“If any learned man of our adversaries be able to bring any one sufficient sentence out of any old Catholike Doctor, or Father ; or out of any old general Council ; or out of the holy Scriptures of God ; or any one example of the Primitive Church for the space of six hundred years after Christ, whereby doctrines contrary to these may be clearly proved, I would give over and subscribe unto him. … Good people, there is now a siege laid to your walls ; an army of Doctors and Councils show themselves upon a hill. The adversary who would have you yield, beareth you in hand, that they are his soldiers and stand on his side. But keep your hold : the Doctors and old Catholike Fathers, in the points that I have spoken of, are yours.” — John Jewel , ‘The Challenge Sermon’ at Saint Paul’s Cross (1560 )

“ It is not possible to convey how his work crushed the cause of the papists among our men, and tumbled their esteem, especially, when, after Harding’s frigid response, the novelty of errors of their recensions (of Scripture ) was discovered.” —Bishop Francis Godwin , De Praesulibus Angliae (1616 )

“ Although Harding and some others undertook him, and entered into the lists with him about the controverted articles; yet they came off so poorly, and Jewel on the contrary so amazed and confounded them with “a cloud of witnesses” in every point in question, that as Bishop Godwin upon good ground affirmeth, no one thing in our age gave the Papacy so deadly a wound, as that challenge at Paul’s Cross so confidently made and bravely maintained.” — Thomas Fuller , Abel Redivivus (1651 )

“ To these Articles (the Thirty-nine ) also may be adjoined the Apology (writ by Bishop Jewel ) lately set forth, after it hath been once again revised, and so augmented or corrected as occasion serveth. These (viz. the Catechism, Articles, and Apology ) are to be joined in one book, and by common consent to be authorized as containing true doctrine, and enjoined to be taught to the youth in the universities and grammar schools throughout the realm; likewise in cathedral churches and collegiate and in private houses.” —Archbishop Matthew Parker , edict in 1562 (Strype, Ann. I. i. 474. )

“ Three great princes successively, (viz. queen Elizabeth, king James I., and king Charles I. ) , the one after the other, and four archbishops of very eminent parts (Parker, Grindall, Whitgift, and Bancroft ) , have been so satisfied with the truth and learning of this book, that they have imposed it to be chained up and read in all parish churches throughout England and Wales.” —Archbishop John Williams , Holy Table, Name and Thing (1637 )

“ John Jewel was the worthiest divine that Christendom hath bred for some hundreds of years.” — Richard Hooker , Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, II. 6. (1596 )

The Apology of the Church of England.

IT has been a Complaint through all Ages, from the Patriarchs and Prophets, down to us, and confirmed by the Histories of all Times and Places, ( a ) That Truth has been a Stranger upon Earth, and that she has met with many among the ignorant sort of Men who have Hated and Reviled her. And tho’ this may perhaps seem incredible to Men who have not been exact in observing these things, especially since all Mankind have, by the Dictates of Nature, without any Instruction, an appetite to Truth ; and our Saviour Christ himself, when he conversed with Men, took upon him the Name of Truth, as fittest to express the whole Divine Nature: Yet We who have been conversant in the Holy Scriptures, and had read and seen what happened to all Good Men, in almost all Times, what befell the Prophets, the Apostles, the Holy Martyrs, and Christ himself, with what Disgraces, Reproaches, and Indignities they were persecuted in their Life-time, only for Truth’s sake ; see, that it is not only no New or Incredible Thing, but that it is, and has been universally Received and Practiced. Nay, it might seem much more wonderful and incredible, if ( b ) the Father of Lies and Enemy of all Truth, the Devil, shou’d now on a sudden change his Nature, and hoping that Truth might be suppressed otherwise than by Lying, should now begin to secure his Dominion by other Arts than those which he has always used from the Beginning. For there is scarce any one Time that we read of, since the Creation, either in the Infancy, or during the Establishment, or at the Reformation of Religion, in which Truth and Innocence have not been unworthily treated and abused. For the Devil knows, that if Truth stands, he and his Kingdom must fall.

( a ) Tertullian in Apologetico.

( b ) John 8. 44.

For to say nothing of the Patriarchs and Prophets, who, as I have told you, were never free from Contumelies and Reproaches ; we know ( a ) there have been some that have said, and publickly preach’d, that the Ancient Jews, whom we doubt not to have been Worshippers of the Onely and True God, instead of God, worshipped a Hog or an Ass, and that their whole Religion was nothing else but Sacrilege, and a Contempt of all Gods. We know that the Son of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, when he taught the Truth, was esteemed as a Cheat, and an Evil-doer ; ( b ) a Samaritan ; the Prince of the Devils ; a Seducer of the People ; ( c ) a Drunkard, and a Glutton. And who knows not what Scandals were once thrown upon that diligent Preacher and vigorous Assertor of the Truth, St. Paul ? One while, that he was a Seditious and Factious Person, and a Stirrer up of the People ? one while an Heretick, another a Madman ? and that, out of pure Haughtiness and love of Contention, he blasphemed the law of God, and despised the Rites of their Fathers ? Who does not know, that ( d ) St. Stephen, as soon as he was thoroughly convinced of the Truth, and had begun to preach it, as it was his Duty, freely and boldly, was immediately arraigned and condemned for a wicked Blasphemer of the Law, of Moses, of the Temple, and of God ? Or who can be ignorant, ( e ) that there was once a sort of Men that took Pains to make the Holy Scriptures appear ridiculous, by asserting that they contained in them direct Contradictions ? and that the Apostles themselves differed each from the other, and Paul from all the rest ? But not to be tedious in producing all that might be alledged in the present Case, (for that were an endless Work, ) Who knows not what Calumnies were ( f ) formerly cast upon our Fathers, the first Professors of Christianity ? viz. That they were Conspirators that held secret Cabals against the State, and for that reason used to assemble before it was Light ? That they murdered Children, eat their Flesh, and, like Wild Beasts, drank their Blood ? Lastly, That having put out the Candles, without any regard to Relation, without any sense of Modesty, without any Distinction, Brothers and Sisters, Mothers and Sons, promiscuously committed Adultery and Incest ? That they were an Impious, Irreligious, Atheistical Sect, Enemies to Mankind, not fit to Live and Enjoy the Common Benefit of Light ?

( a ) Cornel. Tacitus. Tertul. in Apologet. c. 16. C. Plinius.

( b ) Joh. 8. 48.

( c ) Matt. 11. 19.

( d ) Act. 6. Epiphanius.

( e ) Marcian ex Tertulliano. Aelius e Lactant.

( f ) Eusebius, lib. 5. cap. 1. Tertul. Apolog. cap. 1, 2, 3, & 7, 8, 9.

These were the scandalous Reproaches that were at that Time thrown upon the People of God, upon our Saviour Jesus Christ, St. Paul, St. Stephen, and upon all who in the first Ages embraced the Truth of the Gospel, and were content to be known by the Then Universally hated and despised Name of Christians. And tho’ these Stories were false, yet the Devil gained his Ends, if he could at least cause them to be believed, and the Christians to be publickly hated, and generally persecuted. Hereupon, Kings and Princes, induced by Insinuations of this kind, put all the Prophets to Death ; condemned Esaia to be saw’d in pieces, Jeremy to be stoned, Daniel to be devoured by Lions, Amos to be broken with an Iron Bar, Paul to die by the Sword, Christ to be crucified, all Christians in general to be imprisoned, tormented, hanged on Gibbets, thrown headlong from Rocks and Precipices, torn in pieces by Wild Beasts, and burned: They made great Heaps of their Bodies while living, and set them on fire for their Diversion, and to supply the want of Lamps by Night, and made no other account of them than as the Refuse and Off-scouring of the World. This has been the Reception which the Authors and Professors of the Truth have ever met with.

Whereupon we, as many as have taken upon us the profession of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, ought to bear it the more patiently, if we meet with the same Treatment for the same Cause ; and if we now, as ( a ) our Fathers were before us, for no Demerit of our own, but only because we teach and profess the Truth, are persecuted with malicious, reproachful, and lying Accusations.

( a ) 1. Tim. 4.

The Cry now-a-days is, that we are all Hereticks, that we have departed from the Faith, and with new Persuasions and wicked Tenets have destroyed the Union of the Church ; that we have brought again from hell old Heresies, and such as have been long ago condemned, and that we do set up new Sects, and strange Enthusiasms, and are now divided into contrary Parties and Opinions, and could never any ways agree among ourselves ; that we are an Impious Crew, and like the Giants of old, make War upon Heaven, and live altogether without any regard to the Worship of God. We, they say, despite all good Actions, wholly neglect virtuous Discipline, Laws, and Morality, and regard not what is Lawful, Just, Equitable, or Right ; give a Loose to all manner of Wickedness, and encourage the People in all Licentiousness ; that we make it our business totally to subvert all Rule and Government, and to bring all Things under the Management of the ignorant unthinking Multitude ; that we have in a tumultuous manner deserted the Catholick Church, put the whole World in a Disorder by our abominable Schism, and disturbed the Common Peace and Quiet of the Church ; and have now, without any just Reason, fallen off from the Bishop of Rome, as Dathan and Abiram did formerly from Moses and Aaron ; that we have made light of the Authority of the Old Fathers and Ancient Councils, have rashly and presumptuously abrogated the Old Ceremonies approved of by our Fathers and Forefathers for many Ages, when both Men and Times were better ; and by our own private Determination, without the Authority of any General Council, have introduced new Ceremonies into the Church: and Lastly, have done all these things, not for the sake of Religion, but out of the love of Contention: But that They, for Their parts, have made no Innovations, but for so many Ages, to this very Day, have held fast those Things which were delivered by the Apostles, and approved of by the most Ancient Fathers.

And that they might not seem wholly to rely upon private Slanders, whispered about in Corners to render us odious, the Bishops of Rome have suborned Men eloquent and not unlearned, to lend Assistance to the sinking Cause, and support it with Books and long Orations ; that when it was elegantly and copiously set off, unskilful Men might be induced to think there was something in it. They saw their Cause every where decline, their Artifices now lay’d open, and less esteem’d, their Strong-holds grow daily weaker, and their Cause to stand in the utmost need of some to Patronize and Defend it. Now as for Those Things which they have alledg’d against us, part of them are manifestly false, and condemned as such in the Judgment of the very Authors of them ; part of them, though they are false too, yet bear some show and colour of Truth, and an inconsiderate Reader ( especially if they are backed with a fine artificial Speech ) may unawares be overcome and led into an Error by them ; but the rest of them are such as we ought not to be ashamed of as Crimes, but rather proud to acknowledge as well and wisely done. For, in short, the Truth is, they are so prejudiced to us and all that belongs to us, that they do not stick to find fault with even those things which They Themselves cannot deny to be well and orderly done ; and, as if it were not possible for us to do any thing as we ought to do, not a Word or Action of ours escapes their Censure. They should have gone to work more openly and fairly, had they designed to have dealt sincerely. But now, without any Respect to Truth, Ingenuity, or Christianity, they, from their lurking Holes, craftily assault us with Falsehoods, and abuse the Blindness and Folly of the People, together with the Ignorance of Princes, the Persecution of us, and the Oppression of Truth. This is the Power of Darkness, and of Men who rely rather upon the Stupidity of an unskilful Multitude, and Darkness, than upon Truth and Light ; and who, as St. Jerome says, shut their Eyes against the clearest Truth.

