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 Apologie, Cap. 6. Diuision. 11.

Whiche of the Anciente Holy Fathers euer called you Lorde, and God?

M. Hardinge.

None that wise is, so speaketh absolutely: neuerthelesse in some certaine sense, S.* 1.1 Clement cal∣leth euery Bishop. Terrenum quendam Deum, a certaine earthly God, as it is written,‡ 1.2 I haue saide, ye are Gods, &c.

The B. of Sarisburie.

So that yee make not the Pope an Absolute God, ye thinke, ye maie other∣wise cal him God safely, and without preiudice. A proper shifte, to mainteine a vaine man in y^e possession of his Godhed.* 1.3* 1.4* 1.5* 1.6* 1.7* 1.8* 1.9 In sutche a pleasant imaginatiō Antio∣chus sommetime the king of Syria, intituled him selfe by the name of God. So the Emperoure Domitian vsed to assigne his Proclamations: Dominus Deus vester Domitianus: Youre Lorde God Domitian. So the Emperoure Caligula called him selfe, Deum optimum Maximum, & Iouem Latialem: The Beste, and moste mighty God, and the greate God Iuppiter of Italie: So Sapores, the great king of Persia, called him selfe, Fratrem Solis, & Lunae: The brother of the Sonne, and the Moone: So the peeuishe Physician Menecrates called him selfe Iuppiter: So Nicostratus called him selfe Hercules: So Nicagoras made him selfe a paire of whinges, and would needes be called the God Mercurius: So Manichaeus the Heretique called him selfe the Holy Ghoste: So the Romaines in olde times ere∣cted vp an Image in the honour of Simon Magus the Sorcerer, with this Inscrip∣tion, or Posee, Simoni Sancto Deo: In the honoure of Simon the Holy God. By this youre so handesome Distinction, M. Hardinge, of God Absolute, and God not Absolute, I see not, but euery of these might wel, and safely haue maineteined his title without blame.

Certainely,* 1.10* 1.11* 1.12 in this arrogante vanitie, scarcely any of al these was euer compa∣rable to the Pope. Pope Nicolas saithe, Constat Summum Pontificem à Pio Principe Constantino Deum appellatum. It is wel knowen, that the Pope, of the godly Prince Constantine, was called God. Likewise the Pope was wel content, to suf∣fer one of his Parasites to saie vnto him, in the late Councel of Laterane, Tu es alter Deus in terris: Thou arte an other God in Earthe. Likewise Cardillus the Spaniard in Defence of the Popes La••e Chapter at Trident, oftentimes calleth

the Popes late Chapter at Tridente, oftentimes calleth y^e Pope Terrenū Deum, An Earthely God: By the same style, and right, whereby Holophernes sometime saide,* 1.13 Nobuchodonosor est Deus Terrae: Nabuchodonosor is the God of y^e Earth.

Vpon the Popes owne Clementines, yée shal finde the mater thus taken vp, & qualified with greate indifferencie, and modestle, and thus specially noted in the Margine:* 1.14 Papa nec Deus est, nec Homo. And, to leaue other his like blasphe∣mo••••, & fond styles,* 1.15* 1.16* 1.17 in an other like Glose yée shal finde it written thus, Credere, Dominum Deum Nostrum Papam non potuisse statuere, prout statuit, Haereticum censeretur: To beleeue, that Our Lorde God the Pope might not decree, as he decreed, it were a mater of Heresie. Here haue we founde by expresse, & plaine woordes, euen in the Popes owne Authentical, and allowed Booke, Our Lorde God the Pope.

These thinges might seeme vncredible, had not S. Paule foretolde vs, that the Man of Sinne should sit in the Temple of God, and shewe him selfe, as if he were God. S. Gregorie, writinge of Antichriste, saithe thus, Cùm sit damnatus Homo, & nequaquam Spiritus, Deum se esse mentitur: Whereas he is a damned man, and not a Spirite, by lieinge, he faineth him selfe to be God. Anselmus saithe, Simulabit se Religiosum, vt sub specie decipiat Pietatis: Imò se Deum esse dicet: & se Adorari fa∣ciet: at{que} regna Coelorum promittet: Antichriste shal faine him selfe to be Holy, y^t he maie deceiue menne vnder the Coloure of Holinesse. Yea, and he shal cal him selfe God: and shal cause him selfe to be woorshipped: and shal promise y^e Kingdome of Heauen. Eusebius saith,* 1.18 Hoc est Argumentum, eos odisse Deum, quo'd velint seipsos appellari Deos: This is a token y^t they hate God, for y^t they wil haue them selues called by the name of God.

Likewise saith the Ancient Father Irenaeus, Antichristus existens Aposta∣ta, & Latro, quasi Deus, vult Adorari: & cùm sit Seruus, Regem se vult praeco∣niari: Antichriste, beinge a Renegate, and a Theefe, yet wilbe woorshipped as a God: and beinge but a slaue, yet he wilbe Proclaimed, and published, as a Kinge. Therefore, al∣though y^• Pope be not, as you saie, an Absolute God, or an Absolute Christe, yet without any great inconueniēce, I trowe, he maie wel be an Absolute Antichriste.

Notes

• * 1.1

  A vaine for∣gerie.
• ‡ 1.2

  These vvordes are spoken of Princes and Ma∣gistrates.
• * 1.3

  Hierony. In Da∣niel. cap. 3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.4

  Suetonius in Do∣mitiano
• * 1.5

  Suetonius.
• * 1.6

  Pompon. Laetus. Athenaeus, li. 7.
• * 1.7

  Chrysost. De Spi. Sancto.
• * 1.8

  August. Contra Faustum li. 13. cap. 17.
• * 1.9

  Euse. li 2. ca. 13.
• * 1.10

  Dist. 96. Satis euidenter.
• * 1.11

  Christopher. Mar¦cel. In Conc. La∣tera. Sess. 4.
• * 1.12

  Cardillus pro Concil. Trident.
• * 1.13

  Iudith. 5.
• * 1.14

  The Pope is neither God, nor Man. Our Lorde God the Pope.
• * 1.15

  Extrauag. Io∣han. 22. Cum In∣ter. In Glossa. Impress. Lugdu∣ni. An. 1555. Parisijs. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 n. 1513. 2 Thessalon. 2.
• * 1.16

  Gregor. in Iob. Ca. 34. Li 25. Ca. 14.
• * 1.17

  Anselmus in. 2. Thessalon. 2.
• * 1.18

  Eusebius de Praeparat. Li. 7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.