A Reply to an Answer Made by Doctor Whitgift, Reply · Part 27 (1 of 3)
To the next ſection beginning at the. 64. page / and holding on vntill the. 77. pages.
OF theſe offices ſome thing hath bene ſpoken before / where it hath bene proued out of the words of Chriſt / that neither the names / nor offices of Archbiſhop / or Archdeacons doe agree to the miniſterie of the goſpell. Nowe as M. Doctor beſtoweth great coſt heere / and trauaile in digging about them / and laying (as it were) newe earthe to their rootes / that they being halfe deade / if it were poſſible / myghte be recouered and quickened againe / ſo I (becauſe theſe trees mount vp ſo highe / and ſpreade their boughes and armes ſo brode / that for the colde ſhade of them nothing can growe / and thriue by them) will before I come to anſwere theſe things that are heere alledged / ſet downe certaine reaſons (as it were inſtruments) to take away the ſuperfluous loppe and ſpread of theſe immoderate offices.
And for the names firſt / I deſire the reader that we be not thought ſtudious of contention / becauſe we ſtriue about the name of Archbyſhop. &c. for thys is not to ſtriue about words / vnles it be counted a ſtrife of wordes / which is taken for the maintenance of the worde of God / as it hathe before appeared out of the Euangeliſts. Then it muſt be remembred whych Ariſtotle ſayeth very well in hys Elenches / that ta onomata ton pragmaton mimemata eſti: whych is / that names are imitations / or as it were expres images of the things whereof they are names / and doe for the moſt part bring to hym that heareth them / knowledge of the things that are ſignified by them. Howſoeuer the thing be it ſelfe / yet oftentimes it is ſuppoſed to be as the name pretendeth / and therevpon followeth / that a man may be eaſely deceiued / when the names doe not anſwer to the things wherof they are names. There may be / I graunte / a freer and more licentious vſe of names / but that licence is more tollerable in any thing / rather then in matters of the church and ſaluation. And if there be ſome caſes / wherin names that are not ſo proper / may be borne with / yet are there alſo whych are intollerable. As who can abide that a miniſter of the goſpell / ſhould be called by the name of a Leuite / or ſacrificer / onles it be he whych woulde not care muche / if the remembrance of the death / and reſurrection of our ſauioure Chriſt were plucked out of hys minde? Againe / it is vnlawfull for any man to take vponupon him thoſe titles which are proper to our ſauioure Chriſt: but the title of Archbyſhop is only proper to our ſauioure Chriſte / therefore no man may take that vntounto hym. That it 1. Epiſt. 5. 4. Heb. 13. 20. Acts. 3. 15. Acts. 5. 31. Heb. 12. 2.is proper to oure ſauioure Chriſte / appeareth by that whych S. Peter ſayeth / where he calleth him archipoimena: whych is archſhepheard or archbiſhop / for biſhop & ſhepheard are all one. And in the Hebrues where he is called the great ſhepheard of the ſheepe / and in the Actes / and * Hebrues / archleader of lyfe and of ſaluation / whych titles are neuer found to be giuen vntounto any / but vntounto our ſauioure Chriſte / and are proper titles of hys mediation / and therefore can not be wythout bolde preſumption applied vntounto any mortall man.
And it any man will reply and ſay / that it is not ſayd that our ſauior Chriſt is only archbiſhop. I anſwer that he is not only ſayd the head / and yet notwithſtanding there is no more heads of the churche but he. And if it be further ſayde that theſe archbyſhops are but vnderunder / and as it were ſubordinate archbyſhops / I ſay that a man may as wel ſay that men may be alſo vnderunder heads of ye church / whych is the ſame whych is alledged for the pope. Whych thing is not only true in thoſe wordes whych doe ſignify / and ſet vnlawfull things before our eyes / but euen in thoſe names alſo whych hauing no corruption in their owne nature / yet throughe the corrupt vſe of men / hauehave as it were gotten ſuche a tacke of that corruption / that the vſe of them can not be wythout offence.
In the primitiue church / the name of a Pope was honeſt / and was all one Tertull lib. de pudicitia. Cypr. lib. 2. Epiſt. 7. Ierome in hys Epiſtles to Auguſtin.wyth the name of a good paſtor / but nowe by the ambition of the man of Rome / it is ſo defiled / that eueryevery good man ſhaketh at the very mention of it.
The name of a Tyranne / was firſt honourable / and the ſame with a king / and yet through cruelty / and vniuſt rule of certaine / it is become now ſo hatefull / that no vpright and iuſt dealing Prince / none that gouerneth wyth equitye / and to the commodity of hys ſubiects / would beare to be called Tyranne: wherby it may appeare / that it is not for nought that we do ſtande of theſe names. Nowe if the names ought to be odious / being both horribly abuſed / and alſo forbidden by our ſauioure Chriſte / the thyngs them ſelues muſt be in greater hatred / the vnlawfulnes wherof may thus appeare.
Firſt of all / the miniſtery is by the word of God / and heauenly / and not left to the will of men to deuiſe at their pleaſure / as appeareth by that whych is noted of ſ. Iohn / wher the Phariſeis cōming to ſ. Iohn Baptiſt / after that he had denied to be either Chriſt / or Elias / or another Prophet / conclude / if yu be neither Iohn. 1. 25.Chriſt / nor Elias / nor of the Prophets / why baptiſeſt thou? whych had bene no good argument / if ſ. Iohn might hauehave bene of ſome other function / then of thoſe whych were ordinarie in the churche / and inſtituted of God. And therefore S. Iohn to eſtabliſh his ſingular and extraordinary function / alledgeth the word of God / wherby appeareth / that as it was not lawfull to bring in any ſtrange doctrine / ſo was it not lawfull to teache the true doctrine / vnderunder the name of any other function then was inſtituted by God.
Let the whole practiſe of the churche vnderunder the lawe / be loked vponupon / and it ſhall not be founde that any other Eccleſiaſticall miniſtery was appoynted / then thoſe orders of highe prieſt / and prieſts / and Leuites. &c. whych were appoynted by the law of God / & if there were any raiſed extraordinarily / the ſame had their calling confirmed from heauen / either by ſignes or miracles / or by plaine & cleare teſtimonies of the mouthe of God / or by extraordinarye exciting and mouings of the ſpirite of God. So that it appeareth that the miniſterie of the goſpell / and the functions thereof / ought to be from heauen / and of God / and not inuented by the braine of men: from heauen / I ſay / and heauenly / becauſe althoughe it be executed by earthly men / & the miniſters alſo are choſen by men like vntounto themſelues / yet becauſe it is done by the word and inſtitution of God / that hath not only ordained that the word ſhould be preached / but hathe ordained alſo in what order / and by whome it ſhould be preached / it may well be accounted to come from heauen / and from God.
Seeing therefore / that theſe functions of the Archbiſhop and Archdeacon are not in the word of God / it foloweth that they are of the earth / & ſo can do no good / but much harme in the church. And if any man will ſay ye we do the church great iniurye / becauſe we doe tie her to a certaine nomber of orders of miniſters / as it were to a ſtake / ſo that ſhe may not deuiſe new functions / I ſay that bothe the churche and Chriſt doth accuſe him againe. Chriſt eſtemeth him ſelfe to hauehave iniurie / becauſe that by thys meanes he is imagined not to hauehave bene careful / and prouident enough for hys church / in that he hath left the miniſterie / wherein doth conſiſt the life of the church (being that wherby it is begottē) ſo raw and vnperfect / yt by permitting of it to the ordering of men / there is a great danger of error / whych he might hauehave ſet without all daunger / by a word or two ſpeaking.
The churche of the other ſide riſeth againſt hym / for that he maketh Chriſt les carefull for her / then he was for that vnderunder the lawe. For tell me in the whole volume of the Teſtament is there any kinde or degre of miniſterie / wherof God is not the certen and expres author? was there euer any man (I except Ieroboam and ſuche prophane men) either ſo holy / or ſo wiſe / or of ſuche great knowledge / that euer did ſo muche as dreame of inſtituting of a newe miniſterie? After the long wandring of the Arke in the wilderneſſe / when it came to be placed in Ieruſalem / tell me if any beſides the Leuites and Prieſtes / the ordinarie miniſters / and the Prophets whych were immediatly ſtirred vp of God / were found to hauehave ordained any office or title / whych was not commaunded / or whether there was at any time any thing added / or enioyned to thoſe offices of prieſthode and Leuiteſhip / whych was not by the lawe preſcribed.
