The Anatomy of the Mass, Book 1 · Chapter 23
CHAP. XXIII. Anſwer to the Queſtion made unto us by our Adverſaries, Where was your Religion before Calvin.
THis demand which every foot is made unto us by our Adverſaries, viz. Shew us where your Religion was before Calvin, is altogether injuſt and deceitful. For to keepe us from examining the Roman Religion by the holy Scripture, they amuſe us with humane Hiſtories. For this is not a queſtion of Divinity, but of Hiſtory, wherein God hath not commanded us to be learned and skilfull that wee may bee ſaved: But hath commanded us to be inſtructed in his Word. At the day of judgement, God ſhall not aske us whether we have beleeved as they did beleeve before Calvin: but Saint Paul tels us that God ſhall judge us according to his Goſpell, and that men ſhall be judged by the Law of God, Rom. 2.12. & 16, That if for to be ſaved it were neceſſary to know the Hiſtory of the ages before Calvin, mounting upwards from Calvin, to the Apoſtles time, hardlie one Chriſtian of a thouſand could be ſaved.
That if the queſtion be touching Hiſtories, it is certaine we muſt begin by the Ancienteſt, and that it belongs to our Adverſaries to ſhew where their Religion was in the time of the Apoſtles, afore they ſpeake of the time before Calvin. There they are at a ſtand and driven to a non-plus, and not being able to ſhew their Religion in the Apoſtles writings, they ſend us back to an unwritten word, which depends on the Popes Authority, whom they make judge in his owne cauſe; and make the Church of Rome the Soveraigne Judge of her owne proper duty.
The principall is, that the Chriſtian Church is ſubject to the Lawes and to the practice of the Church of the Apoſtles time, and not to the example of what was done before Calvin. Of whom they ſpeake as of the Inventer of our Religion, becauſe he exhorted us to beleeve the holy Scriptures. For Calvin gave us not any Lawes. We ſpeake not of him in our Sermons, we ground not our ſelves upon his authority, we doe not ſay of him what the Church of Rome ſaith of the Pope, to wit that he could not erre. We doe not call our ſelves Calviniſts, as our Adverſaries acknowledge themſelves to be Papiſts, and make glory of that title, as*Certe nullo ſublimiori gloriae titulo exornare, nec certius, eos eſſe Catholicos, demonſtrare potuiſſent, quàm eos nuncupare Romanos at que Papiſtas. Cardinall Baronius doth, in his Martyrologie at the 16 of October, where he ſaith that a man cannot be adorned with a higher degree of glory than to bee called a Papiſt. So that after his account the title of Papiſt is of as much worth as the name of a Chriſtian.
This demand is ſo much the more abſurd, as it is made unto us. For when they aske of us where our Religion was before Calvin, they preſuppoſe that the Orthodoxe Church ought to be viſible in all ages: Which the Scripture ſaith not, but foretels us of great revolts and falſe Doctors that ſhall teach men to abſtaine from Marriage and from meates which God hath created for to be received with thankſgiving, 1. Timoth. 4.3. It foretels us that all the Earth raviſhed in admiration, ſhall goe after the Beaſt, Revel. 13, 3. and that when Chriſt ſhall come, hardly ſhall he find faith on the earth, Luke 18.8.2. Theſ. 2. Revel. 17. It tells us of the Sonne of perdition that ſhall bee called God, and ſhall doe wonders: and of the great harlot cloathed with ſcarlet, who ſitteth in the Citty with ſeaven hills, that raigneth over the Kings of the earth, which ſeduceth Kings and makes them drunke, and is made drunke with the blood of the Saints and Faithfull. It tells us in the twelfth of the Revelation that wings are given to the Church for to flie into the Wilderneſſe, and live there hidden for a time. It warnes us that the broad way where the throng of Peoples paſſeth, leadeth into perdition.
Which things afford us another conſideration. That is if a Cut-purſe asketh him whom hee hath robbed of his purſe, Where is thy Purſe? This theefe addeth ſcoffing and deriſion to his theft. So the Pope, who ſince ſo many ages hath perſecuted to the uttermoſt the Church of God, and endeavoured to aboliſh it, addeth to this violence this deriſion and ſcoffing, when he asketh, Where was your Religion at that time? For it were rather his part to informe us where hee had put her himſelfe, and to what paſſe he had reduced her.
