History of the Catholic Church from 600 to 1600, Ecclesiastical epoch 600-1000 · Century 8 · Chapter 4

History of the Catholic Church from 600 to 1600 · Ecclesiastical epoch 600-1000 · Century 8 · Chapter 4

p. 59CHAP. IV. Of BRITAN.

1. BEda a Presbyter in the Monaſtery at Weeremouth neer Durham, for Beda Venerable, and hi… doctrines,his godlineſs and modeſty was called Venerable, and is ſtill accounted worthy of that Title. He was credulous in believing of falſe miracles, and ſlipped into ſome corruptions of the times, as confeſſion and chriſm; yet even in theſe he differeth from the latter times: for on Jam. 5. at theſe words, Let them pray, anointing: he ſaith, We read in the Goſpel that the Apoſtles did ſo, and the cuſtom of the Church holdeth, that the weak ſhould be anointed with oil by the Presbyters, and prayer being conjoined, be healed; nor only by the Presbyters, but as Pope Innocentius writeth, even any Chriſtian may anoint in his own neceſſity or of others. Here he ſpeaketh of anointing, as a means of healing, and not a Sacrament for the dying. And on the words, Confeſs your ſins one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed; he ſaith, In this ſentence ſhould be that diſcretion, that we ſhould confeſs to one another, daily and light ſins, and beleeve to be healed by their daily prayer: And moreover, the uncleanneſs of more grievous leproſie, let us (according to the Law) confeſs unto the Prieſt, and have a care to be cleanſed at his will, how, and how long time he ſhall command. He ſeeth in theſe words no warrant, that any should confeſs unto a Prieſt, but one to another mutually; and as he ſaith coaequaliter, and that to the end they may be healed; and what he would have done unto the Prieſt, he borroweth it from the Law of Moſes. And on Mar. chap. 3. when he hath ſpoken of the miracles that were done by the Apoſtles, he ſaith, Now when the number of Believers is multiplied, many within the holy Church have the life or converſation of vertue, but have not the ſigns or miracles of vertue; becauſe miracle is in vain ſhewed outwardly, if it fail that ſhould work inwardly; for according to the ſaying of the Apoſtle of the Gentils, Tongues are a ſign not to believers, but to unbelievers. Here he sheweth that miracles were not neceſſary, when the Goſpel is confirmed and received. As for the articles of poſitive doctrine, he is clear. Of the perfection of the Scriptures, on 1 Pet. 4. at theſe words, If any ſpeak as the words of God, he ſaith; Fearing leſt any man ſpeak or command any thing but the will of God, or but what is evidently commanded in the Holy Scriptures, and be found as a falſe witneſs of God, or ſacrilegious, or introducing any thing different from the Lord's doctrine, or leaving or paſſing-by p. 96any of theſe things which are pleaſant unto God, ſeeing He moſt manifeſtly commandeth Preachers concerning thoſe whom they ſhall teach, ſaying, Teaching them to obſerve whatſoever I have commanded you: For he commandeth to deliver thoſe things to be obſerved by their hearers, which he hath commanded, and no other things; and thoſe things not in part only, but all. And on the 2 Pet. 1. neer the end, Who giving heed unto the words of the Prophets do well, that thereby they may have the light of knowledge; theſe ſhould firſt know that none of the holy Prophets did preach unto the people through their interpretation, but what they had learned from the Lord that did they commend to be done by their hearers; and what heavenly myſteries they had perceived in ſecret, theſe ſimply either by word or writ, did they deliver unto the people of God; and not as the Diviners of the Gentils, who what they had forged out of their own hearts, theſe things did they deliver unto the deceived people, as the Oracles of God: Therefore as the Prophets did write, not their own, but God's words; ſo the reader of theſe ſhould not follow his own interpretation, leſt he ſtray from the true ſence; but by all means he ſhould attend this, how he who writ would have his words underſtood. So far he. And how the right ſence may be had, he teacheth in Philip. 1. from Auguſtine, ſaying; When words make the Scripture ambiguous, firſt we muſt ſee that we diſtinguiſh or pronounce them not wrong; and when after ſuch diligence we find it uncertain, how to diſtinguiſh or to pronounce them, look to the rule of faith which we have from plainer places of the Scripture, and from the authority of the Church: But if both, or all, or more parts be dubious, then we ſhould conſult the Text it ſelf by the following and preceding parts, where the ambiguity is; to the end we may ſee, unto which of theſe many ſenſes it will give ſuffrage, and ſuffer it ſelf to be conjoined. Concerning the perſon and natures of Chriſt, on 2 Pet. 2. he ſaith, Arrius who ſaid that our Redeemer is, in reſpect of divinity, inferiour unto the Father; and