THERE can bee no better direction in matter of Religion, than that of the Prophet, saying, Ierm. 6. 16 Stand in the wayes, and see, and aske for the olde way, which is the good way. Ney­ther can there bee a greater pre­scription agaynst Hereticall pravi­tie, than that of our SAVIOVR'S, Math 19. 8. from the beginning, it was not so. [Page 2] Or can there bee a surer preserva­tiue agaynst the seduction of those who speake lies in Hypocrisie, than that which is set downe by the Apostle S. IVDE: to wit, Iude 3. 4. Earnestlie to contende for that Fayth which was once delyvered to the Saynctes? to wit, at the beginning: and therefore, who are sayde to bee built onelie (as the Apostle speaketh) vpon the foundation of the Apostles, Ephes. [...], 20. and Prophets; IESVS CHRIST Himselfe beeing the Corner-stone.

Therefore, as it was PAVL'S Pro­testation to the CORINTHIANS. 1 Cor. 11. 23 That what hee receaved of the LORD, that onelie hee dely­vered vnto them; So it was his precept to TIMOTHIE, and TITVS, To holde fast that forme of sound doctrine, 2 Tim. 1. 13. Titus 1. 9. and word of Fayth, which they had beene taught, and had heard of him.

It was the primitiue Churche [...] practise in lyke-manner, next to [Page 3] these Apostolicall tymes, (as witnesseth Lyrinensis) not to de­lyver their owne inventions to po­steritie; Vinc. Lyrin. adversus here [...]. but to holde fast onelie that which they receaved from their Predecessoures: so that as anie one more flowrished in Reli­gion (sayeth hee,) the more hee with-stood ever anie newe inven­tions. Whence it is, that the Church was called a diligent, and warie preserver, of these doctrines of Fayth, which were concredit vnto her, without changing anie thing ever therein: without di­minishing therefrae, or adding anie thing thereto, (sayeth the same Father.) Her teachers ven­ting that which was concredit to them, not invented by them, which they receaved, not exco­gitate, and not anie brood of their owne ingyne, but the bread of heavenlie doctrine; which is not of private vsurpation, but of pub­licke deliverie or traditiō, brought to them, not broached by them, [Page 4] wherein they should not bee Au­thors, but keepers; not instituters, but observers; not leaders, but followers: teaching the same thinges to others by word, which themselues had from the Apostles by WRIT. So that tho they speake after a new manner of spea­king or expression, yet they should speake no new thing for matter: observing that as in the growth of our bodies, there is no increase of new members in number, but augmentation of the same in mea­sure: So in the Churches know­ledge, that the growth there-of should bee in the same doctrine of Fayth, alreadie delyvered, but no new Article of doctrine after­ward to bee broached.

For preventing whereof, there­fore did that holie Apostle, lyke BONARGI, or a sonne of Thunder, throwe that dreadfull Thunder­bolt, agaynst all Novelists▪ saying, Tho we, Gal. 1. 8. or an Angell from Hea­ven, preach vnto you ( [...]) [Page 5] beside that which wee haue prea­ched, let him bee accursed. So that it did not suffice, (sayeth Lyri­ [...]ensis) for keeping sound that doctrine of Fayth, which was once delivered, to make mention of man, altho it were peter, Andrew, Iohn, or all the companie of the Apostles, except that hee com­prehended in lyke-manner, the verie excellencie of Angelicall powers.

And which speach of the Apo­stles, Augustine explayneth thus, If wee or an Angell from Heaven, preach vnto you anie thing con­cerning Fayth and Lyfe, besides that which yee haue receaved in the Legall, and Evangelicall Scrip­tures, (sayeth hee) let him bee accursed: limiting so what the Apostle preached in the matter of Fayth, or manners, within the pale of the written word; and leaving no place therein, to vn­written traditions.

Thus it beeing cleare, that the [Page 6] true Religion, is onelie most An­cient, and that the most Ancient Religion lykewyse, is onelie most true: as having it whole Origen from CHRIST, and His Apostles, and from that warrand of holie Scripture, which they haue left behinde them: which made Ter­tull [...]an to say, Ter­tul. de prae­script. adv. here­ticos c. 6. Doubtlesse that is to bee helde (sayeth hee,) which the Church hath receaved from the Apostles, and the Apostles from CHRIST, and CHRIST hath receaved from GOD. It fol­loweth necessarilie, that that Re­ligion, or Doctrine what-so-ever, that wanteth this Antiquitie, and is of later invention, is neither true nor Catholicke. The first proper­tie of Catholicisme, beeing that of time, to wit, which hath beene ever, and from the begin­ning, taught in the Church: there­fore sayeth the fore-named Vincen­tius Lyrinensis. In the Catholicke Church a speciall care must bee had, that wee holde that which [Page 7] was ever, everie where, and by all believed: so that, that Do­ctrine which is deficient in the ve­rie first poynt, to wit, the vni­versalitie of tyme, and was not semper, or ever in GOD'S Church; but whereof it may bee sayde, as our Saviour sayeth of the Iewish Bills of Divorce, From the be­ginning it was not so: the same is no wayes sound, and Catholicke Doctrine, but lyke that later Su­persemination of Tares, after the good Seede in the LORD'S Field; neyther is anie person who pro­fesseth the same, verus & genui­nus Catholicus, a true and vp­right Catholicke, but on the con­trarie a giddie and prophane No­velist, whose lust as it were of prophane and new hatcht Curiosi­tie, (sayeth the same Father,) can not contayne it selfe within the chaste limites of sacred and vn­corrupt Antiquite.

THis challenge, then, of Novel­tie, and consequentlie, of an vnjust vsurpation of the name of Catholickes, wee justlie lay to the charge of the Romanistes of these tymes, which the better that wee may cleare and confirme, wee shall instance the same, first in 14 particular poyntes of Doctrine, as making vp a sufficient Dittie, the Noveltie where-of severallie next, shall bee (God willing) proven, by the witnessing of their owne mouthes, vt ex ore suo judicetur servus nequam, or by the vndenyable recordes of vene­rable Antiquitie.

THE first vrgers, then, of vn­written Traditions in the Christian Church, wee finde to haue beene some Heretickes, Iren. Lib. 3 Cap. 2 who arose in IRENEVS dayes, Anno 180; of whom hee wryteth thus, When they are convinced by the Scriptures, they fall out into the accusation of the Scriptures, (sayth hee) as if they were not rightlie alleadged, or of authoritie of [Page 13] themselues: and because they are ambiguouslie set downe, and that the trueth can not bee found out of them, by those who knoweth not Tradition, which was not delyvered by writ, but by word; for which cause Paull himselfe sayde, Wee speake wisedome amongst these that are perfect.

In which wordes is not onelie set downe, what Armour onelie the Orthodox Fathers then vsed, for convincing of Heretickes, to wit, the holie Scriptures; but al­so in these ancient Heretickes, is seene the true picture of our new Romanistes, who when they are in lyke-manner convinced by Scrip­ture, they fall out lyke-wyse into the accusation of the Scriptures; that they are not rightlie translated by vs, and are not of sufficient au­thoritie of themselues: without the Churches declaration, that they are also ambiguous and ob­scure, and that the trueth in all poynts of Doctrine can not be had [Page 14] out of them, 1 Cor. 2. 6. Bel. l. 4. de vorbo [...]. 8. without vnwritten Tradition, bringing also for the mayntayning thereof, this same place of Scripture, adduced by these ancient Heretickes.

The same doeth Tertu [...]ian lyke­wyse testifie of the Heretickes in his tyme, T [...]rtal l. de prae­script. adv. [...]ret. c. 25. who would not graunt (sayeth hee,) that the Apostles revealed all thinges to all men, but some thinges they taught secretlie, and to a few, (even as Bellarmine speaketh) which were to bee preserved from age to age, Bel. l. 4 de [...]rbo c. 11. by vn­written Tradition: for which cause the Apostle sayeth to TIMO­THIE, O Timothie, keepe that which was committed to thee.

The Author also of that Booke, de Vnitate Ecclesie, Lib. de unitate Eccles in Tom. 1 [...]. (thought to bee Waltram Bishop of Na [...]rg) showeth, that this [...]aven sp [...]ed most and prevayled in the Romane Church, w [...]en the Papacie came to an hight in Hildibrandes tyme, a­bout [Page 15] the yeare 1072, script. germā a M. fr [...]hero Edit. p. 233. et 228 by the mona­sticall sort of that age; of whom hee (beeing living in that same age) sayeth, That despysing these doctrines that are of GOD, (to wit, in holie Scripture) they affect other doctrines, (sayeth hee) and bringeth in into the Church commandementes of hu­mane institution. And agayne, hee showeth why they suffered not their Novices, (as they ought) to exercise themselues diligentlie in Scripture; to wit, that their vn­polished myndes might bee fedde with the huskes of Devils, which are (sayeth hee) the customes of the traditions of men.

And which thing was so farre contratie to the ancient custome, vsed at first in Monasteries, Dua­renus de sa­cris Ec­clesiae minis [...] l [...] 1. c. 20. that their owne Duarenus testifieth, they were nothing else but Semi­naries of Divinitie, wherein they studied (sayeth hee) diligentlie the Scriptures: and out of which, as out of a Seminarie, these were [Page 16] chosen and taken out, for vnder­going Ecclesiasticall charges, who were amongst them of best lyfe and learning.

Whence it is lyke-wyse that ve­nerable Beda testifieth, Beda l. 3. Hist. Eccles. Angli [...]. 4. that this was the exercyse of those who were in that Famous and Religious Monasterie of our Land, called Colmekill; to wit, that they might onelie learne these Doctrines, which were in the Propheticall, Evangelicall, and Apostolicall Scriptures (sayeth hee.)

Which thing is farre different from the Doctrine of the Romane Church now, who teacheth, that the Scripture is the least part of revealed trueth, Char­roneus verit. 3. c. 4. Hosius c. 9 [...]. con­f [...]ss. and the farre greater part of the Gospell is come to vs by vnwritten tradition, (as sayeth Hosi [...]s,) of which sort Pe­trus à Soto granteth these to bee, to wit, the sacrifice of the Masse, invocation of Saynctes, the Popes Supremacie, Prayers for the Dead, the fiue Sacramentes, [Page 17] beside Baptisme and the LORD'S Supper. Cani­sius catec [...] c. 5. Lind [...] nus l. 4. panopo c. 100. Luke 1 4. 2. Pet. 1. 19. Wherevnto their Cani­sius joyneth, worshipping of Ima­ges, and their Bishop L [...]ndan [...] ad­deth Transubstantiation, the Com­munion vnder one kynde, Indul­gences and Purgatorie: so that by their owne confession, the mayne bodie of Poperie, is not built vpon the sure foundation of Propheticall, and Apostolicke writ, as on the Rocke, but vpon the sandie and vnsure foundation of pretended vnwritten tradition.

BELLARMINE in his fourth Booke of the Word of God, Bell. l. 4. de verbo c. 11. § [...]ctavo professeth in the name of all Romanistes, saying, That such tra­ditions as are repugnant to Scrip­ture, we never doe defende, (sayth hee,) seeing there-fore hee re­nounceth such, and abdicateth them both from his profession, and patrocinie. Let VS inquyre concerning some poynts of Pope­rie, (by their owne confession,) whether they bee Babels babes, or the brood of such a bastard birth.

And first, wee know that pub­licke prayer, and performing of divine worship, in an vnknowne tongue to the People, is a do­ctrine and practise of Poperie, ha­ving no ground but vnwritten tra­dition. But if it bee asked whe­ther this bee agreeable to Scrip­ture, 1. COR. 14. or contrarie [Page 19] thereto, their owne Cardinall Cajetane on that place will tell vs, saying, By this doctrine of S. Paull it is to bee helde, that it is farre better for the edifying of the Church, that publicke prayers, which are vttered in the hearing of the people, bee said in a lan­guage common, and knowne both to the Clergie and people.

And agayne, (sayth their owne Benedictus Montanus,) Bishop Mon­tanus, in 1. Cor. 14. altho the Apostle would haue prayers sayde in a language that is vnderstood, yet notwithstanding it is to bee helde, that the Church (to wit, of Rome,) for most just causes, hath decreed and or­dayned the contrarie. Heere, then, wee see that the Romane Church, can decree clean contrarie to the doctrine of the written Word.

Agayne, wee know that the pro­hibition 2 of people to reade the Scriptures, is a doctrine and pra­ctise of Poperie; having no war­rand, but the Churches tradition: but if it bee asked, whether this [Page 20] bee agreeable to Scripture, or no, and especiallie to COLOSS. Espen. in Ti­tum [...]. 2. 3. 16; their owne Bishop Espenceus will tell vs, saying, It is manifest by the doctrine of the Apostle to the Colossians, 3. 4. and by the pra­ctise of the Church, (sayeth hee) that of olde the vse of the Scrip­tures was permitted to the people. Therefore sayeth the Iesuit Azo­rius, Azor. instit. moral l. 8. c. 26. [...] 28. wee confesse that in S. Ie­rome, and Chrysostomes tymes, the Laicke people were exercysed in reading of the Scriptures, because they were written in these Lan­guages which they did vnderst [...]d, Alf [...]s. à Ca­stro verbo Scriptura, Agrippa, de van. sci. Cap. 100. and so sayeth also their Alfonsus à Castro, Agrippa, and others.