In the meane while, though we are not bound to anſwer to ſuch an abſurd and injuſt a demand, and which doth not at all concerne Religion, and being propounded by men whoſe Religion is new, and that have ſwerved from the Ancient Chriſtian Religion, and who even ſay that the Pope may add unto the Creed new Articles of Faith: Yet we ſay that it is foure or five hundred years agoe ſince the Pope perſecuteth with fire and ſword the Faithfull ones, whereof there was a great number in France, in the Low countries, England, Germany, Bohemia, and Hungaria, to whom our Adverſaries gave odious nicknames, calling them Valdenſes, Albigenſes, Sodomites, Picards, &c. And fathering upon them many impious and abhominable doctrines f…rre from their beleife. Of whom were Maſſacred in few months by one Domi…ick, Author of the Order of the Jacobins, above two hundred thouſand in Languedoe and Gaſconie, in Pope Innocent the third his time. Of theſe faithfull people we have the Confeſſion agreeable to ours, written in their owne Language: a reſidue of which People remaines ſtill in Bohemia, Hungaria, Moravia, and in the Valleys of Angrogne, Luzerne, Peruſe, Saint Martin, Pragela, Merindoles, and Cabrieres which Churches have joyned themſelves to ours, ſo ſoone as it pleaſed God to diſplay in France and the neighbouring Countries, the Banner of his Goſpell. And the ſudden alteration that hapned in Luthers time, ſhewed that Europe was full of People that knew the truth, and groaned after a Reformation, which the Pope promiſed alwayes, but would never ſuffer it to come to execution.
And for to ſpecifie ſome thing touching the age immediatly before Calvin: Aeneas Sylvius, who in the yeare 1458. attained to the Popedome, was a capital enemie to the faithfull (of whom in his time Bohemia and Hungaria, and the neighbouring Countries were full) and was a firebrand of warre for to provoke the Emperours and Popes to perſecute them. Wherefore his teſtimony in this point is the more worthy of credit. This man in his 130 Epiſtle, deſcribeth his journey to Tabor, a City in Bohemia, and the Religion of the Inhabitants, and the Conferences he had with them. Their ſect (ſaith he) is peſtilentious and abhominable, and worthy of the uttermoſt puniſhment. They will not admit the Church of Rome to have the Primacy, nor that the Clergie ſhould have any thing in propriety. They pull downe the Images of God and of his Saints. They deny Purgatory. They hold that the Prayers of Saints which raigne with Chriſt, availe nothing unto men. They obſerve no holy day but the Lords day and Eaſter. Contemne faſting and the Canonicall Prayers. They give the Euchariſt under the kindes of bread and wine, even to little Children and to madde men. When they conſecrate the Sacrament, they ſay nothing but the Lords Prayer, and the words of Conſecration. They change no habits and take not any ornaments. Yea ſome of them are ſo madde as to hold that the very body of Chriſt is not in the Sacrament of the Altar, but that it is onelyonly the repreſentation thereof: being wandring Sactators of Berengarius unconverted. Among the Sacraments of the Church they admit the Baptiſme, and the Euchariſt, and Marriage, and Orders. But as for the Sacrament of Penance, they make little account of it. But of Confirmation and extreame Ʋnction, they make no reckoning at all. They are very oppoſite to the Religions of Monkes, and affirme they be diabolicall Inventions. They uſe meere Water in Baptiſme. They have no holy Water. They me not conſecrate their Church-yards. They bury their dead in the fields and with …eaſts, as alſo they deſerve it, &c. And …ee addeth that the Emperour, in ſtead of deſtroying them, granted unto them ſafety and liberty. But he ſhould have added to this, that the Emperor Sigiſmond having by armes aſſaulted and ſcuffled with them, loſt there many Battles. For which cauſe he did let them reſt in peace. In this diſcourſe Aeneas hath chopt and thruſt in ſome calumniations; as when he ſaith they give the Euchariſt to madde men and to Infants, and bury their dead with beaſts. Things very abſurde, and that never were. As for the reſt, all our Religion almoſt is ſeene in it.