All men knowe that the Arke of Noah / was a figure of the church. Noah Gen. 6. 14. 22.was both a wiſe and a godly man / yet what doth the Lord leaue to his wiſdom / when as he appoynteth the matter / the forme / the length / the bredth / the heigth / the woode / the kinde and ſorte of woode.
In the tabernacle the church is yet more expreſſedly ſhewed forth / Moſes that was the ouerſeer of the worke / was a wiſe and a godly man / the artificers Exod. 26. Exod. 31. 3. 6.that wroughte it / Bezalael / and Aholiab / moſt cunning workemen / and yet obſerue / howe the Lorde leaueth nothing to their will / but telleth not onlye of the boordes / of the curtaines / of the apparell / but alſo of the barres / of the rings / of the ſtrings / of the hookes / of the beſomes / of the ſnuffers / and of the thyngs / Exo. 39. 42.the matter / and the forme.
Let vsus come to the temple / whych as it was more neare the time of Chriſt / ſo it dothe more liuely expres the churche of God / whych nowe is. Salomon the wiſeſt man that euer was or ſhall be / dothe nothing in it / neyther for the temple 1. Reg. 3. 12. 1. Chro. 28. 11. &c. 19. 1. Reg. 6. 2. Chro. 3. 4. 5. Ezech. 40.nor for the veſſelles of the temple / nor for the beautie of it / but according to the forme that was enioyned hym / as appeareth in the Kings / and Chronicles. And in the reſtoring of that temple / Ezechiel is witnes / howe the Angell by the commaundement of God doth parte by parte / appoynt all to be done bothe in the temple and in the furniture thereof.
Nowe if the holy ghoſte in Figures and Tropes dothe ſo carefully / and as a man may ſpeake / curiouſly comprehende all things: in the truthe it ſelfe / howe muche more is it to be thought that he hath performed this? If in the ſhadowes / howe muche more in the body / if he hauehave done this in earthly things / and which are peariſhed / how is it to be thought that he hath not performed it in heauenly / and thoſe whych abide for euer? And then tell me what are thoſe times / of which it was ſayd / the Meſſias when he commeth / will tell vsus all? Is it a like thyng Iohn. 4. 25.that he whych did not only appoynt the temple and the tabernacle / but the ornaments of them / woulde not only neglecte the ornamentes of the churche / but alſo that / wythout the whych (as we are borne in hand) it can not long ſtande? ſhall we thinke that he which remembred the barres there / hathe forgotten the pillers heere? or he that there remembred the pinnes / did heere forget the maſter builders? ſhoulde he there remember the beſomes / and heere forget Archbyſhops / if any had bene needefull? there make mention of the ſnuffers to purge the lights / and heere paſſe by the lightes them ſelues? And to conclude / that he ſhoulde make mention there of the moates / and heere ſay nothing of the beames? there recken vp the gnattes / heere keepe ſilence of the Camels? what is this elſe / but that which Ariſtotle ſayth / ta mikra horan kai ta megala paroran: that is / to looke to ſmall things / and not to looke to great / which if it can not fall into the Lorde / let it be a ſhame to ſay that the cheefe piller and vpholder of the churche / is not expreſſed in the ſcripture / nor can not bee concluded of it.
Moreouer thoſe miniſteries without the which the churche is fully builded / and brought to perfection and complete vnitie / are not to be retayned in the churche: but with out the miniſteries of Archbiſhop. &c. the churche maye bee fully builded and broughte to perfection / therefore theſe miniſteries are not to be retayned.
And that without theſe miniſteries the Churche may be complete / it appeareth by that which is in the Epheſians / where it is ſayde / that Chriſte gaue 4. Eph. 11. 12.ſome Apoſtles / ſome Prophetes / ſome Euangeliſtes / ſome paſtors and Doctors / to the reſtoring of the ſayntes vntounto the worke of the miniſterie / vntill wee all come to the vnitie of fayth / and of the knowledge of the ſonne of God / and vntounto a perfect man.
The learned wryters hauehave thus reaſoned agaynſte the Pope: that for ſo muche as Apoſtles / Prophetes. &c. are ſufficient for the building of the churche / therefore there ought to be no Pope. The argument and neceſſitie of the concluſion is as ſtrong agaynſt the Archbiſhoppe / and all one. For by the ſame reaſon that the Pope is caſt away as a ſuperfluous thing / for that theſe offyces are able to make perfect the Churche / is the Archbiſhoppe likewiſe throwne out of the Churche / as a knobbe or ſome lumpe of fleſhe / which being no member of the body / doth both burden it and diſfigure it. And as they ſay that God gaue no Pope to his church / therefore the Pope can doe no good / ſo we may well ſay / God gaue no Archbiſhop to his church / therefore the Archbiſhop can do no good.
Neyther dyd God geue any archdeacon to his church / therefore he can not profite the church. But it will be ſayde that this argument followeth not / becauſe no mention is made heere of the deacon or of the elder / which notwithſtanding are bothe neceſſarye in the churche / and therefore that there are functions profitable in the church / whereof no mention is made heere. But how eaſely doe all men know / that the Apoſtle ſpeaketh of thoſe functions heere only / which are conuerſant in the worde / and hauehave to doe with the preaching thereof: and therefore made heere no mention of the deacon or elder. It is ſayde agayne / that in the Epiſtle to the Corinth. S. Paule ſpeaketh only of Apoſtles / Prophetes / and 1. Cor. 12. 28.Doctors / leauing out Euangeliſtes and paſtors / and yet Euangeliſtes and paſtors neceſſary / and ſo although archbiſhops are not ſpoken of in the place to the Epheſians / yet they may not be therfore ſhut out as vnneceſſary. But they that ſay ſo / ſhould hauehave conſidered that the diuerſitie of the matter which the Apoſtle handleth in theſe two places / bred a diuers kinde of ſpeche. For in the Epiſtle to the Corinthians / going aboute to condemne the ambition of men / which will thruſt them ſelues into other mens callings / and take vponupon them to doe all them ſelues / and to be as it were / eye / and eare / and hande and all. S. Paule proueth that the churche is a body / wherein there are manye members / and the ſame diuers one from an other / and that it is not one member only. And to proue that / it was ſufficient to ſay that he placed ſome Apoſtles / ſome Prophets / ſome Doctors / without rehearſing all the kindes of functions. But in the Epiſtle to the Epheſians / meaning to ſhew the liberalitie of our ſauiour Chriſt in geuing thoſe / which ſhoulde be able by doctrine and teaching to make perfect and abſolute hys church / it was neceſſary that he ſhoulde recken vp all thoſe functions / whereby that worke is done.
But how commeth it to paſſe that S. Paule neyther in the one place / neyther in the other / nor elſe where / maketh mention of the archbiſhop / which is ſayd to be the cheefeſt piller and vnderunder ſetter of the church? Now I heare what is ſayde to this: that vnderunder the paſtor is contayned byſhop / he is not contayned / but is the ſame that paſtor. How then? forſoth ſay they an archbyſhop is byſhop / well then / of byſhops ſome are archbyſhops / & ſome are what? Heere I ſee that they are hanged in ye buſh / but I will helpe them. Of byſhops ſome are archbyſhops / ſome are by the common name byſhops: For if they anſwere not thus / what hauehave they to ſay? But what an abſurd thing were that / to ſay that S. Paule comprehended an archbyſhop vnderunder a paſtor or byſhop / which neyther was at that time / nor certayne hundreth yeares after? thys were not to deuide / but to propheſie. And how is it that they neuer marked that S. Paule ſpeaketh of thoſe functions which were in the church / and not of thoſe which ſhould be afterwarde? and of thoſe that God had geuen / and not of thoſe which he would geue? for the words are / (and he hath geuen.)
Moreouer if ſo be vnderunder the paſtor / the apoſtle comprehended an archbyſhop / then the archbyſhop is neceſſary / and ſuch as the church can not be without / and commaunded of God / and therefore not taken vp by the pollicie of the church for the time and countrey / and other circumſtances / and ſuch alſo as can not be put downe at the will of the church / which is contrary to the iudgement of thoſe / which are the archbyſhops patrones. The laſt refuge is / that the Apoſtle made mention of thoſe functions / which hauehave to do with the miniſtring of the word & ſacraments / & not of thoſe which hauehave to do with order & diſcipline.
