Answer Unto Assertion that Church of Rome is the True Church, Answer 3
Answeare.
TO prooue that in the church is Vnitie of doctrine & sacraments, you alleage out of the Prophet these wordes: Dabo eis cor vnum & viam vnam. Iere. 32. vers. 32.I will giuegive them one heart and one way. I hope you hauehave read the chapter, and therefore doe remember that this people whom he promiseth to bring againe out of captiuitie, & then to giuegive them one hart and one waie: had alreadie a kinde of vnity and consent among them:Iere. 32. vers. 32 for the Prophet in this same chapter affirmeth, that the Princes Prophets Priests and people had consented to turne their backes vponupon the Lord, and had set their Idolls in the house whervpō his name was called. And this their vnity and agreement in such corrupt doctrine & worshippe of God, was the cause why the Lord (as he had decreed to punish them by geuinge them ouer into the handes of the Chaldeans) euen so did execute the same decree in deede, And yet not so, but that he promiseth afterward in his time to bring them home againe to their owne land: and then to giuegive them one hart and one way to feare him, and to plant sincere Religion & the true feare of god among them. You may see by this place, that there is no true vnity but in veritie and truthe, because the Lord speaketh vntounto this people, who had great agreement in their corruption touching the seruice of God: as if they had bene at deadly dissention: sayinge, I will giuegive them one hart and one waye. Your doctrin is not the veritie, as God willinge shalbe plainly proued when I come to that place, and therfore your agreement howe great soeuer, is the most dangerous diuision that can be, for that it is sundred from the trueth of Christ and his Gospel. I conclude therefore against you with this testimony, that because you hauehave not the veritie with you, therefore you hauehave no vnitie among you. For this place plainly proueth, that it is true doctrine and religion, which maketh men to be of one harte and one waye, in so much that the Lord when he promiseth to restore sincere worshippe and seruice of God, saith, I wil giuegive them one hart and one way. Our harts & wayes doe newer growe vntounto any vnity in deede, before they bee established in true Religion: but be so variable, that wee may bee ledde by the crafty wilinesse of men, from one error into another without any stoppe or staie. For in so many grosse corruptions as hauehave entred into your churche one after another, & one more corrupt then another: some whereof the most of you nowe (since the late reuiuing of the Gospel) begine t… blush at: which of you euer before this time did once stande against any of them… Your ready cōsent to euerye of them without gainsaying, declareth that if there had bene as many moe of no lesse corruption, you should for all that hauehave had no powe… to hauehave withstoode them. And no meruaile, for we doe neuer make any staye before wee come to the knowledge of sincere religion, which when it entreth beginneth to make vsus afraide of corruption euen in the least things that hauehave no warrāt from the trueth of God. If you geue any credit to the Prophet in this place, you maye neuer speake of vnitie, without restraininge it to trueth and veritie. And therefore you may see howe your first witnesse reprooueth your iudgmēt touching Vnitie, without any mention of veritie and trueth. I truste you will giuegive mee good leaue to deale by waye of demaunde with you, so longe as I hauehave no other meaninge, then in this our disputation of vnitie, to set you and your witnesse at one. Tell me therfore I pray you at your conuenient leysure, if this people of Israel to whome he saith he wil giuegive one hart & one way, were not the church of god (albeit there were great corruptions amōg them in the seruice of god) wher the church was at that time? And if you say they were the Church, then answeare me howe these two hang together, that the Lorde promiseth in the tyme to come, and after their returne to giuegive them one hart and one waie, which is (as you say) ment of vnitie, wheras you are of opinion that there is no true Church, if there bee not already vnitie among them. And therefore hauehave not onelyonly made it a marke, but the first marke of the church. I long to heare from you of some good agreement made betweene you and your witnesse.
