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A Treatise of the Cohabitacyon of the faithfull with the vnfaithfull.

Wherunto is added.

A Sermon made of the confessing of Christe and his gospell / and of the denyinge of the same.

Anno M.D.LV.



Apocal. 18.

Come awaye from her my poeple / that ye be not partakers of her synnes / that ye receyue not of her plagues.

In this furst treatise theys thinges ar contayned.

1. The question of Cohabitacion.

2. Christians maye not be present at popishe masses and supersticions.

3. The masse is a prophanacion of the lordes supper.

4. The dutie of princes is to mayntain pure Religion amonge ther subiectes / and what inferior Rulars must do when they be commaunded contrarie by their superiors.

5. A confutacion of the reasons which ar made to proue the Cohabitacion lawfull.

6. How the Iues ar to be handeled of christians.

7. The papistes ar heretikes.

Whether the dwellinge together and familiar conuersacion of the godly withe the godles / the faithfull withe the faythles / the professor of Christes gospell withe the papiste be lawfull or no.

[[Reasons prouing that it is lawfull.]]

The reasons bi whiche many do persuade them selues / and others also / that yt ys lawfull / for the faythfull to haue famylier conuersation / and to dwell together withe the vnfaythfull, are theise.

[[1]]

Christe Iesus dyd go vnto the feastes and dyners of publicans and synners / and was there accompanyed and famyliarlie conuersaunte with them. In lyke maner beinge bydden of the phariseis to dyners / he went.

[[2]] [[1. Cor. 7.]]

Also S. Paule dothe byd / that the faythful whiche is ioyned in mariage withe the vnbeleuer sholde not be separated / yf the vnbeleuer will dwell withe the faythfull.

[[3]] [[1. Cor. 10.]]

Againe he teacheth / if any of them whiche beleue not byd you to a feaste / and if ye will go / what soeuer ys sett before you / that eate / &c. In an other place he likwise sayethe:

[[1. Cor. 5.]]

I wrote vnto you in an epistle / that ye sholde not companie withe fornicatours. And I meant not at all of the fornicatours of this worlde / or of the couetous / or of extorsioners / or of the Idolatrors / for then muste ye neades haue gone owt of the worlde. But nowe I haue written unto you / that ye companye not together. If any that is called a brother / be a fornicatour / or couetous / or a worshipper of Images / or a rayler / or a drunkard / or an extorsioner / with him that ys suche / see that ye eate not.

[[4]] [[Genes. 12.]]

Abraham beinge called to go owt of Chaldee / ys commaunded to trauayle in those countries / in whiche the people were altogither vngodlye and wicked Idolatrours / that ys / in the lande of Canaan / and in Egypte.

[[5]] [[Genes. 13.]]

Lot refused to continewe in the housholde / and familiar companie of Abraham / and did chose to dwell amonge the Sodomytes.

[[6]] [[4. Reg. 5.]]

Naaman the Sirian / after that he was healed of his leprosie / dyd returne to his Idolatrous nation.

[[7]] [[Marc. 5.]]

Christ our Sauior dyd not reteyne with him all those whom he dyd heale / but commaunded some of them to returne vnto their own famyliars / countrymen / and kinsfolkes (which yet were wicked / and infidels) among whom they sholde publishe and declare / what the lorde hade done for them.

[[8]]

The Iues both by the ciuile and canon lawes ar not only permitted to lyue among the christians / but also to haue their synagoges: and tribute is taken of them.

[[9]]

Some heretiques haue libertie giuen them by ciuile lawes / to dwell amonge the faithfull: for the lawes do not apoynte them all to be punished by deathe. We reade that the Nouations hade their Churches and congregations / permitted in Constantinople / in the tyme of Constantine the greate / and Theodosius / whiche were moste godlie Emperours.

These are the reasons by whiche many do persuade them selues and others / that yt ys lawfull for the godlie and faythful / to dwell together and to haue familiar conuersation withe the wicked and vnfaythfull /

[[The disposition of the Tretise.]]

To proue that their persuasions are false and vntrulie gathered of thes places / I muste propounde certayn diuisions: whiche beinge done / I shall put forthe certayne propositions or sentences In the prouinge of which to be true / ye shall playnlye perceyue howe these places alledged / are abused of them to maynteyne their false opinion.

[[The furst Diuision]]

Firste / I muste deuide betwene the estates and sortes of men: Some sortes of men / are Magistrates and rulers: some other be subiectes and of the comen sorte of people.

[[The second Diuision]]

The second diuision shalbe of cohabitation or dwelling together / of which one kinde ye free / that ys / where men be not compelled to communicate withe wicked superstitions / vngodly rites and Idolatries.

An other kinde of cohabitation / or dwellinge together there is which ys not free / and that ys where men are compelled to communicate withe wicked supersticions / to be presente at Idolatries / and so to defyle them selues.

[[The thred diuision.]]

The thirde diuision shalbe of the godlie and faithfull men them selues / whiche are thus familiarlie conuersaunte withe the vnbeleuers. Either they are learned stronge and able to confesse the doctrine of truithe in religion / and to reproue and conuince the false: orels they ar vnlearned / weake / and vnable to stande in the confession of the truithe / and reprouinge of vntruthe.

These three diuisions shall suffice. Nowe will I put forthe certeyne sentencis and propositions.

The firste sentence and proposition / shalbe of those which in estate and condicyon are priuate men and subiectes: Of that cohabitation and dwellinge whiche ys free. And of those men which are learned and stronge: of all wich I make this proposition.

[[The furst proposition.]]

Priuate men and subiectes / which ar learned and stronge / dwellinge in that place where they be free and not compelled to communicate withe wicked supersticions / they maye be famyliarlie conuersaunte / dwell and liue together with the vnbeleuers This maye they do / but yet vnder certeyn conditions / and obseruinge certeyn rules.

[[1]] [[Rules to bekept.]]

Of which the firste ys this / that they do teache thos vnbeleuers with whom they do liue and are familiarlie conuersaunte / and do instructe them in the truithe / trulye teachinge them and earnestlie callinge them / vnto the knowledge of the truithe / and faythe in Christe. And this they muste not leaue of to do so longe as they be dwellinge and familiar with them. To the end also that they maye do this the better / yt ys not vnlawfull / but moste conuenient for them to shewe them selues frendlie / gentill / and louinge unto the vnbeleauers withe whom they are familiarlie conuersaunte / and dwellinge / So that theise maye perceyue that the faythfull do loue them: els ys yt to be feared that they shall do no good withe them. for that doctrine ys moste redylie receyued of the hearer / which commeth from him / of whom the hearer ys persuaded / that he ys hys frende / and that he louithe hym indeede.

[[2]]

The second thinge that the faythfull must take heede of / and Rule which they must obserue ys this: That they do lyue an holy lyfe / and that amonge the vnbeleauers their conuersacion be so godly / graue / comely / and agreing with their profession / that in no wise they do gyue any offence through the wickednes of their lyfe: for yf by their lyfe the vnfaythfull shuld be offendid / then shuld their mynistery be vnprofitable to the vnbeleuers / for that by their euell doings they shuld ouerthrowe what soeuer they labored to builde vpp in wordes.

[[3]]

The thred thinge that theise men must take heede of / and Rule which they must obserue is. That they do not communicate / with the vnfaythfull in their supersticions and idolatries / nor iet do so mutch as outwardly to seame to allowe them. Thys ys not to be doone in ony wise / no not in hope therby to wynne the vnbeleauer from hys supersticion / and Idolatrie:

[[Ro. 3]]

For this Rule of the holy ghoste doth euer remain certain / Euell things ar not to be doone / that goode maye comme therof. This vnchaungeable rule must not be broken.

[[4]]

The fourth and last thing that theise men must take heede of / and Rule which they must obserue is this. That they haue not ther familiar conuersacion with the vnbeleuers for their own cause / as for their pleasure and recreacion / or for their gayn and profite / but only in respect of wynnynge them to the gospell of christe. Neither ys this conuersacion and companie / contynually to be hadd and kept with the vngodly and vnbeleuers / but so long as ther is goode hoope of wynninge / and conuerting them to the gospell of christe. For yf the vnbeleauers shall shew themselues so obstinate in their euell / that they giue iuste cause to despaire of ther amendement / then ar they vtterly to be forsaken / and no conuersacion or companie is to be hadd with them / farther then the necessitie of lyfe enforcith either partie. As yff the vnbeleauers shuld be in such extreme necessitie / that they could not be releaued but at the hand of the faythfull: or yf theise shuld be in that necessitie / that they could not otherwise obtain thinges necessarie but of the vnfaithfull. Also in byinge and selling thinges necessarie for the lyfe / as garmentes / victuals / and such like: Agayn in such thinges as cyuile estates / and condicions do require / as of princes and Rulars to demaunde lawfull defence / and to obey them in thinges lawfvll: to fathers / maried folke / masters / and such lyke / to do thos duties which ar appointed in godds worde. In theise thinges to vse the vnbeleauers / or to minister vnto them / ys not vnlawfull.