But we, God be thanked, have such a Cause, as, be our Enemies never so Inveterate, they can say nothing against, which may not be wrested against the Holy Fathers, Prophets, Apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul, and even Christ himself.

Now therefore, if they may be allowed to summon up all their Wit and Eloquence to abuse us, sure we need not be ashamed to answer truly in so good a Cause as ours. For they that can calmly hear Themselves and their Cause falsly and basely slandered, ( especially when the Majesty of God, and Religion are concerned ) are no better than Heathens, and Encouragers of Atheism and Blasphemy. For tho’ a Modest Man and a Christian may put up other Injuries, and great ones too ; yet he that, unmoved, can bear the Brand of Heresy, is one of those whom Rufinus would not allow to be Christians. We therefore will now do what all Laws, what even the Voice of Nature call upon us to do, and what Christ himself in the like Case did, that is, Retort their Accusations, and modestly and faithfully Defend our Cause and our Innocence. For Christ, when he was accused by the Pharisees of Sorcery, as one that dealt with the Devil, and did many things by his Assistance, ( a ) I ( says he ) have not a Devil ; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And St. Paul’s Answer, when he was contemned by Festus the Pro-Consul as a Madman, was, ( b ) I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. And the Primitive Christians, when they were represented to the People as Murderers, Adulterers, Incestuous Persons, and Disturbers of the Common-wealth, and saw that such kind of Accusations were like to endanger the Religion they professed, ( but especially if they seemed to be silent, and in a manner to confess the Crime, ) lest that should hinder the Propagation of the Gospel, ( c ) they made Speeches, put up Petitions, spoke before Emperors and Princes, that they might publickly defend themselves and their Followers.

( a ) John. 8. 49.

( b ) Acts. 26. 25.

( c ) Quadratus Justinus Melito aliique.

But We, since for these Twenty Years last past, so many Thousands of our Brethren have testified the Truth, even in the midst of the most exquisite Torments, and Princes that have endeavoured to put up a stop to the Gospel, have used all means to no Purpose, and that now almost all the World begin to open their Eyes and behold the Truth, think that our Cause has been sufficiently manifested and defended ; and that since the Thing itself plainly enough speaks, there is less occasion for Words. For if the Popes either would or could but once reflect on the whole Matter, the Beginning and Progress of our Religion, how all their Undertakings, without any human Assistance, have failed ; and, on the contrary, how ours, having been opposed from the very Beginning by Emperors, by so many Kings, Popes, and almost all sorts of People, have increased, and been by degrees dispersed over the whole Earth, and now at last brought even into the Courts and Palaces of Kings: These things might sufficiently prove to them, that God himself fights for us, looks down with Derision on them and their Endeavours ; and that the Strength of Truth is such, that neither the Power of Man, nor the Gates of Hell, shall ever be able to prevail against it. For so many Free Cities as there are at this Day, so many Princes, so many Kings, that have separated themselves from the Church of Rome, and rather joined themselves to the Gospel of Christ, are certainly not Mad.

And tho’ the Popes have never yet had Leisure seriously and diligently to consider of these Matters ; or if they are now taken up with other Business, or think that these Studies are light and trifling, and such as the Papal Dignity ought not to be concern’d in ; should our Cause seem the worse on this account ? Or if they do see, but will not, and rather Oppose the Truth which they cannot but Acknowledge, must we therefore be immediately taken for Hereticks, who cannot be brought to comply with them ? But if Pope Pius ( a ) had really been the Man, we don’t say, that he wou’d appear to be, but if he had been one that had esteemed us either as his Brethren, or indeed as Men, he would have weighed our Reasons, and diligently consider’d what might be said for us, as well as against us ; and not so rashly, out of a blind Prejudice, have condemned great part of the World, so many Learned and Pious Men, so many States, Kings, and Prices, in that Bull of his whereby he lately pretended a Council, without being heard, or having liberty to plead their Cause.

( a ) Pius IV.

But, lest having been after this manner publickly stigmatized by him, we should, by saying nothing, seem to confess the Crime, especially since we can by no means be heard in a General Council, in which he will allow no Man a Right to give his Vote, or speak his Opinion, but who is sworn and engaged to maintain his Authority, ( for that we were too well experienc’d of in the last Council of Trent, where the Ambassadors of the German Princes and Free Cities, and the Divines, were utterly excluded every Meeting. Nor can we yet forget the Julius the Third, ten Years ago, took strict Care, in his Ordinance, that none of our Men should be heard in Council, unless there should chance to be one who would make a Recantation, and change his Opinion. ) For that reason, chiefly, we have thought fit to give an Account of our Faith in Writing, and truly and publickly to answer to those Things which are publickly objected against us ; that all the World may see the Root and Branches of that Doctrine, for which so many good Men have laid down their Lives ; and that every Body may at length understand what sort of Men they are, and what are their Sentiments of God and Religion, whom the Bishop of Rome, before ever they were call’d to plead their Cause, inconsiderately enough, without President, without Right, condemned for Hereticks, only because he had heard they differ’d from him and his in some Points of Religion.

And tho’ St. Jerome would have no Man patient under the Suspicion of Heresy ; yet we will plead our Cause neither bitterly nor scoffingly ; nor will we be carried away with Passion, tho’ he ought not to be accounted a Railer or a Scoffer who tells the Truth. That sort of Eloquence we freely leave to our Adversaries, who think, whatever they say against us, tho’ it be with never so much Bitterness and Reproach, modestly and properly enough spoken: whether it be true or false, is not their Concern. These Artifices are of no Use to us who defend the Truth.

But if we make it appear that the Holy Gospel, the Ancient Bishops, and the Primitive Church agree with us, and that we have not, without just Cause, departed from these Men, and returned to the Apostles and Ancient Catholick Fathers ; and that we do it not obscurely or craftily, but with a good Conscience before God, truly, ingeniously, clearly, and plainly: if those very Men who shun our Doctrine, and would be called Catholicks, shall plainly see themselves divested of all those Titles of Antiquity they so much gloried in, and that there is more Force in our Cause than they were aware of: We hope there will be none of them that have so little Concern for their Salvation, as not to begin at length to consider which Side they had best betake themselves to. Certainly no Man, that is not downright obstinate and will not hear, will repent his having given heed to our Defence, and attended to what may seasonably and properly be said by us for the whole Christian Religion.

For as they call us Hereticks, that is a Crime so grievous, as unless it be plainly ( a ) seen with the Eyes, and handled with the Hands, ought not to be easily believed of a Christian ; for Heresy is, forsaking Salvation, renouncing the Grace of God, departing from the Body and Spirit of Christ. But it has been usual and customary with them and their Forefathers, if there were any that complained of their Errors, and were for restoring Religion, to look upon them immediately as Innovators, and to condemn them for Hereticks and Factious Persons. For Christ was for no other reason called a Samaritan, but because he was thought to fall off to some New Religion, and to Heresy. And Paul the Apostle of Christ, being brought to the Barr to plead to an Accusation of Heresy, ( b ) I indeed ( says he ) after the way which they call Heresy, worship the God of my Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets.

( a ) 1 John 1. 1.

( b ) Acts 24. 14.

In short, All that Religion which Christians at this day profess, was ( a ) in the first Ages, by the Gentiles, called a Sect and Heresy. With such Words as these they always filled the Ears of Princes ; that when they, out of Prejudice, hated us, and took whatever was said by us for Faction and Heresy, they might be led aside from the Thing itself, and the Knowledge of the Cause. But the more grievous and heinous the Crime is, by so much the more strong and clear Arguments ought it to be proved ; especially at this time, when Men have begun to have less Faith in their Oracles, and to enquire more strictly into their Doctrine than they are wont to do. For the People of God are otherwise instructed now, than they were formerly, when all the Popes Dictates went for Gospel, and all Religion depended only on their Authority. The ( b ) Holy Scriptures, the Writings of the Apostles and Prophets are now extant, from which, both all Truth and the Catholick Doctrine may be proved, and all Heresy confuted.

( a ) Tertul. in Apologet.

( b ) 2 Tim. 3. 15.

When they produce none of these, that we should nevertheless be called Hereticks, who have fallen off neither from Christ, the Apostles, nor Prophets, is wrong, and very hard. With this Sword did Christ drive away the Devil, when he was tempted by him ; with these Weapons ( a ) is every high thing to be cast down that exalteth itself against God. All Scripture ( saith ( b ) St. Paul ) is given by Inspiration of God, and is profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for Instruction in Righteousness ; that the Man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all Good Works. Thus the Holy Fathers never used any Weapons against the Hereticks, but those of the Scripture. ( c ) St. Augustine, when he disputed with Petilian the Donatist, cries, “Let not these Words be heard between us, Thus I say, or, Thus you say ; but let us rather say, Thus saith the Lord: There let us seek the Church ; by that let us examine our Cause.” And St. Jerome says, “All those Things, which, without the Testimony of the Scriptures, are asserted as delivered by the Apostles, are vanquish’d by the Sword of God.” And ( d ) St. Ambrose’s Advice to Gratianus the Emperor, was, Search the Scriptures ; let the Apostles, Prophets, and Christ be your Guides. For the Catholick Fathers and Bishops of that Time did not doubt but our Religion might be sufficiently proved out of the Holy Scriptures: nor did they ever dare to account any Man an Heretick, whose Error they oculd not plainly and clearly prove out of those very Scriptures. We indeed, that we may Answer in the Words of St. Paul, ( e ) After the way that they call Heresy, worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Believing all things which are written in the Law, the Prophets or Apostles.

( a ) 2 Cor. 10. 5.

( b ) 2 Tim. 3. 16, 17.

( c ) De Unitate Eccles. c. 3. Eadem Sententia habetur contra Maximinum, Arianorum Episcopum, l. 3.

( d ) C. 14. in primum cap. Aggei.

( e ) Act. 24. 14.

Wherefore, if We are Hereticks, and They are ( as they would be called ) Catholicks, Why do not they do that which they see the Fathers and Catholick Men have always done ? Why do not they convince us out of the Holy Scriptures ? Why do they not try us by them ? Why do not they make it appear that we have departed from Christ, the Prophets, Apostles, and Holy Fathers ? What do they stick at ? What are they afraid of ? It is the Cause of God. Why do they scruple to trust it to the Word of God ? But if We are Hereticks, who refer all our Controversies to the Holy Scriptures, and who appeal to Those very Words which we know to have the Seal of God, and prefer them to all things whatsoever that can be invented by Men ; what sort of Men are They, or what can we at length call them, who are afraid to be tried by the Holy Scriptures, that is, by God himself, and have more Regard to their own Dreams and Nonsensical Comments than to Them ; and for the sake of their own Traditions, have for some Ages broke through the Institutions of Christ and his Apostles ? There goes a Story of Sophocles the Tragick Poet, that, when in his Old Age, he was begg’d by his own Sons for a Fool and a Madman, as one that unadvisedly squandered away the Estate of his Family, and seemed to want somebody to take Care of Him ; to clear himself of that Imputation, he came into the Court, and having repeated Oedipus Coloneus, a Tragedy which he had just at the time that he was accused, very elaborately and elegantly writ, he asked the Judges boldly, whether they thought that Poem was the Product of a Distracted Brain ?