Hungaria at the ſame time was full of Faithfull people holding the ſame beleife. They preſented to the King Ʋladiſlaus, in the yeare of our Lord 1508. their Confeſſion of faith, conformable to ours, defending themſelves againſt an Auſtin Frier that had accuſed them to the King of many errors, namely, for that they did not obey the Pope, called not upon Saints, denied Purgatory, received the Communion in both kinds, and rejected Tranſubſtantiation. VponUpon which laſt point, they ſpeak thus: This Frier writeth that the bread and wine in their naturall ſubſtance are changed into the body and blood of Chriſt, This Confeſſion is to be foūd in Faſcioulo rerum expetendarum.and are changed into Chriſt God and man, ſo that nothing of the ſubſtance of the bread and wine remaineth, but that the onelyonly accidents are meerely upheld by miracle. This Confeſſion of faith hath no foundation in the Lord Chriſt Jeſus his words, who never ſpake one word of the converſion of the ſubſtance. And a little after, By that is manifested that the Primitive Church had this Beleife, and hath confeſſed it, and hath not erred, and did not bowe at this Sacrament. For in that time they received the Sacrament ſitting, and reſerved nothing of it, and carried none of it out of the houſe, &c.
About the ſame time, in the yeare 1520. Calvin being yet very young, the Faithfull of Provence preſented to the Parliament of Aix their Confeſſion of Faith, conformable to ours. VponUpon the point of the Sacrament, they ſpeak thus: We are not entangled with any errors or hereſies condemned by the Ancient Church, and we hold the documents and inſtructions approved by the true Faith. And as for the Sacraments particularly, we have the Sacraments in honour, and beleeve that they be teſtimonies and ſignes by which Gods grace is confirmed and aſſured in our conſciences. For which cauſe wee beleeve that Baptiſme is a ſigne whereby the purgation that we obtaine by the blood of Jeſus Chriſt, is corroborated, in ſuch ſort that it is the true waſhing of Regeneration and renovation. The Lords Supper is the ſigne under which the true Communion of his body and blood is given unto us. And theſe poore Churches were the remainder of the horrible Perſecutions exerciſed by the ſpace of three or foure hundred yeares, by Kings and Princes at the inſtigation of Popes. Which Churches they had defamed with horrible hereſies, accuſing them to be Manicheans, and enemies of Marriage: even as they accuſe us now to be enemies unto the Saints and the bleſſed Virgin, and to beleeve that good workes are not neceſſary to ſalvation, and that we make God Author of ſin.
A few yeares before, under the raigne of good King Lewis the XII. who was called the Father of the People, happed a memorable thing which Carolus Molinaeus a famous Juriſconſulte reciteth in his Booke of the French Monarchie. He ſaith that certaine Cardinals and Prelates did goe about to ſtirre up and incite this good King to deſtroy and exterminate the Inhabitants of Cabrieres and Merindoles in Provence, ſaying they were Sorcerers, Inceſtuous perſons, hereticks, condemned already by the Apoſtolick Sea. But this King anſwered that he would condemne no body to death without hearing both ſides, and be fully acquainted with the cauſe. And that for that end he ſent one Adam Fumee, a Maſter of Requeſt, and John Parin a Jacobin Frier, his Confeſſor, for to tranſport themſelves into the place where they lived, and be informed of their Religion. Which they did, and reported to the King, that among theſe men they had found no Images, nor any …race or veſtige of any ornaments of Maſſes or Papall Ceremonies. That they had found nothing touching Magicall Artes, whoredomes and other crimes laid upon them. The King underſtanding this, cryed out with a lowde voice, and ſwore that thoſe people were better Chriſtians than hee and his people, and confirmed their priviledges and immunities. That fell out about the yeare 1412. Calvin ſcarce being borne.
Pope Julius the ſecond, made warres againſt this King: But the King defeated his Armie, and the Emperours, neare the City of Ravenna: Aſſembled a Councell at Piſo againſt the Pope: Cauſed money to bee coyned with this Inſcription round about. PERDAM BABYLONIS NOMEN, as Thuanus relateth in the firſt Booke of his Hiſtory.
