The common places of the most famous and renowmed diuine Doctor Peter Martyr diuided into foure principall parts: with a large addition of manie theologicall and necessarie discourses, some neuer extant before. Translated and partlie gathered by Anthonie Marten, one of the sewers of hir Maiesties most honourable chamber.

Of Councels,

11 Wherfore let them take héed which in diuers places boast of the Councels, * 1.1 in which it hath bin iudged as touching religion, what men it behooued there to bée, namelie spiri∣tuall, for somuch as the iudgement onelie of diuine things is brought to thē: But at this daie the greatest part of a Councell, * 1.2 is so ouerfraught with grosse imperfections, as in verie déede it is not lawfull to take meat with them. They saie that they be the Church: howbeit although they be baptised, and haue taken orders in the Church, * 1.3 yet doe they not therefore prooue themselues to be spiritual, séeing it is prooued that they do the workes of the flesh and not of the spirit. And although some spirituall men maie per∣happes agrée with them, verie fewe they be and are ouermatched both in number and authoritie of the carnall sort, neither deale they alwaies valiantlie as they ought to do. And in trueth as the case now standeth it is the Pope which gouerneth the councell. For he summoneth, suspendeth, alloweth, and re∣fuseth the same at his owne pleasure. Who, how truelie he maie be called spirituall, all men vnderstand. Besides further séeing the holie Scriptures be inspired by God & there∣fore most spirituall, none that be spirituall can decrée in councels anie thing against them. For spirites are not one against an o∣ther. But in Councels they haue sundrie

times defined against the decrées of the ho∣lie Scripture. There the communion was mangled: Matrimonie was forbidden the ministers of the Church: Innumerable a∣buses were brought in of masses: namelie Inuocation of Saints, the vse of Images: the superstition of Purgatorie and infinite pestilences of this kinde were confirmed. And what authoritie a councel should haue, Augustine sheweth in the 3. * 1.4 booke against Maximinus the bishop of the Arrians, when he saith: But now neither ought I alleadge the councell of Nice, nor thou the Councell of Ariminum as though we would preiudice one an other, neither must I be tyed to the authoritie of this, not yet thou to the autho∣ritie of that: * 1.5 Let thing with thing, cause with cause, reason with reason striue toge∣ther by the authorities of the scriptures, not being each mans owne testimonies, but by those which bée common to both partes. Where thou séest, y^t this father doth appeale from the Councels vnto the Scriptures. The same father in the 2. * 1.6 booke against the Donatistes the 3. Chapter, saith: The let∣lers of bishoppes and the decrées of Prouin∣cial councels giue place to the greater coun∣cels, but the Canonicall Scripture giueth place to none. And the same father writing vnto Ierom with whom he disputed as tou∣ching the reprehending of Peter which is spoken of to y^e Galathians, he most manifestly appealed from the Fathers which Ierom ci∣ted, * 1.7 vnto the words of the holie Scripture.

12 Neither must we passe vpon that which they often times obiect vnto vs: namely, that Christ saide vnto his Apostles: I haue manie things to speake vnto you, but ye can∣not nowe beare them away. Whereof they will gather, that many things as touching the worshipping of God and Religion, may be appointed by them, which the holy Scrip∣tures haue not taught: * 1.8 As though Christ in those words had spoken of worshippings and Ceremonies. Might not the Apostles then a∣bide such things, who both had bin borne and were conuersant from their childhood in ce∣remonies and rytes? Was Moses able to teach those things to the ignoraunt people, and could not Christ teach the Apostles those things which be of the same kinde? The case doeth not so stande: but those manie things were the same which he had alreadie tolde them: and they were more expressedly and effectuallie to be expounded vnto them and to be printed in their mindes, by the power of the holy ghost which he promised vnto them. For a little after he saieth: When the com∣forter shall come, * 1.9 he shall prompt you in all things that I haue shewed you. Moreouer he testified, that all things which he heard of his father, he tolde it vnto them: * 1.10 All things (saith he) which I haue heard of my father, I haue made them knowen vnto you. So as there shall be nothing left necessary vnto saluation which is lawful for these men to decrée. Nei∣ther are these things spoken, * 1.11 to the intent that the authoritie of councels should be vt∣terlie reiected. For if so be they shall repre∣hend, excommunicate, or absolue by the word of God, and shall pray together by the power of the spirit, these things shal not be in vaine and without fruite. Yea and Paule went to Peter and to the Apostles vnto Ierusalem, * 1.12 not to deriue doctrine from them, but least he should runne in vaine, he went for the com∣moditie of others, that they might vnder∣stand, y^t his kind of doctrine did not disagrée from the opinions of the Apostles as some boasted that it did. * 1.13 If Councels were other∣while had for this purpose, that all Churches might acknowledge a consent in the veritie of the Scriptures, they might verie well be borne withal. But when they decrée against the testimonies of the holie Scriptures, they are not to be suffered. For Paul if he had per∣ceiued any thing to haue bin defined, eyther by Peter or by the other Apostles, otherwise than he himself had heard of Christ, he would not haue giuen his assent, no verilie Not to an Angell, if he had shewed from heauen any thing other than the Gospell which he had receiued: * 1.14 so as we also must estéeme none to be spirituall, nor yet to iudge aright, if they haue decréed against the scriptures.

