IT VVERE BVT A NEEDLESSE labour to make any particular recitall of those pointes of doctrine vvhich this Church of Eng­lande at this day doth holde and maintayne, for they be at large set out in sundrie english bookes, and especially in the Apologie of the Church of Englande, and the Defense of the same: summa­rily also collected together in the boke of Articles agreed vpon in the Conuocation at London An­no. 1562. &c. this I dare boldely affirme, that all pointes of Religion necessarie to saluation, and touching eyther the mysterie of our redemption in Chryst, or the right vse of the Sacramentes, and true manner of vvorship­ping God, are as purely and perfectely taught, and by publike authoritie esta­blished in this Church of England at this day, as euer they vvere in any church sithence the Apostles time, or novv be in any reformed Church in the vvorld: the vvhich to be true, those that be learned (euen among the myslikers of this present state) can not, nor vvill not denie.

Likevvise: that all Heresies, all corrupt doctrines, all superstitious and papi­sticall opinions, haue bene, and be by the Prince and the Realme banished, by the learned Byshops and Preachers in vvorde and in vvriting confuted, vvho is so blinded vvith malice, that he cannot see, or so frovvard and vvilfull that he vvil not confesse?

VVhat shall vvethen think of those men, that are so farre from acknovvled­ging this singular and vnspeakeable benefite proceeding from the mere mercie of God, so farre from being thankfull for the same, from desiring the continu­ance of it vvith heartie prayers, that by all meanes possible they seek rather to obscure it, and to deface it, bicause in certaine accidentall poynts they haue not their fantasies and proper deuises. If this be not to set themselues agaynst God, and to trouble the peace of the Church for externall things (vvhich is schisma­ticall) let the quiet and godlie Christian, iudge. Hovve much better had it bene for them to haue proceeded in teaching necessarie pointes of doctrine, and ex­horting to obedience, to concorde, to godlie lyfe and conuersation, than thus vvith no small reioycing of the vvicked, great offence of the vveak Gospellers, maruellous grief of the Queenes maiestie, and other that haue the care of go­uernment, frovvardly to dysquiet and dysturb the Church, trouble the happie peace of the cōmon vveale, and hazard the vvhole state of Religion, they shall one day (if not to late) vvell vnderstand.

Furthermore it behoueth all godlie mindes, that vvill not be caried avvay vvith rash and ouerhastie iudgemēt in this cōtrouersie, to cōsider not only that that I haue before spoken of the truth of doctrine publikely receyued and cō ­firmed: but also circumspectly to vveigh the circumstances of time, place, per­son, and the vvhole state of things, novve in this Church and Realme of Eng­lande: The regarde vvherof in mine opinion, must needes cause in all discrete heades a staye of iudgement, in comparison that the things themselues barely considered, vvoulde do. The state of this Church of Englande at this day God be thanked, is not Heathenish, Turkish, or Papisticall, in vvhich conditiō ma­ny things might be done, that othervvise are not to be attempted: but it is the [Page] state of a church reformed and by authoritie and consent settled, not only in truth of doctrine, as before is noted, but also in order of thinges externall tou­ching the gouernment of the Church and administration of the Sacramentes. VVherefore the controuersie is not vvhether many of the thinges mentioned by the platformers, vvere fitlie vsed in the Apostles time, or may novv be vvell vsed in some places, yea or be cōueniently vsed in sundrye reformed Churches at this day. For none of these braunches are denyed, neither do vve take vpon vs (as vve are sclaundered) either to blame or to condemne other Churches for such orders as they haue receiued most fit for their estats. But this is the vvhole state of our controuersie, vvhen vve of this Church, in these perillous dayes, do see that vve haue a greate number of hollovve hartes vvithin this Realme that daylie gape for alteratiō of Religiō, and many mightie & great enimies abroade busilie deuising and vvorking to bring the same to passe, and to ouerthrovve the state both of religion and of the Realme: vvhether seing vve haue a setled order in doctrine and gouernment receiued and confirmed by lavve, it may stand vvith godlie and Christian vvisdome, (vvith disobedience to the Prince and lavve, and vvith the vnquietnes of the Church and offence of many con­sciences) to attempt so greate alteratiō as this platforme must needes bring, and that for matters externall onlye, and vvith such egernesse and bitternesse, that they deface and discredite the vvhole state of this Church vvith al the Preachers and Ecclesiasticall gouernours of the same, as remayning in horrible corrup­tions and Antichristian deformities, and thereby fill the mouthes of the aduer­saries vvith greater matter of obloquie to deface the gospell, than euer of them selues they had bene able to deuise.