Photinus, who ſaid that Chriſt is Man, and not God; and Manichaeus, who ſaid Chriſt is God only, and not a very man; and Hebron, who ſaid Chriſt was not before Mary, and took his original from her; and Apollinaris, who ſaid Chriſt is God and fleſh only, and never aſſumed a reaſonable ſoul; and Pelagius, who ſaid Chriſt is not the redeemer of infants, becauſe they are conceived without iniquity, and born of their mother without ſin, and have no ſin to be forgiven them, and ſo Chriſt is not the Saviour of all the Elect; and alſo other Hereticks, who deny the Lord who bought them with the price of his blood, becauſe they preach him not, as truth ſheweth him, but as they have feigned; and therefore are become ſtrangers from the Redeemer; they do expect nothing, certainly, but the pit of perdition. He writ three Books on the Song of Songs, whereof the firſt is only in refutation of another book writen by Julian, his Epiſtle to Celanen in Campania, a Pelagian; for a taſt, behold what he ſaith in the 1. page; Julian teacheth that we, by arbitrement of free-will, may do good things what we will; albeit, by the help of God's grace, we may perfect them the more eaſily; as Travellers may walk on foot, but with leſs turmoil (without doubt) if they ride on a horſe: He hath no mind of the Apoſtle's admonition, ſaying; Work out your ſalvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to do: And which is more weighty, he is an adverſary to him who ſaith, not, Without me ye can do ſome little thing; but ſaith he, Without me ye can do nothing: And he teacheth, that thoſe only can behold the hid myſteries of the Law, whom inſtruction and piety hath made wiſe; forgetting the grace of God, which revealeth the hid things of Scripture, even to the unlearned and Idiots; as the Evangeliſt p. 97ſaith, Then he opened unto them their underſtanding, that they might underſtand the Scriptures: And the Evangeliſt witneſſeth that they were unlearned, when he ſaith, They ſeeing the conſtancy of Peter and John, and knowing that they were without letters and idiots, did admire. And he ſaith, that holy and generous love ingraft in us, from the very beginning of light, by the gift of nature, and unto our laſt old age leaning to the power of the mind, may continue without any loſs of its vigour: Certainly he beleeveth not the Lord's word, Without me ye can do nothing: Nor what the Apoſtle ſaith, In many things we all offend. In theſe words Beda confuteth both the Pelagians and Semipelagians. Of juſtification he ſaith, on Luke 1, The wiſedom of the juſt is not to preſume of righteouſneſs by the works of the law, but to ſeek ſalvation by faith; that although they being under the works of the law, yet they ſhould underſtand, that they are ſaved, by the grace of God, through Chriſt; for the juſt ſhall live by faith; and Peter ſaith of the yoke of the law, that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear it; but we beleeve to be ſaby the grace of Chriſt, even as they. And on 1 Pet. 4. God is honoured by our works; when all that we do well, or according to his will, we give it not all unto our merits, but to his grace; and on the other ſide, what evil we do, we depute it only unto our ignorance and wickedneſs. Of the Church he ſaith, on Cant. lib. 5. cap. 6. The Church is called Catholick, becauſe it is built through all the parts of the World in one peace, and one fear of God, and is filled with one and the ſame conſort of the Spirit; from which unity of the Spirit, ſhe is called a Dove; and ſhe is called perfect, not becauſe ſhe only is filled with the people of the righteous; but alſo is perfected by receiving all divine graces and vertues. Here is no mention of reſtraining or ſubjecting the Church unto the Biſhop of Rome. And de Tabernac. lib. 2. cap. 2. It was ſaid unto Peter metaphorically, Upon this Rock, that is, on our Saviour whom he had confeſſed, will I build my Church: And on Revel. 21, when it is ſaid, Foundations, in the plural number, the teachers or graces are meaned; when Foundation, in the ſingular number, he is meaned, who is foundation of foundations: Here is no Prerogative of Peter above the other Apoſtles. Of Prayer, on Prov. chap. 2. he ſaith, We ſhould invocate [or pray unto] none but God. Of Chriſt's redemption, on 1 John chap. 2. at theſe words, And not for ours only; he ſaith, The Lord is a propitiation not for them only, unto whom living then in the fleſh John did write; but alſo for all the Church which is diſperſed in the breadth of the World, even from the firſt elect, unto the laſt who ſhall be born untill the end of the World. This he writeth expreſſely againſt the Donatiſts; but when he ſpeaketh of the Church throughout the World, he condemneth the reſtriction thereof unto Rome or any other particular place; and when he limiteth the propitation unto the Elect, he condemneth the opinion of the univerſality of