Thus and in thys manier / yt ys lawfull for a priuate man / which is lerned / and constant in godds truithe / being in that place wher no man ys compelled to be partaker of wicked supersticions / to dwell together / and vse familiar conuersacion with the vnbeleuers and vnfaythfull / as theise named Rules and condicions / do appoint and suffer. And so haue ye this proposicion declared and opened / The same ys confirmed / by the example of Christ our Sauiour. He dyd resorte to the dyners / and feastes / where scribes and pharisees / publicanes and synners were / to thys ende onlie / euen to teache them and to winne them vnto the Gospell. So saieth hierom.

[[Hiero in Matt. cap. 9.]]

The lorde dyd go vnto the feastes of synners / that he mighte haue occasion to teache them and that he mighte gyue spirituall meates to them which dyd bydde hym: and after speaking how christe went ofte to feastes / Theare ys (saithe he) no other thinge reported / but what he dyd / and what he taughte there. That bothe the humblenes of the lorde in goinge to synners / and the power of hys doctrine in conuertinge the penitents / mighte be declared.

After the same maner / the prophetes in the olde tyme were conuersaunte with the Idolatrous people. So were the Apostles famyliarlie conuersaunte with the vnbeleuinge Iues / and went also emongest other vnbeleuing nations and men.

[[Act. 17.]]

S. Paule when he came to Athens / dyd not thinke skorne so famyliarlie to behaue him selfe that he went in to the temples of their Idolls / and verye curiouslie searched the corners of the same / he dyd viewe their altars / the titles and inscriptions of ther altars / so that he founde owte that title / Ignoto Deo which was an altar dedicated vnto the vnknowen God / wherof he dyd take occacion to make that same hys sermon in which he preached Christe vnto them euen as yt were owt of their own bokes.

And thus / I thinke / that this our proposition / (which of yt owne selfe ys plaine and euident ynoughe) ys sufficientlie proued. Namelie thys / that a priuate man / learned / and constaunte in the truithe / beinge in that place where no man ys compelled to communicate with wicked supersticions / maye be familiarlie conuersante with the vnbeleuers / so longe as in hys conuersation he doth obserue and kepe / the conditions before mencioned.

[[Conuersation vuith men excommunicate.]]

Here I thinke good to adde / as yt were by the waye of admonicion / that kepinge these rules and conditions / yt ys lawfull for the godlie to be conuersaunte with them which be excommunicate / euen to call them in to the waye of godlynes / and not to communicate with them in any euill or synne.

[[The secund proposition.]]

Nowe will I put forthe an other proposition or sentence / whiche shalbe of those persons whych be of a priuate estate and are subiectes / of that cohabitacion which ys fre wher no man is compelled to communicate with wicked supersticions / and of suche men as be vnlearned in the knowledge of gods truithe / weake in faythe / and therfor vnable to make a christian confession of truithe. Thys collection agreeth with that which I gathered before / of which I made my former proposition / sauinge that wheras there / with the priuate estate and free dwellinge

[[Ignoraunnce in men is intollerable.]]

/ I coupled men that were learned and stronge to confesse the truithe / heare I do adde in the place of them / men vnlearned / vnable / and to weake to confesse the truithe. But herin thincke not that I do alowe suche ignoraunce and vnablenes in men. Suche ignoraunce in men is sharply to be reproued / for ther is none so veri an idiote / so simple and vnlearned amonge Christianes / but he ys bounde in conscience to be able to rendre an accompte of hys faythe / and also to be somwhat able to teache and instructe others / yea and to saye somwhat for the truthe / in all the principall poyntes of the christian faythe / which he may do yf he be but meanlie instructed in the Catechisme. But bicause / partlie throughe the peruersnes of the ministers which do not their office to instructe men / partlie throughe the negligence of men which do not their dutie in seekinge to be instructed / suche ignoraunce there is / I admytt therfore into this my collection those ignoraunte / vnable / and weake men. And so I make this proposition. Those men which are of a priuate estate and condition / dwellinge or beinge in a place where they be not compelled to communicate with wicked supersticions. And are them selues vnlearned and vnable to confesse and defende the truithe / maye not vse famyliar conuersation with the vnbeleuers.

These men ar not in that condition that the learned be / of whom I dyd speake before / for they cannot teache the vnbeleuers / yea they be not able to defende the gospell of christe from the blasphemie of the vnbeleuers / neither can they deliuer them selues from suche false snares as the vnbeleauers shall laye for them: Wherfor they must not haue familiar conuersacion with them / through which they shall thus throwe themselues into perill / and ieoperdie: Except that they can assure themselues of such strenghth / that they shall not yealde vnto the wickednes of the vnbeleuers. Otherwise / if they shall happen to dwell togither in one place with the vnfaithfull: Lett them take goode heede that they do lyue an holy lyfe amonge them: And for the rest / let them so far as the necessitie of lyfe / and ciuile businesses and affaires shall suffer them / vtterly abstayn from the companie of the vnbeleauers.

[[A question.]]

But heere risith a question: Whether that such a weake and vnlearned man / maye learn ony of the liberall artes / or philosophie / of such a master as is an vnbeleauer.

Vnto which I answer: that forbicause to lern such artes of an vnfaithfull master is not of such necessitie as can not be auoided / therfor the man that ys weake in faithe must not lern them of hym. Yt is a very daungerus thinge / to vse them which ar vnbeleauers as Masters and teachers: for often tymes in the myndes of the hearers ther arisith a gret admiracion and estimacion of the teacher / and it maye easilye com to pas at the lenghthe / that they shall thincke and Iudge that theise teachers ar not deceyued in Religion / bicause they be of an exacte and perfect knowledge in these liberall sciences / and philosophie. This (I saye) may happen of it that men ar wont to attribute mutch vnto their teachers. Yea that it may be so / I will proue by the contrarie. Origen by teaching the Mathematicalls / and such sciences / did bring many men to the knowledge of christe. For furst he dyd begyn to reade among them such sciences with which they wer delighted / In which he being expert / dyd shew vnto his hearers suche connynge / that he dyd forthewith gett amonge them great estimacion / and so the more easili drawe them vnto the doctrine of christe. Augustine likewise cam to Millaine / to heere Ambrose / bicause he was counted an excellent Rhetorician. And so whilst he desirusly herd hym / at the lenghth by hearinge he was tourned form the sect of the Manichees / vnto the true catholiques. As therfor by lerning of these sciences of godly teachers / the vnbeleauers haue beene conuerted vnto the faithe of christe / euen so / yea mutch more easilie it maye comme to pas / that they which ar weake and vnlearned / may vnder vnbeleauinge masters / be drawn from christe to vngodlynes.

Wherefor seing that this can not be doone without great perill and daunger / that such a weakling shuld vse an vnfaithfull Master / I thincke that he shuld abstayn alltogether from suche.

Sum do heere obiect and saye / that S. Paul to the Corinthians doth appoint no such Rule condicion not exception / as I haue spoken of / vnto the weake and vnlearned: but he playnly saith.

[[1 Cor. 10.]]

If ony of them which beleaue not / do bidd you to a feaste / and yf ye will go / whatsoeuer ys sett before you that eate / &c. In which wordes he teachith / that it is lefte vnto our own will as a fre thinge to go / or not to go. I answer / that ye must marcke well thos wordes of Paule / (and yf ye will go.)

[[Hovv theise vvordes, and if ye vvill go, ar to be vnderstonded.]]

He doth not grant vnto euery mans will thys libertie / and fredom / but vnto a goode and a right will he gyuith libertie to go. For yf a man wold go thether to drincke droncken / glotonusly to fill the belly / or to gyue the tongue to filthie and vncomly talke / without doubt that man shuld syn / euen for the wickednes of hys will / and for hys corrupt entent and purpose. Euen so / yf a man dowbted hys own strenghth / and dyd certaynly perceyue that he could not profite them that shuld be there / and yet wold go thether / vndowbtedly with a safe conscience and with a goode will he could not take that thing in hande / for he can not direct hys doing to the glorie of godd / as he ys commaunded to do. Wherefor though Paul expressely doth not adde that rule / yt folowith not therfor / that yt is not to be added: yea that yt ys to be added I will proue by other places of the Scripture. And to thend that we do not herin depart from Paul / the same thing / and doctrine of will /

[[1. Cor. 7.]]

he teachith in the .7. chapter of the same epistle: wher he entreating of gyuyng or not gyuinge a virgine to mariage saithe / That he doth well which keapith his virgin / and that purposith it surely in his harte / (addinge this condicion) hauing no neade / but that he poure ouer his own will: for if he shuld do otherwise then his daughter either wolde / or then her necessitie required / then shuld he neither will / nor do well. Thus to do a goode worcke / or to make an acte prefect / yt sufficithe not to take heede that it be not euell of nature / or repugnant vnto gods worde / but vnto this ys also required / that we do go about the same with an vpright and perfect mynde and will. S. Paul / therfor / doth not simply permitt this going / but with certayn circumstances. Which ar / to go with a goode will to enstruct the vnfaythfull: Agayn to go with an assured purpose / not to be, and taste of such strenghthe / that he shall not be ouerthrown. And thus this proposicion remaynith true / that the man whiche ys weak and vnlearned / must separate himself from the company and famyliar conuersacion of the vnbeleauers / so mutch as cyuile and naturall businesses and affaires will suffer / and as the necessitie of lyfe shall require (as I saide before). Lykewise all houshold duties and offices appointed in gods worde must be obserued / els shall he offend / for as Paule saithe:

[[1. Timo. 5.]]