Surely I could neuer reade, but that they that should so do, vvere rather to be estemed troublesome and schismaticall defacers, than zealous and godly re­formers.

I knovve that no Church can be so perfect in all points of externall gouer­ment and ceremonies, but that such as be disposed, maye picke some occasion of quarrelling thereat, thoughe vniustlie: therefore the true members of the Church must not be to light of credit, nor to redie to follovve contentious cap­taines. For S. Paule sayeth: Si quis sit contenfiosus inter vos &c. If any be contentious among you, we haue no such custome, neyther the Churches of God. &c.

Againe, vvhen any thing is amisse it must be considered vvhether the faultes be in the thinges themselues, or in the persons: for vve may not vvith partiall and corrupt iudgement impute the faultes of the persons to the things, vvhether they be offices or ceremonies, for then should vve continuallie bee altering the state, and neuer stand stedfast in any kynde of gouernment: therefore in such cases vve must seke to reforme the abuses in men, vve must not pull avvaye the states and offices, or the thinges themselues bicause they be abused by some men.

But to let this passe and come to the purpose: this Replie of T. C. (vvhich is of some counted so notable a peece of vvork) consisteth of tvvo false principles and rotten pillers: vvhereof the one is, that vvee must of necessitie haue the same kynde of gouernment that vvas in the Apostles tyme, and is expressed in the scriptures, and no other: the other is, that vve may not in any vvise, or in any consideratiō, reteyne in the Church any thing that hath bin abused vnder the Pope: if these tvvo postes be vveake, yea rotten (as I haue proued them to be, in this my Defense) then must the building of necessitie fall. Touching the [Page] first, it is to be vnderstanded, that there is a double gouernment of the Church, the one spirituall, the other externall: Christ onlie and none other by the ope­ration of his spirite and directiō of his vvord spiritually gouerneth his Church, and reignyng in the conscienees of the faithfull, guydeth their myndes in all matters of deuotion, faith and holynesse: and this is the spirituall kingdome of Christ, so much spoken of in the scriptures, and speciallie in the Prophets: of this kynde of gouernment I meane not. The externall gouernment hath both a substance and a matter about vvhich it is occupied, and also a forme to atteyne the same, consisting in certaine offices and functions, and in the names and titles of them: the substance and matter of gouernment, must in deede be takē out of the vvord of God, and cōsisteth in these pointes, that the vvorde be trulie taught, the sacramentes rightlie administred, vertue furthered, vice re­pressed, and the Church kept in quietnes and order. The offices in the Church vvhereby this gouernment is vvrought, be not namely and particularelie ex­pressed in the scriptures, but in some pointes left to the discretion and libertie of the Church, to be disposed according to the state of tymes, places & persons, as I haue further declared in my Ansvvere and Defense follovving. Of the secōd principle I haue also spoken at large there, so that I shall not neede to trouble the Reader any further in these matters.

The proofes that T. C. vseth in this his Replie are grounded onlie vpō vn­true allegations and interpretations of the scriptures, vaine and childishe rea­sons, falsifying the authorities of Doctors & other vvriters, vntrulie ascribing that vnto them, vvhich they vvrote not, as shall be euidētlie declared in this De­fense, by the grace of God: and surelie I haue not redde many bookes vvhere­in so many grosse vntruthes are to be found, or vvherein there is so manye ma­nifest argumentes vttered, to proue the ignoraunce of the author, and lacke of reading auncient and learned vvryters.

