Opening Prayer.
Intro.
To the True and Faithful Members of Christ's Church.
Lesson 4. The deceit of Rome.
For first to see the simple flock of Christ, especially the unlearned sort, so miserably abused, and all for ignorance of history, not knowing the course of times, and true descent of the Church, it pitied me, that part of diligence so long to have been unsupplied in this my country Church of England. Again considering the multitude of Chronicles and story writers, both in England, and out of England, of whom the most part have been either Monks or Clients to the sea of Rome, it grieved me to behold how partially they handled their stories. Whose painful travail albeit I cannot but commend, in committing diverse things to writing, not unfruitful to be known, or unpleasant to be read: yet it lamented me to see in their Monuments the principal points, which chiefly concerned the state of Christ’s Church, and were most necessary of all Christian people to be known, either altogether pretermitted, or if any mention thereof were inserted, yet were all things drawn to the honor specially of the Church of Rome, or else to the favor of their own sect of Religion. Whereby the vulgar sort, hearing and reading in their writings no other church mentioned or magnified but only that Church which here flourished in this world in riches and jollity, were drawn also to the same persuasion, to think no other Church to have stood in all the earth, but only the Church of Rome.
1. The abuse of the unlearned.
2. The deceit of worldly wisdom.
In the number of this sort of writers, besides our Monks of England (for every Monastery almost had his Chronicler) I might also recite both Italian, and other country authors, as Platina, Sabellicus, Nauclerus, Martinus, Antoninus, Vincentius, Onuphrius, Laziardus, Georgius Lilius, Polyd. Virgilius, with many more, who taking upon them to intermeddle with matters of the church, although in part they express some truth in matters concerning the Bishops and sea of Rome: yet in suppressing another part, they play with us, as Ananias and Sapphira did with their money, or as Apelles did in Pliny, who painting the one half of Venus coming out of the sea, left the other half imperfect. So these writers while they show us one half of the bishop of Rome, the other half of him they leave imperfect, and utterly untold. For as they paint him out on the one part glistering in wealth and glory, in showing what succession the Popes had from the chair of St. Peter, when they first began, and how long they sat, what Churches and what famous buildings they erected, how far their possessions reached, what laws they made, what councils they called, what honor they received of Kings and Emperors, what Princes and Countries they brought under their authority, with other like stratagems, of great pomp and royalty: so on the other side what vices these Popes brought with them to their seat, what abominations they practiced, What superstition they maintained, what idolatry they procured, what wicked doctrine they defended contrary to the express word of God, to what heresies they fell, into what division of sects they cut the unity of Christian religion, how some practiced by simony, some by necromancy and sorcery, some by poisoning, some indenting with the Devil to come by their papacy, what hypocrisy was in their lives, what corruption in their doctrine, what wars they raised, what bloodshed they caused, what treachery they traversed against their lords and emperors, imprisoning some, betraying some to the Templars and Saracens, in bringing others under their feet, also in beheading some, as they did with Fredericus and Conradinus, the heirs and offspring of the house of Fredericus Barbarossa, in 1269. Furthermore, how mightily Almighty God has stood against them, how their wars never prospered against the Turk, how the judgments of the godly learned from time to time have ever repugned against their errors, etc. Of these and a thousand other matters, not one word has been touched, but all kept as under benediction in auricular confession.
1. The Offense of Auricular Confession.
2. The Offense of Covering sins.
3. The Offense of Covering heinous sins.
4. The Offense of Covering sins with false righteousness. (Isa 30.)
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.
10 окт 2024