He that prouidith not for hys / and especially for them of hys own howshold / the same hath denied the faithe / and ys wors then an Infidell. And to proue farther / that this vnlearned and weake man must abstayn from the familiar companie of the vnbeleauers / yea thoughe they be most deere vnto hym / that Rule doth serue / which Christe our Sauiour gyuithe sayinge.

[[Matt. 5. 18.]]

If thy hande or fote offend the / and hinder the / cut yt of / and cast it from the / &c. If thyn eye offend the / plucke yt out / and caste yt from the. We ar not commaunded in this place / to cut of the outward membres of our bodie / as Origen (yf it be true that sum do report of hyme) dyd vntruly thincke / but as the sownd interpretours do write / thos frends and thinges / which ar most nighe and deere vnto vs / Theise ar they which must be cut of plucked out / and cast awaye from our familiaritie and companie / when they do plucke / and separate vs / from the true waye of saluacion / or be such a hinderaunce vnto vs as puttinge impedimentes and lettes in our waye / do hynder vs from walking in gods lawe. Chrisostom entreating this matier / writithe.

[[In Ioan. hom. 15.]]

If the membre which ys misioined vnto the bodie must be cut of / ar not then euell frends mutch nore to be cut of? And agayn / he saith / If we do cut of that membre which ys rotten / and incurable from the bodie / for feare les yt shuld corrupt the other partes therof / (which we do not bicause we do neglect it / for who yet did euer hate his own fleshe, but to saue the rest) how mutch more is this to be done to them which ar euell ioyned vnto us? Which yet we must not do as thoughe we did despise them / but to prouide that our helthe and saluacion be not brought in daunger by them, after that we do see that we can not profite them at all. To this also belongith the lawe which christe did giue:

[[Matth. 18.]]

That he which will not heere the brethern admonishing him / And doth contemne the voice of the churche when it reprouith / and correctith hym: he is then to be estemed and taken as an ethnicke / and a publicane.

[[1. Cor. 5.]]

Which thing Paule puttith in practise when he biddith / that the Corinthians shuld excommunicat the fornicator / les that a litill leauen shuld soure the whole lumpe of dowe. To the same pupose he usith the vearse of the poete Menander.

[[1. Cor. 15.]]

Euell wordes do corrupt goode maniers. Ther Paul teachith that the true doctrine of the Resurrection was greatly hindered amonge the Corinthians / which wer but newly turned vnto christe / bicause they dyd to lightly gyue eare to the vngodly argumentes and reasons of philosophers / or rather of heretiques / which did contend and stryue agaynst that doctrine. No man can sufficiently consider / how the bewitching of wicked tales / and talkes / do shake and hurt the tender conscience and weake faithe / of the foeble and weake brother. Wherfor it is most necessari and profitable to admonishe them which ar weake / that they do abstayn / and withdrawe them selues / from the felowshipp and familiar companye / of the vnbeleauers. The phisicions / do cowncell when a contagius disease hath enfected any nigh place / that thei which as yet ar sownd and not enfected / shuld not comme vnto them that be enfected alreadye and sicke / bicause that in the bodies of men / and the temperatures / and disposicions of the same / ther is such a common passion and suffering / that the infection doth easily go from them that be infected / vnto the other. And though they which do not take heede and keape them selues from that infection / do not presently feale the poyson and force therof / yeat inasmutch as by lytill and litill the infection / and poyson receyued doth growe / not long after they ar sure to feale the force and strenghthe of it. Seing this is so / and eich man maye worthily and godly take heede to auoide the diseases of the bodie / mutch more diligent heede is to be taken of all men / that they do not from ony man or place gett vnto themselues infecting vices of the minde. Our Nature / and disposicion through our naturall and birthe syn is now so corrupt / (as both the holy scripture doth warn vs / and infinite examples of dayly experience do teache vs) that we neade not to dowt at all / but that we shall easily receyue the poison / and infection of other mens synnes / if we do not fle farr from them: And as with no great labour they will cleaue vnto vs / so after they be ons crept and roted vnto vs / then hardly and not without great payn and labor / will they be thrust out agayn.

[[In Ioemm. hom. 56.]]

Wherefor Chrisostom in the afore named place semith to say well. If (saithe he speaking of the vnbeleauers and wicked) we coulde make them better / and not hurt our selues / all thinges wer to be doone: but when we can not profite them / bicause they be incurable / and such as will not be amended / and yet we hurt our selues / they ar vtterly to be cutt of. And to the end that he might the more strongly confirme his saying / he alledgith that sayinge of Paul:

[[1. Cor. 5.]]

Put awaye the euell from among yowe. Which wordes of Paule ar not to be vnderstonded of the synne / for the greke word is in the masculyne gendre / ton pone:ron / and therfor he meanith by it / the wicked man. The same wordes I will now sumwhat bend / vse / and turn / vnto the profite of you that be weake / and thus saye vnto yowe. Put awaye your own selues from the euell men that ar emongst you: for seing ye ar but priuate men / and vnlearned / and therfor can not put away the euell from among you / yet your selues ye may ridd / and conuey awaye from being emongst the wicked / and the euell men.

Morouer it happeneth that whilest the weake and vnlearned do thus familiarly accompanie the vnbealeuers / They can not chose but they must heare many subtill reasons and see many other thinges which do mutch make against the true religion that they do profes: Which thinges when they se and be not able to disproue and confute / They do it not: And so they ronne into two mischeifs. The furst is / That they ar as it wer witnesses of the blasphemie / and of the reproche that the vnbeleauers do to the truthe: the seconde / that they maie happ to haue summe stinge left sticking in their concience / with which they shalbe longer / more greuusly and daungerusly tormented / then either they thincke of or do feare. Let vs heere therfor the wise man which doth saye.

[[Eccles. 13.]]

Who so touchithe pitche shalbe fyled ther with all / and he that is familiar with the proude / shall become lyke vnto hym: Take not a burthen vppon the / aboue thy poure / neither ioyne thow thi self to hym that is more honorable / and ritche then thiself. These words of the wiseman / do for two causes belong to our purpos. Furst / bicause that they do teache / that other mens synnes ar lyke vnto pitche / which doth stycke vnto the fingars and garments of them that do touche it. Agayn / that eich man shuld well trie and consider his own poure and strenghth. Vppon which cowncell / I do gather two thinges. Furst / that the infirme and weake must not ioyn themselues in familiaritie with the wicked / for wickednes will then cleaue vnto them: Secondly that eich man must so well consider / and iustly trie his own poure and strenghth / that he doth not ouermatch himself.

The churche of godd in all ages hath felt by experience that mutch euell hathe happened through this familiar companie / and felowshipp keapt betwene the weake in faithe and knowledge / and the vnbeleauers. In the Primitiue churche forthwith after christes ascension / because the Iues which wer conuerted vnto christe did lyue a great while with thos gentils which hadd receyued the gospel / ther begon a very Iuishnes. For the Iues did enforce the ceremonies of Moses lawe / myngling them with the doctryne of the gospell / through which they did infect many congregacions of the christians so sore / that scarsely and hardely at lenghth could that euell be roted out: Yea that euell hath so preuailed / that euen vntill our tymes / in Spayn namely / and in sum other places also / ther be many which do not only holde still the ceremonies of Moses lawe with the profession of christe / but they do thincke them to be necessarie vnto Saluacion. They emongst the Spaniards which be of this mynde / ar called Marrani. And vnto this daye the churche of India is enfected with the same vice. But let the examples of the holy scripture / I praye you / teache vs euen the same. The Israelites which wer captyues in Babilon / by the space of 70. yeares / when they hadd libertie gyuen them furst of Cyrus / then of Darius / thos two most noble Kinges to return / they did not all forthewith return / but a great number of them / such namely as wer weaker in the lord then other / being delighted with the commodities and pleasures of their houses / feildes and traffique of merchandize / did abide still amonge the chaldees: Which men how sharpely they wer reproued of Esdras / Nehemias / Zacharias / and other prophetes / it dothe playnly appeare in the scripture to them that liste to seake and knowe it. How the Israelites wer infected throughe that conuersacion which they hadd with the Egiptians / it appearith playnly by this / that whilest they wer in the desert / when as yet the wonderfull benefites of godd wer euen before ther eyes / they did fall from the lord their dilyuerer vnto Idolatrie / and vnto that kinde of Idolatrie / which they wer acquaynted withall in Egipte. Ther they hadd seene howe the Egiptians worshipped an Oxe /

[[Exod. 23.]]

they therfor violently trauailed with Aaron when Moses was absent / that he shuld make them a calf to worshipp: which when he hadd doone / then began they ioyously to crye: Theise ar the godds / O. Israell / which brought the out of the lande of Egypt. Agayn / when by the desert wild and barren places /

[[Numer. 25.]]

they wer comme to the coastes of the Moabites / and began to waxe more familiar with them then became the poeple of godd / through that familiaritie they wer brought to this / that not only they did committ most vile whordom with thos beastly women / but also that they sacrificed vnto their most shamefull Idoll / Baalpeor / and suffred themselues to be coupled vnto his sacrifices. for which they suffred many miseries and calamities.

