Works of Joseph Hall, Book 1 · Section 29
SECT. XXIX.
NOt to follow therefore this babling vagary of my Aduerſary againſt Zuinglius, Refu. p. 126, 127. Apoſt. Can. 5.Luther, Muſculus, Whitakers, (what Puppy cannot barke at a dead Lyon?) we come cloſe to the Canon: That no Biſhop, Presbyter, or Deacon ſhall forſake or caſt off his Wife in pretence of Religion, or Pietie, vponupon paine of depoſition. Wherewith how much my Refuter is preſſed, appeares, in that hee is faine with Baronius to auoyd it, with, Apocryphorum non est tanta authoritas; There is no ſo great authority in Apocryphall Canons.
Where is the man that euen now vpbrayded vsus with the lawleſſe reiection of ancient Records; and by name would vndertake to iuſtifie thoſe whom my Epiſtle taxed for adulterine, whereof theſe Canons of the Apoſtles were a part? now hee is faine to change his note, Apocryphorum non est tanta authoritas. Hee hath caſt off Ignatius already, anon you ſhall find him reiecting Socrates, Sozomen, Nicephorus, Gratian, Sigebert, H. Huntingdon, and whom not? vponupon eueryevery occaſion ſhameleſly practizing that which he cenſures.
If Lalleage the ſixth generall Councell, that of Conſtantinople, proclaming this ſenſe truely Apoſtolicall, euen the ſixth generall Councell is reiected as neither ſixth, nor generall, nor Councell; That this Apoſtolicall Canon is bent againſt the deniall of Matrimoniall conuerſation, is apparantly expreſſed in thoſe Canons of Conſtantinople, how-euer the extent of it in regard of ſome perſons is reſtrained. There is no way therefore to vntie this knot, but by cutting it; and my cauilling Prieſt with his Ieſuits may gnaw long enough vponupon this bone; ere they ſucke in any thing from hence, but the blood of their owne iawes.
Any of thoſe words ſingle might be auoided, but ſo ſet together, will abide no eluſion, Let him not vponupon pretence of Religion eiect his Wife.
The ſhift that C. E. borrowes from Bellarmine, is groſſe,Refut. p. 128. and ſuch as his owne heart cannot truſt (foreign, ſaith he) that is, *In p…tence of headineſſe.praetextu cautionis. Looke ouer all the Copies; all interpretatiōs of theſe Canons; that of Dionyſius Exiguus; that of Gentianus Heruetus; that of Caranza; that which Gratian, (whom my either graceleſſe or ignorant aduerſarie dares name againſt me) citeth from hence; all of them runne praetextu religionis. How cleere is that of their ownehDiſt. 28. Sub obtentu religionis propriam vxorem cortemnere. Law? Si quis docuit Sacerdotem, &c. If any man ſhall teach that a Prieſt, vnderunder pretence of Religion, may contemne his owne Wife, let him be accurſed.
And Zonaras, whom both our Iunius, and their Eſpencaeus cite out of Quintinus his Expoſition, is moſt cleere; Hoc enim videtur in calumniam fieri nuptiarum, &c. For this eiection (ſaith he) would ſeeme to bee done in reproach of mariage, as if the Matrimoniall knowledge of Man and Wife cauſed any vncleanneſſe. Thus he. Where it is plaine, that he takes it not of maintenance, but (foreign) of the Coniugall act. The neceſſity of which ſenſe alſo is euicted by their owne*Eſpenc. l. 1. de C…nt c. 4. Eſpencaeus out of Saint Chryſostome, in his ſecond Homily vponupon Titus. AndiIn Canon. Apoſt. in Phot. in no…o Can. Balſamon no leſſe directly; Becauſe (ſaith he) before that Law of Iuſtinian, it was lawfull for a man vponupon any cauſe to diuorce his Wife: therefore the preſent Canon giues charge, that it ſhall not be lawfull for a Biſhop, Prieſt, or Deacon, vponupon pretence of Pietie, to put away his Wife. Thus he.
From all which it is not hard to ſee, that in thoſe yong dayes of the Church, the myſtery of iniquity began in this point to worke; ſo as Mariage, according to the Apoſtles prediction, began to be in an ill name, though the cleere Light of that Primitiue Truth would not endure the diſgrace.
So as in all this I hauehave both by Moſes, and the examples of that Leuiticall Prieſthood; by the Teſtimonie of the Apoſtles, by their practice, by their anciently-reputed Canons, and by the teſtimonie of the agedeſt Fathers, ſo made good the lawfulneſſe and antiquity of the Mariages of perſons Eccleſiaſticall, that I ſhall not need to feare a Diuorce either from my Wife, or from the Truth, in that my Confident and iuſt Aſſertion.