Your second testimony for Vnitie is taken out of the Gospel after Saint Iohn. It is the prayer of our Sauiour Christ vntounto his father for his elect. These are the words. Pater saencte serua eos per nomē tuū, Iohn. 17.quos dedisti mihi, vt sint vnum, prout & nos. Holy father saue them by thy name, whome thou hast geuen vntounto me, that they may be one as we are. You shall spare me, albeit I receiue not your expositione seing that our sauiour christ hath opened his own meaning, for he himselfe doeth more plainly declare this matter in this same chapter when he prayeth that this may bee graunted vntounto all that shall by the Apostles doctrine be brought to beleue in him:Iohn. 17. Vt omnes vnum sint sicut tu pater in me, & ego in te, vt & ipsi in nobis vnum sint: that all may hee one as thou father in mee and I in the, so they in vsus may bee one. Hee prayeth not simplie for agreement, but with addition, that they may bee one and at agreement in God the father & in Christ, & remaine one in them, which is performed when the trueth of his word is truely imbraced and followed, for then are we said to be in him, as appeareth in the xv.Ioan. 15. of this Gospell. Si manseritis in me, & verba mea, in vobis manserint: (saith our Sauiour Christ) declaringe that this is to abide vnited vntounto him, when his word abideth in vsus. Likewise in the second to the Colossians, after that he hath told them that al the treasures of wisdome & knowledge are hid in Christ, and therefore willeth them, as they hauehave …eceiued Christ Iesus, so they shoulde …alke in him: forthwith he warneth them …o take heede that no man deceiue them …y Philosophie,Colos. 2. according to the tradi…ions of men, & not according vntounto Christ, …eclaring that this is not to be in Christ, …either to walke in him, whē we walke af…er the traditions of men, and remaine not …nited vntounto him, and at one wt him in his woord. Prooue vntounto vsus then, that you are one in God the father, & in Christ, by be…ng vnited vntounto the truth of their doctrine, and that you remaine in them, by hauing theire words remaining in you: and thē we wil make good reckoning of such an agre…ment. But seeing the contrarie is apparant, we affirme out of this place, that the prayer of our Sauiour Christ, is not verified in you, that you should abide one in them, because their woordes and doctrine abide not in you.
Besides this you are to be put in remembrance, that albeit our Sauiour Christ praied for vnitie, that it might, be graunted vntounto his disciples to be one, yet that prooueth not that without imperfection they did enioy it, for he prayeth in like manner in the same Chapter for the faithfull, that they might be deliuered from euill, Nowe who knoweth not, that his be greatly subiect to euil, whether you vnderstande it of outwarde or inwarde euilles, spirituall or temporall, as wee call them, and yet notwithstanding that prayer was heard for them as well as this. I say therfore, that as the Church is voide of euill, so is it of dissention and variance, and as it is troubled notwithstanding this prayer with euil and oftentimes geueth great offence by falling into the same: So is it in like manner with discorde and dissention. These speaches therefore which bee absolute in them selues are by the iudgement of the Learned, to be limited according to that measure which is graunted vntounto man to attaine vntounto, and not absolutely to bee pressed as you doe.
You alledge moreouer for proofe of your assertion, out of the Actes of the Apostles that there was in the primitiueActes. 4. Church vnum Cor & vna anima, One heart and one minde. It is true that there was greate agreement in that people, which was as it were the first fruites of the spirit of God, and of the Apostles doctrine and laboures: and such an agreement as Churches planted after by the Apostles themselues had not the like, as it is apparant in the Churche of Corinth, and yet a true Churche, and so called and accounted of by the Apostle Paule. There was such vnitie of affection among them, that they liberally employed their goodes one vppon an other, as necessitie required, and albeit the vnitie of minde and affection which they had among them selues was verie great, yet it was not so vniuersal, as that it did admit no exception of any particulars, for we reade immediately after of two Annanias and Sapphira: that were not so single hearted toward their bretheren as the rest, and therefore received punishment accordingly. But I pray you marke that it is sayd there Multitudinis credentiū, erat cor vnum & anima vna: They were faithfull and beleeuers of the woorde of God, and not seruantes and slaues to the traditions of men, that had this Veritie among them. Vnitie therefore is in this place (as before) restrained vntounto veritie and trueth. So that if you looke for any helpe from hence you are to prooue the trueth of your doctrine, before you bring in the vnitie of your affections. But let this be graunted, what hauehave you saide for your selfe? yee hauehave brought for proofe one exāple, if you had brought many of these, a Logiciā would hauehave answeared you, that examples prooue nothing, & what exceptiōs may be taken against your one example? was there not murmuring & complayning immediately after, among this number, yt are said there to be of one heart & mind, for that the Grecians their widowes were not prouided for,Actes. 6. and therevpon a newe order taken for their better prouision? and were not two of this number, whose heartes were saide to be one, hunted out from among the rest, and made a Spectacle of the iustice of God againstActes. 5. dissimulation? Moreouer howe can an example how true soeuer at the beginning and for some little time, become a rule to binde all men for all times? Now the daunger of diuision is greater as experience doeth tell vsus in the continuance and encrease of the Church, then at the first planting and building of the same, so that an example of vnitie in the Church long continued and encreased, had beene more forcible and fit to induce vsus, then this of the Church newly planted.