[[Math. 26.]]

Peter likewise / when he camme into that wicked court of the cheif prest and was ther conuersant emongst thos damsels and vngodly seruantes / most miserablie did he denie and forsweare his master christe our Sauiour: which his fault / after he departed from thence / he did bewaile with abundaunce of teares. By these histories ye may playnly see / what happenith vnto the weake through that familiar conuersacion which they haue with the vnfaithful.

[[Esaiae 6.]]

Esaye the prophet / when he did se the lorde sitting vppon his seate of glorie / with his Angels about hym most purely publishing his prayse / though he semith not to thincke hymself greatlye gyltie of ony notable cryme or fault / yet cryeth he out / O wo is me / &c. I dwell amonge a poeple that hath vncleane lyppes. This man of godd truly did thincke / that he hadd gotton no small corruption and infection / bicause he hadd lyued long with an vncleane poeple.

The histories of the heathen do teache vs the same thinge. Alexander that gret and mightie kinge of Macedonia / who by the force of armes / and most notable victories / hadd subdued the greatest parte of the whole worlde / Euen he hymself was ouercomme with the maniers of the Persians.

And vppon whom of right / as vppon a conquered poeple / he shuld haue laied lawes / to haue brought them to that seuere kinde of lyfe which the Macedonians vsed / euen he as a man conquered and ouercomme of ther maniers / suffered hymself to be so shamefully misused / that he did take vnto hym their kinde of araye / their lowse delicacie / their pompe and pride / and set. furthe hymself to be worshipped of them as godd. And so being corrupted he did allow that fall from the maniers of the grecians / through which he did sustayn great reproche amonge the wise / and mutche hatred amonge his souldiours / and that not vnworthilie. Besids this / we must knowe / that if these men do without ony Rule or godly end keape such companye / and be familiarly conuersant with the vnbeleauers / except that in theise the fruite of their conuercion do quickly appeare / and of the other also it be by all meanes ernestly sought / both in the reprouing of their vnbeleif / and in alluring them to the truithe / It doth happen that ther conuercion is hindred by such companie and familiaritie. For whilest the vnbeleuers do se that the faithfull do lyue so frendly / and familiarly with them / they do iudge forthewith that their supersticion / and vnbeleif / is not so wicked a thinge / nor yet a thinge so to be abhorred and condenned / as it is reported / yea thus maye they be brought to imagin / that they maye be saued though they do perseuere / and contynue in their vnbeleif. For if it wer otherwise (shall they thincke) theise goode and godly men / wold not be thus familiar and frendly with vs.

I do omitt to speake of this / that many other of the brethern ther ar / which by the example of this conuersacion / do persuade themselues that they maye do euen the self same thinge / and so do beare with the wicked / and do wincke at their euell / bicause that they haue seen other men do so before them And thus it commith to pas / that by the example of sum men / this euell spreadith it self abroade so that in the end / our faith and Religion / is euen layed forth for the wicked and vngodly / to mocke / and contempn.

Often tymes also that thing happenith / which we reade to haue happened in Pauls tyme / amonge the Corinthians /

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

that the brethern by this conuersacion / ar brought to be partakers of the wickednesses / vile custumes / and Idolatries of the vnfaithfull: Which familiar conuersacion / dothe not only couple them with the vnfaithfull / but it is a meane to make them Idolatrours: for thauoiding of which / Paule cryeth out in the same place:

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

fle Idolatrie. I do likewise passe ouer with silence / that wher our weake and vnlearned brethern / do thus ioyne themselues in familiar conuersacion with the vnfaithfull / it can not be but betwene them and the vnfaithfull / sumtyme ther will happen communicacion of Religion: And then though it happ so that through want of learninge / our weaklinges do not slyppe and foile them selues / Yeat bicause they can not dissolue / and answer vnto the arguments / and subtile reasons of the aduersaries aptly / ther arisith then contentius stryfes betwen them / and not only this / but euel speakings / reproches / and hatreds / which thinges ar so farr from edifying / that they do altogether hynder and lett it: furthermor in these conflictes it happenith / that our weaklinges at lenghth are putt to silence / so that they neither speake to confes the truithe / nor to reproue that whiche is fals: Now consider heere what a libertie these men do lose: which christian libertie is in free boldenes in speakinge / to reproue that which is fals / as to confes godd / and his truithe. This libertie of free speaking and confessing / no christen man ought so to gyue ouer / but that he in all his talke shuld and might vse it.

But in this companie of vnbeleauers / these weaklinges do not / yea darre not vse it / les they in ther sayings / shuld be snatched vpp / and put to shame. Yet truly no men / nor ony companye of men shuld cause a christian to caste awaye this fredom and libertie.

[[2 Cor. 6.]]

For our purpose also makith that sayinge of S. Paul. Set your selues at large / for what felowshipp hath righteousnes with vnrighteousnes? Or what companie hathe light with darcknes? Or what concorde hath christe withe Beliall? Either what parte hath he that beleauith / with an Infidell? Or how agreith the temple of godd / with Images? These wordes ar so playn that they neede not to be expownded: In which / this conuersacion of which we now do entreate / is most simplye / and playnly forbidden. The figures and ceremonies of Moses lawe ar taken awaye / but yet the thinge figured / which is as I might saye / the strenghth / the pythe / and foundacion of them / doth remayn.

[[Numer. 15.]]

Which thinge being true / I maye then aske this question. The lorde commaunded that the Iues shuld make gardes in the quartiers of their garments / and to put vppon the garde / a ribande of yelow silcke / &c. My question now is. Whi the lorde did commaunde / that the Iues shuld differ from the gentils / not in circumcision only / but euen in their garments also? Euen for this cause verily / that they shuld be taught euen by their gardes also / that they wer gods peculiar people / and that they shulde separate themselues from the gentils / that they shuld not be conuersaunt with them / neither shuld they ioyne themselues in familiaritie withe them / farther then the necessitie of either of the lyues did require. The Iuishe gardes we do reiect / but this which is ment by the gardes we both do and must retayne. In many places the lorde commaunded the Iues also that they shuld not return into Egypte / and that they shuld not aske healpe of the Egiptians / nor of the Assirians: Which he did partly to this end / that through such familiaritie as then must haue beene betwene them and their healpers / the Israelites shuld not be infected withe their vices. The booke of the Iudges / doth playnly inough teache vs this will and pleasure of godd.

[[Iudic. 2.]]

For the Israelites did synne greuusly in this / that they did put to tribute thos Idolatrus nacions / ouer whom the lorde hadd gyuen them uictorie / and did couenant with them / that they shuld dwell amonge them in peace / which thinge godd hadd diuers tymes expressly forbidden them to do / commaunding that they shuld vtterly destroye the inhabitantes of that lande: This he did partli bicause / that through this they shuld not be brought by the Cananites / into the daunger of Idolatrie. Now the cause being such with these weake / and vnlearned men / of whom I now do speake / they must likewise take goode heade to obserue that rule / which the lorde appointed vnto the Israelites. It appearith playnly / that this commandement of god was kept longe tyme amonge the Iues: for they did not vse ony familiaritie / nor keape companie withe the Samaritans which did not truly worshipe the lyuynge godd / no not in christes tyme /

[[Ioan. 4.]]

as it appearith by the talke that he hadd with the woman at the well. Morouer as the goode fathers in olde tyme / did esteme it as their singular ioye / when they might be familiarly conuersant with the godly / so how mutch they sorowed When they could not be so conuersant with the people of godd / and in godds house / Dauid is witnes: Who when he fledd from the face of Saul his persequtour / did mourn / and in the psalmes with most heauie complaintes / doth lament / that he was compelled to be conuersant amonge straungers / such as did not knowe the lyuyng godd / and to be as it wer an exile from godd / and his people. So shuld the companie hadd with the vnfaithfull / be heauy and bitter to the faithfull.

[[Daniel 1.]]

Daniell and his thre felows / might haue lyued / vppon the Kinges table / and haue eaten most fyne and delicate meates / but they did rather chose to lyue together with potage / and water / and vtterly to forsake thos pleasures / and delicacies / then they wold defile them selues with the meates of the vnbeleauers. Moses also / as it is writon in the epistle to the hebrues /

[[Hebr. 11.]]

might if he wold haue beene taken for the Sonne of Pharaos daughter / and so to haue beene in greate hoope of obtaynynge the kingdome of Egipte: but all this sett a parte / he did chose rather / forsaking all theise thinges / to go vnto his brethern / which wer in miserable bondage / seruinge and laboring in claye / and bricke: Which thing to do / as it was a greate triall of his faithe / so the doinge of it doth commend / and sett furth his faithe / and shew what loue he hadd to be conuersant with the people of godd. They which do not folowe these examples / do shew how litell they do regarde the glorie of godd / and the communion and felowship of sayntes / which they will not gayne nor redeame with losse / no thoughe it be of neuer so litill: And in this preferring of their own gayne welthe and commoditie / aboue the glorie of godd / and the felowlie communion of the godlye / they do most wickedly.