3 Lyke-wyse wee know, Bell. l. 2. de Reli. que c. 8. That the making the Image of GOD the Father, after the likenesse of an olde man, is a doctrine and practise of Poperie; having no [Page 21] warrand, but the tradition of the Romane Church: But if it bee asked, whether this bee agreeable to Scripture, EXOD. 20. 4. and DEVT. 4. 15. a clowde of witnesses of their owne Doctors will tell vs the contrarie, as Bellarmin [...] con­fesseth, Abu­l [...]sis in Deut. 4. q. 5. Du­rand. in 3. Dist. 9. q. [...]. Peres [...] de Abulensis to bee, Durand, and Perésius, to whom wee may joyne also the late Iesuit Vasquez, and others: Wherefore Iohannes Ragusius, in his Oration at the Councell of Basil, is forced to confesse, That altho in the olde Law, the visible Images of GOD, and of his Saynctes, were forbid­den by the Law of GOD, and no libertie was graunted since, eyther in the Olde or New Testa­ment to make anie such; Trad. Part. 3. de Imag [...] vasq. l. 2. de [...]dor. c 3. disp 4. num 74▪ yet the Church taught (forsooth) by the holie Ghost, (sayeth hee) hath not onelie permitted, but de­creed and ordayned the contrarie. Where wee may see a strange li­bertie assumed by the Church, and a farre stranger inspiration of [Page 22] her by the holie Ghost, hee to bee contrarie to himselfe, and shee to trangresse GOD'S expresse com­mand in Scripture, by his inspi­ration.

More-over, wee know that the giving of the Communion to the people, vnder one kynde onelie, is a doctrine and practise of Pope­perie, having no warrand for it but the tradition and authoritie of the Romane Church: but if it bee asked whether this bee agreeable to Scripture or no, the Coun­cell of Constance, Cōcil. Con­stance S [...]ss. [...]3. all in one voyce, will tell vs the contrarie, and con­fesse that neyther was it so in CHRIST'S institution set downe in holie Scripture, nor was it the practise of the Apostles, or of the primitiue Church; but is brought in later, for such reasons as the Church of Rome thought good. For so sayeth the Coun­cell, Albeit CHRIST after Supper did institute this venerable Sacra­ment, [Page 23] and gaue it to His Disci­ples vnder both kynds of bread & wine: As also, tho in lyke-manner this Sacrament was receaved by the faythfull vnder both kyndes, Notwithstanding there-of, this cu­stome▪ for eschewing of certayne dangers and scandalls that might ensue, vpon good reason is now brought in, that the same shall bee receaved by Laickes vnder one kynde onelie. Where wee see that the Church of Rome thinketh her selfe wyser, and more provi­dent in fore-seeing of dangers, than CHRIST, His Apostles, and the primitiue Church was, and that lyke the Pharisees and Scrybes of olde, by her traditions shee hath made the word of GOD to bee of no effect.

CArdinall Bellarmine, Bell. l. 4. de verbo c. 11. §. his not [...] ­tis. in his fourth Booke of the Word of GOD, confesseth, that the Apostles did preach vnto GOD'S people, all these thinges which were necessarie and profi­table vnto them, (sayeth hee) vnto their salvation: But what they preached so to all, that also they wrote, and left registrate in [Page 25] Scripture: Ibidē. for so sayeth Bellar­msne in lyke-manner, I affirme, that all these thinges were written by the Apostles, (sayeth hee) which are necessarie for all men, and which they publicklie prea­ched to all. Therefore it follow­eth, that in the Apostles writs are contayned all thinges, which are necessarie and profitable to salvation.

But to subsume: These doctrinall Traditions, whereon is groun­ded the mayne bodie of Poperie; were not written by the Apostles, (as is confessed.) Therefore it followeth, that the same are ney­ther necessarie nor profitable to salvation: and so wee see, what doome their owne mouthes by the force of trueth, are made to pronounce vpon these vnwritten Doctrines and Traditions; and consequentlie how vnju [...]lie they are obt [...]uded vpon Gods people.

Next, Act. 20. 27 I a [...]gue, What the A­postles did preach vnto all, as [Page 26] necessarie and profitable vnto sal­vation, l. Cor. 25. 2. and which S. PAVLL calleth else where the whole coun­cell of GOD, that onelie should their successoures teach vnto all, as necessarie and profitable vnto salvation.

But the Apostles (as is confes­sed) did preach nothing vnto all, as necessarie and profitable vnto salvation, but that which is writ­ten in holie Scripture, vnder the payne of that curse denounced by S. Paull, GAL. 1. 8.

Therefore, nothing should bee taught by true Pastors as their suc­cessoures vnto all, as necessarie and profitable vnto salvation, but that which is written in holie Scripture. Aug [...] l. 3. cont. petil. c 6. So Basil sūma moral 72 c. 1 Where-fore sayeth Augustine, if wee or an Angell from Heaven preach vnto you any thing, beside that which yee haue receaved, in the Legall and Evan­gelicall Scriptures, let him bee accursed. As also sayeth their Aquinas, It is to bee affirmed, [Page 27] that no other thing ought to bee preached, Aqui­nas in Gal. 1 but that onelie which is contayned in the Gospells, and Epistles, and in the holie Scrip­ture, playnlie or more obscurelie.

Whosoever then teacheth for doctrines of fayth, anie vnwritten traditions, neyther contayned in holie Scripture playnlie nor ob­scurelie, Canu [...] Loc. Theol. c. 3. fund. 3. (as Canus affirmeth most poynts of their doctrine to bee) it followeth that hee is no true teacher, nor successour to the Apostles; but controlling Scrip­ture, and deserting their practise, hee declareth himselfe to bee an impostor, guiltie of prophane Noveltie, Gal. 1. 8. a sower of Tares in the LORD'S Field, and will-fullie to incurre that Apostolicall Ana­thema.

FIrst, then, omitting Testimo­nies of Scripture formerlie set downe, which make for this poynt, I come to the Testimonie of one of their late and famous Bishops, Espen [...]us in Ti [...]. 2 Espenceus by name, whereby hee witnesseth, That this with-holding of Scripture from the people, was neyther in the A­postles tyme, or agreeable to their doctrine, nor yet was it in the tyme of the primitiue Church, whose practise was contrarie to their now-a-dayes: his wordes then are these, It is manifest (sayeth hee) by the doctrine of the Apostle, COLOSS. 3. 16. and by the practise of the primitiue Church, that of olde, the pub­licke reading of the Scripture, Chry­sost. Hom. 9. in Epist. ad Co­loss. was permitted to people.

Whence it was that Chrysostome in his tyme, did vehementlie vrge the same vpon his auditors, saying, I beseech you all that are Laickes, that yee get Bibles to your selues, [Page 29] the medicine of the soule: and if yee will not get more, get to your selues the New Testament at least. And agayne, hee sayeth, Hom. 10. in Iohan [...]m. What is it, then, that wee so earnest­lie requyre of you, but that one of the dayes of the weeke, or at least vpon the Sabbath day, yee would haue a care to reade the Gospells, which before yee come to these Sermons, ye haue amongst your handes at home, and that yee would frequentlie repeate the same, and diligentlie search out the meaning, and note what is cleare, and what is [...]bscure there­in. By doing whereof, he showeth what good will redound both to him who was their teacher, and to them who were his heare [...]s; to wit, that hee should neede the lesse labour and paynes, to make them vnderstand the meaning of the Gospell, when at home they haue made the Text samiliare to themselues; and they also should thereby bee made the more sha [...]pe and quicke in vnderstanding, not onlie [Page 30] onelie to heare and perceaue what is sayde vnto them, but also to teach others. And if anie should pleade the want of scarcitie of Bookes, hee showeth concer­ning this, that it were ridicu­lous to answere these who were rich; and as for the poore sort, hee showeth also, that it is a shame to them to want the Scrip­ture, which can afford so great profit to them, as their soules in­struction, and yet carefullie to acquire such tooles or instruments, as their severall Trades requyred, for winning their bodilie Foode: but if anie bee so poore, (sayeth hee) that by no meanes hee can acquire Bookes [...]o himselfe, then by the continuall reading of the Scriptures, which is in this place, hee needeth not to bee ignorant of anie thing that is therein.

Which thing made the I [...]suit Azortus to say, Azor. instit▪ moral l. 8. c. 28. et 26. Wee confesse, that in the tymes of Ierome, and Chrysostome, (which was 400 yeares, and aboue, after CHRIST) [Page 31] that the Laickes were exercysed in reading of the Scripture, because they were written in these Lan­guages, (sayeth hee) which they did vnderstand.

Wherefore also did Theoderet affirme, Theod de cur Gra [...] aff [...]ct. l. 5. f. 51. (in the 500 yeare of God) that the Hebrew Text of the Olde Testament, was not onelie transla­ted into the Greeke tongue, for the Grecians to reade and vnder­stand, See al­so Bel. l. 2 de [...] c. 16 & vera igitur sentē ­tia. but also into the Latine, Aegyptian, Persian, Armenian, Scythian, and Sauromatican; and that I may speake it in one word, (sayeth hee) the Scriptures are translated into all Languages, which at this day anie Countrey what-so-ever vseth to speake: whereby it commeth to passe, that [...]verie where you may see, that these doctrines of sayth which we holde, (sayeth hee) are not on­lie familiarlie knowne by these who are Church-men, & teachers of the people, but lyke-wyse by verie Shooe-makers, Smithes, Weavers, and all such lyke Crafts­men: [Page 32] yea, by all our Women, and not these onelie who bee lear­ned, (if anie such bee) but also by poo [...]e Trades-women, men­ders of Clo [...]thes, serving women, and way [...]ing ma [...]des. Neyt [...] doe they onelie who dwell in Townes, (sayeth hee) vnder­stand well these thinges, but lyke­wyse the Husband-men: so that you shall finde diggers of Ground, Heards-men, and setters of Plants, discoursing of the holie Trinitie, and the Creation of all thinges, and having more knowledge of the nature of man, than ever Plato or Aristotle had.

And that this also was the aun­cient BRITANE practise within this Ile, in the 700 yeare of GOD, Venerable Bed [...], Beda lib. 3. E [...]cl. Hist. Aug. c. 5. who lived in the succeeding Ce [...]turie or there-by, in his Ecclesiasticall Storie of the English Nation, mostclea [...]lie do [...]th show [...], where speaking of the lyfe of that Religious Bishop A [...]a­nu [...], hee telleth vs, that not onlie the Clergie men that were with [Page 33] him in companie, but also these who were Laickes, were diligent­lie exercysed in reading of the Scriptures, or learning PSALMES by heart. For which ende also Cornelius Agr [...]ppa reporteth, Agrip pa de vanit sci. c. 100. That there was a Decree in the first Councell of Nice, that none who were able to reade, should want the Booke of the Scripture: and wherevnto ye haue heard how se­riouslie Chrysostome did exhort his auditoures: Not-with-standing wherof, how peremptorily people are nowe forbidden, to haue or reade the same, let this ensuing prohibition, printed of late, and published in Spaine, testifi [...].

[Page 36] THis poynt of Pap [...]l Supre­macie, (the loftiest Towre of [...]abels prowde building.) Boneface the eyght declared to bee of such consequence, as all Chri­stians are bound to bee subject there-to, Extra vag. com­m [...]n. lib. 1. Tit. 8. c. 1. de major et obed. Bell. l. 2. d [...] pont. Rom. [...]. 31. and b [...]lieue the same, vnder payne of damnation, saying, More-over for all hu­mane creatures to bee subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, wee declare, affi [...]me, decree, and proclayme, that the same is altogether of the ne­cessitie of salvation, Now, (sayth Bellarmine) one title amongst all others, out of which is collected the supremacie of the Bishop of Rome, is this, the title of Vniver­sall Bishop, of the antiquitie where­of, if wee inquyre wee shall finde.

The first who ever vsurped this title, (as all Histories record) to bee IOHN, Patriarch of Constan­tinople, who obtayned of the Em­perour Mauric [...]us so to bee called, 600 yeares after CHRIST; and [Page 37] which style was stronglie opposed by Pope Gregorie the first, Cusan cōcord Eccles lib. 2. c. 34. Greg. Lib. 4. Epist. 38. in this sense as Cardinall Cusanus testi­fieth, to wit, as it imported one to bee so principall, as all others should bee subject to him, (as Bo­niface decreed) or as Gregori [...] himselfe sayeth, one to mount aboue others to such an hight of singularitie, as that hee would bee vnder none, but hee alone would bee abo [...]e all: Lib 4 Epist. 36. et Lib. 6. Epist. 30. and which style hee challengeth expreslie of NO­VELTIE, calling it novum no­men & nova presumptio.

And lest this should haue beene thought a Noveltie, onelie in the Patriarch of Constantinople, vsur­ping agaynst Rome, and that Pope Gregorie had quarrelled it, onelie as an injurie done to him­selfe, and to his Sea, Lib. 9. Epist. 32. therefore hee first cleareth himselfe thereof, saying to the Emperour, Doe I in this matter (most Religious Lord) defende anie cause of myne, or doe I challenge herein [Page 38] anie speciall wrong done to mee? And to cleare this the [...]more, Lib. 4 Epist. 36. hee sayeth, None of my predecessours would ever consent to vse such a prophanetitle, no, not Peter him­selfe the first alleadged founder of that Sea, who altho hee was the chiefe of the Apostles, and accor­ding to his Apostolicall place, had the care of the whole Churches committed to him, 2. Cor 11. 28 (as Paull also professeth) yet notwithstanding, (sayeth hee) hee is not called the Vniversall Apostle.

And as hee witnesseth this of his predecessoures, Lib. 4 Epist. 36. so hee showeth, that this title was offered to him­selfe, and yet hee would nowayes accept of the same: therefore hee sayeth to Eul [...]gius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastaciu [...], Bishop of Antioch, Seeing wee would not in anie case accept anie such ho­nour, (sayeth hee) beeing offe­red vnto vs, consider how shame­full a thing it is, for anie man vio­lentlie to vsurpe the same: where­fore let not your holinesse in your [Page 39] writings, ever style anie man who­so-ever hee bee, Vni [...]ersall Bishop.