But under the raigne of King Francis the firſt, Succeſſor unto Lewis the twelfth, theſe poore Churches of Provence ſuffered hard and rude perſecutions and Maſſacres. Nevertheleſſe, they ſubſiſt yet at this day, and Thuanus in the ſixth Booke of his Hiſtory, ſpeaketh of their Religion: Hee ſaith that theſe Ʋaldenſes (for hee tearmes them ſo) did ſay that the Church of Rome had departed from the faith of Chriſt Jeſus, and was become Babylon, and the great Whore whereof is ſpoken in the Revelation: That none ought to obey the Pope nor his Prelates: That Monachall life was a ſinke of the Church, and an Infernall thing: That the fi… of Rurgatorie, the Maſſe, the Dedicati… of Churches, the Service of Saints, as Suffrages for the dead, were invention… Satan. Then hee addeth: To theſe … and principall heads of their doctrine, … thens were falſly added, touching Muriage, the Reſurrection, the ſtate an… condition of the dead, and touch… meates.
The ſame Author in the 27 Booke ſpeaketh of the Churches of the Valſies of the Alpes, which he ſaith to be deſcended from the ancient Valdeuſes, which have yet at this very day a Religion altogether conformable to ourt and ſaith that in the yeare 1560 they preſented their Confeſſion of Faith unto thoſe whom the Duke of Savoye their Lord had ſent them, by which they declared that they ſtuck faſt and adheared to the ancient doctrine contained in the Old and New Teſtament, and to the Apoſtles Creed, and to the foure firſt Generall Councels, and that for the rule of a good life they kept themſelves cloſe to the renne Commandements of the the Law. That they taught to live chaſtely, ſoberly, and juſtly, and to yeeld obedience unto Princes and Magiſtrates. That nevertheleſſe they rejected Sacrifice of the Maſſe, the …rament of Penance, Auricular Con…ſion, humane Traditions, Prayers for the dead, but cleaved to the holy Scrip…es. Which things they ſaid to have …eived not from Calvin, but from Chriſt and his Apoſtles: For the ſtrait …ſſages and ſteepe places of the Alpes …d preſerved them from the perſecuti…s of the Pope and his Miniſters.
And at this very day alſo, the Church of Ethiopia, which containeth 17 great …ovinces, agrees with us in the fun…amentall points of Faith, though ſhe …ave ſome ſmall ſuperſtitions. For ſhe …eleeveth not Purgatory, nor Tranſub…antiation. She maketh no elevation for Adoration of the Hoſte. Is not ſub…ect to the Pope. Knowes nor what Indulgences meane, nor private Maſſes. Celebrateth the divine Service in the Ethiopian tongue. Gives the Communion to the People under both kindes. Worſhips no Images. Hath but one Table or Altar in the Church. Hath Monkes, but they are Muried, and earne their living by the worke of their hands. Baptiſeth not the male Children till forty dayes after this … and the females after threeſ… dayes: an aſſured ſigne that ſhe beleeves not … Baptiſme of Water to be neceſſary u… Salvation. Theſe things are ſeene … the Hiſtory of Francis Alvarez, a P… tugall Monke, who lived ſix yeare… the Court of the great Neguz Empert… of Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Churches are cal… niouſly and falſly accuſed to be Eutichians. True it is they be ſubje… to the Patriarch of Alexandria is who … an Eutichian. But that ſubjection i… in the doctrine, but onelyonly in that … ſaid Patriarch hath the right of no… nation of the Abuna or chiefe Pr… late of the Ethiopians when the Se… voide.
The Greeke Church more ancient tha… the Roman, and of whom the Chu… of Rome received the Chriſtian Religion, doth not acknowledge the Pope rejecteth his Lawes, knoweth not wha… his Indulgences are. Beleeveth neithe… the Purgatory, nor the Tranſubſtantiation. Celebrateth the divine Service in the Greeke tongue. Hath her Prieſts married. Hath no Liturgies or Private Maſſes, and comes a greatdeale neerer to our Religion than to the Romiſh.
And this I ſay, not that we ground our ſelves upon any of theſe examples, …or would be authoriſed thereby. For …e doe ground our ſelves only upon the word of God, and of his bleſſed Apoſtles, contained in the holy Scripture, unto which the Pope braggeth not to be ſubject, and doth not acknowledge it for Judge, In a word, we muſt ſtand firme upon this: To wit, that our Adverſaries muſt ſhew us where their Religion was in the time of the Apoſtles, before wee doe ſhew them where our Religion was before Cal…in.