So We too, because they think us Madmen, and traduce us for Hereticks, as Men that have nothing to do with Christ or the Church of God, have thought that it could not be absurd or unprofitable, if we openly and freely lay down the Faith wherein we stand ; and all the Hope we have in Christ Jesus ; that all Men may see what are our Sentiments of every part of the Christian Religion, and may themselves determine, whether that Faith which they shall see confirmed by the Words of Christ, the Writings of the Apostles, the Testimonies of the Catholick Fathers, and the Examples of many Ages, be only the Extravagant Notion of Madmen, and the Conspiracy of Hereticks.

We Believe, therefore, that there is some one Nature and Divine Essence, which we call God, and that this is divided into Three equal Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, of the same Power, Majesty, Eternity, Divinity, and Substance ; and although these Three Persons are so Distinct, that neither the Father is Son, nor the Son Holy Ghost or Father ; that These, nevertheless, are One God, and that He Alone created the Heaven and the Earth, and all that therein is.

We believe that Jesus Christ, the Onely Son of the Eternal Father, did, as it was decreed before all Beginnings, when the Fulness of Time came, take upon him Flesh, and all the Humane Nature of that Blessed and Pure Virgin, that he might Reveal to Men the secret and hidden Will of his Father, which had lain conceal’d from Ages and Generations ; and that he might in a Humane Body perform the Mystery of our Redemption, and Nail to his Cross our Sins, and the Handwriting that was against us.

We Believe, that He being, for our sakes, Dead and Buried, Descended into Hell ; the Third Day, by Divine Power, Rose again from the Dead, after Forty Days, whilst his Disciples looked on, Ascended into Heaven, that he might fill all things ; and that he ( a ) placed that very Body in which he was Born, Lived, was despitefully Used, and underwent the most Exquisite Torments, and Bitter kind of Death, in which he Arose, and Ascended to the Right Hand of his Father, in Majesty and Glory, ( b ) Above all Principality, Power, Might and Dominion, and every Name that is named, not only in this World, but in That which is to come. That he now sits there, and will do ( c ) until the Times of Restitution of all things. And although the Majesty and Divinity of Christ is every where diffused ; yet, that his Body ( as ( d ) St. Augustine says ) can be but in One Place: That Christ Glorified his Body, but took not from it the Nature of a Body: and that Christ is not so to be affirmed to be God, as that we may deny him to be Man: and that ( as ( e ) Vigilius Martyr says ) Christ has left us in his Humane Nature, but not in his Divine ; and that ( f ) when he is Absent from us, under the Form of a Servant, yet he is always Present with us, under that of a God.

( a ) August. Tract. 50. in Joan.

( b ) Eph. 1. 21.

( c ) Acts. 3. 21.

( d ) August. Tract. 30. in Joan.

( e ) Ad Dardan.

( f ) Fulgentius ad Regem Thrasymundum.

From thence, we Believe that Christ will Return to execute publick Judgment on those he shall then find Alive, and on the Dead.

We Believe the Holy Ghost, who is the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity, to be very God ; not Made, nor Created, nor Begotten, but Proceeding from the Father and the Son, by some Means unknown to Men, and Inexpressible, that it is His Work to soften the Hardness of Men’s Hearts, when by the wholesome preaching of the Gospel, or some other Means, he is receiv’d into their Breasts: to Enlighten their Minds, and bring them to the Knowledge of God, into every Way of Truth, to Newness of Life, and Hope of Everlasting Salvation.

We Believe that there is One Church of God, and That not as formerly amongst the Jews, limited to some one Corner or Kingdom ; but that it is Catholick and Universal, and spread over the Face of the Whole Earth ; that there is now no Nation which can justly complain that it is excluded, and cannot belong to the Church and People of God: That That Church is the Kingdom, the Body, the Spouse of Christ: That Christ is the only Prince of that Kingdom, the onely Head of that Body, the only Bridegroom of that Spouse. That there are several Orders of Ministers in the Church ; some Deacons, some Priests, some Bishops ; to Whom the Instruction of the People, and the Care and the Administration of Religious Affairs is committed ; nevertheless that no one Man is, nor can be, the Supreme Head of All: For Christ himself is always present with his Church, and has no need of any Substitute to whom his full Authority should be Delegated: and that there can be no Man that can even comprehend the Universal Church, ( that is, all the Parts of the Whole Earth; ) much less can put it in Order, and rightly and conveniently Govern it. That the Apostles ( as ( a ) Saint Cyprian says ) were all Equal in Power, and that the rest had the very same Commission that St. Peter had: That it was equally said to them All, Feed my Flock ; to All, Go ye into all the World ; to All, Preach the Gospel. And ( as ( b ) St. Jerome says ) All Bishops, wheresover they be, whether at Rome, Eugubium, Constantinople, or Reggio, have Equal Authority, have the same Priesthood. And ( says St. Cyprian ) the Office of a Bishop is one, the whole of which is performed by every particular Bishop. And, according to the Opinion of the Nicene Council, the Bishop of Rome has no more Authority over the Church of God, than the other Patriarchs, of Alexandria, and Antioch. But the Bishop of Rome, who now takes all upon himself, unless he Performs his Duty, unless he Administers the Sacraments, unless he Instructs the People, Admonishes and Teaches, ought not only to be reckon’d no Bishop, but even no Priest. For the Title of Bishop ( as St. Augustine says ) implies Business to be done, and not only Honour to be received: So that he must own himself to be no Bishop, that would only have the Command, ( c ) and not the Duty ; but that neither He, nor any Man living, can be Head of the Church, or the Universal Bishop, any more than he can be the Bridegroom, the Light, the Salvation, the Life of the Church. For these Privileges and Titles belong properly to, and are consistent with Christ alone. Nor did ever any Bishop of Rome dare to presume to take so stately a Title upon him, before Phocas the Emperor’s time, ( who, we know, impiously made his way to the Empire by the Murder of his Sovereign Mauritius the Emperor, ) which was about the Six hundred and thirteenth Year after Christ’s coming. And the Council of Carthage very wisely ( d ) provided, that no Bishop should be styled the Supreme Bishop, or Chief Priest. Since therefore the Bishop of Rome will now be called nothing less, and assumes more Authority than belongs to him ; since he acts contrary to the Ancient Fathers, and their Councils, ( if he will believe his own Friend ( e ) Gregory, ) and takes upon him an Arrogant, Prophane, Sacrilegious, and Antichristian Title ; he is the King of Pride, he is Lucifer, who is not content to be Equal with his Brethren ; has renounc’d the Faith, and is the Fore-runner of Antichrist.

( a ) De Simplicitate Praelatorum.

( b ) Ad Evagrium.

( c ) 1. Tim. 3. 1, &c.

( d ) Cap. 47.

( e ) Gregorius, lib. 4. epist. 76, 78, 80.

We farther hold, that a Minister ought to be Lawfully Called, and Duly and Orderly Preferred to his Office in the Church of God ; and that no Man has Power to take upon him the Office of the Holy Ministry at his own Pleasure. Wherefore they wrong us the more, who are ever laying to our Charge, that with us nothing is done Decently and in Order, but all in a confused and tumultuous manner ; and that with us, all are Priests, all Teach, and all Interpret.

We affirm, that Christ has given to his Ministers the Power of Binding and Loosing, Opening and Shutting. And, that the Office of Absolution consists in This, that the Minister should, either by the Preaching of the Gospel, Offer, to truly Humble and Penitent Sinners, the Merits of Christ, the sure Pardon of their Sins, and hopes of Eternal Salvation ; or that, upon their sincere Repentance, he should Reconcile and Restore to the Congregation and Communion of the Faithful, such as have, by any notorious and scandalous Crime, given Offence to their Brethren, and in some sort Alienated themselves from the Society of the Church, and the Body of Christ. But we say, that he exercises the Power of Binding and Shutting, as often as he shuts the Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven against the Faithless and Stubborn, and threatens them with the Vengeance of God, and Eternal Punishment ; or by Publick Excommunication, drives them out of the Bosom of the Church. And God doth so well Approve of whatsoever his Ministers Determine after this Manner, that whatsoever is by their Means Loosed or Bound on Earth, the same will he Loose and Bind, and Confirm in Heaven. But the Keys that can Open and Shut the Kingdom of Heaven, We, with St. Chrysostom, call the Knowledge of the Scriptures ; with Turtullian, the Interpretation of the Law ; with Eusebius, the Word of God. And we say, that the Disciples of Christ received this Authority, not that they might hear the Private Confessions of the People, or listen to their Whispers, as all the Common Priests Now-a-days do, and do it after such a Manner, as if the whole Power and Use of the Keys consisted in That ; but that they might Go, that they might Teach, that they might Preach the Gospel, that they might be a sweet savour of Life unto Life, to Them that Believe ; unto Unbelievers and Infidels, a savour of Death unto Death ; that the Minds of Pious Persons being struck with a sense of their past Life, and of their Errors, after they began to Regard the Light of the Gospel, and to Believe in Christ, might be opened by the Word of God, as a Door with a Key: But that the Impious and Stubborn, and such as would not Believe and Return to the Right Way, might, as it were, be kept Locked and Shut up, and go on, as ( a ) St. Paul says, waxing worse and worse. This we think is the meaning of the Keys ; and that it is after This Manner that Mens Consciences are opened and shut. We say that the Priest is indeed a Judge in This Case, but that he has no right to claim any Authority, as ( b ) St. Ambrose says: And therefore Christ Rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their Carelessness in Teaching, in these Words, ( c ) Woe unto ye, says he, Scribes and Pharisees ; for ye have taken away the Key of Knowledge, and ( d ) shut the Kingdom of Heaven against Men. And since the Key, by which the Way to the Kingdom of God is opened to us, be the Word of the Gospel, and the Interpretation of the Law and the Scriptures ; where the Word is not, there we Deny the Key to be: and since one Word is given to us All, and we All have one Key, we affirm that the Power of all Ministers, as to Opening or Shutting, is but one. We Deny even the Pope himself, notwithstanding his Flatterers Please him with These Words, ( e ) I will give unto Thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, as if they were His alone, and no Man else had any Right to them, to Open and Shut, or to have the Keys at all, unless he make it his care, that Mens Consciences may become flexible, and yield to the Word of God. And though he do Teach and Instruct the People, as would to God he would once to do as he ought, and persuade himself that it is some Part at least of his Duty so to do, yet we deny his Key to be either better in any respect, or of some more force than other Men’s. For who Chose him out from among the rest ? Who Taught him to be more expert at Opening, or to Absolve better than his Brethren ?

( a ) 2 Tim. 3. 13.

( b ) De Poeniten. Dist. 1, 6. Verbum Dei.

( c ) Luke 11. 52.