And even when it was given to himselfe in a letter, written by Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, hee rejected the same as a title of dam­nable piyde, saying, Lib. [...] indict [...] Epist 30. Beholde in the preface of a letter which yee seat vnto mee, who forebade anie such titles, you haue caused set downe the word of a prowd style, calling mee Vniversall Bishop. which I beseech your sweetest Holinesse, that you doe so no more.

Yea, hee showeth that this wic­ked style, imported no lesse pryde, than that of Lucifer himselfe, Lib. 4 Epist. 38. saying to Iohn of Constantinople, Who else, I pray thee, by such a wicked title is set before thee to imitate, but hee who despysing the Legions of Angels, who were in one societie joyned with him, attempted to mount aboue them to such a hight of singularitie, that hee would bee vnder none, (sayeth hee) but hee alone would bee aboue all o­thers? And agayne, What else [Page 40] sayest thou heereby, but I will ascende to H [...]aven, and exalt my Throne aboue the S [...]arres, and b [...] lyke to the h [...]g [...]est? For what are thy brethren Note that hee calleth all Bishops, Bishops of the Vaive [...] Call Church, but will haue none call [...]d Vniversall Bishop: this beeing the difference, (as their ow [...] Salm [...] ­ron sh [...]w [...]t [...]) that the one hath a care of [...] good of the whole Church, & vult om [...]ibus prodesse, the other will bee aboue the whole Church, & folus omnibus preesse. Salm [...] ­ [...]on Tom. 12. Tract. 63. Bishops of the Ca­tholicke Church, b [...]t the Starres of Heaven?

More-over, hee declareth this style to bee playne Antichristian, and consequentlie clearlie guiltie of Noveltie: for (sayeth hee) I confidentlie affirme, that who-so-ever hee bee that calleth himselfe Vni [...]ersall Bishop, or desireth so to bee called, he is the fore-runner of Antichrist, who by pryde extolleth himselfe aboue all others. And therefore beeing Antichristian, the [Page 41] same Gregorie telleth, Greg. Lib. 6 Epist. 30. l. 4 Epist. 39. that it is so farre from true Catholicke sayth, to assent thereto, as on the playne contrarie, this is to depart from the fayth, and make Apostasie to Antich [...]ists [...]. For to giue assent, o [...] acknowledge anie such style, what else is it, but to lose the sayth, and make ship-wracke there of, (sayeth hee?) Which thing made Cardinall Cusanus, Cusa­ [...]us cō [...]rd cathol l. 2. c. 13. in fine. to denye plain­lie, that the Pope was Vniversall Bi­shop, but onelie the first Bishop, saying, And while wee defende this part, to wit, that the Pope is not Vniversall Bishop, but onelie the first aboue others, (to wit, in place) and while wee [...]ound the vigour and str [...]gth of holie Coun­cells, not on the Pope, but vpon the consent of all, because in so doing wee defende the trueth, (sayeth hee) and reserue vnto everie one their owne honour, heereby wee reverence the Pope a-right.

The cause lykewyse, why the primitiue and godlie Bishops of [Page 42] Rome, never claymed anie such su­premacie, quasi Episcopi vrbis potius quam orbis, (sayeth their owne Duaren) and would never vse or assume, Roffen cont. Lu. ther Veri­tas 8. (as Gregorie testi­fieth) anie such prowde title, their owne Bishop of Rochester clearlie setteth downe, saying, For that age (beeing neare to the A­postles tymes) did studie to mo­destie, and humilitie, for as yet the word of CHRIST was recent in their memories, (sayeth hee) which sayth, Except that ye be cō ­verted, and become as these little ones, yee can not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven. Where­fore they had a care to debarre from them these glorious titles, (sayeth hee) whereon the verie lightest occasion of pryde might aryse. Insinuating thereby evident­lie, not onlie the latter Noveltie of anie such loftie styles and suprema­cie, which the latter Bishops of Rome doe vsurpe; but also the [Page 43] ground wherefrae the same pro­ceedeth, to wit, the want of that wonted modestie and humilitie of their predecessoures, and the ob­livion of these words of CHRIST, which were ever recent in the me­mories of their auncient and god­lie forebeares.

THE Noveltie of Papall supre­macie it selfe, (implyed in the fore-named title of Vni­versall Bishop,) will the more clear lie app [...]a [...]e, by s [...]tting downe the beginning & progress [...] there­of, as their owne vndenyable re­cordes giue evidence thereof.

First, then, their owne Dua­renus [Page 44] sayeth, That the more aun­cient and holiest Bishops of Rome, beeing content with their owne Sea and Church, did leaue to other Bishops, the free governa­ment of these Churches that were committed to them: beeing (sayth hee) rather as the Bishops of a Citie, than of the whole world. But these Bishops who came after them, did not contayne themselues within these boundes; but as it were Lords and Kings, they made no doubt to doe all thinges at their pleasure, (say [...]th hee) and to ascrybe to themselues the governa­ment of the whole Church.

Hee who was afterward one of their owne Popes, Aeneus Syl­vius, after Pius. 2 Mar­tino Maer. Epist. 227. lykewyse testi­fieth, saying, Before the Councell of Nice, everie one lived to him­selfe, and small respect was had to the Church of Rome.

After this, Emperours becom­ming Christian, there were ap­poynted about the tyme of the Councell of Nice, for the better governament of the Church, foure [Page 45] Patriarches, all of a-lyke jurisdi­ction, and the Bishop of Rome a­mongst them as one, having onlie the Primacie of place, for the dig­nitie of the Citie, and imperiall seat therein; Cōcil, Chal­ced. Act. 16. as is evident out of their owne wryters, and especial­lie out of that Famous Councell of Chalcedon, consisting of 430 Bi­shops, whose mynde was (sayeth Bellarmine) that the Church of Rome had therefore the first place, Bell. l. 2. de pont. c. 17. & alterū because that Citie was the Seat of the Empyre.

But thereafter, sayth their owne Cardinall Cusanus, Cusa lib. 2. cōcord cathol c. 12. by vse and cu­stome of subjection vnto him, wee may see how farre the Bishop of Rome hath prevayled in jurisdi­ction, beyond the holie and aun­cient boundes (sayeth hee) and allowance, which was only within his owne westerne Patriarchie.

The first thing they stroue for, (after the dayes of Gregorie) was for that style of Vniversall Bishop, which hee had so much damned, and with it to clayme an vniversall [Page 46] supremacie of jurisdiction over all others in matters Ecclesiasticall: which style (as Platina telleth vs) Boniface the third obtayned from Phocas the Emperour, Anno 657. magna cum contentione, or with great opposition in the verie hatching: for,

How farre contrarie this was (as Gregorie himselfe sayeth) to the Evangelicall ordinance and decrees of Councells, Greg. lib. 4. Epist. 32. let the Ca­nons of the first foure generall Councells testifie, Lib. 1. Epist. 24. which foure their canonized Pope Gregorie, did reverence alyke, as hee did the foure sacred Evangelistes.

The first whereof, was that Fa­mous and first Councell of Nice, vnder Constantine the first Chri­stian Emperour, consisting of 318 Bishops, and celebrate Anno 325, In the sixt Canon whereof it was thus decreed, that the Bishop of Alexandria, should brooke alyke jurisdiction within his province, as the Bishop of Rome did in his: [Page 47] showing thereby that all the Pa­triarches were alyke in jurisdi­ction within their owne precincts, without anie subordination of one to another. Wherefore Cardinall de Cusa, Cusa lib. 2. cōcord cath. c. 12. (setting downe the mea­ning of Parilis Mos, vsed by the Councell) sayeth, As the Bishop of Rome, hath power over all his owne Bishops, so lyke-wyse the Bishop of Alexandria, hath the same priviledge of power throgh­out all Aegypt. Which limitation of everie ones proper power with­in their owne precinctes, is called [...], or the auncient custome amongst Bishops before: therefore sayeth the Canon, con­cerning Antioch, Let Antioch also and other provinces, keepe their Auncient priviledges.

Whence wee conclude out of this Famous Councell, that if this was the auncient priviledge, and custome of other Churches, to bee free from anie subjection to the Church of Rome, then her [Page 48] vniversall claymed supremacie, now over all other Churches, as Mistresse, and Mother over them, is nowayes the auncient fayth, nor profession of the Catholicke Church: but an ambitious vsur­pation, and a meere Noveltie.

The next generall Councell, whose sacred Canons militate agaynst the Noveltie of Papall su­premacie, is that Famous Coun­cell of Constantinople, consisting of 150 Bishops, and helde in Anno 380; Bell. Pr [...]f. de Rom. Pon [...]. which (as Bellarmine con­fesseth) withstood altogether any such supremacie: the fift Canon of which Councell, giveth onelie a primacie of order to the Bishop of Rome, amongst his fellow Pa­triarches, which they declare hee had onelie given him, for the dignitie of the Citie, beeing the imperiall seat.

The third generall Councell, Apud Biniū Tom. 2. Act Con­cil. Eph. app. 1 c. 4. p. 768. that giveth evidence of Romes In­novation heerein, is that Famous Councell of Ephesus, of 200 Bi­shops, celebrate in Anno 434; re­solutelie [Page 49] thus decreeing, Let it be observed, (say they) in all Pro­vinces and Diocesses, that no Bi­shop draw vnder his subjection, anie province which was not his from the beginning: lest vnder pre­tence of Priesthood, hee bring into the Church arrogancie and pryde.

The last, but not the least evi­dence of the Noveltie of this Pa­pall vsurped supremacie, is that of the Famous and fourth Coun­cell of Chalcedon, of 430 Bishops, and helde Anno 451; decreeing peremptotilie, that how-so-ever the Bishop of Rome, had the pri­macie of place before the Bishop of Constantinople, yet that the Bi­shop of Constantinople, in all other thinges should bee equall, and haue alyke priviledges with the Bishop of Rome, Now wee know, that the equalitie of power & pri­viledges betweene two, dissolveth ipso facto Monarchie, which can not bee but in one, as the verie word importeth.

[Page 50] This sacred Conncell, and the Act thereof, so galleth the romae­nistes, that forgetting all preten­ded reverence to Antiquitie, and authoritie of auncient Councells, Bellarmine spareth not to impute to these godlie Bishops, Bell. praef. de [...] fraude and deceat, saying, They decreed this indeed, Rom. Po [...]t. but not (sayth he) without fraude and guyle. Which (as sayeth Lyrinensis) What is this else, but to treade vnder foot the decrees of the holy Bishops, almost of the whole Easterne Church, for preventing so wyselie, pro­nounci [...]g so clearlie, opposing so stoutlie, and decreeing so piouslie, agaynst ani [...] such Noveltie, of the new Romane Hierarchie?

HEEREIN, in these two poynts the Novation standeth, made by the Bishops of Rome, 1. in subducing their neckes from that homage and subjection, which they yeelded of olde to the Empe­rours, as their dread Soveraygnes, and 2. in reducing them to such subjection vnder th [...]m, that they haue troden vpon some of their neckes.

First, then, for witnessing of the Bishops of Rome, their ho­mage and subj [...]ction, which from the beginning and of olde, they gaue to the Emperours, Bell. l. 1. de [...]. c 13. §. 4 ^a. r [...]tio. Bell [...] ­mine himselfe will instruct vs, speaking of that tyme, which was manie hundreth yeares after the Apostles, saying, At that tyme, al [...]ho the Bish [...]p of Rome in spiri­tuall thinges was the head of all, even of Empe [...]res themselues, yet in temporall thinges hee was [Page 52] subject to the Emperoures, (sayeth hee) and because hee ac­knowledged the Emperour to bee his temporall Lord, therefore hee made supplication to him, that hee would command a Councell to bee conveaned.

Whence it is, that Cardinall Cusanu [...] declareth, Cusa cō [...]ord Cat [...] ▪ lib. 2 [...] [...] [...]5. That the eyght first generall Councells, were con­vocate by the Emperoures, and no wayes by the Popes: in so much, that Pope Leo, with much intrea­t [...]e desired to Theodosius, that a Councell might bee celebrate in Italie, and yee could not obtayne it.

Gregorie [...]yke-wyse the great, everie where in his Epistles to the Emperour Mauritius, styleth him his supreame Lord & Soveraigne: and wryting vnto him concerning his imperiall command, that hee should cause publish a certayne Law, Greg. [...]ib. 2 Epist. 61. which Gregorie thought vn­just, hee sayeth, I as the most vnworthie servand of your sacred Majestie, beeing subject to obey [Page 53] your command, I haue caused sende your Law which yee haue made, thorow sundrie parts to bee published; and because the same is nowayes agreeable to the Law of Almightie GOD, Be­holde, I haue by my letter signi­fied the same to my most excelle [...]t Lord: there-fore everie way I haue performed what I ought to doe, who hath both given [...]e­dience to the Emperour, and haue not beene silent, in that which I thought fit to speake for GOD.

And yet in a more humble man­ner doeth Agatho the first, Apud, Bin [...]ū. Tom. 3. Act, 4. in oecum Cōcil. 6. sub Aga­thone. Ep, 1. apud. Bin [...]ū t [...]m. 3 profesie his subjection to the Emperour, supplicating in th [...]se wordes, Bowing humblie the knees of the mynde, wee intreate your royall Clemencie. Where-with also A­drian the first, joyneth the prostra­tion of the bodie, saying, Pro­st [...]ate vpon the ground, and [...]alling downe grooflinges at the soles of your feete, doe I intreate your Majestie.