Touching his manner of vvriting I shal not neede to say much, for any mā of iudgemēt, that readeth his book may easilie perceiue, vvith vvhat hautines of mynde, vvhat contempt & disdayne of others, in vvhat sclaundrous and op­probrious manner it is vvritten: hovve oft doth he repeate M. Doctor, in contēpt either of the degree, or of the person? 370. times is the leaste: vvhat other spea­ches of disdaine and reproche doth he vtter? but I do nothing at all maruayle at it, for I consider it hath bene the vsuall practise of sectaries and disquieters of Aug. lib. 1. con­tra Donatist. the Church. It is true that S. Augustine sayeth, lib. 1. contra Donatist. cap. 11. Nulli schismata facerent si fraterno odio non excaecarentur. None would make schismes, if they were not blinded with hatred of their brethren. And againe: An non est in schismate odium fraternum? quis hoc dixerit, cum & origo & pertinacia schismatis nulla sit alia, nisi odium fraternum. Is there not hatred of brethren in schismes? who would saye so? seeing that the beginning and continu­aunce of schisme proceedeth from no other cause, than from hatred of our brethren. I must therefore saye vvith M. Zuinglius: Scio quibus conuitijs & quantis furoribus il­lorum Lib. de Baptis. hic me exponam. I knowe to what reproches and to howe greate rages of theirs I make my self subiect. And I vvill conclude vvith him. Quamuis miris conuitijs nos perstringere, & Eodem. nouis quotidie clamoribus morderenō des [...]āt &c. Although they maruelouselie slaūder vs, and day­lye with newe clamors, reuile and backbite vs, yet will I neuer leaue of the defense of the truth before their contumacie be made knowne to all men. VVho so peruseth such learned authors as had greate experience of the lyke kynde of men, he shall finde that their especiall grace both in speaking and vvriting, hath bene in bitter inuecti­ues against other vvhom they haue enuyed and hated for some speciall causes. M. Zuinglius in an Epistle that he vvriteth before his book de Baptismo, speaking [Page] of the Anabaptistes sayeth thus: Hyp [...]critica illorum humilitas illis fatis nota & perspecta est: qui cum his aliquando sermones contulerunt, quàm scilicet sit illorum oratio omni felle amarulen­tior. Their hypocriticall humilitie is verie well knowne to those which haue had cōference with them: how that their talk is more bitter than gaule. And in his booke de Baptismo, he ear­nestlie protesteth that he neuer found any thing in them, quàm saturninam quandam & melan [...]holicam ingeniorum contumaciam. &c. and in his book against Baltasar he sayth that by dispraysing and reuyling others, they seeke to wynne credite vnto them selues. How this qualitie agreeth vvith some of our men, and especiallie vvith the author of this Replie, I am content that other men iudge. If I my selfe haue in vvryting, and in this Defense spoken something more sharpelie, it must be imputed to myne infirmitie, and yet am I therevnto greatelie prouoked: but herein as in manye other matters, I submit my selfe to the iudgement of those that haue authoritie to iudge, and of those that be learned: for I am content still to make this the foote of my song: Errare possum, haereticus esse nolo.

To those that be in authoritie I onlie speake as M. Zuinglius did to the ma­gistrates in his time, vpon the like occasion: Quòd si hoc cuiuis hominū impunè facere lice­bit, In Ecclesiast. vt quae priuato suae rationis consilio adinuenit, in vulgus spergat, inconsulta, imò resistente etiam v­niuersa totius ecclesiae authoritate, breui plus errorum, quàm fidelium & Christianorum in ecclesia erit cernere. If it be lawful for euery man to publish abroade among the people those thinges which he hath deuised of his owne heade, before he hath consulted with the church, nay against the authoritie of the whole church, in short time we shall see moe errors in the church, than there be faithfull men and Christians. And againe, Si enim boc permittamus vt capitosus quisque & Lib. de Baptis. malè feriatus bomo, mox vt nouum aliquid & insolens animo suo concepit. &c. If we suffer euery hedie and braynelesse fellowe, so sone as he hath cōceyued any new thing in his mynd, to pub­lish it abroade, gather disciples, and make a new secte, in shorte time we shal haue so many sectes and factions, that Christe which scarce with greate payne and labor, is brought to vnitie in e­uery church, should be deuided againe into many partes. VVherefore as you haue singu­larelie and vvith greate vvisdome and labour, alreadie restored the true religion of Christe, and banished all superstition and erroneous doctrine: So likewise (as the same Zuinglius sayeth) in those perillous times, wherein Satan seketh so busilie to In his epistle before his book de Baptismo. entrap vs (so that with newe cōtentions about external thinges, he goeth about to trouble those whome the sworde of persecution eyther moued not, or terrified not) look well about you, note the craftes and subtilties of them: take hede of the pestilent windes of diuers doctrine, let none trouble the gospell amongst you, or set you at strife and variaunce. And remember that as the streame that commeth dovvne from the highe mountaines being caused by much rayne and snovve, taking eueriething that it meteth vvith, before it, the further it goeth the greater strengthe, and the more aboundance of vvater it gathereth, and first remoueth out of their places small stones, after vvith grea­ter violence, casteth dovvne strong bridges, yea huge and mightie rockes, and encreaseth to that strength, that nothing, be it of neuer so greate force, can resist or vvithstand it: and in the end leueth nothing else behinde it, quàm inutilem lu­ctum, quaerelas inanes, & miseram vastatorum agrorum & segetum formam: but vnprofitable mour­ning, vaine complaintes, and a miserable forme of the spoiled fieldes: euen so, contentionum pestis, & impia haeresis, eodem modo progrediens, non quicquam aliud quàm turpem & calamito sam re­rum faciem: in florentissimo antè ecclesiae, agro post se relinquit. The plague of contention, and wic­ked heresie proceding in like manner, leaueth nothing after it but a miserable and pitifull face and shew of thinges in that place, which was before the flourishing fielde of the church. Con­sider vvhat the vviseman sayeth Prouerb. 17. the beginning of stryfe is as one that o­peneth the waters. It had bene vvell if the beginning had bene vvithstanded: but seing that vvas neglected, and rather by some furthered than stopped: Yet novv [Page] it is time to make vp the breache. This is sufficiēt to you, vvhose vvisdome and carefulnesse is vvell knovvne to all those that be not vvith sinister affection blinded.