( d ) Matth 23. 13.

( e ) Matth 16. 19.

We hold Matrimony, in all States and Conditions of Men, in the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Holy Martyrs, and in the Ministers and Bishops of the Church, to be both Sacred and Honourable ; and that, as ( a ) St. Chrysostom says, It is, both in Law and Equity, consistent with the Episcopal Dignity ; and that, as St. ( b ) Sozomen says of Spiridion, and Nazianzene of his own Father, Marriage does not render a Devout and Diligent Bishop the Less, but rather the More capable of doing Good in the Service of the Ministry. And that That Law which deprives Men, by force of their Liberty in This Case, and obliges them, against their Will, to a Single Life, is, as St. Paul says, ( c ) The Doctrine of Devils ; and that from thence, as the Bishop of Augusta, Faber, Abbas Panormitanus, Latomus, the Tripartite Work which is annexed to the Second Volume of the Councils, and others of the Pope’s own Champions ; the very thing itself, and all Histories, acknowledge, an incredible Licentiousness of Life and Corruption of Manners in the Ministers of God, and the most detestable Enormities have followed. And it was rightly said by Pius ( d ) the Second Bishop of Rome, that he saw many Reasons why Priests should be Forbid Marriage, but Many More, and much more Weighty ones, why they should be Allowed it.

( a ) in Titum primo, hom. 11.

( b ) Theoph. ad Titum. 10. cap. 5. In monodia sua super Basilium.

( c ) 1. Tim. 4. 1, 3.

( d ) Platina. in Pii 2di. Vita.

We Receive and Embrace all the Canonical Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. And we Thank God that he has raised us up a Light, which we might ever have before our Eyes, lest, by the Subtilty of Man, or the Snares of the Devil, we should be led into Errors and Falshoods. We declare them to be the Voice from Heaven, by which God makes known his Will to us ; that in them alone Men can find Rest unto their Souls ; that in them, as Origen, St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, and Cyril have taught us, are fully comprehended all things necessary to Salvation ; that they are the ( a ) Power of God unto Salvation ; the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, on which the Church of God is built ; that They are the most sure Rule by which we may Try whether it Wavers or Errs, and to which all Ecclesiastical Doctrine ought to be accountable ; that against them no Law, Ordinance, or Custom whatsoever ought to be heard ; nay, tho’ St. Paul himself, or an ( b ) Angel from Heaven, should come and preach any other Gospel.

( a ) Rom. 1. 16.

( b ) Gal. 1. 8.

We Receive the Sacraments of the Church, that is to say, certain sacred Signs and Ceremonies, which Christ has commanded us to use, that by Them, he might set forth unto us the Mysteries of our Salvation, more strongly confirmed the Faith which we have in his Blood, and seal his Grace in our Hearts. And these, we, with Tertullian, Origen, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, Dionysius, and the rest of the Catholick Fathers, call Figures, Signs, Badges, Types, Antitypes, Forms, Seals, Signets, Similitudes, Patterns, Representations, Remembrances, and Memoirs.

Nor do we scruple to say also with them that these are certain visible Words, Seals of Justice, Tokens of Grace. And we do expressly declare that the Body and Blood of our Lord are verily and indeed given to the Faithful, in the Lord’s Supper ; the Flesh of the Son of God Quickning our Souls, Meat from Heaven, the Food of Immortality, Grace, Truth, and Life ; and that it is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, by Partaking of which, we are Quickned, Strengthned, and Fed unto Immortality, and by which we are Joined, United, and Incorporated with Christ, so that we may Abide in Him, and He in us.

We further Acknowledge, that there are Two Sacraments properly so called ; Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. For so many we see delivered to us, and hallowed by Christ, and approv’d of by the Ancient Fathers, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine.

And that Baptism is the Sacrament of the Remission of Sins, of that Washing which we have in Christ’s Blood ; and that it is not to be denied to any Body that will profess the Name of Christ ; not even to the Infants of Christians, forasmuch as they are Born in Sin, and do belong to the People of God.

We declare the Lord’s Supper to be a Sacrament, that is to say, an Outward and Visible Sign of the Body and Blood of Christ, wherein the Death of Christ, and his Resurrection, and whatsoever he did in the Flesh, is, in a manner, set before our Eyes ; that we may give Thanks for his Death, and our Salvation ; and, by the Frequent Receiving of the Sacraments, may continue a Lively sense of it in our Minds ; that we may be Nourished with the Body and Blood of Christ, unto the Hope of a Resurrection and Eternal Life ; and may most assuredly Believe that our Souls are Fed with the Body and Blood of Christ, as our Bodies are with the Bread and Wine. That to this Feast the People should be Invited, that they may Communicate amongst themselves, and publickly declare and testify both the Society that is among them, and the Hope which they have in Christ Jesus: Therefore such as would only Look on, and refuse to Partake of the Holy Communion, ( a ) the Ancient Fathers, and Romish Bishops in the Primitive Church, before there was any such Thing as Private Mass, Excommunicated as Heathens, and Reprobates. Nor was there any Christian at that Time who Communicated alone, whilst others looked on. And so ( b ) Calixtus formerly Decreed, that after the Consecration, all should Communicate, unless they had rather keep without the Church-Doors ; For this, says he, ( c ) was the Command of the Apostles, and the holy Church of Rome keeps it: And that the Sacrament should be given in Both Kinds to all that came to the Communion ; for so Christ commanded, the Apostles every where ordained, ( d ) and all the Ancient Fathers, and Catholick Bishops have followed their Example. And if any one does otherwise, he, says Gelasius, is guilty of Sacrilege. And therefore do we now accuse our Adversaries of Impiety and Sacrilege, who having quite cast off, and forbid the Communion, without the Word of God, without the Authority of any Ancient Council, without any Catholick Father, without the Example of the Primitive Church, and without any Reason, defend their Private Masses, and the maiming of the Sacraments ; and do all this not only contrary to the express Command of Christ, but also in Opposition to all Antiquity.

( a ) Chrysost. ad. Ephes. Ser. 3. de Cons. Dist. 1. Cap. omnes.

( b ) Dist. 2. Cap. Seculares.

( c ) De Cons. Dist. 2. Cap. per Acta.

( d ) De Cons. dist. 1. Cap. Comperimus.

The Bread and Wine, we affirm to be Holy and Heavenly Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ ; and that in Them, Christ himself, the True Bread of Eternal Life, is so present with us, that, by Faith we do Verily and Indeed Take and Receive his Body and Blood: Not that we Believe the Nature of the Bread and Wine to be changed and to vanish quite away, as many in these latter Days have Dreamed, and could never yet agree amongst themselves about it ; for Christ never designed that the Wheaten Bread should lay aside its own Nature, and invest itself with a kind of New Divinity ; but rather that it might change us, and, as ( a ) Theophylact words it, might Transform us into his Body. What can be more plain than that Saying of St. Ambrose, ( b ) The bread and Wine are what they were, and yet are changed into something else ? Or that of ( c ) Gelasius, Neither the Substance of the Bread, nor the Nature of the Wine cease to be: Or of ( d ) Theodoret, After the Consecration the Mystical Signs do not cast off their own Nature ; for they remain in their former Substance, Form, and Kind. Or of St. Augustine ( e ) , That which you see is Bread and Wine, and is manifest to the sight ; but as your Faith would understand it, the Bread is the Body of Christ, the Wine his Blood: Or of Origen ( f ) , That Bread which is sanctified by the Word of God, as to the Material Substance of it, goeth into the Belly, and is cast out into the Draught. Or what Christ said, not only after the Consecration, but after the Administration too, of the Cup, ( g ) I will not drink any more of the Fruit of the Vine ? For it is manifest that Wine, not Blood, is the Fruit of the Vine. Nor yet do say these things with an intent to make light of the Lord’s Supper, as if there were nothing in it but a dull Ceremony, which many of our Enemies falsly alledge against us. For we affirm Christ to be really and truly present in the Sacraments ; in Baptism, that we may put him on ; in his Supper, that we may by Faith and Spirit eat him, and from his Blood and Cross may have everlasting Life: And this we affirm to be done, not slightly and ineffectually, but in Truth and Reality. For though we have not Christ actually between our Teeth, yet we have him and eat him by Faith, by Understanding, and Spirit. And that is no empty Faith which comprehends Christ ; nor that Devotion cool, that receives him with Understanding, Faith, and Spirit. For Christ is so wholly and satisfactorily offered and given to us in those holy Mysteries, that we thoroughly know our selves to be Flesh of his Flesh, Bone of his Bone, and that Christ dwelleth in us, and we in him.

( a ) In Joan. cap. 6.

( b ) De sacra: lib. 4. cap. 4.

( c ) In Dialog. 1. & 2.

( d ) In Sermo: ad Infantes.

( e ) De Cons. dist. 2. cap. manducant.

( f ) In Mat. 19.

( g ) Luke 22. 18.

Therefore in performing these Holy Mysteries, the People are, with good Reason ( a ) , exhorted, before they come to the Holy Communion, to lift up their Hearts, and to direct their Minds to Heaven ; because he is there from whom we must receive Lift and Nourishment. And St. Cyril tells us, that when we are about to receive these Holy Mysteries, we must banish all gross Imaginations. And the Council of Nice, as some produce it in Greek, plainly warns us, that we do not meanly set our Affections on the Objects of Bread and Wine. And we, according to St. Jerome, liken the Body of Christ to a dead Carcase, and our selves to Eagles, thereby meaning, that we must soar aloft if we would approach the Body of Christ. For this is a Feast for Eagles, not for Jays. This Bread, says ( b ) St. Cyprian, is Food for the Soul, not for the Body. And says ( c ) St. Augustine, How shall I hold him who is absent ? How can I reach my Hand up to Heaven, and lay hold on him that sitteth there ? Reach thither thy Faith, says he, and thou hast hold on him.

( a ) De Consect. Dist. 1. cap. Quando.

( b ) De Coena Domini.

( c ) In Joan. Tract. 52.

But our Church cannot bear with this Buying and Selling of Masses, the Procession, and Adoration of the Bread, and several other such Follies which are both Idolatrous and Blasphemous, and which cannot be proved to have been delivered to us by Christ and his Apostles: And we justly censure the Popes of Rome, who after a new Fashion, without the Authority of the Word of God, or of the Holy Fathers, without any Precedent, except the Persians Fire, or the Relicks of Isis, do not only bring forth the Sacramental Bread to be Worshiped and Adored, ( a ) but cause it to be carried before them upon a pacing Nag, whenever they have a mind to take a Journey of Pleasure ; so exposing the Sacraments of Christ as a Show and solemn Sight, and rendering that, whereby the Death of Christ ought to be inculcated into our Hearts, and the Mysteries of our Redemption celebrated with all Holiness and Reverence, nothing but a mad Spectacle and an idle Pastime for the People. And besides tell, which sometimes silly credulous People are seduced to believe, that They are able, by their Masses, to bestow upon and apply to any Man ( oftentimes to such as neither think, nor apprehend any thing of the Matter ) all the Merits of Christ’s Death, which is no less Heathenish than silly and Ridiculous. For it is our Faith alone that applies to us the Death and Cross of Christ, and not the Act of the Priest: It is Faith in the Sacraments, says ( b ) St. Augustine, not the Sacraments, that justifies. And, says Origen, Christ is the Priest, the Propitiation, and the Sacrifice ; which Propitiation comes to every one through Faith. ( c ) And by this means we affirm that, without Faith, the Sacraments of Christ are of no Benefit to the Living ; much less to the Dead. ( d ) As for their Purgatory, they so much brag on, though we know it is no new Invention ; yet it is but a silly Notion, and no other than an old Woman’s Fable. ( e ) St. Augustine, indeed, once says there is such a Place ; one while he does not deny but that it may be ; another while he makes a Doubt of it ; another, he positively declares against it, in imputes the Errour to a natural Kindness Men have for their Friends deceased. But yet the Priests have reaped so plentiful a Harvest from this one Errour, that Masses being exposed to publick Sale in all Places, the Temples of God are again become the Seats of the Money-Changers, and poor deluded Wretches were made to think it the most gainful Merchandise that a Man can trade in ; as, indeed it was to the Priests.