Speake in good earneſt / had the Apoſtles nothing to doe with diſcipline & order? with what face can you take away the raines of gouernment out of the Apoſtles hands / and put them in the Archbyſhops and Archdeacons hands? what a peruerſeneſſe is thys / that the miniſteries inuented by men / ſhould be preferred to all the miniſteries appoynted and commaunded of God.
The Apoſtles forſoth hauehave in common with the Archbyſhops and Archdeacons the power of miniſtring of the worde and of the ſacraments / of binding and loſyng / and thus farre as good as the Archbyſhops and Archdeacons: But for diſciplyne and order / the Apoſtles hauehave nothing to doe / but herein Archbyſhops and Archdeacons are aboue them / and better then they.
Now ſyr / if I would follow your vaine of making ſo many exclamations / as Oh the impudencie / Oh the inſolencie / with twentie other ſuch great Ohs / you ſee I hauehave occaſion both heere and elſe where / but I would not gladly declame / eſpecially when I ſhould diſpute / nor make outcries in ſtead of reaſons.
But to come to this diſtinction: I had thought before this time / that the apoſtles had bene ye * cheefe builders in ſetting vp ye church: now I perceiue you 1. Cor. 3. 10.make the archbyſhops and archdeacons the cheefe builders / and the apoſtles vnderunder carpenters / or common maſons / to ſerue and to take the commaundement of the archbiſhop and archdeacon. And wheras it is ſayd / that the miniſters which S. Paule ſpeaketh of / are in the worde and ſacramentes / binding and looſing only / and that there be other which are beſides theſe / occupyed in the order and diſciplyne of the church (of which number are archbyſhops and archdeacons) let vsus marke a little what deepe diuinitie heere is.
And firſt of all / I would gladly aſke them / with what aduiſe they hauehave layde on a greater burden and waight of the archbiſhops and archdeacons ſhoulders / then the apoſtles were able to ſuſtaine?
Secondarily / I aſke with what boldneſſe / and vponupon the confidence of what giftes / any man dare take vppon him both that which the apoſtles did / and more too? Then I ſay that it is too too vnſkilfully done / to ſeperate order / and diſcipline from them that hauehave the miniſterie of the word in hand / as though ye church without archbyſhops and archdeacons / were a confuſed heape / and a diſordered lumpe / when as S. Paule teacheth it to be without them / a body conſiſting of Rom. 12. 4. 5.all his partes and members / comely knitte and ioyned together / wherein nothing wanteth / nor nothing is too much. Doth it not pertayne to order / that the apoſtle ſayth / that God hath ſet firſt apoſtles / ſecondly prophets / thirdly teachers? 1. Cor. 12. 28. Colloſ. 2. 19.are not theſe wordes (firſt / ſecond / third / differences of order? if this be not order / ſurely I know not what order is. And yet neyther archbyſhop nor archdeacon author of this / and it was kept alſo before they were hatched.
Let vsus ſee of diſciplyne and gouernment / which we may ſee to be committed to thoſe / which hauehave the preaching of the word / and to others alſo which dyd not preach the worde / when S. Paule ſayth that the elders which gouerne wel / 1. Tim. 5. 17.are worthy double honor / eſpecially thoſe which trauaile in the word. Where he appoynteth the gouernement to the miniſters of the worde / and to thoſe alſo that were not miniſters of the worde. And thereupon it followeth / that the miniſters of the church are not ſeuered one from an other / as you ſeuer them / becauſe ſome hauehave the miniſtration of the worde and ſacramentes only / and ſome with the adminiſtration of the ſacramentes and word / hauehave alſo the gouernement and diſciplyne in their handes / but cleane contrariwiſe S. Paule diſtinguiſheth them / and ſheweth that all ye miniſters in the church hauehave the gouermnent / but all hauehave not the worde to handle / ſo that he diſtinguiſheth the miniſterie into that / whiche is occupyed in the worde and gouernment / and into that which is occupyed in the gouernment only. But in this diſtinction you do not only forget S. Paule / but you forget your ſelfe. For if S. Paule ſpeake in that place of thoſe that meddle with the miniſtring of the word and ſacraments only: why doth the biſhop which is one of the miniſters that S. Paule ſpeaketh of (being the ſame that paſtor is) why I ſay doth he meddle with the diſcipline and order of the church / ſeeing that belongeth not to him by your diſtinction? why doth alſo the archbiſhop (whome you ſay is a biſhop) meddle with it? and thus you ſee you neede no other aduerſary then your ſelfe / to confute you.
And leaſt any man ſhoulde ſay I confute mine owne ſhadow / I muſt let hym vnderſtand that there is a pamphlet in Latine / which is called the booke of the doctors / which goeth from hande to hande / and eſpecially (ſo farre as they coulde bring to paſſe) to thoſe only that they thought to fauoure that opynion / in the which booke / all theſe anſweres vntounto the place of the Epheſians are contayned / and almoſt all that which is comprehended in thys defence of archbiſhops and archdeacons / with other things alſo which are founde in this booke of M. Doctors: and therefore it is very likely / that he hauing no other way to vente hys rapſodies and rakings togither / thought he would bring them to light after thys ſorte / but how much better had it bene / that thys myſhapen thing had had the mothers wombe for the graue / or being brought out / had bene hidden as the former is / in ſome bench hole or darke place / where it ſhould neuer hauehave ſeene any light / nor no mans eye ſhould euer hauehave looked of it? And thus all theſe cloudes being ſcattered by the ſunne of truth / you ſee that the place to the Epheſians / ſtandeth ſtrong agaynſt the archbiſhop and archdeacon.
Now will I reaſon alſo after thys ſorte out of the place of the Epheſians and Corinthyans ioyned together. There is no function but hathe giftes fitte and apte to diſcharge it / annexed and geuen vntounto it: whereuppon the Apoſtle by a Metonomy / doth call the Apoſtles / Prophets. &c. giftes / becauſe they hauehave alwayes giftes ioyned with them. Thys being graunted (as no man can deny it) I reaſon thus.
Thoſe functions only are ſuffycient for the church / which hauehave all the gifts needefull / eyther for the myniſtring of the worde and ſacramentes / or for the gouernement of the churche: but all theſe functions reckened of S. Paule to the Epheſians / with thoſe which S. Paule calleth antilepſeis, and kyberneſeis Ephe. 4. 11. 1. Cor. 12. 28.(which are ye deacons and elders) hauehave the gifts needeful / eyther for the gouernment of the church / eyther elſe for the miniſtering of the worde and ſacramentes: therefore theſe functions only are ſufficient for the church / for it is a ſuperfluous thing to make more offices / then there be giftes to furniſh them / for ſo they that ſhoulde hauehave them / ſhoulde rather be idols then officers. And therefore for as much as there is no gift which falleth not into ſome of theſe functions / it is altogether a vaine and vnprofitable thing / to bring more offices and functions into the church beſides theſe.
And ſo it may be thus reaſoned. If men may make and erect new miniſteries / they muſt eyther geue giftes for to diſcharge them / or aſſure men that they ſhall hauehave giftes of God / whereby they may be able to anſwere them. But they can neyther geue giftes / nor aſſure men of any giftes neceſſary to diſcharge thoſe functions / therefore they may make or erect no new miniſteries.
Laſt of all / I conclude agaynſt theſe made and deuiſed miniſteries of archbiſhops and archdeacons after this ſort. If men may adde miniſteries / they may alſo take away / for thoſe both belong to one authoritie: but they can not take away thoſe miniſteries that God hath placed in his church / therefore they can not adde to thoſe that are placed in the church. And this foundation I thought firſt to lay / or euer I entred into M. Doctors not reaſons / but authorities / not of God / but of men / in confuting of which / there will fall forth alſo other arguments agaynſt both theſe offices of archbiſhop / and archdeacon.
