Esaie confessith and saieth. Esa. 63. Abraham hathe not knowen vs / And Israel hathe forgotten vs. And therfore (saith he) these are not to be called vpon / we must not truste in them / but in God onlye / and that vnto him wee muste flye. We are commaũded also in moste plain wordes / that what so euer we aske / we sholde aske it in the name of Iesus Christe / Ioan. 16. and not in the name of other sainctes / as theise men do. But contrary to this true doctryne they do stifflie maynteyne their wicked error / therfor are they verylye heretikes. Here I do let passe their masse / in which they make their mishapen Godd of breade / throughe their art of transubstantiation. They sett vpp their sacrifice for the quicke and deade / the verie abhomination and God Maozim: which thinges they do defẽde wyth moste peruerse obstinacie. But howe contrarie they are to the worde of Godd is not nowe again to be repeted / seinge that a lytell before / in this matter I haue sayde sufficiẽtlie. But if I wolde spẽde more tyme here / I mighte reherce many other doctrines of the papistes in which they do shãfully swarue frõ the truithe of Godds worde. And of their errours they will not chaũg any thing at all which prouith them to be obstinate heretikes. But this that I haue writõ is inough / and inough againe to proue that thei are heritikes. Now let thẽ saie that we dissent but in ceremonies. But I saie that we dissẽt in doctrines. Let the papistes saie that we shold not haue departed frõ thẽ / but I saie / they shoulde not then haue departed frõ the truithe. Augustine
wolde not graũte vnto Cresconius / Aduersus Crescon. lib. 21. that the controuersie betwene the Catholikes and the donatistes / was a lighte and small contention / and schisme: But he saieth that they defended an heresie / and that moste horrible / euen this that they did rebaptize. And yet baptisme reiterated dothe nomore differ from the worde of God / then these errours of the papistes / which I haue repeted.
Wherfore Christian princes / whilest they do suffer them in their dominions / they owghte no otherwise to suffer them / then vpon suche condicyons as are aboue rehersed. That is / that they do compell no man to partake their wicked Idolatries. That they do not permitt them to haue their rites and supersticious ceremonies. That they take hede / that they do not corrupte others which do beleaue truly / and be of good iudgemẽte. And last of al / after that they haue bene cõpetentlie taughte / to enforce them outwardly to embrace sownde / and holye rites / and ceremonies agreinge with Godds worde. Thou wilte saie happelie / if it shoulde be so / their condition sholde be more miserable then the condicion of the Iewes / and Turckes / whom we do not compell to receyue our Religiõ. I graunte / but yet this sholde be iustlie done. And that for theis causes. Firste bycause the Iewes are not Citizens in our common welthes / but receyued vnder this condicion / that it is lawfull for them to vse their owne lawes / so lõge as they will: wherfore if they do not behaue thẽselues well / or they do not please vs / they be turned
awaie and caste owte / as oftẽ tymes they haue beene handeled. And not without iuste cause / when their conuersation hathe beene hurtfull. But these papistes are our citizẽs / therfore they must be otherwise handeled / and seinge they do confesse Christe / they are to be enforced to his pure and true religiõ. Again the Iues can not do so moche hurte as these Iebuzites maie / for all men / for the moste parte / do shonne and deteste the Iue / But these are subtile sorcerers / which vnder the cloke of the name of Christ / and ciuile familiaritie / maye deceyue many: furthermore there is a promise of the saluatiõ of the Iues / to be shewed ĩ the latter age / The lyke peculiar promise of papistes ther is not. And yet I do not speake this / as though I dyd condemne the counsell of many good prĩces / which haue cast the Iues owt of their countrye / for good iuste and laufull causes. Their acte I do allowe. But to returne vnto theise heretiques the papistes / we are bounde to praie for them / and seinge they do dwell amonge vs / we muste obserue the aforenamed rules / In vsinge or not vsinge familiaritie / and being conuersaunte with thẽ / which I dyd giue / of being conuersaunt with the vnfaithfull and wicked / in which sorte I do place them. And if any of them do returne to the truith / and will embrace the true Religion of Christ / they are not to be rebaptized. For though a Christian ought not to demaunde baptisme in the popishe churche / yet the baptisme which they haue hetherto vsed we acknowledge it to be such that it is not to be reiterated
of them whõ they do baptise. Augustine writinge of baptisme / Cõtra donat. lib. 5. cap. 23. againste the donatistes / sayeth that when they retorne / the hãdes only are to be layde on them: and that les is sholde apeare / that they were before without fault. Also that the holye ghost maye by praier be begged to cõme vpõ them / whose singular gifte the vnitie of the true churche is. This ceremonie trulye is laudable / but yet seinge it is not appointed to this purpose in the holye scripture / it maie be omitted: because we do se that the cheifest vse of it (as the apostles vsed it) was in the institution of the ministers of the churche. Suche of them as haue bene byshopps / and elders / maie be receyued into their degrees / and offices / if they do returne vnto the truithe: but this must be done / so as shall seme moste profitable to the flocke / and churche of the lorde. If they haue suche giftes as maie serue for the edyfying of the churche / And if by their ministerie / the truithe of the gospell and the saluation of the people which was committed vnto them maye be propmoted more then by the ministerie of other / and aptelie / and as profitable. They maie be restored to their place / ãd degree. The order of which matter is lefte vnto the iudgement of the churche of God. But if they remayne obstinate in their euill / and do continue peruerters of the godlye doinges of the magistrates / and pestilent corruptors of the people: Then the magistrates maie / and owghte to vse the sworde againste thẽ: for he bearith the sworde to take vengeaunce on them that do euill / and therto is he minister of God.
Vr lorde Iesus Christ hath forsayed that ther shuld be persequutions / and cheifly in the later tymes / through which sum shuld be despolied of their goodes / sum also thrown out of their dwellinges / and other shuld be shut vpp in prisõ / agayn that other shuld be fried in the fire and put to other punishmentes / and executed with infamus deathes / And that for the lord Christe himself / and for the doctrine / and confessiõ of the truith of the gospell. The same lord did then also forsaye / that not a few shuld fall from the truithe known. All which thinges truly we haue herd and seene fulfilled / not in this tyme only / but in tymes long passed. For ther are sum which at this daye do openly / and that without shame / curs and bydd adew to the truith of the gospell / which with demas do embrace this present worlde. There are other / and not afew / which do themselues also denie the truith known / and yet wyll not be accompted to be forsakers of it. Thy do stayne themselues with dyuers