( a ) Libro de Ceremoniis Ecclesiae Romanae.

( b ) Ad Roman. lib. 3. cap. 3.

( c ) August. in. Psal. 85. in Enchiridio. cap. 6, 7.

( d ) De Civitate Dei, lib. 11. cap. 26.

( e ) Contra Pelagianos, lib. hipognosticon, 5.

Of the multitude of vain and empty Ceremonies, we are sensible how grievously ( a ) St. Augustine complain’d in his Time. And therefore we have left off a great many of them, which we knew then to be burdensome to the Consciences of Men, and to the Church of God.

( a ) Ad Joan. Epist. 119.

Nevertheless we keep and esteem not onely Those which we know to have been delivered down to us from the Apostles ; but also some others, which we thought might be allowed of without any Offence to the Church: Because we had a mind that in a Holy Congregation All things might, according to ( a ) St. Paul’s Command, be done decently and in order. But all such as we found to be very superstitious, or needless, ridiculous or unseemly, contradictory to the Holy Scriptures, or offensive to sober and discreet Persons, of which there is an infinite Number now in use amongst those of the Church of Rome, we have without any Exception utterly rejected: We would not have the Worship of God any longer defiled with such kind of Fooleries.

( a ) 1. Cor. 14. 40.

We make our Prayers, as is fitting, in a Language understood by the whole Congregation ; that the People may, as ( a ) St. Paul advises, receive Common Benefit from the Common-Prayer: As all the Holy Fathers and Catholick Bishops both in the Old and New Testament, prayed themselves, and taught the People, lest, as St. Augustine says, we seem, like Jays and Parrots, to speak what we our selves do not understand.

( a ) 1 Cor. 14.

We have no other Mediator to make Intercession for us to God the Father, but Jesus Christ, in whose Name alone we have all our Petitions granted of the Father. And it is a shameful and down-right Heathenish Practice, which we see every where in the Churches of our Churches of our Adversaries, not only to have a great many Mediators, and that without the least Authority from the Word of God ( so that, as ( a ) Jeremiah says, the Number of Saints equals, if not exceeds, that of Cities, and poor Wretches do not know which they had best to apply themselves to: And though they are innumerable, yet These People assign every one his peculiar Office and Duty, what they are to ask, what to give, and what to bring to pass: ) But also ( b ) impudently as well as impiously to call upon the Virgin-Mother to remember she is a Mother, to lay her Commands upon her Son, and to use her Authority over him.

( a ) Jer. 2. 28. and 11. 13.

( b ) Bernardus.

We say that Man is born, and lives, in Sin ; that no one can truly say his Heart is clean ; but that the most righteous Man amongst us is an unprofitable Servant ; that the Law of God is perfect, and requires of us a full perfect Obedience ; that it is impossible for us to fulfil it in this Life ; and that no Man upon the Face of the Earth can be justified in the Sight of God by his own Merits ; and therefore that the Mercy of our Father, through Jesus Christ, is our only Refuge, and to be firmly persuaded that He is the Propitiation for our Sins ; that by his Blood all our Spots are washed away ; that he has set all things right by the Blood of his Cross, that he by That one Sacrifice which he once offered upon the Cross fulfilled all things, and upon that account, when he gave up the Ghost, said, ( a ) It is finished: As if he would signify, that the Ransom was fully paid for the Sins of Mankind.

( a ) John 19. 30.

If there be any that think This Sacrifice not sufficient, let them go, in God’s Name, and seek a better. We knowing this to be the only one, are content with it, and expect no other: We know that it was to be but once offered, and therefore do not command it to be renewed ; that it was complete in all Points, and therefore do not ordain a continual Succession of Offerings.

But though we forbid any the least Dependance on our own Works and Merits, and lay the whole Grounds of our Salvation upon Christ alone, yet we do not thereby encourage a loose and dissolute Life ; as if to be Baptized only, and to Believe, were enough for any Christian, and there were nothing else required of him: True Faith is Lively, and cannot be idle.

Thus therefore we instruct the People, that God hath not called us to Luxury and Wantonness ; but, as ( a ) St. Paul says, unto Good Works, that we should walk in them: that he hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness ; that we should serve the Living God, should clear our selves of the Dregs of Sin, and Work out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling, that it may appear that the Spirit of Sanctification is in our Bodies, and that Christ himself, by Faith, dwelleth in our Hearts.

( a ) Ephes. 2. 10.

Lastly ; We believe that this very Body of ours in which we live, though at our Death it return to Dust, yet will at the Last day be restored to Life, through the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in us ; and that then whatsoever we suffer here in the mean time for His sake, Christ will wipe away all Tears from our Eyes ; and that we shall thro’ him enjoy Everlasting Life, and remain with him in Glory for ever. Amen.

These are those dreadful Heresies, for which the Pope, at this Day, condemns great part of the World unheard. His Suit should rather have been commenced against Christ, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers ; for these Things did not only proceed from them, but it was by them also that they were ordained ; unless these Men will tell us ( as perhaps they will ) that Christ never instituted the Holy Communion to be distributed amongst the Faithful ; or that the Apostles of Christ, and the Holy Father, said Private Mass in every Corner of the Temples ten or twenty times a Day ; or that Christ and his Apostles forbid all the Laity the Sacrament of his Blood ; or that what they do at this Day every-where practice ( and so that they condemn every one for an Heretick that does otherwise ) is not called Sacrilege, by Gelasius one of their own Doctors ; or that these be not the very Words of St. Ambrose St. Augustine, Gelasius, Theodoret, St. Chrysostom, and Origen ; The Bread and Wine in the Sacraments remain the same they were. That which you see upon the Holy Table is Bread ; The Substance of the Bread, and the nature of the Wine, do not cease to be ; the Bread does not change its Nature and Substance: The same Bread, as to the Material Substance of it goes into the Belly, and is cast out into the Draught. Or that Christ, his Apostles, and the Holy Fathers did not Pray in a Tongue that was understood of the People ; or that Christ did not, by that Sacrifice of himself once made, fulfil all Things ; or that That Sacrifice was imperfect, and that we have now need of another. All these Things they must of Necessity say, unless they will rather choose to say, that all Law and Right is locked up in the Treasury of the Pope’s breast ; and that, as ( a ) one of his Creatures did not stick to say formerly, he can dispense against the Apostles, a Council, and the Canons of the Apostles ; and that he is not subject to the Examples, Institutions, and Laws of Christ.

( a ) Dist. 36. lector in Glossa dist. 81. Presbyter.

These Things we learned from Christ, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers, and do sincerely and conscientiously teach the same to the People ; for which Reason we are now styled Hereticks, by the Head of the Church, forsooth.

Good God ! Have then Christ himself, the Apostles, and so many Fathers, altogether erred ? Have Origen, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, Gelasius, and Theodoret, all been Deserters of the Catholick Faith ? Was so great a Consent of so many ancient Bishops and learned Men, nothing else but a Conspiracy of Hereticks ? Or is that which was laudable in them, now condemned in us ? And is that which was in them accounted Catholick, the Affections of Men only being changed, suddenly become Schismatical ? Or shall that which was formerly an undoubted Truth, now all on a sudden, because it don’t please them, become false ? Let them produce another Gospel then, or show some Reason why those Rites and Ceremonies, which have so long been publickly observed and approved of in the Church of God, should now at last be recall’d. We are very sensible that That same Word which was Revealed by Christ, and Propagated by his Apostles, is sufficient for our Salvation, and for the Defence of all Truth, and the confounding of all heresy. By that alone we condemn all kind of ancient Heresies, which they say we have fetch’d again from Hell. We pronounce damnation against the Arians, Eutychians, Marcionites, Ebionites, Valentinians, Carpocratians, Tatians, Novatians, and in one word, all that have any wicked Notion either of God the Father, Christ, the Holy Ghost, or any other Point of the Christian Religion ; because we can confute them from the Gospel of Christ, and do defy them to the Gates of Hell: And not only so, but if they happen to break out any-where, and betray themselves, we do strictly and severely restrain them by lawful and Civil Punishments. We confess indeed that there have been, even from the very beginning of the Gospel, some new and strange Sects stirring, such as the Anabaptists, Libertines, Mennonians, Zwenkfeldians. But thank God, the World may plainly see, that these Monsters are not of our Breeding, Educating, or Nourishing. Be so kind, whoever thou art that suspects it, as to read our Books ; they are to be bought any-where. What was there ever in any of our Writings, that could be made to appear to favour their Madness ? I say, there is no Nation at this Day so free from such kind of Pestilences as these, where the Gospel is freely and publickly Preached. So that if they seriously consider the Matter, this is a strong Argument that it is the Truth of the Gospel which we preach: For Tares are seldom known to spring up where there is no Wheat, nor is Chaff found where there is no Grain. Who is ignorant of what an infinite Number of Heresies sprang up all together at the first Propagation of the Gospel, even in the Apostles Times ? And before that, who ever heard of Simon, Menander, Saturninus, Basilides, Carpocrates, Cerinthus, Ebion, Valentinus, Secundus, Marcosius, Colorbasius, Heracleo, Lucianus, Severus ? But to what Purpose do I mention those ? Epiphanius reckons up Fourscore several Heresies, St. Augustine more, that sprang up all at once, at the same time with the Gospel. What then ? Was the Gospel e’er the less Gospel, because some Heresies sprang up at the same Time with it ? Or was Christ for That Reason not Christ ?

Nevertheless We have not, as I said, so great a Crop of them amongst us, who openly and freely teach the Gospel. It is amongst our Adversaries, in Darkness and Obscurity, that these Plagues arise and get ground, where Truth is Cruelly and Tyrannically oppressed, and not suffered to appear but in Corners, and in private Meetings. Let them put it to the trial ; let them but give a Free Course to the Gospel, let the Truth of Jesus Christ shine out and disperse its Rays over the whole Earth ; they will presently see those Clouds immediately vanish before the Light of the Gospel, as the Darkness of the Night at the Rising of the Sun. For we, it is plain, daily suppress and expel those Heresies, which they falsly accuse us of favouring and supporting, whilst they lie still, and give themselves up to their Ease.