Thus wee see, that servitude [Page 54] and subjection, with prostration and humble supplicating, was the auncient practise and profession, of the Bishops of Rome, to the Ro­mane Emperoures, manie hun­dreth yeares after CHRIST, till in place of humilitie, Luciferian pryde was installed in seat of An­tichrist.

The next poynt of Innovation, is the reducing of Emperours and Kings, by the Bishops of Rome, vnto their subjection, and domi­niering so over them, as to in­throne or dethrone them, at their pleasure, Bell. I. 5. de p [...]ont. c. 8. as BELLARMINE de fa­cto instanceth, to haue beene done to Emperoures and King's; and yet that the auncient Bishops of Rome, never vsurped such power, nor vsed such practises, agaynst eyther Hea [...]hen, Bell. I. 5. de pont. 6. 4. et 7. §. q [...]od si Hereti­call, or Apostate Emperoures, Bellarmine himselfe clearlie ac­knowledgeth.

The particular tyme then, when the Noveltie of this vsurpation be­gan to peepe out, their owne [Page 55] Charter Monke, author of that booke intituled, Fasc. temp. in vi­ta Bo­nif. 2. Fascic [...]lus tem­porum, telleth vs, That it was in the dayes of Boniface the second, Anno 523; for, remarke, (sayeth hee) that about this tyme, the Popes began to oppose themselues to the Emperoures, even in tem­porall thinges, farre more than of olde they were wont.

Thereafter, Otho lib. 20. Ch [...]ō. c. 35. their owne Bishop Otho Frigensis, condescendeth vp­on the verie tyme of putting this vsurpation first into practise, showing that Gregori [...], the sea­venth, was the first who deposed anie Emperour: so that till 1060 yeares after CHRIST, this bolde Noveltie began not to bee practi­sed. Therefore sayeth their owne Barclay, Bar­claius cont. Mo­nar­choma chos l. 6▪ c▪ 26 For the space of a thou­sand yeares aud more, altho the Church did flowrish with all wealth, and that there was also a great number of the wicked Princes and Tyrants, yet none of the auncient Fathers, or Ortho­dox w [...]yters in these tymes are [Page 56] found, (sayeth hee) who either by word or writ taught anie such thing.

And when it began to bee pra­ctised, Sigebert the Monke, who lived in the [...]leventh hundreth yeare of CHRIST, Sigeb. Chron 1088. p. 101 and tyme of Gregorie the seaventh, sayeth thereof, Let it bee spoken with leaue of all good men, (sayeth hee) that this NOVELTIE, I will not say Heresie, before this time was ever hatched, or peeped out in the world.

And last, to put on the kep­stone of Antichristian pryde, and Tyran [...]ious vsurpation, the Au­thor of Fasciculus Temporum, Fascic temp. in vi­ta Bo­nif. 8. telleth vs, that Beniface the eyght rose vp to that hight of pryde, (sayeth hee) that hee called himselfe Lord of the whole world, as well in temporall, as in spirituall things: as if Kings onelie did reygne by them, and with the Tempter, they might dispose of the King­domes of the Earth, to giue them to whom they will.

[Page 57] Who-so-ever, then, they bee, who may so clearlie see the No­veltie of this vsurpation, and yet so highlie advance the Bishop of Rome, as onelie, that they make him not GOD. Cas­sand. de of­ficio pii viri. (sayeth their owne Cassander) and who extolleth his authoritie to bee not onelie aboue the whole Church, (as well in temporall, as spirituall thinges) but aboue the verie ho­lie Scriptures, &c. I can not see, (say [...]th hee) why these men may not bee called false, or Pseudocotholickes.

FIrst, in this poynt, that the A­postles doctrine, and Churches practise in their tyme, was [Page 58] co [...]trarie to the Romani [...]tes now, Cajet. in 1. Cor. 14. Cardinall Cajetane doeth evident­lie testifie, saving, Out of the doctrine of S. PAVLL, wee haue it clearlie set downe, that it is better for the edification of the Church, that publicke prayers which are vttered in the audience of the people, bee spoken (sayeth hee) in a Language common both to Clergie and people, than otherwyse. And that this was al­so the Churches conforme pra­ctise, in the dayes of Iustine Mar­tyr, is evident, who in the ende of his second Apologie for Chri­stians, in expresse tearmes telleth vs, Bell. l. 2. de verbo c. 16. §. sed [...]equc. (sayeth Bellarmine) That the whole people in the Church vsed to answere, AMEN, when the Presbyter ended the Prayer or Thankesgiving: wherefore it will follow, that the Prayer or Thankes­giving was in the vulgar tongue, else sayeth the Apostle, how shall hee that occupieth the rowme of the vnlearned say, AMEN, at thy Thankes-giving, if hee vn­derstand [Page 59] not what thou sayest?

Next, what was the practise of the Church, after Iustines dayes, both in the East and West, is lyke-wyse cleare out of Bellarmine, who testifieth, Bell. loco quo supra. saying, That this custome was also a long tyme ob­served, both in the East and West, is evident out of Chrysostomes Litur­gie: where most clearlie (sayeth hee) are distinguished, what the Prie [...] and Deacon, and what the people in divyne Service did sing. As lyke-wyse out of Cyprian, in his sermon on the LORDS prayer, where hee showeth, how the people did answere, saying, Wee ha [...]e our heartes vnto the LORD: and out of Ierome, in the preface of his second booke on the Epistle to the GALATIANS, who wryteth, That in the Churches of the Citie of Rome, the people was heard lyke a heavenlie thunder, aun­swering with a lowde voyce, and saying, AMEN.

Therefore their Nicolaus de Lyra, Lyra in 1 [...]. C [...]r. 14. So Aq [...] ­nas. and Gret­zer. def. l. 2. de Gerbo c. 16. Cas­sand. Liturg. cap. 28. et 36. See also his con­sult. art. 24. (and with him Aquinas, Gretzer, & [Page 60] others) freelie acknowledgeth, saying, In the primitiue Church the Thankes-givings, and all other common Serv [...]ce, was performed, (sayeth hee) in the vulgar To [...]gue: and the Canonicall Prayers, ( [...]ayth their Cassa [...]der) and speciallie the words of consecration of the bo­die and blood of our LORD, the Auncientes did so reade, that all the people might vnderstand, and say AMEN thereto.

Which custome of the Church, (as yet vsed in Aegypt, Eras­mus in 1. Cor. 14. and Ethio­pi [...],) it is a wonder, (say [...]th Erasmus) how it became to bee changed.

And if wee consider M. Har­dinges reason, in his aunswere to Bishop Iewell, why Prayers and all other divyne Service, was vsed in the primitiue Church, in the vulgar tongue, wee shall finde that the same reason holdeth still, [Page 61] and so mili [...]ateth constantlie a­gaynst this practise of Romish No­veltie: Har­ding. art. 3. divis [...]o [...]8. for thus sayeth M. Har­ding, In the primitiue Church this was necessarie, when fayth was alearning: and therefore the Prayers were made then in a knowne tongue, vnderstood by the people, (sayeth hee) be­cause of their farder instruction. And can anie man say nowe, but people in lyke-manner are learning the fayth daylie, and haue neede of farder instruction than they haue alreadie? Or will anie af­firme, that this [...]ule of the A­postle, 1. Cor 14. 3. &c. Let all bee done vnto edification, helde onelie for a tyme? Therefore seeing the edi­fying of GOD'S people, (which is the fi [...]all cause why Prayer and publicke Thankes-giving, should bee performed in the vulgar,) doeth not varie by diversitie of tymes, but continueth still: even so, then, should speaking in the Church vnto their vnderstanding,

FOr discoverie of the Noveltie of which doctrine obtruded, to bee believed and practised by all Catholickes, vnder payne of damnation, wee haue before CHRIST the first foure thousand yeares prescription, agaynst anie such doctrine or practise in the Church of GOD, by the con­fession of Bellarmine, Bell. l. 1. de sanct. c. 19. and all o­ther Romanistes, who graunt, That during all that tyme, both before and vnder the Law, there was no invocation of Saynctes de­parted.

Next, A. Eckii Enchi tid. c. 15. if wee come to our SA­VIOVR'S tyme and his Apostles, their owne Eckius (Luthers great Antagonist) declareth, That in [Page 63] the New Testament the Apostles and Evangelistes, neyther taught by word, nor delyvered or left anie such thing by writ, that the Saynctes departed should bee in­vocated; neyther would the ho­lie Ghost, (sayeth hee) suffer them so to doe, by whose inspira­tion they spake. D. B [...]n­nes, in 2 ^a. 2 ^•. q. 1. art. 10 Sal [...] meron in 1. Tim. 2 disp. 8 The same also doeth their Dominicus Bannes, and the Iesuit Salmeron testifie, ren­dring this reason, Because it would seeme hard to the Iewes, (sayeth hee) who were never taught so to doe by Moses nor the Prophets, and the Gentiles should haue thought, that there were manie gods exhibite to them, in place of the multitude of gods, which they had forsaken.

Beholde, th [...]n, heere a doctrine of the Romane fayth, confessed to haue for the warrand there of, neyther Gods written word, nor yet Apostolicall vnwritten tradi­tion: now if it was neyther writ­ten, nor preached by them, let anie man consider if the Noveltie [Page 64] thereof bee not cleare, and that they can not eschew the Apo [...]tles Anathem [...] ▪ who sayeth. Gal. 1. 8. If an Angell from Heaven should preach vnto you, beside th [...]t which I haue preached, let him bee accursed.

Next, to the Apostles tymes, if wee come to after ages, and in­quyre howe lo [...]g was it after the Apostles▪ before anie mention was ever heard of anie such thing, their owne Bishop Poresi [...]s, P [...]re­sius de trad. 3 part de cul [...]us sanct. Will playnlie tell vs, saying, That be [...]ore the [...]yme of the Martyr Cor­neli [...]s, (which was abou [...] 252 yeares after,) there was no men­tion, (sayeth hee) so farre as wee can see, of anie invocation, or in­tercession of Saynctes.

What was the practise lykewyse of the Church, in S. Augustin's tyme, (who lived after the 400 yeare of CHRIST,) and special­lie of the westerne or Romane Church, himselfe doeth declare, [Page 65] saying of the Martyres and Sayncts departed, As for such men of God, Aug. l. 2 [...]. de ci­vit. Dei c. 10▪ (sayeth hee) who haue over­come the world, in confessing of Him, they are named in their owne place and order, but they are not prayed vnto.

Yea, in the 1200 yeare of God, Bernard did put it in doubt, Ber­nard do obi [...] Hum berti. whe­ther the Saynctes departed, anie wayes heard the living: which if they doe not, then speaking to them by prayer, were altogether foolish: for speaking of devoute Humbert, hee sayeth, Neyther see I him now, nor perhaps doeth hee heare mee.

More-over, it is to bee obser­ved, that the Fathers of the pri­mitiue Church, vsed this as a spe­c [...]all Argument, to proue Christ to bee GOD, because Hee was everie-where prayed vnto. Which Argument had beene of no force, if in those tymes they had prayed eyther to Saynctes or A [...]g [...]ls.

Therefore O [...]igen showeth, Origē l. 8. in Epist. ad Rom. c. 10. So No vatia nus de Trinit [...]. 14. That PAVLL (1▪ COR. 1. 2.) proveth [Page 66] heereby CHRIST to bee GOD, because His Name is everie where incalled vpon; for the Apostle (sayeth hee) doeth thereby pro­nounce IESVS CHRIST to bee GOD, because His Name is in­called vpon. And if to incall vpon the Name of GOD, and to wor­ship GOD, bee all one and the same thing, then as CHRIST is incalled vpon, so is Hee to bee worshipped (sayeth hee.)

Hence it is also, Bell. l. 1. de bonis operi­bus in partic c. 1. that the Fathers in their severall definitions of prayer, (which Bellarmine re­hearseth out of them) maketh the same to haue expresse refe­rence to GOD o [...]elie, and there­fore also styleth it, That [...]atte and greatest Sacrifice, Tertul Apo­loget. c. 30. Clem, Alex▪ l. 7. strom. Bell. praef. de sanctis Aug. l. 8. d [...] civit. Dei, c. 27. Amb. in Rom. 1. which Himselfe hath commanded to bee offered vp vnto Himselfe, (sayeth Ter­tullian) and that best and most holie Sacrifice of anie: (sayeth Clemens of Alexandria) yea, that most excellent sort of worship, (as Bellarmine calleth it.) Now as Augustine showeth, and the Ro­manistes [Page 67] confesse, There is no Sa­crifice that is lawfull to bee offered vp vnto anie creature, and there­fore least of all that of Prayer, which is the greatest and best.

And as for that reason, which Romanistes giue for their recourse to Sainct [...]s, the Fathers also haue not fayled to take that away: S. Ambrose telling vs, that the verie heathen Idolaters, pretended this miserable excuse, saying, That they had recourse to such that had departed whom they worshipped, that they may haue acce [...]se to God by them, as by Courtiours to a King: and then hee subjoyneth, saying, But is there anie man so mad, (sayeth hee) and so vn­myndfull of his salvation, as to giue the Kings honour to a Courtier? whereas if anie were found to doe so, they would bee justl [...]e c [...]n­demned as guil [...]ie of Treason: and yet these men thinke not them­selues guiltie▪ who giue the honour of GOD'S Name to a creature.

