The Accomplishment of the Prophecies, Chapter 2 · Part 11 – Part 12
The third point. That the Pope doth set himselfe against God.
This needeth no long proofe, & it doth followe out of the two precedent points. For it is impossible, that hee should call himselfe God, & exalt himselfe aboue God, without being contrary vntounto him, & withstanding his wil: yet behold some formal proofs for the confirming of this too.
1 God in the 4. of Deut. 2. verse, doth forbid vsus to adde any thing to, or take any thing from his word. And at the end of the new Testament, God doth denounce a curse against him that shall adde any thing to the things contained in that booke. A passage, which the Councell of Friuli approved by the Church of Rome doth thus expound. The Apostle S. Iohn in the Apocalyps, vnderunder the name of one book, doth protest of all the bookes, both of the old and newe Testament, If any one, &c. On the contrary the pope doth presume to make new articles of faith, and to adde to the Creed. At the ende of the last Councell of Lateran, there is a Bull of Leo the 10, wherein all Luthers heresies are reckoned vp. The 26. heresie is, that he said, That out of doubt it lay not in the handes either of the Church or Pope to make new articles of faith. And in the Councell of Florence, in the last session it is defined, that the Church of Rome may adde vntounto the Creed. Of all the articles of faith which the pope hath added, I am perswaded that this is the worst. That Iesus Christ did not satisfie for the paine due to sinnes after Baptisme.
2 God saith, Drinke yee all of this, the Pope on the contrary, Yee shall not all drink of this, but this is the priviledge of Priests, and kings, If in the line going before, the commandement of eating bee made vntounto the people, as well as vntounto the Priest, why not the commandement of drinking as well?
3 God saith in his lawe. six daies shalt thou labour. The Pope saith, Yee shall not labour six daies, but yee shall keepe a great many other resting festivall daies in the weeke.
4 God saith, Deuter. 4.16. Take heede that yee corrupt not your selues, and make you a graven image or representation of any figure, whether it bee the likenesse of male or female. On the contrary the Pope suffereth images of God to be made in stone, and in painting, of the Trinitie in wood, and of God the Father in papall habiliments.
5 God saith in his law, thou shalt not lust; whence it followeth, that to lust, is to sinne, and so S. Paul calleth it, Rom. 7. v. 7. The Church of Rome on the cōtrary saith, that to lust is not to sinne. And the Councell of Trent in the 5 Session saith, that this lust, which the Apostle calleth sinne, to speake properly is no sin, but onelyonly that it springs from sinne, and makes vsus prone▪ to ….
6 God saith, Thou shalt worship God onelyonly, where he speakes of a religious kind of worship. On the contrary, the Church of Rome doth with a religious worship▪ worship the virgin Mary, the Saints, their Images, their reliques, and the Pope takes vponupon him to be thus worshipped, as wee hauehave aboue shewed by many witnesses, & by experiences, where wee hauehave also refelled their evasions.
7 God saith in the 2 of Chron. 6. cha. 30. ver. That God only knoweth the hearts of men. On the contrary the Romish Church saith, that the Saints knowe our hearts, & our thoughts.
8 God saith in the 1. of the Apocalyps 3. v. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy. And S. Paul wrote vntounto the people of Rome, Corinth, &c. vntounto the ende that they should reade that which he wrote. On the contrary the pope forbids the people to reade the scriptures, to finde a Spanish or Italian Bible, in Spain, or Italie, is held for a capital offence and thought to be a note of heresie.
9 God by his Apostle in the 1. to the Corinth. 14. Chap. doth beate altogether vponupon this, that wee ought not to speake in the Church with an vnknowne tongue; On the contrary, the pope doth make all his publicke service to bee read in a tongue, which the people vnderstand not, and accustometh women to pray in Latin, as though they were afraid to be vnderstood
10 God saith by his Apostle. 1. Tim. 3, v. 12. Let a Deacon be the husband of one wife. The pope on the contrary, Let him not be married at all; and so of Bishops.
11 God saith by his Apostle. 1. Cor. 10. If any of them which belieue not call you to a feast, whatsoever is set before you, eate, asking no question for conscience sake. On the contrary the pope saith. If hereticks invite you to a feast, eate not of flesh vponupon a fish day although they carne it vntounto you, for it is a case of conscience.
12 God commandeth kings expresly to read in his law; which is the holy scripture, al the daies of their life, that they may learne to feare him. On the contrary the popish Doctors, Bishops and Confessours, which are about Kings, never recommend the reading of the scripture vntounto them; for they are afraid, that by this reading they might chance to learne the truth, & come to knowe that their Crownes are not subiect to the pope.
Finally, The holy scripture saith that life everlasting is the gift of God;Rom 6.23. Ephes. 2 8. Rom. 8.17. 1 Ioh 1.3. i. Cor. 10 11 Heb. 2.4. Heb. 9.10. & an inheritance, which wee hauehave as wee are the children of God. That the bloud of Iesus Christ doth purge vsus from all our sins. That we eate & break bread in the Lords Supper; That Iesus as he was man, was like vntounto vsus in all things, sinne only excepted. That Iesus Christ was offered vp for a sacrifice but one onelyonly time. All which doctrines are cleane overthrowne by merits, by purgatory, by transubstantiation, by the sacrifice of the Masse, as wee hauehave formerly shewed.
In all these things the pope doth oppose himselfe against God, and resist his word. In so much that he suffereth a *C…n Hac …. causa 31. quaest 1Canon to be in his book of Decretals, which saith, that the Apostle S. Paul spoke against truth and reason.
The fourth point. That the Pope doth set himselfe against Kings and Magistrats, and exalt himselfe aboue them.
This fourth point hath been proued sufficiently in my first book. To degrade kings and thrust them out of their kingdomes. & after that he hath denounced them deposed, to expose them to the mercy of their subiects, in saying with *Con. Barclaium. c. 7.Bellarmine, that, Executio ad alios pertinet, the execution belongs to others: To tread vponupon Emperours necks, and when they come to kisse his pantofle, to strike of the imperiall crowne with his foot: To make them hold the stirrup and the bridle of his horse; To whip Kings or their Ambassadors in their place with rods by way of pennance, making them to fall downe before him; for which wee hauehave fresh examples, and they themselues brag of it: to raise infinite sums of mony vponupon their Kingdomes vnderunder the colour of first fruites, bulls, dispensations, absolutions; and to withhold the fift part of their subiects from them, and the third part of their kingdome; are things that cā not be taken for any great good turnes, or testimonies of his louelove towardes Princes. As for the exalting himselfe aboue them, pope Innocent the 3. in the Decretall that beginneth with, Solitae, puts as great a difference betweene the pope, and the Emperour, as there is betweene the sun & the moone. Which according to the rules of Astronomie. is 6539 times lesse then the sun; and we hauehave seene before how Bellarmine maketh Kings as much inferiour to popes as artificers are to Kings.