But since they are so ready to tell us of being divided into several Sects, and how some of us will be called Lutherans, some Zuinglians, &c. and that we could never yet agree amongst our selves about the Sum of our Doctrine ? What would they have said, if they had lived in the First Ages of the Apostles, and Holy Fathers ? When one cried I am of Paul ; another, I of Cephas ; another, I of Apollos ; when Paul rebuked Peter ; when Barnabas fell out with Paul, and left him ; when, as Origen says, there were so many different Sects amongst Christians, that they had nothing but the Name of Christians common amongst them, nor any thing else whereby they might be distinguished to be Christians: And, as Socrates says, their Factions and Divisions were become the Subject of the Theatres: And when, as the Emperor Constantine mentions, there were so many Parties and Quarrels in the Church, that That was by far the greatest Calamity he ever knew: When Theophilus, Epiphanius, St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, Ruffinus, St. Jerome, being all Christians, all Fathers, and all Catholicks, were inveterate and implacable Enemies: When, as Nazianzene says, the Members of the same Body destroyed one another: When the Eastern and Western Churches were at Variance about the Leavened Bread, and the observing of Easter, Matters of no very great Consequence: When, in every Council, New Creeds and New Orders were invented ? What would these Men have said then ? Which Party would they chiefly have sided with ? Whom would they have forsaken ? What Gospel would they have given Credit to ? Whom would they have esteemed Hereticks, and whom Catholicks ? What a Disturbance is there now about the two Names only of Luther and Zuinglius ? Because These Two Men yet differ about some one Point of Religion, must We therefore judge them both to be in the wrong, neither of them to have the Gospel, or to preach true Doctrine ?

But, O good God, what sort of Men are These that thus severely censure our Differences ? Do they all agree so well among themselves ? Are every one of Them agreed in what they shall follow ? Have there never been any Animosities, nor any Cavils amongst Them ? Why then do the Scotists and Thomists agree no better about their Meritum congrui and Meritum condigni, about Original Sin in the Blessed Virgin, and a solemn and single Vow ? Why do the Canonists and Schoolmen differ about Auricular Confession, whether it be of Humane or Divine Institution ? Why does Albertus Pighius differ from Cajetanus, Thomas from Lombard, Scotus from Thomas, Ochamus from Scotus, their Nominals from their Reals ? To say nothing of the ( a ) many Differences amongst the Monks and Friars ( how some of them place all their Religion in living upon Fish, others upon Herbs ; some in wearing of Shoes, some of Sandals ; some in going in Linnen, others in Woollen ; how some of them are called White, some Black ; some shaved broader, some narrower ; some wear Pattens, some go barefoot ; some Girt, and some not: ) They ought to consider, how some of them hold that the Body of Christ is present in the Lord’s Supper naturally ; and some of them deny it ; how some of them affirm that the Body of Christ is actually broken between the Teeth in the Holy Communion ; others again say no ; some declare the Body of Christ to be perfect, as to its Quantity in the Sacrament ; others again contradict it ; some say that Christ consecrated with a certain Divine Power, others by Blessing ; some ( b ) by Pronouncing Five solemn Words, others by Repeating the same Five Words ; some by the Demonstrative [Hoc] in those Five Words understand the Wheaten Bread, others will have it a certain Individuum Vagum, as they call it ( c ) ; some say that Dogs and Mice may really eat the very Body of Christ, others positively deny it ; some will have it that the Accidents of the Bread and Wine may nourish ( d ) , others are of opinion that the Substance of them returns. What need there any more Instances ? It would be needless and tedious to recite them all. So uncertain and liable to Disputes is the whole Scheme of These Mens Religion and Doctrine, even amongst Themselves, the First Founders and Propagators of it. They scarce ever have any Agreement amongst themselves, unless it be, like the Pharisees and Saducees, or Herod and Pilate, in Former Times, to conspire against Christ.

( a ) Ste. Gardinerus in sophistica Diaboli. Richard. Faber. Recantatio Berengarii, Schola & Glossa Gnimundus. De Consec. dist. 2. Ego Beren.

( b ) Thomas.

( c ) Gardiner.

( d ) De Consec. dist. 2. Species Gloss.

Let them therefore go about their own Business, and settle Peace at home among Themselves. Unity and Concord is certainly most agreeable to Religion. Though That is not always an infallible Sign of the Church of God. For there was the most firm Agreement amongst those that worshipped the Golden Calf, and amongst them who with one Voice cried out against our Saviour Jesus Christ, Crucify him, Crucify him. Nor can it be said, that, because the Corinthians had some Differences amongst themselves, or because Paul and Peter, Barnabas and Paul, and other Christians, disagreed a little about some Points in the very Infancy of the Gospel, they therefore had not the Church of God amongst them. They whom these Men out of Malice call Zuinglians and Lutherans ( but are indeed Good Christians, Friends, and Brethren, ) do not disagree about the Principles or Fundamentals of our Religion, about God, about Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Means of Justification, or Eternal Life ; but only about one Question, which is of no great moment neither. Nor do we despair, or in the least doubt, but that we shall see it agreed on in a very short Time: And that, if there be any that entertain other Notions than are Right, God will so Reveal the Truth unto them, that, all Affections and Distinctions being laid aside, examining and weighing the whole Matter with more Judgment, as it was formerly in the Council of Chalcedon, all the Causes and Seeds of Dissention will be utterly Rooted out and Buried for ever αμνησίαι , in Oblivion. Which God Almighty grant.

But it is very hard we should be represented as Reprobates, that have cast off all Thoughts of Religion ; though we ought not to be much moved at it, since the very Authors of the Scandal themselves know it to be a false Reproach. For we call Justin Martyr to witness, that at the First Preaching of the Gospel, and Professing of the Name of Christ, the Christians were call’d άθεοι , Atheists. And when Polycarp was brought to Judgment, the People urged the Proconsul to cut off All who professed the Gospel, in These Words, ( a ) αιρε τως αθηως , Rid us of these wicked People, that have no God. Not that the Christians in Reality had no God, but because they would not worship Sticks and Stones, the then fashionable Deities. It is now manifest enough to all the World, how We, and those that belong to us, have suffered by them for God onely and our Religion. They have cast us into Prisons, into Water, and into Fire, and they have wallowed in our Blood ; not because we were Adulterers, Robbers, or Murderers ; but only because we acknowledg’d the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and trusted in the Living God ; and because we too justly ( God knows ) complained that the Laws of God were violated for their own vain Traditions ; and that our Adversaries wilfully and obstinately condemned the Commandments of God, opposed the Gospel, and were Enemies to the Cross of Christ.

( a ) Euseb. Lib. 4. cap. 15.

Wherefore, when they found that they could not with Justice alledge any thing against our Doctrine, they were resolv’d to pick a Quarrel with our Morals: They accused us of condemning all good Actions, of letting in all Licentiousness and Sensuality, and of seducing the People from all Virtuous Inclinations. And the Truth is, such is, and ever has been, the Life of all, even of Religious Men and Good Christians, that one might always find something wanting even in the very Best and Purest Conversation: And we are all so prone to Evil, so inclinable to Suspicion, that not only Those things which were never done, but even such as never once enter’d into he Thoughts of Men, are hearkened to and Believed to be True. And, as a small Stain is easily discern’d in the Whitest Garment, so is the least Failure soon taken notice of in a Man of the Purest Life and Conversation. Nor do we take all those, that do at this Time embrace the Doctrine of the Gospel, for Angels, Lambs without Blemish and without Spot: Or our Adversaries to be so Blind, but that if there be any Fault to be found in us, they will spy it with half an Eye ; or so favourable, as to make the best of any thing ; or so ingenuous, as to look at home, and weigh our Behaviour by their own. If we would search into the Matter, we know that even in the Apostle’s Time there were Christians upon whose account the Name of the Lord was Blasphemed and Reviled among the Gentiles.

Constantius the Emperour complains, as we read in Sozomen ( a ) , that there were many, who, after they had embraced the Christian Religion, grew worse and worse. And St. Cyprian, in a melancholy Oration, sets forth the Corruption of that Age. The Discipline, says he, which the Apostles left us, was corrupted with Idleness and a long Rest. Every one’s care was to increase his Estate, and quite forgetting either what the Believers had done in the Apostles Days, or what it was always their Duty to do, they gave themselve sup to an insatiable Covetousness, and laboured for nothing but to get Wealth. There was no Devotion in their Priests, no sound Faith in their Ministers, no Charity show’d in Good Works, nor so much as the Form of Godliness in their Behaviour. Effeminacy in the Men, counterfeit Beauty in the Women. And before him, Tertullian ; What Wretches, says he, are we who are now called Christians ! we practice Heathenism under the Name of Christianity.

( a ) De Lapsis.

Lastly, to pass by the rest, Gregory Nazianzene gives this account of the miserable State they were in, in His Time: Our own Vices, says he, render us odious to the Heathens, and we are become the wonder not only of Men and Angels, but also of all the Ungodly. This was the State of the Church of God when the Light of the Gospel began to appear, when the Rage of Tyrants was not yet abated, nor the Sword taken from the Christians Necks. nor is it any strange thing that Men should be Men, though they are called by the Name of Christians.

But amidst their spiteful and malicious Reflections upon us, do they never think of looking at home ? Can we who find leisure to pry into the Affairs of Germany and England, at such a distance, either forget, or be ignorant how matters go at Rome ? Are we accused by Those, whose own Lives a man cannot mention without a Blush ?

It is not our Intention at Present, to Revive the Memory of those Crimes which ought rather to be buried and forgotten with their Authors ; that is not consistent either with our Religion, with our Modesty, or with the Regard we have to Decency. But surely, ( a ) He who will be call’d the Vicar of Christ and the Head of the Church, who hears, who sees, and ( for we will say no more ) who suffers These Things at Rome, may easily Reflect on the Nature of them. Let him Recollect himself ; let him Remember that They are his own Canonists who taught the People that simple Fornication is no Sin ; as if they had taken Terence for Gospel, where Mitio speaks to this effect, Non est peccatum mihi crede, adolescentulum scortari, It is no fault, Believe me, for a young Man to follow Mistresses. Let him consider, They were Men of his Religion, who Decreed that a Priest should not be suspended for Fornication. Let him Remember that Cardinal Compegius, Albertus Pighius, and many others of his own sort, taught that the Priest that keeps a Miss, leads a much more holy and chaste Life, than he that marries a Wife. It is to be hoped he has not forgot that there are many thousand Courtesans in Rome, and that he receives from them the yearly Tribute of Three Thousand Ducats. He cannot forget the lewd Houses which he himself Publickly maintains in Rome, and the filthy Gain, with which he most shamefully serves his own Pleasures. Were Religion and Piety then entirely safe at Rome, when ( b ) Joan, a Woman more advanced in Years than Virtue, was Pope, and took upon her to be Head of the Church ? And when for having, two Years together, in possession of the Holy Chair, prostituted herself, she was at last, going in Procession round the City, in the Presence of her Cardinals and Bishops, Publickly delivered of a Child, in the open Streets ?