In lyke-manner sayeth S. Chry­sostome▪ [Page 68] When thou hast neede [...] to put vp a sute v [...]to men, Chry­sost. Serm. 7. de p [...]nit. [...]om. 6 ed [...]t. Savi [...]. p. 802 qui in allis edit. est Serm. 4. Chry­sost. in [...]. Cana ne [...] tom. [...] edit. Sa [...]il. P. 190 thou [...] art forced first to deale with doore­keepers, and to intreate flatterers, and to goe a long way: but with GOD there is no such matter, without an intercessour Hee is in­treated: it sufficeth onelie that thou crye in thy heart, and bring teares with thee,

And therefore hee biddeth vs marke the wisedome of the Ca­naanitish Woman: shee intreated not Iames, (sayeth hee) shee besought not Iohn, neyther did shee come to Peter, but brake thorow the whole companie of them, saying, I haue no neede of a mediatour, but taking repen­tance with mee for a spokes man, I come to the fountayne it selfe, for this cause did hee descend, for this cause tooke Hee flesh, that I might haue boldnesse to speake to Him.

Last, to what hight of impie­tie and grosse Idolatrie, this Ro­mish Noveltie is come vnto, let vs [Page 69] see in the last rowme: First, then, their owne Vi [...]es testifieth, that they worship no otherwyse their hee and sh [...]e Sayncts, Viv [...] in c. 27. l. 8 Aug. de ci­vit. D [...] than GOD Himselfe: neyther see I (sayeth hee) in manie thinges, what diffe­rence there is betweene their opi­nion of Saynctes, and that which the verie Heathen had of their gods.

Lyke-wyse they are come to that hight of Blasphemie, See al [...]so the same in the virgins Psal [...]r Psal. 25. as they are not ashamed in their publicke Romane missall, to say to the Vir­gine Marie,

that is, O happie Mother, who ex­piateth our sinnes, by the au­thoritie of a Mother, com­mand our Redeemer, and let [Page 70] thy Pappe-milke heale our woundes. Am­phi­thea­trum hono­ris Caroli Bonartii,

Even as of late Carolus Scribe­nius. Provinciall of the Iesuits, hath written, saying,

That is, I will mixe the milke of the Mother, with the blood of the Sonne; and so I can not haue a more excellent salue for sinne.

They haue also turned the whole PSALMES f [...]om GOD, to the Virgine MARIE alone, and in the 71 [...]SALME of that Psalter, they attribute j [...]stice onlie to CHRIST, and mercie to the Virgine MARIE: therefore also thus they begin th [...] 93 PSALME, saying, GOD is the Lo [...]d of reveng [...]: but thou boun [...]full Mother of mercie, doest [Page 71] bowe Him to showe pitie. And as Assuerus promised to Esther, to the halfe of his kingdome, Biell in can missae lect. 80. Bern. de busto Ma­riali part. 3 Serm. 3. even so (sayeth Biell on the Masse) seeing our heavenlie Father hath justice and mercie, as the best thinges of His Kingdome, r [...]serving ju­stice to Himselfe, He [...] hath given mercie to the Vi [...]gine His Mother, wherefore it is lawfull, (sayeth their Bernardin de Busto) to ap­peale from the Sonnes justice, to the Mothers mercie.

THis worshipping and prayer to Angels, b [...]gan to bee br [...]ached in the verie Apo­stles tyme, who the [...]fore did fore-warne, that th [...] mysterie of iniquitie did then allr [...]adi [...] work [...]: but no [...]ooner did this doct [...]ine [Page 72] vnder a specious showe of volun­tarie humilitie peepe out, but the Apostle discovered and decla­red the same to bee a deceatfull doct [...]ine of errour, whereof hee biddeth all Christians beware, saying in expresse words, Let no man dec [...]aue you of your reward, in a voluntarie humilitie, [...]oloss. 2. 18. and worshipping of Angels.

The first and principall Author, then, of this errour, wee see, was that spirit of errour and delu [...]ion: therefore sayeth Chrysostome, Chry­sost. in Co­loss. 3. Hom. 9. The Devill was hee, who brought in this worship of Angels, envying vs the honour which wee haue, (to wit, of immediate accesse by CHRIST) therefore tho hee bee an Angell, (sayeth hee) or Arch-angell, and tho they bee Cheru­bims, endure it not; for neyther will these powers themselues ad­mit it, but reject the same, when they see their Lord dishonoured: I haue honoured thee, (sayeth [Page 73] the LORD) and haue sayd, Call vpon mee, and doest thou disho­nour Him? (sayeth that holie Fa­ther.)

After these Apostolicall tymes, if wee inquyre who was the first broacher o [...] this errour, and set­ter of it on foote agayne, Origen telleth vs, Orig. l. 8. cont. Celsū p. [...]06 that it was Celsus, a Philosopher, who sayde, Be­cause the Angels vnderstood the [...]ffaires of GOD, therefore wee should pray to them, that they may bee favourable to vs. Where­vnto Origen replyeth, saying. Away with Celsu [...] counsell, saying that wee should pray to Angels, and l [...]t vs not afforde any little au­dience thereto: for wee must pray to GOD alone, (sayth hee) who is GOD overall, and to the word of GOD, His onelie begotten and first borne of all creatures.

Which er [...]our of prayer to An­gels, spreading it s [...]lfe as a gan­gren in the Church, was not on­lie opposed by Origen, and such [Page 74] others severallie, but also by a whole Councell, Theod i [...] Co­loss. 2. Cocil. Laod. can, 35. as Theodore [...] sh [...]weth, which beeing assem­bled in Laodices, the chiefe Citie of Phrygia, by a law did forbid, (sayeth hee) prayer to Angels, condemning the same as Idolatrie; whereby the Communion both of CHRIST and His Church was forsaken: and therefore accursing the practisers thereof, saying, If anie bee found to giue himselfe to this private Idolatrie, let him bee accursed, because hee hath for­saken the LORD IESVS CHRIST, the Sonne of GOD, and given himselfe to Idolatrie.

Whence it is, that from thence, foorth, all those who transgressed this Cano [...], were by the auncient Fathers, and whole Orthodox Church, Aug. de He­res. c. 39. Isido­rus l. [...]. [...]. 5. accounted ever Here­tickes, and therefore called Ange­liei, because of their worshipping and prayer to Angels, as witnesseth Augustine, Isidore, with dyverse others moe.

TO come, then, to the disco­coverie of the Noveltie of this grosse sort of Idolatrie, Iaco­bu [...] Na­clātus in Epist. ad R [...] c. 1. sol. 4 [...] Edit. Venet. an [...]o 1557. which is not onelie to worship by or before an Image, but to wor­ship the Image it selfe: for which cause sayeth one of the Bishops, It must not onelie bee confessed, that the faythfull in the Church, doe adore before the Image, (as some perhaps would warilie speake) but also doe adore the Image it selfe without any scruple: yea, with that same worship, where with they adore the thing that is represented thereby.

First, Cas­sand. cōsult▪ art. 2 [...] their owne Cassander tel­leth vs, that it is certayne in the beginning of the preaching of the Gospell, (sayeth hee) and a good [Page 76] while after, that there was no vse at all of Images amongst Christi­ans, but especiallie in Churches: so that whē Adrian the Emperor had commanded that Temples should bee made in all Cities without Images, Lam­pridus in Alex­a [...]dro. it was presentlie concea­ved, that hee was preparing these for Christians. And when the auncient Christians themselues were demanded by the Gentiles, why they had no Images, Minu­tius Foelix in O­ctavio Minu­tius F [...]elix returneth them this an­swere, What Image should wee make to GOD, when man him­selfe is GOD'S Image? (sayeth hee.)

The primitiue Church lyke­wyse, for preventing of that Ido­latrie which thereafter ensued, was so carefull and provident, that the Councell of Eliber i [...] in Granado in Spayne, Cōcil. El. b. [...]. 36. (in Anno 305) de­creed plainlie, that no Pictures at all should bee brought within Churches, for feare of adoration, which might ensue thereafter.

Neither was this the decree of a [Page 77] provinciall Assemblie onelie, but an ordinance also, in all other parts of the whole Church, Lib. de non celeb. non in stitut. c. 11. as witnesseth their owne Clemangis, [...] Parisian Doctor, and Arch-deane of Bajon, saying, Of olde the whole vniversall Church did de­cree, (beeing induced thereto by good reason) for their cause who [...] Gentilisme, were converted to the sayth, that no Images should bee set vp in Churches.

The first breach, and violation of which ordinance, wee, finde [...]o haue beene in Epiphanius time, Epi­phanii Epist. ad lo­han. Hie­rosol: tom. 1 oper [...] Hiero­nymi Epist. 60. Bishop of Salamins in Cyprus, (a­bout the yeare 390) who as him­s [...]lfe [...], entering into a Chappell for his owne private de­votion at Anablatha, and seeing a certayne Vaile hanging on the wall thereof, having paynted there­vpon the Image of CHRIST▪ or some Saynct, (sayeth hee) hee tooke downe the same, and rent it in pieces, and thereafter wrote to the Patriarch of Ierusalem, with­in whose precinct it was, finding [Page 78] fault, that anie such thing should haue beene done within his boundes; and desiring him that hee would command, that there­after in the Church of CHRIST▪ no more such Vailes or Pictures should bee hung vp: this beeing contrary to the authority of Scrip­tures, and agaynst our Religion, (sayeth hee.)

But a good while there-after, how they were more commonlie brought in into Churches, Corne­li [...]s Agrippa thus doeth declare, Agrippa de van. scien. c. 57. saying, The Heathnish custome, and their false Religion, hath also infected ours, and hath brought into Churches, Images, and Pi­ctures, with manie other pom­pous Ceremonies, none whereof were found amongst the first and true Christians.

Vnder what specious pretence also, and for what ende at fi [...]st this was done, Cas­sand. cōsult. [...] their owne Cassan­der hereby clearly testifieth, saying, At last it is evident, that Pictures were admitted into Churches, to [Page 79] represent onlie the [...]torie of things done: altho Augustine spake plainlie agaynst it, Aug. de co [...] sens [...] Evāg. l. 1. c. 9. et [...]0. saying, These deserue to bee thought altogether to er [...]e, who seeke the knowledge of CHRIST and His Apostles, not in holie Scriptures, but vpon paynted walles. But how farre the auncient Fathers, who lived in the primitiue Church, did abhorre from any worship of Images, on­lie Origen wryting against Celsu [...] may declare, (sayeth hee.)

Thus beeing, then, generallie set vp into Church, through the superstition of people, about the 600 yeare of GOD, in the tyme of Pope Gregorie the first, they began to bee adored: at what tyme Cerenus Bishop of Marsil [...]. publicklie opposed the same▪ by breaking all the Images, and re­moving out all the Pictures, that were within the Churches of his whole Diocesses: Greg. l. 9. Epist. 9. which thing Pope Gregorie himselfe doeth re­late to vs, in that Epistle of his written to Ser [...]nu [...], commending [Page 80] his zeale which hee shew against any worshipping of Images, as be­ing (sayth hee) altogether agaynst the Scriptures: but thinking a­misse onelie, that so rashlie hee altogether had broken them in pieces.

What fierce contentions also af­terward arose in the Church, con­cerning Images, it were too large a taske at length here to set downe, the Greeke Emperoures, Leo, Isau­rus, Constantinus Caballinus, Nice­phorus, Stauratius, Leo Armenus, Michaell Balbus, Theophilus and others, who were therefore called Iconomachi, or the enemies to Images, opposing them and their adoration constantlie in the East, till at last their worship was esta­blished in that second Councell of Nice, helde by that superstitious Empresse IRENE, in Anno 787; which Councell was quickly there­after opposed, by the Councell of Franckeforde, convocate by Charles the Great, and helde in the West: at what tyme, (sayeth their owne [Page 81] Cassa [...]der) when the coppie of that Councell of Nice was brought vnto Franckeforde, Cas­sand. cōsult­art. 21 Ba [...]o. Tom. 9. An. 794, Sect. 3 9. e [...] 41. and diligentlie read, by the command of the Em­perour Charles, the Councell of Franckeforde was indicted, at which the Legates of the Bishop of Rome were present, and there, by the full consent of the Westerne Bi­shops, (sayeth hee) that Grecian Councell, in so farre as the same decreed the worship of Images to bee lawfull, was disallowed, and condemned, as not onelie con­trarie to Scripture, but also to the doctrine of the auncient Fathers, and to the custome of the Romane Church it selfe. So that wee see, 800 yeares after CHRIST, that the Romane Church was then as farre from the doctrine and practise of the Romane Church now, in this poynt of worshipping Images, a [...] ever Luther, or Calvin, or a [...]ie Protestant now.

Whereby it is evident, how false­lie the Romane Catechisme affir­meth, Ca [...] ­chis. Rom. that it is not onelie lawfull [Page 82] to haue Images in th [...] Church, part. 3. c. 2. Sect. 14. and to giue honour and worship to them, but also that this hath ever, or in all ages beene done, to the great good of the [...]aythfull.

Ney [...]her was that reason or ex­cuse, thought to bee of anie worth then, Cas­sand. ibidē, (sayeth their owne Cassan­der) which is by some now-adayes pretended, that this worship is not given to the Images themselues, but to them whom they represent: for this excuse (sayeth hee) was lyke-wyse made by Pagans, to co­lour their Idolatrie.

Which practise of Romish devo­tion and pietie, is come to that hight of madnesse, Polyd. Virg. l. 6. de inven [...]rum [...]. 13. (sayeth their Polydor Virg [...]ll) that this part of Religion, is little different from impietie: for there are manie so exceeding rude and stupide, (sayth hee) who worship Images made of Stockes and Stones, Brasse and M [...]rble; and these also, that are paynted over with dyverse sorts of Coloures vpon walles: not is representing figures, but as if they [Page 83] had sense and feeling, and con­fide more in these▪ than in CHRIST Himselfe.