Now I will come to the examining of your witneſſes / whereof ſome of them are ſo bored in the eares / and branded in their foreheades / that no man neede to feare any credite they ſhall get before any iudge whereſoeuer / or before whomſoeuer they come / but in the Romiſhe courte / and the papiſtes only excepted. For to let go Polidore Virgil / becauſe whatſoeuer hee ſayth / hee ſayth of the credite of another / lette vsus come to Clement which is the author of this you ſpeake. And what is he? is there any ſo blinde that knoweth not that this was nothing leſſe then Clement / of whome S. Paule ſpeaketh / and which * ſome thinke was the 4. Phil. 3. Tert. de preſcrip. aduerſus heret.firſt biſhop of Rome ordayned by Peter / and not rather a wicked helhounde / into whom the Lord had ſent ſathan to be a lying ſpirit in his mouth / to deceiue them for their vnthankfull receiuing of the goſpell? And he muſt witneſſe for the archbiſhop: a worthy witneſſe. For as all that popiſhe hierarchie came out of the bottomleſſe pitte of hell / ſo to vpholde the archbiſhop the necke of it / whereupon that Romiſhe monſter ſtandeth / are raiſed vp from hell baſtardes / Clemens and Anacletus / and in deede as it may appeare / the very naturall ſonnes of Sathan / and the ſworne ſouldiers of Antichriſt.
A man would hauehave thought / that the biſhop of Saliſburie maſter Iuell / had ſo pulled of the painting of the face of this Clement / that all good men would hauehave had him in deteſtation / ſo farre of would they hauehave bene to hauehave alledged out of him to proue any thing that is in controuerſie.
The biſhop alledgeth both Euſebius and S. Ierome to proue / that none In the reply to M. Harding fol. 7.of thoſe workes which goe in his name / are his. And although the proufes bee ſtrong which the biſhop vſeth / being the witnes of vnſuſpected witneſſes: yet becauſe ye law / although it allow two witneſſes / notwithſtanding doth like better of three / I will ſet downe heere alſo Ireneus which was a great while before them both / and followed hard after the times of the true and vncounterfaite Clement / and therefore could beſt tell of him / and of hys writings / & yet * he maketh Lib. 3. c. 3.mention but of one Epiſtle / which vponupon occaſion amongſt the Corinthians / he wrote to them. In deede in another place of that booke / he ſheweth that it is very probable / that Clement alſo eyther wrote or turned the Epiſtle to the Hebrewes. Now if that Epiſtle to the Corinthes / were extante / we ſhoulde eaſely ſet by comparing thoſe that are now in hys name with that / what a my ſhapen thing this is.
And if ſo be that Ireneus coniecture be good / that Clement was the author or interpreter of the Epiſtle to the Hebrues / then what horrible iniurie is done to the holy ghoſt / whyle the ſame is ſuppoſed the wryter of thys booke to the Hebrewes / which is the author of ſuche beggery / as thys Clement brought into the worlde? And I pray you / doe you holde that it is the true chriſtyan relygion / whyche that booke contayneth? Coulde none of theſe conſyderations driue you from the teſtimonie of thys Clement? it goeth very harde wyth the archbyſhop / when theſe Clementes and Anacletuſſes / muſt be brought to vnderproppe hym.
But what if there be no ſuch booke as thys is / which you name (when you ſay in hys booke intituled / compendiariū religionis chriſtianae) it is like you know not him / nor what he ſayth / when you can not tell ſo much as his name. Only becauſe Polidore wryteth that Clement ſayth this / in a certayne ſhort & ſummary booke of chriſtian relygion / you hauehave ſet downe that he wryteth thus in a booke intituled compendiarium chriſtianae religionis / where there is no ſuch title / neyther in the councels where hys Epiſtles are / neyther yet in all other hys works.
Thought you to diſguiſe hym with thys new name of the booke / that hee ſhoulde not be knowne? …or ment you to occupy your anſwerer in ſeeking of a booke / which becauſe he ſhoulde neuer fynde / he ſhould neuer anſwer. The place which Polidore meaneth / is in the firſt epiſtle which he wryteth vntounto Iames / the brother of the Lord / which is as the reſt are both rediculous in the manner of wryting / & in the matter oftner tymes wycked & blaſphemous / which I ſpeake to thys ende / that the reader through the commendation that M. Doctor hath geuen to thys Clement / in taking hym as one of hys wytneſſes in ſo great a matter / be not abuſed.
For anſwere vntounto hym / although he be not worth the anſwering / I ſay that firſt it may be well ſayde heere of the office of the Archbyſhop / that the father of it was an Amorite / and mother a Hittite / that is / that it commeth of very infamous parentage / the beginning therof being of the idolatrous nations.
And whereas Clement maketh S. Peter the Apoſtle to make it as it were hys adopted ſonne / thereby to wipe away the ſhame of hys birth / it doth S. Peter ſhamefull iniury. For beſides that it was farre from S. Peter / to take thys authoritie to hym ſelfe / not only of making archbyſhops through out eueryevery prouince / but alſo inſtituting a new order or office / without the councell of the reſt of the apoſtles / which none elſe of the apoſtles dyd / and which is contrary to the practiſe of S. Peter / both in the firſt and ſixt of the Actes / contrary alſo to the practiſes of the apoſtles / which after ſhall appeare: I ſay beſides thys / is it lyke that S Peter would graſſe the nobleſt plant (as it is ſayde) of the myniſterie of the goſpell / in ſuch a rotten ſtocke of that which was moſt abhominable in all idolarrie? for the greater they were in the ſeruice of the idolles / the more deteſtable were they before God.
The Lorde / when he woulde geuelawes of worſhipping / vntounto hys people / Leuit. 19. 27. Deu. 22. 11. 12 Leuit. 11.in the things that were indifferent / of ſhauing & cutting / and apparell wearing / ſayth to his people / that they ſhoulde not doe ſo / and ſo / becauſe the Gentiles dyd ſo / yea euen in thoſe things / the vſe whereof was otherwiſe very profitable / and incommodious to forbeare / he would hauehave thē notwithſtanding to abſtaine from / as from ſwines fleſh / conneys. &c. to the end that hee might hauehave them ſeuered / Deut. 14. Ephe. 2. 14.as appeareth in S. Paule / by a great and high wall from other nations.
And therefore it is very vnlike that S. Peter would frame the miniſterie of the goſpell (which is no ceremonie / but of the ſubſtance of the goſpell) by the example of the heatheniſh / and idolatrous functions.
If one had ſayde / that the Lord had ſhapen hys common wealth / by the paterne of other common wealthes / although it had bene moſt vntrue (all other flouriſhing common wealthes of Athens / Lacedemon / & Rome / borowing their good lawes of the Lordes common wealth) yet had it bene more tollerable: but to ſay he framed the miniſtery of the goſpell / by the prieſthode of idolatrie / is to fetch chaſtitie out of Sodome / and to ſeeke for heauen in hell.
And if ſo be that the Lord had delighted in thys hierarchie / he would rather hauehave taken of hys owne / then borowed of others / of hys owne church / then of the ſinagogue of Sathan. For vnderunder ye law beſides the Leuites / there were prieſtes / and aboue them a high prieſt.
And to ſay that Peter appoynted archbyſhoppes and byſhoppes / by the example of the idolaters / is after a ſort to make the law to come out of Egypt or Babylon / and not out of Sion or Ieruſalem / as the Prophet ſayth. You ſay Eſay. 2. 3.after that / Iames was an archbyſhop: if he were / he was the firſt / and placed ouer the Iewes.
And although S. Peter might to gaine the Gentiles / he content to vſe their idolatrous functions / with a little chaunge of their names / yet there is none ſo mad / to thinke that he would tranſlate any ſuch function from the Gentiles vntounto the Iewes / whych were neuer before accuſtomed with any ſuch Flamines / or Archiflamines. And thys I dare generally and at once ſay againſt you and your Clement / that the Lord tranſlated diuers things out of the Law / into the Goſpell 5. Math. 22. 9. Iohn. 22./ as the Preſbytery or elderſhyp / excommunication / and the office of Deacons (as it is thought) for that the Saduces / of whome ſo often mention is made in the goſpell / are thought to hauehave had that offyce to prouide for the poore / for thoſe that know the Hebrew tongue / doe vnderſtand that tſaddikim and tſedacah, do not only ſignifie iuſtice and iuſt men / but alſo almes and almes men: I ſay theſe and others more tranſlated from the law vntounto the goſpell / but neyther you nor your Clement / ſhall euer be able to ſhew / that the Lord euer tranſlated any thing from Genteliſme into the goſpell.
We reade in the Actes / that all the Gentiles were commaunded to conforme Act. 15. 29.them ſelues vntounto the Iewes in the abſtayning from bloude and ſtrangled meate for a tyme / but we can neuer finde that the Iewes were commaunded to conforme them to the Gentiles in their ceremonies / the reaſon wherof is / becauſe the one was ſometymes the law of God / and therefore he that had conſcience in it / was to be borne with / and the other came from men / and out of their forge / which the Lord would neuer geue ſo much honor vntounto / as to make other men by any meanes ſubiect vntounto them.