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

Do we (saithe Paule to the corinthians) prouoke the lorde? Ar we stronger then he? Theise weake brethern / which do not trie their own strenghth to fele their weaknes so / that they might seeke the encreace of strenghth in them selues / but being weake indeede / both dare and do thus desperatlie committ themselues vnto this familiar conuersacion with the vnfaithfull / they do tempt godd / and do after a sort prouoke hym / as thoughe they wolde becomme stronger than he.

Many more reasons might I bringe to proue this proposicion true. That a priuate man / being in a place wher he is not compelled to communicate with the supersticions of the vnfaithfull / and is vnlearned vnable / and to weake to confesse the truithe / must not ioyne in familiaritie / nor be familiarly dwelling and conuersant together with the vnfaithfull. But bicause I do suppose that it is sufficiently proued by the reasons which I haue alledged / I will now prepare myself to an other proposicion.

The thred proposicion shalbe / of Priuate men and subiectes / which ar lerned and stronge / and of them also which ar weake and vnlearned / of that dwelling which is not fre / wher as men ar compelled by lawes / and Tyrannye to communicate and to be partakers with the wicked in their supersticions and Idolatries: And of theise I make this proposicion / and sentence.

[[The thred proposicion.]]

Priuate men and subiectes be they learned or vnlearned / stronge or weake / which ar dwelling and abyding in that place wher men ar compelled to communicate / and be partakers withe Idolatrors / and to be present at vnlawfull supersticions and Idolatries / defiling themselues with vncleane Religion / maye not dwell together nor be familiarly conuersaunt / they may not ioyne in societie with suche Idolatrors: I saye / that this cohabitacion / and familiar dwelling together is vnlawfull / vngodlye / and not to be kept in ony wise: But in this case a faithfull man must either flye / or dye for the truithe / that he be not compelled to defile himself with Idolatrie. Ther is truly but one truithe / and that same must be holden with a pure conscience / neither must it be forsaken for the pleasure of ony man.

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

S. Paul saith to the Corinthians: flye ye Idolatrie. Then do men flye Idolatrie / when either they do depart from the place wher Idolatrie is committed / or when abiding still in the same place / they do gyue their lyues and suffer deathe bicause they will not committ Idolatrie nor allowe it with ther presence. Paul therfor teachith by this sayinge / that in no wise the faithfull shuld come at the Idolatries of the vnfaithfull / but flye from them: which sentence is so playn to the vnderstondinge of the most symple / that it neadith no exposicion at all. The lawe and the prophetes / the olde Testament and the newe / ar full of such sentences / and commaundementes / which do forbidd straunge worshippinge of godd and Idolatrie.

[[2. Mach. 7.]]

Call to your mynde the historie of the Machabees / which I do not recite as thoughe I wold gyue to that booke ony lyke autoritie with the Canonicall scriptures, but bicause the historie is rehersed not only ther / but also in Iosephus / and the examples of them ar profitable for vs / therfor I do alledge them. That godly Mother hadd rather haue the whole fruite of her bodie to be miserablie destroyed / then ons to taste of swynes fleshe.

[[Gen. 2.]]

Swynes fleshe / and Adams apple / of their very nature ar not so to be abhorred / for eiche of them is a goode creature of godd. But forsomutche as vnto them godd hathe ioyned his worde to forbid the tasting of them / therfor euen as Adam could not eate the forbidden apple / so could not they eate swynes fleashe without committing of greate synne: which rather then they wolde do / the poore babes offer themselues to the deathe / and the godly mother doth most stronglye therto encorage them and most constauntly abide the same herself.

In the church of christe ther haue beene innumerable martirs / as Eusebius / and others do write / which haue most constantly abidden deathe / bicause they wold not depart from the Religion of christe / nor file themselues with Idolatrie: They wold not put one grayne of franckinsence vppon the altars of the Idols / nor throwe one floure / nor ons bowe the knee before them / but suffered rather deathe.

[[Matth. 10.]] [[Luc. 12.]]

They hadd this alwais before ther eyes: Feare not hym that killethe the bodie / &c. And that he speakith of killing the bodie / is likewise to be vnderstonded of taking awaye of goodes and ritches: But he is to be feared / which after that he hath taken awaye bothe lyfe and goodes / can throwe the soule into euerlastinge fire / feare hym.

S. Paule to persuade the Corinthians that they shuld abstayn from meates offered vnto Idols / vsith theise reasons:

[[1. Cor. 3.]]

Bicause they wer the Temple of godd. They wer the membres of christe / and therfor they might not become the membres of an Idoll. Bicause they wer partakers of the lords table of which they could not be partakers and of the table of Deuels also. And the same thing that Paule said vnto the Corinthians / do I also saye vnto these our brethern of whom I do entreate.

[[Daniel. 3.]]

Daniel his thre felows did gyue themselues / to be thrown in to the burnynge fornace / rather then they wold worshipp the kinges golden Image. But theise thinges must now be applied vnto theise most vnhappie Daies / in whiche / wher poperie rulith / the godly which do dwel togither with the vngodlie / the professours of christes gospell / I meane / With the papistes / ar compelled to be at ther Masses / and most vile and filthie Idolatries and supersticions: vnto them doth this proposicion reatche / and of them therfor I do playnly affirme / and saye this /

[[It is not lawfull to be present at the popyshe Masse and supersticions]]

That it is not lawfull for them to be present at the popishe Masses / at popishe superstitions and jdolatries. It is to well knowne / that many fondlye do flatter / and indeede deceyue them selues / imagining that it is lawfull for them to be present at this popish pelf. Againste whom with all ther clokes I vse this sayinge of Paule / flye ye Idolatrie. But here they resiste and saye / that this sayinge and suche other as before I haue alledged / are to be vnderstanded of the sacryfices done vnto Idoles / and false goddes / and not of such supersticions as are nowe growen and vsed in papistrie / As of masses / and such like / for in the sacrifices of the gentils what so euer is done / yt is done vnto Idolles / But here in the masse that whiche ys done is done as a worshippe vnto god / for the name of godd is caled on: It hathe the begynynge of Christes ordinaunce and institution, although that some nowghtie men abuse it: wherfore / seinge theis do thus differ from the other / theis can not by these sentences / and like reason be forbidden to them / as Idolatrie was to the Corinthians: This they saye. But theis men shuld considre and wel vnderstande / that theris no owtwarde worcke wiche is to be estemed as a worshippe and seruice of godd / but only that which is apoynted and ordeyned by godds worde so to be / which ordinaunce in the worde if it wante / it is vtterlie nothinge ells but mans inuention what so euer it be: for worshippings of god and goddes seruice are they not / but only when they haue godds worde to beare and warraunte them. God can not be truly worshipped with out faithe, for if faithe be not in the worshippe that is done vnto god / that worshippe the lorde dothe abhorre / as the Prophet Esaie dothe witnes. Incense is an abhominable thinge vnto me / I maye not awaie with your newe moones. &c. I hate your holie dayes / &c. Thus dothe god reiect the seruice apointed in his worde / because it was done without faithe. If the seruice and worshippe of God taughte in his worde maie be done with out faithe / and therfore displease god / mutch moore these worshippinges which haue not their ordinaunce in godds worde ar done withe out faithe / therfor do displease godd: for faithe hathe no place at all where goddes worde is not: now these inuentions of men be they neuer so glorious to the eye / they be not ordeyned in godds worde / they can not therfor be doone in faythe / they can not please god /

[[uuhat so euer is not of faith is synne. Ro. 14.]]

yea god dothe abhorre them / and accompte them as an abhomination / because they be not so done / in faithe I meane In faithe they be not done / because they are not taughte in godds worde / for where ther is no worde of god there is no faithe / and where no faithe is / there is no worshippe of godd / but a filthie hypocrisie / and stinking abhomination. Nowe let the papistes shewe that ther masse is a worshippe of god / taughte in his worde / whiche we saie plainlie that they can not do / let them do it therfore if they can / and when they haue do yt / then will we saye with them: But vntill they haue done it / their masse shall remaine a filthie and stinkinge abhomination before the lorde / and suche a thinge as the lorde dothe deteste and abhorre. If so be that we will do honour and worshippe vnto men / we are accustomed principallie to obserue with what thing they are moste delighted / which thinge after that we haue perceiued / we do it / and then do we thinke to haue bestowed our labour wel when we haue done it: God is delighted onlie with that seruice which he hathe set forthe in his worde / wherfore he that will do godd acceptable seruice / muste do that which his worde teachethe / and in suche wise as it techethe / els as the lorde by the Prophet Esaie sayeth / he dothe detest and abhorre their sacrifices.

[[Isay. 1.]]