Yea, they so dote vpon Images, (sayeth their owne Gabriell B [...]ell) that they belieue a certayne Dei­tie, Biell in Ca­non. Missae Lect. 49. grace or holinesse to bee in them, whereby they are able to worke miracles, restore health, and delyver from dangers, and to preserue men from hurtes and snares, out of the confidence of the fore-named, beeing moved to worship them, that they may ob­taine some of the former thinges.

Whence it is also, (sayeth hee) that they vowe & obliedge them­selues to vnder-goe Pilgrimages, some to this, and some to that Church, according as they respect the Images; beli [...]ving that this Image in such a place, to bee of greater vertue, than in another, and to bee more famous for mira­cles, and of greater power. And if at anie time miracles bee wrought vpon men, who haue recourse vn­to them, this is not by the vertue [Page 82] [...] [Page 83] [...] [Page 84] of the Images. (s [...]yeth hee) but some-tymes by the operation of the Devill, to deceaue such Idolatrous worshippers, GOD so permit­ting, and their infidelitie so deser­ving the same.

HEEREIN the Romanistes are so grosse, Bell. l. 5. de justif. c. 17. Rhemon 2. Tim. 4 8. Heb 6. 10. and 2 Thess. 1. 5. Vasq. c [...]men in l. 2 [...] q. 114. Disp. 222. num. 30 31 that BELLARMINE sayeth not onlie, That good workes merite a rewarde, for their owne worthinesse and con­dignitie: but the Rhemistes adde also, that they are so fullie worthy of eternall lyfe, which GOD of His j [...]stice oweth to the workers of the same, that GOD should bee v [...]just, if Hee rendred not Heaven for them.

Yea, the Iesuit Vasquez. goeth so farre in prowde and open blas­phemie, [Page 85] that hee sayeth, Seeing the workes of the righteous, by their owne worthinesse, merite eternall lyfe, as an equall recom­pence and reward, there is no neede of the interveaning of anie other merite of condignitie, such as the merite of CHRIST, that eternall lyfe should bee rendered vnto them.

To come to the confessed No­veltie of which prowde errour, be­side Scripture cleare in this poynt, their owne Cassander telleth vs, Cas­sand. cōsult art. 6. what was the constant and vni­forme doctrine, of the primitiue Church, and ancient fathers therein, saying, Wherefore this doctrine is not to bee passed by, which with a full consent all the an­cient Fathers delyvere: to wit, that our whole confidence of the remission of our sinnes, and the hope, both of pardon, and of lyfe eternall, is to bee placed in the onelie mercie of GOD, and merite of CHRIST.

Whence it is, that their [Page 86] Waldensis sayeth, Wild. tom. 3 de [...]sa­cra­menta lib. tit. 1. c. 7. who wrot [...] anno 1430. I esteeme him a sounder divyn [...], and more fayth­full Catholicke, (sayeth hee) and more agreeable to the Scriptures, who simplie deny [...]th anie such me­rite; and who granteth according to the Apo [...]tles, and Scriptures manner of speach, that simplie a man meriteth not the kingdome of Heaven: but onelie that it is given him of the meere favour of GOD, and will of the giver, a [...] all the ann [...]ient holie Fathers, vnto the latter Schoole-men haue held, and as the whole Church did pro­fesse, accounting it an Heresie to profe [...]se the contrarie.

The trueth of which speach, [...] the first part of this Trea­ [...]ise. of these two fore-named, may bee seene at length, in the cleare testi­monies of the Fathers themselues, who showe how the godlie get eternall lyfe from GOD, ratio­ne pacti, non facti, or by rea­son not of our wo [...]kes m [...]riting, but his mercie promising. There­fore, A [...]g. in Psal. 109. (sayde Augustine) what­so-ever [Page 87] GOD hath promised, Hee promised the same to these who were vnworthie, that the reward might bee seene to bee promised, not for the merite o [...] the worke, but of free [...]grace, (as the word it selfe importeth.)

Which doctrine of trueth over­throwing▪ merite was also profes­sed of olde in the Churches of BRITANE, as may bee seene in the order appoynted in the [...]un­cient Liturgie of E [...]GLAND, for visitat on of the sicke, chiefe­lie in Ansel [...]es time Arch-bishop of Canterburie, Ordo bapti­zandi et vi­ [...]tand [...] [...]gro­tos edit. V [...]n [...] anno 1575. [...]t Co­l [...]ni [...] 1576. Anno 1080, where­in the Priest sayeth to the sick [...] person, Doest thou belieue to come to Glorie, not by thy owne me­rites, but by the vertue and me­rite of the Passion of the LORD IESVS CHRIST, and that none can bee saved by his owne merits, or by anie other meanes, but by the merite of His Passion. To which the sicke partie was taught to answere, All this I belieue.

The contrarie of which do­ctrine, [Page 88] mayntayned now by Rom [...] ­nist [...]s, was also long agoe con­demned, by the whole Facultie of Divinitie at PARIS, Guido re [...]oc▪ erro­ [...]um fa [...]t. Anno 1354, as most Hereticall, and Blasphe­mous, in their sentence agaynst one Guid [...], an Augustine Friar, by way of recantation prescrybed vn­to him, Pari­siis anno 1354 Tom. 14. bi­bli [...] ­the [...]. patr [...] edit. Colon p. 347 Bell. l. 5. de justif. c. 7. saying, I saide against a Batchelour of the preaching Friars, in my conference with him, that a man meriteth eternall lyfe, for the worthinesse of the worke; that is, so, as if the same were not given vnto him, there were wrong done vnto him: which opinion I recant, as False, Hereticall, and Blasphemous.

Therefore their owne Cardi­n [...]ll Bellarmine, was forced to conclude, saying, Because of the vncertayntie of our owne vnrigh­teousnesse, and the danger of vaine glorie, it is most safe, (sayth hee) to put our whole confi­dence, in the onelie mercie of GOD, and His onlie goodnesse.

FIrst, then, if wee aske their owne Bishop of Rochester, and great Champion against Lu­ther, whether this new Article, which avarice hath hatched, igno­rance doeth foster, and fire and [...]aggo [...] maintaine [...]h, Rosse [...] cont. Lu­ther art. 18 was knowne of olde, or believed by the primi­tiue Church, hee will tell vs, saying, It was not so necessarie to belieue Purgatorie, in the pri­mitiue Church.

[Page 92] And if wee aske him farder, to wit, how long it was before ey­ther Purgatorie, or indulgences, (which depende vpon it) was knowne or receaved by the Ca­tholicke Church, hee will tell vs, That it was knowne but of late, (sayeth hee) and that after ma­nie ages, the beliefe of Purgatorie and indulgences, was receaved by Orthodoxe Christians; and therefore hee granteth, that there­of little or no mention was at all in the auncient Fathers. But on the contrarie, Iustin Mar­tyr 7. 75. Iustin Martyr doeth teach vs, That after the soules departure from the bodie, sta [...]sm, or instantly, the soules of the god­lie are carried to Paradise, Pro­sper. l. 1. de Vita con­templ. c. 1. Aug. medit. c. 22. where the sight of Angels and Arch­angels, and the sight of CHRIST is. And so lyke-wyse sayeth Pro­sper, that Christians having ended their Pilgrimage, presentlie thence­foorth reygne happie in their na­tiue countrey. In lyke-manner Augustine, that the soule beeing set at libertie out of the bodie, pre­sentlie [Page 93] goeth to Heaven. [...]l. 20 de c [...]. vit. De [...] c. 15. Bell. l. 1. d [...] sanct. c. 3.

Yea, Bellarmine himselfe, vpon these wordes of S. PAVLL, 2. COR. 5. 1. confe [...]eth no lesse, saying. The reasoning of the Apo­stle, then, is excellent, to wit, this (sayeth hee) if this mortall lyfe perish, wee haue presentlie the enjoying of another, sarre better in the Heavens.

Last of all, if moreover to proue the Noveltie of this errour, wee consider the vniversalitie or Ca­tholicisme, both of place and per­sons, wee shall finde that as it hath not beene semper, or ever in the Church, so neyther, hath it beene helde or believed; Vbique nec ab omnibus, or, in all places, and by all: which beside the irre­fragable not orietie thereof, their owne Bishop of Rochester clearlie confesseth, Roffe [...] cont. Lu­ther art. 18 saying, As for the Grecians, even vnto this day, they did never belieue Purgatorie: and yet of the Grectan Church their owne Bishop of Bit [...]nto, in his [Page 94] Oration before the Councell of Trent, Eia igitur Graci [...]a mater nostra cui to tum id de­bet quod ha [...]et Eccle­sia Lati [...]. professeth her to bee the mother Chruch, from whome the Romane Church hath what­soever shee hath, (sayeth hee) to wit, of sound and Orthodox doctrine.

And if beside the Grecians, wee consider and joyne the Musco [...]ites, and Abys [...]in Christians, the Gor­gians, and Armenians, as also the Syrians and Chaldeans, that are subject to the Patriarch of An­tioch and Babylon, from Cypr [...] and Palestina, to the East Indies, besides the reformed Churches in Europe, wee shall finde these who belieue Purgatori [...], to bee but a few.

[Page 95] HAving before cleared the No­veltie of Purgatori [...], by the Roman [...]tes owne confession, it followeth necessarilie, that Pa­pell Indulgences can brage of no Antiquitie: For, sayeth their owne Bishop of Rochester, Roffon cont. Lu­ther art. 18. If yee take away Purgatorie, what neede will bee of indulgences? for vpon it, (sayeth hee) dependeth all the respect that is had to indulgences.

Yet to discover more clearlie, the Novelty of Papall indulgences, wee will first consider what were these auncient indulgences, which are mentioned in the recordes of Antiquitie, to haue beene at first in vse in the Church of CHRIST, that by the generall name com­mon to these auncient, and the now late Papall indulgences, none may bee deceaved.

First, then, the indulgences of olde, were onlie a releasing of pe­nitent [...], from some part of the se­veritie of discipline, injoyned to scandalous offenders, as their se­rious repentance and publicke [Page 96] evidence thereof did procure: as may bee seene, Bell. l. 2. de indulg c. 6. 2. COR. 2. and as Bellarmine himselfe maketh ma­nifest, out of the Actes of the Councells of Nice, and Ancyra, set downe by him at length.

Which thing also their owne Cassander showeth, Cas­sand. cosult art. [...]2 saying, That the diminishing of Canonicall Pennance, or that relaxation which was granted by the Bishop to pub­licke penitents, when eyther some­what of the tyme, or of the rigour of the pennance was lessened, was called an Indulgence: so that it was a lessening and mitigation, of their disciplinarie satisfaction to the Church, who were peni­tents and alyue, granted by eve­rie Bishop to such of his Diocesse, and that verie sparinglie, Bell. I. 1. de indulg c. 3. §. post et c. 12. §. po­sterior as Bellar­mine showeth, but no largesse and application of the satisfactions of Saynctes, joyned with CHRIST'S sufferings, for the reliefe of those that are dead, out of a forged fyrie Purgatorie, graunted onelie by the Bishop of Rome, for satisfa­ction [Page 97] to him in moneyes: B [...]ll, ibidē §. 30 and as Bellarmine acknowledgeth, for the lightest causes as anie, lavishing out greatest Indulgences, as that is, which is granted to all who heareth [...] Popes blessing at Easter.

Now if wee inquyre what is become of these auncient Indul­gences, Bell. l. 1. de indulg c. 8. Bellarmine will tell vs, saying, I confesse indeede, (sayth hee) that the forme of drspencing with a number of yeares or dayes, or Lents appoynted for pennance, Prier. l. cont. Luth. pro indulg Anto­nius part. 1 tit. 10 c. 3. Cajet. opuse. l. 5. c. 1. et [...]. de in­dulg. initio which was of olde in vse, is now cleane left off.

Next, if wee inquyre concerning these new Papall Indulgences, that are come in their place, whether they haue anie Antiquitie for them, eyther by Scripture, or an­cient tradition, their owne Syl­ [...]ester Prier [...]as, Antonius, Cajetane, and others, will g [...]ant, that they haue none: for thus sayeth Prie­rias, (and with him the other two) Indulgences are not knowne to vs, by anie authoritie of Scrip­ture: nor was there any vse of the [Page 98] in the beginning of the Christian Chruch. Roffen cont. Luth. art. 18 (say [...]th their Bishop Fisher.)

To come next from Scripture, to the authoritie of Fathers, Car­dinall Cajetane telleth vs, Cajet supra. That none of the Auncient Fathers, Greeke or Latine, haue brought these to our knowledge, (sayeth hee) which therefore maketh Bellarmine, that hee citeth not one Father for them.

As also to consesse, that Du­randus, Antoninus, Bell. l. 2. de indulg c. 17. and Rochester, denye, (sayeth hee) that In­dulgences were knowne in the times of Ierome, Augustine, and other Fathers, who lived in the first fiue hundreth yeares.

Next, after the first fiue hun­dreth yeares, if wee inquyre, in the auncient Fathers that thereaf­ter lived, whether anie mention is to bee found of Papall Indul­gences, Antō. part. 1 tit 10 c. 3. [...]. their Antoni [...] will tell vs, saying, There is no testimonie for them in the auncient Fathers at all, but onelie (sayeth hee) [Page 99] out of more later wryters.

Wherefore their owne Alfonsus à Castro, Alfōs. adv. Heres. l. 8. [...]it indul­gentia Chem exam. de in­dulg. c. 4. vpon the same ground granteth, That their vse (sayeth hee) is onlie oflate in the Church.