Chriſt's death for the Reprobates. And in the ſame place he ſaith, Behold how John obſerveth that humility which he teacheth: Certainly he was a juſt and great man, who had drunk the ſecrets of myſteries from the Lord's breaſt; and nevertheleſs he ſaith not, Ye have me your Advocate with the Father; but, We have an Advocate; and he ſaid, We have, and not Ye have; he would rather put himſelf in the number of ſinners, that he might have Chriſt to be his Advocate; than put himſelf an Advocate for Chriſt, and be found among the proud which ſhall be damned. For all doth the Head make requeſt, of whom it is written, Who is at the right hand of the Father, and intercedeth for us: The Lord intercedeth for us not by words, but by miſeration; and he addeth, The Juſt, becauſe the juſt Advocate will not plead unjuſt cauſes: How ſhall not the juſt one defend us in judgement, if now we acknowledge p. 98and accuſe our ſelves unjuſt? Why ſhall he not be juſt, who now by tears is earneſt [ſaevit] againſt his own unrighteouſneſs? Here he ſpeaketh expreſsly of interceſſion, and he acknowledgeth no interceſſour in Heaven, but the Head for all who mourn for their ſins. Of perſeverance he ſaith, on Col. 4. at the end, where the Apoſtle ſaith, I give thanks unto God; being confident that he who hath begun the good work in you, he will perfect it untill—What elſe doth he promiſe but perſeverance till the end through the mercy of God? And when the Apoſtle Jude ſaith, Unto him who is able to keep you without offence, doth he very clearly ſhew, that perſeverance in good until the end is the gift of God? In the firſt place Beda ſheweth the certainty of perſeverance, as a thing promiſed; and in the other, he teacheth that it is not the work of man by himſelf alone, even though the man be renewed, but it is the gift of God. And on Rom. 8. he ſaith, We ſhould ſtand the Calling whereby they are elected; not who are elected becauſe they ſhall beleeve; but who are elected that they may beleeve; for the Lord himſelf declareth this, when he ſaith, Ye have not choſen me, but I have choſen you; for if they were therefore choſen, becauſe they did beleeve; they did firſt chuſe him by believing in him, that they may deſerve to be choſen: But he takes this away altogether, who ſaid, Ye have not choſen me, but I have choſen you: And certainly they did chuſe him, when they did beleeve in him; therefore for no other cauſe, ſaith he, Ye have not choſen me, but I have choſen you; except becauſe they did not chuſe, that he ſhould chuſe them; but he did chuſe them, that they might chuſe him; becauſe the mercy of God did prevene them with grace, and not according to debt: This is the immovable truth of predeſtination and grace. In the ſame place he addeth, God hath predeſtinated us ere we were; he called us when we were averſe; he juſtified us when we were ſinners; he glorified us when we were mortal: If God be thus with us, who ſhall be againſt us? He who will be againſt them who are predeſtinated by God, againſt them who are called, juſtified and glorified; let him prepare himſelf to fight againſt God, if he can: For when we hear, If God be with us, who can be againſt us? None can harm us, but he who overcometh God. Beda is large on this purpoſe there out of Auguſtine. Of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament, he ſaith, on Luk. 22. He breaketh the bread which he giveth, that he might ſhew that the breaking of his body was not without his own accord: when he ſaith, Do this in remembrance of me; the Apoſtle expoundeth it, when he ſaith, How oft ye eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, ſhew forth the Lord's death till he come; becauſe bread ſtrengthneth fleſh, and wine worketh blood in the fleſh; the one is referred unto his body myſtically, and the other unto his blood. And on 1 Cor. 10. at the words, The cup of bleſſing, which we bleſs; he ſaith, What ye ſee is bread and a cup, which even your eys declare unto you; but what faith requireth to be taught, the bread is the body of Chriſt, and the cup his blood. This is ſpoken briefly, which poſſibly may ſuffice faith; but faith requireth inſtruction: he took up his body into the Heaven, whence he will come again to judge the quick and the dead, there he is now ſitting at the right hand of the Father: How then is the Bread his Body? And the Cup, or what is contained in the cup, how is it his blood? Brethren, theſe things are Sacraments, for in them one thing is ſeen, and another thing is underſtood, &c. When he ſaith, The Lord breaketh the bread, and the bread ſtrengthneth fleſh, and it is referred unto the body myſtically; and even our eys declare it to be bread, &c. Certainly he thought not upon Tranſubſtantiation. Beda did tranſlate the Goſpel of John, the Pſalms, and ſome other parts of the Scripture into the Saxons language; and he writ an Epiſtle unto Ecbert, Biſhop p. 99of