. For the church of Ieruſalem whereof he was deacon / being ſcattered / he could be no more deacon of it / or diſtribute the money that was collected for the poore of the church. And further I anſweare that he was afterwarde an Euangeliſt / and therefore preached not by vertue of hys deaconſhyppe (whoſe calling is not to preache) but by that he was an Euangeliſt / whoſe office put vponupon hym a neceſſitie of preaching. After you ſay that deacons are not permitted with vsus to celebrate the Lordes ſupper / and why then ſhoulde they be ſuffered to myniſter baptiſme? as if the one ſacrament were not as precious as the other. Thys is a myſerable rending a ſonder of thoſe things / which God hath ioyned together / not only to ſeperate the myniſtery of the ſacramentes from the word / but alſo the myniſtery of one ſacrament from an other.
And what reaſon is there / that it ſhould be graunted vntounto one that can not preach being (as they call hym a myniſter) to myniſter both the ſacramentes / whē as the ſame is not permitted vntounto a deacon (as they call hym) which is able to preach? I doe not ſpeake it for that I woulde hauehave thoſe which be deacons in deede / that is which hauehave charge to prouide for the poore of ſome one congregation / eyther preach or myniſter the ſacraments: but I ſay that it is agaynſt all reaſon / to permit the myniſtery of the ſacramentes to thoſe which can not preach / & to deny it to thoſe which are able to preach. In the. 118. page vntounto the example of Phillip / he addeth S. Stephen / which was one of ye deacons which he affirmeth to hauehave preached. But I deny it / for all that long oration which he hath in the 7. of the Actes / is no ſermon / but a defence of hym ſelfe agaynſt thoſe accuſations / which were layde agaynſt hym / as M. Beza doth very learnedly & ſubſtancially proue in hys annotations vponupon thoſe places of S. Stephens diſputations & defence. Now to defend hym ſelfe being accuſed / is lawfull not for the deacons only / but for any other chriſtian / & we read nothing that Stephen dyd there eyther touching the defence of hys cauſe / or the ſharpe rebuking of the obſtinate phariſeys and prieſtes / but that the holy Martyrs of God which were no deacons nor myniſters / hauehave done with vsus / when they hauehave bene conuented before their perſecutors. And where as he ſayth that Philip baptiſed / I hauehave ſhewed before by what authoritie he dyd it / that is / not in that he was a deacon / but for that he was an Euangeliſt. He addeth further out of Iuſtin Martyr / that the deacons dyd diſtribute the bread & the wyne in the admyniſtration of the ſupper. Tullie ſayth in a certayne place that it is as great a poynt of wyſedome in an aduocate or pleader of cauſes / to holde backe and to keepe cloſe that which is hurtfull to hys cauſe / as it is to ſpeake that which is profitable.
M. Doctor obſerueth none of theſe poyntes / for beſydes that the thinges which he brought for the defence of the ſeruice booke / are ſuch / as they hauehave before appeared: in ſeeking to defende it / he manyfeſtly oppugneth it. For before he ſayde that the booke of ſeruice doth not permit deacons to myniſter the ſupper of the Lord / and that by way of alowing of the booke: and here he proueth that the deacons dyd myniſter the ſacrament of the ſupper / and that alſo as a thing which he doth alow of.
