Nowe that I haue spoken generally of holydays, I come vnto the Apostles and other saincts dayes, whiche are kepte wyth vs. And thoughe it were lawfull for the Churche to ordayne ho∣lydayes to our sauiour Christe, or to the blessed Trinitie, yet it is not therefore lawfull to insti∣tute holydayes to the Apostles and other Samctes, or to their remembrance. For althoughe I confesse as muche as you saye in the. 153. page, that the Churche of Englande dothe not meane by this keeping of holydayes, that the Saincts shoulde be honoured, or as you alleage in. 175. and 176. pages, that with vs the Saincts are not prayed vnto, or that it dothe propounde them as meritorious, yet that is not inoughe. For as we reason agaynst the Popishe purgatorie, that it is therefore naught, for as much as neyther in the olde Testament, nor in the newe, there is any men∣tion of prayer at any tyme for the dead, (a) 1.1 so may it be reasoned agaynst these holydayes ordeyned for the remēbrance of the Saincts, that for so much as the olde people dyd neuer keepe any feast or holyday for ye remēbrance eyther of Moses, or Daniel, or Iob, or Abraham, or Dauid, or any other howe holy or excellent soeuer they were: nor the Apostles, nor the Churches in their time neuer▪ instituted any, eyther to keepe the remembrance of Stephen, or of the Uirgin Mary, or of Iohn Baptist, or of any other notable and rare personage, that the instituting and erecting of them now, and this attempte by the Churches whiche followed, whiche haue not suche certayne and vndoub∣ted interpreters of the will of God, as the Prophetes and Apostles were, whiche liued in those Churches, is not without some note of presumption, for that it vndertaketh those things whiche the Primitiue Churche in the Apostles times (hauing greater giftes of the spirite of God, than they that followed them had) durst not venter vpon.
Purgatorie is made a matter of saluation or damnation, as all other doctrines of the Popes be: and therfore a negatiue reason (suche as you vse) is sufficient inoughe to improue it: But holydayes in our Churche haue no suche necessitie ascribed vn∣to them, onely they are thought very profitable to the edifying of Gods people, and therefore suche negatiue reasons preuayle not agaynst them, no more than they doe agaynst other constitutions of the Church perteyning to edifying, order, or comely∣nesse, wherof there is no mention made in the worde of God. And therefore nothing that is héere spoken by you can take any holde.