13 Wherefore that which Paul writeth of the Corinthians iudgement, * 1.15 wee must re∣taine, if we be iudged either by a Councell or by the Papisticall Church, against the scrip∣tures, we may boldly saie with Paule, we e∣stéeme it least of all to be iudged by you. Nei∣ther must our aduersaries be heard, who say, that the iudgement of the Church must bée preferred aboue the Scriptures: and they thinke that they haue prooued it by a suffici∣ent reason, when they say: the Church hath iudged of the Scriptures, by receiuing some and refusing some: which it might not haue done vnlesse the iudgement thereof had ex∣celled the Scriptures. But these men must consider, that there hath bin euen from the beginning some men replenished with the spirit of God, by whom God hath set foorth his Oracles vnto men, the which he woulde haue to bee registred in writings. These wordes of God, when as others eyther heard or read, it happened by the benefite of the spi∣rit, that the faithfull acknowledged those to

be the naturall and sincere woordes of God. Hereof it came to passe that y^e holie scriptures be admitted. But & if they which being illu∣minated with the holy Ghost, acknowledged the holie scriptures to be the worde of God, had bin demaunded, whether they woulde not haue their owne authoritie to be prefer∣red aboue them, they would not haue suffered it: but on the other side, those being knowen & receiued, they altogether submitted them∣selues, and agreed that they should be repu∣ted for the most sure rule of their faith & life. Wherefore it is but a weake consequent: The fathers accepted and discerned the holie Scriptures from other writings, therefore they ought to be preferred aboue them. Be∣cause we also acknowledge one verie God, * 1.16 and admit Iesus Christ, wee disseuer him from Idols and from the Deuill: yet for all that we cannot inferre, that we are more ex∣cellent either than Christ or God. Also our minde admitteth the perswasions and moti∣ons of the holie Ghost vnto reading and praying, vnto chast liuing, and them discer∣neth from the intisementes of the diuell, the flesh and the world: yet shall not our minde for that cause be called, either superiour or better than the holie Ghost. Further also, a man indued with the knowledge of Philoso∣phie, when as he shal receiue Aristotle or Ga∣len or noble Philosophers, and shall place them aboue Epicurus, Aristippus or Democri∣tus: dare he therefore because he hath so iud∣ged as touching Philosophie, preferre his owne authoritie either aboue Aristotle or Galen? * 1.17 Wherefore men haue by faith and illumination of the holie Ghost knowen that those things which the Patriarches, Pro∣phetes, Christ, and the Apostles haue spoken are the words of God. Which things be∣ing so knowen and receiued, they did not ac∣compt themselues either greater or better than the Scriptures of them: naie rather (as we said at the first) they cōmitted themselues to be gouerned and ruled by them. There was also an other manner of iudging of the Scriptures, * 1.18 that those things which the lat∣ter Canonicall writers did speake or write did not disagrée with the first, but they agrée∣ed verie well with them. The Prophets, agrée vnto the lawe in all things. The E∣uangelists and Apostles borowed the Testi∣monies of their sayings, aswell of the lawe as of the Prophets. Whereby thou séest that the law is allowed by the Prophets, and the Prophets are confirmed by the Apostles and by the Euangelistes. And when they de∣maund * 1.19 how it came to passe that Luke and Marke being writers of the Gospell were re∣ceiued, whereas the Gospel of Bartholomew, * 1.20 of Thomas, of Thaddeus, and of the Nazarits, was excluded: we will aunswere, that the holie Ghost did not perswade the hearts and the minds of faithfull men that these were the words of God, as were those which bée written both of Luke and also of Marke. To this, there were manie yet remaining in those daies which had heard Christ, and had béene much conuersaunt with him: as Peter, Iohn, and many others of the Disciples, who bare faithfull witnesse vnto the writings of Marke and Luke; and did not so vnto the monuments of others, who perhappes er∣red, not onelie from the trueth of the Histo∣rie, but also péeced in manie things, which sounded to be contrarie to the olde Testa∣ment and to the other Euangelistes.

Notes

• * 1.1

  In 1. Cor. 2. verse. 14.
• * 1.2

  Out of this place is ga∣thered an argument against Councels.
• * 1.3

  Looke after pl. 6. Act. 9. & 17 &c. Looke part. 1. pl. 6. Act. 11.
• * 1.4

  Augustine.
• * 1.5

  We must appeale frō the Coun∣cels and Fa∣thers to the scriptures
• * 1.6

  Augustine.
• * 1.7

  Look in the booke of bowes pag. 72. set forth at Basil, Anno 59. & pag. 235. & 419. Ioh. 16. 12.
• * 1.8

  Nothing necessarie to saluatiō re∣maineth in man to ap∣point.
• * 1.9

  Ioh. 16. 13.
• * 1.10

  Ioh. 14. 26. Ioh. 15. 15.
• * 1.11

  The autho∣ritie of Councels must not be reiected, when they deale by the word of God.
• * 1.12

  Gal. 2. 6.
• * 1.13

  For what cause Coun∣cels should be some∣times had.
• * 1.14

  Gal. 1. 8.
• * 1.15

  In 1. Cor. 4. verse. 3. Look part. 1 pl. 6. Act. 7.
• * 1.16

  Simili∣tudes.
• * 1.17

  The first way to iudge of the scriptures is by faith and the spi∣rit.
• * 1.18

  An other way to iudge of the scriptures.
• * 1.19

  Why some Gospels
• * 1.20

  Were allow∣ed and so•…•…e not.