Lindsfarn, wherein he admoniſheth him of negligence in his calling, and exhorteth him to tranſlate ſome books of Scripture into the Saxon language, that people may read them; he telleth him he ought to admoniſh the King, and correct falſe Monks and the builders of Monaſteries, if they reſpect their own eaſe more then ſolid vertue. Ecbert returneth him anſwer, thanking him for his Chriſtian admonition; and thereafter did tranſlate ſome books of the Bible into the vulgar language; as appeareth by the book of Will. Butler againſt the common Tranſlation. In Hiſt. Angl. lib. 1. cap. 1. he teſtifieth, that at that time the Iſland of Britan, did with five ſeveral languages confeſs one and the ſame knowledge of the higheſt truth, and of true ſublimity; to wit, the Engliſh, Britans, Scots, Pichts and Latines, which [laſt] by meditation of the Scriptures is become common unto them all. Here he acknowledgeth, that the faith of all the four Nations in the Iſland, was one and the ſame. Nevertheleſs he did obſerve and deplore the waxing corruption of the Church; for in that Epiſtle to Ecbert he did not approve the ſpecious and ſpacious buildings of Monaſteries; and in Samu. lib. 4. cap. 2. he ſaith, Let the Reader behold with tears, a thing worthy of tears, how far the Church ſlideth daily into a worſe, or to ſpeak moderately, unto a weaker eſtate. He did write many books, as Io. Bale in Cent. 2. teſtifieth; he lived 72 years, and died An. 734.

2. In the year 724. Jua King of the Weſt-Saxons, was perſwaded by his Peter's pence.wife Ethelburga to go unto Rome in a Monkiſh habit; and firſt did grant, that a penny ſhould be payed unto the Pope out of every fire-houſe of his Kingdom, which was called Peter's pence; and was ever almoſt payed until the year 1533, when King Henry the VIII. ſhook off the Pope. Ethelbert, King of the Eaſt-Saxons, went to marry the daughter of Offa, King of Merceland; and Offa did perfidiouſly cauſe him to be murthered. Thereafter his pride was turned into ſo great repentance, that he gave the tenth part of all that he had unto the Church, and ſeveral lands to the Church of Hereford; and then he went to Rome, and gave unto the Pope a yearly penny (as Jua had done) An. 793. Henry Spelman in Concil. reporteth out of a book De Vita Offae, pag. 171. This penny was given not as a Tribute unto Saint Peter, but as an alms for the help of an Engliſh Colledge at Rome; and it was called Peter's pence, becauſe it was ordained to be payed on Peter's day; yet certainly thereafter it was called Peter's tribute.

3. About the year 786. Charls the Great, King of France, made a league A League between France and Scotland.with Archaius, King of Scots, which hath continued inviolate untill our time. The Saxons and others had ſpoiled off France by incurſions; and Charls did ſeek to adorn his Kingdom with Letters as well as Arms; therefore he ſought the favour of the Scots, and did intreat King Archaius to ſend unto him Profeſſours of the Greek and Latine languages, and of other learning, for his Univerſity of Paris; amongſt whom Archaius did ſend Albinus or Alcwine, John Meilroſius (ſo named from the Abbey Melroſe) Claudius, Clemens, Antoninus; Florent reckoneth them amongſt Hereticks, who followed the Greek Church, becauſe they did oppoſe the Romiſh Rites. John Meilroſius became Abbot of the Auguſtinians at Ticino, and Claudius was Biſhop of Altiſiodore or Auxerre. They both writ ſeveral works, as Io. Bale ſheweth in Cent. 14.

4. We have mentioned Boniface, Biſhop of Ments, he was an Engliſh Boniface alias Winefrid.man, and called Winefrid; he had boldly reproved Ethelbald, King of Merceland, for Adultry and Tyranny, therefore the King ſought his life; he fled unto Rome, where Pope Gregory the II. did regard him for his liberty, and ſent him into Germany for converſion of the Saxons; then of a p. 100bold reprover of Kings, he became a ſhameleſs flatterer of Popes; for he is ſaid to have firſt moved the decree in Gratian. diſt. 40. cap. Si quis; if a Pope carry with him innumerable ſouls into Hell, no man ought to ſay unto him, What doeſt thou? He ſpoke ſo, and afterwards the Popes did aim at exemption from cenſure, untill they did attain it: he had from Rome a power Legantine in Germany; neither preached he only unto the Heathens, but did corrupt ſeveral Provinces where Chriſt had been preached, as Thuringia, Argentina, &c. with Roman Manicheiſm condemning ſome meats; forbidding marriage of Prieſts, and permitting to have Nuns or Whores; urging the worſhip of images: in a word his care was not ſo much for Chriſtianiſm as for Papiſm; for he writ unto Pope Zachary, ſaying; How few ſoever Diſciples God giveth me in this my charge, I ceaſe not to incline them to the obedience of the Apoſtolick See. he cauſed the Monaſtery of Eulda to be built in favour of Engliſh men, and was killed at Borna, being ſuſpected of a conſpiracy.