But what if there were no ſuch offices amongſt the Gentiles & Paganes / as Archiflamines / or Protoflamines? whereof before I ſhew the coniectures which I hauehave / I muſt geue the (gentle reader) to vnderſtand / that I am not ignorant that there are diuers which ſay there were ſuch offices amongſt the Gentiles / and namely heere in Englande / that there were. 25. Flamines / and three Archiflamines / wherof were made three archbyſhops / of London / Canterbury / and Yorke / and. 25. Biſhops / as Platine hath in the chapter Eleutherius: And Galfridus Monemutenſis in hys ſeconde booke and firſt chapter. And Lumbarde in hys fourthe booke ſpeaketh of it / as of a generall thing that was in all places where Paganiſme was. But if ſo be that the relygion of other Paganes dyd follow / and was lyke vntounto that of the Romaines (which is very probable) they being then the rulers of the whole worlde in a maner / vntounto whoſe example all men doe lightly conforme them ſelues / euen without commaundement / then there is great likelyhoode / there were no ſuch archiflamines / or protoflamines out of Tullie / which ſheweth that there was amongſt the Romaines dyuers kindes of prieſtes / whereof ſome were called flamines / of a ſeuerall attire which they ware alwayes of their heades / other pontifices, and a thir… ſort were called Salij, and that the cheefe of theſe Flamines / was called fl…me… …al…s, who was alſo diſtinguiſhed from the reſt / vp a white hatte / but of any archiflamines / or protoflamines / he maketh no mention at all / and therefore it is lyke that there was neuer any ſuch office amongſt the Paganes.
And if there were / I hauehave ſhewed how wycked it is to ſay that Peter framed the myniſterie of the goſpell by it. Now let it be ſeene of all men / how ſtrongly you hauehave concluded / that the names of archbyſhoppes are not antichriſtian / when as it is moſt certen / that he was a piller of antichriſt / vppon whome your reaſon is grounded.
The tymes wherein Voluſianus lyued / declare ſuffyciently how little credite is to be geuen to hys teſtimonie / which were when the maſſe had place / if not ſo wycked as it was after / yet notwithſtanding farre differing from the ſimplicitie of the ſupper which was left by our ſauiour Chriſt. And Euſebius is of more Euſ. 3. Lib. 4. Euſ. 4. Lib. 23.credite in thys then Voluſianus / which ſayth of the reporte of Dioniſius byſhop of Corinthe / that S. Paule made Dioniſius Areopagita byſhop of Athens: he ſayth not archbyſhop / but byſhop / although he ſpeake twiſe of it. And in the preface before hys workes / it is fayde / that after hys conuerſion / he went to Rome to Clement / and was ſent with others of Clement / into the Weſt partes / and that he came to Paris / and was there executed / whether ſo euer of theſe opinions is true / that falleth whyche Voluſianus affirmeth. And if eyther Voluſianus or you / will hauehave vsus beeleue that Dyoniſius Areopagita was archbyſhoppe of Athens / you muſt ſhew ſome better authoritie then Euſebius or Dyoniſius byſhop of Corinthe / and then your cauſe ſhall hauehave at the leaſt ſome more coloure of truthe.
Eraſmus followeth / which ſayth Titus was archbyſhop of Crete / whom I coulde anſwere with hys owne wordes / for I am ſure he will graunt me / that Titus & Timothe had one office / the one in Epheſus / the other in Crete: but it appeareth by Eraſmus hys owne wordes / that Timothe was but byſhop of Epheſus / therefore Titus was but byſhop of Crete. For Eraſmus in hys argument vponupon the firſt Epiſtle of Timothe / ſayth that S. Paule did enfornie Timothe of the office of a byſhop / and of the diſcipline of the church: If eyther he had bene an archbyſhop / or an archbyſhop had bene ſo neceſſary as it is made / hee would hauehave inſtructed hym in that alſo.
And I pray you tell me / whether Eraſmus or the Greeke Scholiaſt / be more to bee beeleeued in thys poynte / out of whome is taken that whyche is in the latter ende of the Epyſtles to Tymothe and Tytus / where they bothe are called the firſt elected Byſhoppes that euer were / eyther of Epheſus or Creta. For my parte I thyncke they were neyther Byſhoppes nor Archbyſhoppes / but Euangeliſtes / as ſhall appeare afterwardes: But it maye be ſuffycient to hauehave ſette agaynſte Eraſmus authoritie / the authoritie of the Scholiaſte. And if heere you will cauill and ſay that the Scholiaſte whych ſayeth hee was Byſhoppe / denyeth not but that he alſo was an Archbyſhoppe / becauſe an archbyſhop is a byſhop / it may be anſwered caſely / that the Scholiaſte dyd not ſpeake nor wryte ſo vnproperly / as to call them by the generall name of byſhop / whome he myght as eaſely hauehave called (if the truth woulde hauehave let hym) by a more proper and particular name of archbyſhop. And further in thys dyuiſion of the myniſters / the archbyſhop and the byſhop are members of one dyuiſion / and therefore one of them can not be affirmed and ſayde of an other / for that were contrary to the nature of a true dyuiſion.
And yet I hauehave a further anſwere / bothe to Eraſmus and Voluſianus / and whatſoeuer other hauehave written after thys ſort / that they ſpeake & gaue titles to thoſe men they wrote of / not according to that which they were / but according to the cuſtome and manner of that age wherein they wrote. And ſo we may read vincen. 10. lib. c. 124. Nice. 4. li. ca. 38.that Vincentius and Nicephorus wryting of Victor / ſpeake farre otherwiſe of hym / then Euſebius doth / which notwithſtanding wrote of the ſame man which they dyd. The one calleth Victor the Pope of Rome. And the other ſayeth / that in glory he paſſed all the byſhops before hym / which Euſebius neuer maketh any word of. Euen ſo Voluſianus and Eraſmus / lyuing in the tymes when as they which were the moſt eſteemed in the miniſterie / were called archbyſhops / call Titus and Dyoniſius archbyſhops / vponupon whome depended the cheefe care of thoſe churches which they gouerned.
There followeth Anacletus / an other of theſe witneſſes / which muſt depoſe that the name of an archbyſhop is not antychriſtian / of whome / as of Clement that went before / and Anicetus which followeth after / the common prouerbe may be verifyed / Aſke my fellow if I be a theefe. And although the anſwerer be aſhamed of hym / and ſayth therefore he will omit him / yet euen very neede dryueth hym / to bring hym in / and to make hym ſpeake the vttermoſt hee can. And thys honeſt man ſayth / that Iames was the firſt archbyſhop of Ieruſalem. But Euſebius ſayth / Iames was byſhop / not archbyſhop of Ieruſalem / and appoynted by the apoſtles. And in an other place / he ſayth / that the apoſtles dyd appoynt after hys death / Simeon the ſonne of Cleophas / byſhop of Ieruſalem. And Ireneus ſayeth / that the apoſtles in all places appoynted byſhops 2. Lib. 23. cap. 3. Lib. 22,vntounto the churches / whereby it may appeare what an idle dreame it is of Clement / Voluſianus / and Anacletus / eyther that Peter dyd thys by his owne authoritie / or that the primitiue churche was euer ſtaynes wyth theſe ambytious 4. Lib. 63.tytles of patriarche / prymate / metropolytane / or archbyſhoppe / when as the ſtoryes make mention / that thoroughe out eueryevery churche / not chery prouince / not by Peter or Paule / but by apoſtles / a byſhop / not an archbyſhop / was appoynted.
And heere you put me in remembraunce of an other argument agaynſt the archbyſhop / which I will frame after thys ſorte. If there ſhoulde be any archbyſhop many place / the ſame ſhoulde be eyther in reſpect of the perſone or miniſter and hys excellencie / or in reſpecte of the magnificence of the place: but the moſt excellent myniſters that euer were / in the moſt famous places / were no archbyſhops / but byſhops only / therefore there is no cauſe why there ſhoulde be any archbyſhop. For if there were euer myniſter of a congregation worthy / that was Iames / if there were euer any citte that ought to hauehave thys honor / as that the myniſter of it ſhould hauehave a more honorable title / then the myniſters of other cities and townes / that was Ieruſalem / where the ſonne of God preached / and from whence the goſpell iſſued out vntounto all places. And afterwarde that Ieruſalem decayed / and the church there / Antioche was a place where the notableſt men were that euer hauehave bene ſince / which alſo deſerued great honoure / for that there the * diſciples were firſt called chriſtians / but neyther was that called the Act. 11. 26.firſt and cheefeſt church / neyther the myniſters of it called the Arche or principal byſhoppes. And Euſebius to declare that thys order was firme and durable / Euſ. 3. 23.ſheweth that S. Iohn the Apoſtle / which ouer lyued the reſidue of the Apoſtles / ordayned byſhops in eueryevery church.