And to proue that the masse with all such popishe baggadge is verye Idolatrie / I neade not to bring mani reasons / for this one thing dothe easelie teache it. There is no true god that wilbe worshipped with this popishe seruice: for the true liuinge god hathe in his worde plainlie apointed the maner howe he wilbe worshipped / in wich word this masse / and their popishe pelf is not taughte / but they ar cleane contrarie and repugnaunte vnto it: wherfore when the wicked papistes do their popish seruice vnto a god (they saye) it is plaine that they do not worshippe that true lyuinge godd / whom the holy scripture teachith vs to knowe and worship / but sum such other godd as they haue fayned in their fantesie to be their god / such a one as is delighted with these their seruices: But seinge that in verye dede there is no suche true god at all / as they do Imagine / the god then whom they serue is but a newe god / fantasied and inuented in their owne myndes: wherfore by righte their god maye and must be called / an horribe Idoll / their masse likewise with all popishe seruice done vnto him / abhominable Idolatrie / And they which do such popishe seruice vile Idolatrors. But wher as they saye that those thinges wich be done and spoken in the masse hadde their begynnynge of the ordinaunce of Christe, and that by the wikednes of men they are corrupted: This sainge helpethe not at all / for in these thinges / it is not the begynnynge that is to be consydered only / or that can make them good onlie / seinge they are swarued from the truithe / but nowe their nature / and vse vs to be tried / whether they do agree with the verie worde of god or no.

[[numer. 21.]]

what thinge hade a more pure begynynge euen by goddes commaundement then the brasen serpent? It was erected god both willinge and commandinge it. It was sett forthe with miracles / for whosoeuer dyd beholde it he was deliuered from the bytinge of deathlie serpentes /

[[4 Reg. 18.]]

But this not withstondinge when men dyd worshippe the same serpent and offered incense vnto it / the godlie dyd so abhorre it / that Ezechias that most holy kynge not regardinge at all the begynnynge of yt / dyd breake it in peces / and vtterlie destroyed the worshippinge of yt / Therfore it is not sufficient to consider the begynnynge of a thinge / but howe the ordre and vse of yt dothe agree wyth the firste institution and ordinaunce. This acte of Ezechias is praised in the scripture. And wolde to god that we hade now an Ezechias wich wold so handle the masse. ffurthermoore our men wolde haue this thinge to be consydered in them / that thoughe they go to the masse / yet they haue no mynde to decline and departe frome god / but that they worshipp hym ther: vnto this I answer / that the Israelites when they dyd compell Aaron to make them a calfe to worshippe / they hade not indede that mynde that they wolde fall from the true lyuynge god / so that they wolde no more confesse that he deliuered them out of Egypte / but this only was their mynde they wolde not reteyne that worship of the inuisible god which was deliuered them in worde / but they wolde worshippe the true God vnder some signe / and visible form and shape / whiche sholde represent vnto them the liuinge God their deliuerer: And that shape or forme they moste desyred to haue / wich they hade seene the Egyptians vse to represente vnto them their god: They vsed the form or shape of an oxe / the very same forme wolde the Israelytes nowe haue: And as the very heathen men mighte haue sayde that they worshipped the one only true liuinge god the Author and maker of all thinges / whose maiestie was shewed / figured / and set forthe vnto them by those diuers signes / and formes / which they dyd worshippe: As that the signe of Minerua dyd set forthe his wisdom: the signe of Mars his mighte and power: the signe of Iupiter his Iustice and goodnes: So wolde the Israelites haue their god and deliuerer set forthe vnto them in the shape of a Calfe / not that they mynded to turne awaye from him / or to denye him (as they thoughte) but because they wolde worshippe him as it pleased their fantesie. But we muste not apoynte the manier and ordre of godds seruice after our mynde and iudgment / or as they commonlye saye / after the goode intent of men: for this doinge in the Israelites god did not like / but for yt he punyshed them grevouslye: Nether dyd Moses alowe it / for he knewe that god wolde not so be worshipped. This cloke therfore must haue no place in this matier. but we muste see whether god will haue suche worshippe and seruice / whether goddes worde teachethe yt / whether it be clothed with the worde of truithe / which if it haue not / then dost thou not worship the true god with that worshippe which pleaseth him. Ieroboam thought mutch after this sorte /

[[3. Reg. 12.]]

for his mynde was not to drawe the people awaye from the worshippe of the god Iehouah / but he feared les if they sholde customablie go to the temple at Hierusalem / the people wolde fall from his kingdom and ioyne themseues agayne to the house and stocke of Dauid: wherfore he sekinge his owne profite / sayde / that it was not nedefull that they sholde go vp vnto the temple / and to the Arke of the couenaunte when they wolde worship the true god: for the same god which was represented vnto them by the Arke of wodde and the temple / mighte euen aswell be represented vnto them by these newe signes and golden calues: There is no chaunge but euen of the forme and owtwarde shape: for as at Hierusalem by the Arke / so here by the calues the liuinge god sholde be represented: And what makethe yt matter what the signe be / so the worshippe be all oone: Therfore the same worshipp that ells they sholde do at Hierusalem / they mighte more commodiusli do yt in bethel / and dan. So that he dothe nothynge ells / but establishe this owtwarde worke / in wich he wolde haue them worship the true god: but he hade no warraunte in godds worde for it / and that beinge absent / ther is nothinge in his acte remayninge but mans worcke / supersticion / and Idolatrie: so is it iudged. And therfor none of his subiectes shuld haue herckned to hym. So now / when Tiraunts / Kinges / Queenes / Bisshopps / and such other as ar the soudiours of Antichriste / the Pope I meane / do compel and constrayn men vnto such vile and vngodly supersticions as the popishe brood haue and do sett upp, althoughe they do pretend a goode well willing mynde vnto their poeple and countrith (as thei saye) and that all shalbe for their wealthe: And thoughe they do also saye / that theise thinges ar of an auncient begynnynge and contynuance: Yet indeed they ar but popishe Idolatrours / and to Idolatrie do they trayn men. Therfor their subiectes must not herken vnto them neither obey them herin / But do rather as S. Paule teachith.

[[Ephes. 5.]]

Haue no felowshipp with their vnfruitfull works / but rather reproue them. He callith theim their worckes, for gods worckes they can not be called / bicause they do differ / and swarue from his worde: with them (saithe he) haue no felowshipp What then is to be doon in that case? We must (Paule saith) reproue theim. And that so oft as neede shall require / to reproue theim with greate libertie and boldenes: So farr must we be from dissemblinge with them / that we must (he saithe) reproue them. If thou be a preacher / preache against them: If thow be noone / yet speake against them / reproue them / and condemn them. But our men do saye / That it wer very perillus to do thus: for then (saye they) shall we be burned / or hanged / we shall loose our goodes / londes / and promocions / I heare you well. And do yowe on the other part consider this as well / that ther is not one of vs all which hath receiued christendome vnder such a couuenaunt and condicion / that with it he shuld haue and holde in safetie his lyfe / his ritches / and dignities without perseqution: it is saide vnto vs / and in this case as a lawe layed vppon vs all /

[[Math. 16.]]

that Except we do renownce and vtterly forsake all our thinges and take vpp our crosses and folow christe / we can not be his disciples / and except we do lose our lyues we shall not saue them.

This verily / this must we determyn with our selues / this must we appoint our selues vnto / to do and abide this must we caste our acompt / To this euery christian must be so readie and bent / that he shuld not doubt / no not deliberate or take aduise of this matier.

[[Ciprian.]]

That example of Cyprian is to be sett before our eyes: When he was brought vnto the place wher he shuld suffer deathe / The magistrate being very desirus indede to deliuer hym from deathe / sayde vnto hym. Now I do gyue the space to deliberate and aduise thi self well / whether thow wilt thus Wrechedly dye / or obey / and be let go free. To whom this godly man answered. In so holy a thinge / ther is no deliberacion or aduise to be taken. This readines must euery christian haue in this case to beare the crosse and to followe Christe as Christes disciple. Trulye they whiche be not this wise mynded / but to saue their lyues and goodes do defile them selues with masses / and wicked supersticions / art greuouslye punished for it euen presentlie:

[[a greuus punishement.]]

firste their owne conscience dothe miserably torment them. Secondlie the light of goddes truithe which was opened vnto their mynde is by lytell and lytell put owt. Then the loue of the truithe and the hate of falshode waxeth colde in them. fourthly their mynde becommith nomore displeased or vnquieted for the euill that they do / but they begynne to please them selues in this their euill and dissemblinge / yea and do go aboute to persuade others vnto the same. Laste of all they begyn to hate them which do not harcken to their aduise and counsell / which is to do as they do / yea and they stirre vp againste them sharpe perseqution / for so moche as in them lyethe. This hathe bene the moste vnhappie ende of many. But this is not the end of all their miserie / as ye may well perceyue / if ye do consider what is appointed to be their perpetuall porcion / which shalbe payed them full truly in the laste daye. Let them therfore beware of this bottomles pytt which feare to breake their neckes. But some there are which in this their dissemblinge are wonte to defende them selues after this sorte: we do not theis thinges (saye they) with our hartes / we do only thus behaue our selues in bodie / and in outward behauiour. To whom I do answer: god he is the lorde of harte and bodie / as he requireth the worshippe of the harte / euen as iustlie and seuerlie dothe he commaunde the owtwarde worshippe of the bodye: for these owtwarde doinges are a kinde of confession / and therfore as men owght to be sounde and vprighte in the beleif of harte / so owght they to be in owtwarde confessinge and expressinge of their godlynes and religion. The doinges of men be as it were a tongue: The tongue dothe confes the thinge that lyeth in the harte by wordes: so doinges do giue a confession therof in dede: As he therfore which denyethe with tongue is a denyer of Christe / so he that in owtwarde worckes and doinges denyeth Christ / is iustlie called a deniar. Of whom Christe doth saye.

