Sermon 8 February 1588, Part 7
D. BANCROFT page 10. & 11. A very ſtrange matter if it were true, that Chriſt ſhould erect a forme of gouernment to continue vntil his comming, and that the ſame ſhould neuer be once put in practiſe, for the ſpace of 1500. yeares, or at the leaſt (to take them at their beſt) that the gouernment & kingdome of Chriſt ſhould then be ouerthrowne, when the diuinity of his perſon the honour of his kingly authors, &c. was eſtabliſhed at the counſel of Nice.
ANSVVERE.
Let the reader marke this for another of your ſhifts.And is it not alſo a ſtrange caſe, that you wil erect a building of your owne ſtuffe, and workmanſhip, and then cal your auditors, to gaze and wonder at the abſurd deformitie of it. Why? there are non but your ſelfe, and ſuch as you are, that affirme this gouernement to hauehave wanted execution, for the ſpace of 1500. yeares. Neither doe we holde or thinke the gouernement and kingdome of Chriſt, to be ouerthrowne at the time of the counſel of Nice. And you hauehave in this point, giuen your ſelfe the ſhamfull lye, in the 100. page of your Sermon, where you alleadge that M. Cartwright doth affirme this elderſhip to hauehave bene moſt flouriſhing vnderunder Conſtantine the Emperour, by whome the Nicene councell was called. I referre the reader vntounto the place, and & wiſh you, though you cannot be gotten to leaue forging of vntruthes againſt vsus, yet for your owne credit ſake, not to forget the chiefe ma…ime of your profeſſion: which is, that it behooueth a lying tong to be joyned with a good memorie.
We doe not ſay, that the gouernment and kingdome of Chriſt is wholly ouerthrowne, where the Elderſhip is wanting, and therfore, your ſpeech tending that way, doth rather point out the eſſentiall all qualitie of your nature, then any concluſion of ours.
And admit it were true, that the Elderſhip lay in the duſt, at the time of the Nicen counſel, and was neuer heard of in Chriſtendoome from that hower vntill this latter age. Will you conclude thereof, that therefore it is not nowe to bee receiued? that is Poperie. For the holy men there met togeather, ſuffered many other ſubſtantiall and moſt neceſſarie points of doctrine to be buried, as they had bene long before their time, and were neuer in a manner taken out of the ground vntill this latter age. And all that the fathers decreed at Nice, beſides the matter of Arrius, which is but one branch of religion farre from a perfect confeſſion of faith, let any man read their Cannons as they are ſet downe, either by Ruffinus,Ruffi. lib. 2 cap. 6. or in the firſt Tome of the councels, and hee ſhall finde my wordes to bee moſt true.
The errours concerning free will, and mans abilitie to fulfill the lawe, deriued from Iuſtin the martyr, and Irenaeus was at this time in ſome ripenes, and yet the Nicene Councell tooke no order with theſe thinges, as it may appeare by their writinges, who liued in the ages following. And though Auguſtine long after, againſt the pelagians & els where gaue free-wil a deaths wound, yet notwithſtanding, wee knowe, that euer ſince the Apoſtles time, in a manner it flouriſhed eueryevery where, vntill M. Luther tooke the ſword in hand againſt it. And by Maiſter Bancrofts reaſon, the Papiſtes defending free-will, againſt Maiſter Luther, helde the better part. For it may be thought a ſtrange matter in the ſight of M. Bancrofts popiſh eyes, that eyther mans. free will and abilitie to fulfill the law of God, ſhoulde in our time be thought erroneous, and to annihilate the vertue of Chriſts kingdome and prieſthood, or that the Lord in his word ſhould eſtabliſh a contrarie doctrine therunto, for his Church to follow vntounto his comming againe, whereas the ſame was winked at, or buried, when by all mens confeſſion, the diuinitie of our Sauiour Chriſte,Theſe are M. Bantro. words. the vertue of his prieſthood, the power of his office as he is a prophet and the honour of his kingly authority, was ſo godly, ſo learnedly, and ſo mightily eſtabliſhed againſt the Arrians in the Councell of Nice, &c.
So that if this argument bee good and forcible againſt the Church gouernement, it is alſo powrfull to ouerthrowe the maine point of our iuſtification by faith, beſides manye other corruptions which were paſt ouer, yea and eſtabliſhed at that councell, which is iuſtly accounted one of the ſoundeſt, that the ancient times can affoord vntounto vsus. Paphnutius alone, was enforced to ſtande vp againſt the whole Sinode in the cauſe of the marriage of Miniſters, which notwithſtanding, he (being a man himſelfe indued with the gift of continency) ſo defended, that hee would not hauehave him that were a Miniſter being vnmaried,Zoromen lib. 1 cap. 23. euer after to be joyned with a wife. Theſe things, and many ſuch like, together with M. Bancrofts iudgement of vsus, pag. 11. and his treatiſe of the going out of falſe Prophets, page 11.12. & 13. I overpaſſe, becauſe I would be briefe.
Concerning the 4. cauſes yelded by him, why falſe prophets goe out into the world, we denie not but the contempt of the true gouernours of the Church, ambition, ſelfe louelove, and couetouſnes, do cary many away from the ſinceritie of the truth: nowe whether theſe doe beare ſway in M. Bancroft and out Biſhops, let the worlde indge. The place of Ierom (touched pa. 14.) vntounto Euagruis ſhalbe afterward ſpoken off.