A defence of the Apologie of the Churche of Englande conteininge an answeare to a certaine booke lately set foorthe by M. Hardinge, and entituled, A confutation of &c. By Iohn Iewel Bishop of Sarisburie.

The B. of Sarisburie.

I wil not saie, Where were youre wittes, M. Hardinge, when yee wrote theise thinges? But wel maie I saie, where was your Logique? As for Diuini∣tie, it appeareth by youre reckening, ye make no greate accoumpte of it. Christe, saie you, praied for Peter: Ergo, the Romaine Faithe can neuer faile. Fewe children woulde willingly make sutche Argumentes. Ye presume very mutche of the Simplicitie, and Ignoraunce of youre Reader. For thinke you, that Christe praied onely for Peter, and for no body els? Or thinke you, that Christes praiers tooke place in none other of al the Apostles, but onely in Peter? Awake for shame: and shake of these dreames. Christe him selfe saithe, O Father, I praie nor onely for these,* 1.1 but also for them, that by their woorde shal beleue in me. And S. Au∣gustine thus reporteth the same praier, as it is alleaged before: Ego rogaui Pa∣item pro vobis,* 1.2 ne deficiat Fides vestra: I haue praied vnto my Father, (not for Peter onely, but) for you, that youre Faithe maie not faile. Againe he saithe, Nunquid pro Petro rogabat: Pro Iohanne, & Iacobo non rogabat? Did Christe praie for Peter: And did he not praie for Iohn, and Iames? Certainely Origen saithe, as likewise I haue before alleged, Omnia, quae{que} priùs dicta sunt, quae{que} sequuntur, velut ad Petrum dicta, sunt omnium Communia: Al the thinges, that either paste before, or folowe af∣ter, as spoken vnto Peter, are common vnto al the Apostles.

But S. Paule saithe vnto the Romaines, Youre Faithe is spoken of throughout the worlde. And S. Cyprian saithe, The agreeing with the Bishop of Rome was the Vnitie of the Catholique Churche. And yet it maie please you, to be remembred by the waie, that the same S. Cyprian reproued Cornelius, and Stephanus, bothe Bishoppes of Rome: and tolde them, they were bothe deceiued: and therefore woulde not agree vnto them. Neuerthelesse, hereof ye conclude thus, Ergo the Holy Ghoste hath signified, that the Churche of Rome cannot erre. It pitieth me, M. Har∣ding, in youre behalfe, to see, into howe streite, and miserable holes ye are faine to creepe. For, what if the Faithe, and the Constancie of the Romaines in olde times, for the Nobilitie of that Empiere and Cittie, were then published throughout the

whole worlde? Yet where did the Holy Ghoste euer tel you, that therefore the Churche of Rome shoulde neuer erre? By what Woorde? By what Promisse? By what Reuelation? Yee saie, The Faithe of the Romaines was heard of through∣oute the whole Worlde. So was the Greate capitol there: So was the bewtie of their Princely buildinges. Whiche, notwithstanding are nowe made smoothe, and euen with the grounde.* 1.3 So likewise is it written of Hierusalem, De Sion exibit Lex, & Verbum Domini de Hierusalem: The Lawe shal comme foorth from Sion, and the Woorde of God from Hierusalem. So in the Cittie of Antioche the Faith∣ful were firste called Christians:* 1.4 And therefore Chrysostome calleth the same Cit∣tie Caput totius orbis, The Head of the whole worlde. Thus was Eusebius Sa∣mosatensis called Regula Fidei, The Rule, and Standerde of the Faithe: Thus was Athanasius called Orbis oculus: & Fundamentū Fidei: The Eie of the world, and the Fundation of the Faithe. Would ye hereof conclude, M. Harding, that therfore the Faithe of these Churches can neuer faile? Ye knowe, that al this notwithstan∣dinge, the Churches as wel of Hierusalem, and Antioche, as also of Asia, Syria, Graecia, and of al the Easte, are nowe subiecte to the Turke, and scarcely a fewe leafte there, that dare to professe the name of Christe.

What a fonde Paradise is this, to saie, bicause ye had once the Faith of Christe, therefore nowe ye can neuer erre? Sutche a fantastical Paradise had they built vn∣to them selues,* 1.5 that cried out in olde times, euen as you do now, The Temple of God: The Temple of God: VVee are the Children of Abraham. But who so euer wel cōsidereth the storie of the time, shal soone finde, y^• then they cried moste, The Temple of God, when they had moste shamefully abused, and defaced the Temple of God: and, that then they claimed moste to be called the Children of Abraham, when they had forsaken bothe the Faithe, and life of Abraham, and, as Christe saithe vnto them,* 1.6 were becomme the Children of the Diuel.

Sutche a fantasie had they, that saide, Non peribit Lex à Sacerdote: Nec consi∣lium à Sapiente:* 1.7 Nec Verbum à Propheta: The Lawe shal not departe from the Prieste: Nor Counsel from the Wise: Nor the VVoorde from the Prophete. But God saith vn∣to them, Obstupescent Sacerdotes, & Prophetae terrebuntur. Lex peribit à Sacerdote, & Consilium à Senioribus. Nox vobis erit pro Visione: & tenebrae pro Diuinatione: Youre Priestes shalbe amased: and youre Prophetes shalbe at their wittes ende. The Lawe shal perishe from the Prieste:* 1.8 and Counsel shal wante in the Elders. Ye shal haue Nighte in steede of a Vision: and Darkenesse in steede of Prophesie.

S. Paule saithe vnto the Galathians, Ye beganne wel: who hathe thus bewitched you, that yee shoulde not obeie the Truthe? S. Peter saithe, As there were False Prophetes emongest the people in olde time, euen so emong you there shalbe False Prophetes, bringing in Sectes of Perdition. Of sutche a chaunge the Prophete Esaie cōplaineth, Quomodò facta est Meretrix Ciuitas Fidelis? Howe is this Faithful Cittie now become an Harlot? Deceiue not thus youre selfe, M. Harding, with vaine hope. Harken rather to the voice of our Lorde. Put nothing to his Worde: take nothing from the same: turne neither to the Right hande, nor to the Leafte. So shal ye be sure, ye shal not erre.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Iohn. 17.
• * 1.2

  Augustin. De verbis Do. in E∣uangelio Secun. Lucam. Serm 36. Augusti in quae. Nou Testam. quae. 75. Origen. in Mat. tracta 1. Roma••. 1.
• * 1.3

  Esai. 2.
• * 1.4

  Chrysostom. ad Popul. Antio. Homi. 3. Nazian. epist. 74. Nazian. ad Heronem.
• * 1.5

  Hierem. 7. Math. 3.
• * 1.6

  Iohan. 8.
• * 1.7

  Hierem. 18.
• * 1.8

  Hieremi. 18. Ezechiel. 7. Miche. 6. Galat. 3. 2. Pet. 2. Esai. 1.