( a ) Johannes de Magistris, de Temperantia 3. Quaest. 7. lata extra de Bigamis. Quia circa.

( b ) Statua ejusdem foeminae parturientis adhuc Roma est.

But to what purpose did we mention Courtesans and Procurers ? that is now a Common and Publick, and Gainful Sin in Rome. The Ladies of Pleasure are not kept at that distance now as they were formerly, when they were forced to lie perdue ( a ) in the Suburbs hooded and muffled up ; ( b ) but they dwell in Palaces, appear in all Publick Places Barefaced, as if they were not only a Lawful, but a Commendable Way of Living. In short, the whole World is by This Time well acquainted with their Licentiousness. ( c ) St. Bernard, with equal Freedom and Truth, speaks thus of the Pope and his Family: Thy Court, says he, Receives Good Men, but makes none such. There Vice thrives and flourishes, and Virtue starves. And the Author of the Tripartite Work annexed to the Council of Lateran, whoever he was, writes thus ; To such a height is the Luxury of the Clergy in general, not only of the Priests, but even of the Prelates and Bishops at This Day arrived, as it would astonish one to hear of.

( a ) Gen. 38. 14, 15.

( b ) In concilio delectorum Cardinalium, tom. 3.

( c ) De consideratione in Eugenium.

But These Things are not only grown into Use, and so by long Practice and Custom approved of ( as all the rest of their Actions in a manner are ) but they are now also old and stale. For who has not heard of the wicked Design ( a ) of Peter Aloisius, Son to Paul the Third, against Cosmus Cherius Bishop of Fanum ? What John Casa Archbishop of Beneventum, the Pope’s Legate at Venice, has writ of a most abominable Wickedness, and set forth with the most filthy and lewd Eloquence, that which ought not to be once named amongst us ? Who has not heard how ( b ) Alphonsus Diazius, a Spaniard, being sent from Rome into Germany for that purpose, impiously and villanously murdered his own Brother John Diazius, a Man of a most holy and exemplary Life, only because he had embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and would not Return to the Church of Rome ? But such Crimes as these, they say, may sometimes happen in the very Best Governed Commonwealth, even against the Will of the Magistrates ; and are avenged by wholesome Laws.

( a ) Johan. Sleidan, lib. 19.

( b ) Johan. Sleidan, lib. 17. A. 1546.

We grant it ; but what good Laws have been put in Execution against These Villanies ? Peter Aloisius having been guilty of that detestable Fact beforementioned, was ever after after the Darling Favourite of his Father Paul the Third. Diazius having Murdered his own Brother, was by the Pope himself screened from the Severity of good Laws. John Casa, Archbishop of Beneventum, is yet living, nay, and at Rome too, in the Presence of the most Holy Father. Infinite Numbers of our Brethren have fallen Sacrifices to their Fury, only because they have truly and sincerely Believed in Christ Jesus. But of that Prodigious Multitude of Lewd Women, Whoremongers, and Adulterers, what one have they, I do not say, put to death, but either excommunicated, or so much as offered to make an Example of ? Are Rioting, Adultery, Procuring, Whoredom, Parricide, Incest, and other more abominable Practices, no Crimes at Rome ? or if they are, can they be so easily, so calmly born, as if there were no Crime in them at all, by the Vicar of Christ, by the Successor of St. Peter, by the most Holy Father, and that too in the City of Rome, in the Tower of Holiness ?

O Holy Scribes and Pharisees, who never were arrived to such a Pitch of Holiness ! O what a Holiness, what a Catholick Faith is This ! St. Peter did not teach These Things at Rome ; St. Paul did not live at Rome after This manner ; They did not publickly exercise themselves in Debauchery ; They received not a yearly Tribute of the Lewd Women ; they did not publickly, and without Punishment, Tolerate Parricides and Adulterers ; They did not admit such into their Favour, nor indeed into the Society of Christians: These Men ought not therefore so highly to aggravate Our Faults. It would have been much wiser in Them, either first to have led such Lives as would have Recommended them to the World, or else to have taken some better care to conceal them.

As for our Parts, the good old laws are still in force amongst us. And, as far as the general Remissness and Licentiousness of This Age will permit, Ecclesiastical Discipline is strictly kept up ; we have no such thing as Publick Societies of lewd debauched Persons ; we do not give Adultery the Preference of Marriage ; we do not practice Lewdness, nor do we make a penny of them that do: Incest, Parricide, and the vilest Beastliness find no Countenance with us, nor do such Men as Aloisius, Casa, and Diazius, escape without Punishment. Had we been fond of these Crimes, we need not have separated our selves from the Society of Those Men, to whose Favour and Esteem they would have Recommended us, and by that means to have exposed our selves to their Hatred, and to inevitable Danger. Paul the Fourth, not many Months since, imprisoned several Augustin-Friars, a great many Bishops, and Numbers of other Pious and Devout Men, on account of Religion. They were Tormented, put to the Rack, and nothing was left unattempted, to bring them to Confession. And after all, how many of all those were found to be Fornicators, Whoremongers, Adulterers, or Incestuous Persons ? God be praised, though we are not altogether so good as we ought, and as we profess to be, yet, as bad as we are, when compared with Them, the Innocency and Integrity of our Lives, will be sufficient to disprove the Crimes we are charged with. The People are not more persuaded to the Practice of Virtue and Religion by our Books and Sermons, than by our Lives and Conversations. We teach, that the Design of the Gospel was not to make Men proud of their Learning, but to be a Rule of Life ; and, as ( a ) Tertullian observes, that it does not become a Christian to Talk of great Things, but to Live up to them ; and that not the Hearers only, but the Doers of the Word are justified before God. To all these malicious Scandals they so plentifully bestow upon us, they add this also, and aggravate it with the utmost Virulency, that we are a seditious sort of Men, that wrest the Power from Princes, and put the Sword into the People’s Hands ; ( b ) that we subvert Justice, break through Laws, destroy Property, introduce Anarchy and Confusion ; and that, if we had our Wills, not one Part of the Constitution would be secure. How often have they, by such Suggestions as these, inflamed the Hearts of Princes, that they might damp the very First Appearance of the Light of the Gospel, and make it be hated before it was understood ; and that every Magistrate might think, that whenever he saw one of Us, he saw his Enemy.

( a ) In Apolog. 45.

( b ) Tertullian in Apolog. 1, 2, & 3.

And indeed it would be a very great trouble to us to lie under the Charge and Imputation of so odious a Crime as rebellion, did we not know that Christ himself, the Apostles, and many other good Christians, formerly met with the same Treatment, and were Reviled on the same Account. For although Christ taught that they should ( a ) Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, yet he was accused for a seditious Person, an Innovator, and a Pretender to the Government ; and therefore when he was brought to Judgment, the common Cry was, ( b ) If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar’s Friend. And the Apostles, though they always taught Obedience to the Magistrates, and that every Soul should be subject unto the higher Powers, and that not only for Wrath but Conscience sake ; yet they were charged with stirring up the People to Rebellion. This was the chief Method Haman ( c ) took to render the Jews odious to King Assuerus ; he accused them for a Rebellious, Stubborn sort of People, that would not keep the King’s Laws. ( d ) Art Thou He that troubleth Israel ? Says wicked King Ahab to Elijah the Prophet of God. Amasia the Priest of Bethel accused the Prophet Amos of being in a Conspiracy against King Jeroboam ; Amos, ( e ) says he, hath conspired against Thee, in the midst of the House of Israel. In short ( f ) Tertullian tells us, that it was the common Accusation brought against Christians in His Time, that they were Traitors, Rebels, and Enemies of Mankind. Wherefore, since Truth is still the same, it is nothing strange and wonderful, though it be sad and grievous, that it meets with the same Bad Treatment, and be, as formerly, Despitefully used and Persecuted.

( a ) Mat. 12. 17.

( b ) John 19. 12.

( c ) Esther 3. 8, &c.

( d ) 1 King. 18. 17.

( e ) Amos 7. 10.

( f ) In Apolog. c. 37.

It was an easy matter, above Forty Years ago, to fix These and much heavier Imputations upon us, when Truth then unknown and unheard of began to Dawn, and to cast a Ray on the Thick Darkness of those Times. When Martin Luther and Zuinglius, most excellent Men, and sent by God to give a Light to lighten the World, First came to the Knowledge of the Gospel. Whilst as yet the Doctrine was New, the Success uncertain, Mens Minds doubtful and timorous, their Ears open to Calumny, and when People were ready to believe all that Malice could invent against us, because the thing was New, and strange to them. Just so did the old Enemies of the Gospel, Symmachus, Celsus, Julian, and Porphyry, formerly take upon them to accuse all Professors of Christianity of Sedition and Rebellion, before either Prince or People could possibly know what sort of Men those Christians were, what was their Profession, their Faith, or their Intention. But now since our enforcing the Duty of Obedience to Princes, and Magistrates, though they be wicked, both in our Words and in our Writings, is so evident, that even our very Enemies cannot be ignorant of it, nor deny it ; and since daily Experience sufficiently demonstrates this Truth, and the World needs no other Witnesses of it than our own Eyes and Ears ; it was scandalous to urge these Objections, and for want of new Crimes to vilify us with old Tread-bare Stories.

Thanks be to God, for whose Cause we suffer, in all the Kingdoms, States, and Constitutions that have embraced the Gospel, there has never yet been one Example of this kind ; We never subverted any Government, nor lessened any Man’s Rights or Privileges ; We never made a Disturbance in any Common-wealth. Our Kings of England, the Kings of Denmark and Sweden, the Dukes of Saxony, the Counts Palatine, the Marquess of Brandenburgh, the Landgraves of Hesse, retain their Ancient Dignity and Authority. The Republicks of Helvetia, and Rhetia, the Free Cities of Argentine, Basil, Frankfort, Ulme, Augusta, and Norenburgh, are in the same State and Authority they ever were ; or rather in a much Better ; because, by the Influence of the Gospel, they find a greater Obedience in their Subjects. Let them go see Those Places wherein by God’s Goodness the Gospel is received. Where does Majesty flourish more, or Pride and Tyranny less ? Where is the Prince more revered, or the People less seditious ? Where did ever Church or State enjoy a greater Calm ?