[[mat. 10.]]

he that denyeth me before men / him will I denye before my father which is in heauen: wherfore as the tongue owghte not in the confession of godlines and religion to differ from the mynde / so muste not the owtwarde doinges of the body disagree from the same. And vnto these men this also I saye / with paule /

[[Rom. 10.]]

that the belefe of the harte doth iustifie / but the mouthe and owtwarde doinges do make the confession vnto saluation / And therfore Christe dothe saie /

[[mar. 8.]]

he that is ashamed of me before men / of him will I also be ashamed before my father which is in heauen. Morouer I wold it wer well knowen vnto these men / that it is no true faythe which doth not breake forthe in workinge that worke which dothe agree with faithe. As is writen of Christe / who verylie soughte the glorye of his father / The zeale of thy house hathe eaten me / This zeale dyd not lye in Christes brest only / but it brake forthe into wordes / as it apeareth by his sermons / and into deedes also / as yt apeareth ther / wher he withe a whippe dyd dryue the byars and sellers owt of the temple:

This is a zeale / which only deseruyth the name of a christian zeale. And euen the same I saye of faythe. What zeale then / what faithe / what studie or care for faithe is it / that these men do bragge of / that they haue shutt vp so close in their brestes that it breaketh not forthe into wordes and dedes? As This true christian zeale / and their dissemblinge can not be together in oone man / euen so true and lyuely faith can not lurcke in such a dissemblinge breste. ffurthermore / there are two kindes of worshippe due vnto god / an inwarde / and an outwarde worshippe / The inwarde worshippe is of the mynde / that is when we beleue goddes truithe / and do thinke of god true and worthye thinges / The owtwarde worshippe is of the bodye / which is declared by those owtwarde signes that do belonge to the true worshippe of god / In lyke maner there are two kindes of Idolatries / one is inwarde / which is the Idolatrie of the mynde / that is when a man dothe not thinke well / nor beleue trulye on the true lyuing godd / but dothe fayne vnto him selfe throughe false doctrine / either a straunge god in his owne mynde / or straunge worshippinge of god: An other is outwarde wich is Idolatrie of the bodie / and that is when we do bestowe the worshippe wich is only due vnto god vppon creatures / And when we do owtwardlye worshippe god other wise then he wilbe worshipped.

Truly Theise dissemblers do not giue to god this worshipp of mynde and bodie which is due vnto him / but the Idolatrie of mynd and bodie they do commytt / bothe because they owtwardlie do ioyne with papistes in their Idolatrie / and because in their mynde they do persuade them selues that it is lawfull for them so to do. We thinke / (saye they) as you thinke / and in our hartes we do reteyne the truithe / and so our mynde is pure. But your bodyes ye do giue ouer to the deuill and to Idolls.

[[1. Cor. 6.]]

Thy bodye / sayeth Paule / is a membre of Christe / why doest thow make yt the membre of an harlot? here they will saye againste me / that Paule spake this of whordome / I graunte that: But the prophettes do teache vs that the moste vile and horrible whordome is Idolatrie. Hieremie / Ezechiel / and the other prophettes do speake so against the Iues and their Churche / that they name it to be euen like an harlot which hathe opened her legges vnd[er] euerye tree that hade any bowghes to Idolls and vngodlye Idolatries. Wherfore if thow maye not make thy bodye the membre of an harlot, thow muste not make yt the membre of an Idoll. This collation betuene whordome and Idolatrie is playne and true / taughte by the prophettes and Paule. Morouer howe vayne this ther excuse is / that sayinge dothe sufficyentlie declare / in which the lorde pronounceth.

[[3. Reg. 19.]]

I haue lefte me seuen thowsand in Israell / of which neuer man bowed his knees vnto baal / nor kissed hym with his mouthe. He sayeth not / which thinke well in their mynde / which do beleue well / but he sheweth the signe of owtwarde worshippinge / that is to bowe the knee / and kisse. which doth teache that ther is required vnto the true worshipp of godd / not a pure mynde only / but the owtwarde sygne / token / and doinge of worshippe / and seruice. The lorde our god is not content with halfes / he will not part stakes with the dyuel.

[[Esay. 45.]]

All knees (saith the lorde) shall bowe vnto me. God will not parte so / that he shall haue the mynde / and the dyuell the bodye. All is myne / saythe the lorde / and I will haue all or none / I will haue bothe the obedience of the harte and the bowinge of the knee: Which worship by these thy dissemblinges thou takest from god / and so thou dost robbe him of his honor / and bestowe it vpon Idolles / euen popishe masses. But thou saiste / I despise the Masse / and all Idolatrous poperie in my harte: why then doest thou prostitute thy body vnto yt? My mynde ys pure thou saiest: yee / but god will haue mynde and bodye pure. If this thy reason and excuse were of any force / then mighte the Corinthians haue sayde to Paule / why doest thou so reproue vs? we also by the grace of god do knowe that there is no Idoll. A true opinion we kepe in our mynde of godd his truithe / let god be content with that / and in the meane tyme our bodies shall serue for our commodyties.

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

But paule telleth them plainlye that they do communicate with deuills. The meates offered to Idolls of their owne nature were pure / yet when the corinthians do eate them with the Idolatrors in ther Idolatrie / then they become (saith paule) partakers of the table of deuilles: when ye then be present at a Masse / which is an Impure thinge / and do ther as the papistes do / mutch more iustly is it sayed of you / that then ye ar partakers of thos deulishe dragges which ar in the Masse. Again our men do obiecte and saye: It is not we that haue corrupted theis thinges / we wolde be gladde to haue them pure and incorrupte: ther impuritie must not be adscribed vnto vs. I answer: An other mans synne shall not indeede be imputed vnto the / for eche man shall beare his owne synne: but yet this thinge I do reproue in the / that thou dost communicate with wickednes: This is thy synne / here thou art defyled. and for this shalt thou be iudged. Paule sayde vnto the corinthians:

[[1. Cor. 10.]]

Ar not they which do eate of the sacrifice / partakers of the temple? what saye I then? that the Image is any thinge? or that it which is offered Images is any thinge? Naie. but this I saie / that the thinges which the gentills do offer / they offer to deuels and not to god. I wolde not that ye sholde haue fellowshippe with the deuills: ye can not drincke of the cuppe of the lorde / and of the cuppe of Deuels / ye can not be partakers of the table of the lorde and of the table of deuels. Thoughe corrupcion of meates offred vnto Idols is not to be imputed to all them that be partakres of them / (which wer not indeede corrupt of them selues (as I saide), but when they wer offred vnto Idols that made them corrupte) yeat the veraye communicating and eating of them with Idolatrors is a fault iustly layed to their charge / from which they shuld haue keapte themselues aswell for the honor that they do owe vnto godd / as for the conscience which they ought to haue to edyfie other men. If it wer not so / whi did paule thus rebuke the Corinthians? Yea whi wolde not our holy martirs of the primitiue churche communicat and be partakers in the Sacrifices of the heathen? The martirs might haue saide / we knowe that an Idoll is nothing / and to offer vp sence to them is but an owtward thing / we do it but in bodie / our spret and harte is pure / and that we do / against our will we do it &c. They veryly did know no suche excuse / but they considered that godd required this / that they shuld outwardly confes hym / and reproue / and fle from Idolatrie: And therfor aswell for their duties sake towarde godd / as bicause they wold not offend the brethern by their example / they did gyue their lyfe in the quarell without making ony such blinde excuses.

These men do saye further that the Masse is not to be lickened iustly vnto the Idolatrie of the heathen / for that was directly forbidden of godd / so is not the Masse / saye they: for thoughe it hathe sumwhat swarued aside / yeat is it the Institucion of christe. But to the contrarie I do saye / that the Masse is so farr swarued from the ordinaunce of christe / that it hathe nothing agreing with christis Institucion / yea and that it is most directly repugnant vnto it / A very Idoll / wherin massemungers do committe very vile Idolatrie. And this will I proue by diuers reasons. ffurst of all. The Supper of the Lorde / as it was delyuered of christe shold be a publique and a common worcke and action: for Christe our Sauiour made it with his Apostles. But nowe in the Masse / ther commithe forthe one sacrificing preste / disguised with straunge araye / and he doth all thinges alone / the rest stonde still loking / heeringe / and holding their peace. If paule did worthely and Iustly saye / when the Corinthians did not tarie and loke one for an other / that they did not then eate the Lordes supper / then ther is not the Lordes supper eaten / wher one tarieth not for an other so that they maye eate all together: And how shall we then saye / that the Masse is the Lordes supper / wher one only sacryficing prest doth eate and drincke vpp all alone? surly it can not be so called: for to be, and not to be the Lords supper / ar contrarie / Paule saith / it is not the Lords supper / wherfor call your Masse by what name ye will / the Lords supper it is not / for paule is to be beleaued before all massinge marchauntes.