5. Many did preach and write againſt him and his ſuperſtitions; as Adelbert, The oppoſers of his Rites.a French Biſhop; and Sidonius, an Arch-Biſhop of Bavaria; Samſon a Scot, Biſhop of Auxerre; and Virgilius an Iriſh man, Biſhop of Juvavia; as Nauclerus and Aventine do record. Boniface dilateth them unto Pope Zachary; and as Bern. Lutzenburg. in Catol. writeth, the Pope in a Synod at Rome condemneth them, depriveth them of their Prieſthood, and excommunicateth them before they were heard; and when they ſought to be heard, and plead their cauſe in a Synod, Boniface denied acceſs unto them, and ſaid; Excommunicated men ſhould not be admitted into a Synod, nor have the benefit of the Law. So partly by tyranny of the Pope, and partly by authority of Pipin, Boniface did oppreſs all his adverſaries. Catal. teſt. ver. ex vita Bonifac. Particularly one Clemens did reprove Boniface, 1. That he did ſo advance the authority of the Roman Biſhop, ſeeing all Teachers are equally ſucceſſours of the Apoſtles. 2. That he condemned the marriage of Prieſts. 3. That he did ſpeak too much for the Monkiſh life. 4. That he had anointed the King of France, contrary to the undoubted right of the Merovei. 5. That he appointed Maſſes for the dead, and other new Rites unknown in the Church heretofore, Aventin. Annal. lib. 3. & Epiſt. Zachar. ad Bonif. in tom. 2. Concil.

6. Albine or Alcwin had good knowledge of the Latine and Greek languages: Alcwin and his doctrines.Charls the Great calleth him his Maſter, in an Epiſtle written unto him, deſeptuageſ. & ſexageſ. Biblioth. de la Bigne tom. 3. where are ſome of his works. On Pſ. 51. he writeth thus; It is ſaid unto the Father, Then wilt thou accept the ſacrifice of righteouſneſs, that is, the moſt glorious paſſion of the Son who offered himſelf a ſacrifice for all men, that they might attain ſalvation which the world did not deſerve by their works. Ibid. When I look on my ſelf, I find nothing in me but ſin; thy righteouſneſs muſt deliver me; it is thy mercy, and not my merits, that ſaveth me; we are quickned by the mercy of God in the name of our Saviour, and not by our merits: In his works he often uſeth the word merite; but here we may ſee in what ſence he and others do underſtand it. On the fourth poenit. Pſ. I could defile my ſelf, but I cannot cleanſe my ſelf, unleſs thou, Lord Jeſu, do cleanſe me by ſprinkling thy holy blood. No good can be in us, unleſs it be thy working grace who haſt made us. On Pſ. 118. Thou haſt made me to be deſirous of thy Commandments, make me alſo able to do: help, that I may do what thou commendeſt, and give what thou commandeſt. And in another place, Freewill abideth as yet in men by nature; that in whom God willeth, he may be pleaſed to make free by grace, that they have not an evil will; for ſince the firſt p. 101man by free-will was ſold under ſin, the freedom of man is evil; becauſe the goodneſs of the will is taken away from the free-will; which [goodneſs] none can have of himſelf, unleſs he have it being helped by the grace of God's mercy; without whoſe help free-will can neither turn unto God, nor make any progreſs unto God. He hath the like words in lib. 2. de Trinit. cap. 8. On Eccleſ. cap. 1. The Sun Chriſt inlightneth all things with the ſplendour and vertue of his ſpiritual grace, in whoſe puniſhment is our ſalvation; he ariſeth to them who believe in him, and he goeth down to every unbeliever. Ibid. cap. 3. We ſhould rejoice in this ſpiritual pleaſure of meat and drink; not only in the Sacrament, but in reading the Holy Scriptures alſo, where we may eat and drink of the Tree of life. Ibid. cap. 7. Let us conſider the works of God how great and wondrous they are; and how in his free mercy he hath choſen one, and in his juſt judgement he deſpiſeth another; as it is written of the Twins, I have loved Jacob, and hated Eſau. In Praefa. lib. 1. de Trinit. We ſhould all pray, that the Catholick faith, which only quickneth mankind, and only doth ſanctifie, may be truly fixed in the hearts of all men by one confeſſion. Ca. 1. Although we be thrown down from the joy of bleſſed felicity, into the miſerable blindneſs of this exile, for the juſt puniſhment of original ſin; yet we are not ſo cut off, that even in this changable and temporary eſtate, we know not to ſeek and deſire eternity, truth and bleſſedneſs; which is clear in that we have not a will to die, nor be deceived, nor be miſerable; whence is