But to let that paſſe / I beſeech thee (good Reader) marke / what a myniſtring of the ſupper thys is which Iuſtin maketh mention of / & note with what conſcience M. Doctor handeleth this cauſe. Iuſtin ſaith that after the ſcriptures are red and preached of / and prayers made / bread and wine & water was brought forth / and that the myniſter made prayers and thankes geuing in the hearing of the people (which is that which the Euangeliſtes call the bleſſing / and hath bene of later tymes called the conſecration) and after that the people were partakers of them / that then thys being done / the deacons dyd cary of that which was left / vntounto thoſe which were not preſent (for that corruption of ſending the communion vntounto the houſes was then in the churche / agaynſt which I hauehave before ſpoken) now if to cary to a priuate houſe the breade and wyne which was bleſſed or ſet a part by prayers / & by obeying the inſtitution of Chriſt by the myniſter / be to myniſter the ſacrament of the ſupper / then Serapions boye / of whome mention is made by Euſebius / myniſtred the ſacrament. For Serapion being ſicke as I hauehave before ſhewed / and ſending hys boye to the myniſter for the ſacrament / receiued the ſame at the handes of hys boye / for that the myniſter being ſicke / could not come hym ſelfe: ſo by M. Doctors reaſon / Serapions boye myniſtred Lib. 6. l. 43.the ſacrament. And a man would not thinke that one that hath bene the Quenes Maieſties publike profeſſor of diuinitie in Cambridge / ſhould not know to diſtinguiſh & put a difference betwene myniſtring the ſacrament / & helping to diſtribute the bread and the cup of the ſacrament. And if M. Doctor could not learne thys in bokes / yet he might hauehave eyther ſene it / or at leaſt heard tell of it in all the reformed churches almoſt / where the Deacons doe aſſiſt the myniſter in helping of hym to diſtribute the cuppe / and in ſome places alſo the bread / for the quicker and ſpedyer diſpatch of the people / being ſo many in number / that if they ſhould all receiue the bread and the cuppe at the myniſters hand / they ſhould not make an end in eight houres / which by that aſſiſtance may be finiſhed in two / which is tha… that M. Caluin ſayth. For he ſayth the Deacons dyd reach the cup / & maketh no mention of the bread. And if thys be to myniſter the ſacrament / then they that cut the loafe in peeces / they that fetch the wine for the ſupper / they that poure it forth from greater veſſels into glaſſes and cuppes / or whoſoeuer aydeth any thing in thys action / doe myniſter the ſacrament: then the which thing there can be nothing more ridyculous.
In the ende M. Doctor to ſhut vp thys matter / ſayth / that it is the firſt ſteppe to the myniſtery / and ſo ioyned of S. Paule in the third chapter and firſt Epiſtle to Timothe. But what a reaſon is thys: to be a Deacon is the firſt ſtep to the myniſtery / therefore the Deacon may preach and myniſter the ſacraments / when as the contrary rather followeth. For if it be a ſtep to the myniſtery / then it is not the myniſtery / but differeth from it / and ſo ought not to doe the things that belong to the myniſter. But I deny that it is / or ought to be alwayes a ſteppe to the myniſtery. I knew that it hath bene the vſe of long tyme / & I know alſo that there be very many which interpreate the place of S. Paule / (where he ſpeaking of the Deacons that behaue them ſelues well / that they get them ſelues a good bathmon, that is a degree to be a myniſter or a byſhop.) But I will ſhew a manifeſt reaſon / why it can not ſo be vnderſtanded / which is / for that as the functions of a Deacon or a myniſter are dyuers: ſo are the giftes alſo wherby thoſe functions are executed likewyſe dyuers. And therefore there may be ſome men for their wiſedome and grauitie / diſcretion and faythfulneſſe / and whatſoeuer other giftes are required in hym / that ſhoulde doe thys office of prouyding for the poore / and to be a good Deacon: which notwithſtanding for ſome impediment in hys tongue / or for want of vtterance ſhall neuer be able as long as he lyueth / to be a good myniſter of the word / and therefore the giftes being dyuers wherewith thoſe offices muſt be executed / (although it is neyther vnlawfull / nor vnmeete to make of a Deacon a myniſter if he hauehave giftes for that purpoſe) yet I deny that S. Paule appoynteth that the Deaconſhip ſhoulde be (as it were) the ſeede or frie of the myniſters: or that he meaneth by thoſe words that the Deaconſhip is a ſteppe to the paſtorſhyp. Which may yet alſo further appeare / by the phraſe of ſpeach which the Apoſtle vſeth. For he doth not ſay that they that do the office of Deaconſhip well / ſhall come to or get a good ſtanding / but he ſayth that in ſo doing they doe gette themſelues a good ſtanding / that is they get themſelues authoritie & eſtimation in the church / whereby they may be both the bolder to doe their office / and whereby they may doe it with more frute. Whereas when they liue naughtely / they neyther dare doe oftentimes that which they ſhould doe / nor yet that which they doe well / taketh ſo good effect / becauſe of the diſcredite which commeth by their euill behauiour. And ſo I conclude that M. Doctor hath brought hetherto nothing / to proue why either Deacōs ought / or elſe hauehave wont eyther to preach or to myniſter the ſacramentes.
