A briefe treatise of diuers plaine and sure waies to finde out the truth in this doubtfull and dangerous time of heresie Conteyning sundrie worthy motiues vnto the Catholike faith, or considerations to moue a man to beleeue the Catholikes, and not the heretikes. Set out by Richard Bristow priest, licentiat in diuinitie.

Studying and teaching of all diuine truth.

[ XXXI] AND better yet to know both the plentie of this rich Storehouse, and the Emptines of the beggarly Dennes of Heretikes: consider againe, vvhat Church it is, whose maisters teach, and children study the whole body of Chri∣stian truth, taking no lesse paines to seeke out and to know, what God hath reuea∣led about the Blessed Trinitie, the Fa∣ther, the Sonne, and the Holy Ghost, and yet their vnity, equalitie, consub∣stubflantialitie in one Godhead, about

the Incarnation of Godds Sonne, ioy∣ning two most different natures of God and Man, both intiere, both complete, no commixion, no confusion, into the vnitie of one Person: about all the same one persons in his humaine nature per∣fections, and defects, doings and suffe∣rings for our sakes, about the creation of the world in the beginning, of things visible and inuisible, of men and Angels, what they were both made by God, and what they made themselues by sinne: a∣bout the Resurrection and Iudgement that shalbe in the ending, and state of things both in earth, and hel, and heauen for euer afterward, finally about all parts of faith & Religion, no lesse then about the Questions of this time.

And againe, who they be on the other side, that know very little euen of their owne Questions, that they haue moued vnto our Church in these their dayes, as they can not possibly knovv much, being occupied rather about wyning, then in studying, and taking vpon them to be teachers, before they haue bin ler∣ners, husbandes and Ministers both,

so sone as they can get them wiues and benefices: so yong fathers, so yong Do∣ctors, that the common Wealth is (for¦sooth) greatly strengthned by their mul¦tiplying, and the Church substantially edified by their preaching. But in other questions of our beleefe, such as before I rehearsed, so ignorant they be, that they are scarse euer heard, and very few of them, to preache or teache vpō them, the people thereby remaining vtterlye vnskilfull of Mysteries that they are bound to know vpon paine of damna∣tion. Yea, Caluin himselfe, the lear∣nedst of them al, and their master of ma∣sters, compelled also to study the My∣sterie of the Trinity for to answere his Polonion Trinitaries, yet is hee found so ignorant therein, that his errors are into∣lerable, as that Gods Sonne is autotheos, God of himselfe (and not GOD of his Fa∣ther,* 1.1 as the great Nicene Councell hath professed, Deum de Deo, Deum verum de Deo vero, God of God very God of very god) whereof it ineuitably foloweth, that they are two Gods & not one God, vnlike in substance, & not consubstantiall, beside

many other his ignorant errors:* 1.2 being yet (I say) studied in the matter. What then must be the blindes of our Coun∣trie Heretikes, that neuer trouble their braines about those Mysteries? Loke to theyr Vniuersities, and see vvhether there be any appointed publicke Rea∣ders, or Teachers of such matters, any that priuatly make them their studye, whether they doe not all in maner study nothing at all but the arte of speaking, or els but certaine new bookes of common places for a few pointes of their new Do∣ctrine, and them so lightly, that the cō∣mon sorte of Catholikes are able to an∣swere all there argumentes, and to say also more for them, then they can say for themselues: and yet it serueth them to be Doctours there of Diuinitie, a Goddes name: how be it both in lawe and truth they are no Degrees, that men seeme there to take.

Is such a Church (trovv you) that Rich Storehouse,* 1.3 in the which the Apostles laid vp for euer most plentifully al truth and know∣ledge for euery one, vvhen hee lifteth to take vvhat he vvill, as Saint Ireneus hath saied?

Or is that the Company, where is discar∣ged the charge that Saint Paule gaue to Timothee:* 1.4 Qu••e audisti a me per multos test∣es, haec c••mmenda fidelibus hominibus, qui ido∣n••i erunt & alios docere. The things which thou hast heard of me by many witnes∣ses, thē commend thou againe to trusty persons, such as againe shall be able to teach others also: and so from hand to hand, from mouth to mouth, continu∣ally till the worldes end.