Theſe two / Anacletus and Anicetus / you ſay / are ſuſpected / why do you ſay ſuſpected / when as they hauehave bene conuinced and condemned / and ſtande vppon the pillery / with the cauſe of forgerie written in great letters / that he which runneth may reade? Some of the papiſtes them ſelues / hauehave ſuſpected them / but thoſe which mayntayne the truth hauehave condemned them as full of popery / full of blaſphemy / and as thoſe in whome was the very ſpirit of contradiction to the Apoſtles and their doctryne.
And do you marke what you ſay / when you ſay that theſe are but ſuſpected? Thus much you ſay / that it is ſuſpected / or in doubt / whether the whole body of poperie and antichriſtianitie were in the Apoſtles time / or ſone after or no / for Clement was in the Apoſtles time / and their ſcholer / and ſo you leaue it in dout, whether the apoſtles appoynted and were the authors of popery or no. I thinke if euer you had red the Epiſtles / you woulde neuer hauehave cited their authorities / nor hauehave ſpoken ſo fauourably of them as you doe.
You come after to the councel of Nice / wherin I wil not ſticke with you / that you ſay it was holden the .CCC. xxx. yeare of the Lorde / when as it maye appeare by Euſebius hys Computation / that it was holden. Anno Domini CCC xx. and heere you take ſo greate a leape / that it is enoughe to breake the archbiſhoppes necke / to ſkippe at once .CCC. yeares / (that is / from the tyme of the apoſtles / vntill the time of the councell of Nice) wythout any teſtimony of any / either father / or ſtorie of faithe and credite / whych maketh once mention of an archbiſhop. What no mention of hym in Theophilus / byſhop of Antioche? none in Ignatius? none in Clemens Alexandrinus / none in Iuſtin Martyr / in Ireneus / in Tertullian / in Origine / in Cyprian / none in all thoſe olde Hiſtoriographers / out of the whych Euſebius gathereth hys ſtory? Was it for his baſenes and ſmalnes / that he could not be ſeene amongſt the byſhops / elders / and deacons / being the cheefe and principall of them all? can the Ceder of Lebanon be hid amongſt the boxe trees? Ariſtotle in his Rhethorike ad Theodecten, ſayeth / that it is a token of contempt / to forget the name of an other / belike therefore if there were any archbiſhop / he had no chaire in the church / but was as it ſemeth / digging at the metalles. For otherwiſe they that hauehave filled their bookes wyth the often mentioning of biſhops / would hauehave no doubt remembred him. But let vsus heare what the councell of Nice hath for theſe titles.
In the. 6. canon mention is made of a metropolitane biſhop: what is that to the metropolitane whych is now / either to the name / or to the office? of the office it ſhal appeare afterwards. In the name I thinke there is a great differēce / betwene a metropolitane biſhop / & metropolitane of England / or of al England. A Metropolitane biſhop was nothing els / but a biſhop of that place / which it pleaſed the Emperor or magiſtrate to make the chefe citie of the dioceſe or ſhire / and as for thys name / it maketh no more difference betwene biſhop and biſhop / then when I ſay a miniſter of London / and a miniſter of Nuington. There is no man that is well aduiſed / whych will gather of thys ſaying / that there is as great difference in preheminence betweene thoſe two miniſters / as is betweene London / and Nuington: for his office and preheminence / we ſhall ſee hereafter.
There are alledged to proue the names of archbyſhops / patriarkes / archdeacons / the. 13. 25. 26. and. 27. Canons of the councel of Nece. For the. 25. 26. 27. there are no ſuch canons of that councell: and although there be a thirtenthe canon / there is no worde of patriarke / or archdeacon / there contained. And I maruell wyth what ſhame you can thruſte vppon vsus theſe counterfaite canons whych come out of the popes minte / yea / and whych are not to be found. Theodoret ſayeth / that there are but twentie Canons of the councell of Neece / and 1. Lib. 8. cap.thoſe twentie are in the tome of the councels / and in thoſe there is no mention of any patriarke / archdeacon / archbiſhop. Ruffine alſo remembreth. 22. Canons / 1. lib. 6. ca.very little differing from thoſe other twenty / but in lengthe / and in none of thoſe are found any of theſe names of archbiſhop / archdeacon / patriarke. And it is as lawfull for M. Harding to alledge the. 44. canon of the coūcell of Nece / to proue the ſupremacie of the Pope of Rome / as it is for M. doctor Whitgift / to alledge the. 25. 26. 27. to proue the name of archbyſhop / archdeacon / patriarke: for they are all of one ſtampe / and hauehave lyke authoritie.
I feare greatly / ſome craftye diſſembling papiſt had hys hand in this boke / who hauing a great deale of rotten ſtuffe / whych he coulde not vtter vnderunder hys owne name (being already loſt) brought it vntounto the author heereof / whych hath vponupon his credite without further examination / ſet it to ſale. Peraduenture you will thinke ſcorne to be cenſured and reprehended of a poore miniſter of the countrey / and therfore I will turne you ouer for your leſſon in thys behalfe / vntounto the biſhop of Saliſburie in hys Replie againſt M. Harding / touching the article of the ſupremacie. If all ſhoulde be allowed of / that S. Ambroſe alloweth of / then beſides other things whych he holdeth corruptly / the marriage of the miniſters 1. lib. offic. cap. 50.ſhould go very hard: But it is worthy to be obſerued / wyth what words Amb. doth allowe of the archbiſhop / that all men may vnderſtande / howe lowe it goeth wyth M. Doctor / for his defence of the archbiſhop / and howe the archbiſhop is ſo out of credite / that there can not be gotten any to be ſurety for hys honeſty.
Ambroſe complaining of the miniſters or biſhops in thoſe dayes / ſayeth / it a man aſke them / who preferred them to be prieſtes / anſwere is made by and by / that the archbyſhop for an hundreth ſhillings / ordained me biſhop / to whome I gaue a hundreth ſhillings / that I might get the fauor to be biſhop / whych if I had not giuen / I had not bene byſhop. And afterward he ſayeth / that this greeued him / that the archbyſhop ordained byſhops carnally / or for ſome carnall reſpecte. And thys is all the allowance that Ambroſe ſheweth of an archbyſhoppe. Your archbiſhop taketh all things in good parte / ſo that his very diſpraiſe he expoundeth to hys commendation. And there is great likelyhode / that the archbyſhop whych Ambroſe maketh mention of / was no other / then he whych for the time ruled the action / wherin byſhops were ordained / and after the action ended / had no more authoritye then the reſt.
And I am moued ſo to thincke. Firſt / becauſe it is not like / that one only ordained byſhops / being contrary to the olde Canons of the beſt councelles / but that there were other / and that thys whome Ambroſe calleth archbyſhop / dyd gather the voyces. &c.
Secondly / becauſe it was very vnlike / that there was any abſolutely / aboue S. Ambroſe / in thoſe partes where he complaineth of euill byſhops / or miniſters made.
Thirdly / for that Ambroſe in an other place (whych you after cite) deuiding all the church into the cleargye and laitye / dothe ſubdeuide the cleargy into biſhops / elders / and deacons / and therfore it is not like that there was any which had any continuall function of archbyſhop. But as he was called choregos or leader of the daūce / whych commeth firſt / and after comming in againe in the ſecond or third place / is no more ſo called: ſo that byſhop was called archbyſhop / whych for the time preſent did gather the voyces of the reſt of the byſhoppes / whych he by & by layde downe wyth the diſſoluing of the meeting. And that this is not my coniecture only / that there was no ordinarye or abſolute archbyſhop / let the Centuries be ſeene / whych alledge that place of Ambroſe / to proue that the office of an archbiſhop / was not then come into the church / whych was. 400 yeares after Chriſt / and more alſo.