The place alledged out of the Romanes exhorteth vsus to beare one with the infirmities of an other,Roma. 15. to receiue them are the weaker sort, not to disdaine them, or cast them of in their weakenesse and infirmities: remembring well how Christ hath receiued vsus in our wantes. If hee speake of Vnitie in doctrine and Sacramentes in this place as you say, his praier for it, doeth rather argue a want to be as yet in thē of the thing, then to importe any present possession thereof. For wee are not woont to pray for the thinges we hauehave alreadie, and you know your Assertion mainteineth that vnitie can neuer be sundred from the Church because it is a speciall note and badge thereof. The authoritie out of the Epistle to the Corinthes is directly against your Assertion,1. Corinth. 1. for there were (as he affirmeth in that chapter) Sectes and Schismes amongest them, one holding of Paule, another of Apollo, which he praieth may be staied & no more hard of amongst thē. There being then sectes and schismes amongst thē, and yet notwithstāding he geuing them the name and title of the Church, as appeareth in the beginning of that Chapter: prooueth that euerie diuision by and by taketh not away the name of the Church from those that are so deuided. To bee briefe, that place which inferreth a diuision to hauehave beene in a Church, it notwithstanding remaining still a church: is but a weake ground to prooue that Vnitie is an vnfallible note and marke of the Church.
You conclude with Augustine in his epistle one hūdreth sixtie sixe. For you hauehave mistaken the nūber, it is not as you quoat it. There are not many woords aledged out of him, and yet they are not all truely alledged, howbeit you hauehave most of all swarued from his meaning, I will therefore set you downe his woordes both before and after.August. Epist. 166. His at{que} aliis similitudinibus Dominus seruorum suorum tollerātiam confirmauit, ne dum se boni putant malorū permixtione culpari, per humanas & temerarias dissensiones aut paruulos perdant, aut paruuli pereant, quod vsus{que} adeo coelestis magister cauendum praemonuit, vt etiā de praepositis malis plebem securā faceret, ne propter illos doctrinae salutaris cathedra desereretur, in qua coguntur etiam mali bona dicere, neque enim sua sunt quae, dicunt, sed Dei, qui in Cathedra vnitatis doctrinā posuit veritatis, de praepositis suis mala facientibus, & dei dona dicentibus ait: quae dicunt, facite: quae autem faciunt facere nolite. Augustine in this Epistle defendeth ye church against the Donatistes who charged it to be defiled wt the wickednes of some euil men, wt whō it did communicate, and that in communicating with those euil men in the Sacramentes, they were made partakers of their sinnes. He vseth certain similitudes taken out of the Scripture, to confirme a tolleration of euil manners, when without daunger they cannot be reformed, shewing the daunger of rashe diuision, how strong it is to ouerthrowe the weake, and that the Lord hath forewarned vsus to take heede of this rash deuiding of our selues from the Church, because of the euill life of some: in that he warranteth the people against the euill manners of their guides and Teacher…, in asmuch as he commaundeth then to heare their doctrine, but not to followe their example of life and conuersation. For euill men saith he are compelled by the woorking of God to speake good thinges, neither are they their owne, but the matters of God which they doe vtter, who hath placed the doctrine of truth euen in that chaire, where there is vnitie with euill manners. Therfore the truth himselfe of guides doing euil, but saying that which God hath geuen thē, saith, do as they say, but do not as they do. This is the vnitie that Aug. speaketh of, which is to be restrained to the matter he hath in hande, to witte, that the euill life of some in the church, is no sufficient cause to make a diuision from that church. For if it had, the Lorde woulde not hauehave moued vsus to heare those, and to doe as they saye. And yet which is more, he doeth forewarne vsus to beware of diuidinge our selfs rashly from such, in that hee compelleth oftētimes men of euil life, to deliuer good and sound doctrine vntounto his people, and hath got a place for his trueth out of that chaire, where they doe sit who are at vnitie with euill manners. If we were departed from your churche, onelyonly because of your euill life, findinge no fault with your doctrine, you might reply with Augustine, & saye vntounto vsus: In cathedra vnitatis posuit doctrinam veritatis: Hee hath placed true doctrine in their mouthes, who in their life are at vnitie with euill conuersation. But your doctrine is at deadly debate with the trueth of God his word, and therefore wee hauehave a Christian quarell against you, not for lyfe onelyonly, but especially for euill Doctrine, and the Lord I doubt not shall in his time reuenge vsus of you, by killing the errour which is within you. I conclude therfore against you by your owne testimonies, that vnitie simply as you hauehave set it down is no note of the churche, but Vnitie wit… additiō [of trueth and Verity.] I conclud… also against you by your own witnesse, tha… there is no such Vnitie required in doctrine, as to exclude frō the church all thos… that are at any kinde of variety, touching any point of Doctrine within themselues We saie of variety in that doctrine which toucheth not the foundation of Religion, yea albeit the article it self shall touche th… foundation, when yet notwithstanding th… controuersy is not about the hart and principall part thereof:August. epist. 