Those that be in the Ecclesiasticall state (and desirous to kepe the peace of the Churche) I haue onlie to admonishe, that they be not discouraged from doing their duties, bicause of the slaunderous reportes, and vnchristian tauntes and contumelies, that our vnquiet brethren lade them vvith, knovving that it hath bene the vsuall practise of all sectaries and especiallie of Anabaptistes, vvho counte them all as vvicked, and vngodlie, as vvorldlinges, and men plea­sers, as idle and slouthfull, that conspire not vvith them in their confused platforme. I maye vse the same exhortation to you that M. Zuinglius, vsed in the like time. Nec quicquam vos moueant, atroces illaecalumniae. &c. Let not those bitter re­proches Zuinglius [...] Ecclesiast. and cauilling speaches, (wherewith the Anabaptistes and others, studious of conten­tion, and discorde oppresse you) moue you any thing at all, bicause you rather followe Christ, than them: for although they call you wicked, and infidels, yet your selues best know what your cōfidence in God is, and what is your meaning and purpose, so that so often as they accuse you of impietie, or of infidelitie, so ofte do they minister manifest proofes vnto you, that their spi­rite procedeth from the father of lyes. And marueile not at those bitter contentions: you knovve it to be true, that the same Zuinglius also sayeth: Nec enim aliud est communis illius hostis nostri ingenium. &c. This is the subtil [...]e of our common enimie, this is his manner, herevnto doth he bend him selfe whollie, and sleepeth not: that as sone as the lord hath reuealed the light of his worde, he also by and by soweth darnell: this do almost all the epistles of S. Paule teach vs, wherein it is manifestlie declared that there hath bene alwayes some men Pietatis simulatores potiùs quàm cultores, rather feyners of holynes than embracers of it, who for certaine externall and vnprofitable thinges, doubt not to laye (as it were) greuous stumbling blockes, to the doctrine of the gospell. Onlie let vs be diligent in our vocation: earnest against all kinde of enimies: feruent in prayers for the preseruation of the Queenes maiestie, and for the peace of the Church, vvith the good successe of the Gospell: and vigilant that errors be not published vvithout controlement: and, God vvill ere it be long, (if our sinnes deserue not the contrarie) giue peace to this Church, as he hath done to other disturbed in like manner. To conclude, I do charge all men before God and his Angells, as they vvil ansvvere at the daye of iudgement, that vnder the pretence of zeale, they seeke not the spoyle of the Church: vnder the colour of perfection they vvorke not confu­sion: vnder the cloake of simplicitie they couer not pride, ambition, vayneglo­rie, arrogancie: vnder the outvvarde shevve of godlinesse, they nourish not con­tempt of magistrates, popularitie, Anabaptistrie and sundrie others pernicious and pestilent errors. The Lord make vs thankful for his infinite mercies and singular goodnesse bestovved vpon vs in thus long continuing his go­spell: preseruing our most gracious and louing Queene: and ouerthrovving all the conspiracies and deuises that the diuell hath hetherto inuented to molest this state and Church.