this natural inſtinct, that all men would be bleſſed, although this appetite is diverſly in the minds of particular perſons; ſome think to be bleſſed in riches. The whole divine Scriptures exhort us to be lifted up from earthly unto heavenly things, where is true and eternal bleſſedneſs; unto which it is moſt certain, that none can attain but by the faith of the Catholick peace. In Praefa. lib. 2. All the authority of the holy books ſerve unto us, to make us believe rightly of God, and to love him with all our heart; but the ſight of man's mind is not able to behold the moſt excellent light of God's Majeſty, unleſs it be inlightned by the brightneſs of the righteouſneſs of faith and love, through the gift of God's grace; therefore we ſhould pray for the grace of God, that the ey of our heart may be cleanſed, to ſee how properly the Trinity is the one and only and true God; and how rightly the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is ſaid, underſtood and beleeved to be one and the ſame ſubſtance. Lib. 3. cap. 1. What did the human nature in the man Chriſt deſerve, that it ſhould be aſſumed into the unity of the perſon of the only Son of God? what good will, what deſire of good purpoſe, what good works did precede, whereby that man did deſerve to be one perſon with God, yea to be very God? To wit, God himſelf, even he by whom man began, began not to be another then the Son of God, and that the only, the only begotten, and properly, and for the Word of God, who was made fleſh, verily God; that as every man is one perſon, even a reaſonable ſoul and fleſh; ſo Chriſt is one perſon, the word and fleſh: Whence is ſo great glory unto human nature? by no preceding merits, without doubt by the free and gracious gift; but only here the great and only grace of God, is evidently ſhewed unto them who conſider faithfully and ſoberly; to the end men may underſtand, that they are juſtified from their ſins by the ſame free grace; by which it was that the man Chriſt could have no ſin. Ibid. cap. 12. Certainly no man can have peace with God, but by the Mediatour Chriſt Jeſus, who is in two natures very God, and very man, one Chriſt, both Prieſt and ſacrifice; he came unto us, to offer for us what he had aſſumed of us, that he might take away from us, that which he found in us, that is, our ſins. Ibid. cap. 21. The Apoſtle ſaith of the fire of the day of judgement, What each p. 102mans work is, the fire ſhall declare. It is not to be doubted that he ſpeaketh of a Purgatory fire; which fire the ungodly ſhall feel one way, and the godly another way, and the righteous another way; ſeeing the ungodly ſhall from the torment of the fire be thrown into everlaſting flames; but the godly who ſhall riſe in their bodies without all blot of ſin, and who have built gold, ſilver and precious ſtones upon the foundation which is Chriſt; they ſhall eſcape that fire with ſo great facility, as with integrity of faith, and love of Chriſt, they have kept the commands in this life; and that fire of Doomsday ſhall be unto them, as the Fornace of Babylon was unto the three children, who without all harm of that fire, ſhall call upon the beauty of all the creatures unto the praiſes of God: But ſome juſt men are ſubject to ſome ſmall ſins, becauſe upon the Foundation, which is Chriſt, they have built ſtones, hay and ſtraw, which are cleanſed by the heat of that fire; from which they being cleanſed ſhall be made pertakers of everlaſting glory: And ſo by that tranſitory fire, and the whole judgement of that day being compleated, two congregations of the godly and the ungodly ſhall be ſevered; the one of Chriſt, and the other of the Divel: So he expoundeth not that Text of a Purgatory before the day of Judgement. On the Pſalms of degrees, at the words of Pſal. 130. If thou, Lord, wilt mark iniquity; he ſaith, He expoundeth out of what depth he did cry, that is, from the gulf of his ſins, which as a deluge had gone over his head; underſtanding that all his life was full of tentations: Therefore he ſaith, Who can ſtand? If thou judge only righteouſneſs unto us, and ſhew not mercy, none can ſtand; for we are all the children of wrath; but we have more hope of thy mercy, but not of our merits. On John chap. 6. This is to eat his fleſh, and to drink his blood; even to abide in Chriſt, and to have him abiding in us; and therefore who abideth not in Chriſt, certainly, he eateth not his fleſh ſpiritually, although