Are men amongst them prepared, in∣stucted, and made able to defend the Faith of Christ in all pointes, against Iewes, against Turkes against Arrians, Manichees, Nestorians, and all other Heretikes what soeuer haue beene, or may be? The very Foundation of our Faith, and in deed al in all, is, that Iesus is Christ (who knoweth not and graunt∣eth?) the very point that is betwene vs specially and the Iewes, and which Saint Paule ful often and ful mightily proued to and against those trayterous infidels, as in many places of the Actes S. Luke hath noted.* 1.5 Now if in England any of our newe Maisters should meete vvith

such a Iewe, would hee be very readye (thinke you) to oppose him, to replie vpon him, to make answere vnto hym? Or if hee should light vppon any there, that thinketh there is no God, or that beleueth not the immortality of the soul, & should reason so with him in the hea∣ring of others: were he not like to betray the truth for lacke of learning, rather then to roote out the error? The multi∣tude of that threefolde cockle in our Countrie, against Iesus, against God, a∣gainst the soule, declareth vvell vvhat husbandes they are.

And wil there yet be any man so folish to thinke theirs to be the Church, that S. Paule doth call Columnam & f••mamen∣tum veritatis,* 1.6 the Piller and vpholder of truth? Or is there any man of experience that knoweth not, that our Catholike Church it is, wherein most learnedly, most substantially, most lightsomely, most orderly, most vniuesally, all truth Christian is studied, taught, and learned? Looke the Summes of Diuinity written by our Maisters, as Saint Thomas, and others. Consider our Pulpits, Cateche∣teries,

Monasteries, and Vniuersities? such Readers, such Lectures, such Or∣ders, that in a short space a man may learne the groundes of all & euery truth that vnto Faith belongeth.

In the Vniuersities on this side the sea that I haue bene in (and the like I heare of others) shall he heare in foure or fiue yeares the whole Course of Diuinitye, and all in Dictates, vnder two or three Readers, twise or thrise ouer: in the same tyme also the Controuersies of these dayes by another Reader seuerally by themselues examined: by another al the new Testament very learnedly, and ve∣ry profitably expounded: all this besides aboue a hundred publike disputations euery yeare, euery disputation being of some whole matter, as of all Baptisme, all the Eucharist, the Trinity, the Incar∣nation, the Supremacie, the Angels, the Creation of man, Originall sinne, &c. euery one continuing for three houres: at euery one, foure or fiue Opponentes, besides many Doctours sitting by, and replying where and when they list: all this againe besides priuate Disputations

(little inferiour to the other) in sundrie places, euery weeke: finally besides all this, the whole Bible red ouer at Table euery yeare, and alwaies after dinner & supper two Chapters of it, one of the old Testament, another of the new, di∣ligently examined, as it were by famili∣ar conference betweene the better lear∣ned and the younger sort, as Doctors, Licentiates, Bachelers, and Scholers of Diuinitie.

In this Church, (I say) are the Trea∣sures of the wisdome of Christ, & know∣ledge of God. This is the Church, of whose learning and wisedome S. Au∣gustine often writeth himselfe to haue bin in vvonderfull admiration:* 1.7 and cal∣leth it, Syncerissimam Sapientiam,* 1.8 most sincere wisedome: alleaging it to the Manichees, for the first Motiue holding him in the lap of the Catholike Church. And therefore of this Church, I say to euery one of my deare friends & Coun∣tryemen, as he did to his friend Hono∣ratus: Diu te affectum vides: & si iam satis tibi iactatus videris,* 1.9 finemque huiusmodi labo∣ribus vis imponere, sequere viam Catholicae di∣sciplinae,

quae ab ipso Christo per Apostolos ad nos vsque maenauit, & abhinc ad posteros ma∣natura est. You see, that you haue beene long troubled with these broyles of par∣ties in the world. And if now you thinke your selfe to haue beene tossed, and tur∣moiled inough, & would haue at length an end of these vexations: follow the way of the Catholike Discipline, which from Christ him selfe, by the Apostles, to vs is come, and from hence shall not faile to come to our posteritie. This Ca∣tholike continuall Discipline, and euer∣lasting teaching sufficient to settle all that labour for the truth, and to shew them all that they seeke, is euident to be ours, and that it can be none but ours.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Iust li. 1. cap. 13. nu. 23. 24. Vide Ge∣neb. de. Trin. li. 1. pag. 43.
• * 1.2

  Such was Iuels ig∣norance also that Christ is a priest ac∣cording to his God∣head.
• * 1.3

  Li. 3. c••. 4.
• * 1.4

  2. Tim. 2.
• * 1.5

  Act. 9. & 17. & 18. &. 26. &. 28.
• * 1.6

  1. Tim. 3.
• * 1.7

  De vtil. cred. ca. 4.
• * 1.8

  De mor. Ecc. Cat. cap. 30. con. Epist. fun. ca. 4.
• * 1.9

  De vtil. cred. ca. 8.