But it may be objected, there was a General Insurrection of the Boors in Germany, at the First Preaching of this Doctrine There. But Martin Luther the Preacher and Propagator of it, reproved them most severely in his Writings, and Reduced them to Peace and to Obedience. And as for That which has been sometimes objected by ignorant People about the Revolution of Helvetia, the Killing of Leopald Duke of Austria, and their Regaining their Freedom by Force: These Things were transacted ( as all Histories witness ) above Two Hundred and Sixty Years ago, under Boniface VIII. when the Papal Authority was at the Height: Two Hundred Years before Zuinglius preach’d the Gospel, or indeed was born. Ever since, they have enjoyed the greatest Peace and Tranquility, without Interruption either from Foreign or Domestick Enemies. But supposing them guilty, for endeavoring to shake off a Foreign Power, especially when it was accompanied with the Odious Circumstances of Insolence and Tyranny. Yet for Them to charge Us with other Mens Crimes, or even Those Men Themselves with the Faults of their Forefathers, is Unjust and Unreasonable. With what face, in the Name of Goodness, can the Bishop of Rome pretend to accuse us of Rebellion ? Will He teach People Subjection and Obedience to Magistrates ? Or has he any Respect for Majesty at all ? Why then should He ( which never any of the Ancient Bishops of Rome did ) as ( a ) if he thought all the Kings and Princes in the World were his Vassals, suffer himself to be called by his Flatterers Lord of Lords ? Why does he assume the Title of King of Kings, and a supreme Authority over all Subjects ? Why does he oblige all Emperors and Princes to swear Fealty to him ? Why ( b ) does he boast that the Imperial Majesty is seventy seven Degrees inferior to him ? And that for This Reason principally, because God made two Great Lights in the Heaven ; and that Heaven and Earth had not two, but one Beginning ? Why ( c ) have He and his Followers, like the Anabaptists and Libertines, that they might have a Freer Course for their Licentiousness, slipt their Necks out of the Collar, and entirely shaken off the Yoke of Civil Obedience ? Why does he send his Legates, those cunning Spies, to lie in Ambuscade as it were in the Courts, Councils, and even Bedchambers of Princes ? Why does he, when he sees fitting, stir up Christian Princes against one another, and at his Pleasure set the whole World together by the ears ? Why must any Christian Prince, who disowns and rejects his Authority, stand Excommunicate, and be taken for a Heathen and a Pagan ? Why is he so free of his Indulgences to those that will by any Methods destroy his Enemies ? Does he preserve Empires and Kingdoms ? Or does he take any care of the Publick Ease and Quiet ?

( a ) August. Steuchus Anton. de Rosellis.

( b ) De Major. & Obed. Solit.

( c ) De Major. & Obed. unam Sanctam.

The Good Reader, I hope, will pardon us, if we seem to debate on this matter with more Sharpness and Severity, than might become Divines ; for the thing is so very scandalous, and the Pope’s Desire of Bearing Sway so Eager and Impatient, that we could not possibly have mentioned it in other, or milder Terms ; for in open Council He ( a ) had the Assurance to say, that all Regal Jurisdiction depended on Him. To his Ambition and Usurpation do we owe the Destruction of the Roman Empire, the Commotions and Disturbance of all Christendom. He falsely and traitorously absolved the Italians, the Romans, and Himself too, from their Oath of Allegiance to the Emperor of Greece ; stirred up his Subjects to Rebellion: and calling Charles the Great out of France into Italy, made him Emperor, a thing unknown in former Ages. He ( b ) dethroned Chilperick King of France, a Worthy Prince, purely because he did not like him, and set up Pipin in his room. He would have dispossessed King Philip the Fair, and have given the Kingdom of France to Albert King of the Romans, if the Success had answered his Endeavour. He ( c ) impoverished and ruined the Flourishing City and Republick of Florence, his own Native Country, and from a Free State ( d ) reduced it to the absolute Authority of a single Person. It was through His Management that all Savoy was laid desolate, on one side by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, on the other, by Francis King of France, and the poor Duke had scarce one City left to betake himself to.

( a ) Clement 5. in Council. Vienensi. Leo Papa 3.

( b ) Zacharias Papa.

( c ) Clemens Papa 7.

( d ) Idem Clemens.

Innumerable are the Examples of This kind, and it would be a tedious piece of Work to Recite all the Notorious Practices of the Popes of Rome. Of what sort were They, I pray, that poisoned the Emperor Henry the Seventh with the Sacrament of Christ’s Blood ? that gave poison to Pope Victor in the Holy Chalice ? that gave it to our King John of England in a drinking Cup ? Whatever they were, of whatever Sect they pretended to be, they were certainly neither Lutherans nor Zuinglians. What is he who at This very Day permits the Greatest Kings and Princes to Kiss his Holy Toe ? That commands the Emperor to lead his Horse, and the King of France to hold his Stirrup ? Who ( a ) laid Francis Dandalus, Duke of Venice, the King of Crete and Cyprus, bound in Chains, under his Table to gnaw Bones with the Dogs ? Who ( b ) put the Imperial Crown upon the Emperor Henry the Sixth’s Head, not with his Hand, but with his Foot: and with the same Foot kicked it off again, adding that it was in his Power to make and unmake an Emperor ? Who ( c ) was it that armed Prince Henry against the Emperor his Father Henry the Fourth: so that the Father was taken Prisoner by his own Son, and being shaved and scandalously treated, was clapped up in a Monastery, where he with Hunger and Grief pined to Death ? ( d ) That basely trod upon the Neck of the Emperor Frederick. And, as if that were not Affront sufficient, added this Verse out of the Psalms of David, Thou shalt go upon the Lion and Adder ; the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under feet: Such an Example of abused Majesty as was never before known in the Memory of Man: unless by Tamerlane King of Scythia, a Man of singular Fierceness and Barbarity ; or by Sapor King of Persia ? All these were Popes ; all the Successors of Peter ; all most Holy Fathers ; all whose Words we must be obliged to take for Gospel.

( a ) Sabellicus.

( b ) Coelestinus Papa.

( c ) Hildebrandus Papa.

( d ) Alexander 3.

If then We are reckoned Traitors that pay our Princes all the Honour and Obedience that God commands us, and offer up our Prayers for them ; what must we think of Them, who have not only been Guilty of all the Crimes beforementioned, but approve of them as Glorious Actions ? Do they either Teach the People to honour their Magistrates as we do ? Or can they justly accuse us of being seditious Persons, Disturbers of the common Peace, and Condemners of Majesty ? For we do not shake off the Yoke of Obedience, nor Raise Disturbances in Kingdoms, nor Set up or Depose Kings ; we neither Translate Governments, nor Poison our Kings ; we neither Give them our Feet to kiss, nor Trample upon their Necks. Our Profession, our Doctrine is, rather that every Man, ( a ) whatsoever he be, whether Monk, Evangelist, Prophet, or Apostle, ought to be subject to Kings and Magistrates, and that ( b ) the Bishop of Rome Himself ( unless he would be thought greater than Evangelists, Prophets or Apostles ) ought to acknowledge and call the Emperor his Lord and Master, as the Ancient Bishops of Rome in Better Days ever did. This is our Doctrine: and This is manifest in our Books, in our Sermons, and in the Manners and Modest Behaviour of our People.

( a ) Chrysostom in 3 Roman.

( b ) Grego. saepe in Epist.

But that They say we have separated our selves from the Unity of the Catholick Church, is not only malicious, but it has, though it be false, some show, and appearance of Truth. And with the ignorant and unthinking Populace, not only Those things gain credit which are certainly True, but Those also which have any Probability or Show of Truth in them. Wherefore we see our Enemies, having no Truth on their side, were so cunning as always to choose for the Subject of their Arguments such things as at least bore the Face of Truth ; that such as could not dive into the Bottom and Grounds of them, might be taken with some fair show at least of Probability: ( a ) as when the Ancient Christians our Forefathers, were wont to turn their Faces to the East when they offered up their Prayers to God, there were those that said they worshipped and adored the Sun. And when they said, concerning Everlasting and Immortal Life, that they lived by no other means, but by the Flesh and Blood of That Lamb without Spot, viz. our Saviour Jesus Christ ; the malicious, and Enemies of the Cross of Christ ( b ) ( whose onely care it was by any means to bring a Scandal upon the Christian Religion ) persuaded the People that they were Wicked Persons, and sacrificed the Flesh, and drank the Blood of Men. Again, when they said, that before God there is neither Male nor Female, and that there is no occasion for any Distinction of Persons towards the attaining of true Righteousness ; and because they all saluted one another with the Title of Sisters and Brothers, ( c ) there were not wanting some who slandered them on that account, and affirmed that the Christians made no Distinction of Age or Kindred, but, like Beasts, promiscuously lay one with another. And again, whereas they often met in secret and by Places to join in Prayer, and to hear the Gospel Preached ; because Traitors and Rebels used to do so, it was spread abroad that they Conspired together and Plotted either to kill the Magistrates, or to subvert the Commonwealth. ( d ) And whereas in celebrating the Holy Mysteries after Christ’s Institution, they took Bread and Wine, they were thought by many not to worship Christ, but Bacchus and Ceres: because those Deities were worshipped by the Prophane and Superstitious Heathens, after the same manner with Bread and Wine. These things were believed by a great many, not because they were True, ( for what could be less so ? ) but because there was some Probability in them, and they might by a show of Truth the more easily Deceive.

( a ) Tertull. in Apolog. cap. 16.

( b ) Idem cap. 7, 8, 9.

( c ) Tertull. in Apolog. cap. 39.

( d ) Augustin.

At this very rate the Church of Rome accuses us of Heresy, of Separation from the Church and Communion of Christ ; not that they think These Accusations True ( for that is none of their Concern ) but that ignorant injudicious Persons might be betrayed by a specious Appearance into a real Belief of the Truth of them. It is true we separated, but not as Hereticks do from the Church of Christ, but as all Good Men ought to do, from the corrupt Society of Wicked and Hypocritical Persons. But here they Triumph wonderfully, that Theirs is the True Church, the Spouse of Christ, the Pillar of Truth, and Noah’s Ark, out of which no Salvation is to be hoped for ; but that we have made a Separation, have Rent Christ’s Vesture, are severed from the Body of Christ, and have fallen off form the Catholick Faith. And when they have left nothing unsaid, though never so false and malicious, that may be disadvantageous to us, yet This one thing we defy them to say, viz. That we have departed either from the Word of the Apostles, of Christ, or the Primitive Church. And we have always been of opinion that the Primitive Church of Christ and the Apostles, and of the Holy Fathers, is the True Catholick Church ; and That we dare call Noah’s Ark, the Spouse of Christ, the Ground and Pillar of Truth, and place all our Hopes of Salvation in it. To depart from any Society of Men one has always freely conversed with, has in truth an odious Appearance, especially of such Persons who ( though they are nothing less ) appear to be Christians, and live under that Denomination. As for Their Church, whatsoever it now be, we do by no means despise it, because it bears the Name of a Church, and because the Gospel of Christ was some time truly and sincerely Taught in it. Neither should we have separated at all from it, but upon the utmost Necessity, and even Then it was with all the Unwillingness imaginable. But suppose there should be an Idol set up in Church of God, and ( a ) the Abomination of Desolation Prophesied of by Christ, should stand openly in the Holy Place ? Suppose a Pirate or a Robber should possess himself of Noah’s Ark ? These Men undoubtedly as often as they mention the Church, mean themselves only, and to themselves apply all these Titles, and then Triumph like the Men of old that cried the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord ; or, like he Scribes and Pharisees, when they boasted that ( b ) Abraham was their Father.

( a ) Mat. 24. 15.

( b ) Johan. 8. 39.

So They with a Fair, though False Appearance, impose upon the Vulgar, and think to confound us with the bare Name of the Church. As if a Villain having gotten possession of another Man’s House, and either thrust out or murdered the Owner, should then call it his, and dispossess the right Heir. Or as if Antichrist should possess himse