Baſile you ſay the greate Metropolitane of Cappadocia. I hauehave ſhewed what the worde metropolitane ſignifieth / and howe there was not then ſuche a metropolitane as we hauehave now / and as ye admonition ſpeaketh againſt. You play as he which is noted as none of the wiſeſt amongſt ye marchants / which thought that eueryevery ſhyp that approched the hauen / was his ſhippe: for ſo you thinke that whereſoeuer you reade metropolitane or archbyſhop / forthwith you thinke there is your metropolitane or your archbyſhop / whereas it ſhall appeare / that beſides the name / they are no more like then a byſhop wyth vsus / is like a miniſter.
I can not tell whether you would abuſe your reader heere / wyth the fallacion of the accent / becauſe thys worde (Great) is ſo placed betweene Baſile and metropolitane / that it may be as wel referred to the metropolitane / as to Baſtle / and ſo you hauing put no comma, it ſeemeth you had as l…eue hauehave your reader read great metropolitane / as great Baſil. But yt the ſimpler ſort be not deceiued therby / it is not out of the way to let the reader vnderſtand / what a great metropolitane thys was / whych * appeareth / for that when he was threatned by the Sozo. 6. l. c. 16.magiſtrate / confiſcation of hys goodes / anſweared / that he was not afraid of the threatnings / and that all hys goodes were a very few bokes / and an olde gowne / ſuche were then thoſe Metropolitanes / vnderunder whoſe ſhadowes M. Doctor goeth aboute to ſhroude all this pompe / and princely magnificence of oure archbyſhoppes.
As for Simeon archbyſhop of Seleucia / I will not deny / but at that time was the name of archbyſhops / for then Sathan had made throughe the titles of archbiſhop / primate / patriarch / as it were three ſtayers / wherby antichriſt might clime vp into hys curſſed ſeate. Notwithſtanding there wanted not good decrees of godly councelles / whych did ſtrike at theſe proude names / and went aboute to keepe them downe / but the ſwelling waters of the ambition of diuers / coulde not by any bankes be kept in / whych hauing once broken oute in certaine places / afterwardes couered almoſt the face of the whole earthe.
This endeuoure of godly men / may appeare in the councell of Carthage / Conc. Cartha. cap. 39.whych decreed that the biſhop of the firſt ſeat / ſhoulde not be called exarchon ton hieron, e akron ierea, e toiouton tipore: that is / either the chefe of the prieſtes / or the high prieſt / or any ſuch thing / by whych wordes (any ſuch thing) he ſhutteth out the name of archbyſhop / and all ſuch hautie titles.
The ſame decree alſo was made in the Affricane councell / and if you ſaye Concil. Tom. 2. 1. c. 6.that it was made againſt the Pope of Rome / or to forbid that any man ſhould be called archbyſhop / ſhewe me where there was either byſhop of Rome / or any other that euer made any ſuche title or chalenge / to be the generall byſhop of all / at that time / when this councell of Carthage was holden: when as the firſt of thoſe whych did make any ſuche chalenge / was the byſhop of Conſtantinople / whych notwithſtanding chalenged not the preheminence firſt ouer all / but that he might ordaine byſhoppes of Aſia / Pontus / Thracia / whych were before appoynted by their Sinodes / and thys was in the councell of Chalcedon / whych was long after that councell of Carthage before remembred.
For to proue the lawfulneſſe of the name of an archdeacon / the antiquitye / the neceſſitye of it / the teſtimonies of foure are broughte / which neither ſpeake of their lawfulnes / nor of their neceſſity / and they ſay not in deede ſo muche as God ſaue them: and two of theſe witneſſes are Popes / whereof the firſt / and beſt / ordained that if the Metropolitane did not fetche hys pall at the apoſtolike ſea of Rome / wythin three monthes after he were conſecrated / that then he ſhould loſe his dignity / as Gratian witneſſeth in the decrees y• he aſcribeth vntounto Damaſus.
I doubt not therfore that this is but a forger / vponupon whom you would father the archdeacon / for that Damaſus / in whoſe place you put this forger / liued An. 387. at what time the ſea of Rome had no ſuche tirannye as thys / and other things which are fathered of him / do pretēd. And if this be enough to proue archdeacons / I can with better witnes proue ſubdeacons / acoluthes, exorciſtes, lectores, oſtiarios, theſe dothe Euſebius make mention of / an auncienter wryter / then any you bring / and out of Ruffine / Theodoret / Sozomen / Socrates. &c. monks almoſt in eueryevery page. And heere vponupon it is more lawfull for me to conclude / that monkes / ſubdeacons / exorciſtes, acoluthes, oſtiarij, lectores, are neceſſary eccleſiaſticall orders in the church / as you conclude the neceſſity of the archdeacon.
I perceiue you care not whether the archdeacon fall or no / that you beſtow ſo little coſte of hym / and leaue him ſo nakedly. And if I woulde be but halfe ſo holde in coniectures / and diuinations / as you are / I coulde ſay that thys ſleighte handling of the archdeacon / and ſweating ſo muche aboute the archbyſhoppe / is thervpon y• you woid be loth to come frō being deane / to be an archdeacon / & you liue in ſome hope of being archbyſhop / but I will not enter ſo farre. And ſurely for any thing that I ſee / you might hauehave truſſed vp the archbyſhop as ſhorte / as you do the archdeacon. For they ſtand vponupon one pinne / and thoſe reaſons whych eſtabliſhe the one / eſtabliſhe the other / wherevpon alſo commeth to paſſe / that all thoſe reaſons whych were before alledged againſt the archbiſhop / may be drawn againſt the archdeacon / hauing therfore before proued the vnlawfulnes of them / I will heere ſet downe the difference betweene thoſe archdeacons that were in times paſt / and thoſe whych are nowe / whereby it may appeare they are nothing like / but in name.
(a)Sozo. 7. 19.They were no miniſters / as appeareth in Sozomen / oures are.
(b)Concil. Vrban. Sozom. 7. lib. c. 19.They were tied to a certaine churche / and were called archdeacon of ſuche a congregation or churche / oures are tied to none / but are called archdeacons of ſuche a ſhire.
(c)Ierom to Euagr.They were choſen by all the Deacons of the churche where they be archdeacons / oures are appoynted by one man / and whych is no deacon.
(d)Conc. Nic. can. 14. and after Ruff. can. 20.They were ſubiect to the miniſter of the word / oures are aboue them / and rule ouer them.
(e)Ieron. ad Euag. Auguſt. queſt. noui & veteris teſta. q. 101.It was counted to them great arrogancie / if they preferred thēſelues to any miniſter or elder of the churche / oures will not take the beſt miniſters of the churche as their equalles. If therfore archdeacons will hauehave any benefite by the archdeacons of olde time / it is meete they ſhoulde content them ſelues wyth that place whych they were in.
As for the office of a deane / as it is vſed wyth vsus / it is therfore vnlawfull / for that he being miniſter / hathe no ſeuerall charge or congregation appoynted wherein he maye exerciſe hys miniſterie / and for that he is ruler / and as it were maiſter of diuers other miniſters in hys colledge / whych likewiſe hauehave no ſeueral charges of congregations: and for that whych is moſt intollerable bothe he hym ſelfe oftentimes hauing a ſeuerall churche or benefice / as they call it / is vnderunder the coloure of hys deaneſhip / abſent from hys churche / and ſuffereth alſo thoſe that are vnderneathe hym / to be likewiſe abſent from their churches. And whereas M. Doctor alleageth S. Auguſtine / to proue thys office to be auncient / in deede the name is there founde / but beſides the name / not one propertye of that Deane whych we hauehave. For Auguſtine ſpeaking of the monkes of thoſe dayes / ſayeth / that the money which they gate wyth the labor of their hands / they gaue to their deane / which did prouide them meate and drinke / and cloth / and all things neceſſary for them / ſo that the monkes ſhoulde not be drawne away from their ſtudies and meditations / throughe the care of worldly things / ſo that thys deane whych he ſpeaketh of / was ſeruaunt and ſteward / and cater to the monkes / and therfore only called deane / becauſe he was ſteward and cater to ten monkes. Now let it be ſeene what Auguſtines deane / maketh for the deane whych is nowe / and what faith and truſt M. Doctor vſeth / in reciting of the olde fathers.