76. as Augustine saith o… the diuersitie of obseruatiōs in the church… Sit ergo vna Fides vniuersae, quae vbi{que} dilatatur Ecclesiae, tanquā intus in membris, etiā si ipsa fidei vnitas, quibusdam diuersis obseruationibus celebratur, quibus nullo modo quod in fide verū est impeditur: omnis enim pulchritudo Filiae Regis intrinsecus: illae autē obseruationes quae variè celebrantur, in eius veste intelliguntur, vnde illi dicitur in fimbrijs aurets circumamicta varietate. Al the bewty of the king his daughter which signifieth the church, is as August. saith inward, but her outward garmentes are of …iuers colours, to declare that variety whe…her in doctrine or cerimonies, so it bee in …he garmēt, not peircing the hart & bowels of Religion, can not take away the bewty of the church which is altogether inward. As for you that wil acknowledg no church where there is any variety in doctrine, I can proue vntounto you, not onelyonly that your churche hath had diuersitie & dissension in doctrine, but also that you hauehave bene at cōtention about such pointes of doctrine, as shake the verie pillers & groundes of Religion. Wherin lest you should thinke that I would alledg the authoritie of some that were partial in my behalf,Matth. Paris. fo…. 824. I am contented to be tried by Mathew Paris, a Mōke of S. Albōs. who in the chronicle that he writeth doth declare, that in the yeare of our Lord, 1243. which was the xxvii. yere of the reigne of Henry the thirde, then King of this Realme of England, there was great controuersie betweene the fryers and the Vniuersitie of Paris, because that the friers taught in pulpittes, & mainteyned in publique lectures, these opiniōs following.
That the diuine essence was not th… same altogither in the holy Ghost, tha… it was in the father, & in the sonn: whic… plainely vphouldeth an inequalitie o… persons contrary to the Christian faith…
That the holy Ghost, as he is louelove, procedeth from the father only, & not als… from the sonne: whereas the Christian belief holdeth that he procedet… from them both.
That neither the soule nor the body shalbe after the resurrection in that heauē where the Angels are, but in another aboue the firmament.
That the euill Angel in his first creation was euill and neuer good: which opinion chargeth the Lord of necessity to be the Author of euill.
That an Angel in one instant may be in diuerse places, and euerie where if he will: which opiniō intituleth the Angels vntounto that which is only proper to God.
That Adam had neuer such a state of innocency, as that he might hauehave stoode and not hauehave fallen frō the obedience of God. which opinion doth ouerthrowe the Iustice of God.
That he that hath more helpe of nature, …hall of necessitie hauehave more grace and greater glory. This opinion vtterly ouer…hroweth all the doctrine of the free mercies in Christ, of mortification, and regeneration. These opinions being once broched and publiquely mainteyned in the Scholes, the Doctors of Paris (as there was great cause why) did stoutly resist and stand against them, settinge downe their iudgement vntounto eueryevery article seuerally in this forme of wordes. Hunc errorem prohibemus, & assertores eius & defensores excommunicamus. We forbid this error, & the mainteyners and defenders thereof we doe excommunicate. You can neuer prooue that the greatest controuersie that euer was or is at this daye amongst vsus, was so material and did so nerely touche the foundation of religion as doth the least of these. And therefore when you write againe, let vsus not I pray you heare of any exclamation against the diuision that is amongst vsus as you say touching Doctrine: vnlesse you will set downe some particulers, and let the world see that you deale plainly & simply, and are able to prooue indeed tha… which in general termes you would seem… to cary away. I am well assured that ther… was neuer any such dangerous opinions professed in our scholes; or contended for among the learned that professed the Gospel at any time, wherof in degree of error i… might truly be said that they were matches & equall vntounto these. And if you continewe neuer so longe in seking monuments & recordes, yet shall you not finde the like amonge vsus.