Iustly therefore, is that challenge made by Chemnitius, that no T [...]sti­monie can bee produced out of anie Father by anie, that any such doctrine or venting of Papall In­dulgences, was in vse in the Church, for the space allmost of twelue hundreth yea [...]es after CHRIST: the first author of them beeing (as their owne Poly­dor, and Agrippa telleth vs) Bo­niface the eyght, who lived about that tyme, and extended them to the soules in Purgatorie: and for the better sale, and venting of them, devysed a solemne Iubile▪ beeing therein a successour, rather to Simon Magus, than to Simon Peter.

So that wee see this doctrine of Indulgences, is new in the insti­tution, now in the p [...]actise, new in the extent, and n [...]w everie way, [Page 100] and consequentlie false, and im­piouslie deceatfull.

FIrst, then, to cleare the No­veltie of this doctrine, set downe by the Councell of Trent, Sess. 7 can. 1. [...] 4. with such a dreadfull ful­mination of a curse to the control­lers thereof, if wee inquyre be­side these two Sacramentes, to wit, Baptisme and the LORD'S Supper, whether they bee anie moe, which the Antiquitie of ho­lie Scripture doeth countenance, and allow to bee true and proper Sacramentes of the Gospell, as having Christs institution, and beeing visible signes of invisible justifying grace, conferred on the [Page 101] receavers in the right vse thereof: then, Bessa­rion de sa­cram, Euchar. their owne Cardinall Bessa­rion, and Bishop of Tusculum, will tell vs, saying, In the Gospell wee reade that [...]nelie these two Sa­cramentes, (sayeth hee) were de­lyvered to vs plainlie.

Or if wee will aske at their Paschasius an Abbot, Pas­chasiꝰ de coe­na Domini. who lived about the 800 yeare of CHRIST, which are the Sacramentes of CHRIST, to bee found in His Church, hee will show vs, That these are they onelie, to wit, Bap­tisme, and the Sacrament of the Bodie and Blood of CHRIST, without mentioning moe: which therefore Fulbertus, Ful­bertus Epist. 1. Bishop of Char­tres, calleth, duo vitae Sacra­menta, or the two Sacramentes of lyfe and salvation.

Lyke-wyse, beside their owne Doctoures, if wee ascende higher to inquyre of the ancient Fathers, what are the proper Sacraments, which the Church then acknow­ledged, Aug▪ de symb. Augustine will tell vs. [Page 102] That Baptisme, ad cae­techim et de doct. Christ l. 3. c. 9. Cy­prian l. 2. Epist. 1. ad Stephanum. and the LORD'S Supper, are these, saying, Haec sum Ecclesiae gemina sacra­menta: or, these are the two Sa­cramentes of the Church, lyke two twinnes: In lyke-manner doeth Cyprian speake, saying, Then, at last, men may bee sancti­fied, and bee the children of God, si vtroque sacramento nascantur: that is, If they bee borne anew by both the Sacramentes, to wit, Baptisme, and the LORD'S Sup­per.

And if wee consult with Bellar­mine himselfe, hee will showe vs the reason, why both the auncient Fathers, and manie of their owne Doctoures, countenance no other Sacramentes, as properlie so cal­led, saying, Bell. l. 1. de sacrā c. 9. The holie thing it selfe, which the Sacramentes of the new Law doeth signifie, is three-folde: 1. justifying grace, which is demonstrate as present, 2. the suffering of CHRIST, as the cause of that grace, and which [Page 103] is commemorate as bygone, and 3. eternall, lyfe the effect of that grace, and which is prefigured as to come: and concerning Bap­tisme, and the LORD'S Supper, the matter heerein is most evident, but concerning the other siue Sa­craments, it is not so evident, (sayeth hee.)

Wherefore justlie did their owne Cassander say, Cas­sand. cōsult art. 13 as touching the sea­ven Sacramentes, It is certayne that the Schoole-men, and Romane doctoures, (sayeth hee) never thought that all of them, should bee called alyke properlie Sacra­mentes.

Therefore, Alex­and [...]r Halen part. 4 q. 24. memb 1. as to confirmation, Alexander of Hales showeth, That it is no Sacrament of the Gospell properlie, because it wanteth CHRIST'S institution, and is of no greater Antiquitie, than the Councell of Milda,

Next, Cas­sander cōsult art. 13 concerning Marriage, as Cassander reporteth, Lombard denyeth that grace is thereby con­ferred: and Durand affirmeth, [Page 104] that it is nowayes properlie a Sa­crament. Durand in l. 4. dist. 26. q. 3.

Thirdlie, as for pennance and confession, Hugo de sancto Victore, in expresse tearmes excludeth it from beeing a Sacrament, proper­lie of the new Law. Hugo de sa­c [...]m, Bell. de sa­cram. ordinis c. 5. §. acpri­mum.

Fourthlie, touching ORDOVRS, Bellarmine himselfe telleth vs, That Episcopall Ordination, (which Durand showeth to bee all one with Presbyteriall) is denyed to bee a Sacrament, prop [...]r [...]e so cal­led, not onelie by sundrie auncient Schoole-men, and Doctors of the Romane Church, but by these also who are more recent, as Dominieus à Soto, and others: whence hee conclude [...]h, saying, Wherefore, if Episcopall Ordination bee not a S [...]cram [...]nt, wee cannot p [...]oue out of Scripture, (sayeth hee) that Ordination is a Sacrament at all.

Last, Sua [...]. tom. 4 disp. 39. sect. 2 as for extreame vnction, the lesuit Suarez declareth, That Hugo, Peter Lombard, Bonaventure, Aleusis, and Altizidorus, fiue Fa­mous [Page 105] and learned Doctors in the Romane Church, denye playnlie, that it was instituted by CHRIST, and consequentlie that it is no true Sacrament.

The peremptorie tyme, then, and author when this doctrine of seaven sacraments got foot in the Church, their owne Cassander specifieth, s [...]ying, Heerein sure­lie there is no contraversie, that there are two speciall Sacramentes of our salvation, wherein special­lie our salvation consisteth, and is apprehended by vs: as speaketh Robertus Tuitiensis, and Hugo de Sancto Victore, to wit, Baptisme and the Sacrament of the Bodie and Blood of CHRIST: neyther shall yee finde anie who rashlie before Peter Lombards tyme, did set downe anie certayne, and de­finite number of Sacramentes: which tyme was about the 1140 yeare of GOD: and so the same i [...] but a verie late Noveltie.

BEfore wee come to the disco­verie, of the Noveltie of this lurde errour, wee will show first, how grosse not onelie the Romani [...]tes of olde haue beene therein, but lyke-wyse their verie late lesuits: First, then, to vse the wordes of the Councell of Rome, helde by Pope Nicolas, (Anno 1060) wherevnto they caused Berengarie, by way of re­cantation, to subscrybe, The Bread and Wine which are set vpon the Altar, De­creti 3 pars dist. 2. c. 42▪ ego Berenga­rius. after consecration, (say they) are not onelie the Sa­crament of CHRIST'S Bodie and Blood, but are the verie true Bo­die and Blood of CHRIST, and sensiblie in the verie trueth, is handled by the hands of the Priest, [Page 107] and kroken, and chawed by the teeth of the faythfull.

A late lesuit lyke-wyse, Corne­lius à Lapide, sayeth vpon these wordes of ISAI, A La­pide in Isai 7. 14. Beholde, a Vir­gine shall conceaue, and beare a Sonne. In this venerable Sacra­ment, this mysterie (sayeth hee) is truelie performed, and daylie in verie deede renewed: which heere ISAIAH fore-telleth, and which was performed when the Word was incarnate: for by the wordes of consecration, as the Bread is truelie and reallie trans­substantiate, so CHRIST is brought foorth, and as it were begotten vpon the Altar; as powerfullie and efficaciouslie, as if CHRIST were not as yet incarnate, yet by these wordes, This is my Bodie, Hee should bee incarnate: and as­sume an humane bodie, as graue Divynes doe teach: there-fore (sayeth hee) the Priest is as the Virgine that bare him, the Altar is the Manger, the little Emma­nuell [Page 108] which hee beareth, is Christ brought foorth vnder the little Host [...]e, by vertue of the Highest, and over-shadowing of the holie Ghost: which made their Postel­lu [...] to call Transsubstantiation, nativitas m [...]diatoris vltima, or the last birth of our Mediator CHRIST.

For detection of the Noveltie of which blasphemous errour, Biel in can. M [...]ssae l [...]ct. 40 Roffe [...] c [...]nt [...]ptiv B [...]byl. num. 8 e [...] 90. if wee first inq [...]yre of the Antiquitie thereof in Scripture, a clowde of their owne witnesses will tell vs, that it is not expressed in Scrip­ture, nor can bee proven there [...]y a [...] all, and that it may bee justlie doubted, (sayeth Bellarmine him­selfe) whether these wordes, This is my Bodie, Cajet. 3. 9. 78. are. [...]. Bell. l. 3. de Euch. 6. [...]3. bee cleare a­nough to inforce it, seeing the most sharpe witted and learned Doctors of the Romane Church, (such as Scotus w [...]s) haue thought the contrarie, (sayeth hee.)

Next, if wee aske for the An­tiquitie thereof, in the writs of [Page 109] the auncient Fathers, Iohan Y [...]ibar nus in 4. se [...]t dist. [...]1 9. 3. disp. 4 [...]. or if it was believed in the primitiue Church: then one of their schoole-men will tell vs, saying, In the primitiue Church, it was not believed as a poynt of fayth, that the substance of bread, was converted into the bodie of Christ.

Next, of the Transsubstantia­tion of the bread, into the bodie of CHRIST, (sayeth Alfonsu [...] à Castro) in the auncient wryters, there is verie seldome mention. Cus [...]n l. 6. ex ercit. tit. ex quar [...] serm. p. 522 Theod dial. [...]

Yea, sundrie auncient Divynes doe a [...]irme, that the bread is not Transub [...]tanti [...]te, (sayeth their Cardinall Cusanus.)

Where [...]ore Theodores telleth vs clearlie, That the mysticall signes after consecration, departe not f [...]om their owne nature, but re­mayne in their former substance, figure, and forme, and may bee seene and touched as before.

Yea, Gela­sius d [...] duab [...] Chri [...] their owne Pope Gelaesius, wryting agaynst Eutyches, sayeth expreslie, That tho in the Sacra­ment wee receaue a divyne thing, [Page 110] to wit, s [...]in [...] ­tur [...] c [...]nt. Euty­ch [...]n. in bi­blio­theca patrū tom. 4 Cas­sand. cōsule. art. 10 the Bodie and Blood of CHRIST, yet the substance and nature of the bread and wine ceas­seth not to remaine, (sayeth hee.)

And if anie speaches of Fathers would seeme to sound other ways, their owne Cassander telleth vs, That the late Schoole men doe ac­knowledge these speaches to bee figuratiue, whereby the signe is called, by the name of the thing which is signified, and is present also in the Sacrament. So that justlie sayde the elder Schoole­men, Su [...] ­rez in 3. Thomae disp. 80. Sect. 2 p. 602. (as Suarez. reporteth of them) that the doctrine of Trans­substantiation is not verie ancient.

This errour, then, was first broached in the East, by Damas­cene, in the time of Gregori [...] the third, (Anno 740) and opposed then chiefelie by the Councell of Constantinople, Di­mas. l. 4 Or­thod. fidei c. 14. consisting of 338 Bishops, (Anno 754) who de­clared, That the bread in the Eucharist, was the true resem­blance of Christs naturall bodie, [Page 111] and consequentlie not the bodie it selfe. concil. Gen. Tom. 3. pag. 599. & edit. Rom. pag. 600. [...] [...].

About an hundreth yeares there-after, Lib. 3. de eccles. offic. c. 24 Florus in actis synod. Cari­siac. See Philip Mor­ney do missa. l. 4. [...]. [...]. in the tyme of Grego­rie the fourth, the same also be­gan to bee propounded in the West, by one Amularius, Bishop of Lions, who was censured, and opposed, by the Councell of Cari­fiacum, wherein it was declared by the Bishops of France, That it was to bee vnderstood, that the bread and wine, were the bodie and blood of CHRIST, after a spirituall manner onelie.

Heere-after howsoever, sundrie helde this grosse opinion of Trans­substantiation, Paschasius Radber­tus, a Deacon, (Anno 850) who to that purpose wrote a Booke to Placidus, of the bodie and blood of CHRIST: yet others stoutlie mayntayned the trueth in the con­trarie, [Page 112] as Rabin [...]s M [...]rus, who at the same tyme opposed Pascha­si [...]s, and w [...]o [...]e thereof to Abb [...]t Egilo, whereby arose great dis­putes by sundrie vpon both sides: wherevpon Carol [...]s Calvus, then King of FRANCE, willing to haue these differences composed amongst his people, and the trueth of the matter cleared, singled out one Bertram, a Priest and M [...]nke of Corbey, as Non minus vita quam doctrina in signis, (s [...]y [...]b Tritemius of bi [...]n, [...] wrote 1490 beeing Ab­bot of spa [...] ­b [...]i [...]. Ber­tramꝰ l. de corp. et sāg. Chri­st [...]dit Co [...]o­ [...]. a man m [...]st famous in those tymes, both for learning and pietie, and req [...]yred him to wryte to him his judgement in that matter▪ which hee accor­dinglie did in his booke yet ex­tant, written (Anno 876) wherein hee declareth and proveth, That the bread and wine, are Christs bodie and blood figuratiuelie one­lie, or by representation, accor­ding to the na [...]ure of Sacramentes, and sacramentall speaches, taking so the name of that which they sig­nifi [...]: but for the substance of the creatures or elementes themselues, they are the same after consecra­tion, [Page 113] as they were before: Anno 1551. pag. 18 [...]0 200. et 205 Index expu [...]g Belgic Lit. B. T [...]rrian, contr. Volan. l. b. I. de Eu­thar, cap. 22. (sayeth hee) for which cause the Roma­nis [...]es in the Belgicke expurgatorie Index, wish, that this Booke had altogether perished: the Ie­suit Turrian giving the reason thereof, Because the citing of it declareth that Calvine's Heresie is not new.