They saye morouer that in their Masse / they do offer vpp the sonne of godd vnto the eternall father for the synnes of the quicke and the deade: And this they do call the principall point of their masse. But in the Laste Supper of the Lorde that Scacrifice and oblacion was not made / but vppon the crosse / as the scripture witnessith. And as for this their offerenge / ffurst / paul doth denie it in most playn words in the epistle to the hebrues /

[[Heb. 9. 10.]]

wher he sayeth that all oblacions for synne wer consummate and finished / and all thinges made perfect by that one only oblacion / which christe Iesus our Sauiour in his own parson made of hymself vppon the crosse. The worde of godd teachithe / that christe was but ons only to be sacrificed and offered / And that Sacrifice no more to be made: for if it wer often to be made / then the furst was not perfect / But the furst was perfect / Therfor ther must be no repeating of it. The papistes do saye / that they dayly offer christe for to take awaye synne / and that this Sacrifice must be dayly repeted of them / The scripture denieth this playnly: And thus ye do se that heere is a playne contradiction.

Again The supper of the Lorde was not instituted to the end that such a sacrifice for synne (as they fayne) shuld be made of it / but that in the vse of it the communicantes shuld be put in mynde / and made partakers of that only propiciatorie sacrifice which christe offered ons only for all euer vppon the crosse. And therfor ther Masse / in which they wold worcke such marueyles / and the Lordes supper ar vtterly vnlyke. But here they will reply and saye.

The fathers do speake thus of this Sacrifice / We graunte indeede / that the fathers do often tymes speake so as thoughe that the lorde wer offered in this administracion of the Sacrament / or sacrificed: But they vsed this worde / Sacrifice, improperly / for by that kinde of speaking they did onderstonde / the offringes of praise / and sacrifices of thanckes made and gyuen for christes sacrifice done vppon the crosse / This they called to sacrifice. Our sacrificing prests ar not content with this / for they will haue their own worcke to be an vnwonted worcke / belonging to them alone / which neither the scriptures / nor the fathers do teache: ffor to offer this Sacrifice of whiche the fathers do speake / partayneth not to the preist alone / but to the whole poeple that stondith by / and doth communicate / And so it is a common oblacion and sacrifice of all / not of the preiste more then of the poeple / but this only that the preist both in wordes and action / doth go before the poeple.

[[de Ciuitate dei. lib. 10. cap. 6.]]

Augustine doth saye / that the churche is offered in that offeringe which it doth offer. For all which do communicate / they do offer them selues vnto godd / and do testifie that their will is / to abide in christe.

The papistes do holde also that the breade is turned into the substaunce of christes bodie / and that ther remaynith nothing but the qualitie and accidence of breade as whitenes / &c. for the substaunce / saye they / is christes bodie. But the scripture saith that christe in his laste supper did gyue breade vnto his disciples /

[[1. Cor. 11.]]

and paule callith it breade also / yeat in the Masse the papistes saye that it is otherwise.

The vse of the breade and wyne by christis institucion is only / that the congregacion shuld eate and drincke therof in the remembrance of christe / But the papistes in their Masse do most shamefully abuse them both. For wheare as the worde of godd saythe:

[[Deutron 6]] [[math. 4.]]

Thow shalt worshipp the Lorde thy godd and hym only shalt thow serue / They in ther masse do lyfte vpp the breade and wyne / and euen in the rowme of godd they sett them furthe to be adored and worshipped of the poeple: now how farr this differrith from the vse of christes supper eich man may se. Yea what can be more vile and filthie Idolatrie / then to adore and worshipp a peace of brede and cupp of wyne / as godd? Be not offended that I do vse theise bare names. I do confes / that whosoeuer acording to the Lordes Institucion doth communicate with the congregacion and dothe eate the breade and drinke of the cupp of the Lorde / beholding the deathe of christe with Lyuely faithe / the same man is in sprete and after his manier / made partaker of the body and bludd of the lorde. Contrari wise if thow do not vse the breade and wyne acordinge to the ordinaunce of christe / but gase vppon them / then ar they nothinge els to the / but breade and wyne: But if in a popishe Masse / or in the popishe hanging / heauing / carying / or handelinge of them / thow do worshipp them / then ar they vnto the a false Idoll / and thow indeede a filthie Idolatror. If therfor thow wilt be partaker of the body and bludd of christe in the holy supper / then eate the breade and drincke the cupp as the lorde hathe instituted. Godd wold haue the poeple in the vse of the holy Supper to ascend vppwarde into heauen in mynde and affection / that they might ther cleaue fast vnto christe. And therfor the true ministers of the churche do labour to the vttermost of their poure / thus to lifte vpp the poeples mynde into heauen / that they shuld not seeke christe in the worlde / that they shuld not thinck ony fleshly or earthely thinge of hym: Theise men clean contrarie in the order of their Sacrament and Masse do miserably detayn the poeple in the earthe / bynding and holding them to the visible signes.

[[1. Cor. 14]]

The apostle commaundith that thinges shuld not be doone in the congregacion in a straunge tongue / except ther wer an Interpretour / that the thing being vnderstonded of all / the hearers might saye / Amen / and that the edifyinge of them shuld be sought. Now theise men in their masse do all in the Laten tongue / which is to the common poeple vnknown / and they do defend this theyr doing euen against the worde of godd. But it is most certayn that christe our sauiour in his administration / and after him all his apostles and disciples which wer hebrues / vsed theyr vulgare hebrue tongue / the Grecians also their greke tonge. And euen vnto this daye the Sclauonians in their churches vse their vulgare and commen speache.

Those wordes of our greate and singuler consolation / in wich the partakinge of Christes bodye and bloude is promised / the papistes in their Masse speake secretlie / they whisper them so that euen they which knowe the Latine tonge can neither heare them nor vnderstande them. And so do they rumble them vp to their owne selues as thoughe the people were vnworthie to heare them: But christ in his super spake them openlie. And so the greke churche and the Churche of India / do yet speake them with an audible voice And the auncient manier was / as Ambrose and Augustine among other of the fathers do testifie that the people dyd answer vnto those words. Amen. But as I suppose the papistes do thus murmure and speake these words in secrete / bicause they wolde not haue their Lies knowen / for they do saye / Take ye and eate / and this so often as ye do / do yt in the remembraunce of me. But who taketh / or to whom do they giue? The wordes be spoken to the people: And yet they them selues do eate and drike vp all alone / and do distribute vnto no man ells. Is not this to make a lie? To lie alwaies is taken to be an euill thinge / but before god to lie / is a moste shamles and wiked thinge: who dothe eate (o ye lyyng papistes) or who doth drinke wyth you? If ye do distribute at any tyme to ony other ye do yt not when ye your selues receyue / but ye chose for them an other time / yea and another kinde also / for to them ye do minister but the breade onlye. Thus ye se that all theise thinges which these massers do in their masse / ar contrarye to the institution of Christe. Ther masse then and Christes supper ar not lyke.

The papistes saye that by their Action (I meane ther handeling of ther breade and wyne) they do applie vnto others the profitt of Christs bloudie sacrifice and passion. Of a Sacrament they saye that they make sacrifices to profit the quicke and the Deade. and this do they in ther masse. But the scripture teacheth / that there is but one only propiciatorie sacrifice / able and auaylable to take awaie synnes / whiche Christe Iesus offered in his owne fleshe vpon the Crosse. And that euerie man muste applie vnto him selfe by liuelie faythe the benefite of that same sacrifice of christe / as the scripture teacheth likewise / that eche man is iustified by his own faithe, and that eche man in his owne righteousnes or vnrighteousnes / doth liue / or die. It teachithe also that christe did institute the sacrament only to this end that the congregacion shuld eate and drincke it in the rememberaunce of that same his Sacrifice. And that eiche one in the drincking therof shuld apply vnto himself by faithe / the fruite of that Sacrifice. Now compare the doctrine of the scriptures and of the papistes in this pointe together / and thou shalt se that their Masse is contrarie to christes Institucion. But as they haue / so still will they saye:

That aswell the liuing as the deade be helped by this their acte applied at their pleasure. If they wolde saie that thei profyt others by praier / that were tollerable. But they go further and saie / that ther verye massinge worcke it selfe / hathe so moche vertue / power and strenghthe in it / that it shall profit not only all kyndes of men / but all such creatures and beastes for whom they do say ther masse / bicause in it they do applye the benefite of christes passion: but ye must vnderstond when they be payed for ther labor. This is an horrible error in no wise to be suffered / for as I sayed / ther is but one only sacrifice propiciatorie to take awaye synne / which one sacrifice eiche one of vs must applie vnto our selues by liuelie faythe / And this applyinge faithe is the only gifte of god: But on this grounde buylde they their purgatorie and mutch other such pelf / by which they do pycke mens purses. They saye ther Masses also in the honor of this / or of that saincte. And of what saintes? suche verylie whose histories are not certaynlie knowen / and are of none authoritie / yea many of them are no better then poetes fables / of whom not vnworthelie we doubte whether they be sainctes or no: But be it that they were true sainctes / yet this their doinge is moste contrarie to christes ordinance / for Christe did institute his supper to this ende that it sholde be vsed in the remembrance of his deathe and not of other mens / weare they neuer so holye.