And vntounto the ende that theſe teſtimonies might be more autenticall / & hauehave ſome waight in them / M. Doctor addeth / that hetherto antichriſt had not inuaded the ſeat of Rome. You ſhall hauehave much a do / to proue that antichriſt had not inuaded the ſea of Rome / when your Clement / Anaclete / Anicete / and Damaſus wrote. Nay / it is moſte certaine / that then he had poſſeſſed it. But what is that to the purpoſe / althoughe there was no one ſingulare head appeared / or lifted vp / yet corruption of doctrine / and of the ſacraments / hurtful ceremonies / dominion and pompe of the cleargye / newe orders and functions of the miniſterie / whych were the handes that pulled hym / the fete whych brought him / the ſhoulders that lifted and heaued him vp into that ſeate / were in the church. Neither / while you doe thus ſpeake / doe you ſeeme to remember that this monſter needed nine monethes / but almoſte nine hundreth yeares / to be framed and faſhioned / or euer he could wyth all his partes be brought to light. And although the Loouer of thys antichriſtian building were not ſet vp / yet ye foundations therof being ſecretely / and vnderunder the ground laid in the apoſtles times / you might eaſely know / that in thoſe times that you ſpeake of / the building was wonderfully aduaūced and growne very highe. And being a very dangerous thing to ground any order or pollicy of the church vponupon men at all / whych in deede ought to hauehave their ſtanding vponupon the doctrine and orders of the apoſtles / I wil ſhew what great iniurie M. Doctor doth / to ſende vsus for our examples and paternes of gouernment to theſe times / whych he doth direct vsus vntounto.
Euſebius oute of Egeſippus / wryteth / that as long as the apoſtles liued / Euſ. 3. lib. 32.the churche remained a pure virgin / for that / if there were any that went about to corrupt the holy rule that was preached / they did it in the darke / & as it were digging vnderneath the earth. But after ye death of the apoſtles / and ye generation was paſt / whych God vouchſaued to heare the deuine wiſedome wyth their owne eares / then the placing of wicked error / began to come into the church.
Clement alſo in a certaine place to confirme that there was corruption of Lib. Stromat. ſomewhat after the beginning. 7. lib. 11. ca.doctrine immediately after the apoſtles times / alledgeth the prouerbe / that there are fewe ſonnes like their fathers.
And Socrates ſayeth of the church of Rome and Alexandria (which were the moſt famous churches in the apoſtles times) that about the yeare. 430. the Romaine and Alexandrian byſhops / leauing the ſacred function / were degenerate to a ſeculare rule or dominion. Wherevpon we ſee howe that it is ſafe for vsus to go to the ſcriptures / and to the apoſtles times / for to fetch our gouernmēt and order. And that it is very dangerous to drawe from thoſe riuers / the fountaines wherof are troubled and corrupted / eſpecially when as the wayes whereby they runne / are muddier and more fennie / then is the head it ſelfe.
And although M. Doctor hathe brought neither ſcripture / nor reaſon / nor councel / wherin there is either name of archbiſhop or archdeacon / or proued that there may be / & although he ſhewe not ſo much as the name of them. 400. yeres after our ſauioure Chriſt. And although where he ſheweth them / they be eyther by counterfait authors / or wythout any worde of approbation of good authors / yet as though he had ſhewed all / and proued all / hauing ſhewed nothing / nor proued nothing / he clappeth the hands to himſelfe / and putteth the crowne vponupon hys owne heade / ſaying / that thoſe that be learned / may eaſely vnderſtande / that the names / archbiſhop / archdeacon / primate / patriarche / be moſt auncient and approued of the eldeſt / beſt / worthieſt councels / fathers / wryters. And a little afterward / that they are vnlearned / and ignorant / whych ſay otherwiſe.
Heere is a victory blowne wyth a great and ſounding trumpet / that might hauehave bene piped wyth an oten ſtraw. And if it ſhuld be replied againe / that M. Doctor hathe declared in thys / little learning / little reading / and les iudgement / there might grow controuerſies wythout all frute. And by and by / in ſaying that ye archbyſhops beginning is vnknown / in ſtead of a baſtard / which ſome brought into the church / that hid them ſelues becauſe they were aſhamed of the childe / he will make vsus beleeue that we hauehave a new Melchiſedech / without father / wythout mother / and whoſe generation is not knowne / and ſo concludeth wyth the place of S. Auguſtine / as farre as he remembreth in the. 118. epiſtle to Ianuarie: that the originall of them is from the apoſtles them ſelues.
Heere M. Doctor ſeemeth to ſeeke after ſome glory of a good memory / as thoughe he had not Auguſtine by him / when he wrote this ſentence. And yet he maruellouſly forgetteth him ſelfe / for he vſed this place before in hys. 23. page / and citeth it there preciſely and abſolutely / where alſo I hauehave ſhewed howe vnaduiſedly that ſentence of Auguſtine is approued / & howe that therby a window is open to bring in all popery / and whatſoeuer other corrupt opinions. That the names of Lordes / and honor / as they are vſed in this realme / are not meete to be giuen to the miniſters of the goſpell / there hath bene ſpoken before.
As for Prelate of the Garter / if it be a nedefull office / there are inow to execute it beſides the miniſters / whych / for as much as they be apoynted to watch ouer the ſoules of men purchaſed wyth the bloud of Chriſt / all men vnderſtande / that it is not meete that they ſhould attend vponupon the body / much les vponupon the leg / and leaſt of all vponupon the Garter. It is not vnlawfull for Princes to hauehave miniſters of their honor / but alſo it is not lawful to take thoſe that God hath appoynted for an other ende / to vſe to ſuche purpoſes.
Thou ſeeſt heere (good Reader) that M. Doctor keepeth hys olde wonte of manifeſt peruerting of the wordes and meaning of the authors of the admonition / for where as they ſay / that the name of Earle / Countie Palatine / Iuſtice of peace / and Quorum / Commiſſioner / are antichriſtian / when they are geuen to miniſters of the church / whoſe calling wil not agree wyth ſuch titles / he concludeth ſimply / that they ſay that they be altogither vnlawfull / and ſimply antichriſtian. As / if I ſhould reaſon that it is not meete that the Quenes maieſty ſhuld preach or miniſter the Sacraments / therefore it is not meete that there ſhould be any preaching or miniſtering of the ſacraments.
Now letting pas all your hard words / & vnbrotherly ſpeaches / wyth your vncharitable Prognoſtications / and colde propheſies / I will come to examine / whether you hauehave any better hap in prouing the office / then you had in prouing the name.
And wheras in the former treatiſe of the name of the archbyſhop / he blew ye trompet before the victory / here in this of the office he bloweth it / before he commeth into the fielde / or ſtriketh one ſtroke / ſaying / that they little conſider what they wryte / that they are contemners of auncient wryters / & that they neuer red them / and that they are vnlearned / which deny theſe things which he affirmeth. Wel / what we read / & how vnlearned we are / is not the matter which we ſtriue for. The iudgement thereof is firſt wyth God / and then with the churches / and in their iudgements we are content to reſt. But if you be ſo greatly learned / and we ſo vnlearned / and ſmally red / then the truth of our cauſe ſhall more appeare / that is maintained wyth ſo ſmall learning & reading / againſt men of ſuche profound knowledge and great reading. And yet I knowe not why (if we be not to idle) we ſhuld not be able to read as much as you / which may hauehave leiſure to read a good long wryter / or euer you can ryde / only to ſee / and ſalute your houſes and liuings / being ſo many / and ſo farre diſtāt one from an other. And if we be ſo vnlearned / and holde ſuche dangerous opinions of Papiſtrie and Anabaptiſtry / as you beare men in hand we do / why do you not by the example of the miniſters in Germanie / procure a publike diſputatiō / where you may both win your ſpurres / and ſuch deteſtable opinions / wyth the ignorance of the authors / may be diſplayed vntounto the whole world? But let vsus heare what is ſayd.
Cyprian (ſayth he) ſpeaking of the office of an archbyſhop. &c. Onles (good reader) thou wilt firſt beleue that Cyprian ſpeaketh of an archbyſhop / and haſte before conceiued a ſtrong imagination of it / M. Doctor can proue nothing. Ariſtotle ſayeth that vncunning Painters / wryte the names of the beaſtes whych they painte in their tables / for becauſe otherwiſe it coulde not be knowne what they painte: ſo M. Doctor miſtruſting that the archbyſhop will not be knowne by his deſcription / wryteth firſt the name of that he wil paint out.