About which tyme also of Ber­trams wryting, a famous countrey­man of ours also, Iohannes Scotus, wrote a See Lan­franc. lib. de sacrā. euchar contr [...] Beren­gar. where this book is men­tioned & the cōtēts therof booke of the same mat­ter, and to the same sense, who for his extraordinarie great learning in those tymes, was surnamed, Iohn the wyse.

And in ENGLAND, in the dayes of Aeifricke an Abbot, (Anno 975) there was an auncient Homilie, which the sayde Aelfricke at the command of W [...]lfstane Arch-bi­shop of Yorke. translated out of La­tine and Sax [...]n, into Engl [...]sh, syno­dicallie [Page 114] appoynted to bee read to the people, for their instruction, at everie Easter, before the recea­ving of the holie Housell, (as he calleth the Sacrament) wherein the verie same doctrine, Fox Martyrolog. pag. 1119. edit. 1576. Scotus cited by Bel l. 3. de Eu­char. c. 23. set downe by Bertram, and professed now by vs, is clearlie set downe, as the sayde Homilie at large may bee seene, in Master Iohn Foxe his Booke of Martyres.

Yet at last, errour in the times of ignorance, and Papall vsurpa­tion so farre prevailed, that (Anno 1215) it was established as an Ar­ticle of fayth: so that as Scotus af­firmeth truelie, before the Councell of Laterane, it was no doctrine of fayth, (sayeth hee.)

FOR the cleare detection, of the Noveltie of this sacrile­gious errour, Aqu [...]. in lo­han. 6 Lyr [...] in I. Cor. II. first their owne Canonized Aquinas (and with him Lyra, and others) declare, according to the custome of the auncient Church, all the people as they did communicate of the bo­die of Christ, so did they also of His blood, (sayeth hee.)

And if wee aske at their owne Cassander, C [...]s­sand. cōsult art, 22 how long this custome did continue in the Church of Christ? hee will tell vs, saying▪ It is sufficientlie certayne, that the vniversall Church of Christ, even vnto this day, did celebrate the Sacrament vnder both kyndes, and that the Westerne or Romane Church, more than a thousand yeares after Christ, (chiefelie in the solemne and ordinarie cele­bration of this Sacrament) did giue the same in both kyndes, both [Page 116] of breade and wine, See them ti [...]ed and set down by Cassander, consult. art. 22. pag. 1034. to all the members of the Church of Christ: which is manifest, (sayeth hee) out of the innumerable Testimo­nies, both of Greeke and Latine Fathers.

And if, then, wee inquyre, when this custome of communicating in one kynde, began in the Romane Church generallie to be receaved, Valen­ [...]ia de legit­timo vsu Eu­th [...]r. c. 10. Cōcil. Con­france Sess. 13. their owne Gregorte de Valentia, in lyke-manner will tell vs, That it was but a little before the Coun­cell of Constance, which was helde in [...]nno 1414.

There-after, if wee come to the Councell of Constance it selfe, where it was first decreed, and inquyre of the Noveltie thereof, they are forced to confesse, that Christ instituted this venerable Sa­crament, in both kyndes of bread and wine, & gaue it so to His Dis­ciples, (say they) as also, that in [Page 117] the primitiue Church, the same was receaved by the faythfull in both kynds, and that for eschewing some perills and scandalls, this custome was thought fit to bee altered

Next, after the cleare and confessed Noveltie of this poynt, both in altering and mayntayning of Christs institution, if wee will examine out of their owne confes­sions, whether it bee best to ad­heare to Christs institution, who gaue it in both kyndes, or not, Bellarmine will teach vs a generall rule, Bell l. 4. de Eu [...]h. c. 7. §. quia vero. saying, It can not bee doubted of, but that is best, (sayth hee) and most fit to bee done, which Christ Himselfe did. But to subsume, Christ gaue the Sacra­ment of His bodie and blood vn­der both kyndes: therefore ine­vitablie it followeth, that without doubt, it is fittest and best, to giue it as yet in both kyndes.

Wherefore in expresse wordes, not onelie did Ruardus Tapperus, [Page 118] Deane of Lovane say, Tap­perus cited by Cas­sand. pag. 1034. that it were better and more covenient to giue it so, as beeing more agreeable to the institution of Christ, His example, and Fathers of the primi­ti [...] Church; but also their owne Cassander setteth downe the parti­cular, and pregnant reasons, why it is better to giue it so, vnder both kyndes, and why the primitiue Church ever so gaue it: I. be­cause of the institution and example of Christ, who gaue this Sacra­ment in both the Elementes vnto His Disciples, representing then the persons, (sayeth hee) of the whole faythfull communicants: 2. because they did belieue in the Sacrament, by the Element of the wine, that there was signified a certayne peculiar grace, of the blood of Christ, to wit, according to Christs wordes, The remission of sinnes: 3. because thereby was represented the full Passion of Christ, which did consist in the oblation of His bodie, and the [Page 119] shedding of His blood, according to that of S. PAVLL, As oft as yee shall eate of the bread, and drinke of the Cup, yee shall show the LORD'S death till His agayne comming. 4. be­cause ou [...] perfect feeding, or now­ [...]ishment, is thereby signified, which is vsuallie not onelie by meat, but by drinke also: and 5. be­cause lyke-wyse is signified there­by, the perfect redemption of man, in His bodie, by the oblation of Christs bodie, and in his soule the fountayne of lyfe, (which is sayde to bee in the blood) by the shedding of Christs blood.

So that it is not without cause, that one of their owne Popes, Gelas. cited by Gr [...] tian. part. 3 decret de consecrat. dist. 2 Gelasius, sayde, That the divyding of one and the same Sacrament, can not bee done without great sacriledge, and therefore that hee commanded, that eyther the whole Sacrament vnder both kyndes should bee taken, or else that these superstitious persons, [Page 120] who will not participate of the Cup, hee debarred from the Sa­crament altogether.

Lyke-wyse, as they haue with­drawne the Cup from the people, so they haue also taken away a sig­nificant Rite, in giving to them [...] wafer fo [...] bread, without fraction, which was acted and instituted by CHRIST, to signifie the breaking of His Bodie, and of the confes­sed N [...]veltie whereof, let Cardi­nall Cajetane witnesse, Cajet in I. Cor. 10. saying, In the primitiue tymes, that the Church did vse fraction of the bread, when the Communion was given to the people, even the verie Actes of the Apostles doe testifie, in imitation of CHRIST, as I belieue, (sayeth hee) Who tooke bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and so gaue it to His Disciples. But it was afterward that the Church vsed severallie little Hosties, which noway [...]s may bee broken.

FIrst, for the clearing of the Noveltie heereof, See the first part of this Trea­tise, c. 19. having be­fore spoken of the Noveltie of the name, wee see that it hath no warrand in holie Scripture, being contrary both to the institution of CHRIST, and to that name which it getteth from the holie A­postle, Of a Communion: for in the institution wee see there was fraction of Bread, which fraction was for distribution, and this distribution, was for common participation, everie one with a­nother, as wee see, I. COR. 10. 17. and as it was sayde of the Cup also, Drinke yee all-of this, or, Divyde it amongst you.

Next, it is agaynst the name of [Page 122] Communion, I. Cor 10. 16 Hugo Card. in spe­culo Eccle­siae. Cas­sand. cōsult. art. 24 which the Apostle giveth it, for therefore is it called a Communion, (sayeth their Hu­go Cardinalis) because in the pri­mitiue Church, the people did communicate thereof daylie: ney­ther properlie can it bee called a Communion, (sayeth their Cas­sander) except moe than one par­ticipate.

The same is contrarie also, to the alleadged Canons of the Apo­postles, Coch­l [...]us d [...] sacrif. Missae cont. Mu [...]culū. and wrytings of the Fa­thers: for thus sayeth their owne Cochleus, Of olde, all, both Priests and people did communicate to­gether, as appeareth by the Ca­nons of the Apostles, and wrytings of the auncient Fathers.

In lyke-manner, the same con­tradicteth their owne Canon of the Masse directlie, their owne Cassander telling vs, Cas­sand. supra. That therein the Priest prayeth not onelie for himselfe, and his owne communi­cating, but also for those who doe communicate with him, saying, [Page 123] Bee mercifull to as manie of vs, as haue beene partakers of this Altar: and chiefelie in his prayer after the Communion, hee seemeth to pray onelie, (sayeth hee) for those who haue beene communicants.

In lyke-manner, Odo Camera­ce [...]sis, Cas­sand. ibidē. wryting on the Canon of the Masse, affirmeth, That those solitarie Masses were not of olde, (sayeth hee) in vse in the Church, seeing that no Masse was without a collect, that is, some number who did offer, and participate of the Sacrament together.

Their owne Durandus lyke-wyse telleth vs, Du­rand. ratio­nale divin l. 4. c. 53. saying, In the primitiue Church, all who [...] were present at the celebration of the Masse, did everie day communi­cate, because all the Apostles did drinke of the Cup, according to the LORD'S command, Drink [...] yee all of this: and their obla­tion was a great loafe, (sayeth hee) which was sufficient for all, [Page 124] and which custome the Grecians are sayde to keepe even vnto this day. Tolos­sanus l. de vitib. [...]. 58. Belethus in explie. [...]ax. cap. 30. Which thing also their Tolos­sanus, Belethus, and sundrie others, testifie.

And to adde the famous testi­monie of Pope Innocent the third, Innoc. 3. l. 6. myster miss [...] c. 5. In the primitiue Church, (sayeth hee) everie day those who were present at the celebration of the Masse, Cas­sand. de s [...]li [...]. miss [...]. were wont to communi­cate. And all the best learned doe acknowledge, (sayeth their Cas­sander) this to haue beene the an­cient custome, of the Romane Chu [...]ch in particular: [...]. Hofmeisterus ci­ted by Cas­sand▪ ibid. which cu­stome how it hath ceassed, is to bee marveled, (sayeth their Hofmeisterus) and it is to bee in­devoured, that this good cu­stome, (sayeth hee) may bee restored to the Church.

THus having demonstrate the Noveltie of Poperie, and detected the same to bee the latter sowne Tares in the LORDS Field; wee see that the Antiqui­tie whereof they so much bragge, belongeth nowayes to them, more than the living chylde to the false mother: and if the Romane Church in these poyntes formerly discovered, will needes still clayme Antiquitie at all, it is ma­nifest, that no other can bee yeel­ded vnto her, than that which was yeelded to Iudah, and Israell, by the Prophet Ezekiell, vnder the names of Aholah, Ezek [...]. 23. 43 Isaiah I. 21. and Aholibah, to wit, That shee is olde in her Adulteries, the sometyme fayth­full Citie, (as speaketh I saiah) [Page 126] having become an Harlot: and, as says Lyrinensis in the same place, now being a filthy Borthel, of wic­ked and prophane erroures, where a sacred store-house was before, of chaste and vncorrupted trueth, CHRIST'S sheepe-folde beeing p [...]sterd with disguysed Wolues: and (as it was objected to PAVLL concerning the Grecia [...]s) these thinges beeing brought within the Temple, which haue defyled the holie place.

As Elihu then sayde of himselfe, That hee was but of yesterday, Iob 32. 6. in comparison of Iobs elder friends; even so may Poperie justlie in lyke-manner confesse of her selfe, that shee is but of yesterday, in re­spect of that eternall Gospell spoken of in the Revelation, Revel, 14. 6. and the Popish Church beeing the meretricious mother onelie, of such bastard births, lyke brats of Babell, as shee may well father vpon the broodie braine of vaine mans invention, puft vp (as the [Page 127] Apostle speaketh) by his fleshlie mynde, but can never say with Iacob of such. These are the chil­dren which the LORD my GOD hath given mee.

Let no man therefore marvell, that wee haue come out of Babell, as the LORD'S obedient people, lest wee should partake of her sin [...]es, and so receaue of her plagues; nor thinke that wee haue forsaken Rome, farder than shee hath forsaken the trueth, and her former estate, when shee was once the faythfull Citie: it beeing our duetie (as sayeth Lyrinensis) to receaue true teachers with the Church; but not with false tea­chers in the Church, to desert the true fayth of the Church, and embrace Novelties. For if anie man follow him, Ignat Epist. 6. ad Phi­lla­delph. (sayeth Igna­tius) who haue departed form the trueth, hee shall never inhe­rite the Kingdome of GOD: and hee who departeth not from a teacher of lies, shall bee con­demned [Page 128] to Hell fire: for neyther must wee depart from them who are godlie teachers, nor must wee haue fellowship with these who are wicked.

Let her therefore with Ephesus, returne to her first loue, renounce her Whoredomes, quyte her Erroures, reject her Novel [...]ies, forsake her Idolatries, and from Babell, turne Beth [...]ll; else wee so­lemnlie protest, that wee would haue cured Babell, but shee would not: and as LYRIN [...]N [...]IS speaketh, That our care is heere­by to reduce the seduced multi­tude of the wo [...]ld, stricken with the cruell tempest of repentiue Heresie, from new broached er­rour, to the auncient fayth; from the phrenesie of Noveltie, to their won [...]ed health; and from the blindnesse of former darknesse, to the primitiue light of most sacred Trueth: that so, GOD may haue [...] ie; the Church, her luster; Satan, an over-throwe; [Page 129] BABELL, a downe-fall; the Saynctes may haue joye; and Ve­ritie, the victorie.

AMEN.