carnally and viſibly he do preſs the Sacrament of his body and blood; but rather, he eateth the Sacrament of ſo great a thing for damnation to himſelf; becauſe he being unclean preſumeth to come unto the Sacraments of Chriſt, which none taketh worthily but who is clean; as it is written, Bleſſed are the pure in heart, for—Contra Felic. Vrgelit. lib. 2. Shew us any Nation or Alcwin writeth againſt the errours of Felix and El…pant.Town or Church, either Roman (which is the head of Churches) or Conſtantinopolitan, or of Jeruſalem (which was dedicated by the preſence of the Lord himſelf) or of Antiochia, where firſt the name of Chriſtianity is read to have been, or of Alexandria, or of any other Church either in Italy or Germany, or in France, or in Aquitania, or in Britan which agrreeth with you in your aſſertion. Here he acknowledgeth all theſe to be true Churches at that time, and diſtinguis heth them one from another; and where he calleth the Roman the Head of Churches, certainly he underſtandeth not that other Churches had their original from Rome; ſeeing he ſaith, the Church of Ieruſalem was dedicated by the preſence of the Lord himſelf; and Chriſtians had their firſt name at Antioch; both which were before there was any mention of a Church at Rome. When Felix came to a Synod at Regensburg, where were Prieſts from all parts of the Chriſtian Empire (as Alcwin ſpeaketh contra Elipant. lib. 1.) his errour was accurſed; and nevertheleſs he continued in his errour, till at the command of Charls the Great, Alcwin writ theſe books; and then he became zealous for the truth, and did write a recantation unto the Presbyters and Deacons of his Church; that as he had been a ſcandal unto them, ſo by his means they may be brought again from errour unto the truth; as he himſelf writeth, and this recantation is printed among the Works of Alcwin. But Elipant, Arch-Biſhop of Toledo, having read theſe ſeven books of Alcwin, writ very bitterly for maintaining the ſame errour: He profeſſeth to p. 103beleeve that Chriſt is but one perſon in two natures; in one, eternal and equal with the Father, and the ſame unity of his perſon remaining inſeparably, is alſo the ſon of man in reſpect of his fleſh; and in reſpect of his divine nature, the Father and He are one [unum;] and in reſpect of his form of a ſervant, he came not to do his own will, but the will of him who ſent him: But as in reſpect of the Divine nature, He is the natural Son of the Father; ſo in reſpect of his fleſh, he is the Son of God adoptive and nuncupative. It is to be marked by the way, that Felix had ſaid, Chriſt in reſpect of his fleſh was the old man, and had need of regeneration; but Elipant did not write ſo. For proof of this his laſt point, he alledgeth ſeveral teſtimonies of Scripture, of Auguſtine and other fathers, and of the Spaniſh Miſſal. Againſt this Epiſtle of Elipant, Alcwin writ four books, wherein he ſheweth, that Elipant held the ſame hereſie with Neſtorius, who had ſpoken the ſame way, and yet was judged to have ſpoken inconſiſtibly with the unity of Chriſt's perſon. He retorteth all the reſtimonies of Scripture; and from them proveth, that Chriſt is never called a nuncupative God, nor adoptive ſon; but even whileſt the Scripture ſpeaketh of his manhood, or of him as man, calleth him the only begotten of the Father. Thirdly, he ſheweth that Elipant did corrupt the teſtimonies of the Fathers, and did add the words Nuncupative and Adoptive, where they were not; and on the contrary, he produceth their teſtimonies, where they do expreſſely deny that Chriſt is the Son of God by adoption; and in this reſpect diſtinguiſh Chriſt's ſon-ſhip and the ſon-ſhip of the Elect. As for the teſtimonies of the Spaniſh Miſſal, he toucheth them not, as if that Miſſal were nothing. Nevertheleſs hence we ſee, that the Spaniſh Church, at that time, had a proper Miſſal, and were not ſubject unto the Roman Church. It is alſo worth the marking, that whereas Elipant had alledged a teſtimony of the ſon of Sirach; Alcwin lib. 1. ſaith, When the teſtimonies of God's Prophets have failed unto thy perverſneſs, thou feigneſt a new Prophet ſpeaking according to thy errour. In Jeſus the ſon of Sirach is that ſentence, which book bleſſed Jerom and Iſidore do witneſs, that without doubt it is reckoned amongſt the Apocrypha, that is, dubious witneſs; and it was not in the time of the Prophets, but of the Prieſts, when Ptolemeus