And albeit M. Doctor be not able to ſhew it / yet I confes that it hath bene in tymes paſt permitted vntounto them in ſome churches to baptiſe / in other ſome to preach and baptiſe and ſometymes alſo to myniſter the ſupper: but I ſay alſo that thys was a corruption / and vſed at thoſe tymes / when there were many other groſe & vntollerable abuſes / from the which I doe appeale vntounto that which was firſt / that is the inſtitution of the Apoſtles / which lymitted and bounded eueryevery function within hys ſeuerall limites and borders which it ought not to paſſe.
VntoUnto the three next ſections contayned in the. 94. 95. and a peece of the. 96. pages / touching that which is called the introite / and fragments of the Epiſtles and Goſpels / and the reherſall of the Nicene Crede / I hauehave declared before the cauſes of our miſlyking / neyther meane I to ſtand to refute the ſlaunderous ſurmiſes which M. D. rayſeth of the authors of the Admonition / wherby he would bring thē into the ſuſpitiō of Arrianiſme / to whom all thoſe that feare God beare witnes / y• they are moſt far from. He him ſelfe notwithſtanding once again in the laſt of theſe three ſections. 96. page / doth lay the manyfeſt foundations of that part of Anabaptiſme / which ſtandeth in hauing al things common / ſaying directly agaynſt S. Peter / that in the tyme of the Apoſtles / Chriſtians had proprietie 5. Actes. 4.in nothing. And further geuing great cauſe of triumph of the one ſyde to the Catabaptiſtes / and ſuch as deny the baptiſme of yong infants / in matching that with thoſe things which the church may (although not without incommoditie yet without impietie) be without: and of the other ſyde vntounto the papiſtes / whileſt he ſayth that we reade not of any women which receiued the Lords ſupper in the Apoſtles tyme. For thys is that they alledge to proue theyr vnwritten verityes / when as it is eaſely anſweared both to the papiſtes and M. Doctor / that for ſo much as the Apoſtle doth witnes / that the churches of Corinth conſyſting of mē and women dyd receyue: that therefore women alſo dyd receiue / and were pertakers of the Lords table. Thus it is manyfeſt that M. Doctor only to diſpleaſe the authors of the Admonition / ſticketh not to pleaſure iij. notable heretickes / Anabaptiſts / Catabaptiſts / and Papiſts.
To the next ſection contayned in the. 96. and a peece of the. 97. page.
MAiſter Doctor aſketh how it is proued that there was any examination of the communicantes. After thys ſorte: all thinges neceſſarye were vſed in the churches of God in ye Apoſtles times / but examynation of thoſe whoſe knowledge of the miſtery of the goſpell was not knowne or doubted of / was a neceſſary thing / therfore it was vſed in the churches of God which were in the Apoſtles tyme. Then he ſayeth he is ſure there is neither commaundement nor example in all the ſcripture. In the booke of the Chronicles he might hauehave red / that 2. Chro. 35. 6.the Leuites were there commaunded to prepare the people vntounto the receyuing of the paſſeouer / in place whereof we hauehave the Lordes ſupper. Now examination being a part of the preparation / it followeth that heere is cōmaundement of the examination. And how holdeth thys argument / S. Paule commaundeth that eueryevery man ſhould proue hym ſelfe / Ergo there is no commaundement that the myniſter ſhould proue and examine them? ſo I may ſay that eueryevery man is a ſpirituall king to gouerne hym ſelfe / therefore he may not be gouerned of others. The authors 1. Pet. 2. 9.of the Admonition doe not meane that eueryevery one ſhoulde be examyned as thoſe whoſe vnderſtanding in the goſpell is well knowen / or which doe examyne them ſelues / and ſo they interpreate them ſelues in the. 108. page.