Evergetes was King. In lib. 2. neer the end, he ſaith, Holy Father, raze, raze quickly this opinion out of the Cloſet of thy heart; leſt the Lord, who hath appointed thee to give Wheat unto his family, find that written in the Table of thy heart, and ſay unto thee, I acknowledge not theſe Letters, theſe words were not taught thee by the men to whom I ſaid, Go, teach all Nations. If we join theſe two teſtimonies, we ſee that Alcwin did not acknowledge any book for Scripture, nor any doctrine for truth, which had not a warrant from the Prophets and Apoſtles. In lib. 4. The original of theſe evils, which begets the occaſion of all impieties, is this; While the wiſedom of the heavenly Teachers is weighed through the fault of miſs-thinking men in their temerarious pride; not according to the propriety of their meaning, but is turned into other meanings after the will and pleaſure of the reader, and otherwiſe then the reſpect of truth carrieth; and it is eaſie unto any who underſtandeth the Scripture rightly, to find this by the Comments of all Hereticks, that they are not afraid, in their ungodly temerity and froward blindneſs, to draw the moſt holy words of the Divine books into the ſimilitude of their errour: which kind of impiety and miſery, if thou, Father Elipant, hadſt conſidered with a prudent mind and humble ſearching, thou hadſt never fallen from the unity of the Catholick peace, into the pit of this errour. In his book De virtut. & vitis, which he writ at the intreaty of Wido a Count, he exhorteth him to read the Scriptures diligently; Ca. 5. ſaying, The reading of the Holy p. 104Scriptures is the knowledge of divine bleſſedneſs; for in them, as in a glaſs, a man may know himſelf, what he is, and whither he goeth: Continual reading purifieth the ſoul, breedeth fear of Hell, and ſtirreth up the heart of the reader unto Heavenly joies: He who deſireth to be with God for ever, ſhould frequently read and pray; for when we pray, we ſpeak with God; and when we read, God ſpeaks with us: The reading of the Holy Scriptures bringeth a twofold benefit, becauſe it inſtructeth the underſtanding, and brinketh a man from the vanities of the World to the love of God: Honeſt is the labour of reading, and conduceth much to the purifying of the ſoul; for as the body is nouriſhed by fleſhly meat, ſo the inward man is nouriſhed and fed by God's word; as the Pſalmiſt ſaith, How ſweet unto my taſt are thy words, O Lord, even more then the honey and the honey-comb unto my mouth: But he is bleſſed who reading the Holy Scriptures, turneth the words into works: Certainly all the Holy Scripture is written for our ſalvation; to the end we may by them grow in the knowledge of the truth: A blind man ſtumbleth oftner then he who ſeeth; ſo he who knoweth not the Law of God, ſinneth, through ignorance, oftner then he who knoweth it. Certainly this man would not have conſented unto that Canon of the Councel of Trent, which forbiddeth people to read the Scriptures. But to the end, that all ſhould not be thought to be his, which goeth under his name; it is to be marked, that in Par. II. is an Homily in feſto omnium Sanctor. which Quercitanus hath marked to be amongſt the Sermons of Auguſtine, but he had found it in a manuſcript under the name of Albin; but it can not be either Auguſtin's nor Albin's; ſeeing that feaſt was afterwards appointed by Pope Gregory the IV. Theſe books de Trinitate are written ſo clearly, that Sixtus Senenſ. in praefat. Biblioth. ſaith, They were written by John Calvin, and publiſhed in the name of Alcvine: But Doctor James, in The Corruption of the Fathers, par. 4. pag. 50. teſtifieth, that antient copies thereof were in the Prince's Library at Saint James, and they were Printed at Lions, An. 1525. when Calvin had not begun to write. Rich. Hoveden, in The Continuation of Beda, writeth, That Charls the Great ſent over into England, the Acts of a Synod ſent him from Conſtantinople, for the adoration of images, the which the Church of God utterly deteſteth: Againſt this adoration (ſaith he) Albinus writ an Epiſtle marvellouſly grounded on divine Scriptures; and carried it, with ſome Synodical Acts in name of the Engliſh Biſhops and Princes, unto the King of France.

6. Ecbert King of the Weſt-Saxons, vanquiſhed Merceland, Kent, Eſſex and Northumberland; and then he commanded that land to be called Anglia, and the inhabitants Angles or Engliſh men. Tho. Cooper ad An. 796.